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The Aam Aadmi Party has demanded probe into its allegations of EVM tampering by an all-party committee. The new demand has come a day ahead of Election Commission meeting will all the national and recognised state parties.

By India Today Web Desk: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded setting up of an all-party committee to probe its allegation of tampering with the EVMs in the recently held Assembly elections.

The AAP is ready for a demonstration before all political parties to prove that the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is not tamper-proof. The AAP has claimed that its experts can show to all party members that the EVMs can be easily hacked.

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The AAP's move comes a day ahead of the Election Commission's all-party meet over the EVM row. The poll panel has invited all the seven national and 48 recognised state parties tomorrow at the Constitution Club in New Delhi.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj had claimed yesterday in Delhi Assembly that the EVMs could be programmed to behave in a particular fashion.

AAP'S NEW DEMAND

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, Saurabh Bhardwaj that it was very easy for AAP's team of experts to 'prove whether the EVMs were rigged or not' in recently held Assembly elections.

Bhardawaj demanded an all party committee should be formed under the monitoring of the EC to ascertain whether EVMS were hacked in the recently held elections or not.

Putting forth his party's demand, Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "The Election Commission has convened an all-party meeting tomorrow to clear doubts about the EVMs. But, we have a very easy formula for this. A committee comprising representatives of all parties and members of the Election Commisison should be formed in the monitoring of the Election Commission."

"The experts of our (AAP) technical team will easily show to the committee that whether EVMs were rigged in the recent elections or not," the AAP legislator said.

HOW AAP WILL PROVE ITS CLAIM

Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the AAP team of experts "will ask every party to name any five booths where it suspects that the EVMs were rigged. We will ask the Election Commission to provide us the EVMs of such booths. We (AAP) have the expertise to prove whether those EVMs were tampered with or not."

Interestingly, Bhardwaj did not elaborate what kind of expertise the AAP team of experts had in exposing tampering with EVMs.

The Election Commission has already rejected the claim made by the AAP in the Delhi Assembly with a dummy EVM. Following the demonstration in the Assembly, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the EVMs could be tampered with in just ' 90 seconds' by changing its motherboard.

However, after Bhardwaj's claim in the Delhi Assembly, the Election Commission said that the machine used to conduct live demonstration was a look-alike, which was made to function in a 'tampered' manner.

ELECTION COMMISSION REJECTS AAP CLAIM

The Election Commission's release 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 the ECI EVMs are technically secured and function under an elaborate Administrative and Security Protocol."

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The poll panel 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 and electorate to assail or vilify the EVMs used by the Commission in its electoral process."

(With inputs from agencies)

ALSO READ |

Aam Aadmi Party: Is this an end of the road for Arvind Kejriwal's national ambitions?

The EVM AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj hacked in Delhi Assembly was a dummy

ALSO WATCH | AAP faces heat in Rs 2 crore PWD scandal: Kejriwal's brother-in-law cashed in on proximity to CM?

--- ENDS ---
May 11, 2017

They were wearing black! Of course they were wearing black. Or navy blueSo what I really noticed were the accent colors  the bright pops of cheer that stood out in the crowd.

Please note that I did NOT ever go up to someone and ask them what brand of whatever they were wearing; I took careful notes, and have attempted to recreate their overall look as well as I can with the tool at hand. I suspect that if you were to see the same women, in the same outfits, you would recognize them immediately!

This first woman was business lunching; she was able to stride down the street with her male companions without any problems, thanks to her flat shoes. (Im going to share with you tomorrow my observations about shoes in New York; Ive concluded that you only need 4 pair of footwear to survive there!)

This woman was on 5th Avenue, and turning heads! It was among the boldest ensembles I saw all weekend:
But the tribe has a long way to go
There was confusion and outrage on Thursday after State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, posted a circular on its website, stating that every cash withdrawal at ATMs will attract a charge of Rs 25 per transaction.

The circular was revised, stating it was only applicable for customers of SBI Buddy mobile wallet, but by then many people had voiced their dissent and disbelief.

A CPM member of parliament M.B. Rajesh even told news agency IANS that he would raise the issue in the Parliament. However, SBI soon revised the circular.

Many customers took to Twitter to voice their anger.

We have a voice, we should protest for this drastic and vigorous move from SBI to implement Rs 25 per transaction on ATMs, tweeted one.

Another Twitter user wished there was an option to port account number from one bank to another. Yet another one said if these things continued, it would soon be shut down.

The revised circular on the website states that the Rs 25 charge per ATM withdrawal will only be applicable for SBI Buddy customers and for basic savings bank deposit accounts, up to four withdrawals, including at ATMs, will remain free.

The SBI has further clarified that the limit of four ATM withdrawals in a month only applies to the basic savings banks deposit account. All normal saving bank accounts will continue to get eight free ATM transactions (five at SBI ATMs + three at other bank ATMs) in metros and 10 free transactions in non-metros (five SBI ATMs + five other bank ATMs) apart from the bank transactions.

While the Rs 25 per ATM withdrawal fee will be only for SBI Buddy customers, SBI customers will have to pay charges for several other services.

For instance, IMPS funds transfers up to Rs 1 lakh will attract a fee of Rs 5 plus service tax, above Rs 1 lakh and up to Rs 2 lakh, there will be a fee of Rs 15 plus service tax and from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh there will be a charge of Rs 25 plus service tax.

If one wishes to exchange soiled currency notes, then there will be no charges up to 20 pieces and value up to Rs 5,000. However, there will be a charge of Rs 2 per piece for exchanging more than 20 notes and if the value exceeds Rs 5,000, then there will be a charge of Rs 2 per piece or Rs 5 per 1,000 plus service tax, whichever is higher on entire tender.

The circular also states that for basic savings bank deposit accounts (BSBD), only RuPay classic card will be issued free of cost. Up to four withdrawals, including those at ATMs, will be free of charge for BSBD.

Beyond four withdrawals at branches, the bank will levy a charge of Rs 50 plus service tax per transaction; at SBI ATMs there will be a charge of Rs 10 plus service tax and and at other bank ATMs there will be a charge of Rs 20 plus service tax for each transaction.

There will be also be charges for issue of cheque books, the circular states.

It must be noted that several other banks, including some of the private lenders, also charge customers for cash withdrawals at ATMs after three to four transactions.
The International Court of Justice, on Tuesday, accepted India's request to stay the execution order imposed on Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage. India approached the international court on May 8 seeking immediate suspension of the death sentence. The former Indian naval officer was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial of the Pakistan army on April 10.

The ICJ, in a press release, states that 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.

Article 36 of the Vienna Convention for Consular Relation states that a foreign national detained or arrested must be informed of their right to have their embassy or consulate notified of the same. If the person under detention or arrest requests that their embassy be notified, it needs to be done without delay.

Indian authorities argue that they learned about the death sentence from a press release. According to a PTI report, the Ministry of External Affairs had made 16 attempts for consular access. Pakistan responded that consular access will be granted only if India cooperated with Pakistan's investigation of Jadhav's alleged involvement in espionage and terrorist activities. This condition itself is a violation of the Vienna Convention.

Despite India's consistent stand to resolve issues with Pakistan bilaterally, officials have sought the intervention of the world court on Jadhav's case.

India has approached the Hague only once before, though it has been a party to cases filed by other countries on four different occasions.

1. Portugal vs. India, 1955

The case of Right of Passage over Indian Territory refers to India's refusal to allow Portugal passage to the then Portuguese territories Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In 1960, the court ruled in favour of India stating that its refusal of passage was covered by its power of regulation and control of the right of passage of Portugal.

2. India vs. Pakistan, 1971

The Appeal Relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council is concerned with India filing a case against the International Civil Aviation Organisation's jurisdiction to decide Pakistan's right to overflights on Indian territory. This was following the hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft earlier that year. The CJI overturned India's appeal upholding ICAO's jurisdiction in this case.

3. Pakistan vs. India, 1973

The case of Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War is related to Pakistan's opposition to India sending back Pakistani prisoners of war from the 1971 Indo-Pak War to Bangladesh to face trial. The case was withdrawn by Pakistan six months later.

4. Pakistan vs. India, 1999

The Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 refers to the case in which India shot down a Pakistan naval aircraft for violating Indian airspace. India claimed that the ICJ did not have the jurisdiction to consider Pakistan's application in this case, and the court upheld the same.

5. Marshall Islands vs. India, 2014

Marshall Islands filed the case of Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament jointly against the UK, India and Pakistan for not taking steps in favour of global nuclear disarmament. India argued that the court had no jurisdiction in the matter, and the same was accepted by the ICJ.
Police on Thursday said it has identified the militants who abducted and murdered Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz in Kulgam of Jammu and Kashmir.

The militants belong to Hizbul Mujahideen and are local boys, police sources said.

The police also found that the militants used one INSAS rifle, snatched from the cops, to kill the 22-year-old army officer.

The important breakthrough within 48-hours of the incident has coincided with the arrival of Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in Kashmir.

Mehrishi met Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and discussed the security situation in the state.

Preliminary investigations found that three Hizbul militantsIshfaq Thakur, Mohammad Abbas and Gayas ul Islamwere part of the group that abducted and later executed Fayaz.

According to senior superintendent Shopian of police Ambarkar Shiriam Dinaka, there were others who were involved in kidnapping and killing of the army officer and the police are trying to ascertain their identities.

He said it is the same militant group that is operating in the area and is wanted in bank robberies, murders and other cases.

"We have identified the three men involved and one of them was bailed out in a 302 case sometime back. They knew the officer and picked him with aim to kill,'' Dinaka told THE WEEK.

He said the Fayaz was great prospect and was recently transferred to Aknooor in Jammu. ''Earlier, he was posted in Rajasthan after completing his training in the NDA. He was an achiever and a star of the family and the whole area.''

Fayaz was abducted from his home in Kulgam during the marriage ceremony of his cousin sister. Militants barged into his house and took him away at gunpoint. Next morning his body was found outside his village at Harman.

He had two bullet wounds on his body. The cartridge found at the spot was traced to the INSAS rifle snatched by the militants from police.

The police have left no stone unturned to track down the militants behind the killing of the young army officer.

Security forces have already launched cordon and search operations to track down militants involved in the killing.

Search operations and area dominating exercises were carried out on Wednesday to flush out militants who have forced their writ on the area.
As sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra's fast entered the second day on Thursday, he decided to sing.

First before the Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau where he told them his version of the tanker scam of 2012 and why Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not follow up the case, and second, an old Hindi film songchup chup khade ho zaroor ko baat haimeaning if you are standing silent, there certainly is something, even as Kejriwal continued to maintain his silence.

The ACB, meanwhile, said they had asked Mishra to return on Monday to record his statement.

However, Mishra and his allegations are not the only problems possibly making Kejriwal stay quiet. In Punjab where the Aam Aadmi Party is the opposition, there is turmoil in the party ever since Balwant Singh Mann, MP, was appointed head of the state unit. Former state unit convenor Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi resigned in protest of the "unfair method used" to appoint the state unit president and called Kejriwal's method "arbitrary and undemocratic".

Former Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who had jointed the AAP a few months before the Punjab elections, quit as the party's chief whip and spokesperson. He had retained his Bholath seat on the AAP ticket. Senior journalist-turned-AAP MLA from Kharar, Kanwar Sandhu has also taken exception to the manner in which the party's state unit was reorganised on May 8. "Instead of strengthening and rejuvenating it, it could end up weakening it," he said.

The way in which Kejriwal has taken on the Election Commission of India over the EVMs has resulted in him digging himself deeper into the slush. BJP MLA Manjit Singh Sirsa has urged Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal to bill the entire cost of holding the special session of the assembly to expose the EVMs to Kejriwal and his party. "That is not the business of the assembly", said Sirsa.

Congress leader Manish Tiwari, meanwhile, wanted to know how an EVM was taken into the assembly given that no MLA is allowed to carry any mobile phone or any other electronic gadget into the house. Tiwari maintained, "What happened in the assembly on Tuesday was unconstitutional".

Undeterred, the AAP held a demonstration in front of the Election Commission office, demanding that the Commission form an all party committee to probe alleged discrepancies in the EVMs during the recent five-state assembly elections. "We will provide the technical expertise" they said.

The Election Commission called for an all party meeting on Friday on the issue of the EVMs.
Journey to four dhams by train

Uttarakhand will soon witness expansion in rail services. Under this project, the nearest town of the four dhamsBadrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotoriwill be connected by trains. Currently, trains reach Dehradun and Rishikesh. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said survey in this regard will begin soon. The Railway Development Corporation has done the preliminary survey and the Railway Board has sanctioned Rs 120 crore for the location survey. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will visit Uttarakhand to lay the foundation stone for this project and will visit Badrinath and Kedarnath, too. He will also carry out an aerial survey of the area. The railway track from Rishikesh to Karan Prayag will be extended to Joshimath and Sone Prayag. This 125 km route will have 17 tunnels and 85 per cent of this route will be through tunnels. Four trains will run initially, and the capacity would be raised to 16 trains in couple of years.

BJP leaders son arrested for smuggling liquor

While senior BJP leaders like Narendra Modi and others have been emphasising good conduct and behaviour, junior leaders and their kin are embarrassing the party. Recently, the Uttarakhand police arrested the son of a BJP leader in connection with smuggling of illicit liquor. The accused was caught red handed with one of his accomplices during police checking. According to the police, BJP leader Poonam Jhas son, Ashish Jha, was caught with six cartons of foreign liquor, which they were transporting in a car near Dehradun. After the arrest, the BJP leader created ruckus at the police station, but the cops refused to act on her word. According to the preliminary investigation, the duo has been smuggling liquor for quite some time.

Modi hails afforestation movement

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently took note of an Uttarakhand teacher and his movement. The PM even send a letter to Kalyan Rawat congratulating him on the 'Maiti movement', which is quite popular in rural pockets of Gharwal. The bride and groom are encouraged to plant at least one tree on the occasion of their marriage, thus increasing the forest cover in the region. Impressed by this, the PM wrote to Rawat stating that our 'friendly relationship with the nature is the basis of our life and every citizen should be sensitive towards nature'. Rawat has passed on the PM's message and congratulated his entire team, who have been spreading this movement. This movement started in 1995 from Gwaldam region of Gharwal, and, in the span of 22 years, reached 18 states and six other countries, including Nepal where it is known as Maiti.

Demand for capital

The Congress leader from Uttarakhand, Pradeep Tamta has bitterly assailed the present BJP government and has demanded a permanent capital for the hill state. Tamta said since the government in Uttarakhand is in majority and the same government is ruling at the centre, it was time to announce the permanent capital. It may be recalled that when the state was formed, Dehradun had been announced as temporary capital, keeping its connectivity and better infrastructure in mind. Gairsen was selected as permanent capital, but even after 17 years of its formation, nothing concrete has been done in this connection.
They are outspoken and have their agenda. And, a way of presenting it, too. All of them have hit the headlines as uncommon representatives of the people.

Ravindra V. Gaikwad of the Shiv Sena shocked his constituents and the country when he slapped an Air India employee in late March. He told the media that he had hit the staffer 25 times with his slipper. Six airlines put him on their no-fly lists. The Lok Sabha member, from Osmanabad in drought-hit Marathwada, was initially unrepentant. His party interrupted Parliament and threatened to ground all outbound flights from Mumbai.

Eventually, Gaikwad wrote to Ashok Gajapati Raju, Union minister for civil aviation, regretting the unfortunate incident that took place on March 23, 2017, in the Air India Flight No. AI-852, seat no. 1F. Gaikwads grouse was that he had been given a business class boarding pass, but was seated in economy class.

I was told the flight doesnt have a business class, he told THE WEEK. Why was I then given a business class boarding pass? The officer was very rude when I tried to question him. If a common man had slapped the officer for the same issue, the same media would have praised him. He said the whole controversy got media attention just because he was from the Shiv Sena.

Hes got company. The Shiv Senas Rajan Vichare, MP from Thane, had kicked up a ruckus over the bad food in Maharashtra Sadan, Delhi. The protest made headlines because he allegedly forced a Muslim staffer, who was fasting during Ramzan, to eat chapati. The staffer said Vichare abused and threatened everyone on duty.

Slap and strip: Gaikwads Slapgate put him on the no-fly list of six airlines | PTI

Congress spokesperson Ratnakar Mahajan said, This practice of doing such stunts to grab media attention started with Jambuwantrao Dhote throwing a paperweight at the speaker of the assembly in the 1970s. He was expelled, but the incident made him so popular that he won the bypolls by a far bigger margin.

As an independent legislator from Achalpur in Amravati district, Omprakash Bacchu Kadu does not get much floor time, and he does not have a party to amplify his voice. So he resorts to out-of-the-box tactics to make himself heard in the assembly and outside. Dharmendra Jore, senior journalist, said, I know him since he was in Class 9. He had launched a massive protest against prostitution and tamasha that happened on the sidelines of the Bahiram festival in Amravati.

He has been winning since 2004, and the margin has been climbing steadily. I dont want to lose my independence by joining any party, he said. I work far more than any other MLA. I will not dilute my commitment to farmers and the disabled.

Bacchus wedding, too, was different. He married Nayana, a professor, by exchanging the national flag, and the couple then donated 100 tricycles to the differently abled. He asked, Why feed people who are not hungry? Helping the poor and handicapped is a cause close to my heart.

Anil Kadam threatened to strip a lady at a toll booth | Ajaj Shaikh

Bacchu lost the 1999 assembly polls to Vasudha Deshmukh of the Congress by just 1,300 votes. But, he continued fighting for farmers. The government was not responding to farmers issues, despite Bacchu raising it frequently. So, he let a python loose in Deshmukhs house to highlight government lethargy, said Avinash Dudhe, senior journalist from Amravati.

Snakes seem to be a pet weapon of his. Hospitals in the region did not stock anti-venom despite growing snakebite cases. The frequent power failures during summer nights caused snakebite cases to spike. An exasperated Bacchu dumped snakes in the primary health centre and the electricity office. The issues got solved in a jiffy.

He also took out a torchlight rally at night to protest regular, 16-hour load shedding. Thousands participated in the rally. Bachhus Prahar Yuvashakti Sanghatana (PYS), a combative youth organisation, is the backbone of his protests.

Demanding a hike in minimum support prices and to highlight rising farmer suicides, Bacchu and 50 supporters got themselves buried to their necks on the premises of the Chandur Bazar agricultural produce market committee. R.R. Patil, the then home minister, had to personally intervene to break the face-off. When it was said that farmer suicides were on the rise because of their alcoholism, Bacchu shot back, Then, why doesnt Hema Malini commit suicide?

In 2009, Bacchu & Co climbed atop a huge water tank and stayed there for 24 hours. They came down only when the government assured that the cabinet would discuss farmer suicides. He pulled the stunt in Nagpur, the states winter capital, when the assembly was in session. And, he is not all stunts. PYS has helped over 30,000 people with disability and donates 500 bottles of blood every year.

House action: Ram Kadam was censured twice for manhandling people in the assembly premises.

Mahajan said, Bacchu picks up issues close to peoples hearts. His protests grab media attention, but solutions to the larger problem are not found. Bacchu has had his share of run-ins with the bureaucracy. In March 2016, he slapped an official in the secretariat, leading to all employees there capping their pens and striking. I dont care as long as I am honest to my cause. I practise Gandhigiri first. And, if it doesnt work, Bhagat Singh guides me, Bacchu said.

While Bacchu does it for the people, Ram Kadams famous fight was for Marathi, in the assembly. Now a BJP legislator from Ghatkopar, Kadam was then a Maharashtra Navanirman Sena MLA. The first session of the assembly in 2009 saw Kadam slapping the Samajwadi Partys Abu Asim Azmi for taking the oath in Hindi. Why could not he take oath in Marathi, after having lived in Maharashtra for over two decades? That, too, when both languages are written in Devanagari script, Kadam had asked then. He, and four other MLAs from the MNS, were suspended from the house for a year.

But, it seems he did not get the message. In March 2013, he thrashed a police officer on the assembly premises. During the budget session, Kshitij Thakur, independent MLA from Virar, moved for breach of privilege. He said Pravin Suryavanshi, an assistant police inspector, had stopped Thakurs car at the Bandra-Worli Sea Link for alleged speeding and had been rude with him.

While the debate was on, Thakur saw Suryavanshi seated in the visitors gallery and passed the word to Kadam, the Shiv Senas Rajan Salvi and independent Pradip Jaiswal. They rushed out and thrashed Suryavanshi. Videos of the attack went viral and the speaker had to set up an inquiry.

Raj Thackeray saheb was so angry with Kadams act that he literally fired me, said Bala Nandgaonkar, then leader of the MNS legislative party. It was extremely wrong on the part of law-makers to take the law into their own hands.

Lawmakers taking the law into their own hands is, in fact, a common occurrence. In August 2013, the Shiv Senas Anil Kadam, two-time MLA from Niphad, was travelling in a friends car at night on the newly built Mumbai-Agra National Highway (NH 3). At the Pimpalgaon toll plaza, which is staffed entirely by women, the car was stopped. As it was an unmarked car, the lady in the booth asked Anil Kadam to pay the toll. He refused saying that he was an MLA. The lady allegedly asked for his identity card. Anil Kadam stepped out of the car, abused the woman and threatened to strip her in public. Regional channels aired the CCTV footage from the plaza. He was charged with molestation; he eventually surrendered and secured bail.

Girish Mahajan carried a gun to a special school | Shailendra Sonawane

This act by Anil Kadam is neither his first one nor is this the last, said Dilip S. Bankar, former MLA from Niphad. He has always been in the news for threatening officials of various government departments. He has ruined the reputation of the region.

Sunil Darade, lawyer from Chapadgaon village in Niphad taluka, had complained to the state government and the Shiv Sena leadership about Anil Kadam. In March 2016, the state power distribution company had started installing a distribution panel near Darades farm. Anil Kadam allegedly asked the company to stop work. The panel would have helped many farmers in the area, but he stopped it because he had not been paid off by the company, Darade alleged.

All these antics pale into insignificance when compared with what Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan did in March 2015. A school for the speech- and hearing-impaired invited him for a function. He went with a revolver tucked into his waistband. When he was on stage, the weapon was clearly visible to the audience.

When the opposition raised this issue, Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis replied, He has a licence to carry the weapon. And, a licensed weapon is not meant to be kept at home.
Sources said Income Tax Department has sent a report to the Election Commission of India indicating that the party has been receiving donations through circuitous routes, which during the probe turned out to be fraudulent.

By Atir Khan: The sword of Damocles hangs over Aam Aadmi Party as taxman will soon be holding a meeting to decide on withdrawing tax exemption on donations received by the party. Income Tax Department, which had detected two cases of fraudulent donations in the past is also considering conducting a special audit into the party's accounts.

Sources said Income Tax Department has sent a report to the Election Commission of India indicating that the party has been receiving donations through circuitous routes, which during the probe turned out to be fraudulent. Consequently the party could face action from both Income Tax Department and the Election Commission.

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AAP has been courting controversy for accepting donations from fraudulent sources. At least two such instances have been detected by the IT Dept. The department has already issued notices to the party in connection of it receiving Rs 2 crore in four Rs 50 lakh cheques from shell companies.

In another instance notices were issued in connection with party receiving more than Rs 20,000 as donation in cash. The department is of the view that AAP had deliberately concealed the information regarding the alleged violations. According to the IT probe in both the cases, the party has been allegedly found violating the rules.

According to the rules as far as tax exemptions are concerned, Income Tax Department has powers to decide whether it will allow exemptions on donations to a political party. As per the Act if the department finds there are irregularities or violations on the part of a political party in receiving donations, then it can also withdraw the exemptions.

The Income Tax Department will then have powers to treat the donations received through circuitous manner as income. In that scenario the party will be liable to pay taxes on donations so collected.

Sources said IT department will soon be holding a meeting regarding AAP donations on this issue. If the IT decides to withdraw the exemption then it will be a major blow to the party, which heavily depends on public donations.

Sources said a former treasurer of the party during IT probe in the past has confessed that there have been some irregularities in receiving donations. On the basis of such records the IT also has powers to initiate a special audit into the party accounts. More over other investigative agencies could also join the probe.

In a press conference held on Tuesday, AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged the party had become a target of political conspiracy and that government had unleashed its agencies on the party.

The Sword of Damocles usually refers to people in power facing ever-present peril. With the revelation of fraud having been committed by AAP, now Arvind Kejriwal has the Sword of Damocles hanging over him.

Also Read:

Irony of being Arvind Kejriwal: From anti-graft crusader to facing corruption charges

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Exclusive: Brother-in-law's fraud turns tables on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

Watch Video: India Today investigation: How Arvind Kejriwal's brother-in-law swindled PWD

--- 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 ...
AAP workers held a protest outside Election Commission's office in Delhi against the poll panel's denial to accept the party's claim the Electronic Voting Machines can be tampered with.

By India Today Web Desk: Dozens of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker took to streets today protesting against the Election Commission's denial to accept the party's claim that Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs) can be tampered with.

AAP workers headed by former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti staged a protest outside the Election Commission's office in New Delhi demanding the poll panel's immediate attention towards the issue.

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"The Election Commission has to be serious about it. This is the biggest ever scam of independent India. The Election Commission is duty bound to conduct free and fair elections," Bharti told India Today.

The protest comes a couple of days after AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj gave a live demonstration of EVM hacking during a special session of the Delhi Assembly. Bharadwaj used a dummy EVM to prove his party's claim that voting machines can be hacked.

The Election Commission, while rejecting Bharadwaj's demo, had pointed out that the Greater Kailash MLA used a dummy EVM for his experiment. The AAP had demanded the poll panel to provide it with an original machine.

AAP Delhi convenor Gopal Rai told reporters that the party would participate in an all-party meeting called by the Election Commission on the issue on May 12 and decide the next course of action based on its outcome.

"The Commission in its response said we used a dummy and not an actual machine in yesterday's demonstration. We request the EC to arrange a hackathon. We will show how its own machines can be rigged," Rai said.

Apart from demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)-equipped EVMs be used, the party will approach the EC with the request that votes registered in EVMs and paper trails of 25 per cent randomly chosen booths be tallied, Rai said.

The VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense a paper slip which helps a voter confirm that his vote has indeed gone to the candidate of his choice.

ALSO READ:As Kapil Mishra's fast enters Day 2, sacked AAP minister says will divulge more details in water tanker scam

Exclusive: Brother-in-law's fraud turns tables on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

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

WATCH | Delhi: AAP stages protest outside Election Commission office over EVM row

--- ENDS ---
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Evidence of fierce battles between the British and Ottoman armies in the form of dozens of bullet cartridges, shell fragments and military items from World War I was recently exposed in an archaeological excavation of the Israel Antiquities Authority near Rosh Haayin in which young people participated. 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 municipality.

On Tuesday, 13 Iyar 5777, in the Migdal Tzedek National Park, students of the Melach Haaretz pre-military preparatory program and representatives of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Nature and Parks Authority presented the finds for the first time to the Defense Attache in the British embassy in Israel, Colonel Ronnie Westerman, and the chairman of the Society for the Heritage of World War I in Israel, Mr. Eran Tearosh.

The first rifle cartridge was discovered by a member of the Melach Haaretz pre-military preparatory program who participated in the project. Yitzhak Kalontarov approached me curiously with an artifact in his hand, says Yossi Elisha, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. 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, says Elisha. As archaeologists, 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.

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, says Assaf Peretz, a researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Our excitement increased even more when archaeologist Shahar Crispin identified the name of the unit to which the soldier belonged whose insignia was found  the 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.

Alexander Glick, a weapons expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority, 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.

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.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Organizers of the online petition that already has over 520,000 signatures are working to influence US President Donald Trump ahead of his visit to Israel, scheduled for later this month. The petition states Jerusalem must remain under Israeli control.

Following is the text of the petition:

We, the signers of the Jerusalem Declaration, affirm that Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish People and the State of Israel. No other national, political or religious entity has an equally legitimate moral, political or historical claim to Jerusalem as its sovereign capital.

The eternal connection between Jerusalem and the Jewish people is unbreakable. In biblical times (11th century BCE), Jerusalem was established as the capital of Israel by King David. Ever since, there has been a formidable Jewish presence in the city whenever historically possible. The Jewish connection to Jerusalem has been overtly proclaimed throughout the centuries when Jews worldwide declare Next year in Jerusalem.

We support free and open access to Jerusalem for all peoples and religions, under the sovereignty of the State of Israel, and reject returning Jerusalems status to a divided city, such as existed between 1948 and 1967. During that time, Arabs controlled the eastern section of Jerusalem and forbade non-Muslims from access to holy sites in eastern Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.

We therefore want to thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, for their strong support in maintaining Jerusalem as a unified capital city under Israeli rule. We ask both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Barkat, as representatives of the People of Israel, to continue to do everything in their power to maintain and strengthen a united Jerusalem for the benefit of the State of Israel, the Jewish people and the entire world.

We urge world leaders to recognize the unbreakable bond between the Jewish People and Jerusalem and to guarantee that Jerusalem remains the undivided capital of the state of Israel.

Signing this declaration will ensure that your name will be sent to Israeli officials, the White House, the US Congress and world leaders, and that you will get important updates from United with Israel and its affiliates.

Organizers explain Everyone who signs will have their name printed on a massive United with Jerusalem banner that will be publicly displayed on the walls of Jerusalem

 and at an upcoming event to honor the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, UWI will present your name to Jerusalem Mayor Barkat.

At a time when much of the world rejects the eternal Jewish connection to Jerusalem, this is a unique opportunity to have your voice heard loud and clear

Join 500,000 Who Support Permanent Israeli Control of Jerusalem

Palestinian leader Abbas has repeatedly refused to accept the Jewish Peoples right to ANY part of the Land of Israel.

Although President Trump hopes to make the deal of the century, the Palestinians continue to demand a state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The latest anti-Israel UN resolution that passed last week, ironically on Israels 69th birthday, once again denies the Jewish Peoples right to Jerusalem, their eternal capital. Just another reminder of what Israel is up against

We CANNOT let the Palestinians, the UN and world leaders take Jerusalem away from the people of Israel. Let us set the record straight!

Add Your Name to the Growing List of Supporters of a United Jerusalem

Its time to let President Trump and world leaders know that YOU are proud to declare unequivocal support for keeping Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, united under permanent Israeli control.

Jerusalem is NOT up for negotiation.

Thank you for helping Israel in such a meaningful way.

With Blessings from Israel,

The United with Israel Family

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

An Arab terrorist arrived at a court with two pipe bombs and arrested by border police.

Earlier in the day Wednesday, 14 Iyar, the terrorist arrived at an inspection point near the Shomron Military Court in proximity to Kfar Salim in an effort to pass the inspection point. He told authorities he did not have an identity card. They found the explosives during an inspection.

It appears he planned to target security personnel and the courthouse. The terrorist is a minor from PA-occupied Jenin.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group)
The Associated Press has conducted an in-depth review of its operations in Nazi Germany, concluding that the news agency acted as forthrightly and independently as possible. But the review also found AP handled some situations inadequately.

The review was undertaken after an article published last year contended that the AP allowed Nazi propagandists to exert some influence over its news photo report in the 1930s by maintaining a photo subsidiary in Germany, registered under a restrictive Nazi press law.

The author, historian Harriet Scharnberg, also identified AP German photographers who were drafted into or joined Nazi military propaganda units during World War II, some while still being paid by AP.

APs review disputed Scharnbergs conclusion that the news agency was in any way complicit with the Nazi regime during the years 1933-41, when the agency was present in the country. The AP was kicked out of Germany when the United States entered World War II in December 1941.

We recognize that AP should have done some things differently during this period, for example protesting when AP photos were exploited by the Nazis for propaganda within Germany and refusing to employ German photographers with active political affiliations and loyalties, the report says.

However, suggestions that AP at any point sought to help the Nazis or their heinous cause are simply wrong, it adds.

Due in large part to the APs aggressive reporting, the dangers of the Nazis ambitions for domination in Europe and its brutal treatment of its opponents were revealed to the wider world.

The report spells out instances in which AP editors clashed with Nazi censors and also demanded that stronger steps be taken to keep the AP German photo service free of Nazi propaganda. It also cites AP reporting in the 1930s that alerted readers in the United States to the acts of anti-Semitism and cruelty of the Nazi regime both in words and photos.

AP Executive Editor Sally Buzbee said the APs coverage of Nazi Germany reflected its core newsgathering principles.

It is essential to cover tyrannical regimes and other undemocratic movements, when possible from within the borders they control, in order to accurately relay what is happening inside, she said. That is what we do, without compromising APs independence or standards.

AP believes it is important to know ones own story  warts and all  and so we have re-examined the period, taking a hard look, says the reports introduction, written by John Daniszewski, APs vice president and editor at large for standards.

The report was written by Larry Heinzerling, an adjunct assistant professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and retired AP deputy international editor, with contributions by AP investigative researcher Randy Herschaft.

Research began more than a year ago with a review of previously unexamined AP archives. That review was then was extended to other records  including U.S. military documents, and the oral histories and personal papers of deceased employees. Scharnberg also was interviewed.

The report notes that Louis P. Lochner, the APs Berlin bureau chief from 1928-41, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for his comprehensive coverage of the Nazi regime, including the Nazis anti-Semitic policies and actions. A German-American and former World War I peace advocate who personally despised the Nazis, Lochner was aware that some critics back home viewed him as pro-Nazi, particularly when he was covering Nazi military victories in the first years of World War II.

Among the reports key findings for the period 1933-41:

The APs German photo service, established as a subsidiary in 1931, provided photos to German media after Nazis took power in 1933. The Nazis quickly brought the AP German photo service and all other German media companies under the supervision of the Propaganda Ministry. While AP management insisted that its German photo service production stay neutral, German staff members faced constant pressure from Propaganda Ministry officials about the APs photo output, with some doing a better job of resisting Nazi demands than others.

APs photo captions when they appeared in German media often were rewritten or published under misleading or offensive headlines. While the AP protested and fought against Nazi attempts to censor the AP itself, the review found no evidence that AP protested these abuses by pro-Nazi media. Current AP practice requires a strong response when AP customers willfully distort the meaning of AP content.

After resisting for two years, the AP in late 1935 submitted to an anti-Semitic edict that all people working in German media must be of German Aryan origin. APs German photo service let go six employees considered Jewish by the Nazis, while helping them to find work elsewhere. The AP made the difficult decision to comply because it believed it was critical for AP to remain in Germany and gather news and photos during this crucial period, the report said. With APs aid, all of these employees emigrated and survived the Holocaust.

APs Berlin-based American reporters and German photographers covered the first part of World War II from 1939-41 from the German side of the battle lines. The United States had not yet entered the war but some of this coverage was criticized from within the U.S. Embassy in Berlin as channeling German official views and disinformation; AP executives in New York assessed the accusations and rejected the criticism, stating that AP reports reflected events as seen by the reporters.

A few of APs German employees held pro-Nazi views and covered the German side of the war enthusiastically. One staff and then freelance photographer employed by the AP German service was Austrian-born Franz Roth, an ardent Nazi who traveled as a war photographer with the Waffen SS to several fronts before and after the APs expulsion from Germany. He died as a combat photographer in 1943.

After 1939, the German government drafted several AP German photo service employees to serve with propaganda units accompanying troops to cover the fighting, requiring that the resulting photos be pooled for use by German media while their salaries still were paid by AP Germany. AP management at the time believed their photography had news value in spite of the restrictions caused by traveling with German forces.

Among the reports key findings for the period 1942-45:

With the U.S. entry into the war against Germany in December 1941, APs American staff members were arrested and interned for five months before being deported in a prisoner exchange. The AP German picture service was seized, handed over to the German Foreign Ministry and put under control of a Waffen SS photographer, Helmut Laux. Most German former AP personnel were forced into Lauxs operation; others were sent to military units.

In an arrangement reached in neutral Portugal in 1942 between Laux and the local AP correspondent, Lauxs operation gathered and sent regular packets of German-censored photos from Germany and German-occupied Europe to APs New York and London office via Lisbon. In exchange, with the knowledge and approval of U.S. wartime officials, AP sent photographs from the U.S. to neutral countries for ultimate distribution inside Germany. The exchange was approved by APs New York headquarters and AP annual reports at the time made public that the AP was receiving photos from Nazi-German-occupied areas.

With one known exception, the AP report says, the AP images that appeared in German publications through this arrangement during the war were unaltered by the Germans, but captions were rewritten by German propagandists to conform to official Nazi views.

According to the report, APs management in New York considered obtaining the German photos an important way to fulfil its mission to cover the war as comprehensively as possible.

Although the exchange necessitated dealing with the Nazi regime, it was the APs belief then and now that the photos gave the U.S. public a much fuller picture of the war than could have been obtained otherwise, says the AP report. That included scenes of fighting on the Russian front, the results of bombings of German cities and Germanys falling war fortunes.

(AP)
Pizza Hut has apologized and fired an advertising firm responsible for an Israeli Facebook ad that mocked the leader of a mass Palestinian hunger strike.

The ad on Pizza Hut Israels Facebook page was deleted, and the parent company said in a statement that the post was completely inappropriate.

The ad attempted to make light of Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned leader of the 24-day-old hunger strike.

Barghouti, 58, is serving five life terms after an Israeli court convicted him of directing attacks during a 2000 Palestinian uprising that killed five people. Barghouti, in prison since 2002, never mounted a defense, saying the court had no jurisdiction over him.

Barghouti said the demands better conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israeli alleges Barghouti, widely seen as a potential successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is using the strike to raise his profile.

On Sunday, Israels Prison Service released a video claiming to show Barghouti secretly snacking that Palestinians allege was fabricated. Pizza Hut then published a Facebook post with a pizza box superimposed on Barghoutis prison cell asking if he would rather have broken his hunger strike with a pizza.

In a statement released by Pizza Hut Internationals Middle East Twitter account on Tuesday, the company said it apologized for any offense and said the ad does not reflect the values of our brand. A spokesman for Pizza Huts parent company in the U.S., Yum! Brands Inc., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Erez Rubenstein, a partner at the Israeli advertising company behind the ad, confirmed his firm had been dismissed and said the Facebook post was regrettable in hindsight. We didnt mean to offend anybody, he said.

Pizza Hut Internationals statement came in response to a Twitter campaign to boycott the company, which operates in Israel, the West Bank and around the Arab world. The Palestinian Prisoners Media Committee called off its boycott of Pizza Hut after accepting the apology.

Meanwhile, Barghoutis lawyer, Khader Shkirat, said the Israel Prison Service abruptly canceled a planned prison meeting with his client that had been scheduled for Thursday. Shkirat was later informed he would be able to see Barghouti on Sunday.

The attorney said he was given no explanation. He said he is increasingly concerned about Barghouti, who has been held in isolation since the start of the hunger strike on April 17.

We want to know exactly what his health situation is, Shkirat said. The fact that the Israelis are not allowing anybody to visit him makes us more worried.

Assaf Librati, a spokesman for the prison service, confirmed the visit had been canceled, but said he did not know the reason.

Barghoutis family and supporters allege Israel is trying to demoralize the strikers by keeping him isolated and by recently releasing the video purportedly showing him eating in his cell.

Sari Bashi, a regional director for Human Rights Watch, said the release of the video raises questions about the violation of the right to privacy.

She said its also problematic to make an allegation against somebody who is in your custody and then hold him incommunicado so he cannot respond to that allegation.

The video was released Sunday and led the evening news on Israeli TV channels.

Librati said we thought its important for the public to see the behavior of the hunger strike leader, but he did not address the privacy issue. We did not expect the video to break the hunger strike or stop it, he said.

The level of prisoner participation in the strike has held largely steady since the release of the video. Librati said 870 prisoners were still participating in the strike Wednesday, compared to 890 late last week.

Israel holds about 6,500 Palestinians for offenses carried out in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from stone-throwing to membership in groups outlawed by Israel and attacks that wounded or killed Israelis. Several hundred are being held without trial in so-called administrative detention.

Israel has refused to negotiate with the prisoners, who seek better conditions, including the key demand of more family visits.

Also Wednesday, Barghoutis wife, Fadwa, sent an open letter to Pope Francis, urging him to speak out in support of the prisoners.

We are an entire nation held captive and the Palestinian prisoners are the most dramatic reflection of this long and horrific captivity, she wrote. How can the world remain silent in the face of such an injustice?

(AP)
An internal report scooped by India Today reveals how the public-works department itself red-flagged the working of Renu Construction owned by Bansal, now no more.

By Kumar Kunal: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party slipped into denials after India Today's incisive investigation uncovered possible corruption and nepotism in the Delhi government.

In public, the ruling AAP sought to skirt Wednesday's expose, at the centre of which was Surender Kumar Bansal, the late husband of the CM's sister-in-law. In private though, the Kejriwal administration had itself been aware of the man's incompetence in executing civic projects, official documents show.

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An internal report scooped by India Today reveals how the public-works department itself red-flagged the working of Renu Construction owned by Bansal, now no more.

These notes, sent by top PWD engineers, demolish the AAP's clean chit to his company in the Bakoli drain scandal.

According to papers accessed by India Today, engineers raised serious questions over a project Renu Construction took up in Delhi's Jahangirpuri last year.

The contract was linked to rebuilding a drain in the area, with a six-month deadline ending February, 2017.

"The work was started by Renu Construction. During progress of the work, some defective work was rejected and intimated to the agency (the company), which is yet to be rectified by the agency," reads an internal PWD report. "The stipulated date of completion was February 7, 2017. So far 65 per cent has been completed and (the) work is still in progress."

The note emphasised that Surender Kumar Bansal's company failed to finish the drainage project in time earlier this year. Engineers also spotted a number of defects in its work linked to the contract worth Rs 1.59 crore.

In another damning feedback on Renu Construction, experts in the PWD noted the firm had not started work on a second contract despite three formal reminders.

Renu Construction was also asked to show cause for the delay, documents show. "Renu Construction did not start work and, therefore, a show-cause notice was issued on January 9 to start work within seven days. But Renu Construction neither submitted a reply nor did they start work at the site."

AAP'S RESPONSE

"We are talking about the chief minister of a state that has an annual budget of Rs 50,000 crore. This is the third budget he has presented this year. So, a chief minister who presides over a budget of Rs 50,000 crore a year would not even know what are the contracts that are happening, and in which department, because all the contracts of the Delhi government happen online. The tender submission, awarding and evaluation happen online. Besides L1, background checks also happen online on the basis of the documents submitted," said AAP spokesperson Ashish Khetan.

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"Now, if the chief minister was so powerful and he was sending out emissaries and messages, how come the other two contracts got cancelled? [India Today] reported that there was showcause notice issued by the PWD department to the contractor and the company in question that the work is shoddy, that the work is behind schedule, please reply because the contract will be cancelled, an so on. Finally, one of the contracts got cancelled...Does this not show that there was fair play? Doesn't this show that the executive branch of the PWD department was under no pressure at all, and was not discriminatory just because the contractor happened to be a distant relative? The PWD department in this case show exactly that they were doing their job. They were hauling up the contractor over shoddy work and for being behind schedule," he said.

Meantime, anti-corruption sleuths raided a PWD office in north-west Delhi Thursday, a day after India Today broadcast the story on Bansal's suspected fraud in Bakoli village along NH-44.

Upset at the network for its stinging investigation, AAP activists heckled an India Today crew during a demonstration at the Election Commission Thursday.

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Since the telecast of the story about suspected favouritism and graft, pressure has mounted on the embattled AAP. Both the Congress and the BJP have slammed the Delhi government, demanding thorough probe into the scandal involving the PWD department of Satyendar Jain and Kejriwal's late brother-in-law.

ALSO READ

AAP demands all-party probe into EVM tampering ahead of Election Commission meet

Aam Aadmi Party: Is this an end of the road for Arvind Kejriwal's national ambitions?

Exclusive: Brother-in-law's fraud turns tables on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

Watch the video: AAP Ka Scam II: PWD had raised red flags on performance of Kejriwal kin's company

--- ENDS ---
President Donald Trump asserted in his extraordinary letter firing James Comey that the ousted FBI director told him three times hes not under investigation, a questionable claim that if true would be a startling breach of protocol.

Wouldnt happen, said one former federal prosecutor who led criminal cases against public officials.

Comey has publicly confirmed the FBI is investigating possible contacts between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.

Trump offered no details about exactly what he was told or when. The White House declined to provide backup or explanation for Trumps assertion in the letter.

In an argumentative interview Wednesday with CNN host Chris Cuomo, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said, Im not going to reveal to you conversations between the president of the United States and the director of the FBI. At the Capitol, Vice President Mike Pence repeated the assertion that Trump had been advised he isnt under investigation, again with no detail.

Later, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she did not think the exchanges between Trump and Comey were inappropriate.

In the letter, 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.

Several former Justice Department officials and federal prosecutors doubted that Comey would have spoken in the terms used by Trump, or even offered any assurances at all. FBI agents and Justice Department officials often identify people involved in an investigation as targets, subjects or witnesses. The first category applies to people who are likely to be criminally charged. Almost everyone else is a subject, probably not guilty of a crime but somehow involved. Witnesses might have seen or heard something, but arent otherwise implicated.

Comey would not ever, in my opinion, say this to Trump, Peter Zeidenberg, who prosecuted public officials on corruption charges for the Justice Departments public integrity unit, wrote in an email.

It is an ongoing investigation; there is no possible way that Comey could a) know that Trump was cleared of any misconduct at this stage of the investigation and b) it would be inappropriate for the FBI director  or any agent  to advise a potential subject of an investigation of their status directly. Wouldnt happen, Zeidenberg wrote.

Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe, who served in the Obama Justice Department, wrote, That self-serving assertion was completely implausible. To put it bluntly, it appears to have been a blatant lie.

Tribe said it would have violated well-established DOJ rules and policies for the director to offer any such assurance to anyone, especially the president. In addition, given Comeys dependence on the president for retention of his role as head of the FBI, offering that assurance would be highly unethical and at odds with Comeys reputation as a man of integrity.

Zach Price, a professor at the University of California Hastings School of Law, said Trumps firing of Comey is a blow against the independence of federal investigators and prosecutors. Its acceptable for the president to ask who key suspects might be in an investigation that does not involve him or close associates, Price said. But it would be unusual for the president to push that for political reasons.

Trumps claim about what Comey supposedly told him seems to be a way of saying Trump himself is not implicated in the investigation of Russian campaign meddling, Price said.

James Koukios, a former fraud prosecutor in the Justice Department, said such a conversation would be unusual. Defense attorneys always ask, Is my client a target, subject or witness? Theres no obligation to answer, but I guess its possible they could have had the conversation. Were in uncharted territory in a lot of ways, he said.

(AP)
Hundreds of chareidim took part in a protest on Wednesday night outside IDF Prison 4 over the arrest of Rivka bas Kaasi, an Ethiopian chareidi girl. She was imprisoned by the IDF last month.

Protest leaders explained that military authorities simply are unwilling to view her as being exempt from duty as she is a frum woman. They add the Yaffo Military Court has instructed the appropriate IDF committee to reconvene and reconsider her declaration that she maintains a frum lifestyle, but the courts instructions have been ignored to date, and the committee hasnt reconvened.

Rabbonim taking part in the protest warned of the dangers facing the frum community as today, the IDF is arresting frum woman who are truly maintaining a religious lifestyle simply because they can.

During the protest, some of the participants broke into the Tzrifin base next to Prison 4 and they were dispersed by police.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was so upset with the White House for pinning the firing of FBI Director James Comey on him Wednesday that he was on the verge of resigning, an administration source told ABC News.

After Comeys firing Tuesday night, White House officials said the president acted on the recommendation of Rosenstein.

Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Good Morning America today that she was not aware of Rosensteins contemplating his resignation.

In his letter written to staff and friends after he was fired, Comey said he was not going to dwell on how his firing was handled.

Im not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you wont either. It is done, Comey wrote. In times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty and independence.

In a memo delivered Tuesday afternoon to President Trump, Rosenstein wrote that Comey inflicted substantial damage to the FBIs reputation and credibility.

The White House initially said Rosensteins recommendation was the reason Trump chose to fire Comey.

When he brought the recommendation to the president that the director of the FBI should be removed, President Trump provided the kind of strong and decisive leadership the American people have become to be accustomed from him, Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

Press secretary Sean Spicer pointed the finger at the Justice Department when asked by ABC News late Tuesday night who ordered the review of Comey.

But Sanders said during Wednesdays White House press briefing that Trump made the decision for the final decision to move forward with it was yesterday. But I know that hes been contemplating it for a while.

When asked whether Comeys firing was a result of Rosensteins memo, Sanders said, That was, I think, the final piece that moved the president to make that quick and decisive action yesterday.

Despite their having been critical of Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Democrats argue that the firing of Comey, who was overseeing the Russia investigation, is an abuse of presidential power.

The reality is his team is the subject of an investigation, Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview with CNN Wednesday. None of us know where that investigation is going to lead and thats a very apparent conflict of interest for the president.

In his letter to Comey telling him he was terminated, Trump made a point of raising the FBIs Russia probe.

I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that Im not under investigation, Trump wrote.

Associates of Comey told ABC news they are highly skeptical that Comey ever would have told the president that he was not under investigation.

They say its possible that was the presidents understanding but Comey would never have cleared anybody while the investigation is still under way, the associates said, adding that it would have been highly inappropriate for Comey to do so.

(Source: ABC News)
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, May 11 (PTI) Two police sub-inspectors were suspended today for allegedly producing ten arrested farmers in a Khammam magisterial court near here in handcuffs.

The two Armed Reserve Police sub-inspectors were suspended after a political row erupted following the farmers production in court in handcuffs.

The ten chilli farmers had been arrested for "vandalising" Khammam Agriculture Market Yard office on April 28 during an agitation triggered by sudden fall in chilli prices.

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Following their production in the court, the farmers were eventually granted bail and released.

After suspending the SIs for "breaching" the handcuffing norms, an inquiry too was ordered into the incident, said IGP (North Zone) Y Nagi Reddy.

"Two Armed Reserve Police sub-inspectors, who were leading the police team and responsible for following the rules regarding the use of handcuffs, failed to do so. They were placed under suspension," Reddy said.

"Handcuffing was not necessary. There are clear guidelines and if the handcuffing of the accused is required, necessary magisterial permission has to be taken," he added.

An Additional DCP rank-officer has been appointed as the inquiry officer, Reddy told PTI.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and Telugu Desam Party, meanwhile blamed the TRS government for the incident.

TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the TRS government had committed the grave mistake of handcuffing the farmers.

"It is highly shocking that the accused farmers were brought to the court handcuffed. Are they terrorists or extremists? What is the message the TRS government is trying to convey by handcuffing the poor farmers? Is it trying to say that anyone who holds protest against the TRS government will be considered a hardcore criminal?" he asked.

Terming it as an act of "high-handedness" of the state government, TDP legislator Sandra Venkata Veeraiah said the handcuffing of farmers was not justified.

He said his party will hold dharna (sit-in) for the next two days to protest against the cases filed against farmers.

On April 28, the farmers had brought chilli to the Khammam market yard hoping to sell the produce for a better price, which suddenly dipped below the expected level, triggering an agitation by farmers, the police had said.

According to the police, they had vandalised the market yard office and damaged the furniture.

The farmers in the state have been demanding better price for chilli as the price has dipped to around Rs 6,000 per quintal this season as against Rs 12,000 per quintal last year.

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According to the Telangana marketing department, bumper production of chilli coupled with slackening exports has resulted in drop in the price. PTI VVK GDK NP RAX

--- ENDS ---
Porta loss

Marketing and communications group Porta has posted a 9 per cent jump in revenues to 37.1m in the year to December 31.

However losses at Porta, which includes Newgate, Publicasity and Redleaf Communications, widened from 2.9m a year earlier to 5.1m.

Porta Communications reports year of significant change

Brexit deal

Britains planned departure from the European Union opens the door for a UK-Swiss deal covering financial services, Boris Collardi, chief executive at Julius Baer, one of Switzerlands biggest private banks said yesterday.

Following a clampdown on tax evasion which has eroded Switzerlands bank secrecy laws, Swiss banks are increasingly setting up branches abroad and Collardi said Brexit could be a catalyst for deal covering Swiss and UK firms.

China extension

Travel firm Tui has extended a venture in China, Tui China, by 15 years to 2033, thanks to a new trend among young Chinese for Western-style holidays.

Heathrow thrives

Booming demand for Easter getaways helped Heathrow secure its best April. The airport saw 6m passengers pass through last month, up 11 per cent on the same period the year before. New York and Dubai were the most popular destinations.

Booming demand for Easter getaways helped Heathrow secure its best April

Boss quits

The finance boss of Mothercare, Richard Smothers, has quit after three years at the childrens retailer. He joined in 2015 and will remain until a successor has been identified and a transition plan has been put in place.

Cult job

Fine wine investment group Cult Wines has appointed former Duco Technology director Patrick Thornton-Smith, 56, as a non-executive director.

Mine move

Chrome and platinum group metals miner Tharisa is to run its mine in South Africa, paying contractor MCC 17m to take over 900 staff and 170 machines. It hopes to boost efficiency by taking such action.

Gas production

BP has started gas production from two fields off Egypts coast, producing 700m standard cubic feet of gas a day to the Egyptian gas grid.

Mobile extension

O2 is to invest 80m to enhance mobile coverage in London by installing hundreds of internet hubs, teaming up with the City of London Corporation to fit 1,400 small cells on lampposts and street signs.
The 26-year-old boss of Snapchat lost more than 18m a minute after the photo-messaging firm plunged into the red.

Evan Spiegel, who founded the firm with friend Robert Murphy, saw the value of his shares plummet 830m after parent company Snap announced its first results as a listed company on Wednesday.

The company which floated in New York in an 18bn listing earlier this year reported slowing user growth and first-quarter losses of 1.7bn on sales of just 115m.

Fall: Evan Spiegel and fiancee Miranda Kerr

The results sparked a 23 per cent tumble in the its share price in just 45 minutes on Wednesday, falling from $22.98 to $17.66 and wiping 4.6bn off the companys value, as investors offloaded their shares.

It now faces a threat from US law firms who have called on investors to join litigation claims to recover losses.

Spiegel, 26, and Murphy, 28, each own more than 211m shares in the company, which allows users to send pictures and other messages that vanish in seconds.

Yesterday, shares opened at $17.96  just above their initial offer price of $17  before rising to just over $18 in mid-day trading.

Rumours in New York were that hedge funds and venture capitalists who had invested in Snap from the beginning had offloaded their shares in after-hours trading, leaving ordinary investors who got in after the initial float nursing some heavy losses  or making just $1 profit per share on their original investment.

Spiegel and Murphy set the business up in 2012, but it has been under pressure from rival Facebook which has been busy introducing similar features on its own social media sites including Instagram and Whatsapp.
A bonus scheme for bosses at struggling Royal Bank of Scotland has been slashed as furious shareholders hit out after nearly a decade of losses.

Chief executive Ross McEwan and other top staff will be able to earn 40 per cent less under a long-term bonus scheme, in a bid to tackle anger at City excess.

Last year McEwan could have trousered 2.9m if he had hit targets, but this has been cut to 1.8m in future. He could now earn up to 4.1m, including salary and benefits, down from 5.2m in 2016.

RBS Chief executive Ross McEwan will be able to earn 40% less

The bank also announced plans to make executive directors buy more shares, tying them closer to the fortunes of the business.

The time is right for a new, simpler approach, developed specifically to align with RBSs culture and our thinking on pay, said remuneration committee chairman Sandy Crombie.

It came as investors demanded answers over closing branches, terrible customer service and a stubbornly low stock price.

Performance was branded a catastrophe at a charged annual meeting in Edinburgh yesterday.

NatWest owner RBS was saved with 46bn of taxpayers money at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. The bank has since posted losses of 58bn and is expected to slump into the red again this year.

And the Government has said it is likely to lose money on the 71 per cent stake it currently owns.

A tale of two banks: it shows just how far RBS has to go to catch up with Lloyds

It came as rival Lloyds held a triumphant meeting in the same city, celebrating annual profits of 4.2bn, the highest for a decade.

Lloyds was also saved by a 2008 bailout, but the Government will sell its remaining stake in days and is expected to make a 500m profit on its 20.3bn investment.

Analyst Laith Khalaf of Hargreaves Lansdown said: This is a tale of two banks, and it shows just how far RBS has to go to catch up with Lloyds. At RBSs meeting, small investors demanded bosses set up a committee to give shareholders more say over the lenders direction.

They accused the bank of ignoring a letter signed by 150 people calling for reform. Shareholder Gavin Palmer claimed the lender was stuffed with corporate psychopaths. You insult the shareholders, he said. RBS is a dark hole in British banking.

McEwan admitted it had been an extremely tough year.

The gloom and excuses stood in sharp contrast to Lloyds meeting, which saw chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio crowing over his turnaround efforts.

Six years ago, this was a bank in crisis, the Portuguese banker said. We are now a strong, safe and UK focused bank.
The value of gas storage firm Infrastrata fell yesterday after it said it may have to hold a shareholder meeting to vote on whether to axe its entire board of directors.

The meeting was requested on Tuesday by Hornbuckle Mitchell Pension Trustees and Tower Pension Trustees, which own a combined 5.1 per cent stake in Infrastrata.

Shares initially jumped on the news of the move to fire all the directors.

Gas storage firm Infrastrata's value fell yesterday after shareholder meeting

Although Infrastrata has refused to hold the meeting as the request is not valid, for undisclosed reasons, it expects to receive a valid request. In this case, Infrastrata will write to investors with its view of the proposal.

Despite recommending that shareholders take no action, Infrastratas shares fell 12.9 per cent, or 0.1p, yesterday to 0.68p.

This month, the company warned there was no guarantee it could secure the 2.2m to complete its design of a gas project in Northern Ireland and it said it may have to scrap the project if money cannot be raised.

The FTSE was relatively flat yesterday, as gains among miners on the back of a rise in copper prices offset a bad day for pharmaceutical stocks. The index was down 1.39 points, to 7386.63.

Burberry was a big winner after a key broker said the luxury retailers bad days are now behind it. Credit Suisse  highly rated for its recommendation accuracy  upgraded the stock to neutral from underperform.

It said the 100m of savings made by the firm last year have reduced earnings uncertainty.

Although it said the stock is being undervalued, it withheld more positive ratings on concerns it is unlikely to become more creative or cut further costs until November. Shares rose 1.4 per cent, or 23p, to 1648p.

Howler: British gas owner Centrica was downgraded from JPMorgan

British Gas owner Centrica had another howler after being hit by a downgrade from JPMorgan.

The banks analysts slapped the firm with an underweight rating, citing evidence that a price war is emerging in the UK gas market.

As well as going ex-dividend, the firm was also held back by news that the Labour party plans to campaign for a partly public-owned energy market.

Shares were hit earlier this week when Theresa May reiterated her commitment to introducing an energy price cap.

Shares fell 5.4 per cent, or 11p, yesterday to 192.2p, and are now down 17.9 per cent so far this year.

Mysquar offers a mobile messaging application in Myanmar

Debt buyer Arrow Global Group jumped after revealing a near-40pc jump in profits over the first three months of the year.

The firm, which purchases, collects and services non-performing loans saw profits reach 19.3m, up from 7.6m last year, while revenues grew 45pc to 64.5m. Shares rose 5pc, or 19.25p, to 408.5p.

In small cap-land, social media firm Mysquar returned to its recent growth run following a brief sell-off yesterday.

Focused on the market in Myanmar in Asia, Mysquar offers a mobile messaging application.

Shares rose 22.8 per cent, or 0.82p, to 4.45p. A recent rally for the stock was helped along last week when it announced that it had reached daily revenue of nearly 4,000.

Advertising firm Spaceandpeople rocketed after its update for the first four months of the year, with strong sales in its UK promotions division.

It expects to report profits of 1.1m for 2017 alongside earnings per share of around 4.5p.

Shares rose 45.1 per cent, or 11.5p, to an eight-month high of 37p.
Investors voicing their anger at the executive pay at British firms may well want to cast an eye at the whopping perks handed out to bosses at motor giant Ford.

At its annual general meeting yesterday shareholders voiced their grievances after bosses took home a combined 43m last year  including payouts for a private jet and personal security.

Chief executive Mark Fields took home 17m in 2016, 2.3m more than what he had earned in 2016 and 224,000 of which went towards the use of a private jet.

Fatter cats: Ford bosses took home a combined 43m last year

Bill Ford Jr, executive chairman and great-grandson of Ford founder Henry Ford, was paid 10.1m, including 147,000 for a private jet and 698,000 for security.

Joe Hinrichs, executive vice president, made 5.4m as did Jim Farley, president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Bob Shanks, chief financial officer, made 4.6m.

The use of private jets at Ford is eye-opening because it symbolises a return to better fortunes for the firm.

In 2007, as the global financial crisis took hold, Fields was criticised for using the company private jet for taking weekend flights home to Florida from the Ford head office in Detroit.

Shareholders criticised the payouts amid a poor share price performance at companys first ever webcast annual meeting.

Last month electric car company Tesla overtook Ford in value

One investor called the performance pathetic and questioned how the board could continue to support Fields.

The automaker is facing sharp questions about its strategy as shares have fallen about 36 percent since Fields became chief executive on July 1, 2014.

Last month electric car company Tesla overtook the firm and General Motors to become the most valuable carmaker in America.

Fields has been pouring billions into self-driving cars and ride-sharing experiments as its traditional-car business has struggled far more than crosstown rival General Motors Co. in a slowing U.S. market.

Executive chairman Ford Jr told shareholders: Look, were as frustrated as you are by the stock price. People have said, Does the Ford family care about the stock price? The short answer is yes, a lot. Most of our net worth is tied up in the company.
Exactly a fortnight ago, two of Britain's biggest banking groups - Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland - suffered problems with their systems which meant customers struggled to access accounts online - and at the latter, some saw payments 'vanish'.

In a world where branches are closing and customers are increasingly encouraged into banking online, this is a major headache for both parties  and it's not the first time it's happened.

Both Lloyds and RBS have millions of current account customers who will rightly want to know what happened to cause the outage, especially on a day that was for many payday.

Outage: Customers at both NatWest and RBS experienced problems accessing their accounts in the last Friday of April

As for the cause, at the time of the problems, the banks simply said they were investigating. In the two weeks since, I have on several occasions asked the pair of high street giants for their explanation of the outage.

I believe customers have the right to know what caused the problems in order to determine whether to switch elsewhere.

We speculated that the problems could have simply been that they were swamped with customers eager to check accounts on what was payday for many, or the more sinister option: a cyber-attack.

But a fortnight on, the banks have been worryingly silent. RBS, which also owns NatWest, saw customers struggling to access accounts online while others saw payments 'vanish' on Friday 28 April - and it lasted into the weekend.

A few days after the outage, I was told by an RBS spokesman: 'I'll speak with the team and see if there's likely to be an answer. But I'm not sure if/when there may be anything.'

That response irked me. How can there not be any indication to the cause? So I continued to chase.

The last I heard - this Wednesday - from RBS is that it is still investigating and it is likely to be something 'very technical'.

It doesn't fill me with confidence. This week, it revealed it is shedding 246 jobs, mostly technology-related ones based in London.

The union Unite claims many roles at the bank, 72 per cent owned by the taxpayer, are being transferred to India.

One reader on our original article, summed it up for many: 'In my town, we have just been told that our NatWest branch is closing in September.

'We are told not to worry because we can all switch to internet or telephone banking and there will still be local branches (If you call 17 miles away "local").

'I have had my account since 1965 but I will not be using internet or telephone banking because of problems such as reported here.'

I will continue to badger for an official reason behind the problems.

Tight-lipped: Lloyds told This is Money that it is not going on record with the cause of the problems

Lloyds  which also encompasses Bank of Scotland and Halifax  told me simply that it's not going to go on the record over the cause.

It argues that customers only had to wait 30 seconds to two minutes to access their accounts while no payments were affected. It had similar problems in January.

The only conclusions I can draw from the above is that the banks, for whatever reason, do not want their customers to know what is causing their IT systems to creek.

I think the likelihood is that the sheer weight of customers heading to the websites at the same time put a strain on their servers, which causes a jam.

But if that is the reason, why won't the banks be honest and transparent and give its customers  encouraged to bank online  an official reason and an indication as to what they will do in the future to prevent it happening again?

It's not good enough.

If I was a customer of either, I would call and ask what caused the problems  and if the answer is not satisfactory, I'd look elsewhere.
Two bike-borne men pumped 5 bullets into Babloo Dubey's body and he dies on the spot.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Notorious gangster Babloo Dubey, who was involved in several cases of kidnapping and murder in north Bihar, was shot dead by unidentified assailants inside the Bettiah court premises.

The shoot-out that took place inside the court saw criminals pumping 5 bullets into Dubey's body. Dubey died on the spot even before he could be taken to hospital.

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According to sources, two motorcycle-borne criminals attacked the gangster.

Dubey, who was lodged in Bettiah jail for the last few months was brought to Bettiah Court for a hearing in connection with murder of Jawahar Sah, a mukhiya. Dubey was the right-hand man of dreaded gangster Santosh Jha.

CASES AGAINST BABLOO DUBEY

Jha group was involved in killing of two engineers in Darbhanga two years back. Dubey was also involved in the sensational kidnapping of Nepal-based business tycoon Suresh Kedia from Birganj last year.

It was after sustained efforts of the police that Kedia was recovered from the clutches of the kidnappers. The killing of Babloo Dubey is prima facie being seen a result of rivalry with other gang.

Also read: Bihar woman, reportedly killed for dowry, found living with lover; husband in jail

Also read: Delhi man arrested for killing live-in partner, was accused in 20 cases of murder, extortion

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

--- ENDS ---
Four militants blew themselves up inside the house when the police tried to enter the house.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Five militants and a firefighter were killed in suicide blasts on Thursday during a security raid on a suspected militant hideout in Bangladesh's Rajshahi district, a police official said.

According to local media reports, among the 5 killed militants 2 were women. The deceased fireman was identified as Abdul Latin.

Police raided the hideout, about 200 miles (120 km) west of Dhaka, after a tip-off. According to the police, security forces surrounded a house early Thursday morning.

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POLICE OPERATION

The operation began around 3:00 am early today. Police repeatedly asked the militants to surrender but they refused to do so.

"Four militants blew themselves when the police tried to enter the house where members of the banned Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group were holed up," a police official said. Two policemen have been hospitalised with injuries sustained during the attack.The injured SI Utpal and Constable Tajul Islam were being treated at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

The militants are believed to be the owner of the house Sajjad Hossain, his wife Beli, two sons Alamin and Shoaib and daughter Kareema. Sajjad's another daughter, Sumaiya was seen sitting in the field in front of the house at that time.

After 3 hours, she surrendered to the police. Police said Sumaiyar' 8-year-old son came out of the house with 3-month-old sister before the attack. Later police took them away.

The Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was blamed for the deadly July 1, 2016, attack on a cafe in Dhaka, which killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

In another incident, at least two suspected militants were killed on Sunday after police raided a house in Jhenidah district.

CRACKDOWN ON MILITANTS

Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on militants specially after the Dhaka cafe attack.

The Islamic State has claimed several attacks in Bangladesh, but the government rejects the presence of foreign terrorist groups in the moderate Muslim-majority country, blaming home-grown groups such as the neo-JMB for terrorist attacks.

(With inputs from agencies)

Also read: Bangladesh: Imam of Ahmadiyya community attacked in a mosque

Also read: Indian worker dies under mysterious circumstances in Bangladesh

--- ENDS ---
A block at the University of Swaziland, Kwaluseni Campus.

MBABANE  UNISWA Assistant Registrar Sandile Hlophe has been charged with alleged sexual abuse of female students.

UNISWA is the acronym for University of Swaziland.



Hlophe, who is based in the IT Department, is alleged to have started sexually abusing the female students within the learning institution, Kwaluseni Campus, since 2013.



After intense investigations the leadership of the learning institution slapped Hlophe with three charges of sexual harassment

This, after some of the female students came out of the closet to report how they were allegedly sexually abused by the assistant registrar.



In their different statements, they alleged that when they required services from Hlophes department, he would make sexual advances.

Hlophe would allegedly ask for hugs, kisses and sometimes show the students his private parts. These are allegations contained in the reports submitted by the affected female students to the management of the university, whose veracity is still to be tested.



Hlophe is due to be taken for a disciplinary hearing after being formally charged.

In a detailed report, one of the students alleged that Hlophe started sexually abusing her since 2013. The names of the students will not be disclosed due to the sensitivity of the matter.



The student narrated that it was during the second semester examinations period when she forgot her exam card. She said she then went to Hlophes office for help.



Before he provided a new card for me, he ordered me to kiss him and I refused. The door was locked, he delayed offering me the service I was asking, for, but after some time he assisted me and opened the door. He did not receive the kiss as demanded from me, alleged the student.



According to the student, she reported the incident during the faculty meeting and she was assured that something was to be done to stop the harassment.

The student, who is a faculty representative, mentioned that because other students were still reporting the continued alleged harassment to her, she felt it was important to make it formal.



She pointed out that she was not sure what transpired in previous years before she came.

There are many other victims of harassment but they fear victimisation, only three students agreed to sign since they were also victims, she stated.



She alleged that some of the females students now asked their friends to accompany them every time they needed assistance from Hlophes office because they feared that they would be victims. These are allegations whose veracity is yet to be tested.

Problems

Another student alleged that she encountered problems when registering for her first year at UNISWA, since she was on the third list in that academic year. The list allegedly came late.

She mentioned that she went to Hlophes office and explained everything to him and he allegedly asked her where she stayed. In response, the student told him that she resided at Ngwane Park, Manzini.

Hlophe is said to have in turn told the student that he also resided at Ngwane Park.

Afterwards, he asked me to hug him and I did like anyone in my situation could have done. He squeezed me and said the way I am so tiny I remind him of his wife, and that his wife was also tiny like me, alleged the student.

She alleged that Hlophe then slipped his hands down to her bums and started touching them and that was when she pulled back.

Hlophe is alleged to have then asked the student if she was busy for the rest of that day and she allegedly told him that she had to attend classes until 4pm. He said he also knocked-off at 4pm, and that I should come back to his office and I agreed to that and left, but did not come back because I could not look at him the same way after that incident, alleged the student.

Another student also claimed to have been scared to tell anyone about her experience with Hlophe.

Stated

Narrating her ordeal, allegedly in the hands of Hlophe, the student stated that in January 2017, she came to the university to get her first semester results.

She said the secretary of the Social Science Faculty was not in her office, so the tutor directed her to the Academic Office because that was where the Credit System results were kept.

She claimed that when she got into Hlophes office he showed her a copy of the results on his computer screen.

According to the student, Hlophe allegedly started fondling her inappropriately and claimed that he was congratulating her on her results.

I was scared to tell anyone and only found the courage to talk about it after I heard the faculty representative talking about it on our WhatsApp group, alleged the affected student.

In conclusion, she mentioned that she hoped the management of the learning institution would address the matter as soon as possible to help other female students who had been in the same situation.
By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Does anyone know the price the government of the day in Rajasthan has put on lives lost in the ghastly incident that happened in Bharatpur? The one that ensnared 24 lives. It's Rs 2 lakh per dead person that is supposed to reach the family from the CM relief fund. And yes, another Rs 2 lakh by the way of Prime Minister relief fund. Go and tell this to Rajbir Singh, an onduty police constable, who has returned home on hearing about the death of his 17-year-old son, Krishna Kumar. A promising young lad who, the family tells, could have brought great laurels. If you do, all you are likely to get in return is a blank stare enough to look at you and then through you, as if staring at nothingness.

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Why is it that these governments have to wake up after accidents happen, after mishaps consume lives and after people's lives get shattered forever? Is it because, it's not the ministers' or their bosses' kith and kin who are at the receiving end of such criminal flouting of norms? Why do committees get formed, investigations get ordered, ministers and bureaucrats pay visits, actions are promised after tragedies have ruined lives? And for what good? Does the ruling class ever learn lessons in this country?

Why is the fact that so many marriage venues are operating without valid licences being talked about after the Bharatpur tragedy has devoured several lives, many young ones at that? Could it not have been known that certain venues are not capable of holding beyond a certain capacity and will, in all likelihood, collapse if pressure is exerted beyond a point? Is it not the duty of the present government to prevent such tragedies from occurring, to book those who have been flouting the norms and ensure the rule of law? Isn't it a sad reflection on the Governments and the lot of politicians of this country, if they have to be almost always reactive? Why are they masters at being utter failure at preempting these man-made disasters which can be easily averted?

On Wednesday evening, around 800 guests gathered at the Annapurna marriage venue with little idea about what was in-store for them. Suddenly, strong winds brought heavy rains and hailstorm with them. Scores of trees got uprooted and power supply got disrupted in the area plunging the open - air venue into complete darkness. In a bind over this sudden change of events and with not too many options at hand, the guests began taking shelter alongside the huge, but already dilapidated wall which fell soon enough to cause mayhem in the minutes that followed. Shrieks of loud cries went out as people, both young and old, women and children got entrapped. But there was no one to hear them for those several crucial minutes that they lied beneath those bricks.

A pall of gloom has descended on Sevar Road in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district. The families of Asha and Dharmendra Saini are a shattered lot. Till yesterday, the two clans were preparing themselves, pepping up for a wedding intended to be solemnized with much celebration and fanfare in the presence of their loved ones. Except, it was never meant to be.

Gross callousness coupled with cruel twist of fate has changed the course of their lives. Perhaps forever. The tragedy that struck Annapurna Marriage Home, the wedding venue in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district, left six dead in bride's family and as many injured. It also led to one death in groom's family and several were injured.

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Asha Saini happens to be the third of the four sisters from the Saini family which stays in Malipura area, hardly two and a half km from the wedding venue. Her younger sister, yet unmarried, tells that her 21-year-old sister had been planning for the D-Day for a long time. Her family had got the walls of the house painted with names of the bride and the groom printed on the entrance wall outside in bold, colourful letters. But it was not meant to turn out, as planned. The Wednesday night tragedy that struck the wedding venue meant the final rituals including the pheras were completed today morning at home. In what was meant to be a celebration of a new beginning turned out to be a sombre affair with those involved devastated by last night's events. After the completion of the customary rituals, the groom left with the bride for Jaipur, unable to fathom the cruel twist of fate.

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Krishna Kumar, the 17-year-old son of police personnel Rajbir Singh, had gone to Asha's wedding with other family members but never returned home alive.

Tragedy also struck the home of seven years old Prince who had gone to the wedding venue along with his mother, Anuradha. The mother - son duo are now no more, killed like many others on that fateful night at that unenviable venue by criminal callousness more than anything else. In their pucca home, India Today spotted Prince's grandfather, who had all, but sunk in into the charity. He rued the time when he left the wedding venue with Prince'e elder brother in tow and left behind the younger one to come later with his mother. Except that he was never to come back on his feet. Prince's father now lies on the hospital bed with grievous head injuries fighting a battle of his own. The elder brother realizes he will never get to go to school again with his younger sibling.

At their homes where myriad forms of tragedy have arrived unannounced, those left behind have been mourning their dead in a sombre state. However, there is seething anger too. At how cheap the lives of the poor have become in this country. And how little is expected to change despite the blatant indifference that has brought about unimaginable grief to the loved ones of those involved.

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One has to be with them for a little while to get to that rage beneath the veneer of the sorrow that lies in the open for the world to see.

Also read:

Rajasthan: 24 killed, 28 others injured after wall of wedding hall collapses due to heavy rains in Bharatpur

Bharatpur police arrests one, registers criminal case in wedding hall mishap

--- 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.
ALBANY -- Capital Region business leaders have joined together to create a new fund and support programs to encourage low-income children in the city to go to college.

Launched by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity of Albany and Albany Medical Center, the Collegiate Scholars of Tomorrow program will provide college savings accounts and skill-building programs to third graders in Albany and to graduates of the Baby Institute, a nonprofit that helps prepare children under 3 for school, according to organizers at Albany Med on Thursday.

In the first year, 200 children will receive $200 each, deposited in tax-advantaged 529 college savings accounts, according to Christopher G. Ellis Jr., chairman of Alpha Phi Alpha's George Biddle Kelley Education Foundation. They money might be expected to double by the time the student goes to college.

Perhaps more important than the funds themselves, Ellis said, is planting the idea among parents of preparing for college. Collegiate Scholars skill-building programs will help children prepare for college, and family and friends can make further contributions to the savings accounts.

"If you invest in a young person really early, you can have wider impact," Ellis said. "That was the big idea."

A pilot program, Collegiate Scholars of Tomorrow is established to provide support for five years. If more students need help, Ellis told hundreds of people gathered for the announcement that he would be coming to them for assistance.

The idea came about at a benefit dinner for the education foundation in January 2016, said James J. Barba, the chief executive of Albany Med, who did not attend Thursday's announcement but spoke by video. He challenged Albany business leaders at that dinner to put their money behind the concept on the spot.

Capital Region executives donated nearly $500,000 for the Collegiate Scholars of Tomorrow, and then Texas-based venture capitalist Robert K. Smith matched the funds. Smith is an Alpha Phi Alpha member who previously lived in Albany.

Students who qualify to apply for the scholarship program will have to meet a federal definition of economically disadvantaged, Ellis said. They can attend any school in the city limits, whether public, private, charter or religious.

Third grade was selected because it is the time when students have finished learning to read and are reading to learn, Ellis said.

Even younger children will be eligible if they are graduates of the Baby Institute. Albany Med last year announced four years of financial and administrative support to the grassroots organization, which helps parents improve their children's chances in school.

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DeLaine Wilson and her daughter attended the Baby Institute, where founder Noelene Smith taught the mom ways to support her child's development and language skills. Wilson said she was pleased to learn the new scholarship program would be available to children like her daughter, who is now in first grade.

Wilson knew even before attending the Baby Institute that she wanted her daughter to go to college, but didn't know how to pave the way there.

"I just didn't have a plan," she said.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) The Competition Commission has ordered a detailed probe against major telecom players for allegedly trying to block the entry of newcomer Reliance Jio, according to sources.

The fair trade regulators decision comes on a complaint filed against leading incumbent players -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular -- and industry body COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India).

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A senior official said the regulator has decided to investigate allegations of unfair business practices made against the incumbent telecom players.

Sources said the regulator would also examine the overall conduct of the COAI, especially since the allegations of anti- competitive practices have been made against three of its key members.

The probe by the Director General (DG) has been ordered for allegedly trying to restrict the entry of Reliance Jio, the official added. DG is the investigation arm of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Cases where the watchdog finds prima-facie evidence of competition norms violations are referred to the DG for detailed probe.

When contacted for comments on the CCI ordering the probe, an Airtel spokesperson said, "We have not received any such communication from the CCI and would, therefore, not be able to comment."

"We have already stated that we have always responded with alacrity and provided a staggering quantum of PoIs (Point of Interconnections) to Reliance Jio in record time," the spokesperson added.

Emails sent to Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio did not elicit any response.

"Though we have not seen the order as it has not been published yet, we are disappointed at the apparent news (if confirmed), that the CCI has decided to go forward with an investigation into the complaint filed by Reliance Jio," COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said.

"We believe the COAI and its members will be fully vindicated in the matter and truth will prevail," he said.

Last year, billionaire Mukesh Ambanis venture Reliance Jio stormed into the Indian telecom market - the second largest market globally with 1.2 billion subscribers - with disruptive offerings and has since been at loggerheads with the incumbent operators.

Reliance Jio had accused incumbent players of not providing sufficient network connectivity (leading to call failures on its network) while the latter countered the claims saying the newcomer was unleashing "tsunami" of free traffic from its mobile network.

The two sides have also clashed on other contentious issues like free voice and data offers, and customised retention plans.

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Sources said the watchdog has concluded that dominant telecom players allegedly colluded and used the platform of COAI to deny point of interconnection to Reliance Jio. The COAIs role would be looked at in the context of Section 3 of the Competition Act that pertains to anti- competitive agreements.

It is pertinent to mention here that Reliance Jio, last year, had filed two complaints of anti-competitive practices against the COAI as well as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

According to the official cited earlier, a decision with respect to complaints filed by the incumbents against Reliance Jio is yet to be taken. It was alleged that the new entrant was indulging in predatory pricing ways. So far, the regulator is believed to be of the view that only an established or dominant player can resort to predatory pricing. PTI MBI RAM MKJ

--- ENDS ---
TROY -- Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino's decision not to seek re-election to a fifth term Thursday sent fellow Republicans racing to build support for a campaign and Democrats trying to capitalize on a chance to grab the seat.

Jimino immediately endorsed Republican Deputy County Executive Christopher Meyer to succeed her in the $121,300-a-year job.

Meyer and another potential candidate, Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, R-Schaghticoke, were both contacting Republican leaders Thursday to garner support for their campaigns. Their opening moves came as both Republicans and Democrats said they were stunned by Jimino's withdrawal.

"I'm shocked. I didn't expect it," said Brunswick Supervisor Phil Herrington, a Republican, who is backing Meyer.

"I was surprised. She really has her heart in the job. She's been a great county executive. Chris is the logical replacement," said Sheriff Patrick Russo, a Republican.

When asked about her reasons for stepping aside after 16 years as county executive and four years as county legislator, Jimino said, "just the realization there's an energy level that I had before that I don't have now."

"After 20 years in elective office, I've not had the time to pursue other interests," said Jimino, 60, who has worked in elected and appointed government positions for a total of 39 years.

Richard Crist, a spokesman for the county Legislature's GOP majority and Schodack town leader said, "This is a moment when Republicans across the county have the initiative to work together as a team behind a strong candidate. He cited McLaughlin, Meyer, Nassau Supervisor David Fleming and North Greenbush Supervisor Lou Desso as possible candidates.

Fleming said he is weighing his options and had been contacted by McLaughlin and Meyer. Fleming said Jimino has backed the town on the Dewey Loeffel landfill.

Desso said he has no plans to run for county executive. 'I've received several calls asking about my interest in the county executive race. While I am certainly humbled and flattered, my heart is in North Greenbush," Desso said.

Meyer and McLaughlin are expected to officially kickoff their campaigns next week. A first step is dealing with the Pittstown and Poestenkill Republican committees, meeting Thursday night to consider endorsements.

"I'm looking to continue the great work we've had going," said Meyer who joined Jimino's staff in 2004. He's worked as the county spokesman and oversees many operations including labor relations and the work on the county's new emergency communications system.

McLaughlin has gained attention for his unrelenting criticism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He said he's looking forward to moving into the county executive post for the opportunity it would provide in continuing to stand up to fight for county taxpayers in opposing unfunded state programs and to make changes.

"Chris is a terrific guy. I would like to keep him as deputy," McLaughlin said.

County Democrats also were caught off guard. They haven't put up a challenger for the job in the last three elections.

But the party has an enrollment edge. Of the county's 104,539 registered voters 32,463 are Democrats, 31,469 are unaffiliated, 26,128 are Republicans and 14,479 are minor party members.

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"It was an easy win for her. That changes things," County Legislature Minority Leader Peter Grimm, D-Troy, said. "Democrats have some homework to do. I have not entertained a thought about it," Grimm said about entering the race.

"We have been actively looking for candidates," said Troy Democratic Chairwoman Carol Weaver.

Some Democrats have mentioned Grimm, Sand Lake Supervisor Flora Fasoldt and Judith Enck, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator, as possible candidates.

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden said he has no interest in running to succeed his sister.

"She's a role model for good government. My interest in politics is only as deep as Troy," said Madden, expressing mixed emotions Jimino's departure.

The Democrats' numbers have been blunted by Jimino's electoral popularity and work ethic.

East Greenbush Supervisor Jack Conway, a Democrat elected on the East Greenbush First ticket two years ago, said the county executive has been helpful in dealing in with situations. Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyer, a Democrat, said, "She's done a fantastic job with the county finances for the taxpayers."

Jimino is known for her budget work. The only race she lost was a narrow defeat in a campaign for Troy mayor. In her announcement, Jimino stressed her work in providing services to county residents while controlling spending.

"We worked very hard to delivers services in a cost effective manner to benefit county taxpayers and to balance their ability to pay against the demands the state imposed unfairly on our taxpayers," Jimino said.

After leaving office, Jimino said she would volunteer. She said she has no job offers and isn't seeking any. Jimino and her husband Vince live in Lansingburgh. They have two daughters and two grandchildren.
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ALBANY  City officers seized two illegal handguns Wednesday night during a raid and an unrelated traffic stop, police said.

Detectives raided 1215 Broadway at about 7:30 p.m., Albany police spokesman Officer Steve Smith said.

The city police's community response unit  which investigates drugs, gangs and illegal guns  lead the search, Smith said.

Inside, officers allegedly found Jaime Mosley, 36, of Albany with four ounces marijuana and a loaded .45 caliber handgun, Smith said.

Mosley was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of marijuana and two counts of felony criminal possession of a weapon.

Just over an hour later, officers stopped a car on the corner of First Street and North Hawk Street after the driver allegedly failed to signal a turn, Smith said.

Neither the driver or the passenger  27-year-old Roger Chapman of Albany  had a license, so police towed the car, Smith said.

Police search every car before they tow it in order to create an inventory of the belongings inside, Smith said. During their search, officers found a loaded .45-caliber handgun under Chapman's seat, Smith said.

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The driver, who was not identified, was ticketed for driving without a license and failure to signal, Smith said.

Chapman is charged with one count of misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of felony criminal possession of a weapon. Chapman was also ticketed for unlawful possession of marijuana.

Chapman and Mosley were arraigned and charged with counts of criminal possession of a weapon based on prior convictions that barred them from having the weapons, Smith said.
TROY  It took 19th century infrastructure mixed with 21st century technology for city officials to discover their 20th century zoning rules aren't ready to deal with evolving communications networks.

The situation that led Mobilitie, a privately-owned telecommunications infrastructure company, to erect 75-foot tall wooden poles in the city right-of-way then remove them resulted from the city's out-of-date zoning regulations.

Mobilitie representatives told the City Council Wednesday night that the company worked with the city code and building departments a year ago to get permission to put in the poles. Deputy Mayor Monica Kurzejeski said the poles were treated as typical utility poles when they weren't. Utility pole wires were first used in the 19th century for telegraphs.

"The problem should have been dealt with a year ago," Kurzejeski said.

Mobilitie is installing a system to provide denser coverage for modern data transmission. The goal is to fill in current coverage holes in the city for Sprint while preparing for the eventual launch of 5G communications in 2020.

Work on the system halted after City Council members questioned the appearance of the poles on city streets. Councilman Mark McGrath said it was the questions that led to a deal for the city and a contract.

"You would have thought the company would have gone to the mayor or deputy mayor instead of working with an engineer two," McGrath said referring to a civil service classification of city employees.

Kurzejeski said Mayor Patrick Madden has been in contact with the New York Conference of Mayors which is working on issues dealing with regulations being outstripped by the speed of technology advancements.

The city will have to update its zoning code to deal with modern telecommunications, the deputy mayor said.

Council President Carmella Mantello said the council may be able to vote on a contract with Mobilitie at its June meeting. The council tabled the agreement in April in order to conduct the meeting with Mobilitie Wednesday night.

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Danielle Lam of Mobilitie led the company's team through the discussion. It included a review of the five-year contract which will pay the city $32,500 annually with a one-time administrative payment of $2,500 the first year.

Peter Jeffrey of Mobilitie discussed the placement of the system throughout the city. As a result of negotiations between the city and the company the number of locations has dropped to 17 from 23.

And Mobilitie won't rely on poles. The company will use the Fifth Avenue and State Street garages as installation points as well as existing poles.

Instead of 75-foot poles that would have dotted the city, it appears the tallest pole will be about 45-feet high. Mantello asked the company to seek an alternative to a pole on Hutton Street, which some residents do not like.
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Colonie

She opened the internship letter from IBM addressed to her, back in 1987, when she was an electrical engineering major at the University of Vermont.

"I was so excited. I read it so fast I thought it said photography," said Debra Leach, GlobalFoundries' senior director for global supply management. "It was actually photolithography."

She also didn't know that letter would lead to a 24-year career with IBM, and, now, GlobalFoundries.

More Information Tips that work Some tips GlobalFoundries' Debra Leach shared with Women@Work members included: Be careful of "hanging out too long" in your comfort zone. Work on the big problems because exposure matters. Results should not come at the expense of others. Develop self-reflection. Work with mentors. Seek out feedback and learn how to give it. Not a member of Women@Work? Sign up at TUWomenatwork.com - and tell a friend. See More Collapse

"I can't say I had a grand plan but I did have a natural ability in math and science," she casually told a crowd of several dozen women on Wednesday at the fifth in a series of "Straight Talk" breakfasts held by the Times Union's Women@Work magazine and networking group. Approximately 30 new Women@Work members from the Society of Women Engineers attended the talk held at the newly opened Hearst Media Center, along with at least 50 other regular members.

Leach first shared how results should not come at the expense of others.

"Sometimes I (would) get results at the cost of anyone," Leach said. "I did that a lot early in my career and I was very successful. I was a good bad cop for anybody. I was pulled into that role a lot."

But she warned others that "the sharp elbows" will follow you and you can risk being labeled uncooperative and difficult to work with. "I was out there getting results and sometimes I wanted it with speed and wanted it the way I wanted it," she reflected. "I wish I could rewrite that book."

Leach, who joined GlobalFoundries in 2014, also currently serves as the executive lead for Malta's Fab 8 GLOBALWOMEN program, which helps women advance through mentoring, networking, and leadership events. Most recently, she was selected as an honoree for the 2016 STEP Ahead Awards by the Manufacturing Institute in Washington, D.C.

Even though she's a woman working in a field noticeably dominated by men, she said for her career challenges were not so much about being a minority in the room.

"I wasn't the meek person in the corner," she said, adding she struggles more with doubting herself.

Mentoring has helped her with those sorts of career challenges.

"For me it was a motivator in pushing myself along," she said. "I like women as mentors. That can be hard when there are only 20 percent women in your career."

She said she always tries to have one person who is a formal mentor.

"They are never going to say 'no,' " she told the crowd, about asking people to be their mentors. "I think women have a reluctance to ask. I use mentoring a lot. Some of the hardest situations I've been through I've worked through with mentors."

As far as the advice Leach had for women moving from technical positions into management, she said you have to "change how you think and how you spend your time."

She said she looks at GlobalFoundries' revenue goal and how her team can help with that. It also means learning how to:

Manage people,

Lead leaders,

Be open to change, and

Set priorities  and then being able to throw them out in a week if need be.

Among the many other questions she responded to during the event, Leach addressed the issue of bringing more girls into the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

"I would tell you I think it's important to open the doors for girls and keep the stereotypes out," she said. "That's where the tracking starts. I think you have to get them to be confident in those (math and science) classes."

But she also thinks STEM has "got to be cool" to attract younger people to the field.
EVENT

You can treat Mom to songs about women's suffrage this Mother's Day. In "NY Women: Singing for Suffrage," Peggy Lynn, Annie Rosen, Toby Stover and Susan Trump tell the story of the New York women who were at the forefront of the suffrage movement. The songs gave women a voice at a time when they weren't permitted to speak in public. Instead, they wore buttons, printed banners and postcards and marched in parades to push for passage of what became the 19th Amendment. A question-and-answer session will follow the 50-minute performance. 7 p.m. Sunday. $12.50-$25. Caffe Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs. 583-0022; http://www.caffelena.org

MUSIC

Good Charlotte is back. The pop-punk act, which first became popular in the early 2000s, released "Youth Authority" in 2016their first album since 2010. Original members Joel and Benji Madden and bassist Paul Thomas are still in the band. And Benji is a married man; his wife is actress Cameron Diaz. The band played a mix of new songs and hits at April shows in England and Canada, including "The Anthem," "Girls & Boys" and "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," according to Setlist.com. Less Than Jake and Crown the Empire will open for Good Charlotte when they come to Clifton Park this week. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. $32. Upstate Concert Hall, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park. 371-0012; http://upstateconcerthall.com

STAGE

Magnolias are set to bloom in Latham. "Steel Magnolias," that is. The classic comedy about Southern women  beautiful but tough  shows up just before the heat of summer. The show's a good bet if you're looking for an evening of laughter or a night out with the girls. Opens 8 p.m. Friday and continues through June 24. Curtain Call Theatre, 210 Old Loudon Road, Latham. $24. 877-7529; http://www.curtaincalltheatre.com.
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Kelly and Mark Mulholland were supposed to grow old together. Instead, every Mother's Day, Mark and the couple's children send letters to heaven and gather hundreds of people to run and walk in Kelly's memory.

Proceeds from the Mother Lovin' Day 5K go to Kelly's Angels, a nonprofit Mark and a group of friends started to help children who have lost a parent to cancer. It was only fitting: Kelly loved children. The run, now in its fifth year, is a celebration of mothers every Mother's Day in the Saratoga Spa State Park. It is the nonprofit's only major fundraiser.

The run is one of the ways Kelly still shines through, nearly a decade after she died of breast cancer.

Mark, a longtime reporter at WNYT NewsChannel 13, and Kelly, a teacher, both grew up in the Capital Region. Long before they met, Mark knew Kelly as the beautiful woman all the guys wanted to go out with. He had a crush on her, but he didn't want to be just another guy looking for her attention. Eventually, under pressure from friends, they spoke on the phone for the first time. The call ended abruptly when Kelly had a coughing fit.

More Information 5K race The Mother Lovin' Day 5K starts at 9 a.m. Sunday. Online registration is closed, but runners and walkers may register for $30 at the Orenda Pavilion, Saratoga Spa State Park, on the day of the race. To learn more about Kelly's Angels or to apply for a fun grant, go to http://www.kellysangelsinc.org/ See More Collapse

"I thought she was just looking for a reason to end our conversation," Mark said. "Turns out she was having a coughing fit, and had them often."

But they started dating, and soon started laughing together over that first phone call. They laughed a lot together, he said.

"She was easy to fall in love with  gorgeous, kind, compassionate, eager to laugh  even at herself," he said. They married on July 19, 1997.

Kelly was diagnosed with breast cancer just after her 32nd birthday. The couple's daughter, McKenna, was just a few months old; their son, Connor, was 2. The cancer came out of nowhere, Mark said. Kelly had no family history of the disease.

"We never thought she was going to die," Mark said. "It was always, 'When she gets better ... .'"

When chemotherapy caused Kelly's thick brown hair to fall out, she shaved her head.

"She came home with a wig on, and sat with McKenna on the floor, then pulled the wig off," Mark recalled. "The look on McKenna's face  'What, where's my mom? My mom was just here!'"

Traditional treatments didn't work, and the cancer metastasized to her lungs and bones. Mark and Kelly, by then dependent on an oxygen tank, flew to Mexico so she could undergo alternative treatments. When they returned to Albany, Kelly was running out of oxygen. She was rushed to Albany Medical Center, where the doctors told Mark she didn't have long to live.

"I had to tell her she was going to die," Mark said. They spent the night together in the hospital, crying together. The next day, Mark went home and sat down at the kitchen table with Connor and McKenna, then 5 and 7.

"Mommy's not going to get better," he said. "She's going to heaven."

"I asked them if they knew what that meant, and they said they did. And then they sat there for a moment," he said. "And then they said, 'Can we have our snack now?'"

Mark laughed, because although Connor and McKenna have felt the pain of losing their mother nearly all their lives, life goes on. Kids grow and learn and, hopefully, smile again.

"The night Kelly died, I thought, 'OK, today everything changes.' My goal was for the kids to have everything they needed. It wasn't their fault. It was no one's fault  they lost a parent," Mark said.

Kelly died just after her 37th birthday, on Oct. 17, 2007. She's been gone almost 10 years. Her children look just like her, with their father's lighter coloring. McKenna, a freshman at Saratoga Springs High School, is a starting pitcher on the JV softball team. Connor, a junior, recently bought his own car and celebrated his confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church. He is one of the founders of the high school entrepreneur club, and serves on the Kelly's Angels board of directors.

When Connor and McKenna were little, Mark hired a woman to come to the house when the kids got off the bus from school and stay until he could get home from work. Mark said that WNYT, where he has worked for 20 years, has provided the flexibility he needed to raise two kids by himself. He has dated but has not remarried, although he is open to the possibility.

During the hard times, Mark said he prays for patience. Cancer took his sister, Daniela Mulholland, a few months ago.

Kelly's Angels was launched in 2008. Mark said Kelly, who was an elementary school teacher in Saratoga Springs when she got sick, had hoped to do something similar. The nonprofit takes requests for "fun grants," and gives away money that kids have used to buy guitars, game systems and trips. One child received a puppy. This spring, Kelly's Angels donated $3,000 to six Ballston Spa children whose father died from brain cancer.

Mark estimates Kelly's Angels has given away $100,000, all of it donated by local people.

When Kelly's Angels was founded, Mark and the board members focused on families in Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties, but their mission has grown to all of the Capital Region.

"I'd like to be the group that serves all of New York state," he said.

lhornbeck@timesunion.com  518-454-5352  @leighhornbeck
ALBANY -- A 37-year-old Romanian citizen will get four years in prison for working with others to steal account information and PIN numbers from ATM users in the Capital Region, federal prosecutors said.

Ilie Sitariu admitted that from Aug. 30 to Oct. 24, 2015, he and a co-conspirator secretly installed skimmers and pinhole cameras on ATMs at the Chatham branch of First Niagara Bank, the Delmar branch of Trustco Bank, and the Great Barrington, Mass., branch of Berkshire Bank, authorities said.
The report is an unusual contrast, arguing that the Narendra Modi government has been successful in raising India's profile among global investors.

By Ananth Krishnan: China may become "an unfortunate bystander watching India's success" if it does not develop an effective growth strategy to respond to India's increasingly competitive economy, according to a rare warning delivered by a Beijing think-tank.

The report said that "if India intentionally creates a competitive situation in front of global investors, it will pose a challenge for China". It was issued by a Beijing-based private strategic think-tank Anbound, and a summary was carried in Thursday's Global Times newspaper.

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China's state media usually discount India's rise as a potential challenge to the country, and often highlight India's democracy as a disadvantage.

The report was an unusual contrast, arguing that the Narendra Modi government had been successful in raising India's profile among global investors - and even succeeding in bringing in Chinese companies - which could pose a long-term challenge to China, according to the think-tank.

"Generally speaking, India does have the conditions to copy China's economic growth model thanks to its vast size and market, low labour costs and large population, which are all similar to China's conditions. In fact, it added, "global investors are currently undecided. Moreover, there are growing signs that India is succeeding in attracting more and more investment, which China should take seriously."

"The country's vast domestic market, low labour costs and skilled labour market are its most attractive features. As China's demographic dividend diminishes, India, with half of its population below the age of 25, is poised to take advantage," the report said.

CHINESE COMPANIES INVESTING IN INDIA

It also pointed to "an increasing number of Chinese companies" investing in the Indian market, from smartphone firms Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi, for whom India is emerging as the most important market after China, as well as Chinese technology companies that had been successful in introducing products in the Indian market, from UC Browser to SHAREit.

The report said, "It is noteworthy that Chinese companies' investment in India has shifted from simply marketing to research and development (R&D). For instance, Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co invested $170 million to open an R&D facility in Bengaluru, and announced its plan to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign."

INDIA A POTENTIAL CONSUMER GROUP

It drew a parallel with China's own growth story, suggesting that "the changes that are taking place in India may also point to great potential for development." "With a large population of young people, which is not only the labour force but also a potential consumer group, India has the possibility of seeing explosive economic growth in the future. Therefore, we must pay close attention to the development of this unfamiliar neighbour. One of our researchersraised a question: If India decided to copy China, what impact would it have and what should China do? By copying China, India may also develop an internet economy and boost its infrastructure construction, along with investment-driven growth. In other words, India may turn itself into China 2.0, and let global investors decide whether to invest in China or India."

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It bemoaned the fact that few Chinese think-tanks or experts were taking India seriously enough. "It should be pointed out that China has not conducted enough studies on India," the think-tank said. "From the perspective of think tanks, China cannot wait until India grows into an apparently promising competitor before discussing how to deal with the situation. As such, China should develop a more effective growth strategy for the new era or it may become an unfortunate bystander watching India's success. China needs to ponder and study the rise of the Indian economy carefully. With a young population, it is entirely possible for the emerging market economy to become China 2.0 to gain the attention of world capital."

Also read: China has vested interest in mediating between India, Pakistan on Kashmir, says Chinese daily Global Times

Also read: Chinese scientists build world's first quantum computing machine

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WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

--- ENDS ---
Figures released by the Irish Cancer Society show that 377 people in Tipperary were diagnosed with skin cancer last year.

With 23 per cent of skin cancer deaths in Ireland coming from the construction, outdoor and farming industries, Tipperary people are being warned by the Irish Cancer Society to take care over the coming months.

UK research shows that working in the sun could lead to one death and around five melanoma cases a week. The report, published in the British Journal of Cancer, said that construction workers diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer had the highest number of deaths (4 in 10), followed by agriculture workers (over 2 in 10).

The society has teamed up with the IFA and the Construction Industry Federation to urge all outdoor workers to protect their skin and reduce their risk of skin cancer.

Launching the campaign, Kevin OHagan, cancer prevention manager with the Irish Cancer Society, said: These figures from the CSO show that in 2014, we had around one death every week in Ireland that is related to sun exposure at work. Coupled with the research from the UK, it shows just how extensive, and unfortunately fatal, sun damage can be for outdoor workers.

Its vital that we pay heed to this in Tipperary this summer. You dont have to be in a Mediterranean country for the sun to do damage to your skin and Irish people need to wise up to that. It would be really useful if work places whose employees work predominately outdoors did a risk assessment and put in place policy in relation to protection from sun exposure

Every year in Ireland, over 10,000 people are diagnosed with skin cancer, and figures show that 377 people were diagnosed in Tipperary. More men than women were diagnosed with 205 men getting skin cancer compared to 172 women. Whether its sunny or cloudy, everyone should protect their skin and this summer, we can asking people to follow our SunSmart Code for best protection.

The IFA and the CIF have produced a leaflet for their respective members on how to be safe in the sun and how to reduce their risk of skin cancer. The leaflets will be distributed to farming and construction families and at trade events throughout the summer.
Leaders of 28 nations will assemble in Beijing next week for a summit to map out China's ambitious new Silk Road project. China has earmarked $40 billion for a special fund for the scheme.

Map showing the projects subsumed under One Belt, One Road program by China.

By Reuters: When leaders of 28 nations gather in Beijing next week for a summit to map out China's ambitious new Silk Road project, one question is likely to be on attendees' minds - what exactly is the Belt and Road Initiative?

Proposed in 2013 by President Xi Jinping to promote a vision of expanding links between Asia, Africa and Europe underpinned by billions of dollars in infrastructure investment, the project is broad on ambition but still short on specifics.

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China has earmarked $40 billion for a special fund for the scheme, on top of the $100 billion capitalisation for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), many of whose projects will likely be part of the initiative.

But with a confusing name, that officially refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, added to myriad economic and security risks, clouds hang over the plan.

Despite aggressive promotion of the May 14-15 summit in China, including media carrying positive comments from Western leaders, some diplomats are suspicious about China's aims.

SCEPTICISM ABOUT CHINA's PLANS

"There's a lot of scepticism about China's plans. Yes it is the kind of infrastructure that sounds attractive for parts of Europe, but we all know this is about China gaining influence," said a senior European Union diplomat.

One diplomatic source familiar with discussions on the forum's communique said: "The forum is downright glorification of Xi Jinping and One Belt, One Road", using the straight Chinese translation of the project's title.

However, with Donald Trump in the White House pursuing an "America First" agenda, more countries may be pushing for inclusion in China's grand scheme.

"Countries have actually been pressuring China to get an invite rather than the other way around," said a senior Asian diplomat, referring to the summit.

China says that between 2014 and 2016, its businesses signed projects worth $304.9 billion in Belt and Road countries. Some of the projects could be in development for years.

CONFUCIUS AND "WIN-WIN THINKING"

China has taken umbrage at suggestions that the new Silk Road is about it trying to dominate the world and mould it to Beijing's liking, saying it is good for all and anyone can join.

"Western sceptics have failed to see the fact that the Chinese don't harbour a zero-sum mentality, but encourage win-win thinking," Xinhua news agency said in an English-language commentary.

"As Confucius once said: 'He who wants success should enable others to succeed'."

China has, though, outlined its ambitions in Chinese language pieces.

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"This is the China solution for global economic revival," Xinhua said last month of the new Silk Road, in a commentary blazed across the front page of the official People's Daily.

There are risks involved, however.

In Sri Lanka, there have been public protests against projects linked to the Belt and Road, and in Pakistan, where Islamist militants pose a security threat, the government has set up a new army division to protect the $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a key part of the new Silk Road.

The corridor also runs through disputed Kashmir, meaning India has rebuffed China's attempts to get it onto the Belt and Road.

"We have some serious reservations about it because of sovereignty issues," Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in Japan last week.

With China saying the Belt and Road is open to everyone, at least one country not widely seen as a safe investment choice is expected to show up - diplomatically isolated and nuclear-armed North Korea.

The government of Syria is also sending a Cabinet-level minister, the Syrian ambassador to China told Reuters this week.

POLITICS BEFORE ECONOMICS?

There has been almost relentlessly upbeat coverage in China ahead of the Belt and Road Forum, including documentaries on state television and smiling citizens in project countries praising the changes it has brought.

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During the meeting, more than 50 memorandums of understanding, plans, cooperation letters and cooperation projects in transportation, energy and communications will be signed, Chinese government officials say.

"This ... will be a jointly consultative document by all parties to reflect their shared consensus on advancing the Belt and Road," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the summit communique.

Some Chinese experts say politics are being put ahead of economic factors.

"I believe that the national strategy is the top priority; economic considerations are secondary," said an economist at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a Beijing-based think-tank which made initial proposals to set up the AIIB.

He asked not to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the topic.

CAUTION FROM ASIAN NATIONS

There is caution, too, from some Asian countries.

Speaking last week at a meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Japan, Philippine Deputy Central Bank Governor Diwa Guinigundo said it was hard to pre-judge the new Silk Road.

"It is still a vision. You have to translate that into some working parts," Guinigundo said.

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Some Western diplomats have expressed concern in private at the high billing at the summit given to countries with poor human rights records, like Russia and the Philippines.

The diplomatic source familiar with the communique discussions said those talks had been tough, as everyone wanted a say. There had been at least three drafting sessions, one of which lasted 13 hours this week.

The original plan was for a host country press statement, but China changed that to a joint communique, the source said. "The only explanation that one could give is that they want to add weight to this meeting."

Also read | Not changing position on Kashmir because of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, says Beijing

Also read | IIT part of a China-led collaboration of Asian universities to promote Asian values

--- ENDS ---
Well wishers from Tipperary have flocked to Kilkenny today hoping to spot the Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are currently on day two of an official visit to Ireland taking in Dublin, Kilkenny and Kildare marking the couple's third formal trip to Ireland in less than two years.

The couple arrived shortly after 10.30am to Kilkenny Castle to meet with representatives from the world of sport, politics, business and the clergy. From there they visited the local Farmers Market, greeting well wishers who lined the parade.

The royal couple will also visit staff at Grennan Craft School in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny on Thursday afternoon.

Great crowds on The Parade this morning to welcome Charles & Camilla to our great city #Kilkenny @LoveKilkenny pic.twitter.com/heUv13OTPW  Hibernian Hotel (@HibernianHotel) May 11, 2017

Ballingarry native Emma Guilfoyle, who teaches Irish at Grennan College Thomastown, said the town is filled with excitement ahead of Prince Charles and Camilla's visit.

Students line the streets in Thomastown ahead of the royal couples visit. Photo courtesy of Anna Ryan, Thomastown

Photo of royal car taken by Grennan College Thomastown 5th year student Luke Maher whose mother is from Thurles
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[May 10, 2017] GSMA Urges for Lower Spectrum Prices in Bangladesh for Affordable Mobile Broadband Networks

The GSMA (News - Alert) today expressed concerns about the Bangladesh Government's plan to impose higher fees for 4G licensing ahead of the next round of spectrum auctions. The decision would pose a significant challenge to the fulfilment of the "Digital Bangladesh" objectives and impact the future of mobile broadband services in Bangladesh. According to the GSMA, there is instead a need to lower the burden of levies in order to facilitate the deployment of affordable voice and data services for the people of Bangladesh. Mobile operators are already currently liable for multiple taxes and fees that affect growth1. "New research links high spectrum prices with lower quality mobile services. In short, mobile operators have less capital left for new networks and services," said Brett Tarnutzer, Head of Spectrum (News - Alert), GSMA. "Reasonable spectrum fees are key to achieving the Digital Bangladesh objectives. Operators should be able to use their resources to build networks for high-quality mobile services." Spectrum's greatest value is realised when used by mobile technology and devices to provide social and economic opportunity for all of Bangladesh's citizens. In 2015 alone, the mobile industry contributed 6.2 per cent to Bangladesh's GDP2. "The proposal of imposing incremental fees on top of the already-high fees risks deterring operators from acquiring much-needed spectrum. India, Ghana, Mozambique and Senegal all provide recent examples of countries where 4G spectrum has gone unsold," added Tarnutzer. "This would be extremely damaging not only for the Bangladesh mobile ndustry, but also for the country's economy overall, depriving citizens and businesses in India to the full potential of high quality mobile broadband services."



Given the high levels of infrastructure and technology service investments already committed by operators, the GSMA urges the Government to reconsider the 4G spectrum licensing price proposal in order to reflect local market realities and Government goals. Doing so is essential to facilitate the further investment and infrastructure development necessary to achieve a digital Bangladesh. -ENDS-

About the GSMA The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress (News - Alert), Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter (News - Alert): @GSMA. 1 "Effective Spectrum Pricing: Supporting better quality and more affordable mobile services", GSMA report, February 2017 (URL: http://www.gsma.com/spectrum/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Effective-Spectrum-Pricing-Full-Web.pdf) 2 "Economic Impact: Bangladesh Mobile Industry", GSMA report, January 2017 (URL: http://www.gsma.com/spectrum/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Economic-Impact-Bangladesh-Mobile-Industry.pdf) View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510005850/en/

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[May 10, 2017] Congressman Bennie Thompson Announces $180K in Grant Funds

U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson (MS-2) today joined local dignitaries, the city of Vicksburg, BancorpSouth Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) at a home dedication ceremony in the Marcus Bottom neighborhood of Vicksburg, Mississippi. BancorpSouth Bank and FHLB Dallas awarded $180,000 in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) funds to the city of Vicksburg for the repair and rehabilitation of 25 homes in the Marcus Bottom neighborhood. Twenty homes are completed. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510006774/en/ U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson joined local dignitaries, BancorpSouth Bank, the city of Vicksburg and FHLB Dallas at a home dedication ceremony today in the Marcus Bottom neighborhood of Vicksburg, Mississippi. A $180,000 Affordable Housing Program grant helped repair 25 homes in the neighborhood. (Photo: Business Wire) "This is a great example of public and private partnerships, with incentives, working together toward making housing affordable," said Congressman Thompson. "I congratulate all parties involved for a job well done." Other attendees included State Representative Oscar Denton, representing Mississippi's 55th district and Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. "This AHP grant from BancorpSouth and FHLB Dallas contributes to the city of Vicksburg's goal of ensuring the prosperity of the residents of the Marcus Bottom area," said Mayor Flaggs. "Grant programs like the AHP help residents enjoy a higher quality of life and I am thankful to all who make Vicksburg a great place to live." Representative Denton praised Mayor Flaggs, his board, BancorpSouth Bank and FHLB Dallas for their work in the affordable housing sector. "There is a great need for safe, decent and affordable housing in this area," he said. "Thanks to the partnership between public and private entities, 25 families will live more comfortably." AHP grants are available annually through FHLB Dallas member institutions such as BancorpSouth Bank to assist in the development of affordable owner-occupied and rental housing for very low- to moderate-income households located across FHLB Dallas' five-state District of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. In 2016, FHLB Dallas awarded $7.8 million in AHP grants to 27 projects that will result in 1,499 new or renovated housing units.



After the home dedication ceremony, a trolley tour of neighborhood homes assisted by the AHP grant was available to event attendees. Eighty-seven-year-old Marie Smith's home was one that received repairs. AHP grant funds helped repair the roof of her home, which had a leak. The exterior of her home was also painted, roof cable gaps were filled and her window seals were repaired, as well. Ms. Smith, a retired housekeeper now living on a fixed income, said she now pays less for utilities.

"My house is warmer, I pay less for utilities and the house looks pretty now," she said. BancorpSouth Bank Vice President and Community Development Grant Specialist Evelyn Edwards said working with FHLB Dallas helps BancorpSouth Bank support the needs of our communities. "Our efforts involve collaborating with partners like FHLB to help redevelop and revitalize neighborhoods such as Marcus Bottom," said Ms. Edwards. She also said that the AHP helps families continue to live on land that has been passed down from generation to generation. "There's a lot of family-owned land that people maintain because it's been passed down from generation to generation," she said. "Through the AHP, we're helping them keep their dream and inheritance." City of Vicksburg Housing Director Gertrude Young has partnered with FHLB Dallas member institutions to provide affordable housing to Vicksburg residents since 2014 and sees first-hand the positive impact the AHP has on the community. "The AHP helps Vicksburg residents make repairs to their homes they otherwise cannot afford," she said. "Everybody deserves a safe place to live and we are committed to partnering with financial institutions that can make affordable housing accessible to our neighbors." Since 1990, the AHP has awarded more than $254 million for more than 47,000 projects across FHLB Dallas' five-state District. FHLB Dallas First Vice President and Director of Community Investment Greg Hettrick said it's an honor to help BancorpSouth Bank preserve homes in the Marcus Bottom neighborhood. "The AHP was designed for projects such as this one," said Mr. Hettrick. "Not only are we helping our member preserve an area with a rich cultural history, we are also helping repair the homes of residents who really need the help." Ms. Smith looks forward to making new memories in her house. "My house is very old," said Ms. Smith. "I raised my son here. I've been here for about 40 years and now that my house is more comfortable, I think I'll stay another 40 years." About BancorpSouth, Inc. BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS) is a financial holding company headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, with $14.9 billion in assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc., operates 234 full service branch locations as well as additional mortgage, insurance, and loan production offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, including an insurance location in Illinois. BancorpSouth is committed to a culture of respect, diversity, and inclusion in both its workplace and communities. To learn more, visit our Community Commitment page at www.bancorpsouth.com. "Like" us on Facebook; follow us on [email protected]; or connect with us through LinkedIn (News - Alert). About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $57.5 billion as of March 31, 2017, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community investment by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 850 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit fhlb.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510006774/en/

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[May 10, 2017] TimesJobs Deciphers the Idea of a 'Dream Job'

NEW DELHI, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study by TimesJobs reveals key aspirations related to jobseekers' 'dream job'. The result of 1,100 surveyedjobseekers shows that India is the dream job destination and for male jobseekers, engineering is the dream profile while most female jobseekers aspire to become doctors or medical professionals. To provide deeper insights into what professionals desire in their 'dream job', TimesJobs conducted a study with inputs from over 1,100 jobseekers to accurately identify and articulate their career aspirations. India, My India India emerged as the clear winner of the dream destination for jobseekers looking for aspirational career opportunities. Almost 60% of jobseekers see getting their dream job in India and only about 40% seek their dream jobs abroad. Doctor and Engineer Still No.1. While 30% male jobseekers dream of becoming an engineer, an equal percentage of female jobseekers want to be a doctor or join the medical profession.

Nearly 25% male jobseekers want to be a doctor/medical professional, 20% want to be IT professionals, 15% would like to become chartered accountants and 10% are keen to become lawyers.

For female jobseekers, besides the eagerness for becoming a doctor/medical professional, 25% want to be chartered accountants, 20% would like to be IT professionals, 15% want to become engineers and 10% would like to be part of the HR domain. IT, Manufacturing and Healthcare are Industries of Choice With the exponential growth opportunities and hefty compensation packages offered, it is no surprise that nearly 35% jobseekers state the IT industry as their dream sector. This is followed closely by an equal preference for the healthcare (0%) and manufacturing (30%) sectors which offer job security and stable growth.





Miles to Go - Before we Reach

Despite their aspirations, 55% of professionals say they are currently not working in their 'dream role'. Interestingly, while most don't see their current role as the 'dream profile', 70% still consider the industry they are currently working in as their 'dream sector'.

Even then, only 30% feel they are currently working in their 'dream company' while the rest still aspire to join their dream companies.

Of the 30% professionals working in their 'dream company', 60% claim they changed between 3-5 jobs to finally land a job in their dream company. Nearly 20% jobseekers said they changed 2-3 jobs and 15% changed more than 5 jobs. Only 5% say they could join their dream company in their first job.

Of the 70% of jobseekers who haven't been able to get a job in their dream company yet, 75% say they are still looking out for opportunities in the company of their dreams, while 25% say they have given up on the idea. "TimesJobs' study clearly shows that there is a tremendous opportunity for companies to leverage the massive latent ambition that lies dormant in Indian working professionals. Those companies which can tap into this passion and harness this energy will find they are able to grow exponentially, and remain miles ahead of the competition," says Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions. About TimesJobs TimesJobs, a flagship business of Times Business Solutions (TBS), is a platform to help competent professionals make smarter career decisions. With over 25 million registered jobseekers across the board and more than 60 million page views every month, it is fast becoming the most preferred career portal among the candidates. TimesJobs is leading in the recruitment and employment space with its pioneering and dynamic divisions because it successfully meets all the needs of the jobseekers. Its major platforms include: TechGig: India's biggest dais for tech professionals to help them Learn, Showcase and Compete in the IT industry.

India's biggest dais for tech professionals to help them Learn, Showcase and Compete in the IT industry. JobBuzz: A well-known portal that provides information and insights about different companies, job profiles and interview processes.

A well-known portal that provides information and insights about different companies, job profiles and interview processes. StepAhead: StepAhead offers professional resume writing and distribution services, career astrology, and resume improvement to help jobseekers accelerate their career. Also, TimesJobs has the largest collection of jobs in the market, which ensures that whenever and wherever there is a great opportunity; jobseekers will discover it on the platform. In the recruitment market as well, being the biggest platform for competent professionals who think of their careers first, TimesJobs has become the destination of choice for recruiters who seek to engage with the right talent. Media Contact:

Aseem Seth

Head of Corporate Communications

Times Business Solutions - A Division of Times Internet Ltd.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @aseems

Tel: +91-120-663-6338, +91 9910 273367



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[May 10, 2017] World's First Trade Platform To Power Global Trade Connectivity Launched By GeTS

SINGAPORE, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global eTrade Services (GeTS) has launched the world's first trade platform to accelerate cross border trade across the globe. The Single Window service offering by GeTS, a subsidiary of CrimsonLogic (the leading provider of eGovernment products and services, based in Singapore), aims to power trade connectivity and the efficient fulfilment of trade compliance requirements. "CrimsonLogic built TradeNet, the world's first Single Window system for Singapore in 1989. Since then, we have continued to innovate and develop other similar trade systems. With close to 30 years of experience working with governments in more than 23 countries, CrimsonLogic has been pivotal in enabling trade competitiveness. With GeTS, we will now be able to bring world-class quality, innovation and efficiency that can help local businesses grow globally," said Mr Eugene Wong, Chairman of CrimsonLogic and GeTS. GeTS will enable businesses and governments to simplify processes and accelerate cross border connectivity, saving them as much as 15% of the value of traded goods. The savings would bring the much needed value to businesses as organisations like Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that for every 1% reduction in global trade costs, global income could go up by US$40 billion. Other studies estimate that significant trade facilitation could increase global gross domestic product (GDP) by almost US$1 trillion[1]. "Capitalising on our deep domain knowledge and expertise, the GeTS offering will accelerate cross-border trade across the region. We are looking to change the way trade compliance is done around the world; making cross-border trade more accessible, predictable and easier. Using natural language programming and machine learning for our services, we have already improved time savings by 60 per cent and increased productivity by 1.5 times for our customers, with more than 11 million transactions annually," said Mr Chong Kok Keong, CEO at Global eTrade Services (GeTS), Assistant CEO at CrimsonLogic. As global trade continues to grow across ASEAN and other regions, trade communities and businesses are acknowledging that there is a need for a platform that can accelerate the movement of goods across different borders. The partnership with Singapore Logistics Association (SLA) builds on this promise of better growth opportunities through trade across the region. The community of ASEAN freight forwarders will be able to access a comprehensive suite of services that will enable them to consolidate import and export, regulatory and compliance fulfilment activities for various countries on a single platform. "We are looking forward to collaborating with GeTS in this endeavour. Logistics has evolved from just one mode of transport to integrated transport services, including supply chain management services. This trade facilitation platform will strengthen logistics and freight forwarding businesses' value proposition to our customers, as it enables us to assist our customers with a broader range of trade compliance matters. It also enhances our ability to offer services across the region and around the world more seamlessly, and benefit from productivity gains at the same time," said Mr Stanley Lim, Chairman of the Singapore Logistics Association (SLA). GeTS' comprehensive suite of services helps global, as well as ASEAN freight forwarders to meet regulatory and compliance requirements from Government agencies and trade associations through: GeTS Cross Border Compliance Services : powers data management and transformation for trade declarations, cargo manifests submissions, import/export permits applications, and electronic Certificate of Origin (eCO) applications to government agencies and trade associations globally. It also serves as a system of records for trade related data and documents required for statutory compliance.

: powers data management and transformation for trade declarations, cargo manifests submissions, import/export permits applications, and electronic Certificate of Origin (eCO) applications to government agencies and trade associations globally. It also serves as a system of records for trade related data and documents required for statutory compliance. GeTS eAdvisory Services : consolidates import and export regulatory/compliance related knowledge bases for various countries onto a single platform. For example, Harmonised System (HS) Codes auto classification makes it easier for traders to identify the correct HS code for traded goods. It also assists traders to capitalise on various Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) for import duty savings and other benefits.

: consolidates import and export regulatory/compliance related knowledge bases for various countries onto a single platform. For example, Harmonised System (HS) Codes auto classification makes it easier for traders to identify the correct HS code for traded goods. It also assists traders to capitalise on various Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) for import duty savings and other benefits. Other Value Added Services: GeTS is able to integrate its service offerings with customers' existing enterprise resource planning (ERP), fleet management solution (FMS), and transportation management solution (TMS) systems. It also provides customers real time visibility of the status of their regional or global trade related compliance activities. This enables customers to respond more promptly to statutory requests, plan forward, and manage related logistics activities. Mr Yigit Saricinar, General Manager Airfreight, PT Schenker Petrolog Utama said: "Using GeTS' Cross Border Services enables us to speed up the Customs declaration process by expediting the electronic transmission of shipment data required for customs declaration into Indonesia Customs, saving time and manpower, allowing us to better serve our customers." In GeTS' product roadmap, the company is looking to widen its portfolio beyond trade compliance and documentation services. As a global trade platform with extensive connectivity, GeTS is constantly evolving to meet future business needs. Trade finance offerings and global logistics solutions are just some of the areas the company is currently exploring to further enhance its position as the global trade platform of the future. *** [1] Office of the United States Trade Representative Press Release, December 2013. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/fact-sheets/2013/December/WTO-Trade-Facilitation-Agreement For media enquiries, please contact:







Francis Huan CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd Tel: +65 6887 7173 Mobile: +65 9820 5994 Email: [email protected] Lim Tsu Ern FleishmanHillard Singapore Tel: +65 6424 6369 Mobile: +65 9137 7991 Email: [email protected]

About Global eTrade Services (GeTS) Global eTrade Services (GeTS) is a CrimsonLogic subsidiary and a key growth engine for the Group. GeTS has a comprehensive suite of services that helps traders meet regulatory and compliance requirements from Government agencies and trade associations around the world. Based on a SaaS model, GeTS is centred on a Single Window (SW) that facilitates global trade with Compliance Connectivity, eAdvisory and Data Analytics suite of services. About CrimsonLogic CrimsonLogic is a trusted partner to governments. For close to 30 years, CrimsonLogic has worked with governments around the world to find innovative and sustainable solutions to collaborate more seamlessly with their citizens. The company has continued to set industry-standards by delivering world-first eGovernment solutions. CrimsonLogic provides end-to-end services, from designing to operating these services to drive substantial and lasting improvements. For more information, please visit www.crimsonlogic.com.

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[May 11, 2017] Q Technology announced its April 2017 Newsletter

Year-on-Year growth rate of camera module shipment accelerated Growth of fingerprint recognition module remain strong KUNSHAN, China, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Q Technology (Group) Company Limited (Stock code: 1478.HK) released its April 2017 newsletter on its company website (www.qtechglobal.com/index.html) on 10 May. The year-on-year growth rate of camera module shipment accelerated, whilst the shipment growth of fingerprint recognition module ("FPM") remain strong. Year-on-Year growth of camera module shipment accelerated: The robust growth path continues in April, attributable to the new projects of customers kick in gradually. During the period, the company recorded a total shipment of 15.59 million units of CCM, increased 27.14% year-on-year, higher than the 20.2% year-on-year growth of Q1 2017. Moreover, optimization of product mix continues parallelly with the acceleration of shipment growth. Total shipment of 13 mega pixels and above CCM amounted to 7.22 million, surged 213.08% year-on-year, and reached 46.3% of the total shipment of CCM segment, expected to impose a positive impact on the ASP of first half 2017.

Shipment growth of FPM remain strong: shipment of FPM in April totaled 6.80 million units, increased by 13.43% sequentially, and surged 19 times year-on-year. Wider adoption of fingerprint recognition function in Chinese branded smartphone manufacturer is well-observed. Capacitive sensor type of design will remain the mainstream and being the major driver to achieve the full year shipment growth target. Besides, the Company's subsidiary, Kunshan Q Technology Limited ("Kunshan Q Tech") has become the only camera module supplier won the "High Quality Award" of 2016 from VIVO, one of the leading global smartphone manufacturer. Mr. He Ningning, Chairman of the Group stated, "The award representing their recognition of our product quality and overall customer service. Going forward, Q Technology will continue to provide high quality service to our customers to promote user-centric experience, dedicate to provide machine vision and human vision to mobile terminals by the persistent pursuit of capabilities in optics, computing vision and deep learning, and embrace the vision of enabling computer to understand and see the real world clearer." The Company hereby advise that the information contained in this release have not been audited by the independent auditors and/or the audit committee of the Company's and are subject to future adjustment. Shareholders of the Company and potential investors are to be advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the Company. About Q Technology (Group) Company Limited (Stock Code: 1478.HK) Q Technology is a China leading mid-to-high end mobile terminal camera module and fingerprint recognition module manufacturer, which is one of the first few manufacturers in China master the know-how in mass producing ultrathin camera modules with resolution over 16 mega pixels, dual camera modules and multi-type fingerprint recognition modules. Q Technology is dedicated to provide machine vision and human vision to mobile terminals by the persistent pursuit of capabilities in optics, computing vision and deep learning, and actively expanding its product offerings to new market segments, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and automobile. For enquiries, please contact the investor relations team of the Company at:







Richard Fan E-mail: [email protected] Louis So E-mail: [email protected]



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[May 11, 2017] ABLYNX REPORTS FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2017 AND A YEAR-TO-DATE BUSINESS UPDATE

REGULATED INFORMATION GHENT, Belgium, 11 May 2017 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX; OTC: ABYLY] today announced its non-audited financial results for the first three months of 2017, a business update for the year-to-date and the outlook for the next period. Operational highlights year-to-date Caplacizumab - wholly-owned first-in-class anti-vWF Nanobody Submitted a marketing authorisation application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency for approval in the treatment of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP). Completed patient recruitment in the multi-national, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III HERCULES study. A total of 145 patients with aTTP have been enrolled. The study is on track to report topline results in H2 2017.

ALX-0171 - wholly-owned inhaled anti-RSV Nanobody Initiated the global Phase IIb RESPIRE dose-ranging efficacy study in 180 infants hospitalised as a result of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Patient recruitment is currently on track to enable reporting of topline results in H2 2018.

Vobarilizumab - anti-IL-6R Nanobody Received scientific advice and held "end-of-Phase II" meetings with regulators in Europe and the USA to discuss the Phase IIb data in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the design of a potential Phase III programme. Continued discussions with AbbVie and other potential pharmaceutical partners to determine the best options for advancing vobarilizumab in RA. Advanced the Phase II study in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with topline results expected to be reported in H1 2018.

ALX-0761 - anti-IL17A/F Nanobody Promising results reported by our partner Merck KGaA with the bi-specific Nanobody anti-IL-17A/F in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Data from the Phase Ib study demonstrated very encouraging efficacy and a favourable safety and tolerability profile. Merck KGaA subsequently partnered with Avillion to advance a potential Phase II study with the bi-specific Nanobody in plaque psoriasis.

Good progress in multiple additional proprietary and partnered programmes. Financial highlights - first quarter 2017 Revenues were 9.1 million (2016: 27.4 million)

Investment in R&D was 25.7 million (2016: 24.9 million)

Operating result of -20.2 million (2016: -0.7 million)

Net cash outflow of 26.2 million (2016: 2.5 million)

209.2 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments (2016: 233.7 million) Commenting on today's update, Dr Edwin Moses, CEO of Ablynx, said: "We have had a positive start to the year. Filing for regulatory approval of caplacizumab in Europe to treat aTTP was a very important milestone for the Company, as was completion of patient recruitment in the Phase III HERCULES study. We are now establishing a commercial infrastructure to launch caplacizumab and are committed to making it accessible to patients as soon as possible. Initial recruitment for the Phase IIb study of our anti-RSV Nanobody in infants is progressing as planned and we continue to prepare for a trial of this Nanobody in patients who have undergone a stem cell transplantation and have become infected with RSV. Discussions with regulatory authorities on our Phase IIb data in RA with vobarilizumab and the design of a potential Phase III programme have been informative in our evaluation of how to move the molecule forward in this indication. We still expect to report data from our 300 patient study in SLE with vobarilizumab in H1 2018. Our partners have also made good progress in developing Nanobodies that we have jointly discovered. In particular in this period, Merck KGaA's results from a Phase Ib study in psoriasis with our anti-IL-17A/F bi-specific Nanobody were very exciting. With now more than 45 R&D proprietary and partnered R&D programmes, of which 8 are in clinical development, we look forward to important progress throughout 2017."

Financial review ( million) First three months 2017 First three months 2016 % change Total revenue and grant income 9.1 27.4 67% R&D income 9.1 27.2 67% Grants - 0.2 - Operating expenses (29.3) (28.1) 4% R&D (25.7) (24.9) 3% G&A (3.6) (3.2) 13% Operating result (20.2) (0.7) >100% Net financial result (1.9) 17.5 >100% Net result (22.1) 16.8 >100% Net cash flow (26.2) (2.5) >100% Cash at 31 March 209.2 (1) 233.7 (2) 10%



(1) including 1.6 million in restricted cash

(2) including 1.3 million in restricted cash

Revenues decreased to 9.1 million (2016: 27.4 million) mainly driven by lower recognition of upfront payments from the ongoing collaboration with AbbVie and by milestone payments received in the first quarter of 2016. As a result of the pipeline maturing with later-stage clinical assets, operating expenses increased to 29.3 million (2016: 28.1 million) primarily due to higher external R&D costs. The net financial result was -1.9 million (2016: 17.5 million) principally relating to the effect of the fair value calculation of the Convertible Bond. As a result of the above, the Company ended the period with a net loss of 22.1 million (2016: net profit of 16.8 million). As of 31st March 2017, the Company had 209.2 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments. The cash burn of 26.2 million is higher than last year due to a delay in a 5.5 million payment which was not received until the beginning of Q2 2017 and also as a result of the higher number of milestone and upfront payments received during Q1 2016. Financial guidance and 2017 outlook confirmed Ablynx expects to communicate topline results from the Phase III HERCULES study of caplacizumab in aTTP in the second half of 2017. These data are expected to be used to support the recently submitted MAA in Europe and the planned Biologics License Application filing in the USA in 2018. During 2017, the Company plans to start clinical development in Japan with both caplacizumab and its anti-RSV Nanobody (ALX-0171). There are also two potential Phase I starts with partnered programmes which would trigger associated milestone payments. The Company reiterates its net cash burn guidance for the full-year 2017 to be in the range of 75-85 million. Financial calendar 2017 24 August - half year results 2017

16 November - Q3 results 2017 2017 shareholders' clubs at Ablynx (Dutch language only) 24 May at 5.30pm

13 September at 5.30pm

6 December at 5.30pm To attend an event, please register via email: [email protected] , stating your name and preferred day. Glossary aTTP acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

IL-6R receptor of interleukin-6

IL-17A/F interleukin 17A/F

MAA marketing authorisation application

RA rheumatoid arthritis

RSV respiratory syncytial virus

SLE systemic lupus erythematosus About Ablynx Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of Nanobodies, proprietary therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, which combine the advantages of conventional antibody drugs with some of the features of small-molecule drugs. Ablynx is dedicated to creating new medicines which will make a real difference to society. Today, the Company has approximately 45 proprietary and partnered programmes in development in various therapeutic areas including inflammation, haematology, immuno-oncology, oncology and respiratory disease. The Company has collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eddingpharm, Merck & Co., Inc., Merck KGaA, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Taisho Pharmaceuticals. The Company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com. For more information, please contact

Ablynx:

Dr Edwin Moses

CEO

t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07

m: +32 (0)473 39 50 68

e: [email protected] Lies Vanneste

Director Investor Relations

t: +32 (0)9 262 01 37

m: +32 (0)498 05 35 79

e: [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @AblynxABLX Ablynx media/analyst relations

FTI Consulting:

Julia Phillips, Brett Pollard, Mo Noonan

t: +44 20 3727 1000

e: [email protected] Attachments: //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0f5d822f-8456-4f2d-adc6-a4c1c6239a7d

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Delhi police arrested Richhpal, who was part of an MP module of arms suppliers who had been arrested last month, was providing weapons to Naxals.

By Tanseem Haider: Delhi Police special cell has arrested an Arms supplier, who was providing weapons to Naxals.

The accused has been identified as Richhpal, who was part of an MP module of arms suppliers who had been arrested last month.

The Delhi Police had declared a reward of Rs 1 lakh on him.

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[May 11, 2017] TUV Rheinland Issues the World's First Ultra Low Noise Certificate for Lenovo Desktop Computer

HONG KONG, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TUV Rheinland Group has issued the world's first Ultra Low Noise Certificate to Lenovo's desktop and all-in-one computers. Haoqiang Zhou, General Manager of Lenovo Desktop Computer Division, and Jay Yang, Vice President of TUV Rheinland Electrical Greater China, attended the certification ceremony held at Lenovo's Beijing office this morning. Jay hailed Lenovo's achievement as another great accomplishment brought about by "strong cooperation in the frontier of innovation." He said: "As the world's leading third-party testing and certification organisation, TUV Rheinland has introduced the ultra low noise testing and evaluation service based on its wealth of experience in testing and certification, and its analysis and understanding of market demands." He reaffirmed the company's aim to assist manufacturers in maintaining rigorous product quality control, increasing product competitiveness, and fulfilling a 3-win situation for consumers, suppliers and brands through continuously introducing innovative services. Ultra Low Noise -- Different Experience In recent years, the appearance, comfort in use, eco-friendliness and energy efficiency of desktop and all-in-one computer have become important considerations for consumers, The noise generated by a device directly affects the user's hands-on experience. Studies have shown that persistent noise, such as that made by a computer, can adversely affect the body's immune system and lead to a series of health concerns.



As a leading PC manufacturer, Lenovo places great importance on the needs of customers and is committed to improving the product quality to provide a better user experience. Lenovo has developed strict specifications for each individual Noise emitted component of its computers to achieve component-level noise control. The ventilation system has an innovative design for improved cooling efficiency and a simplified air duct. A Smart Temperature Control regulates the speed of each fan, and the external vibration isolation design of the rotating parts and chassis is optimal for minimising noise. These measures effectively reduce the noise and ensure outstanding performance of the devices. "We have received the world's first ultra low noise certificate issued by TUV Rheinland, which demonstrates that Lenovo focuses on the hearing health of our consumers seriously," said Haoqiang Zhou. "Lenovo puts the customer needs first, and assists consumers in choosing safe and high quality products," he continued, "We are committed to providing our consumers with a better user experience, and promoting a healthy and sustainable environment for the PC industry.

TUV Rheinland and Lenovo -- A Powerful Alliance Since 2005, TUV Rheinland has worked closely with Lenovo in its production of monitors, all-in-one PCs, desktop PCs, laptops and servers. TUV Rheinland provides testing and certification services for device-specific functions, such as Green Certificate requirements, Smart Wearables, Paper-like Display, Eye Comfort, and Wireless Touch. To date, TUV Rheinland has assisted the Lenovo Group in acquiring more than a thousand certifications from all over the world on products that have been developed at home and abroad. TUV Rheinland has developed the new 2 PfG 2425/11.15 standard to test the noise level of desktop and all-in-one PCs. A Low Noise Certificate is issued to products that are compliant to the limits, while an Ultra Low Noise Certificate is awarded to devices that fulfill much more strict limits. The 2PfG 2425/11.5 standard is used to evaluate the noise performance of PCs. It specifies the basic requirements for noise testing parameters, including the environment and configuration, methods, and limit values. "As an independent, impartial and professional third-party organisation, TUV Rheinland will continue to focus on market demands and technical challenges to provide safe and sustainable solutions. The Ultra Low Noise Certificate is exactly what customers demand, as it boosts consumer confidence in product quality and safety, and increases the competitiveness of the enterprise and its products, said Mr Yang. Media Contact: Simon Hung

+852-2192-1948

[email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170511/1849305-1-a

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170511/1849305-1-b

Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150813/0861507454LOGO

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[May 11, 2017] Leica Biosystems Applauds FDA Primary Diagnosis Clearance as a Step Forward in Clinical Acceptance of Digital Pathology

VISTA, CA, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - The digital pathology industry just took another step forward, with the FDA clearance of a whole slide imaging (WSI) system (Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution) for review of digital surgical pathology slides. Leica Biosystems congratulates both the FDA and the Digital Pathology Association (DPA) on this positive outcome from their ongoing collaboration. A founding member of the DPA, Leica Biosystems pioneered the field of Digital Pathology. It was the first company to market commercial digital pathology solutions. In the U.S., Leica Biosystems has clearance from the FDA for Aperio eIHC, an in vitro diagnostic solution to aid pathologists in the interpretation of ER, PR, and HER2 breast IHC. "Leica Biosystems is dedicated to providing the highest quality solutions for healthcare professionals," stated Jerome Clavel, Vice President and General Manager, Leica Biosystems Pathology Imaging. "In addition to its existing FDA clearance for Aperio eIHC, Leica Biosystems is committed to pursuing clinical solutions across its portfolio. Obtaining regulatory clearances as always been one of our central objectives. A multi-site validation study is currently underway in the U.S. This is one of our very highest business priorities."



"A key goal of Leeds' strategic partnership with Leica Biosystems is to accelerate adoption by demonstrating the value and return on investment of an integrated digital pathology workflow," stated Dr. Darren Treanor, Consultant Pathologist, head of the Leeds Digital Pathology Group and Guest Professor at Linkoping, Sweden. "However, regulatory clearances are a critical condition for widespread adoption of digital pathology in patient care. We are pleased to see the digital pathology industry continuing to work towards regulatory acceptance." IntelliSite is a trademark of Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips).

The clinical use claims described for Primary Diagnosis have not been cleared or approved by the U.S. FDA for Leica Biosystems products. Any future capabilities will require FDA clearance before diagnostic use. Aperio eIHC system is indicated for use as an aid in the management, prognosis, and prediction of therapy outcomes in breast cancer, as an accessory to Dako ER, PR, and HercepTest HER2. About Leica Biosystems Leica Biosystems (LeicaBiosystems.com) is a global leader in workflow solutions and automation, integrating each step in the workflow. As the only company to own the workflow from biopsy to diagnosis, we are uniquely positioned to break down the barriers between each of these steps. Our mission of "Advancing Cancer Diagnostics, Improving Lives" is at the heart of our corporate culture. Our easy-to-use and consistently reliable offerings help improve workflow efficiency and diagnostic confidence. The company is represented in over 100 countries and is headquartered in Nussloch, Germany. SOURCE Leica Biosystems

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[May 11, 2017] dynaCERT Collaboration with Northwest Territory Power Corp.

TORONTO, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- dynaCERT Inc. (TSX-V:DYA) (OTCQB:DYFSF) ("dynaCERT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the collaboration with the NTPC (Northwest Territory Power Corp. in Yellowknife, NT) in a fuel savings and emission reduction pilot project located in Deline, NT. Deline is located on the southwest shore of Great Bear Lake, about 400 km northwest of Yellowknife. Deline is only serviced via aircraft and winter ice roads. The NTPC operates 3,500 diesel power generation units in remote villages and communities across the Territory. The dynaCERT-NTCP project, at this important initial stage, consists of the sale, installation and commissioning of four dynaCERT HG1 units onto three stationary generator units that in turn are responsible for producing all of the electricity in the village of Deline. One stationary generator unit will have two HG1 units. The NTPC engineering team has worked closely with the dynaCERT engineers to design this specific application for the community to align with NTPCs stated goal of reducing their reliance on fossil fuels. Robert Maier, COO of dynaCERT, states, NTPC continues to work hard at the leading technological edge to improve the lives of the people they serve. We are pleased that our HydraGENTM technology is part of this pilot project opportunity to lower operating costs for NTPC and improve the environment for northern communities. Jim Payne, President & CEO of dynaCERT, states, We are very pleased to work with NTPC and their communities. With Robert Maiers managerial and technical leadership, dynaCERT continues to develop new applications and enter varied markets for its HG1 units, not just in trucking but also in remote location power generation. Our engineering creativity, supported by our ongoing commitment to R&D, is rapidly advancing our Company in the diverse world of diesel uses in furtherance of our corporate strategy. About dynaCERT Inc.





www.dynaCERT.com. READER ADVISORY

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to periodic updates of results, testing programs and results, negotiations with third parties concerning potential business transactions, and the timing of certain going forward projects. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of products and services; changes in technology and changes in laws and regulations; the uncertainty of the emerging hydrogen economy; including the hydrogen economy moving at a pace not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on 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 the release. On Behalf of the Board Murray James Payne, CEO For more information, please contact: Jim Payne, CEO & President dynaCERT Inc. #101  501 Alliance Avenue Toronto, Ontario M6N 2J1 (416) 766-9691 x 2 [email protected] Investor Relations dynaCERT Inc. Nancy Massicotte (416) 766-9691 x 1 [email protected]

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[May 11, 2017] Max Baucus Joins LendIt's Lang Di Fintech 2017 Speaker Roster

NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LendIt, the world's largest lending and fintech conference, returns to Shanghai on July 15-16 for Lang Di Fintech, China's largest fintech conference. For two days, some of the world's most prominent fintech CEOs and investors will focus on critical topics and issues relevant to the future of finance in the region, including: digital banking, financial inclusion, digital wealth management, bank-technology partnerships, insurtech, and blockchain. Financial technology in the Asia-Pacific region surpassed the U.S. as investments in the area doubled to $11.2bn in 2016 from $5.2bn in 2015, according to a report from Accenture. Global investment in financial technology grew by 10 percent to $23.2bn in 2016, largely driven by growth in China. "China has emerged as the center of global fintech innovation and adoption, and LendIt sits at the heart of this surging ecosystem. We welcome Asia's foremost leaders of finance as speakers this year," said Bo Brustkern, co-founder and Chairman of Lang Di Fintech. "China is transforming almost every aspect of financial services. Our speakers will explore Asia's fintech revolution and its impact on the world." A recent addition to Lang Di's agenda is Max Baucus, Former U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. Mr. Baucus is uniquely ualified to address issues regarding world trade, US-China relations, and the opportunities and obstacles facing American foreign policy under the Trump administration. As Ambassador to China (2014 - 2017) and Chair of the Senate Finance Committee (2007 - 2014), Max Baucus has extensive experience in issues of international trade. He was deeply involved in orchestrating congressional approval of permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000 and in facilitating China's entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2001.



Mr. Baucus will join other esteemed speakers at Lang Di Fintech 2017, including senior representatives from international banks, leading technology innovators, venture capitalists, regulators, government officials and the media. Now in its second year, Lang Di 2017 expects over 2,000 delegates, making it the largest annual gathering of fintech leaders in China. Three hundred speakers from five continents will focus on the intersection of technology and financial services in Asia, specifically addressing artificial intelligence, machine learning, identity verification through biometrics, the blockchain's impact on capital markets, the emergence of insurtech, financial inclusion, financial wellness, wealth management for the mass affluent, innovation in real estate technology, applying alternative data to credit underwriting and decisioning, the emergence of digital banking, and fintech cooperation with banks.

LendIt's mission is to connect every major player, platform, investor and service provider in the fintech industry worldwide. Founded in 2013, LendIt has grown to become the definitive fintech conference in the US, Europe and Asia. For more information, tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.lendit.com/china. About LendIt

LendIt is a recognized global internet finance industry leader, founded in New York in 2013 by Bo Brustkern, Jason Jones and Peter Renton. Its aim is to gather industry elites to discuss and explore latest trends in the development of international financial technology. LendIt has become the largest fintech industry event in the world as it hosts three annual conferences, LendIt USA, LendIt Europe, and Lang Di Fintech, and dozens of complementary online and in-person industry events. LendIt also owns and operates one of the world's leading industry educational channels, Lend Academy. Media Contact:

Melissa Barto

JCUTLER media group

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/max-baucus-joins-lendits-lang-di-fintech-2017-speaker-roster-300455441.html SOURCE LendIt

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[May 11, 2017] MVD Partners with RiverSilica to Bring Innovative IP Video Encoding, Transcoding and Delivery Solutions to U.S. Market

PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Experienced, value-added distributor Mobile Video Devices (MVD) has entered into a partnership with Bangalore, India based RiverSilica Technologies, through which MVD becomes the exclusive North American distributor of RiverSilica's innovative IP video processing and workflow solutions. MVD will also represent RiverSilica products in select European regions. In addition to bringing the performance and flexibility of RiverSilica solutions to customers through MVD's extensive network of resellers and systems integrators, MVD will also leverage its proven support capabilities and dedication to exceptional customer experiences to help service RiverSilica users. Founded in 2009, RiverSilica provides end-to-end, software-defined IP video processing and delivery solutions for broadcasters, media organizations, communications providers, corporate enterprises, educational institutions and government entities. RiverSilica's modular, flexible and customizable PIXFIX solutions enable delivery of live and on-demand content with high performance, low latency and robust reliability throughout the entire IP video lifecycle  from contribution, recording and asset management to publication and distribution to audiences on any device. RiverSilica's PIXFIX solutions are available in a wide array of scalable configurations to seamlessly integrate into any IP video workflow. The company's newest ofering, PIXFIX Versa, provides an all-in-one IP video workflow solution with comprehensive functionality for encoding, transcoding, decoding, storing, multiplexing, streaming and playing out high-quality media. Simultaneously supporting both live and file-based workflows, PIXFIX Versa's multi-format flexibility and extensive user configurability make it ideal for IP workflows from broadcast and OTT services to non-commercial video delivery applications.



Focused on evolving digital video production and streaming media technologies, MVD has been providing full-service distribution and manufacturer representation for market-leading media solutions for over a decade. Other key product lines distributed by MVD include Magewell video capture and playout devices, and PTZOptics professional pan/tilt/zoom cameras. "We see RiverSilica as filling a void in the marketplace that was created as pioneering encoding specialists were acquired by larger companies with different target markets and priorities," said Darryl Spangler, President of Mobile Video Devices. "Their PIXFIX solutions deliver cutting-edge technology, exceptional adaptability and deep configurability to meet the most challenging requirements of premium media companies and communications providers, but at cost-effective pricing easily accessible to other markets. The addition of RiverSilica rounds out our product roster with upper mid-range solutions superior to anything else in their class, and we look forward to bringing these benefits to the North American and European markets."

"Our goal at RiverSilica is to build the world's best video processing and delivery solutions for the next generation of communications and distribution technologies," said Jagannathan Balaji, Founder, President and CEO of RiverSilica Technologies. "MVD's extensive experience in the streaming media market complements our own deep understanding of video delivery infrastructure, while their full-service approach to customer satisfaction will be invaluable as we further extend our success in India and Asia to the U.S. and other markets." Executives from RiverSilica and MVD will be available to discuss the new partnership at the upcoming Streaming Media East conference (May 16-17 in New York City), where MVD will be showcasing Magewell solutions in booth 301. For more information about Mobile Video Devices, please visit www.mobilevideodevices.com. For more information about RiverSilica, please visit www.riversilica.com. About Mobile Video Devices  Mobile Video Devices Inc. (MVD) provides distribution services and manufacturer representation in the Americas with a product focus in the digital video and streaming media industries. Offering business development, marketing, logistics, channel management and product warranty support services, manufacturers choose MVD for its industry expertise and extreme dedication to an exceptional customer experience at every level of the supply chain. About RiverSilica  RiverSilica is a technology company, working on the frontiers of solutions for IP video delivery and acceleration. Based in Bangalore, India, RiverSilica's founders leverage vast video processing knowledge and experience to develop state-of-the-art video distribution systems. RiverSilica's powerful software-defined video processing and delivery solutions are bolstered by the company's ground-breaking algorithms that intelligently maximize transcoding performance and efficiency while improving quality. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mvd-partners-with-riversilica-to-bring-innovative-ip-video-encoding-transcoding-and-delivery-solutions-to-us-market-300455490.html SOURCE Mobile Video Devices

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[May 11, 2017] Ten Startup Companies Selected for Global FinTech Accelerator - Empowered by FIS

FIS (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology, and The Venture Center have announced the 10 startup companies selected to participate in the 2017 VC FinTech Accelerator, now in its second year. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, U.S. Rep. J. French Hill, FIS President & CEO Gary Norcross, The Venture Center President and CEO Lee Watson and other community leaders were in attendance to meet this year's participants at a kickoff event held yesterday at The Venture Center. The 2017 program received 295 applications from startup financial technology firms across the United States and 39 other countries. The 10 chosen startups are: Alpharank - San Francisco

Alto IRA - Nashville, Tenn.

Bond.ai - New York City

eGiftify - Little Rock, Ark.

Hedge Hog - Detroit

HTC (News - Alert) Mobile Apps - Austin, Texas

Omnetrium - Chicago

Quotanda - Mexico City

WalletFi - Chapel Hill, N.C.

Xplanr - New York City The selected companies will participate in a rigorous 12-week program designed to accelerate the development of their financial innovations. Each company will receive in-depth mentoring and training from FIS and The Venture Center as well as a monetary investment. "FIS has always been about applying advanced technology to the real-world challenges facing our clients," said Gary Norcross, FIS president & CEO. "This program is a great example of how we are harnessing the spirit of entrepreneurship with the power of applied innovation to bring breakthrough products and services to our clients. Together with the state of Arkansas and The Venture Center, we are helping to develop and foster innovations that will make a difference for financial institutions around the world." The VC FinTech Accelerator, empowered by FIS, is focused on identifying and accelerating the development andgrowth of early-stage financial technology ventures.



"We are excited to continue this collaboration with FIS to facilitate the development and potential growth of these companies," said Lee Watson, The Venture Center CEO. "Together, we provide FinTech startups with proven go-to-market training, C-suite level mentorship and access to top financial institutions." Following the 2016 program, six companies were selected to join the exclusive FIS HiPo Network, and two companies relocated their headquarters to Little Rock.

The 2017 program will culminate with a Demo Day on July 26 at the Clinton Presidential Library, where leaders from each of the participating firms will showcase their innovations to potential investors, regional and local community leaders and successful entrepreneurs. About The Venture Center The Venture Center is Little Rock, Ark.-based entrepreneur support organization that helps startups become viable, high-growth businesses. With the expertise of a world class team of mentors, intensive programming and introductions to the investor community, The Venture Center serves as an engine for economic growth in Central Arkansas and beyond. In the first two and a half years, The Venture Center's member companies have created more than 280 jobs, generated $12 million in revenue and have raised a combined $19 million in capital. For more information, visit http://www.venturecenter.co. About FIS FIS is a global leader in financial services technology, with a focus on retail and institutional banking, payments, asset and wealth management, risk and compliance, consulting, and outsourcing solutions. Through the depth and breadth of our solutions portfolio, global capabilities and domain expertise, FIS serves more than 20,000 clients in over 130 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 57,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing, financial software and banking solutions. Providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that empowers the financial world, FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is a member of Standard & Poor's 500 Index. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.vcfintech.co or follow us on Facebook (News - Alert) (http://www.facebook.com/vcfintech) or Twitter (News - Alert) (http://www.twitter.com/vcfintech). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005371/en/

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[May 11, 2017] Patient Power Says New Law in the District of Columbia Will Protect Local Patients from High Copays for Essential Medications

PATIENT POWER, connecting patients and advocates with knowledge and experts, today thanked the DC government for passing a new law to limit patients' out-of-pocket spending for their prescription medications. The new law, titled the "Specialty Drug Copayment Limitation Act," will "impose a limit on the amount that a person must pay in copayment or coinsurance through a health benefit plan for a prescription for a specialty drug." This refers to prescriptions for progressive, debilitating diseases such as cancer - the bill specifically mentions the blood cancer multiple myeloma. "The law doesn't go into effect until January, but we want to acknowledge this important step now amidst all of the turmoil over federal healthcare legislation," said Andrew Schorr, Co-Founder and President of Patient Power and a 21 year cancer srvivor. "High out of pocket payments can prevent many patients from taking the full dose of medications they need. Putting a limit on those personal payments can help patients like me. I've depended on specialty medications to keep me alive and well and working 21 years since my initial diagnosis."



Esther Schorr, Patient Power Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, added, "The law will limit out of pocket payments to $150 for a 30-day supply of specialty medicines and $300 for a 90 day supply. This is critically important not just for patients but for their families. We should never have to make the terrible choice between the health of our loved one and the prospect of bankruptcy or losing our home." Affordable copayments do make a difference. Greg Simon, Executive Director of the Cancer Initiative for the Biden Foundation and a CLL survivor, recently told Patient Power in an interview that manageable copays made a big difference for him. He said that although some innovative cancer therapies can be very expensive, his own copay was very affordable.

This may sound costly to the healthcare system, but it actually saves money. A 2013 report study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology said patients not taking their medications as prescribed "resulted in $105 billion in avoidable health care costs in 2012." Similar bills have also passed in California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New York, and Vermont. The D.C. law takes effect January 1, 2018. ABOUT PATIENT POWER Patient Power is a service of Patient Power, LLC led by founders Andrew and Esther Schorr, supported by team members around the world. They are committed to helping each person they touch approach their illness in a way that gives them the best chance of good health: getting smart about their diagnosis, seeking out the best healthcare providers, getting second and even third opinions on what approach to take - including, if appropriate, participating in a clinical trial, and drawing on others for support. https://www.patientpower.info/about View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005460/en/

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[May 11, 2017] Parrot Analytics Tracks Sharp Increase in Audience Demand for Orange is the New Black Following Security Breach

The following is a statement from Parrot Analytics: "Following last week's security breach, which saw hackers releasing all episodes of the forthcoming fifth season of Netflix's hit series Orange (News - Alert) is the New Black, leading data science company Parrot Analytics tracked audience demand for the series in the U.S. and around the world. Over a seven-day period, Parrot found there was a sharp increase in demand. In the U.S. alone, demand for the show after the breach was as much as 40% of the peak demand during the series' fourth season. By comparison, Parrot found that the trailer for the new season of Orange is the New Black that was released on April 11 only managed to drum up 24% of the show's Season 4 peak demand. "The fact that stolen and leaked episodes are able to generate this much demand is significant," said Wared Seger, CEO, Parrot Analytics. "Orange is the New Black has always been a strong performer for Netflix, although we don't believe they will lose any subscribers, we do believe it is likely that when Season 5 launches in June, it may not generate as much demand as did the prior Seasons." Parrot Analytics' Industry Data Scientist Kayla Hegedus added: "The spike in demand for Orange is the New Black has behaved similarly to the typical Netflix demand binge curve: For digital original series where the entire season is released at once, we observe that they are hugely popular for two or three days before demand begins to decay exponentially. We have seen this phenomenon for every SVOD platform, be it Netflix, Amazon, Hulu (News - Alert) or elsewhere."



Orange is the New Black was the 4th most-popular digital original series in 2016; ahead of Stranger Things and right behind Fuller House, Gilmore Girls and the most popular title of 2016, Marvel's Luke Cage, according to Parrot Analytics' 2016 Global Digital Originals Report. Parrot is able to measure how much demand is being expressed for a title in any country, on any platform, on any given day and in any language. This provides a clear understanding of content popularity, irrespective how that content is being consumed by an audience (phone, PC, TV) and in fact how the audience accesses the content, whether it be via a traditional network (linear), or an over-the-top OTT/SVOD provider. For more on Parrot Analytics' technology and methodology, click HERE.

About Parrot Analytics Parrot Analytics is a data science company that empowers media companies, brands and agencies to understand global audience demand for television content. Wielding the world's largest audience behavior data sets, the company has developed the world's only global cross-platform, country-specific audience demand measurement system. Parrot Analytics captures an unprecedented spectrum of actual audience behavior including video streaming consumption, social media, blogging platforms, file-sharing and peer-to-peer consumption spanning 249 countries. This enables media companies, for the very first time, to understand audience demand for content across all content distribution platforms in all markets around the world." View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005630/en/

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[May 11, 2017] Sintavia Unveils Plans for 55,000 Square Foot Advanced Manufacturing Facility

Sintavia, LLC, the global independent leader for precision metal additive manufacturing ("AM"), announced plans today to build a 55,000 square foot advanced manufacturing facility in nearby Hollywood, Florida. The new plant, which will also serve as the company's headquarters, will quadruple Sintavia's current production capacity, and is expected to be complete by mid-2018. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005633/en/ "Factory of the Future" Will Bring High Volume 3D Metal Printing to South Florida (Photo: Business Wire) "With this new facility, we are excited to continue our leadership in the development of the metal AM supply chain for OEMs in precision indstries," said Brian Neff, Sintavia's Chairman and CEO. "We will use this additional space not only to grow our existing competencies in laser and electron beam melting, but also to industrialize new technologies such as metal binder jet manufacturing."



In addition to the company's current advanced manufacturing equipment and material laboratory, the new facility will house over $20mm of new machinery, including larger AM equipment, an automated powder handling system, an uninterruptable power supply, an inert gas farm, and an enhanced post-processing footprint. The expansion is anticipated to bring more than 135 new jobs for skilled employees and support staff to South Florida. "The key to Sintavia's success over the past few years has been our vertically integrated approach to metal AM," said Doug Hedges, Sintavia's President and COO. "Our ability to rapidly qualify machines and processes-through the use of our on-site laboratories, scanning, and post-processing equipment-demonstrates meaningful value to our customers. This same approach will continue on a larger scale with our new production facility."

Sintavia is the first independent manufacturer of its kind to offer a vertically integrated, end-to-end metal AM production process. Beginning with an accredited in-house laboratory to verify powder quality, to post-processing technology and non-destructive testing of final components, Sintavia is uniquely positioned to supply serially manufactured components with guaranteed quality and repeatability as part of the OEM supply chain. About Sintavia Sintavia is the global leader for independent metal AM for critical industries. With high-speed printers alongside precision post processing and mechanical testing equipment, a full metallurgical and powder laboratory, Sintavia is able to optimize parameters, serially manufacture, and audit parts for critical industries. Sintavia holds AS9100, ISO17025, and ANAB accreditation, as well as being OASIS and ITAR registered. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005633/en/

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[May 11, 2017] Trianz is a Gold Sponsor at Informatica World 2017, San Francisco

SANTA CLARA, California , BANGALORE and DUBAI, UAE, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Trianz, a leading global digital transformation consulting and technology solutions firm, is a Gold Sponsor of this year's Informatica World and Executive Summit. Informatica World 2017 (IW17), one of the world's largest Information Management conferences, will be held on May 15-18, 2017 at Moscone West in San Francisco, US. The event will offer roadmaps on how best to leverage data to drive business growth in the digital age and take Information Management to the next level. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/452308/PRNE_TrianzUpdated_Logo.jpg )

Trianz will showcase a unique solution at the conference, which has been built in partnership with Informatica to enhance and expand the adoption of Marketing Data Lake. The solution facilitates the alignment of clients' marketing and sales teams to drive operational efficiencies through self-service analytics, real-time data driven sales and marketing campaign customization, and automated marketing campaign deployment. It does so by leveraging the unified repository for the complete sales cycle, touch points and campaigns across every channel. "Harnessing actionable insights from data has the potential to give businesses an edge over their competitors. Trianz is playing a vital role in solving such Information Maagement challenges for various clients across geographies and industries. IW17 is a great platform to showcase these capabilities, and we are looking forward to a successful event," Ira Horowitz, Vice President - Client Relationships at Trianz, said in a statement.



Prasanna Rajagopalan, Senior Director and Big Data Analytics Practice Head at Trianz, said, "We are delighted to be a part of IW17. Trianz has developed comprehensive data management suites that have given our advisory and technology services an unparalleled edge. Our subject matter expertise, deep industry knowledge, technology capabilities and Informatica's Data Lake Platform will undoubtedly help clients get more business value from their data and make quicker decisions." Trianz and Informatica are also co-sponsors of Project Night Night, a philanthropic initiative to be held on May 16, where the IW17 attendees can volunteer to stuff 600 packages of childhood essentials for homeless children in the community.

Trianz invites IW17 participants to meet its Information Management experts at booth G 03. About Trianz Trianz enables digital transformations through effective strategies and excellence in execution. Collaborating with business and technology leaders, we help formulate and execute operational strategies to achieve intended business outcomes by bringing the best of consulting, technology experiences and execution models. Powered by knowledge, research, and perspectives, we enable clients to transform their business ecosystems and achieve superior performance by leveraging Cloud, Analytics, Digital and Security paradigms. With offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC Metro, Jersey City, Dubai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai, we serve Fortune 1000 and emerging organizations across industries globally. As a professional services firm, our values and culture are focused on delivering measurable business impact, predictability in execution, and a unique partnership experience. Prashant Bhavaraju

Director, Marketing

+1-408-387-5800

http://www.trianz.com

[email protected]





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The admission process is expected to begin by the end of this month. The online registration for admission in DU colleges began on June 1 last year.

Admission process is expected to begin by the end of this month.

By Mail Today Bureau: In order to make the drill to get into Delhi University without any hurdle and inconvenience, DU admission committee officials are taking time to make the admission drill glitch-free.

The delay in announcing dates of the online registration for the admission process is triggered by the cautious working, currently in progress and reaching its final stage, to make the DU website student friendly.

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The concerns of university's admission committee members have emerged to ensure a smooth and glitch-free route for securing a seat so that students do not have to travel to Delhi for securing a seat.

ADMISSION TASKFORCE COMMITTED TO BRING PROCESS AT EVERY FINGERTIP

"Since getting admission in Delhi University is a goal of many aspirants across the country, we want to ensure that families do not have to travel a distance to secure a seat. The admission taskforce is committed to bringing the admission process at every aspirant's fingertip and doorstep," said an admission panel member.

Every year till 2016, scores of students and parents from across the country travelled to Delhi University to be a part of the admission process from the initial stage of open days till the time their wards got a seat in any DU college.

"It is the inconvenience students and parents have undergone, which the smooth online application would eliminate," the admission committee official added.

Similar to last year, this year, no offline windows for admission process will be made available on varsity campus, the official confirmed.

ADMISSION PROCESS TO BEGIN SHORTLY

However, the admission process is expected to begin by the end of this month. The online registration for admission in DU colleges began on June 1 last year.

Among the changes being introduced in this admission season, a new section of the online registration will also make it possible for girls from NCT-Delhi to get a seat in Non-Collegiate Women's Education Board.

"A girl aspirant from NCT-Delhi will automatically secure a seat at NCWEB if she is from Delhi," said Maharaj K Pandit, head of the admission committee and dean of sciences at Delhi University.

University officials had received flak last year for providing six centres across India for assisting students in the online registration. This year, the university officials have increased the number of centres from six to 18.

Also Read:

With admissions only a month away, 27 Delhi University colleges being run by 'acting' principals

Delhi: DU extends deadline for admission seekers from outside India

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--- ENDS ---
[May 11, 2017] Final Call for Submissions to the 2017 Altair Enlighten Award

TROY, Mich., May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Altair has placed a final call for submissions to this years Altair Enlighten Award. Nominations are being accepted now through May 26, 2017 in three categories: full vehicle, module and enabling technology. The annual Altair Enlighten Award, presented in partnership with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), SAE International and media sponsor, Automobil Industrie, recognizes achievements in weight reduction across the automotive industry.

The 2017 Enlighten Award will be presented at the 52nd annual CAR MBS Event in Traverse City, MI on July 31th



Richard Yen, Senior Vice President, Automotive and Global Markets Team at Altair, presents the 2016 award



Photos accompanying this announcement are available at //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1e465b1b-495f-4a09-90d9-653859bffd17



//www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ff52a1f3-baa5-4542-9c1e-282f506333be So far, weve seen some exciting and inspiring submissions for the 2017 Enlighten Award come in from all over the globe, said Richard Yen, Senior Vice-President, Automotive and Global Markets Team at Altair. There are still two weeks left to get a nomination in, so we are eager to see what else people have been working on.

The Altair Enlighten Award honors the greatest achievements in vehicle weight saving each year to inspire interest from policymakers, educators, students and the public, to create further competition for new ideas in the industry and to provide an incentive to share technological advances. Manufacturers and suppliers interested in submitting a nomination can access additional information about the process, or submit an entry, at www.altairenlighten.com/award. Were honored each year to recognize automakers and suppliers alike for successful lightweighting strategies and technologies. With the addition of the new 'enabling technologies' category, we anticipate many more supplier accomplishments highlighting their contributions that will be widely recognized by their peers and automakers who are seeking new lightweight solutions, said Dr. Jay Baron, President and CEO at the Center for Automotive Research. The winners of the 2017 Altair Enlighten Award will be announced during the 52nd annual CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, MI on July 31st, 2017. To allow sharing of innovation while respecting the business and technical confidentiality of all applications, all nominations submitted must be implemented on a production vehicle produced between August 2014 and August 2017, with no geographical restrictions. About Altair ProductDesign Altair ProductDesign is a global, multi-disciplinary product development consultancy of more than 700 designers, engineers, scientists, and creative thinkers. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Altair Engineering Inc., this organization is best known for its market leadership in combining its engineering expertise with computer aided engineering (CAE) technology to deliver innovation and automate processes. Altair ProductDesign firmly advocates a user-centered, team-based design approach, and utilizes proprietary simulation and optimization technologies (such as Altair HyperWorks) to help clients bring innovative, profitable products to market on a tighter, more efficient time-scale. About Altair Founded in 1985, Altair is focused on the development and application of simulation technology to synthesize and optimize designs, processes and decisions for improved business performance. Privately held with more than 2,600 employees, Altair is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA with more than 50 offices throughout 22 countries, and serves more than 5,000 corporate clients across broad industry segments. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com. About CAR The Center for Automotive Research is a non-profit organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Its mission is to conduct research on significant issues related to the future direction of the global automotive industry, organize and conduct forums of value to the automotive community and foster industry relationships. For more information, visit the CAR website: www.cargroup.org. Media Contacts: Altair Corporate, Americas and Asia Pacific Biba A. Bedi +1.757.224.0548 x 406 [email protected] Altair Europe, the Middle East and Africa Evelyn Gebhardt +49 6421 9684351 [email protected]

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[May 11, 2017] VIN No. 1 of the Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso Special Edition Sells on Same Day Offered on Gilt.com

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gilt.com and FIAT Brand North America partnered to sell Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso Special

The sale launched on Gilt.com at 9 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 ; vehicle sold within a day of it being offered on site

Eastern on ; vehicle sold within a day of it being offered on site The Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso available on Gilt.com is VIN No. 1

The first 124 units of the 2017 Fiat 124 Spider were available as limited-production Prima Edizione Lusso editions

The all-new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider revives legendary nameplate with iconic Italian styling and dynamic driving experience

2017 Fiat 124 Spider returns nearly 50 years after original introduction, delivering iconic Italian style with modern adaptation of original Spider legend Gilt.com, the innovative online shopping destination, and the FIAT Brand North America, partnered to sell VIN No. 1 of the Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso Special Edition. The sale of the Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso launched on Tuesday, May 9, on Gilt.com at 9 a.m. Eastern and was sold within a day of the launch. The purchase price for the stylish Prima Edizione Lusso Fiat 124 Spider was $31,500 and included a Prima gift worth $500 and a $1,000 Gilt Travel Credit to spend any way the guest would like. "We are thrilled to have collaborated with FIAT on another unique partnership by exclusively selling this special edition 124 Spider Prima Edizione on Gilt," says Brittany Billings, VP of Business Development, Global Partnerships, and Talent & Promotional Partnerships, Gilt. "We continuously curate unique and exciting offerings and know the FIAT brand and associated lifestyle resonates with our members." "More and more consumers are seeking unique shopping purchases through an online experience, and the fact that the Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso special edition sold within 24 hours is a testament to both the vehicle and the Gilt platform through which it was offered," said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Car Brands  Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA  North America. "Our alliance with Gilt has allowed FIAT to expand the awareness of our brand by specifically attracting these consumers through its fashion and lifestyle site. The opportunity to own VIN No. 1 f the limited Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso Special Edition  the first of only 124 vehicles made to celebrate its return to the U.S.  gave one passionate FIAT consumer the exclusive chance to own a vehicle unlike any other, one that was designed in Italy and whose legacy is derived from one of FIAT's most beautiful cars of all time."



The all-new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider, designed at Centro Stile in Turin, Italy, borrows cues from the original Spider. The 2017 Fiat 124 Spider has a timeless low-slung presence, with a classically beautiful bodyside, well-balanced proportions and a sporty cabin-to-hood ratio. Features such as the hexagonal upper grille and grille pattern, "power domes" on the hood and sharp horizontal rear lamps call to mind details of the historic Spider. About Gilt

Gilt, www.gilt.com, is an innovative online shopping retailer offering its members special access to the most inspiring lifestyle merchandise and experiences  all at exceptional prices. Gilt is a daily destination for discovery of the most coveted brands and products, including fashion and accessories for women, men and children; home decor; unique activities in select cities and destinations; and luxury hotel stays. Gilt is part of the Hudson's Bay Company portfolio of brands.

About the Fiat 124 Spider

The 2017 Fiat 124 Spider revives the storied nameplate, bringing its classic Italian styling and performance to a new generation of vehicles and buyers. Paying homage to the original 124 Spider nearly 50 years after its introduction, the 2017 Fiat 124 Spider delivers the ultimate Italian roadster experience with driving excitement, technology and safety combined with iconic Italian design. Fiat 124 Spider Prima Edizione Lusso

To celebrate the return of the classic nameplate, the first 124 vehicles were offered as a limited-edition Prima Edizione Lusso. Each is individually numbered with a commemorative badge and available in exclusive Azzurro Italia (Blue) exterior paint with premium leather seats in Saddle. Consumers who purchase a Prima Edizione also receive limited-edition items, including a premium leather bag, journal with pen, and a poster showcasing original design illustration with vehicle dimensions.

About FIAT Brand

The FIAT brand stands for discovery through passionate self-expression. That philosophy is embodied by the iconic Fiat 500 or Cinquecento  a small car that lives big. Italian at heart and rooted in a rich heritage, the 500 is sold in more than 100 countries and is synonymous with modern, simple design blending form, function, technology and a pride of ownership that is genuine. In North America, the Fiat 500 was introduced in March 2011 and was soon followed by the Fiat 500c (Cabrio), the high-performance Fiat 500 Abarth and Abarth Cabrio, the fully electric Fiat 500e, the five-passenger Fiat 500L and the all-wheel-drive 500X crossover. The FIAT brand continues to expand with the introduction of the Fiat 124 Spider, a revival of the iconic roadster that combines Italian style, performance and engaging driving dynamics. Follow Fiat brand and FCA US news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.fcanorthamerica.com

Company website: www.fcanorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.fcanorthamerica.com

FCA360: www.fca360.com

FIAT brand: www.fiatusa.com

FIAT blog: blog.fiatusa.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fiatusa or https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fiatusa or www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA

Twitter: www.twitter.com/fiatusa or www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA

YouTube: www.youtube.com/fiatusa or www.youtube.com/pentastarvideo To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vin-no-1-of-the-fiat-124-spider-prima-edizione-lusso-special-edition-sells-on-same-day-offered-on-giltcom-300456099.html SOURCE FCA US LLC

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[May 11, 2017] Foundations Health Solutions Selects OnBase by Hyland to Support Post-Acute Care Facilities

CLEVELAND, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- North Olmsted, Ohio-based Foundations Health Solutions has selected OnBase by Hyland hosted in the Hyland Cloud to support its more than 60 post-acute care facilities located throughout Ohio. In addition to leveraging the single information management platform to digitize critical patient information and facilitate preadmission referrals, Foundations Health Solutions will use OnBase workflow functionality to streamline human resources (HR) processes for 8,000 employees. OnBase will be leveraged to scan, store and access patient information for the 12,000-13,000 admissions at Foundations Health Solutions' skilled nursing facilities each year. This will eliminate the need to print nearly a thousand pages of patient health information per admission. Foundations Health Solutions will implement OnBase Workflow and WorkView Case Manager to automate business processes such as insurance verification and medical review. Additionally, OnBase reporting dashboards will provide new reporting capabilities and give an up-to-the-minute view of admissions and business activities. "We selected Hyland not only to leverage the OnBase platform but also to tap into their many years of expeience in the healthcare industry, coupled with a customer-centric approach," said Brian Colleran, president of Foundations Health Solutions. "The combination of employing best practices and the ability to partner as we expand our solutions to support our growing family of facilities is a win-win situation."



Foundations Health Solutions processes around 1,600 new employees each year and currently utilizes a paper-based process with traditional filing cabinets. The adoption of OnBase will optimize vital HR processes, including onboarding. "OnBase will help create a seamless user experience to streamline both clinical and administrative processes across the growing Foundations Health Solutions enterprise," said Susan deCathelineau, vice president, global healthcare sales and services at Hyland. "We are thrilled to partner with Foundations Health Solutions as well as serve as a resource to help guide the deployment of future solutions."

For more information about why more than 1,800 healthcare organizations are choosing OnBase to streamline processes such as pre-admissions referrals, implement workflows and tightly integrate with existing line-of-business systems, visit OnBase.com/Healthcare. About OnBase by Hyland

OnBase is a single enterprise information platform for managing content, processes and cases deployed via mobile, on-premises or in the Hyland Cloud. Providing enterprise content management (ECM), case management, business process management (BPM), records management and capture all on a single platform, OnBase transforms organizations around the globe by empowering them to become more agile, efficient and effective. Enterprise cloud-based sharing capability for the OnBase platform is available with our complementary offering, ShareBase by Hyland. Over 1,800 healthcare organizations use OnBase to complete patient records, eliminate reimbursement delays and enhance business processes. Dedicated to meeting the evolving needs of our customers for document and process management, OnBase has evolved through consistent product innovation and remains focused on automating business processes that depend on documents, content and people to operate more effectively. For more information about OnBase, visit OnBase.com/Healthcare. Media contact:

Laura Pegg

+1 440-788-5632

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foundations-health-solutions-selects-onbase-by-hyland-to-support-post-acute-care-facilities-300456123.html SOURCE Hyland

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[May 11, 2017] HDI Honors Top Technical Support Professionals and Teams with Industry Awards

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HDI, the first membership association and certification body created for the technical support industry, announced the winners of the 2017 HDI Technical Support Industry Awards. Each year, HDI honors the individuals, teams, and organizations that have enhanced the image of the technical service and support industry through exceptional leadership, vision, innovation, and achieving the highest standards of quality and customer satisfaction. Award winners were announced this week at the HDI 2017 Conference & Expo, the industry's largest and most prestigious annual event, which took place in Washington, DC. HDI 2017 drew more than 2,300 attendees and featured extraordinary keynote speakers, compelling program tracks, content-rich breakout sessions, an expo hall packed with innovative solution providers, and the HDI awards program, which grants the highest honors in the technical support profession. To view the full details on each HDI award, visit: ThinkHDI.com/Awards. The award winners were chosen through a rigorous selection process with more than 400 total submissions considered for twelve award categories. Submissions were judged by panels comprised of technical support industry experts, tasked with selecting the industry's top volunteer, industry luminary, team, manager, analyst, desktop support technician, and local HDI chapter officer.



"Recognizing the finalists and honoring our HDI award recipients is an annual highlight for HDI and Robert Half Technology, our premier awards sponsor," said Leslie Cook, director of membership, HDI. "What's become a cornerstone of the HDI Annual Conference, the award ceremony truly recognizes the very best individuals, teams, and organizations who work tirelessly to advanc the mission of the technical support industry. We couldn't be more proud of the 2017 finalists and winners."



The 2017 HDI Technical Support Industry Award Winners HDI Hall of Fame Inductees

Rae Ann Bruno

Darien Chimoff

Malcolm Fry

Pete McGarahan

Sandy Seroskie

HDI Team Excellence Award*

The MITRE Corporation HDI Manager of the Year*

Natalie Mallard, Emory Healthcare HDI Analyst of the Year*

James Van Poolen, University of Pittsburgh

HDI Pittsburgh/Steel City Local Chapter HDI Desktop Support Technician of the Year*

Jeff Anderson, LifeWay Christian Resources

HDI Music City Local Chapter HDI Local Chapter Officer of the Year

Joshua Tooley

HDI Dallas/Fort Worth Local Chapter *Award sponsored by Robert Half Technology. Also recognized during the conference were the top ranked support centers for the HDI CSAT Elite 50a program that celebrates top performing support centers around the world. These support centers are ranked based on customer satisfaction survey responses gathered by the HDI Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Service, an independent, third-party tool that tracks and trends customer satisfaction. HDI CSAT Elite 50  #1 Top Ranked Support Center

Ameritas IT, GTS Support Center For more information on each award recipient, visit: http://www.hdiconference.com/conference/2017-award-winners.aspx. About HDI

Founded in 1989, HDI is the first membership association and certification body created for the technical support industry. Since then, HDI has remained the source for professional development by offering the resources needed to promote organization-wide success through exceptional customer service. In other words, we help professionals in service management better serve customers. We do this by facilitating collaboration and networking, hosting acclaimed conferences and events, producing renowned publications and research, certifying and training thousands of professionals each year, and connecting solution providers with practitioners. Learn more at www.ThinkHDI.com. HDI is organized by UBM plc. UBM is the largest pure-play B2B Events organizer in the world. Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors. Our deep knowledge and passion for these sectors allow us to create valuable experiences which enable our customers to succeed. Please visit www.ubm.com for the latest news and information about UBM. About Robert Half Technology With more than 100 locations in North America and Europe, Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of technology professionals for initiatives ranging from web development and multiplatform systems integration to network security and technical support. Robert Half Technology offers online job-search services at www.rht.com. Contact:

Rich Trunzo

HDI PR

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hdi-honors-top-technical-support-professionals-and-teams-with-industry-awards-300456158.html SOURCE HDI

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[May 11, 2017] Community Health Systems to Participate in Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Health Care Conference

Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) today announced that management will participate in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Health Care Conference to be held May 16-18, 2017, at the Encore at Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The investor presentation will begin at 8:40 a.m. Pacific time, 10:40 a.m. Central time, on Thursday, May 18, 2017, and will be available to investors via a live audio webcast. A link to the broadcast can be found at the investor relations section of the Company's website, www.chs.net, and a replay will be available for 30 days using that same link.



Community Health Systems, Inc. is one of the largest publicly traded hospital companies in the United States and a leading operator of general acute care hospitals in communities across the country. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns, leases or operates 146 hospitals in 21 states with an aggregate of approximately 24,000 licensed beds. The Company's headquarters are located in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb south of Nashville. Shares in Community Health Systems, Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CYH." More information about the Company can be found on its website at www.chs.net.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005855/en/

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[May 11, 2017] Philippines Transformational Healthcare Insights 2016: Current Trends and Challenges Encountered in the Road to Achieving Universal Healthcare Coverage - Research and Markets

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "The Philippines Transformational Healthcare Insights, 2016" report to their offering. The Philippines is a part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community and one of the fastest growing healthcare markets in the region. With regard to healthcare, the Philippine Government has been looking at ways to achieve 100% enrollment to PhilHealth by 2020. One of the means is by mandating all Filipinos to enroll to PhilHealth. Currently, PhilHealth's coverage is at about 92%. An ageing population, urbanisation, and the rising middle class have led to an increasing demand for healthcare services, as more people can afford quality healthcare. Due to the huge gap in the Philippines' healthcare delivery system, abundant opportunities are available for key private participants to invest in the healthcare sector. Private hospitals, pharmaceutical producers, and healthcare IT companies are expanding into the Philippines market, partially owing to the recently launched AEC. Lack of infrastructure and human resources is putting a srain on the healthcare delivery system in the Philippines. The bed-to-population ratio is quite low and there is still a huge gap in the number of doctors and nurses required to cater to the needs of the growing population.



The healthcare delivery system in the Philippines is dominated by the public sector (regional, provincial, municipal, and barangay level) while being supported by private healthcare service providers. The implementation of Universal Health Care (UHC) is already driving the demand across all sectors of healthcare. However, the Philippines still requires a strong focus on infrastructure and skilled manpower. The shortage of qualified personnel is a huge problem, especially in high-skill fields such as radiology. The private sector is playing a huge role in helping the government address the gaps in healthcare services. Generics is evolving into a huge market due to the demand for low-cost medicine and strong government support. Production of raw materials for medicines is now 100% open to foreign ownership, creating an opportunity for the Philippines to emerge as a regional raw materials manufacturing hub. Areas such as healthcare technology and diagnostics, that can improve access to health information for making better healthcare choices, are growing faster. Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary 2. The Philippines Macro Environment Overview 3. The Philippines Healthcare Expenditure Overview 4. Philippines Healthcare Infrastructure Overview 5. The Philippines Healthcare Insurance Overview 6. The Philippines Healthcare Value Chain Overview 7. The Philippines Healthcare Challenges 8. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action 9. Concluding Thoughts For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rz8x3p/the_philippines View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005884/en/

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[May 11, 2017]

iGov Successfully Completes TACLAN's Field Computing Device-Wearable (FCD-W) Live Fire Testing

RESTON, Va., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iGov, provider of C4I systems and support programs, announced today that the Tactical Local Area Network (TACLAN) Family of System (FoS) Field Computing Device-Wearable (FCD-W) has successfully completed Operational Utility Assessment (OUA) during Digitally-Aided Close Air Support (DACAS) testing at a Department of Defense test range in Nevada. Variable Message Format (VMF) and Situation Awareness Data Link (SADL) was tested with various aircraft during the week-long event. CAS 9-lines, Air on Station reports, and other digital information was passed between FCD-W system and the aircraft. In addition, ground forces successfully tested video down links from the aircraft which dramatically improved situational awareness and improved their ability to process targets.

"This marks another significant milestone in the successful demonstration and verification of the FCD-W performance and capability as we move towards final system certification and fielding," stated iGov's Vice President of Programs.

The FCD-W solution supports standard operator configuration for "shooters" and a Joint Terminal Air Controllers (JTAC). For the first time, special operation forces now have a wearable system optimized for combat operations that allows an end user device to connect to multiple C4I devices. This greatly enhances their ability to conduct targeting missions, Situational Awareness (SA), and navigation.







"The FCD-W is designed for the dismounted warrior and incorporates a suite of SA and DACAS applications, including ATAK, mobileJECL and ATRAX supporting VMF, Link 16, SADL and ANW2," says Greg Kaighin, iGov's TACLAN FCD-W Project Engineer. "The system is designed for multiple tactical mission sets using a NIAP-approved CSfC compliant end user device while using data and power from multiple sources."

The FCD-W kit will be available to view in iGov's booth at SOFIC 2017 from 15-18 May 2017 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, FL (Booth # 1526).

About iGov

iGov is an employee owned systems integrator and Value Added Reseller, specializing in delivering mission-centric C4I solutions to its government customers. iGov deploys its people, expertise, and processes to execute full lifecycle enterprise and tactical programs in the following areas: Tactical Networking, Software Development, Systems Engineering, Communications Systems, and C4I Platform Integration. For more information, visit www.igov.com.

Contact: Dana Stanton, 760-822-9491

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/igov-successfully-completes-taclans-field-computing-device-wearable-fcd-w-live-fire-testing-300456171.html

SOURCE iGov
[May 11, 2017] Whirlpool Corporation Opens New EMEA Headquarters in Milan

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni dedicated the new headquarters of Whirlpool EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in Pero (Milan) today. Whirlpool Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Marc Bitzer, Whirlpool EMEA President and Whirlpool Corporation Executive Vice-President Esther Berrozpe Galindo, Regione Lombardia President Roberto Maroni, and the Mayor of Pero Maria Rosa Belotti attended the ceremony. The building chosen for Whirlpool EMEA's headquarters is in the Perseo Expo District and will accommodate more than 600 employees from 28 countries in a modern and collaborative working environment. The new headquarters has the latest technology and was built to meet current sustainability standards, including a rooftop solar power system that is expected to save 16 tons of CO 2 emissions each year. In line with its corporate social responsibility goals, the company promotes alternative and sustainable transport for its employees through a carpooling app and free shuttle bus services. It has also teamed up with Banco Alimentare, an organization dedicated to redistributing food waste, to reduce unused food at the new headqarters.



"The Prime Minister's visit is a great honor for us at a very important time for Whirlpool EMEA in Italy. In addition to the new headquarters, in the last few years we have invested $500 million into product innovation, state of the art industrial processes and ongoing training for our employees," said Whirlpool EMEA President and Whirlpool Corporation Executive Vice President, Esther Berrozpe Galindo. "And the location of our new headquarters offers our employees a dynamic and multicultural environment." Whirlpool EMEA also opened The World of Whirlpool, its new flagship showroom in Milan, to showcase the world's most advanced home appliance technology and design. This new 5,400 sq. ft. facility displays products from four of Whirlpool Corporation's leading European brands - KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Hotpoint, and Indesit. It is designed to give guests an opportunity to explore and experiment with products via interactive content, demonstration cooking stations and educational and recreational activities.

Whirlpool Corporation employs more than 6,000 people in eight locations in Italy. The company plans to invest $350 million into research and development in the EMEA region by the end of 2018, with the majority having been allocated to its two advanced research centers in Italy. Whirlpool will retain its roots in the Varese area. The EMEA region's built-in products center (microwaves, fridges and ovens) in Cassinetta di Biandronno will continue with approximately 2,000 employees working in industrial operations, procurement and two global Research and Design centers: Global Consumer Design and Global Food Institute. The company is working with local government and universities to identify possible new uses for the the site of their former headquarters building in Comerio. About Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is the number one major appliance manufacturer in the world, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 93,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2016. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Indesit and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com, or find us on Twitter at @WhirlpoolCorp. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/whirlpool-corporation-opens-new-emea-headquarters-in-milan-300456170.html SOURCE Whirlpool Corporation

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[May 11, 2017] Alberta Oil and Gas Sector to Benefit From $21-million Investment in Clean Technology

CALGARY, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Developing Canada's natural resources in cleaner, more responsible ways will drive our economy by creating good, middle-class jobs and will help reduce the environmental impact and improve the emissions performance of Canada's oil and gas sector. Acting on climate change and transitioning to a clean growth economy is a commitment shared by Canadians and the Government of Canada as a goal for providing a cleaner environment for generations to come. To this end, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jim Carr, today announced $21 million for three clean technology projects to reduce emissions in the oil and gas sector in Alberta. He was joined by the Honourable Deron Bilous, Alberta's Minister of Economic Development and Trade, and Laura Kilcrease, the Chief Executive Officer of Alberta Innovates. The projects are being funded through Natural Resource Canada's Oil and Gas Clean Tech Program, which received $50 million over two years toward technologies that reduce emissions from oil and gas. Accelerating clean technology development is a key component of the Government of Canada's aproach to promoting sustainable economic growth and the transition to a low-carbon economy.



While in Calgary, Minister Carr will also be delivering a keynote address at the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business's Aboriginal Economic Development Conference, where he will discuss the important contribution Aboriginal communities are making to the Canadian economy. Minister Carr will also meet with Indigenous leaders to discuss opportunities to promote Indigenous businesses as well as ways to overcome barriers. Quotes

"Canada's oil sands companies are constantly evolving and innovating. Developing and adopting clean technologies creates jobs and will help Canada increase its global competitiveness for years to come." Jim Carr

Canada's Minister of Natural Resources "Alberta is the energy and environmental leader the world needs for the twenty-first century. That's why we are working with the federal government and industry to find new ways to lower carbon emissions and operating costs in our oil and gas sector. Together, we are building a more diversified and resilient economy for the future  and making life better for Albertans." Deron Bilous,

Alberta's Minister of Economic Development and Trade Related Links http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/science/programs-funding/18472

http://www.budget.gc.ca/2017/docs/plan/toc-tdm-en.html Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) NRCan's news releases and backgrounders are available at www.news.gc.ca. SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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[May 11, 2017] Eutelsat Communications: Third Quarter and Nine Month 2016-17 Revenues

Regulatory News: Eutelsat Communications (Paris:ETL) (ISIN: FR0010221234 - Euronext Paris: ETL) today reported revenues for the Third Quarter and Nine Months ended 31 March 2017. Three months to 31 March 2017 Note: Since its First Half results on 9 February 2017, Eutelsat now publishes its revenues on the basis of five applications: Video, Fixed Data and Government Services (Core Businesses), Fixed Broadband and Mobile Connectivity (Connectivity). Please refer to the note in the appendix to H1 results release for more details.







Previous reported

applications Proforma: New applications Variation In  millions Q3 2015-16 In  millions Q3 2015-161 Q3 2016-17 Vs. reported

revenues Like-for-

like

change2 Video Applications 239.1 Video Applications 236.7 228.1 N/A -4.1% Data Services 54.4 Fixed Data 47.0 42.1 -12.6% Value-Added Services 25.3 Government Services 45.3 45.2 -3.0% Government Services 49.7 Fixed Broadband 17.8 24.2 +36.0% Other revenues 14.5 Mobile Connectivity 13.8 17.2 +21.1% Sub-total 383.0 Other revenues3 15.2 7.5 -51.6% Non-recurring revenues - - - - - Total 383.0 Total 375.7 364.3 -4.9% -4.2% EUR/USD exchange rate 1.10 1.06

Rodolphe Belmer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Revenues for the Third Quarter were in line with our expectations, with a solid underlying performance in Broadcast. In consequence we affirm our revenue target for the Full Year with an outturn around the middle of our range of objectives. During the quarter, we have made solid commercial progress, with an outcome of the Department of Defense Spring renewal campaign in line with expectations as well as the sale of new and renewal capacity at a number of our Video neighbourhoods. We have continued to maximise capex efficiencies notably with the agreement to host the EGNOS navigation system payload on EUTELSAT 5 West B and the contract with Blue Origin to further diversify our options for access to space. We have made significant headway on our strategic roadmap, with the closure of the first phase of the ViaSat (News - Alert) partnership agreement. These elements enable us to look the medium term return to growth with confidence." OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS During the Third Quarter, Eutelsat made further headway with A solid commercial performance notably comprising: An outcome of the Spring renewal campaign with the US Department of Defense in line with our expectations; The signature with NTV-PLUS of a multi-year, multi-transponder contract covering the Express-AT2 satellite to reach homes in Far Eastern Russia and incremental capacity on the Express-AT1 satellite to consolidate coverage of Siberia; The multi-year renewal of a HOTBIRD transponder by SRG SSR, Switzerland's public broadcaster; A multi-year contract with Ethiopia's Information Network Security Agency for a new TV platform at the 7/8 West neighbourhood.

Continued progress on Capex efficiency via: A hosted payload, with the selection of Eutelsat by the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) for the development, integration and operation of the next-generation EGNOS payload on EUTELSAT 5 West B, a contract valued at c. 100 million. Service is scheduled to start in FY 2019-20 for a duration of 15 years; Greater choice in the launcher market through a contract with Blue Origin for a launch on the New Glenn rocket in the 2021-2022 timeframe, further diversifying options for access to space.

Further progress on the deployment plan, with the entry into service in January of EUTELSAT 117 West B over the Americas;

The closing of the partnership arrangement combining Eutelsat's established European broadband business with ViaSat's broadband technology and Internet Service Provider (ISP) expertise. THIRD QUARTER REVENUES4 Third Quarter revenues stood at 364.3 million, down 4.2% at constant currency and perimeter. On a reported basis, revenues were down 4.9% reflecting a 1.9 point negative perimeter effect (reflecting the disposal5 of Alterna'TV, Wins/DHI and DSAT Cinema) and a 1.2 point positive currency effect. Quarter-on-quarter, revenues were down 1.6% on a reported basis and down 2.9% on a like-for-like basis. Unless otherwise stated, all variations indicated below are on a like-for-like basis. Core businesses Video Applications (64% of revenues) Third Quarter revenues for Video Applications amounted to 228.1 million, down 4.1% year-on-year. Revenues from Broadcast were down 3.5% year-on-year with the negative impact of the rationalisation of capacity at the HOTBIRD position and lower revenues from FRANSAT more than offsetting the contribution of incremental capacity launched during the course of last year (mainly EUTELSAT 36C for Sub-Saharan Africa). Without these two negative elements, Broadcast revenues would have been slightly growing. Professional Video revenues were down 9.1% year-on-year, reflecting continued pressure on contribution services in this application. Revenues were down by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter. This sequential decline was fully attributable to Professional Video, with Broadcast revenues broadly stable, despite the end of the contract with Orange (News - Alert) TV from 1 January 2017, reflecting sustained performance in emerging markets. At 31 March 2017, the total number of channels broadcast by Eutelsat satellites stood at 6,356, up 3.2% year-on-year. HD penetration continued to rise, representing 16.6% of channels compared to 13.1% a year earlier, or 1,057 channels, up from 807 (+31%) a year earlier. On the commercial front, a multi-year, multi-transponder contract was signed with NTV-PLUS covering the Express-AT2 satellite at 140 East to reach homes in Far East Russia and incremental capacity on the Express-AT1 satellite at 56 East to consolidate coverage of Siberia. Elsewhere, a multi-year contract with Ethiopia's INSA agency was also finalised for a new TV platform at 7/8 West neighbourhood, while SRG SSR, Switzerland's public broadcaster renewed a HOTBIRD transponder on a multi-year basis. Fixed Data (12% of revenues) Third Quarter revenues for Fixed Data stood at 42.1 million, down 12.6% year-on-year. They continued to reflect ongoing pricing pressure in all geographies, albeit at a slightly slowing pace. Quarter-on-quarter revenues were down by 1.4%. Government Services (12% of revenues) In the Third Quarter, Government Services revenues stood at 45.2 million, down 3.0% year-on-year, reflecting the carry-over effect of lower renewals in the US Department of Defense Spring 2016 campaign. They were broadly unchanged quarter-on-quarter. The latest round of contract renewals with the US administration (Spring 2017) resulted in an estimated renewal rate of approximately 85% and new contracts represented an additional three 36-MHz equivalent transponders. Connectivity Fixed Broadband (7% of revenues) In the Third Quarter, Fixed Broadband revenues stood at 24.2 million, up 36.0% year-on-year, reflecting the positive effect of the entry into service in May 2016 of EUTELSAT 65 West A on which the Ka-band payload is fully leased, and resilient trends in European broadband. Mobile Connectivity (5% of revenues) In the Third Quarter, Mobile Connectivity revenues stood at 17.2 million, up 21.1% year-on-year, reflecting mainly the full-quarter effect of the agreement with Taqnia for the sale of four spotbeams on the High Throughput payload of the EUTELSAT 3B satellite. Other Revenues Other revenues amounted to 7.5 million in the Third Quarter versus 15.2 million a year earlier and 14.5 million in the Second Quarter. Since 1 January 2017 Other Revenues no longer include revenues related to the agreements with SES (News - Alert) at 28.5 East. OPERATIONAL AND UTILISED TRANSPONDERS The number of operational 36 MHz-equivalent transponders stood at 1,374 at 31 March 2017, up by 48 units compared with end-December 2016, reflecting principally the entry into service of EUTELSAT 117 West B in January. As a result, the fill rate stood at 68.2% at end-March 2017 versus 70.9% at end-December 2016, reflecting this new capacity and to a lesser extent the end of a contract with Orange TV. 31 March

2016 31 December

2016 31 March

2017 Number of operational 36 MHz-equivalent transponders 6 1,285 1,326 1,374 Number of utilised 36 MHz-equivalent transponders7 929 940 937 Fill rate 72.3% 70.9% 68.2% Note: Based on 36 MHz-equivalent transponders excluding high throughput capacity (KA-SAT 82 spotbeams, EUTELSAT 3B 5 Ka-band spotbeams, EUTELSAT 65 West A 24 Ka-band spotbeams and EUTELSAT 36C 18 Ka-band spotbeams). BACKLOG The backlog8 stood at 5.2 billion at 31 March 2017, versus 5.3 billion at end December 2016, and 5.9 billion a year earlier, reflecting natural consumption in the absence of significant renewals. The backlog was equivalent to 3.4 times 2015-16 revenues. Video Applications represented 84% of the backlog. 31 March

2016 31 December

2016 31 March

2017 Value of contracts (in billions of euros) 5.9 5.3 5.2 In years of annual revenues based on last fiscal year 4.0 3.5 3.4 Share of Video Applications 83% 84% 84% NINE MONTH REVENUES Revenues for the first nine months stood at 1,119.4 million, down 2.0% like-for-like. On a reported basis, they were down 3.3%, reflecting a 1.7 point negative perimeter effect (disposal9 of Alterna'TV, Wins/DHI and DSAT Cinema) and a 0.4 point positive currency effect. Nine months to 31 March 2017 Previous reported

applications Proforma: New applications Variation In  millions 9m 2015-16 In  millions 9m 2015-1610 9m 2016-17 Vs. reported

revenues Like-for-

like

change11 Video Applications 708.0 Video Applications 701.3 683.6 N/A -2.7% Data Services 172.5 Fixed Data 147.9 127.0 -14.8% Value-Added Services 80.4 Government Services 140.1 131.3 -7.1% Government Services 156.0 Fixed Broadband 58.9 72.8 +23.5% Other revenues 40.6 Mobile Connectivity 46.0 55.6 +19.9% Sub-total 1,157.4 Other revenues 43.6 49.0 +12.6% Non-recurring revenues - - - - Total 1,157.4 Total 1,137.9 1,119.4 -3.3% -2.0% EUR/USD exchange rate 1.10 1.09 OUTLOOK Based on the performance of the First Nine Months, the group confirms its financial objectives for the current and next two years: Relative to our objective of a decline in Revenues between -3% to -1% (at constant currency and perimeter) the outturn for the current year is expected around the middle of this range. For FY 2017-18, we maintain our expectation of broadly flat revenues, with a return to modest growth in FY 2018-19.

between -3% to -1% (at constant currency and perimeter) the outturn for the current year is expected around the middle of this range. For FY 2017-18, we maintain our expectation of broadly flat revenues, with a return to modest growth in FY 2018-19. Following the implementation of the 'LEAP' cost-savings plan, the EBITDA margin (at constant currency) is expected above 76% for both FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 and heading towards 77% in FY 2018-19.

(at constant currency) is expected above 76% for both FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 and heading towards 77% in FY 2018-19. Cash Capex will stand at an average of 420 million 12 per annum for the period July 2016 to June 2019, after taking account of future investments in Very High Throughput Satellite (VHTS) capacity.

will stand at an average of 420 million per annum for the period July 2016 to June 2019, after taking account of future investments in Very High Throughput Satellite (VHTS) capacity. Discretionary Free Cash Flow 13 is expected to see three-year CAGR in excess of 10%, with FY 2015-16 as the base year 14 .

is expected to see three-year CAGR in excess of 10%, with FY 2015-16 as the base year . The Group is committed to maintaining a sound financial structure to support its investment grade credit rating and aims at a net debt / EBITDA ratio below 3.3x.

below 3.3x. The Group also commits to serving a stable to progressive dividend to shareholders. FLEET DEVELOPMENTS NOMINAL LAUNCH PROGRAMME The upcoming launch schedule is indicated below. The launch of EUTELSAT 172B is now scheduled for 1 June. Satellite1 Orbital

position Estimated

launch

(calendar

year) Main

applications Main

geographic

coverage Physical

transponders 36 MHz-

equivalent

transponders /

Spotbeams Of which

expansion

36 MHz-

equivalent

transponders EUTELSAT 172B 172 East 1 June 2017 Data, Government

Services, Mobility Asia-Pacific 36 Ku (regular), 14

C, 11 Ku-band HTS

spotbeams 42 Ku (regular), 24

C, 11 Ku-band

HTS spotbeams2 19 Ku (regular); 11

Ku-band HTS

spotbeams2 EUTELSAT 7C 7 East H2 2018 Video Turkey, Middle-East, Africa 44 Ku 49 Ku 19 Ku EUTELSAT 5 WEST B 5 West H2 2018 Video Europe, MENA 35 Ku 35 Ku None EUTELSAT QUANTUM To be

confirmed 2019 Government Services Flexible 8 beams

"QUANTUM" Not applicable Not applicable African Broadband

satellite To be

confirmed 2019 Broadband Africa 65 spotbeams 75 Gbps 75 Gbps 1 Chemical propulsion satellites (EUTELSAT QUANTUM, EUTELSAT 5 West B) generally enter into service 1 to 2 months after launch. Electric propulsion satellites (EUTELSAT 172B, EUTELSAT 7C and the African Broadband satellite) between 4 and 6 months.

2 Total capacity of the high throughput payload: 1.8 Gbps. CHANGES IN THE FLEET In January 2017, EUTELSAT 117 West B entered commercial service,

In April 2017, EUTELSAT 48A reached the end of its operational life and was de-orbited. GOVERNANCE The Board of Directors of Eutelsat Communications decided to submit to the General Meeting of Shareholders which will be held on 8 November 2017 the appointment of Dominique D'Hinnin (currently permanent representative of FSP) as a Board Member. Following the AGM and subject to the approval of this appointment, Dominique D'Hinnin will replace Michel de Rosen who will step down from his functions as Chairman and Board Member of Eutelsat Communications. Elsewhere, Yohann Leroy was appointed Deputy CEO in addition to his function as Chief Technical Officer, alongside Michel Azibert, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial and Development Officer. RECENT EVENTS Financing The option to extend by one year the maturity of the 600 million term loan and of the 200 million revolving credit facility of Eutelsat Communications, was exercised and accepted by the lenders. These facilities will now mature in March 2022. Furthermore, ahead of the refinancing of the 930 million bond maturing in January 2020, the 7-year-mid-swap rate for an outstanding amount of 500 million has been pre-hedged at 112 bps. The 450 million Eutelsat S.A. (News - Alert) revolving credit facility maturing in September 2018 was refinanced at attractive terms. The new revolving credit facility will mature in April 2022 with two options for a one-year extension subject to the consent of the lenders for each extension. APPENDICES Quarterly revenues by Application Proforma revenues As a reminder, proforma revenues for FY 2015-16 were published with the H1 revenues release on 9 February 2017. They reflect: The disposal of some businesses: Alterna TV (Video) deconsolidated from April 2016, Wins/DHI (Mobile Connectivity) deconsolidated from end-August 2016 and DSAT Cinema (Video) from end-October 2016;

A new classification of revenues on the basis of five applications: Video, Fixed Data and Government Services (Core Businesses), and Fixed Broadband and Mobile Connectivity (Connectivity). The table below shows quarterly proforma revenues for FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17 under the new classifications: In  millions Three months ended Fiscal year

2015-16 Three months ended Sep 2015 Dec 2015 Mar 2016 Jun 2016 Sep 2016 Dec 2016 Mar 2017 Video 227.6 237.1 236.7 235.7 937.0 226.5 228.9 228.1 Fixed Data 51.8 49.2 47.0 45.1 193.0 43.4 41.4 42.1 Government Services 47.6 47.3 45.3 40.7 180.8 42.3 43.8 45.2 Fixed Broadband 21.3 19.8 17.8 22.2 81.1 24.9 23.7 24.2 Mobile Connectivity 17.2 15.1 13.8 13.9 60.0 20.6 17.9 17.2 Other revenues 17.8 10.6 15.2 7.2 50.8 27.1 14.5 7.5 Total 383.2 379.0 375.7 364.7 1,502.6 384.8 370.2 364.3 Reported Revenues For information purposes, the table below shows reported revenues for FY 2015-16 and first quarter of FY 2016-17 under the former classifications. In  millions Three months ended H1

2015-16 Three months ended Fiscal year

2015-16 Three months ended Sep 2015 Dec 2015 Mar 2016 Jun 2016 Sep 2016 Video Applications 229.4 239.5 468.9 239.1 235.6 943.6 224.3 Data Services 58.8 59.3 118.0 54.4 57.6 230.0 56.8 Value-Added Services 29.7 25.4 55.1 25.3 27.4 107.8 29.4 Government Services 53.0 53.2 106.2 49.7 43.9 199.9 47.1 Other revenues 16.7 9.4 26.1 14.5 7.2 47.7 27.1 Sub-total 387.7 386.7 774.4 383.0 371.6 1,529.0 384.8 Non-recurring revenues - - - - - - -- Total 387.7 386.7 774.4 383.0 371.6 1,529.0 384.8 Third Quarter 2016-17 revenues conference call A conference call will be held on Thursday, 11 May 2017 at 18.30 CET / 17.30 GMT / 12:30 EST To connect to the call, please use the following numbers: France: +33 (0) 1 76 77 22 57

UK: +44 (0) 330 336 9411

United States: +1 719 325 2346 Access code: 6590250# Instant replay will be available from 11 May, 21.45 CET to 18 May, 21.45 CET on the following numbers: France: +33 (0) 1 70 48 00 94

UK: + 44 (0) 207 984 7568

United States: + 1 719 457 0820 Access code: 6590250# Financial calendar The financial calendar below is provided for information purposes only. It is subject to change and will be regularly updated. - 28 July 2017: Full-Year 2016-17 results. About Eutelsat Communications:

Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world's leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 39 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and Internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies. Eutelsat's satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user's location. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat represents a workforce of 1,000 men and women from 37 countries who are experts in their fields and work with clients to deliver the highest quality of service.

www.eutelsat.com Disclaimer The forward-looking statements included herein are for illustrative purposes only and are based on management's current views and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks. For illustrative purposes only, such risks include but are not limited to: postponement of any ground or in-orbit investments and launches including but not limited to delays of future launches of satellites; impact of financial crisis on customers and suppliers; trends in Fixed Satellite Services markets; development of Digital Terrestrial Television and High Definition television; development of satellite broadband services; Eutelsat Communications' ability to develop and market Value-Added Services and meet market demand; the effects of competing technologies developed and expected intense competition generally in its main markets; profitability of its expansion strategy; partial or total loss of a satellite at launch or in-orbit; supply conditions of satellites and launch systems; satellite or third-party launch failures affecting launch schedules of future satellites; litigation; ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships in its major businesses; and the effect of future acquisitions and investments. Eutelsat Communications expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any projections, forecasts or estimates contained in this presentation to reflect any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless so required by applicable law. 1 Proforma revenues reflecting disposals of Alterna'TV, Wins/DHI and DSAT Cinema. For more details, please refer to the appendices.

2 At constant currency and perimeter.

3 Other revenues include mainly compensation paid on the settlement of business-related litigation, the impact of EUR/USD currency hedging, the provision of various services or consulting/engineering fees as well as termination fees.

4 The share of each application as a percentage of total revenues is calculated excluding "other revenues". Unless otherwise stated, all growth indicators are made in comparison with Third Quarter ended 31 March 2016.

5 Alterna TV (Video) deconsolidated from April 2016, Wins/DHI (Mobile Connectivity) deconsolidated from end-August 2016 and DSAT Cinema (Video) from end-October 2016.

6 Number of 36 MHz-equivalent transponders on satellites in stable orbit, back-up capacity excluded.

7 Number of 36 MHz-equivalent transponders utilised on satellites in stable orbit.

8 The backlog represents future revenues from capacity lease agreements and can include contracts for satellites under procurement.

9 Alterna'TV (Video) deconsolidated from April 2016, Wins/DHI (Mobile Connectivity) deconsolidated from end-August 2016 and DSAT Cinema (Video) from end-October 2016.

10 Proforma revenues reflecting disposals of Alterna'TV, Wins/DHI and DSAT Cinema.

11 At constant currency and perimeter.

12 Including capital expenditures and payments under existing export credit facilities and under long-term lease agreements on third party capacity.

i) To avoid double-counting, it excludes the 95.2 million payment to RSCC (News - Alert) which was accounted in Cash Capex in FY 2015-16.

ii) net of the 132.5 million proceeds from the upcoming sale of 49% of the existing European Broadband business to ViaSat

13 Net cash-flow from operating activities - Cash Capex - Interest and Other fees paid net of interest received

14 Discretionary Free-Cash-Flow of 247 million in FY 2015-16. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005914/en/

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By Press Trust of India: Grover

Bhubaneswar, May 11 (PTI) Homi Bhabha Chair Professor, Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Ravi Bhushan Grover today said that emphasis should be on use of nuclear energy, considering the emerging demand and constraints of conventional resources.

"Nuclear energy, having high energy density and high EROI (Energy Returned / Energy Invested in production), needs to be pursued rigorously in the present scenario," Grover said while delivering the 19th National Technology Day lecture organised by National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) here.

advertisement

Speaking on the importance of energy and role of nuclear energy in global energy mix, he said that demand for energy can be a threat to lifestyle because of inequality among consumers and issues of economic and political stability.

Rising demand requires efficient use of energy as well as its affordability.

Importantly, he said, the supply side needs focus in the context of resources, technologies, costs besides social and environmental impact.

Grover stressed on evolution of technology to address issues pertaining to energy generation and consumption while focusing on safety, security and sustainability.

The CMD of NALCO, Tapan Kumar Chand in his presidential address said that technology has brought tremendous development and qualitative changes in the standards of living of people.

"In the industry we use technology to increase production, enhance productivity, improve quality, generate revenue from waste and promote sustainability," he said.

Chand also informed that new technologies in the areas of robotics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented reality, virtual reality are all likely to bring in drastic changes in the employment pattern.

He also said that industries need to prepare themselves for the changes.

He also informed that NALCO has adopted the nano-based Emrion technology, for the first time globally, for effluent treatment.

The same technology can be put to use in fluoride affected regions and benefit the society also, a Nalco release said. PTI SKN SBN

--- ENDS ---
[May 11, 2017] Pioneer Consulting launches GoCable.io to design the Southern Cross NEXT Cable System

Pioneer Consulting, a company with global reach specializing in submarine cable consulting, has expanded its core capabilities by launching GoCable.io. This innovative cloud-based service provides a design platform for mapping, planning and analyzing new undersea cable systems. GoCable.io has successfully provided service to many of Pioneer's customers, most recently Southern Cross Cables Limited (SCCL), in support of the cable design, marine survey, and permitting for their planned fiber optic cable system Southern Cross NEXT-a network that will be constructed and operated by SCCL connecting Australia, New Zealand and the United States. GoCable.io is an accessible, web-based service that ensures cable design and multi-discipline collaboration remains straightforward throughout all project phases. The platform avoids unnecessary complication by delivering a simple customer-focused product, point-and-click functionality, and meaningful data-driven reports as well as analytics allowing customers to instantly generate Route Position Lists (RPLs), Straight Line Diagram (SLDs), and other economically important details-all provided in industry-standard exportable formats.



Pioneer Consulting's Director of Networks, Ryan Wopschall, believes that, "GoCable will transform the way telecom companies are conceptualizing their submarine cables during the early stages of new system development. We are pleased to provide our clients with a service platform that is user-friendly and accurate. Indeed utilizing GoCable.io for Southern Cross NEXT has been quite a beneficial asset for the cable owners." In addition to GoCable.io providing value during the development of the Southern Cross NEXT cable system, Pioneer Consulting is currently overseeing the procurement support for the construction of the planned network. Mr. Dean Veverka, Director Networks and Vice President Operations at SCCL who has seen GoCable.io first-hand has complimented the software by stating: "GoCable.io is an innovative platform that has allowed our team to quickly collaborate on system configuration, support jurisdictional notifications, and adapt our planning as requirements develop through each project phase."

To receive a demonstration or a free trial of GoCable.io, please send an email to: [email protected] and for further information please visit www.GoCable.io. About Pioneer Consulting: Pioneer offers a comprehensive set of services for the submarine fiber optic telecommunication system industry including: turnkey project management, financial and technical due diligence, engineering and implementation, and market and technical studies. For further information about Pioneer Consulting visit http://www.pioneerconsulting.com or send an e-mail to: [email protected]. About Southern Cross: Southern Cross Cable Network provides fast, direct, and secure international bandwidth from Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii to the heart of the Internet in the USA. The Southern Cross Cable Network is owned by Spark NZ (50%), Singtel-Optus (40%) and Verizon Business (News - Alert) (10%). Southern Cross NEXT will be a high capacity express route, providing data-centre connectivity between Sydney, Auckland, and Los Angeles. Given its design and route, it will be the lowest latency path to the United States by some considerable margin. The new route will be developed as an extension of the existing Southern Cross eco-system, allowing customers to leverage Southern Cross' extensive POP and access infrastructure already in place and is designed to carry over 60 Terabits of traffic, ensuring Southern Cross can cater for customers' growing demand requirements well into the future. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005949/en/

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AXA Celebrates Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

AXA, a financial protection and retirement industry leader, announced today that it is an official gold sponsor of the 2017 Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival, to be held on May 13th. Following the festival, on May 17th AXA is sponsoring the "Flavors of Asia: A Culinary Experience" event at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City in celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month (May 2017). Both events are coordinated and sponsored in part by The Pan Asian Resource Council (PARC), AXA's culturally diverse Employee Resource Group (ERG) that is committed to advancing a deeper understanding among AXA employees of the greater Asian cultures.

"Asian Americans are both valued clients and an important part of our work force at AXA," said Josh Braverman, Senior Executive Director, Head of the Legacy Business and Treasurer of AXA US and executive sponsor of the AXA PARC ERG. "We are proud to support and participate in these wonderful events that highlight Asian cultural traditions and provide the opportunity for our employees to engage in fun, team-building activities in celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month."

The Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival

This is AXA's 3rd year participating in the Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival, and the first time the company is a gold sponsor of the event. The festival will be held at Ramsey Creek Park on Lake Norman in Cornelius, North Carolina on May 13, 2017. Come by and cheer on AXA's teams, the AXA Power Paddlers and the AXA Water Warriors, as they compete after weeks of morning practices and rigorous training to prepare for the races. Along with the Dragon Boat races, the Charlotte Asian Festival will also take place on the same day at Ramsey Creek Park, a family-friendly festival that is designed to celebrate the traditions and unique Asian-Pacific cultures represented in the greater Charlotte region.

Flavors of Asia: A Culinary Experience

AXA is also sponsoring the "Flavors of Asia: A Culinary Experience" event presented by the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) at the Museum of Chinese in America (MoCA) on May 17, 2017 in New York City. Guests will travel across Asia's culinary landscape sampling delicious dishes from local restaurants, and they will have the opportunity to meet the chefs behind MoCA's Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy: Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America exhibition, currently on view through September 10, 2017.







AXA's Resources to the Asian-American Community

AXA Advisors, LLC offers a diverse team of financial professionals, including many that are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and other Asian languages, to serve the planning needs of Asian-Americans residents.

For more information about AXA PARC, visit www.axa.com Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @AXA_US.

About AXA

"AXA" "AXA" is a brand name of AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC and its family of companies, including AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (NY, NY), MONY Life Insurance Company of America (AZ stock company, administrative office: Jersey City, NJ), AXA Advisors, LLC, and AXA Distributors, LLC. In business since 1859, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company is a leading financial protection company and one of the nation's premier providers of life insurance and annuity products distributed to individuals and business owners through its retail distribution channel, AXA Advisors, LLC (member FINRA, SIPC) and to the financial services market through its wholesale distribution channel, AXA Distributors, LLC (member FINRA, SIPC).

AXA S.A. (also referred to as "AXA Group") is a Paris-headquartered holding company for a group of international insurance and financial services companies, including AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC companies. AXA S.A. is a worldwide leader in financial protection strategies and wealth management with 103 million clients in 64 countries. AXA S.A. has been ranked the No. 1 insurance brand in the world by Interbrand for eight consecutive years as of Oct. 5, 2016.

The obligations of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company and MONY Life Insurance Company of America are backed solely by their claims-paying ability. Find AXA on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For more information, visit www.axa.com.

GE- 125723(05/17)(Exp.05/19)

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005951/en/
[May 11, 2017] Alliance Data's Card Services Business Recognized As CIO 100 Award Winner

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IDG's CIO recently ranked Alliance Data's card services business (www.knowmoresellmore.com), a premier provider of private label, co-brand and business credit programs, among the 2017 CIO 100. The 30th annual award program recognizes organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology (IT). "Technology innovation and business value have always been at the heart of our CIO 100 awards, which honor the IT organizations thriving on the front lines of the digital revolution," said Maryfran Johnson, editor-in-chief, CIO Events. "This year's winning companies are outstanding examples of how IT leadership, business collaboration and customer engagement are shaping the future." Alliance Data's card services business received this honor for its proprietary Frictionless Mobile Credit capability. This first-of-its-kind credit card acquisition capability allows shoppers to apply for a store-branded credit card in a matter of seconds from the privacy and security of teir mobile device anywhere in their shopping journey. Frictionless Mobile Credit reduces application time by more than 25 percent and the application abandonment rate by more than 95 percent.



"Frictionless Mobile Credit requires a simple text and a few keystrokes, and shoppers are on their way to applying for credit. Through Alliance Data's patent-pending process, a credit application is automatically populated using information from our vast data resources," explained Mike Rosello, chief information officer of Alliance Data's card services business. "This fast, simple, and customer-friendly innovation benefits customers and retailers by adding convenience and saving time. And, because customers know their credit limit earlier in the shopping process, it has been shown to significantly increase first-time purchases." "We're especially proud of this achievement, as the development of this capability represents the broad customer-focused thinking of our combined marketing and IT teams as part of our ongoing commitment to delivering innovative digital and mobile capabilities that put the customer experience first, building deeper brand loyalty and meaningful value for brand partners," added Jami Dewolf, chief marketing officer of Alliance Data's card services business.

Recipients of this year's CIO 100 Award were selected through a three-step process. First, companies completed an online application form detailing their innovative IT and business initiatives. Next, a team of external judges (many of them former CIOs) reviewed the applications in depth, looking for leading-edge IT practices and measurable results. Finally, CIO editors reviewed the judges' evaluations and selected the final 100. Alliance Data's card services business will accept the award at the CIO 100 Symposium and Awards Ceremony on August 16 at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado. About CIO:

CIO from IDG is the premier content and community resource for information technology executives and leaders thriving and prospering in this fast-paced era of IT transformation in the enterprise. The award-winning CIO portfolio--CIO.com, CIO executive programs, CIO Strategic Marketing Services, CIO Forum on LinkedIn, CIO Executive Council and CIO primary researchprovides business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT's role in achieving business goals. Additionally, CIO provides opportunities for IT solution providers to reach this executive IT audience. The CIO Executive Council is a professional organization of CIOs created to serve as an unbiased and trusted peer advisory group. CIO is published by IDG Enterprise, a subsidiary of IDG. Company information is available at http://www.idgenterprise.com/. Follow CIO on Twitter: @CIOonline #CIO100 #CIOHOF

Follow IDG Enterprise on Twitter: @IDGEnterprise

Follow CIO on LinkedIn

Follow CIO on Facebook About Alliance Data's card services business

Alliance Data's card services business is a leading provider of tailored marketing and loyalty solutions, delivered through branded credit programs that drive more profitable relationships between our brand partners and their cardmembers. We offer private label, co-brand, and commercial products to many of the world's most recognizable brands across a multitude of channels. We uphold our Know more. Sell more. promise by leveraging unmatched customer insights, advanced analytics, and broad-reaching innovative capabilities. It's how we deliver increased sales to our partners, build enduring loyalty to their brands, and provide more value to our cardmembers. Alliance Data's card services business is a proud part of the Alliance Data enterprise. To learn more, visit www.KnowMoreSellMore.com or follow us on Twitter @Know_SellMore. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alliance-datas-card-services-business-recognized-as-cio-100-award-winner-300456231.html SOURCE Alliance Data Card Services

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[May 11, 2017] Hackers to Build Solutions to Counter Extremism

LONDON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Software developers from all over the world will compete to develop technologies that prevent extremism and foster tolerance. Over the course of the next three months, developers participating in a series of hackathon events in 25 cities around the world, will be encouraged to find technology solutions that build tolerance and foster understanding across cultures, in order to prevent extremism. The first hackathons were held in San Francisco and Munich last weekend. Hackathons are popular events where developers collaborate in weekend-long coding sessions. At the conclusion of the event, teams present their results, and a panel of judges selects winning teams. The events are backed by the Govtech Alliance, a UK not-for-profit, established by technologists and venture capitalists to develop and promote technology solutions to the biggest challenges facing society. The founder of the Govtech Alliance, serial entrepreneur and investor Aamer A. Sarfraz, said, "Tremendous talent exists in the tech community, and we need their creativity to counter all types of extremism. We've teamed up with great partners to make this happen. There couldn't be a better platform than Angelhack to work with." The hackathons are arranged by Angelhack, the world's largest and most diverse developer ecosystem. Upcoming cities include Abu Dhabi, Nw York, Hyderabad, London, Singapore, Osaka and Dubai.



Sabeen Ali, the Chief Executive Officer of Angelhack, said, "At AngelHack, we have seen first hand the importance of diversity, inclusion, and coexistence in both local, and global communities and across all industries. As a company who believes in conscious capitalism, we are thrilled to partner with the GovTech Alliance to encourage our community to code for a positive impact, and use their unique skill sets to help better the world." The Govtech Alliance's campaign partners, who will help provide mentorship and support to the winning teams, include M&C Saatchi, the global marketing and communications leader, and the Counter Extremism Project, a not-for-profit international policy organisation combatting extremist ideologies.

About Govtech Alliance The Govtech Alliance is a newly established not-for-profit based in London. Established by technologists and venture capitalists, it aims to promote technologies that help improve the lives of the public. Its current campaign is around identifying technology solutions that foster tolerance and prevent extremism. Find out more at www.govtechalliance.org About Angelhack AngelHack, a female-owned, female-majority company, is the world's largest and most diverse developer ecosystem, helping to drive open innovation of tech products, platforms and brands with extraordinary smarts, scale and speed. Known as pioneers of global hackathons for more than five years, AngelHack's 125,000+ developers, designers, and entrepreneurs around the world compete to build, test and launch new solutions over the course of a weekend. The HACKcelerator program and other education initiatives connect ambitious developers with thought leaders and experienced entrepreneurs to help them become more versatile, entrepreneurial and successful as change-makers. Find out more at www.angelhack.com. Media Contact: Erika Clevenger

+12818836782

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hackers-to-build-solutions-to-counter-extremism-300456237.html SOURCE Govtech Alliance

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[May 11, 2017] Biological Industries USA to Support Training Programs for Young Scientists through Partnership with Non-Profit Institute Pathways to Stem Cell Science

Biological Industries USA (BI-USA) is proud to announce an exciting partnership designed to support real-world laboratory skills training in regenerative medicine for early career scientists (high school to college level and beyond). As part of their commitment to help support and train the future generation of scientists in the field of stem cell biology, BI-USA has partnered with the non-profit institute Pathways to Stem Cell Science to help aspiring scientists gain hands-on experience culturing human pluripotent stem cells in state-of-the-art facilities in Southern California. As a part of this agreement, BI-USA will provide stem cell product and technology support through program scholarships for the Pathways to Stem Cell Science training programs. Featuring both classroom and laboratory-based courses, students participating in the Pathways to Stem Cell Science programs are equipped with unique skills to help them gain a competitive edge in pursuing future educational and professional goals. "Despite the growth and availability of bioscience jobs, many college graduates still find it difficult to transition from university degree programs into the right bioscience career," said Victoria Fox, Ph.D., President and Founder of Pathways to Stem Cell Science. "This situation exists in part because graduating students lack the real-world experience needed to navigate the biosciences jobs and gain work-specific or specialized laboratory skills, which are required for many bioscience professions. We launched Pathways to Stem Cell Science to provide more opportunities for early career scientists to gain this valuable hands-on training and laboratory experience." "Every great scientist started as a student," said Tanya Potcova, CEO of BI-USA. "We are proud to play a role in supporting science education for young students. By sharing our knowledge and experience in the field of stem cell research, we hope to help empower the next generation of scientists"



To kick off this new partnership, BI-USA will host a webinar presented by Dr. Victoria Fox on Wednesday, May 17 at 2:00 PM ET. Dr. Fox will discuss the benefits of STEM exposure to early career scientists and present an overview of the Pathways to Stem Cell Science training programs. To learn more and register for this free webinar, please visit bioind.com/support/webinars About Biological Industries (BI)

Biological Industries (www.bioind.com) is one of the world's leading and trusted suppliers to the life sciences industry, with over 35 years' experience in cell culture media development and GMP manufacturing. BI's products range from classical cell culture media to supplements and reagents for stem cell research and potential cell therapy applications, to serum-free media and many other products for animal cell culture and molecular biology. BI is committed to a Culture of Excellence through advanced manufacturing and quality-control systems, regulatory expertise, in-depth market knowledge, and extensive technical customer-support, training, and R&D capabilities. Biological Industries USA (BI-USA) is the US commercialization arm of BI, with facilities in Cromwell, Connecticut. Members of the BI-USA team share a history and expertise of innovation and success in the development of leading-edge technologies in stem cell research, cellular reprogramming, and regenerative medicine. To receive ongoing BI communications, please join our email list or connect with the company on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. About Pathways to Stem Cell Science Pathways to Stem Cell Science is a non-profit institute and unique provider of real-world training in molecular cell biology, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine. We work collaboratively with both academic and industry partners to offer innovative programs for students of all ages to learn hands-on science with human stem cells. Our laboratory-based courses feature novel classes, designed and taught by publishing scientists who are also exceptional teachers. Equipped with unique skills, our graduates gain a competitive edge, attend top-tier universities, pursue professional science careers and make measurable contributions to the field of stem cell research. For more information on the training programs provided by Pathways to Stem Cell Science, please visit stemcellpath.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006245/en/

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[May 11, 2017] Wealthsimple raises $50M in new funding; announces $1B in assets under administration

User-friendly investing service secures new funding from Power Financial Corporation group TORONTO and NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Wealthsimple has raised a $50 million Series B investment from the Power Financial Corporation group of companies, bringing Power's total investment in Wealthsimple to $100 million to date. The two-year-old company now has over $1 billion in assets under administration and more than 30,000 clients in the U.S. and Canada. Wealthsimple brings professional investing to everyone, using an incredibly simple digital platform and low fees. Wealthsimple's Magazine tells human stories about money, from money diaries with interesting people like Anthony Bourdain and Maria Bamford, to advice on moving in with your partner and asking your parents for money. Wealthsimple's mission is to democratize wealth by making the best tools and advice accessible to everyone, regardless of who they are or how much they have to invest.



"Many people don't know where to start when it comes to investing, and Wealthsimple is looking to solve that problem by making investing a really simple experience," said Michael Katchen, CEO and founder of Wealthsimple. "It's been encouraging to see the response from both first-time and experienced investors, and we're looking forward to continuing our growth in the U.S. and Canada." Wealthsimple has a partnership with the Power Financial group of companies, who have invested $100 million in capital to date. The Power Financial groups of companies have invested more than $250 million in emerging financial companies.

"Wealthsimple is making investing approachable to people at all stages of their financial lives, and in particular younger investors who have traditionally been underserved by the financial industry," said Paul Desmarais III, Chairman of Wealthsimple and Senior Vice-President at Power Financial Corporation. "With our biggest investment in Wealthsimple to date, we're excited to see the company continue to grow and succeed." Wealthsimple will use the new funds to continue its expansion in Canada and the United States, and grow Wealthsimple for Advisors, its B2B platform. About Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple is an online investment manager that combines user-friendly digital tools and personal financial advice to make smart, automated investing available to everyone. With no minimum account size and low fees, Wealthsimple makes investing simple, accessible, affordable and personalized. Available in the U.S. and Canada, Wealthsimple was founded by a team of financial experts and technology entrepreneurs, and is backed by the Power Financial group of companies. Power Financial Corporation (TSX: PWF) is a diversified management and holding company that has interests, directly or indirectly, in companies in the financial services sector in Canada, the United States and Europe. To learn more, visit www.wealthsimple.com. SOURCE Wealthsimple

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[May 11, 2017] Selexis SA Opens New World-Class Laboratory Facility and Corporate Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland

Selexis SA, a pioneering life sciences company and a global leader in mammalian (suspension-adapted CHO-K1) cell line generation, announced today the dedication of a new, state-of-the-art laboratory and corporate headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Selexis CEO and Chairman Igor Fisch, PhD, officially introduced the new space to a host of Swiss-based biotech and government dignitaries last night during a grand opening and ribbon-cutting event. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006273/en/ At the dedication of new Selexis laboratories and facilities, Fongit's Pierre Strubin, Swiss Biotech Association's Dr. Bettina Ernst, Selexis CEO and Chairman Dr. Igor Fisch, Conseiller d'Etat for Geneva Pierre Maudet, Selexis Co-Founder and Board Member Prof. Nicolas Mermod, Mayor of Plan-les-Ouates Fabienne Monbaron, Selexis Board Member Marcel Schmocker, Selexis Employee Dr. David Calabrese, and Selexis Board Member Dr. Peter Pfister celebrate with an official ribbon cutting. (Photo: Business Wire) "This move marks a tremendous accomplishment for Selexis, which was founded 15 years ago with a small office in Geneva while the laboratory was based at the University of Lausanne with just one scientist and a seed investment of one hundred thousand Swiss Francs. Now, we have dedicated a new facility worthy of incredible scientists and professionals who occupy it. Our new headquarters reflect our commitment to Geneva and to our status as the world-class leaders (scientific and technology) in the cell line development market as well as in biologic drug discovery," said Dr. Fisch. "We're very proud of what we have accomplished here in such a fast-growing Swiss biotech region, and we look forward to contributing further to the economic vitality of the biotech community in Geneva as our technology fosters the advancement of important biologic drugs and vaccines for patients facing diseases as diverse as cancer and HIV." The new R&D facility houses Selexis' proprietary SUREtechnology Platform, which facilitates the rapid, stable, and cost-effective generation of cell lines producing virtually any recombinant protein. The platform provides seamless integration of the biologics development continuum, spanning discovery to commercialization. Additionally, the building will serve as headquarters for Selexis' corporate and scientific leadership teams. The facility, located at Plan les Ouates, a suburb of Geneva, Switzerland, has tripled its capacity to meet partner demands. "We are proud to see Selexis continuing its rich history of growth and investment in operations here in Geneva. We congratulate Dr. Fisch and his team on their impressive new facility," said Pierre Maudet, Conseiller d'Etat for Geneva. "The important work that Selexis is doing right here will help improve the lives of million of people across the globe, and we look forward to their continued success." In addition to Dr. Fisch and Mr. Maudet, special guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony included Fabienne Monbaron, Mayor of Plan-les-Ouates, and Dr. Bettina Ernst, a board member of the Swiss Biotech Association. Today, Selexis has more than 30 employees and 95 partners worldwide. The company's technology has fostered the advancement of more than 75 biologic drug development programs and three commercially available drugs. In January of 2015, Selexis reached an important milestone with the approval of the first therapeutic biologic generated on its platform. Since then, Selexis has had several seminal announcements, including: The approval of a difficult-to-express protein used to treat an autoimmune disease;

The approval of a monoclonal antibody used to treat cancer;

Three service agreements with Sanofi, to develop a cell line for a naked antibody, a new cell line for a bispecific antibody, and a new cell line for the expression of a complex recombinant vaccine protein;

A collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) to develop high-performance research cell banks for HIV vaccines; and

A strategic agreement with Xencor, Inc, which is developing engineered monoclonal antibodies to treat autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergic diseases and cancer. About Selexis SA Selexis SA is a pioneering life sciences company and a global leader in mammalian (suspension-adapted CHO-K1) cell line generation, providing unparalleled proprietary technology and the highly specialized expertise that is necessary to translate scientific innovation into life-saving medicines for patients. Selexis' SUREtechnology Platform facilitates the rapid, stable, and cost-effective production of virtually any recombinant protein and provides seamless integration of the bioproduction continuum, spanning discovery to commercialization. With more than 95 partners worldwide, more than 75 biologic drug development programs and three commercial products utilizing its cell lines, Selexis has a history of empowering scientists and biopharmaceutical companies around the world to realize the full potential of their research. More information is available at www.selexis.com.







FOR MORE INFORMATION - Web www.selexis.com - LinkedIn (News - Alert) www.linkedin.com/company/selexis-sa - Twitter (News - Alert) www.twitter.com/SelexisSA - Facebook (News - Alert) www.facebook.com/SelexisSA

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006273/en/

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Global Cosmetic Dentistry Market Driven by the Rising Popularity of Invisible Orthodontics: Technavio

According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global cosmetic dentistry market is projected to grow to USD 37.74 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of nearly 13% over the forecast period.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006200/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global cosmetic dentistry market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

This research report titled 'Global Cosmetic Dentistry Market 2017-2021' provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions.







Cosmetic dentistry, or aesthetic dentistry, is a dental service that focuses on the appearance of the mouth and the teeth. The rising popularity of the technologically advanced invisible orthodontics for the correction of a variety of teeth alignment issues such as crowding, spacing, crossbite, overbite, and underbite.

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.

Based on the product type, the report categorizes the global cosmetic dentistry market into the following segments:

Dental crowns and dental bridges

Dental implants

Orthodontics

Others

The top three revenue-generating product segments in the global cosmetic dentistry market are discussed below:

Dental crowns and dental bridges

"Dental crowns and dental bridges is currently the largest and fastest-growing segment of the cosmetic dentistry market, driven by the development of newer technologies such as customized dental implants," says Srinivas Sashidhar, a lead analyst at Technavio for orthodontics and medical devices research.

The rising demand for dental restoration and increase in population, disposable income, and adoption of laser dentistry are expected to boost the market growth in various geographies through the forecast period. The availability of advanced technology and better infrastructure makes EMEA the largest contributor to the market segment.

Dental implants

Geographically, EMEA dominates the market for dental implants, with Italy, Germany, Spain, and France responsible for contributing a majority of the revenue generated. In the Americas, the growth in awareness about oral health, advances in technology used in implantation, and an increase in opportunities in emerging markets is expected to drive the market growth. Also, innovative social media marketing strategies are encouraging people to opt for dental implants instead of other methods of teeth restoration.

Orthodontics

"The orthodontics segment is expected to grow swiftly due to the rise in the number of cosmetic dentistry procedures, supported by the low cost of the procedure and the growing demand for teeth correction and alignment," says Srinivas.

The most commonly used orthodontic devices are braces, which comprise of brackets, orthodontic bands, spacers, arch wires, and buccal tubes. Fixed orthodontic devices are the highest revenue contributor due to the rising demand for improved appearance. Region wise, North Americas contributed the highest revenue, followed by Europe and APAC.

The top vendors highlighted by Technavio's research analysts in this report are:

Danaher Corporation (News - Alert)

Dentsply Sirona

3M

Zimmer Biomet

Coast Dental Services

Q & M Dental Group

Browse Related Reports:

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 cardiovascular devices, central nervous system, and in-vitro diagnostics. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, resellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected].

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006200/en/
[May 11, 2017] Intrusion Inc. Announces Financial Release Date and Conference Call

RICHARDSON, Texas, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intrusion Inc. (OTCQB:INTZ), (Intrusion) will announce first quarter 2017 financial results on Monday, May 15, 2017. The press release will be published over the wire services after the market closes. The release will also be available on the companys web site at www.intrusion.com. Intrusion management will review the Companys financial and operational progress for the first quarter 2017 during a conference call later that day at 4:00 P.M., CDT.

Interested investors can access the call at 1-77-258-4925 (outside the United States, please dial 1-973-500-2152) at 4:00 P.M., CDT. For those unable to participate in the live conference call, a replay will be accessible beginning May 15, 2017 at approximately 7:00 P.M., CDT until May 22, 2017 by calling 1-855-859-2056 (if outside the United States, 1-404-537-3406). At the replay prompt, enter conference identification number 21215585. In addition, a live and archived audio webcast of the conference call will be available at www.intrusion.com.



About Intrusion Inc. Intrusion Inc. is a global provider of entity identification, high speed data mining, cybercrime and advanced persistent threat detection products. Intrusions product families include TraceCop for identity discovery and disclosure, and Savant for network data mining and advanced persistent threat detection. Intrusions products help protect critical information assets by quickly detecting, protecting, analyzing and reporting attacks or misuse of classified, private and regulated information for government and enterprise networks. For more information, please visit www.intrusion.com.

Contact Michael L. Paxton, VP, CFO 972.301.3658, [email protected]

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[May 11, 2017] Champlain College Wins Best Online College in Vermont

Champlain College Online today announced being honored with the 2017 Best of Business Award by Vermont Business Magazine (VBM) for its portfolio of online degree programs. VBM surveyed its magazine readership and digital subscribers, and after nearly 1,000 responses, they compiled the winners. The awards program celebrates the best Vermont companies in more than 100 business-to-business categories and recognizes them for their expertise. "Vermont Business Magazine is highly esteemed in the local business community and Champlain College Online is honored to be recognized as developing and providing the best online degree programs in the state," said Dr. Mika Nash, Academic Dean, Division of Continuing Professional Studies, Champlain College Online. "We take great pride and effort in delivering nationally ranked, fully online post-secondary undergraduate and graduate degrees to prepare adult professionals in highly competitive fields." Champlain College Online offers over 50 associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees and certificates in sought after industries such as business, cybersecurity, advaced accounting, executive leadership and numerous others. The online college serves a national and international audience of adult professional students and provides career-focused post-secondary online education. The accelerated curriculum is designed to be immersive, immediately applicable and courses are led by expert practitioners to ensure relevancy.



Champlain is ranked among the best online bachelor's programs by U.S. News & World Report and was named the best cybersecurity education program SC Magazine. The Best of Business Awards will be presented by Vermont Business Magazine at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel on May 11th from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm. For more information about Champlain's career-focused curriculum, please visit http://www.champlain.edu/online! About Champlain College

Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and more than 60 online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 381 Colleges: 2017 Edition. Champlain College is featured in the "Fiske Guide to Colleges" for 2017 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Champlain was named one of the "Most Innovative Schools" in the North by the U.S. News and World Report's 2017 "America's Best Colleges and #91 in the overall list of "Best Regional Universities in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006415/en/

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The case comes against the backdrop of the Centre blocking hundreds of adult websites in 2015 to prevent porn becoming a 'social nuisance'.

The easy availability of porn through the internet in this country is a serious impediment to the progress of this nation.-Akash Narwala's affidavit in court

By Harish V Nair: Class 12 student Akash Narwala is the latest to join the fight against online pornography.

Disgusted by his schoolmates' addiction to sex videos, the 16-year-old from Rajasthan has knocked on the Supreme Court's doors through lawyer Kamlesh Vaswani, seeking to become party to a plea filed by the advocate in 2013 in which the court is issuing periodic directions.

advertisement

The case comes against the backdrop of the Centre blocking hundreds of adult websites in 2015 to prevent porn becoming a 'social nuisance', sparking a debate about censorship and freedom in the world's largest democracy.

The ban was partially lifted days later following a wave of criticism. "Even kids studying in class four, five, six and seven in my school are watching porn on their mobile and they want to watch them frequently. I am witness to it. Young minds are getting corrupted. It is having a damaging and upsetting effect on them," Narwala, a student of Vidhyanjali Academy in Kota city and also a social activist, told Mail Today.

EASILY ACCESSIBLE PORN

Millions of Indians access pornography on their smartphones or by inserting memory chips containing racy videos that are easily available at low prices, say reports.

Some internet companies say it is impossible to block all such sites as many of the servers that host them are outside India. Also, the sites can be accessed through proxy servers.

"Mobile accessibility and surfeit of porn on the internet is the primary reason. Young people are turning to the internet to learn about sex and relationships. Sometimes they are frequently stumbling across porn, often unintentionally," says Narwala's affidavit in court.

PORN ADDICTION

In February, a woman whose marriage was on the rocks due to her husband's alleged porn addiction also become party to the PIL in the top court, seeking a complete ban on online porn.

"I being a teenager and a young man myself am of the firm opinion that the easy availability of porn through the internet in this country is a serious impediment in the progress of this nation as a whole new generation of youth are adversely affected leading to perversion of youth, loss of moral and spiritual values among them which if not checked can lead to total lack of productivity, rise in sex crimes, matrimonial disputes at a later stage, loss of family values and a state of doom would then set in leading to total and complete disaster," says the teenager's affidavit.

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"Delinquent behaviour and substance use is also widely prevalent among my colleagues addicted to porn."

India has the second-largest population of Internet users in the world, about 450 million, trailing only China.

PORNOGRAPHY EXPOSURE TEACHES OBJECTIFICATION

"Pornography exposure by teenagers through the internet teaches objectification. That is, it teaches little boys to see girls and women as objects, and not as human beings, having value. The same could be said for little girls as well, about seeing themselves as objects and not understanding personal worth," reads Narwala's affidavit.

The apex court earlier had asked the central government to find out "ways and means" to block "blue films" on the internet. It had mentioned that obscenity, which is a crime under Indian law, "cannot be allowed to be perpetuated".

The court is also exploring the possibility of banning watching of pornographic material in any form at public places and has also sought the view of the government on if it can be made a crime.

The Centre said it only favours banning child pornography sites and not "going beyond", considering a citizen's right to privacy, and also because it does not want to be "moral policing".

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However, the court directed it to "develop a mechanism" for blocking all porn sites with the help of IT experts and service providers.

Also Read:

Karnataka: Belgavi MLC shares photos of porn stars with media on WhatsApp, apologises

Hyderabad techie arrested for live streaming sex with wife on porn websites

Also Watch:

DMRC to form a committee to investigate porn clip aired at Rajiv Chowk station

--- ENDS ---
[May 11, 2017] D+H Announces First Quarter 2017 Earnings

TORONTO, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - DH Corporation (TSX:DH) ("D+H" or the "Company"), a leading provider of technology solutions to domestic and global financial institutions, reported its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. First Quarter 2017 Highlights: Revenues decreased 3.5% in the first quarter to $397.9 million from $412.1 million in the same quarter in the prior year. Revenues decreased primarily due to the impact of foreign exchange rate changes and lower revenues in both our Financial Solutions ("FS") and Global Payments Solutions ("GPS") segments. These decreases were partially offset by higher revenues in our Global Lending Solutions segment ("GLS").





from in the same quarter in the prior year. Revenues decreased primarily due to the impact of foreign exchange rate changes and lower revenues in both our Financial Solutions ("FS") and Global Payments Solutions ("GPS") segments. These decreases were partially offset by higher revenues in our Global Lending Solutions segment ("GLS"). Adjusted revenues (1) in the first quarter decreased 3.8% to $398.5 million from $414.2 million in the prior year period. By segment, Adjusted revenues decreased 7.8%, to $76.0 million for GPS; increased 0.9%, to $166.9 million for GLS (U.S. lending solutions declined 1.9% while Canada lending solutions increased 3.3%), and; decreased 6.5%, to $155.6 million in FS.





in the first quarter decreased 3.8% to from in the prior year period. By segment, Adjusted revenues decreased 7.8%, to for GPS; increased 0.9%, to for GLS (U.S. lending solutions declined 1.9% while lending solutions increased 3.3%), and; decreased 6.5%, to in FS. Income from operating activities before depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") (1) in the first quarter decreased 10.5%, to $82.6 million from $92.2 million in the prior year period. The decrease in EBITDA was primarily due to the impact of foreign exchange rates, lower revenues in FS (including a decrease in Canadian payments products/solutions as a result of volume declines in our retail solutions business), and lower revenues in GPS. Lower revenues were partially offset by lower expenses in the quarter.





in the first quarter decreased 10.5%, to from in the prior year period. The decrease in EBITDA was primarily due to the impact of foreign exchange rates, lower revenues in FS (including a decrease in Canadian payments products/solutions as a result of volume declines in our retail solutions business), and lower revenues in GPS. Lower revenues were partially offset by lower expenses in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA (1) in the first quarter decreased 4.8% to $98.1 million (24.6% margin), from $103.0 million (24.9% margin) in the same prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA removes the impacts of acquisition-related and restructuring-related expenses, costs related to our global operations realignment, other costs, and costs related to the Proposed Transaction (see below). The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA margin primarily reflects the decline in Adjusted revenues and a change in our product mix.





in the first quarter decreased 4.8% to (24.6% margin), from (24.9% margin) in the same prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA removes the impacts of acquisition-related and restructuring-related expenses, costs related to our global operations realignment, other costs, and costs related to the Proposed Transaction (see below). The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA margin primarily reflects the decline in Adjusted revenues and a change in our product mix. Consolidated net loss of $2.7 million (loss of $0.03 per share, diluted) in the first quarter decreased from net income of $4.8 million ( $0.04 per share, diluted) in the prior year period, primarily due to a decrease in EBITDA and a decrease in income tax recovery from the prior quarter. These decreases were partially offset by a decrease in amortization expense and finance expense.





(loss of per share, diluted) in the first quarter decreased from net income of ( per share, diluted) in the prior year period, primarily due to a decrease in EBITDA and a decrease in income tax recovery from the prior quarter. These decreases were partially offset by a decrease in amortization expense and finance expense. Adjusted net income (1) decreased to $45.1 million in the first quarter from $45.4 million in the same period in the prior year.





decreased to in the first quarter from in the same period in the prior year. Adjusted net income per share, diluted (1) was $0.42 in the first quarter compared to $0.43 in the same period in the prior year.





was in the first quarter compared to in the same period in the prior year. Net cash from operating activities increased by 24.3% in the first quarter, to $68.1 million from $54.8 million in the same period in prior year. Adjusted net cash from operating activities (1) increased by 23.3% in the first quarter, to $82.9 million from $67.2 million in the same prior year period.





from in the same period in prior year. Adjusted net cash from operating activities increased by 23.3% in the first quarter, to from in the same prior year period. Loans, borrowings and convertible debentures totalled $1.8 billion at March 31, 2017 compared to $1.9 billion at December 31, 2016 . The Company repaid $9.4 million of debt during the first quarter of 2017.





at compared to at . The Company repaid of debt during the first quarter of 2017. The Total Net Funded Debt to EBITDA(1) ratio was 3.257x at March 31, 2017 , compared to 3.276x at December 31, 2016 . Gerrard Schmid, Chief Executive Officer of DH Corporation said, "Our results were consistent with our planning assumptions for the quarter and reflect continued strength in our Lending business offset by weaker results in our Financial solutions. Global payments performed in line with expectations and we continue to see strong sales momentum pointing toward a strengthening environment." He went on to add, "Overall, we performed better than the headline results would suggest, as more than half of the decrease in revenues was attributable to unfavorable changes of foreign exchange rates. Furthermore, we achieved these results while supporting the strategic review process initiated by the Board in December which required a significant amount of attention from several key individuals of our organization. In this context, I am particularly pleased with our results and the efforts of all our D+H employees." First Quarter 2017 Results

The selected financial information included in this press release is qualified in its entirety by and should be read together with the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and the Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the three months ended March 31, 2017, which can be found at dh.com and in the disclosure documents filed by the Company with the securities regulatory authorities at sedar.com.







Selected Consolidated Financial Information 2 Three months ended March 31 (C$ millions unless otherwise indicated, unaudited)

2017

2016 Revenues







Revenues $ 397.9 $ 412.1

Add: Acquisition accounting adjustments 0.6

2.0 Adjusted revenues1 $ 398.5 $ 414.2 EBITDA1







EBITDA1 $ 82.6 $ 92.2

Add: Acquisition accounting adjustments (0.7)

(0.6)

Add: Acquisition-related and other charges 0.3

5.7

Add: Realignment of global operations and related restructuring expenses 2.8

6.8

Add: Costs related to Proposed Transaction 11.7



Add: Foreign exchange loss (gain) 1.4

(1.2) Adjusted EBITDA1 $ 98.1 $ 103.0 Adjusted EBITDA margin1

24.6%

24.9% Net (loss) income







Net (loss) income $ (2.7) $ 4.8

Add: Non-cash items 56.0

56.7

Add: Acquisition-related and other charges 0.3

5.7



Add: Realignment of global operations and related restructuring

expenses, including depreciation and amortization 2.8

6.8

Add: Costs related to Proposed Transaction 11.7



Add: Tax effect of above adjustments (23.0)

(28.5) Adjusted net income1 $ 45.1 $ 45.4 Net (loss) income per share, diluted (C$) $ (0.03) $ 0.04 Adjusted net income per share, diluted1 (C$) $ 0.42 $ 0.43 Liquidity







Net cash from operating activities $ 68.1 $ 54.8

Add: Acquisition-related and other charges 0.3

5.7

Add: Realignment of global operations and related restructuring expenses 2.8

6.8

Add: Costs related to Proposed Transaction 11.7

 Adjusted net cash from operating activities1 $ 82.9 $ 67.2 Uses of Adjusted net cash from operating activities1:





Capital expenditures (26.6)

(21.0)

Cash Dividends (12.8)

(24.8) Adjusted net cash from operating activities after capital expenditures and

cash dividends1 $ 43.4 $ 21.5

Net debt repayment (9.4)

(20.0) Adjusted net cash from (used in) operating activities after capital expenditures,

cash dividends and net debt repayment1 $ 34.0 $ 1.5

Adjusted revenue by type for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. Adjusted revenues by type 1, 2

















(In millions of dollars, unless otherwise noted) Three months ended March 31



2017



2016

$ Change % Change SaaS $ 101.9 25% $ 103.8 25% $ (1.9) (1.8)% License (Perpetual and Term) 36.7 8%

37.0 9%

(0.3) (0.8)% Maintenance 57.8 15%

60.7 15%

(2.9) (4.8)% Professional Services 39.5 10%

47.5 11%

(8.0) (16.9)% Transaction Processing Services 81.9 21%

78.3 19%

3.6 4.5% Canadian Payments Products/Solutions 74.3 19%

79.6 19%

(5.3) (6.6)% Other 3 6.3 2%

7.2 2%

(0.9) (12.4)% Total $ 398.5 100% $ 414.2 100% $ (15.7) (3.8)% 1. Non-IFRS measure: see Non-IFRS financial measures and key performance indicators in Section 10.1 for additional information and reconciliation to IFRS measures. 2. The definitions of these revenue types can be found in Section 10.1. 3. Other includes termination fee revenue, delivery income and hardware sales Resegmentation of the operating segments

Commencing in the first quarter of 2017, the strategic infrastructure and operations of D+H that have historically been aligned with the business segments have been reorganized into three new strategic business units to drive global scale and operating effectiveness. The three strategic business segments are: GPS, GLS and Financial Solutions. In addition, the Company now has a Corporate segment which consists of the corporate overhead costs that are not allocated to operating segments. Further information regarding the resegmentation of business segments is provided in section 2 of the MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Results by segment for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. (In millions of dollars, unless otherwise noted) Three months ended March 31, 2017













Global Payment

Solutions Global Lending

Solutions Financial

Solutions Corporate Consolidated Revenues $ 76.0 $ 166.5 $ 155.4 $  $ 397.9 Expenses

64.7

108.2

116.3

26.0

315.2 EBITDA 1 $ 11.2 $ 58.2 $ 39.1 $ (26.0) $ 82.6 EBITDA margin 1

14.8%

35.0%

25.2%



20.7%





















Adjusted revenues 1 $ 76.0 $ 166.9 $ 155.6 $  $ 398.5 Adjusted expenses 1 $ 63.8 $ 107.8 $ 116.6 $ 12.2 $ 300.4 Adjusted EBITDA 1 $ 12.2 $ 59.1 $ 39.0 $ (12.2) $ 98.1 Adjusted EBITDA margin 1

16.0%

35.4%

25.1%



24.6%











(In millions of dollars, unless otherwise noted) Three months ended March 31, 2016













Global Payment

Solutions Global Lending

Solutions Financial

Solutions Corporate Consolidated Revenues $ 81.3 $ 164.6 $ 166.2 $  $ 412.1 Expenses

66.9

110.3

123.8

18.9

319.9 EBITDA 1 $ 14.4 $ 54.4 $ 42.4 $ (18.9) $ 92.2 EBITDA margin 1

17.7%

33.0%

25.5%



22.4%





















Adjusted revenues 1 $ 82.4 $ 165.4 $ 166.4 $  $ 414.2 Adjusted expenses 1 $ 62.6 $ 108.7 $ 123.3 $ 16.6 $ 311.2 Adjusted EBITDA 1 $ 19.7 $ 56.7 $ 43.2 $ (16.6) $ 103.0 Adjusted EBITDA margin 1

24.0%

34.3%

25.9%



24.9% 1. Non-IFRS measure. See the "Use of Non-IFRS Financial Information" section of this press release for further details. 2. Totals may not add due to rounding. Definitive Agreement (Proposed Transaction) to be Acquired by Vista Equity Partners

On March 13, 2017, D+H and Vista Equity Partners ("Vista") announced that they had entered into a definitive arrangement agreement under which Vista will acquire all of the outstanding shares of D+H for $25.50 per share in cash including the assumption, repayment or redemption of all debt obligations, including the issued convertible debentures, for a total enterprise value of approximately $4.8 billion. In the joint announcement with D+H, Vista announced that it intends to combine D+H with another of its portfolio companies, United Kingdom-based, Misys, a leading global software provider for retail and corporate banking, lending, treasury and capital markets, investment management and enterprise risk. Proposed Transaction Update

The completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to court approval and the approval of D+H's shareholders by more than 66 2/3% of the votes cast by the shareholders present in person or by proxy at the special meeting of shareholders to be held on May 16, 2017. The Proposed Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of all regulatory approvals. The board of directors along with two leading independent proxy research and advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. and Glass, Lewis & Co., both of whom have published reports, recommend that D+H shareholders vote for the Proposed Transaction. Regulatory approval status as of May 11, 2017 is as follows: An affiliate of Vista Equity Partners (the "Purchaser") has received a no-action letter from the Competition Bureau of Canada in respect of the proposed arrangement (the "Arrangement") and that the applicable waiting periods under the Competition Act (Canada) have expired. In addition, the waiting period applicable to the completion of the Arrangement under the United States Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 has expired. Closing of the transaction remains subject to certain customary closing conditions including court approval, shareholder approval and the receipt of the remaining required regulatory approvals including approval under the Investment Canada Act. Assuming the satisfaction of these closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2017. In the event the Proposed Transaction does not proceed we will reevaluate the business opportunities and strategies outlined in prior quarters. Dividend

DH also announced today a cash dividend of $0.12 cents per share, payable on June 30, 2017, to shareholders of record on June 16, 2017. The Proposed Transaction may close prior to the record date on June 16, 2017; as a result, there is no guarantee that public shareholders will receive this dividend. Termination of Consent Order

Effective May 10, 2017, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) terminated the Consent Order entered into with two of D+H's subsidiaries, specifically Fundtech Corporation and BServ, Inc. ("Fundtech"), which D+H acquired as part of the acquisition of Fundtech in early 2015. Since the acquisition, D+H has made investments and improved practices in risk management in those businesses in order to meet the requirements of the Consent Order. Outlook

Refer to section 3 of the MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2017. MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST Teleconference:

A conference call to review these financial results, including a presentation, will take place at 8:30 a.m. (EDT) on Friday, May 12, 2017 hosted by Chief Executive Officer Gerrard Schmid and Chief Financial Officer Karen H. Weaver. To access the call, please dial 647-427-7450 (Local/Int'l) or 1-888-231-8191 (toll-free within North America). A replay of the call will also be available until May 19, 2017 by dialing 416-849-0833 (Local/Int'l) or 1-855-859-2056 (toll-free within North America), with Encore Password 5556974. Webcast:

The conference call will also be webcast at http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1405393&s=1&k=9C73058FC73F1CD6D74DB42A4E385AA9 and will be archived for 90 days after the call. The link to the webcast and an accompanying slide presentation will be posted in the Investors section of the D+H website under Events and Presentations at http://www.dh.com/investors/investor-events. ABOUT D+H

D+H (TSX: DH) is a leading financial technology provider that the world's financial institutions rely on every day to help them grow and succeed. Our global payments, lending and financial solutions are trusted by nearly 8,000 banks, specialty lenders, community banks, credit unions, governments and corporations. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, D+H has more than 5,500 employees worldwide who are passionate about partnering with clients to create forward-thinking solutions that fit their needs. With annual revenues in excess of $1.5 billion, D+H is recognized as one of the world's top FinTech companies on IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings and American Banker's FinTech Forward rankings. For more information, visit dh.com USE OF NON-IFRS FINANCIAL INFORMATION

D+H's financial results are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). D+H reports several non-IFRS financial measures, including "Adjusted revenues", "Bookings", "Adjusted expenses", "Constant Currency", "EBITDA", "EBITDA margin" (EBITDA divided by revenues), "Adjusted EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA margin" (Adjusted EBITDA divided by Adjusted revenues), "Adjusted net income", "Adjusted net income per share (diluted)" and "Adjusted net cash from operating activities". D+H also reports "Debt to EBITDA ratio", which is also not a defined term under IFRS. See "Non-IFRS financial measures and key performance indicators" in D+H's MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2017 for a more complete description of these terms and for reconciliations to their most directly comparable IFRS measure, where applicable. Any non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in context with the IFRS financial statement presentation and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for IFRS revenues, net income or cash flows. Furthermore, D+H's financial measures may be calculated differently from similarly titled financial measures of other companies. CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"), including without limitations, the statements contained in section entitled "Objectives, strategy and outlook". Statements concerning D+H's objectives, goals, strategies, priorities, intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations and estimates, and the business, operations, financial performance and condition of D+H are forward-looking statements. The words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "may", "will", "would", "could", "should", "continue", "goal", "objective", and similar expressions and the negative of such expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Certain material factors and assumptions were applied in providing these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information involves numerous assumptions including projections, completion of bookings, successful project implementation, operating expense levels, volumes and values for products and transaction processing services in the Canadian segment and implementation of our global operating realignment. Projections maybe impacted by macroeconomic factors, changes in the value of the Canadian and U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, the timing of client decisioning on technology investments, the pace of implementation of technology by the customer, in addition to other factors not controllable by the Company. D+H has also made certain macroeconomic and general industry assumptions in the preparation of such forward-looking statements. Management believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions; however, Management can give no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Not all factors which affect our forward-looking information are known, and actual results may vary from the projected results in a material respect, and may be above or below the forward-looking information presented in a material respect. A comprehensive discussion of the risks that impact D+H can be found on the Company's most recently filed Annual Information Form and the most recently filed annual MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2016, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. D+H does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should the factors and assumptions related its plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions, including those listed above, change except as required by applicable securities laws. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. REGULATORY FILINGS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DH Corporation is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol DH. Further information can be found at dh.com and in the disclosure documents filed by DH Corporation with the securities regulatory authorities at sedar.com. SOURCE DH Corporation

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[May 11, 2017] Cybernance Prepares Federal Agencies for Trump's Cybersecurity of Federal Networks Executive Order

Cybernance Corporation, a provider of cyber risk governance technology solutions, today announced availability of the Cybernance Platform for federal agencies that must comply with President Trump's Cybersecurity of Federal Networks executive order. Cybernance is based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)-the framework agencies are compelled to use according to the order-which allows agency heads to ensure their organizations are mitigating and reporting on cyber risks within the 90-day deadline issued by President Trump. The Cybersecurity of Federal Networks executive order aims to better protect sensitive government data from cyber terrorism and criminal activity, especially as it relates to national security and the protection of U.S. citizen data. The executive order requires heads of agencies to improve their cyber risk management systems by reporting on organization-wide risk findings, acceptances and mitigation within 90 days, and begin to align their agency staff, policies and procedures on the NIST CSF. If the agencies fail to report within the deadline, the agency heads will be held accountable. "President Trump's executive order marks a dramatic cultural shift in way the federal government is looking at cybersecurity, so this is a massive undertakig for the agency heads now held accountable for the security of their organizations," said Mike Shultz, CEO of Cybernance. "The order mandates that cybersecurity of federal agencies be managed on an entire enterprise level instead of the status quo of building security protocols for specific systems. With this new paradigm, all people, processes, and policies within the agency must be analyzed and reported on to comply."



The Cybernance Platform is built on the NIST CSF, and enables agency heads to assess, measure and report on their cybersecurity maturity across the entire organization in as little as 30 days. All federal and state government agencies using Cybernance will immediately have the management and reporting tools needed to remain in compliance with mandates like the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks executive order, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) cybersecurity regulations, and other pending state regulations, including those in Texas and Indiana. "We built our platform to meet the most comprehensive and stringent standards set by the U.S. government so that public and regulated companies had the highest form of protection and support in maintaining a defensible cyber risk governance system," said Shultz. "We're offering the same support and benefits to federal agencies so they can easily comply with the executive order and make strides in better protecting critical data and infrastructure-quickly."

About Cybernance Corporation Cybernance is the cyber risk governance platform that regulated industries, public companies, and government agencies rely on to effectively oversee and manage cyber risk. Based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, the Cybernance Platform is an internal control system that provides deep visibility into the people, processes, and policies within an entire organization so business and agency leaders can easily mitigate and document all cyber risks. With Cybernance, departments work seamlessly together in an online platform that provides company-wide risk reporting through dashboards and a proprietary risk scoring system that gives executives and board members peace of mind and third party liability protection in the event of cyber terrorist activity. In 2017, Cybernance received the SAFETY Act designation from the Department of Homeland Security, which provides customers the highest form of risk and liability protection from third-party action in the event of a cyber-criminal data breach. Visit www.cybernance.com for more information, and follow Cybernance on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006507/en/

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Proposed Kentucky constitutional amendment to end right to an abortion defeated in vote
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By Press Trust of India: From Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, May 11 (PTI) Five militants from the same family today blew themselves up after stabbing a firefighter to death during a police raid on their hideout in Bangladesh, the latest such incident amid a crackdown on Islamist militants.

The incident took place in Godgari area in Rajshahi district.

Godagari police official Hifzul Alam Munshi said that police surrounded the house at Benipur village early morning after intelligence inputs suggested presence of militants there.

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As they tried to storm the hideout at around 8 am, the militants came out and set off the explosions, he said.

Before setting off the blasts, the terror suspects speared a fireman to death. Two policemen have been also injured in the incident.

The fire service men assisting us in the raid died in their suicide blast at the hideout,? an official familiar with the development at the police headquarters in Dhaka told PTI.

He added that the operation, launched overnight, was underway as "at least one of them is still trying to resist us from inside".

The five persons killed in the blasts were the 50-year- old house owner, his 40-year-old wife, 28-year-old daughter and two sons aged 30 and 25.

As the law enforcers were about to approach the house, the suspects came out and attacked officials with sharp weapons, killing a fireman.

Two policemen have been hospitalised with injuries sustained during the attack.

Police rescued two children, who exited the premises before the terror suspects came out.

A woman, seen sitting on the field outside the house as the raid unfolded, later surrendered. Police said she has been identified as the house owners other daughter. She is the mother of the two children -- 8-year-old boy and 3-month-old girl -- rescued by police before the blasts, the report said.

Bangladesh witnessed an intensified anti-militancy clampdown across the country as the police headquarters recently circulated a list of nearly 5,000 suspected militants to all district police chiefs.

On Sunday, two suspected militants blew themselves up in "suicide blasts" when security forces raided their hideout.

In March, Bangladeshi police conducted series of large- scale operations against militants, in which at least 17 suspected militants were killed.

On March 31, eight militants blew themselves up with a grenade after the security forces raided their hideout north of the Bangladeshi capital.

Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on militants specially after the Dhaka cafe attack.

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The Islamic State has claimed several attacks in Bangladesh, but the government rejects the presence of foreign terrorist groups in the moderate Muslim-majority country, blaming home-grown groups such as the neo-JMB for terrorist attacks. PTI AR/UZM AKJ UZM

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) Indias GM crop regulator today recommended the commercial use of genetically modified mustard in a submission to the environment ministry, a top ministry official said.

Though a section of environment activists has long opposed the use of GM mustard, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), tasked with appraising GM crops, has given a positive recommendation to it, the official said.

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GEAC, which is under the the ministry, reviewed a report of a sub-committee constituted to look at the safety angle.

The environment ministry has to now take a final call on this.

The GEAC has also put a number of conditions to the ministry while recommending its commercial use.

"The agenda of GM mustard came up in a meeting of the GEAC today. It has given a positive recommendation," the official told PTI.

The Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), Delhi University South Campus, had submitted an application to the GEAC for the environmental release of GM mustard (Brassica juncea) hybrid DMH-11 and the use of parental events (varuna bn 3.6 and EH2 mod bs 2.99) for the development of a new generation of hybrids.

The environment ministry had received over 700 comments from various stakeholders, including farmers and researchers, on the Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES) report on GM Mustard, which it had earlier posted on the ministry website.

The application was submitted in 2015 after which several rounds of meeting were held by the GEAC. The sub-committee also convened meetings with experts.

The GEAC also heard the views of various NGOs not in favour of giving an approval to GM crops. Among the opponents were organisations affiliated to the RSS. PTI TDS BDS

--- ENDS ---
BlueStacks is one of the most popular Android emulators out there, bridging the gap between desktop and mobile ecosystems by allowing users to run their favorite Android apps and games from the comfort of their desktop or laptop. Doing so lets you take advantage of the more powerful resources available to PCs or Macs, not to mention the benefits of using a mouse and keyboard.

First released in 2011, BlueStacks has continued to grow along with the Android ecosystem, garnering investment partners from tech giants like Intel, AMD, Samsung and Qualcomm. The emulator is free to use and ad-supported, with a premium subscription tier that removes advertising and provides extra customization options and priority tech support.

Want to get a taste of Android on your desktop? Here's how to set up BlueStacks, along with a rundown of some of its controls and interesting features.

Installing BlueStacks

BlueStacks is available to download for Windows and for Mac machines and you can get the 466 MB installer download here. The program installs on your boot drive (with no option for changing the install directory, only the Program Data location), and is an otherwise hassle-free installation, without any bundled software or extras.

One more thing you might need to do is to turn on Virtualization in the settings of your UEFI at startup. BlueStacks, like many of the newer Android emulators, takes advantage of hardware virtualization technology built into modern PC to help with emulation tasks, but this setting usually defaults to off in your PC or laptop's UEFI or BIOS. The process to turn this setting on varies from device to device naturally, but will usually involve checking to see if virtualization is supported by your CPU through the manual, and then restarting your machine to flip the toggle in the UEFI menu. Without turning on virtualization, you're likely to experience major performance bottlenecks.



Once you've installed BlueStacks, the next step is logging in with your Google account, just like you're setting up any other Android smartphone or tablet. This also allows you to access your Google Play account from BlueStacks, so that you can install your purchased apps with no fuss.

The BlueStacks home screen

The latest version (Bluestacks 4) emulates Android Nougat (7.x.x) and the home screen lets you quickly access the Google Play store, installed apps, recommended apps (aka ads) and a number of Bluestacks specific settings in the menu bar.

In-app controls





Once you're in the app, more controls will pop up, allowing you to configure the device's orientation, mimic tilt controls, and map keybindings and the mouse to elements of the touch screen. A handy control mapping system helps you out here, allowing you to create virtual buttons and lay down control overlays for easy mapping.

The most popular Android games out there like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile, even come with dedicated presets for one-stop setup of your favorite games. You can also set Bluestacks to accept input from a variety of controllers, such as say the Xbox 360 or Xbox One controllers.

Media manager



Another tool that you might find handy is Bluestacks' Media Manager, which allows you to import files from your Windows system into the BlueStacks emulator and vice versa. You can access the Media Manager through the Home Screen, and from there, move your files, photos and documents to and from the system.





BlueStacks extras





While that covers the basics, Bluestacks also includes handy extra features like a Multi-Instance manager that allows you to run multiple instances of the emulator. That means you can run multiple games simultaneously, or even play the same game from multiple Google accounts, allowing you to be your own multiplayer party, or to farm coins or resources using multiple accounts.

The app also includes a rewards system that provides BlueStacks users with virtual currency whenever they play games or undertake tasks like streaming or sharing video from BlueStacks; you can then trade that in for rewards such as custom themes, cards, Premium subscription time, or even discounts on peripherals like mice, mechanical keyboards, and headsets.

There's your quick visual tool of the BlueStacks App Player, which has grown into a capable and feature-packed Android emulator for your desktop or laptop, putting thousands of mobile apps and games right to your big screen.




Mark down September 1 and 2 in your diary, because Jindabyne, NSW will once again be playing host to the only festival in the country to combine snow and music.

Snowtunes is building upon the success of the past two years events by adding another full evening of entertainment, the first time the festival has stretched out over two days.

While we love a good festival, they all tend to blur into each other after a while, with similar lineups, stage setups, nondescript fields, and lines and lines of portaloos and food trucks.

Obviously Snowtunes wont be at all like that, and in case you arent convinced by the killer lineup, featuring the likes of Gang of Youths, SAFIA, Drapht, Skegss, Elk Road, Trophy Eyes, Tigerlily, Northeast Party House, Tkay Maidza, Thelma Plum and many more, we have stepped out a few other reasons youll wanna get to the snow this September.

With the first pre-sale offering weekend passes for just $99, tickets are sure to sell out faster than you can say Snow Worries. So, be sure to get in early today to secure your spot!

This special price will only be available for 24 hours; enter code snowblitz at the checkout to redeem the offer.

BUY TICKETS HERE

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LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Ever wanted to combine the adrenaline of a day on the slopes and a night in a moshpit? Of course you have.

Nailing an obvious hole in the saturated festival market, Snowtunes is one of the only festivals that are capitalising on the crowds that flock to the snow during winter.

Whereas most festivals take advantage of Australias seemingly endless summer (which doesnt seem so flash when queuing under the belting sunshine to grab a drink), Snowtunes is designed around the snowfields and all the activities on offer there that no summer festival can offer.

The festival is located in the heart of Lake Jindabyne, conveniently between the famous ski slopes of Perisher and Thredbo. Basically, you can spend your days hitting the slopes, and your afternoons and evenings checking out some of the best bands in the land.

Snowtunes is located smack-bang between Sydney and Melbourne too  and if youre a Canberrian, you can practically ski there (dont though).

SICK OF THE CROWDS? SNOW WORRIES

The age of the boutique festival is well and truly upon us. Laneway is taking charge as one of Australias premiere festivals, Paradise and Big Pineapple Fest are making waves, and Snowtunes is continuing that run of small-scale innovators  with a picturesque twist.

Last year 4,000 people attended the boutique festival last year, and now with an extra day and a second stage, Snowtunes has the capacity for more revellers, without cramming fans into caged off areas like sardines.

Rather than a huge commitment that leaves you tired, and cooked for a week afterwards, maybe its time to stop trying to handle the heat, and embrace the majesty of Lake Jindabyne combined with a selection of Australias finest acts.
17-year-old charged in shooting death of teen near Zona Rosa The Kansas City Police Department says a 17-year-old has been charged in connection with the death of another teen in a neighborhood near Zona Rosa on Monday. Platte County court documents show 17-year-old Dominic E. Pineda has been charged with attempted distribution of a controlled substance, armed criminal action, and murder second degree in connection with the death of 18-year-old Tim Durden.

Alleged amateur dope dudes were a bit too panicky and somebody was killed in the Northland last night. Here's a follow-up report on the new generation of criminal suspects on the nice side of the bridge:
Meet The New Principals Trying To Transform Kansas City Public Schools Principal Anthony Madry stands in a noisy hallway at Central Academy of Excellence, greeting students. "Good morning, good morning, good morning," Madry says, fist bumping students as they pass. "Hey are we good?" The student nods. "Yeah." Madry points to a young woman. "That's Emily.

Hopeful coverage of the next generation of educators who will sacrifice their careers in Kansas City. Checkit:
RATE THE NEW BOULEVARD BREWING COMPANY FIRST ON TKC!!!

BOULEVARD BREWING COMPANY PARTNERS WITH PROPAGANDA3 FOR NEW WEBSITE

Because the beer bloggers don't realize that their fanboy diehard loyalty really isn't respected . . . We're offering FIRST look at an important local Internets development for those tired of reading updates from theirvia social media.Here's a bit of presser company mistakenly sent our way by an ad company but an opportunity to have an honest conversation about one of Kansas City's favorite marketers.Checkit:With guidance and execution from Propaganda3, Kansas City-based specialty brewer Boulevard Brewing Company recently relaunched their flagship web presence, Boulevard.com. Its the latest step in an ambitious overhaul of the companys brand that began nearly two years ago, and has manifested itself in an updated logo, new packaging for the full lineup of beers, and the July 2016 opening of the popular Tours & Recreation Center.These last few years have been very exciting for us, said Natalie Gershon, vice president of marketing for Boulevard Brewing Company. We have a clear vision of how we want to express our brand at every consumer touchpoint. It was vital for us to find a partner who could create a digital platform to help bring that vision to life, and Propaganda3 proved to be the perfect choice.The re-engineeredcontains a wealth of information, including up-to-date details on the companys beers, where to find them, and even a new "Find Your Flavor" feature that allows site visitors to find their perfect match using taste profile characteristics, or simply their Beer of the Moment based on a short quiz. Additional features include the popular Brewers Blog, info on various Boulevard event space rentals, and details on the companys community commitments and partnerships.Our challenge was to restructure a wide variety of information to be engaging, informative, and fun for Boulevards broad consumer base, said Julia King, Propaganda3 president and project lead. We had to consider the mindset not only of beer aficionados but also of the casual beer drinker, knowing that both have unique needs. And we had to ensure that the site functions seamlessly in both desktop and mobile environments. The collaboration between Boulevard and P3 proved to be highly productive, and was further elevated through mutual respect and admiration.Propaganda3 was already familiar with Boulevard through its work on Kansas Citys annual Boulevardia festival, in which it serves as an active participant and title sponsor.Throughout the entire process, the professionalism and attention to detail displayed by Propaganda3 was truly impressive, said Boulevard president Jeff Krum. As Boulevardians, we wear our pride on our sleeves. Its refreshing to work with a partner who honors their craft as much as we do.##############
CHECK KANSAS CITY WORKERS GEARING UP TO MARCH ON McDONALD'S WORLD HEADQUARTERS!!!





Ahead of the McDonald's shareholder meeting, we're coming together with a clear message: We will fight together--black, white, and brown, women and men, gay and straight, undocumented and native-born, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim--until all workers have $15 and a union, dignity and respect on the job!





Travel, lodging, and food are all paid. So what's stopping you from getting on the bus to Chicago and marching with 10,000 low wage workers on McDonalds Corporate Headquarters?

Here's local news on a travel discount in return for Kansas City "fair wage" advocacy.To wit . . .Here's the notice . . .#########You decide . . .
By Press Trust of India: objects

Mumbai, May 11 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has refused to hand over the custody of a minor girl to her biological father, an Iranian national, after the surrogate mother alleged that he is "not of good character".

A division bench of Justices R V More and Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a habeas corpus plea seeking direction to authorities to produce a person who could be in illegal detention.

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The petition was filed by the girls father, who urged the court to direct the Thane police to trace his three-year- old daughter.

The man, in his petition, claimed that his daughters surrogate mother, whom he had married after she gave birth to the girl through surrogacy and later divorced, had illegally taken the child away from him despite a family court ordering the childs custody to be granted to him.

Following the directions, the Thane police last month produced the surrogate mother and the child before the high court.

"We have interacted with the petitioner as well as the surrogate mother and the investigating officer. The interaction reveals there are allegations and counter allegations by both the parties against each other," Justice More said.

The court noted that while the petitioner relies upon the custody order passed by a family court in Mumbai, the surrogate mother has submitted that the child should reside with her as the petitioner is "not of good character".

The high court last week perused the report submitted by the police and the superintendent of NGO Shanti Sadan Mahila Vastigruha, where the mother and her child were directed to be housed, pending hearing of the petition.

"We are of the considered view that it would be in the interest of the child to keep her in a good in-house school or institution where all her needs including health, education, etc, will be taken care of and where both parents can have the right to visit the child," the court said.

The HC has posted the petition for further hearing on June 16, by when the surrogate mother would have to tell the court if she is willing to put the child in such an institution.

"The additional public prosecutor shall furnish the names of some good institutions/ boarding schools where the child can be housed/educated," the high court directed. PTI SP GK RT

--- ENDS ---
Only in this way can the Balkans act as a bridge between East and West

There has to be cooperation between the armed forces of the Balkan countries in order ensure peace and stability in the region, President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Wednesday in his address to the annual meeting of Balkan chiefs of defence and general staff (11th Balkan Countries CHODs Conference) held in Athens.

Only in this way can the Balkans act as a bridge between East and West, Pavlopoulos said, while underlining Greece's steadfast support for the European course of Balkan countries and repeating the conditions for joining, as laid out by the European Union and the community acquis.

Pavlopoulos noted that these conditions boiled down to a basic three: firstly, that those wishing to join the European family must not only preach but also deeply believe in peace and peaceful coexistence with other EU countries; secondly, that they respect history and historical truth, which was necessary for peaceful coexistence; and lastly, that they sincerely respect the entire body of international law and the fundamental values of the European acquis.

"These are self-evident conditions which I am certain you all share...the Balkan nations have bitter past experiences. It is time we learned from them and worked together in our difficult and troubled times," he added.

Greeks were well aware, Pavlopoulos said, that "the things uniting us are many more than those that can divide us" and that only through peaceful coexistence would the Balkans be able to carve out their own role in the wider European framework.

"In this framework, Greece extends a hand of friendship and good neighbourliness to all Balkan countries...We say this with love but also concern. The challenges are many and the responsibilities are great. Even greater is our potential, provided that we can divine the message of the times and the deeper concerns of our people," he said.

The conference brings together the chiefs of defence/general staff of Greece, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Romania, Serbia and Turkey.

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
Fuchtel said that local chambers will play an important role in the cooperation between Greek and German businesses

German businesses are planning important investments in Greece, such as the creation of a logistics center in Alexandroupolis and investments in tourism, which could create up to 50,000 new jobs, especially for younger Greeks, Germanys Deputy Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, said on Wednesday, during a meeting with the head of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Konstadinos Michalos.

Fuchtel said that local chambers will play an important role in the cooperation between Greek and German businesses on a local level, because they know best about the possibilities and opportunities in their region. He also noted the importance of internship programs implemented by the chambers.

Michalos spoke to Fuchtel about the improvement of the Greeces economy and invited German businesspeople to invest in Greece, noting the chambers will be their allies in this effort.

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
Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank (GIB) has been issued the necessary licence to operate as a local bank in Saudi Arabia by the kingdoms Ministry of Finance under the Banking Control Law.



On this occasion, Jammaz bin Abdullah Al-Suhaimi, chairman of GIB expressed the banks gratitude and appreciation for the confidence demonstrated by the Saudi authorities in light of this announcement.



Al-Suhaimi underlined that the bank continues to further strengthen its operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as across the GCC region with the aim of becoming expediently near to its client base and more capable to provide better service to its clients.



The license is considered to be a significant turning point for GIB as it will reinforce its presence in Saudi Arabia through the offering of its services to its clients through providing innovative banking services and sustainable technology-oriented solutions.



Currently, GIB operates its banking activities in Saudi Arabia through its regional branches in Riyadh, Dhahran and Jeddah. These branches are regulated by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority which enabled the Bank to launch the worlds first retail banking Shariah-compliant digital banking service Meem in Saudi Arabia, in which it has widely been accepted.



Meem provides the best profit rate for Murabaha deposits across the Kingdom. For more than 40 years, Gulf International Bank has been trusted by its clients in the Kingdom to finance projects and investment services.



GIB has an asset base of SR89.8 billion ($24 billion) of which Saudi Arabia branches account for SR29.9 billion as at the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The investment arm of the Bank, GIB Capital LLC, is also considered to be one of the first companies licensed and supervised by the Capital Market Authority (CMA).



GIB is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain head quartered in Bahrain and owned by the governments of the six GCC countries, with KSA Public Investment Fund being the principal shareholder of 97.2 per cent. In addition to the activities of the Gulf International Bank in the GCC, the Bank has branches in the US and the UK.  TradeArabia News Service
The Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) in Saudi Arabia and Siemens have signed a collaboration agreement to implement a new vocational education concept in Saudi Arabia.



The collaboration will introduce the Siemens Mechatronics curriculum to the Saudi Arabian education system and drive leadership excellence among vocational training managers in the kingdom, said a statement from the company.



The deal was signed by Dr Ahmad Fahad Al Fahaid, governor of TVTC, and Joe Kaeser, president and CEO of Siemens AG, in the presence of Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, during an official visit to Saudi Arabia.



The agreement will pioneer the implementation of a vocational education concept, modelled around the German dual education system, and see Saudi students being trained in electrical, mechanical and business administration disciplines, it said.



Furthermore, Siemens will introduce its Mechatronics curriculum to the Saudi Arabian education system and cooperate with TVTC to drive leadership excellence among vocational training managers across the kingdom, it added.



Dr Al Fahaid said: I strongly believe that the Saudi youth are our most valuable assets and their potential must be realised on the path to Vision 2030. With this agreement we are providing a platform through which they can hone their skills and be counted among tomorrows industrial leaders and experts.



The collaboration with Siemens will contribute significantly towards developing the skill sets that are required by a diversified Saudi economy, he said.



Arja Talakar, CEO of Siemens Saudi Arabia, said: The German dual education system combines theoretical, practical and on-the-job phases in an interwoven approach that provides graduates with a certified profession.



Siemens has a proven track record in exporting and adapting this vocational education approach in several countries, and our courses are constantly being updated in a way that prepares young people for the challenges of digitalisation, he said.



The agreement outlines the focus areas that will drive the strong partnership between TVTC and Siemens. Firstly, the strategic intent to jointly roll out the first phase of a vocational training concept, starting later this year, is very much aligned with the kingdoms goal to significantly increase the number of Saudi citizens that are enrolled in vocational training programmes  from 104,000 to 950,000 by 2020.



By incorporating aspects of the German dual education system the partners aim to qualify more employable graduates together with other German and Saudi companies.



Secondly, the imperative to diversify the Saudi economy presents a splendid opportunity to pioneer the implementation of Siemens Mechatronics curriculum and prepare Saudi youth for the workplace of the future.

Today, companies are increasingly deploying more complex manufacturing, transport, water and energy technologies to secure their competitiveness, drive efficiencies and address growing demand.



Consequently, specialised knowledge is required to design and manage the integration of electrical, mechanical and information technology platforms, and Siemens is addressing that demand with its internationally accredited Mechatronics curriculum. The programme is rooted in the German dual education system and has enhanced the employability of graduates around the world.



Furthermore, the deal will advance leadership excellence among the managers of vocational training institutions in the kingdom. Siemens runs several of its own training institutions worldwide and will work with TVTC to share international best practices and train their current and potential managers of vocational training sites abroad, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
British retailer WHSmith has won three tenders in partnership with Omans Ajit Khimji Group to run a total of seven stores in the new Muscat International Airport passenger terminal, a report said.



These seven stores will add 5,972 sq ft to WHSmiths footprint outside the UK, with this consisting of five NBC stores, one Landside Express by WHSmith convenience store and one Memories of Oman souvenir store, reported Oman Observer.



The souvenir store will be the first of WHSmiths new look and feel Memories Of store in the region. The WHSmith Express store will also be the first of its format to open in the Middle East.



We are delighted to be able to expand our business in Muscat International Airport, bringing new concepts and formats to the region, WHSmith international director Louis de Bourgoing was quoted as saying in the report.



Muscat was our first overseas business in our recent international expansion and is special to us. Oman is a country we particularly like and we have a terrific partner in the Ajit Khimji Group, with whom we intend to build yet stronger ties, he added.
Travel retailer Bahrain Duty Free is enticing passengers to linger a little longer in departures with the launch of its new Dolce&Gabbana Fragrances space at Bahrain International Airport.



The latest addition to the airports refreshed departures retail hub, the extended Dolce&Gabbana counter now commands an eye-catching 20-sq-m compared to its original six-square-metre footprint.



Month by month we continue to surprise and delight passengers travelling through Bahrain International Airport with new retail opportunities that celebrate the very best of the Designers creative world, said Bassam Al Wardi, general manager, Bahrain Duty Free.



The April launch of the expanded Dolce&Gabbana counter adds even more weight to our high profile Perfumes & Cosmetics space and is particularly timely as we move into the busy summer and Eid travel season, he added.



The high fashion Italian brand premiered its first fragrance, the award-winning Dolce&Gabbana Pour Femme, in 1985. Since then the ultra-desirable label has grown its male and female fragrances collection to include Light Blue, The One and Dolce franchises.



Commenting on the unveiling, Olivier Decazes, Travel Retail EMEA general manager for Dolce&Gabbana, said: The Bahrain Duty Free shop renovation is a great opportunity for Dolce&Gabbana to improve and modernize its in-store visibility, thanks to an exciting new counter. We are very happy to offer the very best of Dolce&Gabbana thanks to our amazing and complete range."



We invite travellers to Bahrain to visit us at departures to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of Italian style and to try our exclusive fragrance, Velvet Collection, which pays homage to Dolce&Gabbanas sartorial heritage with a unique range of artisanal fragrances that explore the deepest sense of male and female human nature.



The latest hot news is the recent announcement of British rising stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke as the new faces of the glamourous and timeless range The One.



These best-selling fragrances anchor the new-look circular counter with its striking black and gold livery delivering a clear visual hook for passengers perusing the departures retail offering.



This latest opening supports other successful recent openings across the airports 2,300-sq-m footprint, including Aer Rianta Internationals proprietary Candy Cloud confectionery concept, the Middle Easts first Johnnie Walker House, a new dedicated premium watches space and Hermes & Bvlgari Perfumes counters. - TradeArabia News Service
Kazakhstan has confirmed it will be participating in Expo 2020 Dubai. The announcement comes just weeks before the Central Asian nation hosts its own Expo in the capital city Astana.



Kazakhstan is the latest country to publically confirm it will have a pavilion at the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. In total, 180 countries are expected to take part.



Through its overall theme, Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, Expo 2020 Dubai will be a platform to foster creativity, innovation and collaboration that gives people a glimpse into the future, guided by its three pillars: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.



Khairat Lama Sharif, ambassador of The Republic of Kazakhstan to the UAE, delivered a letter from Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Prime Minister of The Republic of Kazakhstan, confirming the nations official participation in Expo 2020 Dubai to His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee.



Kazakhstans own Expo  Astana EXPO-2017  with the theme of Future Energy opens its doors on June 10. The UAE is one of the nations taking part, formally announcing its participation more than two years ago, and will have the largest pavilion. The UAE was the first Arab country to confirm participation and aims to help Kazakhstan achieve its long-term goals by taking part.



Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and director general, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, said: Kazakhstans participation in Expo 2020 Dubai builds on the strong relations between our two countries that date back more than 25 years and also witnesses yet another important window opening for Expo 2020 Dubai.



Kazakhstan is a thriving country with a lot of successful institutions, both in the public and private sectors, that are drawn to the opportunities Expo 2020 will present in terms of innovation and culture.



We would like to welcome Kazakhstan as it joins us on our journey to 2020 and beyond.



Astana Expo-2017 will focus on technologies for obtaining energy from renewable sources, such as wind and solar power. It is a Specialised Expo, which is dedicated to finding solutions to a precise challenge of humanity. Although the ambition is similar to a World Expo, they are smaller in size.



The theme of Astana echoes that of Expo 2020 Dubai and also reflects the ongoing co-operation between the countries in fields such as electric power, renewable energy and green economy.



Prime Minister Sagintayev said: The UAE and Kazakhstan share strong relations that are founded on a spirit of mutual understanding and respect, and a common willingness to promote these relations. We also share a vision for a cleaner future, powered by renewable energy  as demonstrated by the themes of our respective Expos.



The experience we will gain from hosting a global event of the scale of Astana EXPO-2017 will be invaluable for our participation in 2020.



We look forward to both Expos being inspirational and unforgettable experiences for people around the world.



Prime Minister Sagintayev added: Our experience in Astana Expo-2017 makes us appreciate the importance of Expos of all sizes and we hope our participation in Expo 2020 Dubai will help communicate its themes, including the issue that we are addressing in Astana: Future Energy.



The ties between the UAE and Kazakhstan go deeper than expos. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 people from Kazakhstan live in the UAE.



Kazakhstan has also been an important trading partner for the UAE for a quarter of a century. Bilateral non-oil trade has grown substantially in recent years, reaching nearly $185 million in 2015.



Meanwhile, UAE investments in Kazakhstan grew to $2 billion between 2005 and the first quarter of 2016, with about 200 Emirati companies operating in the country. Aldar Properties, for example, is building Abu Dhabi Plaza in Astana, Kazakhstan. The mixed-use development will be the largest tower block in Central Asia when completed.



The two nations are also keen to strengthen ties in a number of areas, including trade and investment, energy, mining, infrastructure, transportation, logistics, agriculture and food security. Like the UAE, Kazakhstan has laid out plans to diversify its economy away from oil.



Kazakhstan and the UAE also share close diplomatic ties, establishing diplomatic relations on October 1, 1992. In October 2005, the UAE opened an embassy in Astana. Less than a year later, in September 2006, Kazakhstan opened its embassy in the UAE.



In January, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of The Republic of Kazakhstan, held talks during the presidents official visit to the UAE. President Nazarbayev also visited Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which this year was held under the theme Practical Steps Towards a Sustainable Future.



Last month, President Nazarbayev conferred the Jubilee Order and Medal on His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in recognition of his efforts to strengthen relations between the two countries, as part of the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstans independence.



In announcing its participation, Kazakhstan joins many other countries from around the world to have publically confirmed they will take part in Expo 2020 Dubai, which opens on October 20, 2020 and closes six months later, on April 10, 2021. More national participation announcements are expected in the coming months. - TradeArabia News Service
By Indrajit Kundu: Kolkata police are investigating the mysterious case of an Indian Air Force (IAF) officer who went missing from Kolkata's Army command hospital on Thursday last week.

52-year-old Brajesh Kumar Shukla, a junior warrant officer (JWO), had been admitted to the Alipore command hospital for a cataract operation on April 26. He was to be discharged on May 5, three days after his operation, but he disappeared just a day before.

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"As per CCTV footage at the hospital, my father was seen walking out of the hospital at 5:27 pm on May 4. Since then we have not been able to trace him. It's been a week and police has got no lead," Shukla's son Tarun, told India Today. Shukla, who was posted in Assam's Jorhat, left his mobile phone and other belongings in the hospital, making it harder for suthorities to trace him.

A week since his disappearance, Shukla's family and Kolkata police remain clueless about his whereabouts.

Tarun, who is currently searching for Shukla in Kolkata, says his father sounded absolutely normal when they last spoke on May 3. "My father was supposed to be discharged and he was also planning for a sick leave to meet us in Nagpur," he said.

The family has made a desperate plea to the defence ministry and the Prime Minister's Office for help. "We are not able to fathom what exactly happened to him. We are losing hope with each passing day. We would like to appeal to the defence ministry and the Prime Minister's Office to help us. My father has served the forces for three decades, and it's been a week and still we have no trace of him," said Tarun.

"One cannot treat this as a missing case since he went out on his own will. However it is unfortunate that the JWO suddenly disappeared. IAF is treating it as a case of "absence without leave" and Air Force police is co-ordinating with the Kolkata police to trace him," said Wing Commander SS Birdi, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence in Kolkata.

The family, meanwhile, maintains that since Mr Shukla was admitted as a patient and undergoing treatment during the episode, the onus should be on the hospital. On its part, the hospital has issued a discharge-in-absentia certificate and informed local police.

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: From Kuenzang Choden

Thimphu, May 10 (PTI) Japans 25-year-old Princess Mako will visit Bhutan to further strengthen the existing ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, becoming the first member of the royal family to visit the Buddhist nation in nearly two decades.

At the invitation Bhutans King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Princess Mako of Akishino will visit Bhutan from June 1 to 7.

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She will be the first member of the countrys royal family to visit Bhutan in 19 years. The previous two visits were made by Prince Naruhito in 1987 and Prince Akishino and the Princess Kiko Akishino in 1997.

"Bhutan and Japan share long history of close bilateral relations, and the visit will further strengthen the existing ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries," an official Bhutanese statement said.

While in Bhutan, she will attend the opening of the third Royal Bhutan Flower Exhibition at the National Memorial Choeten in Thimphu.

She will also visit places of cultural and historical interests in the country.

Princess Mako is the oldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. PTI KC UZM

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, May 11 (PTI) Bath fittings and sanitary ware major Jaquar Group today said it has roped in Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone as the brand ambassador for its lighting vertical.

Jaquar Lighting aims to grow by over three times by the next financial quarter, taking its current turnover of Rs 100 crore to Rs 350 crore, it said in a statement.

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The Lighting vertical will have a 360-degree marketing campaign and Jaquar Lighting Director Ranbir Mehra said, "the aggressive marketing campaign will help us grow from 1,000 retail stores to 3,000 by the first quarter of 2017."

----------------------------------------- MRSS India net profit up 146 pc in FY 17

BSE-SME listed Majestic Research Services and Solutions Ltd has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4.63 crore for the year ended March 31, 2017 up 146 per cent over last year.

Consolidated income from operations for the year under review grew by 105% to Rs 22.93 crore last year, a company statement said.

"Despite a relatively uncertain global macroeconomic environment, our growth was driven by our customers reposing their trust in MRSS. Going forward we are looking at consolidation, inculcating more fiduciary discipline, and stringent processes leading to operational excellence," MRSS India chairman Raj Sharma said.

Earnings before interest, tax and other income margin grew to 32.5 per cent for the year under review compared to 26.66 per cent in the preceding year. ----------------------------------------------------------- Schneider Electric to invest 100 million euros in India

Schneider Electric has plans to invest around 100 million Euros in the coming five years.

These investments will be for improving competency on skill in India, R&D and innovation and sustainability.

We have invested quite significantly in India. In the past 10 years we have invested roughly around 800 million euro. In the country (India) we plan to invest another 100 million euros at least in the next coming five years, the company officials said.

For 2017, Schneider Electric targets an organic revenue growth between 1 to 3 per cent for the Group outside infrastructure.

The company hopes that around 50 per cent of the products manufactured in India are exported across the world.

The company has recently bagged a contract from Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) to develop the first green field integrated smart city in Chhattisgarh. The company has 28 factories and is present in 50 cities across the country. ----------------------------------------------------------- Randstad India appoints Paul Dupuis as new CEO

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Human Resource service provider Randstad India today announced the appointment of Paul Dupuis as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Dupuis is taking over from Moorthy K Uppaluri, who served as the MD and CEO of Randstad India over the last four years, the company said in a release.

Prior to joining Randstad India, Paul served as the Managing Director of Professionals (Search and Selection), Engineers (temp and perm), RPO and GCS of Randstad Japan from 2013, where he was inducted as a board member in 2014. PTI DS AP SM NRB

--- ENDS ---
Patna, May 11

Bucking the trend, software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has ruled out laying-off employees in the near future and instead plans to create more jobs.

No, certainly no, Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and MD of TCS, said here on Thursday when asked if there were any plans of laying-off employees or downsize as some other big players in Indias IT sector have said they would do.

We are here to create jobs, not to downsize, he asserted after TCS launched a BPO centre here to create new opportunities as part of the governments Digital India push.

At a time when it has been reported that Indian software companies like Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant have decided to downsize, Gopinathans revealation that TCS is not going to follow suit is seen as a welcome development.

Later, TCS spokesperson Pradipta Bagchi said the IT sector has a bright future in the country with the Digital India initiative on the right track. We are looking forward to expand and spread our business and connect with more and more people. TCS operates in 45 countries and has over 387,000 of the worlds best trained consultants. IANS
A gold mangal-sutra, a gold necklace, a gold chain, a pair of earrings, a box of Tanishq containing a gold necklace and a pair of earrings, a pearl necklace among other things was recovered from the cabbie.

By Tanseem Haider: Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a taxi driver who had stolen jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh and cash worth Rs 3.5 lakh from a wedding at the five-star Ashoka Hotel.

Gurvinder Singh was arrested from the General Taxi Stand, near Mata Jai Kaur Public School in Ashok Vihar on May 9. The jewellery and the cash was recovered from him, then.

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The incident came to notice after Dr. Aakash, a resident of Churu, Rajasthan had come to the Ashoka Hotel for his sister's wedding. The doctor was carrying all kinds of valuables, cash and clothes with him for the various marriage ceremonies.

He along with family members went to Ashoka Hotel, where the wedding was to take place, and kept the bag full of jewellery inside the car's boot.

After attending the wedding, Dr Aakash came back to his car but did not find the bag inside. He then approached the Chanakyapuri Police Station where a case was registered.

INVESTIGATION

During the investigation, two teams were formed. The police scanned the CCTV camera's footage accessed from cameras installed around the place of the incident.

Embassies were checked and the security guards were examined as well.

During the scrutiny of cameras, a suspicious car and a driver was observed. When police enquired about the same, it was found out that the suspicious car was being used by some guest from Ashoka hotel.

Then this person whose identity revealed as guest of the complainant and who was called and was shown the CCTV footage and he was examined.

It was then found that the car was hired from General Taxi stand in Ashok Vihar.

Consequently, a raid was conducted and the accused Gurvinder Singh was detained and interrogated.

WHAT HAPPENED

Singh disclosed that on the night of April 30, he visited the Ashoka Hotel to drop off some passengers. After which, he saw a car stationed in the parking of Ashoka Hotel parking lot whose boot was open.

Singh closely observed the movement of the other occupants of the car as well as the hotel staff. On finding the right opportunity, Singh stole the bag from the car and fled.

With the arrest, the police recovered the same bag that contained gold and diamond jewellery and cash worth lakhs.

Also, a gold mangal-sutra, a gold necklace, a gold chain, a pair of earrings, a box of Tanishq containing a gold necklace and a pair of earrings, a pearl necklace, gold bangles, gold rings, a silver bowl and other gold, silver and diamond jewellery and cash worth Rs. 3.5 lakh was recovered.

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The value of the recovered jewellery is around Rs. 50 lakh.

Also read | Girl who stole money from her own house for modelling arrested; police recovers Rs 5 lakh, gold jewellery

Also read | Delhi Police to now keep a tight vigil on juvenile offenders

Also read | 'Guffa Gang' busted by Delhi Police; 6 notorious robbers arrested, 16 cases solved

--- ENDS ---
Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 11

At least three students of the local Yadavindra Public School (YPS) have been booked for sexual harassment, assault and criminal conspiracy, and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, on a complaint of the mother of a Class IX student.

The school authorities have expelled the main accused and sought an explanation from the other two.

The victims mother claimed her daughter had spurned the advances of a senior, who had proposed her when she was in Class VI, and had no inkling that he nursed a grudge.

The FIR, registered under non-bailable Sections, states that as directed by the accused, now in Class X, a Class VIII student had abused the victim in the school corridor a few days ago.

On Saturday (May 9), when my daughter was standing outside her class, two boys attacked her, who repeatedly pushed her, threatened her with dire consequences and later abused her. My daughter has stopped going to school and is under pressure, the mother has stated in the FIR.

The police have booked the boys under Sections 354 (assault), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-B (use of criminal force against woman with intent to disrobe), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Section 8 of the POCSO Act. Sources said this had been done, even though the sexual harassment charges were yet to be probed, as the victims father was a senior police officer.

The Director, YPS, Patiala, Maj Gen Sanjiv Verma (retd), said the parents of the victim met him only today. We have expelled the main accused while the parents of the other students have been summoned. Strict action will be taken against them as per the rules. He said the matter could have been resolved had the victim brought the matter to the notice of the school authorities. "Now that an FIR has been registered, the law will take its own course.

The DSP (City), Saurav Jindal, said the sexual harassment charges were added to the FIR after the victims mother alleged that the accused had made indecent remarks against her daughter.
Sandeep Dikshit

IDEALLY, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have hoped that last weeks launch of the South Asia satellite had the trappings of the ceremony on May 26, 2014, in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan when, for the first time, most SAARC heads of government came for the swearing-in of an Indian Prime Minister.

Contrary to the media buildup, the India-funded and built South Asian satellite might have come too late in the day. The neighbours, with no exception, are wary of South Blocks foreign policy currently supervised by a medley comprising dyed-in-the-wool diplomats, kin of high officials in the Modi government and nominated individuals from the RSS.

On the technical side as well, the satellite has too few frills in its antennas to encourage the South Asian heads to once again head to Delhi for a joint photo session with Prime Minister Modi. The satellites limited technical specifications (equipped only with Ku band transponders that are good for videos and photos) are further weighed down by the absence of freedom to download whenever or whatever they want to because India is yet to put up satellite ground stations on their respective soils.

This means the countries will have to request ISRO for specific images and video feeds. Or the participating countries must work out a sharing protocol with ISRO. This is much like their existing arrangements with commercial satellite companies offering similar services except that the partnership of South Asian countries with ISRO is free of cost but may bring bureaucratic red tape in its wake.

The satellite is being touted as a Narendra Modi initiative. Facts tell a slightly different story. It began as a UPA project after the countrys external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), sounded a series of warnings in late 2012 about the inroads being made into the South Asian space segment by China. If anything, the UPA should be faulted for letting time slip by after the Joint Intelligence Committee weighed the issue in February 2013 and urged ISRO to accelerate its marketing and persuasion efforts. Chinese space companies have started setting up offices in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the two SAARC countries (besides Pakistan) that are likely to be big consumers of satellite services.

Pundits have drawn attention to the geopolitical symbolism of this project in which Pakistan is the only sour note. In other words, they are indirectly admitting that the satellite might not be of much help to the SAARC countries. But its launch does display a unity of purpose in space that has eluded the South Asian neighbours on the ground despite Narendra Modis best efforts. Indias pan South Asia barrier-free road travel project first ran aground on Pakistans refusal to buy into it. Islamabads opposition inadvertently excluded another SAARC member, Afghanistan, from the project because all terrestrial links from India (as well as Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan) must go through Pakistan. When Narendra Modi tried to push through the truncated SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement  renamed BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal)  eternally-loyal Bhutan jumped the ship. Its Parliament refused to endorse the BBIN agreement on the grounds that unruly Indians with their badly maintained vehicles and poor driving skills will cause havoc and pollution on their serene roads.

Another major country, Sri Lanka, will also have limited use of the South Asian satellites offerings because China has made substantial inroads and is well poised to be Colombos premier partner in the space segment. Bangladesh too is unwilling to be tied to the Indian coat-tail in cutting edge areas  nuclear plant, submarines, as also space.

This leaves just Bhutan and Maldives who will substantially gain from the satellite but will be modest users. Even Afghanistan currently utilises an old Indian satellite with assistance from the French.

Why hasnt ISRO, which rewrote the world record for simultaneously launching the maximum number of satellites in one go and sent the cheapest-ever mission to Mars, unable to make breakthroughs like the Chinese companies? Is the much-vaunted ISRO expertise concentrated in a narrow segment?

The reason may lie in the aftershocks of the Antrix-Devas affair. The former is the marketing arm of ISRO and it has to pay heavy penalties to the private company Devas for backing out of a joint venture. The government cancelled the Antrix-Devas contract after the Comptroller and Auditor General found a number of procedural violations. The controversy even claimed the scalp of the then ISRO chairman, Madhavan Nair.

ISRO now stands in danger of losing its global preeminent position of being the most cost-effective launcher of micro satellites as Chinese start-up companies are already actively scouring the world for opportunities. ISRO is likely to be attractive only to customers who have security issues with Chinese companies. This means the Western block, and they too have existing tieups for the large satellites where ISRO still has no capability.

The problem lies in the Modi governments inability to come up with a revamped Satellite Communications Policy to replace the 20-year-old version that has licence-permit raj written all over it. Three years after it took power, there is no word whether the BJP government is interested in taking a look at the draft policy left behind by the UPA government. The Chinese are snapping at ISROs heels and data rates for satellite communication in India is many times costlier than the tariffs in the US. The time to bite the bullet may well pass India by.

From a national security perspective too, India is yet to integrate different policies for space communication, security and remote sensing. The Prime Minister has often spoken of an integrated space in all aspects of policy making. The Joint Doctrine of the armed forces is an example of deeds following words. But it is easier for governments to make the armed forces do its bidding than breaking down walls between civilian departments.

That is why South Block is still struggling with an integrated transport policy. But India cannot afford to allow its various users of space to work in silos when the worldwide trend is of integration.

The neighbourhood policy is also in disarray. The accent on Hindutva might have made neighbours with a different religious disposition wary of their domestic audience perceiving them as being in too close an Indian embrace. What could have been an occasion to highlight pan-South Asianism has turned out to be a missed opportunity.
Bhupinder Singh

THE supply of electricity at affordable rates has assumed utmost importance for the government as well as consumers The average rate of electricity in Punjab, with the projected expenditure of Rs 3,2718 crore for the year 2017-18, shall be Rs 6.82 per unit. This comprises of Rs 3.74 towards power purchase, Rs1.11 towards employee expenses, 38 paise as fuel charges, 77 paise as interest burden, 25 paise as transmission charges, and 57 paise towards operations and maintenance charges, return on equity and depreciation cost. After adding government levies, the rate shall be around Rs 8 per unit.

Therefore, the reduction of tariff so as to attract industrial investment in the state is a challenging task.

Comparison of rates

Last year, the per unit rate charged from the consumers is Rs 5.65 in UP, Rs 7.52 in Haryana, Rs 6.83 in Rajasthan, Rs 7.31 in Delhi and Rs 5.79 in Punjab. However, Punjab collects nearly Rs1.15 for each unit of electricity as the government levies against only 15 paise per unit in Haryana, 8 paise per unit in U.P and 60 paise per unit in Rajasthan. The final average cost of electricity to the consumers which is sum of government levies and tariff cost is around Rs 6.94 per unit in Punjab compared to Rs 7.67 for Haryana, Rs 5.73 for UP, Rs 7.49 for Rajasthan and Rs 7.68 for Delhi.

The Centre has launched Ujjawal DISCOM Assurance Yojna scheme to enable state goverments to take over the outstanding debt of the distribution companies which stands at Rs 26,000 crore for Haryana, Rs 39,908 crore for UP, Rs 60,397 crore for Rajasthan and Rs 15,628 crore for Punjab  as on September 30, 2015. Haryana, U.P and Rajasthan have committed to take over debt in first three years of operation of the scheme. On the contrary, Punjab shall takeover debt only in the fifth year of the operation of the scheme, that is in 2020-21.

The scheme also mandates tariff hike of 5 per cent in 2016-17 and 9 per cent in 2017-18 to ensure financial sustainability of PSPCL. Contrary to this, tariff in Punjab was reduced by (-) 0.65 per cent last year.

Technical & commercial losses

Punjab is the only state in North India which has been able to control the theft of power and has achieved reduction of aggregate technical and commercial losses below 15 per cent. The pillar-box scheme, initiated by PSPCL engineers, worked as a game changer in bringing down the aggregate technical and commercial losses from around 22 per cent in 2010 to 14.63 per cent in 2016.However, there are many divisions where these losses are still high such as Bhikhiwind (40.54 per cent), Patti (35.10 per cent), Malout (37.90 per cent), Badal (29.67 per cent), Jalalabad (28.12 per cent), Amritsar (28.17 per cent) and Abohar (28 per cent). Punjab can achieve further reduction of losses by 3-4 per cent if pillar boxes are installed in these areas. This is possible only with strong government support.

In comparison, the aggregate technical and commercial losses of Haryana are 28.05 per cent, Rajasthan 25 per cent and UP 32.36 per cent which indicate higher power theft levels in these states. Interestingly, the south distribution company of Gujarat with a similar agricultural base as Punjab has losses of more than 25 per cent.

Punjab shall be paying the subsidy bill of Rs 8,000 crore this year. This includes Rs 5,807 crore for agricultural power (AP). Last year, Haryana paid Rs 6,434 crore as AP subsidy for supplying 9,094 MUs of agriculture power at the rate of Rs 6.64 per unit. In contrast, Punjab paid Rs 5,187 crore for supplying 1,1327 MUs of agricultural power at the rate of Rs 4.58 per unit. If Punjab pays subsidy on the Haryana pattern, then the tariff rate of other consumers can be reduced by 37 p/unit.

Punjab has three thermal plants under the state sector  460 MW at Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), Bathinda, 1260 MW at Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant (GGSSTP), Ropar and 920 MW at Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant (GHTP,), Lehra Mohabbat and three thermal plants  1400 MW at Rajpura, 1980 MW at Talwandi Sabo and 540 MW at Goindwal Sahib  have been added in the private sector. The share of state thermal plants in the energy availability has gone down from 38 per cent to 8 per cent in the last five years and share of hydel power hasreduced from 19 per cent to 12 per cent.

New private sector plants built on super-critical technology are more efficient than the ageing state plants. The generation cost is lower in the case of these plants. However, it has resulted in non-utilisation of cheap and good quality coal available from the state-owned Pachhwara coal mine. If this is used, it can reduce generation cost by around 30 p/unit. The primary reason for this has been that Punjab does not own a thermal plant operating on super-critical technology.

Surplus power and fixed charges

Power utilities arrange power from various sources to supply uninterrupted power to the consumers. The power is then supplied as per the demand of the system which has seasonal and daily variations. This results in the payment of some amount of fixed charges even for unutilised power to the central sector plants, state plants and private sector plants. Punjab has 25000 MU i.e. 30 per cent surplus power and even Delhi with 9745 MU has 30 per cent surplus power. The consumers have to bear fixed charges to avoid power cuts.

There are no power cuts in Punjab even for the rural consumers and no regulatory measures for the industry.

The government can ensure financial sustainability of the power companies as well as reduce the electricity tariff by 40 p/unit if it takes over debt as per UDAY scheme, by Re1/unit by rationalising govt levies and by 25 p/unit by installing pillar boxes in high theft areas. In this way, tariff can be reduced immediately by Rs 1.65 per unit.

The government should immediately initiate process for acquiring a thermal plant of super-critical technology by infusing equity which can be arranged by disposing off unviable generation assets. Besides huge tangible and intangible long-term benefits to the state, it shall reduce generation cost by 65p/unit by saving of fixed and variable charges. Electricity is the driving force for all other sectors of economy. Its cost reduction can reap in huge dividends elsewhere.

The writer is President, Punjab Power Engineers Association
FOR a party predicated on a limited but please-all agenda of cracking down on corruption and drugs, AAPs denouement in Punjab was not hard to predict once it fell well short of the half-way mark in the assembly polls. After its near-total eclipse in the Delhi municipal corporation polls, it was natural for its Punjab leaders to snipe at each other in the scramble to bag the limited number of posts up for grabs or desert the party for better vistas. There are also indications that many state-level leaders who still remain, either because they are legislators or they have burnt their bridges with alternative political choices, are chafing with AAPs Delhi durbar continuing to hold the reins.

The churning within AAP in Punjab is not unique to it. Many political parties have experienced a loss of faith following a debilitating electoral loss. The departure of leaders like Gurpreet Ghuggi is to be expected where the spoils of office arent forthcoming. Indias first-past-the-post electoral system hardly gives any solace to the runner-up but AAP remains a beacon of hope in the believers of alternative politics. Its internal squabbles, too many to recount, have prevented it from reshaping itself as the principal opposition party in the state. One reason is that AAP leaders are largely reposing their faith in social media to send their messages across.

The need of the hour for AAP is to put the electoral loss behind it. When it comes to introspection, AAPs cause will be better served if it carves out a more consensual mechanism for stock-taking and charting out the future course of action. This was supposed to be a party which listened to the people. Given that Punjabs society is multi-layered, AAP has to build a collegiate approach and pick and choose its target electorate and issues. The Punjab Government is currently riding its honeymoon phase. Space will soon open up for an issue-based Opposition. AAP should ready itself for that eventuality. The desertions will affect the top deck and the quarter of the electorate that opted for its candidates should not be let down.
LIBERAL Central grants over the years have lifted the quality of life and upkeep in Chandigarh, invoking envious and appreciatory responses from residents in the adjoining and other cities and towns. Lack of funds coupled with poor governance has created urban mess and traffic snarls everywhere. Chandigarh is fast catching up. Being a UT, it is remote-controlled from Delhi. This has crippled governance here. The decision-makers in Delhi have their own priorities and agendas. Officials on deputation in the UT have little enthusiasm to look beyond the needs of the elite and VIPs. Not without surprise therefore came a rather strong observation from Justices SS Saron and Darshan Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing of a school fee hike case. The Bench accused the Centre of meting out step-motherly treatment to Chandigarh and likened it to a British colony.

The Chandigarh administration is not the Pakistan administration. You are saying as if it is a foreign country. Will you tell us why there is apathy on the part of the Central Government towards the UT? the Bench asked the lawyers representing the Centre. What provoked the rebuke was the UT officials bungling. The proposal to regulate fee hikes was sent to the HRD Ministry, rather than the Home Ministry. It may be a deliberate mischief to delay things as private schools are known to oppose tooth and nail any official interference. Creating bottlenecks, the court noted, is the work culture of the UT.

The high court has been persistently trying to make the Centre start more international flights from Chandigarh airport but only with limited success. Transport and other private interests do not want travel business to move outside Delhi. More than that it was the Centres repeated dragging of feet over meeting its financial commitments to Panjab University that has annoyed not just the court but also residents and well-wishers of this premier educational institution in the region. There is a reported BJP plan to control and saffronise top educational institutions. Poor governance, triggering protests over fee hikes and violence at PU, is not accidental or without a motive.
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, May 11

Baljeet Singh Nayak, a social worker of the Kalayat area, was injured in an alleged attack by an ASI at Kalayat police station last night. Baljeet, accompanied by his gunman ASI Shamsher Singh, had gone to the police station along with a woman, Ashu, who wanted to lodge a complaint of theft.

Baljeet was taken to the Kalayat hospital and later admitted to the civil hospital in Kaithal. The police have recorded the statements of Baljeet, Ashu and the ASI and started investigation in the incident. Meanwhile, Baljeet has informed senor police officials about the incident. Baljeet had courted controversies even in the past and in apprehension of danger to his life had been provided police security.

Baljeet said he along with Ashu and the gunman reached Kalayat police station around 8 pm. Ashu wanted to lodge a complaint of theft in her shop. As he was coming out of the police station, he came across ASI Dilbagh, who taunted him and entered into an argument with him. Dilbagh then allegedly attacked him and injured him. Meanwhile, some other policemen also arrived there and thrashed Baljeet.

Baljeet said Dilbagh called him a big headache for the police and wanted to teach him a lesson today. However, his gunman intervened and rescued him and took him to the hospital in a vehicle.

Baljeet said Dilbagh nursed a grudge against him as he had exposed his relatives, who were involved in some case. According to information, Baljeets gunman stated that he accompanied him to the police station last night. While returning from the police station, he found Baljeet engaged in a heated argument with some persons but he could not recognise them due to darkness. When he noticed that Baljeet was bleeding, he took him to hospital.

SP Sumer Partap Singh said Kalayat policemen denied that they had assaulted Baljeet. DSP Satish Gautam had been directed to inquire the matter and submit a report at the earliest.
Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, May 11

Kurukshetra University will strictly implement rules in the private colleges affiliated to it. Speaking to The Tribune Prof KC Sharma, Vice Chancellor, KU, said that faculty members would conduct inspections in these colleges and a system would be evolved to maintain academic standards.

There is a need to encourage private participation in BEd colleges than to give free hand to the private entities. If BEd colleges lack quality and thrive on malpractices, entire education sector would suffer, he said.

The VC said, It has been observed that colleges indulge in unethical practices. In certain colleges, students do not attend classes and get away by giving money. We will work to ensure transparency in admissions and regular attendance, he said.

He observed that working conditions were not apt for the faculty in certain colleges.

We are working to develop a mechanism wherein it would be mandatory for the colleges to submit bank statements confirming timely payment of salaries to the teaching staff. The university will not hesitate to initiate action against erring colleges, he said.

The Haryana Assembly recently passed Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University, Jind (Amendment and Validation) Bill. All BEd and engineering colleges in Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Panchkula, Karnal and Kaithal districts will be affiliated to Kurukshetra University.
Tribune News Service

Ambala, May 11

A drama was witnessed at the Aggarsain chowk in Ambala city today when a large number of people, who were returning after submitting a memorandum addressed to the Haryana Governor, to the District Revenue Officer (DRO), started pelting stones at passing vehicles and a few parked nearby. The police used force to disperse them and bring the situation under control.

The protesters belonging to the Dalit community, led by leaders of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), submitted a memorandum demanding the release of some youths, who had been arrested in connection with the murder of a 63-year-old man in Pathreri village on March 13. The deceased belonged to the Rajput community. They had held a protest in Karnal recently.

The BSP leaders earlier addressed community members and then reached the Deputy Commissioners office to submit the memorandum. After submitting the memorandum, they reached the Aggarsain chowk and started a protest there. Besides damaging windowpanes of several vehicles, they also damaged a traffic police kiosk. A policeman was also injured in stone pelting. After getting information, senior police and administrative officials reached the spot.

The police resorted to a baton charge to disperse the protesters seeing the situation going out of control.

The protesters claimed that the police had arrested only Dalit youths, including innocents, but let go those belonging to the upper castes.

The miscreants tried to escape but the police took several of them, including some women, in custody.

SP Abhishek Jorwal said, When protesters reached the Aggarsain chowk after submitting the memorandum, some anti-social elements started pelting stones at passing vehicles and those parked there. A policeman was injured. To control the situation, the police used a mild force to disperse the protesters.

Two cases (murder and under SC/ST Act) have been registered. People have been arrested in both cases following investigation. The crime branch policemen are investigating the cases. The protesters vehicles will be impounded for todays incident and on the basis of CCTV camera footage, action will be taken against them, he added.

An official said political parties were instigating Dalits to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere.
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, May 11

The sarpanch of Rukhi village, a Dalit woman, was allegedly insulted by schoolteachers today. They reportedly made casteist comments when she asked them to teach instead of gossiping.

Representatives of the panchayat and residents of the village lodged a complaint with the Gohana SDM Ajai Kumar, demanding action against Rohtas, Rajbala and Seema, teachers at the Government Senior Secondary School.

In her complaint to the SDM, sarpanch Savita and others stated that she went to the school with other panchayat representatives and found most of the teachers sitting in a room instead of taking classes.

When she reminded them about their duties, three teachers  Rohtas, Rajbala and Seema  allegedly used abusive and casteist language. The sarpanch threatened to resign if action was not taken against the teachers who insulted her. The SDM assured them of an inquiry and subsequent action in the case.
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, May 11

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said here today that Congress leaders should not fight among themselves.

He said the elections for the Municipal Corporation, Shimla, were postponed following complaints from different political parties regarding discrepancies in the voter list. He said once the electoral list would be amended, the election for the MC would be announced by the Election Commission. The EC had ordered the fresh revision of voter list, he added.

Earlier, Virbhadra Singh dedicated development projects of over Rs 40 crore in the district. He inaugurated the building of District Attorney, completed with an outlay of Rs 1.69 crore, and hostel of Government Polytechnic. He also inaugurated residential quarters of staff of the Community Health Centre at Tauni Devi, Primary Health Centre at Kot and Chauri.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of academic block of Himachal Pradesh Technical University at Daruhi, PWD Rest House, Uhal, residential accommodation for doctors of Civil Hospital, Sujanpur, and playground at Chamiana in Sujanpur.

Other present included Transport and Technical Education Minister GS Bali, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, former MLAs, Anita Verma, Kuldeep Pathania, Vice-Chairman, State Disaster Management Authority, Rajinder Rana, former CPS Urmil Thakur, Chairman, APMC, Prem Kaushal.

BJP leader joins Congress

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh welcomed the sitting BJP state secretary into the party fold while addressing a gathering at Gandhi Chowk here today. Vinod Thakur, once considered a close confidant of former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, along with his supporters, joined the Congress embarrassing the BJP leadership in the district.

The CM said Vinod would be given respect in the party. He said he never tried to poach any member of any party. Lambasting former Dhumal, he said Dhumal framed false cases against him and at both times he was acquitted.

BJP misleads people about CM: Vinod

Vinod Thakur, who had served the BJP for thelast 22 years, said he was misled about Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. He said the Dhumals believed in family politics and always made fool of the people.

There were many in Hamirpur who were well-qualified and dedicated workers who qualify for contesting elections, but I am sorry to say that the BJP in Hamirpur had become a private company of Dhumal, said Vinod Thakur.

He said there were many in the BJP who were humiliated and dared to speak openly against the party would also join the Congress.
Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan remains untraceable after the Supreme Court ordered his arrest over charges of contempt of court. Speculations are that Karnan may have sneaked out of the country.

By Ahmad Azeem, Indrajit Kundu: So where exactly is Justice CS Karnan? Facing arrest after a Supreme Court order sentencing him to six months jail , the Calcutta High Court judge has gone into hiding. According to sources close to the judge, he is currently at an undisclosed location within India amidst speculation that he may flee the country.

Justice Karnan has approached the Supreme Court against his conviction and six-month jail term.

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In his appeal, Justice Karnan has challenged the Constitutional validity of contempt of court act and said that he has been convicted without any charges being framed.

"He is not evading arrest," one of his close associates told India Today. A police team from West Bengal reached Chennai on Wednesday to execute the Supreme Court order to arrest Karnan.

Sources say Karnan's team is preparing a review application which they plan to file soon. They are waiting for the full copy of the Supreme Court order as they have received only the operative part so far.

The 61-year-old judge facing contempt of court charge is also seeking an appointment with President Pranab Mukherjee to present his case.

Sources close to Justice Karnan claim that the Tamil Nadu government has been in touch with his team and assured that the state police will go slow on the matter fearing backlash after reports of some protests at Karnan's native place following his arrest order.

They say the state government fears that his arrest may lead to law and order issue given that he has accused the apex court judges of targeting him for being a Dalit.

ALSO READ:

Justice Karnan goes 'missing' as Kolkata cops reach Chennai to arrest him

How Justice Karnan's conviction in contempt case may bring order in higher judiciary

Justice CS Karnan first judge to be sentenced to jail by Supreme Court

WATCH | Justice Karnan not evading arrest; at undisclosed location in India, reveal aides

--- ENDS ---
Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 11

Nearly 20 months after work began of the four-laning of the Parwanoo-Solan stretch of National Highway-22, the Forest Department today issued orders to axe about 2,200 trees lying on the private land.

With barely 16 per cent of the work having been executed till now on this 39-km stretch, it was unlikely that the March 2018 deadline would be achieved. A 30-month period has been assigned for this work which began in September 2015.

This was not just indicative of the tardy pace of work but was also a reflection of the red tape in the government. The axing of these trees had been delayed as due compensation had not been granted to the land owners till now and its ownership status was hence ambiguous.

Divisional Forest Officer, Solan, Ashok Chauhan, confirmed that felling orders to axe about 2,200 trees on the private land have been issued today to the HP Forest Corporation. He said as per the clarification received from the authorities it was clear that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) owned the land now and the due compensation in lieu of axing the trees has already been deposited by the NHAI authorities.

The HP Forest Corporation will take at least three to four months to complete the axing of these trees while private structures were yet to be acquired and demolished.

With several constrains like non-completion of land acquisition of private land owing to award disputes, the four-laning work has been going on in a piecemeal manner.

A case pertaining to exchange of defence land belonging to Dagshai cantonment, which was falling under the ambit of this four-laning, was yet to be finalized. A committee comprising revenue officials was yet to work out its market value.

While these issues should have been sorted out before the inception of this project, they were causing undue delay in completion of this four-laning work, confessed an official of the private company executing this work.

The delay will not only result in cost escalation of the project but will also add to the inconvenience of the commuters as being a crucial road linking the state capital of Shimla, the movement of vehicles on this road was immense.
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 11

The Army tactic of cordon and search, which was discontinued in the early 2000s, will now be a permanent feature in south Kashmir as a part of the ongoing re-arranging of the counter-insurgency grid to tackle the growing unrest in the Valley.

The cordon and search operations, which are referred to as CASO in military parlance, were resumed after almost 15 years near Shopian on May 4.

These will be permanent feature in Kulgam, Tral, Pulwama, Budgam and Shopian  all in south Kashmir, sources said while informing about the decision taken after due consultation with the state government and the Central government. The top Army brass has been told that the CASO will have to continue and the Army will have to get physical control of the area, the sources said.

Another reason was the emergence of videos showing terrorists moving around openly. The counter-insurgency grid which is basically the military plan for deployment of forces in specific sectors is being re-done and the return of the CASO is a part of it.

The CASO was the operational strategy that was used in the 1990s, confirmed a senior functionary.

The CASO had been discontinued as it caused undue hardship to local population, alienating them from the forces, therefore they were stopped, a senior security official said.

Instead, the forces had moved to intelligence-backed operations.

The Army has also told the government that Pakistan-based terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen were operating together and sharing resources  a phenomena that was common in the early 2000s.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 11

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has expressed his grief and sorrow on the killing of young Kashmiri Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz.

Killing an unarmed innocent young officer is a cowardly act. It was painful to learn about this tragic incident. I pray for his eternal peace and also pray that the bereaved family gets the strength to bear the loss, said Azad in a statement.

Meanwhile, District Congress Committee (DCC), Jammu Urban, paid rich tributes to the young Army officer in a condolence meeting held today. A two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed soul and all speakers condemned the barbaric act of the militants. The meeting also came down heavily on the Centrefor its failure to improve the security scenario in the Valley.

While addressing party workers, DCC president Anil Chopra appealed to the youth of Kashmir to shun violence.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 11

The initial investigation in the killing of 23-year-old Lt Ummer Fayaz has pointed to the role of militant group Hizbul Mujahideen in the incident. The police have identified at least three militants who were involved in the abduction and killing of the officer.

We have identified three local Hizbul Mujahideen militants who were part of the group that abducted and killed the young Army officer, Superintendent of Police, Shopian, Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar told The Tribune. The militants identified so far include Ishfaq Thokar, Mohammad Abbas Bhat and Gayas-ul-Islam.

The Superintendent of Police said the three militants  all residents of Shopian  were active in the area and were also involved in murder cases.

The young officer was shot on his back with an INSAS rifle. One bullet injury was in the neck and the jaw, and the other in the stomach. There were no torture marks on his body, SP said.

Two masked men had barged into the house of the officers uncle in Shopian on Tuesday evening during a marriage ceremony and abducted him. He was later shot dead. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Sources said that out of three militants identified, Ishfaq Thokar, alias Abrar, has been active since 2015.

Police sources said they were also looking into the role of some overground workers from the area who might have leaked the information about the presence of the Army officer at his maternal uncles house. We are looking at the technical intelligence also and analysing mobile calls, a source said.

After the killing of the young officer, the Army had said the perpetrators of this heinous crime and dastardly act will not be spared. The killing of the young Kashmiri officer has taken place in a district that saw a massive anti-militancy combing operation by the security forces on May 4.
Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 11

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi today reviewed the security situation in the state in the backdrop of a spurt in violence and students protests.

Soon after his arrival here, Mehrishi had separate meetings with Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. A detailed meeting with senior police, security and intelligence officers began this evening and was underway till the last reports came in.

The Governor and the Union Home Secretary held discussions about issues relating to effective maintenance of law and order, an official spokesman said.

They also discussed matters relating to the security situation along the international border and the LoC, increasing infiltration attempts and growing incidence of terrorism in the Valley.

In his meeting with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Mehrishi discussed the overall situation prevailing in the state.

The visit comes a day after suspected militants killed a young Kashmiri Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz in Shopian district of south Kashmir.

The visit to review the situation takes place in the backdrop of violence, rise in militancy related incidents and students protests.

The Kashmir valley witnessed violence during the bypolls to the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on April 9 in which at least nine civilians were killed and several others injured bringing down the polling to a dismal 7 per cent. In view of the situation, the bypolls to the Anantnag constituency, which was earlier scheduled for April 12, were postponed to May 25. However, in view of the continued trouble and demand of the PDP, the bypolls have been cancelled.
Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 11

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Thursday reviewed the prevailing security situation in the state with the top brass of the state government and senior police, security and civil administration officers.

He has already met Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and is scheduled to hold a meeting with Governor NN Vohra during his visit.

The visit to take stock of the situation takes place in the backdrop of violence, rise in militancy-related incidents and students protests. The Home Secretary had detailed meetings with senior police, security, intelligence and civil administration officers soon after his arrival here on Thursday morning.

In his meeting with Mufti, the Home Secretary discussed the overall situation prevailing in the state.

The visit comes a day after suspected militants killed a young Kashmiri Army officer, Lt Umar Fayaz, in Shopian district of south Kashmir. This is his first visit to the Valley after the seat of government shifted from Jammu to Srinagar.

The Valley witnessed violence during the bypoll to Srinagar parliamentary constituency on April 9 in which at least nine civilians were killed and several others injured. In view of the situation, the bypoll to Anantnag constituency scheduled for April 12 was postponed to May 25. However, in view of the continued trouble and demand of the ruling PDP the bypoll has been cancelled.

The administration is also faced with the students protests in different parts of the Valley continuing intermittently for the fourth week now, following the trouble at Government Degree College, Pulwama, on April 15.
Shyam Sood

Rajouri, May 11

The Pakistan army resorted to heavy mortar shelling over the areas along the Line of Control in Nowshera subdivision on Wednesday, killing a woman and damaging a school. The shelling also set off migration from a few areas with about 15 families from the Jhangar sector heading for a camp set up at Nowshera.

On Wednesday night, 40-year-old woman Akhter Bibi was killed while her husband Mohd Haneef received serious splinter injuries when a shell landed on their home. Haneef was rushed to the Sub-district Hospital at Nowshera.

The Pakistan army resorted to unprovoked firing of small arms, automatic weapons and heavy mortar shelling on Indian forward posts at about 10.50 pm on Wednesday and was retaliated appropriately and effectively by Indian soldiers, said defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta.

He added no Indian soldier was injured in the Nowshera sector. The firing stopped in the Lam sector at about 4.30 am while it continued in the Bhawani sector till 8 am on Thursday.

Two mortar shells hit the middle school building and four-six fell in its vicinity. Had the shell fallen during the working hours there would have been heavy loss of lives, said Mohinder Singh, a resident of Jhangar.

He added that the newly constructed toilet complex was fully damaged while doors and windows of the rooms suffered extensive damage in the shelling.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhry has directed the SDM, Nowshera, to close all school along the LoC in Nowshera subdivision in the wake of firing from across the border.

Two higher secondary schools at Nowshera town have been turned into camps for any possible emergency evacuation of the people. A team of doctors has been stationed at the SDM office, said the Deputy Commissioner.

Later, about 50 people from 15 families, from Jhanger and adjoining areas, reached the Nowshera migrant camp at boys higher secondary school. There were reports that many people from other forward villages were slowly emptying out.

Taking stock of the situation, Mandeep Singh Bhandari, Divisional Commissioner, along with the DC and other senior functionaries rushed to Nowshera and held meeting with district officers.

Interacting with the senior officers, the migrants urged them to provide separate accommodation, free ration and compensation for the losses.

The Divisional Commissioner took stock of the evacuation and relief measures as well as preparedness for immediate action in wake of further emergency. He also directed the district administration to formulate relief cases on a priority basis, said the Deputy Commissioner, adding that about 27 families had been affected due to the shelling.

Pakistan summons Indian envoy

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday summoned Indias Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to condemn what it called unprovoked firing over the disputed Kashmir frontier that killed one civilian, the Foreign Ministry said. India also accused Pakistan of indiscriminate firing along the de facto border, which an Indian military official said had killed a woman on Wednesday night. Reuters
Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, May 11

Godhra riots gang-rape survivor Bilkis Bano, whose case was just decided by the Bombay High Court, is keen to return to her native village in Dahod district of Gujarat.

Bano, however, is scared of the relatives of the accused as the state government so far had refused to extend any security to her and her family.

She and her husband Yakub Rasool told the media here today that during the 15 years when her case was pending in court, they had to change their house 10 to 15 times to hide their whereabouts fearing the relatives of the accused may try to harm them for withdrawal of complaint.

Even at the media conference they refused to divulge their present address, but disclosed that all the houses they changed were in Gujarat. We had all along been living in Gujarat despite making frequent trips to Mumbai for the court case and would have loved to return to our native village, but for the threat to our lives, they said.

They said during the last 15 years they had sent several pleas to the state government for necessary security, but received no response from Gandhinagar.
Kolkata, May 11

The ED has issued summons to Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel in connection with its money laundering probe in a sting operation where a number of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, including MPs and ministers, were allegedly seen taking money on camera.

Officials said Samuel has been asked to present himself or send an authorised representative before the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case on May 18 at its office here in the Salt Lake area.

He has also been asked to bring along or send his personal financial documents, those of the news channel and Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the last three assessment years during deposition, they said.

Samuel is not an accused in the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and the ED wants to quiz him to get information about the sting and circumstances in which it was done.

Samuel has been quizzed by the CBI in this case earlier.

The CBI too is probing the case separately on charges of alleged corruption.

The agency had registered a criminal complaint in this case last month under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after studying the CBI FIR.

It will probe the proceeds of crime generated in this case.

While the CBIs criminal FIR had been registered against 12 TMC leaders and an IPS officer, the Enforcement Directorates FIR, called Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), has been booked against 14 entities that includes a category of unknown persons apart from the 13 in the CBI compliant, they said.

The sting operation pertains to the secret filming of the TMC leaders and the IPS officer while they allegedly accepted money from the representatives of a fictitious company for extending favours to it.

The TMC leaders against whom the CBI has registered the FIR, now also booked by the ED, include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy, Lok Sabha MPsSaugata Roy, Aparupa Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. West Bengal ministers, including Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Environment Minister Sovan Chatterjee, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee, have also been named in the FIR.

Former Minister Madan Mitra, MLA Iqbal Ahmed and IPS officer Saiyaad Mustafa Hussain Mirza have also been made accused in the case.

Mirza, who was then posted as the Superintendent of Police of Burdwan, was too purportedly seen accepting money on camera.

The Calcutta High Court had ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry in the matter and had later asked it to file an FIR to probe the incident.

The FIR was registered under section 120 (b) of IPC related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with bribery and criminal misconduct.

The sting operation was supposed to be published in a magazine where Samuel, the man behind it, was then working.

However, the tapes were later run on Naradanews.com.  PTI
Raipur, May 11

An exchange of fire took place between Naxals and BSF personnel in Chhattisgarhs insurgency-hit Kanker district on Thursday.

However, no casualty or injury was reported from either side, the police said.

The skirmish took place this morning when a team of the 171st battalion of Border Security Force (BSF) was out on a road security operation in Bande police station area, a senior police official said.

The BSF personnel had launched the operation to ensure security to the construction of Bande-Irpanaar road (36 km), he said.

While the patrolling team was carrying out the road security operation between Kurenar and Kanhargaon villages, the armed ultras opened fire at them following which the BSF personnel retaliated, he said.

However, the rebels soon escaped in the forest, he said, adding that BSFs patrolling was underway in the region.

The BSF had last month set up its camp in Kanhargaon village, that lies on the border of Kanker and Gadchiroli districts (Maharashtra), to ensure security to the Bande-Irpanaar road.

The road between Bande and Irpanaar goes through a dense forest, along the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border, which is a Naxal hotbed, a BSF official said.

The Naxals are frustrated with construction of the road and are trying to disrupt it by making such attempts, he said.  PTI
Arjun Rampal was reportedly irked when photographers tried to get too close to his daughters, Myra and Mahikaa.

By India Today Web Desk: Photographers, beware of Arjun Rampal. After making headlines last month for allegedly throwing a camera and injuring someone in the process when a photographer tried clicking him, the actor was irked by the shutterbugs again. The incident took place at the India leg of Justin Bieber's Purpose tour, which Arjun attended with his teenage daughters Myra and Mahikaa.

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Arjun posed with his daughters on the red carpet and everything was going smoothly, until some photographers got too close for comfort while trying to get a good photo of Myra and Mahikaa. According to SpotboyE, the Rock On actor immediately stopped his media interaction and pushed the photographers away. He then walked inside the venue with his daughters.

Reportedly, on entering the venue, Arjun was alarmed by the huge crowd going berserk and falling over each other, and quickly made an exit. Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover also did not stay for Justin Bieber's performance, after taking a look at the frenzied crowd.

ALSO READ: Sonali Bendre calls Justin Bieber concert 'waste of time,' organiser thanks her for 'kind words'

ALSO READ: When Justin Bieber sang, this is how Bollywood grooved to his beats

WATCH: Alia to Sridevi at Justin Bieber's concert

--- ENDS ---
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 11

The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and Muslim women petitioners who have challenged the validity of triple talaq to suggest a possible way out if the court were to declare the practice unconstitutional.

Where does he (Muslim man) go for divorce? There is no judicial forum for him. There would be a vacuum. How does he seek divorce? a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar asked.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The Bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and S Abdul Nazeer, asked the Centre and the petitioners to ponder over the possible fallout in case it declared triple talaq invalid.

Justice Joseph said until Parliament enacted a law to address the issue, it could be dealt with under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939--under which Muslim women are entitled to seek divorce.

Senior counsel Indira Jaising, who appeared on behalf of Bebak Collective, suggested that the expression Muslim woman under the 1939 Act could be replaced by Muslim person and it could be made gender-neutral.

But most of the grounds for dissolution of a marriage prescribed under Section 2 of the Act were women specific, and not gender-neutral, the Bench pointed out.

As Justice Nariman said insanity and cruelty were gender-neutral grounds, most of the lawyers burst into laughter.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi would address the court on all the aspects of the issue on Monday. The arguments would continue on Friday.

The court also clarified that the 1939 Act (which covered Shariat) being a statute was a law within the meaning of Article 13(3) of the Constitution and hence could be tested on the touchstone of fundamental rights.

At the very outset, the Bench said it would not consider the issue of polygamy and concentrate on triple talaq alone.

But Mehta insisted that the Centre wanted the court to consider all aspects relating to gender justice. We are opposing all forms of triple talaq, he said.

Even Jaising said all forms of triple talaq were bad as they conferred unrestricted power on Muslim men to give divorce to women without assigning any reasons. She said unfortunately such unilateral triple talaq were binding and final, she added.

For a Muslim woman triple talaq means civil death. Its civil consequences are very harsh for them. There has to be some sort of judicial oversight, she said, terming triple talaq as extra-judicial divorce.

Jaising pointed out that while a Muslim man can unilaterally pronounce triple talaq, a Muslim woman has to go to courts to seek divorce. This is discriminatory and violated her right to equality, she argued.

Earlier, appearing for Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, senior counsel Anand Grover requested the court to adopt a minimalist approach and consider if instantaneous triple talaq was permissible under the Islamic law or not. If the answer was in the negative, the court should declare it illegal without going into the constitutional aspects of the issue.

Senior counsel Amit Chadha, who represented petitioner Shayara Bano, made a two-fold argument: whether instantaneous triple talaq was allowed under Islamic law and whether it violated Muslim womens fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. He said it was neither fundamental to Islam nor was it permissible under the Constitution.

Chadha referred to the practices in the neighbouring Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh to contend that triple talaq was un-Islamic.

The court said it would first determine whether the practice was fundamental to Islam.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Raju Ramachandran are representing All India Muslim Personal Law Board in the matter.

Former Union Minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid, who is assisting the court in his personal capacity, termed triple talaq as a "non-issue" saying it is not considered complete without conciliation efforts between the husband and the wife.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which sought to defend these practices, claims the Supreme Court cannot consider the Constitutional validity of Muslim Personal Law. These were matters to be dealt with by the legislature, AIMPLB said in its affidavit. Once three pronouncements of divorce are made, the marriage dissolves and the woman becomes unlawful or haram to the man who had pronounced divorce, the Board said.
Islamabad, May 11

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has told the country's powerful Army that his meeting with Indian steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal last month was part of a back-channel diplomacy, a media report said on Thursday.

BBC Urdu reported that Sarif has taken Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa into confidence on his meeting with Jindal on April 27 at the hill resort of Murree, BBC Urdu reported.

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The civilian leadership informed the military authorities that Sharif's hour-long meeting with Jindal was a part of back-channel diplomacy. And Jindal had the backing of some important Indian officials for the meeting to defuse ongoing tension between the two countries, the report said.

India-Pak ties are strained over a series of cross-border terror attacks in India and over the death sentence to Jadhav.

India has denied Pakistan's allegations and maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped by Pakistani intelligence agencies.

The report quoting a ruling PML-N leader said Sharif was tightlipped on his meeting with Jindal.

However, the only detail of the meeting he shared with his aides was that Jindal was making efforts to defuse tension between India and Pakistan.

It said the military leadership also took its officers into confidence on the meeting. Gen Bajwa told his officers that the meeting was a part of a back-channel diplomacy.

The Sharif-Jindal meeting had triggered intense speculation with several politicians and analysts suggesting it could be the precursor to a possible meeting between the two premiers in the near future.

Pakistan prime minister's adviser on foreign affairs Adviser Aziz told reporters yesterday that if India shows interest, Pakistan will look into the possibility of a meeting between Sharif and Modi on the sidelines of the SCO summit on June 8-9 at Astana in Kazakhstan.

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had moved a resolution in the Punjab Assembly expressing concern over the "secret" meeting. It had also alleged that Jindal conveyed Modi's "message" to Sharif on the death penalty to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on spying charges.

Jindal is said to be the man who had arranged a meeting between Modi and Sharif in Lahore on December 25, 2015, on Sharif's birthday and the day when Sharif's granddaughter Mehr-un-Nisa was married.  PTI
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 11

Having gone underground for two days, controversial Calcutta High Court Judge CS Karnan today approached the Supreme Court requesting it to recall its order sentencing him to jail for six months for contempt of court.

At the end of the hearing on triple talaq by a five-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, advocate Mathews J Nedumpara mentioned Karnans plea and requested the CJI to recall the order.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

What is your authority? the CJI asked the lawyer who said he had a wakalatnama signed by Justice Karnan. He said advocates were so afraid of the court that no advocate on record was ready to sign the petition and, therefore, the Registry was not accepting it.

Where is he? How has he authorised you, if he is not available? the CJI asked.

Nedumpara said Justice Karnan signed it in Chennai.

The CJI said the petition would be considered in due course.

In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted 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 his conduct amounted to the 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 of 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. But he has gone underground since then and the police were trying to locate him to execute the courts order.

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.
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today landed in Colombo on a two-day visit that is aimed at reinforcing the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka at a time when China is seeking to make inroads in the island nation. This is Modis second visit to the island nation since he became PM and comes just a week after Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe paid a visit here.

While no formal agreements are expected to be signed during the visit and the PM also has no formal talks lined up with the Sri Lankan leadership, the visit nevertheless is expected to provide a thrust to Indias interest in developing ports in Sri Lanka and investing in the nation. China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka, having already developed the Hambantota port and its submarines have started making port calls there.

Wickremesinghe accompanied by several senior ministers, including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, were at the Colombo International Airport to receive Modi. The PM was also accorded a guard of honour by the Sri Lankan Air Force at the airport.

As Sri Lanka proudly celebrates #InternationalVesakDay, I warmly welcome Indian Premier @narendramodi who will grace the occasion, tweeted President Maithripala Srisena. The PM tomorrow will be the chief guest in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists. Buddhism also is the thread that connects both nations historically and it is precisely that connection that India is hoping to invoke during the visit.

Prior to leaving for Colombo, the PM wrote on Facebook, This will be my second bilateral visit there (to Sri Lanka) in two years, a sign of our strong relationship.

During the visit, he said, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians.

The PM will tomorrow inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance and also have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community there.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 11

The fresh strain in ties over Kulbhushan Jadhav notwithstanding, Pakistan today hinted it could talk with India on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kazakhstans capital Astana next month.

Sartaj Aziz, adviser on foreign affairs to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said a meeting between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi could not be ruled out at the summit.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Speculation has been rife that the two leaders could use the opportunity in Astana--where both India and Pakistan are to be included as SCO full members--to resume dialogue and defuse tension. The visit by Indian businessman Sajjan Jindal to Pakistan where he met Sharif is being seen as back-channel diplomacy to convey Modis message.

Pakistan could consider the meeting if interest is shown from the other side, Aziz was quoting as having said by the Nation newspaper. The paper also quoted senior Pakistani Foreign Office officials as saying: There have been overt and covert talks with all the countries (Iran, Afghanistan and India).
New Delhi, May 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with new South Korean President Moon Jae-in over phone and invited him to visit India.

"Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in. Wished him every success and invited him to visit India soon. 'Together we succeed'," Modi tweeted.

Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in of Korea. Wished him every success & invited him to visit India soon. 'Together we succeed'  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

Moon was sworn is as South Korea's new President on Wednesday after his victory in Tuesday's presidential election.

Moon succeeded Park Geun-hye, who was removed by a Constitutional Court on March 10, over a series of corruption allegations.

IANS
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

Saharanpur, May 11

As uneasy calm prevail in the city and its surrounding areas after two days of violent protests by Dalits, the district administration today claimed Bhim Army activists from Yamunanagar, Ambala and Dehradun played a key role in re-igniting the trouble in the city.

The Dalit youth body led by Chandrashekhar has been active for the past five years. Beginning with a few students of local Ravidas Hostel, the body has managed to enrol around 10,000 Dalit youths from across the state and neighbouring Haryana and Uttarakhand over the past five years. Now, it has become a power block with active support from the BSP, said Dalit thinker Dinesh Tejan.

Sources feel despite having been successful in restoring normalcy after the Shabbirpur clash last Friday, outfit activists from Yamunanagar and Ambala re-ignited unrest among their caste men.

On Monday morning, youth from Yamunanagar, Ambala and Dehradun started marching towards citys Gandhi Park to hold a caste panchayat. As the police did not allow them to do so in the absence of a prior permission, they started pelting policemen with stones, said City SSP Subhash Chandra Dubey.
New Delhi, May 11

Seasoned diplomat Vinay Mohan Kwatra, currently a joint secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, has been appointed as the next ambassador to France.

Announcing his appointment, the External Affairs Ministry said Kwatra is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

A 1988-batch foreign service officer, Kwatra will succeed Mohan Kumar, who is retiring.

Apart from having experience of dealing with the UN organisations such as International Labour Organisation (ILO) and World Health Organisation (WHO), he has served in Indian diplomatic missions in China and the US.

He has also held the position of joint secretary incharge of the counter-terrorism division in the MEA.  PTI
Puducherry, May 10

A 17-year-old youth was on Wednesday hacked to death here by members of an unidentified gang who severed his head and threw it inside a police station in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The body of the deceased, identified as Swethan, was dumped in a lake bed in Bahoor village of Puducherry.

Police of both the neighbouring Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are probing the incident. The body was shifted to the Puducherry government hospital for post-mortem.

Police have registered a case and are investigating the gory crime. PTI
Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, May 11

Liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda and his nephew Amit Doda, both accused in the Bhim Tank murder case, were shifted back Faridkot Modern Jail to Amritsar Central Jail today.

Sukhwinder Singh, Superintendent, Faridkot Modern Jail, said Doda was shifted to Amritsar as he was facing threats to his life here from fellow inmates and gangsters. The shifting had been done on the directions of Principal Secretary, Home, he said.

On the other hand, Bhim Tanks mother Kaushalya Devi had complained to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh that officials were giving special treatment to Doda in Faridkot jail.

Confirming this, Sanjeev Trika, PPCC chiefs personal assistant, said Jashandeep Singh, Assistant Jail Superintendent, who was suspended for giving special treatment to Doda in Fazilka sub jail, was now posted in Faridkot jail. This prompted the victims kin to file a complaint, he said.

Eariler, Doda was shifted from Amritsar to Faridkot on May 4 after he requested the DGP (Prison) that he was facing a criminal case in Fazilka and needed to appear in the court for case hearings.
Bieber won over everyone's heart last night, but was it even on his to-do list?

By India Today Web Desk: The highly anticipated Justin Bieber maiden India concert was held last night at DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai, and it was beyond successful--in terms of attendance at least.

While many Indians are still enthralled with the magic they saw last night, there are a few who have resorted to social media to express their disappointment.

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Bieber made everyone swoon to his music last night, in the darkness of the night and the eye-blinding glimmer of the shining personality that he is, most people could not notice that the pop sensation was lip syncing his own songs.

I've never seen an artist give that many 0 fucks in my life. If you're going 2 lip sync, atleast attempt 2 sync your lips #JustinBieberIndia- Kaneez Surka (@kaneezsurka) May 10, 2017

Also Read: Watch: Glimpses of the madness that Justin Bieber's India concert was

#justinbieberindia A post shared by Naveen Kukreja (@thenaveenkukreja) on May 11, 2017 at 1:18am PDT

What caused rage on social media was the poorly synced lips, and a performance with absolutely no efforts put in--and all of this after the bizarre demands, and pocket-burning tickets. "I would have been happy if he would have sung all songs live. He only sang four songs live. An artist of his calibre should sing live. He was not prepared," PTI quotes director Anurag Basu as saying. Apart from Basu, there were many others who expressed their disdain towards Bieber's lack of energy. Also Read: No toilets, expensive water, mad crowd: Was Bieber's concert a complete disaster?

PTI also quotes another fan saying, "I attended Coldplay's concert and I think that was much better than this. Justin's performance was low on energy and the worst part was he was lip-syncing to many of his songs."

A twitter user spotted the gum Bieber chewed throughout the concert, now that is unacceptable--you've got to make people 'beliebe' that you're singing, Bieber. Comic Ashish Shakya also tweeted out his take on the concert.

Bieber was so bad it was hilarious. He had the stage presence of khichdi. Plus kaafi lip sync. (Lucky that my tickets were free :D)- Ashish Shakya (@stupidusmaximus) May 10, 2017

The Indian leg of the Purpose Tour might have been the most magnificent concert held on the Indian soil, but Bieber sure did lose a group of loyal fans who were utterly disappointed.

--- ENDS ---
Ludhiana, May 11

Four firemen were injured on Thursday in a blast that took place while they were dousing a blaze in a textile factory at Vijay Nagar here.

The blast took place inside the factory when five firemen were dousing fire on the second floor of the building. The injured were rushed to Christian Medical College and Hospital, fire department officials said.

Fifteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Fires have repeatedly been reported in garment factories in Ludhiana.

Two weeks back, a major fire broke out at a yarn factory in Gopal Nagar locality of Basti Jodhewal. No loss of life was reported in that incident.

Last month, three labourers were burnt to death in a fire that broke out at a cotton spinning mill at the Industrial Area here.

A year ago, three labourers were charred to death in a fire that broke out in a garment factory on Bajra road. PTI
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 11

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today directed his Principal Secretary to expedite the release of pending subsidy to the tune of Rs 7 crore for the development of industry in the border areas of Tarn Taran and Amritsar.

The directive followed a request for the release of the subsidy by a delegation of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), which called on him to discuss steps to revive the states ailing industry.

The Chief Minister assured the delegation of full infrastructural support by his government along with uninterrupted power at affordable rates for the industry.

Amarinder said he had personally received stupendous response from the countrys top industry leaders during his visit to Mumbai to promote Punjab as an attractive investment destination recently.

Observing that the state has surplus power, the CM said his government was studying options to sell surplus power to neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Nepal, and he had urged the PM to formulate a policy for the same.

He informed the delegation that the Ambanis were ready to supply power to the state at Rs 5 per unit, which was much cheaper than the actual cost of generation in the state.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 11

Punjab will take up the contentious issue of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal and critical water situation in the state in tomorrows inter-state meeting of the Northern Zonal Council being chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Punjab is hosting the meeting that aims to boost regional cooperation between states and to solve inter-state differences and issues amicably.

It is learnt that being the host state, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh during his speech in the meeting will touch the issue of impending water crisis in the state while reiterating that Punjab has no spare water for Haryana.

Sources in the government said though Punjab had already stated its viewpoint at a meeting chaired by the Union Ministry of Water Resources to resolve the inter-state issue, Punjab Chief Minister would reiterate the states stand at the meeting that was also being attended by the Haryana Chief Minister.

Regarding the issue to be taken up in the meeting, the Punjab CM was briefed by the Chief Secretary and other senior officials. Other issues expected to be tabled include inter-state transport taxation, inter- state crime, drug menace, terrorism and other related issues.

The council meets every year and makes recommendations with regard to any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning and any matter concerning border disputes to the member states.

The 28th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council, comprising the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh, is being held at Chandigarh tomorrow.

The meeting will be attended by Chief Ministers, ministers and senior officers from J&K, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and NCT of Delhi.
Jacqueline Fernandez, who just returned from London, seems to be enjoying her time in Mumbai by taking public transport.

The actress was spotted as she hitched a rickshaw ride with her friends and seemed to be having the time of her life. She looked pretty in a baby pink coloured v-neck midi dress which had a golden belt tied around the waist. She accessorized the look with strappy flats and sunglasses while leaving her hair open in loose curls. She was all smiles for the paparazzi.

Jacqueline is back in the city for a few days to host international sensation Justin Bieber in India. On the work front, Jacqueline Fernandez will resume shooting for VarunDhawan starrer Judwaa 2. The film also stars Taapsee Pannu and is helmed by David Dhawan. It is slated to release on September 29, 2017.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 11

A ban on the Uttar Pradesh Nirman Nigam, ending of 1 per cent cess levied on petrol and diesel, equipping PDS shops with point-of-sale (PoS) machines and granting one-time relaxation to businessmen on pending VAT cases (three years) were some of the decisions taken by the state Cabinet today.

Briefing mediapersons about the Cabinet decisions, Uttarakhand Cabinet minister Madan Kaushik, who has also been designated as the governments spokesperson, said the Uttarakhand Government would not hire construction company Uttar Pradesh Nirman Nigam for carrying out construction works in the state. A financial and technical assessment will be made by a third party and the governments Department of Planning of the projects that the construction company has in hand and in case of deviations, action will be taken, said Kaushik.

The Cabinet also approved the abolishing of 1 per cent cess on petrol and diesel being charged by petrol pumps located in Uttarakhand and on the state boundaries of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. This will bring the prices of diesel and petrol at par with Uttar Pradesh and increase local consumption, said Kaushik.

In anticipation of the GST regime that will be in place in July, the Cabinet also approved one-time relaxation to businessmen in the state with pending VAT case (for the last three years). They will be allowed to do self-assessments before the GST regime is in place so that we can start with a clean slate, he said.

To give push to cashless transactions, the government has also decided to equip the PDS shops with PoS machines.

The Cabinet has also set up a committee, headed by Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prakash Pant, to advise the government to set up a management board on Ganga and its associate rivers.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 11

The Uttarakhand Government is working on a proposal to hand over the running of the Srinagar-based Veer Chander Singh Garhwali Government Medical College and Hospital to the Army.

The Srinagar medical college has been continuously facing manpower shortage since its inception a few years ago. The hospital was set up to cater to the needs of patients from hill areas, who were forced to head to Dehradun or other cities in search of specialised treatment for serious ailments.

But the medical college has failed to provide tertiary care to patients hailing from hill areas of the state. The medical college has worked out an agreement with students who are asked to fill bonds indicating that they would serve in the state for few years. In return, the Uttarakhand Government will foot their education bills.

As Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is also in-charge of the Department of Medical Education and Health, the matter has gained urgency. Recently, while on a visit to Nainital, the Chief Minister had also made the decision public.

Soon, a team from the medical corps based in Lucknow will visit the Srinagar medical college on May 14 and 15 to take stock of the situation, During our visit to Lucknow, we held preliminary discussions with Maj Gen DS Bhakuni. He was apprised of the proposal. Soon, the team will visit the medical college, said Ashutosh Sayana, Director, Medical Education.
Dehradun, May 11

Newly anointed Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Pritam Singh today exhorted party workers to work unitedly towards strengthening the party.

Addressing party workers soon after taking office as the new PCC chief, Pritam Singh said, Pritam Singh has not been elevated to the post of president, but it is you, our party workers, who have been entrusted with the responsibility. You should work for strengthening the party, he said.  TNS
Dhaka, May 11

Five members of a family on Thursday blew themselves up to thwart police from storming their terror hideout in Bangladesh, the latest such incident amid an intensified nationwide crackdown on Islamist militants, according to a media report.

Before setting off the blasts in Rajshahis Godgari area, the terror suspects speared a fireman to death. Two policemen have also been injured in the incident, bdnews reported.

Godagari police official Hifzul Alam Munshi was quoted as saying by the report that they surrounded the house at Benipur village early in the morning after intelligence inputs suggested presence of militants there.

As they tried to storm the hideout at around 8 am, the militants came out and set off the explosions, he said.

The five people killed in the blasts were the house owner, his wife, daughter and two sons.

As the law enforcers were about to approach the house, the suspects came out and attacked officials with sharp-edged weapons, killing a fireman.

Two policemen have been hospitalised with injuries sustained during the attack.

Police rescued two children, who exited the premises before the terror suspects came out.

A woman, seen sitting on the field outside the house as the raid unfolded, later surrendered. Police said she had been identified as the house owners other daughter. She is the mother of the two children--eight-year-old boy and 3-month-old girl--rescued by police before the blasts, the report said.

Bangladesh witnessed an intensified anti-militancy clampdown across the country as the police headquarters recently circulated a list of nearly 5,000 suspected militants to all district police chiefs.

On Sunday, two suspected militants blew themselves up in suicide blasts when security forces raided their hideout.

In March, Bangladeshi police conducted a series of large-scale operations against militants, in which at least 17 suspected militants were killed.

On March 31, eight militants blew themselves up with a grenade after the security forces raided their hideout north of the Bangladeshi capital.

Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on militants, especially after the Dhaka cafe attack.

The Islamic State has claimed several attacks in Bangladesh, but the government rejects the presence of foreign terrorist groups in the moderate Muslim-majority country, blaming home-grown groups such as the neo-JMB for terrorist attacks. PTI
Kathmandu, May 11

The campaigning for Nepals first local body polls in two decades ended today with the authorities sealing the country's borders with India and China for 96 hours.

The silent period for the much-delayed but crucial local-level elections begins from midnight, meaning political parties and candidates cannot conduct their election campaign during this period, officials said.

The government has stepped up security in the capital Kathmandu as well as in other major parts of the country where the elections are scheduled to take place on Sunday.

Nepals borders with neighbouring India and China have also been sealed for 96 hours. According to the local administration, the borders will remain shut until the election day.  PTI
Seoul, May 11

South Koreas new President launched international efforts to defuse tension over North Koreas weapons development on Thursday, urging both dialogue and sanctions while also aiming to ease Chinese anger about a US anti-missile system.

Moon Jae-in, a liberal former human rights lawyer, was sworn in on Wednesday and said in his first speech as President he would immediately address security tensions that have raised fears of war on the Korean peninsula.

Moon first spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping and later to Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, with how to respond to North Koreas rapidly developing missile programmes, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, dominating talks.

The resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue must be comprehensive and sequential, with pressure and sanctions used in parallel with negotiations, Moons spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, quoted Moon as telling Xi.

Sanctions against North Korea are also a means to bring the North to the negotiating table aimed at eliminating its nuclear weapons, Yoon told a briefing, adding that Xi indicated his agreement.

Moon has taken a more conciliatory line with North Korea than his conservative predecessors and advocates engagement. He has said he would be prepared to go to Pyongyang if the conditions are right.

Regional experts have believed for months that North Korea is preparing for its sixth nuclear test and was working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the US, presenting Trump with perhaps his most pressing security issue.

Trump told Reuters in an interview last month major conflict with North Korea was possible though he would prefer a diplomatic outcome.

North Korea says it needs its weapons to defend itself against the US which it says has pushed the region to the brink of nuclear war.

Threats from North Koreas nuclear and missile development have entered a new stage, Japans Abe told Moon in their telephone call, according to Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda. How to respond to North Korea ... is an urgent issue. I would like to closely cooperate with the President to achieve the denuclearisation of North Korea, Abe told Moon.

But Abe also said dialogue for dialogues sake would be meaningless and he called on North Korea to demonstrate sincere and concrete action, Hagiuda said.  Reuters

Missile system sours Seoul-Beijing ties

While South Korea, China and Japan all share worry about North Korea, ties between South Korea and China have been strained by South Koreas decision to install a US anti-missile system in defence against the North

China sees the deployment of the THAAD system as a threat to its own military capability and has slapped a series of measures against South Korean businesses seen as economic retaliation

The deployment of THAAD was agreed last year by South Koreas previous administration after North Korea conducted a long-range rocket launch that put an object into space

CIA establishes unit focused on Pyongyang threat
Juveniles are getting into big crimes with over 2,300 of them involved in rapes, murders, dacoity, molestation, riots and auto thefts, among others in 2016.

By Chayyanika Nigam: Delhi Police have a tough task on hand - track budding criminals landing up in big gangs. Reacting on the inputs and the recent analysis of the crime trend, it has been observed by the city police that juvenile offenders are the most-vulnerable targets by the notorious gangs in the Capital.

And, Delhi Police's own failure to curb the recruitments done by the infamous gangs is proving to be costly for city's crime records.

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Juveniles are getting into big crimes with over 2,300 of them involved in rapes, murders, dacoity, molestation, riots and auto thefts, among others in 2016. Even up to April this year, as many as 863 have already been found involved in these heinous crimes.

The big gangs are specifically targeting the juveniles who have committed crimes in the recent past. They hunt for such children who are now out of police reach and those who have returned from the juvenile homes.

DOSSIER OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS TO BE MAINTAINED NOW

Believe it or not, but Delhi Police do not maintain the dossier of the juvenile offenders committing heinous crimes in the city. But after the inputs and crime analysis, police are likely to maintain a proper record, similar to what they keep for the adult criminals.

Not only this, but a tight vigil would be kept on the movements of the juvenile offenders released from the juvenile homes.

A highly placed source in the police department told Mail Today that the initiative was proposed during a meeting of the top brass of Delhi Police after specific inputs were received about juvenile offenders.

MEETING OF TOP BRASS OF DELHI POLICE

The meeting was also about on how to curb crime in the city and divert the minds of juvenile offenders.

"While reviewing the comprehensive reports of the crime trend in the city and the percentage of case solved along with the profiles of the accused people in major cases, Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik have instructed the senior officials to maintain a separate record of the juvenile criminals," said a source.

Another senior official, on condition of anonymity said: "We will now start maintaining the records of juveniles in two categories: first timers and repeat offenders. From 'pink file' - a code word used by the cops to describe the file of the juvenile - the record will be made official and online. The data along with the photographs, fingerprints, basic details and the offence would be made centralised and it could be operated from any police station."

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PROPOSED INITIATIVE MAY BE SHARED WITH OTHER STATES TOO

Initially, the centralisation of the data would be limited within the Capital and if the proposed initiative works then it would be shared with other states too. "Whenever a juvenile is apprehended, he or she is sent to a juvenile home and once they are out after serving the sentence, proper vigil either by the police or an NGO is not kept on them. As a result, many of them either become more notorious in the crime world or team up with the local gangs," said the official.

He added that the infamous gangs specially in south-west, west, Rohini and outer districts are targeting the juveniles and recruiting them. "They are being trained by the professional gang members."

When asked about the reason behind recruiting the juveniles and training them, the age factor and the weak law against the juvenile are encouraging them. Also, the identity of the juvenile is kept hidden, as a result it becomes an advantage for them, unlike the criminals aged above 18.

Even after they are nabbed, no chargesheet is filed against them, rather only a preliminary investigation report is filed in the juvenile justice board.

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Also Read:

Nirbhaya gangrape case: The juvenile convict is a cook now, has a new name

Numbed by minor's ghastly role in Delhi gangrape case, Govt may lower juvenile offenders' age to 16

--- ENDS ---
NATSO, a national association representing truckstops and travel plazas, joined a coalition of trade associations representing the biodiesel supply chain to urge Congress to extend the biodiesel blenders' tax credit, saying it is crucial to the competitiveness of the alternative fuel.

In letters to members of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, Natso asked lawmakers not to change the existing biodiesel tax credit structure, arguing that it helps displace traditional petroleum-based fuel with a cleaner-burning substitute.

NATSO was joined by the Advanced Biofuels Association, American Trucking Associations, National Association of Convenience Stores, Petroleum Marketers Association of America, and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America in signing the letter.

According to NATSO, there has been an effort in states that produce biodiesel fuel to change the current biodiesel blenders tax credit into a tax credit for producers. The group argued that because price competitiveness is so critical to the viability of biodiesel sales, taking away the tax credit would hurt sellers.

"A producer's credit would be horrible for consumers and the American economy," said Lisa Mullings, NATSO president and CEO. The biodiesel tax credit helps fuel retailers to sell biodiesel at a cost that is competitive with traditional diesel. If the price of biodiesel is no longer on par with the price of diesel, consumers won't be inclined to buy it."

Since 20015, there has been a $1 per gallon biodiesel blenders tax credit that has helped fuel retailers sell biodiesel at a competitive price. The tax credit expired at the end of 2016.

By converting the tax credit from a blenders credit to a producers credit, biodiesel prices would increase and consumer interest would decline, hindering the governments efforts to advance cleaner-burning fuels, according to Natso.

While NATSO is urging Congress to extend the tax credit, it is also advocating for phasing it out over time and allowing the fuel to eventually stand on its own and thrive long-term without direct government support.

Congress has already considered - and rightly rejected - past efforts to shift the biodiesel blenders' tax credit to the producer's credit, said Mullings. We strongly urge you to again reject efforts to alter what continues to be sound public policy."
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 ...
On Day 2 of his indefinite fast, sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra has said that he will go to the Anti-Corruption Bureau at 12 o' clock today to divulge more details in the water tanker scam.

By India Today Web Desk: As Kapil Mishra's indefinite fast against corruption of the Aam Aadmi Party leaders enters its second day, the sacked minister has said that he will go to the Anti-Corruption Bureau today to divulge more details in the Water Tanker scam.

Mishra has refused to budge from his position, saying he will continue to sit on the hunger strike until details of the five Aam Aadmi Party leaders were brought out in public domain.

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I want Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to put out details of the foreign tours of AAP leaders Satyendra Jain, Ashish Khetan, Raghav Chaddha, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak". Mishra had told reporters on Wednesday.

Kapil Mishra was suspended from the Aam Aadmi Party after his startling allegation that he witnessed Kejriwal accepting Rs 2 crore from Minister Satyendra Jain.

On Day 1 of his strike yesterday, Mishra was attacked by a man claiming to be an AAP worker.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that the attack was orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bharadwaj was a member of BJYM, BJP's youth wing, Mishra said the attack was planned by the AAP.

"The attack was all too planned. The attacker, Ankit Bharadwaj, is working with Satyendra Jain in the Mohalla Clinic project and is a party worker," he said.

Also read | Kapil Mishra, on hunger strike outside his Delhi house, attacked by man claiming to be AAP worker

Also read | Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra on indefinite fast, asks Kejriwal to make public details of party leaders' foreign trips

Also read | Arvind Kejriwal vs Kapil Mishra: With a 3-word reply, AAP chief breaks his silence

WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
VIAN  An officer and the chief of police of this small town said they resigned because of scrutiny they faced for the recent arrest of the son of a Vian city councilor and candidate for Cherokoee Nation Tribal Council.

Officer Lindsey Green resigned Monday and Police Chief Ted Johnson followed suit on Wednesday. Green provided an arrest report from her May 2 arrest of Joshua Smith on a complaint of driving under suspension.

She said she received a telephone tip from an off-duty fellow Vian police officer that a man who had been recently cited for driving without a license was again driving through town. Green said she located the vehicle described by her colleague, witnessed the driver make several moving violations and pulled the car over.

Green said she confirmed with police dispatchers that Smiths license had been revoked, so she arrested him.

She said Smith told her as she was booking him into jail that he was the son of E.O. Junior Smith, a Vian city councilor and candidate for the District 5 seat on the Cherokee National Tribal Council in a June election.

I thought, Well, this is gonna be interesting, Green told the Tulsa World, noting she knew Junior Smith in his capacity as a city councilor but not his son.

She returned to the town hall 45 minutes after the arrest to write up her report, and the town clerk handed her a cell phone with City Attorney Larry Vickers on the line.

He asked me what happened, I told him. He said I did not have probable cause to make the arrest. I told him I did have probable cause and he wouldnt listen, Green told the Tulsa World. He said Hand the phone back to the clerk. Thats when he told her the ticket will be dropped and he will be released from jail.

Next, Green said, Mayor Dennis Fletcher came in and told her, Well be lucky if we dont have a lawsuit on our hands. You violated his civil rights. She said, he, too, directed the clerk to get Smith out of jail.

Police Chief Ted Johnson signed off on Greens report, which documented the interference by Vickers and Fletcher.

In the days afterward, Green said she was told by a prominent person in town whom she preferred not to name that she and the officer who tipped her off about Smith on May 2 would be subjects of discussion in executive session at a May 15 city council meeting.

I was told that I have two council members for me and two against me and one undecided, Green said. I didnt want a termination on my record so I stepped down and resigned at the end of my shift Monday.

Chief Johnson followed suit Wednesday, tendering his resignation effective next week.

This was about sending them a message, Johnson said. We were never told we were going to be fired or dismissed, but if you go against council like I did, I knew eventually where this was heading.

She did everything 100 percent proper, and I support my officers 100 percent. I was hired a year ago to come over here to make sure things like this didnt happen. I am disappointed. It has weighed heavily on me.

Johnson said driving without a license is standard grounds for arrest anywhere.

The city attorney can override or dismiss a case if theres not probable cause, but that was not the fact. They were improper, Johnson said of Vickers actions. Every district attorney, every judge, every officer you talk to would tell you the officer acted properly.

Another officer had arrested him previously on the exact same charge. Most cities  I think Tulsa is the same way  if you have a suspended license, you go to jail.

Green, who was hired in early December, was the towns first female police officer and officer of the month in March. She worked previously for two years at the Adair County Sheriffs Office.

She and Johnson, who has 39 years experience in law enforcement, said they hope to find other jobs in law enforcement as soon as possible.

Vickers and Fletcher did not respond to Tulsa World calls for comment.

TV news reports from KHBS/KHOG Channels 40/29 said Fletcher was reportedly working with Vickers to investigate possible police misconduct at the time of Smiths arrest.
Sanjeev Jain said that he will meet Kapil Mishra to provide him all the relevant documents regarding funding of Delhi government ministers for foreign tours.

By Atir Khan: Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra's demand for investigation into Delhi government ministers' foreign trips funding is likely to get a boost. Sanjeev Jain, an RTI activist, who had culled out details of foreign trips by ministers has decided to hand over the details to the former minister.

Jain told India Today that he will meet Kapil Mishra to provide him all the relevant documents related to funding of Delhi government ministers for foreign tours. He said the RTI replies are not satisfactory and the ministers have made several trips abroad, details of which have been deliberately hidden.

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"Since Kapil Mishra has already initiated a process for investigation into this matter, I will provide him all the necessary information," said Sanjeev Jain. He added that on seeing reports of Mishra being attacked and his commitment in demanding a probe into foreign trips, he has decided to provide him all the assistance.

INFORMATION SINCE 2015

Jain has collected RTI replies for foreign trips by the ministers since 2015. He said the funding for some of the trips are doubtful and need to be probed.

He further added that AAP leaders had been voted to power due to their assurance for developing Delhi. However, the top leadership has been busy travelling to places in India and abroad. This shows there has been lack of commitment on the part of leaders to work for Delhi.

However, the Delhi government spokesperson Nagendra Sharma has said all the visits were approved, and have been accounted for.

Also read: Kapil Mishra, on hunger strike outside his Delhi house, attacked by man claiming to be AAP worker

Also read: AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyender Jain top list of foreign tours taken by ministers

--- ENDS ---
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  A Republican member in the Oklahoma House is suggesting that tens of thousands of non-English speaking students in public schools be turned over to U.S. immigration officials as cost-saving measure in the cash-strapped state.

State Rep. Mike Ritze of Broken Arrow told News9 in an interview Wednesday that the newly created Republican Platform Caucus believes the state could save $60 million if it would identify what the caucus believes is 82,000 non-English-speaking students and then turn them over to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to determine if they are citizens.

Its unclear from the segment if he was referring to turning over the students names or rounding up the children.

The state Department of Education said there are actually about 50,000 English learners in pre-K through 12th grade in Oklahoma public schools, but many of those students could be U.S. citizens.

Ritze also questioned whether the state should have to educate children who are not citizens, although a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision holds states cannot deny students a free public education based on their immigration status. Also, the United States has no official language.

Ritze wasnt at the Capitol on Thursday and didnt reply to phone messages or emails, but several Republican legislators, including members of the Republican Platform Caucus, quickly distanced themselves from Ritzes comments.

On this subject of deporting students, that is not a position that we support, said Rep. Chuck Strohm, a Republican from Jenks and the co-chairman of the caucus, which he says has 15 to 20 members.

Strohm said the caucus discussed the additional financial burden that students who require additional English instruction create, but never the idea of reporting students to ICE.

This caught many of us by surprise, because thats not the direction that we talked about, he said.

Oklahoma schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, a Republican, said Ritzes suggestion is utterly shameful.

There is no benefit to floating outrageous ideas that seek to punish kids, Hofmeister said in a statement.

House Floor Leader Rep. Jon Echols also downplayed Ritzes idea.

I have no desire to target (English as a second language) students, said Echols, a Republican from Oklahoma City. Thats a bad idea.

Ryan Kiesel, who heads the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, described the caucus suggestion as disgustingly inhumane.

A conservative state with strong Republican majorities in the House and Senate, Oklahoma has passed tough anti-immigration laws before. A bill approved in 2007 and signed by then-Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, made it a felony to help those living in the U.S. illegally, required law enforcement to check the citizenship status of people arrested and state agencies to inquire about a persons immigration status before issuing benefits. A judge later threw out much of the law.

Oklahoma faces an $878 million budget gap for next year, and lawmakers are wrangling over how to raise new money or cut spending.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Antwon Demetris Burks, 31, the owner of two dogs that mauled a woman to death in northwest Oklahoma City, was booked into the Oklahoma County jail on Thursday and immediately released on $10,000 bail.

Oklahoma County prosecutors blame Burks for allowing the dogs to run at large or failing to take ordinary steps to confine them, which they said led to the fatal attack on Cecille Short, 82, and her dog, Taylor, on April 6.

Burks was charged with second-degree manslaughter in Oklahoma County District Court on Wednesday and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Police were sent to the 11600 block of Windmill Road last month after someone called and reported that the dogs, later identified by Animal Welfare officials as pit bull terriers, were attacking Short. Officers were unable to help Short as the dogs continued to attack, and they opened fire on the two dogs.
CPI leader D Raja, who met Yadav and NC leader Farooq Abdullah, while talking to India Today stated that all Opposition parties want a discussion on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: While JDU leader Sharad Yadav met with former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who is heading Congress' committee on Kashmir, to brainstorm the nitty gritty, left leaders are building up a case as to why this conclave/conference is the need of the hour, where Kashmir crisis is concerned.

CPI leader D Raja, who met Yadav and NC leader Farooq Abdullah, while talking to India Today stated that all Opposition parties want a discussion on current situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

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WHAT KASHMIR CONCLAVE IS ABOUT: Opposition parties concerned about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, especially the deteriorating situation in the Valley. All political parties are concerned and worried. Kashmir Conclave of Opposition parties most likely to be held in June before Parliament's Monsoon Session. Idea behind this conclave/conference is India should speak up. Central and state governments should be asked to take some political steps. "In the past we could see central government take steps to ease situation but ever since BJP led NDA government came to power, no political initiative on central government's behalf taken," said Raja. Even after all party delegation came back from Kashmir, there was a proposal to centre and state governments to engage and win the confidence of people of Jammu and Kashmir and to go for dialogue but nothing happened. Opposition will ask for revival of dialogue. Kashmir is a political problem. And Opposition feels that all parties should come together and speak out to build pressure on NDA government. This Conclave can help and put some responsibility on the government. Opposition parties will not be inviting separatists to the Conclave. Like minded political parties, individuals and civil society members will be invited to speak on Kashmir issue.

Also Read:

Kashmir unrest: Government to rope in oil-rich Middle East nations to stop funding of separatists

--- ENDS ---
In TV youre never really dead, even when youre dead.

Once an executive decides you need to be revived it doesnt take much for a creative writer to fashion your rise from the dead. So it is with Prison Breaks Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) who expired in the season finale in 2010.

Now most of the principal cast are back for this limited series 7 years later and it has to be said, everybody has held up well.

The action kicks off with T-Bag (Robert Knepper) finally being released from Fox River Prison. Amongst his personal effects is a strange envelope sent from the Middle East. Inside is a document which appears to be a photo of Scofield in a Yemen prison.

Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) struggles to believe his brother could possibly be alive after all these years. He is dealing with his own demons in Chicago, with mounting debts and some heavies on his tail.

Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) is now remarried with a son. She too finds it hard to believe Michael is alive.

But Burrows recruits C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), who has since converted as Muslim, to accompany him to Yemen to begin a search.

T-Bag, meanwhile is about to undergo an operation to replace his prosthetic hand with something that looks like it belongs to The Six Million Dollar Man.

In Yemen there are signs of civil war, ISIL, and danger, which I suppose varies from the Panama prison that featured in Season 4.

The first episode keeps us waiting for the first sign of Michael, which frankly is what were all waiting for. Wentworth Miller still cuts a sexy, steely leading man even in these yellowy, rundown prison cells.

But its a tall order to match the first plot-driven series of Prison Break , as later seasons know tell. While part of me is excited to be revisiting the brothers and another jail break, there are choices here to be current but which inhibit early episodes from reaching their full potential. The setting is a bit too much Homeland meets Prison Break.

Still, its easy to forget how enjoyable the theatrical Robert Knepper was as T-Bag, and he gets all the best lines. Also returning are Amaury Nolasco as Sucre and Paul Adelstein as ex-guard Paul Kellerman. Sorely absent is William Fichtner as Mahone.

This Prison Break is an indulgence for fans, rather than winning newcomers, reminding us of a once-glorious ride.

9:40pm Monday on TEN.
This weekend Sunday Nights Steve Pennells speaks to a woman who masterminded one of the most bizarre killings in recent Australian history, and was sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter.

Killing Joe

Theres no doubt at all. Two decades ago, when Anu Singh was a Canberra law student, she killed her partner, young and handsome engineer Joe Cinque. One of the most bizarre killings in Australian criminal history, Anu planned it all. With the help of friends, she bought the drugs, arranged two bizarre farewell dinners telling guests she and Joe would die together in a tragic suicide pact. But, unbelievably, no-one told Joe. So why was Anu found not guilty of murder? Its taken Anu 20 years to walk out of the shadows and sit down in front of television cameras to tell her story. In this Sunday Night investigation, Anu will speak directly for the first time to Joe Cinques mother and father, Maria and Nino. With the help of the forensic psychiatrist who examined Anu, the detective who led the investigation and never-before-seen videos with Anu, senior reporter Steve Pennells sheds fresh light on this most bizarre of killings.



Just Ed

At first glance youd never guess he was the hottest thing in pop. A bit shambolic  ripped jeans, scruffy red hair and glasses. More busker than big-time star. But the moment Ed Sheeran picks up a guitar, its another story. Its pure magic  the kind that attracts 70 million online fans. The kind of songs that have everyone singing along. And according to Sunday Night guest reporter Angela Cox, the man himself is pretty special too  simply because hes so normal.



Sunday at 8.30pm on Seven.
BBC First & Foxtel have now released a trailer for Top of the Lake: China Girl.

A follow-up to the Emmy & Golden Globe-winning miniseries by See-Saw Films, it sees Elisabeth Moss return as Detective Robin Griffin, joined by Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie.

Also joining the cast are David Dencik (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures, Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell) and Ewen Leslie (The Daughter).

Tim Christlieb, Director of Branded Services, BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand said: For Top of the Lake: China Girl to be honoured with a screening at the Cannes film Festival is testament to Jane Campions incredible vision and the talent of the team both in front of and behind the camera. We are excited to bring this local production to audiences later this year.

We look forward to bringing the series to Foxtel subscribers on BBC First later this year.

Foxtels Executive Director of Television, Brian Walsh said: Foxtel is very proud to be a co-investor and co-producer of Top of the Lake: China Girl. It continues our commitment to visionary Australian storytelling led by the incomparable Jane Campion and a stellar cast including Elizabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie.

We look forward to bringing the series to Foxtel subscribers on BBC First later this year.

Top of the Lake: China Girl is a crime mystery story that finds Detective Robin Griffin recently returned to Sydney and trying to rebuild her life. When the body of an Asian girl washes up on Bondi Beach, there appears little hope of finding the killer, until Robin realises China Girl didnt die alone. Robin looks to the investigation to restore herself, but her problems are personal. Haunted by a daughter given up at birth, Robin desperately wants to find her, yet dreads revealing the truth of her conception. But her search to discover China Girls identity will take her into the citys darkest recesses and closer than she could have imagined to the secrets of her own heart.
ABC journalist Mark Colvin, who had a long career on ABC Radio and Television, has died aged 65.

He died following a long illness.

He is best known for ABC Radio current affairs program PM, known for his formidable intellect, sharp wit and absolute integrity.

ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie said: For many Australians, Marks steady and measured voice as host of PM brought them the essential news of the day and kept them informed about events of national and international importance.

We will miss him enormously, and extend our thoughts to his family and friends.

Director, News Gaven Morris said: Mark was one of Australias finest journalists. He leaves an unfillable void as a journalist, a colleague and a friend.

He was an important part of the ABC community as a mentor and teacher to young reporters and as a voice of wisdom and experience to many older ones. Our reporters and producers felt strengthened by his presence in the newsroom and emboldened by the sound of his voice on our airwaves.

Colvin joined ABC in as a cadet in February 1974 and presenting news on 2JJ. Moving to TV, he became one of the first reporters (along with Jenny Brockie, Paul Murphy and Andrew Olle) on Nationwide. Foreign correspondent appointments followed in London and Brussels, covering the American hostage crisis in Tehran, the lifting of the Iron Curtain and broadcasting live from the history-making Reagan-Gorbachev summits in Geneva and Reykjavik.

From 1988 to 1992, Mark was a reporter for Four Corners, before being posted to London reporting for Foreign Correspondent, The 7.30 Report and Lateline.

In 1994, after a visit to Rwanda and Zaire, he was taken ill with a rare autoimmune system disease, which nearly took his life. Many months in hospital followed. He returned to Sydney in 1997 as ABC Radios PM presenter.

Statement from the family of Mark Colvin:

Today we lost our beloved Mark.

The family would like to thank the doctors and nurses at the Prince of Wales hospital, as well as the community, the ABC, his friends and colleagues, who have stood by him and supported his career and life.

At this moment of grief, we request the family be left to mourn in private.

Mark has asked that donations to the Prince of Wales Hospital Trust be made, in place of flowers.
A day after Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz's bullet-riddled body was found in Shopian district, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is in Jammu and Kashmir to review the security situation in the state.

By India Today Web Desk: More than 24 hours after Army officer Ummer Fayaz was abducted and murdered by terrorists in Shopian district, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is in Jammu and Kashmir to review the security situation on ground.

The Home Secretary met Mehbooba Mufti and is expected to meet Governor N N Vohra later in the day.

Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is also expected to hold a meeting with senior state officials and review the situation in the wake of a spike in militancy-related violence.

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Jammu and Kashmir DGP S P Vaid and senior officers of the Army and the central paramilitary forces will also attend the meeting.

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR: Twenty-two year-old Kashmiri Army officer, Ummer Fayaz, was abducted by militants while he was attending a cousin's wedding on Tuesday night; his bullet-riddled body was found the next day in Harmen in Shopian district. Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, an apple farmer's son, had completed five months in the service, and was back home to attend a cousin's wedding. He was posted with the Rajputana Rifles in the Akhnoor sector of Jammu and Kashmir. A hockey and volleyball player, Ummer Fayaz had graduated from the National Defence Academy and was expected to go for the Young Officers' Course in September. "This marks a watershed moment in the Kashmir Valley and people of Kashmir will decisively turn the tide against terrorism," said Lt Gen Abhay Krishna, Colonel of Rajputana Rifles and General Officer Commanding in Chief of the South Western Command. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti condemned the killing of the Army officer. "It was more painful to note that the officer was on leave and had come to attend the marriage of his cousin," she said. According to sources, Army had issued an advisory asking its personnel going to the Valley to inform the nearest unit, keeping in mind the ongoing unrest. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi condoled the death of the young Kashmiri Army officer and said that "those who tried to defeat what he stood for will be defeated". West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the killing. "Extremely saddened at the murder of Lt Ummer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian. My sympathies with the family. Violence is never a solution," she tweeted.

(Inputs from Ashraf Wani)

ALSO READ:

Army officer Ummer Fayaz killed in Kashmir would have turned 23 in June

Krishna Ghati beheadings: Indian Army prepared to give befitting reply to Pakistan

Transformers: Retired tanks functioning as bunkers

ALSO WATCH

--- ENDS ---
"Nothing has had more impact on me than the work I've done for ten years with UNHCR," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaking at Central Hall, Westminister  UNA-UK/Zoe Norfolk

LONDON - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that his work in his former role as head of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, was a source of inspiration in his new position.

In his first speech in London since taking office in January, Guterres also spoke of the challenges facing the United Nations and said reform would be at the top of his agenda to ensure the organization was equipped to meet them.

A former Portuguese prime minister, he served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015; he took over as UN secretary-general in January this year.

Nothing has had more impact on me than the work Ive done for ten years with UNHCR, he told an audience at Central Hall, Westminster, the site of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly in 1946. To see refugees who have lost everything, whove seen members of their family being killed, whove crossed the Mediterranean, is very humbling.

Their courage, their resilience and their strength is something I cannot forget and the reason I wanted to stand as a candidate as secretary-general of the United Nations, he added.

Guterres was in London to attend a conference on Somalia, co-chaired by Somalia, Britain and the United Nations. The conference on Friday, the third since 2012, is being attended by heads of state and government from East Africa and senior officials from international organizations.

To see refugees who have lost everything, whove seen members of their family being killed, whove crossed the Mediterranean, is very humbling"

In his speech in Westminster, he noted that the nature of conflict had changed to become increasingly complex and inter-linked.

They are shaped by terrorism and that cannot be overlooked by anyone, anywhere in the world now, he said. Different actors in different conflicts systematically violate international humanitarian law, thinking that there will be no consequences of their crimes.

Economic fragility is making countries less resilient to climate change and other external shocks, he said, so even if the global economic situation has improved, large movements of populations, water scarcity and food instability are becoming linked and are sources of fragility.

The UN needs to develop prevention, mediation and conflict resolution strategies and work better with the private sector and civil society, the New York based UN chief said.

We need to reform the UN development system to fill gaps and to work towards the Sustainable Development Goals he added, referring to the UNs call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. We need to bring together our humanitarian and development aims.

Guterres added that peace would not be achieved in Syria or elsewhere until warring parties realise they cannot win. International problem solving can only be achieved through dialogue and mutual understanding, he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaking at Central Hall, Westminster - the site of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly in 1946.  UNA-UK/Zoe Norfolk

Guterres also recognised the role that the UK has played in its support for the UN: The UK is one of the strongest believers that there is no solution to international problems without multilateralism. I want to say thank you to the British Government and to the British people.

In 2015, Britain enshrined in law a commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on aid and development annually. It was the first G7 country to do so.

Europes most significant contribution to the world has been the values of the Enlightenment such as tolerance, although these are being put into question today, he warned.

Were seeing the development of xenophobia and nationalism in our societies and we must fight them, he said. But we need to look into their root causes. There is today in the world a lot of anger on the part of many people who see wealth and progress and they feel left behind.

Were seeing the development of xenophobia and nationalism in our societies and we must fight them

The response to the mass movement of people  UNHCRs latest estimates suggest that 65 million people in the world are displaced, and there are 21 million refugees  has been an irrational fear that foreigners are coming and theyre going to change us.

The only way to solve this problem is to invest in social inclusion, Guterres said. Each group must feel like they are bound to the values of the community and that their place in that society is respected. British society is a fantastic expression of that.

He was also unequivocal in his opposition to calls to change existing keystone UN treaties and covenants.

When it comes to the UN charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention, I believe if they were written today, they would probably be worse than they currently are, he said. I would be very careful in trying to change a number of texts that were drafted at a very special moment of time that lead people to think seriously about what is needed to bring about the conditions of peace. So I would not touch them.
UNHCR's Middle East and North Africa Director, Amin Awad, met the displaced during a visit to Homs and Aleppo. Here in Homs, he witnesses signs of destruction.  UNHCR/Vivian Tou'meh

ALEPPO, Syria  Six months on from the east Aleppo evacuations  when civilians first saw a glimmer of hope after many months of miserable existence and enormous suffering  life for some is slowly restarting. But the road to recovery will be a long one. There is catastrophic damage to infrastructure, destroyed homes and shops and questions over how those returning to their former lives can earn a living.

Amin Awad is the Middle East and North Africa Director of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as well as the Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Syria crisis. He visited Homs and Aleppo earlier this month to see at first-hand not only the scale of the challenges ahead, but how people are coping and struggling to resume normal life.

Some people are restarting life against all odds and amidst immense challenges. A demonstration of their admirable resilience, said Amin Awad. I know this city well and have visited it several times before the crisis, I feel so sad at the scale of devastation, he added.

"The feeling of being home is great."

Filippo Grandi  UN High Commissioner for Refugees  visited Aleppo in January and expressed shock at the immensity of the destruction he witnessed. Awads follow-up visit comes at a time of continued uncertainty over Syrias future and amid growing humanitarian needs  with over 6.7 million Syrians internally displaced from their homes and five million refugees abroad. Including the displaced, there are now 13.5 million people within Syria in need of humanitarian assistance.

While visiting both Homs and Aleppo, Awad met Syrians who  despite all the odds and the risks to their lives  had refused to leave their homes even during the most difficult of times. Um Kinan, an 83-year-old Aleppo resident told Awad: I will never leave my home. Life is good now, I cant complain, but I need better health care. In Aleppos Sulieman Al Halabi neighborhood, two ladies who had just returned to their home told Awad, we are fixing our house with our bare hands, but the feeling of being home is great.

Um Kinan, 83, is a resident of Bab Al-Hadid which is one of the seven historical entry gates to the old city of Aleppo. She receives daily hot meals and relief through UNHCR's partners. Throughout the crisis, Um Kinan never left her home.  UNHCR/Bassam Diab

Signs of recovery across Aleppo are growing  debris is being removed, streets are being cleared and people continue to return to their ruined homes and shops. In Aleppos Seif Al Dawala district, Awad visited two schools UNHCR is quickly rehabilitating  to get them ready for the start of the school year in September. The challenges ahead however, cannot be underestimated. Thousands returned to emptied and gutted towns, facing immense challenges while millions remain displaced, said Awad.

In Jibreen, the industrial zone where tens of thousands of displaced Syrians now live, rehabilitation work continues to help improve housing conditions. Recently-installed solar-powered street lights are also transforming the city. We do not feel safe at night, we can go out after sunset, said an Aleppo resident. In east Aleppo  similar UNHCR-backed programmes have brought street lights to dozens of streets  a glimmer of hope for many who endured months of living in darkness.

The potential return of over 12 million refugees and IDPs also poses an immense challenge  with any returns being subject to political and security developments and to protection thresholds being met. So far, overall conditions cannot at all be described as conducive to return  and needs are overwhelming. Human beings cannot live on bread alone, Awad stressed.

Additional reporting and editing by Firas Al-Khateeb in Damascus
Refugee Food Festival in Strasbourg in 2016.  UNHCR / B. Loyseau

UNHCR and the NGO Food Sweet Food announced today that the Refugee Food Festival, a civil society led initiative born last year to showcase refugees cooking talents and facilitate their integration, is expanding to thirteen major European cities in 2017.

The 2017 edition of the Refugee Food Festival will take place in Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Athens, Amsterdam, Florence, Rome, Milan, Bari, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon and Lille as part of World Refugee Day celebrations. Between 15 and 30 June, more than 50 restaurants will open their kitchens to refugee chefs from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Somalia, Syria and Ukraine to name a few. Other cities have expressed their interest and might follow.

The French-born initiative started last year through a partnership between the NGO Food Sweet Food and UNHCR, with the support of partners, citizens, local authorities, restaurants and private businesses.

The first edition took place in Paris in June 2016. Over 1,000 people enjoyed the food prepared by refugee chefs from India, Iran, Ivory Coast, Russia, Sri Lanka and Syria in eleven restaurants, which opened their kitchens and changed their menus for the occasion.

The Refugee Food Festival has been a resounding success, with people calling from all over the world wanting to replicate it, said Marine Mandrila, one of the initiatives founders.

Its expansion to several European cities stems from the desire of many citizens across Europe to engage with and welcome refugees in their own country. Refugees will have the opportunity to showcase their skills and promote their food traditions and ordinary people will discover a new culture through its cuisine, she added.

The Refugee Food Festival is a wonderful project that brings citizens and refugees together around a positive cultural experience, namely the simple joy of preparing a nice meal and enjoying some good food, said Vincent Cochetel, Director of UNHCRs Europe Bureau. It also helps to generate awareness about refugees and creates opportunities for refugee chefs, promoting their talents and integration, he added.

The Festival has helped me make friends, confirmed Emad, a Syrian chef who cooked during the first Refugee Food Festival. It was especially important for me, as I was discovering a new culture, a new country and a new language. The food makes you smile and learn more. When I cook, I feel it helps me find myself, he said.

The event has been an accelerator for refugees culinary careers in France by showcasing their cooking skills, resulting in professional opportunities for all participating refugee chefs.

In light of this success, Food Sweet Food and UNHCR developed a toolkit for those wanting to organize a Refugee Food Festival in their city. It gathers inputs from chefs, customers, partners and refugees.



The exact schedule and list of partner restaurants will soon be made available here: www.refugeefoodfestival.com/

Follow Twitter @RefugeeFoodFest and www.facebook.com/RefugeeFoodFestival/



About Food Sweet Food

Food Sweet Food is a French NGO created in 2013 to promote food traditions around the world. The founders, Marine Mandrila and Louis Martin, have travelled across 18 countries over the past three years and cooked with locals in their homes and communities. This project convinced them that food is a fantastic way to connect with, share and discover each other.

Today, the movement includes a documentary series on Planete+, a culinary roadbook at La Martiniere Editions, a food chronicle on France Inter radio, and a citizen engagement which became the Refugee Food Festival.

Visit www.foodsweetfood.org/  Follow Twitter @FoodSweetFood and Facebook www.facebook.com/FoodSweetFood

About UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. UNHCR safeguards the rights and well-being of refugees and stateless people. In more than six decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives. UNHCR is on the front lines of the world's major humanitarian crises, including Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and countless other emergencies.

Visit www.unhcr.org  Follow Twitter @Refugees - @Refugeesmedia and www.facebook.com/UNHCR/

Stand #WithRefugees. Please sign the petition: http://withrefugees.org

For media enquiries please contact:

UNHCR

In Paris, Celine Schmitt, [email protected] , +33 6 23 16 11 78

, +33 6 23 16 11 78 In Geneva, Cecile Pouilly, [email protected] , +41 79 108 26 25

Food Sweet Food
The buzz of conversation rises above the clatter of plates in the packed community centre. Groups of Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans are deep in discussion with their German neighbours, seeking advice on jobs, studying or flat-hunting over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.

The monthly get-together in Neu Wulmstorf, near Hamburg in northern Germany, is an opportunity for some of the towns 300 refugees and asylum-seekers to mix with residents. For the communitys dedicated army of volunteers, the benefits are mutual.

"The refugees are an asset," said Cornelia Meyer, 44, co-founder of the refugee support network responsible for the meetings. Since we founded this network and the refugees came, Ive felt a lot better about living here.

She continued: Theyve brought the big wide world with them, theyve brought in a lot of openness that just wasnt here before. Were a wide range of volunteers in the group, but everyone has taken the newcomers into their hearts. We all get so much back from this work.

"Refugees are an asset."

Meyer, a social worker, launched the volunteer initiative Welcome to Neu Wulmstorf in summer 2014 after hearing the towns refugee population was about to grow. With the help of the community centre, she recruited a core group of 40 volunteers willing to do whatever it took to make the newcomers feel at home.

Three years later, the network is as active as ever. Besides one-on-one support, the volunteers offer swimming lessons, a cycle repair workshop, language courses, game evenings, cinema events and day trips to local attractions.

I was lucky to end up here, said Syrian refugee Mohammad Al-Akily, 27, who arrived in Neu Wulmstorf in December 2015, having fled fighting near his home in Hama, western Syria. The people here are very friendly. They help us if we have questions. I never expected it, I always thought I would have to struggle on my own. But its very beautiful that so many people here help us like this.

Mohammads biggest thanks go to volunteers Heino Rahmstorf and Thomas Bartens, who have spent the past year teaching him to swim. Every Saturday morning, Mohammad and a group of other beginners, practise diving, front crawl and breast stroke in the local pool.

Cornelia, 44, who co-founded the refugee support network 'Welcome To Neu Wulmstorf', chats with Mustafa, 37, from Syria.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

Hannelore Schade, 54, co-founder of the refugee support network 'Welcome To Neu Wulmstorf'.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

Afghan aslyum-seeker Salim Mohamadi, 22, (middle) chats with new friends at the local community centre.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

Hamed Mohammadi from Afghanistan at the swimming pool in Neu Wulmstorf, Germany where refugees receive lessons from local volunteers.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

Local volunteer Heino Rahmstorf leads a swimming session for asylum-seekers from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan at the swimming pool in Neu Wulmstorf, Germany.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

Salim Mohamadi, 22, from Afghanistan, at the swimming pool in Neu Wulmstorf.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

"Now I'm much calmer. I've even swum in the sea," says Mohammed.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

Before learning to swim, Mohammad first had to overcome the memory of a near-death experience in the Aegean Sea. Like many others, his overcrowded dinghy sank while crossing from Turkey to Greece in summer 2015. Although he could not swim, Mohammad survived for more than an hour in the water, fighting to stay afloat until he was rescued. The ordeal left him with a deep fear of water.

At first it was terrible, I kept sinking, said Mohammad, recalling his first attempts to swim in the pool. I was very scared of the water. But thats why I knew I should learn to swim. Now Im much calmer. Ive even swum in the sea.

It is not just swimming that Mohammad has mastered in the past year. With the help of volunteer-run language classes, Mohammad is fast approaching the level of German he needs to go back to university, where he wants to study engineering.

He hopes to return to Syria, where his siblings and parents still live. I hope that one day my home country improves and I can go home and help rebuild, he said. Theres always hope, thats all we can have. Meanwhile, hes happy to be able to rely on the support of community volunteers in building his new life in Germany.

Theres always hope, thats all we can have.

It seems a lot of the newcomers feel at home here, said volunteer network co-founder Hannelore Schade, 54. People know they can always come here and that well always try to help.

Katharina Lumpp, representative of the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Germany, said the large number of volunteers in the country had helped meet the challenges posed by the refugees arrival.

The vibrant civil society in Germany has significantly contributed to addressing the challenges that emerged with the arrival of so many people in need of protection, she said.

Organisers Schade and Meyer said it was impossible to reach all of Neu Wulmstorfs newcomers, but seeing the results of their hard reflected in the progress of individuals kept them motivated.

The volunteers here feel really valued, said Schade. Everyone knows their work plays a key role in the integration process. And when volunteers are appreciated, they are more likely to stick at it.
After decades of flight, Thant Zin Maung and his family have finally returned home to Myanmar.  UNHCR/Roger Arnold

YANGON, Myanmar  When Thant Zin Maung decided to return home last October, he told his boys to play their hearts out.

Play as much as you can, because once youre back you cant play as much, he said sadly, as they packed up their belongings in Thailands Nupo refugee camp, where the family lived for over 10 years.

His sons Khant Min and Khant Lin were born in Nupo camp. It was the only home they knew. Although they slept in a creaky bamboo hut and bathed at a common trough outside, it was a place they could roam freely with other refugee kids they had grown up with.

Thant Zin Maung, however, had to think of the future. I wanted to go back a long time ago, for my childrens future and for my wifes health, he said, explaining that his wife Ta Pyi Soe had trouble walking due to an undiagnosed medical problem.

In October 2016, the family chose to join the first voluntary return movement to Myanmar. A total of 71 refugees returned from Nupo and Tham Hin camps with the support of the two governments, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners. Most went back to Kayin state neighbouring Thailand, while smaller numbers returned to areas like Thanintharyi, Bago, Mon and Yangon.

I wanted to go back a long time ago."

Six months on, Thant Zin Maungs family is settling in at his sisters flat in the commercial capital, Yangon. When they are not attending the neighbourhood school, the boys spend their time jumping off furniture and spinning marbles in the third-floor apartment.

I miss the camp, said Khant Min, aged seven. Here I have few friends and father says I cannot play outside. Its boring to play inside.

Their father knows they are struggling to fit in with their peers because they speak differently and are not familiar with local pop culture, cartoons and snacks. We keep explaining that it will be okay and they will make friends soon."

At 48, Thant Zin Maung himself is reintegrating well. He has just completed a two-month-long course in providing elderly care. He has made friends among classmates, trainers and people and the people he sees on the daily train commute.

After years in a rural camp, Thant and his family are now adjusting to a new life in Myanmar.

The family plans to move to Shwe Lin Pan, a low-cost housing project offered by the government in a one-off arrangement for the first group of Yangon returnees.

The return and reintegration grants they received from the authorities, UNHCR and its partners have gone towards paying for the first installment of the subsidized flat. Nonetheless, they still had to borrow some money from relatives and will need to pay monthly installments of 80,000 kyat (nearly USD 60) for the next 10 years.

Im a little nervous about our current situation, admitted Thant Zin Maung, whose job search has been affected by delays in getting his drivers license. But I learnt many skills in the camp and Im confident I can find suitable work soon.

As he searches for other work, his ultimate goal is to open a daycare centre for the elderly at the Shwe Lin Pan housing project.

His wife said that the other returnee families are also coping after some initial struggles. One started a business selling rice and their daughter is working in a beauty salon. Another man is doing carpentry work at Shwe Lin Pan.

Born in a refugee camp in Thailand, four-year-old Khant Lin is adjusting to life living in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, with his parents and older brother.  UNHCR/Hkun Lat

Thant and his wife, Ta Pyi Soe, 35, prepare dinner for their young sons in Myanmar.  UNHCR/Hkun Lat

Thant massages his mother-in-law's paralyzed foot.  UNHCR/Hkun Lat

Thant travels to work in Yangon, Myanmar.  UNHCR/Hkun Lat

Thant's ultimate goal is to open a daycare centre for the elderly.  UNHCR/Hkun Lat

Thant drinks tea with his friends from work in Yangon, Myanmar.  UNHCR/Hkun Lat

Her own condition is improving. Now 35, she feels steadier on her feet with treatment and better living conditions. Reuniting with her paralyzed mother in Yangon has also boosted her mood.

It will take time, though, for these long-time camp dwellers to become city slickers. We were like a big family in the camp. I miss the friendly surroundings, said Ta Pyi Soe. Yangon has so many more cars and people now. But we have never seen our neighbour, their door is always closed.

Despite the challenges they face, the family is determined to adapt to a changing Myanmar.

I will work four or five jobs if I have to, said Thant Zin Maung. My plan for the next five years is to own a house and a car, provide high-quality education to the children, and live with my family happily together. I believe that my life will be fulfilled.

Some 102,000 Myanmar refugees remain in nine border camps in Thailand. Since the first group returned last year, more refugees have expressed their interest in voluntary repatriation. Many others are watching these developments closely to inform their own decisions about the future.
Ghanshyam Lodhi in his complaint to the police had alleged that his cow was hit by a bullet fired by his neighbours in Ashok Nagar on May 5, but vets ruled out a bullet injury.

By Hemender Sharma: The Ashok Nagar Police in Madhya Pradesh have line attached five policemen and registered an abetment to suicide case against six persons after a 40-year-old man seeking justice for his cow, committed suicide in Bhopal.

The dead man in his complaint to the police had alleged that his cow was fired upon by his neighbours and was not convinced by the X-ray report that ruled out a bullet injury to his cow.

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Ghanshyam Lodhi in his complaint to the police had alleged that his cow was hit by a bullet fired by his neighbours in Ashok Nagar on May 5. Gau Rakshak activists and Lodhi protested outside the Piprai police station and demanded action against the neighbours who denied hitting the cow. The scene shifted to Bhopal as the cow was brought to a veterinary doctor for examination. The vet after examining the cow and conducting an X ray ruled out a bullet injury and said that the cow had been hit by some blunt object.

"The cow had come to us on May 5. It was being alleged that she had been hit by a bullet but during our examination we found out that the cow had been hit by a blunt object and there were no traces of any bullet injury. The cow is still with us and we are taking care of," veterinary doctor PS Patel, who operated on the cow, said.

Ghanshyam Lodhi, however, could not digest the report given by the vet and committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree inside the state animals hospital in Bhopal.

"This man had come to get his cow treated in Bhopal from Ashok Nagar. We had registered a case and got a post mortem done. The post mortem report pointed towards death due to hanging but the case diary has been transferred to Ashok Nagar as an abetment to suicide, case has been registered in Ashok Nagar," additional SP Bhopal, Rajesh Chandel said.

Ghanshyam Lodhi's body was taken to Ashok Nagar on May 8 but his relatives refused to cremate him alleging that he had been forcefully hanged by those against whom he had lodged a complaint for hitting his cow. The cremation was done only after the district SP line attached the station house officer of Piprai police station Sanjay Rai and four others for dereliction of duty and registered an abetment to suicide against six persons against whom the dead man had lodged a complaint for attacking his cow.

While the cow is being treated in Bhopal, police force has been deployed in Silawan village in Ashok Nagar as Gau Rakshaks attempted to give a communal twist to the incident.

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An elite university truly helps someone increase his or her success rate. Eventually, the best colleges really affect the students' future earnings as they open doors to the world's top companies. However, people should remember that educational institutions only provide the platform to more possibilities but not every possibility in the world.

Nevertheless, the best colleges often require a higher cost of education compared to the mediocre ones. Per The Statesman, one should choose a school that has a constant environment of learning wherein students will be challenged by some of the best minds and leaders in their chosen industries. Here are the Top 10 choices for the best colleges in 10 countries for foreign students:

Harvard University (USA)

According to Brightside, the cost of education at Harvard University is about $45, 278. Considered as an Ivy League, it was established as early as 1636. Harvard, for the record, has the highest standard when it comes to college entrance exams. This means that the administration selects only the best of the best.

University of Oxford (England)

The tuition fee here is about $27, 753. It is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second oldest university. It is famous for political science, spies and intelligence services, actors, scientists, poets, and journalists.

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland)

To study here, one should prepare $1, 320 only. The Swiss Federal is a school for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It has two campuses located in Lausanne and Zurich.

University of Toronto (Canada)

Per the same source, education here is worth $31,000. The University of Toronto is the birthplace of the influential school of thought on communication and literary criticism, known as the "Toronto School". It offers accounting, archaeology, arts, and astronomy among others.

Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)

The tuition fee here is around $23,000. It specializes in programs concerning Engineering and Technology. The school ranks first in northern mainland Europe.

Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russia)

For just $5,000, students can have quality education in Russia. It claims to house the tallest educational building on Earth. The University is also the home of the UNESCO International Demography courses, the International LASER Center, and the Intentional Biotechnology Center.

Sorbonne University (France)

To attend Sorbonne, students must prepare $280 only. Located in the wonderful city of Paris, the school was established since 1970. It is considered as the main successor of the University of Paris, which closed due to student activism in May 1968.

Australian National University (Australia)

It is one of the most popular universities in the world. ANU provides top-of-the-line education and research programs for $27, 000. It recently led the massive search for the mysterious Planet 9 in the solar system.

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany)

The cheapest choice in this list, tuition fees here cost roughly $124. Programs here cover both German and European law. It is included in the county's most renowned schools.

University of Bologna (Italy)

Last but not the least is the University of Bologna. It offers education for around $1,000. It ranked 208th in the last QS World University Rankings and is the world's oldest university.
A new study that will be presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting says children under two years old who are exposed to too much smartphone use are likely to begin talking much later. Compared to other kids in their age group, issues in language development is more imminent to the techy ones.

Alarmingly, speech delay is now linked to handheld screens such as phones and tablets. In the US, some children begin using mobile gadgets before they could even learn how to talk. Per Doctors Lounge, the abstract will be explained on May 6 as part of the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting that will last until May 9. It will be held at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco.

The research included 894 children from Toronto aged six months to two years. The participants are part of TARGet Kids!, a practice-based research network in the said area between 2011 and 2015. At their 18-month check-up, 20 percent of the children used handheld devices such as smartphones, tablets, and electronic games for an average of 28 minutes per day. Now, experts claim that the more time spent with handheld screens increases the chances for the kid to have speech delay problems.

According to Science Daily, a 49 percent increased the risk of speech delay was recorded for every 30-minute smartphone use. Nevertheless, there was no connection between too much smartphone use and social interactions and body languages or gestures. For the record, the recent findings support an earlier American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to prevent technology exposure in children below 18 months old.

Principal Investigator Catherine Birken, M.D., a staff pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, said that this is the first study to focus on the link between handheld screen time and speech delay among kids. Julia Ma, HBSc, will be the one to present the findings on Saturday. She is an MPH student at the University of Toronto.
Princeton University and Michigan schools introduce new ways to filter water (H2O). As global demand for clean H2O rises, the need to improve the performance of treatment processes also needs to be hastened.

Foremost, Princeton reported that the proposed technique using carbon dioxide (CO2) consumes 1,000 times less energy than traditional methods. Princeton postdoctoral researchers Dr. Orest Shardt (University of Limerick) and Dr. Sangwoo Shin (University of Hawaii) led the study. The former hopes that this new discovery could help those in mining, food and beverage production, as well as pharmaceutical manufacturing.

As of now, ways to filter water include microfiltration or ultrafiltration. Per Phys.org, it uses porous membranes to remove suspended particles and solutes. However, energy must be wasted to overcome the friction of pushing the H2O through small passages. Therefore, it is highly expensive and has the need to be replaced periodically due to fouling.

In the study, the experts inject CO2 gas into a stream of water in different channels to screen out particles. The gas temporarily changes the water's chemistry by slightly making it more acidic, per the same source. Now, the changes cause the contaminating particles to move to one side of the channel depending on their electrical charge. Thus, the researchers are able to "split the water" stream and filter out suspended particles.

Shin noted that the new filtration technique may help clean ponds and rivers that have bacteria and dirt. To better illustrate, acidity in CO2 means the production of ions. A positively charged hydrogen atom moves very quickly through the water solution while the negatively charged ion moves very slowly. These movements then create a "subtle" electric field that draws the particles in the water, which have their own negative or positive charges.

To maintain the electric field, the experts needed to keep the ions moving through channels. They have used silicon rubber, a material that is permeable to CO2. Simply, put, pressurized carbon dioxide diffuses through one wall of the channel and pervades the other side. Because the system does not have a membrane or a mechanical filter, clogging is not a problem.

On the other hand, another group of researchers from Michigan universities and hospitals urges people to make the most out of the water filters on their taps. Apparently, they want the consumers to "go beyond the manufacturer's instructions". For one thing, they want users to flush the pipes and filters for longer periods of time every morning or after long periods of not using the tap.

The Michigan study is co-led by the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Teachers from the Michigan State University, Kettering University, and Henry Ford Hospital System also helped. Indeed, these new ways to filter water will improve the lives of those living in both developed and developing countries with problems in potable water.
Otherwise known as The Grind, locals in the Faroe Islands, Denmark "harvest" and kill long-finned pilot whales whenever they swim near the slaughter cove. Usually, this bloody tradition takes place during the summer.

It began as early as 1298, as mentioned in the old Faroese Law called "Sheep Letter". Sadly, until this day, 800 whales are brutally dying every year because of this practice. Sea Shepherd, a non-profit organization led by Captain Paul Watson, has been fighting commercial and traditional whaling to save the species.

Now, Sea Shepherd wants the European Union (EU) to intervene and hold Denmark responsible for the inappropriate hunt of pilot whales. For one thing, victims of The Grind were killed using axes, machetes, and anything sharp and hard that could stun the whales. Geert Vons, the director of Sea Shepherd Netherlands, said that it is "forbidden" to kill whales and dolphins in Europe.

Vons added that by supporting the Faroe Islands, Denmark appears to be facilitating The Grind. Thus, Denmark fails to uphold its EU obligations. Allegedly, Danish officials from the police and navy are actively participating in the hunt. For the record, though, the Faroe Islands chose to remain outside the EU when Denmark joined in 1973.

According to Phys.org, Sea Shepherd has called on Brussels to launch the "infringement proceedings" against member state Denmark. Under it, Brussels writes to national governments to demand legal explanations on an issue and can refer the involved parties to the European Court of justice. The top punishment an EU court can issue is a financial penalty for the state.

Lastly, per The Maritime Executive, the traditional hunt takes place annually between June and November. The practice is obviously defended by the local community who treat it as part of their lives already. The whale meat and the blubber are consumed as homegrown delicacies.
Internships are potential game changers when it comes to immediately landing a job after graduation. Apparently, it appears that tech companies are providing the best on-the-job training (OJTs) for young minds nowadays.

There are those companies that offer a great internship program instead of giving students workloads that include making coffee and monotonous photocopying of documents. These tech companies give challenging jobs for thousands of dollars a month. Below are the Top 5 highest paying networks for student internships:

Facebook Internship Program

According to CNBC, a recent data from the popular jobs website Glassdoor ranked Facebook as the top-paying company for OJTs. It offers a whopping $8,000 salary per month. Interestingly, the working atmosphere is light and happy, per the same source. However, expect that the people in there are very competitive and really of top caliber (which is a good training then).

Microsoft Student Jobs

Microsoft is the second highest paying internship company for senior students. It gives roughly $7,100 per month while interns get the best training possible before they graduate. A variety of renowned business teams will show the students what it is like to work in a Bill Gates company. Financial Times reported that CEO Satya Nadella sees Microsoft at the "intelligent edge" few more years from now, which means creating more AIs.

Salesforce On-The-Job Training

For one thing, they shower interns with perks, especially in engineering. Salesforce is still growing at fast rates, with very large markets still left to capture. Thus, it does not only offer $6,450 monthly pay for internships but also assures job security in the future.

Amazon OJT With Salary

Well, earn $6,400 in just 30 days while meeting the genius people behind Amazon. Although, reports say that the workflow is fast-paced and exciting. Consequently, on-call setup for full-time engineers can "slightly" affect work-life balance in the future. Nevertheless, with the salary it gives and the knowledge it brings, stress is the last thing to think about.

Apple Intern Project

The average pay Apple gives to interns is at $6,400 too. One of the most notable experiences here is the state-of-the-art technology in the office. The company also provides free food, snacks, and even housing. Per Forbes, a redesigned iPhone 8 and a new iPhone SE is set to be revealed in the second half of 2017. Thus, the operations of Apple is truly far from being over.
NASA's plan to send humans to Mars in the 2030s includes a year-long mission with a crew to orbit Moon in in the late 2020s.

By India Today Web Desk: The news of space-travel has been there for a long time now, and NASA is planning a year-long manned mission to orbit Moon in 2027.

NASA's planning is a part of its preparations to send humans to Mars in the 2030s.

A group of astronauts might spend a year in orbit around the Moon in the late 2020s as part of NASA's plan to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, agency officials said.

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FYI || 'Look at that you son of a b***h': First space protest against Donald Trump goes up in sky ||

DEEP SPACE GATEWAY

The US space agency is building a "deep-space gateway" around the Moon to test for operations and technology required for NASA's journey to the red planet Mars.

Phase 2 of NASA's current plan to send humans to Mars in the 2030s involves a yearlong crewed mission to validate the Mars vehicle around the moon - Credit: NASA/The Humans to Mars Summit Phase 2 of NASA's current plan to send humans to Mars in the 2030s involves a yearlong crewed mission to validate the Mars vehicle around the moon - Credit: NASA/The Humans to Mars Summit

Eventually, the lunar presence would also serve as a launching point for the spacecraft that will carry humans to Mars, said Greg Williams, deputy associate administrator for policy and plans at NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

HUMANS TO MARS

Deputy associate administrator for policy and plans at NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Williams also provided a detailed look at the first two phases of NASA's current plan to send humans to Mars at the Humans to Mars Summit in Washington DC.

An outline of NASA's current plan to send humans to cislunar space ahead of sending them to Mars - Credit: NASA/The Humans to Mars Summit

The lunar mission is a year-long mission which will be preceded by at least five mission out of which four of them will be with crews. The missions will deliver hardware such as a crew habitat, Williams said.

"If we could conduct a yearlong crewed mission on this Deep Space Transport in cislunar space, we believe we will know enough that we could then send this thing, crewed, on a 1,000-day mission to the Mars system and back," Williams was quoted as saying by the Space.com.

Currently, the lunar stages of the plan to get humans to Mars rely heavily on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to send the necessary payloads and crews to cislunar space - the region between Earth and the Moon.

PHASES OF NASA'S PLAN TO SEND HUMANS TO MARS

Phase 1 is scheduled to be carried out between 2018 and 2026.

This would include four crewed flights to cislunar space to deliver four key pieces of infrastructure - a power and propulsion bus, a crew habitat, a logistics module (for science research) and an airlock for other visiting vehicles.

Williams said the facility would also include a robotic arm that could help provide the module with more autonomous functions.

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Phase 2 would begin in 2027.

It would start with an un-crewed mission to deliver the Deep Space Transport vehicle to cislunar space, followed by a flight to deliver the one-year crew to the facility.

In the late 2020s, there would be more flights to deliver the supplies necessary for the first human flights to the Mars system in the 2030s, according to Space.com.

FYI || Impacts of meteorites can spark volcanic eruptions on Earth: Study ||

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Kent Finalist for UWs Top Graduate Honor

Meghan Kent

Meghan Kent, from Laramie, was among seven finalists for the Rosemarie Martha Spitaleri Award as the University of Wyoming's outstanding graduating woman.

The annual award, established in 1964, recognizes a student for exhibiting the finest leadership, academic integrity and citizenship qualities.

Sarah Maze, of Ranchester, was named the Rosemarie Martha Spitaleri Award recipient, while Anthony Farmer, from Cheyenne, received the Tobin Award, as the outstanding graduating man during a recent ceremony honoring all the nominees.

Kent will graduate with dual degrees in communication and anthropology, with minors in environment and natural resources, outdoor leadership, business and the Honors Program. She says that her time at UW has afforded her many opportunities.

I have found that my time at the University of Wyoming has been anything but limiting. UW has afforded me many opportunities to develop myself as a scholar and leader, she says. My time at UW has been busy but well spent, largely thanks to the influence of the Nordic ski team. I am thankful for the opportunities the University of Wyoming has given me to succeed and to enable others to do the same.

A contributing nominator says that Kent recognizes that she is quick-witted with a positive, energetic personality.

Perhaps the first thing that one notes about Meghan is her quick wit and an unending energy that literally makes fireworks, the nominator says. Her passion for making positive social change knits together with her dogged dedication to make her someone who gives me hope for the future.

A second nominator notes Kents ability to learn quickly with an attention to detail.

Meghan was given duties that required the ability to learn new skills quickly, along with attention to detail, clear writing, a strong work ethic and the ability to balance teamwork and self-starting. Her desire to master these skills was impressive, the nominator writes. She consistently demonstrated creativity and drive while completing her work in a timely and thorough manner. Meghan can do anything and do it well. She is a model student, a budding scientist and an accomplished athlete. She has passion for making positive social change.
India celebrates National Technology Day every year since 1999 to commemorate the successful carrying out of the nuclear test at Pokhran in Rajasthan.

By India Today Web Desk: The country observes 19th National Technology Day today to commemorate the successful carrying out of the nuclear test at Pokhran in Rajasthan on this day. On the same day India performed successful test firing of the Trishul Missile and test flying the first indigenous aircraft 'Hansa-3'.

Under the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the country started observing the day as National Technology Day every year since 1999. The man behind the successes of these milestones was APJ Abdul Kalam, who went on to become the 11th president of India on July 25, 2002.

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It is 15 years later that the country is preparing to choose its new president after incumbent Pranab Mukherjee's term ends in July.

PM MODI REMEMBERS KALAM AND VAJPAYEE

In a series of tweets today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his respects to Kalam and Vajpayee while greeting the scientists.

Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day.- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

We remain grateful to our scientists & the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998. https://t.co/l2QMStppQ1- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

Let us further integrate technology in our society. The transformative potential of technology is immense. https://t.co/dRIw5kdTx9- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

Ofcourse! The stellar accomplishments and contribution of Dr. Kalam will always be remembered. https://t.co/ywSsCX0yqw- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

THE POKHRAN II TESTS

India conducted five tests on May 11 and 13, 1998, at the Pokhran range, which included a 45 kiloton (kt) thermonuclear device, known as a 'hydrogen bomb' in common parlance.

The other tests on May 11 included a 15 kt fission device and a 0.2 kt sub-kiloton device. The two simultaneous nuclear tests on May 13 were also in the sub-kiloton range - 0.5 and 0.3 kt.

As Director-General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Kalam had spearheaded the nuclear tests in 1998. He was also the scientific adviser to the then defence minister. R Chidambaram, who was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Anil Kakodkar, the then Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, were the other two key players in the Pokhran-II tests.

Kalam was also associated with the first Pokhran nuclear test conducted on May 18, 1974 when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.

Later, giving the details of the successful test, he had revealed that there was a detailed review, based on the two experimental results: seismic measurement close to the site and around, and radioactive measurement of the material after post shot drill in the test site. From these data, it was established by the project team that the design yield of the thermo-nuclear test had been obtained, Kalam had claimed.

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MISSILE MAN OF INDIA

He worked his way to become the driving force behind India's space and missile programmes and came to be known as the 'Missile Man of India'.

Kalam's research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige, prompting the Government to initiate an advanced missile programme under his directorship. He was the chief executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and was instrumental in the development of the Agni and Prithvi Missiles.

The former President visualised a distinctive profile of India by the year 2020 which included responsive, transparent and corruption-free governance and where the nation was proud of its leadership. He reposed great faith in the youth of the country and believed that through proper guidance, they would be able to transform India into a developed nation, which was one of his greatest dreams.

BHARAT RATNA

Kalam was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and Bharat Ratna - the highest civilian honour - in 1997. The Bharat Ratna came just a year before he played a key role in the Pokhran test.

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Born on October 15, 1931, Kalam went on to become one of the most celebrated aerospace and defence scientists in the country. He piloted India's civilian space programme, military missile development efforts and ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology to the heights which it has reached today.

He became the head of DRDO in 1992 and the principal scientific advisor to the Indian government in 1999 with the rank of a cabinet minister. He held the post till 2001.

He died on July 27, 2015, doing what he loved most - while giving a lecture in IIT, Shillong.

However, a grateful country still remembers him and, while observing the National Technology Day, pays tribute to him besides Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

WATCH:

How ISRO's naughty boy rocket launched South Asia Satellite GSAT-9

ALSO READ:

On National Technology Day, PM Modi hails Vajpayee's courage for conducting Pokhran nuclear tests

India's GSAT-9 launch: Will Modi's space diplomacy help contain China's influence in the region?

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PM Modi greeted everyone on the National Technology Day and hailed the courage of the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the courage shown by the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the National Technology Day. This day is commemorated to mark the anniversary of Pokhran nuclear tests of 1998.

Tweeting about the importance of the day, PM Modi said, "Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day."

Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day.; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

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"We remain grateful to our scientists & the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998," Modi added.

May 11 is commemorated as the National Technology Day to mark India's scientific prowess and technological advancements since 1999.

On May 11 in 1998, India successfully conducted first among the five nuclear tests in Pokhran under the leadership of Vajpayee. The tests showcased India's might to the entire world.

POKHRAN TESTS SHOWED INDIA'S MIGHT

A write-up on Narendramodi.in website refers to an earlier speech of Modi in which he had said, "The world is well aware of the Pokhran tests. Under Atal ji's leadership, successful tests were carried out and the entire world was witness to India's might. The scientists made the nation proud."

Recalling the nearly two-decade-old development, Modi said, "After the first series of tests the world community placed sanctions on India. On 13th May 1998, Atal ji again called for tests, thus showing that he was made of a different mettle. If we had had a weak PM, he or she would have got scared on the same day. But Atal ji was different. He did not get scared."

Modi while hailing the role the people in the Pokhran test, Modi added, "People of Pokhran must be lauded for maintaining silence during entire duration when the tests were planned and conducted. They placed interest of the nation above everything else."

Also read: India's GSAT-9 launch: Will Modi's space diplomacy help contain China's influence in the region?

Also read: Narendra Modi government aiming to electrify all vehicles in country by 2032

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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The Punjab and Haryana High Court bench comprising Justices S S Saron and Darshan Singh also made it clear that it cannot stop Sidhu from working for the television as it did not violate any law.

By Manjeet Sehgal: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday while hearing the Navjot Singh Sidhu case asked the petitioner H C Arora to prove whether his television stint was a conflict of interest or a propriety issue. The bench comprising Justices S S Saron and Darshan Singh also made it clear that it cannot stop Sidhu from working for the television as it did not violate any law.

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"We may feel that Sidhu while working as a minister and a television actor may be ethically wrong, but this is no violation of law. We can only stop him from working if he is violating a law and not on the basis of moral or conduct grounds. Participating in a television show is an engagement of an artist and not a business or employment. The petitioner should prove that it was a propriety or conflict of interest issue," the bench observed.

The court, however, did not accept the plea of Advocate General who had questioned "maintainability' of the PIL. The Bench asked the Advocate General to respond to various issues raised by petitioner H C Arora in his PIL questioning the conduct of Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The Advocate General argued that the PIL was not maintainable under the 2010-guidelines issued by the High Court, but the Bench could not be persuaded, and rather observed that an issue of public importance has been raised.

The Advocate General vehemently argued that the Code of Conduct for ministers is not enforceable through courts. At this stage, the Bench repeatedly asked him "Assuming that Code of Conduct is not enforceable through Courts, then question would arise-whether it is worth the paper on which it is written?" "Lakhs of people follow the examples set up by ministers, and public conduct of ministers is being watched by public. In such a situation, can a minister resort to a conduct which is not in consonance with dignity and status of a cabinet minister," the Bench asked the Advocate General.

The Advocate General stated that as regard to the legal issue, he has answered it, and requested the Bench to adjourn the case to some other date to enable him to persuade the Bench that Navjot Singh Sidhu has not violated the Code of Conduct for ministers.

On the other hand, the petitioner argued that cabinet minister is not only participating in 'Kapil Sharma Show", which is a comedy show, but is also appearing in an advertisement, and promoting a "magic machine" for learning spoken English. Such conduct of a minister must be interfered.

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He argued by quoting 2004 judgment of the Supreme Court in Jayalalithaa's case, wherein referring to enforceability of Code of Conduct, the Supreme Court has observed "Morally speaking, can there be one law for small officials of the government and another law for the chief minister? In matters of such nature, is the Code of Conduct meant only to be kept as an "ornamental relic in a museum, but not to be practiced? These aspects worry our conscience". "A stage has come, when the High Court should come forward to interfere in the matter of Code of Conduct, as a Cabinet Minister promoting " magic English Speaking Machines" is something unheard of in the past." Argued the petitioner with vehemence.

The Advocate General, however, interjected and told the HC that this advertisement was shot by Navjot Singh Sidhu several years ago, but on being asked by the petitioner, Advocate General could not disclose as to when the contract of this advertisement is expiring. At this stage, on being asked by the Bench to assist it by showing case law that High Court can issue directions for enforcing the Code of Conduct, he sought an adjournment to further study this aspect of the matter.

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The Bench there upon adjourned the PIL to August 2 for further proceedings.

The petitioner H C Arora had earlier moved the court saying that Sidhu's television stint was a clear conflict of interest as he may not be able to do justice to his department as a cabinet minister. The Advocate General of Punjab had, however, made it clear that Sidhu was not a civil servant, hence the government cannot enforce code of conduct on him.

Also read:

Respect CM Amarinder Singh but won't quit TV, insists Navjot Singh Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to continue TV work, will seek AG's opinion: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh to India Today

Navjot Singh Sidhu in trouble over cracking 'vulgar jokes' on Kapil's show

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But, Navy is not prepared for this, and says it has done all it could to save the sailor since he died a natural death.

By Dilip Singh Rathod, Atir Khan: A Navy sailor widow's quest for finding the truth behind her husband's 'mysterious' death overseas in Mauritius has had her demanding a board of inquiry. But, Navy is not prepared for this, and says it has done all it could to save the sailor since he died a natural death.

Ranbir Singh, the Chief of Stores, was sent for an official positing onboard Tej ship, which was sailing near Mauritius. His job was to take care of the ration stores. A day after he spoke to his wife Banita Singh in India on phone his medical condition deteriorated. His colleagues discovered him in a bad state in the ship. He was immediately rushed to Apollo Bramwell Hospital in Moka.

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Banita Singh, who was in India, was informed about her husband's condition had deteriorated in Mauritius all of a sudden. The Navy made all emergency arrangements for her to be flown to Mauritius. They arranged her passport, visa and even air tickets.

According to the Navy, when she reached Mauritius, her husband was alive. But, Banita says by the time she reached, Singh had died. There was a bandage at the back of his head but she could not understand what caused him that wound.

His death took place on 26th July 2015. According to Apollo Bramwell Hospital, Singh was diagnosed with massive subarachnoid bleed following rupture of basilar artery aneurysm. A condition in which there is ballooning of artery due to hypertension. It happens all of a sudden and could be fatal.

The hospital said as the cause of death was known there was no need for post-mortem. So, his body was then flown without autopsy to India by the Navy. However, since last two years, Banita Singh is not convinced that Singh died a natural death. That's why she is demanding a court of inquiry.

However, Navy says since the cause of death is known there is no need for a court of inquiry. Banita, however, claims in similar cases in India, Navy has conducted court of inquiry in the past.

Navy spokesperson Capt. D.K. Sharma says: "Navy has done everything by the book. All efforts were made to provide best medical facilities to Ranbir Singh, even Navy doctors in India were on a hotline when medical procedures were conducted on him. There is nothing pending now."

Banita Singh says she has received around Rs 29 lakh insurance money from the Navy and official accommodation has also been provided for her two children studying in Dehradun. However, for Banita there is no closure yet. She says she will be convinced only when a court of inquiry is ordered to arrive at the cause of his death. She suspects something else could have happened to her husband barely few hours after she had spoken to him.

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Also read:

Two sailors dead, 14 injured as INS Betwa tips over in Mumbai dockyard

Sailor found dead onboard INS Shivaji in Lonavla

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Waffle Bar Las Vegas new Tivoli Village location is now open featuring an expanded menu offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bringing authentic, traditional Belgian recipes to the valley, the menu features an innovative take on Belgian waffles with over a dozen variations from savory to sweet.

Its an honor to share the traditional recipes of my family with Las Vegas and bring our creative ideas to life in our new location, said founder and CEO Pierre Keyser. Guests will experience Belgian waffles in a whole new way with new items for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Inspired by the original Liege waffle recipes first created in Eastern Belgium in the 1800s, Waffle Bars Belgian Liege waffles are made from high-quality ingredients including a house-made dough and a variety of fine imported ingredients from Belgium. Each waffle contains authentic Belgian pearl sugar which caramelizes when baked for ultimate flavor.

Now serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, guests can experience belgian waffles in a whole new way with menu items including the Waffle Bar berry delight made with mixed berries whipped cream and powdered sugar; the Waffle Bar margherita pizza with fresh basil and mozzarella di latte and marinara; and the Waffle Bar burger served with a fresh beef patty, cheese, lettuce and tomato, with many more options to choose from. Guests can also enjoy homestyle soups and salads, crepes, and different styled omelets.
Time-consuming procedures and policies

According to Ngo Quoc Hoi, general director of An Khanh Thermal Power Joint Stock Company, the procedures of basic construction investment and investment policies for power plants overlap.

In particular, the National Power Development Plan for the period 2011-2020 with vision to 2030 (Power Development Plan 7  PDP 7), which was updated and called the adjusted PDP 7, contains the names of power plant projects, as well as their locations and developers. However, before implementing these projects, developers must submit the feasibility reports for evaluation by the relevant ministries, and then resubmit them to the government for in-principle approval.

Although the projects are mentioned in the PDP 7, developers still have to submit feasibility reports for in-principle approval. This takes developers about six to eight months on average, Hoi said.

Also, he wished that the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) would propose to the government to authorise the projects mentioned in PDP 7 to skip the step of in-principle approval. This step is time-consuming.

Admitting to this problem, Hoang Quoc Vuong, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, agreed that the feasibility reports are not necessary for projects mentioned in the PDP 7.

MoIT proposed the prime minister (PM) a mechanism allowing urgent projects to skip the feasibility report stage. We are currently waiting for the final decision, Vuong said.

Aside from being annoyed with this time-consuming step, numerous developers complained of unfair treatment between independent power producers (IPPs) with domestic investment and BOT power plants with foreign investment.

In particular, BOT projects receive preferential treatment when converting foreign currency and guarantees for power sales and purchases. However, domestic IPPs do not have access to these policies. Domestic developers who want to convert foreign currency to pay off debts must register their sources of debt via the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and face the exchange rate risk themselves.

Capital out of reach

Currently, the Bac Giang Thermal Plant project assigned to be developed by An Khanh Thermal Power Joint Stock Company has a capacity of 650MW. It is estimated that this project needs over $1 billion to be fully implemented. But borrowing from domestic commercial banks is not easy.

According to the current regulations of SBV, a credit institutions total outstanding loans for a client cannot exceed 15 per cent of the institutions equity. A big commercial bank like BIDV can provide a maximum loan of VND7.3 trillion ($316.8 million) for a project, while the minimum cost of an EPC package is VND22 trillion ($968 million).

Thus, domestic borrowers need the contribution of many commercial banks, which is not easy to arrange. I propose loosening the loan ceiling from the current 15 to 25 per cent, otherwise, it will be difficult for developers to implement new projects, Hoi said.

Moreover, as governmental debts are at a high level, developers cannot take up international commercial loans.

Besides, domestic developers want guarantees that Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) will pay them when purchasing their power, otherwise they will be confronted with a lot of obstacles when raising capital for power plant projects.

Vuong said that the reason for the different treatments of BOT projects and IPPs is that Vietnamese private companies are small. A 650-MW power plant needs over $1 billion of investment, but there are few domestic developers able to command such capital. Besides, the practical scale of each plant is about 1000-1,200MW, propelling the needed investment to over $2 billion. Therefore, the government offers preferential policies to call for foreign investment and IPPs are not as encouraged as BOT projects.

However, Vuong said that in the upcoming period, power plant projects will not lure in as much investment as at the present, and if domestic developers become stronger, there will be no different policies between BOT power plants and IPPs with domestic investment.
The group, led by Vincent Lo, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), has discussed Vietnams importance as one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and the arising new development opportunities.

In particular, investors are keen to know about infrastructure projects in Vietnam and how partners from Hong Kong can collaborate with local developers.

Hong Kong has strengths as a super-connector for infrastructure development in the ASEAN. Through this meeting, we want to figure out how investors and service professionals from Hong Kong can support development projects in Vietnam, said Vincent Lo

The meeting took place at Reverie Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, with the attendance of the Vietnamese government and business leaders.

Established in 1966, HKTDC is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kongs businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia, and the world.

With 50 years of experience, HKTDC frequently organises international exhibitions, conferences, and business missions for companies, particularly SMEs, in mainland China and international markets.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in the insurance industry, life and non-life alike, are not limited to foreign markets and will spread to Vietnam as well, commented an expert in the field.

According to 2017 insurance market forecast reports, M&A remains an important goal as insurance companies are seeking for different ways to grow.

On the European insurance markets, there have been rumours of big insurance brands to be bought out soon. There has yet to be a definitive move to confirm these rumours, since the information only aims to examine the markets reactions. However, Asia seems a likely target for M&A, said an expert.

According to this expert, a company can consider entering a new market by forming a subsidiary or building a partnership with local enterprises. Certain markets like China or India have encouraged M&A activities in this field by raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the sector.

A few years ago, entering the insurance market by forming partnerships with local enterprises, especially banks and conglomerates, was a common trend among insurance firms in Vietnam, mainly in the life insurance segment. However, Vietnams current rising insurance market is also opening new investment paths for foreign financial and insurance corporations.

Foreign corporations making an initial capital contribution and then buying up all the local enterprises shares after a few years to turn the company into a 100 per cent foreign-owned entity has become a new trend. The insurance market has witnessed similar cases recently, like the acquisition of Sun Life Vietnam or Aviva.

Experts forecast this trend to continue. At present, there are a few rumours that a Thai insurance group is negotiating to buy shares from some of its Vietnamese partners.

Another type of M&A in the insurance industry comes from the corporate or regional level. These transactions have certain influences on the development strategy of local branches, including those in Vietnam.

Buying brands with small market shares and slow development then investing to rebuild and renew the business and eventually selling when the time comes is a common trick of the trade for many financial groups. This trend is not only popular in Vietnam but also in other markets, said an expert in the field.

Commenting on M&A trends in the insurance industry, a CEO of an insurance company said that the above trend has become more fashionable than the old joint venture method in the life insurance sector because of the latters inconspicuous results.

In the non-life insurance segment, foreign financial giants remain enthusiastic in investing in insurance companies with great market shares in Vietnam. For a domestic insurance company having more foreign investment equals to having more opportunities to expand business activities and accessing key technical support.

On May 5, Petrolimex Joint Stock Insurance Company (PJICO) has signed a contract selling 20 per cent of its shares to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. (SFMI), a leading insurance company in South Korea, at a price of $1.32 per share and $23.4 million altogether.

According to its first quarter financial report in 2017, PJICOs revenue reached $26.4 million, an increase of 8.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2016. The companys pre-tax profit was $1.8 million, 31 per cent higher. At the end of the first quarter of 2017, PJICOs total asset value and chartered capital were $184.8 million $31.2 million, respectively.

After the M&A, Petrolimex remains the biggest shareholder, possessing 40.95 per cent of PJICOs chartered capital. SFMI, the strategic shareholder, holds 20 per cent of the capital. Other big shareholders of PJICO are Vietcombank (8.03 per cent) and Vinare (7.03 per cent).
Under the contract signed, Experian will provide consultancy and knowledge transfer on the most advanced methodologies. This includes developing software to measure credit risk in accordance with Basel II, helping complete the credit risk estimate under the Internal Rating-Based (IRB) method and helping MB put the system into operation in 2019.

In the development strategy for 2010-2015 as well as 2017-2021, MB has identified the risk management platform as one of two important platforms and has implemented many solutions to continuously improve risk management capacity to meet the business development and compliance requirements of the State Bank of Vietnam, said Major General Le Cong, vice chairman of MB, at the ceremony.

The signing ceremony and launch of the project today is an important event to confirm the commitment and effort of MB and Experian to achieve the best goal of the project. MB pledges to create all necessary conditions for effective, quality, safe and timely implementation of the project, he said.

MB has been chosen by the State Bank of Vietnam as one of the 10 commercial banks to pilot Basel II in the 2014-2017 phase. The bank identified Basel II as well as upgraded standards in banking operations as an indispensable requirement, making banking operations safer and more efficient. MB not only aims to meet the requirements of the SBV but more importantly, enhances internal governance, supports business effectively and sustainably, and brings long-term value for shareholders, partners.

On the project implementation between MB and Experian, Le Trung Kien, deputy director of the Safety Policy Department of the State Bank of Vietnam said, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank has been very diligent in carrying out work to implement Basel II in accordance with the roadmap approved by the governor of the SBV. MB implementation of software project credit risk quantification model at this time is perfectly appropriate and this project is an important component in the improvement of risk management capacity, especially credit risk management of the bank.

In time, the quantification of credit risk will be required by the SBV in risk management. I believe that the success of this project will bring about breakthroughs in risk management in general and credit risk management in particular, he said.

Military Bank is one of the top banks in Vietnam and among the 10 that will be embarking in implementing international best practice standards and Basel II accreditation by 2020. It is an extremely important process to help foster investor confidence and ensure alignment with global standards but it will be a long and demanding journey, said Nick Boyle, Experian's Southeast Asia executive director at the signing ceremony. Experian is proud to partner with Military Bank in this process, and we will work together to provide a strong and tested risk management methodology in compliance with Basel II accreditation, and which will help drive automated credit behaviour in Vietnam.

With the determination to successfully launch Basel II, MB has been perfecting the management model by strongly applying international norms and practices to change the business approach towards risk-based business decision making in areas such as operational management, risk management model, risk management policy framework to the measurement tools, and effective risk management.

This credit risk software implementation is one of the most important and strategically important projects for the bank in the period 2017-2021, under the motto Innovation, Cooperation, Modernisation and Sustainable Development.

Established in 1994, after nearly 23 years of development and development, MB is one of the leading banks in Vietnam. As of December 31, 2016, MB has a network of over 269 transaction points in key provinces and cities, two foreign branches in Laos and Cambodia, and one representative office in the Russian Federation. MB has affirmed its brand name, prestige in the financial services industry (banking, insurance, securities, fund management, asset management, asset management). It also provides diversified service and product activities on the basis of superior risk management and modern IT infrastructure.

Experian is the worlds leading global information services company. It has 17,000 people operating across 37 countries and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Nguyen Xuan Duong, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments (MARDs) Animal Husbandry Department:

Nguyen Xuan Duong

It can be said that there are many factors leading to the current crisis in the pig-farming industry. However, the underlying cause is the ideology of small-scale production, mainly among the animal husbandry households.

A crucial factor is that Vietnamese pig farmers look solely at the Chinese market which accepts pigs weighing more than 120kg, bringing large benefits to the farmers. So when the Chinese halt purchases, the breeders face difficulties in exporting to other markets or even ensuring local consumption.

Even pig exports have been hit due to various challenges in recent years, but the farmers have not reduced the size of their herds, leading to an oversupply problem.

The pig-raising households assume the problem will never happen to them, even though they were warned by MARD after they produced an oversupply in the last few years.

Another issue is that we are unable to expand to other foreign markets for export.

Pigs account for 70 per cent of the animal husbandry structure in Viet Nam, while pork accounts for 70 per cent of food consumption among the Vietnamese. Meanwhile, investment in pigs is typically high. For example, a sow is priced at between VN15 and VN30 million (between US$700 and $1,400) and the length of productive sow life is three years.

Due to the long pig cycle, it is difficult to recover in the livestock industry, which can lead to a shortage of pork in the future.

In terms of solutions, MARD is applying several measures to curb the current oversupply. The ministry has instructed localities across the country to review pig-farming planning to meet the demand and potential of each region, asking them to not issue licences for new animal-feed procession facilities as the current production is 31 million tonnes per year, far higher than the target of 25 million tonnes by 2025.

Another radical solution is to enhance the establishment of links between farmers, co-operatives and enterprises. If these links are strengthened, food hygiene and safety can be controlled, while the demand and supply of pork can be adjusted.

Additionally, the husbandary sector in many other countries handle oversupply issues by maintaining vast cold storage units, but Viet Nam only relies on the cold storage units held by each enterprise. Recently, MARDs minister, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, asked all cities and provinces to persuade pig slaughterhouses and processors to keep buying pigs and keep them in cold storage or process the meat.

Under the current situation, enterprises should also prepare for the potential pork market that will arise for lunar New Year (Tet) 2018, as the farmers may thin their pig herds, leading to a decline in supply during Tet.

Further, this month, MARD will send a working team to China to discuss the export quota of Vietnamese agricultural products, including pigs and pork. Since late last year, we have been working with the Chinese side to enhance the consumption of agricultural products between the two countries. However, more time is needed to reach an agreement on the export quota as Chinas demands for hygiene and quality follow international standards.

Long-term solutions involve plans to reduce the livestock inventory from the current 4.2 million sows to three million by 2019 and call on breeders to raise pigs that generate high yield or special ones that suit certain groups of customers.

Tran Duy Khanh, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of Viet Nam Poultry Association:

Tran Duy Khanh

The precipitous drop in the price of live pigs shows that the supply is greater than the demand. In my opinion, the industry is facing this oversupply mainly due to the lack of a long-term production plan from the management agency. MARD has been urging the farmers to apply the latest production technology, while consumption has been assigned to the Ministry of Trade. In other words, the input and output of the industry are managed by two different ministries, which lead the households and enterprises to adjust their production by themselves.

I think the State needs to support farmers in finding new markets, as I have already mentioned that we lack market regulation by the State. That is why the price last month was VN15,000-25,000 (between $0.7 and $1.1) per live pig, while pork was sold for between VN80,000 and VND90,000 per kilogramme.

The live pig price has fallen from its earlier price of VN31,000-33,000 per kilogramme before Tet and from VN43,000-45,000 per kilogramme one year ago, while the production cost is VN37,000 per kilogramme.

Ta Van Tuong, Director of Ha Noi Animal Husbandry Development Centre:

Ta Van Tuong

Much has been done to establish the supply chain link in the livestock industry to sell hygienic foods with traceable origins to help the farmers and bring products to consumers. We now have nine links for pork, selling dozens of tonnes of pork every day.

Thanks to the link between the farmers and the retail network, many unnecessary intermediaries have been eliminated.

Additionally, I think cold storage is very important for resolving the oversupply situation. Our centre has called on chain enterprises to introduce the products of chilled meat and frozen meat to customers.

The centre has also introduced the products from its chain to various supermarkets, street stores, canteens and food processors to find the right outlet for the farming households.

We consider this a revolution because if we can eradicate the situation of consuming pigs slaughtered daily, the animal husbandry industry will not suffer from the pressure of providing minor outlets for the traders. Instead, farmers will have the right conditions for applying technology in raising pigs, improvements in the quality and quantity of their products, and reduced costs. This is also an important condition for organising high-tech farming, as other developed nations supply their customers a variety of high-quality products.
On April 27, Sajjan Jindal, who is brother of steel tycoon Naveen Jindal and managing director of the JSW Steel, had met with Nawaz Sharif at his Murree's residence in what was then described as a secret meeting.

By Santosh Chaubey: According to media reports in Pakistan quoting a BBC Urdu report, its civilian government has briefed the Pakistan army about recent meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Indian businessman Sajjan Jindal terming it a part of 'back channel diplomacy'.

According to a Geo News report quoting the BBC Urdu report, Nawaz Sharif had recently met Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa to take him into confidence over the meet. The report also claims that Jindal's visit and his meeting with Nawaz Sharif was initiated by India to reduced tension between two countries. After Sharif met Bajwa with his explanation, the Pakistan army chief took other army commanders into confidence over the high profile visit.

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On April 27, Sajjan Jindal, who is brother of steel tycoon Naveen Jindal and managing director of the JSW Steel, had met with Nawaz Sharif at his Murree's residence in what was then described as a secret meeting. The meeting had created a ripple in Pakistan's politics with Nawaz Sharif's political opposition raising fingers over the visit at a time when relations between two nations were low historically. The meeting was also widely reported in India, as it came in the aftermath of Pakistan's sham trial giving death sentence to an innocent Indian Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The Pakistan foreign office had then adopted silence over it while Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif had tweeted to say that his father and Mr. Jindal were old friends and the meeting should not be blown out of proportion.

Mr. Jindal is an old friend of the Prime Minister. Nothing 'secret' about the meeting & should not be blown out of proportion. Thank you. Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 27, 2017

According to The News International, "Nawaz Sharif was tight-lipped on the meeting. However, the only detail of the meeting he shared with his aides was that Jindal was making efforts to defuse tension between India and Pakistan."

Sajjan Jindal is a common friend of Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif and is thought to act as an interlocutor between the two.

And if we talk of back-channel diplomacy between India and Pakistan, as recently as yesterday, Nawaz Sharif's advisor Sartaj Aziz said a meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi was possible when they would be in Kazakhstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit on June 23-14, even if he added that "Pakistan could consider the meeting, if interest was shown from the other side (India)", as a report in The Nation said.

Also Read:

Pakistan military finally accepts Dawn leaks inquiry committee report, withdraws its earlier tweet

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Prime Minister Hun Sen has said that a Cambodian peacekeeper with the United Nations force in the Central African Republic was killed and three others are missing.

The soldiers were ambushed while on patrol in the war-torn country along with several Moroccan troops, he said.

They were attacked by guerrilla forces. One Cambodian soldier was killed and three are missing in action, Hun Sen said.

The premier appealed to the United States to do all it can to ensure the missing soldiers were returned to their families and urged the body to satisfy any ransom demands made by the soldiers kidnappers.

Hun Sen said an operation was underway to locate the missing servicemen.

As of now, the question is whether they are still alive and on the run ... or if they are captured as prisoners of war or hostages. If they are captured, for any exchanges, I request the U.S., which is responsible for this, to pay serious attention to save the lives of Cambodian soldiers as well as Moroccan solders, he said.

He speculated that the attack was an attempt to free a number of militia fighters detained by the U.N. troops and suggested a prisoner exchange could take place.

He identified the soldier who was killed as Im Sam, a driver from Siem Reap.

Media reports on Tuesday suggested that Sam may have been beheaded by the attackers.

Pol Ham, vice president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party and former soldier, said: The UN mission in Cambodia as peacekeeping forces  not fighting forces  still faced danger.

Cambodia has sent more than 3,500 peacekeepers on U.N. missions in Africa and the Middle East over the past 10 years.
Congress has zeroed-in on few issues that party will raise during its campaign on completion of three years of Modi government.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: While NDA government plans a grand celebration for completion of three years, the principal Opposition party Congress has planned a counter.

Congress party's communication department head Randeep Surjewala while talking to India Today said, "After three years, BJP should look beyond hyperbole and rhetoric. What has country achieved in last three years? BJP should tell."

Congress has zeroed-in on few issues that party will raise during its campaign on completion of three years of Modi government.

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Surjewala listed few issues that party will raise during its campaign: Do we have more jobs or do we have any jobs for young? Are farmers not committing suicide in larger numbers and not getting proper remuneration for their produce? Are women safe in India? Are Dalits not getting persecuted? Is not the economy in doldrums? Is manufacturing still not where it used to be? Ease of business hasn't picked up.

"So where has the government progressed? It is our bound duty to point out these facts and place them before public," Surjewala added.

Counter campaign:

"Congress may not have Rs 2,500 crore advertisement blitz which BJP plans to do. Spending public exchequer 's money but we will counter it," the party's chief spokesperson Surjewala added.

He listed the Congress party's counter campaign features:

Congress party will go to every doorstep and inform people about NDA government's schemes getting failed. Party's leaders will hold special press conferences across the country. To run a campaign on all social media platforms. Some of the senior leaders, former ministers might write articles in leading newspapers/ Magazines. Also read: MODI - Maker Of Developed India - festival to celebrate government's 3rd anniversary Govt should take off its bangles, act against Pak: Cong

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In a country known for its political patronage networks, volunteering for a demotion is rare. But Moeung Visalsok, 46, a ruling Cambodian Peoples Party district council member in Kampong Chhnang province, is doing just that.

He says he will shortly leave his post to contest the Kdol Snechey commune constituency in a bid to stop the swing seat going to the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which is fielding a popular, yet inexperienced local candidate.

Visalsok says he wants to play off of his reputation in the area as a trustworthy politician to ensure the commune does not elect an opposition candidate at the polls on June 4.

If I dont stand, I am afraid that the party will not win. I am afraid, that is why I stand, he said. I think that if I am still the district council, I cant help people directly. If am here, I will be truly able to help people, he added.

He says the current commune chief, Kong Sam Im, has gained a bad reputation and would jeopardize the CPPs chances if he stood again. I see that the current commune chief does not lead very well. I always keep in mind that if the commune chief leads well already, I wont stand, he said.

Kdol Senchey is a new commune, having only been created last year when the neighboring Kraing Skea commune was divided. It has five council seats, where six parties will compete for votes from about 3,000 constituents.

Visalsok claims to have spent nearly eight years as a councilor working to improve the lives of the poor and disadvantaged. He says he helped build schools, pagodas and hospitals, which increased his popularity among locals.

He has pledged that if he is elected, he will donate some of his $220 monthly salary to help the poor as his wife runs a successful grocery business.

My wife can support me ... she can pay for my gasoline, he said, adding that he would seek to rebuild roads, irrigation systems and increase tourism if elected.

However, Chhoeun Khim, 47, the opposition candidate, said locals were tired of broken promises from the ruling party, which he said was widely seen as corrupt, adding that people need a change of the whole government and commune chiefs.

He said people were likely to vote in increasing numbers for the CNRP following its pledge to increase communes annual budgets to $500,000. I promise that I will be a good commune chief who serves the people first and will not be involved in corruption, he added.

The CPP candidate is richer than me and he is also in the district council. I am not worried since I have the will and intention to truly serve people. If I win, I will not commit corruption and take any money from people, he said.

Khims policy platform includes increased health care services, natural resources protection and a focus on combating crime.

But it appears Visalsoks strategy of heading off a CPP route at the ballot box may be working. Many in the commune who spoke to VOA Khmer were unfamiliar with Khim, saying they would vote for Visalsok as they recognized him from his duties in the district council.

Ourm Sina, 28, a street food seller, said while she wanted to change the commune chief and would not have supported Sam Im running for another term, she would be voting for Visalsok.

Most of the people in this commune will vote for the CPP. I have wanted change for a long time, she said.

Another villager, Lout Noeuy, 65, said she would also vote for Visalsok as he had personally provided rice and other support to her and her friends in the past.

He is good at his work because he always helps poor people. So I have to vote for him.

Many blame the incumbent, Sam Im, for their woes. He admitted that his time in office had had both good and bad points.

I am not perfect. I have loopholes, he said, but blamed low funding for a lack of progress during his tenure.

Khim does have support in the communes downtown areas, however, where Thai Channy, 37, says she will lend him her vote if he can rebuild the areas crumbling infrastructure.

He [Khim] helps people and never mistreats anyone. I will definitely vote for him, she says.
Civil society groups have called on the government to amend Cambodias domestic violence law, saying authorities have failed to protect victims rights since its passage in 2005.

Since 2014, local rights group Licadho has recorded more than 400 cases of domestic violence, which have led to 40 deaths.

The Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence was drafted in the mid-1990s and finally passed in 2005. But advocacy groups say the law has not gone far enough.

A group of NGOs has since 2013 been reviewing the legislation, which led to a study produced by one of the groups, Gadnet, in collaboration with Royal Holloway University, London, which found that the law failed to cover all aspects of domestic violence.

Ros Sopheap, head of Gadnets general secretariat, said that both cultural norms and political factors were at play.

She said nearly all articles in the law placed the burden on the victims and did not adequately punish perpetrators.

This law can not be implemented since we see that there is discussion with victims, legal experts and the men who work in the communities. They raised some issues suggesting that the law could not be implemented.

Last week, more than 60 NGOs met to discuss a draft of proposed changes to be sent to the government. According to the draft, despite a pledge to review the national action plan to combat violence against women, no such review has taken place.

[E]ven after 12 years it [the law] is rarely implemented fully and many people, including police and local authorities do not understand it well, the concept note reads.

Most authorities consider it necessary to act only in serious cases, which they choose to define as maiming or death because the law itself does not provide guidance, it continues.

Pung Chhiv Kek, chair of the committee reviewing the law, said it was dated and lacked social context.

I think the law is still not fully completed as we see that some men and women do not marry and they live separately, so we also want the law to cover these people, she said.

She added that the law is also not suited to dealing with violence in same-sex relationships. Were worried that those who execute the law think its not stipulated by law so wont execute it, she said.

We hope that the government will accept our request, pay attention on our suggestion, and send this law to the national assembly to be amended as we request.

A womans affairs spokeswoman declined to comment on specifics, saying only that the government was open to minor amendments to the law.

Overall, Licadho reports of domestic violence incidents have declined since a high of 163 in 2014, to 125 last year. However, more of the incidents led to deaths in 2016 -- 11 compared to eight in 2014.
President Donald Trump Wednesday defended his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, a move that has set off a political firestorm in Washington. Even as Trump and others in his administration defended the action, opposition Democrats demanded a special counsel be appointed to lead an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during last years U.S. presidential election. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has the latest from Washington.
The acting head of the FBI said President Donald Trumps firing of former agency director James Comey has had no impact on an ongoing Russia investigation, but declined to comment on an eye-popping claim the president made in a letter notifying Comey of his dismissal.

The world of the men and women of the FBI continues despite any changes in circumstances, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday. There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date.

Several senators asked McCabe if he could confirm or deny Trumps assertion that Comey had informed the president on three separate occasions that he is not under investigation by the Department of Justice, which is conducting a probe of Russian meddling in last years U.S. presidential election. McCabe steadfastly declined to do so.

I cant comment on any conversations the director [Comey] may have had with the president, McCabe said. McCabe, however, dismissed White House assertions that Comey had lost the confidence of his peers within the FBI.



"I can tell you also that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day. We are a large organization," McCabe said. "I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority of FBI employees, enjoy a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.

WATCH: McCabe on support for Comey within FBI



Comeys dismissal Tuesday continued to reverberate on Capitol Hill and beyond. The Senate Intelligence Committees top Democrat, Mark Warner of Virginia, noted that Comey had been expected to testify at Thursdays hearing.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the presidents decision to remove Director Comey was related to this investigation [of Russian meddling]. And that is unacceptable, Warner said. President Trumps actions this week cost us an opportunity to get at the truth  at least for today.

Director Comey should be here this morning, testifying to the American people about where the investigation hes been running stands, said another Democrat, Ron Wyden of Oregon.

The committees chairman, Republican Richard Burr of North Carolina, asked McCabe about the presidents letter to Comey but did not comment on the dismissal or the resulting furor engulfing the administration. Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Burr said he found it difficult to understand the timing of the FBI directors firing, but noted that Trump had full authority to do so.

Comey has been invited to speak with the committee behind closed doors next week.

Flynn subpoenaed



In addition, the committee has subpoenaed President Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, for documents pertaining to the Russia probe. In a statement, Burr and Warner said the committee first requested the documents in a letter to Flynn last month, but that Flynn declined to cooperate.

Flynn was dismissed in February amid media reports that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with Russias ambassador to the United States.

On Monday, former acting attorney general Sally Yates told a Senate panel she met twice with senior White House staff in late January to inform them of Flynns deception and warn that he could be subject to blackmail by Russia.

At Thursdays Intelligence Committee hearing, Wyden asked CIA Director Mike Pompeo if he was aware of the Justice Departments concerns about Flynn in the early weeks of the Trump administration.

I have no firsthand information with respect to the warning that was given. She [Yates] did not make that warning to me, Pompeo replied.
Afghanistans ambassador to Pakistan has accused the neighboring country of contributing to the continuous violence in his war-ravaged nation by not cutting ties to the Taliban.

Omar Zakhilwal told an international conference in Islamabad Thursday that neighboring and regional countries need to create a broader consensus to help end hostilities in Afghanistan and promote political reconciliation there.

We do not believe that Pakistan has yet given up on strategic depth in Afghanistan, unfortunately. Despite the rhetoric, we do not believe that it has changed its policy. They contribute to the continuous violence in Afghanistan, the ambassador asserted.

Islamabad has long been accused of supporting the Taliban and harboring leaders of the Haqqani network in a bid to gain an upper hand over security and political developments in Kabul so it could counter rival Indias growing influence there.

The so-called policy of strategic depth in Afghanistan has been at the center of Kabul's political tensions with Islamabad.

Taliban could not [have] come back at the strength they are without support from here [Pakistan], Zakhilwal said.

Pakistani officials, however, dismiss the charges as mere perceptions and say their contacts with the Taliban are meant only to encourage them to end violence and join peace talks.

During his visit to Afghanistan last month, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster also called on Islamabad to rethink its policy toward the neighboring country.

The best way to pursue their interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through diplomacy, not through the use of proxies that engage in violence, McMaster said.

Zakhilwal Thursday also sounded skeptical about a Russia-led multi-nation process aimed at promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Even though we do participate [in it], there are suspicions with respect to the motives, with respect to the recent contacts [with the Taliban] and those need to be addressed, Zakhilwal noted. He was indirectly referring to overt contacts Russia and Iran have maintained with the Taliban.

The ambassador went on to suggest that unless prevailing doubts and suspicions are removed, Moscow-led efforts many not be effective even if primary stakeholders are participating in them.

Russia has hosted three meetings of Afghanistans immediate and far neighbors since December 2016 to try to find ways to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table for talks with the Afghan government.

Pakistan, Iran, China, India and former Soviet Central Asian states, as well as Afghanistan, are part of the process.

But the U.S. administration refused to attend when Moscow invited it to the last meeting in April, saying it was not given enough time and Washington was unclear about the motives.

The U.S. military alleges Russias stepped up Afghan diplomacy is meant to undermine international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. Russian leaders have rejected the charges as groundless.
The foreign ministers of the eight Arctic Council nations will meet to discuss climate change this week, amid news last month that temperatures in the pristine region are warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world.

A high-level meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his counterparts from Russia, Greenland, Canada, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland begins Thursday in Fairbanks.

As Tillerson joins the talks, the Trump administration has not yet decided whether to remain a party to the 2015 U.N. Paris Agreement on responding to climate change.

Watch: Alaskan Natives Look to Arctic Council to Preserve Waters, Way of Life

Any changes to U.S. climate policy would directly affect the lives of Alaska Natives, who depend on the Arctic Sea to survive.

In recent reports, scientists said the temperatures in the Arctic were warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, sea ice was at record lows and permafrost was thawing.

If current warming rates hold, the world could see an ice-free Arctic by 2040, researchers said.

Worrisome

The studies have alarmed Alaska Natives.

Gabe Tegoseak spoke to VOA about growing up in an Inuit household.

"To put that in perspective, I grew up with no running water most of my life," Tegoseak said. "A very old-school tradition, my parents they favored it that way and it humbles me.

"I had to walk to a freshwater lake, break some ice on my sled  and this is a wooden sled I used to pull around and break it up  and then bring it home, and that was our drinking water, this big block of ice," he said.

As the ice block melted, Tegoseak's family first used it for drinking water, then to wash their faces and bodies, and then to clean the floor, not wasting a drop, he said.

Many people in Alaska, including indigenous people, depend on the oil and gas industry for a paycheck, he told VOA. But he said he thought an executive order signed this month by President Donald Trump to reverse Obama administration policy and open up Arctic waters to drilling was shortsighted.

"We're trading our rights and our ability to subsistence hunt and live traditionally, which is over 10,000-plus years old, for a cash economy, which [is a] different mindset. So when we catch a whale, for instance, we share it all," Tegoseak said.

"Our view is that everybody gets to [have] a piece of whale, and it doesn't matter, creed or color. Everybody gets a fair share," he stressed.

Tegoseak said he had asked many Alaska Natives on the North Slope about what they'd do if they had to choose between having their beloved whale meat, called muktuk, or an iPad. They responded that they'd choose muktuk, he said.

Seen as shortsighted

Many environmental experts agree that drilling in the Arctic is risky and shortsighted, including Sally Yozell of the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan research center in Washington.

"I think it's rather shortsighted for a number of reasons. You know the Arctic waters are cold, and it's hard to  we have not figured out yet how to address an oil or gas calamity up there at all. I mean, the cold water, all one has to do to is to have witnessed what happened with the Exxon Valdez many years ago to see that that oil stayed in those waters for 20 years," Yozell said.

The Valdez tanker struck a reef in Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. Nearly 11 million gallons of oil was spilled.

Experts said the accelerated melting of Arctic Sea ice will most likely lead to more shipping, drilling and other economic activity in the region.

Mark Royce of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship told VOA he was concerned.

"Unfortunately, the retreating ice, the diminution of the perpetual winters there, and the warming of their environment is giving rise to still more steam for plans for rapacious exploration and exploitative development," Royce said. "It's a vicious cycle. But what we're seeing in the Arctic, in the very seas around Alaska, presents just a particularly virulent form of this at a crucial time."

Tillerson's remarks will most likely be followed closely by the other seven Arctic Council partners, who want to make climate change a focus of the final statement when the meeting concludes Thursday.
An American-born al-Qaida member turned informant will be freed from federal prison after providing valuable information to U.S. authorities.

A federal judge in New York sentenced Bryant Neal Vinas on Thursday to the time he has already served  more than eight years  plus three months. The 34-year-old native New Yorker will be on probation for the rest of his life.

"To say that the defendant provided substantial assistance to the government is an understatement," prosecutors wrote in court filings. "He may have been the single most valuable cooperating witness" in several al-Qaida-related cases.

The information Vinas provided about al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan helped identify suspected terrorists, their hideouts and disrupted plots.

Vinas was in the U.S. Army for a few weeks in 2002, two years before he converted to Islam. He traveled to a lawless part of Pakistan in 2007 and signed on with militant groups, since he had become "increasingly angered by what he perceived to be the persecution of Muslims by Western countries," his lawyers wrote in court papers quoted by The Associated Press.

After briefly being considered as a suicide bomber by a splinter extremist group in North Waziristan, Vinas joined al-Qaida, the terrorist group responsible for the 2001 attacks on the United States. He was captured by Pakistani authorities in 2008, who turned him over to the United States, and he quickly became a willing informant.

Vinas admitted taking part in a rocket attack on U.S. soldiers across the border in Afghanistan, and prosecutors said al-Qaida leaders used his knowledge of New York City to plot an attack on the Long Island Rail Road. The plan to detonate a bomb as a train traveled through a tunnel beneath a river was never carried out.

Much of what Vinas told U.S. intelligence about al-Qaida remains secret, but his testimony as a witness helped convict three terror suspects who plotted to bomb the New York City subway in 2009, U.S. officials said.

Defense attorneys said Vinas "will spend the rest of his life with a target on his back" as a result of information he divulged about terrorist activities. Prosecutors agreed his cooperation put his life at risk, and they asked the judge to reward him with a minimal sentence. They added, however, that Vinas still needs supervision, mental health care and vocational training.
A new prime minister of the Bahamas was to be sworn in Thursday after the opposition won a sweeping victory over the ruling party in the island chain.



Hubert Minnis of the Free National Movement would lead the country with 34 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly, according to unofficial returns from the election a day earlier. Prime Minister Perry Christie of the Progressive Liberal Party conceded defeat as results were still being tabulated and certified from the far-flung islands that make up the country of nearly 400,000 people.



"My colleagues and I in the Free National Movement have been given the solemn responsibility to form the next government of the Bahamas," Minnis told jubilant supporters at a victory rally. "We have been given a mandate for change."



Christie and his Progressive Liberal Party have been in power since 2012. The party struggled with public anger over rising crime, a sluggish economy and allegations of corruption involving the construction of a new mega resort on the most populated island of New Providence.
Buddhists across Asia commemorated the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha in Vesak celebrations this week.

This year, the United Nations held its special Vesak Day celebrations in Sri Lanka, where a colorful lantern festival was organized with moving light displays and stalls to hand out free food and drinks to visitors.

"This has given the opportunity not only to Buddhists but all the people of the country to showcase how we celebrate Vesak in this country," said Jagath Sumathipala, vice president of the World Buddhist Congress.

In other countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Nepal, Buddhists lit candles and butter lamps while offering prayers at temples and shrines.

In Singapore, monks and devotees took part in a procession in which they prostrated themselves on the ground after every three steps. In India, people dipped themselves in the Ganges River.
Bulgaria is seeking private investors to build a nuclear power plant on the Danube River, which was canceled five years ago, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Sofia canceled the Belene project in 2012 after failing to find foreign investors and facing pressure from Brussels and Washington to limit its energy dependence on Russia.

Since then Bulgaria has opened a gas link with neighboring Romania and is working to connect its gas network with neighboring Greece, Turkey and Serbia to diversify its suppliers.

It hopes to privatize the nuclear plant project after it paid more than 600 million euros ($652 million) in compensation to Russia's state nuclear giant Rosatom when it canceled the 10 billion euro project. Rosatom had agreed to provide the nuclear reactors.

Bulgarian authorities have already said that Belene could be built without state guarantees or obligatory long-term contracts for the government to purchase power from it.

"Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said the government is looking for a strategic private investor to develop the project," the government's press office said in a statement.

In December, the Bulgarian government said that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's biggest lender by assets, was ready to finance the Belene nuclear power project. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has also expressed an interest in investing in the project.

During their phone call, Borisov and Putin also underlined their mutual interest in the construction of the natural gas hub on Bulgarian territory, the government's press office said.

Plans for a hub at the Black Sea port of Varna, which would store and transport gas from Russia and the Caspian Sea to southeastern and central Europe, follow the cancellation of Russian gas giant Gazprom's South Stream gas pipeline project, which would have shipped Russian gas under the Black Sea via Bulgaria to central Europe.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) Vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya have started spreading in the city and the steps taken by the authorities to contain the menace are a mere "formality", the National Green Tribunal today said.

Unhappy with the situation, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar appointed 10 local commissioners to inspect different places in the city under each municipal corporation and report it about the problem persisting on the ground.

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"We appoint local commissioners to inspect areas under the jurisdiction of all the municipal corporations and the Delhi Cantonment Board. They shall submit a complete and comprehensive report to show places of waterlogging and dumping of municipal solid waste," the bench said.

The tribunal also asked them to submit report on mechanism adopted for dumping of municipal solid waste in unauthorised colonies and inform it whether sites for fumigation have been identified or not.

The NGT said that each local commissioner would be accompanied by an officer of the municipal corporation concerned and directed the police to provide security to them.

It also fixed a renumeration of Rs 15,000 which would be paid to the local commissioners by the municipal corporation and Delhi Cantonment Board.

The apex environment watchdog also refused to agree with the submissions made by various civic bodies that dengue patients were mainly outsiders and sufficient precautions have been taken to handle the situation.

Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, who appeared for the petitioner Mahendra Pandey in the case, strongly opposed the submission and said that all the authorities have completely failed to discharge their duties.

The NGT directed the Delhi Cantonment Board to sort out the waste at the source itself and transport it to the dumping sites at Bawana waste processing plant after segregation.

The tribunal had earlier hit out at Delhi government, civic bodies and other public authorities for making "unbelievable" claims and "vague statements" regarding steps to tackle diseases like dengue and chikungunya.

It had said the right to clean, decent environment and public health was a fundamental right and financial limitations should not come in the way of providing good health and environment to the people.

While issuing a slew of directions, the bench had constituted a Principal Committee headed by the Chief Secretary of Delhi Government and comprising Commissioners of all corporations, Vice Chairman of DDA, Head of the Cantonment Board, New Delhi Municipal Council, Principal Secretary of Health and Director General of Health Services of Delhi Government as members to deal with the menace of these vector-borne diseases.

The bench was hearing a petition by former scientist of Central Pollution Control Board Mahendra Pandey for issuance of directions and setting up of committees to implement precautionary, preventive and curative actions to ensure that the residents of Delhi are not exposed to Dengue, Chikungunya and other allied diseases.

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The plea had also sought direction to authorities not to undertake outdoor thermal fogging to control dengue, alleging it was anti-environment and caused air pollution. PTI PKS RT

--- ENDS ---
China's President Xi Jinping initiated the ambitious Belt and Road development plan but it has become a world plan not tied to his presidency, the Commerce Ministry said Wednesday, days before Xi hosts a global forum on the initiative.

The forum in Beijing next week will draw heads of state to discuss Xi's plan to expand trade links between Asia, Africa and Europe through billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.

Representatives from more than 100 countries will attend China's biggest diplomatic event of the year, though only one leader from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, is set to join.

China says that between 2014 and 2016, its businesses signed projects worth $304.9 billion along inland and maritime corridors of the plan, also known as the New Silk Road. But some of the projects could be in development for years.

Judging by recent precedent in China's political system, Xi is slated to step down from the presidency in early 2023 at the end of his second five-year term.

Asked what guarantee the world had that the initiative would go on after Xi's second term, Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming told a news briefing that its vitality lay in countries' hopes for development and not in the idea of "who proposed it or what term in office there is later."

"The Belt and Road initiative was proposed by President Xi in 2013, but this initiative is not an individual proposal, or merely left at a proposal level. Rather it is an initiative that has been widely received by the whole world. It is jointly owned by everyone," Qian said.

China has repeatedly rebuffed concern that the plan is part of a grand strategy to expand its economic interests for selfish gain and to seek global dominance, saying that anyone can join the plan to boost common prosperity.

Xi has used the initiative to help portray China as an open economy, distinct from a rising wave of global protectionism.

However, the government has faced criticism from foreign business groups and governments alike, who say it has done little to remove discriminatory policies and market barriers that favor Chinese companies.

Foreign business groups have questioned whether multinational companies would be able to compete with Chinese firms through the plan in transparent bidding processes.

Zhang Xingfu, an official from the Commerce Ministry's cooperation department, played down such concerns.

"Chinese enterprises conducting investment and cooperative business in countries along the Belt and Road initiative will ... actively participate in project bidding, and cooperate and compete with international enterprises in the same industries on the same platform," Zhang said.
Former colleagues of Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Wednesday he should recuse himself from investigations into Russian meddling in U.S. elections and instead appoint a special prosecutor after President Donald Trump abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday.

Can he do an impartial job of the investigation? Perhaps. But the credibility is now lost and I dont think the Department of Justice can conduct this investigation without hiring outside counsel, said Doug Gansler, a former Maryland Attorney General who supported Rosensteins selection to the No. 2 post at Justice.

Rory Little, a former associate deputy attorney general who has known Rosenstein since the 1990s and also backed his nomination, said it is entirely likely Rosenstein will appoint a special prosecutor.

If he appoints, he takes the heat off of himself and off of the Department of Justice, Little said.

Rosenstein, who started on the job just two weeks ago, wrote a memo harshly critical of Comey that President Donald Trump and aides cited as justification for dismissing the FBI director.

The move ignited a political furor, with Democrats and other Trump critics suggesting that it was designed to impede the FBIs investigation and questions about whether Trumps campaign colluded with the Russians.

Trump has derided the notion as fake news.

Special prosecutor

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has already recused himself from involvement in the Russia probe after failing to disclose, during his Senate confirmation hearing, meetings with Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to Washington.

Rosenstein has the authority to name a special prosecutor if he chooses. During his own confirmation hearing in March, Rosenstein said would be willing to do so whenever I determine it is appropriate.

The White House opposes the idea. But Little said, I know Rod Rosenstein well enough to know that if he thinks its the right thing to do and the president says, If you do that, Ill fire you, hell resign.

Little and others have praised Rosenstein, a 52-year-old career prosecutor, for impartiality and independence. But his memo faulting Comeys oversight of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clintons emails has raised new questions about partisanship.

In the three-page memo, Rosenstein said Comey was wrong to usurp the attorney generals authority when he announced last July that Clinton would not face criminal charges over her use of a private email server and later held a press conference about his findings.

While Rosenstein carefully avoided calling for Comeys dismissal, Trump said in a statement on Tuesday that he dismissed Comey on the clear recommendations of both Rosenstein and Sessions.

Impartiality

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House deputy press secretary, said Wednesday that Rosenstein and Sessions had raised concerns about Comey during a meeting with Trump on Monday and that Trump asked them to put their recommendations in writing.

The Washington Post reported that Trump directed Sessions and Rosenstein to make the case against Comey, and that Rosenstein later threatened to resign after the White House cast the president's dismissal of Comey largely on Rosenstein's recommendation.

Little said that while he did not think the memo compromised Rosensteins ability to conduct an independent investigation, it made political sense for him to recuse himself.

I dont know if Rosenstein will appoint a special counsel or not, but if he does, its actually a healthy move for the Department of Justice, because it takes the focus off the Department of Justice and puts it on the special counsel, Little said.

John Hudak, an expert with the Brookings Institute in Washington, said any indication that Rosenstein wrote the memo to furnish Trump with a reason to fire Comey calls into question Rosensteins impartiality.

The allegations about Comeys handling of the Clinton email server investigation were long known, raising questions about the timing of the FBI directors dismissal. While Trump questioned Comey's July announcement not to bring charges against Clinton, he later praised the former FBI director for briefly reopening his investigation just days before the November 8 election.

The president of the United States could have dismissed Director Comey on Jan. 20 as part of a normal transition, Hudak said. Instead, he waited until the (FBI) investigation into his campaign heated up.

CNN reported on Monday that federal prosecutors have subpoenaed associates of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as part of its Russia investigation.

The New York Times and The Washington Post each reported Tuesday that, shortly after Rosenstein was sworn in as the deputy attorney general, Comey had asked the Department of Justice for more resources for the Russia investigation.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

Gansler said it appears that the moment Trump found out that Comey had escalated the investigation was the moment that he fired the very man investigating him.

But Huckabee told reporters at the White House briefing that Trump had been contemplating firing Comey ever since the Nov. 8 election. He wanted to give Director Comey a chance, Huckabee said.

Little said that Comeys firing may have slowed down the Russia investigation, but its unlikely to stop it.

When Richard Nixon fired people who were getting close to Watergate, it simply intensified the focus on that investigation, Little said. I think thats what youre going to see here.
For weeks, President Donald Trump had been seething.

The swirling questions about possible contacts between his presidential campaign team and Russia just wouldn't stop, and he felt it was overshadowing his early achievements.



Who was to blame? In Trump's view, FBI Director James Comey.



Comey had allowed the bureau's investigation to play out in the press, the president told those close to him, and hadn't done enough to stop leaks about it.



Those simmering frustrations, described by people with knowledge of the president's conversations, culminated with Trump's surprise announcement late Tuesday that he was firing Comey. The people recounting the behind-the-scenes activity spoke only on condition of anonymity to disclose private discussions.



White House officials offered a somewhat different version Wednesday of how Trump came to fire Comey, casting his decision as one that reflected an "erosion of confidence" that had long been in the making.



"Frankly, he'd been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. She also expressed the White House hope that the Russia investigation would wrap soon. "We'd love for that to be completed so that we can all move on."



But for weeks, the Russia investigation has not appeared to be going away.



Comey confirmed in March that the FBI was looking into possible coordination between the Russians and Trump associates. As Trump's presidency hit its 100-day mark, reporters were still asking questions.



Just last week, Comey answered more questions about it at hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. That testimony  during which Comey noted he felt "mildly nauseous" at the thought that his actions in the Hillary Clinton email case influenced the election  made Trump increasingly convinced he wanted Comey gone, according to a White House official.



That's around the time Comey was asking the Justice Department for more resources to pour into the Russia investigation  an indication the questions will be continuing.



The embattled top lawman told lawmakers he made the request for more help in a meeting with Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general overseeing the Russia probe, according to three U.S. officials. The Justice Department denies there was such a request.



The White House would not say whether Trump knew.



Some allies had been warning Trump since before his inauguration to get rid of Comey, describing him as a Republican who would criticize and do in fellow Republicans, according to one Trump associate.



But a final straw, said Sanders, landed in a Monday meeting among the president, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein, in which the two Justice officials expressed deep concern about Comey's leadership.



They had been at the White House on other business when Trump called them in to talk about Comey and asked, ``So what do you think?'' according to a senior White House official.



The president got an earful, according to Sanders, and told them to put their concerns in writing.



Rosenstein answered with a three-page memo that amounted to a scathing takedown of the FBI director, calling his 2016 disclosures about the bureau's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email server a "textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do."



Around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Trump called a number of legislators, including Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, a fellow New Yorker, to relay the stunning news that he was firing Comey.



"With all due respect, you're making a big mistake," Schumer told Trump.



The president was taken aback, according to a person with knowledge of the call. Apparently the White House had expected Democrats to largely welcome the decision, given their outrage over Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation.



Democrats, though, and even some Republicans are openly skeptical of the notion that Trump decided to fire Comey because of how he'd treated Clinton. They note that Trump last October had publicly praised Comey for having the ``guts'' to raise new questions late in the campaign about Clinton's email situation.



As recently as last week, the White House had said Comey had Trump's confidence.



As for Comey, he was speaking to agents at the FBI's field office in Los Angeles when news of his firing broke.



The White House had a Trump bodyguard deliver a copy of Trump's dismissal letter to the Justice Department and sent Comey an email as well, according to a senior administration official. But it's unclear whether Comey got the word before his ouster was publicly announced.



Television screens in the Los Angeles field office began flashing the news as he spoke, and he initially chuckled. He continued his speech to the agents, finished and headed into an office, according to a law enforcement official who was present.



As commentators on cable TV called Trump's move an abuse of power, the president was startled and infuriated by how his action was being received, according to a person with knowledge of his reaction.



The White House also did not appear to be prepared for the firestorm. Aides scrambled to rush out a statement on Comey's firing. But the White House's email system was running slowly. Journalists raced to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office to confirm the news, prompting him to read the statement out loud before disappearing into his office.



Initial reaction from lawmakers was muted, and the White House appeared inclined to let the day finish without sending the president or top aides on television.



But as the response grew more critical, Trump ordered his press staff to get out and defend him.



A trio of senior aides, including Spicer, hastily headed out for TV interviews on the North Lawn of the White House.



That chore completed, Spicer still had to deal with a horde of other reporters. He took a step out of the White House hedges, where he had been waiting after finishing a TV interview, and demanded that the cameras and their lights be turned off.



At the end of a long day, only the dim lights from reporters' cellphones lit the scene as the White House press secretary spoke, largely in the dark.
U.S. congressional officials say ousted FBI Director James Comey had in the days before his firing asked for more resources for his investigation into Russias involvement in last years U.S. election and possible links between Russia and President Donald Trumps campaign.

The officials said the request was made to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who along with Attorney General Jeff Sessions outlined in memos Tuesday the administrations reasons for ousting Comey.

The Department of Justice denied there was such a request. The outcome and what effect, if any, a request had on Trumps decision to fire Comey are not clear.

The reasons for Comeys dismissal were outlined in two letters written by Sessions and Rosenstein. They essentially accused Comey of taking the law into his own hands.

The Washington Post, citing an anonymous source, reported early Thursday that Rosenstein threatened to resign when he found out the White House was portraying him as the primary person behind the firing of Comey and that the president was merely following his recommendation.

Critics of the FBI directors dismissal say it raises questions about the agencys inquiry.

Career FBI investigators and others at the Justice Department are going to be very interested in seeing that this moves forward to the extent that theres evidence there of any wrongdoing, any connection with Russian involvement, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez told VOA. I would call it a dumb move by the president if he thinks hes going to stop that investigation.

Calls for special prosecutor

Comeys firing has brought demands for a special prosecutor to handle the Russia investigation, especially from Senate Democrats. But House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders are rejecting those calls.

I dont think thats a good idea, Ryan told Fox News Wednesday. He added that the ongoing investigations by the FBI and the intelligence committees in the House and Senate are the way to go.

Ryan also expressed support for the reasoning Trump laid out for firing Comey, saying Republicans, Democrats and the Justice Department had all lost confidence in the FBI chief.

Trump made that case earlier in the day on Twitter, writing that Comey had lost the confidence of everyone in Washington. And in a comment in the Oval Office, Trump said of Comey: He wasnt doing a good job. Very simply.

The FBI director committed atrocities in circumventing the chain of command in the Department of Justice, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the principal deputy White House press secretary, told reporters Wednesday. Any person of legal mind and authority knows what a big deal that is.

Trump has not nominated a replacement to lead the FBI, who will need to be confirmed by the Senate. But he did say in another Twitter message Wednesday that Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI.

The only other FBI director to be fired was William Sessions, who was dismissed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Clinton named a replacement the next day.

Nixonian

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.

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.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said she was incredulous over Trumps firing of Comey, and that the appropriateness and timing of Comeys dismissal could implicate the administration and called for the matter to be addressed.

The Senate intelligence committee Wednesday subpoenaed Mike Flynn, Trumps former national security adviser. The subpoena seeks documents from Flynn related to the panels investigation into Russias meddling in the U.S. election.

Flynns attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment late Wednesday.

In the House, Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the oversight and government reform committee, wrote a letter Wednesday to the FBIs inspector general asking that a review of the agencys actions in relation to the election be expanded to include an investigation of Comeys dismissal.

Congressman Justin Amash, a Republican member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said Tuesday he is reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia.

Amash also termed as bizarre Trumps reference in the termination letter to Comey that the FBI director had assured the president repeatedly that the U.S. leader himself was not under investigation.

It is done

Comey has not publicly addressed his firing, but did send a letter, which was obtained by CNN, to friends and FBI agents.

In the statement, Comey said he did not plan to dwell on Trumps decision to fire him or the way it was executed.

I have long believed that a president can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all, he wrote. ... It is done and I will be fine.

He added that he would miss the FBIs mission deeply.

VOAs Pete Heinlein contributed to this report.
Political acrimony over President Donald Trumps controversial decision to fire FBI Director James Comey is playing into the hands of a longtime U.S. adversary, several current and former U.S. intelligence officials say.

From a geopolitical standpoint, the real winner is Russia, said Luke Hartig, a former senior director at the National Security Council under former President Barack Obama.

'Could Russia want anything more?'

Jeffrey Ringel, a recently retired 21-year veteran of the FBI now serving as director of The Soufan Group, echoed similar sentiments about how the current political dynamic is playing out.

Could Russia want anything more? Ringel asked of Comeys sudden dismissal. Russia is probably very happy with the results of this action because this action is going to bog down the [FBIs] investigation.

Trump said he fired Comey because he wasnt doing a good job.

A memo from the Justice Department criticized Comeys handling of the investigation of whether former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton mishandled classified material.

Democrats and some Republicans see the FBIs investigation into Russias ties to the Trump campaign as the real reason Comey was fired.

Adding fuel to the controversy was Wednesdays meeting between Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, one day after Comey was fired. The White House did not let the media into the meeting for a customary photo opportunity. The only pictures of the meeting came from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Before meeting with Trump, Lavrov, at the State Department, made light of Comeys departure, joking with American reporters who asked whether his dismissal cast a shadow over the foreign ministers visit.

"Was he fired?" Lavrov coyly asked them at the first mention of Comey. "You are kidding. You are kidding."

Denied collusion allegations

While continuing to deny that members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, White House officials maintained Wednesday that Comeys firing would have no impact on the FBI investigation.

Still, there are those who worry that no matter how the investigation plays out, it could be advantage Russia.

Theyre trying to exploit whatever cultural fissures there are within a country, a U.S. official told VOA on condition of anonymity when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putins evolving strategy for the U.S. and its allies.

The intensity is new. Some of the tools are new, the official added. The pattern, however, is not.

He will do anything to fracture traditional alliances that he sees as threatening to his power, the official said.

And there are fears that every victory, no matter how slight, will only further embolden Putin and Russia.

Russian-linked hackers

Already, the U.S. National Security Agency has accused Russian-linked hackers of trying to sow confusion in France during its recent presidential election.

And NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers noted Tuesday that the U.S. was seeing similar things in Britain and Germany.

The first objective was to sow discord and dissension, which they certainly did, former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel Monday, when asked about Russian interference in the U.S. presidential elections.

They're going to continue to do it, Clapper added. And why not? It proved successful.
Cuba represents a huge but challenging opportunity for U.S. cruise, airline and hotel companies as American visitors to the Caribbean island could increase as much as sevenfold by 2025, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.

As many as 2 million Americans could visit up from 285,000 last year, excluding Cuban Americans, the BCG study published on Wednesday estimated.

Given tourism infrastructure is already creaking, that means there are business opportunities aplenty but U.S companies must learn to navigate a centrally-planned economy with its quirks.

Travel to Cubs surges

U.S. travel to Cuba has already surged, albeit from very low levels, in the last two years since the former Cold War foes announced a detente and the Obama administration eased travel restrictions to the island.

The reality is that U.S. travel to Cuba is in its nascent stages, and all the players are still learning how to make it work, the report read. Success, as with most things Cuban, will require unusual  and often unorthodox  approaches.

BCG did not address the uncertainty cast by the election of U.S. President Donald Trump who has threatened to row back on the normalization of relations.

More rooms on the way

The Cuban government aims to double hotel capacity by 2030 through partnerships with foreign companies, it pointed out. So far, Starwood is the only U.S. hotel company operating in Cuba.

Instilling a hospitality mindset in tourism workers who were mostly state employees, even at U.S.-owned companies, on low wages could be challenging, it noted.

Poor service sat particularly badly when rooms were extremely expensive for the region.

The risk is that U.S, travelers who visit Cuba and stay at a hotel that is part of a brand they trust will experience prices much higher than usual  and more customer service, the report read.

Cruise operators expanding to Cuba

Meanwhile there was also an opportunity for expanding cruise lines to Cuba, BCG said. Several U.S cruise operators have started offering lines to Cuba in the past year.

They have to deal with different challenges such as including a cultural element to their trips to comply with U.S. government rules on travel to Cuba, BCG noted.

U.S. companies should work together with the Cuban government to resolve some of these issues.

As for airlines, they needed to deal with excess demand for flights to Havana. They could carry out campaigns to lure Americans to other Cuban cities, BCG advised, and tap into Cuban demand for flights to the United States.
Autistic children are naturally sensitive to changes in their routines, including visits to the doctor or dentist. They may become agitated and uncooperative. When a dog trainer in Chile tried bringing dogs to the office to help the children relax, the experiment proved so successful that it evolved into a full-scale business. VOA's George Putic reports.
The answer is corn. The question is, what really changed U.S. President Donald Trump's mind about saving the North American Free Trade Agreement and trying to revise it only hours after he said the United States was pulling out of the treaty?

Edward Goldberg, professor at NYU's School of Professional Studies, Center for Global Affairs, explains, "Mexico is the second largest consumer of U.S. corn. Mexico purchases $2.6 billion worth of corn every year.

When Trump decided to pull out of NAFTA, Mexicans started a movement, Just say No' to American corn.

That got the attention of U.S. farmers, U.S. agriculture experts, and Midwestern Congressmen. According to Goldberg, the pressure mounted on the U.S. president. He changed his mind because of political pressure from Congress and their farming constituents.

Political reality, it is called. He needed their votes on repealing Obamacare.

NAFTA at 23

NAFTA is a trade agreement among three nations, the United States, Canada and Mexico, that has been in effect since Jan. 1, 1994. U.S. trade with NAFTA partners went from less than $3 billion to $1.14 trillion in 2015.

One of the major issues is the annual trade deficit, $63 billion with Mexico and about $11 billion with Canada, according to 2015 figures. This has prompted concerns about lost jobs, especially in the well-paying manufacturing sector.

The 300-member American Apparel & Footwear Association, headed up by Rick Helfenbein, believes NAFTA did not result in loss of jobs and U.S. factories.

NAFTA didn't cause these problems at all, said Helfenbein. Scholars and people in the know will tell you it's actually the ations, - automation, innovation, globalization, regulation, that's caused the loss of these factories.

April 26, 2017, Helfenbein continued, NAFTA became the topic of the day. From the Trump concept of killing NAFTA that morning, followed by phone calls between the U.S. president and his counterparts in Canada and Mexico, Justin Trudeau and Enrique Pena Nieto, by 10:30 in the evening an email was released stating that the patient, NAFTA, was in recovery and negotiations will take place.

NYU's Goldberg said, From what I'm hearing it wasn't just Congress pressuring Trump. Every major trade association in the United States was knocking on the White House door.

NAFTA revision schedule

According to a treaty provision there is a 90-day waiting period before re-negotiations can begin. That probably means nothing will happen before September.

Professor Goldberg says it's been 23 years and counting for NAFTA. Time for an update. The world economy has changed and so have the three countries.

And, he added, Most of the updates have been worked out a year or two ago during TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership agreement) and they have to do with environmental protection, better labor standards, technology and I-T. Canada and Mexico are part of TPP, the United States has withdrawn from the treaty.

He predicts, What is going to happen at NAFTA negotiations, in my mind, is more theater than change.

Ramon Taylor contributed to this report.
Somalia needs genuine international support for its reconstruction and stabilization plans to prevent a slide back into anarchy, leaders said at the start of a one-day conference on Somalia in London.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for another $900 million for the drought-stricken country, reports the Associated Press.

"Somalia now hangs in the balance between peril and potential,'' Guterres said at the opening of the conference Thursday. "Here in London we can tip the scales from danger to safety.''

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said his country also needs a "robust economic program" to fully recover from a quarter-century of war and chaos.

The insecurity situation cannot be changed without addressing its root causes, which is abject poverty and mass unemployment. Too many of our young generation are sitting idle, creating fertile ground for terrorists to recruit from, said the president.

For 10 years, troops with the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) have battled al-Shabab militants and pushed the al-Qaida-linked group out of Mogadishu and other Somali cities.

But the militants continue to attack AMISOM bases around the country and public places in Mogadishu, causing hundreds of deaths per year.

The Somali president predicted his government will defeat the militants within the next few years  but called for the total lifting of an arms embargo on Somalia so the army has the firepower to defeat al-Shabab.

The longstanding arms embargo on Somalia severely restricts our ability to procure heavy weapons, despite the partial lifting of the embargo in 2013. Time has come for Somalia to be able to get access to qualitatively better weapons than terrorists," he said.

The London conference will focus on improving security, governance and the economy in Somalia. Talks on security will focus on rebuilding the Somali National Army and how to counter terrorism while protecting human rights.

The conference is co-chaired by the Somali president, Guterres and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Hamas' newly elected supreme leader on Thursday announced the arrest of a suspect in the mysterious shooting death of a top militant commander in March, claiming a gunman dispatched by Israel had carried out the attack. But he refused to identify the suspect, leaving a cloud of mystery over a case that has plunged the Islamic group into a crisis.

In a hastily arranged news conference, Ismail Haniyeh indicated the gunman was a local Palestinian who had acted on the orders of Israel. He said more details would be released in the coming days and that the suspect would face execution.



"All the indications, and all the evidence we have indicate that the perpetrator committed this crime based on orders from the Israeli occupation," he said.



The arrest marked a breakthrough into the investigation into the death of Mazen Faqha, a top Hamas commander who was killed in the garage of his apartment building on March 24.



Hamas has said the gun used to shoot Faqha had a silencer, allowing the killer to escape unnoticed. It has said the professionalism of the shooting indicated that Israel was behind the hit.



"What the enemy did was a painful strike in terms of strategy and security," Haniyeh said.



Israel has not commented on the shooting. Israel and Hamas, an Islamic group that opposes Israel's existence, are bitter enemies and have fought three wars since Hamas took control of Gaza a decade ago.



Faqha, 38, and originally from the West Bank, was serving nine life terms in Israeli prison for directing deadly suicide bombing attacks before he was freed with more than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single Israeli soldier in 2011. Under the release, Faqha was sent to Gaza.



Following his death, Hamas imposed a lockdown in Gaza, setting up military style checkpoints throughout the territory, sealing its border crossings and rounding up dozens of people for questioning. Last month, it executed three people accused of collaborating with Israel, though their cases were not directly connected to the Faqha case.



Haniyeh thanked the people of Gaza for ``understanding'' the measures taken by security services over the past month and a half. He also dedicated the "strategic achievement" of finding the alleged shooter to the wife of Faqha, who stood next to him, to the Palestinian people and to the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who are staging a hunger strike in Israeli prisons.



Hamas announced last week that Haniyeh would serve as its new supreme leader following a lengthy and secretive internal election process.



The announcement comes shortly after Gaza's rulers unveiled a new, seemingly more pragmatic political program aimed at ending the group's international isolation.



Hamas is trying to rebrand itself as an Islamic national liberation movement, rather than a branch of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed by neighboring Egypt. It has also dropped explicit language calling for Israel's destruction, though it retains the goal of eventually "liberating" all of historic Palestine, which includes what is now Israel.



Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group and says it has not changed its ways.
NITI would be partnering UP in areas like - developing livelihood opportunities, revamping the agricultural sector, setting up of new enterprise in the state and making it an attractive investment destination.

By Arindam De: Departing from past practices and following the spirit of cooperative federalism, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr. Arvind Panagariya on Thursday led a high power delegation to the state capital. The delegation held day-long deliberations on the challenges facing Uttar Pradesh and to chart a possible roadmap for development.

Meetings were held with CM Yogi Adityanath and other senior ministers of the state cabinet. It was agreed in principle that NITI would be partnering UP in areas like - developing livelihood opportunities, revamping the agricultural sector towards a goal of doubling farmers' income, setting up of new enterprise in the state and making it an attractive investment destination.

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VC, NITI, Dr Panagariya traced the country's growth story of the last couple of decades with specifics on UP. He also touched upon game changing reforms from other states that could be adapted and adopted by UP.

Presenting a picture on " Where UP Stands" he linked overall development and progress to UP's looming battle with poverty and enhancing quality of life. Ramesh Chand, member agriculture, NITI focused on issues related to growth of the agriculture sector and the need for UP to adopt different and dynamic strategies to ensure sustained agricultural growth, mainly because of the varied climatic zones in the vast state.

Secretary, DIPP, ministry of commerce and industry, Ramesh Abhishek focused his presentation on the importance of Ease of Doing Business and Start-Up India for triggering industrial development of Uttar Pradesh. CM Adityanath was keen on boosting entrepreneurship and ensuring a investment- positive climate in the state. UP government and DIPP will soon be seen hosting a global investor summit in UP. Secretary, Rural Development focused on MGNREGA, Swachh Bharat and other success stories which can be replicated in UP.

During the course of deliberations, brain storming was done on sectors like rural development, education, health, provision of drinking water and sanitation measures. NITI offered its support for transforming the health and education sector through its partner institutions. It was decided that a Joint Working Group would be set up. This group will have three representatives each from NITI Aayog and the state government. They would take up the discussion from where it ended today and they would also be responsible for the implementation part.

Past practices were broken by both the sides - despite being an official holiday Siddharth Nath Singh, UP Minister of Health, Surya Pratap Sahi, Minister of Agriculture, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Minister of Women Welfare, Family Welfare, Maternity & Child Welfare and Tourism, Mahendra Singh, Rural Development Minister, were amongst those who attended the meeting. UP will need a lot of brain storming and out-of-the-box ideas to get out of the socio-economic morass it finds itself in.

Also read:

Govt sets up task force to look into jobs data discrepancies

Niti presents 300 specific action points to rev up economy

--- ENDS ---
An extradition hearing in the Czech Republic for a Russian man who faces charges in the U.S. of hacking computers at American companies has been delayed for procedural reasons.

Judge Jaroslav Pytloun delayed the hearing until May 30 due to formal objections from Yevgeniy Nikulin's defense lawyers.



They say Nikulin has not received the previous decision of the state prosecutors that he can be extradited to either the United States or Russia in Russian, and one of the lawyers claimed he was not formally informed that Nikulin can be extradited to the United States.



Thursday's hearing was held at Prague's Pankrac prison. The rare measure adopted due to security reasons underlines the sensitivity of the case.



Czech authorities arrested Nikulin in Prague on Oct. 5 in cooperation with the FBI.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday that any attempts to disrupt the presidential election on May 19 would be dealt with harshly.

The vote has shaped up to be primarily a contest between incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who has campaigned on a platform of opening up the country to the West and easing social restrictions, and hard-line rival Ebrahim Raisi, who served in top positions in the judiciary for years.

The election will be held as Rouhani, elected in a landslide in 2013, is coming to the end of his four-year term. Raisi has the backing of Khamenei, according to analysts.

"If people participate with order, behave morally, observe legal and Islamic parameters, then this will be a source of honor for the Islamic Republic," Khamenei said, according to the transcript of a speech published on the supreme leader's official website. "But if they break the law, operate in an immoral way, or speak in a way that will encourage enemies, then the elections can be seen as a loss."

Dozens of people were killed and hundreds arrested when widespread protests broke out after a disputed presidential election in 2009, which kept Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in office for a second term, according to human rights groups.

"The security of the country must be completely preserved during the election," Khamenei said in the speech, which was delivered to an audience that included top commanders from the Revolutionary Guards, the most powerful military and economic force in the country. "Anyone who deviates from this path should certainly know that they will be given a slap."

Five other candidates

Rouhani is standing for a second term against five other candidates, including his own vice president, Ishaq Jahangiri, a moderate, and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a hard-liner.

If nobody wins more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the first round on May 19, there will be a runoff a week later.

Raisi has harshly criticized Rouhani's economic performance during live presidential debates in the past two weeks.

Khamenei is also unhappy with Rouhani's economic performance and said the government should have done more to tackle unemployment.

Iran has an unemployment rate of 12.7 percent for a population of about 80 million, according to figures released by the Statistical Center of Iran last autumn.

Rouhani, for his part, has indirectly criticized Raisi's time at the judiciary.

"The people of Iran will announce in [the May election] that they don't accept those who only knew executions and prison for 38 years," Rouhani said Monday, according to the Iranian Students News Agency.
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have defeated Islamic State fighters in the city of Tabqa and have seized Tabqa Dam, a key objective for the militias before a planned attack on the terror groups de-facto capital, Raqqa.

The SDF, a multi-ethnic group which includes Kurdish fighters and Syrian Arab Coalition (SAC) fighters, had been battling Islamic State for weeks in Tabqa, about 40 kilometers west of Raqqa, with the help of coalition airstrikes and U.S. special forces advisers.

"This is yet another victory by the SAC and the SDF, our most committed and capable ground force partners in the fight against ISIS, coalition spokesman U.S. Col. John Dorrian said in a Central Command statement released Thursday.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said approximately 70 Islamic State fighters had conceded to the SDF's terms, which included dismantling bombs surrounding the dam, surrendering their heavy weapons and withdrawing all remaining fighters from Tabqa.

The SDF accepted the IS surrender in order to protect innocent civilians" and to preserve the Tabqa Dam infrastructure, which hundreds of thousands of Syrians rely on for water, agriculture, and electricity, Central Command said.

After Wednesdays SDF victory, the coalition said it tracked fleeing Islamic State fighters and targeted those who could be hit without harming civilians.

The coalition said Thursday that Islamic State had moved its external attack planning operations to Tabqa after their defeat in Manbij in order to avoid coalition airstrikes in Raqqa.

The operation to seize the Tabqa Dam, airfield and city disrupts ISIS operations in Raqqa and their ability to defend the city and plan and execute external attacks against the West, the coalition said.

U.S. airmen had airlifted SDF forces behind IS lines to launch the attack that captured the Tabqa airfield in late March, U.S. General Carlton Everhart, commander of the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, told VOA after the March assault.

American engineers and crews were repairing and restoring the airfield while the SDF continued its fight for Tabqa city and Tabqa dam.

The seizure of Tabqa and Tabqa Dam comes just days after President Donald Trump authorized the Pentagon to equip the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

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.

A military official told VOA the United States 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 meted out to achieve limited military objectives, the military official said Tuesday.

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.
A watercolor by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is being auctioned along with a Cartier watch she wore for years.

Christie's said Thursday that the then-first lady, who painted as a hobby, created the artwork in 1963 as a gift for her brother-in law, Stanislaw Radziwill.

Radziwill gave her the watch.

Both commemorate a 50-mile hike that Radziwill undertook as part of President John F. Kennedy's physical fitness initiative. The first lady briefly joined the hike.

The painting depicts Radziwill walking with a Kennedy family friend.

The items are being offered as a single lot at a June 21 sale in New York. The presale estimate is $60,000 to $120,000.

The seller is anonymous. Part of the proceeds will benefit the National Endowment for the Arts.
A Libyan Coast Guard ship picked up more than 350 migrants at sea Wednesday after a potentially deadly encounter with a German rescue boat.

No casualties were reported, and all the migrants rescued off the coastal city of Sabratha are safely back in Tripoli.

A Libyan navy spokesman said the migrants were packed on a wooden boat. As the Coast Guard vessel approached, another boat from the German rescue group Sea Watch came dangerously close to ramming the Libyan ship.

Sea Watch was apparently attempting to drive off the Libyans, saying it is unsafe for the migrants to be taken back to Tripoli.

It is unclear if Libyan authorities plan to take any legal action against Sea Watch.

Tens of thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants try to reach the European Union every year through Libya. Theyre looking to escape poverty, war and terrorism. Many die making the hazardous Mediterranean crossing on poorly built boats or pay human traffickers thousands of dollars only to be abandoned at sea.

Libya has been in turmoil for years and migrants living there or passing through say they are subject to a range of abuses.


4 Ferrari driver Fabio Barone and his Ferrari 458 Italia compete against a Roman chariot drawn by two horses on the "Ben Hur" movie set at Cinecitta World amusement park in Castel Romano near Rome, Italy.
Mexico sent a stark message to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, saying an upcoming visit to China in September made it clear Latin America's No. 2 economy "has lots of other alternatives" amid tense trade negotiations.

Mexico is grappling with Trump's desire to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that underpins its economy, prompting the government to try and diversify away from the United States, which takes 80 percent of its exports.

"We will use [the China visit] geopolitically as strategic leverage," said Guajardo, answering questions from reporters. "It sends the signal that we have many alternatives."

Mexico has tried to deepen commercial links with China for years, and President Enrique Pena Nieto had hoped a Chinese high-speed train contract would presage more investment.

However, the train deal was scrapped in 2014 after Pena Nieto and his then-finance minister became embroiled in a conflict-of-interest scandal.

The incident soured relations, but the election of Trump, who has voiced opposition to free global trade, has brought them closer again.

Mexico runs a sizeable trade deficit with China, and the government could face resistance from Mexican manufacturers to opening up to China, as the two often compete directly.

A senior Mexican diplomat in Beijing said Mexico was not sending any top-level representatives to China's "One Belt, One Road" meeting in Beijing this weekend.

However, he added bilateral meetings between senior Mexican officials and their Chinese counterparts were planned throughout the year, saying China's Deputy Minister of Land and Resources was currently in Mexico.

He said it was likely Guajardo would meet his counterpart in Hanoi as part of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade minister's meeting on May 20-21.

Mexico was also looking to send senior officials to a World Economic Forum gathering in Dalian in late June.

Guajardo did not give details of what trip to China in September he was referring to, but the diplomat said it was to the CIFIT summit in Xiamen.

"High-level contact is very frequent," said the diplomat, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Guajardo was speaking after Trump indicated he wanted to get the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico down to zero. The minister said expanding bilateral commerce, not restricting it, was key to rebalancing the U.S.-Mexico trade deficit.

Nonetheless, Guajardo said the deficit is not a good way of measuring the strength of a trading relationship.
Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday turned up the heat on other technology giants by launching new image and video recognition products which could help it court businesses worried about running ads next to offensive content.

The Redmond, Washington-based company said its new Video Indexer can identify faces, voices and emotions in moving pictures. Separately, its Custom Vision Search lets companies build apps that recognize images with just a few lines of code.

For brands, knowing what's in the videos that they sponsor has become a hot-button issue since major companies began canceling ad deals with Alphabet Inc's Google this year over hate speech playing on its subsidiary YouTube.

Microsoft's Video Indexer has similarities to a tool Google launched in March; Amazon.com Inc also said last month it could flag insulting images via a cloud-based service.

Microsoft's latest moves underscore how its focus has evolved from its staple Windows software to the cloud, where it is competing with Amazon to sell data storage and computing power. Extra analytics such as image recognition may prove key to luring Web developers.

"It's hard to understand what's in the video" the longer it is, said Irving Kwong, a senior product director at Microsoft, in an interview ahead of the company's developer conference Build. He said Video Indexer, which analyzes videos far faster than humans can, could help a user "harness and get more out of the video content that you have."

The tools launched in preview by the Microsoft Cognitive Services unit on Wednesday, including a decision recommendation service, have one aim apart from winning business: data.

Microsoft views the tools as a way to put powerful computing into people's hands and improve the tools at the same time, because processing more data is key to reaching artificial intelligence. Others including Amazon are pursuing this strategy, with the prize being a new revenue stream.

Research firm International Data Corporation has forecast the market for such tools will balloon to over $47 billion in sales in 2020 from $8 billion in 2016.

Microsoft pulled back the curtain on experiments that are further afield, too. It announced a new Cognitive Labs unit and the so-called Project Prague: technology to allow people to control computers simply with hand gestures.
Efforts to repatriate more than 98,000 ethnic Burmese refugees to Myanmar with United Nations support are slowly progressing, even as international donors cut funding to camps in Thailand where the refugees are living.

Humanitarian workers say the funding pressures come amid questions concerning security and inadequate infrastructure and health systems in southeast Myanmar after years of conflict.

The nine camps on the Thai border have been in place since the mid-1980s as refugees flooded into Thailand to escape conflict between armed ethnic armies and the Myanmar military.

But programs to repatriate the refugees have increased as Myanmar, also known as Burma, has moved to democracy after the election of the civilian government under Aung San Suu Kyi in 2015.

Funding and safety concerns

The government has pursued national reconciliation as well as cease-fire and peace agreements with the ethnic armies. But progress has been slow.

Saw Paul Sein Twa, executive director of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) said the growing pressures on the refugees to leave the camps are being driven by funding cuts by international donors.

The donors are jumping very fast. And what we want to see is an organized return where we work together, plan step by step. But whats happening now is more like promoting the refugees return, like setting out some program with the Thai authorities and then the people who want to go back to go and register, Sein Twa told VOA.

The Thai-based The Border Consortium (TBC), in its 2016 annual report, said reduced contributions were evident from Norway, Sweden, and the United States Agency for International Developments Project for Local Empowerment (USAID-PLE).

Sein Twa said the chief concern is forcing people back without adequate cooperation.

If the situation really comes to a time when there is no more support, then after that it will be chaotic, he said.

Funding affects camp workers

The Irrawaddy newspaper recently reported that about 10,000 community workers in the nine refugee camps along the Thai border would face pay cuts because of the funding reductions.

The community workers manage the camps, deliver food and provide support staff, among other duties.

A United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) program has been slow to start. Last October, the UNHCR announced a program for the repatriation of 71 returnees from the Nu Po and Tham Hin camps.

Some want to return

UNHCR regional spokesperson Vivian Tan said the repatriation was a pilot project of people who approached the UN for assistance.

There is no specific time frame for voluntary return, though we stand ready to facilitate it as and when the refugees tell us they would like to go, Tan said in an email to VOA.

She said a few hundred have indicated a readiness to return, and the UNHCR was coordinating with the Myanmar government.

Most still reluctant

Humanitarian workers say uncertainties within Myanmar continue to undermine the confidence of those seeking to return.

Sally Thompson, TBC executive director, said a lack of incentives, such as poor infrastructure, have left people cautious about returning to Myanmar.

There is no pull factors in the southeast (of Myanmar). The peace process is going very slowly, the army is still in the villages in the southeast, peoples mistrust of the army goes very deep and it will take years for that to be turned around. People are looking for changes on the ground, Thompson said.

Thompson said the southeast region of Myanmar faces a lack of health care, education and livelihoods. Those from Myanmar travel to Thailand seeking employment given the poor state of the regional economy, she said.

What they are doing, they are keeping their options open. So they are looking at what might be possible. Some are making plans for the future; but at the moment they are still keeping a foot in the camp because thats where they have got protection, she said.

Desire to return slowly winning

But community workers are reported to be increasingly involved with meetings, travel and workshops in steps to repatriate the refugees.

International donor support has included funding led by the Nippon Foundation, a Japanese nonprofit organization, with plans to sponsor the construction of more than 1,000 homes.

Landmines, other impediments

The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) program director, Naw Htoo Htoo, said despite a cease-fire between the Karen National Liberation Army and the Myanmar armed forces, years of conflict has left the region scarred.

Antipersonnel landmines, unexploded ordnances and other remnants of war  a great danger which has affected southeast Burma for decades  are still prominent after years of cease-fire, Naw Htoo Htoo told local media.

The Myanmar Army recently offered to remove landmines in Karen State after an agreement with the Karen National Union (KNU).

But the landmines are just one issue for returnees. Access and land tenure are also issues, humanitarian workers say, especially the fear of land confiscation by developers.

Aid workers say the option of resettlement to third countries is also diminishing.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is overseeing resettlement.

Regional representative, Dana Graber Ladek, hopes countries outside the U.S., such as Australia, will take more refugees amid drastic declines in refugee resettlement to the U.S.

But aid workers say fewer people from the camps are likely to be resettled because those qualified for third countries have largely come forward.


Workers Thursday morning removed the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in New Orleans, the second of four Confederate monuments slated for removal in a contentious, months-long process that has sparked protests on both sides.

As the statue was lifted from its perch on a grassy median along one of the city's main thoroughfares, a cheer went up from some of the dozens of protesters on the scene who have been pushing for the monument's removal. It was then lowered behind trucks encircled around the monument's base and out of view of media gathered on the scene.



Removal of the statue  a larger-than-life image of Davis atop an ornate granite pedestal roughly 15-feet high  follows recent protests at the site by supporters and opponents of the monuments. City officials had refused to give advance public notice of the work because of threats of violence against contractors and workers involved in the effort. The statue was first unveiled in 1911.



Dozens of protesters both supporting the monuments and calling for their removal stayed up overnight to watch the proceedings which happened in early-morning darkness. The demonstrators were separated by metal barriers set up by the police and heckled each other from opposite sides of the barricade. About fifty police officers encircled the monument and kept watch on the protesters.



As preparation for removing the Davis statue, workers had wrapped the torso in a green wrapping and then placed a harness attached to a crane around the statue.



New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who first urged the City Council to remove the monuments in 2015, praised the effort in a news release.



"These monuments have stood not as historic or educational markers of our legacy of slavery and segregation, but in celebration of it. I believe we must remember all of our history, but we need not revere it. To literally put the Confederacy on a pedestal in some of our most prominent public places is not only an inaccurate reflection of our past, it is an affront to our present, and a bad prescription for our future. We should not be afraid to confront and reconcile our past."



Late last month, the first structure  a 35-foot-tall granite obelisk known as the Liberty Place monument  was removed by masked workers under cover of darkness. The obelisk was a tribute to whites who battled a biracial Reconstruction government installed in New Orleans after the Civil War.



Also slated for removal are a bronze statue of Confederate Gen. P.G.T Beauregard on horseback, completed in 1915, which sits atop a stone platform at the entrance to the city's largest park and museum of art; and a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Lee statue is the most prominent of the four. Unveiled in 1884, the likeness of Lee stands atop a 60-foot-tall column in the center of a traffic circle on historic St. Charles Avenue. Monument supporters say each of the statues weighs tons and they feared moving the aging icons could result in significant damage.



The council voted to remove the monuments in 2015  part of the national response after nine black parishioners were shot to death by an avowed racist at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier that year. But the process of removing the statues was tied up for months in a court battle.



New Orleans is a predominantly black city of nearly 390,000. The statues were erected well before the civil rights era that brought African-Americans to political power. The City Council, now majority black, voted 6-1 to take the monuments down.



Landrieu, a white Democrat, was elected in 2010 and re-elected four years late with strong biracial support.
By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, May 10 (PTI) Pakistan today said that former Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan who surrendered to the Pakistans security agencies last month would be dealt in accordance with the law and no leniency would be shown to him.

The statement came after action was sought from several concerned quarters against Ehsan who took responsibility for carrying out several deadly attacks in Pakistan, including the attack on activist Malala Yousafsai and an army school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, including 133 children.

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He surrendered to the Army under unknown circumstances and his confessional video went viral last month.

The Pakistani Army came under severe criticism for presenting him to the media.

Rejecting the notion that the military wanted to present Ehsan as a hero, the head of militarys media wing said the former Taliban spokespersons fate will be decided as per law.

Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said the Armys decision to make his confession public to show what the Taliban did to the people of Pakistan.

"The purpose (of the video) was to show how the Taliban were being used against us. It was not meant to present him (Ehsan) as a hero. He will be dealt according to law of the land," he said.

Earlier, the parents of children killed in Peshawar school massacre demanded that Ehsan should be handed over to them for prosecution.

The statement of the Army coincided with the Senates Standing Committee asking police chief of government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province for the inclusion of Ehsan as an accused in the Malalas attack case.

Malala was shot in 2012 in Pakistan by the Taliban for attending classes.

In a letter addressed to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Home Ministry and Inspector General Police, committee chairman Senator Rehman Malik said that Ehsan was spokesman of the Taliban and took responsibility of attack and should be included in the investigation. PTI SH UZM AKJ UZM

--- ENDS ---
Members of Ohios growing African immigrant community say theyre hopeful a decade-long wait for their own state advocacy board is almost over.

Immigrant groups backing the board say theyve submitted names of potential commission members several times over the years to the House and Senate, which then make recommendations to the governor for appointment.

The New African Immigrants Commission would advocate for people from countries such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Somalia, among others.

State lawmakers created the 11-person board in 2008, with the law enacting it taking effect the following year. Among the commissions duties: to gather and disseminate information and conduct hearings, conferences, investigations, and special studies on problems and programs concerning sub-Saharan African people.

The commission was a common-sense way to take the refugees that are coming to our country and help them assimilate and become productive members of our society, said Republican state Sen. Kevin Bacon, who supported the idea a decade ago as a state rep as a way to help better integrate central Ohios growing population of Somali refugees. He says he doesnt know why the commission was never activated.

Process slow since 2015

There has been little interest in filling the commission since Republican Rep. Cliff Rosenberger became speaker of the Ohio House in 2015, said House GOP spokesman Brad Miller.

Therefore, in the spirit of finding individuals who are both interested and qualified to serve these positions, the Speaker will continue to welcome members and the general public to recommend and review applicants, Miller said.

Both the House and Senate have examined new appointees as recently as March and April.

Gov. John Kasich agrees the process has taken too long, said spokeswoman Emmalee Kalmbach, who added that appointments should be coming soon.

Large sub-Saharan population

Ohio has about 110,000 immigrants from sub-Saharan African, up from about 75,000 in 2005, according to Census data.

Central Ohio has the countrys second-largest population of Somalis after the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

Had the board been in existence, it would have provided useful coordination among immigrants during the Ebola crisis, said Kay Wilson, a Columbus youth advocate and board proponent who spent seven years in Nigeria.

In 2014, Ohio health officials temporarily monitored several hundred travelers coming from West African countries that had Ebola outbreaks. No quarantines were necessary.

Many Somali doctors who are unable to practice in this country would benefit from someone advocating for them here, said Jibril Mohamed, executive director of the Columbus-based advocacy group SomaliCAN.

Plenty of applicants

Mahdi Taakilo, a Somali native, says the commission will ensure that immigrants are connected with all branches of state government.

Somehow the commission has never been empaneled, despite the fact that, We always have enough people apply, we always have enough people getting approved, Taakilo said.
Pakistan's government is pushing ahead with its anti-blasphemy campaign, which critics claim is really an attempt to quash dissent and intimidate opponents.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the government-run communications regulatory agency, has sent text messages to millions of mobile phone subscribers, warning them against sharing or uploading "blasphemous" content online. The same message was posted on its website.

"Uploading and sharing of blasphemous content on the internet is a punishable offense under the law," the message says in Urdu. "Such content should be reported on info@pta.gov.pk for legal action."

The government, reflecting a growing conservative movement in the overwhelmingly Muslim country, has been pushing for tight enforcement of blasphemy legislation, even seeking assistance from internet providers such as Google to delete such content.

Critics claim the real target is silencing dissent that has flourished online on everything from politics and the military to freedom of speech and women's rights. Being labeled as "blasphemous" in Pakistan can make a person the target of violence.

Farhan Hussain from Bytes for All, a digital rights organization, worried about the impact of the government's warning.

"This kind of message to mobile users may fuel hatred in society," Hussain told VOA. "By doing this, in fact, the issue was further highlighted."

A university journalism student was recently beaten and shot to death by an angry mob over allegations that he had posted blasphemous content on social media. An investigation later found the allegations to be false, and the attack sparked protests against the law.

Pakistani lawyer Asma Jahangir, spokeswoman for the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, questioned why the message was issued.

"There are 95 percent Muslims in the country, and the other 5 percent non-Muslims have no interest in blasphemy," Jahangir said. "The PTA's message is not understandable, and I do not know why it feels every person is committing blasphemy."
Parents of some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria three years ago hailed on Thursday their planned return to school in September, but said the families should be involved in the "healing process."

Twenty-four of the 220 girls abducted from their school in Chibok  including 21 released by the jihadists in October and three who escaped or were rescued  will resume their education, the president's spokesman said.

On Saturday, 82 more of the girls kidnapped in April 2014 were released in exchange for members of the Islamist group that has killed 15,000 people since 2009 in an insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in the northeast.

The 24 girls who left captivity last year have been staying in a secret location in the capital, Abuja, for assessment, rehabilitation and debriefing by the Nigerian government.

"It is better to send them to school," said Goni Mutar, father of Asabe Goni, one of the girls released in October.

"The president made a promise that he will educate them," he said, adding that parents of the girls were worried about having to pay for their schooling if it was not covered by the state.

Global campaign

The abduction sparked global outrage and a Bring Back Our Girls campaign supported by then-U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and list of celebrities, but there was no sign of the girls for two years until one was found in a forest last May.

The 82 Chibok girls freed Saturday will not return to school in September because they are undergoing medical and psychological treatment, said presidential spokesman Garba Shehu.

Psychologist Somiari Demm, who counseled former Boko Haram captives sponsored to go to the United States to study, said the girls' families must play a big part in their healing.

"It's important to remember that these young women are not prisoners. They are survivors whom we should be aiming to make thrivers," Demm said.

The government should use the Chibok girls as an example of how to advocate for and advance mental health, education for girls and other women's rights issues in Nigeria, Demm added.

Activists and parents of the girls say they have been frustrated by a lack of contact and clarity about their future.

Lodged in safe house

While the 21 girls freed in October were able to see their families in Chibok over Christmas, they were not allowed to return to their family homes. They instead had to stay in a state safe house under armed escort, relatives said.

"Parents' involvement is crucial," said Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, a leader of Bring Back Our Girls and head of the Murtala Muhammad Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting the parents of the abducted girls. "We have to redefine normal for the girls again."

The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, said it supported the provision of education for the released girls who wanted to return to school.

"As with all children who have suffered the trauma of being held by the insurgents, the need for psychosocial support is likely to be long term and will need to be assessed on an individual basis," said UNICEF spokeswoman Doune Porter.

Mediator and lawyer Zannah Mustapha said some of the abducted girls refused to be freed last weekend, raising concerns they had been radicalized and may feel afraid, ashamed or even too powerful to return to their old lives.
Peru's poverty rate dipped by 1.1 percentage points in 2016 to 20.7 percent, government data showed Wednesday, in line with modest declines seen the prior two years after several years of sharp poverty reduction.

In 2016, 264,000 Peruvians left poverty, more than the 221,000 who emerged from poverty in 2015 but fewer than the 289,000 in 2014, in the first test of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's ambitious pledge to cut poverty in half by the end of his term in 2021.

State statistics agency Inei defines poverty as the inability to purchase a basket of goods that would satisfy basic needs. Nearly 1.2 million Peruvians, or 3.8 percent of the population, were in a condition of extreme poverty in 2016, defined as the inability to purchase a basic basket of food and beverage products.

More than half of Peruvians were poor at the start of the century, but a mining boom led to swift declines in the poverty rate in the world's No. 2 copper producer. Since 2014, however, poverty reduction has slowed as lower commodity prices hurt one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies.

"The speed of poverty reduction has been lower and lower," said Inei chief Anibal Sanchez Aguilar, though he noted that the poor were, on average, closer to the poverty line in 2016 than in 2015. "The poor, despite not having exited poverty, have improved their level of consumption."

Rural-urban divide

Poverty fell more in rural areas than urban areas in 2016, though the divide remains high, with 43.8 percent of rural dwellers in poverty compared with 13.9 percent of urban residents.

Poverty dropped 1 percentage point in 2015 and 1.2 percentage points in 2014.

Kuczynski, a former investment banker, took office last July pledging to restore annual growth to 5 percent with new infrastructure projects and lower taxes. He has said he wanted the poverty rate to be no more than 10 percent at the end of his term.

The government now expects a lower growth of 3 percent this year because of devastating floods and a graft scandal that has paralyzed public works.

Inei adviser Javier Herrera said it was too early to measure the impact the floods  which killed more than a hundred people and damaged thousands of homes  would have on the poverty rate, but noted that for many, the floods damaged "the means of production that allow them to increase their incomes."
A day after President Donald Trump's stunning dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, protesters gathered in Washington, Chicago and other cities to urge an independent investigation of alleged collusion between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign.

Waving signs and chanting outside the White House and at Senate constituency offices in other states, demonstrators said Trump's move had compromised the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe.



"I still don't have any love for Comey," said Cody Davis, 29, among a small group of protesters near Chicago's 96-story Trump International Hotel and Tower. "I'm not here to defend him. You could easily argue he lost the election for Hillary."



Comey has been criticized by Democrats for his handling of an investigation surrounding 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.



"The reason I'm here today is not that he was fired but because it was so clearly because Trump was afraid of something," Davis said.

White House officials have denied any political motivation behind the firing and Trump said Comey had not been doing a good job and had lost the confidence of everyone in Washington.



Critics at various protests compared the Comey dismissal to the "Saturday Night Massacre" of 1973, in which President Richard Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.



MoveOn.Org and a coalition of liberal groups hastily organized protests at senators' offices in more than a dozen states including New York, Kentucky, Arizona, California and Florida.



"Donald Trump just fired the one man in America who was leading the most thorough and long-lasting investigation of Donald Trump," Jo Comerford, campaign director for MoveOn.org, said in a statement.



The issue also was discussed at town hall meetings being held by members of Congress across the country.

For some Trump supporters the controversy was overblown. Denny Herman of Wamego, Kansas, said Comey deserved to be fired and the Russia investigation would not turn up wrongdoing.



He said there was no need for a special prosecutor. "It's just liberal crap," he said while relaxing at a bar. "We got bigger fish to fry."



But in downtown Chicago, several dozen people banged pots and pans, waved signs reading "You can't fire the truth" and chanted "Investigate Now!"



Several hundred people also gathered outside the White House and called for a special prosecutor.



"I feel like what happened yesterday was truly shocking, and the Republicans won't stand up and do what they should without somebody pressing them," said demonstrator Kelli Rowedder, a 34-year-old teacher from Washington.
More than a dozen Republican senators voiced concerns Wednesday over President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, in a series of statements suggesting the GOP was not yet prepared to close ranks behind its president. But most Republicans also refused to embrace Democratic calls for a special counsel and it was not clear their hand-wringing would result in any action.





"The timing of this and the reasoning for it doesn't make sense to me," said Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee, which like the FBI is investigating Russian ties to the Trump campaign and meddling in the 2016 election. Burr said Comey's firing could complicate his investigation.



"I think we need to find out what's happened and why," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.



Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said, "I do have questions about why he was dismissed at this time given his service and performance."



The unease expressed by key committee chairs and rank-and-file lawmakers alike came even as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., echoed White House talking points on the issue and tried to shut down talk of a special prosecutor to investigate Russia issues.



Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell noted that Democrats themselves had repeatedly criticized Comey over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email issues. And he said that with the FBI and Senate intelligence committee already investigating Russian interference, nothing further was needed.





"Today we will no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done," McConnell said. He remarked that Democrats had "consistently complained" about Comey, though he notably failed to reveal his own views on the firing.



House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., stood firmly behind Trump. Ryan said the president, members of both parties and top Justice Department officials had lost confidence in Comey, and said "it is entirely within the president's role and authority to relieve him." Ryan spoke on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier."





But Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called on the Justice Department's inspector general to examine the decision to dismiss Comey.



The firing came after Comey had requested more resources from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for the Russia investigation, The Associated Press and other news outlets reported. The Justice Department disputed that report.



For their part, Democrats voiced outrage over the abrupt firing, suggesting Trump was trying to impede the FBI's probe into his own campaign's ties with Russia.



"We know Director Comey was leading an investigation in whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians  a serious offense. Were those investigations getting too close to home for the president?" Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York asked on the Senate floor. "What should happen now ... what must happen now ... is that Mr. Rosenstein appoints a special prosecutor to oversee this investigation."





Schumer tried various tactics to draw attention to his demand, including summoning all 48 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to gather on the Senate floor as the day began to listen to McConnell's opening remarks. Most of them showed up, but McConnell made use of the circumstance to lecture them about the failings of "Obamacare" and invite them to join GOP efforts to repeal and replace the law.



Democrats then convened a special caucus meeting and indicated they would attempt to delay committee hearings or in other ways slow down the business of the Senate to highlight their demands. Schumer requested that McConnell convene an all-senators briefing to hear directly from Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the matter.



The administration's stated reason for the firing was that Trump had lost confidence in Comey, and administration officials pointed to a letter from Rosenstein harshly criticizing Comey's leadership of the Clinton email investigation.



That explanation left unanswered questions for a number of GOP senators. The reaction was notable given that most Republicans have risen to the president's defense in the past, or at least avoided critical commentary, on issues from the immigration travel ban to Trump's false claims that the Obama administration wiretapped Trump Tower.



This time around, GOP senators seemed more willing to voice concerns.



"It would have been easier to explain if the president had fired the FBI Director earlier when Sen. Schumer and other Democrats said they'd lost confidence in Mr. Comey," said Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a senior Republican. He said that the Senate must ensure ``that the new FBI director is a person of unquestioned integrity.''



Confirmation of the next FBI director will require a simple majority vote in the Senate.



GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said in a statement, "Whether or not you are a supporter of Mr. James Comey's actions as FBI Director, the timing of his firing  in the middle of an investigation into Russia's interference in our election  is serious cause for concern."
Television journalist Julia Kirienko was sheltering with Ukrainian soldiers and medics two miles (three kilometers) from the front when their cellphones began buzzing over the noise of the shelling. Everyone got the same text message at the same time.

"Ukrainian soldiers," it warned, "they'll find your bodies when the snow melts."

Text messages like the one Kirienko received have been sent periodically to Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country. The threats and disinformation represent a new form of information warfare, the 21st-century equivalent of dropping leaflets on the battlefield.

"This is pinpoint propaganda," said Nancy Snow, a professor of public diplomacy at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.

The Associated Press has found that the messages are almost certainly being sent through cell site simulators, surveillance tools long used by U.S. law enforcement to track suspects' cellphones. Photos, video, leaked documents and other clues gathered by Ukrainian journalists suggest the equipment may have been supplied by the Kremlin.

The texts have been arriving since 2014, shortly after the fighting erupted. The AP documented nearly four dozen of them, including the one that Kirienko received on Jan. 31 in Avdiivka, a battle-scarred town outside the principal rebel-held city of Donetsk.

The messages typically say things such as "Leave and you will live" or "Nobody needs your kids to become orphans." Many are disguised to look as if they are coming from fellow soldiers.

Fake towers

In 2015, Ukrainian soldiers defending the railroad town of Debaltseve were sent texts appearing to come from comrades claiming their unit's commander had deserted. Another set of messages warned that Ukrainian forces were being decimated. "We should run away," they said.

"They were mostly threatening and demoralizing, saying that our commanders had betrayed us and we were just cannon fodder," said Roman Chashurin, who served as a tank gunner in Debaltseve.

Ukrainian military and intelligence services had no comment on the phenomenon, but government and telecommunications officials are well aware of what's going on.

A 2014 investigation by a major Ukrainian cellphone company concluded that cell site simulators were to blame for the rogue messages, according to an information security specialist who worked on the inquiry. He spoke on the condition that neither he nor his former firm be identified, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

Col. Serhiy Demydiuk, the head of Ukraine's national cyberpolice unit, said in an interview that the country's intelligence services knew the devices were being used as well.

"Avdiivka showed that the Russian side was using fake towers," he said. "They are using them constantly."

Cell site simulators work by impersonating cellphone towers, allowing them to intercept or even fake data. Heath Hardman, a former U.S. Marines signals analyst who operated the devices in Iraq and Afghanistan, said they were routinely used by American military intelligence officers to hunt insurgents.

Sending mass text messages in wartime isn't entirely new. The Islamic militant group Hamas sent threatening messages to random Israelis during the 2009 conflict over Gaza, for example, though it is not clear how that was done.

Effectiveness of texts

Cell site simulators significantly sharpen the ability of propagandists to tailor their messages to a specific place or situation, according to Snow, the academic.

"There's just something about viewing a message on your phone that just makes people more susceptible or vulnerable to its impact," she said.

The type of hardware involved remains a matter of speculation. But last year, the Ukrainian investigative website InformNapalm published a video and photographs appearing to show a LEER-3, a Russian truck-mounted electronic warfare system, in the Donetsk area. InformNapalm also disclosed what it described as leaked Russian military documents discussing the LEER-3's deployment to the Luhansk area of eastern Ukraine.

A 2015 article in Russia's Military Review magazine said the LEER-3 has a cell site simulator built into a drone that is capable of acting over a 6-kilometer-wide area and hijacking up to 2,000 cellphone connections at once. That makes it a "pretty plausible" source for the rogue texts in Ukraine, said Hardman, the former signals analyst.

Russia's Defense Ministry did not return a request for comment. Moscow has long denied any direct role in the fighting in Ukraine, despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary.

The effectiveness of the propaganda texts is an open question. Soldiers say they typically shrug them off.

"I can't say that it had any influence on us," said Chashurin, the former tank gunner. "We were even joking that they must be so afraid of us the only thing they can do is to spam us with these texts."

But Svetlana Andreychuk, a volunteer who has made frequent trips to the front line to distribute food and supplies, said the threats and mockery sometimes hit a nerve in a grinding conflict that has claimed more than 9,900 lives.

"Some people are psychologically influenced," she said. "It's coming regularly. People are so tired. You see people dying. And then you face this."
Housing foreclosure activity in the United States dropped to the lowest level since 2005 last month, according to a business research group.

ATTOM Data Solutions tracks default notices, auctions and bank repossessions across the nation and says the number of actions dropped 23 percent from a year ago. That means more than 77,000 homeowners missed payments, and banks took some kind of action to encourage the repayment of their loans.

Severe problems in the U.S. housing market, and sales of securities backed by sometimes-faulty mortgages, played a key role in the financial crisis, which is one reason that investors and economists watch the housing market closely.

Seattle, a city in the Pacific Northwest state of Washington, did the best in this study, with the number of foreclosure notices dropping 38 percent from the same time a year ago. Atlantic City, New Jersey, had the worst foreclosure problem in this study, with one out of every 237 housing units getting a notice of some kind.
FBI agents continued to reel Wednesday from Director James Comey's unceremonious dismissal a day earlier, their surprise at the manner of his ouster coupled with questions about who will next lead the bureau.

Many agents working in field offices across the country learned about their director's firing in much the same way he did: from news reports that flashed on television screens and buzzed on phones.



They privately described a day afterward spent processing the news, swapping praise about their former boss, and grappling with angst that Comey wasn't given a chance to notify employees. Many saw him as a strong and supportive leader even if some believed he at times set the bureau on the wrong path. And many did not want to see him go, especially in the midst of the bureau's investigation into whether President Donald Trump's campaign had ties to Russia's meddling in the election.





White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that "countless" FBI employees had lost faith in Comey's leadership. But the president of the FBI Agents Association, Thomas O'Connor, said he was known to be responsive to their concerns, and he called the firing a "gut punch.''



As part of the backup for the firing, the White House released a memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that blasted Comey's handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails, namely his announcement that Clinton should not be charged before reopening the investigation days before voters went to the polls. That placed FBI agents in an uncomfortable position of having their historically apolitical work thrust into the center of a national election.



Retired FBI assistant director Ron Hosko said some agents believed Comey went too far.



"There are those voices inside, but I think he still enjoyed broad support and great respect by the workforce," Hosko said.



In New York, where Comey once headed the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, agents were told stories about the former director, including how he used to call agents' cell phones to congratulate them after finishing big cases, said a current official. Most current employees spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of restrictions about interactions with the media.



Across the FBI's field offices, Comey was known for a plainspoken speaking style, peppering prepared remarks with avuncular advice, life lessons and humor. His casual demeanor  he'd regularly appear without a suit coat at freewheeling meetings with reporters, dabbled with Twitter and joked often about the toll the job had taken on his imposing height  served for many agents as a welcome change from the bureau's historically buttoned-up culture.



At speaking appearances, he'd urge young agents to relish their lives outside the FBI, demanding that they take time to tend to their families  and to sleep. He'd say how he strove to be sensitive to the feelings of subordinates, aware that cross words or a bored look during a conversation could "hurt them in ways that would last."



Andrew Arena, a former special agent in charge, said current FBI employees he spoke with as news of Comey's ouster spread worried about the future of the bureau.



"Where are we going, and what's our direction, and are we going to be politicized?" Arena said. "Uncertainty is not a good thing."



As Justice Department leaders interviewed four candidates for the role of interim FBI director, some were anxious about whom Trump would select as Comey's permanent replacement. Jack Eckenrode, a former special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia division, said the administration ``will be hard-pressed to find someone who possesses his unique combination of personal qualities as well as his respect for the rule of law.''
Sudanese Prime Minister Hassan Saleh announced a new government Thursday, with changes to economic ministers, including the oil, investment and finance chiefs.

Sudan's constitution was amended in December to introduce the position of prime minister, a demand of opposition parties that took part in a national dialogue with the government, with the aim of redistributing some of the president's extensive powers.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's long war against various rebel groups has coincided with a severe economic downturn. This year's budget foresees a growing deficit and slower growth.

The economic problems have been building since the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the oil output, the main source of foreign currency and government income.

"This government comes to implement the recommendations of the national dialogue, the country's largest political event after independence in 1956. The government's priorities are to increase production and people's livelihoods and achieve peace," Saleh said at news conference Thursday.

Mohamed Othman Rukabi, a former army lieutenant general, was appointed finance minister, Saleh said. Mubarak Fadel al-Mahdi was appointed minister of investment, while Abdulrahman Othman Abdulrahman was appointed oil minister.

Saleh also announced that Hamed al-Mannan would become minister of interior.

Saleh was appointed prime minister March 1. It was the first time that Bashir has appointed a prime minister since he came to power in 1989 in an Islamist and military-backed coup.

Saleh, a longtime ally, is the last member of the group of officers that launched the coup to remain at Bashir's side.
Tech Mahindra has not specified the number of employees that could be asked to leave.

By Press Trust of India: After Infosys and Wipro, it's now IT firm Tech Mahindra that could hand out pink slips to hundreds of employees as it looks to "weed out bottom performers".

Tech Mahindra - which ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues - has begun its annual performance appraisal process.

"We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different," Tech Mahindra said in an emailed response.

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The Mumbai-based company, however, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave. However, industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds.

At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

IT FIRMS FACING CHALLENGES

Tech Mahindra's larger rivals, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant have already initiated similar performance reviews and estimates suggest that thousands of employees in the sector could be shown the door over the next few weeks.

The development comes at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

While the companies have termed these layoffs as part of normal business decisions, many believe these are directed more towards controlling costs.

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.

PRESSURE TO HIRE LOCALS

With the US hardening its stance on outsourcing, IT firms are under pressure to hire locals instead of taking Indian employees on work visas to client sites. This also impacts their margins.

Infosys, for instance, has said it will hire 10,000 people in the US over the next two years. It is also looking at setting up four new innovation centres there.

IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. Apart from the impact of stringent visa regime, increasing automation of processes would also lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.

Also read: Trump effect: Is Cognizant firing people in India to hire more in US?

Also read: Trump to sign order that will make getting H1B visa harder for Indians

--- ENDS ---
Thai authorities are hunting for at least 10 suspected Muslim insurgents in connection with a car bombing this week that wounded 60 people, including children, outside a supermarket in the troubled far south of the predominantly Buddhist country.

The attack Tuesday in Pattani destroyed the front of a Big-C supermarket, a discount store and food outlet, in what security analysts said was the biggest attack on a civilian target in months.

The ethnic Malay, Muslim-majority region, which includes the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat near Thailand's border with Malaysia, has seen more than a decade of violence by Muslim separatist insurgents. Police and the army have said the attack this week was most likely carried out by the insurgents.

Lieutenant General Piyawat Nakwanit, chief of the 4th Army in the south, said at least 10 people were suspected of involvement, including the head of a tambon, or local government unit, in Pattani.

"We think there are 10 people involved in the car bomb ... there might be more," Piyawat told reporters Thursday.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for one suspect. The military said it had not detained any suspects.

Once part of sultanate

The insurgency has occasionally spilled into nearby Songkhla province, thronged by tourists from neighboring Malaysia.

The three southern provinces were once part of a Malay Muslim sultanate until being annexed by Thailand in 1902. Successive governments have tried, with little success, to stem the violence. Efforts to get talks going have come to nothing.

Rights groups have accused the security forces of abuses against suspected militants and their supporters.

But Piyawat said troops maintained human rights, and he defended the military's search methods and stepped-up inspection of vehicles.

"People in the area might be inconvenienced a little now because we'll have to check every car, including ice cream cars, as those who cause violence keep changing their strategy," he said.

"Every time," he added, "we follow human rights principles, and the fact is, we are brothers  Thai Christians, Thai Buddhists and Thai Muslims."
The White House says President Donald Trump considered firing then-FBI director James Comey for months, but aides say the U.S. leader increasingly fumed in recent days over Comey's public comments about the criminal investigation of the Trump campaign's links to Russia and regret about his key role in Trump's election.

Trump, according to U.S. news accounts, was angered at Comey's congressional testimony last week in which he outlined the Federal Bureau of Investigation's broad probe into Russia's meddling in last year's presidential election, his refusal to support Trump's unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped him, his remark that he was "mildly nauseous" that his actions influenced the outcome of the election and the FBI's seeming disinterest in pursuing government leaks to reporters.

WATCH: Comey statement about 2016 election



"He got tired of him," one White House official told the political news site Politico, referring to Trump and Comey. "I think that's how you would explain it. He got really tired of him."

Still, White House deputy spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that Trump did not ultimately decide to fire Comey until after reading a justification for his removal prepared at Trump's request by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. That letter outlined Comey's key role in last year's election campaign in investigating Democrat Hillary Clinton's handling of classified documents on her private email server when she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

The Washington Post reported that Rosenstein, Comey's boss, threatened to resign, but has not, after the White House cast him Tuesday night as one of the prime players in firing Comey, with Trump acting on Rosenstein's recommendation.

Trump has said little publicly about Comey's firing, but told reporters Wednesday, "He wasn't doing a good job. Very simple. He wasn't doing a good job."



Comey announced in July, without telling his superiors at the Justice Department, that investigators had determined that Clinton was "extremely careless" in her handling of the national security documents but that no criminal charges were warranted.

Sanders said Comey committed atrocities in circumventing the chain of command in the Department of Justice. Any person of legal mind and authority knows what a big deal that is.

Clinton emails



Trump disparaged Comey's finding in July and often contended on the campaign trail that Clinton should face criminal charges. Trump, however, applauded Comey in late October, just 11 days before the election, when he reopened the FBI's investigation after agents found more of Clinton's emails on the computer of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, sent there by one of Clinton's aides, Huma Abedin, Weiner's wife.

Then, two days before the November 8 election, Comey announced that nothing new had been found in the emails and closed the investigation again.

Clinton last week partly blamed Comey's reopening of the email investigation, even as early voting was occurring, as one of the reasons she lost the election to Trump.

While Comey told the congressional investigative panel that he still felt justified about his handling of the email probe last year, he said he felt "mildly nauseous" that he might have played a role in the election's outcome, another comment that aides say incensed Trump as effectively diminishing his victory over Clinton.

Trump's firing of Comey, in the fourth year of a 10-year term as head of the country's top criminal investigative agency, has engulfed the White House in turmoil, where all but Trump's top aides were unaware he was considering dismissing the FBI chief.

Call for special prosecutor



Numerous opposition Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have called for a special prosecutor independent of Trump's Justice Department to carry on the investigation of Trump campaign aides' links to Russia. Republican congressional leaders have balked, saying that ongoing probes of the Trump-Russia connection by Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees are sufficient.

Even in dismissing Comey, Trump said the FBI director had assured him three times that he, Trump, was not under investigation, and has often disparaged the probe into links his aides have had with Russia. But Sanders refused to say when those conversations occurred and or what exactly was said.

U.S. congressional officials say that Comey had in the days before his firing asked for more resources for his investigation into Russia's involvement in last year's U.S. election. He made the request to Rosenstein, who along with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, outlined in memos the administration's reasons for ousting Comey.

The Department of Justice denied there was such a request by Comey. The outcome and what effect, if any, a request had on Trump's decision to fire Comey are not clear.

Future of probe



Critics of the FBI director's dismissal say it raises questions about the agency's probe.
The U.N.'s human rights chief urged Uzbekistan on Thursday to avoid "repressive policies" in its fight against Islamist radicalization, a growing threat throughout Central Asia, while welcoming a rapprochement with Tashkent.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Uzbekistan since the post was created in 1993, said the former Soviet republic had agreed to work with his office after previously refusing to do so.

Commenting on President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's reform plans, which include an overhaul of the judicial system and measures to tackle religious extremism, Hussein said it was crucial to balance the latter with ensuring individual rights.

"As in other countries, I have emphasized that the answer to the risk of radicalization is not simply heavy-handed security measures and repressive policies which breed resentment and frustration, thereby making it easier for extremists to recruit new supporters," he said.

President Islam Karimov, who died in September after 27 years in power, had been widely criticized for his government's human rights violations, and Tashkent's ties with the West hit their lowest point after troops violently suppressed unrest in the city of Andijan in 2005.

Hussein, describing the Andijan events as "terrible," told a briefing: "While it is important to look forward, it also important to come to terms with past events and ensure that victims are not forgotten and their grievances are addressed."

Hussein said he had had an hour-and-a-half meeting with Mirziyoyev, "in which we found much common ground and reached agreements on a number of concrete steps."

Uzbekistan found itself in a global security spotlight after an Uzbek man living in Sweden was identified as the main suspect behind the deadly truck attack in Stockholm last month. Hundreds of Uzbeks are also believed to have joined the Islamic State militant group based in Syria and Iraq.
A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi discussed bilateral relations and regional security issues Thursday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, India.

Pelosi and Modi exchanged views on cooperation, terrorist threats, global warming and human rights issues, including Tibet.

"In our meetings with top government officials, the delegation expressed our gratitude to the Indian government and people of India for hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala and for the support of Tibetans living in India," said Pelosi, a California Democrat.

According to Pelosi's website, the group spent two days in Dharamsala and met with the Dalai Lama as well as Lobsang Sangay, the head of the Tibetan government in exile.

During a welcome ceremony Wednesday, Pelosi said the delegation came to "pay tribute to His Holiness [the Dalai Lama], a visionary, a man of compassion, a man of hope." She also expressed her commitment to support Tibetan causes.

"Brutal tactics of the Chinese government to erase the religion, culture and language of the Tibetan people challenge the conscience of the world," she said."We will meet that challenge. Working together, we will meet that challenge."

Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said the U.S. Congress stands in solidarity with "the Tibetan people to be free from the repression that has been put upon them for a very, very long time from Beijing."

Pelosi said gaining a status of "authentic" autonomy for Tibet requires narrowing the differences between Chinese and Tibetan leaders.

"To some in China, an autonomous, authentic Tibet is inconceivable. To us, it is inevitable," she said, "So we must shorten the distance between inconceivable to them and the inevitable to us."

Pelosi led a congressional group to Tibet in 2015, which she said was part of Sangay's proposal for them to visit Tibet and Dharamsala to learn more about the Tibetan situation, according to Tibet.net. Dharamsala is the seat of the Tibetan government in exile.

China considers the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist who seeks Tibetan independence. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, and the current exile government, or Tibetan Administration, say they seek only a "genuine" autonomy for Tibet under the People's Republic of China.

International human rights groups and exiles routinely condemn what they call China's oppressive rule in Tibetan areas. They say pervasive surveillance and displays of military force are used to intimidate and quell dissent.

The Dalai Lama told the delegation Tibetans do not need weapons in their struggle for autonomy, and he again called for nonviolence and compassion.

The United States considers Tibet a part of China, but supports Tibetans' right to preserve their unique religious, cultural and linguistic freedom.
The United States informed French officials that Russia had hacked France's computer networks during the country's presidential election before the cyberattacks became public, the National Security Agency chief told Congress on Thursday.

"We are aware of specific Russian activity directed against the French election cycle, in the course, particularly in the last few weeks," Admiral Mike Rogers testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. "We think it was important enough that we actually reached out to our French counterparts to inform them."

France's election campaign commission said Saturday that "a significant amount of data," some of it likely fake, had been leaked on social networks after a cyberattack on the presidential campaign of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron.

The leak came 36 hours before France's runoff election Sunday in which Macron beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

French election officials said the leaked data apparently came from the computer systems and email accounts of Macron and some of his campaign managers.

Before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Rogers compared the cyberattacks on Macron's campaign to those in the U.S. on the Democratic National Committee and a close aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton before the November presidential election that was won by Donald Trump.

Evidence points to Russia



U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the evidence indicates Russia was responsible for the hacks.

Rogers also has said that there has been no reduction in the volume of attempted Russian cyberattacks and that the U.S. needs to take tough action against nations that attempt to undermine American democracy.

To do so, Rogers said, the U.S. must continue to develop a comprehensive cyberpolicy and improve its ability to defend itself in the cyberdomain.

Later Thursday, Trump signed an executive order aimed at bolstering the federal government's cybersecurity and protecting the nation's infrastructure from cyberattacks.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump's homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert said global cyberattacks on the U.S. were increasing. "The trend line is going in the wrong direction," he said.

Bossert said the executive order was not motivated by Russia, but partially by the need to develop and implement a deterrence strategy  something he said President Barack Obama's administration "had an obligation to do."

Russia continues to deny allegations it is responsible for cyberattacks with the intent to interfere in foreign elections.
Troops from the U.S., Japan and two European nations are gathering on remote U.S. islands in the Pacific for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea.



The drills around Guam and Tinian may also send a message to North Korea about the U.S. commitment to the region and the breadth of its allies. Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea spiked last month after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile and the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.



France, UK take lead

The drills, which are led by France and include the United Kingdom, will practice amphibious landings, delivering forces by helicopter and urban patrols.



Two ships from France are participating, both of which are in the middle of a four-month deployment to the Indian and Pacific oceans. Joining are U.K. helicopters and 70 U.K. troops deployed with the French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral. Parts of the exercise will feature British helicopters taking U.S. Marines ashore from a French ship.



The message we want to send is that were always ready to train and were always ready for the next crisis and humanitarian disaster wherever that may be, said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col Kemper Jones, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. About 100 Marines from Jones unit will be part of the drills slated for this weekend and next week.

South China Sea

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has aggressively tried to fortify its foothold in recent years by transforming seven mostly submerged reefs into island outposts, some with runways and radars and  more recently  weapons systems. This has prompted criticism from other nations, that also claim the atolls, and from the United States, which insists on freedom of navigation in international waters.



Critics fear Chinas actions could restrict movement in a key waterway for world trade and rich fishing grounds.



China says its island construction is mainly for civilian purposes, particularly to increase safety for ships. It has said it wont interfere with freedom of navigation or overflight, although questions remain on whether that includes military ships and aircraft.



Mira Rapp-Hooper of the Center for New American Security, a Washington think tank, said the exercises will send a strong message in support of a rules-based order in Asia at a time when Chinas actions have raised questions about this.



A reminder in this exercise is that lots of other countries besides the United States have an interest in that international order, said Rapp-Hooper, who is a senior fellow with the centers Asia-Pacific Security Program.

Growing European interest



The exercises come amid modestly growing European interest in the South China Sea, said David Santoro, a senior fellow for nuclear policy at Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu think tank.



What Im hearing from the French and to some degree the British, is an increased interest in whats going on in Asia and how they can help, Santoro said. As for North Korea, Santoro said Pyongyang would likely be watching but he didnt think the exercises were intended to send any signal to the country.



Japan, which is sending 50 soldiers and 160 sailors and landing craft, has been investing in amphibious training so it can defend its own islands. Tokyo is particularly concerned China might attempt to take over rocky, uninhabited outcrops in the East China Sea that it controls but Beijing claims. Japan calls the islands Senkaku while China calls them Diaoyu. Japan has also expressed an interest in vessels being able to freely transit the South China Sea.



Guam and Tinian are about 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) south of Tokyo. Theyre about the same distance to the east from Manila, Philippines.
The United States top intelligence official believes the military conflict in Afghanistan will likely deteriorate in the coming years, even if the U.S. commits more troops to the 16 year-old fight.

Speaking Thursday during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said the Taliban is likely to make gains in rural regions while the government is being undermined by the countrys dire economic situation.

Intelligence community assesses that the political and security situation in Afghanistan will almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in military assistance by the United States and its partners, he said.

Coats said Afghanistan is likely to struggle to curb its dependence on foreign support until it can either contain the insurgency or reach a peace agreement with the Taliban, though he said he is not optimistic about the Afghan militarys ability to defeat its enemies.

Afghan security forces performance will probably worsen due to a combination of Taliban operations, combat casualties, desertions, poor logistic support and weak leadership, he said.

President Donald Trump is reportedly 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.

Trump is expected to make a decision on the plan sometime in the coming days.

North Korea, Russia



In addition to the situation in Afghanistan, Coats said North Korea is becoming an increasingly grave national security threat as leader Kim Jong-Un takes a more aggressive approach to the U.S. and attempts to improve his countrys nuclear weapons and missile capabilities.

North Korea updated its constitution in 2012 to declare itself a nuclear power. And its officials consistently state, nuclear weapons are a basis for a regime survival, suggesting Kim does not intend to negotiate them away, Coats said.

Coats said Russia is "likely to be more aggressive towards the United States" in the coming years and will likely use its military intervention in Syria and the threat from the Islamic State group to expand its role in the Middle East.

"Russians have spread across the globe," he said.

Coats told the committee his organization is still assessing the impact of Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential election but the intelligence community hasnt yet put a grand strategy together to deal with the issue moving forward.

Coats said he spoke recently with Montenegro Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic, who told him Russia was now attempting to interfere in that countrys elections after it joined NATO earlier this year.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has reiterated its pledge to protect Turkey, as the country opposes a recent U.S. decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters in an attempt to oust Islamic State militants from their stronghold in Raqqa.

Mattis reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to its NATO ally after meeting Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the highest level talks between the two countries since Washington announced on Tuesday plans to provide arms to the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, also known as the YPG.

Turkey is strongly opposed to the arms deal and has called for its reversal. Turkey believes the YPG is a terrorist group, an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and Europe.

On Wednesday, Yildirim publicly criticized the U.S. decision, maintaining the U.S. cannot use one terrorist group to fight another.

Yildirim and Mattis met Thursday before the start of an international conference in London on security and humanitarian issues in Somalia.

An unnamed senior U.S. official said Thursday the U.S. will increase intelligence sharing with Turkey to help the country better target terrorists. U.S. officials hope the move will help allay Turkish concerns the weapons will end up in the hands of its enemies.

The U.S. official also said weapons have not yet been shipped to the Kurds. U.S. Colonel John Dorrian said Wednesday, however, the first shipment of weapons are ready for delivery and could reach the Kurds "very quickly."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has demanded that the U.S. reverse its decision, is scheduled to visit Washington next Tuesday. Erdogan has said he would discuss the issue with U.S. President Donald Trump when they meet.

The Syrian Kurds have been fortifying their positions around Raqqa, as it prepares for what the U.S. military has predicted will be a long battle to recapture the city.
The new Veterans Affairs chief shares the goal set by former President Barack Obama's administration of ending homelessness among veterans, but says it'll take longer than his predecessor predicted.

Reducing the number of homeless veterans nationwide from roughly 40,000 to 10,000 or 15,000 is an ``achievable goal'' for President Donald Trump's administration, VA Secretary David Shulkin told The Associated Press during a visit to Rhode Island on Friday.

``This is a continuous problem of people finding themselves in economically difficult situations and then being out on the street or going from shelter to shelter,'' Shulkin said.

Homelessness among veterans has been effectively ended in Virginia, Connecticut and Delaware and in more than 40 communities. The outgoing head of the VA, Robert McDonald, said in January that ``we should be there'' nationwide within a couple of years.

Shulkin, who formerly was VA undersecretary of health under Obama, said on Friday, ``We're still looking at a multi-year process.''

While advocates are encouraged to hear Shulkin's commitment, some wish he was more ambitious.

``My personal take is, the VA secretary is being cautiously optimistic about what can be achieved and not wanting to kind of set the administration up for a missed goal,'' said Lisa Vukov, who works to prevent and end homelessness in the Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan area. ``I'm a firm believer in setting your goals big because you achieve more that way.''

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said veteran homelessness can be ended during the Trump administration.

``There's no reason we can't achieve it if enough resources are dedicated to the fight,'' said Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Shulkin said some veterans offered housing by the VA prefer other alternatives and high real estate prices and a shortage of available housing in some parts of the country make it hard to house veterans there. He sees the biggest challenge in Los Angeles.

Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti said homelessness in Los Angeles is a long-term crisis, but the city has housed more than 8,000 veterans since 2014 and he's fighting to ensure all veterans have a safe place to call home. Los Angeles voters approved a bond in November to raise $1.2 billion for up to 10,000 permanent units.

Navy veteran Chris N. Cardenas said there are some veterans who refuse help or have trouble accessing benefits because of mental illness or substance abuse issues, but 40,000 homeless veterans is far too many.

``That's a very high number,'' Cardenas said. ``It can get down to zero for the ones that want the help.''

Cardenas, 52, said he stopped working as a deliveryman in Santa Fe because of problems with his right knee in 2013 and became homeless after he used up his savings. He moved into an apartment in the Santa Fe area in 2016 with the help of a VA grant program and is now a student at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos.

``I'm at a loss for words because it's so great,'' he said. ``It makes you feel like a functioning person in society.''

To get homeless veterans into permanent homes, the Obama administration used a program that was created in 2008 and combines rental assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development with case management and clinical services from the VA, so-called HUD-VASH vouchers. Some areas of the country currently have a waiting list for a voucher, including Los Angeles.

While programs for helping homeless veterans received funding increases in fiscal 2017, there's less money for new HUD-VASH vouchers. There's $40 million available, compared to $60 million for new HUD-VASH vouchers in 2016 and $75 million in 2015, according to HUD.

``We urge the VA to prioritize finishing the job and I have absolute confidence the new secretary has that commitment,'' said Chris Ko, director of homeless initiatives for the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. ``We need to see that commitment exercised in additional federal resources.''

Shulkin said he's committed to maintaining the voucher program and continuing strategies that are working, such as housing people first and then pointing them toward help to confront the root cause of their homelessness.
Venezuela's opposition is pushing other Latin American countries to pressure President Nicolas Maduro's government into implementing a democratic agenda, opposition leader Julio Borges said on Thursday.

Borges, the president of Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly, traveled to Lima to meet with Peruvian legislators and President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who has been one of the most vocal critics of Maduro among Latin American heads of state.

He said the humanitarian crisis and strong protests against Maduro's socialist government had crossed Venezuela's borders due to a wave of refugees across the region.

The request I'm bringing to the Peruvian congress and president is that they help us, together with other presidents who we've spoken with, to create a large group of presidents who are friends and proponents of democracy in Venezuela, Borges told Reuters.

Five weeks of protests

Venezuela has suffered through more than five weeks of violent anti-government protests that have left at least 39 dead. The opposition has decried Maduro as an autocrat who has wrecked the OPEC nation's economy, and demanded elections to resolve the political crisis.

Peru recalled its ambassador to Caracas in late March.

Borges said the aim of the strategy of street protests and calls for international pressure was to break the conscience of the armed forces and the political groups that still support Maduro, and to avoid more deaths.

It's important  fundamental  that we get several governments in the region to unite in the short term to make sure in Venezuela there exists nothing other than a popular and democratic agenda, Borges said upon exiting an interview with local radio station RPP.

He declined to specify which other countries he had visited or planned to visit, but had told RPP that he would seek support from Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil. Socialist Venezuela has lost many regional allies as several Latin American countries have moved to the right in recent years.

There's a new map in Latin America that I'm sure will strongly support this democratic agenda for Venezuela, Borges said.

Borges meets with McMaster

Last week, Borges met with U.S. President Donald Trump's national security advisor H.R. McMaster, where they agreed on the need to bring Venezuela's crisis to a quick and peaceful conclusion.

The meeting came after Maduro announced the creation of a new popular assembly, which foes decried as a power grab aimed at sidelining the National Assembly.
A woman was killed and her husband injured as Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control early today morning in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector.

By Ashwini Kumar: Pakistan once again violated ceasefire along the Line of Control early on Thursday morning at Pukharni village in Nowshera sector of Rajauri in Jammu and Kashmir, killing a woman and injuring her husband.

The police said that Pakistan initiated heavy firing along the Line of Control in the Sher Makedi area.

The Pakistan Army initially resorted to firing by small arms, but later used heavy mortar shells, the police added.In the wake of the incident, the Rajouri district administration has ordered the closure of schools in villages adjoining the Line of Control in the Nowshera subdivision.

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A team of doctors has been also stationed in Nowshera for coordination in case of an emergency.

The deputy commissioner of Rajouri has directed the essential services departments to be alert in the wake of the expected migration. The official machinery has also been asked to be in a state of readiness.

Also Read:

2 soldiers killed in ceasefire violation in J-K's Poonch day after Pakistan army chief visited LoC

8 Pakistan Army soldiers killed as India retaliates to ceasefire violation along LoC in Rajouri

Also Watch:

Jammu and Kashmir: 2 jawans killed as Pakistan fires rockets at Indian posts in Poonch

--- ENDS ---
As Washington considers sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, analysts are skeptical whether the move would help quell a resurgent Taliban or push the insurgent group to the negotiating table.

U.S President Donald Trump is expected to announce his Afghan policy later this month and his advisers are reportedly recommending adding up to 5,000 additional American troops.

Security analysts say a troop surge would not make a difference unless additional steps are taken including reforms within the Afghan government and convincing Pakistan to break ties with militant groups in Afghanistan.

"The troop surge in itself won't lead to either the defeat of the Taliban, it won't even slowdown their advances," said Ioannis Koskinas, a senior fellow at New America, a research institute in Washington. "It is also not going to bring them to the negotiation table. Why should they? They think they are winning and 3,000 troops is not going to dramatically change the dynamics."

Speaking Thursday during a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said the Taliban is likely to make gains in rural areas while the government is being undermined by the country's "dire economic situation."

A U.S. watchdog estimates Taliban controls around 11 percent of districts with some 30 percent contested in battles with Afghan forces.

Analysts agree with Coats and other U.S. officials who say the Afghan security and military apparatus needs to be fixed.

"The Afghan government must start assigning merit-based appointments of competent individuals in key security posts," Koskinas said. "Without strong leadership, that is currently lacking in the ministries of defense and interior, and from operational to tactical units, the surge of troops has no chance of improving security or countering the Taliban expansion."

Corruption in the ranks

Besides battling an emboldened insurgency, Afghan security forces face rampant corruption in their ranks.

"The ineffective and corrupt Afghan government is one of the problems," said analyst David Des Roches, who teaches at the National Defense University in Washington. "I think the Afghan government reform should be our priority."

The watchdog, U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), has repeatedly warned that corruption and mismanagement could lead to military failure in the country.

"Afghanistan has enough security forces and if they are strategically used under the right leadership, they are capable of defending the country," said Afghan lawmaker Abdul Jabbar Qahraman, who was tasked by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to oversee anti-Taliban offensives in the southern restive Helmand province.

Additional U.S. troops would be most beneficial if they are used to prop up Afghan forces and enable them to succeed, analysts say.

"The new plan should strengthen the capabilities of the Afghan national army that the U.S. has been training," said Wadir Safi, a Kabul University professor of politics. "They should get more training and equipment to eventually take over the country's defense and security."

Pakistan's link

But Taliban do not operate in Afghanistan alone.

Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of tolerating and supporting militant groups that have carried out attacks across their shared borders. The United States has also pressed Islamabad to do more to crack down on such groups. Pakistan rejects allegations of employing proxies from its soil, saying Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism.

But analysts say a U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan must be accompanied with forcing Pakistan to crackdown on support the Afghan Taliban receive from sanctuaries on Pakistani soil.

"Pakistan is not helping the security situation in Afghanistan," analyst Koskinas said. "Their [Pakistan] support for the Taliban has not been curbed by American carrots. But we've never really applied any sticks as complement to the carrot. The U.S. needs a separate and comprehensive strategy to influence Pakistan."

Pakistani defense analyst, Talat Masood believes that Islamabad should take the impending U.S. troop surge as a signal that the U.S is serious about ridding insurgency in Afghanistan and the region.

"Pakistan needs to cut its links with the Taliban," he said.

Still, Coats conceded Thursday that Afghanistan is likely to struggle until it can either contain the insurgency or reach a peace agreement with Taliban. And analysts wonder whether the U.S. troop surge would succeed in doing that.
Former Industry and Trade Minister, Nkosana Moyo, says he is seriously considering to run as an independent candidate in Zimbabwes 2018 presidential election.

In an interview with Studio 7 in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Moyo said he shall in a few weeks make an announcement regarding his political ambitions.

Moyo said two opposition parties, ZAPU and the Zimbabwe People First (after the internal strife that saw former vice president Joice Mujuru forming another party), have asked him to contest the presidential election.

But Moyo, who turns 66 in August this year, said he is considering to run as an independent because the history of African politics shows that political leaders fail their citizens because they are often partisan, seeking to satisfy only their party supporters and ignoring the rest

of the populace.

Asked for his take on Moyos ambitions, director Pedzisai Ruhanya of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, speaking as an independent analyst, said while it is Moyos democratic right as a Zimbabwean citizen to aspire for the highest political office in the country, he does not

think Moyo would succeed.

Ruhanya cited former cabinet minister Simba Makonis performance as an independent presidential candidate in 2008 and pointed out that in Zimbabwe as well as globally, people are used to voting for political parties and not individuals.

Ruhanya also said it is the folly of many technocrats that because they are experts in certain fields they think they can easily succeed politically.

He noted that politics is a different ball game.

Moyo, now based in South Africa had flown into the country to take part in a discussion on the reindustrialization and economic revival of the country.

During the meeting, Moyo also said youth should not sit back and watch while the situation in the country continues to worsen.

He implored the youth to refuse to be abused, take responsibility and lead in helping bring about the desired change in the country.

Claris Madhuku of the Platform for Youth Development, shared Moyos sentiments, adding that all eligible youth should register to vote and take advantage of the fact that they are the biggest

demographic group in Zimbabwe to bring change in the country.

Moyo, who once worked with the African Development Bank, sits on the boards of a number of blue chip companies as well as being the founder and director of the South African based Mandela Institute for Development Studies.

Moyo, a holder of a physics doctorate and also a career banker, was once appointed by President Robert Mugabe as a trade and industry minister but his tenure was short-lived as he resigned almost immediately after the appointment.

He revealed that this was because he disagreed with the policies espoused by President Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF party and said that contrary to some press reports at the time claiming that he had resigned after having run away to South Africa, he had had time to discuss his impending departure with the president.
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By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, May 11 (PTI) Pakistan and Iran have set up a joint commission to ensure better border management, two days after Islamabad summoned the Iranian envoy to express concern over Tehrans assertion that it will hit terror "safe havens" in its neighbouring country.

Pakistan on Tuesday summoned the 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.

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The commission has been set up to ensure better border management, Pakistan Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said yesterday.

Relations between the neighbours have been tense due to the killing of Iranian border guards in a clash with militants.

Irans state news agency IRNA on Tuesday 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".

Aziz, while giving details of the joint border commission to the media said, "four members from each side will be its members and it will be functional soon".

He said that apart from militants, smugglers and other elements were also present along the Pak-Iran border.

Aziz also stated that a larger number of members of Jaish-e-Adl, a militant group responsible for the recent attack on Iranian guards, were present on the Iranian side of the border. PTI SH ASK CPS

--- ENDS ---
Amybeth McNulty as Anne. Photo: Caitlin Cronenberg/Netflix

Anne With an E, the new CBC-Netflix adaptation of the beloved 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables, takes the familiar, revered story of the red-haired Canadian orphan and infuses it with sunshine as well as shadow. The shadowy element is not surprising given that Annes showrunner and lead writer is Moira Walley-Beckett, who previously worked on Breaking Bad and won an Emmy for writing what is, perhaps, the best and most tense episode of that series, Ozymandias.

That said, Anne of Green Gables purists should not worry that at some point, our plucky, unbreakable girl with the braids will turn to her guardians, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, and urge them to tread lightly. Those who love L.M. Montgomerys books and any of their many adaptations, including the particularly beloved 1985 miniseries starring Megan Follows, will recognize the same overall story lines and generosity of spirit in the initial episodes of this eight-part series, which begins with Matthew (R.H. Thomson) and his sister Marilla (Geraldine James) taking in the 13-year-old, parentless Anne Shirley (Amybeth McNulty), despite the fact that they were hoping to adopt a boy to help them do the heavy lifting on their farm. What distinguishes it from other previous Anne iterations is its willingness to harden some of the storys softness, just enough, to create an element of realism that period pieces, Gables-related or not, can be inclined to avoid.

There is plenty of unabashed beauty in Anne With an E, starting with its picturesque Prince Edward Island setting, captured in all its gorgeousness in the first 90-minute episode directed by Whale Riders Niki Caro. And then theres the idiosyncratic nerve and verve of the main character, inhabited fully and admirably by newcomer McNulty. As always, Anne is outspoken, precocious, wildly imaginative, and as sensitive as an open wound that hasnt been suitably bandaged. Shes the prototypical strong young female whose intelligence and sophisticated means of expression  the kid rattles out roughly ten SAT words per sentence  are too much for the times shes living in (the late 1890s) to handle.

The series depends on McNultys ability to bring all those qualities to the surface in a way that both explains why some may initially find Anne irritating, but also illuminates just how endearing and special she is. McNulty is such a natural that shes able to accomplish this in a way that feels effortless. Just watch her when shes forced to say sorry to Marillas gossipy friend and neighbor Rachel (Corrine Koslo) after yelling at her  for good reason, by the way, since Rachel told Anne to her face that she was ugly. As Anne, McNulty dutifully delivers her apology with a perfectly frosted sweetness that masks the acidity underneath: Thank you for your kind consideration. I look forward to never minding what you say ever again. Yeah, that Green Gables girl can throw some real low-key shade when she wants to.

Most of the time, though, Anne is overjoyed to have found the Cuthberts, largely because her life prior to this point has been so dismal. This is where the more distressing elements of the series kick in, as flashbacks to her previous experiences at an orphanage or working as a hired hand for other families reveal the degree to which she has been treated like slave labor and taunted by her peers. Even in some of the more visually sumptuous moments  a shot of Annes hands grazing flowers while bathed in shafts of sunlight  the camera is careful to capture a close-up of the dirt under her fingernails. Anne With an E is a little bit Masterpiece Theatre, but its Masterpiece Theatre coated in some grit, with a touch of the Tragically Hip. (The Canadian rock band provides the shows lyrically apropos theme song, Ahead by a Century.)

Lifelong fans of the Anne of Green Gables series should find much to admire here, but the newly initiated will be just as easily drawn into the town of Avonlea, where Anne and the Cuthberts live, and enchanted by the open-hearted wonder with which Anne greets the world and spins her creative yarns. For parents looking to steer their perpetually bingeing preteens and teens toward something other than 13 Reasons Why, Anne With an E is a great choice. Its mix of escapism and confrontation of lifes hardships make it a pleasure that comes with no guilt. Like the strong-as-hell female at its center, even when it exaggerates, it never stops aiming for honesty.
It turns out that Nazi torture-chamber interlude in Sleepers Wake wasnt just a memorable flirtation with the horror genre, but rather the vanguard of a chilling new status quo. Waxing Gibbous seems to take the nightmarish sight of Dutchs bloodied leg-stump as a challenge, and handily outdoes it with the single most disturbing image that Archer has conjured to date. The show has gone plenty dark before  lest we forget the delightful dinner party that concluded as the assembled guests left with the machine-sawed body parts of an Italian politician  but this episode establishes a new standard for extreme content. If Dreamland intends on being the grimmest season of Archer, the horrifying Last Supper of mutilated corpses sets the bar pretty damn high. For all we know, this is just how things are now.

But before we can reach the grand finale of impalements and distended flesh, theres a lot to get through  a lot of exposition, a lot of humor, and a lot of humor in the form of exposition. The great strength of Dreamland has been its ability to elevate the most menial table setting with consistently hilarious writing. At its best, Archer gussies up scenes in which characters deploy crucial information with absurd comic slants that enliven the narrative busywork. Consider this episodes cold-open scene, in which the writers assign Archer the clearly defined objective of informing Mother that the corrupt police force absconded with their missing ransom money. It could take all of 15 seconds, but Adam Reed and company expand the moment into a gem of physical comedy by forcing Archer to communicate via a game of strangulated charades. All the scene conveys is the content of one three-word sentence  the choked words cops took it  and the rest of the bit is just fun for its own sake.

Waxing Gibbous pulls the same trick midway through its run time, when circumstances force Lana Kanes hand and she outs herself as a federal agent. Shes been a known unknown this entire season, concealing a secret in plain sight though its specific nature was never clarified until now. The reveal that shes an undercover special agent isnt all that surprising  there was no way this show would let steely Lana play the coquettish cabaret performer for long  but again, Archer goes about revealing this in the most amusing and unexpectedly incisive way possible. The admission that Lanas an incognito fed quickly segues into a more pointed dialogue about the intelligence sectors disappointing hiring practices with regards to women and minorities, complete with a shout-out to trailblazing agent Alaska P. Davidson and a deep-dive into the many sins of J. Edgar Hoover. The comic hook lies in the fact that Lana works for the IRS, a noble position (they recovered the Lindbergh baby, after all!) that nonetheless earns her no respect whatsoever. Meanwhile, the focus shifts from the exposure of Lanas hidden identity to its larger cultural significance.

As much as I commend Archer for rising above the drudgery of exposition, thats not to cast shade on the elegant physics of plotting that invisibly guide Waxing Gibbous to its cliffhanger ending. The characters organically split into three groups, all of which are set on a collision course at Len Trexlers undoubtedly haunted mansion. The Poovey-Figgis brain trust and Archers ragtag squadron piece the puzzle together and fall into robo-Barrys grisly trap, but the most winning comic trio has to be Lana, the returning Eugene Mirmans oddly mannered Cecil Van Der Tunt, and vengeful sex worker Trinette McGoon (who you may remember as the mother of Archers bastard child back in the real world). Everyone brings something to the table: Lanas dumbstruck fury at her companions incompetence, Cecils skin-crawling sexual proclivities (merkins, mistaken identities, and incest, and its a musical!), and Trinettes esoteric knowledge of automotive mechanics. Incidentally, her continued insistence that a leaky engine can be fixed with a chunk of potato  hence the term potato compartment  happens to be the episodes finest joke.

Heres something else to consider: Were almost done with Dreamland. Waxing Gibbous marks the sixth episode in a season of eight, a more truncated run than the shows usual 10- to 13-episode order. For all the fun theyve had tangling plot threads like a game of film noir cats cradle, Reed and his writers will soon have to cut through the knot theyve built for themselves. Now that everyones been collected at Chez Trexler, it would seem that everythings out in the open. Everyones intentions have been made clear, and theyre now pitted against one another in a more present clash than their crisscrossing investigations. This being Archer, theres no doubt that theres another twist on the way, but the chickens are coming home to roost. Weve come this far, and now Trexlers place has been revealed as the fireworks factory everything has led up to. Now, all thats left is to  [Ken Watanabe voice] let them fight.

Assorted Notes

 Charlotte Van Der Tunt describes Mothers towering lackey as being closer to Pantagruel than Frankensteins monster, making reference to a collection of 16th-century French novels about a pair of giants. Author Francois Rabelais was also a noted fan of elaborate wordplay and the willful mixing of sophomoric humor with sophisticated satire  no doubt that someone in the Archer writers room has been a fan since college.

 The imagined flash-forward of Poovey attending the graduation ceremonies of his hypothetical Chinese-American children is delightful enough on its own, but his Orville Redenbacher-esque mustache is another thing entirely. Old Pooveys face belongs on money.

 In related Poovey news, his fleeting references to knowledge accumulated while growing up on a farm have grown even more unsettling. This week: Why do you know what burnt pubes smell like? Because I grew up on a farm?

 Learn from Archers foolish error, kids: If youre gonna mix Dexedrine with codeine, make sure that you have a way to tell the pills apart.
Hawn in Death Becomes Her, Cactus Flower, and Swing Shift. Photo: Universal Pictures/Columbia TriStar/Warner Bros.

When people talk about Goldie Hawn, shes often framed as a lovable kook. Shes got those big wide eyes, that even bigger, wider smile, and that laugh thats evolved from a girlish giggle to a throaty cackle in the decades since she broke out on Laugh-In. But Hawns career amounts to so much more than kooky. As a young girl she was a born star, with a nymph-like presence that ensorcelled audiences with her wit and charm. And if you trace her body of work from variety-show comedienne to Oscar winner to reemerging elder stateswoman of Hollywood, youll see one of the most dynamic performers of her generation.

Over the course of 50 years in show business, Hawn has acted, sang, danced, and done pratfalls with so many icons, measuring up to them at every step along the way. At 24, she won an Academy Award with her first major screen role in Cactus Flower. At 25, she stole scenes from Peter Sellers in Theres a Girl in My Soup. At 35, she did a musical TV special called Goldie and Liza Together with Liza Minnelli. At 46, she dusted off those dancing shoes once again and made every moms favorite movie, The First Wives Club. Shes acted opposite Walter Matthau, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Ingrid Bergman, Burt Reynolds, Meryl Streep, Bette Midler, Dean Martin, Diane Keaton, and Warren Beatty. Shes also one of the reliably best presenters you could ask for at any Oscars ceremony. Hawns spectacular career may be popularly defined by her comedy, but whats made her so compelling across decades is her ability to communicate vulnerability and strength with such nuance its like shes casting spells.

After a 15-year absence from the screen, Hawn returns to the theaters this week opposite Amy Schumer in the mother-daughter comedy Snatched. If you want to put together a Hawnathon to savor what youve been missing after all this time, here are our picks for the actresss ten best performances. We know youve been loving your life at home with Kurt, Goldie, but please never leave us for that long again.

1. Cactus Flower (1969)

Hawns most famous role is probably Private Benjamin, but she won her Academy Award for playing opposite Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman in Cactus Flower. At 24 years old, Hawn embodied the idealistic 1960s pixie girl, and her distinctive facial features made her a singular screen presence. She was ebullient without being overwrought, and gave real depth to a character that could have easily been reduced to a stock younger woman for her formidable co-stars to act over. Hawn proved early on that she would never be constrained to just playing the girlfriend.

2. Theres a Girl in My Soup (1970)

Goldie Hawn and Peter Sellers. This was only the actresss second big movie, but she matches wits with Sellers the whole way, playing off of one of cinemas true greats. Their first scene together sees Hawn reject Sellerss sexual advances by deconstructing his masculine gamesmanship until hes too demoralized to continue; its one of the best of her career. Hawn is one of the great rom-com stars of all time, but Soup sits apart from the rest for its surprising, unconventional ending.

3. Butterflies Are Free (1972)

In her early roles, the bubbliness of Hawns characters implied an obliviousness and simplicity, but those were just surface notes. Her characters waxed about freedom and liberation, but longed to find purpose through connection and to be seen as something more than a reusable object for the enjoyment of men. Butterflies takes place almost entirely in a dingy apartment, and Hawn plays a young girl who befriends her blind neighbor. Since he cant see her, it allows Hawn to play the character outside of a mans expectant gaze. The fact that she spends the much of the movie in her underwear doesnt feel exploitative so much as it does like a shedding of self-consciousness. Its funny and sweet, and has one of the best emotional climaxes of any of her movies.

4. The Sugarland Express (1974)

Even though Hawn won her Oscar playing to her obvious physical strengths (those eyes, that mouth) for comedic effect in Cactus Flower, she used them to paint a picture of a woman gone mad in this, Steven Spielbergs sophomore feature. As Lou Jean, Hawn plays a mother desperate to be reunited with her son, which leads her into a days-long car chase across Texas after she takes a police officer hostage with her fugitive husband. Hawn spends most of the movie in the back seat of a car, which becomes a stage for her to swing back and forth between violent fits of rage and heartbreaking tenderness as she imagines life with and without her baby. Its a performance that manages to be both bigger than life and entirely natural, and it proved that despite her early ingenue roles, Hawn truly had range.

5. The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)

Duchess is a crime caper in the guise of a spaghetti Western that stars Hawn as a showgirl and prostitute chasing down the easy life with a con man whos lifted a substantial sum of money from a band of fellow criminals. Its not the best movie in her filmography, but it is a rare early role in which Hawn isnt playing some form of doe-eyed, free-spirited dream girl, and it ends up as a showcase for Hawns whole performance tool kit. She sings and dances, seduces and flirts, lifts her voice up to a higher register when shes wooing a willing man, and drops it back down again after shes exploited her prey. Its like an early-Hawn sample platter.

6. Private Benjamin (1980)

Although she didnt win, Hawn got her second Oscar nomination and perhaps her most enduring role as Private Judy Benjamin, a spoiled little rich girl who decides to take control of her life for the first time by enlisting in the Army. Judy is a woman in pursuit of a sense of self after a life defined by what men wanted from her, and even at her bratty worst, Hawn is so eminently relatable you never stop empathizing with her. When shes at her best, there are few actresses more magnetic.

7. Swing Shift (1984)

Jonathan Demmes nostalgic ode to American grit and determination during World War II is also the first onscreen pairing for Hawn and her future life partner, Kurt Russell. She plays a housewife who joins the war effort after her husband enlists in the Navy, and during his years-long absence she develops new, close friendships and a passionate romance with her factory supervisor. No actress has ever sold wide-eyed naivete more effectively than Hawn, but as the movie unfolds she experiences love and lust and the thrill of a life unencumbered by wifely duties that she never considered before the war. The packaging of Hawn in demure mid-century dresses is humorously on the nose, but the actress brings a moving internal life to what could have been a one-dimensional character.

8. Overboard (1987)

The natural charm of Hawn and Russell together is rom-com gold, and Overboard is one of the highlights of the actresss mid-career period. Hawn is endearing as always when shes in working-class mom mode, but its her briefer time spent playing a spoiled rich lady thats especially fun. Its a shame Hawn didnt play a complete bitch in more movies, because shes excellent at it. When she narrows her eyes, slicks back her buoyant golden hair, and drops her voice lower, the girlishness thats stuck with her through the decades washes away. Suddenly you can see her swapping in for Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl, and youre longing for a peek at the alternate 80s timeline in which Hawn went full shoulder-padded ice queen.

9. Death Becomes Her (1992)

Despite landing poorly with critics, Death Becomes Her is an almost perfect film. Hawn and Meryl Streep play a pair of lifelong frenemies chasing after eternal youth as well as the same man (a young and bedraggled Bruce Willis). Death Becomes Her is big, brightly colored camp, with Streep and Hawn at one point sorting out their years-long rivalry through a shovel fight. Best of all, though, it lets Hawn twist her good-girl charms into something malicious. Obviously, Hawn was always much more than her beauty, but her sex appeal got benched in the 1980s for a kind of mature attractiveness. Death finally let her play sexy again, and devilishly so. The role fits her like a tight red dress.

10. The First Wives Club (1996)

Hawn has always been a physically adept comedic actress, and not just because of her anime-style features. Shes always had great timing and an understanding of her body in space, but in First Wives Club, she reaches a whole new level of slapstick. Hawn, Diane Keaton, and Bette Midler function like a kind of Three Stooges, bumbling from one vengeance plan to the next as they work to take down their self-absorbed ex-husbands. Each actress is excellent in the big moments  the washing cart is tops among them  but as an Oscar-winning actress with a drinking problem, Hawn pulls your eyes to her in every scene. You laugh at her and with her, up to the point where you want to cry for her. In signature Hawn fashion, the outsize nature of her comedic performance makes her vulnerable moments hit even harder.
Its always been easy to take Kathryn Hahn for granted. When we needed her to inject earthiness and believability into network TV series (Crossing Jordan, Parks and Recreation), she did. When we needed her to hold her own with Hollywoods A-list Funny Boys Club in big studio comedies (Step-Brothers, Anchorman), she did. And then there were all those movies wherein she dutifully played the understanding girlfriend and wife or maybe even the wisecracking co-worker and friend (see: most of her work between 2003 and 2013), yet never wavered in her ability to make the most of her screen time, however limited it was.

But something changed in 2013. Writer-director (and future Transparent creator) Jill Soloway cast Hahn as the lead in her feature film, Afternoon Delight, following an L.A. woman consumed with malaise about being a mother and a wife, who befriends a young stripper (Juno Temple). The Silver Lakeset Sundance darling not only facilitated Soloways selling of Transparent, in which Hahn would also star, it recast her in a new, long-overdue role: protagonist.

Vulture spoke with Hahn about her career and her latest collaboration with Soloway, Amazon Studios I Love Dick, a high-concept adaptation of Chris Krauss game-changing feminist novel starring Hahn as Kraus, a disillusioned filmmaker married to an academic (Griffin Dunne), who becomes obsessed with an elusive artist-cowboy (Kevin Bacon). She says the series, which begins streaming May 12, is the latest in a spate of recent professional watershed moments that have left her feeling, after nearly 20 years in Hollywood, fearless.

Its funny to be talking to you via phone while youre in New York when actually we live just down the street from each other.

I know! Im shooting this Tamara Jenkins movie, Private Life. Shes such a gorgeous mind. I adore her. Its about a couple going through infertility and IVF. It hits that right spot between funny and sad. Paul Giamatti and me. Absolutely heavenly.

To me, your career lives squarely in the spot between funny and sad.

[Laughs.] I guess it does.

Speaking of your career, I found a newspaper story online from 20 years ago in which you are quoted as a first-year acting student at the Yale School of Drama. The article is called The High Stakes Journey of an Actress.

Oh my God.

And you were asked to talk about the challenges you face as you begin the three-year graduate program, and what awaits you after you leave. Your response was: I dont feel being an actress is so much who I am as what I do  and I think thats a big distinction. I want to grow as a human being and to hopefully be stimulated in ways that go beyond being on stage and trying on hoop costumes or whatever. I am a smart human being and sometimes the life of an actress, ohhhhh, is a nightmare.

[Laughs.] Thats amazing and hilarious.

It seems to me youve stayed true to this core ethos  maintaining a separation between doing and being acting. Do you think you have?

Its so funny you bring this up. Its my day off and I was looking at this new exhibit at the Whitney today. I didnt know anything about this particular Brazilian artist, but her piece was a video showing a woman on a beach in front of a big shell, shaped like a box. It was like she was coming out of an egg onto the beach, but fully formed as an adult woman. It was so moving. It sent me down this long rabbit hole about what it means to be a first-person artist and how its hard to actually separate myself from that  especially after working on I Love Dick. In that world, Chris Kraus is the first person.

And this first person happens to be a woman instead of a man, which we are less used to seeing.

Right, right. Also, in the Dick world, were with Jill [Soloway] and [playwright] Sarah Gubbins. They and other artists on set all use the power of vulnerability, of just being ourselves. We talk a lot on the show about how when we are children, its such a particularly feminine thing to write in diary, to have this want or need to express ones self. Women like Sophie Calle, Nan Goldin  these are the artists I was so turned on by in my 20s and its kind of coming full circle around now. As a 43yearold, I now see the power of that kind of intimacy and vulnerability. It works in acting and in life.

Its just occurred to me how strange it is that keeping a diary is somehow a purely feminine exercise. Why is that?

I dont know. Both of my children have them! [Hahn has a son and a daughter.] Weve talked a lot about Chris Krauss book and how you could take Dick out of it and have it feel like your own diary. By the end of it, it becomes a battle for her need to be heard and seen, a place for her thoughts. My daughter is 7 and she has four diaries, but she loses the keys to them so its always chaos. [Laughs.] Shell write something and then have an immediate need to show it to me. She cannot keep it secret. Its really private, but do you wanna read it Mom? Read it? Im not going to read your diary if I dont have permission! Shes like, I want you to!

I spoke to Maura Tierney last year about what it feels like to always play the best friend, the girlfriend, the dutiful wife.

Shes amazing.

And then what it feels like to finally inhabit full, dimensional characters. It seems to me that when you started to work with Jill, first as the lead in Afternoon Delight, then in Transparent, and now in I Love Dick, your career underwent a palpable shift toward playing protagonists. How does this feel?

I mean, it certainly wasnt a conscious choice to be supporting all those years! There was a disconnect between the work I was asked to do and the work I knew that I was capable of doing. I knew I had a whole soul and set of tools that werent asked for on camera. I would do only what was required of me and then felt completely unsatisfied creatively. Jill was able to see that inside of me. Afternoon Delight was a turning point. It was mindblowing to all of us that there didnt need to be a disconnect between the work we do and want to do. But you have to bring your whole self to it every time. I have been and will be again supporting in many things, but there is a freedom and ease in knowing youre going be there every day, in every scene. Its almost harder to jump in for a day or two a week.

You dont feel as much universal ownership over the material.

Yes. Im personally blown away by someone like Michelle Williams [in Manchester by the Sea,] coming in for just a few scenes. A part like that that happens in two days in the middle of a shoot? Its so hard. By being there every day, theres a foundation of trust and faith. There was one day on I Love Dick where we two had two units going. [American Honey writer-director] Andrea Arnold was directing one unit; Jill was directing the other. We all looked at each other like, Can you fucking believe were doing a show inspired by Chris Kraus? The whole thing was too much to bear!

No one has been more vocal than Jill has about the impact of the female gaze on storytelling. How palpable is it really for a female actor to know that a woman is not only behind the camera, but inhabiting other crew member positions typically held by men?

Its incredibly powerful. We are being asked to be quite vulnerable in the deepest ways. So, to know that there are womens eyeballs behind it; to know youre being taken care of; that you are the subject, even if youre taking your clothes off, is pretty potent. Its a definite shift.

Ive heard from many female actors that when they are directed by men, they feel like the object in a scene, but by a woman, they are the subject of the scene.

Yes, absolutely.

I didnt have any choice even five or seven years ago. I felt like I was constantly in a scramble and would do anything that I could get.

Your work in Transparent and I Love Dick doesnt erase the fact that youve held your own in big studio comedies for years alongside A-list comedy actors like Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Paul Rudd. For me, your performance in Step-Brothers is one of the most brilliant comedic turns Ive ever seen on film. What did you take away about being a supporting comedy player from these collaborations?

So much of Anchorman and Step-Brothers was [writer-director] Adam McKay. He and Will are just titan dudes of comedy. But there are pretty deep feelings there, too. The vibe on those sets was so anarchic, or selfanarchic, in the best way. I had been, up to that point, just hitting my mark in comedies and saying jokes that had been written. With them, its a different way of working; its about upping the comedy spiral. You have to let go of your actor homework and just be present. Theres something incredibly freeing about that. And Im not an improviser. I am not a comedian. I would never consider myself those things. I just never even try to be funny! Im always blown away by stand-ups. Im blown away by people like that who are craftspeople at comedy.

You were raised Catholic in Cleveland, but have played many characters who are Jewish. We actually talked at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall about how youve become a bit of rock star among female rabbis for your role as Raquel on Transparent. And your character on the Showtime series Happy-ish openly wrestled with her Jewish faith. Have these roles inspired you to reevaluate your own relationship with spirituality?

Oh, so much. I worked and Im still in contact with a rabbi named Susan Goldberg, who is an incredible human in mind, spirit, and energy. She was such a help while I was trying to find Raquel. I knew that trying to become a rabbi for Transparent was going to be impossible. I went to Catholic school growing up. I can barely remember any prayers or anything! But I knew I just needed a way in that was going to be useful to me as an actor, which was sitting and talking with her. Shes a modern dancer, shes a mom of three kids, shes married to an actor. Shes a really interesting, beautiful human. And I think it was in spending time with her, and her stillness and her listening that made me  I dont know if this sounds petty  a better listener. And really, I grew up culturally Catholic. I went to Catholic school for the cheapest private education. But there is something about having a direct line to God  your own individual relationship, whatever that means. It has been pretty profound. My husband is Jewish and our kids go to a secular school. But we have a little after-school Hebrew class with the local rabbinical students. My son is kind wrestling with it and trying to figure it out now. Its really deep going into it for sure. But I took all of that very seriously and I held it very dear.

What I love most about Raquel is that she is a spiritual woman, but also sexual and vulnerable; she wants a family, a lover, and a partner  qualities that are not mutually exclusive to being a woman of faith. And yet this is sadly something we never see depicted onscreen.

Right. We want to purify the idea [of spirituality] but sexuality is so paramount to a human beings existence. We cant divorce these things!

And in Judaism, women are perhaps more empowered to be both than in other religions.

Right. To be leaders, sexual, sensual, intimate, and vulnerable. The third episode in the first season of Transparent was called Symbolic Exemplar. I love that phrase, which is all about how people put spiritual leaders on some sort of holy platform, but they are just humans who want to express their deepest needs and vulnerabilities.

And many types of experiences can inform spiritual guidance.

Right. Its not just the white males experiences and perspective on morality.

Which one wouldnt know by how morality is currently being managed in Washington, D.C.

My God, if I see another image of 14 white men in suits around a table making decisions for us.

There is a wonderful wave of female actors like you in their 40s  people like Sarah Paulson, Michaela Watkins, Amy Landecker  who have spoken about feeling they are at the creative peaks of their careers. Do you feel this way too?

You know what? I do. Its been a long road with a lot of dissatisfaction. Its not coincidental that I feel Im landing in a place of creative fulfillment and at the same time, personally, I also feel just awesome letting go. I think thats why I was so moved by that piece I saw today. This wholly formed adult woman climbing out of this egg. A soft egg! And it wasnt feminine, smooth, or round. It was a box. I have the same feeling. I feel fearless in a way because I dont feel like Im trying. And I think this is probably true for the women you were just talking about. We dont have to try to conform to anything. This is who we are. Im a mom in my 40s with two kids and Im married. And Im still able to have this deep creative life. Its crazy fulfilling.

It makes me think of when Raquel Welch was becoming a star in the early 1960s and studios were worried that if fans found out she was a young mother, it would diminish her appeal. Today, perhaps because of social media, motherhood seems to actually help boost a female actors image. Fans like knowing that women in Hollywood are well-rounded and have lives outside of work.

Yeah. I can still drop off the kids and go to parentteacher conferences. All those things, every second of it is flying fucking by with these children. And my poor kids can barely see anything I do as an actor. [Laughs.] I am so happy to explore what it is to be 43 on camera in this way; seven years ago this would not have happened, and that is something to be excited about.

Are you at a point now where you feel can say no to roles? I imagine Bad Moms making $114 million, and the forthcoming sequel, have allowed you to relax a little about your next job.

Yes. I didnt have any choice even five or seven years ago. I felt like I was constantly in a scramble and would do anything that I could get. It was never about having a career or a body of work. I have the same agent Ive had since the beginning, and we decided maybe I can just learn to like my chaotic career? It was all over the map. Ive never had to fight for certain genres. Like, I love a big movie. Bad Moms is a ball! It is exciting to see that do well; its buoying and validating. Theres a huge audience out there dying for that kind of a catharsis for sure.

There is a certain joy in watching women being just as absurd and ridiculous as men.

Yeah. There is something about seeing two dudes on a poster right now that just doesnt feel of the moment.

By the way, I stand by what I said to you last fall, which is you and Paul Rudd essentially have the same career. You just need your superhero franchise now.

[Laughs.] Yes, that was hilarious. I love it.

Okay, so wheres your AntWoman?

My AntWoman! Oh my God, that would be a ball.

This interview has been edited and condensed.
In a particularly long Closer Look segment on Late Night, Seth Meyers deep dives into President Trumps sudden dismissal of FBI director James Comey, focusing primarily on what the news had to say about it. From television reporters literally running to tell news anchors their scoop to a very exasperated Anderson Cooper, the media was in full force to cover the story, with many analysts drawing connections between Trumps actions and President Nixons Saturday Night Massacre. This connection, however, was not appreciated by the Nixon library. You know its bad when even the Nixon library thinks youre bad for their brand, Meyers quipped.
Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn in Snatched. Photo: Justina Mintz/20th Century Fox

Male-dominated fundamentalist cultures keep their women under wraps, literally, while male-dominated secular cultures make broad exceptions for hot women. But for sexual equality to thrive, women of all shapes, colors, and sizes need permission to disrobe and humiliate themselves in the same way as ungainly male clowns  who can be as gross as they like and still have legions of fans. And so we have Amy Schumer and bless her.

I will, however, withhold my blessing from the punningly titled Snatched, which is strenuous, dumbed-down Schumer. She plays Emily, an emotionally voracious 30-something screwup whose musician boyfriend dumps her before a planned vacation to Ecuador, and whose mom, Linda (Goldie Hawn), routinely undermines her with sentiments like, You still have at least two years to meet someone. Linda is a virtual shut-in, but Emily has an extra, nonrefundable ticket to South America and begs her to put the fun in nonrefundable.

Related Stories 10 Roles That Prove Goldie Hawn Is One of Our Most Versatile Actresses

Most of the jokes center on Emilys flagrant inability to be elegantly feminine. She farts. Shes caught by a hot date washing her private parts. Meanwhile, a bartender assures her that she is safe from sexual slavers because theyre only interested in attractive women. Nabbed by a kidnap kingpin, daughter and mother escape into the Amazon jungle, where the question becomes: Can this woman whos a failure with men gain self-respect by saving her mom?

Its a mighty uncomfortable premise, but I dont fault Schumer for pushing the lines of taste and correctness. I do fault the director, Jonathan Levine, who made the relatively relaxed 50/50 and The Wackness, for his whack-you-over-the-head pacing. At least the script by Katie Dippold has a ribald point of view  unlike her last effort, the bland Ghostbusters remake, which had no controlling idea whatsoever.

Christopher Meloni has a terrific bit as a gung ho Amazonian adventurer and Ike Barinholtz  as Emilys neurotic mamas-boy brother  winds himself up and gets laughs through sheer energy. Its nice to see meaty parts for Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack. But Im not sure about Hawn. A youthful twitterer, she has developed an expressively croaky voice, but nothing about her reads nervous, agoraphobic cat lady. Shes no longer a jumpy clown  she doesnt need the humiliation.

*This article appears in the May 15, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.
Harry Styles, Amandla Stenberg, Kumail Nanjiani, and Florence Pugh. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture

Though the summer movie season tends to be dominated by A-list actors, if you look to the margins, youll find an intriguing new class of could-be, should-be stars. Could some of these scene-stealers and fledgling leads hit it big and become summer stalwarts? Possibly! Here are nine of the most promising breakouts.

Photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Pom Klementieff

This French actress was a delicious addition to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as the empath Mantis: As most of the Guardians bicker, she proves to be a refreshingly enthusiastic mediator, charmed by everyones inherent cuteness. Klementieff also pops up later this summer in the social-media satire Ingrid Goes West as an Instagram idol so influential that even Elizabeth Olsens boho hipster is in her thrall. With Klementieffs striking looks and comic timing, who wouldnt be enamored?

Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Amandla Stenberg

Though she had her breakout role as the killed-too-soon Rue in the first installment of The Hunger Games, Stenberg may be better known for her online presence. At just 18 years old, shes more candid and searching than nearly any other carefully stage-managed young ingenue, and Stenbergs so on point when it comes to matters of race and identity that she even impressed Beyonce, who included the young actress in Lemonade. The question, then, is whether Stenberg can take that online following with her as she leads her first studio movie Everything, Everything, about an ill, housebound teenager who falls for the boy next door.

Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Kumail Nanjiani

Though hes already known as a comedian and actor on HBOs Silicon Valley, Nanjiani gets his big break on the big screen this summer with The Big Sick, the Sundance hit he co-wrote and stars in. Based on his real-life relationship with co-writer Emily V. Gordon, Nanjiani plays a Pakistani-American who cant square his budding relationship with a young white woman (Zoe Kazan) with his familys wishes that he enter an arranged marriage. Told with specificity and sharpness, The Big Sick imbues the rom-com genre with real soul, and it reveals appealing new facets to Nanjiani besides his killer deadpan.

Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

Harry Styles

As the boys of One Direction break away to launch solo careers, Styles has more on deck than just an album drop: Hes part of the massive ensemble cast of Dunkirk, Christopher Nolans coming World War II spectacular. Will this pop star pop onscreen? It remains to be seen whether hell have a large role or stick out like a sore thumb, but at least hes committed: Styles cut his famously tousled hair to play a shorn soldier.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Christian Dior

Laura Harrier

Her co-stars Tom Holland and Zendaya are getting all the magazine covers, but dont sleep on Spider-Man: Homecomings Harrier: In this third reboot of the classic Marvel comic book, she plays Liz Allan, the dream girl Peter Parker spends most of the movie pining for. Best known till now for a role on One Life to Live, Harriers heavy-lidded beauty also scored her a high-profile Calvin Klein campaign out this year, shot by Sofia Coppola.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for CinemaCon

Sofia Boutella

After a striking role in Kingsman: The Secret Service as a henchwoman with blades for legs, Boutella also impressed as the alien Jaylah in last summers Star Trek Beyond. This year, though, shes got her biggest breakthrough yet with the title role in Universals reboot of The Mummy, haunting poor Tom Cruise with her undead hauteur. An intriguing new face with action chops, Boutella also co-stars in Charlize Therons slam-bam stunt vehicle Atomic Blonde, where she shares at least one steamy scene with the Oscar-winning bruiser.

Photo: Earl Gibson III/Getty Images for BET

Demetrius Shipp Jr.

The 28-year-old Shipp has quite the debut on deck: Hell be playing Tupac Shakur in this summers biopic All Eyez on Me, a role he landed despite never having acted before. (It helps, of course, that Shipp looks uncannily like the late rapper.) If the film connects, it could do for him what Straight Outta Compton did for Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, and OShea Jackson Jr., though channeling the charisma of Shakur  who was on his way to movie stardom himself before an untimely death  is no easy task.

Photo: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for NYLON

Danielle Macdonald

After the Sundance premiere of the crowd-pleasing rap comedy Patti Cake$, about an underestimated Jersey girl whos determined to make it big in hip-hop, star Danielle Macdonald took the stage and the audience gasped as she started talking: Who knew this tough Jersey chick was actually an Australian? After a few supporting parts in other films, Patti Cake$ offers Macdonald her big shot, and since Fox Searchlight paid a boatload to position the film as a potential summer sleeper, expect to hear a lot more from Macdonald  whether shes talking in her native Aussie accent or rapping in a hard-bitten Jersey drawl.

Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Florence Pugh

Is Pugh the next Alicia Vikander? Shes been wowing audiences on the film-festival circuit with her role in Lady Macbeth, as a new wife who pushes her older husband away and starts a hot, fraught affair with a well-muscled man who works on their estate. Pugh landed the role at age 19; now 21, shes leaving corsets behind for spandex in the upcoming Fighting With My Family, where shell play a wrestler opposite Lena Headey.
Elisabeth Moss is coming for your Emmys this year, and shes already planning for next year, too. In the latest trailer for Top of the Lake: China Girl, we see Mosss Detective Robin Griffin launch her investigation into a Sydney human-trafficking ring, working alongside Star Wars and Game of Thrones Gwendoline Christie. Moss also starts to connect with the daughter she gave up long ago, played by Alice Englert, whos caught up in the central mystery, and in a fraught relationship with her adoptive mother Nicole Kidman, whos really making the most of her character makeup and frizzy wig. Top of the Lake: China Girl will air for three consecutive nights on Sundance TV, beginning September 10 at 9 p.m.
Though The Daily Show was able to address Donald Trumps sudden firing of James Comey with a quick turnaround on Tuesday night, it was Wednesday when Trevor Noah really addressed the issue. After showing clips of pundit after pundit explained how the presidents actions were unprecedented in America and much more like those found in banana republics and third world countries, the South African comedian shouted, This is the kind of thing that happens in Africa! Just say it! Noah then warned that democracy erodes over time, and this latest development is a step in the wrong direction.
The Indian Army has found evidence about involvement of Pakistan Army's Border Action Team (BAT) in infiltration attempts in Jammu and Kashmir.

There have been at least three infiltration bids in last five days along the LoC. (File Photo/PTI)

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The Indian Army has sounded a high alert after it found involvement of Pakistan Army's Border Action Team (BAT) in an infiltration bid in Jammu and Kashmir's Tangdhar sector. The security forces have launched an extensive tracking of suspected Pakistani infiltrators.

According to reports, six to seven terrorists tried to sneak into the Indian territory from the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) but where pushed back by alert Indian troops.

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MUST READ: The hidden hand of Rawalpindi

The infiltration attempt by Pakistan-based terror groups backed by BAT was made after May 1 incident wherein two Indian soldiers were beheaded by terrorists in Krishna Ghati sector of the region. There have been at least three infiltration attempts in the region in the past five days.

MORE EVIDENCE ABOUT PAKISTAN'S INVOLVEMENT

The Army recovered huge cache of arms and weapons during a search operation in Rampur, Baramulla, pointing towards direct involvement of Pakistan Army's BAT. Radio sets, night vision devices, clothes, ration and Pakistan made medicines were recovered.

WOMAN KILLED IN PAKISTAN FIRING

A woman was killed and a few others were injured as Pakistani troops opened unprovoked firing in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district late on Wednesday night.

"The Pakistani Army fired from small arms and automatic weapons from 10:40 last night on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said.

The Indian Army retaliated to Pakistan's ceasefire violation with equal force.Pakistan mutilates bodies of 2 Indian soldiers near LoC, Army pounds Pak posts in retaliation

Know all about Pakistan's BAT (Border Action Team), the brutal force that mutilated Indian soldiers

DGMO's tough talk on BAT, Army must get free hand to reply to attack, says former defence minister

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Underground Solider Season 2 Episode 10 Editors Rating 3 stars * * *  Previous Next  Previous Episode Next Episode  Maceo Smedley as James, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Rosalee. Photo: WGN

That was a very busy 43 minutes. Its been a busy season, slowed only by Aisha Hindss remarkable, episode-length oratory as Harriet Tubman. In Undergrounds season finale, Harriet assumes the cold open from Daniel, and her encounter with John Brown associate George Stearns is itself a preamble to Civil War. Stearns, one of Captain Browns secret six accomplices, explains that they plan to raid a federal government arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. Later, in the epilogue, we see Elizabeth cozying up with an arsenal guard, once again sacrificing body and soul for the cause. Harriets answer, we can gather, was a resounding yes, and shes got accomplices of her own.

Noah is nowhere in this picture at Harpers Ferry. He isnt anywhere unless thats wherever Cato is headed with Rosalee (and Georgia, among others). In the series most thriller-y moment yet, Cato creeps up on Rose, reveals himself by lantern light, and taunts her as she bolts and barricades the door like Shelley Duvall in The Shining. And he, in turn, gets the iconic line: I aint never been a nigger. Im just Cato. Except we still have no idea who Cato really is. Since fleeing Macon, hes adopted guises as a European man of leisure, a Philadelphia baron and rebel abolitionist, a conditioned captive, and, now, a Canon killer and conquering slave catcher. Its plenty for one character over the course of one season, and Alano Miller has delivered everything asked of him and more, but Cato is almost too unknowable. All thats for certain is Noah wants him dead, and more important, his wife and mother of his child alive.

Their son, at least, is left securely in Georgias house with James, following a birth sequence thats gripping and graphic if a bit melodramatic. Now its Noahs turn to decide what kind of chances hes willing to take to protect his loved ones, even if it means putting others in harms way. The finales quietest scene is a powerful one: Rosalees reconciliation that fear begets fear, motivating her every action, rings true, although not enough for Noah to forgive. And Noah, while still hurt and betrayed, is channeling his own fear into righteous anger and resolve to do more than provide for next of kin, determined to ensure that their world is a less hostile and prejudiced place. The fact that this couple, thrust into such an extraordinary circumstance, can hardly afford the luxury to let feelings linger and settle without the specter of danger and death is its own heartbreak.

One romance that felt telegraphed earlier this season, between black widow Elizabeth and hunky John Brown general Lucas, never actually came to pass. Who knows if it can or will, with Elizabeth shacking up undercover alongside her Confederate mark. For now, they make a mighty fine pair joining forces with Noah, Daniel, Elliot, Thad, and a ragtag roundup of men and women and blasting the living hell out of Master Fellows (damn, Elizabeth!) and his remaining overseers. A few good fighters come away wounded, but none are lost, and Daniel winds up galvanizing a movement with the selfless pursuit of freedom for his wife, daughter, and infant son.

Meanwhile, Ernestine is bound and determined to reunite with whats left of her family. That wasnt the case not too long ago, as she shares with August. Poor Mr. Pullman is at his wits end. He returns home to find his wife, Charlotte, and slave Jay buried in shallow graves and the Macon house gone. He can only communicate with what Ernestine would characterize as the darkest part of ourselves. She saves him from suicide, though its doubtful shell stick around to see how he picks himself up. Their journeys no longer tangled, and theyre each on their own. In Ernestines case, the question is for how long.

Odds are that will be a matter of if and when she crosses paths with Cato, who may well look to complete his quest for vengeance by vying for every last member of the Macon clan left to corral. His bitterness goes back deep to his roots with Master Tom, a fury that gets animated whenever he looks at Rosalee or her mother, brother, sisters, and now Noah and their child. But he also wants some version of what Noah and Rosalee have for himself, and he could have it with Devi, if he can find her with the help of decoy Patty and her servile men. But thats if, and only if, they arent caught up in the cannon fire of the historic clash set to erupt in Harpers Ferry and split America in two.

Apart From All That

I know were all smiles for the baby, but, um, Rosalees gone! (Though Noah assuring the newbie, Youre so important, just about restored the right tone.)

 Is that it for Daniel? Hope not. It will be hard to shake how they blinded him.

 So, did Ben Pullman officially die?

 Ernestine and August got a bit too close for comfort for a minute.

 Wheres Clara?

 George Stearns lived through the Civil War, but John Brown didnt make it much past Harpers Ferry. Well surely see how that plays out  if Underground finds a home for season three.
Prince. Photo: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

Universal Music Groups lucrative $31 million deal for the rights to Princes music might already be dead in the water. According to Billboard and court documents filed by Princes estate, Universal wants its deal with Princes estate voided and the millions the company paid for Princes music returned on the grounds that Princes estate committed fraud. The deal, which was reached last November after intense competition from all the major labels, made Universal the exclusive publishing administrator of Princes vast oeuvre, meaning it would get to work with Princes estate on how best to release the findings from his Paisley Park vault as well as licensing the rest of his catalog. But now, Universal is claiming that Princes estate lied about which parts of Princes music history Universal could touch.

Under the terms of the deal, Princes estate promised Universal some access to Princes music under Warner Bros.  the creme de la creme of his work  by 2018. Universal has reportedly now learned that the rights to Princes past work under Warner Bros. dont even expire until 2021. According to Billboard, parts of Universals own deal with the estate would be close to expiring by then, giving the label more urgency to have the contract nullified. Representatives for Princes estate had previously denied misrepresenting when and if Universal could have the rights to Princes Warner Bros. collection. So, once again, the future of Princes lifes work is up in the air.


Every time I teach the second half of the U.S. history survey course, the first artists I talk about in the Gilded Age are the ones grouped together under the classification of the realists. These were painters like Thomas Eakins, who sought to dispense with romanticism and idealization of life and to show things how they really were.

Eakins was born in Philadelphia in 1844 and lived most of his life there. In 1875, he painted one of his most famous pictures, The Gross Clinic, depicting a group of medical students operating on a patient under the guidance of a professor. The gritty portrayal of what surgery looked like and details like the blood on the professors hand and the grimacing woman near the table caused something of a controversy.

Fourteen years later, Eakins painted a similar scene titled The Agnew Clinic, and while its just as unflinching as the earlier work, one can clearly see how far medical science had progressed in the intervening years.

The lights are brighter, the young medical students and professor are all in white lab coats now instead of everyday dark suits, and an anesthesiologist is tending to the patient. Also a female nurse is standing nearby obviously unmoved by the scene, in stark contrast to the woman overcome in the 1875 painting.

The point of works like these is that, in addition to Eakins obvious skill as an artist, hes providing a good account of what medical science really looked like in these years.

Other painters came along in his wake and continued his style of realistically portraying city life (particularly an unorganized group called the Ashcan School), but in terms of accuracy they could no longer compete with a new way of visual storytelling that was quickly becoming a sensation: photography.

Jacob Riis was five years younger than Thomas Eakins and came to the U.S. from Denmark at age 21. For a while in the 1870s he was homeless in New York, sleeping in public parks and surviving on handouts. He finally found work as a reporter and then moved on to photography. Some of his photographs of the grim side of life in New York were so movingly graphic that they spurred cries for reform.

And so successful was photography at showing how things really looked  without the assumed influence of a painters skill with a brush  the assumption that paintings could portray reality all but disappeared.

A new exhibit opening this week at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, however, can remind us that we once depended on painting to show us reality.

Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth Century Europe is the only exhibit of its kind Ive ever heard of. Most people will not know the artists included, but, honestly, great art isnt the point. The curators explain that by focusing on historic events like pageants, ceremonies and even disasters these paintings turn the viewer into an eyewitness on the scene, bringing the spectacle and drama of history to life.

And they do. Of the ones Ive looked at, perhaps the most striking is a 1765 canvas that depicts the ruins of a church in the city of Dresden that had been shelled by Prussian artillery during the Seven Years War. Ive never seen anything like it, and it shows you a scene that, unless you know of this painting, can exist only in your imagination.

If youre in Los Angeles between now and July 30, stop by the museum for a reminder that it was once painting that showed us what the world around us really looked like.
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, May 11 (PTI) Telugu film star and Janasena Party founder Pawan Kalyan today supported the Congress and other opposition parties demand that the Telangana government allow protests at Dharna Chowk at Indira Park here.

"Dharna Chowk has been a great venue for people to voice their protest for decades. Now, it is no longer available for expressing their anguish and sufferings. Keeping it away (shifting the site) is not democratically correct," he told reporters.

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Dharna Chowk, like Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, is a democratic space to voice anguish, said the film star-cum- politician.

He announced Janasena Partys support to the Reclaim Dharna Chowk protest proposed to be organised by the Left parties and peoples organisations on May 15.

Kalyan said CPI(M)s Telangana state secretary T Veerabhadram, who met him during the day, and others sought his support on the issue.

Congress, BJP, TDP and the Left parties, besides several peoples organisations, have been demanding that the government allow protests at the Dharna Chowk, a popular place for holding demonstrations in the city.

A couple of months ago, the TRS government disallowed protests at the chowk, saying they caused inconvenience to residents of the locality, and suggested an alternative site.

The matter had also gone to courts.

Kalyan, however, said he is ready to work with any party that raises peoples issues.

A top ranking Telugu hero, Kalyan formed the Janasena Party ahead of 2014 elections.

His campaign in support of the TDP-BJP combine was said to be one of the major reasons for the electoral success of the alliance in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. PTI SJR RSY RYS

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The power giant Luminant will limit the emissions of a smog-forming pollutant at its proposed gas plant at Tradinghouse Lake under a deal approved this week with local officials.

Under the pact with the city of Waco, McLennan County and the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, Luminant will amend its state permit application to limit daily emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) to 1.8 tons per day. In return, the three entities will support Luminants permit before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The NOx emission cap represents a 68 percent reduction over what the original permit application would have allowed, though Luminant officials said it never intended to emit as much NOx as the permit would have allowed.

Waco Deputy City Manager Wiley Stem III said the agreement balances the regions need for power and clean air.

The overall agreement allows Luminant to build the plant but gives the community the assurance that our strides in air quality can be protected, Stem said.

The compromise comes after more than a year of negotiation with the local governments, which argued that the original permit could drive Wacos ozone smog levels past federal standards. Exceeding those standards could create new regulatory burdens on area businesses and vehicles. The city of Waco spent almost $200,000 in the legal process.

Brad Watson, spokesman for Luminant parent company Vistra, said there are no firm plans to build a power plant at Tradinghouse, but the permit will allow one to be built quickly when market conditions warrant. Watson said the company is pleased to work out an agreement with local officials.

Luminants acceptance of this agreement for additional voluntary permit limitations reflects the companys core value of listening to and working with the communities where we live and do business, he said.

Luminant tore down an obsolete power plant at Tradinghouse several years ago and won permits to build simple-cycle natural gas combustion turbines that could generate up to 460 megawatts. In 2015, Luminant sought to amend its permits to allow more units, increasing the sites capacity to almost 1,400 MW.

The units could be run in simple cycle or combined cycle, which is more efficient and cleaner but slower to start up.

A Ramboll Environ study commissioned by the Heart of Texas Council of Governments found that Wacos ozone levels could exceed federal limits if Luminant were to run its proposed plants at Tradinghouse and nearby Lake Creek in simple cycle for long periods of time.

Luminant last year agreed to run no more than two of its four proposed Tradinghouse units in simple cycle at once, which would cut in half the allowed emissions of NOx.

The new agreement cuts that number in half again. Under the Ramboll Environ model, Tradinghouse would now have the potential of increasing ozone levels at the Waco air monitor by 0.3 parts per billion.

The average ozone level here, as measured over three years for federal attainment purposes, has been 67 ppb, just three points shy of a recently adopted federal attainment threshold of 70 ppb. However, Stem said the new three-year average in Waco is expected to be 63 ppb, leaving a wider margin of safety.

Meanwhile, the simple-cycle turbines Luminant got permitted at Lake Creek could also add up to 0.3 ppb to Wacos ozone levels, according to the new agreement. But, Luminant has been marketing that site for nonpower purposes at a listing price of $15 million, raising the prospect that the turbines will never be built.
An intoxicated man who was reportedly falling in and out of consciousness Saturday was arrested for assaulting a police officer during his semi-responsive state, Lacy Lakeview Police Chief John Truehitt said.

Brian Bradley Jackson, 41, of Bellmead, was arrested after police were called to the 500 block of New Dallas Highway at 10 a.m., after a caller reported a man was unconscious inside a home. Truehitt said an officer arrived at the home before emergency medical responders and found the man breathing, but unresponsive.

"He was lying on his back in a bedroom, he was breathing and the officer found a pulse," Truehitt said. "The officer went to do a sternal chest rub, and Mr. Jackson immediately woke up, grabbed the officer around the back of his neck, pulled the officer toward him, knocked off his body camera and then he went back to an unresponsive state."

The officer continued to render aid to the man, Truehitt said. Jackson awoke again and threw his cellphone at the officer, hitting him with it.

Because of his combative demeanor, the officer used his stun gun on Jackson to subdue him, Truehitt said. Jackson fell unconscious again, allowing the officer to handcuff him before he was taken to an area hospital for medical treatment.

Truehitt said the officer was not seriously injured.

At the hospital, Jackson tested positive for methamphetamine and cocaine, Truehitt said. Jackson was later released from the hospital and was taken to McLennan County Jail on a third-degree felony charge of assault on a public servant.

Jackson remained in custody Monday afternoon with a bond listed at $10,000.
AUSTIN  State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, railed against several city leaders, county officials and first responders Wednesday for opposing a bill he says would provide property tax relief.

Bonnen unveiled a new version of the proposal during a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee, which he chairs. And even as he defended changes to Senate Bill 2, which the upper chamber passed, 18-12, he doesnt think lawmakers will pass the legislation this session.

SB 2 has strong opposition

Local leaders for months have pushed back against legislative efforts to limit how much property tax revenues cities and counties can collect without voter approval. They say SB 2 will hamstring their ability to provide necessary services.

The new version of the bill increases how much money a local government can collect before it needs voter approval. And instead of tying the election threshold to a flat amount of revenue, it allows cities and counties to factor in the increase Texas consumers pay for goods and services before getting voter approval.

Yet city officials and first responders spoke against the bill Wednesday morning, prompting Bonnen to repeatedly challenge them.

Its disrespectful that mayors and county judges and the commissioners and your lobbyists want to characterize this bill in the exact same fashion as the way its been managed by the Senate, Bonnen said.

Some local elected officials said that they appreciated Bonnens attempts to change the bill.

Youre walking the walk, outgoing Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said. This is not the same process that played out in the Senate.

Increased property value

Mahler said that many property tax bills are increasing not because of higher tax rates but because of increased property values.

Bonnen doubts local voters would have a problem approving a tax rate if they knew it was needed to pay for police officers and firefighters.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said if voters dont like how local officials spend public funds, they vote those leaders out of office. But he also said he understands Bonnens effort.

He sees people that are upset about rising property taxes, and the tool available to him wont be able to give people real relief because the school finance system doesnt fall under his purview, Adler said. I would be frustrated if I were him.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) On Pokhran nuclear test anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hailed the "courage" shown by the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Since 1999, May 11 is commemorated as the National Technology Day to mark Indias scientific prowess and technological advancements.

"Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day," Modi tweeted.

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"We remain grateful to our scientists & the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998," he added.

It was the same date in 1998 when India successfully conducted the first among the five nuclear tests in Pokhran under the leadership of Vajpayee. The tests showcased Indias might to the entire world.

A write-up on Narendramodi.in website refers to an earlier speech of Modi in which he had said, "The world is well aware of the Pokhran tests. Under Ataljis leadership, successful tests were carried out and the entire world was witness to India?s might. The scientists made the nation proud.?

Recalling the nearly two-decade-old development, Modi said, "After the first series of tests the world community placed sanctions on India. On 13th May 1998, Atalji again called for tests, thus showing that he was made of a different mettle. If we had had a weak PM, he or she would have got scared on the same day. But Atal ji was different. He did not get scared."

Lauding the role the people of Pokhran played by keeping silent during the nuclear tests, Modi said, "People of Pokhran must be lauded for maintaining silence during entire duration when the tests were planned and conducted. They placed interest of the nation above everything else." PTI AKK NSA DV

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December 21, 1938 - May 9, 2017Helen Louise Dulock, 78, of Elk, passed away Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at home. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m., Saturday, May 13, at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Waco with burial at Holy Cross Cemetery in Waco. Visitation will start at 6 p.m., Friday, with the Rosary at 6:30 p.m., at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Boulevard, in Waco.Full obituary will appear in Friday's newspaper.
Tim Megarity

April 18, 1943 - May 3, 2017

David Timothy Megarity, 74, went to be with his heavenly Father on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The family invites you to celebrate his life at a memorial service at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, May 28, 2017, at Lakewood Christian Church in Waco, Texas with Rev. Richard Roland officiating. His body will be laid to rest at a private burial at Waco Memorial Park.

Tim was born April 18, 1943 in Waco, Texas. He graduated from Waco High School, and entered Texas A&M with a major in physics and a minor in English. While at A&M he was a member of the Corps of Cadets' Animal 8", an air force squadron and a member of the Singing Cadets.After graduation Tim began his 44-year career in the heat if the space race with Rocketdyne in McGregor, Texas.

From there he moved to Texas Instruments Equipment Group, E System Garland, Garland, Texas, and back to TI Equipment Group. Included in his tenures with TI were an assignment in northern California developing sophisticated submarine detection systems at an undisclosed naval facility and as manager of the Failure Analysis Lab in Dallas bringing with him new technologies and techniques in determining causes of electronic component failures, allowing TI to leap-frog competitors in design of radar and infrared detection systems.

He joined Electrospace Systems Incorporated in Richardson, TX to work on communication systems for military aircraft. This work led him to relocate to ESI at what is today TSTC Waco Airport. His career continued through several ownerships of that facility including Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems, Raytheon Aircraft Integration Systems, and L-3 Communications Platform Integration Division. Tim retired from L-3 as Senior Principal Multi-Discipline Engineer in April 2009.

Aside from his career, Tim truly lived life to the fullest through his music, his friends and family, his church and his pets. He never stopped learning new things and trying new endeavors. He was a loving partner, brother and uncle to his family.

Tim was preceded in death by his parents, Eldon and Ernestine Megarity; father and mother-in-law, Bill and Lynn Lower; and his nephews, Heath Stenstom and Charles Jackson.

Left to honor Tim and remember his love is his loving spouse of over 35 years, Martin Louis Lower of Waco; brother, Denny Megarity and wife, Dianna, of Cross Cut; sister, Melissa Miller and husband, Bill, of Bellville; sister-in-law, Sue Megarity of Cat Springs; sister-in-laws, Linda Carson, Patty O'Brien, and Brenda Carr and brother-in-law, Richard O'Brien, and their spouses. Tim also has seventeen nieces and nephews and several great nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank those at Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest and all the various specialists who took such loving care of Tim.

In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions to be made to Lakewood Christian Church or Fuzzy Friends Rescue Waco, Texas.
Edna was born March 12, 1955 in Coryell County, Texas to William Leland "Cotton" and Lula Irene (Compton) Henson. She attended Gatesville High School and was Miss Fort Hood her sophomore year. Edna was a well known real-estate agent in the Central Texas area. She enjoyed rodeo and sports, especially the Dallas Cowboys. Edna also loved animals and leaves behind her two fur babies, Missy Lou and Babygirl. You could always find her listening to music. Edna was a very humble person who will be missed by all who knew and loved her.
According to numerous news reports and other media items, many Americans are concerned about transgender persons and restrooms. Much of the controversy, however, seems based on confusion and, in my opinion, the media stories have not helped.

Lets begin with a basic distinction between gender and sex. Gender is a social construct not necessarily tied to biology or physiology. Sex is a biological and physiological category. In other words, as everyone knows, a person can be sexually male but stereotypically feminine just as a person can be sexually female but stereotypically masculine.

Much of the contemporary confusion feeding the controversy seems to come from the change of language for persons who want to be other than they were born  both with regard to gender and sex. Earlier they were called transsexuals; now they are called transgender. The former is clearer than the latter.

Media reports and stories about transgender persons are often, even usually, unclear about their sex. A transsexual person, however, is changing his or her sex by means of gender reassignment (something of a misnomer because it really means surgical sex reassignment). The common language for this was sex change. Everyone understands that. But what does transgender mean exactly? This is less obvious  with regard to sex.

Apparently, some self-identified transgender people want to use restrooms and locker rooms designated for the sex that they are not physiologically. In other words, they have not yet undergone, and perhaps do not plan ever to undergo, sex-change surgery. So, to be very specific, a person with male parts who identifies as female wants to use the locker room designated for females.

I suspect this is really the only thing that causes concern for most people in America today. If a man wants to appear as a woman, most people may find that curious but not objectionable. We are all already used to many women appearing as men. So I doubt this is a major source of controversy.

However, I do suspect the source of controversy is the idea of a person with male parts using a locker room designated for girls and women. To be very specific: I suspect many men and women care about anyone with male parts using the same restroom or locker room as their daughters and granddaughters.

So let us please look at the controversy through that lens in order to clarify it.

I propose that we distinguish between gender and sex in this controversy and insist that a person use the locker room (restrooms are really less a problem because womens have stalls) designated for the sex he or she still is  until he or she has completed sex change hormonally and surgically. Otherwise, the specter (realistic or not) of sexually male persons claiming to be women walking around naked in womens locker rooms (locker rooms normally have showers) is unavoidable.

None of what I have said here is against transgender persons; it is only intended to narrow the controversy to a point where a solution to it might be found  and to suggest a solution. Right now, as it stands, news reports and stories about transgender persons are usually unclear about the status of their sex and that seems to be a major point of both confusion and controversy.
WAHOO  Don Kobza had been on a veterans honor flight before, but the May 1 Vietnam Veterans Honor Flight was significantly different for the Valparaiso man who served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1971.

I went several years ago with World War II vets as a chaperone for some of the older veterans, Kobza said. At the time, I didnt even get to see the Vietnam Wall.

Kobza finally got to the visit the wall May 1, as he was one of 654 Vietnam veterans that flew from Omaha to Washington, D.C. on Patriotic Productions Vietnam Veterans Flight 2017: the Final Mission.

The veterans received a 1:30 a.m. wake up call and boarded one of four chartered jets at Eppley Airfield.

They visited the Vietnam Wall, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Arlington Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard, World War II Memorial and Iwo Jima Memorial.

While Kobza was glad he got to finally visit the wall, his favorite, most memorable experience of the day came from another event.

Stepping off the charter jet later that evening at the Lincoln Airport and the greeting he and other veterans received was a very emotional moment.

I was in seventh heaven when we saw all the people. It gave you a warm feeling seeing young and old people alike, he said. It made me proud to see all those people there. It really hit home.

The crowd that gathered in Lincoln and those that stopped what they were doing in the Washington, D.C. airport to welcome the veterans to the nations capital proved to be the favorite for other veterans that went on the final honor flight.

For Richard McKinley Jr. of Ceresco, the reception in the airports was a totally different experience than what he and other Vietnam veterans received upon returning home from war.

It was really touching to walk through that, he said of the crowd that gathered to applaud and shake the hands of veterans upon arrival in Nebraska.

The retired United States Air Force staff sergeant who served from 1967 to 1968 had been to Washington, D.C. before. Despite having already seen many of the same sights, McKinley said the honor flight was a totally different experience.

Id say it was more solemn, he said. Being there with other veterans really made it worthwhile because they understand what everybody is going through.

That was also the case for retired United States Marine Corps Sargent Ed Booth.

Booth, who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970, said that it is important for veterans to be able to talk with other veterans about their combat experiences.

The veteran from Malmo had a final mission of his own that he set out to accomplish on the honor flight, which required some research beforehand.

Booth had several people in mind he wanted to locate on the wall that he only knew by nickname.

You dont tend to get too close in case you lose them, he said.

He spent time calling comrades and researching in an attempt to put a full name to the men he once called by nickname.

The result was a list of seven to eight names that Booth searched the wall for.

There at the wall I got to say goodbye to some guys that I didnt get to, he said.

Booth said the physical demands of the trip were minimal compared to the emotional toll that accompanied.

The hardest thing wasnt the physical  we were up 24 hours  it was the emotional, he said.

Other Saunders County area Vietnam veterans that attended the May 1 honor flight were Richard Potter, Gary Dudek and Lary Martin, all of Valparaiso; Gayle Martinson, Russell Ahlers and David Kastl of Wahoo; Ron Paseka and Don Fujan of Prague; Kent Kotera of Brainard; and Arnold Eivins of Ceresco.

This years honor flight was the largest and last of honor flights that have been organized by Patriotic Production organizers Bill and Evonne Willams. The Omaha couple has organized 10 previous Honor Flights that took 2,602 WWII, Korea and Vietnam Veterans to Washington, D.C. since 2008.

Sponsors covered the financial cost of the trip, but it wasnt free for the veterans.

The eligibility to go wasnt free, Booth said.

Booth and other veterans commented how grateful they were for the opportunity to go.

I would like to thank Bill and Evonne Williams, all of the sponsors and everybody who welcomed us at the Washington, D.C. and the Lincoln airport, McKinley said.
WAHOO  A bank erosion project in northeast Saunders County will have the support of dollars from the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District. The NRD Board of Directors voted Monday evening to contribute up to $300,000 to the Platte River bank stabilization project in Woodcliff.

JEO Consulting Group Project Manager John Petersen said the $625,000 project slated for later this year involves placing rock rip rap and building jetties and bendaway weirs along the river bank.

The $625,000 cost estimate was for project construction alone. Petersen said the Sanitary Improvement District doing the project has had other engineering costs as well as other smaller construction projects in the past.

A few NRD directors asked Petersen if all other alternatives had been explored and what depth of analysis went into the current project.

He responded that the project has been through the scrutiny of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 404 Permit process. The Corps has given its stamp of approval.

We went through the wringer and its a pretty in depth process, he said.

In other business, the board discussed the lack of a superintendent at Lake Wanahoo State Recreation Area. Per the agreement with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, a superintendent was to be in place by now.

NRD General Manager John Miyoshi said Game and Parks does have employees at the SRA, but no word had been received as of Monday when a superintendent would start.

Miyoshi also informed the board that the NRD is being a little more prudent with the little extras for the SRA this operating season.

Last year, Game and Parks reported an operating profit of about $22,000 for the SRA, but some of the NRDs expenses were left unpaid.

In past years, NRD picked up minor costs such as nuts and bolts for equipment to more expensive items for trail and road maintenance.

This year, we just told them no. Were not going to upfront in costs like that, he said.

Board members indicated a need to sit down and talk with Game and Parks about management of the lake and recreation area.

I think we are at point that we need to amend our agreement, he said. Its something to put on the agenda for future months.
WAHOO  The City of Wahoo is taking a committee approach to address Emerald Ash Borer and its looming effect on one of the most populous trees in the city.

Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Stuhr said the committee first met May 4 to begin determining the citys response and plan of action to the imminent infestation.

Stuhr said there needs to be a set approach, as there are nearly 325 ash trees on the citys public property and street right-of-way.

The committee is comprised of city employees, some city council members and area arborists. They discussed the facts of the situation last week and got a baseline level of knowledge regarding the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Stuhr said.

In June 2016, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture reported the first emerald ash borer found in Nebraska.

The emerald ash borer is an envasive beetle that attacks and kills all species of ash trees.

Melanie Mongar is an arborist with Tims Tree Service in Wahoo and is also on the EAB committee.

She said there is a lot to consider when looking at the scope of the problem.

Its not just looking at the 325 ash trees cataloged throughout the citys street right-of-way and in parks, Mongar said.

There are at least triple that number on private property in Wahoo, she said.

Mongar said she has been getting a lot of questions from property owners around town regarding treatment.

There are several treatment options, but they are expensive and there is no guarantee they will work, she said.

The citys approach at this time is not to treat any of the citys trees, Stuhr said.

So the issue becomes one of logistics when looking at disposing of the trees.

Stuhr said theyve already taken down a few in Smith Park but there are several more that need to come down.

Some of the ash trees are the largest trees in the park and provide a great deal of shade for the area, Stuhr said.

Not all the trees will come down at once, but they will come down, he said.

Mongar said the three options for tree disposal are burn, bury or chip, but there are stipulations regarding the size for chipping the trees.

At this point, the keys for the committee are communication education.

Stuhr and Mongar agree that its important for home and land owners to know what kind of trees they have on their property.

Knowing whether or not an individual owns an ash tree will prompt the next step of what to do with it.

The three options are to take the tree down now, take the tree down later or attempt treatment.

Mongar said its important to talk with a certified arborist regarding treatment.

She said a pesticide applicator may not know exactly what theyre dealing with.

Mongar said the sooner individuals find out they have ash trees, the better.

The best way to find out is by consulting a certified arborist.

Depending on the health of the ash tree, it would take anywhere between two and six years for the tree to die from the EAB, she said.

But once trees start to show effects and die, there might be an onslaught of people looking to get trees removed with immediacy.

And that is what has prompted the city to look at incremental disposal measures.

The citys burn pile could not accommodate the entirety of the citys ash trees in one barrage, she said.

They are not small trees either.

Mongar said many area trees were planted in the 1970s and 1980s, putting many of those trees at optimum maturity  some with four-foot bases.

No emerald ash borers have been detected in Wahoo to this date, but neighboring Dodge, Washington, Douglas, Sarpy and Cass counties are all in a quarantine area.

Stuhr said now is the time to be looking for the small emerald-colored beetle.
By Press Trust of India: (EDS: Changing dateline and updating with PMs arrival in Colombo)

Colombo, May 11 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today on a two-day visit which is mainly aimed at reinforcing the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka at a time when China is seeking to make inroads in the island nation.

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Modi, on his second visit to Sri Lanka in two years, is here primarily to participate tomorrow in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists.

He will inaugurate a hospital built with Indias assistance of Rs 150 crore.

He will also address the Indian-origin Tamils against the backdrop of Indias insistence that Sri Lanka should undertake devolution of power to the ethnic community as part of the reconciliation process.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several senior ministers, including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, were at the Colombo International Airport to receive the Indian Prime Minister.

"As Sri Lanka proudly celebrates #InternationalVesakDay, I warmly welcome Indian Premier @narendramodi who will grace the occasion," tweeted President Maithripala Srisena.

Modi was accorded a guard of honour by the Sri Lankan Air Force at the airport.

The visit and the agenda is mainly to re-emphasise the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka, particularly in the context of Buddhism, which is a shared heritage.

This assumes significance since China is aggressively trying to make inroads in Sri Lanka.

China has already developed the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka and its submarines have been making port calls here, much to the discomfort of India.

Prior to his departure from New Delhi, Modi said, "My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism."

In a Facebook post, he said, "This will be my second bilateral visit there (to Sri Lanka) in two years, a sign of our strong relationship."

During the visit, he said, "I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians."

He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with Sirisena and Wickremesinghe.

The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.

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"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.

He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.

"I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.

Wickremesinghe was in New Delhi only a week back when he held substantive talks with Modi. PTI COR AKK AKJ AKK

--- ENDS ---
Carlton president Mark LoGiudice has denied the club could be forced to seek financial aid from the AFL following the impending withdrawal of its major sponsor CareerOne, the registered training organisation chaired by former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou.

In a disastrous turn of events for the Blues the club is facing a black hole of more than $1 million after a major client of CareerOne was suspended pending a Federal Government audit.

Demetriou told Fairfax Media he had personally called LoGiudice to inform him that CareerOne could not meet its 2017 sponsorship commitments. He also confirmed that CareerOne had advised Carlton to look for a new major sponsor.

The Carlton president has held talks with both Demetriou in recent days and has also met CareerOne managing director John Wall in a bid to clarify the financial situation. He said that for now the players would continue to wear the CareerOne logo on their jumpers along with co major sponsor Hyundai.
During his two-day visit, Modi will take part in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists apart from attending other programmes.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his two-day visit to Sri Lanka starting today is indicative of the heritage of Buddhism and the strong relationship that the two countries share.

During his two-day visit, Modi will take part in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, inaugurate a hospital built with financial aid from India and address the Indian-origin Tamil community, apart from attending some other programmes.

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Hours before leaving for Sri Lanka, Modi said in a Facebook post, "This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship."

DETAILS OP MODI's TOUR TO SRI LANKA "During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians", the Prime Minister wrote. Modi said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe. "My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism," he said. The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit to the island nation in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries. "This time, I will be privileged to pay my respects at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic", he said. Modi said his trip would start from Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple, where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony. He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other prominent dignitaries. "I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," the Prime Minister added.

(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

Also read | India-Sri Lanka coastal belt turning into a smuggling ground?

Also read | Ahead of bilateral talks, 5 Indian Tamil fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy

Also read | China's media warns India not to 'meddle' as their defence minister visits Nepal, Sri Lanka

--- ENDS ---
Okay, end of the day. What happened?

things were going pretty well for the government budget-wise ;

; it was generally received;

except for the banks but the public does not really care for them so it was a case of so far so good for the government;

but the public does not really care for them so it was a case of so far so good for the government; but then question time rolled around where it was revealed the cost of the company tax cuts is $65 billion - not $50 billion as originally thought;

where it was revealed the is $65 billion - not $50 billion as originally thought; and that (gross) debt is expected to hit three quarters of a trillion dollars;

is expected to hit three quarters of a trillion dollars; not a great way to end the week; and

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten gives his budget reply speech tonight.

My thanks, as always, to Alex Ellinghausen and Andrew Meares, and to you for reading and commenting.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Alex, Andrew and I will be back on Monday 22 May. We hope to see you then. Until well, travel safely.
Labor will put higher education at the centre of its response to this year's budget by announcing it will oppose all the government's major university changes, including the proposed rise in fees and slashing of the HECS repayment threshold.

The decision will force the government to negotiate with the 12-person cross-bench to pass its higher education changes into law. The Greens also oppose the government's package, which is designed to save $2.8 billion over the next four years.

The government will introduce its higher education legislation into Parliament on Thursday, alongside its new school funding model.

Labor will use the higher education changes, which would see student fees increase by 7.5 per cent by 2021, to argue against the government's claims that "fairness" is one of the budget's key themes.
Politicians must lead the way if they are to expect welfare recipients to be drug-tested.

A trial of 5000 welfare recipients to undertake random drug tests at Centrelink appointments, announced in Tuesday's federal budget, is discriminatory and unhelpful in overcoming substance abuse. Creating greater stigma around welfare recipients won't help rehabilitate people with substance abuse issues.

As my mother always said, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander," and while I don't usually apply this approach to policy, it certainly applies in this case.

Politicians and public servants are recipients of the taxpayer dollar and should be held accountable at the same, if not higher, standard as an unemployed person receiving the taxpayer dollar.
Australia's five largest banks are prepared to launch a mining tax-style ad campaign to fight the Turnbull government's $6.2 billion new tax, with Bankers' Association chief Anna Bligh accusing the government of playing "fast and loose" with Australia's financial system.

Ms Bligh said Treasury officials were unable to provide key details of how the new tax would work and that the big banks were concerned they may end up paying much more than $6.2 billion over four years.

Speaking after banking representatives met Treasury officials in Canberra on Thursday to discuss the new tax, Ms Bligh suggested the measure may have been "cooked up" in the Treasurer's office and put in to the budget as recently as last week.

But Treasurer Scott Morrison hit back at suggestions Treasury officials had not yet worked through how the $6.2 billion would be collected and said the banks had turned up and asked: "Could we pay less tax?"
Patients will continue to be hit with rising out-of-pocket health costs under the Turnbull government's slow thaw in the Medicare rebate freeze, experts have warned.

Health Minister Greg Hunt's staged approach has left doctors divided, with the Australian Medical Association pledging its support for the government's policy reset, and the NSW arm of the lobby group describing it as a "crushing blow" for GPs.

The policy took the focus in Federal Parliament on Wednesday, as Labor accused the government of building its health budget on "smoke, mirrors and false guarantees", as Mr Hunt declared the Coalition were "Medi-friends" to the opposition's "Medi-frauds".

Under Tuesday's budget, the government will gradually lift the Medicare rebate freeze starting this year, with bulk-billing incentives for GP consultation. GP and specialist consultations will be indexed from 2018, specialist procedures in 2019, and targeted diagnostic imaging services in 2020. The measures will cost the government $1 billion over the forward estimates, but only $9 million in the first year.
Nine regional councils on either side of the Victoria-NSW border are pushing for a costly re-route of the government's $10 billion Inland Rail line as questions emerge over the economic justification for the Nationals' pet infrastructure project.

The group of councils, calling itself the Food Bowl Inland Rail Alliance, is seeking meetings with Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester to argue for the freight rail line to pass through the food-growing regions from Shepparton in Victoria to Jerilderie and Narrandera in NSW.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation's preferred route would run from Albury to Wagga Wagga and on to Parkes while the alliance is pushing for the line to head inland to Shepparton and on to Tocumwal and Narrandera before going to Parkes.

On Wednesday, Mr Chester told Fairfax Media there was no plan to alter ARTC's preferred route.
There are only a couple of clear-cut winners from the 2017 federal budget from the point of view of our personal finances, although we could all be better off if it gets the macro-economic settings right.

There's the return of the pensioner concession cards to those who lost their age pension after the tightening of the assets test at the start of this year.

Illustration John Shakespeare

Then there's the axing, from June 30 this year, of the 2 per cent Temporary Debt Repair Levy on those who earn more than $180,000 a year.

But, from July 1, 2019, everyone will be paying a Medicare Levy of 2.5 per cent instead of the 2 per cent now.
Leanne Adam at the Supreme Court for the trial of Ryan David Evans who has pleaded not guilty to murdering her father, Keith Cini. Credit:Kate Geraghty Senior Crown prosecutor Christopher Maxwell, QC, said, "Was there a point when he stopped?" "When he thought I was dead," she said. Keith Cini. "What did you do to make him think that?" Mr Maxwell asked.

"I didn't move," she replied. A crime scene photo from Lucina Boldi's bedroom showing bloodstains. Ms Boldi said she then heard one of the men say, "That's enough, Brian." She continued to play dead while she heard smashing sounds and a voice saying, "Here it is." Inside the hallway of the home where Keith Cini's body was found.

One of the men then returned and kicked her on the leg. About 10 minutes later, she went and found Mr Cini lying on the floor, unconscious. She called triple zero. Ryan David Evans, 28, is charged with murder in connection with the death of Mr Cini and with wounding with intent to murder Ms Boldi. She suffered fractures to her arm and hand. She has a steel plate in her arm and cannot close her hand. She also had 50 stitches to her head. Mr Cini was a pig farmer who would deliver pigs to restaurants in his trucks. He would keep the days' cash takings in two safes in his home office.

Mr Evans allegedly once worked for him. Mr Evans has pleaded not guilty to a total of seven charges related to the home invasion and another that occurred a month earlier in Medway, in the NSW Southern Highlands. In that incident, Mr Evans allegedly attacked Brett Delamont with a pick handle in the early hours of April 28, 2014. On Tuesday, Mr Delamont's wife Alana Bush told the court she woke up to find two masked men in her bedroom, with her husband, suffering an injured and bloodied head, convulsing beside her. One man yelled at her to stop screaming, saying, "Shut up, or I'll hit him again" before he lunged and hit across the bed where her husband was lying.

Asked who else was in the house, Ms Bush eventually told him her daughter, Kirby Delamont, and her boyfriend both were. Ms Bush said when the intruder replied "Nobody's going to get hurt" she gestured towards her bleeding and convulsing husband and said: "He's going to die." The couple's hands and legs were tied and, as a pillowcase was put over her head, Ms Bush begged: "Please don't kill us." The first intruder left while the other man stayed. "I asked him to stop the crazy guy going into my daughter's bedroom," Ms Bush said.

When the second man said nobody was going to get hurt, Ms Bush stated: "Look at the hole in his [her husband's] head." "We need help ... he is bleeding, he is shaking, he is going to die." The man later told her: "This is not personal, it's random." Ms Delamont said she woke to hear her mother screaming. Two masked figures appeared at the bottom of her bed, one holding a pole-like weapon and the other a light.

"Their faces weren't visible, they were covered by something," she said. One man yelled at her and her boyfriend to "get under the covers" before their wrists and legs were tied and he said: "I will be softer on you, sweetie." The Crown alleges Mr Evans and two other men were involved in the Medway invasion, one of whom had previous contact with the family and knew the house layout. Mr Delamont was left with severe brain damage and $8000 in cash was stolen from the home. The trial, which began before Justice Robert Allan Hulme on Monday is expected to go for 20 days.
If you can't get to this group through social media, how do you get in front of them? I asked Judy Sahay, a director of digital marketing consultancy Crowd Media, this question. "There are many ways brands can market to you. Google AdWords is a good way to connect with your consumer. So, if you're not on Facebook I can still get you on Google," she told me. If you're a small business, one way to set up Google AdWords is through Google Webmaster Tools. "The only thing hard is knowing which keywords to set up. You need to do a bit of research on what your competitors are doing and the cost per click. If you're a very small business and your budget is $1000 per month, and you have to pay $100 a click, you'll spend your budget in 10 clicks and it's not worth it," advises Sahay. Advertisers can't reach me when I'm reading a hard copy book. So how do businesses promote themselves to people like me who have opted out of the main social media platforms?

Programmatic advertising is the second one. This is when different websites serve up the same ads to you as you move from one site to another. Influencer marketing is a third way to reach people who are not on social media. Sahay explains this involves working with people  influencers  who have the ability to affect the way people in your market think and feel. This might include bloggers or celebrities, for instance. "A lot of people may not be on social media, but they might follow someone's blog. In our business, influencer marketing return on investment has been anywhere between five times to nine times the initial investment. "The return on investment depends on the influencers you use, they need to be relevant to your brand and must have an authentic audience who are highly engaged," she says. Video marketing is another option. Sahay says the stats suggest it's a very powerful way of reaching an audience. For instance, according to online research house Forrester, the chance of a page-one listing on Google increases by 53 times when a business uses video as part of its marketing program.

Alternatively there's electronic direct marketing. This involves sending emails to a database. "So building your own database is important," advises Sahay. To do that you need a really good website and a Google AdWords advertising program. This should direct people to a landing page that collects people's personal details so you can send them marketing emails in the future. "People say eDMs don't work, but if you have the right content and call to action it works very well," Sahay says. SEO  search engine optimisation  is the final way to reach people who don't use social media. This involves positioning your website so it heads towards the top of Google search lists through an ongoing marketing program involving all of the above marketing tactics. Sahay says it can take up to six months to see results. So it can be a good idea to initially focus on the marketing tactics described above before investing in a comprehensive SEO program.
A former Perth student on trial for allegedly murdering his wealthy parents and brother with an axe called his girlfriend after they were killed rather than emergency services, a South African court has heard.

Henri Van Breda, 22, was reportedly visibly upset during his trial in the Cape Town High Court on Wednesday as his father's twin brother, his former girlfriend, the family housekeeper and a paramedic testified.

Henri van Breda, centre, accompanied by attorney Lorinda van Niekerk. Credit:AP

He is accused of murdering his father Martin, mother Teresa, brother Rudi and attempting to murder of his sister Marli, who has amnesia from the serious injuries she suffered in the killing frenzy, at their family's luxury gated home in January 2015.

The family moved back to South Africa in 2014 after emigrating to Australia in 2006.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police suspect the involvement of a Hizbul Mujahideen module in the abduction and murder of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz.

By Press Trust of India: Militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen may have killed young Kashmiri army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz and an INSAS rifle snatched from cops could have been used in the crime, the Jammu and Kashmir police suspect.

A senior police official said that Ummer Fayaz's body did not bear any torture marks while adding that the post-mortem report is awaited.

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"We have conducted preliminary investigations. It does point out to (the involvement of) a module of Hizbul Mujahideen active in Shopian," Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) S J M Gillani said.

CARTRIDGES OF INSAS RIFLE FOUND

Police have found two empty cartridges of an INSAS rifle at the place where the young Army officer was shot dead by the militants in Shopian district.

"We had two incidents of weapon-snatching in south Kashmir recently. We have leads that the Kulgam snatching was carried out by Lashkar militants while Hizbul Mujahideen militants were involved in weapon-snatching at the Shopian court complex (on May 2). So it could be one of those weapons," he said.

IG, Kashmir said the post-mortem report was awaited but added that there were no torture marks on Ummer Fayaz's body. "The doctors and police officers who examined the body did not find any torture marks," he said.

FIRST LEAVE AFTER JOINING ARMY

Ummer Fayaz had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of his maternal uncle at Batapura, about 74 km from Srinagar. He was abducted by militants in Batapura on Tuesday night. His bullet-riddled body was found on Wednesday morning.

On his first leave since joining the Army, he had reached Batapura from Akhnoor in Jammu region where he was posted with 2 Rajputana Rifles.

Hailing from Kulgam district, Ummer Fayaz was commissioned in the Army in December last year.

The Army has vowed "to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror to justice".

ALSO READ:

Army officer Ummer Fayaz killed in Kashmir would have turned 23 in June

Colleagues of martyred Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz remember him as a role model

Is Jammu and Kashmir India's most troubled state? It may also be the most pampered one

ALSO WATCH

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Three children have been airlifted to Broome Hospital after a severe gastro outbreak near Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley.

It is understood more than 50 people in the region have presented to the hospital with severe symptoms of rotavirus.

The region may struggle to contain the outbreaks due to an increase of visitors to the area. Credit:Kay Collett

Areas such as Derby, Beagle Bay and other spots on the Dampier Peninsula are also said to have been affected by the spread of the virus.

Harriet McBride from the local Aboriginal health service told the ABC two children had since been released from the Broome Hospital, and one was still receiving treatment.
Washington: President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that sets up a commission to review his disputed allegations of widespread voter fraud, along with reports of voter suppression.

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity will be led by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has aggressively pursued allegations of voter fraud in his state.

About a dozen other election officials representing both parties will fill out the commission, which will deliver a report to the president next year, White House principal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday.

During a private January 23 meeting with top congressional leaders, the president claimed that between 3 million and 5 million undocumented immigrants illegally voted in November's election.
By Press Trust of India: Shimla, May 10 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh BJP today dubbed as "murder of democracy" the State Election Commissions decision to postpone Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) elections.

"The government is misusing the constitutional bodies to meet its ulterior motives and the decision of SEC to defer the SMC polls is a murder of democracy and unconstitutional,? BJP leader and former chief minister PK Dhumal said.

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Lashing out at the state election commissioner, Dhumal said, "The person who cannot maintain the dignity of the post held by him has no right to remain in office and said that he should resign immediately."

He said the Congress government was unnerved after the mammoth rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Shimla and sensing a humiliating defeat in the upcoming polls, the party was "running away from facing the people".

Former state BJP president and MLA Suresh Bharadwaj also attacked the government and the SEC for deferring the polls and demanded imposition of Presidents rule in the state.

"The failure of the government to hold the polls on time proved that there was a breakdown of the constitutional machinery and a fit case for imposing presidents rule," he said.

Bharadwaj said the BJP would submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee through the Governor for dissolution of the state Assembly to pave the way for fresh polls in the state.

He claimed the Congress was scared of defeat in both the SMC and the assembly polls.

Later, BJP members held a demonstration in front of the deputy commissioners office. PTI PCL AQS

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Saaho director Sujeeth said that when he met Baahubali 2 star Prabhas for the first time, he did not take the actor seriously.

By India Today Web Desk: Now that Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is water under the bridge, superstar Prabhas is gearing up for the release of his next, the sci-fi action thriller Saaho.

Saaho director Sujeeth became one of the hottest filmmakers in Telugu cinema after the release of his film Run Raja Run starring Sharwanand. Soon enough, Telugu stars began approaching Sujeeth asking him to write a film for them. That's when Sujeeth met Baahubali star Prabhas.

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"It was the success party of my first feature film Run Raja Run, which had given the leading man Sharwanand a change of image. A lot of other Telugu heroes wanted a similar makeover from me. Prabhas, who was already a big star, approached me at the party. I didn't take him seriously when he told me to write a film for him. I thought it was just social chitchat," Sujeeth told Deccan Chronicle.

Turns out Sujeeth did not take Prabhas's proposition seriously. So he slacked off on the writing of the script. He thought Prabhas was just speaking to him casually at the party so he worked on Saaho half-heartedly. When Prabhas got to know of this, the actor scolded Sujeeth for his laziness.

As a result, Sujeeth suddenly jumped out of inaction. In fact, he wrote the post-interval part of Saaho on his way to meeting Prabhas for a narration.

Watch Saaho teaser here:

"I had worked out the script till the interval. Beyond that, I just made up the plot while reaching Prabhas' house for narration. And I kept adding ideas as I narrated the film to him. Seeing Prabhas's enthusiastic face during the narration, I was encouraged to innovate, and was reminded of the stories I used to tell my mother when I was a child," Sujeeth said.

Saaho was in fact planned with with Prabhas even before the release of Baahubali: The Beginning.

"We are making the film exactly the way we had planned. There will be no changes. I narrated Saaho to Prabhas in January 2015, 6 months before the first part of Baahubali released. Even then, Prabhas was a big star. Of course now, he's something else!," Sujeeth said.

ALSO READ: After Baahubali 2's success, Prabhas to charge Rs 30 crore per film?

WATCH: SS Rajamouli's Baahubali 2 gets a thumbs up from fans?

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As many as 24 people were killed after heavy rains caused a wall of a wedding venue to collapse in Bharatpur on Wednesday.

Site of the wall collapse in Bharatpur. ANI Photo.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: As many as 24 people were killed and 28 were injured after the wall of a wedding hall collapsed in Rajasthan's Bharatpur late on Wednesday evening.

The accident was reportedly triggered by heavy rains and thunderstorm in the district.

The mishap occurred in the Annapurna Marriage Home located on Sevar Road around 10pm as guests stood under a wall to protect themselves from the rain.

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The injured were immediately taken to a nearby hospital. Reportedly, the dead include at least 4 children and 11 women.

In the aftermath of the incident, District Magistrate N.K. Gupta said, "We are investigating the matter, looking into what caused the accident."

MANY TRAPPED UNDER DEBRIS

According to a senior police official, the entire structure of the wall and the shed collapsed and those who had taken shelter got trapped under the debris.

Superintendent of Police Anil Tank said that the wall was nearly 90-feet long and 12-13 feet high.

Several food stalls were set up adjoining the wall. A tin shed was also attached to a portion of the wall.

"The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals immediately and treatment was administered. One injured has been referred to the SMS Hospital in Jaipur", he said.

POST-MORTEM ON THURSDAY

The weather suddenly changed and heavy winds started blowing which led to the incident at Sewar Road.

The bodies have been shifted to a mortuary and postmortem will be conducted on Thursday, police sources said.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has condoled the deaths and given necessary instructions to the officers concerned for proper treatment of those injured.

Also Read:

Rajasthan: 9 die after wall collapses during a pre-wedding function in Bharatpur

35 killed in school minibus crash in Tanzania

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A criminal case has been registered against the owners of the marriage venue. One person has also been arrested, said Bharatpur Collector N K Gupta.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Bharatpur police has registered a criminal case against the Annapurna Marriage hall after a wall collapse at the venue left 26 dead and at least 28 others injured.

Speaking to India Today, Bharatpur Collector N K Gupta said, "A criminal case has been registered against the owners of the marriage venue.

The police has arrested the owner of the concerned marriage home as well."

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The marriage venue, where the mishap occurred, apparently did not have a valid licence or certificate to hold wedding ceremonies.

THREE COMMITTEES FORMED TO PROBE MISHAP

Three committees have also been formed to probe the accident. Apart from investigating this particular incident which claimed more than 20 lives, the issue of whether marriage venues are fit to hold ceremonies will also be looked into.

It is alleged that most wedding venues in Bharatpur operate without a valid legal licence. The committees have been asked to submit their reports within seven days.

Rajasthan Health Minister Kalicharan Sarah visited the RBM hospital in Bharatpur today and met the injured and their family members. Speaking to India Today, Sarah mentioned, "A compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the Chief Minister's relief fund and of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund will be provided."

Also read | Rajasthan: 26 killed, 28 others injured after wall of wedding hall collapses due to heavy rains in Bharatpur

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A Republican proposal which would subject more people in state-run work programs to drug screening is moving forward despite Democrats saying it is potentially unconstitutional.

Wednesday the Assembly approved the bill from Rep. Cody Horlacher of Mukwonago.

Republican Mike Conlin from Eau Claire said, I think we should try something else to improve the situation. If it doesn't work we can go back and rethink it but maybe it will work even better. Maybe we'll find that there are fewer people using drugs in the state of Wisconsin. That would be wonderful.

The proposal adds a handful of programs like the Temporary Employment Match program and the Community Service Jobs program to the list of those requiring applicants to undergo screening but Democrats say it violates privacy rights.

Eau Claire Democratic Chair Beverly Wickstrom said, There are number of states that have found similar laws violate the United States fourth amendment which prevents searches and seizes without due process and those state consistently held that it is a violation of due process to do a blood test, a urine screen, without specific concern that someone has committed a crime.

Also under the Republican proposal people who test positive for drugs would have to get treatment in order to be eligible for benefits.

Eau Claire Democratic Rep. Dana Wachs said he voted against the bill because, While treatment is a good thing the problem with Assembly Bill 242 is they're saying they would be take away the adult members of the families W-2 benefits. The problem is you can't just take the adults portion away without causing the entire family to be evicted or things to that nature.

Democrats also say the bill has been proven ineffective in other states.

Wickstrom explained, When you look at the test results less than point-one percent of the people tested have been actually found to have drugs in whatever was sampled.

However, Republicans say the low numbers actually prove the bill is working.

Conlin added, It could be that they're not finding the drug use when they do test is because the drug use is inhibited by the fact you have a drug test.

Both bills still need to pass the Senate before heading to Gov. Walkers desk to become law.
By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: Uttar Pradesh's Rampur gang is actively participating in a gold smuggling racket, and bringing in gold from Saudi Arabia by posing as Haj pilgrims, investigators have found.

"Village Tanda in UP is now known for producing gold carriers for the syndication. These carriers are sent to Jeddah as a Haj Pilgrim and while returning they bring back smuggled gold on the direction of organised gang," a custom official told India Today.

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On May 7, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs got a tip from an informer that a group of 23 people arriving from Jeddah were bringing smuggled gold with them. That night, custom officials arrested 21 passengers for smuggling almost 6 kg gold worth Rs 1.70 crore. They had concealed 112 pieces of gold bars inside the caps of the water bottles.

Then, on Wednesday night, the AIU of Delhi Customs arrested three more Rampur gang members, all belonging to Tanda village, with smuggled pieces of gold at Delhi airport.

A probe has revealed that this "Rampur Gang" is quite active in gold smuggling racket in India. Sources told India Today that all the accused were "Haj Pilgrims," from Tanda village in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur district.

This was one of the rarest gold smuggling cases for Indian investigative officers. In earlier cases AIU has arrested one or two persons from Tanda village, but never in such big numbers.

Based on statements by the accused, investigators have found all 21 accused were recruited by one single man, who is an old hand in gold smuggling. The accused is into supply of carriers for gold smugglers, and charges a commission of Rs 10,000-15,000 per person, per assignment.

"We cannot disclose the name of the mastermind behind Rampur Gang, as the case is still under investigation. But this person was taking orders of smuggling consignment from a few Delhi-based handlers, especially those who are at the front end of pyramid, dealing with jewellers and bullion traders," an official said.

Sources confirmed that after landing at Mumbai International Airport, all the accused "Haj Pilgrims" were scheduled to board a connecting flight to Delhi. "The entire smuggled gold was to be given to few Delhi based gold handlers," the official said.

For further investigation and subsequent arrest of these handlers, all 21 accused have been summoned by Mumbai Customs next week. "We have informed the custom officials in Uttar Pradesh to make a visit to Tanda village, examine the situation and take required action," the official said.

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By West Kentucky Star Staff

May. 11, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 11, 2017 | 12:03 AM | PADUCAH, KY

A McCracken County deputy jailer has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse and harassment toward a co-worker.



According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Office, on Wednesday. a female deputy jailer reported to jail administration that she had been sexually harassed and touched by a male co-worker. The deputy reported that this had been occurring for a short period of time but that it was ongoing.



The allegation was brought to the attention of Jailer Tonya Ray who immediately reported it to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department requesting an investigation into the reported incidents.



Sheriff's Det. Sgt. Ryan Norman began an investigation into the allegation. The investigation substantiated the claims made and evidence was obtained that indicates that unwanted and unlawful sexual contact had been made by the male deputy jailer toward his female coworker.



Arrest warrants were obtained Wednesday evening for 43-year-old Chad E. Campbell of Paducah. He was located and arrested at his home at about 10:20 pm. He was charged with two counts of sexual abuse 3rd degree, and harassment with physical contact.



He was booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail but later transported to an out of county jail.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

May. 10, 2017 | BENTON, IL

By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 10, 2017 | 03:47 PM | BENTON, IL

An Illinois man has pled guilty to bank fraud Tuesday, related to his work on an apartment complex near Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.



The U.S. Attorney's office for the southern district of Illinois says 56-year-old Christopher E. Creek of Champaign was developing the apartments, known as the Pointe at SIU.



In pleading guilty, Creek admitted that he submitted fraudulent requests for draws of construction loan funds to the banks that financed the project using fake company names, then using those funds for his own purposes, including payments to subcontractors and material suppliers he owed from prior jobs.



Creeks sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 9 at 10am at the federal courthouse in Benton, Illinois.



The crime of bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, not more than five years of supervised release, and restitution.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

May. 11, 2017 | MURRAY, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 11, 2017 | 04:43 PM | MURRAY, KY

A Murray man and woman were arrested Thursday morning on burglary, drug and assault charges.



The Murray Police Department said they got a call at 7:43 a.m. from a woman asking for help, but the call was disconnected. Officers began heading to the callers location at the Magnolia Inn on South 12th Street. While officers were on route, they were able to reestablish contact. The caller told them there had been an assault, and that a man and woman had fled the scene.



Moments later officers spotted two people in a ditch that runs between Magnolia Inn and Dogwood Drive. The two suspects, identified as 24-year-old Kaci Stubblefield and 37-year-old Stephen Dasher were taken into custody without incident. They were taken to Murray Calloway County Hospital after complaining about injuries, and were then booked into the Calloway County Jail.



Dasher was charged with third degree burglary, third degree criminal mischief, theft of services, fourth degree assault and public intoxication. Stubblefield was charged with third degree burglary, third degree criminal mischief, theft of services, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of methamphetamine.
Tatum's 39 points help Celtics hold on to beat Grizzlies 109-106
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Twenty five years ago Barrie Rutter launched Northern Broadsides in a boatshed in Hull Marina with a production of Shakespeare's Richard lll. The company returns as part of Hull's UK City of Culture 2017 celebrations and this time the play is the same but the venue is different.

Rutter directs again as he did in 1992 when he also played the title role. Now he has handed Richard's crown over to Mat Fraser, the first disabled actor to play one of the greatest villains of all time. And very good Fraser is too, pulling the audience into his murderous plans to grab power from his opening 'Now is the winter of our discontent' speech directed at the audience.

This is a man who thinks nothing of wooing the woman he wants to marry, in the morgue over the dead body of her murdered (on his orders) husband. Richard's actions may be morally reprehensible but Fraser has a certain wicked charm that - dare I say it - almost makes you want him to get away with it. He shows that villainy can be attractive.

He must also be the first drum-playing Richard lll. Rutter turns the final military clash into a battle of the drums, making use of the percussionist skills of Fraser, who's been a drummer with rock bands and played alongside Coldplay at the 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony.

Otherwise Rutter's production plays it fairly safe and conventional, although Broadsides' trademark clog-dancing does get a brief look-in. Neil Murray's set, comprising massive sliding screens is simple but effective enabling a smooth transition of scenes.

The accent, as befits a company created to present Shakespeare in a northern voice, is on the words. No fuss, no frills as typified by Rutter's direction which is unshowy but still gets the job done. There's nothing 'look at me, aren't I clever?' about it - and the production is all the better for it.

Catherine Kinsella's stoical Lady Anne and Ruth Alexander-Rubin's defiant Elizabeth do best among the ensemble, in roles that call for them to stand by and suffer as husbands and children are slaughtered in Richard's Machiavellian plans to seize power, by killing or marrying any royal who stands between him and the throne.

Rutter says there is 'a sweet circularity' in Northern Broadsides returning to Hull in the company's 25th birthday year and in Hull's year as UK City of Culture. This Richard lll proves a worthy celebration of both.

Richard III runs at Hull Truck Theatre until 27 May, then at the Viaduct Theatre, Halifax from 30 May to 3 June.
This decision was taken by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a move to strengthen the party's presence on various platforms of social media.

By India Today Web Desk: As part of a major reshuffle, the Congress has chosen actor former Lok Sabha MP Ramya to head the social media team of the party. The 34-year-old actor will replace Rohtak's Lok Sabha MP Deepender Hooda who handled the social media of the Congress for 5 years.

This step has been taken in view of the BJP's dominating presence on the social media. This decision was taken by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a move to strengthen the party's presence on various platforms of social media.

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According to reports, Ramya will also put out tweets from the Twitter handle of Rahul Gandhi.

Ramya was in news last year for her controversial comment when she rebuked the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar saying, "Pakistan is a good country, not hell. Parrikar's comments (that going to Pakistan or hell is the same thing) are not true." The actor got trolled heavily on Twitter after the comment.

A case of sedition was also filed against her by in Karnataka.

CHANGES IN ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Ramya joined the Congress in 2012 and won the Lok Sabha polls from Mandya constituency in 2013 but lost the seat in the 2014 general election.

The Congress has been making changes in its party structure after recent defeats in elections.

Ramya is on Twitter with the name of Divya Spandana/Ramya. Being quite active on Twitter, she has around 4,83,000 followers.

Also read: Picking up the pieces, slowly

Also read: Actor-politician Ramya, charged with sedition, says she won't apologise for 'Pakistan not hell' remark WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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The RSC's critically acclaimed production of Hamlet, starring Paapa Essiedu in the titular role, will tour next year before transferring to Hackney Empire.

The tour will commence at The Lowry in Salford from 26 January to 3 February 2018, and continues to Plymouth, Hull, Newcastle and Northampton. It will then run at the Hackney Empire from 6 to 31 March 2018.

Directed by Simon Godwin, the production will see Essiedu reprise his highly praised performance as Hamlet, with further casting to be announced.

Essiedu won Best Performance in a Play at the UK Theatre Awards in 2016 for his role. His other RSC credits include Edmund in King Lear and Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Further stage credits include King Lear (National Theatre) and Romeo and Juliet (Tobacco Factory).

Talking about the revival of his production, Godwin said: "I'm delighted that Hamlet will be touring in 2018. Paapa Essiedu is British with Ghanaian heritage. When Paapa and I talked about the production, I realised how radical it might be to see Denmark through the lens of a completely different culture, a culture that Paapa himself had experienced.

"I began to imagine a Denmark re-conceived as a modern state influenced by the ritual, traditions and beauty of west Africa. So, our setting is full of the colour, emotional intensity and passion associated with that part of the world."

Hamlet will run at The Lowry from 26 January to 3 February 2018, before touring and finishing at the Hackney Empire from 6 to 31 March 2018.
Diego Godin has had his season ended prematurely after being handed a three-match suspension from on high.

According to Telecinco, Godin was banned for the heinous crime of yelling Sois muy malos (You are very bad) at the fourth official during Atleticos last league outing against Eibar.

Godin was sent off in the 89th minute of the match and unleashed the hideous tirade at the Uruguayan official as he stormed off.

La Liga have given him a two-game ban for picking up a second yellow card and an extra game ban for dissent after the incident was logged in referee Fernandez Borbalans match report.

As Atletico only have two fixtures remaining, the 31-year-old defender will not be play again this campaign.

Serves him bloody well right.
Speaking at a party function in Jalna, using derogatory language, Raosaheb Danve had said that in spite of the tur dal procurement farmers continue to crib.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Under fire over using abusive remarks for farmers, Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve has finally expressed "regrets" over his controversial statement.

Speaking at a party function in Jalna, using derogatory language, Raosaheb Danve had said that in spite of the tur dal procurement farmers continue to crib.

Danve statement drew large scale resentment. Opposition parties along with BJP's ally in power Shiv Sena launched a scathing attack on the state BJP president. While the Congress demanded an apology, Shiv Sena launched a statewide agitation against Danve. Shiv Sena workers undertook a "jutey maro andolan" in Osmanabad, Nashik, Shirdi and other parts of the state.

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"Danve's statement is worse than that of a danav (demon)," said Shiv Sena's spokesperson Manisha Kayande.

The Opposition too targeted Danve warning of a statewide agitation. Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and President of the MPCC, Ashok Chavan called the statement as sheer arrogance of power.

"At a time when farmers are facing problems over tur dal procurement, thousands have committed suicides, someone like Danve, rather than helping farmers, has made such a derogatory statement and has rubbed salt on the wounds. The BJP and Danve should apologise for insulting farmers,"Chavan said.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar too took a dig at the BJP state president's statement.

Addressing party office bearers in Mumbai , Pawar said, "I don't think the demand to remove Danve (over his statements) is right, people like him make things easy for us. He should stay there as it is in the benefit of our party."

MNS supremo Raj Thackeray too criticised the BJP for Danve's remarks.

"Expectation are from MANAV (human Beings) not from DANAV ( demons) of BJP," Raj said in a statement issued by his party.

After the onslaught of criticism, BJP president finally issued a statement just stopping short of a full fledged apology.

"It was a communication between me and my party workers at Jalna. I never used any derogatory or cuss words for farmers. I am born in a farmer's family and know the pain of farmers. I have worked for farmers for last 35 years. My communication with party workers is being misconstrued as words used for farmers. I can never abuse farmers. But, even if I have inadvertently hurt their sentiments, I express regrets," Danve's statement read.

Also read:

Tur crisis: Chavan urges PM to recall 2 Mah ministers on junket

As Maharashtra farmers face crisis, ministers go on foreign tour

Danve asks farmers to stop complaining over tur dal;draws flak

--- ENDS ---
On the 105th birth anniversary of Saadat Hasan Manto, actor Rasika Dugal speaks about her experience of shooting for the film Manto.

By Devarsi Ghosh: Rasika Dugal, 32, is one of the most interesting actors working in Indian cinema right now. A FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) graduate, Rasika Dugal has worked in some critically acclaimed films such as Kshay (2011) and Qissa (2015). She is a prominent cast member of the TV series P.O.W - Bandi Yuddh Ke and will soon be seen on the big screen as Safia Manto, wife of celebrated Indo-Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto, in director Nandita Das's film, Manto, the biopic starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the controversial writer.

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On the 105th birth anniversary of Saadat Hasan Manto, here is Rasika Dugal speaking about her experience shooting for Manto, her perspective on the film industry as an outsider and nepotism in Bollywood in an exclusive conversation with IndiaToday.in.

What has it been like shooting for Manto so far?

It has been lovely and therapeutic. I have been taking Urdu classes. Working on Manto doesn't feel like work at all. It feels very empowering to read Manto in today's times. His writing is rebellious and has a wry sense of humour. Manto's writing is relevant even today especially with the debate on freedom of expression raging around us. He fought for it for the most part of his life and was one of the reasons for his downfall. So far, shooting for Manto has been a great experience. The unit is lovely and Nandita and Nawaz have been spectacular.

What's the preparation that you have gone through for playing Safia Manto?

Besides reading his fiction, which I was familiar with already, I have read essays on the cases of obscenity Manto was charged with. Some of the accounts are both funny and sad. There is this lovely moment when somebody testifies in court in favour of Saadat Hasan Manto but does not think highly of his writing and Manto does not care about the outcome of the case but he gets disheartened because somebody did not like his work.

On the lighter side, Manto's gossip columns about the Bombay film industry have been enlightening. There is a book by Manto called Ganjay Farishtay (Stars From Another Sky in English) that chronicles the lives of actors and personalities of those times.

Have you seen the 2015 Pakistani biopic where actor Sania Saeed plays Safia?

No I have not. That would be too much information and I don't want to be influenced by someone else's take on the character.

After having done research and living the film for a while, what do you make of Safia and her relation with Manto?

I do not have extreme clarity about these things. If you know everything right at the beginning of shooting, then you have nothing to explore. I want to leave myself open to action and reaction on the set. I view Saadat and Safia's relationship as a beautiful companionship.

Safia Manto (L) and Saadat Hasan Manto (R) Safia Manto (L) and Saadat Hasan Manto (R)

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How is the atmosphere on set with Nandita Das, the director and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the actor?

Stunningly relaxed. Working with Nawazuddin Siddiqui is great fun. He keeps cracking jokes. Nandita is as controlled as I had expected her to be. She is very detailed in her approach and the detailing is most important in a period film.

How did acting happen to you?

Very much on a whim. Acting as a career was not planned. I come from a small-town family of businessmen, not artists. I had done a bit of acting while studying in Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi. One day I got to know that FTII was restarting their acting course. I enrolled and within six months, I knew that this was what I wanted to do for a long time.

In a short while, you have done some extremely good work in Kshay and Qissa, then work on television, a web series and so on. Did you have to struggle as an industry outsider?

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Oh yes, I still have to. It is a constant challenge. I keep thinking what my next project will be. The last few years have been very good.

The profession brings insecurity with itself. People who are industry insiders have their own kind of insecurity. They are worried about their looks, what they are selling, Rs 100 crore-200 crore, etc. Sometimes, this insecurity also works as a huge motivation.

Do you believe that because of nepotism in the Mumbai film industry, a vast pool of indigenous talent is overlooked?

It is hard to understand how someone got a film and someone did not. Film-family kids have huge expectations circling them. If my father was a film star, there would be a lot of pressure on me. There's that side. Today there is space for everyone in ads, films, short films and web series. Chutney, the short film I acted in with Tisca Chopra, has over 85 million views on YouTube. There is work available in the digital space, in independent cinema. Today people have realised that they cannot ignore the need to have a strong performance even in big films. A star cannot continue to stay talentless and not be a good performer.

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I don't consider nepotism as an issue personally. It is not a battle I personally fight. My battle is regarding my work and my craft.

Kshay, Qissa and Manto are progressive films about either progressive characters or progressive themes. What do you make of the rapidly changing socio-political state of India today where you are making these films?

I don't see films as progressive or regressive. Not that they should be. Qissa is about a family where the protagonist (played by Irrfan) has regressive ideas. Filmmaking is first about telling a story competently. Then maybe it is about sending a message. If the message turns out to be contemporary and relevant, then good. Like I said, unfortunately, Manto is relevant even today. I wish we were not in a situation where freedom of expression was an issue. It is great that future generations will get to know about Saadat Hasan Manto from our film.

One film character, a real-life character and a literary character you would like to play on screen.

Meena Kumari's character from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Irom Sharmila, and as for literary characters, none, but I would like to play the writers Ismat Chugtai and Amrita Pritam.

Filmmaker(s) you would like to work with.

From the West, Darren Aronofsky. From India, there are many; Imtiaz Ali, Dibakar Banerjee, Vishal Bhardwaj, Kanu Behl, Devashish Makhija.

And finally, one actor you really want to work with.

Cate Blanchett, internationally, and from India, I have already worked with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Irrfan and Adil Hussain, so... Ranbir Kapoor.

(The writer tweets as @devarsighosh.)

ALSO READ: Five Saadat Hasan Manto quotes on love, society and independence

WATCH: Nawazuddin Siddiqui stars as Saadat Hasan Manto in this short film directed by Nandita Das

--- ENDS ---
Police is now evaluating the Reddit post on which a user "confessed" to being responsible for killing his girlfriend.

By India Today Web Desk: Reddit became a hotspot for police investigation after a user put up a post claiming to be a murder suspect, and confessed to his crime.

The user "confessed" that he is Ager Hasan, a 24-year-old Ontario-resident who was the lead suspect in the murder of Melinda Vasilije, and admitted to having killed her.

Hasan was the boyfriend of the 22-year-old victim, who was found dead in her apartment in Kitchener, Ontario, at around 3 am on April 28. Reports said that she died from multiple stab wounds.

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Soon after the police discovered her stabbed body, after responding to an emergency call, they suspected Hasan to be responsible for Vasilije's death.

Hasan was believed to have fled from Canada to the United States after committing the murder.

That was until the Reddit post surfaced on social media.

THE REDDIT POST

In a detailed post, the user claiming to be Hasan shared 'his side of the story' that led to the death of Vasilije.

Titled 'Wanted for Kitchener murder my side', the Reddit post had pictures of the two together, and screengrabs of what he claimed was their last text message conversation.

The user claims that he (Hasan) and Vasilije had separated a few weeks before she was killed.

On the night of her murder, he said that he came to meet her at her apartment, where they made up and "talked about everything"

When he was about to leave, he wrote in the post, they broke into an argument after he admitted to her that he had been with other women while they were on a break.

The user claimed in the post that Vasilije lost her temper upon hearing that and grabbed a knife to attack him: "She started freaking out. Wouldn't say a word and just kept slapping me with tears in her eyes. Slaps turned into hits. I told her I was sorry but if she didn't stop I'd do something back. She didn't stop. I then stupidly pushed her, harder than I expected. She fell against the sink...Almost out of no where she grabs a knife by the sink."

Screenshot of the Reddit post.

The user, claiming to be Hasan, said that at this point of time, he stabbed Vasilije multiple times in self-defence.

"Initially I thought was just going to hold it to try and tell me to leave. She doesn't. She comes at me in full force, aiming towards my face. I tell her to stop. She doesn't, I tried grabbing the knife but ended up cutting my hands. After a few cuts I lost it. I freaked out, I was scared and in a state of shock. Never in a hundred years did I think she would use a knife against me. Out of shock and fear I grab one. I hit her with it, almost blindly. A few times. I didn't know what happened. I was confused, shocked and scared," the Reddit post read.

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"The fact is no one is more destroyed than I am. She was more than a girlfriend, a soon to be fiance, she was my everything. What happened that night was nothing but tragic [sic]," said the post.

The Reddit post has been removed from the site.

Screenshot of the Reddit post.

POLICE'S RESPONSE

Waterloo Regional Police said that the Reddit post is currently "being evaluated by investigators."

"That said, information like this is potential evidence and, as such, needs to be authenticated and verified," a spokeswoman told Global News.

"We don't want to jeopardise that process and cannot comment any further on evidence. We would continue to encourage Mr Hasan to turn himself in to US authorities."

--- ENDS ---
A female social welfare officer has accused Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Minister V Saroja of taking Rs 10 lakh bribe for the controversial RK Nagar bypoll. (Image via YouTube)

By Pramod Madhav: A female social welfare officer has accused Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Minister V Saroja of taking Rs 10 lakh bribe for the controversial RK Nagar bypoll and threatening her life.

Raja Meenakshi, a child protection officer stationed at Dharmapuri, claimed in a (now-viral) video on Tuesday that Saroja demanded a bribe worth Rs 30 lakh to make her job permanent, and when Meenakshi refused to pay, a threat was made to her life.

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Meenakshi met with Chennai Commissioner of Police today and filed a petition detailing her ordeal. She claimed that Minister Saroja asked her to come to her residence at Greenways road. "When I went there, I was shocked by the way she spoke to me. I was made to sit inside the house for two hours and she criticized about my personal life," Meenakshi said.

Meenakshi was on a 6-month contract with the social welfare department until last month. She alleged bribes starting Rs 2.5 lakh are taken for a minimal job in the social welfare department.

Meenakshi has also alleged her father has paid Rs 10 lakh rupees for her job extension already to the minister's husband, and the money was used for the RK Nagar bypoll.

The bypoll for Tamil Nadu's RK Nagar constituency, vacant after former CM Jayalalithaa's death, was cancelled after election commission found that contesting parties had not only flouted pre-poll rules, but also spent Rs 95 crore to bribe and influence voters. A new date for the seat is yet to be announced.

Investigations show Meenakshi was supposed to get a 3-year contract of service. But like everyone else, she worked for 6 months and for every 6-month extension, an additional Rs 1 lakh was to be paid.

Meenakshi claims she has audio proof of her conversations with Minister Saroja. She now wants to meet chief minister E Palanisamy to seek life and job security.

Tamilnadu is not new to such allegations. Back in February 2015, 57-year-old Muthukumarasamy (57) committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train, as he was allegedly under pressure from the-then Tamil Nadu agriculture minister SS Krishnamoorthy. The minister was eventually arrested.

--- ENDS ---
On his birth anniversary today, let's celebrate the literary genius of Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto through 5 quotes that reflect uponhis range of thoughts.

Manto is known for his brutal yet honest storytelling skills. Picture courtesy: Twitter/ @abhiertigibbet

By Mini Dixit: Words don't come easy when it comes to describing the literary prowess of Saadat Hasan Manto.

The storyteller, whose fearless thoughts and writings painted a vivid picture of the chaos that ensued post partition in 1947, succumbed to liver cirrhosis at the age of 42 in 1955--but that hasn't deterred his words from making their mark even years after his demise.

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From Toba Tek Singh to Khol Do, Manto's courage to pen down the harsh realities of the society didn't come without its share of hurdles. But were the legal battles, criticisms and controversies going to discourage Manto's pen? Not in the least.

Also Read: India Today Conclave 2017: Nawazuddin Siddiqui makes first-ever appearance as Saadat Hasan Manto

WATCH: Nawazuddin Siddqui slays it as Saadat Hasan Manto in Nandita Das's BigShort

He continued penning down his thoughts and went on to become one of the greatest short stories writer of South Asian literature.

Today, on his 105th birth anniversary, let's celebrate the literary genius of Saadat Hasan Manto through five musings that are reflective of the playwright's thoughts on life, society and remembrance.

Also Read : 7 Charles Dickens quotes about love, poetry, hope and humour

On society

On remembrance

Also Read: 400 years after his death, here are 7 Shakespeare quotes that remain immortal On the complications of life

On the mirage of independence

On love

--- ENDS ---
The Congress has also demanded compensation for the affected Dalit families in Saharanpur violence.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: The Congress has demanded a judicial probe in the Saharanpur caste violence. A Congress delegation is also expected to meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the same issue.

Talking to India Today, Congress Rajya Sabha member PL Punia, who is former chairman of National Commission of Scheduled Castes, said, "The situation is still tense in Saharanpur. Yesterday, our delegation went to Saharanpur and found that no help has reached to the affected villages, so far."

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Punia while demanding a judicial probe into the incident by a sitting or former judge of Allahabad High Court added, "We will also meet CM Yogi Adityanath and ask for compensation for the affected Dalit families in Saharanpur."

The Congress leader commenting on the arrests made by the police said, "The post-mortem report shows that the upper caste youth died not because of being hurt by a stone but due to strangulation, so those booked for throwing stones that allegedly hit the upper caste boy should be released."

VIOLENCE IN SAHARANPUR

As many as 30 people were arrested yesterday in connection with the incidents of stone-pelting and torching of vehicles and a police post in Saharanpur, which has been witnessing caste-based violence since May 5.

Last week, 1 person was killed and at least 15 people, including a police officer, were injured as members of two castes clashed over loud music being played during a procession in Saharanpur.

The incident led to more violence with brickbats and arson; while 15 to 20 Dalit houses were torched, many vehicles, including those of the police, were also set ablaze.

Also read: 1 killed, houses torched as Thakurs, Dalits clash in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur

Also read: No action against a single BJP leader despite multiple reports by minority commission since 2014

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two exhibitions of Pablo Picassos works coming to the Winnipeg Art Gallery provide an explosive combination for the city.

Those are the words of University of Manitoba School of Art professor Oliver Botar, who is looking forward to seeing Picasso: Man and Beast  The Vollard Suite, and Picasso in Canada, which open at the Winnipeg Art Gallery Saturday, May 13, and remain on display until August.

Firstly, Picasso is the most famous artist of the 20th century, if not all time. The citys art community can be inspired by the prints, paintings and other visual works on display, and they will also give the general public a chance to question Picassos attitude toward women, Botar says.

Its the age-old argument: can you separate the artist from his work? he says. Its really exciting to see the Vollard Suite, especially in a city like Winnipeg where printmaking is so important This will inspire contemporary artists while still raising many questions for groups like MAWA (Mentoring Artists for Womens Art), which is a strong feminist arts organization.

Here are some other reasons why these two exhibitions are such a big deal:

Picasso is the most popular of artists

One of the big questions about the two Picasso exhibitions is whether attendance will threaten the WAGs record it set in 2013 with its 100th anniversary 100 Masters show. More than 60,000 people visited the Memorial Boulevard gallery that summer.

It could happen. Picasso himself has been quoted as saying, Give me a museum and Ill fill it.

Torontos Art Gallery of Ontarios attendance jumped to almost 800,000 visitors in 2012  almost a 200,000 increase from the previous year, according to the Toronto Star  thanks to more than 300,000 visits for the Masterpieces from the Musee Picasso exhibition. The same show broke the all-time attendance record at the Seattle Art Museum in 2011, bringing in more than 400,000 visitors.

His works are the most recognizable

The Spanish artists use of cubism  he was one of first artists to use the style when his Analytic Cubism period began in 1909  and his surrealistic works, such as the 1927 painting Femme Assise that is part of the Picasso in Canada exhibition, have given his art an avant-garde look the general public recognizes as only Picassos.

You cant ignore him, says Winnipeg Art Gallery CEO and director Stephen Borys, who notes nearly as many people are put off by by Picassos work as those who enjoy it. The artist stirs debate, and Borys adds, as long as the WAG is part of that conversation, then were relevant.

STEPHEN TOPFER / PICASSO ESTATE

His works are the most valuable

Picassos artworks, along with Vincent van Goghs and Andy Warhols, litter the list of the worlds most valuable works of art.

While there are works by other artists that have sold for more in private sales, Picassos 1955 painting Les Femme dAlger (Version O) set a world record for paintings sold at an auction when it sold for US$179.4 million at Christies auction house in New York in May 2015.

The Vollard Suite, with its series of 100 etchings Picasso created between 1930 and 1937, are considered exceptionally rare as a set because many of the 230 versions were split up and the prints disbursed individually. In November 2016, one of those sets came up for auction at Sothebys and sold for US$2.5 million (about C$3.5 million), significantly less than a similar set that went under the hammer at Sothebys in 2013 that was purchased for 2.66 million (about C$4.7 million).

Picasso is the most influential artist

Picassos work was so innovative and inspirational that many 20th-century artists changed their styles in response to Picassos work and his success, Botar says.

His printmaking work in the Vollard Suite was a breakthrough not just for art, but for the entire genre of modernism, he says.

He demonstrated that modernist artists could work with etchings, which was a very old technique, Botar says. It was a major undertaking, technically as well as artistically.

Hes the most controversial

Picasso had the reputation of being a womanizer throughout his lifetime. He was married twice, and his four children were from three women, including Marie-Therese Walter, his mistress during the 1930s who was his muse and model for many of the etchings in the Vollard Suite.

There are things we struggle with, his women, his relationships, Borys says. All I ask is to take in the art and decide what you think.

No XMP or IPTC Header Found

His pieces of art are the most available

Picasso was prolific  he started drawing and painting as a youngster and continued until shortly before his death in 1973 at the age of 91. Its estimated he finished more than 50,000 pieces, and that doesnt count the thousands of prints created from his etchings.

His works are so plentiful they turn up in the darndest places. Theyve been appraised on PBSs Antiques Roadshow, and his more inexpensive prints have been haggled over on Historys Pawn Stars.

When the WAG announced it was hosting two Picasso exhibitions, Borys says a local art collector offered to loan the gallery ceramic pieces by Picasso to add to the Picasso in Canada show. The collector, who Borys wouldnt name, still had the original invoice for when his relatives bought the works decades ago  $150.

The insurers appraised them to be worth tens of thousands of dollars. The cost to insure the works for the show far exceeded their original price, Borys says.

Picassos artworks are the most likely to be stolen

As of January 2012, according to the Art Loss Register, 1,147 pieces of Picassos art have vanished, far exceeding other artists on the most stolen list.

He has the most variety of art

While hes known for his paintings and prints, Picasso tried virtually every form of visual media, including sculptures, ceramics and giant public installations. The Vollard Suite are prints made from his etchings, while Picasso in Canada includes oil paintings, watercolours, drawings, engravings, lithographs, mixed media and ceramics.

His works are the most relevant

A visit to the WAGs two Picasso exhibitions could provide some insight for those who believe the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has touched off a new fascist phase to the global political scene.

Picasso created the Vollard Suite of etchings in Paris during the Great Depression, when fascism was on the rise in Germany, Italy and Spain. While many of the works focus on Picassos mistress, the darker images from the series are almost an artistic prototype of his most famous work, Guernica, which deals with the bombing of the Basque city during the Spanish Civil War.

In a review of the Vollard Suite on display at the British Museum in 2012, the Daily Telegraphs Richard Dorment said the rise of fascism in Europe can be seen as you progress through the suite, with Picassos avatar, the minotaur, losing his virility as the threat of war grew more imminent.

These anxieties also found their way into the Vollard Suite, so that by the time you reach the end of the show and the last images of the blind minotaur, you feel that you are in a different emotional universe from the sunlit arcadia you encountered at the shows beginning, Dorment writes.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall

If you value coverage of Manitobas arts scene, help us do more.

Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.

STEPHEN TOPFER / PICASSO ESTATE
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipegs financial services and utilities companies might be shedding jobs, but at least one local aviation/aerospace company is looking to buck that trend.

Exchange Income Corp. (EIC) is already responsible for about 1,000 jobs in Winnipeg through its ownership of Calm Air, Perimeter Aviation, Bearskin Airlines and Keewatin Air and a small, efficient head office for its corporate operations that last year generated revenues of just shy of $900 million.

Late last year, EICs Newfoundland subsidiary, Provincial Aerospace Ltd. (PAL), was part of the winning bid for the countrys new fleet of 16 Airbus C295 fixed wing search and rescue planes, built in Spain. PAL will be responsible for 26 years worth of maintenance on the planes.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Michael Pyle, CEO of Exchange Income Corp., says the Winnipeg-based company will be hiring people for high-skilled, well-paid positions.

At EICs annual meeting in Winnipeg on Wednesday, EICs chief executive officer Michael Pyle confirmed  as had previously been hinted  that the heavy maintenance work on those search-and-rescue planes will be done in Winnipeg.

Construction on a new hangar to do that work will likely begin in about 18 months and it will need up to 40 staff from the outset, with expansion out to about 100 employees in the long term.

Those are not entry-level positions, but high-skilled, well-paid positions, Pyle said.

He said the hangar, expected to cost about $10 million, will also eventually be responsible for the heavy maintenance work on the company airlines fleet of Dash 8, ATR42 and ATR72 planes  work currently being handled in PALs hangar in Newfoundland.

Theres only 16 search-and-rescue planes, so there is not always going to be one here, so to take advantage of the infrastructure  and not have to fly them all to Newfoundland  well use the expertise and bring it to Winnipeg, he said.

The first of the Airbus C295s is not scheduled to be delivered until the end of 2019 and Brian Chafe, CEO of St. Johns-based PAL, said the heavy maintenance work will not be needed until after about five years of service, but the facility will have to be up and running long before that.

Pyle said the hangar will be built on the current site of the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, which is in the final stages of a capital campaign to finance its move to another location on the airport campus.

That new infrastructure piece for the Winnipeg market is just one of a number of moving parts for the diversified company that includes a Florida-based airplane parts and leasing company called Regional One.

After EICs modest initial public offering in 2004, when it raised $8 million, the company now has a market capitalization of a little more than $1 billion and was added to the TSX Composite Index last year. It has a history of dividend growth  it was $1.08 per share in 2004 and is $2.10 today  that is unmatched on the TSX.

While results for the first quarter of 2017  released on Wednesday  were modest, with revenue up only two per cent over the same period last year to $222.5 million and operating profit down two per cent to $43.3 million, Pyle said the company is doing what it needs to do to continue to grow.

I am more confident than I have ever been about the future of the company, Pyle told shareholders at the annual meeting.

The first-quarter results included a hefty increase in spending as a result of new plane purchases as well as unusually high expenditures on plane maintenance that will not continue to be a factor for rest of the year.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After three decades, a jury trial, a Supreme Court appeal, an overturned verdict and a brand-new trial, the second-degree murder case for Candace Derksens accused killer is set to come to a close this week.

Crown and defence lawyers are scheduled to make their final arguments today in the retrial for 53-year-old Mark Grant, who is charged in the 1985 death of 13-year-old Candace, who was found bound with twine and frozen to death in a shed nearly two months after she went missing on her way home from school.

After a lengthy trial that relied heavily on DNA analysis, Court of Queens Bench Justice Karen Simonsen decided all of the challenged evidence that was introduced would be admissible, meaning shell have to decide how much weight to give each piece of evidence before she reaches a verdict.

HANDOUT Mark Edward Grant

The retrial was called after the Manitoba Court of Appeal, and later the Supreme Court of Canada, overturned Grants 2011 second-degree murder conviction. The high court decided the trial judge erred by not allowing the jury to hear evidence that could have pointed to another suspect.

During this trial, which began in January, the defence introduced evidence about a second kidnapping victim who had been reportedly abducted when she was 12 years old. The alleged victim was found four months earlier tied up in a rail boxcar in the same area where Candaces body and was reported to have happened while Grant was in custody. The Crown has argued the victim, now an adult woman who testified during the retrial, is not believable.

The judge has also asked the lawyers to provide written arguments to guide the court through highly technical, DNA-focused testimony. Simonsen previously rejected a defence request to drop the case based on an allegation that his charter rights had been violated.

DNA analysis of the twine that bound Candaces hands and feet linked Grant to the cold-case homicide. But Grants defence team has challenged the original DNA evidence. It argued Grant was not able to fully defend himself against the second-degree murder accusation because all of the twine extract used for DNA testing was used up by the lab during the 2007 investigation and couldnt be independently tested by defence experts.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former Anglican minister and boy scouts leader convicted in dozens of sex abuse cases against young indigenous boys is now the focus of a proposed class-action lawsuit seeking more than $100 million.

The suit alleges Ralph Rowe abused hundreds of boys in northwestern Ontario and Manitoba First Nations where he worked in the 1970s and 80s.

Despite dozens of criminal convictions, Rowe served only about five years in prison, the result of a deal Rowes legal counsel arranged with the Crown in return for guilty pleas in nearly 40 cases against him.

GENERAL SYNOD ARCHIVES Ralph Rowe

The 43-page suit was filed in the Ontario Supreme Court in Thunder Bay Thursday. Until it is formally certified by the courts it remains a proposed class-action suit and no statements of defence have been filed.

It seeks $110 million in damages.

Lawyers spearheading the proposed class action say its time for the courts to acknowledge the harm done to successive generations of indigenous families because Rowes abuse boys from 1971-1987 when he worked in the North.

Alvin McKay, the only victim identified by name in the suit, alleged Rowe abused him sexually from the ages of five to seven in the 1980s.

Hes suffered a lifetime of addictions, mental-health problems and broken relationships as a result of the trauma, the suit alleges.

Theres been a number of civil actions against (Rowe) over the years, some involving fairly large groups of people, 60-70 people which have settled under confidential terms, said Jonathan Ptak, a partner with the Toronto-based law firm Koskie Minsky, which is spearheading this suit.

This is the first to include so many alleged victims, he said.

A light has not yet been shone on this horrific story from the Canadian North, Ptak said.

I cant speak to whether or not hes Canadas worst or not. I dont have a catalogue (of pedophiles). But this is something to the ordinary person that is absolutely shocking, when you see the numbers.

I mean, this is a man who is alleged to have sexually abused up to 500 people over the course of 12 years, which would mean literally unchecked behaviour and a frequency thats unfathomable.

The Anglican church supplied Rowe, a trained pilot, with a plane that he used on his northern missions, the suit states.

Rowe, Scouts Canada and the Anglican Synod of the Diocese of Keewatin are all named in the lawsuit. Rowe is believed to be living in British Columbia.

The Anglican Church has said it is crafting a formal national apology for Rowes actions and what the church describes as its legacy of brokenness.

In a statement released Jan. 20, the church acknowledged Rowes abuse of indigenous boys in more than a dozen First Nations as playing a role in the ongoing tragedy of youth suicide in Canadas North.

We acknowledge that our past actions have helped create a legacy of brokenness in some First Nations and we express our willingness, in spite of failings and false starts in the past, to renew our commitment to dialogue and discernment that will help us understand more deeply and act more effectively on our responsibilities, the church said in January.

A 2012 report into sexual misconduct against boy scouts found Scouts Canada did not have the appropriate policies, standards or procedures prior to 2011 to suspend or terminate sexual predators from their ranks.

That report, prepared by KPMG, was entitled Scouts Canada Review of Suspension and Termination, also concluded the policies that were in place were inconsistently and inappropriately followed.

The idea that a sexual predator could be unsupervised and unchecked and be able to commit that many atrocious crimes is something that is a concern for every parent, and its of particular concern in the North, Ptak said.

 with files from Canadian Press

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The email from the highly agitated gentleman arrived in the wee hours of the last weekend in April.

At 3:31 a.m., to be precise.

The hour suggests just how angry Sheldon Garrioch was about what he and his pal, Gary Hearnden, had just experienced with a couple of Winnipegs leading taxi companies.

John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files A recent experience has at least one taxi patron hoping Uber sets up shop in Winnipeg.

Duffys, in particular.

The pair had been in town from Portage la Prairie so they could attend a wedding social for the daughter of a guy they sit near at Bombers games. That Saturday evening, a Duffys cab had taken them from the Victoria Inn, where Garrioch was staying, to the social at the Brooklands and Weston branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. They called Duffys again when the bar closed at 1 a.m. on Sunday. Ill let Garrioch tell you what happened next in his own words  the ones he had posted on Facebook and promptly shared with me.

His post has been edited slightly for family reading and clarity:

Phoned for a Duffys at 1 a.m. at the Brooklands Legion. Twenty minutes, we were told.

At 1:40 a.m., we phoned back. Ten minutes, we were told.

At 2 a.m., we phoned back again, outraged. Demanded cab. OK, and then immediate hang-up.

About five minutes later, an extremely drunk young lady walked up to us: I need a cab to Cavalier in St. James. She was a looong way from home. A couple of minutes later, we frantically waved down a Unicity driver. He did stop, but when we explained the situation he said, I have to get the cab back. Im a student and only drive part time. I offered him $50. He said, Thank you, sir, but I really have to get the cab back. In desperation, I said to him, Ill give you $100 to get us back to the hotel and to get this young lady back to St. James.

He still looked dubious and said, Ill need to be paid in advance. Yeah, sure, no problem. So thats what we did. He dropped us off and left with her to drop her off.

I am so pissed off, for obvious reasons. You know why people drive drunk? Because of s like this. My solace is that at least we were able to ensure that a very drunk and vulnerable young lady who was far from home would be able to get home safely. Ill always think about her and hope that things work out well for her.

And to Duffys Taxi, I say F you forever. 

In his email to me, Garrioch apologized for the language, but he said not using the expletives would lessen the impact of how I really feel.

Garrioch didnt seem all that upset with having to give the Unicity taxi driver $100 so the cabbie would do what hes supposed to do for the price on the meter.

What really bothered both Garrioch and Hearnden more was what they refer to as Duffys dishonesty: the companys stringing them along; assuring them a cab was coming when, for whatever reason  no cars were available or no drivers wanted to pick someone up from a legion at closing time  the taxi wasnt on its way.

The next week, I called the dispatch services of both Duffys and Unicity looking for email addresses so I could forward Garriochs Facebook complaint and hopefully to speak with both general managers. I couldnt locate office numbers, so I called dispatch.

It was on my second call to Duffys dispatch that I encountered something unexpected.

A Duffys employee  who had interrupted me three times over the course of my explaining who was calling and why, and saying I wanted the email address of the general manager  ended up accusing me of multiple interruptions. An exchange culminated with him interrupting me again.

You keep interrupting, sir, the Duffys employee said. How about you stop?

And Ill hang up if you dont stop, he said in an amused, almost laughing tone.

I beg your pardon.

Did you not hear me? he said, angrily.

Later that day, neither general manager having responded, I ended up speaking with Michael Diamond, the Winnipeg-born and educated but Toronto-based spokesman for the Winnipeg Taxi Alliance, which was formed by Duffys and Unicity to contend with the coming competitive threat of ride-sharing companies such as Uber.

I told Diamond about Garriochs complaint, my own over-the-phone experience trying to contact the Duffys manager and the irony of someone from the media calling about a customer complaint being treated so rudely.

Diamond said customer-service improvements are ongoing.

Certainly, its a major problem and, you know, as they say, One bad apple 

Diamond said he was quite confident I would have had a better reaction had I reached the general managers office instead of dispatch.

And Id be happy to have someone there give you a call, he said.

On Tuesday, after a week had passed and neither general manager had responded, I called both again. Later that day, Duffys GM Ram Valler sent an email directing me to Diamond for comment.

Well, I thought to myself, at least one of the general managers got the message and returned it.

The problem is neither cab company seems to be getting the bigger message.

Its the one Garriochs pal Hearnden delivered after being dissed by Duffys:

Cant wait for Uber to hit Winnipeg.

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/05/2017 (2009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said he is worried some opioid users may be employing a life-saving antidote as a failsafe.

Im certainly hearing some incidences where people are using it as a method to feed the addiction that they have, he said Wednesday. That theyre going up and down between opioids and naloxone. So that is a concern.

Goertzen made the comment while reacting to a report that the frequency of the administration of the antidote naloxone by Winnipeg paramedics is soaring.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says he's heard some opioid users are taking naloxone to help feed their addiction.

Paramedics carry naloxone with them at all times and city police carry it while on patrol.

Goertzen has also overseen an expansion in the provision of free naloxone kits to organizations across the province that distribute them to opioid users who are vulnerable to overdosing.

Obviously, were concerned about any increase of use in (opioids) and the resultant increase in naloxone (use), the minister said.

Thats been helpful in some ways, but I also dont want to send the message that naloxone is any way a cure-all because its not. Nor should it be relied on in feeding an addiction, he said.

Goertzen said he is also concerned about the extent to which opioids are used medically, and he welcomed new treatment guidelines issued this week by the Canadian Medical Association.

The guidelines, reported in the CMA Journal, recommend restrictions on opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain.

The harms associated with opioid therapy are substantial, the article states.

It recommended patients with chronic non-cancer pain be offered a trial of opioids only after they have tried non-opioid therapy, including non-drug measures.

For patients beginning opioid therapy, the guideline calls for restricting the potency of prescriptions to less than the equivalent of 90 mg of morphine daily.

Patients currently on high doses should be encouraged to embark on a gradual tapering of dosage, and multidisciplinary support should be offered, where available, to those who experience challenges, the CMA said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/05/2017 (2009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP is raising fears the Pallister government could weaken protection for workers over air quality and exposure to toxic chemicals.

Labour critic Tom Lindsey said Wednesday that Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen has ordered a review of workplace safety and health regulations by June 30.

Lindsey told the house Cullen wants his advisory council on workplace health and safety to give the highest priority to the employers costs. Cullen wants weakening of occupational exposure limits (OEL) in workplaces, Lindsey charged.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Provincial Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen has ordered a review of workplace safety and health regulations.

Guaranteeing the health and safety of workers must be the top priority of government and employers, Lindsey said.

Thats exactly why hes having the regulations reviewed, Cullen said. We believe there was a flawed process under the previous (NDP) government, the minister said.

Shameful! said Lindsey. How about keeping workers alive?

OELs protect workers from short and long-term health problems, Lindsey said. His mandate changed from protecting the health of workers to protecting the economic health of employers.

Rather than answering directly, Cullen said the NDP needs to figure out its position on trade policy.

Workers are very concerned, Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said Wednesday.

We are very alarmed that the minister has ordered that the current process for protecting workers from chemicals and other hazards should be weakened, Rebeck said.

We are strongly supportive of Manitobas existing automatic adoption rule, which requires employers to ensure that workplaces stay up to date with the latest science and recommendations from the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. When the experts tell us that workers will be harmed if they are exposed to chemicals and other hazards, we need to listen and ensure that protections are put in place without delay.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Flin Flon MLA and NDP Labour critic Tom Lindsey says Cullen wants to weaken occupational exposure limits in workplaces.

When we know something is hazardous, it is inexcusable, and potentially criminal, to not take protective action, Rebeck said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/05/2017 (2009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister says he pays every single nickel of the cost of communicating with staff in Manitoba when he is away at his vacation home in Costa Rica.

He also indicated Wednesday he does not use government-issued devices for such communications, although he refused to be specific.

Im following the same protocols that the previous government utilized, Pallister said in a sometimes testy exchange with the media at the legislature.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister faces media after question period at the Legislative Building on Wednesday.

Our instructions are clear, Dont outline how you communicate too clearly because it would facilitate those who might try to find out what the confidential information is that youre dealing with, the premier said. If I am sharing detailed information with the media, I am not making it more secure.

Pressed by reporters on how he communicates with staff while away, he said, the same communication methods that any of you would use.

Pallister said he was also proud no information had been leaked. Perfect system so far, he added.

Asked point-blank whether he used non-government devices for business while in Costa Rica, he replied, Right, which dont cost the taxpayer a single cent.

The NDP Opposition has raised concerns about Pallisters out-of-town communication methods and whether he actually does any work while away, as he has repeatedly said.

The NDP has sought records of phone calls and emails made by the premier, through freedom of information legislation (FIPPA), and come up empty. Such records would not be available if calls were made and emails written using non-government devices and accounts.

On Wednesday, when asked if he simply unplugs when he is away, the premier said: I dont respond at all to that. I respond with the fact that this government is operating well, effectively.

I work harder than any premier thats been around here for a long, long time. I dont have to defend my work ethic. I take less vacation time than the previous premier and the one before that.

In year-end interviews last December, Pallister said he planned to spend six to eight weeks a year in Costa Rica. He later revised that, saying he would spend five weeks this year in the Central American country. He was there in January and will likely return in August and September, he said.

NDP MLA Andrew Swan said there are two issues regarding Pallisters communications while out of province.

No. 1, is he in communication? We know that when he was in Costa Rica, other provinces were actually cutting deals with the federal government on a national health-care accord (that Manitoba has yet to sign). Other provinces were getting things done, Swan said.

Its unclear how he communicates, even if he communicates, with staff when hes down in Costa Rica.

Secondly, and even more concerning, Swan said, is the suggestion Pallister conducts government business on non-government phones or email accounts.

There are protocols in place through FIPPA that allow Opposition MLAs, media or individual citizens to obtain information about how the government is conducting its business, Swan said. And if this premier is bypassing all of that because he wants to use some other means, thats not acceptable, he said.

Swan said government-issued phones and email would also be more secure. He said thats what he used for conducting business when he was a cabinet minister.

Im not sure how getting a phone with a SIM card in Costa Rica or using a Gmail account, if thats what the premier is doing, could possibly be more secure than using proper government equipment, Swan said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Government has appointed Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra as its new defence secretary. Mitra will take over as the secretary after the present incumbent G Mohan Kumar completes his tenure on May 24.

By Press Trust of India: The government has named Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra as its new defence secretary in a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.

Mitra will take over as the secretary after the present incumbent, G Mohan Kumar, completes his tenure on May 24, an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) decided Mitra would till then function as an Officer on Special Duty in the defence ministry.

advertisement

Mitra, 58, a 1982 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the West Bengal cadre, will have a fixed two-year tenure. This will be his first posting in the defence ministry.

He was appointed Road Transport and Highways secretary in December 2015. Mitra, who is from Delhi, was then the chief secretary in West Bengal. He also served a seven-year stint (November 2004 to July 2011) as a joint secretary in the Prime Ministers Office of Manmohan Singh.

OTHER TRANSFERS

Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar has been given the additional charge of the post of secretary, Road Transport and Highways. Besides him, five new secretaries have been appointed in central government departments. Mitra's batchmate Rashmi Verma, at present Textiles secretary, is the new Tourism secretary. Petroleum and Natural Gas Additional Secretary Anant Kumar Singh will replace Verma. Jagdish Prasad Meena will be secretary, department of Consumer Affairs. Meena is at present special secretary in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

Women and Child Development Secretary Leena Nair has been moved to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the same capacity. Rakesh Srivastava, a 1981 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, will replace Nair. Srivastava is at present member secretary, National Commission for Backward Classes.

Electronics and Information Technology Secretary Aruna Sundararajan will hold the additional charge of secretary, department of Telecommunications, till the appointment of a regular incumbent, the order said.

The recently sidelined chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, B R Sharma, has been cleared for the post of additional secretary, Union Home Ministry.

A 1984 batch IAS officer, Sharma was removed earlier this month and replaced by B B Vyas.

Also read: Supreme Court issues notice to Defence Ministry on Sahayak system

Also read: Defence Ministry to officers: Follow proper channel of communication for complaints or face action

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/05/2017 (2009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New Democrat MLA Andrew Swan is demanding answers from Premier Brian Pallister about a previously-unknown numbered company the premier owns.

But Pallister told Swan in his estimates hearing Wednesday that its none of Swans business.

Swan said that Pallister Investments 22 Ltd. showed up Nov. 24, 2016, for the first time on Pallisters annual statement of assets and interests.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS NDP MLA Andrew Swan

How long has this company been in existence? Is it a holding company, or an active business? Swan asked.

Swan also asked if the company holds property and if the premier draws any compensation or benefit from it.

Frankly, its none of your business, Pallister said.

The two had been at loggerheads throughout the afternoon, both in question period and the estimates committee, getting snippier over Swans questioning of Pallisters communications while at his vacation home in Costa Rica  to the point that committee chair Dennis Smook cautioned them both.

If he wants an answer, he can ask a question thats in the public interest, Pallister said.

Manitobans want their MLAs to use estimates hearings to explore significant issues about health, education and infrastructure, the premier said.

Calling Swans questioning an inquisition, Pallister said hell seek advice from the legislature to determine if he has to disclose the information Swan wants.

Swan said outside the hearing that the public has the right to know if the premiers company does any business with the government or could potentially have any benefit from Pallisters being premier. He appears to be the only officer and only investor, Swan added.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday for a daycare centre that will create 100 new child-care spaces in downtown Winnipeg and combines the old with the new.

Great-West Life and the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg were celebrating the completion of Building Blocks on Balmoral Child Care Centre located on Balmoral Street next to the insurance giant.

The centre, expected to open at the end of the month, will be run by the Y and has room for 24 infants and toddlers and 76 preschoolers. One third of the spaces are open to the community, and two-thirds are reserved for children of Great-West Life employees, the insurance company said in a joint news release with the YMCA-YWCA.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES The daycare in William Milner House is expected to open at the end of the month.

In October, construction began on the new centre that integrates an iconic century-old house into its structure.

For years, the only building on that side of Balmoral Street was William Milner House, a 2 1/2-storey, brick-and-stone home built in 1909 for William Edwin Milner, one-time president of the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. The Dutch Colonial-style mansion had been vacant since 1990, when the last member of the Milner family died.

Great-West Life, which has owned the house since 1991, applied in 2011 to have the heritage designation removed so it could demolish it. The company had been acquiring and demolishing houses on that side of the street since the 1950s with the intent of eventually expanding the surface parking lot for its nearby buildings.

The bid to demolish the historic Milner House met with stiff opposition from the city and the neighbourhood, so the plan was scrapped. Former Great-West Life president David Johnston then came up with the idea of building a new daycare complex that would include the existing home.

The YMCA-YWCA began accepting registrations in October and already has a waiting list, the news release states.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/05/2017 (2009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THIS week, Premier Brian Pallister has been a man on the run. Twice this week, Pallister skipped scrums with reporters after question period. For most journalists covering the Manitoba legislature, this is quality time with the leader of the government. In fact, it is often the only time journalists get to see the whites of the premiers eyes. Skipping those scrums is noteworthy.

Typically, if there is a pressing personal or professional reason for skipping scrums, that will be made clear to the journalists who document the premiers daily activities. No explanation has been provided.

Why all the ducking and running? Its not entirely clear why Pallister has been so evasive, although this has been an oddly uncomfortable week for him.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister faces media after question period at the Legislative Building, Wednesday.

There are the committee hearings into Bill 28, a law that would impose wage freezes on public servants without the formality of negotiations. As well, many communities in Winnipeg are still up in arms about plans to close three of the citys six hospital emergency rooms. And the Manitoba Labour Board is hearing a complaint from the University of Manitoba Faculty Association, which has accused Pallister of illegally meddling in contract talks.

The icing on the cake? This week, the opposition New Democrats managed to find a way of reviving debate about the premiers luxury vacation home in Costa Rica.

Using a freedom of information request, the NDP acquired mobile phone records that suggest he had almost no contact with his staff while in Costa Rica. The NDPs conclusion was Pallister lied when he said his trips south were working vacations.

This is really just opposition politics at its mischievous best. The NDP hasnt found any evidence Pallister does not work when on holiday. In fact, the Free Press conducted a landline phone interview with Pallister when he was in Costa Rica in late January about the night hunting controversy. No matter, its time to beat the drum.

Pallisters inability to manage the NDP attack, however, reveals a government that is still struggling to find a workable communications strategy.

Why all the difficulty with communications? Fiscal prudence may provide some answers.

To explain, consider the provinces controversial plan to reduce the number of hospital emergency rooms and urgent-care centres. The theory is it is better to have three well-staffed, well-resourced emergency rooms rather than six that do not have the equipment or the medical specialists to do everything an ER needs to do.

Its a strategy that mirrors what other, larger cities have done. However, for it to be successful, the province must convince all those people who go to emergency rooms  but do not need emergency medicine  to go somewhere else.

To accomplish that goal, the province and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority promised a robust public-awareness campaign to explain the changes and educate people so they could look for medical attention in the most appropriate setting. There is no evidence of such a campaign more than a month after the announcement.

There is a website  the lamentably named healingourhealthsystem.ca  that looks as if it was put together by high school digital-arts students. Little information is available on the site, although there is a pretty slick, two-minute-long video describing the changes and the strategy behind them. Missing are other materials  radio and television ads, pamphlets mailed out to households, billboards  that would normally be behind a public-awareness campaign that is at the heart of one of the boldest health-care reorganizations in a generation.

A spokeswoman for the WRHA said a campaign will be rolled out over the next 24 months in phases, timed as actual changes are being made. What cannot be explained, however, is why the government is not already communicating with the public to explain that more than three-quarters of people who go to ERs dont need to be there. The issue lives right now, but the government seems satisfied to sit on the sidelines.

This isnt an isolated example. The Tories havent done much to defend their recent budget, which included the smallest funding increases for health and education seen in two decades. While Pallister ducks scrums, critics inside and outside the legislature are driving the debate, organizing protests, sending out newsletters and otherwise accusing the premier of taking us all to hell in a handbasket.

The inability to effectively present a case to the public appears to be the byproduct of a core belief held by the premier  namely, that money spent on government communications is a waste.

While in opposition, Pallister frequently lambasted the NDP for hiring too many communications and political staff and buying too many ads to promote its budgets or policy initiatives. Once in power, he celebrated his ability to operate a government with fewer ministries, a move that allowed him to hire fewer staff and lay off communicators. This, he said, would lower costs and provide better value for taxpayers.

Pallister does not understand communications is not an exercise in vanity or a needless add-on that steals money from core government services. Telling your citizens about what youre doing and how youre doing it is an essential element in a functional democracy.

The premier may find virtue in starving his own government of communications staff and resources. But in the end, the savings will be dwarfed by the damage done to his governments overall message. And that is a fate he wont be able to duck.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Edward Snowdens face appeared in full screen Tuesday night, speaking to audiences at the universities of Winnipeg, Lethbridge and Brandon, using the same technology threatening our rights to privacy.

His address, part of the Axworthy Distinguished Lecture Series, was a call to action for Canadians who may be too complacent about governments increased ability to perform surveillance on their citizens.

For those of a certain age, Snowden brings to mind Salman Rushdie, the novelist forced to go into police protection in 1988 after his novel The Satanic Verses was released. Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy. In 1989, Irans Ayatollah Khomeni issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. It was the classic example of the powerful determining who has the right to speak and who does not.

Naniece Ibrahim Edward Snowden speaks via video link to audiences at the universities of Winnipeg, Brandon and Lethbridge on Tuesday.

And this, too, is the case for Snowden. The 33-year-old American citizen is a former intelligence community officer and whistleblower who provided documents that detailed the role the National Security Agency was playing in the secret mass surveillance programs of ordinary American citizens. He is now wanted in the U.S. on charges of espionage.

Some say he is a traitor. Some say he is a crusader. Carlos Colorado, one of the organizers of Tuesdays event and a professor at the University of Winnipeg, says Snowden and Rushdie both advocated against the powerful and dealt with the consequences. Both paid an enormous price.

It was an interesting coincidence that Snowdens address came on the same day that U.S. President Donald Trump fired the FBI director investigating Russias involvement in the 2016 American presidential election campaign, including the leaked emails of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. It was also the same day a journalist was arrested for asking U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price whether domestic violence would be considered a pre-existing condition under the Republican bill to overhaul the nations health-care system.

Snowden condemned the firing of James Comey, calling it alarming and part of a shift away from ensuring there are checks and balances to control the power of government. And Canada is not immune. On Tuesday, Snowden also condemned the police involvement in the surveillance of journalists, such as La Presse columnist Patrick Lagace, who found out that Montreal police were monitoring his iPhone in 2016 to determine who he was talking to.

Its time we understood just how Snowden is an important figure for this moment in time, as our growing addiction to smartphones jeopardizes our right to privacy. The governments ability to indiscriminately gather information about private citizens activities  a bulk collection  has been made easier and cheaper with new technology, meaning we are all at risk of having our private lives watched by those in power.

For those who say it doesnt affect them, Snowden responded: Saying things such as I dont care about privacy because I have nothing to hide is no different than saying, I dont care about freedom of speech because I have nothing to say.  No one knows when the tide will change and when what was previously viewed as acceptable comment might become fodder for an arrest warrant.

Snowden pointed to these surveillance laws, in an increasingly nervous world, as indicative of government control. He said we are living in a world of terror, which means that rights become vulnerable. But the best response is to respond by setting values that differentiate us from the bad. When American and Canadian governments step over privacy rights, are we really different from countries such as China or Russia? Or, for that matter, from fundamentalist Muslims pushing to limit speech and control citizens?

As Snowdens talk revealed, this indiscriminate use of our information hasnt made the world safer. In fact, there have been no lives saved by the mass collection of personal data. Information obtained by police on an individuals online activity and phone calls has come to light only after the fact, when a security breach has occurred and police are left to piece together what happened.

Rights arent needed in easy cases, he said on Tuesday. But they are needed in the hard ones.

Snowden, like Rushdie before him, is standing up and holding the powerful to account. Canadians should take up Snowdens call to action to press governments to respect the rule of the law and our privacy before were all under siege. Otherwise, Snowden said, we may become safe, but not free, and he added that a safe life with no rights is like living in prison.

Shannon Sampert is the former perspectives and politics editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. She is currently the editor-in-chief and director of EvidenceNetwork.ca at the University of Winnipeg. Her views are her own.

s.sampert@uwinnipeg.ca Twitter: @paulysigh
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last month, the government of Manitoba launched a public consultation process on proposed changes to the Livestock Manure and Mortalities Management Regulation (LMMMR).

The LMMMR governs where, when and how livestock manure can be used as an agricultural fertilizer.

Livestock manure is a waste product of Manitobas hog industry, with a potentially useful application as fertilizer to enhance the growth of agricultural crops.

Chuck Liddy / News and Observer / TNS Manitoba's Public Registry is accepting public comments on proposed changes to livestock manure management regulations until Friday.

However, livestock manure also contains phosphorus, a nutrient which, in excess, causes potentially harmful algae blooms on Lake Winnipeg.

Manitoba is the largest pig-producing province in Canada, with 29 per cent of the nations pig production, or just more than eight million pigs, marketed annually.

The estimated value of the pigs produced in this province is more than $1 billion per year.

Proposed changes to the LMMMR lay the groundwork for industry expansion.

Yet the effects of Manitobas current hog production on provincial water quality remain unclear.

In 2006 and 2007, the Manitoba Phosphorus Expert Committee and the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission (CEC), respectively, recommended that a full-scale regulatory review of the hog industry be undertaken within five years.

Such a review would examine the impacts of current practices on phosphorus loading to the provinces waterways and inform regulatory improvements. To date, no such review has been published.

Before undertaking amendments to the LMMMR and associated legislation, the government of Manitoba must provide its citizens with robust evidence to demonstrate that increased manure application to agricultural fields  as a result of expansion of the hog industry  will not increase phosphorus loading to Lake Winnipeg.

Further research is required on the factors that determine phosphorus retention and loss in agricultural soils, including a comparison of different methods of manure application and an understanding of the effectiveness of setback distances from surface and groundwater.

Additional questions remain about manure application rates.

The LMMMR currently allows manure application rates of up to five times the rate at which a growing crop uses the phosphorus in that manure, as long as manure is not re-applied for five years. Back in 2007, the CEC expressed concern regarding the assumption that this excess phosphorus would remain in place for five years to supply future crops. Phosphorus losses from such over-application of manure in a single year must be quantified and the cumulative effects of this practice identified.

Ultimately, hog-industry expansion in Manitoba must be limited by the availability of suitable land for manure spreading, in compliance with best management practices and at rates that do not exceed the rate at which a growing crop can make use of the phosphorus in the manure.

The moment we start spreading more manure than crops can use, its no longer a useful fertilizer. Then were just trying to get rid of hog manure  and jeopardizing our water supply.

Data to support evidence-based decision making about the hog industry are lacking. Manitobans must have up-to-date information on water-quality impacts before moving forward with any regulatory changes. After all, without evidence, we cant be assured that appropriate measures are in place to enable the hog industry to expand without also increasing the amount of phosphorus loading to Lake Winnipeg.

Lake-lovers from across the province now have the opportunity to speak up for the protection of our waters. Public input on proposed changes to the LMMMR is being accepted until Friday.

Concerned citizens can email their comments to Manitobas Public Registry, or get in contact with their MLA to voice their concerns.

There is power in numbers. Together, as citizens of Lake Winnipegs watershed, we call for decisions based on data that demonstrate the provincial government is fulfilling its responsibility to safeguard our water and maintain public trust in our agricultural industry.

Alexis Kanu is executive director of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, an environmental non-governmental organization concerned about the lake and its watershed.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

We know a lot about fake news. Academics have been studying it  and how to combat it  for decades. In 1925, Harpers Magazine published Fake News and the Public, calling its spread via new communication technologies a source of unprecedented danger.

That danger has only increased. Some of the most shared news stories from the 2016 U.S. election  such as Hillary Clinton selling weapons to the Islamic State group or the pope endorsing Donald Trump  were simply made up.

Unfortunately, as a conference we recently convened at Harvard revealed, the solutions Google, Facebook and other tech giants and media companies are pursuing arent in many instances the ones that social scientists and computer scientists are convinced will work.

MATT ROURKE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Facebook is taking measures to curb the spread of fake news on its influential social network.

We know, for example, that the more youre exposed to things that arent true, the more likely you are to eventually accept them. As recent studies led by psychologist Gordon Pennycook, political scientist Adam Berinsky and others have shown, over time people tend to forget where or how they found out about a news story. When they encounter it again, it is familiar from the prior exposure, and so they are more likely to accept it as true. It doesnt matter whether from the start it was labelled as fake news or unreliable  repetition is what counts.

Reducing acceptance of fake news thus requires making it less familiar. Editors, producers, distributors and aggregators need to stop repeating these stories, especially in their headlines. A fact-check of birtherism, for example, should lead by debunking the myth, not restating it.

This flies in the face of a lot of traditional journalistic practice. The online Washington Post regularly features Fact Checker headlines consisting of claims to be evaluated, with a Pinocchio Test appearing at the end of the accompanying story. The problem is that readers are more likely to remember the claim than the conclusion.

Another thing we know is that shocking claims stick in your memory. A long-standing body of research shows that people are more likely to attend to and later recall a sensational or negative headline, even if a fact checker flags it as suspect. Fake news stories nearly always feature alarming claims designed to grab the attention of web surfers. Fact checkers cant compete  especially if their findings are writ small.

To persuade people that fake news is fake, the messenger is as important as the message. When it comes to correcting falsehoods, a fellow partisan is often more persuasive than a neutral third party. For instance, Trump is arguably the individual most closely associated with birtherism. But in September 2016, Trump announced that former U.S. president Barack Obama was a native-born American, period. Polling a few days later showed an 18-percentage-point drop among registered Republicans in acceptance of the birther myth. Countless debunking stories by fact-checkers had far less impact.

The Internet platforms have perhaps the most important role in the fight against fake news. They need to move suspect news stories farther down the lists of items returned through search engines or social media feeds. The key to evaluating credibility, and story placement, is to focus not on individual items but on the cumulative stream of content from a given website. Evaluating individual stories is simply too slow to reliably stem their spread.

Google recently announced some promising steps in this direction. It was responding to criticism that its search algorithm had elevated to front-page status some stories featuring Holocaust denial and false information about the 2016 election. But more remains to be done. Holocaust denial is, after all, low-hanging fruit, relatively easily flagged. Yet even here, Googles initial efforts produced at best mixed results, initially shifting a denial site downward, then ceasing to work reliably before ultimately eliminating the site from search results.

The platforms must also wrestle more seriously with how to evade manipulation. Recent research led by computer scientist Filippo Menczer highlights the synchronized push of fake news by millions of bots on social media and has developed new ways of detecting them. In a white paper released last month, Facebook claims its top priority is making sure accounts are owned by real people. Yet its visible efforts to date to purge fake accounts  most notably 30,000 in France ahead of that nations presidential election  seem small relative to the scale of the problem. By its own estimates, Facebook may have as many 138 million duplicate or false accounts.

Finally, the public must hold Facebook, Google and other platforms to account. It is difficult to assess how real or effective their anti-fake news efforts are, because they control the data necessary for such evaluations. Independent researchers must have access to data in a way that protects user privacy but helps us learn what is and isnt working in the fight against misinformation.

For all the talk about fake news, the truth is that we know a lot about why people read, believe and share things that arent true. Now we just need the big technology platforms and media companies to take the truth to heart.

Matthew A. Baum is the Marvin Kalb professor of global communication and professor of public policy at Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government. David Lazer is a distinguished professor in political science and computer and information science at Northeastern University.

 Los Angeles Times
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As a district court judge, I know firsthand the importance of a strong, adequately-funded judiciary. Our courts play a crucial role in our democracy. As Chief Judge of the Third Judicial District I see the impact of the courts throughout southeastern Minnesota, from rural one judge counties like Dodge, Houston, Fillmore, Wabasha and Waseca to metropolitan Olmsted County.

In my 18 years as a district court judge I have dealt with a wide variety of concerns. From budget concerns to bursting pipes flooding the Winona County Courthouse. The most recent recession hit the judicial system hard as it did in many other areas of our state. Years of budget cuts and freezes had left our courts severely understaffed, resulting in backlogs and delays. Cuts to other parts of the justice system had jeopardized access to justice. When our court system is underfunded, our whole state faces serious consequences.

In recent years the Governor and Legislature have worked in a bipartisan manner to begin the crucial work of rebuilding Minnesotas justice system. The Minnesota Judicial Branch has been nationally recognized by experts in the field as the best governed judicial branch in the United States. Why would anyone want to tamper with that?

More stable funding for our courts has resulted in cases being processed in a timelier manner and expanded access for those who cannot afford an attorney. With Minnesota currently enjoying a stable budget and $1.65 billion budget surplus, state leaders have a tremendous opportunity this legislative session to continue this important effort to strengthen our justice system. Doing so would help improve the safety of our communities and ensure that our courts can preserve the rights and freedoms of all citizens. The Minnesota Judicial Branch is asking for a budget increase that represents about three percent of the total projected budget surplus.

It is disappointing to learn that the budget proposals currently in the Legislative Conference Committee are severely short-changing Minnesotas justice system. These proposed budgets, if passed, would severely harm the courts ability to process cases in a timely and efficient manner, and would limit access to justice for the people of Minnesota. Here is whats at stake in this budget debate:

Ensuring there are enough judges across the state to resolve cases timely.

Sustaining and progressing the states drug and treatment courts to aid non-violent offenders in becoming contributing and responsible members of society. I know firsthand that these courts have saved lives and families.

Addressing the rising impact of mental illness on all court cases.

Ensuring access to justice for non-English speaking participants.

Improving the cybersecurity of the states electronic case record and the private data stored by our courts.

Ensuring that attorneys, court personnel, and judges are properly funded and staffed. This helps the court system provide more efficient and timely assistance to the people of Minnesota.

Properly funding Minnesotas Guardian ad Litem program to help protect Minnesotas children.

These are important, necessary funding requests aimed at making our courts more accessible, more efficient, and better able to serve the people of Minnesota. These priorities need to be adequately funded.

Making our justice system a priority does not mean that lawmakers have to ignore other legislative priorities. Funding the Judicial Branch at the base level requested still leave 97 percent of the projected budget surplus untouched.

I have been proud to serve as Chief Judge of the Third Judicial District for the past four years. The Minnesota Judicial Branch runs a pretty tight ship. Our budget request to the Governor and Legislature are based on our legitimate needs, not wants. There is no fat. We need to be able to attract and retain good people at all levels. So far, weve been pretty lucky. This is not a time for back-sliding. Please encourage your local legislators to make our justice system a priority in this legislative session. Public safety is a core function of government. Independent and impartial courts are the linchpin of an orderly democracy.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar cleared that his party does not support cow slaughter but in the same breath asked party workers to take a stand against terror that is created in the name of gau raksha.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, while addressing important office bearers of his party in Mumbai's Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan, said that influential people in the ruling party are supporting the terror of gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) which is creating a sense of fear among the minorities.

"For last few days there is an atmosphere of fear in the minds of minorities... A new concept called "gau rakshaks" has come up in a big manner... But going by the happenings in the recent times, if any animal is killed then it is portrayed as cow slaughter and the subsequent terror and attack that take place is creating an atmosphere of fear. Terror that is created in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, Haryana...," said Pawar.

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"The picture of fear and terror is deliberately created to polarise on communal lines and it is done very systematically... and when important people from the ruling party are part of it, minorities feel insecure," Pawar alleged during his address.

He however cleared that his party does not support cow slaughter but in the same breath asked party workers to take a stand against terror that is created in the name of gau raksha.

The NCP Supremo also rubbished the talks of a midterm poll, calling it a mere rumor. "The ruling NDA would like to disturb anything till the presidential polls. The Shiv Sena has 18 Members of Parliament of Maharashtra and MLAs in the state. They may fight, but won't part ways soon. But yes, there are talks that I have witnessed in the centre about the Lok Sabha and state polls taking place together," Pawar added.

Pawar also predicted that the presidential polls will not be a difficult task for the ruling NDA as they have the numbers on their sides.

Also Read:

Rs 20k for broken ribs, Rs 10k for fractured elbow: UP cow vigilantes offer price to beaten up farmers

Cow vigilante attacks are anything but spontaneous, reveals India Today sting

Greater Noida: Villagers transporting cow mistaken for smugglers, thrashed by mob

Take strict action against cow vigilantes, CM Mehbooba Mufti tells Jammu and Kashmir Police

Cow vigilante attacks are anything but spontaneous, reveals India Today sting

Gau rakshaks attack nomad family, including 9-year-old girl, in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi, say reports

--- ENDS ---
President Donald Trump took office with half of Americans expecting greatness and the other half gravely suspicious of the presidency that would unfold. Generously feeding that suspicion: an FBI investigation of Trumps moot presidential campaign. That probe is ongoing, but James Comey will not be the FBI director who completes it. And whatever its conclusions, droves of citizens will see them as dubious. All because on Tuesday the president fired Comey  a drastic, legal but highly problematic action.

No matter the justification from the White House, this looks like a politically motivated hatchet job, designed to purge the investigation of the official who ran it and owned it. The Trump administration will name Comeys successor. To continue a thorough investigation of

 Trumps associates? Thats what we mean by problematic. Skeptics and critics will go much further. Theyll say Trump has dipped his wide brush in a brimming bucket of whitewash.

In short, those inclined to think the worst, will. And who could blame them? This looks like an end-around. Comparisons to President Richard Nixons Saturday Night Massacre are inexact; Nixon ordered the firing of a special prosecutor to thwart a subpoena of Oval Office recordings. That was worse. But this president now invites Americans to see Nixonian motives. And Trump will have no way of proving the negative to this nation  of convincing doubters that this is all about having a better FBI director on the Russia probe or any other case.

Trumps judgment and timing are both poor here: Neither congressional nor FBI exploration of Russian contacts with Trump campaign associates has produced public evidence of wrongdoing. If Trumps critics have exaggerated the import of those contacts, his smart move would have been to let Comey finish his probe and report his small-potatoes findings. Instead all of us are left with what smacks of a disingenuous excuse for defenestrating Comey.

The genesis of Trumps decision, as the White House frames it, is a 2016 campaign colored by two FBI investigations. A probe of Hillary Clinton and her camp focused on her mishandling of sensitive State Department emails, and resulted in Comey announcing last July that no criminal charges were warranted. But when new emails came to light as Election Day approached, Comey reopened the case and went public with the FBIs need to sift through more evidence. Nothing new was found but to Democrats the damage was done: Comey had derailed Clintons momentum. Republicans, meanwhile, were more worried about the FBIs ongoing look into Russian meddling intended to hurt Clintons candidacy. Had Trump associates colluded with Russians? Comey said nothing about that.

We shared Comeys view that there was a clear distinction between the two: The Clinton probe was concluded in July, until new information was discovered that Comey felt compelled to share with Congress. The Trump campaign investigation, though, was (and remains) very much open; having reached no conclusions, the FBI had nothing to say.

How all this led Trump to fire Comey is, at this writing, beyond us. Trumps justification is grounded in Justice officials saying they cannot defend Comeys handling of the Clinton case. Specifically, it faults Comeys decision to announce the decision not to prosecute. However deep the criticism runs at Justice, its bizarre to see Trump lambaste Comey for his investigation of Trumps defeated opponent.

Comeys handling of the Clinton investigation is certainly open to second-guessing, something Democrats may never tire of doing because Comey may have cost their candidate the election. But this instead looks like Justice or the White House using the Clinton case as a pretext for dumping Comey in the middle of his investigation of Trump associates. And remember: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said in a letter to Trump that he agrees with this decision, had recused himself from the Russia investigation. He should be nowhere near any action that now undermines public confidence in that case.

By Tuesday evening, Trumps critics were insisting on different approaches: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants a special prosecutor to assume the Russia probe, while Republican Sen. John McCain wants a special congressional committee to take the case.

With the firing still fresh and more details to come, were less concerned with protocols than with the mission: Americans whove demanded a full accounting of Russias meddling have to double down on that insistence.
The explanation were given for President Donald Trumps proposal to eliminate funding for after-school programs is that they havent shown results; we cant prove thats happening, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said March 16.

We could not disagree more. It has been proven that it is happening.

A two-year longitudinal Study of Promising After-School Programs examined the effects of participation in quality after-school programs among almost 3,000 youth in 35 elementary and middle school after-school programs located in 14 cities and eight states, the Harvard Family Research Project reported in February 2008. Elementary and middle school students who participated in high-quality after-school programs, alone or in combination with other activities, across two years demonstrated significant gains in standardized math test scores when compared to their peers who were regularly unsupervised after school. Further, regular participation in after school programs was associated with improvements in work habits and task persistence.

A study of Californias after-school programs published in 2002 by the University of California-Irvine found that participating students demonstrated increased achievement, regular attendance, good behavior, and a reduction in grade retention. Those at-risk students in the lowest quartile on standardized test scores and English-language learners showed the greatest improvement. Students also showed improved social skills and behavior, which resulted in fewer disciplinary incidents at school and fewer suspensions. There was a 53.4 percent decrease in retention in the primary grades associated with the program.

Amber May, programs director of Operation Shoestring, a nonprofit in central Mississippi, works with Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, on an after-school program for teens. May told USNews.com in 2014 that typically 100 percent of the students in Laniers after-school program, which has about 125 participants, graduate. The school typically graduates about 65 percent of its seniors  significantly below the nationwide graduation rate of about 80 percent.

In the most recent data available, the state Department of Public Instruction reports that 76 percent of the participants in after-school programs were from economically disadvantaged families, and 60 percent were students of color. Among participating students, 73 percent improved their academic performance.

If were serious about wanting to reduce the number of Americans dependent upon government assistance, we should continue to fund programs that have been shown to improve childrens performance in school. The better educated a child is, the more likely it is that he or she will grow up to be a productive member of society, one not dependent on government assistance.

We urge Racine Countys congressman, House Speaker Paul Ryan, to ensure that funding for after-school programs is maintained in the 2018 fiscal-year budget.
Columbus FFA officers hosted the Agricultural Exploratory Day for the third grade students at Columbus Elementary school Thursday, May 4. The goal of the program is to teach students about where their food comes from, as the average person is four generations removed from the farm today.
The Republican leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature's budget-writing committee are open to considering transportation funding as a separate bill from the biennial budget, they said Thursday  but the idea met immediate resistance from Gov. Scott Walker and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

"I have suggested that, because I think that if we take it out, do it now, put options on the table, it could help. Transportation should be a bipartisan effort," Joint Finance Committee co-chair Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, told reporters.

Darling was quick to note the idea hadn't been agreed to by Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, or Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester.

A spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker quickly dismissed it.

"Theres no reason why they cant get this done through the normal budget process, especially at a time when were seeing higher than expected revenues thanks to our reforms," Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said in an email. "If the Legislature wants to provide more money for transportation, then the governor is willing to work with them on that so long as were not raising taxes."

Joint Finance co-chair Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said he thinks a separate transportation bill is a "possible idea," and said Fitzgerald and Vos had discussed the option during a meeting on Wednesday.

Vos on Thursday reiterated a point he made Wednesday: if a deal isn't brokered, the transportation budget would be funded at base levels, meaning no new money would go toward addressing project delays.

"Im more than willing to negotiate on the transportation budget, but if we cant come to an agreement, it means we stay at current law," Vos said in a statement.

Transportation funding did come up during a previously scheduled meeting between the Republican leaders to discuss bills before the Legislature, Fitzgerald spokeswoman Myranda Tanck said.

"Senator Fitzgerald does not favor taking the transportation budget up separately and would strongly advocate for avoiding this approach," Tanck said in an email.

The ongoing debate over how to fund transportation hit another roadblock on Wednesday, when Fitzgerald said he doesn't see momentum in the Senate for an Assembly proposal that would cut the state's gas tax and apply a sales tax, reduce the minimum markup on fuel and put the state on track for a flat 4 percent income tax.

Senate Republicans are interested in financing some roads borrowing with general purpose revenue, Fitzgerald said. Nygren said he thinks that's the "wrong direction."

"At least we all kind of have a clear understanding of where people are at," Nygren said Thursday. "Obviously were pretty far apart, but at least its a step in the process."

The Joint Finance Committee dropped the governor's transportation proposal from the 2017-19 budget last month, signaling the committee would essentially build its own proposal from a blank slate. Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, unveiled the Assembly GOP plan earlier this month.

Walker's $76.1 billion budget would have allocated about $6.1 billion for transportation funding, including a $40 million increase in general transportation aids to counties and municipalities. The proposal included $500 million in borrowing.

Kooyenga's plan called for cutting down the proposed bonding by $300 million, funded by applying the sales tax to fuel sales.

"The governors transportation budget ironically strikes a middle ground between the Senate and Assembly," Evenson said. "It has the lowest amount of bonding since the 2001-03 budget and it provides significantly more for our local roads, bridges, and highways without raising taxes."

Darling said she gives Kooyenga "a lot of credit" for offering a proposal, and said it's up to the Senate to offer its own suggestions now.

"Im confident well come up with a solution to transportation. Its not going to be easy, so Im not going to sugarcoat it," Darling said. "Its our job to get something on the table with the Assembly, and we will."

Both Darling and Nygren said there's no reason Democrats and Republicans shouldn't be able to work together to reach a solution.

Asked about the possibility of a separate transportation bill, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, noted that Shilling and Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, asked earlier this month for Republican leaders to create a joint committee dedicated to transportation financing.
One week after Assembly Republicans offered a plan designed to spark negotiations on how to fund Wisconsin's roads, key players in the debate remain at an impasse.

The Assembly proposal is unlikely to gain traction in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Wednesday, days after Gov. Scott Walker said he wouldn't support at least one of its key elements.

Instead, Fitzgerald said, Senate Republicans will likely pursue financing some roads borrowing with general purpose revenue, although he did not name a specific level of bonding he or his caucus would support.

That idea drew immediate criticism from Joint Finance Committee co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette.

"GPR-supported bonding is basically acknowledging the fact that theres not enough dollars in the transportation fund to deal with the projects that we have," Nygren told reporters. "It would grow the debt on the GPR side, and thats the side that is going to compete with schools and Medicaid and every other priority that we have."

The exchange came hours after Assembly Republican leaders warned that projects would likely see more delays if an agreement on transportation funding isn't reached.

If a deal isn't brokered, the transportation budget would be funded at base levels  meaning no new money would go toward addressing project delays.

"If we cant reach agreement, a lot of these projects are going to come to a stop because were not going to continue to borrow without a long-term plan," said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester. "That is a non-starter for the Assembly. We are not going to continue to borrow and spend."

Assembly Republicans "have an offer on the table," Vos said.

"I don't see the momentum for that plan ultimately being adopted and being part of this budget right now," Fitzgerald told reporters about an hour after Vos spoke.

Both were referring to an expansive proposal unveiled by Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, last week.

Vos said he looks forward to seeing a proposal from Senate Republicans so lawmakers can "sit at the table and negotiate a deal that's good for Wisconsin."

The Kooyenga plan would cut the state's gas tax and apply a sales tax, reduce the minimum markup on fuel and put the state on track for a flat 4 percent income tax.

Fitzgerald said he has no problem with "legislators thinking outside the box," but doesn't see a path forward for the proposal.

Senate Republicans are more likely to support using GPR to fund some bonding and potentially asking the federal government to allow the state to implement tolling on some roads, he said. Assembly Republicans have also floated the idea of tolling, but say it doesn't address short-term issues.

Walker came out against Kooyenga's proposal over the weekend, telling reporters it would amount to a gas tax increase, which he has vowed to oppose.

"It sounds like Gov. Walker is open-minded  or not," Vos quipped.

Vos also voiced disappointment with his Democratic colleagues, who swiftly rejected most elements of the plan when it was introduced.

The proposal is full of "complete non-starters for Democrats" and "leads us to more gravel roads and less sustainable transportation," Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said last week.

"Its embarrassing that after six years of Republican control, were left with crumbling roads, a billion dollar transportation deficit and no fix in sight," said Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shiling, D-La Crosse, in an email. "Once again, the right hand and the far right hand dont seem to be in sync with each other. Unfortunately, Wisconsin families and businesses continue to pay the price for these ongoing Republican budget blunders."

Democrats in particular have aimed their criticism at Kooyenga's flat tax proposal.

Current law places taxpayers in four brackets, with rates ranging from 4 percent for the lowest earners to 7.65 percent for the highest earners. Kooyenga's plan would gradually adjust the state's income tax, arriving at a flat 3.95 percent rate for all taxpayers in 2029.

The proposal would result in savings for most of the state's taxpayers and would primarily benefit the state's wealthiest filers, an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau found.

Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, called Kooyenga's proposal "reckless" and said it would "significantly erode revenue over the next decade" at the expense of middle- and working-class residents.

"Republicans have continued to prioritize cutting taxes instead of investing in opportunity for our future," Hintz said.

Fitzgerald said he is "indifferent" toward the flat tax proposal. But Senate Republicans, like Walker, won't back Kooyenga's plan to cut the state's gas tax by 5 cents per gallon while applying the state's 5 percent sales tax to fuel, he said.

Walker weighed in on Twitter as the debate played out: "Reminder: bonding for transportation in my budget plan is the LOWEST since 2001-2003 state budget."

Walker's $76.1 billion budget would have allocated about $6.1 billion for transportation funding, including a $40 million increase in general transportation aids to counties and municipalities. The proposal included $500 million in borrowing.

But the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee dropped the governor's transportation proposal from the 2017-19 budget last month, signaling the committee would essentially build its own proposal from a blank slate.

Kooyenga's plan calls for reducing the level of proposed bonding by $300 million, funded by the application of the sales tax to fuel sales.

Even with Republican leaders at loggerheads over the transportation budget, Nygren was cautiously optimistic an agreement can be reached.

"We've got time," Nygren said. "Positions change from day to day, it would appear, so we've got time to hopefully get where we can come together."
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has hired a new chief legal counsel.

Jennifer Jin previously served as senior legal counsel at Husch Blackwell LLP in Milwaukee since 2008. She is chairwoman of the Wisconsin State Bar International Practice Section and is a board member of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerces World Trade Association.

She replaces Hannah Renfro, who joined the Department of Commerce in October 2010 and played an instrumental role in the formation of WEDC, according to the agency.

Renfro, who has four young children, resigned earlier this year so she could spend more time with her family, WEDC spokesman Mark Maley said.

Renfro weathered a tumultuous period for the agency as it mishandled several loans, experienced high turnover and was flagged by the Legislative Audit Bureau for failing to comply with state requirements. She was involved in developing new policies to address those issues.

Renfros salary was $136,500. Jins salary will be $143,000.
Wisconsin shouldn't consider switching to a self-insurance model for public employees given the state of its transportation budget, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos argued on Wednesday.

"Dont you think its a little bit ironic that we would say we cant find $60 million to not try self-insurance, which is really an experiment, but somehow were going to find hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for transportation?" the Rochester Republican asked reporters.

The two issues have highlighted fissures within the state government's Republican majority as lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker quibble publicly over how to address them in the 2017-19 budget.

Walker and his top aide, Department of Administration Secretary Scott Neitzel, made their frustration clear on Tuesday when leaders of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee said they plan to reject the governor's proposal to self-insure state workers.

Walker on Monday said his administration has negotiated self-insurance contracts that would save the state $60 million during the 2017-19 budget period. The contracts, negotiated by the state Group Insurance Board and Division of Personnel Management, were submitted to the Joint Finance Committee for review.

The governor's budget proposal would direct that $60 million to fund a portion of a $649 million boost in per-pupil aid for K-12 education.

If the proposal is rejected, Joint Finance Committee co-chair Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said lawmakers on the committee will either come up with a plan to find $60 million for education funding in another area of the budget or they will direct the Department of Employee Trust Funds to find a similar amount of savings within the existing system.

Department of Employee Trust Funds spokesman Mark Lamkins said without the approval of self-insurance, the only way to reach the $60 million savings target would be to freeze insurer premiums or shift "significant costs" to state and local government employees. Walker underscored that point in a series of tweets on Tuesday and Wednesday.

But Vos rejected that argument, alluding to Walker's comments that there is "more than enough revenue" to fund transportation projects without increasing the gas tax or vehicle registration fees.

"Either we believe there are savings out there that can be utilized for all kinds of different things, or we dont. So they cant have it both ways," Vos said. "I prefer to go with a system that is more known."

Vos and Nygren both cited the risk of switching to a new system in their reluctance to go along with the proposal.

Nygren said he believes there is a potential to achieve the savings Walker's proposal promises, but "there's also potential risk, too."

Nygren plans to reintroduce in the state budget a proposal to give legislators oversight over benefits decisions made by ETF, he said. Walker vetoed a similar proposal in the 2015-17 budget.

Under the self-insurance model, the state would contract with insurers and third-party administrators to pay for public employees' medical bills directly rather than pay premiums to insurance companies.

The state would move from paying premiums to 18 HMOs across the state to contracting with six health insurance companies to administer the self-insurance program in four regions  north, south, east and west  statewide.

Asked about the committee's plans to reject the proposal, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said "it does appear the Legislature is not there right now."

Vos said the debate is a a reminder that the legislative and executive branches of state government are coequal.

"Nobody is a king. Nobody has the ability to make unilateral decisions," Vos said. "The Legislature certainly does not, nor should the governor."
When Sauk City resident Curtis Eberle first opened the Mixing Bowl in Sauk City in 2014, a dream became a reality. Not only did he co-own the bakery and coffee shop, but he was able to spend time with his family.

I did construction and insurance sales but I wanted something where I could be closer to my family, Eberle said. Being here with the kids gave me that.

In 2016, Eberle and his wife, Vickie, bought out a previous partner and took full control of the business. Together with their nine children, they worked hand-in-hand greeting customers, selling coffee and baked goods. They say the experience taught their children responsibility and respect.

The main thing I wanted to accomplish with the kids is to show them what a good work ethic looks like, Curtis Eberle said. I wanted them to know you just dont hand them freebies and say here you go; thats what they will expect. Working here also gave them a sense of accomplishment.

The Eberle childrens smiling faces behind the counter are no more. In April, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development informed the couple it had received complaints about young minors working at the business.

We received and followed up on several anonymous complaints of young children working at the bakery and contacted the company April 4, said DWD Communications Director John Dipko. We understand the business is currently in compliance with child labor laws, and we have notified the company we are closing our investigation.

While the two older Eberle children, ages nine and 11, would help out behind the counter getting bakery items for customers and taking coffee orders, the younger ones helped in the back room by doing dishes and other cleanup work, placing cupcake liners in the pans and taking stock of inventory.

We live most of our lives here. Why cant they do their chores here? Vickie Eberle said. We are just trying to raise children who are useful in the community and who are respectful and responsible.

But the state Department of Workforce Development must follow state law.

According to state law, children under the age of 14 may not be employed. Twelve and 13-year-olds may be employed at a parent-owned business with a work permit. With the exception of agriculture and domestic employment, minors must have a work permit before beginning work.

Shortly after we opened someone called the Federal Labor Bureau, Curtis Eberle said. They dont tell you who complained or why. At that time we talked about the kids helping. Once we solely owned the place, we were under the impression the kids would be able to help.

That turned out not to be the case.

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill to modify the states child labor laws. State law currently requires 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain a work permit from a parent. If it becomes law, the bill would eliminate that provision. While the legislation would loosen the states child labor laws, the changes wont help the Eberles anytime in the near future.

Vickie Eberle said she is frustrated that she cant learn about why someone thought their actions were improper.

We just dont understand  if someone had an issue why they didnt come to us? Vickie Eberle said. Whatever happened to if you dont agree, just dont patronize us? We are not hurting our children. They arent sad and despondent. People would see them every day, all day long. They never complain.

She said the children often battled over who could be first to help a customer.

Curtis Eberle said the children were taught math skills by getting ingredients and using the register and taking money. Another childs incentive to learn to read was to get to help customers.

The Eberles find it improper that laws have been skewed toward farming families where no work permits are required and children can work longer hours. In complying with the law, the Eberles children still can be found at the business, but no longer can help customers or count inventory.

Vickie Eberle said customers may have to wait a little longer to get their cup of joe or homemade donut, but for the most part, she said it will remain business as usual at the Mixing Bowl.

I have always wanted people to come in here and have it feel like home, Curtis Eberle said. Theres not a lot of places that still offer that.
By India Today Web Desk: The car accident that killed model-actor Sonika Singh Chauhan sent shockwaves through Tollywood. Actor Vikram Chatterjee, who was behind the wheel, admitted to the police that he was drinking that night, although he insists he was not inebriated. Many have raised questions about the way the investigation is being conducted, and the possibility of Vikram being favoured by those in power.

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Vikram's friend Pritam Roy has slammed the media for allegedly maligning him. Defending Vikram, he told The Times Of India, "People are not respecting their true relationship. No one is understanding the loss Vikram has suffered. Vikram and Sonika had been dating from November-end. Vikram has brought Sonika over to my house too. Sonika was known to my wife and other friends. We have seen how both of them cared for each other."

Pritam added, "Instead of understanding his loss, people are crucifying him. This is gross injustice. I can vouch for the fact that Vikram would never do anything irresponsible which would cause any harm to Sonika. There are several evidences showing that they had gone on a holiday early this year. Close friends were privy to it."

Incidentally, actor Shaheb Bhattacharjee had told The Times Of India last week that he and Sonika had been in a relationship for four and a half years. "She was a part of my being, a part of my family . Our relationship would have completed five years in August and we were planning marriage by the end of this year, soon after my sister's wedding," Shaheb had said.

ALSO READ | Sonika Chauhan-Vikram Chatterjee accident: Is there more to the case than meets the eye?

ALSO READ | Sonika Chauhan death case: Kolkata Police checking CCTV clips from bars to probe drunk driving possibility

ALSO WATCH | Tollywood celebrity Shreya Pandey seeks justice for Sonika Chauhan

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Sri Lanka last allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in the capital of Colombo in October 2014, a move that triggered fierce opposition from India, which worries about growing Chinese activity in a country it has long viewed as part of its area of influence.

By Reuters: Sri Lanka has rejected China's request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month, two senior government officials said on Thursday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in the island nation.

Sri Lanka last allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in the capital of Colombo in October 2014, a move that triggered fierce opposition from India, which worries about growing Chinese activity in a country it has long viewed as part of its area of influence.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sri Lanka today for a two-day official visit.

A senior Sri Lankan government official said China's request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month had been rejected. He said Sri Lanka was "unlikely" to agree to China's request to dock the submarine at any time, given India's concerns. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The second official, at the defence ministry, also said China's request to dock this month had been rejected but that a decision on a further docking had been postponed.

"It might happen later," the second official told Reuters, adding that China had requested approval to use the port around May 16 "sometime back".

A source close to the Chinese embassy in Colombo confirmed that China had requested permission for the submarine visit but was still awaiting a response.

China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka in recent years, funding airports, roads, railways and ports, unsettling India, traditionally the closest economic partner of the island nation of 21 million people.

More than 70 percent of the trans-shipment in Colombo port comes from India.

Sri Lanka is finalising a plan to lease 80 percent of its loss-making Hambantotata port to China for 99 years, but the deal has been delayed because of opposition from trade unions.

The Sri Lankan government also wants to establish a petroleum hub with the help of India in the eastern port city of Trincomalee, where Lanka IOC, the subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, handles 15 out of 99 oil tanks.

A 1987 accord between India and Sri Lanka provides that their territories not be used for activities deemed prejudicial to each other's unity, integrity and security.

ALSO READ

It's time to take economic competition from India seriously: China think tank

--- ENDS ---
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By Press Trust of India: Colombo, May 11 (PTI) Sri Lanka has rejected Chinas request for its submarine to dock at Colombo next week after a similar visit in 2014 triggered strong protest from India, a senior defence official said today, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his two-day visit to the country.

"They asked for permission for May 14 and 15 to dock in the submarine. We refused," a top defence official said on the condition of anonymity.

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The move came as Prime Minister Modi arrived here today to be the chief guest at tomorrows International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists.

The docking of two Chinese submarines at the Colombo harbour in 2014 had angered India, which said it undermined its security interests.

The government sources said that such requests would be turned down in future too.

The Chinese embassy here has so far not responded to the development.

India has raised concerns with Sri Lanka over the growing Chinese influence in the island nation.

During the former regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa, China funded Rajapaksa?s massive infrastructure development projects with commercial loans for the construction of highways, air and sea ports.

His successor Maithripala Sirisena?s plan to handover equity to China as part of the loan settlement have met with resistance.

Sri Lanka is currently finalising a plan to lease 80 per cent of its Hambantotata port to China for 99 years. However, the plan has been delayed due to opposition from trade unions. PTI CORR PMS AKJ PMS

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Benchmark Electronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides product design, engineering services, technology solutions, and manufacturing services in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The company offers engineering services and technology solutions, including new product design, prototype, testing, and related engineering services; and custom testing and technology solutions, as well as automation equipment design and build services. It also provides electronics manufacturing and testing services, such as printed circuit board assembly and test solutions, assembly of subsystems, circuitry and functionality testing of printed assemblies, environmental and stress testing, and component reliability testing; component engineering services; manufacturing defect analysis, in-circuit testing, functional testing, and life cycle testing services, as well as environmental stress tests of assemblies of boards or systems; and failure analysis. In addition, the company offers precision machining and electromechanical assembly services; and subsystem and system integration services, including assembly, configuration, and testing for various industries. Further, it provides value-added support systems; supply chain management solutions; direct order fulfillment; and aftermarket non-warranty services, including repair, replacement, refurbishment, remanufacturing, exchange, systems upgrade, and spare parts manufacturing throughout a product's life cycle. The company serves original equipment manufacturers in the aerospace and defense, medical technologies, complex industrials, semiconductor capital equipment, telecommunications, and advanced computing industries. It markets its services and solutions primarily through a direct sales force. The company was formerly known as Electronics, Inc. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.
IGM Financial Inc. operates as a wealth and asset management company in Canada. It operates through Wealth Management, Asset Management, and Strategic Investments and Other segments. The company offers financial advisory services; IG Living Plan that provides financial planning services, such as investment vehicles, insurance products, mortgage and banking solutions, and charitable giving program; IG Wealth Management Advisor Portal, a customer relationship management platform; and IG Wealth Management's dealer platform, which provides increased automation and supports both MFDA and IIROC licensed advisors, as well as new products on its investment dealer platform. It also provides mutual funds; portfolios; IG Advisory Account, a fee-based account that enhances client experience by offering the ability to simplify and consolidate selected investments into a single account; iProfile Private portfolios, a portfolio management program for households with investments; iProfile Portfolios, a suite of four managed solutions; segregated funds; separately managed and fee-based brokerage accounts; insurance products; and securities services. In addition, the company offers management and related services; global private equity, private credit, and infrastructure investment solutions; and exchange traded funds. The company was incorporated in 1978 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. IGM Financial Inc. is a subsidiary of Power Financial Corporation.
GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom.
Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to independently operated dealer stations, distributors and other consumer of motor fuel, and partnership operated stations, as well as to commission agent locations. The All Other segment operates retail stores that offer motor fuel, merchandise, foodservice, and other services that include credit card processing, car washes, lottery, automated teller machines, money orders, prepaid phone cards, and wireless services. It also leases and subleases real estate properties; and operates terminal facilities on the Hawaiian Islands. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 78 retail stores in Hawaii and New Jersey. Sunoco GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Susser Petroleum Partners LP and changed its name to Sunoco LP in October 2014. Sunoco LP was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams. It also develops, manufactures, and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients. In addition, it focuses on the central nervous system, pain, respiratory, and oncology areas. Its products in the central nervous system include Copaxone for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; AJOVY for the preventive treatment of migraine; and AUSTEDO for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington disease. The company's products in the respiratory market comprise ProAir, QVAR, ProAir Digihaler, AirDuo Digihaler, and ArmonAir Digihaler, BRALTUS, CINQAIR/CINQAERO, DuoResp Spiromax, and AirDuo RespiClick/ArmonAir RespiClick for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Its products in the oncology market include Bendeka, Treanda, Granix, Trisenox, Lonquex, and Tevagrastim/Ratiograstim. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has a collaboration MedinCell for the development and commercialization of multiple long-acting injectable products, a risperidone suspension for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
The victim, Mangaldas Chaudhary, is said to have been attacked barely 20 meters from where he was staying in the Tadoba Tiger Reserve.

By Vidya : A tiger dragged away an employee of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) and killed the 45-year-old man around 6 am in Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur District today.

The victim, Mangaldas Chaudhary, was with two other colleagues when they stepped out of the forest camp to answer natures call. Chaudhary himself is a resident of Navegaon village of Chimur taluka in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra.

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There are more than 100 employees of the FDCM come to live in the forest area of Tadoba during summer, between February 15 and June 15, to look out for forest fires and control them. With the arrival of monsoon, these employees move out of the jungle.

People associated with Tadoba tiger reserve have expressed surprise at this tiger attack. Most say that such incidents of tiger attack are unheard of in the area. According to people working in the jungle, the incident took place near a temple located near the Tadoba lake. The area belongs to a tiger named Matkasur and since it is mating time for the big cats, Matkasur is said to have been with another tigress Maya when they were disturbed by the employees stepping out for their daily abulations. It was during this time that Chaudhary is said to have been attacked barely 20 meters from where he was staying.

GP Garad, field director, Tadoba Tiger Reserve said, "Chaudhary was with two other people when the tiger attacked and killed him. The others ran and reported the incident." He added that at the moment the tiger has not been identified as there are about 5 to 6 tigers which roam in that particular area of Tadoba. "We have set up camera traps to see if we spot any tiger so that we know which tiger has been roaming in the vicinity," said Garad.

Wildlife Institute of India scientist Bilal Habib said that it is an accident but authorities will now have to work in a backward direction to find out why it has happened. "It has happened due to the lacunae on the human part. They should have seen the area properly, made noise when they moved out. Having gone to the jungle often people tend to take things for granted. But in jungle you never know when the animal is under a bush or under cover."

The award winning scientist added that "there has to be extra caution that has to be taken now especially by the tourists. Even though the two tigers are friendly but they are wild animals. We don't know what is going on in their mind. They have tasted human blood and so at least for one month everyone needs to be very careful when they are around."

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Watch Video: PM Modi photographs tiger at Nandan Van Jungle Safari, picture goes viral

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The Union minister questioned the silence of the politicians across the country on triple talaq.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: With the 5-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday beginning to hear the constitutional validity of triple talaq in the country, Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has re-iterated the stand of the Narendra Modi government that the Centre was standing firmly behind the victims of triple talaq.

Speaking exclusively to India Today over the contentious issue, Prasad said that the issue was not pertaining to any religion or any community but was related to broader issue of gender justice, equality and dignity.

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"Modi government is standing strongly with the women victims of triple talaq. This is an issue of justice, equality and dignity of women in the country," said the Union minister.

TRIPLE TALAQ BANNED IN MOST ISLAMIC COUNTRIES

The minister questioned the practice of triple talaq in the country, despite more than 20 Islamic countries having already banned it. He also slammed politicians like Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BSP chief Mayawati, TMC Chief Mamta Bannerjee, Priyanka Gandhi, JDU national president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav who have maintained a stark silence over this matter.

"My government wants justice for women victims of triple talaq. I want to ask the politicians of this country especially the women politicians like Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati as to why they are not speaking up on this issue?" questioned Prasad.

Speaking on the issue of ceasefire violation from Pakistan on early Thursday morning, Prasad claimed that the Army will be giving a befitting reply to the neighboring country soon.

"Our Army chief has many a times said that Pakistan was being given and will be given a befitting reply for their evil activity and I think we should trust the valour and strategy of the Army," said the minister.

Also read: Triple talaq: Supreme Court begins hearing on whether it is fundamental to Islam

Also read: Before triple talaq case, a look at how India's judiciary dealt with personal laws vs the fundamental rights

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Assystem makes offer for 5% stake in New Areva NP

11 May 2017

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CORRECTION - An earlier version of this story said Assystem has offered to buy a 5% stake in Areva NewCo. It has in fact offered to buy a 5% stake in New Areva NP.

French nuclear engineering company Assystem has made an offer of 125 million ($136 million) to Areva and EDF to take a 5% stake in Areva's nuclear reactor business, referred to as 'New Areva NP'. French utility EDF agreed in July 2015 to take a stake of between 51% and 75% in Areva's reactor unit in a government-backed plan to revitalise France's nuclear power industry. Strategic investors will be able to take minority stakes in the business.

The European Commission approved the restructuring of the Areva group in mid-January, ruling that the French government's plan to grant a capital injection of 4.5 billion into Areva does not breach European Union state aid rules. The reactor operations to be sold have been transferred to a subsidiary wholly owned by Areva NP, referred to as 'New NP'. Areva began the process of splitting off its nuclear fuel cycle activities into 'NewCo' in August 2016, combining the Areva Mines, Areva NC, Areva Projects and Areva Business Support companies and their respective subsidiaries. In January, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited agreed on the main terms of their respective acquisitions of 5% stakes in NewCo for 250 million each.

Dominique Louis, Assystem chairman and CEO, said: "We want to be part of the upcoming successes through our commitment along with EDF to invest in the capital of New Areva NP. Benefitting from growing markets, we are confident in our ability to accelerate the development of all our Energy & Infrastructure (E&I) division activities within the context of the digital and energy transitions."

It said its 125 million offer is "based on a valuation consistent with that drawn up between EDF and Areva for the stake held by EDF (i.e. a value for 100% of the capital of 2.5 billion, on a debt-free cash-free basis, not including the effect of potential prices adjustments)". The investment, the company said, would be made "when New Areva NP will have been fully incorporated and the conditions precedent to its sale by Areva will have been met".

The investment is part of a broader agreement with EDF "aimed at consolidating their partnership, particularly for maintenance in operating conditions activities of all civilian nuclear reactors in France and in Great Britain", it added. The agreement also aims to create new opportunities for Assystem to take part in new build projects lead by the French nuclear industry.

Its E&I division supports relevant authorities in nuclear infrastructure design, development, maintenance and dismantling projects. These include: nuclear decommissioning at Sellafield; the construction of two EPR reactors at Hinkley Point; and, assisting in the development of the Iter experimental fusion reactor at Cadarache.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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The Supreme Court would examine whether triple talaq is fundamental to Islam and also whether the practice is part of the enforceable fundamental rights as guaranteed in the Constitution.

By Supriya Bhardwaj, Anusha Soni: A five-judge Constitution bench of Supreme Court began its hearing on a plea that the triple talaq and nikah halala violated Muslim women's rights to equality and dignity, and are not protected by the right to profess, practice and propagate religion under Constitution's Article 25(1).

The Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S Abdul Nazeer are expected to hear the matter for seven days. The five judges belong to five different faiths, a curious first when the religion of the five judges has been highlighted in most media reports today.

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The Supreme Court would examine whether triple talaq is fundamental to Islam. Just as the hearing began, Chief Justice of India JS Khehar clarified, "The matter can be summed up in three points: whether triple talaq is fundamental to Islam; if it is fundamental we have to see if we can interfere. Two, whether it is sacramental or not, and three, whether there is an enforceable fundamental right that is violated."

Appearing as an amicus curiae, senior lawyer and Congress leader Salman Khurshid told the apex court, "The right and the responsibilities of a man and a woman in marriage under Islam are divided. Quran prescribes a three-month process for divorce giving opportunity for arbitration and reconciliation. We cannot understand the Islamic law by contrasting it to modern day sensibilities."

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, "The key point is whether the right to religion is subject to restrictions whether it can violate fundamental rights."

The Supreme Court made it clear that it is not going to hear the issue of polygamy in the triple talaq case. The hearing will go on for seven days.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW The Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J Khehar is hearing seven petitions, including five separate writ petitions filed by Muslim women challenging the practice of triple talaq prevalent in the community and terming it unconstitutional. The bench will also take up the main matter on its own as a petition titled 'Muslim Women's quest for equality'. The hearing assumes significance as the apex court has decided to hear the case during the summer vacation and even suggested that it is likely to sit on Saturdays and Sundays to expeditiously decide the contentious and sensitive issues arising in the matter. The hearing into the validity of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy is rooted in October 16, 2015 order of the apex court by which it had directed the separate listing of a PIL addressing the question of rights of Muslim women vis-a-vis these three customs. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi is assisting the bench which will also examine to what extent the court can interfere in the Muslim personal laws if they are found to be violative of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution. The apex court had on its own taken cognizance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands. The top court will examine the issue to give an authoritative pronouncement on the constitutional and legal validity of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among Muslims. The hearing holds importance as the Allahabad High Court in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law. The High Court verdict had come while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq. The Supreme Court had on March 30 said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are "very important" and involve "sentiments" and a constitution bench would hear the petitions from May 11. Influential Muslim organisations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have opposed court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and were not justiciable. On March 27, the AIMPLB had told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary. On the other hand, 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, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then coming back to him again. The Centre had on October 7 last year 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. The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, had referred to constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.

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Also read | Allahabad HC: Triple talaq violates Constitution, rights of women

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Also read | One lakh women signed petition for abolition of triple talaq, says Maharashtra State Women Commission chairperson

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Also read | Muslim group in UP bans triple talaq at one go

Also read | Supreme Court allows Salman Khurshid to assist as amicus curiae in triple talaq matter

Also read | Muslim body to PM Modi: Focus on education and other basic issues, not triple talaq

WATCH | Supreme Court to decide if triple talaq is fundamental to religion

--- ENDS ---
Long-term vision for Chalk River

11 May 2017

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Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has begun dialogue with potential participants after unveiling its vision for the organisation's future. The long-term strategy foresees infrastructure investments of more than CAD1.2 billion ($873 million) over ten years and includes the development of a new small modular reactor (SMR) at Chalk River by 2026.

CNL's vision for Chalk River (Image: CNL)



CNL's Long Term Strategy, released in late April, addresses the future of Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario after the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor - one of the largest and most versatile high-flux research reactors in the world, and an important supplier of medical isotopes - closes down on 31 March 2018 after 60 years of operations.

CNL will combine federal and commercial priorities and needs into four application-driven research and technology development programs: energy, including work on life extension of existing reactors, fabrication of advanced nuclear fuel, the deployment of SMRs and decarbonisation of the transport sector; health, including radiobiology research and targeted alpha therapy; safety and security, including nuclear cyber security and nuclear forensics and response; and environment, including environmental stewardship and radioactive waste management.

Over the next ten years, the Chalk River site will be "strategically consolidated and modernised" to support the nuclear research needs of the Canadian government and the science and technology needs of the Canadian and global nuclear industry. Over CAD1.2 billion will be invested in infrastructure and facilities, enabling the construction of an Advanced Nuclear Materials Research Centre complex, with new shielded facilities advanced active laboratories for research involving active or irradiated materials. A new electrical switchyard, expanded natural gas service, potable water lines, and sanitary sewer system will improve the safety and reliability of the current systems; and modern, energy efficient facilities will be constructed to accommodate maintenance and operations activities, logistics and security, as well as a new business centre.

The strategy's science and technology goals include the siting of a new SMR by 2026; development and demonstration of a suite of targeted alpha therapy compounds by 2022; the expansion of CNL's hydrogen program, aiming to play a leading role in the demonstration of hydrogen-based bulk transport by 2020; the demonstration of a new advanced fuel fabrication concept by 2020; and the development, commercialisation and deployment of a nuclear industrial control cyber intrusion detection and mitigation system by 2022.

SMR goal



CNL aims to demonstrate the commercial viability of SMR technology by 2026 "with a view to positioning Canada to take a leadership role in this emerging nuclear technology with CNL recognised globally as a leader in SMR prototype testing and science and technology (S&T) support".

According to the strategy document, CNL's long-term vision is to be a recognised hub for SMRs, where multiple vendor-supported prototypes are built and tested. "As part of this long-term vision, CNL's goal in the next ten years is to host a prototype SMR," it says.

Costs could be of the order of CDN600 million, with expected contributions from commercial entities, and executed through extensive partnering with technology vendors and end users, although the budget estimate will be refined over time through a non-binding call for expressions of interest. With an SMR sited at CNL, funding would be expected to increase as demand for CNL's S&T support from SMR vendors grows.

CNL president and CEO Mark Lesinski said the strategy was developed with input from global leaders in nuclear science, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, CNL's current customers and others in the nuclear supply chain, local communities and stakeholders, and from CNL staff.

"The Long Term Strategy identifies those areas where CNL is uniquely equipped, and applies these strengths against what the world needs in nuclear, building on our legacy as a global leader in nuclear science," he said. "The strategy is a forward-looking document, and includes many projects that are subject to rigorous licencing and regulatory processes."

CNL's Industry Day, held on 9 May, provided interested companies and potential contractors with a first opportunity to hear more about CNL's plans.

"Significant change is occurring at CNL and this is just the beginning," Ted Preisig, CNL's vice president of capital projects, said. "Today we present our ideas on how the Chalk River skyline will change with the renewal of the laboratories' infrastructure and gain feedback on how others can help us make this vision a reality  We are starting discussions today that will shape the site for years to come."

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Freedom is one of the most sought after human rights in the world. Most people want to live in a country where they are assured the freedom to voice their opinions, express their religious beliefs and have them accepted, and be appreciated by other people with different beliefs. For a long time, the US was one of the freest countries in the world. However, other countries have risen to the top regarding personal and economic freedom for residents. The freedom of a country was measured by the Freedom House Organization for their adherence to the guidelines set out by the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

10. Tied with 91 - Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Lithuania, and Taiwan

The tenth spot on the world's most free countries includes a few entries from the Caribbean, as well as one in northern Europe and one in east Asia. Although some levels of corruption does exist for countries in this category (such as the Bahamas and Lithuania), they were applauded by the report for their respect of press freedom (the Bahamas), their constitutional protection of academic freedom (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), their democratic process (Lithuania), and their ability to report on corrupt governmental officials in the free media (Taiwan).

9. Tied with 92 - St. Lucia, Palau, Kiribati, Marshall Islands

Coincidentally, all of the entires in 9th place happen to be island countries, with one in the Caribbean (St. Lucia) and three in the south Pacific (Palau, Kiribati, and Marshall Islands). These countries were particularly applauded for offering freedom of the press (St. Lucia), freedom of religion (Palau), a strong degree of political freedom (Kiritbati and Marshall Islands).

8. 93 - Micronesia

Micronesia has the 8th place on the list to itself, with a score of 93. It was recognized for its respect of freedom of religion, freedom of assembly (and the encouragement for citizens to join civil groups), academic freedom, the lack of laws against labor union formation, and equal rights between the sexes.

7. Tied with 94 - Czech Republic, Chile, Spain, Tuvalu

In 7th place comes the Czech Republic, Chile, Spain, and Tuvalu, all sharing a score of 94. Countries attained a score of 94 for highlights such as their constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press (Czech Republic, Tuvalu), the freedom of journalists (Chile), and a wide range of media options (Spain).

6. Tied with 95 - Dominica, Estonia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom

Ranking 6th with 95 spots are the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica, the baltic country of Estonia, the central European countries of Austria and Germany, the western European country of Belgium, and the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Countries were cited for their freedom of political organization (Dominica), respect of freedom of the press (Estonia), constitutional protection of media freedom (Austria, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom).

5. Tied with 96 - Switzerland, Ireland, Japan

In 5th place with 96 points are Switzerland in central Europe, Ireland in northwestern Europe, and Japan in east Asia. The countries were applauded for things like their freedom of assembly, constitutional protection of press freedom, and academic freedom.

4. Tied with 97 - Barbados, Denmark, Iceland, Portugal

Coming in 4th place with 97 points are the Caribbean nation of Barbados, the northern European countries of Denmark and Iceland, and the western European country of Portugal. Entries make it to 4th place by fully respecting academic freedom (Barbados), a media that reflects a diverse set of opinions (Denmark), extremely high rates of internet access (Iceland), and freedom to assembly (Portugal).

3. Tied with 98 - Uruguay, Australia, New Zealand

3rd place features Oceania's Australia and New Zealand, and the somewhat surprising position of South America's Uruguay. Uruguay was particularly applaued for its competitive and free multiparty political system. The country was also cited for low levels of corruption. Australia was included for its high level of internet access, among other things. New Zealand was included for its free and indepedent media, among other factors.

2. Tied with 99 - Canada, the Netherlands

The North American country of Canada is tied with the western European country of the Netherlands for second place. Canada was included for its intolerance of corruption and free media, as well as academic freedom. The Netherlands as well as applauded for their protection of media freedom and protection of journalists.

1. Tied with 100 - Norway, Sweden, Finland

Tied for first place are the northern European countries of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Common traits shared between the countries include a free and open media, protection of minority groups, the right to access government information, independent media sources, and the guarantee of religious freedom.
Almost since the beginning of human history, there have been empires that have controlled vast amounts of territory. Some of these empires managed to take control of territory that spanned two or more continents. Over time, however, empires gradually became a thing of the past, replaced by the modern nation-state. By the mid-to-late 20th century, the age of empires had all but ended, as most territories that were imperial possessions of certain powers gained their independence. Nevertheless, empires tend to leave a lasting legacy in the territory they conquer. In fact, they have helped shape the world that we know today. Here are the largest empires in human history:

1. British Empire - 35.5 million km2

Map showing the extent of the British Empire at its peak.

The British Empire was the largest empire in human history. It consisted of the colonial possessions of what is now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britains imperial expansion began in the early 17th century. At its height in 1920, the British Empire controlled 35.5 million sq. km of territory. People used to say, The sun never sets on the British Empire, because the empire consisted of colonies all over the world. But after World War II, British imperialism began to wane, as the United Kingdom granted independence to most of its colonial possessions. Former British colonial possessions include the 13 North American colonies that became the United States of America, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.

2. Mongol Empire - 24 million km2

Map of the Mongol Empire.

The Mongol Empire spanned territory in both Asia and Europe. In fact, at its height, it controlled most of the former. The empire began with the unification of Mongol tribes under the leadership of Genghis Khan in the early 13th century. Within about a half century, the empire controlled a large part of Eastern Europe, most of Central Asia and most of China. At its height in the mid-to-late 13th century, the borders of the Mongol Empire stretched from the Sea of Japan all the way to western Asia Minor (Anatolia, present-day Turkey), covering an area of 24 million sq. km.

3. Russian Empire - 22.8 million km2

The Winter Palace on the Palace Square during summer in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was a main palace of the Russian Empire and is at present a tourist attraction of the Petersburg city. Editorial credit: Viacheslav Lopatin / Shutterstock.com

The Russian Empire began as the Principality of Moscow, which consisted of the territory surrounding the present-day Russian capital. In the mid-16th century, however, Czar Ivan IV began a campaign of expansion. By the mid-17th century, the Russian Empire had reached the shores of the Bering Sea, across from what is now the US state of Alaska. In fact, Alaska belonged to the Russian Empire at one time. By the late 19th century, the Russian Empire expanded to include territory in the Caucasus and Central Asia. At its height, the borders of the empire stretched from the northern coast of Asia to the borders of present-day Afghanistan and Iran, and from the Bering Sea in the east to the eastern border of Germany in the west, covering a total area of 22.8 million sq. km. Today, the Russian Federation still possesses much of the territory of the former Russian Empire, though the territory it once held in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and part of Eastern Europe is now part of other countries.

4. Qing Dynasty - 14.7 million km2

The Imperial Palace of the Qing Dynasty in Shenyang, China. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in 1625.

The Qing Dynasty was an imperial dynasty that ruled China from about the mid-17th century to the early 20th century. It was the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history before the country became a republic. The origins of the Qing Dynasty, however, were not Chinese, but Manchurian, which is why it is sometimes called the Manchu Dynasty. Manchuria is now the northeast region of China. In the 17th century, the Manchus conquered China and set up the Qing Dynasty after overthrowing the previous Ming Dynasty. At its height in the late 18th century, Qing territory comprised 14.7 million sq. km.

5. Spanish Empire - 13.7 million km2

Map of the Spanish Empire.

The Spanish Empire was a vast colonial empire covering large parts of North and South America, the Caribbean, and smaller territories elsewhere. It began shortly after the states of Castile and Aragon in the Iberian Peninsula unified and completed what was called the Reconquista of the peninsula, or retaking of the peninsula from the Muslims in the late 15th century. At its height in the early 19th century, Spanish territory in North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia covered a total of 13.7 million sq. km. Former Spanish colonies include Mexico, the countries of Central America, and most of the present-day nation-states in South America.

6. Second French Colonial Empire - 11.5 million km2

The Second French Colonial Empire began in the early-to-mid 19th century, following the period of the First French Colonial Empire. Like the UK, France once held many colonial possessions in all parts of the world. Its largest possessions were in Africa, while France maintained smaller colonies in the Americas, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. At its height in the early 20th century, Frances Second Colonial Empire spanned 11.5 million sq. km of territory. Former French colonies include the Northern African countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, as well as most of the territory that now makes up Western Africa.

7. Abbasid Caliphate - 11.1 million km2

Memorial Monument of Muhammad ibd Musa al Khwarizmi (Xorazmiy) in Khiva, Uzbekistan, who was a well-known Persian mathematician, astronomer and geographer during the Abbasid Caliphate. Editorial credit: Andrii Lutsyk / Shutterstock.com

The Abbasid Caliphate was the third Islamic Caliphate to succeed the Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam. The Caliphate arose in the mid-8th century, when the Abbasids overthrew the previous Umayyad Caliphate. It was during the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate that Islams Golden Age began. At its peak, the Caliphates territory stretched from the western border of India in the east to the coast of North Africa in what is now Algeria in the west, totalling 11.1 million sq. km.

8. Umayyad Caliphate - 11.1 million km2

The historic village of Anjar at the border between Lebanon and Syria that is famous for its Umayyad Caliphate ruins.

The Umayyad Caliphate was the second Caliphate following the time of the Prophet Mohammed. It succeeded the Rashidun Caliphate in the mid-7th century and lasted until the mid-8th century when it was overthrown by the Abbasids. The Umayyad Caliphate controlled about the same amount of territory that the Abbasids mentioned above did. At the dynastys inception, it already controlled present-day Iran, the Caucasus, the Fertile Crescent, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt, but went on to conquer a large swathe of territory in coastal Northern Africa, reaching as far as the northern coast of present-day Morocco.

9. Yuan Dynasty - 11 million km2

Ancient map of Chinese Yuan Dynasty.

The Yuan Dynasty was the dynasty that emerged to rule China as the vast Mongol Empire broke up into separate empires in the mid-to-late 13th century. At its height, it controlled all of present-day China, as well as Mongolia and the Korean Peninsula, for a total of 11 million sq. km of territory. In the mid-14th century, however, its power began to wane until it was finally replaced by the Ming Dynasty.

10. Xiongnu Empire - 9 million km2

The people who created the Xiongnu Empire were nomads living in the eastern Eurasian Steppe. The empire was founded by a person named Modu Chanyu in the early 3rd century BCE, and was centered in the territory that would later become the domain of the Mongols. At its height in the late 2nd century BCE the Xiongnu Empires territory stretched from the Manchurian region of present-day China to about the eastern limit of Central Asia, and totalled 9 million sq. km of territory.
A gulf is an inlet of the ocean into the land. Gulfs are formed as a result of plate tectonics and are usually larger and more deeply indented than the bays. They are often connected to the ocean by narrow water passages but that is not always observed in all geographical areas. Covering an area of 1,507,639 km2, the Gulf of Mexico is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean and the worlds largest gulf. It is largely surrounded by the continent of North America.

Where Is The Gulf Of Mexico?

Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico is a large oval-shaped oceanic basin, that is located on the southeastern coast of North America and is bounded by the US states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Florida to the north, northeast and northwest; by the Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Yucatan to the south and southwest; and by the island of Cuba to the southeast. The Gulf of Mexico is connected to the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel (between Cuba and Mexico); and with the Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Florida (between Cuba and US).

Often referred to as the Mediterranean of the Americas, the Gulf of Mexico is the 9th largest water body, measuring approximately 1,600 km from west to east and about 900 km from north to south. The Gulf of Mexico is somewhat shallow, along the coastal continental shelf areas, and has an average depth of 1,615m. Situated in the southwestern part of the Gulf, the Sigsbee Deep (Mexico Basin) is the deepest region in the Gulf of Mexico that has an estimated depth of over 4,384m. The Gulf of Mexico is believed to contain over 660 quadrillion gallons of water.

The Climate Of The Gulf Of Mexico

The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico. red - warm surface currents and blue - cool deep-water currents.

The climate of the Gulf of Mexico region varies from tropical to subtropical type. The seawater from the Caribbean Sea that enters the Gulf of Mexico via the Yucatan Channel, quickly circulates in a clockwise loop current before exiting the Gulf through the Florida Straits, eventually forming the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is one of the most powerful and warm ocean currents that flow from the Gulf of Mexico towards the northern Atlantic Ocean. Some portions of the loop current often break away, forming gyres or eddies which further affects the regional current patterns.

Gulf of Mexico water temperature: The surface water temperature of the Gulf of Mexico, as recorded in February, varies from 18C in the northern part of the Gulf to about 24C off the Yucatan coast. During the summer months, the sea surface temperature rises to about 32C.

The exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico feed the powerful Atlantic hurricanes which in turn cause widespread destruction.

Demolished buildings in the aftermath of hurricane Michael in Mexico beach Florida.

Hurricane Season of Gulf of Mexico: The hurricane season officially begins at the beginning of June and ends in late November. During this period the conditions are favorable for the development of hurricanes. These hurricanes are either formed or make their way into the Gulf and eventually make landfall in the areas surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the devastating hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico region include Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Ike (2008), Hurricane Harvey (2016), Hurricane Michael (2018), Hurricane Rita, Galveston Hurricane, etc.

Marine Life

Flocks of Water fowl near the surf on the Gulf of Mexico at Holly Beach, Louisiana.

The Gulf of Mexico supports different species of flora and fauna and is widely recognized for its diversity and productivity. The biota of the Gulf includes different chemosynthetic and non-chemosynthetic organisms ranging from microorganisms like benthos, meiofauna to other macro-organisms like crabs, sea pens, crinoids, and other marine fauna. The marine flora in the Gulf of Mexico includes seagrasses, mangroves, marine algae, and marsh grasses. These plants provide a safe habitat for numerous fishes, planktons, bivalves, shrimps, manatees, and other marine animals. Through the process of upwelling, which occurs near the Florida coast of the Gulf, the cooler nutrient-rich water from the deeper parts of the Gulf is brought to the surface. This in turn stimulates plankton growth and attracts numerous shrimps, small fishes, and squids. More than 400 species of shellfish are found in the Gulf region. Some bivalve species that are found here include oysters, mussels, clams, and scallops.

A Hawksbill Turtle and a diver swim above a coral reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Flower Garden Banks are brightly colored coral reefs that are located about 185km to the southeast of Galveston, in the northwestern part of the Gulf of Mexico. The two reefs  the East Flower Garden Bank and the West Flower Garden Bank were designated as a marine sanctuary in 1992. These banks provide critical habitats for many marine animals including commercially valuable fishes, sharks, rays, and sea turtles. The Gulf of Mexico also features numerous coastal wetlands and mangrove forests.

Fishes in The Gulf of Mexico

School of fish with yellow tipped fins swimming underwater in the tropical Gulf of Mexico water off the island of Cuba.

The Gulf of Mexico supports huge populations of fishes. Some of the important fishes include Albacore tuna, Red snapper, greater amberjack, tarpon, grouper, Atlantic spadefish, king mackerel, Gulf flounder, bluefish, etc.

Sharks in The Gulf of Mexico

At least 25 species of shark are found in the Gulf of Mexico region. Some of the notable species include Blacktip shark, Bonnethead shark, Bull shark, Great hammerhead shark, Lemon shark, Nurse shark, and Sand Tiger Shark.

Jellyfish in The Gulf of Mexico

Different species of jellyfish are also commonly found in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the notable species include Southern Moon jelly, Mushroom jelly, Upside-down jelly, Cannonball jellyfish, Atlantic Sea Nettle, Pink Meanie, and Portuguese Man of War.

Whales in The Gulf of Mexico

At least 33 species of whales are found in the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the significant ones include Blue whale, Brydes whale, Fin whale, Killer whale, Minke whale, Humpback whale, Sperm whale, and Northern right whale. The Brydes whale has recently been declared as an endemic species.

A school of dolhpins in the Gulf of Mexico.

Some dolphins are also found in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. These include: Atlantic Spotted dolphin, Striped dolphin, Frasers dolphin, Pantropical spotted dolphin, Clymene dolphin, and Spinner dolphin.

In addition to this, the Gulf of Mexico provides critical habitats, feeding, and nursery grounds for the five species of endangered sea turtles that reside in its waters. These include Kemps ridley, loggerhead, green turtle, leatherback, and hawksbill. The small juvenile turtles also depend on the sargassum habitats in the open ocean for their survival. The shores of the Gulf of Mexico also serve as important habitats for different shorebirds and waterfowls.

Dead Zones In The Gulf Of Mexico

The agricultural activities inland of the Gulf of Mexico coast have led to an increase in nitrogen-rich chemical fertilizers and pesticides and phosphorus-based detergents that are eventually washed away by rains or by rivers into the aquatic ecosystems. These nutrients favor the growth of algae and results in an algal bloom. When these algae die, they lead to deterioration in the water quality and depletion of dissolved oxygen in the water bodies. Over the years, these water bodies turn into dead zones. The Mississippi is the largest river that drains into the Gulf of Mexico and carries with it an extraordinary amount of these contaminants into the Gulf. This has led to the creation of dead zones in the Gulf Region, which runs east-west for over 22,730 km2 along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. The dead zones are incapable of supporting aquatic flora and fauna.

Islands in The Gulf of Mexico

Padre Island, Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico contains seven barrier islands located along the Gulfs northwestern part. These islands are Galveston, Follets, Matagorda, St. Josephs (San Jose), Mustang, Padre, and Brazos. The Padre Island is the worlds longest barrier island. It has been estimated that these islands were formed about 5,000 - 8,000 years ago.

Gulf Of Mexico Crater

The Chicxulub Crater is a large impact crater that is buried underneath the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Half of the crater is located on land while the other half is under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It is widely believed, that the impact that led to the creation of this crater had triggered a series of catastrophic events, which ultimately led to the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Brief History

It has been estimated by researchers that the Gulf of Mexico was formed as a result of seafloor subsidence, due to the movement of the Tectonic Plates over 300 million years ago. The Gulf was first explored by Amerigo Vespucci in 1497. It was used by the early Europeans as an exploration route to explore the Americas. After the discovery of Cuba and Mexico by the early Europeans, Spain had led a military invasion through the Gulf to colonize these areas. With time, the Gulf of Mexico became an excellent avenue for trade. After numerous shipwrecks, the explorers decided to establish settlements in the lands surrounding the Gulf, to minimize the number of shipments from Europe. The Spanish explorer Tristan de Luna y Arellano landed at Pensacola Bay and established a settlement on August 15, 1559.

Effects of the 2010 Gulf oil spill observed on a beach on June 12, 2010, along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama.

A large oil spill occurred on April 22, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico, when the Deepwater Horizon  an oil drilling platform, suffered an explosion and sank into the Gulf. As per different reports, about 11 people had lost their lives and about 5,000 barrels of oil/day had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico from the 5,486m deep well on the platform.

Human Settlements

The coastal population of the five US states on the Gulf of Mexico is projected to increase from 44.2 million in 1995 to about 61.4 million in 2025. The US states of Texas and Florida are recognized as the most rapidly growing states. Houston, New Orleans, Cancun, Tampa, Key West, Havana, San Francisco de Campeche, Mobile, Gulfport, Tampico, Veracruz, Ciudad del Carmen, Coatzacoalcos, Corpus Christi are some of the major urban settlements along the Gulf. Human activities in and around the Gulf of Mexico such as agricultural practices, oil spills, and shipwrecks are harming the ecosystem.

Economy

Oil Platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico is an important economic region for all the three countries (Cuba, Mexico, and United States) that border it. The Gulf of Mexico is exploited for oil and hence several offshore oil drilling rigs have been drilled for exploration and mining in the Bay of Campeche and the western Gulf region. It is the center of the United States oil refining and petrochemical industry and hence more than 18% of the US oil production is derived from the offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

The fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico are considered to be one of the most productive in the world and the many Gulf Coast States have their economies centered on fishing in the gulf area. About 4 of the United States largest fishing ports are located in the Gulf of Mexico region. It has been estimated that the Gulf of Mexico yields more shrimp, finfish, and shellfish per year than the New England, Chesapeake, south, and Mid-Atlantic areas combined. Recreational and commercial fishing, water sports, scuba diving, and tourism also forms a significant part of the economy of the surrounding areas.

The US States that border the Gulf of Mexico are famous for their beautiful beaches. Some of these beaches are Malaquite Beach (Texas), Crystal Sands Beach (Florida), Biloxi Beach (Mississippi), Grand Isle State Park (Louisiana), East Beach (Texas), Dauphin Island Beach (Alabama), and Orange Beach (Alabama).
The Supreme Court has held differing views in cases that involved the question of supremacy between personal law and fundamental rights. In some of the cases, the apex court held that fundamental rights could not be the touchstone to test personal laws while in others it declared basic rights as supreme.

The case of triple talaq is being argued in the Supreme Court.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Triple talaq case, originating from the petition filed by Shayara Bano seeking divorce from her husband, is not the first matter relating to personal laws before the Supreme Court.

The apex court has dealt with several such cases before. It has interpretated the personal laws and provisions of Constitution differently in different cases. The conflict arises when personal laws are perceived to be in violation of the fundamental rights.

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Article 13 of the Constitution states that any law violating the provisions of fundamental rights shall be void to the extent of contravention.

SUPREME COURT'S STAND ON PERSONAL LAWS

Personal laws in India are codified and uncodified -- existing in custom and practice. Over the years, the Supreme Court has taken differing views on the question of precedence of personal laws over the fundamental rights.

In Krishna Singh vs Mathura Ahir case of 1980, Maharshi Avdesh case of 1994 and Ahmedabad Women Action Group case of 1997, the Supreme Court held that personal laws could not be challenged for being in contravention of the provisions of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Many believe that this interpretation of the Supreme Court has been based on a ruling of the Bombay High Court in Narsu Appa Mali case of 1951. In this case, the Bombay High Court has enunciated that personal laws are not 'laws' under Article 13 of the Constitution.

But, a three-Judge Supreme Court bench in Mudaliar case of 1996 held that personal laws are void to the extent that they are in violation of the fundamental rights.

All these aspects and arguments are likely to be placed and reexamined the Supreme Court during the seven-day hearing of the triple talaq matter this summer.

SOME RECENT CASES OF PERSONAL LAWS: SHAH BANO MATTER

The most famous case relating to personal laws was that of Shah Bano, who had fought long drawn legal battle seeking maintenance from her ex-husband. In 1985, the Supreme Court had directed Shah Bano's husband to pay her alimony according to the laws applicable to other Indians.

The Supreme Court had rejected the argument of Shah Bano's ex-husband that since she was paid during the period of iddat - the waiting period after divorce and also the amount of mehr, she was not entitled to any further maintenance under the Muslim personal law.

MARY ROY CASE

The very next year, the Supreme Court decided another case relating to Christian personal law in the 1986-case of Mary Roy. The Supreme Court ruled that Syrian Christian women were entitled to equal share in their father's property.

Before the Supreme Court order, the Syrian Christian community settled property inheritance issue as per the Travancore Succession Act, 1916 and Cochin Succession Act, 1921 while other Christians followed the Indian Succession Act of 1925 for the same.

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As per the Travancore and Cochin Acts, women received only a quarter of their male siblings or Rs 5,000 whichever was less.

DANIAL LATIFI CASE

Danial Latifi was the lawyer of Shah Bano, who has won a maintenance case against her ex-husband in the Supreme Court. But, the apex court verdict was not received well by the conservative segment of Muslim society.

In order to pacify the swelling sentiment of the community, the then Rajiv Gandhi government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986.

The new Act overturned the judgment of the Supreme Court providing that a man was required to pay maintenance to his divorced wife only during the period of Iddat.

Danial Latifi challenged the constitutional validity of the Personal law. The Supreme Court, in 2001 during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, held that the Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986 did not violate the Constitution or the fundamental rights.

The Supreme Court maintained that the personal laws need not be tested on the touchstone of the provisions of the fundamental rights.

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TRIPLE TALAQ CASE IN BOMBAY HIGH COURT

In another case of triple talaq, the Bombay High Court held in 2002 that if wife contests this practice of divorce, it needed to be proved in a court of law.

In its 88-page judgment, the Bombay High Court ruled that "divorces between Muslims couples will now have to be convincingly proved under Civil Procedure Act and Indian Evidence Act. A mere statement, written or oral, by a Muslim man seeking divorce will not be enough proof of his having obtained the divorce."

The Bombay High Court also held that a Muslim man did not have a unilateral right to divorce his wife by triple talaq. The man is bound to provide good reasons for a divorce.

ADOPTION BY MUSLIM WOMEN

The Supreme Court again delivered a landmark judgment in 2014 on the question of adoption of child by a Muslim woman. The Muslim personal law does not give women of the community the right to adopt children.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the then Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam ruled that Muslim women had the right to legally adopt children like any other Indian citizen. The Supreme Court held that the right to adopt children could not be denied by Muslim personal law.

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RIGHT OF UNWED MOTHER

Under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act of 1956 father was held as the natural guardian of a Hindu child. If a child was born out of wedlock, only then the mother could be considered a natural guardian.

But, in 2015, the Supreme Court held that an unwed mother can legally become the sole guardian of a child. The apex court held the consent of the biological father is not necessary for the mother to become legal guardian of the child.

The Supreme Court observed that the father could not have 'a preferential right over the mother in the matter of guardianship'.

ALSO READ |

Triple talaq: Supreme Court begins hearing on whether it is fundamental to Islam

ALSO WATCH |

Ahead of Supreme Court hearing of triple talaq petitions, Muslim women activists recite Hanuman Chalisa

--- ENDS ---
Last week the United States Senate passed an omnibus bill to fund the government through the end of Fiscal Year 2017.

A member of the Appropriations Committee and Chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) announced a series of provisions within the bill that will provide resources to support programs with significant impacts in communities throughout the state.

With our state in the midst of a fiscal crisis, this bill will provide a much-needed boost to our economy. The bill provides new investments for our military, increased funding for fighti...
Plaid Cymru Confirm Wrexham Candidate For 2017 General Election

This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 11th, 2017

Plaid Cymru have announced that Carrie Harper will be their Wrexham candidate for the upcoming General Election.



Councillor Harper, who last week won a second term as councillor in Queensway ward in the heart of Caia Park, said Wrexham cannot continue to vote Labour to stop the Tories.

She said: With 82% of all MPs being based in England and polls showing a likely Tory landslide across the border, the simple maths mean that voting Labour to keep the Tories out in Wales is a nonsense. It seems there will be Tory Government in London whether we vote for it or not.

That, combined with a weak Labour party intent on pulling itself to pieces, leaves Welsh communities vulnerable and at the mercy of an emboldened Tory Government in Westminster.



Wales now faces the dual threat of the economic fallout from a hard Brexit and Teresa May being given the green light to destroy the NHS in England and continue to batter working-class communities like ours with cuts for the poor and tax cuts for the rich. We must defend ourselves.

The Tories will be speaking for England, the SNP for Scotland. Where is the voice of Wales? We cannot afford to be the forgotten nation under this cloud of economic and political uncertainty.

Wrexham has voted Labour for almost a century and weve got precious little in return in recent years. Its time for change. Its time to stand up for ourselves.

Cllr Harper continued: Only Plaid Cymru can defend Wales and our communities from the Tories. Only Plaid Cymru will put Wales first. Im asking you to elect your local candidate Carrie Harper as Wrexhams next MP and play your part in defending our nation.

Councillor Marc Jones, another newly elected councillor for Plaid Cymru in Wrexham, added: Weve seen a surge in support for Plaid Cymru  our vote in the Wrexham constituency was up 17% in the council elections and its clear from the growth in members and supporters that people see us as a credible opposition to the Tories.

Labour and UKIPs vote collapsed across Wales in the council elections last week, while Plaid surged to its best-ever result bar one. We now have 202 councillors compared to the Tories 184 in Wales. Carrie Harper deserves our support because she will stand up for communities that the Tories will trash if they are returned to power.

Plaid Cymrus campaign will be officially launched in Wrexham town centre at 11am this Saturday May 13th by the Horse and Jockey pub in Regent St.

A full list of candidates for Wrexham and Clwyd South is expected to be released later this afternoon.
Wrexham Food & Drink Festival Returns This Weekend!

This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 11th, 2017

One of Wrexhams most popular annual events will be serving up some tasty treats when it returns to the town centre this weekend.

The two-day Wrexham Food and Drink Festival, which also coincides with the FOCUS Wales music festival, will take place on Llwyn Isaf on both Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th May.

Now in its fifth year, the two-day festival have become a staple part of Wrexhams event calendar. This year the Wrexham Food and Drink Festival has promised to be bigger and better than ever before  with a wealth of traders selling everything from street food, confectionary, cakes and locally brewed ales.

Perhaps the biggest attraction will be celebrity chef and former Coronation Street star, Sean Wilson who is back by popular demand to show off his cooking skills in Sundays demonstration marquee.

Sean Wilson is back by popular demand at this years Wrexham Food Festival.

As if all that wasnt enough this years Food Festival will offer free parking in all council car parks courtesy of Wrexham County Borough Council as well as live music from FOCUS Wales and the Tenovus Cancer Choir.

The Wrexham Food and Drink Festival will take place on Saturday 13th May from 10am until 5pm and Sunday 14th May from 10am until 4pm. All profits will go directly towards patient care at Nightingale House.
By India Today Web Desk: The White House on Wednesday said that US President had lost confidence in FBI Chief James Comey and was looking to fire him from day one.

"The President had lost confidence in Director Comey. Frankly, he had been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected," White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at a news conference.

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"The President asked that they put those concerns and their recommendation in writing," she said, referring to the letter which became the basis for firing Comey.

DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL'S RECOMMENDATION TO TRUMP

Sarah Sanders acknowledged that Donald Trump did have a conversation with the deputy attorney general.

In his recommendation to Trump, Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein said that the FBI has long been regarded as the nations premier federal investigative agency.

"Over the past year, however, the FBIs reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage, and it has affected the entire Department of Justice. That is deeply troubling to many Department employees and veterans, legislators and citizens," he said.

Soon after receiving the letter, Trump dismissed Comey.

TRUMP'S LETTER TO COMEY

"I have received the attachment letters from Attorney General and the Deputy General of the United States, recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from the office, effective immediately," Trump said in his letter to Comey.

Trump later told reporters that Comey was not doing a good job.

Sanders told reporters that most of America had decided on their own that Comey was not the person that should be leading the FBI, as evidenced by the numerous comments that they have seen from Democratic party members in the House and Senate, Republican members, members of the FBI, and people across the board.

"I think one of the big catalysts that we saw was last week, on Wednesday, Director Comey made a pretty startling revelation, that he had essentially taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the Department of Justice, by going around the chain of command when he decided to take steps without talking to the attorney general or the deputy attorney general, when holding a press conference and telling them that he would not let them know what he was going to say," she noted.

"That is simply not allowed," Sanders said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Also Read:

Donald Trump fires FBI Director James Comey, triggering US political storm

FBI chief James Comey: Hiding information on Hillary's email probe would have been 'catastrophic'

Also Watch:

Hillary Clinton blames her defeat in US presidential elections on FBI

--- ENDS ---

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Contempt for reporters is a trademark of many elected officials who simply ignore questions they don't want to answer --no matter how many times they are asked.

But in a new era of hostility to the press ushered in by President Donald Trump, members of his administration do not want to be bothered with even having to ignore the press.

Veteran West Virginia journalist Dan Heyman learned that lesson Tuesday night when he was arrested, handcuffed and hustled off by police. He made the mistake of asking Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price more than once a question about the administrations proposed new healthcare bill and the possibility of domestic violence being considered a pre-existing condition.

The Trump administration's American Health Care Act (AHCA), as passed by the House last week, would apparently not allow insurance companies to outright refuse to cover pre-existing conditions, but would allow them to charge more for coverage; effectively eliminating coverage for the many if not most American workers with pre-existing conditions like cancer, diabetes, and more.

Passed by the House of Representatives as a replacement for Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as Obamacare, it now awaits action by the Senate.

Heyman, a veteran journalist with Public News Service, was charged with "willful disruption of state government processes" when he persisted in asking for a response from Price as the HHS secretary walked through the state capitol in Charleston, West Virginia.

Price was in Charleston with Kellyanne Conway, special counsel to President Trump, to discuss the state's opioid addiction epidemic which has produced the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation.

This is my job, this is what Im supposed to do, said Heyman, who was released on a punitive $5,000 bond. I think its a question that deserves to be answered. I think its my job to ask questions and I think its my job to try to get answers.

Public News Service founder and chief executive Lark Corbeil defended the efforts of his reporter to do just that.

"From what we can understand, he did nothing out of the ordinary," Corbeil told the Washington Post. " He was doing what any journalist would normally do, calling out a question and trying to get an answer."

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia called Heyman's arrest a "dark day for Democracy" and a "blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press."

Heyman's arrest did not take place in a vacuum. Trump has created a hostile environment, declaring that any criticism of his administration is "fake news" produced by a media that he has deemed the "enemy of the people."

As the World Socialist Web Site previously reported, at a recent press briefing by Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer, reporters from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the BBC and CNN were barred from attending

"The media responded with typical cowardice," the WSWS noted. "The White House Correspondents Association issued a statement of protest lamely declaring that it would be discussing this further with White House staff.

Little wonder that a West Virginia reporter with less august credentials would face jail time while the Washington press corps rolls on its back and whimpers.

The general public does not even have to ask a question to face jail.

Earlier this year a woman with a group of Code Pink protesters was arrested for laughing briefly at comments made in support of then Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions.

Desiree Fairooz from Texas was charged with disorderly and disruptive conduct for laughing in the confirmation hearing when Alabama Senator Richard Shelby said Sessions political record of "treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well documented."

"Americans should be outraged that for two seconds of laughter during a public hearing, one could get jail time," Fairooz, a retired children's librarian, told reporters. "What does this say about the state of free speech in this country."

As far as is known, Heyman's question has not received an answer although it deserves one.

A 2014 study titled "Insurance Discrimination Against Victims of Domestic Violence" documented many cases where insurance companies had in the past treated domestic violence and its consequences as pre-existing conditions and exempt from coverage.

"Considering that approximately 1.5 million women in the United States are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually, resulting in an average of 486,151 emergency room visits per year, the reported extent to which insurers use domestic violence as an underwriting criterion potentially impacts a significant number of people," the report published by the National Health Resources Center on Domestic Violence and the Women's Law Project noted.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has given the strongest signal yet that Canadas Liberal government will announce major and ongoing military spending increases following the release of its new defence policy later this month.

The policy is the outcome of a defence policy review that the Liberals initiated shortly after coming to power in November 2015 so as to lay the political groundwork for a more aggressive assertion of Canadian imperialisms predatory global interests. The Liberals had planned to release their new defence policy early in 2017, but held back its release as they sought to establish a close working relationship with the Trump administration.

In a speech last week to the Conference of Defence Associations (CDA) Institute, one of the countrys leading military-security think tanks, Sajjan claimed that Canadas military is in desperate need of new weaponry and the funds to acquire them. We are now in the troubling position where status quo spending on defence will not even maintain a status quo of capabilities, said Sajjan. Current funding has us digging ourselves into a hole.  A hole that gets deeper every year. As a percentage of our GDP, we are spending less on defence today than we were in 2005.

Sajjan pointed to serious equipment shortfalls in all three major branches of the Canadian Armed Forces, the air force, navy and army, and argued that unless swift action was taken, Canada would not be able to meet its international obligations. The billions planned for the purchasing of 65 new fighter jets to replace the air forces aging fleet of CF-18s would only be a down payment, said Sajjan. If we want to fully meet our commitments to NATO and NORAD simultaneouslyand we dothen 65 jets would not be a full fleet. It would only be a fleet for risk managing our requirements, not meeting them.

He went on to claim that Canadas naval capabilities are at a 40-year low, due to a lack of destroyers and supply ships, adding that this has left Canadas fleet reliant on the US and other allies to fulfill its mandate.

Referring to the army, Sajjan stressed the need for new ground air defence systems, logistical supply vehicles and heavy support vehicles like bulldozers and forklifts. He also decried what he termed a quarter-century of underfunding of the army reserves, saying that they require new equipment and better training.

During the question-and-answer session that followed his speech, Sajjan declared that the defence investment the Liberals will make is going to be significant. Its going to be significant because of the hole that we need to come out of.

Nobody should be under any illusions: the program outlined in Sajjans speech and which will be developed in the new defence policy is a program for Canadas involvement in military aggression and wars around the world, including potentially conflicts involving major nuclear powers. Canadas ruling eliteand this is exemplified by its strong support for Trudeaus wooing of the Trump administrationis determined to aggressively assert its interests on the global stage and be a major player in the repartition of the world, just as it was in the world wars of the last century.

Over the past two decades, Canadian imperialism has participated in virtually every US-led war around the world. Successive governments, both Liberal- and Conservative-led, have strongly supported Washingtons military-strategic offensives against Russia and China and joined in repudiating the nationalist myth that Canada is a peacekeeping nation, with a view to acclimatizing the population to Canadian troops waging war and shedding blood.

A key driving force in the Canadian elites war preparations is its determination to expand its close strategic partnership with Washington so as to shore up the world position of the US, with which Canadian imperialisms own interests and ambitions have been intertwined for the past three-quarters of a century.

Since coming to power with his America first protectionist and nationalist agenda, Trump has repeatedly demanded that the USs NATO allies invest more in their militaries. While Trump has not explicitly called out Canada for not meeting NATOs target of military spending of at least 2 percent of GDP, Obama did when he addressed Canadas parliament last year.

During a trip to Washington in February, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to expand military cooperation with the US, including through modernizing the North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD) pact. Trudeau also committed to increased Canadian collaboration in US imperialisms key offensives around the world, including in the Middle East, where Washington is seeking unbridled control over the worlds most important oil-exporting region, and in eastern Europe, where Canada is playing a leading role in NATOs drive to strategically encircle Russia.

The Liberals new defence policy is expected to initiate a push for Canada to join the US ballistic missile defence (BMD) shield. Its name notwithstanding, the BMD is aimed at giving the US the means to wage a winnable nuclear war.

Canadas involvement in such a war is no mere abstract possibility. Just last month, Sajjan baldly asserted that Canadian troops could be sent to the Korean peninsula if a war broke out between the US and North Korea.

The defence policy review was also tasked with considering Canadas role in other parts of the world, including the Arctic, where Ottawa has competing territorial claims with Russia, the United States and Denmark. Military think-tanks have long been calling for Ottawa to make major investments in Arctic military infrastructure, including ice-breakers.

Sajjan did not provide any dollar figures in his speech. But there is no question that to pay for Canadian imperialisms war plans, the trade-union-backed Liberal government will make further cuts to vitally needed public services.

Nonetheless, much of Canadas political and military establishment is critical of the Liberals for not immediately moving to meet the NATO military spending target of 2 percent of GDP. This would require doubling Canadas defence budget to more than C$40 billion per year.

Summing up the general reaction to Sajjans speech, Richard Fadden, who served as national security adviser to former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said that while the defence ministers remarks were welcome, Im going to hold my vote until I hear the policy and in particular whether the funding commitments are next year, five years, or 25 years (from now).

On Monday, a Senate Defence Committee report urged the Liberals to move ahead rapidly with purchases of new submarines, armed-drones, armoured vehicles, attack helicopters and warships.

In recent weeks, the military has whipped up a political scandal to pressure the Liberals to be more supportive. A story by veteran journalist Matthew Fisher, who has close ties to senior figures in the armed forces, revealed that Sajjan, a former military-intelligence officer, had exaggerated his role in a 2006 military offensive the Canadian army conducted in Afghanistan. Fishers article led to claims that Sajjan has betrayed the militarys code of honour and insulted the armed forces.

The Conservative Official Opposition and the New Democratic Party eagerly seized on the accusations, charging that Sajjan had dishonoured those who defend Canadians freedom and otherwise boosting the military as a great national institution.

David Perry, a senior defence analyst, acknowledged that the outcry over Sajjans comments, which included calls for him to step down, has been aimed at increasing pressure on the Liberals to move ahead with additional support and funding for the military. Perry told the National Post that the militarys reaction to Sajjans remarks was bound up with concerns about the defence policy review: Its behind schedule, and its delayed, and theres a lot of concern that its not going to deliver much.
The political crisis gripping Washington sharpened Wednesday in the aftermath of President Donald Trumps surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Trump triggered a political firestorm Tuesday when he abruptly dismissed Comey, who was heading up the most active investigation into alleged Russian government hacking of the 2016 US election and accusations of collusion between the Trump election campaign and the Kremlin.

Democrats in the Senate and other party officials lined up as a bloc on Wednesday to demand the appointment of a special prosecutor or the establishment of an independent commission to take the investigation out of the hands of Trump appointees, a demand that was firmly rejected by Republican congressional leaders.

Neither the Democratic Party nor the intelligence agencies have produced any substantive evidence to support their claims that Moscow hacked the emails of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clintons campaign director John Podesta in order to tip the election in Trumps favor. But this is treated as undisputed fact by the bulk of the corporate media and used to agitate for a policy that leads inexorably to war with the worlds second-largest nuclear power.

The Democrats response to Comeys firing has once again made clear that their opposition to Trump has nothing in common with the mass popular opposition to his assault on health care, education, environmental regulations, the rights of immigrants and democratic rights in general. It is instead focused on US imperialist foreign policy and allied with powerful factions within the intelligence and military establishment that consider Trump insufficiently aggressive in the confrontation with Russia.

To the extent that the Democrats criticize Trumps authoritarian methods, it is out of fear that they will further discredit the entire political system and spark an uncontrollable movement of the working class.

Trumps official rationale for the dismissal of Comey has no credibility. The letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein released Tuesday cites Comeys violation of Justice Department protocol in holding a press conference last July to announce his decision not to criminally prosecute Clinton for her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state, while unfairly criticizing her extreme carelessness in handling classified material. It also cites Comeys extraordinary letter to Congress 11 days before Election Day announcing the reopening of the email investigation, a move that Clinton claims cost her the election.

The problem is that Trump never raised Comeys decision to circumvent the Justice Departments chain of command. He then congratulated the FBI director when he announced the reopening of the email probe in the run-up to the election. Nor did the official narrative explain why Comey was being fired now for things he did months ago.

Late Wednesday night, the Washington Post reported that Rosenstein threatened to resign on Tuesday night after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover in the decision to fire Comey and that the president acted only on his recommendation.

A series of developments over the past week make clear that Trump fired Comey because he was not only resisting White House pressure to end the Russia investigation, but expanding the probe.

Press reports reveal that in recent days federal prosecutors working under Comey have issued grand jury subpoenas for records of associates of Gen. Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security adviser. Flynn was fired in February for allegedly misleading the White House about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the US concerning sanctions that had been imposed by President Obama in retaliation for Russias supposed interference in the US election.

It has also been reported that the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own investigation of the Russian hacking charges, sent a request to the Treasury for financial records of Flynn associates. Finally, members of Congress report that Comey told them he sent a request to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein last week for more money to conduct the FBI investigation.

Comey was scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump was already enraged over his March 20 congressional testimony, in which Comey announced that the FBI was conducting an investigation into the Russian hacking allegations, including charges of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Trump was also reportedly incensed over Comeys failure to back up his claim that Obama had tapped the telephones at his Trump Tower campaign headquarters.

On Wednesday morning, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer took the unusual step of calling on all Democratic senators to be present for the opening of the session. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the session and flatly ruled out the appointment of a special prosecutor or other form of independent investigation.

Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Schumer in response asked, Were those investigations getting too close to home for the president?

Schumer called for separate closed, and, if necessary, classified briefings of all senators by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to answer questions on the Comey firing, as well as an all-senator session to question Comey. He demanded that a special prosecutor be appointed, not by a Trump appointee in the Justice Department, but rather by a high-ranking career department official. The Democrats then froze all committee hearings, bringing the Senate virtually to a halt for the day.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez spoke before several hundred people at a rally outside the White House called by Moveon.org that featured Russian flags and signs reading Free Comey! He called the firing of Comey worse than the Saturday Night Massacre (a reference to the Nixon Watergate scandal) and said the Senate should block confirmation of any replacement until the administration agreed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Trumps ties to Russia.

The supposed representatives of the Democratic Party left, senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, rushed to solidify themselves with the anti-Russia witch hunt. Sanders issued a statement declaring, We need an independent investigation into the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. Warren gave an interview to CNN in which she attacked Trump for his ties to the Russian enemy and tacked on the completely unsubstantiated charge that the Russian government was behind the pre-election hack of the campaign of Emmanuel Macron in France and was preparing similar efforts to manipulate the upcoming elections in Britain and Germany.

For the most part, the media adopted similar positions, a notable exception being the Wall Street Journal, which defended the firing of Comey. The New York Times posed an editorial Tuesday night under the headline Trumps Firing of Comey Is All About the Russia Inquiry. The Times wrote, Mr. Comey was fired because he was leading an active investigation that could bring down a president.

The Washington Post was even more strident, concluding its editorial with an ominous call for an independent commission to not merelydetermine if anyone should be charged with a crime, but to develop a complete picture of Russian capabilities and intentions, as well as recommendations for mounting a defense of US democracy.

There were some significant Republican defections from the position of full support for Trump taken by Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. A number of senators, including the Republican chair of the Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, said they were troubled by the timing of the Comey firing. But only Lindsey Graham, who backed the firing, joined with John McCain, who denounced it, in calling for a special congressional committee to investigate alleged ties between Trump and Moscow.

At a White House press briefing Wednesday afternoon, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied that the firing of Comey had anything to do with the Russia investigation. In reply to questions about its timing, she said that Trump had been considering firing Comey ever since his electionan assertion that flatly contradicts numerous statements by Trump and his spokespeople expressing complete confidence in the FBI director.

A big catalyst for the final decision, she said, was Comeys May 3 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which he defended his decision last July to call his own press conference on the Clinton email investigation without even informing the attorney general or other Justice Department officials. Calling this circumvention of normal channels an atrocity, she declared, Director Comey made a pretty startling revelation that he had essentially taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the Department of Justice by going around the chain of command.

This was perhaps her only statement that had a ring of truth. It is entirely plausible that Trump was alarmed by Comeys testimony, interpreting it as a signal that he would not bow to pressure from the White House to rein in his investigation, prompting Trump to pull the trigger and fire him.
The US announcement that President Donald Trump has given his authorization for the direct US arming of the Syrian Kurdish militia, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), was met with heated protests from the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is set to visit the White House next week.

The Pentagon has determined that the YPG represents the only local force that can serve as a credible US proxy on the ground in Syria in the bid to drive the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) out of the northern city of Raqqa. The US is opposed to the city being retaken by forces loyal to the Syrian government, which Washington has sought to overthrow, while the so-called Free Syrian Army that the CIA had backed in the war for regime change has been largely routed and is dominated by the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda and similar groups.

Previously, under the Obama administration, Washington had indirectly funneled arms to the Kurdish militia through the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes the YPG and a far smaller Syrian Sunni Arab contingent. Hundreds of US special operations troops have also been deployed in Syria to provide assistance and training to the Kurdish militia.

Under the new plan, the US military will ship small arms, ammunition, machine guns, armored vehicles and engineering equipment to the YPG, according to Pentagon officials. US Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the US military in Baghdad, said that the weapons shipments had been pre-positioned and could be delivered to the Kurdish militia very quickly.

The position of the Erdogan government is that the YPG represents a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an on-again, off-again guerrilla war in Turkey itself for over three decades. Not only Ankara, but also Washington and the EU, have labeled the PKK as a terrorist organization.

The Turkish government fears that the crisis in Syria, which it played a major role in creating by backing Islamist rebels in the more than six-year-old war for regime change, will pave the way to the carving out of an autonomous Kurdish territory on its southern border. Erdogan ordered troops into Syria last year under the pretext of battling ISIS, but for the real purpose of driving a wedge between Kurdish cantons in the east and west of northern Syria.

More recently, on April 25, Turkish warplanes carried out airstrikes against YPG positions in northern Syria, killing at least 20 Kurdish fighters. Washington condemned the attack and responded by deploying hundreds of US troops equipped with Stryker armored vehicles to serve as a buffer between Turkish forces and the Syrian Kurds.

The level of tensions between Washington and Ankara found expression last week when Turkish presidential adviser Ilnur Cevik warned in a radio interview that if the YPG and its US special forces advisers go too far, our forces would not care if American armor is there, whether armored carriers are there. ... All of a sudden, by accident, a few rockets can hit them.

Erdogan, who is scheduled to arrive in Washington on May 16, said that Turkeys patience has ended with the US decision to arm the YPG. I want to believe that Turkeys allies will side with us, not with terrorist organizations, he said.

Turkeys foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told reporters during a visit to Montenegro Wednesday, Both the PKK and the YPG are terrorist organizations and they are no different, apart from their names. Every weapon seized by them is a threat to Turkey.

Meanwhile the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), the main bourgeois opposition party, called for Erdogan to reconsider his trip to Washington, saying that the US decision had put Turkey in a weak position.

The humiliation of the Turkish regime over the Trump administrations decision was compounded by the presence in Washington on the day of its announcement of Erdogans advance team, which included Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kaln and National Intelligence Agency (MIT) chief Hakan Fidan. The three had held meetings with their US counterparts and Trumps national security advisor, Gen. H.R. McMaster.

The Washington Post Wednesday quoted an unnamed Turkish official as saying that the officials delivered the message to the Trump administration...that Turkey reserves the right to take military action, while suggesting that airstrikes could be intensified.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis, who was in Turkey just days before the announcement of the decision to directly arm the YPG, dismissed the protests from Ankara. Well work out any of the concerns, he said during a visit to Lithuania. We will work very closely with Turkey in support of their security on their southern border. Its Europes southern border, and well stay closely connected.

The Wall Street Journal Wednesday provided a concrete indication of what Mattis meant by support for Turkish security. The US, the newspaper reported, is beefing up the capabilities of a so-called intelligence fusion center run by the CIA and other US intelligence agencies in Ankara to help Turkish officials better identify and track the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The plan will reportedly double the capacity of the center, while providing drones and other US intelligence assets.

Thus, US intelligence will assist the authoritarian regime of Erdogan to hunt down and kill Kurdish militants in both neighboring Iraq and Turkey itself. There is every reason to believe that, once the Syrian Kurdish forces of the PYG have completed their mission in Raqqa, the same resources will be provided to go after them.

The Pentagons present reliance on the Kurdish militia against ISISitself a product of the US interventions in Iraq and Syriais merely a temporary tactical initiative in the protracted and bloody campaign by US imperialism to impose its hegemony over the Middle East by means of invasions, bombing campaigns and wars for regime change.
Yesterday, Jean-Luc Melenchons Unsubmissive France (UF) movement confirmed that it would present electoral lists independently from the Stalinist French Communist Party (PCF) in the June 11 and 18 legislative elections. The two main forces that together supported Melenchons presidential bid will thus run as opponents in the legislative elections next month.

The PCF is fielding at least 535 candidates, against 410 for UF, out of the 577 legislative districts represented in the National Assembly. PCF spokesman Olivier Dartigolles told the conservative newspaper Le Figaro: Discussions are still underway, but in a very tense atmosphere. We are working for the moment on a smaller list of electoral districts, about 20, in which there will be electoral alliances.

The conflicts between Melenchon and the PCF underscore the correctness of the considerations motivating the Parti de l'egalite socialistes (PES) call for an active boycott of the second round of the presidential elections. The PES fought to encourage workers opposition to both candidates, Macron and the neo-fascist Marine Le Pen, to give an independent line for the workers from all bourgeois parties, and to outline a revolutionary perspective for the struggles that will emerge against Macron. It warned of the bankruptcy of calls to fight Macron with parliamentary maneuvers.

Macrons announcement of a violently right-wing policy after his election, and the bankrupt squabbling between his official left critics, including Melenchon, the PCF and the New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA), are yet more proof of the bankruptcy of an orientation towards Melenchon and parliamentary combinations.

The perspective outlined by both Melenchon and the PCF is collapsing. These parties both proposed to build a legislative majority in order to dictate Macrons policy from within the Assembly. UF spokeswoman Martine Billard boasted that her party would be the number one force in the Assembly. This was also the strategy Melenchon proposed Sunday night, as he hailed the election of Macron, whom he obsequiously saluted while proposing at the same time to form a parliamentary alliance supposedly against him.

May the sense of the destiny of our fatherland envelop you, Mr. President. And may the thought of the poor, without rights, roofs, or jobs be always with you. May France benefit from it. But it is better to monitor this ourselves, Melenchon declared, adding: A new parliamentary majority can be formed around us. The taste of happiness is contagious. Based on our appeal on June 18, the second round of the legislative elections, the resistance can win.

PCF National Secretary Pierre Laurent also speculated yesterday about winning the legislative elections to try to block Macrons coming austerity policies. Bemoaning the mess that is being prepared now that talks with Melenchon have broken down, he said: The responsibility of creating a winning dynamic rests with us.  Without a national agreement, we would divide the voters of Jean-Luc Melenchon, who are calling for us to remain united.

The strategy outlined by Melenchon and Laurent is false and bankrupt. It proposes to workers to rely on pro-capitalist parties who are long-time allies of the outgoing Socialist Party (PS) government, and who have participated in several pro-war, pro-austerity governments. At most, in the case of an improbable definitive victory of the UF-PCF alliance in the legislative elections, this would produce what Melenchon proposed between the first and second round of the presidential election: he would become Macrons prime minister.

This would force Melenchon to carry out Macrons domestic policy without any financial room for maneuver, accepting the foreign and military policy of Macron, who is calling for boosting defense spending, escalating the security forces mobilization inside France, and bringing back the draft.

Even this outcome for a UF-PCF alliance does not seem likely. In the first polls, this alliance would get around 16 percent of the vote, in fourth place behind Emmanuel Macrons Republic on the March movement (22 percent), the neo-fascist National front (20 percent), and the right-wing The Republicans (20 percent). Now that UF and the PCF will compete with one another, however, it will be even harder for them to get a large score. Currently, they would share a few dozen seats in the 577-seat Assembly.

Behind the scenes, there are sharp tensions between the two organizations. These divisions do not proceed from principled differences on fundamental political issues, however, but on factional battles between two pro-capitalist parties that are long-term allies of the Socialist Party (PS) and of the discredited French President Francois Hollande.

The PCF has given up on using the communist symbol, the hammer and sickle, after the Stalinist restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union, and now conflicts are emerging over logos. On May 4, UF announced it was launching judicial charges against the PCF, in order to compel the immediate ending of use of the photo of Jean-Luc Melenchon and all other graphic design elements belonging to the Unsubmissive France movement.

More broadly, the financing of the PCF and its newspaper, L'Humanite, depends on subsidies from the state to elected PCF officials, and investment in L'Humanite by major corporate conglomerates including the Hachette Group and Lagardere. Melenchons attempts to reorganize the PS periphery around UF threaten to strangle the PCF, which totally lost its working class base several decades ago and whose finances are in crisis.

Now that the PS itself is threatened with collapse after Hollandes disastrous presidency, these conflicts are taking on a particularly envenomed and intractable form.

Faced with a president implementing a policy of militarism, deep austerity, and the state of emergency, allied to the European Union, and who hailed Le Pen with a Republican salute, this squabbling is reactionary. It points to the total abdication by UF and the other forces in its periphery of their responsibility to present a perspective on which to fight Macron.

This abdication is not, however, the expression of a simple tactical error, but of their material class interests that are profoundly hostile to those of the workers. FI, NPA, and PCF officials, recruited from affluent sections of the middle class, have been orbiting around the PS for decades. They depend on it to preserve their privileges as well as their access to the very centers of state power in France.

They will prove to be violently hostile to a revolutionary struggle in the working class against Macrons social counterrevolution, which is the only way to fight the right-wing, pro-austerity policies he will seek to push through. To wage these struggles, workers will find no other way out than to ruthlessly break with them, base their struggles on the Trotskyist perspective advanced by the PES, and build the PES as the revolutionary vanguard of the working class.
Interpol has estimated the extent of the illegal wildlife trade globally between $10 billion (over Rs 64,000 crore) and $20 (Rs 129,000 crore) billion per year.

By Baishali Adak: Two Indian poachers have been arrested in Thailand and Malaysia in the past one week with exotic wildlife contraband, again pointing towards Southeast Asia being a hub of the illegal business globally.

Chennai's Kamal Badshah Thameem Ansari, 33, was arrested at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok with six leopard tortoises and three baby meerkats on May 4. He was trying to fly back to India to sell the protected animals.

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Interestingly, both leopard tortoise (an attractively-patterned reptile) and meerkats (carnivores of the mongoose family) are natives of Africa and not found in India but, seemingly have found a market in this country.

MAN ARRESTED WITH THREE ENDANGERED TURTLE SPECIES

In a similar incident, Fakruddin Ali Ahamed Habeeb, 36, also from Chennai, was caught in Malaysian capital Kuala Lampur, with three endangered turtle species - the red crowned roof turtle, dhongoka turtle and spotted black terrapins. He was nabbed from a hotel while planning to deliver them to a client.

While both red crowned roof and dhongoka turtles are found in Uttar Pradesh's Ganga river system and endangered, the former is protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 but the latter isn't. The spotted black terrapin turtle is found in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh mainly.

Habib is now being interrogated by Malaysian authorities.

CHENNAI- AN EASY ROUTE FOR WILDLIFE MATERIALS TO REACH SOUTHEAST ASIA

Indian Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) officials, who affected the two arrests with the support of Tamil Nadu Forest Department, said, "Chennai is an easy route for such wildlife materials to reach Southeast Asia by water and air, being geographically close. Hence a lot of contraband routed from UP, Mumbai, etc. goes through Chennai."

"Further the fact that Indian laws cover only our native species but not foreign CITES-listed ones, creates a big legal loophole. As a result, lot of exotic species like meerkats, chimpanzees, orangutans, etc. are being brought here which creates the scare of diseases in our natural biodiversity," they said.

Interpol has estimated the extent of the illegal wildlife trade globally between $10 billion (over Rs 64,000 crore) and $20 (Rs 129,000 crore) billion per year.

While routes extend to every continent, conservationists say the problem is most acute in Southeast Asia. The Chatuchak or JJ market in Bangkok is a known center of illicit wildlife trade with hundreds of lizards, primates, and other endangered species arriving and being sold every weekend.

Also Read:

Elephants being killed in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for trunk meat

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Meerut: Arms smuggling, animal skin trade racket busted at Retd. Colonel's house

--- ENDS ---
Even as the Trump administration seeks to maximise its pressure on North Korea, accompanied by the threat of military attack, behind-the-scenes talks appear to be underway over a diplomatic resolution to the highly volatile situation on the Korean Peninsula.

While warning of a major, major war with North Korea, Trump declared in late April that wed love to solve things diplomatically, but its very difficult. Days later on May 1, he suggested he would be honoured to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, under the right circumstances.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spelled out the terms for such a meeting at a UN Security Council meeting late last month. North Korea must take concrete steps to reduce the threat that its illegal weapons programs pose to the United States and its allies before we even consider talks. He made clear that time was running short and the US had no intention of negotiating without significant concessions from Pyongyang in advance.

Having issued what amounts to an ultimatumagree to our terms for talks, or confront warthe Trump administration has wound back its belligerent rhetoric against North Korea, for the time being. Trump has pressed China to use its economic clout to bully North Korea into line and appears to be giving Beijing a window of opportunity to achieve that goal.

Such diplomacy is, by its nature, carried on behind closed doors. Yet there are hints that some talks are underway.

The Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that North Korea would send an official delegation to a major forum next week in Beijing that will discuss Chinas massive One Belt, One Road plans for transport and infrastructure linking the Eurasian landmass. China is open-minded. Any like-minded country, as long as you are interested, can participate in this initiative, a foreign ministry spokesman declared.

Amid huge regional tensions, including between Beijing and Pyongyang, the North Korean delegation will clearly be discussing more than the countrys involvement in Chinas plans. Just last week, North Korea lashed out against China for collaborating with the US in imposing sanctions and pushing for the dismantling of its nuclear weapons. A commentary accused Beijing of insincerity and betrayal and warned of grave consequences if relations between the two countries were chopped down.

Allowing North Korea to participate in Chinas infrastructure projects would be a significant incentive for the isolated, impoverished country. At the same time, Beijing can apply substantial pressure on Pyongyang, which depends heavily on China for trade, including for the import of oil and food. The Chinese government has already agreed to UN sanctions and earlier this year suspended the import of North Korean coal and turned back North Korean ships from Chinese ports.

According to Japanese and South Korean newspapers, a North Korean delegation was to meet on Monday and Tuesday in Norway for backchannel discussions with former American officials. South Koreas Hankyoreh website reported that Choe Son-hui, chief of Pyongyangs North American bureau, met with Robert Einhorn in Oslo. Einhorn was a US State Department special adviser on non-proliferation and arms control under the Obama administration.

No details of the discussions were released. An unnamed State Department official acknowledged the talks were underway but denied the Trump administration was in any way involved. Despite this disclaimer, it is obvious the meeting was used to sound out North Korea, and its contents will be relayed to the White House.

According to Hankyoreh, the Tokyo Broadcasting System cited an anonymous source as saying that, during his stay in Europe, Choe was coordinating a separate meeting with Trump administration officials.

An article in the Japan Times on Tuesday indicated in broad terms what the US is prepared to offer. In return for North Korea ceasing its development of nuclear and missile technologies, the United States would not seek regime change, regime collapse or an accelerated reunification of the Korean Peninsula, nor would it look for an excuse to advance north of the 38th parallel, the de facto inter-Korean border, it stated.

A day after he was elected, South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday announced he was willing to hold talks in Pyongyang and Washington in a bid to end the dangerous standoff that threatens war on the Korean Peninsula. During the election campaign, Moon indicated he would try to revive the so-called Sunshine Policy to improve diplomatic and economic relations between the two Koreas.

While Moons diplomacy might be useful to the Trump administration at present, to encourage North Korea to meet US demands, relations between South Korea and the US could deteriorate rapidly if a deal fails to materialise and the US turns to military action.

At this stage, North Korea has given no indication it is prepared to capitulate to US threats. It has repeatedly declared that it will not give up its nuclear weapons and has pointed to the fate of Gaddafis regime in Libya and Assads in Syria. After they struck agreements to abandon their nuclear and chemical weapons respectively, US-led efforts to oust them only intensified.

It is clear that the Trump administration is not going to wait indefinitely for talks to succeed. Moreover, as Secretary of State Tillerson declared earlier this month, the US is not going to negotiate [its] way to the negotiating table. In other words, any talks will take place on US terms or not at all.

An article in the Korea Times last month indicated the time frame involved. Citing Taiwans Central News Agency, it reported that China and North Korea had already engaged in secret talks. North Korea asked for three years to abandon its nuclear weapons, but China, aware of US demands, insisted that Pyongyang dismantle its nuclear arsenal within three months and accept the framework within two to three weeks.

Thus, the danger of a disastrous war on the Korean Peninsula remains high. A US aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear submarine, along with South Korean and Japanese warships, remain offshore and US, Japanese and South Korean military forces throughout the region are on high alert. And as the Trump administration continually declaresall options, including the military one, remain on the table.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met UK Prime Minister Theresa May in Downing Street yesterday to discuss sending more British troops for a proposed surge in the 13,000-strong Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Although the British combat mission in Afghanistanwhich cost 456 lives ceased in 2014 there are still about 500 military personnel training and advising security forces fighting the Taliban.

Stoltenbergs visit came as US President Donald Trump approved a plan to deploy as many as 5,000 additional US troops alongside the 8,400 already in Afghanistan. Trump is demanding that Americas NATO allies contribute more than the 5,000 they have there. According to various sources, a formal request for more troops has been made to the UK without the numbers involved being made public.

NATO hopes to finalise numbers at a summit meeting of leaders in Brussels on May 25.

A NATO press release declared the Brussels meeting comes at a time when the Alliance continues to adapt to the most serious challenges in a generation, with the biggest reinforcement of NATOs collective defence since the Cold War and increased efforts to project stability beyond the Alliances borders.

After his talks with May, Stoltenberg made a lengthy statement declaring, When it comes to burden sharing, the UK is leading by example, investing two percent of GDP in defence, but also by providing capabilities and contributions to NATO missions and operations.

The UK is leading our multi-national battle group in Estonia, leading our high readiness joint task force, and also providing planes to our air-policing mission in the Black Sea region.

Stoltenberg lavished praise on Theresa Mays Conservative government for her commitment to defence. Speaking along Stoltenberg, May said, I would like first of all to reaffirm the commitment the UK has to NATO... Obviously weve got at the moment a number of commitmentsnearly 1,000 troops in Estonia and Poland, the RAF Typhoons in the Black Sea as part of that project there.

Stoltenberg said that NATO members, after many years of decline, are now following the UK example.

The Stoltenberg-May talks confirm the assessment of the WSWS that behind the official reasons given for the calling of a snap general electionto strengthen Mays mandate for negotiating the terms of Britains leaving the European Union (EU)is an undeclared aim of furthering the UKs war agenda in alliance with US imperialism.

The placing of British imperialism on a war footing is also confirmed by the despatch of dozens more troops to its former colony of Sudanboosting the 200-strong deployment already there. The aim is to increase the number of troops to around 400.

The deployment to Sudan follows the Guardian  s revelation last week from a Whitehall source that The government is considering holding a vote to expand military action in Syria if the Conservatives win a big enough majority in the general election. As in Afghanistan, such moves are primarily aimed at countering increasing Russian influence.

There has been a continuous loss of territory to insurgent forces in Afghanistanthe Taliban claims to fully control 34 of the countrys 349 districts and is fighting over another 167. Some 3,000 Islamic State (ISIS) fighters have gained a foothold in the country. Fatalities amongst Afghan troops soared by 35 percent last year to 6,700 deathsthree times that of US forces during nearly 16 years of the US occupation.

In April, Trumps national security adviser, Gen. H.R. McMaster and US Defence Secretary James Mad Dog Mattis travelled to Afghanistan in an attempt to stem the crisis following high-profile attacks.

The prospect of a strategic defeat in Afghanistan is increasing US tensions with Russia. American officials are ramping up accusations that the government of Vladimir Putin is supporting and arming the Taliban to undermine the Kabul government and the US position in the country.

This is part of a general Russia-baiting campaign in the US, which has led to demands by the Democrats for the appointment of a special prosecutor or independent commission to investigate charges of collusion between Trumps key personnel and the Russian government during the 2016 election campaign.

This has already succeeded in pushing the Trump administration into a more confrontational foreign policy in Syria, Central Asia, North Africa and Eastern Europe, where US imperialism regards Moscow as its principal opponent.

The head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, has labelled Russia a malign influence in Afghanistan. Mattis declared, Were going to have to confront Russia For example, any weapons being funnelled here [Afghanistan] from a foreign country would be a violation of international law unless theyre coming through the government of Afghanistan for the Afghan forces, and so that would have to be dealt with as a violation of international law.

Russia has rejected the accusations, saying that following the failure of the US to establish peace talks, it is intervening to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for ISIS and preventing its expansion into neighbouring Central Asia and then Russia.

On April 14, Russia sponsored a third conference including China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Central Asian states and the Afghan governmentto discuss peace negotiations with the Taliban, which Russian officials readily admit they have been in contact with. The US and its NATO allies boycotted the talks.

Russias courting of Pakistan, whose influence in Afghanistan the US has tried to contain, is of major concern to Washington. Last September, Russian and Pakistani special forces conducted their first-ever joint military operation in Pakistan. On April 27, Minister of Defence Khawaja Asif met with his Russian equivalent, Sergei Shoigu, in Moscow and called on Russia to lead a stabilisation process. This strategy, they agreed, had to involve all the participants in the conflict.

The dropping by the USon the eve of the Russia-led talksof the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, purportedly to destroy a small group of ISIS militants in eastern Afghanistan, was clearly aimed at intimidating its rivals. Washington does not intend to allow an end to the Afghanistan conflict on terms other than its own. Central to its strategy is the retention of strategic bases within close striking distance of Iran, China, South Asia and Russia itself.

In response to the May-Stoltenberg meeting, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn declared that at the end of the day wars are not solved by the presence of foreign troops and a political solution to the violence was needed. However, he spoke out of both sides of his mouth, adding that he would look at any request for more troops. That he would also accede to any such request is clear from his record of kowtowing to the pro-war Parliamentary Labour Party.

Within weeks of being elected leader in September 2015, Corbyn granted a free vote to Labour MPs in support of UK bombing raids on Syria. In the December 2015 parliamentary debate on authorising UKs bombing on Syriawhich overturned a 2013 vote against air strikesCorbyn allowed his warmongering Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn the right of replying to the government. Benn spoke in support of bombing, leading 66 Labour MPs in doing so, handing then Prime Minister David Cameron the convincing majority he needed to begin air strikes within hours.

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Leading ministers outline war agenda behind UK s snap general election

[22 April 2017]
PART ONE | PART TWO

On March 8, with a one-sentence decision, the UAW Public Review Board (PRB) affirmed its December decision denying the request by a member of UAW Local 600 in Dearborn, Michigan for an audit and revote of the 2015 Ford contract ratification.

This was the eighth time the UAW rejected the Ford workers requests for an investigation into his charges that the UAW violated its own statutes and committed vote fraud. The UAW first heard the workers request for an investigation in November 2015, shortly after the vote took place. They told the worker he lacked standing to bring the issue before the International Executive Board. The worker then requested and was denied a copy of the ratification procedure from many UAW officials at Local 600 and Region 1-A. A Local 600 officer told him, The document you are asking for doesnt exist. UAW Regional Director Rory Gamble never indicated denial or approval of the voting procedure that was used.

After taking the matter before the UAW PRB, the worker requested an oral argument in accordance with standard procedure. On November 14, 2016 the UAW PRB denied the worker the right to testify in his own case. The denial notice said: The panel concluded that this appeal presented no issues of fact or constitutional interpretation concerning which the PRBs understanding would be enhanced by oral argument from the parties.

The Ford worker wrote in his rebuttal before the UAW PRB, The ballots used in the ratification vote were not only unnumbered, they were made with a copier and no one had any idea how many were printed.... The elections committee should have challenged the ballots found clumped together rather than trying to explain this phenomenon with talk about a yardstick.

The presence of one questionable ballot might be acceptable, but the failure to account for 500 ballots at the DTP [Dearborn Truck Plant] and another 300 in the M&C Unit [Maintenance & Construction] indicates corruption and dishonest behavior. If nothing deceptive were taking place, why did the local union fail to honor my original request for a recount of the ballots? Why didnt the local union put the membership lists and ballots into the record?

The UAW failed to disprove these connections. Instead, they dragged out the workers request for nearly two years, leading him through an administrative Alice in Wonderland.

In rejecting the workers appeal for an investigation of this evidence of fraud, the UAW PRB wrote:

We will not retroactively reverse ratification of a negotiated contract that has been accepted by a majority of the covered employees based on procedural objections raised by a local union member or group of members. Such an order would disenfranchise the members who voted to ratify the agreement and thereby violate the very democratic practices we are charged with preserving.

What hypocrisy! The PRB has the nerve to accuse him of disenfranchising his fellow workers by demanding a revote on a contract, which he demonstrated only passed because the UAW manipulated the vote.

The ruling continues:

If the ratification procedures put in place to obtain the memberships approval of a negotiated contract are deficient in any respect, the membership can reject the contract  Article 19 of the Constitution gives employees the means to reject their bargaining representatives framework for ratification by voting to reject the contract presented in the context of that framework. A vote to accept the contract, however, is a vote to accept the process.

This is what is known as a circular argument. If workers ratify a contract because the UAW rigged the vote, they are giving their stamp of approval to the rigged process. This begs the question: How is it possible for workers to reject a contractand the process as a wholeif the UAW can ignore the actual vote and say it was ratified?

The review board also claimed the workers request for a fair election is a misreading of the Constitution because Article 38s requirement that elections be fair and democratic does not apply to contract ratifications but only to the election of union officers.

The PRB claimed the UAW is not required to have any transparent procedures for ratification votes if the regional director follows some set procedure. The UAW Constitution allows a local union broad discretion to adopt ratification procedures for negotiated contracts, subject only to the approval of the Regional Director. However, the UAW failed to provide evidence that the regional director approved any of the shadowy procedures used during the vote at Local 600.

The fact that the review board resorted to such rotten arguments is proof it had no intention of seriously examining the workers evidence of UAW fraud. If the UAW had nothing to hide, the PRB would have had no problems refuting the worker with facts, transparency, and honest analysis.

The Public Review Board was constituted by the UAW in 1957 for the purpose of insuring a continuation of the high moral and ethical standards in the operation of the UAW. Its ostensible goal was to hear autoworkers claims regarding UAW constitution violations by the leadership. Its present four members are law professors with ties to the trade union bureaucracy.

The review board has a long history as a rubber stamp for the anti-democratic, anti-worker operations of the UAW leadership. It repeatedly rules against workers on phony technicalities. It is the place where workers grievances with the UAW go to die. In a July 2016 edition of Solidarity Magazine the UAW boasted, The board heard 64 appeals in the last four years and in no instance has the union been found to have committed a serious ethical lapse.

The review boards decisions denying the workers appeal and request for reconsideration were unsigned. This raises questions as to whether the decision was actually written by the three law professors whose names appear on the decisions letterhead, or whether the decision was simply written by Dennis Williams office.

The UAWs efforts to shut up autoworkers and prevent them from challenging the fraudulent 2015 contract is aimed at protecting the profits of the corporations and ensuring the right of the companies to exploit the working class however it chooses.

Under the fraudulent contract, Ford has subjected thousands of workers to temporary layoffs and secret terms not previously disclosed to workers. Third tier workers currently make $9 an hour at some Ford plants, for example, and speed-ups and dictatorial shop floor conditions dominate. If the vote was passed through fraud, that means the contract is not legally binding and the workers have been cheated out of thousands of dollars over the course of the life of the contract.

Their handling of the Ford workers appeal provesfor the thousandth timethat the UAW cannot be reformed. This worker followed all the UAWs procedures at each step in the review process and his efforts were stonewalled and rejected. At subsequent contract votes at John Deere in 2016 and Caterpillar in 2017, many workers raised similar questions surrounding the legitimacy of vote outcomes.

The UAW is not a workers organization subject to the will of its dues-paying members, but a tool of the corporations. In exchange for imposing the dictates of big business, Williams, Settles and other top union executives are rewarded with seats on corporate boards, direct cash transfers from the auto bosses to UAW-controlled training centers and other business opportunities.

The degeneration of the UAW is the product not simply of the corruption of its top executives. It is rooted in the failure of its pro-capitalist and nationalist program and long-standing political alliance with the corporate-controlled Democratic Party.

In the face of the globalization of production, unions throughout the world were transformed from organizations that pressured the corporations for concessions into organizations that pressured workers to give up everything to make their own corporations more competitive and profitable.

To defend their interests, workers must build new, fighting organizations, democratically controlled by the workers themselves. Rank-and-file committees should be elected in every factory. These committees should bar UAW officials from their meetings and social media pages so they can have a free discussion without the interference of company agents and spies.

Rank-and-file factory committees will create the basis for a genuine unification of workers. They will establish lines of communication across all industries and workplaces to bring together all workers, black, white and immigrant, in the United States and internationally, in a common struggle to assert their social rights against the insatiable appetites of the super-rich.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made official visits last month to Japan, Vietnam and India. In each country, Wickremesinghe pledged deeper economic ties and military cooperation on the pretext of ensuring the security of the Indian Ocean region.

India, Japan and Vietnam all have strategic ties with the US as part of its war preparations against China. The trips took place amid concerns in New Delhi, Tokyo and Washington about Sri Lankas economic dependence on China.

The US, with the help of India, orchestrated a regime-change operation in 2015 to oust Mahinda Rajapakse as president and install Maithripala Sirisena because of Rajapakses close relations with Beijing. Sirisena immediately suspended a number of major Chinese-funded projects but the cash-strapped and debt-ridden Colombo government has again turned to Beijing for investment.

The most contentious proposal is a $US1.1 billion deal to give China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH) a majority stake in a 99-year lease for the Chinese-built port at Hambantota. During his visits, Wickremesinghe assured his counterparts in carefully-worded joint statements that Colombo, despite seeking Chinese investment, remained aligned with the US-led military build-up in Asia.

Wickremesinghe engaged in extensive talks on geopolitical and economic issues in Tokyo. While Japan is an ally of the US, it has its own imperialist interests in developing strategic ties with other Asian countries and globally.

Wickremesinghe assured Japanese officials that the proposed Chinese projects were only economic in character. Referring to the Hambantota port deal, he declared: It is only a commercial operation and we do not want any of Sri Lankas harbours to be used for military purposes other than that of the Sri Lanka Navy.

In reality, only Chinas military is excluded. In March, the US Pacific Fleets transport ship, USNS Fall River, visited Hambantota port for 12 days and held a joint exercise with naval vessels from Sri Lanka, Japan and Australia.

A joint statement issued by Wickremesinghe and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe outlined closer economic and military co-operation. Tokyo will provide 44 billion yen ($US387 million) in assistance loans to Sri Lanka and another 1 billion yen to improve the management of the Port of Trincomalee, which is a proposed joint venture with India.

The two countries also promised to expand their maritime defence relations. Sri Lanka will participate as an observer in the next joint Japan-India coast guard exercise to be held in India, with possible participation as a full partner from next year. The joint statement welcomed the ongoing high-level military exchanges and pledged to expand Japanese support for the Sri Lankan coast guard, which already operates two Japanese P-3C patrol planes and will acquire two patrol vessels being built with Japanese financial and technical aid.

According to the Sydney-based Lowy Institutes Interpreter, Abe proposed Sri Lanka participate as an observer in the Malabar exercises to be held in July, involving the Indian, US and Japanese navies. India has also agreed to the involvement of Sri Lankan naval officers.

In line with Washingtons stance, the joint statement condemned North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile tests in the strongest terms. It also declared the commitment of the two countries to peace and stability in the South China Sea, the rights of all states to the freedom of navigation and overflight as well as unimpeded lawful maritime commerceall of which is directed against China.

In Vietnam, Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed to increase commercial transactions between the two countries to $US1 billion over the next few years. They also agreed to enhance co-operation between the Vietnamese Defence Academy and the Kotelawala Defence Academy of Sri Lanka. As in Japan, Wickremesinghe agreed to stand with Vietnam for the security of the Indian Ocean Region and freedom of navigationproviding tacit support for Vietnams territorial claims in the South China Sea against China.

Wickremesinghe met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 27. The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Economic Projects during the visit. The discussions also covered a proposal to develop an oil storage tank farm in the port of Trincomalee and an Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement. Both are highly contentious issues domestically in Sri Lanka; the first led to a crippling strike in the petroleum industry just before Wickremesinghe left for New Delhi.

The other projects included, a 500 Megawatt (MW) Liquefied Natural Gas Power Plant and a Floating Storage Unit, near Colombo; a 50 MW Solar Power Plant in Sampur in the eastern province; joint investment in the development of port facilities, a petroleum refinery and other industries in Trincomalee; and encouraging Indian companies to invest in a container terminal in Colombo Port.

Modi is planning to visit Sri Lanka this weekend to attend International Wesak Day celebrationsa major Buddhist festival.

The Indian media pointed to the re-emerging rivalry between India and China for influence in Sri Lanka. The Indian Express commented that proposed joint venture in Trincomalee is part of Colombos balancing act between Delhi and Beijing. It noted: Since Sri Lanka has given port projects in Colombo and Hambantota to China, the story goes, it is now trying to compensate an unhappy India with infrastructure projects elsewhere in the emerald island.

The Sri Lankan governments wooing of Chinese investment is not a geo-political turn toward Beijing, but a desperate measure to deal with the countrys disastrous economic situation. Sri Lanka has accumulated some $64 billion in national debt and is frantically seeking investment. Under Rajapakse, China surpassed Japan as the countrys main source of external financing.

The Colombo governments manoeuvring takes place in the context of the Trump administrations escalating confrontation with North Korea, which is also aimed at undermining Chinas strategic position in Asia. Wickremesinghes visits make clear that his government continues to back the Washingtons provocative moves in the region.
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating with Labour Partys reaction)

From Aditi Khanna

London, May 11 (PTI) A draft of the election manifesto yet to be formally approved and launched by Britains Labour Party was leaked to the media today in which the Opposition pledged to re-nationalise the countrys energy industry, railways and the Royal Mail.

The document, seen by the BBC, is the most detailed draft with a 20-point plan on workers rights alone.

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It was yet to be signed off by most senior party figures, including the shadow cabinet and Labours national executive committee.

The party leadership moved quickly to try and quell negative headlines around the leak.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn emerged from a party meeting in London later today to tell reporters that the party had "unanimously" approved an amended draft at a meeting, to be made public next week.

"We have just unanimously agreed the contents of [the manifesto], we have amended a draft document that was put forward in the most informed, interesting, sensible discussion and debate in our party.

Our manifesto will be an offer, and I believe the policies in it are very popular, an offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society," he said, refusing to address any questions around the leaked draft.

The final version will form the foundation of Labours bid to win over voters in the June 8 general election.

The detailed document has been branded as "socialist" and filled with "class envy" by many sections of the British media as it proposes nationalisation of the countrys railways and the postal service and having at least one state-owned electricity supplier.

"We do not comment on leaks. We will announce our policies in our manifesto, which is our plan to transform Britain for the many, not the few," a spokesperson for Corbyn said.

The ruling Conservative party termed the draft as a sign of the chaos that a Labour led government would unleash on the UK if it were to win the general election.

"This is a total shambles. Jeremy Corbyns plans to unleash chaos on Britain have been revealed.

"The commitments in this dossier will rack up tens of billions of extra borrowing for our families and will put Brexit negotiations at risk. Jobs will be lost, families will be hit and our economic security damaged for a generation if Jeremy Corbyn and the coalition of chaos are ever let anywhere near the keys to Downing Street," a Conservative party spokesperson said.

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Other details of the manifesto include abolishing tuition fees for students at university, spending an extra 8 billion pounds on social care and not making "false promises" on immigration.

It also said Labour would "negotiate transitional arrangements to avoid a cliff-edge for the UK economy" if no Brexit deal was reached during talks with the EU.

Labours Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said he did not know who was behind the leak, which he called "disappointing". PTI AK NSA MRJ

--- ENDS ---
JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - The Jackson County Sheriff's Office has made an arrest in an ongoing homicide investigation.

They announced that they have Daimeyon O'Neal, 22, has been arrested for murder of Kaycha Smith. Smith was pregnant at the time.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said that her body was found on April 27 in the 5000 block of Old U.S. Road, behind an abandoned packing house. They said that she was suffering from multiple wounds to the upper body.

They said that O'Neal was a person of interest early on in the investigation, due to their ongoing relationship and reports that they had some recent domestic issues. On Tuesday night, investigators say that they received some information that led to O'Neal's arrest in Bay County.

After he was arrested, deputies recovered a handgun in Panama City they believe was involved in the murder.

However JSCO, said that the investigation is ongoing and they are continuing to interview witnesses to piece together a narrative. Deputies say that there may be additional arrests made.

O'Neal is currently being held in Bay County for a first appearance on Friday, after which he will be extradited to Jackson County. Additional charges may also be pending for O'Neal.
All three Hizbul militants have been involved in cases of murder and robbery.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The Jammu and Kashmir police has narrowed down on three Hizbul Mujahideen militants they believe murdered Army liutenent Ummer Fayaz. Investigations conducted by J&K Police have revealed 26-year-old Mohammed Abbas Bhat alias Ali as the mastermind of the 22 year old Kashmir-based Army officer's murder.

Belonging to Chak Matribug in Shopian, Bhat has been active militant since 2016. But his criminal record began way back in 2011 when he was jailed for murder under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code. He was bailed out in April 2016 after which he picked up the gun and joined Hizbul Mujahideen.

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Two other suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants involved in the abduction and killing of Ummer Fayaz are Gayasul Islam Thoker (27) alias Fahad, who is active in Shopian since October 2016, and Ishfaq Ahmad Thoker alias Abrar (19), who has been active since September 2015.

All three Hizbul militants have been involved in cases of murder and robbery.

SSP Shopian Shri Ram told India Today that "the trio have been active in the area. Prima facie, they are behind the dastardly attack. However, only after complete investigation can we arrive at a logical conclusion".

Sources in the Indian Army said that Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were also suspected to be part of the gang of six men who killed the officer.

Ishfaq Ahmad Thoker, Gayasul Islam Thoker and Abass Ahmad Bhat Ishfaq Ahmad Thoker, Gayasul Islam Thoker and Abass Ahmad Bhat

Initially, two men entered the house where Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz's cousin was getting married. Four men joined the duo later. Family and friends of Fayaz failed to report his abduction to security agencies as they thought that it may aggravate the situation, said sources. Word got out only after Ummer Fayaz's bullet-riddled body was found on Wednesday morning.

Police are likely to question the family and friends of the officer to trace the six men who abducted him after the 'chautha' or the fourth day after the funeral. Locals are cooperating with the the security forces, said sources.

A source in the police department said that "there is speculation that Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad may also be behind the killing, but nothing can be confirmed at this point in time".

Watch video:Suspected killers of Ummer Fayaz unmasked; Kashmiri boys line up to join police; more

--- ENDS ---
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima police told City Council members Friday there was little they could do to help police curb recent gang violence and so
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By Press Trust of India: From Yoshita Singh

United Nations, May 11 (PTI) 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 last month.

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"We strongly condemn the killing of 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 statement issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The UN human rights experts issuing the appeal included Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection the right to freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst and Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Ahmed Shaheed.

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 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.

The UN agency said Rasheed?s 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.

The experts also noted that the island nations authority must take seriously their obligation to promote a free and safe space for all forms of expression.

They said it is the governments responsibility 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. PTI YAS NSA

--- ENDS ---
DUBAI -- Saudi security forces shot dead a wanted man in eastern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a local newspaper reported, after gunmen tried to stop redevelopment work at the old quarter of Awamiya, where authorities say Shi'ite militants are hiding.

Residents and activists said that several people were injured during clashes between security forces who had entered the old part of the town known as al-Musawara (the walled part) backed by bulldozers.

Mira al-Jazeera, an online newspaper that often reflects Shi'ite views, said at least two people were confirmed killed in the raid, which began at dawn, and that dozens were injured.
The prosecution filed an indictment against Jamil Tamimi, 57, from Ras al-Amud, in Jerusalem District Court for premeditated murder. Tamimi murdered British student Hanna Bladon in a light-rail stabbing attack about a month ago.

Prosecution is seeking remand of Tamimi until the end of proceedings.
Mobile internet services were suspended in Kashmir on April 17, following widespread student protests in the valley against alleged highhandedness of security forces. These were later restored.

By Press Trust of India: Terming the ban on social media networks in Jammu and Kashmir as "collective punishment", two United Nations human rights experts today demanded that it be immediately lifted.

In a press release on the official website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), David Kaye and Michel Forst asserted that "the scope of these restrictions has a significantly disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir, undermining the government's stated aim of preventing dissemination of information that could lead to violence".

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The OHCHR is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The Internet and telecommunications bans have the character of collective punishment and fail to meet the standards required under international human rights law to limit freedom of expression," UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Kaye stressed.

Mobile internet services were suspended in Kashmir on April 17, following widespread student protests in the valley against alleged highhandedness of security forces. These were later restored.

On April 26, the Jammu and Kashmir government banned 22 social networking sites and applications including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter in Kashmir on the ground that these were being allegedly misused by anti-national and anti-social elements to fan trouble.

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Forst said, "Denying such access disrupts the free exchange of ideas and the ability of individuals to connect with one another and associate peacefully on matters of shared concern."

The experts also maintained that 3G and 4G data services for mobile phones and other devices were suspended.

The experts noted that in 2016 the Human Rights Council, the central human rights body in the UN system, condemned such online disruptions and called upon states to avoid such shutdowns.

"We call on the Indian authorities to guarantee freedom of expression in Jammu and Kashmir and to seek a solution for the social and political conflicts of the region through an open, transparent and democratic dialogue," the experts concluded.

Also Read:

Jammu and Kashmir blacks out 34 channels including those from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq

How Jammu and Kashmir police removed 90 per cent of 300 WhatsApp groups that guided stone pelters

Watch Video: Social media banned in Jammu and Kashmir following student unrest

--- ENDS ---
The Israeli Foreign Ministry appealed this week to US Envoy to the UN Nikki Haley to nullify Security Council Resolution 2334 which calls for an end to settlement construction while simultaneously declaring them illegal, both in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

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The issue was just one in a series of requests made to Haley, in an effort to garner American support in implementing a number of changes vis-a-vis the world bodys treatment of Israel.

Nikki Haley (Photo: AP)

Another central request put forth by the Israelis is to reduce the activities of UN bodies which dedicate significant, oftentimes disproportionate, resources and efforts toward the Palestinian issue. To this end, Israel has asked to slash the budget and manpower intended for such activities.

Moreover, the American are also asked to reduce the number of discussions held by the Security Council on Israel, which are currently held once a month.

Since taking on her new role, Haley has managed to earn the trust of many Israel supporters and build a reputation as one of Israels staunchest advocates on the international stage through a series of public speeches and declarations admonishing the UN for its bias treatment against the country.

Relations between Washington and Jerusalem were severely strained in the waning days of the Obama administration, following its decision to abstain from the contentious UN Resolution 2334 vote last December. But since then, Haley has repeatedly indicated that the US is reverting back to its no daylight policy with Israel, that there is a new sheriff in town, and that the days of Israel bashing are over.
The Israeli government and Culture Minister Miri Regev did the right thing in dedicating one Independence Day torch to representatives of the Jewish people, and in selecting two American JewsRabbi Marvin Hier and Michael Steinhardtto light it. The criticism voiced by many Israelis, that there is no room for representatives of the Jewish Diaspora in an official state ceremony, is not only outrageous and irritating but also points to the ignorance of those taking the name of Zionism in vain.

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Their assertion that the Israeli story of independence is a story about the states success rather than about the Diasporas success has absolutely no historical truth to it. Its amazing to see how the one-dimensional Zionist narrative has prevailed in Israeli societys public domain, gaining ground even among those who see themselves as enlightened and knowledgeable people.

Rabbi Marvin Hier (R) and Michael Steinhardt lighting the torch of the Jewish people for the very first time (Photo: Herzliya Studios)

An examination of the US Jewrys involvement in the Jewish Yishuv in the Land of Israel and in the State of Israel reveals continuous activity spanning over many years. The North American Jewrys influence on the Jewish Yishuv and on the Israeli society can be seen everywhere: Land purchases, development of social services and health services, education, culture, arts and sports, the status of women, civil equality, renewal and Jewish pluralism and an Israeli lobby around the world.

It should be noted that US Jews never shut themselves up within their own world, and they considered themselves responsible for the fate and wellbeing of the Jewish people in general and of the Jews in the State of Israel in particular.

From WWI to this day

The World War I era was the US Jewrys finest hour. The Ottomans deported and exiled many of the Land of Israel Jews to Egypt, others were forced to join the Ottoman army, rural Jewish settlements were plundered and many suffered from hunger and died of diseases. The Jewish Yishuv was on the verge of collapsing. If it were not for the help that the Land of Israel Jews received from the US Jewry, its highly unlikely that the Zionist enterprise would have survived the war, and 32 years of Zionist activity would have gone down the drain.

The arrogance and ignorance of Israelis when it comes to US Jews makes them drift away from the State of Israel (Photo: AFP)

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (The Joint), which was founded in 1914and later played an important role in the story of Israels establishmentenlisted to rebuild the Yishuv in the years after the war: It helped orphans and widows, restored ruined infrastructures, infused funds and made the absorption of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who immigrated to Israel after the war possible. The contribution of the women of Hadassah to the residents health and welfare services was invaluable too.

Many Israelis (both Jews and Arabs) are aided on a daily basis through the medical infrastructure laid by the Hadassah organization since 1912. The operations that brought Yemeni Jews to the State of Israel in the 1950s (Operation Magic Carpet) and Ethiopian Jews in the 1980s would not have succeeded without the help of the Joint and the United Jewish Appeal (UJA). The funds of the UJA, which was founded in 1939, helped the Jews who survived the Holocaust in Europe, helped organize the immigration to the Land of Israel after World War II, establish of agricultural communities and development towns and create educational, cultural and professional training centers.

Israel is the entire Jewish peoples project

The Israeli society has failed to sufficiently acknowledge the importance of the Jewish American activity for the Jews of the Land of Israel. The states establishment is perceived by many as a local success story of the Jews who immigrated to Israel and settled there. They purchased lands, drained swamps, established communities and built infrastructures, protected their property on their own and put down roots in their historic homeland.

But the Zionist success story is much more complicated and should be seen as a project of the entire Jewish peoplenot just of the Jews living in Israel. The US Jewry was and remains a crucial factor in the success of the Zionist enterprise, and its story should be shared with the general public. The Israeli society should know how this community rushed to help the State of Israel at its inception and at difficult times, and how committed it is to the state.

The support and the help did not only come from wealthy Jews, but also from members of the working class and the middle class, who donated from the little that they had to the Land of Israel Jews. They immigrated to the United States in great poverty, slowly climbed up the social-economic ladder, gradually integrated into the American society and were absorbed in it. Despite their successful absorption, they did not forget their brethren in the Land of Israel. Out of sincere concern and consideration, they repeatedly answered calls from the states leaders to help Israel in bad times and in good times. I doubt the State of Israel would have reached such impressive achievements at such a short period of time if it were not for the US Jewrys support.

A liberal alternative to Judaism

Their contribution to the State of Israel is not reflected in material aspects only. A progressive, pluralistic and liberal Judaism developed in the US. Israelis who grew up under the intolerant watchful eye of the Israeli Orthodoxy were unfamiliar with a different kind of Judaism like the American Jews embracedan open and accepting Judaism, which allows secular to approach it too without being afraid.

This Judaism infiltrated the Israeli society as well, opening its doors to those who wished to get away from the women-excluding, strict and conservative Orthodox system. The US Jews educational activity within the Israeli society presented an appropriate and brave alternative.

Instead of seeing the State of Israel as a joint project of many Jews and being grateful for their help, there is always someone who stands up and lashes out at the North American Jewry, which repeatedly fails to understand why Israelis are hostile towards it and are trying to hide its contribution and activity for the Israeli state and society.

The 21st-century model of the Israeli Sabra is coarse and prickly on the outside, with no sweetness whatsoever on the inside. The arrogance, and mainly ignorance, of Israelis when it comes to Diaspora Jews in general and to US Jews in particular makes them drift away from the State of Israel and harms the mutual partnership and the solidarity, which are an interest shared both by those sitting in Zion and those outside of Zion.
An indictment was filed on Thursday morning against Jamil Tamimi, 57, from Ras al-Amud, who stabbed 21-year-old British student Hannah Bladon to death on the Jerusalem light rail in April.

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According to the indictment, which was filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, Tamimi carried an 18.5cm kitchen knife with him with the intention of murdering somebody. After boarding the light rail, Tamimi stabbed Bladon seven times in the chest after identifying her as a weak target that would be incapable of resisting him.

Photo: AP

The indictment also highlighted the fact that Tamimi didn't stop his attack until light rail passengers jumped on him and restrained him until police arrived.

Jamil Tamimi (Photo: Liran Levy)

Addressing claims of Tamimi's mental health, the Shin Bet issued a statement, saying, "This is yet another case among many Palestinians who suffer from personal, psychological or moral distress and choose to carry out an attack in order to find refuge from their problems."

Knife Tamimi used in attack

Commander of the Jerusalem District Police, Deputy Commissioner Yoram Halevy, also drew attention to the fact that Tamimi had recently attempted suicide.

Following the attack, Bladon's family issued an emotional statement expressing their pain since their daughter's murder. "Hannah was the most caring, sensitive and compassionate daughter you could ever wish for. She was driven and passionate and her death leaves so much promise unfulfilled. Our family is devastated by this senseless and tragic attack."
HAGATNA -- Troops from the US, Japan and two European nations are gathering on remote US islands in the Pacific for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea.

The drills around Guam and Tinian may also send a message to North Korea about the breadth of its allies and the US commitment to the region. Tensions between the US and North Korea spiked last month after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile and the US sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

The drills are being led by France and include the United Kingdom. The troops will practice amphibious landings, delivering forces by helicopter and urban patrols.
Struggling to seal deals in the United States as regulatory scrutiny tightens, Chinese companies looking to invest in promising technology are finding a warmer welcome for their cash in Israel.

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Chinese firms have long hunted in the United States for deals to develop their technological know-how and open up new markets, but their quarry has become more elusive since late 2016 due to increased US protectionism and a tougher regulatory stance.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Netanyahu during latter's latest trip to China (Photo: Getty Images)

Last year, Chinese investment into Israel jumped more than tenfold to a record $16.5 billion, with money flooding into the country's buzzing internet, cyber-security and medical device start-ups. These investments surged in the third quarter just as the US regulatory crackdown began to bite, Thomson Reuters data shows.

In contrast, Chinese bidders scrapped a record $26.3 billion worth of previously announced deals from the United States in 2016, the data shows.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Hong Kong conference last month, TCL Corp chairman Li Dongsheng said that the review of one target company, which he declined to name, had been frozen following the appointment of President Donald Trump, who has championed a protectionist agenda.

Li's phones-to-fridges group is scouting in Israel instead.

"I'm flying to Israel in May where we've selected more than 10 potential targets," Li said, adding the group was interested in technology companies dealing in smart manufacturing, new materials, big data and internet applications.

Photo: Reuters

China Everbright Limited (CEL), the Hong Kong investment arm of state-owned China Everbright Group, is also looking to Israel, said Chen Shuang, CEL's chief executive.

"Our Israel-focused fund has already invested in four local firms there, and we plan to invest in another three to four within this year."

HURDLES

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which screens for national security risks, has become a major stumbling block for China-linked deals; China-backed Canyon Bridge Capital Partners has struggled with its $1.3 billion takeover of Lattice Semiconductor after members of Congress raised security concerns.

"The review has always been rigorous, but now it will be even more so (due to) a combination of increasingly strategic transactions from China and a new administration worried about certain Chinese actions," said Miriam Sapiro, a former deputy US Trade Representative who served as a CFIUS member during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

With Israel being a close US ally, however, Chinese investment in sensitive tech there could also raise eyebrows, sources familiar with the CFIUS process say.

"China's international surge of state-driven investments in emerging technologies should put the United States and our allies on notice," said Representative Robert Pittenger, a Republican from North Carolina who said he was campaigning to improve information sharing on the issue with US allies.

Late last year, the United States blocked the takeover of German chip equipment maker Aixtron by Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund on security grounds.

CROWDED MARKET

Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has touted Israel as a "perfect partner" for China in developing a range of life-changing technologies, it has not been all plain sailing for Chinese bidders.

The government has expressed concerns over the purchase of key financial assets such as insurers, fretting over pension cash. Fosun last year scrapped its plan to buy a controlling stake in Israeli insurer Phoenix Holdings, saying conditions for the $462 million deal were "not met".

Prior to 2016, China's few investments into Israel were largely outside the high-tech space, from ChemChina's acquisition of crop protection maker Adama to Bright Foods' takeover of food company Tnuva.

That is now more than matched by deals in the tech start-up space, from telecoms group Huawei's bid for cyber-security firm HexaTier, to venture capital investments by the likes of PingAn Ventures and China Broadband Capital into IronSource, a company that offers business development and distribution tools for mobile apps.





Netanyahu meets with Israeli entrepreneurs during China visit (Photo: Haim Zach/GPO)

Tomer Bar-Zeev, chief executive of IronSource, said strategic Chinese investors are attractive because they offer Israeli firms a way in to the huge domestic Chinese market, which is otherwise difficult to crack.

"Once we became a portfolio company of these Chinese investors, they helped with opening doors in China ... where the business community really relies on connections you build there."

For Chinese buyers, Israeli assets are not only more easily accessible than in the United States, they are also often cheaper, say lawyers and bankers.

Rising competition is, however, starting to push up prices, helping Israeli private high-tech companies raise an all-time high of $4.8 billion last year, up 11 percent from 2015, according to the Israel Venture Capital Research Center and law firm ZAG.

Traditionally, many Israeli tech firms have sold out at an early stage to global giants like Cisco, IBM and Microsoft. But now start-ups like IronSource, one of Israel's most valuable private tech firms, are using the sharp rise in private investment to pursue long-term growth.

"We are not worried to take Chinese money over US money," said Bar-Zeev of IronSource. "If you can deliver, there are endless opportunities."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned about President Trump's growing interest in the Israeli Palestinian conflict and his desire to reach the "ultimate peace deal" at any cost, according to senior ministers close to Netanyahu.

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Netanyahu's concern primarily stems from the fact that unlike Obama's tenure, Netanyahu has no "brakes" in the Congress against Trump; Democrats will support any diplomatic move, as will Republicans.

Photo: AFP

Senior ministers surmise that Netanyahu will cooperate with Trump's initiative and attempt to maneuver as much as possible, most likely by capitalizing on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas intransigence in previous dialogues.

According to reports reaching Jerusalem, Abbas has accepted Trump's request and is ready for a three-way meeting with Netanyahu. Senior Israeli officials have also said that during Trump's visit to Israel, the president will announce the start of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump insists on delivering his keynote speech in Israel during a visit to Masada in front of hundreds of guests. He is also expected to visit the Western Wall along with his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Jerusalem believes that the chances that Trump will announce the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem while he is trying to start negotiations between the two parties are slim.

US Embassy in Israel (Photo: AFP)

On the other hand, many in the Israeli political establishment are expecting Trump to declare recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and perhaps also a promise to transfer the embassy in the future after reaching an agreement.

The White House announced that Trump had not yet decided to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and was still considering the matter.

Whatever the peace negotiations entail, Trump and his special Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, both emphasize that they will not impose any agreement on the Israelis or Palestinians.

Meanwhile, 17 Arab and Muslim rulers affiliated with the Sunni camp received invitations Wednesday from Saudi King Salman to participate in a series of summit conferences to be held in Riyadh on June 21 during Trump's visit to the country.

Saudi King Salman (Photo: AFP)

Among those invited were the kings of Jordan and Morocco and the presidents of Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq and Egypt.

The first conference will be a meeting between Trump and the Saudi king, after which an "Islamic-Arab-American Summit" will convene, followed by the last event which will bring Trump together with the rulers of the Persian Gulf oil kingdoms.

Officials in Riyadh are reiterating the stance that Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia "is a historic event which we must make the most of."

Iran responded to the perceived front against it, claiming that, "the lame Saudi regime proves once again that it is undermining the agreement between Iran and Washington and is acting on behalf of the Zionists to establish a front against Iran and present it on a golden platter to President Trump."

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
The Rights anger at anyone who wishes to listen to the Palestinian side and let it be heard is not reserved only to the eve of Memorial Day. In Israel, it is forbidden to talk about the Palestinian side and its suffering all year long. Because every time someone dares to stand up and mention the Palestinian pain and grief as well, the lack of rights, the struggle for self-determination, the despair and the humiliation, as part of the Palestinians' desire to rebel, he will be attacked by hundreds of right-wing activists who will accuse him of justifying terror and supporting murders.

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There is a reason for the right-wing rage. Behind the instinct to attack any left-wing speaker hides a great fear of a change in public opinion. Because if there is a reason and a motive for acts of terror, it may be possible to stop them and prevent the next casualty; because if the Palestinians are fighting Israel over the occupation, ending it could put an end of the circle of violence, pain and bereavement. That is something the Right doesnt want anyone to think about.

When the IDF and the Shin Bet lay their hands on a wanted Palestinian, they thoroughly interrogate him, not just from the military aspect but also from the psychological and ideological aspect, in a bid to understand the interrogees motivation and motive to join terror organizations. Understanding the reasons which led a young Palestinian to pick up a stone, a knife or a rifle, can help us understand the reality and take steps which will reduce the chance of aggravating the conflict.

Right-wing protest. The Israeli public is willing to make painful concessions, and thats the Rights greatest fear (Archive photo: Ido Erez)

What the IDF does behind closed doors, however, must not be done in public as part of an open and public critical discourse. Because, politically, the need to prevent the terror attack is a marginal need, compared to the interest to instill the message that they murder because they are animals, that there is no motive, that there is no partner and that they will never change.

We should study the motives which make a Palestinian teen protest, throw stones, attack soldiers and join terror organizations, not out of empathy but out of an interest to know whether and how we could put a real end the mutual bloodbath.

If on the other side there are people rather than monsters, if in the other side there is willingness to reach a compromise and a desire for equality and national coexistence, then perhaps we can talk to them, and perhaps we can reach an agreement and sustain two states, and that already means evacuating settlements, that already means making concessions, and that is something the Right doesnt want under any circumstances, even at the cost of war, even at the cost of losing peace.

The peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan turned the two states from bitter enemies into neighbors with shared interests, with systems of cooperation, trade and tourism. If that happened with King Hussein and President Anwar Sadat, it might also happen with the Palestinians, and the price will be paid by the ideological Right, which considers the land more important than any peace agreement.

The huge reward in reaching peace and ending the violence is one of the most important reasons for reaching a compromise and ending the occupation. Only those who deny the occupation will keep arguing that dying in battle or getting killed in a terror attack is a predestination and that force is the only way to subdue terror.

The joint ceremony held by Palestinian and Israeli bereaved families shatters all the theories into pieces and shows each side that there are people on the other side who have lost everything, and that to prevent it from happening to others, they are willing to march forward, with their faces exposed, and call on both sides to end the conflict and make peace.

This is the most defying and effective message against the no partner and they are all murderers.

Poll after poll prove that for the sake of peace, and for the chance to live without the threat of death or bereavement, the Israeli public is willing to make painful concessions, just like it did vis-a-vis Egypt and Jordan. This is the Rights nightmare, its greatest fear.

So every sentence linking the occupation to terror automatically becomes illegitimate and a justification of terror. And so Palestinians who lost their loved ones as part of the occupation are nothing more than families of terrorists, who only seek our destruction and have no interest in a compromise or in peace.

Because if they do have such an interest, the only thing the Right can sell to the public is more optional wars, commemorative plaques and memorial services.
Jordanian Information Minister Muhammad al-Mumini referred to the downing of a drone on the Syrian border during an interview, saying that "anyone who approaches or threatens our border will be killed and destroyed."

He added that at the moment, Jordanian authorities are examining the wreckage in order to identify who is behind the launch.
The IDF has recently purchased hundreds of Mavic drones that are set to be put to use by ground force company commanders in West Bank border areas in the coming months.

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The acquisition of the civilian quadcopters constitutes the largest of its kind since the aircraft were first integrated into the military a few years ago.

Drones in the IDF (:  ")

X

The drones are scheduled to reach the commanders in August while over the course of the next few weeks, training for the "drone flying" profession will commence in various infantry battalions.

Each drone team will consist of three soldiers who will receive training in drone operating at the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps's school Sayarim in the Arava region.

Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

The Mavic drone is the smallest to have thus far become operational in the army, with its weight and size providing a chief advantage when compared with the Phantom drone which the IDF currently uses.

The Mavic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) weighs a mere 450g, half the weight of the Phantom, enabling its controller to easily carry it and launch it into the skies in less than a minute.

The Mavic (Photo: Shutterstock)

In addition to the Mavic, the IDF also purchased a large number of even newer Matrix drones, also a four-bladed quadcopter, which will be put to use in multiple regions.

The larger and stronger Matrix is considered the most professional drone, with capabilities allowing it to function in hostile weather conditions and hover in the air, take photographs and transmit images through its lense for 40 minutesdouble the amount of time that the Mavic can do.

Neither the Matrix nor the Mavic will be used for combat purposes, and their functions will be strictly consigned to intelligence gathering. Moreover, given that they are intended for civilian use, their cameras are only equipped to function in daylight.

Photo: Shutterstock

Nevertheless, the IDF is in the midst of developing the first Israeli-made drone for combat use, the Tzur . Considerably larger than standard civilian drones, the final model of the Tzur is expected to weigh about 10-15 kilograms, with its blades spanning 1.5 meters.

It has a wide range of capabilities, including quality visual surveillance, both in daytime and nighttime, and transportation of supplies and ammunition. It will be operable at a distance of up to ten kilometers, capable of flying to heights of hundreds of meters, and carrying several kilograms of cargo.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh announced Thursday that the individual responsible for the March assassination of Hamas operative Mazan Fukha outside his home in Tel al-Hawa has been arrested, adding that he acted on behalf of the Israeli security forces.

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Joined by Fukhas widowed wife and newly elected leader of the Hamas in Gaza Yahya Sanwar at a press conference, Haniyeh said that the suspect had confessed to the hit.

Haniyeh (Center) and Sanwar (Left)

The murderer will be judged according to the law. Despite the pain, we are pleased during this moment and proud of our security apparatus, Haniyeh said.

The fact that Haniyeh delivered the news about the latest development in the assassination investigation is indicative of the significance that Hamas placed on Fukha and his death.

Despite the claims, no one at the press conference gave the name of the suspected murderer who allegedly acted on Israels behalf. Nor were journalists given the opportunity to ask questions.

In the aftermath of Fukha's death, the Gaza-based Hamas terror movement scrambled around, desperately searching for any clues as to who pulled the trigger. The incident further fomented fear of surreptitious collaboration with Israel.

Mazan Fukha

Fukha arrived in the late hours in his vehicle to his home in the neighborhood of Tel al-Hawa with his wife and children on the night of the shooting.

When he dropped them off as he drove his car to the buildings underground parking lot, that was the last time they saw him alive as his assassins were awaiting his arrival. Homing in on their target, they fired four shots at close range into his head and immediately fled the scene.
An assessment prepared by the US intelligence community blames Pakistan's "failure to curb support to anti-India militants" for deteriorating Indo-Pak relations and says that the ties might worsen further in the event of another terror attack emanating from Pakistani soil.

By India Today Web Desk: The Donald Trump government in the United States on Thursday blamed Pakistan for the "deterioration of bilateral relations" between New Delhi and Islamabad.

The Trump administration has further warned that Indo-Pak relations "might worsen further if another 'high- profile' terrorist attack emanates from across the border this year."

The remarks on India-Pakistan relations are part of the 'Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community'. The assessment was presented before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in US Congress by Daniel Coats, Trump's Director of National Intelligence, and other top intelligence officials.

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Coats began the portion on India-Pakistan relations by saying, "Relations between India and Pakistan remain tense following two major terrorist attacks in 2016 by militants crossing into India from Pakistan."

"They (Indo-Pak ties) might deteriorate further in 2017, especially in the event of another high-profile terrorist attack in India that New Delhi attributes to originating in or receiving assistance from Pakistan," Coats added.

The assessment went on to indicate that militant groups operating from Pakistani soil were likely to continue targeting India. "Pakistani-based terrorist groups will present a sustained threat to US interests in the region and continue to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan," Coats said, adding that a revival of Indo-Pak relations would require a sharp, continuing drop in cross-border attacks.

The assessment comes days after India accused a Pakistani Border Action Team of killing and mutilating two Indian jawans. Coats's remarks also come as New Delhi drags Islamabad to the International Court of Justice over the death sentence handed down to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The US intelligence assessment made no mention of the former Indian Navy officer's death sentence, which was recently stayed by the ICJ.

'INDIA's GROWING INTOLERANCE OF PAK-SPONSORED TERROR'

Delivering the assessment in US Congress, Coats suggested that the bedrock of deteriorating Indo-Pak ties lies in Islamabad's "failure to curb support to anti-India militants and New Delhi's growing intolerance of this policy..."

The factor that played a role was "a perceived lack of progress in Pakistan's investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack..." Coats said, referring to the January 2016 terror attack on the Pathankot air base that killed seven security personnel.

The US Intelligence community's analysis also mention the repeated ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu Kashmir, saying, "Increasing numbers of firefights along the Line of Control, including the use of artillery and mortars, might exacerbate the risk of unintended escalation between these nuclear-armed neighbours."

Echoing New Delhi's stated position, Coast in his testimony said that the easing of tensions between India and Pakistan hinges on a reduction in cross-border attacks.

"Easing of heightened Indo-Pakistani tension, including negotiations to renew official dialogue, will probably hinge in 2017 on a sharp and sustained reduction of cross-border attacks by terrorist groups based in Pakistan and progress in the Pathankot investigation", Coats said.

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QUESTIONS OVER SECURITY OF PAK NUKES

In its assessment, the US intelligence community has indicated that Islamabad's pursuit of 'tactical nuclear weapons' (weapons that are smaller and more mobile than conventional nukes) not only "lowers the threshold for their use" but also increases the risk of them falling into non-state actors.

" Early deployment during a crisis of smaller, more mobile nuclear weapons would increase the amount of time that systems would be outside the relative security of a storage site, increasing the risk that a coordinated attack by non-state actors might succeed in capturing a complete nuclear weapon", Coats said in his Senate testimony.

The analysis added Pakistan will "probably" be able to manage its internal security, but added that anti-Pakistan groups will likely focus on softer targets. Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Ahrar, al-Qa'ida in the Indian Subcontinent, ISIS-K, Laskhare Jhangvi, and Lashkar-e Jhangvi al-Alami were named as the groups that US intelligence believes pose the greatest threat to Pakistan's internal security.

The upcoming China Pakistan Economic Corridor was identified by US intelligence as a possible target for militants and terrorists.

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Delivering the assessment Coats also said, "The threat to the United States and the West from Pakistani-based terrorist groups will be persistent but diffuse. Plotting against the US homeland will be conducted on a more opportunistic basis or driven by individual members within these groups."

PAKISTAN's INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION

News agency PTI also reported Coats saying that Pakistan is worried about its international isolation due to its dwindling position against India's rising international status, expanded foreign outreach and deepening ties with the US.

Pakistan will likely turn to China to offset its isolation, empowering a relationship that will help Beijing to project influence into the Indian Ocean, the top US intelligence official was quoted as saying by PTI in remarks missing from the declassified version of the assessment put up on the US government's website.

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ALSO WATCH | Musharraf to India Today: On Kulbhushan Jadhav, Pakistan will bow down to nobody

--- ENDS ---
Security forces confront some 200 Palestinians at the Beit El checkpoint in the West Bank. The clashes began with a solidarity march with the hunger strikers in the security prisons.
Seven senior activists of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement , which was outlawed two years ago, were charged Thursday with offenses that include against state security, including membership and activity in a terrorist organization, carrying out activities for terrorist purposes, money laundering.

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The indictments came after it was revealed that they secretly continued to operate via an alternate organization that they established in advance. The defendants were arrested in late March and early April.

Six of the defendants (Photo: Shin Bet)

Six of the defendants have been in detention for several weeks, and upon filing the indictment, the State Prosecutor's Office filed a request for their detention until the end of the legal proceedings in the case.

The detention request stated that "they are accused of extensive economic activity within the framework of a terrorist organization that was carried out against a large population. Not only does the organization regard the state's law as an adversary, much like other felons, but it also regard the state as an enemy, which it aims to destroy.

200,000 shekels in cash (Photo: Shin Bet)

"The respondents knew very well that the organization in which they were operating was declared a terrorist organization, but they found a way to continue operating under the guise of another judicial framework prepared in advance to disguise their terrorist operations, should the organization be declared as such. Because of this, the respondents are untrustworthy, and the public must be protected from them through their detention."

In November 2015, the Minister of Defense declared the Islamic Movement an unlawful organization under the Defense (Emergency) Regulations of 1945. The declaration noted key activists and stated that the declaration would apply to any body, office, institution, fund, company, corporation, council, association or center that belongs to the movement.

(Photo: Gil Yohanan)

In November 2016, the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Law came into effect, according to which the Islamic Movement, by virtue of being an unlawful organization at the time of the enactment of the law, became a terrorist organization within the meaning of the new law.

The indictment describes how the defendants, who operated through a limited company and registered organization, initiated, planned and executed various projects on behalf of the Islamic Movement after it was outlawed and declared a terrorist organization.

The charges detail the way in which the defendants obtained money to carry out the forbidden projects, amounting to millions of shekels, from various associations in Turkey and the United Kingdom, which transferred funds to Israel for financing terrorist projects.

(Photo: Gil Yohanan)

In addition, it was alleged that the defendants took "commissions" from those funds, which were transferred to them in cash. In the course of the investigation, two of the suspects were caught while transferring a sum of more than NIS 200,000 in cash.

The suspects, who have been in detention for 45 days, met their families for the first time in court. Some of them tried to touch or speak to their wives and children in the courtroom. The security guards warned them that it was forbidden and detained one woman who did not adhere to them. This led to an uproar in the courtroom, accompanied by loud vocal clashes.

(Photo: Gil Yohanan)

One of the detainees said, "This will not stop us in defending Al-Aqsa and in caring for the weak." The lawyer of one of the detainees added that the funds were raised solely for the purpose of financing humanitarian activities for the residents of east Jerusalem and assisting the welfare of those in need.

In the court, it was agreed to postpone the first hearing in the case, so that the defense attorneys would be able to review and study the extensive investigation material. The next hearing is scheduled for June 1.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
MOSCOWPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed US President Donald Trump's efforts to negotiate a Middle East settlement.

Speaking Thursday after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's Black Sea city of Sochi, Abbas said the Palestinians were ready to cooperate with Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah addressed on Thursday the incident of the Lebanese civilian who crossed the border into Israel last month: "The Israelis have erected a number of fences and installed advanced warning systems on the border  but a few weeks ago, a Lebanese citizen managed to cross the border and walk 10 kilometers until he reached a bus station in Kiryat Shmona. It shows that all these means are worn out. They discovered that their means, their technology, their army and their security are weak."

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According to the head of the Lebanese terrorist organization, the construction of a fence from Rosh Hanikra to Mount Hermon "is an admission of Lebanon's crushing victory and the admission of Israel's defeat."

Nasrallah via satellite

The Lebanese news website Al-Nashra reported that civilians in Lebanon had received a phone call from an unidentified number during Nasrallah's speech, saying: "Our martyr killer is now delivering a speech to you."

The news website claimed that the number in question allegedly belonged to Hezbollah's information department. The Lebanese news website Al-Mulhak even posted WhatsApp messages received by Lebanese: "Nasrallah the murderer continues to lie."

Hezbollah's information department issued an official statement on the issue, saying that during Nasrallah's speech, the land lines of the information department were somehow manipulated to send out the condemning messages.

Nasrallah's speech marked the occasion of the first anniversary of the assassination of Mustafa Badreddine, head of the organization's military wing. "He is with us in our hearts and minds all the time," said the Hezbollah secretary-general. "We live thanks to his great sacrifice. He is the commander and fighter in every arena."

Nasrallah implicitly referred to the claims, which were supported by Israel, that Hezbollah had eliminated Badreddine. "Mustafa Badreddine has been in charge of resistance operations for years," he said. "It's natural that the Zionists are trying to hurt him in revenge for their defeats."

Nasrallah further said that any future conflict between the Shiite group and Israel could take place inside Israeli territory, at a time of high tension between the arch foes.

Ali, Badreddine's son

In the live televised speech, he also said that the group had dismantled all its military positions along Lebanon's eastern border with Syria, and this area was now the "responsibility of the state."

Israel "is scared and worried of any future confrontation  and knows that it could be inside the occupied Palestinian territories," Nasrallah said.

Two Israeli air strikes against Hezbollah targets inside Syria in recent weeks have raised tension between the two.

Nasrallah said the Syrian conflict had entered a new phase, without elaborating, but added that any opportunity to halt the fighting in the country should be seized.

Nasrallah said that "the talk about an Israeli war against Lebanon and Hezbollah is part of the routine psychological war, and this is not new, and Israel has been talking about war for several years now. I say to the Lebanese people and all the people who live in Lebanon: 'Go about your routine lives and trust God.'"
An indictment was filed Thursday against 23-year-old Malak Hamed for the murder of Sgt. Elchai Teharlev in a car-ramming attack in April in the West Bank.

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The indictment, filed at the military court in Judea, reveals that during his Shin Bet interrogation, the resident of Silwad, near Ramallah, admitted that he had planned to kill Israelis on two other occasions in the four months preceding the attack.

Malak first had intended to stab IDF soldiers, and he later planned to run over civilians and soldiers like he finally did in April. He reportedly changed his mind at the last minute on those two occasions.

Hamed's car after the attack (Photo: AP)

Hameds interrogation revealed that he had decided to carry out the attack on his own initiative but was inspired by his two friends who carried out attacks in the area and for the Hamas organization, as a gift and for the honor of Hamas.

The indictment alleges that on the day of the attack, Hamed and his father went to work at a construction site in Ramallah. After the two arrived at the site, the son left his father, took the car and began driving on Route 60 to search for his victims.

Elchai Teharlev

The charges claim that Hamed passed Ofra Junction twice where the 20-year-old Teharlev was standing before attacking. The first two times, the soldiers were standing behind concrete bollards at the bus stop, the purpose of which is to prevent such attacks. Only on his third pass did he allegedly identify soldiers and civilians standing in a location he could strike with his car.

Hamed drove past before making a U-turn and accelerating to 100 kph until he struck Teharlev and another soldier who was lightly wounded.

Hamed is also charged with three counts of attempted murder, performing a service for an unlawful organization and membership in Hamas. Regarding the final charge, he is accused of having been a member since 2006 and participating in a procession on behalf of the organization.

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
The grandmother of the officer at the center of the disputed B'Tselem video espressed her support of her grandson to Ynet.

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B'Tselem video

X

"We all support him," she commented." He is a wonderful man and an outstanding soldier, who took a stance exactly where he should have. I am proud of him, he did not deviate from his authority, he made the right judgment and acted rationally. He calmed the spirits  and did not act recklessly."

The video documents an incident that occurred three months ago near the entrance to the settlement of Yitzhar in Samaria. During the incident, three Palestinians approached the settlement, one of whom was holding a camera. A force from the Nahal Brigade patrol battalion was dispatched to the scene and the commander of the team, an officer in the battalion, asked them to leave.

The officer's grandmother added, "I never knew what position he was in, but when I saw him in the video, with all this equipment, I thought to myself, 'Well done, these guys are there, guarding the place and defending the homeland without expressing a political opinion.' B'Tselem may do whatever they want; we will not bother them, but when they enter areas that are not theirs, they will stand aside."

A senior officer of the Judea and Samaria Division said Thursday that "a line was crossed, and this is a system that is gaining momentum and I am very worried about the shaming being done to some of the best soldiers and officers we have. Editing a video is always possible, but if we act like the officer acted, we have nothing to worry about.

"The most important thing is to ensure that the company commander or battalion commander arrive quickly to the point, not fall into such media ambushes. We instruct the forces not to lose their tempers in these situations, equip them with tools since nowadays it is part of the trade. It's training to stand in front of a camera."

According to the officer, he believes that soldiers and young officers will not be afraid to reach such friction points, following the video that made the officer unintentionally famous: "Part of the battalion's mission in the West Bank is to maintain law and order in the sector, and that is what this force did."

The IDF estimated that many of the soldiers who watched the video will learn how to conduct themselves in similar situations, which take place in the West Bank almost daily between soldiers and left-wing activists and Palestinians.

The Nahal Brigade noted that the officer's action did not surprise anyone. "He is an excellent officer who acted with determination when the Palestinian realized that he had not succeeded, so the Palestinian kicked him in the leg and was detained for it.

"The battalion operated in the same professional manner throughout the months of deployment in the Samaria area, as well as in friction between Palestinians and settlers around Yitzhar. Once you act wisely, you do not fall into their trap."

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
More than 7,000 military personnel from more than 20 nations, including Jordan, the US, Italy, Pakistan, Belgium, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are in Jordan for joint military exercises called Eager Lion. The soldiers come from land, maritime, and aerial forces.

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For the first time, this years exercise will also include a global strike mission, conducted by two US Air Force B-1B Lancers. The aircrafts will embark on a non-stop, 35-hour, 14,000-mile flight over Jordan and will have to refuel four times while in flight.

The size of participation this year has become as an outcome of our dedicated concerns to exchange the expertise of military commanders and all strategic, operational and tactical levels. These circumstances, that the region and the world are experiencing, which are related to terrorism dangers that distort our divine religion, urge us to combine the effort, the joint-cooperation and exchange of expertise in order to counter terrorism in all its forms and types, Brig. Gen. Khaled Sharrah, director of the Jordan Armed Forces Joint-Training Directorate said.

US Maj. Gen. Ralph H. Groover (R) and Jordanian Brig. Gen. Fahed Al-Damen shake hands following a press conference about the 2016 'Eager Lion' joint military exercise in Amman, on May 15, 2016. (Photo: AFP)

His US counterpart, Maj. Gen. William B. Hickman, deputy commanding general of operations for 3rd Army/US Central Command, said the exercise is important in the current climate.

As brothers in arms, we fully understand how much our nations have paid in blood and treasure over the years to address security, particularly in this region. Our biggest challenge extends beyond borders, domains acceptable to armed conflict for much of the past two decades our military have operated in the grey zones of military confrontation, unique range of activities, short of conventional war, where misunderstanding and miscalculation can easily escalate into a larger conflict, Hickman said.

The exercise led to speculation in the Middle East that there were plans for a US-led ground invasion into Syria to fight ISIS. The Jordanian army shot down a drone near the Syrian border and there have been reports of troop buildups near the border. But analysts in Jordan say they have no interests in sending Jordanian troops to neighboring Syria.

While Jordan has been part of the US-backed coalition against Syria, it has kept a low profile. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem was quoted in the official Syrian news agency warning Jordan that any of its troops found inside Syrian territory without prior coordination with the Syrian army would be dealt with as hostile forces.

At the same time, Jordans King Abdullah II recently warned that Jordan is ready to deal with any threats coming from the Syrian side of the border.

We will not allow the developments in Syria to pose threats to Jordan, the king recently told reporters. We will not allow the developments in Syria to pose threats to Jordan. We are continuing with the policy of deep defense without the need to have the Jordanian army involved inside the Syrian territories.

Abdullah is also keen for the US to help establish safe zones on the border between Jordan and Syria, which would keep more Syrian refugees from entering Jordan.

This is of high importance to Jordan, Mohammed Hussainy, the director of the Identity Center, an independent civil society organization in Amman, told The Media Line. If the Trump administration decides to go ahead with this, they will find cooperation from Jordan, especially for a safe zone in the south of Syria.

Jordan currently has about 1.4 million Syrian refugees, and the country cannot handle any more, analysts say. It would be even better if some of those refugees could eventually return to Syria, they explain.

Jordan is also interested in helping the US step up the fight against ISIS, analysts say. Jordan is suffering economically partly because its borders with Syria and Iraq have been closed due to the fighting.

We are trapped in this crisis, Oraib al-Rantawi, the director of the Al-Quds Center in Amman, told The Media Line. We hope to open the borders and conclude deals with Syria and Lebanon and through them with Europe.

Article written by Linda Gradstein

Reprinted with permission from

The Media Line
A total of 160,000 11th and 12th graders from 1,100 educational institutions took the English matriculation exam in beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The first exam began at 1:00pm and the last test began at 5:00pm. The matriculation exam in English included 21 questionnaires, including a listening comprehension segment that was broadcast on the various radio stations.

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In recent months, Minister of Education Naftali Bennett addressed the subject of the level of English studies in the education system and declared that the ministry is formulating a national program designed to strengthen the profession. The program includes, among other things, reinforcement of the spoken language, strengthening and professionalization of the field of instruction, increasing the number of students who take the advanced level of study and accessibility of English studies through online learning. The program is supposed to be implemented in schools at the beginning of the next school year.

The English matriculation exam

Questionnaire A for beginners:

For the questionnaire click here. For solutions click here.

Questionnaire B for beginners:

For the questionnaire click here. For solutions click here.

Questionnaire C for beginners and intermediates:

For the questionnaire click here. For solutions click here.

Questionnaire D for intermediates:

For the questionnaire click here. For solutions click here.

Questionnaire E for intermediates and advanced:

For the questionnaire click here. For solutions click here.

Questionnaire F for advanced:

For the questionnaire click here. For solutions click here.

Questionnaire G for advanced:

For the questionnaire click here. For solutions click here.

"The students who took the exam today were given fair questions that were adapted to the various levels of study, and I think that those who studied during the course of the year and were focused during the exam should not have encountered any special difficulty," said Noa Elshvili, English Coordinator at Ankori.
LINCOLN  The issue of health care still remains up in the air in Nebraska with just over a month before health insurers have to declare their intentions for selling policies in 2018.

The U.S. House passed the American Health Care Act last week, which has some differences from the Affordable Care Act that some insurers havent found favorable. The law could also dramatically change the way marketplace exchanges work, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

No company has yet submitted forms or rates to the Nebraska Department Insurance despite the June 15 due date. But agency director Bruce Ramge said the deadline doesnt obligate companies to sell policies in the state.

Even if companies submit forms and rates by that deadline, they are not locked into selling on the exchange until they sign a contract with the federal government in September, Ramge said.

He added that if no companies participate in the exchange next year, it could mean that people who qualify for tax credits dont get them, although they would still have to find insurance to fulfill the individual mandate should it still be in effect.

Medica, one of two companies currently selling individual health insurance that complies with the Affordable Care Act, said it intends to remain in the market next year.

The second company, Aetna, has so far declined to provide a decision about its plans for Nebraska.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska and UnitedHealthcare both dropped out this year. Blue Cross announced its decision in September, saying it might consider re-entering the ACA market in the future, but said this week it has not decided on 2018.

The AHCA still needs approval from the Senate.
By Press Trust of India: riots

EDs(Adds AG quotes, details)

Allahabad, May 11 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has refused to grant sanction for the prosecution of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a decade-old communal riots case, the states top bureaucrat told the Allahabad high court today.

The riots in Gorakhpur in January 2007 were sparked allegedly after a provocative speech by Adityanath, the then local MP, over the killing of a Hindu youth in clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups during a Moharram procession. The BJP MP was arrested and remained in jail for 10 days before getting bail from a court.

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An affidavit stating that sanction has been "refused" for prosecuting Yogi Adityanath in the case was filed before the high court by Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar.

The sanction is needed to file a chargesheet against Yogi Adityanath under IPC Section 153-A on the charge of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and caste. This offence is punishable with imprisonment of up to five years.

A request from the UP police to the state Home Department seeking sanction to prosecute the case where Yogi Adityanath is an accused along with four others including party MLA from Gorakhpur Radhamohan Das Agarwal is hanging fire for two years.

The chief secretary had been asked to appear in person today by a May 7 order by a division bench comprising justices Ramesh Sinha and Umesh Chandra Srivastava.

In his affidavit, Bhatnagar also stated that the CB-CID, which has been investigating the case registered in connection with the riots, has proposed to submit its closure report and it will be submitted before the trial court.

The development came during hearing of a petition seeking an independent probe into the violence.

The petition was filed by Parvez Parwaz, the complainant in the FIR lodged at Cantonment police station of Gorakhpur in connection with the riots and Asad Hayat, a witness in the case.

The petitioners moved the high court seeking an investigation into the case by an independent agency. The petitioners counsel S F A Naqvi challenged the state governments stand in declining to grant sanction for the prosecution of the chief minister.

"We challenged the state governments stand and submitted before the court that the chief secretary happens to be a subordinate of the chief minister, who is himself an accused.

"The refusal to grant sanction is tantamount to an accused declining to prosecute himself," Naqvi told PTI.

Naqvi said the petitioners sought permission to file an application challenging the state governments order refusing to grant sanction for prosecuting Yogi Adityanath.

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The court gave permission to do so by the next date of hearing on July 7, he said.

However, arguing on behalf of the state government, Advocate General Raghavendra Singh told the court that the case filed in Gorakhpur was "politically motivated" and that it was registered 10 months after the communal riots broke out.

He also informed the court that the decision to refuse grant of sanction for prosecuting the accused was taken by the states Principal Secretary (Home) upon the advice of the law department which gave its opinion "on the basis of report of forensic examination of a CD containing hate speeches allegedly given by some of the accused."

Naqvi said the court was told by the petitioners that Yogi Adityanath has himself, in an interview to a private news channel, which is available on YouTube, "admitted" to having made the alleged incendiary speeches for which he has been named in the FIR lodged at Gorakhpur.

"We requested that the court ask for the video recording to get a first-hand account.

"The court responded to our submission by asking the state government to file an affidavit on the next date of hearing explaining why a recording of the said interview cannot be submitted," he added.PTI CORR NAC ZMN GSN GSN

--- ENDS ---

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This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

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An American guy's mugshot has gone viral after he was photographed crying over his arrest for threatening and abusing a Muslim family.

Alexander Jennes Downing's mugshot after he was arrest for threatening Muslim family. (Image via Twitter)

By India Today Web Desk: A 35-year-old from Connecticut, USA, who was caught on video threatening and abusing a Muslim family vacationing at a beach, was photographed crying post his arrest last week Wednesday.

Alexander Jennes Downing became the butt of jokes and ridicule after the image went viral on Twitter. "Awww. Where's the tough guy?" wrote one user, commenting on the picture. "Oh my god, is he crying? Good!!! Abusing women and kids it serves him right," wrote another.

The face that you make when you get arrested for threatening a Muslim family! ?????? pic.twitter.com/1zAwNqtnrE- Black Aziz Ansari ?? (@Freeyourmindkid) May 11, 2017

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In a video by 19-year-old Noria Alward, a drunk Downing was captured screaming Islamophobic comments and threatening the family of fourteen, including children.

"You're a f*****g Muslim, m**********r. You will never ever, ever, stop me, my Christianity, from rising above your Sharia law. Your Sharia law don't mean s**t to me," he was heard saying.

Reinforcing reports of a recent spike in Islamophobia since Donald Trump's election, Downing screamed, "Donald Trump will stop you. Donald Trump will stop you!"

The family contacted South Padre police immediately, but the man left for his hotel. When they arrived at the beach, police asked the family to call back if he returned. According to their post along with a video on YouTube, Downing returned soon after, more aggressive and racist than before.

The family called 911 again, as can be heard on the video, and police arrested Downing at the hotel restaurant.

Meanwhile, another Twitter user also pointed out on @Freeyourmindkid's post that Downing had been arrested in November last year as well for "abuse of elderly or disabled adult."

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) Seasoned diplomat Vinay Mohan Kwatra, currently a joint secretary in the Prime Ministers Office, has been appointed as the next ambassador to France.

Announcing his appointment, the External Affairs Ministry said Kwatra is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

A 1988-batch foreign service officer, Kwatra will succeed Mohan Kumar, who is retiring.

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Apart from having experience of dealing with the UN organisations such as International Labour Organisation (ILO) and World Health Organisation (WHO), he has served in Indian diplomatic missions in China and the US.

He has also held the position of joint secretary incharge of the counter-terrorism division in the MEA. PTI PYK ZMN

--- ENDS ---
District of Columbia: The White House Wednesday slapped down calls for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that Donald Trump`s campaign colluded with Russia, after the US president abruptly fired his FBI director.

Trump`s shock dismissal of James Comey -- the man overseeing federal investigations into suspected Kremlin interference in the 2016 vote -- has sparked a political firestorm in Washington and plunged his young presidency in turmoil.

Comey himself was measured about the abrupt turn of events in a letter to FBI agents and colleagues, urging them not to be concerned for him.

"I have long believed that a president can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I`m not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won`t either," he said.

"It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply," he wrote.

"In times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence," he added.

Furious Democrats, however, suggested the FBI`s work will now be hopelessly tainted and demanded a special prosecutor akin to those appointed during Richard Nixon`s Watergate scandal or the run-up to Bill Clinton`s impeachment.

"We don`t think it`s necessary," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, batting back that demand.

Sanders said the White House wanted the FBI probe -- and parallel congressional investigations -- to continue and to wrap up their work. "No one wants this to be finished and completed more than us."

The White House says Comey`s firing was motivated solely by concerns over his handling of the high-stakes probe into Hillary Clinton`s emails.

A US official said the president had been "losing confidence" in his FBI chief for several months, and that after watching Comey testify before Congress as part of the Russia probe last week Trump was "strongly inclined to remove him."

The president personally defended his summary dismissal of Comey and rejected suggestions it was linked to the Russia investigation.

"He wasn`t doing a good job, it`s very simple, he was not doing a good job," Trump told reporters as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the White House chanting "shame on you!"

Trump`s comments came shortly after he hosted Russia`s top diplomat at the White House, in his highest-level Kremlin encounter since taking office.Trump described an Oval Office meeting with Sergei Lavrov, the highest-profile Kremlin official to visit the White House in years, as "very, very good."

Under Comey, the FBI concluded that Russia tried to sway the election in Trump`s favor through an influence and cyber-hacking campaign.

The bureau has been probing whether Trump`s campaign colluded with such an effort -- something the president rejects as "fake news."

Lavrov, who last set foot in Washington in August 2013, dismissed all claims of election meddling as "fabrications."

In a sharp new development, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced Wednesday it issued a subpoena to Trump`s former national security adviser Michael Flynn for Russia-related documents, which he had previously declined to provide.

Flynn was sacked for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his discussions with the Russian ambassador to Washington.

Trump`s decision to terminate Comey`s tenure, effective immediately, stunned Washington and drew comparisons to the Watergate scandal that brought down Nixon.

The Senate`s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, on Wednesday dismissed calls for a special prosecutor. He said such an individual would only "serve to impede the current work being done."

But Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said even among Republicans there was a "growing feeling of disquiet and doubt about the direction that the president is taking."

He raised the prospect that White House stonewalling on a special prosecutor could trigger a drastic congressional response.

"I would oppose confirmation of a new FBI director until there is support for a special prosecutor," he told reporters.A defiant Trump took to Twitter to defend his decision, vowing: "James Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI."

"Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!"

But White House officials privately expressed surprise at the level of backlash, particularly from leading Republicans.

Several members of the president`s own party, including Richard Burr -- head of the Senate Intelligence committee -- sought to distance themselves from the White House.

"I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of director Comey`s termination," he said in a statement. "His dismissal, I believe, is a loss for the Bureau and the nation."

Before Tuesday only one FBI director had been fired in the bureau`s century-long history. The post is normally considered above politics, with incumbents serving one 10-year term.

Comey 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.

He first angered Republicans by closing the email probe against Clinton in July, then infuriated Democrats by reopening it days before the November election.

Clinton blamed Comey for her loss to Trump, arguing that reopening the probe had scared off voters, stopping her momentum.
Mumbai: Actor Rohit Roy says he is likely to team up with Abhishek Bachchan for a romantic film to be backed by filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Rohit has previously directed a short film named "Rice Plate". The 10-minute-long film was the part of a series titled "Dus Kahaniyan". Now, he is set to make his debut as a film director with a love story.

There were reports that Abhishek and Priyanka Chopra would be a part of the film.

"I am talking to Abhishek for a few things. So lets see what happens. He has shown interest in the project but we are yet to finalise other things," Rohit told PTI.

"Priyanka is not doing the film with me, she is doing another film with Bhansali sir," he said.

Rohit also made it clear that he is "not directing" anything based on the life of poet Sahir Ludhanvi after it was reported his film might be based on the popular film lyricist's journey.

The 48-year old actor-director, who has signed a three film deal with Bhansali, will hopefully begin rolling by the end of this year.

"I have signed a three film deal with him. We are working on a project which is a love story. I can't talk about it in detail. We are in the process of casting... We have approached a couple of actors but nothing is finalised yet," he says.
Bilaspur: Toilets have gone "missing" from a house in a Chhattisgarh village and a woman and her daughter want a bewildered police to trace them fast.

A local RTI activist claims that the toilets existed only on paper.

The women filed the written complaint with the police last week after they found out that the two toilets, proposed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, were shown in documents as already constructed for which the fund was also released.

Bela Bai Patel (70) and her daughter Chanda (45), residents of Amarpur village in Bilaspur, filed the complaint stating that their toilets were stolen, Pendra station house officer Ishaak Khalko said.

The women wanted their toilets to be traced and action taken against those involved in the "theft", he said, adding that an inquiry was underway.

As per preliminary information, Bela and Chanda, both widows belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, live in two different parts of their house in Amarpur.

The duo had submitted their application to the village panchayat in 2015-16 for the construction of two toilets in their house, the SHO said.

The applications of all the beneficiaries from the village were forwarded to the janpad panchayat at Pendra for approval following which the permission was granted, he said.

When the work did not start even after a year of the approval, as claimed by villagers, Bela and Chanda approached the janpad panchayat office last month to enquire about the status of the work.

To their surprise, they were informed by the panchayat officials that the toilets have already been made.

The two women later filed a complaint with police.

A local activist, Surendra Patel, sought information on the status of the toilets in Amarpur through an RTI query with Pendra janpad panchayat.

Patel said that as per the reply received last week, the work of construction of toilets in the houses of all the beneficiaries has been completed and money has also been paid for it.

He alleged that the toilets were only built "on paper and not on the ground".

"There is a gross irregularity in the construction of toilets under the 'Clean India' mission in Amarpur village. Not only these two women, but several other beneficiaries are affected by the corruption," he alleged.

When contacted, Pendra janpad panchayat's chief executive officer K S Dhruva said he has received information (about status of toilets in Amarpur) and it is being verified.
New Delhi: After Infosys and Wipro, it's now IT firm Tech Mahindra that could hand out pink slips to hundreds of employees as it looks to "weed out bottom performers".

Tech Mahindra -- which ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues -- has begun its annual performance appraisal process.

"We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different," Tech Mahindra said in an emailed response.

The Mumbai-based company, however, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave. However, industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds.

At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

Tech Mahindra's larger rivals, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant have already initiated similar performance reviews and estimates suggest that thousands of employees in the sector could be shown the door over the next few weeks.

The development comes at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

While the companies have termed these layoffs as part of normal business decisions, many believe these are directed more towards controlling costs.

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.

With the US hardening its stance on outsourcing, IT firms are under pressure to hire locals instead of taking Indian employees on work visas to client sites. This also impacts their margins.

Infosys, for instance, has said it will hire 10,000 people in the US over the next two years. It is also looking at setting up four new innovation centres there.

IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. Apart from the impact of stringent visa regime, increasing automation of processes would also lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.
Bengaluru: In a bid to reach out to its customers directly, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Thursday unveiled its first offline store in India named "Mi Home".



Located at Phoenix Market City in Whitefield here, the store that showcases some of the flagship products including Mi 5 and Redmi Note 4 will be open for the public from May 20.



India, where Xiaomi has emerged as the second largest smartphone seller and recorded a turnover of $1 billion in 2016, is the fourth country after Hong Kong, China and Singapore to have an exclusive offline store.



"More stores will soon come up in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. The company has a target of opening 100 such stores across the country in the next two years," Manu Jain, Vice President and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, told reporters here.



"At the store, the products could be purchased or pre-booked against a small token amount if the product is out of stock," Jain said, adding that on re-booking an out-of-stock product, a customer specific code would be generated to prioritise the shipment.



The offline store would help establish a direct connect with the customer and help cope up with the huge demand as the company, that sells over a million smartphones every month, at times goes out of stock.



"Mi Home is the offline avatar for the online mi.com. There`s a special reason for calling it Mi Home because we want you to feel very comfortable. At Mi store, you will feel like home. You can try our products and play games," Jain added while showing a photograph of a Mi fan at one of the stores in China.



China has 72 Mi stores housing various products including smart scooter, smart cooker, laptops and the latest flagship phones Mi 6 and Redmi Pro.



"Over 24,000 Mi fans visited the store on day one in China," Jain told reporters here.



According to media reports, Xiaomi has become the most preferred smartphone upgrade choice for the Indian consumers.



The company now aspires to double its turnover from $1 billion in 2016 to $2 billion this year.



When asked if the company plans to introduce other smart products in the Indian market, Jain told IANS: "We are working towards that. However, some of the products like smart cookers don`t have their usage here."
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Adds detail)

Jaipur, May 11 (PTI) The Rajasthan government today ordered an inquiry into the collapse of a wall of a marriage hall in Bharatpur district that left 24 people dead while the police registered a case against the hall owner who is absconding.

The incident occurred yesterday on Sewar road in Bharatpur where a nearly 12-feet high wall collapsed following a storm accompanied by rains. A wedding was going on when the wall came down trapping guests.

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The marriage home was operating without permission from the Bharatpur Municipal Corporation.

State Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf told reporters in Bharatpur that three separate committees have been formed to look into the incident. They will submit reports in seven days.

"One committee will probe the incident. The second will conduct a survey of all the marriage homes to check their safety and security measures and the third will probe whether there was any delay in treatment or any kind of laxity on part of the RBM Government Hospital staff where the victims were rushed," he said.

Prime minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and others expressed grief over the incident which occurred at the wedding hall which was being run without permission from authorities concerned.

The health minister visited the RBM Government Hospital in Bharatpur to inquire about the health of the injured and also the site of the incident and announced compensation.

He said a power cut at the hospital made the task of doctors difficult but the electricity supply resumed after ten minutes.

It will be probed whether the power cut occurred due to negligence on part of any employee or it was due to the heavy winds which hit the region last night, he said.

The situation became more difficult due to the subsequent power cut amid rains and people used mobiles and search lights to help the victims.

"It was brought to my notice that the generator of the hospital was out of order and there was only one inverter.I have asked the hospital authorities to replace the generator as soon as possible,? the minister said.

He said that of the more than two dozen injured, nine are admitted and rest have been discharged. Of the nine, two have been referred to the SMS Hospital in Jaipur and as many others are being treated at a private hospital in Bharatpur and rest are in RBM Government Hospital.

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The minister said free treatment will be provided to all the injured.

"The state government will give a compensation of Rs.2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for seriously injured. A similar compensation of Rs.2 lakh to next of the kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for seriously injured will also be given by the central government,? he said.

Bharatpur district collector N K Gupta had also announced a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs. 10,000 for injured.

"Primary investigation reveals that there was no permission with the marriage home owner to run this establishment. The owner Bharat Lal Sharma has been booked and he is absconding. His brother has been detained by police,? the collector told PTI.

SP Anil Tank said that the owner was booked under section 304 of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) with Sewar police station today. PTI SDA DV

--- ENDS ---
London: An established UK charity named Arts for India has announced that popular screen icon Vanessa Redgrave will be honoured during the Golden Gala on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, at the iconic London landmark, BAFTA.

The star-studded evening will be hosted by the gorgeous Bollywood star, Amy Jackson. The event will consist of a champagne reception, dinner, auction and awards ceremony, with all proceeds going on to help young students get the education they deserve. Academy Award winning actress, Vanessa Redgrave CBE (Julia, Isadora, Mission: Impossible, Atonement) will be awarded during the evening with the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising her outstanding contribution to the film industry.

Previous Arts for India awardees include Lord Richard Attenborough, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Goldie Hawn and Dame Joan Collins among others.

We are delighted to honour Vanessa Redgrave CBE during this years gala. She is a truly talented actress and we have long admired her career on screen, said Arts for India Founder, Satish Modi. We are also proud to be supported by BAFTA once more, who I know appreciate the work we are do for education in the film industry. The Golden Gala is a prestigious philanthropic event bringing together fiscally responsible organisations, resources, celebrities, people of influence and synchronistic brands to have a transformative global impact on the Arts.

Arts For India provide further education for underprivileged students studying at the International Institute of Fine Arts (IIFA), Modinagar, National Capital Region Delhi, through sponsorships. Their mission is to lift disadvantaged young Indian teenagers out of poverty through the provision of education in Art and Creative design to a global standard.



For more information about Arts For India visit: http://www.artsforindia.org/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_SjpFLOwX8

For all ticket enquiries please contact emma.talbot@eastofeden.london.
New Delhi: Sacked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra on Friday announced that he would be visiting the Anti-Corruption Bureau today to provide more evidence related to water tanker scam.

The ex-health minister reiterated that he will continue with hunger strike till details of international travel expenses of five AAP leaders are shared.

The sacked Delhi water minister who is on "satyagraha" fast to demand details of foreign tours of AAP leaders, was on Wednesday allegedly attacked.

Mishra alleged that the attacker, who was identified as Ankit Bhardwaj was associated with the Mohalla Clinic programme run under Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

Drama erupted over the the assailant's affiliation with both AAP and BJP terming him an activist of the rival party.

He is currently in the police custody and kept at Civil Lines Police Station.

Mishra had yesterday alleged getting threat calls and launched a hunger strike this morning, demanding that AAP leaders disclose the details of funding for their foreign tours.

He claimed that the details of the foreign trips by AAP leaders would "reveal a lot" about alleged corruption by them.

The Karawal Nagar MLA, who was, Monday, suspended from primary membership of the AAP, 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 chief minister's brother-in- law and five AAP leaders allegedly misusing party funds on foreign trips.

The former water minister has also submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch to back his allegations that Kejriwal had delayed the probe into the Rs 400-crore tanker scam.
New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was hospitalised on Sunday after complaints of food poisoning, is stable and progressing well, the administration of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said on Thursday.

However, the Congress chief will have to spend more time in the hospital before she recovers fully, the doctors said.

"The health condition of Sonia Gandhi ... is stable. She is progressing well and may be discharged in a day or two," DS Rana, Chairman of Ganga Ram Hospital, said in a statement.

The 69-year-old Congress chief has not been keeping well for some time.

She was rushed to the hospital on August 3 last year after she suffered fever, dehydration and had a shoulder injury during a road show in Varanasi.

Sonia Gandhi later underwent a surgery on her left shoulder.

On November 29 too, Sonia Gandhi was hospitalised for two days due to viral fever

With ANI/IANS inputs
New Delhi: A new study suggests that big cat species like lion, tiger, leopard and cheetah are at a high risk of extinction due to the decline in their prey.

Researchers, including those from Oxford University in the UK, investigated the cause of extinction of seven large cats from the Ice Age: four different types of sabre-toothed cats, the cave and American lions and the American cheetah.

They discovered that if these animals were alive today on average, only 25 per cent of their preferred prey species would still remain across their former natural ranges - the majority have gone extinct, partly due to human pressure.

The team believes this devastating loss of prey species was a major contributing factor to the extinction of these big cats.

Researchers also used the database to work out whether a similar decline in the availability of prey species now could lead to the demise of some of the world's most well-known big cat species.

They discovered that if all the currently threatened and declining prey species within big cat natural ranges were to go extinct, only 39 per cent of the African lion's prey and 37 per cent of Sunda clouded leopard's would remain.

Researchers believe that if this prey loss trend continues this poses 'a high risk of extinction' to these two big cat species in particular.

They also report that prey diversity within the geographical ranges of tiger, leopard and cheetah puts them at risk too.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said the Centre will be launching a campaign to educationally empower the poor and marginalised sections of the society.

"Tehrik-e-Taalim (campaign for education) will be launched on the occasion of late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam`s 86th birth anniversary on October 15," Naqvi told the media here.

"The campaign is aimed at educationally empowering the most poor and backward sections of the society."

Naqvi said the ministry will launch the campaign in 100 districts which were identified as lacking in education awareness.

"Besides spreading awareness about education and the various other government schemes, we will be building schools and educational institutions to develop educational infrastructure in these areas," he said.

Speaking about the achievements of the ministry in the last three years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s government, Naqvi said that scholarships worth Rs 4,740 crore were being given to 1.82 crore students besides contributing towards infrastructure development including building 33 colleges, 97 ITIs, 16 polytechnic institutes, and 1,102 school buildings.

Pointing at a nearly 10 per cent hike in the ministry`s budget in 2017-18, Naqvi said around 70 per cent of the budget is being spent on schemes and programmes aimed at educational empowerment and skill development of minorities.
New Delhi: Shayara Bano is the petitioner who moved the Supreme Court on the 'triple talaq' issue.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar on Thursday began its hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of "triple talaq" and to know whether it was fundamental to Islam.

The bench comprises of the CJI, Justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer.

Bano, who approached the apex court this year, has said it is time for the 'patriarchal' Muslim society to accord equal rights to women.

Shayara Bano from Uttarakhand has appealed to the SC to declare the triple talaq as unconstitutional.

The 37-year-old post graduate in sociology from Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar, has claimed that her husband forced her to undergo six abortions.

Bano knocked at the doors of the SC after her husband last October sent a letter to her with "talaq, talaq, talaq" written on it.

In her petition in the Supreme Court, among other reliefs, Bano has asked for declaring the practice of 'talaq-e-bidat' (triple talaq), polygamy and 'nikah halala' as illegal and unconstitutional since these violate the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25.

Bano says a ban on triple 'talaq' will help improve the condition of Muslim women.

Talking about the hardship she had faced after her husband gave her triple talaq, Bano had earlier said, ''I have approached the highest court with an appeal that triple talaq be declared unconstitutional so that coming generations of Muslim women aren't exploited like me.''

Triple talaq is a practice under which a husband can verbally divorce his wife by uttering the word "talaq" thrice.

Notably, the Modi government has pitched against 'triple talaq' and added fuel to the contentious debate on the Muslim divorce practice.

Making its stand clear on the contentious issue, the Centre has informed the top court that Triple talaq, 'nikah halala' and polygamy violate Muslim women's right to equality and dignity and are not protected by the right to profess, practise and propagate religion under Article 25(1) of the Constitution.
New Delhi: A five-judge Constitution bench of Supreme Court on Thursday heard a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of "triple talaq".

The Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar said: We are going to decide the validity of triple talaq.

He asked the parties concerned to focus on whether triple talaq was fundamental to the Islamic religion.

The Chief Justice said that petitioners and respondents would address the court on whether triple talaq was an enforceable fundamental right.

The bench sought suggestions on the broad parameters of the directions the court may issue while deciding the validity of triple talaq.

During the hearing, the government maintained that the practice is unconstitutional.

Other judges on the Constitution bench are Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S Abdul Nazeer. Interestingly, the members of the bench are from different religious communities including Sikh, Christian, Parsee, Hindu, and Muslim.

The SC, however, said the issue of the practice of polygamy among Muslims may not be part of its deliberations as this aspect is not related to triple talaq.

The court said both sides would get two days each to argue their case. Thereafter, both sides would get a day each to submit rejoinders.

"Each side can argue whatever they want but there should not be any repetition. They will only focus on the validity of triple talaq," the bench said.

The hearing holds importance as the Allahabad High Court, in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.

The High Court verdict had come while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq.

Ahead of Supreme Court's hearing, Muslim women recite Hanuman Chalisa to end triple talaq

The copy of High Court verdict was made available only on Tuesday.

Influential Muslim organisations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have opposed court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and were not justiciable.

The Muslim women who have filed the petitions have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message.

On other hand, 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, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then coming back to him again.

The Centre had on October 7 last 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.

On March 27, the AIMPLB had told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary.

The Board had also said the validity of the Mohammedan Law, founded essentially in the Holy Quran and sources based on it, cannot be tested on the particular provisions of the Constitution.

It had said there was a need for "judicial restraint" before going into the constitutional interpretation of these unless such an exercise becomes unavoidable.

The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, had referred to constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.

(With Agency inputs)
Chennai: The West Bengal Police on Thursday continued its search for Calcutta High Court Judge Justice CS Karnan, sentenced to jail for six months by the Supreme Court.

A police team from Kolkata arrived in Chennai yesterday to arrest him, but he was not found there.

Justice Karnan checked into the Chennai Guest House on Tuesday morning after leaving his home in Kolkata, hours before the apex court delivered its verdict. Later, he addressed the media in his room. However, he checked out of the guesthouse on Wednesday morning allegedly without paying his bill.

Sources said he was to travel to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh to visit a temple in Srikalahasti. But it is not confirmed whether he did make the trip.

Meanwhile, an official at the Andhra temple told IANS over the telephone that there was no trace of the judge.

"He did not arrive yesterday or today. We have no idea if he will reach the temple tomorrow," the official said last night.

Another temple official had earlier said that the judge was likely to reach the Andhra town on Wednesday evening and offer prayers on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, Justice Karnans close aide and his legal adviser, W Peter Ramesh Kumar, claimed that the Calcutta High Court judge is escaping arrest and may have left the country, reported The Indian Express.

Kumar claimed that Justice Karnan might have crossed Indian borders to Nepal or Bangladesh. He took a road route, he said.

NDTV quoted those close to him as saying that Justice CS Karnan wants to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and plans to challenge his sentence.

The apex court had ordered the Director General of West Bengal Police to set up a team to implement its arrest order "forthwith".

Justice Karnan was found guilty of contempt for hurling corruption charges against Supreme Court judges including the Chief Justice.

The 61-year-old is the first judge to be sentenced to jail by the Supreme Court.
New Delhi: The Modi government's policy of empowering minorities "without appeasement" has created an "atmosphere of trust" among these communities over the last three years, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi claimed today.

The comments by the Minister of State for Minority Affairs come against the backdrop of often-levelled allegation that an "atmosphere of fear" is prevailing among minorities under the present BJP-led dispensation.

Speaking to reporters here ahead of the NDA government's third anniversary, Naqvi said it has worked to uplift the minorities by providing them education and skill-based training to ensure that they become beneficiaries of mainstream development.

He sought to score a point over the previous Manmohan Singh dispensation, claiming the present government has created more educational infrastructure than its predecessor.

The ministry has decided to launch a programme 'Ustaad Samman Samagam', marking the birth centenary of BJP-RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, with an aim to encourage artisans from the minority communities and offer them market exposure.

The minister also announced launch of 'tehreek-e-taleem' (campaign for education) on October 15, the birth anniversary of former president APJ Abdul Kalam, to spread awareness about education among minorities in 100 districts initially.

Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains are the notified minority communities in the country.

"The steps taken by the Modi government for the progress of the minorities are a reflection of its empowerment without appeasement policy. It has created an atmosphere of development and trust among the minorities," Naqvi claimed.

He listed several welfare schemes being implemented by his ministry for the minority communities.

The minister heaped praises on the government for making budgetary allocations of Rs 4,195 crore for the development of these communities for 2017-18, a hike of Rs 368.23 crore over the previous fiscal.

Naqvi said 70 per cent of the total allocation has been marked for executing schemes aimed at education and skill development of the minority communities.

He said the ministry has built 1,102 school buildings, 15,869 additional classrooms, 676 hostels, 16 polytechnics, 8,532 aanganwadi centres and 18 Gurukul-type (residential) schools.

Hitting out at the previous Congress-led UPA government, Naqvi alleged it did not open "even a single" degree college for the minorities between 2007 and 2014.

On the other hand, the present government has built 33 degree colleges in areas dominated by the communities population-wise, he said.

Between 2007 and 2014, Naqvi said the UPA government has set up 72 industrial training institutes (ITIs) as against 97 opened by the present NDA government since 2014, the minister said.

"While not a single residential school was opened between 2007 and 2014, a total of 18 such schools have been opened in the last three years.

"The National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) has distributed financial assistance to 1,08,588 beneficiaries in 2016-17, while 75,966 people were benefited in 2013-14," Naqvi said.

He reiterated that the Modi government is committed to providing quality education to students belonging to minority communities by setting up five world-class educational institutes.

The Union minister said the government plans to start academic sessions in these institutes from next year and his ministry has proposed 40 per cent reservation for girl students there.

About 100 Navoday Vidyalaya-type schools will be opened in minority-dominated areas in the coming months.

Established in 1986, Navoday Vidyalayas are alternate schools meant for gifted students.

The minister said scholarships worth Rs 5,022 crore were distributed to students belonging to minority communities in the last three years through direct benefit transfer (DBT), plugging leakages.

Naqvi said over 5.2 lakh youths, including about 40 per cent women, have been covered under various job-oriented skill training schemes of his ministry at an expenditure of Rs 578 crore.

Thousands of minority communities' schools and madrasas have been provided '3Ts - teachers, tiffin and toilets' in the last three months, he said.

He also referred to 'Hunar Haat' the ministry has organised to give artisans from minority communities exposure to national and international markets.

Several states have come forward to provide land for the Haat. Future editions of the Haat will be organised in Puducherry, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

Naqvi said the government has provided 1,952 drinking water facilities, 2,090 health centres and 223 sadbhav mandaps (multipurpose community centres) for them.

Besides, members of minority communities were offered 47,986 pucca houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and provided 17,434 hand pumps, water tanks and ring wells.
New Delhi: All Union ministers have been asked to highlight achievements of their respective departments as part of the massive outreach programmes being planned by the Modi government ahead of its third anniversary on May 26.

The ministers have been asked to hold press conferences, especially to highlight "pro-people" measures and good governance initiatives taken by them so far, official sources said today.

In this context, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi held a press conference today to brief about the government's policy of empowering minorities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to start the celebrations of three years of the government from Assam.

He will address a public rally in Guwahati on May 26, the day when the central government completes three years in office, the sources said.

"It will be the biggest rally in which a large number of people are expected to come," a source said.

Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh, Assam Chief Minster Sarbananda Sonowal and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh are among the other dignitaries likely to be part of the celebrations, the sources said.

Some of the senior central ministers may also be part of the celebration programme in Assam.

The BJP is eyeing to make inroads in the North East which had remained elusive for the saffron party. With three governments, including Pema Khandu-led Arunachal Pradesh government, firmly in place in the North Eastern states, the party now wants to expand its position further.

North Eastern state Tripura will go to polls next year.

BJP recorded first historical win in Assam in 2016 and also managed to form its first government in Manipur.

The celebration will coincide with the first anniversary of Sonowal government in Assam.

Sonowal had taken oath as Assam Chief Minister on May 24 last year.

N Biren Singh had taken oath as Manipur Chief Minister on March 15 this year.
By Press Trust of India: Jerusalem, May 11 (PTI) Archaeologists have discovered bullet cartridges, shell fragments and military items used during the First World War in Israel - evidence of fierce battles between the British and Ottoman armies.

In addition to these items, two military outposts were also 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.

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"As archaeologists, 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," said Yossi Elisha, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"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," said Elisha.

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, researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"Our excitement increased even more when we identified the name of the unit to which the soldier belonged whose insignia was found - the Norfolk Regiment," Peretz said.

"The fighting on this site was part of the Battle of Megiddo that took place on September 19, 1918," he said.

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," Peretz said.

"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," said Alexander Glick, a weapons expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"Fragments of artillery shells and shrapnel balls were found in the excavation. It seems that the Turkish forces sustained serious casualties from this barrage," said Glick.

"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," he said.

"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," he added. PTI MHN SAR MHN

--- ENDS ---

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Islamabad: Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and Narendra Modi of India might meet in Kazakhstan, a top Pakistani official has said, amid reports of back channel contacts.

Sartaj Azia, the Advisor to Sharif, said that a meeting between the two leaders cannot be ruled out on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit next month in Kazakhstan.

But it was too early to speak about such a meeting, the Nation newspaper quoted him as saying on Wednesday. "Pakistan could consider the meeting if interest was shown from the other side."

Aziz said the SCO Summit was important as Pakistan would become a permanent member of the organisation.

The report said there was widespread speculation about a possible Sharif-Modi meeting after the Pakistani Prime Minister recently met Indian business tycoon Sajjan Jindal, who "reportedly conveyed a message of the Indian premier to the Pakistani leader".

Aziz said Pakistan was reviewing India`s plea against alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav`s death sentence and also the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the case.

The Nation quoted unnamed senior Pakistani Foreign Office officials as saying that diplomatic efforts had been launched to defuse tensions along the borders with its immediate neighbours.

"There have been overt and covert talks with all the countries (Iran, Afghanistan and India)," an official was quoted as saying.

"Nobody can afford confrontation, so we are trying to resolve the misunderstandings through talks," the official said.

He said that while there had been open talks with Iran and Afghanistan, "back-channels were being used in India`s case".

The unnamed official added that if Modi and Sharif do meet on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, "it will be positive to concentrate on the talks process".

Relations between India and Pakistan have touched a new low after a Pakistani military court awarded death sentence to Indian "spy" Jadhav and two Indian soldiers were beheaded on the Jammu and Kashmir border.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 19th anniversary of the Pokhran nuclear tests on Thursday hailed the "courage" shown by the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He said that it made the world recognise India as a power.

"Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day," PM Modi tweeted.

"We remain grateful to our scientists and the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998," he added.

We remain grateful to our scientists & the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998. https://t.co/l2QMStppQ1  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

Since 1999, May 11 is commemorated as the National Technology Day to mark India's scientific prowess and technological advancements.

It was the same date in 1998 when India successfully conducted the first among the five nuclear tests in Pokhran under the leadership of Vajpayee.

Later, in response to a tweet by a follower that "Pokhran test (had) made us proud as well as world recognizes us as world power", PM Modi wrote, "Yes, you are right".

In another tweet, PM Modi hailed the "stellar accomplishments and contribution" of former President APJ Abdul Kalam in the nuclear test.

A write-up on Narendramodi.In website refers to an earlier speech of PM Modi in which he had said, "The world is well aware of the Pokhran tests. Under Atalji's leadership, successful tests were carried out and the entire world was witness to India's might. The scientists made the nation proud.

Recalling the nearly two-decade-old development, PM Modi said, "After the first series of tests the world community placed sanctions on India. On 13th May 1998, Atalji again called for tests, thus showing that he was made of a different mettle. If we had had a weak PM, he or she would have got scared on the same day. But Atal ji was different. He did not get scared."

Lauding the role the people of Pokhran played by keeping silent during the nuclear tests, PM Modi said, "People of Pokhran must be lauded for maintaining silence during entire duration when the tests were planned and conducted. They placed interest of the nation above everything else."

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: On the National Technology Day commemorated to mark the anniversary of Pokhran nuclear tests of 1998, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed the "courage" shown by the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day," Modi tweeted.

"We remain grateful to our scientists & the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998," he added.

Since 1999, May 11 is commemorated as the National Technology Day to mark India's scientific prowess and technological advancements.

It was the same date in 1998 when India successfully conducted first among the five nuclear tests in Pokhran under the leadership of Vajpayee. The tests showcased India's might to the entire world.

A write-up on Narendramodi.In website refers to an earlier speech of Modi in which he had said, "The world is well aware of the Pokhran tests. Under Atal ji's leadership, successful tests were carried out and the entire world was witness to India's might. The scientists made the nation proud.

Recalling the nearly two-decade-old development, Modi said, "After the first series of tests the world community placed sanctions on India. On 13th May 1998, Atal ji again called for tests, thus showing that he was made of a different mettle. If we had had a weak PM, he or she would have got scared on the same day. But Atal ji was different. He did not get scared."

Lauding the role the people of Pokhran played by keeping silent during the nuclear tests, Modi said, "People of Pokhran must be lauded for maintaining silence during entire duration when the tests were planned and conducted. They placed interest of the nation above everything else."
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today appreciated the bipartisan support of the US Congress in deepening ties with India.

He made the comments during a meeting with an eight- member US Congressional delegation, led by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, which called on him here.

The prime minister welcomed the delegation to India. He appreciated the strong bipartisan support of the US Congress in deepening the partnership between India and the United States," a PMO statement said.

Modi exchanged views with the delegation members on the bilateral partnership and other issues of mutual interest.

"He called for further enhancing exchanges with the US Congress," the statement added.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka where he will be the chief guest at the International Vesak Day celebrations.



"PM @narendramodi emplanes for Sri Lanka, where he will join a wide range of programmes including the international Vesak Day celebrations," the Prime Minister`s Office tweeted.



Modi will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.



The visit follows the invitation of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. It is Modi`s second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.



This is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day. The theme of the event is Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace.



As part of the celebrations, Modi will participate in a lamp lighting ceremony at the Gangaramaya temple in Colombo, one of the most important temples in Sri Lanka.



Modi will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka`s most important Buddhist relic -- a tooth of Lord Buddha.



In Pallekelle, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India`s grant assistance.





Modi will also open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.



Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, the visit is expected to give renewed momentum to India-Sri Lanka ties.



Last month, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited India.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his two-day Sri Lanka visit from Thursday to further deepen ties with the island nation where China has been trying to expand its influence.

It will be Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.

The visit follows the invitation of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

- During his visit, Modi will attend UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day, the biggest Buddhist festival, as its chief guest. The day is meant to mark the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of Lord Buddha. As part of the celebration, Modi will participate in a lamp lighting ceremony at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo, one of the most important temples in Sri Lanka.

- 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. Notably, this is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day celebrations.

- PM Modi is also scheduled to visit Kandy and interact with a group of Tamil people in the upcountry region, seen as an effort to reach out to the community.

- In the upcountry region, Modi will dedicate a 150-bed multi-speciality hospital built with financial assistance of Rs 150 crore by India.

- Modi will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic -- a tooth of Lord Buddha.

- In Pallekelle, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India's grant assistance.

- Briefing reporters on Modi's visit, Joint Secretary (Indian Ocean Region) in the External Affairs Ministry, Sanjay Panda, had on Wednesday said no structured talks have been scheduled, but Modi will be interacting with the Sri Lankan leaders.
New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday congratulated the government for approaching the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav, even as his party has expressed caution over the move.



"Congratulations to our government for deciding to pursue international action on Kulbhushan Jadhav. It was the best way," said Tharoor on his official Twitter account.



On Wednesday, the Congress said that approaching the ICJ on the issue of Jadhav might expose India to the "risk" of Pakistan raising issues internationally and stressed that issues must be solved bilaterally. The ICJ has asked Pakistan to put on hold the death sentence on Jadhav.



Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said on Wednesday: "Does it ever give Pakistan the right to question, and if that is what they are looking for to internationalise this issue, then India has to be careful about this."



"The best resolution between India and Pakistan can be discussed at bilateral level all the times irrespective of however intransigent and badly behaved Pakistan is," said Kumar.



He also asked if the government has thought through all the ramifications of its move on approaching the ICJ.


New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday raised a question if 'triple talaq' is fundamental to Islam, as a constitution bench commenced hearing on the issue while making it clear that it would not go into the question of polygamy.



Two senior counsel, appearing for parties seeking an end to the practise of triple talaq, said that triple talaq is not fundamental to Islam, in response to questions framed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, who headed the bench.



The court was told this as it embarked on examining the constitutional validity of the practice of unilateral divorce prevalent in the Muslim community.



"Polygamy is out," observed Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman soon after the bench framed three questions to be addressed by the counsel appearing for the contending parties, including petitioners challenging the validity of 'triple talaq' and All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other Muslim outfits defending it.



At the outset of the hearing, Chief Justice Khehar asked the contending parties before it to address the question whether 'triple talaq' was fundamental to Islam, whether it was sacrosanct to Islam and whether the practise was an enforceable fundamental right.



The bench also comprising Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Nariman, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S Abdul Nazeer sought suggestions on the broad parameters of the directions the court may issue while deciding the validity of triple talaq.



Assailing the practise of triple talaq, senior counsel Indira Jaising said that if the free informed consent of the woman was imperative for the union of two people in marriage, then how could the unilateral act of divorce survive.



Telling the bench that triple talaq was an extra-judicial act and thus unconstitutional, Jaising told the court that can the status of a woman be changed unilaterally, which she described as "civil death".



She told the court that in the Islamic countries the triple talaq had come under judicial oversight.



Noting the vehemence with which Jaising was arguing her point, Justice Nariman noted that "None of you who are opposing triple talaq approached the court till it itself took suo motu cognizance of it by its judgment on October 16, 2015".



Jaising, who appeared for the intervenors Bebak Collective and Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, told the bench that all the personal laws should be subject to fundamental rights and "constitution should not stop where personal law starts and all the personal laws, be it of Hindus, Muslims, Christians and other, should stand the scrutiny of the fundamental rights".



Contending that triple talaq was not an essential part of Islam, senior counsel Amit Singh Chadha told the Constitution Bench that "talaq can only be cogent and reasonable" and if Islamic countries can do away with it then surely it is not an essential part of Muslim religion.

To this, senior counsel Kapil Sibal appearing for the AIMPLB said that they did so by taking the legislative route and not through judicial verdict. He said that personal law can only be changed by the legislature and not by the courts.



Referring to the low divorce rate amongst the Muslims compared to others, Sibal said that it cannot be assumed that a Muslim who will marry will get up one fine morning and utter talaq, talaq, talaq.



Chadha, who appeared for the lead petitioner Sharaya Bano, said that talaq by Muslim women under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, was appealable till the top court but not when under the same statute a man divorces his wife.



At one stage during the course of the arguments on Section 2 of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, that spells out the grounds' under which Muslim woman can seek dissolution of marriage, Chief Justice Khehar said that the object of the provision is to "further women's rights and not curtail it. We can't look at it as good or bad, but according to law".



Appearing for Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan's co-founder Zakia Suman, senior counsel Anand Grover told the bench that "if court comes to conclusion that it (triple talaq) is not a part of Islamic law, then there is no need for going into the question of its validity under Article 14, 19, 21 and 25".
Los Angeles: The United Airlines has reportedly cancelled an Indian-origin man's flight reservation after he was found filming a dispute with an employee.

Navang Oza, 37, was trying to fly to the West Coast from New Orleans when the incident took place.

He tried to record the experience on his cellphone when the staff spotted him filming, PTI reported on Thursday.

An altercation broke out when he complained to an airlines agent about a $300 charge for his luggage.

He claimed that he paid just $125 to check the same bag on the first leg of his trip.

Angered over the staff's inadequate explanation, he decided to film the dispute.

He later posted an unedited clip of the interaction with the ticket counter worker on social media.

However, minutes after ordering his trip cancelled for taping her, the United agent is seen recording Oza.

"I'll do the same thing," she said, pointing her smartphone at Oza's, PTI reported.

The United Airlines has reportedly started an investigating into the incident.
New Delhi: Triple talaq was not a religious issue but related to "social ills", Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on thursday, stressing that the ongoing debate on the practice would have a "positive" impact on the people.

"It is about social ills and reform," the minister of state for minority affairs said.

He said the debate would have a "positive bearing on the (Muslim) community and the country".

The minister referred to the issue currently before the Supreme Court -- and being discussed by organisations representing Muslims and others -- while speaking on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's performance over the last three years. The NDA came to power in May, 2014.

The Centre said in the Supreme Court in October last year the practice was not an "integral" part of religion.

It had favoured a relook at triple talaq on grounds of gender equality and secularism.
A 17-year-old was hacked to death in Bahoor village of Puducherry, and his severed head was thrown inside a police station in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district.

By Press Trust of India: In a gruesome incident, a 17-year-old youth was decapitated and his head thrown into the premises of a police station here, the police said today.

After going through the CCTV footage of cameras near the police station, three persons in the age group of 20-24 years were arrested today in connection with the incident, they said.

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Interrogation revealed that the youth was hacked to death and beheaded by one of the accused at Bahour in Puducherry, 13 km from here, last night, due to previous enmity, police said.

After decapitating him, they travelled on a two-wheeler with the head wrapped in a gunny bag before throwing it into the premises of the Reddichavavadi police station last night, the police said.

The police managed to track them down after going through the CCTV footage. The decapitated body was found near the Bahour lake, they said.

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Srinagar: A day after militants abducted and killed a 22-year-old Kashmiri Army officer in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, it had come to light that men belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen may have been behind the dastardly act.

Also, the Jammu and Kashmir police suspect that an INSAS rifle snatched from cops could have been used in the crime, .

A senior police official also said today that Fayaz's body did not bear any torture marks while adding that the post-mortem report is awaited.

"We have conducted preliminary investigations. It does point out to (the involvement of) a module of Hizbul Mujahideen active in Shopian," Inspector General of Police Kashmir SJM Gillani said, as per PTI.

Police have found two empty cartridges of an INSAS rifle at the place where Fayaz was shot dead by the militants in Shopian.

"We had two incidents of weapon-snatching in south Kashmir recently. We have leads that the Kulgam snatching was carried out by Lashkar militants while Hizb militants were involved in weapon-snatching at Shopian court complex (on May 2). So it could be one of those weapons," he said.

Gillani said the post mortem report was awaited but added that there were no torture marks on Fayaz's body.

"The doctors and police officers who examined the body did not find any torture marks," he said.

Fayaz had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of his maternal uncle at Batapura, about 74 kms from here, from where he was abducted by the militants at around 10 pm on Tuesday. His bullet riddled body was found yesterday morning.

On his first leave since joining the Army, he had reached Batapura from Akhnoor in Jammu region where he was posted with 2 Rajputana Rifles. He was supposed to return to his unit on May 25.

Locals said that three militants entered the house where the wedding function was underway and asked Fayaz to accompany them.

Hailing from Kulgam district, Fayaz was commissioned in the Army in December last year.

The Army has vowed "to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror to justice".

"This marks a watershed moment in the Kashmir Valley and people of Kashmir will decisively turn the tide against terrorism," Lt Gen Abhay Krishna, Colonel of Rajputana Rifles and General Officer Commanding in Chief of the South Western Command, had said yesterday as per IANS.

He had added that the people of Kashmir would have to rise collectively and hit back at the "cowards and perpetrators" of the heinous crime.

The Kashmiris can no longer tolerate such tragic losses of their "beloved sons", Lt Gen Krishna had said.

Assuring the family that "perpetrators of the heinous crime and dastardly act will not be spared", he had said, "the complete Army fraternity stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the bereaved family at this tragic hour."
Bengaluru: PUC Results 2017 Karnataka, Karnataka II PUC exams 2017, PU results 2017 Karnataka will be declared the Department of Pre University Examination, Karnataka on Thursday.

Check kseeb.kar.nic.in, karresults.nic.in or results.gov.in to check Karnataka II PUC Results 2017, Karnataka Board PUC Result.

Karnataka PUC Results, Karnataka II PU Results 2017, PUC Results 2017, Karnataka II PUC exams Result 2017 will be made available from 3 pm onwards.

Pre University Certification Examination (PUC II) examinations were held between March 9 and 27. 6,84,490 students appeared for the Karnataka 2nd PUC exams. There were 3,48,563 boys and 3,35,909 girls who took the examination.

A total of 5,12,555 candidates had appeared for the KSEEB 2nd II PUC examination in 2016 out of which 3,64,013 students cleared it.

The overall pass percentage was 57.20 percent, a dip by 3.34 percent as compared to last year. As has been the norm over the years, girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 64.78.

There are 1202 Government Pre-University colleges, 637 Aided Pre-University colleges, 1936 Unaided Pre-University colleges, 165 bifurcated Pre-University colleges & 13 Corporation Pre-university colleges.

After X standard every year about 10 lakhs students enroll in the 2 year Pre-university courses. The courses offered by the Department are broadly classified under the categories of Humanities (Arts), Science & Commerce. There are 23 subjects, 11 languages and 50 combinations in the Pre-University curriculum. In 2010-11, there were 4,43,185 students in Humanities in I & II PUC, 2,47,421 students in Science in I & II PUC & 2,77,189 students in commerce in I & II PUC.
Bengaluru: The wait of 10,12,019 students is set to get over as Karnataka 2nd PUC Results 2017, Karnataka PUC Result 2017, Karnataka Board PUC Results 2017 will be declared on Thursday.

Karnataka PUC (Class 12) results, Karnataka PUC (Class XII) Examination Result 2017, PUC Class XII Result, PUC Results 2017 Karnataka, Karnataka II PUC Exam Results 2017, Karnataka 2nd PUC 2017 will be declared today at 3 pm.

The official websites which would provide Karnataka PUC Results, Karnataka II PU Results 2017, PUC Results 2017, Karnataka II PUC exams Result 2017 are:

kseeb.kar.nic.in

pue.kar.nic.in

karresults.nic.in

results.gov.in

Department of Pre University Education, Government of Karnataka will announce Karnataka II PUC Result 2017, PU results 2017 Karnataka.

Steps to check PUC Result 2017 Karnataka

- Log into any of the above-mentioned websites

- Enter your roll number other details

- Click on Submit

- Results will be displayed on the screen

- Take a print out for future reference

Karnataka PUC exam 2017 were held from March 9 and 27. Out of the total 6,84,490 students, 3,48,563 were boys and 3,35,909 girls who appeatred for the Pre University Certification Examination (PUC II) examinations.

There are 1202 Government Pre-University colleges, 637 Aided Pre-University colleges, 1936 Unaided Pre-University colleges, 165 bifurcated Pre-University colleges & 13 Corporation Pre-university colleges.

After X standard every year about 10 lakhs students enroll in the 2 year Pre-university courses. The courses offered by the Department are broadly classified under the categories of Humanities (Arts), Science & Commerce. There are 23 subjects, 11 languages and 50 combinations in the Pre-University curriculum. In 2010-11, there were 4,43,185 students in Humanities in I & II PUC, 2,47,421 students in Science in I & II PUC & 2,77,189 students in commerce in I & II PUC.

Zeenews.com wishes the students all the best!
Bengaluru: PUC Results 2017 Karnatka: Karnataka II PUC Results 2017 declared by the Department of Pre University Examination, Karnataka on Thursday.

Check kseeb.kar.nic.in, karresults.nic.in or results.gov.in to check Karnataka II PUC Results 2017, Karnataka Board PUC Result, PUC Results 2017 Karnataka, Karnataka II PUC exams 2017, PU results 2017 Karnataka.

How to check Karnataka PUC Results, Karnataka II PU Results 2017, PUC Results 2017, Karnataka II PUC exams Result 2017:

- Log into any of the above-mentioned websites

- Enter your roll number other details

- Click on Submit

- Results will be displayed on the screen

- Take a print out for future reference

Pre University Certification Examination (PUC II) examinations were held between March 9 and 27. 6,84,490 students appeared for the Karnataka 2nd PUC exams. There were 3,48,563 boys and 3,35,909 girls who took the examination.

A total of 5,12,555 candidates had appeared for the KSEEB 2nd II PUC examination in 2016 out of which 3,64,013 students cleared it.

The overall pass percentage was 57.20 percent, a dip by 3.34 percent as compared to last year. As has been the norm over the years, girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 64.78.

There are 1202 Government Pre-University colleges, 637 Aided Pre-University colleges, 1936 Unaided Pre-University colleges, 165 bifurcated Pre-University colleges & 13 Corporation Pre-university colleges.

After X standard every year about 10 lakhs students enroll in the 2 year Pre-university courses. The courses offered by the Department are broadly classified under the categories of Humanities (Arts), Science & Commerce. There are 23 subjects, 11 languages and 50 combinations in the Pre-University curriculum. In 2010-11, there were 4,43,185 students in Humanities in I & II PUC, 2,47,421 students in Science in I & II PUC & 2,77,189 students in commerce in I & II PUC.
Bengaluru: KPCC President G Parameshwara on Thursday said Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge's return to state politics will strengthen the party's prospects in the run up to Assembly elections scheduled next year.

There were speculations that Mallikarjun Kharge might be relieved from Chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, to make room for him to play a more active role in Karnataka politics.

"If this report is true, then I will welcome Kharge, for his participation in state politics will only strengthen the party in the state, which goes for elections next year.. He has years of experience and has never lost elections," he said.

The Congress wants to fortify its chances ahead of 2018 state elections by pulling big guns like Kharge, despite the?indifferences within the party, which has led to several senior leaders including former Union Minister S M Krishna deserting it.

Asked if he would vacate the post of KPCC chief if Kharge's name is announced, Parameshwara said, "If the High Command asks me to step down from both the posts, Home Minister's and KPPC Chief's, I will respect their decision." ?

Reacting to Senior Congress Leader K H Muniyappa asking him to voluntarily resign from both posts, he said, "This is the question of my ability.. Since the high command believes in my ability, they have given me this double responsibility."

Asked if the party high command was violating its norm of 'one individual one post,' Paramaeshwara said, "The High Command has exempted me from (the norm on) holding two posts."
Jabalpur: At least 11 labourers were killed and 15 others injured when a mini truck overturned and fell into a 10-feet-deep culvert near a village in the district early Thursday, a police official said.

The accident took place at around 1 am near Jamunia village when the labourers were travelling in the truck of the forest department to Chargavan for plucking tendu leaves,

Jabalpur's Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Manjeet Chawla said.

The truck driver lost control of the vehicle while approaching the culvert. As a result, the vehicle fell into it, he said.

The victims were contractual labourers and had come from Maharashtra's Gondia district, he said.

Nearly 35 people were travelling in the truck when it met with the accident.

While 10 of the victims died on the spot, one succumbed later on the way to a hospital, the DSP said.

The deceased were identified as - Budhram Rawat (45), Chunni Lal (35), Gajesh (33), Pradeep (18), Ramnath (33), Tularam (30), Sumeshwar (32), Lachhu Choudhry (30), Chagan Kamde (43), Shankar Marskole (40) and Santu (50), the police official said.

The injured persons were admitted in the Jabalpur Medical College for treatment.

Jabalpur Collector Mahesh Chandra Choudhry said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced an ex gratia of Rs one lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.

The chief minister has also announced a help of Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured persons, Rs 25,000 to those who sustained 'simple' injuries and are admitted to the hospital, and Rs 15,000 each to those who suffered minor injuries in the mishap, according to the collector.

Police have registered a case and arrested the truck driver, identified as one Prahlad.

A forest guard, Bhupendra Singh, who was also sitting in the vehicle, escaped from the site after the mishap, the police official added.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has written to the Interpol and the Central Bureau of Investigation for issuing a red corner notice against Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, a media report said on Thursday.

The development comes after the Enforcement Directorate in March attached the properties of Naik's Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) worth Rs 18.37 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The assets seized include mutual fund, real estate properties and bank balances.

In November last year, the Directorate had registered money laundering case against the IRF on the basis of FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

It was alleged that Naik and his associates are indulging in unlawful activities.

It was also alleged that Naik promotes enmity and hatred between different religious groups in India through his provocative utterances.

During the PMLA investigation, Naik avoided all four summons issued to him.

The IRF, headed by Naik, moved a petition last year seeking directions against the ban imposed on it by the Central Government.
Bhubaneswar: Amid growing resentment in his party BJD over non-representation of over 12 districts in the ministry, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said the MLAs from all areas cannot be included in the Cabinet.

"We have 30 districts. All 30 districts can't be represented in ministry. There is a limit to the number of ministers you can have," Patnaik told reporters on his return from Delhi after four days.

Patnaik had left for the national capital soon after the new ministers had taken the oath of office on Sunday.

Asked as to how the agitating party workers who took to the streets over non-representation of their districts would be pacified, he said "I have come back from Delhi just now. I will certainly look into their problems."

When reporters drew his attention to Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda's 'tweets' that many people of the party left and the resentment was growing over non-representation of many districts, Patnaik said "I do not think any (BJD) leader as such has joined the BJP. One or two, who were expelled from the party on anti-party activities have done so."

He was referring to former BJD MP Jayaram Pangi and BJD youth leader Amar Nayak joining the BJP this week. Pangi was earlier suspended from the BJD for anti-party activities.

Meanwhile, at least six MLAs have expressed 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 openly expressed their 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.

"People have started asking us as to why none from Jajpur got a berth in the ministry," Satpathy said while Nayak termed the ministry as "imbalanced."

Supporters of Raseswari Panigrahi and Padmanav Behera have already hit the streets against their leaders not being included in the council of ministers.

In Sundargarh, the BJD workers expressed their grievances over non-inclusion of the 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.
Mumbai: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput will be seen doing a signature step of Shah Rukh Khan in a song titled "Sadda move" from the upcoming film "Raabta". He says he is a big fan of the superstar.

"I have grown up on Shah Rukh's films and I'm a big fan. In fact, he is the only actor I went to a set to meet, but unfortunately couldn't," Sushant said in a statement.

There is a special part of the song where Sushant spreads his arms and does the signature Shah Rukh step. The film's team shot this moment in the fields. They also put together Shah Rukh's look from the iconic film "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge", a jacket and a hat.

The 31-year-old actor says he likes it that he can pay a tribute to "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" in Dinesh Vijan's directorial.

"When the team told me that we are including a SRK step I was immediately on board. I like, how we were able to include the 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' homage in our other song," he added.

Talking about SRK's signature move, Vijan said: "Everyone has that one particular dance move they love and this song is about showcasing your move. Sushant is a huge fan of SRK and he became an actor because of him. It was his idea to pay homage to the famous SRK pose."

"Raabta", which also stars actress Kriti Sanon, is set to release on June 9.
New Delhi: International pop sensation Justin Bieber is being heavily slammed on Twitter for allegedly lip-syncing throughout his maiden India concert. During his live performance on Wednesday night, the 'Sorry' vocalist looked a tad less interested while the audience was cheering him up, reportedly.

Hence, a lot of his fans were left disappointed. A large number of social media users even took to Twitter to share what they felt about Bieber's gig.

Kickstarting his maiden India concert with his number 'Mark My Words' from his latest album 'Purpose', the 23-year-old made a stunning entry to the stage.

So Justin Bieber was lip syncing..



Is it too late to say sorry now ?  Nayar (@nowaydudee) 11 May 2017

Dear @justinbieber Lip Sync A Bit Better From Next Time Onwards #JustinBieberInIndia  Asif Shaikh (@iamafhu) 10 May 2017

Like seriously !??! People paid 76k to see someone lipsync...Nonsense 11 May 2017

Sonakshi could have done better lip sync than him.

Just saying#JustinBieberIndia  Pratham Purush (@Pratham_Purush) 10 May 2017

This was followed by some more popular tracks like 'Where Are You Now,' 'I'll Show You,' 'Feeling,' and 'Boyfriend.'

During his trip to India, Bieber is expected to visit New Delhi, Jaipur and Agra.

(With ANI inputs)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed pain at the loss of lives in a wall collapse during a wedding at Rajasthan's Bharatpur and announced Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.

The prime minister also announced Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured.

"The incident in Bharatpur has pained me beyond words. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. I hope the injured recover soon," he said.

Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of those killed, the PMO said.

Twenty-three people, including four children, were killed and 27 injured when a wall of a marriage hall collapsed during a heavy storm in Bharatpur yesterday.
New Delhi: Actress-producer Priyanka Chopra's Sikkimese production "Pahuna" will have its trailer screened at the upcoming edition of the Cannes Film Festival, says the movie's director Paakhi A. Tyrewala.

The prestigious gala is due to begin from May 17, and apart from Bollywood actresses Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, India will be represented on the platform by the team of "Pahuna".

Paakhi didn't disclose much about the trip to the French Riviera, but told IANS over the phone: "Its trailer showcasing is in Cannes this year."

Talking about the "Mary Kom" star and her mother Madhu's involvement in the project, the debutante director said: "When Priyanka got on board, things got very easy. The Sikkim government is almost like a co-producer of the film. The project started from March 2016. Priyanka got on board in December.

"She came to India and met me. Soon, the film's recce began and we started shooting in March. Priyanka as a producer is extremely supportive. She has a vision and sees the world very differently from most of the producers I've seen."

She said for Priyanka, who is supporting the film through her and her mother's banner Purple Pebble Pictures, it's not only about money.

"She is financially very sound, especially her mother. They know their numbers and still have a vision. 'Pahuna' doesn't have a regional market. They saw it as world cinema. So, it feels good to have somebody by my side who exactly understands it."

Priyanka often flies in and out of India due to her commitment to the American TV series "Quantico", apart from Hollywood film "Baywatch", which is ready to hit the screens on June 2.

But apart from acting in international and Bollywood projects, she also manages to take out time to produce regional films. In fact, she also made an appearance in her debut Marathi production venture "Ventilator".

Will she do the same in "Pahuna"? "No," said Paakhi.

Any known faces in the film?

"It has local talent -- Amol Subba and Ishika Gurung," said the director, based in Mumbai.

Since she stays miles away from the northeast state, how did it strike her to make a movie based on it?

"I was in Sikkim 13 years ago. I was an Art of Living teacher. I fell in love with the state. Then the story came to me," she said.

"The whole idea was not the lack of competition, but the fact that we will be the first feature film there. There have been (Sikkimese) films, but they have been more like home videos. There's no film industry as such.

"The idea was to start a film industry in Sikkim. A lot of people don't even know that it is a part of India. They think one needs a passport to go there. I believe stories bring people together."

Didn't language pose a problem for her?

"I don't know the language that well. I had a local boy, Bishwas. He helped me with the dialogues in Nepali and Sikkimese," said the wife of director Abbas Tyrewala, to whom she gives full credit for encouraging her to make the film.

"Whenever I would say 'I can't do it', he would say 'You have the passion. Hold on to it'."

She also got help from the Children's Film Society, India (CFSI).

"Had it been just CFSI, it would have been just a regional film. 'Pahuna', which means a visitor, is an international film. It's a big story in a small area," she said about the movie which will premiere in Sikkim in October.

Is it a children's film?

"It can be viewed by children, but it's not a children's film. It's about children. When you say a children's film, you see it as a simplistic film or just an entertaining film.

"We are dealing with issues like gender bias, idea of currency... Money is money, but there is a currency divide, impact of older people on children, our fear of the unknown."

Last month, Presidential approval was given to a parliamentary panel recommendation that the National Film Development Corporation either dub regional movies in Hindi or carry subtitles. Does she consider it a good move?

"I think it's a smart move to increase the market of regional films. Look at 'Baahubali'. It is doing so well. Ideally, I would like it to be only subtitles, but a lot of people don't want to read while watching a movie.

"I'd say take it (regional film) to every state and dub it accordingly."
New Delhi: The reigning king of South film industry, Ajith Kumar is ready to entice the viewers with his powerful performance in 'Vivegam'. After an impressive first look and poster release, the teaser of the film has been released and we must say it is simply unmissable.

Thala Ajith fans will jump in joy after watching the superstar perform some cool action stunts. He looks dashing and has definitely defied age long back. The superstar has been shown in a fierce avatar. The upcoming Tamil venture has been co-written and directed by Siva.

The action thriller stars Kajal Aggarwal, and Vivek Oberoi besides Ajith in the lead role. The film is set to open in theatres on June 22, 2017. Interestingly, 'Vivegam' marks third film collaboration between Ajith and filmmaker Siva after their successful ventures Veeram and Vedhalam. Let's see how Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi matches up to the legendary Ajith in the flick.

Watch Vivegam teaser here:
Jerusalem: Archaeologists have discovered bullet cartridges, shell fragments and military items used during the First World War in Israel - evidence of fierce battles between the British and Ottoman armies.

In addition to these items, two military outposts were also 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.

"As archaeologists, 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," said Yossi Elisha, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"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," said Elisha.

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, researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"Our excitement increased even more when we identified the name of the unit to which the soldier belonged whose insignia was found - the Norfolk Regiment," Peretz said.

"The fighting on this site was part of the Battle of Megiddo that took place on September 19, 1918," he said.

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," Peretz said.

"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," said Alexander Glick, a weapons expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"Fragments of artillery shells and shrapnel balls were found in the excavation. It seems that the Turkish forces sustained serious casualties from this barrage," said Glick.

"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," he said.

"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," he added.
New Delhi: Oracle Chief Java Architect Mark Reinhold has lashed out at Red Hat, IBM for their declaration that they will cast an explicit vote against Java Specification Request (JSR).

Java Development Kit 9 had its planned release for July 27. However, with the latest turns of events, it is leading to speculations that the decision might delay the release of Java 9 beyond July.

Meanwhile Reinhold in an open letter to the Java Community wrote, Red Hat Middleware initially agreed to the goals and requirements of the JSR, but then worked consistently to undermine them. They attempted to turn this JSR into something other than it was intended to be. Rather than design one module system that is both approachable and scalable they instead wanted to design a meta module system via which multiple different module systems could interoperate on an intimate basis. I can only assume that they pursued this alternate goal in order to preserve and protect their home-grown, non-standard module system, which is little used outside of the JBoss/Wildfly ecosystem.

IBMs recent position appears rooted in a vague desire for closer consensus amongst EG members. I would prefer more consensus too, but that is not possible given Red Hat Middlewares position. I can only conclude that IBM has decided that their interests are best served by delaying this JSR and, also, JSR 379 (Java SE 9)which is regrettable, his blog further stated.

Is the present Specification for this JSR perfect? No, of course not. It does, however, reflect years of development, testing, and refinement with active feedback from many developers., he wrote.

Reinhold further added, Could we make the Specification better if we spent more time on it? Yes, of course we could. What we have now does not solve every practical modularity-related problem that developers face, but it meets the agreed goals and requirements and is a solid foundation for future work. It is time to ship what we have, see what we learn, and iteratively improve. Let not the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Lucknow: The district administration has issued a notice to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for using 10,000 square feet land in Uttar Pradesh`s Rae Bareli that belongs to the state, an official said on Thursday.



The Trust is giving vocational training to a group of local women on that land.



The district officials said that the land was never transferred to the Trust, hence it was illegal.



They said the land had been earmarked for various activities of the state government like community health centres, schools, and other community facilities.



The illegal use by the Trust came to light during a recent review of such plots.



Officials said that a notice has been sent to the local office bearers of the Trust and they were awaiting a response.



"If we are not satisfied with the response, a final notice will be sent and after that action will be taken to vacate the land," an official added.



The land was earmarked in 1982 for vocational training for women by the then District Magistrate but while the Trust started work on the land under the Rajiv Gandhi Women Development Project, there has been no transfer of land thereafter.



The Trust does not have any papers to show their possession of the land.



Rae Bareli is the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the district Congress leaders say the land was given to Thakur Das Trust in 1984.



Since the land was lying vacant, a project to provide provisional training to hundreds of women was started, the Trust officials said. They also said there has been no misuse of the land in any form.



They said that a legal team of the Trust was studying the notice and would respond soon.
Lucknow: Expelled Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui on Thursday said that her party supremo Mayawati had insulted Muslims after her party's crushing defeat in assembly polls and that he and his son were expelled on false charges. Hours later, Mayawati hit back and called him a big blackmailer.

Addressing a press conference in state capital Lucknow, Siddiqui said, ''Me and my son have been expelled from the party on false allegations.''

Naseemuddin Siddiqui, the former no. 2 in the BSP, said that Mayawati had insulted him after party's humiliating defeat in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections in which the Samajwadi Party was ousted out of power.

After the elections, Mayawati ji had summoned me to explain the causes of BSP's defeat in the assembly polls. She asked me why Muslim voters ditched the party during the polls, he told reporters.

Siddiqui further alleged that a furious Mayawati then used objectionable words against Muslims.

Mayawati also said that bearded men are dogs, traitors, Siddiqui claimed.

Siddiqui further alleged that Mayawati had demanded Rs 50 crore from him for the party and when he failed to do so, he and his son were expelled on false charges.

Siddiqui also accused senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra of playing a role hatching in his expulsion from the party.

There will be an earthquake if I expose Mayawati and BSP's secrets. I will reveal them slowly but surely, he added.

During the press conference, Siddiqui also played a purported audio tape of his telephonic conversation with BSP chief Mayawati is which was the latter can be heard saying objectionable things against Muslims.

The reactions from Siddiqui came days after he was expelled from the BSP over allegations of amassing huge illegal properties and seeking undue favours from people misusing his proximity with BSP chief Mayawati.

Announcing on Wednesday that Siddiqui and his son Afzal were being expelled, senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra had said that they had amassed a large number of benami or undeclared properties, ran illegal slaughter houses and took money from people promising favours once the BSP returned to power in UP.

When the party failed to win people demanded that their money be returned, Mishra said and "Siddiqui tried to dispose of his benami properties, but told everyone that he was doing so because the party is demanding money from him."

Siddiqui, however, denied all charges and said that he is deeply hurt by what he called the BSP's "totally false and baseless" allegations.

Interestingly, Naseemuddin Siddiqui has been one of the most prominent faces of the BSP for years and a former top UP minister. He was second only to Mayawati as a star campaigner of the party in this year's UP election.

Only Siddiqui and Mishra were allowed to use helicopters to campaign by Mayawati. His mandate was to consolidate a Dalit-Muslim vote strategy for the party and he ensured that several Muslim clerics, including the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid made vote appeals for the BSP.

Mayawati had won the 2007 UP elections, her last big win, by creating a rainbow coalition of Dalits-Upper castes, Muslims and even backward caste voters.
Sydney: Australia will drug test the newly-unemployed as part of a crackdown on people who blow their benefits on getting high, with data from sewage used to identify which hot spots to target, officials said Thursday.

Up to 5,000 jobless will have to take the test to quality for allowances as part of a trial to address welfare-fuelled substance abuse.

Benefit recipients who do not pass will have their handouts put on a cashless debit card which they can only use to buy essentials such as food and housing.

Those who fail more than once will be referred to medical professionals for assessment and treatment.

"We`re going to trial this with just 5,000 people and if it doesn`t work we`ll stop it and if it does work and it`s helping people well we`ll keep doing it, we`d be silly not to," said Treasurer Scott Morrison.

Australia`s unemployment rate currently stands at 5.9 percent, with 753,000 people out of work.

The government hopes the plan, along with docking welfare payments for people who skip job interviews or fail to attend meetings, could save taxpayers more than Aus$600 million (US$440 million) over the next four years.

Sewage data would be used to pinpoint three sites for the trial based on the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program which has identified "astonishingly high" rates of methamphetamine use across Australia.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter said it was about helping people have the best chance possible of getting a job. "The 5,000-person drug testing trial is squarely aimed at identifying and assisting people and driving behavioural change," he said.

"What we think we can achieve through this is to ensure people at that absolutely critical point in their life when they`re searching for a job, engage in behaviours that assist them in that process and don`t destroy that process."

Some welfare lobby groups have argued the approach was wrong.

"This is further demonising of people on social security, people on the lowest incomes in the country," Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Another harsh welfare crackdown, compliance, it`s already really tough."
Nassu: Hubert Minnis emerged as the Bahamas` next prime minister Wednesday in general elections that saw incumbent Perry Christie concede defeat.

"My fellow Bahamians, the people have spoken," Minnis, a physician, said in a victory rally before thousands of supporters. "We have been given a mandate for change."

Christie, leader of Progressive Liberal Party, conceded defeat in a statement in which he said he had made a congratulatory telephone call to Minnis wishing the leader of the Free National Movement success.

"I understand as perhaps few others the challenges that await Dr Minnis, and I wish him only success on behalf of our nation. He has my full support for a smooth transition," he said.

Minnis will be sworn in as prime minister on Thursday by Governor General Marguerite Pindling.

Christie, who was finishing his second non-consecutive term as prime minister, was dogged by scandals and double-digit unemployment.

The long-delayed opening of a $4.2 billion mega-resort called Baha Mar, and last month`s spectacular failure of the Fyre music festival -- which stranded partygoers who paid as much as $100,000 to attend -- were factors in the vote.

Minnis campaigned on a platform of change, seeking to implement term limits on the prime minister and promote "Bahamian ownership in the economy," according to his website.

"I support the FNM 100 percent, because I feel Christie was not doing a good job in the five years we gave him," Nassau resident Jmeail Dames said of the prime minister`s current term.

Christie, 73, prompted condemnation earlier this year when he denied corruption accusations by raising his middle finger to reporters.

His education minister, Jerome Fitzgerald, is also embroiled in controversy over a shady multimillion-dollar business allegedly seeking contracts from the Baha Mar resort, which is controlled by Chinese investors.Under construction for almost a decade with Chinese financing and construction workers, Baha Mar was taken over by a Chinese conglomerate in 2016 after its original developer tried to file for bankruptcy in the United States.

The island archipelago, which gained independence from Britain in 1973, heavily depends on tourism and foreign investment in resorts and other attractions.

More than 180,000 people are registered to cast their ballots for the 39 seats in the House of Assembly.

Voting took place without incident.

However, a polling station on the main island New Providence opened late following concerns about ballots, and some of those waiting left without voting.

International observers the Caribbean Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States and the United States were invited to monitor the election.
Fairbanks, Alaska: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host foreign ministers from Arctic nations at a summit in Alaska on Thursday, where President Donald Trump`s reluctance to fight climate change will likely cast a shadow over talks.

The Arctic Council, which includes the United States, Russia, Canada and five other countries, meets every two years to tackle problems in the region, which is warming at a faster pace than any other part of the world.

Unlike former President Barack Obama, Trump has expressed doubts about whether human activity has a significant role in climate change, and is mulling whether to pull the United States out of a global pact to fight it.

He is expected to decide whether Washington will leave the 2015 Paris Agreement, or stay in with reduced commitments, after a Group of Seven summit at the end of this month.

Canada and the Nordic countries have stressed the importance of staying in the Paris agreement, setting them up for a potential clash with the United States over language in a final agreement to be reached at the conclusion of Thursday`s meeting.

It is of "decisive importance that the United States remains part" of the Paris agreement, Norway`s Foreign Minister Borge Brende told Reuters this week in Norway.

Arctic warming is thawing permafrost and melting sea ice, causing damage to infrastructure but also opening up new oil reserves, shipping routes and access to fisheries - intensifying a decades-long race for Arctic resources.

This year`s agenda will highlight sharing science on climate-related issues, and also address Arctic search and rescue and communications.

Adding pressure on the Trump administration, scientists from the United States and other Arctic nations issued a report ahead of the meeting that the impacts of warming in the region could lead to trillions of dollars worth of damage to buildings, roads and other infrastructure this century..

Following the meeting, Tillerson, the former chief executive of energy giant Exxon Mobil, will hand over the chairmanship of the council to Finland, which plans to stress the Paris pact as it leads the council over the next two years.

Trump`s administration has also reversed Obama-era bans on offshore drilling in certain parts of the Arctic, a turn that could intensify competition for resources in the region with major oil producer Russia.

Russia has beefed up its military presence in the Arctic to levels not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union, as global interest in the region`s oil, gas and rare earth metals heats up.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Washington on Wednesday with Tillerson and later with Trump before flying to Alaska.
Brasilia: Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appeared in court where he was questioned by the country`s top anti-corruption judge over graft charges, the media reported.



He was closely questioned for five hours by Judge Sergio Moro on Wednesday in a courthouse in the city of Curitiba where thousands of the former leader`s supporters gathered in a square nearby, the BBC reported.



Lula has rejected allegations that he received a luxurious beachfront apartment as a bribe in a corruption scandal linked to the state oil company, Petrobras.



This is the first of the five charges Lula is facing related to the Car Wash scandal, the nickname for Brazil`s biggest ever corruption probe.



However, he said the trial is politically motivated and has denied any wrongdoing.



If Lula is found guilty he will face a prison sentence. If cleared, he has said he will run again for the presidency.



Judge Moro is expected to give his verdict in 45 to 60 days.



Known throughout Brazil simply as Lula, he was the South American nation`s most popular President during his tenure from 2003 to 2010, reports the BBC.



A former steel worker turned union leader, he came to office as the first left-wing leader in Brazil.



Unable to stand for a third consecutive term, he was succeeded by close ally Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached last year.


London: The Italy Police has confiscated 37.5 million pills of drug, tramadol, used by Islamist fighters.

Tramadol is a synthetic opioid-like drug used as a painkiller.

The cargo, which was heading for Libya, had come from India.

According to media reports, the pills were to be sold to Islamic State terrorists in Libya to give them greater resilience.

The 37 million tramadol pills, worth USD 75 million, were found packed into three containers at the port of Genoa, labelled as blankets and shampoo and set to be loaded on a freighter bound for Misrata and Tobruk in Libya, news agency PTI quoted The Times as saying.

"ISIS is making a fortune from this traffic, giving it to its fighters to make them feel no pain," the British newspaper quoted an Italian investigator as saying.

The Italian Police said the consignment had come from India and would have been used for two purposes: to help finance Islamist terrorism and for use by jihadist fighters as a stimulant and to heighten resistance to physical stress, the BBC reported.

Boko Haram, the Nigerian terror group, is said to feed child soldiers dates stuffed with tramadol before sending them on missions.

ISIS is already known for feeding its fighters Captagon, an amphetamine that blocks hunger, fear and fatigue.

Italian investigators traced the tramadol shipment to an Indian pharmaceuticals company, which allegedly sold the pills for USD 250,000 to a Dubai-based importer, which then shipped them from India to Sri Lanka where they disappeared from the freighter's documents, the report said.

The tramadol pills would sell for two dollars each in Libya, said the investigator.

Last year, police at the Greek port of Piraeus found a container carrying 26 million tramadol tablets, originally from India and allegedly destined for a Libyan company with ties to ISIS, the report said.

(With Agency inputs)
Sverdlovsk Oblast: A Russian court on Thursday convicted a video blogger of inciting hatred against believers by posting videos online showing him chasing Pokemons in a church, giving him a suspended sentence.

Ruslan Sokolovsky, a militant atheist who posted the videos on his YouTube channel, was detained in August 2016 and spent nine months in jail and under house arrest.



His case, heard in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, highlighted the role of the powerful Orthodox Church and sparked comparisons with the scandalous case that saw members of the Pussy Riot punk group sent to prison for a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral in 2012.



Sokolovsky, who was born in 1994, was accused of "blasphemy" by the Church after he filmed himself in Yekaterinburg`s famous Church on the Blood zapping Pokemons on his smartphone and swearing, as well as saying Pokemons were easier to find there than Jesus.



Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak convicted him on three charges, including inciting hatred and violating believers` rights.



"Aggregating all offences, the court sentences (Sokolovsky) to three years and six months of prison. The punishment is suspended, with a probationary period of three years," Shoponyak said in a packed courtroom.



The court agreed with the prosecution that a number of videos on Sokolovsky`s channel hurt the feelings of religious people and incited hatred against them by comparing Jesus Christ to a zombie, saying that God does not exist and arguing that Russia is an obscurantist country.



His statements "confuse citizens" and are "disrespectful of society," Shoponyak said during the three-hour-long verdict.



"These actions are extremist actions," she said of his video postings.



The decision to give Sokolovsky a suspended sentence and free him from house arrest, where he had been currently held, were met with claps and sighs of relief in the courtroom.



"I thought I would die and not see him again," his mother said after the hearing. "Thank you everybody."



Sokolovsky during the trial pleaded not guilty and refused to testify.



In a passionate final statement, he said he is "an atheist, a cosmopolitan and a libertarian" and did not want to prevent anyone from practising their religion.



Amnesty International called him a prisoner of conscience and had urged Russia to release him.
Seoul: Chinese President Xi Jinping called his new South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Thursday to congratulate him on his inauguration, the first time such a call has been made from Beijing to Seoul and one that raises the prospect of a thaw in relations between the Asian neighbors.

Chinese leaders don't often make congratulatory telephone calls to new foreign leaders right after they take office, normally sending envoys days or weeks later carrying personal letters instead.

The call to Moon took place just a day after he took office and comes amid increased regional tensions over North Korea as well as the deployment of a US missile-defense shield in South Korea.

Moon told Xi during the 40-minute call that he plans to send a special delegation to Beijing for talks on both topics, Moon's office said in a statement.

China has been upset by the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system that was approved by Moon's conservative predecessor as a hedge against North Korea, placing Seoul in a difficult spot between its closest military ally in Washington and its largest trading partner in Beijing.

China has already taken commercial retaliation against South Korean business interests on its soil, but will be hoping Moon follows through on his campaign pledge to review the missile system's deployment if elected. Beijing sees the system as a threat to its own security.

During Thursday's call, Xi reaffirmed China's opposition to the THAAD deployment, Moon's office said. Moon responded that he's aware of China's concerns and asked Xi to help resolve the difficulties facing South Korean businesses in China, it said.

Moon told Xi that it would be easier to settle the missile-defense issue if North Korea wasn't engaging in provocations, the statement said.

Moon said he hopes to meet Xi at an early date and Xi formally invited Moon to visit Beijing, it said. While Moon may try to soothe Chinese anger over the missile-defense system, many observers say it appears too late to call for its withdrawal, which would greatly undermine South Korea's relationship with Washington.

Given that, the prospect for improved ties between Seoul and Beijing isn't clear, with some saying China won't back down until it gets a major concession on the system's deployment and others saying China is also eager for improved ties and will settle for less as long as it can save face on the missile-defense issue.

Moon's conversation with Xi came a day after he spoke with President Donald Trump, who in the phone call congratulated Moon on his election win and invited him to visit the White House. The two leaders also agreed to strengthen their alliance, the White House said.

While taking the oath of office Wednesday, Moon said he's open to visiting North Korea under the right conditions. Conservative critics have worried Moon's rise to power might cause a friction with Trump, who wants to increase pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's largest trading partner and aid benefactor.

Moon also received similar congratulatory calls from Japanese and Indian leaders on Thursday.

During his call with Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, the two leaders agreed that their countries must not let their difficult history hamper co-operation in dealing with North Korea's nuclear programme, Moon's office said.

The call also touched on a controversial 2015 agreement over compensating South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military in World War II, Moon's office said. It said Moon told Abe that it was emotionally difficult for South Koreans to accept the agreement.

It wasn't clear whether Moon used the conversation to call for a renegotiation of the deal. He had promised during his campaign to renegotiate it.

Japanese officials have described the call as "positive and meaningful," with the two agreeing to cooperate closely to deal with North Korea.
Beijing: At least two primary school students were drowned and four others missing after they went for a swim in a river in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, police said on Thursday.

The students, who were from Qingshuikou Township Central Primary School in Beiliu City, went for swimming after school yesterday.

Frogmen aided the search overnight and found the two bodies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The city government have asked schools to warn students of the dangers of strong river currents.
Washington: The director of national intelligence says Russia and other countries, including China, North Korea and Iran, are using cyberspace to target US and its allies, and will do so in future.

The Senate intelligence committee is holding a hearing on worldwide threats, and intelligence director Dan Coats says Russia is a threat to US government, military, diplomatic, business and critical infrastructure.

Coats says Iran also is making use of its high-tech capabilities. In 2013, an Iranian hacker intruded into the industrial control system of an American dam. In 2014, there was a data-deletion attack against a US-based casino.

Coats says China is targeting the US government and American businesses. He says such activity has diminished since US-China cyber commitments in 2015.

Coats' comments are coming in his prepared remarks.
Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, the Norinchukin Bank and Sumitomo Corporation all contributed to the round.

Farmnotes wearable device, the Farmnote Color, is attached to the animals head and gathers information about each animals activity in real time. Through its analytical software platform, Farmnote then sends farmers alerts to their mobile phones such as when cattle are unwell, ovulating, or giving birth. It is suitable for both dairy cows and beef cattle.

Farmers can also integrate their own information about their cattle into the program to improve the analytics on each cow in the herd.

Sales of Farmnote Color grew nearly 30 times in three years to 1,600 farms for 160,000 heads of cattle, according to a press release.

The startup aims to use the funding for further R&D but also to expand overseas, and it will leverage its partnership with Sumitomo Corp to do so, according to a press release.

Farmnote will also work with Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations and NTT DOCOMO, the leading mobile phone operator in Japan, to distribute the technology domestically.

Farmnote is one of very few agtech startups focused on the livestock industry in Japan, although the dairy and beef industry in Japan is valued over $10 billion, according to some estimates.

Sumitomo came across the startup when looking for technologies to distribute in Brazil through its new trading partner Agro Amazonia, in which it acquired a majority stake in 2015.

Agro Amazonia is a retailer of agricultural and livestock inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, and veterinary products and Sumitomo saw this acquisition as a great opportunity to channel some new agtech products to Agro Amazonia customers, according to Kaoru Hosoda, who works in the agricultural science department of Sumitomo.

There were not many similar startup companies offering technology like this to the livestock industry as most are focusing on crops instead, he told AgFunderNews. Sumitomo has a global network of over 100 countries so we will be able to deliver Farmnote to every country, not just Brazil.

Farmnote was founded by Kobayashi-san, who was born in Hokkaido to a livestock farming family, but studied and worked in IT for many years. He later came back to farming and decided to launch a product to help the industry manage its operations with data capture and analytics. Kobayashi hopes to increase farmer revenues through the use of IoT.

He tried to make products to solve farmer painpoints and held several meetings to ensure he was doing so, said Hosoda. He believes there are many agtech products out there that do not understand what farmers want.

There are a few other animal wearable startups in the agtech space globally today including BovControl out of Brazil, Moocall from Ireland, Agersens in Australia, Cowlar from the US, and Connectera from the Netherlands.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Polands Armenian community is one of the unique manifestations of the Armenian Diaspora, with its rich history and important roles in Polands life. Armenians live in Poland for more than 650 years. The 650th anniversary which is marked by the community this year, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between Armenia and Poland, relates to the granting of exclusive privileges to Bishop Grigor of the Armenian Apostolic Church by one of the prominent kings of Polands history  Casimir the Great, Armenias Ambassador to Poland H.E. Edgar Ghazaryan told ARMENPRESS, speaking on the role of the Armenian community in Poland.

By the way, this isnt the only privilege that the Polish authorities granted to the Armenians. Armenians had the privilege of having a separate autonomy in Poland, a separate court operating in Armenian language with Mkhitar Goshs Code of Laws etc. And in terms of what role Armenians had in the history of Poland, I believe it was wonderfully presented by President of Poland Andrzej Duda, who hosted a special reception on March 29 in the Presidential Palace in honor of the Armenian community on the 650th anniversary, the Ambassador said.

Various sources mention 40,000-45,000 Armenians living in Poland. This number not only includes the descendants of Armenians who lived for centuries in Poland, but also Armenians who arrived in the country in the past 20-25 years.

Namely after the collapse of the USSR tens of thousands of Armenians arrived in Poland and were actively engaged especially in the trading business. In the future the majority of them repatriated to Armenia or traveled to other countries, while a significant other part continues to live and work in Poland.

They are mostly engaged in trade and entrepreneurship activities. There are also many renowned public, arts, cultural figures who have established themselves in the Polish society.

One cant not mention Jadwiga Zarugevichova from historic figures of Armenian descent, who is considered the symbolic Mother of the unknown soldier of Poland, or Gjegoj Piramovich (Grigor Pirumyan), who is one of the authors of Polands Constitution (first minister of education of the first republic of Poland), Theodor Aksentovich  renowned painter, the former rector of Krakows academy of arts and others. There are also present day famous figures of Armenian descent in Poland. One of the common prides of the Armenian and Polish peoples in world famous composer and conductor, maestro Krzysztof Penderecki, who has Armenian roots, or renowned clergyman and writer Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, famous TV reporter Robert Maklovich and others, he said.

In cooperation with Polish authorities and partner organizations, as well as Armenian organizations of Poland, the Armenian Embassy has organized more than two dozen events on the 650th anniversary of the privilege granting to the Armenian community, as well as the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between Armenia and Poland.

According to the Ambassador, this years most important event was the reception in the Presidential Palace, which had great historic significance.

In terms of cultural events, the biggest event so far was the Armenian Youth Orchestras concerts in Warsaw and Lublin, within the framework of the Beethoven international music festival. Armenian Days are being organized in various cities across Poland, as well as concerts, exhibitions, forums etc. On May 8, 2017, the ministry of Diaspora of Armenia and the Armenian Embassy in Poland jointly organized the 2nd annual forum of Polands Armenians, the Ambassador said.

5 forums dedicated to the history of the Armenian community of Poland are scheduled to take place in 2017 in the country.

A similar event entitled Armenian Diasporas Art has already been held in Warsaw.

Overall, more than 50 various anniversary events are planned to take place in 2017 in Armenia and Poland.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. On behalf of the Government Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan thanked Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan for the joint and productive work and wished her good luck, reports Armenpress.

We want that the effectiveness she demonstrated while working in the Government will show in the Parliament as well, the PM said at the end of the Government session.

In her turn Arpine Hovhannisyan thanked the PM and her colleagues and wished them a productive work.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. US will provide 1.44 million USD to Armenia for the development of energy field, reports Armenpress.

Armenias Government approved signing the N10 amendment of the agreement on Assistance on more competitive and diversified private sector between the Governments of the Republic of Armenia and the United States of America.

Suren Karayan, Minister of Economic Development and Investments, said the resources will be allocated by the USAID within the frames of private sector competitiveness development program.

Under the program, 61.1 million USD has already been allocated to the Government, and due to the provision of new resources, this number will reach 62 million 578 thousand USD.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia approved the proposal to sign technical-economic cooperation with the Government of China, reports Armenpress.

During the Government session on May 11, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said within the frames of the agreement the Chinese side will provide 100-million-yuan relief fund for the purchase of ambulances, as well as for the discussion and implementation of other programs.

Through these funds 200 ambulances will be provided to Armenia which will enable to completely meet the Republics demand, the FM said.

The vehicles will be imported to Armenia in autumn.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. As result of the state revenue committees efforts, the identities of smugglers of Azerbaijani apples to Armenia, and their accomplices in the customs checkpoints have been revealed, head of the state revenue committee Vardan Harutyunyan told a press conference on May 11.

The occurrence is very bad, I treat this occurrence very negatively. As result of our actions the smugglers and their accomplices have been revealed. Currently the case is under the proceedings of the investigative committee. Since its under investigation, allow me to refrain from releasing any names. The investigative committee made a statement yesterday in terms of how many people have been arrested and the damages, Harutyunyan said.

He added that in the stage of clearing the system, there still are some people who dont understand that its time to change and refrain from this kind of misconduct.

I feel our share of guilt in this, but I repeat that it is due to our efforts that the smugglers were identified. The bribed customs officers arent the only ones who have a share of guilt, but also the briber, smuggler, and seller of those apples. We have our share of guilt, and I announce that these people will be punished, Harutyunyan said.

Harutyunyan vowed to fight against corruption occurrences.

As result of an investigation of the national security service for uncovering how Azerbaijani apples were imported to the Armenian market, authorities launched a criminal case on tax evasion and smuggling.

Law enforcement agencies revealed that a group of Armenian citizens were engaged in smuggling agricultural products, including the apples of Azerbaijani origin, into Armenia via Georgian territory.

The products have been smuggled, i.e. without customs control. The smugglers had bribed customs officers for clearance.

In addition, the state revenue committee discovered that another group of citizens have acquired those Azerbaijani apples and sold them in the Armenian market.

Authorities also revealed that several customs officials of the Bagratashen checkpoint have regularly received bribes from illegitimate businessmen from December, 2016 to April 2017, for smuggling fruits and vegetables through the Armenian border.

The SRC launched a criminal case for both the bribery case and the illegitimate business operations.

The investigation has been assigned to the special investigative service, since the criminal proceedings are related to crimes committed by law enforcement officers.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Ruben Melikyan raised the issue of Ramil Safarovs extradition in Budapest, the Ombudsmans Office told Armenpress.

Melikyan highlighted its causal link with the atrocities carried out by the Azerbaijani forces during the April war. In particular, the Ombudsman said Safarovs glorification was accompanied by the state encouragement to make his crime exemplary for the Azerbaijani youth which was also demonstrated in April 2016. Artsakh remembers the thousands of citizens of Hungary who voiced their complaint against the decision to extradite Safarov, the Ombudsman said.

Melikyan arrived in Hungary to take part in the international conference of Victims of armed conflicts at the juncture of international humanitarian law and human rights law. The conference has been organized by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and Switzerland.

During the visit the Artsakh Ombudsman had meetings with leadership of the Armenian autonomy in Hungary, the Armenian community members and etc.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Government plans in 2017 to double the number of tourists visiting Armenia, Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, President of the State Tourism Committee, told reporters after the Cabinet meeting on May 11, reports Armenpress.

She added that in the first quarter of this year the number of tourists visited Armenia increased by 18.23%, which, according to her, is an unprecedented figure.

It sounds very ambitious, but we aim to double the number of tourists until the end of this year. In this sense we carry out significant work especially in neighboring states, in Iran, Russia. I think we will have higher growth in April which we will compare with April 2015, since in April 2016 due to the four-day war we recorded a decline in the field, Zeytuntsyan said.

She informed that this year the largest number of tourists came from Iran, Russia, France and China. In March 23% growth in arrival of tourists from Iran was registered.

In 2016, 1 million 250 thousand tourists arrived in Armenia.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The firing at the crew of Shant TV in the northern part of Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line is another proof that Azerbaijan does not abandon its traditional policy of aggravation of the situation and escalation of tensions on the Line of Contact.

As Armenpress was iformed from the press service of MFA Artsakh, Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh Artsak Nersisyan told Tert.am about this commenting on the incident. He particularly said, This incident is another proof that Azerbaijan does not abandon its traditional policy of aggravation of the situation and escalation of tensions on the Line of Contact.

What has happened reaffirms the importance of the immediate implementation of the agreements reached at the Summits in Vienna, May 16, 2016, and St. Petersburg, June 20, 2016, aimed at the stabilization of the situation on the Line of Contact.

On May 10, around 18:00, in the interspace of Defense Armys military positions stationed in the northern direction, Shant TV cameraman Davit Atoyan, who was on a working trip in the positions to film, was wounded by Azerbaijani gunfire. He was hospitalized and receives treatment for the gunshot wound.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. 14th annual South Caucasus Media Conference on "fake news", disinformation and freedom of the media took place in Tbilisi on May 10-11 organized by the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media.

Armenpress reports Azerbaijani MFA Spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev was among the speakers of the 2nd-day session themed Approaches on responding to disinformation and propaganda. The latter, entirely deviating from the topic of the session, referred to Nagorno Karabakh conflict reiterating all the traditional formulations. He spoke about the propaganda conducted by Armenia and Armenian lobby against Azerbaijan, saying that the Armenian side refutes the fact of the occupation, presents Nagorno Karabakh issue as a demonstration of implementation of self-determination, refutes the Azerbaijani history at the same time allegedly exterminating any Azerbaijani trace in the region. Hajiyev also referred to various responds criticizing Azerbaijan over Lapshins case, trying to present them as the result of Armenian propaganda.

Hajiyev particularly complained of the Armenian lobby, noting that the latter directs its resources at discrediting Azerbaijans reputation in international media (Washington post, The Guardian etc.). As an example Hajiyev referred to the anti-Azerbaijani articles published in leading news outlets ahead the European games, stressing that those media outlets refused to publish the Azerbaijani respond that presented its opinion on various issues.

The Armenian representatives at the Conference responded to Hajiyevs remarks, noting that though he had mentioned at the beginning of his speech that he will not present the positions of the Azerbaijani government, he repeated those positions point by point. It was stated that anti-Armenian propaganda is conducted in Azerbaijan, while the Azerbaijani president declares the entire Armenian people his number 1 enemy.

As refers to the conflict, the Armenian representatives noted that the conflict is around the right of self-determination  The people of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) has the right to self-determination and has already expressed its free will, but its another question that Azerbaijan does not want to accept that fact. And this is not disinformation but evidence-based reality.

Referring to Lapshins case, the Armenian representatives noted that Foreign Ministry of Armenia has expressed its official position on the issue, adding that the given case is another step by Azerbaijan to oppress freedom of speech.

Referring to Hajiyevs claims over Azerbaijani historical-cultural monuments in Artsakh, the Armenian representatives assessed them as groundless, advising to read the works of Armenian archeologist S. Karapetyan on Azerbaijani monuments in Artsakh, as well as the efforts to preserve and reconstruct them. Instead, everyone is well aware of the fate of Armenian monuments in Azerbaijan (The destruction of the Armenian cemetery in Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan).

At the same time the Armenian representatives urged the Azerbaijani side not to turn the conference into a platform of anti-Armenian propaganda and to focus on the discussion of the topic of the conference.

Interestingly, Hajiyevs fiery speech was also criticized by the moderator of the session, who interrupting Hajiyevs speech, advised him not to deviate from the topic of the session and speak about the methods of struggling against disinformation.

Hajiyev also raised the issue of creating fake websites and accounts by Armenians, particularly pointing out the incident with Haqqin.az website. In this context expert Danny Burns (Regional director of the institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety) referred to Hajiyevs fierce protection of Haqqin.az website when the latter is famous for spreading disinformation.

The discussions were active also on the first day of the conference, during which one of the Azerbaijani journalists announced that the access to some special areas and zones for journalists, as well as information on them is limited and no information is available except the official position. Responding that announcement, the Azerbaijani MFA spokesperson noted that one should not complain of such limitations, since these limitations are imposed for the safety of the journalists. At the same time Hajiyev tried to justify all these limitations by the traditional approaches of the Azerbaijani propaganda machine  there is conflict and occupied territories.

In response, the representative of MFA Armenia stressed that in contrast to the policy of the Azerbaijani authorities limiting the activities of news outlets, the authorities of Artsakh did not impose any form of limitation on local or international media during the large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in April, 2016. At the same time it was mentioned that all the possible conditions were created back then for the free and smooth functioning of media, so as they could get acquainted with the situation on site, but not through the eyes of the government.

During the discussions of the proposals and recommendations Hajiyev and the Azerbaijani delegation tried to encompass a point in the text of the document that would oblige foreign reporters to receive permit from the Azerbaijani authorities for visiting Artsakh, but thanks to the efforts of the Armenian delegation the attempts was foiled.
LONDONThe U.K. Parliament on April 27 passed what has now become known as the Digital Economy Act 2017, which among other regulations requires that adult sites put age verification barriers into place and completely bans "extreme porn."

In order to enforce the age verification requirement, the act calls for an "age-verification regulator" to be established which will be granted the power to levy fines of up to 250,000 ($323,000) or 5 percent of revenue against non-complying sites. While Engadget.com speculates that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will likely assume this role, the International Business Times points out that whatever agency does will face one major stumbling block in its tasked duty: "There is no agreed upon way to verify an individual visitor's age."

Meanwhile, all adult material is henceforth prohibited within the U.K., IBT reports, that "depicts rape, sexual acts that may lead to harm or death, and other forms of violent sex acts."

IBT goes on to say that the act "was rushed through Parliament without much discussion to pass it before the general election, set for June 8."

Pornhub, for one, has decried the act as an ineffective overstepping of governmental bounds. In a statement posted by TheNextWeb.com, Pornhub vice president Corey Price asserted, "It is our corporate responsibility as part of the global tech community to promote ethical and responsible behavior. We firmly believe that parents are best placed to police their children's online activity using the plethora of tools already available in modern operating systems. The law has potential to send a message to parents that they no longer need to monitor their children's online activity, so it is therefore essential that the Act is robustly enforced.

"Despite the law, those seeking adult content can still circumvent age verification using simple proxy/VPN services. Consequently the intent of the legislation is to only protect children who stumble across adult content in an un-protected environment. There are over 4 million domains containing adult content, and unless sites are enforced against equally, stumbling across adult content will be no harder than at present. If the regulator pursues a 'proportionate' approach we may only see the 'Top 50' sites being affectedthis is wholly unacceptable as the law will then be completely ineffective, and simply disciminate against compliant sites. We are therefore informing, and closely monitoring the development of the regulations, to be published later this year, to see if they achieve the intended goals of the Act."
LOS ANGELESNow that the concept (and novel and movie) Fifty Shades of Grey has gone way mainstream, there seems to be a new fan of bondage in Hollywood: Self-proclaimed momager to the Kardashian and Jenner siblings, Kris Jenner, has been trying out some bondage toysand her experimentation is open for all the world to see in the latest episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

The episode, which aired last week on E!, featured a segment where Kris Jenner informs Scott Disick that he looks similar to Fifty Shades of Greys leading man, Christian Grey. Jenner then pulls out wrist ties from Lovehoney's Fifty Shades Official Pleasure Collection and proceeds to tie Scotts wrists together.

The award-winning Fifty Shades of GreyThe Official Pleasure Collection is the only pleasure collection that was officially endorsed by Fifty Shades author E. L. James. James worked closely with "the sexual happiness people" at Lovehoney to create the sex toys and bondage products she describes in her best-selling books.

"We are thrilled Kris Jenner was filmed trying out Lovehoneys Fifty Shades of GreyThe Official Pleasure Collection range," said Lovehoney co-founder Neal Slateford. "Fifty Shades introduced millions of women to the wonders of bondageit seems that Kris is another convert!"

Lovehoney has sold millions of units of Fifty Shades of Grey products since it secured the rights to manufacture the only officially licensed ranges in 2012. In 2016, Lovehoney heralded the launch of the second range of pleasure products in the Fifty Shades of Grey range, Fifty Shades DarkerThe Official Pleasure Collection. They will also be launching another collection later this year designed with E. L. James, based on the third book in the trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed.

For more information on the collection, please visit LoveHoneyTrade.com or email [email protected].
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.
Yesterdays' "morning shine" did not last long at the rabbit patch. By mid-morning, clouds covered the land making the chilly breeze almost cold. It was that kind of day when the sunlight is muted and showers are likely at any given moment.I finished the kitchen floor and finally the kitchen can be used fully. We can walk where and when we please-even the cats. With the showers yesterday, the roof did not get fixed, but at least, it did not leak. The rabbit patch property remains in a poor condition. There is a good day of work there, to be reckoned with, but the flowers grow as if they do not take notice of the condition. They seem as happy as a lark, on a Sunday morning. I noticed yesterday that the foxglove is blooming down side one of the barns, and so are the wild privets along the edge of the young woods. Behind the oldest barn, there is a small orchard of sorts, and beyond that are the fields of clary sage. What a sight to behold when the sage is blooming, as it is now. Looking at acres of lavender, white and purple spiked blossoms acts like a tonic, for me. It always makes me want to pray , too. Today, while the sun shines, I will "go to Church" out behind the grapevines and apple trees.Mama and Daddy are still in Ocracoke, so instead of "Sunday Dinner", I am having "Sunday Supper". Jo Dee and her son, Joehn are coming for roast beef and potatoes, green beans and cornbread. I will probably make a yellow layer cake with old fashioned "hard icing" for dessert. It will be easy work to gather a bouquet of flowers today, for the centerpiece-"pickings are not slim", in May.In spite, of all the chores that demanded my attention, the extra day in the weekend allowed me the chance to read, rest and write. I even watched an old black and white movie. Those are my favorites. I had never seen "Rabbit Trap", but I will watch it again. . It was a simple plot, a father worked all of the time for a money-hungry boss. Finally, he was allowed a vacation and rented a cabin with his wife and young son. He and his son set a rabbit trap with hopes of taming a wild bunny. The boss interrupted the vacation, and the family left in haste, forgetting the trap. I will not tell the ending, but it touched me deeply-so much that it set me to wondering.We tend to set "great store" on finding our purpose. We worry that we may miss the mark-or we await with lofty notions that at some point "the secret" will be revealed. Surely, we must not blink, or we may miss it altogether. I wonder . . .what if, the purpose is to simply "live our truth" to "stand up, in our truth". Somehow, this makes sense to me. I do not think in my older age, that there has to be some great mysterious reason for our life. It makes less sense, that our purpose would be "shrouded" or tucked away in some far corner of the earth. Maybe, our purpose changes, depending on the circumstances we face at the moment.I will wonder some more about this-later when I stand beholding the fields of clary sage, behind the barn on the rabbit patch. A lot sure can happen in three days in May.
5 Causes of Nursing Home Resident Anxiety Unfortunately, for many reasons anxiety happens more often by long-term care residents than by those who live in
Unnamed "officials briefed on the matter" told Reuters that the Trump administration is planning to ban travelers from bringing their laptops  and possibly tablets  in their hand-luggage on flights from Europe, expanding an existing ban that covers 10 middle-eastern airports.



I have personally seen reliable reports of US-bound travelers from Istanbul being surprised at the gate with a command to put their laptops into padded envelopes that were transferred to a hardsided suitcase that was placed in the baggage hold for the flight. This system was reportedly chaotic and ad-hoc.

The UK is reportedly considering a reciprocal rule that would ban laptops in the cabin for flights from the US to the UK. Naturally, other European nations may follow suit.

The rule is reportedly prompted by the difficulty of distinguishing plastic explosives from other components in electronic devices using an X-ray machine. But this explanation is baffling: a plastic explosive is every bit as dangerous in the hold of an airplane as it is in the cabin. What's more, placing a plastic-explosive charge in a hardsided case densely packed with lithium-battery-equipped devices seems an especially dangerous measure.

When the earlier ban on laptops in the cabin on middle-eastern-originated flights was announced, officials suggested that they were operating on specific intelligence about bombs that could only be activated with manual controls, but again, if this were the case, we could expect attackers to change tactics and switch to timers or other remote detonation techniques.





Travelers to and from affected airports will now face the risk of having their laptops and tablets stolen, having their confidential data leaked (on the bright side, it's hard to imagine a measure more effective at spurring the adoption of full-disk encryption) and having their devices broken.

Given the history of this kind of shitty security thinking, I will now make a prediction: within a year, there will be a "trusted traveler" program that lets well-off people submit to a background check and pay a fee, and in exchange get the right to bring their laptops onto planes. This will defuse the pressure from politically influential businesspeople to reform the situation, allowing it to get much, much worse for infrequent travelers without triggering any meaningful political blowback. What's more, "trusted traveler" will be awarded gratis to people who hold elite flier status or qualify for exclusive credit cards like the Amex Platinum card, as a "bonus."

I also predict that five years from today, some version of this policy will still be in place.

(I hope I'm wrong!)

I also predict a surge in the use of Chromebooks  whose data will not be automatically vulnerable to extraction if they go missing en route  as well as tamper-evident seals on USB ports and laptop screws, and increased demand for easily removable hard-drives (I certainly plan on yanking my hard drive before my next transatlantic flight).



One issue under discussion is how to ensure that lithium batteries in any large collection of devices stored in airplane holds do not explode in midair, officials told Reuters. European regulators have warned placing what could be potentially hundreds of devices in the hold on long-haul flights could compromise safety by increasing the risk of fire from poorly deactivated lithium-ion batteries. Peter Goelz, a former managing director at the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States, said a significant expansion of the in-cabin ban on larger electronics "is going to represent a major logistical problem for airlines."



U.S. likely to expand airline laptop ban to Europe: government officials [Mark Hosenball and David Shepardson/Reuters]
elon musk solar roof

Tesla is officially accepting orders for some of its solar roof tiles Wednesday afternoon, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter.

Tesla will begin selling two of its four solar shingle options starting Wednesday afternoon: the smooth glass and textured glass tiles.

Tesla solar glass roof orders open this afternoon. I think it will be great. More in about 10 hours ...  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2017

@chriscardinal Black glass smooth and textured will be first. Tuscan and French Slate in about six months.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2017

Tesla's French slate and Tuscan glass tile options, however, won't be made available until 2018.

Tesla unveiled its solar roof product last October, a month before it acquired SolarCity in a deal worth $2.1 billion. At the time, Musk said Tesla was offering four different tile aesthetics to encourage customers to ditch clunky solar panels for a beautiful roof.

"First of all, Ive never seen a solar roof that I would actually want  they're weird," Musk said in November. "Every one of them that Ive seen is worse than a normal roof, without exception. So unless youre going to beat a roof on aesthetics, why bother?"

The company has partnered with Panasonic to produce the shingles' solar cells at its plant in Buffalo, New York.

Musk said installations will begin in the US this year, but that deliveries and installations won't occur in the UK and Australia until next year.

Wednesday's order rollout will mark the first time customers can get a glimpse at the expected cost of Tesla's solar roof, which Musk has said will be cheaper than a normal roof, even before factoring in the value of generating electricity.

Correction: Two solar glass options can be ordered starting Wednesday afternoon, not one.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: Tesla will begin selling its Solar Roof this year  here's everything you need to know





More From Business Insider


Air Canada cannot use construction at Toronto's Pearson airport as an excuse for forcing a 15-year-old boy to spend a long, scary night alone, says the boy's mother.

Derrin Espinola was flying alone on May 1 from Denver to Thunder Bay, with a stopover in Toronto, when a flight delay leaving Denver caused the teen to miss his connecting flight.

Espinola said that when he arrived in Toronto around 8 p.m., Air Canada rebooked him on a flight to Thunder Bay the following day, at 6 p.m., but did not offer him any accommodation or vouchers for food.

"I was trapped in the airport and there was nowhere I could go. I could not leave. I could not get a hotel, because I am a minor," Espinola told CBC News in an interview a week after his long, lonely night. "It was like being held prisoner."

An Air Canada spokesperson said in a written statement that the company was "truly sorry" to learn of Espinola's experience.

The statement pointed to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority's runway construction project as the cause of the delays, "which was exacerbated in this case by adverse weather." It said the airline's preparations included reserving hotel rooms and having "a service provider for chaperoning minors staying at hotel on standby."

"We had dedicated teams of customer service managers and agents actively combing passenger lines and at service desks to provide the appropriate arrangements and respond to customers' questions."

Air Canada's statement doesn't explain why Espinola was not looked after.

'Very tired, very scared'

The teen said he spent part of the night running between Air Canada service desks explaining that he was a minor and needed help. When none was offered, he did his best to stay alert and awake for fear he would be robbed if he let his guard down.

"I was very hungry, very tired, very scared," Espinola said. "I didn't know really what was going to happen to me."

Story continues

Meanwhile, his mother, Karin Patock, said she spent 10 hours on the phone, trying to get through to Air Canada and make arrangements for her son.

Airline policy promises help

Patock said she purposely booked with Air Canada from Denver through to Thunder Bay, trusting the airline would live up to the policy about flight delays stated on its website: "Youths travelling alone (ages 12 to 17)  will be taken care of by our agents. We will also arrange for accommodations, meals and transportation if needed."

Air Canada knew that a three-hour flight delay in a departure would cause her son to miss his connecting flight, but did not make any contingency plans for him, Patock said.

Instead, she said, the airline "rebooked him like any other person, into the next day with no thought what's going to happen to him when he lands in Toronto in one of the biggest airports in Canada, all by himself."

Patock was making the three-hour drive from her home in Geraldton, Ont., to pick up her son in Thunder Bay when the events started to unfold.

'Unacceptable'

Phone calls to Air Canada got a message, "basically saying 'the airport is under construction and we cannot accommodate anyone right now, so call back later,'" she said. "To me that is unacceptable"

Air Canada must have known back in January when she booked her son's ticket that the construction at Pearson would cause delays, Patock said, and if they'd warned her, Espinola could have connected through Winnipeg instead.

In the end, the family intervened and booked the teen a flight, at their own cost, on another airline, Patock said.

It was to save him from spending another night alone in Toronto, after the May 2 flight he'd been booked on was cancelled and Espinola was rebooked, a second time, on an Air Canada flight departing May 3.

Patock has filed a complaint with Air Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency in hopes of preventing any other teen from going through what her son did.

"It has been a challenge with the ongoing runway construction at Toronto Pearson, which was also compounded by severe weather conditions last week in the Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa and surrounding areas, including recent adverse conditions in Thunder Bay," a spokesperson for Air Canada wrote in an email in response to questions from CBC News.

The airline said it is looking into what happened with Espinola's flight and will be "reaching out to the family."

Correction : An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the family filed a complaint with the Canada Transportation Safety Board. In fact, the family filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.(May 10, 2017 8:30 AM)
Canadian embroiled in Belize murder investigation says Ontario woman was 'very good friend'

A Canadian detained in Belize earlier this week in connection with the death of an Ontario woman and her American boyfriend has been charged with robbery, police in the Central American country say.

Const. Ricardo Cal told CBC Toronto on Friday the man remains a person of interest in what police have deemed a murder investigation, but had been transferred from custody of police in Corozal to the coastal resort town of Placencia, 297 kilometres away.

The bodies of Francesca Matus, 52, and U.S. citizen Drew De Voursney, 36, were found in a sugarcane field outside Corozal, where the two lived, nearly one week ago.

Police have said the couple's wrists were duct taped and the bodies were badly decomposed. Both were strangled, an autopsy found.

On Thursday, news emerged that the Canadian had been detained as part of the investigation.

CBC Toronto has confirmed that man's name is John Deshaies. He was a tenant of Matus's in Belize, her family says.

Asked if he had any involvement in Matus's death, Deshaies told local media outlet 7News Belize he believed he was wrongly accused.

"Not at all. She's a very good friend of mine. Absolutely not," he said.

Couple reported missing one day before Matus set to fly to Canada

Matus and De Voursney were reported missing after leaving a bar in the coastal town of Corozal on the night of April 25  one day before Matus, a mother of two, was scheduled to fly back to Canada.

But when a friend went to Matus's home in Belize to drive her to the airport, she was nowhere to be found.

"When I arrived there to pick her up, the gate was closed and the car was gone," Joe Milholen told CBC Toronto on Saturday.

That prompted nearly a week of anxiety for Matus's family, who had been holding out hope she would be found alive.

On Sunday, police found Matus's SUV, a white Isuzu Rodeo, abandoned in a field about six kilometres outside of town.

'Shocked,' 'sickened'

Story continues

"Shocked  sickened  devastated are just a few words that come to mind," Ivana Pucci, Matus's cousin, said via Facebook Messenger when asked how the family was coping on Monday.

According to family, Matus was originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and lived in Markham before moving recently to Keswick, Ont., north of Toronto. She worked as a property manager and had two adult sons.

Described as a "snowbird," Matus spent winters in Belize and owned a beach property in Corozal. "She absolutely loved it," Pucci said.

De Voursney was a former Marine from the Atlanta area, according U.S. media reports.

The Canadian government has said it is assisting both the families of the Canadian detained and of Matus.

In a statement, Global Affairs spokesperson Austin Jean said consular officials "remain in regular contact with local authorities to gather additional information," but would not provide further information citing privacy considerations.
By James Pearson and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - Like many other Americans who came to teach at the foreign-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), Kim Hak Song was a Christian missionary who raised money from a church to come to North Korea. Kim had been running PUST's experimental farm before he was detained on Saturday, traveling by train from Pyongyang to China's border town of Dandong, PUST's chancellor and co-founder Chan-mo Park told Reuters. The university, which is open about its Christian affiliation, says its sole mission is to help North Korea's future elite learn the skills to modernize the isolated country and engage with the outside world. Former teachers say the faculty is careful to avoid anything that looks like missionary work. The university attracts a steady stream of devout American Christians, despite North Korea's history of handing down long sentences with hard labor to missionaries accused of various transgressions. North Korea has in the past used detainees to extract concessions, including high-profile visits from the United States, which has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea. Chancellor Park said roughly 60 U.S. citizens come to PUST each semester, but now "there's less than that". North Korea's official news agency KCNA said Kim was detained for "hostile acts", without elaborating. Tony Kim, another professor who worked at PUST, was arrested two weeks earlier for a similar reason. On Thursday, KCNA said it was its sovereign right to "ruthlessly punish" U.S. citizens it has detained for crimes against the state, saying U.S. media's description of such arrests as a bargaining ploy was "pure ignorance". "Recent Americans detained are being interrogated by relevant legal authorities for criminal acts against the Republic," KCNA said, without mentioning the two men by name. "It is an exercise of the legitimate right of a sovereign state to deal with the criminals according to its law ... The DPRK will detect and frustrate every anti-DPRK plot of the dishonest hostile elements and ruthlessly punish the criminals and thus reliably defend its state and social system." DPRK is short for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. A spokesman for the university which opened in 2010, said the arrests of the two faculty members were "not connected in any way with the work of PUST". The detentions came amid tensions on the Korean peninsula over North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons in response to what it says is a threat of a U.S.-instigated war. The White House said on Monday the latest reported detentions were "concerning" and the State Department was working with the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to seek their release. (For a graphic on Americans detained by North Korea, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2r5xYpB) SETTING CHRISTIAN EXAMPLES Two years before he was detained, Kim Hak Song raised money for his trip to North Korea from members of the Korean-language Sao Paulo Oriental Mission church in Brazil, according to his post on the church's website. "I've committed to devoting my last drop of blood to this work," he wrote. Kim, a Chinese-Korean and naturalized U.S. citizen, had been doing missionary work in China before joining PUST, according to Korean-language church websites. Kim's detention makes him the fourth American in North Korean custody. (See Graphic: http://tmsnrt.rs/2pmE3ks) In March last year, North Korea sentenced U.S. college student Otto Warmbier to 15 years of hard labor for the alleged theft of a propaganda poster. South Korean-born Kim Dong Chul, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was convicted a month later and sentenced to 10 years hard labor  shortly after Washington levied more sanctions against Pyongyang in response to a missile test in February of that year. Founded by Korean-American evangelical Christian James Kim, PUST spends roughly $2 million annually on operating expenses, the school said in a statement. Much of it comes from the Korean diaspora in the United States, along with churches in South Korea and private foundations and philanthropists. PUST has 500 undergraduate students and 60 graduate students in mostly three departments - electronic and computer engineering, international finance and management and agriculture and life sciences. The school recruits many of its teachers from Korean churches and Christian colleges in the United States. Faculty receive no income or stipends from the university, but do get housing and cafeteria meals. PUST has a sister institution across the border in northern China called the Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST). Tony Kim, the first PUST faculty member to be detained, was listed as a professor of accounting at YUST on its website. He moved to PUST in 2006, four years before the university opened, to "take care of financial matters," according to the newsletter seen by Reuters, which was recruiting teachers for the school. PUST also recruits teachers via social media and at overseas universities and churches, via the YUST PUST Foundation, its U.S.-based charity arm according to the foundation's website, and former teachers. The foundation raised just over $1.1 million in 2015 and has brought in $4.5 million since 2011, according to tax filings. OPENING MINDS The recent detentions are not the first time teachers from the school have attracted unwanted attention. A 2014 memoir by Korean-American Suki Kim, compiled while she was an English professor at PUST, said the faculty was constantly monitored. Former PUST teachers said her account was exaggerated. "The reality is much softer and friendlier," one said. Not all PUST teachers are religious. Will Scott, a research fellow at the University of Michigan who taught at PUST in 2013 and 2015, told Reuters he felt welcome in the community despite being an atheist. "The foreigners would have a service on Sundays for themselves, but wouldn't talk about it around the students or in class," said Scott, who taught a software engineering class to PUST students. Most of the students have little access to outside information in the very closed society they live in. "You see students minds opening, world view expanding, curiosity rising and ethical aspects of life coming into the picture," said a former PUST teacher, who declined to be named. Abraham Kim is the executive director of the Chicago University Bible Fellowship, which donated $30,000 in 2013 to PUST's campaign to build a new medical school. He said that while the volunteers "can't directly preach the word of God, we can indirectly influence the people there by being good Christians". (Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang and Jack Kim in SEOUL, Joseph Ax and Angela Moon in NEW YORK, Alex Dobuzinskis in LOS ANGELES, Editing by Bill Tarrant, Soyoung Kim and Alison Williams)
WEDNESDAY, May 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- High blood pressure, elevated cholesterol or a smoking habit early in life increases your odds for mental decline during middle age, a new study warns.

"While it is well known that high blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking are associated with poor cognitive [mental] performance in adults, the effects of these risk factors from childhood on midlife cognition were unknown," study lead author Suvi Rovio said in a news release from the American College of Cardiology.

"These findings support the need for active monitoring and treatment strategies against cardiovascular risk factors from childhood," said Rovio, a senior scientist at the University of Turku, in Finland.

For the study, Rovio and colleagues analyzed data from thousands of people in Finland who were followed from childhood to adulthood.

The investigators found that high blood pressure and high cholesterol in childhood, the teen years and young adulthood -- as well as smoking in the teens and young adulthood -- were associated with worse midlife mental performance, especially memory and learning.

When Rovio's team examined specific risk factors, it found that adults with the highest blood pressure earlier in life were over eight years older in terms of mental "cognition" than those who had the lowest blood pressure earlier in life.

High cholesterol accounted for almost 7 years' difference in mental functioning. And the researchers found a 3.4 years' cognitive gap between smokers and non-smokers.

The study results were published May 1 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

According to Dr. Valentin Fuster, journal editor-in-chief, "Recent evidence has demonstrated that risk factors developed in adulthood can impact cognitive dysfunction in the elderly, if they have not been corrected."

Fuster added that "the findings in this paper are important, because they show that risk factors that develop at an even younger age can have the same adverse impact."

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines how to reduce the risk of heart disease.
THURSDAY, May 11, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking among U.S. high school students has plummeted in recent years, a new government report shows.

High schoolers who say they drink dropped from about half of students in 1991 down to around one out of three in 2015, an analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals.

Binge drinking also declined among high school students, from about 32 percent of all students in 1999 to about 18 percent in 2015, the report found. Binge drinking involves consuming five or more drinks in a row.

But there's bad news in the report as well. Significant numbers of teenagers are still using alcohol, and those who do drink tend to imbibe heavily, the researchers said.

Among students who drink, nearly 58 percent are binge drinkers, said lead author Marissa Esser. She's a health scientist with the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

"They're also drinking intensely," Esser said. "Among high school students who binge drink, more than 40 percent reported consuming eight or more drinks in a row in 2015."

Esser and her colleagues pointed to drinking age laws as a key factor in reducing alcohol consumption among high school students.

Laws that hold parents responsible for the consequences of underage drinking in their homes also have played a large part in cutting down high school drinking, said Marcia Lee Taylor, president and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.

"If teens are drinking in their home, [parents] can be held liable," Taylor said. "The social hosting laws are really making parents understand the consequences, and they're not allowing that to happen as much anymore."

Despite this, adults appear to still be a major source of alcohol for teenage drinkers. In 2015, 56 percent of current high school drinkers and 36 percent of binge drinkers usually got their alcohol from someone who gave it to them, researchers found.

Binge drinkers were more than three times more likely than students who do not binge drink to give someone money to purchase alcohol (31 percent compared with 9 percent) and to purchase alcohol themselves (9 percent compared to 3 percent).

The prescription drug abuse epidemic also might have played a role in reducing teen drinking, by making parents more aware of symptoms related to drug and alcohol abuse, said drug addiction specialist Dr. Scott Krakower.

"People started recognizing more and more of these negative effects, and that also helped to shift people around," said Krakower, an assistant unit chief of psychiatry for Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. "Drinking is what allowed a lot of kids to get disinhibited, and then they moved on to pills."

High school boys are more likely to binge drink than girls -- 51 percent compared with 35 percent, the study showed.

The researchers noted that other less-utilized public policies could help further reduce teen drinking, and drinking at all ages.

These include increasing alcohol taxes, regulating how many alcohol outlets are allowed in communities, and implementing laws that hold bars and restaurants responsible for any mishaps that result from selling alcohol to minors or clearly intoxicated patrons, the report said.

"Those strategies focusing on the general population have been underutilized," Esser said. "If you work to change the environment, then you make healthier choices by default, and that can have an effect on underage drinking."

Pediatricians also can play a part by regularly screening their teenage patients for signs of alcohol or drug abuse, said Dr. Michael Grosso, chair of pediatrics and chief medical officer of Huntington Hospital, in New York.

"In this age group, medical illnesses are not for the most part the issue," Grosso said. "By far, the greatest health risks are attached to behaviors, whether they are sexual behaviors or other high-risk behaviors, especially substance abuse. In the limited time of an office visit, these issues need to be prioritized when we speak to the teenager or the parent."

The new study was in the May 11 issue of Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC publication.

More information

For more on underage drinking, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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New York, May 10, 2017The arrest of a journalist in the U.S. state of West Virginia while asking a question of Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price yesterday is an affront to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Police arrested Dan Heyman, a broadcast journalist with Public News Service West Virginia, and charged him with willful disruption of government processes after he shouted questions at Price and Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, according to media reports and police documents. The two officials were leaving a private meeting on opioid addiction when Heyman repeatedly questioned them about a draft law on health care.

The arrest of a journalist trying to ask a question in the public interest is a clear affront to press freedom, said Alexandra Ellerbeck, senior U.S. and Americas researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists. West Virginia authorities should drop all charges against Dan Heyman immediately and respect journalists right to question government officials.

Heyman was released on bail, pending trial, from the South Central Regional Jail late yesterday evening, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia. In a news conference after his release, Heyman said that he held his phone out to Price and asked him repeatedly whether domestic violence would be treated as a pre-existing condition that health insurance companies would no longer need to cover under draft legislation sponsored by the Republican Party that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4.

At some point they decided I was too persistent in trying to ask this question and do my job, so they arrested me, Heyman said in the news conference.

A video of the arrest shows Heyman being led away by officers with the Division of Protective Services Capitol Police. The criminal complaint filed following his arrest, which CPJ has reviewed, alleges that Heyman was aggressively breaching the secret service agents and causing a disturbance by yelling questions.

Ive never had a client arrested for talking too loud, Heymans lawyer, Tim DePiero, said at the news conference.

He wasnt arrested for asking a question. It is the actions of this individual that set him apart from the other reporters trying to cover the event, Lawrence Messina, a spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, which oversees the West Virginia Capitol Police, told CPJ.
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan on Wednesday hanged four more Taliban terrorists convicted of "heinous" terrorism-related offences by controversial military courts, taking the number to over 160 since the Peshawar terror attack in 2014.





The terrorists, who were involved in the killing of innocent civilians and attacking armed forces, were executed early today, the army said in a statement on Wednesday.





"Today another 4 hardcore terrorists, who were tried by Military Courts have been executed," the statement said.





"These terrorists were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, attacking a mosque, destruction of communication infrastructure, attacking Law Enforcement Agencies and Armed Forces."





Those executed were identified as Qaiser Khan, Muhammad Umar, Qari Zubair Muhammad and Aziz Khan.





Army said that all of them were active members of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.





The jail where they were hanged was not identified.





It was not stated where the trial was held and when they were awarded death sentence, because military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of attacks by militants.





Military courts were restored in March for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January.





The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment following a terror attack on an Army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 which killed more than 150 people, most of them students.





Human rights group Justice Project Pakistan says 441 people have been executed since the Peshawar attack.





Pakistan has been fighting various extremist groups for over a decade.





Militant attacks have killed tens of thousands of people.





The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.

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Source: Times of Oman , May 10, 2017
SINGAPORE - Four Malaysian members of a Malaysia-based drug syndicate have been arrested, along with two Singaporeans suspected of coordinating drug supply runs for the syndicate, after joint investigations by Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Malaysia's Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID).





Late last year (2016), CNB had intelligence showing that two Singaporeans were involved in the syndicate, supplying sizeable amounts of drugs to a neighbouring country, CNB said in a press release on Thursday (May 11).





It initiated joint investigations with the Royal Malaysian Police's NCID to dismantle the syndicate and arrest its members.





CNB shared information with NCID regarding the identification of the two Singaporean suspects, and NCID managed to track down the two Singaporeans and their Malaysian associates.





During the operation, NCID recovered about 64kg of Ice or methamphetamine, 61.5kg of ketamine and 23,985 Ecstasy tablets.





That same day, NCID arrested the two Singaporean men aged 43 and 58 in Johor Baru.





The 58-year-old was found to be in possession of 11g of Ice, 68 Erimin-5 tablets and a small amount of ketamine.





NCID investigations are ongoing.





If convicted of drug trafficking, both Singaporeans could face the death penalty.





CNB director Ng Ser Song said he was very glad that CNB's timely sharing of intelligence with NCID aided the latter in the operation, which saw the seizure of a significant amount of drugs and the dismantling of a regional drug trafficking syndicate with tentacles in a few countries.





"I would like to reiterate that the fight against drugs must be fought with close cooperation between counterparts," he said. "No drug enforcement agency can afford to do it alone, especially against drug trafficking syndicates which operate near seamlessly between different countries."





He added that drug enforcement agencies must cooperate even more closely to dismantle syndicates and their deadly trade, as drug trafficking syndicates themselves show a close measure of cooperation.





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Following Germany and Belgium, Swiss deputies also declared that a possible death penalty referendum by the Turkish government cant be allowed to take place on Swiss soil.





Switzerlands Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter spoke with caution on the issue of the death penalty referendum.



The minister said, If the referendum is on the agenda, we will have to ask ourselves this question. Burkhalter stated that it is not the time to start speculating yet.





According to newspaper 24 minutes, Swiss MPs put forth a clear stance. Christian Democratic Peoples Party (PDC) Chair Gerhard Pfister said: A referendum on the death penalty would be a violation of the core values of the West. A vote like this needs to be prevented in Switzerland.





Pfister added: We need to not allow a foreign government that acts against our values to act like this in our country.





Socialist Party national advisor Tim Guldimann stressed that such a vote in Switzerland is unacceptable.





Guldmann stated that Switzerland is under the rule of law and not everything can be put to a vote there, and explained: For instance, there cant be a vote to reinstate slavery.





FIALA: COUNTRIES THAT DONT OBJECT ARE COMPLICIT





Liberal Radical Party Zurich advisor Doris Fiala gave a warning: Every European country that doesnt express its objection to the death penalty in Europe clearly will be complicit with Turkey.





Law professor Rainer J. Schweizer spoke to the newspaper Blick and said Switzerland should ban voting in such a referendum on its own soil.





Germany and Belgium had also taken clear stances against a possible referendum.





On Monday, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel declared that they wont allow voting in Belgium in case of a possible death penalty referendum in Turkey. Michel said: Allowing such a campaign to take place is most certainly out of the question. We will be uncompromising in this matter.





German Chancellor Angela Merkel had stated that they wont allow voting in a possible death penalty referendum on German soil.





Source: ANF , May 10, 2017





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Recreation yard, Polunsky Unit. Click here to see recent photographs

of the living conditions of confinement on Texas' Death Row.

For the 2nd time this year, Tilon Carter faces execution - this time, he's set for Huntsville's gurney next Tuesday, May 16.





Carter was convicted of capital murder in 2006 in Tarrant County, for the robbery and suffocation of 89-year-old James Eldon Tomlin.





He received a stay in January based on a technicality involving the filing of his death warrant, so the Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the lower court to reset Carter's execution date.





Carter has exhausted his appeals, but maintains that Tomlin's death was accidental. Robin Norris, his attorney, did not respond to requests for comment.





The resetting of execution dates combined with last-minute stays is one of several injustices highlighted in "Designed to Break You: Human Rights Violations on Texas' Death Row," a recent report from the Human Rights Clinic at the UT School of Law.





The yearlong study focused on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's repeated resetting of execution dates, inmates' limited access to religious services, and - most significantly - the Polunsky Unit's use of solitary confinement.





Texas has been dubbed the Capital of Capital Punishment. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the state has executed 542 people. (Carter would bump that to 543.) Oklahoma and Virginia have the 2nd and 3rd most deadly death rows, each with 112 executions.





Texas' death row inmates spend 22-24 hours a day in solitary. Though the TDCJ allows inmates up to 2 hours of "recreation" time daily, the report notes: "In practice, death row inmates often do not receive outdoor [time]." And even outside, the so-called "yard" is a slightly larger cell closed off by high concrete walls and caging over the top, which limits natural light. It's typical for death row inmates to spend more than a decade living in these conditions prior to their execution.





Mandatory confinement has been required since the men's death row was transferred from Huntsville to the Polunsky Unit in nearby West Livingston in 1999. All human contact has been banned as well.





"Window" of a typical Polunsky Unit death row cell. The TDCJ's severe use of solitary and isolation has been called inhumane by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Organization of American States, and the European Convention on Human Rights. The TDCJ's severe use of solitary and isolation has been called inhumane by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Organization of American States, and the European Convention on Human Rights.





The UT report states the use of solitary, to such a degree, is incredibly detrimental to inmates' mental health - most noticeably those already suffering from mental illness.



In what is dubbed "death row syndrome," prisoners report experiencing severe depression, memory loss, suicidal tendencies, and more. The study summarizes, they're "effectively subject to a severe form of psychological torture every day of their lives."





Asked for a response to the study, Jason Clark, the TDCJ's director of public information, told us: "Offenders on death row are individuals who've been convicted of heinous crimes and given the harshest sentence possible under the law. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice will continue to ensure it fulfills its mission of public safety and house death row offenders appropriately."





According to Ariel Dulitzky, a UT Law professor and the director of the Human Rights Clinic, TDCJ declined to meet with the clinic over the course of the study, and has yet to respond to a follow-up request made earlier this month. However, Dulitzky said the clinic hopes this report will secure a "complete ban" of mandatory solitary confinement.





In the interim, the clinic is advocating for the prohibition of confinement for all inmates with mental health problems, for the implementation of "physical contact visits with families and attorneys, communal religious services," and for improvements to health care.

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Source: Austin Chronicle, May 11, 2017
The Queen and the King of Bahrain at last year's Royal Windsor Horse Show.

The Queen is to sit alongside the King of Bahrain at the Royal Windsor Horse Show tomorrow  despite the Kingdoms recent lifting of a moratorium on the death penalty, and a surge in executions of protestors.





According to reports, King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa will  host  the Queen and 19 other VIPs at the annual Windsor Horse Show, in a special Kingdom of Bahrain Lounge.





The royal meeting will take place amid a crackdown on political dissent in the Kingdom.





The Bahraini authorities recently resumed executions after a 6-year moratorium, executing three political protesters who had been sentenced to death on the strength of forced confessions. At least two more protesters could be executed at any time.





International human rights group Reprieve has found that the British government has given substantial support to Bahrains criminal justice system, despite human rights concerns. The UK support includes the training of hundreds of guards on Bahrains death row, where torture of political prisoners is rife.





Commenting, Director of Reprieve Maya Foa said:





Make no mistake  visits like this gift the Bahraini government a royal cloak of acceptability, while the Kingdom mercilessly executes political prisoners and uses torture to extract confessions. Theresa May wants stronger UK-Gulf relations, but we must not help the Bahrainis to whitewash their appalling abuses. Instead of drafting in the Queen to cosy up to King Hamad, the UK must urgently protest Bahrains use of torture and executions to silence opponents.





The UK Foreign Office has spent over 5 million in aid money on reforming Bahrains human rights record since protests swept the Gulf kingdom in 2011. More information on the UKs support for Bahrains prison system is available at the Reprieve website, here




William Charles Morva

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 Morva's final appeal.





After a Tuesday conference call with state officials, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk scheduled Morva's execution for July 6.





Morva, a former Blacksburg resident now being held at Sussex I State Prison, was convicted of 3 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 Sheriff's Office. Morva's 3rd murder conviction came from killing 2 people in less than 3 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 deputy's 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 he'd killed Sutphin and was arrested.





A long legal struggle began, with Morva's 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.





Morva's immediate response to his sentence was to snap his fingers and mouth "Don't worry" to friends who were crying in the court's spectator area.





His execution was scheduled and delayed as an appeals process lasted 9 years.





The bid for a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court was the final step of that process. Now Morva's only hope to avoid execution may be last-minute intervention by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who in April commuted a prisoner's 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 2nd place in the center's 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 2 sisters in Richmond during a rampage that included killing their parents.





Virginia's executions are conducted at the Greenville Correctional Facility in Jarratt.

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Source: richmond.com, May 10, 2017
Los aspectos mas destacados de los resultados de los nueve primeros meses del 2022 son la clara mejora de la rentabilidad operativa, la aceleracion del crecimiento de los ingresos, el sostenimiento de la demanda por parte de nuestros clientes, que no muestra signos de debilidad en este ultimo trimestre a pesar de las peores perspectivas macroeconomicas generales, y de nuevo la solida generacion de caja del tercer trimestre del ano.

La fortaleza de la actividad comercial queda bien reflejada en el crecimiento de dos digitos de nuestra contratacion y de nuestra cartera, lo que se traduce en un crecimiento de los ingresos de Indra tambien a tasa de doble digito.

Mas destacado aun es la mejora de la rentabilidad, reflejada en el crecimiento del margen operativo con respecto al ano anterior, impulsada por el crecimiento de los ingresos, la mejora del mix de oferta y las eficiencias alcanzadas, y a pesar del entorno de fuerte inflacion salarial de los negocios y mercados donde operamos.

Por ultimo, un trimestre mas en este ejercicio sobresale la positiva generacion de caja, que ya alcanza los 54 M en el 9M22, y que es la mejor de los ultimos diez anos para los nueve primeros meses del ano, lo que reduce nuestro apalancamiento financiero hasta 0,6 veces frente a 1,7 veces de septiembre de 2021.

A falta de un trimestre para completar el ejercicio 2022, estos solidos resultados nos permiten reiterar todos nuestros objetivos anuales para 2022, que ya aumentamos en nuestra anterior comunicacion de resultados, todo ello en un contexto de empeoramiento generalizado del entorno macroeconomico internacional.

Principales aspectos destacados

La cartera en el 9M22 se situo en 5.983 M y mostro un crecimiento del +12% en terminos reportados vs 9M21. La cartera de la division de Transporte & Defensa ascendio a 4.129 M y aumento un +11% en el 9M22 vs 9M21, destacando Defensa & Seguridad con una cartera acumulada de 2.622 M. Por su parte, la cartera de Minsait ascendio a 1.853 M y se incremento un +13% en el 9M22 vs 9M21. La ratio de cartera sobre ventas de los ultimos doce meses se situo en 1,61x en el 9M22 vs 1,65x en el 9M21.

La contratacion neta en el 9M22 crecio un +19% en moneda local (+21% reportado):

- La contratacion de Transporte & Defensa en el 9M22 crecio un +12% en moneda local, impulsada por el crecimiento de Transporte & Trafico (+22% en moneda local), por nuevos contratos en el segmento del Trafico Aereo con Enaire en Espana y con Avinor en Noruega, asi como por los contratos en el segmento de Transportes de sistemas de recaudacion en Espana y sistemas de comunicaciones en Peru. Por su parte, la contratacion en Defensa & Seguridad crecio un +5% en moneda local por el proyecto de los radares MK1 de Eurofighter para Alemania y Espana, asi como por el contrato para la modernizacion de los helicopteros Tigre MKIII en Espana.

- La contratacion de Minsait en el 9M22 aumento un +23% en moneda local, con crecimientos de doble digito en todos los verticales, entre los que destaco Administraciones Publicas & Sanidad (+50% en moneda local), principalmente por el proyecto de Elecciones en Angola.

Los ingresos en el 9M22 crecieron un +12% en moneda local (+14% en reportado) vs 9M21.

- Los ingresos de la division de Transporte & Defensa en el 9M22 aumentaron un +4% en moneda local, impulsados por el crecimiento de Transporte & Trafico del +6% en moneda local (registrando esa misma tasa de crecimiento el segmento de Trafico Aereo y el de Transportes), por la mayor actividad registrada en Espana con Enaire, T-Mobilitat y en varios proyectos ferroviarios, asi como por los programas europeos de Trafico Aereo en Belgica y Noruega. Adicionalmente, Defensa & Seguridad crecio un +2% en moneda local, por la mayor actividad en el area de Plataformas (Sistemas Navales en Arabia Saudi) y de Sistemas de Seguridad (proyecto en Kuwait).

- Los ingresos de la division de Minsait en el 9M22 aumentaron un +16% en moneda local (+19% en reportado), con todos los verticales presentando un fuerte crecimiento, entre los que destaco Administraciones Publicas & Sanidad (+35% en moneda local, por la mayor contribucion del negocio de Elecciones) y Energia & Industria (+14% en moneda local, por la mayor actividad registrada en Espana en el sector retail, Energia en Brasil, y por la filial de Italia).

Los ingresos en el 3T22 aumentaron un +16% en moneda local (+19% reportado):

- Los ingresos de la division de Transporte & Defensa en el 3T22 aumentaron un +11% en moneda local, impulsados asimismo por Transporte & Trafico (+14% en moneda local), con crecimientos de doble digito tanto en el segmento de Transportes (+15%, por la mayor actividad en America y AMEA) como de Trafico Aereo (+13%, gracias a la recuperacion generalizada del trafico aereo en todas las geografias). De igual forma, Defensa & Seguridad presento un solido crecimiento del +8%, principalmente por la mayor actividad puntual del proyecto Eurofighter en el tercer trimestre.

- Los ingresos de la division de Minsait en el 3T22 aceleraron su crecimiento hasta el +19% en moneda local, en un entorno de mercado donde continua la fuerte demanda por parte de los clientes. Destaco asimismo el fuerte crecimiento de Administraciones Publicas & Sanidad (+42%, por el proyecto de Elecciones en Angola) y de Energia & Industria (+19%, por la mayor actividad en America y Espana).

El tipo de cambio aporto 50 M a los ingresos en el 9M22, principalmente por la apreciacion de las divisas latinoamericanas (peso colombiano y mexicano, y real brasileno). En el trimestre, el tipo de cambio aporto 22 M.

Los ingresos organicos en el 9M22 (excluyendo la contribucion inorganica de las adquisiciones y el efecto del tipo de cambio) aumentaron un +11%. Por divisiones, Minsait registro un crecimiento organico del +15% y Transporte & Defensa del +3%. Las ventas organicas en el 3T22 aumentaron un +15% vs 3T21, en las que Minsait crecio un +17% y Transporte & Defensa un +10%.

La contribucion de Digital en Minsait fue de 475 M (26% de las ventas de Minsait) en el 9M22, lo que supuso un crecimiento del +15% con respecto al 9M21. En el 3T22, Digital registro un crecimiento del +13% vs 3T21.

El EBITDA reportado en el 9M22 ascendio a 282 M vs 257 M en el 9M21 (240 M en el 9M21 excluyendo la plusvalia por la venta de las instalaciones de San Fernando de Henares), mostrando un crecimiento del +10% en terminos reportados (+17% excluyendo la plusvalia), equivalente a un margen EBITDA del 10,5% en el 9M22 y del 10,9% en el 9M21 (10,2% excluyendo la plusvalia). El EBITDA en el 3T22 ascendio a 108 M vs 112 M en el 3T21 (95 M excluyendo la plusvalia), equivalente a un margen del 12,2% en el 3T22 vs 15,0% en el 3T21 (12,7% excluyendo la plusvalia).

El Margen Operativo en el 9M22 mejoro hasta los 243 M vs 201 M en el 9M21 (equivalente a un margen del 9,0% en el 9M22 vs 8,5% en el 9M21), gracias al apalancamiento operativo y a la mejora de la rentabilidad en ambas divisiones. El Margen Operativo en el 3T22 se situo en 93 M vs 76 M en el 3T21 (equivalente a un margen del 10,5% en el 3T22 vs 10,2% en el 3T21):

- El Margen Operativo de la division de Transporte & Defensa en el 9M22 alcanzo 105 M vs 98 M en el 9M21, equivalente a un margen del 12,2% en el 9M22 vs 11,8% en el 9M21. El margen Operativo en el 3T22 fue de 40 M vs 42 M en el 3T21, equivalente a un margen del 14,7% en el 3T22 vs 17,2% en el 3T21, margen que fue extraordinariamente alto al haberse concentrado el reconocimiento de varios hitos de proyectos relevantes en el tercer trimestre del ejercicio anterior, asi como su rentabilidad asociada.

- El Margen Operativo de la division de Minsait en el 9M22 alcanzo 137 M vs 103 M en el 9M21, equivalente a un margen del 7,5% en el 9M22 vs 6,7% en el 9M21. El margen Operativo en el 3T22 fue de 53 M vs 34 M en el 3T21, equivalente a un margen del 8,6% en el 3T22 vs 6,8% en el 3T21, mejora que principalmente se explica por la contribucion del negocio de Elecciones.

Los costes de reestructuracion de la plantilla fueron de -20 M en el 9M22 vs -13 M en el 9M21.

El EBIT reportado en el 9M22 se situo en 204 M en el 9M22 vs 188 M (171 M excluyendo la plusvalia por la venta de las instalaciones de San Fernando de Henares), aumentando un +9% en terminos reportados (+19% excluyendo la plusvalia), equivalente a un margen del 7,6% en el 9M22 vs 8,0% en el 9M21 (7,3% excluyendo la plusvalia). Esta mejora se produce por la mejora de la rentabilidad de ambas divisiones y pese a mayores amortizaciones (9 M) y costes por indemnizaciones (7 M). El EBIT reportado en el 3T22 fue de 81 M vs 88 M en el 3T21 (71 M excluyendo la plusvalia), equivalente a un margen EBIT del 9,1% en el 3T22 vs 11,8% en el 3T21 y vs 9,5% excluyendo la plusvalia en el 3T21, practicamente la misma rentabilidad pese a incluir mayores costes por indemnizaciones (7 M) y amortizaciones (3 M) en el 3T22 vs 3T21:

- El Margen EBIT de Transporte & Defensa en el 9M22 se situo en el 11,3% vs 11,6% en el 9M21 (10,8% excluyendo la plusvalia), produciendose esta mejora principalmente por el incremento de la rentabilidad del vertical de Transporte & Trafico. El Margen EBIT en el 3T22 disminuyo hasta el 13,7% vs 20,1% en el 3T21 (17,4% excluyendo la plusvalia), debido a que el margen del trimestre del ejercicio anterior fue extraordinariamente alto por los motivos explicados anteriormente, asi como por mayores costes por indemnizaciones (3 M) y amortizaciones (3 M) en el 3T22 vs 3T21.

- El Margen EBIT de Minsait en el 9M22 fue del 5,8% vs 6,0% en el 9M21 (5,4% excluyendo la plusvalia), mejora que se produce principalmente por la contribucion del proyecto de Elecciones. El Margen EBIT en el 3T22 se situo en el 7,1% vs 7,7% en el 3T21 (5,7% excluyendo la plusvalia), por la contribucion del proyecto de Elecciones y pese a mayores costes por indemnizaciones (4 M) y amortizaciones (0,4 M) en el 3T22 vs 3T21.

El Resultado Neto ascendio a 116 M en el 9M22 vs 115 M en el 9M21 (102 M excluyendo la plusvalia por la venta de las instalaciones de San Fernando de Henares).

El Flujo de Caja Libre en el 9M22 se situo en 54 M vs 5 M en 9M21 (15 M excluyendo la salida de caja del plan de transformacion de la plantilla de -32 M y la entrada de caja de +22 M por la venta de las instalaciones de San Fernando de Henares).

La Deuda Neta disminuyo hasta los 220 M en septiembre de 2022 vs 503 M en septiembre de 2021 y vs 240 M en diciembre de 2021. La ratio de Deuda Neta/EBITDA LTM (excluyendo el impacto NIIF 16, la plusvalia por la venta de las instalaciones y la provision del plan de inmuebles) se situo en 0,6x en septiembre de 2022 vs 1,7x en septiembre de 2021 y 0,8x en diciembre de 2021.
KYODO NEWS - May 11, 2017 - 15:50 | World, All

South Korea's new President Moon Jae In and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed Thursday to improve bilateral ties and work closely over North Korea, while they also discussed Chinese opposition to deployment of a sophisticated U.S. antimissile system in the South, Moon's spokesman said.

Spokesman Yoon Young Chan said during a press briefing that Moon and Xi exchanged views in their first phone conversation on a broad range of bilateral issues and on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula at the talks that lasted for about 40 minutes from noon.

He said they shared the view that all related countries should make efforts to reduce the heightened tensions on the peninsula and agreed that denuclearization of North Korea "is a common goal for the two countries."

Moon told Xi the North Korean nuclear issue should be resolved in a "comprehensive and step-by-step way," while adding that "pressure and sanctions should come side-by-side with talks."

The call took place a day after Moon took office and sent out an olive branch by saying in his inaugural address that he is open to visiting North Korea under the right conditions.

While North Korea has not shown any signs of halting its nuclear arms and missile programs, Moon, South Korea's first liberal leader in a decade, has advocated a more dovish approach than his conservative predecessors and said he will push for greater engagement to persuade Pyongyang to change course.

The South Korea and Chinese leaders agreed to exchange special envoys at an early date, Yoon said.

He said Xi explained China's basic position on South Korea's deployment of the U.S. advanced anti-missile system, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD.

In response, Moon said that he is "well aware of China's interest and concerns" on the issue and that he would send a delegation to China to discuss issues related to settling the THAAD issue and the North Korean nuclear problem, aside from the exchange of special envoys.

China calls the THAAD deployment a threat to its security, and has taken retaliatory measures against South Korea that pose a threat to the latter's economy.

Moon asked Xi to show a special interest in many South Korean companies in China, which are suffering from difficulties due to those retaliatory actions.
Betsy DeVos at Bethune-Cookman

Betsy DeVos was met with raucous boos as she reached the lectern to deliver her commencement remarks at Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday.

For nearly the entire time the secretary of education spoke, she was booed, shouted at, and met with calls of "Go home!" from students and audience members.

About two minutes into DeVos' speech, the university's president, Edison Jackson, stopped her to address the students disrupting it.

Jackson said degrees would be mailed to students if their behavior continued.

"Choose which way you want to go," he said.

DeVos restarted her speech, but the threat went unheeded as boos picked up again. DeVos powered on, sticking to prepared remarks. She addressed some of the opposition to her speaking at the historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida, asking for those critical of her to hear her out and voicing her support for historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs.

"We support you, and we will continue to support you," she said.

DeVos released a statement after the speech addressing BCU graduates. "I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with and honor the graduates of Bethune-Cookman University...I have respect for all those who attended, including those who demonstrated their disagreement with me," the statement read.

The weeks leading up to her speech were marked by vocal opposition from students, civil-rights organizations, and Florida education groups, who say she does not understand the history and significance of HBCUs.

President Donald Trump meets with leaders of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017.

On Tuesday, petitions were delivered to university leaders urging them to disinvite DeVos from the commencement ceremony.

"Secretary DeVos has no understanding of the importance, contributions, and significance of HBCUs," said a Change.org petition signed by more than 8,000 people.

Story continues

Both DeVos and the Trump administration have endeavored to engage HBCUs in conversations about higher education, meeting with leaders of HBCUs and voicing support for their contributions.

But their efforts have been marked by gaffes and uncertainty about the administration's plans to help better serve the institutions.

After meeting with leaders of HBCUs in February, DeVos ignited controversy with a statement that called HBCUs "real pioneers when it comes to school choice."

She implied that HBCUs and school vouchers, of which DeVos is a fierce supporter, similarly afforded students better options.

Related:

Watch news, TV shows, and more on Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.

HBCUs "are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality," she said. "Their success has shown that more options help students flourish."

She failed to acknowledge that many HBCUs were created because black students could not attend white segregated schools. In other words, they weren't providing better options  they were the only options for black students.

DeVos later posted a series of tweets clarifying the racist history that necessitated the emergence of HBCUs.

In a statement last week, President Donald Trump seemed to indicate that key funding for HBCUs might be unconstitutional and therefore scrapped. Experts saw his comments as a signal that certain funding for HBCUs was at risk. Trump later pledged his "unwavering support" for the schools.

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Donald Trump

President Donald Trump's bombshell decision to fire FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday sent shockwaves through Washington and the American public.

Almost as soon as the news broke, there were comparisons between Comey's firing and the events leading up Watergate.

"President Trump's firing of Director Comey sets a deeply alarming precedent as multiple investigations into possible Trump campaign or administration collusion with Russia remain ongoing, including an FBI investigation," Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts said in a statement.

"This episode is disturbingly reminiscent of the Saturday Night Massacre during the Watergate scandal and the national turmoil that it caused."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said in a statement that "not since Watergate have our legal systems been so threatened and our faith in the independence and integrity of those systems so shaken."

But experts say there are some ways in which Comey's firing could be bigger than Watergate, and they hinge on Trump's reasoning in removing Comey.

Glenn Carle, a former CIA clandestine-services officer and national-security expert, said it would be "catastrophic" if Trump had fired Comey because he was angry about the FBI's probe into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.

"Watergate was huge, but it was based on a criminal charge," he told Business Insider. He said Trump's firing of Comey during the investigation would be "borderline betrayal" and a critical threat to national security if it were based on the Russia probe.

Richard Painter, who was the chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, also expressed suspicion about Comey's firing and said Trump's move was an abuse of presidential power.

"We cannot tolerate this  for the president to be firing people who are investigating him and his campaign and its collusion with the Russians," Painter told Rolling Stone.

"It's a lot worse than Watergate," he said. "Watergate was a third-rate burglary. It was purely domestic in nature. This situation involves Russian espionage, and we've got to find out who is collaborating."

Story continues

Painter later told CNN, "We didn't have to worry about treason in the Watergate situation."

jeff sessions

The president, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and several administration officials have said the decision had nothing to do with the Russia probe.

They say Comey was fired because he mishandled the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, and that it had lost him the president's confidence.

But pundits and critics, as well as some members of Trump's circle, have cast doubt on that line of reasoning and said they were troubled by the timing of Comey's firing.

Two advisers told Politico that Trump was furious about the investigation and frustrated he couldn't control the media narrative around it and that he asked why it wouldn't disappear. One adviser said the president would occasionally scream at the TV during news clips about the probe.

Fox News host Charles Krauthammer said it was "implausible" Trump had fired Comey because of the Clinton email investigation.

"If that was so offensive to the Trump administration, what you would have done during the transition is you would have spoken to Comey and said, 'We're going to let you go,'" Krauthammer said.

Based on the timing of Comey's firing, "the obvious inference seems to be that Trump is upset about the investigation," Robert Deitz, a former top lawyer at the CIA and National Security Agency, told Business Insider.

"If it turns out that the Russia thing is bigger than or as big as people have speculated, then this is a threat to democracy," Deitz said. He added that if more evidence of Trump associates' ties to Russia emerged, Comey's firing would "certainly be bigger than Watergate."

But if Trump's fury about the Russia probe were a motivation for terminating Comey, he likely would be disappointed.

James Comey

Regardless of whether Comey is leading the FBI, it will continue its investigations, one FBI official told The New York Times on Wednesday.

And Comey's firing could further energize the investigation, as Archibald Cox's did during the Watergate scandal.

"There are so many people now working on this issue, and this firing is going to do nothing but encourage that," Deitz said. He added that Comey's firing would "barely be a blip on the radar" of career professionals investigating the president's associates.

Comey's dismissal could also accelerate the steady drip of sensitive information being leaked to the press, Deitz said  and there already seems to be evidence of that.

Shortly after news broke that Comey had been fired, CNN reported that a grand jury had issued subpoenas to associates of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, who is involved in the Trump-Russia probe. On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that days before he was fired, Comey asked the Department of Justice, led by Sessions and Rosenstein, for more resources for the investigation.

"People are going to be absolutely all over this Russia thing, just because they think nobody would do this unless there's something really bad underneath it all," Deitz said.

NOW WATCH: Heres why some Democrats are comparing Comeys firing to the Watergate scandal





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SAINT LAURENT, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Apr 4, 2017) - IntelGenx Technologies Corp. (TSX VENTURE:IGX)(IGXT)(the "Company" or "IntelGenx") announced today that Dr. Horst Zerbe, its President and Chief Executive Officer, and Prof. Ludwig Aigner, Paracelsus University Salzburg, Austria, discussed the Company's Montelukast VersaFilm project during a poster presentation at the 13th International Conference on Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases held on March 29 - April 2, 2017 in Vienna, Austria.

Entitled "Repurposing Of The Anti-asthmatic Drug Montelukast For The Treatment Of Alzheimer's Disease," the poster presentation reviewed the Company's research on Montelukast, a unique drug repurposing opportunity for the treatment of degenerative diseases of the brain. IntelGenx is working to develop a Montelukast oral film product based on its VersaFilm proprietary thin film technology by using the drug Montelukast, which is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of asthma and has also demonstrated potential for the treatment of degenerative diseases of the brain.

"We were very excited to have the opportunity to present at such a renowned and important conference, in front of leading medical and scientific professionals from around the word," said Dr. Zerbe. "IntelGenx' recent research demonstrates the strong potential of our Montelukast VersaFilm as a more effective delivery system for CNS applications, especially degenerative brain diseases, and we believe these compelling results were well-received by conference participants."

As the brain ages, it loses its ability to generate new cells, while existing cells lose functionality and the ability to prevent neuroinflammation. Furthermore, the aged brain tends to produce higher levels of inflammatory agents such as leukotrienes, resulting in neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment. There is evidence that leukotriene receptor antagonists, such as Montelukast sodium, have the potential to reduce neuroinflammation and restore brain cell function. Such treatments can be effective for treating various neurodegenerative diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Lewy Body Dementia, Huntington's Disease, spinal cord and brain injuries, and stroke.

IntelGenx is working to repurpose Montelukast as a therapeutic to treat these neurodegenerative diseases by re-formulating Montelukast into an oral film-based platform with improved bioavailability. Presently, Montelukast is marketed as Singulair, a once daily tablet for the chronic treatment of asthma and seasonal allergic rhinitis, which suffers from poor and inconsistent bioavailability. IntelGenx' proprietary VersaFilm technology offers several advantages over tablets, including the avoidance and minimization of first-pass-effects, improved API bioavailability, lower dosing and toxicity, easier swallowing and better patience compliance.

In a recent Phase I study, IntelGenx demonstrated that an oral film formulation of Montelukast is safe and tolerable in healthy subjects, reduces the first-pass-effect and has a 52% higher bioavailability compared to the regular Montelukast tablet, demonstrating a clear advantage of delivering Montelukast via film. Of importance for any central nervous system ("CNS") active drugs, IntelGenx detected Montelukast in the cerebrospinal fluid of healthy volunteers who were treated with Montelukast VersaFilm, clearly indicating blood brain barrier penetrance. Also, in contrast to many other CNS-penetrating drugs, Montelukast had an excellent safety and tolerability profile. IntelGenx is preparing a Phase II trial to demonstrate efficacy of the Montelukast VersaFilm to improve cognitive function in Alzheimer's Disease.

About IntelGenx:

IntelGenx is a leading oral drug delivery company primarily focused on the development and manufacturing of innovative pharmaceutical oral films based on its proprietary VersaFilm technology platform. Established in 2003, the Montreal-based company is listed on the TSX-V and OTC-QX.

IntelGenx highly skilled team provides comprehensive pharmaceuticals services to pharmaceutical partners, including R&D, analytical method development, clinical monitoring, IP and regulatory services. IntelGenx state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, established for the VersaFilm technology platform, supports lab-scale to pilot and commercial-scale production, offering full service capabilities to our clients. More information is available about the company at: www.intelgenx.com.

Forward Looking Statements:

This document may contain forward-looking information about IntelGenx' operating results and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about IntelGenx' plans, objectives, expectations, strategies, intentions or other characterizations of future events or circumstances and are generally identified by the words "may," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "could," "would," and similar expressions. All forward looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Because these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, IntelGenx' actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in IntelGenx' annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov, and also filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and www.sedar.com. IntelGenx assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Each of the TSX Venture Exchange and OTCQX has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

Source: IntelGenx Technologies Corp.
SAINT LAURENT, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Apr 3, 2017) - IntelGenx Corp. ("IntelGenx") (TSX VENTURE:IGX)(IGXT) and Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. ("Tetra") (CSE:TBP)(OTC PINK:GRPOF), today announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the development and commercialization of a drug product containing the cannabinoid Dronabinol (the "Product") for the management of anorexia and cancer chemotherapy-related pain. This definitive agreement follows the binding term sheet between the two companies that was announced on February 9, 2017.

Pursuant to the definitive agreement, Tetra has exclusive rights to sell the Product in North America, with a right of first negotiation for territories outside of the United States and Canada. Tetra will make an upfront payment to IntelGenx, in addition to set future milestone and royalty payments, based on the completion of an efficacy study, approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Association ("FDA") and Health Canada, and the commercial launch of the Product. IntelGenx will be responsible for the research and development of the Product, including clinical studies, and will develop the product as an oral mucoadhesive tablet based on its proprietary AdVersa controlled-release technology. Tetra will be responsible for funding the product development, and will own and control all regulatory approvals, including the related applications, and any other marketing authorizations. Tetra will also be responsible for all aspects of commercializing the Product.

"The U.S. cancer pain market is expected to reach $5 billion in 2018, and the quick growing medical cannabis industry is poised to capture a signature portion of that opportunity," said Dr. Horst G. Zerbe, President and CEO of IntelGenx. "We are pleased to be working with Tetra to bring this much-needed cannabinoid product to North American patients suffering from anorexia and cancer chemotherapy-related pain."

"We are pleased to announce the signing of the definitive agreement with IntelGenx and look forward to working very hard with them to bring this much-needed product to patients suffering from cancer pain," said Andre Rancourt, CEO of Tetra. "The execution of this agreement is just the beginning for Tetra as we look forward to aggressively concluding future agreements as we build a leading bio-pharmaceutical organization focused on developing medicinal cannabis as pharmaceutical drugs."

Background Information

There are many clinical problems associated with the use of currently available form of Dronabinol in patients with anorexia and cancer chemotherapy-related pain. It has been demonstrated that psychoactive drugs exert their euphoria, and other psychoactive effects, when the blood levels of the drug rapidly increase. The pharmacokinetic profile of tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC") and its metabolite increases the abuse potential of cannabinoids like Dronabinol. The significant advantage of an oral mucoadhesive tablet based on IntelGenx' proprietary AdVersa controlled-release technology is that it can be adjusted to achieve a predetermined drug release pattern by increasing the residence time, promoting intimate contact with the mucosal tissue and increasing the bioadhesive properties of the dosage form. It is believed that, by deploying this technology in the controlled-release of THC, a longer time release of the drug will be achieved and, thereby, a rapid increase in the blood will be avoided. There will also potentially be improved bioavailability and reduced gastro-intestinal side effects, making a sustained-release THC product a promising alternative in the battle for the reduction of opioids in patients with chronic pain.

About Tetra Bio Pharma

Tetra Bio Pharma is a multi-subsidiary publicly traded company (CSE:TBP) (OTC PINK:GRPOF) engaged in the development of Bio Pharmaceuticals and Natural Health Products containing Cannabis and other medicinal plant based elements.

Tetra Bio Pharma is focused on combining the traditional methods of medicinal cannabis use with the supporting scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing bio pharma industry by regulators physicians and insurance companies. More information is available about the company at: www.tetrabiopharma.com.

About IntelGenx

IntelGenx is a leading oral drug delivery company primarily focused on the development and manufacturing of innovative pharmaceutical oral films based on its proprietary VersaFilm technology platform. Established in 2003, the Montreal-based company is listed on the TSX-V and OTC-QX.

IntelGenx highly skilled team provides comprehensive pharmaceuticals services to pharmaceutical partners, including R&D, analytical method development, clinical monitoring, IP and regulatory services. IntelGenx state-of-the art manufacturing facility, established for the VersaFilm technology platform, supports lab-scale to pilot and commercial-scale production, offering full service capabilities to our clients. More information is available about the company at: www.intelgenx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking information about IntelGenx' operating results and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about IntelGenx' plans, objectives, expectations, strategies, intentions or other characterizations of future events or circumstances and are generally identified by the words "may," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "could," "would," and similar expressions. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Because these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, IntelGenx' actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in IntelGenx' annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov, and also filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and www.sedar.com. IntelGenx assumes no obligation to update any such 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), nor the OTCQX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Mark Cuban

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban on Wednesday explained what he believed to be the bigger issue was with President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Cuban, the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," told Business Insider that it's not about "whether or not Comey should be fired or why he was fired."

"The issue is trust," Cuban said.

"If you trust our president and his decision making ability, then this move is probably OK," he said. "If you don't trust his decision making process, or are uncertain about it like I am, then you question why he did it and how he will make his choice of replacement."

The White House attributed Comey's Tuesday ouster to his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. But Comey was also investigating whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials to help influence the US election, which led Democrats and other Trump critics to suggest that he was interfering into an investigation that involved him.

In his letter to Comey, Trump said Comey had informed him "on three separate occasions" that he was "not under investigation." Comey has not confirmed that claim publicly.

Top White House officials such as deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Comey's firing was a result of Trump losing faith in the director. But Trump expressed support for Comey late in the campaign after he sent his October letter revisiting the Clinton email investigation, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer said just last week that Comey had Trump's support.

"Our president has yet to demonstrate that he is able to convey in any depth why he makes the choices he does," Cuban said. "His responses are usually driven by sound bites rather than explanations or facts. And the few times he has done sit down interviews ... many if not most have reduced clarity."

"In a nutshell, if you want logic and decision supporting evidence from the president, you have been severely disappointed," he continued. "If you want a combative president that denigrates and fights with any media outlet not supportive of his actions, you are thrilled and believe he is fighting your fight against the same forces that you feel are disrupting the country you love."

Story continues

Cuban has teased a 2020 presidential bid opposite Trump, telling Business Insider earlier this year that "we will see" regarding his future plans. Cuban, an independent, backed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the general-election campaign after initially expressing warmer feelings toward a Trump presidential bid during the primary. He became one of Clinton's top surrogates and routinely roiled Trump both before the November election and after he was inaugurated in January.

Trump took aim at Cuban both before a presidential debate with Clinton and in February, when he tweeted that the billionaire business mogul was not "smart enough" to be president.

NOW WATCH: Yale history professor: Trump's path to tyranny is unfolding





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The White House has been scrambling to explain why President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, a shocking move that left the bureau reeling and drew bipartisan criticism from members of Congress.

The administration's rationale for dismissing Comey has gradually shifted. But the final straw appears to have been Trump's "white hot" anger with Comey after his testimony last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"After watching Director Comey's testimony last Wednesday, the president was strongly inclined to remove him," the White House said as part of a "timeline" of the president's decision-making process.

In an interview with NBC's Lester Holt on Thursday, Trump acknowledged that he was going to fire Comey "regardless" of the recommendations given to him on Tuesday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He called Comey "a showboat" and "a grandstander" and said he fired the director because the FBI was in "turmoil." (Acting Director Andrew McCabe denied on Thursday that the bureau had lost faith in Comey before he was fired.)

Two letters addressed to Trump from Sessions and his deputy, Rosenstein, outlining Comey's mishandling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server were initially presented as the impetus for Trump's firing of Comey. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Tuesday that the Department of Justice  specifically Rosenstein  had determined Comey needed to go because of how he handled that probe.

Trump as a candidate had expressed support for at least one event that in Rosenstein's letter was presented as evidence of misconduct: Comey's decision to revisit the investigation 11 days before the election.

But White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a press briefing on Wednesday that the letters Trump received on Tuesday outlining "the basic atrocities" Comey committed "in circumventing the chain of command of the Department of Justice" persuaded Trump to fire the director.

Story continues

Over the next day, Rosenstein reportedly threatened to resign  after only two weeks on the job  because he was made out to be the administration's fall guy. The Justice Department on Thursday denied that Rosenstein had made the threat.

Meanwhile, multiple reports emerged that said Trump was incensed at Comey for implying in an open Senate hearing last week that Clinton may have won if he hadn't reopened the probe on October 28.

comey

"It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election," Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee as he was explaining his decision to notify Congress that the FBI was reopening the Clinton investigation.

That comment angered Trump, who "complained, with expletives," about it, CNN reported.

Trump made his displeasure with Comey clear even before the director testified, saying in two tweets the night before the hearing 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 phony ... Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?"

The next day, Comey confirmed in the open  and televised  hearing that the FBI was still investigating whether there was "any coordination" between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. Comey had not allowed the White House to preview his testimony, which Trump and his aides considered "an act of insubordination," according to Reuters. The New York Times echoed that report, saying Trump was broadly irked by his inability to gain assurances of loyalty from Comey.

Trump insisted in his interview with Holt on Thursday that Comey told him three times, before he was fired, that he was "not under investigation" by the FBI: once during a dinner, and again in two separate phone calls. Comey's associates told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday night that Trump's claims were "literally farcical."

Donald Trump and James Comey

Amid the flood of reports about what prompted Trump to fire Comey, the administration acknowledged Wednesday that Comey's testimony was part of Trump's decision.

"The president, over the last few months, lost confidence in Director Comey," the White House said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday night.

"After watching Director Comey's testimony last Wednesday, the president was strongly inclined to remove him. On Monday, the president met with the attorney general and the deputy attorney general, and they discussed reasons for removing the director. The next day, Tuesday, May 9, the deputy attorney general sent his written recommendation to the attorney general, and the attorney general sent his written recommendation to the president."

Rosenstein's letter outlined his concerns about Comey, but it did not explicitly recommend he be fired.

NOW WATCH: China built a $350 million bridge that ends in a dirt field in North Korea



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Snap Inc CEO Evan Spiegel (source: AFTP)

Snap (SNAP) reported its first-ever quarterly report after the bell on Wednesday. And it disappointed big time. Shares were down more than 24% on underwhelming daily active user growth and a miss on revenue.

Snap had 166 million users in Q1, which represents a 5% growth rate, falling short of analysts estimates of 168 million. It brought in $149.6 million in revenue, compared to the $158.6 million the Street was expecting. While its growth in the US is lackluster, its even worse in one major region: what Snapchat calls rest of world, every continent except North America and Europe.

Quarterly average daily active users, in millions (source: Snap)

SNAPS PLAN (OR LACK THEREOF) IN REST OF WORLD

By definition, Snap is nearing capacity with millennial population user growth. Where are they going to find other millennials around the world? [CEO] Evan [Spiegel] needs to come out with a vision, a specific strategy regarding what their international plan will look like, said Eric Kim, managing partner at venture capital firm Goodwater Capital.

Last month, Spiegel came under fire (and shares took a tumble) on a report from a former employee that Spiegel said the app is for rich folks, not for poor countries like Spain and India. The report sparked a movement called #UninstallSnapchat.

This supposed comment created huge backlash not just outside of the userbase but actual users. This millennial population is really conscious of doing good, of being mission-oriented, and when you see companies like Snap making these comments, it does have an impact, Kim said.

Even though Spiegel has denied this allegation, it illuminates a glaring problem for Snap: its not flourishing abroad. Investors were hoping for an explanation or a potential strategy for developing countries or markets outside of its core audience during the conference call.

But analysts were left without any answers.

Quarterly average daily active users, in millions (source: Snap)

CONNECTIVITY ISSUE

During the companys first-ever conference call, Spiegel did little to dispel the notion that its neglecting emerging markets. His comments suggested Snap remains laser-focused on North America and Europe.

Story continues

I think the connectivity issue is a real problem in the developing world. In certain developing world markets, people tend to use their WiFi at home or in an internet cafeWhat that means is you cant use Snap to communicate in the moment, really. That turns Snap into much more of a broadcast, lean back kind of service. The way that our service works is by empowering this visual communication, and thats just really tough if you dont have cell service wherever you go, he said.

Rather than coming up with a solution to penetrate these markets, he repeatedly blamed the companys failure to reach consumers in developing countries on a lack of connectivity.

We focused on markets where affordable broadband cell service is availablewhere we can deliver our products that way. As connectivity grows, more people will continue to use our products, he reiterated.

Quarterly average revenue per user (ARPU) is a key metric that Snapchat has touted. And while the global ARPU this quarter was $0.90, its clear Spiegel wants to focus on North America, which raked in $1.81 per user (compared to $0.19 in the Rest of World).

Citing Snow, Asias answer to Snapchat thats currently being used by 100 million users, Kim points out that Spiegel is failing to pay attention to plenty of incumbents already in markets outside of North America and Europe that Spiegel.

Anyone with a long-term view has to understand the importance of international, he said.

Snap chief strategy officer Imran Khan said the company was really doubling down on advertisers in Germany and the Nordic regions but made no mention of Asia, South America or Africa.

FOCUS REMAINS ON NORTH AMERICA & EUROPE

Were going to continue to focus on North America and Europe and longer term we believe that Snapchat is for everyone. Its just early days, but were focused on North America and Europe, Spiegel reiterated.

Facebook (FB) already has a model to address this lack of connectivity in most of the world. Its initiative Internet.org, which is a collaboration with nonprofits and local communities to connect the 4.5 billion people that dont have internet access. Of course, it has a self-serving vision in the process  to ultimately get people on Facebook, but its developed a strategy to penetrate other markets, particularly with its acquisition of Whatsapp, when Indonesia was its fastest growing market.

One thing is for sure: Spiegel is not proactively trying to connect with users outside of its core demographics. Though Snapchat has been successful in increasing engagement among its current userbase, with users spending over 30 minutes per day on the app, it wont be enough.

Melody Hahm is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering entrepreneurship, technology and real estate. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm.

Read more:




elon musk solar roof

 Tesla opened up orders for its Solar Roof product on Wednesday.

 The company says the roof will cost about $21.85 per square foot.

 Installations in the US will begin this year on a first-ordered, first-installed basis.

 You can secure your order on Tesla's website with a $1,000 deposit.

Tesla opened up orders and announced pricing information for its Solar Roof product on Wednesday.

"The typical homeowner can expect to pay $21.85 per square foot for Solar Roof and benefit from a beautiful new roof that also increases the value of their home," Tesla said in a statement.

The company also launched a calculator to show people how much it would cost to replace their roof with a Tesla Solar Roof. It uses information like the size of the roof, the average local price of electricity, and how much sunlight a neighborhood receives during a year to calculate the price.

Consumers in the US can secure their Solar Roof order now on Tesla's website with a payment of $1,000.

Tesla's Solar Roof uses both solar and nonsolar tiles, which allows consumers to choose how many solar tiles they need based on their home's electricity consumption, the company said.

Tesla's estimate of $21.85 per square foot is based on a roof that's 35% solar tiles. CEO Elon Musk said most roofs would likely be around 40%, but depending on the home, it could be 70%.

To help put the cost into perspective, a Tesla Solar Roof for a home needing 3,000 square feet of roofing would cost more than $65,000 if 35% of the tiles were solar. According to Consumer Reports, a slate-tile roof for a home the same size would cost about $45,000, and an asphalt roof would be about $20,000.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Tesla said that while the cost of its nonsolar tiles was comparable to that of regular roofing tiles, the initial cost of its solar tiles was more expensive. However, it said the cost would be offset by the value of energy the tiles produce. Tesla's roof will also come with a lifetime or "infinity" warranty, and Tesla is guaranteeing solar-power generation for 30 years.

Story continues

Musk said during a press call Wednesday that besides offering energy savings, its product would look better than any other roof replacement available.

"When you have this done, you will have the best-looking house in the neighborhood," he said. "I think the aesthetics are really that good."

Solar Roof Chart

People can now order the smooth black glass shingles and textured-glass shingles for their Solar Roof. The Tuscan and French Slate shingles should be available by early 2018, the company said.

Tesla unveiled its solar shingles at a press event in October. Musk said at the unveiling that Tesla had established a glass division and that it had worked with SolarCity to design the product.

Tesla acquired SolarCity in November in a deal worth $2.1 billion.

At the event, Musk said Tesla's roof would price competitively with normal roofs and could even cost less.

"It's looking quite promising that a solar roof will actually cost less than a normal roof before you even take the value of electricity into account," Musk said at the event. "So the basic proposition would be: Would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less, and, by the way, generates electricity? It's like, why would you get anything else?"

But in Tesla's blog post on Wednesday, the company said its Solar Roof would be more affordable because it generates energy.

"Solar Roof is more affordable than conventional roofs because in most cases, it ultimately pays for itself by reducing or eliminating a home's electricity bill," Tesla said.

NOW WATCH: Tesla will begin selling its Solar Roof this year  here's everything you need to know





More From Business Insider
Tesla is now accepting orders for its new solar roofs that it estimates will earn money for customers over the lifetime of their house. How much? The companys new calculator uses Google Project Sunroof to estimate the value of each homes potential solar energy, and translates that into energy savings. A $67,000 solar roof in Baltimore, for example, could earn back more than $15,000 over three decades.

Tesla estimate for a solar roof on a Baltimore, MD home.

The company began taking Solar Roof orders May 10 to install tiles embedded with photovoltaic cells. Theyre part of the companys strategy to sell an integrated suite of productscars, batteries, solar panelsthat will power homes and businesses with renewable energy. Customers can secure a place in the order list with payments of $1,000.

The calculator combines the cost of a new roof, any additional Powerwall batteries, solar energy generated, tax credits, and utility bill savings to give a final estimate. Tesla says its aiming for a seamless sales experience similar to buying the companys electric cars: Users can shop online, make a selection and have their orders delivered without haggling. Teslas acquisition of SolarCity last year allows it to scale solar installations nationwide.

Teslas pitch is aesthetics and a dose of economics. The problem with solar roofs is they all look awful, said Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a May 10 press call. Thats why they didnt succeed. This is the opposite. It looks better than normal. It will last longer.

The company offers a warranty for infinity, or the lifetime of your house, whichever comes first. It calculates cost savings using the average cost of electricity in your region, plus any additional tax credits. Taking all that into account reduces the cost of a new roof to close to that of a conventional roof, assuming it lasts 30 years. As the upfront cost may be rolled into existing mortgages, Musk argues that homeowners will see the net value of their homes increase, and reap thousands of dollars in savings over the long run (30 years in their calculations). Tesla priced the Solar Roof at $21.85 per square foot. This is a better product at a slightly better price, said Musk.

Story continues

Telsas roof tiles use a tempered glass and proprietary solar cells manufactured through a partnership with Panasonic. The tiles are now available in grey smooth glass and black textured glass, and slate glass and Tuscan glass will arrive in 2018.

Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news.

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dianne feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California on Thursday cast suspicion on the memo written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that recommended the firing of James Comey as FBI director, saying in a statement she had grown more "troubled" by its contents after reading it three times.

"The memo appears to have been hastily assembled to justify a preordained outcome," Feinstein said, adding that it read more like a "political document" than "meaningful analysis."

"Given Rosenstein's legal expertise and 27-year Justice Department career, I would have expected him to produce a detailed and comprehensive rationale for Director Comey's firing, including input from the agents and staff who worked with Director Comey," she continued.

Feinstein, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also said the memo cited months-old quotes from op-ed articles and media appearances and no current insights from within the FBI.

Feinstein's statement also called for Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse themselves from the "appointment, selection, and reporting of" a special counsel to investigate contacts between associates of President Donald Trump and Russia.

Thursday's statement is one several Feinstein has issued since Comey's Tuesday firing, with each appearing more critical than the previous.

Her original statement on Comey's firing was two sentences long and said his replacement "must be strong and independent and will receive a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committee." The following day, Feinstein questioned the timing of Comey's firing and whether it was due to the ongoing Russia investigation.

"If Director Comey was fired to stifle the FBI's Russia investigation  and the timing of this action makes that a real possibility  that simply cannot be allowed to happen," she said.

NOW WATCH: 'OJ had me shook': A Georgetown professor reveals what it was like to talk to OJ Simpson after bashing him on national television





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Its growing increasingly likely that by the end of 2017, President Donald Trump wont have a single legislative accomplishment to crow about.

Trump stormed Washington with a long list of do-items, but the key elements of his plan to make America great again were economicstimulative tax cuts, new infrastructure spending, better trade deals, deregulation, and healthcare reform that would get a handle on soaring costs.

Trump has gotten the ball rolling on most of those issues, but he has also sabotaged his own progress through numerous self-inflicted controversies that are sapping his political leverage just four months into his presidency. His recent decision to fire FBI Director James Comey could be the biggest roadblock yet erected on the pathway to his own agenda. An awful lot of Republicans are going to abandon Trump, analyst Greg Valliere of Horizon Investments recently told Yahoo Finance. Hes a liability for their own political careers.

Trump is unwittingly demonstrating how a US president loses political capital, at a point in his presidency when many of his predecessors were still enjoying an electoral honeymoon. Democrats are united in opposition to Trump, and emboldened by his political missteps. As Republicans drift away from him, Trump will lose the ability to wrangle the incremental support hes bound to need on close, contentious votes. And every Republican vote is likely to matter, given the GOPs slim, two-seat majority in the Senate and the divisive nature of many Trump proposals.

Why start with healthcare?

Trump, for some reason, insisted on leading with his most controversial proposalrepealing Obamacareperhaps because he felt winning on such a hot-button issue would generate powerful momentum. The catch is, he hasnt won, and may never win on repealing Obamacare. The House barely passed a repeal bill in early May, on its second try, but that bill seems to have no chance of passing in the Senate, which is getting started on its own bill. Congress will be wrestling with the issue all year longand only when that passes, Trump and other GOP leaders say, will it move onto tax cuts.

Story continues

Financial markets care more about tax cuts than any other parts of Trumps agenda, and the 12% surge in stock values since Trump won last November is based largely on the expectation of lower corporate tax rates and larger corporate profits. But tax cuts, which once seemed possible in 2017, now seem likely to drift onto the 2018 calendar. And if Congress cant pass something by mid-year 2018, it may shelve tax cuts completely, since by then it will be the middle of the Congressional midterm campaigns, a notoriously hard time to pass any serious legislation.

Trumps Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, has been complaining about the Senate slow-rolling Trumps efforts to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. Ross has a pointbut Trump himself is arguably the cause of the slowdown. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona is the unseen hand behind the NAFTA slowdown, motivated partly by Trumps tirades against Mexico, which borders McCains home state. Were Trump less bombasticor more popularmavericks like McCain would have less standing to block his policies. Thats how political capital works.

Trump could have begun his presidency by pursuing easier deals and making friends instead of waging war. Why he didnt go for infrastructure first, that was the low-hanging fruit, Valliere said. Its a mystery. Democrats generally favor more infrastructure spending, and Trump could have started off with a bipartisan win. Instead, his push to repeal Obamacare guaranteed a divisive political fight he could very well lose.

The Comey firing might blow over, but it might become a chronic, low-boil crisis, as doubts continue to swirl about Trumps ties to Russia and pressure mounts on the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate. A special prosecutor, free of any political oversight from the White House or Congress, could be a nightmare for Trump and an ongoing distraction for legislators trying to craft bills able to pass.

Its wise not to underestimate Trump, who upended the entire political establishment on his way to the White House. But at some point his record will become more important than his rhetoric, and he will need something to show for all the china he has broken. If he keeps stepping on his own agenda, victory will slide further and further into the future.

Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com

Read more:

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
sanders

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Wednesday that former FBI Director James Comey committed "atrocities" while he led the bureau that she said spurred President Donald Trump to fire him on Tuesday.

Sanders said that although Trump as a candidate had expressed support for Comey's decisions about the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, the letter he received Tuesday from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions outlining "the basic atrocities" Comey committed "in circumventing the chain of command of the Department of Justice" persuaded him to fire Comey.



"Any person of legal mind and authority knows what a big deal that is," Sanders said. "Particularly for someone like the deputy attorney general, who has been part of the Justice Department for 30 years  when he saw that, he had to take action, and that was the final catalyst" for Comey's dismissal.

McClatchy reported Wednesday that Trump met with Sessions and Rosenstein on Monday to discuss firing Comey, who days earlier had asked the Justice Department for more resources to expand the probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether any Trump campaign associates were involved.

Sanders denied that the Monday meeting was arranged to discuss Comey, however, telling reporters that "the topic came up" during a meeting of department officials at the White House. At that point, Sanders said, Sessions and Rosenstein asked to meet with Trump to further discuss the issue.

Trump asked Rosenstein to write a memo outlining his concerns about the FBI director, Sanders said. But The New York Times' Michael Schmidt reported on Tuesday that Sessions had been trying "since at least last week" to find an excuse to let Comey go. Sanders said Trump had been contemplating dismissing Comey since the day he was elected.

In his letter to Trump, dated Tuesday, Rosenstein said, "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.

Story continues

rod rosenstein

"The director was wrong to usurp the attorney general's authority on July 5, 2016, and announce his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution," he continued. "It is not the function of the director to make such an announcement. At most, the director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors."

Rosenstein also criticized Comey's decision to tell Congress 11 days before the election that the FBI would revisit the Clinton email probe  a move that Trump and Sessions applauded at the time.

"Concerning his letter to the Congress on October 28, 2016, the director cast his decision as a choice between whether he would 'speak' about the FBI's decision to investigate the newly discovered email messages or 'conceal' it," Rosenstein wrote.

"'Conceal' is a loaded term that misstates the issue. 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 nonpublic information. In that context, silence is not concealment."

Trump fired Comey one day after Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general, testified before Congress that she had warned the White House about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's contacts with Russia's ambassador during the transition.

Days earlier, Comey reiterated during an open Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that the FBI was still "conducting an investigation to understand whether there was any coordination between the Russian efforts and anybody associated with the Trump campaign."

"The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax," Trump tweeted on Monday night. "When will this taxpayer funded charade end?"

NOW WATCH: Watch a Trump surrogate get shut down after calling Trump the 'Martin Luther King of healthcare'





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WASHINGTON, May 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) supports the people of Venezuela as they fight for their freedom and democracy. The policies of the Nicolas Maduro regime have resulted in extreme shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods, and have led to a dire humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. In recent weeks the regime has unleashed violence against the Venezuelan people, leading to countless civilian casualties.



Lilian Tintori and Antonieta Mendoza de Lopez, wife and mother of jailed Venezuelan opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez, were denied access and information about Lopezs whereabouts for over 35 days. Leopoldo Lopez is one of approximately 200 political prisoners whose most basic human rights are being violated. He was CHLIs 2016 International Relations Honoree, and CHLI has pledged to him, his family, and the people of Venezuela, solidarity as they fight for free and fair elections.

CHLI is urging Members of Congress to support the people of Venezuela by denouncing the brutal Maduro regime, by highlighting the atrocities of the regime, and by facilitating humanitarian aid. CHLI is thankful to our Congressional Board Members and other Members of Congress who have vocalized their support for the people of Venezuela, and looks forward to working with these Members to continue to raise awareness of the dire situation in Venezuela.

CHLI is urging other national organizations to support the people of Venezuela and denounce the regime by issuing statements of support for democracy and organizing efforts for humanitarian aid.

CHLI is urging national media to highlight the atrocities currently occurring in Venezuela so that the American public can become more informed about the crises in our hemisphere.

CHLI recognizes that the situation in Venezuela has implications for U.S. Hispanics, the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere.

CHLI believes that taking a stand is imperative. As citizens of the United States, and of the world, we must denounce the brutal Maduro regime and stand with the people of Venezuela as they fight for their basic human rights and for freedom and democracy.

About CHLI:

The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) is the premier organization founded by Members of Congress and corporate leaders to advance the Hispanic community's economic progress with a focus on social responsibility and global competitiveness. Founded in 2003, CHLI is a 501(c)3 non-profit and non-partisan organization. CHLI is dedicated to fostering a broad awareness of the diversity of thought, heritage, interests, and views of Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent.
Utilisation of 40 per cent and EBITDA of USD 30.8 million in the quarter.

Mr. Jesper Kragh Andresen, Prosafe CEO says, "We are pleased with the Company's operating performance in this challenging market and the successful award by Statoil of the Johan Sverdrup contract".

Highlights

Good operating performance in the quarter - focus on safety and compliance

Awarded important long-term contract for Safe Zephyrus at Johan Sverdrup field in Norway

Safe Concordia still on contract in Brazil, and options exercised for Safe Boreas and Safe Zephyrus

Delivering on cost and capex reductions. Focus on continuous improvement remains

Looking for optionality and value creation potential from financing terms, price and timing of delivery of COSCO new builds

Safe Regency in process of being sold for scrap to protect cash and to increase competitiveness of the fleet"

Operations

Good operating performance in the quarter. Safety and compliance have the highest focus in Prosafe.

Fleet utilisation was 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 (37 per cent in the first quarter of 2016).

The Company is delivering against its cost and capex reduction targets and maintains focus on continuous improvements.

Safe Boreas continued the contract with Repsol Sinopec in UK and was in full operation throughout the quarter. This contract at Montrose was extended until 24 April 2017 at market adjusted rates.

Safe Zephyrus completed the contract with Aker BP in Norway at the end of January and is currently laid-up in the UK.

Safe Notos commenced its three-year and 222 day contract for Petrobras on 7 December 2016 and was on contract throughout the quarter.

Safe Concordia was fully contracted in the quarter for Petrobras and continues on short-term extensions at a market adjusted day rate.

The Safe Scandinavia Tender Support Vessel (TSV) was fully contracted in the quarter with Statoil. This contract has a firm period until July 2018.

Safe Caledonia is undergoing a five-year SPS before commencing a 134 day plus 30-day option contract with Total in UK in mid-May 2017.

Safe Lancia was sold for scrap in the US in March 2017.

Regalia, Safe Bristolia, Safe Astoria and Safe Regency were idle in the quarter. Regalia and Safe Bristolia are laid up in Norway while Safe Astoria is laid up in Indonesia. Safe Regency is laid up in Curacao, and the company has taken the decision to sell the vessel for scrap in the near term. This will be the fifth vessel Prosafe has sold for scrap since summer 2016 to preserve cash and to increase competitiveness of the fleet.

Safe Eurus is in a preserved, strategic stacking mode with COSCO (Qidong) Offshore Co., Ltd. (COSCO) in China. Prosafe remains in negotiations with COSCO and related parties with the aim of reaching an acceptable commercial solution regarding timing and terms of delivery for the Safe Nova and the Safe Vega. If an agreement is not reached, Prosafe has the right to cancel the newbuild contracts due to delay and claim a refund of the gross deposit of approx. USD 60 million secured by Bank of China.

Financials

(Figures in brackets refer to the corresponding period of 2016)

Operating loss for the first quarter amounted to USD 2.6 million (operating profit of USD 21.9 million). Operating profit for the first quarter last year benefitted from the mobilisation fee on the Safe Scandinavia TSV (USD 12 million) and a re-phasing charge related to the Safe Boreas Mariner contract of USD 30 million. Operating profit this quarter is impacted by higher depreciation compared to the same period last year. Taking these factors into account, the underlying performance in the quarter has improved compared to the same period last year.

Net financial expenses for the first quarter were USD 14.9 million (USD 20.3 million).

Net loss amounted to USD 19.1 million (USD 1.8 million), and diluted earnings per share were USD 0.22 negative (USD 1.00 negative).

Total assets at 31 March amounted to USD 2,655.8 million (USD 2,630.8 million). The book equity ratio increased to 42 percent at the end of 2016 due to the financial restructuring completed during last year and remained at 42 percent at 31 March (25.9 per cent). Net interest-bearing debt stood at USD 1,133.6 million (USD 1,650.7 million).

Outlook

At end April Prosafe was awarded the flotel contract on Johan Sverdrup.

The award is anticipated to position Safe Zephyrus well for any additional work for the Johan Sverdrup development. Contract value is between USD 51 million and USD 53 million depending on the duration and start date nominated by Statoil, and includes mobilisation, demobilisation and fuel consumption.

The building of order back-log and longevity combined with the retained optionality of other vessels in the fleet represents a balanced situation for Prosafe.

The market remains generally soft and current accommodation activity is predominantly related to hook-up and commissioning work. Market improvement will require the maintenance and modification part of the market to return.

After several years of sharp decline in the global E&P spending, the company now sees market expectations of only moderate E&P capex reduction in 2017 and an increase in 2018/2019. Such a development is anticipated to be generally positive for the overall activity within the oil and gas sector as well as for offshore accommodation services beyond 2017. It is however anticipated that further scrapping and industry restructuring will be required in addition to activity increase, for the offshore accommodation market to recover.

Prosafe continues to rebuild its position by taking the lead in respect of cost efficiency, scrapping, fleet renewal and consolidation while retaining its focus on safe operations at all times.

Prosafe is a leading owner and operator of semi-submersible accommodation vessels. The company is headquartered in Larnaca, Cyprus and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with ticker code PRS. For more information, please refer to www.prosafe.com

Larnaca, 11 May 2017

The Board of Directors of Prosafe SE

Attachments:

Q1 2017 report

Q1 2017 presentation

For further information, please contact:

Jesper K. Andresen, CEO

Prosafe Management AS

Phone: +47 907 65 155

Stig Harry Christiansen, Deputy CEO and CFO

Prosafe Management AS

Phone: +47 478 07 813

Cecilie Helland Ouff, Senior Manager Finance and Investor Relations

Prosafe AS

Phone: +47 991 09 467
Latvian English

Riga, 2017-05-11 07:54 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Annual Shareholders Meeting of Latvenergo AS was held on 10 May 2017 at 15:00 at the premises of Latvenergo AS at 12 Pulkveza Brieza Street, Riga.

The resolutions adopted at the Annual Shareholders Meeting:

1. To approve Latvenergo konsolidetais 2016.gada parskats, financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union;

2. To approve Latvenergo Consolidated Annual Report 2016, financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union;

3. To approve AS Latvenergo 2016.gada parskats, financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union;

4. To approve Latvenergo AS Annual Report 2016, financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union;

5.1. To approve the distribution of Latvenergo AS profit for the year 2016 of EUR 137,440,872 as follows:

1) EUR 73,021,305 to pay out to the state in dividends;

2) EUR 64,419,567 to retain and transfer to Latvenergo AS reserves with a purpose to decide on their pay-out to the state in dividends, by adopting such decision along with decision on distribution of Latvenergo AS profit for the year 2017;

5.2. To pay out in dividends EUR 17,120,530, which have been transferred from Latvenergo AS profit for the year 2015 to Latvenergo AS reserves with a purpose to decide on their pay-out in dividends, by adopting such decision along with a decision on distribution of Latvenergo AS profit for the year 2016;

6. To appoint ERNST & YOUNG BALTIC SIA to conduct the audit of Latvenergo AS for the year 2017, determining a remuneration of the auditor up to EUR 37,768 excl. VAT.

Additional information:

Janis Irbe

Group Treasurer

Phone: +371 67 728 239

E-mail: investor.relations@latvenergo.lv

www.latvenergo.lv

About Latvenergo

Latvenergo Group is a pan-Baltic energy company, engaging in electricity and thermal energy generation and supply, electricity distribution services and management of transmission system assets. Latvenergo Group holds one-third of the entire Baltic electricity market, thus ensuring its leadership in the Baltic electricity supply. Latvenergo AS has been acknowledged as the most valuable company in Latvia for several years in a row. International credit rating agency Moodys has assigned Latvenergo AS an investment-grade credit rating of Baa2/stable.

Latvenergo Group includes the parent company Latvenergo AS (electricity and thermal energy generation and supply) and its subsidiaries Latvijas elektriskie tikli AS (lease of transmission system assets), Sadales tikls AS (electricity distribution), Elektrum Eesti OU (electricity supply in Estonia), Elektrum Lietuva UAB (electricity supply in Lithuania), Energijas publiskais tirgotajs AS (administration of electricity mandatory procurement process) and Liepajas energija SIA (electricity and thermal energy generation and supply).
Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) announces that the Company has entered into various agreements with oil companies involving data licensing (late sales) related to 3D CSEM data from the library in the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea in Norway. The agreements represent revenues of USD 3.5 million.



Contact

Hege Veiseth, CFO, +47 99 21 67 43



About EMGS

EMGS, the marine EM market leader, uses its proprietary electromagnetic (EM) technology to support oil and gas companies in their search for offshore hydrocarbons. EMGS supports each stage in the workflow, from survey design and data acquisition to processing and interpretation. The Company's services enable the integration of EM data with seismic and other geophysical and geological information to give explorationists a clearer and more complete understanding of the subsurface. This improves exploration efficiency and reduces risks and the finding costs per barrel.



EMGS operates on a worldwide basis with offices in Trondheim, Oslo, Houston, Villahermosa, Rio de Janeiro and Kuala Lumpur.



This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
z3nith wrote:

In recent years, many cabinetmakers have been winning acclaim as artists. But since furniture must be useful,

cabinetmakers must exercise their craft with an eye to the practical utility of their product. For this reason,

cabinetmaking is not art.

Which of the following is an assumption that supports drawing the conclusion above from the reason given for

that conclusion?

(A) Some furniture is made to be placed in museums, where it will not be used by anyone.

(B) Some cabinetmakers are more concerned than others with the practical utility of the products they

produce.

(C) Cabinetmakers should be more concerned with the practical utility of their products than they

currently are.

(D) An object is not an art object if its maker pays attention to the objects practical utility.

(E) Artists are not concerned with the monetary value of their products.



Also i am a little confused from the meaning of the argument.





>>> But since furniture must be useful, cabinetmakers must exercise their craft with an eye to the practical utility of their product

means -- since furniture should be useful; CMs should keep that in mind ; as if they are not currently doing so and author is saying they should make USEFUL cabinets

"must" gives a futuristic view. So we are not sure what kind of cabinets are being currently made. thus we cant say why it cant be an art.

Hello,The argument implies that currently many cabinetmakers win acclaim as artists. However, cabinetmakers also need to pay attention to the utility of the cabinets and hence, cabinet making is not an art.This depends on the assumption that while making something , if you need to consider its utility, then it is not an art form. This is directly mentioned in D. However, let us analyze the rest of the options. Let us try the negation test to check this.(A) Some furniture is made to be placed in museums, where it will not be used by anyone. This is irrelevant.(B) Some cabinetmakers are more concerned than others with the practical utility of the products they produce. Some cabinetmakers might be more concerned with the utility of their products. However, this does not imply that their work is not an art form. This option does not give us any relationship between cabinetmaking and art form.(C) Cabinetmakers should be more concerned with the practical utility of their products than they currently are. This suggests that the cabinetmakers need to more concerned with the practical utility of their products. However, it does not tell us whether cabinetmaking is an art form or not.(D) An object is not an art object if its maker pays attention to the objects practical utility. Might be the assumption.(E) Artists are not concerned with the monetary value of their products. The negative of this is that artists are concerned with the monetary value of their products. However, does this cause the conclusion to fail? The conclusion still stands as the decision of whether cabinetmaking is an art or not does not depend on its monetary value in this argument. The conclusion depends on whether it can be considered an art form if it is made with some purpose or utility in mind.Regarding your second question, the statement "But since furniture must be useful, cabinetmakers must exercise their craft with an eye to the practical utility of their product" implies that since furniture need to be useful, cabinetmakers have to consider the utility of the furniture. The "must" in the argument does not give a futuristic outlook. Rather, it highlights the necessity of considering the utility of the cabinet while constructing it.Hopefully this clarified your doubt. Please let me know if you need any further clarification.
- A lady has been killed and burnt by her boyfriend

- The lady was declared missing by her mother since April 28

- It was gathered that the boyfriend confessed to killing her

A man simply identified as, Sandile, has confessed to killing his beautiful South African girlfriend, Karabo Mokoena.

Legit.ng gathered that the lady was declared missing on Friday, April, 28.

The deceaseds mother, Tshepo Mokoena, announced on social media that her daughter had gone missing, urging people to help find her.

South African lady allegedly killed and burnt by her boyfriend

Mrs Mokoena later shared a message on social media, saying Sandile had confessed to killing her daughter.

READ ALSO: Woman allegedly runs mad after spending time man in a Malaysia hotel

Twitter user, Toko Ramapepe, announced that the lady was found dead burnt beyond recognition.

READ ALSO: Corpse refused to be buried until it took villagers to its killers residence (photos, video)

Rest in peace!

Nigerians beg the government not to demolish their houses

Source: Legit.ng
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Moon Jae-in was sworn in as South Koreas president Wednesday.

He took office just one day after the presidential election because South Korea has had an acting president since last December. That was when lawmakers voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye.

Moon spoke during his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly building in Seoul. He promised the Korean people he would lead by example.

I will be a clean president. I come to my inauguration for president with nothing in my hands and I will step out with nothing in my hands. Later, I will go back to my home and become an ordinary citizen, Moon said.

Moons promise comes as Park awaits trial on corruption charges.

World leaders offered congratulations to the new South Korean president.

The United States said in a statement that it looks forward to deepen the enduring friendship and partnership between our two countries.

President Donald Trump and Moon spoke by telephone Wednesday. They agreed to closely cooperate in dealing with North Koreas nuclear weapons development program.

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered his congratulations to the new South Korean leader. He also said that China wanted to deal with disputes appropriately on the basis of trust and understanding.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he looked forward to working with Moon. Abe called South Korea one of Japans most important neighbors.

Difficult issues facing the new president

In his inauguration speech, Moon promised political reforms to put checks and balances on the power of the presidency. He also said he would increase government spending on education and jobs, while increasing taxes on the wealthy.

The new president said he would increase efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. He opened the possibility of visiting Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

If needed I will fly directly to Washington. I will go to Beijing and Tokyo. And if conditions are met, I will go to Pyongyang. In order to bring about peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, I will do everything I can, he said.

The new president wants to increase contacts with North Korea, while continuing to pressure its government.

U.S. President Trump has wanted to increase pressure on the North by pushing for a tightening of sanctions. In addition, the U.S. armed forces recently carried out joint exercises with South Koreas military.

However, Moon said recently that the decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea should have been made after the presidential election. The deployment has been met with protests in South Korea.

Also, Trump recently said South Korea should pay as much as $1 billion for the missile system. Under the Status of Forces Agreement, South Korea provides the land and supports facilities for THAAD, while the U.S. operates and repairs the missile system.

The deployment has increased tensions between South Korea and China. China opposes the antimissile system and having its powerful radar so close to the countrys border. It has cut back on Chinese traveling to South Korea and some imports to show its displeasure.

Moon, however, continues to place importance on the U.S. alliance with South Korea. He says the two countries want the same thing: to bring North Korea back to negotiations to peacefully solve the nuclear issue.

Some experts question if a policy of both engagement and pressure can be carried out successfully.

Katherine Moon is a Korea expert with the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She said a policy of engagement might help North Korea, but hurt efforts by the U.S. and allies in East Asia.

Speaking to VOA on Skype she said there were limits to the use of methods of engagement, which she termed the good cop approach and those of pressure, a bad cop approach.

It doesnt hurt to have a good cop, bad cop when youre dealing with a very tough opponent, which North Korea is. But we are not in an ideal world situation in politics, and definitely the times right now dont call for that much of a good cop, frankly.

Moon Jae-in was the presidential candidate of South Koreas Democratic Party. He won the election with 41 percent of the vote.

He takes office at a time when the country is struggling with the arrest of Park Geun-hye and tensions with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. South Koreans also are concerned about the economy, job growth, trade ties and opportunities for young people.

Im Mario Ritter.

Brian Padden reported this story for VOANews.com; Youmi Kim provided information for his report. Mario Ritter adapted the story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

impeach - v. to charge (a public official) with a crime done while in office

inauguration  n. the ceremony starting the term of a president or other high official

domestic  adj. relating to ones own country

facilities  n. structures such as buildings and heavy equipment

engagement  n. the process of being involved in something

cop  n. police officer

sanction  n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country, etc.

opportunity  n. a good chance for progress or forward movement

checks and balances  expression, a system of government that prevents any one branch of government from using too much power
This photomicrograph reveals Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria using acid-fast Ziehl-Neelsen stain; Magnified 1000 X. The acid-fast stains depend on the ability of mycobacteria to retain dye when treated with mineral acid or an acid-alcohol solution such as the Ziehl-Neelsen, or the Kinyoun stains that are carbolfuchsin methods specific for M. tuberculosis. Credit: public domain

Investigators at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine announced that two new studies of DAR-901, their investigational vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), have moved it to the forefront of new vaccines in development for global control of this deadly infectious disease.

"We are very pleased with the results of these two studies" said Ford von Reyn, MD, professor of medicine at Geisel and principal investigator for the DAR-901 booster vaccine. "They represent major milestones on the path to approval of DAR?901 and the global fight against tuberculosis."

Tuberculosis is the leading infectious disease cause of death in the world and there is a global effort to eradicate it by 2035. According to modeling by the World Health Organization a new vaccine will be required to meet this ambitious elimination goal. The Dartmouth candidate, DAR-901, is an inactivated vaccine made from a non-pathogenic bacterium that is genetically related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of human tuberculosis. An earlier form of the vaccine was used in the DarDar Trial, a seven-year study in Tanzania sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health involving patients with HIV infection who at birth had received BCG, the current tuberculosis vaccine. In that trial, the inactivated vaccine was effective as a booster in preventing tuberculosis. The DarDar Trial remains the only trial in which a new tuberculosis vaccine has shown efficacy in humans. Dartmouth and Aeras subsequently collaborated to develop an improved and scalable method for manufacturing the vaccine, now designated DAR-901.

The two new studies on DAR-901 conducted in collaboration with Aeras were published in the journal PLOS ONE. In the pre-clinical study, BCG was administered first followed by a booster immunization with either DAR-901 or a second dose of BCG. Protection against subsequent tuberculosis challenge was greater with the DAR-901 booster than with the BCG booster. In the clinical study, being published today, DAR-901 was administered to adults living in the United States who had received BCG at birth. A three-dose series of the vaccine was safe and well-tolerated. In addition, DAR-901 induced immune responses that were similar to those seen with the vaccine shown effective in the DarDar Trial.

"Taken together, these two studies suggest that the new scalable vaccine formulation is likely to prove as effective as the original formulation - which would make it the first protective TB vaccine in humans since BCG, which was introduced almost a century ago," said Professor Ajit Lalvani, Director of the Tuberculosis Research Centre, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London and a member of the DAR-901 development team.

Based on the study published today, a larger randomized trial is underway in Tanzania to determine if DAR-901 prevents the earliest stage of infection with tuberculosis, before symptoms are apparent. In February, the 650 adolescents in this "prevention of infection" study completed receiving 3 doses of DAR-901 or placebo. The vaccine was again observed to be safe and well-tolerated. The trial is sponsored by Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (Japan) and results of vaccine efficacy will be available in late 2018.
U of T's Morgan Barense is a senior author of a study that found a potential predictor for dementia. Credit: Diana Tyszko

Researchers at the University of Toronto and Baycrest Rotman Research Institute (RRI) have discovered a potential brain imaging predictor for dementia, which illustrates that changes to the brain's structure may occur years prior to a diagnosis, even before individuals notice their own memory problems.

The joint study, published in the Neurobiology of Aging journal on May 8, looked at older adults who are living in the Toronto community without assistance and who were unaware of any major memory problems, but who scored below the normal benchmark on a dementia screening test.

Within these older adults, researchers also found evidence of less brain tissue in the same subregion of the brain where Alzheimer's disease originates (the anterolateral entorhinal cortex located in the brain's temporal lobe).

This U of T-Baycrest study is the first to measure this particular brain subregion in older adults who do not have a dementia diagnosis or memory problems that affect their day-to-day routine. It is also the first study to demonstrate that performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) dementia screening test is linked to the volume (size) of this subregion, along with other brain regions affected early in the course of Alzheimer's disease.

"This work is an important first step in determining a procedure to identify older adults living independently at home without memory complaints who are at risk for dementia," says Morgan Barense, associate professor in the department of psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science at U of T and senior author on the study.

The team studied 40 adults between the ages of 59 and 81 who live independently (or with a spouse) at home. All participants were tested on the MoCA. Those scoring below 26  a score that indicates a potential problem in memory and thinking skills and suggests further dementia screening is needed  were compared to those scoring 26 and above.

"The early detection of these at-risk individuals has the potential to facilitate drug developments or other therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer's disease," says Rosanna Olsen, first author on the study, RRI scientist and assistant professor in U of T's department of psychology.

"This research also adds to our basic understanding of aging and the early mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease."

Scientists were able to reliably measure the volume of the anterolateral entorhinal cortex by using high-resolution brain scans that were collected for each participant.

The strongest volume differences were found in the exact regions of the brain in which Alzheimer's disease originates. The researchers are planning a follow-up study to determine whether people who demonstrated poor thinking and memory abilities and smaller brain volumes indeed go on to develop dementia.

"The MoCA is good at diagnosing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (a condition that is likely to develop into Alzheimer's) and we are seeing that it may identify MCI in people who are not aware of a decline in their memory and thinking skills," said Barense.

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating neurodegenerative illness with widespread personal, societal and economic consequences. An estimated 564,000 Canadians live with dementia and 1.1 million Canadians are affected by the disease, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada. There are 25,000 new cases of dementia diagnosed every year in Canada and it costs $10.4 billion to care for those living with dementia.

"A key take-away from the study is that it highlights the utility of the MoCA test in identifying individuals who are at-risk for dementia," said Olsen.

Adults who are older than 40 and interested in testing their memory and attention prior to raising concerns with their doctor can consult Baycrest's online brain health assessment tool, Cogniciti.

More information: R.K. Olsen et al. Human anterolateral entorhinal cortex volumes are associated with cognitive decline in aging prior to clinical diagnosis, Neurobiology of Aging (2017). Journal information: Neurobiology of Aging R.K. Olsen et al. Human anterolateral entorhinal cortex volumes are associated with cognitive decline in aging prior to clinical diagnosis,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.04.025
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with collaborators across the nation, have determined that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) can be an accurate, non-invasive tool to identify liver fibrosis in children. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the most common cause of chronic liver disease in children, and scarring of the liver, known as fibrosis, is a major determinant of clinical outcomes.

Results of the multi-center pediatric study were published online in the May 11 edition of Hepatology.

A generation ago, NAFLD was rare in children; it now affects 5 to 8 million children in the U.S. Moreover, NAFLD has become the most common cause of liver transplants in Americans under age 50. Due to the rapid increase in prevalence and severity of the disease, there is a growing interest in emerging imaging technologies that provide doctors with the information needed to care for patients, especially children, in a non-invasive manner.

"One of the challenges we face when evaluating a child with NAFLD is to determine the severity of their disease. A major component of that assessment is the staging of the amount of scar tissue seen from a liver biopsy. In MAGNET, we demonstrated that 2D MRE could be used to estimate hepatic stiffness (scarring) in these children," said Jeffrey Schwimmer, MD, paper's co-author and professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "We also identified a roadmap to help navigate future use of MRE technology. Ultimately, MRE may be most useful for monitoring the progression or improvement in children with NAFLD."

The MAGNET study (MRI Assessment Guiding NAFLD Evaluation and Treatment) was co-led by Schwimmer, director of the Fatty Liver Clinic at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, and Claude B. Sirlin, MD, professor of radiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. MAGNET was the first multi-center study to use non-invasive imaging to assess liver fibrosis in children.

"One of the challenging parts of evaluating liver disease in children is determining the numeric cut-off for a positive diagnosis of fibrosis," said Sirlin, who was the study's senior author. "Radiologists and gastroenterologists using MRE should be aware that the interpretation in children may not be the same as in adults. Getting this right has real-world implications."

MRE is an imaging tool that measures the stiffness and elasticity of soft solid organs. MRE has emerged from being only a research tool to becoming clinically available on a large percentage of MRI scanners in medical centers across the country. Children in MAGNET were imaged at UC San Diego Health and at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. The MRE images were independently interpreted at UC San Diego Health and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Investigators used both manual interpretation and a newly developed automated interpretation method.

Schwimmer said that the UC San Diego research team is now exploring the potential of 3D MRE. Further refinement of 2D and 3D MRE, they said, would help close the gap between where each technology is today and where it needs to be to be maximally useful for children.

According to the American Liver Foundation, NAFLD is a spectrum of diseases that begins with excess fat builds up in the cells of the liver. As the disease progresses, fibrosis increases, which may become cirrhosis, a permanent form of scarring that can lead to liver failure and need for transplantation. NAFLD affects nearly 25 percent of adults in the U.S., and 5 to 10 percent of all children. In children, the average age of diagnosis is 12.

More information: Jeffrey B. Schwimmer et al, Magnetic Resonance Elastography Measured Shear Stiffness as a Biomarker of Fibrosis in Pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Hepatology (2017). Journal information: Hepatology Jeffrey B. Schwimmer et al, Magnetic Resonance Elastography Measured Shear Stiffness as a Biomarker of Fibrosis in Pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease,(2017). DOI: 10.1002/hep.29241
One of the most difficult skills a neurologist must learn is how to diagnosis brain death and communicate the bad news to family members.

A Loyola Medicine study has found that two simulation techniques dramatically improved the brain death diagnostic and communications skills of neurologists in training. The techniques employ SimMan 3G, a high-tech patient simulator (mannequin) that simulates a brain-dead patient and trained actors who simulate family members having a brain-death discussion with a physician.

The study was presented during the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in Boston, where the study received the academy's prestigious 2017 Safety and Quality Award.

Brain death is the irreversible loss of all functions of the brain. Clinically and legally, the patient is dead. (Brain death differs from persistent vegetative state, in which some autonomic functions such as breathing and sleeping persist.) The concept can be difficult to communicate to family members, who, for example, may wish to keep their loved-one on life support.

Brain death is determined with a procedure that includes a physical exam and an apnea test. In an apnea test, the patient is taken off the ventilator, and if there is no attempt to breathe, the patient is declared dead. Typically, a physician meets with the family to describe the procedure before it is performed. If the procedure confirms the patient is brain dead, the physician meets with the family again to deliver the bad news.

"The physician has only one chance to relay information in a compassionate way that the family can understand," said Preston Douglas, MD, first author of the Loyola study. "The family's whole view of the healthcare system can be enhanced or tainted depending on how well the discussion is conducted."

The Loyola study included 12 neurologists who were beginning their second year of residency training. They were tested before and after they underwent brain death simulation training.

Instructed by senior neurologists, the resident neurologists learned how to diagnose brain death using a patient simulator. The simulator can move and talk and realistically mimic human responses relevant to brain death testing, such as breathing and response to light. Instructed by palliative-care specialists, the resident neurologists learned how to discuss brain death with actors who played the roles of family members. (The actors are specialists from the Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network.)

Before the training, the residents scored 46 percent on a test that measured how well they performed a brain death exam on the patient simulator, 48 percent on a test of how well they delivered bad news and 55 percent on an apnea test. After training, their scores improved to 73 percent, 74 percent and 91 percent, respectively.

Previous studies have shown how using patient simulators can help improve brain death diagnosis skills. The Loyola study is the first to show that using actors can help improve physicians' communication skills in brain death discussions.

The study is titled, "Simulation-based training in brain death determination incorporating family discussion: An update to an ongoing project."
Physical Therapy professor Susan Hunters work represents a shift in thinking about fall prevention for individuals with dementia. She is challenging current rehabilitation practice by seeing the use of mobility aids, such as canes or walkers, as a far more complex cognitive task than previously believed. Credit: University of Western Ontario

It seems counterintuitive that the use of a mobility aid, such as a cane or a walker, can actually increase the risk of falls in older adults. Yet in individuals with dementia, that's exactly the case. In fact, people with dementia are three times more likely to suffer a fall when using a mobility aid versus not using one at all.

"One of the theories is that having to use a mobility aid is multi-tasking," Physical Therapy professor Susan Hunter explained. "Using a mobility aid means you need to have a lot more cognitive finesse and capacity to use the aid; you need to be able to maneuver around obstacles."

Hunter often makes a comparison with texting and driving. "How many things can you do at the same time and not cause an accident?"

Previous research completed by Hunter looked at how much extra cognitive work is required when using a mobility aid. In healthy older adults, using an aid increased one's cognitive burden only slightly. But for people with dementia, the increase was substantial  upwards of 35 to 40 per cent.

Now, Hunter is leading an U.S. Alzheimer's Association-funded study to dig deeper into why this is so.

Hunter and her team of researchers, which includes two Western colleagues, as well as partners at the University of Montreal and Curtin University in Perth, Australia, are conducting a series of walking tests with three distinct groups of people  individuals with mild-to-moderate dementia, a healthy older adult group (50 years and older), and a cognitively young adult group (individuals in their 20s). Of the 30 'novice' participants  those who are not currently using a mobility aid  half will use a cane during the walking tests, and half will use a four-wheeled walker.

The 30 experienced mobility aid users with Alzheimer's disease will similarly be broken into two groups  half with more than six months experience using a cane, half who have used a four-wheeled walker for more than six months. The individuals with Alzheimer's disease will be recruited from the McCormick Home in London, a long-term care facility which has the largest day program in southern Ontario for people with dementia.

Participants will complete straight-path walking tests of six metres in length, as well as complex-path walking tests, which include walking in figure-eight patterns and around obstacles. They'll also experience multi-task conditions  talking and walking at the same time while using a mobility aid, for instance. The complex-path walking conditions are of particular interest, Hunter said, because there is limited research on the relationship between complex walking conditions and cognitive load in people with Alzheimer's disease.

"If I have people walk in a straight line, there isn't much difference between the person who has dementia and cognitively healthy people," Hunter said. "But if I ask somebody to walk around obstacles, that's where the two groups spread wide apart. It's much harder for somebody who has dementia to walk in a complex pattern, as well as maneuver around obstacles."

Various measures will be used in quantifying the results, including the participants' gait velocity, cognition, vision, balance, strength and fear of falling.

"We're actually quantifying what their walking looks like and what changes happen," Hunter said. "We know it takes more cognitive burden to use an aid. But is that associated with markers of instability? Do people actually become more unsteady?"

The study represents a shift in thinking about fall prevention and challenges the current rehabilitation practice by seeing the use of a mobility aid as a complex cognitive task. In a pilot survey with physiotherapists, none indicated they included executive function or cognitive load in their assessments with a patient. The immediate benefits of Hunter's study, then, will be to show the importance of taking those factors into account when prescribing a mobility aid to an individual with dementia.

"The goal is to develop an assessment protocol that can be used in clinical practice and that is specifically designed for people who have dementia, accounting for factors unique to those individuals, like cognition and vision changes," Hunter said.

"There's a knowledge gap where, on the one hand, you're providing a person with dementia with a mobility aid that can provide physical support. But then you're giving somebody potentially new complex tasks. Do we follow people long enough to say that they're safe? Can we train people better in using the aids?"
Inspired by her mother Frances Williams, who had Alzheimer's disease, and her father Milton Williams, who was her caregiver, Christine L. Williams, DNSc., in FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, designed the intervention program and developed the first tool that measures couples' communication. Credit: Florida Atlantic University

In marriage, good communication is key to a fulfilling and enduring relationship. For people with dementia, communicating needs, emotions and interacting with others becomes increasingly difficult as communication deteriorates as dementia progresses. Problems in communicating lead to misinterpretations and misunderstandings, which often cause considerable stress for family members, especially the spouse caregivers as well as the patient.

But all is not lost according to the first study to look at and measure communication outcomes in both the caregiver spouse and the patient with dementia. In fact, researchers from Florida Atlantic University have found that "practice makes perfect" with the right intervention and a tool that can accurately measure couples' communication. Results from the study are published in the journal Issues in Mental Health Nursing.

"There has been very little focus on the patient with dementia's role in maintaining spousal relationships through conversation," said Christine L. Williams, DNSc, principal investigator of the study and a professor and director of the Ph.D. in Nursing Program in FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, who designed the intervention program and developed the first tool that measures couples' communication. "Maybe it's because researchers assume that the patient can't have a positive influence on communication because of dementia. We wanted to explore this issue further, especially for couples with a history of special memories shared over decades of marriage."

For the study, Williams videotaped and later analyzed and measured 118 conversations between 15 patients with varying degrees of dementia and their spousesmarried an average of 45 yearsto evaluate the effects of a 10-week communication-enhancement intervention on participant's communication and mental health.

Caregivers were taught to communicate in a manner that was clear, succinct and respectful, and to avoid testing memory and arguing. Spouses with dementia were given the opportunity to practice their conversation skills with a member of the research team who was trained in communication deficits associated with dementia as well as the intervention. Conversations were recorded at the couples' homes. After setting up the video camera, Williams conducted the intervention and then left the room for 10 minutes. Couples were instructed to converse on a topic of their choice for 10 minutes.

"There are very few studies that have looked at actual communication between couples in these circumstances and tried to analyze it," said Williams. "For instance, I've seen studies where they have taught communication strategies to caregivers, but then what they measure is the caregivers' knowledge about communication, which doesn't tell you anything about whether or not they were able to communicate."

Unlike other measures of patient communication, the Verbal and Nonverbal Interaction Scale-CR (VNIS-CR) tool developed by Williams takes into account nonverbal behaviors, which account for more than 70 percent of communication, as well as verbal behaviors. VNIS-CR delineates social and unsociable behaviors, characterizes patient behaviors (not through the lens of a caregiver), and is targeted to spousal relationships in the home. Consisting of 13 social and 13 unsociable communication behaviors with both verbal and nonverbal items, the tool helps to describe sociable and unsociable communication in patients with dementia as they engage in conversations with their spouses.

Nonverbal, non-sociable items in the tool included aloofness, staring into space and being nonresponsive; nonverbal, sociable items included looking or gazing at the spouse, being affectionate and joking. Social verbal behaviors included using coherent conversation, responding to questions, and addressing their partner by name or endearment. Unsociable verbal behaviors included shouting, cursing and unintelligible communication. The 13-item scores were summed up to obtain the final score.

"Using this new tool, I was able to confirm that the intervention I used actually worked and that communication improved in both the spouse caregiver and the patient over time," said Williams. "I was ecstatic because I originally thought that maybe the caregiver's communication would improve and that would be great. However, to have positive changes in a person who is continuing to decline over 10 weeks, which is a long time, was something I really did not expect. This intervention worked for both the caregiver and the patient and we now have a tool to demonstrate it."

Globally, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias affected 35.6 million individuals in 2010 and it is expected to grow to 115.4 million by 2050. The prevalence of dementia will increase as longevity increases and future family caregivers are likely to be predominantly spouses. In the United States, most people with dementia are cared for by their spouses.

"As patients progress with dementia, couples don't have to lose everything especially if they are engaged, if they can still relate to one another and if they focus on the here and now," said Williams.

The VNIS-CR could be used in clinical practice to describe changes in social communication abilities over time, as well as to educate spousal caregivers about the importance of encouraging sociable communication. Knowledge gained from using this tool could better guide the development of interventions to support intimate relationships and ultimately measure changes following those interventions.
Yannick Griep, assistant professor in the University of Calgary's Department of Psychology, led a five-year study that shows regular volunteering reduces the chance of dementia in seniors. Credit: Riley Brandt, University of Calgary

Seniors now have a greater incentive than ever for doing volunteer work in their retirement years, in light of a new study that shows volunteering can substantially reduce the development of dementia.

The study, led by University of Calgary psychology professor Yannick Griep and published in the medical journal PLOS One, tracks 1,001 Swedish citizens, all of whom retired in 2010, over a five-year period, monitoring them for the development of cognitive problems.

These retirees are divided into three groups based on their engagement in volunteer work. One group is made up of individuals who consistently volunteered in their respective communities for at least one hour per week. The second group consists of those who sporadically engaged in volunteering. In the third group are retired workers who never engaged in volunteering.

The cognitive health of those individuals is assessed at regular intervals (in 2010, 2012 and 2014) by means of questionnaires as well as the monitoring of physician diagnoses, including the use of anti-dementia medication. The questionnaires touch on such factors as memory and the ability to concentrate and make clear decisions, among other cognitive issues.

Regular volunteer work provides cognitive health benefits

"We found that the people who did volunteer work for at least one hour a week on a regular basis were 2.44 times less likely to develop dementia than the seniors who didn't volunteer," says Griep.

Volunteer work in the study is defined as an activity done out of free will for no monetary compensation. Moreover, Griep clarifies that "the activity has to benefit others who are not your core family; for example, helping out a church, a school, a library a homeless shelter or some sort of charity organization."

Interestingly, Griep and his co-researchers found that the middle groupthose retirees who only volunteered sporadicallydid not receive any benefits to their cognitive health. "We discovered that for this group there are no differences than with the group that never volunteered," he says.

Griep can only speculate why there are no cognitive health benefits for the sporadic volunteer camp but he believes it's because they don't receive "the latent benefits of work," as do the regular volunteers. "Work has many benefits beyond just a paycheque," he says.

"It brings a structure to the day, like when we need to be up at seven and at the office for 8:30. It offers social contact with people outside of our family. It brings us the social status we get with a job title. It makes us feel like we're making a meaningful contribution to society. And there's a physical aspect as well, even if it's just walking from your house to the spot where you do your volunteer work.

Researchers strongly recommend retirees volunteer at least once a week

"If you volunteer regularly, it starts to feel like a regular job and you get these benefits of work," Griep explains. The underlying assumption, he says, is that those in the regular volunteering camp stay sharper cognitively because they are continuing to engage their minds in these key ways.

Based on the findings, Griep and his team strongly recommend that retired seniors do volunteer work at least once a week.

"This is an important issue," says Griep. "As a senior, your risk of dementia goes up substantially every year. Anything you can do that's low cost and easy to implement that will reduce the likelihood of developing dementia is invaluable. It's not only beneficial for the health-care system but also for those individuals who might develop dementia, as well as the family members who wind up caring for them."

More information: Yannick Griep et al. Can volunteering in later life reduce the risk of dementia? A 5-year longitudinal study among volunteering and non-volunteering retired seniors, PLOS ONE (2017). Journal information: PLoS ONE Yannick Griep et al. Can volunteering in later life reduce the risk of dementia? A 5-year longitudinal study among volunteering and non-volunteering retired seniors,(2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173885
(HealthDay)When kids with autism graduate high school, they may need adult services to help them find a job or live on their own. And parents may need a helping hand in navigating the new and confusing system, researchers say.

In a small study, investigators found that young adults with autism fared better when their parents received help in understanding the adult services system.

The young adults were twice as likely to be working or in some type of post-secondary education, versus their peers whose families were on a waitlist for the program.

In the real world, it's often difficult for parents to figure out the system of services available to young adults with autism, according to Julie Taylor, the lead researcher on the study.

That's, in part, because those services are not mandated like school-based services for children.

"So they tend to be underfunded," said Taylor, an assistant professor of pediatrics and special education at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tenn.

Depending on where families live, certain services may simply not exist. "And when they are available," Taylor said, "they're just incredibly complicated. They're administered through different agencies, and there's no central place for families to go."

So Taylor and her colleagues put together a program designed to help. Over 12 weeks, parents come to weekly meetings that guide them through the "nuts and bolts" of what's available in the adult services system, and how to apply for them.

It also offers advice on how to best "advocate" for their child, Taylor said.

In a pilot study, her team randomly assigned 41 families to either start the program or go on a waitlist. All of the parents had a child with autism who was either still in high school or had graduated in the past two years; one-third of those young people also had an intellectual disability.

Six months after the program ended, it seemed to be having an impact. Almost half of kids from those families were working or in post-secondary education, versus 21 percent of their peers in the waitlist group, the study found.

And of those who'd graduated high school, 86 percent were either working or continuing their education. That compared with 30 percent of the waitlist group, the findings showed.

Taylor was scheduled to present the findings Wednesday at the International Meeting for Autism Research, being held in San Francisco. Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until they've been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

David Kearon is director of adult services for the advocacy group Autism Speaks.

Kearon said the services available to families may include vocational training aimed at helping young adults find a job; assistance with finding appropriate housing; and guidance on higher education, among other things.

"But the availability varies state to state," said Kearon, who was not involved in the new study. "And those services are vastly underfunded."

Even when services are available, he noted, the waiting list for them can be years longeven a decade or more.

As it stands, Kearon said, the majority of people with autism are unemployed or "underemployed"in a job that's not up to their actual skill level. Because autism causes difficulty with communication, he noted, "they may not even get past the interview for some jobs."

Schools do have a role in preparing kids with disabilities for the "transition" into adulthood, according to Kearon. He said things such as job-readiness skills and "independent living" skills should be part of their education plan.

But once young people are out of the school system, families can be left wondering what to do. "Adult services is a whole new, complex system for them to figure out," Kearon said.

He suggested parents start preparing for their child's post-school life early.

Where can they go with their questions?

According to Taylor, they could start with their child's school and local advocacy groups.

As for the program her team developed, they're hoping to study its effects in larger groups of familiesand look for ways to "scale it up." It might be possible, Taylor noted, to create web-based modules, to make it more accessible.

She and Kearon both emphasized one more point: Kids need to be the "leaders" in this process.

"Where does your child see his- or herself in the future?" Kearon said. "What are their dreams and goals? Ultimately, kids need to learn to advocate for themselves, to the extent that they canand not only rely on mom and dad."

More information: Julie L. Taylor, Ph.D., assistant professor, pediatrics and special education, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.; David Kearon, director, adult services, Autism Speaks, New York City; May 10, 2017 presentation, International Meeting for Autism Research, San Francisco Julie L. Taylor, Ph.D., assistant professor, pediatrics and special education, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.; David Kearon, director, adult services, Autism Speaks, New York City; May 10, 2017 presentation, International Meeting for Autism Research, San Francisco Autism Speaks has more on adult autism services.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Euphoria Telecoms demonstrated their Cloud solutions at this years annual MyBroadband Cloud, Hosting and Security Conference.

Euphoria is a leading provider of an innovative, cloud-based, cost-effective business communications solution and has established over 2000 private and publicly listed enterprises in South Africa as customers.

What makes them significant is that they have recognised that the rise of a mobile, flexible workforce calls for a change in the way business communications are deployed especially in South Africa.

With this in mind, they have designed a system to work with the local infrastructure, giving South African businesses a chance at tapping into a world-class product designed for corporate SMEs

The PBX system is designed for the modern-day business which simplifies the necessary functions of a Business PBX to One Simple Solution, says Euphoria.

It is designed with customer centricity in mind and delivers the expected performance every time, Euphoria adds.

Businesses emerge together with technology and cannot afford being tied into long-term contracts for products and services.

Euphoria offers on-demand, scalable solutions that allow flexibility every customers unique business requires.

The Telephone Management System (TMS), provides businesses access to key information, reporting and business to make informed decisions every step of the way.

Businesses will get access to real-time insights into their business, their workforce and their own customer experience.

For more information, you can visit the Euphoria website.
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Benny Gantz: Israel has an opportunity to strike Iran's nuclear facilities

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Raisi: Relations between Tehran and Moscow have a bright future

Taliban virtue representative kills minor for refusing to marry

Meeting held at Ministry of Defense

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

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Military forces of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey take part in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline protection exercise

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YEREVAN.  Zhamanak (Time) newspaper has learned that the Office of the President of Armenia had recently attempted find out from the US embassythrough inner circlesas to which ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) members could be put on the list of the people that are banned from traveling to the US, due to the recent National Assembly election, according to the newspaper.

26 Baghramyan [Avenue, the official address of the Office of the President] learned that the sanctions on these people will not be limited solely to not issuing a visa to visit the US. The embassy is going to also include their relatives on this list.

What is more, it is not ruled out that a decision will be made regarding American companies cooperation in connection with the businesses of these people, and American investments will be ruled out in connection with these people, wrote Zhamanak.
STEPANAKERT.  The adversary violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces more than 65 times, from late Wednesday night to early Thursday morning.

During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired around 1,700 shots toward the position-holders of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) Defense Army, and with different-caliber shooting weapons, the defense army informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Also, the adversary fired four mortar shells and eight cannon shells toward the defense positions of Martakert Region.

In addition, the Azerbaijani army moved around ten tanks toward Talish village, on Wednesday at around 1:30pm. At 2:55pm, however, these tanks returned to their starting regions.

But the Artsakh defense army vanguard units took actions in response, and they carried a vigilant military watch along the entire line of contact.
YEREVAN.  The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) 2017 Annual Meeting and Business Forum was held, from Tuesday to Thursday, in the Cypriot capital city of Nicosia.

A delegation from Armenia, comprising Deputy PM and International Economic Integration and Reforms Minister Vache Gabrielyan, Central Bank of Armenia Chairman Arthur Javadyan, and International Economic Integration and Reforms Ministers adviser Rafayel Avetisyan, also attended this event.

The discussants conferred on economic and financial matters within the framework of cooperation with the EBRD, the press office of the government informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

This years EBRD meeting and business forum is of particular importance in terms of making long-term strategic adjustments.
STEPANAKERT.  Defense ministry of the Artsakh Republic confirmed the information that the crew of a program on Armenias Shant TV was fired by the Azerbaijani armed forces.

According to them, the cameraman of the Shant TV, Davit Atoyan was wounded at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday as a result of the firing by the adversary.

The Ministry noted that Davit Atoyan had been taken to Stepanakert and given the first aid. An investigation is underway.

As reported earlier, the crew of a program on Shant TV of Armenia was fired at, on Wednesday at around 6pm, at the northern sector of the Karabakh (Artsakh)-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The Azerbaijani army fired at the vehicle of the crew, with large-caliber shooting weapons.

As a result, cameraman Davit Atoyan was wounded.
STEPANAKERT.  Azerbaijan violates the provisions of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law on a regular basis, said Davit Babayan, Head of the Central Information Department of the Office of the President of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR).

Babayan stated the abovementioned commentingat the request of Armenian News-NEWS.amon the Azerbaijani shooting at an Armenian TV crew and wounding a cameraman.

He said the adversary knew they were journalists shooting a program, and that they had cameras and other related equipment.

This category cant be a target, noted Babayan. But we are dealing with a terrorist state which not only doesnt abide by international norms, but launches regular attacks on groups and objects that are overseen under international law.

I believe the international communityand, first and foremost, the international community of journalistsneed to react harshly to what has happened. I wish a speedy recovery to wounded Davit.

He added that journalists are fighters at the information front.

With this incident, Azerbaijan showed its attitude toward freedom of speech, and its terrorist nature, concluded the head of the Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR President.

The crew of a program on Shant TV of Armenia was fired at, on Wednesday at around 6pm, at the northern sector of the Karabakh (Artsakh)-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The Azerbaijani army fired at the vehicle of the crew, with large-caliber shooting weapons.

As a result, cameraman Davit Atoyan was wounded. He was taken to the Artsakh capital city Stepanakert Military Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

The circumstances behind this incident are being ascertained.
YEREVAN.  An Iranian tourist was found dead Thursday in a hotel in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.

Edgar Janoyan, head of the Police Media Relations Department, confirmed this information to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The operative team that left [to the scene] found out that the dead body of an Islamic Republic of Iran citizen, who was born in 1983, was found in one of the rooms located on the 10th floor of the said hotel, he said.

In his words, external examination found no traces of violence on the body, and a forensic examination has been commissioned.
YEREVAN.  Arsen Musoyan, head of the Railway Department at the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies of Armenia, and Sergey Valko, Director General of the South Caucasus Railway (SCR) company, recently paid a visit to Iran.

They held meetings with Iranian businessmen, transport companies, and representatives from the ministries and agencies, informed the news service of the aforesaid ministry.

During these talks, SCR introduced the project of conducting multimodal transportalso known as combined transport, is the transportation of goods under a single contract, but with at least two different means of transportbetween Iran and European countries, via Armenia.

The Iranian businessmen and the transport companies directors, who were in attendance to the meetings, showed great interest in this alternative project.
YEREVAN.  There is no embargo that is in force in Armenia on Azerbaijani goods, said Vardan Harutyunyan, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, at a press conference on Thursday.

He noted the aforementioned commenting on the scandalous case of the Azerbaijani apples that were being sold in Armenia.

Reporters noted that even though it was the incident with these apples that was raised, goods were imported to Armenia from Azerbaijan in previous years, too.

In recent years, however, there were virtually no imports from Azerbaijan, and solely a US$600-worth carpet was imported in 2014.

An embargo on Azerbaijani goods is not in force at us; its definition isnt within my powers, said Harutyunyan. But I believe the stores themselves can decide whether or not to take such products, and the consumerswhether they should buy [them].
The Ministry of Defense of (MOD) of Azerbaijan has admitted the fact of shooting at the crew of Shant TV of Armenia.

Accepting the above-said fact, the Azerbaijan MOD, however, attempted to explain this incident by way of blaming the Armenian side for this shooting.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan announced that the [Azerbaijan military] divisions opened fire in response to the shooting of Azerbaijani positions, from Armenia Armed Forces covert vehicle that had no distinctive sign of media, or a civic organization, and presumably belonged to Armenian Shant TV, reported Haqqin.az news agency of Azerbaijan.
YEREVAN.  Armenias Shant TV crew, which was passing along some military positions that are under the protection of a unit of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) Defense Army, was shot at by Azerbaijan, on Wednesday at around 6pm.

The Investigative Committee of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that, in particular, the adversary fired shots from large-caliber weaponssniper rifles and machine gunstoward the vehicle of the said TV crew.

As a result, cameraman Davit Atoyan sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to military hospital.

A criminal case is initiated on charges of the adversarys attempt to deliberately kill persons, on grounds of national and religious hatred.

An investigation is underway.
Armenia and its inhabitants have a respectful attitude to cultures and languages, Council of Europes newly released report says.

Armenias legislation and regulations comply with the countrys obligations in promoting the use of regional and minority languages in public life. However, more needs to be done to raise awareness of the countrys minority languages and cultures, to address the problem of the lack of funds, and to change the attitude of the authorities to protecting the languages.

These are the key findings of the new report published today that looks at how Armenia implements its undertakings under the European Charter for Regional and Minority languages. The report covers the period up to the end of May 2016, and places special attention on the measures taken to promote the five languages that Armenia recognized as minority ones and protects under the Charter: Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish, Russian and Yezidi.

On the positive side, a number of measures were introduced to promote these languages; and progress has been noted in the publication of school textbooks. The situation of Russian does not give rise to any concerns: this is the only minority language in which bilingual education is provided at various educational levels.

In contrast, the situation of Greek does not comply with the obligations Armenia took upon itself. There is a danger that Pontic Greek will disappear as a minority language in Armenia. Resolute action by the public authorities is essential to support the Greek language.

There are certain shortcomings in the promotion of Assyrian, Kurdish and Yezidi languages. These three minority languages have only a marginal presence in the public and private media, despite favorable legal provisions. There is a lack of well-trained teachers. The shortcomings are primarily due to the lack of funds which particularly affects teaching and the media.

Support given to minority languages in Armenia, the report says, is often limited to folklore festivals or the provision of premises for various events initiated by the minorities themselves. The Council of Europe experts note a tendency on the part of the Armenian authorities to assign responsibility for implementation of the Charter to the local authorities and the national minority communities, and use this as justification for the lack of proactive measures. The passive attitude of the authorities gives the impression that the protection of the minority languages is the responsibility of the minorities themselves. However, the Charter places obligations on the authorities, and not the minorities, to promote and protect minority languages, the experts stress.

Armenia has joined the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in May 2002.
YEREVAN.  A total of 18.2 percent more tourists have arrived in Armenia, from January to March of the current year.

Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, Chairperson of the State Committee for Tourism, told about the above-said to reporters, after Thursdays Cabinet session of the government.

As per the official, the government is working to draw new tourists, including from Russia and Iran, which are the largest markets of Armenia.

An increase in visits is observed both from Iran and Russia, and from France and China, added Zeytuntsyan. [A total of] 23 percent more guests have arrived at us from Iran, in the March 2017 [Nowruz; Iranian New Year] holidays, alone. Tourists [to Armenia] increased by 5.9 percent, during the whole of 2016.
YEREVAN.  In late May, early June, the contractors will accelerate the North-South Highway works.

The Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies of Armenia, Vahan Martirosyan, told about the aforesaid to reporters, after Thursdays Cabinet meeting of the government.

In his words, the delays in this road construction project were due to bad weather and contractor-related matters, which, however, these companies themselves will have to resolve.

The Corsan-Corviam company (Spain) is constructing the road sections from capital city Yerevan to Artashat townsouthwardand Talin townsouthward, whereas the Sinohydro Corporation (China) is building the road section from Talin to Gyumri, the second largest city of Armenia.
STEPANAKERT. - President of Artsakh Republic (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) Bako Sahakyan on Thursday received the delegation of the Yerkrapah Volunteers Union (YVU) headed by chairman of the organization's board Manvel Grigoryan.

A range of issues related to the situation along the Karabakh-Azerbaijani border, army-society ties and upbringing of the younger generation were addressed during the talks, the press-service of the Artsakh Presidents office informed Armenian News  NEWS.am.

President Sahakyan handed high state awards to a group of YVU members for courage and bravery shown during the defense of the homeland and in connection with the Victory Day, the 25th anniversary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army and Liberation of Shoushi.

NKR defense minister Levon Mnatsakanyan and other officials also attended the meeting.
YEREVAN. - Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on Thursday paid a visit to the Ministry of Nature Protection, within the framework of which he discussed with the agency leadership the programs, issues and future actions of the sphere.

Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan reported on the implementation of the priority issues and actions provided for by the 2017 Action Plan of the Armenian Government. It was noted that 25 investment programs are being implemented in the sphere, of which 25 are grant and twostate budget funded programs, with a total value of $184,453,4 thousand USD.

Referring to the actions taken in the sphere of water resource management, Deputy Minister of Nature Protection Khachik Hakjobyan presented the work aimed at restoring the underwater resources of Ararat plain. According to him, it is planned to introduce automated, centralized management system in all the fish breeding facilities, which will ensure online control in the sphere of water consumption. The pilot system has already been introduced in one of the facilities. It is planned to introduce it in three stages by 2018.

Karapetyan underscored the importance of ensuring the multiply effect as a result of introducing the management system. The system should be motivating, just and aimed at saving resources, he said, instructing to make a proposal on the reform of the Water Resources Management Agency.

Thereafter, Karapetyan was reported on the measures taken in regard to Lake Sevan. Currently, the water level constitutes 1900.76 m, the positive growth trend being ensured in line with the law. Under the current concept paper, it is planned to raise the level of the lake up to 1903.5 meter by 2030.

Apart from this, the prime minister was reported on the work aimed at the protection of the specially protected areasreserves, national parks and nature monuments. Getting familiarized with the recorded indexes and the results of the operating system, Karapetyan instructed to draw up precise guidelines for the development of specially protected areas, which will ensure the growth of own economic incomes, ecotourism development, preservation of green zones and efficient management.

Referring to the prevention of illegal felling, Karapetyan noted that it is necessary to be maximally intolerant, exercise strict control and be consistent in holding those guilty liable.

The head of the government also learnt about actions carried out in the sphere of climate change, use of subsoil and other directions.
YEREVAN. - The parliamentary elections of 2007 and 2012 were no less shameful than the one held on April 2 but what was then the leader of Yerkir Tsirani (Country of Apricot) party leader Zaruhi Postanjyan doing in the National Assembly of Armenia for 10 years?

Mayoral candidate from Yelk (Way Out) bloc, Nikol Pashinyan, told the aforementioned during a pre-election rally in Yerevans Northern Avenue on Thursday, referring to Postanjyans accusations in connection with the fact that Pashinyan legitimized the shameful election of April 2 without filing a complaint with the Constitutional Court.

Pashinyan recalled that after the 2013 presidential election he spoke at the rally of Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian, stating that it is absurd to file a claim with the Constitutional Court in such situations.

At the same time, Pashinyan noted that his position on this doesnt mean they will not cooperate with Yerkir Tsirani Party in the Yerevan Council. We offered Ms Postanjyan to cooperate at the highest level: We offered her my status, but this wasnt accepted. And although her further statements do not inspire optimism, we dont close the door. I rule out the possibility of not cooperating in the future because of my stance, Pashinyan said.
YEREVAN. - Mayoral candidate of Yelk (Way Out) bloc Nikol Pashinyan has announced that election bribe has been distributed in the headquarters of incumbent Yerevan mayor and mayoral candidate Taron Margaryan in Yerevans Kurghinyan street.

Journalist of Haykakan Zhamana newspaper, Ana Zakharyan, informed that on her way home she noticed people coming out of the headquarters with already voted ballots and money in their hands. The journalists noticed 20,000 AMD. Several boys approached the journalist, took away her phone and later returned it with all photos deleted.

This is a guided voting, Pashinyan noted. He told that when he approached the headquarters, Vardan Vardanyan, who used to be the henchman candidate of MP Samvel Aleksanyan in 2012, went out and made provocative and absurd statements. Vardanyan struck Pashinyans proxy Hayks Sargsyan in his hand with his foot and then escaped. Pashinyan turned to the police in connection with the incident.

The RPA headquarters issued a statement in connection with Pashinyans statement, noting that it is absolute misinformation and doesnt correspond to reality.
BSEE Provides Details on Oil Spill Response Efforts

The agency participated in the Arctic Oil Spill Response Research and Technology Workshop on April 26.

The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement recently provided information on its efforts to improve oil spill response technologies. This outreach took place at the Arctic Oil Spill Response Research and Technology Workshop on April 26, with the results of several projects presented there, including development of a submersible skimmer prototype for oil recovery in and around broken ice.

"At the workshop, we all worked together to collectively understand the suite of response technology possibilities that are available today, as well as those that may become available in the near future," said David Moore, chief of BSEE's Oil Spill Preparedness Division. "Developing and refining technologies for oil spill response in the Arctic requires collaboration on a global scale."

Experts from the United States, Canada, Iceland, and Norway attended the event, which was organized by the Arctic Council's Working Group on Emergency Prevention. Topics discussed include traditional mechanical response countermeasures, evolving response countermeasures, and response optimization.
As readers know, EU legislature is considering a reform of the relevant legislative framework for copyright. The IPKat is delighted to host an analysis of the current debate by Prof Martin Kretschmer (University of Glasgow and CREATe).

Over the last months, many observers have tried to follow the progress of the EU copyright reform package that is now bogged down by close to 1,000 amendments from Members of the European Parliament to the proposed Copyright in the Digital Market Directive (COM(2016)593)

This post tries to shed some light on what is going on behind the scene.

(CREATes earlier contributions to the debate can be found here .)

and had meetings with MEPs, including with rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs of Committees dealing with the Copyright in the Digital Market Directive the most controversial of the Commissions proposals. I also attended the Meeting of the Legal Affairs JURI on 23 March, the lead committee on the Directive, considering the draft report of Rapporteur Therese Comodini Cachia (a Maltese MEP from the centre right European Peoples Party EPP , the dominant group in the European Parliament).

At a recent visit to Brussels I spoke at a lunch briefing for the copyright working group of the European Council organised by the European Alliance for Research Excellence

In the complicated process of European law making (the ordinary procedure), the Commission proposes legislation, the Parliament amends and then the Council approves (although the Council can also adopt its own text, and send it back to Parliament; and the Commission can change its proposal at any time). In practice, the development of Parliaments position runs in parallel to negotiations with the Commission and Council.Proposed legislation is a constantly moving target.

The interface between the three EU bodies is the most intriguing, and least transparent aspect of this process.

) still becoming involved with an opinion scheduled for end of May. It has been said that MEPs already have submitted close to 1000 amendments. The sheer weight of translating these amendments may lead to further delay, with an exchange of views in the JURI committee on 29/30 May the next important opportunity to test the political mood.

In the European Parliament, the proposed Copyright in the Digital Market Directive (adopted by the Commission on 14 September 2016) is at the Committee stage. Draft reports with amendments have been tabled in four Committees: Culture and Education CULT, Internal Market IMCO,

My understanding is that following the completion of the Committee process, a so-called compromise text drafted by the JURI rapporteur might be ready to be voted on during this parliamentary session (ending in the second week of July). This coincides with the current Maltese presidency of the European Council handing over to Estonia for the next six months period from 1 July to 31 December 2017 (pre-Brexit, it would have been the UK).

The Maltese Presidency in its programme had committed to take forward discussions on the copyright reform ( here , p. 28) but the Council (in practice, the Intellectual Property Attaches representing each Member State) have only just begun the process with a discussion of the proposed new exception for text and data mining (Article 3). I understand that most member states have yet to communicate any positions on the most controversial aspects of the Directive, the proposed introduction of an new exclusive right for press publishers (Article 11), and changes to the liability regime for platforms hosting user generated content (Article 13).

Informally, certain Member States (Sweden, Baltic, Eastern European, UK) are not that keen on the new publishers right (Art. 11), but many want something to be done about the money YouTube (ie Google) pays to the content industry (Art. 13), with France having a pretty entrenched position (discussed in Eleonora Rosatis CREATe working paper here ). It is very unlikely that the Council will arrive at a common position on the Directive by the end of June.

Meanwhile, there have been crucial changes in the Commission. Gunther Oettinger, the German Commissioner behind Arts. 11 and 13(and a compatriot from my home state Baden-Wurttemberg) has been moved to become Commissioner of Budget and Human Resources (as of 1 January 2017). Andrus Ansip, the liberal former Estonian Prime Minister (and Vice-President for the Digital Single Market) is now overseeing the copyright portfolio directly, and his team stands for a more progressive copyright agenda. Ansips position though has not been consistent, advocating cross border access and the integrity of the e-Commerce Directive on the one hand while holding the Oettinger line on Arts. 11 and 13 in a recent exchange of views in the Internal Market Committee.

the Copyright Unit in DG CNECT (Digital Economy and Society) which holds the pen in drafting the Directive also has had a change of leadership. Maria Martin-Prat who was Head of the Copyright Unit since 2011 has been appointed in FebruaryMarco Giorello (who played a part in the

as Director for Services and Investment, Intellectual Property and Public Procurement in DG TRADE.

It may be no coincidence that

In the Internal Market Committee (IMCO, with joint responsibility for Art. 13, only advisory on the rest of the directive), the draft report by rapporteur Catherine Stihler (S&D Group, Scottish Labour) was discussed on Monday March 13. Her report takes note of the consensus expressed in an open letter by European research institutes on 24 February last. Art. 11, the misconceived new right for press publishers, is deleted. Regarding Art. 13, the reference to content ID has been removed as well as language that may undermine the E-Commerce Directive. On Art. 3 (text and data mining) the restrictions relating to beneficiary and purpose (research organisations for the purposes of scientific research) have been removed.

, led here by the British Tories. Only the EPP shadow rapporteur wanted the publishers right restored. However, from the amendments submitted, it becomes clear that Ms Stihler also faces resistance from within her own party, as S&D MEPs Marc Tarabella, Virginie Roziere, Hugues Bayet proposed to extend the retroactive protection of Article 11 to 70 years (see AM 442).

There was support in IMCO for Stihlers sensible positions from the Liberals (ALDE), Greens and the

Ms Comodini (EPP Malta), rapporteur for JURI, the lead committee, presented her draft report on Wednesday, 22 March. Again, this is a very sensible report, a great improvement on the Commissions proposals. The treatment of Art. 11 follows the academics suggestion to focus on giving press publishers standing to sue rather than a new right. The amendments to Art. 13 seek to safeguard the E-Commerce directive. The text and data mining exception under Art. 3 is amended to be available to any person who has lawful access.

The JURI meeting on 22 March was quite an irregular session. I have participated in quite a few committee meetings in the European Parliament but this one was particularly strange. After Comodinis report, rather than having the response from the shadow rapporteurs of the major groups (Social Democrats S&D, Liberals ALDE, Greens, Conservatives), the chair gave the floor early to two other EPP MEPs (the same party as the rapporteur) and later a French socialist who all appear to have been briefed by the press publishers lobbyists. The meeting also had been rescheduled to a different time at very short notice, and the new schedule was not online until the meeting had started.

During the JURI meeting, there was also a formal Hearing on the new mandatory exceptions in the Directive. Among others, Prof Alain Strowel (UCLouvain) spoke , advocating broadly the position of the European Copyright Society with respect to the exception for text and data mining: analysing the informational content of copyright works should not be considered a copyright relevant use.

In Articles 14, 15 and 16 the Proposed Directive uses weak language that seek to improve the contractual position of authors and performers. Vague obligations on Member States to improve transparency about modes of exploitation and revenues, and to enable additional remuneration for best selling works or performances are unlikely to be effective. The amendments proposed by the rapporteurs have not been able to make much progress here. A more effective approach would focus on the reversion of rights to the creator after specific periods (the United States under the 1976 Act provides for a process for the termination of transfers of copyright after 35 years, a clause that is currently being tested in the courts in a series of cases).

Regarding the freedom of users to engage, there are proposals from the CULT committee to consider exceptions for remix (user-generated content may comprise extracts of copyright-protected works in a way that is not harmful for the rightholders) and the so-called freedom of panorama

(non-commercial digital reproduction and use of works, such as works of architecture or sculpture, made to be located permanently in public places).

T
The Thai-inspired trend of rolled ice cream has been spinning its way across the U.S. for a while now  and now it's finally whirling its way into Milwaukee.

As first reported by the Milwaukee Business Journal, Fro Zone will open the first rolled ice cream shop in the area at 1320 E. Brady St., the former Pepi's Place pizzeria space. The store  the brainchild of recent college grad Mike Kaid and his business partner/current Marquette University student Ahsan Sikander Gondal  will sell the popular street vendor dessert for $6.95 with unlimited toppings.

So what the heck is rolled ice cream? Pretty much exactly what it sounds like: thin strips of ice cream, rolled into spirals, tucked into a bowl and covered in a variety of sweet toppings. But why tell you what ice cream rolls are when this video from Super Deluxe can do a much better job showing you in all their mesmerizing, intoxicating beauty.

So not only do you get a frozen treat, you might get bonus ASMR brain tingles too!

Fro Zone  which I assume will be themed around Samuel L. Jackson's character from Pixar's "The Incredibles"  is expected to open June 1.
Phuket, 11 May, 2017  Vietjet Thailand together with Love Andaman, a full service ecotourism tour company to famous islands in the southern Andaman, along with Phukets leading hotels jointly hosted a blogger seminar joined by 30 leading travel bloggers. The event program aimed to connect leading travel & hospitality stakeholders and bloggers and their respective social media followers to ecotourism destinations and the promotion of southern Thailand, all inspired by bloggers experiential reviews. Members of the public and blog followers who are interested to discover the latest southern ecotourism hotspots can follow amazing activities either directly at the bloggers Facebook Fanpage or on the Vietjet Facebook Fanpage (https://www.facebook.com/VietJetThailand/ )

Vietjet Thailand currently provides the lowest cost flights in Thailand with routes connecting Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to Phuket with three flights daily. Prices start at 559 THB. For Phuket to Chiang Rai, Vietjet offers a single flight daily with prices starting at 629 THB (for booking and traveling from today until October 28, 2017) with a limited number of promotional seats available.

Tickets can be booked at www.vietjetair.com (also compatible with smartphones at https://m.vietjetair.com) or at http://www.facebook.com/vietjetthailand (just click the Booking tab). Payment can be easily made with debit and credit cards of Visa, MasterCard, JCB, KCP and American Express.
Early life as it is believed to have looked 335 million years ago, well before the age of the dinosaurs. Ancestors of hospital pathogens are now believed to have lived in the guts of these ancient land animals. Credit: Mark Witton

Leading hospital "superbugs," known as the enterococci, arose from an ancestor that dates back 450 million yearsabout the time when animals were first crawling onto land (and well before the age of dinosaurs), according to a new study led by researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear, the Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Published online today in Cell, the study authors shed light on the evolutionary history of these pathogens, which evolved nearly indestructible properties and have become leading causes of modern antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals.

Antibiotic resistance is now a leading public health concern worldwide. Some microbes, often referred to as "superbugs," are resistant to virtually all antibiotics. This is of special concern in hospitals, where about 5 percent of hospitalized patients will fight infections that arise during their stay. As researchers around the world are urgently seeking solutions for this problem, insight into the origin and evolution of antibiotic resistance will help inform their search.

"By analyzing the genomes and behaviors of today's enterococci, we were able to rewind the clock back to their earliest existence and piece together a picture of how these organisms were shaped into what they are today" said co-corresponding author Ashlee M. Earl, Ph.D., group leader for the Bacterial Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "Understanding how the environment in which microbes live leads to new properties could help us to predict how microbes will adapt to the use of antibiotics, antimicrobial hand soaps, disinfectants and other products intended to control their spread."

The picture the researchers pieced together begins with the dawn of life. Bacteria arose nearly 4 billion years ago, and the planet has teemed with them ever since, including the sea. Animals first arose in the sea during the time known as the Cambrian Explosion, 542 million years ago. As animals emerged in a sea of bacteria, bacteria learned to live in and on them. Some bacteria protect and serve the animals, as the healthy microbes in our intestines do today; others live in the environment, and still others cause disease. As animals crawled onto land about 100 million years later, they took their microbes with them.

The authors of the Cell study found that all species of enterococci, including those that have never been found in hospitals, were naturally resistant to dryness, starvation, disinfectants and many antibiotics. Because enterococci normally live in the intestines of most (if not all) land animals, it seemed likely that they were also in the intestines of land animals that are now extinct, including dinosaurs and the first millipede-like organisms to crawl onto land. Comparison of the genomes of these bacteria provided evidence that this was indeed the case. In fact, the research team found that new species of enterococci appeared whenever new types of animals appeared. This includes when new types of animals arose right after they first crawled onto land, and when new types of animals arose right after mass extinctions, especially the greatest mass extinction, the End Permian Extinction (251 million years ago).

From sea animals, like fish, intestinal microbes are excreted into the ocean, which usually contains about 5,000 mostly harmless bacteria per drop of water. They sink to the seafloor into microbe-rich sediments, and are consumed by worms, shellfish and other sea scavengers. Those are then eaten by fish, and the microbes continue to circulate throughout the food chain. However, on land, intestinal microbes are excreted as feces, where they often dry out and most die over time.

Not the enterococci, however. These microbes are unusually hardy and can withstand drying out and starvation, which serves them well on land and in hospitals where disinfectants make it difficult for a microbe.

"We now know what genes were gained by enterococci hundreds of millions of years ago, when they became resistant to drying out, and to disinfectants and antibiotics that attack their cell walls," said study leader Michael S. Gilmore, Ph.D., senior scientist at Mass. Eye and Ear and Director of the Harvard Infectious Disease Institute.

"These are now targets for our research to design new types of antibiotics and disinfectants that specifically eliminate enterococci, to remove them as threats to hospitalized patients," added Francois Lebreton, Ph.D., first author of the study and project leader for the Gilmore team.
Credit: Shutterstock

As climate change melts the polar ice cap, the Arctic becomes more accessible, causing increased marine traffic and greater industrial development. University of Calgary researchers are investigating the environmental pressures that follow. As the world begins to understand the impact of our carbon footprints, their findings could help guide the way toward a carbon-free future.

In Calgary, the potential results of worldwide climate change are already hitting home: the program manager for the city's climate program says that by the year 2050, Calgarians could see more flooding, severe winds, decreased river flow rates and temperatures that hover above 30 degrees C for almost a month each year.

Studying stress in whales

In August, the Canadian Arctic is mostly ice-free, and narwhals swim into deep-water inlets along Baffin Island. For the researchers who study them, they can be a treasure trove of information about environmental conditions.

Sandra Black, a clinical associate professor of zoo and wildlife medicine, and a graduate student in UCalgary's Faculty of Science, works with Inuit communities in the region to study narwhals. She measures key indicators such as the levels of stress hormones in the whale's blubber, which can tell her how changes in the Arctic might be impacting the narwhal and other wildlife.

While her studies focus primarily on the narwhal, she tries to look through a wider lens to evaluate the big picture in the Canadian Arctic. "There is this overarching question about what the impacts are in the Arctic," says Black. "The question is, will the narwhal be resilient to the changes that have and will continue to occur? We want to maintain the intact ecosystems. Everything is carefully knit together."

The idea for Black's project started germinating in 2004, and crystallized more in 2015, when she decided to package it into her PhD through biological sciences, seeking to establish a health and stress index for the narwhal. Her research since has been multifaceted, as she has worked with other researchers in Fisheries and Oceans Canada, establishing a baseline of data.

The University of Calgary has also partnered with the Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative (CWHC), with funding from the Nunavut Research Institute and Irving Shipbuilding Inc., for studies in the central Arctic and coastal Nunavut.

Black also works to train local people in the collection of scientific data  such as hunters who can gather tissues from hunted animals. "With the narwhal," she says, "you have this big whale that lives in a remote area for a good chunk of the year. So they can be hard to study."

Climate change affects wildlife and ecosystems throughout the Arctic. Credit: University of Calgary

Black's research results are pending. She will depart again for the Canadian Arctic this summer.

"I consider it a privilege to be working in the Arctic with the Inuit, talking to elders who grew up on the land, gaining an understanding of how important the natural world is to them," she says.

Healthy wildlife, healthy ecosystem

While Black studies the narwhal, Susan Kutz, a professor in UCalgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Alberta Regional Centre of the CWHC, researches caribou and muskoxen.

Kutz is a veterinary parasitologist. Her research includes understanding the impacts of climate change on interactions between parasites and hosts in the Arctic. Some parasites can be transmitted from animals to people through foods, such as caribou, that are integral to local cultures.

She and her colleagues are working with local hunters in the Arctic to collect a range of tissues from hunted caribou, among other sources. The tissue can provide information about diseases that are potentially spread to people in Arctic communities by various means, including the eating of caribou meat.

Kutz says healthy wildlife is critical for ecosystem health, a productive economy, and food safety and security in the Arctic. "Climate warming, increased marine traffic, industrial development, species range expansions, and other environmental changes are increasingly threatening the health and sustainability of Arctic wildlife species," she says.

Declining wildlife health affects northern people by reducing the availability and accessibility of important food sources, she says. Also, diseases and contaminants can pose health risks for those who handle or eat the animals.

Kutz says building local wildlife health monitoring capacity (such as training hunters to collect scientific data) and supporting it with a broader expert network will enable early detection of changes in wildlife health, and potential threats to human health, so that measures can be taken in a timely manner.

The CCGS Amundsen. Credit: Ariel Estulin/ArcticNet

"Using scientific, local, and traditional ecological knowledge, we will build on our existing wildlife health programs to establish the health and surveillance plans for caribou," Kutz says. "We will simultaneously develop capacity in community-based wildlife health monitoring."

Measuring ocean acidification

When Arctic scientist Brent Else was a PhD student, he spent much of his time working on the CCGS Amundsen, Canada's only dedicated research icebreaker. The Amundsen typically allows scientific missions from June to October, and working aboard the ship presented challenges  fighting for time with the other researchers onboard, the ship was always moving, sometimes sailing past places of interest and never staying anywhere too long.

One day in 2014, Else, now an assistant professor in the Department of Geography in UCalgary's Faculty of Arts, realized he had to get off the ships, for at least part of the time, and work on a smaller scale.

"I realized that to answer questions such as how is the Arctic changing, we have to take some measurements in some spots for a period of time," Else says. "That meant I needed to move some of my research onto land where it could be more community-based. I wanted to focus on a location and understand what is going on there through the year, as opposed to sailing from place to place."

Armed with a $100,000 Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) network grant, Else installed a weather observatory on a small, rocky island in the Northwest Passage. Located about 30 kilometres from Cambridge Bay, a small settlement on the southeast corner of Victoria Island in Queen Maud Gulf, the station allows him to study conditions in the Arctic Ocean throughout the year.

Else's research concentrates on air-gas exchange processes in the Arctic seas, Arctic marine carbon cycles, ocean acidification and sea-ice energy balance.

"I'm interested in understanding the question of how much CO2 does the ocean absorb and how that relates to climate change," Else says. This process is called ocean acidification, as it alters the natural pH balance of seawater. "We know that the Arctic is experiencing climate change effects earlier and more acutely than other regions. I'm trying to quantify the role of high-latitude aquatic ecosystems in controlling atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases."

Additionally, Else conducts sea ice camps on shore, where he and other researchers sample the underlying ocean and sea ice in an effort to understand the impact of physical and biogeochemical processes on the marine carbon system. Sea ice can provide clues regarding where gases are modified and exchanged with the atmosphere.

Understanding the transfer of carbon between the atmosphere, sea ice and water is key to understanding ocean acidification. Credit: University of Calgary

Else's recent research results are pending. "We have done our first field season in the past year and we are in an exploratory phase, so we are building the connections and getting the instruments in place."

Working with Inuit communities

Else's work has also had a tangible impact on the local community, where his data helps residents travel more safely.

"We wanted to see if people who live in Cambridge Bay (population is near 2,000), who would travel past the island going to fishing grounds, would be interested in getting the data," says Else. "I knew they would be more interested in things like temperatures and wind speeds rather than CO2 measurements, but I thought we could help them make informed decisions about, say, whether it is safe to travel."

So he talked with local hunter and trapper organizations and discovered that they liked the idea of having a weather station, but they were hoping for stations in other locations. Else set up two other stations near fishing sites.

"We are trying to understand how people in these communities make their decisions regarding where and how to travel, as well as determining just what information they need. We are trying to get them the right information."

In turn, the Inuit may be able to help the researchers understand more about the Arctic ice  when it melts, how it melts and the factors that might control the melting  because they have been living there for centuries.

Put energy into tourism?

As economic interest in the Arctic intensifies, the kind of progress Else wants to see is energy development of a different sort  one focused on tourism.

"I'm interested in our ability as a country to develop more tourism there and do it in consultation with the people who already live in the north and have done so for centuries on their own terms," Else says. "Through my research, I've seen that it could potentially be a sustainable way to develop the region, preserving its natural state rather than taking something out of it."

More information: Lydden Polley et al. Climate change, parasites and shifting boundaries, Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica (2010). DOI: 10.1186/1751-0147-52-S1-S1
Marine specimens, such as a sponge shown here, are collected and brought back to the laboratory of University of Guam Professor Dr. Jason Biggs for preservation, cataloging, and further study. Credit: Jason S. Biggs/University of Guam

A Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego-led research team discovered for the first time that a common marine sponge hosts bacteria that specialize in the production of toxic compounds nearly identical to man-made fire retardants.

The new findings put the research team one step closer to unraveling the mystery of this powerful group of chemical compounds, known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in the marine environment. PBDEs are a subgroup of brominated flame retardants that are combined into foam, textiles, and electronics to raise the temperature at which the products will burn. These man-made industrial chemicals are powerful endocrine disruptors that mimic the activity of the human body's most active thyroid hormone.

Vinayak Agarwal, a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps, picked up a cold case first started nearly 50 years ago by Scripps chemist John Faulkner, an early pioneer in the study of natural products from the sea, to continue the investigation into the source of these toxic compounds that are found in large quantities in the world's oceans.

"For the first time we were able to conclusively show that genes and enzymes produced in bacteria from sponges are responsible for the production of these compounds toxic to humans," said Agarwal, co-first author of the paper along with Scripps PhD student Jessica Blanton.

The study was part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)/ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)-funded Center for Oceans and Human Health research being conducted at Scripps.

Researchers uncover that marine sponges host bacteria that produce natural flame retardant-like compounds toxic to humans. Credit: Scripps Oceanography/UC San Diego

In 2014, Agarwal and colleagues at Scripps Oceanography were the first to discover that unrelated free-living marine bacteria produce these fire retardant compounds naturally, albeit in very small quantities.

In this new study, the researchers employed two modern-day techniquesgenome "mining" pioneered by Scripps marine chemist Brad Moore and an environmental DNA sequencing approach pioneered by Scripps biologist Eric Allento take the investigation a step further and identify the specific genes and enzymes involved in the overproduction of the toxic molecules in sponges.

Marine sponges obtain food and oxygen by filtering seawater through the pores and channels in their bodies. This constant water flow means that these immobile animals host many bacteria, viruses, and fungi in their complex microbiomes.

The research team collected 18 sponge samples for the study during two research expeditions to Guam. They then isolated the various components of this complex mixture of organisms from the sponge's tissues to identify the specific genes and enzymes that code for the production of PBDEs.

"For many years scientists were finding clues that suggested nature was making these compounds," said Bradley Moore, a professor at the Scripps Center of Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego, and a senior author of the study. "Now that we understand how they are produced in the marine environment, we are exploring why they exist, and the human health concerns associated with them."

A 'Lettuce Leaf' morphotype of the sponge Lamellodysidea herbacea. Credit: Scripps Oceanography/Jessica Blanton

Moore's genome "mining" approach along with Allen's metagenomic sequencing gives scientists a way to connect the natural chemicals produced by organisms back to the enzymes that construct them.

The study, which appears on the cover of the May issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology, was a unique collaboration among chemists and biologists at UC San Diego and elsewhere.

"This study is a powerful combination of chemical, biological and environmental research," said Henrietta Edmonds of the NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences, which supported the research. "It has the potential to help us understand the production, fate and health consequences of natural and pollutant compounds in the marine environment."

"We care about naturally produced PBDEs because they end up in the food chain," said Frederick Tyson, Ph.D., of the NIEHS, which helped to fund the research. "Preliminary data from this research team suggest that some naturally occurring PDBEs may be even more toxic than those that are man-made, so we need to develop a better understanding of these compounds."

These ocean-dwelling microbes have been found in habitats as diverse as sea grasses, corals and whales.

The next step of the investigation for the researchers is to mine the genes and enzymes in other marine hosts to find out what other organisms are making similar toxic compounds and why.
In August, 2014, the nation's attention turned to Ferguson, Missouri, after a young African-American man, Michael Brown Jr., was shot by a white police officer. The civil unrest that followed lasted for weeks. The aftershocks still continue.

How did that unrest impact older people in the community?

A new study, by a leading gerontologist at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, shows that issues related to safety remain their highest concern.

"Safety was a very interesting topic because people talked about it in various ways," said Nancy Morrow-Howell, the Bettie Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy and director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging.

"Feeling unsafe if stopped by police, feeling unsafe because the police may not intervene, feeling unsafe after dark on the streets in the aftermath of the protests, feeling unsafe in loud community meetings," added Morrow-Howell, lead author of the study, "Experiencing Civil Unrest: Elder Voices on Ferguson," published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.

While the study group ranged in age from 64 to 93 years oldwith the average age being 75Morrow-Howell expected those findings would resonate in a much younger Ferguson-area subset.

"I imagine that, in general, younger people felt the same way," she said. "Perhaps one difference is that the older adults felt more vulnerable during the protests. For example, some felt like they needed to leave the protests at nightfall because they could not run or protect themselves if needed."

The aim of this study was to learn how older adults experienced the social unrest. Ten focus groups were conducted with 73 participants. Eight themes were identified. Issues related to safety were most commonly discussed. Participants reported a breakdown in intergenerational communications and expressed a desire for more exchange.

"I was surprised to learn that these older adults, many who participated in the civil rights movement, felt unappreciated by younger folks," Morrow-Howell said. Nearly 6 of 10 participants in the study were African-American.

"They felt like their knowledge and experience were not valued. They really wanted to somehow support the younger generation but didn't know how," she said.

More information: Nancy Morrow-Howell et al. Experiencing Civil Unrest: Elder Voices on Ferguson, Journal of Gerontological Social Work (2017). DOI: 10.1080/01634372.2017.1310777
Images of cells from the Cell Atlas. Credit: Human Protein Atlas

The first analysis of how proteins are arranged in a cell was published today in Science, revealing that a large portion of human proteins can be found in more than one location in a given cell.

Using the Sweden-based Cell Atlas, researchers examined the spatial distribution of the human proteome that correspond to the majority of protein-coding genes, and they described in unprecedented detail the distribution of proteins to the various organelles and substructures of the human body's smallest unit, the cell.

Within a cell, the organelles create partitions that form an enclosed environment for chemical reactions tailored to fulfill specific functions in the cell. Since these functions are tightly linked to specific sets of proteins, knowing the subcellular location of the human proteome is key knowledge for understanding the function and underlying mechanisms of the human cell.

The study was led by Emma Lundberg, associate professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and responsible for the High Content Microscopy facility at the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) in Stockholm, Sweden. The team generated more than 300,000 images to systematically resolve the spatial distribution of human proteins in cultivated cell lines, and map them to cellular compartments and substructures with single cell resolution.

The Cell Atlas is the result of more than 10 years of research within the Human Protein Atlas program, and was launched in December 2016. The article in Science describes the detailed analysis of hundreds of thousands of images created as part of this international effort, which also involved groups in China, South Korea, India, Denmark, and Germany.

"Only by studying the molecular components of the body's smallest functional unit - the cell - can we reach a full understanding of human biology," says KTH Professor Mathias Uhlen, director of the Human Protein Atlas. "The Cell Atlas provides researchers with new knowledge that facilitates functional exploration of individual proteins and their role in human biology and disease."

The published article also includes a comparative study performed by Kathryn Lilley, director of the Cambridge Centre for Proteomics, at Cambridge University, UK, which enabled the antibody-based immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy analysis to be validated by an alternative mapping strategy that used mass spectrometry.

A total of 12,003 proteins targeted by 13,993 antibodies were classified into one or several of 30 cellular compartments and substructures, altogether defining the proteome of 13 major organelles. The organelles with the largest proteomes were the nucleus (6,930) and its substructures, such as bodies and speckles, and the cytosol (4,279).

Interestingly, about one-half of the proteins are found in more than one compartment revealing a shared pool of proteins in functionally unrelated parts of the cell. This finding sheds new light on the complexity of cells.

The Cell Atlas is an open access resource that can be used by researchers around the world to study proteins or organelles of interest. Lundberg says. "The Atlas enables systems biology and cell modeling applications, and it is also a highly valuable resource for machine learning applications in image pattern recognition."
In nine years in space, the LAT has discovered more than 200 pulsars  rapidly spinning, very dense and highly magnetized neutron stars that emit beams of gamma rays like cosmic lighthouses. Many of these pulsars spin around their axis up to several hundred times per second. They reach these enormous spin rates by leaching energy from companion stars, as shown in this illustration. The background image shows the center of the Milky Way as seen by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory. Credit: NASA/CXC/University of Massachusetts/D. Wang et al.; Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Imagine you had superhero vision and could see a whole new world of fascinating phenomena invisible to the human eye. NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope gives astrophysicists analogous powers. It captures images of the universe in gamma rays, the most energetic form of light.

On April 12, one of the spacecraft's instruments  the Large Area Telescope (LAT), which was conceived of and assembled at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory  detected its billionth extraterrestrial gamma ray.

Since gamma rays are often produced in violent processes, their observation sheds light on extreme cosmic environments, such as powerful star explosions, high-speed particle jets spewed out by supermassive black holes, and ultradense neutron stars spinning unimaginably fast. Gamma rays could also be telltale signs of dark matter particles  hypothetical components of invisible dark matter, which accounts for 85 percent of all matter in the universe.

"Since Fermi's launch in 2008, the LAT has made a number of important discoveries of gamma-ray emissions from exotic sources in our galaxy and beyond," says Robert Cameron, head of the LAT Instrument Science Operations Center (ISOC) at SLAC. The LAT has already collected hundreds of times more gamma rays than the previous-generation EGRET instrument on NASA's Compton Gamma-ray Observatory  an advance that has tremendously deepened insights into the production of this energetic radiation.

Enabling Discovery

Among the LAT discoveries are more than 200 pulsars  rapidly rotating, highly magnetized cores of collapsed stars that were up to 30 times more massive than the sun. Before Fermi's launch, only seven of these objects were known to emit gamma rays. As pulsars spin around their axis, they emit "beams" of gamma rays like cosmic lighthouses. Many pulsars rotate several hundred times per second  that's tens of millions times faster than Earth's rotation.

This video from 2013 talks about the Fermi mission, the most advanced ever to view the sky in gamma rays  the most energetic form of light, created in the hottest regions of the universe. Fermis main instrument, the LAT, was conceived of and assembled at SLAC, which also hosts its operations center. Credit: Fabricio Sousa/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

"Understanding pulsars tells us about the evolution of stars because they are one possible end point in a star's life," Cameron says. "The LAT data have led us to totally revise our understanding of how pulsars emit gamma rays."

The LAT has also shown for the first time that novae  thermonuclear explosions on the surface of stars that have accumulated material from neighboring stars  can emit gamma rays. These data provide new details about the physics of burning stars, which is a crucial process for the synthesis of chemical elements in the universe.

Even more exotic gamma-ray sources detected by the LAT are microquasars. These objects are star-sized analogs of active galactic nuclei, with gas spinning around a black hole at the center. As the black hole devours matter from its surroundings, it ejects jets of charged particles traveling almost as fast as light into space, generating beams of gamma rays in the process.

At a galactic scale, such an ejection mechanism could have produced what is known as the Fermi bubbles  two giant areas above and below the center of the disk of our Milky Way galaxy that shine in gamma rays. Discovered by the LAT in 2010, these bubbles suggest that the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy once was more active than it is today.

Researchers also use the LAT to search for signs of dark matter particles in the central regions of the Milky Way and other galaxies. Theories predict that the hypothetical particles would produce gamma rays when they decay or collide and destroy each other.

"With the sensitivity we have achieved with the LAT, we should in principle be able to see such dark matter signatures," says SLAC's Seth Digel, who leads the Fermi group at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), a joint institute of Stanford University and SLAC. "But we haven't found any conclusive signals yet, and so far the LAT data can also be explained with other astrophysical sources."

This artists representation shows the Fermi bubbles  two giant areas of gamma-ray emissions (purple) above and below the plane of the Milky Way that were discovered by the LAT. Credit: NASA

Finally, the LAT has explored gamma ray sources closer to home, including gamma rays produced by thunderstorms in Earth's atmosphere, by solar flares and even by charged particles hitting the surface of the moon.

Finding Needles in a Haystack

From its location on Fermi at an altitude of 330 miles, the LAT sees 20 percent of the sky at any given time. Every two orbits  each takes about 95 minutes  the instrument collects the data necessary for a gamma-ray map of the entire sky.

But identifying the right signals for the map is a little bit like finding needles in a haystack: For every gamma-ray photon, the LAT sees many more high-energy charged particles, called cosmic rays. Most of these background signals are rejected right away by hardware triggers and software filters in the LAT on Fermi, which reduces the rate of signals from 10,000 to 400 per second.

The remaining data are compressed, transmitted back to Earth and sent to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where they get separated into three different datasets for the LAT, the GBM (Fermi's second scientific instrument, which monitors short-lived gamma-ray bursts) and spacecraft data.

The LAT data are transferred to the LAT ISOC at SLAC, where 1,000 computer cores automatically analyze the data stream and filter out even more background signals. 70 percent of all detected gamma rays are from Earth's atmosphere, leaving only two to three extraterrestrial gamma-ray signals per second out of the 10,000 initial detector events. These data are then sent back to NASA Goddard, where they are made publicly available for further analysis.

This image shows the moon in gamma rays. It uses data accumulated over the first seven years of the Fermi mission. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

"The ISOC receives about 15 deliveries of LAT data throughout the day for a total of 16 gigabytes or three DVDs worth of data every day," Cameron says. "For each delivery, the entire process  from the time the data leave Fermi to the time the gamma rays get deposited in the public archive  takes about four hours."

Next year, the Fermi mission will reach its 10-year operations goal. What happens after that will largely depend on funding.

"With no successor mission planned, the LAT is in many ways irreplaceable, particularly for studies of low-energy gamma rays," Digel says. "The telescope is still going strong after all these years, and there is a lot of science left to be done."

An important new role for the LAT is to search for gamma-ray sources associated with gravitational wave events. These ripples in space-time occur, for example, when two black holes merge into a single one, as recently observed by the LIGO detector. This opens up the completely new field of gravitational wave astrophysics.

The LAT ISOC is a department in KIPAC and the Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology Division of SLAC. KIPAC researchers contribute to the international Fermi LAT Collaboration, whose research is funded by NASA and the DOE Office of Science, as well as agencies and institutes in France, Italy, Japan and Sweden.
View of Western Kunlun Shan from the Tibet-Xinjiang highway. Credit: Wikipedia

(Phys.org)Hamish Pritchard, a glaciologist with Cambridge University, has conducted a study of Asia's glaciers and how they might be impacted by global warming. In his paper published in the journal Nature, he describes the nature of the glaciers that exist in the high mountains of Asia, which include the Kunlun Shan, Pamir, Karakoram, Hindu Kush and Tian Shan mountains and, of course, the Himalayas. Pritchard looked at how they impact people living in the area and how things might change in light of global warming. Tobias Bolch with the University of Zurich offers a News & Views piece on the work done by Pritchard and adds some perspectives of his own regarding some of the possible changes likely to come about in the places that have become dependent on melting glacial water.

As Pritchard notes, the mountains of Asia have the highest concentration of glaciers in the world and approximately 800 million people living in the area are impacted by the water runoff that occurs as glaciers melt during the warmer months. He also notes that such meltwater provides people that live in the area resistance to droughts. In his analysis, he attempts to outline the possible impact to approximately 136 million people living in countries such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan to changes in the amount of meltwater as the planet continues to warm.

As the planet warms, Pritchard notes, some of the glacial areas will see an increase in runoff as more ice melts each year. This, he also notes, will likely mean more water in the areas downstream for periods of decades to perhaps a century. But as the glaciers shrink, they will eventually produce less runoff, removing the buffer against droughts in the region, which has historically been prone to periodic dry spells. Reduced runoff in other parts of the region, on the other hand, will likely have less impact because they have a monsoon season every summerthough as he further notes, it is still unclear what impact global warming will have on the monsoon season.

But there are other factors to consider, as Bolch notesmany of the countries in the region rely on hydropower from dams built on rivers engorged with glacial meltalso, many reservoirs have been built to hold onto glacial melt to provide water for drinking and energy production during the winter monthsan increase in melt in the short-term could overcome such facilities. And as Bolch also points out, Pritchard has been able to show for perhaps the first time the actual impact of glacial meltwater during drought periods in the region over the past several decades. In so doing, he has found that such meltwater has the greatest impact on in the Aral Sea and Indus River catchments and has provided a framework for predicting impacts on the area as the amount of meltwater changes.

More information: Hamish D. Pritchard. Asia's glaciers are a regionally important buffer against drought, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22062 Abstract

The high mountains of Asiaencompassing the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Pamir Alai, Kunlun Shan, and Tian Shan mountainshave the highest concentration of glaciers globally, and 800 million people depend in part on meltwater from them. Water stress makes this region vulnerable economically and socially to drought, but glaciers are a uniquely drought-resilient source of water. Here I show that these glaciers provide summer meltwater to rivers and aquifers that is sufficient for the basic needs of 136 million people, or most of the annual municipal and industrial needs of Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. During drought summers, meltwater dominates water inputs to the upper Indus and Aral river basins. Uncertainties in mountain precipitation are poorly known, but, given the magnitude of this water supply, predicted glacier loss would add considerably to drought-related water stress. Such additional water stress increases the risk of social instability, conflict and sudden, uncontrolled population migrations triggered by water scarcity, which is already associated with the large and rapidly growing populations and hydro-economies of these basins. Journal information: Nature

 2017 Phys.org
Twila Moon is pictured during field work to study ice-ocean interaction at the LeConte Glacier, Alaska. Credit: Twila Moon/NSIDC

Glaciers around the world are disappearing before our eyes, and the implications for people are wide-ranging and troubling, Twila Moon, a glacier expert at the University of Colorado Boulder, concludes in a Perspectives piece in the journal Science today.

The melting of glacial ice contributes to sea-level rise, which threatens to "displace millions of people within the lifetime of many of today's children," Moon writes. Glaciers also serve up fresh water to communities around the world, are integral to the planet's weather and climate systems, and they are "unique landscapes for contemplation or exploration."

And they're shrinking, fast, writes Moon, who returned to the National Snow and Ice Data Center this month after two years away. Her analysis, "Saying goodbye to glaciers," is published in the May 12 issue of Science.

Moon admits she was pretty giddy when an editor at Science reached out to her to write a perspective piece on the state of the world's glaciers, because of her research knowledge and extensive publication record. "There was some serious jumping up and down," Moon says. "I thought, 'I've made it!' Their invitation was an exciting recognition of my hard work and expertise."

But the topic, itself, is far from a happy one. Moon describes the many ways researchers study glacier dynamics, from in-place measurements on the ice to satellite-based monitoring campaigns to models. And she describes sobering trends: The projection that Switzerland will lose more than half of its small glaciers in the next 25 years; the substantial retreat of glaciers from the Antarctic, Patagonia, the Himalayas, Greenland and the Arctic; the disappearance of iconic glaciers in Glacier National Park, Montana, or reduction to chunks of ice that no longer move (by definition, a glacier must be massive enough to move).

In her piece, Moon calls for continued diligence by the scientific community, where ice research is already becoming a priority.

A time lapse of icebergs in the water near Ilulissat, Greenland. Large fishing boats can be seen whizzing past the icebergs, giving a sense of the huge size of these melting pieces of ice. Credit: Twila Moon

Moon says she got hooked on glaciers as an undergraduate in geological and environmental sciences at Stanford University, when she spent a semester abroad in Nepal. "For the first time I saw a big valley glacier, flowing through the Himalaya," she said, "and I thought it was about the coolest thing ever. After studying geology, the movement and sound of the ice, right now, made it feel almost alive.'"

That experience kicked off a research career that has taken Moon to Greenland, Alaska, Norway, and to conferences around the world. She began her work "merely" as a geologist and glaciologist, interested in ice itself, Moon said. Only later did the influence of climate change come to play in her work.

"I think I'm about as young as you can get for being a person who started in glaciology at a time when climate change was not a primary part of the conversation," says Moon, who is 35.

She is consistently sought out by journalists hoping to understand Earth's ice, and she's sought out in the scientific community as well, recognized as someone who likes to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries. She recently worked with a biologist in Washington, for example, on a paper about how narwhals use glacial fronts in summertimethe tusked marine mammals appear to be attracted to glaciers with thick ice fronts and freshwater melt that's low in silt, though it's not yet clear why.

After a couple of post-doctoral research years, at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and then the University of Oregon, Moon and her husband headed to Bristol, England, where she took a faculty position at the University of Bristol's School of Geographical Sciences. When it became clear that her husband's work wouldn't transfer, the two determined to head back to the Rocky Mountains.

Moon started back as a researcher at CU Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center, part of CIRES, May 1.
How the ocean's heat is threatening the ice shelves. Credit: Alfred-Wegener-Institut/Martin Kuensting CC-BY 4.0

By the second half of this century, rising air temperatures above the Weddell Sea could set off a self-amplifying meltwater feedback cycle under the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, ultimately causing the second-largest ice shelf in the Antarctic to shrink dramatically. Climate researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) recently made this prediction in a new study, which can be found in the latest issue of the Journal of Climate, released today. In the study, the researchers use an ice-ocean model created in Bremerhaven to decode the oceanographic and physical processes that could lead to an irreversible inflow of warm water under the ice shelf - a development that has already been observed in the Amundsen Sea.

When it comes to the fate of the great Antarctic ice shelves, the sea ice surrounding them is of central importance. For example, in the southern Weddell Sea so much sea ice forms during the autumn and winter months that the amount of salt released in the process turns the water around and below the 450,000 km2 Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf into a massive protective sheath. So far, this barrier of extremely salty water, with an average temperature of ca. minus 2 degrees Celsius, has protected the shelf from the inflow of water masses that are 0.8 degrees warm, which the Weddell Gyre transports along the edge of the continental shelf (see graphic).

New simulations from climate researchers at the AWI now indicate that this cold-water barrier could be permanently lost in the course of the next few decades. The reason: rising air temperatures over the Weddell Sea, which could cause less sea ice to form. "We can already see the first signs of this trend today. First of all, less sea ice is forming in the region, and secondly, oceanographic recordings from the continental shelf break confirm that the warm water masses are already moving closer and closer to the ice shelf in pulses," says Dr Hartmut Hellmer, an oceanographer at the AWI and first author of the study.

These comparatively small-scale changes may mark the beginning of a fundamental and irrevocable transformation in the southern Weddell Sea. The researchers expect the effects to become noticeable by 2070. "Our simulations show that there will be no turning back once the warm water masses find their way under the ice shelf, since their heat will accelerate the melting at its base. In turn, the resulting meltwater will produce an intensified overturning, which will suck even more warm water from the Weddell Gyre under the ice. As such, according to our calculations, the hope that the ocean would someday run out of heat won't pan out in the long run," Hellmer explains.

Comparison of sea- ice formation and the currents below the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf today and in the future. Credit: Alfred-Wegener-Institut/Martin Kunsting CC-BY 4.0

As a result of the dramatic melting on its underside, the shelf's grounding line will shift further south and the ice will gradually lose direct contact with the seafloor. To date, frictional contact with the seafloor has helped to slow down the ice flow. Once this natural brake is gone, the draining of ice from the Antarctic Ice Sheet will quicken. "The meltwater feedback cycle under the ice shelf will only slow down once the shelf has collapsed, or no more glacial ice flows in from inland to take its place. So we're talking about processes that will continue over several centuries," says co-author and AWI model designer Dr Ralph Timmermann.

The researchers' forecasts are based on the AWI's BRIOS (Bremerhaven Regional Ice-Ocean Simulations) model, a coupled ice-ocean model that the team forced with atmospheric data from the SRES-A1B climate scenario, created at Britain's Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter. The dataset includes e.g. information on the future development of winds and temperatures in the Antarctic, and is based on the assumption that the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere will reach 700 parts per million by the year 2100. "Accordingly, our model used climate data that is similar to the IPCC's (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) current business-as-usual scenario. The results clearly show that even limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius won't be enough to save the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf," says co-author and AWI researcher Dr Frank Kauker.

In addition, the authors believe the predicted changes in the Weddell Sea offer a new perspective on current developments in the Amundsen Sea. As Hartmut Hellmer explains, "When it comes to the Amundsen Sea, where warm water has already reached the continental shelf and even the grounding line of some ice shelves, we can safely say that this inflow of heat cannot be stopped; the climate regime change has already taken place. In other words, the losses of mass of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will intensify - just like the models predict."

To measure the forecasted inflow of warm water under the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, in the past two Antarctic summers scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the British Antarctic Survey drilled through the ice at seven sites to deploy oceanographic recording devices below it. Thanks to their efforts, every night fresh data on the water temperature, salinity, flow speed and flow direction is transmitted to the AWI facilities in Bremerhaven via satellite. "However, it will take a few years before we can use this latest data to reliably document the changes," says Hellmer.

More information: Hartmut H. Hellmer et al, The Fate of the Southern Weddell Sea Continental Shelf in a Warming Climate, Journal of Climate (2017). DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0420.1 Journal information: Journal of Climate
Two fossilized flowers next to each were discovered in shales of the Salamanca Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. Credit: Nathan Jud/Provided

Around 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, a giant asteroid crashed into the present-day Gulf of Mexico, leading to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. How plants were affected is less understood, but fossil records show that ferns were the first plants to recover many thousands of years afterward.

Now, an international team that includes Cornell researchers reports the discovery of the first fossilized flowers from South America, and perhaps the entire Southern Hemisphere, following the extinction event. The fossils date back to the early Paleocene epoch, less than one million years after the asteroid struck. They were discovered in shales of the Salamanca Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina.

The researchers identified the fossilized flowers as belonging to the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Today, the family is found worldwide.

The study was published May 10 in the online journal PLOS One.

"The fossilized flowers provide a new window into the earliest Paleocene communities in South America, and they are giving us the opportunity to compare the response to the extinction event on different continents," said Nathan Jud, the paper's first author and a postdoctoral researcher in Maria Gandolfo's lab, a senior research associate at the L.H. Bailey Hortorium and a co-author of the paper.

The finding also helps resolve an ongoing debate in the field of paleobotany on the origin of the Rhamnaceae plant family. Scientists have argued about whether early buckthorns originated in an ancient supercontinent called Gondwana, which later split and includes most of the Southern Hemisphere landmasses today; or whether the family originated in another supercontinent called Laurasia that accounts for most of today's Northern Hemisphere landmasses.

"This, and a handful of other recently-discovered fossils from the Southern Hemisphere, supports a Gondwanan origin for Rhamnaceae in spite of the relative scarcity of fossils in the Southern Hemisphere relative to the Northern Hemisphere," Jud said.

Fossils found in Colombia and Southern Mexico offer evidence that plants from the Rhamnaceae family first appeared in the Late Cretaceous epoch shortly before the extinction event, Jud said. Though there was likely some extinction when the asteroid struck, especially near the crater where everything was destroyed by impact-generated wildfires, he added.

One scenario is that Rhamnaceae first appeared in the tropics of Gondwana, but survived the extinction in Patagonia, and then spread from there after the extinction event as plants re-colonized the most affected areas, Jud said.

The Salamanca Formation is among the most precisely-dated sites from that era in the world. The age of the fossils was corroborated by radiometric dating (using radioactive isotopes), the global paleomagnetic sequence (signatures of reversals of Earth's magnetic field found in the samples), and fossil correlations (age of other fossils).

"These are the only flowers of Danian age [an age that accounts for about 5 million years following the extinction event] for which we have good age control," said Jud. Researchers have discovered other fossilized flowers in India and China from around the Danian age, but their dates are not as precise, he said.

To determine that the fossilized flowers from Argentina belonged to the Rhamnaceae family, the authors noticed that the organization of the petals and stamens in the fossil is found in Rhamnaceae and a few other families. They found examples of 10 of the 11 living Rhamnaceae tribes in the L.H. Bailey Hortorium Herbarium at Cornell University, which then were compared with morphological features in the fossil flowers to identify them.

More information: Nathan A. Jud et al. Flowering after disaster: Early Danian buckthorn (Rhamnaceae) flowers and leaves from Patagonia, PLOS ONE (2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176164 Journal information: PLoS ONE
Pin-tailed whydah flying. Credit: Andrew Garn

Invasive parasites are a biological oxymoron. And yet, they are in our backyards! This study analyzes the case of a brood parasitic bird, the pin-tailed whydah (Vidua macroura) and its recent spread into the Americas!

Biodiversity hotspotsor places with large numbers of species found nowhere else on earthalso tend to make suitable habitats for invasive species that can, in turn, destabilize ecosystems and supplant indigenous biota. A new study in The Condor: Ornithological Applications predicts where the pin-tailed whydah, a songbird native to sub-Saharan Africa that has expanded its natural range thanks to the pet trade, may next spread in North America and Hawaii.

The pin-tailed whydah is a brood parasitic bird that lays its eggs in other bird species, typically small African finches, and has been introduced from Africa to Puerto Rico and southern California. In this study, researchers used species distribution models to predict where the whydah may continue to spread in the continental U.S., Hawaii, and the Antilles. To determine the whydah's potential distribution, they used sightings of this species reported to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The investigators then identified suitable whydah habitat by finding correlations between locations where these finches have been seen and global climate data. As brood parasites, whydahs need hosts to complete their life cycle, so the researchers also used the presence of six known host species that have been co-introduced in the whydah's new range to predict suitable habitat. Their species distribution model indicated high habitat suitability in areas of high biodiversity where whydahs do not currently live, including the West Coast of the U.S., Hawaii, and most islands of the Antilles.

Robert Crystal-Ornelas, lead author and PhD student in Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, said, "We identified key areas in the continental U.S., Hawaii, and the Antilles, that have not yet experienced pin-tailed whydah invasion, but which contain suitable climate and host species for this parasitic bird to potentially spread."

Dr. Mark Hauber, the senior author of the study and Professor in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), said, "our work has now shown how parasitic birds, including common cuckoos from Eurasia and pin-tailed whydahs from Africa are likely to invade increasingly novel and expansive regions in the Western Hemisphere."

The pin-tailed whydah is a host generalistit can parasitize novel species that share no co-evolutionary history with it and that, therefore, have developed no defenses to mitigate the reproductive costs of parasitism. To create their model, the researchers took into consideration five known historical hosts and one known novel hostall exotic species to North America and Hawaii. The presence of these hosts in a suitable habitat could enable introduced whydahs to establish a bridgehead population, providing an opportunity for the birds to utilize indigenous hosts and to increase their population and range.

"This study shows how humans are not just transplanting individual species but entire ecological networks, where here an invasive bird species will likely be able to expand in the Americas due to a previous introduction of its host species," said Dr. James Russell, a conservation biologist at the University of Auckland, who was not affiliated with the study. "Worryingly, the study predicts the introduced species will most strongly invade already vulnerable island ecosystems, where it could potentially begin parasitizing native bird species, which would be a very novel form of invasive species impact."

The map that Rob Crystal-Ornelas and his colleagues have created will help scientist to prioritize monitoring and research efforts, which fully gauge the risk of additional whydah populations in North America.
The nose is lined with sensory tissue, the olfactory epithelium, that contains various types of cells, all of which arise from olfactory stem cells (green). Among these are smell-sensing neurons (orange), progenitor cells (cyan) and support cells (magenta sustentacular cells and blue microvillous cells). Credit: Russell Fletcher & John Ngai, UC Berkeley

Adult stem cells have the ability to transform into many types of cells, but tracing the path individual stem cells follow as they mature and identifying the molecules that trigger these fateful decisions are difficult in a living animal.

University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have now combined new techniques for sequencing the RNA in single cells with detailed statistical analysis to more easily track individual stem cells in the nose, uncovering clues that someday could help restore smell to those who have lost it.

The results are published this week in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

"A stem cell's job is twofold: to replace or recreate mature cells that are lost over time, both through normal aging and after injury, and to replace themselves so that the process can continue over the life of the animal," said senior author John Ngai, the Coates Family Professor of Neuroscience and a member of UC Berkeley's Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the Berkeley Stem Cell Center. "We are getting closer to understanding how mature sensory neurons are generated from olfactory stem cells, an understanding that's key for an eventual stem cell therapy to restore function."

Ngai noted that perhaps one-quarter of all people over the age of 50 have some loss of smell, yet doctors have little understanding why, and no treatments for most cases. There's not even a standardized test for loss of smell, as there is for vision or hearing loss, in spite of widespread reports of suffering by patients who have lost their sense of smell.

"Some cases of anosmiathe loss of the sense of smellare due to traumatic injury, and there is generally not a whole lot you can do about that," he said. "But some are age-related, or occur for reasons we don't quite know. In the case of age-related anosmias, it could be because the stem cells are just not doing their job replacing the cells that are naturally lost over time. One idea is that if we could harness the very stem cells that are in the noses of people who are losing smell, maybe we can figure out a way to restore function, by getting them to regenerate the cells that are lost."

Neurons (green) derived from a single stem cell in the olfactory epithelium of the nose. The magenta cells are support cells called sustentacular cells. Credit: Russell Fletcher & John Ngai, UC Berkeley

Tracking cell fate

Ngai, who directs the Functional Genomics Laboratory in UC Berkeley's California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, focuses on the cells and regulatory molecules involved in our sense of smell. Olfactory cells in the nose are unusual in that they are part of the body's outer layer, or epithelium, but also part of the nervous system, incorporating neurons that connect directly with the smell centers in the brain.

His group has been working with adult olfactory stem cells that give rise to the neurons that sense odors and other cells, such as sustentacular cells, that support the neurons. A new technique for sequencing the RNA in a single cell has been revolutionary, Ngai said, allowing researchers to trace which stem cells in a densely packed tissue become specialized, based on the mRNA present in the cell, which indicates which genes are being expressed. Nevertheless, it is difficult to follow stem cells that can potentially differentiate into different types of cells.

Ngai's group teamed up with UC Berkeley statisticians and computer scientists - led by Sandrine Dudoit, a professor of biotstatistics and statistics, Elizabeth Purdom, a professor of statistics, and Nir Yosef, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences - to develop a way to analyze the experimental data and identify cells with similar RNA profiles, indicative of specific cell types and developmental states.

As a result, the team was able to trace the paths that cells take as they turn into sustentacular cellswhich seems to be the default fate for olfactory stem cellsand into neurons and other types of cells. They also were able to identify a signaling pathway known as "Wnt" that triggers the olfactory stem cell to become a sensory neuron.

Ngai cautions that the immediate implications of the work are limited to animal models, which provide the necessary foundation for eventually addressing human anosmias. "But with this information, we now have a window into what controls the process and therefore a window into manipulating or coopting that process to stimulate regeneration" he said. "There has been a lot of work on Wnt signaling pathways, for example, so there are a lot of small-molecule drugs that could be tested to trigger a stem cell to mature into a neuron."

The sequencing and statistical techniques the team developed can also be used by others studying regulation of stem cells in other tissues, organ systems or organisms, he said.
A C. elegans embryo. Blue indicate nuclei; magenta is the germline. Credit: UCLA/Kruglyak lab

A UCLA study has found that a common strain of Caenorhabditis elegansa type of roundworm frequently used in laboratory research on neural developmenthas a pair of genes that encode both a poison and its antidote. The new research also revealed that if worms with the two genes mate with wild strains of C. elegans that don't have both genes, their offspring who don't inherit the antidote can't protect themselves from the toxinwhich is produced by mother wormsand die while they are still embryos.

The pair of genes represents one of the clearest examples to date of a "selfish genetic element" at the molecular level.

Selfish genetic elements are stretches of DNA that exist for no reason other than promoting their own inheritance; they do not contribute any benefits to the organism. Scientists have known about selfish genetic elements for decades, and their importance became especially clear after the publication of Richard Dawkins' 1976 book "The Selfish Gene."

The mechanisms by which selfish elements promote themselves can be subtle. For example, they might alter an animal's behavior so that it favors mates that have the same genetic makeup. In extreme cases, a selfish gene can require organisms to inherit it for the organisms to survive at all.

The researchers were studying an unusual strain of C. elegans, called DL238, that was isolated from a reserve in Hawaii. When they crossed those worms with the standard worms, called N2, that are used in most labs, the scientists noticed a long stretch of DNA where offspring always inherited the N2 copy.

Caenorhabditis elegans. Credit: Wikipedia

Their experiments showed that this was because worms inheriting DNA from the DL238 worm were dying during their development as embryos. When the researchers studied the genes within that stretch of DNA, they were surprised to find that DL238 was missing a gene called pha-1, which was thought to be required for the development of the worm's feeding organ. However, the researchers showed that pha-1 was actually an antidote to a toxin, sup-35, that was also missing in DL238. Together, these genes make up a selfish element, rather than being important components of worm development.

Scientists have long been interested in using selfish genes to stop the spread of pathogens, such as the malaria parasite. The pha-1/sup-35 system offers a starting place to explore how selfish genes propagate.

The researchers write that the finding also suggests that selfish genetic elements may be hiding in plain sight under scientists' noses, and might be more common than previously thought. The pha-1 gene had been well-studied but there were no previous hints that it was merely an antidote to a toxin, which raises the possibility that other developmental genes could turn out to be antidotes to as yet undiscovered toxins.

The research is published in the journal Science.

More information: E. Ben-David el al., "A maternal-effect selfish genetic element in Caenorhabditis elegans," Science (2017). science.sciencemag.org/lookup/  1126/science.aan0621 Journal information: Science
13th Annual IRCE Conference Draws Biggest Companies and Leaders in the E-Commerce Industry

CHICAGO, IL (May 11, 2017)  The 13th annual Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE), the worlds largest and most well-known e-commerce event, will feature some of the biggest and most well-known companies in the industry at Chicagos McCormick Place West Convention Center, June 6-9, 2017. IRCE is the single most important e-commerce conference of the year that sets the tone and draws an estimated 10,000 conference-goers to experience the very latest strategies and solutions to succeed in an ever-evolving industry.

In addition to a robust agenda featuring more than 200 expert speakers, 130 conference sessions, and an impressive line-up of Featured Presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to network with nearly 600 major solution providers in the Exhibit Hall. The Exhibit Hall encompasses over 250,000 square feet of space featuring the latest e-commerce technologies and top solution providers that will fulfill every category available including marketing, fulfillment, e-commerce platforms and new retail technology. Attendees come from over 40 countries around the globe, representing a range of industries in a variety of management levels, including representatives from up-and-coming startups to long-standing retailers.

This years sponsors represent some of the biggest and most respected companies around the world and exhibit at IRCE to get in front of an estimated 10,000 conference-goers.

IRCE is a fantastic opportunity for MailChimp to connect with partners and retailers of all sizes. We look forward to sharing our marketing automation tools with them and learning about how we can meet their evolving needs.

 Sean Cook, VP of Marketing at MailChimp

Title Sponsors

Oracles Bronto Software provides a cloud-based commerce marketing automation platform to mid-market and enterprise organizations. Oracles Bronto is the number one ranked email marketing provider to the global Internet Retailer Top 1000, with a client roster of leading brands, including Vince Camuto, Lucky Brand, Theory, Bjorn Borg, Ashley Homestore, and Christopher & Banks.

Oracle + Bronto, Booth #707

Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oracle, provides a suite of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and omnichannel commerce software. The platform enables B2C and B2B merchants to deliver seamless and relevant customer experiences across all points of commerce while streamlining operations, better managing suppliers and stock, speeding fulfillment and improving customer service.

Oracle + NetSuite, Booth #701

Diamond Sponsors

Maropost is the leading global provider of on-demand marketing, sales, commerce, and infrastructure solutions. We offer the worlds best marketing and sales cloud platforms combined with industry leading customer support and client success.

Maropost, Booths #629 & 729

ROI Revolution is an ecommerce-focused, digital marketing agency. Whether youre looking for help with paid search, social media advertising, marketplaces, SEO, conversion rate optimization, or product feeds, ROI will measure results based on your goals as an extension of your team. With industry expertise and a suite of proprietary tools ROI delivers exceptional results for 290+ clients. This ever-growing list of clients includes: Perry Ellis, Plow & Hearth, Boll & Branch, and many others. Stop by booth #715 for your complimentary campaign review. During these 20-minute reviews, ROI experts often spot immediate opportunities to gain at least 20% efficiency.

ROI Revolution, Booth #715

Platinum Sponsors

Kibo empowers retailers and branded manufacturers to achieve optimal performance of B2C and B2B commerce through unified consumer experiences. With more than 40 years of innovations, Kibo provides a complete omnichannel commerce platform delivered with the lowest total cost of ownership and the fastest time to market. By leveraging cloud technologies, individualized buying experiences, and true enterprise scale, Kibo enables you to reach higher peaks of sales and consumer loyalty. No matter the challenge, Kibo powers your success.

Kibo, Booth #1119

More than 15 million people and businesses around the world use MailChimp. Our features and integrations give e-commerce retailers the power to send beautiful marketing emails, automated messages, and targeted ad campaigns. And our detailed reports help those retailers keep improving over time. Our quickly growing team loves empowering small businesses, so thats what we focus on every day.

Mailchimp, Booth #137

Gold Sponsors

Adestra is a leading provider of 1:1 email marketing solutions for global and growing brands.

The companys proprietary email platform provides a powerful infrastructure for marketing automation and contextual messaging, helping marketers communicate more effectively with their customers. Its flexible structure and open integration architecture allows businesses to connect disparate technology platforms to create a seamless customer journey. Adestra was founded on the principle that marketing success takes more than technology, which is why customer service is at the heart of its business.

Adestra, Booth #2119

Emarsys is a leading global provider of cloud marketing software for B2C companies, and the first B2C Marketing Cloud. The company provides actionable intelligence to enterprises targeting their customers, combining machine learning and data science with true personalization and multichannel delivery to reach customers most effectively, maximizing engagement and results. With more than 600 employees in 16 global office locations, Emarsys serves more than 1,500 clients in 140 countries. Every month, Emarsys sends over seven billion messages  helping customers increase revenues and ROI.

Emsarsys, Booth #1629

Analyze. Personalize. Predict.

Listraks digital marketing automation platform lets you cultivate deeper relationships with consumers through personalized messages in multiple channels  email, mobile, social, display, web and instore that drive revenue, engagement and growth. Gain actionable insights that blend multichannel behavioral data and buying preferences for a complete picture of each consumers intent, motivation and buying patterns. Listraks single, integrated online marketing platform automates these tasks from our intuitive interface and dashboards.

Listrak, Booth #1601

Trusted by more than 260,000 businesses worldwide, Magento Commerce is the worldwide leader in cloud digital commerce innovation to retailers, brands and branded manufacturers across retail B2C and B2B industries. With over $101B in gross merchandise volume transacted on the platform annually, Magento is the foremost provider to the Internet Retailer Top 1000 and B2B 300. Magento boasts the worlds largest ecosystem of partners and developers who power the expansive Magento economy.

Magento, Booth #929

At OPEX Corporation, engineering innovative automated workflow solutions is in our DNA. For more than 40 years, we have set the standard in process optimization for thousands of organizations around the world. Our unique designs, product quality, and unmatched customer support allow our customers to achieve a competitive advantage in their respective marketplaces.

OPEX, Booth #2015

Silver Sponsors

Act Bold is blazing the trail in the digital marketing industry. We are experts at helping companies stand out from the crowd to establish a lasting online presence. Our full-service digital marketing agency provides web design & development, local and national SEO campaigns, and PPC management. Our experienced team of web designers, developers, and SEO/SEM gurus are ready to help you ACT BOLD.

Act Bold, Booth #313

Avalara, Inc., is a leading provider of cloud-based software delivering compliance solutions related to VAT, sales tax, and other transactional taxes. We automate and simplify governmental compliance processes for retailers of all sizes, including tax determination, exemption certificate management, and tax return preparation, filing, and remittance.

Avalara, Inc., Booth #1017

IBM Marketing Solutions make it easier to design and analyze meaningful customer experiences across applications, devices and time. From omnichannel marketing to real-time personalization to lead management, IBMs offerings provide a range of solutions that help marketing organizations develop timely, relevant and responsive communications and collaborate more efficiently.

IBM Marketing Solutions, Booth #917

Drupal Commerce is a digital experience platform for professional enterprise solutions. The open source technology allows for unlimited integration, adaptable functionality, scalable performance and a centralized data source for strong omni-channel experiences. Drupal Commerce provides the structure you need to do eCommerce without any assumptions about how your business is done.

Drupal Commerce, Booth #1948

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $58 billion, the company offers integrated solutions through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand.

FedEx Corp, Booth #1215

Klarna is a Swedish e-commerce company that provides payment services for online storefronts. Their core service is to assume stores claims for payments and handle customer payments, thus eliminating the risk for seller and buyer.

Klarna, Booth #560

Third-party sellers can take advantage of our strong foothold in the electronics space, and bring a wide variety of products to our customers. Since establishing our Marketplace platform we have grown to include numerous product categories, as well as become an expansive hub for emerging home automation, virtual reality (VR), and automotive tech categories, showing promising growth opportunities.

Newegg Marketplace, Booth #1407

Nextopia Software Corporation offers fully scalable, best-in-class site search conversion solutions for SMB and Enterprise e-retailers. With our powerful machine learning algorithm, designed to provide highly relevant search results, Nextopia software increases conversions by turning browsers into buyers. Visit us at IRCE for a free site evaluation!

Nextopia, Booths #121, 934, 1519

OSM Worldwide is a leading provider of package delivery services for eCommerce companies. Our award-winning OSM Premium Network ships packages nationwide within 1-5 days, reliably and economically. Businesses that partner with us enjoy a variety of delivery options, economical shipping rates, customizable technology support, and expert, personalized service. Stop by our booth and learn more about how we can optimize efficiencies and improve your delivery results.

OSM Worldwide, Booth #1738

Shopgate offers everything online retailers need to be successful in mobile. Our leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) enables online stores to easily create, maintain and optimize native apps and mobile websites for the iPhone, iPad, Android smartphones and tablets.

Shopgate, Booth #1681

Shopify Plus is the commerce platform designed for high-growth, high-volume merchants, coupling speed and agility with the scalable foundation you need to grow bigger, faster.

Shopify Plus, Booths #367, 467

Snap36 is the complete solution for 360 product photography. Snap36 provides studio and managed services, either in-house at the Snap36 studio or on-site at the customers location, as well as equipment solutions for customers that have their own in-house studio. Snap36 was listed on the Inc. 500 in 2015 & 2016. Customers include: Home Depot, Macys, 3M, Lowes, Ralph Lauren, Grainger, and Siemens.

Snap36, Booth #747

Trustpilot is an online review platform that empowers customers to do the selling for you. With over 72 million visitors a year, Trustpilot has become a global consumer community that builds trust between consumers and businesses. Our solution allows businesses to automate review collection, moderate and engage with reviews, and leverage reviews to drive web traffic and increase on-site conversions.

Trustpilot, Booth #537

The TVPage Video Commerce Cloud enables merchants & publishers to deliver engaging, shoppable video experiences that increase product sales. Our SaaS platform provides an advanced workflow for discovering, merchandising and programmatically publishing video content to owned, earned and paid web properties. Measure video performance and gain insights with our complete video analytics dashboard.

TVPage, Booth #1138

UPS is a global leader in logistics, offering a full range of package, freight, supply chain management and technology solutions to make businesses more efficient. We are committed to working with our retail customers to enhance customer experience, optimize distribution networks and streamline global supply chains.

UPS, Booth #103

VTEX is the only True Cloud Commerce platform in the digital commerce market with an auto-scaling elastic cloud infrastructure that leads to higher conversion rates, stronger customer loyalty, and lower TCO. VTEX is trusted by over 1,000 clients worldwide including Walmart, Danone, Whirlpool, Coca-cola, Pandora, Avon and Lego.

VTEX, Booth #1307

Workarea, a Product by WebLinc is the commerce platform for fast growing online retailers. Workarea, Booth #1401

As the largest independent digital marketing agency, we push our clients to challenge convention, grow market share, and transform results. We believe that perfection is found at the intersection of technology and human expertise. Our team of 300+ talented individuals manages campaigns for brands such as Forever 21, Z Gallerie, John Varvatos, and PAPYRUS. Join us and Think Like A Challenger!

WPROMOTE, Booth #909

When a single customer view is at the core of your marketing, amazing things can happen. Thats why Zaius brings CRM, marketing automation, and analytics together in one dream marketing platform  so you can deliver beautiful, effective messages across channels and devices in real-time, and discover revenue opportunities you never even knew existed.

ZAIUS, Booth #259

ABOUT IRCE

IRCE, a division of Emerald Expositions, delivers high value and industry-leading content and industry resources at their flagship show in Chicago, IL.

Visit www.irce.com for more information.

ABOUT EMERALD EXPOSITIONS

IRCE is owned by Emerald Expositions, the largest operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States, with its oldest trade shows dating back over 110 years. The company operates more than 50 trade shows, including 31 of the top 250 trade shows in the country as ranked by TSNN, as well as numerous other events. Emerald Expositions events connect over 500,000 global attendees and exhibitors and occupy over 6.7 million NSF of exhibition space. The company has been recognized with many awards and accolades that reflect industry leadership as well as the importance of its shows to the exhibitors and attendees they serve.

For more information, including updates on IRCEs exhibitors and schedule, visit irce.com or call 800-352-IRCE.

Other POS News:
Full-service Restaurants Face an Uphill Battle Heading into 2017

CHICAGO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/  Technomic reporting indicates that the restaurant industry overall fared relatively well in 2016, but full service has experienced some highs and lows, with annual sales growth dipping to 1.4% and unit growth remaining flat. Traditional casual-dining chains most heavily contributed to this segments troubles. The top five largest full-service brands, four of which are casual dining, all either had negative or slow sales in 2016.

Full-service chains continue to face strong competition from full-service independents and regional chain restaurants, which provide a more local experience, says Darren Tristano, Winsights chief insights officer. Todays consumer looks for a more contemporary atmosphere, a strong adult beverage program and a menu of food and beverages that caters to local preferences. Operators also face stiff competition from limited-service restaurants that offer value, convenience, speed and customization.

Bright spots within full service are polished/upscale and contemporary casual-dining chains, which increased sales by 4% and 4.5%, respectively. Even fine dining saw sales growth rise by 4.9% due to the affluence of the sectors customer base, quality of offerings found at these brands and appeal this segment has with todays consumer.

Growth categories include:

Asian : The 4.3% sales jump of this category represents consumer interest in more specialty-focused brands, as well as the continued appeal of ethnic cuisines.

: The 4.3% sales jump of this category represents consumer interest in more specialty-focused brands, as well as the continued appeal of ethnic cuisines. Sports Bar : The 3.9% sales increase for this menu category demonstrates that opportunity still exists for brands to appeal to consumers with a varied craft beer selection, craveable pub fare like burgers and wings, and an overall sports-focused atmosphere.

: The 3.9% sales increase for this menu category demonstrates that opportunity still exists for brands to appeal to consumers with a varied craft beer selection, craveable pub fare like burgers and wings, and an overall sports-focused atmosphere. Steak: This segment, which saw sales up 2.9%, had strong results from Texas Roadhouse (up 8.8%). Steakhouses are finding favor with consumers because they marry quality food and service with an inviting atmosphere.

Technomics 2017 Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report provides an exclusive one-year sales forecast by menu category, an expanded outlook and opportunities section, as well as key themes to help navigate the current industry landscape.

To purchase or learn more about this and other industry reports from Technomic, please visit our website or contact one of the individuals listed below.

About Technomic

Only Technomic, a Winsight company, delivers a 360-degree view of the food industry. We impact growth and profitability for our clients by providing consumer-grounded vision and channel-relevant strategic insights. Our services range from major research studies and management consulting solutions to online databases and simple fact-finding assignments. Our clients include food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants and retailers, other foodservice organizations, and various institutions aligned with the food industry.

Visit us at https://www.technomic.com/

About Winsight, LLC

Winsight, LLC is a business-to-business media and information services company specializing in the convenience-retailing, restaurant and noncommercial foodservice industries. Winsight has an extensive media portfolio including four publications, CSP, Restaurant Business, FoodService Director and Convenience Store Products, a suite of digital products including websites, e-newsletters (Restaurant Business Daily and CSP Daily News) and webinars, plus video products, mobile and tablet apps and custom marketing solutions. The Winsight Events group produces six exclusive, large-scale executive-level conferencesRestaurant Leadership Conference, FARE Conference, Outlook Leadership, Convenience Retailing University, FSTEC and MenuDirectionsin addition to more than 12 major EduNetworking conferences and advisory meetings. Winsight recently acquired Technomic, Inc., a food industry provider of primary and secondary market information and advisory services. Winsight is a recognized leader in the markets it serves.

Other POS News:

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Emerging reports suggest that the Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Monday Igbuya has been impeached.

Legit.ng gathered that Igbuya was impeached in the early hours of Thursday, May 11.

He was impeached during a session of the state House of Assembly session.

Mr Monday Igbuya has been impeached as Speaker of the Delta state House of Assembly

Igbuya was immediately replaced with the lawmaker representing Okpe constituency, Sheriff Oborevwori as the new speaker.

According to Sahara Reporters, Igbuya's impeachment was signed by 22 out of the 29 members of the state's legislative assembly.

Source: Legit.ng
Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

Read more
Argentina's Congress on Wednesday passed a law preventing the early release of inmates convicted of human rights crimes committed during their country's 1976-1983 military dictatorship. The final vote by all 56 senators present moves to counter a controversial Supreme Court ruling last week allowing those convicted of such crimes to have their terms trimmed by twice the amount of time they spent in custody awaiting trial. The bill passed the lower chamber of Congress on Tuesday with a vote of 211 to 1. President Mauricio Macri, who must now promulgate the law, said just before the vote that he was "against any tool that helps impunity, especially when it comes to crimes against humanity." The law's passage came just ahead of a march on the Supreme Court on Wednesday organized by human rights groups protesting its ruling. Interim Senate leader Federico Pinedo said the rapid vote "is a very clear message to society and to the judges what is the position of the Argentine people." The Supreme Court ruling -- adopted in a three-to-two vote by the court's justices -- upheld a law dating back two decades that allowed the shortening of offenders' sentences, with each day served in pre-trial detention counted as two days. That calculation was applied earlier this month to the 13-year sentence of an ex-paramilitary fighter convicted in 2011 for crimes including torture and kidnapping. But a court in the western city of San Juan on Tuesday refused to apply it in another case, calling it "unconstitutional and inapplicable." The Supreme Court's decision opened the doors to a thousand people who have been convicted and another thousand being held pending outcomes of trials asking for early release. Several inmates incarcerated for crimes committed during the dictatorship had already requested shortened sentences.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on Wednesday urged the conservative party in his coalition government to keep working with his Social Democrats rather than force a snap election after its leader announced he was stepping down. Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner, who also heads the conservative People's Party, said earlier that he was resigning, raising the question of whether the often quarrelsome coalition would collapse. "I am convinced that it makes sense to use the more than a year ahead to make the necessary changes in our country," Kern told a quickly convened news conference. The government's term runs until autumn of next year. (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Francois Murphy; Editing by Kevin Liffey)


Inside a 3,800-year-old pyramid at the site of Dahshur in Egypt, archaeologists have discovered a burial chamber that may have held the mummy of a princess named Hatshepset. A wooden box inscribed with hieroglyphs was also found within the chamber.



The discoveries provide clues that may help archaeologists determine why a pharaoh named Ameny Qemau has two pyramids at Dahshur.



The wooden box is inscribed with "Hatshepset," which likely does not refer to the pharaoh Hatshepsut but rather someone else with a similar name, the researchers said. Last month, another inscription, written on an alabaster block, was also found in the pyramid. That inscription bears the name of pharaoh Ameny Qemau (also spelled Qemaw), who ruled Egypt for a brief period around 1790 B.C. It's the second pyramid that has an inscription bearing the name Ameny Qemau that is known from Dahshur. The other Ameny Qemau pyramid was discovered in 1957 and is located nearly 2,000 feet (about 600 meters) away from the recently discovered pyramid.



People at the time would have used the newly discovered wooden box to hold canopic jars, which would have stored the inner organs of a mummy, officials with the Egyptian antiquities ministry said in a statement. The jars are now gone, and the archaeologists found only a few mummy wrappings inside the box, the ministry said. The ministry also noted that the box has three lines of hieroglyphic inscriptions that may refer to a daughter of Ameny Qemau. [In Photos: See Another Egyptian Pyramid That Predates Giza]





This wooden box was discovered inside the burial chamber of a 3,800-year-old pyramid and is inscribed with hieroglyphs that may mention the name of the daughter of pharaoh Ameny Qemau. The box once held the remains of jars containing the internal organs of a mummy. Courtesy of Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities



Live Science showed a photo of the inscriptions to James Allen, an Egyptology professor at Brown University, and he deciphered them. "It's a box for canopic jars. The inscriptions are typical for such boxes in the Second Intermediate Period [which lasted from about 1640 B.C. to 1540 B.C.] and belong on the side [of the box] facing east," Allen wrote in an email. The top line reads, "Neith, extend your arms over the Duamutef who is in you," according to Allen.

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"Duamutef is the god associated with the canopic jar for the stomach," while "Neith is the goddess charged with protecting it [the jar]," Allen noted.



To the left of the top inscription, there is another inscription that runs vertically down the box. It reads, "Venerated with Neith, Kings daughter Hatshepset," Allen said. To the right of the top inscription there is another inscription that runs vertically down the box that reads "Venerated with Duamutef, King's daughter Hatshepset," Allen said, adding that, "I presume Hatshepset was a daughter of Ameny Qemau," and that she was buried in her father's pyramid.



The name Hatshepset "is similar to that of the later royal wife Hatshepsut, who served as co-pharaoh with Thutmose III," Allen said. The royal wife Hatshepsut reigned around 3,500 years ago, about three centuries after Ameny Qemau's reign.



Aidan Dodson, a research fellow at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, also examined a photo of the wooden box for Live Science. Dodson co-authored a 1998 paper on the artifacts from the Ameny Qemau pyramid discovered in 1957. "The canopic box definitely belongs to a king's daughter, but I'm having difficulty reading the name. It gives no indication of her parentage," he said. "The pyramid is not of a type appropriate to a princess. It must therefore have been built for a king, but then usurped for her burial."



The "presence of the Ameny Qemau text suggests that he may have usurped the pyramid built for his predecessor for the interment of one of his daughters, as there is no reason why he should have built two pyramids of his own."



A team with the Egyptian antiquities ministry is excavating the pyramid. In addition to the wooden box, the researchers announced that they had discovered the remains of a poorly preserved sarcophagus in the burial chamber. Excavations are ongoing, and new discoveries possibly await, the ministry said.

Original article on Live Science.

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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-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 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. "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." - International furor - 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.
Hong Kong staged a dramatic terror drill Thursday ahead of an expected visit by China's President Xi Jinping this summer, as security tightens around the city. Special paramilitary forces armed with heavy weaponry exchanged gunfire with police acting as terrorists, who steamed into a carnival with a van in one scenario. A mock negotiation also took place, as did a bomb disposal in a later exercise. Though the visits are not yet officially confirmed, China's leaders are widely expected to preside over celebrations on July 1 marking the 20th anniversary since Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule. Police said the training, which simulated recent Islamic State group attacks in Europe, was not directly related to the festivities but it is the latest security drill ahead of Xi's anticipated visit. The exercises were designed to test the elite squads' capabilities in handling several major attacks at the same time and coordination with other departments, as well as raise public alertness, police told reporters. "So far there is no specific intelligence to suggest that Hong Kong is likely to be a target of terrorist attacks," a police representative said. "However, looking at the latest global terrorist situation, we know that the patterns of terrorist attacks nowadays are hard to predict." The city's rail operator has also beefed up security measures and planned more drills ahead of July, and after a rush hour arson attack on a subway train in February that left 18 people injured. The city is polarised between those calling for greater democracy and an establishment camp loyal to Beijing. Some frustrated activists are calling for Hong Kong to split from China, infuriating Beijing authorities. Authorities have rejected pro-democracy protesters' submission to begin their annual march on July 1 at their usual point in Victoria Park, which was instead reserved for a pro-Beijing group for handover celebrations. March organisers accused the government of stifling protest and vowed to keep pushing for the site as their rally's starting point.
Ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest final in Kiev, an extravaganza embraced by the LGBT community, Ukraine's "Celebrate Diversity" motto sounds more like wishful thinking than a fact of life. Weighed down by a restrictive Soviet heritage but filled with lofty European aspirations, the crisis-torn east European country hopes to use the global spotlight to showcase its tolerance of values long-cherished in the West. Yet beneath the liberal facade put on by the city, which wants fans at Saturday's final to celebrate "our unique differences," resentment and anger has brewed among thuggish far-right groups and powerful clerics who treat homosexuals with disdain. And while the Kyiv Pride LGBT rights group distributes maps of gay-friendly places tucked in the shadow of Orthodox churches, beatings of homosexuals are routine and even the prime minister shudders at the thought of legalising same-sex marriage. "God forbid!" Volodymyr Groysman exclaimed in November 2015. "We will never support this." - World's largest rainbow - The most vivid display of Kiev's embrace of diversity involved plastering a giant arch in the heart of the city that symbolised the Soviet-era bond between Ukraine and Russia with the rainbow colours of the LGBT flag. Ukraine has wanted to distinguish itself starkly from it arch-foe Russia, its eastern neighbour that has drawn global condemnation over crackdowns against the LGBT community. Soaring 35 metres (115 feet) above the Dnipro River, Kiev said the arch would become the world's largest artificial rainbow. Ultranationalist group Right Sektor has actively resisted the initiative. The arch is now a jarring sight: part rainbow, part shiny grey metal, the city halted work on the project when confronted by hostile Right Sektor activists waving their ominous red and black banners. "Kiev is not the European capital of gays," Right Sektor spokesman Artem Skoropadskiy told AFP. Father Feodosiy of the dominant Ukrainian Orthodox Church warned that Kiev's rainbow arch could jeopardise the country's entire social value system. "There will be inevitable consequences for the entire nation if this ideology and these sins are spread everywhere with the help of such an enormous symbol," he told AFP. But Ukrainians like Zoryan Kis, a gay LGBT activist, called the nearly-completed rainbow arch a "perfect metaphor of 'celebrating diversity' in Ukraine". - Homosexuals 'should not exist' - "It basically shows that diversity is not fully achieved in Ukraine, but that we are almost there," the 34-year-old said on an optimistic note. International rights groups have praised Ukraine for having recently introduced legislation that offers the LGBT community more protection. Ukraine banned sexual discrimination in employment in 2015 after having been pressured by the European Union, which it has been trying to join. But Human Rights Watch noted in 2017 that "anti-LGBT sentiment remains strong among high-level government officials and the public" in Ukraine. Despite extra security measures taken ahead of the contest, Ukraine's social media world was shaken by the violent beating of a lesbian woman earlier this month. Kiev resident Gala Korniyenko, 40, and her girlfriend Nataliya went fishing in the countryside and ran into a group of rowdy men who were having an alcohol-fuelled party. When one of them learned that Nataliya was a lesbian, he pushed her to the ground and began kicking her as the others watched. "He was screaming that he'll kill her and bury her and people like her should not exist," Korniyenko told AFP. Nataliya suffered a concussion, but Korniyenko said there were still signs that the times were changing because the attack received broad attention and that the LGBT community was no longer afraid of speaking out. "Two years ago we would have swallowed it," Korniyenko said. Nevertheless, activist Kis urged gay and lesbian couples who come to Kiev for the 42-nation song contest to keep their displays of affection private. "Ninety-five percent of the people would react normally, but there is always a risk that you will come across a crazy far-right teenager," Kis cautioned.
Photo credit: Getty

From Popular Mechanics

The Republic of the Philippines is getting a real bargain. In this age of $1.3 billion guided missile destroyers, the island nation is "buying" a used warship from South Korea for the bargain-basement price of just $100. While that sounds like a screaming deal, exactly what is it getting for its money?

The Philippines is in the midst of a defense buildup. The island country has been locked in a political face-off with China over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea. With no end in sight, the concern is the political dispute will escalate to a military one, a hypothetical conflict the Philippines would be woefully unready for. The country has been fighting an insurgency against various internal groups, including the Al Qaeda-aligned Abu Sayyaf guerrilla force, funding its army at the expense of its navy and air force.

The country has been on a low-grade shopping binge, purchasing a dozen F/A-50 fighters from South Korea and accepting donated Coast Guard cutters from the United States. Now, according to The Jakarta Post, it is about to get a Pohang-class corvette from South Korea for the fantastic sum of $100. The ship, ROK Chungju, was decommissioned from the Republic of Korea Navy in December 2016. The "purchase" is actually a transfer, and the $100 is largely symbolic.

Photo credit: Getty

The Pohang-class corvettes were some of the first large warships built by South Korean shipyards. Twenty-four corvettes were built during the mid 1980s and early 1990s between 1984 and 1993. Each weighed 1,200 tons fully loaded and had a maximum speed of 32 knots, armed with a pair of Italian-made 76-millimeter deck guns, four Harpoon anti-ship missiles, two 40-millimeter cannons, and anti-submarine torpedoes as well as depth charges. The Pohang-class ships were built mainly to patrol South Korean coastal waters and square off against North Korea's fleet of small gunboats and coastal submarines.

While the ex-Chungju is essentially free, the Philippines has also committed to paying to bring the ship back into service. One Philippine former naval officer-turned-blogger describes the necessary work as "repair, minor refurbishing works, replacement of obsolete systems required for safe use of the ship, crew billeting and training, and other expenses." That will cost an estimated 200 million Philippine pesos, or the equivalent of $4 million dollars.

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The ship will also not transfer with all of its weaponry. The Harpoon missiles are not part of the sale-the missiles are still useful to South Korea and Seoul would have to get permission from the United States to sell them, a process that could take years. The ship might also lose its American-made Mk. 46 anti-submarine torpedoes.

Photo credit: Getty

There's also the question of what kind of condition the ship is in. In 2014 the Philippine Navy looked at another Pohang-class ship, Mokpo, and found it in "very poor condition" and not worth refurbishing. Chungju is two years younger and presumably inspectors found it in slightly better condition. Another Pohang-class corvette, ROKS Cheonan, was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in its 21st year of service. At the time of the sinking, one news report quoted the mother of a crewmember as saying her son thought the ship was in poor condition and complained about serving on it. Still, given that some of the ships in the Philippine Navy were built during World War II, even a worn-out thirty year old ship is better than a seventy year old one.

Even if the ex-Chungju is stripped of its weapons, South Korea is well positioned to re-equip it for the Philipines, at a price. Harpoon missiles can be replaced with Korean Haeseong missiles and Mk. 46 anti-submarine torpedoes can be replaced with Blue Shark torpedoes. This is not a coincidence, as South Korea is pushing to develop its own arms export industry. Think of Chungju as a free ice cream cone-it's the ice cream that's going to cost real money.

The Philippines' "new" warship will end up costing a lot more than a hundred dollar bill, but it's still likely a welcome upgrade. While it's still not on equal terms with a brand-new Type 056 corvette, the Chungju's second career will give the People's Liberation Army Navy something to think about.

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In a medical first, surgeons have used a robot to operate inside the human eye, greatly improving the accuracy of a delicate surgery to remove fine membrane growth on the retina. Such growth distorts vision and, if left unchecked, can lead to blindness in the affected eye.

Currently, doctors perform this common eye surgery without robots. But given the delicate nature of the retina and the narrowness of the opening in which to operate, even highly skilled surgeons can cut too deeply and cause small amounts of hemorrhaging and scarring, potentially leading to other forms of visual impairment, according to the researchers who tested out the new robotic surgery in a small trial. The pulsing of blood through the surgeon's hands is enough to affect the accuracy of the cut, the researchers said.

In the trial, at a hospital in the United Kingdom, surgeons performed the membrane-removal surgery on 12 patients; six of those patients underwent the traditional procedure, and six underwent the new robotic technique. Those patients in the robot group experienced significantly fewer hemorrhages and less damage to the retina, the findings showed. [5 Experts Answer: What's the Best Way to Preserve My Eyesight?]

The technique is "a vision of eye surgery in the future," Dr. Robert E. MacLaren, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, who led the study team and performed some of the surgeries, said in a statement. MacLaren presented the results today (May 8) at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), happening this week in Baltimore.

"These are the early stages of a new, powerful technology," said MacLaren's colleague Dr. Marc de Smet, an ophthalmologist in the Netherlands who helped design the robot. "We have demonstrated safety in a delicate operation. The system can provide high precision [at] 10 microns in all three primary [directions], which is about 10 times" more precise than what a surgeon can do, de Smet said. (The three primary directions are up/down, left/right, and towards the head/towards the feet.)

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Membrane growth on the retina results in a condition called epiretinal membrane, a common cause of visual impairment. The retina is the thin layer at the back of the eye that converts light waves into nerve impulses that the brain then interprets as images.

An epiretinal membrane can form because of eye trauma or conditions such as diabetes, but more commonly it is associated with natural changes in the vitreous, the gel-like substance that fills the eye and helps it maintain a round shape. As people age, the vitreous slowly shrinks and pulls away from the retinal surface, sometimes tearing it.

The membrane is essentially a scar on the retina. It can act like a film, obscuring clear vision, or it can distort the shape of the retina. The membrane can form over the macula, a region near the center of the retina that sharply focuses images, a crucial process for reading or seeing fine detail. When membranes form here, a person's central vision becomes blurred and distorted, in a condition called a macular pucker. [10 Medical Conditions That Sound Fake but Are Actually Real]

Removing the membrane can improve vision, MacLaren said, but the surgery is very intricate. The membrane is only about 10 microns thick, or about a tenth the width of a human hair, and it needs to be dissected from the retina without damaging the retina  all while the eye of the anesthetized patient is jiggling with each heartbeat, MacLaren said.

Faced with the need for such precision, de Smet and his Dutch-based group developed a robotic system over the course of about 10 years. Robot-assisted surgery is now commonplace, particularly for the removal of cancerous tumors and diseased tissues, as in the case of hysterectomies and prostatectomies. But it has never been tried on the human eye, given the finer precision needed, the researchers said.

De Smet's group had a working model of the robotic system in 2011, devised by de Smet and Maarten Steinbuch, an engineering professor at the University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. They demonstrated the system's utility in 2015 on pigs, which have similar size eyes as humans.

MacLaren's team first used the system on a human, a 70-year-old priest from Oxford, England, in September 2016. Upon the success of that surgery, MacLaren's team conducted a study on 11 more patients in a randomized clinical trial, hoping to measure the robotic system's accuracy compared to the human hand.

The robot acts like a mechanical hand with seven independent motors that can make movements as precise as 1 micron. The robot operates inside the eye through a single hole less than 1 millimeter in diameter and goes in and out of the eye through this same hole during various steps of the procedure. But the surgeon is in control, using a joystick and touch screen to maneuver the robot hand while monitoring movements through the operating microscope, MacLaren explained.

During the trial, two patients who underwent the robotic surgery developed micro-hemorrhages, which means a little bit of bleeding, and one experienced a "retinal touch," which means there was an increased risk of retinal tear and detachment. In the traditional surgery group, five patients experienced micro-hemorrhages, and two had retinal touches.

MacLaren said the precision offered by the robotic system may enable new surgical procedures that surgeons have dreamed about but figured were too difficult to accomplish. For example, MacLaren said he hopes to next use the robotic system to place a fine needle under the retina and inject fluid through it, which could aid in retinal gene therapy, a promising new treatment for blindness.

"The robotic technology is very exciting, and the ability to operate under the retina safely will represent a huge advance in developing genetic and stem cell treatments for retinal disease," MacLaren told Live Science.

The surgical system was developed by Preceyes BV, a Dutch medical robotics firm established at the University of Eindhoven by de Smet and others.

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.

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By Lin Taylor LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The UK government is hosting a conference on Thursday to discuss the security threats and humanitarian situation in Somalia, where 3 million people are facing famine and 6 million, or half of the population, are in need of aid. The United Nations is seeking a further $900 million this year for Somalia, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the conference. Here are some facts about Somalia's security and humanitarian situation: * Somalia has been shattered by civil war that began whenclan-based warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 and then turnedon each other. * About 2.9 million Somalis are facing famine, and 6.2million need aid after drought withered crops, killed livestockand dried up waterholes in East Africa, the U.N.'s World FoodProgramme says. * More than 620,000 people have left their homes because ofthe drought since November, the U.N. says, slowing farmers' workto prepare their land and plant crops as the rainy seasonstarts. * Drought has led to the largest cholera outbreak in thelast five years, with more than 36,000 cases and nearly 700deaths so far this year, the World Health Organization says. * Measles are also on the rise, with nearly 6,500 casesreported this year, 71 percent of them children under the age of5, according to WHO. * Some 1.4 million Somali children are projected to sufferacute malnutrition this year, 50 percent more than estimated inJanuary, UNICEF says. * Islamist militant groups like Al Shabaab often carry outattacks in a bid to topple Somalia's government and drive outAfrican Union peacekeeping troops. The al Qaeda-linked groupwants to impose its harsh version of Islamic rule in Somalia. * The kidnapping of aid workers and extortion at checkpointsare on the rise in Somalia, hindering efforts to prevent thecountry slipping into renewed famine. In the first 27 days ofApril, 13 humanitarian workers were abducted, the highestmonthly figure since 2011, the U.N. says.Sources: United Nations, World Health Organization, Reuters, Thomson Reuters Foundation, UK Government (Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Alisa Tang. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, global land and property rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, women's rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories)
Pentagon chief Jim Mattis on Wednesday said the United States and NATO are prepared to deploy any capabilities necessary to help beef up air defence systems in the Baltic region. Mattis's remarks come amid heightened tensions with Russia, which is preparing for massive military exercises in its western military region in September, and has deployed a missile system in neighbouring Kaliningrad. "We will deploy whatever capability is necessary here," Mattis said when asked about regional air defences. Two US defence officials earlier said the United States was considering sending a Patriot missile battery to the Baltic region for NATO air defence exercises this summer, though they stressed the move would only be temporary. Moscow last year deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into its Kaliningrad exclave, which borders Lithuania and Poland, rattling the NATO members. Mattis blasted such moves. "Any buildup of Russian combat power in an area where they know, and we all know, they are not threatened by anything that we are doing ... is simply destabilising," Mattis said at a press conference with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. He however refused to discuss whether Vilnius had requested a permanent Patriot missile deployment. "We will make those decisions in consultation with the Lithuania government," he said. The Patriot is a mobile air defence system made by Raytheon designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, low-flying cruise missiles and aircraft. "Everyone knows this is not an offensive capability," Mattis said. Moscow is holding its so-called "Zapad" drills in September that will see the Russian military showcase new hardware and upgrade existing systems in its western military region, US officials said. - German troops - Mattis later drove into the Lithuanian countryside outside Vilnius to visit a large, wooded training area about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border with Belarus. A German NATO battle group along with other NATO troops is operating in the area, training to better work together and improve coordination between the militaries. NATO is deploying the battalions in Poland and the Baltic states as tripwires against Russian adventurism in a region formerly under Moscow's control, spooked by its actions in Ukraine and Syria. "The reason for the deployment you see right now is the lack of (Russian) respect for international law," Mattis told reporters after he visited US, Lithuanian and Dutch troops on a frigid training field. Mattis's trip to Lithuania is his first to eastern Europe as defence secretary and his meeting with Grybauskaite, a very vocal critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, could be interpreted as a signal to Moscow. The highly militarised Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is right next door and Putin is prone to sabre rattling there. A US-led NATO battalion that is stationed nearby in Poland and the German-led battalion Mattis visited are the first line of defence for the so-called "Suwalki Gap". NATO experts see the vulnerable stretch of territory as key to eastern flank security. The battalions will hold exercises focused on defending the Gap from June 10-24.
Chances are, you use some type of social media or content strategy to market your small business. But since so many other businesses use those same platforms, you have to constantly find new ways to make your business stand out. For ideas and tips on using social media and content marketing for your small business, check out these tips from members of our small business community.

Prepare and Execute a Social Media Crisis Management Plan

If youve been in business for more than a day, youve likely experienced a crisis or two. And when that happens, its important to have a plan  including one for dealing with the situation on social media. Rick Verbanas elaborates in this Your Guerrilla Marketer post.

Create Buyer Personas With Social Media Data

Social media can also be a great tool for gathering data about your potential customers and creating buyer personas. In this post on the Digital Information World blog, Ritesh Patil details how you can do this. And BizSugar members shares their thoughts here.

Track the Impact of Your Content Marketing with These Metrics

When it comes to content marketing efforts like blogging and social media, its important to have some kind of system for measuring results. To measure how those efforts impact your brand awareness, check out the metrics listed in this Content Marketing Institute post by Sujan Patel.

Learn How to Integrate User-Generated Content on Social Media

Social media is a great tool for interacting with your customers. And that includes sharing some of their content on your own channels. This Social Annex post by Prasad Dhamdhere features some tips and explanations about including user-generated content on social media.

Add These Topics to Your Blog

Blog content can be extremely popular on social media and elsewhere. To add some interesting topics to your blog mix, check out this post by Gary Shouldis of 3Bug Media. Then see what BizSugar members have to say about the post here.

Squeeze More Profits From Your Facebook Ads

Advertising can be another way to get more out of your social media efforts. But if youre going to spend the money on Facebook ads, you want to make sure youre getting as much benefit as possible. In this Kissmetrics post, Brad Smith shares some strategies for squeezing more profits from your Facebook ads.

Make Your Marketing Adapt With the Times

Marketing channels and strategies are constantly evolving. So your business needs to keep up if you want to continue getting the best results. Chad Stewart discusses the importance of adapting your marketing efforts with the times in this Biz Epic post.

Use Hootsuite to Manage Twitter Chats

If youve ever taken part in a Twitter chat, you know how important it is to have a good tool for managing tweets and responses. Hootsuite can be a great option, as Mike Allton of The Social Media Hat points out in this post. You can also see input on the post from the BizSugar community here.

Use These SEO Essentials for Long-Form Blog Posts

If youre going to blog for your business, you should probably have some kind of SEO strategy. When it comes to long-form posts in particular, there are a few SEO essentials that can help out with every post. Neil Patel lists some of them in this post.

Create Better Live Broadcasts

Livestreaming on platforms like Facebook, Periscope and Instagram is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for businesses. To learn more about creating better live broadcasts, take a look at this Prepare 1 blog post by Blair Evan Ball.

If youd like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to: sbtips@gmail.com.
Throughout history, ingenious and innovative ideas have been copied, or outright stolen. Guglielmo Marconi is credited with inventing the radio, even though it originated from Nikola Tesla. Nowadays its easy for a business owner to patent a great idea.

Robert Fulton took the idea for the steamboat engine from John Fitch. Lizzie Magie invented the board game Monopoly in 1903, but it was patented by Clarence B. Darrow in the 1930s. Even Apple has been accused of stealing ideas from Google, Microsoft, and Samsung.

Instead of letting another party run away with your great ideas and make a fortune, you need to protect your ideas from the get-go.

One of the most popular ways to protect your product is applying for a patent. Its now easy for a business owner to patent a great idea.

Patenting an Idea

What is a Patent?

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO);

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. Under certain circumstances, patent term extensions or adjustments may be available.

There are Three Types of Patents that Can be Issued:

Utility patents are granted to anyone who invents a new and useful process, the machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.

are granted to anyone who invents a new and useful process, the machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Design patents are given to inventors of new, original, and ornamental designs for an article of manufacture.

are given to inventors of new, original, and ornamental designs for an article of manufacture. Plant patents are granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.

Keep in mind that you technically can not patent a business idea, such as a niche online store or a new chain of themed restaurants. You can, however, patent the method of doing business.

Additionally, be aware that patents are publicly disclosed and that the USPTO does not enforce patents after they are issued  this responsibility is the patent holders.

Finally, a patent is not a trademark, service mark, or copyright.

Most importantly, its suggested that you seek legal counsel and advice when applying for a patent. Since patents are varied and complex you may end-up spending too much time and money on your patent, along with losing your valuable ideas, if you dont properly complete the process.

How Can a Patent Benefit Your Business?

Before you start researching and hiring attorneys, make sure that a patent is the right decision, or the right time, for your business. As Shark Tanks Barbara Corcoran explained in Reddit AMA, entrepreneurs make the mistake of pissing away money on patents and PR and not being confident enough.

Corcoran recommends you:

Make the product Get some sales Make the big guys envy you Then get a patent.

If you have followed Corcorans advice and youre eligible to apply for a patent, then a patent provides you and your investors with a sense of security.

A patent can even assist you with negotiating top dollar for your idea if you ever want to sell your invention or process to another company.

Most importantly, a patent allows you to take legal action against any entities who steal your intellectual property.

How to Patent a Great Idea

If youre positive that your idea falls within the definitions and requirements required to apply for a patent, and youve made sure that there are no other previously filed patents, then its time to apply for your patent.

When applying for a patent youll be required disclose the nature of the invention. You will need to provide a detailed written description as well. You may also be required to submit drawings or renderings.

Keep in mind that patents are only issued to an individual. Not in the name of a group or a company.

Patent applications are subject to a basic fee and additional fees.

A search fee

An examination fee

Issue fee

These fees vary but expect to pay around $130 for a small entity.

However, a provisional patent application for a mechanical device, for example, can cost over $2,000. This doesnt include the additional $2000 youll have to pay if you want to put a rush on this either.

Again. I would strongly urge you to speak with a patent to help you with completing the application. You can do a quick Google search for patent lawyers near you or use trusted sites like lawyer.com, findlaw.com, and even the USPTO website.

If you dont have the money for legal advice, you should contact the Inventors Assistance Center (IAC). This is a group of former Supervisory Patent Examiners, experienced Primary Patent Examiners, intellectual property specialists, and attorneys who can answer general questions and assist you with filing forms.

They can not provide legal advice or specific line-by-line completion of forms.

Alternative Ways of Protecting Your Ideas

Even if your idea can be patented, you should also consider copyrights for any original written content that you have placed on your businesss website or blog. Also, think about a trademark, which a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes you from other businesses.

You Can Also Protect Your Intellectual Property By:

Making your ownership public. Use the right symbols in your media and marketing material alerts, says David Bloom, head of Safeguard IP. Patent and design numbers can be added later, but you need to stay on  top of renewals, advises Bloom. To ensure the continued protection of designs, trademarks, and patents, dont forget to pay renewal fees. Registered rights will expire if businesses fail to pay on time.

Use the right symbols in your media and marketing material alerts, says David Bloom, head of Safeguard IP. Patent and design numbers can be added later, but you need to stay on  top of renewals, advises Bloom. To ensure the continued protection of designs, trademarks, and patents, dont forget to pay renewal fees. Registered rights will expire if businesses fail to pay on time. Documenting everything. Follow up every conversation you have about your idea over email, says Stephen Key, a specialist in licensing and entrepreneurship. Years ago, I sued one of the largest toy companies in the world for patent infringement in federal court. My paper trail helped solidify my story.

Follow up every conversation you have about your idea over email, says Stephen Key, a specialist in licensing and entrepreneurship. Years ago, I sued one of the largest toy companies in the world for patent infringement in federal court. My paper trail helped solidify my story. Asking people to sign NDAs. If you share your ideas with anyone else, whether if its a friend or employee, ask them to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). It may be awkward to ask, but it will ultimately protect you against theft.

If you share your ideas with anyone else, whether if its a friend or employee, ask them to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). It may be awkward to ask, but it will ultimately protect you against theft. Ask workers or collaborators to sign NCAs. A Non-Compete Agreement will prevent employees and contractors from launching a competing business within a specified timeframe.

A Non-Compete Agreement will prevent employees and contractors from launching a competing business within a specified timeframe. Create an IP culture. Create a business-wide IP awareness policy, to ensure that all employees understand the importance of IP and the issues surrounding it, says Bloom. Whether you dedicate one person within the business to oversee the registration, protection, and maximization of IP, or you outsource this role to an IP professional.

Create a business-wide IP awareness policy, to ensure that all employees understand the importance of IP and the issues surrounding it, says Bloom. Whether you dedicate one person within the business to oversee the registration, protection, and maximization of IP, or you outsource this role to an IP professional. File a patent-pending application . For just $100, you can file a PPA. This will protect your idea for one year, which gives you time to raise money or validate your concept.

For just $100, you can file a PPA. This will protect your idea for one year, which gives you time to raise money or validate your concept. Use the blockchain. Cloud-based systems that use blockchain technology, such as Storj, use encryption keys so that no one can access your data except for you.

Republished by permission. Original here.
The Philippines has decided to equip the two British made AW159 Wildcat helicopters it ordered in 2016 with the Israeli Spike NLOS missile. These missiles would be used against surface targets. These two helicopters will operate from the two new frigates the Philippines also ordered from South Korea in 2016. Each of these frigates will carry one AW159, which is also used by the South Korean Navy and Britain (army and navy). Similar in size and capability to the U.S. SH-60 Seahawk, the six ton Wildcat has a normal endurance of 90 minutes (270 minutes carrying max fuel) and a top speed of 290 kilometers an hour. For naval service the Wildcat can carry dipping sonar and one or two anti-submarine torpedoes. In cargo mode it can carry seven passengers or half a ton of cargo.

The Spike NLOS (Non Line-Of-Sight) is a long-range (25 kilometers) version of the Israeli Spike guided missile. Each one weighs 70kg (155 pounds), twice what the next largest Spike version. Spike is a series of anti-tank (or whatever) missiles with ranges from 200-25,000 meters. Spike NLOS can be fired at a target the operator cannot see (but someone else, with a laser designator, can see). Spike NLOS is usually fired from helicopters, which can also carry the laser designator. The Philippines wants to use Spike NLOS off their west coast, to help block Chinese efforts to take possession of Filipino islands and reefs. The Wildcats can carry four Spike NLOS missiles. A helicopter only has to be about 40 meters (122 feet) above the water to spot something 25 kilometers away. The Spike NLOS has multiple guidance systems, including a live video feed that allows the pilot to fly the missile into to the target, or use the image of the selected target to have the missile home in by itself (fire and forget). On the downside Spike NLOS is expensive, costing over $250,000 each.
Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh is now criticizing the Shia rebels, after supporting them since 2012. Back then he secretly allied himself with the Shia rebels in an effort to regain power. The Saleh family still has a lot of power in Yemen and has long been seen as a silent (but vital) partner in the Shia rebellion. After decades of corrupt rule Ali Abdullah Saleh was the target of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising in Yemen. He was forced to resign in 2012 and before the Arab coalition forces entered Yemen in 2015 Saleh made some attempts to broker a peace deal and thus regain much political power and possibly become president again. That was turned down by his elected successor and the Arab coalition.

Despite being a Shia himself Saleh managed, throughout his political career, to assemble coalitions of largely Sunni groups that kept him in power for decades. That coalition fell apart in 2011 but even as Saleh was deposed he was able to negotiate amnesty for himself. He was replaced by Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi via elections the Shia insisted were unfair (but international observers approved of). Hadi and Saleh had long been political allies but the two of them disagree over Hadis ability to rule the country.

Saleh was long suspected of secretly supporting the Shia rebels and that proved to be true once the Shia rebels sought to take control of the government in early 2015. The Shia rebels were a frequent headache for Saleh but after he was deposed it did not surprise most Yemenis that Saleh had quietly developed an alliance with the Shia tribes up north. About a third of Yemenis are Shia and the Shia-Saleh Coalition attracted some Sunni support because the Shia have always called for a reduction in corruption and more effective government. Thus the rebels were not only more united but by early 2015 had the support of nearly half the population. That was then but now two years of civil war have cost the rebels most of their Sunni supporters. During those two years Saleh admitted his support for the rebels as did Iran.

Saleh switching sides again was not unexpected, not in Arabia and especially not in Yemen. Saleh has maintained contact with the Saudi government after 2012 although since 2014 this has largely been via third parties. Now Saleh wants to negotiate and the Saudis are inclined to at least listen. Even Hadi has to pay attention because he is dealing with growing separatist demands from some of the southern Sunni tribes. There are also complaints that the Arab Coalition troops are acting as an army of occupation, not liberators. Then again some of the southern Sunnis support AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) and ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and both these Islamic terror groups see the Arab Coalition as a target. At the same time Sunnis remain united in the belief that Iran is seeking to gain control of Arabia, especially the oil fields and the Moslem holy places (Mecca and Medina). This combination of Sunni separatism and Shia threat gives Saleh an opportunity and he, unlike many other leaders in the region, rarely misses an opportunity.

Defining Victory

At this point the Arab coalition sees itself as winning. Yet at the end of 2016 many in the Arab coalition saw themselves as losing and were looking for solutions. This was complicated by the fact that several months before the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab oil states in the Persian Gulf) declared its intervention in Yemen a success and that it should be the model for further joint efforts against Iranian aggression. Iran then pointed out that the Shia rebels were not defeated and that Arab policies all over the region had failed. The Iranians had a point. Yet while the Iran-backed Shia rebels in Yemen have not surrendered they are very much in retreat. Iran wont admit that but the fact that Iran calls for more ceasefires and peace talks in Yemen says otherwise. None of these ceasefires or peace talks have worked but the UN is calling for another round of ceasefire negotiations before the end of May. This is complicated by the fact that Ramadan (the Moslem holy month) begins on May 27th and it considered bad manners to negotiate during Ramadan. Fighting and Islamic terrorism are another matter. The UN also steadfastly refuses to address the corruption that triggered the civil war in the first place and continues to make it difficult to deliver essential food and other aid or halt the delivery of Iranian weapons to the rebels (who were supposed to be the champions against corruption). Its the proverbial elephant in the room no one wants to acknowledge much less try to eliminate.

Iran believes it is on the winning side, and not just for religious reasons (the thousand year old Shia-Sunni dispute). The Iranians have dominated the region for thousands of years and see Arabs as inferior in just about every way. The Iranians are smart enough to be subtle about this but the Arabs have understood the Iranian attitude for a long time. They also understand that historically the Iranians usually prevail in a dispute, be it commercial, diplomatic or military. Thus when Iran says they are winning in Syria, Iraq and Yemen most people are inclined to believe them, even if all those realists in the Middle East will not admit it (at least not in public). This attitude infuriates Arabs but Yemen seems to be following the Iranian script, not the Arab one.

Separatists Make A Case

In 2014 both the northern Shia and the southern separatists complained that a proposed autonomy plan did not go far enough in granting powers, or a share of government income, to the six proposed regions. The northern Shia complained that their region had no natural resources or access to the sea. The southerners still wanted to establish an independent state down there, and keep all the oil for themselves. Many southerners feel they got shortchanged by the 1990 unification deal, and were harshly put down in 1994 when they rebelled. The southern separatists are disunited and unable to mount a strong resistance to government control. The government keeps the peace by paying off (what it hoped was enough) southern dissidents to prevent another civil war. Many Yemenis insist that the country is not becoming a failed state, because modern Yemen has always been a failed state. The problems of tribalism, religious radicalism and corruption make it impossible for Yemen to function as a country.

The continued popularity of dividing the country in two is partly about what little oil Yemen has, as it is in the south and thats where the separatists are. Islamic terrorists (mainly AQAP) is also in the south and willing to help the separatists. Most southerners just want peace and some prosperity. But there are enough devoted separatists in the south to provide sanctuaries and support for Islamic terrorists. Most southerners realize that a new (separatist run) government in the south would be as corrupt as the one they have now and the ones Yemen has had for thousands of years. As a result of all this and the two years of fighting it is more difficult to bring foreign aid into the south, which needs it the most, because AQAP believes such aid, even though most is from Moslem countries, is tainted and should be prevented.

There is also a separatist threat in the Shia north. Iran is accused, by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States as well as most Yemenis, of trying to establish another Hezbollah in Yemen. That was always a long shot and this attempt seems to have failed. Iran seemed to anticipate that and their support of the Shia rebels was always a low cost and largely covert operation. Iran tried to persuade the Yemeni Shia to adopt a more cautious and gradual strategy. That advice was ignored and when the Yemeni Shia had an opportunity to seize the capital and declare a new government in 2015 they did so. It didnt work but came close enough to encourage Iran to spend a lot of what little cash they had to support the Yemeni Shia more lavishly. Iran knew that the Yemeni Shia, or at least some of them, would be grateful for this support and that would benefit Iran long-term. If nothing else it annoyed the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs. By early 2017 the outnumbered and outgunned Shia rebels continue to hold out against the Sunni majority and their Arab (led by the Saudis) allies. This is mainly a media victory for Iran because the Sunni Arab Gulf states are providing the Iranians with excellent media opportunities to criticize the Arabs and the West. Iran is making the most of the fact that the Arabs, even with greater numbers and superior weapons, are unable to quickly defeat fellow Arabs who just happen to be Shia. Iran, the largest Shia majority nation in the world, considers the Shia form of Islam superior to the Sunni variants. Iranian media plays up the suffering of Yemenis in general and manages to keep itself too low profile for the media to pay attention to. Moreover, the Shia form of Islam makes a big deal out of losing battles but ultimately winning it all.

Counterterrorism From Above

The U.S. has carried out more than 90 air strikes in Yemen against AQAP since March 1st. Most of these attacks used missiles launched from a UAV. In 2017 the United States has increased the use of air support and aerial surveillance for the government forces. In the last month there were about two American air strikes a day and about one a day has been with UAVs. There were only 39 UAV attacks for all of 2016 and the in the peak year (2002) there were only 41 attacks. So 2017 is already a record breaking year for American UAV missile attacks. In addition there are more American airstrikes using manned aircraft and smart bombs. All this is having an impact. Official AQAP announcements (released via the Internet), captured documents and interrogations of prisoners all indicate that AQAP is suffering low morale, especially since the American airstrikes picked up in early 2017. Defections to ISIL are still a problem but for AQAP leaders the surveillance and attacks by American aircraft (especially the UAVs) has caused some serious losses among the AQAP leadership and that has disrupted the organization.

As has been the case since 2015 most of the Islamic terrorists in Yemen belong to AQAP. Some 5-10 percent are with ISIL, which splits it efforts between attacking government and AQAP targets as well as the Shia (rebels or civilians). The ISIL/AQAP conflict is to determine which version of a religious dictatorship should rule Yemen. Since mid-2016 AQAP and ISIL appear to have temporarily stopped attacking each other and concentrated on more threatening foes, like government forces (troops and tribal militias) and Shia rebels. Both the Shia rebels and the Sunni Islamic terrorists accuse each other of working for the Americans.

There Still Be Pirates Here

The Somali pirates are still active, but not very successful. In the last month there were a few attacks on smaller ships (coastal freighters and fishing trawlers) and these were closer to Yemen than Somalia. Two of these attacks failed but the pirates did manage to get away with an Indian trawler and its eleven crew. Somali security forces later found and freed the trawler but only two of the crew were rescued.

May 10, 2017: In the southeast (Hadramawt province) an AQAP suicide bomber killed a soldier while attacking a checkpoint. Six others were wounded, three of them civilians. Yesterday the army began a major operation in the province to capture or kill the remaining AQAP groups. Aside from this attack the general AQAP reaction was to flee or try and remain hidden.

Saudi Arabia and the World Bank agreed to provide half a billion dollars to pay for emergency food aid. There are still problems with getting the supplies delivered to those who need it most. For those trying to move the food there is corruption (extra fees and taxes imposed by various groups) and the risk of getting shot at by anyone who does not agree with who is getting (or providing) the aid. Then there is the weapons smuggling, which is often accomplished by planting weapons among aid shipments with the understanding that if you want the food delivered, the weapons must get through as well.

May 8, 2017: Off the West coast Saudi warships discovered some naval mines. Upon closer examination it was determined that these mines were locally made contact mines. Modern naval mines were widely used for the first time during the Russo-Japanese war (1904- 1905). Back then contact mines, floating in shallow water and kept in place with an anchor and chain, were all that was available. When the tide was right they would be just below the surface, ready to explode whenever struck by a ship. Some 2,000 of these mines were used to destroy sixteen ships during the Russo-Japanese war. That's one ship lost for every 125 mines used. Arab navies in the area are familiar with this type of naval mine because Iran is believed to have a lot of them, as well as the more modern bottom mines that lay on the seabed in shallow coastal waters and use sensors to detect ships passing overhead and explode. Since using naval mines without a declaration of war is considered terrorism, Iran may have helped the Shia rebels build some primitive but effective floating mines.

May 4, 2017: Thousands of southern separatists demonstrated in Aden to protest the removal of Aden governor Aidarous al Zoubeidi. Local Sunnis saw this as another case of the GCC interfering with Yemeni politics.

May 1, 2017: The government offensive along the west coast has left the Shia rebels are largely confined to using the Red Sea port of Hodeida. This has been the main port for the delivery of foreign aid for civilians in rebel held areas and, in theory, government controlled areas. Government forces are closing in on Hodeida and the UN opposes fighting inside the city with Shia rebels to regain control of the port. That would make it more difficult for the rebels to smuggle in military supplies but would also interrupt food and other aid that comes through here. The government accuses the UN of refusing to crack down on rebels who have prevented UN personnel from inspecting aid shipments (for weapons and other contraband). The government also points out that the rebels have been seizing aid shipments and are preventing UN personnel from verifying that the aid is going to civilians. The rebels are putting up a strong defense around Hodeida and that slows down the advance but cannot stop it. As long as Iran has the support of Russia and China in the UN, the UN cannot act to at least assume full control of the port.

April 30, 2017: In central Yemen (Marib province) an American UAV used a missile to kill five AQAP men in a truck that had been used to transport weapons.

April 29, 2017: In the south (Shabwa province) an American UAV used a missile to kill three AQAP men in a vehicle.

April 27, 2017: In the north a Shia rebel landmine plus rocket fire killed two Saudi soldiers across the border in Jizan province. Shia rebels sneak across the border to plant landmines although most of the casualties on the Saudis side of the border are caused by mortar and machine-gun fire from Yemen. Since early 2015 year about 130 Saudis, mostly military and police, have died in this border violence, most of it in Jizan province.

President Hadi removed his fellow southerner as governor of Aden because the two did not agree on how to handle the demands of the southern tribes for more autonomy and a larger share of the oil income.

April 26, 2017: In the north, across the border off the coast of Jizan province Saudi naval and air forces intercepted a Yemeni Shia rebel boat loaded with explosives, apparently headed for a nearby Saudi offshore oil facility.

In Jordan an Arab League meeting there was a lot of criticism of Iran but the most ominous report was about Yemen where the Yemeni president detailed how he expected the Iran-backed Shia rebels to continue their retreat and be vanquished soon. This report detailed the growing amount of captured evidence proving Iranian activity in Yemen.

Government forces have surrounded the remaining rebels in the smaller ports of Midi (north of Hodeida) and have done the same around Mocha (south of Hodeida). Government forces are now concentrating on the defense of Hodeida and, 150 kilometers to the east, the national capital Saana. Government forces are now within 20 kilometers of Saana and about to take the airport there.

April 23, 2017: In the south (Shabwa province) an American UAV used a missile to kill eight AQAP men in a vehicle. One of the dead was later identified as a wanted (for planning terror attacks) leader.

April 21, 2017: In the south (outside the port of Mukalla) an army raid, using helicopters, managed to arrest several AQAP leaders.

April 20, 2017: Overnight two American UAV missile attacks killed two AQAP men in the south ((Shabwa province) while another a little north (Marib province) killed three.

April 19, 2017: Much to the annoyance of Iran Raheel Sharif, a retired Pakistani general is now in Saudi Arabia to lead the IMAFT (Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism). He joins 1,200 Pakistani military personnel already there to train Saudi troops, many of these trainees then going off to fight in Yemen. Founded (in late 2015) IMAFT is largely funded by Saudi Arabia, as are the Pakistani trainers in Saudi Arabia. At first Pakistan was reluctant to participate in IMAFT but eventually joined the other 40 members. Raheel was selected to lead IMAFT in January 2017 but not everyone in Pakistan was comfortable with that and it took several months to get Pakistani government approval. When Saudi Arabia announced IMAFT it named 34 Moslem nations (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Comoros, Cote dIvoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Qatar, the Palestinians, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the UAE, and Yemen) as members. Indonesia, largest Moslem nation on the planet, was described as considering joining. The nation with the largest number of Moslems, India, was apparently not invited to join. All the current members are largely Sunni. Some nations are not welcome, like Iran, Syria and Iraq. This is because the Sunni Gulf States (led by Saudi Arabia) are at war with Iran, which considers Syria and Iraq allies. Pakistan has not announced exactly what it would do as part of this new coalition but did make it clear it will not take part in any operations against Iran or Syria. Such compromises were required to get enough senior Pakistani politicians and generals to agree. Nevertheless the Saudis, and many senior Pakistani politicians and generals are backing a proposal that 5,000 Pakistani troops be leased to the Saudis to help guard their Yemen border.
A recent report states that the Arctic Sea would be free from sea ice within 2040 which was earlier estimated to be 2070! New research has specified that the ice in Arctic sea is falling down fast since past three decades.

Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme have conducted an evaluation in which 90 scientists were involved. The scientists found that the projections of the ice in Arctic sea were miscalculated. The region was warming at a faster speed that can be calculated twice to the rising warmth of the rest regions of the world since 50 years.

Conducting the research, the scientists also found that the snow cover of the Arctic regions has decreased significantly. As per the scientists, the point where the ice would turn back to its freezing state has passed. The efforts for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions could be helpful in justifying the impacts of the climatic changes of the Arctic region as well as the rest regions of the world.

The incidents of droughts are rising for the impacts of the melting glaciers. This has also impacted in raising the rates of floods as well as heat waves! The rising warming of the Arctic region has badly affected the ocean currents as well as the winds that drastically affect the monsoon all around the globe. Such climatic changes majorly affect the production of food and the cropping patterns.

The melting glaciers cause the sea level to raise that, in turn, affects the cities located in the coastal areas. As per the scientists, production of carbon dioxide must be lowered as it warms the environment.

NASA reports that the ice loss in the Arctic region was around 8, 300 Sq. Miles annually between 1976 and 1996 and when this average is compared between 1996 and 2013 the loss was around 19, 500 Sq. Miles annually. Reports from NASA clarifies that the sea ice loss was more than double in comparison to both the periods.

A planetary scientist from Arizona State University has proposed a scheme for adding ice to the Arctic region. AS per the scientist, this scheme would be quite helpful in reducing the rising global temperature. This proposal would cost around $500 billion in 10 years which the taxpayers would have to bear! The scientist suggests that the thicker ice would be able to trap more heat that would lower the global temperature.

If the Arctic sea region gets free from ice then it would absolutely a major threat to the world!
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.
By Parisa Hafezi ANKARA (Reuters) - The charismatic 55-year-old mayor of Tehran seems a long-shot contender for Iran's presidency, but could emerge as the main threat to President Hassan Rouhani if he beats other hardliners to emerge as the sole challenger in a second round. A chisel-jawed former Revolutionary Guards commander with an action man persona, an airline pilot's licence and a populist economic message, Baqer Qalibaf has so far defied the clerical establishment by refusing to drop out before the May 19 vote. In the last election four years ago, Qalibaf very nearly made it to the run-off, despite placing a distant second to Rouhani with just 16.5 percent of the vote. Rouhani, who promised to reduce Iran's international isolation and grant more freedoms at home, averted a second round by winning just over 50 percent. This time around, establishment hardliners who want to unseat Rouhani are mainly placing their trust in Ebrahim Raisi, a jurist and cleric who studied at the feet of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They are not happy that the maverick Tehran mayor is standing again and splitting the anti-Rouhani vote. "Qalibaf's decision to remain in the race represents is a risk for him and the establishment," said an official in Tehran, who asked not to be identified. "It will divide hardliners' votes but it will also endanger his future career, as Qalibaf has ignored influential hardliners' call to step down." Still, with his own record of drawing millions of voters, Qalibaf may be hoping he can beat Raisi in the first round to face Rouhani in the run-off a week later, which would force conservatives to rally behind him. A similar path carried a previous populist Tehran mayor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the presidency in 2005, despite never quite dispelling the discomfort of the establishment. From Qalibaf's perspective, that could have been him: in 2005, he resigned his military posts to run for president and was seen as a strong contender, only to lose the crucial battle for second place in the final days when hardliners switched their allegiance to Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad won 19.5 percent in the first round, good enough for second place, on his way to a surprising triumph against former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the run-off. Qalibaf went on to win Ahamdinejad's job as mayor of the capital, a post he has held ever since. Qalibaf promotes his record as a pragmatic problem-solver, tackling the capital's acute infrastructure problems and improving public transportation. But Tehran's chaotic and chronically snarled traffic, a corruption investigation in 2016 and the deaths of 50 firefighters in the collapse of a 17-storey building in January in Tehran have dented his popularity. To civil rights activists and reformers he is also known for his previous role as a police chief who boasted of crushing protests and personally beating demonstrators. He joined the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) at 19 and served as the commander of its air force from 1996. He still has a licence to fly big airliners. He was appointed by Khamenei as Iran's police chief after a bloody crackdown on students in Tehran ignited nationwide unrest in 1999. In a two-hour audio recording, released by opposition websites and the U.S.-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Qalibaf is heard describing how he personally beat up protesters with batons. He was among a group of IRGC commanders who in June 2003 sent a letter to then-president Mohammad Khatami, now seen as the father of Iran's reform movement, effectively threatening a coup unless the president took firm control of protests. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Peter Graff)
By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - All three parties in the Czech ruling coalition want to keep the cabinet afloat until an October election, party officials said on Wednesday, despite a row over the fate of Finance Minister Andrej Babis that has rocked the government. The coalition has been in crisis since Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka's attempt last week to oust Babis, a billionaire businessman and founder of the anti-establishment ANO party, due to questions over his past tax arrangements. Babis has refused to resign and denies any wrongdoing. "The important thing is that all three parties agreed they want to complete the term. They do not prefer an early election and are looking for a way to finish the mandate together," ANO deputy chairman Jaroslav Faltynek told Czech Television. ANO, which wants to dislodge the parties that have dominated Czech politics since the fall of Communism, has a more than 10 point opinion poll lead over Sobotka's centre-left Social Democrats, meaning Babis could become the next prime minister. Thousands protested in Prague on Wednesday evening against Babis and President Milos Zeman, who has taken Babis' side in the dispute and has been delaying acting on the prime minister's demand for his dismissal. In Prague's Wenceslas Square, the site of the 1989 "Velvet Revolution" protests, people carried signs with slogans including "Babis is a liar" and Czech and European Union flags. Estimates in Czech media put the crowd at 10,000-30,000, although police made no official estimate. Thousands more joined protests in a handful of other cities. The lower house of parliament held an extraordinary session to discuss Babis. Under heavy criticism from most other government and opposition parties, he said he would not end his fight against what he sees as corruption in traditional parties. "You can kill me but I will not resign and I will not quit politics," Babis told parliament. He says the scandal is politically motivated. TRUST FUND Sobotka has said he would keep the finance minister's job for ANO but that its holder should have no links to Babis' chemicals, food and media conglomerate Agrofert to allow for an impartial investigation of accusations that Babis dodged taxes by buying tax-free bonds from the company. Several of Babis' party colleagues were managers at Agrofert before joining politics. Babis transferred ownership of Agrofert to a trust fund this year to meet new conflict-of-interest legislation. 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. The pressure on Babis grew after recordings anonymously published last week appeared to show him discussing last year the coverage of political opponents with a reporter at a newspaper that is part of Agrofert group. Babis has rejected allegations he influenced content and said although he had met the reporter, the tapes were manipulated. The reporter has been fired. Zeman has refused Sobotka's request to dismiss Babis unless the prime minister tears up a coalition agreement underpinning the government. Lawyers say the constitution does not allow the president to set such conditions. Zeman met leaders from all the three government parties on Wednesday evening, before leaving for a week-long trip to China on Thursday, but the meeting brought no breakthrough. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Alison Williams)
By Anton Zverev MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top aide to Vladimir Putin decides how the pro-Moscow administration of eastern Ukraine is run and who gets what jobs there, three former rebel leaders said, challenging Kremlin denials that it calls the shots in the region. Their comments to Reuters shed light on the role played by the secretive Vladislav Surkov, who has long been at the Russian president's side. The Kremlin says his official role is to advise Putin on Ukraine, where the rebels are fighting government forces. The extent of his influence and powers has not been spelled out or acknowledged by the Kremlin which casts its role in the conflict as one where it has influence but is not a protagonist. The three men who have held senior roles in the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine have explained in detail how Surkov controls the situation on the ground via handpicked proxies who give him regular situation reports, used aides to arrange elections there, and has worked to build power structures that are responsive to Moscow's wishes. "Any call from Moscow was viewed as a call from the office of Lord God himself and... was implemented immediately," recalled Alexei Alexandrov, one of the leaders of the separatist rebellion in Donetsk who has since left the area in eastern Ukraine. Two other separatists corroborated his account, but declined to be identified. Surkov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not respond to questions about the extent of Surkov's role in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office also declined to comment. Reuters has previously gathered evidence that Moscow sent Russian troops and irregular fighters, and weapons, to help the separatists, who tried to break away from Ukraine in 2014. A senior former separatist described last year how Russian financial support propped up the breakaway area. The Kremlin has always rejected those accusations as part of its effort to get Western sanctions imposed on it over Ukraine eased. Reuters was unable to independently verify the separatists' descriptions of Surkov's role, but their individual versions of events tallied with one another, with key details and dates consistent with existing open source information about Surkov. Alexandrov and the two other officials said their willingness to speak out underscores a sense that their uprising has been hijacked by the Kremlin, which has put in place loyalists who they say do not have the region's best interests at heart. All three said Moscow had gradually forced out most of the separatists behind the original uprising by using threats of death and detention. "At first we were a bit naive and thought that maybe our Moscow uncles simply didn't understand what was happening here, when our Moscow comrades treated us like dirt," said one of the three former separatist leaders who said he last spoke to Surkov in November. "But then I understood that they understood everything, and simply wanted us to keep our mouths shut." HANDPICKED LEADER Surkov helped Putin engineer Russia's tightly controlled political system and coined the term "sovereign democracy" which the Kremlin uses to describe that system. Viewed in the West as one of the architects of Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, Surkov was blacklisted from entering the United States and the European Union in March of that year. He told a Russian newspaper that being on Washington's blacklist was a "big honour" for him. The separatists who came forward to describe Surkov's role say he also played a key role in the appointment of Alexander Zakharchenko as leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine, the rebels' biggest breakaway entity by population. Zakharchenko, a former coal mine electrician from eastern Ukraine, was the leader of an anti-Kiev militia when he was summoned to Moscow in 2014. Separatist leaders were grooming him to be defence minister in the DNR. But after he met Surkov in the Kremlin, word came back from Surkov's office that Zakharchenko was to be given the top job. A spokeswoman for Zakharchenko did not respond to written questions. At the time, the Donetsk rebels had been led by two men who described themselves as volunteers from Russia. Far-right former journalist Alexander Borodai was the political chief, and Igor Strelkov, who said he was a former agent in Russia's federal security service (FSB), was the military commander. Moscow wanted them replaced by a local to try to show the West that the uprising was a grassroots phenomenon, Borodai told Reuters. It picked Zakharchenko, whom it viewed as easy to control, said one of the three ex-separatist sources. After what Alexandrov described as a verbal order from Surkov's office, Borodai and Strelkov quietly stepped down so that Zakharchenko could take over. Borodai said he had been the first to suggest that Zakharchenko take over, but declined to answer detailed questions on the subject. Strelkov did not respond to a request for comment, but has previously told Reuters he left the region after coming under pressure from people he declined to name. After Zakharchenko was made leader of the Donetsk separatists, the region held an election which confirmed him in office. A team of Russians who worked for Surkov arrived in Donetsk to help run Zakharchenko's campaign, said Alexandrov. Reuters could not independently confirm that assertion. Ukraine and its Western allies then rejected the vote. Separatists shrugged that rejection off, however, and Moscow suggested the Ukrainian government could now negotiate directly with the separatists, an offer Kiev spurned. The contested election helped entrench Zakharchenko, all three former rebel leaders said. Surkov's election team did not tell anyone in Donetsk their real names, and used military-style radio call signs instead. Asked how he knew they worked for Surkov, Alexandrov said: "They didn't hide it. They announced it loudly at the first opportunity." Five sources, including one close to the presidential administration and another who worked with Surkov in the Kremlin, said Surkov has regular meetings with separatist leaders, both in the breakaway territory and in Russia. They say his involvement continues now, three years on from the start of the rebellion in eastern Ukraine. Alexandrov said he met Surkov in Moscow in August 2014. Another of the former separatist leaders said his most recent meeting with Surkov in Moscow was in November last year. DOUBLE ROLE Surkov had at least three meetings last year with Victoria Nuland when she was U.S. Under-Secretary of State for European Affairs -- in January, May and June -- according to the U.S. embassy in Moscow. Nuland told reporters at the time that the meetings had been part of a U.S. attempt to get all sides to implement the Minsk accord, which introduced a shaky ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and laid out steps for a political solution to the conflict. Her meeting with Surkov in June in Moscow was "thorough and constructive," the U.S. embassy said. But the sources who spoke to Reuters said Surkov's true role went far beyond acting as a peace broker. Surkov's activities, which began at least six months before the internationally-brokered Minsk peace deal, focused on choosing personnel to take senior posts, on creating a structure for the separatist administration, on formulating a media strategy for the separatists and planning local elections, according to the people who spoke to Reuters. After meeting Surkov in May, Nuland had warned that such elections, organised by the separatists without Ukrainian government involvement, would be ignored by Washington. Poroshenko's office declined to comment on these accounts. (Additional reporting by Svetlana Reiter, Polina Nikolskaya and Polina Devitt, Writing by Christian Lowe and Andrew Osborn, Editing by Peter Graff and Timothy Heritage)
Anyone caught smoking or eating openly during Ramadan in Pakistan will be slapped a three-month prison term.

Senator Tanveer Khan told a Standing Committee that a hard line should be taken on anyone breaking the rule, which would also see them fined 500 rupees (3.70).

TV channels and cinemas that violate the law will be fined a minimum of 500,000 rupees (3,700).

MORE: UKIP party spokesman who branded Islam a death cult defended by leader Paul Nuttall

MORE: Man who removed condom during sex cleared of rape conviction

Minister of State for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Pir Amin Ul Hasnat Shah also suggested closing down cinemas for the entire duration of the holy month.

Muslims are forced to fast during the day from before sunrise to just after sunset during Ramadan  meaning no food or drink, as well as no signs of affections to spouses in public.

Restaurants and food stalls are closed throughout the months as it is illegal to eat in public, although up until now the rule has not been enforced by law.

However, the rule is generally observed as a sign of respect and to avoid criticism from others.

Top pic: Rex
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania should be able to convince the European Union to lift special monitoring of its justice system by the time it takes over the presidency of the EU Council in 2019, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday. The EU has monitored the justice systems of Romania and Bulgaria since they joined the bloc in 2007. It has helped bolster a crackdown on high-level graft in Romania, seen as one of the EU's most corrupt states. The ruling Social Democrats have repeatedly said since coming to power in December of last year that they will work towards lifting the verification mechanism. But in February the government approved an emergency decree that would have shielded dozens of public officials from prosecution, drawing international criticism and triggering the largest nationwide protests in decades. The decree was rescinded within the week. "I will militate with Romanian authorities to guarantee the irreversibility of reforms," Juncker told Romania's parliament on an official visit. He also said the citizens who stood up for the rule of law were Romania's biggest advantage. Later, on a visit to President Klaus Iohannis, Juncker said justice monitoring should end by 2019. "One cannot preside over the EU while under the impression that one is controlled, observed," he said, adding Romania should also be allowed into the EU's passport-free Schengen zone by that time. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Toby Chopra)
By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi ZURICH (Reuters) - Zurich's public safety office on Friday recommended towns in Switzerland's most populous canton ban a campaign that hands out Korans in public spaces, describing it as a front for incitement of radical activities including jihadist involvement. The recommendation clashed with an assessment by federal intelligence services published three days before which concluded a ban on the campaign's Koran distribution would lead to a "strong conflict with the exercise of religious freedom". Zurich's security department urged communities not to provide a public platform for the Islamic "READ!" campaign, which it said had ties to jihadis in Switzerland and had a number of members being prosecuted by the attorney general. "The community is not obliged to allow public space as a platform for spreading views that are irreconcilable with our society's basic and fundamental values," Zurich's Security Department wrote, citing a legal opinion it had sought. "Such actions may thus be prohibited within the current legal framework." The READ campaign could not be reached for comment. The Association of Islamic Organisations in Zurich said it did not expect any negative consequences for the Muslim community, as the measure applied only to a specific campaign. "We generally prefer individuals to be informed about Islam in mosques or for members to engage in local dialogue," the association said in an emailed statement. The "READ!" campaign was initiated by Germany's DWR "True Religion" group in 2011 with the goal of distributing 25 million Korans across Europe. But DWR was banned in Germany last November for radicalising youngsters and "propagating extremist ideologies and supporting terrorist organisations under the pretext of Islam", according to German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere. The organisation had persuaded about 140 people in Germany to join militants in Iraq and Syria, authorities said. De Maiziere said at the time the group's distribution of Korans and other religious material especially to young people was not the reason for the ban. Swiss authorities say more than 80 people have left Switzerland to fight alongside jihadis. Zurich's security department urged the Swiss federal government to ban the "True Religion" group under new national intelligence laws that take effect on Sept. 1, and recommended other closely related groups be prevented from distributing Korans in public. The Federal Intelligence Service, however, said it would be very difficult to forbid the group nationwide because of religious freedom laws. A spokesman for Zurich's security department said the measure was a matter of safety policy and did not affect religious freedom. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; editing by Ralph Boulton)
LOS ALAMOS  Energy Secretary Rick Perry, speaking at what he called one of the most interesting sites in the world, said the United States no longer can continue to kick the can down the road when it comes to cleaning up long-term radioactive and hazardous waste at the nations nuclear labs.

After getting a private tour of Los Alamos National Laboratory and speaking to its employees, Perry  who once vowed to eliminate the Department of Energy  was effusive in his praise of LANL and its sister DOE labs around the country.

I suggest every country in the world would love to just have one like Los Alamos, he told reporters.

But asked about cleanup of the labs decades of legacy waste, the former Texas governor and ex-presidential candidate said there are too many places where lives and health of our citizens are in jeopardy, because the federal government has failed to respond appropriately by removing this waste in a timely way.

Perry said he wants to send a clear message to Americans that their families are not going to live in fear of a country thats got waste scattered around places it doesnt need to be.

I want to get things done, he said. Im a realist, and I realize were not going to clean it up overnight. Were going to make progress. DOE estimates that cleanup just at Los Alamos will cost as much as $3.8 billion and take 20 years to complete.

The legacy waste problem was highlighted this week when the roof of a tunnel collapsed at DOEs Hanford waste site in Washington state. Hanford contains the nations largest amount of radioactive waste from nuclear weapons work. Perry said the good news was that no one was hurt and there was no radiation release.

And he reiterated that the Trump administration supports opening the stalled Yucca Mountain repository for nuclear waste in Nevada. It is the most studied place on earth, he said, and is as safe as anyplace in the world as a waste disposal.

Perry has been a climate change skeptic over the years. Asked Tuesday if he and the administration would support LANLs science work on climate change, he said that to use a highly untechnical term, well continue to throw some Jello at the wall in a lot of different places, and adopt a lot of different ways, because from time to time you find some answers to some things you had no idea you were going to find solutions to, including on the climate. Were going to find new fuels, he said.

Perry repeatedly expressed support for nuclear energy. If you really care about the environment that we live in, and I think the vast majority of the people of the country and the world do, then you need to be a supporter of this amazingly clean, resilient, safe, reliable source of energy, he said. He said nuclear power hasnt received much support for 30 years. Being a nuclear engineer wasnt as cool as maybe it was in the 1970s. And we want to make it cool again.

Perry said one of his biggest challenges is making sure Iran sticks to its nuclear weapons deal with the U.S. and other countries. Whether I think it was a good deal or not, thats frankly besides the point now. My job as the secretary is to make theyre living up to the deal that America agreed to.
RICHLAND, Wash.  This town at the edge of the Hanford nuclear site long ago made its peace with the facilitys history of producing plutonium for nuclear bombs.

Bombers Drive-Thru sells milkshakes and burgers. The Richland High School mascot is the Bomber, and a mushroom cloud is painted across the gymnasium floor. Theres Atomic Bowl, Atomic Foods, Atomic Auto Body, Atomic Scuba.

The Atomic Ale Brewpub & Eaterys menu highlights a Reactor Core pizza with nuclear butter and sells house-made beers like Half-Life Hefeweizen and Oppenheimer Oatmeal Stout.

Hours after the collapse of a 20-foot portion of a Hanford tunnel full of highly contaminated equipment, Adrian Martens was sitting at the bar having a pint after his Tuesday shift. He said people here arent afraid of Hanford  or adopting the atomic iconography as kitsch. Its a fun retro thing, he said. He thinks the news panicking about the tunnel collapse might be overblown.

What isnt overblown is the $6.1 billion annual cost of cleaning up the highly dangerous material at Hanford and the nations other former nuclear weapons sites, vestiges of the Cold War-era arms race. The Energy Department has cleaned up 91 of these sites but is still working on 16 others, including complexes at Oak Ridge in Tennessee and Savannah River in South Carolina.

Hanford is the biggest. The cleanup there started in 1989, and federal and state officials recently agreed to push back the deadline for finishing the job. The Hanford effort alone will cost $2.3 billion this year, and as much as $105 billion in the future, according to a 2016 life-cycle report.

Some nuclear experts said that the collapse of the tunnel Tuesday morning was evidence of faltering infrastructure at the sprawling 580-square-mile Hanford site as the federal government battles to clean up nuclear material, in both solid and liquid forms, that remains there. The tunnel, built a half-century ago with Douglas fir timbers and sealed shut years ago, did not stay closed, exposing contaminated rail cars and other debris to the open air.

Hanford overall is the most contaminated site in North America, and the facility near where the tunnel collapsed today is one of the most contaminated facilities at Hanford, said Dan Serres, conservation director of the Columbia Riverkeeper.

News from the Hanford site Wednesday was limited. The Energy Department said that no contamination has been detected following the cave-in. But it also ordered nonessential employees in part of the site to stay home.

Crews worked through the night to construct a gravel road, and workers wearing protective suits and breathing masks started filling the gaping hole with about 50 truckloads of soil.

Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that if there were a significant release, the radioactivity in the tunnels would make it extremely difficult for workers to continue to monitor the site and carry out cleanup efforts.

Gerry Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a watchdog group for the Hanford cleanup, said the site is vulnerable to natural disasters and that the collapse this week is worrisome because it could mean there are other weaknesses: If you have a partial collapse right now, obviously the integrity of the tunnel is in question for more than just the part that collapsed.

The Hanford nuclear site, half the size of Rhode Island, was placed in a far-flung, desolate southeast corner of Washington state, a far cry from the lush green forests and mountains that define the northwestern United States. Its dry and hot here: a patchwork desert that gets little rain but that commands its own unique beauty. When the sun sets here, it boils under a flat black horizon, painting the wide sky in oranges and greens.

The city of Richland largely popped out of the desert during World War II to house the influx of scientists and workers employed at the Manhattan Project site. The plutonium produced at Hanford filled the Fat Man nuclear bomb, which was dropped over Nagasaki, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people.

Today, Richland, Kennewick and Pasco  known as the Tri-Cities  still have a bit of a childrens pop-up book feel: identical-looking houses with bright green lawns and gleaming white fences that sprout out of the desert landscape suddenly and harshly.

Libby Horton, who now lives in Boulder, Colo., was back in her hometown of Richland eating pizza at Atomic Ale this week. She shakes her head at the idea of being afraid of some kind of nuclear disaster at Hanford. Her parents both worked there.

People are more educated here about what goes on at the site, she said, noting that shes not bothered at all by Tuesdays tunnel collapse. My friends on Facebook are laughing about it.

Tracy Lugo, a second-grade teacher, said his school did more drills and training in preparation for a potential leak at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, south of the Tri-Cities in Hermiston, Ore., where the U.S. Army stored chemical weapons until 2011. He doesnt fear a meltdown or leak at Hanford.

Im more concerned about Kim Jong-Un dropping a nuclear bomb on us in the next couple of years, he said. Lugos 13-year-old daughter, Celia, piped up on a point of pride about living in Richland: Its easier to earn the Girl Scouts Get to Know Nuclear merit badge, which allows scouts to visit a nuclear plant.

You learn about how nuclear energy works, Celia said. And wear hazmat suits.

Some academic experts agree that risks related to Hanford are small because any radiation leak from the site would dissipate before it affected nearby towns. The risk, if people are exposed at low levels, is primarily radiation-induced cancer at some point in the future, said David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. But at the levels were talking about here, which are negligible, I dont think were talking about any risks.

For others, Hanford symbolizes fear, illness and betrayal. Some call themselves Hanford Downwinders because they and their families live downwind of the facility and say they or relatives have become ill from or died of exposure to radioactive materials. Trisha Pritikin, who was raised in the Hanford area, moved away and has been vocal about the diseases her family and friends have. She called Tuesdays emergency declaration both alarming and indicative of the continuing elevated levels of danger to the public from the Hanford facility.

Lonnie Rouse, 55, worked at Hanford as a nuclear process operator for more than two decades. Rouse suffers from toxic encephalopathy and has been denied workers compensation.

Despite Hanford officials insisting there was no radiation leak from the tunnel collapse, on Tuesday night Rouse was certain that is a lie. Hes familiar with the tunnel that collapsed. Constructed to carry spent fuel in rail cars to a reprocessing plant that extracted plutonium, that tunnel and another like it were filled with hazardous debris, including the rail cars.

People dont go in there, Rouse said. And hes skeptical of how long it took for surveillance workers to discover the collapsed tunnel. When that thing opens up, its going to come out of the hole. If theres any kind of a breeze, its going to go everywhere.

Union pipe fitter Scott Brown, 41, said he was on emergency lockdown at Hanford for four hours on Tuesday just east of the collapsed tunnel, something he said had never happened before while hes worked there. He said he was told not to report to work Wednesday but that it raised no concerns for him because the site takes precautions.

Everybody thinks its so scary, Brown said. Its still the safest, cleanest form of energy. We need more nukes.

If anywhere is a hub of whats happening in Richland, its the Spudnut Shop  a small doughnut shop with brown leather booths. At a table in the corner sat a group of retirees sipping coffee and eating the signature potato-flour doughnuts.

We all glow in the dark, joked Bill ORell, a 94-year-old war veteran. Next to him, Gary Horton, 76, who worked at Hanford, says that people here dont worry about the place. You have more radiation in Seattle than we have here, he said. At Hanford, Horton said, You cant go into a building without being measured.

Maurice Horton, Garys 68-year-old brother who worked as a parachemist at the lab, joined the group and echoed what his brother said: A lot of people across the mountain, they blow everything up into a major thing. Our biggest problem here is the government would like to put a fence around this place.

He says cleanup efforts here have to continue and cant be derailed by infrastructure issues: The government caused this problem, and they should take care of it until its safe for everybody.



The Washington Posts Mufson and Bever reported from Washington. Kristine Phillips in Washington contributed to this report.
SANTA FE  Northern New Mexico Colleges vice president for finance and administration has announced his retirement effective June 30.

Domingo Sanchez III submitted a letter of resignation last Friday, according to NNMC President Rick Bailey Jr.

The announcement comes weeks after an audit of the colleges finances overseen by the State Auditors Office identified numerous serious findings, including contracts being awarded without going out to bid, a runaway legal services contract, missing computers and theft of more than $200,000 by the colleges financial director, who has since resigned.

But Bailey, who began serving as college president in October, didnt blame Sanchez for the outcome of the audit. Domingo did a lot of good things for the college, Bailey said. He was responsible for getting this college into the black financially. He was instrumental in getting us caught up after years of missed audits, and he helped the college tighten its belt in ways that had he not done that, the states current budget crisis would be far more devastating.

Sanchez did not return a phone message from the Journal on Tuesday.

Sanchez has been a polarizing figure since he was hired in February 2011 to help clean up a financial mess at the college with campuses in Espanola and El Rito that had fallen years behind on audits. He was at the center of controversy over job layoffs and program cuts under former college president Nancy Rusty Barcelo. He was among those cited when in the spring of 2014 when students and faculty members voted no confidence in the colleges leadership.

Sanchez, who was interim NNMC president from December 2015 after Barcelo announced her retirement until Bailey was hired, has also been named in whistleblower complaints filed by ex-employees of the college charging retaliation, including one in which a jury last week awarded more than $400,000 to the plaintiff. Two other cases were settled last year for more than $500,000. The amount of a third settlement from December has not been made public.

Jake Arnold, executive director of La Sociedad Venceslao Jaramillo, an advocacy group primarily made up of El Rito residents, welcomed Sanchezs departure. I think this change is long overdue, he said, noting that Barcelo and two other former high-level administrators also are no longer there. The swamp is nearly drained now, but there is still a little clean up that needs to occur. But were confident Rick Bailey can accomplish that. Hes made an immense difference at the college in just seven months.
On May 8, the Albuquerque Journals Editorial Board, in its haste to control the conversation of how to fund early childhood education, fails to read its own front page headline: New Mexico 2015 Graduation Rate Worst in Nation.

When I was appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe by Pope Francis, I was shocked by the depth of our childrens poverty. The Journals headlines, one after another, have quoted national statistics: we are 49th in childrens wellbeing, ranking No. 1 for children living in poverty and No. 2 for children living in hunger in the USA.

The Journal headlines have also given credence to the effectiveness of early childhood programs such as home visiting and yet, in the face of their own reporting, they contradict the evidence and science that learning begins at birth.

In the Journals reporting and editorials, they stress personal responsibility, yet this is best attained by home visiting. First-time parents embrace they are the primary caregivers and educators of their children.

The Journal is quick to determine whether a tax is regressive or not. It neglects to consider the consistency the Archdiocese has had in its work to repeal taxes on food and its years of advocacy work to keep New Mexico free of them. Needless to say, the Journal is a supporter of the food tax, the infamous tortilla tax.

After seven years of the New Mexico Senates failure to fully fund early childhood, it is ethical, moral and just for municipalities to search for remedies. It is unconscionable to leave our children in this plight.

The Journal deliberately chooses to confuse the public between the political process and the policy process. The Archdiocese chooses to be a 501(c)3 nonprofit, which means it chooses not to be in the political process of elevating candidates but does not relinquish its constitutional right and its call by God, as all citizens are, to be a voice in the public square for the common good.

We all have the obligation to propose a remedy to end the cycle of poverty in which New Mexico is entrenched. In this same trench, our children live in an epidemic of adverse childhood experiences, their future overshadowed by a cloud, denying them their full potential.

New Mexico does rank high in one important thing: its children are the owners of the second-largest Land Grant Permanent Fund in the nation. For years, we have brought forward the economic research that the projected growth of the fund is an average of 11 percent, and year after year that research has been confirmed.

Another Journal headline, from May 2, The New Mexico Land Grant Fund is up 11 percent. This is a growth of $800 million. The Journal uses the term raid, but how is using what the fund is intended for a raid?

The Journal and its business/associations/coalitions continue to say that they believe in the importance of early childhood education but cannot agree on the funding source. Now the Journal second-guesses its own reporting by saying there are no gains from pre-K education.

Every rock has been turned over, and the only source, without taxation, is utilizing the 83 percent of the Land Grant Permanent Fund called the common school fund, which is dedicated to education.

The Journal comments that funding for early childhood is the pet cause of the Archdiocese. All New Mexicans should be offended by the term pet cause used to describe our most important cause, the well-being of our children. Parents, grandparents and all people of good will do not consider the well-being of their children a pet cause.

The Journal makes a golden calf out of the Land Grant Permanent Fund, only now it is $800 million fatter, approaching $16 billion, and is holding an empty soda can.
Last week, the New Mexico Public Education Department rolled out some data-driven changes that it says will:

 Streamline the way the state administers bilingual education by going from five disparate to three strong programs,

 Help ensure the students who need and want bilingual education get it by improving the curriculum while increasing the appeal and value of a public school bilingual/biliterate education,

 And deliver more education dollars to schools for bilingual programs.

But change is hard. And to say some educators and community leaders are expressing concern about the proposals impact on the educational futures of at-risk student populations would be an understatement in any language.

At a recent public hearing on PEDs plan, they voiced concerns that fewer students would be served and that the importance of bilingual education was being ignored.

Not true, says PED Director of Educator Quality Matt Montano.

Granted, the plan is to drop two programs: one called maintenance and the other called enrichment. Instead, the state would beef up and focus on its three other programs, providing services for just as many students as the current system.

Montano, a licensed special education teacher, says the maintenance and enrichment programs were redundant and superficial. Students in those programs will be channeled into the revamped transition and heritage programs, and they and other students will be encouraged to strive for the gold-standard dual-language program.

That program goes beyond simply teaching students a language to teaching them varied content in that language. Students who graduate from a dual-language program receive diplomas that recognize the achievement; Montano likens them to those from International Baccalaureate programs.

Meanwhile, Montano says fewer programs does not mean less money is going to bilingual ed. The three programs will help just as many students. And the dual language program is actually worth three hours of funding-formula monies compared to one hour for the programs being phased out.

The department estimates the number of dual-language programs would increase by 50 percent over the next three years. Around 50,000 N.M. K-12 students  roughly 15 percent  are in bilingual education programs now.

The new regulations dont take effect until the 2018-19 school year.

The harsh criticism at last weeks hearing shows PED has a long way to go to explain the new plan. And by adding another day of public comment  scheduled for Aug. 9  PED acknowledged that.

It is essential PED uses the time between now and Aug. 9 to better translate what its changes will do for students, teachers and parents.

Because all involved should support the goals that English-language learners, like all students, receive the best curricula available, and that more students are given the opportunity to become truly bilingual and biliterate.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Members of the public on Friday afternoon will again be able to address a commission appointed by the state Supreme Court that is studying the states system of adult guardianship and conservatorship for adults deemed to be mentally incapacitated.

The session for public comment will begin at 1 p.m. to accommodate people who were unable to attend the first meeting of the 16-member group in Albuquerque last month. It is expected to run until 3 p.m.

The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. at the state Bar Association Center, at 5121 Masthead NE, in Albuquerque. Also on the agenda are presentations from people who have been appointed as guardian ad litems, court visitors, private attorneys who represent people seeking guardianships for others, and professional for-profit guardians and guardians for relatives.

Officials with the state Office of Guardianship, which contracts with private guardianship companies to provide services for adults, also are scheduled to appear before the commission.

The commission, which is studying and recommending improvements to the current system in New Mexico, is accepting written comments at its website. There is a form for such comments, which will be open to public inspection. About 25 of those have been posted online so far.

The website address is: https://cms.nmcourts.gov/Supreme-Court/new-mexico-adult-guardianship-study-commission.aspx

Comments that include confidential information or the names of specific individuals or entities may not be posted at the website. The court is working on providing audio recordings of each meeting on its website, said court spokesman Barry Massey.

The state Supreme Court established the commission to recommend possible changes in court rules, state statutes, funding, administrative practices or other proposals to improve the adult guardianship system. The commission is to submit an initial status report to the court by Oct. 1.
The American Civil Liberties Union has put out a travel alert for anyone planning to visit Texas, just days after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a so-called sanctuary cities ban into law.

The goal of the alert, officials say, is to warn travelers and residents about the ban, known as Senate Bill 4, that lets law enforcement officers ask people during regular stops whether they are in the country legally.

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, Lorella Praeli, ACLUs director of immigration policy and campaigns, said of the alert issued about Texas in more than a dozen states.

Texas is a state with deep Mexican roots and home to immigrants from all walks of life, she said. Many of us fit the racial profile that the police in Texas will use to enforce Trumps draconian deportation force.

The new law goes into effect Sept. 1.

Critics have blasted the controversial Texas law, likened to Arizonas papers, please law passed in 2010, which has drawn repeated protests at the Capitol. They say they fear Hispanics will be targets of racial profiling and worry it will bring a chilling effect to immigrant communities across the state.

The Texas measure  which follows a move by President Donald Trumps administration to withhold funds from areas that dont comply with immigration laws that could lead to deportation  also threatens law enforcers with jail time if they dont work with federal immigration agents.

Elected officials and law enforcement agencies dont get to pick and choose which laws they will obey.

Elected officials and law enforcement agencies dont get to pick and choose which laws they will obey, Abbott said about the law. Citizens expect law enforcement officers to enforce the law, and citizens deserve for law breakers to face legal consequences.

Abbott on Sunday, when the Legislature was not meeting and without advance notice, signed the bill into law and broadcast the signing on Facebook.

Lets be clear about something, he said during the broadcast. We all support legal immigration. It helped to build America and taxes. Texas strongly supports the legal immigration that has been part of our state since the very beginning.

But legal immigration is different from harboring people who have committed dangerous crimes.

This was a significant departure from the way Texas governors traditionally handle bill signings, particularly of items that were among their legislative priorities.

Generally, the governor holds a press conference with authors of the bill to sign such a bill. But an Abbott spokesman said the governor went onto social media to sign this bill because thats where most people are getting their news nowadays.

ACLU and others promise to fight this measure.

We plan to fight this racist and wrongheaded law in the courts and in the streets, said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas. Until we defeat it, everyone traveling in or to Texas needs to be aware of whats in store for them.

The Lone Star State will become a show me your papers state, where every interaction with law enforcement can become a citizenship interrogation and potentially an illegal arrest.

The so-called sanctuary movement has been around for decades and repeated attempts to create a ban died in Texas session after session, until this year. The term often refers to communities where policies prevent law enforcers from helping enforce federal immigration rules.

Despite opposition to this measure by police officers across the state, Republicans maintain that this measure is needed.

Abbotts office stressed that the measure includes penalties of up to $25,500 for each day of a violation, removal from office for officials who dont enforce the law and a Class A misdemeanor for top law enforcers who dont enforce federal immigration detainer requests.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Department of Justice attorneys said in court Wednesday the Albuquerque Police Department has made remarkable progress with its continuing reform effort and that the big picture presents a positive outlook for the department.

After listening to the DOJ discuss APDs successes and the fact that officer-involved shootings have significantly decreased, U.S. District Judge Robert Brack questioned why the DOJ didnt mention the elephant in the room  a reference to the ongoing problems the monitor overseeing reforms said hes having with police leadership.

The judge also asked whether the federal agency is changing its approach to the reform effort in Albuquerque given that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that the DOJ plans to back off from consent decrees that about 20 police departments around the country, including Albuquerque, have to follow.

DOJ Civil Rights Attorney Luis Saucedo said the department remains committed to the reform effort. He did not address Bracks question regarding the monitors criticisms.

Albuquerque police are about two years into the process brought on by a DOJ investigation that found Albuquerque police had a pattern of excessive force and a culture of aggression. Throughout the effort, James Ginger, an independent monitor, writes reports that analyze how the police are complying with the reforms.

His latest report, filed in court earlier this month, found that police have made considerable progress in some fronts, such as creating new policies and training officers on them.

But Ginger also found cases of deliberate non-compliance, and he said in the report that hes noticed a palpable shift in the APD leaderships attitude toward reform. He said the departments highest ranking officers are failing to properly scrutinize use-of-force cases.

Brack said in court that he finds some aspects of the latest report troubling.

It speaks to an attitude, the judge said. And I cant have that attitude.

Brack made his comments during a daylong hearing in Albuquerque on Wednesday, where he listened to presentations from the city, the police union, the DOJ, Ginger and stakeholders in the reform process. He holds the hearings after Ginger releases a report on police progress.

Police officials during the hearing presented data in court that showed police shootings and use-of-force cases are on the decline since the reform effort started. They also discussed training and other initiatives the department is undertaking to comply with the settlement.

We appreciate the Department of Justice acknowledging the significant progress that has been made and we agree that there is still a significant amount of work to do and we will work together toward that goal, City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said in an interview. We hope that as we really start to focus on this next phase of operational compliance that there is a shared common goal of really making sure everyone understands the data and has all their questions answered.

Ginger has organized Albuquerque police reforms into three categories: primary, secondary and operational compliance. The first two phases refer to creating policies and training officers on those policies. The third phase is how successful officers and supervisors are at putting those policies into practice on the streets.

Officials from APD Forward, a large collection of community groups that advocate for police reform, said they were concerned by the DOJs response to the monitors most recent report.

Saucedo didnt spend much time discussing the monitors findings that were critical of police.

But Peter Simonson, the executive director of the ACLU in New Mexico and a spokesman for APD Forward, said the report was the most damning that has been issued by the monitor.

My first thought was: Jeff Sessions has said they will be pulling back on these kinds of consent decrees. Is this what pulling back looks like in Albuquerque? he said. During one of the judges questions I suddenly realized that Mr. Saucedo was making the citys defense arguments for it, when in fact his role is to be the prosecutor.

This is an adversarial proceeding and it only works if one side is constantly pressing on the other to perform at its highest levels. It felt to me that Ginger was left hanging at that point.

Ginger said in court that despite some improvements by Albuquerque police, the highest-ranking officers in many cases are failing to properly scrutinize officers use of force. He said a review of a random sample of cases that occurred between August 2016 and January 2017 found that lieutenants and commanders usually failed to find problems with use-of-force investigations that were sent up the chain of command.

These problems should have been caught by supervisors, Ginger said. APD should beat the monitoring team to the punch on finding problems.
The former head of Albuquerques Civilian Police Oversight Agency has filed a lawsuit against the city, the agency, the Police Oversight Board and 18 others alleging that the board flagrantly violated New Mexicos Open Meetings Act and then retaliated against her for reporting those violations to the citys inspector general and others.

Robin Hammer contends she was forced out as head of the agency and that her subsequent attempt to land a job as the citys inspector general was effectively torpedoed by members of the board and several city employees because she blew the whistle on the illegal meetings and tried to hold agency employees accountable.

The defendants retaliated against her in a massive, coordinated fashion in an effort to drive her out of her job, out of the government and cause her acute and long-lasting damage and harm, the lawsuit alleges.

The 92-page complaint and 62 pages of exhibits were filed in state District Court in Albuquerque in late April.

The city has not officially been served with this complaint, the City Attorneys Office said in a written statement. Once served, we will carefully review the claims and determine appropriate steps.

Joanne Fine, the current chairwoman of the Police Oversight Board and one of the named defendants, said Wednesday that she had not yet seen the lawsuit.

Theres a lot to this story, and Im sure the court will give us an opportunity to put it out there, she said.

Edward Harness, the current executive director of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency and another defendant in the case, declined to comment, saying he had not yet been served.

Albuquerque attorney Robert Don Lohbeck, who is representing Hammer, said the case is about and against the individuals at the city who are responsible for policing the police.

They utterly failed to do that and instead what they did was they proceeded to violate the law themselves, he said.

Prior to going to work for the city, Hammer served as senior investigative trial counsel for the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission, the state agency that polices judges. The city hired her in 2012 as the independent review officer running the office that at the time investigated complaints against Albuquerque police officers.

In 2014, the city overhauled its civilian oversight system and created a new Civilian Police Oversight Agency that is governed by the Police Oversight Board. Hammer became acting executive director of the agency.

Hammer applied for the position of executive director but wasnt interviewed by the board. She lost her job when the city hired an executive director for the agency. She now works as a prosecutor with the city of Rio Rancho.

Hammer faced criticism in 2014 from the U.S. Department of Justice, which found that the Albuquerque Police Department had a pattern of violating peoples rights through the use of force. The DOJ said Hammer and her predecessor had simply been too forgiving of the departments use of deadly force. Hammer has disputed that characterization.

The Open Meetings Act is a state law that requires public bodies to conduct meetings in public. The lawsuit alleges that members of the Police Oversight Board repeatedly and knowingly violated the law by conducting public business via email and that they even discussed public business during training sessions at which a quorum was present.

Hammer contends she asked board members to stop violating the law and that she reported what was happening to the inspector general, the city attorney and the citys chief administrative officer.

She also contends that City Attorney Jessica Hernandez  another defendant in the case  and other city employees were aware that the board was violating the Open Meetings Act, yet they failed to report it to the inspector general, as required by the citys Inspector General Ordinance.

Among the things Hammer is seeking are compensatory damages for lost wages, lost employment benefits, loss of career and economic opportunity, and humiliation and embarrassment along with attorney fees and court costs and up to $100 day for public records that have been withheld.

The lawsuit states that she is also entitled to two times the amount of back pay with interest for violations of the Whistleblower Protection Act.
After losing about 40 percent of its total grant funding, Albuquerque Public Schools has made another cut to the popular K-3 Plus summer program.

On Wednesday, APS administrators announced that 10 more schools will be dropped from K-3 Plus due to budget constraints. In April, another 10 schools did not receive funding  two that hoped to add the program and eight that offered it last summer.

In total, APS will provide K-3 Plus  a summer enrichment program for kindergarten through third-graders  at 39 district schools, down from 57 in 2016. Enrollment is also capped at about 3,000 students in total, compared to about 5,000 last year.

Carrie Robin Brunder, director of government affairs and policy for the district, told a Board of Education committee that APS wanted to serve as many students as possible, but the budget outlook was difficult.

Last year, the New Mexico Public Education Department allocated a total of $6.1 million for the districts K-3 Plus program  $4.8 million in initial funding, followed by an additional $1.3 million after more students signed up than expected.

This summer, APS will receive $3.6 million and there is no leeway to go beyond the enrollment cap.

The numbers align  we have 40 percent less funding and we will serve 40 percent less students, Brunder told the APS Policy and Instruction Committee. This is what happens when you are dependent on grant money.

Brunder said administrators are also facing a tight time frame.

PED announced that it would not fund K-3 Plus at 10 APS schools near the end of April, and the program is scheduled to begin on June 8, Brunder said.

K-3 Plus is designed to essentially extend the academic year by 25 days  the program mirrors the typical school schedule.

Last week, APS asked for the freedom to pick 10 more schools to cut to consolidate the program to fewer sites for efficiency.

APS administrators reviewed the K-3 Plus elementary school sites and dropped the 10 with the best school grades: Mission Avenue, Bel Air, Mitchell, Reginald Chavez, Mark Twain, Alameda, MacArthur, Duranes, Dolores Gonzales and Ventana Ranch.

On Wednesday, PED gave the district verbal approval to go ahead with the cuts, Brunder said.

A letter will be sent to parents from the affected schools today to inform them that K-3 Plus will no longer be available for their child.

Brunder said the district prioritized schools with the highest need for academic enrichment, but it is difficult to reduce services.

PED did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, but it has said APS should find other funding for K-3 Plus in its budget.

Brunder told the board that APS doesnt have extra money to cover the program.
NICEVILLE, Fla.  On any given day, President Donald Trump is known to fire off tweets that grab the attention of those inside the Beltway. On Wednesday, for example, he singled out a senator from Connecticut who cried like a baby and called Democrats phony hypocrites. The day before, he defended his decision to fire the FBI director and attacked Cryin Chuck Schumer. Last week he praised Australias socialized health-care system, declared that the fake news media is officially out of control and congratulated a morning talk show for its unbelievable ratings hike.

But nearly 1,000 miles south of Washington, in the bar of American Legion Post 221 in the Florida Panhandle, no one seems to notice his Twitter habits.

Instead, the regulars talk about their grandkids, home-improvement projects, politics and the way things used to be in conversations peppered with curse words and crude jokes. The jukebox blares country, with some classic rock mixed in, as the bartender pours $1 draft beers and $2 mixed drinks.

No one has a Twitter account  frankly, many arent even sure how Twitter works  although they do know it keeps getting the president into trouble.

I wish hed quit tweeting, Becky Corcoran, 62, a Trump-supporting retired school custodian, said last week. Keep your mouth shut, quit tweeting. . . Youre not just a businessman any more. Now youre president of the United States.

Although the president pledged to let go of his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account if elected, he has continued to tweet, insisting that its the only way he can bypass the media and directly connect with his supporters.

A Quinnipiac University poll last month found that 68 percent of registered voters said the president should stop tweeting from his personal account. Among Republicans, opinions were split, with 47 percent saying he should continue, 47 percent saying he should stop and 6 percent not caring. A Fox News poll of Trump voters in March found that 35 percent approved of his tweets  while 51 percent wished he would be more cautious and 12 percent disapproved.

And for those who are active on Twitter, interest in Trumps tweeting is fading. The presidents tweets earn far fewer likes than they did during the election  or even when he first took office, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. Those who engage with Trump are more likely to be left-leaners leveling criticism than right-leaners lavishing love, according to an analysis by the Associated Press and Cortico, a media analytics nonprofit group.

Many of those at the American Legion bar one night last week said they cant keep straight which of the presidents comments were delivered in a tweet and which came in an interview, speech or formal statement. Everything melds together as they watch the news, listen to their favorite talk-radio shows or read articles posted on Facebook.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the presidents supporters dont have to read his tweets on Twitter for them to be powerful modes of communication.

When he tweets . . . it gets picked up by everybody, it gets read live on the news, you guys will cover it in the paper, Spicer said. We put out a press release and it gets covered much less than when he sends a single tweet.

Here in Niceville  which replaced the town name Boggy in 1910  questions about the presidents tweets were often met with shrugs. Many said they care more about some congressional Republicans not supporting the presidents full agenda, about liberals not giving Trump a fair chance and about the media seeming to ignore the victories that they see.

Id rather hear honest and crude than unhonest and sanitized, said Scottie Gontarek, 60, who retired after 20 years in the Air Force and is one of a handful of widows who often hang out together at the Legion post. You might not like what he says, but hes honest.

Trump won overwhelmingly in the Panhandle, which culturally has much more in common with the southern states it borders  Alabama and Georgia  than with Miami.

Niceville is home to about 12,000 people, and is known for its annual Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival (named for a fish, not the hairstyle). Last week, fighter jets practiced overhead as students at Northwest Florida State College took finals, tourists posed for photos at an armaments museum and families gathered at a local playground.

No one could name a tweet that the president had sent recently.

Among those shopping at a local Walmart was a 56-year-old Republican who refused to vote for Trump and called his tweets childish, along with a 29-year-old whose husband is based in South Korea and who wishes the president would be more careful with his comments, especially those about North Koreas Kim Jong Un. At a water park, a 69-year-old grandfather who voted for Trump said he had to cut back on cable news late last year for fear that the stress was hurting his health  so hes unsure what the president has been tweeting.

During a lunch rush at the chain restaurant PoFolks  be sho to tell yore friends how much ya enjoyed yore visit, the menu says  a 57-year-old white grandmother raising her 14-year-old grandson said she loves the presidents tweets and said that the occasional typo or poor choice of words shows hes down-to-earth and not trying to be some bigwig that thinks hes above all of us. At a nearby booth, a 56-year-old African American grandmother who is helping to raise her three grandchildren and didnt vote in November said that Trump shouldnt even be tweeting at all.

As the night wore on at the American Legion, a light rain began to fall. Rob Orr, a 48-year-old electrician, ordered a round of Tequila Rose shots for several of the women in the bar, most of whom were old enough to be his mother.

Tastes like a strawberry milkshake, said Lenora Ellison, 77, a retired Air Force mechanic who loves telling stories about being one of few women in the service.

Ellison thinks a lot of the nations problems could be solved with more birth control  and thats a position I even made on Facebook, she said  and she voted for Trump.

He says what he thinks and doesnt flower things up, she said.

Sitting to her right is Corcoran and her husband, Kim Jones, who said he worked for General Motors in Michigan until his job was shipped overseas.

Around the corner is Jeff Gipson, a dump truck driver with triplet grandsons who said he has been mad at the government since 1978 when he graduated from high school in Michigan, volunteered for the Army and was given a date to report  only to show up and learn that doctors wouldnt allow him to go.

We had a goodbye party with my family and friends. . . I said goodbye to my family, my friends, he said. I think the damn government owes me a paycheck for about 40 years.

Gipson said that hes fine with Trump speaking his mind and doesnt think his tweets are terrible, although he doesnt follow them closely.

To Ellisons left is a 38-year-old who grew up in the Midwest and specializes in defusing bombs for the Air Force. He voted for Barack Obama in 2008, felt let down, and voted for Trump, noting the charismatic similarities between the two. He asked that his name not be published, as hes active duty and not allowed to speak to the media without permission.

Like many in the bar, he was glad to see Trump finally take action against the Syrian regime, although he thinks the president went a little light. And it was awesome that the military used the mother of all bombs against the Islamic State in Afghanistan.

But, if I was in charge of him. . . I would be like: Kill your Twitter. Turn it off, shut it down, block, whatever, he said.

But thats just Trump, Ellison said.

I mean, its a good tool to be able to mass communicate quickly, he said. But I think knowing Trump  and this is just the way he is  he gets all grrrr. He gets all hot under the collar. . . I think theyre hurting him more than helping him. But its him. I mean, at the end of the day, no ones going to tell him: You cant do it. 
DETROIT  Chris Pawlowski, 26, packed up the dreams of many millennials when he moved into his condo in suburban Detroit this spring.

He wanted to put down some roots but hes still young enough that he really did not want to be stuck far away from the action. So he moved exactly where he did so he could keep enjoying his weekends hanging out with friends at nearby hot spots. And hes painted his kitchen a very bright Explorer Blue to make the place his own.

Pawlowski, who graduated from Oakland University in 2012, works for Ford Motor Co. as a business analyst involved with information technology systems. He wanted a reasonable commute to work. He didnt want something built in the 1960s or earlier that needed expensive repairs. He knew certain towns were out of his price range.

The main challenge was basically finding something newer, said Pawlowski, who looked for more than a year and ended up buying a condo built in 1994.

Everywhere he looked, hed ask: Is this something I really want?

For years, weve heard that millennials really dont want to become homeowners. Theories have included: Theyve got too much student loan debt to juggle a mortgage. Or theyre too skeptical of the American Dream because they watched the massive foreclosures that hit when some were just in high school.

But while millennials arent likely to do things the way their parents did, its increasingly becoming clear that they arent going rent or live in their parents basements forever, either. Millennials are beginning to see housing as a way to invest and build equity now that home values have recovered after the housing collapse.

Diane Swonk, CEO of DS Economics in Chicago, wrote in a report in April that poor economic conditions  in addition to a surge in student debt  delayed, but did not destroy, millennials desire to eventually leave their parents homes and start their own households.

After years of staying put and sleeping on the couches of relatives, the younger population is on the move again, Swonk wrote.

The challenge, millennials say, is finding something that doesnt need thousands of dollars in updates. Millennials dont want to deal with dust, dirt and dated kitchens.

The spring homebuying season is expected to be one of the busiest and most competitive in recent years. Nearly 3 million first-time homebuyers are expected to enter the housing market in 2017, according to TransUnion.

And younger consumers will likely represent the majority of new homebuyers.

They do aspire to be homeowners, even if they have not entered the market, said Jessica Lautz, managing director of survey research and communications for the National Association of Realtors.

While rising home prices in extremely robust markets make homeownership out of reach for some millennials, thats not the case in many Midwest markets such as the Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati areas.

The optimism is highest in the Midwest, Lautz said.

Another important factor driving millennials into homeownership: Theyve got jobs  and in some cases pretty good jobs.

Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moodys Analytics, said job growth has consistently been stronger among millennials in recent years, compared with other age groups.

The millennial unemployment rate fell to 5.25 percent in April, down from 5.38 percent in March and 6.28 percent in April a year ago.

Millennials good job prospects should make them good homebuyers, despite the heavy weight of student loan debt this generation is struggling with, Zandi said.

Hilary Lynch, 27, said she started looking about a year ago to buy a home once she found a good job where she wanted to build her career. She works at Bosch Engineering North America and wants to keep working in the area.

Lynch, 27, said she was tired of renting and wanted something closer to work, too.

She was paying about $750 a month to rent the second floor of a house in the university town of Ann Arbor  which she says was ridiculously low for Ann Arbor standards.

But she noted that her mortgage is $850 a month for the three-bedroom, 1,900-square-foot ranch she bought in February in a suburb closer to Detroit.

My mortgage isnt much more than my rent, she said. Im building equity. I have a house that is four-times the size of my apartment. I can paint the walls whatever I want. I can make it my own.

Mortgage payments, given low rates, are still cheaper in many markets compared to rents, experts say.

Bob Walters, president and chief operating officer for Detroit-based Quicken Loans, said rents have been rising somewhat faster in many areas so millennials are finding that it makes economic sense to buy a home.

Lynch kept her payment low, as well, because she was able to put down 20 percent on the home that sold for $225,000.

Shes been saving since she was babysitting as a teen. She graduated from Northwood University with no student loans because her parents offered to cover four years of college in Michigan.

Research by the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank indicates that household formation, particularly among young adults, will expand between now and 2020. The U.S. Census Bureau projections imply household formations could average 1.4 million to 1.5 million each year through 2020. That compares with an average of less than 900,000 annually over the past five years, according to the Fed report.

Millennials are entering peak home-buying years, typically considered to be when consumers are between ages 25 and 45. This year, millennials are 20 to 36 years old. As theyre having children, real estate experts say, millennials are moving to the suburbs, as well.

Finding the right home in a time of tight inventories, higher mortgage rates and rising home prices in many areas wont necessarily be easy.

A well-priced home could get three offers or more in a short time frame.

Tim Gilson, associate broker for Keller Williams Domain and the Gilson Home Group in suburban Detroit, tells the story of a home that was priced at $150,000 around early April and had 58 showings in the first 36 hours. And within 8 hours, that home had three offers on the table.

Gilson likes to compare the competitive homebuying landscape to Olympic swimming meets where the winner is decided by milliseconds.

In a competitive situation, Gilson said, a buyer can have an edge if his or her lender is known for being nimble, such as some community banks or credit unions. Or if the buyer has a larger down payment  say 20 percent  and is willing to make up a certain amount of the difference if the appraisal ends up being lower than the home purchase price.

Someone who has a higher credit score, of course, is going to be able to more easily obtain a mortgage at a lower rate to obtain affordable payments.

Joseph Mellman, vice president and mortgage line of business leader at TransUnion, said while millennials are likely to enter the market, about 38 percent of millennials have subprime credit and will likely delay buying a home as a result.

Its still quite rigorous to get a mortgage but compared to five years ago, its starting to open up, Mellman said.

One risk is if mortgage rates shoot up more quickly.

Now that the economy has recovered, the Federal Reserve  which moved aggressively to shore up the nations economy because of the Great Recession  is expected to begin unwinding a $4.5 trillion portfolio of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities sometime later this year.

Mortgage rates are vulnerable to spike at some point, if the Fed ends up quickly reducing the holdings of its mortgage-backed securities, Swonk said.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is expected to climb to about 4.56 percent by year-end 2017 and then move to 5.51 percent by year-end 2018, according to Zandi, at Moodys Analytics.

Thats up from an average of 3.45 percent in the third quarter last year. But its still lower than rates in the 6.5 percent range back in 2006.

Nobody likes the mortgage. They want to buy the house, said Mat Ishbia, CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, based outside Detroit.

But Ishbia said many millennials could benefit from researching their mortgage options first before shopping for a home.

He noted that the Fannie Mae HomeReady program only requires 3 percent down for creditworthy low-to-moderate income borrowers. The Freddie Mac Home Possible programs can require 3 percent or 5 percent down, depending on the program, for low- to moderate-income buyers or buyers in high-cost or under served communities.

The National Association of Realtors said its research indicates the median down payment for first-time buyers has been 6 percent for three years. The median down payment for repeat buyers has been 14 percent in three of the past four years.

But many potential homebuyers often say a down payment of 10 percent or 20 percent is necessary. Some lenders, say thats not so.

Pawlowski said he didnt want to give up having some spending money for fun so he put down 20 percent on his $240,000 condo.

He said he had the money because he saved and didnt take out any student loans. He was awarded a scholarship in his final year of school. And his parents helped with college. Their strategy included buying a condo that was in foreclosure so Pawlowski could live there when he was going to school at Oakland University. He lived at home for a while after the condo was sold to save more money.

Hes happy he was able to buy the condo, built in 1994, for $240,000 when it was originally listed at $260,000.

I got really lucky with this one, Pawlowski said.



2017 Detroit Free Press

Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com

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WASHINGTON  The U.S. Senate voted narrowly Wednesday to defeat an effort to repeal former President Barack Obamas rule clamping down on the venting and flaring of methane gas by oil and gas companies that drill on federal land in New Mexico and around the country.

The 51-49 Senate vote was hailed as a rare victory for environmentalists under the administration of President Donald Trump, but blasted by business groups that called it a devastating, job-killing blow to the industry.

Three GOP lawmakers  Maines Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona  joined forces with Democrats to block efforts to overturn the rule.

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. Some estimate that $330 million a year in natural gas is wasted through leaks or intentional releases, enough to power about 5 million homes a year.

The GOP has used the previously obscure Congressional Review Act, which requires just a simple majority in both chambers to overturn rules recently imposed by the executive branch. The latest target was the Interior Department rule on methane, but the effort fell short. The Obama rule applies to venting and flaring on Bureau of Land Management-owned lands.

The New Mexico Business Coalition and other industry groups fought to block the rule under Obama, and then to push Congress to roll it back this year. The oil and gas industry says its attacking the problem on its own, with methane emissions at wellheads down 40 percent since 2006.

Imposing new rules would hurt industry, particularly small operators, potentially reducing rather than increasing revenue, said Business Coalition President Carla Sonntag.

But Sen. Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat who lobbied McCain and others on the issue, told reporters this week that repealing this rule would be nothing more than a giveaway to big oil companies and big polluters.

Because we were able to fend off this dangerous repeal, New Mexico will continue to benefit from the BLMs common-sense steps to prevent the waste of taxpayer-owned natural gas, create jobs and shrink the methane hotspot hanging over the Four Corners region, Udall said.

New Mexico has played a key role in the process that led to the BLM rule because its particularly impacted by oil and gas emissions. The San Juan Basin in the Four Corners area is responsible for 14.5 percent of total U.S. methane emissions, according to data from the EPAs Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. A 2014 NASA satellite image showed a methane hot spot the size of Delaware over the area, although critics of the rule contend much of that is naturally occurring.

New Mexico environmentalists celebrated the Senate vote Wednesday.

Reducing methane waste is in the interest of all Americans, said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center in Taos. Were elated that the decade of blood, sweat, and tears that went into bringing BLM into compliance with its legal obligation to minimize public resource waste survived this misguided attack. The Senate made a strong statement today that our public lands are not a commodity to be exploited in service of the oil and gas industrys whims.

But a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association said it would burden an industry critical to New Mexicos economy.

The Senate has voted to put a devastating, job-killing regulation ahead of American energy jobs, and as it stands, will cost New Mexico over $100 million in lost revenue and royalties, and countless jobs.

Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican who voted to roll back the Obama methane rule in the House earlier this year, said the states economy will suffer under a harmful Obama-era energy rule that over-regulates responsible energy production across the nation.

Associated Press and Journal staff writer Kevin Robinson-Avila contributed to this report.
A second person pleaded guilty Thursday in the drive-by shooting that left Jaydon Chavez-Silver, a popular Manzano High School student, dead in June 2015.

Dominic Conyers pleaded guilty before District Judge Benjamin Chavez to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and shooting at an occupied dwelling. He took an Alford plea, which allows defendants to assert innocence while acknowledging that evidence could support a conviction. Conyers trial was scheduled to begin Monday.

Under the terms of his agreement, he faces 12 years in prison. He will be sentenced Wednesday morning.

Chavez-Silver was hanging out with friends at a home on Nakomis when he was struck in the neck by a bullet not intended for him, according to police.

Michael Patrick, spokesman for the District Attorneys Office, said Conyers had been badly beaten up in a fight, and the group hatched a plan to shoot the person responsible. That person lived at the Nakomis home.

There was a conspiracy between at least one, if not two, other individuals in the car, prosecutor Penny Gilbert said in court, to go to this residence to retaliate and shoot an individual living at the residence.

Though police originally said Conyers was one of three to shoot at the home, Patrick said Conyers never fired. His plea to shooting at a dwelling was based on aiding and abetting.

Conyers, 21, originally faced five charges, including murder.

Gilbert said the state would have shown at trial that Conyers did conspire with two other individuals to drive to the home and shoot a particular occupant of that residence.

Instead, police say, the shots hit Chavez-Silver, 17, who had just been accepted into the Air Force Academy.

Conyers is the second of three teens charged in the case to take a plea deal. His attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Nicholas Gonzales, a juvenile, was sentenced in February to one year in the custody of the Children, Youth and Families Department.

As part of his plea agreement, Gonzales agreed to testify against Conyers and Esias Madrid, the third person charged in the shooting. Madrid is scheduled for trial in September.

Chavez-Silvers mother, Nicole Chavez-Lucero, said Thursdays plea and a decision by Chavez that Conyers should immediately be taken into custody represented two big wins.

Were just grateful that were finally getting to see great results through the judicial system, she said after the hearing. All these court dates are so emotional and time consuming.
SANTA FE  Gov. Susana Martinez made some news this week when she said shed be open to reimposing the food tax, as long as its part of a broader effort to overhaul New Mexicos tax code.

It was a surprise in some ways because she has so consistently opposed bringing back the tax on food, which was abolished in 2004.

In March, in fact, she slammed Senate Democrats and accused them of pushing massive tax increases on food and gas. And in 2013, her spokesman said flatly that she didnt support reimposing the food tax.

On the other hand, the governor this year has consistently supported broad changes to the gross receipts tax system  with a push to eliminate the deductions, exemptions and credits that make it so complicated.

And the exemption on taxing food, of course, falls into that category.

In any case, it doesnt sound like the food tax is likely to come back soon. Neither Democrats nor Republicans seem to like the idea much, and the tax-overhaul proposal that moved the farthest in the last session left food exempt from gross receipts taxes, while focusing on other exemptions.

For readers who want to scrutinize the governors position more closely, here are her last two substantial comments on the issue:

 In March, after the Senate voted to override her veto of a bill that would have allowed teachers to take more sick leave before damaging their annual evaluations, the Martinez administration responded by accusing the Senate of supporting a food tax.

Its no surprise that within hours of the governor telling Senate leadership that she would not support their massive tax increases on food and gas that they would pull this stunt, spokesman Michael Lonergan said in a written statement March 14. Rather than embracing broad-based tax-reform that provides for a lower and more fair tax rate for all, the Senate wants to jam through massive stand-alone tax increases on our families, and this override was the petty action of a bitter Senate.

 On Wednesday, after a speech to business leaders in Albuquerque, the governor told reporters shed be willing to consider the food tax as part of a broader overhaul of the tax system.

I would not support increasing the taxes on food if its a standalone piece, she said. It has to be something that is going to be considered in a very broad tax reform that broadens that base and lowers the gross receipts tax for all the consumers.
The ABQid business accelerators next cohort of health and wellness startups will have some state-of-the-art, high-tech resources at hand to speed the path to market through a new partnership with Central New Mexico Community College.

CNM Ingenuity, which manages commercial activities for the college, is opening its labs and other resources and facilities to ABQid startups to further test and develop new products and services, and to take advantage of the networks and expertise provided by CNM staff.

CNM has outstanding expertise and facilities that can help validate ideas and accelerate viable, marketable businesses, said CNM Ingenuity Executive Director Kyle Lee. Theres massive potential for new entrepreneurs in the health and wellness space, and were looking to help them capitalize on high-growth opportunities.

That bodes particularly well for ABQids incoming cohort, which will begin its 12-week mentoring and training program in August. All companies in that group will be focused on new life science-related products and services, reflecting ABQids decision this year to recruit new cohorts with a themed approach that targets specific industries, beginning with health and wellness.

The accelerator is accepting applications now from startups for the next program. It will select about 10 companies for participation in July.

The partnership with CNM will help those companies hit the ground running in terms of testing and fully developing innovative technology and services, said ABQid Executive Director T.J. Cook. Among other things, CNM has high-tech software and simulation labs, including a mock emergency room with life-sized human dummies to test procedures, protocols and other things.

Say a startup has new software for mobile apps aimed at decreasing time to treatment in the ER, Cook said. They could test those things with dummies, with a real doctor helping them run a simulated ER-based scenario. By week two of the ABQid program, our startups could be running simulations like that.

CNM has many other facilities for things like software development, training and research that ABQid participants can access, Lee said. The colleges new FUSE Makerspace, which will be located at the Innovate ABQ research and development hub at Central and Broadway Downtown, will offer high-tech equipment to build new devices and products. And the college can provide incubation space for startups to initially set up shop with high-speed Internet and other amenities.

Well open our facilities for all types of ABQid startups in addition to health and wellness, so future cohorts focused on other industry sectors can benefit as well, Lee said.

Having those kinds of resources can speed product development and market validation for accelerator participants. It could also attract more startups from other cities and states to seek participation in ABQid, given the high-tech resources the program can now offer, Cook said.

ABQid has established some other health and wellness-related partnerships as well, including one with TriCore Reference Laboratories to help startups evaluate new medical devices. It will also work with The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center to bring post-doctoral researchers with new products and services into the accelerator program.
Hannah Tobiassen, who just finished her college sophomore year, was scouting the giant job fair in Albuquerque on Thursday, hoping to find full-time work for the summer.

Within an hour, the 20-year-old had scored a part-time position at Starbucks and was still shopping for other opportunities.

Looking to do some hiring was Joann Mercure, a senior care specialist with Home Care Assistance of New Mexico. She was happy because she had set up three interviews with potentially qualified job-seekers by mid-morning and hoped to hire some new workers by the time the fair ended later in the day.

The Job-Ready Hire Fair at the Albuquerque railyards was a different species than the usual job fair. It drew 50 employers who were willing to look beyond college degrees and certificates to find people with the right technical and people skills.

Were here to promote any individuals who have a passion to work with seniors, Mercure said. We have a mindset that as long as you have a true, genuine compassion with seniors, we can teach you the rest.

Innovate + Educate, a non-profit funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, has held job fairs around the country. Its mission is to help people understand the skills they have and to get employers to look beyond college degrees, said founder and CEO Jamai Blivin of Santa Fe. Thursdays job fair was held in conjunction with the city of Albuquerque.

Employers use degrees as a barrier to entry, Blivin said.

Those who attended the fair were encouraged to take an online skills test. Based on the results, they pasted stickers onto a badge that hung around their necks, quickly showing employers they had such skills as leads people, Spanish language and applied mathematics.

Technical skills were very much on the minds of some employers, including Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Lab recruiter Junior Hamilton, who focuses on opportunities for veterans, said in the morning that he had found two job-seekers interesting enough to email their resumes back to the office for further consideration. While he would not be hiring on the spot, Hamilton said he was at the fair to find new leads and contacts beneficial to the scientific community within the lab.

Kyra Lopez, who is graduating from UNM this weekend with an engineering degree, was headed for the LANL table after speaking with representatives of Lavu, a home-grown technology start-up.

Im trying to get a jump-start  to find something that fits me, Lopez said, adding that meeting employers at the job fair seemed a better strategy than simply doing online searches.

Amanda Getchell, who does marketing for Lavu, said her company had 20 jobs to fill and was looking for people with technical skills as well as those with customer-service talents.

Were growing so rapidly, were trying to find the best talent in Albuquerque, she said.
CARLSBAD, N.M.  U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday toured southern New Mexicos Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the nations only underground nuclear repository.

The Carlsbad plant was forced to close in February 2014 after an improperly packed drum of waste ruptured and caused a radiation release.

Shipments of waste only recently began making their way to the plant for disposal after state and federal officials cleared the way for operations to resume.

Perry on Wednesday visited the Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico, where nuclear research has been among the main focuses since the labs founding years during World War II.

He has vowed to advocate for nuclear power as the nation looks for ways to fuel its economy and limit the effects of electricity generation on the environment.
The global OTT leader in the South-Asian content, YuppTV, announced the launch of its new platform, Mini Theatre. YuppTV makes new movies available on the Mini Theatre platform on the first day or the following weekend of theatrical release, even in geographies where the movie is not available outside of India. The movies shall be made available on YuppTV platform only on Samsung, Apple, Roku, LG, Sony TV Devices/interfaces.

Commenting on the latest development, Uday Reddy, Founder and CEO of YuppTV said, At YuppTV, we have a great opportunity of bringing best quality South-Asian content to our users across the Globe. Launching Mini Theatre is another step in the same direction. The release of various Indian movies is often limited only to very few selected geographies across the world and sometimes limited only to the Indian subcontinent. Hence, users end up missing out on these high-quality and entertaining movies missing a worldwide release. Following the launch of Mini Theatre, our users outside of India will have the opportunity to access new Indian movie releases, just like they used to, back at home in India. Furthermore, filmmakers may now showcase their movies to a global audience, notwithstanding exorbitant investment for an overseas release. Since the launch is slated to benefit every stakeholder in the ecosystem, we look forward to receiving a huge response from both, expat audiences and filmmakers.

YuppTV is further exercising complete piracy control of the movies showcased in the Mini Theatre. Users need to accept the piracy agreement conditions before they start watching the movie. The movie shall be made available on a pay-per-view basis with a 6-hour viewing window. Furthermore, the movies are secured with DRM, Invisible user based/Forensic watermarking and encryption and users are authenticated by mobile and location verification. Under the Invisible or Forensic Watermarking, each user who will get the stream to watch the movie will have unique identification in the invisible mode. It is an imperceptible & non-removable unique identifier that is embedded in the video, enabling YuppTV to trace any content breach. The pirate, if in case found guilty of breaching the privacy guidelines, will be charged with a heavy penalty.
zeotap, a premium mobile data collective providing high-quality customer insights for digital marketers, today announced the expansion of its India operations.

zeotap was founded in 2014 by senior executives from advertising, tele-communications and tech companies such as IBM, Vodafone and Fyber (RNTS Media). Within just two years, zeotap has grown to a team of over 50 with offices in Berlin, Bengaluru and New York, and additional presence in Madrid and Milan. Earlier this year, the company announced a 12M Series B funding round from prominent investors including New Science Ventures (NSV), a New York based venture fund with $500m under management, and HERE, a leading global provider of mapping and location-based services backed by German automotive companies Audi, BMW and Daimler.

zeotaps technical centre is located in Bengaluru and comprises more than two-thirds of global headcount. The present technical team of 35 is expected to double in strength by the end of the year, with particular emphasis on data engineers and data scientists. Last month, Sathish K S came on board as Director of Engineering, after stints at Ola (as Senior Engineering Manager) and Cisco (as Technical Architect). He joins Ameya Agnihotri, VP Engineering, and Nikunj Jhunjhunwala, Director of Product Management, who lead the engineering and product teams, respectively.

Weve been incredibly happy with our decision to build our technical team in India. Bengaluru has a wealth of skilled talent and is best-positioned to feed our voracious needs, said Projjol Banerjea, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at zeotap.

Last year, zeotap entered into a joint venture (JV) for the Indian market with Mogae Media for programmatic advertising on smartphones. The JV, Mozeo, brings to India a world-class platform for high-quality customer insights and targeted mobile advertising. The company is looking to hire senior executives with consummate experience in advertising sales to build Mozeos business development footprint in India.
The four carriers in the US are always competing to get your business, and are always changing up their plans. Surprisingly enough, all four carriers now offer unlimited data once again, but all of them have a few caveats that make them different. So which unlimited plan is the best for your money? Lets find out.

AT&T

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Arguably, AT&T has the most uncompetitive plans right now, even though they are pretty well priced. Theres Unlimited Choice at $60/month and then Unlimited Plus at $90/month. With Unlimited Choice, you are capped at 8Mbps all the time, and if you hit AT&Ts 22GB cap, you may see speeds reduced to 128Kbps (the throttling is the same on their Unlimited Plus plan). Also you dont get any mobile hotspot on this plan. Meanwhile, Unlimited Plus gives you 10GB of high-speed mobile hotspot, throttled afterwards. You also get $25 in credit each month towards AT&Ts video Services  that includes DIRECTV, DIRECTV NOW and U-verse  additionally you get HBO for free.

Now its important to remember here that these prices are only for service, not for your smartphone. So youll need to take that into account, which can cost up to $30, depending on the smartphone you pick up. On Unlimited Choice, two lines will cost you $115, $135 for three and $155 for four. Meanwhile, Unlimited Plus is available for $145 for two lines, $165 for three lines and $185 for four lines. This is also before taxes and fees.

Sprint

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Sprint is actually one of the few carriers that still offers unlimited and data buckets for new users. Unlimited can be as low as $60/month, again thats before the cost of your device and before taxes and fees. That cost will bring you unlimited data, along with 10GB of mobile hotspot at 4G LTE speeds. After you hit that limit, youll be throttled to 128Kbps. Now if you dont need unlimited, Sprint has a new plan that offers up 2GB of data (youll be throttled afterwards, so no overages here) for just $40/month.

As of this writing, Sprint has ended their 3rd, 4th and 5th lines free promo. So youre looking at two lines for $100/month and then $30/month for each additional line. So three lines is $130 and four lines is $160/month. Pretty comparable to the other carriers right now.

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T-Mobile

T-Mobile has moved all of their plans over to unlimited data, under the ONE moniker. There are a few different versions available here, some with faster international roaming data, some with more hotspot etc. But were going to focus on their regular T-Mobile ONE plan, since that is what the majority of people will use. T-Mobile ONE offers unlimited data for $70/month. This also comes with 10GB of mobile hotspot at high-speed, which is then throttled afterwards. Video is no longer throttled (you just need to turn it off in your account settings). And something that the other carriers arent doing is offering a $10 credit if you use less than 2GB of data in a month. Thats T-Mobile Kickback, which can bring the price down to just $60/month and that does include taxes and fees. Which does make it cheaper than the others on this list.

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Now while a single line is priced at $70, you can get two lines for $120, three for $140 and four for $160. Typically T-Mobile does have a few deals going on where you can get two lines for $100 and getting four lines pretty cheap as well. So youll want to check out their website for the latest.

Verizon

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Verizon Unlimited, which is what they are calling their unlimited data plan now, is actually the easiest to explain. You get unlimited data, nothing is throttled until you hit their soft-cap of 22GB or 10GB of mobile hotspot. Additionally, they allow customers to use their smartphones in Mexico and Canada like they would at home. So theres no roaming fees and you get unlimited 4G LTE speeds, definitely a nice perk for those that cross the border often.

Verizon starts pricing at $80/month on Verizon Unlimited. You can get two lines for $140, three for $160 or four for $180. Each additional line is another $20/month. Remember that this does not include the price for your smartphone, if you pick it up on Verizon Edge, or the taxes and fees. This also the $5 autopay credit.

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Things havent changed a whole lot in the last month for the carriers, but Sprint did end their promo, which brings their prices pretty similar to T-Mobile and other carriers right now. T-Mobile still offers the most data before being throttled for network optimization, but as we always state, its important to check out the coverage of these carriers in your area before making the jump. Somewhere that Verizon has the best coverage, may not be the same somewhere else. So its always a good idea to check out an unbiased site like Sensorly or OpenSignal who crowdsources their coverage data from users.
Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobiles parent company, just reported their quarterly earnings and as expected, T-Mobile US was a driving force in their profits for the quarter. But on the earnings call, Deutsche Telekoms CEO, Tim Hoettges had something interesting to say in regards to T-Mobile US. And it comes right after SoftBanks CEO Masayoshi Son stated that he would like to begin talking with T-Mobile about a merger or acquisition with Sprint. Hoettges noted that T-Mobile will very likely be in merger talks very soon, especially now that the incentive auction and the quiet period is over.

Hoettges said that we can see several advantages to consolidation and convergence. But he also noted that due to the strong position that T-Mobile US is now in, it gives them the time and space to evaluate all options together with colleagues in the US. So while it seemed like Deutsche Telekom may still be in a rush to dump T-Mobile US, it doesnt appear so. They are basically looking for the best option for T-Mobile and themselves. Seeing as Deutsche Telekom didnt say they were looking to sell T-Mobile, but they were looking at consolidation, so there is a chance that they could be looking to acquire another company, perhaps Sprint. Currently, Deutsche Telekom owns around 64% of T-Mobile US.

For quite a while, T-Mobile wasnt doing so well in the US, and Deutsche Telekom was looking to get out of the US. They attempted to sell the company to AT&T, which regulators then blocked and T-Mobile gained a big pay day as well as a huge amount of spectrum. Which was the beginning of their turnaround. They they hired John Legere in late 2012, which led the charge from making T-Mobile US the biggest thorn in Deutsche Telekoms side to being their best bet at making a big profit each quarter. And now that T-Mobile US is doing so well, Deutsche Telekom can really sit back and let the merger talk come to them. Which appears to be what Hoettges is planning to do with T-Mobile, especially as rumors begin to heat up about Sprint wanting to merge with T-Mobile, again.
Regardless of how innovative it is, Uber is still a company that provides transportation services, which is why regulators can demand that it procures all taxi licenses and related permits that are imposed on traditional transportation companies, according to one Maciej Szpunar, Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Szpunar expressed this non-binding opinion earlier today in Luxembourg, dismissing Ubers notion that its merely an app that operates in a significantly different manner to that of ordinary taxi services. The statement doesnt carry legal weight but could still indicate that regulators on the Old Continent are preparing to force Uber into obtaining licenses that other transportation services pay for.

The latest turn of events marks yet another legal issue for Uber thats been struggling with similar charges in many parts of the world  including Europe  for years. While the San Francisco-based ride-hailing giant has been putting smaller taxi companies out of business across the globe, it often did so amidst allegations of unfair competition that have been made by both its competitors and regulators. The firm was banned from operating in Taiwan and Italy for those reasons earlier this year, though the former ruling was quickly suspended, while the latter was overruled last month. Regardless, the latest comments made by the CJEUs Advocate General imply that Ubers fight to prove its not a taxi company is far from over, at least in Europe.

The CJEU is expected to make a ruling on the matter later this year, after which Uber might be forced to change its modus operandi in some parts of the Old Continent as the U.S. tech giant will be unable to appeal the courts verdict. A spokesperson for the company on Thursday said that Uber is waiting for the courts final decision, adding that Uber will continue operating in most European countries like it did so far even if its hit with an unfavorable verdict and noting that the case is primarily significant due to the fact that it could prompt many European countries to change their outdated transportation laws. An update on the situation is expected to follow this summer.
[May 10, 2017] Maker Faire is Ready to Host Largest Gathering of Making Enthusiasts in the World, May 19-21

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Maker Faire, the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth, is primed to welcome tens of thousands of making enthusiasts to San Mateo, California, for the largest gathering of makers in the world during May 19-21, 2017. This event marks twelve years in San Mateo, which is where Maker Faire first began and is an important player in the greater Bay Area's role in the global Maker Movement. Maker Faire Bay Area kicks off on Friday, May 19, with a special preview day[email protected], from 1pm to 5pmdesigned to give Maker Movement supporters the chance to get more face-to-face time with makers. Another key group in attendance for [email protected] will be students from local schools. One hundred schools are signed up to take in the afternoon at the Faire with over 3,400 students from all sorts of public and private schools ranging from kindergartners through to high schoolers, and a few community colleges. Nearly 1,200 students will represent schools serving underprivileged areas, giving them the opportunity to explore what making means for them and how it can change how they learn and affect their life's direction. Maker Faire provides scholarships for [email protected] to a number of schools that would otherwise not be able to attend. New this year to Maker Faire Bay Area is an area focused on the future of food. First established at Maker Faire Rome 2016 by Future Food from Bologna, Italy, this area will demonstrate the potential for innovation and the ability to create positive impacts on the entire agri-food chain. From alternative proteins from insects, vertical greenhouses, and new super foods from around the world, this area will educate attendees about the 'food maker movement.' In addition, the Faire has curated many projects centered around healthcare including products, services, and makerspaces at healthcare centers. Leading the charge is MakerHealth helping to create makerspaces in hospitals as well as build a powerful network of health care providers sharing how-tos. Attendees will find projects such as an Arduino-based, mouth-controlled input device that enables people with little or no hand movement o operate a touchscreen device; a brain-wave-mapping smart earphone that tracks users' brain activity to understand their mental state, analyze their stress level, and help them calm down; and other innovations from health care professionals around the globe who are creating their own modified solutions based on experience and patient need.



The Faire, as always, is curated in ways that allow attendees to find the makers who align with their interests as well as identify new projects they can learn about while at the Faire. In addition to the areas noted above, attendees can take in the dark room for projects that light up; a large hands-on activities area; Learn to Solder; Lock Picking 101; Maker to Market; electronics; robotics; drones; Homegrown Village; arts and crafts; and more. Tickets for Maker Faire Bay Area 2017 are on sale now and available at online only, advance pricing through Thursday, May 18, at https://mfba2017.eventbrite.com. In addition, Whole Foods Market at Park Place near the venue has tickets available for purchase while supplies last. Tickets can also be purchased at the Faire during May 19-21.

About Maker Faire Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Eartha family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and celebration of the Maker Movement. It's a place where people of all ages and backgrounds gather together to show what they are making and share what they are learning. Maker Faire has celebrated 191 Faires in 2016 alone and has engaged more than 1.4 million attendees globally in 38 countries around the world. The 11th annual Maker Faire Bay Area welcomed some 1,300 Makers and 150,000 attendees. World Maker Faire New York, the East Coast flagship event, has grown in seven years to 930+ Makers and 95,000 attendees. Located in San Francisco, California, Make: has been widely credited with jumpstarting the worldwide Maker Movement, which is a transforming force in innovation, culture, and education. The Maker Faire global events brand, Make: magazine, including Make: books, are all part of Make:. Calendar Editors A celebration of DIY culture, Maker Faire Bay Area 2017 runs Friday-Sunday, May 19-21, 2017, at the San Mateo Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo, CA. Friday, 1 pm to 5 pm; Saturday, 10 am to 7 pm; Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. Tickets range from $20.00-80.00 (ages 3 and under are free) and can be purchased at https://mfba2017.eventbrite.com. World Maker Faire New York 2017 is slated for Saturday-Sunday, September 23-24, at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York. More information about Maker Faire can be found at http://www.makerfaire.com. Social Media

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Tweet this: A dozen years in the #Making! Come to #Makerfaire Bay Area, May 19-21 http://bit.ly/2nnTYN1 #MFBA17 Maker Faire Bay Area 2017 Sponsors

Presenting Sponsors: Intel, Avnet; Goldsmith: Google, Microsoft; Silversmith: Air France, BOSEbuild, Cognizant, Digi-Key, Mimaki, Kickstarter. Contact Information

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@gidgev To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/maker-faire-is-ready-to-host-largest-gathering-of-making-enthusiasts-in-the-world-may-19-21-300455628.html SOURCE Maker Faire

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The European Commission is looking into EU legislation that will make app stores and search results more fair from controllers of internet gateways, like Google and Apple. News of the a possible EU law to keep the app marketplace fair comes after a complaint was filed by Spotify, Rocket Internet, and Deezer against search engines and app stores. In their complaint, these companies claim that internet giants used their position as gateways to promote their own apps and services against those of rivals. Specifically, Spotify claimed that Apple had engaged in unfair business practices when it rejected a Spotify app update from the iOS App Store. In the app update, Spotify offered new subscribers incentives to sign up for its music subscription service on its website, rather than through the app, to circumvent Apples cut of the sale. Apple claimed that Spotify asked for special treatment, and because all iOS apps have to pass through Apples App Store before a consumer can download them, the case demonstrates an uneasy co-dependence between companies like Apple and Google with third-party developers like Spotify. Spotify most recently accused Google and Apple of abusing their gatekeeping powers.

An EU Commission investigation report found that internet companies were either pulling services or products without notice, restricting access to data or obscuring search result transparency. As a result, regulators proposed establishing criteria for fair trade practices, methods to improve transparency and a system to resolve any conflicts or disputes. Hopefully, the method for resolving conflicts wont leave app developers to the mercy of app stores, which have served as gateways of apps on mobile platforms, or in the midst of a lengthy and costly legal battle.

EDiMA, a trade group that represents Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook said that it was disappointed and astounded by the EU Commissions announcement. The music industry, however, was in support of the EU initiative. The EU Commission announced Wednesday that it will unveil its initiative by the end of the year to address trading practices between platforms and businesses. The Commission also looked at social media as part of its review, and said that it would work to help coordinate a code of conduct with major social media companies and provide guidance on how to deal with illegal content, including hate speech.
Google I/O 2017 will be kicking off next week at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. Its the second year in a row that Google is taking their developers conference to the Shoreline Amphitheater, and making it more of a festival than a conference. This year, not a lot has leaked out regarding Google I/O 2017, so that leaves a lot of speculation in previews for the big event, but given that the past few years Google has announced beta or alpha versions of products and services at the event, that are made open to the public in the fall, thats likely what will happen again this year. We do know for sure that Android O will make an appearance at this years Google I/O.

Android O

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Similar to last year, Google has already launched the first developer preview of Android O, to get out there to developers before it releases in the fall. Many are expecting Google to release the second developer preview at Google I/O this year, which isnt surprising since it has been over a month since the first one launched. Google hasnt outed all of the features for Android O just yet, so theres a chance that there could be a boatload of new features coming in Android O, many of which will be announced during the keynote on May 17th.

Google wont announce the official dessert name for Android O at Google I/O. That is usually done around July/August when they unveil the statue at the Googleplex in Mountain View. That is typically when they also unveil what version number itll be. And if the past few years are anything to go by, itll likely be Android 8.0.

Android Auto

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According to the existing schedule for Google I/O, it looks like Android Auto wont get much at this years event. With there only being an Office Hours on the schedule for Android Auto. However, its also worth mentioning that the schedule usually gets fuller after the keynote takes place on the opening day of Google I/O. So there is a chance that we could see some big announcements from the Android Auto team.

Last year, Google announced that car makers would be able to start making their own apps for Android Auto. Hyundai was one of their launch partners for this, and they had created an app for Android Auto that allowed users to keep tabs on their vehicles. For example you could see how many miles until you need gas, how youve been driving (in an effort to make your driving more fuel-efficient) and more. However, we havent heard of seen anything else about these apps since then. So its possible that this topic comes up again at Google I/O.

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Android TV

Theres been some rumors going around that there will be a big Android TV update coming at Google I/O this year, since theres a Whats New in Android TV session at Google I/O (something that Android Auto doesnt even have). Now that doesnt mean that theres a big update, of course it could also mean that there is a big update. But it is likely to talk about the new features for Android TV that are coming in Android O. Android TV has kind of been forgotten by Google in the past few years, and there arent many manufacturers jumping on board, with really the only set-top box coming out of NVIDIA.

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Now there is a possibility that Google could announce a new set-top box for Android TV, however that is more likely to come at their fall hardware event. Unless they are deciding to go the route of Android Wear 2.0, and launch a set-top box that is not Made by Google like the Pixel smartphones are.

What Google should do with Android TV, and its something NVIDIA has already done, is add the Google Assistant to Android TV. NVIDIA announced their second-generation SHIELD TV at CES 2017, where they said that they worked with Google to integrate Google Assistant onto the big screen. So why not make that a standard feature in Android TV? It would mean that users could ask their TV to play 13 Reasons Why on Netflix without having to navigate through the OS. Its also something that their biggest competitor, Amazons Alexa, is already doing. Of course, if this is announced at Google I/O, itll be in the form of a beta release.

Android Wear

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To be honest, Android Wear likely wont be mentioned in the keynote. Google recently released a huge update to Android Wear, just a couple of months ago. So its hard to imagine that they would release Android 3.0, or even start mentioning it at Google I/O this year. Android Wear is listed on the schedule, and there is a Whats New session for it, but that will likely be talking about the Android Wear 2.0 update, or possibly an Android Wear 2.1, a minimal update to Android Wear to fix some bugs, and change some things that werent working well in the 2.0 update.

Also dont expect any hardware, at all. Google has already released their two smartwatches that they designed with LG for Android Wear 2.0, and it looks like they are leaving the rest of the hardware up to their partners like Fossil, LG, Motorola, Huawei and others. Very few have released new Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches so far, but expect more in the coming months, especially as we get into the summer and closer to the fall.

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Chrome

Google Chrome was a big topic last year, even though it was hardly mentioned in the keynote. And thats because Google announced Android apps coming to Chrome OS. It launched on a handful of Chromebooks last fall, and it has expanded to a few more, including some new releases. But its not yet available for every Chrome OS device out there, and its not even available in the beta channel yet, its still in the developer channel. Which leads many to think that we may see Google make an announcement, and perhaps some changes to Android Apps on Chrome OS at Google I/O this year. Seeing as Android apps on the existing products havent been as great or smooth as they should be.

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Daydream and Virtual Reality

Daydream was announced last year, and so far we have a handful of devices that support Daydream, and just one headset. This year, Daydream may take a bit of a backseat, but we still expect it to see changes at Google I/O this year. Hopefully Google will be announcing a slew of new devices supporting Daydream, as well as some new features to make virtual reality even better.

Now there have been some rumors, very few but still rumors, that Google has been working on a standalone virtual reality headset. Something similar to the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. Now its not clear whether this will be announced at Google I/O, or perhaps saved for their hardware event in the fall, but if its not on the Daydream platform, it may see an early announcement at Google I/O. But the question is whether its ready for next week, or perhaps waiting for next year.

Fuchsia

This is a bit of an interesting product, considering weve seen leaks of it as early as last year. Fuchsia appears to be a new OS for Google, perhaps one that is aimed at larger screens like tablets and Chromebooks. But theres not much known about it. Surprisingly enough, the code for Fuchsia is open to the public on Github. Not something that Google typically does, especially ahead of a release like this. Many believe that Fuchsia is the new name for Andromeda which also began surfacing last year, and was the operating system that was meant to fuse Chrome OS and Android together.

Recently, weve seen some new animations for Fuchsia, which looks good, and look far smoother than what Android is right now. But its tough to say how far along it is. Google mentions on Github that this targeting modern phones and modern personal computers with fast processors, non-trivial amounts of RAM with arbitrary peripherals doing open-ended computation. Which makes things pretty interesting, to say the least, and may point to the successor of Android or even be Andromeda.

If this is what we think it is, and its a brand new OS, it will almost certainly be announced at Google I/O, but whether that is this years Google I/O or one down the road, is another story. Seeing as Google will need to get developers on-board, developing for this new OS, it needs to be announced months ahead of release so that when consumers get their hands on it, it can actually be used as a daily driver. Both Google and Apple did this with Android and iOS back in the day.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant doesnt really need Google I/O to get some big new features. Since it has been getting updates pretty regularly since it launched last fall. But what Google needs to do is bring the Google Assistant to more devices, and no we dont mean more smartphones. But to more devices like TVs, tablets and even speakers. To really compete with Amazons Alexa, it needs to be built into everything. And like we mentioned in the Android TV section, it would be great to see it added to the big screen, and become a native feature of Android TV.

It is also possible that Google Assistant could get some new languages at Google I/O this year. Considering they just recently launched Spanish and French Canadian for Google Assistant in the Allo app. Its possible that we could see other languages launch, or even just be announced. That would be a big deal for Google Assistant, considering its only in English on most devices. Otherwise, well see some advances with machine learning here for Google Assistant, and likely some more integrations as well.

Tango

Google typically shows off some features of Tango in the sandbox at Google I/O (this is where a lot of demos are held throughout the week). And with the announcement of native Unity support for Tango coming earlier this month, its possible that the ATAP team could be showing off some new apps for Tango. Especially now that Tango is actually available on a smartphone, in the Lenovo Phab2 Pro. Now we would definitely love to see Google announce some more partners for Tango, but that doesnt seem likely, as Google hasnt really announced any new hardware (other than Google Home) at Google I/O for a few years now.

Waymo

Waymo is their newest graduate from there X labs, and while it isnt a Google company, but an Alphabet company, it is possible that we may see their vehicles on show at the Shoreline Amphitheater. They likely wont announce anything new, since they normally save their announcements for auto shows, like the upcoming LA auto show. But they will probably show off their new LiDAR setup (you know the one they are suing Uber over).

Wrap Up

Googles keynote this year is only scheduled to be about 90 minutes, which is actually pretty short when you think about the number of products and services that will be at Google I/O. So far its shaping up to be a bit of a dud this year, especially since there havent been many rumors outside of Fuchsia. However, Google can always pull a surprise out, like they did with the original Chromecast in 2013. Its something that big companies like Google typically have a tough time doing, since there are so many moving parts, eventually something(s) get leaked to the press. Nevertheless, well be in Mountain View for Google I/O live from the Shoreline Amphitheater on May 17th through May 19th for all of the announcements that Google has.
Owlchemy Labs, the creators of Job Simulator and Rick And Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, have officially become a part of Google. According to Owlchemy Labs, their vision for VR is closely aligned with Googles, which makes the two a great match. Google spoke excitedly of the deal in a blog post. Notably absent in both posts were specific goals, projects, or other possible reasons for the merger. Googles post did say that they would be working together on new VR games and new interaction models across many different platforms, a sentiment that Owlchemy Labs echoed in their own post by saying that the deal left them free to pursue raw creation.

Its worth noting that Owlchemy Labs is still committed to doing the same thing that theyve been doing, which is creating interesting games and experiences across multiple platforms. With Google in the mix, its safe to say that theyll be well-funded, and that Googles own VR platforms, Cardboard and Daydream, could end up getting a bit more attention from Owlchemy Labs in the future as a result of this deal. Owlchemy Labs portfolio goes well beyond their stellar library, which could be a big part of the reason that Google wanted to get them on board. They created a special spectator mode that can be used to broadcast VR games, as well as a new take on mixed reality thats built on the use of depth coordinates.

Despite both parties relative silence, this is a partnership that its quite easy to get excited about. Both of them have extensive knowledge and history in VR, including in crafting unique and immersive experiences. Its worth noting that Googles top video game maker recently departed the company for personal reasons, which means that pulling Owlchemy Labs into the fold could be just what Google needs to get their game development efforts back into full swing. There are also a number of issues with the fundamentals of VR at the moment, such as the ongoing battle with VR nausea, that Google and Owlchemy Labs may have a better shot at fixing together than either of them would alone.
With ASUS expected to launch its fourth-generation ZenFones at the Computex trade show in Taipei City later this month, the latest leaks regarding the devices indicate that much like in previous years, the Taiwanese company may actually launch a number of devices as part of its 2017 lineup. According to a report published by Notebook Italia, ASUS will divide its 2017 ZenFone lineup in three separate categories. Firstly, there will be the ZenFone 4 Max as part of the companys affordable Empowering Luxury family. Then there will be the Premier Luxury category that will see the launch of the new ZenFone 4 (2017), and finally, there will be the Ultimate Luxury class that will include the premium ZenFone 4S.

While the exact hardware specifications of ASUS upcoming smartphones is still up in the air, the latest rumors seem to suggest that the ZenFone 4 Max should come with a 5.5-inch 1080p screen. The device is also expected to be powered by either the Snapdragon 630 or the Snapdragon 660, both of which were announced recently by American chipmaker Qualcomm. The device is also believed to carry a 4,000 or 5,000mAh battery in the best traditions of the companys Max family of devices that typically ship with giant batteries. The device is also rumored to have a physical Home Button with an integrated fingerprint scanner, and sport a dual-camera module on the back. Unlike many recent handsets, though, this particular device is expected to come with a 3.5mm audio port on the top, with the volume rockers and the power button neatly placed on the side.

While theres no official confirmation yet from ASUS that its upcoming ZenFone lineup will indeed be launched at the Computex trade show in Taiwan later this month, earlier rumors have claimed that the company is certainly planning for a big reveal at the upcoming trade fair in in its own backyard. It is also important to note here that as per these rumors, ASUS doesnt seem to be moving away from the ZenFone 4 nomenclature for its fourth-generation ZenFones, even though the company already launched a ZenFone 4 back in 2014 as part of its first-generation ZenFone family that also included a ZenFone 5 and a ZenFone 6. That year, the naming was based on screen sizes, with the ZenFone 4 featuring a 4-inch screen, while the other two devices came with 5-inch and 6-inch screens respectively.
LG has refuted rumors that it will be Googles partner for the third iteration of the Pixel premium phone lineup. A recent report from Korean news site Chosun Biz presented the possibility, but LG reacted to the story in a timely manner, with its global communications director, Ken Hong, dismissing the whole affair as mere speculation. According to previous rumors, Google is seeking a partner for the Pixel 3 smartphones who can guarantee more stability and scalability in manufacturing than HTC did with the first-generation Pixels, and industry insiders and analysts seemed convinced that LG would be a good possible pick because of the companys history manufacturing Nexus devices for Google. Despite their previous collaborations that resulted in the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and the Nexus 5X, it seems that even if LG is going to be manufacturing the Google Pixel 3 phones, no official details on the matter will be revealed anytime soon.

Talk of the Pixel 2 hasnt been entirely skipped over, of course. New devices in the AOSP codebases, known as Muskie and Walleye, point to the Pixel 2 family sporting Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Speculation has run fairly wild, but thus far, not a single OEM implied that it will be manufacturing Googles upcoming Android flagships. An order for curved OLED screens placed with LG Display by Google kickstarted rumors that the new phone would feature those displays, or perhaps even be manufactured by LG, but nothing in that vein has been confirmed either. Googles hardware chief, former Moto exec Rick Osterloh, did officially announce that the company will release a second-generation Pixel lineup but was extremely nonspecific about that revelation.

While LG has refuted early rumors about being Googles new hardware partner, that doesnt rule it out entirely. LG Display has recently shown its capable of designing and manufacturing high-quality OLED displays, and LGs new G6 has mostly been touted as a nicely designed, powerful, and screen-centric device which shows that LG can design and manufacture great hardware. The companys track record with the Nexus lineup goes all the way back to 2012, and it has only been left out of Googles in-house smartphone efforts twice since. LGs Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 stood alone, while the Nexus 5X debuted alongside Huaweis Nexus 6P. The only two product generations that the company didnt help produce since it started making Googles phones are those that include the Motorola Nexus 6, and HTCs Pixel lineup.
YouTuber Ruslan Sokolovsky, who came under fire for recording himself playing Pokemon GO in a Russian church last year, has officially been given a prison sentence suspended for three and a half years. Formally, the charges against Sokolovsky included offending religious sensibilities, and possession of an illegal technical device, being the camera-equipped pen that he recorded the video with. Following the verdict, the YouTuber expressed gratitude to his online supporters and said that without them, he would likely have wounded up in prison. Per the terms of his suspended sentence, he is being placed on probation, meaning that if he spends the duration of the sentence without violating the terms of the probation or breaking any other laws, the court will close the case. Otherwise, he will spend the rest of the sentence in prison.

The original video was posted in response to vague Russian laws surrounding activities in religious establishments. Sokolovsky shot the video in the Church of All Saints in Yekaterinburg. In the video, he openly challenges the notion that his activities are against the law. While the Russian law does not specifically prohibit the use of a smartphone in church, it does prohibit offenses against religion, which such an activity could be construed as, and was in this case. It was contended that Sokolovskys video depicted a disregard for societal and religious conventions and offended those around him in the church. Similar charges were laid on a Russian punk band who took the stage in a local church to sing a negative song about the Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2012, but their more direct approach to the disruption of normal church proceedings led to a two-year prison sentence.

Some Pokemon GO players have previously been extremely indulged in Niantics game to the point of being asked to stop doing so at the Holocaust Museum and other inappropriate places, while pocket monsters were even found at top secret US military bases and in the Fukushima, Japan nuclear disaster area. Common sense, etiquette, and relevant laws have historically been stretched by the allure of the smartphone, and this will likely continue to be the case in the future.
A Motorola Mobility-made device bearing the model number XT1766 was certified by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday, an extensive set of documents published by the agency revealed. The Lenovo-owned phone maker originally applied for certification in late March and asked for a regular 180-day confidentiality period from the FCC, indicating that the XT1766 may be released or at least announced come September.

While most types of phone certification documents published by the federal agency rarely reveal many hardware details about the device theyre describing, the listing pertaining to the XT1766 is unusually comprehensive and discloses a number of details about the unannounced handset. Apart from confirming that the device was made in China, its product label reveals that the model certified by the FCC features 16GB of internal storage. Even though recent industry rumors suggested that Motorola is working on the Moto X (2017) flagship, premium Android devices arent shipping with 16GB of native storage any longer, so even though the model number of the newly certified handset indicates that its a member of the Moto X family, it likely wont be a high-end offering. Likewise, the model number also doesnt match that of the rumored Moto X (2017) flagship that previously passed through the FCC as part of the upcoming XT18XX series.

Regardless, the recently published documentation reveals that the XT1766 will be powered by a Qualcomm-made chipset and sport a removable battery. The basic product sketch also implies that the phone will boast a physical Home button with an integrated fingerprint scanner given how the depiction of the rear panel of the handset that can be seen below doesnt feature a fingerprint scanner and Motorola is unlikely to release a device without this functionality in 2017. The case of the phone will also sport rounded edges, the same sketch suggests. The XT1766 is seemingly related to the XT1750 that was certified by the FCC in mid-February, but unlike that model, this one apparently supports 4G LTE networks and has twice the storage. No details regarding the availability or pricing of Motorolas upcoming handset are yet available, but its newly received FCC certification indicates that the device will likely launch in the U.S. at some point in the future.
According to industry sources, Samsung is gearing up to release a new Folder smartphone in South Korea, the Galaxy Folder 2. As many of you probably already know, the Galaxy Folder line of smartphones refers to Samsungs flip phone smartphones, and according to sources, the all-new Galaxy Folder smartphone will come with a fingerprint scanner, wireless charging and Samsung Pay, which also means that it will offers NFC (Near Field Communications) functionality.

I cannot confirm the launch date but the new phone will be launched soon in Korea, said an official of a local telecom carrier. This new smartphone will carry the SM-W2017 model name, and has been certified by the Wireless Power Consortium quite recently. Now, according to rumors, this new smartphone will sport a 4.2-inch dual OLED display screens, along with 64GB of internal storage. The device will be fueled by the Snapdragon 430 64-bit octa-core processor, and a 2,300mAh battery will also be a part of this package, and chances are it will not going to be removable. A 12-megapixel shooter will be placed on the back of this phone, and a 5-megapixel snapper will be located on the front side of the new Galaxy Folder smartphone. This smartphone will also be water and dust resistant, which probably means that it will ship with IP67 certification, at least based on Samsungs previous devices. The new phone will be priced higher than any other folder phones here, added the aforementioned official, while he also said that theres a good chance Samsung will release a special edition variant of this smartphone as well.

Now, the Samsung Galaxy Folder (2nd-gen) was announced back in July 2015, and its successor, the Galaxy Folder 2 is expected to land in the next month or two, though a specific date has not been confirmed just yet, as weve already mentioned. It is worth mentioning that this handset stopped by the FCC last month as well, and the device also leaked before, the leaked render is attached to this article as well. Now, chances are that this smartphone will not leave Korea in terms of availability, as flip phone smartphones are not exactly popular in that many markets, but they apparently are in Korea.
HTCs Edge Sensors are a borrowed idea and although they are quite likely to be a big hit with users and it will certainly make using the device itself much easier and convenient, the concept of gripping the sides of the phone as a means of initiating a device function is not necessarily new. In fact NTT DOCOMO was working on prototypes of this technology back in 2012 as a means to incorporate grip-based actions for easier one-handed operation of a device. As smartphones still tend to be growing in size it becomes more challenging to use the phone with one hand, but NTT DOCOMOs use of the technology was an idea that they were working on so that users could more easily grip the device and still operate it.

A published technology report from a few years ago (2014) discusses NTT DOCOMOs efforts and shows off a handful of diagrams that depict what the technology could look like when used. They were calling the technology a Grip UI, and as shown in the first image in the gallery at the bottom of this post a user could grip the phone to complete an action. One use case would be waking the display by simply giving the phone a light squeeze. Based on the report NTT DOCOMOs work with the technology was even pretty thorough, citing that the Grip UI must work regardless of various factors like the users gender, age, or physique, and there were a number of requirements for the phone being able to detect the user gripping the phone to initiate an action like pressure sensitivity, pressure distribution, and pressure time transition. If this sounds familiar thats because HTCs Edge Sensors work in very much the same way.

In the images above you can see the layout of how HTCs Edge Sensors work. Users are able to configure the feature with everything from the pressure of the grip to how long they squeeze the sensors on the sides of the phone. One image even shows the various functions that can be completed once everything is set up with options to launch apps or open shortcuts to other features or settings. While not entirely the same this is very similar to how NTT DOCOMOs Grip UI prototype functioned, as both the Grip UI and the Edge Sensors are meant to be a means of convenience for the user and allow them an easier way to operate their device without having to use two hands.

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Since HTCs U 11 has not yet been announced officially there is no way to know exactly how the Edge Sensor technology operates, and its possible that HTC may choose not to share the exact details of how it all works, in fact its highly likely that they wouldnt. After all, it will be their protected technology and they likely dont want just anyone being able to incorporate it into their own products. That being said, there is a small chance that it works similarly to the way that NTT DOCOMO describes their Grip UI. During the development process of their prototype technology NTT DOCOMO used what they called tactile sensors that were able to measure multiple points of pressure. This was so that they could accurately have the Grip UI detect both the intensity of the pressure being applied as well as the distribution of the pressure so that Grip UI could tell where pressure was being applied, which would then allow the user to potentially launch a different action or function based on that pressure location. HTCs Edge Sensors dont necessarily have pressure distribution detection but they do detect sensitivity which is what will allow the user configure the sensors to launch different actions, based on how hard or soft they squeeze the device. The point is that HTCs Edge Sensors are not exactly new technology. Sure, its a feature that hasnt really been used on mobile devices, but its also a feature that isnt brand-new as NTT DOCOMO began working to develop something similar around five years ago.

That of course isnt to take away from what HTC has accomplished and integrated with their newest upcoming device. Whether its new technology or not, you wont find this in any other flagship smartphone right now, and its a different implementation of making the phone easier to use one-handed for various functions. However, it just goes to show that much of the technology thats implemented in the devices we use on a day to day basis may seem new but are really just implementations of technology that have been inspired by something similar. Take for example Samsungs iris scanner thats been integrated into their newest devices, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. These certainly werent the first phones to do this, even in Samsungs camp as they used it on the Galaxy Note 7 last fall. Microsofts Surface Book laptops have iris scanners too, which came out before the Galaxy Note 7. In the end, HTC may not be integrating an entirely new technology into the HTC U 11 with the Edge Sensors, but that doesnt mean it wont be a great feature.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7, in its refurbished condition, has now been spotted being listed for sale in China. According to the information coming through, it is not yet officially on sale, but it is in the preparation stages. As a result, a few more details on the rolling out of the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 are becoming known.

For instance, it seems, there are two models currently being highlighted in China, with each model differing in battery capacity, and aimed at a slightly different market. The first is the version which is due to become available to buyers in Europe, US, and elsewhere. This model comes with a 3,200 mAh battery, which represents a decrease in capacity compared to the 3,500 mAh battery that was originally included with the Galaxy Note 7. The second model on the other hand, seems to still come with a 3,500 mAh capacity battery. This model is seemingly designed with China in mind, and in spite of the same capacity, is reportedly free of the issues that plagued the original model. In terms of the price, one model is priced at 3,599 yuan (which works out to be just over $520) while the other comes in at 3,999 yuan (which works out to be just under $580). Although it is not clear which price is for which model, the assumption would be the bigger battery model attracts the bigger price.

While the Galaxy Note 7 will not become available to buy locally in all countries, it is starting to become clear that is getting closer to a proper release. Within the last day or so, other reports have emerged out of South Korea, highlighting that the Galaxy Note 7 is due to become available in South Korea towards the end of May or at the start of June. Although the reported cost of the refurbished model in South Korea is expected to be a little high than in China, with the price that has been suggested being $620. In either case, regardless of where you buy the Galaxy Note 7, it seems as though it will come with a nice and clear R on the back to denote that it is a refurbished  and therefore safe  variant. As shown below.
[May 10, 2017] Reinsurance Group of America to Host Investor Day

Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE: RGA) will host a conference for institutional investors and analysts at the Grand Hyatt New York hotel in New York City on Thursday, May 18, 2017 from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern time. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available online at http://www.media-server.com/m/acs/a6e129c7daad391958cf0f274f266792 and on RGA's website at www.rgare.com, through the Investors page. Webcast viewers are encouraged to visit the website at least 15 minutes prior to the presentation to download and install any necessary software. Presentation slides will be available at www.rgare.com, through the link on the Investors page.



About RGA Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA), a FORTUNE 500 company, is among the leading global providers of life reinsurance and financial solutions, with approximately $3.1 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $53.8 billion as of March 31, 2017. Founded in 1973, RGA today is recognized for its deep technical expertise in risk and capital management, innovative solutions, and commitment to serving its clients. With headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri and operations in 26 countries, RGA delivers expert solutions in individual life reinsurance, individual living benefits reinsurance, group reinsurance, health reinsurance, facultative underwriting, product development, and financial solutions. To learn more about RGA and its businesses, visit the company's website at www.rgare.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510006307/en/

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New reports out of South Korea seem to suggest that Samsung may launch refurbished models of the Galaxy Note 7 in the country either by the end of May or early June. Recent reports published by some South Korean news sites also claim that the device will be launched as the Galaxy Note 7R, with the R standing for Refurbished. The company is now expected to apply to the National Radio Research Agency in South Korea for a safety certification for the Galaxy Note 7 in its new avatar, paving the way for the second-coming of a device that was originally launched last year to predominantly positive reviews from the media and consumers alike, before reports of exploding batteries forced the company to withdraw the device from the market.

One thing to note here is that Samsung has already received the approval of the FCC for its refurbished Galaxy Note 7 devices, although, the company is unlikely to re-launch its ill-fated phablet in the U.S. if recent reports are to be believed. While Samsung is yet to officially give a timeframe for the re-launch, the company had earlier confirmed that it will, indeed, bring back the Galaxy Note 7 at some stage during this year. The company has also said that the launch will take place before the big Galaxy Note 8 unveil, which should happen later this year. While most of the hardware specs of the refurbished device are expected to remain unchanged, the one area that will reportedly see a significant modification is the battery department. While the phablet was originally shipped with a 3,500mAh battery last year, it is expected come with a smaller, 3,200mAh unit this time around.

Another thing to note here is that the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 units will be launched at a significant discount to the original pricing of the device, which stood at around 989,900 won ($875) in South Korea. The refurbished models are expected to be priced at just around 700,000 won ($620) this time around, which is a discount of over $250. Around 4.3 million Galaxy Note 7 units were manufactured last year, so it will be interesting to see how many of those will get back into circulation this time around.
Engineers in Ubers self-driving car division may be looking to jump ship ahead of an important court decision brought on by Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, which also owns Google. Citing multiple sources, Recode reported that some of Ubers engineers are actively looking to get out. In its lawsuit against Uber, Alphabet had asked the court for a preliminary injunction that would ban Uber from using its trade secrets, which could put a stop on parts of Ubers self-driving endeavors. Alphabet alleged that Ubers former head of self-driving technology Anthony Levandowski had downloaded 14,000 files while he was employed at Google, and Ubers progress in this space is aided by Alphabets research. While the judge is still deciding on Alphabets request for a preliminary injunction (a decision is expected this week), some of Ubers engineers seemingly feel as though their future could be in limbo.

According to the information coming through, morale is low with many at Uber frustrated that they may have to step away from their projects if a court rules against the company. However, those who disagreed with Levandoskis leadership at Uber are said to be playing the wait-and-see approach, hoping that this will lead the company in a different direction. Regardless of the outcome of the courts verdict, Ubers engineers may not have much to worry about. With autonomous driving so buzz-worthy, money is being spent on acquiring talent in this space. In addition to Alphabets Waymo and Uber, traditional automotive companies and technology companies are also entering the space, with efforts now being seen by the likes of GM, Ford, Volvo, Samsung, Intel, NVIDIA and even Verizon Wireless.

While Uber engineers are fearing for their jobs and the future of their projects, Uber also has a lot at stake on this case. If the judge decides in favor of Alphabet, Uber may have to cancel its work in autonomous driving or it would have to find ways to work around infringing technologies and trade secrets that Waymo owns, like the lidar systems found on Ubers self-driving cars. For its part, Uber seems to be doubling down on its efforts in this space. It recently hired University of Torotos Raquel Urtasun, who works in machine learning and AI research, and who will lead Ubers autonomous vehicle push in Canada.
A rugged ZTE smartphone with model number C501 has been certified by Chinese electronics certification agency TENAA, paving its way for a possible release in the coming months. The hardware specs listed on TENAA are nothing really to write home about, but the devices main USP, as can be seen from the images, is its rugged build that should make it ideally suited for the outdoorsy types and for industrial workers. According to the listing, the device will feature a 4.5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display with an FWVGA resolution (854 x 480 pixels). It will be powered by an unidentified CPU clocked at a measly 1.1GHz, while RAM and built-in storage are listed at just 2GB and 16GB respectively. Thankfully, though, the handset will support storage expansion by way of a microSD slot that will apparently support cards of up to 64GB in capacity.

In terms of optics, the upcoming ZTE device will rock an 8-megapixel primary camera on the back, while the front-facing shooter will come with a 2-megapixel sensor. The handset will also support LTE connectivity alongside Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB. While most of the hardware specs may seem fairly low-end to many Android aficionados, what should really be a cause for concern is the dated Android 5.1.1 Lollipop that is said to be pre-installed on the device. It will be interesting to see if ZTE will actually launch this phone with a three-year old OS or if the company will actually get around to installing Android Nougat on it before making it official. Either way, the device will apparently be sold in a number of different colors, including the green+black number you see in these images. The other available options will be army green+black, army blue+black, yellow+black and solid black.

Not so long ago, rugged smartphones used to be an extremely niche segment within the overall smartphone industry, with very few companies like Kyocera and Caterpillar taking it seriously. While most tier-1 manufacturers give this market a pass, Samsung seems to be the only exception, releasing at least one rugged smartphone every year as part of its Galaxy Active lineup. However, with waterproof, dustproof and shockproof all-weather devices steadily gaining more popularity, a number of companies are now throwing their hats in the ring by announcing such ruggedized handsets over the past year or two. The companies that have introduced their first rugged, all-weather smartphones over the past year include, power tool-maker Dewalt, gaming hardware and accessories company Razer and British automotive brand Land Rover.
Several owners of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are complaining about the sudden loss of audio they are encountering with their handsets. According to some affected owners, they are experiencing audio drops with their speakers when playing games, watching videos, and listening to music. However, once users route the audio through the headphone jack, the audio loss does not occur. The affected users are speculating on whether it is a hardware issue or a software one. A number of members of the Samsung community forum are convinced that it is a hardware issue since some quick fixes to the speaker problems involve physically tapping the device. Others are claiming that they could replicate the problem by violently shaking the device, which could point to a loose contact, which one Samsung technician allegedly confirmed.

However, Samsung is insisting that the audio loss is a software issue, some owners of affected devices claim. The South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer is reportedly advising people contacting its customer support to follow certain steps like wiping the cache partition and even resetting the device. Other users were asked to put the phone into the developer mode and enable the Prevent USB Audio Routing option. Some users who have followed the instructions said that Samsungs suggestions did not resolve the issue, with the speaker audio loss occurring sometime after resetting the device.

There were several users who attempted to ask for a replacement of their smartphones but Samsung reportedly turned down at least some of these requests. A number of the companys customers said that Samsung insisted that the audio loss is a software issue and therefore does not qualify as a reason for a replacement device. Meanwhile, others were requested to turn in their devices for repair instead of outright replacement. Whatever happens to be the case, Samsungs responses resulted in some annoyed device owners who felt that the customer service and product quality offered by the company arent up to the standards set by the premium prices of its flagship phones, though it remains to be seen whether the Seoul-based consumer electronics manufacturer issues an official comment on the matter.
Verizon is pushing hard to be the first to deploy 5G commercially across their whole network, and their latest tech test, showing vendor network interoperability between Samsung and Cisco hardware and software is a huge step in the right direction. The trial deployment took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was the first successful trial of an end-to-end 5G network across multiple network solution vendors. Verizon was able to successfully integrate Samsung and Ciscos 5G networks for total interoperability, though they did not make any mention of speed-enhancing network aggregation in the press release detailing the test. Similar tests are expected to go live in 5 cities by the middle of the year, with a grand total of 11 areas having 5G rolled out on at least a trial basis within that period.

The technology behind the Ann Arbor rollout was actually a hack of sorts; Ciscos virtualised packet core technology converted the data being sent across it into a format that could be used with Samsungs network equipment after being run through their vRAN equipment, and vice versa. This meant that places where Cisco and Samsungs equipment intersected were places where data could jump freely between them. While this was not the intended purpose of either companys packet handling technology for mobile networks, nobody can deny that it made Verizons job, integrating the two networks for seamless interoperability, far easier.

The implications of this testing are pretty far reaching. Multi-channel vendor and carrier aggregation is only the tip of the iceberg, but that alone could help boost 5G speeds well into the tens of Gbps on the user side, in both uplink and downlink. This also opens the door for vendors to set up equipment to work across multiple carriers simultaneously, which would give serious incentive for carriers and vendors to unify network technology once and for all. This, of course, would give future mobile chipsets and devices far more wiggle room in regards to design and power, making the phones of tomorrow faster and cheaper. Finally, the kind of network function virtualization shown off in these tests could allow seamless integration of 5G technology into almost any network. That could mean that cable companies could essentially offer customers their home Wi-Fi on the go, including all of the devices that they connect to and stream to and from, and it means that building out an integrating 5G could become far easier than it would otherwise be, if everybody involved gets on board with a single standard.
[May 11, 2017] Solidsoft Reply Signs Agreement to Implement and Operate the Slovenian National Medicine Verification System

Following similar agreements with the Swedish, Danish and Irish National Medicine Verification Organisations, Solidsoft Reply, the Reply group company specialising in enterprise strength solutions on the Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure cloud platform, has signed an agreement to implement and operate the National Medicines Verification System in Slovenia; ZAPAZ. ZAPAZ: Zavod za preverjanje avtenticnosti zdravil, meaning "Medicines Verification Institute" is a newly incorporated, not-for-profit organisation responsible for the implementation of the EU's Falsified Medicines Directive (Directive 2011/62/EU), which mandates safety features on medicines in Europe which will provide Slovenian patients with reassurance against falsified medicines. Slovenia joins Sweden, Denmark and Ireland in a rapidly increasing list of European markets to engage Solidsoft Reply to implement their certified national blueprint solution. Mitja Pirman, the Managing Director of ZAPAZ commented that he and his board were looking for a modern future proofed solution, clearly demonstrated with Solidsoft Reply Blueprint System. Solidsoft's knowledge of the entire National Medicines Verification System and their pragmatism were the key attributes that we were looking for when selecting a long term operational partner. The implementation of Slovenia's National Medicines Verification System is a key measure to ensure patient safety by preventing falsified medicines from entering the legitimate medicines supply chain. The Falsified Medicines Directive published by the European Parliament and the European Commission states that each eligible medicinal product must have a unique identifier and tamper-evident seal to allow for the authentication of each medicine pack at the point of dispensing. A European Delegated Act was then passed in February 2016 which require the full implementation of the European Medicines Verification System by February 2019.



Solidsoft Reply was previously selected by the European Medicines Verification Organisation (EMVO) to implement the European Medicines Verification Hub, enabling medicine manufacturers and parallel distributors to upload their pack data which is then routed to appropriate national systems. The Solidsoft Reply National Blueprint solution, has been designed from the ground up to meet the exact needs of the FMD. It is implemented using the very latest Microsoft technology and platformed on the Microsoft Azure Cloud. The futureproofed solution automatically scales ensuring that the challenging response times are always able to be achieved. The European Medicines Verification Organisation (EMVO) represent the key stakeholders in the European pharmaceutical supply chain, EFPIA, Medicines for Europe, EAEPC, GIRP and PGEU.

ZAPAZ has been established through a collaboration between key stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry. Its founder members include: Forum of international research and development pharmaceutical companies, EIG

Association of Slovenian medicinal product manufacturers

Slovenian chamber of pharmacy

Slovenian chamber of commerce, Section of medicinal product wholesalers Solidsoft Reply

Solidsoft Reply is the Reply group company creating enterprise strength solutions on-premises and utilising the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. A global award winning Microsoft Gold certified partner, Solidsoft Reply specialises in: System Integration on the Microsoft platform, including BizTalk Server and Logic-Apps, Service-Bus and API-Management on Microsoft's Azure PaaS public cloud; Custom Application Development on the Microsoft Azure platform; Business critical application support; Azure operational services and Application Lifecycle Management. A published thought leader and trusted advisor to Microsoft, engineering innovative solutions since 1993, Solidsoft Reply has helped over 500 enterprise clients succeed. www.solidsoftreply.com Reply

Reply specialises in the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media. Through its network of specialist companies, Reply supports some of Europe's leading industrial groups in Telco & Media, Industry & Services, Banks & Insurance, and Public Administration to define and develop business models, suited to the new paradigms of Big Data, Cloud Computing, Digital Media and the Internet of Things. Reply services include: Consulting, System Integration and Digital Services. www.reply.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005563/en/

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YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) will visit Armenia on May 11-15 to carry out an observer mission during the Yerevan City Council election, the CoE Yerevan Office told Armenpress.

The Yerevan City Council election will be held on May 14. The election campaign launched on April 21 and will last until May 12. Three political forces are taking part in the election: The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Yerkir Tsirani party and Yelk bloc.
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The first van loaded with canned natural and organic fruits and vegetables, jams and juices of Armenian production has left for the UAE to supply 5 star hotels; Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Development Foundation of Armenia (DFA). The contract between Tamara fruit and Al Falaj company was signed during the Armenia-UAE investment forum organized by the DFA and its partner Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. The Arabic partner has already ordered 15 containers of Armenian natural organic production.

DFAs newly appointed Executive Director Armen Avakian visited Tamara fruit company today. The Foundation will continue making efforts to foster exports, since export is one of the locomotives of Armenia economy, he said.

The cooperation was greatly fostered by the investment forum in Abu Dhabi on March 22, attended by the President of Armenia. Our partners believes and trusted Armenia, Director of Tamara fruit Boris Hovhannisyan said.

The Executive Director of Al Falaj company noted that both the quality and price of the Armenian production meet the demands of the UAE market.

While on a working visit in the United Arab Emirates, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on March 22 took part in the Armenia-UAE Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi.

The Forum was organized under the auspices of President Serzh Sargsyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

The Forum, which was organized by the Development Foundation of Armenia and Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, aims at boosting the economic ties between Armenia and the Arab countries, the contacts between businessmen, presenting Armenias investment environment and mutually beneficial investment programs in various fields.

The Forum was attended by over 300 participants, including officials, heads of funds, representatives of international organizations, foreign investment companies operating in Armenia.
AVMA member

AVMA honor roll member

Nonmember

Jock R. Collins

Dr. Collins (Texas A&M 57), 84, Houston, died March 31, 2017. Following graduation, he worked as a federal regulatory veterinarian in animal inspection and quarantine and as a meat inspector before joining his brother, Dr. James R. Collins (Texas A&M 56), in practice at Briar Tanglewood Animal Clinic in Houston. Dr. Jock R. Collins later established Westwood Animal Clinic in Houston, where he practiced until retirement.

He was a past president of the Harris County VMA and a member of the Texas VMA. In 1988, Dr. Collins was named TVMA Outstanding Companion Animal Practitioner of the Year, and, in 2006, he received a Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Outstanding Alumnus Award. He was a Mark Francis Fellow at the veterinary college, where he established an endowed scholarship.

Dr. Collins is survived by his wife, Vicki; two daughters; and seven grandchildren. Memorials may be made to the Texas A&M Foundation (with the memo line of the check notated to the Jock R. Collins, DVM 57 Endowed Scholarship), College of Veterinary Medicine, Office of Development, 4461 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843.

John G. Debbie

Dr. Debbie (Guelph 65), 80, Saranac Lake, New York, died Dec. 4, 2016. He retired in 1996 as New York state public health veterinarian. Following graduation, Dr. Debbie joined the New York State Department of Health as an associate research scientist. From 1968-70, he worked on a United Nationsfunded project in Nairobi, Kenya, to study the effects of new game parks on the biology of African wildlife.

On his return to the United States, Dr. Debbie accepted the position of head of the state rabies section of the NYSDH in Guilderland. His work, studying the biology of the rabies virus and its impact on wildlife and human populations, included the development of an oral rabies vaccine program for wildlife. In 1979, Dr. Debbie became the public health director for Franklin County. He traveled to Geneva in 1986 to work two years with the World Health Organization eradicating rabies in underdeveloped countries before being named NYS public health veterinarian.

Dr. Debbie was a past president of the Wildlife Disease Association and served as an adjunct professor at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake. He was a member of the Rotary Club of Saranac Lake and Elks Club, and an honorary life member of the Saranac Lake Elks Lodge.

Dr. Debbies two daughters, a son, and six grandchildren survive him. Memorials, designated to the local scholarship fund, may be made to the Saranac Lake Elks Lodge, P.O. Box 325, Saranac Lake, NY 12983.

John D. Fuhr

Dr. Fuhr (Colorado State 56), 88, Spearfish, South Dakota, died Feb. 1, 2017. A small animal veterinarian, he moved to Aurora, Colorado, following graduation, and established Broadview Animal Clinic and, later, Aurora Veterinary Clinic. Dr. Fuhr also owned cattle ranches in Colorado at Kiowa and Greeley.

He was a past president of the Denver Area VMS, a past chair of the Colorado VMA State Legislative Committee, and an honorary lifetime member of the Colorado Cattlemens Association. Dr. Fuhr served on the Colorado state legislature from 1967-74 and was speaker of its house from 1971-74. He was a past president of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and Aurora Rotary Club, was a past Rotary Club district governor, and served on the Arapahoe County Fair Board. Dr. Fuhr helped establish the Aurora YMCA, serving on the board of directors for several years. He was a veteran of the Army Veterinary Corps.

Dr. Fuhr is survived by his companion, Coco Villard; three sons; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Countryside Church, 625 Woodland Drive, Spearfish, SD 57783.

John R. Kruckeberg

Dr. Kruckeberg (Ohio State 76), 66, Williamsport, Tennessee, died Oct. 31, 2016. A mixed animal veterinarian, he co-owned Animal Medical Clinic in Columbia, Tennessee, with his wife, Dr. Linda Kruckeberg (Ohio State 78), for 30 years. He also farmed in Williamsport. In later years, Dr. Kruckeberg worked part time at several local veterinary clinics and at the Maury County Animal Shelter. Early in his career, he served in the Army Veterinary Corps for three years. Dr. Kruckeberg was active with the Christian Veterinary Mission.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters, and a grandchild. Memorials may be made to Christian Veterinary Mission, 19303 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98133; Zion Presbyterian Church Mission Committee, 2322 Zion Road, Columbia, TN 38401; or Maury County Animal Shelter, 1233 Mapleash Ave., Columbia, TN 38401.

Roger W. Meads

Dr. Meads (Minnesota 63), 83, Hortonville, Wisconsin, died April 7, 2017. A large animal practitioner, he focused on dairy medicine at Heritage Animal Hospital in Hortonville for more than 40 years. Dr. Meads also served as a dairy herd consultant and was known for his leadership and efforts to promote preventive herd health management. He invented a milking system to help reduce infection and increase productivity, and a radio frequency identification system to help farmers track cattle, combined with a device that continually monitors each cows temperature for illness and fertility cycles. Dr. Meads conducted dairy seminars for farmers and other veterinarians, served as an expert witness during lawsuits, and was involved in field tests in dairy product development.

He was a veteran of the Army, serving as a 1st lieutenant. Dr. Meads is survived by his wife, Stannye; a son and two daughters; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. Memorials may be made to Fox West YMCA, W6931 School Rd., Greenville, WI 54942.

Carl D. Nelson

Dr. Nelson (Cornell 59), 81, Laconia, New Hampshire, died March 15, 2017. He was the co-founder of Cheshire Animal Hospital in Keene, New Hampshire. Dr. Nelson was a past president of the American Association of Veterinary State Boards and a member of the New Hampshire VMA. He served as a captain in the Air Force.

Dr. Nelsons wife, Judith; a daughter and a son; five grandchildren; and a great-grandchild survive him. Memorials may be made to the New Hampshire Humane Society, P.O. Box 572, Laconia, NH 03247; Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758540, Topeka, KS 66674; or Shriners Hospitals for Children, Boston Burns Unit, 51 Blossom St., Boston, MA 02114.

Harold W. Ray

Dr. Ray (Texas A&M 71), 70, Orange, Texas, died Feb. 16, 2017. He began his career practicing mixed animal medicine in Weslaco, Texas. Dr. Ray subsequently established North Orange Veterinary Clinic, where he practiced primarily small animal medicine until retirement.

He is survived by his companion, Janice Ustinovich; a son; two grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. Memorials may be made to Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, College Station, TX 77843.

Robert W. Sagehorn

Dr. Sagehorn (California-Davis 88), 78, Davis, California, died March 11, 2017. Following graduation, he practiced small animal medicine, before joining Hills Pet Products as a nutritional consultant for the western states. Dr. Sagehorn retired in 2004.

He was a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War and attained the rank of lieutenant commander. Dr. Sagehorn received the Combat Action Ribbon, Purple Heart, and Bronze Star with V.

His wife, Elizabeth; two daughters; and three grandchildren survive him. Memorials toward the Vet Med Class of 88 Scholarship Fund Endowment may be made to UC Regents, The Waltons Class of 1988 Scholarship V7D0426, UC-Davis Advancement Services, 1460 Drew Ave. Suite 100, Davis, CA 95618.
The Department of Homeland Security is expected to announce a ban tomorrow on carrying laptops in the cabins of all flights traveling from Europe to the United States, per The Daily Beast.

The reasoning: This is an expansion of a ban initiated in March on laptops and tablets on board flights from 10 airports around the Middle East to the United States, apparently based on intel obtained during January's raid in Yemen indicating that terrorists have developed a bomb that can hide within a laptop.

A worry: Putting devices with lithium-ion batteries in the cargo hold might actually increase the safety risk, given the batteries' tendency to spontaneously combust.
Andrew McCabe, the acting FBI director, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday that former FBI Director James Comey had not, as the White House said, lost the broad confidence of the bureau's employees:

"I can tell you that I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard... It has been the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life to work with him... I can confidently tell you that the vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to [him]," said McCabe.

And a twist: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who penned the memo recommending Comey's termination, showed up in the hearing room for an apparently unscheduled meeting, causing the abrupt departure of Chairman Richard Burr and Vice Chairman Mark Warner.

Live updates:
Trump will sign an executive order today officially launching a commission to investigate his claims of rampant voter fraud and voter suppression in the 2016 election. ABC News reported it first, followed by AP.

The commission: "Presidential Commission on Election Integrity," reportedly led by VP Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The commission will be made up of various Republican and Democratic representatives.

What they're investigating: Administration officials were vague about the details when speaking with ABC. They said it will be "broad in scope," addressing "systemic issues that have been raised over many years in terms of the integrity of the elections," and not just the 2016 election.
11 May 2017 11:02 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Today, the outflow of population is one of the major threats to Armenia as a state.

The widespread migration from the country is the result of total corruption and outrage of the Armenian authorities, who created unbearable conditions for normal human life. Therefore, it is not surprising that the population is steadily declining in Armenia. Residents of the country are fleeing abroad in search of a decent life.

The figures of the National Statistical Service of Armenia published on April 1 show that the permanent population of the country decreased by 12,900 people since early 2017as compared to the last year, and by 4,600 compared to the beginning of 2017. Moreover, the birth rate for the first 3 months of this year has decreased by 6.5 percent as compared to the data of 2016, while the mortality rate has grown by 3.8 percent.

In addition to these demographic problems, the family institution is losing grounds in the country. The data of the countrys National Statistical Service shows that in less than a year the number of marriages in Armenia has decreased from 3,826 to 3,544, and the number of divorces has vice versa increased  from 851 to 972 cases.

However, the most painful fact for the Armenian authorities is that the inhabitants of the country keep refusing from its citizenship. In the first quarter of 2017, as many as 1,190 citizens appealed to the Passport and Visa Office of the Armenian police for the renunciation of their citizenship.

Armenian media note, citing the Russian Interior Ministry, that 22,264 Armenians obtained the Russian citizenship in 2016. Such a large number of Armenians who decided to have Russian citizenship suggests that they are unhappy with the current doleful situation in Armenia. It is no coincidence that the Armenian authorities have decided to legally deny the right to vote in elections for Armenians, who emigrated abroad.

A voluntary decision to reject the national passport suggests that the individual already has no high feelings for the country. In the case of Armenia, it is clear that the countrys government is to blame for this decision of former Armenian citizens.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
How I Got My Data Back from the Microsoft Band and Hello Sense

Extracting Data from Tracking Devices

By Jeff Huang, updated May 15, 2021

Many consumer personal tracking devices seem to have a shelf life of only a couple of years. So if you're interested in keeping a long-term history of your progress, you have to figure out how to work around their apps to get your own data back from their servers. Otherwise, the day their app or servers stop working, your data will simply disappear.

I've used two tracking devices where data was not easily exportable, the Microsoft Band (shut down May 2019), and the Hello Sense (shut down June 2017, and never sent the data export instructions that they said was forthcoming), so I'm documenting the process I went through to retrieve my own data in hopes it may be useful for others trying to do the same for other devices.

Microsoft Band (documented on December 2014)

When the Microsoft Band was announced, I was thrilled to discover the first wrist-worn device to have both a heart-rate sensor and GPS, plus a slew of other sensors. My Ph.D. student Alexandra managed to snag a Band when they were hard to find, but I was disappointed to learn that it suffered from the same problem that plagued so many promising wearable devices: the inability to export my own minute-by-minute data.

The Band syncs to its own smartphone app called Microsoft Health, but was clear after a bit of searching online that no one knew a way to get their data out. I asked someone who worked on the Band at Microsoft Research whether he knew of a creative way to get data out of it, and he challenged, "You're right that we don't expose raw data at this point, but looking forward to seeing what you come up with... :)"

Where is the Data?

I asked Alexandra to dump out the data from the phone app to find out how the data was stored. She managed to export a bunch of files, but after digging around, we found cached data with daily summaries, but not the raw minute-by-minute values I knew was being stored somewhere because the sleep chart in the Microsoft Health app showed finer-grained data (left screenshot below).

I decided to dig further and decompiled the app to understand where the data went by reading the app code. I used an app on my phone called ES File Explorer to get the application package (the apk file) from the phone to my computer (right screenshot above).

An apk is just a zip file, and here's what the Microsoft Health apk file looked like when unzipped.

The main code for the app is in a file called classes.dex which is a Dalvik Executable file, basically a compiled Java binary. The file format is fairly well defined and I was lucky to find an open source tool called jadx to decompile the source code.

After decompiling the classes.dex file, I browsed through a few folders and came across this in the "microsoft/" folder, which seemed like the root directory for the Microsoft Health app.

$ ls -l total 0 drwxr-xr-x 18 jeff staff 612 Dec 9 17:14 cargo drwxr-xr-x 3 jeff staff 102 Dec 9 17:14 exceptions drwxr-xr-x 3 jeff staff 102 Dec 9 17:14 instrumentation drwxr-xr-x 199 jeff staff 6766 Dec 9 17:14 kapp drwxr-xr-x 5 jeff staff 170 Dec 9 17:14 krestsdk

There were hundreds of files inside each of these folders, so I grepped for keywords like "sleep", and then "sleepEvents" when I noticed that was a frequently occurring term.

The "aha" moment was when I encountered this getSleepEvents function in /src/com/microsoft/krestsdk/services/KRestServiceV1.java

public void getSleepEvents(LocalDate localdate, LocalDate localdate1, Callback callback) { if (localdate.isAfter(localdate1)) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("startDayId cannot be after endDayId."); } else { ODataRequest odatarequest = new ODataRequest("/v1/Events"); odatarequest.addArgumentQuotes("eventType", EventType.Sleeping.toString()); Object aobj[] = new Object[2]; aobj[0] = KRestServiceUtils.formatDate(localdate); aobj[1] = KRestServiceUtils.formatDate(localdate1); odatarequest.setFilter("DayId ge datetime'%s' and DayId le datetime'%s'", aobj); odatarequest.addParameter("expand", "Sequences,Info"); NetworkProvider networkprovider = mNetworkProvider; CredentialStore credentialstore = mCredentialStore; CacheService cacheservice = mCacheService; String as[] = new String[3]; as[0] = "SYNC"; as[1] = "EVENTS"; as[2] = CacheUtils.getEventTypeTag(EventType.Sleeping.toString()); (new KRestQueryOData(networkprovider, credentialstore, cacheservice, Arrays.asList(as), CUSTOM_GSON_DESERIALIZER, odatarequest, new TypeToken() { final KRestServiceV1 this$0; { this$0 = KRestServiceV1.this; super(); } }, callback)).executeOnExecutor(AsyncTask.THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR, new String[0]); return; } }

Clearly, to get sleep events, the app is constructing a REST call. So what must be happening is the Band syncs with the app on the phone, which syncs with some servers that Microsoft owns. This explained why we were not able to find the raw data in the file dump of the app, as only the cached data was stored locally.

Intercepting Messages

My next intuition was to try and intercept the data between the app on my phone and the Microsoft server to see what was being transmitted. This is usually done by using a proxy in an application, so I first tried enabling the proxy on my Android phone (left screenshot below).

After a bit of testing, it was clear that the proxy feature in Android only affects the web browser, and not the Microsoft Health app. So I tried a different trick: setting the gateway (i.e., router) for the phone's wifi to be my computer instead of using DHCP, so that all the network data would be sent to my computer. I edited this setting (right screenshot above) and enabled IP forwarding so network packets could still reach the Internet instead of hitting my computer and getting lost.

$ sudo sysctl -w net.inet.ip.forwarding=1 net.inet.ip.forwarding: 0 -> 1

Next I checked that the browser was still working on my phone, and it was so that was a good sign. Then the tricky part; I set up a packet filter to forward the incoming packets to a different port on my computer. In a new .conf file,

rdr on en4 inet proto tcp to any port 80 -> 127.0.0.1 port 2300

And then running the following pfctl (a packet filtering utility):

$ sudo pfctl -f pf.conf pfctl: Use of -f option, could result in flushing of rules present in the main ruleset added by the system at startup. See /etc/pf.conf for further details. $ sudo pfctl -e pf enabled

Then I installed a traffic inspector (an open source tool called mitmproxy) and fiddled with the flags until I figured out how to activate the transparent proxy mode.

$ ./mitmproxy -T -p 2300 --host

So this basically simulates a man-in-the-middle attack to intercept the data. Note that this is only capturing the data sent and received by my phone, so it's not really an attack in the usual sense but just a way for me to view the data my phone is already dealing with.

I was reassured to see traffic being routed through my mitmproxy console when I visited websites. However, when I started up my Microsoft Health app, it wouldn't start at all (left screenshot below).

Eventually I figured out it was using HTTPS, which was running on a different port. So I made some changes. First, I installed an SSL certificate on my phone so that my phone would trust my computer which was intercepting the messages (right screenshot above). Then I added a line to my packet filter to also forward packets on the HTTPS port, by adding an extra line below to the .conf file and re-running the pfctl commands.

rdr on en4 inet proto tcp to any port 443 -> 127.0.0.1 port 2300

Basically, instead of the Microsoft Health app communicating with the Microsoft server over HTTPS, all communication is routed through my computer. The mitmproxy tool intercepts the SSL keys and injects its own, so it can decrypt and re-encrypt messages that go through it.

At last, I was able to see the traffic from the Microsoft Health app. Fortunately, the requests were easy to figure out, and data was simple to understand.

Notice that to request the data, the phone issues a REST GET request to a URL like https://prodphseus.dns-cargo.com/v1/Events(eventId='1234567890')?$expand=Sequences,

If you are just interested in data from one event (like last night's sleep), then you would be satisfied at this point so you can just save the response from the Microsoft prodphseus.dns-cargo.com server and be happy. To get a few more events, you can simply click through every sleep (left screenshot), exercise (right screenshot), or other type of event until your phone (and your computer intercepting the messages) receives all the data. Then you save them to a file and you can view it in your favorite text editor and process it using a script.

Getting the Full Export

But what if you don't want to manually go through every entry on your phone to have it transmit the data? Basically, to get the data over the entire time when you had the Band instead of individual events. Then recall the decompiled Java code at the beginning of this article containing:

odatarequest.addParameter("expand", "Sequences,Info");

which provides a clue that to retrieve the full set of data without having to select each entry on the phone, you could edit the URL to:

https://prodphseus.dns-cargo.com//v1/Events?$expand=Sequences,Info

Simply pasting the URL into a browser wouldn't work because you have to reuse the same authentication token the Microsoft Health app is using, but editing a prior request should let you retrieve your entire raw data stream without retrieving each event one by one.

To summarize how the Band works, some data is cached on the phone app while the rest is stored on Microsoft servers in the "cloud". By intercepting the phone app's requests to the server, you can download the raw data being sent or retrieve your entire historical data like heart-rate, gps, step count, etc. down to the minute level. Happy tracking!

Hello Sense (documented on January 2017)

I was excited about the Hello Sense, a popular Kickstarter project whose mantra is "Know More. Sleep Better." It's a beautifully-designed globe packed with sensors to tell you about your sleep environment, and a movement-tracking clip for your pillow. I was working with my Ph.D. student Nedi on automatically generating sleep recommendations, so we wanted to learn how this device measured up.

We ordered two Hello Sense devices from their website to use for a few months, but alas it was again disappointing that we could not access the data from the sensors. Instead, we could only view the charts that it generated, and were limited by what the Hello Sense app allowed us to see. To tease us, the Kickstarter page promised, "We are building tools to allow you to export, use or delete your data. Press a button and your data will be exported or deleted. It is entirely up to you. These tools will be available on our website. [..] You will be able to download a complete archive of your data." (spoiler: this never happened).

The Hello Sense syncs to its own smartphone app called Sense, but it was clear that there wasn't a way to export this data. In fact, after searching for solutions, all I could find were other users lamenting the lack of data exportability.

Intercepting Messages

I took this as a challenge, and wanted to try the same procedure to intercept messages as the Microsoft Band. Many apps will use a REST call to request a certain slice of the data, so knowing how to do that lets you talk to the server holding your data. Basically, I would intercept the messages between the Sense app and its servers to watch how they authenticated and transmitted my data to the app to make the charts. Then I could learn the "language" and mimic the app to ask for my own data from the servers.

As before, I first enabled the proxy on my Android phone (left screenshot below) to my Macbook was that set as the gateway. And again set up a packet filter to forward the incoming packets to a different port on my computer. In a new .conf file,

rdr on en4 inet proto tcp to any port 80 -> 127.0.0.1 port 2300 rdr on en4 inet proto tcp to any port 443 -> 127.0.0.1 port 2300

And then running pfctl like before, and starting mitmproxy in transparent proxy mode to intercept the data.

Finally, I installed an SSL certificate on my phone from http://mitm.it, so that it could intercept the messages sent over https (port 443).

Traffic was correctly routed through my mitmproxy console when visiting websites (see the screenshot above on the right, where I eavesdrop on the phone's Chrome browser navigation). However, when I started up my Hello Sense app, it didn't connect to the server properly, "There was a problem securely connecting to the server."

Disassembling the App

I wanted to get a better sense of what was going on in the app that caused the error to come up. I extracted the apk file from my phone using the Android Debug Bridge this time. As with the Microsoft Ban app, the main code is inside the apk in a file called classes.dex.

After poking around the code, it was clear that the app used a library called OkHttp that did some sort of certificate pinning. Basically, there was code in there that checked whether the SSL certificate was the right one, and threw an exception if it wasn't. At this point, there were a couple of options: I could disassemble the app (note that the decompiled Java can't simply be recompiled into an app, so instead it needs to be disassembled into smali and edited) and remove the certificate pinning checks.

But while I was looking into the source code, I came across a file called ApiService.java that showed the REST API queries that the app was making to retrieve data from the server. So theoretically, all we had to do was issue the same queries as if we were the app, and the server would send us the raw data back!

Notice that to request the data, the phone uses links like /v2/timeline/{date}/events/{type}/{timestamp}. The timeline is in fact exactly what we want to get all the events that happened during a night of sleep for a particular date.

But before we can send our own REST queries, the server asks for authentication using the OAuth protocol. OAuth authentication is done with a client ID and secret. So I searched the source tree for this, and luckily found it in a simple configuration file.

I highlighted the two lines that specify the client ID and secret. This file also tells us the base URL for the REST server, which is https://api.hello.is so we now have all the pieces we need: the hostname of the REST service, the format of the requests, and the client ID and secret. Note there are also a few lines blacked out that I think are secret keys that should probably not be made public.

Sending POST Requests

Sending a GET request is easy with any web browser by just typing in the right URL. But crafting a POST request which is what we needed to do requires using a command line tool like curl or finding an application to take care of the annoying bits. I used Postman which is free and simply designed (and I love application names that are puns).

So I entered the appropriate fields into the POST request, using a pretty standard OAuth format. The URL is https://api.hello.is/v1/oauth2/token based on what we found in the source code.

One thing that tripped me up for a bit was the Content-Type header in the request needs to be set to "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" or the request will be rejected. Once that is set, the result of the POST request is the access_token which provides us access to the rest of the data that we can get using other queries. In the screenshot below, I covered part of my access token to prevent people from snooping on my sleep data.

Now the fun part. I use the access token in the header as the Authorization field (the word "Bearer" needs to be prepended to it to indicate that it's a Bearer token type). And now I can change the URL to what I want, in this case to http://api.hello.is/v1/room/current to see my current room conditions from anywhere.

If you really wanted to do something with your data, you could write your own script to automatically authenticate and then grab several days of data, maybe to create an online dashboard or send yourself sleep recommendations.

Probably the most detailed data the Hello Sense stores is how it classifies my time during the night, as awake, medium sleep, sound sleep, etc. This is the timeline that is shown as bar charts in the app, but now we have access to the actual data to generate our own visualizations, or do comparisons and analyses. There are quite a few events during one night, but here's what it looks like.

So the good news is that the Hello Sense did have sort of an API already for data export. It took a bit of sleuthing to figure out how to get access to the data, but I imagine they never released this publicly yet because they wanted to provide a nicer interface to the API.

Anyways, I hope this documentation is useful for someone trying to export their data from whatever wearable or tracking app is available now. If you want to know what we did with the data, my student Jina Yoon wrote an article comparing 10 different sleep tracking devices and apps. But for the time being, I'm going to stick with tracking apps that are more open.
11 May 2017 18:18 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces have taken appropriate retaliatory measures against the shelling of the Azerbaijani positions from Armenias camouflaged military vehicle that had no distinctive signs related to any media or civil organization.

The Ministry announced about it in its response to a query from Trend. Earlier, Armenian media reported about the alleged injury of an operator of Armenias Shant TV Company as a result of shelling from the Azerbaijani side.

The Armenian side claims that the vehicle, from which shelling was conducted, belongs to the Shant TV company.

"The Azerbaijani Armed Forces take retaliatory measures only against the armed forces, means and other military objects of the enemy, the ministry noted.

The Armenian side constantly breaches the ceasefire and resorts to attempts of sabotage against Azerbaijan. Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces, using large-caliber machine guns, have 120 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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11 May 2017 15:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijans national and culture autonomy of Ulyanovsk participated in the Festival of Friendship of Zasvijazhskij district.

The Azerbaijani Diaspora presented an exhibition, which featured Azerbaijan's delicious cuisine, culture, history and literature, Trend Life reported.

Young people dressed in stunning national costumes of Azerbaijan treated everyone with tasty barbecue and sweets. The pavilion was visited by Governor Sergey Morozov and Head of Ulyanovsk Sergey Panchin who highly appreciated the exhibition. The festival ended with a spectacular concert.

Ulyanovsk region has strong business and cultural relations with Azerbaijan.

---

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11 May 2017 12:48 (UTC+04:00)

Speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament Ogtay Asadov met a delegation led by Speaker of the House of Representatives of the parliament of Jordan Atef Yousef Saleh Al-Tarawneh.

Mr. Asadov said this visit will serve to further strengthening friendly relations between the two countries, Azertac reported.

The Speaker stressed the role of heads of the states in developing Azerbaijani-Jordanian relations.

Mr. Asadov said Azerbaijan attaches particular importance to boosting cooperation with Jordan in various fields. He also emphasized the importance of expanding economic ties between the two countries.

Atef Yousef Saleh Al-Tarawneh, in turn, highlighted friendly ties between the two countries. He also expressed hope that the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be solved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

They exchanged views on the developing prospects of inter-parliamentary ties, boosting cooperation in humanitarian field.

---

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11 May 2017 15:12 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Presentation of the M-346 jet trainer, manufactured by Italys Leonardo Aircraft Division, took place in one of airbases of Azerbaijans Air Force.

The leadership of the Defense Ministry inspected the aircraft, after which a comprehensive briefing was given on the aircrafts specifications, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on May 10.

M-346 is one of the most advanced trainer aircrafts available on the market today. Moreover, it is the only one new generation aircraft specifically designed to prepare pilots for high performance.

The aircraft entered service in 2013 in both the Italian and Singaporean Air Forces. It is also in service in Israel since 2014. Poland has also signed a contract for the aircraft in February 2014.

The Embedded Tactical Training Simulation (ETTS) allows the M-346 to emulate sensors, countermeasures and armament, as well as allowing pilots to interact in real time with a virtual tactical scenario.

In general, the Azerbaijani Army, consisting of Air Force and Air Defense Forces, the Navy, and the Land Forces, is today considered the most modern army in the Caucasus. The Azerbaijani Army is the leading army in the region.

The skills and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani Army are growing year by year, as the countrys Armed Forces regularly conduct military exercises. The army building process in Azerbaijan is progressing as well.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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11 May 2017 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The 13th International Defense Industry Fair IDEF-2017 has opened in Turkeys Istanbul. Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense Industry also attends the exhibition, the ministry reported on May 10.

Azerbaijans Defense Industry Minister Yavar Jamalov attended the opening of the exhibition.

The ministry participated in IDEF for the first time in 2009, presenting 29 items of defense-related products. Currently, the ministry showcases 260 samples of its products at the IDEF 2017.

A number of samples of new products of local production, presented for the first time at the Istanbul exhibition, which brings together about 300 companies from 50 countries, attached huge interest.

As part of the exhibition, Jamalov met with Turkeys National Defense Minister Fikri Isik and several heads of military-industrial companies.

Jamalov also met with the leadership of Defense Ministry and Defense Industry Ministry of Mongolia. During the meeting, discussions were held on the establishment of cooperation in the sphere of defense industry between the two countries.

Azerbaijans Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov and representatives of other law enforcement agencies also visited the stand of Azerbaijans Defense Industry Ministry at the IDEF 2017.

During the exhibition, which will last until May 12, Jamalov is expected to meet with heads of delegations participating in the exhibition. The delegations will be informed about the third Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition (ADEX 2018), which will be held in Azerbaijan next year.

Azerbaijan leaves behind many CIS and regional countries to take its place among the first 60 strongest armies of the world, according to the U.S.-based Global Firepower survey center.

The country, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's groundless territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament. Azerbaijan creates its own armament and works closely with leading companies and firms in various fields of military industry.

The country's Defense Industry Ministry has increased the volume of defense industry products in 2016 by 1.6 times compared to 2015, while the product assortment rose by 1.8 times. Currently, twenty-eight military factories are operating within the Defense Industry Ministry.

---

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11 May 2017 12:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijans State Civil Aviation Administration (SCAA) and Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC, executive body of the Interstate Council for Aviation and Use of Airspace) have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of investigation and prevention of accidents, as well as a protocol on cooperation in the field of education, certification of aviation equipment and airfields.

The agreement was signed on May 10 by director of the SCAA Arif Mammadov and president of the Interstate Council and CEO of the IAC Tatyana Anodina.

The agreement will promote implementation of Annex 13 to the "Convention on International Civil Aviation" (Chicago Convention) and independence principle of the accident investigation body. This fully complies with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), of which Azerbaijan has been a member since 1992, Anodina noted.

The agreement will allow the use of the IAC's international experience and resources in an independent investigation of accidents. Anodina said that Azerbaijan actively cooperates with the Interstate Aviation Committee and the Interstate Council in various fields to ensure the safe and efficient operation of civil aviation.

Mammadov, in turn, stressed the importance of the signed documents.

Our cooperation with the Interstate Council and Interstate Aviation Committee is based on many bilateral documents, he said.

In order to develop international relations, business ties and tourism, using the highly professional scientific and technical base of the National Academy of Civil Aviation of Azerbaijan and other educational centers, the sides agreed to develop a program for implementing the international vocational training system.

The State Civil Aviation Administration is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of regulating activities in the sphere of civil aviation in the country.

--

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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11 May 2017 17:05 (UTC+04:00)

National Leader Heydar Aliyev always faithfully served the Azerbaijani people, lived and worked for the people, said President Ilham Aliyev.

The President made the remark at a ceremony held to mark the 94th birthday anniversary of national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev and the 13th anniversary of the establishment of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Today is the 94th birthday anniversary of the great leader Heydar Aliyev. Today the Azerbaijani people once again express their deep respect for the bright memory of the great leader. Heydar Aliyev was a brilliant personality, a great leader, a far-sighted and a brave politician. In all times he devotedly served the Azerbaijani people, lived and worked for the people. Heydar Aliyev came to power in Azerbaijan twice. Both times he saved Azerbaijan from the recession and crisis and brought the country to the development path, he said.

The head of state noted that it was under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev and on his initiative that many important projects were realized and agriculture developed rapidly.

"The villagers were able to improve their living standards, while the development of industry was very rapid in Azerbaijan. The oil industry was developing. Many important infrastructure projects were implemented that are still of great importance for independent Azerbaijan, the president said.

He mentioned the fact that they played a significant role in preservation of Nakhchivan, historical land of Azerbaijan, within the territorial integrity of the country.

After the Heydar Aliyevs resignation, Azerbaijan began to face with problems. In less than two weeks, Armenian separatists raised the issue of excluding Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan and merging with Armenia. Thus, the foundation of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem was laid, the first step was taken, he said.

President Aliyev expressed full confidence that if Heydar Aliyev was not in Nakhchivan at the time, Nakhchivan could be occupied.



He defended Nakhchivan, and the residents of Nakhchivan defended him, he added.

On the way to the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we, like Heydar Aliyev, defend our principled position, and this position is strengthened day by day, said President Aliyev.

Decisions, resolutions of leading international organizations from 2003 to present day also confirm this. The European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation - all these organizations have adopted fair decisions, resolutions reflecting our position on the conflict, and condemned the occupation policy of Armenia. Over these years, many countries have officially recognized the Khojaly massacre as genocide, and no one recognized the so-called "referendum" recently held in Nagorno-Karabakh. The co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group stated that they do not recognize this "referendum". Neighboring countries made similar statements. International organizations with these statements, once again showed that they respect the territorial integrity of our country and do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh and this illegal structure, and I am sure they will not recognize it, he emphasized.

The head of state noted that the army building was a priority issue for Heydar Aliyev.

"When he [Heydar Aliyev] came to power, we did not have a regular army. This was our main problem. The process of army building is connected with the name of Heydar Aliyev. Today, the army is developing successfully. The Azerbaijani army is among the strongest armies in the world. This is also confirmed by all international ratings, the President noted.

Afterwards, the Heydar Aliyev Award was ceremonially presented to its winners.

-

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11 May 2017 18:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia are planning to sign a memorandum of trilateral military cooperation.

The issue was discussed during a meeting of Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria with his Turkish counterpart Fikri Isik at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF), which is ongoing in Istanbul, Georgian media reported on May11.

Following the meeting, Izoria said that Batumi will soon host a meeting of the defense ministers of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

"After 10 days in Batumi, we will discuss the format of trilateral cooperation. The memorandum aimed at improving the quality of our military cooperation will be signed, said the minister.

The memorandum will be a legal base of the three countries cooperation and allow their trilateral activities to enter a new stage.

The last meeting of the three countries defense ministers was held in Azerbaijan, Gabala on May 15, 2016. The meeting discussed security issues and mutual interests for cooperation in the military field.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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11 May 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

The 24th International Caspian Oil and Gas Conference 2017 will be held at the JW Marriot Absheron Hotel on June 1-2.

As a recognized international platform and the key event in the regions oil and gas industry, the conference has been bringing together senior level directors every year to discuss key oil and gas projects in the Caspian region and ensure energy security.

The Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) both show invaluable support for Caspian Oil&Gas.

Around 400 delegates from more than 30 countries are planning to take part in the conference.

The conference will address such issues as: Role of Azerbaijan in global energy, status of major projects and a look to future strategic growth, Identifying key operators plans in developing onshore and offshore oilfields, expansion of international cooperation in oil and gas projects, An overview the refining and petrochemical industries in Azerbaijan new projects development, Diversifying supply routes from the Caspian region, Azerbaijan as trans portation, logistic hub of Caspian region, Cost optimization and improving the efficiency of upstream development with advanced technologies for exploration and production, Improving the efficiency of exploration and production with digital technologies, The development perspectives for alternative energy in Azerbaijan. This year, regular partner and exhibitor BP is marking its 25th anniversary of collaboration with Azerbaijan. One of conference sessions at Caspian Oil and Gas will be dedicated to this anniversary: BP  Azerbaijans long-term partner for 25 years.

The events status is consolidated by its line-up of sponsors. The General Sponsor is SOCAR. The Golden Sponsor of the conference is BP and Petronas, the Silver Sponsors - INPEX, McDermott, Statoil, Reflex Marine, Schlumberger, and the Bronze Sponsors - Caspian Geophysical, Microsoft, Siemens, Dentons, Fluor, Nobel Upstream, TAP, Total, Zenith Energy, Yokogawa, Lamor Corporation. The conferences General Media Partner is Caspian Energy International Media Group.

Thus, the conference provides suppliers with the opportunity to talk to customers and colleagues, to present technologies and services in action, to acquire useful business contacts, and to get new information and technologies, expanding the opportunities for international collaboration in the oil and gas sector. The organisers of the conference are ITE Group and its partner Iteca Caspian.

---

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11 May 2017 13:37 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

The members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lean toward extending the deal on freezing the oil production level, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi told.

Earlier, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said after the meeting with al-Luaibi that two Arab countries support the idea of extending the agreement until the end of 2017. The current version of the treaty, designed to stabilize oil prices, expires in the summer.

"There is an orientation to the extension, as this would lead to stabilization of prices, which would have a positive impact on the Iraqi budget," Luaibi said.

The minister confirmed that OPEC would discuss the extension issue on May 25 at a regular meeting in Vienna.

In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1.

Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day, including Russia by 300,000 barrels per day, starting from January 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months.

---

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11 May 2017 16:21 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Kazakhstan has resumed the transportation of oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, Azerbaijans Energy Ministry told Trend.

Roughly 90,000 tons of Kazakh oil was exported through Azerbaijan via the BTC pipeline since early 2017, the Ministry told.

Kazakhstan hasnt transported oil via the BTC pipeline since the second half of 2015.

Export of Kazakh oil through Azerbaijan wasnt carried out via any of the existing routes  neither via the BTC oil pipeline, nor via the Baku-Supsa pipeline and railway in 2016.

BTC pipeline is a 1,768 km long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the longest pipelines in the world. It runs 443km through Azerbaijan, 249km through Georgia and 1,076km through Turkey to the Ceyhan Marine Terminal.

The pipeline has a capacity to export one million barrels of oil a day.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company (BTC Co.) was established in London on 1 August 2002. Construction began in April 2003 and was completed in 2005. BTC became fully operational in 2006. The first oil that was pumped from the Baku end of the pipeline reached Ceyhan on 28 May 2006.

---

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11 May 2017 15:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

American Pall Corporation, a manufacturer of proprietary filtration, agreed to establish a joint venture with an Iranian company to produce filters for oil projects.

Managing director of Irans Panid Engineering Neda Mousavi Azadegan said that American company will supply the technology of filter production to Iran, according to Azadegan.

She emphasized that this would both lower the costs for providing the equipment for Irans oil industry and would also boost safety in projects.

"In the era of sanctions (2012-2015), Iran imported non-standard filters, and now it purchases filters at $10,000 for each, but after the launch of the joint project, the cost of filters will be reduced by 10 times for Iranian projects," she said.

In future Iran may also export filters to Iraq and Central Asia.

This is the first time that Iran claims that the U.S.company agrees to invest in the country after the lifting of sanctions in January 2016.

Today, U.S. companies are allowed to invest in Iran through waivers on the Iran Sanctions Act  the new title of the law since 2006. The investment in Irans oil and gas projects may amount to no more than $20 million in a year.

Nevertheless, it is yet to be confirmed that Pall Corporation, one of the largest companies in the field of high-tech filtration, separation and purification, has obtained a waiver from the administration of President Donald Trump which has already adopted a tough line toward the Islamic Republic.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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11 May 2017 11:39 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The influence of the Turkish Stream project, which envisages Russian gas supplies to Turkey and further to Europe bypassing Ukraine, on the European gas market will depend on how many strings of this pipeline will be built up in the end, Marco Giuli, an energy issues analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Center, believes.

Russian energy giant Gazprom started construction of the Black Sea section of the Turkish Stream pipeline past Sunday.

A one string pipeline for 15.75 billion cubic meters would simply serve the Turkish market, replacing the current transit through the Trans-Balkan pipeline. A second string might provide gas to Europe  notably the Balkans... However, some onshore adaptation would be needed on European territory, Giuli told Trend by email.

Answering the question on possible negative effect of the Turkish Stream on the Southern Gas Corridor project, which will bring Azerbaijani gas to Europe, the analyst noted that the Southern Gas Corridor is now in advanced stage, and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) which is a part of the project has obtained an exception from the rules of the EUs Third Energy Package for 25 years.

The Third Energy Package, in particular, says that one gas provider should use no more than 50 percent of the pipeline capacity, and the remaining capacity should be put up for auction. The EU refused to grant exception from the rules of Third Energy Package to the pipelines bringing Russian gas to Europe.

However Giuli noted that increased Russian export capacity would put Russia in a strong position to compete with other sources, and to deter further developments of the Southern Gas Corridor. In addition the expert noted that it cannot be excluded that one day some Russian gas from the Turkish Stream might transit further to Europe through the TAP pipeline.

Speaking on the influence of the Turkish stream on Ukraine, Giuli noted that this project, together with Nord Stream 2, is planned to reduce or eliminate the Russian dependence on Ukraines transit route.

Ukraine would lose transit revenues and geopolitical centrality, he said.

Meanwhile the expert noted that to counter the competition of alternative routes, Ukraine's Naftogaz is planning to reduce its transit fees after the expiration of the current contracts in 2019.

In October 2016, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of two offshore strings of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

The annual capacity of each string is estimated to have a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The first string will supply gas directly to Turkey, while the second is to be used to deliver gas to European countries through Turkey. Initially the countries planned to build four strings of the pipeline.

---

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11 May 2017 11:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Turkish Stream and Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) projects complement each other, Dmytro Marunych, co-chairman of Ukraines Energy Strategies Fund, told Trend May 10.

Given the expected volume of supplies via the first leg of the Turkish Stream, the projects implementation will have a positive impact on the realization of the Southern Gas Corridor, he said.

Additional volumes of gas will help Turkey to aspire to the role of a regional hub, especially if the issues on construction of pipelines for further transportation from the Turkish border to the EU are resolved, according to him.

The South Caucasus Pipeline, Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) are parts of the Southern Gas Corridor.

Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement October 10, 2016 on implementation of the Turkish Stream project.

---

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11 May 2017 13:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Moscow and Washington aim to remove all the barriers to having better relations as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with the U.S. high-ranking official, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The meeting was held amid firing of the FBI director who was leading a probe into Moscow's alleged interference in U.S. politics.

The talks were the highest-level public contact between Trump and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin since the Republicans took office on January 20.

Cooperation on the international stage topped the agenda of the talks. Moscow and Washington can and should solve global issues together, Lavrov said following the meetings.

"At present, our dialogue is not as politicized as it used to be during Obamas presidency. The Trump administration, including the president himself and the secretary of state, are people of action who are willing to negotiate," the Russian top diplomat pointed out.

Lavrov noted that agreement with Tillerson to continue using diplomatic channel to discuss Russian-U.S. relations was reached.

The reason for deterioration of ties lies in actions of the previous administration which did everything possible to undermine the basis of our relations so now we have to start from a very low level."

"President Trump has clarified his interest in building mutually beneficial and practical relations, as well as in solving issues," Lavrov stressed.

Lavrov believes Syria has areas where U.S. might contribute to operation of de-escalation zones, the agreement on which came as a result of the recent round of talks held in Astana.

"We are ready for this cooperation and today have discussed in detail the steps and mechanisms which we can manage together," Lavrov said.

Although U.S. acts as observer in these talks, the country supports international efforts to end war in Syria and find political solution to the long-lasting bloody conflict. Russia, as a guarantor country awaits more active position from U.S. on this issue, according to Lavrov.

A thorough discussion of Syrian issue, particularly de-escalation zones, was held.

"We proceed from the fact they will take up the initiative. We share an understanding that this should become a common step aimed at putting an end to violence across Syria," he added.

The U.S. administration has generally welcomed the Russian plan, but has expressed wariness about Moscow's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the role of Iran and Iranian forces in the country.

The talks also mentioned the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, the situation in Afghanistan, and also the fulfillment of the Minsk accords on the political settlement in east Ukraine. These issues will be addressed in future working contacts between two countries.

Lavrov has noted that he and Tillerson would consider issues to be discussed by the two countries presidents at their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit scheduled for July. More tangible and concrete results are expected from the upcoming meeting.

Trump described his talks with Lavrov as "very, very good."

When asked whether the Comey dismissal had affected his meeting, Trump said, "not at all."

Two days ago, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, whose agency is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the possibility Trump associates may have colluded with Moscow. Democrats accused Trump of trying to slow down the investigation by firing the FBI chief.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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11 May 2017 13:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Candidate for the post of Iranian President Es'haq Jahangiri called the presidential elections a "political spring" in Iran.

Iran's nuclear agreement has prepared a good ground, and the continuation of its implementation will have a significant impact on the economic and political life of the Iranian people, believes Jahangiri, a representative of the reformers' camp in the upcoming presidential elections.

Jahangiri also added that all ethnic groups in Iran should have the same access to the use of existing resources of the country.

The presidential candidate called the observance of the principle of justice in relations between all peoples and ethnic groups of Iran one of his main tasks, in case of his victory in the elections.

Jahangiri also said that if he wins the upcoming elections, he will provide economic security, in particular, for investors in the private sector.

Earlier, the leader of National Solidarity and Cooperation Mohammad Reza Rahchamani said that the nuclear deal (officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) will go unaffected by Irans presidential election as it is an ulra-governmental undertaking backed confirmations from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Parliament, and Supreme National Security Council.

Irans election campaign is underway with the six presidential hopefuls vying for the position of the countrys president.

The two main rivals in the race are widely expected to be President Hassan Rouhani, and Ebrahim Raeesi.

Rouhani remains popular for stabilizing the economy and ending sanctions through a nuclear deal with world powers. After lifting the sanctions, Rouhani visited a number of European states and made deals that worth billions of dollars. European companies started looking for investment opportunities in the growing Iranian market.

Raeesi, who is a close ally of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would rely on his past record in high government posts and his managerial skills to win votes.

The voting date for the 12th presidential and 5th city and council elections is May 19.

To win, the candidate must score more than 50 percent of the vote. If none of the applicants succeeds in enlisting the support of such a number of voters, a second round of voting will be held, in which two leaders of the first round will participate.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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11 May 2017 16:21 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans upcoming visit to Washington may become decisive and conclusive in terms of defining the U.S. clear position toward the terrorist PKK's Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG), and the Gulenist Terror Group (FETO).

Earlier, the Pentagon announced that President Donald Trump had approved the transfer of weapons to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the YPG. The YPG is the Syrian wing of the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and EU.

The matter is expected to put additional pressure on the first meeting between two leaders.

Erdogan said he would express his concerns in this regard at his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 16, adding the same issue would also be brought up at the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on May 25, Anadolu reported.

"I believe that these meetings will ensure the stability of the region and will lead us to reach a conclusion compatible with the realities of Syria."

"Every event in Syria and Iraq affects the national security of Turkey. We hope that Turkey's allies will side with Ankara and will not support terrorist organizations," the head of state said at a joint news conference with the leader of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma.

Erdogan also said he hoped the U.S. government would "reverse" its decision to arm the PKK/PYD in Syria before his visit to the U.S. next week.

The president once again stressed the inadmissibility of using one terrorist organization in the fight against another. "The mistakes of the past led to today's situation in Syria. I hope that these mistakes will not happen again," he added.

Growing U.S. support for the YPG is a major collision point which negatively affects the traditionally strong U.S.-Turkish relationship.

Turkey has offered to work directly with the U.S. and the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition to remove IS from Raqqa in Syria, but only if the U.S. stops working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is mainly comprised of YPG fighters.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
11 May 2017 17:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The North Atlantic alliance will not participate directly in the fight against the terrorist group "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria and Iraq.

This was stated in Berlin by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, TASS reported.

The U.S. under President Donald Trump is keen for a greater emphasis on NATO fighting terrorism. The NATO chief said that all members of the 28-alliance are already members of the anti-IS coalition, though NATO itself formally isn't.

"The question is whether NATO as an alliance should be at the table coordinating with the others, or whether we should continue to provide support to the coalition," Stoltenberg said.

If it does join, "it will not change the fundamental role of NATO, because we will not be engaged in combat operations  neither in Syria nor Iraq," he said.

"The Alliance will continue to support and train the units," Stoltenberg added, stressing that the refusal to participate directly in the military activities "concerns the role of NATO in both Syria and Iraq."

In turn, Merkel expressed confidence that the decision on this issue will be taken at the summit of the alliance on May 25 in Brussels.

"We are negotiating on whether NATO should officially become part of the coalition, these consultations are continuing," she said adding "I assured the Secretary General that we will continue them and finish by May 25."

The Government of Germany has so far been categorically against NATO joining coalition in fight against ISIS. As a justification for its position, it stated that NATO's participation would intensify conflicts in the region or, at the very least, will complicate the search for a peaceful settlement.

NATO currently provides support with AWACS surveillance planes and with training in Iraq, in addition to what its member nations provide individually.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
11 May 2017 12:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Russias Turstat analytical agency has determined the most popular holiday resorts in the CIS countries among Russian tourists for the summer of 2017.

Thus, the most popular resort destinations in the CIS countries include Borovoye (Kazakhstan), Issyk-Kul (Kyrgyzstan), Narach (Belarus) and Lankaran (Azerbaijan).

The rating is based on the analysis of the online booking systems of hotels.

Turstat noted that Russian tourists book their rest in Lankaran for some 7 days, as well as for 10 days at the Issyk-Kul lake, 8 days at the lake Narach, and 12 days in Borovoye.

Travel budget for vacation in Lankaran will make an average of $70 a day. The resort is mostly visited by Russian tourists from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Moscow Oblast.

Lankaran is known as a sub-tropical area, with extremely picturesque scenery, and rich flora and fauna. Clean air and beautiful nature combined with an abundance of attractions and the hospitality of the local people are that overwhelming factor which annually attracts tourists from all over the world.

The majestic Talish Mountains covered with thick forests, the main part of which constitute native species, including demiragaj (iron tree), is one of the most visited places here.

Lankaran is also one of the brightest and most beautiful cities in the country. Exquisite architecture, a wonderful climate and beautiful natural landscapes are the hallmarks of this city.

Lankaran includes three tourist zones such as the coastal (Caspian Sea), the Haftoni and Narimanabad zones.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
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Modified On May 11, 2017 02:03 PM By Rachit Shad for Isuzu MU-X 2017-2020

Japanese carmakers second shot at the full-sized SUV segment dominated by the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour

Japanese carmaker, Isuzu, has launched its new 7-seater SUV, the MU-X, in India today at a starting price of Rs 23.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It shares most of its underpinnings with the brilliant D-Max V-Cross pick-up truck and is also a cousin to the Chevrolet Trailblazer. Details of the Isuzu MUX were leaked online a couple of days back, and it has been learnt that the SUV will only be available in one trim level and act as the replacement to the Isuzu MU-7.

Prices:

Isuzu MU-X 4x2: Rs 23.99 Lakh

Isuzu MU-X 4x4: Rs 25.99 Lakh

Under the hood of the MU-X is a 3.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that cranks out 177PS of power and 380Nm of torque. Mated to the engine is a 5-speed automatic transmission with sequential shift and brake shift technology. The oomph is transferred to the road via an all-wheel-drive system which is accompanied by a shift-on-fly transfer box with 4x4 Low and 4x4 High drive modes. The company claims that the big, brawny SUV is capable of returning a fuel-efficiency of 13.8kmpl (4x2 AT variant) and has a ground cleanance of 220mm.

To ensure all of the available power is utilised efficiently and to ensure that the SUV doesnt feel scary on the move, Isuzu has equipped the MUX with electronic stability control (ESC), traction control system (TCS), hill-start assist (HSA), 4-channel, 4-sensor anti-lock braking system (ABS) setup with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) and emergency brake assist (EBA). In terms of safety, the MU-X features dual-airbags, rear parking camera, impact-sensing automatic door unlock with airbag release, front seatbelts with pretensioners and load limiters and three ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the second row.

In terms of creature-comforts, the Isuzu ticks almost all the boxes. The feature list includes electrically-adjustable drivers seat, a power outlet each for all three rows, automatic climate control, a roof-mounted 10-inch DVD monitor, cruise control and a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with 8-speakers and iPod and Bluetooth compatibility. On the outside, MU-X gets LED daytime running lights (DRLs), projector headlamps, 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels and two-tone front and rear bumpers.

The Isuzu MUX is available in four colours options for the body - Silky White Pearl, Orchid Brown Mica, Cosmic Black Mica and Titanium Silver Metallic. The SUV will be locally manufactured at the Japanese manufacturers Sri City-based manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh. Its list of rivals include the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and the Chevrolet Trailblazer.

Also Read: Isuzu MU-X Vs Toyota Fortuner Vs Ford Endeavour
Analysis: Prayer, politics and unlikely success as Justin Welby completes 12-day tour of the Holy Land

For a man who has endured more than 80 meetings over 12 days during what has been his longest official visit as Archbishop of Canterbury in probably the most complicated region in the world, Justin Welby was in remarkably good spirits as he ended his tour of the Holy Land this afternoon.

Welby looked visibly relieved as he laughed and joked with his team over lunch of salads, grilled lamb and traditional lemonade at The Old Man and the Sea restaurant in the Arab coastal town of Jaffa.

As well he might. For Welby, who doesn't like having spare time on his hands from the minute he gets up to pray at 5am, made good use of every hour on a trip which was more than a year in the planning.

His itinerary, which in the end included a surprise trip to Gaza, allowed him successfully to walk the tightrope of politics between Israel and the Palestinians, the two sides of the most apparently intractable of conflicts.

And as a pilgrim and Church leader, he managed to reinforce the role of Christians as peacemakers in this holy but troubled land, as well as showing what one senior aide calls his own considerable 'convening power'.

As the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani, told Christian Today: 'This has been a successful visit in all ways: from a spiritual point of view, to a humanitarian one, and also in terms of interfaith.'

Dawani praised Welby for raising fearlessly the plight of Christians with leaders here, including both Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

It is a sign of Welby's authority that both figures spent an hour with him, and a sign of his skill that both meetings were by all accounts genuinely warm and positive.

They came at what Welby himself has called a 'moment of opportunity' when it comes to a potential deal between the two sides, with Donald Trump arriving in the region later this month.

Welby sensed that not only Abbas, who surprised the Archbishop by smoking during their meeting, but also Netanyahu wants peace, contrary to conventional wisdom among some here and in the UK.

Indeed the Lambeth Palace team was impressed by Netanyahu and, even more extraordinarily, the Israelis are not complaining about any aspect of the trip, despite having tried 'hard' to stop Welby from visiting Hebron during one of several excursions into the West Bank (and, according to one theory, putting the controversial settlers there on 'lockdown' for the day).

As well as Hebron, Bethlehem, Gaza and Jordan, where Welby heard from despairing Palestinians and refugees, Welby balanced the trip with visits to the Western Wall and Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum with the UK's Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mervis, and a kibbutz in the Galilee, where Welby had a solitary day off with his wife Caroline, later joking that he 'could get used' to Shabbat.

In reality though, there was barely any respite on this trip, as he was pulled in every direction while he listened intently to disparate voices from across the Holy Land.

Yet his appetite for engaging with the region remains not only undiminished but enhanced.

In the second half of his trip, Welby sensibly adopted the mantra that the more you come here, the less you know. But the truth is that he comes away hugely more informed about the facts on the ground and ready to take up the cause of minorities in the region both in the House of Lords and elsewhere.

Lambeth Palace is already planning round-table discussions and symposiums on what Welby calls the 'unfinished business' of the Balfour Declaration whose centenary is later this year. Sarah Snyder, his impressive head of reconciliation who applied for the job on the condition that it was outward looking towards the world, and not introspective towards internal Anglican disputes over sexuality, and who has spent time with both Hamas and Israeli settlers, is returning to the region in July. And there is talk of Welby himself coming back in the next couple of years.

Welby first came to the Holy Land with Caroline on his honeymoon at the turn of 1979 and 1980. Since then, much has changed, including his own growing 'sense of place' as a pilgrim appreciating the Holy Sites, as he told Christian Today earlier this week.

Whether, though, anything will change on the political front by the time he returns, remains to be seen.

As a Christian who believes in the renewing power of the Resurrection, Welby is a natural optimist and is beginning to be a highly respected voice in the Middle East. Nonetheless, he is acutely aware of the limits to what he can do.

But as he left for Ben Gurion airport this afternoon, Welby was planning to permit himself a glass of champagne after he boards the British Airways flight home.

He can be confident that it is well deserved.
Can President Trump 'do a deal' on Israel-Palestine?

It has eluded presidents, prime ministers and prelates since the 1940s, but one significant Christian voice thinks Donald Trump might be able to make progress on peace in Israel-Palestine.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is in Jerusalem this week and spoke to Christian Today about Trump's potential. 'His office has the capacity to make a difference,' Welby argued,'It's one of the very few offices in the world outside this region that does. And so we pray for him to be able to do that...I've never met him, I don't know him at all, but he will be in my prayers.'

Of course Welby is right. History shows that the closest we have come to seeing a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians has been when the leverage of the White House has been brought to bear in a concerted way.

So far, so good.

Trump has a further incentive to seek peace. He is in the midst of a domestic firestorm over the firing of FBI director James Comey. His approval ratings, meanwhile, are catastrophically low. He needs a win from somewhere and with the evidence mounting that his much-vaunted border wall will never be built, his ability to find a 'win' may have its best chance of being realised in the foreign policy sphere.

The complexity and horror of the Syrian war means that whatever Trump's actions there, there is no such thing as a short-term successful outcome. But there is always the possibility of progress in Israel-Palestine, however fiendishly difficult the conflict is.

Trump is now being compared in some quarters to Richard Nixon. For all Nixon's many faults, his major foreign policy success  opening up US relations with China, should be remembered. Trump may have been hoping for a similarly iconic success when he spoke after meeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at the White House recently and said of the possbility of a peace deal: 'We will get it done'.

There are two obvious problems here.

First, there is a reason that peace has remained elusive for so many years. The issues which are at play in Israel and Palestine are incredibly delicate, difficult and highly charged. To take just the three biggest among them.

1. The status of Jerusalem. A 1980 Israeli law declares: 'Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel'. Yet, half of the city is home to Palestinians and is also claimed as the future capital of a Palestinian state. That half is currently occupied by the Israeli military.

2. Settlements and refugees. Well over half a million Israelis now live in the West Bank, which would make up the bulk of a future Palestinian state. These settlements are illegal according to international community and there is no indication of how they could be peacefully removed. There are millions of Palestinian refugees, both in the Palestinian territories and in other Arab nations, who claim the right of return. There is no sign that Israel is willing to grant this.

3. The right of Israel to exist. Although some surrounding nations recognise Israel's right to exist, there are still many hostile forces in the region, not least Iran and its surrogates in Hezbollah. Without a change in this atmosphere, it is hard to see how Israel could be confident in any agreement.

There's another problem, though. It's Donald Trump's base. Those 81 per cent of white evangelicals who formed the bedrock of his election victory are overwhelmingly, reflexively pro-Israel. As Pew reported: 'Nearly eight in 10 white evangelical Protestants (79 per cent) sympathise more with Israel, while just five per cent sympathise more with the Palestinians.'

An example of the evangelical support for Israel was reported this week by a Palestinian Christian. Shadia Qubti spoke about her attendance at a concert by the charismatic evangelical band Hillsong United. She said she felt unwelcome as a Palestinian believer, because one of the speakers had previously denied the existence of Palestinians. 'My heart was beating and my soul was breathing to feel God's love despite the rejection I had just experienced,' she wrote.

This airbrushing out of Palestinians (let along Palestinian Christians) by American evangelicals is deeply problematic for any peace initiative that Trump manages to initiate. There can be no resolution to the difficulties listed above without recognition that Israel has the right to exist in peace and security and that the Palestinian people exist, have been occupied and have been denied their rights.

If evangelicals who form the mainstay of Trump's supporter base aren't even willing to acknowledge that Palestinians exist, there is no room for Trump (or any president reliant on the evangelical bloc for support) to manoeuvre.

I hope Archbishop Welby is right and that there is potential for meaningful peace talks to begin. It will require all of us joining him in prayer. It will also require American evangelicals to realise that Palestinians exist  and there are fellow Christians among them.
Christianity reasserts itself across former Communist Eastern Europe

Religion is reasserting itself as a major part of national life in Eastern Europe 28 years after the communist regime was suppressing faith and instilling atheism.

A major new survey reveals most adults across the region say they believe in God with a majority identifying with a particular religion.

The study by the US-based Pew Research Center finds in former communist states such as the Russian Federation and Poland most people say that being Orthodox or Catholic is a crucial part of being 'truly Russian' or 'truly Polish'.

But despite the close ties to national identity, relatively few regularly attend church or see religion as central to their day-to-day lives.

The trend is particularly stark among Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe, where just 10 per cent say they go to church on a weekly basis.

Although Catholics in Eastern Europe tend to be more observant than their Orthodox compatriots, with 45 per cent of Polish Catholics saying they go to church weekly, the proportion of those identifying as Catholics has fallen overall.

The ties between religion and national identity are also weaker in Catholic-majority countries with an average 70 per cent of Orthodox Christians saying their faith was important in order to be truly part of that country compared to an average 57 per cent of Catholics.

The researchers at Pew note this may be because Catholic countries such as Hungary and Poland largely retained their Catholic identity during the communist era, leaving less of a religious void than, for example, in Russia.

The contrast is also seen in support for Church-state relations with those in Orthodox countries more inclined to support close ties than in Catholic majority countries.

Michael Lipka and Neha Sahgal, religious researchers at Pew, say the disparity could be related to the divergent politics.

'The differing trends in predominantly Orthodox and Catholic countries may be, at least in part, a reflection of political geography,' they write.

'The Orthodox countries in the region are further toward the east, and many were part of the Soviet Union. The Catholic countries are further toward the west, and only Lithuania was part of the USSR.'

The influence of Russia still weighs heavily on the region, in particular with Orthodox Christians, who have strong Church-state ties between their faith and the Kremlin.

But the loyalty is not just among Russian Orthodox Christians. The majority of all Orthodox Christians, including Greek, have pro-Russia views and see Moscow as having a special duty to protect not just Russians but all Orthodox Christians in different countries.
Dark arts or a healthy stretch? Why Christians should try yoga

Should Christians do yoga? The Eastern practice is deeply spiritual for some  rooted in the Hindu religion  while for others it's simply a way to keep fit.

For some believers though, it's an anti-Christian doorway to the demonic, and it certainly shouldn't be practised in churches.

Church bosses at St David's Church, in Blaenporth, Ceredigion, Wales have banned yoga activities from their premises. They said that 'activities that might be seen to be in conflict with Christian values and belief would not be appropriate', which includes yoga, but not pilates  another popular form of body exercise. Some local villagers are boycotting the church in protest, according to The Metro.

So, is yoga in conflict with Christianity, or can it benefit a Christ-seeking spiritual life? Is it a harmless stretch, or a dark path to heresy?

What would Jesus do? Was yoga on his mind when he implored the crippled man: 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk'(John 5:8)?

Christian Today spoke with Libby, a 22-year old Christian student who's avidly practised yoga for six years. She's been wary of certain aspects of it, but maintains that much good can be found in the ancient art.

'A few of my friends questioned it. One of my ministers kind-of-jokingly said: "Are you sure that's an OK thing to be doing?"'

Libby says that yoga, a Hindu practice originally focused on attaining union with the god Shiva, 'undeniably has roots in eastern religion. It can be quite a spiritual thing.' But she adds, 'we are spiritual beings'.

She explains: 'It's a bit like Christmas. People say a lot of our traditions are from pagan winter solstice festivals. We use those traditions in our celebration of Jesus' birth.' She says that it ultimately comes down to 'heart and intentions'.

'The body is a temple, 'many say, riffing off Paul's message to the Corinthians that their bodies were temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Some see yoga as simple way to look after the body God made. Libby first sought it as an antidote for stress, and extols the physical health benefits of the exercise.

More than that she says, there's some wise philosophy in the yoga tradition, and the practice can actually enable a new way to worship.

She describes yoga as 'a physical practice of breath and movement where you're aware of the unity of your physical body and spiritual soul.

'It can definitely be worship. God had given us these bodies, [in yoga] you explore the capabilities of that body in a humble way. It's not about winning or succeeding.

'I'm naturally a striver, and want to be "good enough". In yoga, there is no "good enough"'. Yoga emphasises stillness, active presence and attentiveness, and a posture of humility. These can be a boon to Christian contemplation.

Yoga is centred on rhythms of breathing, which can provoke reflection on Christian theology, where God breathes life into human beings (Genesis 2:7). Libby says that breathing in and out draws her to a profoundly Christian contemplation of God: 'more of him, less of us', she says.

Sometimes she listens to sermons or prays while she does the exercises.

'It's not the be and end all of my life. It's a tool...just another thing we can use to worship God,' she says. When classes have veered away from physical exercises and into chanting words she doesn't understand, she says she felt uncomfortable and decided to leave.

The philosophy can be unchristian, Libby says. 'Some of it is very self-glorifying: "Thank yourself for coming here" they sometimes say. "All the power of the universe is inside of you." Well no, it's not.'

For Libby, her evangelical faith  centred on the value not found purely 'within', but in relationship with Jesus, with value given by God  is still central.

Some Christian groups have sought to appropriate the physicality of yoga with a Christian theology instead of a Hindu one, with initiatives like Holy Yoga and PraiseMoves. Some might say such attempts are offensive to the historic religious traditions. Libby thinks PraiseMoves is 'just a bit silly'.

There are worthy questions to consider when it comes to Christians doing yoga. For some particularly enamoured by New Age thinking, it may well be unhelpful. Libby advises those exploring the practice to remain aware (a key principle of yoga), and keep having conversations and praying about it.

She notes that anything in creation  anything made by God  can become an idol. Anything can be used for good too. True idolatry, she says has less to do with the substance of certain objects than it does our relationship to them. Golden calves aren't inherently evil, Libby says  we just shouldn't worship them.

You can follow @JosephHartropp on Twitter
Eastern European leaders oppose Muslim migration, say Islam has no place in their Christian nations

Islam does not belong in Christian Europe. This is the expressed consensus of Eastern European leaders even as tens of thousands more refugees from violence-wracked and conflict-ridden Muslim nations in the Middle East and Africa continue to knock on Europe's doors.

CBN News reports that Hungary has built a 175-kilometre razor-wire fence along its southern border. It has also deployed 10,000 police and soldiers along its border and is reportedly recruiting 3,000 "border-hunters" equipped with pepper spray and loaded pistols to stop refugees from entering.

These moves prompted one European leader to remark that "Hungary is not far away from issuing orders to open fire on refugees," a statement that was, however, denied by Hungarian officials.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made it clear though that "those arriving have been raised in another religion, and represent a radically different culture."

Writing in an opinion piece for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, Orban pointed out that most of the refugees are Muslims. "This is an important question, because Europe and European identity is rooted in Christianity," he said.

Orban reminded Hungarians and other Eastern Europeans of the time in history when Muslims occupied their lands. He asked his countrymen to show the same courage as their ancestors "in the war against the Ottoman armies."

Following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, much of Eastern Europe fell under Muslim occupation for centuries.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is even more direct, saying that Islam has no place in his country and that Muslim migrants cannot be allowed to "change the character of our country," according to the Washington Post.

"The idea of multicultural Europe has failed... The migrants cannot be integrated, it's simply impossible," he stressed.

Poland says it favours accepting only Christian refugees. "An individual who arrives in Poland must demonstrate that he or she can integrate in our culture and society. Therefore, we can place greater hopes that Christian refugees have more potential to assimilate," Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said in an interview with The Middle East Eye.

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn believes that many Muslims ultimately want to conquer Europe.

"Is this a third Islamic attempt to conquer Europe? Many Muslims say that Europe is at the end," Schonborn said in a recent sermon, according to the Catholic Herald.
Franklin Graham laments global 'Christian genocide', claims 100,000 are killed annually for their faith

Franklin Graham has called Christians to stand against the global 'Christian genocide', saying that 100,000 believers are killed every year for their faith.

Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse and an outspoken conservative evangelical commentator, was speaking as he opened a four-day conference in Washington to draw attention to the suffering of the persecuted Church, according to Religion News Service.

'It is safe to say over than 100,000 a year are killed because of their faith in Christ. In the last 10 years that would be close to a million people. It's the equivalent of a Christian genocide,' he said.

'I am sure the number of Christians who are in prison or martyred each year would stagger our mind if we really knew what the total number really was. And it would send us to our knees in sorrow and in prayer.'

It isn't clear what Graham's figures  which the conference called a conservative estimate are based on.

Open Doors, which also advocates for the persecuted Church, estimates that about 4,000 are annually killed for their faith.

'In the name of tolerance, Christians are often treated with intolerance because they stand for moral purity and they stand for God's truth. In the name of patriotism, Christians are often treated as unpatriotic because they follow a higher authority, almighty God,' Graham told his audience at the World Summit in Defense of Christians.

Graham highlighted the spectre of global persecution as well as the 'threat' of militant Islam to the Church.

Around 600 people from 136 countries have gathered for the conference, which draws delegates from regions of persecution such as Egypt, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

On Thursday the assembly will host US Vice President Mike Pence.

Other speakers opening the gathering included Metropolitan Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Pope Francis' US representative, and the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Egypt, the Rev Mouneer Hanna Anis.

Anis emphasised the power of forgiveness in the face of violent opposition.

'The forgiveness that has been expressed by families of martyrs is the most powerful witness in the face of terrorism,' he said.
How are Christian leaders reacting to Trump's firing of FBI Director Comey?

As the political temperature rises, politicians from both sides of the aisle are staking out their positions on James Comey's firing.

President Donald Trump removed the director of the FBI from his position earlier this week sparking a firestorm of reaction in Washington DC and beyond.

Prominent Christian leaders have been having their say too.

With 81 per cent of white evangelicals voting for Trump in November, he retains a significant base of support among that community. Some of their leaders have been the most vociferous in support of Comey's firing this week.

'Comey's fired, which means Trump must be one of the few people in DC that the FBI doesn't have something on,' tweeted former pastor and Governer of Arkansas Mike Hukabee.

Ralph Reed, the veteran Religious Right campaigner, tweeted out a Wall Street Journal article, saying, 'WSJ: Comey's Deserved Dismissal. Comey repeatedly violated DOJ guidelines & politicized the FBI.'

There has been strong concern from other Christian voices, though. Rev Jim Wallis, of Sojourners, a former Obama adviser, tweeted: 'It's completely clear that Comey's firing is a function of Trump's inability to control him and Comey's role in the Russia investigation'.

Writer Rachel Held Evans, meanwhile, didn't hold back, tweeting, 'I don't wake up mad at Trump. I wake up mad at the Republicans/ evangelical enabling his lies, racism, sexual predation, & authoritarianism.'

Christian senators such as Ted Cruz, an evangelical, and Tim Kaine, a Catholic, have also been weighing in.

Meanwhile, it was reported this week that Comey has been recently posting on Twitter under the pseudonym Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the most well-known Christian public intellectuals of the 20th century, on whom he wrote his senior undergraduate thesis.
Is The Russian Orthodox Church A Propaganda Channel For Putin?

The European Union Parliament could be on a collision course with Russia  including the Russian Orthodox Church.

A draft resolution which is being debated discusses the role of Russian propaganda, through channels such as the RT television news channel. It also names the Church as an agent of government messages.

Since being restored after the end of Communist rule, the Russian Orthodox Church has become more and more closely associated with the Russian government. President Putin and the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow are known to be close.

The EU initiative comes from a Polish politician, Anna Fotyga. Poland, a heavily Roman Catholic country, is known to be nervous about Russia's possible aggression on its borders.

The draft resolution says: "The Russian authorities are actively using a wide range of tools, including multilingual channels (like RT), news agencies, social and religious groups (including the Russian Orthodox Church, social networks and internet-bots), to challenge Western values, to divide Europe and to gain support in their own country."

The Russian regime has been accused of interfering with the American presidential election in an unprecedented way. Putin's administration is also accused of human rights abuses and stifling free speech within Russia as well as an expansionist foreign policy  in Ukraine, Georgia, and other areas of Eastern Europe.
Jewish leaders say Belgian ban on kosher slaughter is worst assault on their rights since Nazis

European rabbis have condemned a decision by the French-speaking Walloon parliament in Belgium to ban kosher and halal meat.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, head of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, said in a statement: 'I can assure the Walloon parliament's environment committee members that my community is sickened.'

He spoke out after a committee decision to ban from September 2019 all slaugher of livestock that takes place without the animals first being stunned. The decision will be voted on in plenary this month.

The Flemish parliament has indicated that it will follow suit.

In his statement Rabbi Margolin said: 'For too long in Europe Jewish people lived as second class citizens, depending on the goodwill of those in power, people that never really respected the Jewish People and their traditions. We assumed that these days were in the past given that EU legislation enshrines freedom of religion as a basic right. We were led to believe that this was intractable.'

He asked: 'What trust can we have from those in power when they renew a needless attack on the Jewish people and our way of life?

'The community will not just stand by and let this happen. We are resolute that the Jewish way of life, including kosher slaughter, will be retained as an integral part of our personal freedom.'

Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said in a statement to Christian Today: 'There was a time when we could all recognise who was anti-Semitic. They were from the far-right or the far-left. In recent elections these groups have suffered significant losses; Le Penn in France, Wilders here in the Netherlands and UKIP in the UK.

'The problem now is that centrist parties are adopting these policies to attract voters. The recent bans on religious practice in Norway and in the Wallonia region of Belgium were enacted not by extremists but by centre left parties. We have to ask ourselves, is faith under attack from the political centre?'

'If the answer is yes, this presents a new danger to our communities and we need to fight it in the same way that we have fought extremism.'

Philippe Markiewicz, president of the Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium, said the decision was 'a grave moment in the history of Belgian Jewry'.

The European Jewish Congress said it was 'the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights in Belgium since the Nazi occupation', according to Evangelical Focus.

Denmark and Switzerland already prohibit ritual slaughter, where a butcher slaughters an animal by cutting its throat and draining its blood. Animal rights campaigners argue that for humane reasons, the animals should first be stunned.
Olive trees are a sign of hope as rebuilding starts in devastated Nineveh towns

Ceremonies in three Christian towns in Iraq's devastated Nineveh Plain on Monday marked the start of work to rebuild up to 13,000 homes damaged or destroyed by fighting.

Work has begun on the first 100 homes, supported by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Each of the owners of the homes was presented with olive trees to be planted near them as a symbol of peace and reconciliation, according to the Zenit news service.

The ceremonies took place in the Christian towns of Bartella, Karamless and Qaraqosh, badly damaged by Islamic State. Members of the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee, which includes members of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Syriac Catholic Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church, were present.

Father Andrzej Halemba, head of the Middle East desk for for ACN, described the the launch of Nineveh plain rebuilding effort as 'a historic and unrepeatable occasion for the future of Christianity in Iraq'.

He said: '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 and who have been living in makeshift conditions in Erbil and other towns of Iraqi Kurdistan.'

He continued: "This is a decisive historical moment. If we now miss the opportunity to help the Christians return to their homes on the Nineveh plane, these families might well decide to leave Iraq forever. That would be an enormous tragedy.

'The presence of the Christians in this region is of vital importance, and not only historically, but also politically and culturally. The Christians represent a bridge of peace between the various Muslim groups that are fighting each other; Christians make a crucial contribution to the educational system and are respected by all moderate Muslims.'

Syriac Catholic Archbishop Yohanna Petros Mouche, who presented olive trees in the ceremony at Quaraqosh, said: 'We do not want to pay attention to the voices of those who would discourage us because they want to prevent the reconstruction. We stand by our decision to return, despite all the challenges that await us. Christ is our tower of strength that gives us hope. We must persevere, because this is our soil and our heritage.'
Pope travels to Portugal to canonise two children of Fatima who saw visions of the Virgin Mary

Pope Francis has sent a special video message to the people of Portugal as he prepares to travel to Fatima to canonise on Saturday two of the three children who saw six visions of a woman dressed in white, believed to have been the Virgin Mary.

The first vision was in May, 1917.

The two children being canonised, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, are the two who died young, in 1919 and 1920, just a couple of years after their last vision. The third child, their cousin Lucia, became a nun and died in 2005, aged 97.

In a video message, released today, Pope Francis says: 'Just hours from my pilgrimage to Our Lady of Fatima, I find myself in a state of joyful expectation for our upcoming encounter at the house of the Mother.'

He says he is sorry he could not respond to the many invitations to visit people in their homes.

He adds: 'I thank you for the understanding with which my decision to keep my visit circumscribed to the Fatima Sanctuary, where I hope to meet you at the feet of the Virgin Mother, has been received.

'It is in my role as universal pastor that I am about to present myself to her and I need to feel you close, physically or spiritually so that we are one heart and one mind.'

He has adopted as his logo for the visit: 'With Mary, I come as pilgrim in hope and in peace.'

He describes himself in the video as 'a sinner amongst sinners'.

Up to a million people are expected to attend the canonisation on Saturday at the shrine for the children, who received messages from the woman in white that came to be known as the three secrets of Fatima.

More than eight in 10 of Portugese are Catholic.

The three secrets, eventually written down by the third child who became a nun, were said to be about Hell, the two World Wars and the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II.

Father Vitor Coutinho, deputy head of the sanctuary of Fatima, said the Pope was showing the importance of Fatima to the church by carrying out the canonisation there rather than in Rome, where they are usually done.

'Therefore he is confirming that a life lived in the light of the spirituality of Fatima can lead to sainthood,' he said.

Huge concrete blocks have been erected around the sanctuary to protect it and the crowds from possible terror attack.

Additional reporting by Reuters
Sorry Secularists, But Yes, The UN Can Be Led By A 'Fervent Catholic'

Should being a practising Christian bar you from holding a top diplomatic job? And is the Church a force for bad or good in the world?

Like around 85 per cent of his fellow countrymen, the former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is a Catholic. He has also just unanimously been appointed by the UN General Assembly as its next Secretary General.

And in an interesting and carefully worded piece for the Huffington Post, the executive director of the UK National Secular Society, Keith Porteous Wood, has raised some objections and warnings.

Wood prefaces his comments with the statement that, "We need the best person for the job regardless of their religion or belief." He also praises Guterres' widely acclaimed work as the UN High Commissioner for refugees.

But he begins his critique by citing a report by the Agence France Press which describes Guterres as a "fervent Catholic". Wood goes on: "[The report] says that while he allowed a referendum in 1996 on liberalisation of Portugal's strict anti-abortion laws, his opposition to any change in the law contributed to the referendum's failure."

Aside from the very loaded use of the word "failure" here, it's worth remembering that referendums are very major events in politics, not granted lightly, and their results can often go dramatically against incumbent governments, as we have learned recently in the UK. It would have been surprising had the then prime minister not taken a position. Like Guterres, David Cameron backed the status quo in the EU membership referendum earlier this year (as, incidentally, he did in the widely forgotten electoral reform referendum of 2011). Doubtless many of Portugal's nine million Catholics were against holding such a referendum in the first place (the decision was, as Wood points out, overturned in a subsequent referendum in 2007).

"Abortion will have featured little if at all in Mr Guterres' activities on refugees, but will be important in the culture war raging at the UN alongside issues associated with contraception and homosexuality," writes Wood. "These are also areas where conservative Catholic doctrine comes into conflict with individuals' human rights."

As well as pre-empting the positions of a man who has yet to begin his new role, this, of course, skates over the "human rights" of the unborn. Wood's article then goes on a long and somewhat bizarre diversion into the world of Vatican diplomacy.

It is almost as if Guterres  who by all accounts is a very good listener, according to this commendably balanced article by the BBC's Lyse Doucet  is himself representing the Holy See itself.

"The Vatican may be the smallest state in the world but is very active at the United Nations," Wood writes. "At the Human Rights Council, it is the only country I have seen that always has two representatives in the chamber listening to every syllable as though their lives depend on it, handing over the headphones to each other like relay runners do the baton."

Wood concludes: "When acting as Secretary General I would urge Guterres to embrace rather than obstruct the expansion and strengthening of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Gay Rights. The world will be watching and hoping fervently that he will not be unduly influenced by regressive religious forces."

It is unclear whether Wood considers the pope to be among those "regressive religious forces". But as it happens, Pope Francis has been at the forefront of global efforts in highlighting the plight of refugees, of Syria and of the poor and disadvantaged around the world.

Further, as the former British Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell has highlighted: "The Catholic Church alone is reckoned to be the world's second largest international development body after the UN. More than 50 per cent of the hospitals in Africa are operated under the auspices of faith-based organisations. The Catholic Church in Africa is responsible for nearly one quarter of health care provision, including over 25 per cent of HIV care worldwide. In education too the Catholic Church is a huge provider. It provides places in school to some 12 million children each year."

The Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies produced a prophetic report on religion and foreign policy in July 2007, saying that "miscalculating religion's role has sometimes led to failure to anticipate conflict or has actually been counterproductive to policy goals. It has kept officials from properly engaging influential leaders, interfered with the provision of effective development assistance and at times harmed national security."

The former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright has said that "since the terror attacks of 9/11, I have come to realize that it may be I who was stuck in an earlier time. Like many other foreign policy professionals, I have had to adjust the lens through which I view the world."

And as Campbell points out: "The late Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington argued that some of the religious movements helped to usher in the "third wave" of democracy in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Sub Saharan Africa and Asia from the 1970s to the early 90s. The US Council of Foreign Relations cites more than 30 of the 80 countries that became freer in 1972-2000, owed some of that improvement to religion. For example, in Nicaragua and El Salvador, Christian Churches played a prominent role within the reformist and revolutionary movements of the 1980s. In the 1990s, religion, ethnicity and nationalism collided with devastating force in the Balkans. In the Philippines, Cardinal Sin and Catholic organisations openly condemned the Marcos regime."

It may be unfashionable to say it, but when it comes to these issues, the Catholic Church as well as the wider Church often are and can be progressive forces in international relations.

Contrary to Wood's analysis, in a world broken by war, it would surely be a mistake for the UN Secretary General to ignore religion in his new role.
The Church In London Is Growing: Here Are 5 Things It's Getting Right

The Bishop of London has retired after 22 years in the job. A towering figure, warm tributes were paid to him at a packed-out St Paul's Cathedral last night.

Those tributes included reflections on how the Church of England in London has gone from decline to growth and from infighting to an outward looking and positive plan. The Economist says: "Weekly participation in Christian services in the capital has grown by 16 per cent since 2005."

The Church of England is, of course, only part of the story of the Church in the capital city. As someone's who's bemoaned the dominance of London over the rest of the country before, it's now time to acknowledge what London is getting right and what the rest of the country and beyond can learn from the Church in the great world city.

Leadership

Churches in London are led by entrepreneurial characters. From the big names, such as the Bishop of London himself, to leading Pentecostal pastors such as Pastor Agu Irukwu of Jesus House, London has leaders who are willing to take risks and to pursue growth in their churches.

They aren't merely glorified managers, though. There are theologians, such as Graham Tomlin, the Bishop of Kensington. There are brilliant communicators like Lucy Winkett, of St James Piccadilly. There are also many, many servant-hearted leaders whose names will be unfamiliar, but who work tirelessly.

Immigration

Immigration has been a boon to the Church in London. On any given Sunday, it's easy to walk the streets and see Nigerians, eastern Europeans and South Americans all dressed up for church.

Within my own parish in east London, there is a Lithuanian Catholic congregation, a Spanish speaking church, two pentecostal congregations and an independent evangelical group pastored by an American. That's in addition to the diversity within our own congregation.

This diversity has boosted flagging denominations and given new life and vibrancy to the London Church scene.

Diversity

Immigration is responsible for much ethnic diversity as well as a huge range of worship styles across the capital. Yet the diversity goes well beyond that. Churchgoers in London are 10 years younger, on average, than the rest of the country. This is partly because London has a younger demographic anyway, but it's also due to the range of churches which offer young people a place to feel at home.

The diversity in types of worship available is unrivaled anywhere in the world. With two Roman Catholic cathedrals, two Anglican cathedrals and any number of other options for Orthodox, Lutheran, Coptic and other traditions, there is always a type of worship to suit you. Alongside this the arena-type services of Hillsong and other independent evangelical churches mean that all types of Christian expression are here.

Rich and poor worship in churches in London  although there is much more to do to get them to meet alongside each other regularly.

Ecumenism

Ecumenism isn't a very exciting word to many. But London shows what it can look like on the ground. When Church of England, pentecostal and independent congregations can come together to fill large venues in joint services it's a great witness.

Similarly, when there is such obvious respect between more traditional denominations, there is a practical ecumenism which develops. Instead of sitting around discussing their differences in theology, churches are uniting to staff food banks, offer credit union access points, get out with Street Pastors and much more besides. Of course this is happening in other places too, but in many ways London leads the way. Organisations such as Citizens UK, which has pioneered the Living Wage Campaign and work for more affordable housing, bring together hundeds of London's churches.

Prayer

There's a daily rhythm of prayer in London that probably isn't matched by many cities around the world. With thousands of churches across the city praying every day, it's hard to quantify the impact. Yet what's for sure is that for hundreds of years, there have been daily prayers from faithful Christians.

Churches dot the cityscape. Standing outside Westminster Abbey, the heart of the Anglican establishment in London, you're only a stone's throw from Methodist Central Hall Westminster (where the UN was founded), and just minutes from the centre of Roman Catholicism for England and Wales at Westminster Cathedral. Evangelical churches like the Emmanuel Centre and Westminster Chapel are just yards away. And so it goes on. Surely the combined prayers of these saints for their city over hundreds of years have made a difference?

Of course, not all of this list is replicable. Some factors are unique to London and could be difficult to reproduce in other urban areas, let alone the countryside. But London needn't be replicated. It can simply serve as an example for what might be possible in contexts around the country and the world.

Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy
Last spring, as part of a package of controversial union reforms, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker gave government workers the right to opt out of paying union dues. Reformers have tried to encourage that right elsewhere, claiming that many union members arent happy with how their dues get spentand that claim is bolstered by a recent poll. Taken over the summer by Harris Interactive, the poll found that 62 percent of Americans, and a remarkable 47 percent of respondents from union households, believe that union members dont get their dues worth from their unions. One reason, clearly, for the dissatisfaction is the unions expensive investment in political campaigns. In the Harris poll, 60 percent of those in union households said that labor groups were too involved in politics; 72 percent of all Americans agreed.

These views suggest that many union members must really be unhappy about the staggering resources that unions pour into politicsor, better put, Democratic politics. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the dozen biggest unions have spent some $384 million on federal political campaigns alone over the last 20 years, and only 3 percent of that money has gone to Republicans. By contrast, about 40 percent of union members typically vote Republican.

Unionsespecially government unionshave provoked further ire by venturing into political areas unrelated to members interests. Over the years, unions in California, for instance, have used members money to fund campaigns on issues ranging from abortion to immigrants rights. In one particularly notable case, unions spent some $2 million in 2008 to defeat Proposition 8, an initiative that defined marriage as an act between a man and a woman. An exit poll subsequently showed that 56 percent of voters in union households backed the initiative.

Surprisingly little union money goes toward representing workers on workplace issues. In California, government workers who dont want their dues spent on political campaigns can ask to pay only an agency fee, which is supposed to include solely the cost of representing workers; the fee is typically about 55 percent of the full dues. Some experts think that the cost of representing workers is even less. The Heritage Foundations James Sherk estimated in 2006 that the nations ten largest unions expended, on average, only about 30 percent of dues on representing workers.

Hoping to tap members discontent, reformers have tried to impose limits on how unions can spend dues. In the mid- and late 1990s, antiunion forces launched a dozen campaigns in states to enact so-called paycheck-protection laws, which required unions to ask members permission before spending their money on politics. Most of those efforts failed narrowly, including Californias Proposition 226 and Oregons Ballot Measure 59 in 1998. California taxpayer groups tried again in 2005 with Proposition 75, but it, too, went down to defeat. Labor and its allies expended a staggering $54 million to fight the initiative, outspending opponents by a ten-to-one margin.

Union leaders, who gain much of their political muscle from members resources, have good reason to fear such legislative reforms. In 2006, Sherk studied the five statesIdaho, Michigan, Utah, Washington, and Wyomingthat had enacted paycheck-protection requirements and estimated that they had cut union spending on politics in half in those states.

Until now, union members in most states have generally opposed paycheck protection. But the latest Harris poll suggests that attitudes toward big labors spending patterns are changing across Americaincluding in union households.
Lets start off by being appreciative -- thanks to all of those who attended for supporting our programs and events! Our annual fundraiser Dinner Theater and Matinee Luncheon were held last weekend. Friday nights Fiesta was a sell-out and Saturdays luncheon was so much fun. In addition to the first-ever Matinee opportunity, we were entertained by CUTCs Murder Mystery Seven Corpse Dinner cast. Two changes new to our event -- and two that were triumphant!

MUCH thanks to our wonderful sponsors: AARP Illinois, Koerner Distributor, Copper Creek Cottages, and The Villas of Holly Brook. These companies/organizations are supporting partners of your LifeSpan Center and the programs and events we offer. We can continue to do what we do because they and others like them are generous and big-hearted. They inspire us!

Inspiration. What inspires you? What makes you smile and warms your heart? Merriam Webster defines Inspiration as: the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions; the act of influencing or suggesting opinions. OK, now. Dont be too quick to dismiss me just yet. Please bear with me

Waking up after a tough night (lack of sleep), I was looking for something to motivate me. You know something to chase away the less-than-stellar attitude Monday mornings can bring about for many of us. I found exactly the boost I needed: Train your mind to see the good in everything.

Kind of a tough one sometimes. We all have the power to change our minds -- and change our attitudes. Simple as that sounds, it isnt always the easiest thing to do. We let negativity into our thoughts -- doubt and worry and, before we know it, were unhappy. Dont go there!

It should be no surprise to hear that Mothers Day is coming up this weekend. Moms inspire change. There is a spirit to motherhood that nurtures, that emits compassion and loves unconditionally. We all can benefit from understanding the nature of the female and how it operates in work, romance, parenting, and community.

Sometimes we just need to let change happen and accept it. No matter how much you try to control something, avoid a disaster or make something happen, letting go is most important for your sanity and stress level. And along the way, youll probably notice something: letting go can pave the way for everything to end up working out perfectly in the end.

And I know what you're thinking; I used to snicker when I'd hear peace-and-love-mumbo-jumbo like this too. Not anymore. The process of aging brings change. Author Rachel Jankovic says, "You should not spend your days trying to preserve your body in its eighteen-year-old form. Let it be used. By the time you die, you want to have a very dinged and dinted body... Scars and stretch marks and muffin tops are all part of your kingdom work. One of the greatest testimonies women can have in our world today is the testimony of giving your body to another."

For Mothers Day: A mothers sacrifice is her childs reward. They wont remember how clean your floors were. They will remember how you took time to sound out the words in their Winnie the Pooh book, or how you stretched out your arms and said, I love you. Remember this. Embrace change and let it inspire you!

The Coles County Council on Aging offices are located at the LifeSpan Center, 11021 E. Co. Rd. 800N, Charleston. The telephone number is 217-639-5150 for the Coles County Council on Aging and LifeSpan Center. Come join us each weekday at noon for Lunch at LifeSpan.
BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS/CORBIS

It has been two years since a new liberal breeze swept through New Yorks City Hall. After two decades of pragmatic leadership, Gotham had opted for a full-throated progressive mayor, a man who, in the hope of reducing inequality and helping the citys poor, favored traditional public schools; steep taxes on those making more than $500,000; a $15 local minimum wage; and extensive regulatory requirements for the construction industry, imposed in the name of affordability. As Bill de Blasio may have started to learn, however, mayors with such huge expectations have often overseen urban failure. In the sixties, liberal John Lindsays egalitarian mayoralty left New York with more dangerous streets and less balanced booksand no more equal. As the redistributive mayor of Detroit from 1974 through 1994, Coleman Younga hard-left politician who had supported Marxist Henry Wallace over Democrat Harry Truman in the 1948 presidential racewatched his city implode, burning itself every Devils Night and suffering nation-leading poverty and murder rates. The reason isnt hard to grasp. The core deliverables of city governmentsafe and clean streets, good schools, a favorable economic environmentare hard enough to achieve and maintain without also seeking to eradicate locally the inequalities that abound in our highly unequal world.

Still, the social forces that brought de Blasio to office are quite real. New York is indeed a highly unequal city, and it is filled with liberal voters, many of them young. The memories of the citys brush with bankruptcy and once-stratospheric crime rates are no longer keen. Thus, a meaningful center-right alternative to the new urban progressivisma force not just in New York but also in many other American citiesmust show how it can do more to fight poverty and promote economic mobility than can any liberal fix. This next urban agenda, which respects and draws on the power of free people and free markets, should seek to empower urban entrepreneurialism, build a competitive and regularly assessed urban education system, and unleash a vibrant market for labor and housing. Cities can lead the fight for economic opportunity but only if theyre places of private entrepreneurship and public innovation, not battlegrounds for class warfare.

In the 1930s, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New York appeared to illustrate how a good-government Republican could preside over a font of public largesse for the poor. Yet La Guardias spending was made possible by Franklin Roosevelts expansive New Deal agenda and federal, not city, tax dollars. When a La Guardia successor, John Lindsay, tried the same trick during the 1960s, he found that he couldnt balance the books. Lindsay dreamed of making New York a model of fairness and public competence, but the city became a model of neither. In 1965, the year that he was elected mayor, the city had eight homicides per 100,000 inhabitants; by 1973, his last year in office, 22 homicides took place per 100,000 inhabitants. He also presided over an explosion of city spending, which rose by over 90 percent in real terms during his two termsan increase far more dramatic than seen in other cities, like Chicago, that were led by less charismatic but more practical men. Lindsay also showed an inability to manage basic city services, such as clearing snow during a notorious 1969 noreaster.

Lindsay left the humiliation of New Yorks near-financial default to his successor, Abe Beame. Then, in the deadly summer of 1977, with the city reeling under a crime waveespecially the terrifying Son of Sam murdersand enduring hugely destructive riots after a power blackout, New Yorkers turned decidedly to the right, electing tough-talking Ed Koch. A pragmatic consensus began to emerge across America, where voters elected and reelected urban leaders known for competence rather than charisma. Some of these leaders were intrinsically liberal, like Bostons Thomas Menino, while others were more conservative, like Rudolph Giuliani, but their ideology was almost irrelevant. All were determined to improve the quality of basic urban services, and their efforts, taken as a whole, proved highly successful.

Ironically, their success enabled the return of the liberal mayor. Not just New York, but also San Francisco, Boston, and Washington, D.C., have all elected leaders who dream of doing far more than picking up the trash more efficiently. Perhaps above all, these new urban progressives aspire to close the gaps in wealth that exist between their cities richest and poorest residentsand they see local redistribution as the way to do it. Theres so much money out therethey reasonthat surely we can solve everything by hiking taxes on the wealthy and pouring taxpayer money into new social services. But their philosophy runs smack into a central theme of urban economics: heavily taxing the rich locally would just encourage them to move out, looking for friendlier tax environments in other cities or states. Coleman Youngs efforts to right social wrongs may have produced a more equal Detroitbut it was an equality of desperation, since wealthier Detroiters just moved outside the city limits. And how is it ethical or just for antipoverty programs to be paid for primarily by the neighbors of the poor? Why should person A, who lives in Wakefield in the Bronx, face a greater obligation to pay for poor kids in Harlem than an otherwise similar person B, who happens to live in Mount Vernon in Westchester, just 100 yards from the city border?

Yet if cities are terrible places for blunt redistribution, theyre terrific laboratories for innovation. Two decades ago, William Bratton experimented with Broken Windows policing while heading the Boston police force, before he brought this approach to New York under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and reduced the citys crime dramatically. Nearly a quarter-century ago, Milwaukees Democratic mayor John Norquist pioneered school vouchers. Today, post-Katrina New Orleans is showing what can be achieved when a dysfunctional public school system is replaced with an all-charter system.

A new urban opportunity agenda can experiment with various new ways to uplift the poor. If such experiments are carried out with limited cash outlays, they could create a model for national policy, too. After all, in the current environment, with Congress under Republican control, theres unlikely to be much federal enthusiasm for any new taxing and spending on social problems.

Nurturing entrepreneurialism should be a fundamental component in an opportunity agenda. Full of suppliers and customers, cities have always been great places for entrepreneurs. And entrepreneurship is a potent tool in fighting urban poverty because it provides a way for poorer residents to help themselvesoften by creating jobs or offering services for their own community. Think of immigrant neighborhoods, where starting a small grocery store or a nail salon has become a common path upward for many new Americans.

Fifty years ago, the economist Benjamin Chinitz argued that New York Citys resilience over time reflected the citys rich culture of entrepreneurship. A large body of subsequent research has supported this view. Places with an abundance of entrepreneurial energytypically measured by the number of small or new firmshave grown much more quickly than places with less entrepreneurship. This correlation holds within industries and within metropolitan areas. Private entrepreneurs, not public officials, power urban economies.

Yet while many agree that entrepreneurship is good for cities and their residents, little consensus exists about what policymakers can do to promote it, especially in high-poverty areas. Several plausible approaches present themselves, but hard evidence thus far is lacking on what actually works, or works best. We need innovation and evaluation to learn more.

The most commonly applied policy is based on public loans or loan guarantees for entrepreneurs. The federal Small Business Administration operates one such program, and states and cities often have similar initiatives. The typical rationale for these programs is that the lending market is marked by some kind of failure. Every start-up without financing complains that venture capitalists and banks are excessively conservative. Would-be entrepreneurs naturally feel that if their brilliant business models fail to attract funding, this must reflect a serious market imperfection. A more skeptical view would say that governments make bad venture capitalists and that it is surely wiser to leave early-stage business lending to professionals.

Unfortunately, we have no examples of truly randomized lending, which is what would be necessary in order to evaluate whether the government loan programs worked. Absent such experiments, the best we can do is to compare companies that received such aid with similar firms that didnt, and see how they fared. Together with Nina Tobio, Ive done such a comparison with a Massachusetts program that extends loans to particular businesses. Using Dun & Bradstreet data, we matched the government loan recipients with comparable firms that didnt get loans and found that the loan recipients had slightly less employment than the non-recipients, though the results werent statistically significant. The findings, though, broadly support business thinker Joshua Lerners survey of public entrepreneurship programs, Boulevards of Broken Dreams, which found little evidence that they do much good.

Still, such loan initiatives operate all over urban America and badly need more rigorous evaluation. Heres a suggestion that would give us some needed information. Combine various loan programs into an Office of Urban Entrepreneurial Support, at least on a temporary basis. The office could then solicit applications for loans and privately select a group of deserving businesses somewhat larger than the number of firms that actually get the loans. Within the overall group, which would represent a big sample size because it brings together multiple initiatives, one could randomize the loan support. You would have similar firms receiving and not receiving loans, in other words, and be able to follow the companies development. The effect of government loan-making to businesses could thereby be properly evaluated. In principle, this program could also determine where lending is more effective (if effective at all) by looking at subgroups of firmsto see, say, whether retail firms or tech start-ups or some other category of company produced the most employment gains.

For free-market supporters, regulatory relief is a better way to help urban entrepreneurs. Older cities, especially, they explain, have added layer upon layer of business regulations, many of which loom as obstacles when one is trying to get a business up and running. A recent report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation shows just how hard it has become to start a business in many American metro areas. An antiquated New York City law, for example, requires entrepreneurs to purchase two advertisements in local newspapers announcing the formation of new companies within 120 days, or risk suspension of their right to transact business. Getting permission to start new construction in San Francisco can take 175 days and cost more than $100,000 in administrative fees. One would reasonably assume that these kinds of rules discourage the formation of new businesses, though here, too, there is little hard evidence.

One way to tackle regulatory relief would be for cities to set up one-stop shopping for business permits. Instead of dealing with a dozen agencies to get the needed permissions to open, as is too often the case today, an urban entrepreneur could visit just one permitting authority to get the green light for a new business. The permitting authority might still draw on the expertise of the fire department or public-health officials for safety questions, but it would significantly speed up and improve the regulatory experience of start-ups.

Two leading models exist for one-stop permitting. The first is to have a public entity that has the power to issue the permitssuch as the Devens Enterprise Commission, formed in Devens, Massachusetts, after the closing of the Fort Devens military base in the mid-nineties. The alternative approach is for the entrepreneur to deal with a public agent who does the work of seeking permits from the various permitting bodies. New York Citys New Business Acceleration Team (NBAT) is an example of this model.

The Devens model is preferable. If a single entity has the power to permit, it can be held accountable if delays grow too long. Cities might require a one-stop permitting entity of this kind to render a verdict in 30 days. Such a deadline wouldnt work with the NBAT approach, since an agent lacks the power to ensure a speedy permit delivery.

As with the government loan-support idea, cities need to evaluate permitting processes rigorously. One experiment would be to set up a one-stop permitting authority (like Devens) that firms would need to apply to in order to receive regulatory relief. Some firms would be randomly chosen to receive the one-stop permitting; others would not. Then you could follow the firms and see if the ones that got the relief were more likely to succeedor whether moving quickly on permitting has any downsides. This wouldnt tell you anything, however, about whether extensive regulatory barriers led potential entrepreneurs to move to other areas, where opening was easier or less expensive. One therefore might want to run a one-stop permit shop limited to a particular neighborhood, perhaps a poor one. This would allow a comparison of entrepreneurship within and outside the district, to see if the regulatory relief encouraged more business formation.

Education is perhaps the most important tool in opening up greater economic opportunity for the urban poor. The correlation between schooling and earnings is one of the best-documented facts in economics. Yet the past two decades of education reform have taught us that improving urban public schools is anything but easy. Many administrative barriers and entrenched interestsabove all, powerful teachers unionsget in the way of fixing underperforming districts. Just throwing more money at the schools seems to do almost nothing to boost academic outcomes, as researchersmost notably, Eric Hanushekhave shown for decades.

We know that charter schoolspublic schools liberated from many union-derived restrictions, such as lockstep salary schedules and onerous work rules that too often deliver poor educational outcomescan meaningfully boost student test scores and, later in life, raise the income of those students. The positive educational impact of charters has been well chronicled. In 2009, Stanford economist Caroline Hoxby compared the standardized test results of students who won spots in New York City charter schools via lottery with those who entered the lottery but didnt get a spot (creating a naturally randomized sample). By the third grade, Hoxby found, the average New York charter student was 5.3 points ahead on state exams in English and 5.8 points ahead in math. Remarkably, by the time they entered high school, the charter students not only were outpacing their traditionally schooled peers in New York City; they were also performing nearly as well as students in the well-to-do communities of suburban Westchester. To increase the number of charters therefore seems like an obvious way forward on the school-reform front; the evidence behind them also makes that task more viable politically.

Progressives like Mayor de Blasio, who generally dont like charters, have championed universal early-childhood education as a way to improve the life chances of the poor. Such programs, when designed right, can have beneficial effects, though the long-term impact on inequality and poverty of even the most celebrated past examples remains disputed. (See Preschool Stories, Summer 2015.) If were going to introduce universal pre-K, though, especially in big cities like New York, the programs should be run by a wide range of providers, offering many different educational models. The city could then evaluate the providers and encourage emulation and expansion of successful practices. The failures would close.

An improved version of vocational education could be another major pillar in a new opportunity agenda. The ideal of vocational ed is clear and compelling: schools should teach studentsabove all, those who dont intend to go to collegeeconomically valuable practical skills, whether carpentry or machine work or writing computer code. Forty years ago, the political scientist Edward Banfield made a forceful case for such training in his classic The Unheavenly City, contending that liberal arts education was leaving too many students without skills marketable in the modern economy. One way to explain entrenched poverty, economic immobility, and joblessness is that too many children are indeed growing up without developing much usable human capital.

But prominent vocational-education programs have shown significant downsides. In Boston, for example, Madison Park High School was an ambitious dream of the 1960sa vast vocational school that Ed Logue, Bostons great redeveloper, claimed will give Latin School [the citys premier magnet school] a run for its money. In 2014, though, just 24 percent of the schools tenth-graders scored proficient or higher in mathMassachusettss average is 79 percentand less than 5 percent of the students were proficient or higher in science or tech. Massive administrative failures have plagued the school. Students didnt receive their class schedules last fall until a week after school had opened; parent protests finally pushed the administration into action. Then, the principal resigned after it turned out that she had never filled out the paperwork for certification in Massachusetts. Her predecessor had been placed on administrative leave in 2013 because of a federal investigation into his alleged role in a credit-fraud ring.

These travails tell the story of only one troubled institution, but vocational training runs into structural difficulties in any traditional public school. The teacher tenure system in place in most public schools, which rewards seniority above all, is less problematic when teaching math or history, the basics of which may have changed little in 40 years, than when trying to instruct kids in, say, computer programming. To be valuable, vocational skills must constantly adapt to market conditions, and that is no easy task for the slow-moving bureaucracy of a typical public school system. Despite the good living that one can earn with in-demand vocational skills, moreover, some vocational schools acquire a stigma that causes ambitious students to avoid them. Poor test scores from those who remain can then repel good students even more, unleashing a cycle of failure.

A better model would again look to competition and evaluation, which leverage the urban assets of scale and diversity. Kids might continue to go to traditional schools, but they could also attend after-school vocational training programs, offered by independent institutionsincluding trade unions, for-profit schools, and employers. This would, in effect, lengthen the school day, imitating many successful charter schools, but the extra instruction would come from outside educators, not the standard teaching staff. The outside educators independence would facilitate specializationa real plus in vocational training. A short-term evaluation would test whether students had gained the skill in question. A long-term analysis would track the employment earnings of program graduatescrucial data in judging whether to expand the programs.

Numerous administrative issues would need to be resolved, including the location of training and how to fund it. But the basic point is that knowledge, not money, is the scarce resource in public education. Cities can provide more knowledge, whether in charter schools, pre-K, or vocational training, by encouraging innovation. The urban genius for creativity is lost when education is delivered by a single public monopoly supplier.

For many on the left, urban ills like long-term poverty and inequality and lack of affordable housing can be fixed by regulating businesses more aggressivelyafter all, they argue, the bad behavior of businesses helped cause those problems. So why not require firms to pay local living wages of $15 per hour? Why not require developers to build affordable housing as a condition of doing other business in the city?

The reason: just as with excessive local taxes on wealthy urbanites, its bad economics and dubious ethics. Sky-high minimum wages make it less appealing for firms to hire less skilled workers (or to locate in areas with such elevated minimums). Given the enormously high level of American joblessness, its hard to see the wisdom in making it more expensive for employers to hire ordinary workers. Its hard to see much social justice in such rules, too. Its a coherent worldview to believe that resources should be transferred from the richest members of society to the poorer ones. Redistribution may reduce the incentives to work or save and invest in education, but if ones taste for equality is strong enough, one can justify it. But what moral justification is there in saying that only the shareholders of Wal-Mart and other employers of low-wage workers should pay for those income transfers? And the burden of the higher mandated wages will ultimately fall on many of the customers of these businesses: less well-off urbanites. Higher wages increase production costs, and prices rise with costs. Redistributive regulation will force poorer city dwellers to pay more.

Such regulation also induces behavioral responses that often run completely counter to the intent of the regulation. Consider a fable. Imagine a magical kingdom that houses a thriving industry in which wizards compete to produce magic beans. One year, a drought reduces the supply of magic beans; prices rise for the beans that do get produced. In response, the king demands that all the wizards set aside one-quarter of their magic-bean output as affordable beans, sold at low prices to deserving friends of the king. Some wizards decide that they can do better elsewhere or by making something else, and the bean supply drops further. The king is shocked to find that, while he has managed to get some affordable beans grown, the free-market price of the beans has risen again. He responds with even stronger affordability requirements: one affordable bean shall be produced for every unregulated bean, he commands. More wizards exit the magic-bean business. Prices rise again. Finally, the fed-up king demands that five affordable magic beans be produced for every one free-market bean. By now, only one wizard is still growing the beans, and he made only six beans in all. But when he found that he couldnt sell the free-market bean for enough money to cover the costs of producing the five affordable beans, he skipped town, too. He met a young man named Jack, who was bringing a cow to market, and swapped his six beans for the animal. Jacks story is well known. The wizard took the cow to Vermont and started making artisanal cheese. The kingdom never again saw magic beans for sale.

The housing affordability policies that New York and other regulation-heavy cities embrace havent reached this extreme, but they carry the same risks. The market price of housing reflects supply and demand: less supply means higher prices. Requiring developers to set aside affordable units is implicitly a tax on development. Raising taxes on developers will reduce supply, and that will bring higher prices in the non-affordable sector of the housing market. And the same ethical issues arise in this context as they did with local living-wage ordinances. Why should one segment of the populationthose who build and buy new housingbear all the costs of providing affordable housing?

The solution to high housing costs isnt more regulation but more free enterprise. A relatively unfettered construction industry is the best hope for the building of sufficient housing supply to keep real-estate prices reasonable. If local politics does mandate affordable housing, the requirements should scale down with densitythat is, the more units a developer promises to construct, the fewer extra affordable units he should have to set aside. This gives him the incentive to build more. Cities also need to do a better job of making land available for high-density residential construction. (See Preservation Follies, Spring 2010.)

Another barrier to the building of new urban housing is the property tax. Currently, cities tax the total value of real estate on a site. If you build more, in other words, you pay more. More than a century ago, economist Henry George argued that taxing land made much more sense. He was right. A tax on the value of land can probably raise just as much money as a tax on real estate, but it doesnt deter construction.

Urban Americas problems of poverty and joblessness are real. Progressives have been elected to address those problems, but their simple big-government solutionsupdated but essentially the same as those tried in the pastare almost sure to fail. We need a more forward-looking urban-policy approach. Unleashing urban entrepreneurship, creating a richly competitive educational system providing everything from effective pre-K to up-to-date vocational training, and reducing barriers to building lower-cost housing and hiring less skilled workers should be primary elements of that approach. A brighter future for Americas cities would be the result.
Rosie Ferguson, chief executive of Gingerbread, has said that income from government contracts only just covers the costs of running services and revealed that her organisation has just embarked on a digital transformation programme in a bid to be more efficient.

Ferguson was speaking at the launch of the UK Civil Society Almanac 2017 earlier this week. She said that Gingerbread, which is a charity that provides support, advice and advocacy for single parents, will see its income grow from 3m to 4m, driven partly by contracts with various government departments.

However, she added that while trustees are pleased we are growing, the reality is these contracts are only just covering costs.

This means that there is no space for detailed evaluation or innovation, she said.

She also said it means that there is little consistency in what were able to deliver.

Ferguson said government contracts all require match funding, which means the charity has been using its core funding to match fund in order to win them.

During the event, NCVOs director of public policy and volunteering Karl Wilding warned that it was medium sized organisations which are most under pressure.

Digital transformation programme

Ferguson told the audience that Gingerbread has just embarked on a digital transformation programme to help it become more strategic.

She said digital offers huge scope for the sector, and that Gingerbreads trustees have committed 250,000 to invest in skills and resource that we need.

Gingerbread hopes to able to deliver greater reach and impact with digital services, which will also be cheaper than face to face.

Ferguson also stressed the importance of putting data at the heart of sector thinking, saying that data helps to demonstrate the impact organisations are having.

Impact measurement isnt just about fundraising, she said - it helps to really understand who were working with and delivering for and learn from it.

Civil Society Media is hosting its Charity Technology Conference on 9 November 2017. For more information, and to book, click here.




Overnight, a draft version of Labours election manifesto was leaked to the press. CAF's Steve Clappeton looks at five key things weve learned from their proposals as they stand.

1. Scrapping the Lobbying Act

The Lobbying Act, introduced before the 2015 election, makes it more difficult for charities to speak up for their beneficiaries and advocate on their behalf at elections. Perhaps more than the actual legislation itself, what is particularly troubling is the tone taken around the Act, which has led many charities to err on the side of caution and refrain from undertaking legitimate activities because they feared breaching it. Lord Hodgsons review and proposed changes to the Lobbying Act received widespread support across the sector; Labours reaffirmed commitment to scrapping it will be even more popular.

2. Using charities to develop international ties

As the UK leaves the European Union, our place in the world becomes a little less certain. The Government is increasingly looking to soft power as a way of influencing the international agenda, and the ties UK-based charities operating overseas develop can help to promote the principles and values that we hold dear. Labours commitment to retaining the 0.7 per cent aid spending commitment will be popular amongst charities, as will putting civil society organisations at the heart of strengthening communities in the Global South. The UK is viewed as a global leader for our civil society, and rightly so; we should build on this and use our resources to help other countries create the environment to allow their own civil society to flourish.

3. A vacuum for volunteering

Despite being  like all political parties  essentially powered by volunteerism, there is little acknowledgement of the important contribution that volunteering and social action makes to society. Although talking the language of community empowerment, there is surprisingly little about how to get more people of all ages involved in taking action to improve their own community. Over eight million people a year volunteer in the UK and contribute a great deal across the country. Unlocking even more of our collective volunteering potential could have a transformative effect on society, but collaborative action between government and charities is needed to make that happen.

4. Action to tackle loneliness

Loneliness is a growing social problem that the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness, amongst others, is taking the lead in tackling. Labours draft manifesto seeks to bring communities, business and civil society together to tackle it. There is a cross-party consensus on the need to tackle loneliness, and bringing together different sectors is an important step to delivering practical solutions. CAFs proposed Post-Careers Advice Service suggests increasing volunteering opportunities as a way of reducing levels of loneliness and improving peoples health and wellbeing. The Labour Party is correct to put civil society front and centre of efforts to address this growing social problem.

5. A missed opportunity?

Many of the issues that the Labour draft manifesto discusses are ones where charities have so much to offer. Whether its mental health, homelessness and housing, social care or community cohesion, charities are leading the way in coming up with the solutions. However, the draft manifesto says little about how a Labour government would utilise this experience, expertise and enthusiasm, and put our charity sector at the heart of delivering their plans for government. Charities, like all political parties, want to build a stronger Britain  parties need to maximise the contribution that they can make and deliver a cohesive vision for the role of charities in modern Britain.

Much of this is not a surprise  as CAFs own Rhodri Davies wrote in Civil Society in 2015, a Corbyn-led Labour Party always looked likely to be more at home with charity campaigning, with the role of charities in delivering public services less easily compatible with his ideology. Todays draft manifesto leak seems to render that early assessment correct  well be looking closely at the final document next week to see whether the party rethinks, and broadens the scope of the role it sees for charities.

Steve Clapperton leads the campaigns and public affairs team at Charities Aid Foundation.
Everyone acknowledges the importance of local news. No one wants to admit that news organizations are helping to kill it. Image: Henryk Sadura/Shutterstock.com

This may puzzle you, Warren Buffett wrote in his annual letter to stockholders in 2012, after buying 28 newspapers. It was more than puzzling. A headline in The Washington Post summed up the reaction from Wall Street and the journalism world: Warren Buffett buys newspapers. Is he nuts?

Buffett must have seen the distress. Advertising and profits of the newspaper industry overall are certain to decline, he said in the same letter. But he thought the price he paid for the papers$344 millionwas a bargain when measured against the overall quality of the merchandise. Though the internet had consumed help-wanted ads, real estate listings, baseball box scores, stock quotes, and even the comics, Buffett still thought newspapers would survive, and maybe even thrive: Newspapers continue to reign supreme in the delivery of local news, he wrote to his investors.

A readers eyes may glaze over after they take in a couple of paragraphs about Canadian tariffs or political developments in Pakistan, he continued. But that wasnt true for news about the mayor, crime, property taxes, the high school football team, the water department, the school boardeverything that made him a newspaper junkie growing up in small-town Nebraska and reading the Omaha World-Herald every morning at breakfast. At some point, Buffett believed, a new business model would emerge. Whatever works bestand the answer is not yet clearwill be copied widely, he wrote.

While he waited for that to happen, Buffett promised not to follow other newspaper owners in cutting costs to save money. There was no sense in selling lemonade made with fewer lemons. Skimpy news coverage will almost certainly lead to skimpy readership, he wrote. Our goal is to keep our papers loaded with content of interest to our readers and to be paid appropriately by those who find us useful, whether the product they view is in their hands or on the internet. Buffetts words bounced around newsroom inboxes as a ray of hope. Metro editors and reporters prayed he was rightand that their publishers would take notice. As newspapers hurried to churn out viral Web content to generate pageviews, here was one of the richest men in the world championing the most basic function of newspapers: the five Ws of local news.

RELATED: Print is dead. Long live print.

Turns out, maybe Buffett was actually a little nuts. Four years after his optimisticand, in hindsight, maybe naiveletter extolling the virtues and economic promise of local news, he has turned bearish on the industry. Local newspapers continue to decline at a very significant rate, he told Politico last year. And even with the economy improving, circulation goes down, advertising goes down, and it goes down in prosperous cities, it goes down in areas that are having urban troubles, it goes down in small townsthats what amazes me. . . . Newspapers are going to go downhill.

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So where did Buffettand newspapersgo wrong? Maybe the economics really are impossible to overcome. Maybe he overvalued the appeal of local news. Maybe publishers, nearly two decades after overlooking and then mismanaging the disruption of digital, are now mismanaging digital at a more micro level, chasing viral news for short-term gains (clicks) while ignoring the long-term consequences (survival). Maybe its all three. Whatever the case, its now as clear as 56-point type that newspapers are responding to the continued upheaval by shattering the very foundation of what news and newspapering have meant since the days of the penny press.

There was a time when there was no local news. News traveled by word of mouth in small towns, so country newspapers printed whatever news came from abroad by post. Newspapers in larger cities were typically controlled by political parties or commercial elites, printing partisan opinion columns or the comings and goings of ships. Columbia University journalism historian Michael Schudson, in his book Discovering the News, wrote that the business plans of newspapers were often expressed in their namesThe Boston Daily Advertiser, The Federal Republican, and the Baltimore Telegraph. They were sold by subscription for six cents an issue.

Around 1830, newspapers began appearing with the words herald and sun in their banners. Sold on the street for a penny, the papers broke not just from the subscription model but also from selling partisan or commercial dribble. Instead, they sold newscrime, politics, human interestand used their large audiences as bait to entice advertisers to buy daily spots in the paper. As printing technology, education, and small businesses evolved, so did competition, with many cities supporting more than a dozen daily newspapers. To compete for news, editors set up the beat system as it is known today, scattering reporters at various places where news of interest was madepolice stations, courts, churches, government offices.

Click on the graphic below to read about how newspaper delivery has changed over the years.

The strategy worked well for about 170 years.

Now, around the country, newspapers small and large are adjusting to the settled economics of the internetWeb traffic drives ad revenueto fundamentally alter how local news is covered. At The Boston Globe (where I once worked), Editor Brian McGrory sent a lengthy memo to his staff earlier this year describing how the Globe needs to jettison any sense of being the paper of record. New idea: We are the organization of interest. The Dallas Morning News swapped beats for obsessions, the word that online startup Quartz uses to describe its approach to covering the world. The Washington Post (where I currently work), The New York Times, and other metro papers have instructed local reporters to chase themes and ideas, while at the same time closing bureaus where their readers arethe suburbs.

Organization of interest. Obsessions. Themes. What does that mean in the newsroom? We will reimagine our beats, McGrory said in his memo, toward becoming relentlessly interesting. In other words, doing away with the fundamental beat system, which McGrory noted hadnt been refreshed in decades. At the Morning News, reporters are assigned to topics (breaking news, government, etc.), then pick an obsession within those topics, reporting on them broadly. At the Globe, Morning News, and other newspapers reorganizing local news coverage this way, the metaphor that comes up again and again is to think like a foreign correspondentmeaning dont cover the day-to-day piffle, but focus on colorful, explanatory enterprise.

Not surprisingly, the driver of this strategy is Web traffic. In the print-centric days, editors had no idea how many people read a story about the local school board appointing a commission to study the quality of cafeteria food. Now, with Chartbeat and other tools, editors can see exactly how many people click on those stories and how they are shared on social media, which is rapidly replacing paper as a platform for news. Not surprisingly, the numbers arent large. Editors have interpreted that to mean those stories are, as McGrory put it, an obligation that readers no longer feel obliged to read. The Morning Newss editors put it more bluntly: Getting something on the record is not a justification for writing boring stories that no one reads.

ICYMI: A hidden message in memo justifying Comeys firing

Were run-of-the-mill beat stories always a waste of time and money? That seems unlikely, given how newspapers essentially printed money for their owners for decades. Or has the internet, with its endless quantity and variety of content, devalued and even suppressed that coverage entirely? That would seem, on the surface, to be a plausible explanation. Clicks are essentially an up-or-down vote on the value of a given story. If people arent clicking, they arent interested, right?

Not exactly.

Several recent academic studies of online news consumers have taken a deeper, ethnographic approach to understanding reader behavior. Their findings show that counting story clicks is a misguided way to determine reader preferences. People engage in online user practices that do not necessitate clicks but do express interest in news, such as checking, monitoring, scanning, and snacking,  according to one study. This behavior is seen clearly when clicks are compared to the amount of time spent on new sites. In one study, local stories represented 9 percent of story clicks by readers. But measured in time spent, those stories accounted for 20 percent of their time on the site, about the same time readers spend on local news in print. Our findings thus support the argument that counting online clicks does not necessarily correspond to the audiences actual news interest, the Swedish researchers wrote. Another study of online readers in the Netherlands illuminated why. A frequent occurrence was that the participants showed interest in the news itself but the headline was informationally complete and consequently, they did not expect to be better informed by clicking, researchers wrote. Scanning, snacking, monitoringthere is value to local news beyond clicks.

When they arent making staffing moves that signal a retrenchment from their communities, they physically retrench, moving newsrooms away from the centers of cities or towns.

There are serious economic and practical implications to thinking otherwise. Local readers, particularly those who read in both formats, are the most engaged users of newspaper print editions and websitesstaying longer, consuming more stories, viewing more ads and, in the case of national outlets, subscribing at higher rates. Becoming less essential to loyal customers seems like a bad business idea if the business depends, like most do, on customers coming back. And if reporters no longer show up regularly to meetings, crime scenes, and other places where news is made, how can they build relationships with sources that inevitably lead not just to those broadly written enterprise stories that editors now covet, but to leaks and other paths to major accountability stories?

Newspapers keep showing they dont care. When they arent making staffing moves that signal a retrenchment from their communities, they physically retrench, moving newsrooms away from the centers of cities or towns. Its certainly true that publishers can no longer occupy property that is sometimes worth more than the newspaper, but as a local columnist might put it, the optics are really bad. The Cleveland Plain Dealer moved its newsroom to an office above a Hard Rock Cafe. The (Philadelphia) Inquirer moved its headquartersonce the biggest building in the cityto an abandoned department store. The Miami Heralds newsroom was so prominent downtown that people sometimes came to the lobby to kill themselves. The land was sold, the building imploded, and the newsroom was moved out near the airport.

Just because you dont see us, one Herald reporter said after the move, doesnt mean we arent here.

By here, he meant 12 miles away.

TRENDING: We tested paywalls at NYTimes, WSJ& WashPo and more. All of them were pretty leaky, except one.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Michael Rosenwald is a reporter at the Washington Post. He has also written for The New Yorker, Esquire, and The Economist. Follow him on Twitter @mikerosenwald.
Even at 21, he had a keen sense for the next story. In 1955 he headed to a tiny newspaper in Mississippi. Photo Courtesy Julia Halberstam

A month after David Halberstam graduated from Harvard University in 1955, he took a job as the lone reporter on Mississippis smallest daily newspaper, the West Point Daily Times Leader, circulation 4,000. Immediately after setting foot in the newsroom, he encountered Beulah Harris, the mother of the editor of the family-owned paper. She looked the 6-foot-3-inch, 21-year-old New Yorker up and down and smiled: The Lord Jesus Christ sent you here.

I, descendant of many centuries of illustrious rabbis, a line only recently broken by two or three generations of American renegades, looked at her in stunned surprise, Halberstam wrote in Esquire in 1981.  Of course He did, she said. Why else would you be here? I could not argue, and with that we became friends.

For Halberstam, that began a journey through the South and local newspapers that lasted until James Reston, then the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, noticed his work and hired him in 1960.

Halberstam, who died in a car accident in 2007 on his way to an interview in Menlo Park, California, will mostly be remembered for his landmark coverage of the Vietnam War, which won him the 1964 Pulitzer Prize at the age of 30, and his 21 books, including The Best and the Brightest and The Powers That Be. And then theres the sheer breadth of his coverage, from Civil Rights to the rivalry between his beloved New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Manhattan firefighters ravaged by 9/11, and rowers dreaming of Olympic glory.

But his stint as a local reporter served him well, and throughout his life he acknowledged the importance of that experience with a mix of affection and frustration. I learned to listennot to go through the motions of listening but to really listen, he said in a commencement speech at the University of Mississippi in 2005. I learned to respect people I often disagreed with in the most profound way.

Halberstam presumably had plenty of options as he approached the end of his college years and pondered what to do next. He was managing editor of The Crimson, Harvards campus newspaper, and for many people with his pedigree, it would have been easy to hop aboard the Ivy League express to a big-newspaper job in the Northeast, where he would have been right at home.

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There was no question that journalism was his calling. I wasnt good at anything else because I really had what we now call ADD. I can see myself in the sixth grade. If I had a teacher I didnt like or a subject that was not being well-taught, I can see myself flying out the window in boredom, he said in a 2005 interview with YES, the New York cable television network that carries Yankee games. And in college, I was a poor student, bottom third of my class. I was good at one thing: the college daily paper.

In what became a lifelong pattern, Halberstams curiosity drove him to where the action was, and he had a keen sense of where the next big story was going to happen. A year before he graduated from Harvard, the US Supreme Court ruled, in Brown v. Board of Education, that separate public schools for whites and blacks were unconstitutional. Halberstam wanted to cover the story that would soon dominate the nations domestic agenda: the Civil Rights Movement. As former New York Times reporter Clyde Haberman put it, Halberstam possessed a gift for finding nascent stories. In Civil Rights and the [Vietnam] War, he caught two of the biggest stories of our lifetime, says Haberman.

It is the fear of being alone on a story, of arriving once again in a new town or a new country, of knowing no one, of making calls and having no one return them.

Two weeks after Halberstam graduated from Harvard, he loaded up a 46 Chevy with his clothes, record player, and other necessities and headed south. He had arranged to work for Tom Karsell, an editor at the State Times in Jackson, Mississippi. Karsell and Halberstam had met the year before, when Karsell had been a Nieman fellow

at Harvard.

But by the time Halberstam arrived in Mississippi, Karsell had bolted to another newspaper. There was no job available. Halberstam stayed in his hotel room for three days, drawing inspiration from reading W.J. Cashs 1941 book The Mind of the South, and trying to figure out how to rebuild a career that had barely begun, he recalled in Esquire.

Finally, Karsell tipped him off to a reporting job in West Point, Mississippi, a small town about 150 miles away. It would be a far cry from The Hartford Courant and The Boston Globe, two papers that Halberstam had written for while at Harvard.

What engulfed me on that trip, a stark and total fear, has never really left me, Halberstam later wrote in Esquire. It is the fear of being alone on a story, of arriving once again in a new town or a new country, of knowing no one, of making calls and having no one return them.

The West Point Daily Times Leader paid Halberstam $45 a week, sweetening the pot by offering him another buck for each story he wrote about local Kiwanis club meetings. Halberstam was assigned to cover the rather mundane day-to-day goings-on in West Point and write 12 stories a daynot to chronicle the Civil Rights Movement. That kind of reporting would almost certainly have been bad for business. They were very nervous about having someone who was just out of Harvardnorthern, Jewish, Halberstam recalled in his interview with YES.

There were all sorts of black marks on his name, coming down here, says Curtis Wilkie, a former Boston Globe White House correspondent and author of Dixie: A Personal Odyssey Through Events That Shaped the Modern South. Two-thirds or three-fourths of the Civil Rights lawyers who came down here were Jewish and they were called outside agitators. David would have been Exhibit A.

Determined to tell the Civil Rights story, and unable to do so in the pages of the West Point paper, Halberstam freelanced for The Reporter, a liberal bi-weekly based in New York. He would drive to the other side of the state for the Emmett Till trial, not a side trip [Daily Times Leader Editor] Henry Harris would have approved of, says Wilkie, a longtime friend. (Till, a 14-year-old black visitor to Mississippi from Chicago in 1955, was lynched after being accused of flirting with a white woman. His murder became a symbol of southern injustice.) Harris didnt like Halberstam covering Civil Rights, Halberstam recalled in his Esquire article. If he had to freelance, Harris asked, why couldnt he write for Field & Stream or Outdoor Life?

I would have never felt comfortable doing it, says Wilkie. That just showed the courage and chutzpah that David had. He was willing to tackle any challenge.

Halberstam came into work one day in 1956 and was given a few hours to clean out his desk. His replacement had already been hired. I lasted 10 months, he told the late journalist John Egerton, author of the 2001 book, Nashville: An American Self-Portrait. The fact that I lasted any time at all seems amazing to me even now, considering that I was a 21-year-old Jewish kid just out of Harvard and deeply interested in a subject that Henry Harris, the editor, didnt think was a story at all and didnt want covered. . . . I still remember his exact words: I was free, white, and 21 and could go wherever I wanted.

Halberstam wasnt out of work for long.

He called Hodding Carter, II, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of The Delta Democrat-Times in Greenville, Mississippi, who told him about a job at The (Nashville) Tennessean. Carter, a well-known southern progressive, described the daily as the best stepping-stone paper in the country, and put in a word for Halberstam with Coleman Harwell, the Tennesseans editor.

So I drove into Nashville on a beautiful April day in 1956 and I stayed on to spend four wildly happy years there, Halberstam told Egerton. The newspaper was right in the thick of every fight, and I was like the proverbial kid in the candy store, just devouring everything I could get my hands on. He was the Tennesseans main reporter covering the Nashville sit-ins, protests for three months in 1960 calling for the end of segregation at lunch counters in downtown Nashville.

One of the young activists he met and befriended was John Lewis, now a US congressman from Georgia. I have often said that without the members of the media, the Civil Rights Movement would have been like a bird without wings, Lewis wrote shortly after Halberstams death. David Halberstam, as a reporter for The (Nashville) Tennessean, was a sympathetic referee who helped to convey the depth of injustice in the South as well as the heart and soul of a movement that would transform America. We talked to him because we trusted him. We trusted that he [would get] the story right, and we believed he would be fair.

In his 1998 book, The Children, about the Civil Rights movement as seen through the experiences of the young people who led it, Halberstam wrote: It was one of those rare moments when American journalism was enhanced by an exceptional group of professionals who took uncommon daily risks to cover a difficult and demanding story.

After joining the Washington bureau of The New York Times in 1960, when he was 26, Halberstam volunteered to cover the fighting in the Congo. By 1962, he sensed that an even bigger story was about to break and he was off to Vietnam.

In Mississippi and Tennessee hed learned the importance of maintaining a healthy skepticism about government authorities. In Vietnam that skepticism informed the way heand eventually otherscovered the war, and he began to write that the American government was underestimating the resolve of the enemy. His work on the Vietnam War helped Americans and policymakers understand the impact of foreign policy, and it helped bring an unjust war to an end, John Lewis wrote.

Neil Sheehan, then a reporter for United Press International, recalls a battle that the US military was preventing the press corps from covering. Afterward, Brigadier General Richard Stilwell scolded the journalists for calling a military official at home in an effort to catch up on the action. David was getting more and more angry, said Sheehan, who in 1989 won a Pulitzer for A Bright Shining Lie, his book about Vietnam. His arm shot up. General, he said, we are not corporals. We do not work for you. We work for our editors. We will disturb the commanding general at home any time we have to do so, to get our job done. IS THAT CLEAR? 

Matters came to a head on October 22, 1963. President John F. Kennedy, furious about Halberstams dispatches from Vietnam, summoned New York Times Publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger to the White House.

As Halberstam related in The Powers That Be, Kennedy asked Sulzberger:

You dont think hes too close to the story?

No, Sulzberger replied.

You werent thinking of transferring him to Paris or Rome?

No.

News of that exchange quickly spread in the worlds of Washington politics and journalism.

I learned to respect people I often disagreed with in the most profound way.

Long after Vietnam, Halberstams experiences in Mississippi and Tennessee influenced his writing. And the subjects of his stories appreciated his endeavors to seek the truth about their lives. In his 2002 book Firehouse, he wrote about the devastation caused by the 9/11 terror attacks at a firehouse on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Engine 40, Ladder 35, just a few blocks from where he lived. When Halberstam died five years after the book was published, the firefighters honored him as though he were a fallen comrade by bringing homemade pasta to the Halberstam home.

Will Schwalbe, executive vice president of Macmillan and the Hyperion editor on Halberstams last four books, is still struck by how many people told him that they talked with David every day.

Its impossible to know what Halberstam would have made of the 2016 presidential election, the discontent that led to Donald Trumps victory, and the divisions in the US today.

But Halberstam himself may have provided some clues when he talked about his time in the South during his commencement address at the University of Mississippi in 2005. He said: What is important is that I did not learn the things I expected to learn, the things I thought I was going to be paid to learnI learned instead other, more enduring things that have lasted me the rest of my life. . . . I learned that people from other parts of the country are not any more stereotypical than I was, that human complexity always confounded you, and that the most dangerous thing in the world is to underestimate the intelligence and decency of other people. And finally, perhaps most important of all, I learned about the nobility of ordinary people.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jon Friedman teaches at the Stony Brook University School of Journalism and LIU Post. He wrote the Media Web column of MarketWatch for more than 13 years, and covered Wall Street for Bloomberg News, USA Today, and Businessweek. He has written for The New York Times and The New York Post as well as the websites of The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, and Time. He has also written and co-written several nonfiction books.
The local-news funding surge has bypassed ethnic media Illustrations by Daniel Fishel

Its difficult to say just when the notion first struck me to quit the relative security of a newsroom job to go it alone in the fledgling world of online community journalism.

Maybe it was late in the 1990s, during my days reporting for The Wall Street Journal, when I first saw the phrase hyperlocal media attached to an article about BaristaNet.com. Or maybe it was years later, after I moved to North Carolina to take a job as business editor at The Charlotte Observer and noted that the citys African-American community, then about 35 percent of the population, had practically no options when it came to online media that addressed their specific needs and concerns.

Whichever the case, in November 2008, the same week Barack Obama was elected the nations first black president, I walked out of the Observers newsroom as deputy managing editor to launch Qcitymetro.coma website devoted to serving Charlottes black communityconfident that I would soon be followed by a wave of black journalists in cities from New York to Los Angeles.

Eight years later, that wave is yet to form.

While the internet offers a host of African-American publishers who write national blogs, celebrity news, and lifestyle articles, far fewer have chosen the difficult road that leads to community-based journalism. Even among the legacy black press, conversion from print to digital has been slow and uneven. Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer and chairwoman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (which represents 211 black-owned publications nationwide), says the issue boils down to money.

Thats always been our struggle, she says. How do we generate enough revenue to keep our print publications going? And now theres this internet thing that we are being pulled into, and there was a lot of resistance, because no one could really see anybody making any money off of this thing.

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The dearth of black publishers is even more pronounced in the nonprofit sector, where digital operations such as Voice of San Diego and The Texas Tribune have made a name for themselves as community watchdogs. (The Texas Tribune raised more than $6 million from grants and contributions in 2015, according to its most recent federal filing. Voice of San Diego brought in $1.8 million. Neither are black-owned publications.)

In February, the Knight Foundation invited me to Miami for its two-day Media Learning Seminar, an annual event that brings together nonprofit news organizations and some of the foundations that fund them. Not only was I surprised by the number of nonprofit news outlets that attended the event, I was even more impressed by the quality of community journalism that many were undertaking. While some focused on local government and traditional watchdog roles, others aimed their staffs at enterprise and investigations centered on specific topics, such as health or the environment.

Absent at the event was any significant number of black publishers. (Aside from me, I know of one other who attended.)

I left Miami convinced that seasoned black journalists, especially in this era of newsroom layoffs, may be missing some very real opportunities to make a significant impact on communities in which they live and work.

Entrepreneurial journalism, whether for profit or through a nonprofit organization, is not for everybody. I launched Qcitymetro in the teeth of the Great Recession, and for the first two years I generated enough revenue to buy, perhaps, a good steak dinner. Even now, I still have months when expenses exceed income, though such shortfalls have become far less common.

Although it was suggested to me that I might organize as a nonprofit, I chose the for-profit route. As a former business reporter, I was intrigued by the notion that I might create the next great media empire. (Insert laugh track here.) Equally important, I now look back and realize that I was entirely misinformed about the nature of nonprofit journalism; it can be far more robust and well funded than I ever imagined.

To sharpen my entrepreneurial skills, I enrolled in classes at a local community college, took on a SCORE mentor, enrolled in a workshop for journalism entrepreneurs at the University of Southern California and was accepted into the Punch Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University. Still, on any given day, the demands of wearing two big hatseditor and publisherare more than I can easily negotiate.

Even among the legacy black press, conversion from print to digital has been slow and uneven.

A lack of training in entrepreneurship (and a well-documented shortage of reporters of color) may help explain why more African-American journalists have not taken the entrepreneurial route, says Dr. Battinto L. Batts, Jr., who directs the journalism fund at the Scripps Howard Foundation. Twice each year, the fund opens its website to accept new applications for funding. But in the 15 months since Batts has directed the fund, he says, he cannot recall a single request that came from an individual or organization seeking to cover a minority community. That is not to say that its not out there, he says, but in the time that I have spent reviewing requests, none of the organizations that I have come into contact with has had that as a singular focus.

In an effort to support media entrepreneurship, the foundation funds the Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Communications at Arizona State University. By training college professors, Batts says, the foundation hopes to cast a wide net that will ultimately bring in more minority students. The fund also makes grants for mid-career training for journalists.

Asked why more African-American journalists arent launching their own community-based websites, Batts also says it boils down to money. There is a lot that goes into it, preparing a concept and building a business model, he says. Its really all about relationships and access and being able to get in front of the right people who might be able to provide you the type of funding that you need to make your concept work.

And then there is the problem I call journalism fatigue. After decades of struggling to advance in mainstream newsrooms, only to be laid off mid-career as newspapers slash their staffs, many of my former African-American coworkers say they have simply had enough. We have a lot of people who have a lot of skills and experience in journalism who have turned to other professions, such as strategic communications or public relations or even to higher education, Batts says, adding that many of those experienced black journalists are now looking for stable employment, not to launch a risky online venture.

Chida Warren-Darby, who, along with her father, co-publishes the Voice & Viewpoint newspaper and website in San Diego, represents a new generation of black publishers. At 36, shes shifted the companys focus to digital and has begun the arduous legal process of spinning off the website into a separate nonprofit. But getting there has not been easy, she says, even when it came to convincing her own father.

Its a family business, so we have our days, but weve reached an understanding, she says. He was very resistant . . . very resistant. It literally took probably about a year to really get him to see it.

Warren-Darby says the newspaper was launched 57 years ago and has a print circulation of about 30,000. Hers is the fourth family to own the publication. Warren-Darby had married and moved out of the state when she decided seven years ago, after her mother died, to return home to help her father manage the company.

Warren-Darby says her ah-ha moment came one day when she saw a filing from Voice of San Diego and learned that the nonprofit website, launched in 2005, has a payroll of more than $800,000 and a newsroom staff considerably larger than her own. Were kind of behind as a group in terms of hitting this media thing on the internet, she says. Technology is advancing so quickly that if youre just jumping on board . . . youre really late.

She added: I think the problem that people may have or that theyre fearing is the stability. The money is not really there for us in black media. Its there, but its hard for us to get it.

Like other black publishers I interviewed, Warren-Darby says she was unaware of events such as the Knight Foundations Media Learning Seminar. By spinning off the website as a nonprofit, Warren-Darby says she hopes to find new sources of revenueand readers. The reality is, not everyone wants to purchase an ad, she says. Some people want to do more than buy a subscription, and some people want to do more than put 50 cents in the machine and purchase a paper.

Warren-Darby hopes to move the companys revenue needle more toward events, sponsorships, and paid membership. There are a lot of moving parts when you are establishing a nonprofit, she says. So were working through that to see what the final end date will be.

Warren-Darby isnt alone among black publishers in trying to forge a new business model. In Miami, 12 black-owned media companiesdigital, print, radio, and televisionhave come together to form the Black Owned Media Alliance (BOMA). And in Charlotte, three black-owned media companiesnewspaper, magazine, and digitalhave formed the Consolidated Media Alliance (CMA).

Dexter Bridgeman is the founder and CEO of MIA Media Group, whose Legacy Miami and Legacy South Florida publications are distributed as inserts in The Miami Herald. He says BOMA was formed to close the disparity gap that exists with black-owned media and the advertising and business community in South Florida.

Too many South Florida businesses, he says, are failing to advertise with black-owned media. Were educating the community, he says. People are accustomed to doing business the same way they have been all throughout. Were just trying to let them know, Hey, lets find out why youre not doing business with us.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, the group persuaded the Clinton campaign to advertise with all 12 BOMA members, Bridgeman says. Some, he says, also got ads from the Trump campaign. In less than two years, BOMA has secured advertising revenue for each of its members.

The timing of these shifts in black media is not lost on Rolark Barnes, who heads NNPA, the black publishers group. It was 190 years ago, in 1827, that the Reverend Peter Williams, Jr. and other free black men in New York City published Freedoms Journal, the nations first black-owned newspaper. When I read about the issues that these publishers wrote aboutthe abolition of slavery, access to education, access to housing, access to jobs, legislation that gave women the right to vote, voting rights for African Americansthat was in the 1800s. Were still writing about these same stories, because, although things have changed, they have not changed to the point where we dont need to continue to advocate for these issues, she says.

It is because of the advocacy role that the black press has played throughout American history that change is now imperative.

In Miami, 12 black-owned media companies have come together to form an alliance.

In Washington, DC, where Rolark Barnes publishes The Washington Informer, she says the black press has played a key role in keeping authorities and the public focused on 10 African-American girls currently listed as missinga news story sometimes overlooked by mainstream media. Websites and other forms of digital media, she says, have helped.

The question, she says, is how do NNPA members keep their print publications alive and healthy while building a future in digital.

Within the organization, print publishers are now debating whether to allow digital publishers to join as full membersa move that Rolark Barnes called a necessary change.

And if she can win re-election this summer, she says, shed also like to begin a discussion about the potential benefits and drawbacks to publishing in the nonprofit area. We havent talked about that as an association, she says, and I think its worth the conversation.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Glenn H. Burkins is editor and publisher of Qcitymetro.com, a website he launched in 2008 to provide news and information to African-American readers in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has worked at The Charlotte Observer, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and St. Petersburg Times.
Dear friends in American journalism,

Ordinarily, it is you who offer the rest of the world advice about press freedom, and the accountability architecture of democratic societies, so I understand that it may be strange to hear it coming back at you, but this will not be the last inversion that the election of Donald Trump delivers.

You have some deep resources to draw on for the battle that is closing around you. For starters there is your Constitution, which offers stronger protections than just about any comparable legal framework. And your money, greatly diminished, and unevenly distributed to be sure, but orders of magnitude more plentiful than what your counterparts elsewhere have to call upon. You also have reserves of talent, creativity, and commitment far larger than you are given credit for by your critics, and right now by angry, bewildered, and wounded friends.

But one thing you dont have, is experience of what to do when things start to get genuinely bad.

Your free press is a beautiful, important thing, even when it is besieged and bedraggled. Perhaps especially then.

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Take it from those of us who have worked in places where the institutional fabric is thinner, the legal protections less absolute, and the social license to operate less secure. Not outright dictatorships, but majoritarian democracies where big menand they are usually menpolish their image in the mirror of state media or social media, while slowly squeezing the life out of independent institutions.

When Donald Trump ditched his press pool twice within days of being elected, and launched a series of Twitter attacks on The New York Times, a lot of you sounded surprised. As if you expected him to become a different person once the anointing oil of the Electoral College had touched his brow. Of course there was nothing surprising about his conduct. Rule number 1 of surviving autocracy, as Masha Gessen reminds us, is Believe the Autocrat.

Related: Journalisms moment of reckoning has arrived

When Mr. Trump threatened during the campaign to review Americas libel law framework, he was setting out his stall, not bluffing. When he threatened to sue, when he mocked a disabled reporter, when he made clear his affinity for Vladimir Putin and Peter Thiel, he was issuing a warning.

Of course, not being surprised doesnt mean you shouldnt be outraged. As Gessen also wrote, to survive autocracy, you have to preserve outrage, and your free press is a beautiful, important thing, even when it is besieged and bedraggled. Perhaps especially then.

The rest of us get irritated with you at times, in the manner of less privileged relatives, but you have given the rest of us a good deal over the years, standards to aspire to, innovation to build on, voices of great clarity. Here is some advice in return, mostly from India and South Africa, where an ostensibly free press is confronted with regulatory, economic, and political pressures that come with majoritarianism.

1. Get used to the end of access as you know it.

The president-elect loves to see himself on magazine covers. Dont kid yourself that this means you will enjoy meaningful access to his administration on the terms you are familiar with. There will be a lot less trading of micro-scoops for favorable coverage, the transactional stock-in trade of capital city reporting everywhere. In India for example, after Narendra Modi took power, journalists were banned from government offices they had once wandered freely. They were kicked off the presidential plane. Modi granted no interviews to the domestic press for over a year. His ministers and senior officials whispered privately that they had been ordered not to speak to the press.

Losing this kind of access isnt all bad. It reminds you that your job is to hold power to account, rather than to join its club. Outsider status can be bracing. But it comes with the choking off of other kinds. Twitter and Instagram posts substitute for the tough back-and-forth of press conferences, officials stonewall legitimate queries, and you wait to publish, because right of reply matters, accuracy matters to you. Not to them.

So you take to the law. But freedom of information filings will be slowed-walked to death or irrelevance, as they increasingly are in India, and other countries where the first flush of enthusiasm over FOIA legislation has replaced with a deepening chill.

In one case I was involved in in South Africa three presidents fought us over seven years and two trips to the constitutional court before we won. By then it was too late to do anything but prove a point.

So you have to cultivate other ways to get the data that you need and the democratic process demands.

There are going to be a plenty of officials who are deeply uncomfortable with the direction of the administration. Some of them are your sources already, no doubt. But you will need them much more. Especially the awkward squad. The mid-level career bureaucrats, the ones deep down the cc list, the ones who may not have the secretarys ear, or the inside scoop on how many almonds the president eats at night.

And you are going to need a knowledge of strong encryption if you are going to keep them safe under a regime that has the most sophisticated surveillance capabilities ever imagined, and a president-elect with history of vindictiveness.

You might think the worst of access culture is already over in Washington. Weve seen the videos from the White House correspondents dinner. It really isnt.

So it will feel strange, this new world. It cuts to your sense of who you are, the proximity to power and the capacity for actual influence that makes up for your shitty paycheck and the trolls all over your timeline, but on balance, it is a more honest place, and it is the only one available.

Related: 10 photos that capture dawning reality of a new Trump era

2. Get used to spending more time in court.

You are going to need to litigate to get access to information, but you are also going to have to defend, a lot. Some of the attacks will come from proxies suing over your reporting on corruption, conflicts of interest, and general sleaze. We never lost a suit like that during my time in South Africa, and there were plenty, but we burned countless hours and money we really didnt have, both of which would have been better spent on more reporting.

In India, where the protections are weaker, obscure activists in country towns launch suits against reporters, editors, and proprietors routinely, seeking immense damages in the overburdened and sometimes compromised provincial courts. Anyone who has worked in an Indian newsroom can describe for you what the words chilling effect really mean.

You obviously cant back down in the face of these efforts, but you can use them as crusading opportunities, both spreading the story and popularizing your sense of mission. You should be quite unembarrassed about this. You should probably also think about some kind of pooled legal defence fund for smaller outlets.

It will feel strange, this new world. It cuts to your sense of who you are, the proximity to power and the capacity for actual influence that makes up for your shitty paycheck and the trolls all over your timeline, but on balance, it is a more honest place.

Much more frightening, of course, are the moments when the proxies step aside, and the full might of the security establishment is brought to bear. Your Espionage Act is a truly terrible piece of legislation. Some kind of elite consensus has spared reporters and editors its full force since 1917, but word is the elite consensus is over.

Being fingerprinted for journalism is a very strange experience, you dont want it to become a normal one.

Related: Covering Trump: An oral history of an unforgettable campaign

3. Get used to being stigmatized as opposition.

Mr Trump was quick out of the blocks on this one with his professional protesters incited by the media tweet. His subsequent attacks on the Times fit a familiar pattern: call out one prominent enemy pour encourager les autres, and let the trolls do the rest. This will escalate. The basic idea is simple: to delegitimize accountability journalism by framing it as partisan.

In South Africa linking the press with the opposition was a routine trope, on really bad days ruling party figures would add the CIA or foreign capitalists.

A member of parliament once asked me, during hearings on a draconian new intelligence law that the national editors body objected to tell me, are you still South African when you go home at night?

Narendra Modi, on the other hand, never names his enemies, but the liberal-leaning NDTV carries the brunt of his ire, with one of its channels recently ordered to go off air for a day as punishment for allegedly compromising security with its coverage of a militant attack. And his ardent social media fans do much of the work for him. Steel yourself and take a look at Barkha Dutts mentions sometime to see the Indian version of Steven Bannons white nationalist horde.

Paid media, presstitutes, Lutyens journalists (the equivalent of Beltway insiders) are all routine slurs from Indias ruling party, meant to associate the press with the old, corrupt elite and the opposition Congress Party.

The frustrating thing about this approach is that it works quite well, and it is going to work REALLY well in America next year.

Why should anyone care about your investigation of the presidents conflicts of interest, or his tax bills, if they emanate from the political opposition? The scariest thing about fake news is that all news becomes fake. Yours too.

The challenge is to maintain a tough, independent, journalistic politics, a politics of accountability, equity and the rule of law without straightforwardly aligning with the partisan opposition. In places like Venezuela, where private media have been forced into a purely oppositional stance, the result has been a shrinking of real spaces for dissent and accountability.

This is a tough line to walk, because people on both sides of the political divide actually want you to fail at it. But it is among your most important tasks.

Related: The goal is not to fear Trump, but for Trump to fear you

4. When they cant regulate you away, they will try to buy you out or suck up your oxygen.

Congressional funding for public broadcasting is limited here, as is its audience, so one avenue of media capture is foreclosed. But crony billionaires will be lurking all around the fringes of a distressed industry, happy to tolerate losses in return for a voice. India has hundreds of loss-making TV channels and newspapers. In South Africa, the main English language daily group has been bought out by a presidential crony, and gutted. But you can look closer to home for examples, perhaps to Las Vegas.

Some media owners, already ensconced, will tack to the prevailing wind. Gently at first, so you hardly notice it. Completely in the end.

And where that doesnt work, the presidents people will start, or boost, their own alternatives, and seek to route around you. Breitbart is just beginning.

Organizing journalists is a great deal worse than herding cats. We have egos that are at once giant, and fragile. We like to own the story, all of it. We are rubbish at management. But some among you have these skills.

5. You are going to have to get organized.

My sense is that American journalists arent much for formal structures that reach across the profession and represent its interests. The protection of the First Amendment, and your establishment credentials have been enough, by and large. You dont have a press council, or a meaningful editors body, or strong unions.

In the new world, journalism Twitter isnt going to be an adequate safeguard.

You need to band together around positive principlesindependence, accountability, ethical standards, and the defence of your rights, which must be fought for both in the broad constitutional brushstrokes and the narrow detail of regulation and practice. Judging by the recent barrage of anti-semitic and racist threats to journalists, you will also need to address both the climate of hate and specific concerns around safety.

Organizing journalists is a great deal worse than herding cats. We have egos that are at once giant, and fragile. We like to own the story, all of it. We are rubbish at management. But some among you have these skills. Get it together to push them forward.

Also, find some allies outside of your usual circles. In South Africa, for example, our campaigns for freedom of information were vastly more credible when they were undertaken in partnership with organizations with their roots poor communities who could speak to the importance of transparency in ensuring access to clean water, safe streets, and healthcare.

Im sorry to lecture. But I am worried. We all are. In the countries where Ive spent my working life, the press still matters, but there is less of it, and the whole accountability ecosystem has become unbalanced. For all its real and urgent problems, US journalism is still the City on a Hill. The fading of its light will be disastrous not just for Americans, but for all of us.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Nic Dawes is the former editor in chief of South Africas Mail & Guardian and was until recently Chief Content Officer at Indias Hindustan Times. He now heads media at Human Rights Watch in New York.
The AIDAperla sailed from Marina Bay in Singapore on May 9 following a technical port call to load supplies and crew members. The new ship, just delivered to AIDA Cruises from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, next calls at Limassol on May 25.

AIDA embarked crew members  now totaling 900 for the transit  and some 50 containers with supplies. Among the items loaded included chairs for all the restaurants and all deck chairs and tables.

In addition AIDA loaded inventory for its onboard shops.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises marked the steel cutting of the new Hanseatic Nature, which will launch into luxury expedition service in April of 2019.

The steel was cut during a ceremony at the VARD shipyard in Tulcea, Romania, with a 23-month build period expected.

Karl J. Pojer, CEO, gave the signal to start the steel cutting. He was joined in the ceremony by Roger Vassdal, senior vice president for VARDs operations in Romania, who handed over a symbolic steel silhouette of the new ship.

After an intense planning stage, we are very pleased to commence Hanseatic Natures construction process with the first steel cut. The segment of expedition cruises currently offers enormous potential and with two new additions to our fleet next to the very popular Bremen we are well positioned for the future, said Pojer.

The keel-laying of the ship is scheduled for June. The ships hull will be constructed in Tulcea and then be toward to VARD Langsten in Norway, where the outfitting and the finishing of the interior will take place.

The Hanseatic Inspiration follows in October 2019.
Waterville  The Rev. Larry Jensen of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church on Appleton Street has been removed from the church amid a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor 15 years ago in Connecticut.



He has been permanently relieved of priestly ministry and he can not present himself as a priest anymore, Michael Thomas, vicar general of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, New York, said of Jensen Monday morning in a telephone interview.

Thomas said the alleged abuse victim, a male, was close to 18 but not 18 when the alleged abuse occurred at the time Jensen was a priest at St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church in Danbury, Connecticut.



Father had some sexual contact with this minor, and we were kind of shocked when we got the call last week, Thomas said. I confronted Father with it and he didnt admit it, but he didnt deny it.



Jensen, 62, was born in Muskegon, Michigan, and he served 8 years at St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church in Danbury, Connecticut, before coming to the Waterville church. Before those assignments, he served 10 years at St. Michael The Archangel Maronite Catholic Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina, according to Thomas.



Attempts to reach Jensen for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.



Thomas said he does not know who the accuser is and he does not think any legal action has been taken so far on the accusers behalf.



Its been shocking for all of us. We feel very bad for the victim and we feel very bad for (Jensen), so were torn, he said. Hes had consistent assignments; weve never had any complaints.



There are about 50 priests in the Brooklyn Eparchy, which covers Maronite churches along the East Coast from Maine to Florida, and they all know each other. Within the Catholic Church there are individual churches, or rites, that may have differing local customs but all pledge to be in communion with the pope in Rome. The Maronite church is one such rite, with a history in the eastern regions of the world, while the Roman Catholic rite includes most in the western world.



Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney who is not involved in the Jensen case but has prosecuted more than 2,000 cases involving sexual abuse in the Catholic church, said a person in the state of Connecticut has until the age of 48 to file a lawsuit in court.



Garabedian  whose character was featured in the Academy Award-winning film Spotlight, based on the Boston Globes Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church  said Monday that an investigation must have been done in the Jensen case in which the victim was found to be credible. Otherwise, Jensen would have been placed on leave and not permanently relieved from priestly duties.



Its kind of like being suspended without pay pending an investigation, Garabedian said in a phone interview Monday. Obviously, theyve gone beyond that point.



Until Sunday, Jensen had been the priest at St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church, at 3 Appleton St., for about 10 years. On Sunday, Bishop Gregory Mansour of the Brooklyn Eparchy read aloud a letter to parishioners at the Waterville church, explaining that the Rev. James Doran was replacing Jensen, who likely would have been transferred to another parish in the next year anyway because most priests serve only six to 9 years in one place, according to Thomas.



Mansour also told parishioners the Eparchy takes allegations of abuse seriously, and if anyone else had complaints about Jensen to contact officials, Thomas said. We just want to make sure no one else is affected, he said.



The same kind of letter was read in the parishes of Danbury, Connecticut, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, Thomas said.



Parishioners of St. Joseph in Waterville on Monday reported being saddened and heartbroken Jensen was removed from the church but said they understand the rules that require it when someone reports sexual abuse.



I feel very, very bad for Father, said Martha Coury Patterson, a St. Joseph parishioner. I cant even express how badly I feel for him because it is a thing of the past and forgotten and hes been so wonderful to so many people and so hopeful and he brought so much love.



Patterson said Jensen is in Massachusetts now and has a large, supportive family in Michigan, where she believes he will go next. Were just praying for peace for him, she said.



The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, notified the Brooklyn Eparchy on May 1 of the allegation of abuse by Jensen, Thomas said.



Brian Wallace, communications director for the Bridgeport Diocese, clarified on Monday that St. Anthonys Maronite Catholic Church is not a part of the Bridgeport Diocese. Jensen is not, nor has he ever been, part of the Roman Catholic diocese or had an assignment there.



The reason Bridgeport Diocese reported the allegation of sexual abuse is that Bridgeport officials got a call last week from an attorney who indicated there had been an allegation of sexual abuse, according to Wallace. He said that the Bridgeport Diocese takes such reports very seriously and, as part of protocol, called the Eparchy and other entities to relay the report they had received from the attorney.



As soon as we received that call, we immediately notified (Connecticut) Department of Children and Families, Wallace said. We immediately notified police. Were mandatory reporters.



He said the attorney called Bridgeport because the alleged abuse took place in Danbury and it would be logical for the attorney to call the Roman Catholic Diocese because it encompasses all of Fairfield County in that state.



A message left Monday afternoon for a police detective-lieutenant at Danbury Police Headquarters was not immediately returned.



Thomas said the Eparchy has been trying to be transparent about the matter involving 62-year-old Jensen, who is close to retirement age. He will be provided a pro-rated retirement stipend until full retirement age, which could be 65 or 70, and he will be kept on health insurance until he is 65, according to Thomas.



Thomas said that when he confronted Jensen with the report, he told him he had no choice but to remove him from priestly ministry.



We have a review board that looks at these cases, Thomas said. Because Father wasnt denying, there was no need to convene the review board. But we had a conference call with the review board, and he was removed from the ministry permanently. Father said that this was the only time that this ever happened, and I have no need to doubt it.



But Garabedian, the Boston lawyer who handles church sex abuse cases, said his experience tells him there could be dozens and dozens of victims and hes seen firsthand endless the amount of abuse.



Its incumbent upon the leaders of the Catholic Church  to determine if there are any other victims of Father Jensen out there, Garabedian said. It would be inappropriate to rely on only Father Jensens word as to how many children he sexually abused.



Garabedian said transparency is important in the case so the truth is revealed, so victims can try to heal.



There needs to be a complete investigation of this matter because its very important to determine who knew about this sexual abuse of Father Jensen, he said.



Garabedians 2,000-plus cases worldwide span a period of more than 70 years, he said. One victim, he said, was abused in 1938. He said he now has 150 clients, 80 of whom were abused by teachers in Jesuit schools.



The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland issued a statement Monday afternoon saying it had been notified by Mansour, the Maronite bishop, that a substantiated claim of sexual abuse of a minor had been made against Jensen.



The Roman Catholic Diocese statement points out that Jensen was not a priest of the Portland Diocese.



Bishop Mansour has assured the diocese that Fr. Jensen has been removed from the ministry after the claim was found to be substantiated, the statement says. The incident took place a number of years ago and did not occur in Maine. Bishop (Robert) Deeley asks all to join him in praying for the St. Joseph Maronite Church community, those impacted in this matter and the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.



The statement says Deeley encourages anyone who may have information about any case involving sexual abuse of a minor by a church representative to contact civil authorities.
TOLEDO -- A Toledo Springfest Amateur Photo Contest is scheduled to be held May 20-21 in conjunction with this annual festival.

Local amateur photographers of all ages are invited to enter prints in this competition sponsored by the Toledo Clickers camera club. They can enter photos in the categories of Cumberland County and general subject matter in adult and youth divisions. The deadline for entries is May 18.

The prints will be displayed at the Life Center of Cumberland County, 507 E. Main St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 20 and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 21.

Lifelong photographer Robert Wiseman, who is a retired Eastern Illinois University professor, will judge the photos and offer comments at the awards ceremony scheduled for 3 p.m. May 21. Participants will compete for ribbons and 14 cash prizes totaling more than $700.

Winning prints and a selection of others will then be displayed at the Sumpter Township Library in Toledo from May 23 to June 23.

For contest rules, entry forms and additional information, see the Toledo Clickers page on Facebook or send an email to toledo.clickers@gmail.com. Rules and entry forms can also be picked up at The Bumble Bee Boutique in Toledo, Grandma's New Place in Greenup, or Patricia Ann's Unique Gifts in Casey.
Re: The editorial column Welcome to Americas new monarchy, Thursday, April 6, 2017

Editorial means the opinion of the editor. In the first two paragraphs of the editorial, you said, President Trumps son-in-law, Mr. Kushners little week-end excursion to Iraq, finally elicited from me an internal eye roll the likes of which I couldnt ignore. Does the military even make booster seats for those who ride on its planes? Did the hours-long flight keep Kushner up past his bedtime? I mean, representing the entire United States of America at his age does his pacifier have a U.S. flag on it? Opinion?? Or Sarcasm?

Miss Weaver, thousands upon thousands 19 plus year olds serve our country. The congress of the United States is the Senate and the House of Representatives. At 25 you can be a member. Mr. Kushner at 36 is one of the old guys.

You spoke of his schooling. He collected his degree with cum-laude status from Harvard College with a bachelors in government. Later Mr. Kushner earned a J.D. and an M.B.A. from New York U. He admitted to Harvard and the New York U. after his father had made $2 million - $3 million donations to each school, but Im sure thats a coincidence, right? A little more editorial opinion? Sounds like a little more sarcasm, maybe.

You say, It looks like America has a new king and royal family. The monarch is handing power to his offspring like nobodys business except its every citizens business, thank you, very much.

No, Miss Weaver, we have a dully, lawfully elected president! He has asked help from many, many people including his son-in-law and daughter.

Is it just me or does all this smack quite loudly of nepotism? Your question. Then you explain its the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends especially by giving them jobs. All this brings me back to my eye roll. Legal? It maybe. Right? Well, I guess that depends.

I can think of four former presidents who had immediate family members in their governmental staff.

President John Adams  March 1797-1801. His son, John Quincy, was his secretary.

President Franklin Roosevelt  March 1933-1945. One of his sons served as his secretary.

President John F. Kennedy  January 1961-1963. His brother, Robert, served as a cabinet member, attorney general, and his closest advisor. He appointed his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, to head up the peace corps.

President Clinton  January 1993-2001. Had his wife, Hilary, working on a health plan for the country.

Adams was of the Federalist party, the others were all Democrats.

There maybe others I dont recall. My last history class was in 1949. If you think of others write a letter to the editor. It would be interesting to know.

Joyce Haddock-Kolbus, Mattoon
MATTOON (JG-TC) -- Police officers arrested a local woman late Wednesday afternoon on a charge of trespassing at an apartment complex.

A Mattoon Police Department press release reported that Susan E. Sayers, 54, homeless of Mattoon, was arrested at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday in the 2100 block of Champaign Avenue on a charge of criminal trespass to property.

The charge alleges that Sayers was present at Gaines Apartments, a property from which she had been previously banned. She was out of jail on bond at the time of her current arrest, due to a previous arrest for criminal trespass at the same property.

Bond conditions from that previous case required that Sayers not return to Gaines Apartments. She was taken to the Coles County jail.

In other matters, Tywan M. Stringer, 30, of Mattoon was arrested at 12:44 a.m. Thursday in the 2200 block of Richmond Avenue. He was wanted on two Coles County arrest warrants for failing to appear in court on charges of domestic battery and driving while license suspended.

Stringer initially fled on foot from police, but was found to be hiding in the attic of his residence. He is being held on a no bond warrant for the domestic battery charge at the jail.
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.
United Carpets ' shares advanced more than 10% after it confirmed a special dividend of 1p a share.



The third largest chain of specialist retail carpet and floor covering stores in the UK said the dividend would be paid on 25 May, going ex-dividend on 19 May.

"In order for the Company to be in a position to pay the special dividend, it must have distributable reserves," said United Carpets.

"Therefore, in order to satisfy this requirement, the company has delivered to Companies House its company unaudited interim results for the six month period ended 30 September 2016."

Chief executive Paul Eyre said the special dividend demonstrated the continuing, strong cash generation of the company, reflecting the improvements made in the business.

"Dividend distributions will remain an important part of the board's strategy going forwards and when deciding on future, regular dividend payments, we will consider modest reductions in dividend cover subject to any overriding requirements of the business to fund future growth."

At 14:39 BST, shares in AIM-quoted United Carpets were up 10.98% to 11.38p each.
US planemaker Boeing has temporarily halted test flights of its new 737 MAX plane after finding issues related to the aircrafts engine.

Boeing had said that it would make its first deliveries of the 737 later this month, with clients including American Airlines and Southwest.

Tests of the aircraft have been ongoing for several months, using engines that have been provided by a joint venture between General Electric and French firm Safran.

Boeings share price fell 1.2% on Wednesday after Boeing revealed the engine issues.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to temporarily suspend MAX flights," Boeing said. "The step is consistent with our priority focus on safety for all who use and fly our products."

The company insisted that it has no plans to deliver the aircraft to clients, saying that the production of jets would not be majorly affected. It was first informed of the issue last week.

Boeing MAX versions of its planes have been designed in order to make its fleet more fuel efficient. The planemaker said a possible quality defect in the Leap engines low-pressure turbine discs was found during the testing, but had not unduly affected the flight tests.

The 737 MAX is the fastest-selling airplane in Boeing history, adding more than 3,700 orders from 87 customers worldwide since it was first offered.

On Thursday Boeing announced an order for eight 737 MAX 9 airplanes from Primera Air, valued at more than $950m at list prices, including an agreement to purchase four additional 737 MAX 9s and a lease agreement for eight more airplanes from Air Lease Corporation.
Snap Inc , the recently-listed parent company of messaging app Snapchat, plummeted almost 25% in New York on Wednesday after its first ever quarterly earnings report.

The tech firm reported a loss of $2.2bn during the period directly after its initial public offering in March, and is currently struggling to convince investors that its business model is profitable.

In terms of user growth, Snapchat saw its daily active users increase by 36% year-over-year, including a 6% rise in comparison with the previous quarter.

Snap gains the majority of its revenue from advertisers, similar to many of its main competitors, such as the likes of Facebook and its ever-expanding network of social media apps. Facebook has been combating the rise of Snap by launching similar features, such as the 'Stories' functions.

The company went public at $17 per share, before quickly rising as high as $29. After Wednesdays losses, Snap now sits at $22.98 per share.

USER GROWTH

CEO Evan Spiegel said in an earnings call that the loss was not as significant as it seemed, adding that its focus would be to continue to grow user growth while not diminishing the quality of its services.

"The more that we can remove friction from this creative process, the more that people want to use this service, and that's our strategy," Spiegel said.

Spiegel also aimed a dig towards Mark Zuckerberg's company, suggesting that its shift towards camera-focused social media doesnt necessarily mean that it was a better option than Snapchat.

"Just because Yahoo has a search box doesnt make it Google," Spiegel said.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said that the expectations placed on Snap in the wake of its flotation presents risk for investors.

Hewson said: "The biggest risk to investors remains the sky high expectations around the stock, particularly given its demographic of 18-24 year olds and the fact that there is evidence that its user growth is starting to plateau in the wake of product enhancements to similar products like Facebook's WhatsApp Status."

"The big question given Snaps reliance on this revenue stream is how much Facebook has cannibalised it with the release of its own version."
Ventilation systems and window hardware supplier Titon Holdings posted its interim results for the six months to 31 March on Thursday, with net revenue improving 29% to a record 14m.

The London-listed firm said EBITDA increased 41% to 1.17m, which was also a half year record.

Profit before tax stood at 1.18m, an increase of 61%, and earnings per share rose 34% to 6.09p.

The board declared a 20% increase in the interim dividend per share to 1.5p.

Net cash at the end of the period was 2.71m, up from 2.46m year-on-year.

I am very pleased to report a record half year for Titon with revenue growth of 29% and a 61% increase in profit before tax, said chairman Keith Ritchie.

Earnings per share also rose significantly, and the interim dividend is raised by 20%.

This performance would have been even better without the costs associated with the group's exit from commercial ducting fabrication in the UK.

In the UK, both the Brexit negotiations and the imminent general election created degrees of uncertainty, Ritchie said, but added that the board still expected its core UK businesses to continue to grow in the second half.

Another strong performance is also expected from South Korea and, while the US is a smaller region for Titon right now, it is doing well and we intend to commit further resources there.

The same goes for the group's exports to continental Europe.

This geographical diversity is a strength and, particularly, when it is combined with great products, great people and a strong balance sheet. I am confident that we will have a good result for the year.
COPENHAGEN - The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has launched a new initiative that brings together key industry stakeholders such as H&M, Nike and Cradle to Cradle to build a circular economy for textiles starting with apparel. Ellen MacArthur will launch the new initiative alongside Wendy Schmidt of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Lewis Perkins of Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute at today's Copenhagen Fashion Summit.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...May 11, 2017 - While conventional wisdom is that smiling makes you appear younger, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have scientifically proven otherwise.

According to the findings, published in the May 8th edition of Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, the researchers show for the first time that people flashing those pearly whites are perceived as older than those with a deadpan or surprised expression.

"Popular media promotes the idea that smiling makes you look younger," says Professor Tzvi Ganel, head of the Laboratory for Visual Perception and Action in BGU's Department of Psychology. "Look at all of the smiling faces in skincare and dental ads. How many of us post smiling faces on social media?"

The researchers conducted a series of experiments intended to gauge age perception based on facial expressions. Forty BGU student participants were shown images of people and asked to rank them from oldest to youngest. They were shown pictures of smiling faces, neutral expressions and surprised looks. The participants ranked the smiling faces as the oldest, followed by neutral expressions, and surprised expressions as the youngest.

What's more, when asked to recall their reactions after the experiment, study participants erroneously remembered identifying smiling faces as being younger than neutral ones.

"Ironically, we discovered that the same person can believe that smiling makes you appear younger and judge smiling faces older than neutral ones," says co-author Melvyn Goodale, director of the Brain and Mind Institute at Western University in Canada.

The researchers believe that smiling makes a person look older because of the wrinkle lines that form around the eyes. A surprised face, however, lifts and pulls the skin backward, smoothing any potential age-related wrinkles.

###

About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more.

AABGU, headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information visit https://aabgu.org/.
Bremerhaven/Germany, 11th May 2017. By the second half of this century, rising air temperatures above the Weddell Sea could set off a self-amplifying meltwater feedback cycle under the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, ultimately causing the second-largest ice shelf in the Antarctic to shrink dramatically. Climate researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) recently made this prediction in a new study, which can be found in the latest issue of the Journal of Climate, released today. In the study, the researchers use an ice-ocean model created in Bremerhaven to decode the oceanographic and physical processes that could lead to an irreversible inflow of warm water under the ice shelf - a development that has already been observed in the Amundsen Sea.

When it comes to the fate of the great Antarctic ice shelves, the sea ice surrounding them is of central importance. For example, in the southern Weddell Sea so much sea ice forms during the autumn and winter months that the amount of salt released in the process turns the water around and below the 450,000 km2 Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf into a massive protective sheath. So far, this barrier of extremely salty water, with an average temperature of ca. minus 2 degrees Celsius, has protected the shelf from the inflow of water masses that are 0.8 degrees warm, which the Weddell Gyre transports along the edge of the continental shelf (see graphic).

New simulations from climate researchers at the AWI now indicate that this cold-water barrier could be permanently lost in the course of the next few decades. The reason: rising air temperatures over the Weddell Sea, which could cause less sea ice to form. "We can already see the first signs of this trend today. First of all, less sea ice is forming in the region, and secondly, oceanographic recordings from the continental shelf break confirm that the warm water masses are already moving closer and closer to the ice shelf in pulses," says Dr Hartmut Hellmer, an oceanographer at the AWI and first author of the study.

These comparatively small-scale changes may mark the beginning of a fundamental and irrevocable transformation in the southern Weddell Sea. The researchers expect the effects to become noticeable by 2070. "Our simulations show that there will be no turning back once the warm water masses find their way under the ice shelf, since their heat will accelerate the melting at its base. In turn, the resulting meltwater will produce an intensified overturning, which will suck even more warm water from the Weddell Gyre under the ice. As such, according to our calculations, the hope that the ocean would someday run out of heat won't pan out in the long run," Hellmer explains.

As a result of the dramatic melting on its underside, the shelf's grounding line will shift further south and the ice will gradually lose direct contact with the seafloor. To date, frictional contact with the seafloor has helped to slow down the ice flow. Once this natural brake is gone, the draining of ice from the Antarctic Ice Sheet will quicken. "The meltwater feedback cycle under the ice shelf will only slow down once the shelf has collapsed, or no more glacial ice flows in from inland to take its place. So we're talking about processes that will continue over several centuries," says co-author and AWI model designer Dr Ralph Timmermann.

The researchers' forecasts are based on the AWI's BRIOS (Bremerhaven Regional Ice-Ocean Simulations) model, a coupled ice-ocean model that the team forced with atmospheric data from the SRES-A1B climate scenario, created at Britain's Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter. The dataset includes e.g. information on the future development of winds and temperatures in the Antarctic, and is based on the assumption that the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere will reach 700 parts per million by the year 2100. "Accordingly, our model used climate data that is similar to the IPCC's (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) current business-as-usual scenario. The results clearly show that even limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius won't be enough to save the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf," says co-author and AWI researcher Dr Frank Kauker.

In addition, the authors believe the predicted changes in the Weddell Sea offer a new perspective on current developments in the Amundsen Sea. As Hartmut Hellmer explains, "When it comes to the Amundsen Sea, where warm water has already reached the continental shelf and even the grounding line of some ice shelves, we can safely say that this inflow of heat cannot be stopped; the climate regime change has already taken place. In other words, the losses of mass of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will intensify - just like the models predict."

To measure the forecasted inflow of warm water under the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, in the past two Antarctic summers scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the British Antarctic Survey drilled through the ice at seven sites to deploy oceanographic recording devices below it. Thanks to their efforts, every night fresh data on the water temperature, salinity, flow speed and flow direction is transmitted to the AWI facilities in Bremerhaven via satellite. "However, it will take a few years before we can use this latest data to reliably document the changes," says Hellmer.

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1. Comments must not be racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted.

2. Comments must not involve little more than name-calling and insulting remarks.

3. Comments must not be made by "anonymous" or "unknown".

4. Comments must not try to sneak in some free advertising for themselves (like spam).

I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published.
Hospitals need to be prepared for ransomware attacks, warns a doctor in The BMJ today.

Dr Krishna Chinthapalli, a neurology registrar at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, describes how a virus - or "ransomware" - infected and locked computers at the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles hospital in February 2016.

Rumours surfaced that the hospital was being held to ransom for $3.4m (2.6m; 3.1m), though the hospital denied this. After 10 days the hospital paid a smaller ransom of about $17,000 to regain use of its computers.

Hollywood Presbyterian was the first hospital to admit paying a ransom, writes Chinthapalli, but other US hospitals, in California, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and Texas, were targeted in 2016.

He points out that the number of ransomware attacks rose fourfold from 2015 to 2016, and so did the amount of money paid to hackers, to $1bn, according to the FBI.

In the UK, a third of NHS trusts have reported a ransomware attack, he adds.

Chinthapalli argues that hospitals are ideal targets for ransomware companies. For instance, many use proprietary software that runs on ancient operating systems - and hold confidential patient information that can be sold to other criminals. As such, hospitals are probably more willing than other organisations to pay for quick recovery of their data.

So what can hospitals and their workers do, he asks?

Digital hygiene - that is, keeping hardware and software as secure as possible - is essential, while frequent backups are also important. And when attacks do occur, the IT department must be informed quickly to isolate infected computers, he says.

"We should be prepared: more hospitals will almost certainly be shut down by ransomware this year," he concludes.

###
HOUSTON - (May 11, 2017) - When a group of researchers in the Undiagnosed Disease Network at Baylor College of Medicine realized they were spending days combing through databases searching for information regarding gene variants, they decided to do something about it. By creating MARRVEL (Model organism Aggregated Resources for Rare Variant ExpLoration) they are now able to help not only their own lab but also researchers everywhere search databases all at once and in a matter of minutes.

This collaborative effort among Baylor, the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School is described in the latest online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Big data search engine

"One big problem we have is that tens of thousands of human genome variants and phenotypes are spread throughout a number of databases, each one with their own organization and nomenclature that aren't easily accessible," said Julia Wang, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor and a McNair Student Scholar in the Bellen lab, as well as first author on the publication. "MARRVEL is a way to assess the large volume of data, providing a concise summary of the most relevant information in a rapid user-friendly format."

MARRVEL displays information from OMIM, ExAC, ClinVar, Geno2MP, DGV, and DECIPHER, all separate databases to which researchers across the globe have contributed, sharing tens of thousands of human genome variants and phenotypes. Since there is not a set standard for recording this type of information, each one has a different approach and searching each database can yield results organized in different ways. Similarly, decades of research in various model organisms, from mouse to yeast, are also stored in their own individual databases with different sets of standards.

Dr. Zhandong Liu, assistant professor in pediatrics - neurology at Baylor, a member of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's and co-corresponding author on the publication, explains that MARRVEL acts similar to an internet search engine.

"This program helps to collate the information in a common language, drawing parallels and putting it together on one single page. Our program curates model organism specific databases to concurrently display a concise summary of the data," Liu said.

Supporting researchers

A user can first search for a gene or variant, Wang explains. Results may include what is known about this gene overall, whether or not that gene is associated with a disease, whether it is highly occurring in the general population and how it is affected by certain mutations.

"MARRVEL helps to facilitate analysis of human genes and variants by cross-disciplinary integration of 18 million records so we can speed up the discovery process through computation," Liu said. "All this information is basically inaccessible unless researchers can access it efficiently and apply it to their own work to find causes, treatments and hopefully identify new diseases."

Collaboration

This project started as a necessity for the Model Organism Screening Center for the Undiagnosed Disease Network at Baylor, but as it grew, the group began reaching out to researchers in different disciplines for feedback on how MARRVEL might benefit them.

This program is just the start. I think our tool is going to be a model for us to help clinicians and basic scientists more efficiently use the information already publicly available, Wang said. It will help us understand and process all of the different mutations that researchers are discovering.

The most exciting part is how this project is bringing so many different researchers together, Liu said. We are working with labs we might not have normally collaborated with, trying to put together a puzzle of all this data.

Both Wang and Liu are thankful to the contributions from the genetics communities allowing them access to the databases as they developed MARRVEL.

Others who contributed to the findings include Drs. Rami Al-Ouran, Seon-Young Kim, Ying-Wooi Wan, Michael Wangler, Shinya Yamamoto, Hsiao-Tuan Chao, and Hugo Bellen (Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Baylor) all with Baylor College of Medicine; Yanhui Hu, Aram Comjean, Stephanie E. Mohr, and Norbert Perrimon (Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School) all with Harvard Medical School.

For full funding and acknowledgements please see full publication (available after embargo lifts)

###

Both Wang and Liu are thankful to the contributions from the genetics communities allowing them access to the databases as they developed MARRVEL. Others who contributed to the findings include Drs. Rami Al-Ouran, Seon-Young Kim, Ying-Wooi Wan, Michael Wangler, Shinya Yamamoto, Hsiao-Tuan Chao, and Hugo Bellen (Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Baylor) all with Baylor College of Medicine; Yanhui Hu, Aram Comjean, Stephanie E. Mohr, and Norbert Perrimon (Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School) all with Harvard Medical School.

For full funding and acknowledgements please see full publication (available after embargo lifts)
Cold Spring Harbor, NY - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has been awarded a research subcontract by Leidos Biomedical Research to lead a Cancer Model Development Center (CMDC) for pancreatic, breast, colorectal, lung, liver and other upper-gastrointestinal cancers.

The project is 100% supported by U.S. federal funds (NCI Contract No. HHSN261201500003I, Task Order Number HHSN26100008).

CSHL Cancer Center Director Dr. David Tuveson and CSHL Research Director Dr. David Spector will lead the multinational collaborative effort with Dr. Hans Clevers of the Hubrecht Institute, Dr. Aldo Scarpa and Dr. Vincenzo Corbo of the ARC-Net Centre for Applied Research on Cancer at the University of Verona, Italy, and Dr. James Crawford of Northwell Health and Dr. Peter Gregersen of Northwell's Feinstein Institute for Medical Research.

The new center will generate three-dimensional organoid culture systems of cancers - next-generation models that improve upon current two-dimensional model systems used to study cancers and develop therapeutics.

"CSHL is excited to lead this international team to develop more effective research models for cancer that can be shared broadly with the scientific community in order to accelerate discoveries for improved diagnosis and treatments for cancer patients," said Dr. Tuveson. Dr. Priya Sridevi from CSHL is the lead project manager for this CMDC.

Under the contract, the CSHL-led CMDC will establish up to 150 organoid models in one and a half years, contributing to a larger international effort to generate 1,000 new cancer models. The Human Cancer Model Initiative (HCMI) was announced in July 2016 by the National Cancer Institute, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom (UK), Cancer Research UK, and the foundation Hubrecht Organoid Technology. As part of NCI's Precision Medicine Initiative in Oncology, this new project is timed to take advantage of the latest cell culture and genomic sequencing techniques to create models that are representative of patient tumors and annotated with genomic and clinical information. This effort is a first step toward learning how to use these tools to design individualized treatments.

Dr. Tuveson, the project's principal investigator, led an effort to develop pancreas cancer organoids, establishing CSHL as an instructional site offering courses in organoid development to the professional scientific community worldwide. Organoids can be established from healthy human tissue as well as from a variety of tumor tissue types. The power of the organoid is that it faithfully recapitulates the tissue from which it is derived. It can be genetically manipulated using technologies like shRNA (short hairpin RNA) that can turn genes on and off, or the revolutionary gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9. Moreover, organoid models are amenable to drug screening approaches so they can be used to validate therapeutics.

The pioneer of the organoid model system, Dr. Clevers, is a key member of the new CSHL-led center. "We have laid the foundations for this collaborative program through informal exchanges of our young scientists," said Dr. Clevers. "It is very exciting that we can now turn this into a mature, well-funded endeavor that will create next-generation cancer models, as close as possible to what we find in individual patients."

In support of the project, the ARC-Net team led by Dr. Scarpa and Dr. Corbo will leverage the biobanking infrastructure coordinated by Dr. Rita T. Lawlor at ARC-Net. "We are very proud to be part of this international research group," said Dr. Corbo. "This collaboration brings together world-leading expertise in cancer genomics and cancer modeling with the potential of accelerating the implementation of personalized medicine. We see an unprecedented opportunity to develop better models of cancers that will enable researchers to interrogate the wealth of genomic information available today for the rational development of cancer therapeutics."

"Northwell Health and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research are very excited to be part of this international effort, as it will help lay the foundation for new standards in clinical care that incorporate ex vivo studies of cancer tissues to guide cancer therapies," said Dr. Gregersen, Professor and Director of the Feinstein Institute's Boas Center for Genomics and Human Genetics.

Dr. Crawford, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, noted: "Through this multi-institutional collaboration, Northwell Health will also be well-positioned to help advance the clinical trials necessary for bringing such advances into the realm of clinical care." CSHL entered into a strategic alliance with Northwell Health in April 2015, with the objective of providing CSHL researchers access to Northwell's growing network of clinical services encompassing more than 16,000 new cancer cases annually. For CSHL and Northwell Health, this CMDC project demonstrates the power of their strategic affiliation to establish closer links between research and the clinic for the benefit of cancer patients.

The multinational HCMI effort aims to speed up development of new models and to make research more efficient by avoiding unnecessary duplication of scientific efforts. Genetic sequencing data from the tumors and derived models will be available to researchers, along with clinical data about the patients and their tumors. All information related to the models will be shared in a way that protects patient privacy. The goal is to give scientists around the world access to the best resources to be able to easily study all types of cancer. These new cell models could transform how we study cancer and could help to develop better treatments for patients,Scientists will make the models using tissue from patients with different types of cancer, potentially including rare and pediatric cancers, which are often under-represented or not available at all in existing cell-line collections. The new models will have the potential to reflect the biology of tumors more accurately and better represent the overall cancer patient population.

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About Hubrecht Institute

The Hubrecht Institute, founded in 1916, is a research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), situated on Utrecht Science Park "The Uithof" of the largest university in the Netherlands (Utrecht). Research at the Hubrecht Institute focuses on developmental biology and stem cells at the organismal, cellular, and molecular level. A variety of biological processes are being studied, mainly concerning embryonic development and development and homeostasis of organs. Presently there are 19 research groups, including the research group of Hans Clevers, with a total of about 220 employees. Prof. Dr. Hans Clevers discovered methods to grow stem cell-derived human epithelial 'mini-organs' (organoids) from tissues of patients with various diseases including cancer. Clevers' international reputation has brought him numerous grants and prestigious awards. For more information, visit https://www.hubrecht.eu

About ARC-Net

ARC-Net, Applied Research on Cancer Network, is a university research centre that was established in 2007 through a joint initiative between the University of Verona, the University Hospital Trust of Verona and the Cariverona Foundation. ARC-Net represents Italy in the International Cancer Genome Consortium where the Centre coordinates the effort of the Italian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Project to the molecular characterization of rare pancreatic tumors. ARC-Net is organized into 5 core facilities platforms, which include a cancer tissue biobank that collects biological material and associated clinical, pathological and epidemiological data. To date the biobank has material from over 5,000 consented patients and has produced over 150 patients-derived xenografts of pancreatic cancer and other cancer models. For more information, visit http://www.arc-net.it

About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York State's largest health care provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals and over 550 outpatient facilities. We care for more than two million people annually in the metro New York area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 61,000 employees - 15,000+ nurses and nearly 3,400 physicians, including nearly 2,700 members of Northwell Health Physician Partners -- are working to change health care for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and the School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. And we offer health insurance through CareConnect. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.

About CSHL

Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. CSHL has been a National Cancer Institute designated Cancer Center since 1987. Home to eight Nobel Prize winners, the private, not-for-profit Laboratory employs 1,100 people including 600 scientists, students and technicians. The Meetings & Courses Program hosts more than 12,000 scientists from around the world each year on its campuses in Long Island and in Suzhou, China. The Laboratory's education arm also includes an academic publishing house, a graduate school and programs for middle and high school students and teachers. For more information, visit http://www.cshl.edu
Around 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, a giant asteroid crashed into the present-day Gulf of Mexico, leading to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. How plants were affected is less understood, but fossil records show that ferns were the first plants to recover many thousands of years afterward.

Now, a team including Cornell researchers reports the discovery of the first fossilized flowers from South America, and perhaps the entire Southern Hemisphere, following the extinction event. The fossils date back to the early Paleocene epoch, less than one million years after the asteroid struck. They were discovered in shales of the Salamanca Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina.

The researchers identified the fossilized flowers as belonging to the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Today, the family is found worldwide.

The study was published May 10 in the online journal PLOS One. "The fossilized flowers provide a new window into the earliest Paleocene communities in South America, and they are giving us the opportunity to compare the response to the extinction event on different continents," said Nathan Jud, the paper's first author and a postdoctoral researcher in Maria Gandolfo's lab, a senior research associate at the L.H. Bailey Hortorium and a co-author of the paper.

The finding also helps resolve an ongoing debate in the field of paleobotany on the origin of the Rhamnaceae plant family. Scientists have argued about whether early buckthorns originated in an ancient supercontinent called Gondwana, which later split and includes most of the Southern Hemisphere landmasses today; or whether the family originated in another supercontinent called Laurasia that accounts for most of today's Northern Hemisphere landmasses.

"This, and a handful of other recently-discovered fossils from the Southern Hemisphere, supports a Gondwanan origin for Rhamnaceae in spite of the relative scarcity of fossils in the Southern Hemisphere relative to the Northern Hemisphere," Jud said.

Fossils found in Colombia and Southern Mexico offer evidence that plants from the Rhamnaceae family first appeared in the Late Cretaceous epoch shortly before the extinction event, Jud said.

Though there was likely some extinction when the asteroid struck, especially near the crater where everything was destroyed by impact-generated wildfires, he added.

One scenario is that Rhamnaceae first appeared in the tropics of Gondwana, but survived the extinction in Patagonia, and then spread from there after the extinction event as plants re-colonized the most affected areas, Jud said.

The Salamanca Formation is among the most precisely-dated sites from that era in the world. The age of the fossils was corroborated by radiometric dating (using radioactive isotopes), the global paleomagnetic sequence (signatures of reversals of Earth's magnetic field found in the samples), and fossil correlations (age of other fossils).

"These are the only flowers of Danian age [an age that accounts for about 5 million years following the extinction event] for which we have good age control," said Jud. Researchers have discovered other fossilized flowers in India and China from around the Danian age, but their dates are not as precise, he said.

To determine that the fossilized flowers from Argentina belonged to the Rhamnaceae family, the authors noticed that the organization of the petals and stamens in the fossil is found in Rhamnaceae and a few other families. They found examples of 10 of the 11 living Rhamnaceae tribes in the L.H. Bailey Hortorium Herbarium at Cornell University, which then were compared with morphological features in the fossil flowers to identify them.

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Co-authors include Ari Iglesias, a researcher at the Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina, and Peter Wilf, a geoscientist at Pennsylvania State University.

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Fulbright Foundation
Reduced dust slows winds, increases air stagnation over cities like Beijing; implications for US, other cities as well

Man-made pollution in eastern China's cities worsens when less dust blows in from the Gobi Desert, according to a new study published May 11 in Nature Communications.

Yes, you read that correctly: When less natural dust blows in, the air quality for millions of people worsens.

That's because dust plays an important role in determining the air temperatures and thereby promoting winds to blow away man-made pollution. Less dust means the air stagnates, with man-made pollution becoming more concentrated and sticking around longer. The scientists found that reduced dust causes a 13 percent increase in man-made pollution over eastern China during the winter.

Researchers say the broader question of how natural dust and man-made pollution interact is an important one for people across the globe, not just China. Many of the same forces that ease or worsen pollution in China are at play in many areas around the globe, including several cities in the United States.

The paradoxical finding -- that more natural dust in the air improves air quality -- comes from a team of researchers from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego.

Post-doctoral researcher Yang Yang of PNNL is first author of the paper, and Lynn Russell of Scripps is the corresponding author.

In computer models together with historical data, the team found that reduced natural dust transported from the Gobi Desert in central and northern China translates to increased man-made air pollution in highly populated eastern China. The reason is that natural dust particles in the air help deflect sunlight. Fewer dust particles translates to a warmer-than-usual land surface and cooler-than-usual water. That reduces the temperature differential in winter between sea and the land, resulting in weaker winds -- and increased air stagnation. As a result, during the winter monsoon season, eastern China experiences weaker winds when there's less natural dust in the air.

It's nothing a person would notice -- a reduction barely more than one-tenth of one mile per hour -- but on a large scale over an entire region, such a seemingly minor change has a profound effect on climate and air quality.

"This is one of the first times we've really looked at the interactions between natural dust, wind, and anthropogenic pollution," said Yang. "It turns out that dust plays an important role in determining the quality of the air for many people in eastern China."

The modeling results match observational data from dozen of sites in eastern China. The team found that two to three days after winds had brought dust into the region from western China, the air was cleaner than before the dust arrived.

The researchers say man-made pollution is still the core of air pollution in cities like Beijing in eastern China but that it's important to understand the role of natural dust particles.

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In addition to authors from Scripps and PNNL, scientists from Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences contributed to the study.

Work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy Office of Science. Some of the research was performed at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, an Office of Science national user facility on the campus of DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Reference:

Yang Yang, Lynn M. Russell, Sijia Lou, Hong Liao, Jianping Guo, Ying Liu, Balwinder Singh and Steven J. Ghan, Dust-wind interactions can intensify aerosol pollution over eastern China, Nature Communications, May 11, 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCOMMS15333.
In marriage, good communication is key to a fulfilling and enduring relationship. For people with dementia, communicating needs, emotions and interacting with others becomes increasingly difficult as communication deteriorates as dementia progresses. Problems in communicating lead to misinterpretations and misunderstandings, which often cause considerable stress for family members, especially the spouse caregivers as well as the patient.

But all is not lost according to the first study to look at and measure communication outcomes in both the caregiver spouse and the patient with dementia. In fact, researchers from Florida Atlantic University have found that "practice makes perfect" with the right intervention and a tool that can accurately measure couples' communication. Results from the study are published in the journal Issues in Mental Health Nursing.

"There has been very little focus on the patient with dementia's role in maintaining spousal relationships through conversation," said Christine L. Williams, DNSc, principal investigator of the study and a professor and director of the Ph.D. in Nursing Program in FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, who designed the intervention program and developed the first tool that measures couples' communication. "Maybe it's because researchers assume that the patient can't have a positive influence on communication because of dementia. We wanted to explore this issue further, especially for couples with a history of special memories shared over decades of marriage."

For the study, Williams videotaped and later analyzed and measured 118 conversations between 15 patients with varying degrees of dementia and their spouses -- married an average of 45 years -- to evaluate the effects of a 10-week communication-enhancement intervention on participant's communication and mental health.

Caregivers were taught to communicate in a manner that was clear, succinct and respectful, and to avoid testing memory and arguing. Spouses with dementia were given the opportunity to practice their conversation skills with a member of the research team who was trained in communication deficits associated with dementia as well as the intervention. Conversations were recorded at the couples' homes. After setting up the video camera, Williams conducted the intervention and then left the room for 10 minutes. Couples were instructed to converse on a topic of their choice for 10 minutes.

"There are very few studies that have looked at actual communication between couples in these circumstances and tried to analyze it," said Williams. "For instance, I've seen studies where they have taught communication strategies to caregivers, but then what they measure is the caregivers' knowledge about communication, which doesn't tell you anything about whether or not they were able to communicate."

Unlike other measures of patient communication, the Verbal and Nonverbal Interaction Scale-CR (VNIS-CR) tool developed by Williams takes into account nonverbal behaviors, which account for more than 70 percent of communication, as well as verbal behaviors. VNIS-CR delineates social and unsociable behaviors, characterizes patient behaviors (not through the lens of a caregiver), and is targeted to spousal relationships in the home. Consisting of 13 social and 13 unsociable communication behaviors with both verbal and nonverbal items, the tool helps to describe sociable and unsociable communication in patients with dementia as they engage in conversations with their spouses.

Nonverbal, non-sociable items in the tool included aloofness, staring into space and being nonresponsive; nonverbal, sociable items included looking or gazing at the spouse, being affectionate and joking. Social verbal behaviors included using coherent conversation, responding to questions, and addressing their partner by name or endearment. Unsociable verbal behaviors included shouting, cursing and unintelligible communication. The 13-item scores were summed up to obtain the final score.

"Using this new tool, I was able to confirm that the intervention I used actually worked and that communication improved in both the spouse caregiver and the patient over time," said Williams. "I was ecstatic because I originally thought that maybe the caregiver's communication would improve and that would be great. However, to have positive changes in a person who is continuing to decline over 10 weeks, which is a long time, was something I really did not expect. This intervention worked for both the caregiver and the patient and we now have a tool to demonstrate it."

Globally, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias affected 35.6 million individuals in 2010 and it is expected to grow to 115.4 million by 2050. The prevalence of dementia will increase as longevity increases and future family caregivers are likely to be predominantly spouses. In the United States, most people with dementia are cared for by their spouses.

"As patients progress with dementia, couples don't have to lose everything especially if they are engaged, if they can still relate to one another and if they focus on the here and now," said Williams.

The VNIS-CR could be used in clinical practice to describe changes in social communication abilities over time, as well as to educate spousal caregivers about the importance of encouraging sociable communication. Knowledge gained from using this tool could better guide the development of interventions to support intimate relationships and ultimately measure changes following those interventions.

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Participants in the study all attended the Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center operated by FAU's College of Nursing.

FAU's College of Nursing is internationally known for its commitment to nursing as a discipline focused on nurturing the wholeness of persons and the environment through Caring. The College advances Caring knowledge through education, practice, research and scholarship to transform care locally, nationally and globally. Currently, the College of Nursing offers bachelor's, master's, DNP and Ph.D. degree programs with approximately 1,600 nursing students enrolled in its programs. For more information, visit http://www.nursing.fau.edu.

About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU's world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU's existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit http://www.fau.edu.
The higher the seawater temperature in the tropical Pacific, the more likely ice breakup will occur in East Antarctica, according to a Hokkaido University researcher

In April 2016, a large-scale breakup of land-fast ice was observed in Lutzow-Holm Bay near Syowa Station, a Japanese research facility. It was the first comparably large calving in the region since 1998. Land-fast ice is sea ice that grows along the Antarctic coast and does not move much once formed. Syowa Station is normally surrounded by land-fast ice, which makes it very difficult for even an icebreaker to reach.

Such a large calving has been reported several times in the past, but the cause of ice calving in Antarctica has mostly been shrouded in mystery.

Associate Professor Shigeru Aoki of Hokkaido University's Institute of Low Temperature Science has studied satellite imagery from 1997 to identify possible correlations between land-fast ice breakups and the climate condition data gathered at Syowa Station as well as sea surface temperature data from around the world. Land-fast ice breakup is most commonly observed in April, so Aoki investigated the latitudes where breakups of land-fast ice were observed and compared them with the data of April's climatological variable averages, such as atmospheric pressures on the ground and seawater surface temperatures.

According to Aoki's research, breakup latitudes in April exhibited a degree of correlation with ground-level atmospheric pressures and other indices of climate modes in the region. In particular, breakup latitudes highly correlated with seawater surface temperatures off Syowa Station and the tropical Pacific as far as 17,000 km away, indicating land-fast ice breakup is more often observed when seawater temperatures in the tropical Pacific are high.

At the end of 2015, several months before the major ice calving near Syowa Station, an El Nino climate cycle was said to be the third most intense in history, raised seawater temperatures in the tropical Pacific to one of the highest levels recorded. The 1998 ice calving, which occurred deep inside Lutzow-Holm Bay, coincided with the most intense El Nino in the history of the tropical Pacific.

Aoki says "The mechanism of teleconnection between tropical Pacific seawater and ice calving in Antarctica has yet to be fully elucidated. However, we hypothesize that high seawater temperatures in the tropical Pacific would trigger atmospheric waves, which eventually reach the sea off Syowa Station to cause oceanic heat storage. Warmer seawater would melt and reduce ice floes, which helps generate and propagate sea waves. This series of events would result in large ice breakup at the bay. Further study could enhance our understanding of global-scale climate teleconnections and allow for more precise forecasts of ice behavior in Antarctica."

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Using gene sequencing tools, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of British Columbia have found a set of genetic mutations in samples from 24 women with benign endometriosis, a painful disorder marked by the growth of uterine tissue outside of the womb. The findings, described in the May 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, may eventually help scientists develop molecular tests to distinguish between aggressive and clinically "indolent," or non-aggressive, types of endometriosis.

"Our discovery of these mutations is a first step in developing a genetics-based system for classifying endometriosis so that clinicians can sort out which forms of the disorder may need more aggressive treatment and which may not," says Ie-Ming Shih, M.D., Ph.D., the Richard W. TeLinde Distinguished Professor in the Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Endometriosis occurs when tissue lining the uterus forms and grows outside of the organ, most often into the abdomen. The disease occurs in up to 10 percent of women before menopause and half of those with abdominal pain and infertility problems. In the 1920s, Johns Hopkins graduate and trained gynecologist John Sampson first coined the term "endometriosis" and proposed the idea that endometriosis resulted when normal endometrial tissue spilled out through the fallopian tubes into the abdominal cavity during menstruation.

The new study, Shih says, challenges that view. The presence of the unusual set of mutations they found in their tissue samples, he says, suggests that while the origins of endometriosis are rooted in normal endometrial cells, acquired mutations changed their fate.

For reasons the researchers say are not yet clear, the mutations they identified have some links to genetic mutations found in some forms of cancer. They emphasize that although abnormal tissue growth in endometriosis often spreads throughout the abdominal cavity, the tissue rarely becomes cancerous except in a few cases when ovaries are involved.

For the study, Shih and his colleagues sequenced -- or figured out the genetic alphabet -- a part of the genome known as the exome, which contains all of the genes that can be expressed and make proteins. Specifically, they sequenced the exome of both normal tissue and endometriosis tissue removed during laparoscopic biopsies on 24 women, some with more than one abnormal endometrial growth. All had deep infiltrating endometriosis, the type that typically causes pain and infertility.

Seven of the 24 women were from Japan; the rest were patients at Lenox Hill Hospital-Northwell Health in New York City. The use of samples from Japanese women was selected because endometriosis before menopause occurs more often in Asian women (13-18 percent) than in Caucasian women (6-10 percent), Shih says.

The scientists looked for mutations, or abnormal changes in the DNA, and filtered out normal variations in genes that commonly occur among humans. Of the 24 women, 19 had one or more mutations in their endometriosis tissue that were not present in their normal tissue.

The type and number of mutations varied per endometriosis lesion and between each of the women. The most common mutations, occurring in five of the women, occurred in genes including ARID1A, PIK3CA, KRAS and PPP2R1A, all known for controlling cell growth, cell invasion and DNA damage repair.

Mutations in these genes have been associated with one of the deadliest types of ovarian cancer, called clear cell carcinoma. Nickolas Papadopoulos, Ph.D., professor of oncology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, led the team that completed the first sequencing of the clear cell ovarian cancer genome in 2010.

"We were surprised to find cancer-linked genes in these benign endometriosis samples because these lesions do not typically become cancer," says Papadopoulos, whose Ludwig Center laboratories performed the sequencing. "We don't yet understand why these mutations occur in these tissues, but one possibility is that they could be giving the cells an advantage for growth and spread."

In an additional group of endometriosis samples biopsied from 15 women at the University of British Columbia, the scientists looked specifically for mutations in the KRAS gene, whose expression signals proteins that spur cell growth and replication. They found KRAS mutations in five of the 15 patients.

The scientists make clear that their sequencing studies may have missed mutations in some of the samples. Their data do not at this point reveal the aggressiveness of the lesions.

However, Shih says, he and his team are working on additional studies to determine if the mutations correlate with patients' outcomes. He says a molecular test that sorts lesions as more or less aggressive has the potential to help doctors and patients decide how to treat and monitor the progression and control of the disease. "We may also be able to develop new treatments for endometriosis that use agents that block a gene-related pathway specific to a person's disease," says Shih.

Women with endometriosis are typically prescribed anti-hormonal treatments that block estrogen to shrink lesions. When the disease occurs in the ovaries and forms a large cyst, which increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer, the lesion is usually surgically removed.

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Other scientists involved in the research include M.S. Anglesio, A. Ayhan, T.M. Nazeran, M. Noe, H.M. Horlings, A. Lum, S. Jones, J. Senz, T. Seckin, J. Ho, R.-C. Wu, V. Lac, H. Ogawa, B. Tessier?Cloutier, R. Alhassan, A. Wang, Y. Wang, J.D. Cohen, F. Wong, A. Hasanovic, N. Orr, M. Zhang, M. Popoli, W. McMahon, L.D. Wood, A. Mattox, C. Allaire, J. Segars, C. Williams, C. Tomasetti, N. Boyd, K.W. Kinzler, C.B. Gilks, L. Diaz, T.-L. Wang, B. Vogelstein, P.J. Yong, and D.G. Huntsman.

Funding for the studies was provided by the Richard W. TeLinde Gynecologic Pathology Research Program at The Johns Hopkins University, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, the Ephraim and Wilma Shaw Roseman Foundation, the Endometriosis Foundation of America, the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute (grants P50-CA62924, CA06973, GM07184, GM07309, CA09243, CA57345, P30-CA006973, CA215483, and UO1-CA200469), the Gray Family Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma Research Resource, the Canadian Cancer Society (grant 701603), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (IHD-137431 and MOP-142273), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (John R. Evans Leaders Fund) and British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, the Women's Health Research Institute (Nelly Auersperg Grant), and the Canadian Foundation for Women's Health (General Research Grant), the BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre Foundation, The BC Cancer Foundation and the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation, David and Darrell Mindell, Peter and Shelley O'Sullivan, the Jemini Foundation, the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, the Dr. Chew Wei Memorial Professorship in Gynecologic Oncology, the Canada Research Chairs program (Research Chair in Molecular and Genomic Pathology), and the Dutch Cancer Society translational research fellowship (KWF 2013-5869).
The first analysis of how proteins are arranged in a cell was published today in Science, revealing that a large portion of human proteins can be found in more than one location in a given cell.

Using the Sweden-based Cell Atlas, researchers examined the spatial distribution of the human proteome that correspond to the majority of protein-coding genes, and they described in unprecedented detail the distribution of proteins to the various organelles and substructures of the human body's smallest unit, the cell.

Within a cell, the organelles create partitions that form an enclosed environment for chemical reactions tailored to fulfill specific functions in the cell. Since these functions are tightly linked to specific sets of proteins, knowing the subcellular location of the human proteome is key knowledge for understanding the function and underlying mechanisms of the human cell.

The study was led by Emma Lundberg, associate professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and responsible for the High Content Microscopy facility at the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) in Stockholm, Sweden. The team generated more than 300,000 images to systematically resolve the spatial distribution of human proteins in cultivated cell lines, and map them to cellular compartments and substructures with single cell resolution.

The Cell Atlas is the result of more than 10 years of research within the Human Protein Atlas program, and was launched in December 2016. The article in Science describes the detailed analysis of hundreds of thousands of images created as part of this international effort, which also involved groups in China, South Korea, India, Denmark, and Germany.

"Only by studying the molecular components of the body's smallest functional unit - the cell - can we reach a full understanding of human biology," says KTH Professor Mathias Uhlen, director of the Human Protein Atlas. "The Cell Atlas provides researchers with new knowledge that facilitates functional exploration of individual proteins and their role in human biology and disease."

The published article also includes a comparative study performed by Kathryn Lilley, director of the Cambridge Centre for Proteomics, at Cambridge University, UK, which enabled the antibody-based immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy analysis to be validated by an alternative mapping strategy that used mass spectrometry.

A total of 12,003 proteins targeted by 13,993 antibodies were classified into one or several of 30 cellular compartments and substructures, altogether defining the proteome of 13 major organelles. The organelles with the largest proteomes were the nucleus (6,930) and its substructures, such as bodies and speckles, and the cytosol (4,279).

Interestingly, about one-half of the proteins are found in more than one compartment revealing a shared pool of proteins in functionally unrelated parts of the cell. This finding sheds new light on the complexity of cells.

The Cell Atlas is an open access resource that can be used by researchers around the world to study proteins or organelles of interest. Lundberg says. "The Atlas enables systems biology and cell modeling applications, and it is also a highly valuable resource for machine learning applications in image pattern recognition."

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Notes for editors:

The Cell Atlas is part of the Human Protein Atlas project, which was initiated in 2003 by Professor Mathias Uhlen and is funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Primarily based in Sweden, the Human Protein Atlas project involves the joint efforts of KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Uppsala University, Uppsala Akademiska University Hospital and, more recently, Science for Life Laboratory, which is based in both Uppsala and Stockholm. Formal collaborations are with groups in India, South Korea, Japan, China, Germany, France, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy.

The Cell Atlas can be viewed at http://www.proteinatlas.org/.
Members of the Faculty of Biology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University have studied arctic ground squirrels, inhabiting the Indigirka river basin, and found out that their relatives now inhabit Kamchatka. The scientists have shared with the research results in an article, published in Scientific Reports journal.

Beringian ground squirrels are model organisms, used by scientists for studies of trans-Beringian connections (namely, connections between the Old and New Worlds, established at existence time of the terrestrial Bering Land Bridge at the site of the Bering Strait). Studies of so called arctic ground squirrels, inhabiting the Indigirka river basin, Urocitellus glacialis, have revealed new data, concerning trans-Beringian connections. This fossil species was described by Boris Vinogradov, a Soviet zoologist. The description was made on the basis of three carcasses, found in 1946 by unnamed prisoners of GULAG in vertical excavations (shafts) at a depth of 12.5 meters. Preservation of the mummified carcasses of ground squirrels was so good that even ectoparasites (lice) were found in their hair. It's a unique case as actually no hair coat is usually preserved.

Later on a biologist named Igor Gromov, paid attention to the fact that fossils of Citellus glacialis resemble Beringian ground squirrels, inhabiting Alaska, but not northeastern Asia. It became a step up towards studying the glacialis form with the help of molecular genetic methods. The scientists were interested in conducting this research even in the 90-s, however, lack of any experience of operating with ancient DNA among Russian scientists at that time was a formidable obstacle on this way. The complexity of such DNA sequence lies in the fact that DNA degradates with time as a result of dehydration of carcasses, low temperatures or strong salt content. That's why special processing of ancient DNA before its studying is necessary. Marina Faerman-Arkchangelskaya, who graduated from the Anthropology Department of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, currently working at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, helped the scientists to solve this problem. She showed the Moscow colleagues how to work with ancient DNA and sequenced cytochrome b gene in the U. glacialis paratype. The substance has been extracted from tissue samples of a ground squirrel, so that one could estimate degree of relationship with present-day representatives, basing on this gene. She also organized dating the sample on the new device - AMS (Accelerator mass spectrometer), started working in Novosibirsk. It allows to date, basing on tissue microsamples, what prevents destroying the sample. In usual devices you need a sample at the rate of 5 grams of carbon, what means a whole skull of a ground squirrel or a dog shoulder bone. Consequently, in cases of small animals you take the larger half of a sample for dating. The analysis results show that the U. glacialis form is three times older than supposed to be - it's 30 000-year-old.

The scientists have conducted extraction and sequence of all present-day and another three fossil samples in Russia. The U. Glacialis species has proved to be very near to present-day Beringian ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii), however, at that moment specialists knew its closest relatives only from the New World, from the Alaska Peninsula. The scientists have also established that Beringian ground squirrels colonized Eurasia at least twice. It was likely connected with glaciation, before which ground squirrels managed to distribute in Asia from America. Later they became extinct in Asia cause of cooling, and after warming a new part of ground squirrels came from Alaska.

Nikolai Formozov, a Leading researcher in the Laboratory of Vertebrate Behavior, existing at the Department of Vertebrate Zoology of the Faculty of Biology at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and the article author shares: "In the course of the work we ask ourselves if there are somewhere descendants of the first colonization wave in Eurasia. Kamchatka was the most appropriate region from this point of view but we didn't have substances from there at that time. But suddenly we got unexpected support. Igor Shpilenok, a famous blogger and photographer, was busy with months-long photographic surveying of animals in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve. Once the Moscow researchers reached out to him and asked to assist in gathering tissue samples of ground squirrels, then a fox, named Alisa, inhabited nearby Igor, began to bring ground squirrels to the doorstep of his lodge. Already first samples, gathered by Alisa, precisely proved the hypothesis - ground squirrels from Kamchatka appeared to be close relatives of the glacialis form. The fox was wilde bur quite closely communicated with people and sometimes brought ground squirrels as they are an easy target in that places. Probably, it's a trust mark, like when cats bring caught mice to their masters and get surprised that they are reluctant to eat mice."

The scientists notice that their project substantially contributes to understanding trans-Beringian connections and dispersal routes of various animals in the Pleistocene in northeastern Asia.

###

The project has been done in cooperation with the scientists from the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation; I.D. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Water, Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences; Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Far-East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Diamond and Precious Metals Geology Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Penza State University, Weizmann Institute of Science and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israil.
(BOSTON) - Leading hospital "superbugs," known as the enterococci, arose from an ancestor that dates back 450 million years -- about the time when animals were first crawling onto land (and well before the age of dinosaurs), according to a new study led by researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear, the Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Published online today in Cell, the study authors shed light on the evolutionary history of these pathogens, which evolved nearly indestructible properties and have become leading causes of modern antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals.

Antibiotic resistance is now a leading public health concern worldwide. Some microbes, often referred to as "superbugs," are resistant to virtually all antibiotics. This is of special concern in hospitals, where about 5 percent of hospitalized patients will fight infections that arise during their stay. As researchers around the world are urgently seeking solutions for this problem, insight into the origin and evolution of antibiotic resistance will help inform their search.

"By analyzing the genomes and behaviors of today's enterococci, we were able to rewind the clock back to their earliest existence and piece together a picture of how these organisms were shaped into what they are today" said co-corresponding author Ashlee M. Earl, Ph.D., group leader for the Bacterial Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "Understanding how the environment in which microbes live leads to new properties could help us to predict how microbes will adapt to the use of antibiotics, antimicrobial hand soaps, disinfectants and other products intended to control their spread."

The picture the researchers pieced together begins with the dawn of life. Bacteria arose nearly 4 billion years ago, and the planet has teemed with them ever since, including the sea. Animals first arose in the sea during the time known as the Cambrian Explosion, 542 million years ago. As animals emerged in a sea of bacteria, bacteria learned to live in and on them. Some bacteria protect and serve the animals, as the healthy microbes in our intestines do today; others live in the environment, and still others cause disease. As animals crawled onto land about 100 million years later, they took their microbes with them.

The authors of the Cell study found that all species of enterococci, including those that have never been found in hospitals, were naturally resistant to dryness, starvation, disinfectants and many antibiotics. Because enterococci normally live in the intestines of most (if not all) land animals, it seemed likely that they were also in the intestines of land animals that are now extinct, including dinosaurs and the first millipede-like organisms to crawl onto land. Comparison of the genomes of these bacteria provided evidence that this was indeed the case. In fact, the research team found that new species of enterococci appeared whenever new types of animals appeared. This includes when new types of animals arose right after they first crawled onto land, and when new types of animals arose right after mass extinctions, especially the greatest mass extinction, the End Permian Extinction (251 million years ago).

From sea animals, like fish, intestinal microbes are excreted into the ocean, which usually contains about 5,000 mostly harmless bacteria per drop of water. They sink to the seafloor into microbe-rich sediments, and are consumed by worms, shellfish and other sea scavengers. Those are then eaten by fish, and the microbes continue to circulate throughout the food chain. However, on land, intestinal microbes are excreted as feces, where they often dry out and most die over time.

Not the enterococci, however. These microbes are unusually hardy and can withstand drying out and starvation, which serves them well on land and in hospitals where disinfectants make it difficult for a microbe.

"We now know what genes were gained by enterococci hundreds of millions of years ago, when they became resistant to drying out, and to disinfectants and antibiotics that attack their cell walls," said study leader Michael S. Gilmore, Ph.D., senior scientist at Mass. Eye and Ear and Director of the Harvard Infectious Disease Institute.

"These are now targets for our research to design new types of antibiotics and disinfectants that specifically eliminate enterococci, to remove them as threats to hospitalized patients," added Francois Lebreton, Ph.D., first author of the study and project leader for the Gilmore team.

###

In addition to Drs. Earl, Gilmore and Lebreton, authors on the Cell paper include Abigail L. Manson, Ph.D., and Timothy J. Straub, of the Broad Institue of MIT and Harvard, and Jose T. Saavedra, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This research study was supported by Department of Health and Human Services/National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grants AI072360, AI083214, HHSN272200900018C and U19AI110818.

About Massachusetts Eye and Ear

Mass. Eye and Ear clinicians and scientists are driven by a mission to find cures for blindness, deafness and diseases of the head and neck. Now united with Schepens Eye Research Institute, Mass. Eye and Ear is the world's largest vision and hearing research center, developing new treatments and cures through discovery and innovation. Mass. Eye and Ear is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and trains future medical leaders in ophthalmology and otolaryngology, through residency as well as clinical and research fellowships. Internationally acclaimed since its founding in 1824, Mass. Eye and Ear employs full-time, board-certified physicians who offer high-quality and affordable specialty care that ranges from the routine to the very complex. In the 2016-2017 "Best Hospitals Survey," U.S. News & World Report ranked Mass. Eye and Ear #1 in the nation for ear, nose and throat care and #1 in New England for eye care. For more information about life-changing care and research, or to learn how you can help, please visit MassEyeAndEar.org.

About the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology

The Harvard Medical School (HMS) Department of Ophthalmology (eye.hms.harvard.edu) is one of the leading and largest academic departments of ophthalmology in the nation. More than 350 full-time faculty and trainees work at nine HMS affiliate institutions, including Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Joslin Diabetes Center/Beetham Eye Institute, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, VA Maine Healthcare System, and Cambridge Health Alliance. Formally established in 1871, the department has been built upon a strong and rich foundation in medical education, research, and clinical care. Through the years, faculty and alumni have profoundly influenced ophthalmic science, medicine, and literature--helping to transform the field of ophthalmology from a branch of surgery into an independent medical specialty at the forefront of science.

About the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was launched in 2004 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine. The Broad Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods, and data openly to the entire scientific community.

Founded by MIT, Harvard, Harvard-affiliated hospitals and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff, and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to http://www.broadinstitute.org.
Researchers have discovered for the first time that a common marine sponge hosts bacteria that specialize in the production of toxic compounds nearly identical to man-made fire retardants, a finding that could help scientists better understand the human health implications of these common additives.

The new findings, by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California, San Diego, moved the research team a step closer to unraveling the mysteries of this powerful group of chemical compounds, known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Ocean Sciences and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health jointly funded the research through SIO's Center for Oceans and Human Health.

"For many years scientists have been finding clues that suggested nature was making these compounds," said SIO marine chemist Brad Moore, a senior author of the study. "Now that we understand how they are produced in the marine environment, we are exploring why they exist, and the human health concerns associated with them."

The results, which appear in the May issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology, came from a unique collaboration among chemists and biologists at SIO and elsewhere.

"This study is a powerful combination of chemical, biological and environmental research," said Henrietta Edmonds of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "It has the potential to help us understand the production, fate and health consequences of natural and pollutant compounds in the marine environment."

Manufacturers add PBDEs to foam, textiles, electronics and other products to make them less flammable. These industrial chemicals are powerful endocrine disruptors that mimic the activity of the human body's most active thyroid hormone.

Vinayak Agarwal, a researcher at SIO, picked up a cold case first started nearly 50 years ago by SIO chemist John Faulkner, an early pioneer in the study of natural products from the sea. Agarwal continued Faulkner's investigation into the source of toxic PDBEs, found in large quantities in the world's oceans.

"For the first time we were able to conclusively show that genes and enzymes produced in bacteria from sponges are responsible for the production of these compounds toxic to humans," said Agarwal, co-first author of the paper along with Scripps researcher Jessica Blanton.

In 2014, Agarwal and colleagues were the first to discover that unrelated free-living marine bacteria produce the fire retardant compounds naturally.

In the new study, researchers employed two modern-day techniques -- genome "mining" and environmental DNA sequencing -- to take the investigation a step farther and identify the specific genes and enzymes involved in the overproduction of the toxic molecules in sponges.

Marine sponges obtain food and oxygen by filtering seawater through the pores and channels in their bodies. This constant flow of water means that these immobile animals host many bacteria, viruses and fungi in their complex microbiomes.

The research team collected 18 sponge samples for the study during two research expeditions to Guam. They then isolated the various components in the complex mixture of organisms from the sponge's tissues to identify the specific genes and enzymes that code for the production of PBDEs.

The genome "mining" approach along with metagenomic sequencing gave the scientists a way to connect the natural chemicals produced by organisms back to the enzymes that constructed them.

"We care about naturally produced PBDEs because they end up in the food chain," said NIEHS's Frederick Tyson. "Preliminary data from this research suggest that some naturally occurring PDBEs may be even more toxic than those that are man-made, so we need to develop a better understanding of these compounds."

The next step in the investigation is to mine the genes and enzymes in other marine species to found out what other organisms are making similar toxic compounds and why.

###

Co-authors from SIO include Sheila Podell, Michelle Schorn, Julia Busch, and Paul Jensen. Researchers Arnaud Taton and James Golden from UC San Diego's Division of Biological Sciences, Jason Biggs from the University of Guam's Marine Laboratory, Zhenjian Lin and Eric Schmidt from the University of Utah, and Valerie Paul from the Smithsonian Marine Station also contributed to the study.
Tropical Cyclone Ella has large bands of thunderstorms wrapping around the center and from the east of center in imagery from the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite.

On May 11 at 0136 UTC (May 10 at 9:36 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible-light image of Tropical Cyclone Ella in the South Pacific. Although an eye wasn't visible in the VIIRS image, microwave satellite imagery revealed a well-defined eye about 20 nautical miles in diameter.

In addition to visible imagery, animated multispectral satellite imagery showed developing thunderstorms with curved banding wrapping into the defined low level circulation center.

At 0300 UTC on May 11 (11 p.m. EDT, May 10) Tropical Cyclone Ella's maximum sustained winds increased to near 63 mph (55 knots/102 kph) as it continued moving to the west at 2.3 mph (2 knots /3.7 kph). It was centered near 14.4 degrees east latitude and 177.0 degrees west longitude, about 358 nautical miles northeast of Suva, Fiji.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said that "Environmental analysis indicates [Ella] is in an area of favorable sea surface temperatures and fair outflow, however, vertical wind shear is moderate (15 to 20 knots)."

Ella has is expected to track to the southwest over the next 12 to 24 hours as an elongated area of low pressure or trough moves into the region and re-orients the steering flow. Ella is expected to weaken in three days as it approaches Fiji.

Fiji Meteorological Service issued a gale warning remains for Vanua Levu, Taveuni and nearby smaller islands. A strong wind warning remains in effect for Lau and Lomaiviti group and the eastern part of Viti Levu.

For updated warnings and watches visit: http://www.met.gov.fj/.

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LA JOLLA, CA - May 11, 2017 - In their quest to replicate themselves, viruses have gotten awfully good at tricking human cells into pumping out viral proteins. That's why scientists have been working to use viruses as forces for good: to deliver useful genes to human cells and help patients who lack important proteins or enzymes.

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Vijay Reddy at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has now uncovered the structural details that make one virus a better tool for future therapies than its closely related "cousin."

As Reddy and his colleagues reported this week in the journal Science Advances, the structure of a less prevalent species D adenovirus may work well as a gene-delivery vector because its structure doesn't let it get spirited away to the liver, minimizing liver toxicity. The Reddy Lab's study is the first to show the structural details on species D's surface that set it apart from another common subtype of adenovirus, called species C, which does travel to the liver.

"Greater understanding of the structures of adenoviruses from different species will help generate better gene therapies and/or vaccine vectors," said Reddy.

Using an imaging technique called cryo-electron microscopy, the researchers discovered that while these two species of adenoviruses share the same shell-like core, they have different surface structures, which Reddy called "decorations" or "loops."

These loops are key to a virus's behavior. They determine which receptors on human cells the virus can bind to. For species C adenoviruses, specific loops help the virus attach to blood coagulation factors (adaptor proteins) and get targeted to the human liver.

Species D adenoviruses display distinctly different loop decorations. For use in gene and vaccine therapies, the virus would deliver helpful genes instead.

Plus, species D has one more important advantage over species C: Humans are constantly exposed to species C adenoviruses, so most people have developed antibodies to fight them off. These same antibodies would fight off the species C viruses even if they were designed for beneficial therapies. On the flip side, many of the species D adenoviruses are rare, and it's unlikely that a patient would have antibodies to fight them off. That makes species D viruses better for delivering therapies. In fact, Reddy said scientists are already testing ways to use it to generate malaria and Ebola virus vaccines.

The researchers next plan to look at members of the other five species of adenoviruses to see if they would have useful traits as viral therapy vectors.

###

In addition to Reddy, the first authors of the study, "Cryo-EM structure of human adenovirus D26 reveals the conservation of structural organization among human adenoviruses," were Xiaodi Yu and David Veesler, formerly at TSRI, now at Pfizer Worldwide R&D, and the University of Washington, Seattle, respectively. Additional authors were Melody Campbell, formerly at TSRI, now at the University of California, San Francisco; Mary E. Barry and Michael A. Barry of the Mayo Clinic; and Francisco Asturias of TSRI. Reddy also thanked Bridget Carragher and Clint Potter, directors of the National Resource for Automated Molecular Microscopy (NRAMM) facility for their support and collaboration.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01AI070771, R21AI103692 and GM103310).

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.
For her exceptional leadership as a scientist, writer, educator, communicator and advocate of tsunami research and preparedness, the Seismological Society of America (SSA) honors Lori Dengler with the 2017 Frank Press Public Service Award.

Dengler, a Professor Emeritus at Humboldt State University, will receive the Press Award at Seismology of the Americas, a joint meeting of the SSA and the Latin American and Caribbean Seismological Commission (LACSC), to be held 23-26 April 2018 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

"California's level of preparedness for earthquakes and tsunamis, particularly along the north coast that is part of Cascadia, is very much due to [Dengler's] efforts to bring the science to the public, the local, regional, tribal, state and federal officials who must make and support preparations, and the emergency managers who have to deal with the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis," said Peggy Hellweg, operations manager at the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory.

For more than 30 years, Dengler has been a tireless force in preparing coastal communities in California and around the world for tsunamis. She participated in post-event field teams studying tsunamis in 1998 in Papua New Guinea, 2004 in Indonesia, 2010 Chile and 2011 in Japan, among others, and as a result was a coordinating co-author on the UNESCO-IOC's International Post-Tsunami Survey Field Guide. For the U.S., Dengler served as a member of the group that developed the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program and authored the program's initial Strategic Implementation Plan for Mitigation Projects as the Scientific Lead from California.

On the regional level, Dengler was a founding member of the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group in 1996 to bring together local, state, tribal, and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations and businesses to reduce and learn more about seismic risks along California's northern coast. "Living on Shaky Ground: How to Survive Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Northern California," a preparedness guide developed by Dengler, has become a model for similar citizen guides throughout California.

In 2015, Dengler co-authored The Extraordinary Voyage of Kamome: A Tsunami Boat Comes Home, a bilingual Japanese-English children's book about a small fishing boat that was swept across the Pacific Ocean by the 2011 Japan tsunami and came ashore in Crescent City, California two years later. The book and a surrounding outreach project are the basis of a new school curriculum in California on earthquakes and tsunami preparedness.

Dengler received her bachelor's (1968), master's (1973), and Ph.D. (1979) degrees in geophysics from the University of California, Berkeley. She has served as the director of the Humboldt Earthquake Education Center since 1986, was recognized as Humboldt State University's Scholar of the Year in 2008 and was the 2009 recipient of the Alfred E. Alquist Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Earthquake Safety.

The Frank Press Public Service Award honors outstanding contributions to the advancement of public safety or public information relating to seismology. This award may be given to any individual, combination of individuals, or organization.

###

The call for nominations for next year's Press award, along with a list of past winners, is available at the Seismological Society of America's website, http://www.seismosoc.org.

The Seismological Society of America is a scientific society devoted to the advancement of earthquake science. Founded in 1906 in San Francisco, the Society now has members throughout the world representing a variety of technical interests: seismologists and other geophysicists, geologists, engineers, insurers, and policy-makers in preparedness and safety.
At very high energies, the collision of massive atomic nuclei in an accelerator generates hundreds or even thousands of particles that undergo numerous interactions. At the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow, Poland it has been shown that the course of this complex process can be represented by a surprisingly simple model: extremely hot matter moves away from the impact point, stretching along the original flight path in streaks, and the further the streak is from the plane of the collision, the greater its velocity.

When two massive atomic nuclei collide at high energies, the most exotic form of matter is formed: the quark-gluon plasma behaving like a perfect fluid. The theoretical considerations of physicists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Cracow, Poland show that after impact the plasma forms into streaks along the direction of impact, moving faster the further away it moves from the collision axis. The model, its predictions and the effects of their confrontation with hitherto experimental data are presented in the journal Physical Review C.

Collisions of atomic nuclei occur extremely rapidly and at distances of merely hundreds of femtometres (i.e. hundreds of millionths of one billionth of a metre). The physical conditions are exceptionally sophisticated and direct observation of the phenomenon is not currently possible. In such situations, science copes by constructing theoretical models and confronting their predictions with the data collected in experiments. In the case of these collisions, however, a huge disadvantage is that the resulting conglomerate of particles is the quark-gluon plasma. Interactions between quarks and gluons are dominated by forces that are so strong and complex that modern physics is not capable of describing them precisely.

"Our group decided to focus on the electromagnetic phenomena occurring during the collision because they are much easier to express in the language of mathematics. As a result, our model proved to be simple enough for us to employ the principles of energy and momentum conservation without too much trouble. Later on, we found that despite the adopted simplifications the model predictions remain at least 90% consistent with experimental data", says Dr. Andrzej Rybicki (IFJ PAN).

Massive atomic nuclei accelerated to high velocities, observed in the laboratory, are flattened in the direction of motion as a result of the effects of the theory of relativity. When two such proton-neutron 'pancakes' fly towards each other, the collision is generally not central: only some of the protons and neutrons of one nucleus reach the other, entering into violent interactions and forming the quark-gluon plasma. At the same time, some of the external fragments of the nuclear pancakes do not encounter any obstacles on their way and continue their uninterrupted flight; in the jargon of physicists they are called spectators.

"Our work was inspired by data collected in earlier experiments with nuclear collisions, including these made at the SPS accelerator. The electromagnetic effects occurring in these collisions that we examined showed that the quark-gluon plasma moves at a higher velocity the closer it is to the spectators", says Dr. Rybicki.

In order to reproduce this course of the phenomenon, the physicists from IFJ PAN decided to divide the nuclei along the direction of movement into a series of strips - 'bricks'. Each nucleus in cross section thus looked like a pile of stacked bricks (in the model their height was one femtometre). Instead of considering the complex strong interactions and flows of momentum and energy between hundreds and thousands of particles, the model reduced the problem to several dozen parallel collisions, each occurring between two proton-neutron bricks.

The IFJ PAN scientists confronted the predictions of the model with data collected from collisions of massive nuclei measured by the NA49 experiment at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). This accelerator is located at the CERN European Nuclear Research Organization near Geneva, where one of its most important tasks now is to accelerate particles shot into the LHC accelerator.

"Due to the scale of technical difficulties, the NA49 experiment's results are subject to specific measurement uncertainties that are difficult to completely reduce or eliminate. In reality, the accuracy of our model can even be greater than the already mentioned 90%. This entitles us to say that even if there were any additional, still not included, physical mechanisms in the collisions they should no longer significantly affect the theoretical framework of the model", comments doctoral student Miroslaw Kielbowicz (IFJ PAN).

After developing the model of collisions of 'brick stacks', the IFJ PAN researchers discovered that a very similar theoretical structure, called the fire streak model, had been proposed by a group of physicists from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (USA) and the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre in France - already in 1978.

"The previous model of fire streaks which, in fact, we mention in our publication, was built to describe other collisions occurring at lower energies. We have created our structure independently and for a different energy range", says Prof. Antoni Szczurek (IFJ PAN, University of Rzeszow) and emphasizes: "The existence of two independent models based on a similar physical idea and corresponding to measurements in different energy ranges of collisions increases the probability that the physical basis on which these models are built is correct".

The Cracow fire streak model provides new information on the expansion of quark-gluon plasma in high energy collisions of massive atomic nuclei. The study of these phenomena is being further extended in the framework of another international experiment, NA61/SHINE at the SPS accelerator.

###

The research of the IFJ PAN group is being financed by the SONATA BIS grant from the National Science Centre.

The Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics (IFJ PAN) is currently the largest research institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The broad range of studies and activities of IFJ PAN includes basic and applied research, ranging from particle physics and astrophysics, through hadron physics, high-, medium-, and low-energy nuclear physics, condensed matter physics (including materials engineering), to various applications of methods of nuclear physics in interdisciplinary research, covering medical physics, dosimetry, radiation and environmental biology, environmental protection, and other related disciplines. The average yearly yield of the IFJ PAN encompasses more than 500 scientific papers in the Journal Citation Reports published by the Thomson Reuters. The part of the Institute is the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) which is an infrastructure, unique in Central Europe, to serve as a clinical and research centre in the area of medical and nuclear physics. IFJ PAN is a member of the Marian Smoluchowski Krakow Research Consortium: "Matter-Energy-Future" which possesses the status of a Leading National Research Centre (KNOW) in physics for the years 2012-2017. The Institute is of A+ Category (leading level in Poland) in the field of sciences and engineering.

CONTACTS:

Dr. Andrzej Rybicki

The Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

tel.: +48 12 6628447

email: andrzej.rybicki@ifj.edu.pl

Prof. Antoni Szczurek

The Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

tel. +48 12 6628212

email: antoni.szczurek@ifj.edu.pl

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS:

"Implications of energy and momentum conservation for particle emission in A+A collisions at energies available at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron"

A. Szczurek, M. Kielbowicz, A. Rybicki

Physical Review C 95, 024908

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.95.024908

LINKS:

http://shine.web.cern.ch/ The website of the SHINE experiment.

http://www.cern.ch/ The website of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

http://www.ifj.edu.pl/ The website of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

http://press.ifj.edu.pl/en/ Press releases of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

IMAGES:

IFJ170510b_fot01s.jpg

HR: http://press.ifj.edu.pl/news/2017/05/10/IFJ170510b_fot01.jpg

Fragments of extremely hot matter, produced in the collision of heavy atomic nuclei at the SPS accelerator at the European CERN centre, move away from each other at high velocities, forming streaks along the direction of the collision. (Source: IFJ PAN, Iwona Sputowska)
New research suggests that simply telling a young man that an energy drink has been added to his alcoholic beverage can make him feel more intoxicated, daring and sexually self-confident.

The study, led by the UBC Sauder School of Business, is the first to examine the effect of marketing on consumer beliefs related to alcohol mixed with energy drinks.

"Red Bull has long used the slogan 'Red Bull gives you wings,' but our study shows that this type of advertising can make people think it has intoxicating qualities when it doesn't," said Yann Cornil, the study's lead author and assistant professor at UBC Sauder. "When alcohol is mixed with an energy drink and people are aware of it, they feel like they're more intoxicated simply because the marketing says they should feel that way."

While earlier studies suggested that mixing energy drinks and alcohol could be dangerous, recent experiments in which people were not told what they were drinking found that adding energy drinks to alcohol had no effect on actual or perceived intoxication and was unlikely to increase alcohol's effect on behaviour. Despite this, those who knowingly mix energy drinks with alcohol have twice the risk of experiencing or committing sexual assault or being involved in a car crash, compared to people who drink alcohol straight.

To test their theory that the marketing of energy drinks could result in a placebo effect, the researchers recruited 154 young men who were each given a cocktail containing vodka, Red Bull and fruit juice. The labelling of the cocktail either emphasized the presence of the energy drink, describing it as a "vodka-Red Bull cocktail," or not, describing it as a "vodka cocktail" or "exotic cocktail." Participants were then asked to complete a series of tasks on a computer to measure their perceived drunkenness and their attitudes and behaviors.

The researchers found that emphasizing the presence of an energy drink significantly increased perceived intoxication, risk-taking and sexual self-confidence, especially among participants who already had a strong belief that mixing energy drinks with alcohol would have this effect.

The researchers also measured how likely participants were to drive, and found that emphasizing the energy drink decreased participants' intentions to drive under the influence.

"The silver lining was that emphasizing the energy drink in the cocktail made the participants less likely to drive," said study co-author Aradhna Krishna, marketing professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "It seems that drunk-driving education is working enough to make people think hard about driving when they are feeling drunk."

"Given the study's findings about the psychological effects of energy-drink marketing, energy drink marketers should be banned from touting the disinhibiting effects of their ingredients," said co-author Pierre Chandon, marketing professor at INSEAD business school. "Regulations and codes of conduct should consider the psychological - and not just the physiological - effects of products."

The study, "Does Red Bull Give Wings to Vodka? Placebo Effects of Marketing Labels on Perceived Intoxication and Risky Attitudes and Behaviours," was recently published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

###
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with collaborators across the nation, have determined that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) can be an accurate, non-invasive tool to identify liver fibrosis in children. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the most common cause of chronic liver disease in children, and scarring of the liver, known as fibrosis, is a major determinant of clinical outcomes.

Results of the multi-center pediatric study were published online in the May 11 edition of Hepatology.

A generation ago, NAFLD was rare in children; it now affects 5 to 8 million children in the U.S. Moreover, NAFLD has become the most common cause of liver transplants in Americans under age 50. Due to the rapid increase in prevalence and severity of the disease, there is a growing interest in emerging imaging technologies that provide doctors with the information needed to care for patients, especially children, in a non-invasive manner.

"One of the challenges we face when evaluating a child with NAFLD is to determine the severity of their disease. A major component of that assessment is the staging of the amount of scar tissue seen from a liver biopsy. In MAGNET, we demonstrated that 2D MRE could be used to estimate hepatic stiffness (scarring) in these children," said Jeffrey Schwimmer, MD, paper's co-author and professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "We also identified a roadmap to help navigate future use of MRE technology. Ultimately, MRE may be most useful for monitoring the progression or improvement in children with NAFLD."

The MAGNET study (MRI Assessment Guiding NAFLD Evaluation and Treatment) was co-led by Schwimmer, director of the Fatty Liver Clinic at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, and Claude B. Sirlin, MD, professor of radiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. MAGNET was the first multi-center study to use non-invasive imaging to assess liver fibrosis in children.

"One of the challenging parts of evaluating liver disease in children is determining the numeric cut-off for a positive diagnosis of fibrosis," said Sirlin, who was the study's senior author. "Radiologists and gastroenterologists using MRE should be aware that the interpretation in children may not be the same as in adults. Getting this right has real-world implications."

MRE is an imaging tool that measures the stiffness and elasticity of soft solid organs. MRE has emerged from being only a research tool to becoming clinically available on a large percentage of MRI scanners in medical centers across the country. Children in MAGNET were imaged at UC San Diego Health and at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. The MRE images were independently interpreted at UC San Diego Health and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Investigators used both manual interpretation and a newly developed automated interpretation method.

Schwimmer said that the UC San Diego research team is now exploring the potential of 3D MRE. Further refinement of 2D and 3D MRE, they said, would help close the gap between where each technology is today and where it needs to be to be maximally useful for children.

According to the American Liver Foundation, NAFLD is a spectrum of diseases that begins with excess fat builds up in the cells of the liver. As the disease progresses, fibrosis increases, which may become cirrhosis, a permanent form of scarring that can lead to liver failure and need for transplantation. NAFLD affects nearly 25 percent of adults in the U.S., and 5 to 10 percent of all children. In children, the average age of diagnosis is 12.

###

Study co-authors include: Cynthia Behling, Jorge Eduardo Angeles, Melissa Paiz, Janis Durelle, Jonathan Africa, Kimberly P. Newton, Tanya Wolfson, Anthony C. Gamst, Jonathan Hooker, William Haufe, Alexandra Schlein, Gavin Hamilton, and Michael S. Middleton, all from UC San Diego; Elizabeth M. Brunt, Washington University; Joel E. Lavine, Columbia University; Stephanie H. Abrams, Prakash Masand, and Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Texas Children's Hospital ; Kelvin Wong, Houston Methodist Hospital; and Richard L. Ehman, Meng Yin, Kevin J. Glaser, and Bogdan Dzyubak, Mayo Clinic.
A Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego-led research team discovered for the first time that a common marine sponge hosts bacteria that specialize in the production of toxic compounds nearly identical to man-made fire retardants.

The new findings put the research team one step closer to unraveling the mystery of this powerful group of chemical compounds, known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in the marine environment. PBDEs are a subgroup of brominated flame retardants that are combined into foam, textiles, and electronics to raise the temperature at which the products will burn. These man-made industrial chemicals are powerful endocrine disruptors that mimic the activity of the human body's most active thyroid hormone.

Vinayak Agarwal, a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps, picked up a cold case first started nearly 50 years ago by Scripps chemist John Faulkner, an early pioneer in the study of natural products from the sea, to continue the investigation into the source of these toxic compounds that are found in large quantities in the world's oceans.

"For the first time we were able to conclusively show that genes and enzymes produced in bacteria from sponges are responsible for the production of these compounds toxic to humans," said Agarwal, co-first author of the paper along with Scripps PhD student Jessica Blanton.

The study was part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)/ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)-funded Center for Oceans and Human Health research being conducted at Scripps.

In 2014, Agarwal and colleagues at Scripps Oceanography were the first to discover that unrelated free-living marine bacteria produce these fire retardant compounds naturally, albeit in very small quantities.

In this new study, the researchers employed two modern-day techniques--genome "mining" pioneered by Scripps marine chemist Brad Moore and an environmental DNA sequencing approach pioneered by Scripps biologist Eric Allen--to take the investigation a step further and identify the specific genes and enzymes involved in the overproduction of the toxic molecules in sponges.

Marine sponges obtain food and oxygen by filtering seawater through the pores and channels in their bodies. This constant water flow means that these immobile animals host many bacteria, viruses, and fungi in their complex microbiomes.

The research team collected 18 sponge samples for the study during two research expeditions to Guam. They then isolated the various components of this complex mixture of organisms from the sponge's tissues to identify the specific genes and enzymes that code for the production of PBDEs.

"For many years scientists were finding clues that suggested nature was making these compounds," said Bradley Moore, a professor at the Scripps Center of Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego, and a senior author of the study. "Now that we understand how they are produced in the marine environment, we are exploring why they exist, and the human health concerns associated with them."

Moore's genome "mining" approach along with Allen's metagenomic sequencing gives scientists a way to connect the natural chemicals produced by organisms back to the enzymes that construct them.

The study, which appears on the cover of the May issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology, was a unique collaboration among chemists and biologists at UC San Diego and elsewhere.

"This study is a powerful combination of chemical, biological and environmental research," said Henrietta Edmonds of the NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences, which supported the research. "It has the potential to help us understand the production, fate and health consequences of natural and pollutant compounds in the marine environment."

"We care about naturally produced PBDEs because they end up in the food chain," said Frederick Tyson, Ph.D., of the NIEHS, which helped to fund the research. "Preliminary data from this research team suggest that some naturally occurring PDBEs may be even more toxic than those that are man-made, so we need to develop a better understanding of these compounds."

These ocean-dwelling microbes have been found in habitats as diverse as sea grasses, corals and whales.

The next step of the investigation for the researchers is to mine the genes and enzymes in other marine hosts to find out what other organisms are making similar toxic compounds and why.

###

Co-authors from Scripps Oceanography include Sheila Podell, Michelle Schorn, Julia Busch, and Paul Jensen. Researchers Arnaud Taton and James Golden from UC San Diego's Division of Biological Sciences, Jason Biggs from University of Guam's Marine Laboratory, Zhenjian Lin and Eric Schmidt from the University of Utah, and Valerie Paul from the Smithsonian Marine Station also contributed to the study.

Funding for the research was provided through: National Science Foundation grants OCE-1313747, DGE-1144086, IOS-1120113, MCB-1149552; National Institutes of Health grants P01-ES021921, K99-ES026620, R01-GM107557, R01-CA172310, S10-OD010640; the U.S. Department of Energy grant DE-EE0003373; and a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation postdoctoral fellowship.

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical, and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today on every continent and in every ocean. The institution has a staff of more than 1,400 and annual expenditures of approximately $195 million from federal, state, and private sources. Scripps operates oceanographic research vessels recognized worldwide for their outstanding capabilities. Equipped with innovative instruments for ocean exploration, these ships constitute mobile laboratories and observatories that serve students and researchers from institutions throughout the world. Birch Aquarium at Scripps serves as the interpretive center of the institution and showcases Scripps research and a diverse array of marine life through exhibits and programming for more than 430,000 visitors each year. Learn more at scripps.ucsd.edu and follow us at: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

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At the University of California San Diego, we constantly push boundaries and challenge expectations. Established in 1960, UC San Diego has been shaped by exceptional scholars who aren't afraid to take risks and redefine conventional wisdom. Today, as one of the top 15 research universities in the world, we are driving innovation and change to advance society, propel economic growth, and make our world a better place. Learn more at http://www.ucsd.edu.
LAWRENCE -- In 2016, researchers published "slam dunk" evidence, based on iron-60 isotopes in ancient seabed, that supernovae buffeted the Earth -- one of them about 2.6 million years ago. University of Kansas researcher Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy, supported those findings in Nature with an associated letter, titled "Supernovae in the neighborhood."

Melott has followed up since those findings with an examination of the effects of the supernovae on Earth's biology. In new research to appear in Astrophysical Journal, the KU researcher and colleagues argue the estimated distance of the supernova thought to have occurred roughly 2.6 million years ago should be cut in half.

"There's even more evidence of that supernova now," he said. "The timing estimates are still not exact, but the thing that changed to cause us to write this paper is the distance. We did this computation because other people did work that made a revised distance estimate, which cut the distance in half. But now, our distance estimate is more like 150 light years."

A supernova exploding at such a range probably wouldn't touch off mass extinctions on Earth, Melott said.

"People estimated the 'kill zone' for a supernova in a paper in 2003, and they came up with about 25 light years from Earth," he said. "Now we think maybe it's a bit greater than that. They left some effects out or didn't have good numbers, so now we think it may be a bit larger distance. We don't know precisely, and of course it wouldn't be a hard-cutoff distance. It would be a gradual change. But we think something more like 40 or 50 light years. So, an event at 150 light years should have some effects here but not set off a mass extinction."

In addition to its distance, interstellar conditions at the time of a supernova would influence its lethality to biology on Earth.

"Cosmic rays like to travel along magnetic field lines," Melott said. "They don't like to cut across magnetic field lines as they experience forces to stop them from doing that. If there's a magnetic field, we don't know its orientation, so it can either create a superhighway for cosmic ray, or it could block them. The main interesting case did not assume the superhighway. It assumed that much of the magnetic field was blasted out by a series of supernovae, which made the Local Bubble -- and we and the most recent supernovae were inside. This is a weak, disordered magnetic field. The best analogy I can think of is more like off-road driving."

In such a case, the authors think cosmic rays from the supernova at 150 light years would have penetrated to Earth's lower atmosphere.

"This is a much stronger thing," he said. "The cosmic rays from the supernova would be getting down into the lower atmosphere -- having an effect on the troposphere. All kinds of elementary particles are penetrating from altitudes of 45-10 miles, and many muons get to the ground. The effect of the muons is greater -- it's not overwhelming, but imagine every organism on Earth gets the equivalent of several CT scans per year. CT scans have some danger associated with them. Your doctor wouldn't recommend a CT scan unless you really needed it."

Melott said cancer and mutations would be the most obvious consequences for Earth's biology of a supernova's cosmic rays. With his co-authors -- B.C. Thomas of Washburn University (2005 KU physics doctoral graduate and recent winner of the A. Roy Myers Excellence in Research Award), M. Kachelrie of Institutt for fysikk in Norway, D.V. Semikoz of the Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite in France and the National Research Nuclear University in Moscow, and A.C. Overholt (2013 KU physics doctoral graduate) of MidAmerica Nazarene University -- Melott looked at the fossil record in Africa, the most geographically stable continent on earth during the Pleistocene, when a supernova was likely to have occurred.

"There isn't a mass extinction, but there is kind of a lot of extinction going on at that time and species turnover," he said. "It's not quite severe enough to call it a mass extinction. There is some effect possibly connected to the supernova. That's more difficult to say because there are many competing effects. Even in Africa you have climate change, and you don't know if climate change is causing the effects you see or if a supernova has something to do with the climate change."

In addition to cosmic rays, the team found a supernova would have caused blue light to shine in the sky at night for about a month.

"That's been shown to be a fairly bad thing for almost all living organisms," Melott said. "It throws off sleep and messes up your melatonin production. I would never want a blue LED alarm clock in my bedroom, for example. Blue LED streetlights have been shown to have bad effects in animals, causing behavioral changes. But this effect would only last a month or so. I think you would never see evidence in the fossil record."

Atmospheric ionization would have been a more serious effect from a supernova, according to the KU researcher.

"Atmospheric ionization can help lightning get started," Melott said. "When a cosmic ray comes down, it makes a path through the atmosphere, where it knocks electrons out of atoms, and that makes a pathway for lightning to get started. We'd expect to see a big increase with cloud-to-ground lightning. That would be good for some organisms and bad for others. Lightning is the number one cause of wildfires other than humans. So, we'd expect a whole lot more wildfires, and that could change the ecology of different regions, such as a loss of tree cover in northeast Africa, which could even have something to do with human evolution. The Great Plains has recently been largely kept grass-covered by a bunch of wildfires. A big increase in lightning would also mean a big increase in nitrate coming out of the rain, and that would act like fertilizer."

Indeed, Melott said 2.6 million years ago there was in Africa a loss of tree cover and increase in grassland, possibly attributable to lightning-driven wildfires.

"We think it's possible that the cosmic rays may have had something to do with that," he said.

Melott added he's often asked by people if they should fear a supernova exploding close to Earth today.

"I tell them they should worry about global warming and nuclear war, not this stuff," he said. "There's nothing close enough to cause this kind of event in the very near future."

The closest potential supernova is Betelgeuse, about 600 light years away, according to Melott.

"It's much further away than this one we've been talking about," he said. "It's close enough to be spectacular in the sense that it would be bright and you'd see it in daytime, but there'd be no harmful effects."

###
SALEM, Ohio  The Ohio Senate unanimously approved a bill May 10 that includes the reform farm groups have sought to the states Current Agricultural Use Formula.

The Senate voted 33-0 in favor of S.B. 36, which requires CAUV to be calculated using a capitalization rate that excludes appreciation and equity buildup, and stipulates that CAUV land for certain conservation programs be valued at the lowest soil value.

The reforms have been before the legislature for at least the past three years, but this week marks the most progress in both the House and Senate. On May 2, the House passed its budget bill, which included similar reforms.

Steep increases

The primary sponsor of S.B. 36 was Sen. Cliff Hite, R-Findlay. During floor testimony on the bill May 10, Hite said the 280-350 percent increase in taxes that some have farmers have seen in recent years is too much, and that even non-farmers dont see that kind of increase.

That is unmanageable, he said. Theres no way you can save, not knowing that a spike like thats going to hit you.

The changes are intended to make the new formula more closely tied to the value of agricultural production and income, and encourage more conservation.

Note: Farm and Dairy watched the Senate meeting via The Ohio Channel.

Its about relief and its important that we give people that are involved in our No. 1 industry in the state of Ohio, that type of relief, Hite said.

The conservation incentive would be limited to certain conservation practices, or land enrolled in a federal land retirement or conservation program for at least three years.

The use of cover crops, by itself, would not constitute a conservation practice, according to the Senate bill. And, if the land is removed from conservation before the end of three years, the county auditor can charge for the reduction the farmer received.

Taxing conservation

Farmers and lawmakers have argued that it does not make sense to tax farmers as highly for land theyve taken out of production, if theyre doing so to implement conservation practices.

Sen. Bob Peterson, a co-sponsor of the bill and a farmer from Fayette County, said the CAUV continues to be a good program for Ohio agriculture. But he said economic events in recent years, including an historically low rate on interest used in the existing CAUV formula, created an inequity that ultimately increased, unfairly, the rates on landowners.

Although the bill passed unanimously, several groups representing schools and county auditors in Ohio said they were concerned that changing the CAUV formula could cost schools and county governments millions of dollars each year.

Cost to schools

Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, said changing Ohios CAUV formula is necessary, and he voted in favor of the bill. But he warned that S.B. 36 could cost schools up to $18 million, according to a report by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

Peterson argued, however, that school districts already face losing money, because the CAUV has become so high that rural voters are turning against levies. He reasoned that with lower taxes, rural voters would be more likely to support future school levies.

The Ohio Farm Bureau commended the Senate for taking a much needed step to help farmers who have been subjected to extraordinary property tax increases.

Farm Bureau said the bill will bring relief to family farmers who have seen farmland property taxes increase by more than 300 percent in recent years, all at the same time that farm income has undergone significant decline.

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A 'highly critical' report into the 178m IT system set up for farm payments has created a rift between MSPs and Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing.

The report looked at the system for making European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments, where many Scottish farmers have faced severe delays in receiving the payments.

A farming leader has previously asked whether the government is "flogging a dead horse" by sticking with its IT system for delivering CAP support.

And farming union NFU Scotland said every farmer will remember 2016 as a year when the Scottish government's 'flawed IT system failed to deliver' the subsidy CAP payments, 'damaging' the rural economy.

The report, still in draft form, was not seen by Holyrood's rural economy committee. Its convener Edward Mountain said a lack of full disclosure meant questioning Mr Ewing was "limited".

'Devastating'

Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles described the report's findings as "devastating" while Conservative member Jamie Greene said it was an "absolutely damning indictment" of the IT system.

Mr Ewing informed the committee that the report found the system's architecture to be "fundamentally sound".

He added: "I accept, of course, there are matters that require to be remediated, of course there are, if there weren't we wouldn't be having the difficulties that we're having.

"But bear in mind that this report was commissioned by us from a firm of independent experts in the industry to ascertain whether or not we did require to think again with an entirely new approach.

"It was entirely independent and their fundamental conclusion is that 'yes, the system is sound but a lot of remediation work is required'."

Mr Ewing insisted he had confidence in IT contractor CGI, which was making "significant progress" on the system.

The cabinet secretary said everyone involved was working "flat out" to meet the government's commitment to complete the processing of 2016 payments by the end of June.
Farmers have voiced concerns over the prospect of a post-Brexit UK with a cheap food agenda that sacrifices basic standards.

In an article published by The Guardian, farmer Edward Barker said that uncertainty seems the only thing the farming industry can be sure of after 25 years of EU regulation.

Mr Barker, who manages a mixed 500 hectare farm in Northamptonshire growing cereals, with a beef and sheep enterprise, outlined concerns over the potential impact for farm businesses of withdrawing from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and highlighted the issues around post-Brexit trade deals.

He wrote: We are, rightly, prevented from importing a number of different foods and products from outside the European Union because they do not meet set standards.

Reports of possible new bilateral trade deals being done with non-EU countries leave me very fearful that we will have to compete in a marketplace where food is being produced to standards that are much lower than our own, and possibly even illegal if we were to do that here. Hormones in beef cattle, ractopamine in pigs and bromated flour are all such examples of this, and for me no one wins in this scenario.

EU farm labour

The article also cited concerns over EU labour. Mr Barker said the vote to leave the EU centred heavily on immigration, and migrant labour from the EU.

He said the government has to be mindful of that in any post-Brexit policy.

However if there are restrictions placed on foreign workers it will have huge knock-on effects for fresh produce, horticulture and pig sectors that rely on a mix of seasonal and permanent workers from abroad.

Ukip has recently said that British students could provide labour for the fresh produce industry to help cut migration.

Import standards

The concerns over import standards is also a big worry for many farmers, and is currently being voiced across the farming industry.

This has been reinforced by research by the National Pig Association (NPA), which highlights the differing welfare standards across the major pig producing countries, including the the UK, the major EU producers, the US, Canada and Brazil.

Covering areas like sow stalls, production systems and antibiotic use, its Animal Welfare Matrix demonstrates the high standards of UK production relative to some of our competitors.

NPA senior policy advisor Georgina Crayford, who compiled the document, said: When negotiating trade deals with third countries, it is vitally important that the UK pig sector is not undercut by imports of pork from countries with lower welfare standards. We must insist on equivalent standards.
On Sunday 11th June 2017 hundreds of farms across the UK will throw open their gates to welcome the public and showcase the fascinating world of farming.

LEAF Open Farm Sunday gives visitors the opportunity to see first-hand all that farmers do and the impact their work has on the public's lives.

This so often misunderstood industry has a vital role in not only producing safe nutritious food, but also using the latest science and technology to farm sustainably  that means increasing production whilst managing the environment for wildlife and enhancing natural resources for generations to come.

Since the first Open Farm Sunday in 2006 over 1.8m people have visited a LEAF Open Farm Sunday event. This year, farms across the country, from Cornwall to Orkney, will provide young and old with an opportunity to see farming in action.

The mostly free events will offer a range of activities from tractor trailer rides, farm walks and bug hunts, to feeding lambs, sheep shearing and milking demonstrations.

The technology and science behind farming and food production will also be a focus; providing visitors with an insight into the world of farming.

'Impacts all of us'

Open Farm Sunday is managed by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming); an organisation delivering more sustainable food and farming.

Annabel Shackleton, Open Farm Sunday Manager at LEAF commented: Modern farming is incredibly diverse and impacts on all of us - from the clothes we wear to the medicines we take and the food we eat.

Farming plays a vital part in each of our lives. LEAF Open Farm Sunday gives us the rare opportunity to see farming in real life and to learn about the hard work, care and pride that goes into the work farmers do, which is so vital to the environment, our lives and the economy."

Caroline Drummond MBE, Chief Executive of LEAF, has wrote an open letter encouraging involvement in this years Open Farm Sunday.
I don't have the wobble because I did the level properly this time around. All the correct parts are in place and, almost more importantly, the caster angle was corrected with an adjustable bushing. On my 2011, I did a spring spacer and called it a day. Then I fought with bump steer for as long as I drove it. This time I did the level which included track bar bracket, bump stop extensions, sway bar extensions, brake line mod, caster bushings and something else I can't remember. It works great. Last step is to junk the Ford shocks this weekend and replace with Fox 2.0's and I should be done. It is possible I might need an improved steering damper but that would be due to the 37 inch tires, not the level.
The most recent Google Earth imagery update included some images of Pyongyang dated April 22 and April 23, 2017. Its a pity they werent from a week earlier as North Korea celebrated its 105th anniversary on April 15 with a spectacular march past. There was another march for Army Day on April 25th.

We also came across a story that highlights the dangers of trying to interpret satellite imagery without sufficient background information. There was a story that was published by a number of media outlets that said that North Korea appeared to be building artificial islands with military installations on them. A parallel was drawn with Chinas island building efforts in the South China Sea. However, a quick look at the locations mentioned in the story reveals that the islands in question are not artificial. Then the website 38 North published this article, essentially debunking the entire story. It turns out the islands and related construction are just part of a land reclamation project, not unlike many others along North Koreas coasts. We can see it being constructed starting in 2011 using Google Earths Landsat/Sentinel-2 mosaics:

Speed in milliseconds per image:

Land reclamation wall being constructed.

Not far to the west there is a similar wall that has been there since at least 1984 (the oldest available imagery). Below we show the extent of land reclamation behind the sea wall:

Before and after showing land reclamation in North Korea 1984 to 2016.

Another interesting story from 38 North is this one, where they spotted North Koreans apparently playing volley ball near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. Unfortunately, that imagery has not made it into Google Earth.

For the locations above and some outlines of 2017 imagery, download this KML file.
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Many people feel post-holiday blues after some time away from work. Its temporary and also somewhat necessary to
Mud Creek dump may reach homes, city says

Yellow cross-hatched areas identify parts of Mud Creek dump where debris has been found.

The city of Hendersonville has notified 11 private property owners that a long-abandoned landfill near Green Meadows could encroach on their land.

The city will hold a drop-in meeting next week during which residents can ask questions about the old Mud Creek dump, a site of eight acres or more that was used for solid waste before the early 1970s. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the City Operations Center.

At least two in-depth studies have attempted to define the boundaries of the old dumps and to find out exactly whats buried in them but theyve never been cleaned up. The area is mostly woods and thick underbrush and until recently uninhabited. Now there are lots of people around the old dump because its close to the popular Oklawaha Greenway.

City officials have known about the old landfill since the early 1970s but there has been disagreement about whether cleaning it up was worth it. When the Hendersonville Housing Authority was building the Green Meadows neighborhood, officials considered grading and compacting the site, covering it with two feet of dirt and turning it into a park.

Three years ago, when the city was running a new sewer line along Mud Creek, contractors discovered buried material beyond the previously identified boundaries of the dump, said City Manager John Connet. That triggered a fresh look at the problem, which has now stretched into a three-year grind involving an environmental consultant that is under contract with the city but gets guidance from the state Pre-Regulatory Landfill Program, a part of the Department of Environmental Quality. The state reimburses costs associated with delineating and cleaning up the Mud Creek dump through the Pre-Regulatory Landfill Program.

City attorney Sam Fritschner has worked out agreements with the potentially affected property owners to allow soil boring and vapor testing to find out what, if anything, is underground. So far, no hazardous waste or harmful vapors have been identified.

As we have moved up the hill, those were the sites that were identified as potential locations of landfill matter, Connet said. Most of it as we understand it is in the area near the greenway. There was never an exact boundary of the landfill. We are once and for all trying to determine where it is, what it is, and are there any potential issues of concern from a public safety and public health issue. At this time, we have no indication that there is any public safety and public health issue. Were trying to get to the bottom of it once and for all.

Even though the dump has been studied off and on for seven years, the city and state still dont know the extent of it. That study is under way now, through a Charlotte-based contractor that has broad experience in hazardous waste cleanups and landfill closures. Its not been decided yet whether to try to excavate the contents of the dump.

The 39-acre site was part of the 80-acre Northeast Urban Renewal Project, which involved the demolition of dilapidated housing and clearing of land for Green Meadows in the early 1970s. Officials knew about the dump then and even tried to get help from the TVA to clean it up.

Our budget does cover the cost of clearing the sites but in no way does it cover the high cost of clearing and filling the dump areas, Executive Director Ruth G. Last wrote on Jan. 11, 1972. She appealed for help on the grounds that the dump was a breeding grounds for rodents and impossible to police even with signs prohibiting dumping. Removing the dump would make life far more livable for the project residents.  We are obligated to find some way of accomplishing the necessary clearance, compaction and grading of these dump areas as quickly and economically as possible.

But Marshall Staton, the citys director of sanitary engineering, said at the time that removing the waste would worse than doing nothing.

This area has been used for many years and there is a large concentration of municipal solid waste that would create a major problem if it were attempted to remove it from the site, Staton said. The most economical way to convert the land into a park or playground would be to grade it and cover it with two feet of compacted dirt, he said. This method has been used in many areas of the state and it does provide excellent facilities for park and playground purposes.

There are no drinking water wells on the site. At least 29 structures, including duplexes, single-family homes and a daycare center, were a part of the study site. The site is bounded by thick woods and underbrush on the north and south, Mud Creek on the east and Lincoln Circle on the west.

These were in municipalities all over North Carolina, Connet said. Our particular city dump was on a list in this group. The Mud Creek dump site didnt get much attention because they deal with the ones that are the greatest public health risk first.

* * * * *

The public drop-in meeting on the Mud Creek dump is 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the City Operations Center on Williams Street.
During the week of 30 April to 6 May, the U.S. hotel industry saw occupancy increase 3.3% to 67.9%, ADR increase 2.4% to $126.67 and RevPAR increase 5.8% to $85.96.

The U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 30 April to 6 May 2017, according to data from STR.

In comparison with the week of 1-7 May 2016, the industry reported the following:

Occupancy: +3.3% to 67.9%

Average daily rate (ADR): +2.4% to US$126.67

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +5.8% to US$85.96

STR analysts note that performance growth was particularly strong on Friday and Saturday due to a comparison with Mothers Day weekend a year ago.

Among the Top 25 Markets, Nashville, Tennessee, posted the largest year-over-year increase in RevPAR (+18.4% to US$128.97). Growth was driven by the weeks only double-digit lift in ADR (+11.2% to US$155.01) as well as the second-largest rise in occupancy (+6.5% to 83.2%).

Four additional markets saw a double-digit increase in RevPAR for the week: Phoenix, Arizona (+13.3% to US$88.56); Orlando, Florida (+12.7% to US$91.51); Oahu Island, Hawaii (+11.4% to US$189.35); and Los Angeles/Long Beach, California (+10.6% to US$149.20).

Orlandos performance increase was pushed by the weeks largest lift in occupancy (+7.4% to 76.0%).

Houston, Texas, experienced the steepest decline in RevPAR (-9.7% to US$88.22). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey, reported the largest drop in ADR (-7.2% to US$134.09). Dallas, Texas, saw the greatest fall in occupancy (-3.4% to 70.5%).

View weekly U.S. hotel performance review

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.
Hotel Real Estate: Forecasting Clear Skies with Some Clouds and Slightly Cooling Temperatures

For well over a decade, the members of the hotel industrys preeminent think tank, LIIC  The Lodging Industry Investment Council, are annually surveyed to develop a list of the major hotel investment opportunities and challenges for the coming year. This exhaustive survey results in the LIIC Top Ten; a highly regarded profile of investment sentiment and attitudes for the lodging industry for the forthcoming 12 months. Altogether, the members of LIIC represent direct acquisition and disposition control of well over $40 billion of lodging real estate.

Members are highly active and have the pulse of the market, with 45% of LIIC hotel investors having successfully purchased a hotel in the last 12 months and an additional 16% having made offers but not been the winner. Moreover, 76% plan to sell a hotel over the next 24 months.

The hospitality industrys most influential investors, lenders, corporate real estate executives, REITs, public hotel companies, brokers and significant lodging equity sources are represented on the Council. LIIC serves as the leading industry think tank for the lodging business (www.liic.org).

Mike Cahill, LIIC co-chairman, produced this years survey (www.mikecahill.com). Mr. Cahill is CEO and Founder of HREC  Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, a leading international hotel and casino brokerage and advisory firm (16 offices nationwide) specializing in lodging property sales, debt financing, consulting, appraisals and litigation support (www.hrec.com). Nate Shartar and Alexander Cammarata, Associates in HRECs Denver office, assisted throughout the process.

2017 Top Ten LIIC Survey Results

Hotel Real Estate: Forecasting Clear Skies with Some Clouds and Slightly Cooling Temperatures: Overall, the 2017 LIIC Survey is more positive than 2016 and starkly different than the peak year survey in 2015. Responses reveal a calmness, compared with wide spread nervousness in April 2016. Chinese investment is expected (36%) to slow slightly and Brexits impact on US hotels is considered slight. Private Equity followed by Listed REITs are predicted to dominate the purchase of Upscale to Luxury hotels; while, Regional Owner/Operators are projected to dominate the purchase of Economy to Upper Midscale hotels. Movement in the Hotel Real Estate Cycle? : Most investors (68%) believe we are still in the extra innings of the current cycle which began in 2009; however, an astute, highly intelligent minority (32%) believe we have begun a new cycle. Projections for the US economy are positive, with 60% forecasting GDP growth averaging greater than 2% over the next 24 months. Asset Pricing Bid/Ask Settles, Values Flat to Maybe Increasing : Over the next 12 months, 54% project that lodging real estate values will be flat in comparison to 2016. However, a sizable group (36%) forecast a slight increase in values (up to 5%). Favorite investment target, Upper Upscale lodging properties. 2017s Greatest Threats to Hotel Investment ?: The top three threats on the horizon:New Lodging Supply: 90% of LIIC members cited new hotel supply as the current and dominant top investment concern. Hypocritically, 81% are building new lodging assets.Increasing Interest Rates: With interest rates increasing gradually up to 100bps over the next 24 months, sellers need to understand the impact on asset pricing for hotels they are looking to sell.Government Mandated Minimum Wage Increases: Investors (28%; down from last year) are threatened by government mandated minimum wage increases and the corresponding impact on hotel operating costs (74% anticipate a gradual negative impact over the next five years).

Hotel Transaction Market Continues Slight Cooling : 52% of responders forecast the total dollar volume of U.S. hotel transactions in calendar 2017 will be down relative to year-end 2016 and 22% believe volume will be flat. Similarly, 46% believe the number of assets sold to be down; while, 32% anticipate the number of assets sold to be flat. Hotel Debt Available, Yet Less Favorable: Hotel investors are debt leery causing 56% to seek refinancing of existing debt over the coming year even though 52% believe the optimum refinance window closed in the last six months. Owners have more concern with interest rate increases on senior debt than lenders available leverage percentages. Lodging Development Marches Along : Investor attitude stays positive on the concept of building new lodging properties. As to developing hotels, 66% of LIIC responds yes, if you are selective about product and markets. Respondents are putting their money behind their votes, with 81% of relevant LIIC members having new hotels actively under development. Want to Buy a Hotel? Quantity and Quality : Quantity: 42% of investors believe that a below average quantity of hotels are available for purchase closely followed by 44% at average quantity. Quality (desirability to purchase): 52% believe the quality is average and 28% suggest negatively slightly worse than 2016. Markets NOT to Invest in?: LIIC members were asked which of the top 25 markets they would not consider buying a hotel in:Houston, TX (64%)Nashville, TN (32%)Detroit, MI (28%)New York, NY (28%) St. Louis, MO-IL (28%)

Sleeper  where to buy? New Orleans! Not one vote against recorded.

10. Marriott and Starwood Merger? If you own a Starwood branded hotel, 36% surprisingly believe the value of Starwood lodging investments have increased specifically due to the merger. On the other hand, the primary concern (22%) stressing hotel owners is decreasing negotiating leverage with Mega Marriott going forward.

LIIC Bonus Questions:

Looking forward, the hotel investment illuminati predict:

Buyers paying package (5 or more hotels) premium? Maybe not anymore, 53% say no and 47% yes.

Congrats to the 13% of LIIC members that last year predicted the Trump Presidential victory; interestingly, 44% now say the Trump Administration is positively affecting hotel ownership.

When staying at a hotel on a multiple day business trip, LIICs greatest Pet Peeves are (1) painfully slow internet, (2) uncomfortable bedding, and (3) noise (hallways, PTACs, and outside traffic). Other Peeves include paparazzi, breakfast not starting early enough, and the cost of items in the snack shop being too expensive.

For additional information, please contact:



LIIC  The Lodging Industry Investment Council

www.liic.org

Co-Chairmen

Mike Cahill, CEO & Founder, HREC: mcahill@hrec.com

Sean Hennessey, CEO, Lodging Investment Advisors: shennessey@lodgingadvisors.com

Jim Butler, Partner, JMBM  Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, LLP: jbutler@jmbm.com

This is Jim Butler, author of www.HotelLawBlog.com and hotel lawyer, signing off. Weve done more than $68 billion of hotel transactions and have developed innovative solutions to unlock value from hotels. Whos your hotel lawyer?
Despite room occupancy levels at hotels in Abu Dhabi remaining above 80 per cent this month, the relentless decline in achieved average room rate is threatening both top and bottom line performance levels, according to the latest data from HotStats.

Despite room occupancy levels at hotels in Abu Dhabi remaining above 80 per cent this month, the relentless decline in achieved average room rate is threatening both top and bottom line performance levels, according to the latest data from HotStats.

In addition to a 3.1 percentage point drop in room occupancy, achieved average room rate plummeted by 18.6 per cent this month, contributing to the 21.6 per cent year-on-year decline in RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room), to $101.08.

The decline in achieved average room rate In March continues the downward trajectory in this measure, which has been unrelenting, falling by 16.6 per cent over the past 36 months to $135.29 in the 12 months to March 2017 from $162.27 during the same period in 2013/14, with the drop accelerating in Q1 2017.

This is despite the countrys economic minister forecasting economic growth of between 3.5 to 4.0 per cent in 2017 and the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority expecting the growth in the number of visitors to the city to exceed last years increase of eight per cent.

As a result of falling top line revenues, hotels in Abu Dhabi have struggled to maintain profitability, with profit per room falling by 27.0 per cent over the last 24 months to $54.42 in the 12 months to March 2017.

TrevPAR Grows But Profit Drops As Amman Hotels Struggle to Contain Costs

Despite recording a 1.0 per cent increase in total revenue this month, hotels in Amman suffered a 6.1 per cent decline in profit per room as costs continue to escalate.

Whilst hotels in the Jordanian capital successfully recorded a 3.0 per cent year-on-year increase in room occupancy, to 59.2 per cent, this was cancelled out by a 6.3 per cent decline in achieved average room rate, as a result Amman hotels recorded a 1.3 per cent year-on-year drop in RevPAR, to $86.60.

Despite the decline in Rooms Revenue, Amman hotels were buoyed by a 1.0 per cent increase in TrevPAR (Total Revenue per Available Room) to $142.09, fuelled by increases in non-rooms revenue, including Food and

Beverage (+4.7 per cent) and Conference and Banqueting (+1.2 per cent) on a per available room basis.

However, costs are escalating, illustrated by the increase in both Payroll (+2.2 per cent) and Overheads (+6.5 per cent) this month and this situation is unlikely to improve in the short term as the government recently announced a tax increase on fuel prices as well as a number of commodities to combat its budget deficit.

As a result of increasing costs cancelling out the growth in total revenue, profit levels at hotels in Amman fell by 6.1 per cent year-on-year in March, to $47.83 per available room.

Profit Grows at Beirut Hotels as Demand Thrives in Q1 2017

Hotels in Beirut have a had a strong start to the year, recording a 21.0 per cent year-on-year increase in profit per room in Q1 2017, which has been on the back of a 7.2 per cent increase in RevPAR, as Lebanon welcomed a new government.

The top line growth at hotels in Beirut in March was primarily fuelled by the 10.1 per cent year-on-year increase in room occupancy, resulting in a 17.1 per cent increase in RevPAR, to $73.38.

Despite a 2.9 per cent increase in Overheads, hotels in Beirut successfully recorded a 49.5 per cent increase in profit per room for the month, which contributed to a 21.0 per cent increase in this measure for Q1 2017, marking a very strong start to the year.

At $24.73 in the 12 months to March 2017, the profit per room at Beirut hotels represents a peak in recent years and is equivalent to an increase of 4.5 times over the last 36 months, from just $4.45 during the same period in 2013/14.

Click here ( Adobe Acrobat PDF file) to view full the report.

HotStats provides two reporting tools to hoteliers:

Our unique profit and loss benchmarking service which enables monthly comparison of hotels performance against their competitors. It is distinguished by the fact that it provides in excess of 100 performance metric comparisons covering 70 areas of hotel revenue, cost, profit and statistics providing far deeper insight into the hotel operation than any other tool.

Our latest innovation in daily revenue intelligence, MORSE. Amongst its reporting are daily and highly granular market segmentation metrics as well as distribution channel and source of booking analysis. It takes daily market intelligence to a whole new level.

For more information contact:

Enquiries

+44 (0) 20 7892 2241

enquiries@hotstats.com
LucaNet further expands its business in the U.S.

Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 05-11-2017 7:39 am

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(PresseBox) The German corporate performance management software provider LucaNet is stepping up its North American activities by opening its own subsidiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Situated in the heart of the city, the office serves as a hub for all the company's business in the U.S. and Canada. Help will now be close at hand for the American companies previously served from Germany. LucaNet's newest office is at 1900 Market Street in Philadelphia. The US office shares the same street on which Benjamin Franklins home once stood, and is located just a few hundred yards east of where the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. This historic address will now act as the control center for LucaNet's business in the U.S. and Canada. "LucaNet offers robust financial intelligence software that integrates with any ERP in an unparalleled way," explains Simon van Koppen, Managing Director of LucaNet North America, LucaNet's official market presence on the ...

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Aetna's announcement Wednesday that it is ending its Affordable Care Act business leaves Nebraska as one of at least eight states that is likely to have no more than one insurer offering policies next year.

Though customers won't know for several more months for sure what their options are for next year, for now, Nebraska and seven other states -- Alaska, Alabama, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wyoming -- appear to be down to one insurer.

Shoppers in Iowa also may be stuck with limited or no choices next year. Aetna is leaving that market, too. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield also said it will leave that state's individual market after only a year on it. Another insurer, Medica, said earlier this month that its "ability to stay in the Iowa insurance market in any capacity is in question at this point."

Medica is the only other company besides Aetna offering ACA exchange policies in Nebraska this year.

Earlier this week, a Medica spokesman told the Lincoln Journal Star that the company is "still planning to sell products across Nebraska for 2018." However, on Wednesday, the same spokesman told the Omaha World-Herald that the company is still evaluating its options.

Medica and any other company that might be interested in selling policies next year must submit rates and forms to the state Department of Insurance by June 15, but doing so does not obligate them to offer coverage to anyone. That won't occur until September, when they sign a contract with the federal government.

Early moves by insurers in other states suggest that another round of price hikes and limited choices will greet insurance shoppers around the country when they start searching for next year's coverage on the public markets established by the Affordable Care Act.

Regulators in Virginia and Maryland have reported early price hike requests ranging from just under 10 percent to more than 50 percent.

Increases like that will probably will be seen in other states, too, as insurers set prices to account for uncertain support from a federal government led by a new president who wants to scrap and replace the Affordable Care Act, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown Health Policy Institute. "For the consumer, they're going to see big rate hikes," Corlette said.

Prices for this type of insurance already are being affected by evaporating competition.

With the latest departures by Aetna and other insurers, more than 40 percent of U.S. counties would have only one insurer selling coverage on their marketplaces for next year, according to data compiled by The Associated Press and the consulting firm Avalere. That assumes no other insurers leave and none step in by the time customers start shopping for coverage in the fall.
Survey Says Small Businesses Hit Employee Happiness Out of the Park

Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 05-11-2017 7:33 am

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Benefits Remain Key Area for Improvement COLUMBUS, Ga., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Small businesses are the backbone of America, representing more than 90 percent of businesses today,[1] and now they can also claim to be some of the happiest places to work. According to the 2017 Aflac Small Business Happiness Report released today by Aflac, the leader in voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the United States, insurance benefits remain a key area for improvement. The report, in its second year, unveils a number of findings about what it's like to work for a small business and identifies several factors related to employee satisfaction and happiness. It is designed to serve as a resource for small-business owners looking for insight to better support their employees and keep them happy. "At Aflac, we understand that employees are the most valued asset to any small business, but many small-business owners juggle numerous responsibilities and struggle to find the informati...

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What You Can Do to Attract HiPo Candidates

Posted by Sara Pollock on Thursday, 05-11-2017 9:05 am

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Were always on the search for new talent. Someone who can provide a fresh look at current processes or fill gaps in departments with specialized skills. In the past, that would mean classified ads and help wanted signs, but today, in the digital era, that isnt the case. The new workforce is not only finding you in new ways, their new outlook is changing the way they select who receives their resume. Updating thecandidate experience for better engagementcan be challenging to navigate, but the benefits are astounding. Below are some small changes that can provide great reward in the way ofattracting high-potential candidates: Optimize Pages Studies show that more candidates are searching for jobs via mobile. About28% of job seekersuse a smartphone as part of their job search, and that number is only expected to rise. The bottom line is if your job pages arent optimized, youre missing out on a candidates, many of which are probably highly qualified and skilled.  Close Position...

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Category: Top Corporate Leader Award (Over 35) LEAD AWARD Rank: 2 Name: Dr. Trish Holliday Title: Assistant Commissioner and Chief Learning Officer Company: Tennessee Department of Human Resources Number of people you lead: I supervise 6 people directly, and lead a team of 17 Building Relationships Our editorial team interviewed Dr. Trish Holliday from Tennessee Department of Human Resources at the LEAD2017 Awards this past February. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview. What is your strongest characteristic that has made you a great leader? I believe my strongest characteristic that has contributed to making me a great leader is my ability to build relationships. My driving passion in life is to help people develop and to become their very best. In my current role I have the opportunity to work with state government leaders, and by establishing and maintaining a relationship with them, I have the opportunity to invest in their growth as leaders. Tell us a story of something you have done as a leader that has impacted or inspired others. I was hosting our very first alumni luncheon for our largest leadership development program  LEAD Tennessee. After I had facilitated a discussion around various leadership topics, one of our attendees  Lieutenant Colonel Reed who serves in the military  approached me and mentioned how he had...
Tags : employee budget incentives

Top 4 perks that complete your employee benefits package It's an excellent job market out there, with many industries trying to attract and retain workers, with competitive benefits packages. Much ink has been spilled on the generous incentives that large multinationals like Facebook and Google offer their workers. However, most small businesses cannot afford expensive benefits such as free cafeterias or an onsite concierge. If your business does not have the financial resources or bandwidth to offer expensive perks to employees, do not despair. According to a survey by the marketing agency Fractl, other than health insurance, the most popular incentives are not too expensive. Here are the top little or no cost employee incentives that you can use to motivate and retain your workers. Flexible Schedules Flexible scheduling is among the most popular employee incentives as it allows greater freedom in employee work-life balance. Employee personal and professional lives are becoming more intertwined, and the competing priorities can make it difficult for instance, to work while also attending school or dropping children off at school. Still, some employees naturally choose to work earlier or later. As such, offering flexible schedules is among the most compelling benefits that your employees can enjoy. And, with advanced communication options and most of the programs being on the cloud, this can be achieved easily, unless your business necessitates being in ...
Employees consider various aspects of their job based on where they live Although companies have concerned themselves with job satisfaction for decades, the focus on workplace culture, employee engagement, and turnover rates is a recent phenomenon. Due to the increased interest, research and discussion on the topic have proliferated. Some organizational psychologists point to studies linking high employee engagement with increased success, productivity and quality of work, whereas others cite calculations estimating turnover costs to be as high as 213% of annual salary for select positions and industries. The scrutiny has even spilled beyond professional and academic circles, as news coverage of events at Uber, Thinx, Wells Fargo, and Fox News have raised concerns regarding the consequences of overlooking employee wellbeing. Fortunately, positive examples are aplenty. In 2016, Business Insider partnered with PayScale to release a ranking of the 13 happiest companies in the United States, and not surprisingly, salaries werent the only determinant of job satisfaction; factors such as benefits, schedule flexibility, work-life balance, organizational vision, and philanthropy are also featured prominently in the evaluation. Tech giants Google and Facebook came in at #4 and #1 respectively - an expected outcome given that the Silicon Valley startups are notorious for their fun perks, supportive environment, inclusive culture, and highly engaged workforce. ...
We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
The effect of the referendum in Turkey: urged by Gulen followers, Germany to impose sancti

by Daniel Smith Thu, May 11, 2017 1:46AM
Water Board Urged to Protect San Francisco Bay, San Diego, North Coast, Channel Islands

OAKLAND, Calif., May 8, 2017  San Francisco Bay and at least three other California coastlines suffer severe plastic pollution that violates the federal Clean Water Act, according to an appeal the Center for Biological Diversity has filed with the California State Water Resources Control Board.A Center review of scientific studies found that the Bay and its surrounding coastline and the waters off San Diego, the North Coast and Channel Islands National Park should be declared impaired by the water board. That designation would require state officials to clean up plastic pollution sources.Californians are literally swimming in plastic, said Blake Kopcho, who conducted the survey for the Center. This pollution is disturbingly widespread, from microfibers in the San Diego surf to water bottles on Eurekas Clam Beach. State water officials need to acknowledge the problem and clean up the plastic thats fouling our coastline and infecting marine life.From San Diego to Crescent City, Californias coastline is inundated with thousands of pounds of plastic trash. While plastic water bottles, Styrofoam food packaging, and other products are the most visible problem, most of the pollution consists of tiny bits of plastic from synthetic clothing and beauty products. Those microplastics can absorb environmental toxins and get eaten by fish and other marine life and can eventually be consumed by humans.The Centers scientific review found the following:* San Francisco Bay: Bay waters are polluted with microplastics at concentrations greater than those of other urban water bodies studied in the United States, including the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay. Scientists found up to 2 million microplastics per square kilometer in its surface waters, much of it synthetic microfibers from textiles. Eight wastewater treatment facilities on the bay discharge an estimated 56 million microplastic particles per day, primarily in the form of microfibers.* North Coast: Multiple beaches from Point Reyes to the Oregon border, including those in Eureka and Fort Bragg, are covered in hundreds of pounds of trash every year, much of it plastic beverage bottles, caps and food packaging. Volunteers collected an average of 415 pounds of trash annually at North Jetty Beach in Humboldt County from 2010 to 2015. The North Coast is one of the first regions that the water board will evaluate when determining if water bodies in California will be listed as impaired.* San Diego: Researchers found dangerous levels of microplastics in waters off Sunset Cliffs, at levels similar to those in the San Francisco Bay (14 microplastics per liter). Scientists have demonstrated that microplastics at concentrations of 10 per liter can harm marine organisms, including fish. This suggests marine life in San Diego is likely endangered by microplastic pollution.* Channel Islands National Park: While the plastic pollution in these seemingly pristine waters isnt nearly as bad as San Diego or the Bay Area, the Clean Water Act sets different standards for areas of special biological significance. They must be preserved to protect their unusual variety of aquatic life. The presence of microplastics in ocean waters around the Channel Islands raises concerns that microplastics are migrating far from urban areas and polluting the most remote waters of California.State and regional water-quality guidelines protect marine wildlife and their habitat from pollution, and prohibit trash from interfering with the enjoyment of beaches. The water board will evaluate the Centers appeal for water-quality violations and develop a list of impaired waters. It is required to send that list to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which ultimately determines what water bodies are listed as impaired.Photo: Red dots indicate survey sites. Map by Curt Bradley, Center for Biological Diversity.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.Center for Biological Diversity
In Person Dr. Cynthia Maung: We Expect Challenges as Funding Is Cut

Dr. Cynthia Maung. / J Paing / The Irrawaddy

MAE SOT, Thailand  Dr. Cynthia Maung is a Burmese physician and activist who founded the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand in 1989 after she fled Burma following a brutal crackdown on opposition activists in 1988. The clinic provides free treatment to Burmese migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons and others who are unable to access healthcare in Burma. The clinic treats 100 to 150 outpatients every day.

As funding wanes on the Thai-Burma border, the Mae Tao clinic is also experiencing a decline in funding. The Irrawaddys senior reporter Saw Yan Naing interviews Dr. Cynthia Maung about the current situation at the clinic and the challenges of declining funding.

What changes have occurred since the clinic moved locations last May?

The main difficulty is transportation because the clinic is far from downtown. Access is not as convenient for patients and staff, especially at night, for safety reasons. But the new space is larger, cleaner, and more comfortable  an overall better workspace.

Do you find the number of patients increasing or decreasing?

We regularly receive between 100 and 150 outpatients every day. And we routinely have about 150 inpatients filling our 160 available beds. The number of patients suffering from malaria has decreased but otherwise, there is no significant change in the numbers.

Do you have any plans to move the clinic to Burma eventually?

We are cooperating with the Burmese government in some areas of the country, especially rural locations. We are also seeking permission for medics who are trained at our clinic to work inside Burma. We have no plans to move to Burma for the time being.

What difficulties are you experiencing with the decrease in funding on the border?

There is a significant decline in funding for cross-border aid, as more funding has been moved into Burma.

Global Fund cut financial support for Tuberculosis and HIV programs in Thailand, which affected our clinic. It has become challenging for us to provide treatment to HIV and mentally-ill patients, as well as carry out emergency operations. It has also become difficult to cover the costs of transferring patients to Thai government hospitals.

Our funding is contingent on projects, many of which will end in October and November. After this, much of our funding will be channeled from Rangoon and we will have to discuss [with donors] how to manage the delivery of these funds to the countryside. It is challenging to receive funding from inside Burma so we expect some difficulties in the years to come.

What do you think about ongoing reforms and the peace process in Burma, especially in Karen State and the areas near Mae Sot? Have the reforms benefitted people or the health sector in these areas?

There are still insufficient human resources, capacities, facilities, and medicines in Burma. So, it is difficult for patients to return and receive treatment in hospitals there.

In Karen State, there is a large population spread along the Thai border. Both governments should cooperate to reach this community. There is still no good system in place for the migrant community to receive legal healthcare services. They are limited as many of them do not have legal IDs or documents to travel freely.
Burma Breaking: Arrest Warrants Issued for Buddhist Nationalists

Ko Latt, aka Tin Htut Zaw, talks to the media on Thursdays press conference in Rangoon. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Seven nationalists and Buddhist monks involved in Tuesday nights confrontation between Buddhists and Muslims in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township have been charged with incitement to commit violence.

Ko Latt, also known as Tin Htut Zaw, who was involved in the incident, and his wife were arrested near Kandawgyi Lake on Thursday, according to local lawmaker U Hla Htay.

U Pyinnya Wuntha and U Thuseitta, two Buddhist monks from the Patriotic Monks Union who were behind the incident, also have warrants out for their arrest, the MP said, adding that there were seven individuals listed on the warrant, including Myat Phone Moh and Tin Lin Htike.

The Buddhist monks led nationalists into the Muslim neighborhood before midnight on Tuesday, claiming ethnic Muslim Rohingya were there illegally, according to police and residents.

According to witnesses, the nationalists turned hostile toward the Muslim residents when police found no Rohingya in the area, as the nationalists had claimed.

On Thursday afternoon, the monks and the laypersons held a press conference, identifying themselves as those who were involved in the incident and demanded that authorities investigate the case.

The seven have been charged under Article 505(c) of Burma Penal Code. The article says any offender shall be punished up to two years imprisonment or a fine, or both.
Burma Buddhist Nationalists Say They Were Attacked First in Muslim Neighborhood Raid

U Pyinnya Wuntha, a central executive committee member of the Patriotic Monks Union, talks to the media on Thursday. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy

Members of the Buddhist nationalist group that stormed a Muslim neighborhood in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township on Tuesday in search of Rohingya illegally staying in the area, have said that local Muslims allegedly attacked [them] first.

The accusation was put forward at a press conference on Thursday in Rangoon by the Patriotic Monks Union to describe the events of May 9, in which The Irrawaddy reported that Buddhist monks had led a group of nationalists into the neighborhood just at around midnight. They reportedly turned hostile when they did not discover the individuals they were looking for, and police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd after the confrontation. One mana Muslimwas wounded in the incident in the early hours of Wednesday.

If we stay quiet and do not speak it out, it is like we are guilty, said U Parmaukkha, a senior member of the Buddhist nationalist group, at the press conference.

We have seen that what happened on the ground and what has been reported by media are different, the monk said. There is rule of law in our country, but the police did not enforce the law. Therefore, the monks have to do the work of the police, he added, suggesting that the police had taken bribes and allowed illegal migrants to stay in Mingalar Taung Nyunt.

U Parmaukkha alleged that the Rangoon township would become like Maungdaw in northern Arakan State, a conflict area in which security forces carried out clearance operations after October attacks by militants on border police outposts. Nationalists allege that the townships large population of Rohingya Muslims are Bengalis from neighboring Bangladesh.

Representatives from the monks union brought forward individuals at the press conference who they said were witnesses to Tuesdays events, including taxi driver U Tin Htut Zaw who supported the claims that Rohingya Muslims were being illegally hidden in Rangoon apartments.

The driver, who is also a resident of Mingalar Taung Nyunt and a member of the Buddhist nationalist group, told reporters that he had driven the individuals in question in his taxi, and that they could not speak Burmese.

For four days, he said he closely watched over the apartment at which he dropped the five people off. They were driven by the buildings owner to a construction site to work each day, U Tin Htut Zaw said, so he informed the township authorities, police and Buddhist nationalists.

Ko Hein, who accompanied the police in searching for the migrant workers on May 9, said that the landlord did not respond to their questions about the men. Ko Hein added that they could not find the individuals.

I went to search for them one by one, but I did not see them, he said.

Those at Thursdays press conference also pointed blame at rights activists and local lawmakers for speaking to the media and looking at the situation from only the Muslim side.

U Thuseitha, a senior member of the Buddhist nationalist group, spoke to reporters and he described how he said he was attacked that night by Muslims in the neighborhood.

They threw stones and sticks at us. The police also had to run. I needed to get inside the police car to escape, he said.

U Thuseitha described U Mya Aye, a leader of the 88-Generation student activists, as a kalar, a derogatory term in Burma for someone of South Asian descent, often used toward Muslims, adding that his statementsand those of National League for Democracy lawmakers Daw Phyu Phyu Tin and U Nay Phone Lattto the media on the incident were groundless.

They take money from our people, but look after Muslims only, said U Thuseitha of the government representatives.
Burma Daw Aung San Suu Kyis Fetching Friend

A photo of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi planting a kiss on her dog was widely circulated on social media.

NAYPYIDAW  What bothers me about my frequent travel is leaving Taichito behind, wrote Burmas State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2016 issue of D-Wave Journal, the mouthpiece of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Taichito is more than just a pet. He is a token of love from a son to his mother.

In November 2010, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis youngest son Kimwho is also known as Ko Htein Lin in Burmesevisited his mother in Rangoon after the military regime granted him a visa. This was the first time they had seen each other in more than a decade.

Kim bought Taichito, who was only a few months old then, from a pet shop near Mingalar Market in Rangoon and gave him to his mother.

Foreign journalists who visited The Lady after her release from house arrest in 2010 published photos of the pro-democracy leader and her new pet. These photos were widely shared on social media, making Taichito a local celebrity.

During this years water festival, the State Counselor had a water-throwing pavilion built near her residence in administrative capital Naypyidaw. She named the pavilion after her dog and celebrated the holiday there.

Photos of her pavilion went viral on social media and Taichito once again became popular.

Taichito is a pedigree retriever, who enjoys two meals of rice, beef and chopped lettuce daily. No one knows exactly what his name means. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi says she will not hit or scold the animal and takes him with her whenever she can.

When she cannot, she gives him a kiss before she leaves.

She reportedly does not like when people refer to him as dog and a warning sign reading Beware! Dog will bite affixed at her Hninzi residence later removed the word dog and replaced it with a photo of Taichito.

In September 2016, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi paid a 19-day visit to the United States. On her return, she wrote that Taichito would not let her out of his sight.

In a 2016 article in D-Wave Journal she wrote [Taichito] hugs my legs once he thinks Im leaving him behind. When I sleep at night, he sleeps with his body touching my legs. It seems he thinks that those legs are the very thing that took me away from him, and so he cant let them go.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi spends many of her free evenings with Taichito and says he refreshes her after tiring tasks. In the rare glimpses the public gets of her personal life, Taichito is often by her side.
Burma Despite Crackdown, People-Smuggling Across Thai-Burma Border has Risen

An illegal migrant from Burma shows a mugshot after being pictured at Tha Sala police station in Nakorn Si Thammarat province, Thailand on May 6, 2017. / Surapan Boonthanom / Reuters

MAE SOT, Thailand  People smuggling across the border from Burma to Thailand is on the rise despite a crackdown by authorities in both countries that has made it more expensive and dangerous, Thai immigration police say.

Thailand said earlier this year that it hoped its efforts against smuggling would be recognized by the United States in its annual Trafficking in Persons report expected next month.

But while fewer migrants appear to be braving hazardous journeys by sea, figures from immigration police on the land border show an increase in people smuggled from Burma since 2014, when Thailands military government seized power and vowed to crack down on human smuggling and trafficking rings.

Weve applied a lot of pressure so they have to find a new way to come, Sompong Saimonka, deputy superintendent of Border Immigration Police in Thailands western Tak province, the main land gateway from Burma, told Reuters. We cant keep tabs on it all.

While Burmas economy has been boomingthe World Bank forecasts annual growth will average 7.1 percent over the next three yearswages remain among the lowest in the region.

Migrants from Burma often do work Thais shun in sectors such as construction, agriculture and fishing, forming the backbone of Southeast Asias second largest economy.

The two countries signed an agreement last year to allow migrants from Burma to legally work in Thailand. But many are unwilling to wait up to six months for identity documents and take their chance with the smugglers instead.

Crackdown on Smugglers

Thailands crackdown on human smuggling and trafficking syndicates reverberated around the region in 2015 and drew global attention to the abuses suffered by some of those seeking a better life.

Boatloads of migrants, many of them Rohingya Muslims escaping persecution in Burms Arakan State, were turned away by regional governments from Bangladesh to Malaysia after being abandoned at sea by smugglers.

Dozens of bodies of suspected migrants were discovered in jungle camps along the Thai-Malaysian border.

Thai police say the focus on sea routes to Thailand and Malaysia has prompted smugglers to resume overland trails where it is easier to avoid checkpoints.

Data from immigration police at Mae Sot, the main entry point into western Thailand, shows the number of people smuggled from Burma rose from 20,323 in 2014 to 24,962 in 2016.

Those were just the recorded cases, so the increase could partly be due to greater enforcement efforts. Few of those recently smuggled were Rohingya, police in Mae Sot said.

At present Thailand is very conscious about human rights when it comes to laborers and we have opened for laborers from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to come and work in Thailand, government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Thailand needs overseas labor. We just ask that it is correct.

Overall figures on illegal entry into Thailand were not available.

Anyone can be a Broker

The 2015 crackdown led to the trial of some alleged human traffickers.

But police in Mae Sot say the network of people willing to act as brokers is wider than previously thought.

Anyone can be a broker. The problem is more widespread than we think. A Burmese factor worker in Mae Sot with a mobile phone can be a broker, said a former border police officer based in Mae Sot, who declined to be named because he said he feared for his safety.

Last year, in its closely watched report that ranks countries based on anti-trafficking efforts, the US State Department upgraded Thailands status a notch to its Tier 2 Watch List. Thailand had been downgraded to Tier 3, the lowest level that could trigger sanctions, after the 2014 coup.

The report, which usually comes out in June, matters to Thailands junta as it tries to fully normalize relations with Washington and to show it is tackling tough issues better than previous civilian administrations.

The Thai-Burma border in Tak province is approximately 500 km (300 miles) long, and includes the 327 km Moie River. During the dry season, which typically begins in March and ends in May, parts of the river are low enough to cross by foot.

Since 2015, many brokers wont risk transporting migrants in large groups, said the former border police officer. Checkpoints have become more stringent, prompting smugglers to charge more.

Migrants typically pay up to 15,000 Thai baht (US$430) to be smuggled from the border area to Bangkok and other cities and towns in Thailand.

Supply has gone down but demand for workers is still there so the fee for smugglers has gone up, Yunus, a Burma Muslim broker in Thailand, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Burma Education Put on Hold for Children of Repatriated Refugees in Rangoon

U Aye Lwin (L), his eldest daughter (center), and his youngest son. / Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Refugees from Burma who were repatriated from Thailand to commercial capital Rangoon late last year have settled into their housing arrangements on the outskirts of the city and are urging the government to consider the schooling arrangements of refugees children in planning future repatriations.

The seventeen returnees in Rangoon are among the first batch of 65 who were repatriated to Burma via the Myawaddy-Mae Sot Friendship Bridge from Nu Po camp on the Thai-Burma border in late October. Six other returnees were repatriated through the Thai-Tenasserim Division border. The governments of Thailand and Burma, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration collaborated in the process.

Those in Rangoon belong to four families, and purchased 9.8 million kyats worth of housing in the Shwe Linn Ban Industrial Zone in Hlaing Tharyar Township, by paying 1 million kyats (US$761) up front and the rest over eight years, according to an agreement with the government.

In late December, three out of the four families had moved to the housing projects 1820-foot apartments, approximately a one-and-a-half-hour drive from downtown Rangoon.

The Irrawaddy visited one of the returnees, U Aye Lwin, a 46-year-old father of six, who took refuge at Nu Po camp from 2008 to 2016, at his Hlaing Tharyar house on Wednesday. He said he now works as a construction worker, earning 9,500 kyats ($7) per day.

While having been part of the countrys revolutionary movement makes him proud, U Aye Lwin said he also feels guilty that his children could not get a proper education due to his political activism.

There are many disadvantages regarding the childrens education, he said, explaining how his children couldnt get an education at the camp which would be recognized by the Burmese government, and how, after arriving in Rangoon, they have been unable to attend school as they awaited provisions for long-term accommodation by the regional government. Initially, they stayed at a temporary shelter provided by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

The government should prepare for the second batch returnees by learning lessons from our first batchs experience, he said, urging the government to repatriate the second batch during the childrens summer school breakfrom March until June.

He is also not sure whether they will be able to enrol the children in school in June, as the certificates his children received from the camp are not recognized in Burma.

His 17-year-old daughter, who finished seventh grade at the camp in Thailand, said that she wont continue school in Rangoon because she doesnt want to learn with much younger students who will be around 11 years old.

U Aye Lwin told The Irrawaddy that two of his childrenhis elder daughter and 15-year-old sonare also working at a nearby beauty salon and a rice shop, respectively, and contributing to the familys income.

I feel really sad seeing them out there working when they should be in school, he said.

The other families were not available to meet with The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, each family had received 300,000 kyats ($221) from the government, and the Thai government offered 8,300 baht ($239) per adult and 6,500 baht ($187) per child before leaving Thailand.

Permanent secretary U Soe Aung of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement told The Irrawaddy that he still has no information about when a second batch of repatriated refugees would arrive.
Burma KNPP Concludes Congress, Re-Elects Chairperson

Khu Oo Reh, at the peace talks at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center in Rangoon on July 1, 2016. / The Irrawaddy

The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP)an ethnic armed group fighting for self-determinationconcluded its weeklong congress on Thursday at its headquarters in the Karenni State-Thai border area, and reelected its current chairperson Khun Abel Tweed.

The KNPP had a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the previous government in 2012, but have not have signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). The organization is currently in talks with the National League for Democracy governments peace negotiators under the ethnic armed alliance the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), of which it is a member.

Around 200 KNPP representatives joined the congress from May 3-11, and voted in the new members of the central committee, including the chairperson.

The KNPP hold its congress every four years, during which, its members listen to reports of the organizations progress and activities, and elects new leadership. The issues involved in this years congress centered on the peace process, drug eradication and rehabilitation, and programs for women and youth.

Regarding the signing of the NCA and joining the second round of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference later this month, Gen Bee Htoo, the KNPPs military chief, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the issue will be discussed at the upcoming central committee meeting next week.

On May 17-18, central committee members will meet to assign responsibilities to each member and to discuss their future plans and activities. They will also appoint the secretariat team, Gen Be Htoo said.

The KNPPs former vice chairman Khu Oo Rehalso the head of the UNFCs peace negotiation teamwas elected as a member of the permanent central committee.

The KNPP has said it would follow the NCAs prescribed path, if the government agrees to the UNFCs nine-point proposal on the matter.
Burma Ministry Announces Electricity Price Hike

The previous government led an abortive attempt to raise electricity prices in Nov. 2013 that faced strong public opposition. (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

NAYPYIDAW  Burmas Ministry of Electricity and Energy has announced plans to increase electricity prices, though it has not yet decided the new rates.

We will adjust and fix the new electricity prices depending on the location, the usage, and the type of user, U Htay Aung, deputy permanent secretary of the ministry, told the ministrys monthly press conference on Tuesday.

The ministry divides electricity users into three categories: households, businesses, and industrial purposes. The new rates will be different for each, said U Htay Aung.

State and divisional energy officials, Lower House lawmakers and technicians met for the second time on Monday to discuss new electricity rates.

U Myint Oo, deputy director of the Electricity Planning Department, said the officials would consult the public before seeking approval from state authorities.

The previous government attempted to increase electricity prices in November 2013, but aborted its plan in the face of strong opposition from the people.

If electricity prices and taxes increase, but salary stays the same, we will have to moonlight to get extra income, said an education ministry employee, who asked for anonymity. Electricity bills cost me more than 10,000 kyats every month. Any rise in electricity prices should be confined to businessmen.

Currently, households pay 35 kyats per unit up to 100 units and 40 kyats per unit up to 200 units. Any units used above 200 cost 50 kyats per unit.

Industrial users pay 75 kyats per unit up to 500 units; 100 kyats from 501-10,000 units; 125 kyats from 10,001-50,000 units; and 150 kyats from 50,001 to 300,000 units. The unit price drops to 100 kyats for usage that rises above 300,000 units.

The government subsidizes about 333 billion kyats annually and the national grid covers 37 percent of the population, according to figures from the energy and electricity ministry.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma Red Cross Chief Urges Govt to Allow More Access to Conflict Areas

Red Cross workers in Laukkai, Shan State in February 2015. / Soe Zayar Tun / Reuters

RANGOON  The International Committee of the Red Cross has asked Burma to let aid workers get access to people caught up in conflicts that have displaced tens of thousands despite a transition that brought Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to power.

Authorities have blocked the ICRC from areas under the control of ethnic minority forces and from visiting some prisoners, the organizations president, Peter Maurer, told reporters late on Wednesday in the commercial capital, Rangoon.

We would like to have access to all the people in need in order to do proper assessments, to help ease according to needs, he said.

Maurer visited the northwestern state of Arakan, where he toured camps set up almost five years ago to house those displaced by communal clashes between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Arakan Buddhists.

He did not visit the north of the state, where a security operation in response to insurgent attacks in October sent an estimated 74,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

Troops and police have been accused of killing and raping Rohingyas, who are denied citizenship in Burma and widely viewed as interlopers from Bangladesh.

The government only recently allowed international aid workers to visit affected villages, under the condition that they are accompanied by government officials, the UN humanitarian agency said on May 1.

A separate ICRC delegation visited detainees in the area last month.

Maurer was set to visit Kachin State in the north on Thursday, but the government denied a request to visit the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) stronghold of Laiza.

The ICRC is assisting a civilian hospital there, but staff have not been able to visit since fighting between the KIA and government forces broke out eight months ago.

Maurer travels to the capital, Naypyidaw, on Friday to meet officials and he will meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Beijing during an international conference there next week, he said.

Former political prisoner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide in elections before becoming the de facto head of the civilian administration in April 2016 after decades of military rule.

But her priority of securing peace with autonomy-seeking minority insurgents has been set back by fighting that has displaced an estimated 160,000 more people since the transition, according to UN data.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyis spokesman, U Zaw Htay, could not immediately be reached for comment.
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By Susan Carland | (The Conversation) |  

Islam is not unique in having theological interpretations that centre on men. Christian, Jewish and Buddhist women (and men) have grappled with the overt and covert sexism within their own sacred texts and traditions in numerous ways. This is because where there are people there is often sexism, and sexism within societies is frequently echoed by, and transplanted on to, social institutions: the law, politics and, of course, religion.

We cannot help but bring our own biases and experiences to the world we interpret. So, when religious texts are viewed through the sexist (or racist or pacifist or neoliberal or pluralist or anything else) lens of the reader, the outcome is obvious.

As the scriptures of many religions have been used either to empower or crush women, Muslims today are facing a similar struggle. What would be surprising to scores of people, however, is that many Muslims see the Quran and hadith as a defence for their arguments against sexism, not as a stumbling block to womens liberation.

In the research for my book, Fighting Hislam, I was particularly interested in speaking to Muslim women about the role faith played in their fight against sexism. This is because one of the central criticisms of the sexism experienced by Muslim women is that it is inherent to Islam.

Yet many Muslim women seem to have a different attitude. In a comparative study of American, religious Christian and Muslim women, researchers found that:

it was typical for Muslim women to report that their religion supported feminism and, interestingly, it was typical of Christian women to report that their religion does not support feminist ideals.

They also found that:

Most of the Christian women in this study rejected the label of feminist, but espoused feminist values. In contrast, most of the Muslim women were willing to endorse the label of feminist, and actually identified Islam as a feminist religion.

More tellingly still:

The majority of Muslim women identified as feminist. This finding is in stark contrast to the common perception of Muslim women in American society.

Many of my interviewees echoed these findings. Even if they do not all subscribe to the word feminist, they still believe that Islam has an inherently anti-sexist core.

Of my participants, the vast majority were adamantly working from within a religious paradigm in their efforts to fight sexism. Australian participant Zafreen told me:

Islam and its teachings are capable of giving women an equal footing in society to men, and that Islam does not relegate women to the private sphere. I really believe some Muslims have distorted our teachings and forgotten our heritage. I believe that Islam can be used as a source of empowerment for women.

Other women felt differently. Asifa and Ghayda, for example, both said they drew equally from a religious and secular feminist framework. Ghayda confessed that she did not believe that all problems can be solved within an Islamic framework because not all problems are strictly Islamic. Asifa is more circumspect when explaining how and why she switches between approaches depending on her audience:

If Im speaking to a completely secular feminist audience, Im not going to be making Islamic law, faith-based arguments for general topics like womens education or leadership. But if Im speaking to audience where I know this might be a stumbling block for them for religious reasons, then I need I take on those religious reasons. So then I would speak from a more pro-faith perspective explicitly.

The vast majority of interviewees believed religion was the most effective tool to challenge and change sexism within Muslim communities. Nahida spoke about feminism being one of the key reasons for divine revelation in Islam, and the need to reclaim religious texts previously used for womens oppression:

I am definitely of the perspective that religion is the key to liberating women  that feminist purpose was its very objective in revelation. Religion does not belong to men, it simply needs to be reclaimed by women to be employed for the very cause that it was introduced: to free the oppressed and bring peacefulness and goodness.

It was not only non-Muslims who viewed Muslim women fighting sexism with scepticism  other Muslims also viewed it with distrust. There was pressure on participants from Muslims and non-Muslims alike to consider themselves either a proper Muslim or someone who fights actively against sexism, but not both. One interviewee, Amina, said:

We were forced to choose  either Islam or human rights. And of course all the secular feminists went with human rights and said, well do without Islam, and all the Islamists took Islam and said, well do without human rights, and there we were in the middle with no name and no program. And at this point now weve managed to make a program, an agenda, a methodology, an epistemology, written books and the position is: we do not accept either/or at all. We have to have full human rights and Islam and thats what you call pro-faith feminism.

Ayesha spoke of her own reconciliation with Islam and feminism, which came from greater immersion in religious texts:

For a long time I did feel like feminism and Islam were different  But once I started reading the mystical poets and reading a lot more about women who were deeply integrated into the Islamic tradition and yet were fighting for the rights of women, it started coming together for me, and giving me a living example of that.

Much of the non-Muslim world appears dismissive of the value Islam can have in Muslim womens lives  and truly aghast at the notion it could play any role in eradicating the sexism in Muslim communities. The women I interviewed demonstrate otherwise. For them, Islam is a crucial tool in the work of gender justice and, in many instances, it is the only realistic option for transformation.

Susan Carland, Lecturer, National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.



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Cenk Uygur & Ana Kasparian | ( The Young Turks) | (Video Report) |  

Scott Pruitt has let go of scientists and replaced them with industry types. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down:

The Environmental Protection Agency has eviscerated a key scientific review board by removing half its members and seeking to replace them with industry-aligned figures, according to the boards chair.

Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, has chosen not to renew the terms of nine of the 18-member board of scientific counselors, which advises the EPA on the quality and accuracy of the science it produces. The group, largely made up of academics, is set to be replaced by representatives from industries that the EPA regulates.
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Daoud Kuttab. | (Project Syndicate) |  

RAMALLAH  On his recent visit to Washington, DC, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas surprised many by heaping praise on US President Donald Trump. Speaking through a translator, Abbas called Trump, who had promised to get done a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, courageous and wise, and lauded Trumps great negotiating ability. Now, Mr. President, Abbas concluded in English, with you we have hope.

The question, of course, is whether that hope is warranted. After all, in his own public statement, Trump made no reference to the two-state solution, and his vague declarations about peace (mentioned 11 times) included not so much as a hint about the need for Israel (also mentioned 11 times) to end its illegal settlement construction. And, in fact, Trump fell back in his statements on that asymmetrical phrasing he has so often used in the past: Israel and the Palestinians.

The reality is that Trump has long been giving Palestinians reason to worry. During his election campaign, Trump spoke about moving the United States embassy to Jerusalem and condemned the outgoing Obama administrations decision to abstain from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution denouncing Israeli settlements (rather than vetoing it). Once elected, Trump appointed as US ambassador to Israel his bankruptcy lawyer, David Friedman, who has a long history of supporting right-wing Israeli causes (even donating to a West Bank settlement).

Yet Abbas was silent about these issues. The mere fact that Trump had invited him to the White House so early in the administration seemed to provide reason for optimism. And Trump had already directed some attention to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tasking his son-in-law and trusted (though wholly inexperienced) adviser Jared Kushner with brokering a peace agreement.

Of course, promises to broker peace are nothing new for a US president. But Trump is no ordinary US president. Many Palestinians are encouraged by the fact that he does not seem bound by the usual lobby-influenced ideologies and commitments of US political parties. In their view, a US president who puts America first surely will see the absurdity of spending so much political and financial capital on Israel, which provides little strategic benefit to the US, at the cost of greater instability in the Middle East.

Trumps image as a deal maker reinforces this hopeful narrative. While his promises to strike the ultimate deal are not backed by much detail, they remain appealing to Palestinians, who have grown frustrated with a peace process that has had little impact beyond allowing Israel to expand and consolidate its occupation of Palestinian land.

This is not to say that Palestinians blindly trust the Trump administration to determine their fate. On the contrary, Abbas has worked diligently to strengthen his own position, meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II five times between Trumps inauguration and the visit to the White House. When Sisi and Abdullah visited Trump, each reiterated the position included in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative: Israel should withdraw fully from the occupied territories, in exchange for normalization of relations with Arab League countries. At the March 29 Arab League summit in Jordan, they and other Arab leaders underscored the need for an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

With such efforts, Abbas hoped to underscore the real goals that must be pursued, countering Israeli attempts at diversion. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been calling on the Palestinian Authority to halt social benefits to the families of prisoners who killed Israelis, attempting to portray those allocations as some kind of payoff. Abbass praise of Trump at the White House may be another tactic for keeping Trump on track.

It is too early to tell if Abbass approach to the Trump administration will succeed. Some might argue that Trumps decision to make Saudi Arabia, rather than Israel, the destination of his first trip abroad as US president reflects a new view of the region (though he will head to Israel immediately after).

When interviewed by Reuters on his first 100 days in office, Trump said that the US presidency had turned out to be a much harder job than he had anticipated. But the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians need not be. After all, we know what a deal must entail: an independent Palestinian state, secured through land swaps, and a creative solution to the Palestinian refugee issue.

The main obstacle to an agreement has been insufficient political will on the part of the US to push for the needed compromise. Palestinian leaders hope that Trump, a businessman obsessed with his legacy, will finally display the needed resolve, using the full clout of the US presidency to secure the ultimate deal.

Daoud Kuttab, a former professor at Princeton University and the founder and former director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al-Quds University in Ramallah, is a leading activist for media freedom in the Middle East.

Licensed from Project Syndicate

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

teleSUR English: Palestinian President Abbas Met With Donald Trump
OAKVILLE, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - Giyani Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:WDG)(FRANKFURT:KT9) ("Giyani" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the commencement of a field exploration campaign on the recently acquired Kgwakgwe Hill project. The area is home to the only past producing manganese mine in Botswana. The Company's geological team is currently sampling exposed manganese at the mine site and adjacent areas to gain an understanding of the geology and estimate the extent and quality of the potential deposit.

Sample results will be released once available and based on the results, the Company will develop a mining strategy commencing with a local mapping, bulk sampling and drilling campaign. Giyani is continuing to build a strong pipeline of quality assets containing high grade raw materials that are critical for the rapidly growing battery industry.

Additional information may be found on the Giyani website: http://giyanigold.com/projects/.
TORONTO, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Avesoro Resources Inc. ("Avesoro" or the "Company"), the TSX and AIM listed West African gold producer, is pleased to announce the release of its unaudited results for the quarter ended 31 March 2017 (the "Quarter").

Highlights:

Revenues of US$19.7 million from gold sales of 16,008 ounces, with an average realised gold price of US$1,231 per ounce;

from gold sales of 16,008 ounces, with an average realised gold price of per ounce; US$17.0m improvement on the prior quarter Adjusted EBITDA 1 to US$0.5 million ;

improvement on the prior quarter Adjusted EBITDA to ; Positive EBITDA achieved for the first time in the Company's history, largely driven by improvements in mining and processing productivity, operational efficiency and cost savings through the insourcing of core activities;

Mining cost reduced by 49% to US$2.19 /t compared to US$4.30 /t in Q4 2016;

/t compared to /t in Q4 2016; Processing costs reduced by 24% to US$26.77 /t compared to US$35.12 /t in Q4 2016;

/t compared to /t in Q4 2016; Operating cash costs of US$1,051 per ounce, a reduction of 46% on the previous quarter;

per ounce, a reduction of 46% on the previous quarter; All-in sustaining costs ("AISC") of US$1,488 per ounce sold, a reduction of 28% on the previous quarter;

per ounce sold, a reduction of 28% on the previous quarter; Cash of US$6.7 million and inventory of US$15.2 million at the end of the Quarter;

and inventory of at the end of the Quarter; Capital expenditure of US$7.2 million during the Quarter, predominantly consisting of capitalised stripping costs of US$5.6 million ; and

during the Quarter, predominantly consisting of capitalised stripping costs of ; and Secured improved terms for the Company's existing finance facilities with Nedbank Limited and FirstRand Bank Limited.

Operational Review

Total gold production for the Quarter was 14,906 ounces at an operating cash cost of US$1,051 per ounce, which was in line with management's expectations and full year guidance of 90,000 - 100,000 ounces at a cash cost of US$750  US$800 per ounce.

Mined ore grades averaged 2.21 g/t during the Quarter, and plant feed grade averaged 1.97 g/t, which is considerably lower than the average reserve grade for the New Liberty deposit of 3.4 g/t. This lower feed grade suppressed the Company's EBITDA performance for the Quarter and as previously reported, the Company focused on opening access to, and the stripping of a new pit, whilst catching up on the previously postponed waste pushbacks during the Quarter, both of which will provide access to higher grade ore during the second half of the year.

Plant and Processing Optimisations Coming Through

Following the stabilisation of mining and processing activities at New Liberty, management has established a solid foundation from which the Company expects to achieve a robust financial and operational performance during the second half of 2017.

In addition to the previously reported performance improvements in Q4 2016, the Company achieved further performance improvements in both mining and processing operations at New Liberty in the Quarter when compared to Q4 2016, with total material movement increasing by 29% to 4,295kt. As a function of the increased material movement and other operational efficiencies put into effect, including the insourcing of additional core activities, the unit mining cost decreased by 49% from US$4.30/t in Q4 2016 to US$ 2.19/t in Q1 2017, whilst processing unit costs reduced by 24% to US$26.77/t, down from US$35.12/t during Q4 2016. For further detail see the Company's Q1 production announcement of 11 April 2017.

Serhan Umurhan, Chief Executive Officer of Avesoro Resources, commented: "A primary focus of the Quarter was catching up on the waste stripping shortfall from H1 2016 as well as continuing to improve performance across the entire operation. It is pleasing to see that our optimisation work at New Liberty is beginning to translate into increased efficiencies and lower costs, and, despite the relatively low plant feed grade during the Quarter we achieved a positive EBITDA for the first time in New Liberty's history."

The financial statements should be read in conjunction with the accompanying management's discussion and analysis. These documents have been filed on Sedar and are available on the Company's website www.avesoro.com or at www.sedar.com.

1 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS financial measure calculated by excluding one-off costs or credits relating to non-routine transactions from EBITDA. It excludes other credits and charges, that individually or aggregate, if of a similar type, are of a nature or size that requires explanation in order to provide additional insight into the underlying business performance.

About Avesoro Resources Inc.

The Company's assets include the New Liberty Gold Mine in Liberia (the "New Liberty Gold Mine," "New Liberty" or the "mine") which has an estimated proven and probable mineral reserve of 8.5 Mt with 924,000 ounces of gold grading 3.4 g/t and an estimated measured and indicated mineral resource of 9,796 Kt with 1,143,000 ounces of gold grading 3.63 g/t and an estimated inferred mineral resource of 5,730 Kt with 593,000 ounces of gold grading 3.2 g/t. A Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") has been completed, the first gold pour has taken place and commercial production has been declared. The foregoing mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates and additional information in connection therewith are set out in the Company's technical report dated March 25, 2015 and entitled "New Liberty Gold Project, Bea Mountain Mining Licence Southern Block, Liberia, West Africa, Definitive Project Plan.

The New Liberty Gold Mine is located within the Southern Block of the 100% owned Bea Mountain mining licence. This licence covers 478 km and has a 25 year, renewable, mineral development agreement. The Bea Mountain mining license also hosts additional gold projects of Ndablama, Gondoja, Weaju and Leopard Rock which are the focus of exploration programs during 2016. Ndablama has an indicated mineral resource of 386,000 ounces of gold grading 1.6 g/t and inferred mineral resource of 515,000 ounces of gold grading 1.7 g/t and Weaju has an inferred mineral resource of 178,000 ounces of gold grading 2.1 g/t. The Yambesei (473 km2), Archaen West (56 km2), Mabong (36.6 km2) and Mafa West (15.6 km2) licences will also be subject to preliminary reconnaissance geological work. The foregoing mineral resource estimates and additional information in connection therewith are set out in the Company's technical report dated December 1, 2014 and entitled "Ndablama and Weaju Gold Projects, Bea Mountain Mining Licence, Northern Block, Technical Report on Mineral Resources" ("Ndablama and Weaju Technical Report 2014").

The Company also has a gold exploration permit in Cameroon.

Qualified Persons

The Company's Qualified Person is Mark J. Pryor, who holds a BSc (Hons) in Geology & Mineralogy from Aberdeen University, United Kingdom and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and a registered Professional Natural Scientist (Pr.Sci.Nat) of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions. Mark Pryor is an independent technical consultant with over 25 years of extensive global experience in exploration, mining and mine development and is a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43 -101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" of the Canadian Securities Administrators and has reviewed and approves this press release.
VANCOUVER, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Lithium X Energy Corp. (the "Company"(TSXV: LIX) (OTCQX: LIXXF)) is pleased to announce that it has entered into Definitive Agreements with Pure Energy Minerals Inc. ("Pure Energy") for the sale of its interests in Nevada (the "Sale"). In connection with the Sale, the Company is also subscribing for 3.571 million units ("Units") of Pure Energy at a price of C$0.56 for a total subscription cost of C$2 million (the "Subscription"). Each Unit consists of one Pure Energy common share and one half of a common share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable at a price of C$0.75. The Unit price represents a 9.8% premium to yesterday's closing price of the Pure Energy common shares. The subscription proceeds are expected to be spent entirely on the development of the Nevada assets.

Brian Paes-Braga, CEO and a Director of Lithium X, commented, "We are very pleased to partner with Pure Energy to consolidate our Clayton Valley projects and create the leading American lithium developer. I have a lot of respect for what Patrick and his team have accomplished in Nevada, and their success helped inspire the founding of Lithium X. Lithium X is pleased to become Pure Energy's largest shareholder, and participate in the tremendous upside at Clayton Valley, which hosts North America's only primary producing lithium brine."

Under the proposed Sale, the Company will be transferring to Pure Energy, all its interests in Nevada, consisting of its option from Calyton Valley Lithium Inc to acquire the Clayton Valley North project, and its claims comprising the Clayton Valley South Expansion. The Company's Nevada interests, when combined with Pure Energy's Clayton Valley South lithium brine project (consisting of approximately 4,450 hectares and having a 43-101 inferred mineral resource containing approximately 816,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent), will create a combined Clayton Valley project consisting of more than 10,500 hectares (approximately 26,300 acres). (Refer to Figure 1: Clayton Valley Ownership Map, which can also be found on the Company's website, www.lithium-x.com.)

Under the Sale, the Company will receive 20.038 million Pure Energy common shares and 2.022million share purchase warrants in consideration for its Nevada interests. Completion of the Sale and the Subscription will result in the Company becoming the largest shareholder of Pure Energy, holding 19.99% of the outstanding common shares, together with share purchase warrants that, if exercised immediately, would increase its interest to 22.5%.

In connection with these transactions, the Company and Pure Energy will also enter into an investor rights agreement under which, for a period of two years following completion of the transactions: the Company will be subject to certain restrictions on the disposition of its Pure Energy common shares and the Company will vote its Pure Energy common shares in the manner recommended by Pure Energy's management. In addition, so long as it holds 5% or more of the outstanding Pure Energy common shares, the Company will be entitled to appoint one director to Pure Energy's board and to pre-emptive rights to maintain its interest on any future proposed financing by Pure Energy.

Completion of the Sale and the Subscription is expected to occur prior to the end of May, but is subject to usual closing conditions, including receipt of all required regulatory and other approvals.

Patrick Highsmith, CEO and Director of Pure Energy, commented "This is an important step in the consolidation of North America's only productive lithium brine district. It is exciting to team up with Lithium X in this fashion so that we can leverage their business acumen alongside our technical expertise in Clayton Valley. These new near-term growth targets on the Lithium X properties will only enhance the potential value of the new lithium processing technologies we have been advancing."

Clive Ashworth, CEO of stated that "GeoXplor and Clayton Valley are delighted to have helped facilitate this important new development. The combined strengths of these two companies in Clayton Valley assures its development into North America's most important source of lithium."

On a related note, the Company further reports on its Phase 1 exploration program, led by GeoXplor Corp at its Clayton Valley North Lithium Project. Hole LX-01 was drilled to a total depth of 1,218 feet (371 metres) and intersected the targeted basal gravel aquifer at an approximate depth of 938 feet (286 metres) over a total vertical thickness of approximately 260 feet (79 metres). Additional aquifers were intercepted above the basal gravel layer, including the main ash layer which is believed to be one of the targeted production horizons of the neighbouring Silver Peak mine wells. Brines were intercepted at various horizons, with maximum lithium values of 61 mg/l encountered in the basal gravel aquifer.

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Lithium X's Vice-President of Project Development, William Randall, P.Geo, who is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101

ABOUT LITHIUM X ENERGY CORP.

Lithium X Energy Corp. is a lithium exploration and development company with a goal of becoming a low-cost supplier for the burgeoning lithium battery industry. The Company holds two projects in in the prolific "Lithium Triangle" in mining friendly Salta province, Argentina as well as its Clayton Valley project in Nevada. The Company's flagship project is the Sal de los Angeles lithium brine project, in which it owns 50% interest, with an option to acquire up to 80%. The project consists of 8,154 hectares covering 95% of Salar de Diablillos, and has a 43-101 mineral resource estimate of 1.037 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in the indicated category and 1.007 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in the inferred category. The Company's second Argentinian project, the Arizaro lithium brine project, consists of 33,846 hectares covering part of the western and eastern portions of the Salar de Azario, one of the largest known salt lakes in the world. Lithium X will also own 19.99% of Pure Energy Minerals, a company exploring and developing a large land package surrounding Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium mine in Clayton Valley, Nevada.

For additional information about Lithium X Energy Corp., please visit the Company's website at www.lithium-x.com
TORONTO, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Superior Gold Inc. ("Superior Gold" or the "Company") (TSX.V:SGI) is pleased to announce the results of the ongoing underground diamond drill program at its 100%-owned Plutonic Gold Mine in Western Australia. The drilling has been conducted since the Company completed the acquisition of the Plutonic Gold Mine on October 12, 2016, until March 17, 2016.

Results are provided for 281 drill holes for a total of more than 21,000 metres. The drill holes were primarily completed for resource definition and grade control. 18 of these holes were conducted as part of the underground exploration program. The costs of the program are included within Superior Gold's All in Sustaining Costs, and are separate from the Company's larger scale surface and underground exploration program currently being planned. Resource definition was designed to increase the confidence level of the resource in areas where drilling was limited. Grade control drilling was completed to provide additional information for stope design ahead of mining. The exploration holes were completed to test previously undrilled areas, in the search for possible extensions of mineralization to potentially expand the overall resource.

The drilling focussed on 8 zones  Area 134; Baltic; Caribbean; Caspian; Cortez; Indian; Pacific; and Timor. Significant intersections were encountered in all zones.

KEY FINDINGS

330 intersections encountered more than 5g Au/t

157 intersections encountered more than 10g Au/t

63 intersections encountered more than 20g Au/t

Exploration intersections of up to 64.0g Au/t over 2.20 metres, 35.3g Au/t over 3.75 metres, and 19.7g Au/t over 4.60 metres were obtained

90% of the exploration holes encountered intersections of more than 5g Au/t

The location of the most significant intersections are shown in Figure 1, and the details of all holes are summarized by zone in Table 3.

EXPLORATION HIGHLIGHTS

The Company's work to date has identified that prior work at the mine had tended to identify the mineralized zones as isolated, unconnected units. As a result of the interpretive work by the Company's geological staff, underground exploration has begun to examine the potential link between the various zones. This initial program was very successful with more than 35 intersections in excess of 5g Au/t.

Exploration drilling in the Baltic area was aimed at testing the gap between the Baltic and Caribbean Zones. This initial work has identified at least 2 potential new lodes adjacent to the Caribbean resource zone, in addition to potential extensions of existing lodes. Follow up work will be aimed at defining the mineralization in greater detail.

The drilling in the Pacific zone targeted an area outside the resource, which was thought to have potential for high grade, sub-vertical structures. The program successfully intersected mineralization in two principal zones. Work is being planned to develop a preliminary block model for both.

Graphical details of the mineralization identified in this initial underground exploration work will be provided as the work develops.

The most significant exploration intersections are highlighted in Table 1 below.

Table 1  Key Exploration Intersections

Drill Hole

# Easting Northing RL Dip (deg) Azimuth

(deg) Depth

(m) From

(m) To

(m) Thickness

(m) Au

(gpt) BALTIC UDD19111 4306 11491 1123 -8 6 195 8.25 12 3.75 35.3 175.75 176.05 0.3 27.1 UDD19117 4323 11480 1125 27 23 180 136.8 139.1 2.3 11.5 UDD19119 4309 11490 1123 -4 18 190 6.55 8.8 2.25 27.1 UDD19120 4309 11490 1124 10 18 185 8.4 10.6 2.2 64.0 UDD19122 4329 11472 1125 17 31 201 24.2 28.8 4.6 19.7 PACIFIC UDD18984 4676 12852 1192 -74 233 187 79.2 80.7 1.5 13.1 142.4 143.25 0.85 16.1 164.1 164.8 0.7 75.2 UDD18985 4676 12852 1192 -71 231 180 166.75 168.2 1.45 41.5 UDD19012 4735 12831 1186 -90 347 106 70 70.6 0.6 61.7 UDD19014 4764 12837 1182 -89 342 90 64.4 66.4 2 10.6

HIGHLIGHTS OF OTHER DRILLING

The most significant intersections from resource definition and grade control drilling are summarized in Table 2 below.

Table 2  Key Resource Definition and Grade Control Intersections

Drill Hole

# Easting Northing RL Dip (deg) Azimuth

(deg) Depth

(m) From

(m) To

(m) Thickness

(m) Au

(gpt) AREA 134 UDD18857 4763 12296 1070 83 26 104 66.80 67.55 0.75 43.6 UDD18864 4717 12306 1077 76 19 61 46.35 49.55 3.2 9.2 Incl. 49.1 49.55 0.45 43.2 BALTIC UDD19118 4308 11490 1123 -18 18 144 4.5 13.15 8.65 18.7 and 7.6 9.8 2.2 48.9 UDD19121 4329 11472 1124 4 31 180 7.25 7.7 0.45 53.5 CARIBBEAN UDD19055 4632 11877 1107 17 282 51 13.2 16.05 2.85 42.4 UDD19185 4431 11471 1203 51 302 15 0 2.9 2.9 23.4 UDD19059 4632 11876 1107 12 273 58 15.45 16.6 1.15 56.5 CASPIAN UDD19098 4262 10872 1365 68 87 43 35.4 42.7 7.3 13.9 Incl. 35.4 37.4 2 38.6 UDD18946 4493 11188 1245 -38 234 74 43.55 44.6 1.05 50.1 UDD19079 4480 11208 1245 -20 31 35 12.6 16.25 3.65 21.7 CORTEZ UDD18829 4953 12291 1135 59 111 116 21.65 22.4 0.75 704.0 UDD18818 4890 12300 1134 54 154 97 45.15 48.45 3.3 61.0 UDD18821 4891 12300 1132 40 166 97 88 89 1 121.0 UDD18827 4950 12293 1135 54 87 133 27.7 30.8 3.1 38.7 INDIAN UDD18992 4310 11481 1122 -78 182 32 7.95 10.8 2.85 69.3 UDD19001 4338 11462 1123 -80 161 52 15.8 23.3 7.5 33.3 UDD18995 4328 11471 1122 -87 198 28 17.6 18.2 0.6 127.0 PACIFIC UDD19040 4681 12849 1192 -72 66 119 103.5 110.95 7.45 13.9 UDD19038 4671 12873 1193 -53 84 122 87.5 90 2.5 14.0 TIMOR UDD18904 4331 13073 1314 20 48 79 71.6 71.9 0.3 1525.0 UDD18945 4366 13115 1310 39 312 118 69.65 72.75 3.1 23.3

Chris Bradbrook, President and CEO of Superior Gold stated "These results demonstrate the strength of the mineralized system at the Plutonic Gold Mine. The Resource Definition and Grade Control drilling provides greater confidence in the continuity of the mineralization, whilst the Exploration Drilling provides confidence in our ability to grow the resource. We are extremely encouraged by these early drill results and continue to work towards increasing the confidence level in the resources, and expanding the overall resource. One of our principal goals is to increase the level of underground reserves and therefore also the mine life".

Qualified Person

Scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Simon Lawson who is a member of the AusIMM and a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Lawson is an employee of the Company and serves as the Chief Geologist.

Quality Control Protocols

Core is drilled BTW core diameter (42 mm). Core intervals are whole core sampled. All gold results were determined by ALS Minerals (Perth) using fire assay fusion (40g charge, lead collection method) with an ICP finish. Drill program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control and interpretation of results are performed by qualified persons employing a Quality Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with NI 43-101 and industry best practices. Standards, blanks and duplicates are included in approximately every 20 samples for Quality Assurance/Quality Control purposes by the Company as well as the laboratory. Approximately 5% of sample pulps are sent to secondary laboratories for check assays.

About Superior Gold

Superior Gold is a Canadian based gold producer that owns 100% of the Plutonic Gold Operations located in Western Australia. The Plutonic Gold Operations include the Plutonic Gold Mine, which is a producing underground operation with a central mill, the Hermes open pit development project and an interest in the Bryah Basin joint venture. Superior Gold is focused on expanding production at the Plutonic Gold Operations and building an intermediate gold producer with superior returns for shareholders.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - Trevali Mining Corporation ("Trevali" or the "Company") (TSX:TV)(LMA:TV)(OTCQX:TREVF)(FRANKFURT:4TI) announces it has received initial delivery of part of its new Sandvik underground mining fleet for the Caribou Zinc Mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northeastern New Brunswick. Components of the new fleet, specifically new haul trucks and loaders, have arrived as scheduled and are currently being transitioned into operations where they are expected to deliver higher availability and production performance upon integration (Figure 1).

Figure 1: New Sandvik loaders and haul trucks getting delivered to Trevali's Caribou Zinc Mine in NB





As part of a site-wide optimization initiative, the new underground mining fleet for the Caribou Zinc Mine is an approximately Cdn$20-million investment through a partnership with Sandvik Mining that will supply and maintain a full fleet of mining equipment for Caribou operations. This initiative and transition to owner-operated status is expected to deliver safer and more productive operational capabilities and significant savings in overall Caribou operating costs.

Currently there are three loaders and four TH540 trucks onsite at Caribou as part of this initial equipment delivery. Additional components of the new Sandvik underground mining fleet are scheduled to be delivered over the next several weeks. The project is currently approximately a Quarter ahead of schedule for full transition of mining activities by the end of Q2-2017.

Caribou Underground Resource Conversion and Expansion Drill Program Commences

Trevali also announces commencement of its 2017 underground diamond drilling program. Boart Longyear Canada have been awarded the 14,400-metre contract for underground diamond drilling services. The program is a follow up to the 14,000-metre 2016 drill program that targeted inferred and indicated resources on both the North and East limbs of the deposit.

The 2017 program will continue this effort below the current workings on both the North Limb and East Limb, with a concerted emphasis on the down-plunge area of the North Limb that shows the greatest potential for addition of inferred resources (Figures 2 & 3). The goal for the 2017 program is to upgrade a significant portion of inferred resources (approximately 2-2.5 million tonnes) to the indicated category. A portion of the 2017 program is also slated to further delineate and upgrade indicated resources into the measured category. The proposed Caribou underground drilling for 2017 is shown in the longitudinal section views below (Figures 2 & 3).

Figure 2: Caribou Mine - North Limb 2017 underground drill program plan





Figure 3: Caribou Mine - East Limb 2017 underground drill program plan





In addition to the Caribou underground drill program, a surface drill campaign is currently underway to test near-mine targets.

ABOUT TREVALI MINING CORPORATION

Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company with two commercially producing operations.

The Company is actively producing zinc and lead-silver concentrates from its 2,000-tonne-per-day Santander mine in Peru and its 3,000-tonne-per-day Caribou mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick. Trevali also owns the Halfmile and Stratmat base metal deposits, located in New Brunswick, that are currently undergoing a Preliminary Economic Assessment reviewing their potential development. Additionally, the Company has entered into a definitive agreement with Glencore PLC to acquire a portfolio of zinc assets from Glencore, including an 80% interest in the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia, a 90% interest in the Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso, an effective 39% interest in the Gergarub project in Namibia, an option to acquire 100% interest in the Heath Steele property in Canada and certain related exploration properties and assets.

The common shares of Trevali are listed on the TSX (symbol TV), the OTCQX (symbol TREVF), the Lima Stock Exchange (symbol TV), and the Frankfurt Exchange (symbol 4TI). For further details on Trevali, readers are referred to the Company's website (www.trevali.com) and to Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN)(OTCQX:IVPAF) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three mine-development projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Platreef platinum-palladium-gold-nickel-copper discovery in South Africa; and the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery and the Kipushi zinc-copper-lead-germanium mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

HIGHLIGHTS

On April 12, 2017, Ivanhoe announced the start of early-works construction for Shaft 2 at the Platreef platinum-group metals, nickel, copper and gold mine now being developed in South Africa. Shaft 2, which will be the main production shaft, will be sunk to a planned, final depth of more than 1,100 metres below surface. It will be equipped with two 40-tonne rock-hoisting skips capable of hoisting a total of six million tonnes of ore per year - which will be the single largest hoisting capacity at any mine in Africa.

Sinking of Platreef's Shaft 1 is proceeding at an average rate of approximately 45 metres per month and is expected to reach the Flatreef Deposit, at a depth of 777 metres below surface, in the first half of 2018. Sinking will continue to a planned final depth of 980 metres below surface. Development work will include four shaft stations at depths of 450, 750, 850 and 950 metres below surface. Shaft 1 will provide development access into the Flatreef Deposit while Shaft 2 is being developed.

On April 25, 2017, Ivanhoe announced the appointment of three leading mine-financing institutions -- Export Development Canada, Nedbank Limited (acting through its Corporate and Investment Banking division) and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking -- as Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers to arrange debt financing for the development of the Platreef Mine.

On February 24, 2017, the five-million-volt-ampere power line connecting the Platreef site to the South African national grid was energized and now is supplying electricity to Platreef for shaft sinking and construction activities. The new line, a collaboration between Platreef, the South African government and local authorities, also is providing energy to the neighbouring community of Mzombane, which previously was without electricity.

The feasibility study for the first phase of underground mine development at Platreef, which is being finalized by DRA Global, is expected to be completed in Q2 2017.

On March 21, 2017, Ivanhoe announced that a new discovery hole had intersected a shallow, 3.8-kilometre extension of the Kakula Copper Discovery at the Kamoa-Kakula Project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This latest extension has been named Kakula West. The discovery hole, DD1124, intersected 5.83% copper over 8.86 metres at a 2.5% cut-off, including a 6.14-metre interval at 6.84% copper. This drill hole essentially doubled the presently-defined length of the copper-rich mineralized system at Kakula to more than 10 kilometres.

Excellent visual drill intercepts continue to be returned at Kakula West. The results show a rapidly growing area of shallow copper mineralization characterized by finely disseminated chalcocite in siltstone and maroon diamictite. The style and the overall geometry of mineralization are typical of the high-grade Kakula trend to the east.

The Kakula Discovery remains open for significant expansion along trend to the west and the southeast, while the remainder of the Kakula Exploration Area remains virtually untested. Twelve rigs now are drilling in the Kakula Exploration Area. More than 25,000 metres have been drilled at Kakula since the start of the year. Ivanhoe expects to issue an updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Kakula Discovery later this month.

Nearly 200 square kilometres of the approximately 400-square-kilometre Kamoa-Kakula Project area remain untested. The Kamoa-Kakula geology team, with the assistance of its technical advisors, has intensively evaluated the structural and stratigraphic controls on mineralization of the broader Kamoa-Kakula basin. This work has highlighted at least nine high-priority targets located in the untested parts of the Kamoa-Kakula Project area that are planned to be drill tested this year.

Kamoa Copper has retained OreWin Pty. Ltd., of Australia, to prepare a follow-up preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the development of the Kakula and Kamoa deposits. The study will be based on the updated Mineral Resource Estimate expected later this month. It is expected that the increased resource base at Kakula will support a mine capacity of approximately six million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The Kansoko mine capacity also is expected to be six Mtpa, giving the revised PEA a projected peak mine production of approximately 12Mtpa from the presently delineated Kamoa and Kakula deposits. In light of the successful step-out drilling at Kakula West, as well as the potential to find additional resources in high-priority targets located in the untested parts of the Kamoa-Kakula Project area, the Kamoa-Kakula development plans will be reassessed and amended as the project moves forward.

Underground mine development at Kamoa's Kansoko Mine has made good progress and is expected to reach the high-grade copper mineralization at the Kansoko Sud Deposit during Q2 2017. The service and conveyor declines each have been advanced more than 770 metres and are in Kamoa pyritic siltstone, which overlies the copper ore.

Specialist engineering firm DRA Global is finalizing the design of the Kakula box cut. Construction of the box cut is expected to begin in Q2 2017 and take approximately five months to complete.

On February 8, 2017, Ivanhoe received the fourth of five scheduled $41.2 million installment payments from a Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. subsidiary as part of a strategic co-development agreement under which Zijin acquired 49.5% of Ivanhoe's majority stake in the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery. Zijin  through its subsidiary, Gold Mountains (H.K.) International Mining Company Limited  agreed to pay a total of $412 million for the interest in Kamoa Holding Limited, beginning with an initial payment of $206 million in 2015. The fifth and final US$41.2 million installment payment from Zijin is due on May 23, 2017.

A pre-feasibility study for the redevelopment of the Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-lead-silver mine is being prepared by OreWin, of Australia. The comprehensive study will refine Ivanhoe's May 2016 preliminary economic assessment of Kipushi's proposed redevelopment.

Preparations are underway to start a 6,500-metre drilling program at Kipushi. The planned program, which is expected to begin later this month, will include six metallurgical holes and additional resource drilling in the Fault Zone and the Nord Riche and Southern Zinc zones to upgrade inferred resources to indicated resources.

Ivanhoe Mines' three projects achieved a combined 11.73 million work hours free of lost-time injuries (LTIF) by the end of Q1 2017. Ivanhoe had recorded 16,055 LTIF hours at Platreef, 5.32 million hours at Kipushi and 6.39 million hours at Kamoa-Kakula to the end of Q1 2017.

Principal projects and review of activities

1. Platreef Project

64%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines

South Africa

The Platreef Project is owned by Ivanplats (Pty) Ltd., which is 64%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines. A 26% interest is held by Ivanplats' historically-disadvantaged broad-based, black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) partners, which include 20 local host communities with a total of approximately 150,000 people, project employees and local entrepreneurs. In January 2017, Ivanplats reconfirmed its Level 3 status in its third verification assessment on a B-BBEE scorecard. A Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corporation and its affiliate, ITC Platinum, plus Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation and JGC Corporation, owns a 10% interest in Ivanplats, which it acquired in two tranches for a total investment of $290 million.

The Platreef Project hosts an underground deposit of thick, platinum-group metals, nickel, copper and gold mineralization in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, approximately 280 kilometres northeast of Johannesburg and eight kilometres from the town of Mokopane in Limpopo Province.

On the Northern Limb, platinum-group metals mineralization is hosted primarily within the Platreef, a mineralized sequence that is traced more than 30 kilometres along strike. Ivanhoe's Platreef Project, within the Platreef's southern sector, is comprised of three contiguous properties: Turfspruit, Macalacaskop and Rietfontein. Turfspruit, the northernmost property, is contiguous with, and along strike from, Anglo Platinum's Mogalakwena group of mining operations and properties.

Since 2007, Ivanhoe has focused its exploration and development activities on defining and advancing the down-dip extension of its original discovery at Platreef, now known as the Flatreef Deposit, which is amenable to highly mechanized, underground mining methods. The Flatreef area lies entirely on the Turfspruit and Macalacaskop properties, which form part of the company's mining right.

Health and safety at Platreef

The Platreef Project reached a total of 7,121,029 million hours and 16,055 lost-time injury-free hours worked in terms of the Mines Health and Safety Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act of South Africa by the end of March 2017. Two medical treatment cases and two lost-time-accidents occurred during the first quarter of 2017.

The Platreef Project continues to strive toward its workplace objective of an environment that causes zero harm to any employees, contractors, sub-contractors and consultants.

Shaft 1 construction now in fast-sinking mode

Shaft 1, with an internal diameter of 7.25 metres, will provide access to the Flatreef Deposit and enable the initial underground capital development to take place during the development of Shaft 2 and ultimately will become the primary ventilation intake shaft during the project's four Mtpa production case. Following the successful commissioning of the stage and kibble winders and ancillary equipment, the permanent sinking phase started in July 2016. The initial sinking phase was completed to 107 metres below surface and the main sinking phase has been initiated. Shaft 1 had reached a depth of 346 metres below surface as of May 8, 2017.

An average sinking rate of 45 metres per month is expected during the main sinking phase. The shaft includes a 300-millimetre concrete lined shaft wall. The main sinking phase is expected to reach its projected, final depth of 980 metres below surface in 2018. Shaft stations to provide access to horizontal mine workings for personnel, materials, pump stations and services will be developed at depths of 450, 750, 850 and 950 metres below surface.

Figure 1: A Platreef engineer examining geotechnical features of the Shaft 1 sidewall





Figure 2: Members of the Platreef sinking team underground in Shaft 1, which was at a depth of 346 metres below surface on May 8, 2017





Shaft 2 early-works construction

Shaft 2 will be located approximately 100 metres northeast of Shaft 1. Shaft 2, with an internal diameter of 10 metres, will be lined with concrete and sunk to a planned, final depth of more than 1,100 metres below surface. It will be equipped with two 40-tonne rock-hoisting skips with a capacity to hoist a total of six million tonnes of ore a year - which will be the single largest hoisting capacity at any mine in Africa. The headgear for the permanent hoisting facility was designed by South Africa-based Murray & Roberts Cementation.

The early works for Shaft 2 will include the excavation of a surface box cut to a depth of approximately 29 metres below surface and the construction of the concrete hitch (foundation) for the 103-metre-tall concrete headgear (headframe) that will house the shaft's permanent hoisting facilities and support the shaft collar. The early works are planned to commence in Q2 2017 and will take approximately 12 months to complete.

Figure 3: Illustration shows two perspectives of Shaft 2's 103-metre-tall concrete headgear, the hitch (foundation) and internal permanent hoisting facilities





Platreef implementing a phased approach to a large, underground, mechanized mine

Ivanhoe plans to develop the Platreef Mine in phases. The initial annual rate of four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) is designed to establish an operating platform to support future expansions. This is expected to be followed by a potential doubling of production to eight Mtpa; and then a third expansion phase to a steady-state 12 Mtpa, which would establish Platreef among the largest platinum-group-metals mines in the world.

Ivanhoe has made good progress on advancing the feasibility study of the first phase of development of the Platreef Mine. The study, which began in August 2015, is being prepared by principal consultant DRA Global, with specialized sub-consultants including Stantec Consulting, Murray & Roberts Cementation, SRK Consulting, Golder Associates and Digby Wells Environmental. The study is planned for completion in Q2 2017.

Metallurgical testwork and processing

Metallurgical testwork has focused on maximizing the recovery of platinum-group metals and base metals, also while producing an acceptably high-grade concentrate grade for sale to third parties. The three main geo-metallurgical units and composites have produced concentrate grades of approximately 85 to 110 grams per tonne platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (3PE+gold) at good platinum-group-elements (PGE) recoveries (86% to 88% 3PE+gold).

Comminution and flotation testwork has demonstrated that the optimum grind size of 80% passing 75 micrometres, in one stage of milling is sufficient to achieve the PGE recoveries referred to above. This simplifies the circuit and should enable Ivanhoe to optimize the capital and operating cost of the concentrator.

The flow sheet for phase one comprises a four Mtpa, three-stage crushing circuit, which will feed into two parallel milling-flotation modules, each with a capacity of two million tonnes per year. Flotation is followed by a four Mtpa tailings-handling and concentrate-thickening, filtration and storage circuit.

Planned mining methods to incorporate highly productive, mechanized methods

The selected mining areas in the current mine plan occur at depths ranging from approximately 700 metres to 1,200 metres below surface. The main access to the Flatreef Deposit and ventilation system is expected to be through four vertical shafts: 1, 2, 3 and 4. Shaft 2 will host the main personnel transport cage, and the material and ore-handling system; shafts 1, 3 and 4 will provide ventilation to the underground workings. Shaft 1, now under development, also will be used for initial access to the deposit and early underground development.

The planned mining will incorporate low-cost, mechanized mining methods, including long-hole stoping and drift-and-fill mining. Mined-out areas will be backfilled with a mixture of tailings from the processing plant and cement. The ore will be hauled from the stopes to a series of ore passes that will connect to a main haulage level at Shaft 2, from where it will be hoisted to the surface for processing.

Bulk water and electricity supply

The Olifants River Water Resource Development Project (ORWRDP) is designed to deliver water to the Eastern and Northern limbs of South Africa's Bushveld Complex. The project consists of the new De Hoop Dam, the raised wall of the Flag Boshielo Dam and related pipeline infrastructure that ultimately is expected to deliver water to Pruissen, southeast of the Northern Limb. The Pruissen Pipeline Project is expected to be developed to deliver water onward from Pruissen to the municipalities, communities and mining projects on the Northern Limb. Ivanhoe is a member of the ORWRDP's Joint Water Forum.

The Platreef Project's water requirement for the first phase of development is projected to peak at approximately 10 million litres per day, which is expected to be supplied by the water network. Ivanhoe also is investigating various alternative sources of bulk water, including an allocation of bulk grey-water from a local source.

The Platreef Project's electricity requirement for a four Mtpa underground mine, concentrator and associated infrastructure has been estimated at approximately 100 million volt-amperes. An agreement has been reached with Eskom, the South African public electricity utility, for the supply of phase-one power. Ivanhoe chose a self-build option for permanent power that will enable the company to manage the construction of the distribution lines from Eskom's Burutho sub-station to the Platreef Mine. The self-build and electrical supply agreements are being formulated.

First phase of the relocation of informal graves completed; second phase underway

On February 2, 2017, a South African judge issued a ruling in favour of Ivanplats clearing the way for the company to proceed with the relocation of informal graves in the vicinity of its Platreef Mine development project.

A total of 75 informal graves were successfully relocated from land outside the perimeter of the active mine development site to new burial plots in a formal cemetery. An additional 19 locations were investigated and found not to contain human remains. The Ivanplats support program included assistance in providing new burial plots in a formal cemetery, tombstones and related services.

Ivanplats plans to relocate an estimated 27 additional informal graves as part of the second phase of its relocation program after the permits for the exhumations and reburials have been received. Further phases on peripheral infrastructure areas also are planned. The relocation of remaining informal graves will not impact the development of the Platreef Project.

2. Kipushi Project

68%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines

Democratic Republic of Congo

The Kipushi copper-zinc-germanium-lead mine in the DRC is adjacent to the town of Kipushi and approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Lubumbashi. It is located on the Central African Copperbelt, approximately 250 kilometres southeast of the Kamoa-Kakula Project and less than one kilometre from the Zambian border. Ivanhoe acquired its 68% interest in the Kipushi Project in November 2011; the balance of 32% is held by the state-owned mining company, La Generale des Carrieres et des Mines (Gecamines).

Health, safety and community development

The Kipushi Project achieved a total of 5,321,941 work hours free of lost-time injuries, equivalent to 1,694 days, to the end of Q1 2017. Malaria remains the most frequently occurring health concern at Kipushi which increased after the rainy season to an average of 26 cases per month over the quarter.

In an effort to reduce the incidence of malaria in the Kipushi community, a Water Sanitation and Health (WASH) program has been initiated in cooperation with the Territorial Administrator and the local community. The main emphasis of the program's first phase is cleaning storm drains in the municipality to prevent accumulations of ponded water, where malarial mosquitos breed.

The Fionet program to improve malaria diagnostics and treatment expanded to 300 Deki readers installed in 252 medical service providers in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba provinces in Southern DRC, which host Ivanhoe's Kipushi and Kamoa-Kakula projects. Deki readers provide automated readings of rapid diagnostic tests to remove the human-error factor and avoid prescription of unnecessary medication. The data is uploaded to a cloud server for analysis by the Ministry of Health in planning malaria-control measures. There were more than 40,000 patient encounters where Deki readers provided diagnostic testing during the past year, with only approximately 48% of Kipushi Project employees who were symptomatic testing positive for malaria.

Project development and infrastructure

The Kipushi Mine, which had been placed on care and maintenance in 1993, flooded in early 2011 due to a lack of pump maintenance over an extended period. At its peak, water reached 851 metres below the surface. Ivanhoe restored access to the mine's principal haulage level at 1,150 metres below surface in December 2013; since then, crews have been upgrading underground infrastructure to permanently stabilize the water levels.

Since completion of the drilling program, water levels have been lowered to the bottom of Shaft 5, which is planned to be the mine's main production shaft. The shaft is eight metres in diameter, 1,240 metres deep and approximately 1.5 kilometres from the planned main mining area. It provides the primary access to the lower levels of the mine, including the Big Zinc Deposit, through the 1,150-metre haulage level and underground ramp decline.

Engineering work has focused on the upgrading of Shaft 5 conveyances and infrastructure, installation of the rock conveyor system, the stripping and evaluation of the underground jaw crusher, refurbishment of bearer sets on the main rising-water pipes, and the replacement of shaft buntons (struts that reinforce the shaft walls). A new twinned high-volume ventilation fan also has been installed and is being commissioned on surface at Shaft 4 to provide fresh air to the underground workings.

Figure 4: Shaft 5 main pumping station at the 1,200-metre level





Figure 5: New rollers being installed on the 1,150-metre-level ore conveyor belt as part of the infrastructure upgrading program





Pre-feasibility study underway at Kipushi

In September 2016, Ivanhoe began a pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the Kipushi Project that will further refine the optimal development scenario for the existing underground mine at Kipushi. Orewin, of Australia, has been appointed the main engineering firm for the preparation of the PFS. Golder Associates, MDM, SRK, DRA, Murray & Roberts and Grindrod also have been engaged to complete various aspects of the study.

The PFS will refine the positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the redevelopment of the Kipushi Project that was announced on May 2, 2016. The PEA was prepared in compliance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Highlights of the 2016 PEA, prepared by OreWin and the MSA Group (Pty) Ltd, of Johannesburg, South Africa, include:

After-tax net present value at an 8% real discount rate is $533 million.

After-tax real internal rate of return is 30.9%.

After-tax project payback period is 2.2 years.

Leveraging existing surface and underground infrastructure significantly lowers the redevelopment capital compared to a greenfield development project, as well as the time required to reinstate production.

Life-of-mine average planned zinc concentrate production of 530,000 dry tonnes per annum - with a concentrate grade of 53% zinc - is expected to rank Kipushi, once in production, among the world's major zinc mines.

Life-of-mine average cash cost of $0.54/lb. of zinc is expected to rank Kipushi, once in production, in the bottom quartile of the cash-cost curve for zinc producers globally.

Figure 6: Upgraded supports for Shaft 5 pump columns at the 1,200-metre-level pump station





Preparations are underway to start a 6,500-metre drilling program at Kipushi. The planned program, which is expected to begin later this month, will include six metallurgical holes and additional resource drilling in the Fault Zone and the Nord Riche and Southern Zinc zones to upgrade inferred resources to indicated resources.

3. Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project

39.6%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines

Democratic Republic of Congo

The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining, has been independently ranked as the largest copper discovery ever made on the African continent, with adjacent prospective exploration areas within the Central African Copperbelt in the DRC, approximately 25 kilometres west of the town of Kolwezi and about 270 kilometres west of Lubumbashi.

Ivanhoe sold a 49.5% share interest in Kamoa Holding Limited to Zijin Mining in December 2015 for an aggregate consideration of $412 million. In addition, Ivanhoe sold a 1% share interest in Kamoa Holding to privately-owned Crystal River Global Limited for $8.32 million - which Crystal River will pay through a non-interest-bearing, 10-year promissory note. Since the conclusion of the Zijin transaction in December 2015, each shareholder of Kamoa Holding has been required to fund expenditures at the Kamoa-Kakula Project in an amount equivalent to its proportionate shareholding interest in the company.

A 5%, non-dilutable interest in the Kamoa-Kakula Project was transferred to the DRC government on September 11, 2012, for no consideration, pursuant to the DRC Mining Code. Following the signing of an agreement with the DRC government in November 2016, in which an additional 15% interest in the Kamoa-Kakula Project was transferred to the DRC government, Ivanhoe and Zijin Mining now each hold an indirect 39.6% interest in the Kamoa-Kakula Project, Crystal River Global Limited holds an indirect 0.8% interest and the DRC government holds a direct 20% interest. Kamoa Holding Limited continues to hold an 80% interest in the project.

Kakula West Discovery confirmed by assay results and additional follow-up drilling

On March 21, 2017, Ivanhoe announced that a new step-out hole, DD1124 - drilled 5.4 kilometres west of the present boundary of Kakula's current Inferred Resources - intersected a relatively shallow, 16.3-metre zone of typical Kakula-style, chalcocite-rich copper mineralization similar to holes drilled in the centre of the high-grade Kakula Deposit on the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project. The new discovery, now referred to as Kakula West extended the length of the Kakula mineralized trend to approximately 10.1 kilometres, essentially doubling the previously estimated strike length of 5.5 kilometres contained in Ivanhoe's January 23, 2017 news release.

On April 10, 2017, Ivanhoe announced the assay results for DD1124 that confirmed significant high-grade mineralization. DD1124 intersected 8.86 metres (true width) of 5.83% copper at a 3.0% copper cut-off, beginning at a downhole depth of 428.70 metres; 8.86 metres (true width) of 5.83% copper at a 2.5% copper cut-off; 16.05 metres (true width) of 4.14% copper at a 2.0% copper cut-off; and 16.05 metres (true width) of 4.14% copper at a 1.0% copper cut-off. DD1124's best six-metre intercept was 6.17 metres (true width) at 6.84% copper.

Figure 7: Drilling at Kakula West





In addition to DD1124, additional follow up drilling confirmed the significance of the initial discovery with two western step-out holes:

DD1138, drilled 400 metres west of DD1124, intersected a zone of moderate-to-strong chalcocite mineralization six to seven metres thick, beginning at a downhole depth of 565.5 metres. Mineralization is hosted in a laminated siltstone horizon, typical of Kakula-style mineralization seen elsewhere at Kakula. The siltstone was separated from the Roan footwall sandstone by a sandy diamictite unit.

DD1144, drilled 800 metres west of DD1224, intersected similar geology and mineralization to DD1138 with approximately ten metres of moderate chalcocite mineralization, including more strongly mineralized zones starting at a downhole depth of 502 metres and hosted in a laminated siltstone unit.

Full details of the DD1138 and DD1144 intersections can be found in the April 10, 2017 news release.

Excellent visual drill intercepts continue to be returned at Kakula West. The results show a rapidly growing area of shallow copper mineralization characterized by finely disseminated chalcocite in siltstone and maroon diamictite. The style and the overall geometry of mineralization are typical of the high-grade Kakula trend to the east.

The Kakula Discovery remains open along a westerly-southeasterly strike. Importantly, the chalcocite-rich zone of mineralization in DD1124 was intersected at a depth of approximately 400 metres below surface, significantly shallower than several of the mineralized intercepts announced in January 2017 that were drilled closer to the western boundary of the Kakula Inferred Resource.

Figure 8: Exploration staff processing Kakula drill core at the Kamoa camp facility





Kamoa-Kakula studies

The Kamoa-Kakula Project has started a PEA for larger production cases at both Kamoa and Kakula. The Kakula study will be based on an updated Mineral Resource Estimate expected in May 2017. It is anticipated that the increased resource base will support a Kakula mine capacity of approximately six Mtpa. The Kansoko mine capacity also is expected to be increased to six Mtpa through a change in mining method. The revised PEA targets peak mine production of approximately 12 Mtpa from the current resource base at the presently delineated Kamoa and Kakula deposits. In light of the successful step-out drilling at Kakula West, the Kamoa-Kakula development plans will be reassessed and amended on a continuous basis as the project moves forward.

The updated PEA is expected to be completed in Q3 2017.

Health and safety at Kamoa-Kakula

Health and safety remain key priorities for all people working at the Kamoa-Kakula Project. As of March 31, 2017, the Kamoa-Kakula Project had achieved 6,394,834 lost-time injury-free man hours.

During Q1 2017, 58 cases of malaria were diagnosed at the Kamoa clinic, compared to 85 for the same period in 2016. This progress is, in part, due to the project's malaria control plan.

Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessment

A major update to the Kamoa Environmental, Social & Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) was submitted to DEPM (DRC environmental authority) on January 30, 2017, before the required five-year anniversary of the approved 2012 ESHIA. The scope of the updated ESHIA included the Kansoko Mine and concentrator, Kakula Mine and concentrator, Kakula tailings storage facility and main Kolwezi access road. Approval for the updated ESHIA was received from the DEPM on March 3, 2017.

Ongoing exploration activities to focus on other high-priority targets

As of the end of Q1 2017, more than 25,000 metres had been drilled at Kakula since the start of the year. There are 14 rigs on site, 12 of which are currently drilling; 10 from the contractor and two project-owned rigs. Included in the drilling total were holes drilled for geotechnical and metallurgical studies.

Exploration activities significantly increased in Q1 2017. The accelerated exploration program was driven by resource expansion drilling to support an updated Mineral Resource Estimate planned for early Q2 2017 to be used for future development studies on the project. Nine of the 14 rigs on site were dedicated to resource expansion at Kakula. Coinciding with this expansion drilling, exploration activities were increased on untested parts of the Kamoa-Kakula licence. The Kakula West discovery was a result of the expanded grass roots program with three rigs currently dedicated to this area.

With the onset of the dry season, the intention is to reallocate a number of rigs from Kakula resource expansion and development activities to test other areas on the Kamoa-Kakula licence where significant Kakula-style targets have been identified but have been inaccessible during the wet season.

Figure 9: Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, showing copper grade of Indicated and Inferred Resources at a 2% copper cut-off, untested areas, current target areas and location of Kakula West Discovery





Improved copper recoveries and concentrate grades confirmed by preliminary metallurgical tests on drill core from Kakula

Following on from the positive preliminary testwork results received during Q4 2016 of 87.8% recovery at an extremely high concentrate grade of 56% copper, the next phase of flowsheet development has been initiated.

A metallurgical drilling campaign to compile a representative composite sample is underway and is planned to be completed during Q3 2017. This sample will be used for the PFS circuit development and optimization testwork which is planned for the second half of 2017.

Earlier metallurgical testwork indicated that the Kamoa and Kakula concentrates contain extremely low arsenic levels by world standards - approximately 0.02%. Given this critical competitive marketing advantage, Kamoa-Kakula concentrates are expected to attract a significant premium from copper-concentrate traders for use in blending with concentrates from other mines. The concentrates will help to enable the other concentrates to meet the limit of 0.5% arsenic imposed by Chinese smelters to meet China's environmental restrictions.

Mine development at the Kansoko Mine expected to reach high-grade copper in Q2

Byrnecut Underground Congo SARL progressed well with the decline development at Kansoko Sud during Q1 2017. A total of more than 1,600 metres of development had been achieved at the end of Q1 2017.

The service and conveyor declines each have been advanced more than 770 metres and are in Kamoa pyritic siltstone, which overlies the copper ore. Development of the underground mine is scheduled to reach the high-grade copper mineralization at the Kansoko Sud Deposit during Q2 2017.

Figure 10: Operating the underground drill rig during decline development





Kakula box-cut and decline development

The Kamoa-Kakula technical team has identified a location for a box cut for the initial portal to planned decline ramps that will provide underground access to the Kakula Deposit. The design of the box cut has been completed and the excavation, support and civil works have been tendered. A preferred bidder has been identified and the project team is in a position to award the contract. Construction of the Kakula box cut is expected to take approximately five months, after which development of the set of twin declines can commence.

A tender document for the Kakula decline development has been completed and will be issued to prospective contractors during Q2 2017.

Kamoa mine site connected to the national hydroelectric grid

The construction of the 120 kilovolt (kV) power line that branches off from the main supply at Kisenge has been completed. A 120kV mobile substation was installed, commissioned and energized on October 30, 2016. The Kamoa mine site now is connected to the national electrical grid and is receiving hydropower for work on site.

An eight-kilometre, 11kV overhead power line with mini substations has been constructed from the mine site to the Kamoa camp and is supplying hydropower to the camp. The supply of electricity from the grid has resulted in significant savings from reduced use of diesel fuel.

The design of a 120kV line connecting the Kansoko mine site with Kakula has been designed and tenders from potential contractors have been received.

Initial repair work enables Mwadingusha power station to supply electricity to grid

The Mwadingusha Unit 1 repair work was completed in August 2016 and the official inauguration ceremony was held at the Mwadingusha power station on September 7, 2016. The Mwadingusha G1 unit, supplying 11 megawatts, was synchronized to the SNEL, the DRC's state-owned power company, national interconnected grid on September 6, 2016.

The contract to purchase four turbines for the Mwadingusha power plant upgrades was awarded and the contract signed between SNEL and the consortium Andritz Hydro & Cegelec Corporation. A site visit by the consortium took place in December in preparation for demolition work to start in August 2017.

Continued focus on community and sustainability

The Sustainable Livelihoods project is largely aimed at economically empowering communities in the vicinity of the planned mine. The project, which has been in place for the past five years, continues to successfully manage the following programs during Q1 2017:

a small-holder maize (corn) production program yielded maize from local communities as well as the mine's farm;

a vegetable program supplying produce to the Kamoa-Kakula Project camp kitchen;

a poultry project that supplies the Kamoa-Kakula Project camp kitchen with chickens and eggs;

a beekeeping program managing over 50 honey-producing hives; and

a fish-farming program consisting of two fully-stocked dams.

SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following table summarizes selected financial information for the prior eight quarters. Ivanhoe had no operating revenue in any financial reporting period and did not declare or pay any dividend or distribution in any financial reporting period.

3 Months ended March 31,

2017 December 31,

2016 September 30,

2016 June 30,

2016 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 Exploration and project expenditure 8,296 9,507 7,769 8,233 General administrative expenditure 4,953 7,272 4,213 3,657 Share-based payments 1,372 1,442 1,750 1,312 Finance income (6,429 ) (6,827 ) (7,239 ) (7,367 ) Finance costs 479 471 454 445 Total comprehensive loss (profit) attributable to: Owners of the Company 1,749 14,101 (1,860 ) 6,568 Non-controlling interest 3,273 3,914 2,445 3,483 Loss per share (basic and diluted) 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 3 Months ended March 31,

2016 December 31,

2015 September 30,

2015 June 30,

2015 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 Exploration and project expenditure * 6,917 10,271 8,553 9,009 General administrative expenditure * 3,693 5,833 4,430 1,323 Share-based payments 1,473 2,345 1,655 1,736 Gain on partial sale of subsidiary - (357,671 ) - - Re-measurement to fair value of the interest retained in joint venture - (376,148 ) - - Finance income (8,469 ) (1,191 ) (273 ) (445 ) Finance costs 428 1,556 36 48 Mark-to-market gain on revaluation of warrants - (429 ) (970 ) (1,334 ) Loss (gain) from subsidiary held for partial sale - 755 (7,958 ) 2,675 Total comprehensive loss (profit) attributable to: Owners of the Company 4,203 (717,213 ) 9,420 11,008 Non-controlling interest 2,897 2,468 3,439 3,564 (Profit) loss per share (basic and diluted) 0.01 (0.93 ) 0.00 * Prior period amounts have been amended to show the (gains)/losses from subsidiary held for partial sale separately in order to improve comparability.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Review of the three months ended March 31, 2017 vs. March 31, 2016

The company's total comprehensive loss for Q1 2017 of $5.0 million was $2.1 million lower than for the same period in 2016 ($7.1 million). The decrease mainly was due to a $5.3 million increase in exchange gains on translation of foreign operations that was partly offset by a $2.0 million decrease in finance income.

The decrease in finance income was due to the decrease in the deemed finance income on the purchase price receivable from the partial sale of the Kamoa Project from $4.3 million in Q1 2016 to $1.1 million for the same period in 2017, which coincides with the decrease in the purchase price receivable.

Exploration and project expenditures for the three months ending March 31, 2017, amounted to $8.3 million and were $1.4 million more than for the same period in 2016 ($6.9 million).

With the focus at the Platreef Project on development and the Kamoa Project being accounted for as a joint venture, $8.2 million of the total $8.3 million exploration and project expenditure related to the Kipushi Project. Expenditure at the Kipushi Project increased by $1.5 million compared to the same period in 2016.

The company's share of losses from the Kamoa Holding joint venture increased from $4.2 million in Q1 2016 to $5.5 million in Q1 2017. The following table summarizes the company's share of the comprehensive loss of Kamoa Holding for the three months ending March 31, 2017 and for the same period in 2016:

Three months ended

March 31, 2017 Three months ended

March 31, 2016 $'000 $'000 Interest expense 9,183 7,064 Interest income (292 ) - Exploration costs 5,415 1,684 Foreign exchange (gain) loss (102 ) 189 Loss for the period 14,204 8,937 Loss attributable to non-controlling interest (3,056 ) (419 ) Loss for the period attributable to joint venture partners 11,148 8,518 Company's share of losses from joint venture (49.5%) 5,518 4,216

The costs associated with mine development are capitalized as development costs in Kamoa Holding, while the exploration expenditure at Kakula is expensed. The interest expense in the Kamoa Holding joint venture relates to shareholder loans where each shareholder is required to fund Kamoa Holding in an amount equivalent to its proportionate shareholding interest.

Financial position as at March 31, 2017 vs. December 31, 2016

The company's total assets decreased by $3.1 million, from 1,002.2 million as at December 31, 2016, to $999.1 million as at March 31, 2017. This resulted from the company utilizing its cash resources in its operations. The company's total liabilities decreased by $2.7 million to $43.3 million as at December 31, 2017, from $46.0 million as at December 31, 2016.

The remaining purchase price receivable due to the company as a result of the sale of 49.5% of Kamoa Holding decreased as the company received $41.2 million from Zijin on February 8, 2017. The present value of the remaining consideration receivable, net of transaction costs, was $38.4 million as at March 31, 2017 and is due on May 23, 2017.

The company's investment in the Kamoa Holding joint venture increased by $12.5 million from $473.6 as at December 31, 2016, to $486.2 million as at December 31, 2017, with the current shareholders funding the operations equivalent to their proportionate shareholding interest. The company's portion of the Kamoa Holding joint venture cash calls amounted to $13.5 million during Q1 2017, while the company's share of comprehensive loss from joint venture amounted to $5.5 million. At Kamoa-Kakula, the focus remained on development, together with an exploration program at the Kakula Discovery.

Property, plant and equipment increased by $13.5 million, with a total of $9.7 million being spent on project development and to acquire other property, plant and equipment, $9.0 million of which pertained to development costs of the Platreef Project.

The company utilized $12.2 million of its cash resources in its operations and earned interest income of $0.8 million in Q1 2017.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

The company had $291.2 million in cash and cash equivalents as at March 31, 2017. Certain of the company's cash and cash equivalents, having an aggregate value of $10.7 million, are subject to contractual restrictions as to their use and are reserved for the Platreef Project.

As at March 31, 2017, the company had consolidated working capital of approximately $338.0 million, compared to $364.8 million at December 31, 2016. The Platreef Project working capital is restricted and amounted to $5.6 million at March 31, 2017, and $14.8 million at December 31, 2016. Excluding the Platreef Project working capital, the resultant working capital was $332.4 million at March 31, 2017, and $350.0 million at December 31, 2016. The company believes it has sufficient resources to cover its short-term cash requirements. However, the company's access to financing always is uncertain and there can be no assurance that additional funding will be available to the company in the near future.

On December 8, 2015, Zijin, through a subsidiary company, acquired a 49.5% interest in Kamoa Holding for a total of $412 million in a series of payments. Ivanhoe received an initial $206 million from Zijin on December 8, 2015, and a further $41.2 million on each of March 23, 2016, July 8, 2016, October 25, 2016, and February 8, 2017; the last remaining $41.2 million is scheduled to be received on May 23, 2017. Since December 8, 2015, each shareholder in Kamoa Holding has been required to fund Kamoa Holding in an amount equivalent to its proportionate shareholding interest.

The company's main objectives for 2017 at the Platreef Project are the completion of the phase one feasibility study, the continuation of Shaft 1 construction and commencement of construction of Shaft 2. At Kipushi, the principal objective is the completion of the PFS and continued upgrading of mining infrastructure. At the Kamoa-Kakula Project, priorities are the continuation of drilling, the continuation of construction of the twin declines at Kamoa and the commencement of a box-cut at Kakula. The company expects to spend $50 million on further development at the Platreef Project; $26 million at the Kipushi Project; $4 million on regional exploration in the DRC; and $11 million on corporate overheads for the remainder of 2017 - as well as its proportionate funding of the Kamoa-Kakula Project, expected to be $35 million for the remainder of 2017.

This news release should be read in conjunction with Ivanhoe Mines' Q1 2017 Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis report available at www.ivanhoemines.com and at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Person

Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature in this news release have been reviewed and approved by Stephen Torr, who is considered, by virtue of his education, experience and professional association, a Qualified Person under the terms of NI 43-101. Mr. Torr is not considered independent under NI 43-101 as he is the Vice President, Project Geology and Evaluation. Mr. Torr has verified the technical data disclosed in this news release.

Ivanhoe has prepared a current independent NI 43-101-compliant technical report for each of the Platreef Project, the Kipushi Project and the Kamoa-Kakula Project, which are available under the company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com:

Technical Report dated January 20, 2017 prepared by OreWin Pty. Ltd., Amec Foster Wheeler and SRK Consulting Inc. covering the company's Kamoa-Kakula Project;

Technical Report dated April 22, 2016 prepared by OreWin, Amec Foster Wheeler, Stantec Inc., SRK and DRA Projects (Pty.) Ltd. covering the company's Platreef Project; and

Technical Report dated March 11, 2016 prepared by MSA Group (Pty) Ltd and OreWin covering the company's Kipushi Project.

These technical reports include relevant information regarding the effective dates and the assumptions, parameters and methods of the mineral resource estimates on the Platreef Project, the Kipushi Project and the Kamoa-Kakula Project cited in this news release, as well as information regarding data verification, exploration procedures and other matters relevant to the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release in respect of the Platreef Project, Kipushi Project and Kamoa-Kakula Project.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - Pure Gold Mining Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PGM) ("Pure Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce additional drill results from the Russet South Target on the Company's 100% owned Madsen Gold Project ("Madsen"). The concurrent expansion of mineral zones at Russet South is an important component of Pure Gold's growth strategy which remains focused on resource expansion close to existing mine infrastructure.

Significant release highlights:

Ongoing drilling at Russet South continues to intersect gold in multiple zones across a broad area spanning 650 metres by 650 metres. All zones remain open for expansion;

Significant gold mineralization has again been intersected along the lower contact of a key ultramafic unit with 27.1 g/t gold over 5.8 metres returned in hole PG17-364, building continuity with a zone previously described as Alpha;

returned in hole PG17-364, building continuity with a zone previously described as Alpha; The sparsely tested upper contact of the same ultramafic returned 80.7 g/t gold over 1.0 metre in hole PG17-391 and 11.3 g/t gold over 1.0 metre approximately 200 metres to the north in hole PG17-371;

in hole PG17-391 and approximately 200 metres to the north in hole PG17-371; Drill hole PG17-352 returned 17.7 g/t gold over 2.0 metres, 190 metres north of recent discovery hole PG17-335 that returned 4.4 g/t gold over 12.0 metres on the same geologic contact1.

"The Russet South area is turning into an exceptional satellite prospect and complements our ongoing drilling success at the Austin and McVeigh horizons. The association of very high gold grades along the contacts of folded ultramafic units is directly analogous to the setting of the High Grade Zone at Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine as well as the 8 Zone at Madsen, which occurs 1,600m down dip from Russet South," said Darin Labrenz, President and CEO of Pure Gold2. "To date, the Russet South Target has delivered an exceptional hit ratio, with 37 out of 101 holes drilled to date by Pure Gold showing visible gold and reporting intercepts in excess of 5 g/t gold."

Drilling at Russet South expands Mineralized Zones

Mineralization reported herein is associated with both the footwall and hanging wall contacts of a folded ultramafic unit that forms the center of the Russet South Target. Drill hole PG17-364 intersected gold mineralization on the western, footwall side of the ultramafic returning 27.1 g/t gold over 5.8 metres approximately 50 metres down dip of PG17-341 which returned 21.4 g/t gold over 1.9 metres, and approximately 150 metres along strike to the southwest from a previously reported intercept in PG15-028 of 8.2 g/t gold over 11.0 metres1,3. This zone is open for expansion to the south and down plunge where it has seen limited drill testing.

Additionally, drilling has intersected gold mineralization on the eastern, hanging wall contact of the same ultramafic, with hole PG17-391 returning 80.7 g/t gold over 1.0 metre on the south end, and PG17-371 returning 11.3 g/t gold over 1.0 metre approximately 190 metres to the north. The hanging wall contact of this unit has been sparsely tested by Pure Gold and is open for expansion in all directions.

Drill hole PG17-352 expands the recently reported discovery zone at Russet South with 17.7 g/t gold over 2.0 metres returned approximately 190 metres north of drill hole PG17-335 which intersected 4.4 g/t gold over 12.0 metres1. This hole expands the new gold zone located on the eastern side of Russet South to a total strike length of 320 metres. Mineralization is associated with deformed blue-grey quartz veins hosted in a 200 metre thick wedge of Basalt located between two distinct Ultramafic units, and remains open in all directions. It is expected that the next phase of drilling at Russet South will continue to test these gold zones beyond the current vertical extents of approximately 200 metres below surface.

Drill Results Summary

New assay results from select drill holes are outlined below:

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Gold (g/t) Zone PG17-347 249.1 250.1 1.0 4.5 Russet South PG17-352 44.8 58.2 13.4 1.6 Russet South 170.0 172.0 2.0 17.7 PG17-364 157.0 162.8 5.8 27.1 Russet South incl. 157.0 160.8 3.8 39.2 incl. 159.8 160.8 1.0 115.8 180.0 182.0 2.0 3.9 PG17-371 27.3 31.6 4.3 3.2 Russet South 55.6 56.6 1.0 11.3 PG17-375 29.1 30.1 1.0 5.0 Russet South PG17-377 35.3 38.3 3.0 3.2 Russet South PG17-391 18.2 19.2 1.0 80.7 Russet South 22.2 23.2 1.0 5.4 PG17-396 222.5 224.0 1.5 7.6 Russet South

* Assay composites were calculated using uncut assays and true widths are interpreted to vary from 70-90% (80%, on average) of reported core lengths above.

Plan map showing the setting of the Russet South targets



Cross section showing the setting of the Russet South targets



Complete list of 2017 drill results to date



While drilling at Russet South has paused for spring break-up, Pure Gold's 2017 exploration program is on-going with four drill rigs currently testing resource growth potential near the mine infrastructure and along the more than five kilometre strike length of the Madsen mineral system. The program is expected to include 70,000 metres of core drilling, and will include underground drilling, expected to commence in Q2 2017. Further results will be released as available.

ABOUT MADSEN

The Madsen Mine operated for over 36 years with historic production of 2.5 million ounces at an average grade of 9.9 g/t gold. The Madsen Gold Project hosts a permitted mill and tailings facility, and access to power, water and labour. The Madsen Gold Project has an Indicated Resource of 928,000 ounces gold at 8.93 g/t gold (in 3.24 million tonnes) and an Inferred Resource of 297,000 ounces gold at 11.74 g/t gold (in 0.79 million tonnes)4. The mineral resource is based on 13,624 drill holes, evenly dispersed throughout the mineral resource. A robust geologic model based on 27 levels of geological mapping and chip sampling provides a solid understanding of the geology and continuity of mineralization.

In addition to the mineral resource, the Madsen Gold Project hosts a number of prospective new discoveries including the Fork Zone and Russet South targets, as well as, two significant historic underground mines. Pure Gold believes the opportunity exists to advance these targets through the application of modern exploration science and a new understanding of the district.

See news release dated March 27, 2017 The proximity and geologic similarities to Madsen Mine, the 8 Zone or Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine High Grade Zone does not mean that Pure Gold will obtain similar results at Russet South or other exploration targets on the Madsen Property. Russet South is an early stage exploration project and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by NI 43-101. The potential to define a mineral resource at Russet South or other targets is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. It is uncertain if further exploration at these or other targets at Madsen will yield a mineral resource See news release dated March 2, 2015 See the National Instrument 43-101 technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Preliminary Economic Assessment For the Madsen Gold Project," prepared by Nordmin Engineering Ltd., dated effective April 20, 2016. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

QA/QC and Core Sampling Protocols

Drill core samples are bagged and sealed and submitted to SGS in Red Lake, Ontario for sample preparation by crushing to 75% less than 2mm, a riffle split of 1kg, and pulverization of the split to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Gold analysis is completed in the SGS Red Lake lab with a 30g fire assay and AAS finish (code GE-FAA313). Samples returning >5 g/t Au are re-assayed with a gravimetric finish (code GO-FAG303). Mineralized zones with visible gold are also analyzed by a 1kg screen fire assay with screening to 106 microns (code GO-FAS51K). Two 30g fire assays are conducted on the screen undersize and combined with an assay of the entire oversize fraction. Control samples (accredited standards and non-accredited blanks) were inserted on a regular basis. Results are assessed for accuracy, precision and contamination on an ongoing basis.

Qualified Persons and 43-101 Disclosure

Phil Smerchanski, P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration for the Company, is the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and verified that the technical information contained herein is accurate and approves of the written disclosure of same.

ABOUT PURE GOLD

Our mandate is pure and simple. To dream big. To colour outside the lines. To use smart science and creativity to unlock the next major discovery at the Madsen Gold Project in Red Lake, Ontario. And become Canada's next iconic gold company.

Additional information about the Company and its activities may be found on the Company's website at www.puregoldmining.ca and under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - Continental Gold Inc. (TSX: CNL) ( OTCQX : CGOOF) ("Continental" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Newmont Mining Corporation ("Newmont") has agreed to purchase 37.38 million common shares of the Company at a price of C$4.00 per share for a total investment of US$109 million in a non-brokered private placement (the "Newmont Private Placement").

Concurrently with Newmont's investment in Continental, RK Mine Finance Master Fund I Limited ("Red Kite") has also agreed to purchase 8.59 million common shares of the Company on a private placement basis at a price of C$4.00 per share for a total investment of US$25 million, as contemplated in Continental's secured project credit facility (the "Credit Facility") with Red Kite. After giving effect to the private equity placements, Newmont and Red Kite will own approximately 19.9% and 4.6%, respectively, of the issued and outstanding common shares of Continental on a non-diluted basis. The private placements will not close before May 18, 2017 post receipt of regulatory approvals, including by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Ari Sussman, CEO of Continental, commented: "After completing a formal process in which a number of alternatives (including multiple equity financing offers) were evaluated, we are pleased to be welcoming Newmont and Red Kite as investors in Continental. Newmont is our first choice for a cornerstone investor with its best-in-class balance sheet, excellent operating team and recent track record of delivering projects on schedule and under budget. We look forward to capitalizing on Newmont's experience to successfully kick-off formal construction at the Buritica project later this year. With Newmont as a partner and the completion of this financing, Continental will be well-positioned to build Buritica and create significant value for our shareholders with first gold pour on track for early 2020."

In connection with the Newmont Private Placement, Newmont and Continental have entered into a binding Investment Agreement, the provisions of which include:

a standstill until the Buritica project goes into commercial production;

a twelve-month lock-up on share dispositions;

participation rights in any future equity financings to maintain pro rata ownership interest;

'backstop rights' to subscribe for any unsold portion of future equity financings;

a right of first offer for any non-equity financing greater than US$30 million;

the formation of joint management technical, exploration, and sustainability committees; and

one seat for a Newmont nominee on the Continental Board of Directors.

Newmont and Continental will also form a strategic alliance to evaluate opportunities to partner on exploration of Continental's other properties in Colombia.

The CAPEX of US$389 million, outlined in the 2016 feasibility study for the Buritica project, will be fully-funded with US$403 million of available cash and debt allocated. The Company intends to use the proceeds of Newmont's investment to develop the Buritica project and such proceeds satisfy the funding condition required to draw the second tranche of US$100 million under the Credit Facility. Additional financing, if required, may be fulfilled through equipment lease financing, exercise of outstanding warrants and other non-dilutive alternatives (Table 1).

Table 1 (US$ million) CAPEX for Buritica Project (March 2016 Feasibility Study) $389 Financing Completed Cash position (January 1, 2017) $19 Red Kite Credit Facility $250 Equity Financing with Newmont and Red Kite $134 TOTAL $403 Potential Future Financing Alternatives Warrants at C$4.75 Expiring Nov 25, 2017 (if exercised in full) $20 Warrants at US$3.67 Expiring Jan 10, 2021 (if exercised in full) $11 Equipment Lease Financing Up to $30 Other non-dilutive financing alternatives Negotiable

RBC Capital Markets is acting as financial advisor to the Continental Board of Directors in connection with the Newmont Private Placement.

About Continental Gold

Continental Gold Inc. is an advanced-stage exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of 100%-owned gold projects in Colombia. Formed in April 2007, the Company -- led by an international management team with a successful track record of discovering and developing large high-grade gold deposits in Latin America -- is focused on advancing its fully-permitted high-grade Buritica gold project to production with first gold pour on track for early 2020.

For information on the Buritica project, please refer to the technical report, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, entitled "Buritica Project NI 43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Antioquia, Colombia" and dated March 29, 2016 with an effective date of February 24, 2016, led by independent consultants JDS Energy & Mining Inc. The technical report is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, on the OTCQX at www.otcmarkets.com and on the Company website at www.continentalgold.com. Additional details on Continental Gold's suite of gold exploration properties are also available at www.continentalgold.com.
Gov. Pete Ricketts brought reporters together Thursday morning to offer a lesson in tax collections and budgets, and emphasize the need to limit spending.

The Nebraska Economic Forecast Advisory Board meets several times a year to predict how much money the state will collect in sales, individual income, corporate income and miscellaneous taxes each year so that the governor, Appropriations Committee and others know how much money is available for the state budget.

Ricketts said the state had missed the forecast 14 out of the past 22 months.

It will have to collect $835 million in May and June to meet the amount the board forecasted for those months in April, he said.

"Our revenues are going down," he said. "So that is the point I want to make, is that we have very serious budget issues right now."

The total general fund net tax receipts for fiscal year 2016-17 won't be known until May and June receipts are in, but in April, the year-to-date net tax receipts were $3.464 billion.

Information from the Department of Revenue for the previous five years show total net tax receipts increased.

* $4.308 billion in June 2016 (as of April 2016: $3.515 billion)

* $4.305 billion in June 2015 (as of April: $3.537 billion)

* $4.117 billion in June 2014 (as of April $3.361 billion)

* $4.052 billion in June 2013 (as of April $3.323 billion)

* $3.7 billion in June 2012 (as of April: $3 billion)

Ricketts said he will be coming back with "the appropriate action" on the budget in the next few days. The budget passed the Legislature this week and was forwarded on to the governor for his signature or line-item vetoes.

"We need to continue to constrain spending," he said.

He said tax collections are down because the agricultural economy in Nebraska is down. One in four jobs in Nebraska is tied back to agriculture in some way.

He's been critical of the Legislature's decision to lower the minimum reserve of dollars in the next two-year budget to 2.5 percent from the usual 3 percent.

"We need to make sure we've got the proper reserve to be able to weather volatility in our revenues," he said.
President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook wave to citizens as they leave a swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly, Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap



Moon pledges to become 'president for all the people'



By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in took the oath of office Wednesday, and offered to visit Pyongyang if conditions were met to help resolve the deadlock over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

In a message to the people delivered at the National Assembly, he said he would also go to Washington as soon as possible if necessary.

To address security problems on the Korean Peninsula, Moon said after taking the oath, "I'll fly to Washington, Beijing and Tokyo soon if necessary. And I'll go to Pyongyang if conditions are met. I'll do everything I can for peace on the peninsula."

Suh Hoon, the nominee for National Intelligence Service chief, reiterated Moon's remark.

"Relations between the two Koreas have been strained," Suh told reporters at Cheong Wa Dae after being nominated to the post. "It may be premature to talk about an inter-Korean summit. But still, such a summit is needed. The president may visit Pyongyang only when the visit can play a catalytic role in relieving military tension on the peninsula and resolving the nuclear deadlock."

Earlier this year, Moon said he would visit Pyongyang before Washington, and this remark was attacked by presidential rivals who claimed he was a North Korea sympathizer. Moon later said he had meant he could go to Pyongyang after sufficient prior discussion with the U.S. and Japan if it would help resolve the North's nuclear issue.

Regarding his plan for a prompt visit to Washington, it is expected the two countries will also seek a summit as early as possible. Elected heads of the two countries have not had contact for almost half a year following the change of president in the U.S., and the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment and removal from office of former President Park Geun-hye.

For the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here and China's retaliatory measures against it, Moon said he would seriously discuss the issue with the U.S. and China.












The United States held informal talks with North Korea in the Norwegian capital Oslo under tight security, Monday and Tuesday. The so-called Track 2 meeting was the first since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.



Choi Son-hui, who is in charge of U.S. affairs at the North's foreign ministry, represented the North Korean side. The U.S. delegation was led by Suzanne DiMaggio, a senior fellow at the Washington-based New American think tank.



What was discussed has not been made public yet. But speculation has it that Washington and Pyongyang might have discussed the latter's nuclear and missile threats, their future relations and the North's detention of Americans.



In another development, the Trump administration has reportedly invited _ through China _ the North's young leader to the U.S. for direct talks if Pyongyang scraps its weapons of mass destruction program.



At a time when the alleged "April Crisis" on the Korean Peninsula is over, Seoul has to heed any kind of change in Washington's policy toward Pyongyang. This is all the more so, considering that the situation around the peninsula could enter a new phase following the beginning of a liberal government here.



The Oslo contact has its own limitations because it is a semi-governmental, semi-civilian meeting. So it's unclear if this will lead to the resumption of official dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.



What matters most is to ensure that Seoul won't be sidelined from discussions about security and peace on the peninsula. It is essential therefore to redouble efforts to enhance cooperation in sharing information with the U.S.



It is unsettling though that our new liberal government might clash with America's conservative administration over North Korea policies. President Moon Jae-in is tasked with coping with the current complicated situation _ where maximum pressure is mixed with the chance of dialogue _ wisely.




By Kyung Moon Hwang





It used to be said that unlike in most other democracies, in South Korea, one's political identity depended on his or her opinion, ironically, of North Korea. Whether one was "conservative" or "liberal," or something in between or beyond, reflected mostly one's stance regarding the North.

Of course it was more complicated than this. The issues that shaped a South Korean citizen's political ideology and affiliation usually were numerous and worked in complex ways. Still, this somewhat conventional analysis seemed, at heart, correct. If so, it was easy to see where such a reality came from: the fierce state ideology of anti-communism during the decades of authoritarian rule.

The election of Moon Jae-in, however, raises further doubts about this picture of South Korean politics, because the presidential campaign took place amid high inter-Korean tensions, normally optimal conditions for conservatives. As it turned out, one of the least anti-communist candidates won the presidency, and he did so convincingly.

We could suggest special circumstances, namely the process by which the previous president was removed from office, made this election cycle an exception to the rule. That is, as long as national division stays in place, disagreements over North Korea will probably remain central to political alignment and behavior in South Korea.

I would argue, however, that this week's presidential election showed the rise of another major factor in South Koreans' political identity and ideology: history. More specifically, since the turn of the 21st century one's historical identification with the recent past, or one's sense of "ownership" over the nation's history, has become just as important. In short, historical views determine political views, and vice versa.

There's a generational aspect to this phenomenon. Ever since the mass candlelight demonstrations began last fall, many middle-aged citizens have expressed publicly their sense of ownership over the country's history, specifically the struggle for democracy. This was the notion that they must protect the democracy that they, as students and young adults, sacrificed so much to gain. As the historical owners of democracy, they had to be its primary defenders.

Two decades ago, these members of the "democracy generation," men and women now in their 40s and 50s, had driven an earlier wave of presidential politics toward the progressive side. They had insisted on overturning the simplistic anti-communism of their parents and grandparents. In doing so, however, they also testified to the persistent strength of the North Korean issue, especially as events originating in the North made such concerns unavoidable.

Now, after feeling a grave threat to South Korean democracy from the old-style politics of anti-communism under the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye presidencies, members of this generation seem to have reasserted their social power. Furthermore, as the teachers, professors, and parents of adolescents and young adults, they are determined to transmit their sense of historical ownership over democracy to the younger generations. It is this version of history that has become the orthodox view in South Korea.

Outside the classrooms and universities, however, the oldest generations still cling to their traditional historical views rooted in anti-North Korean anti-communism, the Cold War, and the story of South Korean economic development out of poverty. They still speak of absolute, existential dangers of "leftist" ideology, which they see as threatening their own sense of historical ownership over the achievement of economic development while resisting communism.

This makes the younger generations the main target of competition in the so-called "history wars": the narrative of anti-communist development versus the narrative of democratization. Struggling with economic inequalities and pressed with other things to worry about, younger South Korean adults, who lack the experience of living under dictatorship, have not always drawn the connections between their lives and their history lessons.

What's more, since the early 21st century, conservative intellectuals have sought to fight back against what they believe is an overly liberal historical orthodoxy, which developed as a reaction against dictatorship. But to do so, conservatives had to move beyond the traditional glorification of the authoritarian past. So they promoted another conservative sense of historical ownership: that South Koreans must take pride in both economic growth and democratization, which, along with the successful resistance to communism, should be seen as part of a greater, triumphant story of the country's modern transformation.

This "New Right" intellectual movement remained anti-communist, but it also tried to legitimize just about everything in South Korea's past by claiming that it all contributed, in the end, to national growth: The Cold War dependence on the United States, the economic domination of the big conglomerate companies, the persistent inequalities, even the suppression of people's freedoms and rights were not only justified, but in fact were necessary to South Korea's eventual triumph.

Not surprisingly, this neat view of history was attractive to conservative politicians, such as the previous two presidents, who further promoted this interpretation in their policies. Having personally benefited from the country's previous era of developmentalist dictatorship, it made perfect sense to them.

It remains to be seen how well this conservative sense of historical ownership can compete against the now-dominant, progressive historical view. But undoubtedly the stakes are very high, because one's position in these history wars, perhaps even more than one's stance on North Korea, will help shape the political landscape going forward.







Kyung Moon Hwang is a professor at the Department of History, University of Southern California. He is the author of "A History of Korea  An Episodic Narrative" (Second edition, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).
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A proposal that could require Nebraska third-graders to be held back in school if they aren't reading at grade level led to impassioned debate Thursday in the Legislature.

Sponsored by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the bill would also require school districts to craft personalized reading-improvement plans for students in kindergarten through third grade if they underperform on state-sanctioned reading tests.

"Too many school districts still have a large percentage of students not reading at grade level when they are promoted to fourth grade," Linehan said. "There's little evidence that a child who leaves third grade not able to read will ever catch up."

Her proposal (LB651) drew fierce opposition from education officials, who argue it takes the wrong approach to improving reading proficiency and would burden districts without providing extra funding.

"Clearly Sen. Linehan wants children to be able to read, and clearly she does not want to hurt children," said Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, an opponent of the bill. "Some people have said this is a strange way to show it, and I would agree."

Lawmakers adjourned for a long weekend without taking action on the proposal.

Linehan would need support from 32 fellow senators to secure more time on the agenda for a potential vote this year.

"I think I'm very, very close," she told reporters following Thursday morning's debate.

Last year, 18 percent of third-graders failed to meet state reading standards, down from 28 percent in 2011.

Some of that improvement can be attributed to districts adopting policies such as those in Linehan's bill, she said.

Lincoln Public Schools tries to avoid retaining students at any grade level, and such decisions are made on a student-by-student basis with consultation by parents, teachers and administrators, said Jane Stavem, associate superintendent for instruction.

Stavem said studies show requiring students to repeat a grade doesn't necessarily have a big enough impact to be beneficial, and can actually be harmful in some circumstances.

"It's not something we would typically want to do," she said.

Linehan's original proposal would require almost all third-graders who don't meet reading goals to be held back, with exceptions for students who have a disability, have already repeated grades, or have demonstrated mastery of third-grade reading standards through other testing or work samples.

Linehan has since proposed an amendment to let parents opt their children out of being held back.

Pansing Brooks said giving parents that responsibility doesn't resolve her concerns. "We've got parents themselves who can't read," she said.

The proposal appears to have majority support in the Legislature. Lawmakers voted 30-13 last week to bring it forward for debate after it languished for months in the deadlocked Education Committee. But the measure must overcome a filibuster to reach a final vote, which requires support from 33 senators.

In Iowa, lawmakers decided this year to scrap plans for a similar third-grade retention program because of concerns about its cost and effectiveness.

Passed in 2012 with support from Gov. Terry Branstad, Iowa's law would have required third-graders who fail reading tests to participate in a summer reading program in order to be promoted to fourth grade.

Nebraska lawmakers plan to examine strategies for addressing dyslexia and reading literacy as part of a study this summer sponsored by Pansing Brooks, Linehan and other senators.

"We're going to be able to present a much stronger bill about reading next year," Pansing Brooks said. "I think we can more clearly and precisely address the issues and the needs."

Sen. Justin Wayne, a former Omaha school board member who supports Linehan's bill, said it would add urgency to the situation.

"Things get better when there's pressure applied."
Cincinnati, OH  May 5, 2017 Ethicon * announced today the U.S. launch of the ECHELON FLEX GST (Gripping Surface Technology) 45mm Systemi , designed to control tissue movement in thoracic and colorectal surgery and enable surgeons to transect as they intend, even in the most challenging tissue conditions. The ECHELON FLEX GST System, available in two lengths, 60mm and now 45mm, was featured this week at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.

With the addition of the 45mm endocutter, the ECHELON FLEX GST System now provides a complete offering that addresses the unique challenges of thoracic and colorectal procedures involving diseased, thick and thin tissue. The ECHELON FLEX GST System is uniquely designed to enable precision stapling performance with exceptional staple line integrity across the broadest range of tissue thicknessii , and is ideally suited for thoracic, colorectal and bariatric surgery.

The Echelon Powered Endocutter family has been shown in a very large retrospective study to be associated with significantly reduced hemostasis complications as well as total hospital costs, says Tom OBrien, Vice President, Global Endomechanical Platform Leader at Ethicon. The GST technology in this new device minimizes lateral tissue movement which may reduce mucosal bleeding and aids in the capture of all tissue layers, including the mucosa. Failure to capture the mucosa may disrupt the healing process, reduce transection site integrity and decrease staple line integrity.

Exceptional Stapling Precision for Optimal Outcomes

Designed for stability, the ECHELON FLEX GST System delivers less tissue slippage during firing by controlling tissue movement with pre-compression and Gripping Surface Technology, which is more likely to completely capture mucosa in the staple line versus the other leading endocutter on the market. iii Better mucosal capture improves staple line integrity and leak resistance, and provides optimal conditions for tissue healing.iii

The ECHELON FLEX GST System is efficient and cost effective and may eliminate one reload due to less tissue slippage during firingiv compared to ENDO GIA Reloads with TriStaple Technology. The system is associated with reduced procedural costs related to staple line interventions compared with standard reloadsv , with 42% fewer staple line interventionsvi and now offers a new black 45mm reload, intended for use in very thick tissue. To learn more about the ECHELON FLEX GST System visit: http://www.ethicon.com/healthcare-professionals/products/staplers/endocutters/echelon-flexgst-system.

About Ethicon

From creating the first sutures, to revolutionizing surgery with minimally invasive procedures, Ethicon, part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, has made significant contributions to surgery for more than 60 years. Our continuing dedication to Shape the Future of Surgery is built on our commitment to help address the worlds most pressing health care issues, and improve and save more lives. Through Ethicons surgical technologies and solutions including sutures, staplers, energy devices, trocars and hemostats and our commitment to treat serious medical conditions like obesity and cancer worldwide, we deliver innovation to make a life-changing impact. Learn more at www.ethicon.com, and follow us on Twitter @Ethicon.

Media Contact: Krys Monaco Office: 513-337-8256 kmonaco@its.jnj.com * Ethicon represents the products and services of Ethicon, Inc., Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC and certain of their affiliates.

i System components include ECHELON FLEX Powered Plus Stapler and ENDOPATH ECHELON Reloads with Gripping Surface Technology.

ii ECHELON FLEX GST System designed and tested to accommodate a tissue thickness range of 1.0mm to 4.0mm (measured at 8g/mm2) vs the Medtronic Tri-Staple portfolio intended for a thickness range of 0.75mm to 3.0mm (per IFU & materials downloaded from Medtronic website on Nov 16,2016).

iii ECHELON FLEX GST System Blue and Green Reloads compared to Endo GIA with Tri Staple Technology Purple Reloads evaluated via gross observations of firings in 1.5mm to 3.0mm thick animate porcine ileum. Mucosal capture was rated via a 5-point Likert scale with the highest rating representing fully captured mucosa.

iv Benchtop testing in porcine stomach tissue. Mean tissue movement from after clamping on tissue to after firing ECHELON FLEX Powered Plus Stapler (PSEE60A) and ECHELON Reload with GST vs ENDO GIA ULTRA Handle (EGIAUSTND) and Endo GIA Reload with Tri-Staple Technology at 1.5, 2.5, 3.3 and 4.0mm tissue thicknesses (1.5mm: GST60B 1.067mm vs EGIA60AMT 2.452mm p<0.001; 2.5mm: GST60G 1.148mm vs EGIA60AMT 3.261mm p<0.001; 3.3mm: GST60T 0.642mm vs EGIA60AMT 4.806mm p<0.001; 4.0mm: GST60T 0.654mm vs EGIA60AXT 5.116mm p<0.001).

v Based on a Budget Impact Model utilizing Ethicon sponsored US clinical trial-reported data on intra-operative surgical interventions associated with GST vs standard reloads in laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and procedural costs inputs from published literature and US market intelligence.

vi Based on a prospective, multi-center study of staple line interventions required during transection of the greater curvature of the stomach in laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy procedures, comparing the [ECHELON FLEX] GST System (mean # of interventions 1.1) to standard reloads (mean # of interventions 1.9). Evaluation of a Powered Stapler System with Gripping Surface Technology on Surgical Interventions Required During Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy. Fegelman E, Knippenberg S, Schwiers M, et al. Accepted for publication in J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech.
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

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Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials.

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PetroChina Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in a range of petroleum related products, services, and activities in Mainland China and internationally. It operates through Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline segments. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment refines crude oil and petroleum products; and produces and markets primary petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. The Marketing segment is involved in marketing of refined products and trading business. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and sale of natural gas. As of December 31, 2021, the company had a total length of 26,076 km, including 17,329 km of natural gas pipelines, 7,340 km of crude oil pipelines, and 1,407 km of refined product pipelines. The company is also involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil sands and coalbed methane; trading of crude oil and petrochemical products; storage, chemical engineering, storage facilities, service station, and transportation facilities and related businesses; and production and sales of basic and derivative chemical, and other chemical products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.
The June issue of Military History Monthly, the British military history magazine, is now on sale.

To subscribe to the magazine click here. To access the digital edition click here.

In this issue:

WWI Balkan Blitzkriegs



Combined German, Austrian, and Bulgarian forces wreaked destruction on Serbia and Romania during the First World War. In this months 15-page special, we take a look at how this new lightning warfare played out in the Balkan states.

Julian Spilsbury investigates the destruction of Serbia, whilst MHM Editor Neil Faulkner explores the Romanian campaign. The features contain exclusive battle maps, tactical analysis, and a discussion of the wider diplomatic context.

Britains Third Reich: Recruiting in the Empire

Why did Englishmen and British subjects across the globe choose to fight for the enemy? Rafe McGregor discovers that the British Empire was riddled with dissent during the Second World War  and that the Nazis found many willing recruits for the Third Reichs War effort. Also included is a sneak-peak at the Englishmen who supported Hitlers fascism.

Praetorian Guard

Guy de la Bedoyere examines the rise and fall of Romes elite Praetorian Guard, the emperors imperial bodyguard. Throughout his analysis, the crucial question arises: who guards the guardians?

The Great Locomotive Chase: the Andrews Raid of 1862

David Norris uncovers the true story that inspired Buster Keatons The General and Walt Disneys The Great Locomotive Chase.

Regiment: The Royal Engineers at Delhi, 1857

Patrick Mercer pays homage to the British Armys legendary Sapper corps.

Also in this issue:

Muirhead Bone : Portrait of a war artist

: Portrait of a war artist The new-look National Army Museum

War on Film Special: D-day on camera

Behind the Image: Picassos masterpiece

Book Reviews

Event Listings

Competitions

And much more!

To subscribe to the magazine click here. To access the digital edition click here.

From the editor

The First World War created modern warfare. Only a month or so after it started, the technology of the 20th century had killed the tactics of the 19th. In their place, at first, was the stalemate of the empty battlefield and static trench-lines. Only slowly did the military impasse give rise to a new way of war.

Partly it depended on artillery, armour, and airpower. But something more profound was happening: the dissolution of the lines in which men had fought since the Ancient Greeks.

The Germans were the pioneers  of defence in depth, infiltration tactics, and specialist assault troops. Thus, on the Western Front, did they defeat the British offensive in autumn 1917, then smash the British line in spring 1918.

Our special this issue focuses on two classic early blitzkrieg campaigns  the destruction by the Central Powers of first Serbia in 1915, and then Romania in 1916. Both were models of a new way of war based on technology, innovatory tactics, and sheer professional panache.

Also this issue, we have Guy de la Bedoyere on the Praetorian Guard, Romes imperial elite; Rafe McGregor on the Nazis British Empire volunteers; Patrick Mercer on the Royal Engineers at Delhi, 1857; and David Norris on the real-life escapade that inspired a Hollywood silent classic.


Former First Lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, has commended highlife musician Ofori Amponsah for his good songs and artistry.

The former first lady who is a devoted fan of Ofori Amponsah invited him to her office yesterday in Accra and had interaction with him on a wide range of issues.

Nana Konadu, who for the first time commended Ofori Amponsah for recording good songs that have stood the test of time, encouraged the musician to work extra harder.

The former first lady who graced the just-ended 'April Easter Comedy' show said she was highly impressed by Ofori Amponsah's performance at the show. I enjoyed your performance very well. Keep it up, she added.

The former first lady further advised Ofori Amponsah to continue with the good works. You're one of the best highlife musicians we have in Ghana.

The 'Alewa' hit maker gave Nana Konadu copies of his award-winning selling albums. Ofori Amponsah shot into the limelight in 2000 when he was featured on Daddy Lumba's 'Wo Ho Kyere'.

He followed up with his maiden album 'Asew' in 2001. He later released the albums 'Meprawo' and 'Rakia' in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

Ofori Amponsah followed with other great albums that won him spurs but drifted to gospel music when he claimed God had sent him to preach the gospel in 2012.

He returned to secular music in 2015 with 'Alewa' which made quite a good showing on the music market. At present, his '17' track is gaining currency among highlife patrons.
A 28-year-old California man working as a drug mule and caught along Interstate 80 near Lincoln with a kilo of cocaine will spend the next five years in a Nebraska prison.

Francisco J. Alvarez, of Santa Ana, said he wasn't a hard criminal, he made a bad decision because he needed money to take care of his new son.

Lincoln attorney Carlos Monzon said Alvarez was a minor player in the grand scheme of things, succumbed to the need for money and was preyed upon by dealers.

"Bad choices. That is why we're here," Monzon said, adding he hoped next session the Legislature would put an end to mandatory minimum sentences, like the one required in Alvarez's case despite his lack of prior record.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Matthew Mellor said Alvarez made the decision knowing it was illegal and that there would be consequences if he got caught.

Which is what happened on Aug. 27.

That morning, Lancaster County Sheriff's deputies found a kilo (2.2 pounds) of cocaine in a duffel bag, $960 cash and a 12-inch machete after stopping Alvarez's Jeep Grand Cherokee for following too closely just west of the U.S. 77 South interchange on Interstate 80.

Alvarez had given permission to search the Jeep, according to court records.

He later pleaded guilty to possession of more than 28 grams of cocaine, a charge that carries a mandatory sentence of at least five years.

Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen said trafficking drugs isn't a victimless crime, "and unfortunately you and your family are victims of that in some way."

Alvarez may not be a kingpin, but the Legislature treats these crimes very seriously, the judge said, sentencing him to five to 10 years in prison.

Because it is a mandatory minimum sentence, Alvarez will have to serve five full years before he is eligible for parole.
Kisa Gbekle with the snake around her neck

11.05.2017 LISTEN

Ghanaian actress Kisa Gbekle was caught in video screaming, giggling and calling 'Jesus Christ' on a movie set in fear of a snake she was to shoot a scene with on Wednesday.

The snake was hung around the actress's neck for a few seconds when she started screaming and begging for it to be removed.

She was unable to go ahead with the shoot NEWS-ONE gathered, as she refused to use the snake in the scene.

I was scared it would bite me, hence I started shouting. I couldn't continue the shoot, she confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

Details about the upcoming movie are murky but it is being directed by Pascal Amanfo and features other stars, including Bismark The Joke.

This is Kisa's first job in months after reports of her losing her sister. She was on holidays in Dubai when she had the shocking news of her sister's death. She went off for a while but she is back now.

Currently, Kisa is one of Ghana's young and rising acting talents. From a humble beginning in Ghana's movie industry, she is one few youngsters who also managed to cross over into Nigerias Nollywood movie industry.

She started career as a musician but ended up acting. On top of the list of her filmography are 'The Miser', 'Accra Runs', 'Accra Hustlers', 'Stand By Me', '8PM' and others. She recent produced the movie titled 'Thank God It's Friday'.

By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50 Email: [email protected])
Kumawood in collaboration with MTN has hit the market with new technology to aid kumawood movie patrons both local and international watch their favourite movies on their phones everywhere through a Mobile App.

MTEC-Communications, mobile apps developers and MTN join herds to produce the application to support the kumawood movie industry attain high innovative at the international level.

At the official launch of the APP Wednesday in Kumasi Golden Bean hotel, Mr. Noel Kojo-Ganson, the General Manger in charge of Consumer Marketing at MTN said the partnership formed part of the vision of the company to launch the movie industry into the digital world.

According to him, Kumawood was fast growing within the movie industry of Ghana and the collaboration was to put the industry in the limelight.

"As part of MTNs broader agenda to increase local content, the MTN Apps Challenge was launched some four years ago not only to harness local content talent in application development and build a strong affinity with the developer community but also to help grow generate new businesses". He stated.

He indicated that, "It is one of several innovative, relevant and user-friendly local mobile applications created for MTN subscribers, which is designed to host local movie content, short/ funny videos and celebrity news for movie lovers".

The provision of the Kumawood App will make access to local movies even more convenient and enjoyable because movie lovers now have unlimited access to local movies, to serve the interest of cherished customers.

Speaking in an interview with Modern Ghana, the CEO of MTEC Communications, Mr Chimeru Mbonu, hinted the App will be helpfull to support drive kumawood movies, since is the first time hitting African market.

The application available on google playstore he said "could be downloaded for instace access".

On his part, the CEO of Kumawood Multimedia, Sam Darko, said the App would go a long way to promote the industry and also save producers from piracy.

He denied the fact that the app would leads to collapse of distributors work, but rather go a long way to strengthen their job and promote it better.
D-Amphora Wine & Liquor on Wednesday night launched world brand, Luc Belaire Rare Rose wine in Ghana at a party event at the plush Kempinski Hotel in Accra and announced rapper D Black as its brand ambassador.

The Belaire Rose is a French sparkling wine produced in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azurregion of the South of France. Officially labelled Luc Belaire Rare Rose, the wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault grapes typically used in the production of Provencal rose wines.

The brand is owned by the New York-based company Sovereign Brands and its packaging is noteworthy for its opaque black bottles. Hip-hop artists including Rick Rossband DJ Khaled have been linked to the brand. The brand's range also includes a Brut and Luxe, a demi-sec sparkling wine.

Wednesday launch in Ghana was attended by Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah- Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, rapper D-Black , Nollywood actor Uti Nwachukwu, David Adamson who is the regional Brand Ambassador for Africa, Europe and Asia, rapper Samera Buari who is also General manager at D-Amphora and a host of other personalities who endorsed the wine.

CEO of D-Amphora, Makafui Brempong revealed her company has fortified strategies to take over the Ghanaian market with Belaire.

The Deputy Minister congratulated D-Amphora for using Belaire to provide jobs for the youth and also encouraged Makafui Brempong and her team to make the Belaire brand a household name in Ghana.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry supports great initiatives. We believe in creativity and we think if people such as you can indulge in such businesses we will open our doors for any help that you would need from us. As part of strategic plans for this government, one of the things we want to develop is our domestic trade and of course this falls within, he added.

D Black in his speech revealed since his club Onyx opened in October last year, Belaire has been the fastest selling brand at the club. He also revealed his happiness to represent Belaire Ghana as its brand ambassador.

Uti who also spoke endorsed the Belaire brand and encouraged Ghanaians to patronize it.

D-Amphora Wine & Liquor is currently the sole distributor of Belaire in Ghana. The Ghanaian company which is located at Trassaco Junction at East Legon, Accra has been in business since 2015 and is now one of the market leaders.

To place orders one can make contact through: @officialbelairegh, 0209267230/ 0502409954 and [email protected]

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Accra, May 8, GNA - The Ghana Auctioneers Association (GAA) has referred Mr Alexander Adjei of Alex Mart, a licensed auctioneer, to the Disciplinary Committee after he auctioned unserviceable vehicles of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).

This came to light when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament about two weeks ago.

The GAA said this in a statement signed by Mr Calvis Okine, the President of the Association, and copied the Ghana News Agency on Monday.

The statement said upon interrogation of the auctioneer, the GAA noted that there were no adverts on the auction notice on the sold vehicles and 'actually there was no public auction.'

It said it was, therefore, wrong on the part of the auctioneer to be remunerated with seven per cent commission of the total proceeds.

'His remuneration will fall under the PNDC Law 230 section 30 subsection 2, and that is supposed to give the Auctioneer an amount not exceeding three per cent on gross proceeds of sale,' the statement said.

The GAA has, therefore, called on the member to immediately refund the extra four per cent to the vendor.

The statement said with these infringements on the Auction Sales Act, Mr Alexander Adjei of Alex Mart has been referred to the Disciplinary Committee for necessary sanction, and should take the impending refresher course on auctioneering seriously.

The GAA reminded the public that 'auctioneers are not valuers, they conduct auction sales to the public, and values stated on the vehicles are not done by auctioneers.

'Recognised Valuers (Licensed) are invited by the Vendors to conduct the valuations - not the auctioneers. After the Valuers, like those in the STC; finish their work, the report is sent to the Vendor who commissioned the valuation,' the statement said.

It said: 'The vendor goes through the valuation report to satisfy him or herself before appointing the auctioneer, with attached conditions of sale among other important documents'.

The statement said the auctioneer and the vendor would then agree on the date of auction before the auctioneer would go ahead with the process of auctioning, adding; 'with the government vehicles under the Chief of Staff, it is worthy of note that there are Valuers at the Office of the Chief of Staff, who also satisfy themselves with the values (reserve prices) on the vehicles.

The GAA said it was rather surprising to lay blame on the auctioneer for low reserve prices on such vehicles and that the valuer should be invited by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament for explanation on those low prices on the vehicles.

The Association assured the public that it was currently preparing itself for rebranding before the year ends and was, among other things, drafting a new constitution and code of conduct to bring a new phase of auctioneering very soon.

GNA
10.05.2017 LISTEN

Tamale, May 10, GNA - Alhaji Issahaku Ibrahim, a Focal Person of Citizens Monitoring Committee at Savelugu in the Northern Region, on Tuesday disclosed that corruption perception in the Savelugu Municipality has increased in the last 12 months.

According to him, the citizens in the Municipality observed that the Assembly and other anti-corruption institutions were not making efforts to fight corruption.

Alhaji Ibrahim disclosed this during a policy dialogue workshop on corruption survey.

The event, which was organised by SEND-Ghana, School for Life (SfL) and District Citizens Monitoring Committee, was to increase documentation and exposure of corruption through Civil Society reporting mechanisms.

The dialogue was to discuss the outcome of the corruption survey with stakeholders and the public to see how best the menace could be addressed.

He said there was high perception that the Ghana Police Service, Political Parties and the Judiciary were the most corrupt institutions in the country.

He also mentioned that the Lands Commission, Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority, Health and Education Services were among perceived corrupt institutions, which the survey captured.

Alhaji Ibrahim said religious bodies, NGO's and the Media were the least corrupt institutions in the country.

He said some citizens paid bribes to speed up things or facilitate processes of documents and also to avoid problems with authorities.

He urged the Assembly to ensure and establish a culture of zero tolerance for bribery in the Municipality.

Alhaji Ibrahim advised the Assembly to investigate corrupt acts and its related offences and administer the appropriate sanctions timely to build public confidence.

Mr Mumuni Mohammed, Programme Officer of SEND-Ghana called on stakeholders to promote good governance and fight corruption in the country.

GNA

By Comfort Sena Fetrie, GNA
Telecommunications giant, Vodafone Ghana, has launched a new campaign dubbed Vision In Motion (VIM) to empower Ghanaian youth.

The programme, which is aimed at equipping young and talented Ghanaians through entrepreneurial skills, would educate the youth on ways to improve their own businesses.

Madam Agnes Emefa Essah, Marketing Director at Vodafone Ghana, said the VIM initiative would equip young people with knowledge and motivation to enhance their skills.

She said the initiative would be carried out through weekly motivational video clips with voices, and a series of educational and self-development videos on seven main courses including T-shirt printing, soap making, beauty therapy, fashion, baking, juice making and decor.

Vodafone VIM will also offer unequalled minutes for calls to Vodafone and other networks, in addition to data for browsing the internet. It will also touch the lives of over 100 loyal customers per quarter in various vocational courses. Participants would be awarded with certificates and essential working tools to enable them to succeed in their respective areas, she said.

Madam Essah noted that the programme was targeting people involved in small-scale trading as well as those looking for opportunities.

She said participants could win fully paid professional training and working tools by staying active on the offer but must have finished viewing all the tutorial videos for a minimum of 12 weeks.

The product launch concert was graced by award-winning dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale who gave patrons back to back brilliant performances.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
President Nana Akufo-Addo has acknowledged the good work that Plan International Ghana has been doing over the years.

He said there is so much that the organization and the Government can do to alleviate poverty especially among marginalized groups in Ghana.

While interacting with the Country Director of Plan International Ghana, Madam Fadimata Alainchar during a courtesy visit to the office of the President at the Flagstaff House, he expressed confidence in Plan International Ghanas commitment to rural development in Ghana and called for more collaborative initiatives between the government and International Non-Governmental agencies in Ghana.

He said the One-Village- One Dam is at his heart and he is eager to see it materialize.

Briefing on Plan International Ghanas work

Madam Fadimata Alainchar briefed the President about the work that Plan International Ghana has been doing in rural communities over the past 23 years and shared relevant areas and achievements in education, health, WASH, child protection and economic security. Key among the issues discussed was Plan International Ghanas dam construction in the Tumu area in the Upper West Region of Ghana.

She indicated that the Governments initiative of one-village-one-dam is very laudable. However this will require effective community and youth mobilization to enable the Government achieve its objectives. She intimated that Plan International Ghana has the relevant experience and expertise in community and youth mobilization and can collaborate with the Government in this regard.

Way Forward

The President urged Plan International Ghana to collaborate with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (the Minister was present) to support more marginalized groups and children especially girls to reach their potential.

Present at the meeting was the Programme Support Manager for Strategy, the Child Protection Specialist and the Communications Specialist of Plan International Ghana.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has cautioned the public against doing business with ponzi scheme, MMM.

The caution comes after calls on the Central bank to halt the operation of the company following concerns over its credibility.

It is not clear whether the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has stepped in to halt their operations as they are mostly done in a virtual manner.

But a statement from the central bank and copied to Citi Business News said that MMM's operations are contrary to section 6(1) of the Banks and Specialised deposit taking institutions Act.

According to the regulator, MMM's operations also 'threatens the safety and soundness of Ghana's financial system.'

The BoG further warned that anyone who does business with MMM does so at his or her own risk.

3 million Nigerians lose N18 billion

The operations of MMM in West Africa first came up when it was discovered that it had started in Nigeria in the early part of 2016.

Nigerian authorities have been facing stiff opposition in an attempt to clamp down on the activities.

According to the opponents, MMM was stepping in where government had failed to provide gainful employment and basic means of livelihood to its citizens.

Currently, Nigeria's Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, says three million Nigerians have lost 18 billion Naira to the scheme.

BoG collaborates with allied institutions

It is unclear when the scheme commenced operations in Ghana but checks from its website indicate that hundreds if not thousands have already hooked onto the ponzi scheme.

Many concerns were raised for the Bank of Ghana to nip a possible infiltration in the bud and protect Ghana's financial sector.

The Director of Communications at the Bank of Ghana, Bernard Otabil explains to Citi Business News that the central bank has since engaged other institutions to stop the operations due to its complexity as MMM operates a virtual system.

We have taken the necessary steps to ensure that the institutions that we collaborate with are actually informed about the activities if this particular company. We have also cautioned the public and have taken steps to find those who are behind the company and apprehend them accordingly, he asserted.

About MMM

The ponzi scheme which was founded some twenty-eight years ago in Russia, currently operates in one hundred and eighteen (118) countries including five African countries.

MMM entices people by promising them a 30 percent return after giving out an amount of money to support others.

This, the scheme says is to 'destroy the worlds unjust financial system.'



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
An aide to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Northern Regional Chairman, Bugri Naabu, has questioned the integrity of the journalist who's interview with his boss conveyed allegations suggesting the Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari, was involved in the murder the late Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP, Adams Mahama.

Simak Shirac, the special assistant to Bugri Naabu, alleged that the journalist in question carried out a secret recording of the Northern Region NPP Chairman leading to the compromising allegations making rounds in public.

Bugri Naabu was threatened with a lawsuit for the claims, but has since apologized to the Upper East Regional Minister.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, he said, I am telling you on authority that what is circulating in the media was never part of the interview Bugri Naabu granted and Bugri Naabu said so during the interview. I was there when the interview was granted.

According to Mr. Shirac, concerns were raised after the official interview as to whether the journalist was still recording them off record. He said the journalist gave assurances that even if my recorder captures what you guys are discussing, I will delete or edit it.

But to our surprise, what he said he was going to delete or edit was in the public domain, Mr. Shirac added.

Journalist fires back  Shirac was not even present

Speaking on Eyewitness News later on however, the journalist who interviewed Bugri Naabu, Isaac Nognya, took offence to the claims and questioned why Mr. Shirac was even speaking to the matters when he [Shirac] was not in the vicinity of the interview.

I am a very professional journalist and I have discharged my duties professionally over the years and the said gentleman [Simak Shirac] was not in the said meeting, Isaac Nognya asserted.

The interview stemmed for the Northern Region NPP a fracas between the Minister for Gender, Women and Children Affairs, Otiko Djaba and Bugri Naabu, which saw damning allegations thrown either way, including the claims that Otiko and Rockson Bukari were deeply involved in the murder of the former NPP Upper East Regional Chairman.

Isaac Nognya indicated that, he may have some more indicting sound bites as he said to the Eyewitness News host, Umaru Sanda.

If he[Simak Shirac] dares me, I will release the raw tape to you and you will listen to the one-one interview.

I said, look, the person who granted me the interview has no problem with the soundbite so you a second party should not say I shouldn't have sent that voice recording.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
One of my biggest disappointments, in life, has been when I dropped out of law school. I had, in 2011, enrolled as a law student at GIMPA, to pursue LLB, with the aim of becoming a lawyer, to use the courts to force irresponsible fathers to become responsible. But I had to suspend the course, due to circumstances beyond me.

Anyway, last week I heard the Chief Justice spoke about the proliferation of law schools in the country. She warned that the situation is a threat to the countrys democracy.

Madam, if a weak quality of tertiary education is a threat of any kind, then, I dare say, the end has come. Who is a lawyer? Is a lawyer not the person who represents both the innocent and criminal persons, and try to convince the judge that their clients are innocent? Is he not an advocate who speaks big and long grammar, with the opportunity to correct mistakes through appeals?

Who is a Medical Doctor? Do you get the shift? Have you encountered a doctor who is WhatsApping alongside attending to a patient in a consulting room? Or a team of Doctors and Nurses at a caesarean section in a theatre, all of them holding their phones, some on WhatsApp, others on Facebook, with the baby halfway on arrival, do you understand me?

Recently I went to see a doctor, after returning from a trip, to check my blood flow, the cause of my usual obsession with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). If you have not been checking on this illness, please do so now! It can result in Pulmonary Embolism, and this can kill you in hours; you may Google to read more on it.

Anyway, I did a few more tests, and I was given a prescription to buy some medicine, to take care of some minor findings that had nothing to do with sexual weaknesses.

Simpa Panyin, you will not believe, that amongst the prescription given, was something that looked closer to Viagra! When I asked the doctor, what does Viagra got to do with me? Then he said, oh, sorry. Thereafter he changed the prescription...

The Ghana Medical and Dental Council might need to do some urgent work to save lives; there are too many misdiagnoses and prescriptive mistakes that have proven fatal. My cousins son recently died in a hospital, because a nurse gave him a wrong injection, just like that!

But in the absence of anything immediate, could you please ask Simpa Panyin to announce to everyone, that we should all take personal responsibility to check the medicines we are given, whether they are correct prescription, whether the Pharmacist has not given us the wrong one, and whether it is not too close to the expiry date?

There is an urgent need for us, consumers of medical services, to ask questions, and to demand answers, from doctors, nurses, pharmacists. We have urgent need to check our prescriptions and medications before we take them. My personal attitude is that if I have not read the literature of the medicine I am being given, or if I have not read the indications and the expiry date, I will not take them, it does not matter who is giving such a medicine to me.

The transposition, and the juxtaposition of medicines and drips, are becoming one too many, and I dont want to blame these only on Facebook, or WhatsApp, I will like also to blame the general weakening professional attitudes in this country.

At one point, I sat in front of a doctor for an hour, and he took me through many of the ills of the current state of the medical profession; he received as many calls as possible, some bordering on below-the-belt conversations, including issues of romance, issues of Barcelona, Chelsea, and why Mourinho should have been sacked from Manchester United.

In between those calls, were, WhatsApp messages that he had to check, and respond, Facebook pictures he had to scroll through, and the dropping of his earpiece that needed to be fixed back up. There was one doctor instance, where, he the Doctor, actually had a tablet, watching movies right on his table, in the consulting room, while attending to me. As he asked me questions, and while I gave my answers, he shuttled his eyes between writing in my folder, and watching his movies.

As I watched him rip through the medical profession, and as I took the decision to seek a second opinion, regardless of the diagnoses this doctor would give me, I thought to myself what our illiterate women will receive in the hands of such a doctor.

No wonder my late brothers wife, who is diabetic and a heart patient, always come home with polythene bags full of pain killers; I have had the cause to challenge doctors prescriptions, on her behalf, and in a number of cases, the challenge I had mounted had resulted in some changes in her prescriptions.

I dont know where the problem of the lack of ethical and professional consciousness in our health care delivery system is coming from. Right from the government posture, to the person who draws the blood, we dont seem to recognise that it is human lives that are at stake.

A professional nurse who does not know how to perform CPR, is that one too a professional nurse? Right at Awoshie, one early morning, right in the presence of a nurse and a few others, a man was strike with heart attack.

The nurse stood there, like many others, attempting to take videos of the dying victim, when she could have administered a CPR to save a life. Unlike some stories that I have heard, of situations where medical staff off-duty are able to use CPR to save lives. This one, the nurse did not even attempt, or did not appear to know what CPR could have done to save a life.

The nurse joined the social media photographers to take photos of the dying man, and when eventually a taxi came to pick the victim away, I did not need anyone to tell me, I knew that the man was gone.

So the real threat to our democracy is not necessarily the proliferation of law schools. The real threat is the dying that we are all waiting to die, the midwife who is delivering a woman of her baby while on the phone, the laboratory technician who is performing a blood test while on Facebook, the nurse who is taking your blood pressure levels while group-chatting, these are the real threats.

I am an advocate of freeing the educational space, to allow private persons establish several law schools, including professional law schools. I will like to see several medical schools in Ghana, including private ones. I will like to see several more private persons establishing Teacher training schools, Journalism schools, Nurses training schools, and many more professional colleges.

What we need, in addition, is a strong non partisan independent professional regulator who conducts service accreditation, and re-accreditation. It must never be automatic that once a medical practitioner has completed his degree, then he/she is practising forever. If Pilots and flight attendants were to have this one-forever accreditation, there would have been several plane crashes in a day.

The training and the re-training of pilots, and flight attendants, the certification and the continuous certification of the flight crew, the rigorous six-monthly training that every single pilot will have to go through to ensure the safe flying of his plane, and to ensure that all pilots have the continuous qualification to keep flying, that is the kind of certification processes needed in our medical profession.

And here I am not talking about the program related courses that these doctors and nurses attend. I am talking about doing it in the manner that is done for the pilots. At the end of every six months, the pilot is supposed to surrender his license, and he is required to justify his re-licensing, before he is allowed to fly again; this is what our doctors need, this is what our nurses need, to save lives.

James Kofi Annan
A Canadian-Vietnamese man has returned to Canada voluntarily. But not before causing a bit of a snag in Nebraska, where he was prosecuted for having a part in Lincoln's biggest grow operation.

Last week, Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf sentenced Cuong Ngo, 58, to time served and ordered the U.S. Marshal's office to immediately release him, under the All Writs Act, despite a detainer by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Kopf's May 5 order went on to say: "ICE is ordered not to interfere and is ordered not to take the defendant into custody."

The judge said Ngo, who was indicted for his part in Lincoln's largest marijuana grow house bust back in 2010, was to fly back to Canada with his daughter using his passport.

But on Monday, the Nebraska U.S. Attorney's office asked Kopf to reconsider his order after learning he didn't immediately buy an airline ticket and fly back to Canada after the U.S. Marshal released him from custody a week ago.

In the motion, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Klein said ICE officials learned Ngo's Canadian passport had expired and that he had visited the Canadian consulate in the Minneapolis area Monday.

Klein said Ngo was paroled into the U.S. for the case and has no basis for remaining here now.

He asked Kopf to reconsider his order that ICE not take Ngo into custody "and allow ICE to execute its duties."

Originally arrested seven years ago on state charges, Ngo returned to Toronto after he bonded out of jail, but then wasn't allowed to return to the U.S. because of the felony allegations.

Earlier this month, he was back in Lincoln, in custody, a chain reaction that started when he applied for a passport in Canada in 2015, which prompted Canadian officials to alert law enforcement in the U.S. and to a Toronto Fugitive Task Force arresting him at his home in Mississauga, Ontario.

Kopf sentenced him to time served on a marijuana conspiracy charge. Ngo had pleaded guilty.

On Friday, Kopf issued an order saying that, at a conference with counsel, Klein represented that he is now satisfied that Ngo has returned to Canada, making the motion moot.

And Kopf withdrew his previous order.
11.05.2017 LISTEN

A silhouette doesnt stay long on a stage even though he exudes a bigger image than the one that carries him. He hobbles away like a whirlwind, his destination unknown. The memories of him die quick after his exit. Sometimes he resurfaces if luck smiles back on him. But most of the time, his glory disappears forever.

In fact his existence is dependent on ones sweat if you like. So when the body dies he dies with him. Yet, he never ceases to plunge himself in a sea of delusion, where confusion holds the mind captive and the upshot is often a disaster.

What a lesson right!

Yet, Newsmakerspoliticians, celebrities and the influential in our societies pay little or no heed to the obvious fact. That no condition is permanent and when it blooms it falls. So why are newsmakers vulnerable? Its because they forget quickly where they came from, how they started the labyrinth journey. Plus they forget what to do and how to do it when they get the call-up onto the public stage.

The Managing Editor of Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr. yesterday made a benign statement about Ursula Owusu-Ekuffo Ghanas minister of communication. And hows that newsworthy or important to highlight here, because Mr. Pratt is an avid or a known critic of this government. Also hes viewed by many as anti-NPP (the New Patriotic Party).

He says hes shocked by the ministers behaviour. Well, many of the Elephants supporters too, are perhaps surprised that the statement came from him----a notorious criticiser of the administration.

Ursula has shocked me and many others. I thought she was going to be a hard nut to crack and also give Nana Addo lots of problem but she has so far behaved in an admirable way, Mr. Pratt said.

The veteran journalist went on to commend the minister and also asked other public figures to emulate her shining example, adding though Ursula was noted for being harsh and a sharp critic of the Mahama administration, shed now turned a new leaf.

Ursula Owusu is now a role model for manythey have to learn from her as well, Kwesi Pratt Jnr recommended.

Generally, News makers make the new, notwithstanding the fact that media personnel are called newsmen. But the media or journalists write the news and digest the views. They (Newsmakers) may have the bragging rights as the source and champion of the news. The irony is theyve no control over what they produce.

I have warned Newsmakers time and again to stay away from the communication device called Microphone. The tool is like fire, a good servant but bad master.

When you cough it magnifies it, when you sneeze it amplifies it and when you boom it electrifies it. So why stay close or poke your nose to that seductive tool? Once again heres my pesewa advice: If you dont know what to say and cant filter what youre going to say. Its as simple as eX whY Zet.

Isnt that a sign of magnanimity?

I gave you all that for a token---pesewa. And I still have a dime to give away. Henceforth, please Mr. and Madam Ministers, MPs etc. show some respect to the party members on the ground. For courtesy sake let your regional chairpersons know youre in town or coming to town. It doesnt demote your status for example as minister in charge of the Ocean or minister of the Desert. It rather enhances your image.

See I thought they knew this, how quickly did they forget that as they lead theyll bleed. It seems the poor Ghanaian cocoa farmer even stands a good or better chance than the newsmaker when it comes to pricing. Of course the cocoa farmers price is determined by the international market (Enye koraa entese payday). Thats an open secret. He loathes it but hes to deal with it.

However the unknown that gawks the newsmaker is huge. He has no idea how far his story would go, who would receive it (his spouse, mother-in-law, mum or dad), what impact it would create (negative or positive) out there? I ts all wrapped in mystery. It seems to be worse in this day and age-- in the advent of the social media. News goes viral--- good or bad. But the bad news travels farther and wider.

Without a doubt the fate of the newsmakers product rest in ones hand and the price of the commodity is often determined by its status.

The chief culprit in this affair is the politician. He cast himself las invincible and untouchable. He thinks the mandate given him is immutable and he will always have the political capital. But thats untrue, the people wield the mandate and whenever the time is right they will make the right decision by striping him of the power.

Some or most of them tend to believe that the whole world belongs to them and they can do whatever they in tend to do. Yes newsmakers sometimes act as though theyve been pimped or they arent aware of the dangers they face per their actions and inactions.

Remorse & Apology

I am sorry, says Otiko Afisa Djaba. .And Im truly sorry, states Bugri Naabu.

Im not going to revisit the Otiko-Bugri brouhaha that the turned the wheels of decorum upside down over the weekend. In the meantime, it appears the sky that got saturated with toxic is clearing. Visibility is still poor though. Nevertheless, forecasters will tell us the status of the weather but time tells it better. Time will tell whether going forward it would be a rebuke or fire when it recurs. I talked about it on Monday 8 May and I think the listening ears heard me.

Thank God the speeding locomotive finally got stopped. It was flagged down at the Flagstaff House. Its understood the patience of the first Gentleman of the nation was thinning. How could he sit and watch his children go wayward, or run their mouths like NIKA-NIKA, to pollute the atmosphere with invectives and wreak shame upon the party?

And I could hear him like a father rebuking his brat kid. Stop it or you get spanked. You understand what spank implies when you get summoned before the father of the nation.

Was this expected?

The Wednesday cargo ship docked Ghanas coast with two heavy loads--apologies. First is the Gender Ministers apology:

It was totally out of order and I apologise to Ghanaians for what happened. I want to use this opportunity to apologise to all Ghanaians , but it is a lesson to each other and we need to respect each other and we need to respect women, Otiko Afisa Djaba.

I went to see the president and apologised to him and told him it was it was not in the interest of Ghana...I think that we need to respect women in this country 60 years on in Ghana. I felt disrespected by him and if it were a man he wouldnt have done that.

Next, the Northern Region NPP chairman Bugri Naabu. His was contained in a letter sent to counsel for the Upper East regional minister (Rockson Bukari) Mr. Samson Lardy Anyenini. I write to sincerely and unreservedly retract wholly my comment about your client in an interview an Accra-based radio XYZ. I dont have any facts beyond what we know about the police investigations on the matter and I am truly sorry to the Ministers family and all those I have hurt by those comment, Mr. Bugri Naabu stated.

And I am not going to examine or comment on the apologies rendered by the two kinsmen. But I am glad they did. Indeed time will tell, time alone will tell it better. A word to the wise is not enough but its in the North.
11.05.2017 LISTEN

African parenting culture, doesn't exactly seem to be bosom friends with the feminine gender.

A girl child in Africa, is widely considered a future property of her potential suitor, so the need to prepare her (at least marketable enough) for marriage, becomes inherent!

Let's tarry a bit on gender responsibility, as required by the average African society.

A man is often regarded as the sole administrator of the home, who's revered and religiously served by his wife. Little wonder, he's saddled with the huge responsibility of providing satisfactorily for his household (whether in a financially favorable time, or a toxic economy).

On the other hand, the traditionally female line of work for women in many parts of Africa, cuts across:

 Acquiring a reasonable level of formal education

 Committing wholly to the hunt for a husband (either physically/spiritually)

 Speedily bearing his children

 Raising the kids, and promptly attending to the scary heap of domestic chores all in quick succession, in a way that's unarguably considered 'hard-working and efficient!'

Any other duty performed by an African woman (such as pursuing a career or nursing a day job) is perceived as complimentary or surplus to requirements (depending on the rationality of her husband).

Meeting up with these huge marital demands to prove to society that a female is capable and 'marriageable', requires quite a rigorous parental upbringing. Any doubts to the length an African parent can go towards achieving this?

Gender slavery is first learned at home, before it undergoes transition into marriage. A female is constantly reminded of her future wifely roles of serving her husband, so no trait of 'laziness' is tolerated by her parents, as she's regularly yanked off the bed (earlier than normal), while the males are permitted to get some more sleeping time.

A female is intensely taught to multitask heavily with chores, while males are mostly excused. The females are motivated with statements like: "You have to learn to do all of these as a woman, so you can be useful in your husband's house!" Really???

I guess, this has prompted a high demand for the very few males who can come correct on a meal they prepared themselves!

African parents, absolutely require a new wave of enlightenment against gender discrimination. There's a lot more to a female, than solely being of sexual/domestic service to her husband.

The male and female, should be trained accordingly, and incorporated into domestic chores, such that, both are accustomed to lending a helping hand, and it doesn't turn out weird when an 'African Married Man' decides to take out the thrash and wipe the dishes, while his wife changes the baby's diaper (which by the way, stinks to the high heavens!)

Twitter: @princewill_nimi

Email: [email protected]

Bio: Nimi Princewill is a Nigerian writer, poet and social reformer. He's very passionate about social reformation and the political development of Africa. He's most notable for his unconventional opinions on issues that cut across religion, sports, social lifestyle and politics.
Mukesh V. Thakwani, the founder of Delhi Public School (DPS) International Ghana, Tema has been rewarded by the high-status international Socrates Committee of the Europe Business Assembly.

He gained the Best Educator for the year 2016 in a ceremony held at Oxford University in the United Kingdom (UK) for his hard work and accomplishments.

The award is for his contribution towards education.

Winning this international fame beside other regional and national recognitions, demonstrates the high standard and quality of education being offered by DPS International, Ghana.

The counsel of the International Socrates Committee representing leaders within the business, education and science international communities, worked to establish EBA Awards a well respected international accolade.

They, along with other selected leaders in business carefully assess the nominees for International EBA Awards and determine the winners. A team of recruited professionals from companies worldwide will complete the preliminary judging.

Their main objectives are to promote leadership and strengthen international economic, scientific and cultural relations while promoting European integration.

Personalities, politicians, as well as public figures, businessmen, scientists and artists are presented with EBA International Awards for their achievements and contributions to todays society.

It has in the last sixteen years recognised leaders in business, science, education, culture and art, economics and business, pharmacy and medicine from over twenty countries.

The Socrates Nomination Committee nominates individuals and organizations based on recommendation from local respondents and players of the local industry.

In the case of the DPS International Ghana and it boss, the Socrates Nomination Committee received recommendations from players in the downstream education sector.

Mr. Thakwani was nominated for his outstanding investment in the education sector of Ghana.

The Director of DPS International Ghana who was in the UK to receive the award observed the challenges confronting the education sector, explaining that educators need to take more innovative approach to impart knowledge and prepare students to become responsible adults.

As educator, using modern method of imparting knowledge into our pupils and students, we think contributing to Ghanas education is an investment which would impart and spur on the society in which we operate as well as the country to greater heights.

According to him, aside the schools commitment to academic excellence, the school also makes concerted efforts to unearth and develop talents of the children through extra curriculum activities like creative writing, sports, public speaking, art and craft, drama, martial arts, dancing among others.

He dedicate the award to the numerous parents, teachers, children and the entire administration of DPS International, Ghana, saying because without their contributions we would not reach this far.

The school was founded by the renowned industrialist and philanthropist, Mr. Mukesh Thakwani in September 2010 under the aegis of Delhi Public School-a chain of schools sited across the globe and known for its holistic education.

DPS international, Ghana has numerous awards in it archives; the same as the founder who has won several awards for championing education.

The school aims to inculcate the rich ethos of life such as integrity, honesty, trust, tolerance, compassion and camaraderie.

Mukesh V. Thakwani, the founder of Delhi Public School (DPS) International Ghana, Tema has been rewarded by the high-status international Socrates Committee of the Europe Business Assembly.
Hon. Osei Mensah Michael, GHACIF/OGHA President

11.05.2017 LISTEN

The President of GHACIF, Ghanaian Community in France Council,Hon. Osei Mensah Michael who doubles as the President of the Organization of Ghanaians Abroad,OGHA, has officially congratulated the President-Elect of the Republic of France, H.E. Emmanuel Macron. His statement read as follows :

On behalf of the Ghanaian Community In France Council and the Organisation of Ghanaians Abroad, I want to congratulate you H.E. Emmanuel Macron for your election as President of the Republic of France.

You are an inspiration for national leadership and responsibility to young people.

Your victory is an outstanding triumph for us, as it brings about proper measures for proper integration of migrants into the French society for mutual benefits.

Across ''La Republique En Marche'', your party, you have been able to amplify unity among communities in France and French Communities Abroad.

We see this as the beginning of great things for the world, so we wish you and your future goverment the best of luck.
Three Students Unions, the National Union of Ghana Students(NUGS), the University Students Association of Ghana (USAG) and the Ghana Union of Professional Students (GUPS) have in three separate open letters written to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Hon. John Peter Amewu to reconsider his decision on the closure of the Ghana School of Survey and Mapping (GSSM).

It would be recalled that somewhere last week, the students of the nation's premier survey and mapping school met with the press and registered their displeasure over a portion of their school lands that has been given to a private developer allegedly to be used to build a shopping mall. The students after their encounter with the press, also demonstrated peacefully on their campus to press home their demand.

Following their demonstration which went overboard leading to some sort of vandalism in the school, the Minister of Lands in several media interaction threatened the closure of the school.

On Wednesday, the Ministry led a group of armed security officers to the campus of the school around 37military hospital to sack the students and closed the school.

This move by the ministry obviously has not gone down well with the students of Ghana and several students have taken to social media to register their "disgust" about the whole issue.

This compelled the three students Unions to write to the minster to change his decision. In a release signed by its press and Information Secretary Kwasi Frimpong, NUGS has suggested four things the minister should do to curb the menace

These are:

1. Take an active role in mobilizing for peace among The students,the school authorities and ask that the parcel of land which is the property of the government and hence the property of the school be left in the hands of the school authorities for onward development, this must be done as soon as possible. It must be a dialogue in the name of fashioning a comprehensive peace accord to the longstanding dispute over the school's land.

2. Call for an immediate resume of the school as you have done in its closure. Take an active responsibility in reaching to their leadership: the SRC and any other Stakeholder (s) who have interests in this matter for a quick resolve.

3. Give an explicit Executive order (written statement) to those accused of encroaching on the land and thus wanting to use it for purposes either than improving on education to stop work and vacate the place with an immediate speed, given the magnitude of public interest, especially the various students union's interest in this matter.

4. Lastly, do not play an ostrich and bury your head in the sand in respect to this matter, as an umbrella union , we shall mobilize our collective forces to demonstrate our disappointment in you and the current government. We shall forever remain solid, resolute and formidable in our fight to press home our demands in all of these suggestions given, herein .

On their part, a statement signed by the president of the University Students Association of Ghana (USAG), Mr. Emmanuel Kwarteng Frimpong said

"USAG have observed over the period some worrying and disturbing tendencies that have rocked the Ghana School of Survey and Mapping (GSSM) over issues pertaining to school land and the subsequent closure of the school by your ministry and for that matter you as the sector minister, We are therefore with this word of solidarity, reaffirming our collective believe and our collective support in respect to what our mother Union thus ,the National Union Of Ghana Students (NUGS) have categorically stated and catalogued in their comprehensive open letter to your noble self and the ministry and all stakeholders in this matter. We remain resolute in our affirmation of this stand , and we shall rise to the occasion to join them and other student movement across the country to demonstrate our anger and frustration towards your ministry and the current government if the issue is not dealt with."

The Ghana Union of Professional Students(GUPS) whose president Mr. Bismark Gyamfi is also a student of GSSM has also issued a statement calling on the minister to reconsider his decision.

Several other students have expressed their sentiment and solidarity with GSSM on Social media particularly Facebook and Whatsapp.
Rising sea levels threaten key coastal areas like the Mekong Delta, which produces the majority of Vietnams rice. The only thing standing between the country and the ocean is a tree.

Vietnam is in danger. Rising sea levels pose a huge threat to this coastal country. In less than 100 years much of southern Vietnams Mekong Delta  the heart of the nations rice production  could go the way of Atlantis.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment predicts that the ocean will swallow more than a third of the region by the year 2100, taking a swath of Ho Chi Minh City with it. Halfway up the coast from the Mekong Delta, Hoi Ans prognosis is better, but its not immune.

The city sits where the Thu Bon River meets the South China Sea. Its inhabitants are already used to hauling furniture upstairs during seasonal floods.

Vietnam is in danger.

With a dire forecast and limited resources, Vietnam doesnt have a lot of options. In 2015, then Minister of the Environment Nguyen Minh Quang told the press that the countrys best bet was to plant more mangrove trees.

Mangroves are the climate superheroes of the arboreal world. They grow in swamps along the coasts: thin trunks and tangled, spidery roots submerged in dark, briny water. The roots filter saltwater and can expand eroded coastlines. They also create natural storm barriers and protect agricultural land from saltwater infiltration. And on top of everything else, mangroves are atmospheric vacuum cleaners, pulling unparalleled amounts of carbon dioxide from the air.

Mangrove forests protect coastlines by acting as natural storm barriers (Credit: GIZ)

"The organic carbon stocks stored in mangrove ecosystems are three to five times larger than other forest types," confirmed Sigit Sasmito, a researcher with the Center for International Forestry Research and Charles Darwin University in Australia.

With a dire forecast and limited resources, Vietnam doesnt have a lot of options.

However, Vietnam has lost more than half its mangrove forests since the 1940s, largely to aquafarming and urban development. Its the eternal conundrum of environmentalism in developing economies: eat now or breathe later?

Clearing land for shrimp farms might be beneficial in the short term. But intact forests are hugely profitable to the fishing industry at large: by keeping salinity levels in check, mangrove forests promote tremendous biodiversity, which means more kinds of fish to catch.

"It is estimated that the value of mangrove swamps for Vietnamese inshore fishing equal up to $440 million each year, said Dr Christian Henckes, director of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeits (GIZ) coastal restoration programmes in Vietnam.

Mangrove roots filter saltwater and promote fish biodiversity (Credit: Harald Franzen/GIZ)

But such big, impersonal numbers arent necessarily compelling to small communities. So international organisations like GIZ seek to make preservation profitable on a local level.

In Hoi An, a group called Mangroves for the Future (MFF) has made strides awarding grants to local conservation projects. MFF has been active in the Hoi An area since 2013, working to turn it into an eco-destination to help protect the mangrove palm forest that separates Hoi An from the sea.

Mangrove palms, also called Nipa palms, are a unique part of the mangrove biosphere: they are the only palm adapted to salty coastal waters. While not as effective as regular mangrove trees, mangrove palms are still efficient carbon-dioxide filters and protect the shoreline from storm damage and erosion. Their feathery, fronded tops rise high above the water, creating a dense forest where locals cast for small fish and squid.

Nipa palms are the only palms adapted to salty coastal waters (Credit: Cam Thanhs Women Union)

That forest is also home to the commune of Cam Thanh, whose fishermen navigate the flooded trees in traditional woven boats called thuyan thung. Increasingly, thuyan thung also carry tourists. MFF has helped Cam Thanh develop an eco-tour programme for travellers to visit the forest with fishermen in their boats. The project increases both ecological awareness and local incomes, making the forest invaluable to Cam Thanhs economic future.

But this plan only involves the men of the village, and impact of projects greatly increases when the whole community is involved. So MFF has also funded grants to help local women turn their houses into eco-homestays.

Locals fish in traditional woven boats called thuyan thung (Credit: Martha de Jong-Lantink/Flickr)

Not every house is eligible to become a homestay. The rules are strict, not just environmentally but also culturally. For example, there must be at least two generations living in the house in order to help guests learn the culture and history of the community through a shared living experience. Visitors work alongside the family in the fields, take boats into the mangrove palm forest and participate in cooking classes and family activities.

Like many local projects, its small-scale. The first two homestay houses opened in March 2017, and two more are currently getting certified.

One of the challenges MFF faces in growing preservation efforts is that many Cam Thanh residents lack a sense of urgency. Locals are more concerned about maintaining their way of life and feeding their families. The distant threat of environmental change is harder to take seriously.

Officials say Vietnams best bet may be to plant more mangrove trees (Credit: Harald Franzen/GIZ)

People talk a lot about climate change, but the threat is not very clear, said Huyen Tran Ngo, project director for Cam Thanhs Womens Union.

I asked Samito and Henckes whether mangroves were a solution for Vietnams sea-level crisis or just a stop-gap measure. Neither was willing to be unequivocal, but both agreed that mangroves were part of the answer.

It will be decades before anyone knows Vietnams chances against the sea.

I contemplated this from the Japanese Bridge in Hoi An while watching raindrops spatter against the water below. Inside the covered bridge I found a shrine to the God of Weather, with spent sticks of incense from other peoples prayers. I thought of how exposed this vulnerable community was, how its history and culture might be lost to rising tides. It will be decades before anyone knows Vietnams chances against the sea.

So I offered my own prayer to the capricious god: that this beautiful place would still be attracting travellers a' and their cameras a' in 100 years.
Accra, May 10, GNA-The Bank of Ghana has directed banks to classify loans on their books owed by Bulk Distributor Companies, as efforts on the part of government to repay the debts had waned significantly.

According to Mr Phillip Owiredu, Executive Director of CAL Bank Limited, the central bank, after its Asset Quality review, had directed banks to classify the BDC loans and make provisions for them.

He gave the directive at a presentation during the second edition of the 'Facts behind the Figures' session, organised by the Ghana Stock Exchange, in Accra on Wednesday.

'Unfortunately the central bank says that they don't see much efforts being put into this by government, so they think banks would have to start making provisions,' he stated.

This means Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio in the banking sector, which currently stands at an average of 17.7 per cent, will likely increase in the second quarter of 2017.

He noted that worsening NPL ratios remained a challenge facing the banking sector and was further constrained by the stall in the arrangements for the payments BDC loans to the banks.

The programme instituted by government to repay loans owed by BDCs on the books of banks.

The claims were estimated at about at $ 513 million as at the first half of 2015. After validation, government agreed to pay of $ 383 million of the debt, leaving banks to provide for and write-off the outstanding debt.

CAL Bank, according to Mr Owiredu, had analysed the whole BDC Book and decided to provide for it and then wrote it off last year while the remaining, upon discussions seemed recoverable.

This, he said, was done on the assumption that government would make the payments it had agreed to make and then conclude discussions for the payment of the outstanding amount but payments had so far halted.

'Out of the $383 million that government said they were going to pay last year, about 200 million was paid by the Central Bank by issuing bonds for five years.

'Of the balance left, government made two payments after which no other payment has been made' he explained.

He said the bank would heed the Central Bank's directives as they would be penalised, if the directive was flouted.

He said discussions would continue with government to reach a consensus on how the payments would be carried out going forward.

Mr Owiredu said there was supposed to be a meeting today between the Ministry of Finance, the Ghana Association of Bankers and the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors on the issue.

'We hope that after this meeting something positive will come out so that we will be able to have a clear path forward,' he said.

Commenting on the Bank's performance for 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, he observed that while performance in 2017 was expected to increase from 2016 figures, the first quarter was not much better as challenges from 2016 was not completely over.

The bank's profit before tax for the 2016 financial year plummeted to GH17,051 in 2016, from GH221,308 in 2015 and profit after tax of GH166,238 in the 2015 to GH10,208 in 2016; a loss of 93.9 per cent.

He attributed the challenges faced by the bank in 2016 to include worsened BDC sector impairments, specific commerce sector loan impairments and tight market liquidity, which led to high interest costs to lower interest income.

For first quarter 2017, profit after tax decrease marginally by 22.3 per cent year-on-year due to the relatively high provisioning made in the quarter while net interest income declined by 3.2 per cent y/y attributable to higher costs of funds.

GNA

By Belinda Ayamgha/Racheal Dwamena, GNA
11.05.2017 LISTEN

Accra, May 10, GNA - The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has cautioned the general public to refrain from engaging the services of a supposed financial entity called MMM Ghana.

A statement by the Communications Department of the BoG noted that the company operated a Ponzi scheme through a virtual office, for which reason BoG has sought to draw the attention of the public to its activities.

It said the company, which has claimed a client base of over 10,000, goes round mobilising deposits from the general public.

According to the Bank of Ghana, the institution's operations 'are contrary to Section 6(1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930)'.

It said their operations also 'threatened the safety and soundness of the financial system'.

The BoG has thus stated categorically that MMM Ghana 'is not licensed by the Bank of Ghana to engage in any form of deposit-taking activity'.

Therefore 'anyone who does business with MMM Ghana does so at his own risk,' the statement said.

GNA
Bolgatanga, May 10, GNA - The Upper Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, has expressed concerned about the activities of some spiritualists who appear on television purporting to have the ability to conjure money to make people rich overnight.

'It is the firm belief of the Presbytery that all members of our society must diligently commit themselves to whatever noble pursuit that their hands find to do for the Almighty God to bless their exploits and handiwork.

The 'get rich quick' syndrome has no foundation in the word of God as well as in nation building, the Church said at the end of its seventh session held at Navrongo.

It was on the theme: 'When the Holy Spirit Moves: Energized to pursue our Evangelical mandate'.

The Chairperson of the Upper Presbytery, Reverend Emmanuel Atami, stressed that besides the legally acceptable money creation system overseen by the BOG, the constitution does not mandate anybody or an institution to create any legal tender.

The Presbytery therefore called on the Bank of Ghana to investigate the activities of these spiritualists who claim to have powers to raise money besides the legally acceptable money creation system overseen by the Bank of Ghana.

The Church stressed that the negative practice was not only unconstitutional but had the greater tendency in nurturing in the youth not to aspire higher and work hard for achievements in life, have patience and hope in God, but to resort to getting money quickly, which it noted could undermine the progress of the society and nation building as a whole.

The Church also called on the National Media Commission and all media houses to help put an end to what it referred to as 'the public display of 'get rich quick' activities of the ever increasing 'juju' money spiritualists on their airwaves.'

Whilst expressing concern about the threat of political vigilante groups to national security, the Church called on the government, leaders of the various political parties and the security agencies to ensure that they were disbanded.

On Education, the Church commended government for the expansion of educational facilities particularly, for taking bold steps in establishing a public university in each of the regions to open more opportunities for people to upgrade themselves using different models of learning.

It however observed that at the secondary school level many of the youth were not able to meet the minimum entry requirement to take advantage of tertiary education.

It attributed such problems to the addiction of the youth to social media at the expense of their books and impressed upon parents and guardians to step up their parental and supervisory roles over their wards. It further called on School Management Boards (SMB) and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) to support by instilling discipline in the students.

'Also at the basic level, the Presbytery has observed that the long standing partnership and cordial relationship between the Religious Educational Units and the Ghana Education Service is gradually breaking down and this is affecting collaboration, supervision and discipline in the schools. The Government and other stakeholders who are into education should strengthen their relationship. Government should treat both private and public educational institutions equitably'.

The Church, which spoke about the annual delay in releasing students' grants for Second Cycle Institutions in the Northern parts of the country, entreated government to find lasting solution to the problem.

Whilst calling on the Government to be committed to the promise of planting for food and jobs and one district, one factory initiatives, it said the effective implementation of the interventions would help in addressing the unemployment problems among the youth and ensure food security.

It said the Presbytery was very worried about the recent recorded suicide cases among the youth and recommended that counselling by parents, educational institutions and religious bodies should be strengthened to enable the youth build emotional stability and cultivate the spirit of endurance.

It urged the government to sustain the fight against illegal mining by strengthening institutions that have regulatory, monitoring and supervisory role over mining as well as find alternative livelihoods for the affected or yet to be affected people in the galamsey business.

The Church commended the Electoral Commission, Political Parties, the previous Government, Civil Society Organizations, the Security Agencies, and the people of Ghana for collectively working for a peaceful election in December 2016 and ensuring smooth transition.

The Church called on all Ghanaians to help nurture the peace the country was currently enjoying.

The seventh Presbytery Session afforded delegates and commissioners the opportunity to reflect and to take stock of the various activities carried out by the Presbytery in 2016.

GNA

By Samuel Akapule, GNA
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Now that Nebraska has crossed the gigawatt threshold -- 1 billion watts -- of wind energy production, it's time for the state to shoot even higher.

The Cornhusker State became the 18th state to reach that milestone this year when turbines at a 400-plus-megawatt wind farm in Holt County began spinning. But Nebraska should continue its aggressive surge to be far more than just above average when it comes to wind energy.

Yes, this state faces hurdles -- most notably, landowner opposition and its unique approach of public power districts. But Nebraska has too much yet-to-be-tapped potential to let those speed bumps derail future growth.

With the fourth-highest wind potential of any state and nation-leading efficiency of wind energy production, Nebraska is already seeing the benefits of development. Nearly 600 additional megawatts are in development, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, placing the state near the 2-gigawatt mark if and when all come to fruition.

Because of its nonprofit public power districts, Nebraska battles an obstacle that no other state faces because they're unable to receive federal wind production tax credits like for-profit enterprises, such as those powering neighboring Iowa -- which produces more than a third of its electricity from wind energy.

Instead, Lincoln Electric System and its fellow utilities sign contracts to purchase wind power from private companies that can.

That investment in renewable energy, primarily wind, has allowed LES to have far more megawatts available for sale than it needs to meet demand. Nearly half of the utility's demand is met with sustainable energy sources -- a win-win for the environment and consumers alike.

Accordingly, LES and NPPD will vote today on an agreement that is expected to end Lincoln's use of a coal-fired plant near Hallam. Those megawatts simply are no longer needed and won't be for the foreseeable future, largely because of growth in Nebraska-harnessed wind energy.

Within the last five years, Nebraska has already seen wind energy increase from less than 3 percent to more than 10 percent of its power generation. That figure should only continue to rise, as should Nebraska's position -- again, 18th -- in the wind energy field.

Nebraska has a bright future in terms of capitalizing upon one of its chief exports, winds whipping across the prairie. State officials and business leaders must continue tapping into that potential to realize a benefit that stretches from border to border.
Aisha Huang

11.05.2017 LISTEN

THE KUMASI Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has vehemently debunked media reports suggesting that the KMA has links with Aisha Huang, the arrested Chinese lady who is noted for illegal mining (galamsey) activities in the country.

The assembly also described as a hoax, reports that the Chinese national has contacts with the newly appointed Kumasi mayor, Osei Assibey Antwi, saying that the reports should be ignored by the public since they are not true.

Hon. Osei Assibey fully supports President Akufo-Addo's fight against galamsey in the country. He therefore has no links with Aisha Huang as reported by the media, Godwin Okumah Nyame, the KMA PRO, stated.

Recent reports in a section of the media suggested that Aisha Huang has links with the KMA as she even reportedly attended the swearing-in ceremony of Mr Osei Assibey at the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Kumasi recently.

Mistaken Identity

Mr Okuma Nyame stated that the said Chinese lady who graced the event, is called Qi Ying, the Chief Executive Officer of Africa-China Investment Group, who educates Africans and Chinese about investment opportunities in both countries.

He stated that Qi Ying attended the swearing-in ceremony in the company of Dr. Nana Kyei Baffuor, the principal consultant to the Africa-China Investment Group.

Mr Nyame noted that unfortunately, some media outlets mistook Qi Ying to be Aisha Huang so they took her pictures and circulated them in the social and traditional media, adding that they goofed badly and it is unfortunate.

He said Qi Ying arrived in Ghana on March 26, 2017 and returned to China on April 20, 2017, adding that media houses that published Qi Ying's picture and referred to her as Aisha Huang, got it wrong.

The PRO stated that Mr Osei Assibey is a law-abiding citizen, who would never deal with nation wreckers, therefore people who concocted the negative reports to tarnish his hard won image should revise their notes.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi.
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah

11.05.2017 LISTEN

Former Trade and Industry Minister, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, appears to have thrown in the towel as the race for the presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Election 2020 gathers momentum.

He has said categorically that if former President John Mahama contests as the flag bearer, he (Spio-Garbrah) will not join the race, although it is not clear whether he will be interested in the contest if the ex-president does not come.

Radio Interview

He granted an interview to a private radio station  Radio XYZ  in Accra on Tuesday and was later quoted as making a subtle declaration to contest in the 2020 presidential election, but he later reacted by saying it was distorted.

That's a premature question for me to answer all of us appointed by Mahama have great respect for him. We all believe we have to grant him that opportunity, Spio had told the station, adding, He has the first right of refusal.

He continued, My view is that all such matters are for the collective when the time comes I'll take that into account. Let's work together to fix that car first or the horse that may be lame or whatever allegory people want to use. Once it is done, the best driver will be decided. At this state, it is early. Everyone could have leadership potential and I can't be excluded.

Important Distortion

Mr Spio-Garbrah later said on the social media platform  Facebook  that his interview had been distorted by the media; and that he was giving an indication that he might still be in the contest after all.

Please note the slight but important distortion of what I said this morning on Radio XYZ. I did NOT say I shall run if Mahama doesnt nor did I discuss who is the 'best person' to lead the NDC.

He continued, I said that all of us Mahama appointees have a great deal of respect for him and so I believe he should be given (as a former President and party leader) the right of first refusal whether to run again.

However, I noted that he will be contested if he runs. I indicated that there are many people asking me to run but I have advised them both publicly and privately that it is best for all of us to concentrate on repairing the 'broken NDC car' or 'strengthening the lame horse' (Mahamas allegory) before competing over party leadership, hence, my call for us to await the outcome of the Prof Botchwey Committees work.

He added, I have no doubt that there will be many distortions of what I said on Radio XYZ, which I have summarized above.

More Names

Apart from Mr Spio-Garbrah's name that popped up, there are a host of NDC stalwarts who are all planning to upstage ex-President Mahama as the NDC's flag bearer for 2020 because many claim the former president does not have what it takes to run for the highest office again after his humiliating defeat as incumbent leader in the 2016 general election.

They include Alban Bagbin, former majority leader in parliament who is currently 2nd deputy dpeaker of the house; former speaker of parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho and former National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) CEO, Sylvester Mensah, who was recently seen meeting NDC members at Sogakope in the Volta Region.

A retired Rector of the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), Joshua Alabi, is also reportedly lacing his boots to declare his intention to stand for the nomination in possible opposition to ex-President Mahamas bland popularity arising out of the Prof. Kwesi Botchwey Commission's report on how the NDC lost the December 7, 2016 general election.

They are all said to be busily setting up offices and criss-crossing the country to shore up their support base ahead of the crucial NDC congress, likely to be held next year.

Mahama Puzzle

Some political analysts are of the opinion that should ex-President Mahama succeed in contesting on the ticket of the NDC again but fail to win the 2020 contest, it would further break the front of the opposition party because they would then have to struggle to market a candidate for 2024.

Others also believe that since Mr Mahama was humiliated in the December 7, 2016 poll, there was going to be very little chance for him in 2020  especially when there is no incumbency advantage.

Lame Horse

The former president himself recently called for a careful re-organisation and assessment of the NDC after the party's crushing defeat last year, admitting that the former ruling party was sick as he likened it to a 'lame horse.'

For him, it is absolutely premature for members of the NDC to talk about who will lead the party at its present state, positing, If you ride a lame horse into a race and you lose the race, your priority must be to cure the lameness of the horse and not about who will ride the horse.

However, critics within the NDC are saying that the party has never been lame and insisted that it was the jockey (in reference to the ex-President as NDC candidate) who was rather lame.

By William Yaw Owusu


The Western Regional Minister, Dr Kweku Afriyie, has described as a miracle the fact that no death was recorded in last Tuesdays gas explosion that occurred on the Takoradi-Sekondi main road.

According to him, looking at the extent of damage to property of the Ghana Household Utility Company (GHUMCO)  the aluminum manufacturing company where the explosion occurred and other entities affected  it was a miracle that no one died in the incident.

I am surprised because looking at the way a gas tanker was split into two and the explosion sounding like an inter-continental ballistic missile, 50 to 60 people could easily have died, he indicated.

Dr Kweku Afriyie continued, Even though lots of people were injured, I think we should thank God that no one was killed and none of those on admission has died.

He stated this when he visited the victims of the gas explosion who are on admission at various health facilities in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis as well as the scene of the incident.

His first port of call was the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi where about 84 of the injured persons were initially admitted.

As at the time the minister visited, 15 of them were still on admission, including two fire service personnel and a police officer.

A woman who was 40 weeks pregnant and was on her way to a hospital for her routine checks was affected and also admitted.

According to the acting medical director of the hospital, Dr Richard Anthony, the pregnant woman delivered through a caesarian session.

From the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital, the regional minister visited the GHAPOHA Hospital in Takoradi where the head of Health Services, Dr Vitus Victor Anaab, told him that 28 people were admitted.

At the Takoradi Hospital, 14 of the injured persons were on admission, out of whom three were being prepared to be transferred to Interburton Hospital in Cape Coast.

Dr Kweku Afriyie assured the victims that the government would collaborate with the authorities of GHUMCO to settle their medical bills.

According to him, none of the victims should be left untreated and appealed to the public and other institutions to assist in diverse ways to ensure the speedy recovery of the victims.

Over 122 persons, including six fire officers, were severely injured in a massive gas explosion that rocked a depot on the main Sekondi-Takoradi road on Tuesday.

About six personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), who initially went to the scene to help douse the raging inferno, were injured together with other pedestrians and passengers  most of who were workers on their way to work  when a second explosion occurred.

One of the injured fire officers, who was in critical condition, was transported to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for treatment.

According to the eyewitnesses, more than six fire tenders were dispatched to the scene to control the spread of the inferno.

The incident also affected other nearby entities, including Total filling station and OLAM Warehouse  which was the most affected.

Some students of Opportunities Industrialization Centre (OIC) along the Sekondi-Takoradi main road were also affected.

The gas cylinders which reportedly exploded

From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi


The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has inaugurated a 10-member committee to review the performance of the party in the December 7, 2016 general election.

The committee, chaired by Dr. Adusei Poku, a lawyer, has been given six weeks to submit its report.

Swearing in the members of the committee, Acting NPP General Secretary John Boadu said they were expected to provide a detailed and honest analysis of the 2016 elections countrywide, on structures and operations at all levels.

He said the committee was also to produce a clear, concise, but detailed report to form the basis for the party's campaign to win the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, i.e. a strategy for 2020 elections; and to provide objective review of the current state of the party.

Mr. Boadu said they were doing the review because the party takes cognizance of the fact that every political programme requires a critical review after the expiration of the execution period.

It is not surprising that at the inception of the 4th Republican Constitution, when the party believed that the 1992 presidential elections were rigged, the party did a review of the election and came up with the popular 'Stolen Verdict.' Likewise, the 1996 presidential and parliamentary elections were reviewed by the party and the lessons learnt and mistakes corrected catapulted the party into winning the 2000 elections overwhelmingly. The party produced what was known as the bought verdict.

Mr Boadu said the NPP in 2008 set up the Heymann Committee to review why the NPP lost the 2008 general election and some of the recommendations given resulted in the amendments of the party's constitution in 2009.

You all know about the bizarre circumstance under which the 2012 elections were declared by the EC and even the Supreme Court pronouncement on the presidential petition filed by the then presidential candidate and now the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The 2012 elections were reviewed as well, he pointed oyut.

He said, Thankfully, the New Patriotic Party won the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections convincingly and we are inaugurating this committee to undertake an independent review of the 2016 elections.

The NPP as a liberal conservative party believes that its internal democracy will thrive only on a democratic enabling environment. It is only based on this that the party will continue to become very attractive to all and sundry.

According to him, For the first time in the history of our Fourth Republic an opposition candidate won the presidential election without going to a second round. The opposition candidate defeated incumbent president one-touch and the margin was over one million votes. The opposition party again won majority of seats in parliament.

Apart from the Chairman of the Committee, other members include Evans Nimako, Secretary; Dr. Ohene Konadu; Joyce Opoku Boateng, former NPP Women's Organizer; Rita Asobayire; Dr. Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya; Nelson Owusu Ansah; Kusi Boafo, former MP for Ejisu and former Foreign Affairs Minister; Akwasi Osei Agyei and Dr. Mark Bediako.

Dr. Opoku Adusei, on behalf of the committee, accepted to review the party's performance and said, We want to do a review of what transpired and try to predict the future for the NPP.

He said the exercise would help the party to strengthen its position to win the 2020 general election.

By William Yaw Owusu


The Supreme Court for the second time, yesterday could not deliver its much expected judgment in the suit concerning the controversial agreement signed between the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government and the United States of America (USA) to bring to Ghana two ex-convicts of Guantanamo Bay.

The court had on February 8, this year, set April 26, 2017 to deliver its decision on the matter but was adjourned until yesterday.

At yesterday's sitting, the seven-member panel of justices at the court, presided over by Justice William Atuguba, indicated that after a judgment conference, they were still unable to reach a decision in respect of some of the reliefs the plaintiffs  Margaret Bamfo, 86, a retired Conference Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Henry Nana Boakye, a student of Ghana School of Law  were seeking.

Further Submissions

Justice Atuguba, who described the decision of the court as monumental, stated that the parties had to make further submissions as to whether or not Ghana can withdraw from an international agreement it had entered into which breaches the Constitution.

The apex court also wants the parties to look at the impact of Articles 83 and 84 as against Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution.

The court has however, ordered the parties to file their submissions independently on or before May 24, 2017 while judgement is slated for June 22.

The two Ghanaians are asking the Supreme Court to declare that President John Mahama acted unconstitutionally by accepting the Al-Qaeda terrorists in Ghana.

The case took a new twist on April 12 when the defendants, made up of the Attorney General and the Minister of the Interior, filed a process averring that Ghana actually has an existing agreement with the United States government regarding the two detainees whose presence continues to generate public uproar.

The revelation by the AG was a sharp departure from the government's widely-held position that the acceptance of the two Al-Qaeda foot soldiers  Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef, 36 and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, 34  was purely a diplomatic arrangement exercised through an executive power by the president.

Plaintiff's Position

Barfuor Awuah, who represents the plaintiffs, had said that after contending in our statement of case that the agreement is of the kind that requires parliamentary approval in accordance with Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution, the AG in their response stated that it is not the kind which is contemplated in Article 75.

He said, By virtue of that disputation by the AG, it was essential for the agreement to be produced otherwise it may seem as though the court was going to determine the case without having looked at the said agreement which is the subject matter of the suit. We want them to produce the agreement for the court to determine the nature and scope of it as to whether it is the kind contemplated by Article 75.

Mr Barfuor Awuah argued among other things, It was our case that Section 1 of the State Secret Act which they were asserting, did not avail them because that bothers on the leakage of state information for the use of foreign powers. In this particular case, we require that information for the enforcement of the constitution and the recipients of that information were not a foreign power. It was the Supreme Court and then a Ghanaian citizen exercising his right under Article 2 (1).

Other justices on the panel were Sophia Akufo, Jones Victor Dotse, Anin-Yeboah and Paul Baffoe Bonney.

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson

[email protected]


ENERGY MINISTER Emmanuel Boakye Agyarko yesterday announced that the first of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) private sector participation (PSP) bidders' conference meant to select a final concessionaire for the company comes off on May 23rd, this year in Accra.

According to him, this has become necessary because any further delays would see Ghana losing $190 million of the compact money.

Mr Agyarko, who spoke after the inauguration of a 7-member ECG PSP stakeholder committee in Accra noted: We will have the first, second and third bidders conference and it is through the bidders conference that we will take the final shape of what is about to happen.

Members of the committee include Majorie Adday of PEF; Ernest Afriyie Asare of Energy Foundation; Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi, General Secretary of PUWU; Ben Boakye of ACEP; Albert Sam from GJA; Zigah Samuel for NALAG; and Kofi Bentil for IMANI.

MR Agyarko emphasised: We will have the bidders' conference on May 23rd, this year. You see, there are two deadlines. The ultimate deadline is that this is a 5-year compact. After 5 years, the compact expires. And that is in 2021. The second intermediate deadline is September 6, 2018. We are supposed to have certain activities conducted in Ghana by September 6, 2018. If you don't complete those steps, the balance of a $190 million which is part of the grant is returned to the US treasury and we will lose that money.

He continued that Ghana has already collected part of the money for upgrading ECG.

If we miss that deadline of September 6, 2018, it means that the concessionaire will now also have to go up over and above the $500 million, to go and find a $190 million to substitute for what is gone back to the US treasury. This is free money and so I think it will be a needless waste if we don't get our acts together to access them.

A bit of clarity

Noting that the ECG deal was not a privatization but rather a private sector participation he explained: When you have a privatization, the assets are taken away from the government and reposed with the private entity as the owner. It means you have privatized the assets, meaning you have changed ownership from the public space into the private sector.

But this is public sector participation. The assets will remain the assets of the Government of Ghana through ECG. It doesn't change. But the assets will be leased to the concessionaire to use after which the assets are returned to Government.

ECG won't die

ECG is not going to die or collapse. A concessionaire comes in, forms a new company, leases the assets of ECG, and uses those assets. Remember also that when the concessionaire takes those assets they are required to invest a minimum of $500 million upgrading those assets. After use, they are returned stock and barrel to the government.

No job losses

Secondly, we have said that there should be no involuntary loss of jobs. It means that the concessionaire is required to keep the employees that are grandfathered from the ECG to the new company. If you look at the HR model of what is coming, the average age of the ECG worker is about 50 years, though they retire at 60. So technically on the average, in 10 years, most of these guys would be retiring. And invariably there would be the need for more workers down the line.

51 percent stake

Explaining what President Nana Addo said recently, he indicated: When we said a minimum of 51, we mean that the Ghanaian or the Ghanaian entities should come up with 51 percent of the money. Now we are looking at $500 million spread over five years, that is, $100 million every year. It means that the Ghanaian entity must be able to come up with a minimum of $50 million every year for 5 years.

If you find Ghanaian entities that can come up with more money, then the number will change. All we are saying is that we want a minimum of 51 percent shareholding in ECG for the Ghanaian.



BY Samuel Boadi

[email protected]
Jihad Chabaan, the Ablemkpe Mawarko branch manager who is standing trial on the charge of assaulting a caterer at the eatery, yesterday opened his defence at the Abeka District Court in Accra.

Lawyers of the accused last week told the court the accused would need the help of an Arabic interpreter to enable him to open his defencee in the case because he is not fluent in the English language.

This request sparked a confrontation between relatives of the complainant, Evelyn Boakye, and those of the accused.

The visibly incensed Evelyn was seen punching her fist in the air as she exited the court room, while relatives moved to restrain and calm her.

Led in evidence by Julio De Medeiros, lawyer for the accused, Jihad vehemently denied ever dipping the face of the caterer into blended pepper.

He told the court that he met Evelyn using the restaurants blender in a manner that often causes it to damage.

Jihad claimed the accused had put too many onions in the blender, causing the blender to generate an unusual sound.

As a result, he poured out the contents into a bowl and turned the ladys cheek, asking her to have a look at what she had caused, adding that it was then that he realised Evelyn was in tears.

The accused further told the court that because of his deficiency in the English language as at the time of writing his statement to the police, the one who assisted him wrote that he touched the head of the victim but that never happened.

Upon enquiring, Jihad claimed that Evelyn said the onions she was blending caused the tears in her eyes.

Hearing continues on Thursday, May 15.

Jihad is before the court assault.

The accused, 26, is reported to have dipped the head of Evelyn into blended pepper on February 26, 2017.

According to the prosecution led by Chief Inspector H.A. Hanson, the accused offensively conducted himself when he angrily called the complainant a prostitute.

Jihad is facing an additional charge of intentionally and unlawfully causing harm to Evelyn when he reportedly dipped the head of the complainant in the blended pepper.

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson

[email protected]
Former President Jerry John Rawlings is expected to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the June 4th Movement in Wa, the Upper West regional capital, this year.

The theme for the celebration, DAILY GUIDE understands, is 'restoring the values of probity, accountability and truth in contemporary politics', even though the celebration appears to have lost momentum in recent times.

A 13-member local organising committee chaired by Alhaji Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, Member of Parliament for Wa Central, and comprising of party executives, United Cadres Front, 31st December Womens Movement, young cadres, party communicators and youth groups, has been inaugurated to see to the successful organisation of the event, according to a statement issued by Saeed A. Faruk, a member of the publicity sub-committee for the event.

The statement indicated that the event is coming to Wa for the first time in the history of the movement.

The inaugural ceremony was witnessed by four key members of the central planning committee, namely Comrade Komla Nyaku, Dr Akwesi Senanu Dzokoto, Dr Donald Agumenu and Comrade Paul Boateng.

Following the inauguration of the local organising committee, six sub-committees have been formed and assigned responsibilities geared towards making this years event an exceptionally historic one, the statement stated.

June 4, 1979 was the day junior officers of the military, inspired by Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, who was himself ostensibly disconcerted with the impunity of the abuse of power showed their revulsion and rejection of the endemic corruption, ineptitude and nepotistic practices and attitudes in every sphere of the Ghanaian society.

Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, the leader and founding father of the movement, along with key individuals associated with the June 4 tradition across the political divide, will be in Wa for the celebration. Expected also is the immediate past President John Dramani Mahama and some prominent members of the National Democratic Congress who will be there to grace the occasion, the statement said.

By Melvin Tarlue
There is confusion at Agona Kwanyako in the Agona East District of the Central Region as some sub-chiefs have vowed not to serve the divisional chief of the area, Nana Ampim Darko V.

According to the sub-chiefs, the divisional chief uses terrorist tactics to intimidate and cow them into submission to the extent of allegedly ordering the police to arrest some of them who challenge his decision.

The irate sub-chief claim that Nana Darko has developed quite an interesting relationship with the top brass of the police in Swedru and have been interfering in issues, which has brought tension in their area.

In view of that, they have called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to call the Agona Swedru police to order to ensure peace and tranquility.

The Tufohen of Agona Kwanyako, Nana Adjoker, made these known during a press conference.

Nana Adjoker accused Nana Darko of unilaterally imposing a ban on the beating of the traditional Asafo drum without consulting the rest of the traditional rulers.

He expressed concern about the way the Kwanyako Water Treatment Plant  which was built through the vision of the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, as per the agreement that inhabitants of the town were entitled to royalty paid by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL)  has been given to Nana Darko.

The Tufohene stated that Nana Darko's ascension onto the Kwanyako royal stool had become a barrier for the people to enjoy the royalty from GWCL.

Nana Adjoker revealed that since the 'Planting for food and jobs' and 'One district, one factory' policies was announced by President Nana Akufo-Addo, the youth have been knocking on their doors for a meeting to find ways of benefiting from the programme but to no avail, due to the behaviour of Nana Darko.

From Sarah Afful, Agona Kwanyako
Anybody who has been following political happenings in this country with keen interest would not be surprised about the seeming unending scuffle between Chairman Bugri Naabu, the NPP Northern Regional Chairman and Otiko Djaba, Minister for Gender cum NPP National Women Organizer.

As young as I am in politics, I have known the duo because of their penchants in attacking politicians who do not share same political doctrine with them. It is still fresh even in the minds of baby politicians like me, how the duo vilified very prominent citizens of this country. Indeed the former president, John Dramani Mahama had his fair share of needless personal attacks from the so called mavericks of the NPP.

Both Bugri Naabu and Otiko Djaba were celebrated by their political henchmen and a certain media cabal for orchestrating unfounded allegations, unsavoury language and insults on the former president. Of course, we were only fortunate to have had that humble democratic leader. I don't know what would have happened in this country, if John Mahama was a violent political character to have given a dose of what emanated from the ugly tongues of the duo.

The political antecedents in the unchecked political activities during elections have really nurtured certain political figures into barbaric political Lords and no amount of political scaffolding from decent political characters, can cure this unfortunate antidemocratic attitude from people who are supposed to be models to the younger generation. Sometimes, it leaves one to wonder the sort of democratic dispensation we are nurturing for the near future as we often allow political desperation to becloud our natural sense of judgement.

Probably, the prophetic projections of Chenua Achebe as elucidated in his novel " Man of the people" published in 1996, are conspicuously manifesting in every facet of our political life. Politicians betray the will of the people after they have gone to the people with pretentious postures to beg for political power, after they have gone to the people with complete exaggeration, fabrications and distortions of facts against their opponents, after they have claimed to have the people at heart and after they have claimed they have angelic political hands, they forget so soon and display their superiority and undue influence shamelessly and dare the people to demonstrate their power against theirs. Such arrogance!!

Yes!!! That is the exactitude of the behavior of some members of the ruling government. Right from the day of winning elections till date, one thing has been consistently obvious, which is patriotism for the New Patriotic Party and not Patriotism for mother Ghana. Properties were destroyed, people were attacked, people are still terrorised, all perpetuated by political fanatics whose alignment to the NPP government, is an open secret. The sanctity of our democracy is thrown to the dugs. If lawless is a prerequisite for political gains, why won't influential political actors fight over the base of those fanatics?

Nothing surprises me about Bugri Naahu and Otiko Djaba. Charity begins at home.

I feel melancholically exasperated at the manner in which the president, Nana Akuffo Addo who has enjoyed the title " Human Right Lawyer" for decades is handling such serious matters of national interest with lethargy. How serious can we be if a whole minister of state without nebulousness and ambiguity that a party chairman collects cows and goats to facilitate appointment? We know per our constitution that the president has the sole mandate to appoint or disappoint so why is Bugri Naabu collecting those animals? Clearly, he is a conduit of bribery and corruption from the presidency and any serious president would have initiated a serious and urgent investigation.

Well, if corruption is as old as Adams and fighting it in governance is a problem, what about the murder allegations on known political actors? What is the national security waiting for? The murder of the Upper East Regional Chairman was one of the most recent political tragedies in the Sub Region and anybody coming out with such revelations and going away with it only depicts a country with bad leadership.

I would be very disappointed if civil society groups do not make sure that Chairman Bugri Naabu who has orally demonstrated his knowledge about the murder of Adams Mahama, is not arrested immediately to assist the court with fresh evidence. We can never eat our cake and have it.

For me, government still has some time to save its little trust and reputation by making sure that democratic leadership prevails over partisanship. The minister should step aside and Bugri Naabu invited by the national security. The secret meetings by government cum NPP leadership rather projects more partisanship under such a disgracefully embarrassing revelations by such party bigwigs. If we don't take care as a country, we will set some bad political precedents that will eat our young democratic dispensation up very soon.

The saying that " everybody for himself, God for us all" cannot work in an enviable democratic nation like Ghana. This is not the Ghana we know. Leadership must wake up from the deep slumber.

Denis Andaban

[email protected]
Sen. Deb Fischer said Thursday she wants "a very thorough investigation" of the role Russia may have played in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and she believes the Senate Intelligence Committee will conduct such an inquiry.

"This is serious," Fischer said. "We need to know what Russia's role was.

"Nobody is going to be sweeping anything under the rug," the Republican senator said during a telephone conference call from Washington.

Fischer said she and a number of other senators were assured earlier in the day by Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina that the investigation will be thorough.

"I hope all of us take the investigation of Russia's role seriously," she said.

However, Fischer said, "a lot of the stories swirling around in the media (about that topic) are not true" and she suggested that "there seems to be a lot of hyperbole in the stories right now."

Asked about President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, Fischer said one only needs to look at the statement prepared by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein assessing Comey's performance to see "the reasons why the director was fired."

On other topics, Fischer said she has been assured that agriculture "will be at the negotiating table" when the Trump administration works on future trade agreements.

Fischer said she welcomed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue's decision to create a new position of undersecretary for trade at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"I think that shows the commitment of the administration when it comes to trade (that would) expand opportunities for our Nebraska producers," she said.

Meanwhile, Fischer said, she will remain in close contact with Gov. Pete Ricketts' office as the Senate proceeds with its own health care reform bill following passage of a House bill.

Republican health care proposals are aimed, in part, at delegating more of the health care coverage and Medicaid funding decisions to the states.

"I'm holding my cards pretty close right now," Fischer said, as the Senate begins to devise its own plan.

"My main goal will be to make sure Nebraskans are going to be taken care of," Fischer said.
11.05.2017 LISTEN

Jeddah, May 11, 2017  The Government of Equatorial Guinea has announced its appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi for supporting its accession to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In January Equatorial Guinea submitted its interest to join OPEC, following the land mark Declaration of Cooperation Agreement signed on December 2017, joining OPEC and 10 other non-OPEC countries to reduce a total of about 1.8 million barrels per day of total oil production in the first 6 months of 2017.

Equatorial Guinea has reconfirmed its voluntary agreement to reduce oil production by 12,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Government of Equatorial Guinea joins Saudi Arabia in supporting an extension of the Agreement of December 10, 2016 for 6 months or longer as needed to balance oil markets.

H.E. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo met with H.E. Abdurrahman Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadli, Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, who was representing H.E. Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, to reaffirm solidarity on the oil production cuts and discuss further cooperation in related sectors. Technicians from both petroleum ministries will be in constant contact to follow up on this agreement.

We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in bringing stability to global oil markets, said H.E. President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Equatorial Guinea reaffirms its commitment to these production cuts and is grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its support to join OPEC.

To learn more about the countrys investment opportunities and the Equatorial Guinea-Saudi Arabia Economic Forum, please visit www.investineg.com.
The US government has suspended $21 million in direct aid to Kenyas Ministry of Health amid concern over corruption, the embassy said on Tuesday, giving emphasis to an issue that is a growing liability for the government before August elections.

Support for HIV drugs and other health programs outside the ministry would continue, the embassy said, adding that the United States invests more than $650 million on health in Kenya annually.

We took this step because of ongoing concern about reports of corruption and weak accounting procedures at the Ministry, the statement from the embassy said. We are working with the Ministry on ways to improve accounting and internal controls.

The announcement adds weight to a rising number of scandals plaguing the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is seeking a second and final five-year term in presidential, parliamentary and local elections on Aug. 8.

The so-called Afya House scandal, named after the building housing the Ministry of Health, was based on an audit report leaked to Kenyan media in October.

The audit showed the ministry could not account for five billion Kenyan shillings ($49 million) and funds meant for free maternity care had been diverted, newspapers reported.

Officials at Kenyas anti-corruption commission did not return calls seeking comment on Tuesday, but the ministry of health issued a statement.

The ministry has been raising matters raised in the internal audit investigations following the Quality Assurance audit by the National Treasury, the statement said.

Other autonomous institutions  are undertaking independent investigations.

Last year, Kenyas anti-graft chief told Reuters that a third of its state budget  the equivalent of about $6 billion  was lost to corruption every year.

The government disputed the figure, blaming poor paperwork. In October, Kenyatta infuriated voters by telling them he could not tackle corruption because his hands were tied. He criticised the judiciary and other agencies for not doing more about the problem.

Kenyan doctors and nurses say the corruption means that hospitals are often left without basic equipment, from drugs to gloves. Kenyan doctors in public hospitals went on strike from December to March, demanding a pay increase and improved working conditions.

-Reuters


In writing this review, declare that the entirety of any interpretation and opinion contained in this review is my own, original opinion; that I had not, prior to its authorship, been encouraged or instigated by any person or organization to write it. For the avoidance of doubt, I declare that I have not been hired by any person or organization to undertake this review. Where I have made reference to or quoted from the work of others, I have endeavoured to acknowledge the source except where, for the sake of confidentiality, I have refrained from specifying the source.

ABSTRACT

It sounds trite, although true, that in electoral politics, there will always be a victor and a loser.

To the victor, the initial euphoria of winning the elections makes them forget to retrace their steps to find out the real reasons for the victory. This may lead to a dangerous condition of complacency whereby it may be thought that their superior message was the main reason for the victory.

To the loser, the initial shock of having lost completely dis-orientates them. In Africa and other emerging electoral democracies, such a shock may take them through a mourning process which may include, blaming the victor for rigging the elections. As the days wear on, they may begin to look into themselves to find the reasons. Instead maintaining a cool head to undertake a 360 degree self-appraisal, the anger stage may tempt some of them to blame external factors or bogeymen who might have interfered in the electoral process to cause their defeat. They may also direct the knife unto one another, blaming other people within their political grouping for not working hard enough or jumping into bed with the opponents against their own political grouping.

While such things happen, the losers may be less likely to undertake empirical research to understand clearly the real or possible reasons for the behavior of the electorate in not voting for them.

For this reason, I thought of undertaking a desktop review of the 2016 election results in order to establish the extent to which there is a relationship between the electoral figures and the anecdotal claims by NDC functionaries and leaders.

INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Since the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana, while the victor (the New Patriotic Party) has been busy patting one anothers shoulder for a good-job done, the main loser, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has been going through a dozy mourning process.

Initially, they could not even believe that they had lost the elections. I understand that about twenty minutes before President John Dramani Mahama conceded defeat, some NDC leaders, including people who claim to be non-NDC but in reality are more NDC power-brokers than most of its leaders, were assuring people that the NDC was winning. Wait for the Electoral Commissions results: we are winning, one of them is reported to have assured a concerned observer of the events.

When President Mahama finally conceded defeat, and the Electoral Commission also came out to confirm the results, they then began looking for reasons. Initially, the spotlight turned unto one Joe Anokye, a Ghanaian who had reportedly worked within the US Space Agency (NASA) in a telecommunication role and who the NPP had reportedly engaged to help them to electronically collate their results. The conspiracy theory was that Mr. Anokye had hacked into the system of the Electoral Commission and had changed the results coming from the polling stations and constituencies. This was the initial belief of several NDC members some of who initially even asked for the Mr. Anokye to be arrested.

As the days wore on, various NDC members began to throw accusations, blaming one another, for being the reasons behind their defeat. Most of the accusations were based on anecdotes, without any empirical basis. In the light of this, the National Executive Committee set up a Committee to find out the reasons for the defeat.

The membership of the Committee is interesting. It includes at least one person who, himself, is supposed to have a keen eye to be the next flag bearer of the NDC. In addition, at least two other persons on the Committee are in the private camp of the aspiring flag bearer. Whether the report will be objective and not skewed in its findings (including the temptation to cast slurs on other potential contestants), will be known when the Committee publishes its findings.

It appears that the main methodology of this Committee has been to go round the country to solicit the views of local party executives and activists as to what caused the defeat.

From the various press reports, it looks likely that rather than researching for empirical evidence, the Committee may be tempted to rely on the subjective claims of NDC functionaries, who thought they were left out of the gravy train of election funds.

Press reports are replete with claims and counter claims by various NDC people regarding the reasons why the party lost the elections.

Initially, some NDC people pointed accusing fingers at Ex-President Rawlings for the defeat referring to his alleged anti-NDC innuendoes and smear remarks about the loss of direction of the NDC leadership while extolling the virtues of the NPP leader. Not long after that, the recrimination moved unto some members of the NDC National Executive. They were accused of keeping campaign monies, instead of distributing them among party branches and foot-soldiers. The accused party executives then hit back, claiming to have been sidelined by Flagstaff House (an apparent jab at President Mahama and the people around him)...

Some of the claims against Flagstaff House were interesting. There were claims that Flagstaff House funded their separate campaign outside the party instead of funding the party structure. Such critics point to the sudden appearance of hitherto unknown groups, which I will refer to Mahama groups, celebrities and other actors and actresses from the Kumasi film industry. It was asserted that funds that could have been used for effective collective campaigning were spent on such groups and individuals, including others such as Madam Akua Donkoh and Osofia (a Nigerian actor who was imported to feature in NDC adverts). In addition to these groups were the pro Spio Garbra camp, who may have been funded from different sources.

However plausible some of these assertions may have been, they bring to the fore serious issues regarding party funding. Where did the party hierarchy expect Flagstaff House to get party funds from? One would have thought that it was rather the party structures that were expected to raise funding. It will be very strange, indeed, if the Party structure can say they did not raise any funding at all and only expected the President to raise funds. If they did, what did they do with the money? (This would be the subject of a later discussion).

Soon after, the floodgates were thrown wide open. Everybody who thought they mattered and should have been given a substantive role started throwing accusations. There were also others who, in their guilt, felt that the best strategy to extricate themselves from potential blame was to throw some accusation first.

Among the serious pitfalls of the NDC government admitted by a former NDC government official was the Bus branding saga (when the NDC government handed out a contract of GH3.6 million to the wife of an NDC functionary to label public transport buses in 2015). According to that government official the bus branding issue was an avoidable mistake .

A former Ambassador under the NDC government was also reported to have blamed the defeat on the unattractive image of the NDC government. [ii]

A group calling itself Action Movement of the National Democratic Congress also blamed President Mahamas siblings and his wife for causing the defeat of the NDC. [iii] Among their reasons were:

That President Mahama had described himself as a a dead goat who was impervious to criticism and insults;

That the Presidents wife printed 20 million T-shirts in China when she could have given the job to local printers to provide opportunities for Ghanaians;

That the Presidents brothers were allocated major contracts in the country including contracts from Airport, Roads, Cocobod, GNPC, ECG , VRA, Ministry of Power and all major contracts in the country.

That If you dont see JM brothers, you cannot get a contract and if you see them, then you have to pay money before you get the contract, frustrating foreign contractors and companies by taking Ghanaian contractors for granted and creating enemies for the NDC party,

That the appointment of the Campaign Coordinator by the President was a misjudgment since the latter was ineffective;

There were other grievances given as reasons for the defeat, some of which were:

The President did not heed to wise counsel from senior party members but relied on young, inexperienced handlers, who suppressed dissenting views in the run-up to the elections[iv].

Dr. Kwabena Adjei, a former National Chairman of the party, was so peeved that he blamed the NDC loss on the partys refusal to re-elect him at the last NDC Congress. Nobody involved me in the campaign; I involved myselfno I wasnt invitedI tried to get access to the President and I didnt get access. When I noticed things were going wrong, I tried and tried and tried but I didnt get access so I mobilized myselfand did what I could do,.(ibid)

Party leaders such as Koku Anyidoho, Deputy General Secretary; Anita Desooso, Vice Chairperson; Joseph Bipoba Naabu, NDC MP for Yunyoo; Yaw Boateng Gyan, former National Organizer, all queued up in a chorus that the NDC lost because, the President sidelined most of the executives and dealt only with the young guys (ibid)

Baba Jamal, a defeated NDC MP also stated that the NDCs process for the selection of parliamentary candidates, allowing MMDCEs and Presidential staffers to contest sitting MPs, as well as appointments to sensitive positions of people hitherto detached from the party but who, once appointed, treated authentic party members as second-class citizens, accounted for the defeat.

Even a Minister under President Mahama, waded into the blame game. He stated, among other things, that perception of corruption, the opulent lifestyle of government appointees, (except him), dumsor the IMF conditionalities, neglect to undertake projects in NDC strongholds, showcasing the Kumasi Central Market in the Volta Region, and improperly articulated campaign messages all combined to cause the NDCs defeat [v] .

The electoral figures speak for themselves. However, it is the analysis of those figures and other objective factors that should be of interest to the non-partisan observer.

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW

The aim of this review is to look at the electoral figures to ascertain the attitude of voters in the 2016 elections. It is also an attempt to interrogate some of the issues of the campaign, some government actions or inactions, and other issues that were generally raised by some members of the body politic before the elections.

This review does not claim to have all the answers behind the loss by the NDC of the elections. However it is hoped that it may assist in raising certain issues that can be properly linked with the attitude of voters. Although some of the issues relating to low voter turnout are already well-known, the review attempts to examine further where these issues were more pronounced and what possible factors may have accounted for those.

For example, to what extent could the liberation of campaign funds by NDC Executives (a friend calls it editing); or Ex-President Rawlings utterances be attributable to the NDC losing the elections?

REVIEW METHODOLOGY

This review was conducted by looking at the figures contained in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary election results. Apart from the summary of the results released by the Electoral commission, it was not possible to obtain the detailed results on constituency basis from the Electoral Commissions own website. Up till the time of writing this review, the Electoral Commission has not been able to publish the detailed results on their website; unlike in the 2004 elections and those before it. (It is sad that not even the 2008 and 2012 election results have been detailed by the electoral Commission on their website)

I therefore had to rely on publications from Ghanaweb, Peacefmonline and Citifm. Sometimes, there have been slight differences between the figures of the various publications. However, the differences are not significant in making the observations contained in the review.

I also relied on news items and feature articles from a variety of websites, and publications, some of which have been credited.

There were also random discussions with certain individuals in the period before the elections regarding their standard and quality of living, vis-a-vis government performance, which have also been part of the basis of this analysis. Although these discussions were not conducted along the strict lines of social research methodology, I believe that they are helpful in determining how the voting pattern turned out.

Unlike most social surveys, where outcomes are measured in percentages, I decided to use the raw voting figures. However tedious this type of presentation might seem, it is intended to achieve the effect of making the reader realise how, in numerical terms, the actual votes moved.

There was one assumption in the determination of the voter turnout. Considering that Ghana has no systematic system of recording deaths, which could have enabled the Electoral Commission to accurately eliminate deceased voters from the register, and considering that there has been no new electoral register since 2012, it was assumed that up to 500,000 voters might have been deceased. This figure is generous but it may help in my analysis.

Continue reading from the attachment!!!!!
Accra, Ghana, 11th May 2017: Africas leading online travel agency, Jumia Travel has announced the launch of its loyalty programme aimed at creating more value for its loyal customers by enabling them to save as much as 10 to 20% exclusive discount on hotel plus flight bookings and holiday packages.

The programme comes with incentives such as late check-out, free airport pickup, welcoming drink and early check-in.

The Chief Executive Officer of Jumia Travel, Paul Midy made the disclosure recently through the companys weekly newsletter.

This stride is part of our efforts to democratize travel in Africa  making travel within Africa easier and cheaper. And for our Travel Smart customers who are our frequent and returning customers used to the Jumia e-commerce ecosystem, theres no better way for us to help them book the best hotels at the best price. We are constantly on our toes as a business to offer more value in terms of pricing, more hotel & flight options in order to appreciate them, he said.

Thanks to the Jumia Travel Smart programme, hotels get access to a customer-base of registered and frequent users who are the only ones having access to these special rates, and benefit from increased visibility and marketing on our special campaigns to promote Jumia Travel Smart.

''You don't have to be rich to travel well. We at Jumia Travel firmly believe this; we know that there has been no better time to avail the best rates to frequent travellers than now. Jumia Travel Smart is designed to deliver the best hotels at fantastic prices to our loyal customers said Omolara Adagunodo, Country Manager - Jumia Travel,Ghana.

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Jumia Travel was founded in 2013 by Jumia and is backed by MTN, Rocket Internet, Millicom, Orange, Axa and financial partners.
On May 5, 2017, authorities in Cote dIvoire introduced to the countrys Parliament a new media Bill containing provisions that criminalise press offences. The introduction of the Bill occasioned spontaneous protests and condemnation by the media and press freedom community in the country.

On May 3, 2017 as the world celebrated press freedom day, members of the Ivorian media fraternity and free expression advocates marched to denounce the imminent introduction of the controversial law. The development is considered a major roll back of gains that had been made in improving press freedom in the ongoing post-conflict democratic processes.

Sections of the new Bill prescribe prison terms of up to three years for certain offences. The Bill when passed into law will also allow for the imposition of fines of up to 3,000,000 CFA Francs (approximately US$4,988) for other offences. In a country where press freedom is already challenged by a number of legal and non-legal restrictions, the Bill, when passed into law, could have a further chilling effect on the media.

A provision in the new Bill deemed be very broad states that a person is liable to a prison term of one to five years and a fine of 300,000 to 3,000,000 CFA Francs, anyone who by means of press or by others means of publication: incite to theft and vandalism, murder, to set fire to and destroy, by which ever means, public or private propriety; to any forms of violence against individuals and institutions or on their properties, or justifies the same crimes or offences; who incites to xenophobia, hateful speech, racial hatred and all forms of hate speech; glorifies war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide crimes or collaboration with the enemy, incites military and security forces to insubordination and rebellion, acts against the national territorial integrity, internal and external security of the state.

While it would seem logical that anyone, including journalists, who commits any of above offences should answer for their actions, the above provision is open to a wide range of subjective interpretations and can be exploited by politicians and influential people to settle scores with critical journalists. This in turn has the potential to compel the media into self-censorship.

Again, Articles 174 and 175 of the Ivorian Criminal Code adequately take care of such infractions. A new bill specifically targeting the media is therefore alarming as it suggests a new resolve by the authorities to deal with the media.

The provisions of the intended new media law is particularly worrying giving that it seeks to replace the existing press law of 2004, which makes it clear that press offences shall not liable to prison sentences.

We are worried about the intended law; there are some articles which are disturbing in this new bill, said Moussa Traore, president of Cote dIvoire National Union of Journalists (Union Nationale des Journalistes de la Cote dIvoire  UNJCI).

The MFWA is worried about the intended introduction of the repressive legislation. Already, the Ivorian media have been going through many forms of repression including regular suspension of media outlets by regulatory bodies and attacks on journalists, said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA.

The intended law is a piece of legislation that will further cripple the media in the country and that will not bode well for the ongoing post-conflict recovery and the democratic consolidation processes in Cote dIvoire. The MFWA urges the Ivorian authorities to remove from the Bill, provisions that criminalise media and speech offences. The MFWA also urges the media community and other actors to prevail on the authorities to focus on improving media freedom in the country rather than adopting measures that will further constrict an already repressed media environment
11.05.2017 LISTEN

The Office of Fred Amankwah  Sarfo receives the inauguration of the Addo Kufuor Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Review Committee for the 2016 elections with great admiration.

The office considers the decision of NPPs National Council as a pragmatic step towards building a more formidable front for the 2020 election as a party. We are most grateful to the Leadership of our party, the NPP for this decision.

Our party is noted for its leadership in conducting post-election reviews of Ghana's Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. References can be made to the 1992, 1996, 2008 and 2012 elections where such reviews contributed significantly for some amendments of the party's constitution. These reviews helped in reshaping Ghana's electoral process and enhancing the countrys democratic credentials as other political parties take cues from us to inform their internal party democracy.

We trust the Committee to judiciously perform its mandates to help advance the frontier of participatory democracy.

It is noteworthy that our party commissioned the previous electoral reviews to ascertain the factors that contributed to the partys lost in those elections.

We are therefore of a considered opinion that the Review Committees were equally necessary for past elections won by the party in general elections as in the 2000 and 2004.

It is for this reason that the Office of Fred Amankwah  Sarfo is delighted with the current development initiated by our partys National Executive Council as timely.

The report of Hon Addo Kuffours 2016 Election Review Committee can provide a road map and the foundation to implement strategic plans to help us secure subsequent election victories starting with the 2020 general election.

We pledge our support to the post electoral reviews at all levels of our partys structures from the polling stations, constituencies, regional and at the national level.

We are ready to submit proposals and suggestions to the review committee on a number of issues the research department of the Office of Fred Amankwah  Sarfo has assembled.

These include:

The contributions of Voluntary Associations and/or Organizations, party Loyalists and Front liners at the community levels, the numerous online groups and others whose efforts and contributions continue to make our party great.

Many of these members of our party should be acknowledged and appreciated and conscious efforts made to reward them.

We also submit that the Addo Kuffour Committee spend some time on the issue of factions that nearly marred our efforts at building a formidable front towards the 2016 elections.

This review process presents us with an opportunity to revisit and consider the readmission of the suspended executives of our party for reconciliation, reintegration and to create harmony within and without the party.

Additionally, the review process affords us the prospects to amend certain aspects of the party's internal electoral processes.

We recommend a more broader participation through the expansion of our electoral college to include all polling station executives using the 2015 flagbearership elections as a case study. This will give more recognition to our party generals at the polling station level and enhance our democratic credentials.

We wish the Addo Kuffour Committee the very best and look forward to a fruitful engagement with them as we all work together for the advancement and development of our great party

Thank you.

Yours sincerely.

Issued by:

Signed for

Office of Fred Amankwah  Sarfo

Benjamin Akowuah (Spokesperson / Personal Aide)
11.05.2017 LISTEN

Residents of Nhyiaeso, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region were on Thursday thrown into a state of shock when a youngman known as Y. B suddenly started behaving strangely after he confessed to digging the grave of a popular and powerful fetish priest, Anthony Nimo, who died last year.

The youngman, who is said to be a Sakawa boy ransacked the grave and collected every bone he found and consulted a fetish priest to perform rituals for him to become rich.

The fetish priest is said to have told him, that the persons whose bones he had supplied was someone who had fortified himself spritually while alive and as a result his bone couldnt be used for money rituals even in his death.

The family of the Spiritualist visited his grave Thursday morning which marks exactly a year of his passing on, to perform some rites but were horrified when they realized that his remains were no where to be found.

The family then rushed to the Nhyiaeso Police station to lodge a complaint.

But an eye witness, Kenneth Owusu Sarfo told Kasapa News that not long after the family left the police station, news went round that Y.B had started behaving wierdly, had stipped naked and was confessing to ransacking the late fetish priests grave at dawn for money rituals.

The police were invited to the scene following which they picked him up.
A Supreme Court judge, Justice Jones Dotse, has expressed worry over the conduct of some High Court judges who disregard a ruling by the Supreme Court that says all offences in the country are bailable.

According to him, there is a deliberate attempt by some judges, magistrates, prosecutors, and the public to undo the decision meant to sanitise the criminal remand system in the country.

The Supreme Court, by a 5-2 decision, struck out the countrys law on non-bailable offences. The court described the law, which had been in existence for nearly three decades, as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court made the ruling in a case titled Martin Kpebu v Attorney General filed in February 2015.

Prior to the ruling, the law said suspects facing charges such as treason, subversion, murder, robbery, hijacking, piracy, rape, and defilement or escape from lawful custody could not be admitted to bail. The statutory restrictions were in line with Section 96 (7) of Ghanas Criminal Procedure Code as amended.

The same statute forbade judges from granting bail in cases where a person was being held for extradition to a foreign country. Again, Ghanaian law  after relevant amendments during the fourth Parliament of the fourth republic  prohibited presiding judges from granting bail to suspects standing trial for breaking the nations drug laws.

But after the Supreme Court struck out the law on non-bailable offences, a circular was issued that a court that has the jurisdiction to hear cases such as murder, rape, treason, piracy, and defilement, among others, could grant suspects bail.

Justice Dotse, speaking at a law symposium at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), said the conduct of the judges who disregard the Supreme Courts ruling that all offences are bailable, threatens to destroy the criminal justice system.

It appears there is a coordinated and deliberate attempt by some judges, magistrates, prosecutors, and the public to undo the effects of the decision in the Martin Kpebu case. Even before the decision in the Martin Kpebu case was delivered in order to sanitise the criminal remand system in the country, the following circular and directives were issued at the instance of her Ladyship the Chief Justice on 11 November 2009. The above directive was complied with for a brief period and due to logistical constraint, in the mindset of the judges and magistrates, it is now honoured more in the breach than in its observance, he stated.

It will be surprising that despite all the above efforts by the judiciary as an institution coupled with the recent decision in Martin Kpebu vs Attorney General, the issue of grant of bail in the criminal justice system which should have been sanitised and brought under decent control still remains a mirage and threatens to destroy the criminal justice system.
A Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho has taken a swipe at the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) questioning the two bodies over their silence in the controversial issues emerging from the governing party.

He said it is disappointing that the two bodies have failed to take any strong moral stance on the fall out from the altercations of the two leaders in the NPP which somewhat has criminal dimensions to it.

As a responsible political party in the entity of the NDC, we are saying that were surprised that the Ghana Bar Association(GBA), the Ghana Journalist Association(GJA), are quiet on this issue. It is a shame and they must bow down their heads in shame, and its a disgraceful conduct on their part, because if it was I Koku Anyidoho who said this, only God knows what the GBA would be saying by now. Why this level of hypocrisy and double standards? he questioned on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM Thursday.

However, he commended the Ghana Integrity Initiative for demanding a serious probe into the worrying issues from the governing party.

I salute the Ghana Integrity Initiative(GII) whos been saying that the apology is not enough and that the alleged bribery claim must be investigated, he said.

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, and the Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daniel Bugri Naabu, have been bonded by the party to be of good behavior.

The decision was taken after a National Council meeting by the party Tuesday over the recent public altercations between the Gender Minister, and the Partys Northern Regional Chairman, Daniel Bugri Naabu.

The two leaders have apologized unreservedly for their action, but Anyidoho insisted that the apologies wont suffice the criminal allegations made against each other over their feud.
11.05.2017 LISTEN

Fake drugs are now a multibillion dollar international industry, but for those who have ended up inadvertently taking them the personal consequences can be life-changing.

Natalie-Jade from Manchester was 18 when she decided she wanted to lose weight. The British teenager did a quick Google search, and the pills she found promised instant results.

The pictures [of the people] looked great, she says. Photoshop does wonders for the internet.

She didnt think too much about any side effects. I just thought I was a bit invincible.

But when she first took them she started sweating more and her heart was racing. She hardly ate, and had to drink lots of water.

After eight weeks she stopped taking them, but the symptoms continued, and two years later she collapsed and ended up in hospital.

The doctors who examined her said her heart rate was so fast it was as though shed had 30 cups of coffee. They were surprised she hadnt had a heart attack.

Now aged 26, Natalie-Jade still has occasional heart murmurs.

Image caption: Last year the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) shut down more than 4,000 websites selling fake medicines

Natalie-Jade bought her pills online.

Websites offering fake medicines such as the ones that she bought are increasing rapidly.

A big problem is that many of the websites are hosted in jurisdictions which may not be receptive to takedown requests from a UK government agency, says Lynda Scammell.

Ms Scammell is senior policy adviser to the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which regulates medicines in the UK.

Last year the MHRA took down more than 4,000 websites selling fake medicines, up from just under 1,400 websites in 2015.

In 2016, more than 13.6m worth of fake medicines and medical devices were seized in the annual operation organised by Interpol, including three million doses of erectile dysfunction pills and more than 300,000 doses of slimming pills.

Fake medicines for life-threatening conditions, including breast cancer, bone cancer and leprosy were also taken.

Ms Scammell says an embarrassment factor is contributing to the problem, with people wanting to buy slimming or erectile dysfunction drugs online instead of in person.

But there is also a convenience factor.

People get used to I want it, I want it now, she says.

The end result is that fake drugs are now a multibillion dollar industry, according to the World Health Organization.

Image caption: Big seizures of fake drugs only scratch the surface of the illegal trade

But it is not only a problem outside of official channels. Fake drugs can also make their way into legitimate supply chains.

The global nature and complexity of the supply chain increases the risks of that chain being infiltrated.

For example, one dose of a pneumococcal vaccine made by a large drug firm involves 1,700 people and more than 400 raw materials. From start to finish, this process takes more than two-and-a-half years.

It is one of the most technically complex vaccines to manufacture and we produce it in many parts of the world, the firm says.

In 2007 fake medicines got into the NHS , with the MHRA forced to issue four emergency recall notices in a matter of days. More recently in 2011, fake versions of Roches multibillion-dollar cancer drug Avastin made their way into the US healthcare system.

The big drugs firms say they have cleaned up their act since then and that their supply chains are safe.

They are reluctant to discuss the security measures theyve taken for fear of revealing their methods to the very counterfeiters they are trying to prevent. But processes can include having dedicated testing laboratories using packaging and printing that make counterfeits more easy to spot.

But the problem is that in some countries, manufacturers will buy from sources they cant trust, says Michael Deats, World Health Organization group lead on substandard and falsified medical products.

Thats dangerous, he says.



Image caption: An outbreak of meningitis in Niger led to a proliferation of fake drugs

West and Central Africa and South East Asian countries in particular have problems with criminals being able to sell fake drugs to licensed distributors, who then sell them on to places people trust, such as hospitals and pharmacies.

The criminals behind the fake drugs increase the supply when theres a big demand. An outbreak of meningitis in Niger, for example, led to a shortage of vaccines, which was responded to quickly by the fakers, Mr Deats says.

Natural disaster, war, civil unrest  its a business opportunity, he says.

The criminals behind many fake medicine operations can be highly organised, but are probably not what everyone thinks of as being part of organised crime  gangsters with interests in narcotics and guns, says Mr Deats.

Image caption: The people behind fake drugs have often built sophisticated networks

He says they are more likely to be rogue businessmen, who may have worked in legitimate pharmaceutical supplies, and who know the systems.

Theyll often deal through offshore companies locked up in tax havens, and have the wherewithal to produce millions of doses of a particular fake medicine.

These are very sophisticated networks, he says. You see a fair bit of investment in some cases industrial-scale production.

Its not in their interests to be discovered, so rather than obviously poisoning people, which would attract attention, its far better to make medicines with ineffective ingredients.

These are tough to identify. These medicines visually look like the real thing, he says.

But they just dont work.

So if someone then dies of a disease like malaria, its assumed that they didnt respond to the treatment, rather than the treatment being fake, he says.

It is a low-risk activity, and its lucrative. Of course thats going to attract the wrong sort of people, he says.

The risks of capture are low, and the profits are high.

But for those who have taken fake drugs, such as Natalie-Jade, the consequences can be life changing.

Natalie-Jades advice to people like her who are trying to slim is to go through the proper channels rather than trying to find a quick fix online.

Dont believe that youre invincible, she says.
11.05.2017 LISTEN

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has appealed to the heads of diplomatic missions in Ghana to take bold steps to advice their governments back home to arrest those who would be found culpable of maltreating Ghanaians abroad.

She said the time had come for Ghanaians to feel protected outside the country, as the objective of the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government is to use diplomacy to give enhanced protection for citizens abroad. According to her: An attack on any Ghanaian anywhere, is an attack on the sovereignty of Ghana.

The Minister made this assertion yesterday, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she met the heads of the diplomatic missions in Accra.



The meeting was an interactive session with the heads of diplomatic missions from the Asia, Pacific and Middle-East regions. She reiterated the governments key focus, which is to build one factory in each district, one dam in one village, within a broader objective of making the agriculture sector become the bedrock of our economy.

To achieve this objective, the Minister stated that Ghana would need the support of the diplomatic heads in seeking new markets for Ghanaian products in their various countries, and in marketing the country as an ideal and safe investment destination.

Secondly, our objective is to use diplomacy to give enhanced protection for our citizens abroad. After all, an attack on any Ghanaian anywhere, is an attack on the sovereignty of Ghana. This point must be stressed, as we continue to receive reports of abuse of our citizens who are recruited by job agents to go to work in some Gulf States, she said.

Mad Ayorkor Botchwey told the leaders that this is an issue they must openly confront in an honest and contrite manner. She further noted that they must not only strongly condemn them, (the maltreatments), but take practical and urgent steps to address them.

In that connection, we wish to appeal to you all to take bold steps to arrest these unfortunate developments of the maltreatment of Ghanaian labour migrants in your various countries.

We demand that those found culpable should face the legal consequences to serve as a deterrent to others. We are very confident that your governments will not condone such unlawful actions.

Therefore, if we can work collectively to stem this negative trend, Ghanaians will no longer live with the wrong perception that countries in the Gulf Region are notorious places for maltreatment of hired migrant labour.

In conclusion, she urged the heads of diplomatic missions to work assiduously with the Ghana government to achieve these two key objectives: first, to leverage the goodwill, democratic credentials, and respect of our country, to attract development/business partners to help realise our desire for faster economic growth, job creation and sustainable development, on the back of a revamped agricultural sector;

And secondly, to ensure the fair treatment of all our citizens who are recruited to undertake menial jobs in your various countries.

On the other hand, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, emphasised the effect of illegal mining activities in the country, most of which are being championed by some foreigners, while stating the governments willingness to clamp down on such activities.

Through a 10-minute documentary on illegal mining, in which some Chinese were seen actively doing illegal mining, the Minister called on the heads of diplomatic missions to help the government put a stop to that, as its effects are devastating.

By Maxwell Ofori
*His Profile*

*Edumadze Nana Yaw* is his name.He was born in Ajumako on the 22nd of October, 1992.

He completed both his primary and Junior High School at *Ridge Church School* in 2008.

He again completed his Senior High education at *Mfantsipim*. He furthered his education at *University of Ghana* with Bachelor Degree in Geography

His is known by many as *OSONOBA* because his open bias for NPP in Student Activism.

His is a *Political Philathropist*,Being that, he has helped a lot of the party youth to win elections without taking a dime. And a *Political Strategist and *Grassroots man*

To the NPP fraternity, these positive traits can not be far factched from his father *Hon.Isaac Edumadze*

A former Central Region Minister and a political colossal who with the help of some party gurus like Hon. kennedy Ohene Agyapong and Hon. Christina Churchur made Central Region reject their Own (Prof. J.E.A Mills) and voted massively for NPP in the 2004 General Election for the first time in our fourth Republic.

In 2016 Campaign, he campaigned with his PC Ransford Kwesi Nyarko at Ajumako Enyan Essiam Constituency and was actively involved in *National Youth Wing* campaign team.

He was also part of the *First Lady, Madam Rebecca Akufo Addo's campaign team *The Change Crusaders* during the 2016 campaign.

He has managed numerous *TESCON* candidates in students election thus his deep understanding of *TESCON* politics which is a plus for his candidature.

His good relationship with *TESCON* executives nationwide gave him the title *TESCON PATRON*

A brief summary of who

*Edumadze Nana Yaw* is.

He is an asset to the *National Youth Wing* of our party and Central Region would be more than happy to have him as the Next *Central Region Youth Organizer*
Banks that are exposed to the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs') debts want government to draw out a plan to facilitate payments from the Energy Sector Levies Act [ESLA].

They argue that the plan will facilitate payments and help them make the necessary provisions accordingly.

Explaining the impact of the absence of a detailed plan on the repayment scheme for banks, the Executive Director of CAL Bank, Philip Owiredu said the banks have been finding difficulty adjusting for the unpaid debts.

Unfortunately, government has not been able to put any structure round the regular cash flow coming out from this levy to be able to model anything and determine how much to be disbursed every month, he asserted.

Mr. Owiredu was responding to questions during the bank's fact behind the figures session for its first quarter performance for 2017.

According to him, even though some payments are being effected, an agreed plan should help both government and the affected banks.

BDC debts estimated at 4 billion cedis

Claims accruing to the BDCs for 2014 and the first half of 2015, amounted to 2.5 billion cedis.

Although accurate figures are yet to be reported on their claims post 2015, the banks are projecting the figure to increase to about 4 billion cedis.

Government has since made payments totaling 1.5 billion cedis with an outstanding amount of 1.9 billion cedis.

Philip Owiredu further stated that the model should help reduce the rising NPLs of banks.

The law says the levy shall be in place for ten years and on an annual basis, out of the levy, at least about 90 million cedis is going to be used to pay the BDCs,

So the cashflow is coming in and it is being held by banks including CAL bank and that is what we want to engage government on to ensure that at least we agree on what we are supposed to do whether it is going to take a year or ten to get it through, he observed.

CAL Bank's 2017 Q1 performance

In the first quarter of 2017, CAL Bank's customer deposits increased from 1.6 in the first quarter of 2016 to 2.3 billion cedis.

Also the bank's NPLs went up to 9.2 percent from 4.8 percent.

Meanwhile, its profit dropped by 22.3 percent in the first quarter of 2017.

The figure dropped from 40.8 million in the first quarter of 2016 to 31.7 million cedis in the same period in 2017.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has suspended trials of GMO cotton in the country after US Company Monsanto withdrew funding.

Monsanto, the worlds leading Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seeds producer is facing challenges in Burkina Faso after that country rejected GMO cotton and began a phased withdrawal of the novel products. Farmers have now returned to growing conventional seeds.

The trials being undertaken by CSIR scientists form part of regulatory requirements before the GMO cotton can be commercialized in Ghana. The development means there will be no GMO cotton for farmers to make use of anytime soon.

Work on the project froze in 2016 but Researcher at the Savaanah Agric Research Institute (SARI) of the CSIR and Principal Investigator on the project Dr. Emmanuel Chamba tells Joy news its now been officially suspended.

After two years of the on-station confined field trials, the next step was to go to the farmers field. After which we will be thinking of commercial release. Unfortunately, because of the situation in Burkina Faso, Monsanto pulled out.

"And because Monsanto was funding the program, they suspended it in Ghana also, Dr. Chamba explained in an interview with Joy News Joseph Opoku Gakpo.

The GMO cotton known as Bt cotton, has been engineered to naturally resist attacks by the bollworm insect and other pests. The trials began in 2012. It was supposed to last for about six years before the GMO cotton can get to the market.

The trials had proved promising as less pesticides were used on GMO cotton fields in the Northern Region, compared to conventionally produced ones. Whilst cotton farmers have to spray fields up to six times within the cotton plants life cycle for conventional varieties, only two cycles of spray was needed on the GMO fields as the seeds had inbuilt resistance to the pests.

Dr. Chamba says farmers are worried they will not get the benefit of growing GMO seeds for a long time to come. At the moment, we are going back to the conventional variety. Where they have to be spraying (pesticides) several times.

"Nobody wants to spray so many times. But because we have not concluded the experiment, farmers cannot grow that variety, Dr. Chamba lamented.

Dr. Chamba, however, says they are not giving up. They are looking for fresh donor support to resume the trials in Ghana for the benefit of farmers. If we can get money from any other place to finish the trial, we will welcome it and finish the trials, he stated.

GMO cotton was made available to farmers in Burkina Faso in 2010 and by 2013, 70 percent of all cotton grown in that country was GMO. But concerns arose that fibre produced from the GMO cotton was low compared to the conventional.

The cotton fibre resulting from GMO cotton reportedly had shorter length. But in the textiles industry, the length of the fibre is crucial because the longer ones allow for several spinning rounds thereby producing better quality textiles.

The shorter fibre resulting from GMO cotton drew protests from cotton companies in Burkina Faso, resulting in a decision in 2015 for a phased withdrawal of the GMO variety. The cotton companies accused Monsanto of deceit and made a formal request demanding 100 million US Dollars in compensation.

Edwin Baffuor of Food Sovereignty Ghana believes this is a lesson for Ghana not to adopt the technology. The Burkina case shows clearly that some of the expected outcomes as promised the farmers wont be realized. And this is part of the red flag that we have been raising for a while now. And it cant be closer to home than this. The outcomes of GMOs are unknown in the long term, he told Gakpo in an interview.

Food Sovereignty Ghana is not the first organisation to raise this red flag. Associate Professor at the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University in Canada, Prof. Matthew A. Shnurr who has done extensive research on the impact of GMO crops on African economies, issued a similar caution in the past.

These problems with poor quality lint resulted from the introgression of the Bt trait into the local variety. If Ghana is planning on replicating this same process, they might risk producing similar results, he told Joy news.

I am skeptical that GM cotton or maize will offer benefits to small-scale African farmers, he added.

But Plant Breeder with Burkina Fasos National Research Institute Dr. Edgar Traore insists the technology did not fail his people. He says work is ongoing to correct the errors that resulted in the poor fibre quality and get the GMO cotton back on the market.

The technology is good, but the technology met a technical problem that has a solution. So even [members of] the association which was behind the decision to go back to commercial, they are still waiting for better varieties with longer fibre so they can go back to GMOs, he told Gakpo.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim
The Minority in Parliament demanding an immediate disciplinary action from President Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo towards Gender Minister, Otiko Afisa Djaba and the NPP Northern Regional Chairman, Bugri Naabu is quite unfortunate. Especially referring to what happened between the Gender Minister and the Regional Chairman as posing a veritable threat to the country 's democracy and good governance.

What disciplinary action was taken against Rachel Appoh and Nana Oye Lithur when they were insulting each other during the time NDC was in government. The Minority must not forget when they rewarded Oti Bless with the appointment as a Deputy Minister. What has the NDC Minority in Parliament done to Mahama Ayariga who brought the Parliament of Ghana into shame by making unsubstantiated allegation against the First Deputy Speaker, Minority Chief Whip, and the Energy Minister. The NDC as a party, encourages it's appointees who insults and said all kind of things about prominent personalities in Ghana. Ghanaians have not forgotten babies with sharp teeths like Okudzeto Ablakwa, Sam George, Ofosu Kwakye, Kofi Adams, Koku Anyidoho, etc.

Ghanaians never heard from the NDC Minority during the time their party was in government when the brother of Collins Dauda was bragging of killing people.Many NDC politicians have made spurious against their own kind concerning the death of the late President Mills. Yaw Boateng Gyan, the former National Organiser of the NDC charged he was going to mention names. Who paid attention to that under the NDC government.

Anyway, the NDC Minority in Parliament has no locus to demand an immediate disciplinary action from the President against the Gender Minister and the Regional Chairman. The NDC main plan is to bug down this administration, and they are not interested in the well-being of Ghanaians. But they are too nuisance in the country and making themselves unattractive. Ghanaians are wide awake and tied with the politics of propaganda, and will never forget the hardship they went through under the NDC government.

The NPP government is working around the clock to make the people happy, and Ghanaians haven't regretted a bit for voting NPP to power. They are satisfied with everything the government is doing and they have hope and believe in the NPP. The expectations of Ghanaians are very high with the backdrop of our campaign promises and the abysmal performance of the previous NDC administration. The people of Ghana are supporting the NPP government by their economic healthiness, sensitivity for the citizens, compassion and good policies to move the country forward.

Long Live President Akufo Addo

Long Live NPP

Long Live Ghana

Alex Tuffour

Communication Director

NPP Germany

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
The Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) has blamed the poor state of billboards in the Accra metropolis on local authorities and activities of unlicensed firms.

The aftermath of Sunday's downpour has once again exposed challenges with citing these structures.

The unnerving sights of mangled metal frames of billboards scattered around the city in the aftermath of heavy rains is a phenomenon anyone moving around the capital will observe.

This trend has brought outdoor advertisement in Ghana under a lot of scrutinies.

Executive Director of the Advertisers Association of Ghana, Francis Dadzie pointed out some factors that contribute to the menace.

"There are issues of inferior materials being used in these days of many printing houses for outdoor advertising...there is a level of 'galamsey' in the advertising industry.

"A billboard should have sound footing, a foundation should be done because every billboard depending on the weight and size that is going up size should have a corresponding foundation to hold the structure," he said.

Mr Dadzie bemoaned how some people are putting structures under billboards to endanger their lives since no one can control the act of God.

"A billboard should fall freely without causing havoc, and in that regard, there are some places that should not have billboards," he said.

Mr. Dadzie entreated government to pass the Advertising Standards Bill as a form of disciplinary measure to check and regulate activities of the advertising industry.

"We are promoting a bill so that there is a legal backing for people to be licensed to advertising practitioners before they practice. As it stands today, it is free for all, that is why I am saying it is 'galamsey'.

"Election year especially are the periods we have an avalanche of unauthorised billboards," he added.

He also entreated the AMA and other local government authorities across the country to collaborate with the Association to put in place new regulations.

According to him, this will ensure that such structures are well-engineered and also meet international safety standards for their erection.

He said they are ready as a professional advertising body to take up their responsibility to help stakeholders to put things right.

The AAG president believes some companies should be slapped with hefty fines for the hazards their structures pose to individuals in the metropolis.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Sarah Amelley Djosu| Joy Business
By Belinda Ayamgha/Racheal Dwamena Akenteng

Accra, May 11, GNA - The Cal Bank has signed an agency agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to deploy agent banks, in a bid to reach the unbanked, and mobilise deposits at cheaper cost.

Mr Phillip Owiredu, Executive Director of CAL Bank Limited, said in light of the increasing competitive nature of mobile money to the banking industry as well as other liquidity challenges, the Bank had started to engage partners to come up with a roadmap to ensure that they were able to mobilise low-cost deposits from the retail sector.

Speaking at the second 2017 'Facts behind the figures' session, organised by the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra on Wednesday, he stated the agreement was expected to be deployed before the end of the year and was expected to have a significant impact on the performance of the Bank in a few years.

CAL Banks expects to deploy about 1000 agent banks in the next three years, which is expected to mobilise an estimated six million dollars in low cost deposits.

The channels will also be used to deploy other services for other agencies.

Mr Owiredu also noted that the Bank would also pursue avenues to increase its non-funded income in 2017.

Government, he said was raising a number of bonds, thus bond trading was an income line that it would focus on to generate revenue.

'We've done the necessary things we have to do in terms of training, setting up a platform. We have re-implemented our core banking application so trading income is something that we're going to pursue aggressively this year to ensure that we increase our non-funded income,' he said.

Ms Dzifa Amegashie, the Investor Relations Manager, said the banking sector in Ghana had grown significantly despite the challenges that it had faced. Currently, there are 33 banks in the sector; 17 foreign, three state-owned and 13 local banks.

She noted that the biggest growth in the sector was in the number of local banks, with the entrance of banks like Omni Bank, Premium Bank, and Sovereign Bank to the sector, a phenomenon she described as a good sign.

GNA
Gotta love budget night! What did you do on budget night? We have some friends who work in banking and finance. A few of them work at the big four. As one of them recently said to us, Budget night tonight  like [the] Brownlow for economists and bankers.

Back in the day, the banks used to throw lavish events for budget night. Invite a few clients. Have a nice dinner. Sink a few bottles of wine. Happy days.

Not so much anymore. More dour affairs these days. And the way we see it, budget night for the banks will, going forward, be more like devils night.

The Liberal government (yes, Liberal!) took a hatchet to the big Aussie banks on budget night. Treasurer Scott Morrison dropped a $6.2 billion tax on them. And its a permanent one, too.

Were surprised at this tax because its a Liberal government. Labor and the Greens have long been pining for a tax on the big banks. But the Libs? No, didnt see that one coming.

Were also surprised because its a tax on every Australian. But thanks to some political spin, it appears as though the government is taking on fat cat bankers.

Ironically, the likely outcome of this tax is that banks will pass the cost on to customers. Expect higher rates, higher fees and less choice. If the banks dont pass on the costs of this new tax to customers, itll hit their profits.

As we explained last week, the banks dont really care about the average customer. Their responsibility is to provide returns to shareholders. And if they cop this one in the neck, thatll decrease profits and adversely affect shareholders.

And when it comes to shareholders, well, that includes almost every single Australian.

$45 billion in just four big companies

You see, Rainmaker Group did a study into portfolio holdings disclosure. It figured out that around 23% of Australian share portfolios in super funds hold bank stocks.

It also calculated this to be about $45 bln in portfolio holdings. The combined market cap of CBA, NAB, ANZ and Westpac is $423.41 bln.

For example, AustralianSuper is Australias largest industry super fund. Its balanced portfolio holds $77,303,640,000 of super money.

It also invests in a wide array of Australian stocks. If you look at the balanced portfolios four biggest stock holdings in order

Commonwealth Bank: $1,484,027,271

Westpac Bank: $1,264,038,691

ANZ Banking Group: $1,102,350,825

NAB: $832,800,030

Thats $4.68 bln that AustralianSuper holds in the big four banks. And thats just one of its portfolios. Its high growth option holds another $424.7 mln in the big four. Even its stable option holds $43.15 mln in the big four.

And lets not forget thats just one big super fund. We tried to dig up the other big funds, like Hostplus, CareSuper and MTAA Super  but they make it incredibly hard to find that info.

However, we know they all have major holdings in the big four banks. Easily in the mlns and most likely the same as AustralianSuper  in the blns.

That means when the big four banks fall in price, it hurts Australias biggest funds. That hurts people like you. You might have an industry super fund. Maybe a private one with the likes of BT or AMP. Or maybe you have a SMSF.

Either way, were pretty confident that, somewhere in there, you hold some shares in one (or a few) of the big four banks.

It means this tax on the banks isnt just on them. Its on you. Thats what this really is. Its just another tax on you, dressed up to make you vote Liberal in the next election.

The scary thing is that if a Labor government gets in, itll be worse. Labor will tax you even harder. Whether its directly  or indirectly through these big bank taxes  theyll tax you more. Theyll all tax you more.

Call in the administrators!

This is the world you live in now. A government that borrows up to its eyeballs and then looks to corporate Australia to bail it out. Maybe instead of taxing you, we should tax the government for its ineptitude.

In fact, that might be the best idea weve come up with to date. Perhaps we can crowdsource a tax on the government. Tax it for incompetence. Tax it for every day it spends more money than it makes. If enough people apply enough pressure, then maybe we should hit Canberra with a dimwit tax.

Lets be frank. If the government was a business, itd have administrators and receivers crawling up its backside. Itd be liquidating its assets and getting out of Dodge.

Youll also note its not imposing this tax on the miners. Or Telstra. Nope. Just the banks. Why? Well, why not? It wins votes.

Thats all these budgets are designed to do  get the masses on board to score points. The government doesnt actually have any interest in the long-term future of the country. Its all about what it can do now that will win votes. This government wont even be in office by the time it thinks itll deliver a surplus.

It simply doesnt care.

The banks dont really care about you. The government doesnt really care about you. So where does that leave you? You simply have to fend for yourself.

And thats why youre here, reading this to figure out how to fend for yourself. Well, in this situation, the best answer is to invest in a way that none of them can get their grubby mitts on your money.

Thats why weve been banging on recently so much about Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. This is a world free from government regulation, and free from bank profits. Its the only place we know of right now that gives you ultimate freedom with your money.

But then again, cryptocurrency isnt for everyone. And if youre one of those people who isnt quite sure, then you still need another way to protect yourself. And while were still very bullish on markets, we think you need to cover all bases, because, heck, we might be wrong.

We think the best preparation you can do is to get your hands on Vern Gowdies book, The End of Australia. In the event were wildly wrong, and everything from cryptocurrency to global markets comes crashing down, then you still need to be prepared

All of his protection measures are easy to implement, and dont cost an arm and a leg. Even if youre as bullish as we are, to put some downside protection in place is, in a way, having your cake and eating it too.

Sure, going 100% cash is extreme, in our view. But there are other measures, such as ways to protect bank savings, which are vital to know. If you want to get a copy  and you better before our print run sells out  then head over here to get yours now.

Also, keep an eye out in tomorrows Money Morning as we look at how cryptocurrencies will reshape your financial future. And how you can keep them safe, secure and secret.

Regards,

Sam Volkering,

Editor, Money Morning

PS: Fund manager David Tice is known as the wildly successful manager of the Prudent Bear Fund. He sold the fund to Federated Investors just as the 2008 financial crisis was unfolding.

Tice recently told CNBC: The market has tended to go down about every seven years. It went down in 1987, 1994, 2001 and 2008. During these periods after the declines, it rallies like crazy. But now bad things are about to happen again.

Vern Gowdie agrees. He shows you how to bunker down and prepare for those bad things today. And how you can capitalise on the coming downturn once the dust settles. To find out more, go here.
Curtis Creek Third Grade Teacher Holly Acevedo holding $2,500 check surrounded by local Farmers Insurance Agent Leon Curtis and staff members Susan Walbridge and Carolyn King View Photos

Sonora, CA  A Curtis Creek Elementary School teacher is being thanked for her commitment to the job  with some cash for the classroom.

Third grade teacher Holly Azevedo was picked in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Thank Americas Teachers contest that runs throughout the year. Azevedo cheerfully reacts, It was an amazing feeling. Weve been through a lot here at school lately. Weve had the fire and landslide and it was a positive boost.

As earlier reported here, a fire broke out in a classroom on January 26 damaging nine classrooms in the A-wing of the school, another four had already been shut down due to winter storms causing a mudslide, bringing the total closed classrooms to 13. Additionally, supplies for those classrooms were also lost. That prompted Azevedo to enter the contest, which her proposal can be read below. The contest consists of three periods where 60 teachers are selected in each segment. A total of 180 winners are chosen from all across the country. The prize for each teacher is $2,500 in spending money for the classroom.

Azevedo says she already has the money and now it is just a question of what to buy, Ill probably order some STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) materials and some materials to enhance our art program. We have an arts program called Meet the Masters. Id like to get some materials for our Picasso unit that we teach every year in the third grade. She also wants to reward the kids, adding, We also have a big event at the end of the third grade year. We have a carnival to reward the kids for all their hard work. So, Id also like to get some materials to reward kids for that also.

The school held an student assembly where local Farmers Insurance Agent Leon Curtis, presented Azevedo with a check as seen in the image box. By winning this leg of the contest she is now qualified to enter the $100,000 contest, which is awarded to one teacher each year. Excited at the thought, Azevedo says that would be amazing and would add to the schools already stellar record, boasting, The school has raised over $250,000 in grants from teacher websites as a whole. So, we really have been very successful with it  its been great!

Here is Azevedos proposal that won her the $2,500 grant:

Our school suffered through a fire last week. My classroom was affected by the fire. All my materials and supplies have smoke damage and are rendered unusable. We returned to school on February 8 with just the basic supplies, pencils, crayons, and paper. With this proposal I would purchase a book shelf and books as all of our books are inaccessible. I will also purchase basic art supplies like paints, brushes, glue and construction paper. We are starting from scratch in the middle of the year and the funding from this project will help us rebuild and heal.
State of Jefferson View Photos

Sacramento, CA  While the move is not specifically related to creating a 51st state, the group pushing for a State of Jefferson has filed a lawsuit arguing that rural counties do not receive enough representation in the state legislature.

The Associated Press reports that a federal lawsuit argues that 40 state Senators, and 80 Assembly members, is no longer enough for a state that has grown in population to 40-million.

The lawsuit against Secretary of State Alex Padilla was filed by Citizens For Fair Representation, a group which is directly associated with the State of Jefferson movement. It calls for expanding the Senate to one member per county (58-total), and also adding more Assembly seats so that there are fewer residents per member.

The lawsuit argues that the current legislative formula, which has more representation in urban counties than rural, as it is where the majority of the population lives, gives rural California an insufficient voice on issues being debated in Sacramento.

The group also held a rally last year at the state capitol, and pushed for legislation to pave the way for the creation of a state of Jefferson, but could not find any state lawmakers willing to carry the legislation.
Sacramento, CA  Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a revised $124-billion General Fund Budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Total spending, when adding in special funds and bonds, will be around $183.4-billion. In January, the Governor was projecting a year-end deficit of around $5.8-billion, but the figure is now closer to $3.3-billion, due to improved capital gains.

At a press conference this morning, the Governor said the state should still take a cautious approach when it comes to spending. He noted, Over the past four years, we have increased spending by billions of dollars for education, health care, child care and other anti-poverty programs. In the coming year, I dont think even more spending will be possible. We have ongoing pressures from Washington and an economic recovery that wont last forever.

There is still some new spending, not included in the January budget, and it includes additional money for schools, child care programs, paying down pension debt and improving the transportation infrastructure.

Chad Mayes, Assembly Republican leader, is speaking out against the Governors budget plan. He has issued a statement, reading, Unfortunately this proposal fails to move California in the right direction. Voters recently approved taxes specifically to fund increased access to health and dental care and to support our schools(Cigarette Tax Increase). But this budget pulls a bait and switch, sending that money to the General Fund while ignoring our health and dental care needs and eliminating programs like Career Technical Education in our schools.

The Governors Office has released the below outline on the spending changes in the revised budget:

Keeping Child Care Funding On Track

The Governors January budget proposal called for a one-year delay in providing rate increases to child care providers that were reflected in the 2016 Budget Act. The May Revision proposes to restore this funding and maintain the $500 million child care package from the 2016 Budget.

Maintaining County Fiscal Health

Under current law, with the end of the Coordinated Care Initiative, county realignment funds would experience an increase in annual IHSS costs of about $600 million. The May Revision mitigates this increase in county costs by contributing $400 million from the General Fund and then smaller amounts in future years as realignment revenues grow.

Improving Californias Transportation System

This spring, the Legislature and Governor agreed on a historic transportation funding package  the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB 1). The funding package returns the gas taxs purchasing power to 1994 levels and will provide $54 billion in new funding over the next decade, split evenly between state and local funding. The May Revision enhances oversight of Caltrans and allows the state and local governments to implement the SB 1 plan in a cost-effective manner without delay. The May Revision reflects the first $2.8 billion of new funding to:

 Focus on fix-it-first investments to repair neighborhood roads and state highways and bridges.

 Make key investments in trade and commute corridors to support continued economic growth and implement a sustainable freight strategy.

 Match locally generated funds for high-priority transportation projects.

 Invest in passenger rail and public transit modernization and improvement.

Reducing Pension Liabilities

The May Revision proposes a $6 billion supplemental payment to CalPERS with a loan from the Surplus Money Investment Fund  a step that will save the state $11 billion over the next two decades while continuing to reduce unfunded liabilities and stabilize state contribution rates. The General Fund share of the repayment will come from Proposition 2s revenues dedicated to reducing debts and long-term liabilities.

Recognizing Budget Pressures and Threats

The state must also continue to plan and save for tougher budget times ahead. The federal government is contemplating actions  such as defunding health care for millions of Californians, eliminating the deductibility of state taxes and zeroing out funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood  that could send the state budget into turmoil. Moreover, by the time the budget is enacted in June, the economy will have finished its eighth year of expansion  just two years short of the longest recovery since World War II.
Agriculture is the engine that stimulates economic processes when it comes to nation development. Agriculture occurs once people begin planting and cultivating crops. It is said to be nature's food cycle and also the rechanneling of energy for human and animal consumption. In other words, agriculture involves redirecting the natural flow of the organic phenomenon.

Role of agriculture in economic development

According to Economists, Nigeria displays (honestly) the characteristics of a twin economy - a contemporary sector heavily addicted to oil earnings overlaid with a standard agricultural and commercialism economy. Throughout the colonial era, money crops were introduced. Harbors, railways and roads were developed, and a marketplace for goods began to emerge.

After the 1960 independence, agriculture accounted for over 1/2 our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and was the most supply of export earnings and public revenue, with the agricultural selling boards taking part in a number one role. However, these days this leading role within the economy has been confiscated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

The Complex Truths of Oil Politics

According to the financial organization of Nigerias data (2003), Oil still accounts for our significant revenue (gearing towards 80%) and virtually 100% of our export earnings. Though Agriculture (particularly biological science, placental mammal, and fishing) is shown to function as the primary activity of the bulk of Nigerians. It's clear that we have a tendency to use agriculture strictly as personal survival methods rather than as a calculated effort to warming the engine of our country's economy. This is really where our National economic downside lies.

The gospel of economic salvation can not be preached without reference to agricultural development. Agriculture is the major and most crucial path to financial progress and prosperity. It encompasses all side of human activities - be it the art, act and culture. Nursing Science of products production through the cultivation of land and management of plants and animals creates an active web-chain that satisfies social and economic wants.

Agriculture is the mainstay of mankind; thus, wise nations all over the world makes it a priority by developing and exploiting this sector for the maintenance of their abundant population through the earning of revenue for development purposes.

Furthermore, today we can state that there is corruption and different forms of indiscipline that work against all factors of life and most of all, economic production. Whereas several nations in the world are working hard and reaping their harvests in this direction, Nigeria happens to stay among the few that have been exceedingly simple-minded from their past wonderful heights in agriculture, all the way down to a close to zero scales of agricultural production. Surely, this neglect is as a result of harum-scarum and ill-purposeful leadership.

Contribution of agriculture to economic development

The importance of Agriculture cannot be over-emphasised in the continent and particularly in Nigeria especially with the financial condition Nigeria is currently facing. We were warned against this by the academic Pat Utomi in 2003. Now we cannot escape by simply relying on oil and gas.

We cannot pretend and neglect the importance of Agriculture in the economic progress of our nation. World Bank (2003) data shows that more than seventy percent of Nigerians live below poverty level (which is less than a dollar per day). This implies that there has been an astronomical decline in the levels of the financial condition of Nigerians from Independence to today. This is one thing we all ought to be ashamed of. Nevertheless, it's a scenario which can be remedied.

Nigeria has been endowed with a large array of agricultural potentials. From types of crops to varieties of animals and plants and natural agricultural-supportive factors like forests, waters, sands and most of all human resources that are being under-used (or not even used as at now). We've got it all. Nevertheless, we have a tendency to lose it all; which is why we are hungry in the face of plenty to eat.

How will our Nation grow well if we cannot cultivate and manufacture our own food? How do we intend to carter for the ever growing Nigeria population if we cannot feed people?

READ ALSO: Fastest growing business in Nigeria 2017

For instance, it's well known that the amount of animal protein consumption per individual in Nigeria is incredibly low - the explanation being that not much attention has been placed in this area. With the increasing awareness of Nigerians on the requirement to take a minimum of one egg per day (with population projected to be gearing towards two hundred million) our animal protein intake per head is grossly low. But how many Nigerians can afford to place an egg (which is actually viewed as a luxury product) on their tables as opposed to choosing garri (which truly will be more satisfying to the abdomen and is seen as a core necessity)?

This happens due to the fact that our Nation ignores such primary problems as agriculture that ought to be a really great tool required to overturn the sufferings of our masses by providing food, shelter, employment, decorum, revenue etc. It will also be responsible for the stimulation of the overall growth and development of the state to a sustainable level. The reality is that the agricultural sector of this nation continues to be given ill-attention. Something has to be done. It must be revived because Agriculture is actually the hen-that-lays-the-golden-egg for any economy.

How to improve it?

Agriculture, as the engine house of world economies, has to be overhauled and repaired so that the tears of the Nigerian nation might dry up. This could only be doable when the government starts investing substantial capital into the sector. Conjointly the Banks, Insurance firms, Co-operatives and Individual, teams and corporate investors should be inspired to invest in this sector.

In fact, the Nigerian Banks particularly can't be allowed to outline their over-popularized and over-advertised universal banking system without relating it to agriculture. Insurance corporations truly have to begin picking interest in the area of agriculture to present it some safety and confidence. The farmers have to start getting long-standing visions that can excel a sustainable private and public economy in growth terms. Our legislators ought to start thinking pro-actively on ways to enact economic laws that encourage and boost agricultural production, in addition to legislation that creates a facultative atmosphere for its sustainability and safe practice.

The politics of oil and profligacy and the unwarranted 'I-know-it-all' mentality in governance cannot lead us to economic glory for now. Not turning to Agriculture will imply our continuous dependency on crude oil and inessential reliance on importation of products that would have otherwise been factory-made at Kaduna, Aba, Nnewi, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kano and Onitsha and most of our fast-growing new cities.

Nigeria is a nation believed to be one of those that have potentials to be great in the world due to its endowment with natural and human resources. But it cannot unleash its potentialities if the country doesn't gain self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Our nation can perpetually stay a borrower and a debtor nation under these conditions of booming globalization exercise. Until the Federal Republic of Nigeria summons courage to invest and exploit its wealthy agricultural sector, our country cannot achieve economic and political independence.

More importantly, our present economically hazardous atmosphere ought to be politically repositioned so as to harness the resources that can be offered by the Agricultural sector. Unless we invoke the spirit of agriculture in our national economy, our country will continuously stay the biblical Jonah, whose inability to self-actualize made him assume he could not hear the words of wisdom.

Our government remains suffering from this Jonah Complex that has made it not consider agriculture sector as a true answer to our economic death. The government should adopt Agriculture with additional confidence because good agricultural policies and implementation still is the only big fish that may transport our economy to the trail of recovery and boom.

READ ALSO: Solution to economic recession in Nigeria: 10 steps to be made

Source: Legit.ng
Learn how to reply a query letter for being absent from work without permission because you never know when an emergency might knock on your door. Some personal reasons are too sensitive to be overlooked for even a minute. You might not be in a position to text or call your boss, but you can write a letter when you resume work.

A fountain pen on a notebook. Photo: pixabay.com, @Pexels

Source: UGC

Know how to explain yourself to your boss through a letter when you return to work. How you explain your reason for missing work is important. Your boss might understand your situation if you provide a genuine and solid reason and sound apologetic. This article will help you learn how to answer a query letter of absence.

How to reply a query letter for being absent from work without permission

Learn how to reply a query letter from online samples. They provide one with vital tips for writing a convincing query letter for being absent from work without permission. An apology letter decreases workplace stress by building trust and improving communication between the boss and junior staff.

Official query letter format

If you have good reasons for being absent, write a letter to your boss before they ask you for it. Some bosses are flexible enough to accept a short text message or call during emergencies, but writing a letter is professionally recommended, regardless of your boss's managerial style. Here is the format:

PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!

Write the name of the office, location, the manager's title, and date. Salute the boss with Dear Sir/Madam and add their official name. Write the heading of your letter. Go straight to the point regarding why you were absent without permission. Mention if you have attached pieces of evidence to the letter. Apologize and promise not to repeat the mistake. Show gratitude at the end by writing Thanks. Write Yours faithfully, your signature and official name.

A person writing on a paper. Photo: pexels.com, @RODNAE Productions

Source: UGC

Official query letter sample

Writing or typing a response to a warning letter for being absent from work without permission is not difficult. Check out this official query letter sample for being absent at work for guidance:

Robinson Hotel Financial Management Office 3 Babatunde Jose street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria, The Financial Manager 9th May 2017 Dear Madam Esther Robinson, RESPONSE TO YOUR QUERY LETTER ON THE 6TH OF MAY 2017 REGARDING ABSENTEEISM FROM WORK WITHOUT PERMISSION Sir, I refer to the query directed to me on the 6th May 2017 on the above subject matter. My absence was due to a car accident I was involved in on Wellington Street at about 7:30 am on my way to the office. I called the office to explain that I would be late that day. The police and insurance company arrived at the scene between 8:30 am and 9:30 am. I had to fill out insurance claim papers at the insurance company's office and file a complaint at the police station. I also visited the hospital for medical attention due to my bleeding arm and minor bruises. I have attached the police, hospital, and insurance report (photocopy) to this letter. For records, Sir, it`s extremely unusual for me to be absent from work. I assure you that it was an accident that I could not predict. I will do my best to make sure it does not happen again. Thanks. Yours faithfully, (Your signature) Alex Jackson

Tips for how to answer a query letter

You can get into more trouble or get away with being absent without permission, depending on how you reply a query letter. Here are the best tips for how to respond to query for absence:

As you can see from this response to query for absence, you have to be polite and use an official tone.

You should attach evidence to support your reason for being absent without permission in your official letter (e.g. a medical report or a police affidavit).

Mention that you notified your colleagues about you being late or absent. Be honest because your boss might ask the person you mention to prove your words.

At the very end of the letter, acknowledge your mistake and show you are apologetic.

Share your plan to fix the problem (if you can solve it) so that it does not repeat the same mistake.

Sign your letter because the boss will keep it in the records for future reference.

Proofread your work to remove grammar errors and words that do not sound right.

A black twist pen on a notebook. Photo: pexely.com, @Mohammad Danish

Source: UGC

There is nothing wrong with being absent if you have a serious reason. You feel less nervous when explaining yourself on a piece of paper than when talking to your boss face-to-face.

Practise how to respond to a query letter for being absent from work. Perfecting your writing skills helps you avoid penning unappealing and unconvincing letters.

You can also learn how to answer query on absenteeism from colleagues or how to send the boss a quick text message if you an unwell. Ensure you follow it up with an official letter when your get to work. Deliver the letter by yourself and not through another person.

Can an employee leave without notice?

Companies expect employees to miss some work days for legitimate reasons. Therefore, it is not illegal for an employee not to show up at the workplace without notifying the boss, but you will face punishment according to the company's absenteeism policies.

How long can an employee be absent from work?

A deserter is an employee absent from work for more than 3 days without notifying the boss or the employer.

Which absence is considered absenteeism?

Failure to report to your work beyond what the company considers reasonable and customary due to personal reasons like a vacation or occasional illness is absenteeism.

There are many official query letter samples online, but hopefully, the sample provided in this article was among the best you have ever read. Review it severally when learning how to reply a query letter for being absent from work without permission.

READ ALSO: Top 25 managerial round interview questions with sample answers

Legit.ng also shared the top 25 managerial round interview questions with sample answers. Discover common questions the hiring managers ask during interviews.

Pay attention to these questions and understand the best way to answer them. This will boost your confidence because the interviewers do not expect you to be silent, take too long to answer, or mumble words.

Source: Legit.ng
Todays article is based on a renowned style that is mostly worn in the western part of Nigeria by females. Single ladies are now rocking this look but it is a staple wear in your wardrobe as a married woman.

Nigerian traditional dresses

The Iro and Buba that we once knew to be sewn in the same, simple round-neck style has now morphed into new, modern looks. Thanks to the creativity of Nigerian Fashion designers, the traditional Iro and Buba style has now been modernised into various designs such as the Tulip style wrappers (Iro) and the Oleku Iro and Buba styles.

If youre looking for style inspirations to show your tailor, in this post, you will see a lot of beautiful pictures of latest Buba styles. You will also see the old and modern styles sewn with different fabrics, including lace, chiffon, silk, good old Ankara, Adire tie and dye, Aso-oke fabrics and more.

Fashionable Trends in Iro and Buba Fashion in Nigeria: What has changed?

READ ALSO: Latest Ankara gown styles 2017

What is Iro and Buba? The modern Iro and Buba styles is similar to the clothing styles that young Nigerian women (at home and abroad) are already used to. Hence we are seeing a lot of young women wearing the Oleku Buba (tops) and tulip style Iro (wrappers) to occasions, even as aso-ebi for weddings. Oleku is the term coined for the short-sleeve style blouse of the Iro-and-Buba outfit. Tulip is a method of tying the wrapper of an Iro-and-Buba like wrap skirt.

A lot of young Nigerian (and even Yoruba) girls don't like wearing the old style font of Iro and Buba. Some might say it makes them look mama-ish. They prefer to embrace the modern Buba styles as most say that its so like-their-age. And also the Oleku and tulip style Iro and Buba are young and more trendy. The tulip style of tying the Iro is a game changer for the young and stylish Nigerian woman who would never have been caught dead in the old-school, traditional Iro and Buba. If you hated wearing any type of wrapper-style Nigerian outfit, you'd love the Oleku style Buba and the Tulip style of tying Iro (wrappers).

Iro clothing. What the Modern Iro and Buba Looks Like

Buba Fabric Types: The traditional Iro and Buba style used to be sewn in cotton fabrics, usually Ankara/wax. Lace was mostly used for party/occasion Iro and Buba. Latest Iro and Buba styles come in assorted, lighter fabrics such as silk, chiffon, guinea brocade, velvet and more;

The Sleeves: Traditional Iro and Buba were only sewn in round neck and wide long sleeves that reached the wrist. The trendy forms of Iro and Buba are sewn in all types of sleeves designs  fitted sleeves, short and fractional sleeves (OLEKU buba/ tops) and even puffed, long sleeves, sleeveless and much more. By the way, Oleku is the name for the short-sleeved Iro and Buba.

The Buba Neckline: The neckline of the old style of Buba is round while necklines of the modern Buba styles are also limitless. Were seeing women wear the one-shoulder Buba style, the scallop-neck, high-neck, v-neck, cowl neck, embellished neckline (with beads, lace, etc.)

So you see, the Iro and Buba style is no longer for just for brides or married women but also for every fashionable African woman. Even kids are not left out because most cuties wear the Iro and Buba on their first birthday to celebrate their African roots.

Another advantage of the Iro and Buba style is that it can be easily sewn by most tailors/ designers within a short period. So if you need a quick fix just get to your tailor and ask him/ her to make Iro and Buba for you.

READ ALSO: Cord lace gown styles in Nigeria

Source: Legit.ng
VATICAN CITY (AP)  When Pope Francis travels to the Portuguese town of Fatima this weekend, he will be lending his blessing to a religious phenomenon that has captivated Catholics for a century: It involves visions of the Virgin Mary, supernatural meteorological events and apocalyptic prophesies of hell, Soviet communism and the death of a pope.

For doubters, the Fatima story is a trumped-up tale built around hallucinations. For believers, Fatima's message of peace, prayer and conversion from sin is as relevant today as it was 100 years ago, when three illiterate shepherd children first reported seeing visions of the Madonna.

The pope will canonize two of those children on Saturday and is likely to make his own Fatima message of peace and conversion as a weapon against secularism and the persecution of Christians today.

Here are details about Francis' Friday-Saturday trip to Fatima.

WHAT HAPPENED AT FATIMA?

The three shepherd children, siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia aged between 7 and 10 at the time, said the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times in 1917 and confided to them three secrets. The first two described an apocalyptic image of hell, foretold the end of World War I and the start of World War II, and the rise and fall of Soviet communism.

In 2000, the Vatican disclosed the long-awaited third secret, describing it as foretelling the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt against St. John Paul II in St. Peter's Square.

John Paul credited the Virgin Mary with saving his life. One of the bullets fired at him rests in the crown of the statue of the Virgin at the shrine.

Portuguese church officials initially doubted the veracity of the apparitions. Many doubters, though, became believers after the so-called "Miracle of the Sun" on Oct. 13, 1917. According to legend, the Fatima "seers" had predicted that the Virgin would perform a miracle that day, and tens of thousands of people flocked to Fatima and saw what witnesses reported was a vision of the sun "spinning" in the sky and zigzagging toward Earth.

The Portuguese church declared the visions authentic in 1930.

WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THE TIME?

At the time of the apparitions, Europe was still in the grip of World War I and Portugal's Catholic Church was facing a crisis after Portugal became a republic in 1910.

The republican government introduced a host of anti-clerical laws, including prohibiting religious teaching at schools. Priests and bishops were exiled.

In that context, the visions helped reinvigorate a persecuted church, giving it "a strong eruption of the supernatural in that difficult moment," said Monsignor Carlos Azevedo, who headed the commission that compiled 15 volumes of Fatima documentation.

Church officials point to the reported secrets about a Second World War, the dangers of Soviet communism and the persecution of the pope and Christians in general, as evidence of Fatima's prophetic message.

WHAT DO PEOPLE DO IN FATIMA?

Like the shrine at Lourdes, France, Fatima draws millions of pilgrims from around the world  about 6 million annually  to give thanks to Our Lady of Fatima, or to pray for help.

Many walk to the town, which is 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Lisbon. Some complete the last few hundred meters (yards) on their knees. Others toss wax limbs into a fire beside the Chapel of the Apparitions as they recite prayers for healing.

The shrine also contains dozens of shops where trinkets are sold alongside rosaries, bibles and assorted images of the Virgin Mary, including one that changes color with the weather.

WHY IS THE POPE GOING NOW?

Initially, Francis had planned to travel to Fatima merely to mark the 100th anniversary of the apparitions. Francis added a bonus event to his visit by announcing in March that he had approved the miracle needed to make saints of Francisco and Jacinta Marto  who died of influenza within two years of the initial apparitions.

He will be the fourth pontiff to visit Fatima, after Pope Paul VI marked the 50th anniversary in 1967, John Paul came three times and Benedict XVI visited once, in 2010.

After becoming a nun, Lucia became the main raconteur of the Fatima secrets. She died in 2005. In February of this year, Portuguese church officials completed the first phase of her beatification cause by sending more than 15,000 pages of testimony and documentation to the Vatican for review.

WHAT WILL THE POPE DO IN FATIMA?

Francis arrives on Friday afternoon and meets privately with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

After a spin in his popemobile at Fatima, he'll pray at the chapel dedicated to the apparitions and send a greeting out to the crowd, which is expected to number up to 1 million people.

On Saturday, Francis meets with Prime Minister Antonio Costa and visits the basilica built on the site where the children reported the first apparition. He'll celebrate the canonization Mass in the main square, lunch with his bishops, and return to Rome in the evening.

___

Barry Hatton reported from Fatima, Portugal.
- Two Nigerians were shot dead in Western Cape Province of South Africa

- The chairman of Nigeria Union in South Africa said the Nigerians were shot by unidentified gunmen

- The chairman said that the motive behind the shootings had not been ascertained

The Nigeria Union in South Africa said on Wednesday that two Nigerians were shot dead in Western Cape Province of that country.

Mr Mike Ibitoye, the Chairman of the Union`s chapter in the province, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Cape Town, South Africa, that the Nigerians were shot by unidentified assailants.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo-led committee makes decision on Lawal, Oke case

Mr Ernest Ughakwesili, 42, native of Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, was shot in a night club by gunmen at Strand Area of Cape Town on Sunday.

Two Nigerians were killed in separate attacks in Cape Town, Western Cape Province of South Africa.

The assailants escaped after the shooting and the victim died before being rushed to the hospital, he said.

Ibitoye also said the second victim, Chimezie Oranusi, 26, from Oba town in Anambra State, was shot with a friend in a car at Delst area of Cape Town.

The friend is a South African and is still in the hospital receiving treatment.

The incidents have been reported to the police and the national secretariat of the union, he said.

The chairman said that the motive behind the shootings had not been ascertained, adding that the police had commenced investigation.

The Secretary of the union, Mr Adetola Olubajo, said the national secretariat had received the report of the killings.

We have received report about the killing of two Nigerians in Cape Town, Western Cape Province of South Africa.

The union`s chapter in the province is handling the matter while the national body has reported the incident to the Nigerian Mission in South Africa.

We urge Nigerians in South Africa to remain law abiding. We also appeal to the Federal Government to continue to protect the welfare of our people here, he said.

READ ALSO: See cultists arrested during initiation ceremony in Imo state

Meanwhile, see this video of Nigerians protesting against xenophobia:

Source: Legit.ng
BURLINGTON  When developer Joe Devorkin first met with Burlington city officials in September, Mayor Jeannie Hefty was very excited.

On Wednesday, Devorkin delivered what he calls a shot in the arm for the city, when he finalized the agreement to bring Big R, a farm and ranch store headquartered in Watseka, Ill., to the Fox River Plaza Shopping Center, 1120 Milwaukee Ave. The shopping center, which Devorkin owns, has been lacking a big box tenant since Kmart left in 2011.

Its hard to overstate what this means for the City of Burlington and the surrounding communities along with what it means for the center itself, Devorkin said. Its very impactful.

Hefty said Devorkin has reiterated to her his commitment to turn the lights back on in Burlington by filling the numerous vacancies at the shopping center.

Everybody was very concerned about that strip mall sitting there with no activity since Kmart moved out, Hefty said. The community as a whole is very happy to see that we have something going in that building.

Big R was founded in 1964 and has 22 locations in Illinois, Ohio and Indiana. The Burlington location will be the companys first in Wisconsin.

They are an outstanding, regional, family-oriented, family-run business with proven success, Devorkin said. There was a hole in the market for this type of retailer.

According to Devorkin, Big R sells a little bit of anything. Tabs on the stores website advertise clothing, sporting goods, lawn care, home improvement products and more.

They have over 80,000 items that they sell, Devorkin said. They pride themselves on the variety of the goods that they offer for the customers.

Devorkin said Big R signing on will greatly aid his ability to fill the plazas other vacancies. In fact, he said a salon signed a lease with him Wednesday.

The leasing activity for the remaining vacant suites is tremendous, he said. Its already seen a major uptick, and I expect it to be busy throughout 2017.

Hefty was extremely complimentary of Devorkin Wednesday, crediting him for taking steps to revitalize a once-prominent shopping center in the city.

He is very genuine, she said. He wants to do the best for Burlington.
- Emmanuel Oseh declared his ambition to be Nigeria's president in 2023

- He said it was time for the old politicians to give way

- He credited the new president of France as his inspiration

Another young Nigerian, Emmanuel Oseh, has declared his intention to run for Nigerias presidency in 2023.

In an exclusive report to Legit.ng, Emmanuel said it was time for the old people to go so as to give way to new Nigerians to take over the rein of politics.

READ ALSO: Unidentified gunmen kill 2 Nigerians in South Africa

He said he is in Europe on political training and that the election of Emmanuel Macron as president of France at the age of 39 was an inspiration for him to also contest Nigerias presidential election in 2023.

Read his statement below:

Emmanuel Oseh plans to run for presidency in 2019

My name is Emmanuel Oseh, from southern Nigeria, Edo state.

"I was so inspired by the new elected French President Emmanuel aged 39.

"For time past in the history of Nigeria, the so-called politicians (old men) has not given youth the opportunity for Executive leadership.

"The Bible says the glory of the old one are their grey hairs and d beauty of young ones it's there strength. So, I think if young Nigerians are giving opportunity to rule the country would advance in all ramifications.

READ ALSO:: House Of Assembly Speaker IMPEACHED in Delta state

So I am calling on all young and spirited Nigerians both home and abroad to come together so we can take power from the old men since they failed to do what is right.

I want to be Nigeria president in 2023. Am currently in Europe on political training, I need support of Nigerians so we can transform her to where she ought to be.

His own declaration is coming a few days another Nigerians living abroad, Ibrahim Abubakar Lajada, also expressed interest in being Nigeria's president in 2019.

Source: Legit.ng
RACINE  With the Laurel Clark Memorial Fountain and Lake Michigan symbolically in the background, community leaders and a handful of Racine citizens gathered Wednesday morning to discuss lead contamination in Racine Countys drinking water.

Environmental advocate Melissa Warner, a volunteer activist with the Sierra Club, organized the event.

I am here because its the peoples right to safe drinking water, and access to swimmable, fishable waters, as promised in both our public trust doctrine and the Clean Air Act, that is being challenged, Warner said.

The Sierra Club also released its report, Lead Contamination in Wisconsin, which highlights lead contamination problems in Wisconsin.

As one of Wisconsins cities with older houses, Racine has a high number of children and adults with elevated blood lead levels, Warner said. These older houses have flaking, lead-based paint, and they have water pipes with leaded brass fittings and lead solder. The residents of these older homes are those least likely to be able to financially properly repaint their houses or replace the water pipes on their own.

City of Racine Department of Healths Sarah Clemons, a certified health education specialist, echoed Warners sentiment. She said the lack of testing in children under 6 is a major issue, as lead paint was discontinued in 1978, yet 95 percent of Racine homes were built before then.

Recent Census data suggests that over 8,000 children are under the age of 6 in the City of Racine; however, there were only 2,500 children tested for lead in 2016, Clemons said. In the month of April, not one child in the City of Racine was tested for the first time for lead. Every child who turned 1 year old in April should have been tested.

According to Clemons, elevated lead levels are often asymptomatic in young children, but the effects, which include slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, hyperactivity and aggressive, antisocial behavior, become an issue in school-age children. Children should be tested at 12, 18 and 24 months and then again at 3, 4 and 5 years old, she said.

City of Racine Water Utilitys Mike Kosterman, who oversees the water quality monitoring program, said the city is working hard to remedy the problem, but the fix will be costly and take time.

The only sure way of eliminating exposure is basically to remove the problem in the first place, Kosterman said. We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 to 12,000 lead service lines or partial lead service lines still in our system. At about $5,000 to $6,000 per removal, Racines cost is going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million dollars.

The Lead and Copper Rule, which aims to reduce lead and copper concentrations in consumers drinking water, was implemented in Racine in 1993. The City has changed its water chemistry to add a protective layer to line the insides of problematic pipes. But replacement, Kosterman said, is ideal.

We as a utility have been replacing our portion of the lead service line for years, as we replace water mains, he said. But we cannot legally require our customers to replace their portion of the service lines.

A lead replacement program is in place to help consumers pay to replace their pipes. Racine received $500,000 from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 2016, and hopes to receive an addition $500,000, to help customers replace their portion of lead service lines, Kosterman said.

This $500,000 grant is designed to help defray the cost to our customers to replace their portion of the lead service lines, he said.

Students from Racine and other cities routinely fare less well in school, Warner said. They graduate at lower levels, they seek secondary education less often. Elevated lead levels affect intelligence and the ability to deal with complex problems permanently. Every student whose potential is reduced is a loss of human and economic resources for our state.
- Nigerians are doing great things world wide

- Despite the criminal activities of a few Nigerians abroad

- Majority are working hard and breaking barriers in different countries

A 29-yr-old Nigerian lady, Opeyemi Odutemowo has bagged a PhD in Nuclear Physics in a foreign university. Her goal is to ensure that every African home has stable electricity

This was annouced by her brother who shared pictures of her. Her goal is to ensure that every African home has stable electricity

Tweeting with the handle @Slimstalk, he added that she attended Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun state, then the University of Lagos before bagging her PhD.

Opeyemi on her graduation day

READ ALSO: Top 7 good budget cars you won't go broke buying

He further stated that she wants to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

His tweet has been getting reactions from Nigerians who are hailing the achievements of the lady.

READ ALSO: National Assembly unveils its N125billion budget (see details)

Big congratulations to her

Source: Legit.ng
RACINE  At SC Johnson world headquarters Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker helped dedicate the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail, which connects nine Wright-designed architectural sites. The trail features the work of the Wisconsin native and renowned architect.

This was Wrights cathedral, SCJ Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson said about the companys Administration Building. When the building opened in 1939, the line stretched for two blocks for two days straight  26,000 people, one-third of the population of Racine  stood in line to see this temple of modern enlightened architecture my grandfather and Wright created.

H.F. Johnson Jr., Fisk Johnsons grandfather, commissioned Wright to design the Administration Building and his family home, Wingspread in Wind Point, which is another stop on the trail.

This building changed not only how the company saw itself, but how the world saw us, Johnson added.

The event was held at the SCJ Administration Buildings Great Workroom, 1525 Howe St. It also serves as the first stop on the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail, which begins on Interstate 94 at the Wisconsin-Illinois state line and ends at the A.D. German Warehouse in Richland Center.

Huge for Wisconsin

This is huge for Wisconsin, Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett said. This is a big day for the tourism industry in our state, and its great because Frank Lloyd Wright was a big personality and talent, and now, it is open for the world to see.

Klett said the Department of Tourism will use the Wright Trail to help focus on international tourism, which saw expenditures in the international market in 2016 that were up $100 million. It is the growth market for tourism in the United States, Klett said.

For the new Wright Trail, the Department of Tourism created a landing page on its website, travelwisconsin.com; social media campaign; and an episode of Discover Wisconsin that will air in eight states and feature the Wright Trail.

Trail sites were chosen based on two criteria: They had to be open to the public and be within 15 minutes of a highway, Klett said.

Signage was placed as part of the trails creation with the first phase, including the placement of 115 signs, completed.

The second phase will include the placement of 31 larger signs closer to each landmark, with signs anticipated to be up by mid-July.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trail is open, and its on the map, and its one more thing thats putting Wisconsin on the map, Walker said. This will make us yet another destination for tourists from around the Midwest, across the country and, really, around the world.

Walker, who signed legislation into law last year to create the Wright Trail, encouraged people to download the trail app. It highlights each site along the trail and was created as a collaboration between SCJ and the University of Wisconsin-Parksides App Factory.

This trail will give us one more opportunity to share that experience, to share not just the architectural design, but the history and all thats behind the scenes that makes (Wright) such an interesting person not just in our states history, but really, from a global standpoint, Walker said.
- A socio-political organisation, Concerned O'Oduwa Progressive Youth Assembly has spoken on President Muhammadu Buhari

- The group condemned the calls by a former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo should take over government from Buhari

- The group also questioned the mental state of the former minister

A socio-political organisation, Concerned O'Oduwa Progressive Youth Assembly has condemned the calls by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode suggesting that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo should take over government from President Buhari

According to COPYA, the untoward behaviour "is unfortunately something that is culturally associated with instances of genetically oriented mental health issues or at best indicative of substance abuse."

The national co-ordinator of the group, Kola Salawu, at a press conference in Lagos, advised the former minister to stop blackmailing PresidentBuhari.

He described recent outbursts by Fani-Kayode as campaign of misinformation as well as disinformation that have been mounted by anarchists who have wickedly chosen to see nothing positive in the good things going on in the country.

READ ALSO: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrives Katsina

Salawu and other members of the group addressing the press

Salawu wondered why a man currently scurrying from one court to another over cases of graft brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over offences which dated as far back as when he was in office as an appointee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would embark on such destructive pilgrimages.

"FFK is someone who had the benefit of being in office courtesy of a political party which blatantly stated that stealing is not corruption. And it is on record, judging from the avalanche and plethora of cases hanging on his neck like an albatross that, he might have used his slot in government without servicing the Yoruba interest but on his.

"Curiously, the same FFK is today constituting an obstacle to the Yoruba in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and those appointed into other positions of responsibilities by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He is running an evil campaign of calumny and blackmail against the President and we think this is in the hope that he can drive a wedge between Buhari and the Yoruba in his cabinet so that they can be shoved aside,'' he said.

Osinbajo, the group devised, should not to be carried away by the ethnic drums being beaten by FFK and his likes "knowing well that such characters are alone in this endeavour."

He said: "The Acting President must not heed the call for war being chorused by this rubble and must not allow himself to be dragged into dirty politics at the detriment of his spiritual and professional calling as an accomplished Nigerian before venturing into politics."

Fani-Kayode has been very vocal in the past few days in his criticisms of the Buhari government

READ ALSO: House of Representatives oppose N51.9bn vote for SGF office

According to him, Fani-Kayode has taken the proverbial sacrifice far beyond the indicated road junction in his recent call on Osinbajo to take over government from Buhari.

"It must be noted that once a letter is said to have been brought under Section 145 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is the provision of the constitution that automatically transmute the Vice President into an Acting President. It is not the wording of the letter that matters.

"So, saying Vice President Osinbajo is going to "coordinate the activities of the Government" is redundant in the light of Section 145 of the Constitution and as Pastor Tunde Bakare would say is superfluities of nothingness.

"Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is now the Acting President of Nigeria. A person of Femi Fani-Kayode is not needed to lead a war to actualise that," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Senator Shehu Sani has faulted the letter of President Buhari intimating the National Assembly of his medical trip to London.

The senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District insisted that Osinbajo is the acting president since the constitution has provided room for the scenario that played out.

Source: Legit.ng
- Some discrepancies have been noticed in the the finances of Ekiti state under immediate past governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi

- This discovery has urged the state Assembly to move for the probe of Fayemi's administration

- Governor Ayodele Fayose has been asked to set up a panel to probe for financial misappropriations

The Ekiti state House of Assembly has ordered Governor Ayodele Fayose to set up judicial or administrative panel to probe his predecessor, Dr Kayode Fayemi.

Legit.ng gathered that the step became imperative sequel to Fayemis refusal to appear before the House to shed light on the alleged diversion of N852 billion Universal Basic Education Boards fund during his time.

Relying on Section 129 0f the 1999 constitution, the Assembly had on March 22, 2016 and 7th February, 2017 ordered Fayemi to appear before it and clear his name over the foregoing allegation and many other misappropriation allegedly perpetrated during his time.

According to Daily Post, Fayemi, however refused to appear and the former governor later approached the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti and slammed N500 million libel suit on the Assembly , citing alleged defamation of character to justify his action.

The House as its plenary on Thursday, May 11, presided over by the Speaker, Hon Kola Oluwawole, berated Fayemi for treating the Assembly with contempt, saying this was not expected of him as a former Governor of Ekiti state.

After exhaustive deliberation, where Hons Samuel Omotoso, Abiola Jeje, and Ekundayo Akinleye had contributed on the need to compel the Executive to compose the panel to probe Fayemi, the Majority Leader, Hon Tunji Akinyele moved the motion for the adoption of the motion and it was seconded by Hon Jeje.

READ ALSO: Drama in Abuja as Nigerian policemen engage in dirty fight with pedestrians (Video)

The Ekiti state Assembly, says Fayemi has some answers to give, as regards some financial discrepancies recorded during his administration

Before putting the motion to a voice vote, the Speaker said: Dr John Kayode Fayemi has slighted this house by his conduct by refusing to honour our invitation. This Assembly duly invited him to come and explain how he managed the finances of this state , particularly the SUBEN fund and other projects.

The House had summoned him three times, but he disobeyed the regulation of this house. So, the State government should as a matter of urgency set up a judicial or administrative panel of inquiry to look into the finances of this State under Fayemis government, he said.

The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon Omotoso slammed the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris and other security agencies over their lukewarm dispositions to arrest Fayemi despite the valid warrant of arrest issued by the Assembly against him.

The IGP Cant claim that Governor Fayemi is at large. He has been attending the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting and nobody even called him for questioning or thought of arresting him. That was unfortunate.

Let me at this time call on the Acting President , Prof Yemi Osinbajo that Fayemi has no moral standing to be a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , having breached the1999 constitution by his refusal to honour us. If we fail to act now, then the country will be operating a banana republic where there re no rules, he said.

Honourables Jeje and Akinleye, in their submissions said the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola to live up to expectation in composing the judicial panel to unravel the mystery behind the states finances under the immediate past administration.

Source: Legit.ng
RACINE  A photo op during House Speaker Paul Ryans annual visit to the Kiwanis Club Pancake Day fundraiser in Racine on Saturday created a photo that went viral on social media over the weekend.

Ryan was holding a coffee pot wearing an apron over a Packers polo shirt to mug it up with an attendee. But its what the attendee is wearing thats received the most attention.

The T-shirt reads: Repeal and go (expletive) yourself. With a strategically placed flag on the offensive word, the slogan refers to the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The picture, posted by Twitter user J @minnysconsin had the comment Couple friends of the pod hanging out this morning. The pod refers to the political podcast Pod Save America, which also sells the T-shirts to the public.

By Sunday morning, the tweet had more than 10,000 retweets and caught the attention of media outlets like the Daily Mail and Huffington Post.

With Ryans big smile in the photo, some Twitter followers asked if Ryan was caught unaware of the political operatives stunt.

Christine Cullen at the Twitter handle @bitterflie said she made the photo her new screensaver tweeting, Im thinking that these kind of photobomb efforts might be quite the good time in 2017.

The photobomb effort came just two days after Ryan led the effort in the House to pass legislation to dismantle Obamacare, which was met with protests from local activists outside Ryans Racine office.

Those activists used sticky notes with slogans and comments about Ryan as a low-tech way of blanketing Ryans office window with vitriol.

Political trend

Whether Saturdays photobomb is a political hack job or just a goofy internet stunt, Speaker Ryans office declined to comment on the Twitter trolling incident.

Paul Nolette, assistant political science professor at Marquette University, said its the latest example of a recent political trend seeking to embarrass either side of the aisle.

I dont think its necessarily directed by any central organization. These efforts build on other attempts to catch politicians in embarrassing moments on tape via trackers who record everything the politician says, Nolette said.

Nollette said it forces politicians to be more careful than ever.

It may lead them to act very blandly in public knowing that whatever they do could end up on social media. Im guessing Speaker Ryan will be directing a staff member to be on the lookout for similar attempts at photobombing in the future, Nolette said.

Right before the Nov. 8 election, two sisters managed to get a picture with Eric Trump, the presidents son, with a message in Spanish Latinas against Trump.

One that was part of a more organized effort was by Roger Stone, a Trump ally, who produced T-shirts with Bill Clintons face and the word rape on it, trying to photobomb Bill Clintons appearances and bring up past sexual misconduct allegations against the former president.

Given how effective these sorts of things are in firing up the troops on the side that successfully embarrasses a political adversary, I wouldnt be surprised to see more organized attempts to photobomb politicians like this in the future, Nolette said.
- The Kano state House of Assembly has revealed why the emirate is being probed

- According to the Speaker of the House, Alhassan Rirum, the exercise is not connected with the EFCC or any other antigraft agency

- Rirum said the process is aimed at clearing the air of doubts as regards the integrity of the Kano emirate

Alhassan Rirum, the Speaker of the Kano state House of Assembly, has said that the investigation of the Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, by the House was not connected to a similar exercise being undertaken by an agency of the executive.

The Kano public complaints and anti-corruption commission had earlier last week announced that it had opened inquiry into alleged misappropriations of funds of the Kano Emirate Council, initially reported to run into about N6 billion, from the time Mr. Sanusi became the emir in 2014.

But according to the speaker on Thursday, May 11, the investigation by the legislators centres on the emir and was strictly informed by a motion raised by a member representing Nassarawa state constituency, Ibrahim Gama.

Mr Gama had on Wednesday leveled eight charges against the monarch and urged the house to quickly carry out an investigation.

The allegations include defamation of character, breach of oath of office/oath of allegiance, abuse of office privileges and protocol, and political and religious interference.

Legit.ng gathered that the other charges were alleged unguided utterances, misappropriation of public funds, misrepresentation at public gatherings and undue criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari/APC-led government.

READ ALSO: Antigraft war: Fayose gets mandate to probe Buhari's minister

The motion was seconded by the member representing Kano Municipal constituency, Babba DanAgundi, and unanimously adopted by the House.

The House then constituted a seven-member committee to carry out the investigation.

Members of the investigative committee include the legislator representing Ajingi constituency, Abdul Madari, as chairman, member representing Kano Municipal, Babba DanAgundi, as vice chairman and; member representing Kiru constituency, Kabiru Dachi.

REVEALED! Real reason Emir of Kano is under investigation

Others are members representing Dambatta constituency, Sani Maidaji; Garko constituency, Abba Garko; and two officials from the legal department of the Assembly.

In a related development, Legit.ng gathered that the Kano Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission has summoned a top member of the Kano Emirate Council, Abdullahi Ibrahim, as part of its investigations into the financial activities of the traditional institution.

A source close to the council told newsmen that the commission asked Mr Ibrahim, who holds the traditional title of Makaman Kano, to appear before it on Thursday.

Mr Ibrahim is also the palace councillor and one of the kingmakers of the emirate.

The source, who did not consent to being identified, said Mr. Ibrahim was directed to appear before the commision alongside two other palace officials.

According to Premium Times, the commission is looking into the management of the finances of the emirate.

Officials of the commission on Wednesday declined to speak on record with newsmen on the reason why the council officials were asked to appear.

But a source reiterated that Mr Sanusi was not the focus of its investigation. He said the inquiry was into financial management by the emirate council as an institution.

The commission is investigating alleged misappropriations of funds of the emirate council initially reported to run into about N6 billion from the time Mr. Sanusi became the emir in 2014.

Following the allegations, the emirate council had clarified its finances.

Before the appointment of Muhammadu Sunusi ii, the Council has the sum of N2,875,163,431.17 in fixed accounts in various banks, out of which N981,784,503.79 was withdrawn and used during the late Emir Ado Bayero on February 7, 2014 for the payment of his Royal City Project, leaving behind a balance of N1,893,378,927.38 in the various banks, Mahe Bashir Wali, who is in charge of the finances of the council, had said.

The sum of N1,893,378,927.38 was the exact amount inherited by Emir Muhammadu Sunusi ii, against the alleged claim of N6 billion, Mr. Wali stated.

READ ALSO: Anambra 2017: Trouble looms for Obiano, as ex-council chiefs threaten to turn against governor

He said out of that amount, N152,627,723.00 was paid to a company, Dabo Gate, for supply of furniture to the palace.

You should know that after the demise of Emir Bayero, all his belongings, including the furniture, were removed and distributed to his heirs in accordance with Islamic injunction.

He added that the council spent N4,314,476,542.94 between June 8, 2014 and April 11, 2017 as against the alleged N6 billion.

This is because the Council operates mainly on budget as approved every year by the Council and all these while no expenditure was ever made outside the budgetary provision.

Mr Wali further denied that the council bought two Rolls Royce Executive cars for the emir, adding, the two Rolls Royce cars were donated to him by his friends, they were not purchased by him.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo is Nigerias Acting President, Buhari has committed no crime - Senator Gbolahan

Similarly, he debunked allegation that the emir spent N9,071,000.00 as air ticket fares, stating that the figure in respect of that line of expenditure was N13,722.000.00.

Out of that,h the Council raised payment vouchers of N6,993,203.00 and N5,560,235.00 to Western Union, being the cost of air tickets for the Emirs entourage alone, excluding himself because he used to pay for his tickets.

The sum of N9,071,000.00 was the money the Council spent on chartered flights twice for His Highness on a trip to Sokoto to pay traditional homage to the Sultan and to Benin for his installation as Chancellor of University of Benin.

He further explained that N108 million was paid to the heirs of the late Emir Bayero in respects of personal cars belonging to him and inherited by Emir Sunusi ii.

Mr. Wali said the N15,458,660 alleged to have been travelling expenses was for construction and renovation of Fadancin Dare wing of the palace.

Let me also clarify that two bullet proof vehicles were purchased at N142,800,000.00 on the advise and approval of the state government vide SSG letter No SSG/D/A/36/TI/109 of 17th September 2014.

He said the approval was informed by an attack on the late Emir Bayero on his way home from the Murtala Mohammed mosque.

Similarly, N154.873,00.00 was paid for the purchase and replacement of vehicles that were destroyed when Emir Bayero was attacked by Boko Haram.

Also the Emirate Council said it paid N37,054,192.06 to a mobile telecoms firm for roaming charges incurred on a local number the Emir uses and had long been identified with.

Wali said his clarifications were in response to publications by some online and other media and not to join isssues with the state government or anti-corruption commission

The commission had insisted that its investigation was continuing, stressing that it was not targeted at anybody.

Source: Legit.ng
- APC national chairman Chief Oyegun says the party is not for integrity-challenged politicians currently within the radar of the EFCC

- He welcomes Senators Ita-Giwa, Enoh to the ruling party

- Ita-Giwa says joining the APC is like a home coming for her

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has said the party is not for integrity-challenged politicians currently within the radar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Oyeguns comment comes on the heels of criticisms from some Nigerians that the party is aiming to expand ahead of the 2019 election.

The APC national chairman disclosed on Thursday, May 11, when he received Senators Florence Ita-Giwa and John Enoh at the partys national secretariat in Abuja.

He said: I know that those who do not wish us well often tend to misinterpret some of these happenings as running away, thinking that they would have protection from the EFCC. Of course, I am not aware in your case that anybody is harassing you with the EFCC.

Oyegun says APC not for EFCC-haunted politicians

READ ALSO: Pastor demands $50m for 709-carat diamond he discovered

In any case, it is obvious and played out today that we do not offer sanctuary to anybody running from the arms of the law. The evidence is all over the place.

He continued: We welcome you to the headquarters of the APC headquarters. It is an honour that has been bestowed on only very few persons. One thing made your presence significant here. Traditionally, the South-south has been the heart of the unity and oneness of this nation, whether during the civil war or post-civil war.

In spite of the obvious difficulties that the nation is passing through, people like you voluntarily wanted to assist in this responsibility of helping in nation building.

Of course, our party does not have the presence it ought to have in the South-south. So when people of your calibre join us in the struggle, we from the South-south are particularly glad and happy. On that parochial basis, I welcome you.

READ ALSO: Abba Kyari wants to cut off these 7 ministers from Buhari? (SEE LIST)

Responding, Sen. Ita-Giwa said: Coming to the party is like a home coming, and I am identifying with the people I have known before.

I feel very comfortable identifying with the calibre of people in the APC. I will like to correct the erroneous notion that I decamped or they call it defection because there is no party to defect from. I personally stopped attending meetings, in the last two years, just because of the impunity there.

It is on record that in 2015, I had gone to the presidential candidate to say that I was leaving the party, so I was potentially one of the politicians that were forcefully driven out of the party.

Last month, Legit.ng reported that Senators Ita-Giwa and Enoh defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC.

Watch Nigerians respond to a question if Nigeria can produce a young president like France

Source: Legit.ng
RACINE  Area critics of House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump found another opportunity to broadcast their displeasure with the two politicians, by posting outside InSinkErator during Ryans appearance there Thursday morning.

Holding a variety of signs, about a dozen protesters posted on the corner of Ohio and 21st streets, attracting some affirming horn honking from passing motorists, as well as a little heckling from a few opponents.

The protest was organized by Jodi Muerhoff, of Kenosha, who said she wanted to continue to draw attention to the fact that Ryan has not held a town hall in his district in more than 550 days.

Although an active member of the Democratic leaning Forward Kenosha, Muerhoff said she organized the protest, which drew more than a few people from Kenosha, on her own.

I have been going to Paul Ryans office in Kenosha almost every week, and every week that I go, I bring articles about how the policies that he is either proposing or supporting are going to affect the people of Kenosha and Wisconsin, said Muerhoff, 57. This is the second congressional recess where he has not scheduled any town halls or listening sessions  he is not representing his constituents by being completely inaccessible.

Muerhoff, who describes herself as a full-time activist, said the need for Ryan to meet with his constituents has gained urgency since the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the far different American Health Care Act. The Senate has not yet voted on the bill.

People arent really sure how this is going to impact their day-to-day lives, Muerhoff said. Really, that is what a representative should be there for  to talk constituents through what this bill might mean to them.

Although protesters gathered to air their grievances with Ryan, plenty of them were equally, if not more, vocal about their problems with Trump.

Karen Hermansen, 71, of Mount Pleasant, said she came out because she didnt believe a man like Trump, who she said may be flirting with treason, among other things, should be president.

As she spoke she held a sign that read This flag, Paul (next to an image of the American Flag) Not this one (next to the image of the Russian Flag.)

Asked why she was protesting the president at an appearance by Ryan, she said well, he supports him.
Robert H. Phelps had a distinguished career at The Boston Globe, shaping the modern paper, overseeing the coverage in major series that won Pulitzer Prizes, and serving as the newspapers executive editor for 11 years.

But he may be remembered as much for one story that he missed. In 1972, as news editor in the Washington bureau of The New York Times, he inadvertently let the Watergate scandal slip through his fingers, allowing it to become The Washington Posts enviable scoop.

Mr. Phelps died at 97 on Wednesday in Lincoln, Mass. Thomas Mulvoy Jr., his friend and former Globe colleague, said the cause was complications of colorectal cancer.

Under Mr. Phelpss leadership, The Globe won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 1975 for its coverage of Bostons tumultuous school desegregation dispute. He led the Spotlight Team that won a Pulitzer in 1980 for local investigative reporting, for a series on abuses by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, is to brief senators on security topics on Thursday, according to a Senate aide.

Officials did not say when a new ban might be imposed.

A senior official with a United States airline said that carriers had been in talks with government officials for weeks about the possibility of an expanded ban, mainly over the logistics of carrying it out. The particular problem is passengers connecting in Europe from flights originating in the Middle East and Africa.

An intelligence official, who, like the airline official, was not authorized to speak publicly about the potential ban, said it was being considered because of concerns that radicalized citizens of European Union nations or people with dual citizenship could target United States-bound fights. American officials have tried in recent years to increase the vetting of those traveling into the country. Last year, the Obama administration revised a program that allowed citizens of about 38 countries, mostly in Europe, to visit the United States without a visa on trips of 90 days or less.

The changes made it harder for travelers to enter the United States from Europe if they had dual citizenship in Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria, or had visited one of those countries in the previous five years. The rules were later extended to those who had visited Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

Another government official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the new ban was being considered because the American government considered immigration policies in Europe to be lax. There is also a concern that the ban adopted in March might not stop a terrorist with a bomb-rigged laptop from simply flying to Europe to catch a United States-bound flight.
The bodies floated to the surface on consecutive days, macabre signposts of suffering amid the spring foliage in Central Park.

Around noon on Tuesday, a park worker spotted a mans body, naked and badly decomposed, in the vast Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir near East 86th Street. Around 7:20 a.m. on Wednesday, more than a mile south, a mans body bobbed to the surface of the Pond, this one clothed only in pants and looking as though it had not been in the water as long.

Almost every year, the break in weather at the beginning of spring brings dead bodies to the surface of New Yorks rivers and harbor, the disquieting result of speeding decomposition in warm waters. But floaters, as the police call such cases, are much rarer in Central Park.

The discoveries this week drew hordes of investigators, rattling some tourists and joggers in a park where crime is rare but where any signs of tragedy attract a lot of attention.
As he muscled his way into the pole position in the New Jersey governors race, Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, has consumed a hefty part of his campaigns considerable war chest, spending more than $18 million, $16.6 million more than his nearest competitor, according to financial disclosure reports released on Wednesday.

Mr. Murphys latest report cemented his status as the fund-raising leader in the race. He took in more than $7.7 million in the first reporting period of 2017, which ended May 5, most of it in the form of $5.5 million he lent his campaign. In all, his campaign has raised more than $19 million, but he enters the final weeks before the June 6 primaries with less than $1 million left.

Among Republicans, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno raised $2.2 million in the period for her campaign, which began in January, and had $1.5 million on hand. Her main challenger, Assemblyman Jack M. Ciattarelli, raised nearly $1.3 million and had $461,051 left.

The filings come as the campaign approaches an important moment. While news media attention and voter interest have been somewhat low  nearly 60 percent of voters say they dont know enough about the leading candidates on either side  there is less than a month left until the primary.
The Kushner real estate family, whose scion Jared Kushner is President Trumps son-in-law and close adviser, has run into more turbulence in Jersey City, where it has placed a major bet on development.

The Kushners have six projects under development in Jersey City  with square footage equivalent to two Empire State Buildings  the once blue-collar town that sits a mile across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

Now, after making the highest offer last year for a 95-acre waterfront parcel that would have been their seventh project, the Kushners said they have dropped out of the bidding for the site, where a Honeywell factory once stood.

Kushner Companies, which is led by Jareds father, Charles Kushner, had bid as much as $125 million for the Honeywell site, which had been contaminated by chromium, with plans to build 3,000 apartments catered to Orthodox Jews who are being priced out of the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Melissa Mark-Viverito, the New York City Council speaker and a vocal advocate of closing the jail complex on Rikers Island, on Wednesday called for the resignation of the citys Correction Department commissioner, Joseph Ponte, citing a lack of leadership and a lack of confidence in him within the agency.

Her comments represented a sharp break with Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has defended Mr. Ponte amid two scandals, one involving the misuse of city-issued vehicles by the commissioner and his top leadership and one involving eavesdropping on calls between city corruption investigators and inmate informants.

I believe that Commissioner Ponte should not be leading the Department of Correction, Ms. Mark-Viverito told reporters during an unrelated news conference. She cited the fact that hes out of town during critical moments in time when we really are dealing with a very serious issue.

The agency has been roiled in recent days by a report from the citys Department of Investigation that found that Mr. Ponte and 20 other correction officials had routinely misused their city vehicles for personal trips including, in Mr. Pontes case, frequent trips to Maine, where he had a home. The commissioner spent 90 days out of New York City last year, the investigators found, and he charged the city for $1,800 in gas and tolls during those trips.
RACINE  During his trip to Racine Thursday, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said an investigation into Russias election meddling and possible ties to the Trump campaign should remain right where it is: with the FBI and not with a special prosecutor.

Ryan stopped at InSinkErator, 4700 21st St., Thursday where he promoted Republican tax reform plans. The speaker says the investigation involves deeply classified intelligence collection and should not be turned over to independent investigators.

And these investigations will, and should go, wherever the facts may lead, he said.

In response to Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabes testimony before a Senate committee in Washington Thursday that fired director James Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI, Ryan countered that Comey had lost the support of Republicans, Democrats and senior leadership at the Justice Department.

Ryan said President Donald Trump listened to the concerns and criticisms voiced by lots of different people in making his decision to fire Comey.

Asked his opinion about Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether the United States might be able to work with him, Ryan said Putin has repeatedly proven himself to be an adversary.

Administrations come in thinking that they can make peace with Putin, and that would be good for American foreign policy if that were attainable, Ryan said.  I dont believe its possible.

I think hes an adversary, I think we should see it for what it is, and act accordingly.

I think Russia would love nothing more than to divide Europe and NATO, Ryan said. And thats why I think, as America, we need to reaffirm our support for NATO, and thats why Im a big supporter of our ERI, our European Response Initiative.

Other subjects Ryan touched on in response to reporter questions included national health insurance, saying Obamacare is collapsing.

He said before the Affordable Healthcare Act, Wisconsin had a competitive marketplace in health care. Ryan called for going back to a similar system but with more resources. For example, he suggested direct resources to people with catastrophic illnesses, using tools such as risk insurance and risk sharing.

Ryan also expressed confidence that an infrastructure bill will get through the House and Senate this year  and that it will include such things as upgrading air-traffic control. He predicted it will be supported by both parties.
This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox.

Until two days ago, Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, had an enviable reputation as a straight-shooting law-enforcement official respected by members of both parties. Then he decided that he was willing to help President Trump tamper with an investigation into his presidential campaign.

Now Rosensteins reputation is permanently damaged, as it deserves to be. In that damage is a lesson for other subordinates and allies of Trump.

When Rosenstein accepted his job at the Justice Department, many observers hoped he would be the adult who would moderate the excesses of Trump and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general. But it is enormously difficult to resist pressure, persuasion and incentives from ones bosses, especially when those bosses are running the country.
Ive gone into this level of detail about the Johnson Amendment to demonstrate the deep well of grievance and fervor that President Trump tapped with the mild words of the actual document he signed with a flourish on the national day of prayer, in the company of ministers and an Orthodox rabbi or two. The rabbis were clearly an afterthought. We are giving our churches their voices back, the president declared.

That he didnt tap deep enough to satisfy all his religious allies speaks volumes about the cause in which they have enlisted him. Just last month, in a pending Supreme Court case I wrote about, religious groups lined up behind a Lutheran church in Missouri (represented by Alliance Defending Freedom) to argue that the state was discriminating against it by deeming it ineligible, by virtue of being a church, for inclusion in a public works project. In other words, the religious claim in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer is to the same benefits as the state provides to secular organizations.

But in the Johnson Amendment context, the claim is the opposite. Its a claim to preferential treatment, to a consequence-free involvement in politics that secular nonprofits dont enjoy. Its a claim not simply to a seat at the table, but to a place of honor at the head of the table. The divisiveness that would flow from such government-sponsored religious favoritism is apparent, described in a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation hours after the president issued the executive order. (Several of President Trumps quotes about the Johnson Amendment in this column are from the complaint that the organization, based in Madison, Wis., filed in Federal District Court there. It is well worth reading.)

The Freedom From Religion Foundations core argument  and the basis for its claim to legal standing on behalf of its 28,000 members  is that the executive order promises selective nonenforcement, that it conveys the intended impression that the government is actively sending a message to Christians, and particularly evangelicals, that the I.R.S. will no longer enforce the Johnson Amendment against them, thereby encouraging electioneering by churches and church officials, to the detriment of secular nonprofit groups that are still held to a more rigorous standard of enforcement.

The complaint continues: The intended policy of selective nonenforcement of electioneering restrictions against churches and other religious organizations has the effect of converting these organizations into unregulated political action committees, effectively excluding billions of dollars from taxation each year.

When President Barack Obama, not so long ago, announced a policy of selective nonenforcement of the immigration laws, offering a temporary deportation deferral to some groups of undocumented immigrants, Republicans denounced the action as lawless and took his administration to court. That history may explain the oblique nature of the Trump executive order. This president is seeking to accomplish with a wink and a nod what his predecessor did explicitly and openly.

The same wink and nod mark the other sections of the executive order. Asking cabinet secretaries to consider amending the contraception regulation to address conscience-based objections to the preventive-care mandate doesnt mean much divorced from knowledge of the people in a position to take up the presidents invitation. As Emily Bazelon noted in The Times last week, the Department of Health and Human Services is getting an anti-abortion makeover. The department is headed by a strongly anti-abortion former congressman, Tom Price. Charmaine Yoest, former head of Americans United for Life, the intellectual powerhouse of the anti-abortion movement, is an assistant secretary and Teresa Manning, a former lobbyist for the National Right to Life Committee, is in line to be a deputy assistant secretary. Both women have spoken dismissively of evidence that the abortion rate goes down when women have more access to better methods of birth control.
FRONT PAGE

An article on Wednesday about President Trumps dismissal of James B. Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation misstated Mr. Comeys tenure in that position. He was in his fourth year when he was fired, not in his third. The error was repeated in an accompanying picture caption. The error was also repeated on Wednesday in an article about the historical context of the dismissal.

NATIONAL

Because of an editing error, an article on April 17 about Hispanic clergy in the Southwest who support the preservation of the Colorado River referred incorrectly at one point to the Rev. Helia Martinez, who explained how the area was dependent on the water. Rev. Martinez is a woman.

SCIENCE TIMES

An article on Tuesday about the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, or Sesame, project erroneously included one country on a list of those participating as members. While Bahrain was involved in the project initially, it is not currently a member.

THURSDAY STYLES

An article last Thursday about the style of Emmanuel Macron misstated the name of the school where Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, an expert on fashion semiotics, is a senior research fellow. It is London College of Fashion, not London School of Fashion.
The fine Irish tradition of spinning a good yarn rattles with desperation in Enda Walshs Arlington, which has turned St. Anns Warehouse in Brooklyn into an electric shock ward for the narratively challenged. In this riveting fever dream of a play, which opened on Wednesday night, the three characters we meet are the human equivalents of caged songbirds.

Quarantined alone in an institutional chamber that suggests a waiting room in hell, with its fishless aquarium and pathetic plastic plant, the inhabitants of Arlington are coaxed, prodded and  if the word fits, and it does  tortured into what amounts to singing for their supper. And their sleep. And their very existence.

But just what are they supposed to say? Its not state secrets that their captors are after. Apparently, all thats required of these prisoners is that they shape remembrance of things past into entertaining anecdotes. Thats a problem, though, when youre not even sure what your past was.

Storytelling under duress has long been the motor of Mr. Walshs finest work. He is best known to mainstream audiences for his Tony Award-winning book for the charming musical Once, but his usual brand of whimsy is far more subversive.
Betsy DeVos went to Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday, knowing her first commencement address as secretary of education could get ugly at the historically black institute of higher education.

It did  fast. Over sporadic heckling, and at some points to the backs of gown-clad graduates refusing to face her, Ms. DeVos implored: One of the hallmarks of higher education, and of democracy, is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree. And while we will undoubtedly disagree at times, I hope we can do so respectfully. Lets choose to hear each other out.

The crowd obliged only a handful of times during her roughly 20-minute-speech.

Since squeaking through Senate confirmation on the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence, Ms. DeVos has appeared at times to carry the weight of every Trump administration controversy on her shoulders. She was turned away by a handful of protesters at her first school visit as secretary. She was goaded into an Ohio public school visit by an antagonist, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.

And in the days before her address at Bethune-Cookman, in Daytona Beach, Fla., opponents made it clear with petitions and protests that she would not be all that welcome.
WASHINGTON  What outraged Democrats about James B. Comey last year  namely, his decision to disclose the conclusions of an F.B.I. investigation into Hillary Clintons private email server and then revisit it days before the presidential election  now pales in comparison to their aghast fury at his firing this week.

To President Trump, they are phony hypocrites.

But Democrats drew a clear distinction between their intense criticism of Mr. Comeys handling of the investigation into whether Mrs. Clinton had mishandled classified emails, and his abrupt firing as he was overseeing another criminal investigation  one into possible collusion between Mr. Trumps advisers and the Russian government during the presidential election.

In a barrage of Twitter posts on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said Democrats only PRETEND to be aggrieved over his dismissal of Mr. Comey. As evidence, the president singled out a statement by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, who declared in November that he had lost confidence in Mr. Comey. Mr. Trump also posted a compilation of video clips featuring prominent Democrats criticizing Mr. Comey and even urging his resignation.


The White House, in its efforts to defend the firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, has alleged Democratic hypocrisy over the decision and cited a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to justify it.

Mr. Rosenstein noted that Mr. Comeys handling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server had earned bipartisan criticism and was out of step with Justice Department protocol.

But these arguments are not new, leading many to question what exactly prompted Mr. Comeys dismissal.

Heres an assessment of the White Houses responses to that question.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, deputy press secretary, said Mr. Rosenstein had acted alone and followed protocol.

This is something that, as coming into this new position and being a person that would oversee the director of the F.B.I., that would be part of this process, to do a review and to make a recommendation based on that review.

NO EVIDENCE The deputy attorney general does oversee the F.B.I. and its director, but there is no evidence that it is typical for a new deputy to conduct a review.
NEW ALBANY, Ohio  As the fallout from President Trumps sudden firing of James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, consumed Washington on Wednesday, the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, wandered through an Ohio packaging plant admiring innovations in fish bait technology and smiling at workers as they stuck labels on soap wrappers.

Brushing off questions about the latest drama that threatened to stall the Republican agenda, Mr. Ryan tried to stay focused on a subject that is dear to his heart and his partys goals: tax cuts.

We have a tax system that penalizes job creation, economic growth, saving, Mr. Ryan, tieless with his white shirt sleeves rolled up, said during a round-table discussion with local business leaders and lawmakers outside Columbus. We want to fix that so we have more of the things we need in this country.

Mr. Ryans optimism that the most sweeping overhaul of the tax code in 30 years would be accomplished this year stood in stark contrast to the chaos he left behind in the capital. That turmoil intensifies the challenge he faces in trying to sell ambitious pieces of legislation in a country that is increasingly polarized and distracted by White House intrigue.
WASHINGTON  Before he was confirmed last month as deputy attorney general, the nations No. 2 law enforcement official, Rod J. Rosenstein was cast as an evenhanded career prosecutor who had transcended partisan politics.

Political affiliation is irrelevant to my work, Mr. Rosenstein said at his confirmation hearing in March, pledging to impartially handle the Justice Department investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, which he would oversee. Its my job to make sure that all investigations are conducted independently.

Now, Mr. Rosenstein, a former United States attorney in Maryland who served under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, has been thrust into the center of a bitter political firestorm over his pivotal role in President Trumps decision on Tuesday to fire James B. Comey as director of the F.B.I.

Mr. Rosenstein wrote a three-page memo that Mr. Trump cited as the basis for the ouster, and he met with Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday and discussed reasons for removing the director, according to the White House. People close to Mr. Trump said the president had been openly talking about firing Mr. Comey for at least a week.
Officer Shelby sat stoically at the defense table Wednesday as her trial opened before a jury of three men and nine women. At least two of the women are black. Mr. Crutchers family took up three rows in the courtroom, sitting across from Officer Shelbys family and a throng of reporters. Outside, a wall of cameras lined the hall.

In his statement, Mr. Gray highlighted the note of panic in Ms. Shelbys voice when she called in the shooting. That proved, he said, that she had overreacted.

You will hear her voice on that radio traffic. Shots Fired! she will say, Mr. Gray said, pausing. Shots fired! You dont need an officer to testify that you can tell a difference in her voice. You can hear it.

Ms. McMurray countered that the district attorney was the one who overreacted when he filed charges against the officer. During a recess, Ms. McMurray said that many commentators had tried to paint it as a case of racism, when it was actually a case of sexism: Officer Shelby was essentially on trial for being too emotional.

To the jury, Ms. McMurray depicted her client as being an officer with a stellar record who fired her gun for the first time in her 10-year career at the same time that another officer discharged his Taser, because he also thought the victim could be reaching for a gun.
RACINE  The National Association of Letter Carriers, the U.S. Postal Service, Feeding America and other partners are asking the residents of Racine County to help with their Stamp Out Hunger drive by participating in the annual food drive this Saturday.

Residents are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing nonperishable food items next to their mailbox before the time of regular mail delivery. Letter carriers will collect the food donations as they deliver the mail and take them to local food banks.

Avoid items packaged in glass, frozen food, homemade food, home-canned food or items that have gone beyond the best if used by date. In keeping with food-handling and food-safety procedures, food that is opened, damaged or does not have the official ingredients included will be discarded during the sorting process.

Any nonperishable food including peanut butter, canned protein (tuna, salmon, chicken and turkey) and canned fruit or 100 percent fruit juice, and healthy, low-sodium, low-sugar items such as beans, oatmeal and other whole grains are suggested.

For more information, contact Dan Taivalkoski, executive director of the Racine County Food Bank at 262-632-2307.
Were attracting voters from across the political spectrum who want politics to be done differently in British Columbia, Andrew Weaver, the Green Party leader in the province, said in an interview on Wednesday. People are sick and tired of corporate influence in B.C.

For now, the Liberals, who despite their name are conservative, will try to form a minority government  the first time the province has had one in 65 years. That could change after absentee ballots and judicial recounts in certain districts are tallied later this month. But Premier Christy Clark, leader of the Liberals, has signaled her willingness to adapt to a new political reality.

Whatever the outcome is, whether its a minority or a majority, I do intend to work across party lines, she told reporters on Wednesday.

The Liberals, in power in British Columbia since 2001, won the most seats and the popular vote.

But the bitter election provides important lessons about a province hankering for new leadership amid rising costs of living, cuts to education and distrust over the Liberals embrace of unlimited political donations, said Hamish Telford, a political-science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

The Liberals lost a lot of their more liberally inclined voters, particularly around Vancouver, he said. Even now that the economy has improved and the books are balanced, there was a narrative that the Liberals had been in power for too long and had grown too comfortable.
______

I was born in Hong Kong to white Australian parents and lived in Taiwan as well before settling in regional Australia, where I grew up. I headed to Sydney at 18 to study music, and then overseas to the U.S. to embark on graduate studies. So, I guess, Ive experienced the Australian identity from myriad angles, all of them admittedly privileged by the colour of my skin.

While I was living in Washington DC, I had an interaction that Ill never forget. I was drinking with friends when two American men and a woman heard my accent and came over to talk to me. I was stoked to chat about my home country, a place I really love. But not five minutes into our conversation, which started with the usual back-and-forth about spiders and snakes, one of the men pulled this out of nowhere: Abbos, right, theyre lower than dogs.

I was shocked. I lectured them about using derogatory words and phrases like that. I told them that I have immediate family members who are Indigenous. Given Americas own complicated past and present, I asked them how they thought that was an acceptable thing to even think, let alone say out loud. And then I asked them where they learnt that sentence. The mans answer was what rocked me the most.

An Aussie couple from Sydney passing through, he said with a shrug.

We have a complicated relationship with race. We have a complicated relationship with colonialism. We have a complicated relationship with classism. Never was this more obvious to me than at 2am in a muggy, dark bar on the other side of the world.



The further you go from our own capital cities, the more complicated it gets. In regional towns that have lost Australian workers to the pull of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, immigrants having been filling rosters for years. These are towns that people in bigger cities often immediately pass off as racist, uneducated holes not worth a visit. And I tell Sydneysiders who laugh at the fact that my home town only has one traffic light about a local restaurant owned by a transgender Thai woman. And I tell them that my observations about race in Sydney, although different, are also far from perfect.

Before I went to the U.S., I worked five jobs to save money. Three waitressing jobs, a music teaching position and as a hotel maid. It was behind these doors where first generation Nigerian-Australians, white kids from Mosmon and international students from China all worked together, serving mostly Sydneys white elite.


ISTANBUL  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey lost his first major political battle with the Trump administration, which is arming the Syrian Kurds who the Turks consider enemies. The question now is what Mr. Erdogan, a headstrong leader, will do next.

The White House made the move to arm the Kurdish fighters, despite vociferous objections from Turkey, because it considers them an effective military proxy in the fight against the Islamic State.

But doing so comes at a cost. Angering Turkey risks a rupture with an important NATO ally that is being courted by Russia, and could have an unpredictable impact on the battle against the Islamic State and the wars in Syria and Iraq.

Mr. Erdogan and his aides have warned for months about taking more aggressive, though unspecified, actions against Kurdish militants  though in a different stronghold, Iraq. And analysts say such a plan would make some strategic sense.
Even so, having grown up amid the intolerance of the South, he learned to avoid certain topics at home. One of them was his homosexuality. I doubt Mother knew that it existed in the world, Ms. Begneaud said. I guarantee she had no idea.

His parents were Christian fundamentalists who went to church two times every Sunday. Rauschenberg had ample opportunity to hear about the torments of hell, which piqued his imagination. In 1958, in an application for a Guggenheim grant, he proposed that he illustrate Dantes Inferno in 34 drawings, one for each canto.

He was passed over for the grant, but he did complete the series of drawings, as the MoMA show will attest. Theyre among his best works, combining freely sketched passages with images from newspapers and magazines; they translate a 14th-century epic into a language of his own devising. The Inferno drawings represent, among other things, a triumph over Rauschenbergs dyslexia, signaling his love of literature. I had a book of Botticellis wonderful illustrations of the Inferno, Mr. Johns noted recently, referring to the years when he lived a flight below Rauschenberg in a loft building on Front Street. I believe that Bobs looking at that triggered his own.

The Early Blueprints

Does Dante count as one of Rauschenbergs collaborators? Probably more than Charles Atlas, a video artist prized for his work with choreographers. Now 68, Mr. Atlas is still lanky and boyish, with sideburns that are dyed psychedelic orange. Someone had the good idea to hire me, he said with a chuckle when we met recently at MoMA. Its the first time they have hired an artist to do anything like this. Mr. Atlas is designing the video portion of the show, including a nine-channel installation to commemorate 9 Evenings, a series of quixotic performances that Rauschenberg spearheaded in 1966 with his engineer-friend Billy Kluver, in the hope of forming a brave new alliance between art and technology.

Bob was so out there, recalled Susan Weil, a native Manhattanite who met him in Paris as an art student at the Academie Julian in the summer after she finished high school. He was 22 and studying on the G.I. Bill. In the fall, he followed her to Black Mountain College. They married in 1950 and moved to West 95th Street, into a cramped studio apartment. The MoMA show will open with their collaborations  namely, the so-called blueprints, life-size photograms in which their bodies appear as white silhouettes bathed against a Prussian blue background.
These radical ideas  and others related to gendered hierarchies of the senses  permeate Ms. Yis Guggenheim show. (She has said that she considers smell the sense most closely associated with women, whereas sight has been associated with men, as in the male gaze.) In one of the museums Tower galleries and organized by the Guggenheims contemporary art curator Katherine Brinson with the assistant curator Susan Thompson, Life Is Cheap has three components: two contained biospheres, in the form of glass-walled dioramas, and a third thats more expansive.

Immigrant Caucus, at the exhibition entrance, douses visitors in a special aroma as they pass through metal gates designed to evoke a holding pen. The scent, made in consultation with perfumers in Paris and Los Angeles and sprayed from stainless-steel insecticide canisters, combines two sets of chemical compounds: one derived from Asian-American women (a group that includes Ms. Yi), the other from carpenter ants.

Despite this intriguing provenance, the smell is not especially memorable; I found it powdery and faintly sour. (Carpenter ants have a vinegarlike pungency, thanks to the formic acid they release.) But the pieces pointed title, and its forbidding architecture, emphasize the politics in Ms. Yis self-described biopolitics of the senses. Scent cant be easily controlled or contained; it knows no borders, even if its often invoked by those who fear the other.

If the ant-human symbiosis is not exactly the most stimulating part of Immigrant Caucus, it plays a more intriguing role in the diorama Lifestyle Wars. This dizzying construction houses the labyrinthine tunnels of a working ant farm within an installation of aluminum racks, computer hardware and LED lights. The ants, it turns out, are also being exposed to Ms. Yis custom perfume  generating a shared psychic experience between ant and human, per the curators text. This is, of course, impossible to prove, but its fun to think about. So is the fact that carpenter ants are a matriarchal society  male drones mate with a queen, and die shortly thereafter. Might inhaling essence of ant help, in some small subconscious way, to overthrow the patriarchy?

Some of the other connections made in Lifestyle Wars feel trite: in particular, the ant farm as natures equivalent of the data-processing center, a connection reinforced by stacks of server cases and tangles of Ethernet cables. Ms. Yi asks that we experience her art through senses other than sight, but she nonetheless goes to a lot of trouble to anchor it in something visual  and here, at least, that something is much less compelling than the ideas at play.
Upstairs from the Rama retrospective are two eagerly awaited shows. The better one is by Kaari Upson, a live wire of an artist from Los Angeles, whose sculptures and videos share some of Ramas themes: bodies in extreme states, family inheritances and the insights that can come from lifelong obsessions.

Ms. Upson, whose work is also on view in this years Whitney Biennial, is best known for her casts of couches and beds, rendered in parti-colored urethane and drooping from the wall like Ramas rubber tires. The casts form part of a complex array of artworks in which houses take on the lives of the people who occupy them, and psychological and emotional dramas are expressed through objects and built spaces. Along with a wonderfully creepy installation of dozens of dolls, resembling the artists mother and arrayed on shelves straight out of Costco, Ms. Upson is also showing a dementedly forceful video in which the artist inspects a number of Las Vegas tract houses, appraising their value as she jams her body under the kitchen cabinets. That Ms. Upson appears in the video dressed up like the dolls  that is, like her mother  is only one of the many disturbances in this psychological hall of mirrors.

Less convincing is a new exhibition by the British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, who presents a rushed and feeble new suite of oil paintings that continues her project of fictionalized portraiture. The artists untidy paintings of dancers and dandies are inventions of hers, rather than true likenesses of individuals, and their wet brush strokes and cold tones recall the portraits of British modernists like Duncan Grant or Gwen John. Yet even more than usual, Ms. Yiadom-Boakye paints so hastily that she undoes her own best efforts. Backgrounds are often so light that you can see the weave of the linen underneath; faces are reworked carelessly, and the edges between the figures and backgrounds become scumbled. All but one of the 17 paintings here are from 2017, and her insistence on painting each work in a single day is not serving her well.

Perhaps Rama, and Ms. Upson too, have a lesson to impart. Ms. Yiadom-Boakye produced all the works here specifically for the New Museum, whereas Rama, the Italian master, and Ms. Upson, the Los Angeles prodigy, think across years, even decades. Its a wonderful thing to make an exhibition, but often the greatest insights come haphazardly, discursively, through the slow and unpredictable invention of the studio.
The simmering debate over cultural appropriation took another turn on Wednesday, when the Writers Union of Canada apologized for a magazine editorial defending the right of white authors to create characters from other backgrounds, and announced that its author had resigned.

The editorial, by Hal Niedzviecki, who was the editor of the unions magazine, Write, appeared in the spring issue, which was devoted to indigenous literature. Mr. Niedzviecki acknowledged what he called the exhaustingly white and middle-class cast of Canadian literature, which he blamed on writers reluctance to look beyond their own worlds and imagine people and places unfamiliar to them.

In my opinion anyone, anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine other peoples, other cultures, other identities, Mr. Niedzviecki wrote. Id go so far as to say there should even be an award for doing so  the Appropriation Prize for best book by an author who writes about people who arent even remotely like her or him.
Dynasty, the 1980s prime-time soap opera about the occasionally violent feud between two oil-rich Denver families, will return to television later this year, the network that will air the show, the CW, announced this week.

The original series tracked the shifting fortunes and violent rivalries between the Carrington and Colby families. Often likened to Dallas, another Reagan-era television drama about rich and dysfunctional clans, Dynasty revolved around the Carrington patriarch, played by John Forsythe, his wife (Linda Evans) and his estranged ex-wife (Joan Collins).

The new series will center on the young Fallon Carrington, played by Elizabeth Gillies, and Cristal (Nathalie Kelley), who is marrying Fallons wealthy father, according to The Hollywood Reporter and other news outlets, which reported the news on Wednesday.
When parents voice that perennial complaint  Why cant they make stories for children like they used to?  a tale many have in mind is Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomerys cherished 1908 novel about an exceedingly imaginative orphan. Now comes Anne With an E, a Netflix adaptation of the book that reports have described as darker and grittier than the original.

You say darker, I say richer.

Amybeth McNulty plays the title character in this series, which liberally enhances the novel and previously ran in Canada. (All seven episodes will be available on Netflix on Friday.) Anne is a 13-year-old who is mistakenly sent by her orphanage to Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert (Geraldine James and R. H. Thomson), an aging brother and sister who had expected a boy to help out on their farm. Matthew, after initial dismay, warms to Anne, but the match seems doomed to fail because of the stern Marillas reaction.

What good would she be to us? she asks her brother.

He replies, We might be some good to her.

Anne is talkative to a fault and delightfully precocious; the contrast between her vocabulary and the vacuous drivel emitted by most teenage characters on Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel is startling.

Its all very well to read sorrowful stories and imagine yourself living through them heroically, she tells Marilla, but its not so easy when youre actually woeful, is it?
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 Department of Justification

Stephen Colbert said that President Trumps firing of James Comey as F.B.I. director seemed so blatantly political that it showed that the president did not care about keeping up appearances.
President Donald Trumps abrupt dismissal of James B. Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 9 truncated what is typically a 10-year term, the length of which is meant to protect the bureau from political pressures. The implications of the move are being debated: Some have praised the decision, while others have questioned its timing  the F.B.I. is in the middle of investigating whether any Trump associates colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. These books offer context by providing insight into the institutions history, as well as an account of what its like to be on the inside.

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THE BUREAU

The Secret History of the F.B.I. (2002)

By Ronald Kessler

496 pp.

Ronald Kessler, a longtime reporter on the F.B.I., recounts the organizations history since its creation in 1908, when Theodore Roosevelt proposed the idea of a national police force to a dubious Congress. At the time, Congress expressed concern that a secret bureau would merely carry out the mandates of whoever was in office. Still, the special agent force began work with 34 agents, and its power and influence expanded relatively quickly. Kessler investigates the relationship between F.B.I. directors and sitting presidents and also includes exclusive interviews with Robert Mueller, who led the F.B.I. in the period immediately after 9/11.
Two memoirs about parents feature among our selections this week: the poet Patricia Lockwoods lively account of her father, a Catholic priest (long story), and the novelist Richard Fords reckoning with the lives of his father and mother, which leads him to a reckoning with himself. Lesley Nneka Arimahs debut short-story collection walks the line between magical and psychological realism, and a cult classic Taiwanese novel from the 1990s explores the far reaches of intimacy and obsession. Two nonfiction works offer visions for America at home and abroad: Elizabeth Warrens This Fight Is Our Fight, a manifesto for the middle class; and Condoleezza Rices Democracy, an argument that the United States should not abandon its global role as a promoter of freedom.

Radhika Jones

Editorial Director, Books

PRIESTDADDY: A Memoir, by Patricia Lockwood. (Riverhead Books, $27.) The poet Lockwoods memoir is fueled by a great character: her father, a rare married Catholic priest, a big bear of a man fond of guns, cream liqueurs and pork rinds. The book is consistently alive with feeling, our critic Dwight Garner wrote, and I suspect it may mean a lot to many people, especially the lapsed Catholics among us. It is, for sure, like no book I have read.

THIS FIGHT IS OUR FIGHT: The Battle to Save Americas Middle Class, by Elizabeth Warren. (Metropolitan/Holt, $28.) In this tough-minded manifesto, the Massachusetts senator rails against income inequality and its consequences, and discusses how it can be reduced through public policy. Warren lays out a position of enlightened populism (as our reviewer, Paul Krugman, calls it), and makes good use of the autobiographical mode, contrasting her stories of modern hard times with the opportunities her generation had in a less unequal era.

LAST HOPE ISLAND: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War, by Lynne Olson. (Random House, $30.) Olson, in her fourth book about World War II, argues that the people of occupied Europe and the expatriate leaders did far more for their own liberation than historians have realized. Books and films have dramatized individual stories of the resistance, but the scale of the organization she describes is breathtaking.
DOWN THE UP STAIRCASE

Three Generations of a Harlem Family

By Bruce D. Haynes and Syma Solovitch

Illustrated. 200 pp. Columbia University Press. $30.

Take the A Train to go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem, runs Duke Ellingtons signature song. That prestigious neighborhood in Harlem, its moniker evoking the sweet life, was home to Ellington and other prominent artists, intellectuals and politicos of the Harlem Renaissance. Among them was the sociologist George Edmund Haynes, who in the early 1930s purchased a spacious townhouse at 411 Convent Avenue, where his mentor and close friend, W. E. B. Du Bois, was a frequent guest. George Haynes contributed mightily to African-American advancement as co-founder and first executive secretary of the National Urban League, but his achievements have been conspicuously absent from the history books.

Not even Hayness grandson Bruce D. Haynes knew the extent of these accomplishments when his father, George Jr. (known as Edmund), presented him with the patriarchs oil portrait that had been included in a 1944 Smithsonian exhibition, Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origin, and stored in the attic ever since. In Down the Up Staircase, a memoir co-written with his wife, Syma Solovitch, a writer and former Harlem public school teacher, Haynes excavates his familys past, tracing the changes wrought by the vicissitudes of time on three generations of his family as well as on their neighborhood.

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The chapters detailing the marriage of Hayness parents, Edmund and Daisy, are the most fascinating for pure voyeurism. The authors pull back heavy curtains to reveal the repercussions of a dead marriage, and the writing is sharp and vivid. When their youngest son, the author, was 6, Daisy discovered that her husband had kept a secret: He had been married before (he had actually been married twice before but she never learned of the other marriage). The couple never worked through the betrayal. Instead, they allowed their home to become a physical manifestation of their crumbling union. The well-appointed townhouse that had earlier welcomed members of the talented tenth fell victim to calculated neglect. Edmund, Daisy and their sons lived like squatters in their own house. The pipes were frozen and busted, the roof was beyond repair. Nothing had been dusted, cleared, discarded or repaired in more than two decades.
Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

Ghetto: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea, by Mitchell Duneier. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16.) In contemporary usage, the term ghetto, freighted with innuendo and negative connotations, has become divorced from its historical context. The idea of a ghetto began in 1500s Venice, when the city relegated its Jews to an island; Rome and other cities in Western Europe followed suit. Duneier traces the way in which comparable forces pushed blacks to the margins in America.

The Nix, by Nathan Hill. (Vintage, $17.) Fringe politics and globe-crossing capers figure into this dizzying debut novel. A young English professor with a dead-end book project writes instead about his mother, a former leftist radical who abandoned him as a child. Our reviewer, Teddy Wayne, praised Hills story as a supersize and audacious novel of American misadventure.

Alligator Candy: A Memoir, by David Kushner. (Simon & Schuster, $16.) In 1973, when the author was 4, his older brother Jonathan was abducted and murdered; the crime rattled his Florida hometown, and a profound silence settled in his home. Years later, Kushner approached his brothers death as a reporter, digging into news clips and other records to find out more; along with his emotional account of the event itself, he offers a glimpse of the crisis wrought by grief.

The Assistants, by Camille Perri. (Putnam, $16.) Tina, the assistant to a high-powered media executive in New York, is straining under meager pay and unpaid bills. When the opportunity arises to embezzle the amount needed to pay off her student loan balance  a sum that would pale next to her bosss own spending  she takes it. But when another assistant discovers the fraud, she blackmails Tina into committing the same crime to help her pay off her own debt.
The spiraling whodunit begins with Julie waking from a coma in a hospital after an attack. An antiques expert has gone missing, and a dead man shows up in a river. Julie embarks on a friendship with Euan and his sister, Ellen, whose family is accused of these offenses. Her new friends are part of a nomadic group called Travelers, who bear the brunt of Scottish prejudices. As Julie gains entry into their world, they become allies in her search for her attacker and her familys heirloom river pearls. Julie embraces the Travelers while her countrymen openly disparage them. They were good and decent people, Julie observes. No one should be sneering at them. Her empathy toward the Travelers grounds the mystery as Julie evolves into a self-assured young woman who learns to untangle the knots of injustice, family history, friendship and love. While The Pearl Thief is self-contained, readers of Code Name Verity will get glimpses of the Julie they know as a multifaceted spy in the making. With effortless prose and seamless storytelling, Wein has unearthed a remarkable time and place and populated it with unforgettable characters.

RAMONA BLUE

By Julie Murphy

408 pp. Balzer & Bray/ HarperCollins. $17.99.

(Ages 13 and up)

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In her third novel for young adults, Murphy paints a watercolor portrait as expansive as the ocean near the small beach town of Eulogy, Miss., where her teenage protagonist searches for identity, love and connection. If blue is the emotional palette of her life, then 17-year-old Ramona learns to make use of its varying shades with careful introspection.

She dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer, but with a single father whose livelihood was swept away by Hurricane Katrina, an estranged mother and a pregnant older sister whose boyfriend has squeezed into their trailer, Ramona does odd jobs. She longs for an anchor within the changing tides of first loves and second guesses: Ramona has come out as one of two lesbians in Eulogy. A summer romance with the still closeted Grace, a vacationer from a loving home with a stable school life, has helped. But a childhood friend, Freddie, returns, bringing a wave of emotions: longing for the innocence of childhood, a resurgence of her love of swimming and the complex fluidity of sexual attraction. Issues of class and race figure prominently, but that does not weigh down Ramonas story of braving the emotional waters of close relationships. Thats where, she comes to believe, life isnt written in the stars. Fate is ours to pen.

EMPRESS OF A THOUSAND SKIES

By Rhoda Belleza

313 pp. Razorbill. $17.99.

(Ages 12 and up)

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Intergalactic political intrigue, family betrayal and coveted thrones feature in this space opera story, in which 16-year-old Princess Rhiannon survives an assassination attempt and fights to emerge as rightful warrior empress and the sole survivor of the Taan dynasty. Rhee, who has been training to avenge her parents assassinations, escapes her own apparent murder to fulfill that quest, with feuding planets on the brink of war as a result of her presumed death. Alternating chapters introduce Alyosha, a reality TV star and former member of the military, who is accused of Rhees assassination.

Parallels to our present-day world surface throughout: Cubes, implanted memory devices, are as addictive as social media; a stay healthy and in the moment public-awareness campaign seeks to lessen their use. But it is Rhees faulty cube that gives readers a glimpse into the truth of her past, and ultimately, her future as a warrior empress. Interplanetary conflict, meanwhile, is also inflected by race. The darker-skinned Aly at first hides his Wraetan identity to dissociate himself from the oppressed refugee group. When he is accused of Rhees murder, he must clear his name and regain his freedom. Bellezas world-building is at times haphazard, but its real-world analogues and social commentary make Empress of a Thousand Skies an important and relevant novel.
(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Good morning.

Heres what you need to know:

 Washington, still reeling.

A sense of crisis deepened in the capital on Wednesday after President Trumps abrupt dismissal of the F.B.I. director, James Comey. Heres the latest:

 Days before he was fired, Mr. Comey requested more resources for the bureaus investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election. We look at the state of the various inquiries, including a Senate committee subpoena of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser.

 In a video, three of our reporters discuss the firing. How, why and whats next?

 We looked back at the deterioration of ties between the president and the F.B.I. director: Mr. Trump thought there was something wrong with Mr. Comey, who in turn thought the president was outside the realm of normal.

 I will be fine. Read Mr. Comeys farewell letter to the F.B.I., where agents are wondering about the future of the Russia inquiry.

 Were tracking how every member of Congress has responded to the dismissal, and we collected reactions from the right and the left.
In all, Fannie has resold 1.2 million homes since 2009, the worst year of the crisis.

For several months, Mr. Cummings, the ranking member on the oversight committee, has been focused on Vision Property Management, a rent-to-own company based in Columbia, S.C., which owns dozens of houses in Baltimore and more than 6,000 nationwide.

The Maryland congressman has been demanding documents from Vision since January, saying that he is concerned that it is duping poor consumers into rent-to-own contracts that become money traps. His office has spoken to Vision at least twice, according to correspondence the office made public, but those conversations have yielded little.

On Thursday, Mr. Cummings wrote to Vision and its chief executive, citing grave concerns about the physical and financial well-being of tenants with leases from Vision.

Mr. Cummings said Visions limited document production to date has heightened concerns about the potential harm Vision may be inflicting on families in Maryland and throughout the United States.

Valerie L. Hletko, a lawyer for Vision, said the letters escalated rhetoric does nothing to assist Americans without access to traditional mortgage loans to achieve homeownership, which Vision works to do every day.

Of particular concern, Mr. Cummings said, is whether the houses Vision offers have chipping or peeling lead paint. In December, The Times detailed how two children living in a Vision house in Baltimore had tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood.

Tiffany Bennett, the childrens guardian, discovered that they had lead poisoning one year after moving into a two-story brick house owned by Vision. She and the children moved out soon after learning about the lead paint.
DETROIT  Ford Motor moved its annual shareholders meeting from the physical world to the virtual on Thursday. But the new format did little to shield the company from dissatisfied investors.

Mark Fields, the chief executive, said the company was making progress in its transition to new technology to compete in an era of self-driving cars and electrified vehicles. But shareholders who took part in the meetings online question-and-answer session hardly shared his optimism.

In a series of questions read aloud by Fords chairman, William C. Ford Jr., investors called the companys stock performance pathetic and dismal, and said the sinking share price indicated a lack of confidence in the companys direction. (Mr. Ford did not identify the shareholders.)

Fords shares have dropped nearly 40 percent since Mr. Fields became the C.E.O. three years ago, and Mr. Ford conceded that the stock price was a major concern. Last month, Fords market capitalization fell behind that of Tesla, the upstart electric-car maker.
Pushing back against implications that it actively helped the Nazi regime, The Associated Press defended its reporting from Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 40s on Wednesday, publishing a lengthy review that detailed its fraught relationship with the regime.

The review acknowledged some missteps, including the news agencys lack of protest when its photos were used for Nazi propaganda and its employment of German photographers with active political affiliations.

But the news organization, which provided photos used in many American newspapers, said it took steps to retain its independence and provide factual, unbiased information to the world despite intense pressures from Nazi Germany.

During the violent and tragic period before the U.S. entered World War II, A.P. made a conscious decision to maintain access in order to keep the world informed of the ambitions of the Nazi regime and its brutality, Sally Buzbee, the agencys senior vice president and executive editor, said in a statement. A.P.s news report from Berlin was praised at the time by its customers and the news industry as a whole, and it stands as a major accomplishment today.
First come crackly doughnuts with rugged coppery shells, holes nearly caved in and curry leaves peeking through. They taste of salt and earth, the dough made from urad dal, split black lentils with creamy insides, soaked overnight and ground to a flour.

Never mind how long theyve been sitting in the glass case on the counter: Somehow they still have crunch. Scattered alarms of green chile are matched by red chile flaring in the coconut chutney served alongside, which has the confoundingly lovely effect of cooling and searing at once.

Caffe Lanka  part Sri Lankan restaurant and grocery, part pizzeria, with a sideline in quesadillas, falafel and panini  opened in March by the Castle Hill Avenue subway stop in Parkchester, the Bronx. Sri Lankan food is still a rare sighting in the city outside an immigrant enclave on Staten Island. As of the 2010 census, only some 200 residents of Sri Lankan heritage lived in the whole of the Bronx.

Caffe Lankas chef, Rafeek Badurdeen, is one. A native of Kandy in Sri Lankas high tea country, he honed his skills in Middle Eastern and Western cuisines at Le Royal Meridien hotel in Abu Dhabi, which partly explains the menus intercontinental sweep. But he also wants to serve the different communities living here, he said.
It was hard to tell if the opening of Sephoras new store near Herald Square was a red carpet affair or a girls night out at the spa. A D.J. played techno-pop while guests sipped Moet Champagne and dabbed Jo Malone on their wrists. One 20-something wrapped her hair in a paper headband while an attendant dabbed cream on her cheeks. Another stood before a screen with a front-facing camera and sampled virtual eyelashes, swiping left to explore an array of styles before committing to the real thing.

Oh! Do another! said her friend, who was snapping photographs. This is so much fun.

Much has been written about the crisis in retail, with shoppers deserting department stores for e-tailers and fast fashion, if they shop at all. The beauty business, though, has not had the same fate. Prestige beauty sales in the United States rose 6 percent in the 12 months ending in February, tallying $15.9 billion, according to the market research company NPD Group. Makeup alone is up 11 percent, totaling $7.3 billion. But that industry, too, is in the midst of its own upheaval, driven in part by the success of stores such as Sephora, the No. 1 specialty beauty retailer in the world according to Euromonitor International, which tracks beauty sales.

Bloggers and YouTube stars, Instagram videos and virtual assistants are replacing department store sales clerks, whose customers now know as much as they do (or more) about mermaid eyes and ombre lips. Brand loyalty is out, replaced by Sephoras try-more-buy-more ethos. Friends hold as much sway these days as trained experts.
Luckily for the crew of the freighter St. Cuthbert  and for newspaper readers in New York and Chicago  the White Star ocean liner Cymric was burrowing westward to Boston through a blinding squall on the morning of Monday, Feb. 3, 1908, when an inferno came into distant view through the snow.

It was the St. Cuthbert, a floating incendiary device whose cargo holds had been badly packed in Belgium with fusel oil solvent, paraffin wax, matches and other flammable materials. A tremendous explosion had torn through the 5,000-ton steel vessel at midnight on Saturday, destroying half the bridge and enveloping the ship in flame and poisonous fumes. More than a dozen crew members who tried to escape on Sunday perished when their lifeboat was swamped by the high seas. And St. Cuthbert was still ablaze.

Now at last  200 miles off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia  Cymric had arrived providentially. But the winds were so ferocious that Capt. William Finch could do no more than stand by for nine awful hours, knowing that to launch a rescue effort would doom his own crew. Finally, seeing a break in the storm, Captain Finch sent a single lifeboat to St. Cuthbert under the command of the first officer.

The waves were still mountainous enough that the lifeboat seemed to disappear from view. Finally, it re-emerged on the lee side of the St. Cuthbert.
Historical Context

Concerns about war or terrorism often raise new questions about the limits of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, as government leaders become worried that valuable military information might be leaked. President John F. Kennedys 1961 speech on the press provides a useful look at this issue. Delivered after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba), the speech focuses on his view of the dilemma faced by a free and open society in a cold and secret war.

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed  and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment  the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution  not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply give the public what it wants  but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

Ask students to consider the following questions as they read Kennedys speech (they may also choose to listen to the audio):

1. President Kennedy states early on that he does not feel that their relationship should be described as the president versus the press. Based on the text of the speech, how would you characterize the relationship between Kennedy and the press? What evidence can you point to in his speech that supports that statement?

2. This speech is given in the midst of the Cold War; in fact, just a little more than a week after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Kennedy felt that leaks in the press had, in part, led to the military failure in Cuba. As a result, Kennedy organizes his words around a desire to reconcile two somewhat contradictory needs: the need for far greater public information; and [the] need for far greater official secrecy. Explain the connection between the situation of the Cold War and these two needs. What does Kennedy mean when he states that there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it?

3. What does Kennedy say would have happened with the news media if war had been declared? What does he want to happen, even though the country is not officially at war at the time?

4. Toward the end of his speech, Kennedy addresses the role of the press in American society:

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed. I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers  I welcome it. According to his logic, how can both support and opposition to an administrations program be necessary?

5. Given that Kennedy had just suffered an embarrassing military and political snafu in Cuba, are you surprised by the tone of this speech? Does it seem presidential? How do you think members of the press responded to the speech? Why?

6. What responsibility does the press have regarding issues of national security, when either the country is at war or when it is at peace? When should the press hesitate to publish a story? When should it not?
Why Bleeding?

Now that the patient was stable, the issue on Baileys mind was why he bled in the first place. Sure, he was on a very effective blood thinner, but hed been taking that for years without bleeding. He hadnt fallen and hit his head. And none of the tests suggested he had an infection or a weakness in the blood vessels in the brain that would make bleeding more likely.

Later that morning, the patients partner brought in all his medications and supplements. But there was one that was not on the list from the E.R.: turmeric. He started taking it earlier that week, he told the doctor. Its from India  its completely natural.

Supplemental Information

Bailey, like most doctors, didnt know much about supplements. And she didnt know anything about turmeric, beyond the fact that it was a yellow spice sometimes used in curries. Could it have contributed in some way to his bleeding? It was his only new medication. She posed the question to her team on rounds. Stephen Rappaport, a young pharmacist who saw patients with the I.C.U. team, was immediately interested. He didnt know much about turmeric either, but he would certainly look into it.

As the team discussed other issues involved in this mans care, Rappaport fired off an email to the University of Illinois at Chicago Drug Information Group, a subscription research service for pharmacists, asking about any effect turmeric might have on blood clotting. Their response came back a few hours later. Yes, turmeric is a blood thinner. Though the researchers had found no published reports of patients bleeding from taking turmeric, it could increase the risk, especially if paired with another anticoagulating drug. They concluded that patients should avoid concomitant use.

In prescribing a medication like the blood thinner this patient was taking, doctors must weigh the benefit of reducing the bloods ability to clot against the potential damage of unstoppable bleeding. For this patient, the math seemed straightforward. Hed already had a couple of strokes, and he was at high risk of having a third if nothing was done, so he was given the blood thinner. But this brain bleed made the doctors wonder if the math had now changed. The patients risk of having another stroke was quite high, but so was his risk of bleeding again  unless the turmeric had played a role. If that were the case, and it was a big if, then simply not taking the turmeric would be enough to balance the risk-benefit equation.

Spice of Life

Few published studies show how supplements act in the human body in controlled trials. Unlike drug makers, supplement makers are not required to test what their products actually do. Turmerics blood-thinning effect is not generally an issue when eaten, as it contains only a tiny amount of its anticoagulant ingredient, curcumin. A half-teaspoon of the turmeric on your spice shelf contains only 50 milligrams of curcumin. But the capsules of turmeric sold as a supplement are almost all curcumin. Each dose contains 1000-2000 mg. of the drug. Many sites on the internet that discuss turmeric mention this fact and suggest not combining it with medications or other supplements that have an anticoagulant effect, but this patient hadnt seen the warning.
I have to use this umbrella to protect myself from the torrent of illegal leaks. Roger Stone. Hes a Republican political consultant and a self-described  Agent provocateur. He was an adviser to longtime friend Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. Trying to stop Trump is like stepping in front of a hurtling freight train. Now, Stone is back in the spotlight. Hes been charged as part of Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation over his communications with WikiLeaks, the organization that released Clinton campaign emails stolen by the Russian government to help Trump win. In 2016, Stone said he had an in with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. I actually have communicated with Assange. We have a mutual acquaintance who is a fine gentleman. But now, he says it was all part of his political game. I set a Google News alert for Julian Assange. I read every interview he gave. And I used that information to posture and to bluff and to punk the Democrats. Stone has built a reputation on winning at all costs, even if it means bending the truth. I assumed he was lying. Its something Roger does. Posture and bluff. Thats politics. Stone started his career as a political operative at a young age. At 19, he was an entry-level trickster for Nixons re-election campaign. His name later came up in the Watergate investigation. I paid $100 to Mr. Roger Stone on one occasion to leave a leaflet, I believe, at Senator McGoverns headquarters. Stone and Trump have been friends and associates since the 1980s, when Stone was working as a political consultant with Paul Manafort. Yes, that Paul Manafort, Trumps former campaign manager, who has since been convicted of financial fraud. Stone says he has been encouraging Donald Trump to run for president since 1988. I would say that I would have a hell of a chance of winning. Between his outspokenness, his national name identification and his issue positions, he could be a formidable candidate. I guess were looking at it very seriously. After he got into some trouble working for Bob Dole in 1996, he bounced back  but has largely worked outside of political campaigns. Stone has a unique personal brand: a mix of provocation, politics and fashion. He can often be found discussing some of his favorite topics: the Clintons, how L.B.J. was behind the assassination of J.F.K. and fake news. Fake news. Stone strongly denies any wrongdoing in 2016. I havent done anything illegal. Ive been targeted for one reason and one reason only: I am loyal to the president of the United States. But emails and interviews suggest that he sold himself to the Trump campaign as a conduit to WikiLeaks. He is also connected to a web of associates, some of whom have been interviewed as part of Muellers investigation. Stone has been charged with seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements, and witness tampering.
Oren Movermans new movie, The Dinner, which opened this month, is one of those dramas, like God of Carnage and, for that matter, Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, that make you want to reconsider your social life. Its based on a 2009 Dutch novel of the same name, by Herman Koch, an enormous best-seller in Europe, in which two married couples go out for an ostensibly civilized meal and then turn feral on each other.

Mr. Movermans adaptation transplants the story from the Netherlands to America and adds a fifth character but otherwise sticks fairly closely to the book. A pair of brothers and their wives meet for dinner at an absurdly fancy restaurant. One of the brothers (Richard Gere) is a glad-handing politician; the other (Steve Coogan) is a sarcastic former history teacher who gradually reveals himself to be not just resentful and misanthropic but also seriously unhinged. (That in real life Mr. Coogan is known for his dead-on mimicry of Mr. Gere only ratchets up the sibling rivalry.) And along with their wives (Rebecca Hall and Laura Linney), these two tear each other apart over what to do with their sons, who happen to have committed a senseless, horrific crime.

When Mr. Moverman was first offered The Dinner to direct, it had already been made twice into a movie, in Dutch and in Italian. He turned it down. He also did this with his first movie, The Messenger (2009), for which he had written a script, with Alessandro Camon, that he liked so much he thought it deserved someone better. I said, Lets get an experienced humanist, a great director, he recalled over coffee one recent morning at the New York Edition, a hotel so self-consciously hip his movie meal could have been filmed there, and ultimately I was told to just shut up and do it. What changed his mind about The Dinner was learning that Cate Blanchett was interested in directing it; he signed on to write a script and took over when she had to bow out.

In many ways, Mr. Moverman, 50, is an unlikely, almost accidental filmmaker. He was born in Israel (and still speaks with a faint hint of an Israeli accent) and fell in love with movies there, even though he hadnt actually watched very many. I read a lot about movies, researched them, he said. I knew a lot about movies Id never seen and could have very intelligent conversations about them.
How The Last Shaman came to be isnt discussed in the film, but this documentary might be less disquieting if it had been. After trying the hallucinogenic tea ayahuasca, Raz Degan, an Israeli-born actor, sought to make a movie about the brews ostensible medicinal powers.

In the process, he met James Freeman, an American suicidal from depression. Fearing that his illness was intractable  despite medication, a hospital stay and electroconvulsive therapy  Mr. Freeman traveled to Peru for shamanic healing. (We meet his apprehensive physician parents in the Boston area.)

Mr. Degan is an unobtrusive presence in a film that would have benefited from overt, Socratic questioning. Mr. Freeman attends a shamanic ceremony in which a man has a fatal reaction to the ayahuasca. Later, in Peru, he meets a shaman from Kentucky who tells him that true healers dont charge. The most helpful shaman is Pepe, who lives in a Shipibo village.

Its possible to have doubts about ayahuasca (which, we learn, has been increasingly commercialized) and still find Mr. Freemans resolve uplifting. Even he acknowledges that novelty and psychosomatic benefits may contribute to his convalescence. During one stretch, he lives in isolation and keeps a video diary.
The premise and the title of The Wedding Plan suggest a bubbly rom-com, but this prickly, delicately layered film from Rama Burshtein  an ultra-Orthodox director based in Israel  has the tangled ambiguity of a Talmudic lesson. Like Ms. Burshteins Fill the Void (2013), the story of a religious woman who must decide whether to marry her dead sisters husband, The Wedding Plan manages to be respectful of traditions while at the same time feeling modern, even progressive.

Like Fill the Void, The Wedding Plan concerns marriage, something that the 32-year-old Michal (Noa Koler) desperately wants. On the verge of tying the knot, she asks her fiance why hes seemed distant. He admits that he doesnt love her, a confession he had been avoiding.

Taking the engagements collapse in stride, Michal tallies the years shes been dating. Impulsively following through on her original plans, she books a wedding hall for the last night of Hanukkah. That gives her three weeks to find a groom  possibly more of a miracle than the Hanukkah lights.

Like Ms. Burshtein, who also wrote the script, Michal doesnt fit ultra-Orthodox stereotypes. (She runs a mobile petting zoo, which hardly seems like a typical profession.) In a complicated role, the excellent Ms. Koler exudes a kind of flighty confidence: For all her nuptial-related anxieties, Michal is completely comfortable with who she is.
It has been four and a half years since a California law student was killed in broad daylight near Columbus Circle in Manhattan, and next week a Queens man goes on trial on charges he orchestrated the killing.

But the trial, which is expected to last six weeks, is unlikely to answer a question that has vexed the police for years: Who was the hooded gunman filmed as he calmly walked up behind the California man, Brandon L. Woodard, on that rainy December afternoon, raised a nickel-plated pistol and fired a bullet into his neck?

At the end of the trial you may not know who the shooter was, the lead prosecutor, Christopher Prevost, told prospective jurors during jury selection earlier this week. There will be other questions not answered. Where did the gun come from? Where did it go?

Lloyd T. McKenzie, 39, is charged with murder in the death of Mr. Woodard, and prosecutors say they will prove he drove the killer to the scene in a rented car, waited on the curb and whisked the gunman away afterward, melding into the traffic and escaping to Queens. Opening arguments are expected early next week.
They have long been one of New York Citys most memorable couples. But they appear to be headed for a split.

Ross M. Cellino Jr. and Stephen E. Barnes  known by many in New York and elsewhere simply as Cellino and Barnes, thanks to the infectious jingle that has made the two personal injury lawyers a single, household name  have been in practice together for decades.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Cellino filed a lawsuit against Mr. Barnes and the firm, Cellino & Barnes, P.C., in the Erie County branch of the New York State Supreme Court.
The state Senate has sent Gov. Scott Walker a bill removing the requirement for 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain permits signed by their parent or guardian in order to work.

The bill passed the Senate on a 20-12 party-line vote. It passed the state Assembly last week.

Walkers office did not immediately respond Wednesday to an inquiry about whether he will sign it.

Tourism and business groups support the bill, while labor groups such as the state AFL-CIO oppose it.

Supporters of the bill, including its sponsors, Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, and Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, say it would make it easier for homeless and unaccompanied teens to get jobs. They say Wisconsin is one of just 15 states to have a work-permit requirement for teens age 16 and 17.

Opponents, such as Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, say the bill erodes parental oversight of teens and could expose some teens to work environments that are unhealthy or exploitative.

We are taking away protections for young people, Taylor said.

The work-permit requirement would remain in place for minors under age 16.

Other bills that passed the Senate Wednesday would:

Roll back oversight of aquatic farming operations by removing permitting requirements.

Allow an unaccompanied person under age 21 to be present during a large event at a music festival venue issued an alcohol beverage license.
Beginning in 1997, and then for the next 13 years, Ama Dwimoh ran the Crimes Against Children Bureau in the Brooklyn district attorneys office, observing a theater of atrocities. Early in her tenure, Ms. Dwimoh told me recently, she handled a case involving a young man who had been sexually molested by his familys landlord for a decade, starting when he was 5.

The abuse had come to her attention through a photo developer, who had contacted the police when he noticed unseemly images in a roll of film brought in for processing. With a picture of someone who appeared to be the victim of various predations in hand, law enforcers went in search of the boy. When they found him and knocked on his door, Ms. Dwimoh recalled, he appeared to feel he was being outed; he got sick and vomited. He knew that what had happened to him was wrong, but he had also experienced his abuser in less monstrous moments. How was the child, or even the young adult he would become, to make sense of all this, of such horrors entwined with the semblance of affection?

A search of the perpetrators home revealed a trove of old photographs of many other children, indicating he had been a pedophile for years. Ms. Dwimoh, who is running to become the Brooklyn district attorney, realized that if the police had never knocked, it was unclear whether the boy would have come forward soon, or ever, and if he hadnt, how many more children would have been imperiled?

Under New York State statute as it is currently written, someone sexually exploited as a child, with rare exceptions, has only until the age of 23 to bring criminal or civil proceedings against an abuser. This is in spite of the fact that the mental-health professions, as well as the news  witness the recent accounts of abuse at Choate Rosemary Hall, the Connecticut boarding school, or at the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, that transpired decades ago  repeatedly tell us that it can take many agonizing years, often signified by anxiety, depression, addiction and other destabilizing conditions, for victims to understand what had happened to them and come forward.
Melbourne, Australia  The political fault lines are familiar to any democracy. At election time, the people divide according to location. Those living in coastal cities tend to vote center-left; those in the hinterland are likely to vote conservative. The pattern repeats by age, education and ethnicity. The university graduate and the migrant lean center-left; the retiree and the local-born lean conservative.

The twist in Australia is that these social and economic forces are shaking out in favor of the Labor Party, not the conservative Liberal Party. Australia is decidedly more urbanized and more cosmopolitan than the United States, Britain or continental Europe. This essential difference in cultural makeup has allowed Australia to resist the wealthy worlds lurch to the populist right.

It would have been unthinkable to make this call just a few years ago. Between November 2010 and September 2013, the Liberal Party and its rural-based coalition partner, the National Party, won six of the seven elections held across the country, at the federal, state and territory levels. It was a stunning sequence of successes for the center-right with no precedent in Australian political history.
AMUDA, Syria  At long last, those of us struggling to maintain a fledgling democracy in Northern Syria have been buoyed by the announcement from the Trump administration that the American military will begin to directly arm the Kurdish men and women who make up the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Those forces have been Americas most valued and effective allies in the war against the Islamic State.

This is something weve asked for repeatedly during the nearly three years our militias have been fighting the Islamic State and winning, victories achieved despite tough odds and a lack of heavy weapons. Weve steadily driven the jihadists back hundreds of miles to the brink of defeat at Raqqa. The Islamic State wont give up its self-styled capital easily. This military aid will be crucial in finishing the job.

But as President Trump prepares to meet next week with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey  no friend to the Kurds in Syria or in his own country  we ask the American president and people to be mindful of the enormous sacrifice the Kurdish people have made in this fight, and the importance of the unique democratic system we have worked hard to build in the area of Northern Syria known as Rojava.

Were fighting the Islamic State because its the right thing to do, but weve paid dearly for our victories. We have already lost many thousands of our young men and women in battle, and we know many hundreds more will die in Raqqa. Once we win that battle, will America cave in to Turkish pressure and abandon us, despite this sacrifice?
It has sometimes been overlooked that whites make up a solid plurality, 41 percent, of Medicaid recipients; 22 percent of recipients are African-American and 25 percent Hispanic. In the four pivotal 2016 states that supported Trump I referred to earlier, whites are the majority of recipients, ranging from 58 to 67 percent.

Judith Solomon, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, described some of the AHCA changes in Medicaid in an email.

Beginning in 2020, Solomon wrote,

states can freeze enrollment and only cover the grandfathered enrollees who were enrolled on 12/31/19. The block grant option allows states to cut eligibility. The only requirement would be to cover pregnant women and children under age 6 with incomes under 138% of the poverty line, and children 6 to 18 below the poverty line.

Along similar lines, Matthew Fiedler, a Brookings fellow, wrote me:

The two most important Medicaid provisions under the AHCA are: (1) cutting federal funding for covering the ACA Medicaid expansion population; and (2) implementing a per capita cap that would limit the total amount of federal funding states could receive per person they enroll. Both provisions would give states very strong incentives to curtail eligibility, but neither would directly require states to do so.

Those placed at highest risk under these provisions, according to Fiedler, are non-elderly adults with incomes below 138 percent of the poverty, particularly those without kids. Many of these childless adults  adults without dependent children  are not actually childless but aging parents whose children are grown and do not live at home.

Just as the tax changes in the Republican bill flow to the rich, so do the health care benefits.

Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, found that cuts in Medicaid and new health care tax subsidies would have upwardly redistributive consequences:

Those making less than $10,000-a-year would lose an average of about $1,400, or nearly one-third of their income  under the AHCA relative to the ACA. Middle-income households, those making $50,000 to $75,000, would see little change  an average increase in net government transfers of about $60. However, those making $200,000 or more would receive an average net increase in government support of $5,640, or 1.1 percent of their income.

Gleckman explained that the

decline in well-being for low-income people would result from the AHCAs proposals to cut the federal contribution to Medicaid and its move to eliminate cost-sharing subsidies for lower-income households that buy non-group insurance, thus raising their deductibles and co-pays.

In March, the Congressional Budget Office evaluated an earlier version of the legislation and estimated that 24 million people would lose coverage by 2026. Most experts believe that if something like the House bill becomes law, more than 10 million people, and quite possibly many more, will lose coverage.

The provisions of the House bill for those with pre-existing conditions are deliberately ambiguous. Will Doran, reporting for Politifact.com, noted that while insurers would have to provide access to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, the measure says nothing about the rates of that coverage. As a result, the law would

allow for people with pre-existing conditions to be charged more per year for their insurance coverage  possibly to the tune of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars more per year.

The American Medical Association opposes the legislation, contending that it would

result in millions of Americans losing their health care coverage and could make coverage unaffordable for people with pre-existing conditions.

From another vantage point, one with political significance, maps created by the Kaiser Family Foundation show how individuals of different ages and incomes would fare if the AHCA replaces Obamacare.

The affluent come out ahead. Older voters with modest incomes  a core element of Trumps support  would be penalized, paying more for health coverage in almost every section of the country.
On Thursday, The Times editorial board published an open letter to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who wrote the memo that President Trump cited in firing James Comey, the former F.B.I. director. It urged Mr. Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Trump campaigns ties with Russia. In response, readers offered their own advice in the comments of the editorial. Below is a selection of letters, edited for clarity and brevity.

Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein,

I would rather have you inside than out. I would rather have you speak up and be fired than to acquiesce. I expect you to bring all your experience to bear on our current troubling problems and do that which is right according to constitution and law.

Fran Murphy

Dear Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein:

Wrong is wrong, and who is president and which political party is in office should have nothing to do with your decision. Russias role in our elections needs to be thoroughly investigated by independent people with integrity. Some believe that President Trumps efforts to stonewall the investigation only heighten suspicions that he is directly involved and that his links to Russia are more damaging than we know. Perhaps President Trump is innocent, as he maintains, but only a credible investigation can clear the air and restore confidence in this governments commitment to justice, truth and accountability.

PB



Dear Mr. Rosenstein:

I write as the spouse of a whistle-blower and a whistle-blower myself. I wont go into the details, but suffice it to say we each observed unethical colleague behavior, involving vulnerable students and the welfare of future students.
Moon Jae-in was not president-elect for long. He won the South Korean election on Tuesday and was in office on Wednesday. Normally, he would have had a two-month transition period, but his impeached predecessor, Park Geun-hye, is in jail facing corruption charges. But then, it could be argued that no amount of time could fully prepare Mr. Moon for what lies ahead as he and his fellow liberals take charge after years of conservative rule.

The many South Koreans who took part in the street protests over the corrupt status quo that preceded Ms. Parks fall are impatient for thorough economic and political reforms. On the North Korean front, the steady escalation of tensions could become worse over potentially sharp differences on strategy between Mr. Moon and President Trump, with his fast-shifting views on North Korea.

Mr. Moons conservative predecessors generally shared Americas approach to North Korea, which is basically to pressure the North through sanctions and other measures to abandon its nuclear program. Mr. Moon is closer in outlook to his late friend and ideological ally Roh Moo-hyun, who as president from 2003 to 2008 pursued a sunshine policy of seeking to engage North Korea through dialogue, aid and joint projects. Though much has changed since then  including the rise of Kim Jong-un, the third ruler of the Kim dynasty, and the relentless development of nuclear weapons in the North  the liberals Mr. Moon leads believe sanctions alone have failed to deter North Korea, and are wary of being drawn into a struggle between the United States and China.
Several years ago, the Census Bureau began to predict that the United States would become a majority-minority nation by the 2040s  that African- and Asian-Americans, as well as Latinos, would outnumber non-Hispanic whites. Last year the census underlined its prediction by announcing that non-Hispanic white babies under the age of 1 were already in the minority.

These numbers have become a handy data point for whites fearful that they are being threatened and overwhelmed by a growing tide of darker-skinned people. In this way, the census may have unintentionally increased white racism, thereby justifying the longstanding Republican strategy of turning itself into a whites-first party. White fears probably even helped Donald Trump win the 2016 election.

Nonetheless, the minority-majority forecast, as it is commonly interpreted, is likely to be proven wrong. Not only could whites remain a majority well past midcentury, but they will retain political, economic and cultural control of the country long after that.

Simply put, the demographers have not taken into account how the perception of race is likely to change in the coming years. For example, whites are already seeing the descendants of some Asian and Latino immigrants as being similar to them. Consequently, whites treat them as white. This whitening process will only increase in the future.
More than two years into the American-led campaign against the Islamic State, freeing the cities of Mosul, in Iraq, and Raqqa, in Syria, is within reach. But since the groups leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of its caliphate from the pulpit of a mosque in Mosul in 2014, the Islamic State has claimed at least eight provinces in countries across the globe.

Countries in North Africa account for some of the largest portions of the nearly 40,000 foreign fighters who have flocked to join Mr. Baghdadis murderous cult, as well as the Qaeda affiliate in Syria. Recent worrying trends in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia should make the American government focus on countering the Islamic States global expansion and asking: What is the United States strategy for ensuring that the current progress in Iraq and Syria is not simply the opening act of a more far-reaching drama involving the Islamic State?

Egypt and Libya, in particular, could represent tipping points for the Islamic State and its global presence. In Egypt, the group appears to be employing the sectarian playbook used by its predecessor, Al Qaeda, in Iraq. An uptick in attacks against Christian minorities in Egypt, including twin bombing attacks on Coptic churches on Palm Sunday, mirror the Qaeda groups campaign of terrorism against Shiite communities in Baghdad that was intended to intimidate locals and bolster its own recruiting.

The United States should be especially concerned about a repeat of this approach in Egypt, the Arab worlds most populous country, which is already on edge thanks to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis strongman tactics against journalists, political opponents and human rights groups. For the past few years, the United States approach has been to provide carefully calibrated security cooperation while clearly condemning Mr. Sisis authoritarian actions. For example, the Obama administration supported Egypts fight against insurgents in the strategically vital Sinai region, yet withheld certain military sales and was outspoken about Americas concerns over Egypts human rights record.
TEL AVIV  Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. Admired by many foreigners and few Israelis, loathed by many, mostly Israelis. Read by few, denounced by many, it is a highly ideological, high-quality paper. It has a history of excellence. It has a history of independence. It has a history of counting Israels mistakes and misbehavior. It has a history of getting on Israels nerves.

Still, it is just a newspaper. The story of the people vs. Haaretz  that is, of a great number of Israelis growing dislike for the paper  is worth telling only because it tells us something about Israel itself: that the countrys far left is evolving from a political position into a mental state and that the right-wing majority has not yet evolved into being a mature, self-confident public.

Consider an incident from mid-April. Haaretz published an op-ed by one of its columnists. It made a less-than-convincing argument that religious Zionist Israelis are more dangerous to Israel than Hezbollah terrorists. And yet, the response was overwhelming. The prime minister, defense minister, education minister and justice minister all denounced the article and the newspaper. The president condemned the article, too. The leader of the centrist party Yesh Atid called the op-ed anti-Semitic. Leaders of the left-of-center Labor Party called it hateful. The country was almost unified in condemnation.

Of course, not completely unified. On the far left, a few voices supported the article and the newspaper. Some argued that the article was substantively valid. Others argued that whether the article was substantive or not, the onslaught on Haaretz is a cynical ploy to shake another pillar of the left  maybe its most visible remaining pillar.
To the Editor:

Re A Letter to the Deputy Attorney General (editorial, May 11):

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensteins letter  cited by the White House as the basis for firing James Comey as F.B.I. director  undoubtedly reflected Mr. Rosensteins honest appraisal of Mr. Comey and in theory could have been a proper basis for Mr. Comeys removal. But it clearly was not the real basis for the firing.

What is difficult to comprehend is how Mr. Rosenstein could have failed to see how his memo would be used by President Trump to lie about and cover up why Mr. Comey was fired. Mr. Rosenstein was played by the president to promulgate false information about the firing and to hide the presidents determination to quash an investigation of his associates and himself, which in my book should be sufficient grounds for impeachment.

STEVEN Y. WINNICK, WASHINGTON

To the Editor:

Both your editorial and David Leonhardts column (Rod Rosenstein Fails His Ethics Test, nytimes.com, May 11) appeal to Mr. Rosensteins concern with preserving his own reputation. That may be, calculatingly, the best way to spur some action on his part. Whose historical bed do you want to lie in? But it also reveals, distressingly, the decline of moral compass in our Trumpian society. We should expect Mr. Rosenstein to naturally do the right thing, precisely because it is the right thing, rather than have to appeal to his historical vanity.

MARC KAGAN, NEW YORK

To the Editor:

Your cautionary letter to the deputy attorney general makes as clear as can be that the president puts his own interests ahead of the nations. It also makes clear that the president is looking for anything to distract attention from the investigation of his administrations possible collusion with the Russians to influence the last election.
Gun-Phobic Professor Leaves a

University Because of Campus Carry

By Dean Weingarten. May 8th, 2017

Article Source

An associate professor of history and American studies has taken a job at a university in a state that bans concealed carry in its classrooms.

Jacob S. Dorman has taken the occasion to let us know that restoring the exercise of Second Amendment rights at public institutions is the reason that he has left Kansas University.

From Jacob S. Dorman's open letter:

In light of the state of Kansas' apparent determination to allow the concealed carry of firearms in the classrooms of the University of Kansas, I am writing to tender my resignation effective two weeks from today as an associate professor of history and American studies at the university. I have accepted a job in a state that bans concealed carry in classrooms.

(snip)

But Kansas will never secure the future that it deserves if it weakens its institutions of higher learning by driving off faculty members or applicants who feel as I do that there is no place for firearms in classrooms. Kansas can have great universities, or it can have concealed carry in classrooms, but it cannot have both.

(snip)

Recruiting the best trained professors necessarily means recruiting from coastal areas and progressive college towns where most people do not believe that randomly arming untrained students is a proper exercise of the Second Amendment's protection of a well-regulated militia.

Professor Dorman has an opinion that guns do not belong in classrooms. It is a strongly held opinion, backed up by research provided by anti-Second Amendment groups such as the Trace, and in the anti-self defense medical journals. There are considerable numbers of research articles on the other side and in criminological journals, that reach the opposite conclusions.

It is fairly easy to find critiques of the research from both sides. I find the side that provides support for the utility of an armed population more convincing. But I am not Professor Dorman.

What I find particularly bizarre is the idea that Kansas will not be able to recruit able professors who are not afraid of an armed population. All of the evidence is exactly the opposite. College campuses are crammed with ideological leftists, exactly in the areas where Professor Dorman taught. In History, liberals outnumber conservatives in academia by 33.5 to 1.

Why are History departments are crammed with leftist intellectuals? It is, in part, because the departments have created courses that are intrinsically leftist. Courses on the histories of gender, race, and class have leftist assumptions built into their definitions.

There are multitudes of History majors with these assumptions clamoring for work in academia. You will not find many conservative historians in academia. They have been defined out of the picture.

Maybe, just maybe, allowing a little bit of freedom on campus, a slice of actually doing more than paying lip service to the Second Amendment, will increase the possibility of selecting someone other than a doctrinaire leftist as a History professor. Maybe a tiny bit of intellectual diversity in History will be allowed on the KU campus.

Perhaps we will see a course on slavery. A course which demonstrates how Christianity and Western Civilization expended vast sums of treasure and blood to eradicate the practice. That was a project no other civilization in history attempted.

The replacement of an ideological leftist with someone who may not be is, at least, a theoretical possibility.

2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Link to Gun Watch.

It has to be wondered how those who despise campus carry would react if under attack in their oh-so-comfortable gun-free-zone. Would they simply sigh and resign themselves to potential injury or death - or, might they just wish that someone close by was armed and able to stop or limit possible mayhem. The ideal of course may well be the right of center professor who acknowledges risk and him/herself decides to carry, but seemingly that individual would be hard to find in the overwhelmingly left oriented centers of academia.

Back to Top


President Trumps unconscionable decision to fire the director of the F.B.I. in the middle of his investigation of the Trump teams tangled web of Kremlin dealings prompted calls for the deputy attorney general to appoint an independent prosecutor.

The Russia inquiry should certainly continue. But the deputy, Rod Rosenstein, may be the last person  besides Trump himself or Attorney General Jeff Sessions  who should appoint a prosecutor to lead it.

And the need for independent investigation has moved far beyond the Russia connection, right into the heart of the unfolding ethical and constitutional disaster that is the Trump administration.

Trumps firing of James Comey as F.B.I. director seems at this early stage like a huge abuse of executive power aimed at derailing an investigation that was coming too close to the White House. And the question of whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to defeat Clinton is now inextricably snarled up with the firing of Comey.
Background reading:

 How festering anger at Mr. Comey ended in his firing.

 Mr. Comeys farewell letter to the F.B.I.

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There were certain train lines it didnt make sense for us to be on, said Mr. Danford, who works at Grace Church on Broadway in Manhattan, south of Union Square. Mr. Argenziano is a studio director for a performance artist in SoHo.

They headed to Washington Heights, which had apartments in their price range. In one case, I was taken in by the view of Fort Tryon Park, Mr. Danford said. These things, you can be swayed by. But they are not of ultimate importance. It made me overlook the fact that the apartment itself wasnt great.

At an open house in Hudson Heights, they met Christian Lowery, a licensed salesman then at Compass and now at Blu Realty Group. He saw that I was stressed out, and he said, Have you considered Queens? Mr. Argenziano said. And I said: No. Never in my life. Queens is completely removed from my mind.

The couple had rarely been in Queens. But Queens, Mr. Lowery said, would add more options within their price range. He lined up an itinerary in Jackson Heights. The couple fell for the neighborhood, diverse and lively, with lovely residential blocks.

They saw a one-bedroom co-op for $340,000, with monthly maintenance of $700. It was on a low floor, with no view, so they passed it by. It later sold for $361,000.

They checked out another one-bedroom, for $389,000 with maintenance of around $600. They were initially unaware that the building would not allow Bruno, their Pomeranian. That one later sold for the asking price.
There are 150 species of tulips, half of them wild, and thousands of varieties. Theyre categorized in 15 groups, defined by characteristics like their size, bloom time, petal shape and color. During the renowned Dutch tulip festival called Keukenhof, from March to late May each year, you might get to see many of them, planted by the thousands like colorful blankets strewn across fields.

But theres one kind of tulip youre unlikely to see in these iconic fields: the broken tulip.

Broken tulips are the tragic beauties of the Tulipa flower genus. Afflicted by viral infections that alter pigments in the cells of their petals, the flowers bloom in patterns of flames and feathers.

The virus that creates these blazing beauties also kills them. The flowers wilt early, leaving behind little energy for the bulbs to use to develop, multiply or blossom. Broken tulips produce fewer bulbs that carry the virus from one generation to the next. And over time without care, the flowers disappear.
Climate change will alter the ecosystems that humanity depends upon in the coming century. But given the complexity of the living world, how can you learn what may happen?

A team of Australian scientists has an answer: miniature ecosystems designed to simulate the impact of climate change. The experiments are already revealing dangers that would have been missed had researchers tried to study individual species in isolation.

If you just take one fish and put it in a tank and see how it responds to temperature, you can imagine thats a huge simplification of reality, said Ivan Nagelkerken, an ecologist at the University of Adelaide who is leading the research effort.

Yet studying an entire ecosystem in nature, made up of thousands of species, has its own drawbacks. In nature you have all this complexity, and you never know which factor is really causing the outcome youre observing, Dr. Nagelkerken said.
In an artist statement from 1988, Felix Gonzalez-Torres described his work for a show at the New Museum as panoramas in which the fictional, the important, the banal and the historical are collapsed into a single caption. Gonzalez-Torres, who was born in Cuba but came to define the New York art world in the 1980s and 90s before dying of AIDS in 1996, considered himself excluded from the circle of power where social and cultural values are elaborated. He rejected the imposed and established order.

There is, then, a strange pleasure in seeing the artists survey, on view now at David Zwirner Gallery in New York, one of the largest commercial dealers in the world. For the show, the gargantuan exhibition space on West 20th Street appears mostly devoid of physical objects, but so full of meaning that it feels as if the walls might burst. There are two small clocks installed side-by-side on one wall, ticking in unison. On the floor against one wall is a mound of candy in gold wrappers that viewers are invited to eat from freely. Another room contains two stacks of paper resting on the floor, also available to take. Scattered throughout all five boroughs of the city are public billboards featuring an image of a bird flying across a cloudy sky. They are installed at unassuming locales, as if in secret  a gas station in Brooklyn, an intersection in Queens, beneath a similarly sized Kars 4 Kids billboard on Staten Island. Their presence seems to saturate these bland locations with an eerie, foreign beauty.

The show was organized by David Zwirner Gallery with Andrea Rosen, Gonzalez-Torress longtime dealer, who recently closed her Chelsea space to more fully devote herself full time to the artists estate. Gonzalez-Torres was the first artist Rosen showed when she opened her gallery in 1990 in SoHo. In the art world at the end of the 80s, Rosen said, People thought the clock was going to strike 12 at 1990 and art was going to stop and nothing was going to happen after that. She met Gonzalez-Torres around 1987, and immediately saw him as an important figure, one whose work embodied the major questions surrounding art at the time  in particular about whether there was anything else to say. For her gallerys debut, she showed a selection of paper stacks by the artist. One of them consisted of two parts: a stack that said Nowhere better than this place and another that said Somewhere better than this place.
Uber suffered a setback to its global expansion plans on Thursday when a senior adviser to Europes highest court recommended that the ride-hailing company comply with the regions tough transportation rules, potentially hobbling growth of its service across the Continent.

The nonbinding opinion comes as Uber faces growing pressure worldwide after a string of missteps by its executives angered regulators and raised questions about the leadership of Travis Kalanick, the companys chief executive.

The European case centers on whether Uber should be considered a transportation service or a digital platform that merely connects independent drivers and potential passengers. By designating Uber a transportation service, Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, said on Thursday that the company should comply with European countries safety rules, as well as with other legislation that applies to the traditional taxi associations that are Ubers main rivals across the region.

Uber cannot be regarded as a mere intermediary between drivers and passengers, Mr. Szpunar wrote in an opinion that will be reviewed by the European Court of Justice, which is expected to make a final ruling by late summer.
Robert Kelley, the founder and artistic director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley who has served in his role since 1970, will retire in 2020 when the theater marks its 50th anniversary, the company announced late on Wednesday.

Im healthy, I still love making theater, Mr. Kelley said in a statement, adding that the half-century mark was a timely and appropriate moment for TheatreWorks to embrace new leadership in order to continue to grow.

Mr. Kelley has developed the theater from a center for young, local talent in Palo Alto, Calif., into an incubator for new work that has helped foster some major American playwrights. Prominent writers including Wendy Wasserstein, Marsha Norman and Beth Henley have had residencies there, and the musical Memphis was developed by TheatreWorks before its transfer to Broadway, where it won four Tony Awards. The company also frequently presents the regional premieres of new work.

The world premiere of a musical version of the DreamWorks movie The Prince of Egypt, by the Wicked composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, will open at TheatreWorks this fall.
We sat around a long wooden table that took up most of a thatched-roof bungalow nestled in the hills of Chiang Rai province in Thailand. Barefoot, a dog curled at my feet, I stared at a large computer screen, engrossed in Pmoos video presentation. She spoke passionately, gesticulating with her hands, then waited as our guide translated her words into English. While she talked, I recognized one she used repeatedly: trafficking.

The situation has changed, she said. Now, many go knowingly.

Parisutha Suthimongkol, who goes by Pmoo, was talking about human trafficking, a lucrative business that takes advantage of illiterate people in desperate circumstances; solicits girls with promises of a better life; and persuades parents to sell their children. Ms. Suthimongkol is a founder of the Mirror Foundation, a grass-roots group in Chiang Rai.

This was not a work-related meeting. I was on vacation, visiting Thailand on what was billed as an advocacy journey, one that, along with sightseeing, provided opportunities to learn about the sexual exploitation of children in a country known for sex tourism.

The intention is that everybody will walk away with a deeper understanding of the issues and the work done on the ground as well as whats special and unique about Thailand, said Malia Everette, the founder of Altruvistas, a tour operator that had organized the trip in partnership with Ecpat-USA, an advocacy group whose name stands for End Child Prostitution and Trafficking.
Good morning.

(Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Troubling, damaging, scandalous.

Public officials have reacted with outrage to accusations that the University of Californias office of the president tampered with an auditors survey.

But many faculty members have had another reaction: no big surprise.

It would be nice if anyone were surprised  but nobody is, said Eyal Amiran, a professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Irvine.

Faculty leaders say cynicism has crept into their ranks for years, a result of painful funding cuts by the state, profligate manager salaries, and a sense that their voices are being increasingly sidelined in university governance.
Residents of Brighton Park, a working-class Latino neighborhood with well-kept homes and bustling restaurants, said occasional gunfire had long been part of life, but only in recent months did they recall such use of high-powered rifles. The latest shootings, which left three people dead, came at a time of escalating violence and turf disputes among Hispanic gangs in this part of Chicago, according to the police. An analysis this year by The Chicago Tribune found 33 instances in a nine-month period where semiautomatic rifles were used in Brighton Park and nearby Back of the Yards, far more than anywhere else in the city.

Just in December, outraged neighbors held a vigil after four people were shot with an assault-style rifle near an elementary school. Now this happens, six months later, and we ask the parents: O.K. What do you all want to do? Marcos Ceniceros, an organizer with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, said. And its like, No, what can we do? Theres a lot of frustration.

The Chicago police said there had been no spike in assault rifle shootings citywide this year. The police have seized 79 assault rifles in 2017, only a slight increase from last year. Across Chicago, 194 people have been murdered this year, about 6 percent fewer than during the same period in 2016, when violence rose to levels not seen since the 1990s.

The police said Hispanic gangs, suspected in this months bloodshed, were the most frequent users of assault rifles. One of the men charged in the shooting of the two officers had been out on bond after being charged with another gun crime  evidence, the police said, of a judiciary that is too lax.

We know the gangs that have the weapons, said Anthony Guglielmi, a Chicago police spokesman. We know the gangs that are using the weapons. And in some form, we kind of know where the weapons are coming from.
The forceful voice of the 20-year-old Harvard student punches through the crackling audio, his thick Boston accent coming to life. He is only a sophomore, but his distinct speaking style is already clear, even before he finishes the first line: My name is John F. Kennedy.

The one-minute-28-second recording foreshadows much about Kennedy: his commanding rhetoric, his passion for politics and a seriousness unmatched by other classmates. The 1937 audio, released by Harvard this week, is thought to be the earliest recording of Kennedy, whose graceful cadence, soaring prose and unflagging optimism carried him to the White House and inspired generations.

But on that day, Kennedy was just another first-year Harvard student (he transferred there after one year at Princeton) finishing an assignment for English F, a required course. He discusses the recent decision by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to nominate Hugo L. Black as an associate justice to the United States Supreme Court. Justice Black had been confirmed to the bench, but rumors about his membership in the Ku Klux Klan continued to hound him.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa  It is still uncertain whether Republicans in Congress will succeed in undoing the Affordable Care Act, but the debate over repealing it may have already done in Midwestern Nice.

It was Tuesday evening, and inside a community college gymnasium, the jeers were hailing down on Representative Rod Blum, a Republican from northeastern Iowa, as he defended his vote for a bill that would reshape health care and repeal much of President Barack Obamas biggest domestic accomplishment.

Be an adult!

Hey, shut up!

Answer our question!

Few Republicans are holding in-person town hall events in the wake of the bills narrow passage in the House last week, but Mr. Blums constituents were not giving him any credit for showing up. They waved red sheets of paper to signal their disapproval and hurled down a chorus of criticism over health care, President Trumps taxes, the investigations into Russian meddling in the presidential election and the latest bombshell: the firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey.

Im not going to over-shout you, so if you want to keep interrupting, Mr. Blum started to say.

Booo!
The city is in the process of determining a more appropriate place to display the statues post-removal, such as a museum or other site, where they can be placed in their proper historical context from a dark period of American history, he wrote.

He said the law enforcement officials took extra precautions because of consistent threats, harassment and intimidation tactics surrounding the removal.

Some protesters carrying Confederate flags shouted cowards and totalitarianism as it was removed, The Times-Picayune reported.

Removing the remaining statues requires the use of a heavy crane, and the mayor had told The Times-Picayune that every crane company in the region had received threats.
The Mormon Church announced on Thursday that it was partially ending its participation in the Boy Scouts in the United States and Canada as it realigns its youth programs with its own teachings.

In a letter addressed to church authorities, the leaders of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that the decision to end its sponsorship would affect boys between 14 and 18 years old, starting on Jan. 1, 2018, for units in the Boy Scouts of America and in Scouts Canada. Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs for boys 8 through 13 would be allowed to continue for younger church members, it said.

In most congregations in the United States and Canada, young men ages 1418 are not being served well by the Varsity or Venturing programs, which have historically been difficult to implement within the Church, a separate church statement said. This change will allow youth and leaders to implement a simplified program that meets local needs while providing activities that balance spiritual, social, physical and intellectual development goals for young men.

The church said in its statement that it was grateful for the continued support of the Boy Scouts and that the scouting organization has expressed a shared desire to do what is best for young men.
WASHINGTON  The acting director of the F.B.I. contradicted the White House on two major issues on Thursday: the support of rank-and-file agents for the fired F.B.I. chief James B. Comey and the importance of the agencys investigation into Russian election interference.

In a striking repudiation of official White House statements, the acting director, Andrew G. McCabe, said the inquiry was highly significant and pledged to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the F.B.I. would resist any attempt to influence or hobble the investigation.

Simply put, he said, you cannot stop the men and women of the F.B.I. from doing the right thing.

That Mr. McCabe felt compelled to assert the F.B.I.s independence was itself remarkable, a byproduct of the unusually public effort by Mr. Trump and his aides to take focus off the investigations into Russias election meddling. He also said the F.B.I. investigation had the resources it needed, partly disputing an account that Mr. Comey had sought more aid.
WASHINGTON  The script should be familiar by now. President Trump takes action that stuns the country, eliciting indignation and disbelief from Democrats and leading them to conclude that the vitality of American democracy is under assault.

Yet among those who are sympathetic to the president  a minority, to be sure, but somewhere around 40 percent of the country, according to recent polls  the outrage is that Mr. Trump is again being held to an unfair standard set by the very people and institutions that tried to stop his election in the first place: Democrats, resentful Republicans and, perhaps most of all, the news media.

That has certainly been the divide as the country absorbed the news that Mr. Trump had fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director. The move was widely hailed by conservatives online, on talk radio, on Fox News and among the presidents allies in Washington: the universe in which views of Mr. Trump quickly harden in the rights collective consciousness.

More clearly than other recent Trump-induced uproars, the reaction to the Comey firing illustrated how many conservatives now justify their defense of the president as part of a fight against a rising tide of overreaction and manufactured hysteria by the left. Mr. Trump, who has long understood the political power of demonizing his opponents as crazed and irrational, has helped stoke those resentments.
Shortly after President Trump fired F.B.I. Director James B. Comey, New York Times readers expressed optimism, outrage and skepticism across nytimes.com, Facebook and Twitter.

Mr. Trump said he fired Mr. Comey over the F.B.I. investigation into Hillary Clintons private email server, but in his letter to Mr. Comey, the president hinted that he was also concerned about the investigation into his own administrations ties to Russia.

That article received more than 6,500 comments approved by moderators, who review nearly every one before they are published on The Timess digital platforms. Thousands more readers weighed in on The Timess Facebook page.

Here are excerpts from the comments, some of which have been edited for length and clarity.

It wasnt hard to see this coming

Readers believed Mr. Comey was doomed once he admitted that there was an investigation into the Trump administrations dealings with Russia. Days before he was fired, Mr. Comey had asked for funds to continue that inquiry.
WASHINGTON  Soon after the Trump administration took office this year, the National Security Agency secretly briefed its new overseers at the White House that they had inherited a problem with the agencys warrantless surveillance program.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was delaying its annual reauthorization because the N.S.A. had discovered widespread violations of a rule for how analysts could handle Americans emails collected under the program. Now, the agency director, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, was proposing to solve the problem by significantly reducing an important type of surveillance undertaken through the program.

President Trumps new national security team, recalled Thomas P. Bossert, Mr. Trumps homeland security adviser, decided to bless the N.S.A.s proposal. The move increased the risk that the program might miss something important it otherwise would have collected, but removed a cloud at a time when the law on which the program is based, the FISA Amendments Act, is about to expire unless Congress extends it.

We decided to act on that, rather than getting into a conflict with the court, and struck a balance to protect the country without getting into Americans privacy, Mr. Bossert said in an interview. He added, We want to confine the program in a way that focuses on security and minimizes concerns about Americans domestic collection.
Word of the request got back to Mr. Priebus and his associates, who bridled at the nature of Mr. Stiverss appeal in part because they feel that the administration has been generous to House Republicans, the officials said. Mr. Trump headlined a March fund-raising dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee that brought in $30 million. Late last month, the president was the keynote speaker at a fund-raiser in Atlanta for Karen Handel, the Republican nominee in the race to replace Mr. Price.

Other Republicans, however, say that Mr. Stivers did not demand anything of the R.N.C. The R.N.C. is still expected to transfer money to the House campaign committee for the special elections.

The race to replace Mr. Zinke in Montana will be decided on May 25, and both parties believe the Republican nominee there, Greg Gianforte, enjoys an advantage.

The runoff between Ms. Handel and the Democrat Jon Ossoff for Mr. Prices old seat, which will take place on June 20, is more unpredictable. Mr. Ossoff received just over 48 percent of the vote in the first balloting last month, energizing Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans. The two House campaign committees, along with a handful of outside groups, have poured money into the race, making it the most expensive in the Houses history.

Tensions between the White House and the party campaign committees are hardly novel, and they often flare when a president is saddled with flagging approval ratings. But the strains are mounting quickly in this case in part because Mr. Trump, an unconventional political leader, lacks the sort of relationships with Republican officeholders that most presidents enjoy upon entering the Oval Office.

Further, in this White House, there is no go-to political point person  a role that Karl Rove and David Axelrod filled in previous administrations  and no high-ranking official overseeing the presidents role in the party and campaigns. Mr. Priebus has tried to play that part, but as the top aide to an impulsive and improvisational president, he has other responsibilities that consume his time.
We look forward to a swift approval by the Senate and the governors signature, as this is a critical element of the foster care system reform, said Jennifer Carr Allmon, the groups executive director.

If the bill becomes law, the state would be forbidden from penalizing an agency  declining to renew a contract or license, for example  that cited religious objections when denying service to someone. Advocacy groups said it might affect a wide range of prospective parents, including non-Christians, people in interfaith marriages or those who have been divorced and remarried.

A similarly far-reaching bill was signed into law in March in South Dakota. And just six days before the Texas bill was approved by the House, a similar but more narrowly focused bill that did not cover publicly funded agencies was signed into law in Alabama.

Texas is grappling with a long-running crisis in its Child Protective Services division, which a federal judge ruled in 2015 had violated the constitutional rights of children under its care by exposing them to an unreasonable risk of harm. The bills author, Representative James Frank, said in a statement that it would help address the crisis by ensuring that faith-based adoption agencies are free to do their work without fear of litigation.

At a time when we need all hands on deck, we face the real risk of seeing a large number of these providers leave the field, as they are forced to make the choice between devoting a substantial amount of resources in fighting litigation and other adverse action, or using those resources on other services to fulfill the tenets of their faith, the statement said.
Before dawn on May 6, 2016, a white police officer found himself face-to-face with a young black man holding a silver pistol. The officer could have fired a shot, but he didnt.

That officer, Stephen Mader, now 26, was dismissed weeks later by the Weirton, W.Va., police department. Now he is suing the city, arguing that his show of restraint cost him his job.

According to the complaint filed on Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia on Mr. Maders behalf, the officer was responding to a domestic-disturbance call when he found Ronald Williams Jr. brandishing a pistol.

Mr. Mader concluded, according to the complaint, that Mr. Williams was despondent but not aggressive, and appeared to be trying to commit suicide by cop. He repeatedly said to Mr. Mader: Just shoot me.
SEOUL, South Korea  The leaders of South Korea and China moved on Thursday to mend ties that have been strained by the deployment of an American missile-defense system in South Korea.

During a congratulatory call from President Xi Jinping of China to Moon Jae-in, South Koreas newly minted president, Mr. Moon revealed his plans to send a delegation to Beijing to resolve the dispute over the system, which China views as a threat to its security, Mr. Moons office said.

Mr. Xi also asked him to visit Beijing, Mr. Moons office said.

Mr. Moon, a liberal, has criticized the system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad. His conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye, agreed to its deployment, saying it was needed to protect South Korea from a growing ballistic missile threat from the North.

Thaad is one of the thorniest diplomatic issues the new South Korean leader faces. If he asks the United States to withdraw the defense system, which became operational last week, he risks rupturing South Koreas close alliance with the United States and looking as if he is succumbing to Chinese pressure.
NEW DELHI  Twenty-four people were killed when a 14-foot boundary wall collapsed on a crowd at a wedding venue in central India on Wednesday, the police said.

A crowd had gathered for the wedding in Bharatpur, about 100 miles south of New Delhi, when a powerful thunderstorm moved through the area, forcing around 50 guests to seek shelter near the 90-foot-long boundary wall while they waited for the most important ceremony later that night.

A police official said that such collapses were not unusual in Bharatpur, a marshy area. The water here is salty and moves upwards because of capillary action, causing the base of the wall to weaken, said Anil Kumar Tak, Bharatpurs superintendent of police. He added that the wall was cheaply made, without supporting columns, making it likely to topple over when this huge storm and rain gathered force.

Rescuers worked for more than two hours to extract survivors and recover the bodies, Mr. Tak said. Among the dead were 12 men, eight women and four children, all dressed in wedding finery. Fifteen people were treated for injuries. The wedding has been delayed.
BEIJING  Qian Qichen, an imperturbable Chinese diplomat who as foreign minister and vice premier steered his country on a pragmatic course through the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and bitter quarrels with the United States, died here on Tuesday. He was 89.

Official Chinese news reports announced Mr. Qians death but did not give a cause.

Mr. Qian (whose full name is roughly pronounced chee-en chee-chen), had mostly stayed out of the public eye in recent years, but on Thursday his death was mourned on the front page of Peoples Daily, the Communist Partys main newspaper  a sign of the deep imprint he made in shaping a muted, unsentimental policy after the Soviet bloc fell apart in 1991 and in chipping away at Chinas isolation from the West in the years after 1989.

Deng Xiaoping was the architect of Chinas pragmatic foreign policy, but Qian Qichen was the diplomat who carried it out, said Susan L. Shirk, who worked with Mr. Qian when she was a deputy assistant secretary of state under President Bill Clinton and is now a professor at the University of California, San Diego.

Mr. Qians tough yet phlegmatic manner underwent its biggest test when the United States and other Western nations bridled with revulsion after Deng, the partys most powerful elder, ordered soldiers in June 1989 to crush pro-democracy protests that had engulfed Beijing and other Chinese cities. Hundreds of civilians died in the gunfire and the chaos on roads leading to Tiananmen Square.
BRISBANE, Australia  Fed up with Australian internet speeds that trail those in most of the developed world, Morgan Jaffit turned to a more reliable method of data transfer: the postal system.

Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have downloaded Hand of Fate, an action video game made by his studio in Brisbane, Defiant Development. But when Defiant worked with an audio designer in Melbourne, more than 1,000 miles away, Mr. Jaffit knew it would be quicker to send a hard drive by road than to upload the files, which could take several days.

Its really the big file sizes that kill us, said Mr. Jaffit, the companys co-founder and creative director. When we release an update and theres a small bug, that can kill us by three or four days.

Australia, a wealthy nation with a widely envied quality of life, lags in one essential area of modern life: its internet speed. Eight years after the country began an unprecedented broadband modernization effort that will cost at least 49 billion Australian dollars, or $36 billion, its average internet speed lags that of the United States, most of Western Europe, Japan and South Korea. In the most recent ranking of internet speeds by Akamai, a networking company, Australia came in at an embarrassing No. 51, trailing developing economies like Thailand and Kenya.
An Australian man who was detained by United States customs officials last month after he briefly overstayed his visa has been released on bond and asked to leave the country within four months, the authorities confirmed on Thursday.

The man, Baxter Reid, gained international media attention after his girlfriend, Heather Kancso, set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover his legal fees. In an update to the GoFundMe page posted on Wednesday, Ms. Kancso said Mr. Reid had been released on bond and given 120 days to leave the United States voluntarily.

We will be making our way back to Australia within the next two weeks, she said in the post. We cannot express how grateful we are for everything and every one of you beautiful beautiful souls.

Khaalid H. Walls, a spokesman for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed that an immigration judge on Wednesday had allowed Mr. Reid to voluntarily leave the United States, and he had been released from custody. He added that Mr. Reids case would be monitored to ensure that he leaves.
SYDNEY, Australia  With the complete disregard for politics that is a characteristic of youth, Alia Joy Gates made her position clear: She would not wait to be breast-fed. It did not matter that her mother, Senator Larissa Waters, had work to do in the chamber of the Australian Senate.

She was 11 weeks old and, for crying out loud, a girls gotta eat.

As a result, little Alia made history. On Tuesday, she became the first child to be breast-fed in Australias federal Parliament. By Thursday, her mundane bout of hunger had attracted praise for her mother from all over the world, including from Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, who declared (on Facebook, of course), Go Larissa Waters  leading by example!

Ms. Waters said in an interview that she was a bit stunned by the reaction.

Breast-feeding is a normal and natural thing that women have been doing since time immemorial, and in that sense, its quite strange to me that it caused such a sensation, she said during a break from voting in the Senate. What it really says is that we need more young women in Parliament so that when we breast-feed our babies, its not considered news.

The response, not unlike what occurred after a lawmaker in Iceland was photographed breast-feeding while defending a bill in the countrys Parliament, reflects the degree to which maternal functions are still considered bold and political acts in institutions dominated by men.
LONDON  How did a pineapple become a postmodern masterpiece?

The aesthetic merits of tropical fruit inadvertently entered Britains national cultural conversation after two students jokingly placed a store-bought pineapple on an empty table at an art exhibition this month at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, a port city in northeastern Scotland.

When they returned a few days later to the exhibition  part of the Look Again festival, which aims to highlight Aberdeens cultural heritage  they were shocked to discover their pineapple protected by a glass display case, instantly and mysteriously transformed into a work of art.

After one of the students, Lloyd Jack, 22, who studies business, put a photograph of the pineapple on Twitter, along with the words, I made art, the image was shared widely on social media, turning the fruit, fairly or not, into a cultural sensation. To some, though, the stunt was a self-promoting social media prank befitting the digital age.

Mr. Jacks post received nearly 5,000 likes on Twitter. Before long, the work, which the two students titled Pineapple, had been deconstructed on art blogs and social media worldwide; parsed in Paris, Texas and Tokyo; and even featured on Canadian television. Some on Twitter lauded its genius, while others ridiculed it as the latest example of conceptual arts plodding banality.
Bomb explodes near NC programme venue in Nawalparasi

A bomb went off near a programme venue of Nepali Congress at Purano Kawasoti Bazaar in Nawalparsi district on Thursday.
Voter education: Confusion still reigns among voters

With hardly four days left for the election day, confusion still reigns among many voters in the Chautara Sangagadhi Chowk Municipality, the headquarters of Sindhupalchok district, over voting process in the local elections.
New Report Highlights the Success of NJ's Online Gambling Initiative

Published May 10, 2017 by Elana K

A recent report entitled Regulated Online Gambling: Building A Stronger New Jersey has just come out touting the successes of New Jerseys online gambling initiative.

A recent report entitled Regulated Online Gambling: Building A Stronger New Jersey has just come out touting the successes of New Jerseys online gambling initiative. According to the report, conducted by NJ Online Casinos (an organization that is not owned by or affiliated with any online or traditional casinos), the states initiative has proven a success on nearly every front imaginable.

Specifically, the three fronts highlighted by the report include the revitalization of Atlantic City, the success of the regulatory system, and the significant income for the state.

Atlantic City

While critics of online gambling stand fast by their claim that regulated online gambling will detract from the success of traditional casinos, New Jersey has proven that that is not the case. Since online gambling was regulated in 2013, Atlantic City, which was formerly losing visitors and income fast, has once again been established as an international gambling mecca.

Regulatory System

Opponents to online gambling also claim that the technology used to regulate online gambling is not capable of preventing underage and out-of-state gambling or protecting consumers. Once again, the report notes that New Jersey has successfully been able to do all of these things. In fact, online casinos have a better success rate at preventing underage gambling than land-based casinos!

Tax Revenue

Finally, New Jersey online gambling has generated thus far nearly $550 million, with $93 million in taxes going into state coffers. Additionally, over 3000 jobs have been created with the regulation of online gambling, which means that the state has both increased its annual budget and created more employment opportunities. And it has done so while answering the public's demand for online gambling opportunities.

New Jersey Online Gambling Sets the Record Straight

Chris Grove, a gambling industry analyst, wrote, "Any state looking to New Jersey can draw three clear lessons. First, regulation works. Second, there is a massive consumer demand for online products. Finally, online gambling supports the health and long-term viability of land-based casinos."

Way to go, New Jersey!
Cabaret Club Casino Review

Cabaret Club Casino is part of the reputable Palace Group of online gambling sites, and soon after its launch it was clear that the casino was a strong addition. The casino exudes class and appeals to players that care about the style and superior gaming. Powered by Microgaming, Cabaret Club offers some of the top games, generous offers and much more.

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Cabaret Club offers a number of traditional casino offers. New players will receive a warm welcome with a cash match deal, while longtime members have a number of special offers on virtually every deposit.

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Last February, #45 Trump had a prized photo-op session in the Oval Office with a pleasantly smiling contingent of presidents and administrators of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Trump gave the clear impression from the photo-op that he'd go out of his way to boost funding and support for HBCU's. It didn't take long to shatter that delusion. Trump signed an executive order moving the Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities from the Department of Education into the executive office of the White House. In other words, into his hands. HBCUs would in effect be at his mercy.

If he liked a particular HBCU, and its president, and that meant towing the Trump line on education and racial matters, then the college prez would likely find that his campus would be among the favored few in Trump's politicized world. In case anyone didn't get the message of where Trump might go with his HBCU plaything, when he signed the stop gap trillion-dollar budget measure, he made a veiled threat to take a hard look at the Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program. Trump seemed to think that singling out Black Colleges for special funding might be a race based measure that he and conservatives have waged a two decade long ruthless war to wipe all vestiges of off the landscape.

The howl from civil rights leaders and House Democrats was swift. They rightly noted that Trump ignorantly misunderstood or deliberately distorted what the funding measure for HBCU's entailed. HBCUs designation as black colleges have nothing to do with a racial designation. It rests solely on their status as colleges and universities, their mission and their accreditation status. Trump quickly walked his crude threat back. He claimed that he had "unwavering" support for black colleges. But, it didn't change the fact that his shift of oversight over HBCU programs gives him a say so over the affairs of black colleges. And, despite his flowery words about making HBCU's his "priority," he didn't make them priority enough to add any more dollars to their funding.

Now we come to Trump's Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. It's her mission to sell the Trump line and agenda on education which, put simply, is to swing the wrecking ball even harder and faster on public education. This means shoving every federal dollar he can to fulfill the conservative's happy dream of dumping public schools for vouchers and school choice.

He found the perfect choice to make that happen in DeVos. Her long running war on public schools is well known. This includes bankrolling and chairing school choice lobbying groups, dumping millions into a national propaganda effort to sell school choice, plopping a failed referendum on the ballot in Michigan to siphon massive amounts of public school dollars to private and religious schools, and greasing the skids for her rich cronies to open charter schools on the taxpayer dime. DeVos has tried mightily to make nice with some of the HBCU heads who she and Trump believe will play along with their scheme to totally gut public education. The return to the Black College head that plays along with it is to have a sliver more of access to Trump, and dump a few more dollars in their school's coffers.

DeVos's invitation to give the commencement address at Bethune-Cookman University fit perfectly into the scheme. What didn't fit was the reaction of the students. When they refused to act like cheerful, plastic marionettes and clap and cheer for DeVos on cue, the visibly flustered Bethune-Cookman President saber rattled the students by threatening to mail their degrees to them. This was not just a university president who was piqued at the supposed bad behavior of the students toward an invited guest speaker. The embarrassment of having Trump's education emissary roundly booed potentially could have bad consequence for the university, namely the danger of Bethune-Cookman, and its president, falling off Trump's most pliable black college list.

The students for their part should be applauded. They did what colleges repeatedly pay lip service to, and that's that they want their students to think critically, be active and engaged in their community, and to be the committed leaders of tomorrow. They more than fulfilled that admonition when they made it clear that DeVos richly deserved their boos.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of the new ebook How the Democrats Can Win in The Trump Era (Amazon Kindle). He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network.


Map of Russia

(Image by larrywkoester) Details DMCA



Geography has been a double-edged sword for Russia. On the one hand, geography has blessed it with much beauty and prodigious natural resources. But geography has also made Russia vulnerable due to a lack of oceans and mountain ranges to fend off invaders. This combination has made Russia an irresistible temptation to megalomaniac leaders, like Napoleon and Hitler, who thought they could conquer this vast land that straddles two continents.

And what did Napoleon and Hitler get for their hubris? Russians galloping into Paris and rolling tanks into Berlin, to paraphrase Dmitry Orlov.

But don't let that dark humor fool you about Russians' general attitude toward war. They hate war and have a visceral fear of it. (Although, if backed against the wall, they will fight to the death for their home. Picking a fight with these people is not recommended). That is because they have not forgotten the terrible price they have paid. The Soviets lost about 27 million people fighting off the Nazis - 17 million of them civilians - and one third of their country was destroyed in the process. General Eisenhower wrote in his memoirs of what he saw when he went into the Soviet Union in 1945:

When we flew into Russia, in 1945, I did not see a house standing between the western borders of the country and the area around Moscow. Through this overrun region, Marshal Zhukov told me, so many numbers of women, children and old men had been killed that the Russian Government would never be able to estimate the total.

Although many Americans and Europeans have now bought into the America-centric rhetoric of the U.S. winning WWII in Europe, it was not controversial in the aftermath of WWII to acknowledge that the Soviet Union had, in fact, broken the Nazi Wehrmacht, likely saving many American lives by bearing the brunt of the fighting as one of FDR's advisers had talked him into going into North Africa in late 1942, which significantly delayed the U.S. opening up a western front attack on Germany.

It's a shame that the Cold War and Washington's post-Cold War triumphalism have undermined our ability to acknowledge the sacrifices and achievements of the Soviet Union when we were allied against the Nazis.

But with or without the west's approval, Russia solemnly commemorates Victory Day each year with elaborate parades in major cities, like Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Russian president gives a speech before the Moscow parade and the parade is followed by the Immortal Regiment Rally in which Russians march through the streets carrying photos of family members who fought and/or died in the Great Patriotic War (WWII).

The nights leading up to Victory Day this year included light shows on a trio of large high-rise buildings near where we've been staying. Alternating images of the St. George Ribbon (more below), the Red Star, and the years 1941 and 1945 and other related iconography were projected onto the buildings.

Part of the parade route included New Arbat which is the street our apartment is located on, so I headed outside about a half hour or so before the start time and braved the cold. I was able to find a good vantage point to watch and take pictures, having decided that I wouldn't walk all the way over to Red Square, reasoning that it would be too crowded and I likely wouldn't be able to get in for a good view. I later learned my intuition was correct and that only people who have permission can actually get into the square on Victory Day - probably officials, foreign dignitaries and special guests.

More people came out to line the streets as the time drew near. Lots of families, people with their phones out ready to snap pictures, and a smattering of individuals waving Russian flags thronged the edge of the modest barricades and tape that separated the spectators from the road. In terms of security, the atmosphere was fairly low-key. Police officers were stationed every 25-30 feet. At one point I spotted an officer on the roof of one of the buildings across the street surveying the scene. When I looked up again a while later he was gone.

Many officers wore wind breakers and some had on rain coats. I did not see any guns. There was no riot gear.

As people waited, earnest Russian music spilled out of loudspeakers. Then the music stopped and a brief announcement was made. A short motorcade of military officers in their crisp uniforms drove by about 5 minutes before the rest of the procession of tanks and other military vehicles began their ride down the street. Some soldiers in the procession waved to the cheering crowds as they rode by, sometimes honking their horns.

I saw several people sporting the St. George's ribbon, which is common on Victory Day as it's a symbol of patriotism and solidarity. The ribbon has its origins in the Czarist period as representing the highest military order. In recent years some nationalist groups have tried to co-opt the symbol or variations of it.

The official transcript of Putin's speech is available here. It was fairly short, acknowledging the great sacrifices that made the defeat of Nazi Germany possible, and emphasizing that Russia will never be conquered and that international cooperation is the key to preventing any future world war.

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"Those who can be persuaded to believe absurdities can be persuaded to commit atrocities." Voltaire

Short (relatively) and sweet: the Biggest Lie is as old as the Constitution, that America is a land of equality and liberty and a democracy.

Fact 1: Of all advanced nations, the US is the most unequal. The 6 Walmart heirs who created nothing and do not work, have more wealth than 100 million Americans.

Of the working poor, 1/3 are so badly paid they qualify for food stamps, which gives them $4.20 a day for their 3 square meals. If you work for Walmart, you have to apply for welfare to feed yourself and your family.

Originally, 50 years ago Sam Walton had a buy-America policy and 95% of his merchandise was American made. Today Walmart buys 95% Chinese.

Fact 2: A good measure of liberty is how many people are walking around free and how many are locked up. The US has the largest population of prisoners and the highest rate of incarceration in the world. By this objective standard, we are the least free nation.

Also, debt is a form of slavery, and the average US household now has $16,000 credit card debt, $28,000 auto debt, $50,000 student debt, and $172,000 mortgage debt for a total of over $250,000 total debt. By comparison, most Russians (80%) own their homes and have no mortgage debt.

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If youre one of the craft beer fans out there who has been defending last weeks acquisition of Wicked Weed by Anheuser Busch-InBev, then this is the story you need to be reading. You want direct illustration of how InBevs business practices hurt the entire craft beer industry as a whole? Theyve just presented the best possible example, by more or less cutting off the entire South African hops market from independent American craft brewers. Those hops, which include some of the most sought-after new aroma varietals on the market today, will instead be earmarked for the breweries owned by InBevs The High End division, including the likes of the just-purchased Wicked Weed.

Multiple breweries have weighed in this afternoon to break the news, including Rhode Islands Proclamation Ale Company, which Paste previously praised in the finals of our pale ale blind tasting. Heres the entire post that Proclamation shared on Facebook only hours ago.

For anyone wondering how AB InBev acquiring craft breweries effects the brewers, suppliers, growers and consumers of the market, heres an example of the things that many craft brewers are scared of

To set the stage, we purchased a few hundred lbs of South African hops from a small hop distributor that was dealing with some of the small SA farms/growers. The farms were under the umbrella of SAB which was recently acquired in the merger of AB/Miller Coors a little while ago. We were super excited to work with these hops as they were from a new growing region with new varietals and hence had new unique flavor profiles, also, the business we purchased them from was a small boutique hop shop that will be losing a huge chunk of what they work with to maintain their business. Anyway. Heres what we received via email today:

Along with the news late last week of ABI buying Wicked Weed, I was informed by SAB Hop Farms (part of ABIs purchase of SAB-Miller) that ABI are commandeering all the hops that were to be allocated for distribution to North American craft brewers. The goal is to sell the hops internally to their acquired (former) craft breweries, even though they have not been able to sell all the hops as of yet. Regardless, they refuse to let US craft brewers buy any CY 2017 hops believing this will afford them a competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

This is surely a sad turn of events. It sucks for the brewers, but has an even more tremendously shitty impact of the great guys that built a company around selling these hops to craft brewers.

San Franciscos Cellarmaker Brewing Co., who weve also written about in the past, quickly chimed in on Twitter, decrying the move. Cellarmaker had made extensive use of the hot new South African hop varietals, but will now be unable to obtain those same resources.

Supporting AB InBevs fake craft brands fuels this fire. Cutting off ingredient supply to indie brewers is wrong. #independentbrewer  Cellarmaker (@CellarmakerBeer) May 10, 2017

Think AB Inbev purchases dont matter for the craft beer industry? All South African Hops have been allocated to AB InBev High End brands.  Cellarmaker (@CellarmakerBeer) May 10, 2017

Also commenting on Facebook is Portland, ORs Great Notion Brewing Co., who weve also written about recentlyits almost as if Paste is in the business of writing about good breweries! They said much the same as Proclamation.

Great Anheuser-Busch InBev just swooped in and bought all of the exciting new South African hops we thought we had coming to us this summer.

San Diegos popular Modern Times Beer has also just weighed in on Twitter, regarding what they call todays extreme dickishness.

Next time you consider buying beer from AB InBev & their zombie breweries, we hope youll take this extreme dickishness into consideration  Modern Times Beer (@ModernTimesBeer) May 10, 2017

The writing is on the wall, folks. If youre buying beer from Wicked Weed, Karbach, Goose Island, Golden Road, Elysian or any of the other breweries owned by AB-InBev, these are the business practices youre supporting. Youre funneling money into the coffers of a company that is DIRECTLY and negatively impacting the entire rest of the craft beer industry, while simultaneously using those profits to lobby in state legislatures for anti-craft beer legislation.

If you dont care about craft beer, then fine. But if you do care, you cant pretend that supporting AB-InBev owned breweries doesnt negatively impact the rest of the industry. Either you admit that youre helping InBev complete a monopoly over craft brewing, stifling creativity and freedom along the way, or you start getting more proactive with the choices of what you purchase. Now is the time to make a stand, and to make it with your dollar.

EDIT: AB-InBev has issued a statement on this story as it makes the rounds across the web, placing blame on a low-yielding hop cropwithout denying that those hops making it out of South Africa will of course being going to InBev-owned, formerly craft breweries. From Willy Buholzer, Global Hops Procurement Director for AB-InBev:

South Africa is not a traditional hop growing region. SABs R&D efforts made it possible to grow hops in South Africa but it is still less than 1% of the world hop acreage and production. This year, South Africa suffered from low yields. Previously, SAB has sold a small surplus of locally-grown hops to the market. Unfortunately this year we do not have enough to do so given the poor yield. More than 90 percent of our South African-grown hops will be used in local brands Castle Lager and Castle Lite, beers weve committed to brewing with locally-grown ingredients. In support of the local industry, we additionally sell hops to South African craft breweries. This means that less than five percent can be allocated to other Anheuser-Busch InBev breweries outside of South Africa.

Knowing the high demand for South African hops locally and abroad, we are working to expand local hop acreage. Depending on the 2018 crop outcome, we may once again be able to sell more hops to breweries outside of South Africa.

Jim Vorel is a Paste Magazine staff writer and beer guru. You can follow him on Twitter for much more beer content.
PokerNews Podcast 443: Mike 'Timex' McDonald Makes Time for Poker

May 11, 2017 PokerNews Staff

Sarah Herring and Matthew Parvis were joined by special guest, Mike "Timex" McDonald, to discuss his recent high roller victory at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal.

McDonald opened up about how different his life is now working for PokerShares than it was when he played poker full time.

You can subscribe to the PokerNews podcast on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews Podcast family of podcasts is now available on audioBoom.
About 3.1% of Americans self-reported Scottish ancestry in the last census. Is that a lot, for a small, mountainous and kilted corner of the world? Earlier this week, they turned out in droves to Brooklyn's Warsaw to revel in the arrival of Biffy Clyro, hard rockers from the burgh of Kilmarnock, touring their seventh record, Ellipsis. Ellipsis debuted on the top of the charts last year, their second album to do so and, later this year, Biffy will be headlining no fewer than two festivals. Their publicist fervently told me they are second-line Glastonbury material, peers to The xx, The National and Katy Perry.

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fs3fs-public%2Fthumbnails%2Fimage%2F2017%2F02%2F25%2F02%2Fbiffy-clyro-roger-goodgroves-rex.jpg&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.independent.co.uk&s=568&h=0c3afa1c48fd5ff22b9f7776984902741e2eb43f713e6c9a022d9bbc2e1e2d12&size=980x&c=3587282568 image-library="0" caption="\u200b" pin_description="" crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Fs3fs-public%252Fthumbnails%252Fimage%252F2017%252F02%252F25%252F02%252Fbiffy-clyro-roger-goodgroves-rex.jpg%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fstatic.independent.co.uk%26s%3D568%26h%3D0c3afa1c48fd5ff22b9f7776984902741e2eb43f713e6c9a022d9bbc2e1e2d12%26size%3D980x%26c%3D3587282568%22%7D" expand=1 photo_credit=""] The Independent

Over here, they play Irving Ballroom in Manhattan, which they hit last month, and the Warsaw over here (Live Nation's two sticks in the small-range venue game). Having hit Irving Ballroom last month, Warsaw remained packed in the front - people gave me very hurt looks if I trampled them. The back was spacious, far more spacious than it was a few months ago at the Sleaford Mods gig I attended and there was room to get a beer and lean back contemplatively. But the front was passionate: there was at least one Scottish flag held eagerly and at least two Yes Scotland t-shirts could be seen in attendance. Where fare like Franz Ferdinand and Frightened Rabbit have done all they could do to appear British for diligent anglophiles. Biffy, from their accents to the kilt-like plaids they wore and nothing else, are mad Scottish.

But they also make rock and roll of the heavily-tatted variety. Their set was the curious fury of the band's major label years, hard and sincere Spinal Tap-stuff like "Wolves of Winter" (begun with a stoic reverie of heavy metal silence followed by intensely wrought guitar action) and the acoustic ballads that had frontman Simon Neil strumming Scottish tunes from his wooden box by his lonesome. A remarkable percentage of the crowd was singing along.

If any notion of 'scene' in the rap game feels threatened, hip hop heads should rest easy looking at Biffy's ilk: major label hard rockin' organizations, of late, have become a homogeneous torrent of noise that all sound vaguely like the Foo Fighters. Which might by why Biffy has had such trouble latching on in the States: their sound, even seven records in, remains idiosyncratically informed by the land of Trainspotting more than any of the Britpop crossover bands that populated Danny Boyle's celebrated score. "Many of Horror," a ballad that Biffy closed the night's main set with, is a ballad with the songwriting chops of a primetime Billy Joel that's already been used by one X Factor-winner to reach chart-topping heights. But the way Neil sings a line like "my bruises shine" sound like a well-mannered punch in the face at any intuition that would nonironically serve haggis. In the squeezed space of a thousand-person venue, it doubles as something sung around a campfire, surrounded by loved ones.

Still a compact trio of schoolyard friends, their more expansive late-career offerings require at least one guitarist on the side struggling to keep up with the family men chugging around the stage with impeccable showmanship. Before the show, I had the chance to chat with Ben Johnston, the fanatically bald human drum machine who is married to a school teacher and not, say, Pamela Anderson. Pop-songwriting fascinates his band, he told me, out a fear of retreading old terrain. He's a big fan of trap, for instance.

For fans of the genre of clashing guitars and strutting solos that are unafraid of irony, Biffy's US tour offers the fabled dream of the old Ozzfest, a safe space for the rock and roll fist-pumping that even Dave Grohl feels compelled to ironize in his stadium jaunts. You just might learn something from your Scottish brethren.

Biffy Cylo will be hitting the States for much of May, until returning to to UK where they are more beloved. Get tickets here.

Andrew Karpan still just wants to write for NME but they continue to reject him. Follow him on Twitter.

More Rawk:

Are Sleaford Mods the last punks standing?

Is punk dead?

Is the next Flume from Chicago?
EC starts distributing voter ID cards (In photos)

The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday started distributing voter identity cards from the polling centres for the first phase of local level elections slated to be held on Sunday in Province 3, 4 and 6.
Alien: Covenant has put the fun back in the Alien franchise. Prometheus, with its pacing issues and convoluted plot is a distant memory. Here we follow the crew of the Covenant, a colony ship, dispatched from Earth to terraform and populate a new world. The ship is hit by a freak accident, awaking the crew from hyper-sleep. Whilst conducting repairs they receive a distress call from a nearby planet. On investigating they find more than they bargained for, in the form of back-bursting aliens, the wreckage of a mysterious ship, and a long-marooned android called David

What's perhaps most impressive about this film is that Ridley Scott and company are able to acknowledge the existence of Prometheus and the events that occurred in same, and yet also not be beholden to them in any way. They have kept the only element that was unanimously praised from the last film, in the form of Michael Fassbender. But apart from that, and a few minor plot details, this film feels completely different.

This is a far more focused story than its predecessor. The stakes are established quickly and effectively, as are the film's characters. Scott's chief concern is then ramping up the tension. He does this perfectly, and, what's more, in the face of the challenge of audience expectations. We've seen the posters and the trailers, we know what is going to happen here eventually. And yet Scott is able to create enough mystery from other sources, and use known elements of the film so creatively, that when we finally do see aliens exploding from people's bodies, it feels earned and fresh. Put simply: Alien: Covenant is a damn good survival horror flick.

Michael Fassbender is the MVP of the actors camp, and the producers are certainly getting their money's worth out of him. He plays both synthetic humans in the movie, David (formerly of the Prometheus), and Walter (the Covenant's designated plastic droid). His differentiation between the two parts is subtle and masterful, best demonstrated in his scenes between himself and himself. David, as a character, has grown a lot since we last saw him, in some strange and interesting ways. To say more would be telling, but it needs to be acknowledged that his presence in this film is both hilarious, and brilliantly severe. Contrast that with the more innocent, by-the-numbers Walter, and the scenes just catch fire.

Surprisingly, humor is a big part of this film. I quickly lost count of the number of laughs that came out of the audience as a pressure release of nervous tension. Particularly with regard Fassbender's David. The film is not funny, per se, but its understanding of the viewer's comprehension of horror film storytelling and the Alien franchise allows it to play with expectations in a way that seems to say: "We know you know what's coming. We do too. Let's enjoy this together." Besides which, there are a few Michael Fassbender lines here that are likely to become instant internet memes. You have been warned

Katherine Waterston does great work as our protagonist Daniels. It's nice to see the franchise staying committed to strong female characters. Despite seeing the love of her life incinerated before her eyes in the first few minutes of the movie, she persists, even in the face of killing machines, mad robots, and masculine insecurity. She butts heads with Oram, who assumes command when Daniels' husband (the captain) is killed. He is played (by Billy Crudup), and written (by John Logan and Dante Harper), as a bit of a pain in the ass, with a slight religious bent to him and makes for an interesting, and sympathetic, tertiary antagonist. The rest of the cast are also fun, in particular Danny McBride's character Tennessee, who brings some expected levity, and some, perhaps less expected, gravitas.

Overall, Alien: Covenant is an excellent piece of work. With the bar for these films being set so low after Prometheus, all this film had to do was be passable. Instead, it has revitalized the franchise, reminded us all why we loved the Alien films in the first place, and given us a picture that is both intellectually and gutturally satisfying. Although there are a few plot niggles, you don't think about them until you're well on your way home from the cinema. Fassbender continues to be one of today's most watchable working actors, Waterston is slowly but surely defining herself and her abilities as a blockbuster actress, and Ridley Scott reminds us we he is a four-time Oscar nominated director. If you like the Alien films, survival horror, sci-fi, or just good films in general, go give this one a look. It will be well worth your time.
Analgesics Market Value

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 14:43:10

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Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Analgesics are the medicines that alter perception, sensation, and sometimes also affects consciousness of individuals by blocking nerve impulses selectively to provide relief from pain. Analgesic drugs are generally available in three categories namely non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), opioids, and local anesthetics. The NSAID reduces pain by selectively reducing the local inflammatory reactions, opioids have their action on the brain and are utilized both in short-term and long-term relief from severe pain, while local anesthetics block the generation and the conduction of nerve impulses. Thus, analgesics form one of the largest markets in the overall pharmaceutical drugs market.Analgesics Market: Drivers and RestraintsHigh prevalence of pain worldwide, driven by an increase in the many disorders related with pain, is highly endorsing the growth of analgesics market. In addition, aging population, increasing acceptance of analgesics drugs, addition of new drugs, rising consumer awareness levels and increasing effective treatment opportunities are responsible for driving analgesics market. Growing geriatric population will be the most important growth driver for this market as such population suffer from pain due to various diseases that occurs in the old age. Due to the increasing therapeutic benefits offered by such drugs along with the faster and effective pain relief, analgesics find increased acceptance by geriatric population. The new innovative drug treatments in the category and increasing awareness about such treatments would drive the growth of this market further in future. However, chronic side effects, susceptible to abuse, high prices of drugs, limited commercialization of new products, and stringent government policies would hinder the growth of analgesics market.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1306 Analgesics Market: SegmentationThe global analgesics market has been classified on the basis of therapeutics class, pain type, and application.By therapeutics class, the global analgesics market is segmented into the following:NSAIDOpioidsLocal anestheticsOthersAntidepressantsAntimigrain agentsNeurolepticsAnxiolyticsAnticonvulsantsTriptans, ergot alkaloidsBased on application, the global analgesics market is segmented into the following:External AnalgesicsInternal AnalgesicsBased on pain type, the global analgesics market is segmented into the following:Neuropathic painInflammatory painSurgical painCancer painWound care painPhysiologic painPhantomPain arising from other diseasesOthersRequest For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1306 Analgesics Market: OverviewBy therapeutic class, NSAID holds prominent share owing to high unmet medical requirements in pain management segment. By application, internal analgesics is leading the analgesic market. Acetaminophen, a drug under internal analgesics segment is representing the largest product segment. External analgesics market is also growing evidently due to introduction of new competitors in the market, and increased advertising.Analgesics Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, North America is the largest analgesics market followed by the Europe. The aging population in the U.S. is the major factor for the region to contribute maximum towards this market. The new opioids and non-opioids will also help meet the unmet needs of the large geriatric population of the region. Europe is also bound to grow due to their high geriatric population and commercialization of new drugs. Asia-Pacific market will experience the highest rate of growth due to the increasing consumer awareness and increasing healthcare expenditure in the region.Analgesics Market: Key PlayersKey companies operational in analgesics market are Actavis, Inc., AstraZeneca plc, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Novartis AG, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Inc., Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Reckitt Benckiser plc and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Breath Analyzers Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 11:27:20

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# 761 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

Breath analyzers are the devices which are used to identify the presence of various compounds in the breath sample of individuals. Breathe analyzer devices are mostly used to measure blood alcohol content (BAC) through an exhaled breath. Breath analyzers are considered as fundamental tool for the detection of drugs, alcohol, tuberculosis, asthma and other diseases. Globally large number of road accident cases are noticed owing to the over consumption of alcohol during driving, breath analyzers are recognized as major equipment in enforcing drink and drive laws. Breath analyzers play an important role in the conviction of DUI offenders. By technology, breath analyzer devices market is segmented into fuel cell technology, semiconductor oxide sensor technology, and infrared absorption technology, fuel cell technology being the dominating segment globally. The development in fuel cell technology has been enhanced by number of factors such as accuracy, portability and reliability of the devices. Fuel cell technology followed by infrared absorption technology which is commonly used for desktop machines for evidential breath analyzers. Breath analyzers can be used by personals as well as by professionals to restrict the drunken individuals from entering in the company premises and other social places.Breath Analyzers Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe primary factor for the growth of global breath analyzers market is growing awareness and enforcing strict rules by the government for drink and drive cases. The growth of breath analyzer devices market is primarily attributed to increase in consumption of alcohol, drug abuse and growth in the incidences of diseases like tuberculosis, asthma and other diseases. Over consumption of alcohol has led to the boost in the requirement for blood alcohol content level testing devices such as Breathalyzers. Governments in specific countries have set some legal limit for BAC test and also increased field breath testing activities. Growing use of breath analyzers in medical applications is one of key factor that would increase the demand for breath analyzers market globally. Some factors that restrain the global market of breath analyzers are unhygienic conditions for use and lower accuracy of the devices.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1066 Breath Analyzers Market: SegmentationBreath analyzers market is classified on the basis of technology, application, end users and geography.Based on technology, the global breath analyzers market is segmented into the following:Semiconductor Oxide technologyFuel cell technologyInfrared absorption technologyBased on application, the global breath analyzers market is segmented into the following:Alcohol detectionDrug abuse detectionAsthma detectionpylori infection detectionTuberculosis detectionOthersBased on end users, the global breath analyzers market is segmented into following:Law Enforcement AgenciesEnterprisesIndividualsBreath Analyzers Market: OverviewBreath analyzer devices do not estimate blood alcohol concentration or content directly, as it requires blood sample analysis. Although, they measure blood alcohol concentration indirectly by estimating the amount of alcohol in ones exhaled breath. The blood alcohol concentration test is based on the relationship between alcohol in the blood and alcohol in the breath circulation through the lungs. The rapid advancement in technology, multiple applications and increased portability of breath analyzer devices are some of the key factors to drive the growth of breath analysers market globally during the forecast period. Law enforcement agencies on the basis of end users and alcohol testing by application held the largest market share in global breath analyzers market. The global breath analyzers market is expected to expand at healthy CAGR during the forecast period.Breath Analyzers Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic region, global breath analyzer market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America held largest share in the global market of breath analyzers market followed by Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific owing to high occurrence of several diseases and increasing number of road accidents, great advancement in field of breath analyzer devices and developed healthcare infrastructure. The developing nations in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa hold huge potential for growth in the global breath analyzers market, due to its affordable prices and strict rules enforcing by the government entities.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1066 Breath Analyzers Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating global players in breath analyzers global market are Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, EnviteC-Wismar GmbH, Lifeloc Technologies, BACtrack, Inc., Quest Products, Inc., Akers Biosciences, Inc., Intoximeter, Inc., AK GlobalTech Corporation, Alcohol Countermeasure Systems Corporation. The breath analyzers market is fragmented with few global players and numerous small, domestic players particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific.
Bright Futures Addiction Treatment Centers

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 19:20:35

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Bright Futures Treatment Center

2320 South Seacrest Blvd. Suite 300 Boynton Beach, FL 33435



Peter Dimaira

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844-207-7772

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# 465 Words

2320 South Seacrest Blvd. Suite 300 Boynton Beach, FL 33435Outreach844-207-7772

Bright Futures Addiction Treatment Centers open their doors to Union Members and Officials. Inviting any MEP or EAP department heads for a walk through of our facility. Member Assistance Programs and Employee Assistance Programs are the foundation of what keeps a Union of any kind strong and healthy.Member Assistance Programs for unions typically handle member benefits for members and their families. Bright Futures Addiction Treatment Centers offers their hand for help with the overwhelming need for drug and alcohol treatment. Bright Futures Addiction Treatment Centers is a Mens drug and alcohol rehab program based in Boynton Beach, FL. Bright Futures Addiction Treatment Centers are Joint Commission Accredited and licensed by the Department of Children and Families. Bright Futures Addiction Treatment Centers have helped many individuals and families through the battle of addiction to regain their lives and identity. Our intensive extended care program breaks through the barriers to change lives forever. We provide a comprehensive continuum of care, with services from intervention to detox and residential treatment to outpatient and sober living. Our addiction treatment centers provide a safe, structured environment in which individuals learn how to thrive while maintaining recovery.Bright Futures Addiction Treatment Centers primary focus is to provide a safe environment for Union Members to recover with strict guidelines for discharge so they can go back to their jobs within 1 to 3 months. The importance of a member to a union is unparalleled. Its extremely important that a union maintains the overall health and wellness to its members. Hence why, they provide Employee Assistance Programs and healthcare benefits to their members. Bright Futures understands that as a drug and alcohol treatment center, we are only one spoke on the wheel of the overall inclusion of benefits for the members of the union. However, substance abuse and mental health is an important facet to the overall health and wellness of union members. Union Members on the jobsite know that they need to be on point 100% of the time or people get injured. If a union member is struggling with drugs and alcohol we want to be there to help regardless of union size or type.Some of the Unions that we work with already are The Carpenters Union, The Pipe Fitters Union, Sheet Metal Workers Union and the PA Laborers Union. We provide a safe and effective treatment plan based on the individual as well as the family involved. Our primary aim is to get them healthy and aware of the solution for the drug and alcohol problem and guide them in the direction of long term recovery.Learn More Our Residential Partial Hospitalization Program: https://brightfuturestreatment.com/residential-addiction-treatment/ Learn More Our Intensive Outpatient Program: https://brightfuturestreatment.com/outpatient-addiction-treatment/ Learn More About Our Sober Living Community: https://brightfuturestreatment.com/sober-living-community/
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 12:14:13

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# 879 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

The US$ 5.49 Bn global cognitive systems spending market will witness a massive hike in the revenues, reaching a whopping US$ 21.46 Bn by the end of 2026. Over the 10-year assessment period 2016-2026, the global cognitive systems spending market will expand at a healthy CAGR of 14.6%, gaining a healthy incremental opportunity of over US$ 15 Bn.  Future Market InsightsThe advent of technology has created an inevitable need for human-machine communication that increasingly compels individual users as well as enterprises to employ machine intelligence for better, facilitated, and organised work. This, being the most prominent factor driving the cognitive systems spending, Future Market Insights identifies few other key influencers associated with the growth of cognitive systems spending market assessed for the next decade.Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2616 Cognitive technology has been undergoing constant evolution, fuelling the demand in various end-use sectors.Following developed market, developing regions are increasingly augmenting their IT spending on cognitive systems, which will be one of the predominant factors uplifting the cognitive systems spending in emerging economies.As adoption of intelligent Personal Assistants is surging, the applications of Natural Language processing technology is also likely to experience a significant rise in terms of sales revenues.In a recent market outlook titled Cognitive Systems Spending: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20162026, Future Market Insights throws light on all the critical factors related to current market condition and future prospects. The report offers detailed insights into all the market segments, including regional analysis.Regional analysis reflects emergence of developing marketsNorth America will continue to hold the strongest foothold in the global market with around 65% market value share in 2026. This US$ 3.5 Bn regional market is anticipated to attain a value of US$ 13.83 Bn by the end of 2026, followed by Western Europe, Latin America, and APEJ.Emerging countries are expected to witness evident growth throughout the assessed period. Latin America will demonstrate the fastest CAGR of 15%, primarily driven by the market growth in Brazil and Mexico. From around S$ 500 Mn at the beginning of the forecast, this region will reportedly reach beyond US$ 2 Bn by the end of the period. Japan and APEJ are also anticipated to expand at the respective CAGRs of 14.9% and 14.8%.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-2616 Regional market driversSoaring commercialisation of predictive analytics within North America (especially the U.S.) will remain the key driver to North Americas market growth.Rapidly proliferating demand for cognitive systems in healthcare sector and substantial adoption of Natural Language processing cognitive technology are expected to be responsible for Latin Americas growth. Moreover, consistent innovation in the comprehension economy will further push the market for cognitive systems analytics in Latin America.Favourable government initiatives and increasing IT spending on cognitive systems will foster the APEJ market.Towering adoption of cognitive systems for personalized learning, coupled with growing popularity of predictive analytics will continue to accelerate the Japanese market.Segmentation analysis based on product type, technology, deployment, and applicationBy product type, services will be the largest and fastest growing segment with over US$ 12 Bn revenues estimated for 2026 end. While this segment is likely to expand at an impressive 15.1% CAGR, it will hold over 58% value share in 2026, gaining 250 BPS over the period of forecast. Software will remain the second largest segment with over US$ 5 Bn revenues in 2026, accounting for over 25% share.On the basis of technology, Natural Language processing segment is expected to continue preeminence and surpass a value of US$ 13 Bn by the end of 2026, gaining nearly 1000 BPS during the forecast period. This segment will grow at a CAGR of over 16% and capture more than 60% share of the total market revenues in 2026. Automated reasoning, followed by machine learning segment, will represent decent growth in revenues, accounting for over 20% and over 19% of the market value towards the close of 2026, respectively.Based on deployment, on-premise will remain the leading segment with over 66% market value share by the end of the assessment period, surpassing US$ 14 Bn in values. While this segment will possibly register a robust CAGR of 14.9%, public segment is also likely to witness significant expansion at a 14% CAGR over 2016-2026.By application, banking segment will attain over US$ 6 Bn revenues in 2026, contributing more than 28% share to the entire market revenues. Healthcare segment will witness the highest CAGR of 15.8%, reaching around US$ 4 Bn that will reportedly account for over 17% share in 2026 market value. Insurance will remain the third largest application segment.Companies heating up the market competitionNew product launches based on technological advancements continue to take the centre stage for key players.Competitive pricing will be the key to enhanced sales revenues and better market position over the next few years.M&A will remain one of the prominent growth strategies among leading companies.While International Business Machines Corp (IBM) continues to rule the roost with almost 54% market revenue share, Accenture Plc., HP Inc., Microsoft, and Intel Corporation are experiencing intense competition on the global market landscape. Attivio, Wipro Limited, COGNITIVE SCALE, and IPSOFT INC. are also among the key market players partaking in the heating competition. Among these, IBM, HP, and COGNITIVE SCALE have a strong application presence in banking, healthcare, education, manufacturing, retailing, and security. Other notable players include EMC, Alteryx, SE, DtaStax, Hortonworks, Teradata, Cloudera, and Continnum Analytics.
Drug Delivery Technology Market Growth

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 14:22:27

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# 480 Words

Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Drug delivery system is the process of administering therapeutic substance through common route of administration to achieve a therapeutic effect in humans or animals. Drugs release the active ingredients in the target area so that in the period of time it controls though its formulation. The most important driving factor for drug delivery technology market is the increasing demand for effective delivery mechanisms of novel biopharmaceuticals.Recently, AstraZeneca signed a licensing agreement with Starpharma for the use of its DEP drug delivery technology aiming to enhancing the dosing and efficacy characteristics of pharmaceuticals. AstraZeneca agreed to fund all development and commercialization costs, including ongoing and future collaborative work conducted with Starpharma.Drug Delivery Technology Market: Drivers & RestraintsGrowing incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, technological advancement, innovation, the growing focus on pediatric and geriatric patients, change in lifestyle due to growing urbanization, the increasing demand for minimally invasive surgeries, are the most important driving factors in drug delivery technology market. Since growth of biopharmaceutical market is fast, the demand for drug delivery technology market has increased.With so many advantages and splendid features of drug delivery technology, it has few disadvantages too. Side-effects related to drugs, patents expiry and regulatory hurdles are acting as key barrier for drug delivery technology.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1166 Drug Delivery Technology Market: SegmentationDrug delivery technology market is broadly classified on the basis of the following segments By Route of Administration :Oral RouteParenteral RouteIntramuscularIntravenousIntra-arterialSubcutaneous routeTransdermal RouteInhalation RouteNasal Drug DeliveryBy End User:HospitalsClinicsDiagnostic CentresHome care settingsOthersDrug Delivery Technology Market: OverviewThe drug delivery technology market has grown substantially at a healthy CAGR due to growing incidence of chronic diseases and change in lifestyle. With rapid technological advancement and innovation, drug delivery technology market is expected to grow globally. North America is the largest market for drug delivery technology and Asia Pacific would be the fastest growing market in the forecast period.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1166 Drug Delivery Technology Market: Region-wise OutlookThe drug delivery technology market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, drug delivery technology is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America is the largest market for drug delivery technology market and is contributing the most as compare to other regions. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region in the forecast period.Drug Delivery Technology Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in drug delivery technology market are Johnson and Johnson Pvt Ltd, 3M, Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc, Glaxosmithkline PLC, Merck & Co., Inc, Antares Pharma, Generex Biotechnology, pSivida Corppration, Alkermes, Aradigm Corp., Vectura Group plc, NanoPass Technologies Ltd.
Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Endovenous Laser Therapy Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering.

Endovenous Laser Therapy Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 14:13:59

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# 584 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

Obese people are seldom prone to health implications arising from increasing caseload for varicose veins in their body. The rising number of obesity cases recorded across the globe are prompting the adoption of endovenous laser therapy for treatment of varicose veins. A latest study on global endovenous laser therapy market, published by Future Market Insights, indicates that growing attention towards aftereffects of lifestyle choices and consequences of obesity have collectively factored the growth in demand for endovenous laser therapies. With the help of this minimally-invasive therapy, which is guided by ultrasound laser techniques, vascular surgeons and radiologists can effectively treat impaired varicose vessels and curb the occurrence of side effects such as temporary paraesthesia.The report, titled Endovenous Laser Therapy Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026, reveals that an estimated US$ 273.6 million revenues were procured, globally, from adoption of endovenous laser therapy in 2016. Key findings compiled in the report predict that by the end of 2026, the global market for endovenous laser therapy will be valued at a little over US$ 550 million, registering increment at an impressive CAGR of 7.3%.Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2785 In 2016, nearly 8,500 units of endovenous laser therapy equipment were consumed in the world. The demand for such equipment and devices is projected to soar at close to 8% CAGR and record the sales of more than eighteen thousand units by the end of 2026. An in-depth analysis of the global sales of endovenous laser therapy equipment indicated that the demand for endovenous laser systems will remain prodigiously higher than that of endovenous laser fibres. Throughout the forecast period, more than 90% of global revenues will be emanating from global sales of endovenous laser systems. Among them, preference to diode lasers will continue to outpace the adoption of YAG laser systems. And, with respect to the fibres used in endovenous laser therapy, gold-tip laser fibres will gain traction and register a revenue growth at 7.2% CAGR.The advanced operational infrastructure in hospitals and availability of trained medical professionals make them suitable for conducting endovenous laser therapies effectively. However, ambulatory surgical centres (ASCs) located around the world are witnessing advancements in terms of their working mechanism. In 2017 and beyond, hospitals will witness a gradual decline of their global revenue share whereas ASCs emerge to be the largest end-user of endovenous laser therapy in the world. By 2026-end, more than US$ 200 million worth of revenues will be accounted by adoption of endovenous laser therapy through ASCs.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-2785 AngioDynamics, Inc., is a US-based medical device manufacturer which has gained prominence as a key player in the global endovenous laser therapy market. Correspondingly, North Americas share in the global market for endovenous laser therapy is also expected to remain dominant through 2026; procuring over 50% share of global revenues. Nevertheless, the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region will see rampant growth in demand for endovenous laser therapy. Revenues from this region are anticipated to surge at the highest CAGR of 7.9%. Meanwhile, Western Europe will be observed as the second-largest market for endovenous laser therapy, placing itself between North America and APEJ region. European companies such as Dornier MedTech GmbH, Alna-Medicalsystem GmbH, LSO Medical, intros Medical Laser GmbH, and Energist Ltd. will continue to actively participate in the growth of global endovenous laser therapy market. Besides, Wontech Co. Ltd., Alma Lasers Ltd., and Syneron Medical Ltd. are also recognised as leading manufacturers of endovenous laser systems in the world.Browse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/endovenous-laser-devices-market
EC to allow government to launch budget before completion of polls

The Election Commission (EC) has backtracked from its previous decision that barred the government from introducing the budget for the next fiscal year before the completion of local level polls, clearing the decks for the Ministry of Finance to present the fiscal policy in Parliament on the day stipulated by the constitution.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 22:04:01

PARIS, France, May 11, 2017: EURO Ressources S.A. ("EURO" or "the Company") (Paris: EUR) today announced its unaudited interim financial results prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. These unaudited interim financial results were approved by the Board of Directors on May 11, 2017. All financial amounts are expressed in Euros ("" or "euros") unless otherwise specified.

Highlights

Under IFRS, EURO reported a net profit of 4.1 million (0.066 per share) for the first quarter of 2017 equivalent to the net profit in the first quarter of 2016.

"EURO maintains its strong financial position. Management continues to assess opportunities that could grow the Company beyond the current asset base," stated Benjamin Little, Directeur-General.

Liquidity and capital resources

Cash at March 31, 2017 totaled 16.4 million compared to 11.1 million at December 31, 2016. EURO expects to have sufficient cash flow to fund its on-going operations.

Financial results

Three months ended March 31, 2017 compared to three months ended March 31, 2016

EURO reported a net profit of 4.1 million (0.066 per share) for the first quarter of 2017 equivalent to the net profit during the first quarter of 2016.

Revenues were 6.5 million during the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 14% compared to revenues of 5.7 million for the first quarter of 2016. Revenues were mainly attributable to the Rosebel royalty of 6.4 million (first quarter of 2016: 5.6 million). The increase in revenues was due to higher gold production of 78,272 ounces in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 71,723 ounces in the first quarter of 2016 (0.4 million), a higher average gold price in the first quarter of 2017 of US$1,219 per ounce of gold compared to US$1,183 per ounce of gold in the first quarter of 2016 (0.3 million), and the weaker euro (0.1 million). Other royalties were 0.1 million from third parties in French Guiana during the first quarter of 2017 (first quarter of 2016: 0.1 million).

During the first quarter of 2017, the Company recorded operating expenses of 0.15 million compared to operating expenses with a credit balance of (0.015 million) during the same period in 2016. The difference was mainly due to an adjustment of the 2015 administrative costs recorded during the first quarter of 2016.

The amortization expense of 0.19 million during the first quarter of 2017 was higher than the amortization expense of 0.14 million recorded during the same period in 2016, mainly due to lower gold reserves at the Rosebel mine.

EURO recorded an income tax expense of 2.1 million in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 1.5 million in the first quarter of 2016. The increase was mainly due to higher taxable income and translation adjustments.

Outlook

In 2017, the Rosebel royalty is expected to provide revenues to the Company of between approximately 25.8 million and 26.7 million (US$27.8 million and US$28.8 million). These pre-tax numbers assume a gold price of US$1,250 per ounce and an exchange rate of 1 for US$1.08. The impact of changes in the average gold price on EURO's annual revenues, based on an estimated production of 316,000 ounces, would be approximately US$3.1 million for each US$100 per ounce change in the gold price. EURO's cash flow is expected to be primarily affected by income tax payments, since there are no tax losses that can be carried forward to offset any future taxes payable. EURO expects its cash flow will be adequate to meet all corporate and related expenses.

About EURO

EURO is a French company whose principal asset is a royalty payable by IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD") related to the gold production of the Rosebel gold mine in Suriname (the "Rosebel royalty"). The Rosebel gold mine is 95%-owned by IAMGOLD, and it is operated by IAMGOLD. EURO has approximately 62.5 million shares outstanding. IAMGOLD France S.A.S., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD, owned approximately 89.71% of all issued and outstanding shares of EURO at March 31, 2017.

Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information: Some statements in this news release are forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to a U.S. person absent registration, or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

Additional information relating to EURO Ressources S.A. is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Further requests for information should be addressed to:

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: EURO Ressources via Globenewswire


PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 18:26:13

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ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for GGX Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - GGX Gold Corp. (TSX Venture:GGX). has issued a press release with the following headline:GGX Gold 2017 Exploration Program CommencesTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on GGX Gold Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/GGX Gold Corp.Source: GGX Gold Corp. (TSX Venture: GGX, WKN: A1JFMB , ISIN: CA76155T1093)Date: May 11, 2017Time: 12:26 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of GGX Gold Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 15:38:41

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# 660 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

Methacrylic acid is an organic compound largely used as a precursor in the production of esters. Glacial methacrylic acid is a refined grade of methacrylic acid and comprises of monomethyl ether of hydroquinone (as inhibitor). Glacial methacrylic acid is available in the form of clear as well as colourless liquid. It is used as an intermediate in the production of methacrylic acid esters, which is further used in the production of wide range of plastic products. Glacial methacrylic acid is also used in the production of polymers and also as an additive in specialty esters. They exhibit properties such as clarity and good weatherability. Glacial methacrylic acid polymerizes very easily, and is used in the production of copolymers and homopolymers. When glacial methacrylic acid is incorporated into copolymers, it reduces the hardness by lowering the softening temperature. The global glacial methacrylic acid market is expected to increase at a moderate CAGR over the forecast period.Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market DynamicsGrowing paints and coatings industry is expected to be the major driver for the growth of glacial methacrylic acid market. Glacial methacrylic acid offers wide range of advantages as it can be easily polymerized, which makes it best suitable for use in production of polymer based products. The growing polymer industry is also expected to fuel the demand for glacial methacrylic acid over the forecast period. Manufacturers of glacial methacrylic acid are expected to push for marginal improvements in the near future. The higher cost charged for this product is considered to be a major challenge that may hold back the easy growth of the global glacial methacrylic acid market. In addition to this, the less storage span of glacial methacrylic acid is also expected to be a factor hampering the expansion of this market. Many manufacturers of glacial methacrylic acid are investing in research and development of this product, so as to make it multifunctional. This would bring in new opportunities for the market participants in terms of revenue over the forecast period.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2265 Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market: SegmentationVarious outlooks are to be considered in order to understand the glacial methacrylic acid market segmentation. Some of the examples of such breakdown include, segmentation of global glacial methacrylic acid market on the basis of application, and end use industry.The global glacial methacrylic acid market is segmented on the basis of application as follows;PolymersIon exchangeSurface coatingsFlocculantsSoil improversAdhesivesTextile formulationsOthersThe global glacial methacrylic acid market segmentation on the basis of end use industry is as follows;Paints and coatingsTextileLeatherPaper manufactureOthersRequest For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2265 Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market: Regional OutlookEurope is expected to be the dominant region in the global glacial methacrylic acid market throughout the forecast period. Europe is the major region which exports glacial methacrylic acid to rest of the world. North America would also contribute a major share in the global glacial methacrylic acid market over the forecast period. The growing paints and coatings industry is expected to propel the demand for glacial methacrylic acid in this region. Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit a higher growth rate in the global glacial methacrylic acid market over the forecast period. Middle East and Africa and Latin America are also expected to witness higher growth rates in the global glacial methacrylic acid market over the forecast period.Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market: Market ParticipantsThe competition landscape for global glacial methacrylic acid market is marked by the presence of many organised players as well as small players. Examples of some of the major players identified in the value chain of global glacial methacrylic acid market are, The Dow Chemical Company, Opes International Ltd., Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., Evonik Industries AG, BASF SE, Zhejiang Union Chemicals Industry Co.,Ltd , Cadence Chemical, among other prominent participants.Browse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/glacial-ethacrylic-acid-market
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 10:58:00

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# 1136 Words

ACN Newswire+65 6304 8926

By Finet News Service, all rights reserved.HONG KONG, May 10, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - Short-sellers have been terrorising the Hong Kong capital markets for years with private enterprises facing short-selling attacks that caused their stock prices to plummet. Among them, Tech Pro (03823-HK) experienced a horrific 90% drop in its stock price after the release of a short selling report; and Fullshare (00607-HK) had to apply for a suspension after an attack from Glaucus which caused its price to drop 12%. As their name implies, short-sellers are in the business of digging up dirt on listed companies, and then profiting from their price drop caused by short selling reports, all of which are part of an elaborate trap set early ahead of time. Such activities have already aroused market criticism, and have caused individual investors severe damages. In face of such a situation, where can investors voice their complaints?Being a mature financial market, Hong Kong has an abundance of corporate investors who are involved in long term investment and also other short term investment activities. In long term investment, various strategic measures are taken in order to hedge risk, such as options and futures trading, and sometimes, short selling might be used as a way to adverse risk. Therefore, Hong Kong never prohibits the act of short selling, that is if investors can bind by the rules while maintaining a sufficient supply, then they can short sell a stock. Even when European markets were restricted from short selling listed companies during the 2008 Financial Crisis, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (00388-HK) still permitted investors to short sell, which was a testament of the faith regulatory authorities had in investors.--How do short-sellers work with corporate investors to profit?Since the 2008 Financial Crisis, regulatory authorities have established a short position reporting regime to make information available to the public when a listed company is at a short position; however, the purpose is not to ban or limit the act of short selling, but to increase market transparency, and to provide market participants with a fair battlefield.However, short-sellers have taken advantage of the long-standing system of the Hong Kong market in recent years by publishing short selling reports to 'complement' its short selling activities to make a profit. If research organisations were to find a 'flaw' in existing and open records and reported it, that would have been an accepted practice. But is it ethical and a conflict of interest for a research organisation to be researching on a listed company and 'plotting' against it using the potentially negative news? Will that create an imbalance of information? And when short-sellers borrow shares, will the borrowers learn about their true intentions? If the borrowers were willing to lend their shares to short-sellers despite the truth, and even profit from the process, would this be appropriate? Considering the chaos the market will face and the losses investors will suffer, related organisations should think twice before they act.Amongst the multiple attacks short-sellers launched against Hong Kong listed companies, the most notable example is that of China Metal (00773-HK before delisting). Trading of the company's stocks was suspended after the release of a short selling report, and the Securities and Futures Commission later found that the company had committed false accounting fraud, which resulted in the delisting and liquidation of the company. Rotten apples exist in every capital market, if a research organisation could expose their flaws, that would benefit all investors; but unfortunately, many short selling reports contain 'evidence' that is unverifiable, causing investors to sell their shares due to panic and confusion, with the price only stabilising when the listed company made a clarification announcement. The losses investors suffered become the profits of short-sellers and their associates. At the same time, short-sellers are often not held responsible or accountable for their interference in stock prices with their short selling reports, monetary losses of investors or the damage done to the reputation of listed companies. Since these short-sellers are not licensed, they are not regulated by any authority, and the disclaimer in their reports also acts as a jail free card.--Are short-sellers in violation of market misconduct?According to the Securities and Futures Ordinance, market misconduct includes :- Insider trading- False trading- Price rigging- Disclosure of information about prohibited transactions- Disclosure of false or misleading information inducing transactions- Stock market manipulationSince short-sellers are not licensed in Hong Kong, the credibility of their short selling reports are also in doubt. Furthermore, does anyone check the factual information in the report? And is there a conflict of interest since the report clearly stated the target company's target price and valuation? Based on the six acts of market misconduct listed above, do short selling reports pose any violation of price rigging and disclosure of false or misleading information inducing transactions?--Does the disclaimer in the short selling report act as a jail free card?The multiple attacks short-sellers launched against Hong Kong listed companies with questionable information had brought on the reputation of listed companies and also lawsuits. The best example is the case of Evergrande Group (03333-HK). When Citron Research published a short selling report in June 2012 claiming that the company was already at a point of becoming insolvent, Evergrande called the police, and the Securities and Futures Commission filed for a lawsuit against Citron. As a result, the Market Misconduct Tribunal found Andrew Left, the founder of Citron, guilty of market misconduct, the verdict required him to repay the HK$1.6 million profit he made from Evergrande, and banned him from participating in market activities in HK for five years. Ruinian International (02010-HK), which was attacked by the short-seller Glaucus, filed a lawsuit in the US. Though the two parties reached a settlement at the end, it was the proof that the claims made by short-sellers lacked creditability, and their disclaimer does not always offer them a jail free card.Short selling makes up part of the Hong Kong capital market, and if investors stuck by the rules when short selling and only used it to hedge risk, there would be no complaints from market participants. However, how short-sellers utilise short selling reports to coordinate with their short selling activities to make a profit is against market ethics. Will the doings of short-sellers be in violation of the six market conducts? The Securities and Futures Commission and other regulatory authorities should work to have these short-sellers licenced so to increase market transparency and fairness.(C) Finet News Service, http://bit.ly/2q5riHS Media Contacts:Sunny Wan+852 2153 7297sunnywan@ finet.com.hk Wells Pan+852 6925 6988Topic: Press release summarySectors: Investors/Exchanges, Daily FinanceFrom the Asia Corporate News NetworkCopyright  2017 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.
Aircraft Lighting Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 15:54:55

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616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

The aircraft lighting market has gone through high technological advancements in the recent years. These technological advancements and innovative equipment contribute to spur the global aircraft lighting market. The growth of aircraft lighting market is relational to the growth of the global aircraft industry and growth in air travel. Additionally, factors that drive the aircraft lighting market include use of energy efficient aircraft lights, efficient lighting alternative and growth in aircraft deliveries.Aircraft lighting is the major security concern of aircrafts. New aircraft lighting systems have innovative working design that save fuel and consume less power. These lighting systems are divided into two segments: interior and exterior aircraft lightings. Exterior aircraft lightings are used for visibility and security purpose to make the aircraft more visible to other aircrafts. During takeoff and landing of flights they also improve visibility of pilots. They include strobes, navigational lighting systems, beacons, and equipment. Interior lighting systems are used to provide lighting to the cargo hold, cockpit and cabin. These consist of lights mounted on reading lights, ceilings, mood lighting and sidewalls.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2330 Global Aircraft Lighting Market: DynamicsIncreasing air travel and aircraft industry are the primary factors which are driving the aircraft lighting market.A key growth driver is expected to be the use of energy efficient aircraft lights, and efficient lighting alternatives. The global aircraft lighting market is witnessing high opportunity potential in low weight aircraft lights segment.Additionally, global economic uncertainty is acting as growth restraints in the global aircraft lighting market.Global Aircraft Lighting Market: SegmentationGlobal aircraft lighting market is segmented on the basis of lighting type as follows: Interior Light, and Exterior Light.The global aircraft lighting market is segmented on the basis of lighting fit as retrofit and line fit, wherein, the retrofit segment is estimated to dominate the global aircraft lighting market in terms of value over the forecast period, owing to increasing aftermarket demand for aircraft lighting and increasing MRO services. Also, the demand for aircrafts in emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil is growing steadily, thus in the commercial segment it is expected that retrofit segment may have a higher opportunity to grow.The global aircraft lighting market is also segmented on the basis of aircraft type as follows: Narrow Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft and Wide Body Aircraft. The narrow body aircraft type is estimated to grow at a faster rate owing to its high demand from airline carriers. The market for narrow body aircraft is comparatively larger in Asia Pacific, Western Europe, and North America, owing to increase in domestic civil aviation and cost effective carriers market.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2330 Global Aircraft Lighting Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of region, Asia Pacific aircraft lighting market is expected to grow at a faster rate over the forecast period. The key countries mentioned in the Asia-Pacific region are China, South Korea, Japan and India as an outcome of growth in the aircraft industry and airline travel which in turn is resulting in increase in demand for aircraft lighting market in these countries. Japan, Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to grow at a steady rate over the forecast period. The North America and Europe are dominant market over the forecast period.Global Aircraft Lighting: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants in the global aircraft lighting market are:B/E Aerospace, Inc.Cobham plcUTC Aerospace SystemsHoneywell International Inc.Diehl Stiftung & Co. KGAstronics CorporationZodiac AerospaceAveo Engineering GroupBruce AerospaceSTG Aerospace LimitedBrowse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/aircraft-lighting-market
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 10:02:01

Mobile Money App Lunar Way Funding Round Reaches 8.7 Million as They Prepare to Launch Exciting New Feature

Lunar Way

Liselotte Kirkelund

lik@lunarway.com

The startup tech company have announced a further 4.7 million in investment, making the total for this round 8.7 million. This comes at a time when they are about to release their newest version, which contains the Fund Me personal crowd funding feature.

The funding round was led by long-term backers SEED capital and Nykredit. Lunar Way attracted new angel investors who also back the Lunar Way vision. This latest investment continues to see Lunar Ways value grow.

Lunar Way CEO Ken Villum Klausen said, Were extremely pleased with the continued level of investment. The success of our Beta version has increased demand considerably, and were enjoying high levels of social engagement, which is helping to ensure we keep growing in the right direction.

Our take on subscription based banking has proved extremely popular, as has the subscription based credit. Our latest release will add even more new features that compliment a modern digital lifestyle. Theres a real buzz in our office about the new Fund Me personal crowd-funding feature, we cant wait to get it out there. It allows the user to share a goal with friends and family and thereby start a personal crowdfunding. Well continue launching new features that allow our users finances to become an extension of their existing mobile world. We will now continue our expansion throughout the Nordics and beyond.

The companys board also welcomes a new member, Gary Bramall CMO at Mytaxi. Gary is vastly experienced, having worked as the Global Senior Brand Director for Microsoft, Global Director of Brand & Creative for Skype, and a Global Senior Manager for Apple. His expertise will be invaluable as Lunar Way expands into Northern Europe and beyond.

Lunar Ways intuitive design offers users a new way to interact with their money. It is designed from the ground up for the mobile generation. The way the app uses notifications and breaks down your transactions is refreshingly useful. They currently offers customers a full account with a debit card, subscription based credit, and mobile-only convenience.

The app is designed to be intuitive and simple. They make the user experience faster, with the focus on intuition, convenience and accessibility.

Lunar Way is offering the mobile generation an alternative to the incumbent banks in the Nordics, and with continued investment and innovation we can only see them getting stronger.

Available for iOS and Android.

FOLLOW

Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/thelunarway

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705110050
Neurodegenerative Disease Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 11:24:52

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# 587 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

Neurodegenerative disease or neurodegeneration refers to the progressive damage or wear and tear of the nerve cells. Neurodegenerative disease causes loss of abilities like decision making and eventually memory loss. Neurodegeneration is a broader term which comprises of different disease namely Parkinsons disease, Huntington disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Alzheimers disease. These are the most commonly occurring diseases under the condition Neurodegeneration. Neurodegeneration can be caused due to genetic factor but the proportion is minimal. Major cause of neurodegeneration could be deposition of toxic protein substance in the brain or loss of functionality/improper functioning of mitochondria present in brain. Patients generally show mixture of symptoms for one or more neurodegenerative disease. Currently there is no cure for this condition however specific drugs are present in the market to minimize the symptoms (for example: donepezil and memantine for Alzheimers disease, L-dopa for Parkinsons, riluzole for ALS).Neurodegenerative Disease Market: Drivers & RestraintsNeurodegenerative market is expected to dwell due to continuous advancement in medical technology both for the diagnosis and the treatment of neurological disorders have raised the demand of neurodegenerative drugs. Ageing population is increasing which in turn is leading to increase in the incidence of neurological disorders are some major factors driving the growth of neurodegenerative market. Growing awareness amongst the physicians is helping the market to dwell in developed countries. Developing countries especially Asia Pacific countries, where due to large population the market growth is expected to be significant in the upcoming years. Lack of complete curative treatment measures primarily because of the manifold nature of the disease could possibly hamper the market of neurodegenerative disease market at the global level.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1052 Neurodegenerative Market: SegmentationNeurodegenerative market is classified on the basis of Drug class, indications and geography.Based on Drug class, the global Neurodegenerative disease market is segmented into the following:NMDASSRIsDopamine InhibitorsBased on Indications, the global Neurodegenerative disease market is segmented into the following:Parkinsons diseaseHuntington diseaseAmyotrophic Lateral SclerosisAlzheimers diseaseNeurodegenerative Disease Market: OverviewNeurodegenerative disease market is expected to grow at a significant pace mainly due to increasing cases of neurological disorders. The market is expected to witness advancement in the upcoming years due to launch of new type of drugs. In the Alzheimers market, drugs like GABA receptor modulators, anti-amyloid protein agents and nicotinic and cholinergic receptor agonists are expected to influence the market growth however in the Parkinsons disease market will be driven due to launch of drugs like dopamine receptor agonists and reuptake inhibitors, glutamate receptor modulators, and adrenergic and adenosine antagonists. New players are expected to enter the market in the forecast years due to patent protection loss for major players.Neurodegenerative Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global neurodegenerative disease market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Global market for neurodegenerative disease is expected to grow by a CAGR of around 5%. Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth due to large population base over the forecast years.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1052 Neurodegenerative Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in global Neurodegenerative market are Novartis, Pfizer, Merck Serono, Biogen Idec, TEVA Pharmaceuticals Industries, UCB, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi S.A., GlaxoSmithKline to name a few. Major players will face competition in the upcoming years due to patent protection loss.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 18:29:02

The Annual General Meeting of Odfjell SE was held 11 May 2017. All items according to the agenda dated 19 April 2017 were approved.

Election of the Board

Pursuant to the Company's Articles of Association, two of the current seven members of the Board were up for election at the Annual General Meeting. The Annual General Meeting re-elected Aake Gregertsen and Klaus Nyborg for a period of two years.

The Board Member Annette Malm Justad retired from the board due to other commitments. The Board took the opportunity to thank Annette Malm Justad for her valuable contributions in the turnaround process of the Company over the last couple of years.

The Annual General Meeting elected Ase Aulie Michelet as new Board director for the period 2017-2019. Michelet has extensive experience as board member of major Norwegian listed corporations.

Dividend payments

The General Meeting resolved dividend of NOK 1.50 per share, totaling NOK 117,941,060. The dividend will be paid by DNB Verdipapirservice on 19 May 2017 to shareholders as of 11 May 2017. Consequently, as from 12 May 2017 the shares will be quoted on the Oslo Stock Exchange exclusive of dividend.

Attached please find the detailed minutes of the Annual General Meeting.

For more information:

Anngun Dybsland

Communications Manager

Tel: +47 41 54 88 54

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Odfjell SE via Globenewswire


Draft foreign investment bill: Govt removes provision on facilitating intl investors

The Ministry of Industry has removed a provision from the draft of the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Bill (FITTB) that would have allowed foreign investors to bring in investment without seeking government approval.
Paediatric Vaccine Market Trends

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 14:49:53

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Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Global Paediatric Vaccine Market: Towards a better and safer tomorrowPaediatric vaccines are administered to a child in its paediatric age which is from 0  18 years of age. Vaccines are generally given in order to prevent children from diseases transferred through infections, seasonal variations and even through unhygienic areas. Depending upon disease, the vaccines are administered at regular intervals. WHO has designed a standard immunization program in order to have desired time interval between vaccines doses.Paediatric vaccines considered in the report include pneumococcal vaccine, DTP vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, MMR vaccine, polio vaccine, influenza vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, Hib vaccine and meningococcal vaccine. Pneumococcal vaccine is administered to prevent the child from infectious diseases such as pneumonia. DTP vaccines is a combination vaccine administered against prevention of three diseases those are diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. Hib vaccine is also a combination vaccine for hepatitis B and influenza and is widely accepted.The market to expand manifold during the forecast period (2016 - 2026)In terms of revenue, the global paediatric vaccine market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 12.2% during the forecast period and is expected to be valued at US$ 88.14 Bn by the end of 2026.Revamped government policies to benefit the market, though soaring prices of vaccines to play spoilsportThe growth of the global paediatric vaccine market is primarily driven by increasing awareness regarding benefits of vaccination in prevention of diseases, rising economic growth, the collaboration of national manufacturers with key players in view to provide high-quality vaccines in at remote areas and initiative by global key players in developing innovative vaccines. In addition favourable reimbursement and increasing government support is expected to fuel the market growth over the forecast period. However, rising cost of vaccines, low accessibility to remote areas and increasing the availability of biosimilars at low rates might hinder the market growth over the forecast period.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1317 The Pneumococcal segment to act as a catalyst in the overall market growthBased on indication, the global paediatric vaccine market is segmented into pneumococcal vaccine, DTP vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, MMR vaccine, polio vaccine, influenza vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, Hib vaccine and meningococcal vaccine. In terms of revenue share, the pneumococcal segment dominated the global paediatric vaccine market in 2015 and is expected to reach the cusp within the forecast period. The Hib segment is expected to witness relatively higher growth rates in terms of value in the global paediatric vaccine market over the forecast period.Recombinant segment to face steep competition from the Conjugate segment within the forecast periodBased on technology, the global paediatric vaccine market is segmented into live or attenuated vaccine, inactivated or killed vaccines, conjugate vaccine, toxoid vaccine, subunit vaccine and recombinant vaccine. In terms of revenue share, the conjugate segment dominated the global paediatric vaccine market in 2015 and is expected to maintain the spike throughout the forecast period, registering higher CAGR as compared to the recombinant segment.Monovalent vaccine segment to accumulate maximum market shareBased on vaccine type, the global paediatric vaccine market is segmented into monovalent vaccines and multivalent vaccines. Among these, monovalent vaccine segment held maximum market share in 2015 and expected to continue the trend throughout the forecast period.The Institutional Health Centres segment to topple Hospital Pharmacy segment in the forecast periodBased on end user, the global paediatric vaccine market is segmented into hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies and institutional health centres. Currently, institutional health centres segment accounts for relatively higher revenue share, followed by hospital pharmacy end user segment.paediatric vaccine market_Image for preview analysisNorth America market to lead the packThe global paediatric vaccine market is segmented into seven major regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ (Asia Pacific excluding Japan), Japan and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). In terms of value, North America is expected to be the dominant regional market by 2016 end and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 11.0% over the forecast period. APEJ is expected to be the fastest growing market in terms of revenue growth in the global paediatric vaccine market, registering a CAGR of 14.9% over the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1317 Key stakeholders to create clamour in the market through mergers and revamped investment policiesSome key players in the global paediatric vaccine market included in this report are GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., Sanofi, Panacea Biotec, Zydua Cadila, Emergent BioSolutions Inc., Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., Bharat Biotech and Indian Immunologicals Ltd.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 09:02:01

PCMI and WEX combine forces in Europe to provide warranty companies with the tools to streamline claims payment processes

PCMI Corporation and WEX announce virtual payments agreement in Europe

WEX Europe

JPW Communications

Jamie Wortley, +44 (0) 7877 589 910

jamie@jpwcommunications.com

or

PCMI

Mark Nagelvoort, +1 847-653-6916

mark.nagelvoort@pcmicorp.com

WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions, today announced a new agreement with PCMI Corporation in Europe, following success working together in North America. PCMI is a leading provider of integrated software solutions for Extended Warranty management and F&I administration. Through PCMIs PCRS administration system, WEXs single-use electronic claims payment solution provides value-added information for the accounts payable departments of warranty companies, as well as complete control over the electronic claims payment process.

Ian Johnson, Commercial Director, Virtual Payments, WEX Europe, said, We are excited to grow our partnership with PCMI into Europe, at WEX we are always looking for growth opportunities and ways to expand our business offerings so that we can provide customers with effective and innovative solutions. Following success in North America, the European warranties industry is a key area of focus for WEX and we are pleased to have the opportunity to work with such as PCMI.

Mark Nagelvoort, President and CEO, PCMI, said, We are passionate about supporting our customers growth by offering innovative technology and software solutions. The integration with WEX allows us to provide a full service claims solution to our customers in Europe.

Pioneered in 2000, WEX virtual payments provide a real-time and touch free electronic payment method that is secure and globally accepted. As well as enhancing working capital with a credit line, virtual payments allow businesses to reduce administration and overhead in accounts payable with auto-reconciliation.

WEX and PCMI are jointly exhibiting at the Automotive Warranty Management show, on 16th and 17th May 2017, at the Holiday Inn Munich  City Centre in Munich, Germany.

About WEX Inc.

WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) is a leading provider of corporate payment solutions. From its roots in fleet card payments beginning in 1983, WEX has expanded the scope of its business into a multi-channel provider of corporate payment solutions representing more than 10 million vehicles and offering exceptional payment security and control across a wide spectrum of business sectors. WEX serves a global set of customers and partners through its operations around the world, with offices in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Norway, and Singapore. WEX and its subsidiaries employ more than 2,700 associates. The Company has been publicly traded since 2005, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WEX. For more information, visit www.wexinc.com and follow WEX on Twitter at @WEXIncNews.

About PCMI

PCMI provides the technology to increase sales and provide automation in the administration of Extended Warranties, Service Contracts, Prepaid Maintenance, Theft Prevention and Detection, GAP, and Manufacturers Warranty Claims. The company leadership brings decades of policy claim and reporting software technology to the market. Its software supports domestic and international markets for Automotive, Consumer, and Home Extended Warranty providers.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705110051

WEX announced a new agreement with PCMI Corporation in Europe, following success working together in North America.
Radiographic Film Processor Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 11:23:39

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Radiography is an imaging technique that uses electromagnetic radiations such as X-rays to internally visualize the structures. Radiographic film processors operates using two technologies, Computed radiography and Digital radiography. Computed radiography uses imaging plates made of photostimulable phosphor instead of films, where as digital radiography utilizes digital X-ray sensors to obtain the image. Computed radiography and digital radiography are preferred over conventional radiography as they do not require chemical processing, require lesser processing time, generating high-quality digital images. The demand for global radiographic film processor market is rising tremendously in medical and industrial fields. In medical field, radiographic techniques are mainly used in hospitals as they are becoming more receptive to new procedures like trans-catheter aortic valve implantation with the use of medical imaging as an alternative to open-heart surgery. These procedures are performed using high-end mobile C-arm X-ray equipment, requiring digital flat-panel detector (FPD) technology. Also, increasing acceptance of modern industrial radiography techniques in various industries such as automotive, gas and oil, and aerospace industry has improved the productivity of manufacturing plants while reducing the wastage significantly. The global radiographic film processor market is expected to rise during the forecast period due to increasing number of healthcare disorders affecting the large number of population coupled with technological advancement and increasing adoption of radiographic film processors in various industries.The global market for radiographic film processor is expected to have a robust growth during the forecast period (2015-2025).Radiographic Film Processor Market: Drivers and RestraintsMajor driver for global radiographic film processor market is ongoing shift towards digital systems from conventional film based radiography. Other factors contributing towards the growth of global radiographic film processor market is greater incidence of diseases and demand for faster diagnosis. In addition, increasing use radiographic procedures in medical diagnostics, application in mammography, orthopedic evaluation and general radiography are the key factors responsible for driving global radiographic film processor market. Market growth for radiographic film processor is also driven by its use in various industries such as in gas and oil industry, metal welding industry, and automotive industry. Also, existing advancements in medical diagnostics and industrial technology are leading to adoption of high definition imaging tools.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1054 However, high cost of the radiographic film processor equipment will restrain the market growth for global radiographic film processor market. In addition increasing use of MRI scanners which utilizes magnetic fields and radio waves for imaging purpose without exposure to ionizing radiations is also restraining the global radiographic film processor market.Radiographic Film Processor Market: SegmentationGlobal radiographic film processor market is segmented on the basis of product, technology, application, end use and geography as following:By ProductManual Film ProcessorAutomatic Film ProcessorBy TechnologyComputed RadiographyDigital RadiographyBy ApplicationMedicalIndustrialBy End UserHospitalsDiagnostic CentersIndustriesRadiographic Film Processor Market: OverviewWith rapid technological advancements in medical field, wide acceptance of various medical procedures among patients with different indications and increasing adoption of industrial radiography, the global radiographic film processor market is expected to have a robust growth during the forecast period (2015-2025).Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1054 Radiographic Film Processor Market: Region- wise OutlookThe global market for radiographic film processors is expected to register a single digit CAGR during the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global radiographic film processor market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.
Roofing Chemicals Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 15:48:43

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Roofing chemicals refer to a variegated range of chemicals which are used to enhance the performance of roof coatings. These chemicals imparts high reflectivity properties to rooftops thus enabling the maintenance of lower temperatures in the house. This in turn helps significantly in reducing the energy consumption required to keep the temperature low, and thus, helps in reducing carbon emissions. The advent of cool roof technology companies which includes roof designing, coating and chemicals, has led roofing chemicals to gain increasing awareness over last few years. Most companies in the roofing chemicals industry are relying on increased product innovations and are introducing products which not only offers high solar reflectance index, but also adds significantly to the life of roof, and caters high elasticity, reliable adhesion and dirt resistance. The global roofing chemicals market is anticipated to expand with a moderate CAGR over the forecast period of 2016-2026Global Roofing Chemicals Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe prime factor driving demand for roofing chemicals is the need for sustainable living standards, which incorporates reduction of carbon footprint of houses, as roofing chemicals helps primarily to reduce in-house temperatures, thus requiring less energy to cool the house, in turn reducing carbon emissions. Moreover, the need to increase longevity of the construction is further fuelling the demand for roofing chemicals, as they inherently helps in overheating and thus extends roof life. This coupled with a rapid increase in construction activity across all developing nations, particularly, in Asia are together translating into rising demand for roofing chemicals. Along with, increasing awareness about the benefits of roofing chemical is another integral factor imparting growth numbers to the global roofing chemicals market. Increase in the presence of bituminous roofing due to its more durability and usage in warehouses and factories is also driving more demand for asphalt bituminous roofing chemicals. Moreover, added features of asphalt roofing such as protection against fire, wind and hail is also adding more demand for asphalt based roofing chemicals.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2281 However, even now installing a rooftop featured with roofing coating and chemicals to protect from high temperature comes costly, and is the major restraint, restricting the growth in global roofing chemicals market.Global Roofing Chemicals Market: SegmentationOn the basis of Product type,AcrylicAsphaltElastomerEpoxy ResinStyreneOthersOn the basis of application area,MembraneBituminousElastomericMetalPlasticRequest For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2281 Global Roofing Chemicals Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global roofing Chemicals market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is the leading market considering demand for roofing chemicals, amid stringent regulations regarding energy conversation in the US and Canada. Moreover, rising construction activities in Asia Pacific, particularly in China and India, is letting the APEJ region to expand the fastest in terms of demand for roofing chemicals. Due to high inclination of most European governments towards low energy consumption per capita, ha led demand for roofing chemicals in Western Europe to scale high.Global Roofing Chemicals Market: Key PlayersThe Dow Chemical CompanySika AGGAF Materials CorporationAkzo Nobel N.VExcel CoatingsBASF SESaint-Gobain S.A3M CompanyBrowse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/roofing-chemicals-market
Smart Pill Technologies Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 11:36:59

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Smart Pill Technologies is the use of advanced methods for the preparation of prescription pills which has revolutionized patient monitoring, diagnosis of diseases and improved drug delivery. Smart pill technologies is the converging link between digital technology and healthcare industries. These smart pills have many benefits other than providing signals and alerts when consumed. By programming the pill accordingly, it can trigger a reminder according to the remainder time whenever the pill needs to be consumed. It can alert the physician, patient, medical staff or the caretaker when the medicine has been consumed which will help in accurate documentation of patient compliance or adherence. It can also provide alerts if the pill hasn't been consumed on a timely routine since multiple medications need to be taken by a large number of patients. Physicians do a good job of triangulating medications with their patients, since new additions/OTC medications are not routinely documented. So with the use of smart pill technology, the data collected can further be of assistance by identifying potential drug-drug interactions, errors in dosage, schedule errors and help identify/prevent adverse events. Pills can also turn to be useful in sending alert signals when medicines are past their expiry date.Patients on medications such as antibiotics can be monitored and alerted to complete their course to ensure that drug resistance is not encountered.Smart Pill Technologies Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe Smart pill technologies market is a flourishing market and has tremendous opportunities in future. The market has a wide scope in the monitoring and diagnosis of diseases. The rising prevalence of Gastro-intestinal diseases is acting as the major driver in the market. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2015, it is currently estimated that about 1 1.3 Mn people suffer from IBD in the United States. Prevalence of Crohn's disease is 201 per 100,000 adults and Ulcerative colitis is 238 per 100,000 adults. Also the changing lifestyle related syndromes and disorders will further boost this market. Likewise the increasing disposable income to avail the evolving innovative technologies in the market will further help in penetration of the developed as well as developing countries. The rising geriatric population will also act as a driver since this segment of population is more prone to IBD, Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that by 2050 worlds geriatric population count will reach around 2 Bn which will definitely contribute to the rapid growth of this market. The chronic therapy monitoring can help in curtailing health care costs as well. To illustrate: the smart pill technology combination of an ambulatory monitoring with anti-thrombolytic drug can reduce the number of physicians visits and ensure that anti-thrombolytic therapy is adjusted remotely while ensuring compliance. Even so, all technological advancements of this segment come with some caveats. Barriers to technology such as age, cost and utility, pose challenges which the manufacturers should attempt to overcome. While customizability is the feature of smart pill market, it can also prove to be a hindrance and can be very cumbersome since it would be difficult to manufacture according to individual consumer needs. Furthermore, adaptability is also a point of concern and these parameters can thus act as a restraint in the market.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1151 Smart Pill Technologies Market: SegmentationThe Smart pill technologies market is classified on the basis of application, disease indication and geography.Based on application, the global smart pill technologies market is segmented into the following:Capsule EndoscopySmall Bowel Video Capsule EndoscopyColon Capsule EndoscopyOMOM Capsule Endoscopy PlatformSmall Bowel Capsule EndoscopyControllable Capsule EndoscopyStorable Capsule EndoscopeColon Capsule EndoscopepH Capsule Wireless Monitoring SystemImpedancepH Monitoring SystemMiroCamUpgraded MiroCam and Advanced Capsule EndoscopeThe ANKON MCE SystemCapsoCamDrug DeliveryPatient monitoring of cancerBased on disease indication, the global smart pill technologies market is segmented into the following:Occult GI BleedingCrohns DiseaseSmall Bowel TumorsCeliac DiseaseInherited Polyposis SyndromesSmart Pill Technologies Market: OverviewThe smart pill technologies has recently entered the market and is rapidly penetrating the developed as well as developing countries. The growing demand and escalating adoption rate for monitoring and treating diseases by newly advanced technologies has given an impetus to the global smart pill technologies market. In the last few years the market has seen high percentage of acceptance towards usage due to non-invasiveness, better patient accessibility and thorough monitoring. Capsule endoscopy accounted for the highest revenue in 2014. The first capsule endoscope model, which is now regarded as a first-line tool for the detection of abnormalities of the small bowel, was the PillCam SB. It was approved in Japan in April 2007. GI monitoring application segment is expected to register fastest growth in the forecast period, amongst all other segments. In the coming years, global smart pill technologies market will witness significant developments in innovation of a wide range of new products that will require novel marketing approaches. The smart pill technologies market is currently underpenetrated and in its nascent stage of development. Although the maximum revenues are generated by the developed countries, it is also observed that CAGR in the developing countries are high. The reason for the growth in the CAGR can be attributed to the increasing awareness in the latest innovative testing methods and the continuously improving economic conditions.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1151 Smart Pill Technologies Market: Region-wise OutlookOn the basis of geography, Global Smart pill technologies market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe collectively accounted for the largest market share in the overall smart pills technology market, in 2014. North America accounted for about half the share of market revenue in 2014. The growth in this region is primarily attributed to the early adoption of novel technologies, a large patient population, high disposable incomes and the fresh marketing and commercializing of smart pill products. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a remarkable CAGR for smart pills technologies market due to increasing healthcare awareness.Smart Pill Technologies Market: Key PlayersKey players in the global Nucleic Acid Testing market include CapsoVision, Inc., Given Imaging, Inc., Medimetrics S.A. de C.V., Olympus Corporation, and Bio-Images Research Limited, IntroMedic Inc., Chongqing Jinshan Science & Technology Group Co. Ltd., Proteus Digital Health Inc., Novartis AG, and Philips Healthcare.
Stem Cell Therapies Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 11:30:46

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Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells, and having remarkable potential to divide into any kind of other cells. When a stem cell divides, each new cell will be a new stem cell or it will be like another cell which is having specific function such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, brain cell and some other cells.There are two types of stem cellsEmbryonic cellsAdult stem or Somatic cellsStem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood just after birth. And this cells can be stored in specific conditions. Stem cells also can be harvest from bone marrow, adipose tissue.Embryonic cells can differentiate into ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm in developing stage. Stem cells used in the therapies and surgeries for regeneration of organisms or cells, tissues.Stem cells are used for the treatment of Gastro intestine diseases, Metabolic diseases, Immune system diseases, Central Nervous System diseases, Cardiovascular diseases, Wounds and injuries, Eye diseases, Musculoskeletal disorders.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1087 Harvesting of Adult cell is somewhat difficult compare to embryonic cells. Because Adult cells available in the own body and it is somewhat difficult to harvest.Stem Cell Therapies Market: Drivers and RestraintsTechnology advancements in healthcare now curing life threatening diseases and giving promising results. Stem Cell Therapies having so many advantages like regenerating the other cells and body organisms. This is the main driver for this market. These therapies are useful in many life threatening treatments. Increasing the prevalence rate of diseases are driven the Stem Cell Therapies market, it is also driven by increasing technology advancements in healthcare. Technological advancements in healthcare now saving the population from life threatening complications.Increasing funding from government, private organizations and increasing the Companies focus on Stem cell therapies are also driven this marketHowever, Collecting the Embryonic Stem cells are easy but Collecting Adult Stem cell or Somatic Stem cells are difficult and also we have to take more precautions for storing the collected stem cells.Stem Cell Therapies Market: SegmentationStem Cell Therapies are segmented into following typesBased on treatment:Allogeneic stem cell therapyAutologous stem cell therapyBased on application:Gastro intestine diseasesMetabolic diseasesImmune system diseasesCentral Nervous System diseasesCardiovascular diseasesWounds and injuriesEye diseasesMusculoskeletal disordersBased on End User:HospitalsAmbulatory Surgical centersStem Cell Therapies Market: OverviewWith rapid technological advantage in healthcare and its promising results, the use of Stem Cell Therapies will increase and the market is expected to have a double digit growth in the forecast period (2015-2025).Stem Cell Therapies Market: Region- wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, the global Stem Cell Therapies market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.The use of Stem Cell Therapies is high in North America because it is highly developed region, having good technological advancements in healthcare setup and people are having good awareness about health care. In Asia pacific region china and India also having rapid growth in health care set up. Europe also having good growth in this market.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1087 Stem Cell Therapies Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in this market areMesoblast Ltd.,Roslin Cells,Regeneus Ltd,ReNeuron Group plc,International Stem Cell Corporation.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-11 20:35:02

Oslo, 11 May 2017: The Yara International ASA Annual General Meeting today approved a dividend of NOK 10.00 per share and a new Power of attorney to the Board regarding acquisition of own shares. All agenda items were approved in line with the proposals included in the Annual General Meeting notice.



The dividend of NOK 10.00 per share will be paid on 23 May 2017 to shareholders as of 11 May 2017, and the Yara share will be traded ex-dividend from 12 May 2017. American Depository Receipts (ADRs) will also be traded ex-dividend from 12 May 2017, with a dividend payment date of 31 May 2017.



The Annual General Meeting approved a new Power of attorney to the Board regarding acquisition of own shares. The Board is thereby given authorization to acquire up to 5 percent of Yara's shares before the next Annual General Meeting. Yara has renewed its agreement with the Norwegian State according to which the State's shares will be redeemed on a pro-rata basis to ensure that the State's ownership is unchanged in the event repurchased shares are cancelled.



The full minutes of the Annual General Meeting are available on Yara's website:



http://yara.com/investor_relations/reports_presentations/





Contact



Thor Giver, Investor Relations

Telephone: (+47) 24 15 72 95

Cellular: (+47) 48 07 53 56

E-mail: thor.giaver@yara.com





About Yara

Yara's knowledge, products and solutions grow farmers', distributors' and industrial customers' businesses profitably and responsibly, while protecting the earth's resources, food and environment.



Our fertilizers, crop nutrition programs and technologies increase yields, improve product quality and reduce the environmental impact of agricultural practices. Our industrial and environmental solutions improve air quality by reducing emissions from industry and transportation, and serve as key ingredients in the production of a wide range of goods. We foster a culture that promotes the safety of our employees, contractors and societies.



Founded in 1905 to solve emerging famine in Europe, today Yara has a worldwide presence, with close to 15,000 employees and sales to about 160 countries.



www.yara.com



This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.





This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Yara International ASA via Globenewswire


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.




Incidents of violence a cause for concern: EC

A spate of violence in different districts, particularly after the final list of candidates for the first phase of elections were announced, has emerged as a major cause for concern, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.
IOC proposal to open gas stations raises suspicions

The latest move by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to consolidate its hold on Nepals petroleum market by setting up gasoline stations has raised suspicions as memories of the 2015 Indian blockade when fuel supplies were cut off for more than four months are still fresh among Nepalis.


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UTC Fire & Security Polska, advised by Cushman & Wakefield, has leased over 4,000 sq m in Sadowa Business Park in Gdansk. The office building is owned by Atlas Estates (Sadowa) Sp. z o.o.

Sadowa Business Park is a six-floor building offering more than 6,500 sq m of modern office space. It is located...

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If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity.

PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move.
DIY Network has give the green light to a home renovation series featuring third-generation NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt Jr and his wife Amy Earnhardt.





The series will follow the couple as they transform a dilapidated historic home into a gorgeous modern retreat in the Old Town historic district of Key West, Florida.Premiering in early 2018, the four half-hour episodes will combine home improvement and interior design expertise.Amy and I are excited to take on our first home renovation project together, said Earnhardt. Amy is a fantastic designer. She has creative ideas and a strong work ethic. We love DIY projects around the house, and so I expect this to be challenging but fun.The couple must first tackle the renovation challenges that often come with older homes, including structural damage, faulty plumbing and ancient wiring.Weve seen how Dale Jr races a car, so were confident that with Amys help he will easily navigate the typical trials and tribulations of a home renovation, said John Feld, senior vice president, original programming and production, HGTV , DIY Network and Great American Country. Fasten your seat belts because this one is sure to be a thrilling, unpredictable ride.
Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has appointed Peter Flamman as senior vice president of youth, music, kids and family brands for Southern and Western Europe, Africa and Middle East (SWEMEA).





Following an executive restructuring that integrated GSA and BLX with VIMN s SWEMEA operations, Flamman will head the management of brands such as MTV and Nickelodeon in Benelux, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Malta and Turkey, as well as Africa and the Middle East.From Viacoms Madrid office, he will also oversee original content development and production, content acquisitions, linear and multi-platform scheduling, content localisation and operations, talent and artist management, marketing and communications, and the creative department of all brands and brand development.Im happy to announce Peter as our SVP for the youth and music and kids and family brands, said Raffaele Annecchino, president and managing director of VIMN SWEMEA, to whom Flamman will report. His years of industry experience and great track record make him an excellent fit for the team and the perfect choice to lead these brands forward.This is an exciting role in a dynamic organisation, added Flamman. Im delighted to be leading such diverse and talented teams and Im looking forward to building on our successful glocal strategy .Flamman joined VIMN in September 2015 as SVP brands for the Austria, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordic markets and Poland.
Jajarkot folk demand parties build roads

People in Jajarkot have demanded the candidates of the upcoming local elections build motor road networks if they wish to bring development in the district.
Ethiopias Information Network Security Agency (INSA) has launched its Ethiosat satellite TV platform with nine national channels, thanks to a multi-year agreement with Eutelsat.





The partnership provides capacity at Eutelsats 7/8 West neighbourhood, serving the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).Ethiopias national satellite TV sector currently comprises more than 30 channels that broadcast from multiple satellites. The new platform offers licensed channels the opportunity to broadcast from a single platform, ensuring easy reception for TV homes across the country and accelerating digital take-up, according to a statement.The first broadcasters on the platform include free-to-air networks Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) and Oromia TV. INSA expects a range of national, regional and commercial broadcasters to be added to the Ethiosat platform in the future.This contract puts Eutelsat 8 West B firmly on Ethiopia's broadcasting map and is indicative of a new wave of growth in the country's digital TV market. The pull of our 7/8 West neighbourhood is driven by a strong channel line-up of over 1,200 channels and the diversity and exclusivity of free-to-air content, said Michel Azibert, chief commercial and development officer, Eutelsat Gebremeskel Teklemariam, directorate director at INSA, added: Ethiosat will be a game-changer for our media landscape. In drawing on the rich experience and expertise of Eutelsat, INSA can broadcast a diverse line-up of services across Ethiopia, further enriching the 7/8 West satellite neighbourhood with quality and compelling content.
UK independent media agency the7stars has forged a new partnership for Suzuki together with Channel 4 and content agency The Outfit in the UK.





The idea is to appeal to a younger audience in support of the manufacturers latest model, the Suzuki Ignis. Launching across TV and digital, the creative campaign #IgnisAdventure has been filmed in the style of a mini content series that rolls out in May airtime within Channel 4 and E4s peak time schedules.The first 60-second spot will be revealed during a premiere break in Channel 4s Friday night hit show Gogglebox on 12 May. Alongside the TV spots there will be a complementary influencer campaign to boost a social media drive.The TV ads follow the adventure of comedienne Katherine Ryan and Made in Chelsea star Mark Francis as they are dropped at an undisclosed location and tasked with finding their way back to the comforts of home in a Suzuki Ignis, with only each other for guidance.Alongside the TV spots, Suzuki will be releasing updates of the #IgnisAdventure story on its social channels, including behind the scenes clips, with a teaser being released on 11 May. The stars will also reveal exclusive content through their own social channels. And, Suzuki will challenge the two influencers, Grace Bruce and Lucy Wyndham Read, to mirror the TV spots by documenting their own #IgnisAdventure, which will be shared on Suzukis social media networks, as well as their own.Our new model, the Suzuki Ignis, is small and mighty but packed with personality, said Jodie Brooke, communications manager, Suzuki. As such, we want to appeal to a wider audience, expanding from family fun to engage with not just a younger audience, but one with a keen sense of adventure. Who better to demonstrate this than two of the biggest personalities on Channel 4 and E4?Rachel Courtney, head of partnerships at the7stars , added: Were really excited about the launch of the #IgnisAdventure series. Its an innovative collaboration between partners that allows us to showcase the new model in a humorous and shareable way.
Comcast is moving into creating content for the $30 billion crafts retail market with a deal to take a majority stake in how-to site Craftsy.





The Denver-based company has 190 employees and will become part of NBCUniversal.Bonnie Hammer, chairman of Comcast Cable , said plans are to "build Craftsy's brand awareness exponentially. She added: Imagine synergies with shows like Bravos Top Chef and Syfys Face Off, and opportunities to develop creative new content for kids on Sprout.Craftsy last year said its e-commerce business has grown to about 40%, of total revenues which then were close to $60 million per year.The terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's group said on May 11 that it will not hand over its weapons, despite pledging to do so as part of a peace deal signed with the government in September.

The decision prompted a rebuke from President Ashraf Ghani's office, with a spokesman urging Hezb-e Islami to adhere to the agreement, under which the militant group pledged to lay down its arms and end its insurgency.

Under the deal, Hezb-e Islami fighters interested in joining government forces could be integrated into the Afghan security forces.

Hezb-e Islami's refusal to lay down their arms will raise concerns over the deal with Hekmatyar, one of the country's most notorious warlords, who returned to Kabul last week following more than two decades in self-imposed exile.

Hezb-e Islami spokesman Qareem ur Rahman said on May 11 that it was "necessary" for the group's 3,500 militia fighters to keep their weapons for protection from extremist organizations such as the Taliban and Islamic State (IS).

"Our [fighters] have come under attacks from militants," said Rahman. "If they put down their weapons who will guarantee their safety?"

Rahman said the group's fighters would not fight "against the government" and was willing to battle militants alongside national security forces.

A spokesman for Ghani, Dawa Khan Menapal, said the security of the country was the government's "responsibility" and that Hezb-e Islami's concerns were "unwarranted."

"Under the peace agreement signed with Hezb-e Islami, their protection is the responsibility of the government," said Menapal.

Vetting Members

Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said preparations were under way to integrate Hezb-e Islami members, provided they met selection criteria.

"Joining the national army is voluntary and anyone who meets certain eligibility criteria can join to serve, and that includes Hezb-e Islami members," he said.

Hezb-e Islami has drawn up a list of 3,500 fighters for vetting and has handed over some 80 names, mostly senior officers, to a special government commission set up to oversee the integration, said Karim Amin, one of Hekmatyar's advisers.

The controversial peace deal has been criticized by many Afghans and by Western rights groups, which accuse Hekmatyar's forces of gross human rights violations during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s and cite their deadly attacks on U.S. and Afghan forces since the U.S.-led invasion that drove the Taliban from power in 2001.

Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e Islami in the mid-1970s. The group become one of the main mujahedin factions fighting against Soviet forces following their invasion in 1979, and then one of the most prominent groups in the civil war for control of Kabul after the collapse of the communist government in 1992 in the wake of the Soviet army's withdrawal from Afghanistan three years earlier.

Hekmatyar, who had been prime minister in the mujahedin government from 1993 to 1994 and then briefly again in 1996, was one of the chief protagonists of the civil war. Rights groups accuse Hekmatyar of shelling residential areas of Kabul in the 1990s as well as orchestrating forced disappearances and establishing covert jails where torture was commonplace.

With reporting by Reuters


Afghan security forces have recaptured a northeastern district from Taliban fighters, the Defense Ministry says.

Ministry spokesman Dawlat Wazeri said on May 11 that government forces had taken "full control" of the Zebak district in Badakhshan Province on May 11, but said cleaning operations were continuing in the area.

A special forces commander, General Jalal Yafti, was quoted as saying 35 militants were killed in the two-day operation.

There were no casualties reported on the government side.

Taliban fighters seized the Zebak district on April 26.

The group announced the start of its spring offensive last month, vowing to step up attacks across the country.

With reporting by Khaama Press and Pajhwok
PRAGUE -- A Czech court has postponed an extradition hearing for a Russian man wanted on U.S. charges of hacking and data theft.

Both the United States and Russia are seeking the extradition of Yevgeny Nikulin, who was arrested by Czech authorities in October based on an Interpol warrant requested by the U.S. government.

He is accused of hacking into the servers of the U.S. Internet companies LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Formspring in a case that emerged against the backdrop of U.S. allegations of a Kremlin-directed hacking and influence campaign to meddle in last years U.S. presidential election.

The scheduled May 11 extradition hearing at Prague's Pankrac prison, where Nikulin is being held, was postponed until May 30 after the judge found that the suspected hacker had not received Russian translations of documents related to the U.S. extradition attempt, Current Time TV reported.

The setting for the hearing is unusual and typically used in cases in which there are concerns about the suspects safety, Prague Municipal Court spokeswoman Market Puci told the network.

Earlier on May 11, Current Time -- a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA -- published excerpts from a letter purportedly written by Nikulin that it obtained from his lawyer. The letter claims that U.S. investigators pressured Nikulin to say he was involved in hacking the e-mail of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton last year.

U.S. intelligence says Kremlin-backed hackers breached Democratic servers last year in an effort to damage Clintons campaign with the release of embarrassing internal e-mails.

The Kremlin rejects the charge, including the U.S. intelligence assessment that the alleged hacking was aimed at helping President Donald Trump defeat Clinton.

The FBI and the Department of Justice declined to comment on Nikulins letter when contacted by RFE/RL.

With reporting by Current Time TV
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian's ruling Republican Party (HHK) has signed a coalition agreement with the smaller Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), a party official told reporters on May 11.

Sarkisian's Republican Party won 58 of the 105 seats in parliamentary elections on April 2, surpassing the 50 percent level, but the coalition agreement was nevertheless important to the HHK's ability to form a government.

Legislative rules require a three-fifths majority to win approval for appointments such as Constitutional Court judges, the general prosecutor, chairman of the appeals court, central bank chairman, and election officials.

In addition, the passing of important laws, such as the electoral and judicial codes, laws on holding referendums, and legislation related to the Constitutional Court also require the approval of three-fifths of the parliament.

With the addition of seven seats from the ARF, it will surpass the three-fifths level of 63 seats by two.

We have a number of similarities in our value systemsthat will determine the cooperation between two national parties during the coming five years, said Armen Ashotyan, vice chairman of the Republican Party.

The Republican Party won 49.15 percent of the April 2 vote, with the center-right Tsarukian Alliance, led by Russia-friendly tycoon Gagik Tsarukian, winning 27.37 percent.

The nationalist ARF, which was part of the previous ruling coalition with the Republicans, won about 6.57 percent of the April 2 vote.

Some international observers said the voting process was "tainted" by reports of vote-buying and pressure on voters.

In the previous coalition agreement, the ARF had three ministerial posts -- economy, education, and local administration.

The terms of the new coalition deal were not immediately announced.

In the past, the ARF, also known as Dashnaktsutiun, has antagonized neighboring Turkey by making territorial claims.

Armenia and Turkey have clashed over Armenian demands that Turkey take responsibility for the mass killing and deportation of some 1.5 million Armenians during World War I by the Ottoman Empire.

The atrocities suffered by the Armenians have been classed as genocide by Yerevan and more than a dozen states.

Although Turkey admits many Christian Armenians were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces, it denies the killings were orchestrated and constituted a genocide.


A court in Russia has convicted a 22-year-old blogger of inciting religious hatred for posting YouTube videos of himself playing Pokemon Go in Yekaterinburg Orthodox church. Ruslan Sokolovsky was given a 3 1/2 year suspended sentence which means he will not be sent to prison. (RFE/RL's Russian Service, Current Time TV)
Thousands of Czechs demonstrated in Prague on May 10 to demand that the president and finance minister step down amid a political crisis involving the ruling coalition. The finance minister, billionaire businessman Andrej Babis, is embroiled in accusations of avoiding taxes and using media outlets he owns against his political opponents. (RFE/RL)
BRUSSELS -- European Union member states endorsed visa liberalization for Ukraine on May 11, clearing the final hurdle for Ukrainian citizens to travel to the EU's Schengen Area without a visa.

Representatives of the European Council and the European Parliament are now expected to rubber-stamp the decision in Strasbourg on May 17, with the visa-free regime due to enter into force on June 11.

The decision will apply to all Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports. They will be able to enter all EU member states apart from Ireland and the United Kingdom for up to 90 days during any 180-day period.

It also applies to the four Schengen-area countries that are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Visa-free EU travel began on March 28 for citizens of Georgia, another former Soviet republic that is under pressure from Russia.
Jajarkot locals seek hydro plans in polls

Locals of Jajarkot look determined to cast votes to candidates who have concrete plans to tap the immense hydroelectricity potential of the district.
FBI Director James Comey was seeking to expand his agency's investigation into possible collusion between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign in the days before Trump fired him, U.S. media reported on May 10.

The White House has insisted that Comey was fired for making "missteps and mistakes" unrelated to the Russia investigation, which Trump has called "a hoax."

But congressional Democrats on May 10 stepped up their accusations that Comey's removal was intended to undermine the investigation and took steps to try to force Congress to authorize an independent investigation removed from White House influence.

As the two parties battled in Washington, demonstrators gathered in Washington, Chicago, and other cities to demand that the Russia investigation be turned over to independent prosecutors.

U.S. media reported that Comey asked the Justice Department for additional money to hire more people to staff the FBI's Russia probe in the days before he was fired. Comey later informed lawmakers of his request for more funding.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democratic leader, said that he couldn't be certain Comey's funding request triggered his dismissal, but it's clear the FBI "was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives and [the dismissal] was an effort to slow down the investigation."

The Justice Department and White House denied on May 10 that Comey had asked for more funding or that the funding matter had any relation to his firing.

Reuters reported that Comey also infuriated the White House last week by refusing to preview for top Trump aides his planned testimony before a Senate committee.

Reuters, citing White House officials, said Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked Comey for a heads-up about what he would say at a May 3 hearing.

When Comey refused, Trump and his aides considered that an act of insubordination and it was one of the catalysts leading to Trump's decision to fire him, Reuters said.

While the White House denied that Comey's testimony had anything to do with the firing, White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on May 10 indicated that Trump viewed Comey as insubordinate, saying Comey had committed "atrocities in circumventing the chain of command."

The administration has said Comey's firing stemmed from his mishandling of an election-year FBI probe into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's e-mails. Trump has expressed astonishment that Democrats did not rally behind Comey's dismissal for that reason.

While Democrats have complained about Comey's handling of the Clinton probe -- particularly his decision just days before the November election to announce that he was reopening the probe in a move that Clinton blamed in part for her election loss -- they have nearly unanimously condemned Comey's dismissal because of his critical role this year overseeing the Russia investigation.

Democratic leaders in Congress on May 10 stepped up calls for a special prosecutor to handle the Russia investigation, in light of the White House's removal of Comey.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she would try to force a vote on a bill creating an independent committee to investigate the Russia matter if Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives, doesn't call up the legislation "immediately" when the House returns from recess next week.

Through a "discharge" petition, a majority of House members can force a House vote on legislation without going through the usual committee procedures, which are controlled by the Republican majority.

Pelosi said the "fireworks at the Department of Justice demand that we remove the investigation from the Trump-appointed Justice Department leadership."

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has called on Rosenstein to make good on his pledge to Congress to appoint a special prosecutor if needed to ensure the White House does not try to control the probe.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on May 10 that a special prosecutor isn't needed and appointing one would only interfere with probes already under way in the Senate's Intelligence and Judiciary Committees.

But more than a dozen Republican senators have expressed concern about Comey's firing, including several who said they are open to appointing a special prosecutor.

Some Democrats have compared Trump's move to the "Saturday Night Massacre" of 1973, in which President Richard Nixon ordered the firing of an independent prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. The furor that erupted over the firing eventually led to Nixon's resignation.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told MSNBC that Trump, like Nixon, faces "mounting evidence" against him.

Blumenthal said that evidence increasingly suggests that informal Trump adviser Roger Stone, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, and fired national security adviser Michael Flynn "all face serious criminal culpability, and that evidence if pursued could lead to the very top."

Comey made his first comment since his firing late on May 10, telling FBI staff in a farewell letter that he had "long believed that a president can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all," and that he would not spend time dwelling on Trump's decision "or the way it was executed."

Comey is due to testify at a closed hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on May 16.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and New York Times


Iraqi government troops are moving closer to surrounding Mosul's Old City, as the U.S.-backed forces battle to liberate the city from Islamic State (IS) extremists, military officials say.

The advance on May 11 is part of a two-pronged drive launched last week from the north of Iraq's second-largest city, the last major IS stronghold in the country.

As the bulk of the force moves in from the north, special forces are moving toward the Old City through west Mosul's industrial districts, Iraqi Lieutenant General Sami al-Arathi said.

"The multi-axis advance ... has presented the enemy with more dilemmas than they can react to," John Dorrian, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, told reporters.

He said Iraqi forces have retaken more than 30 square kilometers of territory from the extremists over the past week.

Iraqi forces backed by U.S. and coalition air support began the battle to liberate Mosul in October.

The eastern half of the city was retaken earlier this year, and troops are facing fierce IS resistance in the more heavily populated west Mosul.

IS fighters captured Mosul in 2014 as they gained wide swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria in battles against government troops.

However, U.S.-led coalition forces have made major gains against the group, both in Mosul and in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the last major IS stronghold in that country.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
MOSCOW -- A home inhabited by Jehovah's Witnesses outside Moscow was destroyed in an arson attack, the religious organization said, citing it as the starkest example of a string of "acts of vandalism" targeting the group since it was branded as extremist by the Russian Supreme Court.



An inebriated resident of the village of Lutsino in Moscow Region on April 30 threw a bottle containing burning liquid at a home and garage, destroying the building as well as cars belonging to a family of Jehovah's Witnesses, the group said in a statement on its website on May 8.



The attacker had made disparaging comments about the Jehovah's Witnesses before the attack, the group said.



Yaroslav Sivulsky, a spokesman for Russia's Jehovah's Witnesses, told RFE/RL on May 11 that the worshipers were at home at the time of attack, although no one was hurt. Sivulsky said the attacker made no attempt to hide afterwards and was detained by police. He later blamed his actions on alcohol.



Sivulsky said the attack exemplified a spate of "acts of vandalism" that have targeted the Christian denomination since the court ruling last month.



On April 20, the Supreme Court labeled the Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization, ordering the seizure of the group's property in Russia and effectively banning worshipers from the country.



The United States and European Union have denounced the court ruling, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) called it "a terrible blow to freedom of religion and association in Russia."



The Jehovah's Witnesses have long been viewed with suspicion in Russia for their positions on military service, voting, and government authority in general. Freedom of religion is formally guaranteed in Russia but legislation sets out Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the country's four traditional religions, and rights activists say others frequently face discrimination.

In Media Crosshairs



The court ruling has put the group's worshipers in the crosshairs of state-run and Kremlin-loyal media outlets, which have portrayed the group as a pernicious sect that destroys families and threatens lives through their stance on blood transfusions.

Sikulsky pointed to a string of alleged cases of intimidation and vandalism listed on the group's website alongside photographs.



Several hours after the Supreme Court ruling, a group of men threw bricks and stones at the Jehovah's Witnesses' headquarters in St. Petersburg, smashing windows.



On the night of April 30, in the city of Achinsk in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk, a local resident allegedly smashed a window of a place of worship of the Jehovah's Witnesses.



On May 2, in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea, a window of the home of a family of Jehovah's Witnesses was broken when a rock was thrown at it.



On May 5, in Novomoskovsk in Tula Oblast, the door of a building formerly used by Jehovah's Witnesses was defaced with the threatening message: "Friends, soon we're coming for you all."



The group's main administrative center has stopped its activities in line with the demands of the Supreme Court.



The court ruling, however, has not yet fully entered into force -- the Jehovah's Witnesses' property has not yet been seized by the state, for instance -- as the group has until May 20 to file an appeal to the court.



Sivulsky said he believes there is "practically no chance" they will be successful in their appeal.


The Kremlin expressed "cautious optimism" about the prospects for an improvement in relations with the United States following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comment on May 11, adding: "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

He also said a G20 summit in Germany in July would be a "good occasion" for Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet face-to-face.

Trump and Lavrov met at the White House on May 10, the highest-level meeting the U.S. president has had with a Russian official since taking office in January.

Trump described the talks as "very good" and voiced optimism on the prospects for cooperation on ending the war in Syria, saying: "I think that we are going to do very well with respect to Syria."

However, a White House statement said that Trump urged Lavrov to "rein in" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran.

It also said that Trump "stressed Russias responsibility to fully implement the Minsk agreements," which called for a cease-fire and set out steps to end the deadly conflict between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Relations between the United States and Russia have sunk to lows unseen since the Cold War amid rancor over Moscow's seizure of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, its backing of separatists in Ukraine, the Syrian civil war, and other issues.

Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
Pakistan's powerful military on May 10 moved to calm worries about a rift with the civilian government, issuing a statement stressing its commitment to democracy.

The reassurance came after the military last month took the unusual step of publicly criticizing the government's actions following investigations into a leaked newspaper story about a national security meeting.

The criticism had stirred worries in a country where the army has often seized power. Several prime ministers, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a previous administration in 1999, have been ousted in coups.

But military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said on May 10 that there was no cause for concern.

"We will continue to work with all government institutions to do what is best for the country," Ghafoor said. "There's been a lot of talk about democracy in the past two weeks, but nowhere was there any mention that any actions should be taken against democracy."

The country has had a democratically elected government since 2008, but the army retains sweeping influence and any hint of discord raises worries about the future of civilian rule.

Pakistan's military has ruled the country for 33 of the 70 years since it gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters


The conviction of Russian "Pokemon" blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky has been denounced by critics as an assault on free speech and the separation between church and state.

Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg found Sokolovsky guilty on May 11 of inciting hatred and insulting religious believers' feelings with YouTube videos.

The avowed atheist received a 3 1/2-year suspended sentence in part for a profanity-laced video in which he played Pokemon Go in a church.

The verdict will likely provide more ammunition to those who say the right to free expression is being whittled away in Russia -- particularly where religion is concerned.

Here's a look at some of the evidence Shoponyak cited in her verdict against Sokolovsky, and some excerpts gathered by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Russia's independent Dozhd TV, and the news website Znak.com.

According to the verdict, Sokolovsky

-- "denies the existence of Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammed."

-- showed "demonstrative disrespect to the church, its clergy, and Jesus, who was called a rare Pokemon."

-- engaged in a "mocking reinterpretation of the situation of the immaculate conception."

-- "imbued Jesus Christ with the characteristics of a zombie."

-- "is of the firm belief that people of faith, by nature, are dumb and brainwashed. Sokolovsky wants everybody else to have the same opinion."

-- "insult[ed] the feelings of the Christian and Islamic faithful by denying the existence of God."

-- "imbu[ed] [Russian Orthodox] Patriarch Kirill with degrading and disparaging characteristics."

-- "using metaphors, aggressively creates a negative image of believers."

-- "insulted a great number of feelings of various social groups not only verbally, but also with active facial motions."

-- gives "the impression that lawlessness and obscurantism reign in Russia, and that only a degraded society could live in such conditions."
Moscow police detained five activists who tried to deliver a petition demanding an official investigation into reports of kidnapping and torture against gay men in Chechnya. Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked officials to look into the reports, which have been widely condemned by rights groups. (RFE/RL's Russian Service)
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, said Governor Valentyn Reznichenko. Ukrainian air defense destroyed some of the drones, but others hit targets. The Russian forces also used drones in an attack on the city of Dnipro, targeting a logistics enterprise. Reznichenko said four employees were wounded, and three of them are in serious condition in hospital.

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
KYIV -- Ukrainian police investigating the car-bomb killing of a Belarus-born journalist are sifting through a new documentary film's claims about the unsolved case, including that a current or former Ukrainian security agent was present when the explosive was planted.

National police chief Serhiy Knyazev convened the Kyiv meeting on May 11, one day after the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Slidstvo.info screened their documentary about the July 2016 death of Pavel Sheremet, titled Killing Pavel.

Filmed over the course of nine months, it tries to reconstruct the hours before the bombing through exclusive footage and interviews.

One of the most intriguing assertions is that an agent or former agent of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), identified as Ihor Ustymenko, was at the scene when two unidentified individuals fixed the explosive to the red Subaru the night before the blast killed the 44-year-old reporter with news website Ukrayinska Pravda in downtown Kyiv early on July 20.

The filmmakers found Ustymenko with the help of a researcher from the open-source investigative group Bellingcat who managed to identify the license plate of the gray Skoda car he was driving that night. In a bizarre interview, Ustymenko admitted being at the scene but denied knowing anything about the murder or seeing the bombers walk right past him. He claimed he had been hired as private security to protect someone's children who were in the area.

Ukraine Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on May 11 that authorities would interview OCCRP journalists and Ustymenko in light of the new information.

Sheremet's killing was the highest-profile slaying of a journalist since that of Ukrayinska Pravda's Heorhiy Gongadze in 2000.

'Matter Of Honor'

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Sheremet's killing "a matter of honor to take all measures to solve this crime as soon as possible." He said Ukraine would spare no resource and called for a transparent investigation by police and the security services. Experts from the FBI were even brought in to examine the remnants of the explosive device, which investigators believe had been packed with 400 to 600 grams of TNT and remotely detonated.

But 10 months on, the investigation has stalled. There has not been a single arrest, nor have any suspects been named. However, investigators believe Sheremet was murdered because of his professional activities.

The most significant evidence presented by Ukrainian investigators was security-camera footage released during a February 8 press conference. It appears to show a man and woman approaching the victim's Subaru on the street the night before the blast. The woman can be seen kneeling beside the parked car on the driver's side for around 30 seconds.

WATCH: Killing Pavel

The international Committee to Protect Journalists' regional coordinator, Nina Ognianova, said at the time that "Ukrainian officials should take this opportunity to show that journalists cannot be killed with impunity."

Investigators have presented no new findings since then.

Born in Minsk, Sheremet had lived and worked in Kyiv for five years as a journalist for Ukrayinska Pravda and a presenter at Radio Vesti. He had previously worked for media in Belarus and Russia, where he complained of pressure from authorities over his work.

He had also warned in his last blog post before his death that Ukrainian politicians who were ex-members of volunteer battalions that had fought separatists in eastern Ukraine could carry out a coup in Kyiv.

The car Sheremet was driving belonged to his partner, Ukrayinska Pravda owner and founding editor Olena Prytula.

After the film's May 10 screening in Kyiv, SBU spokeswoman Elena Hitlyanska confirmed in a post on Facebook that Ustymenko had worked for the agency but said he had been dismissed on April 29, 2014.

She said that if journalists had contacted the agency to ask about Ustymenko, they "wouldn't have much to say" because he was no longer employed there, and she directed questions to police.



"Remember that the criminal investigation into the murder of Pavel Sheremet was investigated by the National Police, so we recommend to seek comments from them," she added.

'Courageous, Tenacious Reporting'

The OCCRP/Slidstvo.info film also said the purported bombers returned to the scene the next morning -- possibly to remotely detonate the bomb -- then vanished after the blast. It also presented evidence alleging that Sheremet, Prytula, and Ukrayinska Pravda had been under surveillance in the weeks before the murder.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told the filmmakers in February that neither the SBU nor the police was behind the alleged surveillance.

Sheremet made a name for himself as a muckraking television reporter in Minsk in the 1990s. He was forced to move to Moscow after his arrest in 1997 while reporting on smuggling across the Belarusian-Lithuania border. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka stripped Sheremet of Belarusian citizenship in 2010, after he had become a naturalized Russian citizen.

In 2011, Sheremet relocated to Kyiv and began full-time work for Ukrayinska Pravda. In the last year of his life, he also hosted a daily news program on Radio Vesti. Sheremet was critical of Moscow's military intervention in Crimea and eastern Ukraine but also spoke out against what he saw as failures of the pro-Western government that came to power in Kyiv in 2014.

After his death, the U.S. State Department hailed Sheremet's "courageous and tenacious reporting" as playing "a crucial role in Ukraine's democracy, reporting on issues important to the public, including corruption and governance."


UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein is in Uzbekistan on the first visit by the United Nations' human rights chief to the tightly controlled Central Asian country since it gained independence in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Zeid met with officials including President Shavkat Mirziyaev, who took office after the government announced the death of longtime President Islam Karimov in September.

At talks with Zeid on May 10, Mirziyaev said Uzbekistan is interested in the development of constructive and open dialogue between Tashkent and the UN institutions, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 11.

It said Mirziyaev "underscored that the general defense of human rights is a priority of ongoing deep structural reforms in Uzbekistan."

Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said on Twitter that the May 10-12 visit was a chance for Mirziyaev to "turn [the] page" on the record of Karimov.

Karimov, who had ruled since before the Soviet breakup, tolerated no dissent and kept Uzbekistan under tight control for more than a quarter-century.

Mirziyaev has taken steps that appear intended to open up the isolated country of around 30 million and improve ties with other nations, particularly its neighbors.

The European media director for HRW, Andrew Stroehlein, said that Tashkent "has blocked such visits by top UN officials for some 12 or 13 years."

In a tweet, Stroehlein added that "if Uzbekistan really wants to show it's changing direction, it takes more than a visit. Start by releasing 1000s of political prisoners."

Mirziyaev left on May 11 for a state visit to China.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service
Journo Lamsal appointed Nepal envoy to Denmark

President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Thursday appointed journalist Yuvanath Lamsal as the Nepals ambassador to Denmark.
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on May 10 subpoenaed former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, demanding documents related to its investigation into Russia's election meddling.

Committee Chairman Richard Burr and Vice Chairman Mark Warner said the panel had first requested the documents from Flynn on April 28, but Flynn's lawyer declined to cooperate.

It was the committee's first subpoena in the Russian investigation.

Flynn was fired by Trump in February after less than a month on the job. The White House said he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials about his communications with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

Flynn has become a major focus of several congressional investigations into Russia and the election.

Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates testified this week that she had warned the White House that Flynn had been compromised by his contacts with Russia and could have been vulnerable to blackmail.

The subpoena was announced a day after Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading the bureau's investigation of Russia and the election.

Burr is one of several prominent Republicans who have expressed strong doubts about the timing of Trump's action.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters


Vice President Mike Pence expressed the Trump administration's "unwavering support" for Ukraine's sovereignty in a meeting with the country's foreign minister on May 10.

A White House statement said Pence met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin as President Donald Trump was meeting with Klimkin's Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

The statement said Pence stressed America's support for Ukraine's "territorial integrity" while urging Kyiv to "peacefully resolve the conflict" with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict with separatists began in 2014 about the same time Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, drawing condemnation and a series of sanctions on Russia from Europe and the United States.

Trump's meeting with Lavrov was aimed at fulfilling his campaign pledge to improve relations with Russia, while Pence's meeting with Klimkin appeared aimed at assuring Kyiv that better relations with Moscow would not come at Ukraine's expense.

Based on reporting by AP


Shavkat Mirziyaev has arrived in China to pay his first official visit to that country as Uzbekistan's president.

The visit lasts through May 13, after which he will attend his first major international conference as Uzbek head of state when he stays on in China for the May 14-15 One Belt-One Road forum.

Mirziyaev is due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials, as well as with representatives of leading Chinese companies.

According to Asad Khojaev, the head of Mirziyaev's press service, Uzbekistan and China will sign around 100 agreements worth an estimated $20 billion in Beijing.

China is already one of Uzbekistan's leading trade partners and a key investor in projects in Uzbekistan.

Chinese companies helped construct the Pap-Angren railway, a 123-kilometer-long line from eastern Uzbekistan to an area not far from the capital, Tashkent, a $1.9 billion project financed in part by China's Export-Import Bank.

China has also helped fund and construct three gas pipelines from Turkmenistan to China that run through Uzbekistan. And Beijing has signed contracts with Tashkent for Uzbekistan to eventually supply up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually through those pipelines.

Mirziyaev signaled early on in his presidency that he would be seeking closer economic cooperation with other countries to help invigorate Uzbekistan's flagging economy.

China has proven to be a prime source of foreign investment and loans, not just for Uzbekistan but for all the Central Asian states. However, Beijing has already helped fund most of the major projects that link Central Asia to China, including roads, railway lines, and oil and gas pipelines, and Uzbek businessmen accompanying Mirziyaev might find fewer opportunities for cooperation with China than during the last decade.

Press releases ahead of Mirziyaev's trip made just passing mention of talks on security cooperation, though this is likely to be a key topic in Mirziyaev's conversations with Chinese officials.

Uzbekistan has a short (approximately 160 kilometers long) border with Afghanistan, and Beijing is said to be increasingly concerned about Muslims from China's western Xinjiang Autonomous Uyghur Region appearing in the ranks of Islamic extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.

According to some reports, as these groups are being forced out of these two Middle Eastern countries, many of the Central Asians and Uyghurs in these extremist organizations are making their way to Afghanistan.

China and Uzbekistan are both members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, along with Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan (and soon India and Pakistan). That organization has commitments to cooperation in countering terrorism.

Mirziyaev served as Uzbekistan's prime minister from 2003 to 2016, so he has been to China several times before and is already acquainted with some Chinese officials.

Beyond improving trade ties with China, Mirziyaev might also be seeking to maintain and strengthen the political ties between the two countries. China has become a linchpin in Uzbekistan's foreign policy, helping Tashkent fend off Western criticism of rights abuses in Uzbekistan and serving as an important counterweight to former colonial master Russia.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyaev has started a state visit to China that is expected to focus mainly on economic ties.

Mirziyaev's office said he left Tashkent on May 11 for Beijing, where he plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials.

Mirziyaevs spokesman, Asad Khojaev, said on May 10 that almost 100 agreements worth about $20 billion will be signed during the visit and that prospects for increasing Chinese investment in Uzbekistan will be discussed.

Mirziyaev will also attend a forum on Xi's regional One Belt One Road initiative in Beijing on May 14-15.

Mirziyaevs first visit to China since his election in December will be watched for signs of any change in the approach of his predecessor, Islam Karimov, who died last year after more than 25 years in power.

Karimov pursued cordial ties with China, in part as a hedge against Russia's efforts to restore its clout in Central Asia after the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Under Karimov, Uzbekistan drastically increased its natural-gas exports to China, taking advantage of China's investment in Central Asian pipelines and Beijing's efforts to reduce its reliance on Russian gas.

Mirziyaev's visit to China comes a month after he visited Moscow on April 4-5 and discussed bilateral ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service and kun.uz


Better known for leaf peeping on crisp autumn days and the nor'easter blizzards that follow, New England is nevertheless subject to spells of punishing summer heat and humidity. A new study that analyzed the health effects of summer weather in small to midsize population centers in three states shows that deaths and emergency department visits begin to rise significantly across the region well before the heat index hits the triple digits.

Data from the study, published in Environmental Research, has helped to shape a new National Weather Service policy for the New England region, according to a recently posted statement from the service's eastern region headquarters.

"The old threshold of 100 to 104 degrees Farenheit for two or more consecutive hours has been lowered to 95 to 99 degrees Farenheit occurring for two or more consecutive days, or any duration of heat index 100 to 104 degrees Farenheit," the statement says.

Heat index is a measure that combines temperature and humidity to express what the heat actually feels like. An 86-degree day with 70 percent humidity, for example, is enough to produce a heat index of 95.

In the new analysis, researchers at Brown University and the state health departments of Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island found that compared to days with a comfortable heat index of 75, days with a heat index of 95 resulted in 7.5 percent more heat-related emergency department visits and 5.1 percent more heat-related deaths over the following week. In absolute numbers, the health impact of all days with a heat index of at least 95 degrees among the 2.7 million residents in the study area was 784 additional emergency department visits per year and 22 more deaths per year attributable to heat.

A regional focus

"This hasn't been looked at in New England specifically, and New England has a very different set of characteristics and population than some other parts of the country," said study lead author Gregory Wellenius, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. "We provided local evidence to local policy makers, and they have acted to improve the heat warning system in the area."

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Many prior studies have shown the health dangers of excessive heat in the U.S. and around the world, Wellenius said, but the impetus for the new study was a desire among state health officials for data specific to the region. Geographically, much of New England is characterized by small towns and midsize communities embedded within open areas, rather than densely urban or entirely rural landscapes. Meanwhile, the population is less acclimated to stretches of extreme heat than areas further south. For example, the region has a notably lower adoption and use of air conditioning than the rest of the Northeast or the U.S. as a whole

"People often think that in New England or in cooler climates, heat isn't as big a threat because it doesn't get that hot, or get that hot very often, but in fact it still feels hot to the people here," Wellenius said.

To conduct the study, the team focused on the populations living within 10 miles of 14 National Weather Service stations in New Hampshire and Maine and on the entirety of Rhode Island. Looking at datasets mostly spanning the period 2000 to 2010, they combined May-to-September weather information from each station with health, death and demographic data from state health departments.

Statistically controlling for possible confounders such as day of the week and federal holidays, the researchers calculated the association between daily heat index and the number of heat-related emergency visits and deaths, as designated in state administrative records.

Compared to a "baseline" of days with a 75-degree heat index, emergency visits climbed with statistical significance starting with 80-degree heat index days, especially when researchers considered visits occurring during the full week following such hotter days. Visits rose 2 percent following an 80-degree heat index day, 4 percent after 85, 5.8 percent after 90, 7.5 percent after 95, 9.1 percent after 100, and 10.7 percent after 105.

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Excess deaths followed a similar pattern of increasing relative risk, though with thankfully fewer absolute numbers, measures of statistical significance did not emerge until the heat index soared higher. At a heat index of 95, deaths were 5.1 percent higher, at 100 they were 9.4 percent higher, and at 105 they were 14.4 percent higher.

Wellenius said it is worth noting that emergency visits in particular continue to rise for days after an elevated heat index event.

"Much of the burden on health is on a day other than the same day," he said. "This is not something that is part of our health response plans right now."

Heeding heat

Wellenius said he hopes the study and the related National Weather Service policy change will help New Englanders better understand the health risks of heat and motivate them to take steps to protect themselves and others. In future research, he said, he and collaborators would like to track the impact heat warnings and other public response measures have on reducing emergency visits and deaths.

"How many lives are these efforts actually saving?" he asked.

Another question is how climate change might exacerbate the situation.

"Under the temperatures projected through the end of the century, New England is going to see large increases in the number of days where we exceed 90, 95 or 100 degrees of heat index," he said.
Just like humans and animals sometimes need medicine to feel well or perform better, so can plants.

Scientists at the State University of Paraiba in Brazil have found that salicylic acid -- also used to make aspirin -- can help the cowpea be more drought tolerant. They focused on germination, the period when the plant is just sprouting, and early growth.

In Brazil, the cowpea one of the main sources of protein for many people. Americans may know the cowpea by the name black-eyed pea.

In the group's experiments, the "medicine," or seed treatment, was applied to the seeds before they started to grow. The process is a widely-used technique, with a goal of improving the performance of seeds as they germinate and grow. Such treatments can lend protection from conditions such as high temperature or lack of water.

"Salicylic acid acts on responses in plants when exposed to stress condition," explains researchers Alberto Soares de Melo and Wellison Filgueiras Dutra. "These responses are associated with increased efficiency of enzymes plants use to deal with stress. The acid has the ability to act on plant growth and development."

The acid helps the plant be more drought tolerant because it improves the plant's natural mechanisms for dealing with the stress. In particular, it increases the levels of three enzymes, all of which help the plant during a drought.

But sometimes those enzymes alone are not quite enough. The salicylic acid is able to give the plant's natural protection against drought a welcomed boost.

The researchers used six different types of cowpea. They found that not all of them responded the same to the acid. It helped some overcome drought more than others. Soares de Melo says this will allow them to be more selective about which kinds of cowpea are planted.

The seed treatment was done by laying seeds on paper moistened with water and the acid. From contact with the wet paper, the water and acid enter the seeds. They also used different amounts of the acid and water to find the best combination.

"The application of this acid is a simple and cheap treatment for increasing water stress tolerance in cowpea, a crop of great value in north and northeast Brazil," Soares de Melo says. "The increase of tolerance allows them to grow in areas with greater water irregularity."

He adds that the next step in this work will be field research so they can determine exactly how much water the treatment helps save. An ultimate goal of their research is to expand the area of cultivation for the cowpea, especially to areas with limited water.

"These results support a step forward for new research on the role and route of action of the acid," he explains. "The acid could minimize production and productivity losses of cowpea, and other crops, when cultivated under conditions of low or irregular rainfall, such as the Brazilian Northeast."
A study published today in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests that early-onset pancreatitis in children is strongly associated with certain genetic mutations and family history of pancreatitis.

Dr. Matthew Giefer, director of gastrointestinal endoscopy at Seattle Children's Hospital, and colleagues analyzed 342 children ages 0-18 with acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP) from INSPPIRE (International Study Group of Pediatric Pancreatitis: In search for a cure), the nation's first and only multicenter, National Institutes of Health-funded pediatric pancreatitis registry, led by Dr. Aliye Uc of University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. Three age cohorts were examined; children ages 5 and below, 6 to 11 and 12 to 18. The youngest cohort of children, ages 5 and below, was defined as having early-onset pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis is a disease which occurs when the pancreas becomes inflamed and internal enzymes irritate and damage the pancreas itself. It can be triggered by physical trauma, specific viral infections, some medications or ingestion of a toxin. Although it is considered rare among children, recent studies have shown that the number of pediatric pancreatitis cases has increased. Children are now susceptible to the disease almost as often as adults, which is approximately 1 in 10,000.

"It's widely known that alcohol and smoking are easily identifiable risk factors in adults who develop pancreatitis," said Giefer. "However, determining the underlying causes of the disease in children has been challenging to uncover. This study allowed us to test and evaluate the association between age of onset and characteristics of patients with ARP and CP."

The most significant findings of the study emerged from the youngest cohort. In patients ages five and below with early-onset pancreatitis, 71 percent possessed at least one pancreatitis-associated gene mutation. This number was significantly greater than the group with later-onset pancreatitis.

The two common genetic mutations found in the group with early-onset pancreatitis were cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) and chymotrypsin C (CTRC). PRSS1 mutations were found in 43 percent of patients, while CTRC was found in 14 percent.

"Building upon previous data related to the PRSS1 mutations found in patients with early-onset pancreatitis, we learned that combined with our current data, patients with PRSS1 are more likely to have an aggressive disease course," said Giefer. "The more we understand and discover important details such as this, the closer we are to developing treatments that could modify the disease course in patients."

Further research will investigate whether the disease course, response to treatment and outcomes are dependent on the age of the first pancreatitis attack in children.

"Overall, this research sheds light on a disease that not only affects adults, but an increasing number of children," said Giefer. "The findings provide us with an improved understanding of the genetic factors involved in early-onset pancreatitis, which will help the pediatric community to improve the evaluation and treatment process for patients."
Remote motion-sensitive photography, or camera trapping, is revolutionizing surveys of wild animal populations. Camera trapping is an efficient means of detecting rare species, conducting species inventories and biodiversity assessments, estimating site occupancy, and observing behaviour. If individual animals can be identified from the images obtained, camera trapping data can also be used to estimate animal density and population size -- information critical to effective wildlife management and conservation.

For this reason, camera traps were initially popularized by researchers studying big cats and other species with distinctive coat markings. Since then, thousands of camera traps have been deployed in wildlife habitat across the globe, especially in tropical forest ecosystems where animals are difficult to survey by other means. However, methods for estimating abundances of species which cannot be individually identified are still in development, and none is generally accepted or broadly applied.

Researchers from the University of St Andrews, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) recently extended distance sampling analytical methods to accommodate data from camera traps. "Distance sampling is a very well-established statistical framework for estimating animal density and population size that is already familiar to many ecologists," says Hjalmar Kuhl of the MPI-EVA and iDiv. "This development will pave the way for researchers to estimate abundances of multiple species from camera trapping data collected over relatively short time intervals, without identifying individuals, and with minimal additional field work." Kuhl adds: "This new approach can be easily integrated into our ongoing camera trap surveys across a broad range of habitats and species; we will also apply it in our monitoring work."

The models are implemented in the free, Windows-based software Distance, and various packages of the statistics software R.

Further testing and validation are recommended. Nevertheless, this development is an important addition to the set of analytical methods available to researchers conducting camera trap surveys. It can improve the quantity and quality of information about animal abundance and how it varies in space and time, facilitating effective conservation management.

Stephen Buckland of the University of St. Andrews states: "Many animal populations are difficult to monitor effectively, but technological advances are opening up new strategies. The challenge for the statistician is to keep pace with the technological advances, and ensure that models are available to exploit fully the resulting data. This work is an important step in that direction."

Eric Howe of the University of St. Andrews ads: "Given the current rates of species extinction and loss of biodiversity, I'm excited to be involved in research that has the potential to provide improved information to wildlife and conservation managers in a timely fashion."
Changes in the composition of magma may have caused variations in the Panama Canal volcanic rock formations, according to a study published May 10, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by David Farris from Florida State University, and colleagues.

The Earth's crust is divided into tectonic plates and a chain of volcanoes can often appear in areas where one plates is pushed under another. Studying these locations can improve our understanding of how the Earth's crust is formed.

The authors of the present study examined volcanic formations along the Panama Canal, which formed when the Panama block and South America collided approximately 21 to 25 million years ago. The researchers constructed geochemical models of these rock formations, and they identified some significant differences in their physical structure and chemical composition.

The researchers found that the Oligocene Bas Obispo Formation and other older rock types had more abundant water-borne elements compared to the younger Pedro Miguel volcanic rocks. This Miocene unit is composed of multiple shallow 'maar' volcanic craters with alternating layers of explosively formed pyroclastic rocks, and fine-grained dark basaltic rock, formed from cooling lava flows. These layers suggest that multiple episodes of magma eruption and recharge occurred within the Pedro Miguel rock formation.

The authors suggest that along the Panama Canal, changing tectonic conditions were brought about by the collision of the Panama block and South America. They state that changes in the composition of volcanic rocks likely drove a transition from water-bearing magmas to dry, hot magmas over time, and these magmas in turn caused different types of volcanoes to form. Additional research could further explore the relationship between magma composition, physical properties and volcanic forms in other areas of the world.

Dr Farris notes: "This study examines the relationship between arc magmatism and tectonic change in a sequence of volcanic rocks along the Panama Canal. These rocks contain a change from wet to dry arc magmatism associated with the onset of collision between the Panama block and South America. In addition, the onset of hot, dry magmatism led to formation of explosive maar volcanic structures."
Nepalis stranded on Chinese side after border sealed for local polls

Forty Nepalis have been stranded on the Chinese territory after Nepali authority sealed the border on Thursday in view of the first phase of local level elections slated for May 14.
Forests have always been considered huge carbon stores, helping to absorb greenhouse gas emissions, but new research in Brazil has found that rivers in the Amazon emit far more carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) than previously estimated, suggesting that the Amazon Basin is closer to net carbon neutral. The results increase the most recent global estimates of CO 2 emissions from rivers and lakes by almost 50%, with potentially huge implications for global climate policy.

Published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, the paper led by Dr. Henrique Sawakuchi from the Center of Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, at the University of Sao Paulo, the research provides the first detailed evaluation of CO 2 concentrations and fluxes along the lower Amazon River and its major tributaries, the Xingu and Tapajos rivers. This focus on the lower Amazon River is important because, currently, it represents around 13% of the total drainage basin area and is not included in estimates of basin-scale CO 2 outgassing -- carbon emissions derived from the decomposition of terrestrial and aquatic vegetation. Original CO 2 outgassing estimates for the Amazon presented in 2002 were based on a conservative upscaling of measurements made in the central basin, which have since been revised with more detailed observations.

For the first time, between 2014-16 direct measurements of CO 2 outgassing were made in the tidally-influenced lower river using floating domes during different hydrologic periods (i.e., low, rising, high, and falling water). Measured outgassing rates were similar to those measured previously in the central Amazon River despite the fact that CO 2 concentrations slightly decrease towards the river mouth. This is because wind and wave conditions become more turbulent as the river widens and becomes exposed to the coast, expediting gas transfer between the river and the atmosphere. Another consequence of the widening river channel is that the river's surface area rapidly expands, resulting in the massive overall outgassing flux for this region relative to upstream.

One of the study's co-authors, Dr Nicholas Ward, from the Marine Sciences Laboratory at the US Pacific Northwest National Laboratory says this research shows that global estimates of CO 2 emissions from inland waters have not in the past been properly accounted for, "we typically ignore the lower reaches of rivers that become influenced by tides because they are highly complex; in the case of the Amazon this represents a 1000 km reach of the river that has been ignored in global carbon budgets.."

The researchers combined their new CO 2 emission estimates for the lower Amazon with an updated evaluation of the entire Amazon Basin, resulting in a 43% increase in the latest global estimates of CO 2 outgassing from rivers and lakes.

"These increasing emission estimates in the Amazon alone, which still don't consider the tidal reaches of other large rivers, suggest that the terrestrial biosphere does not absorb as much anthropogenic CO 2 as previously assumed," says Dr Ward, with serious implications for global climate policy, "Politicians and policy makers should recognize that the presence of a tree does not imply carbon sequestration, per se, we must track the history of carbon as it moves from land to sea."

The study's authors, who have just returned from further exploration of the unstudied mouth of the Amazon River, hope that this study will catalyze further research into our understanding of earth systems and the global carbon cycle.

This research is part of a broader Frontiers collection of articles around why understanding of biogeochemical pathways across riverine, estuarine, and marine gradients is a critical step in constraining global energy and carbon budgets under past, present, and future climate scenarios.
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With a pair of signatures, Indiana became the first state in the nation to prohibit all local "ban-the-box" laws and the 27th state to ban the box asking questions about prior arrests or criminal history on state government job applications.



Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed Senate Bill 312, which bars local governments from enacting ban-the-box laws like Indianapolis did in 2014. Ban-the-box laws regulate when an employer can ask about an applicant's criminal history during the hiring process. Most statutes require hiring managers to put off asking about a candidate's criminal history until after an interview has been conducted or a provisional job offer has been extended.

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Conducting Background Investigations]

The legislation is meant to make it easier for employers that operate statewide from having to navigate different hiring processes and obligations throughout the state, said Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, the author of the bill. It takes effect July 1.

Over 150 state, county and city governments have enacted ban-the-box laws across the country, and new laws are being passed every year. Most are limited to public-sector hiring.

Indianapolis and Marion County passed its ban-the-box law in February 2014. The ordinance prohibits city or county agencies and vendors from inquiring into an applicant's conviction history until after the first interview. If no interview is conducted, the employer is prohibited from making inquiries or gathering any information regarding the applicant's criminal convictions.

Other areas of the country are attempting to enact bills like S.B. 312.

A similar bill (House Bill 577) is making its way through the Texas state legislature.

There are very strong arguments for statewide ban-the-box laws instead of a patchwork of local ordinances, said Les Rosen, an attorney and author of The Safe Hiring Manual (Facts on Demand Press, 2017). "If every city, county or district passes its own laws, it becomes very Balkanized and hard to do business. By having a clear statewide law, all employers know the rules and employers in fact have an incentive to hire an ex-offender because of the statutory immunity or protections a state can give an employer."

Rosen explained that only a state legislature can provide employer immunity or protection if the employer hires an ex-offender and the person commits another crime. Local ban-the-box laws can't do that.

The day before signing S.B. 312 into law, Holcomb issued an executive order banning the box on job applications for future state employment. He said the order would delay any questions about applicants' criminal history until the job interview portion of the hiring process.

The executive order affects more than 1.12 million Hoosiers with some form of a criminal record, according to U.S. Department of Justice data.

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Oli lashes out at govt, Speaker

Chairman of the main opposition KP Sharma Oli has lashed out at the government and Speaker, accusing them of bias.
One dead as truck plunges into Trishuli

One person died and another was injured when a truck en route to Hetauda from Kathmandu fell into the Trishuli river at Ichakamana Village Council4 along the Prithvi Highway on Wednesday morning.
Two killed, 35 injured as bus overturns in Sindhupalchok [with photos]

Two passengers were killed and 15 others injured when a bus heading for Dolakha from Kathmandu met with an accident at Swara of Sindhupalchok district on Thursday.
Prez Bhandari visiting Sri Lanka from May 13-16

President Bidya Devi Bhandari is embarking on an official visit to Sri Lanka from 13-16 May at the invitation of her Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Starring Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Aiden Gillen and Eric Bana. Written and directed by Guy Ritchie. Opens Friday at major theatres. 126 minutes. 14A

Oi! Whats Guy Ritchie gone and done with King Arfur, then?

In King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, hes done another Sherlock Holmes to British legend, he has.

Hes turned Arfur  Arthur, I mean  into a Cockney combo of Oliver Twist and Artful Dodger, set in the 8th century or thereabouts. Played by Charlie Hunnam, who was a biker in TVs Sons of Anarchy, hes a street urchin raised in a brothel in Londinum, which is what they called London before they learned how to spell.

And a right rounder he is, mixing it up at every chance. Hunnam is up to the task, he really is, all kitted out in a flash shearling coat, although he is rather a serious bloke.

Mind you, Arthur doesnt know yet that hes got royal blood in him. He escaped as a tot out of Camelot when his evil uncle Vortigern (Jude Law) stole the rightful throne from Arthurs dad Uther (Eric Bana).

Vortigern took the jam outta Arthurs doughnut, if I may quote Tommy from Snatch, an earlier Ritchie film that actually made sense with its Cockney characters, after a fashion.

Listen, mate, Im not saying Ritchie is taking the piss here. If people can mess about with Shakespeare, cant Ritchie have a go at King Arthur, who is merely fictional, is he not? And who does Cockney capers better than Guy Ritchie?

But he goes too far. If I may quote another Charlie, the one in The Italian Job played by the great Cockney actor Michael Caine, Youre only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword blows it all up, as director Ritchie shares the scriptwriting blame with Lionel Wigram and Joby Harold.

Its got bloody great elephants and giant snakes, which werent living in Britain in the 8th century, last time I checked. Its also got weird witches wrapped around some kind of octopus in a subterranean lake, an idea that looks like it was nicked from Macbeth or maybe Mar-a-Lago.

Arthur larks about with his lads  that would be his future Knights of the Round table, no less  who have colourful names like Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou), Wet Stick (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Back Lack (Neil Maskell), Chinese George (Tom Wu) and, er, Bill (Game of Thrones Aiden Gillen).

Make no mistake, this is a very much a lads movie, as most Guy Ritchie pictures are. Although there is this wizard bird named Mage (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), who looks more like a Marion to me.

What really frosts my pumpkin, if I may say so, is that after wading through about an hour of scattershot edits and on-the-fly plot descriptions set to a sledgehammer score, we finally get down to the task at hand: getting Arthur to pull his magic sword Excalibur out of the bleedin stone and get on with being a king, smiting foes and all that.

And when he does so, he damn nears faints from the exertion, he does.

What kind of King Arthur is that? The kind we saw in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when Graham Chapmans Arthur is informed by Michael Palins aggrieved Cockney peasant, referring to another version of Arthurian legend, that the weapon doesnt make the man.

You cant expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you, the peasant says, and I couldnt agree more, mate.

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OMO VALLEY, ETHIOPIA-Tucked deep in the countrys southwestern corner, Ethiopias Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) is one of Africas most diverse areas, a relatively small state (a little larger than the U.S. state of Maine) thats home to more than 45 indigenous ethnic groups.

Part of the Great Rift Valley, a visit to SNNPRs remote lower valley of the Omo can include a chance to experience a different tribal group each day. Overnight in the small towns of Jinka, Konso and Turmi, and visit villages populated by the following peoples:

Karo: Meant to intimidate tribal foes as well as attract mates, the Karo  a tribe of about 1,000 people that lives near a big bend in the Omo River  cover their bodies in intricate and dazzling patterns made with ochre and white chalk mixed with animal fat. While they welcome visitors to their villages, make sure to bring plenty of small bills. Photos are welcome, but come with a price  about five birr (30 cents Canadian) per person in the picture.

Dorze: Living in thatched homes that resemble beehives, the Dorze subsist by selling their famous cotton weavings and by making breads and cakes from the leaves of the false banana tree. One village high in the hills above the city of Arba Minch offers tours, where you can see the inside of the huts, shop for pottery and woven items, and try a shot of their potent homemade alcohol, a fermented drink made from garlic, anise, hops and sorghum.

Mursi: Perhaps the most photographed tribe in the SNNPR, the Mursi are famous for the lip plates worn by the women of the tribe. Made of clay or wood, these are seen as a sign of dedication to their culture (and their husbands). The plates are typically inserted after puberty, after a period of several months, during which the lower lip is pierced and then increasingly stretched. The plate is worn for special occasions and ceremonies, and thrown away forever when the womans husband dies. Men in the tribe are famous for their Donga stick-fighting tournaments, a sort of tribal Olympics where they compete for honour and status.

Tim Johnson was hosted by Peregrine Adventures, which didnt review or approve this story.

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NEAR BIRAN, CUBA-Delio and Elda Pacho Cruz spring to action the moment our minibus pulls up outside their pale blue farm house on the highway from Santiago de Cuba to Holguin.

They offer us coffee and cocktails, cheese, guava paste, papaya and coconut candy. They crack open fresh coconuts to drink from and introduce us to their parrot Lara. We add rum to the coconut water for a drink called saoco. They show us where the bathroom is.

There is no menu. There are no set prices. We are here as friends. We may wish to leave a tip. This is what our Cubatur guide Ricardo Zaldivar Rodriguez calls a farmers exchange.

Cuba has infrastructure challenges and its tough to find restrooms on the highway. Rodriguez often knocks on doors to ask for help. This family was happy to help and the gesture bloomed into a relationship.

Now, with the blessing of the government, the Pacho Cruz family hosts about 50 travellers a day for informal pit stops that let ordinary Cubans meet ordinary tourists.

This family has farmed two hectares here since 1972, raising pigs and chickens, and growing crops such as mango, bananas, corn, tomatoes and sweet potatoes.

Everything is good, says Elda while preparing coffee and tea. We are glad to have visitors. They are very nice people.

The money they have made in tips has helped them decorate, paint their house and make small improvements.

We stay a little longer than most people, since we are full of questions, but not too long.

Thank you for stopping by, says Delio. Thank you for sharing what little I have.

Jennifer Bain was hosted by the Cuba Tourist Board, which didnt review or approve this story.

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The tearful mother of Courtney Scott, a 16-year-old indigenous girl who died while living in a group home told Ontarios minister of children and youth that she wants her youngest daughter out of provincial care and brought home.

Sheila Scott-Mackenzie, clutching an eagle feather, told the all chiefs meeting of Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) in Timmins that she has been sober for six years now but she has been unable to get her children out of provincial care. One of her daughters, Courtney Scott, 16, died on April 21 after a fire tore through her Orleans group home. She was the only group-home resident who was unable to escape.

I want her back because I dont want to lose another child. I just want her back, said Scott-Mackenzie of her 15-year-old daughter to a silent audience including the Minister of Children and Youth Michael Coteau and the leaders of the 49 First Nations that make up the NAN territory in northern Ontario.

There needs to be change. They should have homes in our communities. My kids have lost their language, she said, adding her late grandmother said it seems this is like residential school all over again. From the mid-19th century to the 1990s, 150,000 indigenous kids were placed in government-funded, church-run residential schools in order to Christianize them and assimilate them to Canadian society.

Scott-Mackenzie buried her daughter Courtney on Tuesday in Fort Albany.

In the last six months, four indigenous girls have died while in provincial group home care and NAN, along with the Chiefs of Ontario, are demanding an inquest into the girls deaths. The girls were all hundreds of kilometres from home when they died.

Scotts death followed that of Amy Owen, a 13-year-old girl who took her own life while living in an Ottawa group home while she was supposed to be receiving one-on-one care because she was suicidal. Before her, Kanina Sue Turtle, 15, reportedly took her life on Oct. 29, 2016 but her family is still waiting to hear concrete answers as to what happened.

And on Sunday, Tammy Keeashs body was pulled from the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway after she failed to meet her group home curfew on Saturday night. The 17-year-old artist and student was a member of North Caribou First Nation.

NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said it was important for Coteau to be at the meeting to hear the families pain and the anger in the communities. Fiddler said there is no reason why children should be sent 1,000 kilometres south to get the help they need. Often, kids are sent to live in group homes to access mental health care.

Fiddler wants to know where all the indigenous kids in care are and what their status is, what type of support they are getting and if they have treatment plans. He said there are bits and pieces of information out there but in terms of an over all data base to tell us what the true picture is, there isnt one that I know of.

Fiddler added that when the NAN kids age out of care at 18, they have no idea what happens to them.

Scott-Mackenzie said she didnt find out until days after Courtneys death that there was a fire and that her daughter was gone. She was told her daughter barricaded herself and that she started the fire but I do not believe that, Scott-Mackenzie cried. She said she read in an article that the fire started at the front of the house, not in the basement.

It is really hard to lose a child of your own. Courtney, one time when we were talking on Facebook, she said to me, Mom, I need to be heard. I have a voice too. I need to be home with my family, especially with you mom, cried Scott-Mackenzie.

Coteau went to address the NAN chiefs and privately, he told Fiddler that he is working on a blueprint of reform including an intensive site review team of experts that can be dispatched to licensed group homes at a moments notice and the start of more, unannounced inspections in provincial residences. The ministry also intends to strengthen safety in residences. .

Also, they are working to better collect and disperse data on where indigenous children are being cared for.

NDP MP Charlie Angus, who attended the NAN meeting, said the deaths of the four girls werent accidents. This is systemic negligence. Each of these children have a name, he told the Star. Children are dying every day and nobody in Ottawa or Queens Park seems to give a rats a--.

Angus said he doesnt know how the federal or provincial governments can claim any legal authority to take children from their communities and place them in places of risk.

Where is the accountability of the families? This is happening again and again. The stories the children are telling of the treatment and conditions. Is this another time where the treatment of these children doesnt matter as much as white kids? he asked.

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OTTAWADon Meredith is officially a former senator, and his lawyer says its time to lay off the disgraced parliamentarian, who resigned from the red chamber this week to avoid an historic expulsion vote over his sexual affair with a teenage girl.

Questions linger in the wake of his departure  should he get his pension and what happens to the outstanding ethics investigations into his behaviour?  but Merediths lawyer, Bill Trudell, told the Star on Wednesday that his client has been punished enough.

He made mistakes. Its cost him significantly, Trudell said.

At some point of time we have to stop calling for blood and move on.

Merediths resignation became official Wednesday afternoon when the Senate speaker announced that the chamber had received notice from the Governor General that the former senator would step down.

Sen. Raynell Andreychuk, chair of the ethics committee that recommended expelling Meredith, said afterward that she planned to call a meeting of the five-member group to determine what to do about the unfinished investigations into the former senators behaviour.

The Senates ethics code says that the investigations are suspended unless the committee decides they should go on.

One of those investigations involves allegations of workplace harassment that are separate from his affair with the teenage girl. A second one relates to a 2015 story in the Ottawa Citizen, which detailed how Meredith brought an employee from a company he owns on an official Senate trip.

I know there are two (investigations) that are in the public domain. We will ascertain exactly what is left to deal with and then well determine how we handle it from there, Andreychuk said.

Sen. Serge Joyal, the ethics committees deputy chair, echoed the comments of other senators this week that the harassment probe should be finished out of respect for the Senate staffers who made complaints about working for Meredith.

When that investigation was launched, in 2015, The Canadian Press reported that the six former staffers alleged Meredith was rude, unprofessional and a bully.

It is important to take into account that if we dont act, there are people who feel victimized who dont get their fair day in court, said Joyal.

Earlier Wednesday, Treasury Board President Scott Brison settled the other outstanding question: Meredith will get his pension. He said the pension entitlement is enshrined in law  the act which outlines the retirement benefits for MPs and senators  and that even if they enacted new legislation to strip Meredith of his payments, such a change wouldnt apply retroactively.

He also accused Conservative senators of spinning the pension question to place responsibility on the government for Merediths roughly $25,000 annual payout, which he can start collecting when he turns 55 (he is 52 now). If Meredith had been expelled, he would get only his pension contributions back, plus interest, according to the Treasury Board.

They should look at themselves in the mirror because it was the Conservatives and Stephen Harper who named Sen. Meredith to the Senate, Brison said.

Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos responded to Brison by saying the law is clear that responsibility for pensions falls to the Treasury Board, but that in all fairness to the government, this is uncharted water.

He added that the Senate has dealt with Meredith in a way that shows it wont tolerate unethical behaviour.

Joyal said this was a driving force in their deliberations on how Meredith should be punished for the affair with a girl when she was 16 and 18 years old.

There is no reason for anyone to doubt the Senates commitment to a higher standard, said Joyal.

Andreychuk added that even though Meredith resigned, the committees report recommending his expulsion can still be used as a blueprint for future ethics breach cases.

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Toronto is on the cusp of a tech boom that will bring residents benefits but also a dark side that city officials, academics and businesses need to jointly overcome.

That conclusion from a Smart Cities panel came Wednesday amid news Uber will make Toronto a hub for driverless car research and Googles parent firm has applied to build a high-tech neighbourhood on the downtown waterfront.

This is a really big deal. We are in a moment, Sara Diamond, OCAD University president, said in an post-panel interview about huge international interest in Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe as centres of digital innovation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and more.

Factors helping make the region a magnet for business and talent include political and economic stability, a huge university and college research capacity, established tech sector with dozens of incubators, receptive governments, high quality of life and  particularly compared to the U.S. now  an embrace of cultural diversity.

Its the texture of living here, said Diamond, an information technology researcher, adding new tech blood will bring, along with jobs and spending, help harnessing big data, analytics, sensors and more to figure out how to improve the quality of life of GTA residents and beyond.

OCAD students helped the City of Toronto use data to improve the recreation registration process. The same technology can be aimed at transit, housing and more to assess problems and show policy changes to address them.

But Diamond and others on the panel, hosted by the Toronto Region Board of Trade, acknowledged the boom wont be all robotic rainbows and cyber sunshine.

Be careful what you strive for because theres a dark side to it as well, including job losses triggered by disruption and, if left unchecked, uneven distribution of benefits disadvantaging low-income residents, Mike Williams, the City of Torontos general manager of economic development, told the business audience.

The tech boom is expected to be focused downtown where Waterfront Toronto is redeveloping sites with ultra-high-speed broadband. Neighbourhoods most in need of jobs are in the citys northeast and northwest corners.

An influx of international capital will do nothing to dampen house prices, already a major problem for low-income Torontonians including students and artists.

Diamond revealed she and the heads of Torontos three other universities will soon announce a new initiative about the affordability of student housing, following a similar joint initiative aimed at student transportation.

Weve brought together the four universities phenomenal research capacity, very much based in data analytics, to look at innovative strategies around affordability for student housing within the GTA, she said. Well work with the city and other partners on that. Youve got that capability right now for Toronto to rise up.

Panelists, who also included Carl Bodimeade, a senior vice-president at Hatch Infrastructure, and Rob Meikle, the citys chief information officer, agreed with conclusions of a new report that more collaboration and co-ordination is needed to maximize techs benefits and see them spread as widely as possible.

Mayor John Tory introduced the discussion, saying he is committed to releasing city data on an open platform and ending a visible lack of enthusiasm, and anxiety about what happens when you make this data available.

In the 2014 mayoral election, Tory promised to double the number of city data sets released annually from 175.

Open-data advocates including Mark Richardson say that promise has not been kept. Were now almost back at election time, but theyre barely adding one data set every two or three weeks, he said in an interview.

The city is under-investing in smart technology, with resulting costs including paying too much for paving, while giving the appearance of being good managers, he said.

Torys office replied in a statement: Rather than rushing bad data out the door, staff have been working to release meaningful data sets while developing an open data master plan which will be released in September 2017 along with an open data portal.

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Four men are guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the gangland-style shooting of John Raposo at a busy Little Italy cafe in 2012, a jury found Thursday afternoon after two days of deliberating.

Nicola Nero, Martino Caputo and Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil were accused of hiring Dean Wiwchar to kill Raposo for being the biggest rat in the world. They planned to keep Raposos 200 kilo shipment of cocaine for themselves, splitting the proceeds three ways.

After the verdict was read, Wiwchar smirked and stretched. Caputo shook his head and looked at his family. Alkhalil and Nero remained stoic.

Three of the men are already serving lengthy prison sentences  Nero and Caputo for an international cocaine smuggling operation, Wiwchar for possession of 16 firearms. Alkhalil, who was extradited from Greece in 2015, faces another murder charge in Vancouver and drug trafficking charges in Montreal and Niagara.

First-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. A sentencing hearing will be set to address the charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Defence lawyer Greg Lafontaine told the court an application to have the charges stayed due to delay is being discussed.

Raposos family left the courtroom in tears after the jurys verdict. Raposos cousin Helen Pacheco thanked the jury, judge and prosecutors.

Security video from a home on Montrose Ave. shows the person eyewitnesses say shot John Raposo at the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe in 2012. The Crown alleges that person was Dean Wiwchar.





Our hearts are broken, she told reporters. Justice cannot bring back the missing link in our family. As mentioned at the funeral mass, we ask everyone to remember John not how he died but how he lived.

Raposo, 35, was shot in the head four times at point blank range on June 18, 2012 at 3:30 pm. while watching a Euro Cup game at the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe on College St.

Crown prosecutors said the plot began in April 2012.

RELATED STORY:

Jurys decision in Little Italy patio slaying may hinge on text messages

On April 28, 2012, Nero messaged Alkhalil at 10:29 a.m. about Raposo, referring to Caputo as lil guy.

We split the load 3 ways. Me u lil guy. The only thing is once we pick them up, we have to get him he is the biggest rat in the world. I told him dont tell anyone Im doing this for you but the retard cant help his bigmouth.

On May 15, 2012, Nero texted Alkhalil again using work to mean cocaine: The work is free. Remember he ratted me and lil guy out. Thats why he is getting it.

Prosecutors said Alkhalil brought in Vancouver-based Wiwchar to be the hitman.

LOL. Thats my best hitter, he texted Nero.

The Crown said Wiwchar admitted College St. was risky but if I get em inside the shop its okayno noisewhy are we killing ice cream people. Lol.

In another message Wiwchar, who is from Stoufville, Ont., says: Im flying there anyway so ill bang that one off for ya np.

The murder was supposed to take place in May but was delayed due to police surveillance, the Crown said. But Wiwchar returned to Toronto from Vancouver without police knowledge in June.

Witnesses described the gunman as a tanned white man with shoulder length hair and a pointy nose. His face was partially covered with a mask and he wore a neon orange construction vest.

The Crown alleged Wiwchar texted Alkhalil an hour after the murder under the codename Dreamcatcher.

LolI had the whole construction uniform onmullethelmetdust mask.orange side road shirtand rocker shades.lolI sat down and ordered a corona.

Alkhalil replied: Time we put you in sniper school I think. This seems too easy for u.

Lawyers for the four accused men argued that Raposo was actually killed as a result of an entirely different plot involving Montreal-based drug traffickers.

They argued the messages were simply testosterone-fueled bravado and were about drug trafficking, not murder.

Police managed to download hundreds of PGP-encrypted messages off BlackBerrys belonging to Nero, Alkhalil and Wiwchar. In Neros case, the police had the benefit of a sticky note they found at his Niagara-on-the-Lake condo with his email address and password on it.

With the jury and judge out of the security-heavy courtroom there were often brief moments of levity over the five-week trial, particularly for Caputo who had family members attend almost every day of the trial. Young nieces and nephews were proudly shown off to Caputo and Alkhalil who have been in custody since their arrests.

Nero and Caputo were convicted of cocaine smuggling in 2014. Nero was sentenced to 22 years, Caputo to 12.

Wiwchar was under surveillance by police in May 2012 because he was suspected of being the hitman who killed a Vancouver gangster in January 2012. He has not been charged in relation to that case.

With files from Peter Edwards

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One of two men charged with murder in the 2014 fatal drive-by shooting of a Scarborough mother testified Wednesday he wasnt very close with the man he accuses of pulling the trigger, and didnt even know his real name at the time.

I didnt know he had a firearm or else I wouldnt have invited him to come, testified Michael Davani, 24, who, along with Alwayne Bigby, 26, is on trial for first-degree murder in Andrea Whites death.

The mother of four was shot in the garage of her home on Forest Creek Pathway, in the area of Morningside and Old Finch Aves., on April 12, 2014.

Both Davani and Bigby have pleaded not guilty. The Crown, which wrapped up its submissions Monday, built its case around Bigby as the driver and Davani, sitting in the front passenger seat, as the shooter.

But, Davanis legal team is accusing a third man, earlier named in court as Star, as the person who fired the fatal shot from Bigbys Range Rover.

Star was identified in court Wednesday as Ayub Osman.

I knew who (Osman) was from the community, testified Davani, under questioning from Bigbys lawyer, David Bayliss. They were friends, Davani added, but not good friends.

It wasnt until the summer of 2016, Davani testified in response to questioning from Crown attorney Rob Fried, when he happened to be in custody with Osman that he found out his real name after hearing a correctional officer say it.

Davani said he called his lawyers immediately to notify them the person hed been telling them about from the beginning was there.

On the night of the shooting, Davani and Bigby were on their way to a vigil for a friend named Kwado Mensah, who was shot to death.

Davani said Mensah and Osman were also friends who knew each other through the community.

On the way to the vigil, Davani said they stopped by a dealers house so he could buy a gram of marijuana. In the five minutes Davani was there, Osman, who was at the house, decided to come with them.

Bayliss, expressed incredulity that Osman, who he said Davani ran into by complete fluke that evening, decided to come to Mensahs vigil, bring a gun, hide the gun, and decide to shoot someone all in the limited amount of time Davani was at the dealers house.

Bayliss also called into question whether Bigby was friends with Mensah after Davani couldnt give a specific example of the three of them sharing an experience.

Im suggesting to you that Mr. Bigby barely knew Mr. Mensah and certainly had no reason to want to go to the memorial, he said.

Davanis testimony is expected to continue Thursday.

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Renault launches latest 1 litre Kwid hatchback

Renault has launched its new 1000cc Kwid hatchback in Nepal following the wide success of its previous vehicles after entering the Nepali market in August 2016.
The people want more than a one-stop subway.

That was the prevailing message from a packed meeting at the Scarborough Civic Centre during a public consultation on the next phase of planning for an extension of the Bloor-Danforth line to the Scarborough Town Centre.

Residents and subway critics at times shouted down staff and local Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker as they questioned the wisdom and fairness of replacing five existing Scarborough RT stops with just one new one.

The current plan, approved by a majority of city councillors, is to build a single stop at the end of a 6.2-kilometre tunnelled extension. An early estimate puts the cost of that extension at $3.35 billion, but that figure is considered preliminary and expected to rise.

That, disgruntled residents heard, has left no money to rough in future stations. Building stations later would cause the line to shut down for several years, TTC project manager Rick Thompson explained.

It is so distressing that you forget everyone out here on this end, one resident said to loud applause. Its totally inappropriate to be served by one subway extension.

Responding to concerns about a single new stop, Mike Logan, from the citys planning department, explained the subway extension was conceived of as part of a larger network, including a proposed 17-stop extension of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, whats being called the Eglinton East LRT.

Those are all funded? someone from the audience shouted about the additional lines.

Logan explained that only the subway is fully funded with $3.56 billion committed from all three levels of government.

The stations are so far apart in Scarborough, another resident shouted from the back. All the rest of the city gets them close together . . . Do we not count like the rest of the city?

De Baeremaeker said he continues to believe a four-stop subway should be built. He blamed downtown councillors, who represent the most densely populated wards in the city, for not wanting to fund more frequent transit stops like their residents enjoy.

Ive been moving heaven and earth to try to get more stations and more money, said De Baeremaeker, appointed to champion the subway plan by Mayor John Tory, who was elected on a pledge to advocate for One Toronto.

De Baeremaeker blamed a suburban/urban divide for Scarboroughs woes.

You talk to my downtown colleagues, theres no way theyre giving us money, for more stops, De Baeremaeker said. In fact theyre still trying to stop this one.

A man in the audience stood several questioners later to address De Baeremakers points:

I think Councillor De Baeremaeker is misleading us when he says the downtown councillors wont afford more money for more stops. What the downtown councillors and many others . . . wanted to do was build a network of rapid transit all over Scarborough, but Councillor De Baeremaeker and his allies prefer to spend all the money available on just the one stop subway.

Several members of the TTCRiders advocacy group commented on how a comparison to the previously-planned seven-stop LRT to replace the SRT  what was fully funded by the province  was never done and questioned why the options presented at the meeting failed to show all the alternatives.

Council voted in March to reject a request for that cost-benefit comparison and to move forward with the one-stop plan in its absence.

Logan explained to the room that staff had never been directed to do that study.

Staff are now conducting a mandatory environmental assessment of the subway extension. Critics say the province should insist on a comparison of the extension to the light-rail alternative.

The province, which under Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne has campaigned for a subway while fighting recent by-elections, has signalled they are not interested in that comparison.

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A firefighter trainer involved in an ice rescue exercise that claimed the life of a southern Ontario man seven years ago says theres nothing he would have done differently during the course.

Terry Harrison told a coroners inquest Thursday that even if a rapid intervention team  a group of first responders dedicated to helping firefighters in distress  had been on hand for the January 2010 course, it would not have prevented the events tragic outcome.

That whole situation happened in seconds, he said.

Rapid intervention teams are often present during training exercises because they are well rested and thus better able to help in case of crisis, the inquest heard.

But Harrison testified such a team would not have been able to reach the river location in Point Edward, Ont., where Gary Kendall went under in time.

Read more: Inquest into deaths of two Ontario firefighters underway in Toronto

The inquest is looking into the circumstances surrounding Kendalls death and another similar incident in Hanover, Ont., five years later that claimed the life of Adam Brunt, a 30-year-old firefighting student.

Harrison, a firefighter who owns and operates a private safety training company, was present both times, though his role in the Point Edward incident is under dispute.

The jury has heard that Kendall was trapped under a fast-moving ice floe after the training group was told to swim out and climb it. He died in hospital the next day.

Many at the inquest have asked whether firefighters should be trained to conduct rescue operations in icy, swift water given the safety risks and the low chance of success.

Both Harrison and the Point Edward fire chief have said they believe the training is necessary, though the chief, Doug MacKenzie, stressed the need for more oversight.

While on the stand earlier Thursday, MacKenzie said the province should regulate private safety training companies and legislate safety standards for ice rescue operations.

The Point Edward department, which is comprised of volunteer firefighters, wants and needs to be able to help the community it serves, he said.

The parents of an Ontario firefighting student who died in 2015 during a training exercise say they hope an inquiry into Adam Brunt?s death yields stricter regulations for private training companies.

If we just sat there, we would be crucified as a department, he said.

Fire crews in the Point Edward department have not taken an ice rescue course since Kendalls death, nor have any of them gone into the river in their efforts to save someone, MacKenzie said.

While there have been several calls involving someone in the river since Kendalls death, none of them have led to a rescue, only the recovery of a body, he said.

We have never had a save in that river, he said.

The department hired Herschel Rescue Training Services to lead an ice rescue course in 2009, then contacted the company again for a one-day refresher course the following year, the fire chief said.

It was during the second session that Kendall died.

Harrison, who was granted standing at the inquest, denied that he ran the Point Edward course.

I wasnt hired, I was coming to help out in a situation that I believed was with some friends, he testified.

Harrison, who retired from the Brampton fire service earlier this week, teared up on the stand as he recalled seeing Kendall hauled on shore and given CPR.

We had become friends, he said. I liked Gary. I think of him often.

Harrison was acquitted of charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection with the incident involving Kendall. The municipality of Point Edward was fined $75,000 in that case.

The inquest has heard that private safety training courses are unregulated and no similar ice rescue training program is currently available at the Ontario Fire College, a provincial body that offers ongoing training to firefighters.

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The girlfriend and lawyer of a Canadian who has been questioned in connection with the murders of a Canadian-American couple in Belize say that police are focusing on the wrong person.

Canadian Francesca Matus, 52, and American Drew DeVoursney, 36, were found strangled in a sugarcane field in Belizes northern Corozal district May 1.

Police have detained and questioned several people in relation to the murders including 54-year-old Canadian John Deshaies, who rented and lived in the basement of Matus house in Corozal.

Deshaies, who works in construction, is also currently in custody facing charges of theft and possession of stolen property in relation to $50,000 worth of electronics that were taken from a casino in the south Belizean town of Placencia in March. He has not been charged in relation to the murders.

Our client maintains his innocence with respect to both matters, Deshaies lawyer Estevan Perera told the Star in an email Tuesday, adding that Deshaies intends to apply for bail Friday.

Speaking from Belize, Jasmine Lizarraga, who says she is Deshaires girlfriend, said Deshaies lived with Matus for about two years and that they were very close friends.

Francesca didnt have no problems with John, John didnt have no problems with Francesca, Lizarraga said. John, he is innocent. He didnt do this.

Deshaies was out of town when Matus disappeared, Lizarraga said, but returned to Corozal to help with the search efforts. She and Deshaies left for San Ignacio, in west Belize, a few days later, but then got a call from a friend saying police had found the bodies and wanted to talk to them.

Lizarraga said she and Deshaies went to the police station in Belizes capital, Belmopan, to give their statements.

He told the cops everything that he knew  the cops didnt believe him, they detained both of us and since then, the cops think that he had something to do with it and they have him as a suspect, Lizarraga said, adding that she was questioned for three days then released.

Lizarraga also said the theft charges against Deshaies are unfounded, explaining that he was an employee of the casino and had been told to remove the electronics so they could be used at another location.

Deshaies is doing terrible, Lizarraga added.

I cant take clothing for him, hes still got the same clothing from the day they arrested him, she said. I dont want to go back to (Matuss) house  Im afraid to go there right now, I dont want nothing do to with that, so I cant go and get clothes for him.

Read more: Toronto woman killed in Belize remembered as life of a party

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Francesca Matus was a confident businesswoman and lifelong student, but above all a dedicated mother, according to friends and family who gathered Thursday at a Richmond Hill funeral home to remember her.

Matus was a 52-year-old mother of twin boys, Alexander and Jason, and shared a close bond with the rest of her family, including her mother, brother and sister-in-law and her nephew, said her close friend Nikki-Monique Kurnath.

She did anything and everything for her two sons, Kurnath said following Matuss funeral. She took care of them, she would support them. Her goals of being financially secure, to help be able to take care of them, was her priority.

She always put them first.

Matus and her boyfriend, Drew DeVoursney, 36, disappeared after leaving a bar in the northern Belize town of Corozal on April 25.

Their bodies were found, with their wrists duct-taped, in a sugar cane field on May 1. Belizean police and the FBI continue to investigate the deaths.

In eulogies, friends of Matus described her radiant smile and contagious laugh. They said she exuded confidence yet was always eager to learn something new.

Life was never boring with Francesca. Everything was an adventure. She would make the simplest tasks something more fun to do, said Kurnath, adding that Matus was a very youthful woman and always full of energy.

Francesca was the life of a party. It didnt matter where we were and what we were doing, but she would be able to show up and it would just be like instant chemistry, she said. I just connected with her energy so much. . . She worked very hard, she played very hard and loved very, very hard.

Kurnath said she looked up to Matus, who like her, was a single mother.

Its as if we were soul sisters, she said. I thought of her as a big sister in a way, but also as a role model, because shes a very strong single mother and a smart businesswoman and I looked up to that. Its just a shame because I wanted to learn more from her.

Last week, Belize police charged a Canadian man with theft in an unrelated robbery. The man had previously been questioned by police regarding the deaths of Matus and DeVoursney, and local reports identified him as a tenant living on Matuss seaside property.

Kurnath said the grief felt by Matuss friends and family is compounded by the mystery surrounding her death and lack of answers from authorities.

The feelings that we have right now . . . of sadness and anger, confusion, frustration, I mean were feeling all of this, she said. All we want to know is why. The sad part is I dont know, at this moment, if we will (or) when we will. But we just want that closure though, we want that peace.

Read more: Canadian man detained after Belize murders is innocent, girlfriend says

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Ontario and British Columbia couldnt be more different.

Were cool and theyre not (Okay, its colder here).

Their politics is red hot, ours is not (lukewarm on a good day).

But this weeks electoral earthquake in B.C. bears watching. Not that the West coast offers any directly transferable lessons, but the dramatic result conjures up scenarios for Ontario when the campaign begins here next year.

Consider the commonalities:

First, Liberal governments in power for roughly 15 years, each led by female premiers who took over their dynasties, won majorities, and bled support.

Second, robust economic recoveries that left all other provinces behind, with low unemployment and balanced budgets (Ontario only recently).

And a rural-urban divide that gets only worse, as small-c conservative voters distance themselves from the centrists and leftists lurking in big cities.

B.C.s result shows no government can successfully claim credit for an economic resurgence  which means the old 1990s-era adage, from Bill Clintons first campaign, needs an update: Its now stupid to keep saying, Its about the economy, stupid.

And so Premier Kathleen Wynne cant expect to profit from Ontarios unexpectedly low unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent last month, or economic growth that has outperformed most industrialized countries of late. Economic downturns can drag a government down, but strong economies dont provide much lift.

Nor can Wynne expect that standing up to Donald Trumps protectionist gambits will help her political standing. B.C.s Christy Clark tried that play, got some media traction, but no great gratitude.

This weeks election results also show the utter unpredictability of present-day politics. Clark (like Wynne) overcame the odds in her first election, but underperformed in this one despite expectations from many pollsters that her Liberal electoral machine  much of it imported from Ontario  would prevail. Which means anything is possible in our next election.

B.C. hasnt been blessed with Ontarios three-party system  until now. With Clarks Liberals holding a mere two-seat advantage over the opposition New Democrats (barring recounts) the sudden sprouting of the Green Party (with three seats) gives it the apparent balance of power.

Apart from the upstart Greens, there were no clear winners. Just lost opportunities for the Liberals, who may have lost their commanding majority, and missed opportunities for the opposition New Democrats, who once again fell short (not only in seats, but the popular vote).

What if anything does all this mean for Ontarios parties?

Winning power isnt easy for the NDP. Clarks governing party is a centre-right coalition of putative Tories and Liberals with a shared interest in stopping the New Democrats from winning via vote splitting. In an ironic role reversal, the NDP frantically tried to persuade protest voters not to waste their ballots on the Greens, lest that split progressive supporters and allow the Liberals to come out on top. The tactic so angered the Greens that they accused New Democrats of voter suppression tactics.

Ontarios Green Party will be encouraged by the result, but understands that those trends arent transferable. Vancouver Island grows Greens better than Central Canada thanks to its unique political culture (and a culinary culture that bakes better Nanaimo Bars). Voters there sent federal leader Elizabeth May as an MP to Ottawa, but theres no Nanaimo here.

Interestingly, the top priority for B.C.s Greens is campaign finance reform to end the Wild West atmosphere that funnelled millions into the coffers of Clarks Liberals. It was also a major campaign issue for the opposition New Democrats. But Ontarios Liberals, to their credit, belatedly took action to ban union and corporate donations here a year ago  with the co-operation of Ontarios Greens, but only grudging support from the NDP and Tories along the way. The opposition parties wont have that issue in Ontarios next election.

Live by minority government, die by minority government. B.C.s Greens may have a chance to influence the agenda, but will also have to compromise on their principles. That could be bittersweet for true believers. Junior partners in political alliances (formal or informal) tend to fare poorly in the aftermath (examples abound in the U.K., Ontario and Ottawa), because there are unpalatable choices to make.

B.C.s election shows the appetite for change is powerful  but not insurmountable: Clark may yet eke out a majority in the recounts.

And despite the polls showing a Progressive Conservative landslide looming here, Ontario may yet wind up with a minority legislature next year. Leaving the NDPs Andrea Horwath having to choose between the lesser of two apparent evils, the Liberals or Progressive Conservatives.

Any decision by Ontarios NDP will be influenced by the final party standings, the popular vote, and the policies on offer. And just like in B.C., it wont be easy, predictable or palatable.

Martin Regg Cohn's political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn

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Parents of developmentally disabled children are increasing the pressure on the Ontario government for more help as their kids become adults but still need constant care.

Lengthy waiting lists remain for as many as 14,000 families whose children turn 18 and have to reapply for aid as they are cut off from funding they have enjoyed for years, New Democrat MPP Liza Gretzky told a news conference Wednesday.

What will happen to our children after we are gone? said Sharon Gabison, a single mother from Maple, north of Toronto, whose son, Eric, is 20 but functions at the level of a five-year-old and requires constant supervision.

He has no concept of danger. Hell walk out into traffic, she added before a rally in front of the Legislature.

Despite scathing reports in the last three years from the Ontario ombudsman, auditor general and an all-party legislative committee that more assistance is essential, the government has managed only to clear the waiting list from 2014, Gretzky said.

At this point it seems there is no end in sight . . . some people have had to quit their jobs to pick up the slack.

The renewed push for aid came a month after the father of a young developmentally disabled woman from Timmins launched a $110-million class action lawsuit against the provincial government for failing to eliminate the lengthy waiting list. The lawsuit has not yet been certified.

Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek acknowledged the hardships families face and said the Liberals have doubled the budget for people with developmental disabilities since taking office in 2003.

It now stands at $2.1 billion and last months provincial budget would increase that by $677 million, Jaczek added, urging the opposition New Democrats not to vote against it.

There are now 24,000 people receiving support under the ministrys Passport program for the developmentally disabled.

In terms of the Passport waiting list, what we do is we ensure that priority cases receive Passport funding first. Theyre prioritized very carefully according to their unique needs and their risk factors, Jaczek said.

Individuals with the highest need receive funding in as little as seven days, with about 75 per cent receiving funding within six months.

The extra money in the budget is aimed at providing housing, particularly for those who may be inappropriately staying in long-term care homes, hospitals or jails because they have run into trouble with the law, Jaczek said.

Gretzky (Windsor West) said families need action, not platitudes with 11,000 on the waiting list for Passport funding along with the 14,000 on waiting list for supportive housing.

Your government brags about eliminating the waiting list from three years ago but the crisis in developmental services is still here and its growing, she shot at Jaczek.

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BERLINThe initial case was bizarre enough that it was hard to know what it meant: A 28-year-old German Army lieutenant was caught posing, improbably, as a Syrian refugee. But when the incident turned out to be part of an elaborate scheme to frame migrants in a terrorist attack aimed at top government officials, the investigation widened.

First one barracks was searched, then another, turning up Nazi-era military memorabilia that pointed to a larger problem some had long feared, and which some commanders are now accused of sweeping under the rug: far-right extremists in the army ranks.

The military police in Germany are investigating 275 cases involving accusations of racism or far-right extremism stretching back six years, according to the defence ministry. While the ministry emphasized that that number represented a small minority in a force of nearly 180,000, half of the cases stem from 2016 and nearly 20 per cent from this year, pointing to an accelerating problem that German military authorities are only now scrambling to address.

In the past, individual cases were always examined, but it wasnt seen or understood that these cases are not isolated, but there are networks and connections, also to extremists on the outside of the armed forces, said Christine Buchholz, a member of parliament from the opposition Left party.

Now it is glaringly obvious to everyone that this problem has existed for a long time and poses an immediate threat to people, she added.

The revelations, in the middle of an election year, have set off sniping between the civilian and military authorities. They have also added a disturbing new dimension to Germanys effort to address a surge of extremist activity since the country took in nearly one million refugees in 2015.

As Europe faces a range of challenges  including the rise of populism and the propaganda machine of Russian president Vladimir Putin  concerns about Germanys soldiers have raised broader questions about whether and how the country can step into a leadership role, including a military one, commensurate with its size and its economic and political stature.

In particular, the widening scandal has revived concerns about Germanys shift to a volunteer force, which began in 2011. That step, some have warned, could narrow the ranks to youths susceptible to Nazi nostalgia, or to other extremists looking for free training and access to guns and ammunition in a country with strict weapons laws.

Starting in July, all applicants seeking to join the military will have to undergo a security check aimed at weeding out potential extremists. But that raises questions about how to handle those currently serving, at a time when the military is struggling to attract recruits.

Last week, the inspector general ordered a search of all military installations for displays of souvenirs or images glorifying the Nazi-era military, the Wehrmacht.

The investigation stemming from the terrorism case came as military officials released a report detailing episodes of some soldiers extremist sympathies.

One soldier attached a Nazi-era war flag to the hood of his car and drove past a refugee shelter, while drawing his hand across his throat. Another posted a photo of two soldiers in SS uniforms to a chat group. A handful of others were reported to have shouted Sieg heil and Heil Hitler.

The episodes are among several dozen displays of far-right extremism, xenophobia or anti-Semitism that military officials investigated last year at the request of the Left party, which has long insisted that far-right sympathies in the military were part of a wider societal problem.

The soldier who drove past the shelter was discharged before he had completed his service, but a soldier who gave a Nazi salute was only reprimanded, leading to criticism that the armed forces were not taking the threat of extremism seriously enough.

Last week, the defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, rankled many soldiers when she said, The German military has an attitude problem, and it appears there are weaknesses in the leadership we must address systematically.

But she has also come under fire for failing to address the very problems that she was pointing out. Members of the parliamentary opposition have questioned her connection to the troops she oversees and demanded an apology.

Von der Leyen has since retreated from her statement, saying the majority of soldiers do an outstanding job, and Chancellor Angela Merkel declared her full support for the minister.

The day before the April 27 arrest of the suspect accused of posing as a Syrian refugee, who was identified only as Franco A. in keeping with German privacy laws, von der Leyen fired the militarys head of training. The dismissal came in the face of reports about hazing rituals and charges of sexual harassment from female recruits at several bases.

Last week, von der Leyen summoned 100 generals to Berlin for talks that resulted in a call to examine disciplinary measures and the hiring of an outside investigator. On Wednesday, she was to testify about the affair before the defence committee in Parliament.

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South Koreas newly elected president vowed on Wednesday to play a more assertive role in resolving North Koreas nuclear crisis through dialogue, saying that he was willing to meet with its leader, Kim Jong Un, if the circumstances were right.

President Moon Jae-in also pledged to strengthen the alliance with Washington, expressing an eagerness for an early summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, whose military posturing and diplomatic overtures toward the North in recent weeks have both rattled and confused South Koreans.

But Moon also hinted at balancing diplomacy between the United States and China, his countrys largest trading partner, over the contentious deployment of a U.S. missile defence system in South Korea.

Read more:

South Korea's newly elected liberal President Moon Jae-in quickly starts duties

South Korea and its allies brace for North Koreas next move

Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye leaves dogs behind, angers animal rights group

Trump called Moon hours after he was formally sworn in on Wednesday. The two leaders agreed to maintain a strong alliance and co-operate in dealing with North Koreas nuclear and missile threats, Moons office said. They also agreed to hold a summit meeting in Washington at the earliest opportunity, it said.

Moon Jae-in declared victory in South Korea?s presidential election May 9, 2017 after his two main rivals conceded, capping one of the most turbulent political stretches in the nation?s recent history.

The alliance with the United States is and will always be the foundation of our diplomacy and national security, Moon was quoted as telling Trump. The alliance is more important than ever, given the rising uncertainty surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

Moons comments appeared aimed at easing fears that his new liberal government and its eagerness for diplomatic and economic engagement with North Korea may create a rift with Washington.

Compared with his two conservative predecessors, who had stressed a united front with Washington in punishing the North, Moon has often called for his country to take the lead in easing tensions on the divided peninsula through dialogue.

I will do whatever it takes to help settle peace on the Korean Peninsula, Moon said during a speech at the National Assembly, where he was formally sworn in on Wednesday. If necessary, I will fly immediately to Washington.

A day after winning the presidential election, Moon took office by reconfirming the broad changes he promised during his campaign, including curtailing the powers of the presidency and eliminating corrupt ties between government and business.

He also vowed to get busy for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula. Moon said he was also willing to travel to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, to meet its leader, Kim. But he cautioned that for such a trip to take place, the circumstances have to be right. He had earlier said that dialogue would become difficult if the North raised tensions with another nuclear test.

The last inter-Korean summit meeting was in 2007, between Kims father, Kim Jong Il, and the president of South Korea at the time, Roh Moo-hyun, Moons closest friend and ideological ally.

Moon is widely expected to introduce a modified version of Rohs so-called sunshine policy of engaging North Korea with dialogue, humanitarian aid and joint economic projects.

The idea behind the sunshine policy was to build trust with the North so that it would negotiate away its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But that policy was thrown out in the past nine years. The two last presidents in Seoul, both conservatives, joined hands with Washington to try to isolate Pyongyang with sanctions and pressure, as the North advanced its weapons programs by conducting a series of nuclear and missile tests.

Moons election signalled the return of the liberals to the centre stage of South Korean diplomacy. They believe that sanctions alone have failed to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs. They also do not want South Korea to be dragged into a hegemonic struggle between the United States and China  an attitude exemplified by their ambiguous stance over the deployment in South Korea of a U.S. anti-missile battery, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD.

THAAD went operational last week, despite angry protests from China, which said that THAADs powerful radar undermined its own security. Chinese consumers have begun a boycott of many South Korean brands. Many South Koreans fumed over the economic retaliation by China, considering it the price of protecting the alliance with Washington. But others accused the United States of foisting the weapon on their country, especially after Trump said that Seoul should pay $1 billion (U.S.) for the THAAD battery, contrary to an earlier agreement.

During his campaign, Moon said he would review the deployment, a stance he reaffirmed as president.

I will engage in sincere negotiations with the United States and China to find a solution to the THAAD problem, he said.

Moons victory on Tuesday capped months of political turmoil marked by the impeachment, ouster and arrest on corruption charges of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye. The country has been led by an acting president since Park was removed on March 10 and Moon took office without a customary two-month transition.

In his first day in office, Moon rushed to build his government, appointing Lee Nak-yon, a provincial governor, as his prime minister.

He also selected Suh Hoon, a former intelligence official, as director of the National Intelligence Service.

Suh has spent his career monitoring North Korea and was involved in the negotiations that resulted in the two summit meetings between the two Koreas, the first in 2002 and the second in 2007. Moon said he expected Suh to play a role in resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis.

On Wednesday, Suh said that another inter-Korean summit meeting was necessary but that it would be premature to discuss it when military tensions remained high on the peninsula.

What we need the most is to find a breakthrough for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, Suh said. When such conditions mature, I think we can go to Pyongyang.

Moons is the first liberal government in South Korea in nearly a decade. Conservatives remained disgraced by Parks downfall but deeply wary of Moons approach to the North, which they said could jeopardize the alliance with Washington.

Moons inaugural speech appeared to have been worded to ease such concerns while also putting a progressive stamp on foreign policy.

In the address, Moon emphasized national unity with his political opponents and vowed to make his government more transparent.

He said he would not take up residence in the Blue House, a symbol of what South Koreans call the imperial presidency, and instead work from a government building in the bustling centre of Seoul to make his office more accessible to the people.

I will become a clean president, said Moon, referring to a succession of South Korean leaders, including Park, who have ended their presidency in disgrace because of corruption scandals. I will become a president who can retire home as an ordinary citizen and is welcomed by neighbours.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAWith the complete disregard for politics that is a characteristic of youth, Alia Joy Gates made her position clear: she would not wait to be breastfed. It did not matter that her mother, Sen. Larissa Waters, had work to do in the chamber of the Australian Senate.

She was 11-and-a-half weeks old and, for crying out loud, a girls gotta eat.

As a result, little Alia made history. On Tuesday, she became the first child to be breastfed in Australias federal Parliament. By Thursday, her mundane bout of hunger had attracted praise for her mom from all over the world, including from Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, who declared (on Facebook, of course): Go Larissa Waters  leading by example!

Waters said in an interview that she was a bit stunned by the reaction.

Breastfeeding is a normal and natural thing that women have been doing since time immemorial, and in that sense, its quite strange to me that it caused such a sensation, she said during a break from voting in the Senate. What it really says is that we need more young women in Parliament so that when we breastfeed our babies, its not considered news.

The response, not unlike what occurred after a lawmaker in Iceland was photographed breastfeeding while defending a bill in the countrys Parliament, reflects the degree to which maternal functions are still considered bold and political acts in institutions dominated by men.

Even as the sight of women publicly breastfeeding has become more common in many places around the world, mothers are still often publicly shamed, which has, in turn, provoked a backlash from mothers that has gone global.

The Internet is full of sharp comebacks that women can deploy when someone (usually a man) tries to shut them down for feeding. One mall in Colombia even introduced breastfeeding mannequins to combat the criticism.

In Australia  where 73 women serve in Parliament, representing 32 per cent of all federal lawmakers, compared with 31 per cent in Canadas Parliament  the issue of child-rearing and lawmaking has come up before. In 2003, Kirstie Marshall, a lawmaker in the state of Victoria, was asked to leave the states parliament for breastfeeding her 11-day-old baby because of a rule that bans strangers or unelected members in the house (presumably including infants).

In 2009, a similar rule was used in the federal Parliament when Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young tried to say a quick goodbye to her 2-year-old daughter in the chamber only to have the Senate president insist that the child be removed, leading to screams from the toddler that were heard through the thick Senate doors.

In the Senate, the response was muted. Most lawmakers said nothing or praised Waters afterward, though one conservative lawmaker made a comment about the Greens party wanting to take home wounded possums and suckle them back to health, which struck Waters as inappropriate.

That was about half an hour after Id given her a feed and I thought that was in very poor taste, she said.

And some outside the chamber accused her of seeking publicity.

Still, breastfeeding fights, in the senators view, seemed to be a bit, well, boring. After praising her husband, Jeremy Gates, who left a job in digital marketing to be a stay-at-home dad, Waters said that she looked forward to focusing on lawmaking, even while breastfeeding.

We can walk and chew gum at the same time, she said. And whilst you need support in order to juggle the job of being a parliamentarian and a mom, we are perfectly capable of performing that juggling act generally when we have great family support, which Im lucky to have.

As she spoke, a tiny coo could be heard in the background. Then, an itty-bitty cry.

Was Alia there, I asked.

Yeah, shes just been having a feed while weve been talking, Waters said. Im multi-tasking.

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NEW ORLEANSWorkers wearing bulletproof vests and helmets removed the statue of Confederate president Jefferson Davis in New Orleans before dawn Thursday as police officers encircled the monument and kept watch on protesters.

The statue was the second of four Confederate monuments in the city slated for removal in a contentious, months-long process that has sparked protests on both sides.

The larger-than-life image of Davis atop an ornate granite pedestal roughly 4.5 metres high was lifted from its perch on a grassy median along one of the citys main thoroughfares, and a cheer went up from some of the dozens of protesters who have been pushing for the monuments removal. It was then lowered behind trucks encircled around the monuments base and out of view of media gathered on the scene.

The statues removal followed recent protests at the site by supporters and opponents of the monuments. City officials had refused to give advance public notice of the work because of threats of violence against contractors and workers involved in the effort. The statue was first unveiled in 1911.

Dozens of protesters both supporting the monuments and calling for their removal stayed up overnight to watch the proceedings, which happened in early-morning darkness. The demonstrators were separated by metal barriers set up by the police and heckled each other from opposite sides of the barricade. About fifty police officers encircled the monument and kept an eye on protesters.

As preparation for removing the Davis statue, workers had wrapped the torso in a green bubble wrap and then placed a harness attached to a crane around the statue. Workers wore bulletproof vests, scarves that covered their faces and helmets, reflecting the high tensions and security concerns surrounding the monuments removal.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who first urged the City Council to remove the monuments in 2015, praised the effort in a news release.

These monuments have stood not as historic or educational markers of our legacy of slavery and segregation, but in celebration of it. I believe we must remember all of our history, but we need not revere it. To literally put the Confederacy on a pedestal in some of our most prominent public places is not only an inaccurate reflection of our past, it is an affront to our present, and a bad prescription for our future. We should not be afraid to confront and reconcile our past.

Late last month, the first structure  a 10.5-metre-tall granite obelisk known as the Liberty Place monument  was removed by masked workers under cover of darkness. The obelisk was a tribute to whites who battled a biracial Reconstruction government installed in New Orleans after the Civil War.

Also slated for removal are a bronze statue of Confederate Gen. P.G.T Beauregard on horseback, completed in 1915, which sits atop a stone platform at the entrance to the citys largest park and museum of art; and a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Lee statue is the most prominent of the four. Unveiled in 1884, the likeness of Lee stands atop an 18-metre-tall column in the centre of a traffic circle on historic St. Charles Avenue. Monument supporters say each of the statues weighs tons and they feared moving the aging icons could result in significant damage.

The council voted to remove the monuments in 2015  part of the national response after nine black parishioners were shot to death by an avowed racist at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier that year. But the process of removing the statues was tied up for months in a court battle.

New Orleans is a predominantly black city of nearly 390,000. The statues were erected well before the civil rights era that brought African-Americans to political power. The City Council, now majority black, voted 6-1 to take the monuments down.

Landrieu, a white Democrat, was elected in 2010 and re-elected four years late with strong biracial support.

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Top leaders call on President Bhandari

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her happiness over the enthusiastic participation of political parties in local poll slated for May 14.
BELGRADE, SERBIAA French intellectual has been struck in the face with a pie in Serbia by left-wing activists.

Bernard-Henri Levy, known for his criticism of Serbian nationalist policies during the 1990s Balkan wars, was in Belgrade for the showing of his documentary film about the Kurds battle against Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

A young man chanting Murderer, leave Belgrade hurled a cake at his face as he was presenting his film, Peshmerga, on Wednesday. Another man climbed the stage with a banner with a communist hammer and sickle that read Bernard Levy advocates imperialist murders.

Levy reacted by shouting Long live democracy in French.

Serbian nationalists perceive Levy as one of the main advocates of the NATO bombing of the country in 1999 over its crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists.

He deserved much worse than a cake in his face, Serbian ultranationalist official Vojislav Seselj said in parliament on Thursday.

Organizers of the documentary festival apologized to Levy on Thursday, giving him a cake as a present during an appearance that saw tough security in the hall

The French-Jewish intellectual has a history of being the target of pie-wielding critics.

Noel Godin, a Belgian actor who has made a career out of throwing pies at celebrities, has pied Levy at least seven times since 1985, the last time in 2015.

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FAIRBANKS, ALASKAHigh-level officials from the worlds eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after U.S. President Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development.

Among those expected to attend the meeting of the Arctic Council beginning Thursday in Fairbanks are U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met Wednesday with Trump and Tillerson in Washington.

No formal discussions were set in Alaska but key issues such as climate change, development and drilling will provide a backdrop as the chairmanship of the council passes from the U.S. to Finland.

We are unsure what the Trump administration thinks about the Arctic region in general, about the Arctic Council in particular and about its role, said Victoria Herrmann, president of The Arctic Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based group that provides research to shape Arctic policy.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes co-operation among member nations and indigenous groups. Its focus is sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.

It does not make policy or allocate resources, and its decisions must be unanimous.

In terms of being a reflection of a nations priorities, it can only go so far since all eight have to agree to the same thing, said Nils Andreassen, executive director of the Anchorage-based Institute of the North, a non-partisan organization focused on Arctic resources.

Read more:

Republicans step up push for Arctic drilling in wildlife refuge

N.W.T. premier says Arctic drilling ban will stifle Northern energy sector

Canada, U.S. announce ban on offshore oil, gas licenses in Arctic

Tillerson arrived late Wednesday afternoon in Fairbanks and immediately held a meeting with a congressional delegation as well as Arctic representatives from Alaskas indigenous people.

Protesters gathered in a city park nearby to denounce the presence of Tillerson, who was president of Exxon Mobil Corp.

My message for Rex Tillerson is: Alaska shouldnt be for sale for whats in our earth, said Hannah Hill, 36, who works at a Fairbanks soup kitchen. This place is beautiful, and this place is delicate, and what already is happening on in the Arctic will affect the rest of the Earth. And that is science.

Pat Lambert, a retired University of Alaska math professor, attended the rally because he believes climate change is a serious problem.

He suggested Tillerson should get away from his cronies in the oil business and start listening to the people of Alaska, for instance, and the people of the world who are so interested in these issues.

After the rally, the protesters marched behind a sign reading, Welcome to the frontline of climate change, to the building where the Arctic Council welcoming celebration was being held.

The United States  an Arctic country because of the state of Alaska  is joined on the council by Canada, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The U.S. began chairing the council two years ago. Much of the councils work during that time stemmed from the policies of president Barack Obama, who made climate change and the Arctic priorities of his administration.

Obama became the first sitting president to travel above the Arctic Circle when he went to the largely Inupiat community of Kotzebue.

The U.S. highlighted three areas during its two-year chairmanship  improved living conditions and economies for those living in the Arctic, stewardship of the Arctic Ocean and climate change.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Arctic Summit in Fairbanks, Alaska. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is meeting with top diplomats from a number of nations to discuss environmental and other issues affecting the Arctic region.

David Balton, a deputy assistant secretary of State, said other accomplishments included an agreement for scientific co-operation among Arctic nations, an assessment of improvements needed for better telecommunications, and implementation of a database of ships passing through the Arctic.

One of the councils last official acts before the chairmanship is handed to Finland will be issuing the Fairbanks Declaration, which in part will outline the focus of upcoming work by the Arctic Council during the next two years.

Andreassen said the document should provide some understanding of how the U.S. is approaching the Arctic.

Christina-Alexa Liakos of Greenpeace USA, said her group will watch the meeting with an eye toward U.S. policy on broader environmental issues, such as the Paris Climate Agreement.

The biggest thing we are really pushing is to make sure that (during) any negotiations in this meeting, the U.S. essentially doesnt bully the other Arctic nations or pressure them into taking out language around keeping the Paris agreement, Liakos said.

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MADRIDSpanish lawmakers have voted in favour of moving the remains of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco from the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum in central Spain, a measure that has long been rejected by the conservative governing Popular Party.

The 198-1 vote Thursday with 140 abstentions puts no obligation on the government. But it has reopened debate relating to one of Spains most painful episodes, the 1936-39 Civil War and its aftermath.

The mausoleum, located close to Madrid, is seen by many as a relic of Spains dictatorial past.

The lawmakers also called for funds to remove remaining dictatorship symbols and to set up a commission to investigate the estimated 115,000 people still missing since the conflict, a recommendation backed by the United Nations.

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WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump has turned his big lie about the presidential election into an official government commission  and handed a leadership role to a vocal backer of that lie.

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to launch a commission to look into voter fraud. Raising fears of a coming assault on voting rights, he named Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a crusader against the minuscule problem, as the commissions vice-chairman.

According to every independent expert and almost every state elections chief, voter fraud is nearly nonexistent. But Trump falsely claimed in January that more than three million illegal immigrants had voted illegally in 2016, every single one of them for his opponent Hillary Clinton.

Perhaps uncoincidentally, Clinton earned 2.9 million more votes than Trump did. And perhaps uncoincidentally, the conspiracy website InfoWars had promoted the same false claim about illegal immigrants.

Kobach said at the time that the lie was absolutely correct, pointing, as Trump did, to a pre-2016 study that does not prove the point. He, too, offered no actual evidence.

Voting rights advocates have been concerned for a year about the consequences of Trumps attempts to foster public suspicions about the integrity of the electoral system as a whole and about minority voters in particular. Molly McGrath, a Wisconsin-based voting rights organizer, said the commission is paving the way for unnecessary and suppressive voting laws.

Numerous Republicans around the country have attempted to impose new requirements for voting  they say to preserve the integrity of the system, critics say to make it harder for Democratic-leaning black, Hispanic and young people to cast ballots. Kobach is an outlier even within the party, pushing some of Americas most stringent voting laws in Kansas.

Theyre setting out on a mission with what appears to be a predetermined goal. And with Kris Kobach at the steering wheel, that seems evident, McGrath said Thursday.

Vice-President Mike Pence will chair the commission. Pence has declined to endorse Trumps lie, but he has applauded the president for his refreshing willingness to express his opinion on the matter.

Kobach has long alleged that voter fraud is rampant. Since 2015, when he became the only state secretary of state to get the power to prosecute voter fraud, he has obtained eight convictions; Kansas has 1.8 million registered voters.

As the White House on Jan 24, 2017 stuck firmly to U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that millions of people voted illegally in the November election, the Republican Speaker of the House said he's seen "no evidence to that effect."

The American Civil Liberties Union and others are fighting Kobach in court over a state law he championed that requires people to demonstrate proof of their citizenship to become registered voters.

In January, Trump promised a major investigation into voter fraud. The White House described the commission as a broader review of policies and practices that enhance or undermine the American peoples confidence in the integrity of federal elections  including improper registrations, improper voting, fraudulent registrations, fraudulent voting, and voting suppression.

During the campaign, Trump said voter fraud is very, very common. Without any evidence, he was especially critical of big cities like Philadelphia and Chicago, both of which have large black populations and lean strongly Democratic; so many cities are corrupt, he said in October.

Donald Trump said 213 false things in his first 100 days. These are all of them:

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British Columbians often complain they are an afterthought  that the big decisions are made in central Canada and only then relayed to those lucky enough to live west of the Rockies.

Now they have their revenge. The provinces uncertain election results have put B.C. back into the centre of the national climate-change debate.

The final results of Tuesdays election wont be known for two weeks. Thats when all of the absentee ballots are due to be counted and most of the mandatory recounts held.

But it is clear the Green Party will play a crucial role. Initial results give Premier Christy Clarks Liberals 43 of the 87 seats in the legislature, two more than John Horgans New Democrats but not quite enough to form a majority government.

With three seats, the B.C. Greens under Andrew Weaver hold the balance of power  for now.

After recounts, a majority Liberal government is still possible. In one riding, the Liberal candidate lost to the NDP by just nine votes. But any majority promises to be so razor-thin that whatever government emerges will need some help from the opposition to survive.

All of this is unfamiliar territory for B.C. Ontario has experience with minority governments. So does the federal Parliament. But B.C. hasnt had a minority government since 1952.

Since the 1940s, its polarized politics have left little room for viable third parties. Instead, voters are effectively presented with two stark choices: NDP or not-NDP. In the past, the not-NDP choice called itself Social Credit. Currently, it calls itself the B.C. Liberals.

The great accomplishment of Weavers Greens in this election has been to break that pattern.

If the Greens still hold the balance of power after the final votes are tallied, here are a few things to keep in mind.

First, they have a choice. They could agree to support Clarks Liberal government. Or they could opt to put the second-place NDP in power. There are precedents for both.

They could demand a formal coalition that gives them a role in cabinet. Or they could stay out of cabinet but demand specific government actions as the price of their support.

Second, there are practical reasons for the Greens not to support the NDP. The two parties tend to appeal to the same voters. In this campaign, the NDP argued that those casting ballots for the Greens were wasting their votes. The Greens, meanwhile, accused the New Democrats of being faux environmentalists.

Third, the Liberals and Greens are not always at daggers drawn, Weaver, a climate scientist, helped devise the Liberal carbon tax before he entered politics. In the legislature, he has voted for some Liberal budgets.

The fact the Liberals won a slightly larger share of the popular vote than the NDP may make Clark more inviting to the Greens.

Fourth, for the Greens, this election wasnt a referendum on pipelines. The NDP did promise to use every available legal remedy to stop the expansion of the Kinder Morgan heavy-oil pipeline from Alberta to Greater Vancouver.

But while Weaver remains a vocal critic of Kinder Morgan, the word pipeline does not appear in his partys platform.

Those hoping for some kind of Green-NDP arrangement that would kill this particular pipeline expansion may be disappointed.

In the meantime, feelers are being extended. Weavers demands to date have been carefully chosen. He says he wants to bar corporations and unions from donating to political parties. He wants to change the voting system from first-past-the-post to proportional representation.

He does not express his opposition to Kinder Morgan unless asked. Then he acknowledges, as he did on CBC Television on Wednesday, that the election has put new barriers in the way of a pipeline expansion that he still believes unwise.

If his status as kingmaker is confirmed, he may become more ambitious on the climate front. The Green platform, for instance, calls for a significant hike in the provincial carbon tax.

But his aim to date seems to be to convince the electorate that his Greens are not just a single-issue party.

All of this is fraught with danger. In Britain, Liberal-Democrat Nick Clegg was kingmaker after the inconclusive 2010 election produced a hung parliament. He demanded and received cabinet seats as his price for supporting David Camerons Conservatives.

For a brief moment Clegg, was a popular hero. But ultimately, he was blamed by his supporters for every sin of the Cameron Tories. At the next election, his Liberal Democrats were slaughtered.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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The Trudeau cabinet, brimming with women and minorities, seems so 2017, so far removed from the traditional bastions of power.

Amid all that fresh-faced diversity, its easy to overlook the pale face of finance minister Bill Morneau  a rich, white male from Bay Street, ensconced in the cabinets most powerful post.

(Full disclosure: I ran unsuccessfully against Morneau in the 2015 federal election.)

Morneau hasnt grabbed the limelight like some of the more flamboyant ministers. But, with the help of heavy hitters from Bay Street and Wall Street, hes been quietly designing a radical new bank that will deliver some of Canadas future infrastructure  roads, bridges, public transit, utilities  into the hands of private investors.

The Trudeau cabinet may have a New Age feel to it, but its by no means neglecting its Bay Street base, which stands to profit handsomely from Morneaus proposed Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB).

The bank is being presented to the public as a way to attract billions of private sector dollars to help pay for our public infrastructure.

But the banks unusual design will also, for the first time, give powerful private institutional investors  even foreign-owned entities  the opportunity to actually own important pieces of Canadian infrastructure, with the ability to charge us fees for using them.

Under the current model, Ottawa (or another level of government) typically owns Canadian infrastructure. In other words, we collectively own it.

But big institutional investors  pension funds, mutual funds, investment banks, etc.  are looking for investments that are safe and produce a reliable revenue stream.

Nothing fits that bill better, in these days of volatile markets, than investing in infrastructure, as a 2015 report by Wall Street giant JP Morgan documented. The report noted that, compared to other investment options, infrastructure assets offer very high returns, at very low risk, that they operate in monopoly situations free from competition and provide reliable revenue, even during economic downturns. Infrastructure assets have produced stable, predictable and growing returns, concluded JP Morgan.

The appeal of infrastructure investment was no doubt on the mind of Wall Street titan Larry Fink when he met Justin Trudeau in January 2016 at the annual power-gathering in Davos. Trudeau and his newly elected government were just developing ideas for their new bank, and Fink was looking for good investment opportunities for the $5 trillion in assets he manages as CEO of BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager. (Fink now belongs to Donald Trumps Strategic and Policy Forum.)

Trudeau and Fink hit it off. Since then, BlackRock officials have worked closely with Morneau and others inside the Trudeau government, raising concerns about the appropriateness of a major Wall Street financier  and powerful institutional investors inside Canada  apparently helping shape the design of a bank they will probably end up doing business with.

And while the investment communitys enthusiasm for Canadas new bank is clear, its less clear whats in it for Canadians.

When tolls and user fees are added in, privately owned infrastructure could cost us more  and wed own nothing.

Whether privately or publicly owned, Canadians will still end up paying for these assets, note analysts Azfar Ali Khan and Randall Bartlett in a report for Ottawas Institute for Fiscal Studies and Democracy. [T]his does beg the question: Why would Canadians want to sell their most valuable assets to the private sector?

Another option would be for us to finance and own our own public infrastructure, as we have in the past. Now more than ever, theres good reason to do so: Ottawa can borrow money at very low rates, much lower than the private sector. With yields on 30-year Government of Canada bonds currently sitting around 2.2 per cent, the federal government can almost literally get money for nothing,  Khan and Bartlett note.

They urge more careful assessment before Canada starts shovelling money out the door.

Indeed, with sophisticated financiers working closely with government officials designing the bank, it could turn into a boondoggle for financial interests, with Canadians holding the short end of the stick.

Ontarians got a taste of that when the Tory government of Mike Harris was outsmarted by private investors into handing over the lucrative Highway 407 toll road in a 99-year lease, for just a fraction of its value.

In the case of the CIB, there are some whip-smart financiers involved, including Fink, a key player in squeezing money out of the American public to bail out Wall Streets banks after the 2008 crash. What could possibly go wrong for Canada?

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Five major health insurers Aetna (AET) , Anthemundefined , Cigna (CI) - Get Free Report , Humana (HUM) - Get Free Report and UnitedHealth (UNH) - Get Free Report have positive weekly charts and each reported better-than-expected earnings between April 18 and May 5, despite health care reform uncertainties.

Repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is one of the major campaign promises made by President Trump. When Obamacare became law, it did so without a single Republican vote. Recently, the House of Representatives passed the American Healthcare Act without a single Democrat vote.

Republicans in the Senate have differing views on how to repeal and replace Obamacare, but they feel Obamacare is doomed for failure. Another death nail was hammered into Obamacare late-Wednesday, when Aetna announced it would leave all health exchanges by 2018.

When looking at the weekly charts below, keep an eye on the 200-week simple moving averages shown in green. Investors should consider the 200-week simple moving average as the "reversion to the mean" for each stock.

The "reversion to the mean" is an investment theory that the price of a stock, will eventually return to a longer-term simple-moving average. A logical choice that's easy to track is the 200-week simple moving average. A ticker trading above its 200-week simple moving average will eventually decline back to it on weakness. Similarly, a ticker trading below its 200-week simple moving average will eventually rebound to it on strength.

Jim Cramer and RealMoney columnists discuss the latest from President Donald Trump and the GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. See which stocks they are discussing and get his insights or analysis with a free trial subscription to RealMoney.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) - Get Free Report said today that it intends to test whether a supertanker named Anne can dock at its oil terminal along Texas' Corpus Christi Bay, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Houston-based oil firm intends to test the compatibility later this month.

If it proves successful, Occidental intends to become the first U.S. oil company using vessels of that magnitude to export U.S. crude to markets as far as Asia.

"Permian crude is being exported all around the world, primarily to refineries in Asia and Europe, and Occidental's export facility is well positioned to serve the Permian," Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub said. "This continues to build on our position as the largest oil producer in the Permian, loading the largest ships with our crude and the crude of other producers in the region."

Jim Cramer and the AAP team know what's causing oil prices to decline, and they're telling their investment club members what to do about Apache (APA) - Get Free Report , Schlumberger (SLB) - Get Free Report and Cimarex (XEC) - Get Free Report . Get his insights or analysis with a free trial subscription to Action Alerts Plus.
Apple (AAPL) - Get Free Report plans to invest $1 billion to expand a data center in "The Biggest Little City in the World," according to reports.

The investment follows another $1 billion that Apple already made in the Reno Technology Park facility, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Apple launched the plan to build the Reno, Nevada, data center in 2012, as part of a deal with the city, county and state that would provide $89 million in tax abatements over a decade. The tax benefits would increase with the new investment, the Gazette-Journal said.

The expansion of the Reno facility will help meet demand for iCloud service, Fortune reported in February.

Apple plans to spend $16 billion on data centers, manufacturing equipment, infrastructure and other capital expenditures this year, the company said in its second-quarter report to the Securities and Exchange Commission in earl May.

Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.

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Former Republican Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to become the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Fox News reports.

CNN reported earlier in the month that Hutchison was the front-runner to become the Ambassador.

The move to name Hutchison to the post is part of an "uptick" in the process to fill undersecretary and ambassador positions within the State Department, CNN said.

Hutinson served in the Senate for nearly 20 years, deciding not to run for re-election at the end of her term in January 2013.

During her time as Senator she was the Chair of the Military Construction Appropriations Sub-Committee and served on the Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee.

She has also served as Chair of the Board of Visitors at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Jim Cramer and Real Money columnists discuss the latest from President Donald Trump and the GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. See which stocks they are discussing and get hisinsights or analysis with a free trial subscription to Real Money.
Socket bombs recovered from mayoral candidates' homes

Socket bombs have been recovered from the houses of three mayoral candidates in Nawalparasi district.
US-based Adaptrum, a global leader in TV White Space (TVWS) technologies, with Oman Broadband, has deployed the TVWS, demonstrating the ability to provide broadband communications to far flung places in the Sultanate.



TV White Space (TVWS) equipment utilizes vacant channels of the UHF TV broadcast spectrum to deliver broadband wireless services resulting from legacy TV channel plans. TV band spectrum is largely underutilized in most places most of the time and provides abundant spectrum that can be used for broadband wireless.



The spectrum is accessed using innovative dynamic access techniques, which makes the spectrum available on an unlicensed basis while avoiding any interference to existing broadcast services. Because of the low sub-GHz frequency of the spectrum, TVWS technology achieves non-line-of-sight (NLOS) long-range coverage, better than higher frequency unlicensed bands (i.e. 2.4GHz, 5GHz, etc.). Abundant spectrum, free (unlicensed) use, and long-range propagation, make TVWS ideal for delivering wireless broadband services.



In this pilot project in Oman, client sites include schools under the Ministry of Education, an Oman Broadband point of presence (POP), and residential villas. It was conducted in the suburbs of the capital, Muscat city, with wide spread hilly terrains and scattered buildings in between the links. The result of the trial was positive with up to 20 Mbps delivered over distances of 4 to 10+ Km.



It has demonstrated the superior performance of Adaptrum devices in penetrating trees and concrete buildings without line-of-sight.



Oman Broadband CEO Said Al-Mandhari stated: "Universal access to broadband in Oman is essential to unlock the potential and boost growth in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, and Oman Broadband has been tasked with rolling out broadband infrastructure to provide that access.



The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman mandated us to conduct trials of TVWS technology. The combination of coverage and capacity, delivered by TVWS Technology using Adaptrum's solution, enables us to extend the reach of our broadband infrastructure especially for remote and rural areas."



"A lot of advance preparation work was carried out before launching the pilot. The throughput results are excellent and TVWS technology can offer a cost-effective solution to deliver broadband connectivity to underserved areas in the Sultanate of Oman with added advantage of rapid deployment and cost efficiencies," said Ajay Kapoor who led the company's project team.



"Adaptrum have proven in over 25 countries across 5 continents, that TVWS is the affordable solution for connecting unconnected communities," said Haiyun Tang, CEO of Adaptrum. "With this deployment, Oman Broadband and Adaptrum have proven that Adaptrum's solution provide the performance and reliability needed to address the digital divide throughout Oman and across the Middle East."



Khalfan Al-Amri, head of Technology Development said: "With this successful pilot, Oman Broadband is looking ahead to a nationwide rollout of TVWS technology into underserved communities like remote and rural areas to deliver high speed broadband at affordable prices. Oman Broadband is also exploring providing communications to enterprises in the remote rural areas as an alternative to costly satellite based services."  TradeArabia News Service
Ooredoo Kuwait, a leading telecom services operator in the country, has appointed Kuwaiti equestrian Rakan Al Hasawi as its brand ambassador for the current 2017-2018 season.



Al Hasawi has won a number of awards locally and regionally, such as the CHI Al-Shaqab horse hurdles competition in Qatar, the Kuwait Police Show Jumping Tournament, the Kuwait Riding Center Tournament, and as well as the Hala Febrayer 2017 which was sponsored by Ooredoo Kuwait recently, among other competitions, it said.



The sponsorship comes in alignment with Ooredoo Kuwaits commitment to enriching youth and supporting their passions, said a statement from the company, a member of international Ooredoo Group.



Empowering youth is among Ooredoos top priorities through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, it added.



The company has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs, to support youth projects and initiatives.



Mijbil Alayoub, corporate communications senior director, Ooredoo Kuwait, said: We have great pride in the achievement of young promising Kuwaiti showjumper Al-Hasawi.



Our commitment to supporting youth is deep-rooted within our core values in Ooredoo Kuwait. We hope to see more success in the future, and we look forward to bigger achievements on an international scale, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
Oman Airs Sindbad frequent flyer programme, in partnership with Kaligo Travel Solutions, the leading innovator in travel and loyalty technology, has launched a new hotel rewards programme to enable Sindbad members to earn miles on hotel bookings at Kaligo.com.



The partnership empowers Sindbads frequent flyers to earn up to 15 Sindbad Miles per $1 spent on hotel bookings.



Sindbad members can earn up to 10,000 Sindbad miles for each hotel night booked through Kaligo.Com. With a hotel inventory of over 465,000 properties worldwide from luxury to boutique hotels, members will always find a perfect stay for their trip.



To celebrate the launch of the partnership, from April 20 until June 19, members will earn double Sindbad miles on all hotel bookings made through Kaligo.com. That is up to 30 Sindbad miles per $1 spent on every hotel booking.



Mohammed Al Shikely, Vice President Marketing, Oman Air said: Oman Air is constantly looking for ways to reward our loyal guests. This new partnership will make it easier for Sindbad members to access over 465,000 hotels worldwide and conveniently book the one that best suits their needs. It will also enable them to earn additional Sindbad miles, which can then be exchanged for flights, upgrades, duty free items and a range of other services. Oman Air is committed to going the extra mile giving our guests more opportunities to earn miles and our new partnership with Kaligo shows how we are continually adding to the range of benefits we offer. We are confident that Oman Airs new partnership with Kaligo will receive a warm welcome from Sindbad members, who will appreciate the additional value and convenience it provides.



Kyle Armstrong, CEO of Kaligo Travel Solutions said: Kaligo Travel Solutions is honoured to partner with Sindbad. We endeavour to offer Sindbad members highly valuable and convenient options to earn points through their hotel bookings. We look forward to collaborating closely with Sindbad to offer its members world class booking experiences. - TradeArabia News Service


Temporary cops to be deployed in areas other than they come from

Temporary police personnel, or Myadai Parhari as they are generally called, will be deployed in areas other than they are hired from or where they are listed as voters, the Ministry of Home Affairs decided in a bid to avoid any kind of conflict of interest that could arise.
A new device shows promise in purifying polluted air, while at the same time producing hydrogen, which can be stored for use as a clean energy source.

A team of researchers from two Belgian schools, the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven, have discovered a process that can be used to address two disparate yet related issues - the need for air pollution mitigation and cleaner energy sources - with nanomaterials and sunlight.

Air pollution is one of the big silent killers in the modern world, and although we're seeing progress toward cleaner energy sources and cleaner fuels and engines, which bodes well for the long-term future, we still need solutions for cleaning existing pollutants out of the air. There's no shortage of ideas and beta projects for decreasing air pollution, including giant vacuums that harvest pollution to be turned into jewelry, tailpipe devices that capture soot in order to turn it into ink, bicycles that eat air pollution, and smog-reducing billboards, but the new development out of Belgium could become an air purifying two-fer.

According to the team that developed the process, the nanomaterials used as a catalyst in the device's membrane are essentially the same as those used previously to extract hydrogen from water. However, the research lead, Professor Sammy Verbruggen, says that it's not only possible to use the same type of materials to produce hydrogen from polluted air, but it's also "even more efficient." The team's device is a rather small-scale prototype, only a few square centimeters in size, but with some additional improvements could eventually be scaled up "to make the process industrially applicable."
The government has been lauded by Chief of the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez for its decision to designate October 13th as First Peoples Day.
The Opposition has threatened to take the Government all the way to the Privy Council over o
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov considers deepening of cooperation in the military and political and military and technical spheres as one of the key directions of the Ukrainian-Turkish relations.

He stated this at a meeting in Istanbul with the leaders of the defense and security sector of the Turkish Republic, the press center of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reports.

"Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov in Istanbul held meetings with Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Turkey Fikri Isk, Secretary-General of the National Security Council of the Republic of Turkey Seyfullah Hacmuftuoglu and Director of the Secretariat for Defense Industries of the Republic of Turkey smail Demir," the report says.

The parties acknowledged strategic and friendly nature of bilateral relations and underlined the significant progress in the field of military and technical cooperation. According to Turchynov, deepening cooperation in the military and political and military and technical spheres is one of the key directions of Ukrainian-Turkish relations.

According to the press service, the Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine highly praised the work of the Joint working group for the coordination of strategic projects established last year, noticing that thanks to this, the list of Ukrainian-Turkish projects has expanded significantly.

"Specific results that enhance defense and security of our countries are crucial for us," Turchynov said.

The NSDC Secretary also expressed hope that before the visit of President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Kyiv "we will manage to launch several joint projects".

As reported, Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Turchynov during the visit to the Republic of Turkey participated in the opening ceremony of the IDEF 2017 international defense industry exhibition.

ish
UML activist killed in clash

A CPN-UML activist was killed in a clash between the supporters of the UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) at Jugu in Gaurishankar Village Council-2, Dolakha on Tuesday night in the most serious incident of violence so far this election season.
The Council of the European Union has approved visa-free regime for Ukraine without discussion.

The visa-free travels for Ukrainian citizens are to come into force on June 11, an Ukrinform own correspondent in Brussels reports.

Pursuant to the procedure, the documents should be subsequently signed by President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and the Permanent Representative of Malta to the EU.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko plans to attend the signing ceremony in Strasbourg.

Once the visa waiver for Ukrainians enters into force, and provided citizens of Ukraine have biometric passports, they will be able to enter the EU for up to 90 days in any 180-day-period for business, tourist or family purposes. The visa waiver will apply to all EU member states except Ireland and the United Kingdom. It does not confer a right to work in the EU.

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin expressed strong support of the United States for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

He wrote this on his Twitter page.

"Today I met with Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and emphasized unwavering U.S. support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity," he wrote.

As Ukrinform reported, being on a three-day visit to Washington, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin met with U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday.

ish
The approval by the Council of the European Union of a visa-free regime for Ukraine is the return of Ukrainians to our common European home.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this in his address on the occasion of the decision of the Council of the EU to approve legislative initiative on the introduction of visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens, the press service of the Head of State reported.

"The EU Council of Ministers has just adopted a final decision to grant us, Ukrainian citizens, the right to visa-free travel. On May 17 in Strasbourg, in the premises of the European Parliament, respective legislative act will be solemnly signed pursuant to our agreement with our European friends. Probably, this will be one of my most important visits in three years of service at the post of President of Ukraine," he stressed.

The Head of State says that he is eternally grateful to everyone who helped him fulfill one of his main election promises.

"Congratulations, fellow Ukrainians, on this historic decision of the Council of the European Union. This is like returning home after a long and exhausting trip Returning to our common European home! Appreciate your Ukrainian passport. And love Ukraine!" the Head of State stressed.

The President notes that approximately on June 11, 34 European countries will turn on the green light for the owners of Ukrainian biometric passports - for visa-free short-term trips. There will be no more queues in embassies and visa centers. There will be no more exhausting rigamarole with paper collection. People will save money spent for consular fees and services of intermediaries.

At the same time, Poroshenko underlines that visa-free regime is much more than just a simplified way to travel abroad. It is a giant step towards Europe, towards assertion of human freedom and independence of our state. We get rid of the post-Soviet past and increasingly become part of the common European civilization.

ish
The mission of the International Monetary Fund will visit Ukraine on May 16 to agree on the pension reform.

Head of the Social Policy Ministry of Ukraine Andriy Reva said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

"We still have a few technical questions regarding the pension reform. On May 16 we expect the visit of the IMF mission representatives to agree on a final version of the pension reform," he said.

At the same time, Reva did not specify what technical issues would be discussed. "It is too early to talk about this," the minister said.

ish
For Ukraine, the development of bilateral relations with the United States of America is extremely important.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this at a meeting in Kyiv with representatives of the U.S. Congress, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The development of bilateral relations with the United States is extremely important and plays an important role in formation of our national identity and independence. Today I would like to express my gratitude for your support and clear position on deepening of bilateral cooperation in the establishment and restoration of our territorial integrity, defense sphere and necessary transformations and changes that Ukraine needs," Groysman said.

He has noted that the last three years were very difficult for our country, and now it is very important that Ukraine can count on support of its international partners.

ish
Violence in the time of polls

Govt and security forces need to be alert, but constructive public engagement is best policing
 GenomeDx Biosciences today announced the launch of its Decipher Bladder Cancer Classifier (Decipher Bladder) following the publication of a study supporting its development and validation. GenomeDx believes that Decipher Bladder is the first commercially available clinical assay to subtype muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) with a high degree of accuracy. The study, Impact of molecular subtypes in muscle-invasive bladder cancer on predicting response and survival outcome to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, was published online ahead of print in European Urology We believe that Decipher Bladder is the first commercially available genomic test available for muscle invasive bladder cancer patients facing very challenging decisions around their care, said Doug Dolginow, M.D., chief executive officer of GenomeDx. We believe that use of genomic information will be essential for all patients with MIBC and are excited to see further results from our ongoing studies of Decipher and the GRID genome-wide expression analysis that support the utility of genomics in this underserved population.Molecular subtyping of MIBC may be used to better prioritize patients diagnosed with aggressive bladder cancer to pursue underutilized standard of care chemotherapy before bladder removal surgery. MIBC is a high-grade bladder tumor that has significant risks of recurrence, metastasis and death. The standard treatment for these patients is neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by radical cystectomy. Suboptimal response rates to chemotherapy and the associated burden of cisplatin-based treatment underscore the need to develop new tools to help better identify patients who may benefit most from chemotherapy.The prospectively designed retrospective study enrolled 343 patients with MIBC treated at seven institutions from Canada, Europe and the United States. Using the Decipher assay, the samples were classified with a high degree of accuracy (AUC >0.85) according to four consensus subtypes proposed by the University of North Carolina, The Cancer Genome Atlas project and other leading MIBC research groups. In 305 evaluable patients, the study validated the previous findings that patients with favorable prognosis luminal tumors had the best overall survival, irrespective of treatment regimen, while basal tumors showed a nearly 30% improvement in overall survival with NAC compared to surgery alone and should be prioritized for treatment.Despite evidence demonstrating a survival benefit of NAC in MIBC, uptake remains low. Use of Decipher to identify bladder cancer subtypes with the most to gain from chemotherapy may help improve its utilization in clinical practice, said Peter Black M.D., associate professor at the University of British Columbia, and lead investigator of this study. Decipher genome-wide RNA expression analysis has great potential as a tool to help us better treat patients and continue our research of bladder cancer that we believe will benefit future patients as well.GenomeDxs 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 worlds 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, GenomeDxs 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 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. GenomeDxs 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 patients unique genomic profile. GenomeDx is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and operates a clinical laboratory in San Diego, California.
The Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment Post-Surgical (CAPRA-S) score is a simple post-operative risk assessment tool predicting disease recurrence after radical prostatectomy, which is easily calculated using available clinical data. To be widely useful, risk tools require multiple external validations. We aimed to validate the CAPRA-S score in an Australian multi-institutional population, including private and public settings and reflecting community practice.

The study population were all men on the South Australian Prostate Cancer Clinical Outcomes Collaborative Database with localized prostate cancer diagnosed during 1998-2013, who underwent radical prostatectomy without adjuvant therapy (n = 1664). Predictive performance was assessed via Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional regression analyses, Harrell's Concordance index, calibration plots and decision curve analysis.

Biochemical recurrence occurred in 342 (21%) cases. Five-year recurrence-free probabilities for CAPRA-S scores indicating low (0-2), intermediate (3-5) and high risk were 95, 79 and 46%, respectively. The hazard ratio for CAPRA-S score increments was 1.56 (95% confidence interval 1.49-1.64). The Concordance index for 5-year recurrence-free survival was 0.77. The calibration plot showed good correlation between predicted and observed recurrence-free survival across scores. Limitations include the retrospective nature and small numbers with higher CAPRA-S scores.

The CAPRA-S score is an accurate predictor of recurrence after radical prostatectomy in our cohort, supporting its utility in the Australian setting. This simple tool can assist in post-surgical selection of patients who would benefit from adjuvant therapy while avoiding morbidity among those less likely to benefit.

ANZ journal of surgery. 2017 May 04 [Epub ahead of print]

Kerri Beckmann, Michael O'Callaghan, Andrew Vincent, David Roder, Jeremy Millar, Sue Evans, John McNeil, Kim Moretti

Centre for Population Health Research, School of Health Science, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia., South Australian Prostate Cancer Clinical Outcomes Collaborative (SA-PCCOC), Department of Urology, Repatriation General Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia., Discipline of Medicine and Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia., School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28471003
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.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will grill President Donald Trump about the U.S. decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish militia when he visits Washington next week.

"The fight against the terrorist organization Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Islamic State] should not be carried out with another terrorist organization," Erdogan said Wednesday. "This kind of step would endanger the future of Syria and the region."

The YPG Kurdish militia is widely recognized as the most effective in Syria in fighting Islamic State.

However, it is considered by Ankara to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' party, PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state. Turkey and the U.S. have designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.

"Every weapon obtained by the People's Protection Units [YPG] constitutes a threat to Turkey," declared Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Erdogan in Washington

Erdogan's Washington visit is seen as the most important leg of his international tour to bolster his legitimacy, after last month's controversial referendum victory granting him sweeping powers. The vote remains marred by voter fraud allegations.

The ongoing controversy over Kurdish fighters is a point of contention between allies, especially as most experts predicted Washington would ultimately arm the YPG.

"It's obvious Americans are quite pragmatic about the Syrian question," said Atilla Yesilada, political consultant of Global Source Partners. "They prefer Kurds, not because they are in love with them, but simply because Kurds have 50,000 valiant fighters at the gates of Raqqa. What they need is heavy weaponry."

Weapons and PKK

The kind of weapons Washington will ultimately deliver to the YPG will likely be closely followed by Ankara. The Turkish military has repeatedly claimed that sophisticated anti-tank missiles delivered by its Western allies to Syrian Kurdish forces have fallen into the hands of the PKK fighting in Turkey.

Washington is going on the charm offensive.

"We'll work out any of the concerns," U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday. "We will work very closely with Turkey in support of their security on their southern border. It's Europe's southern border, and we'll stay closely connected."

But the YPG is still claiming victory.

"We believe that from now on and after this historic decision, [the YPG] will play a stronger, more influential and more decisive role in combating terrorism at a fast pace," spokesman Redur Xelil said in a written statement to Reuters.

Ankara has threatened retaliation against its Western partners if they pursued a policy of arming what it considers to be terrorists. U.S. forces depend heavily on the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, not only for military operations against Islamic State, but also as a strategic logistics hub. Turkish ministers from time to time have threatened Washington over its use, but analysts predict Ankara remains reluctant to take such a drastic step and risk wrecking relations with Trump.

Erdogan has met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, five times in less than a year, most recently this month in Sochi. But given that Moscow also is backing the YPG, Ankara's room for maneuvering is viewed as limited.

Washington's decision to support the YPG will also likely preclude any repeat of last month's Turkish military strikes against the Syrian Kurdish militia, both in Syria and Iraq.

"The Americans have pushed Ankara into a corner where no military operations against the presence of YPG in Syria are possible and, second, Ankara from now on will have to live with the fact the YPG is a political organization like any other that is fighting Islamic State," said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen.
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday testified in a corruption case against him, coming face-to-face for the first time with the federal judge overseeing a mammoth probe that has upended Latin America's largest nation.

Silva's hearing was closed to the press and not broadcast live, two of the many measures taken by Judge Sergio Moro and authorities in the southeastern city of Curitiba amid concerns of sparking violence. Authorities planned to release a recording of the hearing a few hours after it ended.

Globo News captured images of Silva arriving to the court in a black sedan with a police escort.

Thousands of supporters  both of Silva and Moro  were separated by a few miles (kilometers) and hundreds of police in riot gear controlled several square blocks around the federal courthouse.

"Brazil's most popular politician in the last 30 years is going before a judge like any regular citizen," said Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. "That is very rare in Brazilian politics."

Silva, president between 2003 and 2010, was testifying about allegations that he received a beachfront apartment as a kickback from construction company OAS. Prosecutors also allege that OAS did repairs to the apartment and paid to store Silva's belongings. The former president denies the charges, along with those related to several other cases of corruption against him.

His testimony came after several attempts by his defense team to postpone the hearing. The last appeal, to the Supreme Federal Tribunal, Brazil's highest court, was denied about an hour before his testimony began.

Silva's defense team argued it needed more time to analyze the case. Silva opponents counter that it was an excuse to prolong the case. The defense has also said it wants to call more than 80 witnesses.

Silva has reason to drag out the process. He has signaled his interest in running for president in 2018, and leads in preference polls. He would be ineligible, however, if he is convicted and that conviction is upheld on appeal.

Moro, who has become a national hero to many Brazilians while overseeing the so-called "Car Wash" investigation, is known for reaching judgments relatively quickly and then denying the release of convicts while they appeal.

Since it launched in March 2014, the investigation centered at state oil company Petrobras has led to the convictions of dozens of top politicians and businessmen. Many more are being investigated in the kickback scheme, which prosecutors say involved more than $3 billion in bribes over more than a decade. The probe has also spread beyond Brazil to several Latin American countries.

In a sign of the pressure surrounding Silva's case, last week Moro posted a video in which he asked supporters of the investigation not to come out. During a public appearance this week, he also downplayed the hearing, saying it was procedural and that no decision would be reached Wednesday.

For his part, Silva has started hinting at getting revenge for what he insists is a witch hunt aimed at keeping him from returning to the presidency.

"If they don't arrest me soon, maybe one day I'll arrest them for lying," Silva told members of his Workers' Party during a gathering last week, according to daily Folha de S. Paulo.
Pakistan says a border dispute that triggered recent deadly clashes with Afghanistan is likely to be settled later this week, paving the way for Islamabad to fully reopen a busy crossing with the landlocked neighboring country.

The Pakistani military reiterated on Wednesday that clashes erupted after Afghan forces fired at government enumerators trying to conduct a census-related activity on the Pakistani side of two divided villages in the southwestern town of Chaman.

The skirmishes left casualties on both sides, and heavy gunfire continued for hours until the two sides agreed to conduct a joint geological survey of the border villages to "remove discrepancies."

"Now surveyor generals from the two sides have sat down together and examined the maps, and I think the dispute will be settled in a day or two and, accordingly, [next steps will be taken]. Obviously, we have no such desire to have access over Afghanistan's territory. So, hopefully this issue will be resolved," said Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's foreign policy adviser.

Mutual 'misunderstandings'

Afghan authorities insist they opened fire to prevent Pakistani forces from "occupying our land" and had alerted the other side against conducting any activity in the disputed area.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday, Aziz maintained that the border line passes through the two villages and it was difficult to determine its exact location, which created mutual "misunderstandings" and prompted last week's "unfortunate" clashes.

Pakistan also swiftly closed the Chaman border crossing, stranding thousands of travelers as well as trade and transit convoys headed to landlocked Afghanistan.

However, Aziz said Pakistani authorities have made an exception for ailing Afghans and those visiting the country on valid visas, allowing them to leave and return home through the Chaman crossing. He went on to say Islamabad will consider reopening the crossing for all traffic once differences over the two border villages are resolved.

Counterterrorism efforts

Earlier, Aziz told a conference of Pakistani and Afghan officials, as well as regional experts, that Pakistani forces have "successfully eliminated" terrorism infrastructure in traditionally militant-dominated tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan's counterterrorism operations and border security measures along a nearly 2,600-kilometer frontier between the two countries are part of efforts Islamabad is making to help stabilize Afghanistan.

"We have to extend our security presence right up to the border, otherwise if we create a security vacuum it will again be filled by undesirable elements," Aziz warned.

"So, we hope that in due course when peace returns to Afghanistan, the option of a soft border or no border can be implemented once again. But right now, we cannot afford our tribal areas again to be infested by undesirable elements," he noted.

WATCH: Pakistan Official Addresses Taliban, Violence, Peace

Aziz reiterated that a negotiated settlement between the Afghan government and Taliban can only bring peace to the war-ravaged nation.

"Toward this end, Pakistan has been making sincere efforts for facilitating talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Our consistent message to the Taliban has been that they must give up violence and join the peace process," he explained.

Afghanistan and Pakistan accuse each other of harboring militants involved in terrorist attacks in both countries. Aziz insisted that once in place, Islamabad's border security plans will address mutual concerns and ease tensions in bilateral ties.

Afghan officials oppose Pakistani border security plans because Kabul has traditionally disputed portions of the frontier that were demarcated by former British rulers of the Indian subcontinent.

Islamabad dismisses those objections and maintains it inherited the international border when Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947.
Pizza Hut has apologized and fired an advertising firm responsible for an Israeli Facebook ad that mocked the leader of a mass Palestinian hunger strike.

The ad on Pizza Hut Israel's Facebook page was deleted, and the parent company said in a statement that the post was "completely inappropriate."

The ad attempted to make light of Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned leader of the 24-day-old hunger strike.

Barghouti, 58, is serving five life terms after an Israeli court convicted him of directing attacks during a 2000 Palestinian uprising that killed five people. Barghouti, in prison since 2002, never mounted a defense, saying the court had no jurisdiction over him.

Barghouti said he demands better conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israeli alleges Barghouti, widely seen as a potential successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is using the strike to raise his profile.

On Sunday, Israel's Prison Service released a video claiming to show Barghouti secretly snacking; Palestinians allege the video was fabricated. Pizza Hut then published a Facebook post with a pizza box superimposed on Barghouti's prison cell, asking if he would rather have broken his hunger strike with a pizza.

In a statement released by Pizza Hut International's Middle East Twitter account on Tuesday, the company said it apologized for any offense and said the ad "does not reflect the values of our brand." A spokesman for Pizza Hut's parent company in the U.S., Yum! Brands Inc., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Erez Rubenstein, a partner at the Israeli advertising company behind the ad, confirmed his firm had been dismissed and said the Facebook post was regrettable in hindsight. "We didn't mean to offend anybody," he said.

The fate of prisoners is an emotional issue for Palestinians. During decades of conflict, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have spent time in Israeli prisons for offenses ranging from stone throwing to participating in deadly attacks. Palestinians say Israel's military court system is rigged against them.

Pizza Hut International's statement came in response to a Twitter campaign to boycott the company, which operates in Israel, the West Bank and around the Arab world. The Palestinian Prisoners' Media Committee called off its boycott of Pizza Hut after accepting the apology.

Meeting canceled

Meanwhile, Barghouti's lawyer, Khader Shkirat, said the Israel Prison Service abruptly canceled a planned prison meeting with his client that had been scheduled for Thursday. Shkirat was later informed he would be able to see Barghouti on Sunday.

The attorney said he was given no explanation. He said he is increasingly concerned about Barghouti, who has been held in isolation since the start of the hunger strike on April 17.

"We want to know exactly what his health situation is," Shkirat said. "The fact that the Israelis are not allowing anybody to visit him makes us more worried."

Assaf Librati, a spokesman for the prison service, confirmed the visit had been canceled, but said he did not know the reason.

Barghouti's family and supporters allege Israel is trying to demoralize the strikers by keeping him isolated and by recently releasing the video purportedly showing him eating in his cell.

Sari Bashi, a regional director for Human Rights Watch, said the release of the video "raises questions about the violation of the right to privacy."

She said it's also problematic to "make an allegation against somebody who is in your custody and then hold him incommunicado so he cannot respond to that allegation."

The video was released Sunday and led the evening news on Israeli TV channels.

Librati said "we thought it's important for the public to see the behavior of the hunger strike leader," but he did not address the privacy issue. "We did not expect the video to break the hunger strike or stop it," he said.

The level of prisoner participation in the strike has held largely steady since the release of the video. Librati said 870 prisoners were still participating in the strike Wednesday, compared to 890 late last week.

Appeal to pope

Israel holds about 6,500 Palestinians for offenses carried out in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from stone-throwing to membership in groups outlawed by Israel and attacks that wounded or killed Israelis. Several hundred are being held without trial in so-called administrative detention.

Israel has refused to negotiate with the prisoners, who seek better conditions, including the key demand of more family visits.

Also Wednesday, Barghouti's wife, Fadwa, sent an open letter to Pope Francis, urging him to speak out in support of the prisoners.

"We are an entire nation held captive and the Palestinian prisoners are the most dramatic reflection of this long and horrific captivity," she wrote. "How can the world remain silent in the face of such an injustice?"
Sharia prosecutors in Indonesia's Aceh province say two men on trial for gay sex should each be punished with 80 lashes, in another blow to the country's moderate image after a top Christian official was imprisoned for blasphemy.

The lead prosecutor, Gulmaini, who goes by one name, said Wednesday the two men aged 20 and 23 had "confessed" to being in a gay relationship, which was supported by video footage and other evidence found in their rented room.

The men were led into the court handcuffed together, with their tops pulled up to partially obscure their faces.

The couple was arrested in late March after neighborhood vigilantes in the provincial capital Banda Aceh suspected them of being gay and set out to catch them having sex. Mobile phone footage that circulated online and forms part of the evidence shows one of the men naked and visibly distressed as he apparently calls for help on his cellphone. The second man is repeatedly pushed by another man, who is preventing the couple from leaving the room.

If found guilty, the men will be the first to be caned for gay sex under a new Sharia code implemented in Aceh two years ago. Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia to practice Sharia law, which was a concession made by the national government in 2006 to end a years-long war with separatists.

Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam has been battered in the past year due to attacks on religious minorities, a surge in persecution of gays and a polarizing election campaign for Jakarta governor that highlighted the growing strength of hardline Islamic groups.

On Tuesday, the outgoing Jakarta governor, a minority Christian, was sentenced to two years in prison for blaspheming the Quran.

In Aceh, the Sharia court's panel of three judges will announce its verdict next week.

Gulmani told reporters that the men did not accept the court's offer to appoint a defense lawyer. He declined to elaborate, but guilty verdicts are certain in most cases that reach the Sharia court.

The Sharia code allows up to 100 lashes for morality offenses including gay sex. Caning is also a punishment for adultery, gambling, drinking alcohol, women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers.

Human Rights Watch has called for authorities to immediately release the two men. "These men had their privacy invaded in a frightening and humiliating manner and now face public torture for the `crime' of their alleged sexual orientation," it said in a statement last month.
Humanitarian agencies operating in Somalia say they are concerned about reports of upcoming military offensives in the country at a time when the risk of famine still persists.

The agencies made the statement Wednesday ahead of an international conference on Somalia to be held in London on Thursday.

The director of the humanitarian NGO umbrella organization, Abdurahman Sharif, told VOA Somali that the verge of a famine is not a good time to start military offensive.

Reports of upcoming military offensives in the country are concerning as past experience shows that military offensives make it harder for people to reach help and create even more displacement, he said.

We believe it is imperative that the focus be on humanitarian response and averting famine and that armed conflict is not escalated in the current environment.

The president of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, recently declared war against al-Shabab and has given himself a deadline of two years to defeat the group.

Deteriorating situation

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump also has declared parts of al-Shabab-controlled territory as a war zone, and an escalation of strikes against the militant group is expected.

Aid organizations believe military actions will exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation, which they say is deteriorating, with more than 6 million Somalis in need of assistance.

Sharif said the London Conference on Somalia has an opportunity to galvanize international support for Somalia in particular the humanitarian and development needs of the country.

President Farmajo, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and British Prime Minister Theresa May will co-chair the conference. Delegates from 37 international organizations and countries, including U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, are expected to attend the conference to give support to the new Somali governments plans for security structures and political stability.

Nick Kay, the former U.N. envoy to Somalia and current UK special envoy to the Horn of Africa, says the conference is very important for Somalia.

First, world attention needs to be captured and kept on Somalia, there are so many competing priorities in the world that a conference like this is valuable for making sure people focus on Somalia and dont forget it, he said.

Seeking self-sufficiency

Kay also said the conference is important to set priorities for the next four years and determine how Somalia will achieve them. He says Somalia is at a turning point, a watershed.

After this, in 2017 onwards, Somalia is taking more and more responsibilities for its own affairs. The conference will put on the table for the first time the idea of a transition plan from AMISOM to the Somali national security forces," Kay said. "It will agree a security pact which is the structure of the future Somali security forces and how the international community will support it.

Political agreements reached by the federal government and regional administrations recently outlines the structure and the future size of the Somali army, police and regional forces. The structure says Somalia will have at least 18,000 national army, 4,000 Special Forces, 32,000 police forces and additional regional forces. On top of this, the government will work on creating national air forces and coast guards.

Abdirahman Aynte is the former Somali minister of planning and lead organizer for the conference. He says it is formulated to give Somali government a political support for their plans to stabilize the country in the coming years.

Security, economic development, political stability, and cooperation with international community, these are the main focus of the conference, he said.

Come together and help

Rashid Abdi, the Horn of Africa Project Director for the International Crisis Group, says the international community needs to support Somalia on the security front and with current humanitarian crisis.

Somalia and the international community have a good change to take advantage of this conference, but if it ends up like previous conferences were pledges are not followed up that will create problems for Somalia, he said.

I think the president has a good plan to present to the conference on rebuilding the army and its capacity, this has never happened before. The international community should come together and help Somalia have a capable army that takes over security from AMISOM.

This is the third international conference hosted by the United Kingdom in London in five years. Britain has an embassy in Mogadishu and has also sent an army team of 70 personnel to support Somali security forces and AU mission.

Britain's Horn of Africa envoy Nick Kay says Somalia is a top African conflict priority for his country.

Its a top priority because of the threat that an unstable, insecure Somalia poses both to the region and more widely, because of the affiliation of al-Shabab to al-Qaida and now a small ISIS presence in the country, he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. Its also a threat to international economy from piracy and its also a dire humanitarian crisis where currently there is alert for famine and very hard drought situation.
South Korean President Moon Jae-ins office said Thursday he plans to send a delegation to Beijing to discuss North Koreas nuclear program and Chinas concerns about a U.S. missile defense system being deployed in South Korea.

The leaders spoke by telephone a day after Moon was sworn in to replace the ousted Park Geun-hye.

Denuclearize peninsula

Moons spokesman said the presidents agree on the common goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, and that Moon understands Chinas concerns about the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

South Korea has worked with the United States to develop THAAD to help protect it in case of a North Korean missile attack. The first part of the system became operational early this month, and the full capabilities are expected to be set up by the end of the year.

China views THAAD as a threat and a destabilizing influence in the region, and has retaliated against South Korea with limits on tourism and imports.

Diplomatic effort

Moon said at his inauguration Wednesday he is prepared to lead a major international diplomatic effort to find a peaceful resolution to the tense security situation.

If needed I will fly directly to Washington. I will go to Beijing and Tokyo. And if conditions are met I will go to Pyongyang. In order to bring about peace and security on the Korean Peninsula I will do everything that I can, he said.

Moon wants to increase dialogue and engagement with North Korea while also maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change. His position conflicts with that of U.S. President Donald Trump, who seeks to increase pressure on Pyongyang through further isolation and sanctions.



Korea Economic Institute analyst Troy Stangarone told VOA that Moon has stated he would only negotiate with North Korea after consulting with the United States.

"I would think that the [U.S.] administration would like to hear out what he has in mind, how viable that might be, and how it might fit into their policy, which is maximum pressure and engagement," he said.

Stangarone also added that whatever international plans Moon has, the economic situation in South Korea and the fact that he was elected following an impeachment mean that domestic issues will constrain what he wants to do.
General James Ajongo was sworn in Wednesday as the new SPLA army chief, a day after South Sudan President Salva Kiir fired his predecessor, General Paul Malong, with no explanation.

Ajongo said he would work to implement the security arrangements stipulated in the 2015 peace agreement and strive to end the fighting. He also said he would address the increasing numbers of armed groups across South Sudan who are trying to topple Kiir's government.

Amid tight security in and around the Presidential Palace, Ajongo was sworn in by South Sudan's chief justice in front of a small audience of government officials. Afterward, Ajongo told reporters he recognized that the conflict is South Sudan's biggest problem.

"It is a difficult task, given the fact the country is actually in conflict by itself, but making use of our good human resources [of] my colleagues behind here, I believe that they are the right people who [are] posted in the right place. We will be able to manage the situation, and we will exit from this conflict," Ajongo said.

Career soldier

Like Malong, Ajongo is from Aweil in the former Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.

Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny described Ajongo as a career soldier. "He is the former deputy chief of general staff for administration and finance. ... He has been in the SPLA since 1983 and he has not taken any position like General Malong."

Malong, sometimes referred to by supporters as "King Paul" for his lack of remorse, was appointed by Kiir in 2014. Since taking office, he has never seen peace in his country.

Malong was born sometime in the early 1950s in Warawar, north of Aweil town. His exact birthdate was not recorded. In 1969, he attended basic school in his home village before completing intermediate studies at St. James in Khartoum. Malong completed school in Khartoum and returned to Aweil to form Anya-Nya, a military and political movement, which later became part of the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Presidential guard unit

In 2005, Malong set up the South Sudan presidential guard unit of the army, becoming commander of the Republican Guard. He served as a deputy of the National Intelligence and Security Services in Khartoum after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Malong was promoted to general by Sudan President Omar al-Bashir that same year.

In April 2008, Malong was appointed governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state. After fighting broke out in December 2013 in Juba, Malong was appointed SPLA chief of staff in April 2014, a position he held until Tuesday.

Malong vowed to restore law and order. Since his appointment, however, fighting has continued across South Sudan, even spreading to areas that were previously calm.

Malong was accused of recruiting pro-government militias known as the Mathiang Anyor who reportedly attacked civilians in Wau, Yei, Kajokeji, Parjok, Magawi and Morobo in the former Central Equatoria state.

Malong arrived in Yirol in Eastern Lakes State on Wednesday, where he was cheered by supporters.

Malong reportedly headed home to Aweil with a heavily armed convoy. That has aroused fears among some residents of possible clashes between government forces and those allied to the general.

Further splits feared

Aweil resident Abraham Wol Kom is one of them.

"The presidential decree which relieved the chief of staff is very surprising," he said. "The decree will increase the current political crisis. It may spark further splits across the nation, and as I speak now, Juba has been deserted. The chief of General Staff has left with a huge number of army."

Resident Mayen Tong feared Malong's firing could lead to another rebellion.

"I am not feeling comfortable. I don't know what this guy will do, because he has been the chief of army. He can rebel against the government," Tong said.

Brian Adeba, associate director of policy at the Enough Project, said that although Malong was a powerful figure, not much would change under Ajongo.

"If you see his replacement, a protege of Malong, he was active in the war front in Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile in the beginning of this war. He's been pictured with Malong at theaters of operation. So he's literally following in the footsteps of Malong," Adeba said.
Students at a university in Florida booed and jeered Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as she tried to speak during their graduation ceremony Wednesday.

Bethune-Cookman University President Edison Jackson warned students to be quiet, to little effect.

"If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you," he told students at the commencement ceremony in Daytona Beach.

Bethune-Cookman traces its history to 1904 and is one of the oldest institutions among U.S. historically black colleges and universities  schools where African-American students make up a large proportion of the student body.

Boos rang out before DeVos stepped to a podium to speak Wednesday, but she began by telling the hundreds of students she hoped they could disagree respectfully.

"Let's choose to hear one another out,'' DeVos said, reading her prepared text in a measured tone despite continuing waves of boos, catcalls and scattered applause.

Protests continued even after Jackson demanded an end to the demonstration. Many of the graduates stood and turned their backs to DeVos as she spoke  about half of the nearly 400 people receiving degrees this term, according to reports from the scene.

Opposition to nomination

DeVos' conservative Republican background and strong views on educational policy attracted strong opposition when President Donald Trump named her to his Cabinet this year. Many African-Americans objected to her comment during Senate confirmation hearings that historically black colleges were the "real pioneers when it comes to school choice"  a reference to her belief that parents and students in the American system of public education should be able to choose between state-run elementary and secondary schools and alternative schools sponsored by churches or other nonpublic groups supported by public funds.

African-American educators and students said DeVos' views were misdirected, because historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, became established as a response to systems of racial segregation widely practiced in the United States during the first half of the 20th century and earlier.

The HBCUs, protesters said, were "born not out of mere choice, but out of necessity, in the face of racism.''

Jackson, Bethune-Cookman's president, had been accused of selling out the school by offering DeVos an honorary doctoral degree and inviting her to address the student body.

Protesters delivered a petition signed by thousands of people urging the university to revoke the invitation to the education secretary, but Jackson refused.
U.S.-backed Syrian militias said they fully seized the town of Tabqa and Syria's largest dam from Islamic State on Wednesday, a major objective as they prepare to launch an assault on Raqqa city.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, have been battling the jihadist group for weeks in Tabqa, some 40 km (25 miles) west of Raqqa, along the Euphrates river.

With airstrikes and special forces from the U.S.-led coalition, the SDF are advancing on Raqqa, Islamic State's base of operations in Syria, to ultimately take the city.

They captured Tabqa thanks to the sacrifices of the SDF's heroes and with the full, unlimited support of the U.S.-led international coalition, said SDF spokesman Talal Silo.

'Completely liberated'

Nasser Haj Mansour, an adviser to the SDF, said the town and the adjacent Tabqa dam were now "completely liberated" after the SDF drove all Islamic State militants out.

Brett McGurk, the U.S.' special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter Islamic State, confirmed on Twitter that Tabqa had been retaken.

"Confirmed: #ISIS defeated in #Tabqa Dam and Tabqa City, now in hands of Syrian Democratic Forces, led by its Syrian Arab Coalition. #SDF", McGurk tweeted.

The Raqqa campaign appeared to have stalled around Tabqa, where the SDF made only slow progress after besieging the town.

They pushed into the town nearly two weeks ago, capturing most of its districts and encircling Islamic State in the dam.

Airborne landing key to victory

The battle for Tabqa began after U.S. forces helped SDF fighters conduct an airborne landing on the southern bank of the Euphrates in late March, allowing them to gain control of an important nearby airbase.

Despite fierce objections from NATO ally Turkey, the United States this week approved supplying arms to the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, a key component of the SDF and their campaign.

Ankara strongly opposes U.S. support of the YPG, viewing it as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency inside Turkey.

The YPG has emerged as a valuable partner for the United States in the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria.

Arming of Kurds necessary

Washington says arming the Syrian Kurdish forces is necessary to capture Raqqa, which Islamic State has used a hub for planning attacks abroad.

Raqqa now lies in an Islamic State enclave on the northern bank of the Euphrates, after the SDF has closed in on the city from the north, east and west in recent months.

Islamic State's only means of crossing to its main territory south of the river is by boat after airstrikes knocked the area's bridges out of service.

The jihadist group still controls swaths of Syria's vast eastern deserts and most of Deir al-Zor province near the border with Iraq, but it has lost tracts of its territory over the past year.
New worries about the state of the U.S.-South Korean alliance are emerging after the swearing-in of liberal Moon Jae-in, whose conciliatory position toward North Korea is markedly different from that of the Trump administration, say analysts who foresee increasing friction between the friendly powers.



In Tuesdays snap election to choose a successor to South Koreas recently ousted President Park Geun-hye, Democratic Party of Korea candidate and former human rights lawyer Moon won by nearly 20 percentage points, capping a decade of conservative rule in South Korea.



Frank Jannuzi, president of the Mansfield Foundation, a U.S.-Asia policy think tank, said the Washington-Seoul partnership that is at stake can be saved only if it's carefully coordinated.

A U.S.-ROK [South Korea] alliance that integrates American pressure and South Korean engagement that includes an emphasis on denuclearization as an objective of [North Korean] policy, that could be a winning formula, Jannuzi said. But it requires careful alliance coordination.

Demand for change



Moons ascent -- which many attribute to pent-up demand for change and the widespread anti-Park sentiment - signals a departure from Seouls current policy toward Pyongyang which cuts almost all ties to the reclusive regime. During the presidential campaign, Moon advocated a softer line on Pyongyang, calling for greater engagement with the North while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.

Moons approach invokes the so-called sunshine policy of South Korea during presidencies of Kim Dae-jung and Rho Moo-hyun. The Comprehensive Engagement Policy towards North Korea was announced in 1998.



It featured dialog and engagement with North Korea, including family reunions, but fell by the wayside with the 2008 election of Lee Myung-bak, a conservative businessman who had opposed the policy in his presidential campaign.

But as Moon, who was Rhos chief of staff, takes a more conciliatory approach, he could face tension with the Trump administration. Its strategy, although not fully spelled out, involves ramping up pressure on Pyongyang and tightening sanctions with the help of China, the North Korean regimes major ally and economic lifeline.

[The Moon administration] wants to go back to the economic engagement approach and  it's hard to reconcile that with this idea that we're going to put huge pressure on North Korea through even more severe forms of economic sanctions and cutting off the flow of trade and capital, David Sneider of Stanford Universitys Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center told VOA.

Collisions foreseen



Sue Mi Terry, a former senior North Korea analyst with the CIA, believes that theres a real risk that Trump and Moon will collide on a number of issues in relation to Pyongyang. The two sides will not be on the same page she said.

For example, Moon has indicated his interest in reopening the now shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex, but Terry said Trump is likely to press his South Korean counterpart to keep it closed.

Going forward, there will be a need for careful and thoughtful management of the alliance relationship by both Washington and Seoul, Terry said.



The Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, a joint North-South project which was established in 2004 for substantive economic engagement and better ties between the two Koreas, has been closed since an early 2016 decision by Seoul to punish Pyongyang for its fourth nuclear test and a long-range missile launch.

THAAD as potential strain



In a discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution Tuesday, Jonathan Pollack, a senior fellow there, stressed that the U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea could also create a possibility of cleavage between Washington and Seoul.

While THAAD is intended to provide security against the growing North Korean missile threat to American troops stationed in South Korea, and the people there, Moon has expressed his discontent with the accelerated installation of the missile shield. He saw the early set-up as a move to prevent a new South Korean leadership from overturning the THAAD deployment decision.

David Straub, a former U.S. State Department official and a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said during the same online discussion at Brookings that THAAD is a critical issue to the South Koreans due in part to Chinas ongoing economic retribution.



"There has been a great deal of economic suffering, Straub explained. The Chinese are quite blatantly punishing South Korea for not stopping the American deployment of a THAAD unit to protect American forces so they can better defend South Korea and deter the North Koreans.



In his inauguration speech Wednesday, Moon vowed to have "serious negotiations" with the U.S. and China over the deployment of the anti-missile system. Pollack said, This could inject a severe strain in the U.S.-South Korea relationship.



Jenny Lee contributed to this report.
Yemen's planning minister says 60 percent of the country's population is in dire poverty more than two years since the Shiite rebels forced the country's internationally recognized government and president out of the capital.



Mohamed El-Saadi says 22 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian relief, a figure that exceeds the U.N.'s recent estimate that 19.8 million in Yemen need assistance.

El-Saadi spoke during a meeting on Wednesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, attended by the Gulf Cooperation Council and international organizations.



He warned that the general security, political and humanitarian situation has witnessed an unprecedented decline.



A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Yemen's Houthi rebels March 2015. The war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed a large portion of the population to the brink of famine.


A welcome sign is photographed at the Hanford nuclear site, in Washington state on Wednesday. The collapse of a tunnel storing contaminated materials on Tuesday forced a lockdown at the facility. (Young Kwak/For The Washington Post)

This town at the edge of the Hanford nuclear site long ago made its peace with the facilitys history of producing plutonium for nuclear bombs.

Bombers Drive-Thru sells milkshakes and burgers. The Richland High School mascot is the Bomber, and a mushroom cloud is painted on the gymnasium floor. Theres Atomic Bowl, Atomic Foods, Atomic Auto Body, Atomic Scuba.

The Atomic Ale Brewpub & Eaterys menu highlights a Reactor Core pizza with nuclear butter and sells house-made beers such as Half-Life Hefeweizen and Oppenheimer Oatmeal Stout.

Hours after the collapse of a 20-foot portion of a Hanford tunnel full of highly contaminated equipment, Adrian Martens was sitting at the bar having a pint after his Tuesday shift. He said people here arent afraid of Hanford  or adopting the atomic iconography as kitsch. Its a fun retro thing, he said. He thinks the news medias panic about the tunnel collapse might be overblown.

[Tunnel collapses at Hanford nuclear site in Washington state]

What isnt overblown is the $6.1 billion annual cost of cleaning up the highly dangerous material at Hanford and the nations other former nuclear weapons sites, vestiges of the Cold War-era arms race. The Energy Department has cleaned up 91 of these sites but is still working on 16 others, including complexes at Oak Ridge in Tennessee and Savannah River in South Carolina.

Hanford is the biggest. The cleanup there started in 1989, and federal and state officials recently agreed to push back the deadline for finishing the job. The Hanford effort alone will cost $2.3 billion this year, and as much as $105 billion in the future, according to a 2016 life-cycle report.



An overhead view of cleanup operations March 21, 2011, at a decommissioned nuclear reactor in Hanford, Wash., home to the Western hemisphere's most contaminated nuclear site. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)

Some nuclear experts said that the collapse of the tunnel Tuesday morning was evidence of faltering infrastructure at the sprawling 580-square-mile Hanford site as the federal government battles to clean up nuclear material, in both solid and liquid forms, that remains there. The tunnel, built a half-century ago with Douglas fir timbers and sealed shut years ago, did not stay closed, exposing contaminated rail cars and other debris to the open air.

Hanford overall is the most contaminated site in North America, and the facility near where the tunnel collapsed today is one of the most contaminated facilities at Hanford, said Dan Serres, conservation director of the Columbia Riverkeeper.

News from the Hanford site Wednesday was limited. The Energy Department said that no contamination has been detected following the cave-in. But it also ordered nonessential employees in part of the site to stay home.

Crews worked through the night to construct a gravel road, and workers wearing protective suits and breathing masks started filling the gaping hole with about 50 truckloads of soil.

Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that if there were a significant release, the radioactivity in the tunnels would make it extremely difficult for workers to continue to monitor the site and carry out cleanup efforts.

Gerry Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a watchdog group for the Hanford cleanup, said the site is vulnerable to natural disasters and that the collapse this week is worrisome because it could mean there are other weaknesses: If you have a partial collapse right now, obviously the integrity of the tunnel is in question for more than just the part that collapsed.



A 20-by-20-foot hole gapes in the roof of a storage tunnel at the Hanford site Tuesday. An emergency was declared after the partial collapse of a tunnel that contains contaminated rail cars and other radioactive waste. (U.S. Energy Department via AP)

The Hanford nuclear site, half the size of Rhode Island, was placed in a far-flung, desolate southeast corner of Washington state, a far cry from the lush green forests and mountains that define the northwestern United States. Its dry and hot here: a patchwork desert that gets little rain but that commands its own unique beauty. When the sun sets here, it boils under a flat black horizon, painting the wide sky in oranges and greens.

The city of Richland largely popped out of the desert during World War II to house the influx of scientists and workers employed at the Manhattan Project site. The plutonium produced at Hanford filled the Fat Man nuclear bomb, which was dropped over Nagasaki, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people.





Today, Richland, Kennewick and Pasco  known as the Tri-Cities  still have a bit of a childrens pop-up book feel: identical-looking houses with bright green lawns and gleaming white fences that sprout out of the desert landscape suddenly and harshly.

Libby Horton, who now lives in Boulder, Colo., was back in her home town of Richland eating pizza at Atomic Ale this week. She shakes her head at the idea of being afraid of a nuclear disaster at Hanford. Her parents both worked there.

People are more educated here about what goes on at the site, she said, noting that shes not bothered by Tuesdays tunnel collapse. My friends on Facebook are laughing about it.

Tracy Lugo, a second-grade teacher, said his school did more drills and training in preparation for a potential leak at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, south of the Tri-Cities in Hermiston, Ore., where the U.S. Army stored chemical weapons until 2011. He doesnt fear a meltdown or leak at Hanford.

Im more concerned about Kim Jong-Un dropping a nuclear bomb on us in the next couple of years, he said. Lugos 13-year-old daughter, Celia, piped up on a point of pride about living in Richland: Its easier to earn the Girl Scouts Get to Know Nuclear merit badge, which allows scouts to visit a nuclear plant.

You learn about how nuclear energy works, Celia said. And wear hazmat suits.

Some academic experts agree that risks related to Hanford are small because any radiation leak from the site would dissipate before it affected nearby towns.

The risk, if people are exposed at low levels, is primarily radiation-induced cancer at some point in the future, said David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. But at the levels were talking about here, which are negligible, I dont think were talking about any risks.



Former Hanford nuclear process operator Lonnie Rouse looks through files for documents related to his illnesses at his house in Pasco, Wash. Rouse claims that he became ill after working at the facility. (Young Kwak/For The Washington Post)

For others, Hanford symbolizes fear, illness and betrayal. Some call themselves Hanford Downwinders because they and their families live downwind of the facility and say they or relatives have become ill from or died of exposure to radioactive materials. Trisha Pritikin, who was raised in the Hanford area, moved away and has been vocal about the diseases her family and friends have. She called Tuesdays emergency declaration both alarming and indicative of the continuing elevated levels of danger to the public from the Hanford facility.

Lonnie Rouse, 55, worked at Hanford as a nuclear process operator for more than two decades. Rouse suffers from toxic encephalopathy and has been denied workers compensation.

Despite Hanford officials insisting there was no radiation leak from the tunnel collapse, on Tuesday night Rouse was certain that is a lie. Hes familiar with the tunnel that collapsed. Constructed to carry spent fuel in rail cars to a reprocessing plant that extracted plutonium, that tunnel and another like it were filled with hazardous debris, including the rail cars.

People dont go in there, Rouse said. And hes skeptical of how long it took for surveillance workers to discover the collapsed tunnel. When that thing opens up, its going to come out of the hole. If theres any kind of a breeze, its going to go everywhere.



Zach Haynes, left, and Scott Brown eat lunch at Bomber's Drive-Thru in Richland, Wash. The two are contract pipe fitters who were locked down for four hours at Hanford on Tuesday. (Young Kwak/For The Washington Post)

Union pipe fitter Scott Brown, 41, said he was on emergency lockdown at Hanford for four hours on Tuesday just east of the collapsed tunnel, something he said had never happened while hes worked there. He said he was told not to report to work Wednesday but that it raised no concerns for him because the site takes precautions.

Everybody thinks its so scary, Brown said. Its still the safest, cleanest form of energy. We need more nukes.

If anywhere is a hub of whats happening in Richland, its the Spudnut Shop  a small doughnut shop with brown leather booths. At a table in the corner sat a group of retirees sipping coffee and eating the signature potato-flour doughnuts.

We all glow in the dark, joked Bill ORell, a 94-year-old war veteran. Next to him, Gary Horton, 76, who worked at Hanford, says that people here dont worry about the place. You have more radiation in Seattle than we have here, he said. At Hanford, Horton said, You cant go into a building without being measured.

Maurice Horton, Garys 68-year-old brother who worked as a parachemist at the lab, joined the group and echoed what his brother said: A lot of people across the mountain, they blow everything up into a major thing. Our biggest problem here is the government would like to put a fence around this place.

He says cleanup efforts here have to continue and cant be derailed by infrastructure issues: The government caused this problem, and they should take care of it until its safe for everybody.



Students run in the gym at Richland High School in Richland, Wash. 2017. (Young Kwak/For The Washington Post)

Mufson and Bever reported from Washington. Kristine Phillips in Washington contributed to this report.
Again and again, the 19th-century European novel returns to its favorite theme: lost illusions. Balzacs fiction regularly tracks the corruption of visionaries and idealists; War and Peace ends with its surviving characters abandoning the romantic dreams of youth to embrace a complacent, bourgeois middle age; those famously restless wives  Emma Bovary, Effi Briest and Anna Karenina, among many others  learn that adultery can be at least as disappointing as marriage.

In some ways, disillusionment might be viewed as simply another name for maturity. Thats certainly among the underlying meanings of The Same Old Story , Stephen Pearls English title for his new translation of Ivan Goncharovs tragicomic first novel. But there are other, more jaded implications, too, mainly concerning love.

Because 19th-century Russia abounds in stupendous literary figures, Ivan Goncharov (1812-1891) can be easily overlooked, though his masterpiece, Oblomov , should sound vaguely familiar, if only because it is sometimes described as the story of a guy who doesnt want to get out of bed. A marvelous character, Oblomov is as innately guileless, comic and kindly as Forrest Gump. Tolstoy confessed to being enraptured by him (perhaps because he saw in himself something of the same combination of holy fool, aristocratic parasite and Buddhist saint). Chekhov, no less, declared that Goncharov had 10 times his own talent.

[Can a chic Parisian intellectual also be a Christian?]

True to its title, The Same Old Story tells a very familiar story. Twenty-year-old Alexander travels from a sleepy backwater to St. Petersburg, where he plans to seek his fortune. His mother  who has pampered him his whole life  persuades his Uncle Pyotr, a successful no-nonsense businessman, to help this naive young man. Pyotr first asks his nephew precisely why he left home for the big city:

 It was some kind of irresistible urge, a thirst for some noble endeavour; I was bursting to find out what that might be, and to make a start on it . . .

Pyotr Ivanych half rose from the divan, took out a cigar and pricked up his ears.

 Yes, make a start on fulfilling all those hopes and dreams teeming inside me. . . 

 You dont happen to write poetry, do you? Pyotr Ivanych suddenly asked him.

And prose too, Uncle. Shall I bring some to show you?

 No no, some other time; I was just asking. 

Pyotr recognizes that Alexander is infatuated with the idea of love, friendship, happiness and the glittering prizes of life, but has utterly failed to grasp what really matters: Making money. He himself orders his life like an accountant, never giving way to emotion but always remaining rational, sensible and focused. Well-intentioned despite his tough-love brusqueness, Pyotr finds his nephew a solid clerical job in his factory and later secures him some assignments translating reports about fertilizer and potato starch. Little wonder that Alexander complains to a friend that his uncle has no feeling for the finer things; why, I dont believe he has even read Pushkin.

Naturally, its only a matter of time before our poetical hero falls in love. Alas, things dont quite work out for Alexander. First, Nadenka, a charming girl of 18, brings him indescribable joy, but even greater jealous torment. Next he grows infatuated with an emotionally needy widow in her late 20s  until she proves smotheringly possessive. He then toys with the affections of a naive young woman as sentimental and innocent as he once was. In the end, though, loves story is always the same  hearts grow fickle, desire cools, intensity gives way to weariness and boredom. Yet, as Uncle Pyotr contends, what does it matter? Isnt it enough that you were loved, you reveled in it  and now its over?

Alexander, though, argues back that it is a mans delusions, dreams and hopes that make him happy  not reality. Perhaps. But once you lose those delusions, dreams and hopes, what then? Alexander slowly grows disgusted with people and repelled by the world: Nothing abides, everything seems built on sand. He retreats to his bedroom, to the bottle, to the company of low-class friends.

Theres nothing I want, nothing I am seeking, he explains to his tenderhearted aunt, except peace and quiet, and peace of mind. Ive tasted the emptiness and worthlessness of life, and thoroughly despise it. . . . I have no goals, because whatever people strive for or achieve  in the end its nothing but a will o the wisp. For me, joy is a thing of the past.

By this point, Alexander has grown nearly as self-torturing as Dostoevskys Underground Man. So he returns home to his mother.  Where does it hurt? she asks  Here and here,  he replies, pointing to his head and his heart. Still, Goncharov isnt through with this old story yet. Before the end, Uncle Pyotr will be forced to re-examine his own utilitarian values and Alexander, like so many characters in 19th-century fiction, will find success. But what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

[A treasure trove for book lovers: Michael Dirda picks books about books]

While Goncharovs first novel lacks the perfected artistry of Oblomov, the conversations between Alexander and his uncle are witty and gripping, the various love affairs poignant and credible, several minor characters are deliciously comic, and the whole book well worth rediscovery. However, this editions astute introduction  by Goncharov scholar Galya Diment  should be saved until youve finished the novel. Let the readers unmediated pleasure come first. After all, according to Vissarion Belinsky, Russias most famous literary critic, reading The Same Old Story is like eating cool watermelon on a hot summer day.

Michael Dirda reviews books on Thursday for Style.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has opened an investigation into a D.C. inmate who was released from federal prison  despite extensive allegations of sexual misconduct against corrections officers and nurses  and went on to commit a brutal rape in a neighborhood near Capitol Hill in 2015.

The inmate, Antwon Pitt, was the subject of a Washington Post series last year that focused on the lack of rehabilitation and oversight for young, violent offenders sentenced under the Youth Rehabilitation Act in the District of Columbia.

After a conviction for a D.C. robbery, Pitt served a two-year prison sentence at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in central Florida. While there, he repeatedly dropped his pants, masturbated and threatened to rape nurses and corrections officers, according to prison records and interviews with staffers. Nine times, prison officials referred Pitt to the FBI for investigation. Altogether, he had more than 20 documented instances of alleged sexual misconduct against prison staffers.

[How an inmate who repeatedly threatened to rape his guards ended up on a bus back to D.C.]

He was not prosecuted by the U.S. attorneys Office for the Middle District of Florida. When his sentence was completed, Pitt was put on a bus and sent back to the District. In the fall of 2015, he cut off his court-monitored GPS bracelet and, after a drug arrest in a library, was released by a D.C. Superior Court judge despite a written warning that no release conditions would ensure the safety of the community. The rape of the Capitol Hill woman  a local college professor who is a mother of two young girls  occurred two weeks later.

Antwon Pitt (Prince Georges County States Attorney's Office)

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent letters Wednesday to the acting directors of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the FBI asking for documents related to Pitts egregious misconduct.

Im just grateful that theyre doing this, said advisory neighborhood commissioner Denise Krepp, who said that she previously sent a letter to Chaffetz asking that he look into the issue. A woman was raped by a guy who should have never been out of a prison. The FBI investigated and nothing happened. Why not? This was a collective failure that hurt real people.

Additionally, the inquiry will focus on bonuses paid to wardens, along with a class-action lawsuit filed by female staffers at Coleman who allege that prison officials routinely ignored inmates incidents of sexual aggression and masturbation toward employees. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) recently agreed to settle the lawsuit for $20 million.

This is exactly what we all want, said Jose Rojas, the president of the union of Coleman corrections officers. We want to hold individuals accountable for horrendous decisions which cause human tragedy which could have been easily prevented.

A BOP spokeswoman said that the agency is reviewing the letter from Chaffetz and will be responding to the committee.

The scope of the investigation will also encompass communications between BOP and the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, which was the federal agency in the District responsible for monitoring Pitt after his release from prison.

Pitt, now 22, was sentenced by a D.C. judge to serve 60 years for the rape. He is currently being held at the United States Penitentiary-McCreary in Kentucky, where his projected release date is 2068.


(Illustration by Andreas Gefe)

Laura Jeu knew something was wrong when her mother, Sharon, returned from a custody hearing in late November 2011. Sharon Jeu simply told her four children to get ready to go see their father. But the look in her mothers eyes signaled to Laura, then 16, that this wouldnt be a typical visitation exchange in her parents six-year custody battle.

I could tell she had been crying, recalled Laura, a petite, dark-haired 22-year-old. As she recounted the story, she picked the frayed edge of her plaid shirt. I knew something out of the ordinary had happened. There was no way I was getting in that car.

What Laura didnt know was that Loudoun County (Va.) Circuit Court Judge Burke McCahill had just granted her father, Raphael, temporary custody of the children so he could take them to a four-day workshop in California to repair their relationship. The judge ordered Sharon to bring the children from her home in Pennsylvania to their therapists office in Virginia without telling them where they were ultimately going, according to the interim custody order. If Sharon couldnt get them to comply, McCahill warned, a warrant would be issued for her arrest.

She was supposed to lie, said June Burke, a family friend, who accompanied Sharon to the court hearing. But the children knew something was wrong.

Alarmed, the children refused to get into the car, and, Sharon recalled, not only were her children too old to be forced, she had grave concerns about their mental health. Desperate, she called a local emergency psychiatric unit, which sent on-call therapists to the house; they, too, failed to persuade the children to enter the car.

Without telling her mother, Laura recalled, she telephoned Sharons attorney, saying she and her brothers were suicidal. The attorney called the emergency unit again, which told Sharon to bring Laura and the three boys  then 13, 12 and 9 years old  to Chambersburg Hospital in Chambersburg, Pa. Sharon and her children were in the emergency room when Raphael arrived with the custody order, a few friends and the Chambersburg police. The hospital released the children to Raphael, who got the four children into a minivan and drove them to his house. I hugged them and told them to be strong and to have faith, while I was telling myself the same, Sharon recalled. (The hospital did not comment, citing privacy issues.)

I was shocked at how upset and stressed and irrational the children were, and Laura in particular kept yelling, Hes going to kill me,  said Jeff Milrod, a friend of Raphaels from the Church of the Holy Spirit in Leesburg, Va. I did not understand how she could say that, added Milrod, who described Raphael as a kind and loving man.

Stunned and homesick, the children remained in Raphaels home for two weeks, the older siblings said, with occasional visits from members of the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office and Child Protective Services. (CPS didnt respond to requests for information.) Though neither remembers this time well, David, now 19, said there were adults and police going in and out of the house, while he and his siblings mostly sat on the couch in a daze.

The night of Dec. 14, Laura and David recalled, they were abruptly awakened by Raphael, accompanied by four burly adults. The grown-ups, from Bill Lane & Associates, a youth transport service based in San Diego, shuttled the disoriented children into cars. With little understanding of what was happening, the frightened children were separated and sent off: Laura recalled that she went with a man and a woman, while the three boys went with the other two men. After spending the rest of that night at a motel, Laura was taken to Dulles International Airport while her brothers went to Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport; and in the dawn of Dec. 15 they boarded flights to California. It was a bittersweet moment for children who dreamed of traveling the world, according to Laura: It was their first time on a plane.

It made me realize how fragile we really were, said Laura. They could separate or take us at any point, and there was nothing we could do.

When the children landed at San Francisco International Airport, they were met by Raphael, who, along with the transport agents, took them to the Larkspur Inn in Mill Valley, north of San Francisco, to start their reunification program. It would be almost a year before the Jeu children saw or spoke to their mother again.

Laura, David and their siblings are among a growing number of children in high-conflict divorce cases being sent  often unwillingly  to nascent and unproven reunification programs, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. These workshops have sprung up in the past decade mostly to address parental alienation, a disputed disorder coined in 1985 by psychiatrist Richard Gardner that refers to a situation where a child chooses not to have a relationship with one parent because of the influence of the other parent. Opponents charge that the reunification programs, and accusations of parental alienation itself, are shams  a way for lawyers, psychologists and social workers to profit from parents in bitter custody battles, and for the more financially secure parent to gain a custodial advantage. Proponents say that parental alienation involves truly harmful psychological behaviors that should be recognized by the therapeutic community and tort law, and that reunification programs are sometimes the only way to put families back together.

Court records show that Judge McCahill was frustrated by the back-and-forth in the Jeus long-standing custody dispute, which primarily centered on the childrens unwillingness to visit their father. While he faulted both parents, he and the childrens court-appointed therapist, Christopher Lane, agreed that Sharon had alienated the children from Raphael. (The judge, Lane and Raphaels former lawyer, Bruce McLaughlin, didnt respond to interview requests.) The alienation arose, the judge found, because Sharon had an enmeshed parenting style with loose boundaries due to her needs and anxieties.  She had difficulty setting limits, and there were some parent-child role reversals.

In the fall of 2011, Raphael came up with a potential solution that made the weary judge think there was a possibility of a breakthrough: a program called Family Bridges, which Raphael had learned about from his therapist. Its premise  and that of similar services  is that if children and the alienated parent can spend uninterrupted time together without interference from the other parent, they can mend their relationship. To encourage this outcome, however, it and other programs require two controversial legal measures: The judge must award full custody to the alienated parent and must order the children to have no contact with the favored parent for 90 days after completion of the workshop.

Raphael believed he had no choice. I was looking for an answer. I was looking for a solution. And when they recommended a program like Family Bridges, I had to look at it, he said in a recent interview. He thinks the judge agreed to the custody change because he felt a sense of assurance knowing we were going to something like Family Bridges.

Since the workshops are privately run, and many of the programs open swiftly, the number of families who have attended is difficult to determine. (In court documents, Family Bridges founders said they have seen a rise in their attendees over the past five years.)

A Canadian research paper found that judges mandated family reunification programs in 27 percent of all family court cases where there was an allegation of alienation. While there is no similar research available in the United States, Ontario-based social worker Shely Polak, who spent five years researching U.S. and Canadian reunification programs for her dissertation, thinks the prevalence in the United States is significantly higher.

Anyone can hang a shingle on their door, said Polak, who became interested in reunification services after starting her own, Families Moving Forward, in which both parents must attend. Its like the Wild West out there.

In addition to the Jeus, I interviewed children or reviewed case documents from eight other custody disputes  in Michigan, the District, Seattle, Miami, New Jersey, Utah, Montana and Long Beach, Calif.  although not all families chose to go on the record. The cases occurred between 2011 and 2016, and all but one involved Family Bridges. In many of them, similar events occurred: The judge changed primary custody, transport agents scooped up the children and escorted them by plane to another state, strangers met them at hotels and instructed them to reunite with their allegedly alienated parent. They were warned that if they tried to contact the other parent, that parent could be arrested and jailed. All have had difficulty reuniting with the parent who originally had custody.



(Illustration by Andreas Gefe)

More than 800,000 couples divorce annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; research has shown that more than three-quarters work out a custody agreement without court intervention. In the cases that go to court, finding a solution under the current legal standard, the best interests of the child, can lead to frustrating motions and countermotions, and years of litigation.

Theres scant gold-standard scientific research to help practitioners determine the best custody arrangement. Like antibiotics, we are routinely prescribing something, but in this case we are not even sure it works, said University of Virginia professor Robert Emery, director of the schools Center for Children, Families and the Law.

For example, courtroom decisions are made daily based on diagnoses of parental alienation, including the cases in which children were sent to reunification workshops, despite the disagreement about its existence. The syndrome was not included in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which lists all psychiatric disorders, and this has created enormous uncertainty around its usage in the legal system. (The American Psychiatric Association, which makes the decisions on inclusion in the DSM, does not have an official stance on parental alienation syndrome.)

Those who support the concept of the disorder, such as William Bernet, a professor emeritus in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, say there is research buttressing its existence. He cites psychologist Amy Bakers book, Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Breaking the Ties That Bind, based on interviews with 40 people who identified themselves as suffering from parental alienation, as an example. Whats getting lost in the vitriolic battle, Bernet said, is the reality of parental alienation behaviors, which can be mitigated if addressed early in the process.

Opponents caution that there is no scientific method proving what drives a childs desire not to interact with one parent, and that research has shown many factors, such as poor parenting, abuse or reactions against constant upheaval, must be considered.

There is just no empirical scientific evidence or way to determine if children are estranged because they were maltreated or if a favored parent turned them against the other parent, said Joan Meier, a clinical professor at George Washington University Law School and founder of the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project, which provides appellate representation in domestic violence cases.

Just as research has not definitively proved the validity of parental alienation, it has not shown that family reunification programs work. Often the workshops are billed as educational or psycho-educational, which allows them to circumvent medical regulations and oversight (they are not covered by health insurance).

The only psychologist who has evaluated Family Bridges, for example, is Texas-based Richard Warshak, who helped develop the program, served as one of its trainers and has testified in custody cases in support of sending children to the workshops, where his DVDs and books are often required materials. He has written three papers citing the efficacy of Family Bridges; one paper said 95 percent of interventions were successful, although the number dropped to 83 percent after the children returned home. (Warshak declined to be interviewed because of possible future litigation.)

By contrast, when an outside evaluation could not prove the efficacy of a program run by Overcoming Barriers, based in Massachusetts, the nonprofit decided to shutter its four-day workshop for high-conflict families.

We really have to figure out how traumatized these kids are by their parents conflict, said Overcoming Barriers co-founder, Peggie Ward. But weve gotten to the point where the family system is so polarized  there are no nuanced decisions left.

Laura and David Jeu said their parents custody battle had nothing to do with their increasing disaffection for their father (the younger children, who are minors, were not interviewed for this article). Their problems with him, they said, started long before their parents divorce.

Raphael, 57, who emigrated with his family from South Korea to America at age 7, grew up in Bethesda, Md., and works as a management analyst in federal government administration. Sharon, 57, was born and raised in south-central Pennsylvania and currently works in retail sales. The couple met at a church camp and married in October 1993, when both were 33. Their family of six lived outside Leesburg in Northern Virginia. Sharon home-schooled the four children, who rode their bikes and played with neighborhood friends until the evening, when their father pulled in the driveway. The familys life revolved around work, church and, Laura and David said, Raphaels varying mood.

David, who is tall and thin, with a penchant for mathematics and an easy smile, said his dad ruled the household with an iron fist. He had an unpredictable nature. You werent certain if it was going to be a nice person that was going to take you on a bike ride or if he was going to be angry, if you were going to get slapped or hit, he said.

In 2004, Sharon decided to take the children and leave, and in 2005, Raphael sued for visitation. The children didnt want to see him, Sharon alleged, because Raphael had sometimes been physically abusive to her and to them. In a deposition, Raphael denied hitting Sharon or using physical force with the children, other than occasionally spanking them when they were younger and grabbing their wrists to restrain them when they were older.

If I were abusive, [Sharon] would have tons and tons of photographs, Raphael said recently. We took pictures of everything. We had books filled with photographs  and I would say there are none [showing abuse].

The case landed in the Circuit Court in Loudoun County. The judge decided on joint custody, with the children visiting their father every weekend, but the children didnt want to go.

I would physically hold on to the seats in my moms car; we would spend hours in the driveway refusing to get out, David said.

The children reported abusive incidents to their therapists and to the court. In court, McCahill said, The father did use corporal punishment, and  was rigid and controlling and, at times, there were some raging behaviors, transcripts show.

Still, the judge, who believed Sharon had her own shortcomings, allowed the visits to continue. Such an approach is not uncommon; a 2011 National Institute of Justice study conducted by Daniel Saunders at the University of Michigan found that 47 percent of evaluators still recommend unsupervised visitation even when there were reports of violence in the family.



David Jeu, now 19. (Greg Kahn/GRAIN/For The Washington Post)

Laura Jeu, now 22. (Greg Kahn/GRAIN/For The Washington Post)

D.C. lawyer Gregory Jacob, a partner at international law firm OMelveny & Myers, has litigated a few pro-bono custody cases a year for nearly two decades. As such, he said, he was familiar with allegations of both domestic abuse and parental alienation; he said he believes the latter happens, though not with anywhere near the frequency with which it is alleged as a defense by abusers.

Until Jacob took the Jeu childrens case in 2012, however, he was unaware of family reunification programs. I had never seen anything like this, he said of McCahills order giving temporary custody of the Jeu children to Raphael and sending them to Family Bridges.

According to court documents, Family Bridges founder Randy Rand told Raphael he had to obtain the custody change and pay a $29,000 fee  excluding travel, room and board  before he and the children could start the workshop (the four-day program costs $25,000 to $40,000, paid by the parent who attends).

The programs are basically shams. It was clear to me what they were doing was reaping massive fees by selling a custody change, said Jacob.

Once a judge switches full primary custody to one parent, Jacob said, the noncustodial parent faces an uphill battle to get the children back because courts dont like to change orders often. By the time  or if  custody is restored, the children usually will not have spoken to the other parent for at least three months.

In the Jeu case, the children didnt have contact with Sharon from December 2011 to December 2012. The judge later said that Sharon just went off the screen. But according to Jacob, Sharon had been trying to comply with the judges requirement that she complete a Family Bridges workshop so she could see the children again. Family Bridges would not cooperate, Jacob said, and Sharon could no longer afford a private attorney. Sharon then searched for legal help, and Jacob signed on to the case in August 2012. In October of that year, he filed a motion to overturn the interim custody order; in December, Sharon saw the children for a few hours, and in 2013, she started having regular visitation with them.

In the other eight lawsuits reviewed for this article, all the children went more than 90 days before seeing or speaking to their favored parents, and none of the custody orders has been reversed. One case involved Hannah Mills of Michigan. She attended Family Bridges in August 2015 after custody was transferred to her father, Kurt. Then 15, she was depressed and cutting herself, she said in recent interviews. Hannah alleged that Rand told her that if she didnt stop crying she would be sent to a residential program and might never see her mother again. (It was 171 days, her mother said, until she saw Hannah.) Terrified, Hannah said, she agreed to go along, but after completion she was sent to live with her father, who was awarded permanent primary custody in September 2016. (Kurt Mills didnt respond to an interview request.)

In another case, Seattle-based Superior Court Judge Regina Cahan ordered 17-year-old Arianna Riley and her 13-year-old sister to attend Family Bridges in 2016 to reunite with their mother, Suzette. I fell to the ground screaming, Dont take me, I dont consent to this,  Arianna said, but transport agents told her the judge would put her in jail or a psychiatric unit if she didnt come with them. After completing the program, Arianna filed and won legal emancipation from her parents in August 2016. She lives with her father. Her sister is still in the custody of Suzette, who referred all questions to her attorney. Arianna and her father said they havent seen or spoken to the younger girl since September.

After spending a sleepless night locked in hotel rooms with the transport agents, Laura and David said, the children were escorted to a stark conference room at the Larkspur Inn in Marin County on the morning of Dec. 16, 2011.

There, they said, they met three adults: Deirdre Rand, a psychologist and wife of Family Bridges founder Randy Rand; Edward Oklan, a child psychiatrist; and an assistant named Anne.

(Randy Rand, who does not have an active psychologists license, was also there  in the capacity of administrator. The California Board of Psychology stayed Rands license in 2009, after determining that he had failed to act impartially in one case and had testified improperly in another. Instead of challenging the revocation, Rand chose not to practice, according to court documents. Rand and the other Family Bridges personnel didnt respond to requests for comment. When reached by telephone, Deirdre Rand declined to be interviewed.)

Edward Oklan told the children they were going to learn how to interact with their father through exercises conducted in a workshop. He read them the court order, which stated their father had full custody and they were to have no contact with their mother for at least 90 days.

Laura said, I felt like we were living in a different country. I couldnt believe that this was happening in America.

The children found the workshop alternately confusing and boring. Part of the day consisted of watching videos, including Welcome Back, Pluto, which, Family Bridges said, explains parental alienation and teaches children about reconciling high-conflict relationships; it was developed and is sold by Warshak. The children also watched a clip from the ABC show Desperate Housewives, according to court depositions, and did brainteaser puzzles, according to David, who found the program full of meaningless tasks.

Over the remaining three days, the children went to lunches with their dad and participated in mock family meetings. The older children said they were petrified that if they didnt do exactly as asked they would never see their mother again, because, they claim, Rand had suggested their mother could go to jail or face serious fines if they were in contact.

On the Jeu childrens final day of the program, Oklan told them that once they were again stable in Raphaels home, they would truly be able to repair their relationship with him, the children said.

They didnt agree. If anything, said David, Family Bridges made me angrier at my situation and more suicidal than I ever was before.

Raphael, however, believes that Family Bridges improved his relationship with his children. I remember baking something  and I yelled Ow! and the kids said nothing, he recounted recently. After Family Bridges, when something would happen and they would ask, Are you okay?  thats huge from where they were. He also cited the fact that David sent him a text a few months ago; David said he sometimes responds to Raphaels texts with a yes or a no out of fear for his younger siblings, who are still under court order to visit their father.

After their return to Virginia, Laura said, she missed her mother but was afraid to reach out while the no-contact order was in effect. She recalled going to Rust Library in Leesburg, where she tucked a letter into the edge of a book she hoped would be checked out: The envelope read, If this is found, please send to my mother.



(Illustration by Andreas Gefe)

In early 2013, Jacob and his colleague David R. Dorey filed a motion to return custody of the Jeu children to their mother and prepared for a spring trial.

On March 23, 2013, before the trial, Laura turned 18.

The day after my birthday, she said, I turned around and walked out. After a weeks vacation with her mom, she lived at a neighbors house while finishing her senior year of high school in Loudoun County. After graduation, she returned to Greencastle, Pa., and is attending college nearby in Maryland while working at a civil engineering firm. She said she has hardly spoken to her father in the past four years and doesnt believe she ever will have a relationship with him.

On July 23, 2013, the court ruled that Sharon and Raphael should share joint legal and physical custody of the children, with the children living with Sharon during the school year. As far as Sharons attorneys are aware, this is the only time a court has returned custody to a favored parent following a family reunification program. Raphael still has final say over medical and educational decisions.

During his final hearing, McCahill referred back to the childrens visit to Chambersburg Hospital and the police intervention and the escorts to California, and said it was very, very troubling for me to hear, you know, how this was implemented, and I regret that. I just wish there was some way that we could turn back the clock and never have let those children experience something as traumatic as that.

The California Department of Consumer Affairs has opened a probe of Family Bridges on behalf of the Riley family. Meanwhile, Jacob and Dorey have used the Rands depositions in the Jeu case to file complaints, on behalf of Sharon, with the California Board of Psychology. The hope is to shed light on what actually happens during a Family Bridges program, which is light-years different from unverified anecdotal reports that Warshak and others have published in an attempt to create a market for their programs, said Jacob. The rest is up to the licensing board.

Despite the new custody ruling, Raphael filed another motion alleging Sharon wasnt complying with the orders, representing himself. The case dragged on for another two years. In 2015, about a decade after the Jeu custody battle started, litigation ceased.

In January 2016, when David turned 18, he decided to stop seeing his father. He lives with his mother, is attending a nearby university where he is majoring in engineering, and is happy he can no longer be forced to do anything by the courts.

I spent my whole childhood waiting for it to be over, he said.

Freelance writer Cara Tabachnick writes often about legal issues. To comment on this story, email wpmagazine@washpost.com or visit washingtonpost.com/magazine.

Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com.

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Maureen Kanka talks with reporters outside the Mercer County Courthouse in Trenton, N.J., in July 1997. Behind her is her husband, Richard. (Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press)

May 17, 1996 On this day, President Bill Clinton signed legislation requiring law enforcement officials to release information about convicted sex offenders, a measure known as Megans Law. It was named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka of Hamilton Township, N.J., who was raped and killed in 1994 by Jesse Timmendequas, a convicted child molester who was living across the street from the Kankas. Timmendequas later confessed to the crime.

After Megans death, her parents advocated for laws requiring police to notify communities about sex offenders. Maureen Kanka told People magazine in 1995 that she knew nothing about Timmendequass record and that if she had, I would never have allowed her to cross the street.

By the time the legislation reached the White House, every state and the District of Columbia had passed a version of Megans Law.

The day of the bill signing, The Washington Posts John E. Yang reported, Clinton declared: Today, America circles the wagons around our children.
Reader: My 17-year-old son is looking for an evening and weekend job. Hes polite, well spoken and clean-cut. But when he goes into places that are advertising, managers just tell him, Apply online (this includes the places that say Apply Inside). He has applied to dozens of jobs online and has not received a single expression of interest. Its been tremendously demoralizing.

He has pointed out that its rare to see teenagers working even at fast-food joints or in grocery stores. Do you have any advice for him?

Karla: Polite, well spoken and clean-cut are a good start  but your son will need more to get a foothold in the current market. According to data compiled by Bethesda research nonprofit Child Trends, the number of high-school students with jobs has dropped from peaks of 35 percent in the late 1990s to about 18 percent in 2015. Child Trends research fellow David Murphey attributes the decline in part to automation and international competition, as well as teens increased focus on academic pursuits.

I suspect those first two trends have also pushed unemployed adults  willing to work for low wages, at any hours, exempt from youth labor restrictions  into some of the jobs traditionally filled by teenagers.

@Work Advice columnist Karla Miller. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post)

But thats not to say your son should give up. He just has to make an extra effort to stand out.

A study by the same nonprofit identifies the soft skills most likely to help youths succeed in the job market: communication, social skills, self-control, higher-order thinking and positive self-concept (self-awareness, not just self-esteem). The problem is that those kinds of things are not visible on the Internet, notes Kristin Anderson Moore, study co-author and Child Trends senior scholar.

Heres how your son might display these skills:

Communication: Phone ahead and arrange for in-person conversations with managers at select employers. Business cards might be over the top, but a typed list of references wouldnt be.

Social skills: Work existing connections with peers, teachers, family friends, clergy and neighbors. Parents can help make introductions.

Self-control: Fight discouragement. Keep busy, and keep looking ahead.

Higher-order thinking: Identify employers and personal connections where hes most likely to succeed.

Positive self-concept: Develop and practice delivering a 30-second self-introduction: name, interest in opportunity, skills and assets.

The response might still be Apply online. But a manager might also remember the pleasant candidate who takes the initiative to personally introduce himself and who follows up with a thank-you message. And building those soft-skills muscles now will give your son a head start in the post-educational rat race.

Ask Karla Miller about your work dramas and traumas by emailing wpmagazine@washpost.com. Read more @Work Advice columns.

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Roger and Anita Lowen in their back yard in Reston, Va. (Nora Krug/The Washington Post)

It all began with an innocent joke.

Anita Barnes was a junior at George Washington University when she and her roommate, Fran, decided to play a phone prank on a friend from class. This was 1966, a time when phone calls still retained some of their mystery: You couldnt know who was calling  and certainly not why  unless you picked up.

For several days, Anita and Fran played their little game  dialing, giggling and hanging up before the voice on the other end had a chance to say anything.

But Anita and Fran had made a mistake: They had misremembered their classmates number. They were, in fact, calling a stranger.

One day, the stranger picked up and said, Hello before they even had a chance to giggle.

The joke was over. The two women decided they had to call back and apologize. It was a very long apology  but a very effective one. After two hours of talking, Anita and the stranger had plans for a dinner date.

Fran thought Anita was crazy to accept, but Anita had a good feeling. He sounded like a nice guy, she says.

At the appointed hour, Anita put on a brown sweater, a pleated skirt and a pair of loafers and went to meet him in front of the girls dorm. Dont get into his car if he looks bad, Fran advised Anita.

The stranger pulled up in a blue Plymouth Fury. He didnt look bad. Anita got into the car. Fran hid nearby, writing down the make, model and license plate, just in case.

The pair headed to the Grog & Tankard on Wisconsin Avenue. We were going out for pizza, and hopefully I would come out alive, Anita says.

Anita and Roger Lowen of Reston, Va., at their wedding reception in 1969. There were 10 guests at the low-key event. (Family Photo)

She came back alive. On Sept. 10, 2019, Anita and the former stranger, Roger Lowen, will celebrate their 50th anniversary.

At their home in Reston, Va., the couple looks back with gratitude at the misdial that eventually led to their marriage. It was a little annoying, says Roger, 84, but he was charmed by the apology. That was Frans idea, says Anita, 70.

Roger, who was divorced at the time and working at the State Department, called about a week after their first rendezvous; the couple dated casually for a few years. Anita recalls the names of her other suitors. Roger recalls only that his were nothing special.

In 1969, Roger proposed. It wasnt a down-on-your-knee kind of kind of thing, he recalls, looking at Anita with an apologetic smile, Sorry. Anita seems not to have minded  then or now. We did it the way we did it, and it worked out perfectly well, she says.

The ceremony, at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda a couple of months later, was equally casual. Anita wore an orange-red shift she had found in her closet, and Roger, a simple brown suit with a white shirt and a tie. Fran was there, of course, as well as Rogers Aunt Ethel, who showed up, along with Anitas statistics professor and a few other friends, unexpectedly.

After saying their vows, the couple were surprised with a small party at the home of a family friend (the original plan was an intimate dinner in Georgetown). There were 10 guests, hors doeuvres, champagne and cake. A few weeks later, the couple had another party for 70 or so people at the National Press Club.

It wasnt until the following summer that Roger met Anitas family, who lived in California, Washington state and Idaho. They approved, she says.

To this day, neither she nor Roger is fond of grand nuptial events. I think theres inverse ratio of the size of wedding and how long the marriage lasts, Roger observes.

Sitting side by side in matching high-back chairs in their living room, Anita and Roger banter sweetly. She gently finishes his sentences, adding a bit of color here and there. It would be better if you always did what I said, she jokingly remarks at one point, but Ive given up on that. He praises her cooking; she admires his green thumb: After holidays, I will put poinsettias on the compost heap. He brings them back in, and they flower again.

A lovely poinsettia sits on a table amid the eclectic art and furnishings theyve collected in their travels together. In the early years of their marriage, Anita and Roger lived abroad  in Paris, Brussels, Belgrade and elsewhere  for Rogers job, before settling back in the D.C. area.

Anita, a teacher, retired in 2000; Roger retired in 1988. Hes a longtime runner who still does sprint triathlons; shes an avid quilter. They both enjoy spending time with their four daughters (two from Rogers previous marriage) and five grandchildren.

We take our vows seriously  especially in sickness and in health, Anita says, looking warmly at Roger, who helped care for her during a recent illness.

The couple does not envy young people trying to meet today. Both roll their eyes at the idea of online dating  though Roger, for one, has a kind of appreciation for it.

In a certain way, its almost like a prank call, he says. Who knows what youre going to get?
A relatively quiet story surfaced this week and was quickly buried under drifts of swiftly accumulating breaking news: The Trump administration is contemplating a new troop surge in Afghanistan, as the United States enters its 16th year of conflict in that country. For many observers, the announcement raised yet more questions about the ideological underpinnings and policy parameters  indeed, even the very existence  of a Trump Doctrine.

For a much smaller cohort, that speculation invited another, admittedly less pressing subject for discussion: What will Trump Doctrine movies look like?

Films about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be roughly categorized in two categories: Fouled-Up-Beyond-All-Recognition absurdism and the Cult of the Operator. The finest example of the former genre was actually made at the end of the Clinton era: David O. Russells Three Kings, which takes place during the 1991 Gulf War, set the gold standard for expertly deployed irony, its depiction of mercenary fervor and misplaced ideals earning it pride of place alongside such formative wartime satires as Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and M.A.S.H. Although filmmakers attempted those heights in subsequent attempts at gonzo nihilism (the lamentable Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and the downright offensive Rock the Kasbah and War Dogs), the so-called war on terror never produced sophisticated parody on a par with Russells caustic masterpiece.

But what was left? In a post-Vietnam era when patriotic wholesomeness and unabashed jingoism could no longer be accepted at face value, Hollywood made movies that largely avoided explicit political stands and simply valorized the professionalism of the troops (and, by extension, the fecklessness of the political class putting them in harms way). Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal won the Oscar in 2009 for The Hurt Locker, a brilliant portrait of a bomb technician that subtly questioned the Iraq War, but concentrated its focus on the competence, physical courage and dedication.

A series of like-minded films followed  from Bigelow and Boals Zero Dark Thirty to Lone Survivor and American Sniper  as did a startling piece of Pentagon-approved propaganda, the Navy SEAL adventure Act of Valor (conceived as both Hollywood blockbuster and recruiting tool). Filmmakers have used the contours of psychological thrillers to explore wars ethical quandaries, such as the drone-themed Good Kill and Eye in the Sky, as well as this weekends sniper standoff The Wall. And of course theyve milked wartime for pure action: Michael Bays 2016 Benghazi movie 13 Hours infused the Cult of the Operator with characteristic bro-down swagger, while taking contemptuous swipes at the pencil-necked civilian geeks they lost their lives protecting.

The new Brad Pitt movie War Machine makes similar comic hay of the brass-vs.-Beltway dynamic, but as a way to suggest that old vernaculars may no longer be that useful. The film, which will premiere on Netflix later this month, stars Pitt as Gen. Glen McMahon, a thinly disguised version of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, as he assumes leadership of the Joint Special Operations Command in Afghanistan in 2009. Inspired by Michael Hastingss book The Operators  which itself was based on Hastingss Rolling Stone expose that led to McChrystals dismissal in 2010  War Machine will probably be of interest less for Pitts Patton-esque depiction of McChrystal than Anthony Michael Halls portrayal of a character based on McChrystals most ardent loyalist, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Rather than McChrystal, who has largely disappeared from public view, its Flynn  who was fired from his post as national security adviser for lying about his contacts with a Russian official  who has accidentally emerged as the films most newsworthy character, his exploits part of an ongoing inquiry into the Trump-Russia connection that continues to reverberate after the sudden firing of FBI Director James B. Comey on Tuesday.

But if War Machine feels strangely prescient, its less because of its present-day pings with Flynn and the new Afghanistan surge than its temperament, which strikes a novel, occasionally uneasy balance between farce and something more pensive. Netflix is marketing the movie as a dark comedy, and writer-director David Michod is clearly informed by the deadpan humor of Hastingss journalism. But the movies most effective sequences are reserved for a U.S. military that has become a de facto state-building entity, putting troops in the impossible position of killing civilian opponents and helping civilian allies, without knowing which is which. War Machines best scenes arent played for laughs. They linger with a grievous sense of loss.

As both a solemn reflection on  and funhouse reflection of  recent history, War Machine turns out to be surprisingly apt for a time when breaking news continually invites us either to mock or to mourn  or do both simultaneously. Were at a point when nothing can be normalized, least of all war; when glib cynicism feels utterly inadequate to the moment and vicarious hero worship isnt credible, or earned. When the norms of democracy and global policy are fluid to the point of evaporation, we need a cinematic language that goes beyond FUBAR follies and high-functioning warrior-technocrats.

Once, the tricky tonal shifts and genre mash-ups of War Machine might have felt uncertain and contradictory. Today, they feel like the nascent, still-tentative attempts to capture an era when were not innocent enough to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh.
There are many odd things about Doug Limans latest film, including the character of an Iraqi sniper who recites Edgar Allan Poe. But the oddest thing may be that its a Doug Liman film.

After his breakout 1996 movie, Swingers, the cult classic comedy-of-dating-manners, the filmmaker steadily built his reputation as a maker of action movies with lots of moving parts, beginning with the 2002 spy thriller The Bourne Identity and ending with the Tom Cruise vehicle Live Die Repeat (Edge of Tomorrow). A sequel to that 2014 sci-fi blockbuster, which centered on time travel and an alien invasion, is in the works.

So its more than a little surprising to see Limans name on the credits for The Wall, a gritty, low-budget war movie featuring limited violence, more talking than action and a mere three characters, one of whom is unconscious for most of the movie and another who never appears on camera at all.

Set in 2007 Iraq, its the story of Allen Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson of Nocturnal Animals), an Army sergeant who is pinned behind a crumbling wall after his comrade (wrestler John Cena) is seriously injured by an unseen sniper. The sniper (voice of Laith Nakli) torments his quarry  over the radio  with a psychological cat-and-mouse game. We spoke recently with the 51-year old filmmaker by phone from Los Angeles about his contrarian way of working, and the surprisingly similarities between heroes and villains.

Q: The Wall is quite a change of pace for you. Its not just a tiny film, but an unusually talky one, compared to your other work. Did it exercise different muscles for you?

A: Yes, it was a way of doing the things Ive loved in the past in a totally different way.

Q: Such as?

A: I love putting characters in extraordinary situations and seeing how they survive, whether its pinning Jason Bourne down or pitting Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie against each other [in Mr. and Mrs. Smith]. In a way, The Wall is a reaction to having created this insane situation with Edge of Tomorrow, with aliens and time travel  just to pin Tom Cruise down in a box and see how he can get out of it. With Dwain Worrells script for The Wall, Aaron Taylor-Johnsons character, Isaac, is pinned down in an equally tight box but in a much simpler and more elegant way. Im also interested in superheroes, but not necessarily the Marvel kind of superhero. Jason Bourne is a superhero, but its a slightly different tone. Its a little more grounded.



Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a U.S. soldier in Iraq in "The Wall." (Credit: David James/Roadside Attractions)

Q: Whos the superhero in The Wall? Isaac, I assume?

A: He is the superhero. Hes like Iron Man. He has these cargo pouches, and he keeps pulling stuff out of them.

Q: The character of Juba the sniper is an unorthodox bad guy. For one thing, hes more sympathetic  and much more winning  than were used to seeing in bad guys. His shooting abilities are those of a superhero.

A: Or of a supervillain. But my films dont have villains. They really dont. They have people with different points of view. The people hunting Jason Bourne are not the villains. Youve got to look at The Bourne Identity  because, you know, like any movie franchise with a lot of sequels, stuff starts to get bloated  but if you go back to the original movie, Chris Cooper is equally the hero. Hes trying to stop an assassin who seems to be out of control. In Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I dont have a villain at all. I shot one, then put him on the cutting-room floor. Never used him. I have people with different points of view.

Q: What about the aliens in Edge of Tomorrow? Theyre bad guys.

A: The general who pins Tom Cruise down is maybe more the force of antagonism than the aliens. From the generals point of view, Tom Cruises character is a coward. The general has every right to be critical of him. You can get plenty of antagonism from a villain who isnt actually villainous. You said maybe the aliens are the villains. But are sharks villainous? Sharks are in the ocean to kill and eat. Theyre just doing what theyre supposed to do.

Q: What would you call Juba?

A: I use the word villain. But in my lexicon, villains are just heroes of their own story. I love the idea of making a war movie that has no politics in it.

Q: It surprises me to hear you say that the film has no politics. Although the American soldiers never once mention politics, Juba  their enemy  does, and repeatedly. By giving voice to a side of an argument we dont often hear, and humanizing the faceless enemy, isnt that inherently political?

A: Well, Ive made the characters three-dimensional, with strong points of view that make sense from where they sit. But its devoid of politics in that its a story of survival. When youre in New York City, you can have the luxury of debating the morality of a war in the Middle East. If youre a soldier on the front lines, you dont have that luxury. The other side is trying to kill you. Its kill or be killed. I equate it with my film Swingers. That film is very much from the boys point of view. But at the very end of that movie, when Jon Favreau has met up with Heather Graham, Heather Graham mentions a conversation she had with her girlfriends, and you realize  in that moment  that the story could have been told from her point of view. There is another side. Youre right to pick up on the fact that we could have told The Wall from the other persons point of view. But thats not really a political message.

Q: And yet the character of Juba interrogates the morality of U.S. conduct in Iraq. If the film isnt political, surely Jubas character is, isnt he?

A: For sure, yeah.

Q: Is it an antiwar film?

A: I dont think it is. It celebrates  it treats soldiers like superheroes. The film stays in the trenches.

Q: It sounds like youre comparing Jubas arguments to a bomb on a timer. Are you suggesting that his ideas detonate later, after weve left the theater?

A: Im hoping that an audience picks up on that and that an audience thinks about war, though hopefully not while theyre watching the movie. I want them to be hoping and praying that Aaron Taylor-Johnson will survive. The stronger the argument of the villain in the movie, the stronger the villain is.

Q: And the stronger the film?

A: Yes. Im hoping the audience leaves thinking about the fact that Isaac and Juba never meet. Theyre trying to kill each other the whole movie, and they never meet. Thats one of the conundrums of war. The politics Im interested in are the politics of why humans fight in wars. There was one version of The Wall  not to spoil the film  but where Juba and Isaac become friends of sorts, and are, like: In a different world, we would have been friends. I chose not to go down that path.



Director Doug Liman and John Cena in "The Wall." (Credit: David James/Roadside Attractions)

Q: During filming, there was no Juba. You  or an off-camera assistant  would feed Jubas lines to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, through the characters radio earpiece. What was it like, bringing the voice actor Laith Nakli into the process after the shooting was over?

A: It was almost like doing an animated film. Laith came in afterward and recorded the voice. Whats extraordinary about Aarons performance is that he was doing it against me or the script supervisor or an actor we had on the set at points. A lot of what he was reacting to out there was added later. For example, even the visual effects. We werent in the Middle East. We were in the Mojave Desert. Aaron makes it so grounded and real. Ive never made an animated movie before, but we created the character of Juba with nothing but a voice.

Q: What was Mojave like?

A: Part of the reason it was only a three-week shoot was that the conditions mimicked Iraq. Im not sure we could have survived another week out there. Im not exaggerating. Dust storms every afternoon, 120-plus-, 130-degree heat. No shelter from the sun.

Q: What are your favorite war movies?

A: Casablanca, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Dirty Dozen. Even The African Queen. Personal stories set against war. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Nazis vs. Americans, that cleanliness of storytelling, as opposed to a messy, Oliver Stone take on the world.

Q: Talk about the use of language in the film. Juba is a former English teacher. He quotes Edgar Allan Poe. He has this great line: Military lingo is all poetry.

A: Its a film about language. The sniper uses language as a weapon. Its a film about language  on all levels, whether its the poetry of military lingo or the actual poetry quoted in the film. Also the language between soldiers  the kind of playful, almost sexual language thats used under those conditions  is a major element. It shouldnt surprise people who have seen my films that my characters dont necessarily  even in a war movie as rugged as The Wall  speak in macho-speak. Theyre dancing for each other, and theyre singing for each other. That feels honest to me. It is honest. Im kind of a contrarian filmmaker. If Im going to do a film about guys trying to pick up girls, like Swingers, Im going to have them be neurotic and whining and nervous and scared. If Im going to do a war movie, the characters are going to be taking about poetry.

The Wall (R, 90 minutes). At area theaters.


Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during a briefing at the White House the day after President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to square an impossible circle on Thursday. It didnt help that her boss, President Trump, got in her way.

With White House press secretary Sean Spicer sidelined, Sanders, Spicers deputy, has spent three days in the barrel trying to explain why the president fired FBI Director James B. Comey.

Thats been no easy task. On Wednesday, Sanders told White House reporters that the president had done so on the recommendation of his deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein. Trump himself had claimed as much in a letter to Comey relieving him of his job.

Except then on Thursday, Trump told NBC News that he would have fired Comey regardless of the recommendation.

Which forced Sanders to, um, clarify what shed said the day before. Pressed by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl whether she was in the dark about Trumps actions, Sanders acknowledged that she might have been. I think its pretty simple, she said. I hadnt had a chance to have the conversation directly with the president. Id had several conversations with him, but I didnt ask that question directly, Had you already made that decision? 

But never mind, she argued, dismissing the contradictory stories as semantics since Trump and Rosenstein agreed on the need to dump Comey.

It was an inauspicious moment in the spotlight for Sanders, who typically plays the understudy to Spicer. She stepped in to become the White Houses chief spokesperson this week after Spicer took leave to fulfill a Navy Reserve commitment at the Pentagon.

Among her other assertions, she told reporters Thursday that the FBIs rank-and-file employees had lost faith in Comeys management of the agency. That one raised eyebrows, too; only two hours earlier, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Comey enjoyed broad support inside the bureau. Sanders told the press that shed heard otherwise.

Well have to agree to disagree, she said.

The spin from Sanders  whose official title is principal deputy press secretary  may not have been wholly different from what you might have expected from Spicer. But her manner certainly was. In two days of briefings, Sanders has kept her answers short and crisp, her voice steady and calm and inflected with her Arkansas upbringing. She has rarely interrupted her questioners with Spicer-ian interjections of Hold on!  lending a somewhat less combative and adversarial quality to the briefings.

Sanders, 34, is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and two-time Republican presidential candidate. Her official baptism in politics came through her father; as a college student, she was the field coordinator for his 2002 reelection campaign.

She subsequently worked for Republican candidates, including for George W. Bushs reelection campaign in 2004, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlentys unsuccessful presidential run in 2012, and the successful 2014 Senate campaign of Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).

She became a senior adviser to Trump in 2016 after managing her fathers second presidential bid, which attracted just one delegate.

Sanders, who did not respond to requests for comment for this article, first tried out her talking points about Comey on Tuesday night. This was shortly after the White House communications staff was caught so far off guard by the news that Spicer briefly ducked behind White House shrubbery to avoid talking with reporters.



(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Her relative poise in the face of a skeptical news media immediately gave rise to speculation among journalists that Sanders was in line to replace Spicer as Trumps chief spokesperson. Theres nothing to support that notion, but that didnt stop CNN from mulling over the possibility.

Another kind of buzz started up Wednesday on Twitter: Just as comedian Melissa McCarthy has created a franchise by parodying Spicer on Saturday Night Live, Sanderss newly elevated profile must mean that cast member Cecily Strong (who resembles Sanders) is surely going to play her on Saturdays program.

Sanders took her first crack at heading off the metastasizing criticism of Comeys firing during an interview Tuesday evening on Tucker Carlsons program on Fox News Channel, a safe venue.

My gosh, Tucker, she said, with mild pique, when are [critics] going to let that go? she said of the Russia investigation. Its been going on for nearly a year. Frankly, its kind of getting absurd. Theres nothing there. Weve heard that time and time again. . . . There is no there there. Its time to move on.

Carlson didnt challenge her, but the same general line didnt work so well on MSNBCs Morning Joe on Wednesday.

Sanders first claimed that host Joe Scarborough had once said that there was no evidence tying Trumps campaign to the Russian government, bringing a swift retort from Scarborough.

I said theres no obvious evidence of collusion out there right now, he said. If there were that obvious evidence of collusion, it would have already been leaked by now. I also said there have to be in-depth investigations because it may take, I think, probably an independent prosecutor to figure out the financial ties between Donald Trump and Russia.

He added, Im surprised youre twisting my words.

When Sanders proceeded to argue that committees in the House, the Senate and the FBI have looked into Trumps Russia connection and everyone comes to the same conclusion, co-host Mika Brzezinski cut her off. Brzezinski noted that no such conclusion had been reached. Youre not actually telling the truth right now, she told Sanders.

After Thursdays briefing, one White House reporter opined that Sanders had seriously harmed her credibility. But others say they generally like Sanders, who honed her messaging skills as a TV surrogate for Trump during the campaign.

Shes remarkably poised for her age, said one who, like several interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid crossing a key White House source. She has her fathers sense of humor, which is a good thing. People whove held that job before are humorless.

Another reporter noted on Wednesday that Sanders was dealt a poor hand but played it about as effectively as she could.

You can only do so good of a job if youre spinning on behalf of a president whose story changes minute to minute, she said. She remained calm. . . . She has a steadiness that Spicer evidently lacks.

But thats not to say the reporter is rooting for Sanders to replace Spicer. Hes a very complex character, and he makes a lot of fun mistakes, she said. And you can see, on his face nearly every day, that he struggles with this job. . . . Theres a lot going on there, and so hes a rich subject.
Our readers share tales of their ramblings around the world.

Who: Erin Pierce, of Arlington, Va.; Sandina Green of the District; and Naomita Royan, of Melbourne, Australia.

Where, when, why: I went away for two weeks in mid-March to hike Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina and visit Buenos Aires. I didnt grow up hiking. Only within the past year have I grown to love it. I have hiked locally in Shenandoah, but I wanted to take it to the next level. Argentina is dear to me because I traveled abroad to Buenos Aires 13 years ago as a junior at Spelman College. That was my first trip outside of the United States and ever since I returned, I have wanted to go back. My priorities have shifted and I love unplugging outdoors, so it was important for me to mix in some hiking with my time in the city.

The author hikes the Perito Moreno Glacier. (Erin Pierce)

Highlights and high points: The pinnacle was both witnessing and hiking Perito Moreno Glacier. The water that flows from it is a bright, vivid blue. You feel like an explorer as you tie on a pair of crampons with their spiky ends and begin to explore the glacier by foot. I felt pure joy and, while slightly cool, the weather was not freezing cold. I celebrated right there with a glass of whiskey with ice supplied straight from the glacier! The other highlight was a hike to Laguna de los Tres, which offered unforgettable, unreal lake views. The water in these parks is so pristine that it often is potable. We could drink directly from the lake  and it was the most delicious water Ive ever tasted.

Cultural connection or disconnect: The cultural connection for me was my tour guide for two of the hikes I completed in Los Glaciares. My guide, Facundo, patiently listened to my stumbling Castellano as we spoke of everything from mate (a natural herbal drink) to Argentine politics. He shared how he used to live in Buenos Aires, and had a terrible commute, but reinvented himself as a tour guide in the El Chalten area of Argentina. He makes much more than he used to in the city and is able to work where he finds peace.

Biggest laugh or cry: This had to be in Buenos Aires, when my flip-flop broke. I was on a walking tour when it happened and suddenly had to hail a cab to grab a new pair at the nearest shoe store. However, my cabdriver strongly insisted that I go to a different neighborhood, as the shoes on Calle Sante Fe were far too expensive. He took me to Barrio Once, where I bought a new pair of shoes and then sat at the coffee shop he owns, where he made me an afternoon cortado with a medialuna (a small, slightly sweet croissant).

How unexpected: The food in El Chalten was amazing. On Facundos recommendation, we discovered La Chocolateria Josh Aike, which was founded by two extreme climbers and explorers. There, we had flavorful, homemade alfajores and other dulces, which we paired with a tasty cup of coffee. We also ate dinner at Yenu and indulged in delicious wine and grilled trout.

Favorite memento or memory: Hiking the natural beauty of Los Glaciares. Argentina has a unique ecosystem that keeps Perito Moreno stable, unlike other glaciers that are receding, and I hope it stays that way for generations to come.

To tell us about your own trip, go to washingtonpost.com/travel and fill out the What a Trip form with your fondest memories, finest moments and favorite photos.

More from Travel:

Enchantment under the sea  with whales  in Tahiti

Family history comes alive in Finland

Honeymooning in Middle Earth: Leaving current events behind to explore New Zealand
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said Thursday that she believes City Administrator Rashad M. Young, the most powerful appointed member of her Cabinet, may have been mistakenly identified by the Districts inspector general as having benefited from preferential treatment by former D.C. Public Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson.

Bowsers disclosure  during a lengthy and sometimes tense exchange with reporters at a morning news conference  introduced a puzzling twist to information emerging about the investigation of Henderson.

The inspector general found that the former schools head misused her authority by placing the children of government officials and others in desirable public schools, allowing them to bypass the lottery system normally required of families.

The Washington Post reported this week that the inspector general investigated how the child of Courtney Snowden, Bowsers deputy mayor for greater economic opportunity, was placed at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, a public school with a waiting list of more than 1,000 families. Snowden confirmed that she requested a special placement for her son but said she did not do anything wrong.

On Wednesday, D.C. Councilman David Grosso (I-At Large) said after a briefing from Inspector General Daniel Lucas that a second member of Bowsers Cabinet was among those who investigators determined received special treatment.

However, Bowser and officials in her administration pushed back against the inspector generals findings Thursday, saying that Young  whom they believe to be the unnamed second Cabinet member mentioned in the inspector generals report  enrolled his children at a school where they were matched through the lottery.

[Second Bowser official entangled in school lottery scandal]

We think there may be an error, Bowser said.

Bowsers account, if accurate, raises the prospect that the inspector general mistakenly pulled a top D.C. official into an investigation that has stoked outrage among public-school parents, for whom the annual school lottery is a source of intense stress.

Copies of the investigation report  which did not identify the people alleged to have received preferential treatment  were distributed to the mayor and Grosso, who leads the councils education committee.

Jaime Yarussi, a spokeswoman for the inspector generals office, said in a statement that an amended report of our investigation would be provided to the council and mayor on Friday. The amendment corrects a misstatement, but does not impact our investigative conclusions, she said. Yarussi declined to specify what misstatement was being fixed.

Kevin Harris, a spokesman for the mayor, provided an email from the executive director of the school lottery to Jennifer C. Niles, the deputy mayor for education, stating that Youngs children had gone through the lottery process, been placed on a waiting list at a school and came off the waiting list to enroll at the school, which was not identified.

Young declined to comment.

Lucas has refused to make the report public  a departure from his offices past practice of publishing investigative reports when they are complete. Bowser and Grosso have also declined to release it, saying Lucas asked them to keep it confidential.

Lucas summarized his findings in a brief letter to the council last month, saying that Henderson, who resigned last year, 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.

The inspector generals report found that seven people received preferential treatment from Henderson: two Bowser appointees, a public-school principal, a former District elected official, the head of a nonprofit that works with the school system, a former Obama White House staffer and a classmate of Hendersons.

It also found three cases in which Henderson denied transfer requests  from another Bowser appointee, a teacher and a parent in the school district.

Although the chancellor can make special student placements outside the lottery system, that power is supposed to be used in rare cases when a transfer would be in the best interests of the student and promote the overall interests of the school system.

[Joy and anguish as D.C. school lottery results are released]

Lucas also said in his letter that he had conveyed his findings to Bowser, along with a recommendation for action deemed appropriate, in February.

Bowser said she had to infer the identities of Cabinet officials mentioned in the inspector generals report, since they were not named. She said Lucas would not divulge the other parties involved besides Henderson because they were not found to have done anything wrong by asking Henderson for a special school placement.

Asked whether she found fault with Snowden, Bowser demurred.

Everybody in the government has the obligation to follow the rules, and I do think the deputy mayor did what was available to her, and the chancellor made the decision, she said. The chancellor is the educator in this equation and in the best position to make that decision.

Bowser acknowledged that the rules surrounding the chancellors discretionary school placements need to be clarified.

I dont think we have a tight enough process for anybody, for people who work for the government, or who dont work for the government, and were going to fix that, she said.

Grosso said he does not agree with the view that only Henderson misbehaved.

These are people who have the power to get in [Hendersons] office anytime they want, he said. I think its a problem when people ask for favors like that when youre in a position of power.
Kate Goettge holds Tilly, one of her hens. She and her husband, Stephen Boone, held a micro protest with their hens Tilly and Greta during morning rush hour May 4, 2017. They and a number of other District residents had objected to Mayor Muriel E. Bowsers proposed ban on the keeping of chickens in the city  an effort that the mayor abandoned May 11. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Bowing to public uproar and deeply skeptical council members, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has scrapped proposals for a far-reaching set of animal regulations that would have decidedly cramped the style of cats, dogs and chickens in the nations capital.

Bowser (D) included the rules in legislation attached to her proposal for next years budget. But the mayors office had not reckoned with the public reaction to measures that included a ban on backyard chickens, a requirement that all cats be licensed and a provision that seemed to outlaw leaving dog feces in a private yard for more than 24 hours.

After a Health Committee meeting last week at which council members jeered the regulations  which they said had nothing to do with the budget  and chicken and cat owners found common cause in defending their pets liberties, the mayor relented.

At a news conference on budget issues Thursday, administration officials found themselves defending the proposed critter rules even as they acknowledged the overwhelming opposition to them.

This is not a war on pets, City Administrator Rashad M. Young said.

Young said health officials desire to update the regulations happened to coincide with budget season, which is why the legislation was included in the spending plan.

What we were trying to accomplish is to make sure health and safety is protected in the community and have some guidelines about how we would deal with the chickens, in particular, and the safety issues and the health issues that they present, Young said.

Chickens have been linked to salmonella infections. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced eight salmonella outbreaks nationwide to backyard fowl. The outbreaks resulted in more than 200 hospitalizations and at least one death.

Bowser said additional regulation of chickens and other animals may still be introduced as stand-alone legislation for the council to consider.

A Brookland resident who has four chickens said that the mayors decision to relent was heartening but that he still has concerns about his birds long-term legal rights. Even before the proposed regulations, city officials had periodically tried to enforce what they assert is an existing chicken ban, leading to court battles with chicken owners.

Its good news for now, said Oliver Friendly, the Brookland chicken owner. My 3-year-old is happy. He gets to play with his chickens. We had a talk about how we dont have to deal with that issue for a while.
Alexandria City Schools Superintendent Alvin Crawley will leave his post to become a professor in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University this summer. Here, he speaks during a forum at Northwestern High School in Prince Georges County in 2012, where he was the interim superintendent of the district. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Alexandria schools superintendent will leave his post to be a professor of education at George Mason University.

Superintendent Alvin Crawley joined the Northern Virginia school system, which educates more than 15,000 students, four years ago. During his tenure, he oversaw a rise in test scores among minority students and at the Jefferson-Houston School, which was threatened with a state takeover because of its persistent low performance. He also helped the city schools develop a five-year plan. Crawley announced his plans Wednesday afternoon.

School Board Chair Ramee Gentry lauded Crawley for his outstanding job leading the school division.

He has worked tirelessly on behalf of our students and educators, Gentry said. We truly appreciate the steps he has taken to put Alexandria City Public Schools on the path toward becoming a high-performing school division and respect his decision to go on to train the next generation in delivering education.

Crawley said his departure from the district is bittersweet.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges that the past four years have brought, he said in a statement. It is with mixed feelings that I have decided to take the next step in my career and join the faculty of George Mason University to teach, mentor and conduct research at the university level.

Crawley joined Alexandria as interim superintendent in late 2013 and was given the full-time post in February 2014. Previously he was the interim head of Prince Georges County schools in Maryland and spent 17 years in the Arlington school system.

Crawleys last day is July 28.
Five former University of Mary Washington female students and a feminist empowerment group have filed a lawsuit against the school alleging that administrators fostered a sexually hostile environment on campus.

The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Virginia, alleges that beginning in 2014, the students, members of a group known as Feminists United, were subjected to sexual harassment on the Fredericksburg campus and violent threats through a social media platform known as Yik Yak.

[See the lawsuit against the university]

The women filed a gender discrimination complaint with the U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that has been under investigation since October 2015. The women claimed that university officials did nothing to protect the members of Feminists United from anonymous attacks on Yik Yak. OCR enforces the 1972 law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs.

[Feminists at Mary Washington say they were threatened on Yik Yak]

Debra Katz, a lawyer representing the students, said that the women decided to head to court after it appeared the Title IX complaint was stalled and they were being stonewalled by officials at the Education Department.

A spokesman for the department said this week that the case is ongoing. A university spokeswoman said officials are reviewing the suit.

The bigger picture is that students shouldnt have to go to court, Katz said. Thats the purpose of OCR.

The women, Paige McKinsey, Julia Michels, Kelli Musick, Jordan Williams and Alexis Lehman, are joined in the suit by the Feminist Majority Foundation, a nonprofit group based in Arlington.

The Mary Washington students said they faced vitriolic harassment from anonymous commenters on Yik Yak. The mobile app, once wildly popular on college campuses, has since been shut down.

According to the lawsuit, the attacks on Yik Yak made the women feel unsafe.

Due to this sexually hostile environment, Plaintiffs suffered emotional and psychological harm that, in some cases, required professional treatment, the suit said. By choosing to permit the harassment to go unaddressed and unpunished, and, thereafter, choosing to allow the escalated attacks to proceed without consequence, defendant UMW became liable for the acts of retaliation against the Plaintiffs and responsible for the clear and direct violation of the Plaintiffs rights under and pursuant to Title IX.

Mary Washington is a public liberal arts university with about 4,600 students.

[Public liberal arts colleges: You wont find these schools on ESPN]

Anna Billingsley, an associate vice president at the school, said the university took several measures to address issues raised when the women filed their complaint in 2015. She said the school hired a Title IX investigator, formed a sexual assault task force and implemented a new awareness training program for all faculty, students and staff members.

We took a number of steps that we felt created a much safer and secure campus and we are continuing to address concerns related to sexual violence, Billingsley said. Our eyes were opened and we worked diligently to meet the needs of the students.

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Howard University failed to respond quickly and equitably to sexual assault reports from female students, a federal lawsuit alleges.

The suit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, centers on incidents that occurred from 2014 to 2016 at the private university in Northwest Washington.

The plaintiffs, identified as Jane Does 1 through 5, accused the university of discriminatory and retaliatory response to multiple complaints of sexual assault and harassment.

Jane Doe 1 alleged she was raped by another student in her dorm in February 2016. She reported the incident to a Howard official and eventually tweeted her frustration with how the matter was handled, the suit said. That led her to connect with Jane Doe 2, who told Doe 1 that she had been raped by the same person in 2015, according to the suit, an incident she had reported to the university.

No arrests have been made in either case.

Howard spokeswoman Crystal Brown said the university does not comment on pending litigation. She also cited privacy concerns.

Sexual assault is a critical issue on campuses across higher education, Brown said in an email. Howard University takes very seriously all allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and gender-based discrimination occurring on the Universitys campus or involving the Universitys students.

The news site BuzzFeed reported on the suit Wednesday night.

In March 2016, protests occurred on Howards campus as students accused the administration of failing to take prompt action on sexual assault reports. The university said at the time that it took immediate steps in response to an allegation that was drawing widespread attention.

Also in the suit, Jane Doe 3 alleged that she struggled to get counseling after she reported a sexual assault to a confidant and then to police and Howard officials.

After unsuccessful attempts to get help, according to the suit, the woman spoke with a Howard counselor and said she wanted private sessions because she was having trouble processing her attack.

She also mentioned that she was extremely depressed, having a hard time getting out of bed to attend her school and work responsibilities, and was suicidal, the suit states.

Still, the woman had difficulty getting prompt information, the suit said. She finally received a response about group counseling, which she couldnt attend, the suit said. It accused Howard of deliberate indifference to Jane Doe 3s situation.

Peter Hermann contributed to this report.
Robert Shaw, a member of the Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee, speaks at it meeting May 10. Shaw accused the Fairfax County school district of failing to adequately respond to evidence raised in a George Mason University study that the district discriminated against black teacher applicants. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

A committee that tracks student achievement gaps in Fairfax County is escalating its push for an investigation of recently published evidence that the Northern Virginia school system discriminated against black applicants for teaching positions.

The Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee  a group of parents, teachers, administrators and others appointed by the county School Board  has asked the Fairfax County Public Schools to name an outside investigator to examine findings from George Mason University researchers. The committee held a meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the issue.

Also on Wednesday, the Fairfax chapter of the NAACP asked the 188,000-student system to make changes in its hiring practices in a letter to the School Board and County Board of Supervisors that called for annual public reports on teacher diversity.

The Mason researchers, in a paper published in the spring issue of the Harvard Educational Review, found the district was hiring black applicants at far lower rates than their white counterparts in 2012, even though black applicants had, on average, more experience and more education. Researchers said that they do not believe the school system was an anomaly and that hiring discrimination could be widespread. The researchers did not identify the district, but school system officials have confirmed that FCPS was the subject of the study.

[Study of Fairfax County schools finds discrimination against black teacher applicants]

This has to be taken seriously, and thats why we asked for an independent review of this, Judith Hall Howard, chair of the Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee, said at the meeting May 10. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

This has to be taken seriously, and thats why we asked for an independent review of this, Judith Hall Howard, a former school administrator and chair of the committee, said at the meeting Wednesday night at the school systems headquarters.

In a May 1 letter, Howard told the School Board that the results of the study should inspire urgency: There is not time to delay this inquiry  the majority of new teachers in FCPS are hired from May through August annually. FCPS must take immediate steps to identify and rectify any and all hiring practices that can, may, or do potentially discriminate.

Fairfax school officials expressed skepticism over the studys findings.

Given the broad leaps in the study, upon further review, FCPS may not agree with the George Mason University authors or find their methods to be sound. FCPS may seek that they be re-examined or revised, School Board Chair Sandy Evans (Mason) said in a statement May 5. She said the district has made progress since 2012 and highlighted its efforts to recruit more minority applicants. It has also started training staff on cultural competency.

Interim school superintendent Steve Lockard has not responded to multiple requests for comment about the study.

Dean Brooks, a recruitment administrator, said the school system is casting a wide net and reaching out to college students to encourage them to become teachers, an effort to counter the shrinking number of people entering teacher-training programs. Recruiters have talked to students at historically black colleges and universities and have been sent as far as Puerto Rico to find candidates for the hundreds of positions that open in any given year.

Weve seen some great benefit from our efforts, Brooks said in an interview Wednesday.

School system officials said they were unable to provide data about the racial demographics of its applicants this year, figures that the oversight committee is also seeking.

At the meeting Wednesday night, committee members expressed frustration as what they called foot-dragging on the part of school leaders.

Evans replied in a letter to the committee that she did not think that the district needs an outside counsel to investigate the findings because of the intense focus already placed on addressing these challenges.

Committee member Robert Shaw, whose sons graduated from Lake Braddock Secondary, called the boards response insulting.

The optics are bad, Shaw added. It cannot be swept under the rug. . . . We need to hold their feet to the fire.

While the study spurred debate in Fairfax, it also confirmed for some observers that hiring discrimination may be contributing to the dearth of black educators nationally. The authors said that they did not think that the school system was an anomaly and that they suspect hiring discrimination occurs in other districts.

Ivory Toldson, an associate professor of counseling psychology at Howard University who has studied the underrepresentation of black teachers, said the problem has often been pinned on a lack of interest among black college students and a lack of qualified black applicants. But he hopes the study shifts the spotlight to school systems.

There were all these assumptions that were made as to why there werent enough black teachers, and most of it boiled down to black people not being interested in teaching or black people not being qualified, Toldson said. There are systemic and structural biases and racism contributing to this problem. Instead of just looking at the targets of racism, we should look at the system.

John B. King Jr., who served as education secretary in the Obama administration and oversaw the Education Department when it issued a wide-ranging report about the underrepresentation of minority educators, said the study highlights a problem that could be keeping some aspiring minority teachers out of the classroom.

Part of the challenge with issues of bias is implicit bias operates without intention, King said. That means you have to make extraordinary efforts to overcome that implicit bias.
Kelley Rogers, president of Strategic Campaign Group, at his office in Annapolis on Thursday. (Josh Hicks/TWP)

Federal authorities on Thursday searched the offices of a political consulting firm in Annapolis that has worked with Republican candidates locally and nationwide and was sued in 2014 on allegations of fraudulent fundraising practices.

Strategic Campaign Group says it supports Republican candidates on a range of services including mail, fundraising and telephone town halls. Its leaders include GOP strategists Kelley Rogers, Chip ONeil and Dennis Whitfield.

The firm has close ties to Republican consultant Scott B. Mackenzie, a treasurer for multiple political action committees that have drawn scrutiny for spending little money on candidates and instead steering donations to consultants, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Rogers said in an interview that he helped lead one of those groups, the Conservative Strike Force.

On Thursday, six FBI agents showed up at the third-floor office of Strategic Campaign Group to gather computer files and documents related to the firms direct mail and fundraising practices, Rogers said. Lindsay Ram, a spokeswoman for the FBI field office in Washington, confirmed that agents were conducting law enforcement activity in Annapolis, off Main Street.

Rogers said agents appeared interested in work the firm did during Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinellis 2013 gubernatorial race. Cuccinelli (R) sued the Strategic Campaign Group and the Conservative Strike Force in 2014, alleging they raised almost $2.2 million to support his campaign but steered little of that money to him.

Our suspicion is that this is just a carry-over from that, Rogers said. I think the facts speak for themselves, and we tried to give the agents all the information they could possibly need.

The Conservative Strike Force agreed to pay Cuccinelli $85,000 to settle the lawsuit, and Strategic Campaign Group said it would turn over donor information.

The Conservative Strike Force has paid Strategic Campaign Group at least $493,000 for services since 2011, according to federal records. Strategic Campaign Group also received at least $188,000 in that time period from the Conservative Majority Fund, another political action committee listing Mackenzie as its treasurer. Mackenzie did not return a voice mail seeking comment.

Both groups have spent a small portion of the donations they receive on the candidates they aim to support, according to federal records, and reported high spending on consultants and other firms.

The Federal Election Commission has been struggling for some time with the issue of political action committees that are formed solely to enrich those running them. Unlike nonprofits, which are governed by boards of directors, PACs can be run by a single consultant. And although candidates are prohibited under federal election law from using campaign donations for personal use, traditional political action committees and their super PAC brethren face few limitations on how they spend their funds.

Critics say scam PACs have proliferated in recent years, driven in part by the advent of big-money super PACs in the wake of the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision. There has also been a surge in groups chasing small-dollar donors, often with misleading promises of how they plan to use those funds.

The Strategic Campaign Group has ties to Republicans in the Maryland state legislature, and Rogers has raised money for Gov. Larry Hogan (R), although Rogers said Thursday that federal agents did not appear interested in his local work.

In 2016, Strategic Campaign Group was paid by the campaigns of Maryland House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel) and GOP Maryland congressional candidates Patrick McDonough and Charles Faddis, state and federal records show. Kipke said Thursday that the state GOP House and Senate political operations would suspend work with the company until the investigation is resolved.

Strategic Campaign Group also worked to support Republican Kathy Szeligas unsuccessful 2016 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat.

Virginia Republicans, mostly state lawmakers, have sent the company more than $500,000 since 2009 for services including polling and robocalls, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

Alice Crites, Peter Hermann, Ann Marimow, Steven Rich, Elise Viebeck and Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.
D.C. police detectives arrested a 19-year-old man on a charge of assault with intent to kill for dumping lighter fluid on a Southeast Washington woman and trying to light her and her apartment ablaze during a domestic violence incident, according to police officials and a police report.

The victim told investigators she was in the shower at her home in 3000 block of Stanton Road on May 5 about 10 a.m., when the suspect walked into her bathroom and demanded money, police said.

Do you have $400 for me, the suspect allegedly asked, according to a police report. After the woman said no, an argument ensued and he continued into the bedroom, where the suspect broke the screen on her Sanyo television by swinging his arm into it, the report said.

The woman told police the man struck her in the face. He then got lighter fluid from the kitchen, threw some in her face and poured the rest throughout the house.

I going to kill you [expletive], and Im going to burn this place up, the suspect allegedly said, according to the report.

The suspect then unsuccessfully tried to use matches to ignite a paper plate. He fled when the woman said she was going to call police, the report said.

Authorities arrested Vorreze Richardo Thomas Jr., of Southeast, and charged him with Assault with Intent to Kill, officials said.

The report described the incident as a domestic violence incident, but police did not release the relationship between the victim and Thomas.
Update: Adrian Crudup was acquitted of all charges in this case. A jury in Prince Georges County Circuit Court had found Crudup guilty of misconduct in office in December 2017. Judge Daneeka V. Cotton vacated the conviction on Feb. 7, 2018.

A Prince Georges County police officer was indicted Thursday on charges of witness intimidation, accessory after the fact and misconduct in office after authorities accused him of interfering with a criminal investigation, according to the Prince Georges County States Attorneys Office.

Adrian Crudup, who has been a police officer for nine years, has been suspended without pay in connection with the investigation, police and prosecutors said.

Police opened an internal investigation against Crudup in May 2015 and forwarded their findings to prosecutors to screen for charges, said John Erzen, a spokesman for the states attorneys office.

Erzen said authorities could not specify what type of criminal investigation Crudup is being accused of interfering with because the case is still open.

Crudup is assigned to the Bureau of Investigation, police said.
Protesters gather at the US Customs and Border Protection offices in Washington, D.C., March 7, 2017, to oppose the rollout of the revised travel ban by President Trump. (Astrid Riecken)

A federal judge in Washington on Thursday signaled her willingness to become the third judge nationwide, if needed, to order a halt to President Trumps revised executive order banning new visas and immigration from six Muslim-majority countries.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan postponed ruling on two combined challenges to the White House action by Iranian-American organizations and a Shia Muslim group, saying she would wait for decisions expected after federal appeals courts arguments this month on halts imposed March 15 by judges from Hawaii and Maryland.

[Federal judges in Hawaii, Maryland, freeze President Trumps new entry ban]

But Chutkan said she was persuaded by arguments that the groups missions and the lives of more than a dozen individual plaintiffs would be unconstitutionally harmed by the travel ban.

Upon consideration of the parties submissions, the court is inclined to agree with Plaintiffs that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims. However  The existence of two other nationwide injunctions temporarily casts uncertainty on the issue of whether the harms Plaintiffs allege are actually imminent or certain, Chutkan wrote in a two-page order that did not delve into the arguments.

A 13-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond is expected to issue a ruling after becoming the first appellate court to hear arguments on the question Monday. Arguments before a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit in San Francisco are set for May 15, Chutkan noted.

She concluded: In the event that both existing injunctions are overturned, this court is prepared to issue a ruling without delay.

[President Trumps lawyers on revised travel ban repeatedly asked about campaign promises]

Spokesmen for the suing Iranian American groups  Pars Equality Center, the Iranian American Bar Association, National Iranian American Council, and Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans  and the Shia group, Universal Muslim Association of America, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Johnathan Smith, legal director of Muslim Advocates, one of the plaintiffs said in a statement that this court recognized that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim. In so doing, this court, like many others, has sided with religious liberty and dignity. The plaintiffs here have had their most basic rights trampled on by the Trump Administration, and we will continue to do all that we can to ensure that they receive the justice they deserve.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said it declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The case before Chutkan came on behalf of the largest ethnic group directly affected by the March 6 executive order, and is one of a half-dozen ongoing challenges to the White House action watched closely by legal analysts.

Chutkan allowed live testimony last month by leaders of the groups, whose lawyers said they hoped the detailed declarations and statements from American immigrants from the Middle Easts most populous nation will bolster the legal standing of ban opponents in a fight widely seen as destined for the U.S. Supreme Court.

More Iranians received U.S. visas in 2015 than nationals from the other five countries on the list combined  Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Libya  or 57 percent of the total including Iraq, which was on an initial travel ban list but dropped in the revised ban. Iranian students accounted for about 80 percent of foreign students last year from the same countries, U.S. data show.
THE DISTRICT

Shooter gets 10-year

sentence in prison

A D.C. man who was shot by police after shooting randomly at people and vehicles in Northwest Washington last year was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday, prosecutors said.

On Sept. 7, 2016, about 1:45 p.m., Marc S. Jeffers, 23, fired a semiautomatic handgun into the ground three times outside a restaurant at Georgia Avenue and Quincy Street NW before shooting at two other people, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement. No one was injured.

Jeffers then walked down Georgia Avenue NW, pointing the gun at people on the street and shooting at an SUV and a Metrobus, the statement said. He was shot twice by police after ignoring an officers orders to drop his weapon, according to the statement.

Jeffers pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence in March, prosecutors said.

Man is fatally shot

in Northeast D.C.

A 24-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday night in Northeast Washington, near the border with Maryland, according to D.C. police.

The shooting occurred about 8:40 p.m. in the 6100 block of Banks Place NE, adjacent to the Watts Branch playground just off Southern Avenue.

Police identified the victim as Dejon Charles Sutton, who lived about two blocks from where he was shot. A second man was shot and wounded in the incident, police said.

MARYLAND

Police officer indicted

on misconduct charge

A Prince Georges County police officer was indicted Thursday on charges of witness intimidation, accessory after the fact and misconduct in office after authorities accused him of interfering with a criminal investigation, according to the Prince Georges County States Attorneys Office.

Adrian Crudup, who has been a police officer for nine years, has been suspended without pay in connection with the investigation, prosecutors said.

Police opened an internal investigation against Crudup in May 2015 and forwarded their findings to prosecutors to screen for charges, said John Erzen, a spokesman for the Prince Georges County States Attorneys Office.

Erzen said authorities could not specify what type of criminal investigation Crudup is being accused of interfering with since the case is still open.

 Lynh Bui
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that its investigative branch, along with other law enforcement agencies, has arrested 1,378 people across the United States in recent weeks in what officials called the largest anti-gang crackdown in the agencys history.

More than two-thirds of the people arrested are U.S. citizens, and all but two of those were born in this country, ICE officials said.

The arrests were part of a six-week initiative, from March 26 to May 6, led by ICEs Homeland Security Investigations unit, which focuses on combating gangs and other criminal activity in the United States and overseas.

Unlike the agencys immigration section, HSI has broad powers to enforce hundreds of federal laws on crimes such as child exploitation, human smuggling, and drug and weapons trafficking.Its agents routinely arrest U.S. citizens.

Federal officials released the names of only four of the people arrested in the operation, which the agency dubbed Project New Dawn. ICE said it worked with San Antonio police to arrest Gilbert Vasquez III, an alleged associate of the Tango Orejon Gang, on April 5. A search of the house where Vasquez was arrested turned up cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, four handguns, and over $48,000 in cash, officials said. Three others were arrested at the house, including Brent Reum, an alleged member of the same gang.

(YouTube/ICE)

Olufemi Odeyemi and Brenda Jackson were arrested on April 7 in New Jersey in connection with possession and distribution of heroin, ICE officials said.

ICE acting director Thomas D. Homan and Derek Benner, deputy executive associate director of Homeland Security Investigations, said a total of 1,098 people were arrested on criminal charges as part of the operation. Half were federal offenses. The rest involved state crimes investigated in cooperation with local police, mainly in the Houston, New York, Atlanta and Newark areas.

Let me be clear that these violent criminal street gangs are the biggest threat facing our communities, Homan said. We are not done.

Of the people arrested on criminal charges, 21 face murder-related allegations, and seven were arrested on charges of rape and sexual assault.

An additional 280 people face prosecution for alleged civil immigration violations, meaning they were in the United States without permission, and will be processed for deportation, officials said. Of them, 112 are gang affiliates, meaning that ICE had verifiable information that the person was associated with a gang. Sixty-two had no gang ties, officials said.

ICE classifies people as gang members if they admit gang membership or violate federal or state anti-gang laws, or if they meet other criteria such as having tattoos identifying a specific gang or being identified as a gang member by a reliable source.

Nationwide, the biggest gangs targeted were the Bloods, Surenos, the Crips and MS-13, an international gang with thousands of members in El Salvador, its command center.

Thomas Homan, ICE acting director, leaves the podium after a news conference on Thursday. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

Fifty-two people were arrested in the District, Virginia and Maryland. Twenty-nine of them allegedly belong to the MS-13 gang.

On April 26, ICE said, it worked with Fairfax County, Va., police to arrest 11 MS-13 gang members at a stash house in the Falls Church area. One was arrested on a criminal charge. Two had outstanding deportation orders. The rest were detained for alleged civil immigration violations.

Three of those arrested nationwide had obtained temporary reprieves from deportation under the Obama administrations Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offered protection to illegal immigrants brought here as children.

ICE did not specify the charges the DACA arrestees face, if any. DACA recipients who pose a threat to national security or public safety can lose protected status. One of the three recipients arrested had already lost their status because of a prior criminal conviction, and two are in the process of having it revoked, officials said.

Ten of those arrested nationwide crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as unaccompanied minors. Of these, nine were gang members, all but one belonging to MS-13, officials said.

ICEs anti-gang initiative has led to more than 47,000 gang-related arrests since it began in 2005, officials said.
A Texas jury on Wednesday found that a former state prosecutor did not commit misconduct in the 1992 death penalty trial of Cameron Todd Willingham, a man who was convicted of  and later executed for  setting a fire that killed his three daughters, outcomes that were based in part on jailhouse testimony recanted after his death.

Jurors in Navarro County rejected claims by the State Bar of Texas that former prosecutor John Jackson made false statements, concealed evidence favorable to Willinghams defense and obstructed justice.

The state bar accused Jackson of failing to disclose to Willinghams attorneys that jailhouse informant Johnny Webb had been promised favorable treatment on an aggravated robbery conviction in return for testimony at Willinghams trial. The prosecutions case against Willingham was two-pronged: testimony from fire investigators that debris analysis showed that the blaze was deliberately set and Webbs assertion that Willingham had confessed.

[Evidence creates doubts about a Texas execution]

Webb testified at Willinghams trial that while the two were held in the Navarro County jail, Willingham confessed to setting the December 1991 fire that killed his three daughters in the familys home in Corsicana, Tex. Willingham was convicted and was executed on Feb. 17, 2004.

Johnny Webb, posing in his mother's back yard, on July 23, 2014, in Corsicana, Tex. (Michel du Cille/The Washington Post )

Weeks before the execution, an independent fire expert concluded there was no evidence the fire was deliberately set. Other experts during the following decade also reached the same conclusion.

Webb recanted his testimony in 2014, saying that Willingham did not confess and that he had testified after Jackson promised him leniency on his own criminal charge. Jackson testified during the just-concluded two-week trial that he had made no deal with Webb. He said he only made efforts to obtain a reduction of Webbs conviction from aggravated robbery to simple robbery and an early release from prison because Webb was being threatened there.

The verdict clearing Jackson was a defeat for the state bar, which filed a complaint in 2015 seeking to disbar Jackson. The complaint was the culmination of more than a decade of investigation by the Innocence Project, which unsuccessfully sought a posthumous pardon for Willingham.

[Prosecutor accused of misconduct in disputed Texas execution case]

During the bar complaint trial, state bar lawyers showed jurors excerpts of Webbs pretrial video deposition, during which he said that he lied at Willinghams trial after Jackson promised him favorable treatment.

When Webb took the witness stand, he refused to answer questions about whether he had lied at Willinghams trial and invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 50 times. He also repeatedly responded to questions saying that he could not recall or did not remember enough to answer.

The trial was attended by a group of supporters of Jackson, who was elected a Navarro County district judge after Willinghams trial.

The state bar filed its complaint against Jackson after the Innocence Project uncovered documents, including letters from Webb to Jackson and letters from Jackson seeking an early release from prison for Webb. The bar accused Jackson of violating several sections of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that prohibit making false statements to a judge and obstructing justice.

The state bar previously was successful in obtaining the disbarment of two other former prosecutors for making false statements and obstructing justice in separate cases that later resulted in exonerations. One was for a man who had been sent to death row in Texas for the murders of six people; a special prosecutor found him to have been innocent.

The National Registry of Exonerations, a national database of 2,024 wrongful convictions in the United States since 1989, reports that official misconduct, which includes misconduct by prosecutors, police and other government officials, has been a contributing factor in about half the cases.

Maurice Possley investigated the Willingham case for the Marshall Project in 2014 in a collaboration with The Washington Post. He also writes for the National Registry of Exonerations.
Aetna will complete its withdrawal from Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges for 2018, announcing on Wednesday that lingering financial losses and uncertainty about the marketplaces future was prompting it to exit two final states.

According to an Aetna spokesman, the insurer will not sell individual health plans next year in Delaware or Nebraska. Its announcement came a week after the company said it would stop offering ACA health plans in Virginia in 2018 and a month after it said it would leave Iowa.

The cascade of state-by-state decisions represents a stark turnabout for the nations third-largest insurer, which initially entered 15 states marketplaces but last summer decided to slash its 2017 participation to just four. That retreat was the largest by any health insurer from the health-care laws marketplaces, which started in 2014 to provide coverage for people who cannot get affordable health benefits through their employers.

But insurers have discovered that their ACA health plans tend to attract too few of the young and healthy customers needed to offset the expense of covering older people with medical problems. Aetna and other insurers have repeatedly reported financial losses on that part of their business.

Many insurers, members of the Obama administration and ACA supporters portrayed jumps in premiums as one-time course corrections and predicted that both premiums and insurers participation would level off. Three months ago, however, Aetna chief executive Mark Bertolini said the marketplaces were in a death spiral  an assertion at odds with recent analyses by the Congressional Budget Office.

(Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

[Early proposed rates for ACA health plans hint at a jump in premiums for 2018]

Aetna lost $450 million last year on its nearly 1 million customers with individual health policies on and off the insurance exchanges. In disclosing the final departures Wednesday, spokesman T.J. Crawford said the company expects to lose an additional $200 million for 2017 on its remaining 255,000 ACA customers.

Along with structural issues, Crawford said, uncertainty that has surrounded the future of the exchanges for some time now . . . plays a significant role as well.

While affecting only two states, Aetnas announcement quickly set off political reverberations in the charged partisan climate over whether the sprawling 2010 law should be preserved or discarded.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price seized on the insurers decision Wednesday night as the latest ammunition to bash Obamacare, as the ACA also is known. The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are eager to dismantle the law and supplant it with more conservative health-care policies, and Price said in a statement that Aetnas move adds to the mountain of evidence that Obamacare has failed the American people. Repealing and replacing it with patient-centered solutions that stabilize the marketplace to bring down costs and increase choices is the only solution.

[House Republicans claim a major victory with passage of health-care overhaul]

On the other hand, Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del), issued a statement lambasting the president. Instead of following through on his promise to ensure that all Americans would have better and less expensive health insurance, the Trump administration has done just the opposite by sabotaging the ACA insurance marketplaces in any possible way, Carper said. This continued assault on the ACAs insurance marketplaces, just when they were becoming financially stable, has sowed confusion and fear among Americans about whether they will be able to access health care.

Carper said Aetnas withdrawal will leave a single insurer in Delawares ACA marketplace and will force 12,000 state residents to find new coverage.

Aetnas statement said it has at this time . . . completely exited the exchanges. However, a possibility exists that it could still offer some coverage in Nevadas marketplace under a Medicaid stipulation being negotiated in that state.

Meanwhile, the availability of ACA health plans in Nebraska is iffy. Aetnas planned departure means that no insurer has formally filed an intention to participate in the states marketplaces for 2018. Insurers deadline for filing 2018 rates there is mid-June, though. A spokesman for the only remaining insurer, Medica, told the Lincoln Journal Star on Wednesday that it still planned to participate.
Retired Master Sgt. Wilburn K. Ross, an Army machine-gunner who received the Medal of Honor for single-handedly fighting back eight German counterattacks during a World War II battle in France, died May 9 in Washington state. He was 94.

His death was announced by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The cause was not disclosed.

Sgt. Ross  then a private  served in the Armys storied 3rd Infantry Division during World War II and saw combat in Morocco and Italy, where he was wounded by shrapnel in 1943. A year later, his unit had pushed on to eastern France, where it encountered elite German alpine troops in the Vosges Mountains.

On Oct. 30, 1944, Sgt. Rosss company took heavy casualties from German forces, losing 55 of its 88 men. About 11:30 a.m., Sgt. Ross moved to a forward position, 10 yards beyond his companys riflemen, and set up his light machine gun.

He was an open target for German marksmen and artillery fire, yet he held steady for five hours, carrying on what was virtually a one-man battle.

His position seemed to be on fire, a U.S. officer who witnessed the battle said afterward, because of the explosions all around him.

Wave after wave of German soldiers attacked Sgt. Rosss position, yet he managed to repel successive counterattacks with well-aimed machine-gun fire.

At one point, he grabbed a rifle from a wounded soldier nearby and aimed it toward approaching enemy troops. The rifle was struck by a German bullet, rendering the gun useless, but Sgt. Ross was not hurt.

I throwed that thing down, Sgt. Ross told the website Militaryvaloan.com in 2013, and I had that machine gun pouring.

When his machine gun temporarily ran out of ammunition, Sgt. Ross refused to abandon his post.

He merely shook his head, William T. Wardell, a lieutenant in the unit, said in 1945.

With the few surviving U.S. riflemen reduced to fixing their bayonets for hand-to-hand combat, German troops crawled as close as four yards to Sgt. Rosss machine-gun nest.

They were to toss grenades into his emplacement when he received a fresh supply of ammunition.

He opened up as they swarmed him, firing short bursts, Wardell said. In less than a minute I saw 50 Germans fall dead or wounded around his machine gun. When the enemy turned and ran, corpses were piled high around the gun.

Sgt. Ross broke the assault single-handedly, and forced the Germans to withdraw, according to his citation for the Medal of Honor, the militarys highest award for valor.

He killed or wounded at least 58 German soldiers and saved the remnants of his company from destruction.

He stayed by his gun through the night and next day, prepared for a possible return by enemy forces. After 36 hours, it was clear that the Germans had abandoned the field.

Sgt. Ross emerged from the battle unscathed.

I was a lucky guy all the way through, he said in 2011, because they got awful close to me.

In April 1945, Sgt. Ross and four other members of the 3rd Division were awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at a stadium in Nuremberg, Germany, where Adolf Hitler had conducted prewar rallies.

Wilburn Kirby Ross was born May 12, 1922, in Strunk, Ky., a rural hamlet near the Tennessee border. He grew up on a farm and learned to hunt and fish as a boy. He practiced his marksmanship by placing a match in a tree and lighting it with a shot from his .22-caliber rifle.

He worked as a coal miner before moving to Virginia to be a shipyard welder early in World War II. He was drafted in 1942.

After the war, he worked for the Kentucky highway authority for a year or two before reenlisting in the Army. In 1950, after only nine days on the battlefield in the Korean War, Sgt. Ross was severely wounded in his legs by machine-gun fire. He remained in the Army until 1964.

He settled in DuPont, Wash., where he worked in a pickle factory and drove a van for a veterans hospital. He often attended veterans events and was one of 12 Medal of Honor recipients featured on postage stamps released in 2013.

His wife of more than 60 years, the former Monica Belford, died in 2011. They had six children. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.

Sgt. Ross had few trappings of his wartime heroism, except for a commemorative Medal of Honor license plate that other motorists occasionally noticed in traffic.

Sometimes people salute me, he said.
SOMALIA

Lift weapons embargo, leader urges partners

Somalias president on Thursday called for an end to the arms embargo on his long-chaotic country, saying that if the military does not have more sophisticated equipment in the fight against the al-Shabab extremist group, definitely this war will continue for another 10 years.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who was elected in February, has vowed to defeat al-Shabab within two years. He issued his appeal at a high-level conference in London to address the Horn of Africa nations humanitarian and security crises.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that this is not the time to lift the arms embargo and that the priority should be on helping Somalias military work together with regional forces already deployed in the country.

British Prime Minister Theresa May and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for more support to counter Somalias deadly drought, with the U.N. chief requesting an additional $900 million in aid this year.

Pressure is growing on Somalias military to assume full responsibility for security as the 22,000-strong African Union force, AMISOM, that has been supporting the government plans to leave by the end of 2020.

 Associated Press

GAZA STRIP

Top commanders killer caught, Hamas says

Hamass newly elected supreme leader on Thursday announced the arrest of a suspect in the death of a top militant commander in March, claiming that a gunman dispatched by Israel had carried out the attack. But Ismail Haniyeh did not identify the suspect, leaving a cloud of mystery over the case.

Haniyeh indicated that the gunman was a local Palestinian who had acted on the orders of Israel. He said that more details would be released soon and that the suspect would face execution.

The arrest is a breakthrough in the investigation into the death of Mazen Faqha, a top Hamas commander killed in the garage of his apartment building in March.

Hamas has said that the gun used to shoot Faqha had a silencer, allowing the killer to escape unnoticed. It has said the professionalism of the shooting indicated that Israel was behind it.

Israel and Hamas, an Islamist militant group that opposes Israels existence, have fought three wars since Hamas took control of Gaza a decade ago.

Faqha had been serving nine life terms in Israel for directing suicide bombings before he was freed with more than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a Israeli soldier in 2011.

 Associated Press

BRITAIN

Draft Labour manifesto vows re-nationalization

Britains main opposition Labour Party will promise to re-nationalize rail and mail services and take some of the energy sector into public hands, according to a leaked copy of its draft manifesto.

The draft says Labour, under leader Jeremy Corbyn, will return to policies echoing those of three decades ago, promising to raise taxes on Britains highest earners and companies to fund priorities. Labour seems to be betting that a shift to the left will win over voters before next months election.

The leaking of the draft is a sign of the divisions that have deepened in the party under Corbyn. His backers have driven the move leftward, clearing the way for Prime Minister Theresa May to take control of the center ground of British politics and appeal to traditional Labour allies.

Mays decision to call an early election for next month caught most of her Conservative Party by surprise and forced Labour and other parties to scramble to devise campaigns almost overnight.

 Reuters

Spanish parliament votes to move Francos remains: Spanish lawmakers voted in favor of moving the remains of dictator Francisco Franco from a state-funded mausoleum, a measure long rejected by the conservative ruling Popular Party. The vote puts no obligation on the government. But it has reopened debate about Spains painful 1936-1939 Civil War and its aftermath. The mausoleum is seen by many as a relic of a dictatorial past.

Kosovo president calls election for June: Kosovos president set for June 11 an early parliamentary election that became necessary after Prime Minister Isa Mustafas government lost a no-confidence vote in parliament this week. President Hashim Thaci also asked Mustafas cabinet to continue serving until the election.

 From news services
PRESIDENT XI JINPING of China has been tireless in stamping out dissent. He has demanded that journalists, charities and university professors, among others, bow to the supremacy of the Communist Party. He told journalists for party organs that they must show absolute loyalty and have the party as their family name. Mr. Xi seems particularly eager to keep a firm hand on the reins of power before this years key meeting of the Chinese Communist Party to seal his second five-year term.

One of the most vicious campaigns has been the so-called war on law, using arrests, detentions and show trials to punish lawyers who have courageously defended human rights victims in recent years. The crackdown was launched in July 2015, and more than 250 people were detained. Among them was Li Heping, a prominent lawyer who had defended Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal advocate and rights champion, as well as villagers evicted from their homes and practitioners of Falun Gong, a religious discipline banned by the Chinese authorities.

After nearly 22 months in prison during which he was reportedly tortured with electric shocks, Mr. Li was tried April 25 in the port city of Tianjin. The court announced April 28 that he had been convicted of subversion of state power for, among other things, using the foreign media and his postings on social media to smear and attack state organs and the legal system. He was given a three-year prison sentence, with a four-year reprieve, meaning he will have the convictions hanging over him.

His wife, Wang Qiaoling, insisted on his innocence, saying the party-state had turned an innocent man into a criminal, and then suspended the sentence so it seems really humanitarian. But this is absurd. I dont acknowledge it, and I dont recognize it. She added, Screw your suspended sentence. When Mr. Li was released May 9, his wife said he had wasted away in detention and added that Chinese security officers are shadowing him everywhere.

In Changsha, separately, a Chinese court on May 8 began the trial of prominent human rights lawyer Xie Yang, who was also taken into custody in July 2015. The proceeding began in true show-trial fashion, with the court releasing what appears to be a forced confession in which Mr. Xie admits to subversion, denies he was tortured and urges his fellow lawyers not to smear the image of the nations party organs while representing cases. This is not rule of law.

Mr. Xies relatives, including a daughter born in the United States, managed to flee China for Thailand, but were jailed there for entering the country illegally. Chinese agents were lurking at the jail, hoping to repatriate them, when the United States intervened, literally sweeping the family out the back door of the jail to safety. This unusual example of activism by the administration is to be welcomed. President Trump, who has described Mr. Xi as a very good man, must also speak up for Chinas beleaguered lawyers and others who have been cruelly silenced.
By 1908, the time was right for a new kind of agency to protect America. The United States was, well, united, with its borders stretching from coast to coast and only two landlocked states left to officially join the union. Inventions like the telephone, the telegraph, and the railroad had seemed to shrink its vast distances even as the country had spread west. . . . America was . . . a new world power on the block, thanks to its naval victory over Spain.

 From an FBI official history

Theres a certain serendipity in President Trumps precipitation of crisis at the Federal Bureau of investigation on the 100th anniversary of the United States entry into World War I.

Americas federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, of which the FBI (or its precursors) was among the first, took shape in the 20th century. Their rise is inseparable from that periods dominant themes: national growth, international extension and, comparatively speaking, political consensus.

(Bastien Inzaurralde,Jayne Orenstein,Alice Li,Libby Casey,Priya Mathew/The Washington Post)

Certainly, the bitter partisanship of the 19th century, culminating in the Civil War and Reconstruction, helped prevent the development of an American counterpart to, say, the centralized detective force that Joseph Fouche built in France. No party in Congress trusted the other sufficiently to create a secret, or semi-secret, agency that might later be turned against it.

In the 20th century, Republicans and Democrats didnt agree on much, but more often than not, they shared a sense of core national interests, and, following from that, a sense of who federal detectives and spies might appropriately target (even when that consensus led to excesses, such as CIA domestic surveillance and the FBIs campaign against the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.).

To the extent it guided their oversight of intelligence agencies, that baseline consensus overcame the politicians qualms about the undeniable tension between democratic norms on the one hand and the dark arts of surveillance on the other.

As Trumps bold decapitation of the FBI, and the reaction to it, illustrate, however, this massive agency  14,000 special agents, an $8.7 billion annual budget  has outlasted the national consensus that gave it life, and upon which its legitimacy ultimately rested.

We are about to learn whether such an institution can preserve its professionalism, and its ethos of nonpartisan national service, at a time when its supposed political masters have lost theirs.

It is a dangerous moment, because history shows that partisan control is the hallmark of illegitimate spying, and that politicized law-enforcement and intelligence cannot be squared with democracy.

What made East Germanys Stasi so pernicious, for example, was not its pervasive snooping per se, but that a single political party directed the surveillance according to its own selfish interests, as defined by a constantly shifting line.

Trumps ouster of FBI Director James B. Comey, amid an investigation of Russias meddling in the 2016 election that Trump won, reeks of self-serving political manipulation, no matter how hard the president and his minions spin it as an attempt to redeem the FBI.

Whats also troubling, from the perspective of consensual governance, is that Democrats objections to the firing are themselves less than principled  unavoidably so, given their own grudge against Comey for rekindling the email investigation of Hillary Clinton in the final days of the campaign.

The essence of the predicament is that Comey did, indeed, play a part in the election, a fact that itself guaranteed that the winner, whoever it was, could not deal straightforwardly with him.

Imagine if it had been Clinton: What would she have done with Comey  if he didnt resign and trigger bitter GOP resistance to the person she chose to replace him?

A big dilemma now, of course, is that anyone Trump might pick to run the FBI would carry the stigma of being selected with the same hand that dispatched Comey.

The search is on for an independent person, or group of them, to set this convoluted situation right: a special prosecutor, perhaps, or an independent commission, or aroused Senate Republicans, newly conscious of their constitutional duties.

In Washingtons not-too-distant past, such honest brokers could be readily identified and agreed upon: special prosecutor Leon Jaworski to carry on the Watergate investigation after the Saturday Night Massacre in 1973; or the members of the commission to investigate the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Today? Not so easy. Comey, as it happens, used to be on everyones straight-shooter list, respected for his 2004 threat to resign unless President George W. Bush limited some surveillance Comey deemed unlawful.

In hindsight, Comeys 2016 performance looks like an attempt to spend that moral capital on behalf of the FBIs reputation, and his own  while politicos all about him were losing theirs and blaming it on him. Look where he is now.

Read more from Charles Lanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
The pictures from the Oval Office on Wednesday  published by a Tass photographer, as no U.S. media were present  are jolly and good-humored. President Trump, who fired his FBI director a day earlier, is grinning for the cameras and shaking hands with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, and the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. They, too, smile and laugh, relishing the many ironies of the moment.

Have a close look at those happy faces; keep the images in your head. Then turn your attention just for a moment to the story of Ildar Dadin, an unusually brave young Russian. Dadin was arrested in Moscow in 2015, one of the first to fall victim to a harsh new Russian law against dissent. His crime was to have protested peacefully and repeatedly, mostly by standing silently in the street with a sign around his neck.

Dadin was sentenced to three years in prison in Karelia, the northwestern province that was once home to the White Sea Canal, one of the most infamous prison camps in Stalins Soviet Union. Far away from the capital, he discovered that torture, of a kind also practiced in Stalins Soviet Union, was still in use. In Karelia, guards throw a prisoner into an isolation cell as soon as they arrive, Dadin has written, so that he understands straight away what hell hes got into. Later, he was hung up by his arms, which were handcuffed behind his back. Others in Karelian prisons were beaten on the soles of their feet, drenched with water and left in the cold, beaten on the back and stomach.

Why? In Stalins day, people were tortured to get them to confess to crimes they had not committed. Nowadays they are often tortured as a form of extortion: If their families pay up, the torture stops. Dadins wife, Anastasia Zotova  she was in London meeting with human rights organizations  also told me that some prisoners are forced to work for prison guards and their families (another tradition handed down from the Gulag). It is fitting, somehow, that in Putins Russia, people torture for money and not ideology.

Dadin is lucky: He is educated, comes from Moscow and was able to make use of what remains of the press and the judicial apparatus in Russia. Meduza, a Russian-language website published outside the country, posted a letter he wrote from prison; thanks to Zotova and some dedicated lawyers, he got Russias human rights ombudsman interested in his case and was released. But his story is exceptional. By contrast, gay men in Chechnya, another Russian province, have been kidnapped, tortured and killed by police with impunity after Chechen officials decided to eliminate homosexuality altogether. Russian prosecutors also recently arrested and detained Yuri Dmitriev, one of the countrys best-known historians of Stalinism, on trumped-up charges. Dmitriev literally knows where the bodies are buried: In the 1990s, he uncovered hundreds of mass graves, the only remaining evidence of Stalins mass murders. Knowledge like that has become increasingly uncomfortable in a Russia that no longer wants to distance itself from its murderous past.

What is the connection between those stories and the photographs in the Oval Office? There isnt one. Neither Trump, nor Lavrov, nor Kislyak is remotely interested in the fate of Dadin or Dmitriev, if they have even heard of them, which seems unlikely. Nor are any of them much interested in the fate of Dan Heyman, the West Virginia reporter arrested recently for persistent questioning of Tom Price, the health and human services secretary. Due process, rule of law, all of the dull rules and procedures that deliver justice are uninteresting to men who believe in personalized power unconstrained by traditions, institutions or constitutions. Look at how pleased they were to see one another  and compare those pictures with Trumps stiff and awkward news conferences with democratic leaders such as Germanys Angela Merkel or Britains Theresa May.

I know that investigations should continue, but lets be clear: Russia would have needed no inducements or collusion to support Trumps election campaign. His personality is the kind they understand, his cynicism and his dishonesty are familiar, his greed is the same as their greed. Above all, his lack of respect for the law is their lack of respect for the law. Trump fired the FBI director to get him off his television screen; Russian police lock up dissidents to get them out of public view. No, its not the same thing. But its not that different either.

Read more from Anne Applebaums archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook.
A handout photo from the Russian Foreign Ministry shows President Trump with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting at the White House in Washington on May 10. (Russian Foreign Ministry/Agence France-Presse Getty Images)

Okay, Sergei, now its my turn: Stop laughing at my country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov once chided me in Moscow for chuckling at the claim that Russia possessed unique virtue in international affairs. He returned the favor this week in Washington by openly mocking, in the presence of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, President Trumps firing of FBI Director James B. Comey.

Tillerson offered no visible disapproval of Lavrovs feigned shock at Comeys firing. Trump manifested the same forbearance toward Lavrov by then meeting with the self-assured Russian diplomat, who has shown extraordinary survival skills in serving for 13 years as Vladimir Putins interface with the world.

Lavrov in fact practices his trade with the same smugness and confidence in his ability to exploit his opponents weaknesses that mark Putins approach to the human race in general and to Trump in particular. They laugh as Trump and Tillerson show what has become this administrations greatest problem  its lack of any trace of self-respect. How otherwise could a U.S. president let himself be played for a fool by Putin, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and others of that ilk?

(Bastien Inzaurralde,Jayne Orenstein,Alice Li,Libby Casey,Priya Mathew/The Washington Post)

This will simply feed Putins cynicism, which I described in these pages on Sept. 20, 2009, this way:

MOSCOW  The worlds economic crisis does not seem to have been unkind to you, Vladimir Putin notes as we sit down to a lunch that begins with calfs tail in aspic. You all look well fed, well dressed.

It is a spys gambit, one of several that the Russian prime minister advances subtly to compromise or co-opt 45 foreign academics, think-tank experts and journalists gathered in his opulent dacha at Moscows outer edge. Dont be hypocrites, he is saying without saying. Dont try to trap me with do-good, abstract questions. Were in this together.

This attitude helps explain Putins campaigns to convince Americans and Europeans that their media are as corrupt and as much in the pockets of those in power as are Russias. And his meddling in Ukraine is to Putin simply a more visible version of what Americans have tried to do there, however ineptly.

Again, Comeys firing demonstrates that this president has no self-respect. Worse, Trump is quick to implicate others in his misdeeds, as Putin does, to bring them down to his level. Tillerson, the rest of the Cabinet, the GOP congressional leadership and particularly the person who will replace Comey have been put on notice and in Putinesque terms: We are all in this together. You are no better than I am, and if you pretend otherwise, I will fire or destroy you.

The Trump presidency now poses an existential threat to many of Americas most vital institutions. He has tried to tear down to his own tawdry level the intelligence community, the FBI, the media and the federal judiciary. (Congress has been spared only because the Republican leadership lacks the moral courage to draw Trumps fire.) Just as he is at war with himself, Trump is at war with the nation he is supposed to lead.

I had never particularly credited the idea that Trump or his campaign operatives openly colluded with Putins effort to draw them into the muck of the corruption the Russian leader inhabits and seeks to spread. They could not have been that stupid, I have been telling myself. Nor could I imagine that Trump was so dependent on Russian money that he could be compromised by Moscow.

But it is hard now to find other credible explanations for the presidents serial misbehavior and shameless, reckless actions. He seems eager to provoke moral outrage that will confirm his self-image of excelling by being the worst of the bad boys. (Recall his infamous conversation with Billy Bush.)

The kind of controversy he has ignited with the Comey firing raises another possibility, it now seems to me: Trump is willing to be a one-term president if that is the price of doing things his way, which primarily involves enriching himself and his family.

Given that he will be 74 at the end of his mandate, Trump may even prefer to go out in a blaze rather than a whimper. I of course cant be sure that is his intent. But his actions almost guarantee that result, whatever his intentions may be.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY has been seized by racial unease since a half-dozen pairs of bananas, their skins scrawled with toxic messages, were found hanging from black string nooses just after dawn early last week. The incident coincided with the ascension of the universitys first African American female student government president, Taylor Dumpson, a junior, who was subsequently placed under protection by campus police after a white supremacist urged others to troll her online.

If the bananas stunts perpetrator had hoped to ignite a spasm of fear and fury on the universitys leafy Northwest campus, they succeeded, but beyond that its difficult to know what they hoped to achieve. A small student demonstration was defused by administrators who immediately acceded to the protesters demands and said they would go even further to foster racial sensitivity and responsiveness on campus, and the FBI quickly joined the investigation into an episode deemed a hate crime.

In a rising national tide of racial intolerance, colleges have not been spared puerile, pathetic and threatening incidents, which play on the volatile campus sensitivities of an era defined by trigger warnings and safe spaces. At AU, African American and other students demanded a sanctuary space be established for minority students at a campus cafeteria; a policy granting extensions for final exams to minority students; and an open-door policy for outside groups such as the NAACP to investigate hate crimes and racial incidents at the university.

Eager to ease tensions, administrators granted those demands, and have gone the extra mile, or miles, by agreeing to additional nighttime patrols and racial-sensitivity training for students; offering a $1,000 reward for information that helps to identify the banana vandal, whose blurry image appears on security camera videos; and contracting with a prominent historian of American race relations, Ibram X. Kendi, to set up an anti-racism center on campus.

Thats a smart, proactive agenda, one that might serve as a blueprint for other universities facing similar problems. Two days after the banana nooses appeared at AU, campus police at the University of Maryland at College Park said they were investigating a noose found hanging in the schools Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house.

(WUSA)

Two-bit provocations such as hanging nooses on campuses play on emotions made raw in the wake of a presidential campaign that featured the vilification of minorities and barely veiled race-baiting. For university administrators, the challenge is to address that legitimate pain with sensitivity and make crystal clear that racist signs, symbols and speech are off-limits. For students, whose outrage is legitimate, its worth considering that the more campus life is disrupted by such provocations, the more the provocateurs win. Dont let them.
I was working on the Senate Watergate Committee staff when President Richard Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor who was investigating him, during an event known as the Saturday Night Massacre. President Trumps firing of FBI Director James B. Comey is an appalling insult to the American justice system that parallels Mr. Coxs firing. This incident cries out for Congress to fulfill its duty to restore faith in the justice system by accepting nothing less than a truly independent investigation of all questionable matters related to the administration that committed this dubious firing.

David Erdman, Charlotte, N.C.

Something rotten is going on at the White House. It is time to have an independent investigation into President Trump and his crew. Mr. Trump seems to get very nervous about people looking into his Russian contacts. Goodbye, acting attorney general Sally Yates and FBI Director James B. Comey.

Republicans are sitting on their hands watching our beautiful country go down the drain. Do they really want to watch history being made on their watch? This history isnt going to be pretty. Mr. Trump is out of control, and anyone who tries to do something is gone by the end of day.

Will our elected officials please do something now? Isnt our country more important than party?

Janet Bleck, Silver Spring

President Trumps outrageous firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, the Tuesday massacre, is extremely troubling. The timing of this Nixon-like maneuver by Mr. Trump creates a constitutional crisis that calls the credibility of Mr. Trump into question.

Mr. Comey was the leading independent official in the criminal investigation looking at whether anyone in the Trump campaign was in collusion with Russia to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 presidential election.

The American people  Republicans, Democrats and independents  must stand together now and demand an independent special prosecutor be appointed to investigate Russias involvement in the 2016 presidential election. Integrity and the rule of law must be restored in the United States.

Arthur L. Mackey Jr., Roosevelt, N.Y.

The memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein that served as the justification for firing FBI Director James B. Comey raises several questions. First is that the rationale was based on concerns about events that occurred from July to October and critiques thereof. Given that these concerns came to the surface six months after they happened and that, at the time they were happening, Mr. Trump was happy enough with the idea to praise Mr. Comey, this explanation is disingenuous at best.

A few hours after Mr. Comeys firing, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Fox News that it was time to move on and frankly its time to focus on the things the American people care about. It is hard to see how much more transparent the Trump White House can be about what it is doing. I thought Id seen the epitome of hubris in the George W. Bush administration. I was wrong.

Now that Mr. Comey is a civilian, he is in the position to become Mr. Trumps worst nightmare. Much worse than former acting attorney general Sally Yates.

George Capehart, Gastonia, N.C.

In the wake of President Trumps firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, we hear calls to trust our institutions. Such calls are rooted in the belief that the institutions formed by our Constitution, laws and history are strong enough to withstand the occasional attack. Not so.

In his book On Tyranny, Yale University historian Timothy Snyder examines 20 lessons from tyrannies that swept away democratic republics in Europe after both world wars. Mr. Snyder writes: We tend to assume that institutions will automatically maintain themselves against even the most direct attacks. Hitler and the Russian Bolsheviks destroyed institutions by depriving them of legitimacy.

Mr. Trumps senior counselor Stephen K. Bannon describes our institutions not as something to be protected but as the deep state to be rooted out and destroyed. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas warned us: As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air  however slight  lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

The Trump administration is crippling our institutions. While Mr. Trumps firings of Mr. Comey and acting attorney general Sally Yates made headlines, we need to remember that he forced out every remaining U.S. attorney from the previous administration and has refused to fill numerous deputy and deputy assistant positions. Mr. Trump and Mr. Bannon are well on their way to destroying the institutions that have protected us from tyranny. Night is falling.

Joe Schlatter, Heathsville, Va.

For some of us, it seems President Trump, as candidate and president, has crossed every gray line imaginable. The May 10 front-page article Trump fires FBI director raises the question of whether he has crossed a red one. Not so long ago, politicians and pundits spoke of a red line in Syria. Is there one in our own democracy? We know Russia meddled in our election. On our side of the fence, was there nothing more than a few more gray lines? The president in effect has told the American public, Move on, folks, nothing to see here, and fired the man who was investigating him and his campaign. The Trump administration says then-FBI Director James B. Comey mishandled the Hillary Clinton email probe last year and so apparently shouldnt be trusted to continue investigating whether the red line of collusion might have been crossed by the Trump campaign.

Maybe there are no red lines in Mr. Trumps world, but its hard to imagine making America great by turning red, white and blue into shades of gray.

Lynn Bergfalk, Washington
President Trumps decision to fire former FBI director James B. Comey may not be the disaster it appears to be  provided he chooses someone of unquestionable character, experience and, most importantly, independence to replace him.

And in selecting that individual, Trump has a perfect model: his nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

The Gorsuch nomination came in the wake of another controversial dismissal of sorts: Senate Republicans refusal to confirm Merrick Garland, President Barack Obamas nominee to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia, during an election year. When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the Garland nomination was dead on arrival, Democrats howled. Despite the hypocrisy of those such as then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who both had said when Republicans were in office that Supreme Court vacancies created during a presidential election year should not be filled, Democrats wailed about a stolen seat and complained about the unjust treatment of Garland. Then, after the election, even before Trump made his choice to replace Scalia, Schumer announced that he planned to use the filibuster to keep the seat open.

If Trump had picked a more controversial Supreme Court nominee, the filibuster might have succeeded. There was heartburn in the GOP caucus about invoking the nuclear option  changing the Senates rules to end debate on Supreme Court nominees by a simple-majority vote. A different pick, and Trump might not have had the votes to do it.

But instead he selected Gorsuch, a judge of such impeccable temperament, character and intellect that his choice won plaudits not only from conservative legal scholars, but also from liberals such as Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe and former Obama acting solicitor general Neal Katyal. Gorsuch was so obviously qualified  and the Democrats effort to block him were so transparently partisan  that it united Republicans behind the nuclear option and ensured his confirmation.

Now the cries of a stolen seat are long forgotten. Democrats current outrage over Comeys firing will be similarly forgotten if Trump selects a replacement in the mold of Gorsuch.

Some of the names being floated  such as former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former GOP senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire  would be disastrous choices. Trump cannot pick a partisan ally or elected official. He needs to pick someone above politics  a longtime FBI or Justice Department veteran, or a respected federal judge  who will command instant respect on Capitol Hill and inside the bureau.

Fortunately, the Trump administration has scoured the conservative legal world, and compiled long lists of potential candidates for the Supreme Court and more than 120 openings on federal and district courts. These lists could be used to select a new FBI director as well. Indeed, the hard part may not be finding a qualified candidate, but finding a qualified candidate willing to take on the FBI directors woeful portfolio of politically charged investigations. It will require a great patriot to accept that thankless job.

The most interesting suggestion so far has come from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who tweeted that Trump should select none other than Garland. A Lee spokesman explained that Garland is eminently qualified and has the reputation needed to restore public confidence in the FBI. Before joining the federal bench, Garland was an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division and principal deputy to the deputy attorney general, where he led the teams that tried Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. It would be extremely hard for Democrats, who spent the past year singing Garlands praises, to turn and oppose his confirmation as FBI director. And Republicans would be thrilled to be able to fill his seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The consequences of a bad choice, by contrast, could be devastating. Democrats would have a field day with the confirmation hearings and would quickly turn them into a political circus. While most Democrats will likely oppose even the most impeccably qualified nominee Trump puts forward  just as they opposed Gorsuch  if the president loses just three Republican votes for his FBI candidate, he would suffer a devastating congressional defeat. Moreover, a bad choice could prompt enough Republicans to break away and support Democrats in the creation of an independent counsel to investigate Trumps campaign and Russias meddling in the 2016 election.

If he makes the wrong pick, Trump could also face a revolt from the FBI and Justice Department rank and file. Comey had alienated some in both the bureau and the department, but he also had loyal supporters. The Post reports that his dismissal has left raw anger, and some fear, according to multiple officials, adding that many employees said they were furious . . . saying the circumstances of his dismissal did more damage to the FBIs independence than anything Comey did in his three-plus years in the job. If the president thought the leaks were bad before, imagine the sieve that could ensue with the wrong pick.

By contrast, if Trump selects a strong, respected, independent nonpolitical leader, the current controversy over Comeys firing will be remembered as nothing more than a brief kerfuffle.

A strong nomination erases a host of perceived sins. So Trump had better pick wisely. Things could get much better  or much worse  depending on his next move.

Read more from Marc Thiessens archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Adam B. Schiff, of California, is the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

(Jenny Starrs,Julio Negron/The Washington Post)

In the wake of President Trumps brazen interference with the independence of the FBI and the Justice Department, the country faces a crisis of confidence in the administration of justice not seen in more than four decades, and disturbing questions that demand immediate answers.

The firing of FBI Director James B. Comey offers Trump the ability to appoint a new director more beholden to him and perhaps more malleable than Comey, especially as it pertains to the investigation into contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. That cant be allowed to happen. The FBI must have a strong, independent director.

Given the presidents abiding and very literal conflict of interest in this case, Congress must also demand a full explanation of all the circumstances that led to Comeys firing, as well as supporting documentation from the Justice Department, lest the integrity of our justice system be called into even greater question

In his letter dismissing Comey, the president thanked the director for thrice informing him that he was not under investigation. Because Comey had specifically refused to rule out an investigation of the president during testimony last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the presidents representation is just that  a one-sided representation. Most of Trumps claims on the Russia matter have been false  from the fully debunked assertion that President Barack Obama wiretapped him to his recent misrepresentation that former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. testified that there was no evidence of collusion between Russia and Trumps campaign. As a result, anything the president represents on the Russia investigation should not be taken at face value. And, of course, even if correct, the presidents campaign team is under investigation. Where that trail leads no one can be certain.

However, the president is not the only party in this case with serious conflicts of interest.

Indeed, the most troubling aspect of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosensteins otherwise fair critique of Comeys actions during the Hillary Clinton email investigation is to whom his memorandum is addressed  Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who misled his colleagues in the Senate about his contacts with the Russian government and was rightly forced to recuse himself from any decision-making role in the Russia investigation.

Because Comey was leading the FBI investigation into allegations that Trump campaign associates may have colluded in the Russian hacking of our election, how is it appropriate for Sessions to play any part in the firing of the man leading the Russia probe? For all the attention that Rosenstein pays to Comeys judgment and ethical obligations, he demonstrated no disquiet with the equally serious conflict of interest both Sessions and the president have in terminating the director while associates of the president are subjects of counterintelligence or criminal investigation.

(Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

Moreover, the stated rationale the White House has pushed for firing Comey is at odds with the presidents own words during the campaign. After Comey violated department policy by discussing the Clinton investigation only days before the election, Trump praised the director for shining a new spotlight on Clintons email troubles as Americans were heading to the polls. How were those actions praiseworthy then, and a firing offense now? Even for a president whose views are erratic and contradictory, the swiftness of his pivot on Comey is enough to induce vertigo.

All of this underscores the need for an independent prosecutor to oversee the FBI investigation. An independent prosecutor, or special counsel, of unimpeachable integrity should be appointed, after a selection process free from any real or perceived political influence. Given the taint accompanying the presidents decision, only this step will give the public any modicum of confidence that the investigation will be conducted fairly, rigorously and independent of political influence and interference. And while Congress continues to press forward with its own vigorous probe, the American people would likewise benefit from a congressionally empowered independent commission, fully staffed and immune from political pressure, to carry on a separate, nonpartisan review of the facts.

By firing Comey, Trump again has caused the public to wonder whether there is more here than meets the eye. To the long list of questions about his former national security adviser, his attorney generals flawed testimony before the Senate and his campaigns contacts with Russia, we must now add one more: Why, really, did the president fire James Comey?


Patrons watch a NASCAR race at the bar at Oliver D. Nichelson American Legion Post 221 in Niceville, Fla., on May 7. (Meggan Haller/Keyhole Photo for The Washington Post)

 On any given day, President Trump is known to fire off tweets that grab the attention of those inside the Beltway.

On Friday, for example, he got started at 6:51 a.m. decrying the fabricated story about possible collusion between his campaign and Russia before threatening to cancel press briefings and sending a thinly veiled threat to former FBI director James B. Comey.

This is not unusual. Earlier in the week, the president called Democrats phony hypocrites for criticizing his decision to fire Comey. Last week he praised Australias socialized health-care system and congratulated a morning talk show friendly to his agenda for its unbelievable ratings hike.

Trumps tweets, as always, transfixed Washington.

But nearly 1,000 miles south, in the bar of American Legion Post 221 in the Florida Panhandle, no one seems to notice his Twitter habits.

Instead, the regulars talk about their grandkids, home-improvement projects, politics and the way things used to be in conversations peppered with curse words and crude jokes. The jukebox blares country, with some classic rock mixed in, as the bartender pours $1 draft beers and $2 mixed drinks.

No one has a Twitter account  frankly, many arent even sure how Twitter works  although they do know it keeps getting the president into trouble.

(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

I wish hed quit tweeting, Becky Corcoran, 62, a Trump-supporting retired school custodian, said last week. Keep your mouth shut, quit tweeting. . . . Youre not just a businessman anymore. Now youre president of the United States.

Although the president pledged to let go of his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account if elected, he has continued to tweet, insisting that its the only way he can bypass the media and directly connect with his supporters.

A Quinnipiac University poll last month found that 68 percent of registered voters said the president should stop tweeting from his personal account. Among Republicans, opinions were split, with 47 percent saying he should continue, 47 percent saying he should stop and 6 percent not caring. A Fox News poll of Trump voters in March found that 35 percent approved of his tweets, while 51 percent wished he would be more cautious and 12 percent disapproved.

And for those who are active on Twitter, interest in Trumps tweeting is fading. The presidents tweets earn far fewer likes than they did during the election  or even when he first took office, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Those who engage with Trump are more likely to be left-leaners leveling criticism than right-leaners lavishing love, according to an analysis by the Associated Press and Cortico, a nonprofit media-analytics group.



Niceville is home to about 12,000 people, many of whom work at Eglin Air Force Base. (Meggan Haller/Keyhole Photo for The Washington Post)

Many of those at the American Legion bar one night last week said they cant keep straight which of the presidents comments were delivered in a tweet and which came in an interview, speech or formal statement. Everything melds together as they watch the news, listen to their favorite talk-radio shows or read articles posted on Facebook.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the presidents supporters dont have to read his tweets on Twitter for them to be powerful modes of communication.

When he tweets . . . it gets picked up by everybody, it gets read live on the news, you guys will cover it in the paper, Spicer said. We put out a press release and it gets covered much less than when he sends a single tweet.

Here in Niceville  which replaced the town name Boggy in 1910  questions about the presidents tweets were often met with shrugs. Many said they care more about some congressional Republicans not supporting the presidents full agenda, about liberals not giving Trump a fair chance and about the media seeming to ignore the victories that they see.



Scottie Gontarek of Niceville at the bar of the American Legion post. (Meggan Haller/Keyhole Photo for The Washington Post)

Id rather hear honest and crude than unhonest and sanitized, said Scottie Gontarek, 60, who retired after 20 years in the Air Force and is one of a handful of widows who often hang out together at the Legion post. You might not like what he says, but hes honest.

Trump won overwhelmingly in the Panhandle, which culturally has much more in common with the Southern states it borders  Alabama and Georgia  than with Miami.

Niceville is home to about 12,000 people and is known for its annual Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival (named for a fish, not the hairstyle). Last week, fighter jets practiced overhead as students at Northwest Florida State College took finals, tourists posed for photos at an armaments museum and families gathered at a local playground.

No one could name a tweet that the president had sent recently.

Among those shopping at a local Walmart was a 56-year-old Republican who refused to vote for Trump and called his tweets childish, along with a 29-year-old whose husband is based in South Korea and who wishes the president would be more careful with his comments, especially those about North Koreas Kim Jong Un. At a water park, a 69-year-old grandfather who voted for Trump said he had to cut back on cable news late last year for fear that the stress was hurting his health  so hes unsure what the president has been tweeting.

During a lunch rush at the chain restaurant PoFolks  be sho to tell yore friends how much ya enjoyed yore visit, the menu says  a 57-year-old white grandmother raising her 14-year-old grandson said she loves the presidents tweets. The occasional typo or poor choice of words shows hes down to earth and not trying to be some bigwig that thinks hes above all of us, she said.

At a nearby booth, a 56-year-old African American grandmother who is helping to raise her three grandchildren and did not vote in November said Trump shouldnt even be tweeting at all.

As the night wore on at the American Legion, a light rain began to fall. Rob Orr, a 48-year-old electrician, ordered a round of Tequila Rose shots for several of the women in the bar, most of whom were old enough to be his mother.

Tastes like a strawberry milkshake, said Lenora Ellison, 77, a retired Air Force mechanic who loves telling stories about being one of the few women in the service.



Lenora Ellison, 77, at her home in Niceville, voted for Trump. Shes skeptical of information and doesnt know how Twitter works. (Meggan Haller/Keyhole Photo for The Washington Post)

Ellison thinks a lot of the nations problems could be solved with more birth control  and thats a position I even made on Facebook, she said  and she voted for Trump.

He says what he thinks and doesnt flower things up, she said.

Sitting to her right is Corcoran and her husband, Kim Jones, who said he worked for General Motors in Michigan until his job was shipped overseas.

Around the corner is Jeff Gipson, a dump-truck driver with triplet grandsons who said he has been mad at the government since 1978, when he graduated from high school in Michigan, volunteered for the Army and was given a date to report  only to show up and learn that doctors wouldnt allow him to go.

We had a goodbye party. . . . I said goodbye to my family, my friends, he said. I think the damn government owes me a paycheck for about 40 years.

Gipson said that hes fine with Trump speaking his mind and doesnt think his tweets are terrible, although he doesnt follow them closely.

To Ellisons left was a 38-year-old who grew up in the Midwest and specializes in defusing bombs for the Air Force. He voted for Barack Obama in 2008, felt let down, and voted for Trump, noting the charismatic similarities between the two. He asked that his name not be published, as he is on active duty and not allowed to speak to the media without permission.



American Legion Post 221 in Niceville. (Meggan Haller/Keyhole Photo for The Washington Post)

At the post is a signed letter from Charles E. Schmidt, national commander of the American Legion, as well as portraits of past post commanders. (Meggan Haller/Keyhole Photo for The Washington Post)

Like many in the bar, he was glad to see Trump finally take action against the Syrian regime, although he thinks the president went a little light. And it was awesome that the military used the mother of all bombs against the Islamic State in Afghanistan.

But, if I was in charge of him . . . I would be like: Kill your Twitter. Turn it off, shut it down, block, whatever, he said.

But thats just Trump, Ellison said.

I mean, its a good tool to be able to mass-communicate quickly, he said. But I think knowing Trump  and this is just the way he is  he gets all grrrr. He gets all hot under the collar. . . . I think theyre hurting him more than helping him. But its him. I mean, at the end of the day, no ones going to tell him, You cant do it. 

Scott Clement contributed to this report.
To many who have followed the career of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, the longtime prosecutors starring role in drama surrounding the ouster of FBI Director James B. Comey has left them surprised  and a little bit baffled.

Rosenstein, who took office last month, has been spared much of the criticism being aimed at President Trump and his top lieutenants. But Rosensteins authorship of the memo that was used as a justification for Comeys firing has prompted some to wonder whether the Justice Departments No. 2 was fully committed to firing the FBI director  or whether he was drawn into a White House plan to thwart the FBIs investigation of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Some associates took to parsing the words of the memo, which did not directly call for Comey to be fired but said that 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.

He didnt say, I recommend firing Comey,  said Eric Columbus, who was a senior adviser to the deputy attorney general under President Barack Obama. But Im guessing that Rosenstein wanted to push back as much as he could without getting fired.

Others cautioned against tying Rosensteins views to those of Trumps.

(Jenny Starrs,Julio Negron/The Washington Post)

The problem here for Rod is people are ascribing the presidents motives to him, and theyre acting out of entirely differently motivations, said Tim Maloney, a longtime Maryland defense lawyer who has worked with Rosenstein.

Rod cares deeply about the integrity of the criminal justice system. These are very different motivations leading to the same result, he said.

Maloney said Rosenstein was apolitical and was not going to think about what is the best place or time on the public calendar to get rid of the FBI director. Hes going to look at the merits.

Rosenstein, 52, was named by President George W. Bush to be U.S. attorney in Maryland and reappointed by Obama, and he has won praise from lawmakers in both parties as a straight-

arrow prosecutor.

Rosenstein served on the Whitewater prosecution team that investigated Bill and Hillary Clintons real estate dealings in the 1990s, and his office took down Prince Georges County Executive Jack B. Johnson on bribery and corruption charges.

Rosenstein, who declined to comment, lives in Bethesda with his wife, a former assistant U.S. attorney, and their two teenage daughters.

From the moment he took office as the Justice Departments No. 2, Rosensteins role has taken on special meaning in the context of the FBIs investigation into possible ties between Trumps campaign and Russia. Because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the inquiry, Rosenstein is effectively in charge of a case with deep political and legal implications for the president and his associates. Rosenstein, for instance, also has the authority to appoint a special counsel.

1 of 28 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  The scene in Washington after FBI Director Comey was fired View Photos President Trumps firing of James B. Comey consumed Capitol Hills attention. Democrats slowed committee business in the Senate to protest the lack of an independent investigation into Russias election meddling, and Republicans saw rifts emerge as more questioned the presidents decision. Caption President Trumps firing of James B. Comey consumed Capitol Hills attention. Democrats slowed committee business in the Senate to protest the lack of an independent investigation into Russias election meddling, and Republicans saw rifts emerge as more questioned the presidents decision. May 9, 2017 White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks to reporters outside the West Wing after President Trump dismissed James B. Comey from his position as FBI director. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

His participation in the Comey ouster took shape this week after he and Sessions attended a previously scheduled lunch with Trump on Monday.

The president wanted to get rid of Comey. After the Justice Department officials laid out their view, Trump asked them to put their thoughts in writing, and Rosenstein on Tuesday wrote his memo, according to White House officials.

Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey and that the president acted only on his recommendation, according to a person close to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Justice Department officials declined to comment on the claim.

The White House released the three-page letter as it announced the firing Tuesday.

Columbus and others noted that Rosenstein said in his memo that he agreed with former Justice Department officials who had criticized Comey. However, while all of those former officials were critical of Comeys actions in the investigation of Hillary Clintons emails, none recommended that he be fired. Moreover, at least two of those former officials, Donald Ayer and Alberto Gonzales, criticized Trumps decision to fire Comey. Ayer said the firing was a sham, and Gonzales said the president failed to make the case for it, leaving people to assume the worst.

Several of Rosensteins former colleagues cited what they called a crucial distinction in the memo. They said there is a difference between believing that Comey mishandled matters such as the Clinton email investigation and the idea that the person overseeing an investigation into whether Russia aided Trumps campaign should be fired by Trump. It is the latter that created much of the controversy over Trumps decision.

Rosensteins memo partly relied on news accounts and statements by Democrats to accuse Comey of overstepping his authority in the Clinton case.

Comey in July announced that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton in the email case but said she was extremely careless in handling classified material.

Then, in October, he announced that the FBI was reopening the investigation, which Clinton has said cost her the election. Comey testified May 3 that reopening the investigation was justified because a Clinton aide forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails to her husband, but the Justice Department said Tuesday that Comey misspoke about the number.

Some who have worked with Rosenstein worried Wednesday that the deputy attorney general had, by laying out widely held criticisms of Comeys handling of the Clinton email investigation, provided Trump the political cover he needed to remove Comey just as the Russia probe appeared to be heating up.

Paul Butler, who worked with Rosenstein in the public integrity section of the Justice Department, said that prosecutors who come through that unit are trained to be apolitical. The public integrity section was created in response to Watergate, with prosecutors going after FBI agents, Democrats, Republicans and others to combat the social ills of public corruption.

One of the ways you fight public corruption is to follow the rules, said Butler, now a professor at Georgetown Law. What [Comey] did in July and October with those remarks about Secretary Clinton broke all the rules. That is exactly what Rosenstein said in the memo.

Butler said that even if Rosenstein were aware of possible political motivations the president had for ousting Comey, it would not stop someone who came up through the public integrity unit from rendering an opinion as Rosenstein did.

Might he have known when he was giving the president his opinion that Comey was unfit to serve that the president could use that to his political advantage? Butler asked. He could have, but should that have stopped him from rendering his honestly held and carefully considered point of view? No.

Robert Bonsib, a former assistant U.S. attorney and now a Maryland defense lawyer, said the memo was not surprising.

If somebody in Rods office when he was U.S. attorney stepped out and made those kinds of statements about an ongoing investigation, Rod would have fired that person, as well, Bonsib said.

Bonsib called the memo a very professional, nonpolitical document and said it would have been unremarkable except for the fact that Comey was investigating connections between Trump and Russia.

Rosensteins former colleagues said Comeys dismissal played out in ways that were both typical and atypical of Rosensteins style.

It was typical in that the memo was grounded in the rule of law and focused on protecting the institutional interests of the Justice Department. But it was atypical in that Rosenstein  a graduate of the Wharton School who is known to give books about management to new supervisors  would not have fired someone so abruptly that they had to hear of their ouster from the media.

Trumps nomination of Rosenstein to be the nations second-ranking law enforcement official drew bipartisan praise, and he was confirmed by a 94-to-6 vote on April 25.

Rosenstein said in a written response to questions from Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) during his confirmation hearing that he was not prepared to say whether a special prosecutor should be appointed in the Russia investigation, but he promised to study the matter and make an independent decision. In the wake of Comeys firing, calls for a special prosecutor have escalated, but Rosenstein has not offered his view.

Leahy said Wednesday that the chain of events leading to Comeys firing underscores that a special counsel must be appointed to lead the Russia investigation. The American people must have confidence that ours is a government of laws, not of Donald Trumps whims.

Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz contributed to this report.
President Trump on Thursday launched a long-promised commission on election integrity, rekindling a controversy over the prevalence of voter fraud at U.S. polls.

The commission, established by executive order, is the upshot of Trumps unsubstantiated claim shortly after taking office that more than 3 million undocumented immigrants illegally voted in Novembers election.

White House aides said the scope of the commission, chaired by Vice President Pence, will reach beyond allegations of voter fraud to include voter suppression and other suspect election practices, and would include members of both major political parties.

The presidents committed to the thorough review of registration and voting issues in federal elections, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Thursday. And thats exactly what this commission is tasked with doing.

But that did little to quell criticism from many of the same parties who lambasted Trump for his January claims. Voting rights groups and several prominent Democrats charged Thursday that Trumps commission was both unnecessary  calling claims of voter fraud wildly overblown  and an attempt to divert attention from his firing of FBI Director James B. Comey.

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, called the commission a sham and distraction, alleging that Trump was trying to pivot from the firestorm that followed his firing of Comey while the FBI chief was leading an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

He fired the person investigating a real threat to election integrity and set up a probe of an imaginary threat, Waldman said.

League of Women Voters President Chris Carson said, The real purpose of this effort is to justify President Trumps false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 elections. She said the commission was being filled with political ideologues with dangerous agendas.

In a statement before Trump signed his order, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman (D) said that no matter how many times President Trump claims otherwise, voter fraud is an imaginary problem. Schneiderman said his office found no substantiated claims of voter fraud in New York last year.

Numerous studies have shown that instances of in-person voter fraud are rare, and the National Association of Secretaries of State, which represents many of the countrys state elections officials, said in January that it is not aware of any evidence that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has aggressively pursued allegations of voter fraud in his state, will serve as vice chairman of the commission, the White House announced, further fueling the controversy over its formation.

Kobach (R) is the only secretary of state in the country with the authority to prosecute voter fraud, and he has helped create some of the nations strictest voter-ID requirements.

In a Fox News interview in February, Kobach said there were 115 cases in Kansas of noncitizens on the voter rolls or trying to get on the voter rolls, which he said could be the tip of the iceberg. More than 1.7 million people are registered to vote in Kansas.

Last month, Kobach won his first conviction of a noncitizen who illegally voted in a Kansas election without being a U.S. citizen. It was his eighth voter-fraud conviction since getting the power to pursue such cases in 2015.

Kobach first entered the national spotlight when he advised GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on the idea of self-deportation for illegal immigrants during the 2012 presidential campaign. Before that, he had written Arizonas strict 2010 show-me-your-papers immigration law and Alabamas tough immigration enforcement laws.

It was also Kobach who helped design President George W. Bushs registration system for higher risk immigrants, which required fingerprinting and interrogations upon arrival. He later helped lead the fight against President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration.

Along with immigration issues, Kobach has also became a major figure in the national conservative movement to add more requirements for Americans to vote or register to vote. Since the Supreme Court struck down in 2013 a key part of the Voting Rights Act, Kobach has been at the center of many legal skirmishes over voting requirements nationwide.

The White House said that the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity  which is slated to deliver a report to Trump next year  would include perhaps another dozen members.

Those already on board include Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R); New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (D); Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D); Christy McCormick, commissioner with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission; and former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell (R).

The genesis of the commission came during Trumps first days in office. During a private Jan. 23 meeting with top congressional leaders, the president claimed that between 3 million and 5 million undocumented immigrants illegally voted in Novembers election.

He later reiterated the claim. They all voted for Hillary. They didnt vote for me, Trump said in an interview with ABC News that aired Jan. 25. I dont believe I got one.

In defending his claim, for which the White House has yet to provide documentation, Trump announced he would issue an executive order related to voter fraud, and Pence told Republicans that the administration would initiate a full evaluation of voting rolls.

Since then, there has been more ammunition for critics who say the exercise is aimed at a problem that isnt widespread.

A recent investigation in North Carolina by the State Board of Elections found that of the 4.8 million voters who participated in last years election, 508 were not eligible to vote.

The investigation concluded that no races  statewide or local  would have had a different outcome than the one already certified if the improper votes were removed.

Most of those who should not have voted  441, according to a report on the investigation  were convicted felons, many on probation. In North Carolina, felons can vote only after serving their sentences, including probation.

The investigation also found 41 noncitizens had voted, 24 people had voted twice and two people falsely voted using the name of a recently deceased family member.

The North Carolina board said not every instance noted in the report was necessarily voter fraud because in many cases there was no intent to do anything wrong. In one case, local prosecutors have already decided not to bring charges.

That involved a woman who impersonated her dead mother  who she told investigators was a tremendous Donald Trump fan  at the polls.

In an email, the daughter told investigators that her 89-year-old mother had told her if anything happens, you have my power of attorney, and you be sure to vote for Donald Trump for me.

Sari Horwitz and Robert Barnes contributed to this report.
The 35,000 employees at the Federal Bureau Investigation were not notified  officially  until after 8 p.m. Tuesday that Director James B. Comey had been fired by the president, more than two hours after White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced it to the media.

So the special agents, intelligence analysts, language experts, IT specialists and other support staff at the countrys top law enforcement agency learned of the bombshell decision on Fox News, CNN or MSNBC. And they watched in disbelief as television reports revealed that Comey himself only learned of his dismissal while he was in Los Angeles addressing a group of FBI employees, who saw the news flashed across television screens.

Its just wrong the way they went about it, said Nathan Catura, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents 27,000 law enforcement agents, among them 3,000 FBI agents. Heres a man whos been a public servant for 30 years. Hes dedicated his life to the American people and this is the way he gets treated?

He was optimistic, though, that the investigation into President Trumps associates possible connections with Russian officials would continue.

Something this big, there isnt any way this investigation gets shut down and no ones going to say anything, he said.

(Jason Aldag,Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions told employees in an email that surfaced on Twitter that Trump has exercised his lawful authority to remove James B. Comey, Jr., as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. By operation of law and effective immediately, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe assumed the position of Acting Director of the FBI.

As you well know, Sessions wrote, the FBI 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.

Reporting for work to the bureaus Washington headquarters on the morning after, employees scurried into the J. Edgar Hoover Building with their federal security lanyards and backpacks, presenting a face of business as unusual.

German shepherds sniffed cars at the police checkpoint at the entrance on 10th Street Northwest. Three FBI police vans patrolled outside the entrance near the employee ramp into the building. A contractor wheeled computer equipment inside.

Our cases are still moving forward, and everything we were doing yesterday we are doing today, said Tom OConnor, a veteran agent on the domestic terrorism squad who is president of the FBI Agents Association, which advocates for more than 13,000 active and former special agents.

But it was not business as usual, as employees described being stunned by the news and  even if they did not support their embattled boss  confused by the timing of the White House action and how it was carried out.

It doesnt matter if youre a Democrat or Republican, its crazy, said one man who works in tech support and pointed out that he voted for Trump. He was at home Tuesday night, working on house renovations, when he turned on Fox News and could not believe what he saw.

(Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)

This was unbelievable, he said. In 26 years, through four FBI directors, he had never seen something so brazen as this firing, he said, then pointed to a Metrobus picking up passengers across the street to describe the mood in his office. Its like that bus barreling right over here and not stopping.

The man, like others interviewed Tuesday morning, would not identify himself in keeping with an agency-wide directive not to speak with reporters about Comeys dismissal.

Whether they were Comey loyalists or critical of his handling of the bureaus investigation into Hillary Clintons private email server, employees described dread and uncertainty, in particular about the fate of the agencys ongoing probe into possible connections with Russia.

Im shocked, an administrative assistant said at a coffee break, calling the presidents action an abuse of power against a leader who she said had encouraged rank-and-file employees in his three years as director to bring grievances up the chain of command. We thought he was safe.

A sudden sense of camaraderie took over at the guard station, as an FBI police officer checked employees identification before waving them into the underground parking lot. Theyre all saying, Its going to be a long day,  the officer said.

OConnor said Comey had enormous support from agents because he was willing to meet with them directly and signed off last summer on places in the FBI Hall of Honor for six fallen agents who died of cancers they developed from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. OConnor said he could not discuss the politics of the firing. But he was emphatic: The vast majority of rank-and-file agents actually like Jim Comey, and they believed in him. Its a hit for the agent population. Its a gut punch.

Others were split on the politics. Im surprised Trump wouldnt look favorably on someone who handed him the election, one employee said. The contractor rolling computer equipment into the building identified himself as a Trump supporter and said he had confidence in the presidents explanation for firing Comey over Clintons emails. I keep my mouth shut, which is probably what Comey should have done.

Read more at PowerPost
The Houses top government watchdog wants the Department of Justices inspector general to look into why FBI Director James B. Comey was fired as part of an ongoing probe into how Comey handled the probe of how Hillary Clinton used her email server.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) asked DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz in a letter Wednesday to expand the scope of your offices ongoing review . . . to include the facts and circumstances surrounding the removal of Director Comey. Chaffetz did not cite a specific concern with Comeys firing, noting only that in the past, Horowitz had said he would consider including other issues that may arise during the probe of Comeys actions during the Clinton email investigation, and concluding that Comeys firing indeed warrants such consideration.

Chaffetzs request comes as Democrats are accusing President Trump of dismissing Comey in order to hinder the FBIs ongoing probe into allegations of collusion between the presidents campaign and transition team and Russian officials. The Trump administration cited Comeys handling of the Clinton email investigation in its official decision to fire him. But most Democrats and some Republicans  including the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting a similar probe  remain skeptical of Trumps reasoning and timing.

Chaffetz used his committee chairmanship to drive a vigorous and relentless investigation into Clintons use of a private email server, pledging to continue that probe even after Clinton lost the presidential election. In a statement accompanying the release of his Wednesday letter to Horowitz, Chaffetz cited the pressure he had put on the DOJs inspector general in the past to review the FBIs actions in advance of the 2016 elections as he asked the inspector general to expand the scope of his review to include the decision to fire Director Comey.

I look forward to receiving the IGs findings, Chaffetz said.

(Jenny Starrs,Julio Negron/The Washington Post)

The inspector general announced in January that he would be looking into Comeys handling of Clintons email practices.

Chaffetz announced last month that he will not be seeking reelection in 2018.

Read more at PowerPost
Senate conservatives, once seen as an impediment to the Obamacare repeal push, are instead lobbying for changes that would drop millions of adults from Medicaid, limit the value of tax credits over concerns about funding abortion and weaken or cancel consumer protections.

Senators including Mike Lee (R-Utah) believe these changes will help reduce health-care spending, prevent tax-credit dollars from paying for abortions and expand access to health insurance by lowering premiums  all arguments supported by conservative advocacy groups.

And such changes are also looked on favorably by some House Republicans who dont expect their version of the American Health Care Act to survive the Senate.

Lee and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) are part of the 12-person Senate working group on health care, which has intensified its efforts following House passage of the amended American Health Care Act by a razor-thin margin last week.

Conventional wisdom says the Senate normally moves things left or more moderate, but this has been a year of the unexpected, said Tim Phillips, president of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity.

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Cruz called the House bill a positive step that the Senate must improve on. He named selling insurance across state lines and medical malpractice reform as two other priorities for a Senate bill seeking to replace Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act.

The consequences of failure would be catastrophic, he told conservative radio host Larry Kudlow on Saturday. But its going to take senators across the Republican conference to sit down in good faith and work together.

After a Tuesday meeting of the working group, Cruz told reporters that Republicans agreed on the need for governors having the flexibility to design Medicaid programs to meet the needs of their populations. But neither Cruz nor Lee has said publicly what must be in the final bill for it to gain their support.

[House bill to undo Obamacare is more about shrinking Medicaid]

But the effort to nudge the Senates health-care bill to the right could alienate moderates and complicate leaders push to keep the GOP conference united for a vote in which only two members can defect.

Some conservative priorities could also pose problems for the budget reconciliation process, which limits the kinds of provisions that can pass by a simple majority vote.

Despite several raucous town halls across the country with House members on recess, the health-care debate quickly receded from view with news of Trump firing James B. Comey as FBI director.

Demonstrators protest before a town hall meeting with Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) in Willingboro, N.J., on May 10, 2017. (Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged to remain focused on health care, but Democrats threatened to slow business down in an effort to force the appointment of a special prosecutor to take up the FBI-led investigation into Russias meddling in last years election. The Democrats power to do so appeared limited to short-term delays, however.

Still, as negotiations began, Republicans were optimistic that conservative senators had already climbed down from the GOPs repeal-or-nothing positions of the Obama years, opening a tight path to victory.

In January, Lee and Cruz joined Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in a letter asking Republicans to quickly consider legislation that repeals at least as much of Obamacare as H.R. 3762, which President Obama vetoed in December 2015.

That bill repealed key components of the Affordable Care Act, including its insurance exchanges, individual mandate and medical device tax, and phased out the laws Medicaid expansion.

Paul  the sole Republican no vote in January on a budget measure touted as the Senates first step toward repealing Obamacare  has gone on to belittle the AHCA for directing taxpayer money to insurance companies.

But as members of the working group, Cruz and Lee have argued for a bit less than they got in 2015. All three senators have kept lines of communication open with the House Freedom Caucus  efforts that helped secure votes for a bill that fell short, too, of what House hard-liners had wanted.

If it was up to me wed just dust off the 2015 repeal and add some of what Rand Pauls been talking about, Adam Brandon, the president of the low-tax advocacy group FreedomWorks, said in an interview. But it seems like that ship has sailed.

Conservatives best-case scenario would make the AHCAs refundable tax credits nonrefundable, in a nod to antiabortion activists who want to stop women from paying for abortions with tax credit dollars that flow to health-savings accounts. Making the tax credits nonrefundable would reduce their practical value to lower-income people, who have lower tax burdens.

[Democrats looks for payback in midterms]

The Senate bill, conservatives hope, will also make able-bodied adults ineligible for the ACAs Medicaid expansion. This could affect as many as 11 million adults covered under the Medicaid expansion who did not become eligible because of parenthood or a disability.

Finally, conservatives want the Senate bill to repeal Obamacares insurance regulations  such as the requirement that plans dont charge higher premiums to people with preexisting conditions  or make states opt in.

These changes could make the Senates health-care bill more conservative on the whole than the House version, which passed by a 217-to-213 vote on Thursday. That bill created a system of refundable tax credits, while allowing states to opt out of Obamacares insurance regulations.

It is unclear how strongly conservatives will insist on the changes.

The Senate effort is expected to play out as a kind of tug-of-war between moderate and conservative senators, who will have to compromise on some issues for the bill to win enough support to pass. Both factions are represented in the working group, along with Republican committee chairmen and members of GOP leadership.

A Republican aide rejected the notion that conservative demands could sink the Senates fledgling effort.

Theyre at the table, the aide said of Cruz and Lee. Theyve had meetings all year. Theyre working with us to get a bill done.

Conservatives suggested that they plan to hold a firm line, but they also indicated they are open to some negotiation.

Were not going to sign on to something, vote for something to say we did it. But were not in the were just gonna let it collapse camp, a conservative GOP aide said.

Lee and Cruz, along with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), another member of the working group, have been in touch over the past month with House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), according to a House GOP aide.

[Analysis: The House rush on health care bill reeks of recklessness]

In a short interview last week, Meadows said he had met with more than a dozen senators beyond Cruz and Lee. And in a separate interview with the HuffPost, Meadows talked up an amendment from Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) that would actually expand tax credits, suggesting that even hard-liners could be sold on it.

Hes had some very thoughtful, meaningful ideas on how to address that that would certainly be accepted by conservatives, if thats the direction the Senate decides to go, Meadows said.

House conservatives, while wary of what might come back from the Senate, have girded themselves for higher Medicaid spending, but are counting on negotiators like Lee to shrink the tax credits, allowing them to say that they made minor changes to one entitlement but major changes to another.

Meanwhile, Cruz hinted at some of his own priorities in his interview with Kudlow.

The compromise that was reached in the House allowing states to opt out of the [insurance] mandates  I think that was a good compromise, but I think more improvement is going to be needed in the Senate, Cruz said.

In addition to the ability to sell insurance across state lines, Cruz said he would advocate for the bill to allow people to pay health insurance premiums out of health-savings accounts.

On medical malpractice reform, Cruz said he has written an amendment to reward states with a 1 percent bonus to their federal Medicaid matching funds if they cap punitive damages for medical malpractice actions. It creates an incentive for states to adopt tort reform law, he said.

The Texas Republican pointed to lower premiums as his chief goal  one shared by Republicans who say that theyd be able to run on lower health bills in 2018 if they succeed on AHCA.

I agree the first House bill was not the best solution, Cruz said, referring to the Congressional Budget Office estimate that the original AHCA would increase the number of uninsured by 24 million. In the Senate, we can improve it further. The best way to expand access is to drive down premiums.

Coming out of Tuesdays meeting, which focused on how to handle Medicaid cuts, the other members of the working group didnt rule out the conservatives ideas. Asking about making essential benefits opt-out, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said hed look at the idea.

In a separate scrum with reporters, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said that advocates from states that had expanded Medicaid wanted a soft landing.

The overall momentum toward passing a bill made outside advocates like Brandon optimistic.

They need to be the voice in the Senate saying premiums need to go down, he said of conservatives. The Freedom Caucus has made it clear that if its not a good bill, theyre not going to vote for it. And I have a lot of confidence this is going to get done.

Read more at PowerPost
U.S. Marines raise the American flag during a handover ceremony at Camp Leatherneck in Lashkar Gah in the Afghan province of Helmand on April 29. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)

The emerging signs that the Trump administration may send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan are generating a variety of reactions here, including relief at a signal of strong commitment from the new administration in Washington, and worry that it may not be enough to turn around a long, expensive war that the Taliban has fought to a draw.

But many Afghan observers agree on one thing: Without a complementary political policy aimed at bolstering the weak Kabul government, pressing fractious leaders to get along and fending off the countrys meddlesome neighbors, no U.S. military surge alone can solve the broader problems that have made peace and stability so elusive.

There is more fighting and more ground held by Taliban now than ever before, and increasing the troops can help reverse that, said Abdul Bari Barakzai, a member of the governments High Peace Council. But people have lost their trust in the government. No matter how many troops you bring now, it will have no lasting impact unless there is real reform and good governance.

[U.S. watchdog finds major internal flaws hampering Afghanistan war effort]

Earlier this week, after a lengthy review, top Trump administration advisers were reported to be urging an ambitious new military role in Afghanistan, led by the Pentagon, with at least 3,000 troops added to the current 8,400, to halt the countrys deteriorating security and push the Taliban back to the negotiating table. President Trump is expected to make a final decision this month.

U.S. Marines salute during a handover ceremony at Leatherneck Camp on April 29. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)

Such a policy would dramatically ramp up American involvement in the war, which was systematically cut back under President Barack Obama. By the end of 2014, most U.S. and NATO forces had left the country, leaving Afghan troops struggling to hold off a determined Taliban insurgency, at a loss of life that a U.S. watchdog group recently called shockingly high.

Today, Afghan officials and experts agree that the defense forces are desperately in need of both short- and long-term U.S. assistance  more equipment, air support and Special Operations partnerships as the summer fighting season intensifies, and more troop training and leadership reforms so that the defense forces can become self-sufficient.

Our biggest challenge is the Taliban. We need help to keep up the pressure and force them to negotiate, said Sediq Siddiqi, a spokesman for the government of President Ashraf Ghani. Were not waiting for the U.S. to go in and take over, but we need help with the transition, he said. We need the Taliban to feel the pressure, and we cant do it alone.

No one in Afghanistan, though, sees the insurgents as operating in a vacuum. Rather, the insurgents are viewed as capitalizing on widespread perceptions that the state is weak, corrupt, consumed with internal and external rivalries, and unable to deliver services, jobs, reforms and modernization.

A wide variety of Afghans, asked this week whether the United States should step up its military presence, almost immediately raised the issues of poor government performance and political quarreling as significant deterrents to peace. One civic activist described the government as being in a state of continuous crisis.

Some said it was more important for foreign allies and donors, especially the United States, to help resolve these problems than to immerse themselves again in a bloody civil conflict. And many said that it was equally crucial for the United States to press next-door Pakistan to stop harboring anti-Afghan insurgents, a charge Pakistan has denied.

[After decades as fugitive, Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returns with appeal for peace]

A U.S. troop increase can be effective, but you need to put maximum pressure on Pakistan to stop training and sheltering terrorists, said Gen. Mirza Mohammed Yarmand, a former deputy interior minister. The challenge of leaders bickering in the government is far more serious, he added. Without sorting out these two issues, there will be no peace in Afghanistan, whatever amount of money you spend here and whatever number of troops you send.

The Trump administration has said little about Afghanistans government problems and has not yet announced any policy decisions on Pakistan, although it has hinted at using both economic and diplomatic sanctions against its former Cold War ally if the Islamabad government does not do more to rein in violent Islamist groups.

Afghans are also worried about the designs of other aggressive neighbors and regional powers, especially Iran and Russia, on their economically weakened and war-torn country. Several said a U.S. decision to send more troops would also send an important hands-off message to those powers.

We know Pakistan, Iran and the Russians do not want to see peace in Afghanistan, but decisive action by President Trump will plant a seed of hope in people, said Ismael Hashimi, director of the private Citizens Foundation here. If he sends more troops, people will feel they have a strong partner on their side.

With no U.S. ambassador in Kabul since December, U.S. military officials, especially Gen. John W. Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and H.R. McMaster, a former military adviser in Kabul who is now Trumps national security adviser, have played especially high-profile roles, and both have urged more military involvement.

But Davood Moradian, director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, said the U.S. administration needs to develop complementary military and political policies, especially with the Afghan government embroiled in ethnic disputes and losing public support, while the Taliban is already using the international military presence as an excuse to continue fighting the state.

President Obama overly idealized political and diplomatic solutions. The danger now is that President Trump will see everything as a military problem with a military solution, he said. The challenge is to combine them both, and be smart about it.

Sayed Salahuddin and Sharif Walid contributed to this report.

Read more:

It was a brutal killing that shocked Afghanistan. Now, the outrage has faded.

U.S. defense chief arrives in Kabul as his Afghan counterpart resigns in disgrace

At least 140 dead after Taliban attack on a key Afghan army base, officials say

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Frances newly elected president, Emmanuel Macron, attends a ceremony in Paris on May 10, 2017, to mark the anniversary of the abolition of slavery. On May 11, his party released a candidate list for the parliamentary elections in June. (Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images)

French President-elect Emmanuel Macrons party on Thursday announced a list of legislative candidates that is heavy on political novices, a sign of Frances reshaped and unsettled landscape ahead of crucial June parliamentary elections.

The 429 announced candidates, of whom more than half are new to politics and half are women, were a first indication of the direction of Macrons still-fluid party, which the president-elect  himself a relative political neophyte  formed just a year ago and which has no representatives in Parliament. In a measure of the challenge of building a movement from scratch, candidates were still being vetted hours before the announcement, and the party said after the lists release that at least five people were included mistakenly. As many as 147 additional candidates are still being finalized.

The legislative elections in June will determine whether Macron, a 39-year-old centrist who was swept into the presidency on Sunday, will have a free hand to pursue his ambitious agenda. He has mixed proposals for business-friendly labor reforms with pledges to strengthen the security net for struggling workers, fusing aspects of Frances center-left and center-right parties while rejecting the fierce protectionism of his defeated far-right rival, Marine Le Pen.

[Why the populists didnt win Frances presidential election]

But many of the 66 percent of voters who backed Macron appear to have done so less to support him and more because they loathed Le Pen, who failed to shake off her partys Nazi-apologist past. That may spell trouble for Macron in the June elections, which Frances traditional parties have vowed to use as a toehold to climb back into power. If Macron does not win a governing majority in the 577-seat National Assembly, he could be forced into a power-sharing arrangement with an opposing party that could severely curtail his agenda. And another five years of stagnation could lead to a roaring comeback for Le Pen in the next election, in 2022.

(Adam Taylor,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

The unusual political moment was underlined by the number of applications Macrons party fielded for a spot on its slate in June: 19,000. It was a rare chance for citizens from all walks of French life to dream of a shot at a political career. The oldest candidate is 72; the youngest is 24.

Its the definitive return of citizens to the heart of our political life, Richard Ferrand, the secretary general of Republic on the Move, Macrons party, told reporters Thursday.

The announced candidates include a prizewinning mathematician, an advocate for refugees and a business consultant. One is the former head of Frances national SWAT team. Twenty-three candidates come from the governing Socialist Party, which collapsed in the presidential election after the five-year term of the unpopular Francois Hollande, whose term ends this Sunday.

And, after a campaign against Le Pen that often touched on sensitive issues of race, religion and immigration, about 6 percent of the candidates have family names of Arab origin, while others have backgrounds in Frances former colonial possessions in Africa. France does not track race or religion in its official census, but its Muslim population is widely estimated to be somewhere between 5 and 8 percent of the population. The proportion of candidates from ethnic or religious minorities appears to be higher than in previous elections, analysts said.

Its a very important issue, because when Macron talks about renovating French politics, its not just to make it younger, but also to make it more representative of the diversity of society, said Bruno Cautres, an expert on French politics at Sciences Po.

With the center-left Socialists polling in the single digits and many of their lawmakers seeking to defect to Macrons party, the main political threat to Macron comes from the center-right Republican party. Its presidential candidate, Francois Fillon, was expected to have a lock on the Elysee Palace until a nepotism scandal derailed his bid this year.

Macron, a former investment banker and economic adviser to Hollande, broke with his patron a year ago to form his own movement.

[Emmanuel Macrons unlikely path to the French presidency]

After his improbable rise to power, he is searching for a way to capture disenchanted voters from both sides of the political spectrum, a delicate dance that risks appealing to no one. He cannot stake out too many center-left positions without the risk of being portrayed as the political heir of the unpopular Hollande. But appointing a center-right prime minister, as he is widely expected to do Monday, could drive left-wing voters back to the Socialists and other leftist parties.

Itll be very difficult to get a majority, because the 66 percent result doesnt show 66 percent in favor of his project, said Olivier Rouquan, a political analyst at the University of Paris Pantheon-Assas.

The delicate dance was on display Thursday when Macrons party announced that it will not allow former Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls to run as one of its candidates but that it will not seek to unseat him, either. Valls has declared his Socialist Party dead and sought to join forces with Macron.

Ferrand, the secretary general of Macrons party, said Thursday that the party has not yet named all of its candidates because it is trying to leave the door open to candidates from the center-right political establishment who might want to switch allegiances before the filing deadline next Wednesday.

So far, the number of center-right defections has been limited. A senior center-right leader went for Macrons throat Thursday, highlighting the dangers faced by the future president, who will be Frances youngest head of state since Napoleon.

The French are going to define the orientation of the government through their vote, said Francois Baroin, who is favored to become prime minister if his party is the top vote-getter in the elections, which will be held in two rounds, on June 11 and 18.

In the presidential election, Macron won the battle of ambiguity by explaining that he is neither of the right nor of the left, Baroin told Le Figaro newspaper. But, he added, he is the direct heir of Francois Hollande.

Cleophee Demoustier contributed to this report.

Read more:

Macron defeated Le Pen in Frances presidential election. Heres what happens next.

A new political opposition in France  people who dont vote

Video: What Emmanuel Macrons victory means for France and the world

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
President Trump on Thursday said he was thinking of this Russia thing with Trump when he decided to fire FBI Director James B. Comey, who had been leading the counterintelligence investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election.

Recounting his decision to dismiss Comey, Trump told NBC News, In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, its an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.

Trumps account flatly contradicts the White Houses initial account of how the president arrived at his decision, undercutting public denials by his aides that the move was influenced in any way by his growing fury with the ongoing Russia probe.

Later in the same interview, Trump said he had no intention of trying to stop or hinder the FBIs Russia probe, which is examining whether any Trump associates coordinated with Russians to influence the election. Trump also said he wants the probe to be absolutely done properly.

I want that to be so strong and so good, Trump told NBC anchor Lester Holt. He added, I want to get to the bottom. If Russia hacked, if Russia did anything having to do with our election, I want to know about it.

Trumps account of his decision to fire Comey  whom he denigrated as a showboat and a grandstander  exposes the explanations made over the previous 48 hours by White House officials, including Vice President Pence, as misleading and in some cases false.

[Inside Trumps anger and impatience  and his decision to fire Comey]

Initially, Trump aides had said the president fired Comey simply at the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who wrote a memorandum detailing what he considered to be Comeys flawed handling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as secretary of state.

In media appearances, administration officials repeatedly highlighted Rosensteins reputation of integrity and bipartisan appeal, effectively using his independence as a shield against criticism that Comeys firing was politically motivated by the president.

Officials insisted that Trumps decision was not shaped in any way by his growing fury with the Russia controversy. Trump has publicly called the ongoing probes by the FBI, as well as the Senate and House, a total hoax and a taxpayer charade.

But Trump made clear in Thursdays interview that Russia indeed was on his mind. And he said Sessions and Rosensteins recommendations did not prompt his decision.

I was going to fire Comey, Trump told Holt. Oh, I was going to fire regardless of recommendation.

(Bastien Inzaurralde,Alice Li,Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post)

The White House on Thursday struggled to explain its evolving and contradictory accounts of Trumps decisionmaking process.

Nobody was left in the dark, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the principal deputy White House press secretary, insisted at Thursdays press briefing. She added, It was a quick-moving process. We took the information we had as best we had it, and got it out to the American people as quickly as we could.

In interview, Trump also detailed three conversations he said he had with Comey about the Russia investigation. The president said the FBI director assured him in each discussion that he was not under investigation  once at a White House dinner when Comey was seeking to remain in his post and again in two phone calls. Trump said Comey initiated one of the calls.

I said, If its possible, would you let me know am I under investigation? He said, You are not under investigation, Trump said.

In offering more details about an assertion he made when firing Comey on Tuesdaythat Comey had repeatedly assured him he was not under investigationthe president raised new questions about his conduct toward the ongoing FBI probe into whether any Trump associates coordinated with Russia to meddle with last years presidential election.

Trump has repeatedly criticized that investigation, calling it a waste of taxpayer money, and denied he has any ties to Russia.

Theres no collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians, Trump told Holt.

[Senate Democrats demands answers to Rosenstein about Comey firing]

Democrats have called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the matter without the threat of political interference.

In the NBC interview, Trump said Comey came to eat dinner with him at the White House. I think he asked for the dinner. . . . And he wanted to stay at the FBI, and I said Ill, you know, consider and see what happens  But we had a very nice dinner, and at that time he told me, You are not under investigation. 

The exchange as described by the president is remarkable since he said the FBI director was discussing an ongoing investigation with the president  something Justice Department policy generally prohibits  at the same time Comey was seeking assurances he would remain in his job.

Current and former officials said Trumps description of statements by Comey is not accurate, but they declined to elaborate. Legal experts also expressed doubts about Trumps account.

I just cant even begin to think about that comment being true, said Michael Greenberger, a law professor at the University of Maryland who has previously worked in the Justice Department. It defies belief in general because of the practices of not commenting on investigations, and it would especially defy belief in the case of Comey who prides himself on strict observance of propriety.

Greenberger noted the implication of Trumps statement is severe  that Comey may have offered that assurance to try to ingratiate himself with the president and remain in his job. I just have a very hard time imagining that, he said, though he added he also didnt think Trump simply asking that question came close to a criminal act of trying to obstruct the investigation.

The federal law against obstruction of justice is broadly worded but in practice, prosecutors have a high bar for bringing charges that someone corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication attempts to influence, obstruct, or impede the due administration of justice. Generally, such cases are only brought when prosecutors have clear evidence of the underlying motive behind a persons actions.

[Acting FBI director vows to tell Congress if White House undermines Russia probe]

White House spokeswoman Sanders would not provide further details about the conversations between Trump and Comey, such as when they occurred and whether all three were after the presidents Jan. 20 inauguration. She said commentary by legal experts on cable news showed there had been no conflict of interest with Trump asking the FBI director whether he was the subject of the Russia probe.

Robert Chesney, a University of Texas law professor who specializes in national security and constitutional issues, said that even assuming Trumps account is accurate, legally speaking, I dont think that crosses any lines.

At base it is more a political issue than legal, he said. Offering a more extreme hypotheticalthat Trump began firing anyone involved in the investigationthat could come closer to obstruction of justice. But then it would be a matter for Congress to act. Our system is designed so that impeachment is the remedy, he said. But the fact pattern youd need is something more Nixonian.

FBI directors are appointed for 10-year terms, and Comey had been on the job less than four years. A president may fire an FBI director at any time for any reason, but it is very rare to do so because of the potential political blowback if the White House is perceived to be interfering with federal law enforcement work.

Comeys temporary replacement, Andrew McCabe, told senators at a hearing Thursday morning that no White House officials had tried to interfere with the Russia probe.

In the interview, Trump said he fired Comey because he had mismanaged the FBI and was an attention-seeker.

Look, hes a showboat, hes a grandstander, the president said. The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago. It hasnt recovered from that.

Robert Barnes contributed to this report.
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order on cybersecurity that makes clear that agency heads will be held accountable for protecting their networks, and calls on government and industry to reduce the threat from automated attacks on the Internet.

Picking up on themes advanced by the Obama administration, Trumps order also requires agency heads to use Commerce Department guidelines to manage risk to their systems. It commissions reports to assess the countrys ability to withstand an attack on the electric grid and to spell out the strategic options for deterring adversaries in cyberspace.

Weve seen increasing attacks from allies, adversaries, primarily nation-states, but also non-nation-state actors, and sitting by and doing nothing is no longer an option, said Thomas Bossert, Trumps homeland security adviser, at a White House briefing.

He said the order was not, however, prompted by Russias targeting of electoral systems last year. In fact, the order is silent on addressing the security of electoral systems or cyber-enabled operations to influence elections, which became a significant area of concern during last years presidential campaign. The Department of Homeland Security in January declared election systems critical infrastructure.

[Presence of Russian photographer in Oval Office raises alarms]

The executive order also does not address offensive cyber operations, which are generally classified. This is an area in which the Trump administration is expected to be more forward-leaning than its predecessor. Nor does it spell out what type of cyberattack would constitute an act of war or what response the attack would invite. Were not going to draw a red line, Bossert said, adding that the White House does not want to telegraph our punches.

The order is a step forward, said Ari Schwartz, a former White House and Commerce Department cyber policy official who worked on the Commerce guidelines. It shows that theres consensus on moving ahead on these issues.

The order places the defense secretary and the head of the intelligence community in charge of protecting national security systems that operate classified and military networks. But the secretary of homeland security will continue to be at the center of the national plan for protecting critical infrastructure, such as the electric grid and financial sector.

The order itself was revised numerous times to account for industry and government agency concerns. It was also delayed for various reasons, including a desire by national security adviser H.R. McMaster to review the document, as well as by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who removed a section on information technology modernization that will be placed in a separate executive order.

A number of career National Security Council personnel who worked on policy issues in the Obama administration also helped craft the executive order, which is one reason for the policy continuity. They added a section on workforce development, for instance.

A commission on cybersecurity appointed by Barack Obama briefed the Trump transition team on its recommendations  a number of which were incorporated into the document. They include mandating that federal agencies use the framework drawn up by the Commerce Departments National Institute of Standards and Technology; encouraging agencies to share information technology services; and putting an emphasis on risk management or identifying ways to make systems more resilient to attacks and intrusions.

The stress on risk management is a much more comprehensive and thoughtful approach than weve had in the past, said Kiersten Todt, who was the executive director of the Presidential Commission on Enhancing National Security, which presented its report in December. Agencies and companies evaluate their assets, identify risks and ensure that operations are disrupted as little as possible during an attack.

Youre not looking for the Holy Grail that is going to prevent every hack, she said.

The order also showed Trump administration officials are engaged on the issue of threats that take the form of automated attacks conducted by botnets or computers infected with malware.

It is encouraging to see the focus on botnet threats, said Robert Silvers, former assistant secretary of homeland security for cyber policy. Silvers noted that the botnet attack last October that disrupted major sites on the Internet for much of a day showed how vulnerable the Internet can be when consumer devices are poorly secured.

Internet of Things security is a critical but very complicated issue, and it is laudable that the new administration wants to pursue solutions, he said.

Trump is also looking to encourage transparency in the marketplace, calling for a review of existing policies to see whether they are sufficient to get companies  especially public, critical sector firms  to be more forthcoming about their risk management practices.

Amber Phillips contributed to this report.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prepares to address the Arctic Council in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday. (Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson promised nations with a stake in the Arctic that the United States would listen to their concerns about rapid climate change but offered no hint Thursday about whether the Trump administration will back away from past commitments on the issue.

The new U.S. administration is considering where it will come down on global warming, Tillerson said, as the United States completed a two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council, which had made the risks of climate change a priority under former president Barack Obama.

We are not going to rush to make a decision. We are going to work to make the right decision for the United States, Tillerson said.

That was mainly a reference to the upcoming decision on whether the United States will pull out of the landmark international agreement on climate change and reducing carbon emissions known as the Paris accord.

The Trump administration is in turmoil over whether to fulfill the presidents campaign pledge to pull out of the agreement and has postponed a decision until at least late this month.

Climate change is the main topic dominating discussion of the Arctic region, and questions about the future of U.S. leadership on the issue loomed over the meeting.

Other foreign ministers and representatives of indigenous groups avoided criticism of President Trump or Tillerson, although several indigenous speakers stressed the direct impact of a warming region on their lives and traditions.

Although Tillerson is among the Trump Cabinet officials and advisers arguing that the United States has more to gain than lose by remaining a part of the Paris agreement, he could not promise some of the nations most engaged on the issue that Trump will see it that way.

The eight-nation group issued a joint statement that called climate change a pressing issue in the Arctic and took note of the Paris agreement without endorsing it. That was a compromise, as Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini noted.

The document addresses . . . the impacts of climate change and is a most welcome sign of our will to cooperate, Soini said.

The joint declaration from the United States, Canada, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland stressed the need for global action to reduce both long-lived greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants.

The Paris climate agreement is considered by many Arctic countries to be a vital first step toward global reckoning with the effects of climate change, and they want to see nations go further. Although that agreement seeks to hold global warming to well below an increase of 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the Arctic is expected to warm up far more than that, because of factors that affect sea ice at the top of the world.

[Trump, reversing Obama, will push to expand drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic]

The Arctic is the fastest-warming part of the planet; it is heating up roughly twice as rapidly as the rest of the globe. The repercussions include enormous ice loss from the ice sheet of Greenland, which is raising sea levels by as much as a millimeter a year; major retreats in floating sea ice; and the thawing of frozen soil, known as permafrost, which can not only destabilize infrastructure but also releases more carbon into the atmosphere as it warms up, further amplifying global warming.

A growing number of scientists suggest that the changes in the Arctic will have an impact on the globes far more populous mid-latitudes by predisposing the atmosphere to extreme weather events.

A working group of the Arctic Council documented signs of climate change in a just-released study, which raised projections for global sea-level rise according to the pace of Arctic melt. That study, Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic, was the subject of an informational display Tillerson toured Thursday.

Meanwhile, another new study found that the permafrost of Alaska is already adding substantial volumes of greenhouse gases to the planets atmosphere.

[NASA mission yields stunning aerial views of the Arctic]

Environmental groups and other opponents of any U.S. retreat from its commitments on climate change are trying to frame the issue as one that affects U.S. national security and economic interests. Activists marched through downtown Fairbanks on Wednesday, the day Tillerson arrived here.

We want to tell our secretary of state and our country that Alaskans want a clean economy and we want to honor the Paris climate agreement, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner quoted protester Enei Begaye as saying.

The Paris accord is the latest policy decision that pits Trumps campaign trail America First rhetoric against practical concerns for the new administration. If the president keeps the United States in the agreement, even with the goal of reducing its obligations, the decision will follow foreign policy reversals that included his stances on the NATO alliance and Chinese currency manipulation.

The White House postponed a much-anticipated meeting Tuesday that was expected to further air the differences between a conservative camp of administration officials  including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt  who want the United States to leave the accord, and a group including Tillerson that argues that the country will have more leverage if it stays within the agreement.

[The EPA just buried its climate change website for kids]

The same day, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that Trump would not reach a decision on whether to stay or go until after the Group of Seven meeting of major industrial democracies in late May, because the president wants to make sure that he has an opportunity to continue to meet with his team to create the best strategy for this country going forward.

[Climate change could destroy far more Arctic permafrost than we thought  which would worsen climate change]

Nordic countries, including Finland, which takes over leadership of the Arctic Council from the United States, issued a statement this month affirming the Paris agreement and pledging continued leadership on climate issues.

For Canada and Nordic countries deeply concerned about climate change, the Arctic Council meeting is a chance to lobby Tillerson at a moment when the U.S. decision is at a stalemate, said Andrew Light, a climate specialist with the World Resources Institute.

This is an opportunity to make the case that the U.S. needs a seat at the table, Light said.

Mooney reported from Washington.
A violent encounter between the military and alleged oil thieves left 10 dead and 12 wounded in the central Mexican state of Puebla last Wednesday. The following day, over 500 people took control of a major highway to demand the release of 13 individuals detained the previous day.

According to statements by the Secretary of Defense (Sedena), at approximately 8 p.m. on May 3 a local military unit was alerted to plans to steal oil from the state-owned oil company Pemex (Petroleos Mexicanos) in the town of Palmarito, Puebla. When they arrived at the scene, the ministry claims, the army was attacked by a group using women and children as human shields. Sedena claims another encounter took place at 10 p.m., when five vans drove by a stationed police car and opened fire against members of the armed forces. The clash left 10 dead, including six alleged oil thieves and four members of the military. One woman and one minor were among the dead.

This official story stands in sharp contradiction to the testimony of local townspeople. A woman designated as spokesperson for the town affirmed clashes began at around 5:30 p.m. when members of the military shot at peasants who were running away from a beehive, confusing them for huachicoleros (the name given to those who illegally siphon fuel from pipelines).

The military then violently entered Palmerito and opened fire against the population, while taking men, women and children prisoner. Local townspeople affirm one woman was killed on her way to buy tortillas and three minors were detained by the authorities.

The following morning, about 500 people blocked a highway between Puebla and Veracruz in protest against the military assault, carrying signs reading Palmerito is in mourning. We want peace and tranquility and We want the people who were taken from us. The protesters erected barricades and lit several tires on fire, producing smoke that could be seen for several kilometers. They issued demands for the armed forces to leave the area, and for the release of those who had been detained in connection to the prior days events, as well as for the return of the bodies of the six dead civilians. The protesters blocked the highway for five hours, after which they were forcefully dispersed by over 1,000 state police using tear gas.

Puebla is the third poorest state in Mexico, with two-thirds of its population, or 3.5 million people, living below the poverty line. According to the Secretariat of Social Development (Sedesol), over 45 percent of the population of Palmerito has not completed a primary education, and eight out of 10 people are living in poverty, including one out of four in extreme poverty.

Palmerito is in an area of high activity by huachicoleros known as the Red Triangle (Triangulo Rojo), which includes six Puebla municipalities, through which 40 percent of all oil that reaches Mexico City passes each day. According to Pemex, there have been over 17,000 cases of oil siphoning from January 2014 to February of this year, which has cost the government about 160 million pesos (about US$8.4 million). Pemex claims over 2,800 illegal oil taps occurred in the state of Puebla during this period, the highest in the country.

Pemex workers and local police are often complicit in the illegal oil tapping operations. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an associate professor at the University of Texas, told the newspaper Periodico Central: The illegal tapping cannot be perpetrated by drug traffickers alone. There must be people who worked or are working for Pemex. And with the express agreement of management, this is not a new development, but something that has been documented since [former Mexican president] Vicente Fox. In a recent case, two out of the four huachicoleros detained by federal police on April 6 in Guanajuato were Pemex workers, while seven police were detained in Puebla last September for collaborating with the huachicoleros .

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who is currently leading the polls for the 2018 Mexican presidential elections, spoke about the events a few days later and continued to claim he was against corruption in Mexico. The huachicolero is not just about siphoning the pipes. They steal gasoline from the refineries, where there are pipes, and this has to do with the authorities. They are a huachicol, but a white-collar huachicol.

On May 7, AMLO issued a call for the left parties in Mexicoincluding the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD), the Workers Party (PT) and the Citizens Movement to join forces with his party, Morena (Movement of National Regeneration), against the corrupt parties. For all his posturing as an enemy of the mafia in power, he neglected to mention that Eva Cadena, a Morena candidate in the state of Veracruz, was recently captured on video receiving over one million pesos (over US$52,000) from unreported sources on three separate encounters, allegedly to finance AMLOs campaign and as payment for pushing a favorable law in the local congress. As for the PRD, it was recently revealed that its national president owns a $1 million luxury apartment in Miami.

While the Mexican government quickly mobilized to defend Pemexs profits, its citizens continue to bear the cost of the 20 percent gas hike in January known as the gasolinazo. The price of a basic basket of goods increased by 8 percent in the month of April, and families in the lowest two deciles of earners now allocate over 80 percent of their income to food alone, compared to 10 percent for the wealthiest Mexicans. The unaffordability of gasoline sets the stage for the huachicoleros to sell it at cheaper prices on the illegal market while bringing in additional income for their impoverished communities.

The Mexican ruling class responded to the events in Palmerito by calling for the further militarization of the country. Enrique Ochoa Reza, the leader of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), quickly renewed calls for declaring an extraordinary session of the Chamber of Deputies to pass the Interior Security Law.

Among the events commemorating the 1862 Battle of Puebla, popularly known as cinco de mayo, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto spoke before the armed forces alongside the secretary of defense, the secretary of the marines, and the secretary of finance. He restated his commitment to support them, protect them, and see that their dignity and rights are respected at all times. Meanwhile, the governor of Puebla announced plans to deploy another two thousand military personnel, two helicopters, and armored vehicles to the state.
Antolin Garcia-Torres has been found guilty in the murder of missing California cheerleader Sierra LaMar and is now facing the death penalty, even as the teenagers body has never been recovered.

The 26-year-old was convicted on Tuesday of four felony counts  including first-degree murder and kidnapping  in Santa Clara County, California, a court spokesman confirms to PEOPLE.

Weve been praying for the chapter to have this type of ending  justice, LaMars mother, Marlene LaMar, told reporters afterward, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Were grateful for the jury for coming to the right decision.

She added, 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.

Garcia-Torres was arrested two months after Sierra, 15, disappeared on the way to her bus stop in March 2012.

The teens cell phone was discovered in a field near her home, and her purse, school books and clothing had been dumped in a shed near another field, according to the Chronicle.

DNA on the jeans lead investigators to Garcia-Torres, who  according to the Chronicle  lived just seven miles from Sierra, though he told authorities they never met.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

In addition, authorities found traces of Sierras DNA in Garcia-Torres car and a strand of her hair on a rope found in the vehicles trunk, reported the Mercury News.

Security video also captured Garcia-Torres leaving the trailer park where he lived on the morning of Sierras disappearance. He wasnt accounted for again until six hours later, the Chronicle reported. Garcia-Torres claimed he was on a solo fishing trip during that time.

Garcia-Torres attorney, Alfonso Lopez, argued during the trial that DNA evidence was mishandled, and he suggested that Sierras still-missing body hinted that she was merely a runaway and not dead.

Story continues

He declined to comment to reporters after the verdict.

In addition to Sierras murder, Garcia-Torres was found guilty of three separate attempted kidnappings of women in grocery store parking lots in 2009.

Sentencing in the case begins May 16.
In the weeks since 27-year-old Aaron Hernandez committed suicide in his Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center cell in Shirley, Massachusetts, more information has surfaced about the former New England Patriots player's life behind bars. Following the news that Hernandez was affiliated with the Bloods street gang, a new report reveals that he had a record of more than 70 disciplinary offenses in less than two years at the maximum-security prison.

According to records obtained by USA Today and published Wednesday, the majority of his disciplinary infractions occurred during his first few months at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd, was cited 78 times relating to 12 incidents in less than two years at the prison. At one point, he was cited 25 times over an eight-day period shortly after beginning his life sentence for murder in May 2015.

Read: Could Aaron Hernandez's Fiancee And Daughter Get Money From Patriots Pension?

You aint got (expletive) on me (expletive), Hernandez reportedly told corrections officers after his first prison fight, according to USA Today. You just making up (expletive).

After being examined by medical staff, Hernandez was reportedly put in restrictive confinement, where he continued to yell, Ill run this place and keep running (expletive). Prison ain't (expletive) to me.

At the disciplinary hearings that followed, Hernandez either pled guilty or was found guilty by a hearing officer of 14 charges, USA Today reported.  None of the incidents were forwarded to prosecutors.

According to the report, Hernandez also served as a lookout at the prison, engaged in fights, stole another inmates calling card and was discovered to be in possession of a nearly six-inch shank fashioned out of a piece of metal. For the last infraction, he reportedly received the maximum 15 days in solitary confinement and was cut off from accessing the prisons commissary  or general store  for 90 days.

Story continues

Hernandez hanged himself from his prison cell window using a bedsheet and was discovered during the early hours of April 19. Just days prior, Hernandez was acquitted of murdering Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado outside a Boston nightclub in July 2012. He is survived by his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, and their 4-year-old daughter Avielle.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.

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The acting director of the FBI said that ousted Director James Comey enjoyed widespread support among the bureaus rank-and-file members  directly contradicting a White House claim to justify his firing.

When asked about the Trump administrations assertion that Comey had lost the confidence of FBI staff, Andrew McCabe said, No, sir, that is not accurate.

McCabe, who has worked for the FBI for 21 years, has been serving as its acting director since President Trump abruptly fired Comey on Tuesday evening.

During his first public appearance as the FBIs top official, before the Senate Intelligence Committee midday Thursday, McCabe quickly summarized his long, close working relationship with Comey and said he holds the former director in the absolute highest regard. He said working with Comey has been the greatest privilege and honor of his professional life.

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe attends a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

I can tell you also that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day. We are a large organization. We are 36,500 people across this country, across this globe. We have a diversity of opinions about many things, McCabe said. But I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority, of FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has been filling in for press secretary Sean Spicer this week so he can fulfill Navy Reserve duty, made the claim about Comeys popularity.

Sanders also said the highly publicized investigation into the Russian governments interference with last years presidential election is probably one of the smallest things for the FBI right now.

McCabe also challenged this claim and said that Comeys dismissal will not impede the investigation.

We consider it to be a highly significant investigation, McCabe said.

Read more from Yahoo News:
The Hague (AFP) - Environmental campaigners on Wednesday urged the EU to take action against Denmark, accusing officials there of facilitating the traditional annual hunt of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands.

"It is forbidden to kill whales and dolphins in Europe," said Geert Vons, director of the activist group Sea Shepherd Netherlands.

"By supporting the Faroe Islands in the killing of pilot whales and other cetaceans, Denmark facilitates the slaughter and fails to fulfil its EU obligations."

It has called on Brussels to launch so-called "infringement proceedings" against member state Denmark, claiming to have "evidence proving that Danish officials from the police, navy, and customs have been facilitating and even actively participating" in the hunt.

The Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory of nearly 50,000 inhabitants in the North Atlantic, chose to remain outside the European Union when Denmark joined in 1973.

They are heavily dependent on fishing -- mainly herring and mackerel -- which together with fish farming accounts for 98 percent of its goods exports.

The traditional hunt is held every year from June to November, when a flotilla of islanders drives the whales into a bay or the mouth of a fjord where they are killed by hand.

The practice is defended by many locals as a cultural right, and the whale meat and blubber are consumed as delicacies.

Sea Shepherd has traditionally tried to stop and document the hunt, but last year a law was passed to allow the government to ban ships from entering Faroese water.

Under its "infringement proceedings," Brussels writes to national governments to demand legal explanations on an issue and can then refer the government to the European Court of Justice.

The top EU court can impose stiff financial penalties if member states fail to comply.
Peter Fretwell has never been to the remote islands off the coasts of Argentina and New Zealand where albatross make their homes, but he has seen hundreds of them.

Well, hes seen hundreds of tiny, pixelated white dots against a greenish-brown background on a computer screen. Thats how albatrosswhite seabirds known for their wingspansappear in images taken by a high-resolution camera on a satellite orbiting Earth. Fretwell, along with his colleagues at the British Antarctic Survey and the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand, used these images to scour the landscape of distant islands from the comfort of office desks and count albatross one by one to create a census from space.

Its a strange way of birdwatching, Fretwell said.

Fretwell said their recent survey marked the first time that satellites have been used to count individual birds from space. The research, described in a paper in Ibis, targeted two threatened species of albatross: wandering albatross on South Georgia, an island located southeast of Argentina, and northern royal albatross, found on the Chatham Islands to the east of New Zealands mainland.

Recommended: Trump Wants Goddamned Steam, Not Digital Catapults on Aircraft Carriers

Researchers have gone and studied these birds the old-fashioned away, showing up on boats and wandering through the flora to observe the albatross with their own eyes, or chartering low-flying planes to take aerial photographs. The work can be labor-intensive and expensive. Fretwell described a colleague who spends the Antarctic summers sailing to the islands on a yacht, battling rough seas, and scaling cliffs to catch a glimpse of the birds. Counting albatross from space, Fretwell said, requires much less effort and doesnt risk disturbing the animals. The Chatham Islands are especially difficult to access, and there were no recent population estimates of northern royal albatross there before the satellite survey, Fretwell said.

Story continues

Fretwell and the team purchased the imagery from WorldView-3, a commercial U.S. satellite that produces views akin to aerial pictures on Google Maps. Fretwell and the team split up the images into grids, tallying all the pops of white in one grid before moving onto the next because, well, can you imagine losing your place after 300-something albatross? Albatross like nesting on flat, grassy terrain, and their white feathers stand out against the vegetation, making them fairly easy to spot. Heres what one bird looks like from space:

Peter Fretwell

The team compared their counts to available ground-based tallies and found the numbers were similar, save for one island in the Chatham Islands. The researchers attribute the disparity to a decrease in breeding among the northern royal albatross during the years between the ground-based count and the satellite survey.

Recommended: Two Dead Canaries in the Coal Mine

Fretwell said the team actually has the U.S. government to thank for this extreme birdwatching. In 2015, federal regulators granted permission to DigitalGlobe, the maker of WorldView-3, to sell images at a higher resolution on the open market, easing a restriction that banned commercial satellite companies from selling images with a pixel resolution sharper than 50 centimeters to anyone besides the U.S. government. The WorldView-3 has a viewing power of 30 centimeters, can see through smoke and spot objects as small as a fire hydrantor an albatross.

Researchers have used space-based technology to track animals as early as 2004, when scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society used a satellite orbiting 280 miles above Earth to survey the inhabitants of the Bronx Zoo, snapping blurry photos of giraffes and gazelles. Thats like standing on top of the Empire State Building and spotting a deer in Maine, one of the scientists said back then. The resolution has grown sharper in the years since, and researchers have been able to capture animals in far more distant parts of the world than New York City.

In 2011, a group of researchers used satellites to track the population of Weddell seals in Antarctica. Fretwell, who was not involved in the work, said seals are trickier to spot because they appear as small, black blobs that could be mistake for shadows on the ice. But the satellite survey matched counts made on the ground, suggesting that the fairly new method could provide accurate data. In 2012, Fretwell and his colleagues used the technology to estimate the populations of two species of penguin on the Antarctic continent, as well as the trail of guano they leave behind, which show up in satellite imagery as brown streaks along the ice. Fretwell has also tracked southern right whales off the coast of Argentina, which show up as white smudges that pop out against deep-blue seawater.

Recommended: Trump Knows Little and Doesn't Want to Learn More

In 2014, a team researchers used satellites to study the distribution of polar bears on a small island in the Canadian Arctic, and another used them to observe wildebeests in the open savannah of a national reserve in Kenya. In 2015, DigitalGlobe worked with a humanitarian group in Africa to capture photos of elephants in the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which appear as pale figures that cast distinct, elephant-shaped shadows against beige-colored plains.

Even you, dear reader, can look for animals from space. The researchers behind the Weddell seal project have posted online satellite imagery of hundreds of miles of Antarctic landscape and encourage users to join in their search, tagging teardrop-shaped spots as they scroll through pixels and pixels of ice. Thats the best part about all of this, Fretwell said. Some parts of the study of wildlife populations, a historically arduous and labor-intensive activity, can be done from the comfort of your couch.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
A 23-year-old woman, who was forced to pretend to be disabled from childhood, ordered her mother to be stabbed to death before announcing on Facebook the b**** is dead.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who had been wheelchair-bound for 10 years, was found guilty, along with her boyfriend, for her role in the murder of her 48-year-old mother Dee Dee Blanchard in June 2015.

However she accepted a 10-year plea deal for second degree murder after Blanchards attorney revealed her mother had forced her to pretend to be disabled since childhood.

Rod Blanchard, Blanchard's father and Ms Blanchard's ex-husband, told the New York Post he was in "total shock" when he saw his daughter walk into the courtroom, the first time he realised she was not actually disabled.

Blanchard was forced into a wheelchair and held prisoner for years in the home she shared with her mother in Springfield, Missouri, her attorney told the court at the time.

Her mother had claimed she had been suffering from a host of illnesses, including leukemia as a young child, and later muscular dystrophy.

I really, genuinely believed that she had some issues, Mr Blanchard said.

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.

The unimaginable story has now become the subject of a new HBO documentary, Mommy Dead and Dearest.

The film explores the relationship between mother and daughter and Ms Blanchards motivation for making her daughter pretend she was disabled.

Read more

Munchausen syndrome: Why bloggers like cancer fraud Belle Gibson fake

Munchausen by proxy syndrome has been offered as an explanation for Ms Blanchards behaviour, a psychological condition in which a person acts as if an individual in their care has a physical or mental illness despite them being in fine health.

However others claim Ms Blanchard imprisoned her daughter in order to collect thousands of dollars in benefits payouts and donations from wellwishers.

The documentary will air on 15 May on HBO.
DUBAI (Reuters) - The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it was determined to help its government retake all areas held by Houthi militia, including the key port of Hodeidah, but would ensure alternative entry routes for badly needed food and medicine. The United Nations has warned the Arab alliance fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis against any attempt to extend the war to Hodeidah, a vital Red Sea aid delivery point for millions of Yemenis in danger of slipping into famine. Around 80 percent of Yemen's food imports arrive via Hodeidah, and the United Nations said last month a surge in fighting there would only cause "more displacement, more institutional collapse, and more suffering". In a statement sent to Reuters, a coalition source said that military operations were progressing well as part of Yemeni government efforts to recapture territory seized by the Houthis since 2014. "Hodeidah and its port will remain an unwavering demand for regaining legitimacy in Yemen and extending the legitimate government's authority over all lands of the Yemeni republic," the source said, referring to the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. "With determination and insistence from the (Hadi government), and with support from the coalition forces, all Yemeni territories will be liberated from the coup forces," the source added, referring to the Houthis. Coalition forces remain at least 100 km (60 miles) from Hodeidah. The source said the coalition was preparing facilities in Aden and Mukalla in south Yemen as an alternative in the event that Hodeidah port was affected by military operations. "The leadership of the coalition is working on the rehabilitation of ports and border crossings for the entry and transportation of food and medical supplies to all Yemeni cities," the source said. $300 AID PACKAGE AGREED Saudi Arabia and the World Bank agreed on Wednesday to commit $300 million toward an aid package that would address Yemen's immediate food security needs including rice and wheat, officials told a news conference in Riyadh. That was about $200 million short of what the World Bank said was needed. A U.N. pledging conference for Yemen last month raised promises of $1.1 billion, about half of what it said was necessary this year to head off a famine. Saudi Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to roll back the Houthis, who had captured the Arabian Peninsula country's main population centers in the northwest including Hodeidah and the capital Sanaa. Fearing the Houthis are a proxy of arch-foe Iran, the coalition has accused them of using Hodeidah as their lifeline for arms and funds to withstand thousands of air strikes carried out so far, something the group denies. Five cranes have been destroyed by coalition air strikes on Hodeidah's port, forcing dozens of ships to line up offshore because they cannot be unloaded. The coalition source said it was developing capacity to deliver aid at the southern ports and at a land crossing in central Yemen - all under the control of its allies in the country's internationally recognized government. But those areas are all several hundred kilometers away from Yemen's principal population hubs and imports would need to wend their way through vast mountain ranges and battle zones. Rights groups and other critics say that coalition air strikes appear to have caused many of the estimated 10,000 deaths in the war, half of them civilians, and that famine and disease loom in the hardest hit areas. The coalition says much of the civilian suffering in the Hodeidah area is caused by the Houthis diverting humanitarian aid supplies to their own forces, a charge the Houthis deny. The high civilian toll in the conflict has drawn scrutiny of continued U.S. and British military support for Saudi Arabia. The United States has provided aerial refueling of coalition jets while the British defense industry has been an important supplier of aircraft and arms to the kingdom. (Reporting by William Maclean and Noah Browning in Dubai, Katie Paul in Riyadh; editing by Sami Aboudi and Mark Heinrich)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Argentina's Congress on Wednesday passed a law preventing the early release of inmates convicted of human rights crimes committed during their country's 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

The final vote by all 56 senators present moves to counter a controversial Supreme Court ruling last week allowing those convicted of such crimes to have their terms trimmed by twice the amount of time they spent in custody awaiting trial.

The bill passed the lower chamber of Congress on Tuesday with a vote of 211 to 1.

President Mauricio Macri, who must now promulgate the law, said just before the vote that he was "against any tool that helps impunity, especially when it comes to crimes against humanity."

The law's passage came just ahead of a march on the Supreme Court on Wednesday organized by human rights groups protesting its ruling.

Interim Senate leader Federico Pinedo said the rapid vote "is a very clear message to society and to the judges what is the position of the Argentine people."

The Supreme Court ruling -- adopted in a three-to-two vote by the court's justices -- upheld a law dating back two decades that allowed the shortening of offenders' sentences, with each day served in pre-trial detention counted as two days.

That calculation was applied earlier this month to the 13-year sentence of an ex-paramilitary fighter convicted in 2011 for crimes including torture and kidnapping.

But a court in the western city of San Juan on Tuesday refused to apply it in another case, calling it "unconstitutional and inapplicable."

The Supreme Court's decision opened the doors to a thousand people who have been convicted and another thousand being held pending outcomes of trials asking for early release.

Several inmates incarcerated for crimes committed during the dictatorship had already requested shortened sentences.
By Sophie Hirsh. Photo by: Getty Images.

Even though Barack Obama's tropical vacations are over, he's still traveling the world. The former president was the keynote speaker at the Seeds and Chips Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan on Tuesday, where he made a speech and then engaged in a conversation with former White House staffer Sam Kass on climate change. As Obama often does in speeches, he gave his wife Michelle Obama a shoutoutbut not in the usual complimentary way. In this speech, Barack Obama gave us an inside look at their closet.

Kass began the conversation by asking how post-presidency life has been. "It is true that I'm not living in the White House anymore," Obama told him. "I actually enjoy being in my own house. I have been fighting Michelle to get more closet space. I have been trying to figure out how the coffeemaker works," he joked.

In the White House, Michelle reportedly had her own glam room, meaning she probably had plenty of space for her J.Crew and Christian Siriano outfits. Clothing storage didn't seem like it was much of an issue for Obama in the White House, eitheron his episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Obama revealed that he picks out his own suit every morning.

The closet Obama is talking about is in the Washington, D.C., house the Obama family moved into after leaving the White House. However, closet space shouldn't be too much of an issue, as their home has nine bedrooms. Maybe they should renovate two bedrooms into separate closets.

Toward the beginning of his speech, Obama shared the significance of Italy to his family. "Let me first of all say that the last Obama that was here was Michelle Obama, and I know she is the bigger star, but she sends her greetings," he told the crowd. "Years ago, before anybody knew who we were, Michelle and I took a trip through Tuscany, and it was one of the most romantic vacations we ever had," he said with a smirk. "During our first term in the White House, we brought our girls to see the glories of Rome. Two years ago, Michelle came here to Milan, and I promise you, we're gonna be coming to Italy a lot in the years to come."

Story continues

But at the end of his hour and a half onstage, Obama declared he had to get back to his family. "I've gotta go home and have dinner with my family," he said. "I don't know what's for dinner, though."

More: The Obama Family's Stylish Private World Inside the White House

This story originally appeared on Architectural Digest.

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The US secretary of education faced jeers when she spoke at Bethune-Cookman University. And rightly so

 The booing was so loud that Bethune-Cookman president Edison Jackson admonished the crowd. Photograph: David Tucker/AP

There are many reasons why one might jeer Betsy DeVos, the US education secretary. Perhaps you find her advocacy for guns in schools due to the ever present grizzly threat to be credulous. Maybe you think that her advocacy for charter schools  and the deleterious effects that these have had in her home state of Michigan  is worthy of complaint. Or maybe what gets your goat is DeVoss support for vouchers, which takes public money and allows it to be used for tuition at private institutions.

If you are a student at a historically black college or university (HBCU), however, what is likely the most galling to you was a comment made by DeVos a couple of months ago. After meeting with leaders of HBCUs at the White House, DeVos released a statement:

HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.

The sitting education secretary of the United States of America seriously put out a statement equating the creation of colleges and universities that were designed to maintain state-sanctioned segregation to the present-day debate over school choice in the form of vouchers and charter schools. It is a sentiment that is breathtaking in its ignorance, but given the context of the White House administration that DeVos serves, perhaps not so much.

It is in this context that we should place what happened at Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday. There, DeVos was booed heavily as she, shockingly, was awarded an honorary doctorate from the institution. The booing was so loud that Bethune-Cookman president Edison Jackson admonished the crowd, threatening them with the cancellation of the event. He explained the motives of awarding DeVos and inviting her to be the commencement speaker:

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We have always been in the business of making friends, and if you dont have friends, its very difficult to raise money. Her department controls roughly 80% of Title IV monies, as well as grants. So why wouldnt we want to make friends?

There are many ways that a college or university could make friends in order to raise money that do not involve inviting someone so ignorant of recent history in the US to address students at an event that they have worked hard toward for years.

After all, it is why institutions of higher education have departments of government relations, including Bethune-Cookman. And one certainly does not need to engage in such outlandish puffery like the Bethune-Cookman administration did, where they sent out a press release comparing DeVos to the schools founder and namesake, who built the university up while being threatened by the Ku Klux Klan on a regular basis.

But that is beside the point:

During the speech, a sophomore, Bobbie Luke, right fist aloft, was escorted out of the Ocean Center. He told CNN he didnt know why he was removed. Im standing with my seniors, man. No one likes her, man. Period, he said. I dont like what she said, and nothing at the end of the day is going to change my opinion.

Luke is not wrong. HBCUs have a diverse tradition, but one of the pillars of HBCU history is the solidarity and hard work that they gave to the civil rights movement. Some of the movements most recognized leaders  such as Fisk University student and future US congressman John Lewis  came from these institutions forged from necessity in the hottest fires of the Jim Crow south. These campuses acted as centers for organizing, culture and safety during a period where the simple act of registering people to vote could result in the end of someones life.

Just as they did during the 1950s and 1960s, HBCUs continue to play a large role in the latest iterations of organizing around justice and equality. You would be hard-pressed to find an HBCU that had not hosted or provided aid to the Black Lives Matter movement.

But beyond that, HBCUs have been at the center of economic struggle as well. Tougaloo College, for example, has been an ongoing springboard of organizing for workers at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, who have been fighting for union recognition for years.

The legacy of HBCUs is that they continue to produce people who will leave college and be at the forefront of progress and community change. Theres a long line from Mary McLeod Bethune to our present-day working class intellectuals such as Tressie McMillan Cottom, and you can trace that through places like Bethune-Cookman University.

Giving a platform to those that would undermine that legacy  and defending such a choice as strongly as Edison Jackson has  is simply a disgrace. In the end, you really got to wonder about the kind of educator that sees Betsy DeVos as an ally while treating Bobbie Luke as a threat.
The education secretary was drowned out by jeers upon taking the podium at the historically black Bethune-Cookman University and cut her address short

Betsy DeVos was met with boos while addressing graduates of Bethune-Cookman University in Florida on Wednesday, as some students turned their backs in protest against Donald Trumps education secretary.

DeVos, whose selection as the commencement speaker was opposed by many students and faculty at the historically black university, was drowned out by jeers upon taking the podium and at numerous points throughout her speech.

While we will undoubtedly disagree at times, I hope we can do so respectfully, she remarked.

Lets choose to hear one another out. I want to reaffirm this administrations commitment to and support for [historically black colleges and universities] and the students they serve.

DeVos strained to overcome the hecklers, often raising her voice. The crowd had erupted in boos at the very mention of her name by Edison Jackson, the universitys president, who presented DeVos with an honorary doctorate.

DeVos finished her remarks in 20 minutes, as opposed to the one hour of allotted time. Photos and video of the event showed roughly half of the 380 graduates turning their backs on the education secretary, who was confirmed by the US Senate in February only by a historic tie-breaking vote cast by the vice-president, Mike Pence.

DeVos sought to underscore the Trump administrations commitment to historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, telling her audience: I am at the table fighting on your behalf.

In late February, Trump held a meeting at the White House with representatives of 64 of the countrys 100 HBCUs. But advocates have been skeptical of the new administration, which has often projected a dismissive attitude toward civil rights.

DeVos came under fire herself in February for framing HBCUs as real pioneers when it comes to school choice, a reference to her desire to move toward a more privatized education system in the US.

Story continues

Her comments were roundly condemned for ignoring the history of HBCUs, which were founded during the era of racial segregation. Laws at the time barred African Americans from attending schools, thus leaving them with no choice but to create their own.

Jackson defended the universitys decision to host DeVos in a statement, saying: If our students are robbed of the opportunity to experience and interact with views that may be different from their own, then they will be tremendously less equipped for the demands of democratic citizenship.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was booed and repeatedly interrupted by students Wednesday during her commencement speech in Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The hostile reception for DeVos, who was one of President Donald Trump's controversial cabinet choices, was mainly as a result of controversial statements she had made in the past regarding African-American colleges.

One of those came at the end of Black History Month this year, when she equated the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with her school choice policy.

Betsy Devos

Photo: Reuters/Joshua Roberts

HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice, DeVos said in a statement, Politico reported. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.

Read: Betsy DeVos Education Department Calls Him 'DeBois,' And Then Misspells Apology Tweet

DeVos statement eroded any goodwill from the African-American community Trump might have hoped for after signing an executive order beckoning the White House to take a more hands-on approach to higher education, stated a Politico report.

Robert Palmer, an education professor at Howard University, branded DeVos statement a bit crazy, while Austin Lane, the president of Texas Southern University, an HBCU in Houston, found her statement to be puzzling.

HBCUs were created for African-Americans because they had no choice and were unable to attend schools due to segregation laws, Lane said.

When social media users blasted DeVos original statement, a spokesperson for the Education Department tried to calm the situation down by claiming her statement was taken out of context. In an effort to clarify her statement, DeVos made another comment, which caused even more controversy.

Story continues







"Your history was born, not out of mere choice, but out of necessity, in the face of racism, and in the aftermath of the Civil War," DeVos said addressing the school leaders in a speech.

Read: Civil Rights Advocates Worry Protections Will Be Gutted

DeVos attracted further criticism when she tried to circumvent one major demand of the local schools  increased funding for the public school system.

In keeping with DeVos and the president's common agenda of diverting maximum funds to the private schools, a request of $25 billion in infrastructural funding for improving college campuses was rejected by the White House, according to a Politico report.

Rather than focus solely on funding, we must be willing to make the tangible, structural reforms that will allow students to reach their full potential, DeVos said in a statement justifying her decision.

Consequently, the negative publicity piling up against DeVos took a nasty turn Wednesday, when she was met with jeers and boos from many of the graduates-to-be at Bethune-Cookman University.

Her speech was drowned in a sea of insults hurled by the students. Many also chose to turn their backs on her as she struggled to get the words of her speech out.

Despite the less-than-jovial treatment received from the students of Bethune-Cookman University, which neither Trump nor the White House have commented on yet, DeVos showed her appreciation towards the institution for the "honor" of facilitating the graduates, according a report by The Atlantic.

She also expressed "respect" towards the students who rose up in protest against her, during her speech.

Related Articles
Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic has just partnered with startup Boom Technology to build a supersonic aircraft, Boom Technology announced. The plane would zip through the skies faster than the Concorde jet or any other commercial aircraft today, Boom Technology said.

Aircraft that fly faster than the speed of sound were first developed in the mid-20th century. But regulations and technical challenges halted innovation and expansion of the concept, said Boom Technology, which has headquarters in Denver. The aviation startup said it aims to change that by developing a modern, supersonic passenger jet that travels at Mach 2.2. That's twice the speed of sound, or 1,451 mph (2,335 km/h). The Concorde, a now-retired supersonic passenger jet, flew at speeds of up to about 1,350 mph (2,180 km/h).

Boom also aims to set a new speed record for civil aircraft, according to a blog post by Blake Scholl, CEO and founder of Boom. [Supersonic! The 11 Fastest Military Airplanes]

At Mach 2.2, passengers could travel between New York City and London in 3 hours and 15 minutes, the company said. The supersonic jet could fly between San Francisco and Tokyo in 5.5 hours, or between Sydney and Los Angeles in 6 hours and 45 minutes.

"Building a supersonic airplane is not easy  but it is important," Scholl wrote, describing the startup's motivations. "While we love the hard engineering and technical challenges, what really drives us is the enormous human benefit of faster travel."

Commercial air travel's last major speed improvement occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with the introduction of commercial jets, Scholl said. Such jets, he said, made possible the "Hawaii vacation," shortening a 15- to 16 -hour flight to just 5 to 6 hours.

Supersonic commercial travel could have a similar impact, making the farthest regions of the planet more accessible, Scholl said.

"Imagine traveling across the Atlantic [Ocean], getting business done [in Europe] and being home to tuck your children into bed," Scholl wrote, "or saving two whole days of a typical round-trip itinerary to Asia.  When time is no longer a limit, where will you vacation? Where will you do business?"

Story continues

Boom recently raised $33 million in new funding to develop the startup's first supersonic passenger jet. The company will first build the "Baby Boom," a prototype of the eventual full-size Boom aircraft, Air Transport World (ATW) reported.

Baby Boom's first test flight is planned for 2018, Scholl announced at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Wings of Change conference this week, according to ATW. The full-size Boom, which would carry up to 55 passengers in an all-business-class configuration, is targeted for tests in 2020 and certification from the Federal Aviation Administration by 2023, ATW reported.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
Curitiba (Brazil) (AFP) - Brazil's leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the corruption trial threatening to end his storied career a "farce" during almost five hours of testimony Wednesday.

Arguably the country's most popular and controversial politician, Lula is accused of receiving a seaside apartment as a kickback from the OAS construction company.

If found guilty, he could be barred from running for office and even jailed, destroying his hopes of coming back to power in the 2018 presidential elections.

The closed hearing put Lula, 71, face-to-face with Judge Sergio Moro, a hero to many Brazilians for his relentless pursuit of senators, millionaires and other powerful figures in a graft probe called "Car Wash."

Lula, whose 2003-2010 rule made him loved by the left and equally loathed on the right, would be by far Moro's biggest scalp.

However, the fiery orator -- who grew up in severe poverty before becoming a metal workers' union leader, co-founder of the Workers' Party and leftist icon -- was defiant.

"I consider this trial illegitimate and the accusation a farce," he told Moro at the hearing in the southern city of Curitiba, video released afterward showed.

He said prosecutors were accusing him "based on allegations in the press."

As soon as he got out of court, Lula went to a campaign style rally with several thousand supporters who had bused into Curitiba earlier.

"I thought after... there would at least be a document that the apartment was mine," he told them. "I want to be judged on proof."

Lula reiterated his plans to seek a third term next year.

"I am preparing to return as a candidate," he said. "I want to show that the elite is not competent to fix this country but that the steel worker... will manage."

The Lula faithful, many clad in Workers' Party red, responded deliriously, cheering "Lula, warrior of the Brazilian people," and letting off fireworks.

Story continues

"He still has this incredible charisma, this connection," said lawyer William Bioneck, 30, who was in the crowd.

A much smaller group of opponents also gathered, raising an inflatable caricature of Lula dressed in prison garb.

- Embezzlement, bribery -

Brazil's media portrayed the court session as a showdown between two of the most powerful men in Brazil.

Moro, 44, has become a national figure for his role leading the "Car Wash" probe, which revealed massive kickbacks to politicians in return for inflated contracts with state oil company Petrobras, much of it during Lula's presidency.

Lula faces a total of five corruption trials.

In Wednesday's case, Lula is alleged to have taken a bribe from OAS -- one of the main Petrobras contractors -- in the form of a seaside apartment at a posh resort near Sao Paulo.

But seated at a table with lawyers and prosecutors, Lula denied everything.

"I never asked for and I never received the apartment," he said.

Prosecutors have previously painted Lula as a kingpin over the wider Petrobras corruption scheme.

However, in the video of the hearing Moro went out of his way to reassure Lula that he would "be treated with maximum respect, as any defendant, but also equally considering the office that he had held previously."

He also stressed that Lula did not face imminent arrest.

Hashtags trending on Twitter reflected the bitter divide over the ex-president's legal problems, including #LulaEuConfio (I trust in Lula) and #MoroOrgulhoBrasileiro (Moro, pride of Brazil).

President Michel Temer, a hugely unpopular figure who took over when Lula's successor Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from the presidency last year, appealed for calm.

"We need to calm down the country. The country can't be in this permanent state of conflict, with Brazilian against Brazilian," he said.
By Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California governor Jerry Brown on Thursday proposed a funding increase for the state attorney general to create more than 30 new positions dedicated to combating President Donald Trump's policies.

Democratic attorneys general in states across the country have assumed lead roles in opposing some of the Republican president's agenda. State attorneys general in Washington and Hawaii successfully sued to block Trump's executive orders restricting travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and California attorney general Xavier Becerra has pledged to defend the state's environmental standards and health care access.

Brown has been particularly outspoken against Trump's policies. In budget revisions released on Thursday, Brown's office proposed a $6.5 million increase for California's Department of Justice, enough to fund 31 positions to address "various actions taken at the federal level that impact public safety, healthcare, the environment, consumer affairs and general constitutional issues."

The department has expended over 11,000 hours of legal work in response to federal issues since Trump's inauguration in January, according the governor's office.

Brown's proposals would have to be approved by California's legislature, which is dominated by Democrats.

At a press conference, Brown repeatedly expressed the need to fight the Trump administration on health care reforms under discussion in Washington. The potential loss of funds for the state's Medicaid program alone would be enough to fund the University of California system for a year, Brown said.

Given that backdrop, Brown said Becerra deserves "some latitude" in pursuing litigation.

A spokeswoman for Becerra could not immediately be reached for comment.

Brown's budget also proposed a $15 million increase to expand legal services for immigrants seeking assistance securing legal status in the United States and fighting deportation.

(Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
BEIJING (Reuters) - The leaders of China and Vietnam had "positive" talks about the disputed South China Sea on Thursday with neither side criticizing the other, a senior Chinese diplomat said. Vietnam is the country most openly at odds with China over the waterway since the Philippines pulled back from confrontation under President Rodrigo Duterte. Speaking after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said the South China Sea had been brought up in their talks. "It was discussed but the main tone was very positive," Liu told reporters. Both agreed to follow their consensus to continue stabilizing the situation and to keep pushing talks, as well as continue joint resource exploration in less sensitive areas, like the Gulf of Tonkin, he added. "I think that talking about the South China Sea this time is really a positive piece of news. Neither side raised any criticisms of each other. There were no voices of that were out of step," Liu said. China claims 90 percent of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan lay claim to parts of the route, through which about $5 trillion of trade passes each year. Last year, tensions heightened between Beijing and Hanoi after Taiwan and U.S. officials said Beijing had placed surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, part of the Paracel archipelago which China controls. Vietnam called China's actions a serious infringement of its sovereignty over the Paracels. In 2014, tensions between the two communist countries peaked more dramatically when China moved an oil rig into disputed waters and protests broke out across Vietnam. Relations have since gradually improved with a series of high level visits between the two, though the military buildup continues in the region, including China's building of airstrips on man-made islands in the South China Sea. In comments in front of reporters, Xi told Quang he hoped to take relations to a new stage to better benefit both peoples. Xi also praised the leadership of Vietnam for its economic reforms. "As a comrade and neighbor, we are happy to see this," Xi said. Quang is in Beijing to attend a weekend conference on an ambitious scheme proposed by Xi to build a new Silk Road connecting China to Asia, Europe and beyond through massive infrastructure investment. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)
BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese government said on Wednesday that the health of people in Taiwan is not being put at risk by Taiwan's inability to attend a U.N. health meeting this year as there is no barrier to technical or medical exchanges and aid. 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). Ties between China and Taiwan 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. Taiwan says health should not be politicized and that leaving Taiwan out of dialogue puts the world's health safety-net and health of people on the island at risk. But the health of people in Taiwan and the island's lack of attendance at the meeting are two different matters, An Fengshan, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, told a regular news briefing. Taiwan's information exchange channels with the WHO are smooth, Taiwan can attend technical WHO meetings and if needed WHO experts can visit the island, An said. "These arrangements ensure that Taiwan can effectively and in a timely way deal with sudden public health issues whether on the island or internationally," he added. 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. Taiwan is still sending a delegation to the meeting even though it does not have an invitation, warning China that attempts to exclude it could irreversibly damage ties. The official China Daily, in a Wednesday editorial, said Taiwan's delegation will likely try to "make a scene" to garner sympathy, but the real goal of Tsai's government is clear. "She is seeking to hijack public health in Taiwan to serve her political goal of winning de facto statehood recognition for the island," it said. (This story has been refiled to correct day of week in lead.) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Richard Pullin)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is willing to appropriately handle disputes with South Korea on the basis of mutual understanding and trust, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to new South Korean president Moon Jae-in. Xi said he had always greatly valued South Korea and relations between the two countries, the official Xinhua news agency said in a report about the message. The report made no direct mention of North Korea or an anti-missile system the United States has deployed in South Korea that China has vigorously opposed, saying it is a threat to Chinese security. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
A former White House ethics lawyer has called Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey - who was heading an investigation into alleged Russian ties to the 2016 election - a scandal "worse than Watergate."

Mr Trump fired writing in the letter used to dismiss Mr Comey, said that the FBI Director had eroded public confidence and trust in the bureau. Mr Comey was set to serve the usual 10 year term, having only been confirmed to the position in 2013.

Richard Painter, who worked for President George W. Bush, told Rolling Stone that the 1972 scandal involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate office complex and the subsequent attempted cover-up by President Richard Nixon was just a "third-rate burglary" compared to what Mr Trump is doing.

Read more

Trump firing Comey 'is the beginning of a Nixon-like cover up'

"It was purely domestic in nature. This situation involves Russian espionage, and we've got to find out who is collaborating," Mr Painter said.

Mr Painter was wary of Mr Trump saying he followed the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Mr Rodenstein wrote a memo to Mr Sessions regarding Mr Comey's "wrong" handling of an investigation into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server to send classified information.

Mr Painter claimed that Mr Sessions "was also part of the contacts made by the Trump campaign with Russia. The attorney general lied about that to the Senate at his confirmation hearing".

There is no evidence that Mr Sessions had any Russian ties while he worked on Mr Trump's 2016 campaign, however he did recuse himself from the investigation into Russian interference with the election on the advice of DOJ lawyers.

"It was an abuse of power," Mr Painter said, noting that the president does have the legal right to fire the FBI Director.

Story continues

He drew comparisons to Mr Nixon firing then-special prosecutor Archibald Cox who was looking into the Watergate burglary and White House cover up. It prompted the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus because they refused to fire Mr Cox themselves.

The difference between the two story lines is that Mr Nixon's attorney general was not party to the scandal unlike Mr Sessions, said Mr Painter.

Mr Painter called for the House Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing and begin the impeachment process.

Republicans, despite some critics of the president among the ranks, have been reluctant to set up an independent commission to take over the Russia investigation.

"I think that Republicans in Congress need to think about whether they want to go down with the ship," said Mr Painter.
Leak raises fresh concerns about hazards to waterways and outrages indigenous groups, who have long warned of threat to environment

Watch news, TV and more Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.

The Dakota Access pipeline has suffered its first leak, outraging indigenous groups who have long warned that the project poses a threat to the environment.

The $3.8bn oil pipeline, which sparked international protests last year and is not yet fully operational, spilled 84 gallons of crude oil at a South Dakota pump station, according to government regulators.

Although state officials said the 6 April leak was contained and quickly cleaned, critics of the project said the spill, which occurred as the pipeline is in the final stages of preparing to transport oil, raises fresh concerns about the potential hazards to waterways and Native American sites.

They keep telling everybody that it is state of the art, that leaks wont happen, that nothing can go wrong, said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has been fighting the project for years. Its always been false. They havent even turned the thing on and its shown to be false.

The Dakota Access pipeline inspired huge demonstrations in 2016. Photograph: Josh Morgan/Reuters

The pipeline, scheduled to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois, inspired massive demonstrations in 2016 and was dealt a major blow when the Obama administration denied a key permit for the project toward the end of his presidency. But shortly after Donald Trumps inauguration, the new administration ordered the revival of the pipeline and worked to expedite the final stage of construction.

The Standing Rock tribe, which has fought the pipeline corporation Energy Transfer Partners and the US government in court, has argued that the project requires a full environmental study to assess the risks of the pipeline. But under Trump, who has close financial ties to the oil company, the project recently completed construction by the Standing Rock tribes reservation in North Dakota and has been loading oil in preparation for a full launch.

Story continues

The April spill, which was first uncovered this week by a local South Dakota reporter, illustrates the need for the more robust environmental assessment that the tribe has long demanded, said Hasselman.

It doesnt give us any pleasure to say, I told you so. But we have said from the beginning that its not a matter of if, but when, the Earthjustice attorney told the Guardian on Wednesday. Pipelines leak and they spill. Its just what happens.

Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota department of environment and natural resources, said the spill was relatively minor and was caused by a mechanical failure at a surge pump.

Its not uncommon to have a small release at a pump station, he said, adding that the company responded immediately and cleaned up the liquid petroleum. The spill occurred inside a secondary containment area and there were no environmental impacts, he added.

Standing Rock Sioux tribe chairman Dave Archambault II said the spill is another sign that the courts should intervene.

Our lawsuit challenging this dangerous project is ongoing, and its more important than ever for the court to step in and halt additional accidents before they happen  not just for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and our resources but for the 17 million people whose drinking water is at risk, he said in a statement.

The company and the state made no announcements about the spill after it occurred.

Walsh said the department only releases public notices of spills when there is an imminent threat to a waterway or public health. This was the pipelines first spill in the state, he said.

Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to the Guardians request for comment. A spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the corporation maintains that the pipeline is safe and that the leak was contained in the proper manner. The Associated Press also reported that no other Dakota Access spills have been documented in any other states.

The company has fought in court to keep information about the status of the project confidential.

Hasselman said these kinds of spills should be immediately disclosed.

What kind of oversight and accountability is there if no one even finds out about these things until weeks later?
Democrats have asked ousted FBI Director James Comey to testify on Capitol Hill, a day after he was fired by Donald Trump.

Reports said Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, and Democrat ranking member Mark Warner, said they had asked Mr Comey to appear before the committee next Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Comey would accept the invitation, or if the testimony would be public or closed.

Sen. Mark Warner says he and Chmn. Burr have invited James Comey to testify before the Senate Intel Committee on Tuesday.  via @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/4zmnh8vQWs  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 10, 2017

"[We sent out the invitation. We've not heard back yet, we just sent out the invitation this morning," he said, according to CNBC.

He was due to appear tomorrow with all the other heads of the intelligence community. My hope is that hell take advantage of this opportunity.

News of the invitation came as Mr Trump defended his decision to get rid of Mr Comey, a move that was widely criticised by Democrats and at least a dozen Republicans.

Mr Trump said that the FBI Director was not doing a good job. The president did not explain more about the manner and timing of Mr Comeys ousting.

Mr Warner, along with many of his Democratic colleagues, has called for a special counsel in the Russia probe.

Mr Comey reportedly found out that he had been fired on Tuesday around the time the news broke on television.

Mr Trump, who received recommendations to fire Comey from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, wrote in a letter that he wanted to to find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.

The president over the last several months lost confidence in Director Comey, the DOJ (Department of Justice) lost confidence in Director Comey, bipartisan members of Congress made it clear that they had lost confidence in Director Comey and most importantly the rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director, Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a briefing.
Senate Democrats plan to introduce legislation to ensure that a truly independent prosecutor can be appointed to investigate alleged ties between Moscow and associates of President Donald Trump, Senator Dianne Feinstein has said, in the wake of Mr Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey.

The bill, which Ms Feinstein is working on with Senator Richard Blumenthal, could resemble an independent counsel statute that Congress passed in response to the Watergate scandal. That statute required a panel of three federal judges to appoint an independent counsel when there was credible evidence that a president or high-level executive official may have violated the law. Congress let the independent counsel law expire in 1999.

It was clear the FBI was taking its job seriously, and a substantial investigation was underway, Ms Feinstein said, and the timing of Mr Comey's dismissal could implicate the Trump administration.

Read more

Republican Senate leader rules out special prosecutor for Russia probe

Mr Blumenthal told the Atlantic that the legislation calls for special counsel appointed by a three-judge panel.

However, while we work on that legislation, I want to renew my call to have a special prosecutor appointed to oversee the Russia investigation, Ms Feinstein said.

Other top Democrats are also asking Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special prosecutor, despite White House spokesman Sean Spicer telling reporters there is clearly at this point no evidence of a reason for one, as you have a system that's working. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has also opposed the idea.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions cannot appoint a special prosecutor because he recused himself from the Russia investigation after he failed to disclose meetings that he had with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergei Kislyak.

In announcing the presidents decision to fire Mr Comey, the White House said the president acted based on the recommendations of both Mr Rosenstein and Mr Sessions.

Story continues

Mr Rosenstein had written in a memo to Mr Sessions that he could not defend the FBI Directors refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken in his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

On the Senate floor, Democratic leader Charles Schumer said there is little reason to think that Mr Rosensteins letter is the true reason that President Trump fired director Comey.

Why? Mr Schumer added. Because if the administration truly had objections to the way Director Comey handled the Clinton investigation, they would have had them the minute the president got into office. But he didnt fire Director Comey then. The question is: Why did it happen last night?

Mr Schumer pointed out that Mr Rosenstein said during his Senate confirmation hearing in March that he would be willing to appoint a special prosecutor at the appropriate time.

If there was ever a time when circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it is right now, Mr Schumer said.

He added: If Mr Rosenstein is true to his word, that he believes this investigation must be 'fair, free, thorough and politically independent,' if he believes as I do that the American people must be able to have faith in the impartiality in this investigation, he must appoint a special prosecutor and get his investigation out of the hands of the FBI and far away from the heavy hand of this administration.
Donald Trumps approval rating has reached a near record low as support from the US President's core base begins to falter.

Just 36 per cent of Americans approved of the Republican leader, while 58 per cent disapproved - a drop of two percentage points since April.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll showed waning support among the former real estate moguls previously loyal base.

White voters with no college degree largely approved of the President in April, with 57 per cent believing he was doing a good job. However, this figure has now plummeted to 47 per cent.

Male voters were also wavering in their support, with 48 per cent approving of the president, down from 53 per cent last month.

Voters also found the president to be increasingly dishonest, with 61 per cent believing he is not honest compared to 58 per cent in the last poll.

The survey was conducted just a day before Mr Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been investigating allegations of Russian collusion in his presidential campaign.

In April, Mr Trump received the lowest approval rating of his presidency so far, at 35 per cent.
Donald Trump was so frustrated by the ongoing investigation into his administration's links with Russia he would sometimes scream at television when news concerning it came on, according to one of his advisers.

The US President has been growing increasingly enraged at his inability to control the probe exploring allegations of collusion between the Kremlin and his presidential campaign, two advisers told Politico.

According to the unidentified staff members, Mr Trump repeatedly asked aides why the allegations would not disappear and demanded they defend him publicly.

http://players.brightcove.net/624246174001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5428464997001

Why did Donald Trump fire James Comey?

The account emerged as the former real estate mogul dismissed FBI director James Comey, who was leading the investigation into Mr Trumps alleged ties to the Kremlin.

Mr Trump ordered his private security guard to hand-deliver Mr Comeys termination letter, claiming errors made in the FBI investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server during the election campaign left Mr Trump no choice but to dismiss him.

However many have criticised his reasoning and accused him of trying to gag the Russian investigation, citing the many instances on the campaign trail where Mr Trump offered his support to the investigation into Ms Clinton.

The president did not mention the word Russia in his four-line letter informing the FBI director that he was being summarily removed from his post.

Read more

Read Trump's 'eyebrow-raising' letter to James Comey firing him

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that is carrying out its own probe, said he believed the action amounted to a looming constitutional crisis.

The president of the United States has just fired the Director of the FBI who was carrying out an investigation into him, he said.

Another Democratic senator, Patrick Leahy, said Mr Trumps actions were nothing less than Nixonian".
Elon Musk and other titans of the U.S. tech sector are urging President Donald Trump not to pull the United States out of a landmark climate change accord.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO signed an open letter expressing "strong support" for keeping the U.S. in the Paris Climate Agreement. The letter, which ran as a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, lists 30 executives from some of the world's biggest and most influential companies, including Virgin Group, General Electric, Walt Disney Co., and Coca-Cola.

SEE ALSO: Trump has been talking to Al Gore about the Paris Climate Agreement. Seriously.

The Paris agreement commits virtually all countries of the world to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming. The accord, which went into force in November 2016, is considered the world's most comprehensive plan to date for fighting climate change.

In today's @WSJ: 30 CEOs of world's largest, most influential cos pen open letter to #PresidentTrump urging him to stay in #ParisAgreement pic.twitter.com/Mrqw9n7SOg  Dan Saccardi (@dsaccardi) May 10, 2017

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to "cancel" the agreement, and he's repeatedly expressed skepticism toward mainstream climate science. Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has called the treaty a "bad deal" that unfairly penalizes the United States and its business and manufacturing sectors.

But U.S. corporations say ditching the Paris agreement could damage the U.S. economy  not strengthen it. In the Wednesday ad, the CEOs said exiting the climate accord would bring about "negative trade implications" and disrupt the flow of American-made goods around the world.

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"We are committed to working with you to create jobs and boost U.S. competitiveness, and we believe this can be best achieved by remaining in the Paris Agreement," the executives wrote.

Then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signs the Paris Climate Agreement at the U.N. headquarters in April 2016.

Image: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Musk's participation is notable not only because he's a billionaire tech executive but also because he sits on Trump's business advisory council, a role that's brought him a lot of flak in recent months.

Two other signatories on Wednesday's letter also sit on the advisory council: Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of Walt Disney.

Tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft also joined the conversation this week.

In a similar but separate letter, 24 companies told Trump that the Paris accord would benefit American companies and the economy in multiple ways, including by creating jobs and growing markets for clean energy technologies, and by reducing business risks related to declining agricultural productivity and water supplies  two effects of climate change.

The letter ran as a full-page ad in the D.C. editions of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post this week, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, which organized the campaign.

"Climate change presents both business risks and business opportunities," the companies told Trump. "Continued U.S. participation in the agreement benefits U.S. businesses and the U.S. economy in many ways."

Opponents of the Paris agreement chimed in with their own letter to Trump.

More than 40 "free market" groups expressed their "enthusiastic support" for fully withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris treaty and stopping all U.S. taxpayer funding of United Nations-related global warming programs. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank with ties to the Koch Brothers, organized the effort.

Companies ran Paris-focused ads this week because Trump advisers originally planned to meet on Tuesday to reach a final decision on the agreement. However, Trump is now planning to announce his intentions for U.S. involvement after the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Sicily at the end of this month.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, told reporters that Trump will continue to hear from advisers on the pros and cons of the U.S. remaining in the global accord  including former Vice President Al Gore.

Looks like we're gonna need more ads this month.
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. 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]

Story continues

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. 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.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
By Robert-Jan Bartunek and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union must not accept African migrants who pay people smugglers to cross the Mediterranean, but turn them back, Belgium's migration minister Theo Francken told Reuters on Thursday. Only then could the bloc open up legal pathways for refugees and migrants into Europe and fly them in under an annual cap, he said, rather than get more of the uncontrolled influx that saw 1.6 million people reach its shores in 2014-2016. "This system is totally crazy and is not working. We have to fix this by being very clear: taking a ticket on a smuggler boat does not give you free entrance into the European continent," said Francken, who is with the Flemish nationalist N-VA party. "The current system is totally inhumane," he said, adding it enriched international criminal networks dealing with people smuggling at the expense of thousands dying on the sea crossing. Francken made clear his comments referred to all Africans - north and sub-Saharan - and to those coming in smugglers' boats, who make up the great majority of those sailing to Europe. Some 50,000 have made it across the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, most of them African migrants unlikely to win asylum in Europe. As they flee acute poverty, they board flimsy smugglers' boats in lawless Libya that are unfit for the voyage, are saved at sea by European rescue vessels, and get taken to Italy. EU laws now forbid sending them back to Libya, and repatriating those whose asylum cases fail is complicated. Francken said Europe applies humanitarian laws too broadly and people intercepted in the Mediterranean should be turned back, or disembarked in other African states like Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria. "More legal routes, more resettlement, no problem. But it means we bring back the boats that leave illegally. It is one or the other," he said. "It's not about flying in real refugees and then accepting people from Nigeria and countries that have a low (asylum) recognition rate." "Do it for two weeks and it stops immediately. Nobody will pay thousands of euros to end up in Tunisia, Egypt or Morocco... The rumor with spread quickly that it has finished." Such push-backs are currently very controversial, with aid groups sounding alarm that they violate human rights by returning people who are already distressed and in dire circumstances to miserable prospects. The outspoken Francken has often stirred controversy in Belgium, clashing repeatedly with rights groups and leftist politicians, forcing his prime minister to call him back into line. After closing a previous route for refugees by sealing a 2016 deal with Turkey, the EU is now working with Libya to curb arrivals of African migrants. Despite growing tensions between the EU and Turkey, Francken said he hoped the deal would hold, noting Ankara was a crucial geo-political partner for the European bloc for everything from managing migration to tackling terrorism to dealing with Syria. KEEPING YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER In 2016, Belgium registered 18,710 asylum applications, compared to 44,760 in 2015, data from the country's refugee agency shows. Francken attributed the drop to the Turkey deal. But the Tripoli government is weak and arrivals to Italy are already higher this year than at the end of May in 2016. Francken said there was no alternative to working with Libya but recognized there was no quick fix. "The numbers will only increase this year," he said at the outset of the new migratory season. "We will have more deaths and people drowning and many more people coming to Italy." Another heated discussion in the EU as it grapples with high immigration is distributing the people who are already in, with ex-communist eastern members refusing to take in asylum-seekers to ease the burden on wealthier states that mostly host them. Germany took in most of the refugees and migrants so far, and Belgium is also among the peoples' preferred destinations. The migration issue has deepened divisions in the EU at a time when its unity is already damaged by Brexit and socio-economic woes. While Francken said he was ready to give the reluctant easterners more time, he said they must show solidarity once arrivals are under control, just as the wealthier EU states provide generous development funds for the newer ones. "Europe is a house and we are discussing to which room people entering the house have to move to. But first of all we have to talk about the front door, which is totally open now." "Once we have fixed it and they still do not want to do anything, then we have a huge problem. Then, for me, there have to be consequences on agriculture budgets and other things," Francken said, stressing that was his own opinion rather than a fixed position of the Belgian government. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, which came as shocking news, even in the times of President Trump.

While countless people of all kinds called out Trump for suddenly firing Comey, so did one of Comey's most notorious rivals, Edward Snowden.

SEE ALSO: Obama's White House photographer trolls Trump after FBI director gets fired

Set aside politics: every American should condemn such political interference in the Bureau's work. https://t.co/hROwSMg1vd  Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 9, 2017

"Every American should condemn such political interference in the Bureau's work," Snowden tweeted with a link to the news of Comey's firing, urging Americans to "set aside politics."

Snowden later followed up the tweet with more insight into his relationship with the former FBI director.

This FBI Director has sought for years to jail me on account of my political activities. If I can oppose his firing, so can you. https://t.co/zUp5kquy8q  Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 9, 2017

Snowden, a former contractor for the U.S. government, currently has temporary asylum in Moscow, Russia, after leaking classified documents from the National Security Agency that revealed the agency was spying on U.S. citizens.

Trump, who had previously commended Comey on his investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, fired the FBI director for *exactly* the reason you think. That's right, the White House said it fired Comey for the way he handled the Clinton investigation, despite evidence that investigation helped get Trump elected. Not because Comey was investigating the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia or anything.

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While that's enough to scratch your head over, Comey's firing was recommended by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had already recused himself from the Russia investigation due to his own misleading statements about Russian contacts during his confirmation hearing.

You know, normal, everyday democracy type stuff.
By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Manhattan restaurant owner, charged in a case that emerged from a federal corruption investigation of the New York Police Department, has pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme after reaching a deal with federal prosecutors.

Hamlet Peralta, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan. He had been due to go to trial on Monday.

Peralta admitted in court to telling investors in 2013 and 2014 that he would use their money to start a liquor business, when he actually used it to repay earlier investors and fund renovation work on his restaurant, the now-shuttered Hudson River Cafe in Harlem.

"I knew what I was doing was wrong and that it was a crime," he said. "I'm very sorry to everybody that I hurt and for my actions."

The wire fraud charge against Peralta carries a maximum penalty of 20 years, but prosecutors have agreed to recommend 51 to 63 months.

The case against Peralta, brought in April 2018, emerged from a broader anticorruption probe targeting New York's police department.

Had the case gone to trial, court filing showed that one of the government's key witnesses would likely have been Jona Rechnitz, a businessman who has pleaded guilty in connection with the police probe and is now cooperating with the government.

Rechnitz was identified on the government's witness list as one of Peralta's investors. He and another businessman, Jeremy Reichberg, helped raise money for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2013 and 2014, and were linked to an investigation by federal prosecutors of the mayor's fundraising practices.

That investigation, as well as a parallel investigation by state prosecutors, did not result in any charges against de Blasio, but Reichberg and several police officials were charged last June with a bribery scheme involving prostitutes and luxury trips.

Also caught up in the probe are the once-powerful head of the city's correction officers union, Norman Seabrook, charged with secretly investing union pension funds in exchange for kickbacks, and three former police officers charged with scheming to give out gun licenses in exchange for bribes.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)
David Thewlis as V.M. Varga and Ewan McGregor as Emmit Stussy in FXs Fargo. (Photo: Chris Large/FX)

Warning: This recap for the The Narrow Escape Problem episode of Fargo contains storyline and character spoilers.

In which we learn a bit more about what makes V.M. Varga tick, Emmit and Sy just hope hell let them keep on ticking, and Gloria makes a new friend with the same spirit of rebellion.

21 things we learn in Narrow Escape Problem:

1. As episode narrator Billy Bob Thornton relays, the theme of the episode is Peter and the Wolf, and our Fargo pals correlate to the following Peter instruments and characters: Emmit/bird/flute; Ray/duck/oboe; Nikki/cat/clarinet; Sy/grandfather/bassoon; Vargas henchmen Yuri and Meemo/blast of hunters shotguns/kettle drums; V.M. Varga/wolf/French horns; and Gloria/Peter/strings.

2. V.M. Varga has an eating issue. A disorder, actually. He eats, quickly, six full plates of breakfast  pancakes, bacon, many slices of toast, fried eggs he picks up with his fingers to shove into his mouth faster  then immediately goes to the bathroom, and with a ritual that includes putting a cloth down on the floor in front of the toilet, regurgitates all he has consumed.

David Thewlis as V.M. Varga in FXs Fargo. (Photo: Chris Large/FX)

3. Ray shaves his mustache, covers his head with a (bad) curly wig, and dons a cheap suit because he and Nikki are doin a little thieving. She drops him off in front of Emmits bank, where, she assumes, Emmit has hidden the postage stamp. Ray, doing a good enough impression of his brother to fool butt-smooching bank manager Buck Olander, is at first denied access to Emmits bank deposit box, because he doesnt have the key. But Nikki advises Ray to remember, the richest guy in the room is always the boss, so he threatens to move his (Emmits) cash to another bank unless Buck gives him (Ray) access to the box, plus $10,000 in $100 bills, and $1 of quarters for the meter. Buck gets him all of that.

4. What was inside Emmits bank deposit box: a velvet bag with the word Luverne embroidered on it. Inside the bag: not the stamp, but some ashes, which Ray tastes. When Emmit and Sy find out what Ray has done, they reveal the source of the ashes: Emmits dead dog, which both he and Sy loved.

Story continues

5. Ray and Nikki make off with $10K (plus the quarters), but she questions why Ray didnt take more. See, thats the criminal mentality, your old life  this is fair market value, he says. Theyre not crooks, he says, as they plan for their upcoming business dinner with Burt Lurdsman, plumbing supplies salesman and professional bridge player sponsor.

6. Authorities ruled Irv Blumkins death a suicide, Sy tells Emmit, but he thinks Varga is up to something, and it may be related to Irvs death. Sy tells Emmit they should meet with the widow Goldfarb, not to sell to her, but because shes got a lot of cash, and he thinks theyre being pulled into something sticky.

7. Another Varga surprise: He, and perhaps Meemo and Yuri, lives inside the semi-truck they drove into a Stussy parking lot in The Principle of Restricted Choice.

8. Yuri tells Meemo there are two words for truth in Russian and one for untruth: nepravda. Yuri continues, This is the weapon the leader uses because he knows, but they dont: the truth is whatever he says it is.

9. Gloria investigates Maurices remains at the morgue, and finds (in addition to his scooped-out noggin) the ripped-out phone book page with Enniss address, and a St. Cloud parole board business card. Her new boss, probably, Sheriff Dammik, tells her to let go of the Maurice case. Were talking simple wrong place, wrong time, Dammik says. Simple hopper with an itch on a spree, who met the business end of a Maytag. Cosmic justice, good riddance. She, of course, heads out to investigate Maurice further at the St. Cloud parole board instead. He says shes trying to stir up trouble, she denies it. Going into the parole building, Gloria passes Nikki as shes leaving. Gloria turns around to look at her, Nikki looks right into the camera.

Carrie Coon as Gloria Burgle in FXs Fargo. (Photo: Chris Large/FX)

10. The parole board building motion detection door wont open for Gloria. The motion detection sink wont work for her in the bathroom, nor will the motion detection soap dispenser nor the motion detection hand dryer.

11. Gloria does make a friend in the parole board bathroom: superfriendly St. Cloud metro cop Winnie Lopez. They bond  or rather, Winnie bonds with Gloria  when the St. Cloud cop, who thinks shes pregnant, is in the stall and finds out she needs a putter-inner, or pad. Gloria doesnt have one, but does find out the particulars of Winnie and Mrs. Winnies (Jerry) love life, including how theyre stuck on the missionary position since trying to get pregnant. Winnie notes Glorias at the parole office looking for a killer, while Winnie is there to talk to a parole officer whos the victim of a hit-and-run.

12. Gloria interviews Maurices parole officer and is surprised to find out his last name is Stussy. Ray says its a coincidence, that its a common name, that he has lots of cousins. He, nervously, claims to know nothing about Maurice, but she leaves her business card with him. Ray notes shes the police chief. She tells him to ignore that, theyre restructuring. They always find a way to screw ya, dont they? he asks. Gloria: They try.

Ewan McGregor as Ray Stussy and Carrie Coon as Gloria Burgle in FXs Fargo. (Photo: Chris Large/FX)

13. Ray is called into a meeting with his boss, Scotty Pullover, and the deputy director. Scotty says Rays in trouble as he hands him a packet of photos. Theyre of Ray and Nikki at Emmits anniversary party, and Ray cant deny it: Hes in love with Nikki and shes in love with him. Before his confession, Scotty and his boss offer suspension  afterward, Scotty tells him hes got 10 minutes to clean out his desk.

14. When Ray walks outside, office possessions in hand, ready to go to the big meeting with Burt Lurdsman that evening, he sees Sy and Sys Humvee parked in front. Sy just points at him as Ray realizes who gave those photos to his boss. And theres an insult/injury situation: When Sy drives away, Ray sees his Corvette  with both passenger-side tires booted. Later, Ray sits, dejected, at a bar, drinking, his box of office belongings still at his side. Meanwhile, Nikki is at dinner with Burt Lurdsman, trying to explain why Ray hasnt shown up yet.

Ewan McGregor as Ray Stussy in FXs Fargo. (Photo: Chris Large/FX)

15. Winnie goes to Stussy HQ to talk to Sy, whos nervous to see her, especially when Yuri and Meemo sit right outside his office, watching Sy and Winnie chat. She tells him shes there to investigate an automotive flapper, involving an auto registered to the Stussy company. She tells him one complainant, Ray Stussy, doesnt want to press charges, and asks if hes related to the Stussy who owns the company. Sy doesnt answer. Then she asks who specifically drives the auto; Sy lies, and says hell have to have someone look it up. Winnie remains one cool customer whiles shes trying to get info from Sy, who grows increasingly paranoid as Yuri and Meemo continue to stare him down until Winnie leaves.

Olivia Sandoval as Winnie Lopez in FXs Fargo. (Photo: Chris Large/FX)

16. Cue the French horns: The big bad wolf is walking through Emmits snowy front yard and right up to his door. Emmit is furious  or at least, sure as shootin annoyed  to find Varga at his castle. A step too far is what this is, coming to my home, Emmit tells Varga, who invites himself to join the Stussy household for a pork chop and applesauce dinner. The group eats in the kitchen, where V.M. reveals he grew up the son of a housemaid, and Stella, Emmits wife, asks him if hes British. What gave it away? he gently teases, then tells her he actually considers himself a citizen of the world. He scarfs down his food, then hands Emmit a packet of contracts before excusing himself to go to the bathroom. Cue the hurling sounds.

17. In Emmits study, he tells Varga hes not signing the documents Varga brought, which would make Emmit his partner, and threatens to call Sy. Varga says he thought Emmit was the boss, not Sy. Emmit hangs up, and Varga makes another big revelation: his guiding philosophy. Were literally in the age of refugees, my friend, he tells Emmit, describing how 1 percent of the population owns 85 percent of the worlds wealth, which means a whole lot of something are coming for a reckoning, pitchforks pointed right at the Emmits of the world.

Theres an accounting coming, Mr. Stussy, and you know Im right, Varga says. Mondo hordes descending, and what are you doing to insulate yourself, your family? You think youre rich? You have no idea what rich means. Rich is a fleet of private planes filled with decoys to mask your scent. Its a banker in Wyoming, and another in Gstaad. So thats action item No. 1, the accumulation of wealth, and I mean wealth, not money.

Emmit asks what action item No. 2 is. To use the wealth to become invisible, Varga says.

18. Varga tells Emmit he knows about the stamp, the Swango putter-inner in his desk, the Stussy brothers feud. I hear things. I hear them because I listen, he tells Emmit. I see them because I hear. Surveillance, indeed. Emmit begs one more time for Varga to just take his loan back, but V.M. tells E.S. hes in the pan. Youre in the pan, and you know where you go when you leave the pan, says Varga. Theyre coming, pitchfork peasants with murder in their eyes, and me your guardian angel.

The wolf, er angel, has secured for Emmit, for himself, an additional line of credit for Stussy Co., in the sum of $25 million. He tells Emmit hes not in just the parking lot business anymore  now hes in the billionaire business, which makes Emmit smile.

19. Varga wants to know if Ray and the girl are going to be a problem. Emmit says no; its a dumb rivalry, plus, honestly, hes a loser  so what else could she be?

20. The narrator: Just then, Grandfather came out. He was angry because Peter had gone into the meadow. Its a dangerous place. If a wolf should come out of the forest, then what would you do? But Peter paid no attention to his grandfathers words. Boys like Peter arent afraid of wolves.

Carrie Coon as Gloria Burgle and Olivia Sandoval as Winnie Lopez in FXs Fargo. (Photo: Chris Large/FX)

21. Nor are women like Gloria. While tucking Nathan into bed, a car pulls up at her house. Its Officer Winnie, who takes Gloria up on her offer of a cup of tea while she shares her days work. Winnie ran the plates on her hit-and-run case and went to see a fella (Sy) after she ran into Gloria at the parole board office. Something about the fella struck her as odd: One of the hit-and-run victims had the same last name as the guy who owns the company that leases the car  theyre brothers. Then Winnie looked up Glorias murder case and found out that the victim had the same name as the parole officer/hit-and-run victim, and his brother, who owns the company and leased the offending hit-and-run car, and who lives in  Eden Prairie, the town close to Eden Valley, where Ennis Stussy lived. Dots connecting, worlds colliding, crimes overlapping.

Dontcha Know:

* The very special kind of poetry that is the phrasing of Fargo dialogue: When Buck Olander asks Emmit/Ray if hes been hitting the weights, Ray replies, Hitting the buffet, more like.

* Ray to Buck, when Buck tries to advise him about withdrawing more than $10K (advice, just guessing, someone is going to be sorry Ray ignored): Buck, if I wanted an opinion from an a**hole, Id ask my own, got it?

* Emmit to Sy, about Ray swiping Luvernes ashes: Used feminine hygiene in a mans desk drawer is one thing, but now  the ridicule of beloved remains.

Sy to Emmit: Cremains, I think, is the preferred nomenclature.

* Winnie on how she and her husband are treating making a baby like a job, like those old Road Runner cartoons, with the wolf and the sheep dog, how you punch a clock to go to work.

* A 2016 New York Times article titled To Understand Trump, Learn Russian goes into more depth on Yuris explanation of the two Russian words for truth.

* Arent you really craving a pork chop and applesauce dinner right about now?

Fargo airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.

Read More From Yahoo TV:
After FBI Director James Comey, who provided inaccurate information last week about Hillary Clinton's emails to Congress was fired, Andrew McCabe has been appointed as the acting director, while a permanent replacement is yet to come in.

By operation of law and effective immediately, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe assumed the position of Acting Director of the FBI, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a memo to FBI employees obtained by CNN. McCabe was appointed to the deputy director position in January 2016 by Comey, according to a FBI press release. "As deputy director, Mr. McCabe will oversee all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities and will serve as acting director in the directors absence."

Read: James Comey Called His Termination 'Fairly Funny Prank' Before Receiving Letter

Among McCabe's investigative projects, one was probing the sensitive inquiry into Clinton's use of a private email server. My focus is on the inside [of the FBI] and all the work we do that is not talked about in the newspaper, on CNN, on the Hill, he had told the Los Angeles Times in May 2016.

McCabe has reportedly been under scrutiny from Republicans for his role in the investigations into the Clinton email server and Russian meddling in 2016 election. Questions around him were raised after it was revealed Clinton ally and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe made a donation to his wife, Jill MacCabe's 2015 Senate campaign.

In October 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported a story about McAuliffe, who has longstanding ties with the Clintons, giving nearly $500,000 to the election campaign of Jill McCabe when she was running for the post of Senator.

The House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, sent a letter to Andrew McCabe questioning him about his wife's links with Clinton allies, including McAuliffe.

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In the letter, he wrote: "News accounts have raised questions about a potential conflict of interest related to donations from the political action committee of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a longtime fundraiser for the Clintons, to the state Senate campaign of your wife, Dr. Jill McCabe.

"According to reports Governor McAuliffe and others met with you and your wife on March 7, 2015, five days after it was publicly revealed that Secretary Clinton used a personal email account to conduct government business as secretary of state."

Currently, McCabe is under investigation by the FBIs inspector general for his involvement in the Clinton email investigation, according to Fox News.

McCabe has often faced scrutiny for his family ties with the Clintons. He did not list his wife's 2015 donations or his wife's salary in financial disclosures  although, such disclosure was not required, Fox News reported.

In a letter, in March, Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa asked Comey for a detailed description on the involvement of McCabe in the investigation of Russian ties to Trump associates.

Grassley sent a letter again dated May 2 to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, asking for a rigorous investigation on McCabe.

Related Articles
EDITORS NOTE: Information masked by blur for privacy. President Trump walks with aide Keith Schiller to the Oval Office, May 2, 2017. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

It is part of Keith Schillers job to stay out of the picture. As Donald Trumps longtime personal bodyguard, the current director of Oval Office operations can be seen in any number of photos of his boss  hes the 64, 210-pound man with a buzzcut who looks like the former NYPD narcotics cop that he is. But hes always in the periphery of the shot.

Yesterday, though, he was caught in the metaphorical spotlight, when he hand-delivered a letter from Trump to FBI headquarters for Director James Comey, informing him that his job was terminated. (Comey, who was in California, actually got the news from a TV report.) It was Schiller who was seen entering FBI headquarters carrying a manila envelope, then departing empty-handed.

Which leads to the question: Who is this man who was chosen to inform the director of the FBI that he was fired? And how did that become part of a bodyguards job description?

First, he is not just any bodyguard. During the campaign he was described as the most underestimated person on Trumps team and arguably the person Trump trusts most outside his own family. He has in fact been with the president longer than almost anyone in his current circle  joining the Trump security team in 1999 when he began moonlighting for extra income.

Donald Trumps bodyguard Keith Schiller, left, grabs hold of Vince McMahon, center, as the World Wrestling Entertainment president tries to attack Trump for slapping his face during a press conference in New York, March 2007. (Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP)

Schiller almost never gives interviews (he did not respond to a request for this article), but he did sit down in front of a camera on New Years Eve 2015 with author Rich Siegel, who was his high school classmate in New Paltz, N.Y. Siegel posted the resulting hour-long video on Facebook.

In it, Schiller describes losing his mother at age 16, entering the Navy after graduation from high school, working odd jobs for several years until, in need of health insurance when his wife became pregnant, he took a job counseling youth in the local prison system. Eight years later he joined the NYPD, where he started as a transit officer, became the guy who carries the battering ram to bust down doors in drug raids, then earned his detectives shield.

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He happened to be at police headquarters one day during the 1990s when he crossed paths with Trumps then wife Marla Maples, who was there to file a complaint about an employee, he says in the video. At one point Schiller found himself in the waiting room, seated next to Maples bodyguard, and he was unimpressed. At the time I could press 315, and you wouldnt want to meet [me] in a dark alley he says. The bodyguard, by his description, not so much. If hes a bodyguard, I sure as f*** am a bodyguard, right? he recalls thinking. He asked the assistant district attorney on Maples case to introduce him to the Trump organization and he began accompanying the businessman part-time.

In 2004, he left the force with his 20-year pension and has been with Trump full-time ever since. At the time Trump launched his presidential campaign, Schiller had been head of security for the entire Trump organization for nearly a decade and had known the boss for nearly two.

Univision reporter Jorge Ramos, left, is escorted from then candidate Donald Trumps news conference by Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller, Aug. 25, 2015. (Photo: Ben Brewer/Reuters)

He generated more than a little controversy during the campaign. It was Schiller who escorted Univision reporter Jorge Ramos out of the room during a press conference in August 2015, holding him firmly by the elbow as he tried to ask a question about immigration. And a month later he ripped a sign from a protester who was marching in front of Trump Tower. When the man tried to grab back the handmade poster  which said Trump: Make America Racist Again, Schiller punched him in the face.

His hands-on involvement, literal and metaphorical, declined when the Secret Service began to protect Trump in November 2015. Schiller officially became a liaison between the Trump organization and the federal agents  an unusual arrangement, since it is almost unheard of for a presidential candidate to retain any personal security staff once the Secret Service comes aboard. And the fact that Trumps personal team has also come with him to the White House  where Schiller is now deputy assistant to the president and director of Oval Office operations  is unprecedented.

How did Oval Office operations come to include delivering the mail?

The only official statement from the White House was one by Sarah Huckabee Sanders at todays press briefing. She said Trump followed the proper protocol in that process, which is handwritten notification. At the same time, no matter how you fire someone, its never an easy process. So he felt like following protocol was the best thing to do.

Keith Schiller, deputy assistant to the president and director of Oval Office operations. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Observers of this president have long noted that Trump tends to poll the room when making decisions, asking opinions from anyone nearby, and since Schiller is rarely more than a few yards away he is likely a frequent source of advice. And they also note that despite sealing his national image with the TV tagline Youre fired!, in real life Trump rarely actually fires anyone. He hated it, remembered Barbara Res, who was in charge of construction on Trump Tower. He would do anything not to actually fire someone.

Instead, she said, he would create a situation in which an employee felt compelled to resign  for instance, by appointing Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon to run the campaign, leading Paul Manafort to leave. And if that failed, he would order someone else to let them go, which is why his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, reportedly told Corey Lewandowski that he had been replaced. And so it was left to Schiller to get word to Comey.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Joel Schectman WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The newly appointed second-in-command at the U.S. Justice Department faced a weighty task just two weeks after taking office - writing the rationale for firing FBI Director James Comey. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein argued the case for Comey's sacking in a three-page memo to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday. President Donald Trump acted swiftly to dismiss the director later that day. Rosenstein cited Comey's controversial public statements about the bureau's investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. "It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do," Rosenstein wrote of Comey's public comments. Spokespeople for the Department of Justice and the FBI did not return calls seeking comment late Tuesday. Comey's firing will likely be seen as further evidence of Washington's hyper-partisan upheaval. Rosenstein has drawn fire from Democrats who allege political motives in the White House decision to dismiss Comey - and particularly, its timing. "Why did it happen today?" asked Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York. "We know the FBI has been looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians ... Were those investigations getting too close to home for the President?" The rationale for canning Comey, however, came from a 26-year Justice Department veteran who is widely viewed by his peers and many lawmakers as uncommonly nonpartisan. Named as Marylands top prosecutor by President George W. Bush, Rosenstein stayed in office through the Obama administration. Rosenstein was the longest-serving U.S. attorney when he was nominated by Trump last January. When he was confirmed by the Senate, he enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support - a 94-to-6 vote - despite the deeply divided culture of today's Washington. Bonnie Greenberg, a federal prosecutor in Maryland told Reuters in March that Rosenstein was admired as a rare career prosecutor who could insulate himself from political pressure. "He only does something if he thinks it's right," said Greenberg, who worked with Rosenstein for 11 years. Many in the Justice Department saw Rosenstein's appointment as a counter-balance to the extreme partisanship surrounding accusations of Russian interference in last year's election. And he was immediately swept into that fray. Before Rosenstein was confirmed for the position by the U.S. Senate, some Democratic lawmakers asked him to pledge he would appoint a special independent prosecutor to investigate allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. He was easily confirmed despite rebuffing those demands. 'TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE' Some Republicans have been angered by Comey's public statements about the FBI investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. But Rosenstein's criticism of Comey focused on actions seen to have damaged Democratic candidate Clinton. Rosenstein focused in particular on Comey's news conference last July, when the director announced his conclusion that Clinton should not be prosecuted - while at the same time publicly bashing her use of a private email server for sensitive U.S. government business. That day, Rosenstein wrote, Comey usurped the authority of the U.S. Attorney General - who has authority over whether prosecutions should proceed, based on the quality of FBI investigations. Comey also violated longstanding practice by "gratuitously" releasing damaging information about Clinton - even as he acknowledged the evidence against her was insufficient to warrant continued investigation, Rosenstein wrote. "We do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation," Rosenstein wrote, adding that Comey "laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial." A UNIFYING ISSUE U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the timing of Comey's firing was suspect - coming so long after the election of Trump and Comey's alleged mishandling of the case. He directly criticized Rosenstein. I am very disappointed with this deputy attorney general, who I was told had a good reputation," he said. "But signing this letter saying that he recommends firing Comey because of Comey's actions with Hillary Clinton nine months ago, or 10 months ago? That doesn't pass any smell test. Rosenstein, in his letter, cited broad, bipartisan agreement on Comey's errors in judgment. Last summer, Comey defended his decision to speak publicly about the Clinton investigation, saying the American people deserve those details in a case of intense public interest. Last week, before a Senate committee, Comey defended his decision in October - two weeks before the presidential election - to publicly announce the bureau had discovered new emails that might be related to the closed investigation into Clinton. "To not speak about it would require an act of concealment in my view," Comey said. Rosenstein wrote that he was perplexed at Comey's continued defenses of his handling of the probe. "I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken," Rosenstein wrote. "It is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives." (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Brian Thevenot)
Ex-agent calls move a punch in the stomach as some former employees fear a chilling effect on bureaus investigation of Trumps ties to Russia

The rule of law has to prevail, not the rule of whim, said one former FBI agent. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Donald Trumps firing of the FBI director, James Comey, has left FBI agents shocked, angry and humiliated, with some former agents worried that the president has fundamentally compromised the bureaus prized political neutrality.

Bobby Chacon, a former FBI agent who served in Los Angeles and New York and retired in 2014, compared the abrupt firing to a punch in the stomach to agents.

I myself, and I would speak for a lot of agents, feel very disrespected by the administration and how this was handled, he told the Guardian. Other former agents said the way Comey was fired was an outrage and said that the Trump administrations approach besmirches the reputation of the FBI.

In defending the FBI directors firing, the Trump administration has argued that agents on the street were ready to see Comey go.

The rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a White House press briefing Wednesday.

But former agents said the abrupt firing was shocking and disturbing.

Chacon said he had spoken to several agents who were with Comey on Tuesday in Los Angeles when he found out he had been fired from news reports blasting across the television monitors in the room where he was giving a speech.

All the agents felt like the director should at least be called to be informed of his firing, Chacon said. The way the news was delivered seemed almost like a public embarrassment and humiliation, Chacon said. If its done to the director, by association, its done to the agents themselves.

Whether or not agents liked Comey himself, nobody deserves to be treated like that, he said. Agents will always do their investigations and conduct themselves professionally, [but] it may tend to make some agents less supportive of the administration.

Story continues

Several former FBI agents were more divided on the ultimate impact of Comeys firing, with some confident that agents would keep doing their jobs, and others worried that the apparent political motivation of Trumps choice would have a chilling effect on the bureaus investigation of Russias involvement in the 2016 election.

I think its going to have a significant chilling effect, said Michael Tabman, a former FBI agent who retired in 2007 and frequently comments in the media. I believe this was a warning shot by the president to anybody who gets too close to the investigation.

Another recently retired FBI agent, who served for 26 years, most recently in Philadelphia, said Comeys firing was unprecedented and very, very suspicious.

Although theyve said publicly that theyre trying to restore faith in the FBI and the integrity of its leadership, it is, by all appearances, just the opposite, he said.

I dont think theres any way not to think thats going to have a chilling effect on how that investigation is conducted.



Other former agents said that the Russia investigation was too politically visible to kill, no matter who Trump appointed as the next FBI director.

One thing that could happen is that the team doesnt get all the support they need, said Jeffrey Ringel, the director at the Soufan Group, a security consultancy, who spent 21 years in the FBI, mostly in the New York field office. I think Director Comey was very supportive of the investigation ... If the new director wanted to crush the investigation, he might not give that same level of support.

Chacon, the former Los Angeles and New York agent, said that Comeys ouster would not deter FBI agents from pushing ahead with the Russia inquiry.

Whether or not its an attempt to influence the investigation, I can tell you almost categorically that it will not influence the investigation, Chacon said. If this was done for that reason, if people in the White House think that, theyre mistaken.

This is a complex investigation. On this investigative team there are senior members of the FBI and experienced people from the Department of Justice. Its not like you can walk into one agents office and say, Bury this thing. Theres too many people involved.

The FBI Agents Association, an organization that represents about 13,000 active and former FBI agents, did not publicly condemn Comeys firing, but praised his record of service and said in a statement that a change in FBI leadership of this magnitude must be handled carefully.

In an Tuesday night interview with National Public Radio, Thomas OConnor, the associations president, said he wanted to stay apolitical but that we believed in Director Comeys leadership.

I think everyone is pretty appalled at how this was handled, said Nancy Savage, the executive director of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, an organization that represents about 7,500 former and 1,000 active-duty agents.

Savage noted that the justice departments office of the inspector general was still conducting an active investigation into Comeys handling of the Clinton email investigation.

We have no IG report, and hes being summarily dismissed, she said.

That Comey learned of his firing from media reports was beyond the pale, she said.

Several former agents said that they had personally disapproved of how Comey had handled the investigation of Hillary Clintons private email server, but that his bad choices regarding the investigation did not make his firing any less shocking.



The former Philadelphia agent said he had spoken to about a dozen current and former agents since last night, and that he had had not spoken to anyone who thinks firing Jim Comey is a good idea.

Youre firing the guy literally at a moments notice with no replacement to name. What was the big emergency? Why did it have to be now? Why couldnt it wait until they had someone picked and they had an orderly transition of leadership?

The president has a real, longstanding reputation for only appointing people who are loyal to him and do what he wants. Thats not the role of the FBI or the FBI director.

The rule of law has to prevail, not the rule of whim.

Ringel, of the Soufan Group, said that the current agents he had talked to are surprisingly not super-upset. They just said it was business as usual and they are continuing to move on.

But the criticism of Comey from the Trump administration continued to rankle some, he said.

I think they are also upset with the comments made by both the attorney general and the president who are attacking the integrity of Comey which is retrospect attacks the integrity of the FBI.

A Justice official confirmed that Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had interviewed four candidates to serve as Comeys interim replacement on Wednesday.

Three were current FBI insiders: Adam Lee, the special agent in charge of the FBIs Richmond, Virginia division; Michael Anderson, the special agent in charge of the Chicago division, and Paul Abbate, the executive assistant director of the FBIs Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.

One, William Evanina, is currently the directorof the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Evanina previously served for more than twenty years in the FBI.

The attorney general and deputy attorney general also met Tuesday with acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, who is also being considered for the job, the official said.

Julian Borger contributed reporting
How did life on Earth come to be? Did it begin, as Charles Darwin once remarked, in a warm little pond where molecules first learnt to replicate, or did it begin in the depths of oceans, where hydrothermal vents provided the energy for early life to appear?

These are the questions that keep evolutionary biologists awake at night.

Read: What Delayed The Origin Of Complex Life On Earth?

In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, a team of researchers has now described what is potentially the oldest evidence of life on land  fossils of microorganisms in 3.48 billion-year-old hot spring deposits in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

The discovery pushes back the earliest known existence of microbial life on land by at least 580 million years, and raises an intriguing question  where did life first emerge, on land or in the oceans?

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, the studys first author Tara Djokic, a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales in Australia, said in a statement.

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.

Djokic and her colleagues made the surprising discovery while analyzing exceptionally well-preserved deposits in the ancient Dresser Formation in the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia that are approximately 3.5 billion years old. The fossils discovered in these formations include stromatolites  layered rock structures created by communities of ancient microbes  and several other signatures of microbial life, such as a microbial palisade texture preserved in stone, and bubbles that were most likely trapped in a sticky substance produced by ancient bacteria.

Story continues

bubbles_3

Photo: UNSW

The researchers inferred the land-based origin of these fossils due to the presence of geyserites, which are mineral deposits found only near terrestrial hot springs.

This shows a diverse variety of life existed in fresh water, on land, very early in Earths history, study co-author Martin Van Kranendonk, director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology and head of the UNSW school of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, said in the statement.

geyserite_2

Photo: UNSW

In addition to answering the longstanding question of where on life originated on this planet, the discovery also has implications for the search for ancient fossils on Mars, which may have had hot springs on its surface about three billion years ago.

Of the top three potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover, Columbia Hills is indicated as a hot spring environment, Djokic said in the statement, referring to one of the landing site candidates for NASAs upcoming mission to the red planet.

If life can be preserved in hot springs so far back in Earths history, then there is a good chance it could be preserved in Martian hot springs too.

Related Articles
Paris (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande chaired his final cabinet meeting Wednesday before handing over the reins to Emmanuel Macron, while the governing Socialist Party began to splinter.

Macron will be inaugurated on Sunday and the centrist's victory over far-right leader Marine Le Pen is threatening to rapidly re-draw the French political map.

The bruising contest left the traditional parties on the sidelines, and Hollande's ruling Socialist Party is in disarray after the two-round election.

After former prime minister Manuel Valls shocked the party by saying it was "dead" and he wanted to be a parliamentary candidate for Macron's year-old "Republique en Marche" (Republic on the Move) movement, another leading Socialist struck out on Wednesday.

Benoit Hamon, who as the Socialist presidential candidate finished fifth in the first round of the election, said he planned to launch a new leftwing movement.

Hamon vowed to "rebuild the left" with a new "broad-based movement", while saying he intended to remain a member of the Socialist Party.

Leftwinger Hamon beat centrist Valls to secure the Socialist nomination for the election after an ideological battle within the party.

But he won just 6.4 percent of the first-round presidential vote on April 23 after being overshadowed by Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Hamon said his movement would be launched on July 1, after legislative elections in June that will be crucial to Macron's ability to pursue his agenda.

Macron, 39, has promised to rejuvenate France's jaded governing class by bringing more people into parliament who, like him, have never held elected office.

The incoming president has said half of Republique en Marche's candidates for the 577 seats up for grabs in the June 11-18 elections to the National Assembly will be new to politics.

The rest will be from the centrist Modem party or rebels from the Socialists and rightwing Republicans -- and he will likely need to form a coalition to govern.

Story continues

The candidates will be announced on Thursday but Macron's movement said Wednesday that Valls had "not yet" fulfilled the criteria.

The ramifications of Macron's victory are also being felt in Le Pen's National Front (FN), following the announcement that her influential niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen is quitting politics -- for now.

Marechal-Le Pen, 27, who has been tipped as a future leader of the party, told a regional newspaper in southern France she would resign her parliamentary seat because she wanted to work in the private sector and spend more time with her two-year-old daughter.

Behind her decision though is a battle for the far-right party's future between the more socially progressive wing led by her aunt and the more Catholic, conservative branch based in the south of France represented by Marechal-Le Pen.

She was openly critical of Marine Le Pen's score of 33.9 percent against Macron, reflecting the opinion of many critics of her aunt that any score below 40 percent was a failure.

Marine Le Pen, a mother of three, tweeted that "as a political leader I deeply regret Marion's decision but, alas, as a mum, I understand it".

- Right wants power share -

The conservative Republicans party, whose candidate Francois Fillon crashed out in the first round of the presidential election after being charged over giving his wife allegedly "fake" jobs on the public payroll, are aiming to become the majority party in parliament.

That would force Macron to share power with them in what is known as a "cohabitation" in France.

A poll showed that only 52 percent of voters want a pro-Macron government to emerge from the elections, while 42 percent favoured a legislature that would be a check on the new leader.

Optimism seemed muted too, with 55 percent of respondents to the Elabe survey saying they thought Macron would "not improve things for the French people".

Macron meanwhile was mobbed by wellwishers after he took part in a ceremony in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris with Hollande to commemorate the abolition of slavery.

After embracing each member of his government as they left the Elysee Palace for the final time, Hollande said he had not decided what to do after he leaves office.

"How can I be of use to my country? That is the question I am going to try to answer now by mulling over it," the 62-year-old said.
The German government said Wednesday it will shut down a Berlin hostel after it emerged that the site is North Korean embassy property and had been leased in violation of UN rules.

Located downtown next to the gated North Korean embassy, Cityhostel Berlin offers dorm beds for as little as 16 euros ($17) a night.

But it came under scrutiny after German media reported that the North Korean embassy was not just the hostel's neighbour but also owner of the prime real estate.

Rented out since 2004, the property fetches Pyongyang some 38,000 euros per month in rent, public broadcaster ARD said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer cited a UN Security Council resolution that requires member states to only allow "North Korean foreign representations to carry out diplomatic and consular activities".

"Any kind of commercial activity on the site of the embassy or in relation to the embassy is prohibited," he said.

"Cityhostel in Berlin constitutes neither a diplomatic nor consular activity of a North Korean foreign representation," said Schaefer, adding that the government will move to "shut down the financial source to the North Korean regime as quickly as possible".

Over the past 11 years, the Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions on Pyongyang -- two adopted last year -- to significantly ramp up pressure and deny the North Korean regime the hard currency revenue needed for its rocket and atomic programmes.

But UN sanctions experts have repeatedly told the council the measures have had little impact because they have been poorly implemented.

Pyongyang is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year.
Gogos new in-flight Wi-Fi will let you stream videos via Netflix.

Inflight Wi-Fi based on air-to-ground cellular connections has a terrible reputation for being too slow and expensive.

And thats only gotten worse as the leading purveyor of it, Gogo (GOGO), has tried to keep a minimum level of connectivity by jacking up prices on transcontinental flights to as much as $40. Thats made the Chicago-based company extraordinarily unpopular among many frequent travelers  and even some airline CEOs.

Its not good, Delta (DAL) CEO Ed Bastian told Cranky Flier blogger Brett Snyder in an interview. I told the Gogo guys that in my mind, theyre no go.

But now Gogo is trying to make in-flight Wi-Fi fast enough for you to stream movies while more than a mile in the air.

Test flight

Gogo has spent the last few years deploying faster, satellite-linked service. And Tuesday it invited a small group of journalists to Newark International Airport to try its latest setup on the 737 it employs as a flying lab.

That revised configuration improves on the 2KU system I tested on a flight out of Austin last March in two ways: an upgraded modem that can distribute 100 megabits of bandwidth to the cabin and a high-throughput Intelsat (I) satellite.

Everyday chores like checking social media, email and listening to streaming music on Spotify were no problem. Streaming an episode of Portlandia on Netflix, however, fell a little short of high definition even before I started downloading a 227MB copy of the free LibreOffice productivity suite.

Download speed tested via Netflixs (NFLX) fast.com site averaged 32.8 Mbps, with the worst performance a still-impressive 26 Mbps.

But upload speeds  which fast.com doesnt report but which I checked at speedsmart.net, a site suggested by Gogo chief technical officer Anand Chari  ran much slower. That site clocked my uploads at an average of 6.1 Mbps, with downloads averaging 34.1 Mbps.

Measuring Gogos Wi-Fi speeds. This is more than enough to stream video.

Satellite connections inevitably suffer almost a second of lag time, thanks to your data taking a 44,000 mile detour to geosynchronous orbit. I didnt notice that latency in practice, but it would be obvious in some online games.

Story continues

While I didnt encounter any apps blocked by Gogo, some test sites failed to load. Speedtest.net never managed to start, while Measurement Labs tests often failed halfway through. When it worked, it reported latency of as little as 2 milliseconds  an impossible figure, since data cant zip from the satellite to the plane faster than the speed of light.

All of these web sites suffer from some measurement error, observed Chari.

The airlines can still mess this up

Still, its going to be a while before anybody but Gogos invited guests can enjoy this experience. The company wont start installing this souped-up modem and upgrading the 170 existing 2KU planes until the second half of this year.

When that happens, Gogo marketing vice president Steven Nolan warned that airlines will throttle back uploads further.

The upload speeds will be even narrower than that, because airlines dont want a full plane of people doing FaceTime and Periscope, he said.

But the bigger problem is all the aircraft that still fly with Gogos older, air-to-ground system.

At American Airlines (AAL), satellite Wi-Fi is confined to some international aircraft and wont start making its way to its domestic fleet until the arrival of new Boeing 737 MAX planes later this year. Deltas Wi-Fi is also mostly air to ground, although it is the only U.S. airline to have Gogos 2KU in service.

United (UAL) uses mostly satellite Wi-Fi from LiveTV and Panasonic that Ive usually enjoyed, but Gogo air-to-ground remains on some of its premium flights between Newark and San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Southwest (LUV) and JetBlue (JBLU) offer all-satellite service, but Alaska Airlines (ALK) only has Gogo air-to-ground, as is the case with most of its Virgin America planes.

Pricing is, predictably, a mess that varies by equipment and route. I can only point to two blessed outbreaks of simplicity: Southwest charges a flat $8 a day, and JetBlue gives it away for free.

Id like to think that at a time when the airline industry has so much trouble getting people to recognize the legitimate progress its made in recent years, it would jump on this opportunity to bring a measure of simplicity. But maybe theyll decide theyd rather keep Wi-Fi pricing that makes their checked-bag fees look simple in comparison.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It was more of a leg buster, but scientists have named a spiky, tank-like dinosaur that wielded a sledge-hammer tail after the fanciful beast Zuul from the blockbuster film "Ghostbusters" that menaced Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and friends. The scientists on Tuesday described fossils unearthed in the northern Montana badlands of the four-legged, plant-eating dinosaur called Zuul crurivastator that was about 20 feet (6 meters) long, weighed 2-1/2 tons and lived 75 million years ago. Zuul belonged to a group of Cretaceous Period dinosaurs called ankylosaurs that were among the most heavily armored land animals ever. They were clad in bony armor from the snout to the end of the tail, often with spikes and a tail club that could be used to smash the legs of predators like the Tyrannosaurus rex cousin Gorgosaurus that lived alongside Zuul. Zuul is one of the most complete and best-preserved ankylosaur ever found, including rare soft tissue, paleontologist Victoria Arbour of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto said. Its fossils included skin impressions and keratinous sheaths on the tail spikes. In the 1984 movie, Zuul (pronounced ZOOL) was described as an ancient Near East demigod and appeared as a big, horned, vaguely dog-like monster with glowing red eyes, possessing Sigourney Weaver's body. The dinosaur's name was inspired by its skull similarities to the head of the "Ghostbusters" monster, Royal Ontario Museum paleontologist David Evans said. "The skull of the new dinosaur has a short, rounded snout, gnarly forehead, and two sets of horns projecting backwards from behind the eyes, just like Zuul," Evans said. Aykroyd, the Ontario-born "Ghostbusters" star and co-writer, appeared in a video released by the museum alongside the dinosaur's skull, holding a photo of the movie beast. "We're so honored that the Royal Ontario Museum would accord the name of this magnificent creature with the appellation that we called our 'terror dog' in the movie, and that is Zuul, Z-U-U-L," Aykroyd said. The dinosaur's tail, about 10 feet (3 meters) long, was an intimidating defensive weapon. "The menacing, spiked tail of Zuul is by far the coolest part of the animal," Evans said. "It has a wicked series of large spikes at the base of the tail, then a series of elongated, peaked spines that run the length of the tail club, and it ends in a massive, expanded club." The research was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. (Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Thursday that if President Trump had, in fact, fired FBI Director James Comey in an effort to impede the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, the plan has certainly backfired.

In an interview with Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga, Rounds said that between the questionable timing of Comeys firing and Trumps bizarre reference to the Russia investigation in his termination letter, this clearly has done nothing but draw attention to it.

Rounds was among the Republicans in Congress who raised questions about the timing of Comeys termination Tuesday, but he dismissed calls by many Democrats to appoint an independent prosecutor or independent commission to take over the Russia investigation, insisting that the Senate intelligence committee is capable of getting to the bottom of it.

Right now things are moving the way we hoped they would, he said.

Rounds spoke to Golodryga shortly after Senate intelligence committee members heard from acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Contrary to White House claims that FBI agents had lost faith in their former leader, McCabe stated Thursday that he has the highest respect for [Comeys] considerable abilities and his integrity, and that the ousted director enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day.

Asked whether such comments could cost McCabe his current post, given reports that Trumps frustration over Comeys recent Russia testimony had contributed to his firing, Rounds said hed be very surprised if Trump were to replace the new acting FBI chief. (Yahoo News reported Wednesday that the Justice Department was already interviewing candidates to be the new interim director.)

However, he admitted, if dramatic changes like that did occur, theres a lot of us that would reconsider exactly what is going on.

The White Houses official reason for firing Comey was how he handled the probe of Hillary Clintons email server during the campaign. In his letter firing Comey, Trump thanked him for telling him that he was not under investigation, though its not known whether Comey ever did so. The reference was to the FBIs probe into Russias meddling in the 2016 election and whether any Trump associates were involved in the effort.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Harvard University will host a graduation ceremony exclusively for black students, organisers have announced.

More than 170 students and 530 guests have signed up to attend the event, which will be held 23 May.

All-black ceremonies have been held at other US universities, such as Stanford and Columbia, but this will be a historic first for Harvard.

The event was crowdfunded by students who raised over $27,000 (21,000). This year, the all-black ceremony is open only to graduate students, but organisers hope to open it up to undergraduates next year.

This is an opportunity to celebrate Harvards black excellence and black brilliance, Michael Huggins told The Root website.

Mr Huggins, who is graduating with a masters in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, added: Its an event where we can see each other and our parents and family can see us as a collective, whole group. A community.

Another organiser of the event said the ceremony would also draw attention to the experience of black students at Harvard and other elite institutions.

First ever university-wide Black Commencement (note time change) #harvard #blackharvard #itooamharvard A post shared by Courtney Shakur-Marley (@cwoods_aspires) on Mar 29, 2017 at 7:32pm PDT

Harvards institutional foundation is in direct conflict with the needs of black students, Courtney Woods said.

There is a legacy of slavery, epistemic racism and colonisation at Harvard, which was an institution founded to train rising imperialist leaders. This is a history that we are reclaiming.

The Black graduation event comes at a time of heightened student activism in response to racism on college campuses.

Washington DC University has recently launched an investigation after racist messages were found scrawled across bananas scattered around the campus.

Last year, Harvard admitted its highest ever number of African-American students. However, they still comprised just 14 per cent of the 2016 population.
By Ellen Francis and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Hezbollah said on Thursday that any future conflict between the Shi'ite group and Israel could take place inside Israeli territory, as tensions rise between the arch foes. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, also said in a speech televised live that the group was dismantling all its military positions along Lebanon's eastern border with Syria, and this area would now be patrolled just by the Lebanese army. Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran and Damascus, has been fighting for years in Syria's conflict against an array of rebels and Sunni Islamist fighters. The Syrian conflict has also been an arena where tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have ramped up. Recent Israeli air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Syria appeared to mark a more assertive stance toward the group. The two sides last fought a war in 2006. Nasrallah played down the prospects of another imminent conflict, but warned it could take place on Israeli territory, after saying earlier this year that Hezbollah's rockets could hit targets anywhere inside the country. Israel "is scared and worried of any future confrontation ... and knows that it could be inside the occupied Palestinian territories," Nasrallah said. "There will be no place that is out of reach of the rockets of the resistance or the boots of the resistance fighters." Since the 2006 war, Nasrallah has often used his speeches to highlight the group's military capabilities in any potential future conflict with Israel, in what experts see as a calculated policy of deterrence. Israel meanwhile is determined to stop Hezbollah, which it sees as the top strategic threat on its borders, from using its role in the Syrian war to gain weapons and experience that could ultimately endanger Israel. Strikes carried out by Israel inside Syria have destroyed weapons Israel says were destined for Hezbollah, and have killed Hezbollah commanders. 'NEW PHASE' IN SYRIA Nasrallah said Hezbollah was pulling out of areas along the Lebanon-Syria border, suggesting that the group had helped make the area secure. "Along the eastern Lebanese border there is no longer a need for our presence, so now we have dismantled and will dismantle (our) remaining military positions. The mission has been accomplished ... from now on (this area is) the responsibility of the state," he said. Sunni Islamist militants have regularly crossed the porous border in Lebanon's northeast, and staged a brief takeover of a the Lebanese town of Arsal in 2014 before being driven out. The militants have come under fire from the army and Hezbollah in that area. Nasrallah said Syria's conflict had reached a "new and critical phase" with insurgents severely weakened, and that Damascus, Moscow, Tehran and Hezbollah were "in more harmony politically and militarily than at any time". Any chance to halt the fighting was positive and should be supported, he said, in apparent reference to a Russian-led initiative to set up "de-escalation zones" in Syria. He also appeared to take aim at U.S. President Donald Trump, saying that leaders attending an upcoming summit between the United States and Gulf Arab states in Saudi Arabia "will go to see if there are still billions of dollars, oil and gas". Nasrallah blasted Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for recent pejorative comments about the Shi'ite religious beliefs of Iran's leadership. "When the Mahdi comes ... no oppressive king or tyrant will be left," he said, referring to the Shi'ite belief that a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed who vanished 1,000 years ago will re-emerge to establish global Islamic rule. (Writing by John Davison; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Tegucigalpa (AFP) - Faced with one of the worst levels of crime in the world, Honduras is looking to lower the age of criminal responsibility to under 18.

The review, announced by President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Monday, is because of the high proportion of crimes carried out by minors.

"Nearly 40 percent of high-impact crimes have minors involved," Hernandez told a news conference. "This is alarming."

Currently in Honduras, only persons aged over 18 can be charged with a felony. Those younger risk only "infractions," or misdemeanors, with punishment served in juvenile detention centers rather than prisons.

The government review will call on a panel of lawyers and sociologists to see whether minors should be treated the same as adults for serious crimes, as happens in other countries.

The panel will also examine whether existing detention centers should be reformed to create some better suited to rehabilitation and social reinsertion.

The president did not suggest an age at which a minor could be considered responsible as an adult for a crime.

Honduras is one of the countries with the worst crime rates in the world. It has around 60 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, far higher than the global average of 8.9 given by the World Health Organization.
An extinct human species, the Homo naledi, shared space with modern humans as well as other hominins between 226,000 and 335,000 years ago. And archaeologists now know more about the newfound species, thanks to a new fossil find in South Africa.

The Rising Star subterranean cave system in the country yielded the largest known cache of fossils of older human species, first revealed in September 2015. In a series of papers published Tuesday in the journal eLife, scientists announced they had found more remains of the human relative in another chamber of the cave system. The new fossils are the remains of at least one juvenile and two adults, including a skull that is almost complete.

Read: Skull, Two-Legged Walking Evolved Together In Humans

John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is the lead author of the paper describing the new fossils, commented on the new find in a statement Tuesday. He said the fact that the physical distance between the new discovery and the fossil finds last year lends support to the theory that Homo naledi cached their dead  behavior suggestive of intelligence and beginnings of culture.

HomeNaledi

Photo: John Hawks/University of Wisconsin-Madison

The chamber where the new fossils were found has been named Lesedi, after a name in the Setswana language that means light. The other chamber, about 100 meters away, where fossils were found earlier, representing at 15 individuals of various ages, is called Dinaledi. Over 130 fossils have been retrieved so far from Lesedi Chamber, which is very difficult to access, requiring crawling, climbing and squeezing in pitch dark.

The chamber and its fossils were first discovered in 2013, when Dinaledi Chamber was being excavated. The child among the three newly discovered individuals is thought to be less than 5 years old, and was identified by bones of the head and the body. One of the adults was represented only by one jaw and leg bones.

Story continues

The third individual has been named Neo after the Sesotho word for a gift. The skeleton of Neo is remarkably complete, according to the statement, and its skull was reconstructed over hundreds of hours.

HomeNalediSkull

Photo: John Hawks/University of Wisconsin-Madison

Peter Schmid from the universities of Witwatersrand and Zurich, who put together the fragile bones to create the skull, said in the statement: We finally get a look at the face of Homo naledi.

The skeleton of Neo is the most complete ever-discovered for a Homo naledi, and scientists now have more specimens of this extinct hominin species than any other, except Neanderthals.

Elaborating how the find has expanded our understanding of the species, Hawks said: 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 weve only seen in Neanderthals.

Read: Big Brains In Primates Are Linked To Diet

Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Witwatersrand and a senior author of the paper with Hawks, compared the Neo fossil favorably to Lucy  the name given to the fossil pieces of a female individual of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis. Her skeleton is 40 percent complete.

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, Berger said in the statement.



Caching of the dead in difficult-to-access underground chambers by Homo naledi has only one known parallel in the past that long ago, among Neanderthals.

Hawks said of the practice: 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 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.

Related Articles
Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI director James Comey is an "unprecedented act of presidential imperialism," according to historians.

The FBI director was fired as the agency investigates allegations staff from the Trump campaign had ties to Russia.

This is bad, Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton, told The Atlantic.

Theres no way to see it other than: this is a high point of tension and it is in some ways an act of presidential imperialism against the point man in this investigation.

Video not available for syndication

Comey firing 'sends a chill throughout federal bureacracy', former CIA boss says

It is only the second time the head of the FBI has been fired.

"I don't see how you can't conclude that a cover-up is likely to be in the works," David Greenberg, a professor of history at Rutgers, told the magazine.

Many have drawn comparisons with the "Saturday Night Massacre" of 1973, when President Richard Nixon fired the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

This is Nixon all over again, Mr Zelizer added.

Lots of other presidents had tension with the FBI  thats Lyndon Johnson or John F Kennedy. Even Clinton had tension. But this is more Nixonian.

And the irony is this comes after the FBI director played a big role in making him win," he added, referring to Mr Comey's decision to reopen the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server in the final weeks of the presidential election.

james-comey-fbi-director.jpg

Few FBI directors have served their full 10-year term, as this chart by Statista shows

The New York Times said in an editorial the President fired Mr Comey to halt an investigation which could have "potentially ruinous consequences for the administration."

The paper said that by firing Mr Comey, the President has cast doubt on further investigation into the Trump campaign's potential links to Russia, which could become "one of the biggest political scandals" in American history.
Senator John McCain said he was disappointed with President Donald Trumps decision to fire FBI director James Comey.

The Republican and former nominee in the 2008 US election said the move reinforced calls for a special congressional panel to investigate alleged links between Mr Trumps team and Moscow.

In a statement, Mr McCain described Mr Comey as a man of honour and integrity and praised his work at the head of the FBI.

He said: 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 honour and integrity, and he has led the FBI well in extraordinary circumstances.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Mr Comeys dismissal comes amidst an ongoing FBI investigation into allegations Moscow interfered in the 2016 US election and accusations Mr Trumps team worked with Russian officials before the inauguration.

If Democrats were quick to point out Mr Trump's decision created a constitutional crisis as he removed the man in charge of investigating him, it also sparked concerns among the presidents own Republican camp.

In a memo announcing Mr Comey's removal, the White House said the former FBI director violated the public's trust last year when he publicly announced that his bureau was not recommending pressing charges against former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for the use of a private email server as Secretary of State.

But Democratic senator Bernie Sanders said Mr Comey's sudden firing raised serious questions about what the Trump administration was trying to hide.

Mr McCain said the dismissal emphasised the urgency of an independent probe to be set-up to continue the work of the FBI.

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, he said.

Story continues

In a statement, President Trump said the search for a new FBI director will begin immediately.

Investigations over an alleged interference during the last US election are also being carried out by the Senate and the House Intelligence Committee.
Not only did White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway manage to elicit an exasperated eye-roll from CNNs Anderson Cooper while defending the Presidents reason for firing the head of the FBI, she managed to contradict the reason behind it, too.

FBI director James Comey was fired from his position by Donald Trump on the recommendation of the Justice Department. The President claimed in a letter that Mr Comey was not able to effectively lead the bureau, citing the former chiefs handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe as wrong.

Speaking to CNN, Ms Conway read from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensteins memo claiming he cannot defend the directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary [Hillary] Clintons emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgement that he was mistaken.

Read more

Comey 'requested more money for Russia investigation' before firing

Ms Conway later claimed: This has nothing to do with the campaign from six months ago, this has everything to do with the performance of the FBI director since the President has been in the White House.

Democrats have said Mr Comey was fired due to the FBI investigation into alleged links between the Presidents campaign before he was elected and Russia, which his administration has vehemently denied.

But Ms Conway said in the interview it has nothing to do with Russia.

"[This] has everything to do with whether the current FBI director has the President's confidence and can faithfully execute his duties."

The President has said he will replace Mr Comey with someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI.
The legend of King Arthur is a timeless tale of heroism that ultimately ends in tragedy. But a story can be timeless without feeling stuck in the past. Thats the challenge director Guy Ritchie faced when he took on the task of making a version of the legend that could feel relevant to contemporary audiences. The result is King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which combines certain familiar Arthurian elements  Excalibur, Camelot, the Round Table  with the modern trappings of blockbuster fantasy filmmaking. Its a repetition of a narrative that is about finding oneself, the director tells Yahoo Movies. Now Ive got to stick as much tinsel and jazz hands on it as I would like as an audience member. (Watch our video interview above.)

Star Charlie Hunnam, who plays the young Arthur, points to Ritchies treatment of Excalibur as one example of how Legend of the Sword  which opens in theaters on May 12  tweaks traditional Arthurian mythology. Historically, the sword  Excalibur  is the symbol of the true and born king, the actor explains, whereas Guy imbued it with a much more mystical significance. Ritchie also diversified the lineup of compatriots who help Arthur on his journey to the throne, casting Djimon Hounsou as Sir Bedivere. It needs to speak to this world, not that world back then, Hounsou says. The approach that Guy Ritchie had  is really trying to make this story everybodys story.
By Alex Bregman

Many Democrats on Capitol Hill are now demanding that a special prosecutor look into Russias meddling into the 2016 election in the wake of President Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Its even something Trump threatened Hillary Clinton with in a presidential debate. But what are special prosecutors, and why are they so special  and feared?

Broadly speaking, theyre lawyers appointed to conduct investigations on behalf of the federal government.

Theyre often referred to as special counsels or independent counsels because theyre brought in from the outside, so that you dont end up having the government investigating itself.

The drumbeat for one starts when some sort of scandal is brewing. It makes sense that the idea originated during what was perhaps the biggest scandal in modern American history: Watergate.

In 1973, members of the Senate threatened to hold up the nomination of then-Defense Secretary Elliot Richardson to be attorney general unless he assured them he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into the break-in at the Democratic National Committees Watergate offices in Washington, D.C.

His pick: Harvard law professor Archibald Cox. President Richard Nixon, however, was not a fan, and when Cox demanded that Nixon hand over the famous White House tapes, Nixon demanded that Cox be fired.

That clash ultimately led to what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre on Oct. 20, 1973, when both Richardson and his deputy resigned after refusing to fire Cox.

Nixon ultimately got his way, getting Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire Cox.

Facing impeachment over the Watergate matter, Nixon would resign less than a year later.

This all led Congress to put the role of a special prosecutor into law, in the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

However, that law expired in 1999, leaving it up to the attorney general to appoint one when he or she wants to.

Even before Comeys ouster, a majority of the American people said a special prosecutor should be appointed to look into Russias meddling in the U.S. election.

That, however, will be left to Attorney General Jeff Sessions deputy, Rod Rosenstein, because Sessions has recused himself from any investigations related to the Trump campaign.

If and when that happens, when it comes to the role of a special prosecutor, at least you can say, Now I get it.
The on-field rivalry between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens has cooled over the last couple of seasons, but some New England fans arent yet ready to let go of their dislike of Baltimore.

Tree House Brewing Company, based in western Massachusetts, recently sent some cans of beer to the Ravens Maryland facility.

In a company full of Patriots supporters  they ask potential employees if they support the team during the interview process  why send some suds to Baltimore?

Well  Tree House recently added cans to its product line, and 12,000 brewed and canned this month had Is Joe Flacco elite? stamped on the bottom, above and below the date each can was brewed.

(Agostino Lopes via ESPN)

Its a question thats been debated for years, and its no different in the brewery.

We go back and forth, Andrew Pillsbury, Tree House packing line operator told ESPNs Jamison Hensley. In the regular season, he doesnt look too elite. But sometimes he comes through there in the playoffs and it gives us a little scare. But we got Tom Brady, so were not really worried.

It was Pillsburys idea to put the question on the cans.

I figured lets open it up to our audience and lets see what they think, Pillsbury said of his inspiration.

Flacco has led Baltimore to a Super Bowl win, and to the postseason in six of his nine years as the Ravens starter.

More from Yahoo Sports:

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Miami (AFP) - People's sense of smell is just as sharp as those of rats and dogs, a US researcher said Thursday, calling for an end to a century-old "myth" to the contrary.

Rutgers University neuroscientist John McGann reviewed research and historical writings he says led to the misconception that human sense of smell is inferior, according to the report in the journal Science.

"For so long people failed to stop and question this claim, even people who study the sense of smell for a living," he said.

"The fact is the sense of smell is just as good in humans as in other mammals, like rodents and dogs."

Humans have long been believed capable of detecting about 10,000 different odors. In fact, the number is closer to one trillion, McGann said.

A 19th-century brain surgeon and anthropologist named Paul Broca provided the origin of the myth about humans' poor sense of smell, according the Science report said.

In his 1879 writings, Broca cited the smaller volume of humans' olfactory area in the brain compared to other, larger parts.

It meant that humans had free will and didn't have to rely on smell to survive like dogs and other mammals, he argued.

Broca's theory even influenced the Austrian neurologist and father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, who believed people's lack of smell makes them more susceptible to mental illness.

"It has been a long cultural belief that in order to be a reasonable or rational person, you could not be dominated by a sense of smell," McGann said.

"Smell was linked to earthly animalistic tendencies."

The human olfactory bulb makes up just 0.01 percent of the brain's volume compared to two percent in mice, McGann said.

But its absolute size in people is actually quite large -- in adults it can reach around two inches (60 millimeters) -- and has a similar number of neurons compared to those of other mammals.

The difference between humans, dogs and rodents when it comes to sense of smell may come down to different sensitivities to certain odors.

"We are capable of tracking odor trails, and our behavioral and affective states are influenced by our sense of smell," McGann wrote.

But although humans may be better at sniffing fine wines, dogs are likely to keep excelling at analyzing the various types of urine on offer at the nearest fire hydrant.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that military chiefs wanted a few thousand more troops from the alliance to be deployed in Afghanistan to help combat Islamist insurgents.

The troops were needed to train local forces, Stoltenberg told reporters following talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May at her Downing Street office in London.

"We have received a request from our military authorities to increase our military presence in Afghanistan with a few thousand troops," he said.

"We are now assessing that request. We will make decisions on the scale and the scope of the mission within weeks.

"But this is not about returning back to a combat operation in Afghanistan.

"It will be a train, assist and advise operation, because I strongly believe that the best answer we have against terrorism, the best weapon we have against terrorism, is to train local forces against terrorism and to stave ISIL (the Islamic State jihadist group) off."

There are currently around 13,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan training local forces.

The issue will be high on the agenda at the NATO annual summit in Brussels on May 25.

US authorities have written to NATO allies and partners about the future of the 28-country alliance's presence in Afghanistan.

Stoltenberg said: "We will address our presence in Afghanistan at the leaders' meeting but we will also address what NATO can do to step up its efforts to fight terrorism, including providing support to the counter-ISIL coalition."

"I strongly believe that the best thing you can do to fight against terrorism is to train local forces, enabling them to stabilise their own country and to fight terrorism themselves," he said.

Since NATO's combat mission in Afghanistan formally ended in 2014, Taliban attacks have intensified and Afghan military and civilian casualties have risen.

Taliban dressed in Afghan army uniforms last month slaughtered at least 135 young recruits at a northern base.

Story continues

The US, which is also targeting Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan, dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on the group's hideouts earlier this month.

A British 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."

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.
An emergency at a sprawling nuclear waste site located near a major river in Washington state led federal officials to order hundreds of workers to take shelter Tuesday morning. The collapse of a tunnel at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, located 170 miles southeast of Seattle, follows years of allegations of ignored safety concerns, whistleblower retaliation and obstruction of government investigations.

The Department of Energy declared an emergency situation Tuesday at the 586-square mile site after a tunnel used to house contaminated material collapsed. The agency said all personnel had been accounted for, and that it was evaluating whether any worker had been exposed to possible contamination, or if any "airborne radiological release," had occurred as a result of the 20-square foot tunnel collapse.

At around this time last year, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., renewed his warnings about what he said was Hanfords legacy of failed performance and retaliation against whistleblowers and workers who raise safety concerns. Wyden's statement was a reference to past government reports about alleged problems at the facility, which opened in 1943 and produced plutonium for the military during World War II.

RTS15W57

Photo: Reuters

In 2014, for instance, then-Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz requested the departments inspector general investigate the firing of Donna Busche, the sites manager of environmental and nuclear safety, by URS Energy and Construction Inc., a subcontractor building the vitrification plant at the Hanford site. Busches firing followed the termination of a colleague, Dr. Walt Tomasaitis, who claimed he was fired for raising safety concerns.

"We raised technical issues and have received harassment, retaliation," Busche told CBS News in October 2013 after Tomasaitis was fired. "The fact that he was terminated, it sent a resounding message to me, right? And heightened my sense of awareness that I was probably next."

Story continues

At the time, the governments inspector general Gregory Friedman said that Bechtel, the contractor on the site, and subcontractor URS, could not provide access to several thousand contractor-generated emails and other documents that Friedman said were necessary to conduct the investigation.

In 2015, a separate report from the Government Accountability Office found the Energy Department has spent $19 billion over 25 years to clean up the radioactive waste at the site and the agency has little to show for it. The waste was supposed to be turned into glass logs and moved into permanent storage in 1998, but that date would later be pushed back to 2032.

Most recently, Washingtons congressional delegation urged the new Trump administration to make cleaning up the state a high priority and the states two U.S. senators asked the agency to expand its investigation into chemical vapors at the site.

We have heard concerns from Hanford workers and labor unions about... inadequately addressing workers compensation claims following vapor exposures, Sen. Maria Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray, both Democrats, wrote in a March letter. Multiple accounts of workers compensation claims being dismissed on arbitrary grounds, tactics bordering on intimidation, and actions taken to discredit claims have been shared with us.

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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.)

Story continues

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. 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.

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.

Editor's Recommendations
By Sue-Lin Wong HUNCHUN, China (Reuters) - In August, 2014, planners in the northeastern Chinese city of Hunchun argued in state media that it should be included in the "One Belt, One Road" project, Beijing's vision laid out the previous year of a new Silk Road across Asia to Europe. In 2015, the official Xinhua news agency ran stories about how Hunchun was accelerating its "OBOR" plans, and early in 2016, China's cabinet released a list of Chinese cities included in "OBOR": Hunchun was on the map. The fact that the list came about slowly, and that some cities felt moved to lobby to be included, underlines how the pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping is as amorphous as it is ambitious. The challenge of defining exactly what OBOR means will come to the fore later this month, when heads of state and senior officials from around the world gather in Beijing for the first major summit dedicated to the project. "Frankly, I don't really know what the belt and the road are. The reason being that I think Beijing doesn't know either," said Tom Miller of Gavekal Dragonomics, who recently wrote a book on the New Silk Road. In theory, incentives for cities, companies and countries to be involved are strong: hundreds of billions of dollars are expected to be spent on roads, railways, pipelines, ports and industrial zones stretching from Sri Lanka to Djibouti. But as Hunchun shows, the reality of OBOR can be complicated and requires buy-in from other countries. The city's position at the apex of Russia, North Korea and China is a blessing and a curse. While Russia is gradually opening up to more trade, North Korea has stalled. Tantalisingly close to the sea but without a sea port after Russia's annexation in 1860, local businesses said they wanted to ship more goods via Rason, a nearby North Korean port earmarked as an export hub to China, Japan, South Korea and beyond. That would open a shipping route to southern China, but with sanctions in place against Pyongyang, global tensions rising over its arms program and Rason developing slowly, expectations of progress are low. "We currently transport goods by rail to southern China. We'd like to ship from Rason, but at present that's not happening," said Wang Hai, general manager of Guanghai Import and Export Trading Company in Hunchun, a small firm with 12 staff, both Chinese and Russian. "Hunchun is a hub for northeast Asia, so in theory it should play a big role in 'One Belt, One Road', but for now it hasn't been able to get its act together." (For a graphic on China's Hunchun city, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2qVcSJI) RUSSIA MORE PROMISING? North Korea remains largely shut to the outside world, and China, while remaining its main economic and diplomatic backer, has signed up for tough U.N. sanctions against it. But China said on Tuesday that North Korea would be sending a delegation to the upcoming OBOR summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin will also attend, reflecting his country's importance in China's OBOR strategy; in Hunchun, some enterprises are already seeing benefits from mutual trade. Xingyang Seafood, for example, imports 90 percent of its seafood from Russia and 10 percent from North Korea, said chairman Zhao Yang. "The main advantage of being in Hunchun is that we are close to Russia," Yang told Reuters. The company is headquartered in northern China's Shandong province, but in 2015 it opened a branch in Hunchun to exploit its proximity to Russia. "How does North Korea help us? It doesn't help us at all, they have hardly any seafood left there." Hunchun's spokesman Hao Qiang declined to comment about the city's relationship with North Korea, because of the "current political situation", and would not say how many North Koreans were working in the city. "But we can talk about Hunchun's trade with Russia, the city's clean air and successful tree-planting initiatives." In addition to oil and gas export opportunities between Russia and China, Putin has spoken of roads and bridges being built to strengthen links. Russia has struggled, however, to lure enough people to sparsely populated regions bordering China's northeast, and there are concerns among Russians of creeping colonization if too much land is leased to the Chinese. "They (Chinese) will live there, their relatives will come, they will deepen their roots there, they will take Russian women as wives," firebrand opposition politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky said in 2015, when proposals to lease Russian land to Chinese farmers were put forward. "We will only have problems. I see no advantages." For Hunchun, OBOR is the latest in a series of development programmes aimed at revitalising Jilin province and China's northeast. In the 1990s, the United Nations backed the Tumen River Area Development Project, which became the Greater Tumen Initiative linking China, Mongolia, South Korea and Russia. The benefits of large-scale state investment are clear. From 25th place among smaller cities in Jilin in terms of economic growth, Hunchun now stands third. Foreign trade has doubled since 2011, according to city statistics. Whether OBOR can add value over the longer term is uncertain, Peter Cai wrote in a report for the Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank. "If the Chinese government fails to connect its domestic projects with overseas components, OBOR will be little different from other domestic infrastructure programmes, greatly diminishing its economic and strategic value." (Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov in MOSCOW and by the newsroom in BEIJING; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Paris Hilton at the MOCA Gala 2017. (Photo: Donato Sardella/Getty Images for MOCA)

Paris Hilton is back  and she would like you to know that she invented the selfie, paved the way for other celebrity models, was the first bona fide reality TV star, and pretty much created the concept of being an influencer. Also, she is looking to redecorate.

If a beeper had a camera, I would have taken a selfie with it, Hilton explained during a recent interview with W magazine. I think I have a selfie from when I was a little kid  like, on a disposable camera.

#HelloKittyLover ???? A post shared by Paris Hilton (@parishilton) on May 4, 2017 at 9:33pm PDT

She went on to become one of the early famous-for-being-famous rich kids of Hollywood, and her fame predated that of Kim Kardashian. We started a whole new genre of celebrity that no one had ever seen before, Hilton said.

Back then, Hilton was 19 and was signed to then businessman Donald Trumps modeling agency (which, oddly, didnt use his full name, but went with the more subtle T Management). Now, its completely commonplace for the offspring of the rich and famous to land juicy contracts  just ask Paris Jackson, Sofia Richie, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Hailey Baldwin, Delilah Belle, or Mason Grammer.

Just found this pic of me when I was 13, trying to be sexy doing a Valentine's shoot with my sis. ???? #TeenParis ???????? #FBF A post shared by Paris Hilton (@parishilton) on Apr 28, 2017 at 10:43pm PDT

Hilton isnt wrong when she says she and her gal pal Nicole Richie were two of the first truly successful reality TV stars in history. Their show, The Simple Life  which ran from 2003 to 2007 and followed the girls as they traveled through middle America caring for farm animals while wearing tube tops and stilettos  premiered to an eye-popping 13 million viewers. (Keeping Up With the Kardashians premiered as The Simple Life came to a close.)

Before her series ended, Hilton was able to build a personal brand  before that was really a thing in pop culture. She lent her name to a line of clothing for dogs. She published bestselling books. She trademarked her catchphrase, Thats hot. And remember, she did all of this before Instagram existed  a fact that is not lost on the now 36-year-old deejay.

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Nowadays, I feel like its so easy, becoming famous. Anybody with a phone can do it, she said, seemingly unimpressed with the recent wave of famous faces on social media. Shes also pretty unimpressed by todays reality TV. Nowadays, everything is just so scripted and fake. Everything is planned out. Theres nothing real, really, she lamented. Im glad that I did it in the beginning when it was organic and fun.

But while she waxes poetic about the good ole days  which, to be clear, are the aughts  she has plenty going for her now. Though she didnt disclose hard numbers, its estimated that she makes $1 million per night being a deejay. Seriously. One million dollars. Every night. She also has released 23 fragrances, and has begun dabbling in her familys business: hotels. Oh, and she has a boyfriend. His name is Chris Zylka.

She really, really likes him.

Made with love for the Sunshine of my Life ???????? My #BirthdayBoy ???????????????????? A post shared by Paris Hilton (@parishilton) on May 9, 2017 at 10:40pm PDT

I want to have something substantial and something that lasts, she explained. As she resets her image from the 20-something who taught women everywhere to carry tiny dogs in their $1,000 purses, she has decided to redecorate as well. (Her home is now lined with pictures of herself and her selfies.)

Right now, Im just looking, but I love Warhol, Damien Hirst, and Alex Israel. Hilton declared she is more mature now and has set her sights on bigger things than being a former reality star. Instead, she hopes in the next 10 years to be a wife and a mom, and have like 20 dogs and 50 fragrances. And its OK if she loses all the posters of herself at her home  because now she has mastered Instagram.





Read more from Yahoo Celebrity:
Even when you're the new president of France, you can trust Twitter to bring you back down to earth with a bang.

In the aftermath of Emmanuel Macron's sweeping victory in the French presidential election  in which he beat far-right Marine Le Pen with 66 percent of the vote  Twitter is confusing him with the macaron, a popular meringue-based cookie.

SEE ALSO: How pro-Trump trolls spread fake news from 4chan to influence French elections

So great is the confusion, in fact, that many are taking to Twitter to issue reminders about the difference between Macron and macarons and macaroons.

Macron.

Macaron.

Macaroon.



Let this be the end of it. pic.twitter.com/wRoGnhMKre  Matt (@Matt_in_London) May 8, 2017

Reminder:



A Macaron is a french confectionery.



A Macron is a French president.



A Macaroon is a coconut cluster.  Andrew Joe Potter  (@AndrewJoePotter) May 8, 2017

Many people are totally, 100 percent fine with the confusion, though. In fact, they think it's rather fitting.

I keep reading Macron as macaron and, honestly, that's so fitting  Kristin C. (@StuffKRISWrites) May 9, 2017

I keep reading Emmanuel Macron's name as "Macaron," which would actually be a better last name for a French president, let's be honest.  Jodi Westrick (@jodilyn) May 8, 2017

i still read macron as macaron bc food is important to me  Hannah (@hannahbawa) May 8, 2017

Of course, the confusion sparked some intense debate. Like, if there were a Macron macaron, what flavour would it be? Good question.

Story continues

If There was to be a Macron Macaron.... what flavour would it be ?   Mark Hammerton (@M_HammertonChef) May 9, 2017

All this conversation about macarons was making some people rather peckish. So they celebrated Macron's victory with some macarons.

So we thought this was the best way to celebrate Macron's win. Congrats France! You've made the free world proud! #FrenchElection  pic.twitter.com/qCDPAYCbT8  Laura (@SheWhoVotes) May 7, 2017

The moment when your phone autocorrects 'Macron' to 'macaron' and you decided to go out, get some cookies instead of following the election  Beybin Somuk (@bybns) May 7, 2017

Mmmm, delicieux!
By Manolo Serapio Jr MANILA (Reuters) - Extractive industries like mining should be promoted, not curbed, the Philippines' finance minister said on Thursday, promising investors there will be no more arbitrary suspensions of operations and more transparency in regulation. President Rodrigo Duterte's government has been taking a less confrontational stance towards mining after the removal of an environment minister who ordered the closure of more than half the mines in the world's top nickel ore exporter to protect water resources. Duterte this week replaced environmentalist Regina Lopez with former military chief Roy Cimatu, who said it was possible to balance mining and environmental protection. "We need to encourage and not suppress extractive industries," Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez told an industry forum. "They are necessary to help our economy develop, to bring the revenues that government needs, and to create opportunities for the communities that host these industries." Dominguez said while weak governance has led to environmental destruction, including massive deforestation over the years, "the solution is not to arbitrarily ban extractive industries." "The solution is to improve governance so that we get the best of both worlds: ensuring the sustainability of our environment on one hand and creating wealth for our people from our natural endowments on the other." Dominguez was head of a copper and zinc mine in central Philippines in 2006, after cyanide spills shut it for more than a year. He has said he had no mining interests since then. Dominguez started a second review of the Philippines' mines after Lopez in February ordered the permanent closure of 22 of 41 mines and the suspension of four others for environmental breaches after a months-long audit that miners said they were unable to access. "Never again should suspensions be meted out on the basis of unseen audits," Dominguez said. Lopez was removed last week by a panel of lawmakers scrutinizing Duterte's appointments who concluded that she wasn't fit for the job she had held for 10 months. Duterte, who had backed Lopez's mining crackdown and once declared that the country can survive without a mining industry, said on Wednesday the government cannot scrap an existing mining law, suggesting he is moderating his stance on mining. (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in the U.S.  almost 18 million people suffer from abuse or dependence. But can a new technique allow those addicted to alcohol to drink themselves sober?

Naltrexone is commonly prescribed to reverse opiate overdoses, and according to studies, it may also block the intoxicating effects of alcohol. In the Sinclair Method, alcoholics continue to drink, but they take Naltrexone beforehand. Psychiatrist Dr. Domenick Sportelli and Psychologist Dr. Adi Jaffe join The Doctors to provide their differing perspectives on Naltrexone as a treatment for alcoholism.

When someone drinks alcohol, not only do they get drunk but they have a euphoric experience, Dr. Sportelli explains. And the euphoric experience is based on endogenous opiates. These chemicals are produced by our own brains. Naltrexone offers the possibility of blocking the endogenous opiates  making getting drunk much less rewarding.

The catch is that Naltrexones effect relies on the user drinking alcohol. Were sitting here saying Alcoholic  take a drink!? Its difficult to conceive, says ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork.

Watch: Happy Hour for Alcoholics?

Dr. Jaffe agrees, It is. And a lot of people feel that if youre going to take care of alcohol addiction, you have to be willing to quit forever. However, with the Sinclair Method, the patient initially continues drinking. It slowly pares away the pleasure effect from the experience of drinking. People report that, when it works for them, they just dont want to drink as much.

Only 10 percent of people with alcohol problems go into treatment of any kind, and Naltrexone may encourage more drinkers to try to stop. Dr. Jaffe says, This is something you can try relatively easily with a prescription and a therapist or a psychologist.

Dr. Sportelli cautions, Youre relying on this conditioning and extinction. And the only way that that works is if the person is willing to take that pill every time before they take that drink  Youre asking someone addicted to the euphoric experience of getting drunk to take something to stop that euphoric experience.

Story continues

Watch: The Challenges of Treating Alcoholism

Dr. Jaffe suggests it can be a first step for heavy drinkers to move toward quitting. I think the important thing is patient screening and close monitoring, adds Dr. Sportelli. He doesnt believe its enough to send an alcoholic home with a bottle of pills.

Both doctors agree that for some patients, this treatment can help. And Dr. Stork adds, I always say, the more options the better! Just be sure that the option youre using is right for you.
A 6-month-old girl was fatally mauled by a dog as she played outside a Nevada home this week.

Kamiko Dao Tsuda-Saelee was in a baby walker outside the Las Vegas home Monday when a relative who said she was with the girl went inside to use the restroom.

Read: Senior Dog Abandoned in Field With Note 'I Don't Need a Dog'

The relative returned to the front of the home to a bloody scene, according to KTNV. The baby's mother was able to stop the attack and Kamiko was rushed to the hospital.

However, the rescue came too late, and the little girl succumbed to her injuries.

The investigation indicated that 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.

"It's an absolute true tragedy," Las Vegas police officer Larry Hadfield said. "Regardless of how trusting you are of animals, you have to make sure you are supervising. You have a family that's going to be grieving for today and the rest of their lives."

A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family, members of which say the attack came as a complete shock.

Read: Homeless Pit Bull Rescued in the Middle of a Storm After Giving Birth to 8 Puppies

The pit bull mix was itself a member of their family and had been alongside Kamiko as she played moments before the attack.

According to authorities, the dog was euthanized Tuesday.

Watch: Man Risks Life to Save Abandoned Dog Stranded in the Middle of Busy Highway

Related Articles:
By Sergio Goncalves FATIMA, Portugal (Reuters) - Pope Francis will make two Portuguese shepherd children saints this week, crowning a belief that started with reported visions of the Madonna 100 years ago which have turned the Shrine of Fatima into one of the most famous in Christianity. Up to a million people are expected to attend the canonization mass on Saturday at the shrine for the children, who the Vatican believes received messages from the Madonna that have become known as the three secrets of Fatima. "For this blessed moment that culminates a century of blessed moments, I rejoice in your preparations of intense prayer," the pope said in a message to the Portuguese people ahead of his two-day visit. Fatima is a town in central Portugal where the apparitions were recorded. "I think it has a very big importance for the whole world," said Vanessa, a worshipper who had made the pilgrimage to the shrine from the Philippines. For Portugal, one of Europe's most Catholic countries with 81 percent of the population describing themselves as belonging to the faith, the event is a big deal and the story of Fatima is universally known. "Welcome Pope Francis," read a huge poster with images of the pope and the shepherd children in central Lisbon. Father Vitor Coutinho, deputy head of the sanctuary of Fatima, said the pope was showing the importance of Fatima to the church by carrying out the canonization there rather than in Rome, where they are usually done. "Therefore he is confirming that a life lived in the light of the spirituality of Fatima can lead to sainthood," Coutinho said. The story of shepherd children Francisco and Jacinta Marto has captivated Catholics since their first reported vision on May 13, 1917. Their first vision was of hell and a call to prayer and conversion, which if not heeded would lead to another world war. The second was a warning that Russia would "spread her errors" in the world if people did not turn to God. THIRD SECRET The third secret intrigued the world for nearly three-quarters of a century, inspiring books and cults. Only in 2000 did the Vatican say the third secret was a prediction of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, who survived and gave the bullet that hit him to the bishop of Fatima. It was later put into the crown of the statue of Fatima and many Portuguese say the bullet was a perfect fit, providing evidence of the vision. The Catholic Church posthumously confers sainthood on people considered so holy during their lives that they are now believed to be with God and can intercede with him to perform miracles. The miracle performed by Francisco and Jacinta is believed to be saving a Brazilian boy, Lucas, who fell out of a window in 2013 and suffered life-threatening head injuries. "All of us in the family started to pray to the shepherd children and, two days later, Lucas woke up and started to speak, asking about his sister," the boy's father, Joao Batista, told reporters. Lucas was released from hospital days later after making a complete recovery. Sister Angela Coelho said she took up Lucas's case in her role as postulator for the sainthoods of Francisco and Jacinta. Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta died a year later, both of pneumonia when they were 9 and 10 years old. Portugal has taken a series of security measures for the pope's visit, including reinstating border controls. In the open space around Fatima special cement blocks have been placed to avoid the possibility of militant attacks such as those in Stockholm and Nice. (Additional reporting by Miguel Pereira, writing by Axel Bugge, Editing by Angus MacSwan and Ed Osmond)
The Daily Beast

GettyRussian troops have begun to retreat from Ukraines Kherson region, just the latest humiliating pullout to leave pro-Kremlin military bloggers and propagandists fuming.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu handed down the order on Wednesday afternoon to pull out to the other side of the Dnipro River. The move came after Russian troops reportedly began blowing up bridges as they pulled out, with Russian flags being removed from buildings in the center of Khersonthe only regional capital ca
Constituents heckle and boo Tom MacArthur, calling him a killer as 500 people gather for New Jersey event: I dont think Ill vote for him again

A constituent asks a question of Tom MacArthur at the tumultuous town hall. Photograph: Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images

Tom MacArthur, the New Jersey congressman who has been celebrated in conservative circles for helping pass the Republican healthcare bill, came back down to earth with a bang on Wednesday night when he was booed, heckled and generally chastised during a nearly five-hour town hall meeting.



In Willingboro, hundreds showed up to lambast MacArthur, most fuelled by their congressmans intervention to revive the ailing American Health Care Act (AHCA).

MacArthur was branded a weasel, a killer and an idiot by constituents angry at his amendment to the bill, which would allow states to opt out of rules that protect individuals with pre-existing conditions from being charged more for healthcare coverage. This stipulation proved enough to satisfy the hard-right Freedom Caucus and the bill  which would probably see millions of Americans lose their healthcare coverage  passed the House on 4 May.

The majority of Republicans who voted for the bill are not holding public events this week, despite being on recess. Those who have dared face voters have been pilloried. Aware of this, MacArthur kicked off his town hall at 6.30pm with a promise to respond to every single question, for as long as it goes. He was still being quizzed by angry residents at 11.20pm.

More than 500 people had gathered outside the Kennedy Center in Willingboro, just across the Delaware river from Philadelphia. It was a lively and loud scene, a number of voters chanting, waving signs and generally causing a ruckus.

Our health matters more than Toms net worth, one banner read. A sign showed a picture of MacArthur with I took your healthcare written on his forehead. Another described MacArthur, a former insurance executive who was elected in 2014, as MacWeasel.

Claudia Storicks, a former nurse who has been on disability for the past two years, had travelled from Pemberton, New Jersey. She has diabetes and charcot foot  a weakening of the bones caused by nerve damage  and was using an electric scooter. She is insured under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Obama administration legislation the AHCA seeks to replace.

Story continues

It was the only insurance that I could afford, she said. Ive been able to afford my medication and my doctors visits because Im on the ACA. Otherwise I probably would have lost my house and my foot.

Storicks voted for MacArthur in 2016  hes a businessman and I thought he had a good sense about taxes, she said  but now described herself as very angry at the prospect of the ACA being repealed.

That would mean that my diabetes would get out of control, my foot would probably get worse, and Id probably end up in hospital and losing my house.

Medford, New Jersey, resident Jay Wilder, 72, was first in line. He arrived six hours early. Im really worried about pre-existing conditions because I dealt with it when I was going from my job before I had Medicare, he said.

Wilder had had a heart attack and said he couldnt afford healthcare. I just lived without healthcare, hoping that nothing would happen. It was very difficult because when youre 64 years old you start having health issues.

The anger outside the venue set the tone for the event itself. MacArthur walked out to Coldplays A Sky Full of Stars, and to a similarly tepid round of applause from the 250 people who had made it inside. The congressman smiled and offered his hand to a man wearing a green shirt, sitting in the front row. The man kept his arms folded and thrust his head away.

The four hours and 50 minutes that followed were no less hostile. MacArthur had asked constituents not to boo him but that proved to be in vain. People repeatedly told him he had blood on his hands.

A man who had received a kidney transplant feared what would happen to people like him under the AHCA. A resident whose wife had recovered from breast cancer was concerned that she would always have a pre-existing condition and did not want that to determine which state she lived in.

A woman had brought her two young children, one of whom had learning difficulties, and objected to them potentially being placed in a high-risk pool  an aspect of MacArthurs amendment designed to assist people with pre-existing conditions, but which could lead to higher health insurance costs.

MacArthurs responses  that only 7% of Americans were in the individual market, that people would not lose their insurance (the Congressional Budget Office, in its assessment of an earlier version of the bill, said 24 million would probably do so), and that there are loads of other people who dont agree with you  did not placate the crowd.

Nor did his response to repeated chants calling for single-payer healthcare.

Government bureaucrats can be very dangerous when they have power to make decisions on peoples health, MacArthur said, prompting one woman to tell the congressman she would prefer that scenario than someone in an office of an insurance company making the same decisions.

Something was awoke in me

Just 14 of the 217 Republicans who voted in favor of the AHCA are holding public events this week. Those who have ventured out have not been warmly received.

On Monday, Rod Blum of Iowa walked out of an interview with a local television station and was then roundly booed at an event in Dubuque. On Tuesday, David Brat, a congressman from Virginia, was jeered and booed at a town hall in Midlothian, near Richmond.

Constituents waved red signs that said shame and nope, a gesture suggested by the progressive Indivisible organization, which aims to use Tea Party-esque, assertive tactics to oust Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections. Charlene Thompson, a Brat constituent, said she cried when the House approved the AHCA.

Something was awoke in me, she said. I just gave birth last summer. I fought long and hard to have that guy and to think that I would be considered a pre-existing is just awful.

In New Jersey on Wednesday, people began to quietly leave the MacArthur town hall at about 9.30pm. But at least 25 stayed until the bitter end. Storicks, who sat patiently in her scooter for hours, was one of the last people to speak.

She told the congressman about how she relied on the ACA for medication related to her illnesses. Storicks said she would suffer under the Republican plan because I was born with bad genes.

MacArthur stuck to the answer he had given all night: that high-risk pools would actually protect people like Storicks, and that people would not have to pay more due to a pre-existing condition  claims which are heavily disputed by health experts.

Storicks was not convinced.

I get hes an insurance man and hes coming at this from an insurance and business perspective and its all about profits and minimizing costs, she said, but Im frustrated because I dont think hes really of a mind to change his opinions.

But next year the public will have a chance to speak. And I dont think Im going to vote for him again.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Tuesday he wants to know more about President Donald Trump's business dealings in relation to Russia, but that congressional investigations may have to avoid the matter if they conflict with an FBI probe. Graham asked former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Monday whether he had concerns about Russian ties to Trump's business interests. Clapper said he could not comment because the issue could be a subject of an ongoing investigation. CNN reported on Tuesday that Graham intended to look into Trump's business ties to see if any connections exist between Russia and the Trump campaign or the president's associates. The White House said it would welcome any fact-finding by Graham and the subcommittee, which he chairs, saying the president has no business ties to Russia. "He has no business in Russia; he has no connections to Russia," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. "So he welcomes that." Spicer added that Trump had directed a law firm to send Graham a certified letter stating as much. While Graham expressed interest in finding out whether Trump's business interests had any Russia ties, he said the subcommittee may have to "steer clear" of the issue if it conflicts with the FBI's probe of Russia and the Trump campaign. He clarified later that he had not taken any new actions. "This is nothing new here," he told reporters at the Capitol. "I'm not a prosecutor. But if you ask me if I want to know if there are any Trump business ties to Russia that are inappropriate, the answer would be 'yes.'" Graham told CNN it would be helpful to see Trump's tax records but that it was too soon to say whether he would be willing to subpoena them, the network said. (Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Protesters rally outside the White House against President Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

WASHINGTON  Senate Republicans are unified in rejecting calls for a special counsel to take over the investigation into Russias involvement in the 2016 presidential election, even as some take a critical tone against the presidents abrupt firing of FBI Director Jim Comey.

Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are just as united in demanding one. It is the overwhelming view of my caucus that a special prosecutor should now be appointed to conduct the investigation into the Trump campaigns ties to Russia, Schumer said Wednesday. Schumer added that a career Justice Department official  not a political appointee like Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  should make the appointment of the special counsel.

But Republicans, even those critical of President Trump for firing the FBI director while he was investigating ties between Trumps campaign and Russia, are not biting  at least not for now. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told a CNN reporter at least six Republicans privately support either a select committee or special counsel to look into the Russia claims, and its possible that more information could come out about Comeys firing that would change their positions.

Today well no doubt hear calls for a new investigation, which could only serve to impede the current work being done, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning.

Several Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is leading its own probe into Russia, echoed McConnell, saying a special counsel at the Justice Department would get in the way of their investigation, which has been criticized for being understaffed and slow.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. (Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

We will issue a report that will contain facts and then at that point people can make a decision, including the American public, about whether or not based on those facts an inquiry from a law enforcement perspective is warranted, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters. If we were to appoint a special prosecutor today [it would] probably shut down our ability to do our work because a significant amount of information would now be denied on the basis of an ongoing investigation.

Story continues

The chair of the Senate committee, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has been more critical than most of his colleagues in questioning the timing of Trumps decision to fire Comey. He invited Comey to testify at a closed hearing next week so members can question him about the status of the FBIs investigation at the time he was let go.

But Burr split with the committees ranking Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner D-Va., who said Comeys firing in the middle of the investigation calls for the appointment of a special counsel. Burr told reporters his committee is the best place to handle the probe.

Warner disagrees with Republicans that a special counsel would slow the Senates investigation. At moments in our nations history when our democracy or national security has been threatened  like Watergate  it has been normal practice to simultaneously have both a congressional investigation and a DOJ investigation, Warners spokeswoman Rachel Cohen said.

Special prosecutors powers have changed from the years after Watergate, as the New York Times reported. Now, a special counsel can be overruled and even fired by whoever appoints him or her. In this case, that would likely be Rosenstein.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., another member of the Senate committee, said he was surprised by the timing of Trumps announcement and wanted to find out why now? But Lankford told Politico that he believed people would be unhappy with the process of choosing a special counsel and that the FBI can be trusted to continue to handle the investigation.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the only Republican in the Senate thus far to call for Congress to form a select committee to investigate Russia, told reporters Wednesday that he believed a special congressional committee would be more effective than a special counsel. I believe we need a select committee. I believe we need a select committee, he said repeatedly when asked about a special counsel.

Other Republican senators lined up behind the White Houses spin, needling Democrats for hypocrisy for criticizing the decision to fire Comey.

The firing of the FBI director shouldnt surprise anybody because most people thought if Hillary [Clinton] was elected she would have fired him on the first day, said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. Shelby added that neither side of the aisle had much confidence in Comey. He was on both sides of the fence all along, politically: Democrat one day, Republican the next.
GOP lawmakers condemn potentially illegal requirement that health department workers must check with bosses before communicating with Hill

Tom Price, the health secretary, speaks at the White House. Republicans have challenged a memo his chief of staff sent to department officials. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

A federal health department memo telling employees they must consult with management before any communications with members of Congress was called potentially illegal and unconstitutional by two Republican congressmen, who said it could deter whistleblowers from coming forward.

Chuck Grassley and Jason Chaffetz obtained a copy from the health and human services department (HHS) and sent it on to the health and human services (HHS) secretary, Tom Price.

Federal employees will most certainly read this instruction as a prohibition against direct communications with Congress without permission, Grassley and Chaffetz wrote to Price, requesting more information about the policy. As such, it is potentially illegal and unconstitutional, and will likely chill protected disclosures of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Grassley is chairman of the Senate judiciary committee and Chaffetz of the House committee on oversight and government reform.

The 3 May memo was sent from Prices chief of staff, Lance Leggitt, to the heads of staff and operating divisions at HHS.

Because health department employees would be required to expose their communications with Congress to agency management, necessarily subjecting them to a significantly increased risk of reprisal, the memo could violate several laws that protect whistleblowers, the Republican congressmen said. The effect will be to substantially chill those communications.

The memo said any requests from Congress for calls, meetings, briefings, technical assistance, policy development, hearings, oversight, detailees, etc, should be coordinated with the assistant secretary for legislation. The Trump administration recently nominated a Tennessee businessman to fill that role.

Prices chief of staff, in the memo, said the department was only attempting to reiterate the departments longstanding policy regarding congressional relations.

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An HHS spokesperson said: This type of memorandum is nothing new. It reflects consistent agency policy which has been in place for decades as has been confirmed by the HHS Office of the General Counsel.

She added: There is no prohibition in the memorandum on direct communications ... If an HHS employee has concerns about waste, fraud or abuse at the agency, we want them to contact the appropriate officials so it can be stopped.

The letter was published by Kaiser Health News the same day a reporter was arrested for attempting to shout questions at Price. Daniel Ralph Heyman, a 54-year-old journalist for Public News Service, was arrested after asking Price whether being the victim of domestic violence would exclude someone from health insurance under the new Republican health bill.

I asked him the question repeatedly and he did not answer, said Heyman at a news conference shown on the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginias Facebook page. I think they decided I was just too persistent in asking this question and trying to do my job, so they arrested me.
The White House said Trump fired Comey based on the clear recommendations of the deputy attorney generals memo  but that memo is already under attack

 You are terminated: the three letters that ended James Comeys career

Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general. Mark Warner, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said he had lost all confidence in Rosenstein. Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The man who wrote the memo providing Donald Trump with the rationale he used to fire FBI director James Comey is a career prosecutor with a reputation for being honorable and surprisingly nonpartisan  and he has only been working for the Trump administration for two weeks.

Rod Rosenstein, Trumps deputy attorney general, was confirmed by the Senate in late April with overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans. He was praised as a trustworthy choice for a fraught position overseeing the investigation of Russias interference in the 2016 election  a role that the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had to recuse himself from after failing to disclose his meetings with Russias ambassador during the campaign.

On Tuesday, the White House announced that Trump had fired Comey based on the clear recommendations of Rosenstein and Sessions. The administration released a three-page memo from Rosenstein, dated that same day, that argued that Comeys mishandling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation had damaged the reputation of the FBI and the justice department, and that Comeys refusal to say his choices had been wrong meant that he cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions. Rosensteins memo stops just short of an explicitly stated recommendation to fire Comey.

But Rosensteins memo has already come under attack, including from one of the former justice department officials whose criticism of Comey Rosenstein used to bolster the case against the former FBI director.

Democrats and some Republican members of Congress have said that the timing of Comeys firing raised questions about the independence of the FBIs investigation of Russias election interference  which includes scrutiny of contacts between Russia and Trumps associates.

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Mark Warner, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, told NPR on Tuesday that he had lost any confidence I might have had in Rosenstein, whose first official action was putting his name on that letter basically making what appeared to be bogus reasons [for] firing the FBI director.

This president firing an FBI director because of actions taken nine months ago? It doesnt pass the smell test, Warner said.

A former top justice department official cited in Rosensteins memo called the White Houses stated reasons for firing FBI director Jim Comey a sham  noting that Trump had formerly praised Comey for the exact choices later used to justify his dismissal.

Rosenstein should realize that his correct assessment of those mistakes is now being used to justify [Comeys] firing for a very different reason, Donald Ayer, a deputy attorney general under George HW Bush, told reporters late on Tuesday night.

The White House leaned heavily on Rosensteins memo as the reason Comey had been abruptly fired. But Ayer, who joined dozens of former Department of Justice officials in signing a letter criticizing Comeys break with precedent in the case, told reporters that these valid concerns did not appear to be the real reason for the FBI directors dismissal.

I view the firing based, it seems, entirely on Comeys mishandling of the Clinton investigation by making various inappropriate public statements as a sham, Ayer told BuzzFeed News in an email, comments he later confirmed to the Guardian. At the time, Mr Trump was supportive of the most incorrect things that Comey did  editorializing about the facts of the then ended investigation and later announcing that the investigation had been reopened.

Ayer declined to comment on what he believed the real reasons for Comeys firing might be. He said he could not comment further since he was in Nepal and about to embark on a trek that would leave him without internet for a week. The justice department has not yet responded to a request for comment on Ayers remarks.

On Tuesday, a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer told MSNBC that Rosensteins memo appeared to have borrowed elements from a Clinton campaign document highlighting the letter from former justice officials criticizing Comeys choices. Karen Finney said the memo cites some of the very same quotes and called the similarities between the two very ironic.

Rosensteins memo argued that Comey overstepped his authority in the way that he handled the FBIs investigation of Clintons emails, and that his comments to the media, and his choice to make public the reopening of the Clinton investigation just two weeks before the election, had damaged the reputation and the credibility of the FBI and the Department of Justice.

A former Obama justice department official, Eric Columbus, argued on Twitter that the language of Rosensteins memo, especially the final paragraph, read as highly negotiated, and that the lack of an explicit call for Comeys firing might have been made on purpose.

Perhaps, Columbus speculated, Rosenstein felt he had to oblige his boss as long as he didnt have to expressly say something he didnt believe  ie that Comey should be fired now.

After Comeys firing, Democrats renewed calls for the appointment of an independent special prosecutor to oversee the Russia inquiry  an appointment that some Democrats had argued Rosenstein should have promised to make before he was confirmed to his current role on 25 April.

Rosenstein, who received bipartisan praise from a long career as a federal prosecutor and US attorney in Baltimore, had been viewed as a surprisingly non-political pick as Trumps No 2 official in the justice department. Rosenstein served as US attorney under both presidents Bush and Obama, and was not a close confidante of Trump or Sessions.

He doesnt make any decisions that either are or appear to be political, James Cole, who served for four years as Eric Holders deputy attorney general, said in March, in advance of Rosensteins confirmation hearing.

In February, the Baltimore Sun, Rosensteins hometown paper, called him an honorable public servant who was too good to sell his soul by taking a job in the Trump administration.

Just dont go there. Say no to President Trump, a member of the Suns editorial board wrote in an open letter.

As a young Republican lawyer, Rosenstein was tapped to join Kenneth Starrs independent Whitewater investigation into Bill and Hillary Clintons real estate dealings. His supervisors in the justice department praised Rosensteins wisdom and discretion at handling public corruption cases even as a young lawyer.

One of the few Democrats who voted against confirming Rosenstein, Senator Richard Blumenthal, praised Rosensteins record but said he would not vote to confirm him unless he pledged in advance to appoint a special prosecutor, which Rosenstein would not do.

The need for a special prosecutor is now crystal clear, Blumenthal said on Tuesday night. President Trump has catastrophically compromised the FBIs 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 only way to restore faith in a non-political, non-partisan FBI is to appoint an independent special prosecutor.

Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law who watched Rosensteins confirmation process closely, said that after Comeys firing, no matter how professional he is, he now found it hard to see how Rosenstein could supervise the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election.

Hes part of the administration. I dont see how he could do it independently, he said.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who till now, was more or less a controversy-free figure in President Donald Trumps cabinet, has come into the limelight after it was let loose that the POTUS acted on his recommendation to fire James Comey, Tuesday.

However, Rosenstein has refused to be painted as the scapegoat by the Trump administration and has even threatened to quit, the Washington Post reports. Apparently, he was caught off guard when the White House put a major part of the blame behind Comeys firing on him.

Rosenstein might be justified in defending himself because the memo that he drew up and submitted to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Comey, quoted a number of top governmental officials, after which he cited his conclusion regarding the same:

I agree with the nearly unanimous opinions of former Department officials, stated Rosenstein in the memo, Vox reports. The way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong. As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands the gravity of his mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors, the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions.

Read: James Comey Says 'No Information' Obama Tapped Headquarters, Confirms Russia Probe

sessions letter

Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Following the untimely end to Comeys career, many had commented on the absurdity of Trumps decision to replace the FBI director. Since Trump did not protest on Comeys action to reopen investigations on Hillary Clintons leaked emails during his Presidential campaign, the sudden urgency to fire him now initially seemed to be an odd judgment call by Trump.

Story continues

People eventually came to the conclusion that the fact that Comey was looking into the Trump campaigns possible collusions with Russia led him to getting fired. The White House, although, strictly denied such allegations.

Also, getting the very top officials to prepare a case against Comey, including Rosenstein, a pioneer of bipartisanship, who is supervising the probe regarding Russian involvement in the 2016 elections, has been termed as a puzzling decision by Trump.

james comey

Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Making things worse, Comey wasnt even officially informed that he was getting laid off and he found out the news along with the rest of the world, when he switched on the television, CNBC reports.

Trump chose to justify his decision by simply saying that Comey was being fired because he was not doing a good job. The White House also remained vague in giving the exact reason behind the vital decision. The official statement reiterated on the fact that the Trump had considered firing Comey for a long time, and he just implemented the same, Tuesday.

The way the entire affair was handled disgusted many and there has been uproar of criticism regarding the same on social media. Much of the heat is being directed at Rosenstein at present, tarnishing his as of yet spotless reputation.

Read: Kim Dotcom Wants FBI Director James Comey To Be Questioned By New Zealand Police

Ted Lieu, an USAF veteran and member of the congress has tweeted out that Rosenstein should seriously consider stepping down from his post after being unwittingly played by Trumps administration.

Following his firing, Comey has reached out to his former staff and colleagues with the following message, as obtained by CNN:

Nationwide protests have broken out since Comey was fired. People took to the streets to display their anger regarding Trump's decision.

Neither the justice department, nor Rosenstein has come forward with an official statement regarding the controversy surrounding Comey's dismissal.

Related Articles
Updated on May 10 at 11:45 a.m.

This much is clear: President Trumps stated rationale for firing James Comey makes no sense.

The president justified the FBI directors abrupt dismissal on Tuesday with a memo from Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, in which Rosenstein systematically laid out an indictment of how Comey handled the investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a personal email address and private email server while she was secretary of state. Rosenstein charged that Comey had usurp[ed] the attorney generals authority by publicly recommending making no charges, overstepped his bounds by criticizing Clinton during a press conference, and then alerting Congress about newly found emails on the eve of the election.

These may be good reasons to question Comeys leadership and even to remove him, but it is all but impossible to believe that Trump believes them, because Trump has criticized Comey for dealing with Clinton too lightly all along. The day that Comey announced he was not recommending charges against her, Trump tweeted:

FBI director said Crooked Hillary compromised our national security. No charges. Wow! #RiggedSystem  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2016

Notably, Comeys lengthy dissection of Clintons errors in that news conference offered Trump lots of ammunition to attack her.

Related Story

The Convenient Dismissal of James Comey

In October, Trump saidbaselesslythat what was just found out is the Department of Justice, the State Department, and the FBI colludedgot togetherto make Hillary Clinton look less guilty and look a letter than she looks.

In his memo, Rosenstein complained that Comey had broken the longstanding policy that we refrain from publicizing non-public information with his October 28 letter to Congress, which Clinton has blamed for costing her the election. But Trump, at the time, was full of praise.

Story continues

Recommended: Two Dead Canaries in the Coal Mine

It took guts for Director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had where theyre trying to protect her from criminal prosecution. You know that. It took a lot of guts, Trump said at an October 31 rally. I was not his fan, but Ill tell you what: What he did, he brought back his reputation. He brought it back.

Another fan of the decision was Jeff Sessions, then a senator from Alabama and top Trump surrogate. 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, Sessions told Fox Business at the time. Yet in a letter attached to Rosensteins memo, Sessions, now the attorney general, told Trump that for the reasons expressed by the Deputy Attorney General in the attached memo, he recommended firing Comey in order to reaffirm the Justice Departments commitment to longstanding principles that ensure the integrity and fairness of federal investigations.

Couldnt Trump have had a change of heart since October? Theoretically, sure. But he was still criticizing Comey for being too light on Clinton just a week ago:

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

...Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

Taking Trumps rationale for the firing at face value would require believing that the president had reversed a deeply held belief in the course of just a week. Trump has had some notable flip-flops, as on Syrian intervention, but few so plain or abrupt.

Recommended: Trump Knows Little and Doesn't Want to Learn More

In a combative CNN interview Tuesday night, Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway herself suggested that the Clinton material was mere pretext. This has nothing to do with the campaign from six months ago, she told Anderson Cooper. This has everything to do with the performance of the FBI director since the president has been in the White House.

Trump himself contradicted the stated rationale, too. He wasn't doing a good job. Very simply. He was not doing a good job, the president told pool reporters Wednesday morning, his first non-Twitter comments on the firing.

If Trump did not fire Comey for being too mean to Hillary Clinton, then why did he fire him? It is impossible to know the presidents mind, and given the suddenness of the dismissal, its difficult to get a complete picture of the process. Even some White House staffers seem to have been surprised, and Comey, who was at an FBI office in Los Angeles, reportedly believed the news to be a prank when he first heard.

The answer to which many observers, including members of Congress from both parties, immediately gravitated was that Trump is attempting to meddle in the FBIs investigation into Russian interference in the election. Democrats were direct, calling it a constitutional crisis. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said, President Trump has catastrophically compromised the FBIs ongoing investigation of his own White Houses ties to Russia. (That earned Blumenthal a morning broadside from Trump, who attacked him for exaggerating his Vietnam War record.)

Recommended: America Isn't Having a Constitutional Crisis

But Republicans also voiced that worry. John McCain, a frequent Republican Trump critic, said in a statement, 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. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee was somewhat more oblique, saying, It is essential that ongoing investigations are fulsome and free of political interference until their completion. North Carolinas Richard Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee examining Russian interference in the election, added, I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comeys 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.

Meanwhile, Trump was plainly enraged by the Russia investigation. He has tweeted angrily about it on multiple occasions, and called it a charade. While stories about Russia had emerged in a consistent drip since well before the election, Comeys March 20 testimony before the House Intelligence Committee was a turning point, as the director told members not only that the FBI was looking at Russian interference, but also whether the Trump campaign colluded in it. On the same occasion, Comey said there was no evidence that President Obama had tapped candidate Trumps phones, as Trump has alleged without evidence.

Trump made a curious reference to the Russia probe in his letter to Comey. While I 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, Trump wrote, explicitly drawing a line between the investigation and Comeys firing.

Some news reports have already directly connected the Russia investigation with Comeys firing. Trump had grown angry with the Russia investigationparticularly Comey admitting in front of the Senate that the FBI was investigating his campaignand that the FBI director wouldn't support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower, Politicos Josh Dawsey wrote. Michael Schmidt of The New York Times reported that Sessions had been charged with coming up with reasons to fire Comey, even though Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe after admitting he failed to disclose a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Congress.

The Times further reported on Wednesday that days before he was fired, Comey had requested a significant increase in money and personnel for the bureaus investigation into Russias interference in the presidential election. Comey made the request of Rosenstein, and also told members of Congress, the paper said.

Dawsey and CNNs Gloria Borger both also reported that Roger Stone, an old Trump friend who is under investigation by the FBI for ties to Russia, had urged the president to fire Comey. Trump denied that in a tweet Wednesday morning.

During an appearance Tuesday night on Fox News, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the demand to end the investigations into Russia explicit.

It's been going on for nearly a year, she said. Frankly, it's kind of getting absurd. There's nothing there. We've heard it time and time again. We heard it in the testimonies earlier this week. We've heard it for the last 11 months. There is no there there. It's time to move on, and, frankly, it's time to focus on things the American people care about.

Sanderss claim falls short in a number of areas. First, the congressional investigations into Russia interference have barely begun. Second, there is widespread popular support for an investigation. Third, the pace of revelations about Russia appears to be quickening. Overshadowed by the Comey firing was CNNs scoop that a federal prosecutors have issued subpoenas to associates of Michael Flynn, the fired Trump national security adviser, in connection with the FBIs Russia probe.

There is little question that Trump is well within his authority as president to fire Comey. But there is a difference between whether he is able to do so and whether it was wise to do so. If the goal of the Comey firing, as circumstantial evidence suggests, was to stifle the Russia investigation, Trump may instead have drawn more attention to it.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
President Trump with Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House. (Photo: Alexander Shcherbak/TASS via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed his meeting with President Trump in a press conference shortly after they spoke on Wednesday. Lavrov told reporters at the Russian Embassy that he did not talk with Trump about the accusations Moscow meddled in last years U.S. presidential election. He also praised the Trump administrations businesslike approach to Russia, in contrast to what he described as the more ideological position of former President Barack Obama. Lavrov expressed optimism that the Trump administration and Russia can contribute jointly to the settlement of the most urgent issues in international affairs, including the war in Syria.

U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of obtaining and publicizing (by way of Wikileaks) hacked emails from Democrats to hurt Trumps rival Hillary Clinton. Trump has called the accusations a total hoax. Yahoo News asked Lavrov whether Trump assured him that he does not believe the intelligence communitys belief that Russia intervened in the presidential race. Lavrov, who spoke through a translator, laughed and explained why he didnt talk about the issue with Trump.

We seem to be all grownups. I never thought that I would have to answer such questions, particularly here in the U.S., taking into account your highly developed democratic political system, Lavrov said, adding, President Trump publicly stated on a number of occasions what he thinks about accusations and allegations regarding Russias meddling into your domestic affairs, and that is why there is no need for him to tell us anything or to give us assurance behind closed doors.

Lavrov, who called the allegations absurd and false news, went on to argue there is insufficient evidence to prove Russia worked to sway the outcome of the election.

There is not a single fact. There is no compelling evidence given to anyone regarding Russias intervention, and thats it, he said.

The press conference took place in a small auditorium, opulently decorated with chandeliers and fabric-covered walls, inside Russias large embassy campus. Reporters heard an English translation of Lavrovs remarks on headphones at each of the seats, which before the conference began played a soundtrack of pop hits, including the Beach Boys Good Vibrations.

Story continues

The vibrations were less welcoming once Lavrov took his seat at a table on the stage and curtly admonished photographers who crowded in to snap pictures.

Not very polite, Lavrov said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrives for a news conference at the Russian Embassy in Washington, May 10, 2017. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Lavrov came to the press conference straight from the White House, where he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and met with President Trump in the Oval Office. The Russian diplomat is visiting the United States to attend the Arctic Council meeting in Alaska. During his meeting with Tillerson, Lavrov mocked reporters who asked him about Trumps decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, which was announced on Tuesday evening.

Was he fired? Lavrov asked. Youre kidding! Youre kidding!

Comeys removal has generated criticism since the FBI is investigating contacts between members of the Trump campaign and Russian officials. At the press conference after Lavrov left the White House, Yahoo News asked the Russian foreign minister if he was happy to see Comey go (the FBI was one of the agencies that concluded Moscow intervened in the election and the bureau has continued to probe the question). Lavrov suggested it is a routine matter for officials to be removed from their posts.

This is a question that has nothing to do with my authority, Lavrov said of Comey. I can give you lots of examples when, in Russia, in France, in Great Britain, people are appointed, then dismissed. That is your internal issue.

President Obama levied sanctions against Russia in December as a response to what the U.S. intelligence community concluded was Moscows meddling in the presidential race. These sanctions included Russian diplomats being ordered to leave the country and the seizure of some diplomatic facilities. Lavrov said he did not discuss these sanctions at the White House, though he described the issue of Russias diplomatic property as a priority and said he is confident Trump views the sanctions as illegal.

It is clear that the outgoing Obama administration undertook very pitiful dirty tricks against our diplomats and our property, Lavrov said. Our diplomats were ordered to get out of the country and they were given only 24 hours to do that. I believe that everyone understands in Trumps administration that these are illegal actions.

After Obama levied the sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would hold off retaliating until Trump took office in January in order to get a sense of the new administrations policies towards Moscow. Trump praised Putins decision as a great move. In Washington, Lavrov reiterated Russias desire not to be hasty with any retaliation, but indicated it is still a possibility.

As of now, we decided not to be hasty with retaliation because President Putin doesnt want to follow the lead of those who are trying to poison our relations to the point of no return, said Lavrov. Our American partners are aware of our position. They know about our right to retaliate.  We wouldnt want to use this right and we do hope well be able to settle the situation without deteriorating our relations even further.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a news conference at the Russian Embassy in Washington, May 10, 2017. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Lavrov repeatedly blasted the Obama administrations relationship with Russia. He said Obamas White House bent over backwards to undermine the solid foundation of our relations and right now we have to start from a very low level of our relations. Lavrov described the Trump administration as taking a more businesslike, fruitful approach and said his deputies will be regularly in communication with Tillersons.

We agreed to continue using this channel to address the irritants that were artificially introduced into our relations, Lavrov said.

Lavrov predicted this approach could lead to solutions on several major international issues including the war in Syria. He said Syria was discussed in great detail during his White House visit and that America and Russia have a common understanding that establishing safe zones for civilians would be a positive step in that conflict. Russia signed a deal with Iran and Turkey to establish four safe zones that went into effect earlier this month, but questions remain about exactly how the plan will be enforced and monitored.

Russia is allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been accused of multiple atrocities, including a chemical attack last month that left dozens of civilians dead. Assads regime is fighting rebel forces, including the jihadist group ISIS. Obama repeatedly called for Assad to step down and provided training and equipment to certain factions of the Syrian rebels, but avoided direct military action. The Trump administration, which responded to the chemical attack with a cruise-missile barrage against a Syrian airbase, has sent conflicting messages about ousting Assad. Lavrov said Russia believes the focus should be on eliminating extremist groups in Syria.

We need to prevent it from turning into the hotbed of extremism, of instability. We need to prevent the development of such a scenario as evolved in Iraq and Libya, Lavrov said, later adding, When we are talking about the Syrian settlement, why dont we try to learn from our mistakes.  Why dont we try to focus on the settlement rather than on ousting a certain person?

In general, Lavrov suggested the Trump administration and Russia are moving forward on plans improve the relationship between the two countries and resolve the conflict in Syria and other pressing international issues.

We wont be able to address all the problems overnight, it is obvious. But there is a desire to move in the direction of a settlement to all these problems, Lavrov said. President Trump clearly stated his intention to build businesslike, pragmatic relations with Russia.

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Natalia Shurmina YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) - A Russian court on Thursday gave a suspended three and a half year jail sentence to a blogger who was detained after he played the Pokemon Go video game inside a Russian Orthodox church last year. Ruslan Sokolovsky was found guilty of inciting religious hatred after posting a video on YouTube where he is seen playing Pokemon Go on his cell phone in the church. In the video, which contains strong language mocking Christianity, Sokolovsky likens Jesus Christ to a Pokemon character and says he had decided to play the popular game inside the church because he had seen a news report saying people who did so could be fined or jailed. The video garnered more than 1.9 million views, and Sokolovsky was temporarily confined to a pre-trial detention centre. The court in the Urals region city of Yekaterinburg also sentenced 22-year-old Sokolovsky to 160 hours of compulsory community service and told him not to show up in public places. "I'm content. I won't play Pokemon, it's already out of fashion," Sokolovsky said after the sentencing. His lawyer said Sokolovsky was unlikely to appeal Thursday's verdict. Inciting religious hatred is the same charge used to prosecute the Pussy Riot punk band in 2012 when they staged a cathedral protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Two of the band were given two-year jail sentences. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined comment on Thursday when asked by reporters about the court's decision. Sokolovsky was met by a group of young people who clapped as he left the Yekaterinburg courtroom, including one dressed as a Pokemon character. A blogger in the crowd, Danila Poperechny, told Reuters he was happy that Sokolovsky had escaped prison time but that he was disappointed that the case had been framed in terms of offending believers' feelings. Poperechny said: "The guy spent a lot of time in a temporary detention facility literally for thinking differently". (Additional reporting by Denis Dyomkin in Moscow; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Christian Lowe)
A small robot is roving around a massive U.S. nuclear waste site to gather critical samples of potential air and water contamination after an emergency was declared Tuesday.

The machine was deployed after a tunnel that stores rail cars filled with radioactive waste partially collapsed at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state.

SEE ALSO: Greenland calls on Denmark to clean up toxic waste buried in melting ice sheet

The mishap raised fears of a radiation leak at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site, though officials said there was no actual indication of a release of plutonium radiation as of 2:20 p.m. PDT.

The air- and soil-sampling robot is monitoring for any changes on the scene.

This robot is being used at Hanford right now to sample contamination in the air and on the ground. pic.twitter.com/AFOrhIbB9S  Susannah Frame (@SFrameK5) May 9, 2017

No workers were injured as a result of Tuesday's cave-in, officials said.

The robot isn't the only machine to have worked on the 500-square-mile site. A large robotic arm called the Mobile Arm Retrieval System (MARS) has been used in the past to scoop hundreds of gallons of radioactive waste from Hanford's underground storage tanks.

Hanford, which sits nearly 200 miles southeast of Seattle, was established by the Manhattan Project during World War II to make plutonium for nuclear weapons, including the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.

The site stopped producing plutonium in the late 1980s, and soon after, the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and Washington state reached a landmark agreement to clean up the site.

Yet decades later, it remains a giant nuclear scab on the landscape. The area contains about 56 million gallons of radioactive waste, most of which are stored in nearly 180 underground tanks.

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Image: department of energy

Last fall, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against the Energy Department and its contractor that says vapors escaping from nuclear waste storage tanks post a serious health risks to Hanford workers, including chest and lung pain, headaches, and difficulty breathing. The Energy Department has said there is no evidence showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

Tuesday's accident happened atop one of two rail tunnels near the site's Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant (PUREX), which sits in the middle of the Hanford site. The tunnels are each hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them. The Energy Department said two to four feet of soil collapsed over a 400-square-foot-area of one of the tunnels.

The mishap is the first real leadership test for Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who was confirmed to that position in early March.

Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State has evacuated. pic.twitter.com/5bdZkXwe8u  Dusty (@DustinGiebel) May 9, 2017

During a confirmation hearing in January, the former Texas governor and Dancing with the Stars contestant told the U.S. Senate he would prioritize cleanup efforts at Hanford, which he called "one of the most dangerous, polluted sites we have in the country."

The Energy Department in recent years has spent about $2 billion a year on cleanup work. A complete cleanup of the nuclear waste site could cost $107 billion and take until 2060 to complete, according to the latest government estimate.

Associated Press contributed reporting.
Heres a look at some of the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be tracking for you today.

Snap (SNAP) shares are sinking this morning after the parent company of the popular messaging app Snapchat reported a worse-than-expected $2.2 billion loss in its first quarterly report as a public company as user growth stalled.

Straight Path Communications (STRP) shares plunged in early trading following news that Verizon (VZ) outbid AT&T (T) to buy the 5G telecom firm in a deal valued at about $3.1 billion. Even though Verizons offer is almost double AT&Ts bid, the $184 per share price tag is still significantly below Straight Paths closing price Wednesday of just under $224 a share.

Merck (MRK) shares rose this morning after the FDA approved its cancer drug Keytruda for use with chemotherapy for patients with lung cancer.

Yum Brands (YUM) stock got a nice pop In early trading after Goldman Sachs lifted its rating on the fast-food chain to neutral from sell and raised its price target to $65 a share. The investment firm said the upgrade is based in part on the strong performance of its Taco Bell brand in the first quarter.

Whole Foods (WFM) shares gained ground after the troubled grocery chain announced its replacing five directors and named a new chair of the board and a new CFO. That news came as the company reported earnings and revenue that met estimates. It also raised its quarterly dividend by 29% and announced a new 1.25 billion stock buyback. CEO John Mackey is under pressure by activist investor Jana Partners to consider selling the company.
A shoddy study endorsed by Trump has caused an angry reaction in Mexico, which has been trying to improve its international image

Parts of Mexico have suffered horrific violence since the then president, Felipe Calderon, declared war on organized crime a decade ago. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

The headlines were as stark as they were shocking: Mexico is the second-deadliest country in the world.

According to an annual survey by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Mexico in 2016 was more violent than war zones such as Afghanistan or Yemen, with a death toll surpassed only by that of Syria.

The study was widely reported, and even Donald Trump  who has often used Americas southern neighbour as a political punching bag  retweeted a link to a CNN article on the report.

But the report landed with a thud in Mexico, where the government has been trying to improve the countrys international image amid a decade of drug-war violence.

Mexico is far from being one of the most violent countries in the world, the foreign and interior ministries said in a testy joint statement, which pointed out that according to UN figures, the countrys homicide rate of 16.4 murders per 100,000 residents was significantly lower than several other Latin American countries, including Brazil (25.2 murders per 100,000 residents), Venezuela (53.7 murders per 100,000 residents) and Honduras (90.4 murders per 100,000 residents).

Parts of Mexico have suffered horrific violence since the then president, Felipe Calderon, declared war on organized crime a decade ago. That struggle has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and left more than 30,000 missing.

But large swathes of the country are unaffected by drug violence, (tourism visits grew by a healthy 9% in 2016), and the suggestion that Mexico was comparable to Syria  now in its sixth year of war  infuriated Mexicans.

Many argue that the the countrys violence is fueled by US demand for illegal drugs and the black market in American firearms  neither of which are likely to be stopped by a border wall such as that proposed by Trump.

Trumps apparent endorsement of the study only added to the angry reaction in Mexico.

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I hope these morons are happy. Their idiotic report was already retweeted by @realDonald Trump, tweeted Alejandro Hope, a Mexican security analyst.



Police officers and forensic personnel work at the place where six corpses were found on a road in Mochitlan, Guerrero State, Mexico. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Violence related to organized crime is a regional phenomenon, which goes beyond the borders which Mexico shares with the United States, Guatemala and Belize, the statement said. The challenges Mexico confronts in this area cannot be isolated from the phenomena related to other jurisdictions, such as arms trafficking and demand for drugs.



Mexico has killed or captured dozens of drug bosses  such as Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, who was extradited to the United States on the eve of Trumps inauguration. Law enforcement tactics have succeeded in breaking up some cartels, in turn unleashing further violence as new crime bosses squabble for control.

According to the IISS, the bloodletting is comparable to that of a civil war. It is very rare for criminal violence to reach a level akin to armed conflict. But this has happened in the Northern Triangle of Central America (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) and, especially, Mexico, the IISS report said.

The first two months of 2017 were the most violent January and February on record, with 3,779 homicide cases registered by the authorities, the report said, adding that the more than 35,000 displaced persons, state weakness and corruption and increased militarization of gangs illustrate how Mexicos violence has reached a level akin to armed conflicts.



But analysts in Mexico cast doubt on the IISS methodology and questioned why the country was singled out in the ensuing coverage.



I have to ask myself if Brazil had declared war on organized crime  since Brazil has registered 50,000 homicides  would IISS include it in their study? asked Jorge Kawas, a Mexican security analyst.



Tom Long, a professor at the University of Reading in the UK, said: This is shoddy work and sensationalist promotion ... Equating violence around drug trafficking to a civil war is really an uneven comparison.



Latin American cities regularly occupy the lists of the worlds most murderous municipalities  along with some US cities such as St. Louis, Baltimore and Detroit.



Estimates are fuzzy, but probably half of Mexican homicides are not related to drug trafficking, Long said.


Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Hamas has arrested the suspected murderer of one of its key military commanders in Gaza, the Palestinian Islamist movement's leader said Thursday, while maintaining Israel was behind the March assassination.

The killing of Mazen Faqha in the heart of Hamas-controlled Gaza shocked the militant movement and raised fears of a fresh conflict with Israel.

"We announce that the killer and criminal that carried out the orders of the officers of the Zionist security services is in the hands of the (Hamas) security services," Ismail Haniya told journalists in Gaza City, referring to Israel.

"He has confessed to the crime."

No details were provided on the suspect's identity, though Hamas has previously suggested Palestinian collaborators had worked with Israel on the assassination.

"Punishment will be carried out against the murderer," Haniya added.

Hamas recently executed three men it accused of collaboration with Israel.

Faqha was shot dead on March 24 near his house in Gaza City.

He had been in charge of forming cells for the movement's military wing in the occupied West Bank.

Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, immediately blamed its arch-enemy Israel, with which it has fought three wars since 2008.

Israel never confirmed nor denied involvement in the killing.

Haniya's news conference was held outside Faqha's house in Gaza City and attended by his widow and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's Gaza chief.

A Hamas source said on condition of anonymity that the suspect had "participated in the morning in a reconstruction of the crime", after numerous security forces were seen in front of Faqha's home earlier in the day.

A second source said Hamas's military wing would decide "when and how vengeance (against Israel) will take place."

Reports in the Israeli media Thursday quoted unnamed defence officials as saying there were signs Hamas was stepping up attempts to carry out attacks in the occupied West Bank.

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- Offer to collaborators -

Immediately after the killing, Hamas authorities closed the only passenger crossing into Israel, while exit by sea was also banned, effectively sealing off the enclave.

Rights groups slammed the closure as collective punishment for Gazas two million residents, with those in need of medical treatment among those prevented from leaving.

The restrictions were later lifted.

On April 5, Hamas offered Israeli "collaborators" a week to turn themselves in in exchange for clemency.

A day later, it hanged three people convicted of being collaborators in cases not related to Faqha's death.

Executions in the Gaza Strip have drawn intense international criticism, though Hamas has pressed ahead.

In a separate case on Thursday, Hamas-run courts sentenced two men to death for their roles in drug smuggling.

The announcement was made at a news conference in Gaza City as authorities set fire to more than 1,000 packets of hashish and 467,000 pills they said had been seized since the beginning of the year.

Faqha was one of more than 1,000 Palestinians released from Israeli jails in an exchange deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.

According to Hamas, he formed cells for their military wing in the West Bank cities of Tubas, also where he was born, and Jenin.

It says he played an important role in major assaults, including a suicide attack in the Israeli settlement neighbourhood of Gilo in east Jerusalem in 2002 that killed 19 people.

They were part of a wave of suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis during the second intifada, or uprising, between 2000 and 2005.

Israel sentenced him to nine life sentences plus 50 years, but he was released in the 2011 deal for Shalit, an Israeli soldier Hamas had held for five years.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade, while Egypt's crossing with the enclave has also remained largely closed in recent years.
MINSK/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that de-escalation zones proposed by his ally Russia were a chance for rebels to "reconcile" with Damascus and drive out Islamist militants, but vowed to fight on calling U.N.-led peace talks fruitless. Assad pledged, in an interview with Belarusian TV Channel ONT aired on Thursday, to defend the zones and to crush, with the support of Iran and Hezbollah, those who try to breach them. Efforts over the past year to halt the six-year Syrian war have fallen flat, and a ceasefire agreed to by the government side and rebels in December was violated early on. Russia's proposal for zones took effect last week, covering areas in the west of the country and Damascus has suggested there could be a role for Russian military police. Assad said the primary aim was to protect civilians. "The second goal is to give the militants who want reconciliation with the state a chance ... to settle their cases, hand over their weapons in return for amnesty," he said. Damascus has said rebels should help drive jihadist groups out of the de-escalation zones, and sees so-called reconciliation agreements, which have involved the evacuation of rebels from besieged areas, as an alternative to peace talks. Violence reduced somewhat after the de-escalation zones were announced last week, but heavy fighting persists in some areas. Syria's opposition rejected the Russian plan, calling it a threat to the country's territorial integrity and refusing to recognize Iran as a guarantor of any ceasefire plan. Assad said he was "not tired" and would continue to fight terrorists - the government's term for all insurgents. He also said U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered strikes against a Syrian air base last month - a response to an alleged chemical attack against civilians - in order to "present his credentials" to U.S. political and lobby groups. Trump said at the time that Assad's government had gone "beyond a red line" with a poison gas attack on civilians and said his attitude toward Syria and Assad had changed. Syria denies carrying out the attack. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky and John Davison; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin and John Davison; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Former teacher and alleged kidnapper Tad Cummins estranged wife Jill Cummins did not attend his first appearance Tuesday in a federal court in Tennessee. Cummins is accused of abducting his 15-year-old former student Elizabeth Thomas, with whom he was absconding for over a month before being found April 20.

Previously, Jill made it clear she does not want to have any relationship with Cummins any more, and she filed for divorce in March, days after the alleged kidnapping. She also said the 50-year-old betrayed her by being on the run with Elizabeth.

Read: Tad Cummins And Elizabeth Thomas Found More Than A Month After Disappearance

"It's very selfish of him to have done this to us," Jill said on ABC's "Good Morning America" last month. "I do love him, but I don't trust him anymore. He's totally betrayed me."

Most recently in an interview with Inside Edition, Jill said she would not stop her two daughters from supporting their father.

I have to let them have a relationship with him, Jill told Inside Edition. I have to understand that. But they know he did wrong too and theyre standing by me 100 percent. Theyre wonderful, wonderful girls and their daddy would be proud of them for them stepping up and being there when he wasnt.

On Tuesday, Cummins appeared in the court  20 days after he was arrested in northern California. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes read out the possible penalties he faces on a charge he took Elizabeth across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity. The penalties include a minimum 10 years of jail and fines of about $250,000, the Tennessean reported quoting Holmes.

Cummins was assigned a public defender during the appearance. During the hearing, Cummins said he wanted a public defender because he could not afford an attorney, a court official told People magazine. The next hearing date is set for Friday afternoon.

Last month, after Cummins was taken into custody by law enforcement officials in Siskiyou County, California, Elizabeth was reunited with her family. The two had been on the run since their disappearance March 13. He was the teens teacher at Culleoka Unit School in Maury County, Tennessee, and prior to the alleged kidnapping he was under investigation by police and school administrators following reports from an unidentified student who claimed to have seen the two kiss in his classroom.

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Benjamin Galloway, Cummins public defender in California said his client had no history of violence and no criminal history whatsoever, and that he did not force or threaten Elizabeth. However, her family attorney Jason Whatley countered, saying the indication of Elizabeth willingly going with Cummins was amazingly absurd.

This is classic grooming and manipulation, Whatley reportedly said. And I predict this case will be studied years in the future about how authority figures like Tad Cummins can mess up young children who believe their lies and are manipulated into doing things they would never do.

Elizabeths sister, Kat Bozeman, told People, Were doing good.  Elizabeth [is] receiving treatment and were just hoping to get this court stuff behind us quickly so we can get back to a new normal.

Related Articles
Transformers: The Last Knight TV spot shows the robot-cars contributions to military history

Even in an era when every weekend seems to unleash a new larger-than-life Hollywood spectacular, no one matches Michael Bay for over-the-top action-sci-fi-fantasy insanity. As if to reassert his claim to the throne for BIG eye-popping action, this Junes Transformers: The Last Knight will fill giant screens with Autobots and Decepticons, WW II and Nazis, the King Arthur legend  plus Mark Wahlberg. New images from this steroidally geeky smorgasbord further underline just how far Bay is willing to take his robots-in-disguise mythology.

Over at Slashfilm, a new Transformers: The Last Knight poster features heroic Bumblebee leading an Allied forces charge against the Third Reich, with the tagline, Every Legend Hides a Secret. The fact that Bays latest will at least partially concern the Nazis was disclosed by earlier from-the-set snapshots (which generated some controversy). However, this one-sheet indicates the film will somehow integrate the Transformers into that momentous moment in world history  and perhaps provide a potential clue as to the creative direction of the in-the-works Bumblebee spin-off film?

As if that werent enough wild revisionist history, Slashfilm also has some new images  taken from the TV spot below, which invites us to Rethink the Past  that show various Autobots and Decepticons aiding humanitys cause long before the 1940s. It appears Transformers have battled alongside Japanese samurai warriors, and helped George Washington in his revolutionary cause. Which suggests that Bay  never one to be outdone on the outlandishness scale  is only getting started on his quest to rewrite our old classroom textbooks to accommodate Transformers.

To read more about the new images, head over to Slashfilm. Transformers: The Last Knight , starring Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Haddock, Jerrod Carmichael, Isabela Moner, and Santiago Cabrera  rolls into theaters on June 21.

Watch the Rethink the Past TV spot for Transformers: The Last Knight:

Read more from Yahoo Movies:
Each year the intelligence community puts together a "Worldwide Threat Assessment" report, and it inevitably scares the hell out of Congress and the public by detailing all the dangers facing the U.S. (Hint: there are a lot of them.)

This year's report, published Thursday and discussed at a congressional hearing, makes for particularly disquieting reading.

While it focuses on the increasing danger that North Korea's nuclear weapons program poses as well as cyberterrorism threats, one environmental concern stands out on the list: climate change.

SEE ALSO: 9-year-old girl seeks clean air for her generation, sues Indian government over pollution

According to the new report, delivered to the Senate Intelligence Committee by Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence (DNI), warns that climate change is raising the likelihood of instability and conflict around the world.

This is surprising given the Trump administration's open hostility to climate science findings.

"The trend toward a warming climate is forecast to continue in 2017," the report states, noting that 2016 was the hottest year on record worldwide. Climate scientists have firmly tied this to human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases, though the report does not make that link.

Norfolk Naval Base, the largest in the world, is experiencing flooding from sea level rise.

Image: US NAVY HAND/REX/Shutterstock

"This warming is projected to fuel more intense and frequent extreme weather events that will be distributed unequally in time and geography. Countries with large populations in coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to tropical weather events and storm surges, especially in Asia and Africa," the report states.

The report also cites worsening air pollution in urban areas around the globe, potential water resources conflicts in places like the Middle East. Interestingly, the intelligence report also says that biodiversity losses from pollution, overexploitation and other causes is "disrupting ecosystems that support life, including humans."

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"The rate of species loss worldwide Is estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than the natural background extinction rate, according to peer-reviewed scientific literature," the report states.

The findings in this report are surprising considering the Trump administration's hostility to mainstream climate science findings and policies aimed at cutting emissions of greenhouse gases that are warming the planet. Some agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Interior Department, have gone so far as to take down pages devoted to peer-reviewed scientific reports on climate change.

For example, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has said he does not believe that carbon dioxide is the main driver of global warming. This view goes against thousands of peer reviewed climate studies, as well as findings from his own agency.

However, there is a caveat in the intelligence community's assessment that lets Coats avoid being accused of aligning himself with the administration's critics in the environmental community.

"We assess national security Implications of climate change but do not adjudicate the science of climate change," the report states. In other words, "We're just telling you what's happening, not why it's happening."

Waves batter the sea wall and the lighthouse at Porthcawl, south Wales as storm Doris hits the UK in February 2017.

Image: Huw Evans/REX/Shutterstock

"In assessing these Implications, we rely on US government-coordinated scientific reports, peer reviewed literature, and reports produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which Is the leading International body responsible for assessing the science related to climate change."

Past intelligence and Defense Department assessments have also warned of potentially severe blowback from global warming. For example, a 2016 report from the National Intelligence Council (NIC), which advises the DNI, found that extreme weather events have growing implications for humans, which suggest[s] that climate-change related disruptions are well underway."

That report also stated that climate change will cause growing security risks for the U.S. during the next several years. It was the first major intelligence review to cast climate change as a present-day security challenge, rather than a distant, far-off threat.

The military is already experiencing global warming impacts at its bases, particularly the Navy, which is dealing with sea level rise at its facilities.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House in Washington. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

In the latest twist to President Trumps refusal to release his tax returns, he speculated in a new interview that he might publicize them after he leaves office, seemingly undercutting his long-stated reason that he is unable to release them because he is under audit.

During the interview, published Thursday by the Economist, the magazine asked Trump a if he would consider releasing his tax returns in exchange for Democratic support for his tax reform plan. Maintaining that nobody cares about his tax returns except for the reporters, Trump floated the possibility he would release them after his presidency ends.

Maybe Ill release them after Im finished because Im very proud of them, actually, Trump said. I did a good job.

The White Houses official reason for Trump not releasing his tax returns is that hes under a years-long audit, which is also the reason the candidate gave during the campaign. An IRS rule mandates presidents are audited every year, and previous presidents have released their returns anyway.

Before Trump, all major party nominees in modern political history have also released their tax returns, and the celebrity businessman-turned-political candidate initially indicated he would follow precedent before reversing himself.

In the Economist interview, Hope Hicks, the White House director of strategic communication, jumped into the conversation to reinforce Trumps stated reason for not releasing his returns.

Once the audit is over, she added, after Trumps quip about releasing the documents after his presidency is finished.

Then Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin piped up, attempting to veer the conversation back to Democratic support of the White House tax plan. But the president cut in, returning to the subject of his tax returns.

By the way, so as you know Im under routine audit, so theyre not going to be done, Trump said. But you know, at a certain point, thats something I will consider. But I would never consider it as part of a deal.

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Repeating his assertion that his tax returns are important only to journalists, the interviewer pressed Trump, pointing out the Democratic lawmakers have also called for their release. (They argue that the documents are needed to see Trumps potential conflicts of interest abroad. Polls also show that the public broadly supports the disclosure.)

Well, dont forget I got elected without it, Trump said. Somebody said, Oh, but you have to do it. I said, Look where I am.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
President Trump speaks aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford in March. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

President Trump says the United States must not only defeat ISIS, but it also must humiliate the terror group in order to dissuade young Americans from joining it.

We have to humiliate the enemy, Trump said in a wide-ranging interview in Time magazine published Thursday. And if we dont humiliate them, were going to have our kids continuing to go and fight for ISIS. We have kids leaving this country because theyre so damned good at the Internet, ISIS, theyre better at the Internet than Google.

You know its a smart enemy, believe it or not, the president also said. And these kids are going over and fighting.

Last year, U.S. law enforcement officials estimated that about 250 Americans had tried to join ISIS  though most of them never left the United States. But a few dozen of those American recruits have made the trip to ISISs heartland in Syria and Iraq, NBC News reported in May 2016.

Meanwhile, Trump says hes been getting very good marks in foreign policy so far.

People would not think of me in that light, he told Time. Im just saying, and you read the same things I read. Im getting As and A+s on foreign policy. And nobody thought about it.

Related: Trump on health care: Actually, its a very interesting subject

Trump highlighted the missile strike against Syria as one of his chief foreign policy accomplishments.

I think we have to be a strong nation. I think we were being laughed at by the world. Theyre not laughing anymore, Trump said of the military action taken against Syrian President Bashar Assad in response to his governments use of chemical weapons against civilians in rebel-held areas.

When I saw that, I thought it was incredible, Trump said. And then [Assad] called them child actors, and that was even, that was just a terrible disrespect. I mean when he actually said they were child actors, who would even think of that? But I felt something had to be done.

Trump also took full credit for pressuring Americas NATO allies to increase their spending on defense. In his February speech to a joint session to Congress, Trump said that based on our very strong and frank discussions, members of the alliance were beginning increase their defense spending, even though some had agreed to do so before Trumps election.

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You know weve gotten billions of dollars more in NATO than what were getting. All because of me, Trump told Time. I mean its not like a bragging thing, Im just saying. If Hillary Clinton would have gotten in, she wouldnt even know that were getting screwed by everybody.

Describing a conversation with a naval officer, Trump boasted about his military acumen in telling the Navy what kind of catapults to use in its new Ford-class carriers:

You know the catapult is quite important. So I said, What is this? Sir, this is our digital catapult system. He said, Well, were going to this because we wanted to keep up with modern [technology]. I said, You dont use steam anymore for catapult? No sir. I said, Ah, how is it working? Sir, not good. Not good. Doesnt have the power. You know the steam is just brutal. You see that sucker going and steams going all over the place, theres planes thrown in the air.

It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And its very complicated, you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And I said  and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said, What system are you going to be? Sir, were staying with digital. I said, No youre not. You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and its no good.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Ankara (AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday urged the United States to reverse a decision on arming Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers terrorists, saying he would raise the issue in talks with Donald Trump next week.

The Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) militia applauded a "historic" move that would speed up the defeat of Islamic State (IS) extremists but the issue risks stoking tensions between the two NATO allies ahead of Erdogan's critical visit to Washington.

The YPG is seen by Washington as the best ally against Islamic State group jihadists in Syria and the prime attacking force in any upcoming assault on their stronghold of Raqa.

But Ankara regards the YPG as a terror group and the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which since 1984 has waged an insurgency inside Turkey leaving tens of thousands dead.

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," Erdogan said in Ankara alongside Sierra Leone counterpart Ernest Bai Koroma.

"I will personally express our worries in a detailed way when we talk with President Trump on May 16," he added, saying the issue would also be discussed at the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25.

"We want to believe that our allies would prefer be side by side with ourselves rather than with the terror groups," he added.

Erdogan's statement capped a day of alarmed comments by Turkish officials, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying that "every weapon that turns up in their hands is a threat directed toward Turkey".

- 'Informed in advance' -

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis sought to allay Turkish concerns, saying at a news conference in Lithuania the US would work very closely with Turkey over security on its border with Syria.

"We have very open discussions about options and we will work together, we will work out any of the concerns," he said.

In a surprise announcement, the Pentagon had said Trump had authorised the arming of Kurdish fighters within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) "to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqa".

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The YPG hailed the move as "historic" and said it would now play "a more influential, powerful, and decisive role" in fighting IS.

YPG spokesman Redur Xelil described the move as "somewhat late", but would still "provide a strong impetus" to all forces fighting IS.

The SDF, a US-backed group dominated by YPG but which also contains Arab elements, said that receiving US arms and military equipment would "hasten the defeat" of the jihadists.

It remains to be seen what shadow the issue will cast over the talks between Trump and Erdogan, which have been touted as chance to forge a new partnership between the two NATO allies.

While the government expressed predictable anger, the deputy head of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ozturk Yilmaz said it should go even further by postponing Erdogan's visit to the US

The timing of the announcement was especially delicate as a high-level Turkish delegation including Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Turkey's spy chief Hakan Fidan had been in the US laying the groundwork for the meeting.

According to the New York Times, the delegation was informed of the decision to arm the YPG by Trump's national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

Turkish media said the three met McMaster at the White House on Monday but gave no details over the content of the talks.

Both Washington and Brussels classify the PKK as a terror group but do not regard the YPG as such.
TASHKENT (Reuters) - The U.N.'s human rights chief urged Uzbekistan on Thursday to avoid "repressive policies" in its fight against Islamist radicalization, a growing threat throughout Central Asia, while welcoming a rapprochement with Tashkent. Zeid Raad Al Hussein, the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Uzbekistan since the post was created in 1993, said the former Soviet republic had agreed to work with his office after previously refusing to do so. Commenting on President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's reform plans, which include an overhaul of the judicial system and measures to tackle religious extremism, Hussein said it was crucial to balance the latter with ensuring individual rights. "As in other countries, I have emphasized that the answer to the risk of radicalization is not simply heavy-handed security measures and repressive policies which breed resentment and frustration, thereby making it easier for extremists to recruit new supporters," he said. President Islam Karimov, who died in September after 27 years in power, had been widely criticized for his government's human rights violations, and Tashkent's ties with the West hit their lowest point after troops violently suppressed unrest in the city of Andijan in 2005. Hussein, describing the Andijan events as "terrible", told a briefing: "While it is important to look forward, it also important to come to terms with past events and ensure that victims are not forgotten and their grievances are addressed." Hussein said he had had an hour-and-a-half meeting with Mirziyoyev, "in which we found much common ground and reached agreements on a number of concrete steps". Uzbekistan found itself in global security spotlight after an Uzbek man living in Sweden was identified as the main suspect behind the deadly truck attack in Stockholm last month. Hundreds of Uzbeks are also believed to have joined the Islamic State militant group based in Syria and Iraq. (Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Louise Ireland)
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations still has a million questions about a Syria deal struck last week by Russia, Turkey and Iran, with aid convoys almost totally stalled despite a reported reduction in the fighting, a U.N. aid official said on Thursday. "Russia and Turkey and Iran explained to us today and yesterday ... that they will work very openly, proactively, with United Nations and humanitarian partners to implement this agreement," U.N. Syria humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland told reporters. "We do have a million questions and concerns but I think we don't have the luxury that some have, of this distant cynicism, and saying it will fail. We need this to succeed." The three-country deal on de-escalation zones was signed last week in the Kazakh capital Astana, with a goal of resolving operational issues, such as how to police the zones, within two weeks and of mapping them out by June 4. U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said he was convening what he called "rather business-like, rather short" peace talks in Geneva from May 16-19 to take advantage of the momentum. The political weight of the signatories and the staggered timing of the deal gave it a strong chance of working. The alternative would be "another 10 Aleppos", he said, referring to Syria's second city which fell to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in December after years of fighting. A key aspect of the Astana deal was that it was an "interim" arrangement to address urgent issues, not a permanent partition of Syria, he said. De Mistura said the Astana talks had also made rapid progress on agreements covering prisoner releases and de-mining, and both were almost complete. Egeland said he could point to one concrete result from Astana: the reported reduction in fighting and aerial attacks. But aid convoys were only being allowed in at the rate of one per week, with no permission letters coming from the government. Although some recent local surrenders meant the number of people who were hard to reach with aid had fallen by 10 percent to 4.5 million, a further 625,000 were besieged - 80 percent of them by forces loyal to Assad, he said. (Reporting by Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay)
Tabqa (Syria) (AFP) - US-backed fighters hunted for jihadist holdouts in Syria's Tabqa on Thursday after overrunning the city and nearby dam in a step forward for their advance on Islamic State group stronghold Raqa.

The Syrian Democratic Forces scored one of their biggest victories against IS jihadists as controversy intensified over a US decision to arm the alliance's Kurdish component.

The SDF was conducting clearance operations after seizing Tabqa and the nearby dam on Wednesday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"The SDF were able to deploy onto the dam itself during the night," the Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman said. "But civilians are still unable to enter some parts of Tabqa because of explosives" left by IS.

The US military command in the Middle East, Centcom, confirmed the "liberation" of Tabqa.

"The SDF's increased pressure on ISIS from each flank allowed it to... clear the final neighbourhoods of the city and isolate Tabqa dam," said Centcom, referring to IS.

The Arab-Kurdish alliance accepted IS's surrender to protect civilians and the dam, it said, adding "the coalition tracked fleeing fighters and targeted those that could be safely hit".

Situated on the Euphrates River about 55 kilometres (35 miles) upstream from Raqa, Tabqa is a key waypost in the operation to capture the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital.

Operation Wrath of the Euphrates has seen the SDF capture large swathes of territory north of Raqa and at their closest point its fighters are just eight kilometres (five miles) from the city.

It is now working to tighten the noose before a final assault.

- Celebrations in Tabqa -

The battle for Tabqa was marked by fears that fighting could damage the nearby dam -- Syria's largest -- with the potential for catastrophic flooding.

Technicians fled the dam as fighting intensified in recent days, a source who works closely with them told AFP.

Story continues

A repair team was on standby on Thursday, awaiting permission from the SDF, which was still clearing mines, to enter and assess any damage to the structure.

An AFP correspondent saw SDF fighters distributing sweets to their comrades as they celebrated at the dam overlooking Lake Assad, a large reservoir created by the facility in the 1970s.

The SDF is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), seen by the US as an indispensable ally in the fight against IS but considered a "terrorist group" by Turkey.

YPG video footage on Thursday showed half a dozen fighters and youths dancing in Tabqa, and children calling out excitedly: "The dam has been liberated".

Washington has stepped up its support for the YPG in recent days, announcing it would arm the Kurdish fighters in a break with its previous policy of arming only the SDF's Arab fighters.

The move has infuriated NATO ally Ankara.

The US-led coalition said a first consignment of weapons was already in place for delivery and could be dispatched to the Kurds "very quickly".

The arms include heavy machineguns to be used against IS truck bombs, mortars, small arms and ammunition, as well as armoured vehicles and equipment to detect landmines, said coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian.

"Every single one of these weapons that are being provided to our partner force, we intend to account for them, and to ensure that they are pointed at ISIS," he added.

- Turkey slams US 'mistake' -

But Washington's reassurances failed to assuage Ankara, which regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

"YPG and PKK are both terror groups, there is no difference at all between them. They only have different names," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

On Thursday, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in London, although it was not immediately clear if they discussed the arming of the YPG.

The issue is set to dominate talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his American counterpart Donald Trump next week, the first meeting between the two heads of state.

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," Erdogan said.

Meanwhile, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad described five rounds of peace talks held in Geneva so far as a "media event" whose aim was to get concessions out of his government, according to official media.

In fighting elsewhere on Thursday, government forces gained ground in the capital's Qabun district, as the regime presses efforts to push insurgents into an evacuation deal and to clear Damascus of armed groups, the Observatory said.
Beirut (AFP) - A US-backed alliance on Wednesday captured Syria's Tabqa and its nearby dam from the Islamic State group, a day after Washington said it would arm the force's Kurdish fighters.

Turkey slammed the US decision to arm the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers terrorists but which Washington sees as an indispensable ally in the fight against IS.

The issue risks stoking tensions between the two countries less than week before US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet for the first time as heads of state.

The YPG makes up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which on Wednesday scored a major victory against IS in the Syrian city of Tabqa.

The SDF said it had "completely liberated" Tabqa and the adjacent dam after weeks of fierce fighting.

"The combing operations are ongoing to ensure that the city is clear," said spokesman Talal Sello.

Tabqa sits on the Euphrates River as well as a strategic supply route about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa, the Syrian heart of IS's so-called caliphate.

The UN has warned damage to the Tabqa dam -- Syria's largest -- could lead to massive flooding, and a source who works with the dam's technicians said they had fled the structure as fighting drew near in recent days.

"Tomorrow (Thursday), the teams will assess the dam and the level of damage caused by the clashes," the source told AFP.

- 'Immediately' reverse decision -

Warplanes from the US-led coalition have pounded Tabqa and nearby IS positions for weeks as part of the SDF's flagship offensive for Raqa.

The YPG said the US's "historic" decision to begin providing it with weapons and other equipment would speed up its assault on IS positions.

Spokesman Redur Xelil said the move was "somewhat late", but would still "provide a strong impetus" to forces fighting IS.

But this sparked ire from Turkey, which regards the YPG as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which since 1984 has waged an insurgency inside Turkey, leaving tens of thousands dead.

Story continues

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," said Erdogan.

"I will personally express our worries in a detailed way when we talk with President Trump on May 16," he added, saying NATO's Brussels summit on May 25 would also tackle the issue.

In a surprise announcement, the Pentagon said Trump had authorised the arming of the SDF's Kurds "to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqa".

Until Tuesday, official US policy was to supply weapons only to the Arab components of the SDF -- never to its Kurds.

A first consignment of weapons is already in place for delivery and could be dispatched to the Kurds "very quickly," said US Colonel John Dorrian, a military spokesman for the US-led coalition.

The dispute over arming Syria's Kurds poisoned ties between the two NATO allies under the administration of former president Barack Obama but Ankara had hoped for smoother ties under Trump.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it was "out of the question" for Turkey to accept any direct or indirect help for the PKK.

"The United States and Turkey are two major partners in NATO. We don't believe America would choose a terror group over our strategic relations," he said.

- 'Only different names' -

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis sought to allay Turkish concerns, saying the US would "work out any concerns" with Turkey over security on its Syrian border.

It remains to be seen what shadow the issue will cast over upcoming talks between Trump and Erdogan, touted as chance to forge a new partnership between the two sides.

While the government expressed predictable anger, the deputy head of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ozturk Yilmaz said it should go even further by postponing Erdogan's visit to the US.

A high-level Turkish delegation including Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and spy chief Hakan Fidan had been in the US laying the groundwork for the meeting.

According to the New York Times, the delegation was informed of the decision to arm the YPG by Trump's national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

Turkish media said the three met McMaster at the White House on Monday but gave no details over the content of the talks.

Both Washington and Brussels classify the PKK as a terror group but do not regard the YPG as such.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the two were one and the same.

"YPG and PKK are both terror groups, there is no difference at all between them. They only have different names," he said.

Turkey has said it is keen to join the battle for Raqa on condition the offensive excludes the YPG, which Ankara has targeted with air strikes and artillery.

Last month, Erdogan said if Turkey and the US joined forces, they could turn Raqa into a "graveyard" for jihadists.

Meanwhile, Trump received Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the White House on Wednesday and called on Moscow to reign in its ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Vermont lawmakers on Wednesday approved a measure to legalise recreational use of marijuana, which if not vetoed by the governor would make the state the ninth to legalise the drug and the first to do so by legislation rather than ballot initiative.

The U.S. state's House of Representatives voted 79-66 for the measure, which was attached to a bill increasing penalties for the possession and sale of the opioid drug fentanyl. The measure, which would take effect in July 2018 and allow adults 21 and over to buy and use the drug, was passed by the state Senate last week in a 20-9 vote.

A spokeswoman for Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, said he would need to consider the details of the legislation before deciding whether to sign, veto or let it pass into law without his signature.

Read more

Mexico approves legalising medical marijuana

On the issue of legalising marijuana, the Governor has said he is not philosophically opposed, but we must ensure certain public safety and health questions are answered, Scott spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley said in an e-mail.

The Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalisation group that had backed the measure for multiple years, applauded the vote,

Vermont lawmakers made history today, said Matt Simon, the group's New England political director. It's time for Vermont to move forward with a more sensible marijuana policy.

Opponents blasted passage of the measure and urged Scott to veto it.

This is about opening the doors to a new addictive industry being funded by Big Tobacco that will instal retail pot shops in Vermont neighbourhoods, said Kevin Sabel, president of anti-pot group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. We will continue to give a voice to parents, and public health and safety experts to encourage Governor Scott to choose people over profit and veto this harmful legislation.

Neighbouring Massachusetts and nearby Maine have also legalised the drug, doing so after statewide ballot initiatives showed that a majority of voters approved the idea. That was not an option in Vermont, where state law does not allow for ballot measures of that kind.

Story continues

Lawmakers in nearby Rhode Island are contemplating a similar measure.

Approval of the legislation comes at a time that many public health advocates are focusing on the problems caused by rising rates of addition to opioid painkillers including heroin and fentanyl, which has been blamed for soaring numbers of overdose deaths.

Democrats control both houses of the Vermont legislature.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in February that federal anti-marijuana laws might be ramped up.

Reuters
Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump's administration was left red-faced Thursday after the Moscow surprised it by releasing pictures of a closed-door meeting between the US president and Russia's top diplomat.

The images -- issued by the Russian state news agency TASS, and subsequently published by much of the global media -- showed a grinning Trump shaking hands with Sergei Lavrov and the Russian ambassador in Washington, Sergei Kislyak, during an Oval Office meeting.

That Wednesday meeting was already being seen as a major diplomatic coup for the Kremlin, a red carpet welcome just months after being hit with US sanctions for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Veteran diplomats questioned why Trump agreed to host the diplomats -- a rare honor for non-heads of state, much less for those at the center of major US political scandal.

US administrations often treat Oval Office meetings as a type of currency, dangling the prospect of a high-profile sit-down to gain leverage or concessions in negotiations.

But the emergence of photos compounded the perception that Russia had won a diplomatic victory and that the Trump White House was outmaneuvered.

"Congrats Kollegi (colleagues) at getting these photos! Huge coup," said former US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul.

Publicly, the White House put on a brave face.

Trump "should be meeting with the foreign minister," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, lambasting critics.

"For them to try to attack him for doing his job, maybe they should spend a little more time doing their jobs and we wouldn't have all the problems that we do."

Privately though White House officials seethed at what they described as a breach of trust.

- Cyber-risks -

Officials said that Vladimir Putin had requested the meeting, a quid-pro-quo for his recent face-to-face with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Moscow.

The White House was told an official Russian photographer would be present, implying the images would be for the historical record and not necessarily made public.

Story continues

"Our official photographer and their official photographer were present, that's it," said one aide shortly after the meeting.

But when the images were published across the world via state media, the White House raged that Moscow had misled them.

Two officials admitted they were not told that the images would be made public.

Asked whether the Russian delegation informed the White House that they planned to release the photos, one official said tersely: "No they did not."

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, writing on Facebook, countered: "The American side did not ask us to refrain from publishing these photographs."

The photographer involved -- Alexandr Scherbak -- also took to Facebook to address what he called the "hysteria around my photoshoot," which raised hackles among US media denied access to the meeting.

"There was nothing unusual about the photoshoot," he said, adding that the images were taken as part of a regular collaborative deal between his employer, TASS, and the Russian foreign ministry.

"I was scanned, patted down, and then sniffed by canines," he said. "We worked for just a minute and that's all."

Former US intelligence officials have suggested allowing a Russian photographer access to the Oval Office could pose a potential cyber-security risk, and the director of the National Security Agency, Admiral Mike Rogers, was grilled on the subject by the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday.

Rogers told the hearing he had not been consulted beforehand.

The Oval Office pictures could hardly have come at a worse time for Trump, deepening suspicions that he is too cozy with Putin's government.

His campaign faces a slew of investigations about whether it colluded with the Kremlin to derail Hillary Clinton's presidential bid.

The Lavrov meeting came just hours after Trump fired his FBI director James Comey, the man responsible for investigating the allegations of collusion between his team and Russia.

The embarrassment was compounded by Ambassador Kislyak's presence. He is at the center of a series of questions about contacts between Trump's inner circle and the Russian government.

Michael Flynn's failure to disclose meetings with Kislyak eventually led to his departure as national security advisor and made the Russian diplomat a virtual household name.

"I could have done without the attention" Kislyak told AFP recently.

The White House later released its own pictures from the meeting, which did not feature Kislyak.

Related:

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A passenger aboard a United Airlines flight claims she was forced to urinate in a cup because attendants told her she couldn't leave her seat with the "fasten seatbelt" sign turned on. The airline says it is now investigating the April incident.

Kansas City resident Nicole Harper, a mother of two children, told CBS affiliate KCTV that she was humiliated in front of other passengers during the United Airlines flight from Houston to Kansas City. Harper claims she suffers from an overactive bladder and had already gotten up to use the restroom when the plane hit turbulence and a flight attendant told her she had to return to her seat.

When Harper, who was traveling with her family, explained that the situation was an emergency and that she needed to urinate, the flight attendant allegedly handed Harper a plastic cup. Her husband reportedly helped her fill two cups with urine before an airline official demanded she empty the cups in the lavatory, threatened her and shamed her in front of the flights other passengers.

It's a little embarrassing to come forward, she told KCTV.

Harper said the incident occurred during drink service approximately 30 minutes into the flight. In a statement to International Business Times, the airline said it happened during descent.

Other passengers had gotten up from their seats, Harper claims, and she was ready for her turn to use the restroom when the attendant told me very rudely it was not allowed to get out of my seat.

Well, I'm going to need a cup then, Harper reportedly told the attendant.

Harper told KCTV that she was wearing a dress that allowed her to squat over the seat and use a cup. Her husband helped her fill two. Harper says the incident was humiliating.

Read: United CEO Responds To David Dao Incident As New Video Surfaces

I was thinking I was on candid camera or being punked at this point, she told KCTV. She said that after the attendant made her stand up and empty the cups, the individual told Harper they would report her, that shed have to speak to the pilot upon landing and that the seat would have to be cleaned by a biohazard team.

Story continues

Customer safety is always our first priority, United Airlines told IBT in a statement. Initial reports from the Mesa Airlines flight attendants indicate that Ms. Harper attempted to visit the lavatory on descent and was instructed to remain seated with the seat belt fastened per FAA regulations. At no point during the flight did flight attendants suggest that Ms. Harper use cups instead of the lavatory. We have reached out to Ms. Harper to better understand what occurred and we continue to review what happened.

This most recent incident occurred on the heels of the controversial incident involving Dr. David Dao, who was injured and bloodied after being pulled off an overbooked United flight. Cellphone video of Dao dragged off the overbooked flight went viral and the carrier later made a public apology.

Dao and United Airlines reached an amicable settlement April 27 for an undisclosed amount.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

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Just over three months ago, I wrote about the benefits of a rebound vacation. Little did I know Id soon be using my very own advice to cope with the end of a casual yet yearlong relationship. A day after splitsville I packed my bags, then left the next morning for the Dominican Republic, along with six other press members, for three days of soul-searching, recharging and occasionally drowning my sorrows in the enchanting town of Punta Cana. Stepping away to reflect in that moment of heartbreak was key. Ahead, how to achieve your own post-breakup jump-startpro tip: a tropical backdrop doesnt hurt.
Microsofts (MSFT) Build developers conference this week is showcasing the companys latest offerings for developers. And while much of that can go right over consumers heads, the company provided at least one instance of how its technology can change peoples lives.

U.K. native Emma Lawton was 29 years old when she was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. A progressive disorder of the nervous system, Parkinsons is commonly recognized by its tendency to cause tremors in those with the disease.

As a creative director, Lawton, now 33, wanted to outline her ideas on paper, but her Parkinsons kept her from being able to even draw a straight line.

I dont have to be hands-on, Lawton explained, but its really important for me to be able to draw and write and communicate my ideas to clients.

Thats where Haiyan Zhang comes in. The innovation director of Microsoft Research in Cambridge, Zhang was tasked with helping Lawton regain her ability to write and draw again as part of a BBC documentary called The Big Life Fix.

I went in not really knowing a lot about Parkinsons, and sort of learned on the fly, read a lot of academic papers into this disease, and then, working with some collaborators in the lab, we developed a lot of prototypes, Zhang explained.

The result of their research is a bracelet that uses Microsofts machine learning technology to help counteract the impact of Lawtons tremors on her hand. Using tiny motors that send pulses through her wrist, the bracelet has given Lawton the ability to draw again.

Its beyond anything I can ever express properly in words, she said. And I was starting to think, Im going to have to do something else, because you cant be a creative director and not sketch or do things that youd expect other people to do, it feels sort of wrong.

So now I have basically control over my own future, which is a massive deal. But also simply being able to write my name is an amazing thing, I take great pride in it. Its really, really exciting, Lawton added.

Story continues

According to Zhang, Lawtons bracelet wirelessly communicates with a tablet app that Lawton can program to vibrate in specific patterns that interfere with her tremors.

As Microsoft tells it, the system uses a combination of sensors and AI techniques that can potentially detect and monitor tremors, stiffness and instability in a user.

When a symptom is identified, the company says its possible to develop technology and devices that help humans manage their symptoms. AI is used to classify the sensor information and elicit real-time responses on small devices like wearables.

While Zhang says that Microsoft isnt sure why the bracelet works quite yet, she explained that it could be short-circuiting Lawtons perception of her tremors so her brain doesnt actively fight them.

Zhang said she and Microsoft are currently using the device, which they have appropriately dubbed Emma to conduct research into whether it can help other Parkinsons patients.

Lawtons bracelet isnt a cure-all for Parkinsons. The disease has a variety of different effects on peoples lives. While Lawtons wearable helps here, it might not help other individuals.

Whats more, the Emma is only able to control tremors in Lawtons hand, so she continues to need medication to help mitigate the impact of the disease on the rest of her body.

Still, the hope is that with time, Microsoft can use the Emma to reduce the impact of the disease on sufferers and help restore a semblance of normalcy to their lives.

More from Dan:

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
By Dustin Volz and Jim Finkle WASHINGTON/TORONTO (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials told a Congressional committee on Thursday they are reviewing government use of software from Russia's Kaspersky Lab as senators raised concerns that Moscow might use the product to attack American computer networks. National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers told a Senate committee that he was personally involved in monitoring the Kaspersky issue, but did not elaborate. We are tracking Kaspersky and their software, said Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart. ABC News and Buzzfeed News this week reported U.S. officials were increasingly concerned that Russian spies might seek to use Kaspersky computer-security software to spy on Americans or sabotage key U.S. systems. ABC said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a secret report on the matter in February and that the FBI was investigating Kaspersky Lab's relationship to the Russian government, citing unnamed sources. Reuters was not able to verify the claims, which Kaspersky Lab denied in a statement: As a private company, Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyber espionage efforts." Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said at Thursday's Senate hearing on global security threats that lawmakers were very concerned about Kaspersky Labs and asked intelligence officials if they could confirm they did not have Kaspersky software on their networks.\ We are tracking Kaspersky and their software, Stewart said. There is as far as I know no Kaspersky software on our networks, though he added it was more difficult to assess whether the same could be said for intelligence contractors. Marco Rubio, Republican Senator from Florida, asked the chiefs of the NSA, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, DIA and two other intelligence agencies if they would be comfortable using Kaspersky products. All said no. Eugene Kaspersky, the company's founder and chief executive, said in a question-and-answer session on the website Reddit that he would be happy to testify before the Senate to assuage their concerns about his company's products. I respectfully disagree with their opinion, and Im very sorry these gentlemen cant use the best software on the market because of political reasons, he said. (Reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington and Jim Finkle in Toronto; Editing by Chris Reese)
1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process.

2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

Vote

View Results
By Shamim Natebwa

Kampala lord mayor Erias Lukwago has advised the Minister for Kampala to focus on matters concerning development rather than governance law aimed at scraping the lord mayors power.

Lukwago says that most of the civil works at Kampala Capital City Authority has been stalled because of governments failure to honour its obligation of compensating the project-affected people which is 10% of the project cost.

He cites the Bakuli Nakulabye Kasubi road whose construction deadline was March this year, but failure to raise compensation money has stalled the project.
By Benjamin Jumbe

President Yoweri Museveni has told a London Conference on Somalia that it is not enough to check Al-Shabaab.

The International Conference on Somalia taking place at Lancaster House in London is focused mainly on the situation in Somalia and the conflict in South Sudan.

President Museveni has told the Heads of State and Government from across East Africa and other key partners, that Somalia must be helped to heal completely and stand on its own feet.

He however cites a number of a number of bottlenecks that stop the complete healing of Somalia which include the absence of patriotic, pan-Somali political parties.

He also pointed to the short term issue of the drought, calling for urgent provision of relief so that the suffering people of Somalia do not die from this additional problem.

Earlier today president Museveni met and held bilateral talks with United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May at the sidelines of the Conference.

The conflict in South Sudan has generated close to a million refugees with Uganda hosting over 700,000 refugees from South Sudan.
By Benjamin Jumbe

The State minister for Kampala Benny Namugwanya has refuted allegation that the KCCA amendment bill intends to trim powers of the lord mayor.

The minister tabled the KCCA Amendment Bill 2015 in parliament this week with the speaker sending it to the presidential affairs committee.

Namugwanya says the amendment is intended to have government take charge of the city through the minister as provided for in article 5 of the constitution.

If the amendment is passed in its current status the lord mayors role shall be to receive dignitaries and promoting tourism.

The minister has assured the people of Kampala that they will remain with their right to vote for the lord mayor.
No

Yes, a light case

Yes, two or more light cases

One serious case

Two or more serious bouts

Vote

View Results
For West Salem High School senior Maria Ekern, dance is a lot more than something she does; dance is her future.

The 18-year-old was one of two dancers from Mistys Dance Unlimited chosen last month to represent Wisconsin in a production for the Dance Excellence Festival in Los Angeles.

The event was part of a larger international dance conference that Ekern and more than 20 of her fellow students attended.

Misty Lown, owner of the Onalaska dance studio, as well as an instructor, said the international dance festival was one shed been waiting to get an invitation to for years.

I had always hoped we would do work worthy of an invitation, she said. It was kind of a Willy Wonka golden ticket moment.

Lown said it was a rare honor to be picked. Only one studio from each state is invited to participate every year.

From her studio, only two dancers participated in the festivals song and dance production: Ekern and Onalaska High School sophomore Lyvia Baldner. They were both selected by their peers.

At the festival, Ekern and the other dancers learned new techniques and routines during a week filled with master classes, performance opportunities and workshops.

For Ekern the festival was the culmination of eight years of hard work and dedication to dance.

Shed started dancing in elementary school after Lown discovered her performing baton for the Warriors Performing Arts Academy.

I was performing at a pageant for my sister, she said. Misty (Lown) came over and talked to my mom and I, and I started dancing with her and I fell in love with it.

Eight years later, Ekern is at the top of her class and a mentor for many of the younger dance students.

I now take around 17-different classes a week, she said. I am a member of their performance company and their traveling team.

She said after arriving in California on Sunday, April 9, for the festival, she and the other dance students started training almost immediately.

Monday we started classes, she said. We learned all different styles and we took classes all day.

Ekern said her day didnt end after dinner. After the classes were over, she and Baldner would continue to rehearse for another four hours until 10 p.m.

We had an hour break and continue dancing from 6-10 p.m., she said.

They were preparing for a large song and dance production they would perform alongside their international colleagues.

During the festival, Ekern participated in several performances including one at Disney Land.

We had four hours of Disney, she said. I had never been there.

In addition to performing at Disney, every studio performed a dance routine of their own.

We performed a contemporary dance, she said, adding that contemporary dance melds the quick energy filled motions of jazz and the fluid motion of ballet.

Other groups from around the world performed cultural dances while others stuck with what they were known for.

There is a group from New Zealand who were incredible hip-hoppers, Ekern said.

The culmination of the festival for Ekern was the song and dance production she and Baldner had spent a week training for.

I love performing; I love being on stage, that is probably what I enjoy most about dancing, she said. We learned this big company routine which was 30 minutes of dancing and singing.

Lown said the whole production was impressive considering how little time Ekern and Baldner were given to prepare.

Both are very capable dancers in terms of technique, and they are both fantastic performers.

During the experience, Ekern said she had the opportunity to meet people from around the world and learn new techniques.

It was just really cool to see in class, she said. A lot of the people from the other countries because many have never taken traditional studio dance.

The trip proved to be helpful in other ways. Ekern spent a lot of time networking with other dancers from the U.S. and around the world. She said it was exciting to be surrounded by so many people brought together by a collective passion for dance.

After high school, Ekern will continue her dance education at the University of Wisconsin where she has already been accepted as a member of their dance team.

At UW, Ekern plans to study prelaw but admits she may change her focus to a major in dance if it isnt a good fit for her.

In the future, Ekern plans to open a dance academy of her own, where she can share her love for the craft with the next generation of dancers.

Before starting her own studio, Ekern wants to try college and see how things go on the dance team, which will be a new experience for her. On the dance team, Ekern will perform jazz, pom and hip-hop routines.

She said while the routines are similar to those shes learned in the dance studio, it is less about the individual and more about the team.

It is all about being super sharp, she said. Everyone has to be the exact same.

Ekern said even if the dance team doesnt work out, or isnt what she wants, she will never stop dancing.

I am going to see if I like that, and if I dont, I am definitely going to pursue dance, she said.
Ever since Veronica Delphey witnessed her sister, Shannon, win first attendant and miss congeniality at the local Spanferkel Festival in Mindoro last year, all she wanted was to win a crown.

However, Veronica was born with Down syndrome and has developmental and cognitive delays. So, when her parents learned that she had made it on the Melrose-Mindoro prom court, they were excited that their daughter would get a chance to live out her dream.

They knew Veronica wanted a crown. They just knew that so when she got voted onto court, the class made the decision to give all of the girls on the court little crowns so that she would get one whether she won or not, said Cindy Delphey, Veronicas mother.

Then Veronica was crowned queen, something she seemed to know all along as she threw up her hands and celebrated during the crowning.

She was so excited and this is what she really wanted and we all just rallied behind that and helped her get that dream, said Sydney Tracey, a classmate who was also on prom court. Everyone knows her and how sweet she is and it was an easy decision to pick her.

Cindy said that Veronicas class has always been supportive like this.

She has a great class, Cindy said, adding that Veronica has been with them since second grade. She has fallen in nicely with that group of kids and they have been so good to her. They have included her. She is in high school plays and they just route her around to where she needs to go and what she needs to be doing at the time. The inclusion is just incredible. This school district has been nothing but accommodating and friendly.

Cindy said that Veronica has even entered talent competitions with some of her classmates and when they are done, the school will give a standing ovation for her.

Prom night

Veronica went to prom with her boyfriend, Aaron Hulse, who also has Down syndrome. The night was complete with a limo, dinner at Three Rivers Lodge and pictures with the court at Riverfront Park in La Crosse.

Aaron and Veronica met when their parents became involved in an organization called Children of the Heart, which Aarons parents helped create.

Tracey remembers when Veronica won the crown, She was smiling so big and she stepped right forward and let them put the crown on her.

After winning the crown, Veronica danced with the prom king, Drew Blakken.

She was dancing with the king and her boyfriend Aaron stood and said, Hey, thats my girl! at Drew Blakken. Then he [Aaron] just stood there just 10 feet from them just staring at them, said Cindy.

At the end of the night, Cindy said Veronica put her crown on the fireplace mantel so she could show it to everyone that came in the house.

Life with Down syndrome

Ever since Veronica was born, Cindy and her father Mark have learned everything they could about Down syndrome, including joining organizations like the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin, which used to be Children of the Heart.

Veronica is very lucky as far as her Down syndrome goes. She doesnt have a lot of the other medical problems that go along with Down syndrome, for example heart disease, Cindy said. It has been a challenge getting her to speak. She has been in speech therapy since she was a baby.

With Veronicas lack of speech, it makes understanding when there is a problem harder to figure out. In December Veronica had her gall bladder taken out, which took a year to discover the issue.

That is typical of an individual with Down syndrome. If there is something wrong, you see a change in their behavior. She doesnt act out, she just retreats, Cindy said.

Veronica also takes music therapy at Life and Harmony in West Salem and is involved in a mentoring program through University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, which was started by Dr. Garth Tymeson, director of adaptive physical education.

I think this program has really opened the gates to what it is like to socialize with people more in her age group and to experience situations where Mommy and Daddy werent right there to intervene, Cindy said. The program connects college students with mentees in an effort to promote health, exercise and socialization.

Veronicas ability to socialize with her peers is one of the reasons she does so well in school.

She is a sweetheart and is always smiling and likes to be at school. We are lucky to have her here at school and I think all of our kids and teachers feel that way, Melrose-Mindoro Principal Jeff Arzt said.

Veronica also likes to sing in the choir; watch Disney movies including her favorite, Frozen; and swim at the YMCA.

She also has a long-haired calico cat named Hera, which Cindy said looks out for her.

Community support

Even though Veronica has a supportive family, Cindy is very appreciative of the community that her family lives in.

Sometimes when you live in a more rural area like this, we take for granted how lucky we are. It takes a village to raise a child and when you have a special needs child, that is even more true because they cant advocate for themselves often and how they express themselves is often different than a child with typical development, Cindy said.

Aly Tracey, Veronicas classmate who was on the court, said, I think it (looking out for each other) is how our community is, including our school and our class.

After graduating next year, Cindy hopes that Veronica can enter into a vocational rehabilitation program, which could include her working for the school.

I cant say enough about Melrose-Mindoro, Cindy said.

Veronica has four siblings: Katie who is a foot and ankle surgeon in Illinois, Kyle who is on active duty for the Navy in Virginia, Angela who also has developmental disabilities and Shannon who is a sophomore at Melrose-Mindoro.
BLACK RIVER FALLS  Louis E Rochester, 74, of Black River Falls died Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at home. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, at Pine Hill Church of Christ, Black River Falls. Burial with military honors will follow in Sullivan Cemetery, Black River Falls. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, at Torgersons Funeral Home, and 10 a.m. to time of service at the church.
The La Crosse Tribune will have a new publisher June 1.

Bob Fleck will take over as publisher of the River Valley Media Group, which includes the Tribune, Winona Daily News and Chippewa Herald, and several weekly newspapers and specialty publications.

Fleck, 54, joined the Tribunes parent company, Lee Enterprises Inc., as vice president of business development in May 2016 and was named the companys vice president of sales and marketing in January.

Fleck said Thursday after an announcement at the Tribune that he is excited about moving to La Crosse and about the potential of the River Valley Media Group.

I truly believe this is a mission-driven operation that plays an important role in the community, Fleck said.

Before joining Lee, Fleck was general manager and publisher for the Suburban Media Group, a division of the Chicago Tribune Media Group. He was executive vice president of sales for Tribune Publishing in 2013 and 2014.

Kevin Mowbray, Lees president and chief executive officer, said Fleck will remain a member of the companys CEO team and will continue to contribute to the companys sales strategies and objectives.

Since joining Lee, Bob has proven himself as a strong leader and talented executive, Mowbray said. His skill and experience will serve the readers and businesses in the River Valley group well and help drive strong results for our company.

Fleck is the 14th publisher in the Tribunes 113-year history. He grew up in Schaumburg, Ill., and is a graduate of Elmhurst (Ill.) College, where he earned a bachelors degree in business administration. Fleck and his wife, Jeri, have three children.

I am eager to get started in this new role, Fleck said. River Valley is an outstanding group of communities and a vital set of markets for Lee.

Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises publishes 46 daily newspapers, with a joint interest in two others, along with rapidly growing digital products and almost 300 weekly newspapers and specialty publications in 21 states.

Lees newspapers have circulation of 900,000 daily and 1.4 million Sunday, reaching more than 3 million readers daily. Lees digital sites attract more than 25 million unique visits monthly.

Outgoing Tribune publisher Mike Burns is leaving the company, having accepted a position as chief revenue officer for Oregonian Media Group.
Mrs. Claus jumped the gun this Christmas past with a gift that outshone anything Santa ever has left under the tree or in one of my holey stockings.

The Missus, aka Bonnie Felten of La Crosse, handed me the present during an interview with her and her spouse, Santa/Dan Felten, on Dec. 22 in their North Pole digs in the Doerflinger building in downtown La Crosse.

She and Santa told of an agitated man who was pacing nervously a short distance from Santas village during their vigil in a Texas mall. The Clauses/Feltens, who had seen the man before, approached him and asked what was bothering him.

The fellow explained that his mother had died that year, and this was going to be his first Christmas without her. Distraught, he wasnt sure he could handle it.

Mrs. Claus told him his mom is with him all the time. She gave him a coin-like oval, about the size of a nickel, with an angel imprinted on it. Whenever he longs for his mom, she advised, he should caress the coin and feel her presence.

Calmed down, the man put the coin in his pocket, smiled and bid the two adieu.

Bonnie placed a duplicate of the coin in my hand and said to keep it. Little did she know that her gesture gave me goosebumps beyond those from the frigid December wind outside.

My mother died five days after childbirth when I was 2 years old, and I dont know squat about her because of my stepmothers take-no-prisoners approach to expunge her from history.

Mom died of a blood clot that had formed in her leg, traveled to her heart and killed her  a manner of death that is nearly unheard of these days, with shorter hospital stays and modern medicines ability to thwart clots.

Dad had his hands full  coping with the trauma of a shattered heart and splintered dreams, and he feared couldnt cope with raising a 4-year-old daughter, a 2-year-old boy and an infant son. So an aunt and uncle who werent able to have children adopted my brother.

I suppose it wasnt a bad plan, because everything was on the up and up: Everybody knew the score and the truth about all of the relationships.

My sister and I and Dad moved into my paternal grandparents basement, where we had an apartment of sorts but no kitchen in the basement. Why have a kitchen downstairs when Grandmas cookin upstairs?

One of my earliest memories is of myself and my sister standing at Dads knee, peppering him with questions about our mom. I dont remember the details  just that we talked about her.

My brother lived with his adoptive parents in a northeast Nebraska town of about 800 people less than 30 miles from our city of about 5,500. We visited often, always calling him my brother, with no repercussions.

The scenario changed when Dad remarried about four years later. My stepmother insisted that everybody refer to my brother as my cousin. She also banned any mention of my mom  by her name of Helen or even oblique references to her.

Thats why I know so very little about Mom, and I have just one photo of her. Even aunts, uncles and cousins were afraid to broach the subject, not only in front of the stepmother but also in private.

I still dont know why she took that severe, deceitful, position. She had never even known my mom, so it couldnt have been a matter of jealousy  except, perhaps in a warped sense, a feeling of being threatened from the grave.

The most ludicrous aspect was that, in a county where most folks knew everybody else and everybody elses business, the charade was ridiculous.

Most townsfolk cooperated with the web of fraud, to our faces. But tongues obviously were wagging in some houses, because everybody at school knew the facts, man.

Classmates pestered me with the sing-songy taunt: You dont have a real mom. Back then, the image of bullying was only in the physical sense. The barbs fell under the label of teasing, and a guy just had to grin and bear  at least on the outside.

When Dad and his wife had two daughters, my half-sisters were raised thinking that my brother was a cousin. They didnt learn the truth until they were in high school, when, Im told, they were a tad irked.

When I was in my 50s, I did ask a woman who, I had discovered, was Moms best friend to tell me about her. She confided  on deep, deep background  that Mom was warm, friendly and a hoot to be around.

I can extrapolate that she also was quite the talker, because my source was a gabby sort who could talk the arms off of an octopus. (In turn, evidence that her blood runs through and through my sister is that my she can talk the legs off of a millipede.)

I thought I had struck gold when, a couple of years after my stepmother died, a woman introduced herself to Dad by saying, I am the nurse who was with your (first) wife when she died.

To make a long story short, Dad ended up marrying her when he was in his 80s. I saw an opportunity to fill in a gap and asked whether Mom talked about me during her final days in the hospital. I expected her to say yes, and Mom couldnt wait to get home to see me. If she hadnt mentioned me, I thought stepmother No. 2 would at least lie and say she did.

Oh, all the moms talk about their kids, she said, dismissively. Rudely.

Obviously, my moms erasure was thorough.

Thats why I was touched when Mrs. Claus gave me the angel coin, which I carry in my pocket. Whenever I reach for my keys or search for change, I touch the coin and think of Mom.

Im doing that more these days, with Mothers Day coming up on Sunday.

I tell the story not seeking sympathy, but rather, to remind people to honor their moms  because you never know when youll lose her. I also know that most stepmothers are as loving to their stepchildren as were their birth mothers, and they deserve honor for being so.

If youve forgotten to send a card, theres still time to send flowers and, of course, at least call on Sunday, if youre not close enough to visit your mom.

To the moms and stepmoms (and, might as well toss in grandmothers for good measure): Happy Mothers Day.

To Mrs. Claus/Bonnie Felten: Thanks for the memory talisman.
A small cluster of children listened intently as Dawn Wacek, youth services manager of the La Crosse Public Library, read aloud from Jacobs New Dress on Wednesday evening. The picture book by Ian and Sarah Hoffman was recently banned from the school curriculum in Charlotte, N.C., but received a warm reception from the group at Reading Without Walls story time, an initiative created by the Childrens Book Council to encourage diversity and branching out of your comfort zone.

We think its a valuable program for everyone, said Wacek, who is hosting Reading Without Walls every Wednesday during the month of May. Kids, like adults, tend to read what theyre familiar with  people who look like them, people who act like them. Some of these books dont get checked out as much and we want to introduce them.

Each Reading Without Walls session covers a different topic, from family composition to race, and Jacobs New Dress was one of three selections featured during gender roles and identity week. The book follows Jacob, a young boy whose love of wearing dresses leads to bullying by classmate Christopher but acceptance from his father and support from his mother and teacher. While the North Carolina Values Coalition called the book a tool of indoctrination to normalize transgender behavior, Wacek sees it as an opportunity for families to explore a timely issue in an age-appropriate fashion.

Depending on each childs personal interpretation, it would be a jumping point for parents, said Wacek.

Four-year-old Sullivan Hepler related the book as a lesson against bullying.

Christopher is a bucket dipper, Sullivan said, using his classroom vernacular for mean. I wouldnt be sad if my friend wore a dress. Everybody would know thats OK.

Sullivans mothers, Teri Hepler and Molly Hilligoss, who also brought son Beckett, 13 months, appreciated the topic, noting they make an effort to correct Sullivan when he labels items as boy or girl things.

Issues of diversity and social justice are at the forefront of our family and things I really want to teach our boys, Teri explained.

Gender roles are something that get ingrained on us really early on and we project that on our children, Hilligoss agreed. Teaching our children to respect everyone regardless of gender is so important.

Waceks second reading was Red: A Crayons Story, by Micheal Hall, about a crayon whos outside didnt match its inside.

Even though his label said red, on the inside he was blue, Wacek explained. Its nice to know who we are on the inside.

Wacek had additional titles displayed for check out, including books for an older demographic such as Being Jazz, the life story of a transgender teen, along with genderbread person handouts on identity, expression and attraction. Story time concluded with a rainbow craft celebrating each child and what makes them unique.

Its very good for the kids to learn how to be fair to everyone, said William Zhao, who sat on the floor to color a rainbow with daughters River, 3, and Angeline, 6.

I like to learn new stuff, Angeline seconded. Boys and girls should be treated how they want to be treated. You shouldnt be mean to anyone.

Next weeks Reading Without Walls will cover poverty and food scarcity, with new crafts and activities geared towards comprehension and compassion.

We want the library to be a welcoming place for everyone, Wacek said. We want kids in the La Crosse community to see in both mirrors and windows.

Reading Without Walls is held from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. Wednesdays through May 31 in the Childrens Room at La Crosse Public Library Main.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  As Marisa Ann Bella prepped for sex reassignment surgery 10 weeks ago, she gave her Mayo Clinic surgeons very explicit  and morbid  directions.

Mayos first patient to ever undergo sex reassignment surgery told Jorys Martinez-Jorge and Oscar Manrique that they should finish the work, even if she flatlined on the operating table and was unable to be revived. After decades of waiting, the Rochester native was that determined to live  or be buried  as a woman.

Fortunately, the final step in Bellas transition went smoothly and shes now comfortable living in her own post-surgery body.

Its indescribable, said Bella, who still lives in Rochester. Before I would get sick to my stomach and literally throw up when I saw myself without clothes on  and that was most of my adult and teen life. To see myself now, its like night and day. This is the way its supposed to be.

Despite that new outlook on life, its been a bumpy ride  to put it lightly. And many hurdles remain.

Family challenges

After 18 years of marriage, Marisa  who then went by Michael  came out to her family in 2010. It prompted an immediate divorce. When extended family also found out, they responded in a similar fashion.

That fallout prompted Marisa to consider suicide, going so far as taking a loaded gun to the banks of the Mississippi River. She says thinking of her twin daughters  Gabriella and Isabella  prevented her from pulling the trigger. Many in the transgender community struggle with suicide, with some studies suggesting 41 percent have attempted it.

But even their love was complicated.

Marisa was immediately supported by Gabriella and they moved to Andover after the divorce. Isabella had reservations about Marisas decision, basically cutting off communication for two years while opting to live with her biological mother in Florida. Isabellas boyfriend and most of her classmates were unaware of those family issues until just this year.

It changed our dynamic, Gabriella said. I was more like if thats what you want to do, thats what you do. As a teenager, you yourself are trying to find your own identity. I think having Marisa kind of go through that same puberty-like change with us almost helped.

My mother decided to show lots of hostility and regret  and the family was very hostile. Marisas family was not really accepting right away, and it separated the family because we were on different pages.

Time has healed some wounds, but not others. While Isabella has learned to become more comfortable and supportive around Marisa, the ex-wife has not. The twins have rented their own apartment in Florida since turning 18 in December, striking out on their own under the unusual circumstances.

While Marisa and Isabella are now on speaking terms, the daughter avoids using mom or dad. Instead, its just Marisa.

Even to this day, shes still more accepting than I am, Isabella said of her sister. Shes more (open) to the modern ideas, and I tend to be more traditional. I was a lot more religious than she was growing up, but shell sit there and talk to Marisa about certain things that I dont.

She understands for me its a lot harder to accept, but if it makes (Marisa) happy, Im going to support it.

Kicked out of U, accepted at Mayo

Marisas initial transition care was handled by the University of Minnesota. It didnt quite go as planned.

She enrolled in hormone therapy while pursuing other medical options at the Us Center for Sexual Health, but felt there were gaps in her care. Specifically, she was seeking counseling and other support for her ongoing issues with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other related mental health concerns.

When Marisa complained about her therapist, she was eventually dropped from the Us Transgender Health Services program; Marisa claims she was deemed too high-maintenance.

As fate would have it, this occurred at virtually the same time Mayo opened its new specialty clinic in Rochester. Marisa was quickly enrolled and continued her transition while working with a voice therapist, having facial and breast surgeries and otherwise preparing to become Mayos first patient to undergo vaginoplasty surgery.

She was always anticipating when we were going to be able to offer this, said Dr. Todd Nippoldt, director of Mayos Transgender and Intersex Specialty Care Clinic. I remember from the start her saying Ill be your first patient because it was very important to confirm her identity and live authentically.

With virtually no fanfare, the surgery was finally conducted Feb. 24. While the general public wouldnt notice anything different about Marisa, Mayo endocrinologist Caroline Davidge-Pitts says the transformation is obvious.

Her whole face has changed, Davidge-Pitts said. She just looks so happy.

Thats the goal for every patient Mayo sees, according to Sharonne Hayes, M.D., medical director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

The Transgender and Intersex Specialty Care Clinic is another example of what sets Mayo Clinic apart  a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to care that meets all of the needs of each individual patient, Hayes said. The specialty care clinics patients work with their doctors, nurses, and the entire health care team to develop the right care plan, so that they can be their true selves.

A complicated past

As if the struggles with gender identity and family complications were enough, theres another demon lurking in Marisas past.

As a member of the Boy Scouts of America during the 1970s, Marisa was one of many youths in Southeast Minnesota who were sexually assaulted by troop leader Richard Hokanson. According to a lawsuit filed in 2013 by Marisa and others under the Child Victims Act, the new Minnesota law eliminating the civil statute of limitations for children who were sexually abused, she was abused between the ages of 11 and 17.

The lawsuit alleged that the abuse was reported at age 13, but was allowed to continue for four more years. Marisa, as Keller, was the only victim to speak publicly about the abuse.

The lawsuit made headlines across the region, in part, because of who it named: Hokanson, the troop leader; St. Pius X Catholic Church, which sponsored the troop; the Boy Scouts of America; and Gamehaven Council, a branch of the Scouts in southeastern Minnesota.

Marisa  who filed the lawsuit under her birth name, Michael Keller  eventually settled the lawsuit out of court in 2014. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

She formally requested to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church on Feb. 28, 2014, almost exactly two years before undergoing gender confirmation surgery at Mayo. Shes currently on disability from that surgery, but hopes to return to her career in the airline industry within a year.

This is not the church of Jesus Christ, but a group of perverted old men who hid like cowards behind secrecy and shame, Marisa wrote through her attorney to Bishop John Quinn. The Catholic Church never apologized or offered to help with the healing process.
WASHINGTON  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.)

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.

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.

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.
If youve only followed coverage of the Republican health-care bill loosely in the media, you might believe that House Republicans, after much effort, passed legislation to deny people with pre-existing conditions health insurance.

The issue of pre-existing conditions has dominated the debate over the GOP health-care bill out of all proportion to the relatively modest provision in the legislation, which is being distorted  often willfully, sometimes ignorantly  into a threat to all that is good and true in America.

The perversity of it all is that the legislation is properly understood as doing more to preserve the Obamacare regulation on pre-existing conditions than to undermine it. The legislation maintains a federal baseline of protection in such cases, and says only that states can apply for a waiver from it, provided that they abide by certain conditions meant to ensure that no one is left out in the cold.

Since these provisions only involve the individual insurance market, a small slice of the overall insurance picture (about 18 million are on the individual market), and merely make possible state waivers, they are inherently limited.

Youre not affected if you get insurance through your employer (155 million people), or through Medicaid or Medicare. Youre not affected if you live in a state that doesnt request the waiver, a category that will certainly include every blue state and most red states, too. Even if you buy insurance on the individual market and live in a state that gets a waiver, youre not affected if youve maintained insurance coverage continuously and not had a gap in coverage longer than 63 days.

By this point, were talking about a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the population. If you do have a pre-existing condition in a waiver state and havent had continuous coverage, you can be charged more by your insurer only the first year. The state will have access to $8 billion in federal funds explicitly to ease the cost of your insurance, and the state must further have a high-risk pool or similar program to mitigate insurance costs for the sick.

Clearly, if Republicans set out to recklessly endanger the well-being of people with pre-existing conditions, they didnt do a very good job of it. The purpose of these provisions isnt to punish people who are sick, but to create an incentive for people to buy insurance while they are healthy. (The Obamacare exchanges are failing because the laws tangle of regulations drove up costs and made insurance economically unappealing to the young and healthy.)

It takes all of five minutes to understand the basic architecture of the House bill on pre-existing conditions, yet it has been subject to wildly ill-informed and deceptive attacks. Nancy Pelosi called the provisions on pre-existing conditions deadly. Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey said the bill would hurt 129 million people with pre-existing conditions, starting from an exaggerated figure and then assuming every single one of them would be harmed by the House bill.

Such is the hysteria around this issue that using the phrase pre-existing condition has become a license for making any charge whatsoever. Feminists have spread word that the bill treats rape as a pre-existing condition, a stupid lie that has been treated seriously in cable TV debate. As The Washington Post Fact Checker noted, not only does the bill not classify rape or sexual assault as a pre-existing condition, almost all states have their own protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

There are certainly legitimate criticisms to be made of the House bill, and ample room for the Senate to improve it, especially by boosting its coverage numbers. But it is not an act of heedless cruelty against the sick. As for its critics, their reflex to demagogic dishonesty isnt a pre-existing condition, just an ingrained habit.
iStock/Thinkstock(BEIJING) -- In his first discussion with the new South Korean leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted that he doesn't want South Korea to deploy a U.S. missile system, according to the BBC.



The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which would intercept attacks from North Korea, became operational in South Korea last week. A spokesperson for the liberal leader Moon Jae-in said Xi, who initiated the call, "explained the reasons for Beijing's strong and repeated opposition" to the deployment, Yonhap news agency reported.



Beijing has said the system would spy on its territory. Moon, who was elected South Korean president on Tuesday, has made ambivalent comments about THAAD in the past, but during the call, both he and Xi agreed that denuclearising North Korea was a "common goal," according to the BBC.



"President Moon said the THAAD issue can be resolved when there is no further provocation by North Korea," spokesman Yoon Young-chan said.



Moon also raised the issue of economic retaliation against South Korean firms in China, Yoon said. The South Korean president is expected to send a delegation to Beijing to discuss both North Korea and THAAD.



The THAAD deployment was agreed upon by Moon's predecessor, conservative leader Park Guen-hye. She is currently awaiting trial in prison on corruption charges.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
In the dark of night, workers wearing masks and tactical vests arrived Monday at New Orleans' Battle of Liberty Place monument to take it down.

Police snipers were positioned on nearby rooftops, according to The Times-Picayune newspaper. Company names on trucks and equipment were covered with cardboard and black tape to protect contractors involved in the controversial operation.

It was the first of four scheduled relocations of Confederate memorials in New Orleans after years of heated public debate and legal battles. City officials have attempted to move the monuments since 2015 amid opposition from pro-monument groups and threats against workers. A federal judge in Louisiana affirmed the city's right to move them in March and the city secured private funding to do so.

Because of threats and security risks, the city will not publicly disclose details for the next three removals. Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office said the statues will go to storage while the city looks for a suitable venue to display them, such as a museum.

Mayor: This isn't political

The decision to move the statues followed a lengthy public process that determined they "failed to appropriately reflect the values of diversity and inclusion that make New Orleans strong today," the city said.

The statues were built after the Civil War as part of the "Lost Cause" narrative advanced by Southern whites to justify the South's loss.

The removal came as some Southern states celebrated Confederate Memorial Day, although Louisiana is not among them. State government offices in those states will be closed in observance of the holiday.

The relocations follow debate in recent years in the South about what to do with Confederate symbols, especially after the killings of nine black parishioners in a Charleston, South Carolina, church by a self-described white supremacist in 2015. Counterefforts to honor Southern heritage and preserve symbols of the Confederacy have also sprung up.

Landrieu said the removal of the monuments should not be seen as a political move or retaliation against a specific group.

"This is about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile -- and most importantly -- choose a better future," Landrieu said in a statement.

"We can remember these divisive chapters in our history in a museum or other facility where they can be put in context -- and that's where these statues belong."

The Battle of Liberty Place monument

The Battle of Liberty Place monument was erected in 1891 to mark a deadly fight between members of the "Crescent City White League," a group opposed to the city's biracial police force and state militia after the Civil War, and officers from that police force.

A few hours before sunrise Monday, workers began dismantling the obelisk piece by piece as supporters and opponents gathered nearby amid a strong police presence. The workers were surrounded by police barricades, a security measure taken after contractors received threats.

The statue was put up "to honor the killing of police officers by white supremacists," Landrieu said in a news conference Monday, according to CNN affiliate WDSU.

"Of the four that we will move, this statue is perhaps the most blatant affront to the values that make America and New Orleans strong today. I believe more strongly today than ever that in New Orleans, we should truly remember all of our history, not some of it. And that means we will no longer allow the Confederacy to literally be put on a pedestal in the heart of our city."

The event incited cheers and applause from some people in the crowd while others engaged in heated discussions.

"This should be a celebration but instead this is done clandestinely. They got the workers who are taking it down dressed in black jackets, helmets and their faces are covered, to us that's cowardice," one person there told CNN affiliate WVUE-TV.

Robert E. Lee statue

Another monument slated for removal honors Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The statue, almost 17-feet tall and standing on a 68-foot pedestal, weighs more than 3 tons. It was built in 1884 after 14 years of fundraisers and negotiations, the University of New Orleans says.

The group behind its construction was founded about a month after the general's death in 1870 by prominent locals and Civil War veterans. It's located at a roundabout of St. Charles Avenue and Andrew Higgins, not far from the Confederate Memorial Hall Museum.

Last year, the monument was one of several sites vandalized by anti-Trump protesters.

Jefferson Davis statue

Another statue scheduled for removal is that of Jefferson Davis. The monument honors the president of the Confederate States of America, who died in New Orleans in 1889.

The 6-foot-tall bronze statue stands atop a roughly 12-foot tall column in a street also named after Davis.

In 2004, the words "slave owner" were painted on the base of the monument.

P.G.T. Beauregard equestrian statue

A 15-foot tall statue of Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard will be relocated as well. Beauregard was a prominent general during the Civil War and the last survivor of the top Confederate leaders. He died in New Orleans in 1893.

The statue stands in a roundabout at the entrance of City Park and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

In 2015, the words "Black Lives Matter" were spray-painted on both sides of the monument's column, CNN affiliate WDAM-TV reported.

This story has been updated to reflect the correct dimensions of the Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis statues.

CNN's Alanne Orjoux contributed to this report.
Health care and Tuesdays firing of FBI Director James Comey were among the issues discussed during a visit by Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse.

Kind spoke at a listening session at the Tomah American Legion Wednesday afternoon, where more than 30 people asked questions about issues,including legalizing medical marijuana, health care and the environment.

Kind, who has been conducting listening sessions throughout Wisconsins 3rd Congressional District in recent months, visited Black River Falls earlier in the day, where he was asked about similar issues, along with abortion access and his support for Planned Parenthood.

President Donald Trump said he fired Comey in part because of how the FBI handled the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons private email server. Kind, in a statement released on Tuesday, called the action unprecedented and encouraged leaders in Washington to investigate whether the firing was related to the investigation into whether Russian interfered with the 2016 election.

People who spoke at the listening session also voiced concerns about whether Comeys firing would have any effects on the Russian investigation. One person said he worried that Trump was firing everyone who was looking into his history and dealings, asking Kind what members of Congress could do to keep the president in check.

At past listening sessions, Kind has stated his support for creating a commission or hiring a special prosecutor to probe any wrongdoing. In light of recent events, he said, that is need is even bigger now.

Any meddling by a foreign government in the election is a serious problem, Kind said, and there is evidence Russia is trying to meddle in democracies all over the world.

Trump has shown he is not interested in having people look into this, Kind said. That is a bad starting place.

Many constituents brought up their health care concerns, including the Affordable Care Act, the recent Republican replacement that passed the House of Representatives last week and the Veterans Choice Program, a bill that was passed in 2015 that allows veterans to receive health care in their communities instead of at a Veterans Affairs facility.

Some providers, such as Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare, do not participate in the program one constituent said, as he recounted his struggles trying to use the program to schedule a checkup.

The crowd seemed split on whether the recently passed health care legislation was a step in the right direction. Kind said he thought the Senate would take more time going over the proposed legislation than his House colleagues did.

There are some good parts of Obamacare, Kind said, and is hopeful that the final language of any health care bill will keep the things that worked and find bipartisan solutions to the things  such as the high cost of prescription drugs  that dont.

Silvia Maurer of Kendall was one of two people who spoke about the poor treatment she said Sen. Bernie Sanders received at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Maurer vented her frustration with both political parties, saying Democrats, such as Kind, need to work hard to earn her vote and support policies such as a government-funded, a single-payer health care system.

When asked whether he would publicly state his support for such a system, Kind said the political will just isnt there. It isnt about lobbying power, he said, but a lack of votes with the current Republican majorities in both houses and control of the White House.

We are as far away as possible from single-payer in the current legislative environment, he said.

Others spoke about concerns about waste and fraud in government programs  such as veterans benefits and Social Security  and asked Kinds office to do more to make sure only people with real needs are getting such services. Kind said he is concerned about fraud in the Veterans Choice Program, stressing that more work needs to be done.

Kind thanked everyone for sharing their perspectives and promised to help constituents with specific issues, such as concerns one Tomah resident had about pollution in the groundwater at his home.

I get a lot of good ideas whenever I talk with people back home in Wisconsin, Kind said about hosting these sessions. I like to take these ideas back to Washington with me.
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.

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First We Feast, a food blog under the Complex magazine umbrella, has spun its documentary Hometown Hero into a six-part food-travel series called Food Grails. And where do you start a food series "using hyperregional urban foods as a lens into the cities they represent"? In Los Angeles, of courseSouth Los Angeles, to be more specific.

Episode one, which debuted on Wednesday, shines a light on the African-American taco movement right here in the City of Angels. The short documentary highlights three taco purveyors in particular: All Flavor No Grease in Watts, Taco Mell in Leimert Park, and the mobile Trap Kitchen.

"Places that have traditionally, for generations, been African-American are now African-American/Latino," Los Angeles Time food critic Jonathan Gold explains in the video. "And, at some point, it makes that they're going to start to be curious about each other's foods."

Gold's commentary joins that of several other local food scene heavy-hitters, including Los Angeles magazine's Bill Esparza (noted in the video as a "taco scholar").

"The fact that there's a movement going on in South Los Angeles, and the fact that it doesn't necessarily have the piercing eye of the nation's media on it, may be a good thing," Gold later adds. "It can develop. It can develop its own tropes, it can develop its own story."

The video gives a good mix of historical context and emerging culture, and allows for each chef to tell their own story. Check out the video above for the full episode.
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LAS ARMAS DE CORONEL Ver tambien mi website: www.armasdecoronel.com para leer dos de mis libros, entrevistas, etc.
American President Donald Trumps decision to dismiss the FBI director led to calls for an independent investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election.

James Comey, the dismissed FBI director, had told Congress his agency is investigating if people connected to Trumps presidential campaign played a part in Russian election interference.

Pence: Firing not related to Russian investigation

Some Democrats said the firing of Comey reminded them of President Richard Nixons Saturday Night Massacre in 1973. That is when Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox. Cox was leading the investigation into a break-in at Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate building in Washington, D.C.

Not since Watergate have our legal systems been so threatened said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut.

Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that the president showed strong and decisive leadership and that the dismissal had nothing to do with the Russian investigation.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said dismissing the person overseeing the Russian investigation requires an independent prosecutor.

Failure to do so, he said, means, Every American will rightly suspect that the decision to fire Director Comey was part of a cover-up.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans said no independent investigation is needed. Even without Comey, the FBIs Russian investigation would continue, as would investigations by Congress, they said.

At least 12 Republican senators expressed concern with Comeys dismissal by Trump, especially why the decision was made now.

White House cites report from Deputy Attorney General

A spokesman for Trump said the president met on Monday with the attorney general and the deputy attorney general to discuss their concerns about Comey. Trump then asked the two top officials in the Justice Department to report their concerns and recommendations.

In his report, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote that Comey made serious mistakes in the investigation into Clintons handling of emails as U.S. Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

He criticized Comey for announcing just 11 days before the election that his agents were taking another look at newly found Clinton emails.

Almost everyone agrees that the director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of different political opinions, Rosenstein said.

Trump informed Comey of his dismissal in a letter Tuesday. He wrote, While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that Im not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.

On Wednesday, The New York Times and other news organizations reported that just days before his dismissal, Comey had asked Rosenstein for more money for the Russian investigation.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Flores said those reports are totally false.

Trump attacks his critics on Twitter

As a candidate, Trump praised Comey for his public criticism of Clinton. But he also said Comey was wrong not to move to charge her with crimes.

On Wednesday, Trump defended his decision to dismiss Comey and criticized his critics in a series of tweets.

Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, "I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer." Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp

Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!



Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English based on reports by VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. Do you think Trump was right to fire the FBI director?

____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

especially - adv. more than usually

hack - v. to secretly get access to the files on a computer or network in order to get information, cause damage

cyper - adj. related to computers

massacre - n. to remove or kill many people

confidence - n. a feeling or belief that someone can do well or succeed
A new study has found that how long Americans live depends on where they live.

Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation or IHME at the University of Washington in Seattle found that the gap between counties with the highest and lowest life expectancies is larger now than it was in 1980. And life expectancy is falling in some counties. The researchers say this shows there is a large and growing inequality in the health of Americans.

Several counties in the states of North and South Dakota, where many Native Americans live, have the lowest life expectancy rate. In Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, the life expectancy was 66.8 in 2014.

There has also been a drop in the life expectancy rate in counties in poor areas of Kentucky and West Virginia. In Owsley County, Kentucky, life expectancy was 72.4 years in 1980. But by 2014 it had fallen to 70.2.

Some of the counties with the highest life expectancy are in the western state of Colorado. Summit County had the longest life expectancy at 86.8 years. It was 86.5 in Pitkin County and 85.9 in Eagle County.

The average life expectancy in the United States was 79.1 in 2014.

Dr. Ali Mokdad is one of the authors of the study. He says the findings demonstrate an urgent need to reduce inequality in the health of Americans.

He says federal, state and local health departments need to invest in programs that work and engage their communities in disease prevention and health promotion.

The study showed that spending more money on healthcare does not appear to increase life expectancy.

The United States spends more per person on health care than many developed countries -- $9,237 per person in 2014. That compares to $4,032 spent by Australia, which has a life expectancy of 82.3 and Japan, which spent $3,816 and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world at 83.1.

Laura Dwyer-Lindgren is a researcher at IHME and one of the authors of the study. She says examining life expectancy on a national level masks the massive differences that exist at the local level, especially in a country as diverse as the United States. Risk factors like obesity, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, and smoking explain a large portion of the variation in lifespans, but so do socioeconomic factors like race, education and income.

Dr. Christopher Murray is the director of the IHME. He says the inequality in health in the United States -- a country that spends more on health care than any other -- is unacceptable. Every American, regardless of where they live or their background, deserves to live a long and healthy life. If we allow trends to continue as they are, the gap will only widen between counties.

The study was published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Im Phil Dierking.

VOANews.com reported this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his reporting for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

gap  n. a difference between two people, groups or things (often + between)

life expectancy  n. the average number of years that a person or animal can expect to live

engage  v. to get and keep (someones attention, interest, etc.)

mask  v. to keep (something) from being known or noticed

risk factor  n. something that increases risk

life span  n. the amount of time that a person or animal actually lives

socioeconomic  adj. of, relating to or involving a combination of social and economic factors

background  n. the experiences, knowledge, education, etc., in a person's past
3 Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg makes a speech during a gala dinner at the Opera House in Oslo in celebration of the 80th birthdays of King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway.


To be a musician, its like fulfilling a part of your life thats irreplaceable. Its something that I enjoy and I love to do and I get a satisfaction from it.

That is Renald Richard. Born in 1925 in Thibodaux, Louisiana, just west of New Orleans, Richards memories of childhood are filled with music. His father played piano by ear. His uncles and cousins all played instruments and sang. So at the age of six, Richard started piano lessons at home.

I played partially by ear and I learned pieces on the piano like the boogie woogie and that kind of stuff, so I guess music was in my system.

Jam sessions were usual events at Richards house when family stopped by. And that was more than fine with Richard.

I just wanted to play music."

At the age of 13, Renald Richard went to see a band perform at a church dance. He noticed two young trumpet players in the band. He says they were dressed clean and sharp. All the girls -- including his girlfriend -- fell for the trumpet players.

Richard knew he had to take action.

I got to do something about this, so..." I asked my Dad if I could play the trumpet. And he said why do you want to play the trumpet? I said I think I like the trumpet. And he said I'll get a trumpet for you but, you cannot stop the piano. You have to continue the piano. And I got the trumpet. And I started lessons on the trumpet. I continued lessons on the piano and trumpet. And it went on like that for a while. And I got my girl back.

Renald Richard played the trumpet in the high school band. After high school, the government sent him into military service. He played his trumpet during his time in the United States Navy Band. Later, he performed while touring in a USO variety show.

Richard thought he had learned enough from his time in the band and the USO show.

I got an experience from that (which) lasted me a lifetime and I almost made a bad mistake because when I came out of the Navy I figured I knew it all. That was my education.

But, Richard ended up studying music at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. He played clubs on the citys famous Bourbon Street. He also toured with many bands including his family band, the Johnson Brothers, as well as Guitar Slim and Ivory Joe Hunter.

While playing in Houston, Texas in 1954, Richard was approached by Jeff Brown, the manager of musician Ray Charles.

Ray Charles is forming a new band. He just got a hit record out and he would be interested in you playing trumpet in the band. Would you like to do that? Of course. Ray Charles. I said yes!

Renald Richard soon was playing his trumpet for Ray Charles' band.

First of all, to be selected by Ray Charles was an honor to me. I was honored by that and a little nervous.

In time, Richard became Charles bandleader.

Ray Charles was exacting, says Richard, and he demanded the same from band members.

He was a perfectionist and he was rather strict about his music.

Richard says over their years together he came to realize the genius of Ray Charles.

It was like going to college with Ray Charles. I learned voicing and resolving notes. He would start with the baritone sax and then he would dictate every note like hes not using anything from memory like his Braille. He say alright, lets take the saxophone, lets take the trumpet or whatever. Everything is in his mind. So it really was educational.

Renald Richard toured all over the South and West with Ray Charles. Sitting in the back seat of the car on the way to a gig, Richard wrote the song I Got a Woman for Charles.

It became Ray Charles first number one radio hit. The song put Ray Charles on the map.

In 1954, Renald Richard left Ray Charles band. He was upset by the drug problems among band members.

I knew that it would not be long before they would be what we call busted. And it did happen. And I wasnt quite ready for that.

Richard stayed friendly with Ray Charles over the years. He went back to his hometown and became the high schools band director until 1962. Four years later, he moved again, this time to New York City.

Over the years, Richard has written many other songs that have been recorded by artists including Joe Turner, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley to name a few.

I was thrilled when music artist Kanye West used I Got a Woman as the basis for his hit song Gold Digger, Richard says.

The song was number one on the Billboard Charts for 16 consecutive weeks.

It was a big, big hit, says Richard.

Renald Richard retired from teaching in 1991.

Living now in Southern Florida, Richard is still active at the age of 92.

Im playing music mainly with the Marco Island Strummers and Im playing with the Jazz Masters in Naples, so I do a lot of playing and I enjoy that .

As you can see Renald Richard's musical days are by no means near an end.

Im Marsha James.

Marsha James wrote this original story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

______________________________________________________________

See how well you understand the story by taking this listening quiz.

Quiz - People in America: Renald Richard Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

Irreplaceable  adj. too valuable or rare to be replaced

by ear  idiom to play a piece of music after hearing it without looking at written music

jam session  n. a gathering or performance in which musicians play together

fell for  idiom find someone attractive

approach - v. to start talking to someone for some purpose or to make a request

select - v. to choose someone from a group

perfectionist  n. a person who wants things to be done perfectly

strict  adj. exact precise

dictate  v. to say or state something with authority or power

gig  n. a job for a musician

on the map  idiom make someone famous or popular
This is Whats Trending Today....

[listen to sound of plane landing]

That is the sound of the United States Air Forces unmanned spacecraft landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida over the weekend.

The United States Department of Defense posted a video of the landing on YouTube.

The Air Forces X-37B spacecraft passed over the state of Florida early in the morning Sunday.

It made a different sound then. It created a sonic boom. That is the noise caused by something traveling faster than the speed of sound  or 1,225 kilometers per hour.

The sonic boom served as a surprising alarm clock for some Floridians. They took to Twitter to express their shock and describe the loud noise.

One person said she thought someone had crashed into her garage.

The X-37B was first used in 2010. Each time it goes on a mission, it stays in space and orbits the Earth many times. In its first mission, it stayed in space for about six months. Its second mission was close to a year, and its third mission was close to two years.

On Sunday, the plane ended its fourth mission about two weeks short of two years.

So, what does the plane do when it is in space?

No one really knows. It is classified. That means only certain military members are permitted to know about its mission.

The Air Force can only publicly say that the plane helps them see how new devices perform while in space for a long time.

The website Space.com reported that the Air Force was happy with the mission. The long trip did not result in any problems.

The Air Force is planning to continue launching and landing the space plane from Florida.

And thats Whats Trending Today.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. His report was based on information from Space.com and CNN. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Have you ever heard a sonic boom? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

alarm clock - n. a clock that can be set to sound an alarm at any desired time

garage - n. a building or part of a building in which a car, truck, etc., is kept

mission  n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

orbit - v. to travel around (something, such as a planet or moon) in a curved path : to make an orbit around (something)

classified - adj. kept secret from all but a few people in the government
Bangkok  Thailand-based global hospitality company Dusit International will make its Vietnam debut this December with the opening of the DusitPrincess Moonrise Beach Resort on the country's largest island, Phu Quoc.

The result of a long-term franchising arrangement with Linh Chi Limited Company, the new hotel will comprise 108 rooms in a lush location overlooking popular Bai Truong beach on the island's west coast, only eight minutes' drive from Phu Quoc International Airport.

Elegantly and stylishly designed, the rooms will range from 32 sq m Deluxe rooms to 56 sq m Grand Suites, all providing sea views, while facilities will include an all-day-dining restaurant, a spa, an outdoor pool, a lounge and pool bar, a fully-equipped conference room, and a kids' zone.

Phu Quoc, also known as Pearl Island, is located in the south of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand. An up-and-coming tourist destination, the island is known for its long, sweeping beaches, rich coral reefs, and dense, tropical jungle. Popular attractions include Phu Quoc National Park, a Unesco Biosphere Reserve; and Dinh Cau Temple, built in 1937 to honour Thien Hau, the Goddess of the Sea.

Phu Quoc International Airport is currently served daily by 10 domestic flights from Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, while international destinations served include Cambodia, China, Finland, Korea Sweden, and the UK. The airport is currently being upgraded and expected to welcome more than four million travellers per year. A visa exempt rule grants international visitors 30 days upon arrival.

"Phu Quoc's growing reputation as a major tourist destination is only set to flourish over the next ten years as many high-end developments are slated to open on the island," said Ms Suphajee Suthumpun, Group Chief Executive Officer of Dusit International. "Following our strategy for sustainable and profitable growth, which includes building our portfolio of international properties, the new hotel will open under our newly developed franchise model, which helps property owners gain maximum returns while providing them with all the benefits they expect from a global brand. We are very much looking forward to working with Linh Chi Limited Company on this special project."

Mr Do Van Chanh, Director of Linh Chi Limited Company, which owns the new hotel, said, "We are delighted to be furthering the island's tourism industry by debuting Dusit's gracious hospitality at this unique hotel development. This beautiful island has a bright future ahead, and we are confident that, with Dusit International's guidance and expertise, DusitPrincess Moonrise Beach Resort will be a huge success when it opens its doors later this year."

About Dusit International

Established in 1948, Dusit International or Dusit Thani Public Company Limited (DUSIT) is a leading hospitality group listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Its operations comprise five distinct yet complementary business units: hotels and resorts, hospitality education, food, property development, and hospitality-related services.

The group's portfolio of hotels, resorts and luxury villas includes more than 300 properties operating under a total of six brands (Dusit Thani, Dusit Devarana, dusitD2, Dusit Princess, ASAI Hotels, and Elite Havens) across 16 countries worldwide. The group also operates culinary schools and hospitality colleges in Thailand, plus catering companies for the education sector in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Dusit International's diversified investments in real estate development, hospitality-related services, and the food sector are part of its long-term strategy for sustainable growth, which focuses on three key areas: balance, expansion and diversification.

For more information, please visit dusit-international.com.

Sureerat Sudpairak

Corporate Manager  Public Relations

+66 (0) 2200 9999 ext. 3321

Dusit
The Public Security Police force (PSP) recorded 366 taxi infractions during the month of April, according to a statement released by PSP. The total number of infractions is 13 cases more than in March. The infractions include 204 cases (55.7 percent) of over-charging and 106 cases (29 percent) of taxi drivers who refused to accept passengers. Compared to March, there were 25 more cases of overcharging, while refusal to take passengers also increased compared to March, when 81 cases were recorded. One infraction was related to a taxi driver who did not follow passengers requests. Nine of these cases occurred in March. During the same period, the police recorded 136 cases involving unauthorized taxis, 121 of which related to mobile taxi hailing services. When compared to April of 2016, April 2017 saw a significant increase in the number of taxi infractions. The infractions in April of 2016 included 102 cases of overcharging and 89 cases of taxi drivers refusing to accept passengers, among other infractions. Back then, the police recorded 135 cases involving unauthorized taxis. In total, in April of 2016, 289 taxi infractions were recorded.

Man arrested for engaging in sex with minor

A 23-year-old man has been arrested for having intercourse with a 15-year-old female student. According to a report by Macao Daily News, the girl met the man through a mobile chatting app last March. Last Monday, while the two were having sex at her home, the girls parents returned and found the couple hiding in the bathroom. After being questioned, the girl admitted to having had sex with the man three times from last April until last Monday. The girls father reported the case to the police, and the police later arrested the man.
The Chief Executive (CE), Chui Sai On, has been invited to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation taking place in Beijing. He will visit Beijing from Saturday to 15 May.

A delegation from the MSAR will attend the opening ceremony of the Forum on Saturday, as well as leaders roundtable summits and other additional sessions.

Officials accompanying the CE to Beijing will include the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam.

The delegation also includes several local figures, including Leong Heng Teng, Liu Chak Wan, Ma Iao Lai, Leonel Alberto Alves, Cheang Chi Keong and Chan Meng Kam.

During Chuis absence, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, will be the Acting Chief Executive.

The theme for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be Strengthening International Cooperation and Co-building the Belt and Road for Win-win Development. According to a statement issued yesterday by the Government Information Bureau, it is the most high-level conference to be held by the country on this topic since the Belt and Road initiative was put forward by President Xi Jinping.

The local government has initiated a series of strategies so that Macau can support and participate in the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (also known as the Belt and Road initiative). These strategies include setting up in February of the Working Committee for the Development of Belt and Road Initiative, a body chaired by the Chief Executive and with the five government secretaries as members.

The Working Committee convened its first meeting last week to review the progress of Macaus contributions and outline further major tasks for this year.
Before departing to Beijing, Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, visited the University of Macau (UM). During yesterdays morning visit, Zhang said that UMs new campus, which covers approximately one square kilometer, is a testament to the combined support of the central and SAR government to higher education development in Macau.

Accompanied by the Chief Executive Chui Sai On, Zhang was received at UM by several local figures, including Lam Kam Seng, chair of the UM University Council and Wei Zhao, rector of UM. Lam told Zhang about the universitys campus design, master plan, educational philosophy, and achievements in scientific research.

According to a statement issued by UM, Zhang used the term very good to praise UMs campus and development. He said that the SAR government has invested a lot of resources in facilities so that it could develop rapidly in recent years and become one of the top universities in China and the world.

The Rector of Keang Peng School, the rector of Macao Polytechnic Institute, a professor from the University of Macau, a teacher from Hong Kong Middle School, and representatives of UMs student union had a chance to talk to Zhang during his visit to UM, expressing their opinions mostly about what had been said in Macau including the enhancement of Macaus human resource competencies, and the exchange between mainland and Macau students.

During his speech at the airport, the head of the Central Government Liaison Office in Macau, Wang Zhi Min, described Zhangs visit to the Hengqin campus

[Zhang] encouraged the mass educators to remember their holy mission, to insist on perpetuating an accurate educational direction, to let Love the Country, Love Macau values become the youths mainstream ideology, said Wang, adding that [Zhang] encouraged the students to set up ambitions that serve the country, [] and to be the successors and constructors of the One Country, Two Systems policy.
Portugal is analyzing the possibility of public debt denominated in Chinese currency, the renminbi, in order to broaden the investor base and attract financing, Finance Minister Mario Centeno said in Beijing at the end of a three-day visit to China.

The Portuguese minister held meetings during his stay in the Chinese capital with officials from the Peoples Bank of China, the central bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China and the China Postal Savings Bank.

Centeno told Portuguese news agency Lusa that Portugal could become the first European country to issue public debt in renminbi, a possibility that is however dependent on credit ratings attributed by the major credit rating agencies.

Moodys, Standard & Poors and Fitch Ratings have rated Portugals long-term sovereign debt as junk, which means that the bonds issued are highly speculative and not investment quality.

Moodys said on Friday it had kept Portugals sovereign debt rating at Ba1 with a stable outlook, with the next assessment scheduled for 1 September.

On his trip to China Centeno was accompanied by the president of the Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency, Cristina Casalinho and the Secretary of State for the Treasury, Alvaro Costa Novo.

China has recently become a major foreign investor in Portugal having acquired important stakes in companies in the energy, insurance, health and banking sectors. MDT/Macauhub
Li Suet-wens dream home would have a bedroom and living room where her two children could play and study. The reality is a one-room shoebox cubicle, one of five partitioned out of a small apartment in an aging walkup in a working class Hong Kong neighborhood.

Into the 120-square-foot room are crammed a bunk bed, small couch, fridge, washing machine and tiny table. On one side of the door is a combined toilet and shower stall, on the other a narrow counter with a hotplate and sink. Clothes drying overhead dim light from a bare fluorescent tube. It feels like a storage unit, not a home.

Lis 6-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter often ask, Why do we always have to live in such small flats? Why cant we live in a bigger place? Li said.

I say its because mommy doesnt have any money, said Li, a single mom whose HKD4,500 a month in rent and utilities eats up almost half the HKD10,000 she earns at a bakery decorating cakes.

Housing costs are among this wealthy Asian financial centers biggest problems.

Some 200,000 of Hong Kongs 7.3 million residents live in subdivided units. Thats up 18 percent from four years ago and includes 35,500 children 15 and under, government figures show. The figure doesnt include many thousands more living in other inadequate housing such as rooftop shacks, metal cages resembling rabbit hutches and coffin homes made of stacked wooden bunks.

Its a universe away from the lifestyles enjoyed by the rich living in lavish mountaintop mansions and luxury penthouses, or even those with middle-class accommodation in this former British colony.

Hong Kong regularly tops global property price surveys. Rents and home prices have steadily risen and are now at or near all-time highs.

The U.S.-based consultancy Demographia has ranked it the worlds least affordable housing market for seven straight years, beating Sydney, Vancouver and 400 other cities. Median house prices are 19 times the median income.

Beijing-backed Carrie Lam, who was chosen in March to be Hong Kongs next chief executive, has vowed to tackle the housing crisis she is inheriting from her predecessor Leung Chun-ying.

Lam says that after she takes office in July she will help middle-class families afford starter homes and expand the amount of land the government makes available for development.

As everyone knows, for some time housing has been a troubling problem for Hong Kong, she said in her victory speech. I have pledged to assist Hong Kongers to attain home ownership and improve their living conditions. To do so we need more usable land. The key is to reach a consensus on how to increase the supply.

Prices have soared despite multiple rounds of government cooling measures, as money floods in from mainland China. Widening inequality helped drive mass pro-democracy protests in 2014. Young people despair of ever owning homes of their own. They lack space even to have sex, one activist lawmaker said last fall, using a coarse Cantonese slang term that caused a stir.

If we cannot solve the housing problem, there will be more social problems, said Sze Lai-shan, an organizer with social welfare group Society for Community Organization. Social tensions will increase and people are (going to be) getting more annoyed with the governments policies.

Li says her children bicker nonstop.

They fight over this and fight over that. If theres a day off (from school), the two of them will argue, she said. The bigger they get, the more crowded it gets. Sometimes theres not even any space to step, she said. They dont even have space to do their homework.

Public housing is the best hope for most living on modest incomes. High-rise public housing estates house about 30 percent of Hong Kongs 7 million people. If homes bought with government subsidies are included, the number rises to nearly half.

Li applied two years ago, but with 282,300 people on the waiting list the average wait is 4.7 years.

Wong Tat-ming, 63, has occupied an even smaller coffin home for four years. He pays HKD2,400 a month for 1-meter by 2-meter compartment crammed with his meager possessions, including a sleeping bag, small color TV and electric fan.

His bunk sits beside grimy toilets and a single sink shared by two dozen residents, including a few single women.

On a per square foot basis, its not cheap here either, Wong jokes. Would you say its more expensive than living in a mansion?

Leg pain from sclerosis forced Wong to stop driving a taxi 10 years ago. He gets by on about HKD5,300 a month from welfare.

Wong is skeptical Lam can help.

So she says shes going to take care of these problems, but that will take at least seven to eight years, he said.

Chan Geng-kau, who works here and there as a janitor, and his wife worry about being forced out of their hut in one of the citys slums in the sky atop a terrace of a Kowloon tenement bristling with TV antennas and crisscrossed by coverhead wires.

The government plans to demolish the illegal concrete and corrugated metal huts.

If they come to clear us out, my income isnt high, I dont earn very much and the apartments out there are very expensive so I cant afford it, said Chan, 58. With his unstable income, hes barely able to pay his HKD2,000 a month rent. If I pay those rents, I cant afford to eat. Text by Kelvin Chan, Photos by Kin Cheung, AP
President Donald Trump defended his firing of FBI Director James Comey, asserting in a flurry of tweets yesterday that Republicans and Democrats will be thanking me. Trump did not mention any effect the firing might have on the probe into contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia.

Instead, Trump tweeted that hell name a replacement who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI.

Nevertheless, the abrupt firing throws into question the future of the investigation into the Trump campaigns possible connections to Russia and immediately raised suspicions of an underhanded effort to stymie a probe that has shadowed the administration from the outset. Trump has ridiculed the investigations as a hoax and denied any campaign involvement with the Russians.

Democrats likened Comeys ouster to President Richard Nixons Saturday Night Massacre and renewed calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor, and some Republicans also questioned the move.

In a flurry of tweets, Trump said Comey had lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, adding: When things calm down, they will be thanking me!

In his brief letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore public trust and confidence in the FBI. The administration paired the letter with a scathing review by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of how Comey handled the investigation into Democrat Hillary Clintons email practices, including his decision to hold a news conference announcing its findings and releasing derogatory information about Clinton.

While Comey has drawn anger from Democrats since he reopened the email investigation in the closing days of last years campaign, they didnt buy that justification for his firing. Several Republicans joined them in raising alarms of how it could affect probes into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

In one of the strongest statements by Republicans, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said, I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comeys termination.

His dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the committee, Burr said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told Trump in a phone call he thought dumping Comey was a mistake. Yesterday, Trump labeled the Senate minority leader Cryin Chuck Schumer.

Trump will now appoint a successor at the FBI, which has been investigating since late July, and who will almost certainly have an impact on how the investigation moves forward and whether the public will accept its outcome.

It was only the second firing of an FBI director in history. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.

Democrats compared the ouster to Nixons decision to fire the independent special prosecutor overseeing the Watergate investigation in 1973, which prompted 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. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the White House was brazenly interfering in the probe.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Congress must form a special committee to investigate Russias interference in the election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said only: Once the Senate receives a nomination, we look forward to a full, fair and timely confirmation process to fill the director position. This is a critical role that is especially important as America faces serious threats at home and abroad.

Comey was speaking to agents at the FBIs field office in Los Angeles when the news broke. Television screens in the office began flashing the news, and Comey initially chuckled, according to a law enforcement official who was present and spoke on condition of anonymity. But Comey finished his speech before heading into an office and did not reappear in the main room. He later left Los Angeles on a plane to return to Washington.

In his letter to Comey, Trump thanked him for telling him three times that I am not under investigation. The FBI has not confirmed that Comey ever made those assurances to the president. In public hearings, Comey has declined to answer when asked if Trump is under investigation, urging lawmakers not to read anything into that statement.

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, he spent three decades in law enforcement. Before the past months controversies, the 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.

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 a Senate Judiciary Committee 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 Comeys 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.

Eric Tucker, Eileen Sullivan & Julie Pace, Washington, AP

Reaction to the firing



Some Twitter reaction to President Donald Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey amid the bureaus investigation into allegations his campaign had ties to Russia.

Comey should be immediately called to testify in an open hearing about the status of Russia/Trump investigation at the time he was fired.

 U.S. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon

Given the recent controversies surrounding the Director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well.

 U.S. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina

If we dont get a special prosecutor, every American will rightfully suspect that the decision to fire #Comey was part of a cover-up.

 U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, Senate minority leader

@realDonaldTrump Didnt you know youre supposed to wait til Saturday night to massacre people investigating you?

 John Podesta, Hillary Clintons former campaign chairman

Bipartisan Congressional investigations will continue. Actively seeking additional info on Presidents decision before commenting further.

 U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-New Jersey

This is Nixonian. Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein must immediately appoint a special prosecutor to continue the Trump/Russia investigation.

 U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania

FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian

 Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Its time for Congress to get their heads out of the sand. @realDonaldTrump cannot pick the person to continue this critical investigation.

 U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts

I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comeys termination.

 U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina

Congressional Republicans cannot possibly disagree now: the only fix to this mess is an independent commission with subpoena power.

 Brian Fallon, former press secretary for Hillary Clinton presidential campaign

While the case for removal of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey laid out by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein was thorough, his removal at this particular time will raise questions. It is essential that ongoing investigations are fulsome and free of political interference until their completion, and it is imperative that President Trump nominate a well-respected and qualified individual to lead the bureau at this critical time.

 U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee

Dem response should be easycall for independent investigation, remind voters of the last POTUS to fire someone while under investigation.

 Christina Reynolds, former communications staffer for Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

Kelly and Christie top picks for new FBI chief

With James Comey ousted as FBI director, President Donald Trump will have an opportunity to select a replacement for a new 10-year term. The FBI in the interim will be led by Comeys top deputy, Andrew McCabe. But Trump is likely to reach outside the bureau to find someone to run the storied law enforcement agency.

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, Trump said in a statement issued by the White House.

Here are some possible candidates:

RAY KELLY: The longest-serving police commissioner in New York City, Kelly oversaw the force in the years following the Sept. 11 attacks when terror threats were routine. His tough-on-crime stance, including support for provocative tactics like stop-and-frisk, could make him a natural ally of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a go-to-guy for a fellow New Yorker like Trump. Kelly as commissioner defended a police operation, exposed by The Associated Press, that conducted secret surveillance of Muslims. He could partner with Trump and Sessions on anti-terrorism efforts.

CHRIS CHRISTIE: Though his relationship with Trump has been topsy-turvy, the governor of New Jersey has known the president for years and could bring law enforcement bona fides to the job. Christie is a former Republican-appointed United States attorney in New Jersey, and he cited that background time and again during his 2016 presidential campaign. His legacy as governor took a hit, however, with a Bridgegate scandal that was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted and brought down some of his allies.

DAVID CLARKE: A wild-card, but the outspoken and polarizing Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, sheriff has been a fierce supporter of Trump and even landed a speaking spot at last summers Republican National Convention. A conservative firebrand known for his cowboy hat, 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 hed be a long shot given that a county jury recently recommended criminal charges against seven Milwaukee County jail staffers in the dehydration death of an inmate who went without water for seven days.

TREY GOWDY: The South Carolina Republican led the House committee investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons actions surrounding the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. Gowdy is also a former federal prosecutor who boasts of his work on drug trafficking, bank robberies and child pornography cases. He was among lawmakers critical of Comeys decision not to prosecute Clinton in the email server investigation, saying other government officials would have been prosecuted if they handled classified information like Clinton did, but federal officials disagree with that assessment. Gowdy said after Comeys firing that though he had differences with the former FBI director on some matters, he never lost sight of the fact that he had a very difficult job. AP
Pork may be hogging menus in Vietnams factories and army canteens for some time to come, as the country tries to keep pig farmers stricken by a glut in supply from going under.

Millions of farmers are struggling after China began blocking imports from Vietnam in November. The crisis has highlighted the risks of depending on a single foreign market, especially such a big one: half of all pork the world eats is consumed in China.

Pork prices fell to as low as USD1 per kilogram in early May, less than half the price a year earlier. So far, a surplus of 300,000 tons to 400,000 tons has accumulated, according to state media.

To help farmers weather the crisis, the military, police and trade unions are boosting pork portions in meals served in their canteens.

At a recent Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told officials to review planning of farm production and distribution to prevent future gluts in pork supplies.

The agriculture ministry, meanwhile, is lobbying to increase exports to China and other markets.

The rescue effort may have come too late for farmers like Do Huu Thuyen, who lost all his savings when pork prices recently crashed to record lows.

The price of pork has never been cheaper, said Thuyen after feeding his herd at his farm in Xuan Son, a village about 55 kilometers (34 miles) northwest of Hanoi.

Vietnam is the worlds sixth-largest pork producer with about 3 million households raising pigs, mostly in small, backyard farms. Such small scale farming usually earns them badly needed cash income, but its relatively inefficient and difficult to regulate.

If farmers see a chance for profits they will do as they like, as they have done many times before despite cautions from the government, said Nguyen Anh Dung, another pig farmer.

Chinas crackdown on the border trade was a harsh blow: Vietnamese sold 600,000 tons of pork to Chinese buyers in 2016 through such channels.

It also came at an especially bad time, since many farmers had expanded their herds two years earlier when prices spiked. Pork output in 2016 was 3.9 million tons, triple the output of 15 years earlier, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Thuyen, 42, says his farm was worth tens of billions of dong (hundreds of thousands of dollars), when he mortgaged his home to expand his herd to 170 breeding pigs and 400 pigs for slaughter. He hasnt sold a single piglet in the last three months because with pork prices so low, nobody wants to raise them.

In six months he lost 2 billion dong ($88,000) or 10 years worth of savings, he says.

I could go bankrupt, if the price stays the same, he said.

Vietnams farm ministry is lobbying Beijing to resume imports, and Agriculture Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong hopes to meet with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of a regional forum to be held in Vietnam in November, state-controlled media have reported.

Thuyen said he is losing 1.5 million dong ($66) for every pig he sells, while traders make that much or more. Tran Van Minh, Xuan Son, AP
TWIN FALLS  The Idaho State Bar has publicly reprimanded attorney Mark Guerry for improper comments he made while running for Twin Falls County prosecutor last year, but the reprimand does not prohibit him from practicing law.

In a Facebook post during the campaign leading up the Republican primary election, Guerry accused District Judge Richard Bevan of helping County Prosecutor Grant Loebs to get out of several drunken driving arrests.

Both Loebs and Bevan denied the accusations, and the state bar confirmed their position.

Since his opponent had never been pulled over for a suspected DUI, and because a district judge never intervened in any alleged DUI on the opponents behalf, Mr. Guerrys post was made with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity and the information in that post was false, the Idaho State Bar said in a statement.

The bar will not discipline Guerry further, and the reprimand does not preclude him from practicing law in any way. Guerry, who represents the victims family in the high-profile Fawnbrook sexual-assault case, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

After making the accusation on Facebook during a bizarre campaign, Guerry walked back his claims during an interview with the Times-News editorial board, saying he posted the accusation in the fog of war of the campaign and it wasnt a personal attack against Bevan.

Its probably not a wise thing to do, Guerry told the newspaper board last year. Its probably not a fair thing to do.

Loebs won re-election with 5,104 votes to Guerrys 2,236.

The outrageous accusation was obviously false from day one, Loebs said Thursday, adding he didnt feel vindicated by the bars decision because he was never under any cloud to be vindicated.

Its good that they publicized the truth, Loebs said. But nobody who knows anything about me or Judge Bevan believed any of that in the first place.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the Idaho State Bar did not discipline Guerry. The story has been updated to accurately state that a public reprimand, while it does not prohibit Guerry from practicing law, is considered to be discipline.
TWIN FALLS  The Idaho STEM Action Center has awarded $42,000 in grants to regional centers, including $8,000 for projects in south-central Idaho.

Money will go to the Educate Idaho Network, which aims to boost the number of Gem State residents who pursue post-high school college and career preparation.

The network has four regional hubs, including the South Central Idaho Education Partnership in Twin Falls.

The $8,000 local award will fund projects focused on science, technology, engineering and math.


JEROME  Improving vital parts of the city  community pride, damaged roads and bike-friendly areas  are at top of mind for Jeromes mayor and city manager.

Mayor Dave Davis and City Administrator Mike Williams addressed those concerns and more Wednesday at the State of the City.

Damaged roads

There is no question this winter was extreme and hard on our roadways, Williams said.

The city is waiting to hear back from the state and FEMA on what amount of money Jerome could receive.

The city has budgeted 3.4 million for overlay projects, but it doesnt include damage from this years winter. During the winter, wastewater runoff caused daily flows to exceed 5 million gallons a day. The maximum canals can handle is 3.2 million a day. The wastewater treatment plants emergency storage pond helped filter excess water. The pond was part of the Jeromes wastewater treatment plant upgrade.

The most heavily damaged Jerome roads are 16th Ave. E, 100 West and South Lincoln Avenue.

There are potholes and lines or seams coming undone, Williams said. South Lincoln is the most heavily trafficked.

The city has about $800,000 in reserves that it could apply, but it depends on what the City Council approves, he said.

Sidewalks and bike paths

The bike path serves only the east side of town. Williams wants to expand it to the west side, especially near Summit Elementary and Jerome Middle School.

For now, expansion of the bike path is in the conceptual phase. Williams said he is working with the Jerome Recreation District to come up with a plan.

Sidewalks are also a priority.

We want to create more walkability throughout Jerome, he said. There are stretches of the town without sidewalks.

New homes, businesses

Since 2014, eight new buildings have been added to Jerome. Downtown remains a major priority for the city. The City Council recently approved a developer agreement for seven acres along North Lincoln Avenue. The city will create a committee to make downtown more pedestrian friendly.

On average, 35 new homes are built each year in Jerome. However, Williams said, Jerome is running out of shovel ready lots for homes. Lots around Tiger Drive are especially low on inventory.

After this year, there isnt a whole lot of space left to build homes, he said. Its not a problem and it is a problem.

Community pride

Community pride or spirit is one of the 13 focus areas of Jeromes strategic plan. A community spirit committee of seven people has been appointed by Mayor Dave Davis and confirmed by the City Council.

The purpose, at least in my view, we talk about revitalizing downtown, but its also important to revitalize community spirit, Davis said. I feel service is the backbone of a vital community.

August has been designated Block Party Month and is a way for neighbors to get to know each other.

You can have all this economic well-being, Davis said. But if you arent friendly or compassionate it doesnt mean anything.
SALT LAKE CITY  The LDS Church announced Thursday that it will no longer participate in the Varsity and Venturing programs offered by the Boy Scouts of America KSL reported.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will shift its focus from Scouting for boys aged 14-18 to that of its young men program, which is intended to provide spiritual, social and physical activities for teenagers. The change will take effect Jan. 1, 2018.

"We express sincere appreciation and gratitude to all adult leaders who have supported young men in these programs and are grateful for our long-standing and continuing partnership with the Boy Scouts of America and Scouts Canada," the LDS Church's First Presidency wrote in a letter.

The church says many LDS congregations in the United States and Canada are not being well served in Varsity and Venture and are difficult to implement within the church.

The change will provide a simplified program for the boys and their leaders in an effort to provide personal growth and development," the letter said.

The change will impact approximately 180,000 boys, according to figures from the LDS Church.

The change will not impact the Cub Scout or Boy Scout programs for the church, which will operate as normal. The church will continue to develop programs for its boys and girls that fit the needs of its congregations worldwide.

In January, the LDS Church said it was studying the Boy Scouts decision to allow transgender children into the organization but that the Boy Scouts would allow the church to maintain their religious beliefs regarding gay and transgender children while being affiliated with the Scouting program. The LDS Church said the decision to drop the Varsity and Venture program is not a response to the BSAs recent policy changes.

Recently, the BSA has considered allowing girls into the Scouting program but has yet to make a decision. The LDS Church said it will continue to maintain its affiliation with the BSA and that Thursdays decision was made before the church learned about the potential policy change to allow girls.

The Varsity and Venture programs have always been optional to the church. Boy Scouts national commissioner Charles Dahlquist told KSL the LDS Church has been very supportive for all of these years despite it not being fully implemented in the various congregations through the United States and Canada. He added that he expects the decision to be a positive experience for all involved.

This could be a real benefit for these young men as they prepare for missions and for life and for the challenges of life as the LDS Church focuses unitedly with the general authorities, local authorities (and) local youth leaders to be able to help them to have a good developmental experience between 14 and 18, Dahlquist added.

Boys working toward the rank of Eagle Scout will be able to continue after they turn 14 and will be supported and encouraged in their efforts, the LDS Church said.

This may actually put a little pressure on families and on these young men to be more engaged and to work to get their Eagle award before theyre 14, Dahlquist said.

The LDS Church has reviewed its affiliation with the Scouting program over the years and continue to look for ways to better serve its families and young people worldwide. However, the Cub Scout and Boy Scout program currently meet the development program needs for boys 8-13, according to the church.

The BSA has always allowed the church to operate its programs in ways that are consistent with our standards and beliefs, and they have been very supportive, the church said. This change is to address the needs of young men ages 14 to 18 who have not had an effective program. The church is always evaluating what is best for our youth and families, and will continue to do so.

Although the changes will not go into effect until the new year, the LDS Church encouraged its leaders to continue with their activities as they work to implement the new activity guidelines. Additionally, the LDS Church said it will continue to be involved in Friends of Scouting for the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs.

To facilitate activity ideas for boys older than 14, the church shared a website available since 2013 dedicated to helping leaders and youth select activities that fulfill the needs of the young men and women programs.

When followed, these activities can provide better opportunities for spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual growth, the church added.
Debbie Ann Christensen

TWIN FALLS  Debbie Christensen, funeral services at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 11, 2017. at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home, 2551 Kimberly Rd. in Twin Falls. A visitation will be held from 6 until 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, at the funeral home.

Mary Barreiro

IDAHO FALLS  Mary Barreiro, funeral services at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 11, at the Lincoln LDS 2nd Ward Chapel, 3700 E Lincoln Road, Idaho Falls.

Debbie Christensen

TWIN FALLS  Debbie Christensen, celebration of life at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 11 at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home.

Lois Troxell

TWIN FALLS  Lois Troxell of Twin Falls, celebration of life at 2 p.m. Friday, May 12, 2017 at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home 2551 Kimberly Rd., Twin Falls, ID.

Louis Gonzalez

BURLEY  Louis Gonzalez, funeral services at 11 a.m. Friday, May 12, at Hansen Mortuary. A viewing will be held 6:00-8:00 p.m. Thursday, May 11, 2017 at Hansen Mortuary.

Larry Heiner

RUPERT  Family and friends are invited to attend funeral services for Larry at 11 a.m. Friday, May 12, 2017 at the Rupert West Stake Center, located at 26 South 100 West, Rupert, Idaho.

Glen Hopwood

TWIN FALLS  Glen Hopwood, a gathering will be held from 1 until 3 p.m. Saturday, May 13 at Rosenau Funeral Home & Crematory with military honors beginning at 1 p.m.

Carlotta Oneida

BOISE  Carlotta Oneida, celebration of life from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday, May 13m 2017 at Columbia Village Clubhouse, 3655 E Lake Forest Dr., Boise.

Randy Mitchell

TWIN FALLS  Randy Mitchell, memorial service at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 13 at the First United Methodist Church, 360 Shoshone St. East, Twin Falls. Arrangements are under the direction of White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park.

Cleo Mishler

TWIN FALLS  Cleo Mishler, funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 13 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Eastbrooke Ward, 847 Eastland Dr. North, Twin Falls.

Nell Turner

BURLEY  Nell Turner, funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 13 at the Burley West Stake Center, 2420 Park Ave, Burley A viewing will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday May 12 at Morrison Payne Funeral Home, 321 E Main St, Burley and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. prior to the services at the church.

Mitchell Steward

ST. GEORGE, Utah  Mitchell Stewart, formerly of Twin Falls, services at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 13 at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home, 2551 Kimberly Road, Twin Falls.

John Cilley

TWIN FALLS  John Cilley, services at noon, May 15 at the Grace Baptist Church. Arrangements are under the direction of Rosenau Funeral Home.

Ellie Veneman

BURLEY  Ellie Veneman, service of remembrance at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 16, at Zion Lutheran Church, 2410 Miller Ave., in Burley. A visitation will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Monday, May 15, at Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley.
This appeared in Wednesdays Washington Post:

Its fair to doubt that President Donald Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey because of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigationa performance the president had previously praised. But whatever his motive, Trump has removed an independent official overseeing inquiries into Russias intervention in last years election, from which the president benefited, and Moscows possible collaboration with elements of Trumps campaign. The firing has undermined the credibility of a vital national security investigation. The priority for Congress and the Justice Department must be to restore independence and credibility to that probe as quickly as possible.

First the country must have a full accounting of Comeys dismissal  before Congress confirms a new FBI director. Did, as some reports suggest, Trump trigger a search for a pretext to dismiss the director because of his anger over Comeys statements about the Russia case? Did Rod Rosenstein, the heretofore reputable deputy attorney general, knowingly or unwittingly cooperate with such a charade? Before any nominee is confirmed, the White House must forswear any interferemce in the FBI investigation and promise to provide it with all needed resources. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Comey asked for more resources for the Russia investigation in the days leading up to his termination, suggesting the inquiry was far from over. A Justice Department spokesperson denied the report. Even so, Congress must ensure that the FBI gets the resources it requires.

But no White House pledge can repair the damage of Comeys firing, nor satisfy the preexisting need for a full understanding of the foreign attack the U.S. democratic system endured last year. Any Trump FBI nominee would be tainted by association with the president, and the episode has also raised questions about the independence of the Justice Departments highest officials. These considerations have led Democrats to demand a special prosecutor to oversee the Russia investigation, chosen by a career Justice Department official, rather than Rosenstein or any other political appointee. That, along with the nomination of a qualified and politically independent new FBI director, would help reestablish credibility.

Much of the burden for cleaning up this mess falls on Congress. Reactions from Republican lawmakers to the Comey news ranged from appropriate alarm and concern to unsettling acceptance. The current House and Senate investigations of Russia have produced some valuable testimony, but many lawmakers have proved themselves incapable of separating politics from the important work their committees are supposed to be conducting. Its now obvious that Congress should empanel an independent commission to fully investigate Moscows hacking attacks and any Russian links to Trump and his campaign. The goal should be not merely to determine if anyone should be charged with a crime, but to develop a complete picture of Russian capabilities and intentions, as well as recommendations for mounting a defense of U.S. democracy.
A customer chooses milk products at a supermarket in Xuchang, Henan province. [GENG GUOQING/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial, China's biggest food and dairy group, plans to bid for the entire stake of Stonyfield, an organic yogurt producer that Groupe Danone holds a majority stake, for about 5.9 billion yuan ($850 million), Yili announced on Wednesday.

The deal is in its preliminary stages and whether the company will win the bid is determined by many uncertain factors, Yili said in the announcement.

This is another large scale acquisition attempt for China's dairy giant Yili, which dominates standard temperature milk markets, to strengthen its competitive advantage in low temperature yogurt markets as a new profit-making engine. Last month, it withdrew from a bid to acquire a 37 percent stake of China Shengmu Organic Milk Ltd for 4.6 billion yuan.

New Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm is the world's largest organic yogurt producer which includes many popular American yogurt brands such as YoBAby and YoToDDler. The income of Stonyfield was $370 million last year with $50 million in net profits.

The consumption of dairy products in China has increased to 55 million tons in 2016 from 42 million tons in 2006 while the price of per kilogram of fresh milk has increased to 3.53 yuan from 2 yuan during the same period, according to Dairy Information Network.

With the increasing number of newborns following the relaxation of the one-child policy and an increasing number of aging people, the demand for dairy products in China is expected to continue to grow.

Over the past decade, the country's imports of dairy products grew 14 percent annually on average and China is expected to import 14.2 million metric tons of dairy products this year, an increase of 11 percent since last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture's report on China Agricultural Outlook (2017-26).

Analysts expect the deal, once approved, will shift the industry landscape of low temperature dairy in China and raise awareness of Chinese dairy brands worldwide.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte told the member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to secure the future of the regions youth by destroying the drug apparatuses.

He made the statement even as the members of his Cabinet pitched his ambitious P8-trillion infrastructure development plan that took the international stage during the World Economic Forum in the Cambodian Capital Thursday.

Duterte, who heads the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, told an audience that included Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyan Xuan Phuc to secure the youth from the evils of illegal drugs.

The Asean youth are among the best and are most creative, intelligent and innovative in the world. We must empower them to be the best version of themselves, Duterte said.

But we cannot turn a blind eye [to] the scourge of illegal drugs that threaten our youth and the future of our societies. We need to take a committed stand to dismantle and destroy the illegal drugs trade apparatus. We must reaffirm our commitment to realize a drug-free Asean community.

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Duterte attended the World Economic Forum focusing on Aseans development that brings together leaders of nations, thought leaders, ministers and top CEOs of private companies.

Duterte said investing in the human capital should be a priority considering that the Asean was turning into an economic powerhouse with its young population.

ECONOMIC FORUM. Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen (left), Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (center) and Vietnams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sit on the stage during the opening of World Economic Forum on Asean in Phnom Penh on May 11, 2017. Cambodia hosts the World Economic Forum on Asean in Phnom Penh from May 10 to 12, 2017. AFP

Most importantly, we should invest in human capital. Analysts point out that the Philippines, together with the Southeast Asian countries, is a demographic sweet spot and is likely to post Asias fastest economic growth rates in the coming years, he said.

The youth is certainly a key sector that we must invest in. The Asean Work Plan on Youth 2016-2020 encourages youth entrepreneurship, employment, and employability awareness, volunteerism and resilience. The plan deserves our full support.

The President said an integrated Asean must focus on sustainable infrastructure, digital innovation, seamless logistics, regulatory excellence and people mobility.

Most importantly, we should invest in human capital development, Duterte said as he noted that the youth is an essential consideration for the region.

Duterte said the Asean had emerged into a significant global player in promoting peace and stability in the region and as an emerging economic powerhouse.

The region is now the worlds sixth largest economy, the third largest consumer base. Asean is home to more than 600 million people, making it larger than the European Union or North America, Duterte said.

Asean has the third-largest labor force in the world and our young population is producing a demographic dividend.

But while we celebrate Aseans achievement, we recognize that more needs to be done for our people.

Meanwhile, senior members of his economic team, including Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority chairman Vince Dizon pitched to investors the discussions on the Philippines economic and social development blueprint.

We are emerging from our cocoon with a rapidly growing economy and a young and hardworking population. We have enjoyed positive growth every year for the last 19 years, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

PNA

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The entire Turkish leadership establishment has rebuked US decision to supply arms to Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) fighting Daech in Syria with help of US air power.

Ankara considers the Syrian group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) waging insurgency in Southeast Turkey and blacklisted as terror group by Ankara, Washington and Europe.

I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Erdogans charge on the US follows this week approval by President Trump to provide the Syrian militia group with additional arms as the group pushes edges on Deach in a move to take the terrorist groups stronghold of Raqqa.

The Turkish leader vowed to table the issue during next week visit to Washington. Erdogan is expected to meet President Trump on May 16.

Washington has been backing the Syrian Kurd group and other Arab rebels to crash Deach in war-ravaged Syria.

Turkish deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli also criticized Washington noting that support for the group will profit nobody.

The supply of arms to the YPG is unacceptable, he said.

The US decision has been however welcomed on the Syrian Kurdish side. Redur Xelil, a spokesperson for the group noted that arm supply decision will enable the Kurdish forces quickly stamp out the terrorist group.

From now on, after this historic arming decision, our units will play a more influential, powerful, and decisive role in fighting terrorism at a faster pace, he said.
Islam-dominated countries including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Niger have been invited to attend an Arab-Islamic-American summit planned in Riyadh during US President Donald Trumps next week visit to Saudi Arabia, reports say.

King Salman has invited King Mohammed VI of Morocco, Algerias Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Nigers Mahamadou Issoufou, and Tunisias Caid Essebsi to join other Muslim leaders at the two-day Summit (May 20-21).

The meeting is part of a series of bilateral talks between the US Presidential delegation and the Saudis. Rulers of Gulf countries will also hold talks with US President.

President Trump last week announced he would visit Saudi Arabia as his first foreign trip that will also take him to Israel and Vatican.

Trumps visit is highly expected in the Arab and Islamic world, which accuses him of singling out Muslims with Islamophobic comments.

The Trump administration argued that the choice of Saudi Arabia, home to Islam holiest sites, is a great sign the US President is keen to thaw ties with the Islamic world.

Riyadh has described the summit as a major step toward potential partnerships.

It is a clear message to the world that the United States and the Arab and Islamic countries can form a partnership, Saudi Foreign Minister Adil Jubeir was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency as saying.

We believe that it will strengthen cooperation between the United States and Arab and Islamic countries in the fight against terrorism and extremism, and the visit will have enormous benefits for the region and the world.

King Abdullah II of Jordan, Turkeys Erdogan as well as leaders of Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen have been also invited to attend the summit, reports say.
President Trump Wednesday urged Russia to call to order Syrian President Bashar Assad and regional ally Teheran.

This came at a meeting in Washington with Russian top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, the highest Russian official received by the US President since ascending to the top job.

President Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, in particular, underscoring the need for Russia to rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies, the White House said following the talks between the US leader and the Russian foreign minister.

Trump in a recent phone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin called for close collaboration between rival world powers to end bloodshed in Syria.

Last week, Assads supporters Moscow and Iran and Turkey, which supports the rebels, agreed to create security zones in Syria in a move to allow assistance to reach displaced populations and to reinforce the ceasefire agreement reached in December.

Though Washington supports the security zones agreement signed in Kazakhstans capital, Astana, the Trump administration has questioned the involvement of Iran saying that Teheran does not want to favour peace in Syria and in the region.

President Trump described the meeting with Lavrov as very, very good.

We had a very, very good meeting Trump said shortly after the meeting. Were going to stop the killing and the death (in Syria).

I think that we are going to do very well with respect to Syria, I think things are happening  they are really, really, really positive, Trump said.

Lavrov reception at the White House came in the backdrop of FBI boss James Comey sacking on Monday.

Comey argued that Russia was the biggest threat to the US democratic process, referring to Russias alleged involvement in rigging last years elections in favour of Donald Trump.
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.
Tracey Campbell has lived for seven years with lymphedema, a chronic condition that causes unsightly swelling in her left leg.

The disease, which stems from a damaged lymphatic system, can lead to infections, disfigurement, debilitating pain and disability. There is no cure. The only available treatment is to wear compression garments or use massage to suppress the swelling, which can occur throughout the body in some cases. Campbell  who had two quarts of excess water in her left leg by the time she was diagnosed  has for years worn restrictive garments 24 hours a day and has spent an hour each night massaging the lymph fluid out of her leg.

Lymphedema is uncomfortable, exhausting and dangerous if left uncontrolled. As many as 10 million Americans and hundreds of millions of people worldwide suffer from the condition, many from the after-effects of cancer therapy treatments.

Theres this extra layer of emotional burden, said Campbell, who added that she has to be constantly vigilant to protect against infection. All you want to be is normal.

Now theres new hope for a possible pharmaceutical treatment for patients like Campbell. A study led by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine has uncovered for the first time the molecular mechanism responsible for triggering lymphedema, as well as a drug with the potential for inhibiting that process.

The study was published May 10 in Science Translational Medicine.

We figured out that the biology behind what has been historically deemed the irreversible process of lymphedema is, in fact, reversible if you can turn the molecular machinery around, said Stanley Rockson, MD, professor of cardiovascular medicine and the Allan and Tina Neill Professor of Lymphatic Research and Medicine at Stanford. Rockson shares senior authorship of the study with Mark Nicolls, MD, professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine. Stanford research scientists Wen Amy Tian, PhD, and Xinguo Jiang, MD, PhD, share lead authorship of the study and are also affiliated with the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

Fundamental new discovery

This is a fundamental new discovery, said Nicolls, who is also a researcher at the VA Palo Alto.
Swedish government on Wednesday offered a $1.35 million grant to Zimbabwe, to help the drought-hit Southern African nation to boost its Culture Fund.

Addressing government officials gathered to witness the ceremony, Swedens head of development cooperation in Zimbabwe, Maria Selin, has warned against diversion of funds, adding that they want to track their money wherever it goes.

We do want to see the results and we want to be able to track our investment and we need to know where the money is going, said Selin.

We do not accept that our money that comes from the tax payer way back in Sweden is diverted to anywhere, where it is not supposed to be, she added.

As a result of corruption, some development partners have scaled down their work in the country.

It is the second grant this year from the Swedish government. In April, Sweden signed a funding agreement worth $773,000 with UNICEF that will see the creation of employment for young Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe, led by 93-year old president has been hit by corruption allegations in the face of cash shortages and rising debt. The current rate of unemployment in the country stands at 80 percent.
Social media in Rwanda was flooded this week with nude pictures believed to be Diane Shima Rwigara, a 35-year-old businesswoman who announced her intention to contest for the top job in the East-African nation.

The photos, which are currently making rounds on several media platforms, show Ms Rwigara completely naked and striking poses in different positions inside a house.

Rwigara is running against the current President Paul Kagame who has been in power for 17 years. She is also the first female independent candidate to have declared her interest to run for the top position.

The Human rights activist who is championing freedom of expression had not updated her active Twitter page since April 28 and her Facebook page since May 2.

In her manifesto, the 35-year-old said she will work to eradicate poverty, champion free speech, and provide health insurance for all Rwandans.

Everybody is scared to express themselves because they are too scared of the ruling party. I will be tackling poverty, injustice and insecurity, she said during her latest press conference.

Diane Shima Rwigara is the daughter of businessman Assinapol Rwigara, who was pivotal in the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front. He died in 2015 in a road accident.

His daughter says his death was an assassination, but police reject her allegations.
Republicans address Parliament and President over drug policy

By Messenger Staff

The non-parliamentary Republican Party has addressed Parliament and the President of Georgia concerning the country's drug policies.The party calls on Parliament and the President to take 'human steps' concerning the country's drug policy within the framework of their authority.In particular, the party calls on Parliament to elaborate on the amnesty law of Georgia, according to which all those convicted according certain articles related to the usage of drugs be declared fully free from punishment and/or released from incarceration.The party says the initiative serves towards the elaboration of the new drug policy that will be based on prevention and damage reduction, adequate and human sanctions as well as the rehabilitation of those addicted to drugs.The Human Rights Committee in the Parliament of Georgia has recently backed the Government-proposed draft bill that envisages certain liberalisations made to the current strict drug policies.However, the liberalisation mainly concerns marijuana, and no other drugs.The draft law reads that the illegal production of small amounts of dried marijuana, crude marijuana and cannabis, as well as their purchase, possession or transportation, will not be punished with imprisonment.In particular, a 'small amount' of dried marijuana is to be defined as up to 70g, while crude marijuana and cannabis will be set at 140g.Anyone in possession of these amounts will have to pay a 300 GEL fine.The state drug policy must be very strict towards drug dealers but also be very balanced in cases of usage.The complete liberalisation of drug usage, as some opposition parties and certain NGOs demand, may somehow encourage bad habits and may lead to fatal consequences, especially with regards to the usage of chemical drugs.Of course, it will be more welcomed if more treatment and rehabilitation programs are offered for drug users.
The News in Brief

Putin Meets New S.Ossetian Leader in Sochi



South Ossetia's new leader, Anatoly Bibilov, met with Russias President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on May 2, three weeks after the presidential polls granted him a decisive victory over his main opponent, incumbent Leonid Tibilov.



I know that you are an ardent supporter of developing relations with Russia in various fields, Vladimir Putin told Bibilov in his remarks before the meeting. We are currently implementing the treaty (referring to the alliance and integration treaty), which you actively supported back then [when it was being signed]. I very much hope that under your leadership, the Republic [of South Ossetia] will do everything that we agreed on to implement this treaty.



We have important cooperation programs on security, economic development and coordination, social issues. Russia co-finances programs of social nature and we plan to continue doing that, he also stated.



Vladimir Putin added that Moscow would develop the investment programs as well, including the infrastructure restoration and the creation of conditions for economic growth.



Bibilov thanked Putin for his personal, as well as Russias support to Tskhinvali and said that the recent election in the region was tense and competitive. However, whatever views there might be on the solution of domestic political problems, in any case, the orientation remains unchanged - integration and cooperation with the Russian Federation - and the people fully support this.



I think that the whole range of issues that will be discussed at our meeting will undoubtedly be realized and the social and economic state of the Republic of South Ossetia will improve, Bibilov told Putin. And of course, issues of greater integration, greater cooperation and the alliance between the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation will find a new impetus in these processes.



Speaking after the meeting, as reported by Anatoly Bibilovs administration, the new South Ossetian leader noted that the alliance [between Tskhinvali and Moscow], and strengthening integration ties with Russia bears utmost importance for ensuring security and socio-economic development of South Ossetia.



Bibilov also pledged that Tskhinvali would consistently follow the agreements with Russia.



The new South Ossetian leader stated that the two spoke about ways for simplifying the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for the regions residents and on the establishment of a joint enterprise with Rosneft, a Russian government-owned oil company.



According to Bibilovs administration, he also inquired into the possibility of Soviet-era savings deposit reimbursements to South Ossetians, as well as the abolition of VAT on goods produced in South Ossetia and imported into the Russian Federation. He also proposed to work out the issue of implementing the rights of Russian citizens in South Ossetia to maternity capital (social benefits for childcare). (civil.ge)







Minister of Regional Development denies confrontation in the governmental team



There is no confrontation within the governmental team, Zurab Alavidze, the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure said in response to a question about reports concerning an internal government controversy.



"I want to tell you directly that this is just a rumour. There is no confrontation in the governmental team. We have frequent relations with each other and I do not feel it. There are absolutely no grounds for these rumors," - Alavidze said.



When asked if Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze will be a mayoral candidate, Zurab Alavidze said we should wait for the relevant decision. (ipn)




BUILDING THE LA RAZA 'The Race' WELFARE STATE ON MIDDLE AMERICAS' BACKS: Months ago, the Biden administration publicly defended their proposal to begin providing federal identification cards to border crossers and illegal aliens who they plan to release into American communities. The goal of the proposal is to make securing public benefits easier.
@JeremySWallace

There is a big reason Adam Putnam begins his campaign for governor as an early front runner.

Make that 11 million reasons.

Even before he stepped to the microphone in downtown Bartow to announce he was running for governor, Putnam has spent the last three years socking campaign donations away into a political committee that can help him in his run for the states highest office in 2018.

Since 2014, Putnam has raised $11.4 million for the political committee he calls Florida Grown. He has spent about $3.1 million, leaving him with $8.3 million in the committee.

No other declared candidates can match those numbers. Neither can any of the candidates who are expected to consider running.

State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, told The Buzz today hes still considering making a run but wont make a decision until later this summer. Latvala has raised $8.2 million in his political committee, called the Florida Leadership Committee, since 2013. He has spent $5 million of that, leaving him with more than $3 million in the committee.

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Ponte Vedra Beach, could also be in the mix as conservative groups in D.C. have been pushing him to make another statewide run. He dropped out of the 2016 U.S. Senate race after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio re-joined the contest. DeSantis is sitting on $1.7 million in his federal campaign account, which could be moved into a state political committee. There is also another $750,000 remaining in a super PAC that organized to support his U.S. Senate campaign that could ultimately support him.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, said he wont make a decision until next year. In his political committee called Florida Roundtable, he has raised almost $2.6 million since 2013 but spent nearly $2.4 million. He has less than $200,000 in cash on hand in that committee.

On the Democratic side, Orlando businessman Chris King has already raised $1.4 million in his main campaign account and spent $207,000. Besides that $1.2 million left over, he also has $350,000 in a political action committee he runs called Rise and Lead, Florida.

Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, a Tallahassee Democrat, has said shes up to $1.6 million after transferring $1.2 million from her former congressional campaign account. That also includes $429,000 she has raised in a political committee she has called Our Florida.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has raised more than $400,000 in his main campaign account for governor and spent about $95,000 of that according to state records. He also has another nearly $470,000 in a political committee he runs called Forward Florida.

Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine has not filed to run for governor, but has begun building up a political committee that could help on that front. He has put $2 million into a committee called All About Florida.

Attorney John Morgan has also said hes considering get into the race. Morgan said he does he would largely self-fund any campaign.

PHOTO CREDIT: Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam held a rally in Polk County on Wednesday to kick off his campaign for governor in 2018. (OCTAVIO JONES/Tampa Bay Times)
@joeflech

Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who is in the midst of touring Florida as he mulls a possible run for governor in 2018, is engaged and awaiting his first child.

Levine, 55, recently got engaged to Caro Murciano, a real estate agent and younger sister of television actor Enrique Murciano. Levine has never been married before. The couple are expecting.

The mayor told the Miami Herald these changes in his personal life only bolster his motivation as he considers a run.

"Becoming a husband and father will be one of the greatest highlights of my life and reinforces my determination to make our children's future secure and bright," he said on Thursday.

Levine has yet to commit to a run to replace Gov. Rick Scott, who is term-limited in 2018. He would enter a field of Democrats that include Gwen Graham, former North Florida congresswoman and daughter of former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham; Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and Orlando businessman Chris King. Trial attorney John Morgan may also run.
Jackson Gray, on Acton Lake, will journey down the Ohio River with fellow Miamian Quinton Couch and friend Tyler Brezina to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention (photos by Scott Kissell).

By Margo Kissell, university news and communications

Two Miami University students and a friend will embark on a 981-mile journey down the Ohio River in a canoe and kayak to raise awareness about mental health and funding for suicide prevention.

Jackson Gray and Quinton Couch, along with Tyler Brezina, a student at Bowling Green State University, will begin their river adventure in Pittsburgh on Saturday, May 20. If things go as planned, they hope to finish in 40 days on June 29 near Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio joins the Mississippi River.

(Read about their launch from Pittsburgh and view a photo gallery in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's May 22 story "Trio paddling entire Ohio River to raise awareness, funds for suicide prevention.")

Gray, a junior from Canton majoring in civic and regional development, came up with the idea as a way to honor the memory of his best friend from high school. James Halley, 18, died on Oct. 2, 2014, when both were freshmen attending different colleges.

Gray said the upcoming journey, which theyre calling Race the River 2017, has helped them start a difficult conversation about suicide. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) calls it the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, with 44,193 Americans dying by suicide each year.

The way we look at this trip is to use this platform to advocate for such an important issue, said Gray, who has spoken about it on campus, including at this years Mental Health Forum as well as to Greek organizations.

Quinton Couch paddled on Acton Lake in Hueston Woods State Park near Oxford this week.

He and Couch said they have been most touched by the personal stories of people who have spoken to them afterward about their own struggles with mental health or about how their lives were touched by suicide.

Couch, a senior from Ross majoring in diplomacy and global politics with a minor in Arabic, Middle East and Islamic studies, said preparing for the trip has shown him the importance of having support. Thats true for those struggling with mental health issues, too, he said.

Couch joined the team this winter after hearing Gray talk about his plans at Bagel & Deli, where both students work.

We dont want any other family to feel that way, to experience that loss, said Gray, who was moved to get involved after Halleys death.

Once this trip came up, he said, I felt like I was doing something about it.

Planning the trip

Helping them organize the river trip has been Sabrina Jewell, outreach and marketing coordinator for Oxford Seniors and a member of the mental health subcommittee for the Coalition for A Healthy Community  Oxford Area.

It was very easy to see his passion and need to do something positive, said Jewell, who became their adviser after a mutual friend introduced her to Gray.

With assistance from Jewell and a team of six interns in an entrepreneurship class, they devised a fundraising and marketing plan. Their goal is to raise $7,000 for AFSP and $3,000 for river trip expenses through a GoFundMe page. A Race the River 2017 Facebook page provides links to both.

Couch said they plan to document their trip on the Facebook page, hoping people will follow us down the river and contribute to the cause.

The community has been tremendously supportive, Gray said.

In additional to individual donors, Jewell said they have gained some sponsors, including Bagel & Deli (donating $1 from every Stacys Mom bagel sold), Seaview Outfitters and Miami's Outdoor Pursuit Center, which is letting them use a canoe and kayak for the trip.

Paddling down the river

Left to right: Quinton Couch, Jackson Gray and Tyler Brezina.

At 22, 21 and 19, the three students believe they could be the youngest on record to complete the 981-mile journey.

All three are outdoorsy but not as experienced with canoeing. Brezina is an Eagle Scout who knew Halley in high school.

Hes our go-to guy for everything from building campfires to tying knots, Couch said.

Gray and Brezina did a five-day trip down the river last summer. That Paddle for Prevention effort was a good trial run for this much longer journey.

Were not going to rush ourselves, Couch said. We realize the undertaking that this is and were just going to take it day by day.

They have meticulously planned out every detail using an invaluable Ohio River guidebook, said Couch, adding that each week theyve met with Jewell to set goals.

They plan to buy food every five days and hope to be off the river each evening to build a fire, eat, set up tents and have everything done by sundown so they can be back on the river the next morning to start it all over again.

I think theyre amazing, Jewell said. Its not just an idea and talking about it. Theyre actually doing it.
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Anyone who walks past the Roxy Theater marquee and sees a showtime for "Stupid F---ing Bird," could be forgiven for assuming it's a new indie comedy movie.

It's a play that nationally recognized writer Aaron Posner "sort of adapted" from "The Seagull" by Russian master Anton Chekhov, in a production from a local troupe, BetweenTheLines.

The script made perfect sense for the group, which is wrapping up its first season and its fourth production in total, all of scripts only a few years old with a contemporary edge.

The group's founder, Mason Wagner, had discussed writing an adaptation of "The Seagull" when he came upon Posner's work. He didn't finish reading it before he knew he wanted to direct it.

The title of "Bird" may give the impression that it's the work of an upstart, but Aaron Posner brought a well-balanced and celebrated resume to the project: Over 25 years, his original work has been produced around the country, and he's directed classic works as well.

In an interview with DC Metro Arts, he refers to it as one of his Chekhov "variations" rather than an adaptation. He's also rewritten the Russian master's "Three Sisters" and "Uncle Vanya."

In case the title didn't give it away, "Bird" is set in the present day and written with colloquial dialogue. Wagner said it's irreverent  the characters seem to speak before they've had the chance to think, lending it an off-the-cuff modern feel.

Wagner believes that Chekhov's script was ripe for an adaptation because of some of its themes and plot.

"The script is really self-aware of that, too. Why new forms? It's constantly asking that question: Why are we doing this? Maybe we should do the old forms better," Wagner said.

In Chekhov's first act, Konstantine, the son of a famous actress, Emma, stages an original experimental play. It stars his love interest, Nina, and goes horribly as his mother denigrates it mid-performance.

In Posner's, Conrad stages a "site-specific performance event" that uses movement and modern poetry, and his mother hates it.

"If 'The Seagull' is all about new forms, part of the update is borrowing from new forms that are currently in experimental theater and integrating that into the script," Wagner said.

He works in soliloquies and songs, which Wagner said resemble early Conor Oberst on ukulele, with lines pulled from Chekhov's script.

"Aaron Posner's using everything at his disposal to expose the subtext that was in 'The Seagull,' " he said.

It's an ensemble work for a cast of seven, enough people for overlapping unrequited passions and missed opportunities as time passes.

"There's seven people trying desperately to articulate how they feel and try to get what they want, and that just makes for interesting theater at its core," he said.

"I think people will continue to update Chekhov as time moves on. He doesn't lose relevance because he's so adept at revealing what's underneath the mundane way we live our lives, how much we feel," he said.

"The Seagull" was set at a Russian country estate near a lake, making it simple to plant "Bird" on the shore of the Flathead. The first scene is in a "multi-purpose space" where Conrad might work on his play, and the second in a kitchen. Mike Fink of the Montana Rep is designing sets.

Nathan Snow, who played Benvolio in UM's "Romeo and Juliet" and Billy Bones in "Treasure Island," is cast as Conrad. Sophia Jensen, a newcomer to theater, won the role of Nina during auditions. Jordan Nokleby (Rep's "The Great Gatsby"), Ken Grinde, E.T. Varney, Julie Rae O'Connor and Blake Sherman round out the cast.

**

Wagner, 24, studied theater at the University of Montana and toured with the Montana Repertory Theatre, the professional company in residence at UM.

Last year, he founded BetweenTheLines as a means to stage "The Flick," a three-hour script by Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Baker. With its cast of inarticulate young employees of a movie theater, Wagner reached out to the Roxy Theater about staging it there: they could seat the audience on stage and place the actors in the rows: a premade set.

Nonetheless, putting on the play was an experiment. "I really didn't know if people would come. I still don't know," he said.

Turnout was high enough that they returned in the fall for a three-show season: all contemporary plays that could realistically be staged at the Roxy with minimal sets and an emphasis on scripts and acting.

The Roxy, a nonprofit, offered free space since it fit in with their focus on new independent movies.

Hechose another Baker script, "The Aliens," and British playwright's Nick Payne's "Constellations."

The latter required only two cast members: locals Jeff Medley and Kate Scott as a couple. Drawing on psychics and abstract multi-verse theories, the script consists of more than 50 short scenes in which the couple's interactions are pushed through variations large and small that affect the outcome of their relationship.

Despite the experimental form, it's a funny and heart-rending work, and both Medley and Scott were excellent. With strong word-of-mouth, they almost sold out their shows for the second weekend.

Wagner will likely take the summer off  he's heading to his hometown of Saranac Lake in upstate New York to direct a small professional production of "1984."

He's planning another season starting next October. He's been surprised by and thankful for the support, particularly from people in their 20s and 30s, who have responded to the offerings. Those, in tandem with the casual atmosphere at the Roxy, where you can buy organic popcorn and local craft beer, seem to have drawn in people who may not regularly go to see theater.

"I think a lot of people have been alienated from having a good experience with the theater. That could be for a million different reasons. But contemporary shows really do mean something to people now," he said.
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.
WASHINGTON  In a surprising win for environmentalists and Democrats and a blow to the fossil-fuel industry, the Senate on Wednesday failed in a bid to reverse an Obama-era regulation restricting harmful methane emissions that escape from oil and gas wells on federal land.

The vote was 51-49 in the Republican-led Senate with three GOP lawmakers  Maine's Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona  joining forces with the Democrats to block efforts to overturn the rule.

Graham and Collins had publicly opposed the repeal effort, but McCain's vote surprised many on both sides of the debate.

McCain said in a statement he is concerned that the Interior Department rule may be "onerous," but said passage of a resolution undoing the rule through the Congressional Review Act would have prevented the federal government from issuing a similar rule in the future.

"I believe that the public interest is best served if the Interior Department issues a new rule to revise and improve the (existing) methane rule" administered by the federal Bureau of Land Management, McCain said.

Montana's senators split their votes.

Republicans and Democrats agree that overturning this rule would have been unfair to taxpayers and hurt our cities and counties who are cash-strapped and struggling to balance the books," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

Tester voted to leave the Obama-era regulation in place. The state's Republican senator, Steve Daines, voted to strike the regulation.

"This rule hurts Montanans and does little to reduce emissions," Daines said. "We must work on incentivizing American innovation that promotes good-paying jobs and solutions rather than regulations that will only hurt our economy, hurt our energy security, harm Montana families and do nothing to help our environment.

The Obama administration finalized a rule in November that would force energy companies to capture methane that's burned off or "flared" at drilling sites because it earns less money than oil.

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.

For months, Republicans have rammed through reversals of rules issued by President Barack Obama on issues including gun rights, coal production, hunting and money for family planning clinics. The GOP has used the previously obscure Congressional Review Act, which requires just a simple majority in both chambers to overturn rules recently imposed by the executive branch.

The latest target was the Interior Department rule on methane.

A coalition of groups with ties to the fossil-fuel industry and the conservative Koch Brothers had waged a public campaign to overturn the rule, which they said would decrease energy production on federal lands, raise energy costs and eliminate jobs.

Republicans and industry groups call the rule an example of federal overreach under Obama and say it duplicates state rules in place throughout the West.

Democrats and environmental groups countered that the rule protects the public health and generates millions of dollars in revenue for state, local and tribal governments.

Gleeful Democrats hailed the vote as a breakthrough in the GOP-controlled Congress.

"Today's vote is a win for American taxpayers, a win for public health and a win for our climate," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. "Rejecting this Republican attempt to allow oil and gas companies to continue wasting natural gas owned by the American people will ensure that American taxpayers will not get burned. And it will ensure we don't lose control of managing methane emissions on public lands that contribute to climate change."

The American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry's top lobbying group, called the Senate vote disappointing, but said in a statement it looks forward to working with the Trump administration on policies to boost energy production.

Jamie Williams, president of the Wilderness Society, an environmental group that had pushed to defend the Obama rule, said the Senate vote was the result of grassroots efforts by voters across the country.

"In recent months, thousands of Americans asked the Senate to stand up for clean air and against the oil lobby, and their efforts were successful today," Williams said.
Madeline Connelly, a 23-year-old woman who had been missing for a week in northwest Montana's Great Bear Wilderness, was found safe Wednesday.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said a Glacier National Park trail crew found Connelly around 11 a.m. in the Spruce Creek drainage, around five miles from the trailhead where she'd left her car.

The sheriff was conducting a training exercise with Two Bear Airs helicopter at the time, along with Michael Goguen, who funds all of Two Bear Airs operations. The helicopter flew to the site and airlifted Connelly to West Glacier, where she was treated and released by a medical team before being reunited with her family.

Curry said Connelly didnt have anything with her, and had been without food since she got lost. She was not carrying a water bottle, but drank from a creek.

"All I had was overalls, a sweater with a hood, a T-shirt, my dog's leash, my dog and my car keys," Connelly said told KTMF-TV Wednesday. "I feel like an idiot, honestly, because it was just a huge mistake that it ended up being seven days in kind of treacherous weather conditions."

Connelly said when she realized she was lost she figured she was on the loop of a trail and if she continued walking she would get back to where she had been.

"And then I ended up at a lake and I was like, well, this is not right," she said.

Her rescuers estimated she hiked about 10 miles each day. She said she and her dog rested for two days and slept under trees.

Her dog, Mogi, was also found alive, and walked out with the trail crew, Curry said.

The search for Connelly  who lives in Arizona and was in Montana visiting family  started Saturday

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office, Two Bear Air, Glacier National Park rangers, U.S. Forest Service personnel and members of both the North Valley and Flathead search and rescue teams, Curry said, thanking everyone who participated.

It was a huge group effort. We had a ton of people searching for her, the sheriff said.

Connelly said she had no idea people were searching for her.

"I just kind of wanted to say thank you to everyone that put in all of this effort in helping me," she said, sounding hoarse.

Connelly's mother called her daughter's rescue the best Mother's Day gift ever. She also thanked those who searched for her daughter and prayed for her safe return.

Connelly's uncle Dan Fioravanti told the Missoulian he got a call from Madeline's mother Laura on Wednesday with the news. Fioravanti, who now lives in Illinois but was a resident of Whitefish and East Glacier for years and said hes an experienced mountaineer, said he was shocked when he heard his niece was alive.

We were all hoping and at the same time knew the odds, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Darrick McKinney remembers the hardest part of physical rehabilitation: walking up one little step, then another, and then down one little step, and another.

McKinney, who had been hit head on in a crash, would try to hold himself up with his arms on the railing.

"That was the hardest thing in the world to do," he said.

The wreck took place in 2010, and McKinney, of Alabama, spent the year that followed living at his brother's place after spending three months in a medically induced coma.

"I got really depressed after the accident," McKinney said.

He started drinking too much and he did drugs. One night, after partying for three or four days straight, he blacked out.

"I felt like I almost died. I remember when it happened," he said.

On his brother's couch, a flash of insight struck him, and he decided it was time for change.

"I can't keep living like this because I'm going to keep killing myself," McKinney said.

He packed some clothing into a Walmart tote bag. He checked his bank account and saw that about $20,000 of delayed Social Security and disability payments had accumulated. And that afternoon, he asked his brother  and partner in partying  to drive him to the bus station.

He bought a Greyhound ticket to Atlanta and didn't look back for a good long while.

"I actually traveled to every state inside the U.S.," McKinney said. "I was just trying to find myself, you know. I wanted to find another place to start over."

Three years ago, he landed in Missoula. And to make a long story short, at least for now, McKinney graduates this week with an associate degree from Missoula College. In June, he'll turn 41, and in the fall, he heads to the University of Montana School of Business Administration to pursue a bachelor's in accounting finance.

"I'm the first one in my family to graduate from college. My mom is so happy," he said.

***

McKinney grew up in a small town, Brundidge, Alabama, where he helped his grandfather raise corn, soybeans and peanuts on the family farm. After high school, he tried going to Troy University, and he did well, but he didn't stay long because he was earning $380 a week.

At the time, he thought it was big money, even though he was still living with his Mom. So he dropped out to get his own apartment and his own paycheck, and he worked in warehouses in shipping and receiving.

One day, on his way home after a shift at the Hyundai plant in Montgomery, he saw a car coming toward him, and a couple fighting in the front. He thought they'd turn the corner, but they plowed into him instead.

"The last thing I remember is gripping the steering wheel and closing my eyes," McKinney said.

He woke up trying to scream in the hospital, but his throat was full of tubes. His legs weren't working, and he thought he was paralyzed, but really, his muscles had atrophied.

"I've had maybe six surgeries since to get me back on my feet," he said.

While he was in recovery, his wife left him, unable to cope with her mother's sudden death, her father's suicide soon after, and then a husband nearly dead in the hospital.

McKinney wasn't sure how he could move on, either. He was done with drugs, and he couldn't work an assembly line anymore. What else was there?

"First of all, I need to find myself."

The bus trip around the country saved his life.

***

In Washington, D.C., McKinney visited the Smithsonian Museum, and he watched the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

He visited a cousin in Las Vegas, but he didn't stay there long.

"They call it Sin City for a reason."

He ate authentic tamales in Albuquerque and met Mennonites in the Midwest. He dropped in on Portland, Oregon.

"There's a lot of hippies over there living in tiny houses. They get those little sheds and turn them into tiny homes. Hippies, they're fun to be around."

But Portland wasn't his place, and he kept moving.

The first time he crossed the country, he avoided the Big Sky State.

"There's nothing in Montana," he figured.

The second time, he got lucky.

Maybe, he got a shot of divine intervention.

***

On the stretch from Chicago to Washington state, a woman, 65, maybe older, boarded the bus and sat next to him.

"You look like you troubled," she told him.

"No, ma'am. I'm good."

"No, baby. I think there's something wrong with you."

The stranger on the bus proceeded to reassure him, and she told him to be humble and told him not to think of his life as being over. The words she offered changed him.

"God has a way of helping people find themselves," she said.

That conversation was the last one McKinney had before the bus stopped and his life took a turn. He didn't know where he was, but he knew he needed a break from bus riding, and he figured he'd stop for a day or so and clean up.

He ended up stopping for a little longer, though.

McKinney had landed in Missoula, Montana, and he saw the mountains, and he felt at home. He walked downtown and ate at the Iron Horse, he climbed the M, he hiked the L, and he wandered around Blue Mountain.

Once, people drove by him honking and waving, and their friendliness reminded him of home, and he smiled and waved back until another driver on Sixth Avenue set him straight.

"You're going the wrong way, a--hole."

So he learned the streets were wonky too, and he liked it just the same. He stayed two weeks, only tearing himself away to race to Alabama to collect his belongings, buy a $1,300 car, and drive straight back to Montana.

McKinney had found home, and he'd found the University of Montana and Missoula College.

***

McKinney's stepfather was an accountant, and he'd seen the possibility of earning a living by managing other people's money. His stepfather had inspired him, too.

"I've never seen him punch a time clock, but he always had money," McKinney said.

Plus, he loves numbers.

At first, he figured he'd get a two-year degree, but an adviser at the college told him he was still young enough to do more, and earn an extra $30,000 more a year to boot. He liked the advice.

To his own surprise, McKinney has done well in school even after all these years away from academia. Saturday, he graduates with one degree and is on his way to another. He hopes to work as a peer adviser this summer and plans to head to UM in the fall.

"If I could pat myself on the back, I would. I know where I started and I know where I am now," he said.

He can't pat himself on the back because his arms don't bend and fold like they used to.

***

But others are more than happy to praise McKinney.

Faculty member Greg Peters said McKinney is "a gift," a person committed to academic success, but also one who brings life lessons to the job and doesn't get too wound up.

"He's a reminder to me to do the work and then relax. I think that's a really great attitude," Peters said.

When Peters asked McKinney to work as a teaching assistant in his biology lab, McKinney agreed, and Peters was pleased to have help from the successful student. He can count on McKinney to both do the work and bring the right demeanor.

"Professionally, he's already shown that he has this capacity for a very human approach to dealing with something like accounting that can seem very impersonal," Peters said. "So whoever his clients are (they) are going to be lucky people, that's for sure."

***

As it turns out, McKinney believes in second chances. He has three smart children, a sweet girlfriend who cracks the whip when he needs it, and a milestone to celebrate in his degree.

He's seen a bear in the Rattlesnake Wilderness and the falls above Holland Lake.

His brother, the one who used to party with him, is clean and sober, too.

McKinney still suffers from depression, and he doesn't have feeling in some of his fingers and toes, but he believes life is a blessing, and he thinks back to the stranger on the bus who guided him.

"At one point, I didn't even believe that God was real. But after that conversation, I thought, huh, that probably was my angel talking to me," he said.

Over the years, McKinney has done plenty of bad. Now, he wants to do some good, wants to leave a positive legacy. Every day he wakes up in the morning, he's thankful to be alive, and his ethic for living is pretty simple.

"If you can lend someone a friendly hand or help someone out, then you should take the opportunity to do that," McKinney said.
BILLINGS  Montana State University Billings could stand alone in Montana as the only school in the system to avoid tuition increases next year, but that doesn't mean it will avoid a budget shortfall.

Proposals released by the Montana University System last week outline potential tuition and fee increases over the next two school years. If approved as is, MSUB would stand alone with no increase next year for resident undergraduate students, who make up the largest chunk of enrollment.

MSUB would also have the smallest tuition and fee increase the following year. The figures are preliminary, however, and will be discussed at the Board of Regents' meeting in Great Falls on May 25.

The increases are meant to address an expected $18.8 million budget gap across the university system.

Part of that amount is due to smaller contributions from the Montana Legislature. MSUB started preparing for that early on, according to interim Chancellor Ron Larsen.

Weve been working for months on how were going to address some kind of shortfall," he said Tuesday. "The initial actions of the Legislature were enough to get everyones attention. We knew we had to be prepared for something.

Larsen said earlier this year that departments on campus are making contingency plans for cuts up to 7 percent.

Now MSUB will work to square its budget with the potential tuition plans presented by the university system. Between fewer state dollars and a projected drop in tuition revenue, the University System expects MSUB to have $617,000 less than it had this year.

Yet if the proposal holds true, MSUB will not benefit from the added revenue from a tuition increase next year.

Larsen said that the strategy appears to be a closer grouping of supposed peer institutions within the University System. That means that MSUB's tuition and fees will initially remain the same while two others catch up.

"The analysis thats being done at the commissioners office at OCHE (Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education) is looking at tuition and fees and state allocation," Larsen said. "And they have put all of the campuses into categories. So our category is a four-year regional campus."

That puts MSUB in a group with Montana State University-Northern and the University of Montana-Western. Montana Tech, which has more specialized programs, is an exception, according to a University System spokesman.

Within that trio of four-year regional universities, tuition and fees at Northern and Western would become more equalized over the next two years, according to the proposal.

MSUB, which has the most expensive tuition of the three, would remain the same next year and see a small hike in the following year, ending at $5,915 for resident undergrads.

A similar equalization effort was proposed between the two flagship universities, the University of Montana and Montana State University. Both schools would increase tuition and fees to the same level over the next two years.

MSUB is just coming out of a two-year budget that saw $4.4 million in cuts amid a long enrollment slide.

While the University System predicts another small enrollment drop next year at MSUB, Larsen said that the school's own projections indicate no drop. That would help the university brace for a potential shortfall.

Larsen didn't say exactly how MSUB might account for a potential $617,000 budget gap, but he provided written materials that said the university will be "looking for efficiencies" across departments. Reserve funds will play a part as well.

There will be little time to finalize budgets after the Regents meet at the end of the month. The new fiscal year begins in July.

Based on the proposal we have a sense of what were looking for," he said, "and the challenge is the fiscal year starts in about a month and a half, and its pretty late for some more draconian changes.
BILLINGS  A Lockwood woman accused of trafficking meth as part of a larger drug conspiracy admitted federal charges on Wednesday.

Tomi Leah Gray, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess meth with intent to distribute during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Susan Watters of Billings. A plea agreement calls for four other counts to be dismissed at sentencing.

Gray is the third of nine defendants indicted in the case to plead guilty. Co-defendants Christina Kamran-Kohnjani and Sadey Kust-Myers also have admitted charges.

The case is the result of an investigation by state and federal drug task forces that began investigating a meth ring in Yellowstone County in 2015. One of the suspects, Victor Rivera, and associates were bringing multi-pound quantities of meth from California to Montana for re-distribution, prosecutors said.

Rivera, of Mexico, later identified as Victor Miguel Rivera-Munoz, was convicted separately of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced last November to 21 months in prison. He also faces deportation for being in the country illegally.

At Grays hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Suek said Billings police officers arrested a person, identified as J.N., on outstanding warrants in June 2015 and found meth and three firearms in his vehicle. J.N. told agents he got the meth from Gray and that she had been supplying him for the previous eight months. J.N. would buy the meth for $1,600 an ounce from Gray, who stored the drug at the home of her ex-husband, J.H., in Lockwood.

In a subsequent interview with agents in early 2016, J.N. said Gray got meth from Mexican cartel members but owed the cartel $15,000 and was not currently getting meth from them. J.N. also said Grays ex-husband also was getting meth from cartel members, Suek said.

On three occasions in February and March 2016, agents used an informant to buy meth from Gray, Suek said.

Agents later served a search warrant at J.H.s residence in Lockwood and seized meth, firearms, currency and drug paraphernalia, Suek said.

Gray disputed the length of time she supplied J.N., the price of the meth and said she got meth indirectly from the Mexican cartel.

Watters said she would set sentencing for later in August. Gray remains in custody. Gray faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine.
This session, Montanans faced the kind of legislation thats holding North Carolinas economy and politics hostage and thats threatening to do the same in Texas.

And we prevailed.

The so-called Montana Locker Room Privacy Act would have forced individuals to use the public facility (such as a locker room or bathroom) as designated by their original birth certificate/biological sex. For example, a transgender man would have to use a womens restroom no matter how he looks or what hormonal therapy hed undergone for his transition. The bills sponsors claimed it would provide for the privacy and safety of all, but instead it posed a tremendous threat to the well-being of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

From across Montana, over 600 calls and emails came rolling in to oppose House Bill 609. Courageous individuals  transgender Montanans, allies, school administrators and others  traveled to the Capitol to urge legislators to stand with Montana and vote "no" on HB 609. These folks value local control, didnt want the backlash against our businesses and, above all, desired safety and dignity for their fellow Montanans.

And the Legislature agreed. Within 10 days of the bill being introduced, it was failed in committee.

Thank you to the Montanans who chose to stand up for one another and thank you to the legislators who chose to stand with us in opposing this dangerous bill.
In Montana, we know how important agriculture is  to our economy, to jobs and to keeping food on our tables, and on tables around the world.

Im thrilled to have former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as our new secretary of Agriculture. I know Secretary Perdue will be a champion for Montana agriculture. Dont take my word for it  come hear from him yourself when he is the keynote speaker at the Montana Ag Summit 2017 in Great Falls May 31June 1.

During a time of historically low prices, we need to find ways to maintain and grow our states number one economic driver: agriculture. With over 27,000 farms and ranches in the state, Montana agriculture is a nearly $5 billion-a-year industry. Montana is also the leading pulse crop producer in the nation. These are strong reasons to be an endless champion of Montana agriculture. With 95 percent of the worlds consumers outside of the United States, its critical that we expand global markets and find new consumers for Montana products, like beef.

Now you may remember last fall we reached a crucial milestone in opening the second-largest beef import market in the world, China. Last September, China began the process to roll back the ban on U.S. beef for the first time since 2003.

Ive led two official congressional delegations to China with one topic at the forefront: expanding markets for U.S. products. Theres a lot of hot-button issues in China that we are monitoring right now: cybersecurity, the South China Sea, currency manipulation  but for our producers, expanding markets is key.

When I traveled to China last month, I hand-carried a red Coleman cooler with me. When I met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, I opened that cooler and pulled out four beautiful Montana steaks from Fred Wacker of Miles City. When I handed him those steaks, I also showed him a picture of Wacker with his cows to point out exactly where that beef was raised. Ill get Montana beef to China if I have to carry it there myself!

Since Ive returned from China Ive continued pushing to finalize negotiations between China and the United States. I led 38 of my Senate colleagues in a letter to President Trump urging him to discuss opening Chinese markets to U.S. beef imports during his conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early April in Florida. Ive also followed up with letters to Secretary Perdue and Premier Li so they keep this issue at the forefront of their minds.

The bottom line is Montanas economy is linked to our strong agricultural heritage.

In just a few short weeks, Ill be hosting the Montana Ag Summit, where we will showcase the technological advancements that are changing the way we produce crops and livestock, promote the next generation of agricultural producers and discuss the challenges our producers face as a result of federal policies and regulations.

We need to work together through innovation, dedication and hard work to keep agriculture strong for the next generation of farmers and ranchers. Theres nothing more promising than standing on stage at the FFA Convention and looking into a room of over 600 future farmers and seeing the faces of our states farms and ranches. I look forward to seeing a sea of blue corduroy jackets at the Montana Ag Summit 2017 as we bring together ag leaders to discuss a vision to keep agriculture strong.

For more information and to register for the Montana Ag Summit please visit www.agsummitmontana.com.
If Greg Gianforte is not healthy enough to go hunting, what makes him think that Montanans should send a person who is not healthy to Congress?

The stress of being a new Congress person would surely be harder than walking in the great outdoors hunting, I would say.

I was raised in Montana for a great part of my life and then because of a strike at the Great Falls Tribune had to leave Montana and move to Vancouver, Washington, to go to chef's school. I became a chef/baker and have never looked back, and worked as the pastry chef at the Billings Sheraton Hotel.

The reason I am telling you this is because I have great memories of all my time in Montana. So if Gianforte wants to get rid of Obamacare, maybe he'll want to pick up the money all the thousands of Montana will need to get insurance thanks to Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans.

Never trust a man who wants to take from others is the way I was raised and I learned that in Montana.

Frank Gerlach,

Las Vegas
Rep. Greg Hertz, I was extremely disappointed that both you and your son, Rep. Adam Hertz, voted against the much-needed GOP-sponsored infrastructure bill, Senate Bill 367. This is not what your constituents deserve or wanted.

After passing the Senate by a 38-12 margin, the two of you ignored what 64 other House members, including all Democrats and 23 fellow Republicans worked for to help Montana communities and workers have a better chance for a job and improve infrastructure needs throughout the state.

You, Greg Hertz, are developing a disconcerting track record. You refused to support the infrastructure bill in 2015, which fell one vote short of passing, and were again among a minority in our 2017 Legislature to refuse to support SB 367. Your votes in the past two legislative sessions show a disregard for a healthy, safe and productive Montana.

Locally, your vote resulted in the loss of $1,225,000 needed for maintenance of the Polson Elementary School. We can only hope that the voters in the communities that missed out on needed infrastructure projects, due to your uncompromising votes, will remember your actions in the 2018 election.

Craig McClure,

Polson
It seems as if domestic terrorism has arrived in America. Im not talking about Islamists. I am talking about people supposedly representing the various liberal causes for which they protest violently or threaten violence.

It takes only a superficial review of the newsreels from the 1930s and 1940s to see that the very behavior they are demonstrating, in America today, is the same behavior as the fascists in Italy and the Nazis in Germany prior to World War II. They dont know history well enough to recognize the bullying anti-free-speech techniques they are using are fascism/bullying/terrorism personified. They are attacking other Americans as fascist when they are the actual fascists in their little dramas. In fact, those who use violence are nothing less than domestic terrorists.

We all know this because some of them dress like terrorists (hoodies and covered faces), behave like terrorists, and they have been successful in terrorizing colleges and law enforcement agencies all over America. Like all terrorists, they are using fear to dictate events that would otherwise be peaceful and civilized. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. The same thing with terrorists.

How long will this bad behavior be accepted?

Steven J. Rossiter,

Missoula
Recently, Greg Gianforte finally answered a question that many of us here in Montana have been wanting an answer to  Would Gianforte vote to defund Planned Parenthood if elected?

His answers in an interview with the editorial board at the Helena Independent Record and at the MTN debate made it clear where he stands: He does not stand with Montana women and families. He said that he would vote to defund Planned Parenthood. What that really means is he wants to vote against allowing Montanans like me to access affordable, high-quality health care at Planned Parenthood.

I will be voting for the candidate who stands up for Montanans access to health care; that candidate is Rob Quist. He supports access to birth control and cancer screenings, and he respects womens ability to make private medical decisions.

Rob Quist said that he will resist the attack on womens reproductive rights and oppose any efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. I urge my fellow Montanans to vote for Rob Quist.

Sara Odenthal,

Missoula
In his opening convocation speech at Rhodes College to the class of 2020, Scott Newstok told his audience that they are the first generation to have been educated entirely under the No Child Left Behind Act, which ushered in our disastrous fixation on testing. He added: your professors are only now beginning to realize how this unrelenting assessment has stunted your imaginations.

Students are arriving at the University of Montana more ill-prepared for college-level reading and writing than ever before. Meanwhile, higher education is ill-equipped to serve these students because it does not reward those who make teaching their primary calling. Newstok is right: the ballgame is changing. The challenges now facing professors on the front line are new and different, and whats needed are educators dedicated to working within the widening gap between our faltering secondary schools and our research-focused universities.

UMs non-tenure-track lecturersmany of whom have more than a decades experience teaching 100- and 200-level coursespossess the expertise and motivation to meet these challenges and, therefore, they are the universitys most valuable asset at this critical time.

And these are the people UM administrators are preparing to terminate during the next academic year.

But administrators do not yet comprehend whats coming down the pike. Once they realize, will they care? Likely not for another four years, when dismayed employers understand whats happening.

Rob Browning,

Missoula
A vocal, diverse crowd of about 150 folks, ranging from infants to 80-year-olds, protested the appearance of Donald Trump Jr. and Greg Gianforte, who spoke at Pioneer Equipment under a secured white tent at the back of the industrial building.

For the most part, protesters stayed within the boundaries  at first on the public sidewalk to the south across the street near the corner of Centennial and South Montana Street.

When Trump and Gianfortes motorcade showed up a few minutes before 11 a.m., police allowed protesters to move onto Centennial a bit closer to yell boo as the visitors silver vehicle drove past the Butte-Silver Bow dump trucks blocking Pioneer Equipments driveway.

Isnt that a bit overkill? asked Charlie OLeary of Butte about the county dump trucks obstructing protesters from entering the business property and speaking area.

Were here to let everybody know its really aggravating that we have to pay for transportation and security for them, said Dagmar Riddle, a retired Whitehall resident who emigrated from Germany as a toddler. Leaning on a cane with one hand, she held up a protest sign with the other.

Added protester Heatherlynn Meeks: Im so tired of having to protest this stuff. How much is this costing us?

OLeary echoed Rob Quists main platform  preserving Montanas public lands  in Quists campaign against Gianforte to fill the U.S. house seat Ryan Zinke left when Trump appointed Zinke Interior Secretary.

I worry about our public lands and (President) Trump and Zinke taking shots at our national monuments, said OLeary. They should allow plenty of public review.

Protesters voiced their opinions about the importance of affordable healthcare coverage, the protection of Montanas public lands and wildlife, womens rights, human rights, and the separation of church and state, among other hot-button issues.

Marya Llovet, a Belgrade mother of two dressed in a Handmaids Tale costume, said she was protesting for the right of her one-year-old baby daughter, born with Down syndrome, to have healthcare coverage.

Im pretty worried about her healthcare right now, said Llovet, adorned in red and white, symbolizing the suppressed women, the breeders, in the current The Handmaids Tale Netflix series, a reboot of Margaret Atwood's 1985 classic dystopian novel of the same name.

If Republicans had their way, my daughter would be kicked off her insurance, said Llovet. I believe that pro-life also means after the birth as well. I could have had an abortion, but I didnt do it. I feel that the (politicians) need to have my back. Being disabled does not make you any less deserving of our countrys support.

Protesters picked up steam and numbers as dump trucks hauling gravel honked and passed by on their way west before looping back. Some vehicles were in support of the visitors, but most drivers expressed their support for protesters on the typically quiet street.

A coalition of local Democrats, Butte Area Rising Coalition, and individuals, protesters watched Trump supporters walk across Centennial and straggle in to the Pioneer Equipment parking lot then to the north and east sides of the venue.

I think that America is on a terrible path to becoming a conservative Christian theocracy, and thats unconstitutional, said Llovet. If you read the Bible, we need to take care of our elderly and the veterans. If they make cuts to Social Security, it wont take care of them.

Concordia College senior Andie Palagi, fresh off her junior year, protested with friend Chloe McClain, a recent beauty academy graduate.

Im here to protest for our womens rights  my body, my choice, said McClain, 20.

Im really concerned about the integrity of the government, but thats more on the federal level, said Palagi, 21. She was impressed with the crowd.

Ive never seen young people so involved in politics, Palagi added. Even if I dont agree with them  especially at my college. Seeing young people involved in politics is inspiring and important.

Both young women then joined in a chant: Gianforte, go away  sexist, racist, anti-gay.

After Gianforte and Trump began their speeches safely tucked under the tent, the protest crowd moved east, crossed Centennial to the north past the Rosenthal Building, then stopped on the sidewalk where the event was visible.

In the back of the Rosenthal Building stood a lone supporter outside the event area to the east: Leah Anderson, a pharmacy tech at Community HealthCare Pharmacy. She leaned on the property fence, taking photos and video.

I think its good that theyre trying to bring more jobs, said Anderson about the rally headliners. Its exciting  this is history in the making.

Traffic increased on Montana, with some drivers honking support and others looking to simply get out of the area.

As the motorcade left the area, protests grew angrier and protesters lingered on the cross-streets.

June Lague, 72, and Michael Savoie, 75, of Butte said they protested for their descendants futures.

We want our children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren to have the same freedoms we have, said Lague. I want to show people that they have a voice and to get out and give their opinion.

Samantha Fish, 30, and her mother, Jamie Porter, 56, traveled from Bozeman to partake in the protest.

Were showing solidarity just with people who are frustrated not only with the Trump administration but also with the atmosphere and hostility brought on by this election, said Fish, tending to baby Sophia and poodle Mosby in a double stroller.

Were trying to do whats best for the country instead of the party, added Porter. They protested Trump Jr.s visit to Copper Springs Ranch Arena in Bozeman on April 22.

As protesters bounced from corner to sidewalk, a palpable sense of commonality hung in the air.

Im proud of Butte, said Donavon Hawk of the Butte-Silver Bow Democratic Central committee. Im proud of my community, and Im proud to say we had no paid protesters.
For the first time, the Montana Tech Nursing Department hosts a conference  and at least 100 healthcare educators are expected to attend May 16-17.

In collaboration with a HealthCARE MT grant, the Integrating Simulation in Nursing Education Conference will be in the Student Union Building.

The nursing department has a high-tech simulation training lab that includes pliable life-like mannequins that give students hands-on practice.

The Montana State Board of Nursing awards up to 15 continuing education hours for conference participants.

Janet Willhaus, Boise State University assistant professor and registered nurse, opens the conference as the first keynote speaker. Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney will be the keynote speaker at the banquet.

Other featured speakers include Tech assistant professor Janet Richards Coe, who will talk about implementing simulation with limited resources at a small college; Rosemary Macy of the Boise State University School of Nursing; and Kevin Stevens, program of excellence in Clinical Performance and Simulation at Washington State.

Conference participants will network at Butte Brewing Company on Tuesday.

Tech has transformed into a state leader in training nurses in order to help meet increasing demand for nurses.

Last year, Tech joined Montana State University in Bozeman and Carroll College in Helena in offering a four-year bachelors degree program in nursing, an associates degree and online post-licensure completion program.
Mark Spolar, 35, pleaded guilty in Butte district court on Thursday morning to felony criminal endangerment for trying to run his ex-wife's vehicle off the road in October.

Two other felony criminal endangerment charges were dropped by the county attorney's office in exchange for the plea deal. Spolar was sentenced to a three-year deferred sentence by Judge Brad Newman.

Toby Alexander, 35, skipped a final pre-trial hearing Thursday on charges related to an alleged incident at the bank that ended in a brief car chase. Alexander's attorney Deirdre Caughlan said Alexander was released from jail a month ago on a temporary furlough to attend his grandmother's funeral but did not report back to jail.

Newman said Alexander was more than aware that he had to be in court that day and so revoked his jail release, vacated his trial, and issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
The largest elk ever taken in Montana is on display for a few weeks at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Visitor Center in Missoula.

Montana resident Steve Felix shot the bull on public land in eastern Montana while on a solo hunt in September 2016.

This bull is a reflection of the importance of quality habitat, wildlife management strategies and hunters who provide funding for conservation efforts through excise taxes on guns, ammunition and archery equipment, as well as the purchase of tags and licenses, said Steve Decker, RMEF vice president of marketing.

The elk has a gross score of 447 inches and a net of 430 (Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young). In addition to being the largest elk ever taken in Montana, it also is the largest ever killed with a bow and the largest taken in North America in the last 48 years.

Felix and his bull recently received the Isi Award, the highest honor from the Pope & Young Club.

RMEFs Elk Country Visitor Center is located at 5705 Grant Creek Road in Missoula. It is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
As part of a series of statewide campaign rallies Thursday for Republican U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte, Donald Trump Jr. made an appearance in what is arguably one of the most Democratic counties in Montana.

The Mining City hosted the presidents son at Pioneer Equipment & Supply Co. on Centennial Avenue, where more than 130 people gathered to hear Trump Jr. speak, along with Gianforte and Chris Cox, the executive director of the National Rifle Association.

Trump Jr. told the audience to not rest on their laurels after the victory of his father, President Donald Trump, and urged Trump Democrats to get behind Gianforte.

I know historically Buttes sort of a very, lets call it, a Reagan Democrat (town), said Trump Jr. (But) based on the numbers, Im going to call it a Trump Democrat town.

He compared Buttes history as a copper mining town to the fate of the coal industry, which he said has taken a hard hit from federal regulations.

Hey, were in Butte. Look at what weve done in relation to the mining industry, said Trump Jr., advocating for the rollback of some of the nonsensical regulations that have put that industry out of business.

And by the way, Trump Jr. continued, thats not just about jobs when were talking copper or coal  thats also national security. If we could have that energy independence, if we can utilize the resources that we have in our ground and put our men and women to work, I mean, thats like a triple win because were also not sending that money to far-off lands, to places where they hate our guts, our values, our religions  thats just common sense.

Trump Jr. also knocked Democratic candidate Rob Quist for talking about job creation on the campaign trail and said that the only jobs Quist has created are those for lobbyists, not real jobs for hardworking Americans, he said. He compared Gianforte to his father President Trump, describing the Republican candidate as a job creator.

Gianforte also spoke at the rally.

He defended his record on public access issues, vowing to pull chains off gates so we can get back our public lands. He highlighted his stance on the Second Amendment and said he would defend Montanans right to bear arms. He then criticized Quist, citing the democratic candidates F rating from the NRA.

Butte resident Mark Shutey was also thinking about the Second Amendment at Thursdays rally.

Shutey, who described himself as an entrepreneur and business owner, said hes already voted and came to Pioneer to support Gianforte and see Trump Jr.

Shutey cited gun rights as one of the most pressing issues in the upcoming election and said he is disenchanted with some of the liberal views on gun control  in particular Quists, who he said has made statements indicating that he supports gun registration.

Brian Hansen of Anaconda said hes conservative but not a registered Republican. Living in a Democratic stronghold, Hansen said he keeps his political views to himself, especially on social media.

Before the rally, Hansen said he hoped Gianforte would address accusations of not being a strong advocate for public access. He cited border security and the rule of law as issues hell be thinking about when he sends in his ballot.

Butte-Silver Bow Commissioner Cindy Perdue-Dolan, meanwhile, shook hands with the presidents son after the event and got his signature on her pocket-sized copy of the Constitution.

I would think (Trump Jr.) considers his dad a populist, not necessarily a Democrat or a Republican, said Perdue-Dolan when asked what she thought Trump. Jr. meant by his comment about Trump Democrats in reference to Butte.

But it wasnt just county officials, politicians, and celebrities who attended Thursdays rally. A few young faces were in the crowd.

Powel County High School student Mattie Smith, 17, said she came to the rally with her cousin.

Last summer, the Deer Lodge resident said, she visited Washington D.C., which got her interested in politics.

When asked what its like to be in high school and able to see Gianforte and Trump Jr. in person, she responded, Its really cool. However, Smith added that she doesnt want to be a politician when she grows up.
Thirty years ago, the Montana Legislature passed a bill to establish a one-of-a-kind program to conserve Montanas best wildlife habitat. Habitat Montana, as it is known, has done just that. With over 600,000 acres of conservation easements and fee-title lands owned by the people of Montana, the program has helped conserve areas vital for the continued abundance of elk, deer and hundreds of other species that need a place to call home during the stressful winter months as well as year round.

The program is wildly popular not only with hunters and anglers. Snowmobilers, mountain bikers, hikers, birders and wildlife enthusiasts of all stripes win when the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has the ability to conserve critical wildlife habitat and place it in the public domain. Livestock producers graze on these lands in order to help restore and manage feed for all species. Small-scale stewardship forestry occurs to improve habitat as well as produce saleable logs and forest products.

In recent years, however, Habitat Montana had become a wedge between legislators who had concerns over how the funds had been spent and the hunters and anglers who provide the funding to implement the program. During the 2015 legislative session, a bill that normally would have given the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks the authority to spend their own money was written to effectively end the program. That bill passed the House of the Representatives, only to meet a wall of resistance from Montanans who opposed the effort in the Senate.

While some of the authority was restored, a rider was placed on the funding so that FWP could not spend Habitat Montana funds on purchasing new lands, regardless of how important they were for wildlife or for increasing access to landlocked public lands.

Nervous and concerned about the past actions by the Legislature, our organizations worked together to ensure legislators saw the value in restoring the full authority to the program. Collectively, we worked to educate legislators about our shared position, listen to their concerns about past purchases, and find common ground on a path forward. Some attempts were made that would have foolishly impacted the program, but ultimately a majority of legislators saw the value in ensuring Montanas signature habitat conservation and access program was kept whole. And we held together despite some attempts by lawmakers to push divisive measures that would have divided the sporting community.

With the passage of House Bill 5, Habitat Montana has been fully restored to do the work that Montanans expect it to do: conserve working farms and ranches through conservation and access easements, purchase vital wildlife habitat to ensure abundant wildlife populations, and help provide the core-competency for Montanas $650 million outdoor economy.

Kudos to the Legislature for restoring this important conservation program. We look forward to showing our elected officials that this trust is not misplaced, and that the program will be used effectively to ensure our outdoor heritage remains strong.
After watching Bernie Sanders voice his opinions on the Friday morning CBS news, I have to say it is people like him that are trying to block everything that Trump is trying to do, and I for one feel compelled to now voice my opinion.

Regarding the tax cuts that Trump proposed obviously most beneficial for big businesses, I feel with tax breaks it is likely that most big businesses will be in a position to create more jobs which I think is the bottom line here; putting American workers back to work. With more Americans working, more money is circulating and the discounted big-business taxes will be replenished by working American income taxes, even though they also will be lower, simply because more Americans will have jobs.

In addition, there will be advantages for small businesses. Having once been a small-business owner I can honestly say it was the taxes and other government imposed regulations that caused me to give up trying to operate my restaurant, and I believe that is the case with most businesses that have failed.

And as far as imposing higher import taxes on Canada for soft woods, I say that is good. I happen to have a brother in the lumber business who has had a difficult time because of imported wood from Canada, and also the Japanese lumber ships operating just over the line in international waters, both flooding the American market and undercutting American prices and costing American jobs!

 Sue Watkins, Billings
MISSOULA  The first thing you need to know about tigers: They like to eat bears.

The second thing: Theyre best studied in Missoula, Montana.

Despite being half a planet away from the nearest wild tiger habitat, experts from Bhutan, China and Russia have come to the University of Montana to sharpen their wildlife biology skills.

Two weeks ago, Tshering Tempa became the first student from Bhutan to complete a doctoral degree at UM. Dina Mathiukina is a senior research biologist at the Land of the Leopard National Park near Vladivostok studying Amur tigers and Amur leopards (a big cat even more endangered than tigers). And Wenhong Xiao is a post-doctoral researcher just across the border monitoring the Amur tigers that prowl between China and Russia.

Despite combined decades of tiger studies, Tempa, Mathiukina and Xiao have seen just two wild tigers in their collective careers. Thanks to the innovation of camera traps, theyve documented thousands of images of tiger behavior and population change. And thats occasionally revealed how close they are to the predator they never see.

I came to check a camera trap, and saw a paw print, Tempa said of one occasion. When we checked the pictures, we saw we were 30 seconds apart.

Mathiukina logged both of the personal sightings, but agreed the scariest tigers are the ones she cant see. She once found tiger tracks in the snow near one of her cameras that went from walking to leaping  indicating the 400-pound cat changed behavior because of her presence.

It was the most stressful moment in my life, Mathiukina recalled. I was swearing loudly, following the tracks in the snow, banging sticks together.

Tigers prey mainly on local deer species and wild pigs, but UM wildlife biology professor Mark Hebblewhite said biologists have confirmed they regularly attack bears. In Russia's Far East forests, that includes the big, salmon-eating bears similar to North American grizzlies, said Hebblewhite, who has worked extensively with the multinational tiger crew.

Bhutan has only recently become recognized as a place with productive tiger habitat. Thanks to Tempas investigations, the Himalayan nation just east of India and Nepal can document between 90 and 103 tigers. India has more tigers in total, but few places with more than 50 in one community. Thats important to ensure good genetic diversity and avoid in-breeding.

Russia has about 520 tigers in its Far East regions. China has about 30, up from just six a decade ago.

Preserving tigers in places where ever-increasing numbers of humans reside means different things in different places. In Russia, a tradition of hunting makes them the ultimate trophy. In China, tiger poaching feeds a booming black market for traditional medicines and status symbols. In Bhutan, a predominantly Buddhist nation, strong prohibitions against killing clash with farmers need to defend herds and flocks from predation.

All that gets complicated by the relatively small body of knowledge available on tigers. Tempa raised many eyebrows when his tracking surveys showed one tiger traveling from the Bhutan lowlands a few hundred feet above sea level to mountainsides almost 15,000 feet up.

Xiao contends with the social upheaval accompanying the Chinese governments creation of a 3.7-million-acre national park dedicated to tiger preservation that resulted in the displacement of thousands of human residents.

It can be very hard to work with people, Mathiukina said. The scientific world is happy to have tigers. But how do you explain the need to kill tigers in order to control their numbers? Most Russians arent Buddhist. We have a strong hunting culture, while China doesnt.

So why come to Montana? Because Montana has deep roots in tiger studies. Big Hole Valley ranchers son John Seidensticker was the first person to successfully trap and radio-collar a wild tiger, after training on mountain lions and grizzly bears with famous UM biologists John Craighead and Morris Hornacker, along with Siberian tiger expert Dale Miquelle. Years of experience with charismatic megafauna and human interaction make UM a natural place for similar research.

UMs wildlife biology program is well-versed in the techniques of population estimation, DNA analysis, and predator-prey dynamics that explain how a species thrives or fades in its environment. Those methods are in demand anywhere a major predator clings to the edge of growing human community.

On his office wall at UM, Hebblewhite has a copy of a Roman mosaic depicting a tiger, recalling how the ancient empire used to import the cats for gladiator battles in the Coliseum. Tigers once roamed the mountains of Greece and Turkey, as well as the jungles of Java and Laos. Today, theyve been eliminated from 93 percent of their historic range, just as grizzly bears have in North America.

If you can successfully trap and immobilize an 800-pound grizzly bear, you have portable skills, said Hebblewhite. We dont know much about tigers, but we know how to catch things. And the methods have come together here for the science we need to count both bears and tigers.
MUSCATINE  Muscatine aldermen and Mayor Diana Broderson have at least one point they agree on: they hope the end is coming soon in the mayor impeachment process.

At the May 11 City Council meeting, aldermen will discuss the lawyers' arguments filed in briefs after the impeachment hearings, and possibly vote on whether to remove the mayor.

The discussion could give closure to almost a year of contention among council members and Broderson. But if the council does take action, and votes to remove the mayor, Broderson has promised to take the case to district court.

Two sides

Following almost 20 hours of testimony in impeachment hearings held March 23 and April 1, lawyers submitted their final proposed decisions on May 2.

Prosecutor John Nahra proposed the City Council order "the Mayor be immediately removed from office of the mayor of the city of Muscatine," and ordered Broderson "immediately relinquish all city property to the city clerk."

Broderson's attorney William Sueppel proposed all charges be dismissed and the mayor's legal fees be paid by the city.
Things might be a little brighter around the Columbus Community School Districts Admininistrative/MCC Building, after the Columbus Junction City Council agreed Wednesday to allow the school district to erect a nearly 80 square foot electronic message sign.

According to Mayor Dan Wilson, the sign does not comply with the citys zoning ordinance for setback and other restrictions. Normally that would require a variance from the citys planning and zoning board or its board of adjustment.

Wilson told the council that city officials had contacted the Iowa League of Municipalities and were told because the sign request came from a public entity the city council could approve the waiver on its own.

Columbus Maintenance & Technology Director Todd Heck said the sign would be controlled so the light output would be less at night.

At night it will automatically dim down to 30 percent, Heck said, adding the school could also set a timer so the light would switch off later in the evening.

He said neighbors who could be most affected by the signs light had been contacted and the ones he had talked with had no objections.

Wilson said school officials had indicated they would continue to discuss the sign with the neighbors to work out details on the lighting schedule.

We want to be good neighbors, Heck said, adding two existing signs will be retained.

In a separate discussion with Heck, who also serves as the citys fire chief, Wilson asked if he could meet with Wilson, Columbus Police Chief Donnie Orr and a few council members to discuss the citys response to the newly enacted fireworks legalization in Iowa.

It seems (the state is) opening a can of worms and (we) would like to discuss it, Wilson said, explaining the new law allowed cities and counties considerable latitude in what would still be allowed.

Heck said he would welcome the opportunity, pointing out several firefighting associations lobbied against the statewide change.

The council also agreed to hold a May 24 public hearing on current year budget amendments that include $45,597 in additional spending.

The increase in spending is for library salary increases, a new copier, postage, a new roof on the park shed, a new water heater and restroom improvements at the civic center, engineering expenses for the Locust Street bridge and other items.

An additional $46,171 in revenue also is included in the amendment, with the proceeds coming from grant reimbursement, Roundyway Fund and a police department reimbursement.
MUSCATINE  City officials said the traffic camera on University Drive at Highway 61 is still on, despite a judge ordering it to be removed last month.

Muscatine is appealing the judge's decision that found the Iowa Department of Transportation has the authority to order the city to remove the automated traffic-enforcement camera.

Des Moines and Cedar Rapids also are appealing the decision made by a Polk County District Court judge. The cities requested a judicial review in 2015 after the DOT ordered some traffic cameras be turned off because they were not improving road safety.

Muscatine City Administrator Gregg Mandsager said despite the ruling, the camera on University Drive is "still in operation at this point."

"As it is ongoing litigation, I will simply note that we have filed a notice of appeal and a motion to stay enforcement," Mandsager said in an email.

Background

The traffic camera on University Drive at Highway 61 was installed in March 2011, according to the DOT's report. From 2011 to 2014, Muscatine gathered traffic violation information recorded by the cameras, which was then evaluated by the DOT.

In March 2015, the DOT ordered Muscatine to permanently remove the equipment at the University Drive location, citing increased vehicle accidents and a high number of speed violations, according to the judge's ruling.

One of the biggest issues is the camera does not comply with the DOT's 1,000 foot rule, which prohibits speed cameras from being placed within 1,000 feet of a speed limit change.

The camera is located about 830 feet after a lower speed limit sign, changing the speed from 55 mph to 45 mph, according to the DOT's 2014 report.

The DOT did not find problems at the other four intersections with traffic cameras in Muscatine.

In June 2015, Muscatine, along with Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, filed separate petitions for judicial review, arguing the cameras help reduce traffic violations and the DOT is restricting the cities' ability to enforce speed regulations.

Muscatine's argument

In the city's latest Automated Traffic Enforcement Report covering the year 2016, officials argued the number of speed citations issued at the University Drive intersection has decreased since 2011.

In 2011, 12,851 speed violations were issued, which dropped to 7,554 in 2015, and to 5,999 in 2016. The number of crashes has stayed the same since the camera was implemented, with seven crashes being reported in both 2011 and 2016.

Red light violations increased at the intersection, with 83 violations reported in 2011 and 137 reported in 2016.

In the 2016 report, officials wrote, "even though we saw an increase in red light violations this year we still had 8 percent fewer violations this year."

The city argues the traffic camera is needed to continue enforcing the speed limit and reduce accidents. The police department also said in 2016, it utilized the video and license plate recognition of the traffic camera system multiple times.

According to the report, the video footage helped police investigate three reports of stolen vehicles, and also was used as evidence related to drive-by shootings. The department also argues the footage is helpful for dealing with missing person cases and Amber Alerts.

In response to the 1,000 foot rule, the city said during the planning stages at University Drive, there were "lengthy discussions" about where the speed limit sign should be placed. The report said the Iowa DOT decided where to place the 45 mph speed limit sign, and since the DOT has started enforcing the 1,000 foot rule after 2013, the city has asked "at least twice that the signs be moved."

Next steps

After the case was taken to court, Judge Scott D. Rosenberg's ruling, which was filed electronically April 25, sided with the DOT.

Rosenberg argued the DOT did not "violate home rule authority," did "nothing to interfere with traditional law enforcement" and the DOT's actions are "reasonable and logical."

Ruling the DOT has the authority to "apply safety regulations to use on primary highways," Rosenberg ordered for the traffic camera on University Drive to be removed.

Mandsager said Muscatine has decided to keep operating the traffic camera. City officials have not said if motorists will be responsible for paying fines issued after the camera was ordered to be turned off.

Rosenberg did not discuss penalties for Muscatine, Des Moines or Cedar Rapids, if the cities choose to keep the cameras operating.
"Peanuts" is going Canadian. Maybe our neighbors to the north can help Charlie Brown finally grab that football. Here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
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Momo's Last Moments | Porter Cottrell does CPR - Graphic Content

Written by Peter McGough

11 May 2017

Momo's Last Moments

Porter Cottrell does CPR - Graphic Content

Top IFBB pro Mohammed Benaziza died on October 4th 1992 in Den Haag, Holland. His passing was, and still is, the most dramatic and high profile death in bodybuilding; occurring as it did just hours after he had won the Dutch Grand Prix. Momo (as he was called) died due to a heart attack caused by severe hydration triggered by diuretic use. He was 33 years old.

The Dutch contest was the last leg of that years post-Olympia European tour and Porter Cottrell was one of the travelling stars. Porter was a full-time firefighter and licensed emergency medical technician, and because of those skills the duo of Momo and Porter were destined to be center stage as the tour reached its tragic climax.

THE END OF THE TOUR

This is Porters graphic account of Momos final hours, which he related to me a week after the tragedy.

At the Dutch Grand Prix prejudging Momo left the stage several times. When we started doing our posing routines, Momo was leaning up against the wall and started puking profusely. It wasn't like he just bent over and puked. He was projectile vomiting the stuff; it was shooting to three feet in front of him. It was like a scene from The Exorcist. I jumped back and said to Ron Love, shit man, he's sick. Momos girlfriend said something to the effect that he had eaten some dates. Momo then worked walked over to the bathroom and continued to puke.

The post-contest banquet was held at the same venue (as the contest). My understanding is that Momo had to be helped to walk to the banquet. We started to leave for our hotel about 11.00pm and I was in the same van as Momo. I was in the front with the driver, Thierry Pastel, his wife and another friend where in the second row. Momo and his girlfriend were in the back seat of the van. It was about a 90-minute drive to the hotel and during this period Momo filled three plastic bags with puke, which were thrown out the window.

At one point we stopped at a service station to get Momo some spring water. He was probably trying to get his electrolytes up since they had been depleted from so much puking. At that moment however, I still thought he was ill from food poisoning.

When we arrived at the hotel Thierry and his friend and I helped Momo into the building. He was walking, but needed assistance getting inside -- he was kind of leaning on us. He was starting to shake profusely, to the point where he was really struggling with walking on his own. We sat him down on a chair and he asked for some water and some powdered electrolyte. But he kept puking up into a bucket that was right next to him.

At this point, a doctor was called. Thierry and I literally carried Momo to his room  he was like deadweight at this point. I remember holding him and his whole body was shaking. His hands and legs were very clammy. It was almost as if he was a paraplegic at this point. We laid him down on the bed. Momo sighed and said, I am fine now.

THE FINAL HOURS

This was about 12.30am and as I believed that a doctor was on his way I wasnt worried: I thought Momo was going to be fine. At about 4.30am Steve Brisbois started pounding on my door yelling, Porter come quick, Momos sick!

Momos room was two doors away and I found Momo being pulled off the bed by his girlfriend, Thierry and Alq Gurley. Things started getting a bit panicky at this point. I looked at my Momo and saw that he was in full cardiac arrest. The doctor was there and we started doing CPR together  the doctor breathing into his mouth and I doing chest compressions. After about three or four minutes of compressions Momo started to puke, and so every few minutes we had to clean his mouth out from the puke so to prevent him from swallowing his tongue.

After 20 minutes I knew Momo was not going to make it, but I just couldnt give up. Clear liquids kept running continuously out of his nose and this was a sign that his lungs were completely full of liquid. We decided to tell everyone, apart from myself and the doctor, to leave the room, At this point Momos girlfriend was almost hysterical.

I recall thinking that because Momo was so thickly muscled that perhaps my compressions weren't forceful or deep enough. But when paramedics arrived and connected him to a heart monitor, I could see my compressions were perfect. We continued to do CPR and noticed that he was getting cold very quickly. The monitor showed a flatline not even a flicker  and only time it registered was when I did a compression. It took the paramedics about 15 minutes to get Momo downstairs. We did CPR for about 40 to 45 minutes, which is a very long time  but I knew after 20 minutes it was a lost cause. The paramedics took Momo to the hospital  his girlfriend went with him.

About 25 minutes later the phone rang. It was a policeman who asked if he could come to my room. He told me that Momo had passed away and I had to go out and tell everyone. So I gathered everyone together and I was trying to keep my cool, but I could barely talk because I wanted to break out into tears.

I told them that Momo had passed away. We got together and went to the hospital. Wayne DeMilia, Art Bedway and I took the doctor aside and asked if we could see Momo and pay our last respects. They had Momo in a secluded room and a number of us went in. Besides me, there was Juliette Bergmann, Wayne DeMilia, Art Bedway, Thierry and his wife, Henderson Thorne and Steve Brisbois. Usually when someone dies they go completely limp but Momos eyes, mouth and fingers were still open. It was like even though he was dead he couldnt relax.

ODE TO MOMO

Momos mentality was that he took everything to the extreme. Later on we found so much stuff he had been using on the tour. It was scary, Nubain was one of the substances.

(Porters became emotional as he spoke the next words). I am used to doing CPR but not on my friends. It was hard, it was weird. At this point [October 1992] it really hasn't sunk in. I can be sitting here, thinking about nothing in particular, when I suddenly find myself thinking about Momo. What makes me real sad is how much he must have suffered. Momo was trying to fulfill a dream but he took it too far.

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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 []
SHI YU/CHINA DAILY

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is using the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula to its advantage. The Japanese media are playing up the nuclear and ballistic missile tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, making Japanese people more apprehensive of the threat from Pyongyang. This in turn has created a public perception that the Abe administration has no choice but to deepen its military cooperation with the United States to protect Japan against external threats. As a result, many Japanese have to come to believe that only a stronger US-Japan alliance can stop the DPRK from pursuing its nuclear programs.

The Japanese administration has been hyping the threat from the DPRK instead of trying to ease public tensions. And Abe's remarks and some media reports have made many in Japan believe that the country will bear the brunt of a conflict, if one were to break out. The fear among Japanese people therefore can be mainly attributed to the exaggerated propaganda of Abe and the media.

Amid the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Abe has delivered many sensational speeches and taken moves that could stir up more trouble. On Tuesday he reiterated the need for explicitly defining the status of Japan's Self-Defense Forces under his plan to revise the pacifist Constitution by 2020.

Addressing a recent meeting of the parliamentary panel on national security, Abe even said Pyongyang might already have the resources and technical know-how to develop and fire missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas. The message he tried to convey is that, since Pyongyang has the capability to launch chemical attacks on other countries, the US should join Japan to launch a military strike in order to preempt a possible attack by the DPRK.

Besides, the Abe administration has also been talking about how its Self-Defense Forces will cooperate with the US military if a conflict with the DPRK were to break out. Perhaps Japan is hyping up the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue to use it as an excuse to dispatch its Self-Defense Forces to help the US in a conflict with the DPRK.

Japan's new national security law came into effect in March last year, allowing it to exercise the right to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to defend the country or a friendly country facing attack. As a result, Tokyo can now provide strategic help for the US and other allies even if Japan itself is not attacked. The purpose of this law is to enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces to take part in conflicts in other parts of the world, albeit on the side of its allies, on the pretext of helping friendly countries in trouble.

Now that Abe has freed the Self-Defense Forces of the restrictions of Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan can pretend to be a "normal country". That will also lay the foundation for Japan's next step, which is to amend the Constitution, and boost its strategic strength to become a major military power. And since the Self-Defense Forces have not found a chance to take part in actual combat after the new security law came into force, Japan sees the DPRK issue as an opportunity to exhibit as well as test its military strength.

Thus it can be safely concluded that the hyping up of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is a well-planned move by Abe to stir up trouble, even a conflict, in the region.

The author is a professor of Japan studies at China Foreign Affairs University.
Kiberas finest rapper Octopizzo is, as was expected, having a ball with the recent changes on Khaligraph Jones face.

Following up on his initial attack on the Micasa Sucasa rapper, Octopizzo on Wednesday was at it again with a long social media post mocking his long-standing rap-nemesis.

Octopizzos second round of salvos comes after Khaligraph Jones addressed the bleaching issue in the track Toa Tint  a sample of Futures banger Mask Off.

This was Octopizzos interesting tale:

Once upon a time there was 2 Amigos, one of them was called Omolo, Omolo was a shot FAT BLACK kid, he always talked very fast and caught feelings easily.

Next to him was his mentor King Octo.

Omolo admired King Octos lifestyle to an extent that he wanted to look like him in reality,but he couldnt loose weight. 9 yrs later Omolo evolved from taking fast to rapping fast, it took him time though before People could understand why he was saying,people still dont understand what hes saying.

But luckily 9yrs later he got a chance to visit Dubai,Landing there Omolo realized everybody was white and brown and he had a massive culture shock, coz his accent wasnt matching his looks;he had crazy insecurities like an Alshabab soldier,He tried to use unga but it didnt work,then he ran to the next store and got body cream, His mentor king octo tried to reach him but couldnt coz he was traveling in the United States for business.

He was asked to diss him but King octo said I cant diss a light skinned person,am not racist, am a civilized proud African man.

Since then Omolo and King octo havent met, but King octo still believes he can change Omolos mind and reverse the experiment.

We will miss you Omolo ????

And as king Octos say goes Wanalack Originality ka photocopy all we have now of Omolo is a photocopy

Sincerely Mentor. ??? Haya Katoe Diss ingine nangoja #HappyMothersDay Bure kabisa!! #blacklivesmatter #TBT

In addition to his social media shots at Khali, the Tergat Gang rapper is set to drop a diss track today. Exciting times!!
ST. HELENA  Youve seen her sitting at a picnic table or in Lyman Park or on the bench at the corner of Adams Street and Railroad Avenue. You may have heard her, too, as she often yells out, sometimes at the top of her lungs.

On some afternoons, her voice is so loud that I can hear her yelling from Lewis Station Park, across the railroad tracks from my office. Once, frustrated, I got up from my desk, went to the door and yelled out for her to shut up.

Yolanda Irby is 60 and homeless. She was born in Vacaville and grew up in the Bay Area. For the past few months, she has been a fixture in St. Helena  a rare homeless woman in one of Napa Valleys most expensive places to live. Although there is often a family begging for money in Safeways parking lot or at church after Sunday services, we are not used to seeing homeless people here.

Jenny Ocon, executive director of the UpValley Family Center, said she knows of Irby and her plight. There have been offers of help. Many organizations are aware of her, have reached out to her, but no one can force her to get help, Ocon said. Irby doesnt want help. Unless shes a danger to herself and to others, she cannot be forced to get mental health services, Ocon said.

Although she regularly appears in the police log for spitting, yelling and causing a disturbance, Irby isnt breaking the law; shes just homeless.

Irby, who had hung out in Napa prior to relocating to St. Helena, said she went to Arizona State University, transferred to Georgia Tech and studied architecture. According to Irby, she graduated, maybe in 1992, and is a Class 4 designer. She said she worked for an architectural and engineering firm in Sacramento.

After working for the firm for three weeks, Irby was laid off. Thats when her troubles began. I was living in Sacramento for a while, but shortly after I got laid off, my house got burned down, she said. Her house was paid for, she had a grant deed for it but then a loan company thought they had the right to foreclose on my house. When I got back they took a bulldozer to it. I lost my house, I lost everything, she said.

On a picnic table at Lewis Station Park, Irby was using a camp stove to cook a skillet full of potatoes. Coats, tarps, bags, an umbrella and her hat were spread on the table. The rest of her belongings were in a 4-wheel cart. She had pulled cooking utensils from a plastic tub.

Journalists are trained to interview people, quote them and believe what they say. With Irby, you have to suspend that belief. There are only partial truths with her.

All of these people pissing on my life are Iranians of the Bahai faith, she claims. Theyre keeping me in the street.

Shes been homeless since 2007. I really am having a hard life, where I was beaten the crap out of, where I have a concussion, thats why my eyes look dilated. They werent.

Irby is clear about why shes having such a hard life. I got someone doing magic on me. I was picked off this picnic table, where I am sitting right now, thrown on the ground and my head was jammed into the concrete, she said.

Who is the culprit?

Irby answered, Magic. Theres nobody here. The police showed up 15 minutes later, she said, and Irby claims her glasses were broken and she was bleeding with blood running down her face.

According to Facebook postings a year ago, Irbys family has been searching for her for years. Last October, the family writes they found out Irby was living homeless in the Napa area. She seems happy and has a routine that from a distance seems safe. Her family loves her and wishes this were not her life, but understand that making contact may make it worse. We will monitor her from afar and pray she stays safe. By law the only time we can step in, is when she is not able to sustain herself, dire illness or is a danger to herself or others. Please continue to pray 

Irby has answers for every question.

Where do you sleep at night? Im not telling anybody.

You can stay at the Presbyterian Church. I dont stay in shelters. I almost got raped in a shelter in Sacramento. This is a really harsh life.

Its been rainy this year, how have you dealt with it? It hasnt rained as much as last year.

How do you deal with the rain? I find a place where its dry. I dont tell anybody where.

What is your routine every day? I normally get up at 5 and then I get some coffee and go where I can sit and hopefully, someone helps me out a little bit. I do need to get off the street and I dont mind working retail, but I cant do hard labor. Im old but I dont mind working. (During the interview, a person listening to the conversation gave her a $100 bill. What a gift!)

Irby goes to her pile of belongings, pulls out a laptop from a plastic bag and turns it on. We wait while it begins and she peers intently at the dim screen. She opens house plans that she has designed. She describes the house:

Its a large house. I have a living room, my big patio is out here, my large dining room, and then I have an arcade over here, whats considered a chefs kitchen with a nook, family room, then I have two bathrooms and a laundry room. This is a three-car garage, she said pointing with a dirty hand at the screen. It has two sets of stairs and a nice upstairs with bedrooms. Its actually an extremely large house, more than 3,000 square feet.

For the homeless Irby, the woman who finds a hidden dry place to sleep and sits on a bench on the street corner in the early morning, the irony of her telling of her dream home couldnt be much greater.
We have much to learn from the first people of this land, including manners. What I witnessed firsthand at a previous public meeting was sickening.

I am not Indian, American Indian, Native American, nor indigenous by birth but a human being by blood. I pray more of us of European decent will stop and listen with our hearts. The use of indigenous people as mascots is a racist practice that perpetuates cultural genocide and promotes the continual white-washing of our own nation's and state's history.

The indigenous people of California still exist and they have always existed on this land. Did you know that both tribal historians and consultants say the Wappo people have lived in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa area for at least 4,500 years?

California history includes the enslavement and countless massacres against innocent indigenous people, including elders, women and children. This truth in history is not taught. This avoidance of the truth has turned our hearts cold to the indigenous people that still exist today -- many still on their ancestral lands.

Some argue that the current mascot honors the indigenous people. How can you say this when in 2015, a federal judge sided with Napa County against the Mishewal Wappos? As of March of this year, the Mishewal Wappos continue their legal battle.

Honor the past to shape the future is something I learned from the Mutsun Ohlone people. Honor it by teaching the truth no matter the horror.

Cold hearts allow us to culture appropriate without a single thought toward how it affects others. Using indigenous people as mascots does not honor them. We are born with one mouth and two ears.

The time is now for us that are not indigenous to talk less and listen more. Native rights equal human rights.

Chad Carlson

Kenwood
SAN FRANCISCO  Two San Francisco men, including a University of California at San Francisco psychiatrist, were arrested on suspicion of crimes related to child pornography Tuesday, police said Thursday.

Billy Lockhart, 36, and Benjamin Martin, 33, were arrested in the 100 block of Buena Vista Terrace, according to police. The case began in March with an investigation by the departments Internet Crimes Against Children unit of an individual who was uploading and trading child pornography online, police said.

The investigation identified Lockhart as a suspect. He was identified as a psychiatrist employed by UCSF and was allegedly using his employers Wi-Fi network to upload child pornography, police said.

On Tuesday, police investigators served a search warrant on Lockharts home on Buena Vista Terrace. During the search warrant, investigators found several media devices belonging to Lockhart containing hundreds of child pornography videos and images, police said.

Investigators also found hundreds of child pornography files on media devices belonging to Martin, who lives at the residence as well, according to police.

Both men were arrested at the residence, police said. Lockhart was arrested on suspicion of possession of child pornography, possession of more than 600 files of child pornography and distribution of child pornography, according to police.

Martin was arrested on suspicion of possession of child pornography and possession of more than 600 files of child pornography.

Anyone who has been victimized or had suspicious contact with the suspects is asked to contact the Police Departments Special Victims Unit at (415) 558-5500.
Ready to go from zero Read more [...]
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked Germany for its outstanding contributions to NATO in talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday (11 May 2017). The two leaders discussed preparations for the upcoming meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels on 25 May, where burden sharing and fighting terrorism will top the agenda.

In response to a changing security environment all Allies in 2014 agreed to stop the cuts in defence spending and move towards spending 2 percent of GDP on defence within a decade. Burden sharing is not just about money, the Secretary General stressed; it is also about modern capabilities and contributions to NATO missions and operations. Germany makes key contributions on all these aspects.

Turning to the fight against terrorism s , Mr Stoltenberg recalled that NATO has been active in this field for a long time, with its biggest mission in Afghanistan. NATO is also training forces in Iraq, and supporting the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIL with AWACS surveillance planes. Training local forces is a key tool against terrorism, Mr Stoltenberg said. We will discuss what more NATO can do when we meet in Brussels on May 25.

The Secretary General is also holding talks with members of the SPD party parliamentary group as part of his continuing engagement with German parliamentary parties. His agenda also includes an address on the Koerber Stiftung think-tank on current security challenges.
The Honourable Rose Gottemoeller, NATO Deputy Secretary General, will visit Tallinn on Friday, 12 May and Saturday, 13 May 2017.

On Friday 12 May, the Deputy Secretary General will visit the troops at the Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Headquarters in Tapa.

On Saturday, 13 May, the Deputy Secretary General will participate in a panel discussion at the Lennart Meri Conference and will visit the SNMG1 ship (Standing NATO Maritime Group 1).

During her visit, the Deputy Secretary General will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sven Mikser, and with the Minister of Defence, Mr. Margus Tsahkna.

Still and video images of the event will be available on the NATO website (www.nato.int) after the event.

More details on the Lennart Meri conference can be found at http://lmc.icds.ee/

Follow the Deputy Secretary General on Twitter (@Gottemoeller). Also follow us at @NATOPress.
(As delivered)

Thank you very much, Chancellor Merkel.

And let me start by thanking Germany for your outstanding contributions to international peace and security. You contribute to NATO operations in many different ways, from Afghanistan to Kosovo to the Aegean Sea. And over the past few months, Germany has taken the leadership over one of our battlegroups in the Baltic region. Your troops are now leading our battlegroup in Lithuania and this is yet another example of how much NATO welcomes the contributions of Germany to our Alliance. And you are providing troops for NATOs quick reaction forces.

Let me also thank you for your strong commitment to engaging with Russia Defence and dialogue are both essential if we are to have a constructive relationship.

We just had an excellent discussion to prepare for the meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels on the 25th May. At the meeting we will address two main topics. That is the transatlantic relationship/burden sharing and NATOs efforts to fight international terrorism.

First, on burden sharing;

In 2014, at our Summit in Wales, we all agreed to stop the cuts in defence spending, gradually increase and move towards spending 2 percent of GDP on defence within a decade. We are doing this for the security of our own citizens. And for the security of Europe in a more uncertain world. Germany has increased its defence budget.

And I very much welcome that. Burden sharing is not just about money. Burden sharing is also about capabilities and contributions to NATO missions and operations. And Germany makes key contributions on all these aspects.

The other main issue we are going to discuss at the meeting in May is NATOs role in the fight against terrorism. NATO has been an active partner in the international fight against terrorism for many years. Our mission in Afghanistan was a direct consequence of the 9/11 attacks against the United States. And we continue training the Afghan security forces with Germany in lead in the north of Afghanistan. We are currently reviewing our training mission in Afghanistan and we will take decisions on its future scope, including on troop numbers within weeks. Afghan forces will continue to do the fighting to secure their own country. And NATO will continue to provide training, advice and assistance to the Afghan forces.

At the same time, all NATO Allies are members of the Global Coalition to defeat ISIL. NATO is supporting the Coalition with AWACS surveillance planes. And we also train Iraqi forces and we help them build defence institutions. We also work with partners in the region, like Jordan and Tunisia, because we strongly believe that to build local capacity, to train local forces is a key tool in the fight against international terrorism.

So there are many issues we are going to address when we meet in Brussels on 25th May. And I look very much forward to welcome you to Brussels, so I look forward to see you there.

Thank you.

Q: Kristina Dunz, Deutsche Presse. [Speaking through interpreter]. Kristina Dunz, DPA. A question to both of you. Do you support the wish expressed by the Americans that NATO becomes an official member of the anti ISIS coalition? And Madame Chancellor a question regarding the scandal in the Federal Armed Forces in Germany, demands have been made to go back to conscription. What is your view of that?

ANGELA MERKEL (German Chancellor): [Speaking through interpreter]. To begin with your second question, I think a general fundamental decision has been taken and we should continue in that continuity to carry out the necessary reforms as proposed by the Federal Minister for Defence yesterday. What the Federal Armed Forces now need is predictability regarding its development so as to make sure that the service that is generally speaking done in very good terms is continued. And the reforms mentioned by the Minister of Defence are correct and right as I see and appropriate. Now your first question, we are right now engaged in talks about the extent to which NATO can contribute in an official manner to the efforts of the coalition, talks are ongoing as I said and I encourage the Secretary General to continue these talks and to perhaps to conclude them by the 25th of May.

JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General): As the Chancellor just said this is a discussion which is now ongoing in NATO and hopefully well be able to make decisions by the 25th of May when we meet together all the NATO leaders. But let me just underline a few aspects related to that issue. First if NATO joins the coalition it will not change the role of NATO because NATO will continue to provide support, we will continue to focus on training, NATO will not be engaged in the combat operations. So, no one has asked for a NATO role in the combat operations neither in Syria nor in Iraq but what NATO has started to do is to provide some support to the coalition with our AWACS surveillance planes and also to do some training in Iraq. And I strongly believe that NATO has an untapped potential when it comes to building local capacity, training local forces. Because I think that one lesson we have learned from Afghanistan but also actually from Iraq is that in the long run the only viable solution is to enable local governments, local forces to stabilize their own country and to fight terrorism themselves. And if anything we can learn from Afghanistan is that perhaps we should have started earlier to train the Afghans. Now we have been able to end the combat operations in Afghanistan, the Afghans are responsible for the combat operations, they are at the front line, we are helping them with training, assistance and advice. And I really believe that thats the kind of long term ambition that NATO should be much more engaged in, training, capacity building and not so much focused on big military combat operations beyond our borders.

ANGELA MERKEL: If I may just briefly add that, as regards to the interpretation given by the Secretary General, I am very much in agreement with what he said and I want to send out a very clear message that given the fact that were engaged in negotiations right now or discussions and if a decision is taken this is not to be understood that any activity like the AWACS operations already ongoing is going to be enhanced. Weve been very clear on that.

Q: [Speaking through interpreter]. Madame Chancellor, Secretary General mentioned that thought is being given about increasing the numbers of forces in Afghanistan. Would Germany be willing to up its numbers, the troops already in Afghanistan beyond the ceiling of 800? And if an additional German contribution in Afghanistan actually would be welcome by NATO?

ANGELA MERKEL: [Speaking through interpreter]. The Federal Republic of Germany has been very clear on its view that the Afghanistan mission ought to continue, weve made it equally clear that were willing to take the lead in the north, we are also engaged in the process of coordination, the cooperation of roughly 20 member states on the ground engaged in the country. So Im awaiting for the time being the decisions and I dont think that we are the first to be called for when it comes to upping the figures. I think what we have to do is to maintain stability in the north and to make sure that that is guaranteed in order to make it a predictable mission or operation. I dont think we are the ones that are mainly addressed when that request is made.

JENS STOLTENBERG: First of all I would like to underline that no decision has been made. Its correct that our military authorities, they have asked for a modest increase in the military presence of NATO in Afghanistan but there has been no decision taken. We are now assessing the request from the military and then we will make decisions within weeks. But it is extremely important again to underline that this is not about returning to a combat mission, we will continue to train, assist and advise, not combat operations in Afghanistan. Chancellor Merkel is right, Germany has played and is playing a very important role in Afghanistan being the lead nation in the north, contributing a significant number of troops to our mission and operation in Afghanistan and of course if there is any increase which is not yet decided then we will go out and ask all allies and partners and you have to remember that we speak about 28 allies but also many, many partner countries. So if there is any request for more troops that will be a request which is not specifically addressed to Germany. Let me just add one thing about the coalition, the previous question, and that is that we have to remember that all NATO allies are already members of the coalition. So NATO is in a way part of the coalition through our allies so the question is, in a way, whether NATO as an alliance should be at the table coordinating with the others or whether we should continue to provide support to the coalition and thats a  I have a pragmatic approach but it will not change the fundamental role of NATO because we will not be engaged in combat operations. Neither in Syria nor in Iraq.

Q: Andreas Rinker from Reuters [speaking through interpreter]. A question addressed to both the Chancellor and the Secretary General. I would like to ask again after the NATO commitments. What do you think of the proposal that instead of trying to achieve this 2 % goal one should rather go for a 3 % target which includes then development, economic figures and also diplomacy which may be just as important for stabilizing countries as the military? And Secretary General do you trust that Germany will be able to meet this 2 % target? Because one part of the government wants to meet it and the other part doesnt want to.

ANGELA MERKEL [speaking through interpreter]: Well the whole of the government has adopted this decision that was adopted in Cardiff, it subscribes to it, we will keep this target, abide by this target and the previous years as shown that we have indeed increased our defence expenditure. So for the 25th of May I dont see any further necessity of any further commitments to be made.

JENS STOLTENBERG: I expect all allies to be able to meet the commitment we made in 2014 but we have to remember what we actually promised. We didnt promise to spend 2 % tomorrow. What we promised was to stop the cuts, gradually increase and then move towards 2 %. And actually Germany and many other European NATO allies have really started to do exactly that. Across Europe defence spending has now stopped  the cuts in defence spending have stopped and we have seen a gradual increase and we move towards spending more of our GDP on defence. And I welcome that because after many years of decline in defence spending, 2015 the first year after we made the pledge we saw a small increase in defence spending across Europe, also in Germany. And then in 2016 we saw a significant increase in defence spending, not least because of the increase in Germany. So, I really see Europe and also Germany which is now implementing the pledge we made together in 2014. On the 25th of May we are not going to address any changes in the pledge. The pledge we made in 2014 stands. What were going to address is how to implement the pledge and I am encouraged by what I see across Europe and Canada. I will also add one thing about the 3 %. I am strongly in favour of development aid and when Chancellor Merkel and I started to work together, when I was Prime Minister of Norway we worked on development aid, on child mortality, vaccines and also on climate change. So I have a past where I was pushing hard for more development aid. But there is no contradiction between security and development, actually you need security to provide development. So we cannot choose between either providing vaccines to children or safety, we need both. So for me there is not either development aid or defence spending, its both and we have a UN guideline of spending .7 % of GDP on development and a NATO guideline of moving towards spending 2 %. And Germany is actually now moving to both  towards both of them, development aid is increasing and defence spending is increasing. So I thank Germany for both.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017 by: Frances Bloomfield Tags: Fukushima Disaster , Fukushima Nuclear Plant , wildfires This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) On the evening of April 29, a wildfire broke out in a mountain forest near the now-disabled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. In a report by the Mainichi.jp, the publication stated that the fire started on the 448-meter high Mount Juman in Namie, a town in the Fukushima Prefecture. In response to the prefecture governments request for aid, the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) dispatched eight helicopters to pour water on the blaze. Far from being a normal wildfire, it raised concerns over the probability of airborne radiation spreading from the site. The area has been designated a difficult-to-return zone since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The high radiation levels originating from the power plant forced officials to bar entry into the area. Its these high radiation levels that have sparked worries among the population.

In a 2016 blog post by Anton Beneslavsky, a member of Greenpeace Russias firefighting group, he noted down the dangers of forest fires occurring in contaminated sections of land. During a fire, radionuclides like caesium-137, strontium-90 and plutonium rise into the air and travel with the wind. This is a health concern because when these unstable atoms are inhaled, people become internally exposed to radiation, Beneslavsky wrote.

Formal regional government official Ludmilla Komogorsteva told Beneslacky that forests similar to the one in Namie were ticking time bombs. Based on her experience with the infamous 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Komogorsteva explained that woods and peat accumulate radiation and every moment, every grass burning, every dropped cigarette or camp fire can spark a new disaster. (Related: Fukushima radiation is affecting the health of the entire global ecosystem, scientist says)

However, an official with the Ministry of the Environment commented that where were no major changes to radiation levels, stated CommonDreams.org. The official then added they will continue to closely watch changes in radiation doses in the surrounding areas.

The cause of the wildfire is still unknown. According to the Fukushima Prefectural Police, a lightning advisory had been issued for the town of Namie by the Fukushima Meteorological Office on the day the fire occurred. They speculate that a lightning strike may have started the blaze, which has since consumed several hectares of forest.

The 2011 nuclear disaster, in brief

On the afternoon of March 11, 2011, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 struck the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles off the Japanese east coast. For several minutes, there was shaking and rumbling with little pause. The impact of the earthquake caused Fukushima Power Plant Reactors 1,2, and 3 to automatically shut down to prevent further damage. Heat was still being produced within the reactor core, however. This heat was caused by radioactive decay, and you have to keep cooling it. When the reactors shut down, the cooling was supposed to be by an external power source but that failed too, Jim Smith, a professor of Environmental Science at Portsmouth University, told the IBTimes.co.uk.

A horrific chain of events followed. Two external power sources for the power plant were disrupted, forcing workers to rely on 13 emergency diesel generators. A 45-foot high tsunami struck the coast 50 minutes after the earthquake and flooded the basement levels of the nuclear power station, destroying all but one emergency generator. Hydrogen gas began to fill the reactors and, at 3:36 pm on the same day, Reactor 1 experienced a hydrogen explosion and radiation spilled into the environment.

The rest is history, and the effects are still felt by Japan to this day. Authorities have since been dealing with an increase in cases of different types of cancers, particularly thyroid cancer.

What effects the wildfire may bring remain to be seen.

Stay up to date on all news concerning radiation by visiting Radiation.news.

Sources include:

Mainichi.jp

GreenPeace.org

CommonDreams.org

IBTimes.co.uk
(Natural News) Will expanding breast cancer screening guidelines really help to save lives, or will it just help to put more dollars into the pockets of those that make up what we collectively call the cancer industry?

A recent press release from the Journal of the American Medical Association describes how different facets of the industry have expanded their guidelines for breast cancer screenings under the guise of prevention. Disagreement between medical societies and other organizations about what is best is rampant, but they all seem to believe that more is better. In 2015, the American Cancer Society revised its guidelines to include yearly mammograms for women 45 years of age or older, and biennial screenings for women who are 55 years of age or older.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, however, seems to take the cake with their blanket suggestion that all women who are 40 years of age or older should get a yearly mammogram. A recent study, led by Archana Radhakrishnan, M.D., M.H.S. from Johns Hopkins University, found that most physicians seem to recommend annual breast cancer screenings, and that gynecologists were more likely to recommend them to women of all ages when compared to general practitioners.

To anyone wary of modern medicine, this probably isnt very surprising. Mammograms seem to be all the rage, and are often touted as a top tool for early cancer detection, but are they really the end-all be-all theyre proclaimed to be? Some doctors feel that they may actually be doing more harm than good  and theres evidence to prove it. (RELATED: Read more stories about the cancer industry at CancerScams.news)

Dr. Michael Baum, Professor Emeritus of Surgery and visiting Professor of Medical Humanities at University College London, made waves for his call to end the UKs NHS Breast Screening Programme. Baum is a surgical oncologist who is an expert on breast cancer treatment  in fact, Baum was the driving force behind the programs introduction, back in 1998. Why would he have such a dramatic change of heart? Because, as Dr. Baum puts it, too many healthy women are harmed by breast cancer screening. According to Baum, these screenings often detect a form of cancer that is harmless, and that many women who receive treatment wouldnt have needed any at all, had they not had a breast cancer screening.

And research backs up Baums sentiments: A recent Danish study found that one out of every three women who has cancer detected by a mammogram receives unnecessary treatment. Another study out of Canada, which was conducted over a period of 25 years, concluded that mammograms do not decrease the death rate for average-risk women in their forties and fifties. That study also found that 1-in-5 women received unneeded cancer treatment, after having a mammogram. Many studies have found that regular mammograms provide little benefit, but can actually cause quite a bit of harm. Because these cancers would not have needed treatment, many women are unnecessarily exposed to chemotherapy and radiation, and some even undergo surgery to have their breasts removed.

As H. Gilbert Welch explains in his new book, Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, The only way to know if the screening is saving lives is by doing a randomized trial. Its easy to forget this and assume that if technology can find more cancer, it will save more lives. Marketers exploit this assumption. Dont fall for it.

As the Canadian study shows, cancer screening via mammogram has virtually no impact on life expectancy for the average middle-aged woman  so why do health agencies continue to push the myth that yearly mammograms are essential?

As Mike Adams has pointed out in the past, mammograms are a great way to recruit future patients  not only can the industry essentially scare women into unwarranted treatments, repeated exposure to radiation (like yearly mammograms) can actually increase your risk of eventually developing cancer.

Sources:

Media.JAMANetwork.com

DailyMail.co.uk

NPR.org

BCAction.org

NaturalNews.com

GoodReads.com
(Natural News) In the interest of combatting the spread of fake news, Google has created a new algorithm that will bury online information the company deems misleading, false and offensive, according to Bloomberg. Even though the move doesnt necessarily eliminate fake news altogether, it will force low quality articles further down in the search results, thus making it much more difficult for users to locate.

According to Google, the decision to introduce the new algorithm was sparked by the 2016 presidential election, where the issue of so-called fake news was consistently debated on the national stage.

It was not a large fraction of queries  only about a quarter percent of our traffic  they were the important queries, explained Ben Gomes, Googles vice president of engineering for search. Its not a problem that is going to go all the way to zero, but we now think we can stay a step ahead of things.

The most recent victim of Googles fake news witch hunt has been the website Infowars, run by political radio host Alex Jones. Leaked documents from the Internet search giant reveal that employees were being instructed to rate articles and other posts from Infowars as low to medium quality, even if the information was entirely accurate.

Googles rating guide used Infowars as an example of what a website looks like when it has a poor reputation and conspiratorial bent. The leaked guide went on to say, There are a number of controversial, often debunked claims that the site regularly promotes. Eventually, Google was forced to admit that their suppression of Infowars was a mistake, and that they would act fast to correct the problem.

This seems to be the consistent mindset among those who seek to suppress or silence what they consider to be fake news  do it until you get caught, and then just simply call it a mistake to avoid any further scrutiny or confrontation. But what if its not a mistake at all? What if Google really is out to silence right-of-center websites and blog posts?

Its truly bizarre how companies like Google and pundits within the mainstream media never give a clear-cut definition of the term fake news. They are always quick to tell us that we need to act to censor it, but they never seem to go into detail about what specifically is going to be censored. This is because fake news is a subjective term  politically speaking, what is considered to be factual information by conservatives is almost always going to be considered lies or propaganda by the progressive left. Therefore, what we should really be paying attention to are the people behind the push to combat fake news, not just fake news itself.

Sources:

Infowars.com

DailyCaller.com
(Natural News) Has climate change gone from being just a scientific theory to a pseudo-scientific cult? A new study from the University of Warwick seems to underline the fact that the push for people to comply with the belief in global warming and human impact resides more in faith, than in science. In a world where anyone who even dares to question a single aspect of climate change and the hypotheses that are purported as facts is labeled anti-science and a denier of truth, it is more than ironic that theyve actually shown faith, of all things, to be more important than anything else, when it comes to global warming.

The researchers found that when people were encouraged to believe that they could personally do things to help stop climate change, they were more likely to engage in personal actions to reduce their footprint, so to speak. For example, the team found that members of the High Efficacy Climate Change group (who received messages that encouraged them to believe in their impact on climate change) were more likely to adopt behaviors to stop climate change: They drove less, air-dried their laundry, used less water and were more stringent with their household thermostat settings.

The team also found that pushing the belief that certain behaviors could help make a difference increased the moralization of these actions. In other words, they found that in addition to getting people to reduce their energy use also encouraged them to have a stronger belief in the morality of what they were doing: Saving energy was good, and using energy was bad.

While conserving the use of resources like water is, of course, very important, the concept of climate change believers believing themselves to be more moral would seem to imply that people who do not engage in similar actions would be viewed as immoral,  a very cult-like mindset that has overtly religious undertones. Its no secret that in early America, people deemed immoral by the majority were subject to a multitude of inhumane punishments: How long will it take for dissenters in modern America to experience the wrath of climate believers?

Perhaps the most ironic thing about the cult-like mentality being pushed by the climate change community is that energy conservation alone is all we need to save the planet  even as agribusinesses and biotech companies pollute the Earth with GMOs, herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other toxic compounds. Does anyone honestly believe that hanging your clothes out to dry can compete with the rate of toxic sludge that is being poured into our waterways and killing our oceans? Apparently, if you spoon-feed people a convenient narrative, you can ultimately get them to believe anything.

The fact remains that companies like Monsanto do far more damage to Earth via their toxic chemical creations than we can even imagine. Monsanto was recently found guilty of crimes against humanity, human rights violations and ecocide by an international tribunal, and yet the media convinces people that they should be more worried about how much electricity they use. Monsanto has been polluting the Earth with hazardous compounds, like PCBs, dioxin and glyphosate, for decades. Even though PCBs were banned years ago, they are still present in the environment even today  thats how persistent they are. In their 100 years of existence, nary a decade is complete without some kind of detrimental mishap from Monsanto.

And yet, these climate change enthusiasts are often the same people who say GMOs, glyphosate and other such tripe are totally safe and harmless  even in spite of the evidence that these things are harmful  the cognitive dissonance between the belief in global warming and human impact and the refusal to admit that man-made chemicals are often harmful to the environment is pretty astounding. Follow more news headlines rooted in rational thinking at Rational.news.

Sources:

ScienceDaily.com

WakingTimes.com
(Natural News) A few weeks ago, New York Times Magazine ran a column that asks if its ok to tinker with the environment to fight climate change. The piece, written by Jon Gertner, discusses a proposal made by Harvard Professor David Keith to use ten Gulfstream jets to spray 25,000 tons of liquid sulfur gas into the atmosphere in an attempt to combat global climate change. While Professor Keith argues that this sort of solar engineering is technologically feasible, he admits to having a tough time trying to determine whether or not such a practice is ethical. (RELATED: NASA admits to spraying Americans with poisonous chemtrails).

But according to a recently uncovered 784-page U.S. Senate report, the government has already been engaged in weather modification for over six decades since 1953. A letter inside of the report written by Sen. James B. Pearson read, Weather modification projects have been operational for nearly 25 years and have been shown to have significant potential for preventing, diverting, moderating or ameliorating the adverse effects of such weather related disasters and hazards. In the letter, which was addressed to the Acting Director at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, Dr. Norman A. Beckman, Pearson goes on to say that his greatest concern is regarding the lack of a coordinated Federal weather modification policy and a coordinated and comprehensive program for weather modification research and development.

The report goes on to list off some of the ways in which the government has experimented with weather modification in recent years. The practice officially began in 1946 with the seeding of clouds through the use of dry ice and then silver iodide. By the 1950s, the government was looking for ways to have an impact on extreme storm effects. By the time the report was officially published in 1978, weather modification practices included efforts to weaken storms and hurricanes, increasing the density of snowpack by seeding clouds to increase precipitation by 15 percent, and the opening of holes in winter clouds to increase the amount of sunshine in the northeast region of the United States, so as to decrease energy consumption.

In section five of the report, it alleges that global warming from human activity may also be playing a role in weather modification. [T]he possibility exists that society may be changing the climate through its own actions by pushing on certain leverage points, the report notes. While the report goes on to say that the concept of manmade global warming is still a controversial topic, it ultimately concludes that, Nevertheless, a growing fraction of current evidence does point to the possibility of unprecedented impact on the global climate by human activities.

Section eight of the report describes how weather modification has been used as a weapon of war. During the Vietnam War, for instance, the United States government attempted to increase the amount of rainfall over the region to impede traffic. It also makes it clear that weather warfare may very well become a reality in the near future as technology continues to advance. (RELATED: Chemtrails: Learn how to protect yourself from these treacherous poisons.)

The report concludes with a question posed by Dane Wigington of GeoengineeringWatch.org. How big does the climate engineering elephant in the room need to be before it can no longer be hidden in plain site? he asks. How much more historical proof do we need? (Related: Follow more news on Chemtrails at Chemtrails.news.)

Sources:

ChemtrailPlanet.com

NYTimes.com
ORLANDO, Florida  A Merritt Island man is facing charges for a crash that left two people dead and two seriously injured on Dean Road in Orlando, Florida.



(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

21-year-old Kevin Hart of Merritt Island, Florida was driving a 2013 Hyundai Sonata westbound on Buck Road in the left turn lane while approaching the intersection of Dean Road.

Meanwhile, a Mitsubishi Mirage was stopped and facing west on Buck Road in the left turn lane ahead of the Sonata.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Hart failed to stop as the Sonata approached the rear of the Mirage. The Sonatas front struck the rear of Mirage. Upon impact, both vehicles traveled through the intersection.

Both the driver and the passenger of the Mirage were killed as a result of the crash. Their identities are being withheld pending next-of-kin notification.

Hart and one of his passengers, 23-year-old Stephanie Chewning of Orlando, Florida, suffered serious injuries. Another passenger in the Sonata, 20-year-old Marc Bosciso of Orlando, suffered minor injuries. A third passenger in the Sonata fled on foot and has not yet been identified by FHP troopers.

FHP troopers later arrested Hart and charged him with two counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of vehicular homicide. Hart was booked into the Orange County Jail where he awaits a bond hearing.

Image credit: Orange County Jail
For English professor Martine Brownley, its nearly impossible to separate the worlds of teaching and mentoring  nor would she ever want to try.

One just bleeds effortlessly over into the other, says Brownley, Goodrich C. White Professor of English in Emory College of Arts and Sciences and founding director of the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry.

One of the wisest things anyone ever said to me is, You arent teaching the material, youre teaching the students, says Brownley, who first came to Emory in 1975, toward the end of the first Ice Age, she jokes.

If a student wants to learn and will work hard, Ill be there all the way  be there again and again and again, she says. Talking to students is one of the things I enjoy most.

This month, Brownley  who goes by Tina  will be recognized for her work with graduate and undergraduate students and faculty colleagues as the recipient of the George P. Cuttino Award for Excellence in Mentoring. The award was established in 1997 by John T. Glover 68C.

Brownley, who has taught courses in 17th- and 18th-century literature and contemporary women writers at Emory for more than 40 years, has earned praise from colleagues and students alike for her wit, encouragement, collegiality and commitment to mentoring, both in the classroom and through her work with the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry (FCHI), which opened in 2001 to support humanistic research across the university.

The energetic and visionary founding director of the center is admired not only for her razor-sharp mind and the highest academic standards, but as a valued adviser on all matters academic and professional, says Sarah McPhee, a professor of art history in Emory College, who calls her one of a kind.

Her mentorship comes in the way she models the commitment and intellectual integrity of a lifelong academic career, in the clarity and precision of her own prose and the tireless editing she lavishes on students, in her generous and probing conversation, and in her shrewd advice, delivered with grace and candor, McPhee wrote in nominating Brownley for the Cuttino Award.

She is generous with her time, humor and opinion, and all who are fortunate enough to encounter Martine Brownley are in some way changed by the experience, McPhee added.

A life immersed in learning

Raised in Clemson, South Carolina, where her father served as a chemistry professor and college administrator, Brownley grew up surrounded by education.

Influenced by strong high school teachers, she began undergraduate studies intent on majoring in Latin and Greek. By her junior year, she decided to focus on English.

After graduation, Brownley went to Washington, D.C., to work for Rep. William Jennings Bryan Dorn, her district congressman. Working with constituents throughout the largely rural district gave her insight into the political process and the human condition.

Though she loved the work, Brownley soon realized that she missed academia. I felt that I was living on intellectual capital and needed to replace that, she explains.

While pursuing masters and PhD studies at Harvard University, she would return every summer to work for Dorn, who eventually made a failed bid for the South Carolina governors office.

If hed won, I might have worked on his staff, Brownley reflects. But by then I had a job offer from Emory and was tired of bad Cambridge weather. I told my friends that my personal Scarlett OHara recension was As God as my witness, Ill never be cold again, and I moved South.

Teaching with clarity, compassion

From the beginning, Brownley found great reward in working with Emory students.

When I came here there were excellent students and they just keep getting better, she says. Across the board, this is a very impressive generation  I dont always understand them, but they teach me a lot.

Over the years, Brownley has served Emorys Department of English as the director of both undergraduate and graduate studies, overseeing numerous undergraduate theses, directing some 27 dissertations, and playing a role in 44 dissertation committees.

Joel LaGrande 09C, a Bobby Jones Scholar who went on to attend Columbia Law School, recalls taking Brownleys course in 18th-century British literature, then asking her to supervise his honors thesis.

LaGrande praised her ability to draw students into dense material with clarity and precision, engaging them in thoughtful commentary while pushing for deeper and wider research in the pursuit of new sources and knowledge.

He especially admires how Brownley made her students feel, as if we were doing the most important work in the world, he says. Even though I was a lowly undergraduate, she made me feel like my research and writing was worthy of her time, like I was important to her.

If not for her, I would never have applied for the Bobby Jones Scholarship, and I would never have attended law school, he says. She has certainly been one of the most important mentors in my life.

Katherine Ellison, now a professor of English at Illinois State University, recalls working with Brownley as her dissertation adviser.

She was and is my role model, my ideal female scholar, who leads with a pedagogical clarity that I try to emulate in my classroom and whose no-nonsense character kept me on track and focused, she says.

Supporting humanistic inquiry

Brownley is also credited for building important mentoring structures within Emory College and the Laney Graduate School.

In 2002, she co-founded the Grant Writing Program (GWP) for graduate students in the humanities and social sciences. She co-directed the program for more than a decade, helping students secure competitive funding for their research, and also co-founded and co-directed a parallel program for Emory College faculty, notes Cory Kratz, professor emerita, Department of Anthropology and Institute of African Studies.

But one of Brownley's most profound contributions was in helping pioneer the creation of the FCHI, according to her colleagues.

Through undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and faculty fellowships  as well as programs, seminars and workshops  the center has provided a focal point for humanities endeavors at Emory that have advanced interdisciplinary research, teaching and mentorship.

The one thing faculty never seem to have enough of is time, Brownley says. The Fox Center gives faculty fellows one year in which they can think. We dont demand a product, we give them time to get their intellectual lives in order.

In addition to supporting the production of academic books, the center has also aided the creation of articles, conference papers and new course development.

Yet in Brownleys eyes, one of the centers most important contributions is the mentoring that arises organically, both informally and through weekly lunches that bring together people from all fields to just talk.

Our graduate students have incredible resources in faculty and postdocs who are sitting right there. And for our undergraduates, everyone is a good resource, Brownley says. Its a wonderful degree of mentoring at every level.

That kind of mentorship fosters a sense of shared scholarship and connection, says McPhee, who is working on a book through a FCHI fellowship this year.

From students just writing their theses to professors working on their fourth book, there is something so important that happens  you can feel it in the conversations on the stair landing and while people are making coffee in the kitchen.

There is a magical alchemy that goes on over there, a precious part of the Emory ecosystem. And at the center of it is Tina Brownley, McPhee says.
Cybersecurity team members are Sae Hun Kim, from left, Anthony Nguyen, Christian Chavez, Tyler McConnell and Joshua Christ.

For a team of Cal State Fullerton computer science students, it was done in the name of testing their knowledge as they posed as hackers to successfully breach a fictitious companys computer system. Their feat earned them a second-place award at the recent Management Information Systems Student Association competition at Cal Poly Pomona.

The Information Technology Competition gave the undergraduates  all members of CSUFs Offensive Security Society student organization  real-world experience on the flipside of cyberattacks, said student Tyler McConnell.

This competition allowed us to perform any type of cyberattacks we wanted on the given system without any repercussions, McConnell said. After discovering these vulnerabilities in the clients system, we learned how to properly prevent and mitigate these types of attacks.

In addition to McConnell, the other team members are Christian Chavez, Joshua Christ, Sae Hun Kim and Anthony Nguyen.

McConnell added that as part of their case study for the competition, the team was able to acquire sensitive data from the fictitious company, including personal information of their clients, such as social security numbers and medical records.

With nearly everything switching to digital these days, it is important that real-life companies take the correct steps when it comes to securing their systems, he warned. Many companies lack security practices  and we were able to see just how easy it is to infiltrate a system with poor security measures.

The teams mentors are Mikhail Gofman, associate professor of computer science, alumna Laura Chiu 14 (B.S. computer science) of Bechtel Corp., Chris Pavan, security expert, and alumnus Reza Nikoopour 15 (B.S. computer science), lecturer in computer science and a security expert. Visit CSUFs Center for Cybersecurity for more information about programs and careers.
During his stay in China, Sharif will hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Kaqiang, Geo News reported.

"Pakistan is an important partner of China in promoting One Belt One Road Initiative and we believe that Prime Minister Sharif's visit and his attendance at the forum will give a boost to our cooperation in the relevant fields," Geng Shuang - a spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry - said while responding to a question during his regular press briefing on Thursday.

He said the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a premier and pilot project of the One Belt One Road Initiative and progress has already made in this regard.

"The forum will be held from May 14, 15 and we all are looking forward to it," he added.

--IANS ahm/rn

( 177 Words)

2017-05-11-22:58:10 (IANS)
The Sri Lankan Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed the MoUs on cooperation in the fields of urban development, transportation, power and energy and road development, reported Daily Mirror.

Wickremesinghe will leave for China soon after Vesak to attend the One Belt, One Road' summit to be conducted in Beijing.

He is expected to meet Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the summit.

The Cabinet also discussed a modified version of the agreement to be signed with China Merchants Ports Holding Company Ltd., to develop the Hambantota Port as a joint venture. President Maithripala Sirisena was entrusted with the responsibility of making the final decision on this agreement, the daily said.

The OBOR summit will be held from May 14- 15.

It is being hosted by Xi Jinping in Beijing and will see 20 leaders and over 100 minister-level officials in attendance. The summit is being supported by most of China's peripheral countries, notably Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

Beijing has invested heavily in Sri Lanka's infrastructure in recent years, especially airports, roads, railways and ports.

Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.

--IANS akanksha/rn

( 289 Words)

2017-05-11-22:52:12 (IANS)
According to them, the 53-year-old would constantly come late on the set, leaving hundreds of people waiting for hours, reports news.com.au.

A source revealed that the 'The Lone Ranger' star not only used to come late, but also used to drink and fight with his then wife, Amber Heard, a lot.

The movie, 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,' which is scheduled to hit the theatres on May 24, also stars Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Kevin McNally and Geoffrey Rush.

The fifth film in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise was shot on the Gold Coast in 2015, where Depp was staying at motorcycle racing champ Mick Doohan's Queensland compound. (ANI)
In the wake of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's criticism of the absence of Gujarat natives in the armed forces, defence experts on Thursday lashed out at him for indulging in 'gutter politics'. "Akhilesh Yadav is looking to earn brownie points wherever possible. Martyrdom has nothing to do with religion. The Indian Army functions for the people of India and not individual political parties," defence expert Amrit Kapoor told ANI. "It is surprising that a student from an Army school can make such statements," he added. Alleging Akhilesh of making 'political statements' of this kind based on political vendetta, defence expert Ranjit Rai asserted that the comment was in the wake of Akhilesh's defeat in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. "It was a political statement made post the Samajwadi Party's defeat in the Uttar Pradesh elections. Although it is true that Gujaratis, like Sindhis and Marwadis, do not join the Armed Forces in large numbers, such a statement should not have been made," he said. A day before, Akhilesh Yadav, while indirectly criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asked why it was that soldiers from all parts of the country were sacrificing their lives, except for those hailing from Gujarat. Akhilesh asked,"Many soldiers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and even from southern India have sacrificed their lives for the country, but do tell me if any soldier from Gujarat has done so?" (ANI)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while condemning former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's comment on martyrs, on Thursday asserted that the former was still in 'depression' post the Samajwadi Party's defeat in the Assembly polls in the state. "It is a very unfortunate, narrow-minded comment. I think Akhilesh Yadav is still in depression or shock after his party's loss in the UP Assembly polls. It is very condemnable that the brave efforts of our soldiers have been divided on religious lines," BJP leader Nalin Kohli told ANI. Supporting Kohli's stance, BJP leader Harish Srivastava said it was 'embarassing' to hear of a leader speaking about the Armed Forces in this manner, adding that they protect the whole country, and cannot be divided based on religion or region. The Samajwadi Party leader garnered widespread criticism after he questioned why soldiers from all parts of the country were sacrificing their lives, except for those hailing from Gujarat. "Many soldiers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and even from southern India have sacrificed their lives for the country, but do tell me if any soldier from Gujarat has done so?" Akhilesh asked. Akhilesh's Samajwadi Party lost heavily in the recently held Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls wherein the BJP secured a clear majority and formed the government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. (ANI)
Two persons were killed and seven others injured after a car veered off the road and fell into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir last night. The incident took place in the Doda district. Further details are awaited.(ANI)
The investigating agencies have faced trouble to proceed with the investigation of four Bangladeshi nationals who were detained by BSF jawans two days ago with 2.3 lakh US dollar at Western border of Tripura, as their statements appears to be inconsistent. Initially, they confessed that they were paid employees of a Dhaka-based money laundering company 'Leon Sunny Exchange' owned by one Nizmuddin and had been engaged in money laundering activities since January this year. They also claimed that the money had drawn from one Somnath Dotra of Kolkata and carrying them for their employer in Dhaka. BSF said they entered into India through Land Customs Station Srimantapur with valid passport on the May 8 morning and on the same day went to Kolkata from Agartala Airport by Air India flight at 1140hrs. Later, on the same day evening they returned to Agartala by Air India flight after receiving the consignment of US dollars from Kolkata and on May 9 last on as specific input, they were searched by BSF and caught before the zero line with the consignment, "We could not find the answer, how they managed to cross high security check at Kolkata airport. Neither the detainees nor the custom officials made any satisfactory reply to it. Rather custom officials are trying to convince us that till the custom checking at Srimantapur border they did not have the consignment and argued that afterwards between zero lines somebody had handed it over to them, as the distance between checking point to actual border is infested with some houses," said a senior BSF official not wanted to be quoted. At a point of time, they stated they had cross the border from Bangladesh with 4.2 kg gold bar concelling into their rectum by packing them in condoms, which was not detected in normal search at border as well as in Agartala airport. After reaching Kolkata they handed over the bars to some individuals and got 2,03,100 US Dollars, the officials argued. It was also revealed from the records that they were frequently visiting Malaysia, Singapore and many other countries for gold business, the officials said adding that all of them had been carrying a backpack each with them and the amount was conceded in a cavity made in each back-pack. The detainees were with customs for past two days, as police refused to accept their custody for some technical reasons though in the first night BSF use the police lock up for them. After a long interrogation by BSF intelligent last evening they were handed to customs for further investigation. However, top police officials have also interrogated them in past two days but yet to reach any conclusion. The official records revealed the detainees were identified as Abul Kalam Azad (19), Parimal Saha (27), Mohammad Ali (37) and Sajibur Rahman (46), all have been the residents of Burichang, Comilla in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi nationals have been using Tripura as their corridor for smuggling and anti-national activities despite having more 87 per cent of 856 kilometres of Indo-Bangla border under wire fenced and strong surveillance of BSF. UNI BB AKM 1027 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-888935.Xml
A joint team of Indian and Mayanmarese government officials yesterday visited the Kamalasagar border 'haat' in Sepahijala district of West Tripura to offer the delegation of Myanmar a direct experience of conducting border 'haats' along Myanmar's border with the Indian state of Manipur and Nagaland. Officials said that the delegation led by Mr Min Min, director general of Myanmar's commerce ministry made an extensive visit to the border haat and interacted with the officials and Indian traders. UNI BB AKM 1036 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-888940.Xml
Police have recovered two laptops, 22 mobile phones and LCDs.

The investigation is underway.

On Wednesday, the crime branch team of UP police had busted a similar racket in the Sahibabad area where five people were arrested from a flat in the Vrindavan Green Apartments of Rajendra Nagar.

A laptop, an LCD TV, a Wi-Fi modem, two calculators, 15 mobile phones, three chargers, eight note books and Rs 12,000 in cash was seized from the place. (ANI)
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday welcomed the idea of having a conclave on the Kashmir issue to look for a political solution to current dire situation in the valley. Asserting that Kashmir is not an issue concerning one party, Abdullah said it will be good if the proposed conclave can emerge with a probable solution to resolve the incumbent crisis in the valley. "Leaders are meeting to discuss the way forward as far as the Kashmir situation is concerned. I think we all should be happy if they come out with some solution that they can put before the Prime Minister on which he can act, because Kashmir is not only a problem for one party, it is the problem for all of us. And, I think to solve this,we need the good wishes of all parties to work towards the political settlement of this problem," said Abdullah. Echoing similar sentiments, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said leaders like former prime minister Manmohan Singh who in the past had established peace in the valley will definitely carve out a solution to combat the Kashmir crisis. Dikshit said, "I welcome this step, when the government is not able to understand how to churn out an effective solution to combat the Kashmir crisis, it is a very good initiative, it involves senior people to resolve the issue. Dr. Manmohan Singh is a very sorted person and under his governance the situation in Kashmir was pacified. Narendra Modi will never be able to understand that under what positive circumstances did the Manmohan Singh government bring back peace in the valley." A series of meetings between opposition leaders to plan a conclave on Kashmir, as also to look for a political solution, has picked up pace in Delhi. On Wednesday, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the second time in recent days to discuss the proposed conclave. A date for the conclave is likely to be decided after a meeting between Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Leaders from all parties, including the ruling BJP, are expected to be invited for the conclave, which is likely to be addressed by experts, activists and writers. There have been spiraling protests in the valley with students, including girls, seen pelting stones on security personnel in these incidents. There was massive violence during the April 9 by poll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents. Kashmir has been on the boil since the death of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in an encounter in July last year. More than 90 people lost their lives, while scores of security personnel and civilians were injured in protests that followed Wani's killing. (ANI)
The Prime Minister also announced a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for those injured in the collapse.

At least 25 people were killed and 28 sustained injuries after a wedding hall collapsed in Bharatpur, Rajasthan last night.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is also likely to visit the incident spot.

District Magistrate N.K. Gupta said that a thunderstorm and rainfall in the district caused the wedding house to collapse.

"To protect themselves from the rain, some guests tried to stand under a wall, which subsequently collapsed, killing 22 and injuring over 28 people, out of which two have been critically injured. They have been hospitalised and are being attended to by a team of doctors," he said.

The incident took place at the Annapurna Marriage Home located on Sewar Road.(ANI)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday staged a protest outside the office of the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) row. Delhi Labour Minister and AAP leader Gopal Rai said they would put forward their three demands in front of the EC. He said, "If the EC claims that its machines cannot be tampered with, then, we demand them to give us their machines and we will show them by hacking it." "We demand that the questions that have been raised regarding EVMs are resolved. Questions were raised in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab etc, so we want to appeal to the ECI that they give us their machine and we will show them by hacking it. Secondly, we want that the Supreme Court's 2013 order of conducting elections by VVPAT should be implemented, and third, voting machine and the slips should be tallied," Rai told ANI. One of the protesters said, "We want the ECI to wake up and amend the machine. The BJP had been winning by taking all votes into its basket. And, our demand is that all the elections that have taken place should be recalled again." The protesters were seen chanting slogans, "EVM mei gadbadi karke vote chori band karo. EVM mei gandbad karke Loktantra ki hatya band karo." Coming down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the EVM tampering row, the AAP on Tuesday staged a "live demonstration" of alleged EVM manipulation in the Delhi Assembly. During the special day-long session of the Delhi Assembly, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj got a machine similar to the EVMs and gave a demo about the same. He said the entire game was about a secret code, which once entered into the machine transfers all the votes to that one party which is supposed to win. Bharadwaj undertook a small voting procedure by giving two votes each to every party (AAP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), BJP, Indian National Congress (INC) and Samajwadi Party (SP)). He then pressed the secret code and then gave another eight votes, all to AAP. As per the votes, the maximum votes should have gone to the AAP, but the results said a different story. Bharadwaj further said that the secret code was easy to enter as the ballot unit was covered by a cardboard box and therefore, only the voter can see inside it. Bharadwaj also condemned the enquiry report of the Election Commission, saying that it had no basis. (ANI)
CPI(M) leader Gautam Mitra, who was badly beaten by some alleged miscreants allegiance to the ruling Trinamool Congress near his home on Tuesday, succumbed to his wounds at SSKM hospital last night, official sources today said. However, a TMC leader denied any involvement of the ruling party into the death of CPI(M) leader. In his late 40s Gautam Mitra, a former member of CPI(M) state secretariat, was brutally manhandled whilst on the morning stroll near his home at Khoyrullachak in West Medinipur on Tuesday, alleged CPI(M) leader Tapas Sinha. He said, Mitra was left unconscious after being beaten by rod and bamboos by the TMC goons. Local people took the injured leader to a hospital from where he was shifted to SSKM hospital after his condition deteriorated on Tuesday night. It was alleged that the deceased had helped one of the TMC factions to lodge a diary into the local police station on Monday. TMC leader Biswajit Karmakar and his goons were allegedly involved in the crime, the CPI(M) alleged. Mr Mitra breathed his last on Wednesday night at the SSKM hospital. Local TMC leader Ajit Maity denied any involvement of his partymen in the crime. UNI XC-PC AKM 1157 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-889021.Xml
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly opposed a bid by main opposition parties to organize a Kashmir conclave in which they are also planning a dialogue with Kashmiri separatists. When asked for his comments on the proposed conclave, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy laughed and said that "these leaders will be defamed". He said he was surprised that former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was getting into this. "I will be surprised if former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh involves himself in the so called Kashmir Conclave as I can understand the helplessness of other leaders," Swamy told ANI on Thursday. He questioned as to what they would do after talking with the separatists "because we can't accept anything which is out of the purview of the Constitution". BJP's Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Naushera in Jammu and Kashmir Ravinder Raina outrightly rejected the idea of a dialogue with Kashmir separatists. He asked, "What is the use of talking with those persons who have gun in one hand and Pakistani flag in the other hand?" Raina said the utmost task is to tame terrorism and separatism in Jammu and Kashmir. "We have to first maintain law and order in Jammu and Kashmir. We have to tackle terrorism and separatism with an iron fist. We have to clear the fear in the mind of people. We can talk to people of Jammu and Kashmir as they are our own," said Raina. Hectic parleys are going on in the national capital to convene an all-party meeting on Kashmir. Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav has met Manmohan Singh in twice in last three days to discuss the proposed conclave. Manmohan Singh heads Congress' policy planning group on Kashmir. BJP's Yashwant Sinha has also met Yadav for the third time to chalk out plans for the Kashmir conclave. Sharad Yadav has also met Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India (CPI) leasr D Raja to discuss the modalities of the Kashmir conclave. National Conference Patron Farooq Abdullah has also met Raja, Sitaram Yechury on the issue. (ANI)
The dead included eight women and four children, officials said.

Two of the 30 who were injured in the Wednesday night incident in Sewar area were in critical condition in a Jaipur hospital, Bharatpur District Collector Narendra Kumar Gupta told IANS over telephone.

While 22 people died instantly when the wall near which they had taken shelter collapsed due to a thunderstorm, two others died later in the night, police and district officials said.

Witnesses told IANS that the wall crashed due to the powerful storm that lashed parts of Rajasthan on Wednesday night.

The victims were having dinner when the tragedy took place.

"I was at the event. Some people gathered around the wall for protection from the wind," said a man who saw it happen. "Suddenly, the wall came down, trapping a lot of people."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund to the next of kin of those killed in the incident.

The announcement said Rs 50,000 would be given to the seriously injured.

"The incident in Bharatpur has pained me beyond words. My thoughts are with the family of the deceased," Modi tweeted. "I hope the injured recover soon."

--IANS as/ruwa/mr

( 239 Words)

2017-05-11-12:54:11 (IANS)
The first year of elementary school markedly boosts a child's attentiveness, according to a new research. The study from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Max Planck Institute in Germany, showed that children who transition earlier to a formal school environment learn to be more focused and less impulsive than their peers at play-based preschools. Co-author Silvia Bunge said that these results demonstrate for the first time how environmental context shapes the development of brain mechanisms in 5-year-olds transitioning into school. Researchers hypothesized that a controlled educational setting in which young children must learn to sit still, follow directions and avoid distractions would boost certain cognitive skills, such as staying on task. The experiment, conducted in Germany where preschool is referred to as "kindergarten," proved their theory. "Our results indicate that the structured learning environment of school has a positive effect on the development of behavioral control," said lead author Garvin Brod. For the study, researchers used computerized tests and brain imaging to track the cognitive performance of 62 children aged 5. In comparing the results of tests conducted at the beginning and end of a school and preschool year, the study found that the children who had gone to school showed greater improvement than their preschool peers at maintaining focus and following rules. Moreover, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of their brains during an attention control task showed the schoolgoers to have a more active right parietal cortex, which supports attentiveness, among other cognitive skills. While the findings reveal new information in the ongoing debate over the developmentally appropriate age to start school, the researchers are not necessarily advocating for early school start ages. "Those results should not be taken to mean that the elementary school setting is necessarily better for young children's development than play-based early schooling," Bunge said, citing research that shows children do well in hands-on, interactive learning environments. Moreover, there is enormous developmental variation across children of the same age, she said. The findings are published online in the journal Psychological Science. (ANI)
A woman was killed and her husband was injured in the a ceasefire violation. Pakistani troops reportedly fired 120 mm mortars early this morning in the area.

According to reports, a shell hit a village in the Laam belt of the sector.

The woman has been identified as Akhtar Bi (35) and her husband as Mohmmad Hanief (40).

In April, Pakistan has committed six ceasefire violations.

However, in the wake of the brutal Krishna Ghati incident where Indian soldiers were mutilated by the Pakistan Army, the Indian Army has been strengthening its counter-infiltration grid along the Line of Control to hunt for terrorists.

Last week, the Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked Rocket and Mortar firing on two forward posts on the line of control in Krishna Ghati Sector.

A BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts.

In an un-soldierly act by the Pakistan Army the bodies of two Indian soldiers in the patrol were mutilated. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took over yesterday, and invited him to visit India. Mr Modi tweeted: ''Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in of Korea. Wished him every success & invited him to visit India soon." "Together we succeed,'' his message said.UNI SD SW AE 1451 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-889247.Xml
At least seven people were killed in separate road mishaps in the districts of Begusarai, Rohtas, Bhagalpur and Patna districts during the last 12 hours. While two people each were killed in Begusarai, Rohtas and Bhagalpur districts, one person lost his life in a road accident in Patna district. A Begusarai report said two youths were killed and as many injured when their motorcycle was hit by a speeding truck near Narayanpur village under Khodabandpur police station area in the district late last night. The duo died on the spot and were identified as Ganesh Thakur (32) and Rampravesh Mahto (30). While one of the injured had been rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital, the other one was undergoing treatment at Begusarai Sadar Hospital. The truck driver made good his escape leaving behind his vehicle on the spot. MORE UNI DH AD1431 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-889241.Xml
In broad daylight, a criminal looted Rs 3.31 lakh from Bank of Baroda by posing as a customer near Madhubani roundabout under Pupri police station area in the district today. Police said here that the outlaw entered the bank by introducing himself as a customer and set aflame a bag packed with firecrackers later. The bank employees and customers ran helter-skelter in panic after the firecrackers exploded. The outlaw taking advantage of the melees looted Rs 3.31 lakh from the bank's cash counter and made good his escape unchallenged. A massive manhunt is on to nab the criminal.UNI XC DH AD1601 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-889417.Xml
The decision was taken at a meeting between the Union Health minister and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resolve pending issues of the Pandit Ragunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital, Baripada, Odisha. The problems being faced by some government medical colleges regarding inspection by the MCI were also raised.

Also present at today's meeting were the Principal Secretary (Health), Government of Odisha along with senior officers of the Health Ministry, including Health Secretary C K Mishra.

The Principal Secretary (Health), Odisha informed that the state government has taken necessary action for compliance, an official statement here said. UNI SD SW ADG 1738

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-889567.Xml
Yogi was then a Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur constitguency.

Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar, who was summoned by the High Court, told it that earlier this month the state's home department had refused to grant permission for the Chief Minister's trial.

The top bureaucrat was summoned by the court to explain why the five people, including Adityanath, were not being prosecuted in a case of riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The court had also asked Bhatnagar to come armed with all relevant documents with regard to the matter.

Explaining the stand of the state government, the Chief Secretary apprised the court that a forensic test of the CD of Yogi Adityanath's alleged hate speech of January 27, 2007, showed it was tampered with.

The case was filed in 2008 by local journalist Pervez Parwaz and social activist Asad Hayat, who is also witness to Yogi's speech.

The probe into the allegations was completed in 2015 but despite a government headed by the Samajwadi Party, no sanction was granted for Yogi's prosecution and the matter remained in limbo.

After the statement by the Chief Secretary, the petitioners said that they will move court again to challenge the government stand.

They also scoffed at the development by saying that it was ridiculous that the man in-charge of the home department, Yogi Adityanath, has given himself a clean chit.

--IANS md/rn/vt

( 271 Words)

2017-05-11-19:14:10 (IANS)
The meeting will begin at Constitution Club Annexe at 1000 hrs.

The poll panel has invited all seven national parties and 48 recognised state political parties and has also sent them status Paper on EVM/VVPAT.

The all-party meeting has been called in the wake of complaints by several political parties regarding alleged "manipulation" of EVMs, with the issue having acquired added interest following so called demonstration of '' EVM tampering'' held on the floor of the Delhi Assembly by the Kejriwal government on May 9.

The Commission has asked all the political parties to depute three senior representatives (one of whom may be a technical representative, if desired on behalf of their party for participation in the all-party meeting.

The Election Commission yesterday released the agenda for the meeting which includes issues like EVM and VVPAT, proposal of making bribery in elections a cognisable offence, disqualification on framing of charges for the offence of bribery in Elections and suggestions on VVPAT recount rules.

On the issue of bribing of voters, the poll panel has proposed that the Law to deal with these malpractices should be made more stringent.

The Commission in the meeting will also place proposals for enhancing transparency of funding of political parties. UNI NY SHK 1905

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0099-889910.Xml
Assam government decision to disband the stateMadrasa Board has drawn flak from Muslim minority organisations as they termedthe move as "anti-Muslim". Minority party, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has termed thedecision as anti-Muslim and said that it will launch a state-wide agitation ifthe government goes ahead with the plan. "This move is RSS sponsored. And again shows the anti-Muslimattitude of the government and how a particular community is targeted fornarrow political gains," Aminul Islam of AIUDF said. Assam Education Minister said in the assembly "To mainstream Madrasaeducation, we're disbanding Madrasa Education Directorate & making it partof Secondary Education Directorate." "The Madrasa Board too will be dissolved and academic part will behanded over to Board of Secondary Education. Restructuring to reform," headded.He had also told the state assembly that the government wantedto "mainstream" madrasas and Sanskrit tols and introduce modern learninglike computers in these institutions.UNI ABI KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-889944.Xml
Police said here that two motorcycle borne criminals snatched the money bag from the cashier of hotel Safuddin on gun point and made good their escape unchallenged. The cashier was relieved of the cash when he was going to hand it over to the owner of hotel Naushad after withdrawing the amount from a bank.

A massive manhunt is on to nab criminals, police added. UNI XC DH KK

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-889949.Xml
Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said the Government was taking effective measures to eliminate the role of middlemen in the conduct of Haj. Mr Naqvi said providing lodging to Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia had involved many malpractices by middlemen, as they acted in connivance with each other in hiring buildings for visitors, but the government was now committed to break their hold. Addressing the 32nd Haj Conference here, the Minority Affairs Minister said no efforts were being spared to bring transparency in the Haj process. A number of participants in the conference expressed their strong objection to the Air India raising the air fare without consulting the Haj Committee this year. They also said the government had this year reduced the Haj subsidy from Rs 400 crore to Rs 200 Crore while the Supreme Court had directed the phase out of subsidy 2022. On this Mr Naqvi said that a high-level committee was considering the issue of subsidy and any final decision in this regard would be taken on its report. The Minister also said that the Government was also considering to resume the shipping route for transporting Haj pilgrims and had discussed the matter the Minister Nitin Gadkari and the Saudi Ambassador. Mr Naqvi on this occasion thanked the Saudi government for raising the Haj quota for Indian pilgrims. This year India will be sending 1.70 lakh hajis, out of which 1.30 lakh will go through the Central Haj Committee and and the remaining through private tour operators.UNI NAZ SHK 2000 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-890070.Xml
"In a step towards ensuring good governance and responsive administration, the government appointed Mufti Tassaduq Hussain as the coordinator of Chief Minister's Grievance Cell," an official statement said.

"Mufti Tassaduq shall not draw any salary or perks and his job would purely be on honorary basis," it added.

As per the order, Mufti Tassaduq, besides heading the Grievance Cell would also oversee the outcome and resolution of specific grievances registered with the cell.

Tassaduq is ruling PDP's candidate for the Anantnag Parliamentary by-poll which was cancelled by the Election Commission because of the alarming law and order situation in south Kashmir. Voting for the by-poll was otherwise scheduled on May 25.

--IANS sq/ahm/vm

( 152 Words)

2017-05-11-20:48:09 (IANS)
Social worker Baljeet Nayak of Kalayat area was injured when he was allegedly attacked by an ASI of Kalayat police station last night. Baljeet Nayak, accompanied by his security personnel ASI Shamsher Singh, had gone to the police station along with a woman who wanted to lodge a complaint of theft. Injured Nayak was taken to Kalayat hospital and later admitted in civil hospital in Kaithal. Meanwhile, after taking statements of victim Baljeet, the woman and ASI Shamsher Singh, police has started investigation in this case. The social worker has informed the senior police officials about the incident. Baljeet Nayak who had remained associated with one or the other controversy during the past and had apprehended danger to his life and had been provided police security said that he had gone to Kalayat police station at about 2000 hrs along with a woman, Ashu, and his gunman ASI Shamsher Singh, as the woman wanted to lodge a complaint of theft in her shop. As he was coming out of police station premises he came across ASI Dilbagh who taunted Baljeet and entered in to an argument with him and then allegedly hit and injured him. Some other policemen also arrived there and thrashed him, he added. Baljeet said that Dilbagh had also said that he (Baljeet) had become a big headache for the police and they will teach him a lesson today. However his gunman intervened, rescued him and took him to hospital in a vehicle. Baljeet also said that ASI Dilbagh was brewing a grudge against him as he had exposed some of his relatives who were involved in some case. According to information Gunman of Baljeet has stated that he accompanied Baljeet to police station last night while returning back and following him, he found Baljeet in heated arguments with some people but he could not recognise any one as there was complete darkness on the spot. When he noticed that Baljeet was bleeding he took him to hospital. When contacted SP Sumer Partap Singh this evening said that the Kalayat police personnel have denied that they assaulted Baljeet. He said that he had asked DSP Satish Gautam to inquire and submit report in this regard at the earliest.UNI XC DB JS SHK 2010 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0141-890138.Xml
The party, in a post on its twitter handle, said that courage was needed to start dialogue.

''It takes courage to start a conversation. Only conversations can bring peace and stability to J&K,'' the party tweeted amidst mounting pressure on the Centre and the PDP-BJP state government to bring early peace in the valley.

In fact the Congress along with other secular Opposition parties was planning for a national convention on Kashmir.UNI NAZ SHK 2117

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-890207.Xml
Election Commission has launched National Contact Centre with a toll-free Number 1800111950 on which any citizen from any part of the country can call on the toll-free number in English or Hindi with any query or complaint at any time of the day. Callers can enquire on subjects such as elections, voting dates, EPIC, electoral roll, online registration etc and lodge a complaint by simply dialing in to the toll free number. Not only this, executives also make outbound calls for educating the electors and spreading voter awareness. National Contact Centre was launched by Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, the Election Commission said in a statement today. The National Contact Centre is operated on a National Grievance Redressal System Software. This software is a single window platform to manage complaints and feedback received through calls, emails, SMS and website access in an integrated and time-bound manner. Callers may connect with the executives to register a complaint and know about its status of receipt and disposal as well as to give suggestions and feedback at every step of the way. The Contact Centre is Commission's step forward towards bringing about electoral reforms where citizens and officials are empowered to monitor and report any anomaly or violation of Election Commission of India (ECI) instructions in the field before, during or post elections. Each state and UT will also soon setup and operationalise dedicated State Contact Centre (SCC) and District Contact Centre (DCC) to ensure seamless flow of information across the contact centers for handling issues/ query from citizens. National Contact Centre will build IT protocols to ensure that any call landing at NCC are properly redirected to the respective State Contact Centre. It is expected that on operationalisation of Integrated Contact Centre, ECI will be able to provide multilingual support to all the citizens across the nation in a decentralised and integrated manner. More UNI NY SHK 2108 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0099-890165.Xml
Nagaraj alias Bomb Naga and his two sons were arrested from Arcot area in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu.

Nagaraj was absconding since April 14 when a large sum of demonetised currency was recovered from his possession.

A police team, led by ACP Ravikumar tracked him and nabbed him nearly after a month of chase. (ANI)
The morning after United States President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey, the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was the one event that had everybody's attention pouring in. When Lavrov arrived in Washington on Wednesday after a gap of four years, he was absolutely "shocked" to hear that Russia had been accused of meddling in US internal affairs. He was also clueless about FBI director James Comey's abrupt dismissal the night before, in the midst of a multi-pronged investigation into Russian interference. "Was he fired? You're kidding! You're kidding!" the Russian foreign minister exclaimed when a journalist asked him whether Comey's downfall might throw a shadow over the Russian's visit, The Guardian reports. The White House closed off press access to the Oval Office meeting with Lavrov, and did not even allow photographers in. Eventually, it was left to the Russian state press to put out pictures of Trump and Lavrov meeting and shaking hands. They were joined by Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington. Kislyak is the same person who a string of Trump aides were said to have had contact with and eventually got themselves into trouble - most importantly Flynn, who no longer has a job in the White House because of them. As far as the day's discussions are concerned, the White House and the State Department put out terse statements, and gave no briefing, leaving it once again to the Russians to frame the presentation. At a press conference in the Russian embassy, Lavrov praised Trump and portrayed the Kremlin and the Trump administration as working together to clear up the mess left behind, a reference in part to the continuing U.S. sanctions on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine and its role in the U.S. presidential elections. "We discussed our bilateral relations which are not very encouraging. The reason is well known. Unfortunately the previous administration bent over backwards to undermine the solid foundation of those relations," Lavrov said, The Guardian reports. "President Trump clearly states his interest to build businesslike pragmatic relations with Russia and to settle outstanding issues. "Regarding this noise about our contacts, that fake information by which we are allegedly in control of the domestic policy of the US - yes, it [has become] the normal background for our relations," he said. "It must be humiliating for the American people to realise that the Russian federation is controlling the situation in America. How is it possible for such a great power and such a great country?" he added. And the one statement that made the most impact was when he said the politicians were "damaging the political system of the U.S." "I believe that it is politicians who are damaging the political system of the US trying to pretend that someone is trying to controlling America from the outside," Lavrov said. (ANI)
A day after he was fired by United States President Donald Trump over not being "able to effectively lead the bureau," former FBI director James Comey sent out a letter to his friends and other agents. Comey, in the letter, said that he would be fine and would not spend time thinking about the decision or the way it was executed, CNN reports. The letter, obtained by the CNN, is as follows: "To all I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply. I have said to you before that, in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence. What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality of its people, who together make it that rock for America. It is very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing. My hope is that you will continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. If you do that, you too will be sad when you leave, and the American people will be safer. Working with you has been one of the great joys of my life. Thank you for that gift. Jim Comey" Earlier, in a bid to sweep away the man who is responsible for an investigation into whether members of Donald Trump's campaign team colluded with Russia in its interference in last year's elections, the U.S. President fired Comey. In a signed letter, Trump informed Comey that he was "hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately," explaining that he reached the conclusion that Comey was "not able to effectively lead the bureau," CNN reported. "It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," the letter added. "I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours." (ANI)
United States Donald Trump and his team could add to Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects when they arrive in Jerusalem in less than two weeks, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said. Welby said, "We know from history in this region that determined leadership by the president of the United States, together with patient working by lots of other people in the background, often unknown, can tip things very, very decisively," The Guardian reports. "People have lots of views about President Trump but when he comes here my prayer for him is that he will be filled with determination and courage and be given gifts of wisdom that will make a difference," he added, while speaking on the penultimate day of his 12-day tour of the region. "His office has the capacity to make a difference. It's one of the very few offices in the world outside this region that does. And so we pray for him to be able to do that." Welby discussed Trump's imminent visit with both Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in separate meetings this week. Trump is expected in Jerusalem on May 22 as part of his first foreign tour since his inauguration. (ANI)
Speaking on a joint press conference with Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma in Ankara, Erdogan said, "A terrorist group cannot be defeated with another one," Xinhua citing private broadcaster NTV as saying.

"Everything that happens in Syria and Iraq is a matter of national security for Turkey," he stated.

The president said he would express his concerns in this regard at the meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump on May 16, adding the same issue would also be brought up at the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on May 25.

--IANS sku/

( 141 Words)

2017-05-11-07:30:10 (IANS)
According to the Dawn, the Karachi Shipyard will buy the four Turkish corvettes made by Ankara under its Milgem warship programme.

The final deal, however, is expected to be signed on June 30. So far, financial details have been revealed about the MoU.

Pakistan, on the other hand, will supply 52 Super Mushshak training planes manufactured at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra, to Turkey. These aircraft will replace the T-41 and SF-260 planes currently in use by the Turkish Air Force.

Two warships built under the Milgem project -- TCG Heybeliada and TCG Buyukada -- were delivered to the Turkish Navy in 2011 and 2013. Construction is going on for TCG Burgazada and TCG Kinaliada, which are expected to start duty in 2018 and 2020, respectively. (ANI with inputs)
The US Senate Intelligence Committee has issued a subpoena to force former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to turn over documents related to the panels probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the media reported. The subpoena issued on Wednesday night is the first the committee has announced in the course of its Russia investigation, The Washington Post reported. Committee chairman Republican Richard Burr had previously warned he would issue subpoenas for those who did not cooperate with the investigation. "Everything has been voluntary up to this point, and we've interviewed a lot of people, and I want to continue to do it in a voluntary fashion," Burr said earlier on Wednesday. "But if in fact the production of things that we need are not provided, then we have a host of tools," Burr added, indicating that a subpoena was one of them. Flynn, who was forced to resign in February, has come under the committee's scrutiny over communications he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak while a representative of then President-elect Donald Trump's transition team. Undisclosed payments that Flynn received from Russian-backed entities have also inspired questions from lawmakers looking into allegations of coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. In announcing the subpoena, the Senate Intelligence Committee said that Flynn "declined, through counsel, to cooperate with the Committee's request", reports The Washington Post. The announcement comes a day after the Trump administration fired James B. Comey from his post as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), citing his handling of a probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails as the reason for his termination. The Flynn subpoena also comes one day before the committee is scheduled to hold an annual hearing with the heads of the various government intelligence agencies to discuss worldwide threats. The FBI's acting director, Andrew McCabe, would attend the briefing. --IANS ksk/bg ( 330 Words) 2017-05-11-12:00:10 (IANS)
The US Senate has voted to uphold a climate change regulation implemented by former President Barack Obama's administration to control the release of methane from oil and gas wells on public land, the media reported. Senators on Wednesday voted 51 to 49 to block consideration of a resolution to repeal the 2016 Interior Department rule to curb emissions of methane, a powerful planet-warming greenhouse gas, The New York Times reported. Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine who have expressed concern about climate change and backed legislation to tackle the issue, broke with their party to join the Democrats and defeat the resolution. The vote was also the first to unwind regulations approved late in the Obama administration. "People of America and people of the world can breathe a sigh of relief," said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. "We were surprised and thrilled to win on this," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of the League of Conservation Voters, which, along with other environmental groups, has lobbied the Republicans to vote against the repeal of the methane rule. "This is clearly a huge win for our health and our climate," The New York Times quoted Sittenfeld as saying. The methane rule was one of a suite of environmental regulations put in place by Obama as he sought to use his executive authority to tackle climate change across the US. While methane vented from oil and gas wells accounts for only a small portion of the nation's greenhouse gas pollution, environmental advocates urged Obama to tackle the emissions, because methane is over 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the earth's atmosphere. --IANS ksk/bg ( 297 Words) 2017-05-11-12:24:11 (IANS)
The CIA announced the creation of the Korean Mission Center with special emphasis on specific threats from the Korean Peninsula .

This proactive approach by United States comes amid reignited fears that North Korea might conduct sixth nuclear test.

The new unit will allow the CIA to harness the full resources, capabilities and authorities of the Agency to deal with North Korea, CNN quoted the agency, as saying in a statement.

The new unit will work closely with the US intelligence community and the entire US national security community to monitor the North Korean threat.

All the veteran and experienced selected for North Korean Mission Center will bring their expertise to deal against the Pyongyang's threats. A veteran CIA operations officer has been selected to act as head of the center and appointed Assistant Director for Korea.

Former CIA senior analyst John Nixon suggested that the 24x7 center should consider issuing "sitreps"--situation reports for the intelligence community and the Trump administration possibly twice daily, CNN reports.

This center will be of much help to the Trump administration as his foreign policy priorities will be acknowledged.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier on Friday condemned the ballistic missile launched by North Korea, saying that it has disrespected the wishes of China.

"North Korea disrespected the wishes of China & its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!" Trump tweeted.

Trump has been pressuring China to deal with North Korea more aggressively, though he described Chinese President Xi Jinping as "a fantastic person."(ANI)
During their conversation, both leaders agreed to pursue the goal of denuclearisation of Korean peninsula .

Congratulating Moon on his election as South Korean president, President Xi said that China and South Korea are close neighbours as well as important players in the region.

"We want to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean peninsula together with other countries including South Korea," The Global Times quoted Xi as saying.

Both sides should respect each other's major concerns and legitimate interests and try best to seek common ground and handle disputes properly, Xi said.

On his part, Jae-in expressed his desire to make joint efforts with China to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula by resuming the six-party talks.

He said "South Korea wants to pursue the goal to denuclearize the Korean peninsula together with China, including resuming the six-party talks as soon as possible and other methods".

Tensions in Korean Peninsula escalated in recent months after Pyongyang conducted a number of nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches.(ANI)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the announcement following his talks with the U.S. President yesterday, reports TASS news agency.

Lavrov also noted that he and the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would consider issues to be discussed by the two countries' leaders at their meeting scheduled for July.

"The presidents have held a telephone conversation recently, they confirmed their intention to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in July," said Lavrov said following his meetings with both Tillerson and Trump.

Detailing his talks with the U.S. officials Lvvrov said, "Today, Rex and I discussed the ways to advance the agenda, which includes the Syrian issue, so that we could come up with some tangible decisions before the presidents meet."

The Kremlin-Washington relations significantly deteriorated during the last U.S. regime as former president Barack Obama passed many anti-Russia sanctions.

Meanwhile, the new administration has been beleaguered over its Russia connection. Also, Trump has expressed desire to improve ties with Russia.

In their May 2, telephone conversation, Putin and Trump had discussed a number of pressing issues related to bilateral cooperation, including the prospects for coordinating steps in the fight against terrorism in Syria and solving the North Korea issue. (ANI)
Prime Minister Modi was accompanied by his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe to the temple.

Seema Malaka or the Gangaramaya Temple is a Buddhist temple constructed in the middle of the Beira Lake and the design was inspired by the ancient monasteries in forests of Anuradhapura and Ritigala.

Following the temple visit, the Indian Prime Minister will attend a private dinner with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at 'Temple Trees', the latter's official residence.

On the second day of his visit, Prime Minister Modi will deliver a celebratory address at the Bandarnaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BIMCH) on the occasion of International Vesak Day.

The Prime Minister will then inaugurate the 15-bed Dickoya Hospital.

He will also address the Indian origin Tamil community at Norwood Grounds.

He will then meet representatives of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (TBC). Thereafter, the Prime Minister will also be holding a meeting with representatives of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TBC).

The Prime Minister will then arrive at the President's Palace for a lunch hosted by the Sri Lankan President.

Prime Minister Modi will also visit Sri Dalada Maligawa Temple (The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic), where he will be sign the visitor's book and interact with Mahanayaks.

Just before returning to India, the Prime Minister will be meeting Sri Lankan Leader of Opposition at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

The Prime Minister will also be visiting the hilly regions of Sri Lanka that host tea plantations.

India will be giving an aid of $2.6 billion for the hospital. Sri Lanka's hilly regions home Indian Tamil people who work in tea plantains. (ANI)
In early August 2016, blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky filmed a video of himself catching Pokemon in Yekaterinburg's Church on Blood built on the site, where the last Emperor of Russia Nicholas II and his family were murdered in 1918, reports TASS.

The video stirred up a controversy among believers while a criminal case was initiated against him in accordance with the Russian Criminal Code's articles citing incitement to hatred and enmity, denigrating human dignity, as well as violating the right to freedom of conscience and religion.

The Yekaterinburg court said in its ruling, ""In accordance with the expert evaluation, the court found blogger Sokolovsky guilty of inciting hatred, violating religious feelings and illegal possession of special technical means - a pen with a video camera."

According to the court, the blogger's guilt is proved by scandalous videos and evidence of witnesses. During the court hearings, Sokolovsky did not deny that he had been the author of these videos.

The judge said the blogger filmed scandalous videos to "earn money and attain fame."

The state prosecutor had earlier requested a 3.5 year prison sentence for Sokolovsky.(ANI)
Prime Minsiter Modi was recieved by his counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Colombo airport.

During his two-day visit to Colombo, the Prime Minister will visit Seema Malaka Temple (Gangaramaya Temple).

Thereafter, he will attend a private dinner with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at 'Temple Trees', the latter's official residence.

On May 12, Prime Minister Modi will deliver a celebratory address at the Bandarnaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BIMCH) on the occasion of International Vesak Day.

The Prime Minister will then inaugurate the 15-bed Dickoya Hospital.

Prime Minister Modi will also be addressing the Indian origin Tamil community at Norwood Grounds.

He will then meet representatives of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (TBC). Thereafter, the Prime Minister will also be holding a meeting with representatives of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TBC).

The Prime Minister will then arrive at the President's Palace for a lunch hosted by the Sri Lankan President.

Prime Minister Modi will also visit Sri Dalada Maligawa Temple (The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic), where he will sign the visitor's book and interact with Mahanayaks.

Just before returning to India, the Prime Minister will be meeting Sri Lankan Leader of Opposition at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

The Prime Minister will also be visiting the hilly regions of Sri Lanka that host tea plantations.

India will be giving an aid of $2.6 billion for the hospital. Sri Lanka's hilly regions home Indian Tamil people who work in tea plantains. (ANI)
The activists, four Russians and one Italian national, said more than two million people had signed the petition to investigate alleged torture and detentions of gay people in the Russian region of Chechnya, BBC reported.

They also carried huge empty boxes, symbolising online signatures they had collected in protest against the alleged crackdown, said the report.

The petition was signed "by more than two million people around the world, more than the entire population of the Chechen republic", the Russian LGBT Network said.

It said the activists were demanding "an unbiased investigation of illegal detentions of hundreds of people in Chechnya because of their homosexuality".

Police said the activists were held because their action was unauthorised.

Chechen officials deny that gay people even exist in the republic.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin backed an inquiry into the reported crackdown on gay people in Chechnya, in the North Caucasus.

Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the Russian authorities to help protect gay rights.

--IANS soni/dg

( 200 Words)

2017-05-11-19:12:09 (IANS)
Mr Modi was received by his Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe when his plane landed at the airport. This is his second visit to the country.

The PM will join a wide range of programmes including the International Vesak Day celebrations in Sri Lanka.

''It is my honour to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,'' he said in a tweet prior to his departure.

Mr Modi's visit will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with President Sirisena, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries.

Mr Modi will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where he will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and interact with the Indian-origin Tamil community.UNI SD SHK 1900

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-889780.Xml
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile system, aimed at intercepting attacks from North Korea, was made operational in South Korea last week.

But Beijing said the system will spy on its territory and strongly criticised its deployment and the relations between the two countries have deteriorated over the issue, BBC reported.

A South Korean presidential spokesman said the Chinese leader -- who initiated the phone call on Thursday -- "explained the reasons for Beijing's strong and repeated opposition" to the deployment, Yonhap news agency reported.

Moon also raised the issue of apparent economic retaliation against South Korean firms in China, he said.

Moon said he will send a delegation to Beijing to discuss both North Korea and THAAD.

The THAAD deployment was agreed by Moon's predecessor, conservative leader Park Guen-hye. She is currently in prison awaiting trial on corruption charges.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the two sides expressed willingness "to bring (relations) back to a healthy and stable development track".

Both Moon and Xi agreed that denuclearising North Korea was a "common goal".

Moon advocated dialogue with the North as well as sanctions, adopting a more conciliatory stance than his predecessor.

--IANS soni/dg

( 236 Words)

2017-05-11-20:34:09 (IANS)
This is the second visit to the country for Mr Modi, who was warmly received at the airport by his Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Mr Modi, who is the chief guest at the celebrations, visited the Gangaramaya temple and famous Beira Lake, which had lamps lit up at the temple on the eve of Vesaka Day. The beautifully bedecked temple on the occasion presented an eye-catching sight.

The PM will join a wide range of programmes in Sri Lanka. ''It is my honour to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,'' he said in a tweet prior to his departure.

Mr Modi's visit will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with President Sirisena, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries.

Mr Modi will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where he will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and interact with the Indian-origin Tamil community.UNI SD SHK 2030

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-890132.Xml
An official has said that the White House did not anticipate that the Russian Government would allow its state news agency to post photographs of the Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. According to a report by the CNN, photos of yesterday's meeting were posted by Russia's news agency, TASS while the White House did not post photos of the meeting. The State Department did post photos of Lavrov's meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, but that was open to the press. "They tricked us. That's the problem with the Russians -- they lie," the White House official said, adding the Russians used the photos to troll the White House in its social media posts on Wednesday. The Russian Foreign Ministry posted a photo of a smiling U.S. President shaking hands with Lavrov on Twitter while also posting a video of Lavrov joking about FBI chief James Comey's firing. The White House blocked U.S. reporters from photographing the meeting, opting to allow only White House and Russian photographers to capture images of Trump's interactions with Lavrov. The White House official insisted it is standard practice to keep more of a lid on presidential meetings with lower-level foreign officials. (ANI)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 23:52:31|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday called for peaceful presidential campaigns and warned that the enemy of the Islamic republic wants to use the ongoing campaigns to create insecurity and turmoil in Iran, official website of the leader reported.

"If the people violate the law and ethics, and make the enemy hopeful with their words, the election will end in our loss," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Iranians will go to the polls on May 19 to elect a new president. More than 56 million people are eligible to vote.

"The short term objective of the enemy is to disturb security and create chaos and sedition in the country," Khamenei said, adding that "if we get ready to confront the creation of insecurity and sedition, we will determinedly annul the enemy's plot."

To hurt economy of the country and livelihood of people is the enemy's mid-term aim, he said.

Therefore, the Iranian officials should feel responsibility about the issues like productivity of economy and unemployment to create hope for the people, he added.

Khamenei also downplayed what he termed "the strategic objective of the enemy to change the fundamentals of the Islamic establishment."

He further warned the presidential candidates against the raise of such issues as "the ethnicity, language, geographical division" among the nation , during their campaigns. Otherwise, it will serve the interests of the enemies, he stressed.

The Iranian leader urged the presidential hopefuls to announce that "the economic issues and the livelihood of people as their priority, and that they will work to solve such problems."

He also said that "the candidates should indicate it openly (in their campaigns) that they are against the excessive demands of the United States and malice of Israel."

Khamenei who was talking to the commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) also said that Iran will increase its missile capability despite the enemies' propaganda against it.

"The hype over Iran's missile capability is because of their (enemies) spite and anger about this element of power in Iran," he was quoted as saying.

On Friday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that the IRGC had unveiled Iran's underground depots of missiles, and written anti-slogan slogans on the testing missiles recently to abort the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers reached in July 2015.

Rouhani was implying the provocations that such moves by the IRGC would have caused on western side to impose other rounds of sanctions against the country.

Khameni, however, said Wednesday that "We possess missiles which are very precise and can hit the targets with high precision from thousands of kilometers away."

"We will preserve this capability with all in power and will increase it powerfully," he stressed.

Iran's military power serves as a tool for "deterring purposes" and relies on domestic potentials, he added.

The U.S. officials have said Iran's ballistic missile launches are in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Resolution 2231, adopted on July 20, 2015, calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

The Iranian officials unanimously called the missile tests "inalienable right" of the country to boost deterrent power.

On Sunday, Khamenei called for a massive turnout in the presidential elections in the country to disappoint the enemy.

"If we want the grandeur and sovereignty of the Islamic republic to be preserved and it remains immune (to the harms), all should participate in the elections," Khamenei said, adding that "The only way to confront the animosity of the enemy is the presence of people at the scene."

"If a dereliction is made and some pave the way for people's disappointment, the country will definitely suffer," he was quoted as saying.
| 2017-05-10 23:59:52|Editor: ZD

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VANCOUVER, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Voters in the Pacific Canadian province of British Columbia appeared to elect the province's first minority government in 65 years in a nail-biting vote on Tuesday, but several close results and yet-uncounted votes ensured that the dust wouldn't settle on the election outcome for days, or possibly weeks.

Shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning, the incumbent BC Liberal Party gained 43 of the province's 87 legislative ridings. The New Democrat Party (NDP) ensured 41 seats while the upstart BC Green Party held three seats. None of the parties won the singular majority of 44 or more seats to govern the province of about 4.6 million people.

In an apparent claim of victory, BC Liberal leader and incumbent Premier Christy Clark said she intended to continue to lead the government.

"Tonight, we won the popular vote," said Clark in a speech at her party election headquarters, shortly after midnight.

"We have also won the most seats," she said to cheers by Liberal party members in a downtown Vancouver hotel ballroom, roughly four hours after they gathered to observe the election results being broadcast on large screens.

"So, it is my intention to continue to lead British Columbia's government," she added.

NDP leader John Horgan refused to concede defeat in his own speech in the early morning hours at a nearby convention center. "British Columbians have waited 16 years for a government that works for them, and we're going to have you to wait a while longer, until all the votes are counted," he said.

Clark, whose government has maintained power for 16 years in B.C. and ran on a platform of smaller government and creating jobs, said the results suggest British Columbians want all three parties to work together.

The result appears to be the first minority government in the province in 65 years. Local reports indicated overall voter turnout at 57 percent, with the runner-up, left-wing NDP party gaining seven seats over the previous election in 2013.

With Tuesday's results failing to clearly define the winners of the 28-day campaign, the parties and voters may have to wait until May 22-24, when the provincial election authority counts the votes of those cast from abroad, which could number in the tens of thousands.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 00:12:44|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese leader urged more cooperation between Chinese and overseas Taoist circles in contributing to world peace and harmony.

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks in a congratulatory letter to the fourth International Taoist Forum.

The three-day event opened Wednesday in the Wudang Mountains in central China's Hubei Province, with representatives from 30 countries and regions attending.

Taoism, rooted in Chinese culture, could boost harmony between nations and religions, according to Yu.

By supporting the forum, the Chinese government would like to promote exchange, understanding and friendship, Yu said.

Yu called on Taoist circles and figures to building a global community of a shared destiny, world peace and humanism.

Taoism is a religion originating from the writings and philosophy of Lao Tze (BC 571-471). According to his "Tao De Ching", everything in the universe was born from a vacuum, and a balance must be achieved between humans and nature.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 00:17:51|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang will pay a state visit to China from May 11 to 15 and attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Quang was born on Oct. 12, 1956 in northern Vietnam's Ninh Binh province. Quang holds a doctorate degree and has been conferred the title of professor.

From October 1975 to September 1982, Quang served as an officer at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA)' Political Protection Department One and MoHA's Political Protection Department Two.

He assumed vice head of professional office, under the MoHA's Political Protection Department Two, from September 1982 to June 1987. At the same time from 1981 to 1986, Quang was enrolled at Vietnam's People's Security Academy.

From June 1987 to June 1990, Quang acted as head of advisory office and head of professional office, under the MoHA's Political Protection Department Two. During the period from October 1989 to April 1991, Quang learned high-level political theory in Nguyen Ai Quoc High-ranking Party Institute.

Quang worked as deputy secretary of the security staff provision party committee and deputy head of the security staff provision in the Ministry of Public Security (MPS)'s General Security Department from June 1990 to September 1996.

Quang worked as deputy secretary of the MPS's General Security Department Party Committee and deputy head of the MPS's General Security Department from October 2000 to April 2006.

He became a standing member of the Central Police Party Committee and Deputy Minister of the MPS during April 2006-January 2011 period. Quang was conferred the title of Professor in 2009.

In April 2016, the National Assembly of Vietnam elected Quang as the country's president.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 00:38:03|Editor: yan

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TOKYO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Japanese artists have called on Wednesday for blocking the revision of the country's pacifist constitution while releasing a new anti-war book.

"No longer make excuses for wars. No longer make tools for wars. No longer let any child die (of wars)..." Keiko Hamada, a well-known Japanese picture-book author told the audience of some 100 people in a Tokyo picture book store "Crayon House."

Hamada recited the above words from her recently-published picture book "Don't Let Any Child Die of War," with pictures drawn by Hamada and the narratives written by Minako Saigo, founder of a civil group called Mothers Against War.

The two authors shared with the audience about what had inspired them to create the book.

Saigo, mother of three children and PhD candidate in education, said that she and some other mothers felt in 2015 that public discussions about the controversial security legislation would be hardly relevant as the government was already hard-set on enacting the legislation despite public opposition.

"The government's making preparations for wars," she said, as the security legislation, often dubbed as "war legislation," would allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces to fight wars overseas for the first time since the end of World War II.

Article 9 of Japan's pacifist constitution states that "the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes."

It goes on to state that ... "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized."

However, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last Wednesday that he hoped to see a revised constitution go into effect in 2020 under a plan that will see the first-ever change to the post-war charter.

To prevent their children from the risks of being involved in future wars, the mothers including Saigo founded the group Mothers Against War in April 2015, and held their first rally in Tokyo in July 2015 with over 2,000 people participating.

Hamada, also an initiator and participant of the rally around two years ago, said that the activities of the group Mothers Against War inspired her to draw the picture book.

"The book is not only for children, but also for all people in the society. It embodies our firm determination to not to allow wars to happen again," she said.

"Now the government is trying to revise the pacifist constitution, despite the opposition of many people. We hope this book could inspire and mobilize more people (to fight against it)," she added.

Saigo said that the government's power shall be subject to the constitution but what Abe has done is damaging and even overthrowing the authority of the constitution.

"We shall voice our concerns... (The government) shall not hype up conflicts between different countries. Life is precious and shall not be taken away by wars," she said.

Some 100 people attended the event here marking the release of the anti-war picture book and calling on the government to scrap the controversial security laws and maintain the pacifist constitution.

Public opinions about amending the constitution remain differed.

According to a recent poll by Japan's Kyodo News, 51 percent of the respondents were against any constitutional amendments under the Abe administration, while 45 percent were in favor.
US President Donald Trump, left, speaks with Moon Jae-in, newly-elected president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) by telephone on May 10, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump invited Moon Jae-in, newly-elected president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to visit Washington at an early date and Moon accepted the invitation, the White House said Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Trump spoke with Moon to congratulate him and the people of ROK on "his great election victory and their peaceful, democratic transition of power," according to a White House statement.

The two leaders agreed to continue to strengthen the US-ROK alliance and to deepen the enduring friendship between the two countries.

Moon was sworn in as new president of ROK on Wednesday. In a televised inaugural speech, he said he will be on the move for peace on the Korean Peninsula, vowing to visit Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), under right conditions.

The new ROK leader also vowed to sincerely consult with the United States and China to resolve the issue on the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system.

Parts of the US missile interception system have been moved to the THAAD deployment site in the country's southeastern region, causing strong protests from anti-THAAD activists and residents.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 00:53:15|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand has returned the illegal gains of former fugitive Yan Yongming to China, according to Chinese police.

Auckland District Court on Wednesday imposed a sentence of five months home detention on Yan, also known as William Yan, for money laundering.

Before that, 27.8 million NZ dollars (about 19 million U.S. dollars) of Yan's assets had been returned to China, said a statement from China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on Wednesday.

Yan, former chairman of the pharmaceutical company Tonghua Golden-horse in northeast China's Jilin Province, had been in hiding in Australia and New Zealand since November 2001.

He was number five on China's top 100 fugitives listed in an Interpol "red notice" before returned to China on Nov. 12, 2016 to turn himself in.

Yan was sentenced to three years in prison with a three-year reprieve for embezzlement on Dec. 22, 2016. His illegal gains were also confiscated.

Given the fact that the New Zealand side had already charged Yan with money laundering before his return, Chinese police transferred him to New Zealand on Jan. 12, 2017 to stand trial there, said the statement.

So far, 40 fugitives on the Interpol red list have either voluntarily returned or been extradited to China, according to the MPS.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 01:18:35|Editor: yan

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NAIROBI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Global economic uncertainty is threatening foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Africa, delegates attending a roundtable of Pan-African insurer Africa Trade Insurance Agency (ATI-A) said in Nairobi on Wednesday.

African ministers, investors and the private sector who kicked off a two-day meeting in Nairobi said with billions needed to fund priority infrastructure projects, the risk profile of these projects will come into sharper focus as countries vie for private sector financing.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, President of Benin Patrice Talon said public-private partnerships are a response to the structural needs of investors in African countries.

President Talon said such partnerships are necessary to break the persistent perception of the continent being high risk and Africa as a problem region.

"In this context, credit and investment insurance is the perfect defence to counter this challenge and to help propel the continent toward self-sustainability for the betterment of the African people," he said.

The roundtable is expected to provide a platform to support dialogue between governments and the private sector and also help to improve the bankability of African projects.

The meeting will also determine how best to tackle the investment and credit risk hurdles in order to make African risks bankable.

African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) CEO George Otieno said Africa is in a period of realignment in this new global order and cautioned against betting against its resilience.

"We are still home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world -- as of 2017, the World Economic Forum ranks Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania and Senegal on the list of the top ten fastest growing economies in the world," Otieno said.

"ATI offers the ideal solution precisely because the company has strong relationships with governments and because its risk assessments and mitigation solutions are seen as credible by global financiers and investors. With ATI involved in a transaction, governments are able to provide security to investors and suppliers against a range of investment risks," Otieno added.

In 2016, ATI insured close to 2 billion dollars worth of trade and investments and the company is increasingly supporting some of the continent's most important transactions such as Ethiopian Airline's fleet expansion and a 660-million-U.S. dollar investment in Lake Turkana, Africa's largest wind farm.

According to participants, for African governments, part of what is at stake are the much needed foreign direct investments and access to affordable financing necessary to spur development and, specifically, to close the estimated 900 billion U.S. dollars infrastructure gap.

Equally, they said the private sector stands to lose billions of dollars in lost opportunities if the requirements for a favourable investment environment are not adequately addressed.

During the boom years of the last two decades, Africa was experiencing unprecedented GDP growth rates but depressed commodity prices have seen growth in the sub-Saharan Africa region slow to 1.5 percent rate in 2016.

According to World Bank estimates, oil exporters account for most of the slowdown owing to their two-thirds contribution to regional output.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 12, 2017. U.S. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia, the White House said.

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington DC, Trump raised the possibility of broader cooperation on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, the White House said in a statement.

The meeting came amid tensions between the U.S. and Russia as the two countries hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of NATO.

Trump, who has expressed hopes of repairing relations with Moscow, said last month that the U.S. was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."

At Wednesday's meeting, Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, underscoring the need for Russia to "rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies."

After Trump ordered missile strikes on a Syria airbase last month in response to Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, the Russian government condemned the military action, calling Washington's move "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law."

On Ukraine, Trump expressed his Administration's commitment to remain engaged in resolving the conflict and stressed Russia's responsibility to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

The U.S., along with some European allies, has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia in response to what they called the annexation of Crimea and destabilizing activities in eastern Ukraine.

After the meeting, Lavrov told reporters that Trump confirmed his interest in building "mutually beneficial" relations with Russia.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 04:36:00|Editor: yan

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RABAT, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's police have arrested six people with suspected links to the Islamic State group, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the suspects were plotting attacks in "strategic" sites in the kingdom.

The preliminary investigations revealed that some of the arrested had contact with IS fighter in Syria and Iraq and had been learning how to manufacture explosives to carry out their terrorist plans, it added.

The arrested people will be brought before court after the public prosecutor's office completes its investigation, the statement added.

According to official figures, Morocco busted 19 terrorist cells and arrested 273 suspects in 2016, most of them linked to the IS group.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 05:16:30|Editor: yan

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TUNIS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Tunisian armed forces will protect sources of national wealth, including phosphate production, for purpose of establishing the rules of law in Tunisia," Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said on Wednesday.

In a speech broadcasted live by the National Television, Essebsi stressed that "the constitutional right of citizens and peaceful protests are guaranteed, but the blocking of industrial production will not be tolerated."

It is the first time Tunisian troops will be sent to

protect production facilities vital to Tunisia's economy.

Protests and strikes in recent years have cost the

country billions of dollars.

Essebsi denounced certain "anarchic" social movements which, according to him, only trampled on the machine of national production.

"The democratic process is more and more threatened by certain sensitivities that formulate the political landscape," warned Essebsi.

According to him, those who come to power through the people's will and the vote will also leave it in the same way.

The Tunisian president, referring to the opposition, said that some political parties should focus on the upcoming elections, including municipal elections scheduled for later this year as well as the presidential elections of 2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 05:21:33|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on the global community to draw inspiration from the journey of Lord Buddha and embrace his message of compassion, saying that Buddha's message is "timeless."

In his message to mark the Day of Vesak, Guterres said that the message of compassion of Lord Buddha is "timeless," and "in our interconnected world, there can be no peace as long as others are in peril; no security as long as others suffer deprivation; no sustainable future until all members of our human family enjoy their human rights."

Millions of people around the world are celebrating the Day of Vesak, which falls on May 10. The day acknowledges the contribution that Buddhism has made for over two and a half millennia to the spirituality of humanity.

Vesak, the Day of the Full Moon in the month of May, is the most sacred day to millions of Buddhists around the world.

It was on the Day of Vesak two and a half millennia ago, in the year 623 B.C., that the Buddha was born. It was also on the Day of Vesak that the Buddha attained enlightenment, and it was on the Day of Vesak that the Buddha in his eightieth year passed away.

The UN General Assembly, by adopting a resolution in 1999, recognized internationally the Day of Vesak to acknowledge the contribution that Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world. This day is commemorated annually at the UN Headquarters and other UN offices, in consultation with the relevant UN offices and with permanent missions, which also wish to be consulted.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 07:27:22|Editor: MJ

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LOS ANGELES, May 10, (Xinhua) -- The national famous Californian cook chef Sandra Lee banished the House Speaker Paul Ryan from her TV kitchen when she was preparing a cooking segment on Fox & Friend early Tuesday.

She told the Republican House speaker, "I need you to go away so I can collect my thoughts, prepare, and get ready for the segment", Pagesix.com reported.

According to the report, Paul Ryan, Wisconsin's First District Congressman and the House speaker, had an interview segment before Lee on Fox & Friend with host Steve Doocy. During the break, the host brought Ryan over to the TV kitchen to try some food made by Lee, which annoyed Sandra Lee.

She not only refused to let Ryan try the food, but made some "dismissive remark and looked away", the report said.

Sandra Lee, born in Santa Monica of California, is a cancer survivor, and her longtime boyfriend is the Democratic New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo.

In this March, Andrew Cuomo ripped into the health care plan proposed by Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump. He claimed that once the Obamacare was abolished, New York state would lead to a loss of 6.9 billions U.S. dollars.

Some person in the know disclosed to the Pagesix.com that "It wasn't a very friendly 'Fox & Friends.' Sandra wasn't even comfortable with having Paul Ryan on the same stage as her during the commercial break, never mind on air. It was very frosty. She simply does not believe in anything Ryan believes in."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 07:32:24|Editor: xuxin

Former Brazilian presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (R) and Dilma Rousseff react after Lula presented his testimony at the Federal Court of Curitiba, in Curitiba, Brazil, on May 10, 2017. Brazil's sweeping investigation into the Petrobras corruption ring, named Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash), reached new heights of media and public attention on Wednesday as former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was interrogated by judge Sergio Moro. (Xinhua/Andrei Leonardo Pacher/AGENCIA ESTADO)

BRASILIA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's sweeping investigation into the Petrobras corruption ring, named Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash), reached new heights of media and public attention on Wednesday as former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was interrogated by judge Sergio Moro.

At 2 p.m. local time, Lula's interrogation began at the federal tribunal of Curitiba, capital of the state of Parana, with Moro seeking answers to charges of corruption and money laundering against the charismatic politician.

Upon arriving at the court, Lula received applause and cheers by a large number of supporters, which were kept back around 150 meters from the building.

Thousands of activists from Lula's Workers' Party (PT), the Central Workers' Union (CUT) and others had gathered to celebrate the former leader and denounce what they see as a conspiracy against him. Lula's successor and friend, former President Dilma Rousseff, was also on hand to lend her support.

A smaller group of protesters, who support Lula's appearance in court, also made their voices heard.

The interrogation saw Moro interviewing Lula for around three hours, before turning the witness over to federal prosecutors and then allowing the defense team to have their turn.

Earlier in the day, Brazil's Supreme Court rejected a petition by Lula's defense team to postpone his testimony.

His lawyers claimed they had not had enough time to review all the documentation related to the case and requested 90 days to analyze it. They stated they had received around 5,000 documents, with a total of around 100,000 pages, over the last couple of weeks.

Lula is accused of having received bribes worth 3.7 million reais (1.15 million U.S. dollars) from the OAS construction company, in the form of a three-floor apartment in Guaruja, a resort town on the coast of Sao Paulo.

Should he be found guilty and should the sentence then be upheld by a higher court, Lula would be automatically barred from standing for president in the 2018 election. Opinion polls constantly show him as the most favored candidate by the Brazilian electorate.

Also on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurelio de Mello said there was no current motive to detain Lula.

Speaking to the press during Lula's interrogation, Mello said the court case into Lula was not concluded but that, for the moment, "it is not necessary to halt the natural order of the judicial process."

He said that this order should be "investigate, prove guilt and carry out the sentence... What should be an exception, provisional prison...has become the norm."

Moro, the head judge for Lava Jato, has been criticized for maintaining various accused people in preventive prison for long periods.

There is no precise date for Moro to give his ruling on Lula's case but it is expected to take several weeks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 07:52:47|Editor: liuxin

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CARACAS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela on Wednesday welcomed the postponement of an Organization of American States (OAS) meeting as a blow to foreign meddling in the country's internal affairs.

Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez said the decision marks a defeat for right-wing regional governments bent on using the political and economic crisis roiling the South American country to intervene for their own interests.

"The group of interventionist governments in the OAS was roundly defeated today by the Permanent Council of the hemispheric bloc," Rodriguez posted on Twitter.

The council decided to postpone a scheduled meeting of regional foreign affairs ministers, who were to discuss Venezuela's plight and how to proceed.

In April, Venezuela withdrew from the bloc, accusing OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro of doing the bidding for the bloc's conservative-led countries, such as the United States, Argentina and Brazil.

The OAS meeting aimed "to modify the rules for meetings of foreign ministers to manipulate the number of votes in favor of intervention in Venezuela and they were defeated," said Rodriguez.

Earlier motions to sanction Venezuela for alleged violations of democratic principle failed to garner the votes needed to pass.

OAS countries siding with Almagro wanted to vote on Wednesday to hold a meeting on May 22, but did not garner enough support.

Almagro's "illicit actions will lead to the destruction of the OAS," Rodriguez said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 07:57:50|Editor: liuxin

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CARACAS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The latest wave of violent anti-government protests in Venezuela raised the death toll to 39 on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

"Miguel Castillo died during a demonstration at Las Mercedes," the Public Ministry (MP) reported, referring to the shopping district in the capital Caracas.

Castillo, 27, brought the total number of fatal victims to 39, since protests against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro were renewed in April.

The right-wing opposition coalition, known by its Spanish acronym MUD, planned to march on the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), located in downtown Caracas, but was blocked by security forces, who dispersed protesters.

Venezuela's Ombudsman Tareck William Saab condemned the killing, and said on Twitter that a commission would "investigate this regrettable incident to determine who is responsible."

Earlier in the day, the MP confirmed the death of Anderson Dugarte, who was shot in the head on Tuesday in the western city of Merida during a protest.

More than 500 people have been injured in the protests, and thousands have been arrested.

The government has called for a new Constitution as a means of overcoming the political crisis, and is in the process of forming a constituent assembly to draft the document.

On Monday, representatives of 17 political parties met with the presidential commission overseeing the process. However, the MUD is boycotting the initiative, hoping stepped up protests will force the government to call early elections.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 09:34:23|Editor: liuxin

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NEW DELHI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 22 people were killed and 28 others injured in a wall collapse triggered by heavy rains and thunderstorm in the western Indian state of Rajasthan late Wednesday evening, a senior police official said Thursday.

"The incident took place a little after 10:30 p.m. (local time) Wednesday at a marriage hall on Sevar Road in the state's Bharatpur district where a large number of people had gathered to attend the wedding of a couple," district police chief Anil Tank said.

"Heavy showers and thunderstorm suddenly hit the area, triggering the collapse of the hall's wall. Those who had taken shelter under a shed near the wall to protect themselves from rains got trapped," he said.

While 22 people, including seven women and four children, died on the spot, the injured were rushed to a local hospital, where the condition of some are said to be serious, the official said.

State Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje expressed condolences at the deaths and ordered officials to ensure proper treatment of the injured.

A probe has been ordered into the incident, the official added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 09:59:44|Editor: An

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by Liu Tian

ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- With the smooth implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, the people of Pakistan are gaining tangible benefits.

INFRASTRUCTURE INTER-CONNECTIVITY

Residents of Pakistan's southwestern port city of Gwadar will enjoy better emergency medical treatment thanks to the opening of a hospital donated by China earlier this month.

The hospital, which opened Sunday, was donated by the Red-Cross Society of China and is the first of its kind along the CPEC, a route connecting Gwadar and the city of Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Construction of more similar hospitals designed to provide basic diagnosis, small surgeries and emergency rescues will follow suit.

Adjacent to the newly built hospital is Faqeer Primary School where over 300 pupils sit in new classrooms with freshly painted desks. Opened in September 2016, the school was the first China-donated project aimed at improving the livelihood of people along the CPEC.

Sher Mohammad gave a piece of his own land to the local government for the school's construction. The 60-year-old said that although land prices in Gwadar are surging after China helped develop the port, he never regretted his donation.

"I'm happy about my decision because I had the chance to give this piece of land to local kids for their future," he said.

Another training school will also be built within the next couple of years in Gwadar to help young people master a skill so that they have a means to earn a life in the future.

Meanwhile, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), which has a branch in central Pakistan's historical city of Multan, is also engaged in projects that direct have an impact on the lives of the locals.

The company is now building the Sukker-Multan section of the Peshawar-Karachi Expressway, a 392-km road with a total investment of 2.89 billion U.S. dollars that involves some 10,000 Pakistani as well as 1,500 Chinese engineers and laborers working around the clock on the site.

Once completed, the project will shorten the eight-hour travel time between Sukker and Multan by half.

You Xunming, vice general manager of the project, said his company has a responsibility to maintain the friendship between Pakistan and China.

Even vendors along the expressway welcomed the project, saying it has boosted demand for their goods, such as cigarettes, bottled water and fresh juice. They expect sales to only increase in the future.

POWER BOOM

Energy is a major pillar of CPEC projects. According to Sun Weidong, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, 11 of the 19 CPEC early harvest projects fall into the energy category to address Pakistan's chronic power shortages. They include coal-fired plants, hydropower facilities, wind and solar power farms.

For example, the first phase of a solar power plant constructed in Bahawalpur, Punjab Province by China's energy conglomerate Zonergy in 2016 will meet 30 percent of the region's power demands.

Yet the 300-megawatt plant with an annual capacity of 495 million kilowatt-hour of electricity is relatively small compared to the three coal-fired plants planned in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Gradually coming into service, the plants, each with a capacity of 1,320 megawatts, will provide electricity for some 4 million households.

Sun told Pakistani officials and scholars last week that China will not dump outdated industrial capacity into Pakistan, nor will the CPEC add any financial burden to the local population.

The CPEC projects will cover all provinces and regions of Pakistan and will hire over 60,000 Pakistani workers, Sun added, citing preliminary statistics.

MORE THAN ECONOMIC

For countries along the CPEC, the corridor is not only about economic gains, but also about cross-cultural and people-to-people contact, which could involve the likes of Iran, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries.

"It is not only an economic issue. It is also cultural because cultural means people to people," said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a senator who heads the CPEC Pakistani Parliamentary Committee.

Mushahid said in an interview with Xinhua that the CPEC serves as an alternative for war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Lybia with its vision of inclusive development.

Talking about the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, which he will attend, Mushahid said Pakistan wants the forum to know of the Corridor's success.

"We want to convey the success story to other countries," Mushahid said, "how we have done it, how we are doing it together with our Chinese friends, and how it is important not just for China and Pakistan, but for the region as well."
A man holds a royal turtle at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center in Koh Kong province, Cambodia, Sept. 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Phearum)

PHNOM PENH, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Nine eggs of Royal Turtle were hatched and taken to Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Centre in southwestern Cambodia for raising and possibly breeding in the future, a conservationist group said Wednesday.

The Royal Turtle, also known as Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis), is one of the world's most endangered freshwater turtles and listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List as Critically Endangered.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Cambodia said in a press release that a nest of Royal Turtle with 14 eggs was found by a villager along the Kaong River in Koh Kong province in February.

A Royal Turtle conservation team from the Fisheries Administration and the WCS went to check the nest, built a fence to protect the eggs, and hired a villager to guard the nest until those eggs were hatched, the press release said.

The turtle was believed extinct in Cambodia until a small population was re-discovered in Koh Kong province in 2000.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 11:40:38|Editor: An

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks during an interview with local and Chinese media in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, May 9, 2017. Uhuru Kenyatta said that the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will inject strong vitality into the Africa-China cooperation. He will attend the forum scheduled for May 14-15 in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

by Xinhua writers Lu Duobao, Christine Lagat

NAIROBI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will inject strong vitality into Africa-China cooperation.

Kenyatta, together with other heads of state and government, will attend the forum scheduled for Sunday and Monday in Beijing.

The forum will outline a new vision for multilateral cooperation and offer an opportunity for African countries to modernize their economies with technical and financial support from China, Kenyatta told a media briefing on Tuesday.

"I look forward to this particular meeting ... and expect positive results that will be mutually beneficial in the principle of win-win situation for China, Kenya and Africa," he said.

"The trip to China presents an opportunity to push Africa's integration agenda through infrastructure development, increased trade and investments," said Kenyatta.

"That is something I, myself, and other African colleagues will be keen to share while in China," he added.

He said he will hold meetings with Chinese officials to discuss bilateral cooperation in diverse areas like trade and infrastructure development.

Kenya is also eager to push for stronger ties with China in trade, manufacturing, technology transfer and people-to-people exchanges, he said.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to revive ancient land and sea trade routes that link China with many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe via trade and infrastructure networks.

Kenyatta noted that his government is keen to tap the opportunities unleashed by the initiative.

"The whole Belt and Road idea is to open up, deepen integration between regions and China is driving this agenda. It is an agenda that aims to empower people and maximize Africa's potential," said Kenyatta.

He added that the Belt and Road Initiative complements Africa's socio-economic transformation agenda that will be realized through increasing trade, economic diversification and connectivity.

"My hope is that we will see an increase in trade volumes from China to Africa and from Africa to China. I also see the potential of increasing the manufacturing capacity of the African continent by working in partnership with our Chinese friends," said the Kenyan leader.

Kenyatta said people-to-people exchanges have been one of the cornerstones of the Kenya-China relationship.

He said many Kenyans are joining the Confucius Institute because of the increasing bilateral trade volume, and many Kenyan students who trained in China have benefited from Chinese technology.

He hailed China-funded infrastructure projects like the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), saying they will stimulate investment and cross-border trade and skills transfer.

"The SGR project will open up the African hinterland and transform the life of ordinary citizens," Kenyatta said, adding that regional leaders will request additional support from China to speed up the modern railway project that would eventually extend to other Eastern and Central African countries.
VIENTIANE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected the Lao economy to grow at 6.8 percent in 2017, lower than the previous year due to lower commodity production and stagnant tourism.

According to the latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific by the IMF, growth in the frontier economies and small states, on average, slowed in 2016, though there have been considerable variations.

Among countries where activity moderated, growth in Laos declined to 6.9 percent in 2016 owing to a slowdown in major trading partners, lower metals prices, and poor weather for agriculture.

After falling to 6.8 percent in 2017, the Lao economy is forecast to shrink further in 2018 with growth rate reduces to 6.7 percent, according to IMF.

Laos has been recommended to diversify its economy, not relying only on its resource sector.

It is critical for the nation to improve the business climate along with education and skills development to supply workforce for the industrial sector, reported Lao state-run daily Vientiane Times on Thursday.

Laos is on the right track to further integrate its economy with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), however, the country needs to work harder in boosting its productivity to promote exports and change the structure of production towards value added manufacturing and services.

Meanwhile, the outlook estimates growth for the Asia-Pacific region to increase this year to 5.5 percent from 5.3 percent in 2016. Growth will remain strong at 5.4 percent in 2018, as the region continues to be the leader of global growth.
CANBERRA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Treasurer has urged the nation's big banks to absorb a new 6.2-billion-Aussie-dollar (4.56-billion-U.S.-dollar) levy despite a warning from the banks that the tax hike would be handed down to customers.

In one of the more controversial measures announced in the Australian federal budget on Tuesday, Australia's "big five" banks will be required to pay a 0.06 percent levy to the government in an effort to fix the budget deficit, but the industry is fuming and has warned the tax would trickle down to affect everyday Australian families.

Speaking to the press on Thursday, Treasurer Scott Morrison said the banks needed to "pony up" and take the "reasonable" hit, explaining that it would only be four years before the budget is back in surplus.

"This tax is staying. It's a fair and reasonable tax. Our banks pool 30 billion Aussie dollars in profits annually and this is 1.5 billion Aussie dollars in tax (per year for four years)," Morrison said.

"I think that's a very reasonable amount. I welcome the fact that, yesterday, the Commonwealth Bank and the ANZ Bank took a breath, and I think they issued a very measured statement. I think that's important."

"Today, officials from Treasury will meet with officials from the banks and work through the details and I think that's important to do in a sober and considered way, and I think I'd be very surprised if the banks were to take a different approach."

Morrison said the wider budget measures, which included the big bank levy and addition tax pressure on large multinationals, would put "downward pressure of the cost of living" for everyday Australians, saying it was "fair and reasonable" that the nation's largest profiteers contribute to "fixing the budget."

"It's very fair and reasonable thing to do to have a structural change to how we tax banks in this country to ensure they make an ongoing contribution to these goals," Morrison said.

"(This will be used) not only for budget repair, but for funding schools and funding public health."

It has also been revealed that the Treasurer's master plan to hit the banks with the 6.2 billion dollar levy came about after a visit to London in January, during which he was taught how British regulators implemented similar measures on their big banks.

While Morrison has cautioned the banks that their customers "already don't like them," telling them to "prove (the customers) wrong and pony up to help fix the budget," bankers have warned the government that it was likely that the levy will be passed onto customers.

Overnight, CEO of the Australian Bankers Association Anna Bligh said the banks were "very angry" with the government ahead of Thursday's meeting with Treasury.

"Right now, the major banks of Australia are very angry. They feel they have had a tax imposed on them uniquely that does not apply to any other part of the business community," she said in a statement overnight.

Chairman of the Westpac Banking Corporation Lindsay Maxsted said there was "no justification for (the tax), other than that the budget has been mismanaged and we have the capacity to pay," while Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev said "there is no such thing as a cost being absorbed" and explained that the tax would trickle to affect hundreds of thousands of Australian families who own shares in the blue-chip company.

Meanwhile Financial System Inquiry David Murray told News Corp that the tax didn't make much sense.

"If (the levy) is not passed on (to customers), you're stripping capital out of the banks when they have to be unquestionably strong," Murray said. (1 Aussie dollar = 0.73 U.S. dollar)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 11:56:09|Editor: Liangyu

Affected villagers wait to be transferred at Kuzigun Village in Taxkorgan County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 11, 2017. Eight people have been confirmed dead and 23 others were injured after a 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Taxkorgan County at 5:58 a.m. Thursday (2158 GMT Wednesday). So far, the quake has left lives of more than 12,000 people affected. A total of 9,200 people have been relocated to safe places. (Xinhua/Li Jing)

TAXKORGAN, Xinjiang, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Eight people have been confirmed dead and 23 others were injured after a 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Taxkorgan County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 5:58 a.m. Thursday.

So far, the quake has left lives of more than 12,000 people affected. A total of 9,200 people have been relocated to safe places.

The injured people have been sent to hospital for treatment. More than1,000 soldiers and police officers, and 1,500 civilians have rushed to the quake-stricken areas for rescue. Relief goods are already on th way, according to the quake emergency response headquarters.

Wang Fuyou, Communist Party chief of the county, said the quake followed by frequent aftershocks was felt strongly.

Cracks appeared on walls of houses in the county seat. Some people were buried after adobe houses near the epicenter collapsed, according to Wang.

The county government has sent personnel to search for the buried people in Quzgun Village, the worst-hit village in the quake with a population of 449, Wang said.

In Quzgun Village, 820 heads of livestock were injured or killed and 1,520 homes collapsed.

The power supply company of the county said the power supply network across the county including the quake-hit areas operates normally. The water supply and communication in the county seat also operates normally.

As of 10 a.m., the Xinjiang seismological bureau recorded 82 aftershocks following the quake.

The epicenter, with a depth of about 8.0 km, was monitored at 37.58 degrees north latitude and 75.25 degrees east longitude in the southeast part of the Pamir Plateau.

The average altitude within 5-km around the epicenter is 4,347 meters. The population within a radius of 20 km and 50 km from the epicenter is estimated at 580 and 6,200 respectively.

Taxkorgan, some 1,250 kilometers from Urumqi, capital of the region, borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

The area within a radius of about 200 kilometers from the epicenter has recorded 226 earthquakes above 3 magnitude over the past five years, including a 6.7-magnitude quake on Nov. 25, 2016 in Akto County.

Related:

China initiates emergency response to Xinjiang quake

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The China Earthquake Administration has activated level-III emergency response procedures following a 5.5-magnitude earthquake in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Thursday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 11:56:14|Editor: MJ

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by Xinhua Writers Xu Haijing, Zhao Bo

CANBERRA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative provides opportunities for its cooperation with Australia, especially in developing 17 million hectares of arable land in northern Australia, a former official has said.

Andrew Robb, a former Australian federal minister for trade and investment, will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for Sunday and Monday in Beijing.

Robb, now an advisory board member of Australia-China Belt and Road Initiative, an Australian government-supported policy institute, said: "We always, at least since European settlement, needed money and expertise from foreign countries in the last 200 years. We still need them today as much as we ever have."

"China is at the stage, who not only got capital, informed capital, but also expertise they can bring," he said.

Robb cited Australia's largest construction company John Holland, which was acquired by China Communications Construction Company.

The cooperation between businesses of the two countries would take the Australian businesses to a lot more areas, he said.

"It would also help build mutual relationships. Once you have mutual trust and understanding, you will get opportunities not only in China, not only in Australia, but also in the Belt and Road countries and around the world," he noted.

"What we see from the initiative is almost a next stage where we companies from Australia feel comfortably to approach Chinese companies to do partnership to jointly develop roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, in the region around us. We can help both our countries further develop all those countries around us. And we will benefit at the same time," he said.

Robb added that the Belt and Road Initiative is not only about projects, but also looks at balanced development in countries.

"Soft infrastructures, schools, hospitals, aged care facilities ... Australian companies have great strength in many of these areas, including health services, education services," he said.

Jean Dong, CEO of Australia-China Belt and Road Initiative, also said Australia's world-leading public-private partnership development experience and membership of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank boast immense opportunities and huge potential in cooperation by jointly developing the international capital market with China.

"Australia's financial services, professional & management consulting, and technical, trade-related businesses offer both excellent reputations worldwide and embedded participation in Southeast Asia, which could play an important role in implementing mutually acceptable Belt and Road projects," she said.

Dong, who will also attend the Belt and Road forum in Beijing, said the Australian government and business sector should do more to explore ways of engaging in the Belt and Road Initiative in terms of policy coordination, financial integration, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade and people-to-people bond.
DHAKA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Four militants and one firefighter were killed in suicide explosions during a police raid on an alleged safe house of the terrorists in the country's Rajshahi district, some 256 km west of capital Dhaka, on Thursday morning, a police official said.

Hibjur Alam Munsi, officer-in-charge of Rajshahi's Godagari Police Station, said based on a tip-off, security forces had surrounded the house early Thursday.

"Four militants blew themselves up Thursday morning when police tried to storm the house where members of the banned Neo-JMB group were holed up," said another police official who preferred to be unnamed.

He said a firefighter was critically injured in the explosions.

The firefighter succumbed to injuries in a hospital, he added.

Two police men also sustained injuries as the suspected militants opened fire at law enforcers after they encircled the house, said the official.

According to the official, police were primarily sure that the slain militants were members of "Neo-JMB."

The Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was blamed for the deadly July 1, 2016 attack on a Spanish cafe in Dhaka, which killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

At least two suspected militants were killed on Sunday after Bangladeshi police stormed a house in the western Jhenidah district,

Over the last few months, Bangladeshi police have conducted a series of large-scale operations against militants, in which dozens of suspected militants were killed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 12:51:15|Editor: ZD

File photo taken on May 3, 2017 shows that James Comey, director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's dismissal of James Comey from the post of FBI director has sparked a major media firestorm and much disagreement.

Trump's move on Tuesday, which came at a time when the FBI's investigation into his alleged ties to Russia heats up, has dominated the news cycle, with some experts calling it unprecedented and downright suspicious.

Indeed, Democrats and center-left U.S. media outlets said the timing of Comey's dismissal is suspect, and are crying foul over what they say is a stunning power move by the new president.

One media commentator, Chris Matthews, even said the move had a whiff of "fascism" to it. And Democrats in Congress are up in arms over Trump's move.

Democrats are demanding the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate the alleged links between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign. Russia has dismissed the alleged links as fabrications.

But others are much less outraged, and some noted that Comey's firing was made on the recommendation of senior Justice Department officials.

Trump said Wednesday that he fired Comey because he "was not doing a good job," without elaborating.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that he cannot get as excited as many Democrats over the issue.

"To me, Comey didn't know how to handle the public face of the job. The fact that most of his mistakes to date were at Hillary (Clinton's) expense, but most of his sensitive ongoing investigations were potentially at Trump's, increases the partisan tensions and suspicions over the firing," O'Hanlon said.

Indeed, Comey was criticized for reopening probe into Clinton's email scandal in the last days of last November's presidential race, in a move that many said in fact tipped the tight race in Trump's favor.

"But I can't really disagree with Trump -- even though I am a Democrat myself -- provided that the successor (to Comey) has integrity," he said.

U.S. intelligence services have concluded that Russia tried to interfere with last November's elections, as the Kremlin allegedly believed it could do business with Trump as opposed to Clinton. Democrats maintain that Russia's moves allowed Trump to hijack the election and win the White House.

But many others note that millions of rural Americans -- Trump's main backers -- had been struggling financially for nearly a decade under former President Barack Obama, and viewed Clinton as an extension of the Obama administration. It was promises of a better economy that led to Trump's win, some experts and observers maintain.

"The timing of Trump's decision to fire the FBI director is very suspicious," Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies of the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

"The termination appears to be an effort by Trump to stop an investigation that is getting close to home," West said.

Trump seems to believe that he would stop the Russia investigation by firing Comey, but what he doesn't understand is that this move only will intensify interest in Trump's alleged Russia connections, West said.

"A change of leadership at the FBI may slow the investigation in the short run, but the political backlash against the firing will ensure that the Russia investigation will stay on the media front pages for months to come," he noted.

Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua that the Trump administration wants to put their own person into the FBI, "and I reserve judgment on the impact until I know who that is."

"Still, it does send a powerful message to the rank and file in the FBI, and other federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies about their job security," Mahaffee said.

Writing on CNN's website, Princeton University Professor Julian Zelizer noted that the firing is being compared to former President Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre."

Zelizer noted that in that 1973 event, Nixon fired independent prosecutor Archibald Cox for his aggressive inquiry into the Watergate scandal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 13:01:22|Editor: MJ

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NANNING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Six primary school students who went for a swim in a river in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have not been heard from since Wednesday afternoon. Two of them have been found dead, four remain missing.

The students from Qingshuikou Township Central Primary School in Beiliu City went swimming after school.

Frogmen aided the search over night, and found the two deceased.

The search continues.

The city government has asked schools to warn students of the dangers of strong river currents.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 13:06:52|Editor: An

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By Levi J Parsons

SYDNEY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Days out from his address at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, a leading Australian expert on global infrastructure and complex development projects has urged that Australia must join China's Belt and Road Initiative.

"My interpretation of the Belt and Road Initiative is that China is offering to connect with the world and this is something that should be welcomed, encouraged and supported," Steve Howard told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"It aims to give peace and security by making sure the countries can receive the food, the goods they need and the resources to secure their future by working together in harmony."

Credited for spearheading the renowned revitalization strategy for the city of Melbourne in the early 1990s as the director of the committee for Melbourne, Howard was instrumental in bringing the public and private sector together to design and fund national government policy in Australia.

His belief in infrastructure as a tool of cooperation, connection and prosperity was also evident when he took a role as a top advisor during the development of the Nam Theun 2 Hydro project, a 1.3-billion-U.S. dollar initiative in Laos which was undertaken by the World Bank.

He currently holds the position of secretary general of the Global Foundation, a Sydney-based non-profit civic body dedicated to research.

At the heart of the institute's philosophy is the concept of "Australasian integration."

"We are called the Global Foundation for a very good reason because Australia has to be an outward-looking, globally orientated nation, a trading nation," Howard explained.

"Particularly in the face of protectionist measures in other parts of the world. I would like to see China and Australia work together more closely on the Belt and Road Initiative."

Howard sees the role of the Belt and Road Initiative as more than an economic project based on trade, but as a means of connection.

"I think that we should see the Belt and Road Initiation not just as infrastructure, but as benefits," Howard said.

"On one level it can help with basic commodities, live cattle trade for beef exports to China, iron ore, and other resources that China needs and are currently buying from Australia. This can all be expanded."

"At a higher level of supply chains, it can be how we work together on processing, manufacturing value-adding and at the third level it's about what services can we work on together in both countries and the countries in between."

At the moment, the Australian government has numerous construction plans for the country's northern ports, railway and energy network in a bid to stimulate exports and development in the vast region.

But Howard is concerned that a lack of discussion with Asian trading partners, including China, may be a missed opportunity.

"I don't think there is enough talk about how projects in northern Australia can connect with Asia, including China," Howard said.

"Australia has much to gain in every sense, in a business sense and a geopolitical sense by working as a true partner with China."

"China's positive approach to globalization is what we like to call cooperative globalization - cooperation that is fair and inclusive."

It is these very themes, that will be at the core of Howard's speech at the Belt and Road forum on May 14.

"It's the Chinese model of working in true partnership," Howard expressed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 13:11:54|Editor: Mengjie

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Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang speaks during an interview with Xinhua News Agency in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, on May 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Le Yanna)

by Xinhua Writers Tao Jun, Le Yanna

HANOI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said Wednesday that he was looking forward to the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

"This is an occasion for leaders of countries and international organizations to discuss measures to enhance cooperation and deepen international integration for peace, stability, security, prosperity and sustainable development," Quang said in an interview with Xinhua.

"I am very pleased to accept the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend this important forum," he said.

Amid the rapidly changing global economy and the traditional and non-traditional security challenges, it is urgent for nations to strengthen cooperation, said the Vietnamese leader.

"Vietnam supports initiatives and efforts to foster economic links and regional connectivity for shared benefits of nations. We hope the forum will open up economic links and cooperation opportunities for nations and regions."

The forum and its opportunities will help develop inter-continental transport infrastructure, create favorable conditions for trade and investment, forge links among enterprises, and broaden and deepen people-to-people bonds, all contributing to the realization of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he noted.

Quang also hailed the positive effects of linking China's Belt and Road Initiative with Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan to boost his nation's industrialization and modernization.

Vietnam-China cooperation in the aforementioned framework has yielded many important results, especially in connecting transport infrastructure and facilitating trade among China's southwestern provinces with Vietnam's northern cities and provinces via the two corridors of Hai Phong-Hanoi-Lao Cai-Kunming and Hai Phong-Hanoi-Lang Son-Nanning, and the Beibu Gulf economic belt, Quang said.

Currently, Vietnam and China are jointly working to create more favorable conditions to bolster bilateral trade and investment ties, boost infrastructure development and expand markets.

Quang said small and medium-sized enterprises will have more opportunities to participate deeply in regional and global value chains, intensify the application of scientific and technological findings, and develop products with high added value.

"That process will make contributions to ... knowledge-based economy, and sustainable and inclusive development in Vietnam and China," Quang noted.

To achieve rapid and sustainable growth, Vietnam will continue to reform the economy, accelerate industrialization and international integration, update the growth with high added value, the Vietnamese leader said.

"During this process, we welcome Chinese enterprises to strengthen their investment and business in Vietnam, and transfer the advanced technologies via big projects, which are typical examples for China's development level," Quang said.

Vietnam highly appreciates Chinese investment and business, which are China's strong points and which Vietnam has high demand for, in such sectors as infrastructure construction, manufacturing industry, high-quality human resources development and clean energy, he noted.

In addition, Vietnam will, as always, create favorable conditions for Chinese firms to exchange goods with the ASEAN and the world markets, he said.

"Reinforcing Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation is in line with long-term and principal benefits of the two countries and two peoples, and beneficial to maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world," he said.

Political trust between the two countries has been enhanced and cooperation and exchanges have also been fostered, gaining encouraging results, said Quang.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 13:16:56|Editor: liuxin

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HANOI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's flag carrier Vietnam Airlines earned some 743 billion Vietnamese dong (32.88 million U.S. dollars) in net profit in the first quarter of 2017, down 39 percent year-on-year.

The company explained the profit decrease was due to relatively higher petrol price in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, leading to higher operation cost of its flights.

Besides, foreign exchange rate did not wildly fluctuate as it used to be in 2016, lowering the national carrier's financial profit from the last year's level, according to its financial statement released on Wednesday.

Vietnam Airlines earned some 938 million U.S. dollars in revenue in Q1 this year, posting a growth of 12.5 percent year-on-year and successfully maintained its predominant market share of some 61 percent in local market.

In 2016, the company earned a total of 2.58 billion U.S. dollars in revenue and 115 million U.S. dollars in pre-tax profits, which was 1.5 times higher than its profit reported in 2015.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 13:16:58|Editor: An

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VIENTIANE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Lao economists say the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative will benefit the Lao economy, local daily Vientiane Times reported Thursday.

Lao President Bounnhang Vorachit will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation taking place on May 14-15 in Beijing, the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Wednesday.

Lao economists and officials are optimistic that the Belt and Road Initiative will benefit the economy of Laos, which is a part of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

An independent local economist, Mana Southichack, is of the opinion that once connectivity under the initiative is completely in place, it will make landlocked Laos more attractive for investors as they can benefit from convenient transport at a lower cost.

In the context of Laos, he said: "Investors attach great importance to transport systems. It (transport cost) is a costly part of the export products manufactured in Laos for countries far away beyond its neighbors like China, Thailand and Vietnam."

"Even exporting to China is currently challenging," he said that once the Laos-China railway linking Vientiane to the Chinese border, which is now under construction, is operational, it will provide convenient transport at a lower cost.

"Convenient transport links will also boost tourist arrivals. I think Laos will benefit a lot from the initiative," Mana added.

In light of these foreseeable benefits, Vice Minister of Public Works and Transport Lattanamany Khounnyvong told Xinhua recently that Laos strongly supports the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

Lattanamany said that the initiative has been producing tangible benefits for the country.

He spoke highly of the Laos-China railway, the construction of which is expected to be completed in 2021.

"Once completed, the railway will help to facilitate people-to-people exchanges, reduce travel time and costs ... the railway will also help to promote agricultural production in Laos, increase incomes, attract more foreign investment and provide more employment opportunities," said the deputy minister.

"The railway will not only be the major railway line in Laos, but also connect to China and ASEAN countries. This is in line with the development strategy and plan of Laos," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 13:26:37|Editor: An

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by Matt Walsh

CANBERRA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A continually growing demand for Australian cattle from China is likely to make the industry going from strength to strength, according to experts who are lauding China's taste for Aussie beef.

Following news that Australia's richest woman and mining magnate Gina Rinehart was seeking to ramp up cattle exports to China, industry experts have said that Australia's beef industry was likely to see a robust growth.

Michael Whitehead from the ANZ Bank's agribusiness sector overnight told News Corp that it is was no wonder Australia's richest were continuing to pour their money into the beef industry, citing Rinehart and retail giant Gerry Harvey as examples of prime beef investors.

"Being in control of the start of the beef supply chain is a great place to be if protein is going to be increasingly in short supply," Whitehead said of Australia's beef industry.

"Investors, too, are starting to look for industries that can't be disrupted. You can disrupt banks, hotels, media, taxis and property, but how do you disrupt Australian beef?"

"So it follows that if you are a billionaire, it is obvious that you will never lose your money by buying and investing in Australian cattle properties. It's a great project and space to be in."

Harold Mitchell, a prominent Australian beef investor, told News Corp that unlike the mining boom, after which demand for resources dropped, it was highly unlikely that a demand for basic proteins such as beef would subside, instead predicting that demand would continue to rise for decades to come, even if prices come down when supply catches up with demand.

"I've been a great supporter of the industry and still think it has a long way to go. There will always be a shortage of protein in a growing world," he said.

"The China trade is just starting to take off and the U.S. has had so much demand for our hamburger meat; but things are changing fast and we are right at a point where the price of stock is so high that I fear a (price) collapse is coming."

He said if Australian suppliers could breed more beef cattle, Australia would be able to meet the demands for both local and overseas consumers for decades in the future.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 14:07:14|Editor: An

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YANGON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for Sunday and Monday in Beijing, the Myanmar Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.

This will be Aung San Suu Kyi's second trip to China since her National League for Democracy took power in April 2016.

Located on the routes of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Myanmar is key partner of China under the Belt and Road Initiative, which envisions trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes over land and sea.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 14:07:16|Editor: liuxin

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SYDNEY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Victoria Police have been granted the power to collect DNA from convicted sex offenders without a warrant, it was announced Thursday.

The Victorian government announced sweeping changes to the Sex Offenders Registration Act with the intention of constructing a database of the DNA and fingerprints of all convicted sex offenders in Victoria.

Lisa Neville, Victoria's Police Minister, said the changes were to ensure that those who posed "some of the greatest risks" to society were "properly monitored at very intensive levels."

"Anyone who is convicted as a sex offender will be compelled to provide their DNA and fingerprints to police so that they're kept on record whilst they remain a sex offender in Victoria," Neville told reporters on Thursday.

"It's all about giving them (police) the powers they need to really properly and efficiently monitor sex offenders in our community."

Police will also be granted the powers to search sex offenders and their homes to ensure they were keeping up with their parole obligations.

Previously, police were forced to provide a level of evidence in order to get a court order to collect the DNA or fingerprints.

Neville said the laws would apply to any sex offender in Victoria, including those who have been convicted overseas or interstate.

Anyone convicted of torturing children will also be automatically added to the sex offenders register.

Cases involving teenagers who are on the register because of "sexting" cases or those who were in consenting relationships with a partner younger than 16 can now apply to be made exempt from the register.

Neville said the new powers put Victoria in the position of having the "most robust sex offenders scheme possible."

"These new laws make sure that no stone will be left unturned by Victoria Police, as they work to keep the community safe from sexual offenders."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 14:42:57|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in here on Thursday.

Congratulating Moon on his election as South Korean president, Xi said that China and South Korea are close neighbors as well as important players in the region.

Since the two countries established diplomatic relations 25 years ago, their ties have achieved enormous achievements that deserve to be cherished, Xi said.

Both sides should respect each other's major concerns and legitimate interests and try best to seek common ground and handle disputes properly, Xi said.

He also expressed the hope that the new South Korean government could be mindful of China's major concerns, and take concrete actions to secure a steady and healthy development of bilateral ties.

Stronger China-South Korea relations serves the common interests of both peoples, and are conducive to regional peace, stability and development, Xi said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 14:53:02|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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Photo taken on Sept. 8, 2016 shows a CR Express cargo train leaving for Antwerp, Belgium, at Shuangzhai Railway Logistics Center in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai Province. The first China-Europe CR Express cargo train from Tibet Plateau, carrying featured products like wolfberry fruit and Tibetan carpets, will arrive its destination in Europe after 12-day travel. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

by Liang Xizhi, Zhai Wei, Deng Qian

LONDON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The progress of Belt and Road Initiative has drawn a clear outline of the prospect of win-win cooperation between "Chinese Dream" and "European Dream."

As the China-European cargo trains reach more European countries, China-Europe cooperation should also be taken into consideration in the long run.

After the start of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has enhanced cooperation with Europe, and Europe's view on China is also quietly changing.

As Chinese stories are told in Europe, China's opportunities are also widely shared in Europe. The China-European cargo trains not only ship Chinese products to the rest of the world, but also bring back a lot of European products to China.

While German auto parts, British maternal and child products, Spanish red wine, and Polish milk powder are brought to the Chinese market, China's funds also meet the urgent need to revive the European economy.

From Chinese products to Chinese opportunities, the China-European cargo trains, as the symbol of China's rapid economic development, have brought more benefits to the people of countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

China's cargo trains have attracted European countries along the Belt and Road. Britain said it is willing to be the hub of the Belt and Road in the West. Poland believed that it can become the window of the Belt and Road. Germany also wants to be an important partner to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative.

As a saying goes in Europe, a single tree cannot block the chilly wind. China is vigorously promoting the Belt and Road Initiative in a bid to explore more opportunities for cooperation with other countries, achieve mutual complementarity and win-win cooperation, and seek common development and prosperity on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

The principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefit of the Belt and Road Initiative has released China's opportunities to a greater degree and won a wide recognition in European society.

Since 2016, China and the European Union (EU) have been working actively on aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with the EU's "Juncker Plan" -- a 315-billion-euro (343-billion-U.S. dollar) investment scheme championed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in 2014 to boost private investment in European infrastructure projects.

Together they will provide broad areas of bilateral cooperation in various fields including transportation, energy, digital economy and help the European economy find new sources of growth.

The development of China and Europe is crucial to the world. As the world's two major economies, China and Europe cannot develop well without a stable global economy, to which the sustainable growth of the Chinese and European economies is a contribution.

China and Europe's deepening cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative is not only conducive to finding a new impetus for their own economies, but also help solve regional economic imbalances and bring greater prosperity to global economic development.

Against the current trend of anti-globalization in the world, the Belt and Road Initiative promotes the principle of win-win cooperation and shared benefits for all, which has won responses and recognition from more and more countries in the world.

No matter how the world situation changes, China's commitment to open and inclusive development will not change.

China's development needs Europe and vice versa. The Belt and Road Initiative is bringing the "Chinese dream" and "European dram" together.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 15:18:12|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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RIO DE JANEIRO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday denied accusations that he took bribes from construction company OAS.

Lula is accused of receiving as bribes a fancy apartment in the beach town of Guaruja in Sao Paulo state. According to the prosecution, the apartment was completely renovated in order to be used by the former president.

In a testimony, Lula denied owning the property. He is not listed as the owner, and neither are any members of his family. Lula said his only connection with the apartment was that he was a potential buyer. He considered purchasing the property, but ultimately decided against it.

After testifying in the southern city of Curitiba, he spoke to thousands of supporters and reiterated his willingness to testify as many times as necessary to state his innocence.

"If there is a Brazilian, a human being who is seeking the truth, it is me," he said.

The case against Lula carries much political weight as Lula has expressed intention to run for president next year. Lula is a favorite in all opinion polls so far.

In addition, the reforms being carried out by the administration of President Michel Temer are unpopular among voters. Temer has an extremely low approval rate, even lower than that of his predecessor Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached from office.

The public rejection to Temer's projects may work in Lula's favor. The bribe-taking allegations serve as the best chance his opponents can keep him out of the race.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 15:18:14|Editor: Mengjie

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SHENYANG, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A 395-strong Chinese peacekeeping force is set to begin missions in Mali on behalf of the United Nations before the end of May.

The troops will be sent to the West African country in two batches, where they will stay for one year.

The troops include military engineers, security personnel and medical staff. This is the fifth Chinese peacekeeping force to be sent to Mali.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 15:33:23|Editor: xuxin

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ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Thursday said that a civilian was killed and two others injured when Indian forces shelled different villages in Pakistan-administered Kashmir overnight.

The Foreign Ministry said that "ceasefire violations" by India continued along the line of control (LoC) in Tandar, Sabzkot, Khuiratta, Baron, Bagsar and Khanjar Sectors in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"The firing resulted in Shahadat (martyrdom) of Rizwan and critical injuries to two, including one woman Wilayat Bibi and Abdul Aziz," the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Nafees Zakaria said on his official Twitter.

"We condemn Indian acts of deliberate targeting of civilians," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, police in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir told local media that a mortar shell landed in a house in Sabzkot village at about 2 a.m., killing one and injuring two others while they were asleep.

Police in Kotli district said that Sabzkot village, where the Indian shelling caused casualties, is located in the closest proximity of Charhoi sector in Kotli district.

Pakistani officials said it is the second time in five days the Indian cross-LoC shelling caused casualties on the Pakistani side of Kashmir. On May 7, Indian firing injured at least four civilians along the LoC, according to the Pakistan army.

Pakistan and India declared ceasefire along the LoC in 2003. However, both sides occasionally trade fire. Both accuse each other of ceasefire violation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 15:43:30|Editor: xuxin

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SARI PUL, Afghanistan, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Eight Taliban militants were killed after Afghan army personnel launched a cordon and search operation in the country's northern province of Sari Pul, an army source said on Thursday.

"Some five militants were also injured during the clashes in the raid which was launched in surrounding areas of Sayyad district Wednesday. But no civilian or army soldier were hurt during the operation," a press officer of army's Corps 209 Shaheen based in the region told Xinhua.

The security forces also confiscated 11 motorcycles following the operation in the province, 350 km north of Afghan capital Kabul, the source added.

The mountainous province has been the scene of heavy clashes between Taliban and security forces over the past couple of months.

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| 2017-05-11 15:53:13|Editor: xuxin

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BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is scheduled to arrive here Thursday for a state visit and the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Following are some facts about Mirziyoyev:

Mirziyoyev was born in Jizzakh region, Uzbekistan, in July 1957. He graduated from the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Melioration in 1981 and worked there.

Trained as a mechanical engineer, he began his political career in 1992. He served as governor of Jizzakh and later governor of Samarkand region.

In December 2003, he was appointed the country's prime minister and served until December 2016.

On Sept. 8, 2016, he was appointed acting president by the Supreme Assembly after the death of long-time leader Islam Karimov. On Dec. 5, 2016, he was elected president.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 16:03:19|Editor: xuxin

Han Song Ryol (R), vice foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), speaks during a briefing in Pyongyang, DPRK, on May 11, 2017. DPRK said Thursday it will bring to justice the "terror suspects" involved in what the country alleged was an assassination plot against its top leader Kim Jong Un. (Xinhua/Cheng Dayu)

PYONGYANG, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Thursday it will bring to justice the "terror suspects" involved in what the country alleged was an assassination plot against its top leader Kim Jong Un.

"The Central Prosecutor's Office will ask for the handover of those criminals and prosecute them under the relevant laws of the country," Han Song Ryol, vice foreign minister of the DPRK, told foreign diplomats and reporters here.

"Korean-style anti-terror war" will be launched immediately and in a "consecutive and intensive way" against the United States and South Korea, whom Pyongyang has accused of sponsoring the murder, the official added without elaborating.

The DPRK said last week it had foiled an attempt by the United States and South Korean intelligence services to assassinate Kim with bio-chemical and radio-active substances during his public appearances in mass celebrations on April 15, the day when the DPRK marked the birth anniversary of its founder Kim Il Sung.

The DPRK's Ministry of State Security said in a statement that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) had infiltrated a terrorist group into the DPRK to carry out the assassination plan, which was hatched in nearly two years' time.

In response, Kim ordered a team to carry out the top secret arrest mission this year, according to the DPRK authorities.

It is not known how many people have been arrested in the case so far, but the DPRK has vowed to "hunt down to the last one of the suspects in every corner of the earth."

Pyongyang has arrested two American citizens recently for alleged "hostile activities" against the country. It is not known if the arrests were relevant to the case.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 16:23:28|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to face up to history during the first telephone conversation between the two leaders.

Senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan told a press conference Thursday that Moon held the phone conversation with Abe for about 25 minutes in the afternoon.

During the phone conversation, Moon said Japan should face up to history in order not to make historical issues become an obstacle to the two countries going toward the mature and cooperative relations.

The two countries, Moon said, should deal with the issues in earnest, according to the press secretary.

Moon said the majority of South Koreans did not accept the agreement on comfort women victims "emotionally," referring to the Dec. 28, 2015 agreement reached "finally and irreversibly" between the two nations.

The comfort women is a euphemism for women who was forced into sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The South Korean victims in their 80s and 90s and civic group activists protested against the agreement as Abe has yet to sincerely apologize and compensate for the wartime crime against humanity.

During the talks with Abe, Moon expressed his hope to wisely overcome the historical issues, including the comfort women issue, in developing the bilateral ties, urging Abe to inherit and respect past declarations made by former Japanese leaders that showed heartfelt apology and repent over Japan's wartime atrocities.

Regarding the comfort women issue, Abe anticipated to steadily implement the agreement as a base to build the future-oriented relations between the two countries, confirming his basic principle.

Separately from the historical issues, Moon said it would be necessary for South Korea and Japan to make efforts to tackle the issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear and missile programs.

The two leaders agreed to hold a summit meeting as early as possible.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 16:33:33|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in here on Thursday.

Congratulating Moon on his election as South Korean president, Xi said that China and South Korea are close neighbors as well as important players in the region.

Since the two countries established diplomatic relations 25 years ago, their ties have witnessed enormous achievements that deserve to be cherished, Xi said.

Both sides should respect each other's legitimate interests and try best to seek common ground and handle disputes properly, Xi said.

He also expressed the hope that the new South Korean government would be mindful of China's major concerns, and take concrete actions to secure a steady and healthy development of bilateral ties.

Stronger China-South Korea relations serve the common interests of both peoples, and are conducive to regional peace, stability and development, Xi said.

He reiterated that the Chinese side has long stuck to the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, safeguarding the Peninsula's peace and stability, and solving problems through dialogue and negotiation.

For his part, Moon said South Korea attaches great importance to its relations with China, and is willing to work with the Chinese side to develop bilateral ties and push forward their strategic cooperative partnership.

He said he fully understands the major concerns of China and will negotiate with the Chinese side to seek a solution.

South Korea is willing to work with China to realize the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through measures such as restarting the six-party talks as early as possible, the new president said.

South Korea is highly appreciative of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, and expects it to bring prosperity to countries and regions along its routes, including South Korea and China, Moon said.

Both leaders agreed to maintain contact and meet at an early date.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 16:38:35|Editor: Mengjie

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SEOUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in will send special envoys to China to discuss issues concerning the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a senior presidential press secretary said here on Thursday.

Yoon Young-chan told a press conference here on Thursday that President Moon would dispatch separate delegations to discuss THAAD and the DPRK's nuclear program with their Chinese counterparts, although the two issues will be dealt with together.

Yoon said the dispatches were mentioned during the first telephone conversation between Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping which lasted for 40 minutes beginning at about noon.

Xi has congratulated Moon on his election win and the two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys as soon as possible, according to Yoon.

During the phone conversation, the two leaders discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including the Korean Peninsula and the DPRK's nuclear program, Yoon said.

Xi and Moon agreed to meet face-to-face at the earliest possible date, while re-affirming their common goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

During the phone dialogue, Moon advocated a two-track approach of pressure and sanctions toward the DPRK to resolve the country's nuclear issue in a comprehensive, staged way.

Moon said the ultimate goal of sanctions was to bring the DPRK to the dialogue table to abolish its nuclear program.

On Wednesday night, Moon held his first phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump and talked about the Peninsula situations. Trump officially invited Moon to the United States.
Xinhua| 2017-05-11 16:58:14|Editor: Tian Shaohui

Nurse Liu Xiangda talks with a patient's family member in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Zhengzhou Central Hospital in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, May 9, 2017. Liu, 25, is one of the over 70 male nurses working in the hospital. The number of registered nurses in China reached 3.5 million at the end of 2016, according to the latest statistics ahead of International Nurses Day, which falls on May 12. (Xinhua/Li Bo)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 16:54:08|Editor: xuxin

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ANKARA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned on Thursday Germany's decision to accept asylum applications of some former military personnel affiliated with the Gulen Movement.

In a statement, the ministry "condemned regretfully" Germany for putting bilateral relations at risk.

Germany's decision to accept Gulen members is contradict to the spirit of alliance and will damage multidimensional relations, the statement said.

According to the statement, Germany has disregarded democratic principles by welcoming Gulen-linked coup perpetrators.

Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based preacher, is accused by the Turkish government of orchestrating the 2016 failed coup attempt.

The Turkish government has launched a massive crackdown on Gulen's supporters in the aftermath of the coup attempt.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 16:59:13|Editor: xuxin

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SYDNEY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- After a series of tragic drownings, a new initiative has been launched in Sydney on Thursday, aimed at keeping migrants safe on Australian shores.

Sydney's eastern beaches are some of the country's most popular attractions for tourists and locals alike but can also be extremely dangerous with one of the highest rates of drowning in the state.

With migrants significantly overrepresented in a recent spate of drownings, calls for more targeted water safety programs have been growing from all sections of the public.

So Surf Lifesaving and community groups in eastern Sydney's iconic Tamarama Beach invited new migrants from China, Russia, Iraq, India, Vietnam and more, to learn about beach safety.

The event saw migrants put into groups with lifesavers and rock fishing experts to help them stay safe while making the most of Australia's famous beach culture.

George Mannah, community relations manager for the New South Wales Government Department of Primary Industries, told Xinhua that people need to be vigilant of all activities when they're near water, even if they aren't swimming.

"The number of drownings is just too high," Mannah said, "We see that migrants from the Asian community in particular love rock fishing and most of the deaths are from people of that background."

"Education is the solution to preventing drowning, the message is that safety is key and also, don't go where you don't have any experience."

Rock fishing is considered to be one of Australia's most dangerous sports, with the majority of deaths happening in the state of New South Wales (NSW).

The potentially deadly recreational activity even sparked its own coronial inquiry, after it became the leading cause of coastal drownings, claiming almost 70 lives in just 5 years.

After the inquiry, new regulations were introduced, slapping rock fishers who don't wear life jackets with fines.

"You can't ban rock fishing, we just have to share the knowledge about being vigilant and knowing the proper procedures," Malcolm Poole, safety officer for Recreational Fishing NSW, explained.

"It's important that new migrants understand all the basics of living in Australia, including all the things required for daily life, if they want to participate in beach culture, they need to know the proper safety procedures too."

"It's a bit of a learning curve because maybe people don't know all the safety rules, whether it's at the beach or on a rock platform, so we hope that today's activity will have a flow on effect. People here will tell their friends, who will also tell their friends."

Jing Zhou, who arrived in Sydney from China in 2013, was one of the participants who hopes to pass on the message about safety to her friends and colleagues.

"I like to go to the beach occasionally and it's very clear that safety is so important and we can't ignore it," she insisted.

"All my friends really do try to obey the rules, so it's just important that we understand them and are told them clearly."

The lifesavers from Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club are committed to getting to message out and overcoming any language barriers, so that everyone can enjoy Australia's beaches safely.

Safety signs and education programs are available in a variety of languages, such as Chinese, Arabic and Indonesian.

Adriana Gervais is a lifesaver for Surf Life Saving New South Wales and has seen firsthand the tragic impact a lack of understanding about safety rules can have.

"People need to be aware of the dangers, so the focus is on getting the message out, in any language and making sure that safety is always the number one focus," Gervais said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 17:08:57|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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NEW DELHI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- With arms wide open, Sugreev Singh was pouring tea back and forth between two pots. The brownish milky fluid drew a smooth arch in the air as it ran from one pot to the other.

Singh, a "chai wala" or tea seller, was performing alone in a stall in New Deli, capital of India. Business was good, but he rarely had to stop to collect money. Most customers just scanned a code on the stall and transferred money with their mobile phones.

Less than a year ago, Singh, like most Indians, knew nothing about mobile payment.

What is less known is that India's leapfrog from cash to mobile payment, skipping debit and credit cards, was made possible through cooperation with China's e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Now more than 200 million Indians, most of whom don't even have a bank account, are paying with their mobile phones.

COPY FROM CHINA

In early 2016, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Indian e-commerce company PayTM, or Pay Through Mobile, had an eye-opening trip to China.

Strolling on the streets of Hangzhou, east China, Sharma was surprised to see QR codes everywhere. A QR code is a cryptic matrix of barcodes that contain scannable information.

Sharma saw almost every shop, vendor or parlor had a QR code printed on a slip of paper. People, many of whom walk around without any cash or credit card, are so used to paying by scanning the code with a mobile phone.

At the moment, PayTM hit a bottleneck in rolling out digital payment in India as they had to provide business owners with costly machines to collect money. Sharma and his engineers had never thought that a code on a piece of paper could do the trick.

Sharma then copied this business mode to India with the help of PayTM's business partner Ant Financial, a subsidiary of Alibaba, whose Alipay is one of the most popular mobile wallets in China.

Sharma wouldn't have expected that the cooperation put him in the best place to benefit most from India's upcoming financial reform.

In November, the Indian government decided to scrap 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes, removing four-fifths of the country's paper money. The move was designed to curb corruption. But it had the side effect of catapulting India's transition to digital payment, such as mobile wallets.

"We happened to have the technology, the talents and the money" when the policy came out, Sharma said. The number of PayTM's users exploded, ranking it as the top mobile wallet in India and among the top four in the world.

As more Chinese high-tech companies become globally known and respected, they are gaining followers throughout the world, especially in developing countries who import their business modes and technologies to copy their success in local markets.

Before, some say China copy from Silicon. Now Silicon is learning from China, especially Chinese mobile Internet technologies, Sharma said.

ONLINE SILK ROAD

In the 13th century, Marco Polo was impressed by the use of paper money in China and brought the idea to Europe. More than 700 years later, Sharma was amazed by the extensive use of mobile wallet in China and copied the business to India.

The mobile wallet Sharma brought back cushioned the impact of India's cash ban on the economy. More importantly, it provided much needed financial service to millions of Indian people. India has 1.3 billion people but only 24.51 million credit cards and 661.8 million debit cards.

Insufficient financial service is not a problem unique to India but a common issue in developing countries.

Ant Financial is trying to bring their success in India to other developing countries. It has reached agreement on cooperation with leading digital payment companies in Thailand and the Philippines.

By promoting digital payment, Ant Financial is paving way for an online silk road where people can easily order and pay for products and services from not only the local market but also other parts of the world, said Jia Hang, a director of Ant Financial's international branch.

The driving force of Ant Financial's operation overseas is its leading technologies. The company aims at bringing cutting-edge digital payment technologies to India, Thailand, the Philippines and other countries, CEO of Ant Financial Jing Xiandong said.

In the past few years, China has emerged as the world's largest e-commerce market with annual transactions amounting to more than 20 trillion yuan (2.9 trillion U.S. dollars). The sheer scale and unprecedented comple

ty of transactions forced Chinese digital payment companies to innovate and improve at a breathtaking pace.

As a result, Chinese companies developed some of the most reliable technologies in risk control, cheat-proof and anti-money laundering systems for digital payment, saving years of research and development for local partners, Jia said.
File photo taken on May 8, 2015 shows that then UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres (2nd L) is welcomed by Somali refugees at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

MOGADISHU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for increased humanitarian response and further funding to help avert looming famine in Somalia.

In a statement issued on the eve of the London Somalia Conference, Guterres called for strengthening of the partnership between the international community, Somalia government and humanitarian partners to prevent famine.

"Thanks to early generous funding provided by countries across the globe, we have managed to avert a famine so far. But the level of suffering is unimaginable and we fear the worst," he said in a statement released in Mogadishu.

The Horn of Africa nation is facing a prolonged drought which has left 6.7 million people which is more than half the population of the country, in need of humanitarian assistance.

The situation continues to deteriorate and the possibility of famine in 2017 remains very real, despite an already massive scale-up of assistance since the beginning of the year.

The UN chief and Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed will present a revised humanitarian response plan to prevent famine in Somalia, to international partners at the London Somalia Conference on Thursday.

The revised plan seeks 1.5 billion U.S. dollars to reach 5.5 million people with life-saving assistance in 2017.

In response to the early alarm that Somalia is at risk of famine, donors have generously provided 672 million dollars since the beginning of the year, leaving a gap of 875 million dollars.

Refugees gather to watch UN High Commissioner for Refugee Antonio Guterres' visiting delegation at Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya, May 8, 2015. Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp in northeastern Kenya, currently houses some 350,000 people. For more than 20 years, it has been home to generations of Somalis who have fled their homeland wracked by conflicts. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

According to UN, over 680,000 people have been displaced due to drought in Somalia since November 2016, bringing the total number to 1.8 million.

Major disease outbreaks are spreading, with over 36,000 cases of acute watery diarrhea (AWD)/cholera and 7,000 cases of suspected measles so far this year. Acute malnutrition is increasing in most parts of the country.

"With the resources received thus far, there has been a massive scale-up of the response and millions of people at risk of starvation and disease are being reached with assistance and protection," said the UN.

It said further funding is still required to reach millions of people in urgent need of assistance as the current rainy season is expected to produce below-normal harvest.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 18:30:22|Editor: xuxin

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BRUSSELS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Council of the European Union (EU) on Thursday adopted a regulation granting visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens.

Under the regulation, Ukrainian citizens holding a biometric passport can travel to the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days, but they are not allowed to work or reside in EU countries.

The go-ahead of visa-free travel came on the back of "necessary reforms" conducted by Ukraine in a number of areas including "migration, public order and security, external relations and fundamental rights," according to Carmelo Abela, Maltese minister for home affairs and national security, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

Echoing Abela, the European Commission hailed in a statement that "Ukraine has come a long way and today this is recognized and rewarded."

"Now it is important to sustain this progress. The European Union stands ready to continue providing support and assistance to the Ukrainian authorities in this endeavor," the Commission said.

"Visa-free travel to the Schengen area will soon become a reality -- it is an important and well-deserved moment for Ukraine and its citizens that will make our already close relations even stronger," it added.

After being signed by the Council and the European Parliament and published in the EU Official Journal, the regulations will take effect 20 days later.

The EU launched visa-free talks with Ukraine in October 2008, laying out a thicket of benchmarks Kiev should meet.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 18:45:37|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Trade volume between China and African countries surged 16.8 percent year on year in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 to 38.8 billion U.S. dollars as bilateral economic relations boomed, the commerce ministry said Thursday.

This was the first quarterly rebound in bilateral trade between China and Africa since 2015, with Chinese imports from Africa up 46 percent to 18.4 billion dollars, Sun Jiwen, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference.

Chinese exports to Africa declined 1 percent year on year to 20.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first three months of this year, compared with an 18 percent drop in the same period last year, he said.

Sun attributed the growth to the implementation of ten major China-Africa cooperation plans raised at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2015, which included interest-free loans and preferential policies.

In Q1, Chinese enterprises made more than 750 million U.S. dollars of non-financial direct investment to African countries, up 64 percent year on year, Sun said, adding that the two sides are expected to move towards a higher level of economic cooperation this year.

Bilateral trade between China and Africa stood at 149.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 18:50:15|Editor: xuxin

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LUSAKA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- One of the world's leading wildlife conservation bodies has launched a campaign aimed at sensitizing people in Zambia on the importance of sustainable management of water, a senior official said on Thursday.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Zambia office has launched the Journey of Water in order to raise awareness and create public demand for sustainable management of water resources in Zambia.

The campaign, launched on May 10, 2017, will focus on one of the country's biggest rivers, the Kafue River, which passes through four of the country's 10 provinces in order to highlight the route water passes.

The campaign will highlight the importance of the river which sustains about nine percent of the country's population through fishing and farming activities and provides about 44 percent of all water in Lusaka, the country's capital as well as 45 percent of the country's electricity generation.

"This campaign is aimed at reconnecting people to the real source of water- nature- reminding us that 'water does not come from a tap'," Eneya Phiri, WWF Head of Communications and Marketing said.

He said it was unfortunate that people take for granted the significance of water, especially the journey it takes from its source to people's homes.

The wildlife conservation body has since urged Zambians to be responsible custodians of water given the fundamental importance of the water in everyday life.

Despite having abundant water resources, Zambia still faces challenges with 4.8 million citizens still without access to clean water.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 19:00:51|Editor: ying

Jin Liqun (C), president of the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) attends a press conference ahead of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 11, 2017. Deep cooperation between the public and private sectors is crucial to narrow the infrastructure gap in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), experts agreed in a session at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Thursday. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The World Economic Forum on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) kicked off here in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, for the first time on Thursday, focusing on ASEAN's economic connectivity and ASEAN's youth dividend.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen opened the two-day forum, which brought together Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun and over 700 participants from 40 countries and regions.

"This event is happening along the celebration of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN establishment that provides an excellent platform for all national, regional and international stakeholders to discuss and exchange views on emerging trends related to ASEAN and changing global context, ASEAN's economic connectivity and ASEAN's youth dividend," Hun Sen said.

"I believe that our discussion will be vigorous and realistic in providing policy choices, and implementable measures and practical projects for the long-term interests of ASEAN," he added.

The World Economic Forum was established in 1971 as a non-profit foundation with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The forum holds annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland, but also convenes regional meetings each year across Africa, Europe, Latin America and ASEAN.

Last year, the World Economic Forum on ASEAN was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 19:05:56|Editor: Mengjie

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LANZHOU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Mao Xiaobing, a former high-ranking official from northwest China's Qinghai Province, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for taking bribes and embezzling public funds.

The Intermediate People's Court in the city of Lanzhou found that Mao, former member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China Qinghai Provincial Committee, had accepted bribes worth over 104 million yuan (15 million U.S. dollars) and embezzled 400 million yuan in public funds.

Mao was also deprived of his political rights, his personal property will be confiscated and illicit gains will be turned over to the state treasury, according to the court sentence.

The court verdict said that between 1995 and 2013, Mao took advantage of his various official positions to seek benefits regarding project contracts, stock acquisitions, purchasing and sales of products and real estate developments on behalf of others.

In exchange, he extorted or accepted money or gifts from companies and individuals.

The court also found that in 2006, Mao had taken advantage of his post and embezzled public funds for other businesses.

The court said that in deciding the sentence, they took into consideration that Mao had extorted bribes, which deserves harsher punishment, but also that he had confessed, shown remorse, cooperated in returning illegal gains and provided information about other people's violations during the investigation, facts that may warrant leniency.

Mao said that he will not appeal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 19:15:44|Editor: xuxin

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Night Safari's baby elephant Neha gets health check by a keeper ahead of her first birthday, in Singapore, on May 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)

SINGAPORE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Baby Asian elephant Neha at Singapore's Night Safari have an early celebration on Thursday on the eve of her first birthday.

The calf weighs 527 kg and can respond to about 10 instructions, according to Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS).

WRS said young elephants between one to eight years old are at high risk of contracting Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus.

"Currently there is no vaccination available, and medication only serves to suppress the growth of the virus. Death frequently occurs within one to two days of the first visible signs, and early diagnosis and treatment are critical to survival," WRS said.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has listed Asian elephants as endangered and threatened species.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 19:21:11|Editor: xuxin

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STOCKHOLM, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A man was shot dead in broad daylight at a nearby school north of Gothenburg, Sweden, Thursday morning.

Police in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city, were called to Lovgardesskolan middle school in the Angered district around 9 a.m. with reports of a shooting.

They quickly confirmed that a man had been shot to death, Swedish public television broadcaster SVT reported.

"There are supposed to be two shooters and a third in the getaway car," Thomas Fuxborg, press officer with the Gothenburg police, the report said.

Police said they have identified the victim as a local man in his 30s, it said.

A preliminary murder investigation has been initiated.

Many people witnessed the crime, including school children, police said.

The shooting occurred right outside Lovgardesskolan, a middle school for grades four to nine with about 380 students. There, administrators kept the children inside and locked the doors.

"We are keeping the children inside," Marie Ahman, head of communication with the Angered district administration, told SVT.

Gothenburg is located on the west coast with a population of about 550,000 in the urban area and 1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area. It has become notorious in recent years for gang-related violence. Twenty-six people have been shot dead and there have been about 200 shootings since 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 19:31:17|Editor: Mengjie

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ROME, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Wednesday that Italy is "enormously interested" in China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which envisions a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

The Italian leader made the remarks in an interview with Rome-based Chinese media prior to attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing on May 14-15.

Gentiloni called the Belt and Road Initiative "perhaps the most important infrastructure modernization project underway in the world today."

"Bringing the Chinese economy closer through this gigantic infrastructural operation is enormously interesting to Italy, not only for our government but also for our universities and public and private businesses," Gentiloni said.

For Italy it's not just looking to become a trade and logistical destination for the contemporary Silk Road, but also about participating in large-scale infrastructure projects in the countries along the Silk Road.

"As a country we've been capable of building large-scale infrastructure, roads, and public works for thousands of years -- in this aspect we are somewhat similar to China," Gentiloni said.

"So we like to put these strengths together," the prime minister said.

Italy used to be the destination for traders along the ancient Silk Road, and the Mediterranean country expects to become an active partner in the contemporary version of the ancient trade route that China has proposed.

Gentiloni believes the Belt and Road Initiative could make Italy's ports into new terminals for international trade.

"We are convinced that to this day, Italy continues to be an ideal destination for the Belt and Road Initiative, especially as far as the southern link by sea," he said.

Emphasizing Italy is a country that connects Europe and Africa, Gentiloni noted that the Chinese economy is very interested in fostering relations with both Europe and Africa.

Italy is also looking to "possibilities for joint investments with China and other partners in the various countries -- I'm thinking of Pakistan, for example -- along the Belt and Road route," Gentiloni added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 20:21:47|Editor: xuxin

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WELLINGTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Around 10,000 New Zealanders in need of warm and safe housing will be provided short-term accommodation at transitional places the government has secured ahead of winter, Social Housing Minister Amy Adams said on Thursday.

"With winter approaching, the demand for warm, safe housing will peak. We are focused on having a significant number of housing places available for those who need it," said Adams.

While the strong housing market in Auckland has made finding new places challenging, Adams said progress has been made to deliver 621 houses in the country's biggest city by winter, which will support nearly 2,500 Auckland families a year.

In 2016, New Zealand government set aside 354 million NZ dollars (240.7 million U.S. dollars) to secure 2,150 transitional houses nationwide, which will assist 8,600 families every year. This is the first time transitional housing has received ongoing, direct funding from the government.

"It's important that, during times of need, vulnerable New Zealanders have a warm, dry place to stay while they get back on their feet," she said.

Adams said the 8,600 transitional housing places are just one part of the plan to support New Zealanders in need of housing, from urgent shelter to long-term social housing, adding that efforts will be made to increase the number of social houses from 66,000 at present to 72,000 over the next three years.

People living in emergency housing are able to stay for an average of 12 weeks. They will also receive support for up to a further 12 weeks once they move into more sustainable accommodation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 20:37:00|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China is determined to gain some ground on its key battlefield -- addressing industrial overcapacity.

The phasing out of sub-standard production capacity will continue, especially steel and iron, coal-mining and coal-fired power plants, so that the targets set for the year can and will be achieved, said a statement released after a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday.

By the end of June, all facilities to produce inferior-quality steel bars will be dismantled across the whole country. All coal mines scheduled to close this year will be so by the end of November, as agreed by the attendees of the meeting, which was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

As excess capacity has weighed on China's overall economic performance, cutting overcapacity is high on the reform agenda. In 2016, China completed both its annual targets for coal and steel capacity reduction ahead of schedule.

The government work report this year stated that China will continue to cut overcapacity in bloated sectors, with targets to slash steel production capacity by around 50 million tonnes and coal by at least 150 million tonnes this year.

As of Wednesday, 31.7 million tonnes of steel and iron capacity and 68.97 million tonnes of coal capacity had been cut, accounting for 63.4 percent and 46 percent of their annual goals respectively.

While the government scored an initial win, there were a few setbacks and the battle is far from over.

The enthusiasm for the drive is waning with rising demand for steel and coal, difficulty in relocating former employees and digesting the debt, according to Feng Qiaobin with the Chinese Academy of Governance.

China's steel mills have reported good profits since this year as speculators have splurged on higher prices after the government pledged to increase spending on infrastructure construction.

In addition, bowing to government pressure, some firms could just halt production temporarily to meet their assigned tasks, instead of seriously eliminating capacity. Reports of unofficial production in steel and coal have already emerged due to the recent price rallies.

From glut to dearth, the sharp turn of events saw some economists questioning whether policy-driven capacity reductions, despite the short-term miraculous effects, would work in the long run.

Global ratings agency Fitch said in a recent report that China's steel and coal capacity cut targets were tough to hit given the incentive for companies to voluntarily close mines and factories has weakened as prices have recovered and profitability has improved.

The government is well aware of the situation and is committed to allowing the market more say, with the responsibilities of the government and the market more clearly defined.

Wednesday's State Council meeting resulted in an agreement to adopt more methods based on market rules and related laws while phasing out outdated capacities. It also decided to eliminate illegal production facilities and prevent those that have been shutdown from opening again.

Capacity cuts also mean that less taxes are collected by local authorities -- resulting in job losses across the board. Without the intervention of the central authorities, local authorities would be very reluctant to do what is needed, said Feng.

To strike a balance, Feng suggested the market should be responsible for the capacity reductions, while the government should handle the reemployment of redundant workers.

Indeed, the attendees of the State Council meeting stressed that relocating redundant employees was a priority and they would be offered financial support from the government to help them find new employment and guarantee their basic living needs.

In 2016, the central government spent over 30 billion yuan (4.4 billion U.S. dollars) providing aid to 726,000 employees affected by the downsizing of the steel and coal industries.

China plans to assist 500,000 workers made redundant during its capacity cuts in steel and coal sectors this year.

Subsidies will go to employers that re-employ laid-off staff in other posts inside the company, and the government will offer free retraining.

Most important, the key of China's capacity-cuts drive is not simply closure of steel plants or coal mines, but lies in the nurturing of new impetus that will eventually lead to the overall restructuring of Chinese economy, said Dong Ximiao, researcher of Renmin University of China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 20:57:17|Editor: xuxin

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ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Thursday summoned a senior Indian diplomat and lodged protest over "unprovoked ceasefire violation" by the Indian forces that killed a civilian and injured two others, officials said.

The Foreign Ministry said Indian troops fired across the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region in the night of May 10 and May 11.

Head of the South Asian Desk in the Foreign Ministry Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, J.P. Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violation, a Foreign Ministry's statement said.

The Indian diplomat was informed that the Indian troops shelled Tandar, Subzkot, Khuiratta, Baroh, Bagsar and Khanjar sectors, resulting in the killing of one civilian and injuries to two others.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed condemnable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," the statement quoted the Pakistani official as telling the Indian diplomat.

Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC in 2003. However, both sides occasionally trade fire. Both accuse each other of ceasefire violation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 21:17:23|Editor: Mengjie

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TAIPEI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Preferential policies allowing Taiwan residents to work, study and travel on the Chinese mainland embodied the goodwill and sincerity of the Chinese mainland, Taiwan academics told Xinhua Thursday.

The Chinese mainland Wednesday published a series of preferential policies for Taiwan residents, including easier access to transportation, employment, education and legal services.

The move was welcomed by academics in Taiwan, who believed it would help promote peaceful communication and cross-Strait relations.

"Cross-Strait ties have been at a deadlock as the administration of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus," Wang Kunyi, professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies of Tamkang University, told Xinhua.

"However, these new measures showed that the Chinese mainland, has always and will continue to, adhere to the 1992 Consensus and promote people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, no matter which party holds power on the island," he said.

Ting Jen-fang, professor at the Graduate Institute of Political Economy of Cheng Kung University said not only would the new preferential policies improve the lives of Taiwan residents on the mainland, it would also increase their willingness to work and live there, and gain their support for peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Under the new measures, Taiwan residents can be employed in public institutions in six more provincial-level regions and Taiwan academics working on the mainland can apply for state-level research projects, including projects from the National Social Science Fund.

In addition, Taiwan residents can now purchase and collect tickets via self-service ticket machines in train stations in many major cities and provinces.

Lin Hsin-hsiung, Vice President of the Peace Research Center for the Cross-Strait at Shu-Te University, said these measures will have a positive impact on Taiwan residents, and therefore be good for cross-Strait relations.

"The measures are more targeted and detailed this time, with many serving a specific group or occupation. This means the Chinese mainland is opening its market to Taiwan, and more Taiwan residents are expected to benefit from it," Wang said.

In order to help Taiwan graduates from mainland higher education institutions find jobs, the Ministry of Education has told institutions to standardize enrollment regulations and protect the legal rights of Taiwan students, which Ting believed will open new doors for Taiwan graduates.

"Starting salaries for recent graduates in Taiwan are around 30,000 to 40,000 New Taiwan dollars (1,000 to 1,333 U.S. dollars), with very few opportunities in high-end industries. But if they go to the Chinese mainland, they will have a better chance at securing a higher paid job," he said.

"Preferential policies, such as more job opportunities in public institutions, offer Taiwan graduates a better quality of life and allow them to integrate into the Chinese mainland," Ting said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 21:32:35|Editor: An

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Zhang Dejiang (R), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), holds talks with Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia Patrick Matibini in Beijing, capital of China, May 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese top legislator Zhang Dejiang held talks with the Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia Patrick Matibini here on Thursday.

Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said China has valued its friendship with Zambia through the years.

China will work with Africa based on sincerity, real results, friendship and good faith as proposed by President Xi Jinping and implement the consensus reached by both presidents so as to realize win-win cooperation, said Zhang.

He said the NPC attaches high attention to developing ties with Zambian National Assembly and wish to lift the relationship to a new level.

Zhang proposed that both sides should consolidate political trust, strengthen exchanges at various levels and boost substantial cooperation.

China appreciates Zambia's support on issues regarding China's core interests such as Tibet and Xinjiang, Zhang said, vowing to support Zambia on a development path catered to its national conditions.

He called on the two countries' legislative bodies to enhance exchanges and share experience to create a sound policy and legal environment for trade.

Matibini hailed China's history and achievements, and applauded the solid friendship between Zambia and China which was built upon mutual respect, equality and benefit.

Zambia appreciates China's support and help, Matibini said, adding the Zambian National Assembly expects closer exchanges and cooperation between the two countries' legislative bodies.

Matibini is paying a visit to China from May 6 to 13 at the invitation of Zhang.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni receives an interview by Chinese media at Palazzo Chigi, official residence of the prime minister, in Rome, Italy, May 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Jinyu)

by Stefania Fumo

ROME, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has said that Italy and China had a lot to give each another in terms of tourism and cultural cooperation because they are both ancient civilizations "that strike the popular imagination."

The Italian prime minister made the remarks Wednesday in an interview with several Rome-based Chinese media outlets before attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

"I think cultural cooperation between our two countries has been extraordinarily positive overall, and I believe more steps forward can be made," Gentiloni said.

He said the culture ministries of both countries were working together on a number of projects, for example "the fact that Italy and China are the two countries in the world with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites."

"Ours are two civilizations that strike the popular imagination," he said, citing ancient Rome, the Renaissance, and the appeal of contemporary Italian culture, food, fashion, and design.

Gentiloni said there had been a significant growth in the number of Chinese tourists to Italy in the past ten years, something he hoped would continue to grow.

"All the premises are there to beat the already excellent records we have set," Gentiloni said.

"We are an open country, a safe country," Gentiloni added, citing recent joint Italian and Chinese police patrols in various Italian cities to guarantee the safety of Chinese tourists in the country.

The year 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and China, a milestone target that could be a good objective to multiply cultural cooperation as well as tourism.

On a more personal note, the Italian prime minister remembered his first ever visit to China in 1988, a honeymoon journey with his wife of almost 30 years, Italian architect Emanuela Mauro.

"We took Air China from Rome to Beijing in 1988," recalled Gentiloni vividly.

"As always, visits to countries so rich in history make a lasting impression -- it's one thing to see the Great Wall or the Terracotta Army of Xi'an in pictures, it's quite another to see them up close," he said, "it was a marvelous experience."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 22:02:53|Editor: Mengjie

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CHENGDU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has sent a congratulatory letter to the Global Business Incubation Summit, which opened in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on Thursday.

Saying business incubation is an important way to foster technological enterprises, accelerate transformation of scientific and technological achievements and advance innovation, the premier pledged to implement new development concepts, deepen the innovation-driven development strategy, create better environment for business incubation and nurture stronger new engines for economic development.

He also expressed willingness to cooperate with countries worldwide to inject new vitality into the world economy.

According to the premier, business incubation in China has helped over 400,000 start-up businesses and created jobs for more than two million people over the last 30 years.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 22:12:59|Editor: xuxin

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DAR ES SALAAM, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Thursday 131,000 tonnes of sugar will be imported this year to fill existing shortfall.

Majaliwa told the National Assembly in the political capital Dodoma that there was sugar deficit of 100,000 tonnes annually caused by poor production of the commodity.

He said only 320,000 tonnes of sugar were being produced by four local manufacturers annually against the east African nation's annual demand of 420,000 tonnes.

Majaliwa said sugar importation permits have been issued and 80,000 tonnes have already been ordered. 35,000 tonnes of the commodity have been imported and distributed to markets across the country, the second largest economy in East Africa.

"We are making plans to import even more sugar especially during the holy month of fasting for Muslims. There is no need for traders to hike prices of sugar because the commodity is available in the market," he said.

Majaliwa said the government was aware of problems facing local sugar manufacturers, adding that authorities have been in talks with them on the need to increase productivity to meet the country's demand.

Majaliwa told the House that plans were underway to establish new sugar factories in Mbigiri and Mkulazi areas in Morogoro region.

He said the Mbigiri factory will be constructed with assistance from the National Service while the factory in Mkolazi will be jointly constructed by pension funds and investors.

In February this year, the Sugar Board of Tanzania said the country planned to increase sugar production from the current 300,000 tonnes annually to 420,000 tonnes by 2020/2012.

Henry Semwaza, the Director General of Sugar Board of Tanzania, said the government directed sugar factories in the east African country to increase production of the commodity.

Semwaza was speaking at a meeting that brought together stakeholders in the sugar industry held in Morogoro region, home to two major sugar industries.

"We want our sugar factories to expand and construct new industries in order to increase production to at least to 420,000 tonnes by 2020/2021," he said.

Semwaza added: "Owners of sugar factories will be required to support small-scale sugarcane growers in order to increase production."

Tanzania's four sugar manufacturing factories are TPC in Kilimanjaro region, Kagera Sugar Limited in Kagera region, Mtibwa Sugar Limited and Kilombero Sugar Company in Morogoro region.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 22:13:07|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Thursday congratulated Alan Peter Cayetano on his appointment as Foreign Affairs Secretary of the Philippines.

Yang noted in his congratulatory message that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reached important consensus last year on improving and developing China-Philippines relations.

Since then, bilateral relations have been back on the right track of good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation, and cooperation between China and the Philippines has entered a new stage, yielding fruitful results in various areas, which is in the fundamental interests of the two countries as well as peoples of the two sides, Yang said.

Yang also expressed his willingness to work closely with Cayetano to jointly push forward the development of China-Philippines relations so as to benefit the peoples of the two countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 22:18:09|Editor: xuxin

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ADEN, Yemen, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Former pro-secesssion governor of the southern port city of Aden Major General Aidarous Zubaidi announced in a televised speech on Thursday the formation of a transitional political council to govern the southern Yemeni provinces.

The announcement comes weeks after dismissing the UAE-backed governor of Aden along with the State Minister Hani Bin Buraik from their posts in a presidential decree issued by Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on April 27.

The decree issued by Hadi caused public anger and strong resentment among southern Yemenis and led to huge pro-independence demonstrations in Aden and neighboring provinces.

The pro-secesssion transitional council declared by Aden's ex-governor in Aden, consists of 26 southern members mainly governors, prominent secessionist figures and tribal leaders.

An aide close to Aidarous Zubaidi who is the President of the southern political council told Xinhua by phone saying that "more steps will come after today's declaration and the members will represent southern Yemen internally and externally."

The sacked State Minister who had strong links with the UAE, governor of oil-rich southeastern province of Hadramout and four other southern governors are members of the council that would govern the south.

Tens of thousands of southern people demonstrated last week in Aden and showed support for both sacked officials Al-Zubaidi and Bin-Buraik who are considered as key leading figures of the southern anti-unity movement.

The newly-declared council will continue in working with the Saudi-led coalition in fighting Iranian-backed Houthis and will establish strong partnership with the international community in fighting terrorism in the southern provinces.

The southern port city of Aden, has been the contemporary capital of Hadi's government since 2014, when the Shiite Houthi group invaded the capital Sanaa militarily and forced him to flee to Aden and then to Saudi Arabia.

Observers said that the announcement of forming a transitional council that is going to govern Yemen's south is a major blow to Hadi's Saudi-backed government.

According to the observers, the pro-secesssion council shows real risk of country's fracture and weakness of the internationally-recognized government.

Hadi, who is currently in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, will face difficulties returning to Aden with the city under the control of the southern separatist forces.

Yemen has been suffering from a civil war and a Saudi-led military intervention for around two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with support from forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted the UN-backed transitional government and occupied the capital Sanaa militarily in September 2014.

The legitimate government controls the south and some eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls the remaining areas including the capital Sanaa.

The UN has sponsored peace talks between the warring factions several times, but they failed to reach common ground.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians. Such conflicts also injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over 2 million, according to humanitarian agencies.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 22:58:28|Editor: An

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds a welcome ceremony for Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, May 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks Thursday with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, and both agreed to boost bilateral all-round strategic cooperative partnership up to a new stage.

Xi recalled his meeting with Quang last November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima of Peru, in which they reached important consensus on deepening bilateral all-round strategic cooperation.

Xi invited Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, to visit China in January this year. Xi and Trong had in-depth exchanges on major issues of common concern, and clarified the direction of future China-Vietnam ties.

Xi said both sides should work closely to implement consensus reached by state leaders, cement cooperation in various areas, and boost their all-round strategic partnership to a new level.

"The two countries should boost maritime cooperation, accumulate consensus and expand common interests, and control their differences through dialogue," Xi said.

Quang agreed to properly handle disputes and step up bilateral maritime cooperation.

China firmly supports Vietnam's development path suitable to its national conditions, and will stick to a friendly policy towards Vietnam and facilitate sustained and stable growth of bilateral ties, Xi said.

He urged both sides to maintain high-level exchanges, keep timely contacts on bilateral relations and issues of common concern, and to adhere to the correct direction of bilateral relations.

Xi called on to make full use of the China-Vietnam steering committee on cooperation, combine their development strategies, accelerate the building of cross-border economic cooperation zones, and deepen cooperation in such areas as capacity, infrastructure building, investment and trade.

The Chinese president also proposed expanding cultural exchanges as well as cooperation in education, medical care, youth and cultural industries.

He asked both sides to cement coordination in multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, APEC, China-ASEAN and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Frameworks.

Quang is on a state visit to China from May 11 to 15, and will attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scheduled for May 14 to 15 in Beijing.

"The forum will help gather consensus and enhance global cooperation, to push forward economic globalization in a more open, inclusive, balanced and win-win direction," Xi said.

He called on the two countries to take the opportunity of the forum to synergize their strategies and boost substantial cooperation.

Quang, for his part, said it is a set policy and a priority of Vietnam to consolidate friendship with China and boost healthy and stable growth of ties.

The CPV, the Vietnamese government and people will never forget China's precious support for its national liberation and construction, he said.

Quang suggested both sides to keep high-level visits, expand cooperation in trade, agriculture, environment, infrastructure, tourism, culture, security as well as in the Belt and Road Initiative.

He congratulated China's development achievements in recent years, and wished full success of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China later this year.

The two presidents witnessed the signing of a series of bilateral cooperation agreements ranging from diplomacy, economic technology, e-commerce, to infrastructure building and education.

This is Quang's first visit to China since he took office in April 2016.

Altogether 29 heads of state and government leaders will attend the upcoming forum. It marks the highest-profile international meeting on the Belt and Road Initiative since it was proposed by China in 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:08:34|Editor: yan

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KHARTOUM, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Presidency on Thursday said that Sudanese First Vice-President and Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh is to announce the new government Thursday evening.

"Ministers of the new government will take oath on Friday evening," the Sudanese Presidency said in a press release today.

Meanwhile, the leadership office of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is expected to hold a meeting Thursday evening to name its ministers in the new government of national consensus.

Sudan's Presidential Assistant and NCP Deputy Chairman Ibrahim Mahmoud would hold a briefing meeting on Thursday evening after the meeting of the leadership office.

The new government was scheduled to be announced last February but was delayed due to differences within the parties which participated in the national dialogue conference which concluded its sessions in October last year.

The ruling NCP has promised to give concessions to avail the opportunity for over 40 political parties and around 30 armed movements to participate in the new government.

According to the recommendations of the national dialogue conference, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is to nominate 65 parliamentary members from the parties which participated in the dialogue process. Presently, the number of the Sudanese parliament amounts to 426 members.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:08:37|Editor: An

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LONDON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Bank of China has joined CHAPS Clearing Company Limited, Britain's electronic same day payment system as a shareholder and direct participant with immediate effect, CHAPS Clearing Company announced on Thursday.

Bank of China (BOC) is the first Asian-headquartered direct participant in CHAPS (the Clearing House Automated Payment System)), which brings the total number of CHAPS direct participant to 25.

Sun Yu, general manager of Bank of China Limited London branch, said: "After joining CHAPS, we have completed another vital step towards the internationalization of our direct clearing network, now covering the world's major currencies. Our customers will benefit from the more efficient, secure and flexible payment and settlement services provided by Bank of China Limited."

Tim Fitzpatrick, chief executive of CHAPS Co, said: "Bank of China Limited is a leader in banking and financial services with an international presence in over 50 countries, and their participation in CHAPS further extends the accessibility of our service around the globe."

"Our expanding base of Direct Participants is a testament to the world-class offering we provide. We are looking forward to working with Bank of China Limited to enhance CHAPS for the benefits of all our users," he added.

CHAPS is the British electronic payment system that guarantees same day settlement finality for high-value payments. It is at the heart of the British payments and financial infrastructure. The system continues to be one of the largest Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) systems in the world, offering efficient, risk-free and irrevocable same day payments to meet the sterling RTGS payment requirements of its Direct Participants.

Bank of China Limited is the most internationalized and diversified bank in China. Established in 1912, it has been satisfying the financial requirements of its clients in Britain for nearly 90 years with a comprehensive range of financial services.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:23:21|Editor: yan

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KAMPALA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni are scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss the ongoing conflict in South Sudan and Somalia.

A State House statement issued here said the two leaders will discuss the conflicts before the opening of the London Somalia Conference aimed at stabilizing the eastern African country.

Fighting in South Sudan broke out in late 2013 after a fall out between President Salva Kiir and his then deputy Riek Machar.

Since then the fighting has forced thousands of South Sudanese refugees to flee to neighboring countries including Uganda where they are hosted in the largest refugee camp in the world.

On the Somalia crisis, Museveni, according to his twitter handle, said they will discuss security sector reform, response to drought and the humanitarian crisis.

He said during the conference they will also discuss how to keep on course for increased stability by 2020.

Uganda was the first African country to deploy its troops in war torn Somalia in 2007.

The country contributes the bulk of the African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:29:01|Editor: yan

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DAMASCUS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people were killed and nine others wounded on Thursday by a fresh U.S.-led airstrike on the northern province of Raqqa, pro-government al-Watan online newspaper reported.

The airstrike targeted one of the villages in the northern countryside of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS terror group, said the report.

The report said all those killed were civilians.

The airstrike is the latest in a string of similar strikes that claimed the lives of civilians in the process of targeting IS positons.

A day earlier, at least 10 civilians were killed by U.S.-led airstrike against the town of Sour in the countryside of the eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

The U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has also been backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their push against the IS positions in Deir al-Zour and Raqqa province.

The coalition previously acknowledged the falling of civilian victims by the airstrikes on IS-held areas in Syria.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:39:10|Editor: yan

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PARIS, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Emmanuel Macron's party "Republic on the move" announced on Thursday the names of hundreds of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary election, which the newly-elect French president needs to consolidate his presidency victory.

Out of 19,000 applications to represent the centrist party created in 2016, a list included 428 definite names with 214 are female candidates, said Richard Ferrand, the movement's secretary-general.

Ferrand added half of the contenders who joined the "Republic on the move" party for June election are from civil society and had never held an elected post, Ferrand added.

According to the party's chief, the rest of 148 candidates "are still for discussion," as the party's is seeking to have a large working majority in the National Assembly to empower France's youngest head of state to pass his reforms and implement his economic and social project.

The selection's process was of "unprecedented rigor, objectivity and impartiality under the Fifth Republic" and showed "the citizens' definitive return to the heart of our political life", Ferrand told reporters.

Described as "neither right nor left", the party has no representatives in the country's lower house of parliament.

The absolute majority in the National Assembly is 289 seats out of 577.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:39:12|Editor: yan

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by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian banking sector focuses on the Chinese market for external expansion to enhance mutual trade between Egypt and China in the light of the Belt and Road Initiative, the vice chairman of an Egyptian giant national bank said in an interview with Xinhua.

"We see China as one of the priorities of our bank for external expansion due to the large Chinese market and the volume of trade between China and Egypt that has exceeded 11 billion U.S. dollars," Banque Misr Vice Chairman Akef Abdel-Latif al-Maghraby said.

He added that the Chinese investments in Egypt are about 600 million dollars and they are expected to greatly rise in the near future, which is why his Banque Misr attaches importance to attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that will be held in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to revive ancient land and sea trade routes that link China with many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe via trade and infrastructure networks.

"Hence, we see that the Egyptian banks should have strong presence in China to facilitate mutual trade, whether exports or imports, and more importantly to attract Chinese investments to Egypt," the vice chairman of Egypt's second largest national bank told Xinhua.

The banker said that Banque Misr representatives will be among an Egyptian high-profile ministerial delegation scheduled to visit China to attend the mid-May forum in Beijing "due to its significance to us."

"The Belt and Road Initiative will restore cooperation and investment opportunities and will increase Egyptian trade not only with China but all other states included in the initiative," Banque Misr vice chairman said.

Maghraby noted that a key part of his visit to China for the forum is a loan agreement to be signed with China Development Bank (CDB) to provide Banque Misr with 500 million dollars to finance joint projects in the Arab country for eight years.

CDB is the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation. It chose Egypt as the destination for its first overseas representative office established in 2009 to be the only Chinese financial institution in Egypt.

It has also provided financial service to support various sectors in Egypt including energy, telecommunication, banking, manufacturing and SMEs. By the end of 2016, CDB's loan outstanding in Egypt has been more than two billion dollars.

"Besides, we'll make a number of visits to Chinese companies and investors to help them enter the Egyptian market and remove any obstacles they may be facing," Maghraby said.

It has also opened a representative branch in Guangzhou city of Guangdong Province and is planning to establish similar branches in China in the near future.

Maghraby continued that Egyptian banking and financial cooperation with China is "promising" and "very comfortable" due to the transparency of the Chinese side and the closeness between the peoples of the two countries.

"We hope this closeness can be translated into more Chinese investments in Egypt and also to bring the knowhow of Chinese technology and industry to our country," he told Xinhua.

He added that his country should learn from the Chinese experience that raised China to become the world's second largest economy within 40 years, noting that China's interest in investment in Africa is good for Egypt.

"China greatly developed over the past two decades in various fields and it focuses on technological industries and foreign investments today, which is a new shift for the Chinese economy that used to focus on labor-intensive industries," the senior banker said.

Egypt has been suffering economic slowdown over the past few years due to political turmoil and relevant security issues, which led the country to adopt a strict economic reform program including austerity measures, energy subsidy cuts and local currency floatation, all encouraged by a 12-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund.

"We have issues and we still do, but we're moving in the positive direction through our economic reforms and currency floatation, which reflected on increasing competitiveness of the Egyptian companies and products," the Banque Misr official said.

In late 2016, the central banks of Egypt and China signed a currency swap deal worth 18 billion yuan (about 2.62 billion dollars) to bolster economic activities in the North African country.

"It's a good and useful deal because it promotes mutual trade between the two countries and broaden the sphere of their mutual trade," Maghraby remarked.

He concluded that the Egyptian-Chinese economic relations are "heading in the right direction but with a bit slow pace," vowing that Egypt will work hard on removing all obstacles facing Chinese investors in the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:39:17|Editor: yan

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CAPE TOWN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The South African cabinet on Thursday urged communities to refrain from violence, intimidation and looting when raising their concerns.

The violence and acts of looting and the destruction of business properties that took place recently in Coligny, Eldorado Park, and Ennerdale in North West and Gauteng provinces, "is strongly condemned by the cabinet", Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo said at a press briefing after a fortnightly cabinet meeting in Cape Town.

The cabinet meeting dealt with, among other issues, a new spate of violence that has swept several townships for the past few days, according to Dlodlo.

In Coligny, North West Province, police fired bullets to disperse protesters who torched properties to vent their anger after two men accused of murdering a 16-year-old teenager were granted bail.

In Eldorado Park and Ennerdale in Gauteng Province, protests over poor housing turned violent, prompting police to intervene by firing teargas and rubber bullets.

In Eldorado Park, eight people were arrested for suspected involvement in acts of violence.

"Cabinet calls on communities to raise their concerns in a manner that seeks solutions without necessarily destroying public property or infringing on the rights of other members of society," said Dlodlo.

As instructed by President Jacob Zuma, law enforcement agencies will deal decisively with violent and destructive protests, the minister said.

The cabinet reiterates this call that those who break the law will face the full might of the law, she said.

All stakeholders should engage with the view to speedily resolving the disputes in Ennerdale, Eldorado Park and Coligny, said Dlodlo.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:39:22|Editor: yan

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JUBA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's sacked army chief general Paul Malong is harmless and has not rebelled against the government, said senior officials on Thursday.

The Minister of Defence Kuol Manyang told Xinhua in Juba that they were in contact with the former General Chief of Staff, who upon being relieved by President Salva Kiir from his job on Tuesday, quietly retreated with a convoy of soldiers to his home of Aweil, northwest of the capital, causing public fear and anxiety about his next move.

"He (Malong) is not in the bush. It was when he was removed from office that he went away (to Aweil) but he has not done yet any harm or damage," Manyang told Xinhua.

"We are already talking to him. He is with the governor of Eastern Lakes state and he will be coming today," he added.

The former army chief, who has been replaced by General James Ajongo, was until his sacking a confidant and loyalist of President Kiir whose tenure at the helm of the South Sudan army (SPLA) was characterized by mass exodus of senior officers accusing the later of favouring officers from his Dinka ethnic group.

Meanwhile, President Kiir's spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny also confirmed Malong's imminent arrival in Juba but did not reveal details whether the controversial General would meet President Kiir upon his arrival in the capital.

"He will be coming shortly. There are people who have been talking to him and the President," Ateny disclosed.

Malong's leadership at SPLA had hugely become notorious during counter insurgency operations against rebels in Equatoria and Upper Nile region amid accusations of civilian killings, rape, looting and indiscipline which analysts say could have caused his ouster.

He also played a huge role in the renewed July clash of 2016 that ousted and forced into exile former first vice President Riek Machar having vowed prior to signing of the 2015 peace deal not to block the rebel leader's return to the now transitional unity government.

South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Kiir and his former deputy Machar led to fighting that pitied mostly Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to Kiir against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital forcing the rebel leader Machar to flee into exile.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 2 million from their homes, and forced more than 1.5 million to flee into neighbouring countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:49:31|Editor: yan

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NANNING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Fernando Habel Alexza Inkiriwang has been studying in a south China college for seven months. The young Indonesian studies automechanics and most of his classes are in Chinese.

"It's good to study and learn Chinese here. I hope to bring my family a better life and buy them a car after I begin work," he said.

Inkiriwang barely knew any Chinese a year ago but can now hold simple conversations.

As more Chinese businesses seek opportunities overseas, some vocational colleges are working to attract overseas students.

Inkiriwang is among 126 Indonesian students recruited by Liuzhou City Vocational College (LCVC) and China-based auto-maker SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. (SGMW) in Liuzhou, an industrial city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Two years ago, SGMW invested 700 million U.S. dollars in a factory in western Java which will open later this year. It will produce 150,000 vehicles per year, so a large number of skilled Indonesian workers are required, and the company is training locals.

Each student studies at LCVC for about two years before going back to Indonesia for a year's apprenticeship before beginning work for SGMW in Indonesia.

According to the LCVC, graduates earn more than 2,000 yuan (290 U.S. dollars) per month during their apprenticeship, the standard for basic automobile workers there, but they earn even more after graduation.

"With skills, and knowledge of Chinese, graduates will manage other workers. They can also act as a channel between Indonesian and Chinese staff," said Tang Chunjie, in charge of the program at the LCVC.

In 2015, the program enrolled 63 students; in 2016, the number rose to more than 120.

"Parents are more willing to send their children here when they understand the benefits," Tang said.

"As businesses go overseas, finding enough high-quality talent and technicians becomes a challenge," said Huang Xiongbiao, deputy director of Guangxi's regional department of education. A great number of vocational colleges in Guangxi are driven by the demands of companies who want to expand overseas.

At Liuzhou Vocational Technical College (LVTC), construction equipment maker Guangxi Liugong Machinery is working with a dealer in Saudi Arabia to set up Saudi Arabia's first vocational university, with courses, programs and administration designed by the LVTC.

LiuGong has sold equipment such as excavators, cranes and loaders to about 50 countries along the Belt and Road, with sales of some products rising by over 20 percent last year.

Liao Jihua of LiuGong said the Saudis will provide both building land and funds.

"Many of the countries we cooperate with do not have the resource to train skilled workers," Liao said, adding that the college in Saudi Arabia was just a beginning.

"We plan to work on more such institutions under the Belt and Road Initiative," he said.

Li Yongqi, an official in charge of vocational education from Guangxi's education department, said his department plans cooperation on vocational education, especially between China and ASEAN, and expects help more vocational colleges to work with overseas businesses.

"We expect that wherever a Chinese business has reached, there will also be a vocational college," Li said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 23:49:34|Editor: yan

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COPENHAGEN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Danish government announced on Thursday that the temporary border control at the Danish-German border would be extended until Nov. 12 of this year.

The announcement came just a week after the European Commission called on Denmark to phase out border checks.

However, the European Council adopted an implementing decision on Thursday setting out a recommendation to prolong temporary internal border controls in exceptional circumstances.

Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway may prolong proportionate temporary border controls for a maximum period of six months, according to the recommendation.

Denmark's temporary border control with Germany was introduced on Jan. 4, 2016. Since then, it has been extended several times.

According to the Danish immigration authorities, nearly 3,000 people were rejected in 2016 from entering Denmark either from the Danish-German border in southern Jutland or by ferries on Lolland-Falster islands.
A container is loaded to a ship during the inaugration ceremony of container service at a pier of Gwadar Port, southwestern Pakistan, on May 11, 2015. Gwadar Port, a warm-water, deep-sea port, is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in Gwadar of Pakistan's Baloschistan province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

by Liu Tian

ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- With the smooth implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, the people of Pakistan are gaining tangible benefits.

INFRASTRUCTURE INTER-CONNECTIVITY

Residents of Pakistan's southwestern port city of Gwadar will enjoy better emergency medical treatment thanks to the opening of a hospital donated by China earlier this month.

The hospital, which opened Sunday, was donated by the Red-Cross Society of China and is the first of its kind along the CPEC, a route connecting Gwadar and the city of Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Construction of more similar hospitals designed to provide basic diagnosis, small surgeries and emergency rescues will follow suit.

Adjacent to the newly built hospital is Faqeer Primary School where over 300 pupils sit in new classrooms with freshly painted desks. Opened in September 2016, the school was the first China-donated project aimed at improving the livelihood of people along the CPEC.

Sher Mohammad gave a piece of his own land to the local government for the school's construction. The 60-year-old said that although land prices in Gwadar are surging after China helped develop the port, he never regretted his donation.

"I'm happy about my decision because I had the chance to give this piece of land to local kids for their future," he said.

Another training school will also be built within the next couple of years in Gwadar to help young people master a skill so that they have a means to earn a life in the future.

Meanwhile, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), which has a branch in central Pakistan's historical city of Multan, is also engaged in projects that direct have an impact on the lives of the locals.

The company is now building the Sukker-Multan section of the Peshawar-Karachi Expressway, a 392-km road with a total investment of 2.89 billion U.S. dollars that involves some 10,000 Pakistani as well as 1,500 Chinese engineers and laborers working around the clock on the site.

Once completed, the project will shorten the eight-hour travel time between Sukker and Multan by half.

You Xunming, vice general manager of the project, said his company has a responsibility to maintain the friendship between Pakistan and China.

Even vendors along the expressway welcomed the project, saying it has boosted demand for their goods, such as cigarettes, bottled water and fresh juice. They expect sales to only increase in the future.

Pakistani workers install a solar photovoltaic panel at Zonergy 900 MW Solar Project in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, Aug. 27, 2015. The 1.5-billion-U.S.-dollar Zonergy 900 MW Solar Project is a power project under the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

POWER BOOM

Energy is a major pillar of CPEC projects. According to Sun Weidong, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, 11 of the 19 CPEC early harvest projects fall into the energy category to address Pakistan's chronic power shortages. They include coal-fired plants, hydropower facilities, wind and solar power farms.

For example, the first phase of a solar power plant constructed in Bahawalpur, Punjab Province by China's energy conglomerate Zonergy in 2016 will meet 30 percent of the region's power demands.

Yet the 300-megawatt plant with an annual capacity of 495 million kilowatt-hour of electricity is relatively small compared to the three coal-fired plants planned in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Gradually coming into service, the plants, each with a capacity of 1,320 megawatts, will provide electricity for some 4 million households.

Sun told Pakistani officials and scholars last week that China will not dump outdated industrial capacity into Pakistan, nor will the CPEC add any financial burden to the local population.

The CPEC projects will cover all provinces and regions of Pakistan and will hire over 60,000 Pakistani workers, Sun added, citing preliminary statistics.

MORE THAN ECONOMIC

For countries along the CPEC, the corridor is not only about economic gains, but also about cross-cultural and people-to-people contact, which could involve the likes of Iran, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries.

"It is not only an economic issue. It is also cultural because cultural means people to people," said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a senator who heads the CPEC Pakistani Parliamentary Committee.

Mushahid said in an interview with Xinhua that the CPEC serves as an alternative for war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Lybia with its vision of inclusive development.

Talking about the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, which he will attend, Mushahid said Pakistan wants the forum to know of the Corridor's success.

"We want to convey the success story to other countries," Mushahid said, "how we have done it, how we are doing it together with our Chinese friends, and how it is important not just for China and Pakistan, but for the region as well."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 00:30:13|Editor: yan

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WINDHOEK, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry Environment on Thursday said that it has deployed ministry officials to assist farmers in affected areas to avoid and minimize damages in northern Namibia, following a spate of incidents that involved elephants.

The ministry's spoke person, Romeo Muyunda said currently the officials are doing a situation analysis that will inform the ministry on what course of action to take.

Muyunda said of late the ministry has been concerned with the escalating cases of human wildlife conflict as well as reports of elephants destroying field crops.

"The ministry believes that the herd is being led by an aggressive elephant and a directive was given to officials on the ground to identify it. Once identified it will be recommended to be declared a problem animal," he said.

According to Muyunda once the elephant is declared a problem, the ministry will have to hunt it down and the proceeds will be given to the affected communities and farmers.

Human wildlife conflicts cases have become frequent in the northern regions and the ministry has committed resources to tackle the challenges. Despite the high prevalence of these incidents, Muyunda urged community members not to take the law in their own hands and work with ministry officials instead.

Currently Namibia is reviewing the Human Wildlife Management Policy in order to come up with region-specific responses to deal with the challenges.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 03:22:22|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale of 160 missiles to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for an estimated 2 billion U.S. dollars, the Pentagon said Thursday.

The sale includes 60 Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missiles with canisters and 100 Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical (GEM-T) missiles, the U.S. Defense Department said in a statement.

"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of an important ally which has been, and continues to be, a force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East," said the statement.

The Defense Department said that the proposed sale will enhance the UAE's capability to meet current and future aircraft and missile threats, adding that the sale "will not alter the basic military balance in the region."

The United States and the UAE have been key political allies and close trade partners for decades. The UAE is a member of a U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) militant group. Washington also supports a Saudi-led coalition, of which the UAE is a part, against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In January, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE and they reaffirmed the strong partnership between the two countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 03:32:27|Editor: yan

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MOSCOW, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel is an "indispensable condition" for ensuring genuine security and stability in the Middle East.

Putin made the remarks at a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after their meeting in the Russian resort city of Sochi.

"The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has only a political, negotiated solution based on international law. Therefore, it is important to maintain bilateral relations, refrain from unilateral steps, jointly seek mutually acceptable solutions, and together fight terrorism," Putin said.

Russia will continue to give full support to the resumption of direct dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis, he added.

At the press conference, Abbas said he welcomed Putin's proposal to hold a meeting in Moscow between the leaders of Palestine and Israel.

He also spoke highly of Russia's efforts in countering terrorism and its contribution to strengthening security and stability in the Middle East.

One day before meeting Abbas, Putin discussed the situation in the Middle East with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone.

The last round of peace talks between Palestine and Israel halted at the end of March 2014 following nine months of fruitless negotiations aimed at solving the decades-old conflict.

Last week, Abbas met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, when Trump vowed to "do whatever is necessary" to negotiate a peace deal between Palestine and Israel.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 03:47:53|Editor: yan

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BEIRUT, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Lebanonese Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah on Thursday declared Lebanon's eastern border with Syria safe, saying that the party's forces deployed along the border have withdrawn.

Nasrallah made the announcement in a televised speech to mark the death of Mustafa Badreddine, a top Hezbollah military commander, who died in Syria last year.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah has "dismantled and will continue to dismantle the remaining military positions along the border between Lebanon and Syria. There's no need for us to remain deployed."

"This battle has no horizon, the mission is accomplished." Nasrallah said.

Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran and Damascus, has been fighting

for years in Syria's conflict against rebels.

Nasrallah also expressed readiness to contact Syrian authorities to begin returning refugees to their hometowns.

Meanwhile, the leader of Hezbollah called on Lebanese authorities to assume their responsibilities.

"We don't replace the Lebanese state or the Lebanese Army," he said, "Matters along Lebanon's Eastern Mountain Range are left from now on to the Lebanese government."

Turning to the southern border with Israel, Nasrallah said that the Jewish state's swift work along the border to erect a wall means that Lebanon has defeated it.

"Israel the great has fallen ... when it hides behind walls then it is weak," he said.

Israeli bulldozers were photographed Wednesday putting up additional fences and fortifications in an attempt to strengthen crucial areas south of the Lebanese border, the Hezbollah-affiliated War Media Center reported.

Three Israeli bulldozers were seen raising new fences near a surveillance tower east of Wazzani, a town near the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The fence, that included barbed wire, was reportedly put up out of fear of Lebanese infiltration.

"Israel is concerned and fears any future combat," Nasrallah said, vowing that any future battle with the Jewish State "will be inside the occupied Palestinian territory. No place will be safe from the resistance rockets and our infantry units."

The Hezbollah chief also sought to soothe the fears of the Lebanese.

"Live your normal daily lives. Don't be afraid. Their rhetoric will not become action. Trust your army, resistance and yourselves," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 03:52:55|Editor: yan

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ROME, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Inclusive growth will be on top of the agenda of finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) members, who gathered on Thursday in the southern city of Bari for a three-day meeting.

Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met behind closed doors in the afternoon, while an official ceremony to welcome the other participants was scheduled at the Petruzzelli theatre in the evening.

In the bilateral talks, Padoan assured his U.S. counterpart the stock of non-performing loans (NPLs) burdening Italy's banking system would return to more "physiological levels" in short time, Ansa news agency quoted sources from the Italian G7 presidency as saying.

Italy's bad loans, a pressing issue encompassing the country's stability within the euro-zone, amounted to about 170 billion euros (184.7 billion U.S. dollars) net, senior deputy governor of Bank of Italy Salvatore Rossi said in April.

The G7 meeting would run from May 11 to May 13 amid tight security measures. Some 1,500 police officers and 600 surveillance cameras were deployed within and around Bari, according to authorities.

Besides the finance ministers, central bank governors from the world's seven most developed economies will engage in the talks in Bari.

Participants would also include top officials from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the Eurogroup.

Italy, which has assumed the rotating presidency of the G7 this year, pressed to make "inclusive growth" the key issue of Bari's meeting. Yet, discussions would also focus on international tax rules, remittances and cyber security, anti-terrorism financing, and international financial institutions' coordination.

Trade was not part of the G7 finance meeting official agenda, for fear discussions on the topic may lead to a confrontation among ministers over protectionism, local media reported.

However, the issue will be discussed at the major G7 summit due in Taormina, Sicily, on May 26-27, according to the Italian government.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 03:57:32|Editor: yan

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File photo taken on July 7, 2016 shows U.S. FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Oversight Committee over investigation into Hillary Clinton's email system, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., capital of the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Andrew McCabe Thursday said ongoing investigation into alledged links between White House staff and Russia will continue.

"We consider it to be a highly significant investigation," McCabe told the Senate Intelligence Committee in a hearing.

McCabe said "there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date," but promised to inform the Congress should the White House tries to interfere with the FBI investigation.

McCabe also refuted a White House claim Wednesday that fired FBI Director James Comey had lost the confidence of "rank and file" FBI staff, saying Comey "enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day."

"I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for his consideration abilities and his integrity," McCabe said.

McCabe's hearing came after Comey was unexpectedly fired by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening. Trump said he made the decision based on advice from the deputy attorney general and attorney general that Comey was unfit to lead the FBI, but critics say the timing of the firing was suspicious.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 04:07:40|Editor: yan

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WINDHOEK, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Plans are under way for Namibia and the Kingdom of Swaziland to expand bilateral relations, Foreign Minister of Swaziland Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze said in Windhoek on Thursday.

He made the remarks during an official visit and courtesy call by King Mswati III of Swaziland to Namibian President Hage Geingob in Windhoek.

According to Gamedze, the ministers of the two countries responsible for foreign affairs, trade, finance and environment all discussed the possible signing of the Memorandum of Understandings in respective areas of trade, development and investment.

"Our principals (the Head of States) has mandated all the said ministries of the two countries to come together and see how we do industrialization between our respective countries," said Gamedze

"We have so many products that we have in our respective countries that have exchange-trade potential. For instance, we have sugar in Swaziland that Namibia needs, in return Namibia has fish that we need in Swaziland. We are looking at how we can enhance trade," he added.

The agreements will not however be signed during the King's visit to Namibia, as the two parties are still crating and negotiating on the modalities of operation.

"There are technocrats that are looking at the various aspects of the agreements. Very soon we will be able to sign the agreements between the two countries," he said.

King Mswati III of Swaziland is in Namibia for an official visit, and is also expected to inaugurate the Southern Africa Customs Union headquarters.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 04:13:10|Editor: yan

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KIGALI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Entrepreneurs and investors on Thursday called for strong collaboration between public and the private sector to accelerate vibrant Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) investments in Africa.

They made the call on the second day of the third Transform Africa Summit 2017 in the Rwandan Capital Kigali. Rwanda hosts the high level continental summit from May 10 to 12, with a focus on developing "smart Africa cities using the power of technology."

"Investors are willing to invest in viable ICTs in Africa, but are limited by poor partnerships between public and the private sector to enable entrepreneurship flourish. The governments in Africa are reluctant enough to create an enabling environment for digital investments to thrive especially infrastructure," said Ashish J. Thakkar, founder of Mara Group, while speaking at a panel dubbed "Business Leaders' Symposium."

He added that being an entrepreneur in Africa is quite challenging due to various factors, including a bureaucratic obstacles and poor-quality infrastructure for transport, health, education and other areas.

The business leader's panel focused on highlighting challenges and opportunities existing in Africa in an effort to bridge the gap between public policy and the development of the ICT private sector.

Strive Masiyiwa, founder and executive chairman of Econet Wireless, an international telecommunications group, called on African governments to support the formation of public-private partnerships to drive ICT innovation and growth on the continent.

"African economies need to improve the business environment for the private-public partnership to thrive, for instance creating the necessary legal and regulatory framework for the partnerships and as well addressing limited infrastructure and limited financial markets," he noted.

According to the African Development Bank, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are one of the best ways to foster development, fuelled by insufficient investment, growing pressures on government budgets and a general concern about service provision by state enterprises and agencies.

"African leaders should spearhead the campaign of creating Public-Private Partnerships in order to fill investment gaps that arise due to lack of enough resources to finance public investments especially ICTs," said Solektra International, Co-founder of Akon Lighting Africa.

Transform Africa Summit is the annual leading African forum bringing together global and regional leaders from government, business and international organizations to collaborate on new ways of shaping, accelerating and sustaining Africa's on-going digital revolution.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 04:13:12|Editor: yan

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MEXICO CITY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Eight people have died in a shootout between an armed gang and villagers in Mexico's southern state of Guerrero, the state government announced Thursday.

Guerrero's security spokesperson Roberto Alvarez Heredia said the clash took place early Wednesday morning between members of a local drug gang and the villagers of La Gavia community.

Five gang members and three villagers were killed in the fight and four villagers were injured, the statement said.

Regular violence in Guerrero and other Mexican states has forced villagers to form vigilante groups to fight back against drug cartels.

Government data shows that Guerrero has been the deadliest state in Mexico since 2015, mainly due to over 20 criminal gangs fighting for control of the drug trade there.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 04:28:26|Editor: yan

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KIGALI, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda and Inmarsat, a global mobile satellite communications firm Thursday signed an agreement to facilitate launch of a series of digital services across Kigali.

The deal would see Inmarsat deploy Low Power Wide Area Network infrastructure around the city of Kigali in part to support the Rwandan capital's flagship smart city project.

The network, which will be active for an initial period of a year from May 1, 2017 will be the connectivity platform for a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, and will provide a blueprint for smart city projects throughout Africa, according to officials.

The deployment coincided with the Transform Africa Summit set to close Friday, in Kigali, a forum that drew African Presidents, other dignitaries, and leading technology innovators, to discuss plans for building a smarter Africa.

Paul Gudonis, president of Inmarsat Enterprise, explained on the significance of the smart city initiative.

"Whilst many commentators have enthused about the possibilities of the IoT for the urban environment, from increasing utility usage efficiency to enabling a smooth network of autonomous cars, the reality is that it is still relatively untested and in its infancy. Kigali is taking the lead with its smart city project, creating an IoT ecosystem where both private and government organizations can experiment with this technology in a vibrant and lively city," he said.

"The project will therefore begin to take the potential of this exciting technology beyond futurist visions and into a real-world scenario and we look forward to seeing the creativity of Kigali's many entrepreneurs, students, and businesses unleashed on the IoT network." he said.

Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Rwanda's Minister of Youth and ICT said this would bring efficiencies and effectiveness for municipal authorities.

As part of the Transform Africa Summit, the Kigali smart city project is intended to shine a light on the possibilities offered by technology on the continent.

Hamadoun Toure, Executive Director at Smart Africa, the summit's organizer, said they were pleased with partnership with Inmarsat.

"Africa's single digital market can be a reality with such partner. The time is right. Africa is on the rise. African ingenuity has sometimes been restricted by the infrastructure available to us in the past, but now new possibilities are opening up as technology transforms how our cities operate.

"The Kigali project will expose a new generation of students, business leaders, and technologists to the potential of the IoT, and will create demand for innovative solutions to common urban issues in countries and cities all over Africa. Inmarsat and Actility have built the gateway to a smarter future for our cities." Toure said.

Meanwhile Smart Africa Alliance also entered into an agreement with Microsoft to facilitate cooperation.

Sebuh Hellulah, the General Manager of Microsoft for Eastern and Southern Africa said that they looked forward to playing a huge role in supporting the organization's technology initiatives.

He said Microsoft support would be in form of technology to enable governments become more digital.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 05:14:03|Editor: yan

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ANKARA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkey strongly criticized the United States on its decision to arm Kurdish militia fighting Islamic State (IS) in Syria, a move that comes days before a crucial meeting in Washington between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his American counterpart Donald Trump.

An angry Erdogan called Wednesday on the U.S. to immediately reverse this decision on arming fighters considered by Ankara as "terrorists."

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," Erdogan said, after Washington announced it would arm the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) in the fight against militants in Syria.

Erdogan vowed to bring up "our worries" on the issue in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 16 in Washington.

After Trump approved the arms supply to support a campaign to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa, Erdogan told a news conference he wanted to believe that Turkey's allies would side with Ankara, not with "terrorist organizations."

Turkey views the YPG forces as the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought a bloody insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984 and is listed a terrorist group by the U.S., Turkey and Europe.

The YPG has been seen by Washington as the best ally against militants in Syria.

"The supply of arms to the YPG is unacceptable," Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television on Wednesday in a first official reaction to the American decision. "Such a policy will benefit nobody."

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will arm Syria's Kurdish fighters "as necessary" to recapture the key IS 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 YPG as an extension of the PKK.

"The American decision is incompatible with the NATO alliance between Turkey and the United States. The U.S. has clearly taken the risk of alienating a major player on the field, which is Turkey, sharing a 900 km border with Syria," said to Xinhua political commentator Deniz Zeyrek.

"Their mind is set and we will see if president Erdogan will talk sense into the Trump administration. It is a very difficult task for sure," he argued.

Washington is eager to retake Raqqa, arguing that it is a haven for IS (SDF) operatives to plan attacks on the West. American officials said that much of the weapons and equipment that were provided to the Syrian Kurds was already in Syria and could be distributed very soon.

Xinhua noticed that several journalists were tweeting on Thursday evening on heavy weapons arriving by lorries in Syria's northern Rojava region.

The US sees the SDF as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria. White House said they're "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future."

But Turkey worries that advances by the YPG in northern Syria could enflame the PKK insurgency on its soil and that the weapons supplied to this militia will fall into PKK hands, like it happened in the past.

In Ankara, the deception vis-a-vis the U.S. decision which came as high ranking Turkish officials such as the chief of the intelligence agency (MIT), Hakan Fidan, and the Chief of General Staff, General Hulusi Akar, were holding high level meetings in Washington to lobby against it, is very apparent in government circles.

"We were expecting that the new American administration would open a new page in our bilateral relations, after discord on Syria and last year's coup attempt, but now this is a deception," a source close to the Turkish government said to Xinhua.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) called on Erdogan to cancel his vist to Washington but this will apparently not be the case as Cavusoglu indicated that the visit will take place as planned.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also said to reporters that the U.S. failure to consider Turkey's sensitivities "will surely have consequences." He met U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis. in London on Thursday.

Turkey viewed the May summit between Erdogan and Trump, their first face-to-face encounter as heads of states, as a chance to mend a relationship between two key NATO allies that was strained by a series of disputes under former President Barack Obama.

Another key issue that Erdogan will bring on the table at the White House is the extradition and also the provisional arrest of the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of being the mastermind of a botched coup in July 2016.

The U.S. is reluctant to say the least on extraditing this influential individual who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999 and denies any involvement in the failed plot.

The U.S. Justice Department is yet to make a statement that the Turkish government delivered for Gulen's extradition.

Following the coup that claimed the lives of over 240 people, Turkish security forces have arrested thousands of people on suspicion of having ties with the Gulen network.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-12 05:54:18|Editor: yan

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KHARTOUM, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Prime Minister Hassan Saleh on Thursday announced a new government, with economic ministers being replaced.

Mohamed Othman Rukabi, a former army lieutenant general, was appointed as finance minister, Saleh said.

Mubarak Fadel al-Mahdi was appointed as minister of

investment, while Abdulrahman Othman Abdulrahman was appointed as oil minister.

Saleh also said that Hamed al-Mannan was appointed as minister of interior.

The ruling National Congress Party(NCP) has dominated the majority of sovereign ministries, namely defense, foreign affairs, oil, finance, education and electricity.

The new government was scheduled to be announced last February, but was delayed due to differences within the parties.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-11 08:12:59|Editor: liuxin

Musicians of the Municipal Youth Orchestra of Caracas from Venezuela are silhouetted against sunshine during a concert at Skaramangas refugee camp near Piraeus, Greece, on May 10, 2017. The Venezuelan musicians gave a concert at Skaramangas refugee camp, the largest state-run refugee camp in Greece. In the Skaramangas refugee camp, more than 3,500 people try to function as a community and overcome daily challenges as they wait to be relocated in other European countries. Run by the Greek navy and operated by NGOs, the camp is located in a vast industrial zone next to Piraeus port. As a former shipyard, it is one of the most developed areas in infrastructure. With electricity, water heaters and air conditioning, the camp has 410 container homes which are equipped with small kitchenettes, washrooms, and beds. After the closure of Greece's northern borders in February 2016, more than 62,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece. (Xinhua/Lefteris Partsalis)
Govt, CDB sign grant agreement

The funding resources are provided by the European Union (EU) under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Standby Facility for Capacity Building, 10th European Development Fund (EDF).

This facility is being administered by the CDB. The project commenced on May 9, and is expected to be completed by August 17.

At the launch of the National Aid for Trade Strategy on April 26, it was recognized that some of the major challenges that affect the ability of the private sector to participate effectively in international trade, related to problems associated with quality.

One of the Aid for Trade Priority Projects is the Development and Implementation of a National Quality Policy.

This will directly reduce challenges faced by the private sector through improvement to the enabling environment.

The funding received from this Grant will be directed at a Project for the Development of a Quality Policy.

The project focuses on two components.

Firstly, it will focus on the Development of the National Quality Policy and a detailed implementation plan and secondly, it will serve to sensitize key stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities in the implementation of the National Quality Policy.

The Policy will provide guidance for the establishment of appropriate national quality infrastructure (NQI).

The NQI relates to all aspects of metrology, standardization, testing, quality management, certification and accreditation.

It includes both public and private institutions and the regulatory framework within which they operate.

With the strengthening of the trading environment and the ability of firms to meet international standards, the potential for generating revenues, employment and export earnings in Trinidad and Tobago is expected to be greatly increased. The TT Bureau of Standards (TTBS) under the aegis of the Ministry of Trade and Industry will be responsible for implementation of the project.

A Project Steering Committee consisting of key stakeholders has been established to provide policy advice during the development of the National Quality Policy and monitor the implementation of the Policy.

The collaborating Ministries and Agencies include representatives of the Chemistry Food and Drugs Division, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Planning and Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Tobago House of Assembly, Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries.
Cuttail for murder suspect

The suspect remains warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex under police guard, recovering from the beating.

Police said at about 11.30 pm, Laraon Alexander, 26, was at his business, LA Mini Mart, at Back Street, Arouca when the gunman entered.

Alexander grabbed the bandit and a struggle ensued, during which time, he was shot twice in the chest and collapsed. Customers and residents who heard the shots and ran into the mini mart, quickly overpowered the bandit and beat him for several minutes. A .38 revolver was seized. Arouca police were called in and when they arrived, the dazed, bleeding bandit begged officers to save him from the cuttail.

They took possession of the revolver which was loaded with four bullets and had two spent shells in the chamber. The man was taken to hospital for treatment. Alexanders body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsy.

Residents said that Alexander was well respected in the community especially over the fact that he tried to earn a living by legal means instead of running with gangsters.

It is not known if his mini mart was robbed before but residents told Newsday that the crime situation has gotten so bad that simply going to a mini mart to make purchases, could see a person ending up dead.

Investigations are continuing.
Fraudster gunned down

According to reports, at 6 pm, Roy Rolle, 36, was alone at his Tattoo Trace, Valencia home when two masked gunmen stormed the house and shot him multiple times. Rolle ran to the back of the house where he collapsed and died. A short while later, a female friend arrived at the house and began looking for him. When she went to the back of the house, the woman found Rolles body and alerted the police. Supt Phillip, ASP Robain and others visited the scene along with District Medical Officer Dr Gonzales. Rolles body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsy.

Police yesterday revealed that Rolle was shot once in the head last November but survived. This time around, he was shot multiple times in the head.

Police said there were several reports against Rolle of him fleecing the public by selling a person state land and then later selling that same plot to several others, collecting cash in hand on each occasion.

No arrest was made and investigations are continuing
2 shot in separate incidents

King was shot in the chest and legs by the suspect who then ran off. He was rushed to Arima District Hospital by relatives and transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he was warded in a serious condition. Later, Gregory Alexander was walking along the Carapo Main Road when he was fired upon by an unknown gunman.

He was hit several times and was taken to hospital by passers-by.

Investigations are continuing into these two incidents. Newsday was told that Head of Northern Division, Snr Supt Mc Donald Jacob was to have met with key stakeholders in the division including Arima MP Anthony Garcia to discuss crime in the constituency. So far for the year, eight murders were committed in the Northern Division.
Gun, drugs in baby crib

Shermarce Wilson, 37, and his common-law wife Shamette Calla, 29, stood before Magistrate Brambhanan Dubay in the San Fernando courthouse. The charges read to Wilson and Calla alleged that on March 20, they had in their possession a firearm, a quantity of ammunition and 70 grammes of marijuana. Wilson and Calla entered guilty pleas.

Prosecutor Sgt Gordan Maharaj told the court that at about 4.40 am on March 20, police executed a search warrant at an apartment in the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) complex along the Naparima/Mayaro Road in Mon Repos. Officers of the K-9 Unit also formed part of the search.

Sgt Maharaj said police searched a bedroom and in an infants crib, they found the items.

The couple, he said are not holders of any firearm users licences. Gordan said a black plastic bag with 40 transparent packets containing marijuana was found in the crib. The exhibits were produced in court and examined by the magistrate.

Magistrate Dubay also heard that Wilson has three previous convictions for gambling, larceny and possession of marijuana.

Calla has no previous conviction.

The magistrate dismissed the matters against Calla. On the charge of possession of a gun, Wilson was fined $5,000 or in default of payment two years imprisonment with hard labour.

On the ammunition charge he was fined $2,000 or in default 12 months.

On the marijuana charge, he was fined $4,000 or in default, 12 months imprisonment.

Wilson was given 90 days to pay the $11,000 in fines.
Ganja field destroyed

Police reported that at midday officers went to the Belle Vue area where they came across the marijuana field 500 metres from the roadway.

Officers discovered 1,500 fully grown marijuana trees, 100 fully grown trees cut and placed in buckets, 4,000 seedlings and equipment used for cultivation.

All the marijuana trees were destroyed and the equipment seized.

Police believe the marijuana was being grown for local sales. The exercise was coordinated by Snr Supt Boxhill and ASP Ajith Persad.

It was led by Sgt Anthony Williams and included PCs Dyett, Persad, Sookhwah, Meyers and Hoyte.

The exercise ended at 6 pm.
Top cop calls for cooperation

Everyone has a role to play in policing this country, Deputy Commissioner of Police Deodath Dulalchan said as he addressed a police town meeting at the Ragoonanan Road Government Primary School on Monday evening.

Among those in attendance were residents and business people from the Central area.

Dulalchan told the gathering that 40 additional officers were sent to the Central Division to strengthen security in certain crime hot spots.

He called on residents to get involved in policing their communities.

We are out here holding meetings and coming to you so we can impact on the general community.

We must work together hand in hand to make Trinidad and Tobago a far safer place, Dulalchan said, adding it has been said the public is the police and police is the public.

It is important for us to have this one on one discussion with you so you can give us a feed back as to how the local police are working for you, he said, adding that he would like to know whether people are satisfied with the quality of policing afforded to them.

He called on the people to voice their concerns as everything that is said at these town meetings is recorded and sent to the Police Commissioner for review.

I plan to follow- up on matters that are discussed at this level with senior superintendents in charge, Dulalchan said.

During the meeting, a resident from Lawrence Wong Road in Longdenville complained that that area is plagued by robberies and shootings.

Another resident said the bandits know exactly when to make their move as they have studied the pattern of police patrols. Residents also called on the Deputy Commissioner to look into reports of drug dens.
Doctor shot at home

According to reports, at 3.30 pm, Dr Orville Scott was at his Peter Circular Road home when two men entered the house through the front door which was open at the time. Scott confronted the men and a struggle ensued. One of them shot Scott in the abdomen and leg and as he slumped to the ground, the intruders fled without taking anything.

Scott managed to alert relatives who contacted the Arima police and the doctor was rushed to a medical institution where he was treated and remains warded in a stable condition. Police said they hope images recorded via closed-circuit tv (CCTV) cameras outfitted around Scotts house, could assist them in identifying the gunmen. No arrests have been made.
John Doe found in drain

The man, who was wearing jeans and a jersey, appeared to be of mixed descent with a plaited hairstyle.

Up to press time, the identity of the body remained unknown. The body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre, St James where once formal identification is made, an autopsy will be done to ascertain cause of death. Police said it appears he was shot to the back of the head. Up to press time, the murder toll stood at 183 compared to 163 for the corresponding period last year. Up to yesterday, there were 13 murders recorded for this month.
Do the right thing

Daly, one of 11 senior counsel who sought questions from the Chief Justice and JLSC on Ayers-Caesar, said yesterday the statement issued by the JLSC on Tuesday, was little more than a confession that it failed to do independent due diligence of its own and was duped as a consequence. This is obvious from the core defence of the JLSC that: reasonable due diligence is satisfied by seeking an assurance that the appointee has done all that is required with respect to his/ her professional obligations to put themselves in readiness to assume duty.

The statement tellingly reveals that after protest at the appointment of Mrs Ayers-Caesar, the JLSC then belatedly had an audit conducted of the true state of affairs.

Simply described the JLSC put the cart before the horse when it appointed Mrs.

Ayers-Caesar before having such an audit done, Daly said.

As I have always maintained how could the JLSC have sought to restore someone who allegedly duped it to the Magisterial bench? Apparently the JLSC has now seen the light in this regard but there are still outstanding matters on which they must account with respect to that decision.

Notably in this regard the JLSCs statement evades the issues that arose out of such a decision.

It is time for these members to do the honourable thing on account of their grievous failures and their initial attempt to bully right thinking persons into silence, Daly maintained.

The group of silks are expected to meet either today or tomorrow to discuss their concerns.

DALYS QUESTIONS

1. (a) Did Ayers-Caesar resign as Chief Magistrate when she was appointed a judge?

(b) If not, how was her employment in the magistracy determined?

(c) Is there any documentation recording the termination of her employment in the magistracy?

(d) Did the JLSC meet to consider Ayers-Caesars re-appointment? If so, when and who was present?

2. What is the legal basis or framework upon which the JLSC acted in effecting such restoration or return to the Magistracy?

3. Has Ayers- Caesar been restored as chief magistrate or an ordinary magistrate?

4. If as chief magistrate did the JLSC give any consideration to the legitimate expectations of other magistrates who are in line for promotion?

5. Was the position to which she was appointed advertised? Did Ayers-Caesar apply? Was she interviewed?

6. Having regard to the admission in her letter of resignation (as reported in the Press) that she failed to make full disclosure to the JLSC in relation to part-heard matters, to the extent that this may reflect on her honesty or integrity, did the JLSC give any consideration as to how this would impact on the issue of fitness for office and public confidence in the administration of justice?

7. Was any promise or inducement made to Ayers-Caesar that once she concluded her part-heard matters at the magisterial level she would once again be re-appointed to the High Court? If not, what is to be her position upon the conclusion of those matters?
$600 million more to be spent

Government will now focus on revenue collection and intensify its efforts to improve tax administration and compliance for the rest of fiscal 2017 and beyond; and the sale of assets. He confirmed the establishment of a Revenue Authority by the end of the fiscal year.

We need to see a quantum leap in the performance of our revenue collection agencies as soon as possible, since there is no doubt that tax leakage and tax avoidance is widespread, he said, resulting in a loss of revenue to the Treasury in the billions of dollars. In the mid-year review of the budget yesterday in the House of Representatives, Imbert said, the 2017 budget was predicated on an average oil price of US$48 per barrel and a natural gas price of US$ 2.25 per mmbtu.

In the first six months of the fiscal year, he said, corresponding prices have averaged US$50.45 per barrel and US$3.30 per mmbtu respectively.

We have therefore increased the expected tax collections from the energy sector for 2017 to $3.6 billion, compared with the original budget projection of $2.6 billion, an increase of $1 billion, he said As such, central governments overall deficit for 2017, he said, is now projected at $5.9 billion (an estimated 3.8 per cent of GDP), compared with the original projected deficit of $6.0 billion (3.9 percent of GDP). On rumours of plans for further taxation, Imbert said, There will thus be no increases in fuel prices in this midyear review. However, between 2015 and 2018, he said, Government intends to remove the subsidy on gasoline and diesel, so that the price of fuel will rise and fall in accordance with changes in world oil prices and the ex-refinery price of petroleum products.

On exchange rates, he said, There will be no drastic or sudden depreciation of the local currency. PROPERTY TAX SOON On the implementation of the property tax, he said, phase one has started smoothly, starting with the submission of Valuation Return Forms with supporting documents by owners of residential properties on or before May 22.

We do not intend to extend this deadline, he said as it was necessary to assess the rental values and determine the applicable property taxes, so that tax collection can begin.

Due to postponement of this taxation over the last seven years, he said, Government has lost over $2.5 billion. Government, he said, was looking at using property tax on residential properties to assist local government bodies with their cash flow, and as the property tax collection system evolves, other categories of property tax will be considered for devolution to local government. It is likely, he said, that property tax on industrial properties will remain the preserve of the central government. On the establishment of the Revenue Authority, Imbert said, Government will submit enabling legislation to a Joint Select Committee of Parliament for scrutiny, and a project implementation committee has been established, to expedite the work required to establish the Revenue Authority.

To modernise the outdated revenue collection system, he said, appropriate consultations with recognised trade unions to build consensus will be held.

$1B RAISED IN FCB APO The sale of assets programme to support this years national budget, he said, remains on-track. First Citizens Banks Additional Public Offer (APO) which closed on April 7 attracted $1.025 billion. Though the APO did not achieve its target, he said, if the offer price for FCB shares in this APO had been priced lower than the actual market price, the value of the shareholding of existing shareholders would have been seriously compromised and diluted, leading to loss in asset value and net worth for thousands of ordinary people, pension plans and institutional investors. National Gas Companys APO for the sale of 40,248,000 Class B shares, he said, would be launched shortly. This is expected to generate about $800 million.

GAS RAMP UP On reducing TTs shortages of natural gas, Imbert said, It is anticipated that first gas from the Dragon field could be obtained during the 2019 to 2020 period, he said. It is envisaged that a new pipeline would be constructed from the Dragon Field to the Hibiscus Platform, which is already connected by pipeline to Atlantics LNG facilities in Point Fortin, he said.

A separate connector pipeline would also be built at Pt Lisas to supply gas for downstream Petrochemical industries. To this end, a preliminary project agreement between Venezuelas PDVSA, National Gas Company and Shell was signed in Caracas on March 15. The companies are now working towards finalisation of a gas sales agreement by July.

On measures underway to establish the Procurement Commission, Imbert said, the proposed compensation package of $85,000 a month for the Regulator, has been approved by the Parliament, and a multidisciplinary transition team established in the ministry to prioritise the needs of staff of the Central Tenders Board.

THE CLICO ISSUE On the Clico Resolution Plan, he said, as at September 2016, Government and taxpayers would have expended some $20.3 billion in relation to the bailout of CL Financial. By April 2017, he said, Government would have incurred a further $3.2 billion in funding costs, advisor fees and other costs.

Government is owed about $325 million in interest on the Clico Investment Bank and BAICO promissory notes and up to $4.3 billion for other liabilities which could arise under the liquidity support agreement with First Citizens Investment Services (FCIS) and in relation to CIBs liabilities to holders of Investment Note Certificates, which remain unpaid.

Should these liabilities arise, the Government may be owed up to $27.7 billion by the CLF Group. Having met its objectives, Imbert said, Government is focusing on the recovery of taxpayers funds.

Governments repayment plan, he said, envisages that legitimate non-conflicted third party creditors will be paid in addition to the repayment of the Governments debt.

These remaining creditors include CLICO and BATs legitimate policyholders - CLICO, $9.8 billion and British American Trinidad, $800million - and the CIB Investment Note Certificate (INC) holders.
Kamla sees $8B shortfall

Among this sum, she said were $6.3 billion in revenues not realised, a $0.5 billion shortfall from the recent additional public offering (APO) of shares in FCB, plus some $0.5 billion in Property Tax that she said it is unrealistic to expect the Government to be able to collect this year. Saying the country has about 400,000 households, she said the mere 51 valuation surveyors registered at the Institute of Surveyors are insufficient to do all these assessments of Property Tax due. I cant see any way he (Finance Minister Colm Imbert) will get the 180 to 240 valuators needed to evaluate the property tax. Persad-Bissessar hit back at Imbert over which government ran up the public debt the most. She said the former Peoples Partnership (PP) had moved the figure from $45.4 billion (in 2010) to $76.5 billion (in 2015) but compared to this five-year period, the Peoples National Movement had taken the debt to $89.1 billion in just 18 months.

Is this sustainable, the debt-to-GDP ratio? We really are on the edge of a cliff. The Minister gave us no policy, no programme to get out. She bemoaned that much of TTs Public Debt was accrued by external borrowing, meaning its repayment must be by way of foreign exchange which is now in short supply.

You (Imbert) diagnosed the problem but have not said what is the medicine to get us out of recession. Saying Imbert has not ordered the cutting of items, she asked how he would balance the books, such as by more drawdowns from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund.

While Moodys had hit the Government for failing to diversify the economy, she wondered whether the Government now intends to try to literally pay another credit rating agency, Fitch, to get a good rating? Regarding TSTTs purchase of Massy Technologies, she refused to believe that this deal was not known of beforehand by either Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley or Minister in the Office of Prime Minister Stuart Young even as TSTT chairman Emile Elias claimed not to have told Cabinet. She asked how Corporation Sole, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, could not know of this quarter billion dollar expenditure ($255 million) even as the country reels from a lack of medicines in public hospitals and a lack of water supply.

She criticised the Governments diversion of $2.5 billion from the Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF) as scandalous. Regarding the status of the Procurement Regulator, Persad-Bissesar said shed like to see the reported letter from President Anthony Carmona that had purportedly requested government help to recruit this official.
Seunath: Wipe JLSC slate clean

The former Vice President of the Law Association held the view along with President of the Southern Assembly of Lawyers Reshard Khan, that the current bantering in public on the issue, is doing more harm to the judiciary than good.

Instead of giving legal opinions, Seunath added, senior counsel in the country should seek an audience with Chief Justice Ivor Archie on the matter.

What is most unfortunate, he added, is that there are those who would not lose sleep over what he describes as the, agony of the unprotected. Seunath said that for too long, citizens have been shortchanged by the exercise of power and authority in appointments to the Supreme Court.

The Ayers-Caesar issue, he insisted, must not be swept under the carpet.

The time has come for the exercise of Constitutional authority, Seunath said, to settle the imbroglio, for it would put to rest the public spat on the issue.

He said that now was the opportune time to look at judicial appointments and create a more open system.

It presents the opportunity for TT to create its own system in selecting judges that will put an end to what he described as pockets in society which determine how one is promoted to higher office, based on which Church you go to etc, etc. It has become almost like a cult, Seunath said.
AmCham: Hold consultations on Property Tax

Commenting on yesterdays Mid-Year Review in Parliament, AmCham TT noted that within his presentation, Finance Minister, Colm Imbert addressed measures being taken on the implementation of the Property Tax. While the focus in the interim is on residential properties, it is our hope that there will be adequate discussion on industrial property tax prior to its implementation. Earlier articulation surrounding the tax on industry suggests that there may be a negative impact on re-investment and new investment. Another area of concern for AmCham TT was Imberts announcement that he had requested the Central Bank give priority to trade and manufacturing regarding access to foreign exchange.

This is, as we understand, the status quo and will unlikely result in any significant change. AmCham TT argued that Government needs to articulate a clear set of long-term plans and initiatives to address these and other issues to inspire greater confidence in the local economy. Looking at the energy sector portion of the Mid-Year Review, Am- Cham TT welcomed the news that, as Imbert stated, We have listened and are in broad agreement with the upstream producers that a reform of the Supplemental Petroleum Tax (SPT) is required. We are satisfied that in a low-price environment and in its present form the SPT does not facilitate immediate investment. Imbert explained that SPT rates can vary from a low of 18.0 per cent to a maximum of 55.0 per cent, depending of the price of crude oil as well as the size, maturity and location of the oil field and is triggered when the price increases above US $50 per barrel of oil.

Although the SPT has a system of credits and discounts and is minimised through deductibility against the Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) its application is not investment-friendly in that once a price band is triggered the new rate applies to all production from the relevant license. The reform would modify the SPT to bring a degree of stability and predictability of terms in the fiscal regime faced by the Government and upstream operators, Imbert said.

Regarding this, Am- Cham TT reminded that In previous presentations, the Government committed to a review of this tax in an effort to boost oil production.

Ultimately boosting oil production will lead to greater revenue and we urge the minster to make the necessary revision of the SPT in the 2017/2018 National Budget. Overall, Am- Cham TT said while Government is on budget at this point in the fiscal year, this will still require significant deficit financing at the end of this period. The chamber added that while Imbert said TT is on track to achieve fiscal balance by 2020, in curtailing expenditure, our hope is that low spend is not linked to an inability to execute or non-implementation of plans and programmes, but rather a result of real savings.
PM unaware of Tobago food shortage

Responding to a question in the House of Representatives, Rowley said the recent concerns about the domestic seabridge are public knowledge. He said it is also well-known that the cargo ferry service is not up to standard and has been causing, some significant problems in Tobago.

In some instances people are facing some losses to their businesses, Rowley said. He observed that if the situation deteriorates any further, there might be some shortage of materials in Tobago. Rowley added that unlike his predecessor Kamla Persad-Bissessar, he used Caribbean Airlines (CAL) to travel to Tobago.

Later in the sitting, Works Minister Rohan Sinanan gave the assurance that Government,  will fix this problem, especially for the people of Tobago, once and for all. On reports of financial losses being incurred by truckers, Sinanan stated, the Port Authority has implemented a system where drivers would be issued courtesy tickets for travel. Sinanan also disclosed that he met with the truckers and arranged for the Port Authority to meet with them tomorrow.

He reiterated there is a shortterm plan to procure a suitable vessel for the seabridge within one to three months.

Sinanan was confident this will be done. He reminded MPs the country was placed in the position when the Super Fast Galicia was, withdrawn from service at short notice. He said this is a matter currently engaging his ministrys attorneys and those of the Port Authority.

Sinanan noted that the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs is currently investigating allegations of bid-rigging and collusion in the Galicias first contract under the former Peoples Partnership government.

Against this background, the minister said, The Port Authority is very careful as to how it goes forward procuring another vessel. Sinanan reiterated that in February, Cabinet gave the Authority permission to go out and tender for a vessel to replace the Galicia. He said Government has been proactive and responsible in addressing this matter.
No divergence on Massy

Speaking in the House of Representatives, Rowley said, I am not aware there is any divergence of view on this matter. The PM said he commented on the matter earlier in the week because of the outrage that was expressed in some quarters about it.

On Monday, Rowley said, It is not correct to say Cabinet was not informed. In the House yesterday, Rowley reiterated that TSTT is not a wholly stateowned company. The Prime Minister said due diligence was taken by independent consultants on Massy Technologies but, there has been no acquisition as yet. He added that the matter is subject to certain legal and regulatory processes. Rowley also said public-private partnership to build houses at Mt Hope is ongoing and should be completed in late 2019.

He said Government has not guaranteed any financing for that project. That project is being undertaken by NH International Caribbean Ltd whose chairman Emile Elias, is the current chairman of TSTT.
Law Association hails Privy Council ruling

In a statement on Tuesday, association president Douglas Mendes SC, said the Court of Appeal affirmed, in no uncertain terms the role of the Supreme Court as guardian of the Constitution and protector of the rule of law.

Mendes was commenting on the Privy Councils decision in former head of the Pubic Service Reginald Dumas legal challenge of the appointment of Dr James Armstrong and Romar Achat- Saney to the Police Service Commission (PSC) by the President, in 2013.

By permitting access to the Supreme Court to persons such as Mr Dumas, whose primary concern is to act in the public interest, the Court of Appeal took a major step towards holding public officials accountable for the discharge of their public duties, no matter how high the office they may hold, Mendes said.

We congratulate Mr Dumas on the selfless contribution he has made to the development of our constitutional jurisprudence.

We also commend the liberal vision of the Curt of Appeal displayed in its impressive judgement, Mendes added.

The Law Lords in their ruling said the case raised an important question about the jurisdiction of the High Court to hear an application by a citizen for the Court to interpret a provision of the Constitution. The appellate court and the Privy Council had found that there was no established tradition in Trinidad and Tobago which prevented a citizen with a legitimate interest in upholding the Constitution and the rule of law.

In their ruling, the British Law Lords also held that the question raised by Dumas was one for the court to decide.
PM: No inquiry into Ayers-Caesar issue

Rowley made his first official comment on the issue when he responded to a question posed by Chaguanas West MP Ganga Singh in the House of Representatives.

When Singh asked if a commission of inquiry would be established to look into the matter, Rowley said, No. The Government is not considering an inquiry into the judiciary. Singh asked how would Ayers-Caesars outstanding cases be dealt with.

I want to make it abundantly clear that the specific matter to which the Member (Singh) referred, is a matter which resides entirely within the borders of the Judiciary, Rowley responded.

Government MPs thumped their desks as Rowley further declared, This Government maintains the Great Wall of China between itself and the Judiciary. Singh scoffed: The Great Wall of China might be amorphous having regard to malaise plaguing the justice system right now. He then asked Rowley whether he was turning a blind eye to what was happening in the judiciary. The Prime Minister told Singh he had no idea where his attention was focused.

I give the assurance that Government is concerned about all aspects of national life in TT, Rowley added.

At a post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Anns on April 27, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young said Government was monitoring events which occurred since Ayers-Caesar was appointed a judge, two weeks earlier.
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Everything seems to be getting smarter these days, and this has allowed many of the things we use every day to become more efficient. As everyone awaits the full promise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the tens of billions of devices it will connect, many cities around the world are in the process of making the necessary changes to take advantage of this technology. One of the latest cities to do so is Tampere, Finland. In collaboration with Nokia (News - Alert), the Smart Tampere initiative will make the city a case study for connected services, including smart lighting, smart energy, e-health, data management, smart mobility and smart user experience at large venues.





This is the second venture for Nokia to make a city smarter. The first one was as part of the Bristol Is Open (BIO) initiative in the UK, which brought together industries, both public and private, including technology, media, telecommunications, universities, local communities, and local and national government, to move forward the implementation and deployment of connected technologies.

This time around, Nokia is doing it in Finland, where the company got its start. Just like Bristol, Tampere is also bringing together agencies and local companies, NGOs and citizens to create a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable city by using existing and new technologies.

The people of Tampere are making a substantial commitment to putting our city at the forefront of smart city development. Working with Nokia is a natural fit, as a company that has played such an important role in the development of the modern economy here in Tampere and in the country at large, said Tero Blomqvist, Smart Tampere Program Director.

The Smart Tampere initiative will create a living lab to improve the lives of residents while making the city more attractive to businesses and visitors by exploring technological solutions where they can also be tested and deployed. Of course, this will not be cheap, and the city has made a concerted effort to procure 6-10 billion Euro or 6.5-10.87 billion dollars from public and private investments to develop Tampere into a smarter city by 2030.

Nokia will provide technologies that will be key to the connectivity of all this infrastructure in the development of the smart city, including 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Working together to explore the potential of digital technologies to make cities smarter is good for both Nokia and Tampere. The learnings we are able to glean from this collaboration will benefit Tampere's citizens, companies and visitors, and can also be carried forward into similar collaborations with other cities around the world, said Tommi Uitto, Finland country head, Nokia.

Nokia's Smart City solutions provide shared, secure and scalable platforms by leveraging existing resources and data to help governments, communications service providers and large enterprises deliver on the potential of smart cities. The company works with an open partner ecosystem across a wide range of industries, including technology vendors, application developers, service providers, system integrators, utility companies, research institutions and others to explore the possibilities and implementations of new systems, applications, content, devices and services.

Edited by Alicia Young
The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has provided an Egyptian petrochemicals producer Carbon Holdings a $ 11 million loan to help this company reduce N2O emissions.

As part of its drive to help the Egyptian economy move to more environmentally friendly ways of production, the funds will be used to improve standards beyond the current industry level to meet international ISO certification standards at Egyptian Hydrocarbon Corporation (EHC), one of Carbon Holdings operating companies.

In addition, the company will work on upgrading its approach to energy efficiency management and reducing N2O emissions to below European Union Best Available Techniques levels at EHC.

On the basis of improved environmental performance, the company will also acquire a majority stake in EHC. Carbon Holdings is a developer, acquirer and operator of midstream and downstream petrochemicals companies in the Ain Sokhna industrial zone in the Northwest Gulf of Suez in Egypt.

The EBRD investment is in line with the Banks new transition qualities, introduced at the beginning of 2017. The Bank argues that a well-functioning market economy should be competitive, inclusive, well governed, green, resilient and integrated.

This financing will help setting this pilot project with Carbon Holdings that will pave the way for the construction of a landmark polypropylene production plant in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region.

The EBRD has invested over 2.3 billion in Egypt through 43 projects since the start of its activities in the country at the end of 2012. The Banks areas of investment include the financial sector, agribusiness, manufacturing and services, as well as infrastructure projects such as power, municipal water and wastewater services and support to transport services.
United Kingdom government hosted May 11 a major international conference in London, to accelerate progress on security sector reform, build on the international response to the ongoing drought and humanitarian crisis.

The conference seeks also to set new international partnership needed to keep Somalia on course for increased peace and prosperity by 2020.

Heads of State and Government from across East Africa and other key partners, along with senior figures from international organizations attended the event.

The list of attendees includes UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, senior officials from the Arab World, the Islamic world, the World Bank, IMF and the African Union.

The UN Secretary General said in opening remarks that Somalia is faced with many challenges and has to rebuild security, foster transparency and accountability, deal with a crippling drought, and avert a famine.

He said there is an opportunity to build on the momentum of the electoral process and achieve lasting stability and there is a firm platform to improve security, deepen federalism, resolve residual conflicts and advance reconciliation, and then complete the review of the Constitution.

Yet, drought is the most pressing priority, he said, deploring that More than six million people in Somalia need assistance  or nearly half the population. Some 275,000 malnourished children are at risk of starvation.

The world organization is seeking a further $900 million this year to assist these starving people.

This morning, we presented a revised Humanitarian Response Plan seeking an additional $900 million through the end of the year, he said, stressing the need to address also the damage caused by climate change and conflict.

Indeed, fighting continues to devastate Somalia. Violations of human rights and international humanitarian law occur with impunity, underlined the UN Chief.

The historic agreement among Somali political leaders laid the foundations for Somalias National Security Architecture. We must better support the Security Pact and the Somali security institutions, he insisted.

British PM Theresa May addressed the conference, expressing support to the new Somali President in building a more secure, stable and prosperous future for the people of Somalia.

As an international community, our commitment to Somalia matters. Not just because it is right to help Somalia to overcome the threat of terrorism and the devastating effects of years of famine and bloodshed; but also because these challenges that face Somalia affect us all, said Mme May.

If Somalia is a foothold for terrorist groups like Al Shabaab and Daesh, if global trade is hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, or if millions are continually displaced in a desperate bid to escape poverty and drought, the impact of instability in Somalia is felt across the whole region and the wider world, she added.

But what we have seen over the last five years is that when we work together on these issues we can make progress, stressed the UK Prime Minister.

In 2011, Somalia was chronically unstable and ungoverned, with large parts of the country controlled by al-Shabaab. Famine had claimed the lives of a quarter of a million people. Piracy was rife, costing global trade $7 billion that year alone.

In response, the UK brought together the international community at the first London Somalia Conference in 2012.
King Mohammed VI who was among the first heads of State to congratulate on Sunday Emmanuel Macron for his victory at the French Presidential elections, held a phone conversation with the President-elect on Tuesday.

During this phone call, the Sovereign reiterated his warm congratulations to Macron for his election, which was marked by broad support to his vision for the future of France and the well-being of his fellow citizens, the Kings Office said in a statement.

It was also an opportunity to highlight the distinctive nature of the relationship between the two countries in all fields, as well as the shared will to consolidate and enrich this exceptional partnership, the statement said.

In his Sunday congratulations message, King Mohammed VI lauded the personal characteristics of the new President who represents a choice for progress, openness and confidence in the future.

The Monarch expressed satisfaction with the longstanding ties of friendship existing between his country and France, which he highlighted as a strategic choice. He voiced confidence that Macron will add fresh impetus to strengthen further ties between France and Morocco.

Macron said last April that Morocco is on top of the countries that he would visit as soon as he wins elections. Macron considers Morocco a key player in his Mediterranean and Africa strategy, Macrons diplomatic adviser Aurelien Lechevallier had said.

Lechevallier had added that regarding the Sahara issue, Macron will maintain Frances position in favour of UN-led efforts to find a political and mutually acceptable solution to the regional dispute, reaffirming that Moroccos autonomy initiative represents a credible basis to reach a political settlement.
Andrew McCabe. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday that James Comey retained broad support within the bureau, directly contradicting the White Houses claim that Comey had lost the loyalty of his agents.

"Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day," acting FBI Director McCabe says https://t.co/sQ0dZMLZ4p pic.twitter.com/yiECHMhoUv  CBS News (@CBSNews) May 11, 2017

I can tell you also that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to his day, McCabe testified, calling it the greatest privilege and honor of his professional life to work with Comey. He continued: We are a large organization  we have a diversity of opinions about many things. But I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority of FBI employees, enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.

McCabes revelation comes just two days after President Trump fired Comey for reasons that are continuously changing, though the rank and file losing confidence in the director was among the reasons given.

Comey had originally been scheduled to testify Thursday, which  until the directors bombshell ouster  was intended as a hearing to update lawmakers about pressing national-security threats. Instead, Comeys fate and the Russia investigation overshadowed discussions about North Korea and homegrown extremism.

McCabe undermined another of the Trumps constant claims  that the Russia investigation is just a sideshow.

The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

The investigation is highly significant, McCabe told lawmakers.

Maine senator Angus King pressed McCabe. So you would not characterize it as one of the smallest things youre engaged in?

FBI's McCabe says Russia probe is "highly significant," refuting WH claims of it being a "small" investigation https://t.co/sQ0dZMLZ4p pic.twitter.com/mkh4N1xwPJ  CBS News (@CBSNews) May 11, 2017

I would not, McCabe replied, though he later would not comment on Trumps repeated assertion that Comey had assured him three times that the president himself was not under investigation.

And, McCabe testified, Comeys departure has not  and would not influence or disrupt the course of that highly significant investigation. The work of the men and women of the FBI continues despite any changes in circumstances, any decisions, he said. There has been no effort to impede our investigation, to date.

But McCabe promised he would inform lawmakers immediately if the White House attempted to interfere. He also said he believed the investigation was adequately sourced, in response to a question about reports that Comey had asked the Justice Department for more resources before his firing.

Quite simply put, McCabe testified during the hearing, echoing the sentiments in Comeys own letter to the department, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people, and upholding the Constitution.
Grassley. Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty Images

Before treating James Comey to a euphemistic version of his signature catchphrase Tuesday, President Trump thanked the FBI director for informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation.

lmao this would be a story for like seven decades if any other president wrote it. pic.twitter.com/OkCHrT6j8K  were going to pass AVR  (@SeanMcElwee) May 9, 2017

This was a remarkable phrase. The White House had strenuously insisted that the FBIs Russia investigation played no part in Comeys firing  and yet the president could not get more than a paragraph into his letter before invoking that inquiry. Further, long-standing FBI policy would have barred Comey from providing the president such assurances about an ongoing criminal investigation.

For whatever reason, associates of the former FBI director have an easier time believing that Donald Trump would brazenly lie than that James Comey would flout protocol.

That is literally farcical, one Comey ally told The Wall Street Journal.

Various Justice Department veterans expressed similar sentiments.

That self-serving assertion was completely implausible, Harvard Law School professor and Obama administration alum Laurence Tribe told CNBC. To put it bluntly, it appears to have been a blatant lie.

But even if Trump is lying about what Comey told him, it could still be true that the FBI doesnt have the president in its crosshairs. And on Thursday, Chuck Grassley strongly suggested that he knows that the FBI has nothing on the president.

At a committee meeting, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee said that Comey had briefed him and Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein on the targets of the FBIs probe:

It would not be appropriate for me to reveal those details before the professionals conducting the investigations are ready. So, I will not answer any questions about who are targets of the ongoing Russia investigations. But I will say this: Shortly after Director Comey briefed us, I tweeted that he should be transparent. I said he should tell the public what he told Senator Feinstein and me about whether the FBI is or is not investigating the President  On Tuesday, the Presidents letter said that Director Comey told him he was not under investigation. Senator Feinstein and I heard nothing that contradicted the Presidents statement.

Grassley went on to argue that the American people deserve to know if senior government officials are under active criminal or intelligence investigation.

Wild speculation that the FBI is targeting the president in a criminal or intelligence inquiry is not just irresponsible and unfounded, the senator continued. It provides aid and comfort to the Russians and their goal of undermining faith in our democracy.

Thus, Grassley implored the FBI to publicly announce whether it is investigating Trump.

So: Grassley says it would be inappropriate for him to reveal whom the FBI is and isnt targeting in its investigation. But he also says that claims that the president is under investigation are unfounded; hes heard nothing that contradicts the presidents letter to Comey; and an official announcement on this subject would help restore faith in American democracy.

So, clearly Comey did not tell Grassley that Trumps days are numbered.

Regardless, the investigation into collusion between the presidents campaign and the Russian government appears to be continuing apace.

There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe said in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday. You cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing  and protecting the Constitution.
Photo: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Much like Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose Justice Department prosecuted a woman for laughing during his confirmation hearing, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price is not worried about looking thin-skinned.

Price defended the West Virginia capitol police on Wednesday, a day after they arrested a journalist for aggressively asking him a question.

I want to commend the West Virginia Capitol police. They did what they felt was appropriate, and we thank them for the work that they do, Price said during a press conference in New Hampshire. Its important to appreciate that gentleman was not in a press conference, we were walking down a hall and the Capitol police acted as they felt necessary.

Public News Service reporter Dan Heyman was arrested after repeatedly asking Price if domestic violence is considered a preexisting condition under the Republican health-care bill that passed in the House last week. He was charged with willful disruption of governmental processes, a misdemeanor.

Heyman described the incident in an interview with Esquire on Wednesday. He said someone walking with Price and Trump aide Kellyanne Conway told him to stay back at one point, but he didnt feel he was being unusually aggressive:

I stood there and Secretary Price came in, and I started an audio recording on my phone, and held out my phone to him to try to get close enough to get his comments. I asked him the question of whether domestic violence would be a pre-existing condition that could result in the denial of insurance under Trumpcare. And he didnt say anything, kept walking, Heyman said. So I asked him again and walked along with him on this corridor. At one point I sort of was moving through the entourage behind him, and somebody said, Stay back, get away. Heyman kept going.



I moved to the other side of the hallway, keeping up with this group as it moved to get another shot at asking this question. I think I asked him a total of three or four times. At some point, I was pulled aside by the capitol police, he said. I want to make clearif youre a daily reporter, Im sure youve been involved in scrum situations where youre trying to ask somebody a question. It was pretty much exactly like that. I was reaching over or between people, sort of leaning into the group, to try to get my cell phone close to him. But I wasnt trying to get past people.

Lawrence Messina, a spokesperson for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, told Esquire that Heyman wasnt arrested for merely shouting a question at the secretary. This individual physically tried to push his way past Secret Service agents who were here to provide for the safety and security of this event in the state capitol, Messina said. The agents actually pushed him away, and maybe more than once.

As for why Heyman was arrested rather than just being removed from the area, Messina said that was a call made by capitol police who witnessed the incident. I believe that they concluded this individual had crossed a line, he said.

Heyman is facing a $100 fine and a maximum of six months in prison.
When news first broke that Donald Trump had abruptly fired the man leading the investigation into his campaigns suspected collusion with a hostile foreign power, the administration was (understandably) eager to downplay the presidents role in that extraordinary personnel change.

Trump did not push for James Comeys ouster, according to the White Houses initial statements. Rather, the president merely followed the unsolicited guidance of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  who felt that the FBI directors mishandling of the Clinton email investigation had jeopardized the publics confidence in the bureau.

In his letter to Comey, Trump painted his part in the firing in passive terms.

I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the president wrote. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.

The idea that Trump fired Comey because Rod Rosenstein felt the FBI director had been too tough on Crooked Hillary was, of course, implausible. And reams of subsequent reporting suggest that Comey was fired because he refused to comport himself as Donald Trumps personal detective.

Still, pushing the Rosenstein story had clear virtues for the administration: Rosensteins recent arrival at the Justice Department provided an explanation for the moves odd timing; and framing the firing as the decision of a widely respected civil servant  who is not currently the subject of an FBI investigation  made the move look less like an attempt at obstructing justice.

And so, White House surrogates insisted that Trump was just following orders.

Trump administration spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told MSNBC that the reason for Comeys firing was real simple  The deputy attorney general made a very strong recommendation.

Senior counselor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News that Comeys fate was sealed by the three letters that were received today.



Vice-president Pence, for his part, said Wednesday that the president took strong and decisive leadership  by accepting the recommendation of the deputy attorney general to remove Director Comey as the head of the FBI.

But Rosenstein did not appreciate being cast in the affairs starring role  and Donald Trump always wants to play the lead.

I was going to fire him regardless of recommendation, Trump told NBCs Lester Holt Thursday. Look, hes a showboat, hes a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago  it hasnt recovered from that.

The FBIs acting director Andrew McCabe disputed this characterization of his bureau Thursday. Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day, McCabe said in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Watch Trump call Comey a showboat on NBC Nightly News.

In his letter to Comey, Trump wrote that the FBI director informed him on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation. Trump reiterated this claim in his interview with Holt. But he also said that he had specifically solicited such assurances from the FBI director  a breach of protocol and ostensible confession that the president was worried the FBI might have some cause to investigate him, personally.

I said, if its possible would you let me know, Am I under investigation? You are not under investigation, Trump told Holt, summarizing a conversation he had with Comey.

The president claimed that the FBI director had provided this assurance three times  once over dinner, twice over the phone. If true, these actions would represent profound malfeasance on Comeys part. Justice Department rules forbid FBI agents from sharing the details of active criminal investigations with the White House.
Trump picked anti-immigration zealot Kris Kobach to help lead the commission. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images

One of the presidents traits that probably makes his staff and other Republicans crazy is that he just cant let go of ludicrous statements hes made. White House sources are indicating that one reason he fired James Comey is that the FBI director would not confirm his unsubstantiated complaint that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign.

Now we are seeing another Trump action based on an even more bizarre assertion: his claim that he was robbed of a big popular-vote victory in 2016 by millions of people who voted illegally. According to multiple reports, the president is today setting up an election integrity commission that is apparently the fulfillment of a Trump pledge to prove the illegal vote fantasy via an investigation. It will be headed up by his vice-president, Mike Pence, who is what passes for a bipartisan figure in the administration. But the clear indicator of the commissions intent is its vice-chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Trump adviser who is to bogus voter fraud allegations what Chick-fil-A is to chicken sandwiches.

Heres Talking Points Memos brisk profile of Kobach:

Kobach is the engineer of a number of laws and proposals that were struck down by the courts, including a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration in Kansas that has been tied up in a multi-year legal battle. Multiple courts have ruled against his efforts to implement the requirement, and at one point, he was threatened to be held in contempt-of-court for allegedly refusing to comply with a court order against it.

He also talked Kansas legislators into giving him prosecutorial powers in voter fraud cases, citing the threat of aliens flooding the polls. As a Kansas City Star editorial last year noted:

Kobach hasnt exposed a single example of that happening in Kansas among the cases he has filed.



The Legislature in 2017 should wrest away from Kobach the powers it wrongly gave this oh-so-dangerous public official.

He is reportedly the Romney adviser in 2012 who talked the GOP nominee into the idea of self-deportation as his central immigration strategy. And he was also a key architect of Arizonas notorious show your papers law aimed at authorizing random interrogations of people who look like they might be undocumented  i.e., Latino.

Suffice it to say, placing Kobach in the leadership of this commission poisons it fatally (it could get even worse if former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, another avid promoter of voter-fraud nonsense, is appointed as well, as most reports indicate).

Indeed, Kobachs presence could completely undermine White House efforts to get Democrats to support the commission by expanding its mandate beyond voter fraud to voter suppression.

Election-law expert Rick Hasen provided perhaps the best brief analysis of the commission and its trajectory:

The Administrations credibility is so low that few except the true believers are likely to believe anything produced by the likely worthless report.

Count Donald Trump among the true believers of his own illegal voters hype.
Photo: Archive Holdings Inc./Getty Images

Some nights, its like you cant get your brain to shut up long enough for you to fall asleep. Youre mentally reviewing the day you just completed while also previewing the day ahead; sometimes, your mind may even reach way back into the archives and pull up something embarrassing you did back in high school. So fun!

Racing thoughts can be a sign of a serious mental health condition like anxiety. But these nights also happen to everyone from time to time  and once were too old for bedtime stories, its not always clear what to do. Theres no one solution that will work for everybody, of course, so instead, weve rounded up suggestions from eight sleep experts. At the very least, its something to read next time you cant sleep.

Distract yourself with meaningless mental lists.

The absolute prerequisite for sleep is a quiet mind. Think of something else, rather than whats worrying you  something with a story to it. It can be anything of interest, but of no importance, so you can devote some brain energy to it without clashing into the real world and going straight back to your worries. I fly a lot, so I imagine I have my own private jet and how would I arrange the furniture on it. If youre someone who likes going to music festivals, what would your lineup be?  Neil Stanley, sleep expert

Try to stay awake instead.

Thinking about sleep and wishing for it to happen is a recipe for staying awake. This is where paradoxical thinking comes in. If you give yourself the paradoxical instruction to stay awake instead, youll be more likely to fall asleep. If you can be comfortable with the idea of remaining awake, then the performance anxiety and frustration that are associated with trying to sleep have nowhere to go and your arousal level drops.  Colin Espie, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Oxford

Or just get out of bed.

If 20 minutes has gone by as the mind races and is unable to relax back to sleep, its best to get out of bed. Without looking at your phone or any other screen devices, go to another dimly lit room where you keep a notebook. Write down the thoughts that are keeping you awake. Finish with the words, It can wait until tomorrow. Then, go back to bed, focus on the breath, and mindfully relax into those words, giving yourself permission to yield to sleep. Jenni June, sleep consultant

Write down whatevers freaking you out.

Spend a maximum of 20 minutes just getting everything out of your head and onto paper every day. Its a therapeutic way to see that you probably dont have loads to worry about, rather just a few reoccurring things. You can then see which worries are hypothetical (i.e., what if I make a mistake at work and lose my job) or real worries (e.g., I made a mistake and have lost my job). For the real worries you can then make an action plan/problem-solve and for the hypothetical ones, learn to let them go.  Kathryn Pinkham, National Health Services insomnia specialist

Get back in bed and do some deep breathing.

Deep breathing  acts as a powerful distraction technique, particularly if paired with counting. You want to aim to breathe out for longer than you breathe in, and pause after breathing in and out; so you might choose to count for three when you breathe in, then pause and count to five when you breathe out, then pause. Really focus on your breathing and counting, and if your mind wanders off, just take note of that and return your attention to the exercise. You may need to do this for ten minutes or so.  Christabel Majendie, sleep therapist

Try not to try so hard.

Try not to struggle or try harder to overcome the sleeplessness or get rid of unwanted thoughts, as this can worsen insomnia. One successful approach to overcome this negative cycle is to instead learn to observe and accept these struggles, using mindfulness strategies to help.  Jenny Stephenson, director of HappySleepers

Or maybe plan how youll get some sun in the a.m.

Getting more sun exposure in the midmorning can help readjust the brains internal clock and make it easier to fall asleep later that night. In my book, I write about how sun exposure is now a key part of many professional athletes travel schedules, and seen as a way of preventing jet lag. Non-athletes can do similar things. Someone who cant seem to fall asleep at night may want to try getting as much exposure to natural light in the morning, essentially prepping themselves to fall asleep when they want to.  David K. Randall, author of Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep

And if all else fails 

The great era of tinkering with sleep aids was popular in early modern Europe. Here are a few of my favorites:

 Put some blood-sucking leeches behind your ears. When they bore holes in the skin, pull them out and place a grain of opium in each hole. (From 16th-century French physician Andre du Laurens.)

 Kill a sheep, and then press its steaming lungs on either side of the head. Keep the lungs in place as long as they remain warm. (From 16th-century French surgeon Ambroise Pare.)

 After the evening meal, eat lettuce, drink wine, and rub an ointment made of the oil of violets or camphor on the temples. Dissolve a mixture of poppy seeds, lettuce seeds, balsam, saffron, and sugar and cook it in poppy juice. Then listen to pleasant music and lie down on a bed covered with the leaves of fresh, cool plants. (From 15th-century philosopher Marsilio Ficino.)  Benjamin Reiss, author of Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World
Laptops could be banned on flights from Europe in the near future. Photo: Lauren Hurley/PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

If youre flying from Europe to the United States in the near future and were planning to use your laptop during the flight, you might have the rethink your plans. Laptops are no longer going to be allowed in plane cabins, according to a report today from the Daily Beast, which cites unnamed European security officials. The decision is expected to be announced on Thursday, the Daily Beast also reports.

If it goes through, the ban would be an extension of an existing laptop ban imposed by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year. The devices were banned on flights originating from ten airports, including airports in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey. It was imposed following concerns that bombs could be built into the devices and then brought aboard flights. (The United Kingdom followed suit with a similar ban.)

From DHS via the Daily Beast, regarding the alleged ban extension:

No final decisions have been made on expanding the restriction on large electronic devices in aircraft cabins; however, it is under consideration. DHS continues to evaluate the threat environment and will make changes when necessary to keep air travelers safe.

If the ban is enacted, airlines will have another issue to consider. How to keep all those lithium-ion batteries, which will now be chilling in cargo holds, from exploding and causing potentially deadly fires.
Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For most people, Uber exists as one single thing, an app that lets users summon a car to their door in minutes. But behind that is a giant company that  despite its aim to change transportation as we know it  flew by the seat of its pants for most of its early years. In Wild Ride, out later this month, Adam Lashinsky recounts how Travis Kalanick went from reluctant adviser to the CEO of a company worth more than $60 billion, flouting regulations, ignoring public criticism, and charming investors along the way.

What made you want to focus on Uber? Rather than any other Silicon Valley company?

Well, my last book was on Apple. And I wrote that five and a half years ago, and when I did that, I had a conviction it was the most important company, certainly in Silicon Valley, and arguably, in the world. And that wasnt a terribly controversial assertion. That worked out well for me. I enjoyed that. I got going on this book, actually, something like, four years ago. So Uber was a lot smaller, but it was already this global phenomenon, and I was intrigued by how quickly it became a thing. I sensed it was going to be a big story, and I thought all the elements were in place for a fascinating story. And then when I got going in earnest about a year and a half ago, it obviously had gotten much, much bigger. I had no idea just how complicated and controversial and headline-grabbing it would become, but here we are today.

What I thought was unique about it  I mean, there are a bunch of superlatives associated with it  it is, or was, the worlds most valuable private company, the most valuable start-up. But just the way that it got going, the technological way, I found fascinating  and also, it was a nice continuation from my last book because without the iPhone and without the App Store, there wouldve been no Uber. And their recognition of that is what made the company what it was, or what it wouldve become. And then the second thing being that, you know, once upon a time, a company couldnt just start in San Francisco and become global in three years. And thats also completely attributable to the iPhone and the App Store. That infrastructure around the world is what enabled Uber to go global so quickly. It would have been unheard of even 15 years ago.

I guess the big question that I still cant quite figure out is if Ubers business is sustainable, given that a lot of money goes into subsidizing car rides and things like that. Yet, they are still able to attract so much investment. I was wondering why that was.

I dont know the answer either. Their thesis is that in a given market, where they have a large market share and a loyal customer base, they can make money. Period. Full stop. So then the question becomes, can they do that in all their markets, or can they do it in a preponderance of their markets, and can the profit that they make in those markets sustain the investments that theyre making in other things, including self-driving cars, which is hugely expensive? So, I dont know the answer. I know that thats what they believe. Interestingly, I think thats what the new investors in Lyft believe, also. They believe that when the market comes down, in other words  and now were just talking about the United States  when both companies stop their subsidy war, they can both make money. I think thats at least plausible.

Its interesting that you bring up customer loyalty, if only because this past year has not been a great year for Uber-customer loyalty. In terms of Ubers PR problems, has the past few months, starting with the #DeleteUber campaign, been particularly bad or just another thing that they ride out?

Again, I think youre asking the existential question, and right now all we have is anecdotal evidence. We have some evidence that it works, some hundreds of thousands of deletions around the #DeleteUber campaign in late January, after the whole JFK debacle, followed quickly by the Trump council debacle. And certainly, in certain bars and coffeehouses in San Francisco and New York, you would think that Uber was going to go out of business tomorrow. And I dont mean to minimize that, that negative public perception is real. So then the question becomes, what does the rest of the world think? And I dont have any data, and if they have data, theyre not releasing it. I have a hunch that there also was a contingent of people, half a step back  there certainly is a contingent of people who have no idea what Uber is, or who only have this vague idea of what Uber is. And we who live in big cities tend to forget that. Thats No. 1. No. 2, I think theres a contingent of people who arent interested in all of this. Theyre interested in the cheapest and quickest rides, so, again, Im not minimizing the public perception theyve taken. I just think theres evidence they can overcome if they dont completely screw it up.

And theres also been talk about Ubers corporate culture and how demanding it is. And how problematic it is. I was wondering what you had uncovered over the course of writing this book and what your impression of that was.

Yeah, the corporate culture of Uber comes down to one person and thats Travis Kalanick. He drives the culture of the company. And you know, in short, everything you hear about him is true. He is the thing that people say about him and so its cliche, but I think hes the companys biggest asset and its biggest liability. So, the question becomes: Can he grow enough to lead a big, modern, global company? And the jurys out on that. At the same time, most people believe they wouldnt have gotten to be where they are without him. So, hes no fool. What I write in my book is that hes a complicated guy and hes not; hes not completely self-unaware. But he has some eccentricities and some blind spots, and he believes what he believes. The big catch for Uber, and you and I are talking on May 10  the big catch for Uber, I think, is who they can attract to be this No. 2 to Travis Kalanick. A lot rests on the shoulders of that person and that hire.

I think, in reading about Uber, one of the interesting things about Kalanick is the vocabulary people use to describe him. Hes often referred to as young or stubborn or misguided in some of his actions. Which is interesting because hes not really inexperienced or young. And I was wondering why people see him that way, or why you might think that he is that sort of person?

Yeah, so its an interesting question. True, he is not young. He is 40 years old. The first company [Kalanick helped to start] was this proverbial college-dorm-room start-up that never went anywhere. It was interesting; it had a moment; but it never amounted to anything. The second one basically wasnt a company for a very long time, and then he was able to pull a rabbit out of the hat and sell it for what Silicon Valley people would call a relatively modest amount of money. And my only point in saying that is, its not like he spent seven years at Goldman Sachs or eight years at Procter & Gamble. None of this excuses anything, but I think explains that, No. 1, hes not young, but he sort of has this 20-something-year-old mind-set. Hes single, and hes out there on his own, and hes always hustling and all that. And then in terms of experience, this is his first time doing something this big. Despite his fame and despite the size that Uber has, the previous two companies he was in never did anything close to this. So, I only point that out for the  because you could say, Well, Zuckerberg didnt either. Absolutely right, Zuckerberg never saw anything. So, thats the contrast between the two of them.

This book is coming out at an interesting time, given the lawsuit between Uber and Waymo. Is there anything you gleaned from writing this book that didnt make it in, or seems interesting in retrospect?

You know, when I wrote, I had this scene at the end of my book where I take this long walk around San Francisco with Kalanick  and this is one of the ways he unwinds and relaxes, taking these long walks around the Embarcadero and the Waterfront in San Francisco  and he told me on this walk that theres one person hed been doing this with regularly, but he couldnt tell me who. This is before the Otto purchase, the purchase of Anthony Levandowskis company. Turns out, Anthony Levandowski was the other person he took these long walks with. Depending on where this trial goes, I think Waymos lawyers are gonna wanna know what they talked about on these long walks. I certainly didnt know that was happening.

When you read about what Waymo was alleging Kalanick and Levandowski tried to do, does that read as surprising to you?

When I read Waymos allegations of what they did do, if you read my book, this is a guy, and this is a company, that pushes the envelope constantly and has even  people close to him have described him as shifty or sneaky. So, no. After spending a year and a half looking at this company, nothing surprises me.

What was the most surprising thing that you learned in writing it? Even if nothing surprises you.

Toward the very end, Travis Kalanick and I had a bizarre conversation, where he asked me if I think hes an asshole, and I do what a good journalist would do: I sort of bobbed and weaved and suggested, first of all, its not for me to say, and I dont think thats a matter of fact. He believes that you can prove these things one way or the other, and I challenged him on that. And then he told me he doesnt think so, and hes clearly bothered by this. And I found that surprising and fascinating. You have this image of someone, like him or Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos, not caring what people think; he does.

Im curious about your time spent driving as an Uber driver, and what that was like. I think you sort of get right up to it without outright saying that driving for Uber is unsustainable as a full-time job. Is that your take on it?

I dont want to necessarily say that because I dont want to be in a position of judging whats enough for somebody. Ive talked to enough drivers who appreciate the flexibility for them of the opportunity. That said, it didnt take me long to find out that I liked my job better than being an Uber driver. And that I didnt particularly like it as a way of making a living. I thought it would be fun, you know, to drive all over the place and meet people, and I didnt find it to be that much fun.

What was the sort of typical Uber customer, or did it vary?

Yeah, I usually had two types, like, people in their young 20s going around, or business people coming from the airport or going to the airport. I did not drive on a Saturday night or a Thursday night in downtown San Francisco, which is when a lot of people try to make their money, but its also the time that youre most likely to get drunks in your car, and I didnt do that.

What sort of obstacles do you see in Ubers future, aside from lawsuits? Is Lyft still a big problem for them? Is some unseen innovation going to upend them?

Short term, theyve solved a lot of their regulatory problems in a lot of places, but theyll continue to have some regulatory issues as time goes on. And, yes, Lyft is a concern in the United States, and Didi is a concern in other places besides China. You know, as you pointed out at the beginning, their own business model is one of their concerns. At some point, theyre going to have to start making money. And then theres the sort of longer term, and its not just a long-term thing, but these further-out challenges; if they dont learn self-driving cars, something could happen where they just flip the script and theyre not the dominant player anymore. But thats not something thats going to happen immediately.

Do you have any insight into how far from viability self-driving cars are for them?

They are considered one of the leaders right now, but theres a lot of people investing a ton of money and, you know, the saying around self-driving cars right now is that the technology is there, but the consumer acceptance and the regulatory acceptance are complete unknowns. Everyone believes that electric cars are superior to gas combustion-engine cars, but weve got decades of capital and investments in the internal combustion engine, and thats not going away overnight, no matter how good electric cars are, and the same is true for self-driving.

Uber is an interesting company that I have always had a weird relationship with. Because I didnt want to become reliant on them, in a way that a lot of people seem to have, and I assume those holdouts are going to die out sooner rather than later.

I dont know. In the U.S., for example, it depends on how well Lyft is funded, or if their business can take hold. Juno put up this fight in New York, and then Gett bought them, and its been a time of easy money, so well see over economic cycles. Its funny, I havent heard many people like you say, Well, most people will probably just give in and start using Uber. In San Francisco, certainly you often hear people say, Ill never, ever, ever take Uber. Well see. Its a long time.
Not clicking. Someone summarize. TIA

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the most terrible things to come out of the 2000s including Von Dutch

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And her.

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she actually says trucker hats but NOT VON DUTCH



also love your icon

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http://gawker.com/355559/pet-ownership-may-prove-to-be-paris-hiltons-chappaquiddick



Edited at 2017-05-10 07:46 pm (UTC) She says "best friends" (pets) are hot accessories. And yet she used to leave dogs in a closet & let them die

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negl I still want a sidekick and if they made one with a smartphone face I'd seriously consider getting one

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Your 17 year wait is over, now shipping. #Nokia3310 pic.twitter.com/xJAJgwApAB  Nokia Mobile (@nokiamobile) May 5, 2017

No word on a sidekick revival but if you're looking for nostalgia.

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Will this require texting with T9? Because I refuse to ever go back.

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not the same, I need the flip around action and the full keyboard. the only way I'd go back.

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the phone was trash, i used to play with the screen flipping it and shit until it finally just flipped off lmao. you didn't miss anything. I do however miss my blackberry bold.

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Fuck her

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Love yourself

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The early 00s were a never ending eyesore.



I am guilty of the low waist jeans myself complete with thong peaking out.

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That look is incomplete without the requisite tramp stamp.

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I had the belly button ring!!!



I still have that.

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Was it at least D&G euro trash thong exposure? At least that's kind of glam.

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I love low waist jeans tbh. The thong peaking was always a little much to me. The mom jeans people are wearing right are nagl.

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paris wants us all to look cute. her 2000s faves in descending order:



-tracksuits

-graphic tees

-mini skirts

-uggs jk always wear heels

-pink

-multiple phones

-tiaras

-best friends aka her dogs

-rhinestones

-trucker hats

-belly buttons esp belly button rings

-low waisted jeans

-look like you're having fun or leave

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pretty sure mini skirts were pretty popular before/ after the 2000s

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high waisted miniskirts is all i will give her

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she says she hates the high waist, so not even that

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Uh I never stopped wearing graphic tees....

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I still wear graphic tees soo.....

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I still like graphic tees, tragic.gif

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I still wear graphic Ts and I'm hf low-rise jeans b/c I don't wear high-waist ones (I'm short and have a short torso lol). Everything else needs to stay in the 00s.

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Fuck graphic tees! I will NEVER go back to the early 2000's N E V E R.

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Same

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as least or most favorite?

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MFTE shes a racist beeetch

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I hate everything about early 2000s fashion. Everyone looked awful.

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NuMetal... worst trend ever

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Oh god lmao.

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Stop, I remember wearing two different colored polo shirts with the colors popped....

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Lmao at the comment+gif combo

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lol thank you for reminding me to watch this show!

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That was the worst look. Especially when paired with an upside down visor.

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Lmao

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I had the biggest crushes on boys that wore that lol

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She's a shitty person but I was obsessed with her back in the day and I can't believe how well she's aged.

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i loved flared jeans w a pointed heel tbh

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I think some girls can still get away with that look

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Me too, but my heels were pointed kitten heels lol

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I still try that with bootcut ngl

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omg r u NOT me? i hate that look but tbh i love that you love it. beauty is subjective!

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Boot cut jeans are great, idgi how they ever went "out"



ALSO, it pisses me off how YOUTHS call bootcut bellbottoms



LIKE SHUT UP THEYRE 2 DIFFERENT THINGS 

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Oh FUCK I just flashed back to me wearing this exactly... flared jeans with hot pink patent leather Steve Madden (I think?) pointy shoes and some kind of ruffled top from Express and a Juicy bowling bag. I AM GAGGING.

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SO DO I!!

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this vacuous mass

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This kid is out!

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This is not what I remember her voice sounding like. I feel like she used to have a super deep voice. At least on the first season of the Simple Life.

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Completely. She knew exactly what she was doing.

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Porsha and her crocodile tears pissed me off. She needs to see some consequences for her part in this bullshit.

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Yep! She had no problem repeating those lies Phaedra told her. I don't feel sorry for her at all. She wasn't fooling anyone with those fake tears.

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Right and Phaedra told her in privacy. She's the one who babbled it out like a moron just to use as a jab to Kandi. She wasn't even upset nor distraught by it so idk why she tried it with the tears.

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HARD pass to the bethenny and fredrick spin off

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actually hard pass to all three spinoffs

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lmao right. They all sound terrible.

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i cant believe this is ryans second spin off (he had the wedding one right?) he is AWFUL

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Every time Kenya opened her mouth about a situation that didn't involve her





She can't create a story of her own, so she piggybacks off of other drama Those false rape allegations from Phaedra were too fucking far. She always given the show good drama but that was badEvery time Kenya opened her mouth about a situation that didn't involve herShe can't create a story of her own, so she piggybacks off of other drama

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I don't blame Kenya. Phaedra and Apollo put her through so much shit (yes, Kenya was at fault too) I'm not surprised she's relishing in their takedown.

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Nah, I don't believe her victim narrative. She can backpedal all she wants

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i couldnt with her pretending like she was above all the lying lol

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mte re.: kenya.

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Yea, Phaedra should have stopped after the sex dungeon rumors. She really wasn't playing with Kandi when she said Kandi better know that she can bury them both. lol I honestly don't think she expected Porsha to go blab it out to Kandi as some sort a jab like she did. Really poor call on her part. Sadly it cost her a peach.

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I haven't watched last night's RHONY yet but I'm lol'ing at Trump supporters who are in the tag still reliving Trump's win. It's like all they have now is reliving the campaign because the country is on fire. Sad!

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Bethenny and Fredrik Property Project



Can we just coin this Insufferable Personality Project?

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lol I hate her and he's annoying as fuck.

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they bring out the worst in each other



Edited at 2017-05-11 04:45 pm (UTC)

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um, the way that porsha is speaking about fraudra tells me they'll eventually be cool again, smdh.



also damn at porsha still not wanting to be friends with kandi...the feeling is probably mutual but it would still be nice for them to at least be civil.



kenya irks my soul...she should've gotten the axe too. hell, they just need to recast most of atlanta at this point, all the storylines are exhausted.

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I would not miss Porsha or Kenya tbh. I'm tired of both of them.

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yeah i actually like porsha but lost a lot of respect for her after this season. what's worse is that they're bringing back nene and kim, like who asked for that? nene developed a nasty attitude over the years and kim is racist, so how is that gonna ~revive the show? smdh.

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With Nene coming back, I'm waiting for the inevitable Kenya v Nene part 10. Only cause I want to see where Flip-Floptia's allegiance falls



Kim v Kenya will get old fast because they both suck

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Apparently not getting a reunion which has me pissed. You don't have a RHO___ w/out a fucking reunion.

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LOL.



flop show. worst franchise ever.

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ugh they did this to RHoAuckland too, we got a Facebook live stream at the final ep viewing party and then the best housewife Gilda started her own livestream that ended up getting more views than the Bravo one lmfao

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Roxy is the worst.

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Did they stop making Tabatha Takes Over? I need it back in my life immediately. Also, the show with Jeff and Jenny sleeping over people's houses.

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I think it lasted like 2 seasons then was cancelled.

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i wish bravo would still run tabitha reruns. i miss ha

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They did a marathon yesterday am.....



I wish they aired more older reruns of stuff after like 1am or on the weekends.

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Her show just fell off the face of the earth, I don't know what happened.

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I miss her so much

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That show was everything. They cancelled it too fast.

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i love shep but he is looking really haggard these days. this show would've been a good idea like 5+ years ago.

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he's a 37 year old man child and an alcoholic. get off my tv, you privileged fuck.

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mte

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He's starting to get on my nerves with his constant ragging on Craig tbh, like, Craig is a bit of a mess but he needs to cool it on the picking lol

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I genuinely would like to know who the hell thought that Oklahoma show was actually worth greenlighting.

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Ommmgggggg I thought I was the only who thought "slave money" when bravo said old money as tho their money is something prideful. smh They really do need to stop catering to them. Their life isn't posh and they are nothing but a bunch racist stuck up rednecks.

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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 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.





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Phraudra needs to be sued

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She really does. I dont think she will learn her lesson until she has to see real legal repercussions.

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Lol please Kandi and her husband were sitting there hiding Apollo's assets while the feds ransacked Phaedra's home looking for it. She could have been in some legal trouble bc of them. Kandi honestly thinks what her and her husband did was justifiable when it was straight foul as well.

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I can't believe L. Oldfield is only 40. She looks over 55.



I guess all that hatefulness really does a number on a person

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Phaedra and her backrolls can go straight to hell and take Porscha with her.

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Can't wait for this!!! Colin unnnffff

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The trailer for this pissed me off.

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The women were all content and then cock came along and made them crazy. I've never read the book or saw the original, so I don't know the whole synopsis. But that's how the preview came across.

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Ohh. I didn't check it out. Understandable.

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Like, don't ever, EVER EVER EVER EVER let a dick come between y'all good sisters!!!



Destroy him for ruining everything!!! That'd be a great twist toward the ending. The women gets their own happy endings to be at peace with oneself and left the dude in the dust lol.

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I mean, yes, but I interpret this as a commentary on womens sexual repression and supression....i don't like a focus of men in films about women either but the premise seems interesting to me

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Seemed to me like they all teamed up to take him down?

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Pretty poster. We probably won't get it here.

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cant wait, i love this cast

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That Edwardian font is hurting my eyes.

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The original movie fucked me up tbh

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feels good to be excited about an upcoming film, it's been a while for me

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reminds me of that monty python sketch

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ok cool!

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The synopsis reads like orgy porn.

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EXACTLY. That is exactly what it is. What kind of soft core orgy porn fantasy realness

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I've seen the trailer multiple times, I had no idea it was a boarding school or that he was a union soldier.

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I know he's a soldier. But yea, I had no idea they were a boarding school. I thought they were just... white women in the middle of nowhere :p

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An injured Union soldier arrives at an all-female Southern boarding school during the Civil War. Soon, sexual tensions lead to dangerous rivalries as the women tend to his wounds and offer him shelter and companionship.



Hmph I don't like this tbh lol. Like, it was chill til a dude stepped in and pretty much ruins everything. Just like other men does the most.



Irl, I'd hop on Colin's dick in a heartbeat tho if he needs some medical attention ;) I can take care of you boo! 

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This is why I hated the trailer. It made me feel some type of way. Like all was good but cock ruined it.

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Cock does ruin everything tho.

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Mte. I got weirded out tbh. Like, who the fuck came up with dis softcore porn fantasy idea for a feature movie? Is this made for dudes? Dude got a boo hoo stumbling into all-women boarding school with his only presence there causing sexual tension and the rest is history??? They better not kill each other over dis dude. I mean, I hope there's a better crazy ass twist in dis movie than that shit. Would be iconic.

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No spoilers but the synopsis leaves out a pretty majorly dark spoilery plot point of the film so not to give the story away annddddd it's way more fucked up than that makes it sound lmao



Edited at 2017-05-11 07:19 pm (UTC)

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so they're playing separate people?

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yes they are all diff women



this is sofia coppola, if she could she would write a film consisting of nothing but hundreds and hundreds of pale, thin, white blonde women wandering in circles softly lit while phoenix plays in the bg



tbh i prob just wrote the treatment for her next feature!

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seriously lol

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actually, you wrote out her current feature, "the beguiled" lol

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lol pretty much and I love her

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I need a Eurovision stream pls

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official one is here if you have a geoblocker/VPN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90N4hTch-SM

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But this one works



https://www.svtplay.se/video/13572909/eurovision-song-contest/eurovision-song-contest-2017-semifinal-2-11-maj-21-00 No :(But this one works

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i need a POST :(

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i like the cast but hate war movies

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Oil is rallying for a second consecutive day, with continued positive momentum from yesterday's weekly inventory report, in combination with rising hopes of deeper and/or longer production cut commitments by OPEC. (OPEC cuts are starting to feel like QE at the turn of the decade: omnipresent). Hark, here are five things to consider in oil markets today.

1) Yesterday we discussed the impending restart to export flows of Nigeria's Forcados crude, as an export pipeline gets back up and running after militant attacks last year. Nigeria has suffered outages to a number of key grades such as Qua Iboe, Brass River and Bonny Light in the last year or so, but as our ClipperData illustrate below, we are seeing flows of most of these grades getting back up to speed.

The loss of the Forcados crude stream - which averaged ~200,000 bpd of exports in 2015, dropping to ~50,000 bpd last year - has had a material impact on total exports. Similarly, Qua Iboe loadings dropped by about 110,000 bpd on the prior year to average 241,000 bpd in 2016, and have still not returned to 2015 levels.

Exports of these four grades averaged nearly 330,000 bpd lower last year than in 2015. All else being equal, a return to their former glory will lift Nigerian exports to within swinging distance of 2 million barrels per day.

(Click to enlarge)

2) Pemex announced late last week that Mexican crude exports hit a record low in March at just over 1 million barrels per day. We can see from our ClipperData that exports in April have ticked even lower. The drop in exports is led by falling production; oil production is said to have dropped to 2.02 million barrels per day in March. Output peaked in 2004 at 3.38mn bpd, and has been in structural decline ever since amid a lack of investment. Related: Gas Looting In Mexico Turns Deadly

We can see in our ClipperData that exports to the U.S. have stabilized in the last year, with loadings bound for the U.S. up 3.5 percent through the first third of this year compared to year-ago levels. With the U.S. accounting for ~600,000 bpd of Mexican crude exports, Southern Europe and Asia account for the vast majority of the remaining volume, averaging over 400,000 bpd so far this year:

(Click to enlarge)

3) Today's piece out on RBN Energy takes a look at U.S. distillate exports, using our ClipperData to highlight how flows are continuing to rise into Central and South America. Last month saw exports rise to the third highest month on our records - surpassed only by June and November of last year. This rise is coming at the expense of flows to Europe, which have been anchored below year-ago levels for the first four months of this year.

(Click to enlarge)

4) OPEC's monthly oil market report has been released, and hark, here are some key takeaways: the cartel has kept demand growth unchanged for this year at 1.27 million bpd - with non-OECD countries accounting for 1.04 million bpd of that - but has lifted last year's demand growth by 65,000 bpd to +1.44 million bpd.

On the supply side, it has boosted its expectations for non-OPEC supply growth by 370,000 bpd from last month, up to 950,000 bpd, predominantly driven by U.S. shale production. It projects 820,000 bpd of supply growth from the U.S. this year.

(Click to enlarge)

The charts below are from the actual OPEC report, showing OPEC's projection for the U.S., Canada and Brazil to lead supply growth higher this year, while Chinese output ebbs again:



By Matt Smith

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
OPEC members and their partners in the oil production cut agreements from last November and December have reached a consensus to extend the deal until the end of 2017, the oil ministers of Iraq and Algeria said at a joint news conference.

Jabber al-Luaibi and Noureddine Boutarfa said the official announcement of the extension will take place at OPECs May 25 meeting at its headquarters in Vienna, with the Algerian minister adding that Algeria and Iraq maintain a united stand for the next cuts.

No mention was made about deepening the cut, as some analysts have suggested might be necessary. The initial agreement envisaged OPEC taking off 1.2 million bpd from global supply with Russia and 10 other non-members cutting another 600,000 bpd. Two OPEC members are exempt from the cutNigeria and Libya and a third member, Iran, was allowed to boost output to a specified level.

Earlier this month, the energy ministers of Russia and Saudi Arabia also indicated in no ambiguous terms that they would be on board with the extension.

The announcement will likely boost to oil prices, which yesterday jumped on reports from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration, which both estimated U.S. crude oil inventories to have fallen by more than 5 million barrels in the week to May 5. Related: Is This Country Africas Qatar of Natural Gas?

Brent crude jumped back above US$50 on the news and stayed there, buoyed by the ministers comments, while WTI, which last Friday slipped below US$45 a barrel, regained some ground, settling yesterday at US$47.91 a barrel.

Both investors and analysts are doubtful about the effects of the deal extension, with some suggesting it would have to be extended beyond the end of 2017 and others arguing that cuts wont do the trick because it is missing the point: U.S. producers are boosting their drilling efficiency and lowering production costs, which results in sustainable profitability.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
A group layoff of oil workers in Nigeria has caused a strike in protest against American oil giant Exxon, according to an oil labor union official who spoke to Reuters.

The strike came in response to a total of 150 workers who lost their jobs in December82 of them members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, or PENGASSAN.

"We want them to be brought back and if that is not possible we want a proper severance package for them," said Abel Agarin, the unions leader. Agarin led around 50 protesters in a demonstration in the commercial capital on Thursday, but strikes have occurred in Lagos, Bonny, Akwa Ibom, and Port Harcourt.

No impacts on production so far, an Exxon spokesperson told reporters.

Oil traders concurred that any effects on production remain to be seen, but its still too early to tell. Similar protests by Exxon workers at the end of last year regarding the same issue caused Exxon Nigeria to shut down its national headquarters, spurning weeks of loading delays.

We respect the rights of our workforce and will continue to engage with them to resolve this situation, Oge Udeagha, Exxon Nigeria communications manager said, as quoted by NAN.

Protests have continued in the first quarter of 2017 as well.



Related: Oil Edges Higher As OPEC Reaches Consensus On Cut Extension

Hundreds of Nigerian oil contractors held heated talks with Italian oil major Eni over unpaid wages in March, even though production had been restored following militant attacks in the Niger Delta. The talks grew so tense, the police had to be called in to keep the peace.

Enis representative in Nigeria blamed the payment delays on debts owed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The national oil company has been bleeding revenues due to a year of attacks on foreign oil assets in the Niger Delta by separatist groups.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Islamabad to review India position on Kulbhushan Jadhav

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Wednesday that Islamabad was still reviewing Indias position on Pakistans decision to execute Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.



Talking to reporters after an event in the capital, he said India had approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Jadhavs execution, and that Pakistan was in the process of reviewing its stand, after which a formal response would be given in a couple of days.



The ICJ has asked the government of Pakistan to stay the execution of Jadhav after India moved the international court, accusing Islamabad of denying consular access to the Indian spy under the Geneva Convention.



Mr Aziz said the government was also ascertaining whether the matter fell within the domain of ICJ or not.



However, according to statements released from The Hague, the ICJ will begin public hearings in the matter from Monday, May 15. The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by India, said a statement released by ICJ on Wednesday night.



An earlier statement said that ICJ President Judge Ronny Abraham had addressed [on Tuesday] an urgent communication to the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which asked for Jadhavs sentence to be stayed.



Also on Wednesday, military spokesperson Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said that Jadhav had been convicted in accordance with the law of the land and that the legal process was under way. He offered no comments on the ICJ decision and said the Foreign Office would respond to the international courts missive.



Indias case before the ICJ revolves around Pakistan being a signatory to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) and not fulfilling its obligations under Article 36 of the convention, which obliges it to inform India about Jadhavs detention without delay, intimate the detainee of his rights and provide him consular access.



The Indian position is that Pakistan not only failed to inform India about his detention, but was also denying consular access.



In addition to being a signatory to the convention, Pakistan has also adopted an optional protocol that gives the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes that could arise over fulfilment obligations under the convention.



However, both India and Pakistan have identified reservations and exceptions in accepting ICJ jurisdiction.



India invoked a similar reservation in 1999 to get Pakistans petition over the downing of a navy aircraft dismissed.



At the time, the court had referred to the declarations of acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction of the court made by both states, saying that Indias declaration contained a reservation, according to which disputes with the government of any state which is or has been a member of the commonwealth of nations are excluded from the courts jurisdiction.



Pakistan also made similar exceptions at the time of adopting the additional protocol.



In addition, the two countries have a bilateral agreement on consular access, under which they have agreed to decide political and security-related matters on the merits of each case. Neither of the parties can, therefore, demand blanket access in such cases.



This bilateral agreement is not mentioned in Indias petition to the ICJ. It is important to note that bilateral accords take precedence over any multilateral framework, such as the VCCR.



In his remarks on Wednesday, Sartaj Aziz also disclosed that a Pak-Iran border commission had been formed and would hold its first meeting within a month. He said the commission consisted of four members from each country.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
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Jan-Henrik Forster of Bloomberg reports the clock is ticking for private equity to spend through tough times: Time is ticking away for private equity firms to get ready for their next wave of deals. Rising interest rates, inflation and recession risks have eroded consumer confidence and left buyout firms facing a new reality of higher financing costs and potentially lower returns. None of which changes the fact theres more than $1 trillion sitting in their funds that needs to be spent. People say theres no financing available but then our clients are telling us we have a big fund that we have to deploy, said Umberto Giacometti, co-head of financial sponsors in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Nomura Holdings Inc. If you need to deploy, say, $10 billion in four years, and dont do anything for sixth months, you are under pressure. The shift is profound for an asset class that for more than a decade was flooded with cash from investors hunting yield in a low-i
Artist Lucia Torres presents a collection of abstract water color, acrylic and oil paintings that explore a deeply personal confrontation of historical trauma. Runs through 5/18.

A new exhibition of paintings by educator and artist Lucia Torres opens with a reception on March 17, 2016. Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Lucia Torres is a Chicana Jew with indigenous heritage currently living in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her mothers family fled Spain to escape the Inquisition and her indigenous father was from the mountains of Monterrey. Nahalat Shalom will host this exhibition of her new work, which explores the effects the Inquisition has had on her family and is part of her process of reclaiming her Jewish heritage, which was hidden for many generations.

Aves de Fuego means Firebirds and this collection of abstract water color, acrylic and oil paintings explores a deeply personal confrontation of historical trauma. Works entitled Introducion a mi Cultura/Introduction to my Culture, Rebirth of Consciousness, Kerido Mio/My beloved, Consevido bajo las Llamas/Conceived under the Flames, and others surround you with a sophistication of color, energy and emotion that you must experience.

This event is open to everyone and free of charge. Refreshments will be served.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro "is discussing the Paris Climate Agreement with her colleagues in the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Conference and with constituents across the district," Tom Flanagin, the congresswoman's spokesman, said Wednesday, in response to a Post-Star inquiry if Stefanik has taken a position on whether the United States should stay in the agreement.
A Queensbury man faces multiple felony charges for allegedly stealing more than $68,000 from the Lake George American Legion Post No. 374.

Warren County Sheriffs Office announced the arrest of Richard A. Gijanto, 67, following a lengthy investigation.

According to a news release, Gijanto was charged with second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny and falsifying business records, all felonies.

The police investigation determined the thefts occurred over the course of six years and came to about $68,245 from the Legions checking accounts. Gijanto also had access to a credit card in another members name and bought items worth $10,446 for personal use, the news release detailed.

The falsifying business records charge stems from Gijanto providing an insurance adjuster with false records to show $40,000 in loss of income for the business, which never occurred, according to police.

The posts finance officer, Randy Powell, said Gijanto, who is a Sons of American Legion member, was the bar and building manger and also handled finances from 2008 to May 2016.

Powell said Gijanto left after a shift in leadership at the post and Powell discovered the missing funds.

He hired a state certified fraud examiner, who reviewed the records, then forwarded information to Warren County District Attorneys office and Warren County Sheriffs Office.

The financially troubled American Legion post on Route 9L had to close and stopped hosting events in 2015 because of a lack of funds.

We hope that people will come back. A lot of people left, Powell said.

He said many members transferred their memberships after they became suspicious that money was missing.

The post has been working to get back on its feet and is currently open three days a week.

The post will be hosting a pork loin dinner for $11 on Friday; its annual Mothers Day boat ride Saturday aboard the Lac du Saint Sacrement with a steak dinner to follow; the boat ride and steak dinner will also include a breakfast Sunday at the post for $40.

Gijanto was arraigned in Queensbury Town Court and sent to Warren County Jail for lack of $1,500 cash bail or $4,500 bond.

He is scheduled for an appearance in Queensbury Town Court on Monday.

Sheriff Investigator Christopher Hatin made the arrest.
GLENS FALLS  Affordable access to the regions health care services is in jeopardy, said several panelists during a health care forum Wednesday night at Crandall Public Library.

I work with the Medicaid population in the area and a significant number of people would lose benefits, said Dorothy Muessig a community health nurse, referring to the possibility of changes under the American Health Care Act. Medicaid keeps them in their homes and out of the hospital; if they lose that, these people are at a greater risk of going into nursing homes.

The forum, Healthcare in America: Whats at Stake, organized by The New Resistance USA and hosted by its founder Agata Stanford, brought together a panel of five health care professionals who responded to questions from the audience for over an hour-and-a-half.

Panelists included Dr. William Tedesco, the founder of Irongate Center; Dr. Michael Miles, a hospitalist at Glens Falls Hospital; Cathleen Cardone, Glens Falls Planned Parenthood health center director; Dorothy Muessig, a community health nurse; and Kim Atkins, the CEO of Mohawk-Hudson Planned Parenthood.

A thread throughout the evening was the looming issue of the American Health Care Act, passed by the House last week. According to the Congressional Budget Office report on an earlier version of the law, the AHCA could leave millions without insurance coverage.

The future of health care is at stake, said panelist Cardone. We have to say were not happy.

Questions explored personal concerns about health care access, rising costs of prescription medications, single-payer health care and worries about what will happen if patients can no longer pay for services.

Several in attendance, some visibly overcome by emotions, shared intimate stories about family members illnesses and their worries about losing access to care if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

One audience member asked, If the ACA is repealed, what happens to hospitals absorbing the cost of emergency care?

Panelist Kim Atkins, CEO of Mohawk-Hudson Planned Parenthood, said the costs go back on the health care provider.

Thats why hospitals are closing, he said, explaining that there is a pool of money for the uninsured. But thats a small percentage of the costs.

Early in the discussion, single-payer insurance was discussed after an audience member told a story about someone who died of an illness before getting in for care in Canada. Before he could finish, several other audience members shouted out, Thats not accurate.

People dont have trouble accessing care and they can see a doctor in a timely manner, said Dr. Michael Miles, a practicing hospitalist at Glens Falls Hospital, referring to Canadas health care system.

Others on the panel said people often wait months in the U.S. to see doctors or do not get care at all if they have no insurance.

Atkins shared a story about his sister.

My sister did not have health insurance and at 62 she was diagnosed with melanoma, he said. She decided to wait until she was 65 and had Medicare to get care.

She did not survive.

The access to care discussion led to questions about the AHCA and the reallocation of Planned Parenthood funding to Federally Qualified Health Centers that are sparsely scattered throughout the state.

Earlier in the week, at a live-streamed forum in Plattsburgh, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, said she believes the federal health centers could take care of constituents primary care health needs.

Panelists said, however, the federal centers are not equipped to handle more patients. Planned Parenthood Centers in the North Country provide primary care services for residents, Atkins said.

We do a lot of referrals, said Cardone. Many times, an appointment is not available for six months. So if Stefanik thinks that FQHCs can provide care, shes wrong.

Dr. William Tedesco said part of the reason access to care is limited is because of a shortage of primary care doctors.

Were too specialized, (med students) are not going into primary care, he said.

Even fewer people provide mental health and substance abuse care.

People are dying, he said.

Miles suggested attendees check out Physicians for National Healthcare for more information on how single-payer insurance would work.

We could start by lowering the eligibility age of Medicare, he said.

When asked whether all the increased pressure on doctors was taking a toll, Miles responded.

Physician burn-out is pervasive, epidemic among health care providers, he said. We dont do a good job of taking care of ourselves.

Tedesco said the pressures of insurance coding and communication have forced his practice to hire 10 people just for insurance purposes.

Its a big expense. When I went into practice 51 years ago, it was me and a nurse, he said.

Cardone said patients must also step up and talk to the nurse in their physicians office about what they can afford when it comes to medications.

There are places like Price Chopper that offer $4 medications and some that offer antibiotics for free, she said. You can say to the nurse, I know he prescribed me this, but I need to get something from the Price Chopper free list.
FORT EDWARD  It turns out the disparity in asphalt costs between Washington and Warren counties is due entirely to the way in which each county paves its roads.

Washington County towns pick up small loads of asphalt for small jobs, forcing Peckham to turn on its plant just to fill single truckloads.

Warren County runs trucks continuously, picking up load after load.

Peckham met with four county supervisors to explain the matter Tuesday, and the news was relayed to the rest of the supervisors at a committee meeting Thursday.

Some of them werent happy that they hadnt been part of the discussion. They had voted to ask Peckham to come to the meeting.

It was short-circuited, Hartford Supervisor Dana Haff said.

But Peckham Vice President Peter Simoneau had another commitment Thursday. So he met with as many supervisors as he could without meeting the requirements for a public meeting, Chairman and Argyle Supervisor Bob Henke said.

Those who spoke with Simoneau agreed that the county was not getting ripped off. They urged the rest of the committee to accept the Peckham asphalt bid, which they did.

Were good, budget officer and Hebron Supervisor Brian Campbell said.

Cambridge Supervisor Cassie Fedler agreed.

We understand why the pricing is different, she said.

But Haff questioned how Peckham could be so sure that each town would pick up small loads of asphalt.

They dont know what we do, he said.

Campbell noted that Peckham has supplied asphalt to the towns for many years, and thus is very familiar with how each town operates.

In an email, Simoneau described ways in which the towns could reduce their costs in the future. The current method is costing the county $64,000 more than it costs Warren County, and $143,000 more than it costs Essex County. (County officials transposed those counties at the previous meeting, but explained the error Thursday.)

Unlike the other two counties, Washington County towns usually pick up asphalt at very slow times for the plant, often when it is not running, Simoneau said.

In particular, the towns pick up early in the morning or on cold or rainy days.

In those cases, it is very expensive to start and heat the entire plant for a small sale, often resulting in an almost equal amount of waste, as the plant comes up to the necessary temperature of about 325 degrees, he wrote.

If the towns want to continue their current pickup times, he suggested the county could save money by hiring Peckham to do some of the paving or to haul more blacktop to each towns paving site.

Hauling can also give the towns more time for the paving jobs, because the loaded trucks will arrive earlier than town trucks would have arrived, he said.
The White House did not anticipate that the Russian government would allow its state news agency to post photographs of an Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russia's ambassador to the US, a White House official said.
The plan to destroy Syria using Jordan as a staging ground has been in the works since at least 1983 , when it was written in CIA documents that using Iraq in the east, Turkey in the North, Israel in the south, and Jordan in the southeast would be one possible method of breaking Hafez al-Assad. Later, it was discussed by financier think tank, Brookings Institution , that Syria and Bashar al-Assad could be broken using an identical strategy (with ISIS instead of Iraq) and creating a multi-front war that would prevent Assads forces from responding adequately.













Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar clarified Wednesday that his terror groups new political program, which some interpreted as accepting the idea of a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines, would not preclude Hamas from seeking to liberate all of historic Palestine, including Israel.

If we liberate Palestine though the resistance until the 1967 borders, we will go directly to liberate the rest of Palestine and the territories of 1948, and there will be no negotiations, Zahar said at a conference in Gaza addressing international reactions to the new policy document, according to the Hamas-linked al-Resalah news site.

Zahar was likely responding to hardline critics of Hamass new program, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.

As partners with our Hamas brothers in the struggle for liberation, we feel concern over the document, Islamic Jihads deputy leader, Ziad al-Nakhala, said Saturday.

We are opposed to Hamass acceptance of a state within the 1967 borders and we think this is a concession which damages our aims, he said in a statement on Islamic Jihads website.

On Wednesday Zahar stressed that Hamas was not walking back its original principals, asserting, If Hamas liberated 99.9% of the land of Palestine, it will not give up on the rest.





He added: We cannot religiously, morally or nationally give up on one inch of the land of Palestine.

As far back as June 29, 2015 and according to a report by the Financial Times , the Jordanians plan to implement a buffer zone on the southern border with Syria, stretching across the provinces of Deraa and Suwayda. The buffer zone would most likely include the city of Deraa and, like the Turkish/American desired incarnation, a militarized zone to separate the buffer area from government forces.While the Jordanian military would obviously be involved, the zone was largely to be manned by terrorists receiving support from the United States and the West.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
"That's still not only an active investigation  it's actually accelerating," Tapper said on his show "The Lead," citing a source close to the former FBI director who was abruptly fired on Tuesday.

Tapper said the source provided one other reason for Comey's dismissal: his "refusal to provide the president with any sort of assurance of personal loyalty."

The White House maintains that the unexpected firing came at the behest of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions dated Tuesday, Rosenstein said he objected to Comey's handling of an FBI investigation into former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

But politicians from both parties have questioned the timing of Comey's dismissal, with some critics suggesting Trump is trying to interfere with the Russia probe.

The firing has drawn comparisons to Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre," in which he ordered the firing of a special prosecutor charged with investigating the Watergate scandal.
The Central Bank said this is because MMM Ghana is operating a Ponzi scheme through a virtual office.

The institutions operations are contrary to section 6(1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) and also threatens the safety and soundness of the financial system, it added.

READ ALSO: Owusu Bempah is the new communications director of Ghana Gas

It also added that the Bank of Ghana has not licensed it as a financial institution.
James Peter, 20, and Seyi Idowu, 18, whose addresses were not provided, are facing a two-count charge of stealing and conspiracy.

They, however, entered a `not guilty plea.

But the Prosecutor, Insp. Victor Eruada, told the court that the accused committed the offences on April 25 at Karaole Estate, Ogba, in Lagos.

According to him, the accused entered the same tricycle with the complainant, one Chioma Martins, who sat at the middle, but when she alighted, she discovered that her N13,500 cash had disappeared from her pocket.

She shouted for help and the accused were apprehended immediately by passers-by.

Their offences contravene Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

The section stipulates a three-year jail term for convicted offenders.

The Magistrate, Mrs G.O. Anifowoshe, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N10, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She said the sureties must be gainfully employed and should also show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
The deceased was reportedly murdered in his home at 17, Younde Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja on June 13, 2016.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the defendant, a resident of Daki Biu in Jabi, Abuja, was arraigned on Wednesday, May 10, before Justice Othman Angulu of the FCT High Court, Jabi, on a three-count charge by the FCT Police Command.

The prosecutor, Mr. Adeniyi Oyeyemi, also alleged that the defendant robbed the deceased of the sum of N200, 000 and a Samsung mobile phone (Edge 56).

The suspects allegedly stabbed the deceased with a knife, leading to his death and reportedly threw his corpse from a three storey building.

The crimes contravene Section 6(b) of the Robbery and Firearms Special Provision Act, Law of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004; Section 1(1) and 2(a) (b) of the same law and Culpable homicide punishable with death.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against him.

NAN reports that Yau's counsel, Mr. Ganiyu Adegbite, prayed the court to release the accused on bail, saying that he was still innocent going by the provision of Section 35 and 36 of the Nigeria Constitution.

Justice Othman Angulu refused the bail application and ordered for the defendant to be remanded in Kuje jail.
Akinfenwa, a resident of Market Street, in Agege area of Lagos, is facing a charge of stealing.

He, however, entered a not guilty plea.

The Prosecutor, Insp. Victor Eruada, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 21, at Market Street, Agege, Lagos.

Eruada said that the accused came to the shop of the complainant, Mr Abdulsalam Adamu, acting as if he wanted to buy Indomie.

But in the process of being given the item, he stole the sum of N25,000 kept in the carton.

When Adamu discovered that his money had disappeared, he saw the accused running away, but he shouted for help and the accused was immediately apprehended by passers-by, he said.

The offence, the prosecutor said, contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the section stipulates a three-year jail term for offenders.

The Magistrate, Mrs G. O. Anifowoshe, granted the accused bail in the sum of N25, 000, with two sureties in like sum.

She said the sureties must be gainfully employed and should show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
The court heard that the accused reportedly committed the crime on May 1 at Oke-Ogbo Area of Ile-Ife.

ALSO READ:2 remanded in prison over abduction

The Prosecutor, Insp. Emmanuel Abdullahi, said that the accused abducted the victim identified as Blessing Michael, 16, and took her to an unknown destination.

Abdullahi said the offence was contrary to Section 361 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Vol. 11, Laws of Osun, 2003.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of abduction.

Joseph's counsel, Mr. Ben Adirieje, pleaded for bail on liberal terms, saying the accused would provide reliable sureties.

The presiding Magistrate, Dorcas Ajiboye, granted the accused N200, 000 bail with one surety each in like sum.

Ajiboye also ordered that the surety, who must be a blood relation and reside within the courts jurisdiction, should swear to an affidavit of means as well as submit two recent passport photographs.

She stated that the surety should produce three years proof of tax payment while his address must be verified by court officials.

ALSO READ: Phone repairer charged with abduction, rape

NAN reports that the accused who was unable to perfect his bail terms was remanded in jail.
The accused, Ojo Ayodele, reportedly abducted the teenager in Ijero-Ekiti and took her to a secret location.

The Cable reports that the Ayodele subjected the teenager to continuous sexual assault for 21 days.

According to the reports, the victim had been living with her stepmother after her parents got divorced.

The state Director of Public Prosecution, Gbemiga Adaramola, told the court that the victim left home because she was being maltreated by her stepmother.

Adaramola said the victim met the convict who promised to take care of her.

He added that a good samaritan had seen blood stains on the clothe of the victim and took her to Ijero Local Government Immigration office where the case was reported.

The accused was later arrested by immigration officers after the case had been filed at the Ijero police station.

The Cable reports that seven witnesses were presented during the trial.

Exhibits including a statement of the victim and the convict, as well as a medical report which proved the rape, were tendered as evidence in court.

ALSO READ: Man to spend 7 years in prison for raping 12-yr-old girl
The prosecutor, Insp Caleb Leranmo, told the court that the 18-year-old committed the offence on May 3 at about 2:00 pm at Oke-Iyinmi area of Ado-Ekiti.

Leranmo alleged that the accused unlawfully broke into the house of one Mrs. Alice Agwu and stole N70,000.

He said that the offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code, Cap 16, Vol. 1, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the accused, however, pleaded not guilty while his counsel, Mr. Busayo Sule, applied for his bail, promising that he would not jump bail.

ALSO READ: Undergraduate docked for alleged theft of laptop

The accused was granted bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two responsible sureties in like sum, by the Chief Magistrate, Mr. Adesoji Adegboye.
He said that the military has already moved to the scene to ensure order.

It is not clear if the shooting is linked to recent clashes between the Alavanyo and Nkonya faction which left three people dead.

It will be recalled that in April, three people from Nkonya were killed by some assailants.
The young man, who has only been identified as Y.B. was said to have looted the grave of the fetish priest who died last year, collected every bone he found and subsequently consulted another spiritualist to perform rituals for him to be rich.

But the spiritualist told him that the bones he had supplied were from an individual who had fortified himself spiritually while alive and hence his bones could not be used for the ritual.

The family of the fetish priest had visited his grave on Thursday morning to perform some rites after a year of his death.

However, the family realised that the remains of the fetish priest were nowhere to be found.

They subsequently lodged a complaint at the Nhyiaeso Police station.

Y.B. was later picked up by the police after he confessed that he had ransacked the late fetish priests grave at dawn for rituals.
He told Peacefmonline.com that Nana Addo, who was stoned during the 2016 election campaign, will suffer the consequences shortly.

It will be recalled that an unidentified person hurled a stone at the then flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo during his 2016 campaign tour at Osu in Accra.

The culprit is yet to be found, but Sham Una Ustarz Jibril said the incident was a spiritual attack.

It is detected spiritually that the stone used to hit the President of the Republic was a spiritual stone. This will strike the President spiritually thus worsening his health condition and eventually resulting in him being taken to London for medical care, said.
Narrating the incident, the Regional Communications Manager for the GWCL in charge of Western and Central Regions, Nana Yaw Barnie, said when the police were contacted, they were unable to make any arrest.

We saw the people there, they were still working a day after the ultimatum. I even spoke on Citi FM concerning this same matter and after that, the people left and just last week Thursday when we went there again, they had come back. So we dont know whether they are going to continue unabated.

So we want the security personnel to be detailed to patrol the Pra River so the people will leave the place for the river to rejuvenate itself, Mr. Barnie told Accra-based Citi FM.

He wondered why the police were helpless in the situation, adding that maybe the police would not be able to swim to where they [illegal miners] were.

Meanwhile, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu described the situation as worrying.

If the police have not been able to effect arrests then what are they for? I think they have a duty to deliver to their country and they have been paid for that.
11th May, 2016Press ReleaseDECISION TAKEN AT THE NATIONAL COUNCIL MEETINGThe National Council of the Party met yesterday, May 10, 2017.The meeting was chaired by Hon. Freddie Blay (acting National Chairman). In attendance were the President Nana Akufo-Addo, the Vice President Bawumia and former President J.A. Kufuor.The meeting took the following decisions;1. All Party Office holders (elected or appointed) who have second executive positions in government should vacate their Party positions for substantive officers appointed to fill in.2. The meeting expressed strong disapproval and regret against the actions and utterances of the minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Northern Regional Chairman. Even though the two apologized profusely, the meeting severely reprimanded them and bonded them to be of good behaviour. They were also asked to put their apologies into written statements.3. The meeting fixed the Partys 2017 National Delegates Conference for the 25th to 27th of August, 2017 in Cape Coast.4. The meeting also approved the Partys hosting of the International Democratic Unions (IDU) 2017 executive meeting in Accra from the 18th to 21st of June, 2017The President also briefed the meeting on the government programmes on Planting for Food and Jobs, Establishment of the Development Authorities, the One District, One Factory Project, the Establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the sustenance of the National Health Insurance Scheme.The President reiterated that;1. The Planting for Food and Jobs Program has already engaged 200,000 farmers and would eventually engage 2.5million farmers. The Agric Extension Program has been revived and 1,200 trained officers have been engaged.2. The One District, One Factory will kick off in 51 districts and launched in June 2017. Government has also set aside a stimulus package of $100million to revive distressed but strategic and viable Ghanaian industries.3. The President affirmed Government will soon retire the huge debt of 1.2billion owed the National Health Insurance Providers to this major social intervention on a new course.4. Legislation will be introduced in the next meeting of Parliament to establish the 3 development authorities to set the stage for the implementation of the $1m per constituency per year development program.5. Legislation will also be introduced in the next meeting of Parliament to set the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a foremost public institution in the fight against corruption.The meeting ended with the assurance of the President that all remaining government appointments will be completed by end of May 2017.SignedJohn Boadu(General Secretary, Ag.)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, at its annual meeting in Cyprus, also rebuffed a push by Moscow to end a freeze in investments in Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

One weak spot in the cautiously upbeat outlook is Turkey where growth is expected to slow as political uncertainty hits the economy, the EBRD said.

Average economic growth in the EBRD region -- which also includes countries in eastern and central Europe, central Asia and the Mediterranean -- is expected to pick up to 2.4 percent in 2017 and 2.8 percent in 2018, the EBRD said.

That would mark an improvement from growth of 1.8 percent seen in 2016.

"Overall the news is good. Growth is faster... despite all the risks, all the global challenges," EBRD chief economist Sergei Guriev told a news conference.

The rebound in world oil prices since the first quarter of 2016 has been positive for Russia as well as countries that rely on it for remittances and export demand, the bank said.

Russia is emerging from a two-year recession but even so the economic recovery is expected to be relatively muted with growth seen at 1.2 percent this year and 1.4 percent in 2018, the EBRD said.

"Even though recession in Russia is over, we forecast only a very slow recovery and we don't see remittances going back to the peak of 2013, which means for the countries that rely on remittances from Russia this is continuing to be a difficult time," Guriev said.

'Dangerous precedent'

The London-based EBRD rejected a challenge by Moscow over the suspension of new investments in Russia that the development bank announced in 2014 as part of European action against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict.

"The board of governors overwhelmingly agreed that the bank has complied with its own internal rules with respect to its engagement with the Russian Federation," EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti said.

"That is a final and binding resolution."

Russian Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin lashed out at the decision, calling it a "dangerous precedent".

Moscow has condemned the freeze as politically motivated and in breach of the mandate of the EBRD, which was founded in 1991 to help former Soviet bloc countries switch to free-market economies.

In its forecasts, the EBRD said growth in Turkey would slow further to 2.6 percent in 2017 from 2.9 percent in 2016 as security and political concerns hit investor sentiment and tourism.

"While increased disposable income on the back of a 30-percent hike in the minimum wage in January 2016 resulted in an increase in private consumption, growth was hit by a sharp fall in tourism receipts, Russian sanctions, and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East," the bank said in its economic update.

"Weak consumer and investor sentiment following the attempted military coup in July 2016 compounded these problems."

Growth in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region -- which includes Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia -- is projected to pick up to 3.7 percent in 2017, from 3.4 percent last year.

The economies of southeast Europe are set to expand by around three percent on average both this year and in 2018, with Greece returning to growth as reforms progress and business confidence creeps back, the EBRD said.
The actor revealed after taking time off to be part of AFWN 2017 pre-event photo shoot at the Tinubu Square in Lagos. The event will take place on June 3rd and 4th 2017 at the National Theatre, Lagos.

ALSO READ:Uniquely African themed AFWN 2017 edition set to hold at National Arts Theater

The venue is symbolic. It is part of our rich cultural heritage, something the style world would be glad to see Ronke Ademiluyi, founder of AFWN & London shared about the choice of the new venue for the forthcoming edition.

We are putting everything in place towards an exceptional fashion experience. Every year, our key focus is the sustainable growth of the fashion industry. From the exhibition,collections,the runway and everyone involved,we always ensure a grand package she says.

ALSO READ:5 quirky Nigerian brands for the fashion forward woman

The annual provides a vibrant platform for fashion buyers, exhibitors, fashion designers, models, photographers, celebrities and fashion writers. Industry observers describe it as the biggest meeting point for those who know and love fashion and style.
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 Chief Magistrate, Mrs Taiwo Akanni, handed down the verdict after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

She ruled:The accused is hereby sentenced 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine. This will serve as a deterrent to others.

The accused, who resides at Okobo Street, off Afia Road, Badagry, was arraigned for rape.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp. Clifford Ogu told the court that the offence was committed on Feb. 8 at Nkem Igborosun Street, Badagry.

Ogu said the accused went to collect his money from his friend who lives in the same compound with the complainant, the 20-year-old girl.

The accused did not meet his friend at home, however, saw the complainant who tied a wrapper sweeping.

Ogu said the accused brought out a knife and ordered the girl to move to her room or be killed.

The accused followed the girl to her room, shut the door and raped her at knife-point.

The accused was about leaving the compound when the girl shouted for help, he said.

Ogu said the accused was apprehended by passers-by, who took him to the police station.
Punch reports that the octogenarian and his entire family were charged for allegedly breaking into a house located on 4, Ogunde Street, Apete area of Ibadan, to steal the food items.

The accused and another man, identified as Azeez, were arraigned on a four-count charge of conspiracy, burglary, stealing and receiving stolen goods.

The police prosecutor, Shalewa Hammed told the court that the suspects conspired to burgle the shop belonging to one Mrs. Olugbomi Jolade to steal bags of rice, beans, beverages and other household items worth N34,700 on May 8, 2017, at about 8 pm.

He added that the youngest of the accused person, Idowu, was used to enter and rob the shop because of his small size, adding that the couple acted as criminal receivers who also specialized in selling the stolen items.
Having spent three years in captivity, the 82 girls are back from the Boko Haram den. This makes the grand total of Chibok girls released so far to 103.

There are still Chibok girls in Boko Haram captivity and the Nigerian government is in talks to have the others released.

A fallout story from the return of the 82 Chibok girls is that some of the abducted girls refused to be released. According to Zannah Mustapha, a mediator in the release of the girls, said "Some girls refused to return. I have never talked to one of the girls about their reasons.

As a mediator, it is not part of my mandate to force them (to return home)."

'Stockholm Syndrome' is defined as a "condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity" according to Wikipedia.

There are cases of hostages who get feelings of affections for their captors. Some go ahead to marry them and have children.

It's no surprise that some of the kidnapped girls are refusing to be freed. They are most likely married to members of the terrorist group and have children.

In 2016, one of the Chibok girls Amina Ali with her husband and child. They were found by military forces outside Sambisa forest.

Ali's husband who claimed he was not a member of Boko Haram but was kidnapped by them too was later detained by the military and interrogated. Three months after her escape, Ali said she missed her husband.

There are others like Amina Ali, who prefer to stay with their captors and re-integrate back to the society. They are already used to life with Boko Haram. Coming back to the society would bring new challenges they are not ready to cope with. They would most likely have to deal with a lot of trauma and psychological issues if they are released.

Not a lot has been said about the Chibok girls freed so far but one would hope that these young women get psychological assessment and evaluation.

"Some may be greatly affected while some may cope well," said Mr Adedotun Ajiboye, a Senior Clinical Psychologist, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

"In order to engage effective therapeutic measures, a holistic assessment like biopsychosocial assessment should be made on anyone that encounter traumatic events to investigate if there are or will be physical, mental/psychological, social problems before, during and after the traumatic event" he further said.
CrossRiverWatch reports that the couple was arrested following a tip-off to the police, on April 26, 2017.

While parading the suspects before newsmen, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Hafiz Inuwa, said they sold the child to enable them to pay their house rent as well as set up a small provision shop.

On April 26, 2017, following a tip-off, our men arrested a couple, George Sunday Udoh and his wife Victoria, for allegedly selling their daughter at the cost of N400,000.

The suspects were arrested by our operatives attached to the Ikom division. The case has been transferred to State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department here in Calabar and investigation is ongoing," CP Inuwa said.

However, the father of the child denied selling the child, explaining that they only gave the child out in trust to raise money to meet their needs due to the economic situation in the country.

It is true that we dont have money and things are very hard with me and my wife, but we did not sell our baby for N400,000.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Kikelomo Ayeye, who gave the ruling, said the accused must provide two responsible sureties, who must be a civil servant nd a relation.

She directed that the case file should be duplicated and a copy sent to the State Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.

Earlier, Police Prosecutor Nurudeen Thomas told the court that the accused committed the offences on April 16 at about 2.15a.m. at Ilasan Community in Eti-Osa Council Area.

He said the accused allegedly raped his sisters maid while she was away.

The accused, who is staying with his elder sister, raped her maid when she travelled.

Eletuo entered the girls room in the middle of the night and pounced on her, he said.

The offence contravened Sections 260 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2015 (revised) which stipulates life imprisonment.
Citizen reports that Karabo had been declared missing on April 28, 2017, and after a long search, her body was found by the police and after investigations, the boyfriend was arrested.

According to the victim's father, Tshepo Mokoena, his daughter had been missing for two weeks before her body was recovered. The bereaved father who confirmed that the discovered body was that of his daughter, told reporters that the suspect had already murdered her before setting the body on fire.

One of the victim's close friends, Stephanie Long who had been active in giving updates on the situation on her Twitter account with the handle @Steph_Long, had been posting Karabos pictures on social media, asking for people to help her find her friend.

Shortly after she was declared missing, Long posted this message a photo of the missing Karabo:

My friend has been missing since about April 28. If you have seen her, please let me know.

After days of searching for her, her father confirmed on Facebook that his daughter had been found dead and her body burnt. He alleged that someone close to his daughter confessed to him that they had killed Karabo and burnt her body.

The following day, Long again took to Instagram to share the heartbreaking news:

I posted this on the morning of the 29th not realizing that you were taken from me a few hours before."

Giving another update, Long again posted:

"Karabo's ID & passport found in a dustbin in Sandton. If anyone has any info on her disappearance. Please let me know."

After the body was discovered, Long took to Twitter once again to announce it:

"Thank you, everyone. Unfortunately, Karabo Mokoena was murdered and her body burned. The guy has been arrested.

I loved you, you were more than a friend to me. Im heart broken; how could they take u away from me? RIP KayFab, she wrote.

Since the discovery of Karobo's body, condolences have been pouring from friends with the hashtag, #RIPKarabo, trending on Twitter.
Bolaji, the Divisional Crime Officer, A Division Police Headquarters, Jos, stood as a witness in a trial within trial, to ascertain if the statement given by the accused was not taken under duress.

The statement was voluntary; there was no form of duress, he told the court.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Luka was arraigned in October 2016, over alleged murder, attempted murder, assault and sexual abuse.

Luka was alleged to have attacked two sisters  Simi Dusu and Justina Dusu  on July 27, 2016 at his home in Sabon Gari, Tudun Wada, Jos, after they went to confront him over Justina (his girlfriend)s pregnancy.

The accused had insisted on an abortion and was angry that Justina insisted on keeping the pregnancy.

He was said to have lost his cool and used a machete on both sisters, killing Simi instantly, while Justina survived but lost her eyes and other parts of her body.

The crime officer, while giving his testimony, said that the accused was brought to him on Aug. 8, 2016 by one Sgt. Apollos, who was the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in the matter, with a confessional statement said to have been written by Luka.

The accused person was brought to me on Aug. 8, by Sgt. Apollos, with a confessional statement said to have been written by Luka, who was alleged to have brutalised his girlfriend and killed her sister over the formers pregnancy.

I asked the IPO to read the statement to the accused and interpret it to him in Hausa before me, so that I will be sure that he understood what was contained in the statement.

The accused person confirmed that he understood what was read to him and affirmed that he voluntarily gave the confessional statement stating that he committed the crime.

The accused also confirmed to me that he was not given promises, intimidated or tortured, while writing his confessional statement.

Luka also told me that it was the feeling of guilt that made him own up to the crime in his statement, he told the court.

The officer said that he thereafter took the accused person to the Divisional Police Officer after signing the statement, and the same process was repeated with the accused reaffirming that he gave the statement voluntarily.

Counsel to the defendant, Mr David Adudu, prayed the court to adjourn the matter to another date for the defense of trial within trial.
Now that he has plans to settle down with his fiancee, Sola, Biola would not have any of that as she has vowed to disrupt the wedding as well as make life difficult for him.

Read his story here:

"My name is Prince, a 29-year-old man. I live and work in Lagos while I am planning to get married to my fiancee before this year runs out.

But the snag in my seemingly settled life is a married woman I had a fling with who does not want to let go and has .

I am in a serious dilemma now as I want to put an end to the silly affair but Biola would not hear of it, even the threat of reporting her to her husband was met with scorn as she told me that she has her husband in her palms and he would never believe me.

She has even threatened to deal with Sola, my fiancee and has vowed that the wedding will not hold.

I met Biola at an 'Owambe' party that my friends from work invited me to some time last year.

Just like the typical Yoruba party, there was a lot of money spraying going on and Biola was at the forefront competing with other women to see who would outshine the other. They must have sprayed well over N5 million on the spot to the admiration of the crowd.

When I asked my friend Ademola who she was, he told me she was a very big trader with shops in different markets in Lagos. He also said she was a big time politician and handled government contracts.

Ademola who knew her was to later introduce Biola to me and we exchanged numbers. I was surprised when she called me two days later that I should meet her at a guest house as she had a business to discuss with me.

When I met her, the discussion was not about business whatsoever as she told me she liked me and would want to have a relationship with her. I asked if she was married and she said though she was, she was in charge of her home and husband.

She promised to help me get some contracts with the government and some top politicians as well as giving me loads of money.

Thinking that I had nothing to lose but so much to gain in going into a relationship with Biola, I accepted but told her I would soon get married and she told me that she does not have any problem with that and that whenever i wanted to get married, she would even sponsor the wedding.

But barely one year after we began the secret affair, Biola has refused to let me live my life. She wants me at her beck and call, monitors my movements and gets angry whenever I fail to go and see her.

When I told her the date for my wedding had been fixed, I saw that she was not happy with it and has told me she would never let me go. When I remind her of her promise, she told me to shut up and behave myself.

She has threatened to harm me and Sola and that not even the police can do anything to her. I know she can do it as she has the means to buy the police over but for how long will I continue in this dangerous relationship?

Prince."

The teaser for the day was?

How Nigeria voted:

I would dare Biola and get married to Sola - 43%

I will keep pleading with Biola to understand my predicament - 25%

I will report Biola to her husband - 5%

I will report Biola to the police - 28%
Gov. Abubakar Bello disclosed this during the inauguration of sales and distribution of fertiliser in Minna for 2017 cropping season.

He said that the fertiliser would be sold to farmers at subsidised rates, targeting small holder farmers as beneficiaries.

Bello recalled the state government, in collaboration with private fertiliser companies and suppliers, spent N1.7 billion to procure 15,000 metric tonnes of the commodity in 2015 in which 150,000 small holder farmers benefited.

Gov. Bello said the farmers paid N855 million, representing 50 per cent of the amount while the state government paid the balance of N855 million as subsided rate.

He said that only genuine farmers were able to access the fertilizer due to the machineries the state government put in place to check sharp practices at state and local government levels.

The governor noted that due to the quick procurement of fertiliser before the planting period commenced in 2016, the pressure on farmers reduced drastically.

A total of 4,710 metric tonnes of fertiliser were procured and each farmer accessed two bags at the rate of N5, 000 per bag or 73 per cent of cost and the state government paid the balance of N2, 000 per bag, representing 27 per cent.

Bello said this year, the federal government was able to regulate the price of one bag of fertiliser at N5, 500.00, adding that the state had keyed into the scheme to procure fertiliser for farmers.

He warned farmers to desist from selling subsized fertiliser for petty gains and distributors to desist from the shoddy practices, stressing that anyone caught would be sanctioned.

Earlier, Alhaji Kabiru Abbas, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said the state government was using a modified Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme for the distribution of fertiliser to farmers.

He said under the scheme, each farmer was entitled to two bags of fertilizer at 50 per cent subsised rate.
According to Channels TV, a bullion van belonging to the Central Bank of Nigeria rammed into Amosun's convoy.

The report said the incident occurred around Ibafo on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

It was gathered that the governor's convoy swerved off the road when the CBN van attempted to overtake it.

The van in the process crashed into Amosun's escort vehicle.

ALSO READ: NUT begs Amosun to reinstate dismissed teachers

The Governor was said to be unhurt.
Eletu, also a law lecturer at the Lagos State University, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that semantics was no longer important since Buhari cited specific constitutional provision in the letter.

The president acted in line with the constitution; he needed not address the vice president as acting president in his letter since there are constitutional provisions.

What the president does normally is to coordinate affairs of government and, if he is passing such responsibilities over to his vice, it means he is handing power over to him.

Even if the letter had stated that the vice president should be prevented from acting, so long as the relevant constitutional provision is cited, that instruction is null, the lawyer said.

Eletu said that the senator who raised the issue in the Senate might have good intention and advised politicians not to create distrust between the president and his vice.

Senator Mao Ohuabunwa could have raised his point of order in good faith, based on his understanding of the law, but in actual fact, there is no ambiguity in the presidents letter.

The relationship between the presidents and his vice, from my observation, is near excellent, and I will urge politicians not to create room for distrust, he said.

NAN recalls that Senator Mao Ohuabunwa raised the observation that President Buharis letter was deficient because it did not address Osinbajo as Acting President.
Buhari left Nigeria on Sunday, May 7, after writing a letter to the Senate on his travel plans.

The letter, which was read by Senate President, Bukola Saraki on Tuesday, May 9, states that only the presidents doctors could decide how long his trip would last.

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, the letter read.

While I am away, the vice-president will coordinate the activities of the government, it added.

The indefiniteness of Buharis trip had earlier been hinted at by his spokesman, Femi Adesina before the presidents departure.

I don't recall that our laws have stated any time frame in which a President who is recovering can be away from duty post, Adesina said while appearing on Channels TV.

Buhari, in January, wrote the Senate to announce that he would spend 10 days in London on a medical vacation.

The president however extended his vacation and ended up spending 49 days abroad.

He returned to Nigeria in March and announced that he had never been so sick in his entire life.
She also advised them to forget the past and acquire skills to be self-reliant.

Aisha made these remarks during her meeting with the 82 freed Chibok school girls in Abuja. She was accompanied by the Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Minister of Womens Affairs, Sen. Jummai Alhassan.

Also at the meeting were the wife of the Vice-President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Dr Hajo Sani, and some wives of state governors.

Aisha urged the girls to also focus on their education as soon as they were reintegrated into the society.

When you were away, we cried and prayed with your parents for your safe return, she said.

It gladdens my heart that after years of hoping, crying and praying, 82 of our Chibok daughters are out of captivity. I am still hopeful that the rest of the abducted girls will also return safe and sound,  she said.

Aisha, who prayed for the safe return of the remaining girls, assured them that their future would be bright and presented gifts to them.

The wife of the president expressed gratitude to relevant agencies involved in the release of the girls.

On her part, the wife of the Vice-President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, expressed her happiness for the safe return of the girls.

Senator Alhassan, the Womens Affairs minister, said that the girls would be reintegrated back to the society after they had undergone psycho-therapy.

Alhassan also said that the government made provision for skill acquisition for the girls to enable them earn a decent living.

ALSO READ:Parents await reunion with freed

The minister thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his serious commitment towards the recovery of the girls.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed said: What is paramount to us is the release of the remaining girls.

The minister also assured the girls that in a matter of days, they would be reunited with their families.

We will take care of you physically and psychologically, he said.
The President, in a letter informing the Senate of his medical trip, said Yemi Osinbajo will coordinate the activities of government in his absence.

The use of the word coordinate however caused a stir in some quarters and among many social media commentators.

According to ThisDay, the minister said what matters most is the operative phrase used in the letter - in compliance with Section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.

Mohammed also said I think it is a needless controversy and just a distraction. The operative sentence is in compliance with Section 145 Subsection 1. So, any other word is irrelevant, Daily Post reports.
Okah-Donli told journalists on Wednesday in Lagos that the Agency would adopt proactive measures in identifying and apprehending human traffickers.

My tenure will see to the adoption of modern technology, skills and expertise in investigation and prosecution.

Human trafficking is a global phenomenon of serious concern that requires collective effort.

It is a known fact that human trafficking has moved from the era of analogue and person-to-person recruitment to a well-orchestrated criminal network.

A network that is designed to deceive even the very best of operatives.

Surveillance and intelligence teams will be increased around known endemic communities and crime clusters, Okah-Donli said.

For the perpetrators of the heinous crime, it is time to close shops.

With hot pursuits by NAPTIP, they should give up on this evil trade and look for new and genuine business, said the DG.
The former Governor, who was accompanied by his wife, Lara Oshiomhole said taking care of the IDPs is not the business of government alone.

According to Vanguard, he also urged the government to ensure that IDP camps across the nation are well equipped to properly cater for the children.

Oshiomhole said This is part of my wifes commitment under the We Care Trust programme. We are happy to do more. We are really touched that so much can be done with so little resources. I am happy to see children well brought up to live a decent life despite their challenges. The current governor is just as committed and I am sure that he will give them the support they need.

This is also part of Edo community, it is a core part of Edo and like every other part they will get what is due to them.
Assembly Speaker, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, on Wednesday, May 10, set up an eight-man committee to investigate the Emir.

The decision was reached due to a petition raised by the lawmaker representing Nasarawa constituency, Ibrahim Ahmad Gama.

The legislators have accused Sanusi of spreading false information on Governor Abdullahi Gandujes recent trip to China.

They also accused Sanusis emirate of approving and spending funds without the approval of the governor and the Assembly.

Chairman of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, Muhyi Magaji Rimin-Gado told BBC that the Emir was being probed due to several complaints that money was being misappropriated.

Rimin-Gado said further that senior officials of the emir's palace had been summoned for questioning.

Sanusi recently criticized the Kano government for taking a $2 billion loan from China to finance a light rail project.

We have governors, they go to China and spend one month on a tour and what do they come back with, MoU on debts, the emir said on Wednesday, April 5, during a conference in Kaduna.

China will lend you $1.8bn to build light rail. This light rail will be done by the rail workers from China. The trains will come from China. The engines will come from China. The labour comes from China. The driver is Chinese.

At the end of the day, what do you benefit from it? Your citizen will ride on a train and when you ride on a train, in northern Nigeria, in a state like Kano or Katsina, where are you going to? You are not going to an industrial estate to work. You are not going to school? You are not going to the farm. You borrow money from China to invest in trains so that your citizens can ride on them and go for weddings and naming ceremonies, he added.

Sanusi has also criticized the Federal Government for borrowing mindlessly adding that its current economic model would not work.
You notice that now from how he crafts his tweets and how much hes been able to assemble a young team to manage his social media accounts.

On Tuesday, May 9, 2017, Saraki invited online publishers and social media influencers to his office at the National Assembly, for a chat.

He wanted the meeting as informal as possible.

He just wanted to meet the guys who make news go viral and who had no qualms bashing him or the Senate he superintends over, whenever they put a foot wronglike they often do.

The feeling you get from scrolling through your favourite social media app is that Sarakis Senate is one of the most despised and immoral bodies in Nigerias checkered democracy.

And it's not out of place to say the lawmakers brought the disdain upon themselves.

At this meeting, the Senate President acknowledged that the legislature has received the most flak.

The difference between democracy and tyranny is the legislative arm of government, Saraki lectured with a knowing smile.

He was wearing native attire with a trademark cap on a warm Abuja afternoon.

He was also sounding articulate and knowledgeable.

It is very easy as an individual to recognise the values of lawmakers, basically because the actions and inactions of the executive arm of the government have an immediate impact on the citizens, unlike the legislative arm of the government, he added.

In Sarakis Senate, the Comptroller General ( CG) of Customs has been asked to wear his uniform or be damned, a Senator has done a dance video to mock his perceived traducers and the National Assembly has often been accused of a lack of transparency and corruption.

As Saraki took questions pertaining to these topics from a relatively younger audience, he made sure not to look ruffled or flappable.

At some point, you could actually hear a pin drop.

He was as cool as youd like. All questions were welcome.

An Open National Assembly (#OpenNASS) will eventually happen. People talk as if it is not going to happen but that's not true. It will only take time but it is going to happen, Saraki offered with a shrug.

He was choosing his words carefully; as you would when dealing with an audience former presidency aide, Reuben Abati, described as the children of anger.

CG of Customs Hameed Ali fell out with the Senate for refusing to don the uniform of the agency he leads.

The debate over the constitutionality of a uniform dominated public discourse for weeks on end.

Pushed to the back burner was the more germane issue over which Ali was summonedexcessive duties on imported cars.

Saraki looked really pained by it all.

He didnt understand why the media and just about everyone else focused on uniforms instead of what he considered a detrimental Customs policy.

We should have focused on the substance of the issue instead of the uniform, Saraki said ruefully.

The Senate President also admitted that the National Assembly lost focus as well and took its eyes off the ball.

The lawmakers have kept the nation waiting with their refusal to pass the federal budget.

The last anyone heard, the 2017 appropriation bill had gone missing from under the nose of the national assembly, twice in quick succession.

The delay with the passage of the 2017 budget has its own reasons, Saraki said without offering very much.

Again and again, Saraki said he wants to lead a Senate that is transparent and accountable. This became his favourite talking point throughout the discourse.

We want to manage the budget process better, Saraki assured.

He also said hes been unfairly judged from his time as Governor of Kwara State.

As Governor, I entered into an investment pact with a Zimbabwean agricultural firm, which at inception was criticised with all sorts of insinuations, Saraki said. Today, that investment which used to earn N18M as revenue now rakes in over N400M.

Imagine that I didn't have a strong focus then...I would have backed out of what will soon become one of the biggest poultries in Africa.

The meeting was over in under an hour. There was plenty more on Sarakis desk.

As we ushered ourselves out of the conference room adjoining the Senate Presidents office, another group of persons was waiting to file in.

As Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser on Media to the Senate President would later explain on the foyer of the complex, Saraki had series of meetings lasting into the night on the day--without breaks in between--waiting for him.

Its like that on most days, Olaniyonu explained. Meetings, meetings and more meetings.

Almost everyone in the complex was waiting for a session with the Senate President.

We drove out of the National Assembly complex minutes later; with the Abuja skyline now receding into a ball of dark clouds and traffic bottlenecks--the kind of traffic Lagos will call a joke.

Nigerias capital city was packing up and closing shop for the day.
Suswam had also asked the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to order the DSS to award him N10 billion as compensation for unlawful incarceration and violation of his rights.

When the matter was called on Wednesday, counsel to Suswam, Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN), told the court that his client had no further intention of continuing the suit.

Daudu maintained that although Suswams doctor had placed him on strict bed rest, he reluctantly released him to appear in court to validate his claim of ill health.

The applicant was just released on Sunday after over 70 days in detention and he visited his consultant cardiologist and was given a document showing that he should be on strict bed rest.

In view of the fact that he was released based on his health, he needs time to get his health back to be able to stand trial.

We, however, apply to withdraw the application since he has been released, Daudu said.

State counsel, Mr Terhemba Agbe, said the DSS was not opposed to the application since an applicant had a right to proceed with an application or to withdraw it.

In a short ruling, Justice Gabriel Kolawale, said that based on the oral application made by Suswams counsel to withdraw the suit, the application was granted and he accordingly, struck out the suit.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Suswam had been in DSS custody since Feb. 25 over allegation of possession of firearm found inside the boot of his car.

The DSS had prayed the court not to release Suswam owing to his alleged connection to the militant group that attacked Zaki Biam, a town in Benue.

The DSS also stated that security report from Benue government alleged that the state would be ungovernable if Suswam was released.

The court however released the former governor on May 7, on self recognition.

NAN reports that Suswam and his former commissioner for finance, Mr Omadachi Oklobia are standing trial for allegedly diverting about N3.1 billion belonging to the government of Benue.

They are also being tried for alleged money laundering and breach of public trust while in office.
The Governor said this at a stakeholders meeting which was held at the APC secretariat in Lagos, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017.

Ambode also thanked the party members for voting for him overwhelmingly during the 2015 governorship election.

He said We are meeting on a very happy note. I am able to look back and say that that confidence you reposed in me to defeat the PDP candidate was not in vain.

This coming local government election is all in your hands. My call to all members of our great party is to ensure that all the 57 councils are won by APC. We have begun a journey to make Lagos and Nigeria progressive.

ALSO READ:Governor Ambode orders VIOs out of Lagos roads

Also speaking on the upcoming election, the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu boasted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not win in any council.

Tinubu also called on all APC members to support the Lagos state Governor.
But Musiliu Obanikoro will soon be swapping PDP for APC, barring a last minute miracle.

Obanikoros defection has been the subject of intense social media chatter.

How could he? most persons have asked.

As a former governorship candidate on the platform of the PDP in recent political seasons; and as a minister in the sacked Goodluck Jonathan administration, no one expected Obanikoro to jump ship so soon.

But he will.

Musiliu Obanikoros decision to join the APC irritates and saddens me, said former Aviation minister, Femi Fani- Kayode, who has had no problems dumping one political party for another in the last couple of years.

Fani-Kayode and Obanikoro once shared prison walls for allegedly benefiting from proceeds of corruption.

I say this because I have always loved him and I care. You cannot fight evil by joining it. You cannot bring light by entering the darkness. You cannot find joy by partaking in the bread of sorrows, Fani-Kayode waxed.

He had more lamentations up his sleeves:

You cannot run away in the heat of battle. You must have the courage of your convictions. Where is your honour? Where is your strength? Where is your dignity? Where is your self-respect? Where is your sense of self-worth?

You and I are royalty. We are Princes and Kings and children of the living God. We were taught and brought up to fight to the end and never to bow to the enemy.

Fani-Kayode must be living in a different planet from the rest of us.

To use 'dignity, self-respect and self-worth' in the same sentence with a Nigerian politician, was a stretch.

And Fani-Kayode should know. Hes as erratic and unfaithful as they come.

The former aviation minister had no qualms dumping the PDP for the APC and back to the PDP, before accepting a plum job in then President Jonathans electioneering campaign.

Former Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, has also just defected to the APC from the PDP, citing all kinds of laughable reasons for his decision.

Former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, has also fled the PDP for the APC.

Oil tycoon, Ifeanyi Ubah and Senator Andy Ubah, are now APC members; dumping PDP like hot coal.

This week, the latest high profile defection featured Senator John Owan Enoh who represents the Cross River central senatorial district in the upper legislative chamber.

And lets not forget Florence Ita-Giwa (aka Mama Bakassi) and Victor Ndoma-Egba who are now APC members, leaving the PDP in the lurch.

Several lawmakers across the States and at the center, have swelled the ranks of the APC by dumping the opposition.

Do not cry for the PDP, though, because its only going to get worse with the next general elections barely two years away.

And besides, defection is the norm around here.

Its always been that way.

The governing party at the center gets to receive several members from the biggest opposition party, leaving the latter severely weakened and bare.

It points to an ideology deficit in our politics. It points to a character deficit as well.

We run a winner-takes-all political system where the loser immediately joins the winner in a mad scramble for the national cake and survival.

With 24 States in its kitty, the APC is Nigerias biggest political party at the moment.

The APC also controls the center. Its numerical advantage and size means that the APC is the beautiful bride at this time.

For the average Nigerian politician, what matters is which party has the key to the nations vaults at a given period.

It really is that simple.

For most politicians, swapping the opposition for the governing camp is also a tactic aimed at evading the long arm of the law.

It is believed that prosecutors and anti-graft agencies wont go after you once you pitch tent with the party at the center.

Former government officials who have corruption cases hanging round their necks, see the APC as a convenient canopy to evade prosecution.

So, heres the thingthe PDP is going to get weaker and weaker as we march toward 2019.

On the contrary, the APC is going to get stronger. Forget all youve read elsewhere, other so called mega parties and possible mergers will crumble or head into the next general elections, paper thin and looking for money to survive.

The APC will probably emerge from 2019, a bigger and even more dominant party.

The gale of defection will only hit top gear as we head into the next round of elections.

What we run here is an anywhere belle face political system.

Our politicians are really that shameless and theres nothing we can do about it.
Tinubu also said that Jonathan spent a lot of money to prevent Ambode from being elected, according to ThisDay.

According to Tinubu, Jonathan moved to take over the state by all means including spending huge cash, but the APC members resolutely stood their ground and ensured the victory of the party.

The APC leader added that Ambode won the election and had performed well since being elected into office.

He is doing a fantastic job, in an environment where there is economic recession is a big challenge. Initially, they said he might not be able to do it, but he is doing it and doing it perfectly, Tinubu said.

He has a very good team of performers. It takes a leader to lead a team to victory and a leader to think and dream. He thinks and performs and he is doing a great job, we are very proud of him, he added.

ALSO READ: Tinubu calls for special care for released Chibok girls
Tinubu said this on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, at a stakeholders meeting which was held at the APC secretariat in Ikeja.

The meeting was organised to galvanise resources towards the upcoming LG polls in July 22, 2017.

According to Vanguard, Tinubu called on the party leadership to carry along women and youths when making political appointments.

The APC national leader also urged the party members to support the Lagos state Governor, Akinwumi Ambode.

He said 2015 election was the greatest battle of our time. In the last election, we lost more than three LGAs to our opponents, which is very unusual.

We have asked our leaders in those local governments to examine what went wrong and work together to chart a new course to ensure the APC wins back those councils.

PDP cannot have any share in these council elections.

We are grateful to you the people for your great support during the 2015 election. We have continued to hold Lagos in spite of strong opposition.

ALSO READ: Tinubu calls for special care for released Chibok girls

Governor Ambode has not let us down; he is doing a fantastic job in an environment where we have the economic challenges. He is doing it and he is doing very very well.

He has a very good team. He is doing a great job and we are very proud of that," he added.
The head of Roman Catholic Church will arrive on Friday at the site where 100 years ago apparitions of the Virgin Mary were reported by two child shepherds who the pope will canonise as saints.

Pilgrims began arriving Thursday for the event, going through security controls at various access points to the giant esplanade facing the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima.

The security operation which runs through Sunday is deploying some 6,000 members of security and emergency services, the government said, while adding the security alert level remains at "moderate".

While Portugal has not been a target in the wave of attacks by extremists in Europe, the country has special reason for concern over the pontiff.

On May 12, 1982, there was an attempted attack on then pope John Paul II on his pilgrimage to Fatima by a fundamentalist Spanish priest armed with a bayonet.

Border controls have been reinstated in the EU country through the weekend and airspace over the area is closed. Measures for jamming electronic signals have been established to prevent any flights of drones.

Other popes have been drawn to the Fatima shrine, including Benedict XVI in 2010 who was met there by half a million people.

More than a million pilgrims are expected to come see Pope Francis and to mark the centenary of the apparitions in a country that is 89 percent Catholic.

The Virgin is said to have appeared six times in Fatima, north of Lisbon, between May and October 1917 to three impoverished, barely-literate children -- Jacinta, 7, Francisco, 9, and their cousin Lucia, 10.

She apparently shared three major prophesies with the trio at a time marked by the ravages of the First World War and Church persecution in a relatively new Portuguese republic.
Approval of the motion is symbolic since it does not place any obligation on the government to act, but it has reopened debate over the massive Valley of the Fallen mausoleum some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of the Spanish capital.

The text put forward by the main opposition Socialists was passed with 198 votes in favour and one against. The ruling conservative Popular Party (PP), which was founded by former members of the Franco regime and which lacks a majority in the 350-seat assembly, abstained.

Franco governed Spain with an iron fist from the end of Spain's 1936-39 civil war and his death in 1975, when he was buried inside a basilica drilled into the side of a mountain at the Valley of the Fallen.

Built by Franco's regime between 1940 and 1958 in the granite mountains of the Sierra de Guadarrama, the monument holds the remains of over 30,000 dead from both sides in the civil war.

The dictator, whose Nationalist forces defeated the Republicans in the civil war, dedicated the site to "all the fallen" of the conflict in an attempt at reconciliation, but the monument was built in part by the forced labour of political prisoners, many of whom died during the works.

The mausoleum features a giant stone cross and other symbols of Franco's National-Catholic ideology, and is seen by many as a relic of the dictatorship.

Families of those killed in the civil war complain that the man who ruled as a fascist dictator for nearly four decades should not lie in a monument to victims of the conflict that brought him to power.

The motion approved by parliament calls for the mausoleum to be "given a new meaning" so it is no longer "a place of Francoist memory" and instead favours reconciliation.
It said 11,466 babies younger than one year old died in 2016, up from 8,812 the year before. The report gave no comparative rate in relation to the number of births.

Among the causes of infant death it cited were septicemia, pneumonia, premature birth and breathing difficulties.

The report said 756 women died in childbirth, just under 66 percent more than the previous year.

Cases of malaria rose by 76 percent to more than 240,000.

Medical associations thought the disease had been eradicated in Venezuela but say it has re-emerged during the past three years of crisis and reached epidemic level in 13 of the country's 24 states.

The collapse in prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports has left it short of cash to import medicine and basic goods.
In all, 14 people died in San Isidro, in the central state of Puebla, on Monday night. Eleven of them were children.

The tragedy occurred five months after blasts in a fireworks market near Mexico City killed 42 people, highlighting the dangers of stocked pyrotechnics in the country, where families often poorly store explosives used to mark religious festivals.

The national civil protection service said after the latest deaths that new safety regulations would soon be introduced, though no ban was envisaged.

"We know a ban would affect thousands of families. We are not thinking of stopping this activity," the head of the service, Luis Felipe Puente, told reporters.

In San Isidro, a priest recited prayers into a microphone, near to where flowers and candles had been left.

Lucia Nanco, a 51-year-old woman, was with her young niece, who would not talk.

"This little girl is now with me because her father is dead," killed in Monday's explosion, she explained.

Nanco also lost her 27-year-old son, Pablo Luna, in the blast.

The explosion also left 22 people injured, three of whom were in critical condition.

Residents said fireworks were being set off as part of preliminary festivities ahead of the feast of the village's patron saint on March 15.
The Syrian Democratic Forces scored one of their biggest victories against IS as controversy intensified over a US decision to arm the alliance's Kurdish component.

The SDF seized Tabqa and the nearby dam on Wednesday and was conducting clearance operations on Thursday morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The SDF were able to deploy onto the dam itself during the night," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

"But civilians are still unable to enter some parts of Tabqa because of explosives" left by IS, he added.

Situated on the Euphrates River about 55 kilometres (35 miles) upstream from Raqa, Tabqa is a key waypost in the operation to capture the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital.

Operation Wrath of the Euphrates has seen the SDF capture large swathes of territory north of Raqa and at their closest point its fighters are just eight kilometres (five miles) from the city.

They are now working to tighten the noose before a final assault.

The offensive has been supported by bombing raids by a US-led coalition, as well as coalition military advisers on the ground.

Celebrations in Tabqa

The battle for Tabqa was marked by fears that fighting could damage the nearby dam -- Syria's largest -- with the potential for catastrophic flooding.

Technicians fled the dam as fighting intensified in recent days, a source who works closely with them told AFP.

A repair team was on standby on Thursday, awaiting permission from the SDF to enter and assess any damage to the structure.

The SDF is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), seen by the US as an indispensable ally in the fight against IS but considered a "terrorist group" by Turkey.

The YPG posted footage on Thursday of half a dozen fighters and children dancing in Tabqa.

Another video showed a group of children calling out excitedly: "The dam has been liberated."

Washington has stepped up its support for the YPG in recent days, announcing that it would arm the Kurdish fighters in a break with its previous policy of arming only the SDF's Arab fighters.

The move has infuriated NATO ally Ankara.

The US-led coalition said a first consignment of weapons was already in place for delivery and could be dispatched to the Kurds "very quickly."

The arms include heavy machine guns to be used against IS truck bombs, mortars, small arms and ammunition, as well as armoured vehicles and equipment to detect landmines, coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said.

"Every single one of these weapons that are being provided to our partner force, we intend to account for them, and to ensure that they are pointed at ISIS," he added, referring to IS.

Turkey slams US 'mistake'

But Washington's reassurances failed to assuage Ankara, which regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

"YPG and PKK are both terror groups, there is no difference at all between them. They only have different names," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The dispute over arming Syria's Kurds poisoned ties between the NATO allies under Barack Obama, and Ankara had hoped for smoother ties with the Donald Trump administration.

The issue is set to dominate talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump next week, the first meeting between the two heads of state.

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," Erdogan said on Thursday.
Deaths of mothers linked to childbirth soared by two-thirds meanwhile, according to the data published by the ministry -- the latest such figures since 2015.

It said 11,466 babies died in 2016, up from 8,812 the year before. The report gave no comparative rate in relation to the number of births.

Cases of malaria rose by 76 percent to more than 240,000.

The collapse in prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports has left it short of cash to import medicine and basic goods.

The Venezuelan Medical Federation says hospitals have only three percent of the medicines and supplies that they need to operate normally.

The opposition blames President Nicolas Maduro for the crisis.

Deadly unrest broke out on April 1 as his opponents protested, demanding elections.

Dirty protest

In fresh troubles on Wednesday, police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters who tried to march to the Supreme Court in Caracas.

Protesters with shields and masks responded by hurling Molotov cocktails, paint bombs and stones.

A 27-year-old man was killed in the protest in Caracas after being shot, according to Nestor Reverol, the Minister of the Interior.

Another person aged 38 died two days after being shot in the head in a protest in the western city of Merida, the state prosecution service said.

That brought the overall death toll from the unrest to 38.

Masked gunmen opened fire on demonstrators elsewhere in the capital but there were no injuries reported. Some demonstrators complained that police did not protect them from these pro-government forces. One National Police spokesman however said officers were guaranteeing demonstrators' right to protest.

A move by Maduro to reform the constitution has inflamed protesters, who say it is a ploy to resist calls for early elections.

Other protesters took to the streets on Wednesday armed with jars of excrement to hurl at police.

"We are using those 'poopootov' bombs as we call them because they repress us with Molotov cocktails, with pellet guns and everything. And this is our only way to throw something at them," one protester told AFP.

'Military trials' concern

Human rights concerns mounted meanwhile as prosecutors challenged alleged plans to try suspects in military courts over the unrest.

Rights groups say scores of people have been brought before military courts after being detained in clashes with police.

Maduro has yet to respond to the reports, which have raised claims he has taken an authoritarian turn in the crisis.

The case challenged on Wednesday involves suspects in the northwestern town of Villa del Rosario de Perija.

Protesters last Friday attacked the town hall and knocked down a statue of late president Hugo Chavez, Maduro's mentor.

State prosecutors requested that 14 people detained over incidents there "be judged by civil and not military courts."

They said in a statement that under the constitution "the people must be tried by regular judges."
Britain's Foreign Office said it was aiming for "a new partnership for Somalia".

The meeting is being co-chaired by Somalia's new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini is also attending, along with US Defence Secretary James Mattis and Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon.

Somalia is under a new president, prime minister and parliament this year and the conference is focused on underpinning stability in this electoral cycle.

Around 40 delegations from countries and international institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the League of Arab States are set to participate.

The gathering will focus on stimulating growth in one of the world's poorest countries and securing a path towards debt relief, hence the large turnout from international financial institutions.

Relief of its $5.3 billion long-standing debts will be dependent on Somalia reforming its economy and tackling corruption.

The international community is also looking for commitment to deliver a one person, one vote democracy by 2020-21.

Famine, piracy, Islamism fears

Diplomatic sources said the meeting was timely as drought, piracy and militant Islamist group Shabaab were all reappearing on the radar.

The UN said last week that Somalia, hit by drought and on the verge of famine, will count 1.4 million acutely malnourished children by the end of the year, up 50 percent from late 2016.

Meanwhile half a dozen pirate attacks have been recently reported in the region, after falling to zero in recent years, General Thomas Waldhauser, the top US military chief in Africa said last month.

And earlier this month, a US soldier was killed in a night-time raid, in what is believed to be the first US military death in combat in Somalia since the infamous events of "Black Hawk Down" 24 years ago.

For the last decade, the Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the Somali government.
Outspoken university lecturer Stella Nyanzi, 42, who had been detained for more than a month, collapsed as she entered the court in Kampala for the hearing.

Nyanzi was initially arrested a month ago for posting critical comments about the president's wife Janet Museveni, who is also education minister, after the government reneged on plans to supply free sanitary pads to poor schoolgirls.

She was subsequently charged with cyber harassment for calling Museveni "a pair of buttocks" on social media.

Chief magistrate James Mwanda granted Nyanzi bail until May 25 when she is due to reappear in court to respond to prosecution claims she is mentally unwell.

Wednesday's hearing was delayed by two hours after the collapse of Nyanzi, whose lawyers said needed medical attention after contracting malaria in jail.

A research fellow at Makerere University in Kampala, Nyanzi has drawn attention in the conservative country for using explicit language in high profile campaigns to defend the rights of women and girls.

The court denied state attorney Jonathan Muwaganya's request to order Nyanzi to refrain from making cyber attacks or derogatory statements against the president or members of his household as a condition of Nyanzi's release.

Defence lawyer Nicholas Opiyo said Nyanzi's legal team feared she would be re-arrested by plain-clothed security agents after she left court.

"We pray that they do not make an attempt to re-arrest her. That would be ill-advised and cast the criminal justice system in a bad light," he said.

Outside the court, police arrested four protesting university students who were calling for Nyanzi's release.

Last week, US ambassador Deborah Malac mentioned Nyanzi's case in a speech on World Press Freedom Day.

"Dr Nyanzi's case shows that... constitutional rights and freedoms apparently have limits, particularly when those opinions are critical of the countrys leaders," she said.

Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo condemned the ambassadors comments and compared Nyanzi's case to the treatment of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange by US authorities.
The UAE government has requested the possible sale of 60 Patriot missiles with canisters and 100 Patriot guidance enhanced missiles, among other military equipment, according to a Department of Defense statement.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of an important ally which has been, and continues to be, a force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East, it said.
5/10 OVW TV TAPING IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY LIVE REPORT

By Brian Cannon on 2017-05-11 07:54:00

This is the OVW Report for Wednesday, May 10, 2017. This episode can be seen on WBNA-21 in the Louisville area on Saturday at 11AM and 10PM, and online on Monday at www.ovwrestling.com/ovw-media.html. In this episode,Daniel Eads faces Tyler Matrix in the main event with a special guest referee, Adam Revolver has a "warm up" lumberjack match, Cali & Rev. Stu face Jade Dawson & Madi Maxx in mixed tag action, plus more!

Without further ado:

Here we go...





Pre-Show Dark Matches:

"American Warrior" Adam Slade & Houdini defeat "The Bro Gods": Colton Cage & Dustin Jackson. Dustin takes the punishment early, but gets a hot tag to Colton. Colton comes in firing away and tags Dustin back in. They hit their new finisher called Divine Retribution, a super kick from Dustin into the Sideburn Effect from Colton on Houdini, but as the ref is getting Colton back to his corner, Slade comes in and takes out Dustin's knee from behind, and follows up with a bulldog. He places Houdini on top of Dustin for the 3.



Big Zo defeats Apollo. Zo wins pretty handily after a spinning kick and a Zo bomb for the 3.



That concludes tonight's pre-show dark matches. I always recommend watching the episode first on TV or online before reading the rest of the report. Again, you can check it out on WBNA ion-21 in the Louisville area Saturdays at 11AM and 10PM (check local listings) and on OVW's official website Mondays at www.ovwrestling.com/ovw-media.html.



Ron Hed & Gilbert Corsey are on commentary, and KC is the ring announcer.



"The Trinidadian Titan" Justin Smooth defeats Ca$h Flo. Ca$h looked as if he was lost without Josh Ashcraft at ringside. The two exchange chops, and Ca$h catches Smooth with a super kick. Ca$h shows off in the corner and Smooth comes back. He catches Ca$h with the running big boot for the 3.



Gilbert Corsey talks about some of the SNS card alongside Ron Hedmentioning Cali vs. Madi Maxx and Rev. Stu vs. Jade Dawson. Those 4 will be in a mixed tag match next. He then mentions that this past Tuesday night at the Rusty Bucket, that the main event didn't go down as planned, and Dean Hill signed a rematch for tonight's main event between Daniel Eads & Tyler Matrix. He also named a special guest referee...Big Jon! Jon comes out and asks the fans how they're doing. He says he will call the match down the middle, and has faith and knows the fans have faith in his boy Tyler Matrix.



OVW Women's Champion Madi Maxx & Jade Dawson defeat OVW Television Champion "The Pastor of Disaster" Rev. Stu & Cali.Madi gets frustrated at Jade for tagging her in two different times. Madi & Cali are both down, and the men come in. Stu hits an atomic drop and some healing. In the corner, Stu goes to heal, but Jade slides out and knocks Stu down to the mat. Jade goes for a top rope leap, but Stu moves. Jade rolls through and up into a flapjack from Stu. Jade rolls out and grabs a chair. The ref is distracted by Jade trying to enter the ring with it. Madi takes the Women's Title, clocks Cali, then tosses the belt to Stu. Madi then falls to the mat and acts like Stu hit her. As the ref questions Stu, Jade gets in, kicks Stu, and hits the DDT for the 3.



Gilbert Corsey brings out Dapper Dan and asks about his streak of violence. Dan acts as if it's no big deal and that it's necessary. Gilbert saysLJ stood up to him, and Dan says he got lucky once after he beat LJ 5, 6, 7 times. He lost count. Gilbert then says after he beat Lukas Gibson last week, he continued to give him Death Valley Driver after Death Valley Driver. Dan says he always leaves a trail of bodies laying. Gilbert mentions Dan backing down when Big Zo came out and went eye-to-eye with him. Dan is getting angry and says Zo was the wrong place, wrong time. He then attacks a cameraman with the kendo stick. He cracks him in the head and then tosses him in the ring and beats him with it.

Gilbert gets in to try and stop him and Dan turns his attention to him.

Big Zo runs out and confronts Dan again, and Dan backs away saying not now.



Adam Revolver & Shannon the Dude come out and STD says Tony Vanetti has accepted their invitation to be at the SNS. Revolver says he is going to have a warm-up match and brings out lumberjacks that benefit him (Little Damion, Dre Blitz, Jade Dawson, Christian Hernandez, Raul LaMotta, Apollo, Chace Destiny, & Adam Slade).

Adam Revolver (w/Shannon the Dude) defeats LJ. LJ gets on a roll and goes up top for the frog splash. Shannon distracts the ref, and Hernandez grabs LJ's foot. LJ kicks him off, but the distraction lasts long enough for Adam to recover and slam LJ off the top. He then hits his finisher, the russian leg sweep rollover into the pin for 3.

After the match, Adam tosses LJ out to the lumberjacks, and they continue to beat on him. Tyler Matrix runs out and hits a missile dropkick to Adam from the top rope. He then charges off the ropes and leaps out of the ring onto the pile of lumberjacks as Kevin Giza, Colton Cage, Dustin Jackson, Lukas Gibson, & Houdini all come out to help fight off Adam's lumberjacks.



David Lee Lorenze III comes out and says critics have been talking about the recent mishaps in his production, but there will be several reedits and the reshoot starts tonight against Kevin Giza. where he will hit the Director's Cut...and scene!

Kevin Giza defeats David Lee Lorenze III. David attacks Giza from behind and controls most of the match. He hits the Director's Cut, but Giza kicks out at 2. David is beside himself and starts throwing a tantrum. This allows Giza to go up top and hit the 450 and get the 3.

After the match, David throws a bigger tantrum, shoving over his director's chair and grabbing a TV monitor off the announce table and smashing it to pieces.



SPECIAL REFEREE: Big Jon

"The Young Lion" Tyler Matrix defeats "The Man of Tomorrow" Daniel Eads. Matrix & Eads go at it and fight on the outside to open the match. Eads with some big slams and kicks Matrix in the head. Matrix fires back with clotheslines and a pele kick. Adam Revolver runs out and distracts Jon. Shannon the Dude is also out and undoes the turnbuckle pad. Matrix sees him and grabs him, but Eads attacks Matrix from behind. Eads powerbombs Matrix into the exposed turnbuckle. Jon gets frustrated with Revolver and chokeslams him. He turns for the pin, but sees the exposed turnbuckle. He calls for a DQ.

Eads is angry and delivers a super superman punch to Jon. He then hits the Weight of the World on Matrix and grabs the title to end the show.



This ended the TV taping.

Post-Show Dark Matches:

"The Veteran Connection": Apollo & Raul LaMotta defeats Dre Blitz & Christian Hernandez. Hernandez takes the punishment early and gets a hot tag to Dre. Dre hits Blitz kicks to both Apollo & Raul. Raul distracts the ref, and Apollo rakes the eyes of Dre. Raul then hits a swinging neckbreaker for the 3.



As always, thanks for reading!

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5/10 RING OF HONOR 'WAR OF THE WORLDS TOUR' IN DEARBORN, MICHIGAN LIVE REPORT

By Jason Harper on 2017-05-11 09:20:00

I attended Wednesday night's ROH War of the Worlds Tour.

Huge crowd. Standing room only. I would guess around 1,000. The Ford Performance Center is a great venue, but if ROH continues to grow, they might have to look for a new venue. Long show, although it did not feel long. Pre show started at 7:15. Show ended at 11:30.

Autograph signing. The longest line was for Tetsuya Naito. The line for Cody was also long. Briscoes and Bully Ray did not sign although they were advertised.

Ian Riccaboni, Kevin Kelly, and Colt Cabana did the commentary. Riccaboni also doubled as the ring announcer. Todd Sinclair, Paul Turner, and Tiger Hattori were the refs.

Pre Show

Kelly Klein won a squash match. I did not catch the name of the opponent. She was very petite and very green. She really needed to sell more since the whole idea was to get Klein over. Klein continues to improve and has a lot of untapped potential.

Main show

1. Dalton Castle defeated Bobby Fish. Great opener. This featured a ton of comedy and did a great job getting the crowd ready for the night. Castle won with the Bang A Rang.

2. Search and Destroy defeated The Rebellion. This was all out action. A lot of dives. They really showcased Shane Taylor's power. Jay White pinned Rhett Titus after Alex Shelly did a Jimmy Snuka like dive after a Chris Sabin suplex.

3. Silas Young defeated Kushida. Another good match that continues the build of Young. Silas won with his Misery finish. After the match, Young went to the announcer's table and forced Riccabonni to vacate the table. Silas joined Kelly and Cabana for the next match.

4. War Machine defeated Jay Lethal and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Very physical match. Everybody got in some of their signature moves. Hanson has amazing stamina for a big man. Ray Rowe pinned Lethal, but I didn't see how since Tanahshi and Hanson were fighting outside near me when the finish happened.

5. The Briscoes and Bully Ray defeated Los Ingobernables to retain the ROH Six man Titles. Bully Ray grabbed the mic before the match and after leading the crowd with a Extreme Chant, he made the match a No DQ match. Wild fight with way too much to recap. . Bushi was put through a table and pinned for the finish. Bully Ray did more mic work putting over ROH and the Briscoes. Then he gave away pieces of the table. The crowd was really into making noise to get pieces of the table.

intermission

6. Tetsuya Naito defeated Punishment Martinez. Naito was way over. Martinez not so much. Really a shame because he worked hard and deserved a better reaction then he got. Match was a little slower paced then I expected. Naito won with Destino.

7. Cheeseburger defeated Marty Scurll, Frankie Kazarian, Will Ferrara, Beer City Bruiser, Gedo, and Vinny Marseglia in a Mayhem Instant Reward Match. Marseglia was not scheduled for this match, but came out after the introductions and talked himself into the match. Good mixture of comedy and action including a human centipede like move with everybody involved. Cheeseburger pinned Bruiser with the Shotei.

8. Marty Scurll defeated Cheeseburger to retain the ROH TV Title. Will Ferrari stayed at ringside. Finish came when Scurll attempted to use his umbrella. Ferrara stopped him which distracted Cheeseburger. This allowed Scurll to lock on the Chicken Wing for the submission. Ferrara and Cheeseburger argued to continue their never ending are we together or not storyline.

9. Christopher Daniels defeated Matt Taven to retain the ROH World Title. Vinny Marseglia was at ringside and did a great job interacting with the crowd. Match built slowly to the finish. The crowd knew Taven never had a chance and that hurt the match a little bit. Daniels was slightly bleeding from the nose after a Taven kick strike about halfway through the match. Kazarian came out to chase Vinny to the back which allowed Daniels to hit the Best Moonsault Ever for the pin.

10. Chaos (Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, and Rapungi Vice) defeated Bullet Club (Cody, Adam Page, and Young Bucks) in an 8 man tag in the main event. Crazy main event that was all action. Everything you would expect from these 8 men. Ospreay is amazing and really shined in this match. Rapungi Vice also looked good. Cody even did a couple of dives and of course, The Young Bucks go in all of their spots. Ospreay pinned Nick Jackson with a springboard stunner like finisher.

Long, but really fun night of action. No return date announced for Dearborn.

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A desire to help the immigrant community in the Quad-Cities has fueled financial support from Bob and Blenda Ontiveros of Moline in a generous gift to Western Illinois University-Quad-Cities.

Officials did not reveal the amount of the gift, but both Bob and Blenda Ontiveros were honored Thursday during a news conference at the university's Riverfront Hall.

"It was significant," Bob Ontiveros said of the donation.

The gift supports WQPT's Vibrant Neighborhoods project, the WIU Small Business Development Center/International Trade Center on the Quad-Cities campus and the college's minority enrollment initiatives.

"This is an exciting time for our university," Western's president, Jack Thomas, said.

Without support from donors such as the Ontiveros family, Thomas said, the university could not continue its work.

Bob Ontiveros, chairman of Group O Companies, Milan, said it's time for the company's success to be shared with institutions such as Western Illinois in Moline.

The money fuels these areas:

 WQPT-TV, the public television station in the Quad-City area: The station is producing two documentaries with the new funds, including one on Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16) and one for Day of the Dead (Oct. 31-Nov. 2).

The gift helps to fund the work of Tar Macias, newly hired by WQPT. The university acquired the public television station in May 2010.

 WIU Small Business Development Center/International Trade Center on the Quad-Cities campus. The new coordinator, Michelle Lewis, was introduced, and one focus will be on micro-lending to the many small businesses owned by immigrants in the area.

Bob Ontiveros hopes some beneficiaries will be entrepreneurs for Mercado on Fifth, the fresh food farmers market that he originated in downtown Moline.

 Minority scholarships. Joe Rives, vice president for the Quad-Cities campus, said a special fundraising event will be June 1. That will raise money for the scholarships, with a one-on-one match provided by Western Illinois. That match is part of the Ontiveros gift.

"These gifts will make a tremendous difference to our university and its communities," Thomas said.

The underlying reason for the gift was to promote the growth and success of members of the minority community, Bob Ontiveros said, noting his ancestors came from Mexico in the 19th century.

Minority workers fuel economic success stories, he said, using examples of Texas and Florida as states with many immigrants in good economic standing.

"We have real opportunities here, too," he said.
CORSICA | South Dakota farmers, ranchers and businesses are raising money to help their counterparts in Kansas and Oklahoma who were affected by devastating wildfires that burned more than 1,000 square miles along the Kansas-Oklahoma border in early March.

South Dakota farmers have been donating hay to be auctioned, with the money going to a fund called "Southern States Fence Benefit" in the American Bank & Trust in Wessington Springs, The Daily Republic reported.

Dakota Hay Auction owner Willy Groeneweg has been helping with the fundraising efforts and says nearly $2,000 has been raised so far. He says more than 16,000 miles of fence was destroyed and ranchers are having a difficult time keeping livestock on their property.

All of the hay that is donated is sold commission-free, Groeneweg said, so there is no selling fee. Groeneweg held a free appreciation luncheon Monday to help spread awareness about the fundraising efforts. The total raised from that event is still to be determined.

"We deal with ranchers and farmers and we felt South Dakota can be heard that way. We're caring about what happened in Kansas and Oklahoma," Groeneweg said

Last month farmer Steve Roduner helped deliver four loads of hay to farmers in need in Kansas. Roduner said hay is no longer needed in the southern states and the focus has shifted to raising money for fencing supplies.
Ex-Rusnano chief Melamed released from house arrest

MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI) - Leonid Melamed, former chief of the Russian nanotechnology corporation Rusnano who stands charged with embezzlement, has been released from house arrest, his attorney Ruslan Kozhura told RAPSI on Thursday.

Moreover, prosecutors refused to approve indictment in the case, according to the lawyer. The Prosecutor Generals Office has not officially confirmed this information yet.

The Investigative Committee claims that between 2007 and 2009, Melamed along with ex- corporation managers Andrey Malyshev and Svyatoslav Ponurov illegally transferred over 220 million rubles ($2.9 million) from Rusnano to Alemar Co. controlled by Melamed. The defendants pled not guilty.

According to the information available, the case was opened after the check of the corporations finance indicators by the Audit Chamber. The Defendants have been charged with large-scale embezzlement of public funds.




Pokemon Go player receives suspended sentence for inciting enmity

MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  A court in Yekaterinburg on Thursday gave videoblogger Ruslan Sokolovsky, who had been playing Pokemon Go in a church, a 3.5-year suspended sentence for inciting enmity and hatred, his lawyer Aleksey Bushmakov told RAPSI.

According to the attorney, the sentence will be appealed in a regional court. Moreover, a complaint will be filed with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over violations allegedly committed by law enforcement authorities and court in this criminal case.

Earlier, prosecutor demanded a 3.5-year prison term for Sokolovsky.

The blogger has been charged with incitement of hatred, violation of religious rights and illegal possession of special technical means intended for obtaining secret information.

Sokolovsky insisted on innocence and claimed that said technical means, photo- and video-camera, mounted in the housing of a ballpoint pen, belonged to one Sergey Lazarev who lives in Ukraine. Russian authorities were not able to locate and interrogate Lazarev, Bushmakov told RAPSI earlier.

According to investigators, from May 2013 to September 2016, the defendant produced nine video files and placed them on the YouTube. These videos, according to a forensic examination, contain signs of incitement of hatred or hostility, humiliation of human dignity and a group of persons on the grounds of nationality, religion, as well as against members of a particular social group. Placement of these videos on the Internet was qualified by experts as public actions, expressing clear disrespect for society and committed to insult the religious feelings of believers.

In addition, Sokolovsky allegedly used unlawfully acquired special technical means. Investigators believe that he recorded videos through camera in the housing of a ballpoint pen. According to experts, the device corresponds to the category of special technical means intended for secret reception and registration of visual and acoustic information.

The case against Sokolovsky was launched after he had published video on Youtube channel, in which he played the mobile app of the popular Pokemon Go game in Orthodox Church-on-Blood in Yekaterinburg.

Pokemon Go, a videogame with elements of augmented reality for mobile devices, became incredibly popular all over the world.




Russian Major General gets 7 years for misappropriation of Defense Ministrys property

Context Seven lawsuits filed against Russian generals and admirals in 2013

ST. PETERSBURG, May 11 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov)  The Krasnoselsky District Court in St. Petersburg has sentenced retired Major General Vladimir Poleshchuk to 7 years in prison for misappropriation of housing property belonging to Russias Defense Ministry, the court told RAPSI on Thursday.

His assistant, warrant officer Olga Solovyova received a 2-year suspended sentence. They were found guilty of large scale fraud.

According to investigation, the Major General has appropriated 16 apartments belonging to the Defense Ministry.

As chief military investigator Alexander Sorochkin said in 2014, probe into Major General in Reserve Poleshchuk was opened over signing social rent contracts with people unrelated to his military department, for properties that were later privatized. As a result, the personnel on waiting lists were deprived of social housing while the state sustained losses of over 16 million rubles, he added.

Poleshchuk pleaded guilty in court and shifted the blame on his assistant.




Moscow court rules refusal to pardon Russian vodka tycoon Shefler illegal

Context Investigator refuses to pardon Russian vodka tycoon Shefler

MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  A court in Moscow had ruled that refusal to grant amnesty to Swiss-based Russian businessman Yuri Shefler, who owns rights to several famous vodka brands, on the part of the investigator in the case was illegal, lawyer Dmitry Kravchenko told RAPSI on Thursday.

Earlier, the Moscow City Court ordered the Investigative Committee to pardon SPI Groups Board Chairman Shefler; however, the investigator did not enforce the court decision and rejected a motion filed by defense to close the case against the businessman.

In 2001, a criminal case was opened against Shefler on allegations of illegal use of trademark. Six years after he was arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list, but foreign states dismissed Russias request for his extradition.

A bill proposing an economic crime amnesty spearheaded by business ombudsman Boris Titov was approved by the State Duma in 2013. The resolution releases from criminal liability, regardless of the designated prison term, individuals convicted or held liable under 27 articles of the Criminal Code related to business activities. For the amnesty to take effect, a suspect or a convict had to return the property or compensate the damages to the complainants.

In August 2013, Shefler transferred 1.3 milllion rubles ($20,400) to the Russian state company Soyuzplodoimport as part of the case against him. However, the company has estimated its damage at 140 times as many. The investigator in the case recognized disagreement of the injured party as a just cause for rejection of pardon.

Thereafter, the businessman, whose worth was earlier estimated at $1.9 billion by Forbes, turned to the Constitutional Court of Russia. The Court held that if the initial estimate was correct then it should be used for compensation of the damage and gaining the right to be pardoned. If the estimate was too low, redrafted charges are to be brought against the defendant, the judgment read.

After the Constitutional Court had issued its judgement, a number of courts revoked the investigators refusal to grant economic amnesty to Shefler and remitted the respective order. In 2016, the Moscow Basmanny Court ruled the last investigators refusal to pardon the businessman illegal and overturned it.
Investigation into Moscow Citibank hostage taking completed

MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  Investigators have completed the work on a criminal case against businessman Aram Petrosyan charged with taking hostages in a branch of Citibank in Moscow, the press-service of Russias Investigative Committee informs on Thursday.

According to the statement, Petrosyan has pleaded guilty in part and gave testimony with respect to the charges brought against him. At the moment, investigators say, the businessman and his lawyer are studying the case materials.

Some time ago Petrosyans lawyer Stanislav Maltsev reported that after a medical examination the man was found suffering of a psychological disorder not requiring compulsory treatment, but affecting his ability to take independent decisions.

Earlier, a court in Moscow has extended Petrosyans detention until June 24.

According to investigators, on the evening of August 24, 2016, Petrosyan entered a branch of Citibank at Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in central Moscow, where he took four people hostage. He threatened to trigger explosion of an object resembling a bomb. After several hours, he released all hostages and surrendered. The bomb that he threatened to explode turned out to be a hoax.

The Investigative Committee stated that Petrosyan wanted to bring attention to his problem and did not want to kill anyone. Later he admitted his guilt in full and provided testimony against himself.

Before capture of hostages, a video has been released on the Internet, featuring a man resembling the one who took hostages. Video message was published under the name of Aram Petrosyan. In particular, he said that on August 24 he is going to commit "a violation of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation". He said that he intends to commit a crime because of bankruptcy, which, according to him, turned into epidemic in Russia.

He demanded Russian authorities to create a body that would deal with the issue of bankruptcy.
Prosecutor General forwards case against Rusnano ex-top managers to court

MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI)  Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has forwarded a case against top managers of the Russian nanotechnology corporation Rusnano, charged with embezzlement of 220 million rubles ($2.9 million), to court, RIA Novosti reported Thursday citing the Prosecutor Generals Offices spokesman Alexander Kurennoy.

Chaika therefore overturned a ruling of his deputy Viktor Grin to send the case back to the Investigative Committee for additional investigation.

On Thursday morning, lawyer Ruslan Kozhura told RAPSI that Leonid Melamed, former chief of Rusnano, who stands charged with embezzlement, had been released from house arrest. Former financial director Svyatoslav Ponurov was released from detention. Moreover, prosecutors refused to approve indictment in the case, the attorney added.

The Prosecutor Generals Office announced later that gross violations of criminal procedure legislations provisions preventing the approval of indictment had been revealed.

The Investigative Committee claims that between 2007 and 2009, Melamed along with ex- corporation managers Andrey Malyshev and Svyatoslav Ponurov illegally transferred over 220 million rubles ($2.9 million) from Rusnano to Alemar Co. controlled by Melamed. The defendants pled not guilty.

According to the information available, the case was opened after the check of the corporations finance indicators by the Audit Chamber. The defendants have been charged with large-scale embezzlement of public funds.




CLEVELAND, Ohio - The housing market in downtown Cleveland and the city's near-West Side is getting healthier with limited government intervention. The same can't be said for much of the East Side, where economic transformation driven by health care, education and research isn't translating into higher home values and a deeper neighborhood workforce - yet.

In a study released Wednesday at a news conference about Mayor Frank Jackson's new neighborhood initiative, researchers from Cleveland State University argue that the city should focus its neighborhood-development spending on a broad swath of the East Side, stretching from East 55th Street to the edge of University Circle and encompassing distressed but promising areas including Fairfax and parts of Glenville, Hough and Buckeye.

To accelerate real estate appreciation, the study argues, the city ought to find the pinch points between emerging markets - places where private investment is flowing - and give them a boost. And it's early enough that Cleveland has a chance to craft a strategy that supports both newcomers and existing residents, creating opportunity without leaving anyone behind.

A map shows the target investment area that researchers at Cleveland State University identified as a strong candidate for public investment in housing and economic development. The coloring reflects real estate appreciation pushing in from the edges, including University Circle to the east.

At least, that's the vision outlined in the report from the Center for Population Dynamics at CSU, which drew on research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and real estate data to examine how Cleveland is changing and where it makes sense to spend taxpayer cash.

The mayor commissioned the study, a $50,000 investment, last year to help guide the city's decision about where to spend $25 million earmarked for neighborhoods. On Wednesday, Jackson announced that the public money will be joined with roughly $40 million in philanthropic and private funds in an effort to reinvigorate parts of the city that haven't benefited much - if at all - from Cleveland's economic recovery.

Related coverage: Mayor Frank Jackson to target $65 million at neighborhoods for commercial growth, jobs and housing.

The Jackson administration received a draft of CSU's report at least six months ago but wouldn't release the findings until details of the public-private development plan were hammered out.

"It's taken a long time because I want to do it right," Jackson said during an interview Wednesday after the news conference at the Doan Classroom Apartments on East 105th Street, an affordable senior-housing project that the city helped finance years ago. "I'm not trying to make political hay. I'm not trying to say something and move on ... I never announce anything until it's ready to go."

Housing, employment markets are disconnected

The mayor, up for re-election this year, is facing challengers who argue that downtown Cleveland's gains have come at the expense of other city neighborhoods. The findings from CSU paint a more nuanced picture of the city's housing market, where real estate appreciation is occurring in Tremont and Ohio City on the near-West Side, downtown in the middle and University Circle to the east.

But the study shows a striking disconnect between employment growth and home-value gains.

Researchers from Cleveland State University highlighted a disconnect between job gains on Cleveland's East Side and housing growth to the west.

The hiring is happening on the East Side, which added nearly 22,500 jobs from 2002 to 2014 - a period when employment fell across the rest of the city and the region.

But the housing appreciation is occurring on the West Side, which wasn't as hard-hit during the recession and which is luring lenders, builders and buyers interested in more urban, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods.

Jackson's legislative initiative will focus on housing, economic development and broader quality of life issues, layering new, targeted tools on top of the existing array of programs the city already offers. Cleveland City Council is considering legislation to support the effort, and the administration hopes to solicit proposals for housing, economic-development and entrepreneurship projects soon.

It's possible that some of the $65 million will flow to the Clark-Fulton neighborhood on Cleveland's West Side, anchored by MetroHealth Medical Center and bookended by development in Tremont, Ohio City and Detroit Shoreway. On Wednesday, the mayor acknowledged that the investment areas could shift slightly as the program evolves. But the emphasis in the CSU report and during the news conference swung heavily toward the East Side.

"We want to focus on the fringes. That's what this is about," Freddy Collier, the city's planning director, said during an interview after the event.

The heart of CSU's recommended target area is East 105th Street and Cedar Avenue. That's the northern terminus of the Opportunity Corridor road project and the site for a planned office building for IBM, which is expanding its footprint in Cleveland after acquiring a local healthcare data analytics company called Explorys. A broader campus could emerge around the IBM project, which is being developed on land owned by the Cleveland Clinic.

The Cedar-105th intersection illustrates Cleveland's quest for economic change, from old-guard manufacturing to medical jobs and from a shrinking city to a place with growth potential, said Richey Piiparinen, a senior research associate at the Center for Population Dynamics and the lead author of the CSU study.

"The block acts as a gateway into the globalization of Cleveland proper," he wrote in the 25-page report, "that has the potential to do to the Fairfax neighborhood what Google's arrival in Pittsburgh did to the neighborhood of East Liberty."

He argues that Cleveland has the chance to dictate growth terms in the surrounding neighborhoods - and a shot at encouraging balanced development that serves both highly-paid and lower-income residents and workers.

Of course, such an effort might face hurdles. The East Side target zone outlined in the study spans multiple Cleveland City Council wards. It involves territory covered by a handful of community development nonprofits, some of them robust and others less effective. And it remains to be seen whether the city, foundations and banks are setting aside enough money to create a market where there's little activity today.

"The goal here is, ultimately, some equitable economic development," said Kyle Fee, a regional community development advisor at the Cleveland Fed and a contributor to the CSU report. "You're going to want to get in on the ground floor by putting in those policies before turning into a San Francisco or New York or something like that. ... Maintaining a mixed-income, mixed-use framework is important."

East Side still suffering from decades of disinvestment

From 1970 to 2010, Cleveland hemorrhaged residents thanks to shifting economics and suburban flight.

A map produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland shows the dominant group in each of Cleveland's neighborhoods in 1970.

But Fee found, in a report published by the Fed earlier this year, that the city's neighborhoods actually didn't change much. In terms of neighborhood demographics - white, black, low-income and high, renter and homeowner - Cleveland has been less malleable than Pittsburgh, Columbus or Cincinnati, according to Fee's research.

A 2010 version of the same map shows the dominant groups living in each of the city's neighborhoods 40 years later.

Those findings served as a foundation for the CSU report, which detailed more recent growth trends and identified a window of opportunity for the public sector to guide development. The combined research sheds light on how far the city still has to go after decades of decline and the brutal recession of 2007 to 2009. And it alludes to some strategies for success.

Cleveland's real estate challenges - outdated and dilapidated homes, vacant properties, limited construction and scarce listings in some neighborhoods - are far from the affordability crises some coastal cities are navigating.

But concerns about affordable housing for first-time buyers and blue-collar workers are bubbling up west of downtown. Neighborhood groups across the city are exploring strategies for rehabilitation projects that might help to fill the gap between cheap fixer-uppers and much costlier brand-new homes.

A more robust - and diverse - housing market is key not only to Cleveland's long-term health but also to Cuyahoga County's tax base.

CSU researchers found that 94 percent of the residential properties in Cuyahoga County have lost value - based on market values established by the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office - since 2009. Only 6 percent of residential parcels are up in value, and many of them are in or near downtown Cleveland and University Circle.

In Tremont, just west of downtown, nearly 18 percent of residential parcels have grown in value by at least 50 percent over the last eight years. Across the county, fewer than 1 percent of all residential parcels experienced similar appreciation during the same period, according to CSU's analysis.

"There's been a lot of groundwork and foundational work on the near-west side to set those areas up for growth. And now we're at the point when we're trying to do it for the east side," Fee said, adding that thoughtful development strategies will consider both housing and jobs - rather than focusing on one type of investment and neglecting the other.

Piiparinen views the neighborhoods around the Cleveland Clinic and the Health-Tech Corridor, which runs several blocks north and south from Euclid Avenue, as a logical place to invest public money in hopes that private dollars will follow. Major employers and institutions can be bulwarks for growth. Real estate appreciation is moving in that direction from the Health-Tech Corridor and University Circle.

A heat map of the Health-Tech Corridor in Cleveland shows real estate appreciation approaching from either end - downtown to the west and University Circle to the east.

And there's a chance to maintain and build on diversity in those neighborhoods, through investing in a range of housing for people who work in the city, pursuing tax credits to build more affordable-housing projects and providing low-cost loans for existing homeowners to fix up their properties.

Researchers at CSU are working on a separate study, not funded by the city, to craft a job-growth strategy tied to life sciences and healthcare data in the area.

The crux of the emerging-markets study is that Fairfax and nearby neighborhoods have the opportune mix of distress and potential. The engines for improvement are there, but they need revving up. And they need strong, even hands at the wheel.

As if anticipating arguments that the city should scatter its $25 million more broadly, the researchers included one cautionary note: "Putting limited public funds in parts of the city that are not yet strategically positioned could lead to squandered, if well-intentioned, investment."
Donald Trump is upset. Hes not happy about Americas preoccupation with the Russia narrative. Hes angry that were bothered by the possible damning ties between his campaign and a hostile foreign power. Hes seething over the Senate Judiciary Committees insolent insistence on scrutinizing his people. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, Politico reports, in a piece that characterizes the president as enraged and fuming. He has sent furious tweets. The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, he ranted during Sally Yates testimony on Monday. When will this taxpayer funded charade end?

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That rage resulted in the most famous Trumpian act: a firing.

It is such an odd, ubiquitous detailthat Trump is enraged. He is apoplectic, incensed, irate, vexed, sore, peeved, tantrum-y, mad online, mad offline, mad in a boat, mad with a goat, mad in the rain, mad on a train. The presidents rage, his defining characteristic, is not of the contemporary political moment. It is something archaic, mythological, like the rage of Achilles. How can you be enraged about an investigation that has already found clear evidence of your teams wrongdoing and yet that your allies have moved mountains to hinder? Why is it infuriating that the American people want to resolve the question of whether an authoritarian country meddled in their election? A man with nothing to hide would feel indignant, surely, but not this all-consuming rage; a man with secrets would presumably feel dread or guilt. But Trumps wrath is not the response of a conventional politician. It is the lashing out of a mad king against the disobedience of his subjects.

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On Tuesday, that rage resulted in the most famous Trumpian act: a firing. Citing a Justice Department memo that he commissioned, the president ejected James Comey from the drivers seat of the FBIthe agency that has placed Trumps campaign under a microscope. In Slate, Phillip Carter called the axing a public execution and argued that POTUS had declared war on justice  there are no shoes left to drop. Press secretary Sean Spicer, fumbling among the bushes on the darkened White House lawn, seemed about as prepared as one might expect (from a person hiding among bushes) to explain his bosss decision and assuage the publics concerns.

Trumps circle thought Republicans and Democrats would all rejoice to see Comey go. The former FBI director was unpopular; Hillary Clintons supporters blamed him for handing Trump the presidency. With the ouster, the administration had anticipated a win-win.

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Really?

It would be easy to blame such shortsightedness on stupidity or ignorance alone. But the motivations run far deeper than that. Trump wants the Russia story to go away. This is not simply a matter of political pragmatism. The allegations attack his legitimacy, striking at the tender root of his self-image. James Comey has the power to stop these blows; he hasnt. Therefore, Trump is angry at Comey, and his fury, like a molten reactor core, powers every impulse radiating from the West Wing. According to the New York Times, Trumps advisers must indulge a ritualistic need to criticize the Russia investigation to assuage an anxious and angry president. According to the Washington Post, Trump is angry at Comeys lack of support, is frustrated at his testimony, has fumed at the lack of attention to leaks. There is only one thing to do.

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We Trump-watchers have spent far too long trying to figure out whether he is a savant or a clown.

Such a solution seems born of instinctremoving the guy whos the biggest threat to your continued employment may not be a sage move in the long term, but it will definitely make you feel better for the next five to 10 minutes. (The TV, on the other hand, doesnt care if you scream at it.) The presidents grievances result in an unpredictable mix of real assaults on the republic and inept tantrums. Is Trump evil, or is he a moron? Is he the guy cannily dismantling checks on his power, or is he the old coot shaking his fist at CNN?

It turns out this was always the wrong question to ask. We Trump-watchers have spent far too long trying to figure out whether he is a savant or a clownwhether he plays 11-dimensional chess in his leisure hours or drools onto his robe while turning the White House lights on and off. The truth is that the president has one eternally rageful mode, which sometimes blows up in his face and sometimes greases the cogs of the highest office in the land. Trumps ire is a form of genius, and not just because it made him a wild card that status-quo-weary Americans thrilled to empower. During the campaign he deployed his permanent resentment as an effective showtime staple, railing against swamps and job-stealers. While his opponent ran on togetherness, he chanted lock her up and the rally-goers followed suit. He rolled the dice on repealing Obamacare (he hated Obama, his cool, constitutional opposite) and it sort of worked. But Trumps Achilles-like choler is also an Achilles heel. His hasty executive orders, his quick-twitch violations of diplomatic norms, have already tarnished his young presidency. There were the impotent ravings about inauguration crowds and embarrassing (to some, effective to others) cries of fake news. On the campaign trail, much was made of the Republican moguls fluency in the language of anger, his surprising and intuitive connection to a similarly inflamed white working class. We were slower to realize that his fury was no posturethat there was no real Trump preparing to take his solemn seat on Jan. 20. For better or for worse, being mad was his way of being in the world.

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So here we are. It beggars belief that the White House would sack Comey for any reason other than to thwart the Russia probe (or maybe to punish a parvenu given excessive credit for Trumps victory). To pretend otherwise, as Michelle Goldberg observed, to think we would actually believe Trump fired Comey for being unfair to the woman he calls Crooked Hillary, is deeply stupid. The frantic violence of the presidents feelingsanything to sweep the Kremlin back under the rughas produced what is surely one of the all-time great mindfucks in American history.

The problem with a doctrine of wrathin the presidency as in other walks of lifeis that the rationale so clear to the boiling brain can appear ridiculous to the outside observer. The administrations babbling excuses have a knee-jerk quality; its as if the president so desired to disappear his Putin problem that he was willing to embrace whatever absurd explanation came to hand (and then became surprisedand angry all over againwhen we didnt fall for it). Dont look at Russia! our commander in chief shouts in fury, and of course our gaze stays fixed on Moscow. Such transparent terror is contagious: Republican senators this week tried to make the TrumpRussia hearings about the travel ban, leaks, and Clintons emailsanything but Trump and Russia. After a certain point, this is no longer strategy. It is reflex. It is a child covering his eyes to make the loathsome object in front of him vanish. Trump may be a politician, but he is also a man consumed with desperate, narcissistic rage. Easing that pain will always be his primary goal.

Illustration by Robert Neubecker.
Guwahati : Crime branch of Guwahati city police has arrested two persons in connection with the jewellery loot incident from a jewellery shop in the capital city of Assam on Tuesday evening.

On Tuesday evening at around 7-10 pm, four armed men covering their faces by masks had looted around 8 kg gold jewellery worth of several crore rupees from MP Jewellers situated at ABC area in GS road in the city.

The four armed men covering their faces by masks walked into the jewellery shop and opened fire before looting maximum valuable jewellery.

Following the incident, police had launched operation and arrested two persons including a security guard of the jewellery shop, who absent in duty yesterday.

"Our team had arrested Prem Singh, the security guard of the jewellery shop and his associate Nilkamal Singh from Kumarikata area in Hojai district suspecting for involvement in the robbery incident," Guwahati city police commissioner Hiren Nath said.

"We have received several clues into the robbery case after checking CCTV footage. Police will arrest the gang of four soon," the top Assam police cop said.

An employee of the jewellery shop said that, the robbers walked into the shop and looted the maximum valuable jewellery within 6-8 minutes.

"The armed men were conversing in Hindi and English," the employee of the jewellery shop said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati: The next Saturday evening OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club will be conducted by a well-known kidney ailment expert from Manipal Hospital Bangalore.

Dr Sankaran Sundar, senior consultant Nephrologist and head of international kidney transplantation program of the hospital will be available for free consultations to member-journalists of the press club along with their dependents. The camp, organized under the series of 'Evening with a Doctor' programs, will begin at 2 pm on 13 May 2017 and continue till 4 pm.

Earlier on 6 May senior gynecologist from Apollo Chennai Hospital, Dr A Vinutha graced the camp exclusively organized for the women journalists along with the spouses (and daughters) of Guwahati Press Club members at the club premises. Prior to it, Dr Vinutha also delivered a talk on various women related ailments and their

preventions at the club auditorium.

It may be mentioned that eastern India's one of the pioneer press clubs launched the unique healthcare initiative last year. Assam's Dispur Hospitals initially supported the endeavour with raising a doctor's chamber at the club premises in August 2016. The city based hospital under the leaderships of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi also conducted

the first episode of evening OPD clinics.

Till date a number of practicing doctors from Medanta-the Medicity Hospital, Apollo Chennai Hospital, GNRC Group of Hospitals, Down Town Hospitals, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati, Wintrobe Hospital, Barthakur Clinic, Nemcare Hospital, Rahman Hospitals, Sun Valley Hospital, Sight First eye-clinic, Government Ayurvedic College, MMC Panbazar, Institute of Dental Science & Research Center etc attended the camps.
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In other parts of Asia, including the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, Mr. Trumps willingness to bend to China is fueling worries that the United States will stop trying to counter Chinas growing influence in the region.

Washington has been the main critic of Chinas efforts to build fortresses atop reefs, rocks and islands in the South China Sea. But the Trump administration, apparently wary of angering Beijing, recently decided to suspend patrols of islands and reefs claimed by China. The South China Sea is now Chinas lake, said Carlyle A. Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Mr. Trumps credibility among Asian allies is now at stake, diplomats and analysts say. He may jeopardize longtime economic and security alliances if he does not show a willingness to look beyond North Korea, they say.

The president also risks pushing countries in the region closer to Beijing if he does not demonstrate that the United States intends to vigorously challenge Chinas territorial claims in the sea.

Mr. Trumps supporters say his unpredictable style and willingness to rethink decades of accepted policy may be an asset, especially in dealing with an intractable leader like Kim Jong-un of North Korea. But his lack of assurances to Asian allies and his efforts to please China have created the appearance that his foreign policy is negotiable.

Photo

Antonio T. Carpio, a Supreme Court justice in the Philippines and a critic of China, said he understood Mr. Trumps focus on North Korea. But he said he worried about the permanent concessions China may extract from the U.S.

Trumps emerging transactional foreign policy is not reassuring, he wrote in an email.

South Korea represents one of the more serious rifts that Mr. Trump will confront. Mr. Moon rose to power by vowing a conciliatory approach to North Korea, saying efforts by the United States and others to impose strict sanctions had fallen short. Mr. Trump favors applying maximum pressure on Mr. Kims government.

In Taiwan, officials worry that the Trump administration may delay arms sales, including F-35 stealth fighter jets, for fear of inflaming tensions with China. China considers Taiwan part of is territory, and it has repeatedly warned the United States against selling weapons to the island.

Mr. Trump has already shown a willingness to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip with China. Before he took office, he publicly questioned whether the United States should uphold the One China policy. But he later backed down, apparently in an effort to curry favor with President Xi Jinping of China.

China has used Mr. Trumps first few months in office to reinforce its position in the sea, a vast waterway through which over $5 trillion in trade passes each year. China says historical maps show it owns virtually the entire sea, despite overlapping claims by several smaller countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

China now has the ability to deploy warplanes and mobile missile launchers on several islands, according to satellite images provided by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. It has recently put the finishing touches on airport hangars and radar systems.

The Interpreter Newsletter Understand the world with sharp insight and commentary on the major news stories of the week. Sign Up Receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services.

Mr. Trumps young administration has sent mixed signals on how it will approach the dispute. During the campaign, Mr. Trump criticized Chinas actions in the sea. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has suggested that China should be denied access to the islands it built.

But The New York Times reported last week that top Pentagon officials recently turned down a request for an American warship to sail within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal, a disputed reef claimed by the Philippines and China.

Mr. Trump has said that the threat posed by North Koreas missile tests and nuclear weapons development is so grave that it may require temporarily setting aside contentious issues with China, in exchange for Beijings exerting more political and economic pressure on Pyongyang.

Photo

Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor of international studies at Renmin University in Beijing, said the Trump administrations decision to halt patrols would send a message that Chinas claims in the sea should be respected and the United States will not challenge that.

Other countries that claim territory in the sea disagree. Many see it as a patriotic mission to defend territory there against China, and they have grown angry over frequent confrontations with Chinese ships.

Mr. Trumps tough talk on China promised a fresh start. Mr. Tillerson went as far as to say during his confirmation hearing that Chinas island-building in the South China Sea was  akin to Russias taking of Crimea  and pledged to block access to the islands.

But the administration has yet to follow through. And power dynamics are quickly shifting, with the Philippines, once one of Americas strongest allies in the region, publicly distancing itself from the United States and embracing China.

Mr. Trumps credibility in the region has also been hurt by his decision to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that was expected to have significant benefits for Southeast Asia.

China, on the other hand, has promised to double down on its investment in the region. China sees a golden opportunity to step into the vacuum of leadership in the region, said Alexander L. Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu.

Mr. Trump has spoken in recent days with leaders of the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, inviting each to the White House. Mr. Tillerson has tried to reassure allies that freedom-of-navigation patrols will continue.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said Mr. Trump seemed to be showing genuine interest in building a strategic network in the region. He said Mr. Trump was wise to de-emphasize human rights concerns with countries like Thailand and the Philippines; otherwise, it would further push both countries and the rest of the region into Chinas orbit.

Once the United States regains some weight and credibility in the region, he added, then it can rebalance and reconsider U.S. interests and values.
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Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles was released by the Criterion Collection a few years ago in a standard-definition DVD, but gets upgraded to Blu-ray this week, which finally gave me the chance to catch up with it. Here's a pull-quote I don't get to use very often: it's an excruciating viewing experience, which nonetheless nets out to a transcendent piece of cinema.

A film of three hours and twenty-one minutes, Jeanne Dielman covers about two and a half days in the life of the titular widow, whom we observe in lengthy, measured takes, going about her daily routine. She breads a pair of veal cutlets, readying them for the dinner she will share with her son. She takes a bath and diligently washes every inch of herself, and then when done, washes the tub. Jeanne has paid sex with a succession of male callers. Jeanne writes a letter to her sister, who lives in Canada.

Wait, what?

Skirted around so completely as to nearly gaslight the audience, Jeanne does indeed engage in sex work in the middle of each of the three subsequent afternoons we spend with her. She makes no comment upon this, exchanges no words with the men, and none of the people in her life seem aware that any of it is going on. For the majority of the film, Jeanne is presented as a character without even a hint of interiority, as though that whole notion was something we invented in the 1980s, years after Jeanne Dielman hit screens in 1975.

Naturally, this does not hold, although as "slow builds" go, Jeanne Dielman takes the cake. By the third day, slight cracks in Jeanne's rigidly repeated daily routine start to visibly dislodge her sense of self. How do you peel a bowl of potatoes like your world just blew apart? Actress Delphine Seyrig finds that gear and expertly shifts into it.

The film tests one idea I've had about screenwriting for character, which is the question of how little of a fundamental aspect of a character's psychology you can show onscreen, having other behaviours merely orbit around it, while still creating a film that cohesively creates a world and a space and a person within that space. I don't know what the dark star at the centre of Jeanne is - and perhaps it's too facile to even assume there is one - but the hinted worldview that makes up the totality of the film about her is a fascinating experiment, and experience, in absorbing her mindset without understanding its drivers.

The film is a cunning meditation upon time, as well, and cinematic time specifically; lengthy sequences unfold in real time only to be interrupted by an obvious jump cut, where others slip gracefully from one to the other across more traditional edits. Some long takes find Jeanne just staring blankly into space, neither so vacant as to suggest being lost in thought nor active enough to propose some identifiable vexation. She's merely letting the clock run down. It's perplexing, and dreadful, and becomes terrifying.

Akerman passed away in 2015, but the disc includes interviews with her from 2009, along with a 70-minute documentary made on the film's set, where we get to watch her work with Seyrig in intimate detail. The documentary is shot in black and white '70s video, if that's your kind of thing; it sort of made me nauseous like old episodes of Doctor Who or a VCR whose tracking is badly adjusted. (Hey, that's probably just me.)

Another charming feature has Akerman, off-camera, interviewing her own mother for nearly half an hour; we also get interviews with Babette Mangolte, Jeanne Dielman's cinematographer, and actress Delphine Seyrig. Rounding out the disc is Saute Ma Ville, Ackerman's 1968 short film and directorial debut.
Brad Pitt stars in War Machine, which follows the rise and fall of a military leader after he takes command of NATO forces in Agahanistan. A new trailer showcases Pitt's bold, brazen, real-life character, General Glen McMahon.

Here's the official verbiage:

In a film for our times, writer-director David Michod (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. Generals roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody  raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an anti-establishment, pro-soldier exploration in the form of an absurdist war story of a born leaders ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly.

At the storys core is Brad Pitts sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command coalition forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by his own hubris and a journalists no-holds-barred expose. War Machine addresses the debt we owe to soldiers to question the purposes to which they are being directed.

The Netflix original film is inspired by the book The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of Americas War in Afghanistan by the late journalist Michael Hastings.

Alan Ruck, Lakeith Stanfield, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace and Ben Kingsley also star; the movie will debut on Netflix worldwide on May 26. It's also set to bow in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on the same day.

Watch the trailer below.
 In the year 2000... inmates in western prisons will be getting computer tablets (and will be charged for the privilege) | Main | Eleventh Circuit rejects effort to attack Alabama's lethal injection by suggesting hanging or firing squad as alternative execution methods 

May 10, 2017

"Behind the Bench: The Past, Present, and Future of Federal Sentencing"

The title of this post is the name of this exciting afternoon event taking place next week in Washington DC. The event emerges from a thoughtful and provocative federal sentencing reform proposal put forward by current Acting US Sentencing Commission Chair Judge WIlliam Pryor (in part because that he graciously allowed this proposal to published in the Federal Sentencing Reporter). Through my work with FSR, I played a small role in getting this event off the ground, and here is the event's description from this webpage where one can register to attend:

Thirty years ago, the U.S. Sentencing Commission established the first-ever set of federal sentencing guidelines. Those initial Guidelines received a chilly reception as more than 200 federal judges found them unconstitutional. Although the Supreme Courts United States v. Booker decision in 2005 upheld the basic structure of the Guidelines, it recast them as effectively advisory to allow judges to continue applying the Guidelines consistent with new Sixth Amendment jurisprudence. The Booker ruling stated Congress was free to devise a different system moving forward. More than a dozen years and nearly a million federal sentences later, Congress has yet to act despite diverse criticisms of the Supreme Courts advisory sentencing scheme. This spotlights an enduring question: What is the proper relationship between the legislative and judicial branches in determining sentencing policy? On May 17, please join the Charles Koch Institute, the Federal Sentencing Reporter, and the Law & Economics Center at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School as we explore this question and discuss how we can learn from the past to improve present and future federal sentencing policy. KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Judge William H. Pryor MODERATED DISCUSSION: Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa and Judge Patti B. Saris MODERATOR: Vikrant P. Reddy Date: May 17 Time: 12:00 pm - 2:45 pm

I have been told that space is limited so folks interested in attending what ought to be a very interesting afternoon of federal sentencing discussion ought to be sure to register via this webpage ASAP.

May 10, 2017 at 11:59 PM | Permalink

Comments

"Those initial Guidelines received a chilly reception as more than 200 federal judges found them unconstitutional."

The deck is totally stacked.

Criminals are human beings. These reptiles are not even pro-criminal. They do not even have feelings for criminals. They are pro-government, a wholly owned subsidiary of the lawyer profession. I already know what they will say.

More procedure. More exceptions. More exceptions to the exceptions. That is lawyer code for more employment for themselves.

Posted by: David Behar | May 11, 2017 1:34:26 AM

I make a motion that the Supremacy Claus be banned from the blog.

bruce

Posted by: bruce cunningham | May 11, 2017 8:01:28 AM

Bruce. Here are the decisions of Judge Pryor. You be the judge. He is a big government little tyrant. He is not even pro-criminal, which would make him human, if mistaken.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Pryor_Jr.#Notable_opinions

I make a motion you start doing your job, protecting innocent clients from going to prison, you lazy, coffee slurping, secretary chatting, blog reading, worthless, tax sucking parasite.

Posted by: David Behar | May 11, 2017 8:26:26 AM

David, you last sentence here attacking Bruce was the last straw and I am now asking you to leave. You have said you would if asked, and we will now see if you are a man of your word. If you are and we can be free of your gratuitous vitriol for some period, I might consider inviting you back.

Thank you in advance for leaving.

Posted by: Doug B | May 11, 2017 9:50:27 AM

hey bruce i enjoyed from your article !

thanks for sharing with us

Posted by: maysam | May 11, 2017 4:35:01 PM

Doug. That was not any attack. That was loving correction of my good internet friend, Bruce. I value him as a rare lawyer who will speak to me on your biased blog.

Posted by: David Behar | May 12, 2017 1:54:05 PM

The left prefers banning people.

https://twitter.com/i/moments/827952743633424384?lang=en

Posted by: David Behar | May 12, 2017 3:06:00 PM

Post a comment
 "Understanding Recent Spikes and Longer Trends in American Murders" | Main | "Behind the Bench: The Past, Present, and Future of Federal Sentencing" 

May 10, 2017

In the year 2000... inmates in western prisons will be getting computer tablets (and will be charged for the privilege)

For whatever strange reason, I just noticed two articles about prisoners in two states being given access to computer tablets and that led me to think of referencing in my post title an old-school Conan skit. Silly pop-culture reference notwithstanding, here are links to the articles and a few details:

"Colorado prison inmates getting computer tablets"

Every inmate in a Colorado prison will have a computer tablet by the end of 2017. That's 18,000 tablets that inmates will be able to keep in their cell.... the tablets don't come with internet access, so no Netflix or Google. But the tablets allow inmates to make phone calls, send emails, write grievances, communicate with jail staff, order hygiene products and view their prison bank accounts. Eventually, inmates will be able to download music and games. Prisons also are being outfitted with monitors so inmates can have video visits with family members and friends.... Virginia-based vendor Global Tell Link is spending $800,000 to outfit Colorado prisons with video monitors and tablets. The company makes its money by charging inmates and their families for phone calls, emails, video chats, music and game downloads. Phone calls are 12 cents per minute, emails are 25 cents each, 10-minute video calls are $4 and 25-minute video calls are $10. All phone calls and emails are monitored by prison staff.

"Tablets coming for SD inmates"

They wont have access to Facebook or Twitter, but every inmate in South Dakotas prison system will soon have their own tablet computer. The touchscreen devices, connected to a closed network, will be offered for free to the Department of Corrections by telephone provider Global Tel Link. The tablets mean longer phone calls with family and friends, and text messages  without photos or attachments  and will allow inmates to pay for access to games, music and e-books through monthly subscriptions. Phone calls and text messages will be charged per minute or per message.... South Dakota will join states like Colorado, Georgia and Indiana in its embrace of tablets for inmates, which are becoming more common through inmate telecom providers. The Minnehaha County Jail recently added a limited number of tablets from CBM Managed Services of Sioux Falls, which inmates can check out at a $5 daily rate or borrow for 15 minutes every three hours. This is the route a lot of these commissary vendors and video vendors are going, said Minnehaha County Jail Warden Jeff Gromer.... The tablets offer distraction, communication and education for inmates, but they offer security benefits for staff, according to Warden Darin Young at the state penitentiary. Tablet phone calls and messages are recorded and stored for potential monitoring, and tablets can be shut off or confiscated for disciplinary reasons. Inmates who lose tablets would have to use public kiosks for calls. The clear devices carry other security advantages, as well, Young said. Paper books can hide contraband passed from inmate to inmate, for example. "You cant pass contraband through an e-book, Young said.

May 10, 2017 at 07:05 PM | Permalink

Comments

Inmates in PA can also purchase a tablet computer from the prison commissary for about $150.

http://www.cor.pa.gov/Inmates/Pages/Tablets.aspx

They are used for email and music, with songs costing $1.80 each from the block kiosk. While there are certainly benefits that arise from this, one might reasonably respond that a person who owes coats, fines,and restitution shouldn't be allowed to use available funds to buy luxury items while in prison.

Posted by: Sean | May 10, 2017 10:02:57 PM

Video addiction is a major factor in the drop of violent crime, of the rise of online crime. It consumes time. It increases obesity. It is addictive and may be used to control behavior. While it was dogma that addiction could only start after puberty, that is not true of video addiction. It goes down to age 2. The readers of this blog should understand that at a personal, emotional level. It is a complete waste of time, but no one can leave.

It is also true that 4 cigarettes a day are not harmful to health, but are totally addictive. Those should be traded for cooperation.

Porn should also be available, and masturbation encouraged in prison, to reduce physical aggression, again by consuming time, and by reducing testosterone levels.

Online education should also be available at subsidized rates, to promote rehabilitation, but only inside the prison. Rehab does not carry over to the outside, since crime is just too rewarding.

Online businesses should promote, sell, and ship products from prison industries.

Tracking programs should open all online activity to the prison supervision. Porn is OK, contacting underage victims, not OK. Socializing with normal women is to be encouraged. Having a normal girlfriend is the sole feature associated with a better outcome, in around 10% of inmates.

Posted by: David Behar | May 10, 2017 10:24:56 PM

Here is another advantage of tablets. Always on, even if off.

To this effect.

http://davidbeharmdejd.blogspot.com/2017/05/threat-to-privacy-is-getting-ubiquitous.html

Posted by: David Behar | May 10, 2017 11:16:26 PM

Yes, and now Andy Richter is making angry anti-Trump comments on Twitter along with other 1990s t.v. favorites like at least two members of "Charmed."

There seems to be a convenient usage here, including as a means to keep the inmates informed of various rules and as noted less liable to be used for contraband. Probably will find a way though. As to luxury items, figure there is a means to add it to their bill. Plus, there are probably net uses making it worth the cost. Plus, probably can get it cheaper by buying cheap models and other means.

Posted by: Joe | May 10, 2017 11:54:31 PM

Nobody seems to notice that the headline says in the year 2000.....?

Posted by: restless94110 | May 13, 2017 4:55:06 AM

Post a comment
 US Sentencing Commission releases first issue in new series "Case Law Quarterly" | Main | In the year 2000... inmates in western prisons will be getting computer tablets (and will be charged for the privilege) 

May 10, 2017

"Understanding Recent Spikes and Longer Trends in American Murders"

The title of this post is the title of this timely new paper authored Jeffrey Fagan and Daniel Richman and now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Since 2015, homicide rates have increased in several U.S. cities, while remaining stable in many others. Examining both recent and long-term trends in homicides and other violent crime across major cities, we find no reason to believe that these increases presage a new homicide epidemic, or that we will return to the era of elevated homicide rates that persisted in many U.S. cities over three decades through the mid-1990s. The homicide spikes may be momentary upticks in the two-decade long-term decline, and may also signal a new era of unpredictable and random surges or declines during an otherwise stable period. We note that the spikes are generally occurring in smaller cities, with the important exception of Chicago. We then look at the neighborhood conditions in high crime areas in three large cities and show how the intersection of aggressive policing tactics and social contexts likely contribute to small areas of elevated homicide rates in otherwise safe cities. In each place, harsh police tactics, social isolation and disadvantage, and unsolved murders contribute to the withdrawal of citizens and police from the co-production of security. This Essay argues for a shift in policing tactics from order maintenance and proactive police contactswith their potential to produce injustices and indignitiesto a focus on homicide investigations, with the promise both of bringing offenders to justice, creating safe spaces for everyday social interactions, and restoring trust in the police.

May 10, 2017 at 06:47 PM | Permalink

Comments

The 3% decarceration is totally coincidental with the spike in murders. Add the Ferguson Effect and you have a totally lawyer made catastrophe. Why would lawyers do that? To generate worthless government make work jobs for their profession.

See this blog for a review:

http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/

Posted by: David Behar | May 10, 2017 10:28:21 PM

In Italy we had 2.000 homicides in 1991 and 475 in 2015. The bad years were 2002  2004 when homicides raised from 642 to 711

Posted by: Claudio Giusti | May 11, 2017 10:14:49 AM

Italy very roughly has about 1/5 of the population of the U.S.

The FBI reported 16K murders in 2015 in the U.S. "Homicide" sounds a like a more open-ended term.

Posted by: Joe | May 11, 2017 11:35:16 AM

Claudio. You are a racist. The rate in US whites is lower than yours. You are trying to insult our black people.

Posted by: David Behar | May 11, 2017 1:11:19 PM

David, in another thread this morning I asked if you would leave, which you said you would do if I asked. I am asking you again, because it seems you cannot keep yourself from attacking others in nearly every posting.

Posted by: Doug B. | May 11, 2017 2:28:38 PM

Post a comment


A man was killed on San Francisco's Treasure Island Wednesday night, in what police say is SF's 22nd homicide of the year.

According to the San Francsico Police Department, officers were called to the 900 block of Avenue B, the location of which you can see on this map, at 5:29 p.m. Wednsday.

When they arrived, they discovered a male victim who police say was in his 30s. He had been shot with a handgun, police say, and was dead when they arrived.

When contacted for information on the victim's identity, a spokesperson with the San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office would only say "we do not have any information at this time," and would not elaborate on any aspect of the case.

According to the SFPD, no arrests have been made in the shooting, the ongoing investigation of which is why so few details have been released to the public.

The man's slaying is SF's 22nd homicide for 2017, an SFPD spokesperson confirmed. This follows last Friday's shooting death of 23-year-old Oakland resident Eduardo Tay. As of publication time, no suspects have been publicly identified in Tay's shooting, nor have any arrests been made.
In 1991, Eleanor Coppola turned the interviews and footage she shot during the production of her husband Francis's film Apocalypse Now into the excellent documentary And she hasn't made a feature film since. Now, at the age of 80, she's returned to screens with Paris Can Wait, her first narrative movie, a romantic road trip loosely based on a similar trip she took through France.

Diane Lane is Anne Lockwood, wife of Michael Lockwood (Alec Baldwin.) He's a movie producer and together they're traveling through Europe on business. When an earache prevents her from getting on the private jet that will take them to their next destination, Michael's business associate Jacques (Arnaud Viard) offers to drive her from Cannes to Paris, insisting he'll get her there by that evening. Anne accepts.

But Jacques turns out to be the kind of guy who must stop at least once an hour to smoke, refill his vintage convertible's radiator, or just pop into a little roadside cafe that has the best cheese/wine/berries/anything in France. He will not let the possibility of delight pass them by because of her schedule.

At first Anne is annoyed by this, but eventually she gives in, even if she's the one who ends up paying for the food, and eventually hotel rooms, herself. (Jacques is conveniently without credit cards for the moment.)

Like a feminine version of The Trip or The Italian Trip, the film is definitely a lush journey, with beautiful landscapes and shot after glorious shot of French meals, from elaborate five course affairs to simple roadside picnics filled with wine and cheese. By the time the movie was over I was angry. Angry that I didn't have any wine and cheese to come home to! And I don't even drink wine!

What begins as a purely platonic trip turns into something with the potential for romance, even if Jacques isn't exactly the ideal match. Let's just say one of his many stops is not simply to sample the cuisine of that particular town.

Coppola's direction is solid if conventional, and the film probably has more in common with the works of her daughter Sofia than it does with her husband Francis. Much like Sofia's Lost in Translation, the story follows an unlikely pair as they make discoveries about themselves and their surroundings, and like that film, its success is heavily dependent on its two leads.

Diane Lane glows and is inherently likable, which helps since her character is one that could easily be seen as a nothing but a privileged, rich, white lady who hasn't earned the sympathy that is demanded from the audience. And Arnaud Viard is just charming enough; you can understand why someone would put up with his whims.

But unlike Lost in Translation, Paris Can Wait is stymied by conventional plotting, and a romance that never really gels. Anne is married, and while its revealed that her husband isn't exactly a saint, Anne never seems angry or dissatisfied enough to warrant any straying on her part. There's a romance in the movie because that's what this kind of movie demands. (Lifetime is, after all, one of the studios behind the film.)

It isn't until the very end that Coppola takes some real chances, with a cheeky shout-out to San Francisco's Swan's Oyster Depot and a playful break of the fourth wall that pays tribute to the Parisian filmmakers of the nouvelle vague. If she's able to make another movie, I hope she's given the freedom to dig a little further into the art school roots that show up with that last shot; conventional movies can wait.

Paris Can Wait opens in New York and LA on May 12th, and in San Francisco on May 19th.
SIOUX CITY | An 80-year-old ban on most fireworks in Iowa ended Tuesday with the stroke of Gov. Terry Branstad's pen. But the new law allows local elected officials to continue the moratorium on setting off firecrackers, bottle rockets and other pyrotechnics within their jurisdictions.

Some Northwest Iowa cities and counties plan to allow their residents to shoot off fireworks for five weeks -- the state maximum -- to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. Other local governments are mulling stricter limits.

Area officials have limited time to make such decisions. The new law allows fireworks sales to begin June 1.

In Sioux City, local leaders are waiting for the Iowa State Fire Marshals Office to finalize rules before proceeding with any decisions.

While cities and counties can limit the discharge of fireworks, City Attorney Nicole DuBois said it's not clear whether cities also can limit sales.

Were waiting to see what we can and cant do, DuBois said.

DuBois said the City Council will be presented with information when it becomes available, so options can be aired for a final decision.

Regardless of the state fire marshals verdict, Mayor Bob Scott said he believes fireworks will be sold and shot off in Iowa's fourth largest city.

Theyre going to be sold in Sioux City, I dont think theres any question about that, Scott said. I just want to make sure were doing it in a responsible manner.

For decades, Sioux Cityans and other Northwest Iowans crossed the South Dakota border to legally buy fireworks at large permanent stands along Interstate 29 in North Sioux City. The vast majority then returned to Iowa to set them off in violation of the then-state law.

Under Iowa's new law, licensed retailers or community groups will be able to sell consumer-grade fireworks out of permanent structures to adults between June 1 and July 8 and also between Dec. 10 and Jan. 3 to celebrate the New Year's holiday.

For the Independence Day holiday, the law allows fireworks to be set off daily from 9 a.m. through 10 p.m. from June 1 through July 8, with extended hours until 11 p.m. on July 4, and the Saturday and Sunday before July 4, which this year is July 1-2.

The Moville City Council on May 3 voted 4-0 to adopt the maximum state hours.

Mayor Jim Fisher said a few residents in the Woodbury County town of 1,620 had asked to continue the fireworks ban, saying they had pets who would be upset by all the noise.

"We will go with the state rules," Fisher said. "We will see how people react. If they do it properly, no problem. If it is misused, we will go ahead and make other arrangements (in 2018)," Fisher said.

Fisher noted enforcement of the law could be difficult, since many small towns don't have individual police departments and county deputies could be hard pressed to respond to far-flung spots.

The Lawton City Council on May 2 also discussed the use of fireworks in the city of 908, which is about a five-minute drive from Moville. Lawton Mayor Dale Erickson said a proposed ordinance on the topic will be on the June 5 agenda.

Erickson said the ordinance will permit the use of fireworks during a seven-day calendar week that includes the July 4 holiday. If adopted, that would mean fireworks in 2017 could be set off July 2-8, with hours from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.

Erickson said he looks forward to Lawton residents weighing in at the June meeting.

"We want to be responsible to the citizens so they aren't woken in the middle of the night," he said.

Consumer fireworks, with the exception of sparklers, snakes and other novelty items, had been illegal in Iowa since 1938, snuffed out after being traced to two five-alarm fires in Northwest Iowa. Those occurred on June 27, 1931, in Spencer, and July 4, 1936, in Remsen.

Branstad and lawmakers expanded the variety of fireworks that could be used, despite arguments from opponents that more fireworks sales would lead to injuries and property damage. Supporters responded that residents already bought fireworks in neighboring states and that people were overstating potential dangers.

Sheldon Mayor Katricia Meendering likes the new law.

"We set off fireworks in celebration of our independence. In Sheldon, over the July Fourth holiday you will see and hear many families celebrating. And instead of people making a drive over into South Dakota to make their purchase, they can stay within the state or their town or city," Meendering said.

The Sheldon City Council last week began a discussion over whether to set stricter limits for fireworks than the state law. The topic will be back up for discussion at the May 17 meeting.

Council member Randy Fonkert said he's fine with the limits set by the state for average weather years. During a dry or drought year, he would vote to limit the hours out of fear of fireworks starting fires and even burning down a home.

"We would like to hear from our residents before we determine what and when," Meendering said.
SIOUX CITY | The man accused of shooting two Pottawattamie County deputies-- one fatally-- was transferred to the Woodbury County Jail Wednesday.

Wesley Correa-Carmenaty, 24, faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, escape and weapons charges after an alleged May 1 jail escape in Council Bluffs.

Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty was being transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail on May 1 when he attacked Mark Burbridge and another deputy, grabbed one of their guns and shot them both. Burbridge died soon afterward. Correa-Carmenaty then allegedly drove a transport van through a jail garage door, abandoning it a few blocks away. He tried to carjack a truck, shooting and wounding a man inside the truck then carjacked a woman and drove across the Nebraska border into Omaha, where he let the woman go, investigators said.

He was arrested in Omaha after crashing during a high-speed chase.

The other deputy who was shot, Pat Morgan, has been released from the hospital and attended Burbridge's funeral Monday.

Correa-Carmenaty is expected to be housed in the Woodbury County jail for several months. It is a common practice for a suspect accused of crimes against a law enforcement official to be transferred to a jail in a different jurisdiction to avoid any questions that may arise about fair treatment.

Pottawattamie County will reimburse the Woodbury County Sheriff's Department for the cost of housing Correa-Carmenaty and transporting him back and forth to court proceedings in Council Bluffs.
SIOUX CITY | A man who allegedly sent authorities on a high-speed chase was taken into custody Thursday after ramming into a police vehicle.

Gabriel Freemont, 30, is facing a handful of traffic violations including eluding, aggravated assault and second-degree theft.

According to an affidavit, police attempted to stop a blue Toyota on West Sixth Street on Monday morning for suspicion of drunk driving. Freemont eventually pulled over, but sped away as an officer approached. He continued to elude police, running a red light and weaving around traffic at a high rate of speed.

"The (vehicle) was in complete disregard of the safety to persons and property," the documents stated.

The car was spotted again after midnight Thursday parked in the 1900 block of Pierce Street.

Two officers approached the vehicle and ordered Freemont who was seated inside to exit the vehicle and put his hands up.

With the knowledge that the car had been involved in a recent chase, a third officer in an unmarked police car parked in front of of the Toyota to prevent the suspect from driving off.

Freemont then intentionally rammed the car into the unmarked police car, damaging both, the documents stated.

The Toyota was reported stolen out of Dakota County.

Freemont, who is listed as a transient, was booked into the Woodbury County Jail Thursday morning. He has a court date on May 22.
SIOUX CITY | Letter carriers on Saturday will gather donated food items from residents as they make their rounds during this year's Stamp out Hunger food drive.

The nationwide event, in its 25th year, is the largest food drive conducted on one designated day from coast to coast.

To participate, residents can place non-perishable food items in bags and place them next to their mailboxes for pickup on Saturday. U.S. Postal Service letter carriers will collect the bags and bring the items to the Food Bank of Siouxland.

Items in most demand, according to the food bank, are canned fruit and vegetables, soups, canned meats, hot and cold cereal, pasta and boxed or ready-made meals like macaroni and cheese.

Residents are requested to refrain from donating items that are past their expiration date, items that have been opened, items that are in glass jars or items that are homemade.

Last year's food drive took in a record 26,000 pounds.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's decision to fire his FBI director could lead to possible impeachment proceedings in Congress.

"It may well produce another United States vs. Nixon on a subpoena that went to United States Supreme Court," the Connecticut Democrat said on "Anderson Cooper 360." "It may well produce impeachment proceedings, although we're very far from that possibility."

His comments come a day after Trump shocked Washington by firing FBI Director James Comey, acting on recommendations from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Blumenthal has been quick to criticize the President in wake of the firing. On CNN's "New Day," Wednesday, he called Trump's decision "a looming constitutional crisis."

In response, Trump went after Blumenthal on Twitter.

"Watching Senator Richard Blumenthal speak of Comey is a joke," the President wrote in three tweets. "'Richie' devised one of the greatest military frauds in U.S. history. For years, as a pol in Connecticut, Blumenthal would talk of his great bravery and conquests in Vietnam - except he was never there. When caught, he cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness...and now he is judge & jury. He should be the one who is investigated for his acts."

Blumenthal admitted in 2010 to misrepresenting his military service after saying he had been "in" Vietnam. Blumenthal served in the Marine Reserves in Washington, not Vietnam. "I have misspoken about my service, and I regret that, and I take full responsibility," Blumenthal said in 2010.
URBANDALE | Republican Gov. Terry Branstad is stepping up his criticism of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller in the wake of the Democrats controversial legal opinion on powers of the governors successor, telling a conservative group Wednesday that voters should oust the attorney general.

Branstad insisted Miller was absolutely wrong when on May 1 he reversed a position he took in December by issuing a formal opinion that Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will be governor once Branstad resigns to accept an ambassadorship but would not have the constitutional authority to appoint a new lieutenant governor.

In his decision, Miller cited past elected executive successions at the state and national level to bolster his position that Reynolds would serve in both capacities as governor and lieutenant governor until the next election.

Branstad called Millers opinion convoluted on his Tuesday evening radio call-in show because he said it flies in the face of a 2009 state law that spells out the procedure for a sitting governor to name a lieutenant when the post is vacant, and noted two situations in Utah and New York where such action was taken and upheld by the courts.

I think this is a very cynical effort to try to create controversy. I think its absolutely wrong. I think the people of Iowa recognize that we need to have an attorney general that will represent the people of Iowa and not his own partisan viewpoint or that of his staff, Branstad told members of the Westside Conservative Club Wednesday morning.

Asked by one attendee why he does fire Miller, the governor said: We cant fire the attorney general. Hes elected separately. You can. I cant. Theres an election coming up in 2018. He has been the attorney general since 1978 with the exception of four years of Bonnie Campbell. I think its time for a new attorney general. So lets vote a new attorney general that will represent Iowa and the people of Iowas interest.

The attorney generals office is representing the state in a court challenge to the new 72-hour waiting period for abortions performed in Iowa that Branstad signed last week. But Miller has cited a conflict in declining to represent the state in a union challenge to a rewrite of Iowas collective bargaining law for public employees.

By issuing the opinion on succession, Miller will have to recuse himself if Reynolds chooses to appoint a lieutenant once she is sworn in as Branstads successor and if she is challenged in court, the governor said.

So its just a way to kind of mess the whole process up and create confusion, and I think its one of the worst partisan things hes ever done, Branstad said.

Reynolds last week said she is evaluating the succession question but noted Millers change of position has cast a cloud over the issue.

We believe the law is on our side, she said in an interview. Attorney General Miller, my attorney, gave us that advice in December and Ive moved forward anticipating. In light of the reversal of his opinion, were sitting down with a team and were evaluating how we move forward.

No decisions will be made until Branstad clears the U.S. Senate confirmation process, likely this month, to become President Donald Trumps choice to be ambassador to China.

In a brief response Wednesday to the governors comments, Miller defended his opinion, saying despite all the rhetoric, this thoroughly researched opinion is based on the law and not politics. Its up to Iowans to make that judgment.

The opinion is based on constitutional provisions concerning succession order, which provide that, upon a governors resignation, the office goes from governor to lieutenant governor, to president of the Senate, and then to the speaker of the House. To insert a replacement lieutenant governor would require changing that constitutional provision, he noted.
DES MOINES | U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, announced Thursday that Vice President Mike Pence will be among the guests attending her Jobs, Opportunities, and New Ideas PACs third annual Roast and Ride fundraiser on June 3 at the Central Iowa Expo in Boone.

The Red OakRepublican announced next months lineup of featured attendees via a video she posted at her RoastAndRide.com Web site. Other guests include Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Iowa GOP Congressmen David Young and Steve King, and soon-to-be Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, she said.

As many of you know, the Roast and Ride has become a great family-friendly tradition that includes a motorcycle ride honoring our veterans, followed by a barbecue where we hear from some of the top leaders from around the country, Ernst said in the video. We are going to have a fantastic day.

Information about tickets, times and locations and other details for the June 3 event also can be found at the RoastAndRide.com Web site, she said.
ORANGE CITY, Iowa | What does a love-struck ogre and a talking donkey have to do with tulips?

Plenty, since "Shrek: The Musical" is being presented as the Night Show musical for the 77th Tulip Festival.

The show -- based upon William Steig's 1990 book, the 2001 animated film as well as the 2008 Broadway musical -- will be performed at 8 p.m. May 17 - 20 at the Unity Christian Knight Center, 216 Michigan Ave. S.W.

A part of the festival since 1950, the Night Show has become one of the most cherished annual events.

However, choosing a relatively recent show over something seminal was a risk, according to co-director Todd McDonald.

"I've directed 'Finian's Rainbow' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' as past Night Shows," the MOC-Floyd Valley speech and theater teacher said. "But when my family saw 'Shrek' on Broadway, we knew it would make for a great Night Show."

McDonald's co-director Gail Marincovich agreed.

"First of all, everybody loved the movie," Marincovich, herself a retired MOC-Floyd Valley teacher, noted. "But once we got into the script, we realized the music is much more complex than we thought."

Plus there were all of the elaborate costumes that "Shrek' demanded.

"Some were purchased, some were borrowed from other productions of 'Shrek' and others were sewn especially for this production," Marincovich said.

And when special effects and special costuming needs weren't available, McDonald said the production had to simply do without.

"There will be times when the audience will have to use their imagination," he admitted.

Which is actually OK, according to Marincovich, since Night Show audiences tend to be forgiving.

"Our cast and crew is made up of volunteers," she said. "Our youngest actor is in the fifth grade while our oldest actors are probably in their 60s."

"It's a labor of love for many of us," Marincovich continued, "and I think that comes to through to our audience."

As the production date nears, McDonald said the cast is beginning to jell.

"Everyone wants to do a good job," he said. "It's important to them."

Working with the school-aged cast members is especially fulfilling for Marincovich, who had previously director high school musicals.

"Audiences think acting in musicals is going to be broad," she said. "My actors, on the other hand, are being taught to look to the subtlety of the scene."

This was the approach Marincovich took when she made her own debut as a fifth grader in the community theater production of "The Music Man."

And that's the approach she takes while directing actors in "Shrek's" pivotal "Freak Flag" production number.

"The cast totally nailed that song," Marincovich said, the day after a rehearsal. "No matter who we are, we still have a little freak in us. The cast caught the subtlety right away."

Like his co-director, McDonald is also keen on keeping "Shrek's" subtler moments.

"We know this isn't going to be a Broadway-level production of 'Shrek' but it doesn't have to be," he said. "We want to make this 'Shrek' uniquely our own."
Freak out at a buffet

STORM LAKE | I won't have what he's having.

The Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched the night of May 4 to the China One Buffet at 1416 North Lake Avenue in reference to a disturbance in progress.

When police arrived, employees allege a patron got upset over the carryout policy of the restaurant and confronted staff, raising his voice and "placing them in fear," a press release said.

Police identified the alleged rowdy customer as Simon Key, 49, of Storm Lake. After an investigation, the police department arrested him for disorderly conduct, a simple misdemeanor. He was booked in the Buena Vista County Jail on $300 bond.

Hand on the pedal

SIOUX CITY | He didn't get far.

Brandon Leigh Esquibel, 24, is accused of lunging over and pressing the gas pedal from the front passenger seat when police ordered him to step out of the vehicle during a traffic stop May 4.

The Sioux City man also faces a handful of drug and firearm charges.

The stop took place at 2 a.m. in the morning in the 3600 block of Hamilton Boulevard, a court affidavit said.

A Glock Model 43 firearm, a gram of meth, nine prescription amphetamine pills and a gram of marijuana were found inside the vehicle after he was apprehended.

The documents say Esquibel is a convicted felon after he was charged with three controlled substance violations in 2012.

Esquibel sits in the Woodbury County Jail on multiple drug charges, and felony counts of possession of a firearm and interference with official acts while having a firearm.

His bond amount is $30,000 and has a court date at 9 a.m. May 15.
Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies. The company operates through two segments, Sally Beauty Supply and Beauty Systems Group. The Sally Beauty Supply segment offers beauty products, including hair color and care products, skin and nail care products, styling tools, and other beauty products for retail customers, salons, and salon professionals. This segment also provides products under third-party brands, such as Wella, Clairol, OPI, Conair, and L'Oreal, as well as exclusive-label brand merchandise. The Beauty Systems Group segment offers professional beauty products, such as hair color and care products, skin and nail care products, styling tools, and other beauty items directly to salons and salon professionals through its professional-only stores, e-commerce platforms, and sales force, as well as through franchised stores under the Armstrong McCall store name. This segment also sells products under third-party brands, such as Paul Mitchell, Wella, Matrix, Schwarzkopf, Kenra, Goldwell, Joico, and Olaplex. As of September 30, 2021, the company operated 4,777 stores, including 134 franchised units in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. It also distributes its products through full-service/exclusive distributors, open-line distributors, direct sales, and mega-salon stores. Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Denton, Texas.
The following companies are subsidiares of Harsco: 21st Century Environmental Management of NV LLC, 21st Century Environmental Management of RI LLC, AERC Acquisition Corporation, AES Asset Acquisition Corporation, Accelerated Remediation Kinetics LLC, Advanced Remediation & Disposal Technologies of Delaware LLC, Allied Environmental Group LLC, Allworth LLC, Altek, Altek Europe Holdings Ltd., Altek Europe Limited, Altek LLC, Altek Melting Solutions Limited, AluServ Middle East W.L.L., Alusalt Limited, Assessment & Remedial Design Technologies Inc, Ballagio S.a.r.l., Burlington Environmental LLC, CEHI Acquisition LLC, CEI Holding LLC, Calrissian Holdings LLC, Carteret Asphalt Corporation, Chemical Pollution Control of Florida LLC, Chemical Pollution Control of New York LLC, Chemical Reclamation Services LLC, Clean Earth Dredging Technologies LLC, Clean Earth Environmental Services Inc., Clean Earth Environmental Services Inc., Clean Earth Environmental Solutions Inc., Clean Earth Holdings LLC, Clean Earth Inc., Clean Earth LLC, Clean Earth Mobile Services LLC, Clean Earth Specialty Waste Solutions Inc., Clean Earth of Carteret LLC, Clean Earth of Georgia LLC, Clean Earth of Greater Washington LLC, Clean Earth of Maryland LLC, Clean Earth of Michigan LLC, Clean Earth of New Castle LLC, Clean Earth of North Jersey Inc., Clean Earth of Philadelphia LLC, Clean Earth of Puerto Rico LLC, Clean Earth of Southeast Pennsylvania LLC, Clean Earth of Southern Florida LLC, Clean Earth of West Virginia LLC, Clean Earth of Williamsport LLC, Clean Rock Properties Ltd, Czech Slag- Nova Hut s.r.o., ESOL TOPCO LLC, Environmental Soil Management Inc, Environmental Soil Management of New York LLC, Environmental Solutions (ESOL) Business, Excell Africa Holdings Ltd., Excell Americas Holdings Ltd S.a.r.L., Faber Prest Limited, Gardner Road Oil LLC, GasServ (Netherlands) VII B.V., General Environmental Management of Rancho Cordova LLC, HLWKH 517 Limited, Harsco (Australia) Pty. Limited, Harsco (Beijing) Fertiliser Co. Ltd, Harsco (Gibraltar) Holding Limited, Harsco (Mexico) Holdings B.V., Harsco (Peru) Holdings B.V., Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd, Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd. - GuYe Branch, Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd. - Leting Branch, Harsco (Tangshan) Renewable Resources Development Co. Ltd, Harsco (U.K.) Limited, Harsco (UK) Group Ltd, Harsco (York Place) Limited, Harsco APAC Rail Machinery (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Harsco Americas Investments S.a.r.l., Harsco Belgium SRL, Harsco Brazil Investments SRL, Harsco Canada Corporation Societe Harsco Canada, Harsco Canada General Partner Limited, Harsco Canada Limited Partnership, Harsco Chile Investments SRL, Harsco China Holding Company Limited, Harsco Defense Holding LLC, Harsco Environmental S.R.L., Harsco Europa B.V., Harsco Fairways Partnership, Harsco Finance B.V., Harsco Financial Holdings Inc., Harsco France S.A.S., Harsco Holdings Inc., Harsco India Metals Private Limited, Harsco India Private Ltd., Harsco India Services Private Ltd., Harsco Industrial Grating China Holding Co. Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure B.V., Harsco Infrastructure CZ s.r.o, Harsco Infrastructure Construction Services B.V., Harsco Infrastructure Group Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure Holdings Inc., Harsco Infrastructure Hong Kong Ltd, Harsco Infrastructure Industrial Services B.V., Harsco Infrastructure Services Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco International Finance S.a.r.l., Harsco Investment Ltd., Harsco Investments Europe B.V., Harsco Leatherhead Limited, Harsco Luxembourg S.a.r.l, Harsco Metals (Ningbo) Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals (Thailand) Company Ltd., Harsco Metals 373 Ltd, Harsco Metals 385 Ltd, Harsco Metals Argentina S.A., Harsco Metals Australia Holding Investment Co. Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals Australia Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals Belgium S.A., Harsco Metals CTS Prestacao de Servicos Tecnicos e Aluguer de Equipamentos LDA Unipessoal, Harsco Metals CZ s.r.o, Harsco Metals Chile S.A., Harsco Metals D.O.O. Smederevo, Harsco Metals Egypt L.L.C., Harsco Metals Emirates Partnership, Harsco Metals Germany GmbH, Harsco Metals Gesmafesa S.A., Harsco Metals Group Limited, Harsco Metals Guatemala S.A., Harsco Metals Holding LLC, Harsco Metals Holdings Limited, Harsco Metals Holland B.V., Harsco Metals Ilanga Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals Intermetal LLC, Harsco Metals Investment LLC, Harsco Metals Limitada, Harsco Metals Luxembourg S.A., Harsco Metals Luxequip S.A., Harsco Metals Lycrete S.A., Harsco Metals Middle East FZE, Harsco Metals Norway A.S., Harsco Metals Oostelijk Staal International B.V., Harsco Metals Operations LLC, Harsco Metals Peru S.A., Harsco Metals Polska SP Z.O.O., Harsco Metals RSA Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals Reclamet S.A., Harsco Metals SRH Mill Services (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals SRI LLC, Harsco Metals Saudi Arabia Ltd., Harsco Metals Slovensko s.r.o., Harsco Metals South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals SteelServ (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals Sweden A.B., Harsco Metals Transport B.V., Harsco Metals Turkey Celik Limited Sirkety, Harsco Metals VB LLC, Harsco Metals Zhejiang Co. Ltd., Harsco Metals and Minerals France S.A.S., Harsco Metals de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Harsco Metro Rail LLC, Harsco Mexico Holdings S.A. de C.V., Harsco Minerais Limitada, Harsco Minerali d.o.o., Harsco Minerals Arabia LLC (FZC), Harsco Minerals Deutschland GmbH, Harsco Minerals Europe B.V., Harsco Minerals Technologies LLC, Harsco Minnesota Finance Inc., Harsco Minnesota LLC, Harsco Mole Valley Limited, Harsco Nederland Slag B.V., Harsco Nova Scotia Holding Corporation, Harsco Rail Emirates Maatschap/Societe de Droit Commun, Harsco Rail Europe GmbH, Harsco Rail LLC, Harsco Rail Limited, Harsco Rail Ltda, Harsco Rail Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Harsco Rail Pty. Ltd., Harsco Rail Switzerland GMBH, Harsco Steel Mill Trading Arabia LLC, Harsco Sun Demiryolu Ekipmanlari Uretim Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Harsco Switzerland Holding GmbH, Harsco Technologies LLC, Harsco Technology China Co. Ltd., Harsco Track Machines and Services Private Limited, Heckett Bahna Co. For Industrial Operations S.A.E., Heckett Comercio de Rejeitos Industriais Importacao e Exportacao Ltda, Heckett MultiServ (FS) Pty Ltd, Heckett MultiServ Bahna S.A.E., Heckett MultiServ China B.V., Heckett MultiServ Far East B.V., Heckett Multiserv MV & MS CA, Hunnebeck Group GmbH, Iductelec Limited, Ilserv S.R.L., Luntz Acquisition (Delaware) LLC, MKC Acquisition Corporation, Mastclimbers Ltd, Metal Reclamation SPV (Pty.) Ltd., Minerval Metallurgic Additives B.V., MultiServ (Sweden) AB, MultiServ Finance B.V., MultiServ International B.V., MultiServ Limited, MultiServ Logistics Limited, MultiServ Oy, MultiServ Technologies (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Nortal Limited, Northland Environmental LLC, Nortru LLC, PSC Environmental Services LLC, PSC Recovery Systems LLC, Phillip Reclamation Services Houston LLC, Protran Technology LLC, Real Property Acquisition LLC, Republic Environmental Recycling (New Jersey) LLC, Republic Environmental Systems (PA) LLC, Republic Environmental Systems (Transportation Group) LLC, Rho-Chem LLC, SGB Holdings Limited, SGB Investments Ltd., SGB Scafform Limited, Shanxi TISCO-Harsco Technology Co. Ltd., Short Brothers (Plant) Ltd., Slag Processing Company Egypt (SLAR) S.A.E., Slag Reductie (Pacific) B.V., Slag Reductie Nederland B.V., Solvent Recovery LLC, Tosyali Harsco Geri Kazanim Teknolojileri Anonim Sirketi, and United Retek of Connecticut LLC.

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Everest Re Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Energizer Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer and Eveready brands, as well as primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries. The company also provides headlights, lanterns, and children's and area lights, as well as flash lights under the Energizer, Eveready, Rayovac, Hard Case, Dolphin, Varta, and WeatherReady brands. In addition, it licenses the Energizer and Eveready brands to companies developing consumer solutions in gaming, automotive batteries, portable power for critical devices, LED light bulbs, generators, power tools, household light bulbs, and other lighting products. Further, the company designs and markets automotive fragrance and appearance products, including protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products, air fresheners, and washes to clean, shine, refresh, and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces under the brand names of Armor All, Nu Finish, Refresh Your Car!, LEXOL, Eagle One, California Scents, Driven, and Bahama & Co; STP branded fuel and oil additives, functional fluids, and other performance chemical products; and do-it-yourself automotive air conditioning recharge products under the A/C PRO brand name, as well as other refrigerant and recharge kits, sealants, and accessories. It sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers; and through various retail and business-to-business channels, including mass merchandisers, club, electronics, food, home improvement, dollar store, auto, drug, hardware, e-commerce, convenience, sporting goods, hobby/craft, office, industrial, medical, and catalog. Energizer Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Trinity Industries, Inc. provides rail transportation products and services under the TrinityRail name in North America. It operates in two segments, Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group, and Rail Products Group. The Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group segment leases freight and tank railcars; originates and manages railcar leases for third-party investors; and provides fleet maintenance and management services. As of December 31, 2021, it had a fleet of 106,970 owned or leased railcars. This segment serves industrial shipper and railroad companies operating in agriculture, construction and metals, consumer products, energy, and refined products and chemicals markets. The Rail Products Group segment manufactures freight and tank railcars for transporting various liquids, gases, and dry cargo; and offers railcar maintenance and modification services. This segment serves railroads, leasing companies, and industrial shippers of products in the agriculture, construction and metals, consumer products, energy, and refined products and chemicals markets. It sells or leases products and services through its own sales personnel and independent sales representatives. Trinity Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1933 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
A clinical laboratory services company has agreed to pay $6 million to the U.S. government to settle allegations of kickbacks and unnecessary testing.

Quest Diagnostics Inc., a publicly traded Fortune 500 company, settled a lawsuit, the Justice Department announced April 28. The companys Alameda, California lab was charged with violating the False Claims Act. Berkeley HeartLab, Inc. paid kickbacks to physicians and patients to induce the use of blood testing, investigators discovered. The lab also charged patients for medically unnecessary tests, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler.

We rely on doctors to provide honest, independent recommendations regarding clinical testing, said Readler of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, in a news release. Companies that pay kickbacks to referring doctors corrupt those doctors independence, leaving patients vulnerable to expensive and unnecessary testing.

Federal agents intervened under a whistleblower provision in the False Claims Act. According to the government, Berkeley Lab paid kickbacks to referring physicians disguised as process and handling fees.

Headquartered in Madison, New Jersey, Quest Diagnostics provides testing for cancer, HIV/AIDS,cardiovascular disease, zika virus and neurological disorders. The company settled lawsuits for Medicare fraud in 2009 and 2011.

This settlement is part of the governments ongoing efforts to address conduct that allows medical decisions to be influenced by money rather than the best interests of patients, said U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia. Our office is pleased to defend the integrity of our healthcare system and to demand the return of ill-gotten gains.
As the first anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando approaches, there is a new memorial paying tribute to the massacres victims. The 49 Portraits Project was created out of a need to respond in a meaningful, respectful and loving way to the tragic events at the LGBT Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016. The 49 Portraits Project is made up of a group of 49 artists across the country who created portraits to honor the deceased Pulse nightclub victims and to give as gifts to their families.

All 49 portraits will be on view at Orlando City Halls Terrace Gallery until June 14. Weve had such a great response thus far from the Orlando community, City of Orlando officials and beyond, said Francesca Ascione, Marketing & Graphic Design Coordinator of The Mennello Museum of American Art & Public Art. The exhibition is incredibly moving and beautifully installed.

The project was started by Georgia art professor Mia Merlin, who was inspired by a similar portrait project for the families of the nine victims of the June 2015 shootings at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Merlin shared her impassioned vision for the 49 Portraits Project in a Facebook prompt. Word quickly spread and artists from all over the country expressed interest in participating.

As an artist, the ability to make a portrait for someone is one of the most clear and powerful ways I have to give. I knew that other artists would feel the same way, Merlin said in a press release. And the portraits offer that same gift to all viewers, to see more fully and to feel more acutely what a life means. The portraits allow us to see each life shine, to process loss, and maybe over time to start to heal. For the families, I hope that the portraits help them feel connected to their loved ones. But the portraits also allow for the living to connect with each other here and now. This connection has happened between the project artists, between the artists and the families, and with the help of this exhibit, it will extend out into the community and world. These portraits transcend politics, and strip away everything but what is essential. Each of us is so grateful to be able to make this offering, and to have it received by each of you.

An opening reception for 49 Portraits will be held on Saturday, June 3 from 4:30-6:30 at the Rotunda at Orlando City Hall. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Commissioner Patty Sheehan, District 4 are expected to attend.

For more information please visit 49Portraits.com or CityofOrlando.net/art/49portraits.
The streaking Richard Moreau-trained Gia Diamond ($10.60) circled the field of Preferred 2 pacing mares to win the $10,000 Wednesday night feature for the second week in a row at The Raceway at Western Fair District.

Leaving from the inside post, Sr Beach Babe had the field of six lined up in post position order through a :27.4 opening quarter, and continued to lead through a half in :56.3 and three-quarters in 1:26 with pressure mounting from the developing outer tier. Once again, Gia Diamond and driver Travis Henry tracked the cover of Top Royal -- this time third-over from last after being handicapped outside her foes -- and fanned widest of all turning for home. While the mares spread across the track in the race to the wire, Gia Diamond rallied from the backfield to take the winning prize. She defeated Top Royal by a head in 1:55.1 while Stonebridge Quest, the even-money favourite, finished three-quarters of a length behind in third off a pocket trip.

Gia Diamond now boasts back-to-back wins in London's Preferred 2 class, three straight victories since joining the Moreau stable, and four in her current string of successful outings.

The five-year-old American Ideal mare, who was claimed on April 13 at Mohawk Racetrack for $10,000, is owned by La Ferme Drummond Inc. of Saint-Hugues, Que.

In the evening's $7,500 Preferred 3, Got Some Spark ($12.80) also closed from off-the-pace and nailed the front-striding Regal Luck in a photo finish for the 1:56.3 win for trainer Lindsey Kerr and owner Sally Charlton of Tecumseh, Ont.

Runner-up Regal Luck had made the front after what track announcer Shannon 'Sugar' Doyle called the "killer crossover" move off the gate of outsider Katherine B and was then confronted by slight favourite Solid Queen. She regained the lead through a :28.1 third quarter duel with the 6-5 favourite, but couldn't hold off Got Some Spark, who came through between horses off a ground-saving trip for her second win in a row in rein to Bob McClure.

To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Western Fair.

For the official judges' report from Wednesday's card, click the following link: Judges' Report - Western Fair - May 10.
Thestable.ca is showcasing its fractional horse ownership opportunities during a jam-packed Spring Showcase on Sunday, May 14 at Tomiko Training Centre (near Puslinch, Ont.) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A live video broadcast, featuring a drone camera over the racetrack, kicks off at 10:45 a.m., when 40 horses will train in sets of five and six. The broadcast will be streamed via thestable.ca/watchlive and on Thestable.ca Facebook page.

Some of North Americas top harness racing drivers will steer the young colts and fillies, including Sylvain Fillon, James MacDonald, Billy Davis, Jody Jamieson and Jordan Stratton.

It's great to be a part of something that could be a real game-changer for horse racing, said Stratton. Connecting with the general public, and finding investment for our industry from all walks of life, in this day and age, seems like an impossible task.

Any program that generates this much interest from all demographics is worth cultivating and should be given the opportunity to grow, he said. More horsemen need to recognize the challenges this industry faces today and upgrade their practices to attract the very same people drawn to thestable.ca. My wife and I joined up with Anthony and Amy last year and I'm excited to see how our colt handles on Sunday.

Expert commentary for the live broadcast will be provided by Fred MacDonald and Ben Wallace.

During the Spring Showcase, guests are invited to meet the horses and chat with the MacDonalds, and meet other racehorse owners in Thestable.ca and industry professionals.

The event is free but an RSVP is helpful and a non-perishable food item for the Guelph Food Bank is appreciated.

All ages are welcome. A complimentary BBQ will be available. The Mothers Day event also offers a special gift for the first 30 moms. There will be a draw for two shares of Zepplin Bi. The trotting colt is one of The Stables top prospects and his shares were generously donated by a client of The Stable. There will also be a raffle held by Racing Under Saddle Ontario for a Mother's Day flower arrangement. The Hands On Horses Program will provide drives for guests in double-seated jog carts and pony rides for the kids.

A catalogue will be available on The Stable website, detailing all horses for which shares are available for purchase. The catalogue will include a schedule of when each horse will be featured on the broadcast during the Spring Showcase, and current share prices.

The Stable is a racehorse ownership venture launched in 2015 by Anthony and Amy MacDonald. The Guelph couple own and train several Standardbred racehorses near Mohawk Racetrack. Anthony is also a prominent racehorse driver and a well-known harness racing industry advocate.

The MacDonalds built this 'fractional ownership' stable as a bridge  a way to welcome non-horsepeople to racehorse ownership with a very modest investment (as low as $170), low-risk, and completely accessible and transparent operations.

There are currently 51 horses and 247 active racehorse owners in The Stable.

For more informationon on The Stable, download their investment package here or contact Anthony at [email protected] or (519) 400-4263.

(The Stable)
Foundation for Moral Law Files in Transgender Case

Contact: John Eidsmoe, Foundation for Moral Law , 334-262-1245MONTGOMERY, Ala., May 11, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- The Foundation for Moral Law, a Montgomery-based legal foundation dedicated to a strict interpretation of the Constitution as intended by its Framers, filed an amicus brief Tuesday in a transgender case that has garnered nationwide attention.G.G., a Gloucester, VA high school student who was born female but identifies as male, sued the Gloucester School Board to gain the right to use the boys' locker rooms and other facilities. A federal judge ruled that the School Board was justified in refusing her request, but the Fourth Circuit remanded, holding that the trial judge had failed to give adequate consideration to a letter of the Department of Education and the Department of Justice directing that transgender students should be assigned to the facilities designated for the sex with which they identify. The School Board appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.However, shortly after President Trump took office, his Department of Justice and Department of Education rescinded the previous letter and instead directed that school-related transgender matters should normally be resolved at the state and local levels. The Supreme Court therefore vacated the Fourth Circuit's order and remanded the case to the Fourth Circuit for further proceedings.In its brief, the Foundation endorsed the School Board's argument that neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires schools to allow transgender students to use facilities assigned to the opposite biological sex. Additionally, the Foundation argued that schools should not be required to facilitate transgender identity because there is growing evidence that transgenderism has tragic consequences in terms of emotional maladjustment, depression, anxiety, and suicide. Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe noted that "In an area as fraught with uncertainty as this, the courts should not intrude where the Constitution is silent. Local school boards should be free to make decisions that protect their students and reflect the values of their communities."Foundation President Kayla Moore added that forcing teachers and administrators to adopt transgender policies may violate their religious freedom. She said, "People who believe God and nature have assigned distinct gender identities to people cannot simply call men female and women male without violating their religious beliefs. The first freedom guaranteed by the Constitution is religious liberty, but transgender identity is not even mentioned."
National Council of Catholic Women Celebrates 97 Years at Their 2017 Convention in Dallas, TX

Contact: Laraine Bennett, National Council of Catholic Women , 703-224-0990WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- The National Council of Catholic Women, founded March 4, 1920, will celebrate its 97th year of service to God and the Church at their annual Convention September 6-9, 2017 in Dallas, Texas with the theme: Catholic Women: Living the Joy of the Gospel.Held at the beautiful Hilton Anatole in the Dallas Design Districtminutes from art galleries, shopping and airports and a doable drive for manythe 2017 Convention allows Council sisters from across the country to join in prayer and fellowship; become empowered through workshops on spirituality, leadership, and service; hear inspiring speakers; celebrate moving liturgies; and visit the jam-packed exhibit hall."Convention is always a special time to share, pray together, and celebrate the gifts of women. We embrace the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as requested by His Holiness, Pope Francis, and call all women to see our joy as we live the Gospel message," said Sheila Hopkins, NCCW President.Speakers for the 2017 National Convention include: Mary Rice Hasson, a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. where she directs the Catholic Women's Forum, an initiative that responds to Pope Francis' call for Catholic women to assume a higher profile within the Church; Stacy Thomlison, missionary for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS); Dale Recinella, Catholic lay chaplain to death row inmates as well as author of several books on the death penalty; and Mother Susan Catherine, a former Nacogdoches County judge who founded the order of the Daughters of Divine Hope in 2010. The order welcomes women over the age of 25, with a particular openness to widows and older women.The Convention early bird rate of $300 expires on June 30, 2017. Visit nccw.org for more information and to register for this informative gathering. Two tours are also available.NCCW's mission is to act through its members to support, empower and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service. Its programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in the modern world. To request an interview with NCCW President Sheila Hopkins, contact lbennett@nccw.org
Local Foundation Offers to Defend Trump Religious Freedom Order

Contact: John Eidsmoe, Foundation for Moral Law , 334-262-1245MONTGOMERY, Ala., May 11, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- The Foundation for Moral Law, a Montgomery-based legal foundation dedicated to the defense of religious liberty and a strict interpretation of the Constitution as intended by its Framers, leaped to the defense of President Trump's May 4 Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty.The President's Order provides that "All executive departments and agencies shall, to the greatest extent practicable and to the extent permitted by law, respect and protect the freedom of persons and organizations to engage in religious and political speech." The Order specifically directs the Department of the Treasury to ensure that religious persons and organizations shall not suffer delays or denials in their applications for tax-exempt status, a matter of concern under the Obama Administration.The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has filed a lawsuit in a Wisconsin federal court challenging the Order as an unconstitutional establishment of religion because it favors religious over non-religious organizations.However, in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Foundation for Moral Law Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe contended that the Order does not show preference for religious persons and organizations. Rather, he said, "Churches and religious organizations have been targeted for discriminatory enforcement of this restriction and the purpose of the Executive Order is to end that discrimination." Eidsmoe therefore offered the Foundation's services pro bono to the Attorney General in the defense of this Order.Foundation President Kayla Moore added, "The Freedom From Religion Foundation repeatedly tries to bully local governments to remove any mention of God from the public arena. The Foundation for Moral Law has stood up to the Freedom From Religion Foundation in the past, and we will continue to do so."
San Francisco's historic The Fillmore auditorium on the edge of Japantown played host to three bands this past Thursday. The concert series, officially designated "Asia on Tour" and headed by promoter Live Nation, aims to bring a slice of Asia's best bands to both new and old fans overseas. 2017's inaugural series had South Korea's Kiha and The Faces, Thailand's Slot Machine, and Japan's Miyavi tear things up in progressive fashion as the night went on. Each band added their own flair to the night and eventually resulted in a fever pitch when Miyavi took the stage.

The North American west coast kicks things off with a total of six shows before Asia on Tour heads east cutting across the lower states like Texas and Georgia before heading north to New York and eventually terminating in Toronto. The three bands will then head to Europe and play in the UK, Germany, and France, among others. Tonight's show is the third show of the tour and the second stop in America.

KIHA AND THE FACES

Leading things off was South Korea's Kiha and the Faces. Frontman Chang Kiha serves as the namesake of this indie band. They don't fly around the stage like many rock bands I've seen but that's part of their charm; their quirky stage presence alongside the folk rock they produce is what makes Kiha and The Faces Kiha and The Faces. I can't speak a lick of Korean, but you get the feeling that the band is about fun and watching their music videos helps confirm that idea. The crowd was receptive to the total package and a lot of people in the audience seemed to know them already. That's one of the best parts about tours in the US: bands in their home countries might be hard to see (or hard to get near) but here you can have a much more intimate show and be closer than you'd think.

The most animated member of the group is Kiha himself and he led the crowd in singing parts of the song "The Smell's Gone." Another one people could sing along to was a cover of Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime." Their songs are full of funk and bass and make for a good way to kick off the night and ease into things. The songs are catchy and fun and even for someone who can't understand them I couldn't help but tap my toes and bob my head to the rhythm.

SLOT MACHINE

I'll admit I did not know of Thai band Slot Machine until looking up this concert. Their Wikipedia article reads like advertising copy (and chances are it is) but I'll be damned if they don't live up to it. The band has been around in some shape or form ever since the turn of the millennium and released their first English album "Spin the World" late last year. It's sung in all English and much of the set list tonight would be representative of it with a few Thai songs were thrown in for good measure.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when they came on stage but as I saw them walk in wearing suits I was sure it was going to be good. Vocalist Karinyawat Durongjirakan (aka Foet) with his slicked back hair and sunglasses immediately commanded the stage with scepter in hand. He would get into the music too with tambourine as well as joining drummer Settharat Pancgchunan (Auto) for a bit later in the set. Bassist Atirath Pintong (Gak) had to take off his leather jacket after a few songs since things were getting heated and showed off his guns. Guitarist Janevit Chanpanyawong (Vit) prowled the right side of the stage and held it down. Formally the band is a four-man unit but tonight they had two additional session musicians in the form of a DJ and an additional guitarist nestled in the back of the stage.

The band opened up with "MRT" and continued on with a lot of songs from "Spin the World." "And We Go," "Sky Burning Stars," "I Know, I Know," "Spin the World," and a few in Thai. I could have swore I heard "Give It All to You" but maybe that was just during the interval between Kiha and The Faces and Slot Machine. The band ended with an onstage photo of them and the crowd all with the pyramidesque thumb-and-forefingers-touching in the air.

I think this band could go far with some playtime in America. Foet said that it was hard writing in English but you can't at all. They sound just as good as any of the bands played on American radio right now. I can easily see (or hear) them being in the mix.

MIYAVI

As the third act began guitarist extraordinaire Miyavi walked out of the blue-tinged fog. He should be no stranger to American fans and in fact this marks his 15th anniversary in the scene. He's a showman who has played in the band Due le Quartz and has bumped shoulders (and shared the stage) with the likes of X Japan's Yoshiki and Sugizo and Malice Mizer's Gackt in the supergroup SKIN.

Miyavi's animated style of guitar playing makes for an entertaining one-man whirlwind as he spins and dances across the stage while doing his trademark finger-slapping. Tonight he would be accompanied by a DJ and a drummer but make no mistake: Miyavi is the main attraction. He wore a long dark overcoat that showed just his arms and feet for the extended version of opening song "Raise Me Up." As he transitioned to "Ain't No Sunshine" he stripped off the overcoat, bared his tattooed arms, and the show went from there.

He managed to pack a whopping 17 songs into the just over one hour of playtime on stage. More than a few songs from his newest album "Fire Bird" were featured on the setlist but snuck on some special ones like "Youth of a Nation" that he played at SXSW. Even though he might not have a full band behind him he makes it work. He dips into a modern sound incorporating electronic/breakbeat and even a bit of dubstep. It's a far cry from the visual kei of Due le Quartz where even back then he dominated with his skills. Miyavi has evolved and much like the phoenix has been reborn.

For his 15th anniversary he had a message for the crowd: "Thanks for believing in me, and helping me believe in myself." More than a couple of times had the legendary guitarist bantering back and forth with the crowd and replying with "I fucking love you too."

He closed the night off with his rendition of "Mission Impossible" and one more song titled "What's My Name?" More of a gesture than anything since everyone knows it by now. As the show ended he waded into the crowd to greet fans and gave away the setlist to one lucky girl.

[[Photos go here]]

I've been telling my friends that this is a concert worth seeing. One had intended to just show up for Miyavi but I urged him to come early and see all three bands. I'm going to stick to that judgment: if you're in this concert's path, come on by. Tickets are a steal and you get way more than the monetary cost might suggest. Three world class acts on one bill.

The Asia on Tour concert series continues on to San Diego on Tuesday. A full list of American dates are as follows:

4/1 Vancouver, BC (CAN) - Venue

4/4 Seattle, WA - The Neptune Theater

4/6 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

4/7 Anaheim, CA - The Parish at House of Blues Anaheim

4/9 Los Angeles, CA - The Belasco Theater

4/11 San Diego, CA - House of Blues San Diego

4/14 Dallas, TX - The Cambridge Room at House of Blues Dallas

4/15 Houston, TX - The Bronze Peacock at House of Blues Houston

4/18 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse

4/21 Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry - Philadelphia

4/22 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall

4/23 New York, NY - Irving Plaza

4/25 Chicago, IL - House of Blues Chicago

4/26 Toronto, ON (CAN) - The Phoenix Concert Theatre

For more information and tickets visit: http://www.livenation.com/artists/167727/live-nation-presents-asia-on-tour-feat-miyavi
Chronic absenteeism is a lot more than playing hooky, according to superintendents from Southwest Washington.

School heads from Southwest Washington, including those from Kelso and Woodland, joined Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler in Vancouver on Wednesday morning to discuss why so many students in Washington are missing school  and what can be done to fix it. The question has special relevance to Longview, where the rate of chronic absenteeism, for example, is well above the state and national average.

A student who misses 10 percent of their school days, with or without an excuse  about 18 days in a 180-day school year  is considered chronically absent.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 6.8 million students across the country were chronically absent during the 2013-14 school year, or about 14 percent of the student population. During that time, Washingtons chronic absenteeism rate hovered around 16 percent. Since then, it has risen to 16.7 percent, or about 193,000 of 1.1 million students statewide.

In Longview in 2016, almost 24 percent of students were chronically absent, while in Kelso its about 15.5 percent of students, according to the state superintendents office.

According to the state Superintendents office, students who are chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are more likely to not read at grade level by third grade. Missing too many days of school has also been tied to increased likelihood of dropping out of school prior to high school graduation.

Herrera Beutler invited the superintendents to tell her about some of the challenges they face when it comes to getting kids to show up at school.

The congresswoman recently introduced a bill, titled the Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Act, which would allow schools to use federal money to create school-based mentoring programs, improve data collection about why students miss school and emphasize alternatives to school suspensions.

I think most of us would say that attendance is not the issue, its a symptom of an issue, said Battle Ground superintendent Mark Hottowe, a former Kelso school administrator. There are a variety of causes, he said, that prevent students from getting to school.

Those reasons include boredom and disengagement, health problems, financial problems and problems with childcare and transportation. Some children may have physical or mental health problems that prevent them from coming to school.

Other superintendents spoke of families with high school students who provide child care for their youngest siblings, while others are working to make money to help put food on the table.

Woodland School District superintendent Michael Green spoke about his concerns over potential Medicaid cuts and how it might affect many of his students access to health care services.

Families who are deeply in need  (are) facing the prospect of fewer and fewer resources to be able to support them, Green said.

Right now, under current law, are you having success getting mental health services for these Medicaid kiddos? Herrera Beutler asked the group of administrators.

Green said the biggest struggle for Woodland was that its student population comes from both Clark and Cowlitz counties, which both have different delivery systems for those on Medicaid. The federal health care program for low-income citizens also helps provide in-school health services for qualifying students. For, it will help pay for counselors and therapists, among other services

For the Kelso School District, Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich said, navigating the choices among Medicaid providers can be difficult for parents and administrators.

If you offer choice, sometimes the family, despite guidance, will select a provider that doesnt provide the services they most need, Gelbrich said.

Having these (health) services in our schools is critical, Hottowe from Battle Ground said. Kids and parents wont likely go somewhere to access mental health services if were not there.

The bottom line, Herrera Beutler said, is that school districts dont just educate children. They often are involved in all aspects of a childs life, which requires more services.

We look at these contributing factors to attendance: mental illness, dysfunctioning families, substance abuse, all the factors that lead to failure for kids in schools, Gelbrich said. Were trying to peel that onion back. Different than 10 years ago, 15 years ago, we do have social service providers, local medical practitioners that are far more willing to engage at the school site. Youre in the pattern of the family to catch these.
The city of Kalama will host an open house 5 to 6:30 Wednesday for the public to meet candidates for police chief.

The candidates are Cory Chase from Washougal, Rafael Herrera from Florida and Jeffery Young from Arizona. The city provided these brief biographies of the candidates:

Chase has been a captain in the Portland Police Bureau since 2012 and also served as patrol operations lieutenant and special operations lieutenant. He has also served with the Redmond and Prineville police departments in Oregon and has a bachelors degree in organizational leadership from Columbia Southern University in Alabama.

Herrera is a patrol division lieutenant in the Kissimmee Police Department in Florida. He has been with the department since 1998, starting as a patrol officer. He also has been the SWAT team operator, training coordinator, public information and media relations officer and criminal Investigations division lieutenant, among other positions he has held in that same agency. He has a bachelors degree in administration from Barry University in Florida.

Young is a sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department in Arizona. He has been with the agency since 1995 and has been a sergeant in the Army National Guard and he was a petty officer, 2nd class, in the United States Navy. He has a bachelors degree in human services from Wayland Baptist University in Arizona and a masters degree in public administration degree from Webster University in Arizona.

Light refreshments will be served. Comment cards will be on hand for citizens to express opinions.

The meeting will take place in the Kalama Community Building, 216 Elm St.

Kalama is looking to replace Chief Randy Gibson, who died in January after a long battle with cancer.
Phnom Penh: Pakistan today remained non-committal on whether it would act on information shared by India on LeT terrorist Abu Jundal, days after New Delhi pushed it to take swift action against the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks.

"We have said this repeatedly and I think that it should require no miscommunication or doubts on each other's intentions because both our countries follow very very similar system which means that we know what is required to try somebody and what is not

"...I have repeatedly maintained that and all Pakistan officials have maintained that we mean what we say," Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said.

She was replying to a question on whether Pakistan would take action based on information provided by India on Jundal, who handled those involved in the 26/11 carnage in Mumbai, during recent Foreign Secretary-level talks in Delhi.

During their meeting, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had shared with his counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani the information gathered from Jundal who revealed that he, along with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, was in the control room in Pakistan during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Mathai also shared the information on Pakistani passport and Pakistan's domestic identity cards issued to Jundal in the name of Riyasat Ali, indicating the involvement of Pakistan's state agencies in the 26/11 attacks.

Khar, who is here to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting, said: "Today the problems we faced, the menace of terrorism is a common problem and if anybody can convince me that there is any other country in the region which suffers from it more than Pakistan I would be happy to sit down and have a conversation."

Calling for greater cooperation in information sharing, Khar said it was important to share information with each other before sharing it with the media.

"I think it is also important that we are able to share information with each other before we share information with the media because that is also a trust building measure because it shows that we are serious about resolving the issue rather than making an issue out of the issue. I think that's the message," she said.

"So when we are the first one to suffer from that (terrorism) then it is in our interest or both the countries to look at it as regional players and to be able to deal with this menace at a regional level and bilaterally also. So we are committed to doing whatever we can to assist each other in dealing with the menace. I think that is the approach we need to follow in building of trust," Khar said.

PTI
PTI

Almost 70% of automobile sales - translating into transactions worth about USD 40 billion - in India would be "digitally influenced" by 2020 from the current USD 18 billion, a report today said. The report by Facebook and Bain & Company sought to examine the impact of digital technologies like social media and Internet of Things (IoT) on the automotive industry.

Social media is expected to become a major influence, driving sales of about USD 23 billion by 2020. Also, most people do a significant part of their research before purchasing a car online now, which makes it important that automakers make digital media an important part of their marketing strategy. Also, many post-purchase activities are now happening online.

By 2020, up to 40 percent of consumers are expected to book repair and maintenance services online, while about 30 percent will go online to purchase vehicle accessories, up from 14 percent and 8 percent respectively today. However, most Indian automakers are behind the curve in digital investments, spending just 10-11 percent of their total marketing budgets on digital media in 2016.

"Automotive OEMs should redefine their marketing and customer engagement efforts to reflect the current behavior and usage patterns of automobile buyers," Bain & Company Partner Yaquta Mandviwala said. Facebook India Managing Director Umang Bedi said companies will need to step up efforts to create deeper and personalized relationships with customers. They also need to invest in a strong analytics backbone, an area where Facebook can help with its tools.
hidden

Facebook is planning to intensify its crackdown on so-called clickbait websites, saying it will begin giving lower prominence to links that lead to pages full of deceptive or annoying advertisements. The downgrade of the links was expected to take effect beginning on Wednesday on News Feed, the home page of Facebook where people go to see posts from friends and family.

Facebook said it wanted to downplay links that people post to websites that have a disproportionate volume of ads relative to content, or that have deceptive or sexually suggestive ads along the lines of "5 Tips to be Amazing in Bed" or "1 Crazy Tip to Lose Weight Overnight!" Links to websites with pop-up ads or full-screen ads also would be downplayed, it said.

People scrolling through their News Feed are often disappointed when they click on such links and do not find valuable information, Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's vice president of ads and business platform, said in an interview. "People don't want to see this stuff," he said. "We're just trying to figure out how to find it and rank it further down News Feed when possible."

Facebook uses a computer algorithm to determine which posts people see first from friends and family, and it frequently refines the algorithm to keep up with spam or other concerns. The company said in August it was adjusting the algorithm to downplay news stories with clickbait-style headlines, a style of headline that intentionally withholds information or misleads people to get them to click on them.

In December, facing criticism that hoaxes and fake news stories spread too easily on Facebook in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8, the company made it easier for people to report those kinds of posts. Facebook, the world's largest social media network with 1.9 billion monthly users, has enormous power with its algorithms to potentially drive traffic to media publishers or stymie it.

The company said it reviewed hundreds of thousands of websites linked to from Facebook to identify those with little substance but lots of disruptive or shocking ads. Bosworth declined to name any websites Facebook wants to target. He said only publishers of spam needed to worry about seeing less traffic, and other publishers could see their traffic go up. "This is a small number of the worst of the worst," he said.

Reuters
IANS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed the courage of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the efforts of Indian scientists for carrying out a nuclear test on this day in 1998. "Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day," Modi said. "We remain grateful to our scientists and the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998.

"The world is well aware of the Pokhran tests. Under Atalji's leadership, successful tests were carried out and the entire world was witness to India's might. The scientists made the nation proud," he said. "If we had a weak PM, he or she would have got scared on the same day. But Atalji was different. He did not get scared," he said. Modi added: "People of Pokhran must be lauded for maintaining silence during the entire duration when the tests were planned and conducted. They placed the interest of the nation above everything else.

"Let us further integrate technology in our society. The transformative potential of technology is immense." On May 11, 1998, India carried out a nuclear test at Pokhran in Rajasthan. A second test followed two days later. India conducted its first nuclear test, also at Pokhran, on May 18, 1974.
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The world's top smartphone maker is expected to deliver record profits this year, on the back of a memory market boom and strong sales of its Galaxy S8 smartphones. The stock is up more than 26 percent in 2017.

Lee's arrest in February has had little financial impact so far, but it has raised doubts about how Samsung will tackle future decisions concerning acquisitions or investments in new businesses that would normally need his approval.

As long as the profits keep rolling in, analysts say Samsung Electronics and other affiliates will likely retain their senior leadership and make minor adjustments in Lee's absence.

Pre-orders for the flagship S8 phone have been better than its predecessor, the firm says, suggesting that consumers have stuck by the brand despite the collapse of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 phones last year.

But China remains a sore point. Samsung's share of the world's biggest smartphone market fell to 3.3 percent in the first quarter of 2017 from 8.6 percent a year earlier, according to researcher Counterpoint.

Samsung recently made the Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones available in India and has been on its toes to quickly react to issues faced by consumers. It recently launched a firmware update to resolve the red-tint issue by adding a color tone adjustment setting.

With inputs from Reuters
Aditya Madanapalle

WhatsApp has a deep rooted history in India. The messaging app started out in India at the turn of the mobile internet revolution in India and was among the first apps to truly offer a convenient alternative to SMS. Today, with over a billion users globally, and its largest audience being Indian, the service is as good as a staple of our digital existence.

The app has evolved so much since its inception 8 years ago that it bears little resemblance to the original.

Although WhatsApp is considered to have stolen the Stories feature from Snapchat, when it first showed up on the app store, WhatsApp was essentially an application for showing your status to all your friends. WhatsApp as we know it in its present form came about initially because of a basic feature addition to the iOS operating system.

Soon after push notifications went live on the platform, WhatsApp debuted an updated version on the App Store, in November 2009. Now that status has been expanded to images and moving pictures, but initially, it was just a text string.

There were a few pre-set status messages, and the idea was to inform your friends and family of what you were doing at the present time  sleeping, attending a meeting, watching a movie, busy, or available. The status function was meant to be updated regularly, as and when you switched activities. Although the functionality remains in the application, WhatsApp was never really used for what it was originally intended for. Apple approved the version with the chat functionality, WhatsApp 2.0 in September 2009. Three months later, in December 2009, WhatsApp 2.3 landed and it included the ability to send videos and images.

As soon as the developers added the functionality of instant messages, the popularity of WhatsApp started blowing up. Originally, the WhatsApp icon matched perfectly with the skeuomorphic designs of the calling and messages application on iOS. When it was first introduced to India, in mid 2010, WhatsApp was a paid service on iOS. The cost of verifying the account was more than the cost of providing the service, which was the reason for the one time one dollar fee.





WhatsApp became a cross platform application and was made available to users on iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry and even on Nokia feature phones. On iOS, users only had to pay a one time fee for using the service forever.

On other platforms, use of the service was free for a year, after which, users had to subscribe to WhatsApp for $1 a year. The payment model did not stop WhatsApp from growing in popularity in India. WhatsApp had plans to introduce the subscription model to iOS devices as well. The service has never been ad supported.

Other instant messaging applications were also seeing an increase in adoption, including WeChat, Line and Viber. There was stiff competition in Asia, one that still continues with superior features, and a thriving chatbot ecosystem. One of the main features lacking in WhatsApp, that was available with competitors, was that of sending voice messages. Nimbuzz, a cross platform messaging application from the s40 and s60 days that interfaced with a number of desktop chat clients, continued to be popular on smartphones as well.

In February 2011, WhatsApp introduced the group chat feature. Initially, only five other users were supported in the group chat. The iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile versions of the IM client got the feature, but not the s60 version, at launch. The ability to control the notifications from group chat was introduced at the same time.

WhatsApp and other instant messaging clients offered a cheaper alternative to SMS services. In price sensitive markets in emerging economies, the instant messaging clients found quick adoption. Over the course of 2012, the number of messages sent over instant messaging services, exceeded the volume of communication through SMS. 17.6 billion messages were sent through SMS, whereas 19 billion messages were sent through IM services.

According to data revealed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the volume of SMS over the July to September period in 2012 fell by 5.6 percent compared to the same period in the year 2011. This was still the early days of smartphones and mobile internet in India, both of which were poised for an explosion. The research firm Ovum projected a loss of $3.1 billion for Indian telecom operators by 2016 because of IM clients replacing the functionality offered by SMS.

Nokia entered into a partnership with WhatsApp for the launch of the Asha 210. As part of the agreement, WhatsApp would offer its services for free to users of the device. The Asha 210, on its part, shipped with a dedicated hardware button for WhatsApp. Previous phones had dedicated buttons for Facebook, but the Asha 210 was the first phone to sport a dedicated button for WhatsApp. Depending on the market, the same phone shipped with a Facebook button instead of a WhatsApp button.

Around this time, there were reports of Googles interest in buying out WhatsApp for $1 Billion. However, WhatsApp indicated that they were not in talks with the tech giant over the sale of the instant messaging service.

By July 2013, WhatsApp had crossed Twitter in the number of monthly active users, which had reached 250 million. This was the first time that WhatsApp had revealed the base user figure of the service. Facebook messenger and Skype were the only other communication applications with nearly as many users as WhatsApp.

In August 2013, WhatsApp started rolling out a feature that supported short voice messages known as push-to-talk. There were 300 million global users of the application at that time.

Tata DoCoMo was one of the first service provider in India to enter an agreement with WhatsApp for special data rates to its consumers for using the service. Users had to shell out Rs 1 a day to enjoy unlimited usage of the instant messaging service.

At that time, there were 30 million users of WhatsApp in India. A survey we conducted among our readers indicated that 60 percent of the respondents used WhatsApp at least once a week, with Facebook Messenger coming in second at 30 percent. Reliance also had a Rs 16 data plan, where WhatsApp usage would become free after payment of a monthly fee of Rs 16.

As late as November 2013, WhatsApp was denying that it was in talks for the sale of the company. The only potential buyers who could afford to buy WhatsApp were large tech giants heavily active in the social networking and communications space. Facebook and Google were considered the prime candidates.

December 2013 was the month WhatsApp reported that it had touched 400 million monthly users worldwide. WhatsApp CEO Jan Kuom wrote in a blog post that WhatsApp has just 50 employees, and most of us are engineers. Weve arrived at this point without spending a dollar on targeted ads or big marketing campaigns. Were here because of all the people who share their WhatsApp stories with co-workers, friends, and loved ones  stories we love to hear. WhatsApp would go on to add another 30 million users in under a month.

The numbers continued to surge, with WhatsApp posting figures of 430 million monthly users by January 2014. At that time, WhatsApp representatives said that they would not be introducing gimmicks to the IM client, including stickers and disappearing image messages. The ephemeral messages was a feature of Snapchat, an application that was surging in popularity at that time. WhatsApp would later go on to introduce its own interpretation of both features.

In February 2014, Facebook announced that it had reached a definitive agreement to takeover WhatsApp. WhatsApp was adding 1 million users every day at this point. The total value of the deal was a staggering $19 billion. $4 billion was to be paid in cash while $12 billion was to be paid in Facebook shares. An additional $3 billion was to be given to WhatsApp founders and employees in restricted stock over the course of four years.

The deal had wide ranging repercussions. Immediately after the announcement, Blackberry shares saw a surge. WhatsApp founder and CEO Jan Koum joined the Facebook board. After his stint at Yahoo, Koum had tried to bag a job at Facebook, but was rejected. Sequoia Capital was the biggest winner in the deal, which found a 50 times return on investment (ROI) it made in WhatsApp. The venture capital firm had previously invested in Instagram, before that too was purchased by Facebook.

The deal was a win-win situation for both companies, but Mark Zuckerbergs wife, Priscilla Chan had to sacrifice chocolate covered strawberries. The WhatsApp owners crashed Zuckerbergs Valentines day dinner to seal the deal.

Towards the end of February, soon after the deal was announced, Jan Koum told The Economic Times that India was a priority market for WhatsApp. India is important we want all smartphone users (in India) to be on WhatsApp. Then if that number is a billion, then its a billion. Currently, (its) over 40 million. So we still have some way to go before we hit a billion, he said. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the deal.

Privacy advocates in the United States wanted a halt in the deal till the time Facebook made it clear how the data from WhatsApp would be used. Facebook had said that WhatsApp would continue to act as a separate company and assured the users that the privacy policy will not be changed. Facebook would later go back on that promise, leading to multiple privacy related court cases around the world.

By April 2014, WhatsApp had reached half a billion users. 48 million of those users were from India alone. The usage base in India represented 10 percent of the total worldwide user base. One of the major fears after the acquisition was that Facebook would introduce advertisements to the service, something that has, fortunately, not yet happened.

Trai began to investigate how instant messaging clients were eating into the revenues of telecom service providers. Telecom operators began to demand for a level playing field with Over The Top (OTT) service providers such as WhatsApp. The contention of the service providers was that while there were binding regulations in place for the telecom operators, the same rules did not apply to applications that provided the same services. OTT communication services were also seen as a burden on the infrastructure of the telecom service providers.

In October 2014, Facebook closed the deal with WhatsApp, with a final price tag of $22 billion. The increase in the value of the deal from $19 billion was because of the surge in the value of Facebook stock in the preceding months.

WhatsApp began to be used for governance in India, with the Delhi Traffic Police launching a helpline on WhatsApp for reporting traffic violations. Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Muktesh Chander said, Delhi Traffic Police is happy to connect with Delhiites on WhatsApp. If you want to complain about any traffic violation, unauthorised parking, overcharging/refusal/misbehaviour by auto/taxi, faulty traffic signals, or any other issue related to traffic problem, you may send photograph or short video clip with details such as your name, place, date, time etc., on mobile number 8750871493 through WhatsApp.

The Delhi Police would later go on to introduce the facility for womens safety offered by the dedicated Himmat app, on WhatsApp as well.

By November 2014, WhatsApp had over 600 million monthly active users globally, out of which 70 million were from India alone. Indians were the largest market for the instant messaging service.

November 2014 was the year WhatsApp introduced its most ridiculed feature. Two blue ticks appeared next to messages to confirm that the recipient has read the message. In group chats, the messages would only appear when everyone in the group had read the message. The technical capability of the update was apparently seeded in the application stores before the launch, as the feature was activated through an over the air update and did not require users to download a newer version of the app.

Soon after the two blue ticks feature was introduced, a man from Saudi Arabia divorced his wife because she was reading the messages he sent her, but not replying to them. WhatsApp later introduced a method to disable the two blue ticks feature, first in Android and then on iOS.

Perhaps the more significant update towards the end of 2014, was the introduction of end to end encryption. The TextSecure protocol by Open Whisper Systems was used to provide the encryption. The rollout is believed to be the largest ever deployment of end to end encryption for communication purposes. The encryption was available for person to person text conversations only.

In January 2015, Facebook revealed that WhatsApp had reached 700 million monthly active users worldwide. Over thirty billion messages were shared on WhatsApp on any given day. A web client was introduced for WhatsApp, allowing desktop access to the instant messaging service. However, the feature was not available for iOS users.

The voice calling feature was introduced as a beta testing feature in India in February 2015, only available through an invite system. During the beta testing phase, the voice calling feature was only available to Android users, and to invite another person, a user simply had to initiate a call. The feature was rolled out to select Android users for a few hours. Viber, Hike, Skype and Line already offered voice calling at that time, but the wide user base of WhatsApp gave it an edge.

In mid March, 2015, the voice calling feature was released to all Android phones, but the invite system was still in place. Users had to call other users for them to receive the feature. A month later, in April 2015, the video calling feature was rolled out for all Android users, without an invite system.

The experience was not the same as that of regular voice calls, and included lag, echo and call drops. Towards the end of April, iOS and Blackberry 10 users also received an update with voice calling functionality. Investigations into the cost of making voice calls on WhatsApp revealed that consumers could actually end up paying more in data rates for voice calls, than what they paid with traditional calls.

In May 2015, the first reports started cropping up of Facebook allowing businesses to interact with their customers through WhatsApp. Similar functions were also being tested on Facebook messenger. There were no details on the financial arrangements involved, but it was believed that markers would pay a certain fee to Facebook to allow them to communicate with their consumers.

According to a report by Ericsson, nearly 47 percent of the time that Indians spent on smartphones was dedicated to communications applications such as WhatsApp, Hike and Skype. About 40 to 50 percent of the total data consumed were through these applications, while the data hungry activity of video streaming contributed to only 20 percent of the total data consumption.

iOS users gained the ability to access WhatsApp through the web in August 2016. This was nearly six months after the feature rolled out to Android users. In July, Android users gained the ability to send messages through WhatsApp, using the Ok Google voice activated interface.

By September 2015, WhatsApp had over 900 million monthly active users. 100 million users were added over the course of just five months. However, the rate at which new users were coming in had slowed down from the previous year, when almost one million new users were adopting the platform every single day. At that time, no numbers specific to India were released, but WhatsApp was the most popular instant messaging client in India.

WhatsApp introduced the ability to backup conversations, photos and videos to Google Drive in October 2015. Users who migrated to a new device could restore the state of WhatsApp on their old devices, by just restoring the backup from Google Drive in a few taps. Online backup was a heavily requested feature at that time.

WhatsApp started 2016 on a high note by scrapping the annual subscription fee. Anyone was now free to use the application forever, and for free. At that time, Facebook had indicated that there would be a component added to WhatsApp that would allow businesses to use the instant messaging client to interact with its customers, and that Facebook would charge a fee for allowing the businesses to do so.

In February 2016, WhatsApp hit a major milestone. There were 1 billion users of WhatsApp, worldwide. 42 billion messages were being exchanged daily in 53 languages. The number of daily photo shares was 1.6 billion, with 250 million daily video shares. Mark Zuckerberg himself reiterated the plans of introducing WhatsApp for businesses.

WhatsApp started introducing a number of new features oriented at making the IM client more attractive in the face of competition. WhatsApp bumped up the group size for conversations from 100 to 256. Users could share documents through WhatsApp as long as both users had an updated version of the client.

iOS users could use the pinch to zoom gesture to zoom in to videos. Content from third party data storage services such as Microsoft Onedrive, Google Drive and Dropbox could also be shared with other users. WhatsApp also introduced formatting options, allowing users to send messages with parts highlighted in bold or italics.

WhatsApp announced plans to pull the service for dying platforms in March 2016 by the end of the year. The application would no longer be supported or updated for Blackberry, Windows Phone 7.1, and the older Nokia operating systems. The blow fell particularly heavy in India, where the shipments of smartphones had not yet overtaken feature phone shipments, even in 2016.

In April 2016, WhatsApp extended the end to end encryption to the entire application. Photos, videos, and group conversations now could only be read by the intended recipients. WhatsApp had over one billion users at the time of the introduction of the new and improved version of end to end encryption. WhatsApp could not snoop on the messages, even if governments forced it to

The rollout was met with complaints from security establishments around the world. The FBI said that the end to end encryption feature should not provide a safe haven for terrorists and child pornography rings. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a response to a question raised at the Rajya Sabha that the encryption introduced difficulties to law enforcement agencies. Experts warned that the feature was a boon for terror groups in India.

In May 2016, WhatsApp introduced native desktop clients for Windows and macOS. Desktops could only access WhatsApp through a web interface before that. Those who had signed up for access to the experimental beta version of WhatsApp, where new features were tested before a wider rollout, saw a new option. Video calls where supported on WhatsApp. The subsequent beta version however, would remove the video calling option.

WhatsApp had become the most used messaging application in 109 countries around the world. Around the world, users were making 1,100 WhatsApp calls every second, which was 100 million WhatsApp calls every day. A report indicated that WhatsApp had been installed on 94 percent of the smartphones in India. A report by an app analytics firm, SensorTower, showed that nearly 62 percent of all applications downloaded on smartphones around the world, were owned by Facebook.

The blitz of new feature introductions continued in June and July 2016. WhatsApp allowed users to quote messages before responding to them, and added an in-app language toggle. Users could be invited to groups, users could doodle on pictures, but WhatsApp was continuing to work on a wide rollout of video calling. iOS got larger emoticons and the ability to zoom in on videos while natively recording from the app. The audio calling feature was improved with a voicemail functionality.

About two years after buying WhatsApp and promising users that the privacy policy will not be changed because of the deal, Facebook dropped the bomb. WhatsApp updated its privacy policy, saying that a portion of the user data would be shared with Facebook. WhatsApp tried to ease the blow by saying that the data would not be shared with third party advertisers. If anyone was surprised by the move, it was only because of how long it took Facebook to make it.

The data privacy regulator in the UK said that it would be keeping a close eye on how WhatsApp data was being shared with Facebook. European regulators also said that they would be monitoring the new privacy policy, and the way Facebook chose to implement it. Germany asked Facebook to delete the WhatsApp user data it had collected. The Delhi High court issued a notice to the center, highlighted flaws in the arrangements, and eventually allowed the policy while restricting the scope of the data sharing. However, the courts have continued deliberations on whether the sharing agreement violated the privacy of users.

In November 2016, after a year of working on the feature, and six months after introducing it in the Beta version, WhatsApp finally started rolling out the video calling feature for everyone in a phased manner. The reason why the introduction took so long was due to the massive userbase, which also included the varying devices and operating systems that WhatsApp had to work with. The video quality was bad even on Wi-Fi connections, and Allo or Skype offered superior alternatives. However, WhatsApp has been continuously improving the feature even after the roll out, and had a number of small, thoughtful features, such as the ability to change video orientation.

In September 2016, WhatsApp allowed users to mention others with an @ preceding their names in group conversations. GIF support was also added at the same time. Developers were working on two factor authentication, and chatbots. The video calling feature was still a work in progress.

iOS users gained the ability to queue up messages in offline mode, early this year. The sharing limit for photos and videos was bumped up to 30 from 10, considering the shifts in usage patterns. In February, WhatsApp rolled out two factor authentication for everyone, improving the security of the application. One of the biggest feature introductions, was that of status messages similar to the temporary stories on Snapchat.

In February this year, WhatsApp reached the 200 million active monthly users in India mark, with 1.2 billion users worldwide. The announcement coincided with the eighth anniversary of the service. It was revealed around this time that the WhatsApp for businesses pilot test would begin with India. The company had first indicated such plans soon after the 2014 acquisition by Facebook.

The WhatsApp case on data sharing with Facebook kick-started a much needed discussion in India on a dedicated set of regulations for data protection. India does not have any dedicated laws for data protection and privacy, and experts have long seen the need of a pro-active cyber-legal regime. Introduction of such laws could have a wide reaching impact in India, including on how the Government is able to implement the Aadhaar initiative.

WhatsApp has essentially replaced SMS between users in India. When Wi-Fi connectivity is available, it allows users to save on voice calls as well. Staying in touch with friends and relatives in foreign countries is now much cheaper. For a good portion of its existence, WhatsApp was available on ancient phones, as well as feature phones, which made communication democratic and cheap. Indians use WhatsApp to make 50 million video calls a day.

There are fancier instant messaging applications around, some with more compelling features. Allo, for example, integrates Googles AI assistant and allows people to play fun games, plan outings together and look up information as a group, even in local languages. Telegram is by far the favorite instant messaging application of the team here at tech2 and includes a number of fun chatbots, a thriving games ecosystem, a breathtaking stickers catalogue and a steady supply of fresh themes. Kik is used by the gaming community as it is linked to usernames and offers some degree of anonymity. For those who want to communicate in a secure way, Signal is the instant messaging client of choice, as even the text messages can be set to disappear after they have been read.

However, no matter which other instant messaging applications are used, WhatsApp is always present and as important as the SMS messages and calling application. An instant messaging application cannot be chosen on the merits of its features alone, an important part of the functionality is who else has installed the same application. In that sense, WhatsApp has seemed to move beyond its critical mass, continuously drawing in an increasing number of users.

And there you have it, a brief history of one of the largest, most ubiquitous messaging platforms around.
Trump fires FBI Chief Comey, setting off US political storm

Reuters, Washington :

U.S. President Donald Trump ignited a political firestorm on Tuesday by firing FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign's possible collusion with Russia to influence the election outcome. The Republican president said he fired Comey, the top U.S. law enforcement official, over his handling of an election-year email scandal involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The move stunned Washington and raised suspicions among Democrats and others that the White House was trying to blunt the FBI probe involving Russia.

Some Democrats compared Trump's move to the "Saturday Night Massacre" of 1973, in which President Richard Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

White House officials denied allegations that there was any political motive in the move by Trump, who took office on Jan. 20. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he spoke to Trump and told him he was "making a very big mistake" in firing Comey, adding the president did not "really answer" in response.

An independent investigation into Moscow's role in the election "is now the only way to go to restore the American people's faith," Schumer said. Though many Democrats have criticized Comey's handling of the Clinton email probe, they said they were troubled by the timing of Trump's firing of him.

Senator Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is overseeing its own investigation into Russian interference during the election, said in a statement he was also troubled by the timing of Comey's termination. "His dismissal, I believe, is a loss for the Bureau and the nation," Burr said.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a January report that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an effort to disrupt the 2016 election, with the aim of helping Trump. CNN reported on Tuesday night that federal prosecutors had issued grand jury subpoenas to former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, seeking business records, as part of the probe into Russian interference in the election.

Trump's firing of Comey came a day after former acting Attorney General Sally Yates told a Senate panel that she had informed the White House on Jan. 26 that Flynn was at risk of blackmail by Moscow because he had been untruthful about his discussions with the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak. Trump fired Flynn 18 days later. Russia has repeatedly denied any meddling in the election and the Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia. Trump, in a letter to Comey released by the White House, said: "It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission." The president told Comey in the letter that he accepted the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he could no longer provide effective leadership. Comey's term was to run through September 2023. He was appointed director by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2013.

Sessions advised Trump's campaign before being picked by the president to lead the Justice Department. Sessions had recused himself from involvement in the Russia investigation, after he misstated his own 2016 contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington. Comey's deputy, Andrew McCabe, became acting FBI director. The White House said the search for a new permanent director would begin immediately. Pushing back against critics of the move, White House officials said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a career prosecutor who took office on April 25, assessed the situation at the FBI and concluded that Comey had lost his confidence. Rosenstein sent his recommendation to Sessions, who concurred and they forwarded their recommendation to Trump, who accepted it on Tuesday, they said.

The White House released a memo in which 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." Rosenstein cited several former Justice Department officials' comments criticizing Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation, including his public statements. But one of those he cited, Donald Ayer, a former deputy attorney general under President H.W. Bush, questioned the purported reasons for the firing. Reached by Reuters, Ayer said in an email that the administration's explanation was "a sham." Comey was traveling in Los Angeles when the news broke that he had been fired. In an odd twist, a White House official said the letter firing him was delivered to the FBI by Keith Schiller, Trump's longtime armed personal bodyguard who is now director of Oval Office Operations at the White House. Trump, in the letter, said: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheles concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau."

Comey, 56, had been the target of criticism from many quarters for his handling of a probe involving Clinton's use of a private email server while she was U.S. secretary of state under Obama. As recently as Tuesday, the FBI clarified remarks that Comey made on the matter last week.

later lavished praise on him. Comey had said in July the Clinton email case should be closed without prosecution, but then declared - 11 days before the Nov. 8 election - that he had reopened the investigation because of a discovery of a new trove of Clinton-related emails.

Clinton and other Democrats say they believe Comey's decision help cost her the election.

The firing came as a shock to FBI staff, nearly all of whom had confidence in Comey despite the controversy surrounding his handling of the Clinton email situation, according to an FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said there was concern among agents that the firing was a political act related to the Russian investigation. Other current and former U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials questioned the White House explanation for Comey's firing. "Trump praised him for the work on the email investigation, so that's not it," said Austin Berglas, a former FBI supervisory agent on hacking cases. "I think he realized the extent of the Russia investigation under way and moved him out. To me, that's the only logical explanation right now." Trump's dismissal of Comey does not mean the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election will be disrupted or end - career FBI staffers can continue the probe even as the search for a new FBI director begins, legal experts said. Republican Representative Justin Amash wrote on Twitter that he and his staff were reviewing the possibility of drafting legislation to create an independent commission to look into the Russian campaign meddling. Legislation related to the appointment of a special prosecutor or independent counsel has lapsed. But Justice Department regulations provide for the appointment of a special counsel, which is selected by the attorney general, or acting attorney general in the case of recusal, the experts said.
Banani rape case: Safat, Sakif arrested

Police arrested the two main accused Safat Ahmed and Sadman Sakif, from Sylhet over Banani rape case.



Police Headquarters Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Soheli Ferdous confirmed the matter to risingbd.com. on Thursday night.



Following the direction of IGP AKM Shahidul Haque, a police team arrested the accused rapists around 9:00pm.



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.



Earlier, the two private university girls who were raped allegedly by the two youths in an upscale hotel in the capital's Banani area around one a half month ago gave their judicial statements before a court in Dhaka.



On May 6, one of the rape victims filed a case with Banani Police Station 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. -- risingbd.com




The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
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A former Jackson County jail employee has been charged with having sex with an inmate at the jail in early April.

On Wednesday, a Jackson County grand jury indicted Kentaro Misuda, 37, of Murphysboro, on a count of custodial sexual misconduct, according to a news release from the office of Jackson County State's Attorney Michael C. Carr. The incident allegedly happened on or about April 6 or 7, when the state's attorney claims Misuda engaged in sexual penetration with a person who was in custody.

On Wednesday, Illinois State Police arrested Misuda on a Jackson County arrest warrant. He posted bond, which was set at $30,000.

He is no longer employed by the Jackson County Jail, according to the state's attorney's news release.

If convicted of custodial sexual conduct, which is a Class 3 felony, a person faces a maximum sentence of two to five years in the penitentiary.

The case is being investigated by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and the Illinois State Police; Carr and Assistant State's Attorney Rebecca Blomer are handling the prosecution.

 The Southern
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  The Democratic-controlled Illinois Senate voted Wednesday to expand public financing for abortions and ensure legal access to the procedure across the state, although the measure likely awaits a veto by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Senators voted along party lines, 33-22, in favor of the plan, which would permit abortion coverage by state employee health insurance and Medicaid funds. It would also strike statutory language expressing the state's intent to criminalize the procedure if the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized it is ever overturned.

"It's not our place here in this chamber to decide when it's appropriate for a woman to decide whether or not she should get an abortion," said Democratic Sen. Heather Steans of Chicago, the bill's Senate sponsor.

The measure, which previously cleared the House, now heads to Rauner.

In responding to a questionnaire as a gubernatorial candidate in 2014, Rauner said he disliked existing law restricting taxpayer-funded abortion coverage and that he'd support a legislative effort to reverse the law.

But last month, Rauner explained he no longer supports expanding abortion coverage because it's too controversial, adding that Illinois needs to focus on other issues such as job creation. His spokeswoman, Eleni Demertzis, declined to comment further Wednesday.

The plan's proponents argue denying low-income women full access to abortion services limits their right to the same reproductive care options available to privately insured individuals.

But Republicans countered on the floor that asking taxpayers to fund the procedure goes too far, particularly amid the state's budget impasse.

"Abortion in itself is repulsive," said Republican Sen. Neil Anderson of Rock Island. "But to use taxpayer dollars is an absolute travesty."

Sen. Toi Hutchinson, an Olympia Fields Democrat, pointed to legislation she said supports the well-being of children and mothers along with a robust economy that her Republican colleagues have opposed, such as paid sick leave and subsidized child care.

"The single best thing we can do for our economy is to have over 52 percent of its members able to fully participate in the economic stream," she said.

Democrats also contended the bill's second prong, which would remove language in current law they say threatens to re-criminalize abortion if Roe v. Wade were overturned, is necessary because Trump has said he will appoint Supreme Court justices who oppose the federal ruling. But Republicans countered the two provisions should stand on their own  if at all  and questioned whether that language could have any effect without further legislative action.

The bill is HB40.
ALTO PASS  Signs warn motorists who regularly travel Illinois 127 south of Alto Pass, from Rhine Road north to Chestnut Street, that the road is closed to all traffic.

We had a pavement failure, a slide. It was aggravated by the heavy rains last week, said Keith Miley, operations engineer at IDOT.

An Illinois Department of Transportation crew began working Tuesday to repair the damaged pavement. Workers will remove 250 feet of pavement and replace it with continuously reinforced concrete pavement.

Miley said IDOT has been monitoring this location for a while and had detected some movement in the area, but it became more aggressive with last weeks heavy rain.

It got to a condition it wasnt safe for traffic, so we closed the road, Miley added.

He estimates that a few thousand vehicles travel that portion of Illinois 127 daily, which is pretty low traffic flow for local highways. Still, it will be inconvenient for drivers who do travel that route.

Weve got about three other locations that we are preparing plans to repair, but nothing as severe as this location, Miley said.

The repairs are expected to be completed and the road open by May 26, just in time for Memorial Day.

A few local roads remain closed because of flooding. For more information on roads in Illinois, including construction zones and road closures, visit idot.illinois.gov.
EDWARDSVILLE  In a special meeting, the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees on Wednesday authorized a plan to allow the Carbondale campus to borrow from the Edwardsville campus until which time the state of Illinois approves a full annual state appropriation to the SIU System.

The board tabled an agenda item that called for appointment of the chancellor of the SIU Carbondale campus. Board Chairman Randal Thomas said that because there were differences of opinion concerning recommendations about who would be the best candidate, the board members want to personally interview the candidates.

Thomas said the board intends to interview the three of the four finalists that were named for the position and participated in two-day interviews in recent weeks on campus. They are interim SIU Carbondale Chancellor Brad Colwell; George Hynd, president of Oakland University in Michigan; and Carl Pinkert, vice president for research and economic development at the University of Alabama. One of the finalists accepted another position recently and withdrew his name from consideration. Additionally, the board members intend to interview two other ranked candidates who did not make the final four cut, Thomas said. Those two individuals were not named Wednesday night.

SIU System President Randy Dunn said that before they are named, he needs to reach out to them to make sure they would still like to be considered for the position. Thomas said the board is looking for a visionary who will reshape what SIU Carbondale will become  the new Delyte Morris.

As to the borrowing authorization, the boards affirmative vote on the resolution allows Carbondale to borrow up to $35 million in unrestricted funds from the Edwardsville campus. Under the terms of the borrowing arrangement, the Carbondale campuss leadership is directed to develop a financial sustainability plan of necessary reductions to address the fiscal crisis facing the Carbondale campus, excluding the School of Medicine.

Dunn said the approved resolution attempted to address some of the concerns that have been expressed by constituency group leaders on the Edwardsville campus since Dunn announced the borrowing proposal in a System Connection letter this past month. For instance, it set a cap on the amount that can be borrowed from Edwardsville  $35 million  and reemphasizes a requirement that Carbondale come up with a plan to reduce costs by July.

The borrowing proposal was placed on the boards last regular meeting held April 6 in Carbondale, but because the agenda item was added late, it required the approval of all board members to bring it up. One board member voted against allowing the item to be discussed in April. That is what prompted Wednesdays special meeting.

The resolution further directs Carbondales interim chancellor to develop a plan of necessary reductions to be presented at the boards July meeting, scheduled to be held in Springfield, according to the boards written rationale for adoption of the resolution.

Further, it states that highest priority concerning improving SIU Carbondales financial picture will be placed on eliminating the Carbondale deficit as soon as practical. First claim for the replenishment of borrowed unrestricted funds by SIU Carbondale once a full budget is appropriated shall be to SIU Edwardsville.

If there is no state budget by the beginning of the 2018 fiscal year on July 1 or other actions taken to sufficiently sustain Carbondale operations, the resolution calls for SIU System President Dunn to make a recommendation that the board declare a short term fiscal emergency for the Carbondale campus, excluding the School of Medicine.

Without the loan agreement, the only option for continuing daily operations for the Carbondale campus would be the use of restricted funds, according to a written board summary of the resolution. The use of restricted funds would violate state statutes, bond covenants and other third-party restrictions, according to the boards rationale for adoption.

The Carbondale campus has depleted all of its available sources of unrestricted funds as the states budget impasse has dragged on for close to two years. As of February, the campus had an unrestricted cash deficit of $23.2 million. The School of Medicine had a positive balance of $59.2 million. Without a state budget, it is projected the Carbondale campus will exceed the available unrestricted funds of the School of Medicine in May 2017. The School of Medicine, primarily based in Springfield, sits under the umbrella of the Carbondale campus.
To the Editor:

The Southern Illinoisan recently recognized the 47th annual honors banquet of the Southern Illinois Society for Scholarship held in Carbondale. With considerable interest and enthusiasm, I have noted the continued success of the event since it was created.

In May, 1971, 96 seniors from 18 Southern Illinois high schools were recognized in the first annual awards banquet  the culmination of a series of meetings arriving at a program whereby area schools could select students who were academic and citizenship achievers.

I attest to the fact that The Southern Illinoisan has played a large part in development of the program from the onset. As principal of Carbondale Community High School-East, I met with Editor John Gardner to discuss the idea of a recognition program for high school students who were high achievers. Gardner assured me of The Southern Illinoisans full support. (See archived editorial in May 18, 1971, newspaper.)

With the capable assistance and guidance of Barnie P. Genisio, superintendent of Benton Consolidated High School, and Mrs. Lucille Craddock, also of Benton High School, chairman of the planning committee, and with the Southern Illinoisans support and Southern Illinois Universitys cooperation, the first awards banquet came to fruition.

Since that momentous beginning in 1971, there has been an ongoing positive acceptance of the Southern Illinois Society for Scholarship. Case in point: in 2017, 200 seniors representing 32 schools received awards! Recognizing the energy, perseverance and cooperative spirit of those who were involved in the beginning and with the continued support of high schools, the Southern Illinoisan and SIU, it is rewarding to know that the initial effort developed into a successful tradition that is nearing the half-century mark.

George J. Kuhn

Mount Vernon
Makedda Bowman of Orangeburg has wanted a home of her own since her 3-year-old son, Tra'Zohn Jenkins, was born.

Bowmans journey to home ownership was filled with struggles. In the midst of being denied initially for a home, the father of her son was murdered, leaving her to raise Tra'Zohn on her own.

I'm a single parent and I never gave up, Bowman said of the difficulties she faced.

Seventy volunteers, 40 of them women, spent Saturday, May 6, building a home for Bowman -- the latest Edisto Habitat for Humanity house in Orangeburg.

Bowman said receiving her first home through Edisto HFH represented a brighter moment in her life, enabling her to provide a home for her child despite being his only parent.

Construction of the new house began with a commemoration of Habitat for Humanitys National Women Build Week. The observance encourages more women volunteers to be part of the non-profit Christian organizations work to eliminate poverty housing.

HFH volunteers and builders throughout the nation wear blue to celebrate Women Build Week.

Bowmans house marks the 77th home that Edisto HFH has built in the Orangeburg County area since its founding in 1991. Edisto was one of the nearly 1,500 Habitat for Humanity affiliates selected to receive the $5,000 donation from Lowes that helped make the day possible.

Partnerships like Lowe's and other corporate sponsors' bring to our organization a sense of stability not just for our organization, but also for the families we serve, said Jamie Wood, executive director of Edisto Habitat for Humanity.

Our families benefit by working alongside employees from companies like Lowe's right here in Orangeburg. They learn skills from them (and) they get emotional support from them," Wood said. "It helps them to build a foundation of not just building a house, but building a home. Along with that, it gives them confidence that they're not alone in this process."

Kristin Torres, the assistant store manager of Lowe's Orangeburg, said, We want to be involved in our own community, our employees' communities and our customers' communities. We want to help people love where they live."

Being a mother, I can relate to being proud of having my own home, and being a part of the building process makes me emotionally connected even more to the homeowner, Torres added.

Bowman waited a year and completed well over the required 350 volunteer hours before receiving her Edisto HFH home. Her extra volunteer hours were used to help construct Edisto HFH homes for at least five other families.

Bowman encourages those who are pursuing home ownership to never give up and keep trying.

In addition to Lowes, donations from other community members, organizations, businesses, churches and volunteers helped make Bowmans $70,000 home a reality.

Chick-Fil-A provided lunch for the volunteers at Saturday's event and St. Matthews First Baptist Church helped with the houses vinyl siding.

Edisto HFH encourages Orangeburg County residents to visit its store at 260 John C. Calhoun Drive, where those like Bowman work hard to complete the volunteer hours necessary to become a Habitat homeowner.

In order to receive a Habitat for Humanity home, applicants are required to give 350 hours of volunteer time to the program, have a need for housing and be able to make monthly payments on a 25-year, zero-interest mortgage.

Wood notes that Edisto Habitat for Humanity is in need of additional volunteers and donations.

For more information on how to donate, volunteer, or participate, call Jamie Wood at 803-536-2300.
The Denmark Technical College Area Commission and the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education will share control over the college for the next year and a half under a bill lawmakers approved this week.

"It is a substantial step forward," Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, said. "There is a lot of positive energy surrounding the school right now and this adds to it. There are some issues that need to be addressed and those are being addressed.

We have a plan that works and now we move on to implementation."

The bill will now go to the governor's desk for his signature. Bamberg anticipates the governor will sign the bill and is hoping it will be law by week's end.

Brian Symmes, spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster, said the bill will be reviewed when it reaches the governor's desk.

"The State Board is happy that the legislature has agreed on this path forward," State Tech Board spokeswoman Kelly Steinhilper said. "We have been working closely with the local commission and the interim administration since late January to ensure the financial viability and sustainability of the college."

She said the state board will continue to work with commission Chairman Dewayne Innes and interim President Dr. Christopher Hall to make sure Denmark Tech is the quality higher education institution the people of Allendale, Bamberg and Barnwell counties need and deserve."

"We are excited about the future, Steinhilper said.

The bill requires the State Tech Board take over the duties of the Denmark Tech Area Commission from May 2017 to November 2018. The state board is to consult with the area commission.

At the end of the period, full control will revert back to Denmark Techs area commission.

The State Tech Board will be required to provide quarterly status reports to the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Denmark Tech, its operations, financial standing, recruitment and retention of students and actions taken to stabilize the college.

Bamberg and Rep. Lonnie Hosey, D-Barnwell, will also be kept abreast of the college's status.

Hosey said the passage of the bill is good news.

"The State Tech Board will take it from where it is now and take it where it should be to operate at a level to move the school along rather than have it closed," Hosey said. "I go along with that movement 100 percent."

An earlier version of the bill would have given Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College control over Denmark Tech, but that was changed to the current version. Hosey says he likes the version that passed the General Assembly better.

He said the State Tech Board has the manpower to handle Denmark Tech's needs.

Lawmakers have also asked the governor to replace Denmark Techs area commissioner members.

Bamberg, Barnwell and Allendale county lawmakers have submitted a list of replacements to the governor.

The recommendations remain under review and officials with the governor's office have said there is no set timeline for appointing the new commissioners.
An Orangeburg familys home was damaged by fire Wednesday, according to the American Red Cross.

The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety responded to the blaze at the Gramling Road home.

The Red Cross is helping two adults by providing financial assistance for food, clothing and other essentials. It is also providing comfort kits containing personal hygiene items.

To find out more about the Red Cross, visit redcross.org.
Grits, sugar, canned vegetables, boxes of cereal, cornbread and macaroni are some of the nonperishable items that letter carriers will collect this weekend during the nations largest one-day food drive.

Letter carriers from Orangeburg and surrounding areas will join other carriers in thousands of cities and towns nationwide to collect food this Saturday, May 13, as part of the National Association of Letter Carriers 25th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

Carriers will collect the nonperishable food donations left beside or in mailboxes and post offices and deliver them to local community food banks, pantries and shelters.

About 80 million pounds of food were collected nationwide in 2016, which brought the grand total of donations to more than 1.5 billion pounds of food collected since the drive began in 1992.

Orangeburg donations will be given to Cooperative Church Ministries of Orangeburg.

Longtime CCMO volunteer Gloria Woodruff, 90, was among those at the Orangeburg post office Tuesday morning to help kick off this years volunteer effort. Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, was also there.

Woodruff said the food donations are appreciated.

"I think they are doing a wonderful thing. I just remember what I came to CCMO for -- to serve. That's the most important thing to me," she said.

Woodruff added, "I'm helping to reach out to the people that have less than me. I can remember when I was in that position myself, but not as bad because I had somebody to pick me up. A lot of people don't have that."

CCMO, located at 889 Russell St., is open 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Local Stamp Out Hunger coordinator Kenny Vogt said the Orangeburg post office gets support from area branches, including Cope, Bamberg, North, Bowman, Denmark, Neeses, Norway, Rowesville, Santee, St. Matthews, Vance, Springfield and Branchville.

"This is the 25th year. It means a lot because there are a lot of less fortunate residents in the area. I think it's for a great cause. Community participation has been great," Vogt said.

Referring to the local carriers who help make the event a success, Cobb-Hunter said, "We appreciate all that you do."

Canned meats, including tuna, chicken and salmon; canned and boxed meals; and canned fruits and vegetables are among the most desirable food items to donate.

Items that will not be accepted are rusty, outdated and unlabeled cans; glass containers; homemade items; and opened or used products.

Vogt said, "We get mainly canned goods, a lot of anything from cereal to cake mix, noodles, pasta and juice. People can leave the food at the mailbox. Some of them let us know that they're going to leave it at the door."

Postal customers are receiving notification cards, along with plastic bags that can be used for donated items. A bin will be placed in the lobby of the Orangeburg post office for food items, Vogt said.

Individuals and groups who wish to donate their time to help deliver and unload food at CCMO can call 803-531-4913. For more information about the drive, visit www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive or www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger.
It is often said on campus that S.C. State operates in silos, and that is often the case externally.

These are the words of South Carolina State University President James Clark in a recent letter defending the selection of Gov. Henry McMaster as commencement speaker. Clark further justified his reasoning in the letter by stating that McMaster displayed loyalty to the university by his willingness to take a tour of the campus.

South Carolina State has maintained a legacy of excellence in our community since 1896. However, President Clarks statement failed to acknowledge the long history of activism and dedication toward social justice that has defined this illustrious institution.

For many South Carolina State students and their families, walking across the stage and receiving a diploma is a dream fulfilled. Unfortunately, the president and many members of the board of trustees choose to place a dark cloud over this special graduation day simply because of politics.

Asking graduating seniors to oppose the commencement speaker is simply unfair. But for the rest of the South Carolina State community, we have an obligation to call out this decision for what it is  an obvious political ploy.

Did Clark ask McMaster why he does not support a bond bill what would give South Carolina State  the university he will have the honor to address  millions of dollars in necessary infrastructure improvements?

Did President Clark ask McMaster why there was not a statement condemning President Donald Trumps lack of support for historically black colleges and universities? Or why funding for our countrys storied institutions would be considered unconstitutional?

Lastly, did Clark ask McMaster why he has not renounced his membership to an all-white country club? This is the height of tragic irony, as the state prepares to memorialize the 50th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre where innocent students were mowed down by Highway Patrol officers for protesting a segregated bowling alley.

I understand if some would perceive my commentary as sour grapes. However, I have a unique connection with the history of South Carolina State, so I ask that you take time to consider the legacy of South Carolina State and the impact the university has had on South Carolina.

And I ask that you do not sell the dignity of the office of the president, student body and 121 years of steadfast activism for a simple photo-op. Those that came before us, and those that shall come after, deserve more than that.
Amid the focus on lawmakers overriding Gov. Henry McMasters veto of legislation to fix South Carolina roads and bridges, another important bill had a key test on Wednesday.

It passed  kind of.

Legislation aimed at strengthening the S.C. Freedom of Information Act has broad support in the General Assembly, but the reforms still could fail to get approval for the seventh year.

The legislation passed the House 93-0 previously and on Wednesday was approved by the state Senate  but not before senators agreed to a key change designed to eliminate opposition from a lawmaker whose use of the upper chambers rules threatened again to leave the legislation languishing.

A provision of the House-passed bill addresses a problem with citizens effective use of the FOIA.

At present, if an individual (or media organization) has a problem getting a request for public information filled, the person must file a lawsuit, hire an attorney and take the matter before a circuit judge. Depending on the severity of the situation, individuals and media likely and understandably will not want to spend the money and have so long a time go by as a request runs through the legal process.

The legislation would create an Office of Freedom of Information Act Review with the Administrative Law Court to hear direct challenges from citizens or media pertaining to alleged FOIA violations. Public officials, bodies and agencies could also use the review process to seek relief from unduly burdensome, overly broad and otherwise improper requests to public bodies.

But Sen. Margie Bright Matthews of Colleton County for the second year is objecting to establishment of the Office of Freedom of Information Act Review. She contends people in her district cannot afford to come to Columbia to argue an FOIA matter.

Her position ignores the reality of the present recourse being hiring an attorney and taking the matter to circuit court, where the case may not even be resolved until long after the FOIA matter in question is moot.

Sen. Matthews on Wednesday was offered a compromise that would allow FOIA cases to be heard in either the Administrative Law Court or before a circuit judge. She would not agree, so the Senate moved ahead with the bill with no Office of Freedom of Information Act Review. Cases would still have to go to circuit court, with the provision that the court must hold a hearing within 10 days of a request.

Meanwhile, other needed changes remain in the legislation:

 Criminal penalties for FOIA violations, which have never been imposed, would be removed. The legislation makes violations subject to awards for damages and attorney fees.

 The waiting period for response to a request for access to public records would be reduced from 15 days to 10. If the records at issue are older than two years, an agency would have 20 days to respond to an FOIA request. At present, no time limits exist for when documents must be provided.

 Documents considered by a public body in public session would be available to the public.

 Agencies would be required to post fees for searching and copying documents. The reasonable cost specified in FOIA has come to mean anything from an agency billing a person thousands of dollars for research to amounts far above market rates for making copies of documents.

The bill requires agencies fees not to exceed the prorated hourly salary of the lowest-paid agency employee. Copying fees would have to be at the commercial rate and cannot be charged if documents are transmitted by electronic means.

The hope now is that a House-Senate conference committee will see fit to resurrect the Office of Freedom of Information Act Review. Then both houses would have to agree on the final version of the legislation.

South Carolinas Freedom of Information Act is meant to ensure that you can watch over local government and public officials. The House-passed changes are sensible and are badly needed to put teeth back into an FOIA that when approved 40 years ago was a model for other states.

Hopefully the Legislature will not miss another chance to make government more accessible and open to the people it serves by approving the FOIA reforms, including the provision to ensure South Carolinians can use the law without bringing a lawsuit.
The clock is ticking, but lawmakers say a bill designed to consolidate Orangeburg Countys three school districts into one could pass before they leave Columbia for the year.

I think its in the best interest for the county and all three districts that we address this issue and allow the dust to settle, said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg.

She added that it is important to get ahead of what is inevitable statewide.

Cobb-Hunter believes the bill could pass before lawmakers leave for the year, saying the House delegation is working on amendments to it.

If passed, the countys three school districts would be abolished effective July 1, 2019 to form one single district known as the Orangeburg County School District.

The bill has already passed the Senate. Once it went to the House, it was sent to the Orangeburg County delegation for discussion. It has now been moved back to the House calendar for consideration.

With the General Assembly adjourning Thursday, May 11, there is little time for the legislation to pass during this first year of the two-year legislative session.

Cobb-Hunter said members of the House will be meeting Thursday to make amendments to the bill and to give it second reading.

On May 23, when legislators return to discuss the budget, they should be able to give the bill a third reading, passing it, she said.

The existing bill would divide the county into nine single-member election districts for school board members.

Cobb-Hunter said lawmakers are considering a change to have the county board members elected from the seven county council districts, with two at-large members in the remaining seats.

The original bill also stated that no elementary or middle school may be closed until two public hearings are held at least two weeks apart within the affected attendance area.

Under the bill, a high school may not be closed without holding the same public hearings. In addition, the affected attendance area also has to approve the closure in a referendum.

We added language that said that any school closings could not be done without three hearings, Cobb-Hunter said.

Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, said he has not agreed to any amendments at this point.

We have not agreed on any map, Govan said. I agreed to allow the bill to be put on the calendar.

He added that the representatives simply have a frame of reference they can work from.

I have not capitulated on any map or political plan in terms of districts and the shape or composition of districts, Govan said.

Although adding the bill to the House calendar gives it a possibility of passing, Govan said it is still has a ways to go.

At this point, I think the best thing that can be said is that well take it a step at a time, he said.

He added that lawmakers will keep all possibilities open and he wants to still take in the concerns of constituents.

Well plan on having additional discussions, Govan said. Its a group effort.

Anything is possible, he said.

Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, said talks have been constructive and we are making progress.

We are continuing to work on different ideas among each other, he added.

He praised the members of the local delegation for their willingness to work together and listen to one another.

Ott believes if they can get to a point where everyone is comfortable, they can make the needed amendments and give the bill third reading when they return to discuss the budget.
I never asked "E" if what she wore was a Goth or Cosplay outfit as I was photographing her in Washington Square Park. I am more in...
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By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

Russias Turstat analytical agency has determined the most popular holiday resorts in the CIS countries among Russian tourists for the summer of 2017.

Thus, the most popular resort destinations in the CIS countries include Borovoye (Kazakhstan), Issyk-Kul (Kyrgyzstan), Narach (Belarus) and Lankaran (Azerbaijan).

The rating is based on the analysis of the online booking systems of hotels.

Turstat noted that Russian tourists book their rest in Lankaran for some 7 days, as well as for 10 days at the Issyk-Kul lake, 8 days at the lake Narach, and 12 days in Borovoye.

Travel budget for vacation in Lankaran will make an average of $70 a day. The resort is mostly visited by Russian tourists from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Moscow Oblast.

Lankaran is known as a sub-tropical area, with extremely picturesque scenery, and rich flora and fauna. Clean air and beautiful nature combined with an abundance of attractions and the hospitality of the local people are that overwhelming factor which annually attracts tourists from all over the world.

The majestic Talish Mountains covered with thick forests, the main part of which constitute native species, including demiragaj (iron tree), is one of the most visited places here.

Lankaran is also one of the brightest and most beautiful cities in the country. Exquisite architecture, a wonderful climate and beautiful natural landscapes are the hallmarks of this city.

Lankaran includes three tourist zones such as the coastal (Caspian Sea), the Haftoni and Narimanabad zones.
By Azernews





By Sara Israfilbayova

The members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lean toward extending the deal on freezing the oil production level, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi told.

Earlier, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said after the meeting with al-Luaibi that two Arab countries support the idea of extending the agreement until the end of 2017. The current version of the treaty, designed to stabilize oil prices, expires in the summer.

"There is an orientation to the extension, as this would lead to stabilization of prices, which would have a positive impact on the Iraqi budget," Luaibi said.

The minister confirmed that OPEC would discuss the extension issue on May 25 at a regular meeting in Vienna.

In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1.

Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day, including Russia by 300,000 barrels per day, starting from January 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months.
By Trend





Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to President-elect of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in.

I cordially congratulate you on the occasion of your confident victory in the presidential election in the Republic of Korea, said Ilham Aliyev in his letter.

I attach particular importance to the overall development of bilateral and multilateral relations with the Republic of Korea, President Aliyev noted.

It is with great pleasure that I would like to emphasize that relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Korea have become multifaceted and dynamic in nature over the last years. Successful development of bilateral fruitful cooperation between our friendly countries, in particular in political, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields, characterizes the 25 year-period of our diplomatic ties.

I believe that through joint efforts we will continue to strengthen and expand the existing friendly relations and cooperation between our countries in the best interests of our peoples, Ilham Aliyev said.

Please accept my best wishes for your robust health and happiness and for the lasting peace and prosperity of the friendly people of Korea, President Aliyev added.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

The 13th International Defense Industry Fair IDEF-2017 has opened in Turkeys Istanbul. Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense Industry also attends the exhibition, the ministry reported on May 10.

Azerbaijans Defense Industry Minister Yavar Jamalov attended the opening of the exhibition.

The ministry participated in IDEF for the first time in 2009, presenting 29 items of defense-related products. Currently, the ministry showcases 260 samples of its products at the IDEF 2017.

A number of samples of new products of local production, presented for the first time at the Istanbul exhibition, which brings together about 300 companies from 50 countries, attached huge interest.

As part of the exhibition, Jamalov met with Turkeys National Defense Minister Fikri Isik and several heads of military-industrial companies.

Jamalov also met with the leadership of Defense Ministry and Defense Industry Ministry of Mongolia. During the meeting, discussions were held on the establishment of cooperation in the sphere of defense industry between the two countries.

Azerbaijans Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov and representatives of other law enforcement agencies also visited the stand of Azerbaijans Defense Industry Ministry at the IDEF 2017.

During the exhibition, which will last until May 12, Jamalov is expected to meet with heads of delegations participating in the exhibition. The delegations will be informed about the third Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition (ADEX 2018), which will be held in Azerbaijan next year.

Azerbaijan leaves behind many CIS and regional countries to take its place among the first 60 strongest armies of the world, according to the U.S.-based Global Firepower survey center.

The country, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's groundless territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament. Azerbaijan creates its own armament and works closely with leading companies and firms in various fields of military industry.

The country's Defense Industry Ministry has increased the volume of defense industry products in 2016 by 1.6 times compared to 2015, while the product assortment rose by 1.8 times. Currently, twenty-eight military factories are operating within the Defense Industry Ministry.
By Trend





The influence of the Turkish Stream project, which envisages Russian gas supplies to Turkey and further to Europe bypassing Ukraine, on the European gas market will depend on how many strings of this pipeline will be built up in the end, Marco Giuli, an energy issues analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Center, believes.

Russian energy giant Gazprom started construction of the Black Sea section of the Turkish Stream pipeline past Sunday.

A one string pipeline for 15.75 billion cubic meters would simply serve the Turkish market, replacing the current transit through the Trans-Balkan pipeline. A second string might provide gas to Europe  notably the Balkans... However, some onshore adaptation would be needed on European territory, Giuli told Trend by email.

Answering the question on possible negative effect of the Turkish Stream on the Southern Gas Corridor project, which will bring Azerbaijani gas to Europe, the analyst noted that the Southern Gas Corridor is now in advanced stage, and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) which is a part of the project has obtained an exception from the rules of the EUs Third Energy Package for 25 years.

The Third Energy Package, in particular, says that one gas provider should use no more than 50 percent of the pipeline capacity, and the remaining capacity should be put up for auction. The EU refused to grant exception from the rules of Third Energy Package to the pipelines bringing Russian gas to Europe.

However Giuli noted that increased Russian export capacity would put Russia in a strong position to compete with other sources, and to deter further developments of the Southern Gas Corridor. In addition the expert noted that it cannot be excluded that one day some Russian gas from the Turkish Stream might transit further to Europe through the TAP pipeline.

Speaking on the influence of the Turkish stream on Ukraine, Giuli noted that this project, together with Nord Stream 2, is planned to reduce or eliminate the Russian dependence on Ukraines transit route.

Ukraine would lose transit revenues and geopolitical centrality, he said.

Meanwhile the expert noted that to counter the competition of alternative routes, Ukraine's Naftogaz is planning to reduce its transit fees after the expiration of the current contracts in 2019.

In October 2016, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of two offshore strings of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

The annual capacity of each string is estimated to have a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The first string will supply gas directly to Turkey, while the second is to be used to deliver gas to European countries through Turkey. Initially the countries planned to build four strings of the pipeline.
Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch recently held a grand ceremony in celebration of its opening and designation as the RMB clearing bank in the UAE.



The Dubai Branch is ABCs first RMB clearing bank designated by the Peoples Bank of China and its second branch in the Middle East after the DIFC Branch. The significant role of the new branch is to improve ABCs global clearing network, contribute to internationalization of RMB, and support the Belt and Road initiative.



The UAE is one of Chinas most important trading partners and also a pivotal country along the Belt and Road routes. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, China-UAE economic and trade ties have grown tremendously closer.



China is now UAEs second largest trading partner and UAE is Chinas biggest export market in the Middle East. The ever closer cooperation in economy, trade and investment between the two countries provides the financial sector with solid ground for growth, and brings rising demands for banking services.



ABC Dubai Branch will provide diversified banking services including but not limited to RMB clearing, international settlement, trade finance, syndicated loans and foreign exchange transactions. The branch will utilize ABC Groups advantages in customer resources, liquidity and network coverage, to provide premium and efficient financial services for Going Global Chinese corporations, foreign companies in close trade ties with China, as well as UAE enterprises and financial institutions.



At the opening ceremony, Zhao Huan, president of ABC, addressed in his speech that ABC Dubai Branch, operating on a strictly compliant basis, would actively participate in the development of an offshore RMB market in UAE, and promote the use of RMB in China-UAE trade, investment, payment, settlement and market transactions, to support the fast-developing bilateral financial cooperation.



In response to the recent internationalization trends of RMB, corporate clients and financial assets, ABC continues to improve its overseas network coverage and implement its international strategy in a stable manner.



By the end of 2016, ABC has set up 18 overseas institutions and one joint-venture bank in 15 countries and regions, and developed correspondent banking relationships with over 1600 banks in around 140 countries and regions. So far, ABCs global financial service network has covered major financial centers as well as countries and regions in close economic and trade ties with China. The Banks international operation steadily grows.  TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Land Department (DLD) has announced that it will be developing an action plan through its rental affairs sector to regulate lease registrations in Dubais freehold and free zone areas.



The step is being taken to facilitate services in all of these areas for customers from all categories, said a statement from DLD.



The Rental Affairs Sector is cooperating with a number of developers to coordinate the successful implementation of the new plan, which promises to provide ease of service to customers.

According to DLD, the regulated action plan has the support of Dubai Investments Park (DIP) - a unique integrated commercial, industrial and residential community in the Middle East and wholly-owned subsidiary of Dubai Investments.

The officials from both DLD and DIP met to discuss the regulation of lease registrations and associated services, the responsibilities of the different parties, and methods for improving customer services.



Hamdan Al Madhani, director of the Rental Relations Regulatory Department at DLD, said: We are pleased to partner with DIP and exchange best practices that will help us to achieve strategic objectives and shared goals, while ensuring that we adhere to the regulations in place at our respective departments."

"We at DLD are keen to support the success of real estate projects in the UAE, and to provide our customers with easy, convenient services that enhance their happiness and satisfaction, he stated.



In line with these objectives, the DIP has agreed to fulfil the departments requirements in phases, including updating relevant data for all properties that are under DIP jurisdiction and registered in its Ejari system.



Ammar Al Duwaikh, deputy general manager of the commercial department at DIP, said the land department had been a strong partner in its success since inception.

"DIP appreciates the guidance of the DLD and its various sub-divisions in all of the endeavours which have been pivotal in its growth journey over the past 17 years," he added.



DIP and DLD also agreed to establish a registration mechanism for DIP properties through the relevant department. DIP is mandated with training candidates and granting them permission to use the rental system. This department will organise and follow up on notifications to investors within DIP to register land rights and use and modify conditions under the supervision of DIP.



The procedures for registering property leases under DIP management and all associated services were taken into account, including procedures for fee collection and methods for reducing time and effort, boosting customer satisfaction and achieving the governments directives. DIP regularly coordinates with DLD for relevant approvals to ensure compliance with regulations including real estate registrations, Real Estate Regulatory Agency regulations, tender registrations, Ejari and more.



In a related development, DIP presented certificates of appreciation to DLD officials in recognition of the departments support in various DIP initiatives over the years. Ammar Al Duwaikh awarded the certificates to DLD officials.



DIP has adopted stringent measures to ensure that all residential, commercial and industrial units and buildings within its zones operate in accordance with DLD guidelines, and that all land registration procedures and processes for DIP and its tenants are aligned with the departments framework.  TradeArabia News Service
Over the last few years, notably in the hotel, retail and residential sectors, Africas rapidly growing property markets have been attracting increased interest from international investors, developers and occupiers.



In spite of developments occurring at a breakneck speed, the key areas seen continually strapped to the back-bench are financial planning, project execution and most importantly, the implementation of sustainable measures.



The 10th Edition Hotelier Summit, which recently concluded, was designed to address this challenge. The summit brought together investors from all over the world to engage with leading industry members in the Sub-Sahara African real estate fraternity.



Delegates such as Sijibomi Ogundele, CEO of Sujimoto Constructions and Lee Karuri, CEO of Resorts & Cities Kenya, addressed the gathering of global suppliers and investors, outlining their long list of requirements both from an investment perspective and the supply chain perspective.



I found it very humbling and felt extremely privileged to have been invited to speak on the same platform with South Africas Tourism Minister, Tokozile Xasa, among other respected stakeholders. I met remarkable influencers such as Johannesburgs director, Economic Development Facilitation, Blanche Majosi; CEO Orion Group, Franz Gmeiner; president Continental Strategy Partners, Micah Wells; Nestle country head, Consumer Goods Johannesburg, Madoda Theo Mxakwe; CEO, Grohe, Michael Rauterkus; amongst an expected 1,500 like-minds from 54 Countries across more than three continents, to discuss Africa's explosive property markets and how to continue to attract interest from investors and developers, home and abroad through innovative luxury real estate, said Ogundele.



IDE is committed to transforming the real estate sector across the continent and make Africa the next frontier when it comes to exceptional hospitality and excellent development.



In the bid to make our vision a reality, the next phase of our mission will be to reach out to the North African members through the 13th edition Hotelier Summit-Africa in Casablanca Morocco on October 6 and 7.



The year 2017 will be rounded by gathering affiliates from across the continent back to Johannesburg in November to engage in project feasibilities during the IDE Expo Africa. The IDE Expo will cater to five different sectors of the real estate industry - residential, commercial, healthcare, education and hospitality and the scope of the discussions will cover the entire lifecycle of the project from conceptualization to operations.



Ravi Kumar Chandran, director of IDE and mastermind of the 10th Edition Hotelier Summit Africa, explained his vision and drive for Africa: This year we hosted the inaugural Honorarium Grand to recognize and award the developers who have demonstrated their unwavering commitment towards the growth of the African real estate sector. It is IDEs pleasure to have got the chance of honouring these personalities as they are able to see through the roughness of the market and take the risk of investing in Africa. Our endeavour is the continue this thought process of development among the real estate fraternity members including developers, contractors, designers, architects, consultants, suppliers and to the policy makers in a given region. By doing so our vision of regrouping the investor community in 2017 for Africa has set the agenda for 2018, said Ravi Kumar.



Kgosi Nyalala Pilane, the chief of Pilanesberg, fittingly concluded the first day of the summit when he said that for an economy to develop, what is needed is people, land and resources. Africa is blessed with at least two of the three factors - people and land. With 66.6 per cent of the ingredients available, all we need is a platform like the Hotelier Summit Africa to make the plans and kick-start the development growth curve. - TradeArabia News Service
The growth of a stable real estate market and creation of a sustainable small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector are fundamental to the success of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030, said government leaders and financial executives.



They were attending the second and final day of the 12th Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference in Riyadh yesterday (May 3), held in partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Finance.



Majed bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, Minister of Housing, delivered Day 2s opening keynote address and outlined the countrys ambitious plans to facilitate the sufficient supply and demand necessary to ensure a sustainably robust real estate market.



At the beginning of 2017, Saudi Arabia launched a housing programme designed to hand over up to 120,000 units to citizens over the year, to complement the goals of Vision 2030. The Sakani programme is part of efforts to support the housing needs of around 280,000 families by the Ministry of Housing.



Senior executives from Saudi Arabias real estate sector took part in a panel discussion, including Abdulrahman Bajunaid, chief executive officer of Rafal Real Estate Development Company; Imad Damrah, managing director KSA of Colliers International; and Faisal Shaker, acting chief investment officer of Jabal Omar Development Company.



As well as real estate, the Kingdoms Vision 2030 outlines a key role for small businesses and new start-ups. One of the stated goals of the programme is to increase the SME contribution to GDP from 20 percent to 35 percent.



Dr Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman, Governor, General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, spoke about the need for the kingdoms smaller businesses to be given the necessary support to succeed in increasingly competitive domestic and international markets.



Also onstage to discuss the SME topic were Hanouf Alajmi, entrepreneur selection and growth manager at Endeavor Saudi; Nawaf Attaf Al Sahhaf, chief executive officer of Badir Program for Technology Incubators; Layth Al-Shaiban, country general manager  Saudi Arabia at Qatar National Bank; and Craig Smith, chief executive officer, Dharan Techno Valley Company.



The conference closed with a panel discussion on the countrys equity capital markets, with topics covering Saudi Aramcos much-anticipated IPO and other privatisations.



Panellists included Bader Al-Ghanim, executive vice president and head of Mena asset management at Global Investment House; Faris Al Ghannam, head of investment banking advisory with HSBC Saudi Arabia; Sultan Al Nugali, head of asset management at Al Bilad Capital; Irfan Ellam, head of equity research with NCB Capital; Aasim Qureshi, managing director at QNB Capital; and Abdullah Shahadah, head of asset management, GIB Capital.



More than 1,800 delegates registered to attend the conference, which saw presentations and interviews with senior ministers from the kingdom, including Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance; Dr Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey, Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority and CEOs and executives from some of the worlds largest banks.



Mohamed Kharboush, conference director, Euromoney Conferences, said: This years Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference has provided in-depth insight into the momentum that is building to support the goals of Vision 2030, as well as the challenges that lie ahead. There have been remarkable contributions from thought leaders and senior executives from within Saudi Arabia and from across the global banking industry. We look forward to returning to the Kingdom for the 13th edition in 2018.



The largest financial conference of its kind in the kingdom, the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference continues to drive economic debate and essential insight for financiers from Saudi Arabia and around the world. - TradeArabia News Service
M&C Saatchi PR has officially announced the opening of its UAE office, the latest expansion in the agencys international growth.



The dedicated PR team will bolster M&C Saatchis existing business in the UAE, offering clients across the region a range of fully integrated creative communications.



Molly Aldridge, global CEO, said: M&C Saatchi PR is an agency driven by passion, created in a modern time for the modern age. Our happy and connected teams across the globe are already delivering impactful work for some of the worlds biggest brands, with the UAE now representing the next chapter in our ambitious global growth story.



Scott Feasey, CEO M&C Saatchi UAE, added: While we have already delivered integrated campaigns for some of our biggest clients in the region, the launch of a dedicated PR agency demonstrates the groups commitment to offering existing and new clients in the region an exceptional one-stop shop for creative communications.



Appointed to lead the charge across the offices in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi is Amy Brill. In her role as head of PR, UAE, Brill will be responsible for driving new business growth and ensuring the delivery of quality, creative work that has a real impact on brands.



Brill brings a wealth of big brand and multi-market experience for clients such as Hilton, Diageo, Kimberly Clark, Kelloggs and Kenyas Ministry of Tourism. She will report to M&C Saatchi PRs global CEO Molly Aldridge, who commented on her appointment: Were super excited that Amy has joined us to lead the charge across the UAE- she shares the same fearlessness and passion we have to deliver great work for clients across a key growing and evolving region.



Set to take the industry up a gear, the agency has also announced details of its flagship client, Abu Dhabi Motors, the most successful BMW Group importer in the Middle East. M&C Saatchi PR will be responsible for handling publicity and content creation for the dealerships Rolls-Royce brand. -TradeArabia News Service




Agthia Group, a top food and beverage group in the UAE, has reported net profit of Dh52 million ($14.1 million) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2017, while net revenue grew 7 per cent from Q1 2016 to reach Dh521 million ($142 million).



The higher revenue was led by the Groups flagship Water business and, in particular, the performance of recently acquired Delta Water in Saudi Arabia, which was incorporated within Agthias results for the first time.



Lower animal feed sales, utility tariff increases and a challenging macroeconomic climate moderated profitability despite a rigorous programme of internal cost optimisation.



Dhafer Ayed Al Ahbabi, chairman of Agthia, said: Agthia continues to demonstrate that its 2020 strategy is effective in a challenging operating environment. While we anticipate headwinds to prevail throughout the year, the strength of brands within Agthias portfolio of consumer goods will continue to drive growth. On a personal note, I am honoured to be re-elected as Chairman and I look forward to continuing stewardship of this dynamic business as the journey to become the regions leading food and beverage companies continues.



Tariq Al Wahedi, acting chief executive officer of Agthia, said: Led by our thriving Water business, and the growth of innovative products such as Al Ain ZERO, Agthia has had a strong start to 2017 posting healthy profits and a solid increase in revenue. Our organic growth in our consumer segment has been enhanced by the performance of the Delta Water business in Saudi Arabia, while our joint venture with Anderson Hay upholds our commitment to the UAEs farming industry.



The Group is pursuing a five-year strategy aimed at becoming one of the Middle Easts leading food and beverage companies. The cornerstone of this strategy is expanding the Agthias water business, led by the Al Ain and sodium-free Al Ain ZERO brands. The division has seen strong and fast-growing sales in 2017 and, to meet customer demand, Agthia launched a 5-Gallon Al Ain ZERO bottle size earlier this month to cater to the home and office market.



Agthia recently announced that it was entering a joint venture with US-based Anderson Hay & Grain, a top one hay exporter, and launched its first premium forage product under the Agrivita Marabe brand. This represents the latest addition to the Groups animal feed portfolio which offers a full-service solution to livestock customers in the UAE.  TradeArabia News Service
Euro Motors, the sole authorised dealer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Bahrain, was awarded Provenance Dealer of the Year at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Global Dealer Awards for 2016.

The event was held during the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars annual World Dealer Conference in London recently.

Euro Motors were presented with a specially-commissioned award, featuring a contemporary interpretation of the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy, which was conceived by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Design team at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex.

Torsten Muller-Otvos, chief executive officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: I am proud to announce the results of our Annual Global Dealer Awards for 2016 and would like to congratulate all the winners. The success of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has been built on the backbone of the commitment of our dealer partners, who serve as ambassadors for our marque in every corner of the world.

Provenance is the marques official pre-owned certified programme which merges both Rolls-Royce Motor Cars uncompromising standards with its drive for excellence. To be included in the Provenance Programme, the vehicles must meet stringent criteria set by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in order to attain the Provenance title, offering customers the same uncompromising standards, quality and excellence of a brand-new Rolls-Royce, said a statement.

All Provenance cars must have been maintained in strict adherence to Rolls-Royces servicing requirements and are only sold through the international network of authorised Rolls-Royce Motor Cars dealers, including Euro Motors. The programme not only delivers total reassurance but - combined with a minimum two-year servicing and warranty cover - is also a sound investment for the future.

Paul Yates, general manager of Euro Motors, said: Provenance underpins our confidence in the quality of Goodwood manufactured, pre-owned Rolls-Royces. As Sir Henry Royce famously said the quality remains when the price is long forgotten. It seals the next chapter of the story with peace of mind and allows the Rolls-Royce journey to continue.  TradeArabia News Service


Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has posted its first profit in two years of Dh77 million ($21 million) compared to a net loss of Dh608 million ($165 million) for the same period last year owing to higher commodity prices and lower costs.



Announcing its results for the first three months, Taqa said its total revenues for the period surged to Dh4.1 billion, up six per cent over Dh3.9 billion the previous year driven primarily by the impact of higher realised oil and gas prices.



The Ebitda rose 23 per cent to hit Dh2.4 billion compared to Dh2 billion last year boosted by the higher realised commodity prices and sustained cash cost savings.



Taqa's total liquidity remains strong at Dh12.8 billion, including Dh3.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents and Dh9.1 billion of undrawn credit facilities. Total debt was reduced by Dh675 million during the period while interest paid reduced by Dh174 million.



On its operational highlights for Q1, Taqa said the global power generation stood at 16,413 GWh compared to 17,022 GWh in Q1 2016. Global technical availability was at 84.3 per cent compared to 87.1 per cent in Q1 2016.



UAE operations produced 12,336 GWh of electricity and 57,216 million imperial gallons of desalinated water, stable compared to Q1 2016 and continuing to deliver the vast majority of water and electricity requirements of Abu Dhabi.



Commenting on the results, Saeed Al Dhaheri, the acting chief operating officer, said: "After the completion of our two-year transformation programme, I am pleased to announce a return to profit for the first quarter."



"The transformative cost reduction initiatives are now sustainably embedded across the organisation and with the balance sheet stabilised, we are now well positioned to secure future growth as market conditions stabilise and improve. Moving forward, we plan to maintain discipline in cost and operational efficiency while focusing investment to our most profitable assets to maximise cash flow," stated Al Dhaheri.



The production volumes of 132,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), down 14 per cent on Q1 2016 (153,700 boed) impacted by the 70 per cent reduction in oil & gas capital expenditure compared to 2014 levels, prior to the transformation programme, said the top official.



Iraq project progressing with export pipeline nearing completion. The Taqa-operated 30,000 boed (gross) Atrush production facility in Kurdistan, completed in 2016 and first oil is expected in 2017, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Movenpick Hotel Istanbul Golden Horn is offering GCC guests exclusive services and benefits that are tailored to their needs this summer.



Gulf travellers and families will be made to feel at home, particularly during the upcoming Holy Month of Ramadan when several facilities will be available to ensure they can observe this special period in comfort.



An Iftar buffet will served at the propertys CulinArt Restaurant, featuring Turkish and Ottoman specialties. Swiss and Turkish cuisine will also be available at the Skydome Roof Lounge, which offers breath-taking panoramic views of the Golden Horn. Before or after breaking their fast, guests can visit the Eyup Sultan Mosque, which is just a short stroll away from the hotel.



All 136 rooms at Movenpick Hotel Istanbul Golden Horn feature prayer mats, Middle Eastern TV channels and newspapers and Arabic-language information on shopping and city highlights, as well as 40-inch flat-screen TVs with satellite, free wi-fi, workstations, laptop-friendly safes and tea- and coffee-making facilities.



There are seven suites that are ideal for small families, all of which boast waterfront or city vistas. They include the Golden Horn Suite, which has a generously-sized living room and a Jacuzzi on one of its two balconies.



GCC guests can also relax at the Serenity Wellness Centre featuring a 24-hour gym, Turkish Hammam, saunas, a steam room, relaxation zone and massage rooms.

An ideal base for a city break, Movenpick Hotel Istanbul Golden Horn is a short drive from several family-friendly attractions including the Taksim Square and Cevahir shopping malls; Vialand theme park, Miniaturk Theme Park and Rahmi Koc Museum; and the many historical sites in the Old City.



With an enviable park location, guests can jump on one of the hotels complimentary bikes and enjoy a ride through the beautiful neighbourhood, or walk to nearby Pierre Loti Hill where they can hop aboard a cable car to the top to take a snap of the magnificent Golden Horn views.



This summer GCC travellers can benefit from the Family Holiday offer, providing a 50 per cent discount on a second connected room. For more information visit: www.movenpick.com/istanbul-golden-horn. - TradeArabia News Service


Saeed Mohammed Al Nabouda  acting director general of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority  has welcomed a delegation from the Republic of Kazakhstan to Al Twar branch of Dubai Public Library.



The delegation included Ualiyev Kuatzhan, undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Kazakhstan; Kairat Lama Sharif, ambassador of Kazakhstan to the UAE; Madiyar Menilbekov, consul general of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Dubai; and Zhanat Seidumanov, director of the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan.



During the visit, Dubai Public Library opened a dedicated Kazakh book section, which includes cultural and historical books and publications that reflect the growing friendship and cooperation between the UAE and the Republic of Kazakhstan. During the visit, the Kazakh delegation invited Dubai Culture to participate in Expo 2017 Astana, which will take place in the Republic of Kazakhstan this year.



Following the opening of the first Kazakh book section, similar dedicated sections will be launched across all eight branches of the Dubai Public Library, which will ensure that thousands of Kazakh book titles reach new Dubai audiences via the libraries.



Commenting on the occasion, Al Nabouda said: We at Dubai Culture are happy to strengthen ties between Dubai Public Library and the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which will enhance the role of national cultural institutions in community development. This move is fully aligned with the UAE governments directives to build bridges of constructive dialogue and promote cultural and intellectual exchange. The cooperation between the two parties will contribute to identifying the needs of modern cultural development plans and provide appropriate solutions for supporting and developing them.



Al Nabouda added: Our partnership will also contribute to the launch of more projects focused on the use of contemporary technologies, including making the cultural heritage databases of both countries available to online readers by converting them to digital formats.



The Kazakh delegation praised the cultural mobility they witnessed in the UAE in general and Dubai in particular, and highlighted the importance of establishing effective knowledge initiatives that are focused on reading. The delegation commented that they chose to collaborate with Dubai Culture as it has special expertise in library infrastructure, which supports the development of major cultural projects, as well as experience in launching initiatives that help to develop the publishing industry by promoting reading.



The Dubai Public Library network includes eight libraries for adults and another seven for children. Some branches feature multi-purpose halls, classrooms and exhibition spaces, and all branches of the Dubai Public Library are connected via computer systems. This has established close links with other modern libraries, providing access to vast sources of information on a diversity of topics in both Arabic and English. - TradeArabia News Service
National carrier Gulf Air said one of its Saudi-bound flights, with 107 passengers and 11 crew members, turned back and landed safely at Bahrain International Airport on Wednesday after it experienced severe turbulence on approach into King Khalid International Airport.



Confirming the incident, Gulf Air staff said due to the inclement weather conditions in Riyadh yesterday (May 10), the plane was diverted back and landed safely with all the passengers and the crew in Bahrain at 7.15pm (local time).



The flight GF167, an Airbus A330 had departed Bahrain International Airport at 3.45pm (local time) for King Khalid International Airport in Saudi city of Riyadh, it stated.



Gulf Air said once the weather conditions improved, the flight once again took off for Riyadh at 8.37pm and landed safely at King Khalid International Airport at 10.01pm (local time).



The Bahraini flag carrier has issued an apology to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.



In a statement, Gulf Air said: "Our sincerest apologies to all passengers for any inconvenience caused by weather conditions that were beyond the airlines control. As Bahrains national carrier, we always strive to deliver the highest standards of customer service while delivering on our commitment to the safety and security of passengers and crew."



Gulf Air is a major international carrier serving 42 cities in 25 countries spanning three continents.-TradeArabia News Service
Interim City Manager Liz Becher declined to say why she dismissed Jim Wetzel as Casper police chief last week, though she emphasized that he was not fired.

That word is off-limits, Becher said.

The distinction between terminating Wetzels contract  which is what Becher did  and firing an employee lies in the terms of his employment agreement.

Jim Wetzel out as Casper police chief Casper Police Chief Jim Wetzel is no longer serving as head of the department.

Employee shall serve at the pleasure of the City Manager of the City, and his employment may be terminated at any time by the City Manager, the contract states.

Terminating employment may sound like firing, but the difference hinges on whether Wetzels contract was terminated for a particular reason.

Because Wetzel was dismissed by the city manager without cause, he received six months of severance pay. But he was unable to protest his termination.

In contrast, if Becher had fired Wetzel with cause, she would have been required to provide a list of the causes. He would have been provided with an informal hearing before the City Manager to refute such charges.

New direction unclear

Becher said she terminated Wetzels contract so the department can be taken in a different direction.

But she disputed the notion that she was unhappy with the previous direction.

We were good, Becher said. Were just going in a different direction, probably.

Becher wont say what direction that is, only that city staff will be presenting the new plan sometime during the next few weeks. She said aspects of it will be discussed during City Councils budget session, scheduled to begin in two weeks.

Becher said the city will not begin searching for a new police chief until a permanent city manger is hired.

As for what led her to oust Wetzel as chief and bring in the second-highest ranking officer in the department  Capt. Steve Schulz  Becher offered more information.

I have spent countless hours over the last three weeks reading and listening and observing, said Becher, who was appointed to replace V.H. McDonald in mid-April.

She spoke with current and retired police department employees and last week reviewed a draft of an investigation by local attorney Judith Studer. The city asked Studer to look into personnel issues at the police department last fall.

City investigation into Casper Police Department to conclude 'any day' A city investigation into the personnel issues at the Casper Police Department is expected t

Becher said elements of the Studer investigation factored into her decision to terminate Wetzels contract. But it was a decision based on the accumulation of evidence and there was no single piece of information that pushed her to act, she said.

It was a lot of thought, Becher said. And Ive said it before, a lot of prayer.

In an interview last month, Becher said her faith would help alert her to a need for change at the police department.

I do believe that that through personal Christian values, we know, Becher said at the time.

Becher said she decided to dismiss Wetzel shortly before the weekly Council leadership meeting last Thursday afternoon, one day before the chief was informed.

Controversy

Wetzel had become the subject of controversy after a survey was released by the local Fraternal Order of Police, based on an anonymous poll of department employees and including unattributed comments, blasting him as arrogant and a poor leader.

The unsigned survey also claimed that senior CPD employees had brought concerns about Wetzels leadership to the attention of city officials last spring.

McDonald retired days after the survey was released but said his staff had been working to address concerns within the department.

Over the last month, supporters and critics of Wetzel have made their voices heard at Council meetings, on social media and in letters to the editor.

Becher would not say whether she confirmed any accusations against Wetzel before terminating his contract or whether his continuing as chief had simply become untenable in the face of public criticism.

Two weeks ago, councilman and former police chief Chris Walsh asked Becher to request that the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation look into several potentially illegal activities on the part of CPD leadership.

Becher said she had not requested a DCI investigation but that some of the issues raised by Walsh  such as whether officers were being instructed to lie on grant applications  would be addressed by an outside audit of the department expected to conclude in September.

Becher believes any lingering questions about the police department can be addressed by city officials and do not warrant public scrutiny.

We are doing our jobs, and I just dont think its the medias role to turn over the stones for us, she said. We are addressing  handling  public safety here.

Council largely backs interim manager's decision to dismiss police chief At their first public meeting since Casper police Chief Jim Wetzel was dismissed last week, 
Despite a joint recommendation of probation from both the prosecutor and the defense, a Natrona County judge sentenced a man convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl to up to eight years in prison.

Before handing down her sentence for Marcus Jones, Natrona County District Judge Catherine Wilking noted that the maximum penalty for second-degree sexual abuse of a minor is a 20-year prison sentence. She said she found probation not acceptable and sentenced him to between six and eight years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

In this, case the victim was 14 years old and the defendant had sex with her on multiple occasions, she said.

She also recommended Jones for the states boot camp program. If he successfully completes it, he could apply for a sentence reduction.

Jones pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in February in exchange for prosecutors dropping another count of the same charge.

According to court documents, Jones and the teenager had sex twice in June after knowing each other for about a year. The teen said she was not forced to have sex and agreed to do so. However, Jones told police he knew that what he did was wrong because she was a minor.

Under state law, its illegal for those older than 18 to have sex with minors who are at least four years younger than them regardless of consent.

Assistant District Attorney Brett Johnson recommended that the judge sentence Jones to three years of probation, with up to five years in prison to be imposed if he violated a condition of that probation.

Jones attorney, Zak Szekely, also recommended a sentence of probation. He also said that the victim had asked that Jones not be sentenced to prison.

This young mans life as we know it is over, Szekely said. Hes a registered sex offender now.

Szekely asked the judge to consider that Jones has a wife and two children. He also said that Jones didnt know that the girl was that young and that the two had agreed to have sex and that it wasnt forced.

Its not a defense, but its mitigation, he said.

Jones was given a chance to speak before Wilking handed down her sentence. He said he wanted to be able to take care of his kids and wife.

When Wilking said Jones would serve prison time, members of his family sitting in the back row of the courtroom began sobbing.

Oh, my god, one woman gasped after Wilking announced her decision.

Jones didnt look back as a court bailiff led him away.
At their first public meeting since Casper police Chief Jim Wetzel was dismissed last week, City Council members largely backed the move by Interim City Manager Liz Becher.

Becher terminated Wetzels contract in her third week on the job, having taken over after V.H. McDonald retired suddenly following the release of a survey claiming to show low morale at the police department.

Jim Wetzel out as Casper police chief Casper Police Chief Jim Wetzel is no longer serving as head of the department.

Its been a pretty simple week for me. It has not been a simple week for you, Councilman Chris Walsh told Becher at the work session Tuesday. I appreciate the leadership youve shown.

Ill echo that, said Councilman Charlie Powell.

Walsh preceded Wetzel as police chief.

During her first week on the job, Walsh had requested that Becher ask the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to examine alleged leadership issues within the police department. Becher said she could not act at the request of a single council member.

But if Walshs support for tough action on the police issue was expected, Powells comment was more notable. Powell had stated multiple times, and as recently as last Tuesday, that the decision on whether to dismiss Wetzel should not be made by an interim manager. Becher has said she does not want to be considered for the permanent position.

Councilwoman Amanda Huckabays support for Wetzels firing was less surprising given that she had previously called for him to resign. But she emphasized the work that Becher had put into the decision, seeming to draw a line between the political debate over the police department and the interim managers personnel decision.

Thank you for doing your due diligence and really spending some time to get to the bottom of that and doing the tough work, Huckabay said. I think we all appreciate it.

While Mayor Kenyne Humphrey did not address Bechers decision during the meeting she affirmed her support in a text message Wednesday.

I do support her decision and all the work she did to get to a decision, Humphrey wrote.

Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco, who has called for restraint on the police issue, did not talk about Wetzels firing. Pacheco did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Bob Hopkins, a vocal critic of his fellow council members decision to weigh in on Wetzels leadership of the department, was on vacation in Europe and did not attend the meeting. Hopkins maintains the city manager is solely responsible for overseeing personnel issues.

Councilman Shawn Johnson said last week that he didnt believe Councils outspokenness on the issue influenced Becher.

She did her own inquiry into all of this and thats the decision she came to, Johnson said. She never gave any reason, just said she wasnt going to renew his contract, and we trust her decision.

Becher informed Council that she would be terminating Wetzels contact last Thursday, one day before the public announcement.

Council met in a closed session following the public meeting Tuesday evening to discuss personnel matters.
A Riverton High School student has been interviewed by police after allegedly leaving a threatening note in the building.

Fremont County School District No. 25 Superintendent Terry Snyder said police made contact with the student this morning, and he was interviewed Wednesday afternoon. Riverton Police Chief Eric Murphy said the student came to the police station voluntarily, was interviewed and left. Police are executing search warrants on his car and home, Murphy said.

Staff discovered the note on school grounds Tuesday night, Snyder said.

The high school staff was very helpful in reviewing the content of the note to help us identify what we believe is a very strong person of interest in this investigation, he said.

The student did not make it to school Wednesday morning, Snyder said, and no one was injured. Murphy said six police officers were stationed at the high school, two at the middle school, and one at each elementary school.

The Riverton Police Department, Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Fremont County Sheriffs Department participated in protecting every building in the district on Wednesday, Snyder said.

He declined to go into detail about what was in the note, though he and Murphy said it is believed that the student acted alone.
I rise today to defend Bret Stephens, the new conservative columnist at The New York Times. Readers who were incensed by his Saturday debut  a semi-skeptical riff on climate change  should hose themselves down.

Frankly, Ive never understood people who harrumph about canceling their subscriptions after reading one thing they didnt like. Most newspapers are veritable menus offering a wide range of meals catering to a wide range of tastes. In my years at The Philadelphia Inquirer, whenever a ticked-off conservative phoned me to command that I cancel his subscription, Id simply say, Skip my column, keep the subscription. And one time, when a liberal phoned with the same command (he said his elderly dad was sick in bed because I was too easy that day on George W. Bush), I told him that canceling would be silly because dad might miss the crossword puzzle.

No journalistic outlet will ever please all of the people all of the time. When a sizable number of Times readers  mostly liberals and environmentalists  phoned this weekend to nix their subscriptions after reading Stephens inaugural column, they basically embraced the notion that a single opinion piece on climate change cancelled out the acres of space that Times reporters have devoted to detailing the perils of climate change. What a foolish boycott.

Granted, Stephens first effort was a tad odd. Freed from his old gig as deputy editorial page editor of Rupert Murdochs Wall Street Journal, hired by The Times to add ideological diversity to the opinion page, Stephens predictably told his new audience stuff they were loath to hear. And he told it weirdly.

He basically argued that, because Hillary Clintons campaign guru got his numbers wrong, then perhaps some of the climate change numbers are wrong. He offered a big caveat  None of this is to deny climate change or the possible severity of its consequences  but said we still need to guard against overweening scientism. He said this without factually disproving any of the science. He also argued that history is littered with the human wreckage of scientific errors married to political power, but offered no examples.

At one point Stephens wrote, I can almost hear the heads exploding. And so they did. But the explodees would be well advised to get some perspective and curb their most intolerant impulses. Weve got enough of that already. Were suffering outrage overload. Nobody wants to abide an discomfiting opinion, even if well argued. Stephens first column was not particularly well argued, but so what? Hell do better. And in the meantime, Im sure the climate change consensus will trump his discordant voice.

Columnists tick people off all the time (I should know), which is fine, because theyre paid to provoke. Sometimes they hit the mark, sometimes they dont. Nothing new there. Liberal Times readers went nuts in 1973 when the editorial page hired Nixon flak William Safire as a columnist. Safire hit and missed for the next four decades, just like everyone else on the page, and many liberals came to admire his erudite style.

So let Stephens voice be heard. Let the marketplace of ideas sort things out. George Will, a veteran syndicated columnist, has been writing skeptically about climate change for years, but ticked-off liberals would be foolish to retaliate by dropping their subscriptions to The Post  which, on any given day, counteracts Will in its news pages.

I know that The Times liberal readers are most comfortable with opinions like this: Making America Great Again was not supposed to be a belly flop into the cloudy pond of Mr. Trumps psyche. And opinions like this: [Trump is] an intemperate, verbally incontinent 70-year-old, consumed by paranoia, incompetence and recklessness. Surely theyd love to see more of that on the opinion page.

Well, guess what: Those words were written by Stephens  just two months ago, in The Journal. In fact, he spent most of 2016 hammering Trump and getting hammered by Trumpkins in return. He even called Sean Hannity Fox News dumbest anchor, prompting Hannity to call him a dumbass. So lets give Stephens the leeway to be unpredictable. Its called free speech.

And as for the knee-jerk cancellation shtick, Im reminded of a story told by conservative icon William F. Buckley. As editor of the National Review, he opened a letter from a reader who was so angry about an item in the magazineone tiny item in one issuethat he demanded that Buckley cancel his subscription forthwith. Buckley promptly wrote him back:

Dear Dr. Morris: Cancel your own goddam subscription!
Molinas Midway Restaurant, one of Tucsons longest continually running Mexican eateries and one that helped pave the way for a far-flung, multigenerational family restaurant business, is calling it quits.

The restaurant, 1138 N. Belvedere Ave., has been sold and will serve its last bowl of steamy albondigas and house favorite double-stacked cheese and onion enchiladas on May 19, said Louisa Miranda, granddaughter of founders Louisa and Elias Molina. Miranda, who has been the restaurants general manager for the past 10 years, is the daughter of Amalia Miranda, who owns the restaurant with her three sisters and brother.

The sale comes years after the family first contemplated getting out of the restaurant business back when the economy tanked in 2008-09, said Miranda, who has worked in the family business off and on since she was a teen. And even after the business escaped fairly unscathed, the seed was planted, she said.

It just kind of got into our head, said Miranda, the only one among her cousins who continues to work at the restaurant full time. They (her mother and aunts and uncle) are all in their 90s and they are all done with the stress of running the restaurant, and Im ready to move on.

On Monday, Miranda met with staff members, many of whom have been with the restaurant 20 or more years, and told them the owners had found a buyer. She would not say who bought the business but said that it will continue to be a restaurant.

Molinas Midway was the second restaurant opened by the Molina family; the first was Casa Molina Restaurant, 6225 E. Speedway, opened in 1947 by Elias Molinas brother Gilbert to serve folks heading to the Sabino Canyon guest ranches, said Louisa Mirandas brother Richard Miranda.

Louisa and Elias Molina opened Molinas Midway on April 1, 1953, when Richard Miranda was a year old.

I essentially did grow up in the restaurant, he said. As a kid growing up, we had to work there and essentially spent our formative years at that location. It means a lot to us. We have a lot of memories.

Every Thanksgiving for decades, the family celebrated at the restaurant, something Richard Miranda, who served as Tucsons police chief and city manager, said he will miss the most.

That was the one time of the year that we knew we were all going to be together, he said. That is truly going to be missed.

It was a time when all the cousins, no matter where they went, we got together at the restaurant, added Louisa Miranda. We made five or six turkeys. Those are the memories I like to think about. Thats the thing I will always keep in my heart.

Mark Davis of Green Valley said hell miss the cheese crisps with green chiles and the ground beef enchiladas the most.

He and his sister, who lives in Tucson, have made Molinas Midway a weekly tradition for the past three years.

They have great food, great service, great everything, he said. Im going to miss it.

In addition to the original Casa Molina, there are Casa Molina restaurants in Tucson at 4240 E. Grant Road and 3001 N. Campbell Ave.; La Casita De Molina at 3220 W. Valencia Road; and four El Molinito restaurants  5380 E. 22nd St., 2323 N. Pantano Road, 3675 W. Ina Road and 10180 N. Oracle Road in Oro Valley.
Repairing beating human hearts with living patches is the aim of Avery Therapeutics, a startup company founded on technology developed by University of Arizona researchers.

The company recently licensed a new heart-graft technology from the UA and is working to get it into human clinical trials to treat heart failure within a few years.

Avery was co-founded in 2014 by cardiologist Dr. Steve Goldman of the UAs Sarver Heart Center and Jordan Lancaster, who earned his UA doctorate in physiology while working in Goldmans lab.

Averys biologically active heart graft, dubbed MyCardia, combines commercially available living cells called fibroblasts, heart-muscle cells derived from stem cells and a biologically absorbable scaffold.

The resulting graft can be sewn onto a live heart where it can build up new muscle cells to improve heart function as it grows with the patients own tissue.

You can basically think of it as a living Band-Aid, said Lancaster, who is chief science officer of Avery.

Goldman and Lancaster began research in the area in 2009 at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, where Goldman was chief of cardiology, for a San Francisco-based company developing a heart graft using fibroblasts on a scaffold material to treat angina, or heart-related chest pain.

That project ended when studies showed little improvement with the graft, Lancaster said.

But Goldman and Lancaster extended the research at the UA, tapping Nobel Prize-winning technology developed by Japanese scientists using so-called induced pluripotent stem cells  which have the ability to turn into any kind of cell  to create a new kind of living heart patch.

The Avery research team already has published scientific studies showing improvement in heart function in rats treated with the heart patch.

Immersed in a nutritive medium, the companys prototype patches contract in rhythm, on their own.

Theyre waving or winking at you, every time you see them in the lab, Lancaster said.

Though much work remains to be done even to get to human clinical trials, Avery is proceeding apace to commercialize the technology with the help of Tech Launch Arizona, the UAs technology-commercialization arm.

Jen Koevary, who earned her doctorate in biomedical engineering from the UA, joined Avery as chief operating officer after helping the company as a business-development officer for TLA.

Avery also is being advised by Bruce Burgess, a TLA mentor-in-residence with more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience in medical devices, diagnostics and drug delivery.

Though an approved product is still years away, the company has published numerous scientific papers, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in research grants and won one patent, with more in the pipeline.

In August, Avery was awarded a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research grant of nearly $500,000 by the National Institutes of Healths National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to develop manufacturing, cryopreservation, storage and reconstitution methods for the MyCardia patch.

Lancaster noted that Phase I SBIR contracts are generally up to $150,000, so the much larger NIH grant was significant.

The company also has won a $750,000 grant through the UA from the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission, and $60,000 in cash and prizes at Tucsons Get Started business-pitch competition in October.

The company has delivered its pitch internationally, at the Falling Walls Venture conference in Berlin in November.

Last week, Avery presented at the TechCode event space in Mountain View, California, where Silicon Valley investors learned about the company along with four other UA spinoffs.

Koevary said the company will keep pitching its technology and writing grants to raise money for further studies, likely including a bid for a larger Phase II SBIR grant.

Avery plans to present its technology at the 2017 BIO International Convention  one of the biggest biotech events in the world  in San Diego in June.

Scientifically, the next step is to test the patch in large-animal studies using pigs, which provide a close match to humans, she said.

Theres a lot that still needs to be done, Koevary said, noting that induced pluripotent stem cells have been tested in just one clinical trial, a Japanese effort focused on treating the eye.

We have to do a lot of work on the manufacturing side, in proving we can manufacture a quality product every time, she said.

After the animal studies the company also will have to submit a rigorous lab-practices study, which the company hopes will pave the way to start human clinical trials by 2020, Koevary said.

Koevary said the company will likely need upward of $10 million to take the heart patch to human clinical trials.

Avery is working on a private investment round among friends and family, she said, adding that the company also is establishing relationships with investor groups and looking at partnerships with established biomedical companies.

Researchers worldwide are working on regenerative tissue therapies, including a University of Minnesota group that recently published a paper on a heart graft made by 3-D printing heart-muscle stem cells and growing them in the lab.

But Lancaster said Avery  named for his daughters middle name  has a big advantage with Goldman and his lab, which he said offers a rare combination of clinical expertise in cell culturing, bioengineering and animal modeling.
In need of a theater fix? Heres whats playing on Tucson-area stages May 11-17:

Opening

Annapurna  Live Theatre Workshop. See story, Page 5

News of The World & Other Stories  Winding Road Theatre Company. See story, Page 4.

Rock On Broadway  Arizona Rose Theatre, 4500 N. Oracle Road. Arizona Rose is rockin out at its new theater in Tucson Mall with this tribute to the music from rock musicals. 7 p.m. May 12, 13 and 19; 2 p.m. May 14. Through May 21. $8-$17. 888-0509. arizonarosetheatre.com.

Love, De/con/struct/ed  Carport Theater, 3614 E. Presidio Road. A series of skits examining the many ways that love can go wrong. 7:30 p.m. May 12 and 13. Free. 409-3473. carporttheater.com.

The Breakfast Club  Zuzi, 738 N. Fifth Ave. Students at City High School take on this story based on the 1980s classic movie about misfit kids thrown together in detention. Adult language. 1 and 6 p.m. May 19. Through May 20. $5. 623-7223.

Last chance

Macbeth  The Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University Blvd. Rogues production of the Shakespeare tragedy is rich with atmosphere. And the witches alone are reason to go see it. Final performances are 7:30 p.m. May 11-13; 2 p.m. May 13 and 14. $15-$35. 551-2053. theroguetheatre.org.

Be My Baby  Roadrunner Theater, 8892 E. Tanque Verde Road. The comedy travels from Scotland to California and finds love among a mismatched couple. Final performances are 7 p.m. May 12 and 13; 2 p.m. May 14. $15-$20. 207-2491. roadrunnertheatrecompany.org.

Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll and Hyde Comedy  Tucson High Magnet School Little Theatre, 400 N. Second Ave. The talented students at the school take on the classic horror story. Only this one is packed with laughs. Final performances are 7 p.m. May 12 and 13; 2 p.m. May 13. $12. 225-5326.

The Taming of the Shrew  Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 W. Sixth St. Something Something Theatre Company stages Shakespeares comedy about a man who sets out to tame a woman who speaks her mind and thinks freely. The play is disturbing in itself; this interpretation makes it more so. Final performances are 7:30 p.m. May 12 and 13; 2 p.m. May 14. $22. 468-6111. somethingsomethingtheatre.com.

Continuing

The Curse of the Pirates Gold  The Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway. A search for a lost treasure leads to love, betrayals, laughs, boos and cheers. And the popcorn is included in the price of the ticket. Various times. $21.95. 886-9428. thegaslighttheatre.com.

The Dinner Detective Interactive Murder Mystery Show  Hilton Tucson East, 7600 E. Broadway. Ages 15 and up. 6 p.m. Saturdays. $49.95. 1-866-496-0535. thedinnerdetective.com.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some May 11 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages.
PHOENIX  State lawmakers completed the 2017 legislative session Wednesday evening with millions of dollars in new and expanded tax breaks for businesses that sponsors say will help economic development.

Legislators approved providing another $10 million in state income-tax credits for angel investors who put money into qualified small businesses. They also revamped a fund to provide grants to micro-enterprises  essentially small businesses with few employees.

Separately, they gave final approval to restoring lifetime eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to two years, the way it was before Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation trimming that by half two years ago. But the measure includes some conditions on getting that second year of cash assistance, provisions Democrats said are designed to trip up recipients.

But the big action Wednesday was the decision to provide even more financial incentives for manufacturers, some of whom already get special property-tax treatment and a few of whom may be paying no state corporate income taxes at all.

Senate President Steve Yarbrough did not dispute that existing laws and what is in SB 1416, approved by the Senate 21-6 and the House 32-21, will minimize what some companies pay not only to the state but also in local property taxes.

But he said that has to be weighed against the promises by firms such as Intel, which said it will be investing more than $7 billion to refurbish and occupy a vacant chip-manufacturing facility it built years ago in Chandler, Yarbroughs hometown. And that, he said, will create new revenue streams.

Youre missing all of those people who have jobs at Intel who make six-figure salaries, who pay income tax, who pay property taxes on their home, who pay sales taxes at all the places they buy stuff, he said.

But House Minority Leader Rebecca Rios said the record in Arizona disproves the theory that tax breaks for businesses will grow the economy.

She cited a recent report that various tax exemptions and credits in Arizona total $14 billion, more than the $9.8 billion state budget. But Rios said the state budget is essentially equal to what it was a decade ago, with more than half a million more people in Arizona.

Wheres all this revenue thats flooding into the state? she asked.

We have no proof that tax credits like this one are actually working, added Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale.

Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley, D-Tucson, took issue with provisions of the bill that extend special tax credits to firms to reimburse them for the cost of doing research and development.

She said the state is forgoing millions of dollars of taxes. But Powers Hannley said thats not the worst of it.

This bill also gives away millions of dollars in research royalties into the future, with no end date, she said, research that was financed by taxpayers in the first place.

Giving away all the intellectual-property rights is a huge potential loss of future revenues, Powers Hannley said. When the voters fund research or fund anything, the voters should get a return on their investment.

But not all the Democrats were opposed.

Not only will SB 1416 create thousands of high-paying jobs to thousands of Arizonans, but will catapult economic development in the right direction, said Rep. Cesar Chavez, D-Phoenix. He said graduates from the states three universities are fleeing because there are not enough jobs available.

House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, reflecting a philosophical difference between the parties, took particular issue with Rios contention the state is giving away tax breaks.

Not taxing something is not the same thing as giving it away, he said.  Giving it away suggests we own it.

The money, he said, belongs to the taxpayers. They own it and then we force it from them, yes, to provide services for various things, Mesnard said. But theres a very important distinction.

The provisions in SB 1416 come on top of the special tax treatment that certain large corporations already get, including those research-and-development tax credits, which can equal 24 percent of what a company spends.

Arizona also has created foreign-trade zones, where the property tax on businesses is just a fraction of what it is on firms whose facilities are located elsewhere.

And multistate corporations are allowed to compute what they owe in Arizona corporate income taxes based entirely on what percentage of the products they make are sold in the state. That potentially reduces the liability to manufacturers whose products are made here and shipped elsewhere.

That break is even more significant for firms like Intel, whose computer chips are sold to other firms nationally and worldwide, and Raytheon which has little Arizona audience for its missiles.

SB 1416 would also create an accelerated depreciation schedule for any equipment purchased by manufacturers.

That break relates to the fact that Arizona law imposes property taxes not only on land and buildings but also on business equipment, from major presses to computers and desks. The value of that equipment is based on the purchase price, a figure that is adjusted annually for depreciation.

This legislation allows businesses to write off half the value in the first year alone, a move that provides an immediate break on what already is a reduced property-tax rate. That will particularly help companies that are in the market for major new equipment, like Intel.
Want a way to avoid taxes on your capital gains?

State lawmakers gave final approval to legislation Wednesday providing a way to do that. But it remains unclear whether Gov. Doug Ducey is willing to go along.

Arizona law says if someone invests in something, whether art, collectible cars or commercial real estate, and then sells it for more than the cost, that difference is subject to state income taxes.

What HB 2014 seeks to do is carve out an exception when that investment is in gold and silver coins produced by the U.S. Mint.

But Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, said this isnt some tax scam.

He said it reflects his belief that the purchase of gold and silver coins with federal reserve notes  those dollar bills now printed by the government  is simply an exchange of one form of currency for another. Finchem said that would be like taxing someone for exchanging two dimes and a nickel for a quarter.

Whats really behind this, though, is a particular political philosophy that those dollar bills are really not worth anything.

Yes, we still exchange it, he said. But we pretend it actually has some value.

What has real value, Finchem said, are coins with precious metals.

To his way of thinking, if someone buys a $50 1-ounce gold coin, selling Wednesday from the U.S. Mint web site at $1,354.95, and then sells it next year for some higher figure, that person has not experienced a capital gain.

Whats happened, he said, is the value of those government-issued dollar bills has dropped.

Put another way, everyone else who has dollars in their pocket has experienced a loss in the value of their money. It is only the person who bought the gold coins who has stayed even.

And that, he contends, makes it unfair to tax the difference.

Wednesdays Senate vote  the House had approved it earlier  sends the measure to Ducey.

In 2015, the governor vetoed a similar measure which would have required the state to recognize gold and silver coins as legal currency.

After reviewing this bill in detail, I do not believe this policy is appropriate at this time, Ducey wrote in his two-line veto.

Another version was vetoed by the governor last year.

Finchem told Capitol Media Services he believes HB 2014 is sufficiently different, dealing not with the question of what the state recognizes as money but simply with the tax issue.

But the question of providing special tax breaks has always been part of the discussion.

In 2013, then-Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed similar legislation over her concerns that the language might exempt the state from collecting income taxes on such transactions.

This would result in lost revenue to the state, while giving businesses that buy and sell collectible coins or currency originally authorized by Congress an unfair advantage, she wrote at the time.
A 16-year-old has been booked into the Pima County jail in connection with a fatal shooting on the northwest side last month, officials said.

Anthony Maldonado, who was injured in the shooting, checked himself into the hospital after the April 17 incident and was later confirmed to be the suspect who killed one man and injured another, said Deputy Ryan Inglett, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

Pima County Sheriff's deputies responded to the shooting in the 3500 block of West Amber Terrace at about 4 p.m..

The area is near West Orange Grove Road and North Camino de la Tierra.

Deputies found Jaisaac Sloan, 21, and Austin Buckshaw, 20, with gunshot wounds, Inglett said.

Deputies gave aid to the men, but Sloan was pronounced dead at the scene. Buckshaw, who was seriously injured, was taken to Banner-University Medical Center Tucson.
How to vote

For any registered city voter who did not get a ballot in the mail, there is a way to vote in Tuesday's special election:

The city's Elections Center, located at 800 E. 12th St., will be open every day through the election except Sunday. The hours are from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Any registered voter who didn't get a ballot can go to the center and cast a ballot.

Seven election sites will be open on Election Day where residents can ask for a replacement ballot. Any registered voter can receive a replacement ballot upon signing a sworn statement that their original ballot was lost, spoiled, destroyed or not received.

The ballot locations open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 16 are:

 Department of Housing and Community Development, 310 N. Commerce Park Loop.

 Morris K. Udall Regional Center, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road.

 Donna R. Liggins Recreation Center, 2160 N. Sixth Ave.

 William Clements Recreation Center, 8155 E. Poinciana Drive.

 El Pueblo Senior Center, 101 W. Irvington Road.

 Parks and Recreation Administration, Randolph Park, 900 S. Randolph Way.

 Tucson City Clerk elections center, 800 E. 12th St.

For information email cityclerk@tucsonaz.gov or call 884-8683.
Sacrifice was a key word in describing the duty of police officers who serve and die for communities they work to protect, said a trauma surgeon at Wednesday's Tucson Police Department's Fallen Officer Memorial.

"In every society there are the givers and takers and those who sacrifice," said Dr. Andrew L. Tang, trauma medical director for Banner-University Medical Center, the keynote speaker at the department's tribute to eight TPD officers and other law enforcement personnel who have died in the line of duty.

The ceremony was in the department's Memorial Courtyard at the main station, 270 S. Stone Ave.

"Communities are built on the shoulders of those who sacrifice," said Tang, explaining that he learned that from his grandmother whose influence shaped him into the man he is today.

He said his grandmother, Pearl Liu, was a young woman when her father sent her in the 1930s from China to the University of Wisconsin where she studied social services. She and her husband, Patrick Xiang, earned faculty positions, but both decided to go back to Shanghai during World War II and make a difference after Japan invaded China.

After bombing raids, Tang's grandmother went searching for orphans and brought them to an orphanage she founded to care for the children, recalled Tang. He said he was a young boy when he saw a man, who was one of those orphans, bring his children and all on bended knee, with tears thanked Liu for saving him.

"That has driven me throughout my life to give back to the community," said Tang. He said his work as a trauma surgeon parallels the lives of police officers. Both work long hours to take care of others and spend time away from their families to do their job. Both also experience psychological effects from seeing people hurt and traumatized.

"I view us as brothers in arms and sisters in arms," Tang said. "I want our city to be safe for my family and for the community's children. I want to catch citizens who fall. ...."and be there for fellow human beings," he said, explaining the similarities between his work and that of cops.

He talked about the danger in police work and his role in treating Officers Jorge Tequida and Doug Wilfert who were wounded last year while serving an arrest warrant for a man wanted in an aggravated assault.

Wilfert was shot in the lower leg. Tequida's wounds were critical and made Tang's "heart skip a beat." Tequida, who underwent surgery, was shot in the shoulder and the bullet went through his arm and into his chest. The bullet "went in front of his heart and missed the pulmonary artery by millimeters," said Tang. Both officers recovered.

"Society is built on the shoulder of those who sacrifice," said Tang, thanking officers for their commitment.

Police Chief Chris Magnus honored officers for their intentionality, courage, resilience, and creativity in their duty to serve and protect. "We need to be grateful that police officers have the courage to go to work everyday knowing they may face the ultimate sacrifice," said Magnus, adding that 145 officers were killed in the line of duty across the nation last year.

During the ceremony, the fallen officers were honored with a posting of colors by the TPD Honor Guard, rifle salute with Taps, a flyover by the department's air unit and a presentation of roses and a wreath near a gray granite memorial that stands on the front lawn.

The inscription reads: "Not in vain may be the pride of those who survive and the epitaph of those who fell."

TPD paid tribute to officers:

* Erik D. Hite, who died June 2, 2008, after being shot in the head during a 20-mile chase and shootout through the city.

* Patrick K. Hardesty, who died May 26, 2003, shot to death while chasing a hit-and-run suspect.

* Jeffrey Ross, who died Feb. 18, 1982, after he was shot in the chest at the Ranch House Bar on North Casa Grande Highway. Ross was working a drug arrest operation.

* James Smith, who died Oct. 28, 1980, while on motorcycle patrol in the reversible middle lane of East Speedway near North Plumer Avenue. He was grazed by a station wagon and thrown into oncoming traffic.

* Barry Headricks, who died Oct. 28, 1974, of gunshot wounds suffered during a heroin bust on East Eighth Street.

* Robert Cummins, who died Sept. 7, 1936, four days after his patrol motorcycle skidded on loose gravel at the end of an American Legion convention parade in Phoenix.

* William Katzenstein, who died July 26, 1902, after he was shot by a man who was stalking him.

* William Elliott, who died July 3, 1892, after he was stabbed in the heart by a man in front of the mayor's house.
Help India!

By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, Twocircles.net

Migration in India is neither a new event nor a region-specific issue. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that migration (from rural to urban areas) has greatly disrupted social lives across the country, and disturbed the balance in the society especially among the lesser-privileged states. Take the example of Birbhum, West Bengal, where a number of people, especially men, have migrated to cities in search of better employment opportunities and left behind families that often lack resources to fend for themselves. Thankfully, the handloom industry, namely the Kantha (cloth) industry, has come to the aid of the women in making ends meet, and often make much more than that.

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Our husbands have to migrate to Chennai, Kerala, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Chhattisgarh, Jabalpur Indore to work in bakery farms to earn an average of Rs 7,000 per month. They return home after more than two or three years. Often, we have to wait for long periods to receive their money and hence, we have to manage our families. In this respect, kantha (cloth) stitching handloom industry has turned to be a great boon to all of us. We feel secure when we undertake a cloth to stitch and after completion within a given time frame, we get a chance to tackle the inevitable money scarcity, says Hasina Bibi, a dweller of Shankbaha with a family of five. Her husband works in Kolkata as a tailor. The story of many women living in Nanoor block of Birbhum, West Bengal is similar.

Kantha (cloth) stitching has grown as an important means of livelihood in this locality for the last two decades. Villages like Saota, Beluti, Datina, Agatar, Charkalgram, Khala, Papuri, Murundi, Shankbaha, Pilkhundi, Bandar, Gopdihi, Khujutipara, Nabasta, Bhepura, Baliguni, Kirnahar and many others have excelled at this business, so much so that despite being in local news for political skirmishes, Nanoor has managed to gain a new identity all over India as well as abroad for this handloom industry.

The success of this industry has also resulted in a pyramid-like structure, with people working at various levels for varying degree of profits. At the bottom, of course, are these women whose main task is to sew various designs on pieces of clothes as per the order. The money they make varies according to the size of the cloth and the intricacy of the design. For example, a long plain sari or bed cover earns the women about Rs 2,000 while they make between Rs 700 and 900 for medium bed sheets, table cloth, scarfs etc.

The dealers, who regulate the business, fix prices to be paid to the workers, manage market prices and make the most profit sit at the top of the structure. They are the ones who make the final sale, often in cities like Kolkata, Delhi and even abroad. The middle-level consists of agents who work as links between the women and the dealers, fixing prices at each level and earning a commission on the sale. For instance, if a dealer fixes the price of a saree at Rs 2,000 for its stitching, the middleman/agent will offer only 1800 to the sub-agents and they offer only 1500/1600 to the working women, thereby making a profit of Rs 200-300.

While one may of course, question the role of mid-level agents, there is little doubt that this industry has brought an important change in the economic as well as a social status of the topmost dealers. There are instances of people such as Salma Bibi, Ashoke (names are changed for any inevitable consequences) who have managed to soar to the zenith of success depending on this business. They had nothing before their stepping into this world, but now, thanks to this industry, they can afford to own homes. The industry has also brought an end to the abysmal poverty-ridden socio-economic condition of this locality. It facilitated a secure way of earning to the poorest of the poor. It not only empowers the working women, but also the agents and sub-agents whose cycle of life turned into a new direction.

Take the example of Hajera Bibi, a woman who works as a sub-agent. Abandoned by her husband, the stitching business gave her a new hope. I have two children but had no means of earning after my husband left us. I had to spend many nights without eating anything. Now, thanks to this business I am stable, I taught my daughter up to B.A second year, got her married and I can now live a peaceful life. Another agent, Israfil of Saota, explains how this industry changed his life. I used to work in our ancestral plot as a farmer but was failing at taking care of my family. So I sold some portion of the field and invested in this industry. Now I earn a handsome income and my children are studying without any disturbance and my family is stable enough. Another agent, Joy from Ramkrishnapur, echoed the same emotion.

Even girl students find it as a great opportunity to fulfil their hearts wishes. Kerima Khatun of Khala, a student of class 10, said, I take 4-5 blouse pieces at a time for a week so that I can afford my tuition fees and buy notebooks, pen as it is difficult for my father to manage it after tackling our family of six members.

In fact, this industry has even caught the eye of people who would otherwise not be associated with such initiatives. Khandekar Mehebub Hossein was the Imam of his village for a long time and also a good religious speaker among this locality. But he now concentrates fully on this task of designing.

When asked about the designing on plain clothes, he said, There are three types of designers into this work. One who invents artistic creation, second who imitate the first one and add something to make it anew and the third are people who fully imitate the above two and convince people that it is his or her own work.

And he clarified about his own authentic unique invention of designing. He continued that he has been doing this job for ten years with a unique design that ranges from domestic animals to Hindu gods and goddesses. When asked how he was able to draw designs, he replied rather philosophically, When passion meets profession, the output is always tremendously beautiful.

It is clear that while these families continue to fight in their own ways with the issue of migration, this Kantha industry has at least enabled the ones left behind to embark on something that is their own and feel empowered thanks to the financial rewards.
Help India!

By Noushad MK for Twocircles.net

Mohammad Bahzad Fatmis article against Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the most expected and awaited piece by his readers who know or do not know him personally. But my acquaintance with Bahzad is personal and I know why and how he has been hitting hard Turkeys AKP ruled government and more conveniently President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Like him, I have also stayed in Turkey and learned Turkish language and came back India to continue my research at JNU. Bahzad chose to go to the UK. What forced me to respond Bahzads desperation against the visiting Turkish President is that he wants to use a respected professional name, journalism, to advance his ideological and professional agenda, keeping his readers complete dark. Assuming that he is a journalist and an objective analyst, many readers are deceived. I have a letter sent by him recently and it reads, Mohammad Bahzad Fatmi, Research Fellow, Indialogue Foundation, an internationally known affiliate of the Gulen movement in India, currently under strict watch of the Indian government to investigate allegations it by the Turkish government.

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Since there should be no restriction on Gulen-linked people to write and speak their mind but there should also not be a misrepresentation of ones identity where his bias is natural. In case of Bahzads writing against Turkeys elected government, his introduction below his articles published by DailyO hide his real identity of being a committed Gulen movement worker. While I respect his choice to be the part of any organization, I also expect him to show the courage to be identified with the identity to which he is officially and ideologically affiliated and inform his readers and publishers so that they receive your views in perspective.

After learning that the Turkish President will be conferred an honorary doctorate by Jamia Millia Islamia, his desperation perhaps crossed the lines of decency. His tweet reads:

If this news is true I will do my bit to ensure that the Jamia administration has eggs on their face.

Now the points he has made in his scathing attacks on President Erdogan in which he encourages his Indian hosts to question are driven by more of his political motivation than by his journalistic insights, to which everyone must respect regardless of the opinion. From accusing Turkey of appeasing Indian Muslims to be a risky investment destination. As I have been in Turkey in the same time as he was, I would like to comment on some of his points to which our readers deserve the alternative perspective as well.

He starts by referring to the recent European Union parliaments re-opening the monitoring procedure against Turkey while he skips the part of resolution that the European Parliament has recognised that the military coup a real trauma Turkey has gone through, not a conspiracy designed by the government as many of the Gulenists try to project. tThe same resolution also recognises several steps the Turkish government has taken since the failed coup towards ensuring a transparent procedure of all accused and undertrials. What Mr. Bahzad would not like tell his readers why and how the Gulen-linked several military and civilian officers in cases known as Sledghammer and Ergenokon and what were the Gulen movements interests at that time, except to manipulate and exploit an elected government. What he would not like to tell his readers about the European Unions recognitions Turkey has made from 2006 to 2015 according to their own reports but none of these progress brought any benefit from the EU. In European Unions 2006, 2007 Turkeys Progress Report, 2014, and 2015 EU Parliaments resolution, it welcomed the ongoing reforms and democratic process in Turkey. However what you may not want to ask is that what the limit of Turkeys 50 years of endless wait to become its member and what are the real reason. Had democracy and reforms and its secular credentials been a real reasons, Turkey should have been the member of the EU when it was ruled by staunchly secular governments.

You should not shy away from mentioning that the so-called neutral observers who have questioned the validity and fairness of the recently held referendum, many members of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) election observers were actively involved with pro-PKK terrorist groups and were openly supporting the NO campaign, violating the principles of remaining neutral while assuming such sensitive political observer duties.

Has he really done his homework to say that the real reason behind Indian investors coming to Turkey is only its being the gateway of Europe? Mahindra for example, has made Turkey its base for its entire Middle East business, not just Europe and so is the case of all global companies coming to Turkey to expand their business in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe as well. That Turkey will exit Europe is nothing but an exaggeration made by right wing politicians in Europe who have stopped Turkish politicians from conducting political activities.

In a gross misrepresentation of a speech delivered by President Erdogans advisor Ilnur Chevik at India International Centre, Mohammad Bahzad should rather make the recording he possesses public so that his readers understand what was the context when he referred India Muslims in his speech. Those in attendance have provided me the recording which clearly negates his claim, though his claim suits very well with the ongoing right wing political rhetoric in our country. Presidents advisor in fact expressed his personal desire, not the official position that India should have been in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as it has the second largest Muslim population. We all know that when India had desired for the OIC membership, Pakistan had blocked the move in its first summit held in Morocco.

I dont know if Bahzad now needs to appease Indias right wing politicians by saying that Turkey is appeasing Indian Muslims when the fact can be seen that the majority of business community making profit from their business in Turkey are non-Muslims. In fact, in his attempt to become the darling of the right wing, he should have said that all Muslim and Arab countries should pass the test of being anti-Muslim before they come to India.

Your appetite to sensationalise Turkeys relation with other friendly countries, Pakistan for example, you have mentioned the so called secret ban Turkish weapon manufacturing companies like ASELSAN have imposed on India. How do you come to know the authenticity of such a high level secret when none of the government, India or Turkey have ever discussed on defence procurement. Why would our country even need Turkeys weapons when our defence supply is much better than theirs.

What radically changed about Mevlana university is that the university was supposed to favour either the elected government when it was targeted by a group having close links with Gulen and his network, or at least remain neutral as long as a very serious criminal offence such as coup attempt is being investigated in which their mentor Fethullah Gulen is prime accused. The university rather chose to warn the government by saying See you on August 14 besides making several tweets exonerating Gueln.

Isnt it a fact that the students of all banned universities, particularly international students have been transferred in other universities and in some cases, institutions have been placed under different administrative body? Some Indian students who have faced the difficulty is because of not getting alternative scholarship sources after the Gulen scholarships were stopped. It should be known that the Gulen movement has the resources to offer scholarship even in higher amount that the government scholarships.

While you may not like to talk about the extremist ideologies once propagated by the Gulen affiliated media, you should at least differentiate between the criminal charges and media-related charges. In any country, journalists arrested or tried for criminal charges do not get an exemption just because they are journalists.

As you claim to be a journalist, the readers do not bother to cross check the facts you have been writing in your journalistic articles. It is time that you first publicly announce your ideological and professional association with a group accused of plotting against an elected government. You are hiding your professional and ideological identity is an attempt to deceive the esteemed readers who really come to read your article because you take refuge of a profession we hold in high respect.

Noushad MK is a PhD scholar at Centre for Development and Exclusion in JNU. He did an advance diploma in Turkish language from Istanbul University.
Help India!

By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net

A couple of days back when Jamiat leaders met Narendra Modi with a delegation of 25 people, the general public was informed that the dialogue between two parties focused more on opening the door for mutual communication.

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At least this is what the Jamiat leaders wanted us to believe through their press note.

But the statement released by Prime Ministers office clearly focusses on issues and topics which were not mentioned in the JUHs statement.

At first, the statement from the PMO reads, They (JUH) appreciated the Prime Ministers stand on the issue of Triple Talaq.

But interestingly, Triple Talaq was mentioned hardly anywhere in the statement made by the JUH on the same even as it appeared twice in the PMOs statement.

Moreover, the PMOs statement said, 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.

In reference to this, JUHs statement said, PM also appreciated our stand that the divorce was internal issue of the Muslim community and the community itself should take reformative steps.

According to Mahmood 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. But when one looks at PMOs statement side by side, it seems that cow vigilance and subsequent violence was not an issue for Narendra Modi.

JUH seemed much worried about the cow vigilance that the statement and the letter handed over to the PM Modi crucially mentioned the Gau-rakshaks and related violence.

However, the Prime Ministers Office was seemingly less worried for cow-vigilance activities and instead focussed more on religious terrorism, especially Islamic terrorism.

PMOs statement said, Noting that terrorism is a major challenge, they(JUH) 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, it added.

But, yet again, the only terrorism that JUH talked was worried over and which is more virulent these days, is the ongoing hate campaign being carried in the name of cow.

As PMO claimed, The delegation also appreciated the implementation of minority welfare schemes under the Union Government. But JUH was seemingly not worried at the moment about the schemes and their implementations related to minority welfare.

Moreover, the delegation as well as the government, in past times too, have failed to address and question the presence of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in such meetings. Ajit Doval has always been present whenever PM Modi has met Muslim delegation and has also addressed such meets.

This time too, the release from PMO added, Welcoming the delegation, National Security Advisor, Shri 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.

So, one wonders if this meeting was anything more than a PR exercise by the PMO and JUH and whether they listened to each other at all.
Julian Fouchet, the French lawyer who is now attempting to undermine Britain's departure from the European Union, claims he is not pursuing this case out of personal gain. He said he is challenging Britain's Brexit referendum in the General Court of the EU because he is anxious about Britons living in France not having a vote over Britain's EU future. Yet it seems unclear as to what he is hoping to achieve from all this.

Most lawyers love throwing themselves into cases where they can achieve an outcome that boosts their ego and career prospects, even if they do genuinely care about their clients as well.

There is more to this case than meets the eye. There must be something in it for himself. If this French lawyer wants a re-run of last year's vote, he is not honestly informing us he does not, like President Macron, want to destroy Brexit? This news merely beggars belief.

Mr. Fouchet's timing is incredibly poor, or maybe his clients were too slow in asking him for legal advice over last year's vote. Either way, it seems entirely deliberate that he has chosen to pursue this case now. Surely he should realise it is far too late to attempt to overturn the EU Referendum result now that Article 50 has been triggered and the British Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of doing so? Brexit is a process, and I am afraid it is irreversible now. If these Britons were so concerned about their right to vote, why didn't they consult Mr. Fouchet sooner?

There's something stinky about all this, and no, I don't mean French garlic.
We have truly heard it all now. First it came from die-hard Remainers like Tony Blair, Gina Miller, Tim Farron, Professor AC Grayling and others: 'we are not in denial about last year's Brexit result', 'we just want to achieve the best Brexit outcome for Britain.' And now with French lawyer Julian Fouchet spouting the same nonsense either on his part or his clients', it is time for these Remainers who claim they represent 'the 48%' to admit they do not accept last year's EU Referendum result.

Mr. Fouchet may not be British, but like many others, he is in denial about Brexit. He is attempting to find a legal loophole, not in the unwritten British Constitution, but in the EU's complicated laws, to delay Britain's departure.

To be fair, he may well be doing this on behalf of his clients, who knows? He could be receiving large sums of money to initiate this case. Perhaps his clients are the die-hard Remainers? But to produce words from the same hymn sheet as the likes of Gina Miller and Professor Grayling with words to the effect of: 'a re-run of last year's referendum which includes Britons living abroad would be fairer' and 'I do not oppose Brexit' provides us with the impression these people think Brexiteers, and those who voted to remain in the EU, but accept the result, are utterly stupid. I very much doubt Mr. Fouchet's clients produced words to those effect. A French lawyer is no doubt wealthy, like many of the hard-core Remoaners here, and he is probably more concerned about his personal wealth than his clients' anxieties.

Britons are not buying it, Mr. Fouchet. The more people like you preach their love of the EU, the more it alienates Eurosceptics at home and abroad. You will not succeed.
The referendum Britain held last year to decide whether it should leave the European Union is illegal, according to a French lawyer.

Julien Fouchet, of Cornille-Pouyanne avocats located in the French region of Bordeaux, said many Britons were not allowed to vote in last year's vote due to the 15-year rule that bars British citizens from voting in elections whilst living abroad.

He said there is now a legitimate case to challenge last year's EU Referendum, which saw 52% of eligible voters back Brexit, as they were not allowed to cast a vote on the issues that concerned them the most.

According to the French barrister, these matters regarded the economic and political consequences of leaving the EU and residents' ability to travel from one EU country to another.

'European solidarity may crumble'

Mr. Fouchet said he is launching this bid out of fear that European solidarity might crumble now that Article 50 has been triggered.

He plans to take his case to the European courts on the premise that excluding Britons living abroad was unfair.

He said he supports the British people's right to opt for leaving the EU, but believes that the referendum should be re-run so that it is fair to all Brits affected by last year's outcome.

Mr. Fouchet said lots of Brits residing in France have recently spoken to him about their exclusion from voting and this is what inspired him to initiate this case.

He said he wants to do as much as possible to aid anxious Britons.

'This is not about self-interest'

The French lawyer said he is not pursuing this case out of self-interest.

However, the General Court of the EU could easily quash the case.

Once the European Council publishes its Brexit objectives on May 22nd, Mr. Fouchet will be allowed two months to submit his case.

He will also be publishing letters translated in English which will be posted to Britons living in France, helping to clarify what the position of the French law will be on this issue.

If the French lawyer succeeds in having his arguments heard by the General Court of the EU, it will only be one of the numerous obstacles Prime Minister Theresa May has encountered so far in trying to ensure Brexit is negotiated successfully.

'Divorce proceedings'

An article published by The Daily Express said that Britain's possible EU divorce bill could consume most of the negotiations, once they commence after this year's General Election.

Despite this, the precise figure of the final bill has not been clarified, with some sources suggesting it could be as enormous as 100 billion and others arguing it could be 50 billion.

She also faces much political opposition, with Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon opposing Brexit at every opportunity.

During an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuennsberg on Tuesday night, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn failed to state if leaving the EU will even happen should he become prime minister.

The Leader of the Opposition has also criticised the Prime Minister for alienating other EU countries before the talks have started.

Many banks have also threatened to leave London due to uncertainty over Britain's access to the EU's Single Market, despite Barclays announcing they will stay in the capital.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, has produced statements recently attempting to pour cold water over Britain's EU departure.

He said the English language is losing its importance in the world in an attempt to belittle Britain's influence in the world.

The President of the Commission has also said he argued with Mrs May during a Downing Street dinner about Britain's EU exit, despite the Prime Minister claiming the opposite.

Mrs May made a statement during the general election campaign where she took a stand against the EU's attempts to interfere in the upcoming vote.

It is believed to be true that the EU's attempts to thwart Britain's departure was a significant factor in causing Mrs May to call a general election.

The British Government triggered Article 50, the mechanism to leave the EU under the 2007 Lisbon Treaty, on March 29th this year.

This came after Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of triggering it.
Interesting, half way through Week 3 with battlebuses cranking the miles up and down the country, and politicians near and far putting a new spin on old spin, how far down the campaign trail have we come?

Conservatives

A collective sigh of relief emitted from the lips of many conservative candidates last night after the Electoral Commission said that there were no cases to answer, regarding accusations of Electoral Fraud during the 2015 campaign. That will come as a relief to those who the shadow may have been hanging over, as today is the last day of registration for this year's campaign.

It would also appear that Theresa May has put her first foot wrong, and not quite in touch with the 'people,' as she may think, saying that she would be in favor of a free vote in the Commons on whether to bring back Fox hunting. Wrong move; 87% of the voting public, no matter party affiliation, think that hunting to hounds is totally wrong and if implemented would herald the return the Conservatives to the days of the NASTY party!

Labour

After a good start yesterday, with the announcement of a sound and sensible policy, Labour blew away any kudos they gained, with a rather disastrous last 24 hours. The good idea was the implementation of life-long learning programs, in order to allow the workforce at large to realise the benefits of further education, one that can go on beyond school, college or university.

And not before time too, as recent reports say, that over 1/3 of the available UK workforce will be replaced by some form of robotic helpmate within 15 years. The bad idea was that some bright spark released the Labour manifesto a week early. This caused Jeremy Corbyn to pull out of a poster launch fronted by young Labour activists this morning, in order to attend an emergency meeting with his officials, only to then inadvertently run over the foot of a BBC cameraman who came to capture the event.

The problem, of course, was not that the manifesto had been leaked in the first place, or that the cameraman ended up in hospital: it was what it contained. The 43-page document turns out to be an ode to the joys of a future left-wing Britain. A place where Roma's and gypsies will be able to come and go, even if they have no money; that we will not leave Europe unless the terms are right, and then again, maybe not at all; a total refusal to cut immigration levels; trident will be renewed, but we won't EVER use it; scrapping moves to push the retirement age beyond 66; scrapping tuition fees; abolition of all laws limiting strikes, and the return of rent caps for the first time in 40 years. And that of course, is only the good parts.

As to the other 'Big Hitters,' the Lib Dems and UKIP, they both had a quiet week so far, with little new being expressed by either party!
The remaining Martin's stores in Richmond, Virginia will all be closed by July 10. There are only three left in the area that will reopen as Publix Super Markets. They are the ones on W. Broad Street, Three Chopt Road, and W. Cary Street. Seven Martin's stores are already renovated to reopen as Publix Super Markets this summer. That means there will be job openings at all Publix locations.

Not all Martin's grocery stores were sold to Publix. Martin's on Hull Street Road and Courthouse Road are closing on June 30 because their lease will expire. However, they will not reopen as a Publix grocery store.

Job fair

Two Publix Super Markets are set to open this summer in Henrico. The stores are located at 5400 Wyndham Forest Drive and 10250 Staples Mill Road. To get enough workers for these two stores, a job fair for the stores is being held from May 10 through May 14 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day at the Comfort Suites at 4051 Innslake Drive in Glen Allen. Many employees are needed for these two stores.

You may schedule an appointment, but walk-ins are welcome to attend and apply for a job. Publix is hiring in all departments.

About Publix

Publix Super Markets, Inc., is commonly known as Publix. The chain is based in Lakeland, Florida. Even though it is one of the largest regional grocery stores, there is not a Publix in every state.

The stores are spread throughout seven of the Southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Of the seven states, Virginia is as far north as the chain goes with its 1,000 locations.

If you live in any one of the above states, feel free to check out Publix even though you might already shop at other supermarkets.

Publix is different from some of the other chains because inside the store are cafes, sushi bars, a pharmacy, a liquor store and valet parking.

Once you shop at Publix, you find out that you don't have to leave Publix to purchase health foods or organic foods because they are available there.

Publix also offers a variety of customer services such as check cashing and buying and cashing money orders.

You can purchase lottery tickets as well as the taking advantage of movie rentals.

Publix prides itself on an excellent place to shop and a good place to work. If you are looking for a job in the Richmond, Virginia area, attend the Publix job fair on any day between May 10 and May 14 and apply for a job that is available in all departments.
China plans to set up a textile factory in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas and will utilize the space occupied by a former television factory to give a concrete shape to its program. The land was held by Sanyo in Forrest City and the Chinese firm will invest upwards of $400-million in the project that is expected to create hundreds of new jobs in the delta region and will come as a boon to the unemployed.

About the ambitious textile factory

According to Fox News, the Chinese firm will renovate the area occupied earlier by the Sanyo factory.

This area will now be converted into a production setup to manufacture yarn for textile use from Arkansas cotton.

During a news conference with company officials, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has indicated that such a step would boost the morale of the people of Arkansas because it will improve the economy of the region.

The new textile factory is expected to begin production by mid-2018 with the processing of more than 200,000 tons of Arkansas cotton on an annual basis. The chairman of the company looks at this venture as its first step to gain entry into the United States because the company is dedicated to providing the best quality of product.

Other Chinese projects in Arkansas

Gov. Asa Hutchinson took over office in 2015 and went to China on two occasions to follow up on trade.

Subsequently, a number of Chinese projects have come up in Arkansas and the textile factory is the fourth major project.

It is expected that many new jobs will be created over the next four years and there could be around 480 within the first two years and these will pay $15.25 an hour. These jobs will provide a big boost to the region that has faced economic struggle for a long time, especially in the aftermath of the closure of the Sanyo plant.

The investments of China will ensure betterment of the region and improve the scope of employment.

The efforts of Gov. Asa Hutchinson to woo industries into his state are necessary to revive the spirit of the people. When there is unemployment, there is an increase in the number of associated social problems, business and trade will suffer and the crime graph will rise.

Therefore, there is a need to generate employment opportunities to bring prosperity and the initiatives taken by the Chinese firms in this respect are laudable. Unemployment is a curse in society and a major problem that the administration has to handle and it has to take timely action to reduce it to the minimum in order to ensure stability in the society.
When Donald Trump decided to launch nearly 60 tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase last week, it was done in retaliation to the chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While the international community were mostly in favor of Trump's decision, there were a few foreign nations that weren't pleased.

Putin's claim

Ever since the early days of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump has been forced to fight off speculation that he has been in cahoots with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin. Whether it was his refusal to release his tax returns, or his past and current associates having some link back to the Kremlin, the former host of "The Apprentice" has been under constant scrutiny about his potential relationship with Russia.

Since defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, that speculation has only increased, as various reports have confirmed that Russia not only hacked the Democratic National Committee during the election, but that they did it in favor of Trump. In the weeks that have followed, several of Trump's associates and allies have been revealed to have been in communication with Russian officials, with retired Gen. Michael Flynn actually being forced out of his role as National Security Adviser because of it. Fast forward to present day and the link between Russia and the United States might not be as strong, with Putin now accusing the Trump administration of framing Syria for the aforementioned chemical attack, as reported by The Hill on April 11.

Vladimir Putin says US plans to fake chemical weapons in Syria https://t.co/kiHkZqhe3o pic.twitter.com/UlTaYHt2Cz  The Hill (@thehill) April 11, 2017

According to The Hill on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin is getting ready to call on the United Nations to conduct an investigation into the chemical attack last week in Syria. Putin is claiming, without providing evidence, that the Donald Trump administration is preparing to fake Assad's use of chemical weapons in order to launch another strike on the country.

Putin says expects 'fake' gas attacks to discredit Syria's Assad https://t.co/lW6WRzTP24 pic.twitter.com/iXdwgWM4Hz  Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 11, 2017

Hard-line stance

"We have information that a similar provocation is being prepared," Vladimir Putin said, claiming that the alleged framing of Syria will take place in the "southern Damascus suburbs where they are planning to again plant some substance and accuse the Syria authorities of using (chemical weapons)." Putin's comments come not long after United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave the Kremlin an ultimatum to either side with Syria or the United States over the issue at hand.

As of press time, no proof has been presented to back up the claims made by Russia against the United States, and the Donald Trump administration has not yet responded to the baseless allegations against them.
Derrin Espinola, 15, was traveling alone on Air Canada from Denver to Thunder Bay on May 1. He experienced a stopover at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, but due to delays, missed the next flight to Thunder Bay. The teen was stranded alone, in the airport, with no accommodation or food vouchers. According to Espinola, he felt trapped in the airport, like he was being held prisoner.

15-year-old boy stranded in Toronto airport overnight by Air Canada

Espinola said he arrived in Toronto at around 8 p.m., too late for his connecting flight to Thunder Bay.

While Air Canada rebooked him on another flight, it was only at 6 p.m. the next day. Reportedly the airline did not offer the teenager any accommodation or any food vouchers. Espinola told CBC News that he was trapped in the airport, with nowhere he could go. He couldnt leave the airport and was unable to get a hotel room, because he is a minor.

"@CBCToronto: Air Canada teen stranded alone at airport overnight https://t.co/hID2fhdUhM pic.twitter.com/usQJcokV5H"do better than this AC!  Disgrace Jones (@NikkiTremblay) May 10, 2017

Teen pleaded with Air Canada for help, to no avail

Espinola said he spent a majority of the night pleading with Air Canada for help, because he is a minor, but got no assistance from the airline.

He then tried to stay awake all night, as he was scared he might be robbed. Espinola went on to say he was very scared, very tired and very hungry and really didnt know what was going to happen to him, all alone in the airport.

Teen's mother tried to contact Air Canada with no success

His mother was also frantic. Karin Patock reportedly spent around 10 hours on the phone in an attempt to get through to Air Canada.

She added that she booked that particular airline as they state on their website that in the event of any flight delays, youngsters between the ages of 12 to 17 traveling alone will be cared for by their agents. The website further states the airline would arrange accommodation, transportation and meals for youths as and when required in such situations.

Air Canada reminding people they are still in the race for 'Worst Airline'  Gingery Mess (@smashcoots) May 10, 2017

Treated like an adult by Air Canada

As reported by the New York Post, Patock said after experiencing the delays and missing his flight, Air Canada rebooked her son just like any other person [adult]. They made the reservation for the next day without any thought of what would happen to the teenager when he landed in one of the largest airports in Canada, all alone.

According to Patock, when she tried to phone Air Canada, all she got was a message saying the airport is under construction and that they cannot accommodate anyone right then, saying to call back later. Patock says that was unacceptable to her.

@CBCNews Shameful conduct by air canada. I hope @JustinTrudeau instructs transport minister to take action so this happens never again  Michael J Morris (@MichaelJMo) May 10, 2017

Rebooked flight to Thunder Bay canceled by Air Canada

What made things even worse for the 15-year-old teenager was the flight to Thunder Bay they had rebooked him on was then cancelled, leading to the airline wanting to rebook him on a flight on May 3. This would have meant two days alone in the airport for the teen, so his family bought a ticket from another airline  at their own expense  to ensure he didnt spend another night in the Toronto Airport.

According to a spokesperson for Air Canada, the airline is investigating the matter and will reach out to the family.

The spokesman told CBC News that the ongoing runway construction at the Toronto Pearson Airport, along with severe weather conditions in the area, have been a challenge for the airline. This also, reportedly, included bad weather conditions in Thunder Bay.
Iran is preparing to launch two satellites into space but, as the Washington Free Beacon notes, the trump administration is pretty sure that its a cover for an ICBM program. The nightmare scenario being mulled by national security experts involves the Iranians launching a nuclear warhead to explode over the central United States. The resulting EMP pulse would send much of North America back to the Middle Ages, killing tens of millions of people by inches as technological civilization is destroyed. This prospect is a gift that Barack Obama gave the country he used to govern thanks to his misbegotten nuclear weapons deal.

Team Obama has been beating its collective chest about how the deal allegedly denied Iran a nuclear arsenal. In fact, the deal enabled it. Things were not helped when Obama sent planeloads of cash to Tehran that the Iranians are now using for a military buildup and for fomenting terrorism.

The Trump Administration is conducting a thorough review of the agreement and of how to handle Iran going forward. None of the options going forward are very appealing.

No doubt planners in the Pentagon are running scenarios for a military strike to take out Iranian missile and nuclear sites. Such an operation would be hazardous and even if successful would result in armed conflict with Iran that could only end with regime change.

Speaking of regime change, Team Trump is likely exploring ways to support resistance groups inside Iran. Most Iranians would like to live in a country where people are not threatened with being whipped to death for making a music video.

Reinstituted economic sanctions is another option. But how to convince the Europeans, now falling over themselves to make business deals with the mullahs, to go along?

Finally, augmenting missile defenses is a given. Anyone who opposes that has to explain why they want to expose Americans to a nuclear strike, by either Iran or North Korea.

Elections have consequences. The same American electorate that put an appeaser in office in both 2008 and then kept him there in 2012 elected a man four years later with a somewhat more forthright view of how to deal with enemies of the Republic.

The voters made a wise decision in 2016.

Still, the next few months and years are likely to be fraught with danger. Dealing with threats like Iran without having to go to a full-scale war and all the carnage that implies is going to take considerable finesse. The Iranian threat should serve as a warning to Americans never to elect an appeaser again.
After more than a year of killing nine innocent people in a dozen separate shootings in Phoenix, the mysterious, Serial street killer was arrested by the police. On Monday, May 8, Jeri Williams, Chief of Phoenix Police, o said that his team had arrested the shooter - Aaron Juan Saucedo. He is charged with 26 felony cases of drive-by shooting, aggravated assaults, and homicides. On Monday, May 8, after sorting through thousands of community tips on the serial killer, the police were finally able to zero in on the main culprit.

Modus operandi of the 'serial street killer'

Former city bus driver Saucedo mostly took down his victims at night by stalking them as they approached their cars or homes and then shot them down in their own yard. Most of the killings took place in the Maryvale area, which is a predominantly Latino area with most residents of low socioeconomic status. The killings took place between 2015 and 2016 and had initially confused the investigators because of the contradictory descriptions of the killer and the vehicle he used while on the shooting spree.

The sudden killings ignited fear in the heart of Phoenix residents with parents keeping their children inside and away from the windows. By evening the streets would be deserted.

The deadliest of all the incidents took place on June 12, 2016, when Saucedo murdered a 12-year-old girl along with two women in their 30s.

Arrest of Saucedo and his previous crimes

Saucedo was arrested last month for murdering his mothers 61-year-old boyfriend Raul Romero. However, at that point in time, the officials did not link him with the profile of the serial street killer. Although the police could not pinpoint a motive to Saucedos open firing and killing of nine people, a spokesman for the Phoenix police force stated that the 23-year-old was arrested on the basis of a wide host of evidence, which included witness testimony, ballistics, and surveillance.

All the evidence points toward him being the serial street killer.

Presently, it is not yet clear if Saucedo has been appointed a lawyer. Prior to these incidents, Saucedo does not have a criminal record in the state of Arizona. He, for a brief period of time, worked as a municipal bus driver and was working at a temp agency at the time of his arrest.

His acts of violence began on Aug. 12, 2015, when he shot into a neighbors house. No one was injured. Four days after the incident, he murdered Romero, the only victim who was known to him. According to Phoenix police, his killing spree on the streets of the city started after Romeros murder.
It has been a very busy week in the US political arena with the bombshell revelation of Donald Trumps National Security Advisor lying about monetary payments he received from Russia and Turkey. Ex-President Barack Obama had also chimed in and reported that he warned the U. S. President about hiring Michael Flynn.

Trump fired FBI's Director via national television

Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly accused the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey Jr. of ruining her chance to becoming the first female President of the United States of America.

And if that wasnt enough political news to whet your appetite, today we learned that President Donald Trump has created a new way of firing an employee. James Comey Jr. found out that he was no longer The Fbi's Director via a television that was in the background when he was giving a speech.

Another twist in the ongoing Russian hack saga is that the White House press secretary reported several hours before the President sacked Comey, that he had hired a law firm in Washington D.C. to represent him in the Russian hack scandal. Additionally, U.S. Federal prosecutors handed down several grand jury subpoenas to individuals that worked with Michael Flynn. The prosecutors have requested the business records of the former National Security Advisor.

With the subpoenas handed out, it shows that the Russian case has escalated significantly. According to Cable News Network (CNN), the news agency said it learned of the subpoenas several hours before the United States President publicly sacked the FBI Director. Those who received the legal notice will become a part of the ongoing investigation into Russias tie to the United States.

Reportedly, Vladimir Putin had helped the Republican nominee win the US presidency by meddling in the recent U.S. election.

Large-scale investigations launched into Russian ties

Just a few weeks ago, the FBI's Director stated that the agency had launched a broader investigation into the Russian scandal. And according to sources close to the investigation, there seems to be possible collusion between Donald Trumps election campaign team and the Russian government.

Reportedly, several subpoenas were issued a few weeks ago by the United States Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Virginia. The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are also involved in the investigation of Russias connection to Flynn and Donald Trump.

Recently, the US President hired a team of lawyers in Washington to defend him in the infamous case and Michael Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner declined to talk about the case that continues to read like a Russian high-stake thriller.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation along with Virginia's Us Attorney Office and the Justice Department have launched separate investigations and have also declined to comment on the Russian case.
The Iranian general Mohammad Hossein threatens the US naval contingent in the Persian Gulf that if provoked, Iran will incur massive destruction to American warships. This is after numerous minor clashes between the US and a few Iranian coast guard vessels recently.

Iran threatens the use of heavily armed speedboats to deliver death and destruction to the US fleet

General Hossein said in an address made in Teheran's Malek Ashtar University that the main weapon of the Iranian navy against the US is its speedboats. These highly agile vessels capable of 110 knots are said to able to destroy modern vessels of the United States in the Persian gulf.

These speedboats, General Hossein added, are agile and can easily hide under the radar as it approaches U.S. vessels. The tough statement made by the general is a response to the perceived antagonistic US stance over the victory of the Islamic revolution in the recent elections in Iran.

What is the US response to Iran naval threats?

US-Iran relations have grown tensed especially during Trump's attack on Assad's forces in Syria, which is an ally of Iran. Aside from this, Trump's stance on Iran strikes concern on the newly elected Iranian regime, especially the possible rescinding of Obama's nuclear deal.

Iran has long been regarded by the US as among the problematic countries in the Middle East.

Its nuclear program, which continues to be a threat to the stability in the region continually tests the diplomatic patience of the United States, especially under the Trump administration.

During Obama's term, the Iran deal was a breakthrough in the diplomatic impasse between the two countries. However, upon Trump's enter into office, the progress with Iran may be in jeopardy.

How will Iran affect US position in the Middle East?

Obama's controversial trade deal with Iran is one of the major achievements that Trump wants to dismantle. Obama's deal entails allowing Iran to continue nuclear energy research with strict sanctions on developing weapons of mass destruction. Obama argues that the deal was a needed compromise to hamper Iran's progress in acquiring the means to develop a nuclear bomb.

Through Obama's deal, Iran will be given limited freedom to manufacture and develop nuclear energy but requires regular inspections coming from the UN to ensure weapons of mass destruction are not being made.

Trump does not favor such a compromise and will most likely renegotiate the deal in favor of the previous sanctions Obama had lifted. For Iran, the new U.S. president is not good news and may spark antagonistic sentiments between the two countries once again.
On May 7th, 2017 Governor Greg Abbot of Texas signed Senate Bill 4 into law. The bill, signed into law live on Facebook, bans "Sanctuary Cities" in Texas beginning September 1st, 2017. Originally authored and submitted by Texas Republican Senator Charles Perry, of Lubbock, Texas, it requires local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal authorities in the identification and detaining of illegal immigrants, under penalty of fines and criminal charges. The new law will also allow for the removal from office of any elected or appointed official not in compliance.

SB 4

The bill, while lauded by Senate republicans as a bill meant to help protect the public from another invisible enemy, can be seen as a new and legal form of racial discrimination. Under one of the final amendments to the bill, law enforcement will now be "allowed" to question the immigration status of anyone being detained, as opposed to an earlier version which required a lawful arrest. The illegal immigrants that they intend to search for, of course, are Mexican. The population of Texas, as estimated by the US Census Bureau in 2016, is roughly 28 million. The Hispanic population of Texas represents 38 percent of all people in the state, at roughly 10 million people. This means that 10 million people in the State of Texas are eligible to be stopped at any time, detained, and questioned about their legal status.

Federal Immigration

The new Texas law is more in line with President Trump's recent early executive order regarding immigration, giving more power to immigration officers, and the ability to forego due process, for the sake of deporting an individual. Under previous administrative policy, long-time illegal immigrants were granted leniency, most of them having been brought to the country as children, and pursuing regular employment or education.

The order is currently being blocked on legal grounds.

The bottom line?

This new law, in conjunction with the Trump administration's executive order on immigration, is the perfect storm of racism and fear mongering. Legislators claim the law is to protect law abiding citizens from hardened criminals, yet the victims of such policies tend to be average law abiding residents of this country, who only wish to make a better life for themselves and their families.

On top of that, the racism caused by this law is astounding, with the legal status of anyone of color suddenly questionable. It is a direct insult to every Hispanic person, regardless of origin or citizenship status. I used to be proud to call myself Texan. I, for one, will never step foot in the state of Texas again, until this awful law is repealed.
While Ja Rule and his Fyre Festival continue to dig out from at least 6 separate lawsuits and the onslaught of bad press that comes with stranding paying customers in the Bahamas, another American rapper is looking to enter the festival production game. It seems Snoop Dogg will be taking a short break from cooking with Martha Stewart to bring a 2-day, eclectic music festival to his father's hometown of Magnolia, MS.

Town's population: under 2,400 people

While on his way to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival this past weekend, Snoop stopped in Magnolia to meet with the town's mayor Anthony Witherspoon and briefly spoke to local media.

After the meeting, the mayor expressed great enthusiasm about the prospect of bringing guests from around the country to his town of fewer than 2,400 people.

At this early stage of planning, there is no indication of where concert goers might stay during such an event, or if Magnolia currently has the infrastructure to support a large-scale, multi-day festival, but Mayor Witherspoon is already on board to make Snoop's dream show happen. "We want to try to get it done this year, but if not, we will definitely do it next year," he told a local newspaper reporter.

During the rapper's 25-year career, he has always wanted to perform in Mississippi but has instead booked concerts in larger urban centers like New Orleans, about 90 minutes away.

He felt it was finally time to take matters into his own hands with Snoop Fest.

"We always stop in New Orleans but we never book a show here," he explained to the local McComb Enterprise-Journal. Adding, "We might as well do it ourselves because my booking agent just won't do it."

Festival would be a multi-generational event

Although the logistics of the festival still need to be ironed out, Snoop has already put great thought into who he would like to see playing and how to appeal to the largest group possible.

Instead of sticking to one genre over the course of both days, or targeting millennials, like the Fyre Festival did, he hopes Snoop Fest will become a celebration of Mississippi as a whole.

The first day would be aimed at the "aunts, grandmas and uncles," and feature more traditional country, blues, and southern gospel artists while "the second day should be about the generation that took it to another level," he said.

On that second day, he imagines Mississippi acts who have found success -- like Brandy, Ray J, and Soulja Boy -- would share the stage with local performers still looking for their big break. Snoop Dogg himself would headline and close the festival.
Former vice-premier Qian Qichen, who was China's foreign minister for a decade, died on Tuesday night in Beijing, according to a statement from the central authority released on Wednesday. He was 90.

Qian was born in 1928 in Tianjin. In 1942, he joined the Communist Party of China as a middle school student in Shanghai.

After studying in the former Soviet Union, he began his diplomatic career by working in the Chinese embassy in Moscow in 1955.

Qian later served as ambassador to Guinea and director-general of the foreign ministry's Information Department.

He had a close relationship with the press. Early in his career, Qian worked at Shanghai's Ta Kung Pao, which is said to be the oldest Chinese language newspaper still in operation in China. While serving as head of the Information Department, he proposed establishing a spokesman system and even acted as de facto first spokesman of the ministry.

Qian was vice-foreign minister from 1982 to 1988 and minister from 1988 to 1998. He was vice-premier of the State Council from 1993 and retired in 2003.

Shi Yinhong, director of the Center of US Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said Qian "made great contributions to China's relations with the US, Russia and neighboring countries".

"He was a very experienced diplomat. With a calm character, he was good at handling crises and was trusted by generations of Chinese leaders."

Qian was the first Chinese foreign minister to attend an ASEAN event, the 1991 ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Malaysia. It was the first time China formally recognized ASEAN as an institution and laid the groundwork for future ASEAN-China cooperation.

Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said Qian managed to improve China's relations with Western countries in the 1990s.

"He was also the first Chinese diplomat to publish a bookTen Episodes in China's Diplomacyto reveal stories behind the scenes in his own perspective," Ruan said.

In 1996, Qian was appointed director of the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Chinese restaurant world has lost another legend.

Henry Chung, a San Francisco restaurant pioneer who introduced the peppery, garlicky Hunan cuisine to the United States, died on April 23 at age 99.

Chung's death came about five months after the passing of Peng Chang-kuei, the man who created the American Chinese-restaurant staple, General Tso's chicken. Peng died on Nov 30 in Taipei, also close to 100 (his age was given as 97 or 98). Like Chung, he hailed from Hunan province.

Chung and his wife, Diana, are known for the Henry's Hunan chain of six restaurants, the first of which opened in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1974, at a time when relations between the US and China were thawing.

Chung was born in 1918 in Liling, Hunan province. He earned a scholarship to boarding school in the regional capital, Changsha. He was married as a boy and was a father of three children by the time he graduated boarding school.

He continued his schooling at National Central University in Nanjing, where he met and married a student named Diana, a star volleyball player.

After college, Chung went to work as a diplomat for the Kuomingtang government. He was posted for a short time to Japan after World War II and later stationed in Houston in 1948, bringing Diana and their two children to the United States.

The Kuomingtang government eventually fled the Chinese mainland for Taiwan and called Chung home, but his wife wanted to stay in the United States. So Henry Chung stayed.

According to sfgate.com, from the 1950s through the early 1970s, first in Houston and then San Francisco, the Chungs ran a variety of stores, such as diners and ice cream and shoe repair shops.

Chung eventually landed a job at China Airlines, but his wife wanted to give the restaurant business another try. They decided to serve their native Hunanese food, which then was an anomaly in the mostly Cantonese Chinatown.

The original restaurant on Kearny Street in 1974  inspired by President Richard Nixon's visit to China, strived to create some culinary diplomacy between the two nations.

In 1976, Tony Hiss, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, ate at the Chungs' place and later wrote that it was "the best Chinese restaurant in the world".

Herb Caen, legendary columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, also added to Henry's Hunan's press clippings, and the rest was restaurant history.

"It changed our lives. We went from a restaurant that was moderately successful to being so busy that we had lines that went around the corner," Chung's son Howard told abc7news.com in San Francisco. "We had street performers that would come and perform in front of the lines."

The Chungs returned to China in 1982, and began bringing his children from his first marriage, along with their extended families, to the US. The growing restaurant chain now was managed and staffed by branches of the extended family.

The Chungs also were philanthropic. Henry Chung established the Diana T.Y. Chung scholarships at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley and the UC Hastings College of the Law. They built a school gymnasium in China and also set up a scholarship at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in San Francisco.

Chung's obituary on legacy.com also tells of a near-fatal encounter he had with a one-armed river pirate during the Japanese occupation of China.

Chung's wife died in 2003, and he leaves behind eight children; many grand-, great and great-great grandchildren and much spicy Hunan cuisine. A reception is scheduled for May 14 at 2 pm at Henry's Hunan on Sansome Street in San Francisco.

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com
The White House wants the FBI to complete its investigation into alleged Russia interference in the 2016 election.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday that "we encourage them to complete the investigation" so that it will be proven that "there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia."Sanders said the White House does not think appointing a special prosecutor is necessary.

US President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, amid an investigation into Russian ties to the Trump campaign and meddling in the 2016 election.

AP
File photo shows Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference following the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, May 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

ANKARA - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he hoped Washington would "reverse" its decision to arm a Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) before his visit to the US next week.

Speaking on a joint press conference with Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma in Ankara, Erdogan said" A terrorist group cannot be defeated with another one,"quoted by local private broadcaster NTV.

"Everything that happens in Syria and Iraq is a matter of national security for Turkey,"he stated.

The president said he would express his concerns in this regard at the meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump on May 16, adding the same issue would also be brought up at the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on May 25.

Meanwhile, during an interview with NTV, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that US decision to supply weapons to Syrian Kurdish militants will "neither benefit the US nor the region".

"The delivery of heavy weapons to the People's Protection Units (YPG) is a crisis itself," Isik said.

He reiterated Turkey's stance of not joining any military operation in the region involving terrorist groups.

Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) criticized on Wednesday the US decision, urging President Erdogan to cancel his upcoming visit to the US.

The opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also underlined the timing of the announcement, describing it as a move "beyond political disrespect, a mockery against Turkey."

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that US President Trump had approved the arming of the YPG "as necessary to ensure a clear victory" in a planned operation to retake the northern Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State(IS).

Turkey considers the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian affiliates of the PKK, a terrorist organization listed by Turkey, the US, and the EU.

However, the US has supported the PKK and the PYD as its ally on the ground in combating IS in Syria.
VIENNA - Austria's Vice Chancellor and leader of the People's Party, Reinhold Mitterlehner, Wednesday announced he would resign from all political positions.

Mitterlehner said he is to leave the office of Vice Chancellor and economic minister on May 15, and he is expected to step down from his party leader by this weekend.

"It's enough," he told reporters in a news conference on Wednesday.

The conservative People's Party is currently in alliance with the central left Social Democratic Party of Austria in the country's parliament.
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks after giving testimony to federal judge Sergio Moro in Curitiba, Brazil, May 10, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BRASILIA - Brazil's sweeping investigation into the Petrobras corruption ring, named Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash), reached new heights of media and public attention on Wednesday as former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was interrogated by judge Sergio Moro.

At 2 pm local time, Lula's interrogation began at the federal tribunal of Curitiba, capital of the state of Parana, with Moro seeking answers to charges of corruption and money laundering against the charismatic politician.

Upon arriving at the court, Lula received applause and cheers by a large number of supporters, which were kept back around 150 meters from the building.

Thousands of activists from Lula's Workers' Party (PT), the Central Workers' Union (CUT) and others had gathered to celebrate the former leader and denounce what they see as a conspiracy against him. Lula's successor and friend, former President Dilma Rousseff, was also on hand to lend her support.

A smaller group of protesters, who support Lula's appearance in court, also made their voices heard.

The interrogation saw Moro interviewing Lula for around three hours, before turning the witness over to federal prosecutors and then allowing the defense team to have their turn.

Earlier in the day, Brazil's Supreme Court rejected a petition by Lula's defense team to postpone his testimony.

His lawyers claimed they had not had enough time to review all the documentation related to the case and requested 90 days to analyze it.

They stated they had received around 5,000 documents, with a total of around 100,000 pages, over the last couple of weeks.

Lula is accused of having received bribes worth 3.7 million reais (1.15 million US dollars) from the OAS construction company, in the form of a three-floor apartment in Guaruja, a resort town on the coast of Sao Paulo.

Should he be found guilty and should the sentence then be upheld by a higher court, Lula would be automatically barred from standing for president in the 2018 election. Opinion polls constantly show him as the most favored candidate by the Brazilian electorate.

Also on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurelio de Mello said there was no current motive to detain Lula.

Speaking to the press during Lula's interrogation, Mello said the court case into Lula was not concluded but that, for the moment, "it is not necessary to halt the natural order of the judicial process."

He said that this order should be "investigate, prove guilt and carry out the sentence... What should be an exception, provisional prison...has become the norm."

Moro, the head judge for Lava Jato, has been criticized for maintaining various accused people in preventive prison for long periods.

There is no precise date for Moro to give his ruling on Lula's case but it is expected to take several weeks.
By Hong Xiao and Wang Linyan in New York | China Daily USA | Updated: 2017-05-11 11:01

The Belt and Road Initiative could advance Ethiopia's development as well as that of other African countries, Ambassador Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia's permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Wednesday.

The initiative offers opportunities for participating countries to mobilize resources and speed up development, Alemu said in an interview with Chinese media in his office in New York.

Many countries, including Ethiopia, have had difficulties in terms of domestic resources mobilization, and infrastructure has been a major impediment to development, which is needed to connect people, expand markets and develop cooperation, Alemu said.

"So the initiative provides possibilities to those countries for infrastructure development and the connection with resources mobilization," he said.

As the highest-level event under the Belt and Road Initiative since President Xi Jinping proposed it in 2013, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday. An expanded international consensus on cooperation will be one of the expected outcomes of the forum.

Ethiopia's prime minister will attend the forum, Alemu said.

Alemu believes that the initiative, which has been able to benefit all participating parties, has a great significance not only for developing countries along the route but the global economy as a whole.

He said the initiative would enhance the value of China's partnership in the development of developing countries and also connect Asia with Europe and Africa.

What the initiative did was to create opportunities to favor all those participating parties "in an equal manner", he said. "Even though it began from China, the outcome reaches other countries."

Alemu believes it's important partly because it encourages people and countries to come together at a time when there's a need to avoid division and unite people.

"It comes at a right time," he said.

That's also why the UN Security Council and General Assembly have incorporated the initiative in their resolutions, he said.

Alemu said the partnership between Ethiopia and China has played a vital role in domestic development during the past decades.

One example is the Addis Ababa Light Rail project - a $475 million urban rail project opened in 2015 - the first of its kind for the city and sub-Saharan Africa.

"Over the last 15 to 20 years, we have achieved tremendous progress. In the role of the partnership we have with China, the partnership has been very vital in the process of development," he said. "We hope this partnership can continue going."

Alemu believes that the BRI also has great significance to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Many resources are required to achieve the 2030 Agenda objectives, and the BRI will be able to mobilize resources from more than 60 countries that will be involved in the process, he said.

"It would definitely be beneficial," he said.

Contact the writers at xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com and wanglinyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 05/11/2017 page2)
The US is "close to deciding" about sending a representative to the Belt and Road summit next week in China, according to a minister at the Chinese embassy in Washington.

Minister Li Kexin did not reveal the name or title of the potential US participant, but said it was "encouraging" news.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, will be held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.

"The main focus of the initiative is on the further connectivity, and it is open and inclusive," Li told a roundtable discussion at the embassy on Tuesday. "It is opening up great opportunities for other countries, including the US, and we welcome all parties to be a part of this."

Li noted that globalization and regional integration is also driving China to promote the BRI.

Anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise in the US and in some European regions.

"I don't think this is a good trend here in this country, because American companies complain about the investment environment in China, but vice-versa is that Chinese companies do face more and more serious problems here," Li said.

Tian Deyou, economic and commercial minister-counselor of the embassy, also said that the BRI is a huge project with major opportunities that go beyond a single country.

Citing World Bank statistics, Tian said that over the past 70 years, for every dollar spent on infrastructure projects in developing countries, 40 cents are used to buy equipment and services from developed countries.

"So in this way I can understand that Americans want to do something with this project," Tian said, noting that when the BRI was first raised, there had been skepticism among think tanks and American companies.

"They are changing their attitude and wanting to be aggressive about joining this project," Tian said, adding that American businesses can play a role in banking, financial support, consulting, construction, infrastructure engineering and manufacturing.

Cooperation is on the rise between Chinese enterprises and American enterprises in implementing projects in a third country, not in China or the US, but in Africa, for example.

"I think there are many examples, so I am sure in the future there will be more examples for the cooperation of the enterprises of the two countries through the initiative," said Li Bin, economic consul at the'embassy.

Sourabh Gupta, a senior specialist with the Institute for China-America Studies, said the BRI should be understood in terms of existing great and rising major powers, and how countries can create an international system that is inclusive and in which all participants can frame the rules.

"This is not overcoming a new order, but it is adding more content to a new order and more ideas to the new order, and especially in the area of development," he said.

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 05/11/2017 page1)
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HA NOI  The Vietnam eTrade Conference 2017 (VETC) will be held in Ha Noi on May 16, according to the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM).

According to chief officer of VECOM Tran Van Trong, the conference is the first of its kind to be organised in Viet Nam, and is an opportunity for agencies, organisations and businesses to exchange and share experiences on the trend in online import and export and discuss actions to develop this area.

The conference will focus on three topics -- online public service or online transaction between Government and businesses (G2B), opportunities to develop export from e-trade exchange following the model of business to business (B2B), and the trend and methods to develop the model of business to business to customer (B2B2C).

It is a chance for businesses to learn about e-trade exchange and the trend of online retail to foreign customers. Enterprises can also propose to the State to provide online public services for import and export, said Chairman of VECOM Nguyen Thanh Hung said.  VNS
HA NOI  The Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) and Experian, an Ireland-based global information services company, signed an agreement on Tuesday to implement a Credit Risk Modelling project for Basel II.

Under the contract, Experian will provide consultancy and teach advanced methodologies, including developing software to measure credit risk in accordance with Basel II; helping complete credit risk estimates under the Internal Rating-Based (IRB) method; and helping MB put the system into operation by 2019.

Basel II is an international business standard that requires financial institutions to maintain enough cash reserves to cover risks incurred by operations. The Basel accords are a series of recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BSBS).

Basel II improves on Basel I, first enacted in the 1980s, by offering more complex models for calculating regulatory capital. Essentially, the accord mandates that banks holding riskier assets should be required to have more capital on hand than those maintaining safer portfolios. It also requires companies to publish both the details of risky investments and risk management practices.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Le Cong, vice-chairman of MB, said the bank has identified the Risk Management Platform as one of the two important areas in its development strategy for the 2010-15 and 2017-21 periods. We have implemented many solutions to continuously improve our risk management capacity and meet the business development and compliance requirements of the State Bank of Viet Nam, Cong said.

MB is among the 10 commercial banks chosen by the central bank to implement the pilot phase of Basel II in the 2014-17 period. The bank has upgraded its operations, a compulsory requirement, making its banking operations safer and more efficient.

Nick Boyle, executive director of Experian Southeast Asia, said MB is one of the top banks in Viet Nam, and it will implement the best international practices and get Basel II accreditation by 2020.

Determined to launch Basel II successfully, MB has been perfecting its management model by applying international norms and practices to change its approach towards risk-based business decisions in areas such as operational management, risk management model, risk management policy framework, measurement tools, and effective risk management.  VNS
HA NOI  Tra (pangasius) fish prices skyrocketed last month, reaching a 10-year high, but experts warn that export of this seafood product could be unstable this year.

They said measures should be taken to restore declining imports to major markets like the United States and Europe, counter misinformation about the local seafood industry, and create a national brand with quality products.

In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces, tra fish prices surged by VN4,000-7,000 (20-27 US cent) per kilo over last year to VN24,000-29,000. At these prices, it is estimated that farmers can earn profits of VN1.5-1.7 million per tonne.

Meanwhile, the prices of tra fish breeds climbed to VN50,000-60,000 per kilo in late April and early May, VN20,000 higher than early April, a threefold year-on-year increase.

According to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), tra fish prices in the Asian market averaged $2.3 per kg in January and rise $2.7 per kg in February, up 17.3 per cent. By April, the prices rose to $2.8-3.00 per kg, up 30.4 per cent compared with the beginning of the year.

Sustained surge

VASEP general secretary Truong inh Hoe told Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) that tra fish prices had started to rise a few months prior to the Lunar New Year festival that fell in January, and reached its peak in April. This was the longest period ever that prices kept increasing, and the trend might continue until the end of 2017, Hoe said.

He attributed the surge in purchasing prices to a lack of supply in the market as a result of households abandoning tra fish farming after many consecutive years of losses.

Export orders for tra fish in early 2017 rose 10 per cent year-on-year, while tra fish bred for export processing in 2016 fell, Hoe added.

In previous years, the United States and EU were Viet Nams largest export markets for tra fish, but this has declined in recent years. In Q1 this year, export value of tra fish to the United States was just $61 million, down 24.3 per cent year-on-year, and corresponding figures for the EU and Southeast Asia also dropped sharply, by 21.5 and 10 per cent, respectively.

Hoe said anti-dumping tariffs were mainly to blame for the decline. In the United States, for instance, Vietnamese exporters had to pay tariffs of $3 per kilo, discouraging them from developing tra fish for export, Hoe said, adding that recent incorrect news broadcasts by overseas media had also hurt exporters.

However, tra fish exports to China have shot up since the beginning of this year, surging by 50 per cent over the same period last year. VASEP estimates that China will overtake the US this year as the largest importer of Vietnamese tra fish, with imports of approximately $400 million.

This sudden growth poses many risks, Hoe cautioned, without elaborating.

National seafood brand

He said it is crucial that Viet Nam regains its lost market share in the EU and United States and promotes the image of tra fish bred in the country.

Towards this, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in collaboration with VASEP, has launched a campaign to boost the brand of Viet Nams tra fish.

VASEP has suggested that the agriculture ministry re-activate the Market Development Fund established in 2002 by the former Ministry of Fisheries.

The association has also called for a focus on high-quality tra fish products that would enable the creation of a national brand.

For this, large tra fish processing firms should collaborate with multinational corporations to enhance product quality, it said.

It has advised exporters to strengthen co-operation with management agencies in importing countries to ensure strict quality control in labeling, especially for the European market.

The association stressed the need to negotiate with some countries in central America that are imposing excessive anti-dumping measures on tra fish.

At the Seafood Expo Global held in Brussels, Belgium, from April 25-27, VASEP introduced several Vietnamese seafood products including tra fish. At this event, VASEP and MARD organised a press conference to provide clear information about Viet Nams tra fish processing and exports to European partners.

The event was held in the context of a tra fish crisis in Spain and the Carrefour supermarket chain stopping sales of Vietnamese tra fish.

Hoe said the press conference aimed to provide correct information about Viet Nams seafood industry and target increasing exports to Europe.  VNS
These days, the term save the pigs has appeared in many local newspapers, as the price of live pigs has dropped to a record low, causing major losses for farmers across the country. Viet Nam News spoke with the leaders of three state management agencies about the causes of the downward pressure on prices as well short-term and long-term solutions to help the struggling pig-farming industry recover.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments (MARDs) Animal Husbandry Department:

Nguyen Xuan Duong

It can be said that there are many factors leading to the current crisis in the pig-farming industry. However, the underlying cause is the ideology of small-scale production, mainly among the animal husbandry households.

A crucial factor is that Vietnamese pig farmers look solely at the Chinese market which accepts pigs weighing more than 120kg, bringing large benefits to the farmers. So when the Chinese halt purchases, the breeders face difficulties in exporting to other markets or even ensuring local consumption.

Even pig exports have been hit due to various challenges in recent years, but the farmers have not reduced the size of their herds, leading to an oversupply problem.

The pig-raising households assume the problem will never happen to them, even though they were warned by MARD after they produced an oversupply in the last few years.

Another issue is that we are unable to expand to other foreign markets for export.

Pigs account for 70 per cent of the animal husbandry structure in Viet Nam, while pork accounts for 70 per cent of food consumption among the Vietnamese. Meanwhile, investment in pigs is typically high. For example, a sow is priced at between VN15 and VN30 million (between US$700 and $1,400) and the length of productive sow life is three years.

Due to the long pig cycle, it is difficult to recover in the livestock industry, which can lead to a shortage of pork in the future.

In terms of solutions, MARD is applying several measures to curb the current oversupply. The ministry has instructed localities across the country to review pig-farming planning to meet the demand and potential of each region, asking them to not issue licences for new animal-feed procession facilities as the current production is 31 million tonnes per year, far higher than the target of 25 million tonnes by 2025.

Another radical solution is to enhance the establishment of links between farmers, co-operatives and enterprises. If these links are strengthened, food hygiene and safety can be controlled, while the demand and supply of pork can be adjusted.

Additionally, the husbandary sector in many other countries handle oversupply issues by maintaining vast cold storage units, but Viet Nam only relies on the cold storage units held by each enterprise. Recently, MARDs minister, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, asked all cities and provinces to persuade pig slaughterhouses and processors to keep buying pigs and keep them in cold storage or process the meat.

Under the current situation, enterprises should also prepare for the potential pork market that will arise for lunar New Year (Tet) 2018, as the farmers may thin their pig herds, leading to a decline in supply during Tet.

Further, this month, MARD will send a working team to China to discuss the export quota of Vietnamese agricultural products, including pigs and pork. Since late last year, we have been working with the Chinese side to enhance the consumption of agricultural products between the two countries. However, more time is needed to reach an agreement on the export quota as Chinas demands for hygiene and quality follow international standards.

Long-term solutions involve plans to reduce the livestock inventory from the current 4.2 million sows to three million by 2019 and call on breeders to raise pigs that generate high yield or special ones that suit certain groups of customers.

Tran Duy Khanh, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of Viet Nam Poultry Association:

Tran Duy Khanh

The precipitous drop in the price of live pigs shows that the supply is greater than the demand. In my opinion, the industry is facing this oversupply mainly due to the lack of a long-term production plan from the management agency. MARD has been urging the farmers to apply the latest production technology, while consumption has been assigned to the Ministry of Trade. In other words, the input and output of the industry are managed by two different ministries, which lead the households and enterprises to adjust their production by themselves.

I think the State needs to support farmers in finding new markets, as I have already mentioned that we lack market regulation by the State. That is why the price last month was VN15,000-25,000 (between $0.7 and $1.1) per live pig, while pork was sold for between VN80,000 and VND90,000 per kilogramme.

The live pig price has fallen from its earlier price of VN31,000-33,000 per kilogramme before Tet and from VN43,000-45,000 per kilogramme one year ago, while the production cost is VN37,000 per kilogramme.

Ta Van Tuong, Director of Ha Noi Animal Husbandry Development Centre:

Ta Van Tuong

Much has been done to establish the supply chain link in the livestock industry to sell hygienic foods with traceable origins to help the farmers and bring products to consumers. We now have nine links for pork, selling dozens of tonnes of pork every day.

Thanks to the link between the farmers and the retail network, many unnecessary intermediaries have been eliminated.

Additionally, I think cold storage is very important for resolving the oversupply situation. Our centre has called on chain enterprises to introduce the products of chilled meat and frozen meat to customers.

The centre has also introduced the products from its chain to various supermarkets, street stores, canteens and food processors to find the right outlet for the farming households.

We consider this a revolution because if we can eradicate the situation of consuming pigs slaughtered daily, the animal husbandry industry will not suffer from the pressure of providing minor outlets for the traders. Instead, farmers will have the right conditions for applying technology in raising pigs, improvements in the quality and quantity of their products, and reduced costs. This is also an important condition for organising high-tech farming, as other developed nations supply their customers a variety of high-quality products.  VNS
HA NOI  The current Competition Law in Viet Nam has yet to come into practise, and it will need further improvement to reach its full potential, said Trinh Anh Tuan, Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam Competition Authority (VCA) of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

During his speech at a Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) conference yesterday, Tuan stressed the importance of the national law on competition in pushing economic progress and protecting a fair environment for national competition.

The conference introduced several changes in the Competition Law draft to be submitted, with visions toward building a socialist-oriented market economy with in-depth global integration.

au Anh Tuan, Head of the VCCIs Legal Department, stressed the need for a modified Competition Law, as the current set of laws shows several inadequacies in defining legal breeches in fair entrepreneur competition--including monopolistic behaviours, market domination and market centralisation, while the previous set of conditions for a relevant market is now considered obsolete and unaccommodating in practise.

Furthermore, the law on competition is making it difficult to investigate cases of unfair competition. There has yet to be a definite legal framework for the competition authority to obtain proof of unfair competitive practises done by firms, and to assert the level of damage done by these breeching firms in order to prevent and punish such acts.

As such, the reviewed and renewed Competition Law is built upon the basis of anti-trust practise and ensures fair competitive actions amongst firms. The law aims to increase Viet Nams economic efficiency and protect the rights and benefits of Vietnamese businesses and consumers.

Another objective for the new law is to guarantee fairness and transparency for court decisions in cases regarding unfair competition and affirm the central role of the government in protecting a competitive market economy.

Tang Van Nghia, Dean of Postgraduate from Foreign Trade University, also praised the upcoming changes. He advised lawmakers to add an exemption clause in order to grant businesses pricing freedom, as a true market economy gives firms the right to choose their own levels of supply and price.

The draft for a revised law on competition is expected to institutionalise and realise the governments policy to construct a fair market without monopoly and unfair competition in the near future.  VNS
BRUSSELS  Viet Nams economic development and advantages in attracting investment were introduced to Belgian enterprises at a conference in Belgiums southern Mons City on May 10.

Participants at the event highlighted the positive impact of the Viet Nam-EU free trade agreement (EVFTA) and proposed measures to expand import-export activities between the two sides.

Nguyen Canh Cuong, Vietnamese trade counsellor in Belgium, noted that the country has maintained stable development with GDP growth of 6-8 percent, while exports and imports have risen 20-30 per cent each in recent years.

He stressed that abundant business opportunities are available in many areas for potential investors, adding that prospects are bright as the Vietnamese government is in the process of signing the EVFTA.

Meanwhile, Frauker Sommer, who is in charge of the European Unions bilateral trade with Viet Nam, introduced the EVFTA and gave her assessment on benefits in tariff and import-export brought by the deal as well as comparative advantages for each side and ways for businesses to expand their import-export activities.

She underlined that EVFTA is the best free trade agreement that EU has reached with a developing country.

Speaking to a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Belgium, Hainaut Province Governor Tommy Leclercq said the province, the largest locality in Belgiums Wallonia French-speaking region, hopes to promote economic ties with Viet Nam in various areas, especially in import-export.

He said following the conference, the province would hold a number of business seminars focusing on fields important to Viet Nam and attractive to Belgian investors.

The governor also revealed that the province has plans to send a delegation to Viet Nam in September or October this year to discuss co-operation possibilities with potential partners.

General director of Delaunoit group Jaques Delaunoit said with the support of the European Commission, he has realised feasible investment opportunities in Viet Nam.

According to chairman of the Belgium-Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce Huynh Trang Long, several Belgian businesses are keen on seeking partnership with Viet Nam for stronger economic ties. - VNS
ONG THAP  The southern province of ong Thap on Wednesday extended its state of emergency as the erosion worsened, with a section of the riverbank covering some 600m affected so far.

A section of the Tien riverbank, running from Muong Ca Lach to Binh Thanh Market in Binh Hoa Hamlet, Thanh Binh District, was reported to have been eroded by 150m over the last few days, since the last state-of-emergency declaration last month.

The authorities also said another 600m of the riverbank from Muong Ca Lach towards Phong My Bridge had already fallen into the river or was in danger of being eroded.

ong Thap authorities said a deepening riverbed, with several spots believed to range from seven to more than 20m in depth, was causing this large-scale erosion. Additionally, authorities also detected a vortex that was about 35m in depth, some 100m from the eroded bank.

River erosion has been repeatedly occurring in the area since last month, triggering a state-of-emergency declaration on April 28 when some 227 households were believed to be in danger due to the erosion.

Thanh Binh Peoples Committee has called on residents living in the affected area to evacuate while asking the provincial authorities to urgently build resettlements for those in need of evacuation.

An inspection team from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will visit the eroded area on Thursday.

ong Thap earlier asked the Government for VN82 billion (US$3.6 million) to address the erosion issue.

The province is not the only one facing severe river erosion in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta. Last month, An Giang Province saw 14 houses collapsing into the Hau River, with damage estimated at more than VN9 billion. The authorities had to urgently evacuate 108 households from the area.  VNS
BAC NINH  Bac Ninh authorities have fined two South Korean companies VN333 million (US$15,000) for infringements in connection with wastewater discharge.

Bac Ninh Peoples Committee on Wednesday decided to fine electronic component manufacturer Yestech Vina Co Ltd, based in the Que Vo Industrial Park, VN200 million for releasing untreated sewage into the parks rainwater drainage system.

The authorities asked the company to stop the act, in addition to ensuring its treated wastewater met environment requirements within the following two months.

Another electronic component manufacturer in the Que Vo Industrial Park, Willtech Vina Co Ltd, was also fined VN133 million as its sewage failed to meet environmental criteria.  VNS
NGHE AN  The ships pouring black mud into the Nghe An Province coast were licenced and poured the waste to the right place, Le Thanh Ha, deputy director of Nghi Son economic zones management board said on Wednesday.

Early this month, local newspapers and social networks reported several unnamed ships continuously poured black waste to the sea area between Nghe Ans Hoang Mai Town and Thanh Hoa Provinces Tinh Gia District, causing black streaks of sea water in the area.

Residents complained directly to Hoang Mai Town Peoples Committee.

Lao ong newspaper reported a change of the seawater colour in the area. It was black near the shore, became opaque 35-40m from the shore and was grey in distance.

Nguyen Huu Tuy, chairman of Hoang Mai Town Peoples Committee, said on Wednesday that inspectors confirmed the ships, which are part of Nghi Son Ports dredging project, poured mud at the licenced area. In principle they are right, he said.

The process of discharging waste into the sea was closely monitored by Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces border-guard force.

Ho Sy Dung, director of Nghe An Provinces Environment Protection Department, said it co-ordinated with Hoang Mai Town authorities to take samples of the unnaturally coloured seawater for testing.

Hoang Mai Town Peoples Committee has asked Nghi Son economic zones management board and Peoples Committee of Tinh Gia District where the economic zone located to inspect the pouring mud to the sea and report detailed evaluation about impacts on the environment, ecosystem there.

Ha from Nghi Son economic zone explained that wind blew so strong that the flow quickly pushed the water streak to the south. But it doesnt matter. Mud will dissolve quickly, Ha said.  VNS
HA NOI  Two major Vietnamese contemporary artists, painter Le Thiet Cuong and sculptor inh Cong at, have teamed up to surprise art lovers with an interior decor collection.

The collection features several objects using the two most popular materials in Viet Nam  lacquer and ceramic. The works are on display at the exhibition Duo Design at the Press Club in Ha Noi.

Although the objects are made to be used, they deserve to be regarded as artworks.

Among the objects is an iron and yellow-painted chair belonging to the 49-chair collection by painter Cuong. Created in 2001, the chairs are perpendicular and horizontal structures without any bend or curve, painted with bright and strong colours.

According to the painter, the chair collection is a study of ratios: the ratio between warm and cold colours, between block and line, between solid and empty components.

The painter, who is well-known for his minimalist artworks, also presents a collection of sole ceramic-and-lacquer pots, including the one entitled Hat Gao (A Grain of Rice), which won the Good Design Award  ASEAN Design Selection 2003. Cuong created other pots with the idea inspired by Vietnamese fruits such as areca nut, papaya, and loquat.

Artist at has brought to the Duo Design several items, which originally are old wooden interior objects such as jewellery trunk, sofa and food tray. However, he has created a new life for all those old items by adding beautiful details.

In an act of inspiration, he changed the arm rail with the ones made from lacquer and painted in an eye-catching neon-pink colour. He adorned old food trays with gold-inlaid patterns and lacquer paint, then used the trays as table surface. He turned the round chopping boards into beautiful side tables by adorning them with hand-painted patterns and adding table legs.

Although each artist has his own way to present ideas about art and design, the duo share a common message: design plays a very important factor in any object, for display or for use.

In fact, there are very few households in certain Vietnamese traditional villages including Huong Canh ceramic village, Phu Vinh bamboo and rattan village, Quat ong embroidery village, Van Phuc silk village, maintaining their ancestor craft job due to the competitive pressure caused by flooding Chinese products in term of price and design. This is a heartbreaking fact, at said.

Thats why, through this exhibition, we would like to call on everyone involved in the craft industry to improve their conception about the design of their products. This can help revive traditional jobs, he added.

Today, at 2pm, the two artists will share their thoughts and experiences on design with the public. The talk will also take place at the same venue of the exhibition.

The free entrance Duo Design opens to public until Saturday. Press Club is at 59A Ly Thai To Street.  VNS
NEW YORK  Steve McQueen, who won an Oscar for directing 12 Years a Slave, will film an authorised documentary on slain rap legend Tupac Shakur.

The British director said he was "extremely moved" to explore Tupacs life, saying he had known him indirectly while studying in New York in 1993.

"Few, if any, shined brighter than Tupac Shakur," McQueen said in a statement late Tuesday.

"I look forward to working closely with his family to tell the unvarnished story of this talented man."

The announcement comes a month before a long-awaited biopic on Tupac, All Eyez On Me, is set to open in cinemas.

That film  starring Demetrius Shipp Jr., a little-known actor with a striking resemblance to the rapper  had originally been intended for release last year on the 20th anniversary of Tupacs still murky killing in Las Vegas.

Tupacs mother Afeni Shakur, who died a year ago, had wanted a documentary that would show him "in a complete way", her sister Gloria Cox said.

"It has never been our intention to rewrite the story of Tupac. Our goal has always been to tell the true story, which has never been done before in such a complete way."

Tupac, who died at age 25 after a career that went from backup dancer to self-styled gangsta, remains one of the most influential figures in hip-hop.

Known for his emotionally intense lyrics and on-stage flair, Tupac last month became the first solo rapper to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

McQueen became the first black filmmaker to win the Oscar for best director for 12 Years a Slave, an account of a free African Americans capture and enslavement in the antebellum US South.

Producers of the Tupac documentary, which does not yet have a title, include Nigel Sinclair, who has been involved with well-received documentaries about Bob Dylan and The Beatles.  AFP
by Le Huong

An old story about the starfish has inspired Austrian investment bankers to set up a foundation to build schools for needy children in Viet Nam.

The story says an elderly man saw a young man picking up starfish one by one and tossing each gently back into the ocean to prevent them from dying of exposure to the sun. The elderly man wondered why the young man spent so much time saving the starfish as there were thousands of starfish along miles of beach.

You cant possibly make a difference the elderly man said.

The young man bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, It made a difference for that one.

Many people told me that in a country with 90 million people, five, ten or even 20 schools would not make any difference, Thomas Farthofer, founder of Sao Bien Room for Education, told Viet Nam News, The starfish story explains that we can make a difference.

When he first arrived in Ha Noi as a volunteer in 2016, Farthofer found a lively and dynamic place.

The experience during his six-week volunteering stay inspired him, as people were so friendly and open, the positive spirit and the willingness to learn among the students so impressive that he decided to come back.

In one of the last lessons with the students at Ha Noi University of Industry, I asked them to share their dreams and visions, Farthofer recalled, They very openly did, and some of the students explained that their study would not be important, but necessary. Necessary to earn some money to help their hometowns.

Their desires made me think about how I or we (from the so-called western world) could help.

Education, to him, was the most efficient way to break the cycle of poverty and change childrens lives.

Almost a year after his decision to help, he doesnt have any regrets.

Farthofer was able to use the infrastructure and contacts of an Austrian-based non-profit organisation that he worked for to raise the initial money for Sao Bien. He managed to convince three NGO-experienced board members, based in Vienna, to deal with the financials, risk management and legal issues. He also got support from a social media consultant and several volunteers to help him create videos and do translations.

The organisation has worked with local partners to find suitable locations while Sao Bien has designed the schools.

Every decision on a new school is only taken after a field trip to the potential site, he said, We aim to achieve some geographical diversification, rather than just helping in one province.

The organisation has built three mini schools in remote areas in the northern provinces of Son La, Lai Chau and Ha Giang while a fourth school is being built in the northern province of ien Bien.

Our long term goal is to build at least four schools each year, beginning this year, he said.

Sao Bien has tried to raise money from different sources, like corporations and high net worth individuals as well as small donors, through crowdfunding campaigns. They have recently entered into an agreement with a French social enterprise which will donate part of their revenues to Sao Bien. They also are also planning charity events and approaching public organisations.

Currently we have a stable and committed but small team, he said, As the organisation grows, we will be happy to add more volunteers, but a lean organisation with minimal overhead costs is essential for successful implementation of the project.

Farthofer appreciates the honesty and hospitability of Vietnamese people and their willingness to help.

I especially experienced that after my motorbike accident, which happened during a trip to Ha Giang when I was looking for a potential location for the next school, he said, I had to walk on crutches for many weeks and the help I got from people I hardly knew was just amazing.

Truong Van ong, headmaster of Pa U No 1 Boarding School for Ethnic Minority Students, said he was moved by Farhofers and his friends determination to build new classrooms and clean toilets for 29 students in Pha Bu Village, located 17km away from Muong Te Districts centre.

They did not mind travelling through soil paths, crossing streamlines and mountains to see how students study and locals live before deciding to build classrooms, he said.

He said that if peoples knowledge is enhanced, locals lives will be improved.

Nong Van Ngay, deputy chairman of Khau Vai Communes Peoples Committee in the northern province of Ha Giang also lauded Sao Bien. The foundation has just completed two classrooms for 100 children at the local kindergarten and primary school and a room for teachers in Chu Lung Duoi Village.

"We have received lots of help from domestic charity teams," Ngay said, "But this time a foreign organisation comes to offer their help in buying materials while we get local help to build classrooms for children. Its like people sharing their kind hearts without borders."

Sao Bien will also set up a solar energy system in the newly built classrooms to facilitate education.

Farhofer said he did not have big expectations when beginning his charity.

I really enjoy the work, he said, I enjoy helping children and thinking about their better future due to Sao Biens efforts is the best reward. Furthermore, this project gives me the opportunity to get in contact with and meet a lot of inspiring people that want to help, too.  VNS
President Tran ai Quang will visit to China where he will attend a high-level forum on the Belt and Road Initiative.  VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang

HA NOI  The enhancement of the Viet Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership is in line with the two countries fundamental and long-term interests, and it benefits peace and stability in the region and the world.

President Tran ai Quang made the remark during an interview granted to Chinese press outlets yesterday ahead of his State visit to China, where he will attend a high-level forum on the Belt and Road Initiative.

Vietnamese and Chinese Parties and States have enjoyed a sound cooperation foundation and basic similarities, including the time-honoured traditional friendship and neighbourliness built and nurtured during the national struggles for liberation, the persistent path to socialism, the current reforms and the mutual interests in maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for national development, he said.

He described their cooperation potential as huge, adding that China boasts the worlds second biggest economy and deep development experience, especially in terms of the economy.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam has maintained its economic growth trend and has enjoyed success in attracting foreign investment compared to other developing countries.

Both sides need to continue working out measures to expand and improve the quality and efficiency of cooperation in all spheres, he said.

President Quang noted during his visit, he will meet with Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping, and other senior leaders of the Chinese Party and State, discussing key measures to foster mutual trust, promote the settlement of issues of shared concern, consolidate the countries long-standing amity, intensify the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and contribute to regional and global peace, stability, cooperation and development.

He called the high-level forum on the Belt and Road Initiative an occasion for leaders of countries and international organisations to boost cooperation and international integration for peace, stability, security, prosperity and sustainable development.

Viet Nam supports initiatives and efforts that aim to increase economic and regional connectivity for the sake of shared benefits. The Vietnamese leader expressed his hope that the forum will open up opportunities for cooperation and economic connectivity among countries and in the region.

He expects this connectivity will facilitate trade, investment, business-to-business links and people-to-people exchange while helping to successfully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will also help Viet Nam and China bolster cooperation in environmental protection, climate change response, and management and sustainable use of natural resources.

He emphasised that Viet Nam - China relations are on an upward trend, with encouraging outcomes in various aspects. China remains Viet Nams biggest trade partner. Viet Nam in turn is Chinas largest ASEAN trade partner.

By the end of March 2017, China had more than 1,600 projects worth over US$11 billion in Viet Nam, ranking eighth among 116 countries and territories investing in the ASEAN nation. That Chinese businesses pay attention to accelerating project implementation and ensuring project quality as committed will bring about higher economic benefits for both sides and raise Chinese investors prestige in Viet Nam, he noted.

Viet Nam welcomes Chinese firms increasing investment and technology transfer through major projects that match Chinas strength and Viet Nams demand such as in infrastructure development, manufacturing industry, high-quality human resources development, and clean energy, he said.

With the close proximity, Viet Nam pledges to provide the best possible conditions for Chinese enterprises to trade with other markets in ASEAN and around the globe, President Quang added.  VNS




Delegates from APEC member economies gathered at a symposium in Ha Noi yesterday to seek ways to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the region. VNA/VNS Photo An ang

HA NOI  Delegates from APEC member economies gathered at a symposium in Ha Noi yesterday to seek ways to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the region.

According to a study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) exploring the macroeconomic costs of excluding people with disabilities from the world of work, economic losses related to disability are large and measurable, ranging between 3-7 per cent of GDP.

Meanwhile, the UNESCAP Disability at a Glance 2015 Report showed that the regions total workforce has already begun to decline in many parts of Asia and the Pacific due to population ageing. This trend, which will likely continue over the next decades, increases the need for governments to recognise the role that people with disabilities can play in boosting GDP growth by filling labour shortages.

However, according to the report, people with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region are less likely to be employed, and when they are employed, they are more likely to be engaged in vulnerable forms of employment.

Teresa Cannady, of the US-APEC Technical Assistance to Advance Regional Integration (US-ATAATI), told participants that economies could increase their GDP by 1-7 per cent if persons with disabilities were paid on an equal basis.

Participants pointed out a range of employment-related barriers facing persons with disabilities, such as incomplete legal protections and enforcement, inaccessible and segregated training and education systems, poor access to professional networks, stigma and biases, inaccessible transportation and inaccessible workplaces and a lack of support to assist injured and ill workers to return to work.

Talking with Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reporters on the sidelines of the symposium, delegates revealed that many APEC members already have extensive legal and policy frameworks that support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce.

Jenjeera Boonsombat, a disabled delegate from Thailand, said her country has policies to encourage persons with disabilities to work for private companies and state agencies.

Thailands Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act requires the employment of 1 per cent of disabled persons by all public and private sector employers with more than 100 employees. Private sector firms who fail to meet this requirement must pay into the Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Public agencies failing to meet the quote are required to provide concessions or public spaces for persons with disabilities to sell products.

Philippine law requires that government agencies and government-owned corporations reserve 1 per cent of jobs for persons with disabilities. The law also recommends that private corporations with more than 100 employees meet the same quota.

In the Republic of Korea, a business with 50 or more employees is subject to quotas for persons with disabilities: 3 per cent for government, 2.3 to 3 per cent for public organisations, and 2.3 per cent for private companies.

Agus Diono, a delegate from Indonesia, said the symposium did not mention charity activities for persons with disabilities but discussed how to ensure equal rights for them, including rights to education, protection and employment.

Participants held that it is necessary to provide better legal protection for persons with disabilities, increase awareness-raising to overcome stereotypes, myths, and prejudices about them in the workplace.

They also stressed the need to improve inclusive education systems for children with disabilities in anticipation of their future workplace needs, provide better job placement services, effectively communicate the availability of those services to persons with disabilities, ensure that they are paid the same wages as their peers without disabilities and increase funding for people with disabilities to start their own business.

The participants also recommended making transportation accessible and affordable for persons with disabilities and increasing public awareness activities to address cultural barriers and attitudes about persons with disabilities.

Hosted by the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) in collaboration with APEC Group of Friends on Disability Issues (GoFD), the symposium formed part of the second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 2) and related meetings.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with a delegation from the Trade Development Council of Hong Kong, led by its Chairman Luo Kangrui, in Ha Noi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  Viet Nam is committed to creating favourable conditions for foreign businesses in the country, including those from Hong Kong, affirmed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Businesses were welcomed in the fields of infrastructure that required huge capital, including railway, road, air and waterway infrastructure, PM Phuc said while receiving a delegation from the Trade Development Council of Hong Kong, led by its Chairman Luo Kangrui, in Ha Noi yesterday.

Developing infrastructure remains a key challenge for Viet Nam, he said, adding that the country needs smart infrastructure for socio-economic development.

The Government leader welcomed the delegation to visit Viet Nam to work with ministries, localities, partners and businesses in Viet Nam to seek investment opportunities.

Viet Nam is reforming the investment and business environment and integrating into the global economy, Phuc said.

In 2016, Viet Nam rose nine positions in the business and investment environment ranking, according to the World Banks report, he said.

Viet Nam has attracted 23,000 foreign direct investment projects with total capital of more than US$300 billion, he added.

For his part, Chairman Luo Kangrui said the delegations visit was aimed at seeking investment opportunities in Viet Nam, particularly in infrastructure.

The delegation had working sessions with relevant ministries and agencies of Viet Nam and received important co-operation offers such as the north-south railway project.

He added that Hong Kong businesses wanted to take part in the Vietnamese market, which was chock full of potential.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has said that Chinas statement on halting fishing activities for a limited period in the waters belonging to Viet Nams sovereignty is valueless.

In a document sent to provincial Peoples Committees nationwide, the ministry noted that Chinas Bureau of Fisheries temporality halted fishing activities from 12:00 of May 1 to 12:00 of August 16 in sea areas, including Chinas waters in joint fishing grounds with Viet Nam (in the east of the demarcation line in Tonkin Gulf) and sea areas belonging to Viet Nam.

MARD highlighted that Chinas statement is useless. It asked the peoples committees of coastal localities to direct authorised agencies to inform fishermen of Chinas statement, urging them to carry on normal operations in Viet Nams waters and to group together for support.

The ministry also asked fishing boats licenced to operate in the joint fishing ground with China in the Tonkin Gulf not to fish east of the demarcation line in the Tonkin Gulf.

At the same time, MARD also directed agencies to strengthen monitoring over activities of fishing vessels in the areas, while informing all arising problems at sea to the Administration of Fisheries.  VNS
HA NOI  Representatives from Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) member economies gathered in Ha Noi on Thursday for the 10th APEC Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI-10) Meeting.

In his opening speech, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Tran Quoc Khanh expressed his hope that the event will promote new proposals under the PPSTIs theme in 2017, focusing on natural hazards science and policies that support strong STI ecosystems in the APEC region, PPSTI Strategic Project Prioritisation, three Sub-groups updates on key projects as well as identification of topics and events for Knowledge Partners to engage in.

The meeting also aims to enhance PPSTIs role in APEC by a number of vibrant activities such as Innovation Policy Sharing Seminar, Joint Session with the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) on STI human resources development, APEC Research and Technology Programme (ART 2017), and Women in STEM Workshop, he said.

Those will further contribute to the PPSTIs mandate, especially in developing and promoting policies that support an enabling environment for scientific research and market-based innovation, and facilitate STI capacity building and regional STI connectivity, he added.

Talking to Vietnam News Agency reporters, Nina Azrah Razali, head of the Bureau of International Affairs of the Malaysian Academy of Sciences, said that APEC member economies have a lot of STI initiatives but each of them is doing separately.

Therefore, this meeting discusses how to boost APEC members co-operation in implementing the initiatives, she said.

Emphasising the important role of science, technology and innovation, Razali emphasised the need to set up working groups and partnerships for STI development.  VNS
HCM CITY  HCM City authorities on Tuesday destroyed nearly 22 tonnes of fake or substandard fertiliser without labels of origin worth VN300 million (US$13,000).

The fertilisers were confiscated by the Ministry of Industry and Trades Market Management Department at the manufacturers factories in the city last November.

The companies include the Asia Corporation, Kien Vang Feriliser Company Ltd, and Song Nam Investment Development Company Ltd.

In March, the department inspected 12 fertiliser manufacturers in the city and discovered many violations.

Violations included sales of fertiliser products without origin, and labels failing to either present correct information or give sufficient information on the products, among others.

In addition, the department also fined two companies VN4.6 million ($200) for improperly storing fertiliser by placing it on the ground instead of on shelves.

The Market Management Department has handled more than 3,000 cases of fertiliser violations annually, seizing over 1,000 tonnes of fake or substandard fertiliser.

The agency said the actual number may be much higher.

According to the Viet Nam Fertiliser Association, the countrys economy loses $2 billion every year from the use of fake fertilisers.

As fertilisers account for 50 per cent of input costs in agriculture and play a crucial role in crop yield and quality, fake fertiliser use affects farmers and legitimate businesses.

Experts said that manufacturers of fake fertiliser employed various methods to cheat customers, including the use of formulas that differ from what is printed on the package and imitation of established brands.

Nguyen Van Viet, chief inspector at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that fake fertiliser and the use of banned chemicals in animal husbandry posed major challenges in the agricultural sector.

The ministry plans to increase the frequency of unannounced inspections throughout the year in a bid to crack down on violations, he said.  VNS
MEKONG DELTA  The Ministry of Agricultre and Natural Resources is seeking solutions to prevent landslides in the Mekong Delta, after a landslide occurred on the Vam Co Lau Canal on Monday afternoon in An Giang Province, causing six houses to collapse and forcing two other households to relocate.

Late last month, a serious landslide along the Vam Nao River occurred in Cho Moi District of the province, causing losses of VN90 billion ($3.96 million).

The most recent landslide, which occurred in the provinces An Phu Districts Phu Huu Commune, left a crater that was 100m long, 10m wide and 15m deep.

As soon as the crack on the canal was discovered on May 4, commune authorities urged local people to evacuate, thus avoiding loss of life.

Local police and the Army were asked to help residents relocate their properties to safe areas, and to put up warning signs and ban vehicles at the site of the landslide.

Of the eight households still living in the high-risk area, five houses could collapse at any moment.

Cao Xuan Dieu, chairman of the communes Peoples Committee, said that each family whose house collapsed suffered a loss of VN30 million (US$1,320).

The commune gave each affected household VN1 million in cash and 10 kilos of rice per person.

Inspections

On May 9, a group of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) began a four-day trip to review the causes of the landslides in the Delta and work with local authorities to set up plans to deal with disasters that have threatened peoples lives.

On the first day, the group visited several sea dykes in Bac Lieu Province.

Though the province has great potential to develop the sea economy thanks to its 56-km coastline, it has been affected by climate change, rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion and sea dyke breaching, threatening 100,000 people living by the sea, Duong Thanh Trung, chairman of the Bac Lieu Province Peoples Committee, said at a meeting with MARD officials.

Since the beginning of the year, high tides, huge waves and strong winds have damaged the Ganh Hao dyke in ong Hai Districts Ganh Hao Town and Nha Mat dyke in Bac Lieu Citys Nha Mat Ward.

Erosion has occurred on a 940 sq.m area of the Ganh Hao Sea Dyke, while erosion on the Nha Mat embankment stretches for 24 metres. Cracks and subsidence along the rest of the embankment have been reported.

The two sea dykes play an important role in protecting thousands of households and tens of thousands of hectares of coastal land.

Bac Lieu Province has asked for assistance from experts at research institutes and universities to solve the problem of dyke breaching.

One of the adopted measures would help reduce the height and strength of waves.

The province has asked for VN340 billion ($14.95 million) of aid to implement measures to prevent further erosion and protect sea dykes.

Tran Quang Hoai, deputy head of MARDs Water Resource Directorate, praised the provinces efforts to deal with erosion and instructed it to protect the dykes as the rainy season would come soon.

After the trip, MARD will work with other ministries and agencies to find a long-term and sustainable plan to combat landslides in the delta.

The delta has around 265 highly vulnerable spots where landslides have occurred, covering a total 450km in length.

Landslides have caused an annual average loss of 500ha of land in recent years.

The situation has worsened in recent years, especially in An Giang Provinces Cho Moi District and ong Thap Provinces Thanh Binh District.

ong Thap Province on April 28 declared a state of emergency after several landslides occurred in April along a 210m section of the Tien River in Thanh Binh Districts Binh Thanh Commune. VNS
HCM CITY  The Government has approved a HCM City plan to build two bridges and a parallel road to National Highway No 50 in HCM City.

The Cat Lai Bridge will cross the ong Nai River and link the citys District 2 with Nhon Trach District in ong Nai Province.

The bridge project, which will be 4.5 km including approach roads, will be 60m wide with six motor vehicle lanes and two mixed lanes.

The Can Gio Bridge will replace the Binh Khanh ferry and link Nha Be and Can Gio districts.

The bridge will cross the Soai Rap River, which will be about 7.3km long, inclusive of approach roads, and 40m wide with four motor vehicle lanes and two mixed lanes.

The new road parallel to the National Highway 50 will be 8.6km long and 40m wide, with six motor vehicle lanes, extending from Nha Be District to Long An Provinces Can Giuoc District.

All of the projects will start this year and end in 2020.  VNS
HA NOI  Vietnamese women are advised to think carefully before taking intravenouis skin whitening injections, medical experts say.

The advice follows a growing trend of women lured by spas in Ha Noi and HCM City promising to turn them "into Snow White in a short time"", reported the online newspaper news.zing.vn.

A search for tiem trang da on Google or Facebook turns up a range of beauty spas offering this service at various price levels, depending on the fame of the spas.

A well-known spa charges about VN85 million (US$3,700) for a package of ten injections. An ordinary spa in Ha Nois Hai Ba Trung District offers a 10injection deal for VN15 million ($660).

Aesthetic Dr Vu Son, a graduate of the Viet Nam Military Medical University, warned that every substance injected into human veins must be allowed by the US Food and Drug Administration. At present, the FDA had yet to approve any injectable drugs for skin whitening or lightening, he said.

Son said the process of directly injecting skin-whitening fluid into veins could cause anaphylaxis, acute allergic reaction, which if not treated right away could be fatal. Women are therefore advised to carefully consider such treatment, he added.

According to medical experts, skin-whitening liquids that beauty spas use include Glutathione and vitamin C. Glutathione is a substance that can inhibit the bodys natural production of melanin, the pigment that gives our skin its color, produced by activation of the enzyme Tyrosinase. However, abuse of using Glutathione could cause renal failure, blood poisoning, skin necrosis, and even death, medical experts said.

In an article on the online Dan Viet newspaper, Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy director of the Ha Noi Dermatology Hospital, said people should also be careful when taking vitamin C injections into their veins because it could lead to anaphylaxis. Hung said he had a patient who died of acute allergic reaction after injecting vitamin C intravenously.

A Facebooker named Nguyen Phuong Thao of HCM City said she was an aesthetic doctor and worked at a beauty spa. Five years ago, she already piloted the injection of Glutathione to make her skin whiter. After four injections, her skin began to lighten. She injected herself evvery three days, but she found two areas around her shoulders were reddish and thick after her sixth injection. She stopped treatment and her skin returned to its natural color 10 days later.

Thao said women should not take skin whitening injections.

The Ministry of Health has not approved skin-whitening injections on the list of permitted medical techniques, a representative told the Tuoi tre (Youth) online newspaper.

In the meantime, the FDA has warned on its website that some consumers seeking to change their skin color are turning to injectable products that are potentially unsafe and ineffective, and might contain unknown harmful ingredients or contaminants.

These products pose a potentially significant safety risk to consumers. Youre essentially injecting an unknown substance into your bodyyou dont know what it contains or how it was made, says In Kim, a pharmacist at the FDA.

Medical practitioners also warn that beyond the potential harm from the product itself, improper or unsafe injection practices may transmit disease, cause infection and result in serious injury. VNS
HCM CITY Three advertising hoardings promoting Viet Nams cinema and tourism industries will be put up at the 70th Cannes Film Festival in France from May 17 to 28.

Ly Nha Ky, the actress and a former Tourism Ambassador of Viet Nam, told the media on Tuesday that she had sponsored them at a cost of more than one million euros (US$1.09 million).

The hoardings, 21 metres long and three metres wide, will be put up at strategic points to capture attention.

One of them will advertise the Vietnamese film industry with a photo of Son oong Cave, the worlds largest, in Quang Binh Province.

The other two will promote HCM City as an attractive, friendly and safe tourist destination.

Ngo Phuong Lan, head of the Viet Nam Cinema Department, said the country would have a booth at the festival to introduce Vietnamese films as well as promote international co-operation and investment.

The department will organise an event called Vietnam Night on May 20 to showcase new Vietnamese films.

The HCM City Department of Tourism would organise several tourism promotion and marketing programmes at the event, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, its director, said. VNS
WASHINGTON  The White House slapped down calls for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that Donald Trumps campaign colluded with Russia Wednesday, after the US president abruptly fired his FBI director.

Trumps shock dismissal of James Comey - the man overseeing federal investigations into suspected Kremlin interference in the 2016 vote - has sparked a political firestorm in Washington and plunged his young presidency in turmoil.

Furious Democrats suggested the FBIs work will now be hopelessly tainted and demanded a special prosecutor akin to those appointed during Richard Nixons Watergate scandal or the run-up to Bill Clintons impeachment.

"We dont think its necessary," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, batting back that demand.

Sanders said the White House wanted the FBI probe - and parallel congressional investigations - to continue and to wrap up their work. "No one wants this to be finished and completed more than us."

The White House says Comeys firing was motivated solely by concerns over his handling of the high-stakes probe into Hillary Clintons emails.

A US official said the president had been "losing confidence" in his FBI chief for several months, and that after watching Comey testify before Congress as part of the Russia probe last week Trump was "strongly inclined to remove him."

The president personally defended his summary dismissal of Comey and rejected suggestions it was linked to the Russia investigation.

"He wasnt doing a good job, its very simple, he was not doing a good job," Trump told reporters as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the White House chanting "shame on you!"

His comments came shortly after Trump hosted Russias top diplomat at the White House, in his highest-level Kremlin encounter since taking office.

Fabrications

Trump described an Oval Office meeting with Sergei Lavrov, the highest-profile Kremlin official to visit the White House in years, as "very very good."

Under Comey, the FBI concluded that Russia tried to sway the election in Trumps favor through an influence and cyber-hacking campaign.

The bureau has been probing whether Trumps campaign colluded with such an effort - something the president rejects as "fake news."

Lavrov, who last set foot in Washington in August 2013, dismissed all claims of election meddling as "fabrications."

In a sharp new development, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced Wednesday it issued a subpoena to Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn for Russia-related documents, which he had previously declined to provide.

Flynn was sacked for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his discussions with the Russian ambassador to Washington.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores denied reports that Comey had asked for more resources to intensify the probe shortly before being fired.

"(I) dont know how else I can spell this out. The story is just wrong," she said.

Trumps decision to terminate Comeys tenure, effective immediately, stunned Washington and drew comparisons to the Watergate scandal that brought down Nixon.

The Senates top Republican, Mitch McConnell, on Wednesday dismissed calls for a special prosecutor. He said such an individual would only "serve to impede the current work being done."

But Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said even among Republicans there was a "growing feeling of disquiet and doubt about the direction that the president is taking."

He raised the prospect that White House stonewalling on a special prosecutor could trigger a drastic congressional response.

"I would oppose confirmation of a new FBI director until there is support for a special prosecutor," he told reporters.

Backlash

A defiant Trump took to Twitter to defend his decision, vowing "James Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI."

"Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!"

But White House officials privately expressed surprise at the level of backlash, particularly from leading Republicans.

Several members of the presidents own party, including Richard Burr - head of the Senate Intelligence committee - sought to distance themselves from the White House.

"I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of director Comeys termination," he said in a statement. "His dismissal, I believe, is a loss for the Bureau and the nation."

Comey 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.

He first angered Republicans by closing the email probe against Clinton in July, then infuriated Democrats by reopening it days before the November election.

Clinton blamed Comey for her loss to Trump, arguing that reopening the probe had scared off voters, stopping her momentum.

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.

Before Tuesday only one FBI director had been fired in the bureaus century-long history. The post is normally considered above politics, with incumbents serving one 10-year term.  AFP
WATERLOO  More charges have been filed in the case of a Waterloo man suspected in thefts from auctions in several states.

On May 4, Black Hawk County sheriffs deputies arrested Paul David Block Jr., 48, for second-degree theft in connection with $7,025 worth of property stolen  including a meat slicer  from an auction in Plymouth County earlier this year.

Block had earlier been arrested for first-degree theft in April for possessing a 1991 Case 1840 skid loader valued at $12,000 that had been stolen in September 2012 from Benton Concrete, according to court records.

Block remains in the Black Hawk County Jail with bond set at $30,000. Wisconsin authorities have issued a warrant for Blocks arrest for charges in that state.

Deputies and officers from numerous departments took part in a search of Blocks home at 3215 Doris Lane on April 28. They seized more than 100 items  property ranging from tools and construction equipment to antiques and collectables.

According to court records, sheriffs deputies from Lafayette County, Wis., suspected Block in the theft of a 2005 Polaris Ranger ATV from a South Wayne, Wis., auction January 21. He was also suspected in taking a Bobcat post hole digger, Chicago portable generator, an industrial meat slicer and other items from a Plymouth County, Iowa, auction Feb. 7, court records state.

Other auction thefts that are part of the investigation include: Muscoda, Wis., in February; Paris, Ill., in April; Charles City, Iowa, in October 2016; and Turtle Lake, Wis., in 2016, according to court records.

Court records show during the search, authorities found property believed to have been taken from Fox Auction in Mason City, Cedar Valley Auctions in Charles City, Schmid of Paris, Ill., Klein Real Estate and Auction of Plymouth County, Wis., Wilkinson Realty and Auction of Muscoda, Wis., Twin Valley Auction of Independence and Sharpless Auction of Iowa City.
Graduation time at area schools

WATERLOO  Graduation dates have been set for Waterloo and Cedar Falls high schools. Here are the schools and commencement dates and places: Waterloo Christian: 6:30 p.m., May 19, at the school. Columbus Catholic: May 21 at the school. Cedar Falls High: 2 p.m., May 28, McLeod Center, Cedar Falls. Waterloo West High: 6 p.m., May 30, McLeod Center, Cedar Falls. Waterloo East High: 6 p.m., May 31, McLeod Center, Cedar Falls. Expo Alternative High: 6 p.m. June 1, at the school. Valley Lutheran High: 2 p.m., June 11, at the school.

Veridian slated

to host shred day

WATERLOO  Veridian Credit Union will host a free Community Shred Day at five branches across Iowa on May 20. Mobile shred trucks from On-Site Information Destruction Inc. will be available at select Veridian branches from 9 a.m. to noon, allowing attendees to protect their identity by safely destroying unwanted, sensitive documents. In Waterloo, the truck will be at 1827 Ansborough Ave. from 9 a.m. to noon. Veridian membership is not required, and each shred site will accept up to two 25-pound containers of documents per person. Since Veridians first Community Shred Day in 2009, about 25,000 people have shred more than 600,000 pounds of documents, saving an estimated 5,000 trees. More information is available at www.veridiancu.org/shred. Grout to open for Memorial Day

Vets Museum open

Memorial Day

WATERLOO  The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum, 503 South St., Waterloo, will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Memorial Day, May 29.

Visit the museum after Waterloos Memorial Day Parade for free food provided by Friendship Village (first 100 visitors) with paid admission and hands-on activities. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children 4-13. Veterans and active duty are free on Memorial Day, and it is a Blue Star museum, so active duty and up to five family members are free through Labor Day 2017. Children 3 and younger and Grout Museum members also are free.
DES MOINES (AP)  Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to attend a popular political event in Iowa hosted by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.

Ernst announced Thursday that Pence will appear at her annual Roast and Ride event June 3. Other confirmed guests include U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and much of Iowas Republican congressional delegation.

The event will feature a motorcycle ride that starts at the Big Barn Harley-Davidson in Des Moines. It concludes at the Central Iowa Expo in nearby Boone, where a pork roast will be held.

Ernsts event is now entering its third year, and its become a destination for Republicans. Presidential candidate Donald Trump attended the event last year. Several presidential hopefuls in the party showed up during its inaugural event in 2015.
WATERLOO  Plans to beef up security camera requirements at local businesses are back on track.

Waterloo City Council members are planning in coming weeks to vote on an ordinance which would boost the number of businesses required to have security cameras and upgrade technology standards for the equipment.

The measure was put on hold in August after multiple business owners voiced concerns about the additional costs and potential liability of the systems.

Police Lt. Greg Fangman and councilmen Steve Schmitt and Tom Powers have been meeting with business groups to hammer out a compromise, which was presented during a work session this week.

There was a perception that the city  was just going to ram this down their throats, Schmitt said. I think the fact we were willing to sit down and talk to them and meet with them mattered.

Schmitt said he believes additional surveillance cameras in businesses and installed on public streets are important public safety tools.

Whether you like it or not, whether you agree with it or not, whether you think it is Big Brother or not, because of public safety and because of trying to make communities safer to live in I think this is where were heading, he said.

Powers said the security cameras should help Waterloo with public perception.

Cameras are everywhere right now whether you know it or not, Powers said. It gives our police department potentially another tool in their toolbox to get rid of this image we may have in terms of crime.

The current ordinance adopted in 1993 essentially requires convenience and liquor stores to have a security camera at the cash register.

The proposed ordinance would expand the requirements to other businesses, including banks and credit unions, carry-out restaurants, coin dealers, payday lenders, firearm dealers, cellular phone dealers, money transmission services, pawn brokers, pharmacies, scrap metal dealers and second-hand goods dealers.

It also would upgrade the technology requirements and mandate cameras at entrances and exits of parking lots.

Hotels and motels, originally included mostly for thefts from parked cars, were excluded from the final list of covered businesses.

Most of the businesses covered by this are cash businesses, Fangman said. Obviously we all know credit cards are a big thing in the hotel industry so the amount of cash on hand is minimal.

Fangman said the city also compromised by dropping video storage requirements from 30 to 15 days; reduced the number of exterior cameras required; allowed one camera to cover multiple cash registers; and gave businesses 18 months to comply should the ordinance pass.

Fangman believes Waterloo would be the second city in Iowa to expand its security camera requirements beyond convenience stores. Cedar Rapids adopted a similar ordinance several years ago.
CEDAR FALLS --A Waterloo man has died from injuries suffered in the crash Wednesday afternoon near the interchange of Highway 58 and Highway 20.

The Iowa State Patrol reported the accident at 3:15 p.m. Trooper said Potter, driving a Honda Civic, was northbound on Highway 58 when a southbound Mack truck failed to yield and turned left onto the Highway 20 entrance ramp, striking the Potter vehicle nearly head-on. The driver of the truck was not identified.
Almost every promise made eight years ago about Obamacare turned out to be a falsehood. That is first and foremost why the law must be repealed.

No, you couldnt keep your insurance plan, doctor or provider in many cases. No, it didnt save $2,500 per family (more like cost $2,500 more per family). No, it didnt lead to expanded patient choice. And yes, the tax increases and insurance mandates damaged the economy and cost jobs. We are now left with insurance markets that have entered a death spiral. The entire health insurance market will financially implode unless its changed.

The fundamental lie of Obamacare is revealed in the laws very title: the Affordable Care Act. Democrats and Barack Obama can sing the praises of this law until the cows come home, but no one with a straight face can say it has made health care more affordable  except to the millions to whom we gave coverage for free. For millions of others, premiums skyrocketed by almost 25 percent last year, and as more insurers flee the market, those cost hikes are the tip of the spear. In Arizona, premiums have doubled  in one year.

This is the system liberals are now fully embracing and defending.

The House Republican bill is far from perfect and still leaves too much of the Obamacare infrastructure in place. I was asked by CNNs Erin Burnett on Thursday night whether the GOP plan will fulfill Donald Trumps promise of declines in premiums and deductibles. I hesitated.

Eventually, the increased competition from allowing Americans to buy out-of-state health plans should bend costs down, but that could take a while, given the collapse of the insurance market the GOP inherited this year. Will Trump take the blame for that? Maybe.

The advantages of the GOP bill are significant. Letting states strip away Obamacares so-called essential benefits formula will lower costs, especially for young people. The GOP plan will allow 20- to 40-year-olds to buy stripped-down, catastrophic-coverage plans at very low premium costs. It will allow Americans to decide for themselves the types of services they want to have covered. I dont want coverage for dental care, contraceptives, mental health or drug-abuse treatment. Why should I have to pay extra costs for what I dont need?

Young people will no longer have to underwrite the costs of old people. By moving those with pre-existing conditions out of the insurance pool (but providing them with direct subsidies), costs for the rest of us will fall and will be actuarially balanced. In other words, we will have a real functioning insurance market.

At least six major anti-growth tax hikes will go away, including the surtax on capital gains and dividend income, the foolhardy medical-devices tax, the tax on new life-saving drugs and vaccines and the tax on health plans.

Moving toward a block grant system for Medicaid will give states less money over time, but will allow the states the flexibility to devise their own quality programs at lower costs. If states realize they are wasting their own health care dollars, rather than Uncle Sams, they will be more conscientious about controlling costs. This block grant formula has worked in states such as Rhode Island and Indiana to sweat out costs and improve services. Medicaid is blowing up the federal and state budgets at the same time. It is already a quarter-trillion dollar annual program and growing.

In the end, the House bill is a partial fix that should stop the Obamacare bleeding. Eventually, we need to surgically remove government interference in the health care market whenever and wherever possible and move back to a genuine doctor-patient relationship. The free enterprise system has been lowering costs and improving service in every other sector of the economy, but not in medicine  one of the most important.

Many liberals, including Bernie Sanders, are now promoting the idea of moving in the opposite direction: a federally administered insurance and health delivery market.

For those who are attracted to that idea, we already have such a system. It is called the Veterans Administration, a health care system in which patients are dying while they wait for care. This is a disaster in every way, as Americans have discovered in recent years, to our horror.

For now, we can say goodbye to Obamacare. Lets hope this isnt too little too late.
Health care bill

JANE TEAFORD

CEDAR FALLS -- Republican members of Congress and President Trump celebrated Thursday, after passing their health care bill. I find it bizarre to see these politicians celebrating a plan that will hurt the old, the poor and the sick.

This plan hurts old people by cutting Medicare by 25 percent. It hurts poor people by cutting Medicaid by $900 billion. It hurts sick people by repealing the requirement that pre-existing conditions be covered.

Perhaps what they were really celebrating were the tax cuts for families making more than $200,000 per year.

Health insurance



JEFF/JUDY THOMAS

CEDAR FALLS -- Everybody has better health care than U.S., according to Trump. That is true with the repeal/replace House proposal. Shame on Iowa Republican members -- Blum, King, and Young -- for voting for this harmful bill. Iowa congressmen are part of GOP establishment -- Greedy Old Party.

House members have no reason to celebrate at the expense of needed health care coverage. Here is why:

1. CBO did not publish a budget analysis.

2. No public meetings were held. No public information was available.

3. House members did not study the bills contents.

4. Professional health care input was insufficient.

5. The federal mandate of pre-existing conditions will be left to the whim of each state.

6. Many people will receive less coverage with increased premiums. Seniors may pay three to five times more.

7. Limited or no coverage for preventative care, emergency services, mental health/substance abuse treatment or maternal care.

8. Wealthiest 1 percent of people will receive a 40 percent tax cut (NPR) while needy Medicaid recipients may lose their coverage.

This legislation is Trumpdeath not a health care proposal. Will Senators Grassley and Ernst care about Iowans health or be more concerned with Republican politics?

Mother's Day

MARTIN WITTMAYER

WATERLOO -- Last week, The Washington Post published a major expose of the U.S. dairy industry concluding mega dairies scam consumers into paying extra for "organic" milk that isn't. The timing, a few days before Mother's Day, could not be more appropriate. Dairy cows, world-wide symbols of motherhood, never get to see or nurture their babies.

The newborn calves are torn from their mothers at birth and turned into veal cutlets, so the dairy industry can sell their milk. The distraught mothers bellow for days, hoping in vain for their babies' return. Instead, they are chained on a concrete warehouse floor, milked by machines, then impregnated artificially to renew the pregnancy and keep the milk flowing. When their production drops, around 4 years of age, they are ground into hamburgers.

This Mother's Day, let's all honor motherhood and our natural compassion for animals by rejecting the dairy industry's cruelty. Let's replace cow's milk and its products, laden with cholesterol, saturated fats, hormones and antibiotics. Let's choose delicious, healthful, cruelty-free plant-based milk, cheese and ice cream products offered at our grocery store.
WASHINGTON (AP)  At the end, there was mostly silence. A smattering of boos, reacting to cheering by the opponents supporters. Some faint applause. This was the end of a series, the end of a Game 7 loss  yes, yet another Game 7 loss by the Washington Capitals  and, seemingly, the end of an era.

An arena so raucous just hours earlier  all the red-jersey-clad fans shouting along with that colors mention during the national anthem, chanting Lets go, Caps! during play  was in a hush as the final seconds ticked away and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury finished off the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 victory over Washington on Wednesday night to close out their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Fleury made 29 saves for his ninth career playoff shutout. The goals came from Bryan Rust in the second period, and Patric Hornqvist in the third.

It was the second year in a row that Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and the rest of the Capitals earned the Presidents Trophy for the NHLs best regular-season record but exited in the second round of the playoffs.

And, no matter how much they insist the past doesnt matter, the Capitals keep falling short of expectations in the most heartbreaking way: During Alex the Greats career, they have now played in 10 Game 7s, going 3-7.

This offseason could mark a big shift for the franchise, too.

Top line right wing T.J. Oshie  who tied Ovechkin for the team lead in goals this season  and another couple of forwards, Justin Williams and Daniel Winnik, along with defensemen Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk are unrestricted free agents. Restricted free agents who are due a significant uptick in salary: center Evgeny Kuznetsov, wing Andre Burakovsky and defenseman Dmitry Orlov.

So while the Capitals will once again head home, and head into months of uncertainty, the Penguins will face the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference finals. Pittsburgh will host Games 1 and 2, before the series shifts to Canada.

DUCKS 2, OILERS 1: Nick Ritchie scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the Anaheim Ducks ended their streak of five straight Game 7 losses with a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night, advancing to the Western Conference finals for the second time in three years.

Andrew Cogliano scored the tying goal midway through the second period for the Ducks, who had blown a 3-2 series lead and lost a Game 7 on home ice in four consecutive seasons.

After a rally from an early deficit and a strong defensive performance to back John Gibsons 23 saves, the Ducks ended their ignominious streak and moved halfway to the franchises second Stanley Cup title.

Anaheim will host the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the conference finals Friday night.
Advertisement

By Jo Tilley Dortch

May. 10, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By Jo Tilley Dortch May. 10, 2017 | 12:46 PM | PADUCAH, KY

At the Paducah City Commission on Tuesday, a regrettable event occurred. Mayor Harless made the decision to not allow my dissenting opinion to be heard. I strongly object to making community alterations without considering ALL the consequences. I strongly object to our elected officials refusing to hear us. The one person who researched this issue from the point of view of the citizens affected was Commissioner Richard Abraham. Thank you, sir for your courage and consideration.



Read my thoughts. Democracy was crushed.





My name is Jo Tilley Dortch. I have been a west end resident since 1947, excepting my college years. Lend me your ears and your open mind.



Paducah decided to turn a section of old neglected homes near downtown into an artist colony. This was visionary. Etcetera, the country store and the brewery all add to the vibrancy of that neighborhood. Locating the art school there further enhanced the area.

Making the downtown lively, restoring the Fountain Avenue neighborhood, and keeping Jefferson a boulevard with lovely medians and varied homes  these are all visionary projects.



They all have in common the goal of a good healthy living environment for the people. A place called home.



Wallace Park and Independence Bank chose to keep Forest Circle R 1. My guess is the bank earned clients when they moved to a more viable location, even though it was not in their ORIGINAL PLAN.



The city ruled to NOT let businesses along the R 1 section of Alben Barkley Drive. They decided it was a lovely entrance to the city and scuppered plans for a 4 lane there.



Murray State, Paducah Campus fits nicely into our R 1 neighborhood, even though it was not in the ORIGINAL PLAN.



In all these cases, the city respected the opinions of the various neighbors.



Suppose a nursing home was located in Lowertown instead of the art school. Does that make any sense? Would it bring the same life as the school does? Certainly not! It would not be a good fit, even if it were allowed.



Suppose the Jefferson Street medians were destroyed and a four lane put in to help traffic to and from downtown. Would that be a good fit? Certainly not!



Choices like these would make Paducah like any and every other town.

Now the choice we make tonight will have long term and permanent consequences. It sets a precedent. All Paducah neighborhoods need listen up!



Consider the west end neighborhood. We bought our homes there. My joy is at our home. Why ever did we do this?



Its convenient. There are nearby, good schools with a diverse population, dining choices and shopping areas. It has character and an ambiance all its own. There are trees and winding streets with large and small unique homes. It is a good place in which to thrive. Home owners feel supported in this R 1 zone. We want to keep it that way.



Are we so unimportant? Ah! Wait a minute. I could fill days and days telling of all the efforts, accomplishments, and community projects that have happened only because of the people living here in my neighborhood and only out of love of our town. Read your history. You will meet a cadre of people who have made things happen here. Movers. Shakers. Hard working citizens.



Why, as an R 1 neighborhood, we ARE an asset to Paducah!



Its progress!, you say. Why ask us to compromise our neighborhood for something that better fits elsewhere?



Its what Paducah needs!, you say. Build them on the perimeter of good strong neighborhoods who feel supported. That WILL bring em in!!!



We need the money!, you say. Money is never a justified motive for destroying something beautiful.



Its in the Comprehensive Plan!, you say. A plan is just that  a guideline made by humans. It is shaped, reshaped and changed as the future develops. This is called resiliency, a basic characteristic of a sustainable community.



We object to R 4 development being injected into our neighborhood. We are not a dying neighborhood. There are plenty of us who contribute to Paducahs common good.



We are asking you to make a mindful choice on this question. That is a choice that leads to a future in which we ALL would want to live.



Jo Tilley Dortch is a retired math professor, activist, gardner, volunteer and artist who resides in Paducah.



Paducah City Commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday evening in favor of an ordinance to rezone property located at 4231 Pecan Drive. The vote allows the current R1 low density residential zone to be changed to an R-4 high density residential zone. The change will allow a developer to build a 77,300 square foot, 100 bed nursing facility to be built on the property.



The views expressed in the preceding letter are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of West Kentucky Star.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 11, 2017 | 10:19 AM | MAYFIELD, KY

An investigation is underway in Mayfield after a body was found in a creek.

According to the Mayfield Police Department, at 6:10 am Thursday, officers received a 911 call that a citizen had found what was believed to be a body in Red Duck Creek, near the intersection of Wilford and West College streets.

Mayfield Police and Mayfield EMS were dispatched to the scene. The body, identified as 27-year-old Cortez Lockett, of Mayfield, was removed from the scene by the Graves County Coroner.

Mayfield Police Chief Nathan Kent said there is no evidence of foul play at this time. He said his office will continue to investigate the death, as they await the results of toxicology and an autopsy.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 10, 2017 | 06:35 AM | WINGO, KY

A short vehicle pursuit Tuesday night in Graves County left one man facing charges.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, a detective was patrolling in Wingo when he saw a vehicle traveling west on Main Street with a man sitting on the roof of the vehicle. The detective tried to get the vehicle to pull over but the driver took off at a high rate of speed. Police said the man on the roof crawled into the vehicle through a window.

A short pursuit ensued on US Highway 45, with both vehicles reaching speeds over 75 mph. The suspect eventually pulled over after a few miles.

Police arrested the driver, 19-year-old Steven B. Youngblood of Wingo on charges of wanton endangerment, DUI, reckless driving and speeding. He was lodged in the Graves County Jail.

Four others in the vehicle were released to family members.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 10, 2017 | 10:55 AM | MURRAY, KY

A woman was sent to the hospital Tuesday after being struck by a vehicle.

According to the Murray Police Department, officers responded to a business on South 12th Street for a report of a vehicle versus pedestrian accident in the parking lot. Police said 23-year-old Derick Evans of Hazel was backing out of a parking space in front of the business, and didn't see 71-year-old Francine Norman of Puryear, TN walking behind his vehicle.

According to police, the right rear of Evans' vehicle hit Norman, causing her to fall to the ground. Norman was transported by ambulance to the Murray Calloway County Hospital for treatment of her injuries.

Evans was cited at the scene for no insurance.
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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.


Tamil star Dhanush has just wrapped the second schedule of Vetrimaarans ambitious period drama, Vada Chennai. Today, the actor is said to be leaving for Brazil to commence shooting for his debut Hollywood film. The overseas schedule will last for nearly three months.

Dhanushs Hollywood debut movie is based on the novel The Extraordinary Journey Of A Fakir Who Got Trapped In An Ikea Cupboard. Dhanush will be essaying the role of a storyteller, who falls in love with a Parisian woman and gets accidentally deported to Africa as a refugee.

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May 11, 2017 | By Tess

Sintavia, LLC, a global metal additive manufacturing company, has unveiled plans to construct a 55,000 square foot 3D printing facility in Florida. Once established, the new AM plant will serve as the companys new headquarters, and is expected to quadruple Sintavias production capacity.

Based in Davie, Florida, Sintavia has had an ambitious year, taking a number of significant steps towards growing its additive manufacturing business. In January, for instance, the company announced a new proprietary process for 3D printing aluminum alloys, and in March it secured an impressive $15 million in equity funding.

Now, with its latest announcement, Sintavia has highlighted its plan to build an expansive, 55,000 square foot 3D printing facility in Hollywood, Florida. The 3D printing plant, which is expected to be finished as of mid-2018, will be equipped with Sintavias latest additive manufacturing systems and technologies. Specifically, it will house over 20 million dollars worth of 3D printing machinery, including an automated power handling system, an uninterruptable power supply, an inert gas farm, and enhanced post-processing tools.

With this new facility, we are excited to continue our leadership in the development of the metal AM supply chain for OEMs in precision industries, commented Brian Neff, Sintavias Chairman and CEO. We will use this additional space not only to grow our existing competencies in laser and electron beam melting, but also to industrialize new technologies such as metal binder jet manufacturing.

Not only is the facility expected to increase Sintavias production capacity by at least four times, it also has the potential to bring around 135 new jobs to the region for skilled workers and support staff. No doubt that is exciting news for South Florida.

Doug Hedges, Sintavias President and COO, also added: The key to Sintavias success over the past few years has been our vertically integrated approach to metal AM. Our ability to rapidly qualify machines and processesthrough the use of our on-site laboratories, scanning, and post-processing equipmentdemonstrates meaningful value to our customers. This same approach will continue on a larger scale with our new production facility.

Sintavias vertically integrated, end-to-end metal 3D printing production process consists of a rigorous verification process for metal powders, an innovative powder bed fusion (PBF) 3D printing process, and extensive post-processing and testing methods. The company works in a variety of different industries with clients in the aerospace, defense, oil & natural gas, automotive, and ground power generation sectors.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Stephani Sutherland in Scientific American:

Picture the stereotypical pot smoker: young, dazed and confused. Marijuana has long been known for its psychoactive effects, which can include cognitive impairment. But new research published this week in Nature Medicine suggests the drug might affect older users very differently than young onesat least in mice. Instead of impairing learning and memory as it does in young people, the drug appears to reverse age-related declines in the cognitive performance of elderly mice. Researchers led by Andreas Zimmer of the University of Bonn in Germany gave low doses of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, marijuanas main active ingredient, to young, mature and aged mice. As expected, young mice treated with THC performed slightly worse on behavioral tests of memory and learning. For example, after THC young mice took longer to learn where a safe platform was hidden in a water maze, and they had a harder time recognizing another mouse to which they had previously been exposed. Without the drug, mature and aged mice performed worse on the tests than young ones did. But after receiving THC the elderly animals performances improved to the point that they resembled those of young, untreated mice. The effects were very robust, very profound, Zimmer says.

Other experts praised the study but cautioned against extrapolating the findings to humans. This well-designed set of experiments shows that chronic THC pretreatment appears to restore a significant level of diminished cognitive performance in older mice, while corroborating the opposite effect among young mice, Susan Weiss, director of the Division of Extramural Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse who was not involved in the study, wrote in an e-mail. Nevertheless, she added, While it would be tempting to presume the relevance of these findings [extends] to aging humansfurther research will be critically needed.

More here.
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.
This report enables readers the critical perspectives to be able to evaluate the world market for electric accumulators. The market information includes the total market size, share and growth for electric accumulators market.

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Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, our experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions.

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Queensland Bauxite Limited (ASX:QBL) is an Australian listed company focused on the exploration and development of its bauxite tenements in Queensland and New South Wales. The Company's lead project is the South Johnstone Bauxite Deposit in northern Queensland which has rail running through the project area and is approximately 15-24 kilometres from the nearest deep water port. The Company intends to become a bauxite producer with a focus on commencing production at South Johnstone as early as possible. The Company also pursues additional investment opportunities, and has agreed to acquire a 100% shareholding in Medical Cannabis Limited, an Australian leader in the hemp and Cannabis industries, and a 100% shareholding in Medcan Australia Pty Ltd, a company with an ODC cultivation and production License and a DA approved Cannabis production and manufacturing facility.
The key to getting a good night's rest



Oventus Advances in Combatting Sleep Apnoea - Australian Financial Review (AFR)

Sydney, May 11, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Oventus Medical Ltd ( ASX:OVN ) are pleased to provide an article featured in the Australian Financial Review today.



Treatment for sleep apnoea usually involves either a mask or a mouthguard. A new Australian invention combines the best elements of both.



Brisbane dentist Chris Hart spent years struggling to sleep. He snored constantly. He often woke up during the night because he had stopped breathing because of a n obstruction in his nose and throat.



Like one in 10 Australians, Hart suffers from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).



This occurs when the airway is partially or completely obstructed during sleep. The obstruction can occur in the nose, the back of the throat or because the tongue sucks backwards and stops breathing.



Hart compares the condition to "someone putting their hand over a vacuum": No air can get past. Nasal surgery didn't help. He found sleep masks uncomfortable and that mouth guards had little effect.



Symptoms of OSA include snoring, lack of sleep, poor concentration, morning headaches, depressed mood, night sweats, weight gain, lack of energy and forgetfulness.



Sleep apnoea is most common in people aged over 55-particularly men and the overweight. Children with enlarged tonsils or adenoids can get it too. The number of people seeking treatment is growing as the population ages and gains weight.



Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is considered the most effective treatment for OSA. A tube connects the patient's facemask to a machine, gently increasing air pressure in the throat and holding it open to prevent it becoming obstructed.



However, many people find the CPAP masks uncomfortable and struggle to wear them all night. The pumps are large and cumbersome, which means they are difficult for anyone who travels.



Many people with OSA turn to dental devices for relief. The custom-made mouthguards force the jaw forward, keeping the airways open at night.



Hart says dental devices can be effective for OSA caused by the tongue, but make little difference if the problem is in the nose or soft palate.



He was desperate for a solution: "It was driving me nuts because I couldn't get a good night's sleep."



So he made a device and tested it on himself: "I cut a saliva tube and fixed it to a mouthguard with putty and stuck it into my mouth," he says... It worked.



"The first night I put it in, my wife kept waking me up to make sure that I wasn't dead," he says. "I told her to stop - I was getting the best sleep of my life."



The key was getting the air to the back of the throat, below the obstructions, through a device that was easy to wear all night.



Hart set up a company, Oventus, and refined his original design with the help of the CSIRO. His invention, now called the O2Vent, is much more high-tech than his original home made device.



The enclosed airway, made from lightweight, durable titanium, delivers air from the mouth directly to the back of the throat, bypassing the nose, soft palate and tongue. The titanium is covered with dental polymer, custom-made to fit patients' mouths. The O2Vent is available through dentists in Australia.



Comfortable and easy to wear, the device has changed the lives of thousands of OSA sufferers, Hart says.



In trials of the device, up to 82 percent of patients stopped snoring completely. The rest reduced their snoring to a level where it wasn't annoying them or their partner, he says.



Directing air to the back of the throat has a similar effect to pumping it in with CPAP, Hart says.



However, for patients with severe OSA, the O2Vent can be hooked up to CPAP machines. This feature will be a game-changer for OSA treatment, Hart says.



In the trials, CPAP machines hooked up to the O2Vent used two-thirds less air pressure, he adds.



"When we added CPAP in, it was ultra low pressure CPAP- because the air was already able to get in there."



That means the CPAP pump could be made smaller and more portable.



"The pumps we are testing are able to fit in the palm of your hand," Hart says. "They don't have to carry a second suitcase on the plane, they don't have this big vacuum sitting on the bedside table. It's more user-friendly and more comfortable."



Oventus was awarded a $2.95 million grant from the Co-operative Research Centre in February to develop a customised treatment platform for sleep apnoea including the development of micro-PAP.



The company intends to further refine the O2Vent and CPAP machines and tailor user-friendly OSA treatment to individuals.



In January, the O2Vent launched in the United States.



Two products have been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Hart says. He hopes to have the CPAP-connected device cleared by the FDA this year.



"That will be the real shift in the landscape," he says. "That's where we get on the turf of the big guys."



About Oventus Medical Ltd





Oventus Medical Ltd (ASX:OVN) is a Brisbane based medical device company that is commercialising a unique treatment platform for the treatment of sleep apnoea and snoring. Unlike other oral appliances or CPAP interfaces, the Oventus devices have a unique and patented airway within the treatment platform that allows air to flow to the back of the mouth unobstructed while maintaining an oral seal and stable jaw position, bypassing multiple obstructions from the nose, soft palate and tongue, reducing airway collapsibility and managing mouth breathing while maintain a stable airway with or without nasal CPAP. They are particularly designed for the many people that have nasal obstructions and consequently tend to mainly breathe through their mouth. While it may seem counterintuitive, this technology actually manages mouth breathing by converting it to device breathing and normalising ventilation. The O2Vent(TM) is designed to allow nasal breathing when the nose is unobstructed, but when obstruction is present, breathing is supplemented via the airways in the appliance.

For more information on Oventus' Sleep Treatment Platform, please visit https://www.oventus.com
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 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 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. 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.
US President Donald Trump today fired FBI chief James Comey, abruptly removing the top sleuth overseeing a criminal probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election that was won by the real estate mogul.

You are hereby terminated and removed from the office, effective immediately, Trump said in a letter to Comey, who was four years into his 10-year term as FBI director.

Trump explained his bombshell announcement by citing Comeys handling of the investigation by Americas leading law enforcement agency into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clintons use of a private email server when she was the secretary of state.

Trump told Comey, 56, that he was no longer effectively able to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation and it was necessary to restore public trust and confidence in it.

The Presidents move comes days after Comey testified on Capitol Hill about the FBIs investigation into Russias meddling into the US elections and a possible collusion between Trump campaign and Moscow.

In recent days, Comey again came under fire for his handling of the investigation into Clintons private email server. Many Democrats believe that his announcement that he was re-opening the probe 11 days before the November 8 election cost Clinton the presidency.

In the letter, Trump acknowledged that Comey had informed him on three separate occasions that he was not under investigation. I nevertheless concur with the judgement of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau, he added.

Comey learned from news reports that he had been fired while addressing bureau employees in Los Angeles. It was reported that he made a joke about it to lighten the mood and called his office to get confirmation.

Comeys deputy, Andrew G. McCabe, a career FBI officer, has been appointed the acting director, the Justice Department said. The White House said the search for a director will begin immediately.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters: The president has accepted the recommendation of the Attorney General (Jeff Sessions) and the Deputy Attorney General (Rod Rosenstein) regarding the dismissal.

In a statement released by the White House, Trump said: 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.

Comey had courted controversy during the 2016 presidential polls when he revealed a renewed investigation into Hillary Clintons email use, which the Democrats claimed had hurt her chances of becoming president.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in his letter to Trump, criticised Comeys handling of the Clinton probe, including the directors decision to hold a press conference announcing its findings and releasing derogatory information about her.

In a separate letter, Sessions said he has concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the FBI, based on his evaluation as well the reasons expressed by the Deputy Attorney General.

It is essential that this Department of Justice clearly reaffirm its commitment to longstanding principles that ensure the integrity and fairness of federal investigations and prosecutions, Sessions said.

Though the president has the authority to fire the FBI director for any reason, Comey is only the second director to be fired in bureau history. President Bill Clinton fired William S. Sessions in 1993.

It was not immediately clear how Comeys ouster will affect the Russia probe, but Democrats said they were concerned that his ouster could derail the investigation.
Rupee is going down and crashing at a really high speed, as per Google today, 64.43 Indian rupees is equivalent to 1 US dollar. Now the dilemma is, i am not sure if rupee is crashing down or dollar is going up. Either way, it is we, who are incurring major losses. Of course there are other sides of the rupee crashing, which is the good side. The economic condition of any country depends on the amount of tax and money which is being circulated in the country. Of course we do believe that there is a lot of black money in the Swiss accounts of various Indians who have smashed the nation economically but have managed to fill their own pockets. However, that is not enough, it has to go down in heredity but that fortunately doesnt happen, karma! Now if you look at the other side of the economic drainage, the amount of black money outside the country would be approximately the same as that of the fake currency. The money keeps circulating, whether it is original or a fake one.

If government is getting smart, the printers are getting smarter. Who checks what kind of currency has been used to pay for the losses during IPL bets? Which casino will check if the currency is fake or real one? Cash keeps circulating. However, higher rate of cash means higher rate of black money, which may necessarily may-not be true but, in our (Indian) case, it is. Once there is more cash on the outside, there is very less calculation in the inside. Lesser calculation results in lesser taxes, which in turn results in less money for the government to buy gold and print genuine currencies but the world doesnt end, if government doesnt print, the scamster still does.

We are all affected by it. The more rupee weakens the prices of dollars will go up thus, commodities which requires import will be dealt with foreign currency at much higher rates, those rates have to be compensated by us. For example, do not be shocked if the price of petrol goes up by few rupees in coming days. On the flip side of the same coin, NRIs who are remitting money to India are getting higher returns per dollar which encourages them to send across as much as possible. More money flowing in, more white money coming up but, this amount is swiftly taken as non-taxable since this is not an income but, a gift. Donations and gifts are not charged with tax. So, for the government things are almost the same, why almost? Because when more money flows in, many things are purchased and those goods come under taxes! Another reason for fallacy of rupee are the news channels, well that is what government officials will say. It is news channels and mass media who is responsible for showing how insecure women are in our country and how law and order is always made fun of. Political intervention is like an icing on the cake where you are trying to glorify about the culture and tradition of this great country. Of-course, tourists have started getting skeptic about visiting this country, which means, lesser outer currency getting converted to Indian rupee. Forex trade has slowed down from one side. However, aspiring students who have growth opportunities are often sent abroad for studies where they have no other option than buying foreign currency at the same insane rates as they are prevailing today. People can buy domestic gold at good prices but as the market takes a 180, the prices will again shoot up. Outsourcing business will boost since the USD to INR or GBP to INR will give them more, which means, those business will end up paying more taxes too. Money keeps circulating, it is now upto the government and economists job to make sure that the circulation chain link in within their control.

The economical estimates and equilibrium of the nature of economy has never duped at any country into losses, even the one trillion dollar note of Zimbabwe made sure that trade continues. Moral of todays edit is, if your business model takes in money in USD, do as much as you can and get the best of best within less possible time frames and for those who rely on INR, keep calm and keep working the prices will come back to normal. Bottomline: No matter on what side of the coin you are, everything has a tenure.

Follow me on Twitter @vaidehisachin and let us discuss, debate and bring out an intelligent way out!

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)


A free email book give-away from Autism Action Network and Skyhorse Publishing!



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Vaccine Injuries: Actual Documented Adverse Reactions to Vaccines by Tony Lyons and Louis Conte

Pediatricians, politicians and the media tell you that vaccines are safe and effective. However, they rarely tell you about the side effects and very real damage vaccines can cause.

In Vaccine Injuries: Actual Documented Adverse Reactions to Vaccines, Tony Lyons and Louis Conte take the reader through vaccine injury cases where the United States government has compensated the victims, often children.
NOTE: Well say Adjo! to Sweden. Surely they are about to descend into a hellish pit of death and disease.... Skoal!



Sweden's Parliament just rejected 7 motions that would have promoted forced vaccinations. The Swedish Parliament decided forced vaccination policies are contrary to their citizens' constitutional rights. May every other country in the world follow their lead. Here is a rough translation of the article. Our Swedish speaking readers can find the original here:



Riksdagen rostade Nej till alla vaccinmotioner

Today, the Riksdag decided on the Social Committee's report 2016/17: SoU7, which contained a number of measures for public health. What prompted a large proportion of the population to monitor this particular case was that it contained several motions that would pave the way for both more vaccinations and forced vaccination. This was something that involved many, not just those who have opted for vaccine but also people who are vaccinated but who absolutely do not want to see any compulsion.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Mental Health America is encouraging people to take care of their mental health.
New Book About the Assyrian Genocide Published

(AINA) -- A new book on the Turkish genocide of Assyrians has been published by Berghahn Books. The book, titled Let Them Not Return - Sayfo -- The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire, was edited by David Gaunt, Naures Atto, and Soner O. Barthoma.

The book focuses on the genocide of the Assyrian people (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) that took place at the same time as the Armenian genocide during the First World War. The mass killing of Ottoman Armenians is today widely recognized, both within and outside scholarly circles, as an act of genocide. What is less well known, however, is that it took place within a broader context of Ottoman violence against Christians during and after the First World War. Among those populations decimated were the indigenous Christian Assyrians who lived in the borderlands of present-day Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, as well as Greeks.

Between 1915 and 1918 750,000 Assyrians (75%), 1 million Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in a genocide that aimed at and nearly succeeded in destroying the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire.

This volume is the first scholarly edited collection focused solely on the Assyrian genocide (Seyfo -- sword -- in Assyrian). It presents historical, psychological, anthropological, and political perspectives that shed much-needed light on a neglected historical atrocity. Chapters are wirtten by scholars from various academic disciplines.

The introduction provides a systematic and holistic analysis of how Assyrians living in different geographical regions (Turkey, Syria, Iran) were impacted. So far, Sayfo has been analyzed with focus on regional events, e.g. Urmia, Hakkari, Tur Abdin. Apart from this, the book deals with different issues that are directly related to Sayfo.

In chapter 1, Ugur Umit Ungor confirms that the victimhood of the Assyrians was almost always eclipsed by the greater interest given to the plight of the Armenians. It has required painstaking research to rediscover the Assyrian genocide behind the Armenian genocide.

In her chapter, Florence Hellot-Bellier deals with the abduction, rape and forced conversion of Assyrian women by Muslim men in the region of Urmia, and attempts by the Assyrians to protect themselves from Muslim violence.

Jan van Ginkel focuses on the role that one church leader played during the time of genocide. He tries to answer such questions as: what was the response of the church leaders during the genocide itself and later? How did the genocide influence the behaviour of religious leaders after the event? How did the community respond to the behaviour of their secular and religious leaders?

Naures Atto and Soner O. Barthoma reveal how the Syriac Orthodox patriarch duirng the early years of the Turkish Republic did everything in its support for the new political line of the Turkish governing elite and downplaying the genocide.

Shabo Talay analyses how the year 1915 has become the symbol of genocide and has been referred to in terms of 'the year of the sword'. Sayfo as a designation has been in oral use since the event itself and was obviously used even earlier as a metaphor for massacre initiated by islamic religious radicalism.

Sebastian Brock takes up a recently discovered colophon in a Syriac liturgical manuscript which gives an account of mass killings of Assyrians in the Mardin area. It was written in the Orthodox Zafaran Monastery, and Brock compares it with another source, that of Qarabashi, from the same monastery.

Simon Birol interprets an epic poem in the classical Syriac language written by Gallo Shabo, who was the leader of the village Ayn Wardo in Tur Abdin which managed to defend itself successfully against the assaults of Turkish troops and Kurds. One key explanation offered by Gallo Shabo for what happened to his people is God's punishment for their sins.

Onver Cetrez applies psychological categories of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to determine the degree to which the Assyrian community has been marked by internal dissent and distrust of outsiders. He advances the idea that present-day Assyrians suffer from the death of time, that is, they are unable to distinguish between today and what happened in the past.

Racho Donef examines the denial activities produced by the recently created Assyrian section of the Turkish Historical Society. The aim of this new section is to challenge the Assyrian claims. As a rule, this is done by casting doubt on the statistics presented and by claiming that the testimony of survivors is flawed and therefore inadmissible.

Abdulmesih BarAbraham focuses on the key arguments employed by Turkish government officials when denying genocide. He also makes an analysis of several recent 'denialist' publications by the Turkish Historical Society.

Christophe Premat compares how the French and the Swedish parliaments have dealt with diaspora demands for the recognition of genocide. His study shows that the larger the group is, and the more votes it can muster, the greater the possibility of getting a recognition bill passed.

About the Editors

David Gaunt is Professor of History at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, Sodertorn University, and a member of the European Academy. He has written extensively on mass violence and genocide in Eastern Europe and in the Ottoman Empire. His book Massacres, Resistors, Protectors (2006) is considered the seminal work on the Assyrian (Chaldean and Syriac) genocide.

Naures Atto is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in World Christianities and their Diaspora in the European Context and Principal Investigator in the Aramaic Online Project at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of Hostages in the Homeland, Orphans in the Diaspora: Identity Discourses among the Assyrian/Syriac elites in the European Diaspora (2011).

Soner O. Barthoma is an independent researcher in the field of Political Science and co-coordinator of the Erasmus+ Aramaic Online Project at Freie Universitat Berlin. He is the author of several articles about the modern history of Assyrians in Turkey.

Contents
May 10, 2017

Situated between two historical buildings in Darb al-Ahmar district of Islamic Cairo, the small covered Khaiyamiya Street is fading away with time. The narrow street, which dates from the 13th century, takes its name from the main activity practiced there: khaiyamiya, or the art of tentmaking.

The small shops lined on both sides of the street display knotty cloth mosaics, Islamic motifs, pharaonic patterns and occasional modern designs. But the joy of color is not reflected in the mood of the craftsmen who are struggling to make ends meet as their centuries-old craft fall victim to Egypts 21st-century revolution followed by a decline in tourism revenues.

Mahmoud al-Hariri is one of them.

"Before the revolution, we depended 100% on tourists who bought our products. Now the income depends on a handful of Egyptians and foreign residents here who buy about 5% of my works," Hariri, the last generation of a family of tentmakers, told Al-Monitor.

Hariri sits on a wooden bench inside his nameless shop, holding a needle and thread and sewing colorful lotus motifs on the chest and sleeves of a blouse.

He started his profession as a tentmaker at the age of 8, when his uncle taught him how to use a needle and scissors. It took him two years to acquire the skills that would enable him to put together his first work: a backdrop for a funeral. "The backdrop was 5 meters in length and 3 meters in width. Five friends and I worked together, under the supervision of my uncle," he said as he continued sewing.

Since then, his life has been among colors and shapes. In the past, the most prevalent colors in khaiyamiya were red, green, yellow and blue. Nowadays, he said, khaiyamiya use all colors and are used in home decorations.

"We make colorful, ornamental applique tent decorations, bedspreads, pillowcases, cushion covers and tablecloths," he said. The shapes he uses include Pharaonic motifs, inscribed Quranic verses, forms of calligraphy, landscape and Egyptian traditional heritage patterns in his works. His skills are honed by the courses he attended in fine arts.

"I love my work. When I produce a piece and deliver it to its client, I weep out of happiness that there are people who still value my work," he said.

But this happens less and less, as there is little demand for tents. He added that tents that are sold today are mainly used in boy scout camps.

Lamenting the decline in the number of khaiyamiya artisans, he worries that he might be the last generation of this profession, as most of Egypts youth do not seem to have the patience to learn such a creative art.

Displayed on his shop's walls are many decorative patterns that depict the folktales, geometrical shapes and scenes from Egyptian village life.

During the interview, a woman entered the shop and asked the price of one of the patterns, which depicts a well-known story from the Kalila wa Dimna, one of the most popular books ever written and a bestseller for almost 2,000 years. The pattern describes the story of Joha and his donkey, in which Joha, his son and the donkey are criticized for the way they travel no matter what they do.

"It is 700 Egyptian pounds [$38.60]," Hariri replied. The woman looked at him, raising her eyebrows, and left the shop.

"Most of the Egyptian clients react like her when they learn the price," Hariri said. They believe that the handmade products must be cheap. They don't value our work like foreigners do."

The art of tentmaking is indeed interesting to the Western audience. A documentary titled "The Tentmakers of Cairo" by Australian filmmaker Kim Beamish sheds more light on the tentmakers' struggles not only to maintain their craft but also to survive. The film tackles the techniques and practices surrounding the art, and underlines the contrast between the appreciation the tentmakers have abroad and the lack of it in their own country.

Beamish spent three years after the revolution immersed in the lives of craftsmen for his documentary. It was premiered on April 21, 2015, at the Visions du Reel Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.

Hariri urges the government to pay more attention to this dying craft, and suggested that whenever there is a touristic event held abroad, khaiyamiya craftsmen should participate.

"If they invite one of us to attend on the sidelines of these events  to show people how we make these designs  I think this will encourage tourists to come," he said. "We need out-of-the-box ideas so we can survive."
May 10, 2017

On May 1, then-head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshaal announced the movements new General Principles and Policies Document during a press conference held at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, in the presence of Hamas leaders as well as Palestinian and Arab media and political figures.

The document included 42 items, most notably, a definition of the movement and an official statement that it accepts a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, without relinquishing the rest of the territories occupied in 1948. In addition, Hamas presented itself as a movement of liberation and Palestinian national resistance, without mentioning the Muslim Brotherhood as its organizational and ideological authority.

On May 5, Quds Press cited Meshaal as saying that Hamas new policy comforts its allies, namely Turkey, Qatar and some countries and parties around the world, as it is easier for them to convey this document to all regional and international forums. This is because Hamas softened some of its positions in the document, namely accepting a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

At a conference on Palestine held in Istanbul on May 8, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the document as an important step both for the Palestinian cause and for the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. He said that the only way to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders.

Hamas leader Sami Khater told Al-Monitor that the new policy document took four years to prepare with the help and approval of the movements Shura and executive institutions. It reflects the evolution of Hamas ideology and political performance that had prevailed for over 30 years, he added.

Khater further stressed that the new policy document represents a road map for the new Hamas leadership, noting that its general objective is to express the movements principles and policies.

Hamas has only issued one document since its founding in 1988, the Hamas Charter, which included the movements positions regarding various political, social and religious issues. No other document had been issued before this new policy document.

He clarified that this document was in no way related to Hamas proposing itself as an alternative to Fatah or the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to lead the Palestinian national project. He noted that it was only normal for officials and people to react to the document at the local, regional and international levels, namely Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a video published May 7 by spokesman Ofir Gendelman, Netanyahu expressed his anger at the document, which he crumpled up and threw in a garbage bin, saying this document was Hamas way to trick the entire world while it seeks to establish a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, in order to destroy the State of Israel.

On May 2, Anadolu Agency quoted an anonymous source from the US State Department as saying, Hamas position has not changed. It is still listed as a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, chairman of the Delegation for European Parliamentary Relations with Palestine, Neoklis Sylikiotis, told Anadolu on May 4 that the change in Hamas position will help lift the siege that has led to catastrophic conditions in Gaza, adding, We must end the siege.

Ahmed Yousef, the former political adviser to Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said that the new Hamas document provides a vision that embodies the humanitarian, cultural and moral dimension of a national liberation movement with an Islamic background. He pointed out that the international and regional changes, as well as the movement's loss of allies, such as Syria, during the last decade, made it imperative for Hamas to present a new political vision aimed at restoring those relationships and gaining new allies.

Yousef told Al-Monitor that due to European and Western laws that placed Hamas on terror lists, the movement needs to make great efforts to promote this new document around the world to rid its reputation of all charges that led to its addition to such lists.

Yousef pointed out that ever since Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary elections, its political discourse overshadowed its religious one, which was reflected in the movement's behavior and allowed it to gain political experience. All this eventually led it to draft a policy document that goes in line with regional and international changes in order to save the Palestinian cause and place it under the spotlight again.

Akram Atallah, a political analyst and writer for al-Ayyam local newspaper, told Al-Monitor that Hamas new policy document should help the movement become more accepted in many countries, especially Western ones. He added that Hamas has moved on from the ideology it adopted in its old document, such as affiliating itself with the Brotherhood and using many Quranic verses to explain its positions, and turned the religious aspect into a purely political one.

He pointed out that world countries require more of Hamas in order to make it part of the international system, and this new policy document is a suitable foundation for many countries to open a dialogue with the movement and pressure it into showing more flexibility. Atallah further noted that the document will help Hamas open some doors that were once shut, but not all of them, referring to the United States and other major countries.

Atallah welcomed Haniyeh's election on May 6 as the head of Hamas political bureau, saying, A new document requires a new leadership that can promote this new policy both regionally and internationally, so the movement can survive under the hostility of some Western countries, mainly the US, toward the organizations of political Islam in the Arab region.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, professor of international relations at the Islamic University in Gaza Tayseer Muheisen said it is too early to know whether the new policy document will make a qualitative shift in the way the international community and the Western countries deal with Hamas.

Muheisen noted that the preliminary reactions from Western and European countries indicate that despite Hamas attempts to show flexibility, the international community is still asking for more, which requires a focused, diplomatic campaign on Hamas part to properly promote the new policy document around the world.

The next few months will reveal to what extent Hamas new document and new leadership are able to achieve the movements goals, amid Palestinian expectations that this document could open some closed doors.
May 11, 2017

With less than 10 days to go before Iranians head to the polls to elect a president and city council members, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, cautioned against political unrest.

The issue of security and calm is very important for the country, Khamenei said in a May 10 speech to graduates of the Imam Hussein military academy. He encouraged the judiciary, the police force and the Interior Ministry, which oversees elections, in their duty to safeguard the security of the country during the process.

Khamenei also had a few words to say about George Soros, the billionaire investor who has spent millions of dollars around the world to advance political causes. That rich American Zionist who said that he toppled Georgia with $10 million started to think he could do the same to Iran in 2009, Khamenei said. If anyone wants to rise up against the security of the nation, they will encounter a firm reaction.

Soros' Open Society Institute had been instrumental in promoting organizations and training activists who spearheaded the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia following disputed legislative elections. In 2009 in Iran, Reformist candidates made allegations of fraud in that year's presidential election. Their accusations, plus a widespread crackdown on journalists and activists, resulted in the emergence of the Green Movement.

Unlike the leaders of protest movements in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and into the 2000s, however, Iranians at the forefront of the Green Movement did not call for toppling the government. Regardless, conservatives accused the movement and its leaders of working on behalf of foreign governments with the goal of regime change. It was then that Soros evolved into a notorious figure among conservative columnists.

Khamenei also warned the six candidates approved by the Guardian Council to contest the election to avoid stoking ethnic, regional or linguistic conflict and animosity during their campaigns. Its been many years that our enemies are working on these fault lines, he said.

According to Khamenei, the enemies of the Islamic Republic have actively been trying to exploit such fault lines in Kurdistan, Balochistan and Sistan, Azerbaijan and Khouzestan provinces. Khamenei cautioned the candidates to be careful and not to make mistakes that might aid Iran's enemies in furthering efforts that they have done halfway and not been able to push forward.

Khamenei did not refer to specific incidences, but Irans border regions, particularly in Balochistan and Sistan and Kurdistan, have experienced terrorist attacks against government officials and border security guards, who are mostly conscripts. The last such incident took place in April, when Sunni militants killed 10 border guards.

Tehran has in the past publicly expressed frustration with Pakistan for not monitoring its side of the border. On May 8, Mohammad Bagheri, head of Irans armed forces, warned that the military would strike terrorist cells inside Pakistan if the Pakistani government failed to stop their flow into Iran.

Meanwhile, Irans regional rival, Saudi Arabia, also recently caught Tehrans attention with respect to its border region. In a May 2 interview, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman accused Iran of wanting to attack Saudi Arabia and asserted, Well work so that the battle for them is in Iran. In response, Iran delivered a formal complaint to the United Nations. Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan was less diplomatic, stating on May 7 that if the Saudis take a war inside Iran, nowhere in Saudi Arabia would be safe, with the exception of the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
May 10, 2017

Israeli doctors continue to reject attempts by prison authorities to participate in any force-feeding or forced treatment of Palestinian prisoners who are on a hunger strike.

Ran Goldstein, the Israeli executive director of Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), told Al-Monitor that Israeli doctors see any force used in medical treatment as unethical. Our organization and the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) see eye to eye on this issue. Force-feeding or forced treatment are unethical, and Israeli doctors will not participate in them.

The IMA has, for a number of years, refused to participate in any force-feeding of prisoners. Forced-feeding is equivalent to torture, and every physician has the right to refuse to force-feed a hunger striker against his or her will, the IMA states in its guidelines, as per the National Lawyers Guild and reported by Al Jazeera in 2015.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also opposes force-feeding. The ICRC stresses the importance of respecting the choices and preserving the dignity of detainees. The World Medical Association (WMA) adopts a similar position, as expressed in the 2006 revision of the Tokyo and Malta declarations.

Goldstein said that none of their members have been allowed to see the hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners. We have not been allowed to visit, and the only people allowed to visit the prisoners are representatives of the ICRC.

Israels channel 2 station reported May 4 that the Israel Prison Services (IPS) is considering bringing doctors from abroad to force-feed Palestinian prisoners.

PHRI has called on world doctors not to participate in this effort to force-feed Palestinians. A report on their website May 7 said, PHRI calls on the WMA to instruct doctors around the world not to cooperate with the IPSs plans to import doctors from abroad to force strikers.

Goldstein also expressed his worry that if the IPS is unable to bring doctors from abroad and unable to find cooperative doctors at regular Israeli hospitals, they might choose to create a field hospital to be run by Israeli doctors who are not members of the IMA. We have repeatedly called for the doctors working for the prison authority to be changed since they are not members of the IMA and we demand that they work under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, and not under the internal security prison service.

Goldstein added there is a serious problem in the way the current doctors function in prison. There are always long delays in getting treatment, surgery takes years and these doctors don't take seriously complaints of patients, he said.

Goldstein further explained that most Israeli prisons lack needed medical facilities to deal with a prolonged mass hunger strike. There is only one clinic in the center of Israel in Ramla, and it takes prisoners many hours to get to it. Goldstein said that prisoners are transported in rough conditions. They are shackled in the vehicles they are transported in, which are not appropriate to transfer sick patients, he said.

As the most tangible proof of the lack of appropriate medical support to prisons that hold Palestinians, Goldstein referred to the cut in the 2016 budget for medical support to Israeli prisons.

The Palestinian prisoners hunger strike that began April 17 is entering its crucial fourth week. Attention will focus now on the health of the prisoners, as body organs will start to fail.

Israeli officials have publicly refused to deal with the demands of the Palestinian prisoners despite the fact that major international and local human rights organizations, as well as the ICRC, have publicly supported them. Amnesty International called the Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners cruel.

Without negotiations with prisoners, it is highly likely that some prisoners will suffer permanent health damage and possible death. The sooner that this issue is dealt with, the sooner the anger that can be caused by such injuries and fatalities can be addressed.
May 10, 2017

A little less than two weeks before US President Donald Trump's scheduled visit to Israel, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, landed in the country. It was the third visit of "Fighting Joe" to the country since becoming chairman in the fall of 2015. On May 9, he met with his Israeli counterpart, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, followed by meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and four Israeli generals, each representing a different military branch: Chief of Operations Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon; Chief of Planning Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin; the commander of the air force, Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel; and Chief of Manpower Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz.

Many issues were on Dunford's agenda during this visit to Israel, though his main task was to prepare for the arrival of the US commander in chief. Numerous sources in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as well as Western diplomatic representatives in Israel, concur that the "burning issue" for the United States is the stability of the Kingdom of Jordan, considering all the problems accumulating along its northeastern border, especially with Syria and Iraq.

Two days before Dunford's arrival in Israel, a major international military exercise called "Eager Lion" began in Jordan. Headed by the United States, it involves 20 countries. Thousands of soldiers take part in this annual exercise, but this year, it has been the subject of particular interest  and the cause of particular concern  especially for Damascus. Reports making the rounds in Syria claim that the exercise will provide cover for a military invasion of Syrian territory, in an attempt to destroy Islamic State (IS) forces and ease the heavy pressure on Jordan's northern border. This would not be an attempt to occupy Syrian territory, but rather a military action in Syrian territory intended to continue breaking IS' military strength. The target would be areas surrounding the Syrian town of Daraa that are still controlled by IS.

Events in the border areas adjacent to Jordan are very disturbing to the Hashemite kingdom and contribute to a sense of internal instability. Jordan is being flooded by Syrian refugees and has a hard time dealing with the new situation. It feels threatened by the continuation of skirmishes between the various rebel factions and the Shiite axis. Amman's nightmare scenario is that the Syrian civil war spills into the kingdom and that IS attempts to find greener pastures in Jordanian territory after the Islamic militant group is pushed out of Syria and Iraq.

An earlier article in Al-Monitor reported that a branch of IS in the southern Golan doubled its territory over the past few months. The United States, like Israel, considers the stability of Jordan to be a first-rank strategic concern. It was not by chance that King Abdullah was one of the first world leaders to visit the Trump White House. Israel plays a major, albeit completely secretive, role in this power game. The assessment is that Dunford will exert quite a bit of energy on this topic during his talks in Israel.

In their talks with Dunford, his Israeli counterparts focused on the Syrian civil war, especially on "the day after." Once again, Israel emphasized to Dunford that it would not agree to any change to the status quo and the balance of power in Syria or its airspace. The Israelis asked the Americans for help in obtaining recognition that the no-fly zones, which were recently created, do not infringe on Israel's right to continue combating the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah. Similarly, any Iranian or Hezbollah presence in the Golan is deemed by Israel to be a casus belli. As far as is known, the Americans reconfirmed their support for these Israeli interests.

It was surprising to learn that the second most important issue to Dunford is the Palestinian issue. "The Americans have mastered the issue and know the situation on the ground intimately," a senior Israeli military official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "It was clear how important the Palestinian issue is to the administration. The talks with Dunford confirmed Jerusalem's current, long-standing assessment that President Trump is serious and determined to try and reach a viable arrangement of the Palestinian-Israeli issue."

A considerable time during the meetings was devoted to providing Dunford with high-quality Israeli intelligence on all of the regional strategic issues. As one senior Israeli source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "When it comes to intelligence, Israel continues to be a valuable asset for the Americans. We have information that no one else has, and we share it with our ally, fully cooperating with them." The public agenda of Dunford's visit to Israel did not include a meeting with Mossad chief Yossi Cohen or Chief of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi, but it is reasonable to assume that meetings with them also took place.

Between all his talks and meetings, Dunford found time to go north, to the village of Migdal, with Almoz, the major general who is chief of manpower. Dunford's predecessor, Gen. Martin Dempsey, received the same treatment. Christians believe that Mary Magdalene was born in Migdal, and Almoz owns extensive olive orchards in the village, which Christians consider to be the cradle of their religion. Like Dempsey, Dunford will receive a bottle of olive oil from Migdal's ancient trees and visit sites sacred to Christians around the Sea of Galilee, including the site of Christ's baptism.

The village of Migdal sits above the banks of the Sea of Galilee. Its elevated position offers one of the most beautiful views in Israel, but as he stood there, Dunford must have received a strategic briefing, too. The Sea of Galilee is Israel's only freshwater reservoir, and the dispute over its waters has kept the country from reaching a peace agreement with Syria on more than one occasion. Israeli air force jets fly over the Sea of Galilee on their bombing runs in Syria, according to foreign sources. Nevertheless, the Golan Heights, which lies along the east bank of the Sea of Galilee, continue to be an island of tranquility in the chaos of Syria's devastating civil war, except when a mortar or tank shell from the fighting in Syria spills over the border, disrupting the quiet (and evoking an immediate Israeli response). Dunford will have a clear view of hell while standing in the middle of paradise.
May 11, 2017

The recent meeting between Gen. Khalifa Hifter and Fayez al-Sarraj in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates marked the first face-to-face encounter ever between the two Libyan rivals.

Libya has been without a central government since the bloody civil war that saw longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi toppled and killed in 2011 at the hands of rebel forces, which then mushroomed into hundreds of militias' dominating the country and preventing any government from adequately functioning ever since.

While it's unclear how much impact the May 2 meeting will eventually have, the fact that it took place at all is in itself a milestone in the Libyan crisis. Until then, neither man had officially recognized the others legitimacy and had failed to directly communicate. However, the question remains: How much can each side deliver to bring back peace and security and ease the burden on Libyan citizens, whose lives have been a continuous struggle?

In what seems to reflect the gap between the two sides, no official joint statement was issued after the Abu Dhabi meeting, though sources close to both sides talked about the positive atmosphere that prevailed. Also, after returning to Tripoli, Sarraj issued a statement May 3 in which he mentioned that he agreed with Hifter about calling for a new political dialogue, new elections, reuniting government institutions and reorganizing the military under civilian oversight. Hifter is worried about his future should he recognize Sarrajs government, which was set up in December 2015 through a United Nations-brokered political agreement.

Neither Hifter nor Sarraj can deliver any tangible results unless backed by allies on both sides of the political divide. The Tobruk-based parliament backing Hifter has yet to agree to more dialogue in which the strongman can play a deciding role. In the meantime, Hifter and military forces loyal to him have scored well in their operations against Islamists in eastern Libya, particularly in Benghazi, making him a make-or-break player without whom no settlement will work.

At the same time, Sarraj is not a free man to decide what he thinks is best. He is heading the fractured Presidency Council in Tripoli, whose nine members hardly agree on anything. This explains why the statement about the meeting was issued in Sarrajs name, not by the council's collective leadership  as is usually the case. So far, none of the other members has commented on the outcome of the meeting, which means it is a controversial issue.

On the other hand, Hifter has more room to maneuver and even impose some conditions on any political settlement should he wish to. This strength is backed by the military force that has helped liberate most of Benghazi so far and helped oil production resume in the oil crescent in the center of the country. Hifters forces managed to take over major ports, such as Ras Lanuf east of Sirte, before handing them over to the National Oil Corporation to resume its work of exporting the crude.

Meanwhile, the Presidency Councils Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli is weak and has no effective military force truly loyal to it. Indeed, there are different militias, including the powerful Misrata groups, that claim loyalty to the Presidency Council. Under this banner, they liberated Sirte from the Islamic State earlier this year, but the claim of loyalty is bogus, intended to gain some legitimacy and avoid being at odds with the GNA, which is backed by the UN and major world powers.

The meeting between the two men created a sense of optimism among Libyan citizens, however deceptive that might be, since hard-liner militias  particularly with Islamist ideology  in western Libya are not happy with any kind of rapprochement that might threaten their turfs.

Sadiq al-Ghariani, a self-styled mufti in Tripoli, quickly condemned the meeting in Abu Dhabi, calling Hifter a murderer while depicting Sarraj's government as illegitimate and imposed by the UN without any due political process. Ghariani is considered the de facto Islamist leader in western Libya and enjoys certain power among Islamists.

If anything good came of the meeting, it is that it created positive momentum that should be built on to move forward with amending the Libyan Political Agreement and to offer Hifter some assurances that he will not be left out.

One encouraging sign to further the dialogue is coming from Washington: Al-Monitor reported that both Hifter and Sarraj could soon visit to consult the new US administration.

To Libyan citizens, the meeting was a source of cautious optimism. A Tripoli taxi driver, Salah, told Al-Monitor, We can say the meeting is a positive step after we see something tangible that might help ease our daily burdens.

Hassan, a shopkeeper, was less optimistic when he told Al-Monitor, Politicians are corrupt and keep misleading us by creating false hopes, while in reality, they do not care.

Ignoring Hifter has proved to be a mistake. His opponents in the Presidency Council and in western Libya suspect he harbors aspirations to take over the country in a military coup once he reaches the capital. He undoubtedly has intentions, just like every other politician in chaotic Libya. But without him, it is hard to see how to move forward. Nevertheless, in turbulent, messy Libya, deeds are what matter the most  not intentions.
May 10, 2017

BAGHDAD  Although Islamic State (IS) fighters in western Mosul are cornered within a steadily shrinking area that is expected to be retaken soon, analysts warn that the fight against the group in the country is far from over.

Hisham al-Hashimi, one of Iraqs most widely respected security and terrorism experts, told Al-Monitor that the transnational terrorist group has not yet fought at its maximum strength and has left only a hindering force in Mosul, which was previously known as the groups capital in Iraq.

He claims that many IS members are unknown by name to Iraqi intelligence and that documents found in recaptured areas of Mosul show that IS hidden men are referred to in their own records using only numbers and no names, making it likely that many have simply melted into the population and will not be flagged during screening procedures.

Moreover, in commenting on an Iraqi military announcement in mid-April that IS currently held less than 7% of the country  down from an estimated 40% in 2014  Hashimi scoffed, noting that this is only counting the populated areas. They actually still hold 18% of it.

This is important, he stressed, since they still hold Hawija, as well as Tal Afar, Al-Baaj, and the cities of Rawa, Anah and Qaim in the western Anbar province.

We dont have enough forces to fight in Hawija. Until we recapture all of Mosul and Tal Afar, we cant go back to Hawija, he said, adding that Hawija is a difficult area due to its agricultural characteristics and the fact that it is a stronghold for militants. Fighters who have fled from the Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces are there.

He estimates that approximately 5,000 IS fighters remain in Hawija. Most of the fighters who carried out a massive attack on Kirkuk late last year that killed over a hundred people use Hawija as a base, along with many who still continue to carry out attacks across Salahuddin province.

Iraq has no safe border with Saudi Arabia, Hashimi noted. The Anbar region that straddles the border with Syria has seen a recent uptick in attacks, and some reports say that IS fighters there are using tunnels to conduct attacks on Iraqi noncombat troops stationed there, who are untrained and unequipped to engage in such fighting.

The desert region, long a stronghold for insurgent activity, encompasses roughly one-third of Iraqi soil.

In an interview with Al-Monitor at the Hammam al-Alil base, Lt. Gen. Raed Shaker Jawdat, the head of the federal police, called Mosul the devils nest. He said it was necessary to get rid of and that although taking it would not mean an end to IS, it would be an extremely significant victory.

He told Al-Monitor that IS vast administrative and financial system that underpinned its activities has transformed the group simply into a gang.

Hashimi, however, cautioned that the daily reports sent out by the Iraqi War Media Cell to journalists are pure propaganda, joking that if you calculate the number of dead IS in the statements, it will total almost the entire population of China.

The statements proudly proclaim the killing of different key figures on a daily basis, calling them by their nom de guerre, but I know for a fact that many of them are still alive and others werent important in the first place.

One such man is Abu Ayoub al-Attar, who Iraqi military forces said had been acting as mufti of the city and who they claim was killed in late April. A commander told Al-Monitor on a front line in the city a few days later that he was actually still alive, and Hashimi said he was never very important within IS.

A man known as the Judge of Blood, Nizam ad-Din Abdullah al-Rifai, who Iraqi forces have also proclaimed dead, from al-Zingili in West Mosul, is instead an important figure within the organization but I am in contact with some of his relatives and they have told me he is still alive.

Rifai is considered one of the founders of the Salafist movement in Iraq and has been imprisoned for his activities four times, in 1978, 1986, 1994 and 1999, Hashimi told Al-Monitor. He is a major theorist and most people who joined IS in Ninevah were influenced by him. IS asked him to leave Mosul but he refused.

IS is not running away, he said. They never run away. Much of the three brigades of foreign fighters in Mosul have remained in the city, he said.

This includes the Nahawand Brigade, made up mostly of Asian fighters tasked primarily with tunnel digging and ambushes, the Tariq Ibn Ziyad brigade of mostly French-speaking European citizens who conduct much of the suicide bombings, and the Furqan Brigade, made up mostly of Russian-speaking snipers.

IS still has three armies between Iraq and Syria, he added, each of which he estimates has around 12,000 fighters  Jaish al-Khilafat, Jaish al-Usra and Jaish al-Dabiq  making a total of 36,000 armed men.

He added, Where are all the bodies of those killed? We saw the corpses in Anbar, we saw them in Salahuddin. Where are all these dead IS in Mosul?

Hashimi said that many of the key figures and fighters are thought to have left for Al-Baaj, between when the operation to take the eastern part of Mosul began on Oct. 17 last year and the beginning of this year.

Of the 43 founding members of IS, Hashimi noted, 42 have been killed and only one has not, while all of the about 70 first level leaders have been killed and subsequently replaced since August 2014.

The transnational terrorist organization took Mosul in June 2014 but had existed in various forms in Iraq for many years before.

Since the operation began in October last year to retake the key city, Hashimi estimates that roughly 3,500 IS members have been killed and about 50,000 have died since August 2014.

And although IS might lose militarily, their propaganda wing will continue and the hidden men of IS are the most important. We dont know who they are. There is no information about them in the databases. Their neighbors dont even know who they are, Hashimi said.
May 11, 2017

A dedicated group of craftsmen in the Gaza Strip continue to spin wool into handmade carpets. They're fighting to preserve the profession of their ancestors and wider Palestinian heritage from extinction as cheaper imported carpets from Turkey, Iran and China spread.

Weaving rugs and carpets is one of the oldest professions in Palestine. Excavation missions there have shown that weaving is one of the oldest crafts in the country. Spinning wheels and looms have been discovered to be 5,000 years old.

Haj Mahmoud al-Sawaf, 70, still weaves carpets in his shop in east Gaza City's Al-Tuffah neighborhood, where he sells traditional carpets and rugs. He told Al-Monitor, My family has been practicing this profession for more than 400 years. I inherited it from my father, who inherited it from his forefathers. I have been working in carpet weaving for 60 years.

He pointed out that before the 1970s, carpet makers would import sheep wool from Egypt to make the yarn used in carpets and rugs. The imported wool would pass through several stages, including cleaning, carding and combing to turn the wool into yarn. The final stage is the dyeing stage, when the yarn is colored. He went on, But after the 1970s, craftsmen imported ready-made yarn from Europe, in various colors.

The craftsmen work on looms. Haj Mahmoud al-Sawaf's cousin Iyad al-Sawaf, who works with him, showed Al-Monitor how one works. The loom is the main tool used for weaving carpets and tapestries. It is a wooden device that holds 400 parallel-wrapped lengths of yarn in place. A reed, which is a flat wire comb, is secured to the top of the loom to regulate the space between threads.

Sawafs shop is filled with carpets and rugs of all shapes and colors. Few customers were in evidence, but he assured Al-Monitor that traditional handmade rugs and carpets have loyal admirers who prefer local handmade carpets over imported carpets. The local traditional rugs are highly prized and no longer used only to cover and decorate floors inside houses; they are also hung on walls as traditional and decorative statement pieces.

Customer Mounira al-Shami was busy flipping through piled-up carpets, searching for a particular color for the guest room in her home.

My house is entirely decorated with traditional handmade carpets and rugs. I feel it is important to preserve this craft as part of the ancient Palestinian heritage. I am trying to instill a love for heritage in the hearts of my children, since our heritage is our identity, she told Al-Monitor.

In his home in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Abu Hani Amer, 46, spends most of his time behind his wooden loom, weaving various kinds of rugs, carpets and tapestries. He is well known in the camp and sells his handmade pieces to Bedouin families who use them to decorate their homes and their gathering halls.

Amer told Al-Monitor that the craft requires skill, accuracy, focus and patience. He added, A two-by-four-meter carpet takes 10 days of work, eight hours a day. The one meter of handmade carpet is sold for 40 shekels [about $11], while the price of the meter of carpet imported from abroad is 30 shekels [about $8]. He explained, Handmade carpets are artistic, innovative pieces that cannot be manufactured by machines.

Amer went on, Handwoven pieces are of better quality and can last for decades. A handwoven carpet or rug is tailor-made and a customer can choose colors, shapes and patterns in advance, unlike standardized machine-made carpets.

Palestinian writer and historian Nasser al-Yafawi told Al-Monitor that historically, the craft flourished in several Palestinian cities. During the various eras, the coastal cities of Majdal and Ashkelon were famous for making and exporting carpets to Europe by sea. Following the Nakba in 1948, the people of these two cities were displaced to the Gaza Strip and brought the craft with them, he said.

There are no statistics available on the number of carpet-weavers or workshops, but Mahmoud al-Sawaf believes there are only four in the Gaza Strip, employing 25 workers.

He said, Five hundred workers worked in this field before the spread of imported rugs and carpets following the advent to power of the Palestinian Authority in the Palestinian territories in 1994.

He pointed that the industry is threatened by the current electricity crisis, as the looms require power. He explained, The frequent power outages of more than 16 hours a day are hampering our production, since workers are forced to leave at sunset. The various patterns of the carpets require high concentration and sufficient lighting.

He expressed hope that the industry and trade of traditional handwoven carpets regains its past glory. He said he will keep fighting to keep its legacy alive.
May 11, 2017

The flurry of international activity involving Libya in recent weeks raises questions of whether more confrontation between Moscow and the West is coming for the country or if some cooperation is possible.

On April 20, US President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni held a joint press conference in Washington. The American leader stated that the only US role in the region is getting rid of ISIS [the Islamic State].

Trumps statement, to some extent, threw light on Americas strategy and confirmed that the administration is reluctant to adopt a hands-on role in Libya. In fact, he seemed to be delegating the responsibility for conflict settlement to regional and, above all, European players.

Libya has been politically and militarily ruptured since President Moammar Gadhafi was ousted and killed in 2011. IS has taken advantage of the chaos, capturing some coastal cities. Meanwhile, two rival governments are struggling for power: that of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, and that of Tobrouk in the east under the military control of Gen. Khalifa Hifter. Sarraj is backed by the United Nations and, at least nominally, the Misrata Brigades. Hifter has the support of Russia, Egypt, France, the United Arab Emirates and the Libyan National Army.

Efforts to bring the two sides together have produced very mixed results.

Rome hosted an April meeting between Ageela Saleh, president of Libyas Tobruk-based House of Representatives, and Abdulrahman Sewehli, president of the Tripoli-based State Council. The meeting initially was hailed for producing a hallmark statement about the commitment of once-bitter enemies to getting their relations back on track. Just days later, however, Saleh said the meeting was of little substance.

Additionally, a Misrata military and political delegation visited Moscow and was greeted by legislators and representatives of the Foreign Ministry. The delegation, with the help of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, subsequently secured the release of five crewmembers of the Russian cargo vessel MV Merle who had been detained since early March in Tripoli.

Finally, Abu Dhabi hosted talks May 2 between Hifter and Sarraj after a 16-month standoff between the two sides. According to some Libyan sources, Moscows and Abu Dhabis unprecedented pressure led to the meeting, which in turn reportedly resulted in several important agreements. Yet it is too early to judge their feasibility.

The flurry allows us to contemplate the prospects of a real breakthrough settlement in Libya and adds a dimension to Russias regional policy.

Moscow largely interacts with Hifter through the Defense Ministry, as dialogue with Tripoli remains the preserve of the Foreign Ministry. Such a division of labor testifies to the polyphony of Russia's external policy in the Middle East. Just as with Syria, the activities of various Russian ministries and departments complement each other.

Russia employs some tactics that may appear misleading, generating some semblance of internal inconsistency or a lack of congruence. However, looking at strategy instead of tactics reveals that Russian policy in the region in general, and in Libya in particular, is very similar to the Wests in many respects.

Moscows involvement in conflict-resolution processes in Syria, Libya and Yemen is commensurate with the engagement of other extra-regional players. Moscows presence is heaviest in Syria and lightest in Yemen. Many of the players are wary of Saudi Arabias involvement in the civil war in Yemen, where it backs President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Iran backs the Houthi rebels and former president.

This leaves others at a loss about how to address the Yemeni humanitarian catastrophe. Like other global players, Russia tries to minimize its interference with Middle Eastern affairs and encourages regional actors to increase their responsibility for countries development. Moreover, Moscows perspective is similar to the Wests regarding the situation on the ground: Military intervention is mainly an instrument allowing the political process to gain momentum.

Meanwhile, there is an apparent discrepancy in interpreting the core of the Libyan conflict, which is both more complex and easier to understand than the Syrian one. On one hand, weak or absent Libyan state institutions derail progress toward a settlement. On the other hand, the approach of numerous parties to the conflict is mainly opportunistic. With the exception of most radical Islamist groups, made up mainly of foreigners, each party is well aware that the conflict is not existential, which is conducive to a compromise.

Russian expert discourse suggests treating all players in the Libyan political space as equal competitors. Military power, international status, political ideology or religious identity are just resources in their struggle for power. From this perspective, the Misrata Brigades are viewed as equal to Sarrajs government, which, in its turn, has the same status as the Libyan National Army. All these parties should engage in the political process, which requires stable, confidential relations of the intermediaries with each of them.

Meanwhile, developments in recent weeks suggest an emerging rapprochement between Moscow and other external players, facilitated largely by a clearer American stance.

Russian experts point to the increasing Russian-Italian cooperation in the Libyan matter, which could theoretically be supplemented by a Russian-French track. However, the latter is unlikely to take shape until the new French president is settled and with the recent appointment of a new special envoy to Libya.

Moscow attaches immense importance to cooperation with Europe and seems eager to use a potential Libyan settlement in much the same way it used the situation in Syria to engage in political dialogue with Washington. Southern European countries show a more sensitive appreciation of the Libyan conflict than the United States has regarding Syria. Along with the continued advance of political forces that have little or no bias against Russia  take Italys populist Five Star movement, for instance  the Libyan situation offers good prospects for dialogue.

Moscow's interaction with the Gulf monarchies, especially with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, can become just as crucial and effective. Russia has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which sets it apart from the UAE and Saudis, but they could all become allies in addressing the Libyan crisis, which will rebuild confidence and help normalize the situation in the region.

North African players are the weakest link in the international interaction chain.

Recent parliamentary elections in Algeria indirectly point to latent socio-political tensions in that country, which will affect its making of foreign policy. Egypt, which has banked on Hifters success to lead Libya out of the quagmire, has few opportunities to bring other Libyan forces to the negotiating table. In addition, Egypt is preoccupied with internal security problems. Finally, Tunisias unstable domestic political situation impacts policymaking there as well.

Russia's multilevel, interwoven foreign policy allows it to interact with all the vested interests and stakeholders in the region via different channels. It will compensate for the weakness of Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia on a diplomatic level. However, they need some security guarantees to engage in the peace process more actively and fruitfully. None of the major players  Russia, Europe or the Gulf monarchies  can offer them such guarantees today. Until they contribute to the process and until Libyas borders are open, even the most reliable agreements between intra-Libyan players can be reneged on anytime.

Editor's note: This article has been updated since its initial publication.
May 11, 2017

BAGHDAD  The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights reported May 3 that more than a thousand civilians were forcibly disappeared in the battle to regain control over Mosul that began Oct. 17, and in the Anbar operations that were launched July 13, 2015. This is in line with statements made by Yehya al-Mohammadi, a member of the Anbar provincial council, who said in a press statement April 25, The fate of hundreds of the kidnapped people in the Razaza area, south of the governorate, is still unknown.

In the same context, the governor of al-Hadar district in Mosul, Ali al-Ahmadi, said in a press statement May 2 that 160 young men were kidnapped while migrating from the district.

Aside from these statements, there were no official statistics  and the information about the number of the abductees is conflicting, which provoked controversy.

Members of parliament in the Sunni-dominated Salahuddin governorate told the media May 1 that there are 4,000 abductees from the governorate and threatened to internationalize the case. Meanwhile, member of parliament for the Anbar governorate Hamed al-Mutlaq said May 2 in a press statement, The number of the kidnapped in the Sunni areas  including Anbar, Baghdad, Diyala and Salahuddin  amounts to more than 5,000 abductees.

Mutlaqs statement that the kidnapped people hail from Sunni-dominated areas is an insinuation that the abduction was carried out at the hands of Shiite parties. For his part, Mohammed al-Karbouli, a Sunni Iraqi parliamentarian, was decisive in his media statements April 21 when he called for the release of the 2,900 Sunni abductees detained by the Iraqi Hezbollah militia.

Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi at the end of 2016 discussed the "issue of the abductees with the PMU [Popular Mobilization Units] leaders. But as the issue is not resolved, Sunni parliamentarians and tribal sheikhs state that the kidnapped are detained in prison in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad, which is controlled by the PMU. These statements, however, remain without  evidence, according to Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

The talk about the secret prisons is designed to affect the morale of fighters, Maan told Al-Monitor. He stressed that all prisons are under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice, and human rights and international justice organizations.

Joint committees have been formed in the governorates that are liberated from the Islamic State [IS] to collect information on IS suspects, who would be arrested as per judicial orders, Maan added.

On July 14, 2016, the judiciary said in a statement that the courts across the country released 3,456 detainees who had been charged as per Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law  but have not been found guilty.

Since the vast majority of statements on abductees are issued by Sunni parties and concern Sunni abductees, the issue seems to have taken a sectarian turn.

Sunni parliamentarian Talal Hussein al-Zoabaie, head of the Iraq Civilization Bloc, said in a press statement May 2, Many people in the Sunni areas have been subjected to forced disappearance.

On the other hand, there have been kidnappings of Shiites in Sunni areas, which raises the question of whether this is a result of mutual retaliation actions such as the kidnapping of 15 Shiite truck drivers in the Sunni-dominated Ar-Rahaliyah area in Anbar on Feb. 17.

The release of 26 Qatari nationals (Sunnis) who were kidnapped in December 2015 in the predominantly Shiite desert area of southern Iraq has prompted the families of the kidnapped to call for the release of their detained sons.

In a similar context, Sunni parliamentarian Raad al-Dahlaki told Al-Monitor, Sunni parliamentarians have documented files in parliament about the forced disappearance of thousands of people in Sunni areas, in Ninevah, Salahuddin, the Razazah area of Ramadi, Diyala and Baghdads Sunni peripheries, at the hands of irregular armed forces affiliated with political parties.

Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi promised to investigate the issue of forced disappearance, but there have been no concrete measures so far. There is a deep state in Iraq carrying out these acts away from the governments official policy, aiming to make demographic changes and to intimidate Sunnis, Dahlaki said.

In a statement to Al-Monitor, Mohamed al-Sayhoud, a Shiite parliamentarian for the State of Law Coalition, refuted Dahlakis comments, saying: Those parliamentarians are inciting sectarian hatred with their false accusations against the security and PMU forces. The goal behind these statements is to gain votes in the upcoming elections in the IS-liberated areas.

In the same vein, PMU leader Moin al-Khadimi told Al-Monitor, The detention centers in the liberated areas are under the supervision of the Joint Operations Command and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The PMU does not interfere with the detention procedures.

The mutual accusations and statements between Shiite and Sunni officials necessitate transparency actions to uncover the facts and prevent any propaganda that would further fuel the sectarian strife in the country.

The first step in this direction would be to allow international organizations and unbiased parties access to the prisons across the country and to inspect the areas where abductees are suspected to be detained.
May 11, 2017

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan got the all-powerful presidential system he had been craving for in Turkey's April 16 referendum. Now, with the constitution amended according to his wishes, Erdogan will have full control over the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government. But the same referendum also deprived Erdogan of the major victory he was hoping for. In fact, it created a major risk for him in the next presidential elections in November 2019.

Why was the referendum not a major victory for Erdogan? Because only 51.4% of the electorate said "yes" to the constitutional amendments that increased the president's powers. Both Erdogan and his supporters, however, were expecting a much higher level of support  around 60%. This was based on the calculation that not just Erdogan's own Justice and Development Party (AKP), but also the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was campaigning for "yes." (In the latest general elections in November 2015, the AKP had won 49% and the MHP had won 12%  so their total number would exceed 60%.) Moreover, the whole state apparatus was mobilized for the "yes" vote, creating a very unfair propaganda scene at the expense of the "no" camp.

These calculations, however, did not work. Most MHP voters seem to have voted "no" in an implicit rejection of Erdogan's co-optation of their party through his alliance with the party's not-so-popular leader, Devlet Bahceli. Moreover, even some traditional AKP voters seem to have voted "no" this time. As various analysts have pointed out, Erdogan lost a segment of the AKP base in big cities such as Istanbul and Ankara. As voting patterns show, especially some of the more educated and well-off religious conservatives said "no" this time. These "worried conservatives," as they have been dubbed lately, seemed concerned with the latter-day authoritarianism of the government and its disastrous results on the economy.

Moreover, the very nature of the new presidential system made the 51.4% support a very fragile base for Erdogan. In the past, when Turkey had a parliamentary system, Erdogan could easily secure a government with any vote above 40%. That would give his AKP a majority in the parliament, and thus a one-party government. Under the new presidential system, however, Erdogan has to keep winning more than 50% of the votes. And the mere 51.4% he won last month means he is on the knife's edge.

There is one more complication the new presidential system brings for Erdogan: So far, one of the secrets of his success has been the fragmented nature of the opposition. The anti-Erdogan camp in Turkey is a mixed bag, including urban seculars, Alevis, Turkish nationalists, Kurdish nationalists and even some disillusioned Islamists. Bringing them together for a common political goal is very difficult, if not impossible.

But the very nature of the presidential elections can now unite the whole anti-Erdogan voters just for a decisive moment. If Erdogan cannot win more than half of the votes in the first round of these elections, the second round will be between him and the other most popular candidate. In that case, this other candidate can win all the anti-Erdogan votes and head to victory. (Just like the victory of Emmanuel Macron in the recent presidential elections in France: In the first round, neither Macron nor his main rival, Marine Le Pen, won a simple majority. Yet in the second round, all the anti-Le Pen voters lined up behind Macron.)

This is why since the referendum, Turkish pundits have been discussing who can defeat Erdogan in 2019. One thing is certain: A person from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) cannot do this job. Because then the race will be between "the left" and "the right," or between secularists and conservatives, and the latter would always win thanks to simple demographics. That is why secular leftist writer Orhan Bursali wisely wrote May 2, "Although my heart is on the left, I dont want a left-wing candidate for the 2019 elections." What is rather needed, he explained, is a "decent democrat" who can also get votes from the AKP base.

A name who is on almost everybodys mind in this regard is none other than former President Abdullah Gul, the very founder of the AKP and once strong ally of Erdogan. Although the two major figures come from the same political tradition, it is no secret that the gap between Gul and Erdogan has widened in the past five years, as Gul stuck to the pragmatic, moderate and civilized roots of the AKP against the growingly authoritarian, nationalist and furious mood that took over the party. Gul may indeed be the very person who can win trust from all sides and be the non-Erdogan candidate in 2019, as Deniz Baykal, former CHP leader, recently suggested.

Gul, however, does not seem ambitious for such a challenge against Erdogan, which will certainly bring him lots of wrath and all kinds of nasty attacks. The former president's latest statement on the issue neither fully closed the door nor fully opened it, as he may wait and see what will happen in the next two years.

Another politician some people have in mind is Meral Aksener, the female center-right politician who recently challenged Bahceli for the leadership of the MHP but was brushed aside by the entire state apparatus thanks to Bahceli's alliance with Erdogan. Aksener is charismatic, ambitious and popular, but may lack the potential to win Kurdish votes, which will be necessary against Erdogan.

It seems opposition circles will keep thinking about the ideal anti-Erdogan candidate in the next two years. Erdogan, meanwhile, will also be aware of this risk and will try to consolidate and broaden his popularity. Since his Achilles' heel is the economy, he may focus on that. And that requires pragmatic steps in foreign policy, which may explain his softening tone against the European Union after all his anti-Western tirades in the referendum campaign.

In any case, Turkey does not seem to have arrived at "the end of history"  a stagnant period in which Erdoganism becomes the only game in town. Other forces still have a chance at the ballot box, and it is better for them, and for the nation, to be aware of that.
May 10, 2017

The groups most affected by mass purges after the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey were the military cadets at high school and university levels. The government dismissed about 7,000 officer candidates attending four-year military high schools and four-year academies and transferred them to civilian schools.

In November, the government established the National Defense University, attaching it to the Ministry of Defense. The government also attached to the ministry the Army Military Academy in Ankara, Navy War Academy in Istanbul and Air Force War Academy in Istanbul, which all had offered undergraduate college-level education, and the Staff College at Levent/Istanbul, which had offered graduate-level degrees. Finally on April 7, new officer candidates were invited to submit their applications to the reconfigured academies. Public relations campaigns emphasize patriotism and the honor of serving in a highly esteemed institution such as the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The application process runs through the end of May.

So far, 120,000 candidates, including 35,000 young women, have applied to become officers. The Defense Ministry is pleased with the number of applicants; officials see the high numbers as a solid indicator of respect for the TSK. But the applicants' performance results in national university entrance examinations were far below previous years, when military school candidates were chosen from the top 100,000 university applicants, out of 2.5 million applicants annually. This year, the applicants are generally from the top 400,000-500,000 bracket.

In years past, officer candidates had to attend four-year military high schools in Istanbul, Izmir or Bursa, then spend another four years at the war academies. Now there is a rapid increase in the use of "contract officers" who have graduated from civilian universities. Of course it is healthy to have diverse sources for officers, but this issue is still considered highly sensitive and thus subject to harsh ideological arguments.

Last week there was an interesting report in the daily Aydinlik, the mouthpiece of the Eurasianism-supporting Homeland Party. It said more than 30% of the candidates accepted at the Army War Academy were recommended by officials of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the provinces. It said some military officials are concerned by this highly disproportionate number of AKP-recommended candidates.

There are many, including myself, who feel that TSK military education and training have been increasingly entrusted to the devout bloc. This large and influential bloc includes right-leaning officers who identify with the ideology of the Nationalist Action Party and Great Union Party; conservative officers dismissed after the 1997 coup attempt and who embraced the Istanbul-based Association of Justice Defenders; officers affiliated with cultist religious sects; and those known to be close to AKP provincial organizations.

To allow the "devout" bloc to dominate the military education system is to train officers who will sacrifice themselves for country and religion. The undeniable role of the conservative bloc in undergraduate-level military education is generating strong reactions from the staunchly secular defenders of the founding principles of the Turkish Republic: independent patriotism, secularism, positivism, etatism and elitism.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in October appointed Erhan Afyoncu, a professor of nationalist tradition history, as the first president of the National Defense University. Afyoncu has no academic experience in security/strategic matters and war studies, and his appointment has triggered strong reactions from Eurasianism proponents and retired generals.

The new university president's team is made up of mostly civilian academics instead of retired and serving officers with graduate and postgraduate degrees. This team reportedly seeks to establish university institutes for military history strategic research and intelligence studies and is also working hard on the undergraduate military curriculum. Before the July 15 coup attempt, the army, navy and air force war academies used to grant engineering degrees after four years, and such diplomas were valid also in civilian life. It is not yet clear if this practice will continue. Many wonder how much emphasis the team will place on courses on religion, nationalism and Ottoman history, alongside technical courses and combat physical training.

The military education system will remain at the heart of the controversy between civilians and soldiers in the post-July 15 setting. Actually, this raging debate on military education reflects some risk factors that prevail in civilian-military relations in general in the country.

The transition from the monolithic Turkish military implies the existence of more than a few micro-identities within the military, driven by the weakening of the office of the Chief of General Staff both within the military and to the all-powerful Erdogan. The friction must be resolved among those military elites with divergent worldviews regarding the military as a profession and the qualifications an officer should have, and the weight that should be given in the military curriculum to religious, nationalist and neo-Ottoman sentiment, and secularist and Kemalist references.
May 8, 2017

As xenophobia appears on the rise, with 3 million Syrian refugees under temporary protection in Turkey, the headline of this story could raise many eyebrows. But lets emphasize immediately that a large number of the refugees in Turkey are there to stay. A 2015 report by the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) shows 78% of the Syrians in Turkey would opt to stay if possible. Yet there has not been much discussion about how to minimize the social and economic impact of this humanitarian crisis.

Scientific studies show that in the long term, migrants generally have a very limited impact on employment in their host country, and one recent study argues that migrants actually have a positive impact on economic growth. Migrants may be adding to social polarization and divisions, but the environment of cultural diversity they create stimulates growth. According to calculations based on international data for 1960-2010, an increase of 10 percentage points in cultural diversity leads to a rise of 2.1 percentage points in gross domestic product (GDP) growth per capita. In developing countries, the increase reaches 2.8 percentage points.

A study that analyzes innovation and patents in the United States from 1880 to 1940 shows that though migrants represented only 2% of the population, they accounted for almost 20% of patent receivers. Today, this figure has reached 30%.

Studies indicate Syrian refugees in Turkey have had a positive impact on growth, but a negative impact on employment. Though refugees do not tend to spend much, their huge numbers still mean increased demand, which is estimated to have boosted Turkeys GDP between 0.5% and 1.7% in 2015. Also, because the refugees maintain networks, exports from Turkeys southeastern provinces to Syria have notably increased. According to data from the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), the number of companies set up in Turkey with at least one Syrian partner reached nearly 6,000 at the end of 2016.

When it comes to the labor market, a Turkish Central Bank study shows that Syrians do compete with locals, especially in low-skilled jobs, and thus push unemployment up. Women and youth account for most of the impact.

In 2016, Turkey said local companies can employ Syrian refugees on the condition that their number does not exceed 10% of Turkish citizens the company employs. Since this covers all companies operating in Turkey, those established by Syrians are also supposed to employ mostly Turkish nationals. For small and medium-scale enterprises, the regulation is probably irrelevant because the Syrians who such companies employ are very likely to be illegal workers. According to the ORSAM report, 41% of Syrian households have a daily income of only 20-29 Turkish lira ($5.50-$8), while for 21%, the figure stands at 30-39 Turkish lira ($8.40-$10.80). This suggests that Syrian incomes are far below the legal minimum wage, but any information concerning illegal Syrian labor at small companies remains anecdotal or speculative. Statistics in Turkey are gathered through the Address Based Population Registration System, and since Syrians lack permanent residences, they do not figure in the official statistics.

To analyze the impact of the regulation, one has to look at the jobs created by bigger companies. My own research, based on obligatory insurance data from 2009-2016, shows that the increase in the number of Syrian companies has made no meaningful impact on the total size of registered employment. On another note, every 1% increase in Syrian company capital has created 275 registered jobs on average. The increase of capital brought in by Syrian companies seems to have also pushed up the average real daily earnings of registered laborers. Every 10% increase in the capital amount results in an increase of about 0.2% in the average real daily earnings.

Thats what we know about the economic impact of Syrians in Turkey so far. In the coming period, Turkey will definitely need a plan to limit the social impact of 3 million people. In a scenario where refugee returns will be limited, one needs to devise measures to help Syrians work legally in dignified jobs and at the same time prevent an increase in the number of local jobless. This is not impossible.

According to a report by Turkeys disaster and emergency management agency, 80% of Syrian refugees in the country have eight or fewer years of education, and only 10% are university graduates. In other words, this is largely a low-skilled labor force. Meanwhile, the 2015 data of Turkeys Labor Agency shows that job seekers took only 34% of new job openings in the manufacturing industry. This is one of the lowest percentages, compared with 60% in administrative and support services, for instance. The placement percentage was lowest in positions for computer numerically controlled lathe operators (13%), welders (18-19%) and forklift operators (21%). In comparison, the figure stood at 64% for barista jobs and 77% for accountant assistant positions. In short, the Labor Agencys statistics show that jobs in the services sector are more desired and the needs of the manufacturing industry remain largely unmet, reflecting the oft-heard warnings about a middle-income trap and industrial slowdown.

The manufacturing sectors declining appeal to job seekers is a worldwide trend leading companies to turn more to automation and technology solutions. Yet given Turkeys growing army of jobless and the humanitarian crisis that Syrian refugees face, the long-term social effects of more automation are not hard to predict.

Hence, to cover the shortage in the manufacturing industry, which struggles to attract workers despite tax incentives, Turkey could consider providing vocational training and language courses to Syrian refugees, coupled with quota-free work permits and tax advantages for the sector. This would mean regular work and social security for the Syrians, in addition to a likely boost to production.

Agriculture is another sector where the Syrians can be employed. A self-sufficient country in the 1980s, Turkey today is an importer of an array of agricultural products. According to the Agriculture Sector Assembly of the TOBB, the sectors main problems include a shortage of intermediate staff and a decline in the labor force in general due to development of the industrial and services sectors. The group's report underlines that the sector has failed to reach the desired level of productivity despite protectionist policies Turkey has followed for years.

Developed countries, meanwhile, have long adopted high-technology models in agriculture, reducing the need for human labor. A recent study, for instance, indicates that the 1964 termination of the Bracero program between the United States and Mexico, which canceled the work permits of half a million Mexican seasonal workers, has led to a shift to high-technology production rather than an increase in the employment of local labor.

Without any drastic increase in agricultural capital accumulation, Turkeys only option in terms of competitive advantage is the rational use of the cheap labor force it has at hand. Thousands of Syrians can be employed in the agricultural field to make up for the sectors declining appeal to Turkeys young generations. It is important to note, however, that any new proposal to facilitate Syrian employment in agriculture should be preceded by a solution to the job security problem of Syrians working illegally as seasonal workers.

Finally, child and elder care is another realm where Syrians can work. At present, caretakers employed by middle- and high-income Turkish families come mostly from Georgia and the Turkic republics of Central Asia. According to data by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, 8,524 Georgian, 3,323 Turkmen, 4,274 Kyrgyz, 2,319 Uzbek and 1,349 Kazakh nationals obtained work permits in 2015. The total number of permits for domestic workers stood at 16,825, up 15% from the previous year. Given that many domestic workers are illegally employed, the actual need in this realm is much higher.

Moreover, because of its quickly declining birth rate, Turkey will have to contend with an aging population. Hacettepe Universitys Institute of Population Studies projects Turks aged 65 and older will number 20 million, or 21% of the population, by 2050. According to the Turkish Statistical Institutes income and living standards survey, two-people households with at least one member older than 64 represented 7.8% of the total in 2012, up from 7.2% in 2007. In short, the demand for elder care is bound to increase. The Family and Social Policies Ministry, which is known to place special importance on this issue, can take regulatory steps for the employment of Syrians in domestic jobs, organize Turkish-language courses and training in child and elder care, and even develop institutional mechanisms to overcome the problem of distrust toward Syrians if such a need arises. This will be another way of meeting needs without affecting the existing labor force, while providing livelihood to Syrians.

Turkey can no longer drag its feet in offering Syrian refugees a future. It is possible to help them lead a dignified life with limited impact on the local labor force, while meeting the changing needs of the countrys economy and society. Taking steps in this direction, at least, is perfectly possible.
May 10, 2017

There should be no doubt that President Donald Trumps approval of a plan to directly arm Kurdish forces in Syria is a severe, devastating blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogans obstinate efforts to undermine the relationship of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the People's Protection Units (YPG) with Washington.

The decision is an additional inflammatory step in the already strained US-Turkey relations emanating from divergences over Syria. The relationship between the two NATO allies was dislocated during President Barack Obama's administration, primarily due to divergences on Washingtons approach to the Kurds in Syria. Yet even Obama had not gone the extra mile to anger Erdogan (or the Turks) by giving approval to directly arm the YPG. In mid-October 2014, when the United States provided air support to the besieged Kurds in Kobani, the move was recorded as a milestone in the problematic relations between the United States, Turkey and the Kurds.

From the official Turkish viewpoint, that air support was seen  and not wrongly  as a political statement, as much as military and humanitarian assistance to thousands of people desperately struggling to survive under Islamic State (IS) siege following the capture of Mosul and Raqqa. The air support had made Turkeys ally  the United States  strange bedfellows with the alleged branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Syria, the PYD/YPG.

Since then, rifts have developed between Ankara and Washington that culminated in Erdogans courting Trump, hoping that with him the prospects of Turkish-American relations on Syria  mainly on the issue of Syrian Kurds  would be different than those of the Obama era.

The Turkish side insists on saying that Washington should cooperate with Turkey instead of the Syrian Kurds for the ultimate Raqqa operation against IS.

Turkey detected positive signals from Washington and interpreted them to mean that Erdogans ostensibly pro-Trump attitude would be rewarded in the upcoming operation to liberate Raqqa. Despite the protestation in Washington's political milieu, Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him on the April 16 referendum results even as they were being contested inside and outside of Turkey  thereby legitimizing the alleged fraud.

Erdogan is to meet Trump on May 16, a much-heralded event on the Turkish side over the past couple of weeks. Prior to this visit, Erdogan dispatched his top confidants on security issues, including head of Turkish Intelligence Hakan Fidan, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, Chief of the General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and  as if a political commissar  his own spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, to Washington to meet with the American authorities to pave the way for a successful outcome of the two presidents' encounter.

The main purpose of the Turks' visits to Washington was to dissuade the American side from supporting the Syrian Kurds for the Raqqa operation that aims to recapture the Syrian capital of IS. The main interlocutor of the highest-level Turkish delegation in Washington was Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security adviser.

The Turkish officials were informed of Trumps decision to approve the delivery of direct arms to the Kurds in Syria by McMaster himself when they visited the White House on May 8. It is clear that the decision to arm the Syrian Kurds had been made knowing how it would anger the Turkish side and that the purpose of the Turkish officials' visit would be strictly about this matter.

While the Pentagon on May 9 publicized its decision that had shocked Turkish officials the day before, chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana W. White said the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future." To many, the SDF is synonymous with its main component, the YPG. Aware of this and thus trying to assuage Turkish resentment, she added, "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 United States is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally."

The same day, hours before the official disclosure of Trumps decision to directly arm the Syrian Kurds, Reuters quoted Secretary of Defense James Mattis as saying, "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."

The Turkish reaction was unexpectedly low-key, given  in terms of the timing and the substance of the matter  the heavy blow inflicted upon Turkish-American relations and its ramifications in Turkey. The decision, beyond any doubt, looks to have a very strong negative bearing on the future.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim invited the United States to make a choice  as if it has not already done so  and said, It is impossible for Turkey to accept the initiatives that would mean supporting the PKK directly or indirectly."

A similar statement was made by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who emphasized that all of these issues will be addressed during the meeting between Erdogan and Trump.

Erdogan, at a joint press conference with the president of Sierra Leone, touched on the issue but did not even go as far as his prime minister and foreign minister. He limited his reaction and said that he "will convey" his "concern on the matter to Trump during their meeting. Erdogan expressed his hope that there could be a reversal of the mistake committed.

Well-known for his fiery speeches  and taking into consideration how sensitive the issue of arming the Syrian Kurds is and that it has been the mainstay of his resentment against Washington in Syria  Erdogans remarks were incredibly weak.

There will no reversal of "mistakes committed," and Erdogan knows it very well. Turks were aware that the Pentagon  the lead agency of the American administration  was calling the shots in Syria and determined to go with the SDF and the YPG for the liberation of Raqqa. For the Pentagon, the issue was not whether to replace the Kurds with Turkey. It was how to keep Turkey on board.

Since Trump endorsed the Pentagons decision before meeting with Erdogan  and while a high-level delegation dispatched by Erdogan was still in Washington  it is quite certain that America took the step after long consideration and calculation.

What motivated this decision?

Apart from the American reliance on the Syrian Kurds proved capability in fighting IS and the high chances of retaking Raqqa, Washington seemingly decided that the PYD and the YPG should not be left to be merely Iranian pawns in the larger framework of the regional game. Similarly, the the administration in Baghdad, despite its Shiite identity, has not been left by Washington to the exclusive influence of Tehran.

The American decision, particularly in terms of its timing, is Washingtons answer to Turkeys flirtation with Russia and Iran in the Astana process. The new trilateral accord agreed upon by Russia, Turkey and Iran on May 4 regarding the de-escalation of the Syrian conflict has been announced with apparent symbolism after a meeting between Erdogan and Putin in the Russian city of Sochi. The Turkish president boasted that the agreement reached will solve half of the conflict, which means the other half is Turkeys problem  with the Kurds  and leaves his hands free to deal with it.

Therefore, Trumps decision to directly arm the Syrian Kurds automatically restrains Turkeys freewheeling in dealing with Syrian Kurds and also sent an implicit message to Turkey that Washington is unlikely to endorse Turkeys flirtation with Moscow and Tehran in the Middle East.

From the unusually muted attitude of Erdogan, it seems the Turkish side received the message in the way the American side wanted it to be received.
gavel

It's unclear just how a Jefferson County circuit judge's ruling this week will affect Alabama workers' compensation law going forward - but legal minds say it may be the first step toward momentous changes for Alabama in the law, the workplace and the medical field.

On Monday, Circuit Judge Pat Ballard found two provisions of the workers' compensation law - the $220 a week cap in compensation for injured workers, and the 15 percent cap on attorneys fees - unconstitutional. And because one or more provisions of the law were found unconstitutional, the entire act was struck down.

Due to the "magnitude" of the ruling's implications, Ballard stayed the order for 120 days to give the Alabama Legislature time to act. However, as the Legislature is set to adjourn later this month, it seems unlikely they will take up the action.

Mike Fish, the current president of the National Workers Compensation Defense Network, is a Birmingham attorney with Fish Nelson and Holden. His practice deals largely with workers' comp cases from the defense side - employers and insurance carriers.

He said the ruling will likely put the spotlight on the legislature to address the issues Ballard outlined. The case, Nora Clower vs. CVS Caremark, dates back to November 2013. Clower 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 the 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.

"I don't think anybody is going to say the $220 maximum is fair," Fish said. "It's dated. If the goal was to put a spotlight on the problem, I'd say, 'Mission accomplished.'"

Even then, Fish said he was surprised to see the order, though he understands the reasons for it.

John Neiman, the former solicitor general for Alabama, is a lawyer with Maynard Cooper and Gale in Birmingham. He said issues such as changes to the workers' compensation law have traditionally been left to the Legislature to determine.

"There's a strong presumption that statutes are constitutional as a general matter," Neiman said. "I don't think anybody saw this ruling coming. It's not like there were a whole bunch of challenges to the statute. Workers compensation cases are litigated every day."

Fish said there are yearly attempts in the Legislature to amend the law, but getting consensus has been the problem.

"Any bill that's introduced usually includes a bunch of stuff that has no chance of getting out of committee," he said. "What needs to happen for any real change is what happened the last time the law was amended in 1992 - all the different interests need to come together."

Don Rhea, one of the attorneys for the plaintiff, said the ruling "does no more than insist that the Legislature enlist the assistance of reasonable-minded people and come up with a fix to a law which punishes janitors and executives equally."

Lawrence King, who also represented the plaintiff in the case, said the challenge to the cap on attorney fees came because the system is set up to keep injured workers from getting easy access to legal help. With a 15 percent cap, he said, workers' comp cases are not economically feasible for some lawyers.

"Our fee statute is one of, if not 'the,' lowest rates in the entire country," King said.

Normally, Neiman said, a ruling like this would have come from the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, or the Alabama Supreme Court. Either court could take up the case on an expedited basis, if requested.

The interesting thing, Fish said, is that an appeal would have to come from the defendants. Otherwise, Ballard's ruling is only binding on this case. Neiman and Fish said other courts are not necessarily obliged to disregard the existing law if Ballard's 120-day deadline runs out.

"This is one order, from one judge, is one case," Fish said. "It's not coming from the court of highest authority. It doesn't have any controlling authority over a judge down the hall, or in the next county."

If the case is appealed, Fish said, the ruling would more than likely be struck down or set aside to allow the Legislature to work.

"I cannot imagine a situation where the Court of Civil Appeals or the Alabama Supreme Court would send us back into the work injury 'Dark Ages,'" Fish said.

For example, he said, workers' comp laws protect all parties in the "no fault" situation, where a worker is injured on the job but not at the employers' fault. Workers would sue to pay for medical treatment, with no guarantee of any relief. Employers entered cases with the potential to lose millions.

"We need our workers compensation system," Fish said. "If it has flaws, it needs to be fixed. It would be much worse without that system."
CBS.PNG

Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey appeared on "CBS This Morning" Thursday, May 11, 2017, to talk about the dangers of kids and smartphones. (CBS News)

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An Alabama prosecutor appeared on national television Thursday morning again warning parents about the risks for kids and their smartphones.

Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey was on "CBS This Morning" to talk about the dangers for children and how their parents can protect them. "It's become my new mission to educate parents,'' Casey said on the segment. "I'm in law enforcement and I'm a step behind. Every time I speak to kids, I find out about a new app that I didn't about the day before. There will always be a new app every day that has the same dangers."

Casey in 2016 appeared on the "48 Hours" season premier called "Killer App." The episode featured the stories of two families whose daughters got involved in online relationships that became a matter of life or death. The show focused on the chat app Kik.

In January 2016 , Casey announced the arrest of 35-year-old Carlton Carvel Bates after a joint investigation by Blount County sheriff's deputies and Birmingham police. Authorities said Bates, a convicted felon from Birmingham, tried to check a girl out of her Blount County high school after meeting her on the popular Kik app.

On Thursday, Casey spoke to the national audience about the apps Yellow and Live.ly.

According to its developers, "Yellow is an easy and free way to make new friends and chat with them." Casey, however, called it "Tinder for Teens." Users access Yellow through Snapchat. "Kids can go on there and meet people they don't know,'' Casey said. "The problem is, you've got to give them your location to start meeting people."

She also discussed Live.ly, a live-video streaming app. "You monitor what your kids watch on television, but are you monitoring what they're watching live?" she said.

Casey demonstrated how parents can restrict what their children have access to on their phones. You can watch that demonstration and the entire segment here.
The Alabama Senate today passed a bill to prohibit state agencies from asking job applicants about their criminal histories until they make a conditional job offer.

The proposal, by Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, is called the "ban the box" bill, referring to the question about criminal convictions often included on job applications.

The bill moves to the House of Representatives.

The bill does not apply to the private sector or to public school systems or law enforcement agencies. It includes certain other exceptions.

Ross said it could help remove one of the barriers that can keep people leaving prison from becoming productive citizens. He said that could reduce the recidivism rate.

"They don't have access to the necessary tools to become functional citizens in society and one of those tools is having access to a job," Ross said.

The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 17-9. It moves to the House.
The Alabama Senate today passed a proposed constitutional amendment to allow Ten Commandments displays on state property and in public schools.

The bill is by Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, who has proposed similar bills for years.

It moves to the House of Representatives. If at least 63 of 105 House members approve it, it would go to voters for a referendum.

The bill says the Ten Commandments displays in public schools or on public property would be "in a manner that complies with constitutional requirements, including, but not limited to, being intermingled with historical or educational items, or both, in a larger display."

The Senate passed the bill 23-7, with seven Democrats voting against it.

Sen. Billy Beasley of Clayton was the only Democrat to vote for it.

The bill includes a prohibition against using public funds to defend the constitutionality of the amendment in court.
Shelby County delegation.jpg

Gov. Kay Ivey meets with ALDOT Director John Cooper and members of the Shelby County legislative delegation (Governor's Office)

The Alabama Department of Transportation will widen a portion of Interstate 65 in north Shelby County to six lanes per a request from Gov. Kay Ivey.

Ivey made the announcement Thursday afternoon following a meeting with the Shelby County legislative delegation and ALDOT Director John Cooper.

I-65 will be widened from four to six lanes for a 3.5 mile stretch from Exit 238 in Alabaster to Exit 242 in Pelham, according to the governor's office.

The shoulder space along both the northbound and southbound lanes will be increased to allow more lanes to be added in the future.

ALDOT will take bids on the project before the end of the 2017 calendar year, according to the governor's office.

The project is anticipated to take two years to complete, at an estimated cost of between $50-$60 million. The chosen contractor will be notified by Feb. 1, 2018 with construction to begin by the end of February 2018.

"Infrastructure development is economic development. If traffic is congested and our roads are blocked, transportation is slowed and the wheels of economic progress are slowed," Ivey said in a prepared statement. "As governor, my quest is to provide Alabama's families and small businesses with every opportunity for success; this project is just the start of our statewide focus of spurring economic growth through improving our infrastructure.

"By expanding I-65 in Shelby County, we are not only meeting a long overlooked need in our state, we are also signaling that economic development is central to my administration and that Alabama is open for business, she continued. "I instructed Director Cooper to move forward with this project because it is the right thing to do for the people and businesses of Alabama."

Currently, 93,000 vehicles per day travel this section of roadway, with over 12,000 of those being tractor-trailers, the governor's office said.

Cooper said traffic in this area is expected to grow to over 150,000 vehicles per day during the next 20 years.

"Gov. Ivey is to be commended for her leadership on increasing the traffic capacity along a very congested portion of I-65 in north Shelby County, state Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said in a prepared statement. "Our community is experiencing tremendous population and economic growth and our roads need to keep up. I am thankful that Gov. Ivey recognizes the importance of infrastructure in economic development, and I look forward to working with her on future projects, both in my district and around the state."
A Blount County gunman convicted of storming a school and later trying to take a car from a parent waiting in the parking lot was sentenced on Wednesday to more than two decades prison.

Carlton Bruce Murray II, 47, was convicted in February of first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, committing a terrorist act, unlawful possession of a firearm on school property and resisting arrest. The incident happened on May 23, 2012, at Southeastern School, a K through 12 in Remlap.

The ordeal began earlier that day when authorities said Murray had reportedly assaulted his wife and threatened to burn down their house. Authorities at the time told the North Jefferson News that Murray had poured gasoline throughout their house and pushed his wife into a room, and told his 8-year-old son that he was going to burn the house down with them inside. Murray's wife managed to get away after Murray beat her.

He then fled and went to Birmingham, where he stole a gun from a co-worker and went to Remlap. He was fleeing from Jefferson County sheriff's deputies when his car broke down in front of Southeastern School on Alabama 75.

At that time, Murray entered the school brandishing a handgun and started demanding keys from school employees. "It all began sometime after 2 p.m. when this man was seen in the lobby, just walking around from place to place and acting strange," then- principal Mike Peoples told The Blount Countian in 2012. "I went out to him to talk to him and he demanded to be given the keys. He kept demanding the keys, and acting just almost zombielike. I told him I didn't know what keys he was talking about. He was obviously not in his right mind. I asked him to leave and he went outside. That's when I saw him approach a parent in a parked car and I knew things were about to get worse, so I immediately went out there."

Once in the parking lot, authorities said, Murray pointed his gun at a parent in an attempt to steal the minivan of a parent who was at the school to check out a parent. Murray had ordered the woman out of the vehicle and was about to get in when the principal showed up and Murray then pointed the gun at the principal. They were able to get the kids out of the van, and they were all herded into the school as Murray fled the scene.

The school was put on hard lockdown for about two hours. Ultimately, said Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey, Deputy Jerry Hughes was able to take Murray into custody.

Casey on Wednesday said Murray faced Murray faced up to 99 years in prison after being convicted of using a firearm during the course of a robbery in the first degree. At today's sentencing hearing, prosecutors asked the court to consider the gravity of Murray's actions of invading a school with a firearm and thereby endangering the lives of the many children who were present at the school.

Circuit Judge Steven King heard remarks from the victim of the robbery and Murray's parents before imposing sentence. Judge King then sentenced Murray to 22 years in prison for robbery in the first-degree, 10 years for second-degree burglary, 10 years for taking a firearm into a school, and 10 years for making a terrorist threat. All sentences will run concurrent. Murray was also fined in excess of $10,000.00 and ordered to pay court costs, Casey said.

"I appreciate the heroic actions taken by the administration of Southeastern School to secure the school and children immediately upon identifying a potential threat, the swift response of the Blount County Sheriff's office to secure the campus and apprehend the intruder, and the ladies and gentlemen of the jury who brought this man to justice." Casey said Wednesday. "The citizens of Blount County continue to demonstrate their commitment to supporting our students and protecting our children and it is my honor to be a part of this community and serve as district attorney."
A week after Lisa Herring accepted the job as Birmingham City Schools superintendent, the board of education has approved her contract.

Herring will receive an annual salary of $202,000, a sum she agreed to last week. Her contract also includes a car allowance, a temporary housing allowance for up to three months, moving expenses and travel-related expenses for up to 30 days.

Herring will be reimbursed for any expenses related to traveling back and forth from her residence in Kentucky and Birmingham, according to the board attorney Afrika Parchman.

The superintendent's contract also includes the Birmingham Board of Education paying both the employer's and employee's portion to the Alabama Teacher Retirement System. The employee's contribution is $12,000 per year, and the employer's portion, which the board is required to pay, is $22,000 a year.

Herring will also receive an annual pay increase of at least 2 percent, which would amount to at least $4,000 after the first year, Parchman said.

The Board of Education approved the contract in a 5-1 vote during special-called board meeting held Tuesday night at Woodlawn High School. Board member Sherman Collins Jr. voted against and Cheri Gardner abstained.

Herring's complete contract wasn't immediately released by Birmingham City Schools. The only contract details immediately available were items discussed during Tuesday's brief meeting.

If the board of education terminates Herring's contract without cause, a buyout clause requires the board to pay her salary for a maximum of a year and a half, Parchman said.

Previous superintendent Castlin-Gacutan initially received a $202,000 salary when she was hired by the board in June 2015. Her salary later increased to $210,000 after the board of education approved a 4 percent pay increase for all city schools employees.

Castlin-Gacutan also received reimbursement for travel and in-town expenses, a technology allowance, and an automobile allowance, according to her contract. She received a monthly automobile allowance of $500. The district will also provide Castlin-Gacutan a computer, phone, and tablet for work and pay the related expenses.

During a contentious May 2 meeting, the Birmingham Board of Education voted 6-3 to hire Herring and have her start immediately.

In another vote, the board voted 6-3 to place Larry Contri, who served as interim superintendent since October, on paid leave. Contri is set to retire on June 30.

In a previous interview, school board member Brian Giattina, who made the motion to hire Herring, said he wanted Herring to start immediately so she could make the decisions on any school leadership changes needed for next year.

Herring, a Georgia native, previously served for eight months as chief academic officer at Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky, a school system of more than 100,000 students. She earned a salary of $167,000, according to the Courier-Journal in Louisville.

The newspaper reported that Herring interviewed for an interim superintendent post with the Jefferson County school district days before she was named Birmingham's superintendent. The Jefferson County, Ky. Board of Education also met Tuesday night, reportedly with the intent of naming an interim. The meeting adjourned after an executive session, though, without naming an interim.

Herring was one of three finalists for Birmingham City Schools superintendent in 2015. The job, though, was given to Kelley Castlin-Gacutan, who was fired in September 2016 after 16 months.

Previously, Herring served as deputy superintendent of Charleston County, S.C. School District from September 2014 until she left for Kentucky in August 2016, according to LinkedIn and news reports.

According to the Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, Herring accepted a buyout worth more than $220,000 in September 2015 after she didn't land a superintendent post there.

In the deal, Herring who wanted to renegotiate her contract, accepted a deputy superintendent post at a base salary of $140,000 plus benefits for a period ending June 30, 2016. When her contracted ended, Herring was paid a $45,000 severance package and up to $35,000 in attorney's fees.

Herring also agreed not to sue the school board.
Charleston Wells

Lt. Keith Czeskleba showing the jury a gun recovered from Ahmad Johnson, which matched the shell casings found at the scene of Mike Gilotti's murder (Ivana Hrynkiw | ihrynkiw@al.com)

The murder trial for Charleston Wells continued today with more testimony from state-called witnesses, including a Hoover police officer who responded to the shooting call.

Wells, 17, is charged with one count of murder and eight counts of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle for the fatal shooting of Mike Gilotti and the events leading up to the shooting in the days prior. Gilotti lived in the Lake Cyrus neighborhood of Hoover, and was shot to death in his front yard in the early-morning hours of Jan. 5, 2016.

Darrian Bryant, 17, 18-year-old Ahmad Johnson, and 20-year-old De'Ron Keith are also charged with murder in Gilotti's death.

Testimony in the trial began Tuesday and continued Thursday with Cedric Acoff, a Hoover police officer who first responded to the scene.

Acoff told the court he was patrolling the neighborhoods of Ross Bridge and Lake Cyrus in the early-morning hours of Jan. 5 when he received a 911 call about a person shot. He responded to the Parkside Circle home and arrived at the scene in about four minutes.

Upon arrival, Acoff said, he saw Heather Gilotti in the doorway of the house, frantically performing CPR on her husband. The shooting victim, later determined to be Gilotti, was laying on the ground "gasping for air and bleeding everywhere," he said.

Acoff walked past the Gilottis inside the house to clear the scene and make sure there was not a shooter in the home. As he turned the corner past the front entry, he said the Gilotti's two children, ages five and one, were peeking around the corner "as kids do," trying to see their parents on the ground. Acoff said the five-year-old said, "The boogeyman just shot my daddy."

"I didn't want them to see anything. I tried to usher them back around into the other room," he said. Acoff secured the children in the master bedroom, and tried to entertain them while another officer who had just arrived took over CPR. Heather Gilotti sat in the bedroom with Acoff and the children while Acoff was trying to keep them away from the hallway. When Lt. Keith Czeskleba arrived, Acoff went into the living room with the five-year-old child while Heather Gilotti kept the younger child and talked to detectives.

Acoff said he and the five-year-old sat on the couch and talked about everything from birthdays to superheroes for an hour. "Spiderman was his favorite character."

Czeskleba also testified today, and said Heather Gilotti asked him during their conversation in the bedroom if her husband was alive.

"She asked me, 'Did he make it.' I knew I was about to have to deliver the bad news...I didn't want her to drop the baby, so I asked her to sit down on the bed," Czeskleba said. When he told her Gilotti was dead, she broke down in tears.

Czeskleba said later that day, he spoke again with Heather Gilotti about her husband's job, hobbies, and friends. "In this case, there was no indication that there was anything involved in Mr. Gilotti's life that there would be somebody wanting to kill him." Later that day, he said Bessemer detectives found a green F-250, which Hoover police later determined was the pick up truck stolen in Tuscaloosa, hours before Gilotti's shooting.

Michael Jamison, a friend of Gilotti's and a resident of Lake Cyrus, also testified Thursday. Jamison said he and Gilotti, an Iraqi war veteran, worked out daily at the YMCA at 5 a.m. Jamison typically left his home, which was down the street from Gilotti's, around 4:50 a.m.

When he opened his garage on the morning on Jan. 5, Jamison said he saw a truck's headlights shining past his home. "If you live in our neighborhood... no one is up at that time. It was odd to me," he said.

Jamison continued his drive to the gym and turned out of Lake Cyrus. The truck in front of him continued straight through the neighborhood.

Wells has denied shooting Gilloti, and has pointed the finger at two co-defendants. Attorney Charles Salvagio said Bryant and Johnson were the two who confronted Gilotti. He said Johnson shot Gilotti in the back, Bryant tried to hit him with a gun.

Bryant told investigators Wells was the shooter. He is expected to testify during the trial.

Mike Gilotti, 33 (Facebook)

Car thefts across the area

Several other Lake Cyrus residents who had their cars broken into early Jan. 5 also testified Thursday.

Edwin Dann and Sanket Desai, who both live on Parkside Circle in Lake Cyrus, said they discovered early on the morning on Jan. 5, 2016 that their cars had been broken into. Both said their glove compartments and center consoles had been opened and rummaged through, and both said their cars may have been unlocked.

Wednesday, others testified their cars had been broken into or stolen in the days prior to Jan. 5. Cathy Cameron said her car, a silver Chevrolet Malibu, was stolen from her apartment complex parking lot early on the morning of Jan. 4. Police recovered it the next week in Bessemer, and Cameron said when she retrieved the car it was "trashed." The back end of the vehicle was wrecked, the seats had been written on, and there was trash scattered throughout the car. "It was just a mess. The whole car was a mess."

Tuscaloosa police officer Scott Haydu testified Wednesday and told the court about car break-ins in the south Tuscaloosa area, and about a couple whose green Ford F-250 was stolen the night before Gilotti was killed. The couple told police the truck had very little gas left in it, so police started canvassing nearby gas stations. At a Mapco location nearby, surveillance footage showed a Tahoe, visibly similar to one stolen in McCalla hours prior, and a green F-250 pull into the station. A clerk at a Kangaroo gas station across the street identified one of the men who entered the store as De'Ron Lucas.

Czeskleba explained details of the police investigation, including the arrests of all four co-defendants. He showed two guns-- a Smith and Wesson 40 caliber pistol and a KelTec 9 mm pistol-- which were taken from Ahmad Johnson when he was arrested Jan.7, 2016. No fingerprints were recovered from the 9mm, but the gun's magazine showed prints from Darrian Bryant.

The 9 mm also matched shell casings recovered at the scene, which were found days later by a jogger in area.

Czeskleba also talked about several fingerprints recovered from the stolen vehicles or vehicles which had been broken into.

Facebook played a large part in the investigation, Czeskleba described when he talked about matching the people in the surveillance video to Wells, Johnson, Lucas, and Bryant.

Johnson's Facebook name was M-Tre Shoota, and Wells' Facebook name was Nukee Hoe.

M-Tre is the street gang the four were members of, Czeskleba said. The name stands for "Money Making Mafia."
Israels Knesset has passed its first vote on a new bill defining Israel as a national home of the Jewish people.

New legislation to cement the definition of Israel as a state belonging exclusively to Jews around the world is a declaration of war on Palestinian citizens of Israel, the minoritys leaders warned this week.

The bill, which defines Israel as the national home of the Jewish people, passed its first vote in the Israeli parliament on Wednesday, after it received unanimous backing from a government committee on Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to get the measure on to the statute books within 60 days.

Among its provisions, the legislation  popularly known as the Jewish Nation-State Bill  revokes the status of Arabic as an official language, even though it is the mother tongue of one in five citizens.

Israels population includes a large minority of 1.7 million Palestinians.

READ MORE: Israels settlement law: Consolidating apartheid

The legislation affirms that world Jewry has a unique right to national self-determination in Israel, and calls for the government to further strengthen ties to Jewish communities outside Israel.

It also increases the powers of so-called admissions committees that block Palestinian citizens from living in hundreds of communities that control most of Israels land.

In addition, critics are concerned that the legislation is intended to stymie any prospects of reviving peace talks with the Palestinian leadership in the Occupied Territories. US President Donald Trump is due in the region later this month in what is widely assumed to be an attempt to kick-start a long-stalled peace process.

Netanyahu, however, has already indicated that he will insist on a precondition that Mahmoud Abbas, president of Palestine, recognise Israel as a Jewish state. The new bill effectively sets out the terms of the state Abbas is expected to recognise.

Netanyahu said this week that all Zionist parties in parliament would be expected to support the legislation. The bill establishes the fact that the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people in our historic homeland, he told supporters of his Likud party.

He added: There is no contradiction at all between this bill and equal rights for all citizens of Israel.





However, leaders of Israels large Palestinian minority strenuously disagreed.

Ayman Odeh, head of the Palestinian-dominated Joint List party in the Israeli parliament, warned that the legislation would ensure the tyranny of the majority over the minority.

Under the bill, Hebrew alone will be an official language, with Arabic accorded only special status. Palestinian citizens already complain that most public services and official documents are not provided in Arabic.

The aim is to portray institutional racism in Israel as entirely normal, and make sure the apartheid reality here is irreversible, Haneen Zoabi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, told Al Jazeera.

Netanyahus government no longer pays even lip service to the idea that it might agree to a Palestinian state. Most debates in the Israeli cabinet focus instead on intensifying settlement building and preparations for annexing areas of the West Bank.

It is part of the rights magical thinking  they are in denial that there is an indigenous people here still living in their homeland. We are not about to disappear because of this law.

In strictly legal terms, the Jewish Nation-State Bill offers limited changes. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has defined itself as a state of the Jewish people rather than of all the countrys citizens, including its Palestinian minority.

The Law of Return of 1950 allows only Jews to immigrate to Israel and receive citizenship. Adalah, a legal rights group, has documented dozens of laws that explicitly discriminate against Palestinian citizens.

But the new legislation is significant for reasons beyond its immediate legal implications.

Not least, it gives Israels self-definition as the nation-state of the Jewish people something akin to constitutional standing, observed Ali Haider, a human rights lawyer and former co-director of Sikkuy, an organisation lobbying for equal citizenship rights.

The bill, if passed, will join a handful of Basic Laws intended to provide the foundation for any future constitution. Such laws take precedence over ordinary laws and are much harder to repeal.

This is a very dangerous step because it makes explicit in a Basic Law that all Jews, even those who are not citizens, have superior rights in Israel to those citizens who are Palestinian, he told Al Jazeera.

READ MORE: In Israel, racism is the law

An alternative draft of the new law that promised equal rights to all citizens was effectively blocked by the government in January when it came up for consideration.

Haider said the new version would provide the constitutional foundation to justify a tide of other laws intended to marginalise Palestinian citizens and erode their rights as citizens.

An Expulsion Law passed last year gives Israeli parliament the power to expel Palestinian MPs if they make political statements the Jewish majority disapprove of.

Another bill before the parliament, the Muezzin Law, silences the Muslim call to prayer.

Such laws are almost certain to be challenged in Israels supreme court. The judges will be much more reluctant to intervene if the Jewish Nation-State Bill is in force, Haider said. They will feel under pressure to ignore basic democratic principles and give priority to Israels Jewish character.

He added that there would be little opposition from the Jewish public. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute last December found that more than half of Israeli Jews wanted any citizen who rejected Israels definition as a Jewish state stripped of basic rights.

Another key goal of the bill for the Netanyahu government is its likely impact on any moves to revive peace talks with the Palestinians. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and US President Donald Trump met last week.

Netanyahus government no longer pays even lip service to the idea that it might agree to a Palestinian state. Most debates in the Israeli cabinet focus instead on intensifying settlement building and preparations for annexing areas of the West Bank.





Zoabi noted that since Netanyahu came to power in 2009, he has worked tirelessly to persuade Washington to accept a new precondition for talks: that the Palestinian leadership must first recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

The new bill would place Abbas in a tricky position, allowing him to enter talks with Israel only if he first agrees to sacrifice the rights both of Israels Palestinian citizens to equal citizenship and of millions of Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes.

This law is aimed not only at Abbas but at Trump, said Zoabi. It gives him a map instructing him exactly what can be negotiated over and what the terms of a solution must look like.

Avi Dichter, a member of Netanyahus party who drafted the bill, indicated the diplomatic use it would be put to.

He told the Israeli website Ynet: The Palestinian aspiration to eliminate the Jewish peoples nation-state is no longer secret. He added that Israel must make demands of its enemies to recognize it as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Netanyahu echoed Dichter, saying this week that the bill was the clearest answer to all those who are trying to deny the deep connection between the people of Israel and its land.

It is probably not coincidental that the Nation-State Bill is being fast-tracked as far-right ministers in Netanyahus government have drafted separate legislation to apply Israeli laws in the West Bank. This is a key component of efforts by settlers and their supporters in government to annex the West Bank by stealth.

OPINION: Land Day 2017: Israels relentless land grab continues

Marzuq al-Halabi, a Palestinian journalist writing for the Israeli website 972, warned this week that on the back of the Nation-State Bill the government would seek to redraw Israels borders to include parts or all of the West Bank.

The resulting apartheid regime would then create justified crimes against the Palestinian people, such as population transfer or removal, he wrote.

A Haaretz editorial agreed that Netanyahu was laying the groundwork for annexing the West Bank without conferring rights on its Palestinian population.

The new law, it said, was intended as the constitutional cornerstone for apartheid in Israel and the occupied territories, allowing Israel to maintain control over a Palestinian majority living under its rule.
Behind the vulgarity and racism of Trumps America, a different vision of what it means to be an American is rising.

In a characteristically timely and insightful essay for The New York Times, Pankaj Mishra has recently mapped out the tortuous passage of the United States from exceptionalism to what he now sees as a turn towards nihilism. He rightly identifies that extravagant promises by ruling elites, and their unexamined assumptions, are at least partly to blame for this moral breakdown in the worlds most powerful country.

Mishra shrewdly narrows in on the moment when the eminent American public intellectual Walter Lippmann worried that the promise of private wealth creation was a weak moral basis for a national community. For many mid-century thinkers, nihilism, a catastrophic breakdown of faith in national ideology and institutions that had occurred in Europe, was also a possibility in America.

Mishras conclusion is disarmingly assertive, compelling, and almost clinically precise: The worlds oldest modern democracy leads the free world in its helplessness before the dissolution of its most cherished beliefs and values. Rejoining the tormented history of modernity under an obsessive liar [Donald Trump] America has accelerated its most insidious tendency: nihilism.

Delusions of exceptionalism





Over the years, as a widely admired public intellectual, Mishra has mastered the prose of quiet, piercing, certitude as to how he maps out the global conditions of our despair. What he says is not the run-of-the-mill, fly-by-night liberal exasperation as to why Trump won and Hillary Clinton lost.

Pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post, which enthusiastically devoted all their wherewithal for the victory of Hillary Clinton and sorely lost, are these days replete with jeremiads of lamentations against Trump. They are as useless as they are insipid and self-pitying. What Mishra diagnoses is of an entirely different, far more historically grounded character.

But is America, as an idea, an ideal, an aspiration, and yet as a harsh unforgiving reality, and thus a paradox, really turning towards nihilism, away from its delusion of exceptionalism? Or put more precisely: Is nihilism the only way out of the dead end of that dangerous delusion of exceptionalism?  the white settler colonialists in the US and now their Zionist extension in Palestine have been telling themselves this for a very long time.

OPINION: The Muslim ban and the ethnic cleansing of America

Mishras conception of America is very much limited to such white settler colonial fantasies that may indeed twist away from exceptionalism to nihilism. The story of the rest of America, the America now fighting to rise, is entirely different from either of these two tormented fantasies.

We are, as I write, commandeering the metaphor for a whole new vintage: the Native Americans, the African Americans, the new and old immigrant Americans, Muslims and Mexicans, the nightmare of Trump and his ilk is our precious, beautiful dream. by

Today what we are witnessing in the US is neither the extended lease on its fiction of exceptionalism nor indeed the collapse into a new nihilism  unless we take that nihilism to mean a cruel and wanton disregard for human decency and a decadent indulgence in self-interest, which of course has never been alien to this country.

But in between exceptionalism and nihilism the more compelling question is whether the vulgarity of the Trump spectacle of white supremacist racism is the deadly sign of the end of America as we have known it or the birth of a new vision of its future from ground up.

As it happens Mishras essay was published just a few days before Donald Trump led the Republican-dominated US Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a measure of astonishing cruelty and sadistic disregard for human decency targeting the poor and most vulnerable segments of the US society. Is a society under such a concerted attack by its white supremacist leaders really on the verge of nihilism?

Ordinary Americans (children of an older or a younger generation of immigrants) from one end of this country to another are out on the street reconfiguring the moral foregrounding of their homeland. America has always and consistently been a white supremacist country. It was born that way and a xenophobic banality is congenital to it.

But its delusion of a melting pot is now finally catching up with it, and that is the psychotic reason behind the Muslim ban and the Mexican wall that Trump and his basest base are determined to accomplish. The fact that they will miserably fail in these and all other such racist measures is the clearest indication that something other than nihilism is in the offing.

The new immigrants and the old white settlers

Today in the US, and smack in the middle of that delusional oscillation between exceptionalism and nihilism that Mishra diagnoses, there is another movement brewing that is deeply rooted in the history of unfathomable cruelty and suffering in this country. Rooted in the Civil Rights and Antiwar movements of the earlier generations, from Black Lives Matter to Womens March on Washington to Dakota Access Pipeline Protests to Peoples Climate Movement, etc, the texture and timbre of this country is once and for all liberated from the whites-only delusions of exceptionalism and nihilism. Remember the spontaneous rush of thousands of people to airports from New York to Los Angeles to oppose the Muslim ban and welcome new arrivals. That was not any sign of nihilism.





Deluded by the mirage of that exceptionalism, Trump and his family and friends can have their one or even two terms of power. The Obamas can join the Clintons to deliver their gibberish speeches and nonsensical books for the highest bidder. The Zionists might be giddy with this corrupt lunatic in power helping them steal more of Palestine. The rest of the Americans, however, the immigrants old and new, know only too well on whose stolen land they have mercifully landed and have gratefully joined forces with them to advance forward their struggle to new horizons. Trump has not weakened or divided us. He has united and strengthened us.

We the immigrants, we the Muslims, Jews, working class, women, the LGBQT communities, we the parents negotiating between two to three jobs to make ends meet, we students burdened with backbreaking loans, we conscientious public school teachers, committed environmentalists, responsible scientists  We the liberation theologians, philosophers, theorists, critical thinkers  We cannot afford nihilism. The very idea of it is ridiculously alien. Those anorexic models parading with those ridiculous dresses wrapped around their plastic surgery wounds on the red carpet at Met Gala might have pangs of nihilism if they are off their Prozac. Not us.

We will not bend backward to accommodate power and play dead. We will fight back, the defiant future of this country is already born and buoyant in the beautiful birth of the children we have mothered and fathered in this country, on this blessed land of Native Americans where generations of African slaves have suffered to call it their and now our homeland.

Between the exceptionalism and nihilism of white supremacists is rooted and rising the defiant determination of an entirely different vision of what it means to be an American. We are, as I write, commandeering the metaphor for a whole new vintage: the Native Americans, the African Americans, the new and old immigrant Americans, Muslims and Mexicans, the nightmare of Trump and his ilk is our precious, beautiful dream.

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Its daffy to expect Trump to be impeached simply because he fired a cop  whatever the timing and cynical motivations.

Too many so-called progressives still dont get it.

There they were on Twitter and in instant coffee-quick columns  joined by their titular intellectual leader, David Frum (yes, him)  mimicking Dylan Thomas verses to rage against the dying of the light while Donald Nero Trump plays the proverbial fiddle as the Constitution and the lingering shreds of the rule of law turn to ashes.

This latest spasm of cable-TV-stoked hysteria was triggered by Trumps jarring decision late Tuesday afternoon to sack the ripe-for-the-sacking FBI director, James Comey.

Donald Trumps loyal minions insisted that Comey had to go because the cocky G-man had suddenly and conveniently earned an F over his handling of Hillary Clintons curious handling of her emails. On cue and in unison, progressives shouted cover-up and crowed that a constitutional crisis was afoot after Saint Comey got the boot.

Youll recall  since they apparently forgot  that days earlier many of these same progressives were sticking their rhetorical knives gleefully into the hapless and now unemployed FBI director after his snide remark that he was rendered mildly nauseous by the suggestion that his late-day election intervention had tilted the tight presidential race in Trumps favour.

If youre trying to keep score, among weathervane progressives Comey has gone from devil to saint to devil and back to saint over the past eight months. Its a dizziness-inducing career trajectory, isnt it?

Revisiting a willowy ghost





Still, in the wake of Comeys departure, progressives are also, once again, revisiting the willowy ghost of Richard Nixon and, drum roll, Watergate  the facile, all-purpose shorthand for a potentially combustible and politically fatal scandal.

The ultimate intent, I suspect, of resurrecting these familiar tropes in the context of Comeys abrupt dismissal is to suggest that Trump has committed an impeachable offence in order, ironically, to stave off impeachment.

This is a self-defeating delusion that has not only gripped progressives like a coiled snake but reveals how they remain blissfully wedded to their cockeyed faith in  for want of a better term  American democracy.

Heres the usually restrained CNN legal analyst, Jeffery Toobin, channeling his fellow progressives angst in a fit of anguished hyperbole. It is a grotesque abuse of power by the president of the United States, Toobin told the ever mesmerised-looking, Wolf Blitzer. This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies.

OPINION: The deep state now works for the good guys

Clearly, Toobin doesnt subscribe to Noam Chomskys prescient view that America has long forfeited the right to describe itself as a democracy and, instead, has morphed, over successive Democratic and Republican regimes, into what more accurately can be defined as an authoritarian state that serves the parochial interests of the few at the expense of the many.

It's daffy to think that Trump's army of nihilists will do a stunning volte face and deem him unfit to serve as president simply because he fired a cop  whatever the timing and cynical motivations. by

But, of course, its understandable that Toobins unflinching fidelity to the anachronistic notion of Americas supposed democratic exceptionalism went unchallenged, since Chomsky  or anyone sympathetic to his understanding of US history or politics  is effectively outlawed from appearing on a news network that, not too long ago, treated Trump, the perpetual TV star, with such fawning deference and respect.

Turns out, Toobin and company are loath to acknowledge, let alone address, the prickly fact that more than 63 million Americans voted enthusiastically for an illiterate strongman who canned a guy most Trump supporters couldnt pick out of an FBI line-up and, in all likelihood, couldnt name the seven original Articles of the US Constitution Toobin et al so desperately want them to defend.

Its much easier for progressives to blame Vladimir Putin or Julian Assange for Trumps success and tin pot despot-like behavior rather than the millions of Americans who voted for, and rejoice in, his authoritarian disposition and actions. The blunt upshot is: James Comeys FBI wasnt going to save Trumps America from itself.

Predictably, other progressives rushed with Usain Bolt-like speed to praise Toobins punditry as authoritative and riveting. You see, its not the pollyannaish meaning of what he says thats important, but how brashly he says it.

Appealing to patriotic Republicans

Not done applauding Toobins glib defence of democracy and, by extension, the FBI, progressives embarrassed themselves by appealing to patriotic Republicans finally to choose the republic over party and agree to appoint an independent prosecutor to probe the metastasizing links between Trump and Moscow before, during and after the election.

Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell promptly answered the gooey, flag-waving overtures by telling gullible progressives and Democrats that Trump was right to show Comey the exit door and he wasnt going to anoint a modern-day Eliot Ness to find out whether Trump is a traitor or not.





McConnell will, no doubt, quickly extinguish the tepid disquiet within the Republican ranks over Trumps Comey gambit since he and the Republican powers-that-be consider the possible real-life Manchurian Candidate an indispensable and pliable asset serving, as I said, the parochial interests of the few at the expense of the many  and damn the Constitution.

In due course, Trump will name a successor to Comey. The Republican-controlled Congress will fall dutifully into line and approve whomever their malleable man in the White House nominates long before the mid-term elections in 2018. That, Mr. Toobin, is American democracy at work.

Trump will not be impeached

Finally, and perhaps most absurdly, progressives are clinging like hallucinating shipwreck survivors to the fantasy that Trumps impeachment is in the offing just over the horizon.

Poor, beleaguered Nixon didn't have an omnipotent 24/7 all-news channel that he could count on and seek comfortable refuge in to rewrite history and convince the nation that he wasn't a crook. by

Note to raving progressives: Its 2017, not 1974. Trump will not be impeached now, nor will he be in the foreseeable future. Republicans enjoy a firm, recalcitrant hold on Congress and, given their gerrymandering, vote-suppressing ways, flipping the House next year may be a bigger challenge than most progressives suspect.

The more salient point is this: Trumps legion of followers has not only permitted him to cross so many traditionally uncrossable red lines, but theyve cheered all along and encouraged him to erase those previously sacrosanct norms beyond recognition.

Its daffy to think that Trumps army of nihilists will do a stunning volte face and deem him unfit to serve as president simply because he fired a cop  whatever the timing and cynical motivations.

Meanwhile, Fox News, the de facto PR arm of the Republican party, will continue to give Trump all the time he needs to preach in rambling non-sequiturs to the converted about how the fake news business is intent on thwarting his devout mission to make America great again.

The we report, you decide charlatans will happily inoculate Trump against calls for his impeachment and, true to obsequious form, the Sean Hannity-led mob will ferociously impugn the motives, aims and reputations of his adversaries.

READ MORE: Why was James Comey so controversial?

Poor, beleaguered Nixon didnt have an omnipotent 24/7 all-news channel that he could count on and seek comfortable refuge in to rewrite history and convince the nation that he wasnt a crook.

Trump does. And this time the president of the United States will say: Im not a traitor and Fox News viewers will believe him.

Andrew Mitrovica is an award-winning investigative reporter and journalism instructor.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Student election at university in the occupied West Bank seen as indicator of Palestinian political mood.

A student group ideologically aligned with Hamas has won the most seats for the third year in a row in an election held at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank.

Al-Wafaa Islamic Bloc won 25 of the 51 seats in Wednesdays student council election, with the Fatah-aligned Martyr Yasser Arafat party winning 22.

The last general election held among Palestinians was the parliamentary vote in 2006, in which Hamas won a majority.

Fatahs refusal to recognise the result ended in divided rule among Palestinians in the occupied territories, with Hamas administering the Gaza Strip and Fatah ruling the West Bank in conjunction with Israeli forces.

The West Bank universitys yearly election is therefore perceived as a bellwether of Palestinian politics and an indicator of the overall political mood among Palestinians in the West Bank, according to Alaa Tartir, Programme Director of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.

READ MORE: Palestinian factions compete in Birzeit elections

The student body affiliated with Hamas won the elections for the third year running which debunks the myth that Hamas is losing its popularity and support of the Palestinians in the West Bank, Tartir told Al Jazeera.

In fact, it is Fatah that remains shackled by its crisis and negatively affected by the failures and lack of legitimacy of their political leadership in the West Bank.





While campaigning largely revolves around university and student affairs, the election does take on a political tone, indicative of the fact that up to 50 percent of students vote according to political issues, according to the estimate given by Marwan Taha, 19, a Birzeit law student and a volunteer who helped organise the election this year.

Many do vote for student affairs, and the campaigning is specific to university and administrative issues, Taha said.

But the politics of the occupation tend to go hand-in-hand with student affairs.

Previous years have involved students being detained by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has long been known to pay university students to serve as informants.

Birzeit students have also frequently been targeted by Israeli forces, and several academics and human rights organisations have called attention to the manner in which Palestinian education is threatened by the occupation.

Political system in crisis

But according to Tartir, the election is not only an indicator of the Palestinian political mood but also a reflection of the crisis of the Palestinian political system.

Palestinians vote in municipal elections on Saturday, but only in the occupied West Bank and not the Gaza Strip, illustrating the persistent inability of Fatah and Hamas to overcome deep divisions.

Efforts last year to hold joint local elections failed as the two parties failed to bridge their differences.

Saturdays vote for some 300 municipal councils in the West Bank, occupied by Israel for 50 years, has been seen as yet another sign that reconciliation may be a long way off.

The student election has re-produced the same political problems instead of tackling them. For example, the universitys political scene is still dominated by Fatah and Hamas despite all the damages over the last 10 years due to the intra-Palestinian divide, Tartir added.

The election on Saturday will involve 1.1 million voters. There will be 536 candidate lists with 4,400 candidates, the head of the electoral commission, Hisham Keheil, said.

Everything indicates that the vote should go well, Keheil said while expressing hope that voters will show up at the polls.

Turnout is a major question, however. A poll published by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research suggested only 42 percent of Palestinians wanted to vote.

Some 22 percent said they do not believe the election will help reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

The student community, and the whole Palestinian community, remains unable to challenge and reverse that Fatah-Hamas dichotomy. This means that they are failing to hold both parties accountable and failing to create a much-needed progressive front to challenge that dichotomy, Tartir told Al Jazeera.
The opposition Free National Movement led by Hubert Minnis emerges victorious in the Bahamas general elections.

The Bahamas has elected Hubert Minnis of the Free National Movement (FNM) as their new leader, defeating Perry Christies Progressive Liberal Party in a 34-5 parliamentary split, according to local media.

Official results were not complete as of late Wednesday, but early returns showed that Minnis easily won his seat and that his FNM party would hold the majority.

My fellow Bahamians, the people have spoken, Minnis, a physician, said in a victory rally before thousands of supporters.

We have been given a mandate for change.

Minnis was campaigning on a platform for change, seeking to impose term limits on the prime minister and promote Bahamian ownership in the economy, according to his website.

Christie conceded defeat and made a congratulatory telephone call to Minnis, wishing him success.

I understand as perhaps few others, the challenges that await Dr Minnis and I wish him only success on behalf of our nation. He has my full support for a smooth transition, he said.

READ MORE: Bahamas votes in closely-contested general election

Allegations of corruption and unemployment dominated the election.

Christie, finishing his second non-consecutive term as prime minister, was criticised for defiantly boasting that not even God could stop him, in a video posted by Tribune 242.

I support the FNM because I feel Christie was not doing a good job in the five years we gave him, Nassau resident Jmeail Dames said of the prime ministers current term.

According to local media, the extensive delay to the opening of the $4.2bn Chinese-funded Baha Mar mega-resort along with rising unemployment and sluggish economic performance were some of the major factors that provided momentum to Minnis platform for transparency.

Dr Minnis has endured trial after trial and emerged victorious. He has a task ahead of him, said FNM supporter Travis Edgecombe.

But I do believe that his new administration will provide new and innovative plans to create opportunities for Bahamians.

More than 180,000 people were registered to cast their ballots for the 39 seats in the House of Assembly.

The election was closely monitored by international observers the Caribbean Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States and the United States.
Students turn their backs in protest as Betsy DeVos delivers commencement address at historically black university.

Graduating seniors at Bethune-Cookman University turned their backs in protest against US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at the start of her commencement speech at the historically black institution.

Some graduating students shouted Liar! and Just go, as she powered through her speech on Wednesday at the Florida university.

Lets choose to hear one another out, DeVos said, reading her prepared text in a measured tone despite continuing waves of boos, catcalls and scattered applause.

As the crowd kept trying to shout her down, university president Edison Jackson briefly took over the microphone to sternly lecture the class of 2017.

If this behaviour continues, your degrees will be mailed to you. Choose which way you want to go, Jackson warned.

DeVos alienated many African-Americans in February when she described historically black colleges as real pioneers when it comes to school choice.

After a storm of criticism, she acknowledged that these colleges were born, not out of mere choice, but out of necessity, in the face of racism.

Betsy DeVos got loudly booed by students at a historically black college. pic.twitter.com/gobykJkzY6  AJ+ (@ajplus) May 11, 2017

In her keynote, DeVos repeatedly praised the schools founder, Mary McLeod Bethune, as someone who refused to accept systemic and repulsive racism, and had the courage to change old ideas.

I am here to demonstrate in the most direct way possible that I and the administration are fully committed to your success and to the success of every student across this great country, she said.

President Donald Trumps nomination of DeVos, a Republican fundraiser with no classroom experience, was so controversial that Vice President Mike Pence had to cast a tie-breaking vote for her Senate confirmation.

READ MORE: Understanding racism in the US

Some leaders of historically black colleges and universities later expressed dismay when Trump invited them to the Oval Office for a listening session that became an apparent photo-op for Black History Month.

DeVos has continued since then to cite historically black colleges as examples of alternative options for quality education, her stated goal for promoting the diversion of tax money from public schools to private companies and charters.

Ahead of the speech, students, alumni and political activists sought to have DeVos invitation rescinded, saying they were offended by her earlier comment.

About 60,000 signatures on two petitions were delivered to school officials on Tuesday objecting to her appearance at the university.

Right now is not the time for Secretary DeVos to speak at any historically black college, said Dominik Whitehead, a Bethune-Cookman alumnus who led one of the petition drives.

DeVos statement, he said, just shows she is out of touch.

Before the address, activists lined a sidewalk. One sign said, DeVos is not worthy.

Jackson had been accused of selling out the school by inviting DeVos. He gave her a hug, then took back the podium as she left the stage.

As we have said repeatedly, be careful of the people you let in your place, Jackson said, seeming to acknowledge the criticism.

But he said Bethune-Cookman University cant do it alone. We need everyone to be a part of this continuation of our institution.

Some students agreed with Jackson, that the school needs help from anyone offering it no matter their party affiliation.

DeVos was here to hear our differences and at the end of the day I think thats what happened, said Keith Holt, who received a masters degree in transformative leadership.
Ruslan Sokolovsky was arrested for posting video on YouTube of him playing Pokemon Go inside a Russian Orthodox church.

A blogger has been given a suspended jail sentence by a court in Russia after he posted a video of him playing the Pokemon Go video game inside a church last year.

Ruslan Sokolovsky was found guilty of inciting religious hatred inside a Russian Orthodox church after he posted the video on YouTube which has attracted more than 1.9 million views.

On Thursday, the court also sentenced the 22-year-old to 160 hours of compulsory community service and told him not to appear in public places.

Russian prosecutors had earlier called for a three-and-a-half year jail sentence for the blogger in a case that has drawn ire from rights activists.

Sokolovsky  dubbed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International  was detained and charged under controversial legislation for inciting hatred and insulting the feelings of religious believers before being put on trial.

There are no grounds to let the defendant go unpunished, Russian news agencies had quoted a prosecutor as saying in court.

Pokemon Go, jointly developed by Nintendo Co and Niantic Inc, generated masses of followers around the world as players use their phones to capture animated characters that appear in real locations.

Sokolovskys treatment has drawn comparisons with the jailing of the Pussy Riot performance artists after they staged a punk performance in a Moscow cathedral in 2012.

The case has once again highlighted the power of the Russian Orthodox Church under the conservative rule of President Vladimir Putin.
US intelligence agency creates new entity to address ballistic and nuclear threats posed by Pyongyang.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has announced the establishment of a Korea Mission Center dedicated to dealing with North Korea.





The mission centre will use all the resources of the CIA and other US intelligence agencies to address ballistic and nuclear missile threats posed by North Korea, the CIA said on Wednesday.

Creating the Korea Mission Center allows us to more purposefully integrate and direct CIA efforts against the serious threats to the United States and its allies emanating from North Korea, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

The Korea Mission Center is the CIAs 11th mission centre. The centres operate as stand-alone, issue-focused entities that utilise and integrate all CIA elements and resources.

Other centres include Mission Center for Africa, Mission Center for Counterintelligence, Mission Center for Counterterrorism and Mission Center for Near East.

Creating a mission centre focused on one country, as opposed to an entire region or continent indicates that the administration of President Trump is taking a more forceful approach against North Korea.

Just as the threats facing our nation are dynamic, so too must the CIA continue to evolve to address them, CIA spokesperson Heather Fritz Horniak said.

CIAs other Mission Centers Mission Center for Africa

Mission Center for Counterintelligence

Mission Center for Counterterrorism

Mission Center for East Asia and Pacific

Mission Center for Europe and Eurasia

Mission Center for Global Issues

Mission Center for Near East

Mission Center for South and Central Asia

Mission Center for Western Hemisphere

Mission Center for Weapons and Counter-proliferation

North Korea has conducted a series of ballistic missile tests in recent weeks, prompting sharp rebuke from the Trump administration.

OPINION: Is war coming to North Korea?

Trump warned of major conflict with North Korea after the tests.

Tensions between the US and North Korea rose especially after a tense exchange between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which prompted President Trump to announce the deployment last March of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system (THAAD) in South Korea.

But a former CIA official downplayed the importance of establishing a mission centre dedicated to North Korea, calling the move cosmetic.

Former CIA case officer Bob Baer told Al Jazeera that the CIA does not know what to do with nuclear-armed North Korea.

He said the CIA does not appear to want to, for example, jam North Korean communications or drop weapons on it. Short of that, this move is just huffing and puffing, Baer added.

He stressed that North Korea could never achieve parity with the US so it uses its nuclear weapons card as blackmail to get concessions or to force the US into negotiations.

Baer suggested that the US should leverage Chinas influence with North Korea and let it rein its nuclear-armed neighbour.

Follow Ali Younes on twitter @ali_reports
New law guarantees former guerrillas a minimum of fives seats in the senate and five in the lower house.

Colombias congress has approved a law ratifying provisions of a peace agreement that permits the countrys largest leftist guerrilla group, FARC, to participate in politics.

The senate voted 52-2 on Wednesday in favour of the law that provides for the political reintegration of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The groups inclusion as a legal political party was a key point of the peace agreement signed in November between President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC.

The new law guarantees the former guerrillas a minimum of five seats in the senate, and five in the lower house of congress, although the group must run in legislative elections next year to claim them.

READ MORE: Inside an endangered peace community in Colombia

The FARC will formally become a political party at a convention of former guerrillas that is scheduled for August.

Disarming the rebels was supposed to be completed by the end of the month, but the process has been delayed by logistical and legal issues, according to the United Nations, which is overseeing the task.





Santos said on Monday that he expects the FARCs nearly 7,000 fighters to hand over their weapons by the end of May, but he acknowledged that there are another 900 caches with explosives, munitions and spare parts that must still be dealt with.

The FARCs disarmament will leave rival movement, the National Liberation Army (ELN), as the only rebel group still waging a multi-sided war that has killed 260,000 people.

Peace talks between the ELN and the government, which were launched in February, have been plagued with delays. Negotiations are set to resume this month.

Analysts warn that reaching an accord with the ELN may be more complicated than the FARC deal, which was the fruit of four years of negotiations in Cuba.

The Cold War-era conflict, which has also left 60,000 people missing and uprooted 6.9 million, is the last major armed conflict in the Americas.

Colombia, South Americas third largest economy, has been torn since the 1960s by fighting that has drawn in multiple leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitary units, drug cartels and the army.
Carrier posts first drop in annual profits for five years, hit by US dollars rise, competition and travel restrictions.

Emirates airline has blamed fierce competition, currency devaluations and US travel restrictions as it reported an 82.5 percent plunge in annual profits for the last fiscal year.

The Dubai-based company said net profit at its airline business dropped to $340m in the year to March 31, down from $1.9bn in the previous 12 months  its first decline in annual profit for five years.

The fall was the result of the US dollars relentless rise against currencies in its key markets and pressure on ticket prices due to stiff competition, the airline said in a statement.

READ MORE: Emirates US flight cut not permanent, says Tim Clark

Company chief Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum also pointed to destabilising events which have impacted travel demand during the year.

These included Britains vote to leave the European Union, several attacks in Europe and restrictions on travel to the United States from the Middle East.

In April, Emirates began slashing 20 percent of its 126 weekly flights to the US, one of the airlines biggest growth potential markets, because of a drop in demand caused by tougher security measures and the Trump administrations attempts to ban travellers from some Muslim-majority nations.

Dubai was one of 10 cities in Muslim-majority countries affected by a ban on laptops and other electronics in carry-on luggage aboard flights to the US.

Maktoum said the company expected the year ahead to remain challenging.

READ MORE: The Arab airlines using Trumps bans for marketing

John Strickland, a UK-based aviation consultant, told the Reuters news agency he expected Emirates to keep a tighter rein on its capacity growth in the short to medium term.

Despite the challenges, the airline carried a record 56.1 million passengers in 2016-17, up 8 percent from the previous year.

But the company added more seats than it could fill in 2016-17, leading to a drop in the average yield per passenger.

The higher passenger capacity pushed up the carriers fuel bill by 6 percent to $5.7bn, despite a softening in average fuel price, Emirates said.

Theres been an overcapacity in the market  Emirates are getting 75 percent of their seats filled but they are putting more capacity in with more aircraft, Alan Peaford, editor-in-chief of the Arabian Aerospace magazine, told Al Jazeera from Essex, UK.

Peaford said he expected Emirates to continue expanding despite a decision to pull back the delivery of some planes.

They will need to continue to invest because always in the aviation industry we have peaks and troughs  and Emirates in the past have shown to be incredibly wily and buying airplanes in a trough, he said.

Airlines around the world have reported pressure on fares over the past couple of years due to volatile demand and cut-throat competition, though Europes major carriers have recently noted signs of the pressure easing.
Ukraine passport holders will be able to travel visa-free to most EU countries under new rules approved by the bloc.

The European Union has adopted a regulation granting visa-free travel for Ukrainians, fulfilling a key promise to cement ties with Kiev.

Under the regulation, Ukrainian citizens holding a biometric passport can travel to an EU country for up to 90 days out of any 180-day period for business, tourism or family purposes. The measure will not apply to Ireland and the UK, while travellers will not be permitted to work or reside in EU member states.

YES, we did it!, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Facebook after Thursdays decision, which Ukraine had been trying to clinch for years.

Talks between Kiev and Brussels on a liberalised visa deal began in 2008 but the European Commission only gave the green light in 2015.

It feels like coming home after a long and exhausting journey, Poroshenko said, adding that Ukraine was gradually becoming part of a common European civilization.

The EU and Ukraine sealed a broad trade and political association agreement after the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. The agreement included the offer of the removal of visa requirements.

READ MORE: The geopolitics of the Ukraine crisis

According to Carmelo Abela, the Maltese minister for home affairs and national security, the approval follows the completion of necessary reforms by Ukraine in a number of areas including migration, public order and security, external relations and fundamental rights.

The European Council said in a statement that that the decision followed an EU agreement on a suspension mechanism that would allow member states to halt the scheme if there are serious migration or security issues with Ukraine.

The decision was welcomed by the European Commission which said in a statement that, visa-free travel to the Schengen area will soon become a reality  it is an important and well-deserved moment for Ukraine and its citizens that will make our already close relations even stronger.

The regulations will enter into force 20 days after being signed by the Council on May 17 in Strasbourg and published in the EU Official Journal.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 following Yanukovichs overthrow, saying the peninsula had voted overwhelmingly in favour of returning to its Russian homeland.

Kiev remains embroiled in a deadly conflict with pro-Russian fighters ever since.
Two UN special rapporteurs urge authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir to protect right to freedom of expression.

United Nations human rights experts have urged Indias government to lift a ban on social media websites and mobile internet services in Indian-administered Kashmir.

In late April, Indian authorities banned 22 social media sites and messaging apps, including Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, as well 3G and 4G mobile phone data services for one month. The government said at the time that the ban was necessary because social media services were being misused by antinational and antisocial elements.





David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and Michel Forst, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said in a statement on Thursday that the ban had disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir and had the character of collective punishment.

Such restrictions fail to meet the standards required under international human rights law to limit freedom of expression, Kaye wrote.

Forst said such blocking disrupts the free exchange of ideas and the ability of individuals to connect with one another and associate peacefully on matters of shared concern.

READ MORE: Civilians killed as India, Pakistan trade fire in Kashmir

Others sites and apps covered by the ban include Wechat; QQ; Qzone; Google Plus; Skype; Line; Pinterest; Snapchat; YouTube; Vine and Flickr.

[The ban] is to control the political space. The government is trying to control things in a military way which is not going to help, Gull Mohammad Wani, a professor and political analyst, told Al Jazeera after the ban was imposed.

The government is claiming it has taken this step to calm the situation down. In the absence of social media, rumours can be more dangerous, as we have seen in the past.

Kashmiris have been uploading videos and photos of alleged abuse for some years, but several recently posted clips, captured in the days surrounding a violence-plagued local election on April 9, have proved to be especially powerful and have helped to intensify anti-India protests.

Indian police and paramilitary officials accuse agitators of using social media to instigate violence.

READ MORE: Mirza Waheed  Violence will not end Kashmir conflict

The UN special rapporteurs said there were at least 31 reported cases of social media and internet bans since 2012 in Kashmir and called it a worrying pattern aimed at curbing protests and social unrest in the region.





The two called on Indian authorities to guarantee freedom of expression in Kashmir and to seek a solution for the social and political conflicts of the region through an open, transparent and democratic dialogue.

Last year, the Brookings Institution, thge US think-tank, said in a report that India blocked access to the internet in various regions to prevent demonstrations 22 times in the 12 months from July 2015, more often than Syria, Pakistan and Turkey did put together.

Escalating violence

Kashmir witnessed deadly protests after a well known separatist commander, Burhan Wani, was killed last year.

The violence has killed at least 84 civilians and wounded more than 12,000 civilians and security force personnel.

Neighbours India and Pakistan claim divided Kashmir in full, but govern separate parts. Two of the three wars they have fought since independence from Britain in 1947 have been over Kashmir.

Last September, tension escalated as armed men killed 19 Indian soldiers at an army camp in Kashmir, an attack India blamed on Pakistan-based fighters.

India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist fighters in the Himalayan region, a charge Pakistan denies.
Facebook blocks 178 pages deemed unlawful by the Thai criminal court, including some allegedly insulting the monarchy.

Facebook has blocked access to scores of web pages in Thailand with inappropriate content, including some containing alleged insults against the royal family, on the orders of the countrys criminal court.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) told reporters on Thursday that Facebook has restricted local users access to 178 out of some 309 pages on the criminal courts blacklist.

Facebook Thailand will face legal action if it fails to block the remaining 131 pages, the NBTC warned.

READ MORE: Facebook deletes tens of thousands of UK accounts

The social network giant did not confirm the number of pages it had blocked, but told the DPA news agency that it restricts access to content if it determines that local laws were violated.

Thailands criminal court has ordered nearly 7,000 inappropriate web pages be shut down since 2015, according to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society,

Under Thailands lese majeste or royal insult law, criticism of the royal family is an offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Internet service providers are able to block access to most pages, but said some 600 could not be shut down because of encryption. More than half of these were on Facebook.

READ MORE: Thai lawyer faces 150 years in jail for royal insult

The UN Human Rights Council declared access to the internet to be a human right in July 2016.

David Kaye, the UNs rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression has also encouraged companies to push back when states request a block on web pages.

They should ask questions so they dont just do it right off the bat, he said in an interview with Al Jazeera this week. They need to make the countries explain themselves at the very least, to mitigate the risk.

Kaye has previously criticised the Thai authorities for using lese majeste laws as a political tool to stifle critical speech.

The military government has cracked down on lese majeste suspects since it took power in May 2014, arresting more than 100 people on charges of insulting or defaming the royal family.
President tells London conference Somali troops need access to heavy weapons in fight against armed group al-Shabab.

London, UK  Somalias president has called on the international community to lift an arms embargo on his country as government soldiers battle to regain territory from the armed group al-Shabab.

Speaking on Thursday at a Somalia conference held in London and attended by world leaders, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo, said government forces would defeat the al-Qaeda-linked group in a few years  but troops had to be better equipped.

For far too long, our security forces and terrorist groups have been fighting using the same type of light weapons  mostly AK-47s. The long-standing arms embargo on Somalia severely restricts our ability to procure heavy weapons, Farmajo said.

Time has come for Somalia to be able to get access to qualitatively better equipment and weapons than the terrorists, he added.

READ MORE: Anything that flies is an enemy  Filming al-Shabab with a drone

The UN Security Council placed the country under an arms embargo in 1992, months after the outbreak of civil which led to the toppling of long-time President Siad Barre.





The embargo, the longest imposed in the world, was eased in 2013  allowing Mogadishu to buy light arms  but was not lifted.

Amnesty and Human rights groups have previously called on the United Nations to not lift the embargo, warning that it could expose Somali civilians to even greater risk and worsen the humanitarian situation.

Farmajo, who took office in February, declared war on al-Shabab last month following a string of deadly attacks carried out by the group in the Somali capital.

Somali troops backed by more than 20,000 African Union soldiers have captured most major towns and cities in the country from the group.

But al-Shabab, which wants to overthrow the countrys internationally back government, still carries out targeted assassinations and frequent suicide attacks in southern Somalia and Mogadishu.

READ MORE: Drought in Somalia  Time is Running Out

The one-day conference  co-chaired by Farmajo, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres  also addressed the humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa country, which has been exacerbated by a prolonged drought.

In late February, Farmajo declared a national disaster for the drought that has forced 6.2 million Somalis  about half of the countrys population  to seek urgent food assistance and triggered fears of a potential famine, according to the UN.

Speaking at the conference, Guterres renewed calls for extra funds to help tackle the droughts effects on Somalias population.

This morning we presented the revised humanitarian plan seeking an additional $900m to the end of the year, the UN chief said.

Somalia is also seeking relief of its $5.3bn long-standing debts.
The 279 employees of a car parts manufacturer want to pressure clients to maintain orders and keep the plant afloat.

Workers at an ailing car parts factory in central France have destroyed equipment and booby-trapped the site to pressure the countrys carmakers to keep the plant afloat.





The factory is a supplier for PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault, but falling orders brought the plant under threat of judicial liquidation, with 279 jobs on the line.

On Thursday morning, workers cut a machine in half with a blowtorch and were planning to wreck another, union representative Vincent Labrousse told news agency AFP. He said they had also booby-trapped the site with gas canisters and petrol cans.

We refuse to be given the runaround one minute longer, he said. Weve been fighting for six months, and are sorry it has come to this, but the risk is that it [the plant] will be liquidated, Labrousse said.

The GM&S factory has been trying for weeks to get order commitments from Peugeot and Renault  as sought by a French automotive supplier interested in taking over the plant.

READ MORE: Frances footprint in the world

On Wednesday, trade unions said the government-brokered talks had failed and called on incoming president Emmanuel Macron to take up the case before a May 23 deadline for GM&S to find a buyer for the site.

Macron, a former economy minister, will be inaugurated on Sunday, taking over from Socialist President Francois Hollande.

Macron faces a major challenge to turn around the economy and halt industrial job losses  one of the main driving forces behind the far-right National Front whose candidate Marine Le Pen was runner-up in the presidential election, with 33.9 per cent of the vote.
Five people held as they try to deliver petition protesting against alleged abuses of gay men in Chechnya.

Five activists were detained in Moscow on Thursday while trying to submit a petition calling Russian authorities to investigate the alleged torture and arbitrary detentions of gay people in Chechnya.

The five were planning to bring about two million signatures at the Prosecutor Generals Office when they were held by police along the Russian capitals Tverskaya Street, according to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) activists.

Police said the activists were detained because their action amounted to an unsanctioned protest.

OPINION: Chechnya  The reality behind appearances

The New York-based civic group Avaaz, which helped collect the signatures worldwide, said in a statement that one of the people held is Italian.

Avaazs campaign director, Bert Wander, described the detentions as a blatant attempt by Russia to intimidate those standing up for gay people [which] will only draw more global attention to the horrors unfolding in Chechnya.





The alleged abuse was first reported in April by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which said about 100 suspected gay men were rounded up and tortured, and at least three were killed.

The Associated Press news agency separately interviewed two Chechen men who spoke of torture and corroborated the reports.

Chechnyas leader Ramzan Kadyrov has fiercely denied Novaya Gazetas report and claims of a crackdown in the region.

Kadyrov responded to Putins comments last week by telling journalists his authorities were ready to closely cooperate with Moskalkova, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

But he also said that Chechnya does not have any gay people and suggested some gay people may be pretending to be Chechen to get asylum in the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week assured the countrys human rights ombudswoman that he would speak with law enforcement officials about the alleged torture of gay men.

Tatyana Moskalkova, the ombudswoman, has asked for a taskforce to be formed to investigate the treatment of LGBT people in Chechnya.
Chancellor Angela Merkels comments come as NATO considers increased presence in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that she does not believe Germany is first in line to send more troops to Afghanistan, as NATO considers a proposal to boost forces there.

I dont think were first in line to expand our capacities there, Merkel said after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday.

She said Germany will continue to lead NATOs military training mission in northern Afghanistan, adding that she will wait and see the outcome of the alliances assessment of a request from military chiefs to send more troops to the country.

READ MORE: Nearly 90,000 Afghans displaced in 2017, says UN

Al Jazeeras Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said there were few specifics revealed at Thursdays meeting.

The news conference between Stoltenberg and Merkel was very heavy on warm words, on the appreciation of the role of NATO and the role of Germany, but it was light on specifics regarding whether the Germans would perhaps increase their contingent of troops in Afghanistan, Kane said.

On Wednesday, Stoltenberg met British Prime Minister Theresa May, a day after reports suggested NATO had asked Britain for more troops a few weeks ago.

He confirmed he had received a request for more troops, but insisted it would not mean a return to combat operations.

We have received a request from our military authorities to increase our military presence in Afghanistan with a few thousand troops, Stoltenberg said.

It will continue to be a train, assist and advise operation, he added.

Stoltenberg said a decision on the request will be made within weeks and the issue is expected to be high on the agenda at the NATO annual summit in Brussels on May 25.

Desperate for assistance

Since NATOs combat mission in Afghanistan formally ended in 2014, Taliban attacks have intensified and Afghan military and civilian casualties have risen.





NATO already has some 13,450 troops in Afghanistan, including around 6,900 US and 500 British military personnel, who are training the Afghan armed forces to eventually take over the countrys defence and security.

The US has an additional 1,500 soldiers conducting assist missions directly under Pentagon command.

They have sustained 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.

Al Jazeeras John Hendren, reporting from Kabul, said the Afghan government is in desperate need of assistance.

If you talk to Afghan troops, they say they desperately need the help, Hendren said. In the north and south of the country, they are embattled.

He added that the goal of the idea of a troop increase is to get the Taliban to the negotiating table.

READ MORE: Dear Donald Trump  Letters from Afghanistan

Security analyst Mushtaq Rahim told Al Jazeera that NATO and the international community should focus on the root causes of the conflict in Afghanistan.

The overall strategy should concentrate on beating the Taliban at the root levels instead of addressing the symptoms of the whole conflict, Rahim said from Kabul.

Separately, the US administration is reportedly considering deploying more troops to Afghanistan as well. Official sources quoted anonymously by US media said the increase would range from between 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers, including Special Operations forces.

President Donald Trump is expected to receive a proposed new approach to the war this week, according to Theresa Whelan, a Pentagon policy official.

According to the United Nations, 583,000 people have fled their homes as a result of the conflict in 2016, the highest number of displacements since records began in 2008.
Mazen Faqhas suspected killer acted on Israels orders and confessed to the crime, says Hamas leader Ismail Haniya.

Hamas says it has arrested the killer of senior commander Mazen Faqha, who was shot dead in March, and said the suspect had carried out the assassination on Israels orders.

Faqha, 38, was fatally shot in the head and chest at the entrance of his Gaza City home on March 24.

All the evidence we have  indicates the perpetrator committed this crime based on orders from the Israeli occupation, Ismail Haniya, the leader of Hamas political wing, told reporters on Thursday, without identifying the suspect.

He has confessed to the crime, he added, speaking outside Faqhas house in a press conference attended by the commanders widow.

Haniya, who was elected as Hamass new political chief last week, said more details would be released in coming days, and he expected the suspect to be executed.

Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

READ MORE: Gaza  Israels war drums are getting louder

Faqha was a senior Hamas official in the Israeli-occupied West Bank when he was jailed by Israel in 2003 for planning attacks against Israelis.

He was sentenced to nine life terms but was released into the Gaza Strip as one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners that Israel let go in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit.

Hamas has previously said Faqha was shot by a gun fitted with a silencer and accused Israel and its collaborators for his death.

Israel has not commented on the killing.

Over the course of 47 days, the security apparatuses worked hard to uncover the threads of Mazen Faqhas assassination crime, until the killer and those who helped him were reached, Iyad al-Bozum, spokesman for Gazas interior ministry, said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

IN PHOTOS: Thousands attend Gaza funeral of slain Hamas official

A Hamas source said on condition of anonymity that the suspect had participated in the morning in a reconstruction of the crime, after numerous security forces were seen in front of Faqhas home earlier in the day, according to the AFP news agency.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade, while Egypts crossing with the enclave has remained largely closed in recent years.
Troops exchange fire along the disputed border in Kashmir, killing two civilians on either side.

Islamabad, Pakistan  At least two civilians have been killed on either side of the disputed border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, officials say, as the South Asian neighbours traded artillery and small-arms fire.

Pakistans foreign office said on Thursday that a man called Muhammad Rizwan was killed by Indian shelling on in the village of Subzkot, in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. At least two other people were wounded in the exchange of fire, it added.

A 35-year-old woman was killed on Thursday in the Nowshera area, in Indian-administered Kashmir, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta, an Indian army spokesman, said Pakistani soldiers attacked Indian military posts with automatic weapons and mortars along the highly militarised Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between the nuclear-armed countries. The womans husband was wounded in the shelling, police said.

READ MORE: Deadly attacks hit Indian-administered Kashmir

Pakistans foreign office, meanwhile, summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to condemn what it termed the unprovoked ceasefire violation by the Indian occupation forces overnight.

The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed condemnable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws, it said in a statement.





Pakistan and India maintain a 2003 ceasefire agreement across the LoC, but both sides frequently violate it, usually blaming the other for instigating hostilities.

Both countries have claimed the Kashmir region in full since partition and independence from Britain in 1947, but administer separate portions of it. The South Asian neighbours have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.

Tensions have been high in Kashmir since last July, when Indian security forces killed a young Kashmiri rebel leader, prompting months of widespread protests and an ensuing security crackdown in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed at least 80 people.

Relations between India and Pakistan plummeted after a raid in September on an Indian military base in Uri by Kashmiri fighters killed at least 18 soldiers.

That attack prompted India to respond by saying it launched surgical strikes on bases used by armed groups in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Pakistan denied that Indian forces ever entered Pakistani-administered territory.

Additional reporting by Asad Hashim, Al Jazeeras Web Correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim.
NATOs Jens Stoltenberg will meet with the German chancellor to discuss proposal to send more troops to Afghanistan.

A proposal to boost NATO forces in Afghanistan will be on the agenda of a meeting between the alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.

The meeting comes on the heels of a request from military chiefs for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Stoltenberg met British Prime Minister Theresa May, a day after reports suggested NATO had asked Britain for more troops a few weeks ago.

READ MORE: Nearly 90,000 Afghans displaced in 2017, says UN

He confirmed he had received a request for more troops, but insisted it would not mean a return to combat operations.

We have received a request from our military authorities to increase our military presence in Afghanistan with a few thousand troops, Stoltenberg said.

It will continue to be a train, assist and advise operation, he added.

Stoltenberg said a decision on the request will be made within weeks and the issue is expected to be high on the agenda at the NATO annual summit in Brussels on May 25.

Al Jazeeras Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said Merkel is likely to say Germany supports the role of foreign troops in Afghanistan, but the question will be whether her government will commit more troops.

Desperate for assistance

Since NATOs combat mission in Afghanistan formally ended in 2014, Taliban attacks have intensified and Afghan military and civilian casualties have risen.





NATO already has some 13,450 troops in Afghanistan, including around 6,900 US and 500 British military personnel, who are training the Afghan armed forces to eventually take over the countrys defence and security.

The US has an additional 1,500 soldiers conducting assist missions directly under Pentagon command.

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.

Al Jazeeras John Hendren, reporting from Kabul, said the Afghan government is in desperate need of assistance.

If you talk to Afghan troops, they say they desperately need the help, Hendren said. In the north and south of the country, they are embattled.

He added that the goal of the idea of a troops increase is to get the Taliban to the negotiating table.

READ MORE: Dear Donald Trump  Letters from Afghanistan

Separately, the US administration is reportedly considering deploying more troops to Afghanistan as well. Official sources quoted anonymously by US media said the increase would range from between 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers, including Special Operations forces.

President Donald Trump is expected to receive a proposed new approach to the war this week, according to Theresa Whelan, a Pentagon policy official.

According to the United Nations, 583,000 people have fled their homes as a result of the conflict in 2016, the highest number of displacements since records began in 2008.
President says he planned to fire FBI boss regardless of recommendations, in contrast to previous White House accounts.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he always intended to fire FBI Director James Comey, contradicting earlier White House statements that he acted on the recommendation of top justice officials.

I was going to fire him regardless of recommendations, Trump told NBC in an interview, after days in which the White House has struggled to convince Congress members and the US public that the move was not politically motivated.

I was going to fire Comey. My decision, he added.

Trump called Comey a showboat and a grandstander, while admitting that he had asked the FBI chief to tell him if he was under investigation.

The Republican presidents remarks drew instant criticism from Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Frankly, Im offended at the presidents comments, Warner told reporters. This is a continuing pattern of disrespecting the men and women who serve in our intelligence community.





Russia probe

Trump ignited a political firestorm with his abrupt decision to fire Comey on Tuesday , with critics assailing him for removing the director in the middle of an FBI investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump presidential campaign.

Trump said Comey had given him assurances on three occasions that he was not personally under investigation; twice in phone calls and once in a dinner he had with Comey, in which, according to Trump, the FBI director had made the case to stay on as head of the FBI.

Al Jazeeras James Bays, reporting from Washington, said that, if true, this would widely be perceived as inappropriate behaviour.

[It] draws questions about the independence of the investigation by the FBI if Comey is talking about the details in the investigation to the president when the presidents associates are clearly some of those under investigation, he said.

Democrats have ramped up calls for an independent investigation into the Russia issue, and some of the presidents fellow Republicans have also said they were concerned about the timing of the move.

OPINION: Is America dying or is it being born again?

The White House has said Comeys firing was unrelated to the Russia investigation and followed a meeting on Monday between Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The administration has given a series of varying accounts for what led the president to make his move.

What the White House was saying on why Comey was fired on Tuesday was different from Wednesday and is now different again, said Bays.

This matters because White House officials have been saying things that appear now not be true  [and do not] now match the current White House position.

Shifting accounts

The initial explanation on Tuesday was that Comey had mishandled the agencys election-year investigation into former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clintons use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

Rosenstein detailed Comeys actions on this in a memo that the administration circulated on Tuesday, along with a memo from Sessions and Trumps own brief statement that he was dismissing Comey.

But a letter by Trump to Comey on Tuesday made no mention of the Clinton email scandal, appearing instead to refer to the Russia probe.

Trump asserted in the letter on Tuesday that Comey had told him three times that he was not a target  though the FBI has stated unequivocally that the presidents campaign and his associates are facing scrutiny.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he fired the director because he was not doing a good job, while Vice President Mike Pence said Comey was fired because he had lost the confidence of the American people.

READ MORE: Why was James Comey so controversial?

White House officials said on Wednesday that Trumps anger at Comey had been building for months but a turning point came when the FBI chief refused to preview for top Trump aides his planned testimony to a May 3 senate hearing on the Clinton email issue  a move Trump and his aides took it as an act of insubordination.

Before he axed Comey, Trump had publicly expressed frustration with the FBI and Congressional investigations into the Russia matter.

US intelligence agencies concluded in a January report that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an effort to disrupt the 2016 election that included hacking into Democratic Party emails and leaking them, with the aim of helping Trump.

Moscow has denied any such meddling and the Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia.

According to US media reports, Comey told politicians within the past few days that he had asked the justice department to make additional resources available  mainly more staffing  for the Russia investigation.

Comey informed politicians of that request after the Senate Intelligence Committee, conducting its own investigation, asked the FBI to speed up its inquiry, a source told the Reuters news agency.
Florida legislators voted to approve a budget that will give UF about $120 million in new funding.

About $55 million will go toward research, $33 million toward building renovations and $17 million toward building maintenance, UF spokesperson Janine Sikes wrote in an email. Florida Bright Futures scholarships will also receive funding from the budget, which was passed Monday afternoon.

The $83 billion budget allocates money for state agencies, universities and public schools for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Although the budget was approved by the Florida Senate and House of Representatives, it can still be vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott.

Sikes said specific funds have been allocated for renovations at Norman Hall, which will receive $17.4 million, as well as the Engineering Innovation Nexus Building and the New Music Building.

We are especially pleased that the legislature provided enough funding to complete the Norman Hall project a year earlier than expected, Sikes said.

Sikes said the money allocated to research endeavors will help the university achieve its goal of becoming a top-ranked public research university through increased stipends for graduate students and compensation for faculty.

The budget also makes enhancements to Florida Bright Futures scholarships. Now, the Florida Academic Scholars Award will cover 100 percent of tuition and associated fees, as opposed to $103 per credit hour.

Students who receive this award will also be rewarded with $300 each semester to cover textbook fees. This change will affect all those with the scholarship in the upcoming fiscal year.

Robert Crockett, a UF information systems junior and recipient of the Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars Award, said he thinks the change will benefit college students across the state.

I think this will bring more gifted students to great schools now that they have the opportunity to afford high tuition costs, the 19-year-old said.

On Tuesday, UF President Kent Fuchs issued a statement expressing his gratitude to the Florida House and Senate for their support of higher education and UF.

The 2017-18 budget includes significant investments in our programs and educational spaces, scholarships for our students and support for faculty and graduate students  all bolstering UFs push to become one of the nations top public institutions, he said.

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Contact Catie Wegman at cwegman@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter: @catie_wegman.
When Assistant Principal Ed Haukland stepped foot onto the field of his elementary school April 29, he knew hed be getting dunked underwater.

About 700 students, teachers and Gainesville residents gathered under the blistering sun at Kimball Wiles Elementary School for its annual Family Fun Day. Students dragged parents from the five bounce houses on the schools outdoor field to the food-vendor fair in the front parking lot  and to the outdoor faculty dunk tank.

Haukland, 48, took his first shift, and to the glee of the students who ran up and pushed a big red button, he was dropped straight into the water.

Were all people, right? Haukland joked after stepping out of the tank, every part of him soaked, from the hat on top of his head to his fake alligator-skin shoes. We all have fun together.

The school has thrown the carnival on and off for about a decade as an opportunity to bring families together and raise money for the schools parent teacher association, said Kelly Goede, a lead member of the association and president-elect for next year.

Its an event for kids to come out with their families and have a good time, she said. Just to have fun  fundraising and fun.

Goede, a lead organizer for the carnival, said this years event had a special theme: superheroes. Plastic masks depicting The Avengers, Batman and Spider-Man were taped along the hallway between the cafeteria and outdoor courtyard. Wonder Woman banners outlined the check-in and ticket booth on the front parking lot.

The PTA also displayed a life-sized Iron Man replica and Captain America costume in the cafeteria, which kids and families posed with throughout the afternoon. Goede said her friend James Coates, the CEO of local armor manufacturer Phalanx Defense Systems, provided the replicas for the event.

On the other side of the courtyard, Cristina and Sherman Merricks watched their three kids, Ariana, Kayden and Judah, play around one of the events obstacle courses.

Hes a competitive kid, Cristina said of Kayden as he worked to complete the last stage of a mini obstacle course: throwing balls through five adjacent hoops. Hes more interested in the prize at the end  anything that can get tickets really quickly.

Cristina and Sherman, both founders and co-owners of Dynasty CrossFit, said although their children go to Gainesvilles The Rock School, a private Christian school, they came to Wiles Elementarys event to support the school and their friends in the PTA.

They said they arrived at about 2:30 p.m. and initially planned to stay for only a brief time. But two hours later, 5-year-old Ariana, 8-year-old Kayden and 3-year-old Judah were still hard at play.

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They dont want to leave  we were only going to stay for a few minutes, Cristina said. They love it (here).

Wiles Elementarys school resource officer, Philip J. Mauldin, said he goes by Mauldin to most of his Alachua County Sheriffs Office colleagues and fellow deputies.

To the students, however, hes Officer PJ. To some of the fifth graders, hes even just PJ.

In turn, he said, he knows all the kids.

People ask me how many kids I have, and I say, Well, I have to add my two on and 985, he said, referring to the nearly 1,000 students who attend the school.

After more than five years at Wiles Elementary, Mauldin said he views the school and its students as the future.

A lot of people want to complain about the education system, but it starts right here, he said. This is the bread and butter.

Contact David Hoffman at dhoffman@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @hoffdavid123.

Kimball Wiles Elementary School parent-teachers association displayed a life-sized Iron Man replica and Captain America costume in the cafeteria for its superhero-themed Family Fun Day on April 29. The replicas were provided by James Coates, the CEO of local armor manufacturer Phalanx Defense Systems.
UFs Student Senate held its first meeting of the Summer on Tuesday, where they elected a new member-at-large.

Anmol Shah, a UF finance sophomore, was unanimously voted in after a five-minute Q&A period. There were no other candidates.

The questions Senate members asked included why Shah was interested in serving as a member-at-large and what excites her most about being a member-at-large.

Shah said topics that are most important to her are inclusivity, tolerance, respect and impartiality.

The members-at-large are part of the Replacement and Agenda Committee. They have the final say on agendas and interview replacement senators.

Twenty-one new senators for Summer A and Summer C terms were also introduced at the meeting.

New Senate seat positions were advertised at the April 18 meeting, said President Pro-tempore Trevor Schaettle, a 21-year-old UF history senior.

One of the new senators is Cole Gabriel, a 21-year-old UF accounting senior and the Graduate and Family Housing senator.

Im passionate about serving my fellow students, Gabriel said. My objective is to make sure that theyre (Student Government) speaking for this minority that is graduate students, because even if theyre only here for a year, their needs are still really important as students.

When determining who gets to serve on Senate, Schaettle said his committee looks for the most qualified and passionate students. He said about 100 applicants were denied.

Summer C is a great opportunity for people to get their feet wet throughout Senate, he said.

Contact David Street at dstreet@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @dstreet177.

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Almost a year after the 2016 murder of a Gainesville father, five suspects have been taken into custody.

On April 25, Gainesville Police identified five suspects connected to the July 2016 killing of Antonio Mason, 35. In the span of three days, all five of the suspects were taken into custody.

Jacoby Sheffield, 27, Daryl Wilkerson, 25, Jamal Thompson, 21, Rodney Sheffield, 28, and David Lock, 32, have all been connected to Masons death, as well as the nonfatal shooting of his infant daughter and a bystander, according to a GPD press release.

On April 25, GPD arrested Wilkerson and Jacoby Sheffield, while Thompson was incarcerated in Georgia, said GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias. At about 10 p.m. April 26, Rodney Sheffield turned himself into the Alachua County Jail. Fewer than eight hours later, Lock also turned himself in, Tobias said.

All five suspects face charges of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, according to the release.

On July 27, Mason died after four gunmen invaded the house he was in and shot him in the chest, police said. The gunmen also shot Masons infant daughter, Zymya, whom he was holding during the invasion  as well as a bystander.

GPD believes Rodney Sheffield promised to pay the other four suspects to break into the house, located at 820 NW Fourth Place, under the false impression that someone who lived there had previously stolen money from him, according to the release.

They broke into the house and just began shooting wildly, Tobias said.

Zymya, who was 11 months old at the time, and the bystander, Jordan Smith, were both hit by gunfire but survived, according to the release.

The young infant that was shot, that bullet wound in her arm is going to be a somber reminder to her that her father is not there to watch her grow up, Tobias said.

After the shooting, GPD offered a $3,000 reward for information that would lead to an arrest, according to Alligator archives. In late August, after receiving little information from the first incentive, GPD raised the award to $5,000 and did so again in September to $8,000.

As of press time, Wilkerson, Jacoby Sheffield and Lock remain in the Alachua County Jail, each in lieu of a $3.5 million bond. Rodney Sheffield remains in jail in lieu of a $3.25 million bond.

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We know its not closure cause itll never bring Antonio back, Tobias said, but were happy to have brought justice for the family.

Contact David Hoffman at dhoffman@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @hoffdavid123.
On Tuesday, Anne Clarke pretended to die outside of Rep. Ted Yohos office.

Clarke, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, did so to show the congressman how the American Health Care Act would affect people like her.

Although Clarkes cancer is now gone, she said insurers would consider it a pre-existing condition under the new health care bill, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4. Although Yoho originally opposed the American Health Care Act because he thought it kept some of former President Barrack Obamas health care law regulations in tact, he later released a statement announcing his support of the amended bill.

Clarke was one of about 30 others to lay on the ground, holding up gray cardboard headstones outside of Yohos office Tuesday afternoon. The die-in was initially suggested by Indivisible, a national organization dedicated to resisting President Donald Trumps political agenda, especially his plans to replace the Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act.

Throughout the protest, people shared how the American Health Care Act would affect them or their loved ones. Some feared their military service would be considered a pre-existing condition, while others discussed the possibility of not being able to afford treatment or medication due to supplementary cuts in Medicare.

Whats important to highlight here is that even though Ive had no other health issues and I didnt do anything wrong, Republicans seem to think pre-existing conditions are our fault, Clarke said.

Since January, tensions have flared between local activist groups and the congressman, who serves Floridas third congressional district, including Alachua, Clay, Putnam and Union counties, as well as most of Marion county. In addition to two town hall meetings held with the congressman in Gainesville earlier this year, the local chapter of Indivisible has organized weekly protests at Yohos regional office.

Despite frequent appearances at Yohos office in Gainesville, representatives from the congressmans office were not pleased with the Tuesday die-in. Protest organizer Olysha Magruder said one office worker came out to tell protesters they were trespassing on private property and even threatened to call the police.

This led protest leaders to move the die-in from the parking lot to a grassy patch of land in front of the office, which is technically public land, Magruder said.

Magruder said alongside other local activists, she plans on continuing the protest of the American Health Care Act so Florida senators vote against it in the near future.

We know theyre watching, Magruder said.

Contact Adam Turner at aturner@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @fladam98.

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As a way of protesting the American Health Care Act, a group of about 30 local activists staged a die-in at congressman Ted Yohos office in Gainesville Tuesday.
Where Gallery Ultralounges business hours should be displayed on its Facebook page, there are, instead, two words: permanently closed. However, the header photos words, laid atop an ominous, black, star-speckled backdrop give Gallery partygoers hope: Coming Soon.

Almost 1 1/2 years after its initial opening, Gallery Ultralounge, a popular vehicle for the electronic dance music scene in Gainesville, is closed for a makeover and name change before Summer B classes at UF begin.

The club will reopen at its West University Avenue location with an interior almost unrecognizable to regulars at the end of June, owner Douglas Palmeri said.

Nature-themed and more organic were some of the phrases Palmeri used to describe his vision for the reopening, which will introduce a more DJ friendly space and cater to the different styles of music under the electronic dance umbrella.

We are going to open the space, update sound and lighting, and completely renovate the bar, floors, walls and general layout, Palmeri said. Its going to have a whole new vibe and give partygoers a completely different experience. Our sales were going down, yes, but mainly we were only catering to one crowd. We still want to stay loyal to our EDM fans, but one night of the week, we want to explore different, more mainstream styles of music.

Palmeri stressed that he didnt want to settle for mediocrity or let the space be just another club in town. His main focus is for the space to be a work of art in itself, just as he said he believes the music to be.

The true catalyst for the renovation, including a new menu and addition of a different music night, was inspiration from the aesthetic and overall vibe of this years Miami Music Week, an electronic dance event held annually in March.

Les Voss, the owner of Over Easy Creative, is a promoter for EDM and has been throwing weekly house-music-oriented parties at Gallery Ultralounge since January 2016.

Once a month, we throw a party called Hard Boiled that has more forward-thinking bass music, and we also have Surfing on a Rocket, which is lasers and future bass with lots of synthesizer sounds, Voss said. We try to bring in regional and national talent a few times a month. Weve brought national acts Sage Armstrong, Huxley, Ardalan, Toadface, as well as lots and lots of regional friends.

Much of the EDM scene in Gainesville is underground, and though a small demographic of music fans is familiar with the types of artists who perform at places like Gallery Ultralounge, they are steadfast in their loyalty to places like Gallery Ultralounge.

The changes Palmeri is making to Gallery Ultralounge are expected to benefit all of his promoters as well. Voss in particular, who has been with the gallery since its inception, commended Palmeris contribution to the underground EDM community after a local favorite, The Motor Room, originally named Spannk, closed in 2015.

The goal weve come to agree on  is to create a space thats transformable with lights and different genres of music to become different things for different nights, while still keeping a genuine approach and not losing ourselves in a sea of nightlife options, Voss said.

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Gallery Ultralounges influence on the EDM scene in Gainesville is not lost on the citys newer residents, including Christopher Klein, a self-proclaimed EDM junkie.

Im stoked that the new Gallery is going to be unlike anywhere else in Gainesville to rage to EDM, Klein said. From what Im hearing, the renovations will create a unique selling point for the business.
Here are several topics we are constantly warned to steer clear of when meeting new people. As a general rule of thumb, it is never a smart idea to bring up the subjects of religion, money and  of course  politics. History has shown us time and time again that these are some of the most controversial matters in the world. This past year especially, politics became the crux of major issues on a national scale as well as a personal one.

The last presidential election had Republicans and Democrats at each others throats, and that is putting it lightly. Americans began to cling to their political party for dear life, even if they previously considered themselves to be only loosely affiliated.

What has resulted from this increasing strength in party identification is a rigidly divided American public. We became a society of Donald Trump fans and Hillary Clinton fans, not a society of united people. The division that arose does not feel dissimilar to the #TeamEdward or #TeamJacob battles that took place in our aggressively awkward tween years. It seems that as a society, we have digressed.

The judgment that is now surpassed on a person for their political beliefs is something that has spilled over into all walks of life. Friendships have been lost, family relationships have been strained, and business deals have fallen through. Why? Is it because someone filled in a different bubble than you on a sheet of paper back in November? It seems absurd when you think about the fact that we have allowed this election to cause so much destruction in our own lives.

Ill admit, I too have been guilty of casting judgment on people whose voting choice might have differed from mine, but that doesnt make it OK. For a while, however, I thought it was.

I think it was largely the theatrics, extremities and general egregiousness that took place in the last election that left people in awe. People began to seek comfort and solace among like-minded friends and so the division began. What started as harmless congregation for therapeutic talks turned into friends hating each other and reasons for hatred among their agreeable companions. Animosity over political ideology became not only acceptable, but encouraged.

Around the holidays, people would post on social media complaining about how they would have to endure their Trump/Hillary supporting family as if they now love them less because of the election. America became almost like a giant high-school cafeteria with either group sticking their nose up at the other and looking down them.

Now that we are more than 100 days into the Trump presidency, I think it is time we come back together as one united country. The election is over, and the damage has been done. We have enough to worry about under Trumps reign without creating more problems on our own accord.

This is not to say I think people should compromise their integrity or give up what they believe. It is to say that we need to learn again how to be a tolerant society.

America prides itself on its diversity and freedom, and we all become somewhat hypocritical when we dismiss another American for no reason other than their political beliefs. It is fine to have your opinions. It is also fine to fight for what you believe in, but it is about time we start doing so in a tolerant and inclusive manner.

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President Trump fired FBI Director Comey, a move that was long overdue

Former FBI Director James Comey was more involved in U.S. political affairs than any predecessor in living memory, excluding perhaps J. Edgar Hoover. While Comey got away with this under former President Barack Obama and his holdover appointees, recently confirmed Attorney General Jefferson Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, were not going to have the federal police force become another political body. As Sessions put it, It is essential that this Department of Justice clearly reaffirm its commitment to longstanding principles that ensure the integrity and fairness of federal investigations and prosecutions. The Director of the FBI must be someone who follows faithfully the rules and principles of the Department of Justice... Comeys conduct had more to do with his own celebrity than with upholding the principles and image of the DOJ and the bureau.

Recalling the investigation into the emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Comey was prompted by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch to give a recommendation to the DOJ on whether to prosecute Clinton. While this was Lynchs decision to make, her secret tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton days prior impaired her ability to appear impartial. She depended on Comey to make the call. Comey, in what was supposed to be a brief announcement of the conclusion of his investigation, catalogued for an hour the ways in which Hillary Clinton violated federal law by sharing classified information on her private email server. Republicans were salivating, as a recommendation to prosecute Clinton began to sound unavoidable. Would the DOJ under Obama finally do something impartial and apolitical? Not hardly. Comey surprisingly concluded by refusing either to call a grand jury or recommend prosecution for Clinton. Republicans everywhere were alarmed and disappointed that someone who clearly violated the law would not see her day in court. They resented Comey until he returned to the spotlight.

In October, less than a month before Election Day, Comey held yet another press conference. In what became known as his October Surprise, Comey declared that he was reopening the investigation of Clinton, after several thousands of her previously believed to be deleted emails were found on the server of former U.S. Rep Anthony Weiner, the disgraced husband of Clintons right-hand woman, Huma Abedin. Comey explained that these emails had to be assessed, enraging Democrats everywhere, who feared another negative Clinton story could further damage her already lackluster, message-less campaign. Then just days later, missing his beloved spotlight, Comey returned to center stage to declare the investigation closed yet again.

The DOJ is supposed to be apolitical, taking into account only the law and the facts, regardless of the political ideology of the president or the subject of the investigation. The DOJ and the country depend on the FBI to conduct these investigations impartially. Over the last year, under the leadership of Comey, the FBI has been anything but apolitical. His concern with his own celebrity, and image, instead of for justice, was more than enough reason for Sessions to recommend his removal. Thankfully the Comey Show is over, and the DOJ can get back to making impartial judgements based on the rule of law. All Americans, Democrat or Republican, should be supportive of this termination.

Jack Story is a UF political science graduate. His column usually appears on Mondays.
Almost 800 participants, including 324 delegates, are gathering in Windhoek from 10-16 May for the Twelfth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the highest LWF decision-making body that meets every six years. World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will address the plenary on 12 May. With the theme Liberated []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...










English News Our aim is to make East Africa one country  President Museveni

Alwihda Info | Par Info Alwihda - 11 Mai 2017



He did acknowledge the existence of private security companies in Uganda. We know about them Because of our liberation struggle, because we fought wars and defeated them, we have a tradition of fighting... Our people have that courage and experience.

I want to see the political integration of East Africa, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni told Talk To Al Jazeeras Mohamed Vall. Our aim is to make East Africa one country, one state. Its now integrated economically but together with our partners we want East Africa to become one country.



He identified the narrow markets of Africa as one of ten strategic bottlenecks that have constrained Uganda and Africa Uganda is 40 million people but thats not a wide enough market to support modernisation. That has been one of the bottlenecks  the fragmentation of Africa into small markets because of colonialism So one of our programs has been regional integration. Its happening; a common market of East Africa.



Museveni dismissed claims that armed guards and mercenaries have become Ugandas biggest export. The biggest export of ours is industrial products; the next one is tourism, he said.



He did acknowledge the existence of private security companies in Uganda. We know about them Because of our liberation struggle, because we fought wars and defeated them, we have a tradition of fighting... Our people have that courage and experience.



But he denied that his use of Ugandan troops in African conflict areas was financially motivated. When we are in South Sudan, we were there at our own cost. It seems you have not heard of fraternal solidarity When we fought the Portuguese in Mozambique and Angola, the frontline states  Tanzania, Zambia  who was paying them? When we stood against Ian Smith in Rhodesia, who was paying them? I am part of the African freedom fighters. Africans will defend their freedom, even though they are poor We are helping each other.



He denied that his support of South Sudans president Salva Kiir against Riek Machar had prolonged the civil war there. Not at all. What happened is that when the fighting started, there was a regional meeting, which called for a ceasefire. Nobody should continue fighting so that we get a political solution. One of the factions [Machar] refused.



He identified ideological disorientation where people emphasise sectarianism, of religion, of tribe as another of the ten bottlenecks constraining Africa. Those problems you are talking about in South Sudan, they are caused by that ideological disorientation. In Uganda we have fought that; that is why Uganda is peaceful.



He denied using Joseph Kony and The Lords Resistance Army as a pretext to sending troops into other countries in the region and interfering. For us, Kony is not a problem to Uganda. We defeated him. He cannot come back. If he comes back, he will be dead. But we had to help our African brothers to hunt. Fighting in the forest is not easy. We are doing it in the partnership with the Americans. The new American government did not want to continue, so we said OK.



He denied Uganda was planning an imminent withdrawal of troops from Somalia. No, they have stabilised Somalia. Our only concern is that Somalia has not built their national army; that is what we are encouraging them to do.



He said Ugandas involvement in Somalia in the fight against Al-Shabab was moral and ideological as we dont have a border with Somalia.



Al-Shabab is an extremist group contrary to our African culture of tolerance. We live and let live.



In a tough interview, Museveni also fielded questions about why hes served five presidential terms and 31 years in office; his succession plans; his jailing of opponents like Stella Nyanzi and opposition leader Kizza Besigye; rules preventing people rallying freely; and the recent killing of more 100 people by security forces in Western Uganda.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Yunnan dispatches sci-tech experts to South Asia, Southeast Asia, builds bridge of int'l technological cooperation China's Beidou reaches world-leading level: white paper Silk Road e-commerce promotes trade among Belt and Road countries Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
Former FBI Director Comey and acting attorney general Yates were fired for essentially the same reason, namely, usurping authority they did not have. Comey assumed the judgment, authority, and prerogatives of the attorney general to address Hillary Clintons crimes last July, only to exonerate her.

Even if he had recommended an indictment and prosecution, he would have been wrong to hold that press conference. His job was to investigate and put his findings quietly in the AGs inbox. But not only was he wrong to hold that press conference, his recommendation not to indict was wrong as well. We have corrected one wrong. It is time to correct the other.

In a conversation with Fox Mews Martha MacCallum, Fox News contributor Judge Andrew Napolitano suggested that Comeys firing was bad news for Hillary Clinton, clearing the way for her indictment for violations of the Espionage Act:

ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Let me suggest another scenario, that Rod Rosenstein reviewed the Hillary Clinton file, which he had never seen before and decided that Comey's judgment was utterly irregular and inappropriate and that maybe she should have been, and still can be indicted for espionage, the failure to safeguard state secrets while she was Secretary of State. MARTHA MACCALLUM (HOST): Alright, we will see.

We will see indeed, perhaps sooner than we might expect. While Hillary Clintons basket of deplorable was marching to the polls pitchforks and torches in hand to deny her access to the presidency and a new revenue source for the Clinton Foundation, Scooter Libby got his law license back and was reinstated to the bar by the D.C. Court of Appeals.

Libby was Vice President Dick Cheneys chief of staff when he was charged with obstruction of an investigation into the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. Plame was in fact a desk jockey at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, not a secret agent in harms way. As Investors Business Daily noted:

Remember the alleged outing of the already known CIA officer and desk jockey Valerie Plame? We were told then that the Vanity Fair cover girl's 15 minutes of fame jeopardized our national security even if everybody already knew who she was. "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, went to jail because his memory of events and who said what to whom regarding Plame differed from the recollections of others, particularly news reporters.

Libby in fact did not out Plame, who was not a covert operative. Hillary Clinton, whose faulty memory caused her to say to the FBI she couldnt recall some 39 times, did in fact endanger the lives of foreign operatives in her carelessness, as FBI Director James Comey put it, regarding classified emails.

Hillarys lies and reckless carelessness included the transmission of emails containing the names of actual CIA operatives in the field involved in clandestine operations. As the New York Post reported:

Hillary Clintons e-mails included the names of CIA officers serving overseas and foreigners who are on the spy agencys payroll -- potentially endangering their lives, it was reported Monday. Its a death sentence, a senior intelligence-community official told the Observer. If were lucky, only [foreign] agents, not our officers, will get killed because of this. The paper said the intelligence community is in panic mode trying to determine which agents may have been compromised. CIA officials assume foreign agencies intercepted unencrypted e-mails stored on Clintons home server while she was secretary of state.

So why was Libby convicted and Hillary Clinton not even indicted? In an interesting historical footnote, Comey, who falsely claimed that no serious prosecutor would take the case of Hillary Clinton, was among those who found sufficient evidence to prosecute and convict Libby. Comey, it appears, has even more explaining to do. As the Daily Caller reports:

Washington D.C.-based former U.S. Attorney Joe DiGenova believes the Libby decision is a terrible blow to FBI Director James Comey, who announced Sunday that the agency had no new conclusions on Hillary Clinton and her private server from the 650,000 new emails found on Anthony Weiners laptop. Scooter Libby was restored to the practice of law by the DC court of appeals because they believed that Scooter Libby presented evidence that his original trial had been corrupted by false testimony. And that false testimony was coerced by Jim Comeys friend Patrick Fitzgerald and Comey was part of the team to destroy the vice president of the United States and it didnt happen, DiGenova said. He added, Its such a smack in the face to Jim Comey. Comey and Fitzgerald tried to frame Scooter Libby, and they did.

The evidence against Hillary is damning, and the line of prosecutors willing to take the case would encircle the FBI building in Washington, D.C Judge Michael Mikasey, former attorney general under President George W. Bush, listed the charges that Hillary Clinton could face on Fox Radios Kilmeade and Friends:

We are looking at a range of things, everything from the misdemeanor that was charged against General Petraeus, which is putting classified information in an unprotected, classified setting, thats a misdemeanor. Then there is destroying government records. Then there is taking information related to the national defense and treating it with gross negligence such as it becomes disclosed. And finally, there is obstruction of justice.

There is the destruction of evidence under congressional subpoena. As even Comey admitted, Hillary lied about sending and receiving classified material; about having only one device, and about turning over all her emails. If intent is needed, what is accidental about smashing devices with hammers or using Bleach Bit to render emails unrecoverable? If you need a motive for having a private server, which speaks to intent, the obvious purpose is to cover up the pay to play trail that leads from the State Department to the Clinton Foundation.

As Investors Business Daily editorialized, donations to the Clinton Foundation even played a factor in the refusal of Hillary Clintons State Department to designate Nigerias Boko Haram as a terrorist organization for two years:

Hillary's emails may be only the tip of an iceberg that could include Clinton Foundation donations to shield Boko Haram from being designated a terrorist group and her brother's involvement in a Haitian gold mine. Last month, the Washington Post reported on another deal involving Rodham that could prove politically embarrassing and damaging for his sister. It seems that he sits on the board of a company that got a coveted gold-mining contract from the government of Haiti after the Clinton Foundation sponsored relief work in Haiti. In interviews with the Post, both Rodham and the chief executive of Delaware-based VCS Mining said they were introduced at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, which seems more and more to be an unseemly mix of charitable work with the political and business interests of Clinton Foundation donors. And then there's Hillary's strange dealings regarding the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, which just recently pledged its allegiance to the ever-expanding Islamic State -- dubbed the "JV team" by President Obama, who has yet to make good on his pledge to degrade and destroy them. Last May, we wondered why for two years on Hillary Clinton's watch the State Department refused to designate a Nigerian Islamist group as a terrorist organization. This group has murdered thousands as it wages a real war on women. As Josh Rogin at the Daily Beast reports, the Clinton State Department "refused to place Boko Haram on the list of foreign terrorist organizations in 2011" after the group bombed the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last week asking for all of Hillary's records relating to Boko Haram and her reluctance to designate it a foreign terrorist organization. Vitter also requested all of Hillary's communications with Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian construction tycoon who has donated millions to the Clinton Foundation. Vitter noted that Chagoury had a financial interest in the potential impact of designating Boko Haram a terrorist group How many of the more than 30,000 "personal" emails that Hillary deleted from her private account relate to these matters? Is that why she needed a private email server? We need to see that server. It might provide, er, a veritable gold mine of information.

This is but one example. The public corruption of Hilary and Bill Clinton was also on display in Colombia, Haiti, and other places. Hillary Clinton has endangered the lives of our foreign operatives, placed our national security at risk, lied to Congress, the FBI, and the American people, and used her public office to enrich herself and her family without benefit if a business or private sector job.

Various FBI offices are said to still be investigating the Clinton Foundation and we can only hope so. Comey doesnt think theres any fire under all that smoke but perhaps a Trump attorney general might think differently. We have hope in Trumps own remarks in a presidential debate as reported by the New York Times:

About 20 minutes into the debate, Donald Trump delivered a menacing threat to Hillary Clinton. If I win, he warned, Im going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because theres never been so many lies, so much deception.  Its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country, Mrs. Clinton observed. Because, Mr. Trump replied youd be in jail.

This is not a Third World country where leaders incarcerate their predecessors and opponents on a whim. But we are a nation of laws and Hillary Clinton has broken many of them. Her only accomplishment in public office has been to so far avoid prosecution. President Trump should keep his promise to incarcerate this fugitive from justice. The voters have denied Hillary Clinton the presidency. A Trump Justice Department should deny Hillary Clinton her freedom.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
Comey Fired! The Left positively livid! Especially that smooth-talking hypocrite, Senator Chuck Schumer. Trump should have fired Comey sooner, he avers. Maybe the day Schumer called for Comey to be fired? We know Schumer would have still found fault.

The talking heads tell us how in the past the White House had an orderly process for handling things like this; only that dastardly Nixon ever did something so outrageous as fire someone with so little warning. But do you really think Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor hired to investigate the Watergate Scandal, was shocked that Richard Nixon went after his job? When people say Nixonian they forget what Nixon did wrong in the Watergate Scandal  he wasnt covering up anything he did, he was trying to cover up the misdeeds of his friends.

Who in DC today defends their friends? Wait, I know the answer: Democrats. They defend every job, every person, no matter what they have done because they are a team. Republicans belong to a society of individualists, a nice way of saying our side is filled with people too conservative to take any risks for anybody. To be fair to my fellow Republicans, we have proper concerns about defending those who are actually guilty; however, the guys in the beltway rarely take the time to find out who is and who isnt guilty. Fire first, find out later. Trump took his time firing Comey.

But if the Nixon White House wasnt perfect, let me tell you about the Clinton White House. After Whitewater, Travelgate and Vince Foster, but before Monica, a midterm election occurred putting the Republicans back in charge of the House of Representatives for the first time in almost 50 years. The shock was much like the one we saw last November 8th. The Democrats expected to win and were furious that they lost. The new Speaker of the House was destined to be Newt Gingrich - much loved by conservative Republicans; despised by Democrats. Gingrich appointed me House Historian.

I was hired by that new Speaker, who just happened to be my congressman, and I had no reason to think he would fire me from the rather obscure, but important job of House Historian. How could I have anticipated that I would be fired after less than a week, and in the late hours of the night -- an hour or so after Schumer had demanded it.

Piecing together what happened, with the help of friendly reporters (the Speaker had a lot of enemies), someone (maybe in his inner circle) informed the White House that Newt Gingrich had hired a professor (me) who had once criticized a grant proposal for Holocaust education in middle schools. Since she was from the South, and shed been hired by him, her reason for criticizing the proposal had to be because she was an anti-Semite. Some New York papers called me Newts Nazi historian.

On the Monday after the new Congress was sworn in, George Stephanopoulos informed Jewish, black, and female Democrat members of Congress that the Gingrich appointee to the House Historian job was an anti-Semite. There were one-minute speeches before the opening of the Congress; Schumer and Barney Frank had a rally on the House steps that night to demand my firing. Schumer yelled that hiring me was an insult to tens of thousands of his constituents who were Holocaust survivors.

About 9:00 p.m., Newt talked with the press  I dont think he knew what to say; he told half of them Id been fired and the other half that I had resigned. Asked by Atlanta Journal and Constitution reporter Jeanne Cummings exactly how he had informed me, she was told I was fired on my answering machine. The truth was this: I was not fired and I did not resign  instead I tried to persuade Newt that letting the Left bully him was a bad way to start his Speakership. He never said to me that I was fired, but dozens of reporters had heard him say it. My husband flew to Georgia, to talk to him privately in his Marietta Office. He should have listened to us.

This all happened only days after Newt Gingrich had praised my qualifications on National Television; the day after he fired me he said, I hold her in high esteem.

I was utterly caught by surprise and Mr. Schumer can take a lot of the credit, and in fact, he did. He was not fair; he didnt make sure the timing was right or that I was informed about what was coming. No one, except a couple of reporters, who could hardly be heard above the pack on my front lawn, thought to find out the truth.

But the Beltway Left didnt bother to investigate the charges, it was enough that Id been hired by their nemesis, Newt Gingrich. As his first hire, I was fair game even if I was so far from being an anti-Semite that I was eventually defended by the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith.

Later, Newts press secretary would brag that mine was the fastest firing in history. My picture was on CNN every 15 minutes all night long, and my name was in every newspaper in the country Tuesday morning, January 10th.

This all happened only days after Newt Gingrich had praised my qualifications on National Television; the day after he fired me he said, I hold her in high esteem.

Mr. Comey reportedly has a net worth in excess of 11 million dollars  $10,894,000 more than I had when I was fired. I sure wish Chuck Schumer and the other breathless defenders of James Comey, who are complaining about the timing, the means, the lack of notice, etc., had cared about the way I was treated. But no.

This is what Schumer said to me, in front of his entire staff, including his Chief of staff, Anthony Wiener: We knew you werent anti-Semitic, but hey, your people did not defend you.

Unfortunately, the Right usually bows to the bullying; but not Donald J. Trump. Many Republicans accuse him of not being conservative, but he sure is courageous. Anyone who fights back against the bullies is going to offend the Left. The Schumers and their ilk have been bullying the Right for so long, they both think its natural.

When a leader stands up to bullies, you know what happens? Others find their courage as well. The District of Columbia is going to be a better place for conservatives, whether they like Trump or not, whether Trump is a conservative or not. But if conservatives dont start to warm to him, then we really are as stupid as the Left says we are.

Three cheers for Donald J. Trump, draining the swamp to make America great again.
The more we expect more from Fox News, the less we get.

We know that every hour on the hour, CNN, PBS, NPR, NBC, and other Fox competitors take delight in reminding us that black people are relentless victims of relentless white racism, all the time, everywhere, and that explains everything.

They are practiced in the art of deception and we can tell by the ease with which they repeat the greatest lie of this century with such familiarity.

But Fox News Arent they supposed to be different? At least a little bit?

Yes.

But are they? Not really. Not on the issue of black violence and denial.

Not if you watch a recent episode of The Five where they featured a video of a little old white lady with small dogs asking a large group of black people to turn down their music.

Soon after, the black people were harassing her, threatening her, calling her names before one of the mob picked her up, slammed her to the ground, then threw her in the pool. All accompanied by great encouragement -- and delight -- from the bystanders.

The Gang of Five got it wrong. All wrong. Right away. They said this assault had nothing to do with race.

Its hard for the news to cover it because if you cover it, it as though you covering some kind of racial story, said Greg Gutfeld. Rather than pointing out this isnt about race, this is about lawlessness.

Juan Williams was happy to hear that, and more eager to agree: could have happened to anyone, said Juan. Including him. And racial violence? Whats that?

Jesse Watters chimed in: There is no racial component to this story, the racial component is how this story was covered or not covered.

One does not preclude the other.

The no racial component line is a common one, and often used to deny that black on white crime and violence exist wildly out of proportion. Because to have a racial component -- or be racially motivated -- reporters and public officials tell us the perpetrators have to be kind enough leave some evidence of their intent: Signs, notes, chants, threats, with racial slurs.

Absent that, there is nothing. As for patterns? They are not important.

Why not flip it around: If this attack and hundreds others like it recently have nothing to do with race, then they must be a coincidence. Right? Random. Right?

Lets start with the crowd of black people at the party: what are the chances their gathering is random, and that race is not a central organizing feature of their activity? That is easy to figure out and the chances turn out to be just about equal to a 747 crashing on your front lawn in the next one hour, and Greg Gutfeld emerging from the carnage, unscathed, still the funniest writer in America on every topic save one.

If this kind of violence were isolated, they would have a point. But it is not isolated.

And just because The Gang of Five ignore the other examples of black mob violence and criminality that we document on these pages, in my books and on my YouTube channels, that does not mean they do not exist.

How about a recent run down: remember the 60 black people who rampaged through a BART station in Oakland? How about the large-scale black mob violence in a Philadelphia school that sent 10 teachers to the hospital? Or the black violence at a carnival in Taylor, Michigan that sent five cops to the hospital?

Or the black mob violence in one of Americas most peaceful college campuses, the University of California, Davis that sent three cops to the hospital? Or the hundreds of black people attacking cops at a recent carnival in New Jersey?

Or the black people who actively sought to confront and fight police during Black College Beach weekend in Virginia Beach?

And lets not forget the large scale black mob violence at the Truman Heritage Festival in Missouri or on 6th Street in Austin or.

This is a long list: All from the last few weeks. And there are dozens and dozens more. Most on video. Easy to find. Click right here, for starters, if you like.

And none of that has anything to do with race?

Ask any member of Black Lives Matter or any of their satraps in the media: Black violence has everything to do with race. White racism causes black violence. And white people who complain about black violence and criminality wildly out of proportion are just exercising white privilege, because black people have no expectation of crime-free neighborhoods, so why should you?

They call it critical race theory, and you may not have heard of it, but your kids learn it in school, and reporters swear by it on your TV news shows.

The military people tell us the first transgression is an accident. The second a coincidence. But the third is an act of war.

So what do we call the one millionth?

And what do we call otherwise smart and funny people who are in denial, deceit and delusion about it?

The Gang of Five on Fox News.

Colin Flaherty is an award-winning reporter and author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller Dont Make the Black Kids Angry. You can find lots of videos of black mob violence and denial on his YouTube channel. Start here.
Angelo M. Codevilla has written an important article in the current issue of the Claremont Review of Books. The piece is generating a lot of attention. It should.

Codevilla sharpens -- and amplifies -- an argument American Thinker has been making since January 10.

Angelo M. Codevilla is a retired professor of international relations at Boston University. Apart from his wide-ranging (and voluminous) academic writings, Dr. Cordevilla publishes frequently in Commentary, Foreign Affairs, National Review, and the The New Republic. His op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.

The 2016 election and its aftermath, Codevilla writes, reflect the distinction, difference, even enmity that has grown exponentially over the past quarter century between Americas ruling class and the rest of the country. He elaborates:

The government apparatus identifies with the ruling classs interests, proclivities, and tastes, and almost unanimously with the Democratic Party. As it uses government power to press those interests, proclivities, and tastes upon the ruled, it acts as a partisan state. This party states political objective is to delegitimize not so much the politicians who champion the ruled from time to time, but the ruled themselves. Ever since Woodrow Wilson nearly a century and a half ago at Princeton, colleges have taught that ordinary Americans are rightly ruled by experts because they are incapable of governing themselves. Millions of graduates have identified themselves as the personifiers of expertise and believe themselves entitled to rule. Their practical definition of discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, etc., is neither more nor less than anyones reluctance to bow to them. Its personal. 

Of course, we see this attitude every day  most recently in the differing attitudes displayed by the U.S. senators towards former acting attorney general Sally Yates' testimony this week. Similarly, in the oral arguments on Monday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on the president's proposed travel ban.

Dr. Codevilla elaborates that, since the inauguration:

Well-nigh the entire ruling class -- government bureaucracies, the judiciary, academia, media, associated client groups, Democratic officials, and Democrat-controlled jurisdictions -- have joined in Resistance to the 2016 elections: You did not win this election, declared Tom Perez recently, the Democratic National Committees chairman. This is not about Donald Trumps alleged character defects. The Resistance would have arisen against whoever represented Americans who had voted not to be governed as they have been for the past quarter-century. It is a cold civil war against a majority of the American people and their way of life. (emphasis added).

The task confronting statesmen, Codevilla writes, is to keep this cold civil war from turning hot. And that, he says, may require a new, pre-Jacksonian definition of federalism to take root. Specifically, Dr. Codevilla argues that:

Now that identity politics have replaced the politics of persuasion and blended into the art of war, statesmen should try to preserve what peace remains through mutual forbearance toward jurisdictions that ignore or act contrary to federal laws, regulations, or court orders. 

We need, he writes, to limit the U.S. governments reach to what it can grasp without wrecking what remains of our national cohesion. Specifically:

Much of the heat in contemporary American politics comes from the attempt, principally from the Left but increasingly from the Right as well, to force the entire nation to live in precisely the same way with precisely the same values. Statesmanship should begin by questioning and moderating that tendency.

The solution, Dr. Codevilla contends, is a return to federalism  including on several issues on which the federals courts have decreed that there must be constitutional uniformity.

Codevilla's prescription would allow red and blue states -- especially California -- to go their own way on red and blue issues, rather than trying to impose a particular side's views on the whole nation via the federal government.

Something Codevilla omits to mention is that the term cold civil war was originally coined by the Left in response to Mr. Trump's election. And, be it noted, author Elie Mystal's description of the two sides -- prepare to be insulted, folks; we're deplorable -- fully bears out Codevilla's analysis. It was published on January 30th.

Writing in abovethelaw.com, Mystal states:

It might seem like Trump and his executive branch are conducting a war against immigrants, or against Islam. But thats just the spin the Trump administration wants you to believe. Theyre confident theyll win a war against immigrants. They know that their bigoted base -- people who are too cowardly to seek truth or nuance about our real threats -- will support that war. No, Trumps real war is against us. His real battle is with American cosmopolitans. His targets are our sense of inclusiveness, our separation of powers, and our belief in the rule of law. Trump is fighting a civil war, and like the first one, the battle lines are regional. Once again, its urban versus rural. Once again, its people who think that discrimination against others is integral to their way of life versus elites who think America is better than that. (my emphasis).

Mystal, a double-Harvard, states that he quit the law to pursue a career as an on-line provocateur. Good luck to him. And now let's get back to Professor Codevilla's thesis -- and especially his prescription.

To be frank, I don't know what I think of Codevilla's solution. As an initial reaction, it seems certain to accelerate what Bill Bishop in 2004 labeled the Big Sort of the American people into red and blue states. This is reflected, among other ways, in the steady rise over the last twenty years of so-called landslide Congressional districts.

Second, Codevilla's prescription could be labeled as the counsel of desperation. He sort of acknowledges this when he says:

So many on all sides have withdrawn consent from one another, as well as from republicanism as defined by the Constitution and as it was practiced until the mid-20th century, that it is difficult to imagine how the trust and sympathy necessary for good government might ever return In todays circumstances, fostering mutual forbearance may require loosening the Union in unfamiliar and unwelcome ways to accommodate differences that may otherwise become far worse.

On the other hand, we may have no choice. Because, if he's right, we may be running out of time.

For example, much of what Codevilla identifies as the sources of the heat would be eliminated if a conservative Supreme Court overruled many of its social issues precedents and simply let the states go their differing ways. Whether that could be accomplished in time to hold the Union together is a matter worth pondering.

So is Dr. Codevilla's analysis.
Former Breitbart news editor Milo Yiannopoulos is familiar with the suppression of free speech and the First Amendment by the politically correct left, having a speech at UC Berkeley canceled after violent riots by the politically intolerant left. Pundits have dubbed the suppression of conservative speakers on campus the hecklers veto which allows the arbiters of political correctness to deny a forum to those they disagree with.

Yiannopoulos is also familiar with another form of suppression of free speech, this time in social media forums such as Twitter called shadowbanning. Tweets of the kind President Trump is famous for are banned from being seen by other than a given accounts followers, limiting visibility. Twitter and its support team claim it is merely spanking those who violate their rules and terms of service, but Yiannopoulos thinks it is political correctness run amok with the goal of, as at Berkeley and elsewhere, of silencing conservatives:

Rumours that Twitter has begun shadowbanning politically inconvenient users have been confirmed by a source inside the company, who spoke exclusively to Breitbart Tech. His claim was corroborated by a senior editor at a major publisher. According to the source, Twitter maintains a whitelist of favoured Twitter accounts and a blacklist of unfavoured accounts. Accounts on the whitelist are prioritised in search results, even if theyre not the most popular among users. Meanwhile, accounts on the blacklist have their posts hidden from both search results and other users timelines. The pattern of shadowban reports, which skews towards the alt-right, the populist right, and cultural libertarians, follows close on the heels of Twitters establishment of a Trust and Safety Council packed with left-wing advocacy groups, as well as Islamic research centre the Wahid Institute.... With shadowbans now confirmed by an inside source, there is little room for doubt that the platform is intent on silencing conservatives. Furthermore, it has demonstrated a complete lack of regard for transparency, concealing its shadowbanning system from users and hiding its political bias behind a veneer of opposition to online abuse.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says the purpose of shadowbanning is to limit the alleged abuse by spammers, so-called trolls and those who are just downright offensive and abusive. As Fortune magazine reported:

For some time now, Twitter has been trying to curb abuse and harassment on the service, after admitting that it hasn't done enough to stop trolls and deliberate misbehavior in the past. The latest step the company is taking is to throttle the reach of users it believes are being offensive or targeting others for abuse. Twitter's crackdown on abuse started after CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the company was committing itself to tackling the problem, and also to doing so transparently and through an "open and real-time dialogue" with users.

The problem is that many users, particularly conservative ones, were never notified, never given their day in court, so to speak, and had to find out they were being shadowbanned from others. I know because I have a Twitter account that has been shadowbanned with no explanation from Twitter. This account has been used to promote my articles from my days as a contributor to Investor Business Dailys editorial page to my current blogging at American Thinker. I tweet often, attaching photos and graphics to illustrate my point, and have even been written up in the Washington Post for my Twitter reach, my late but strong support for Donald Trump, and my use of schedulers, what some would call bots.

Does that make me a troll or a spammer? Technology has given us many tools to magnify our voices from iPhones and iPads to Twitter itself. Using schedulers to regularly tweet is just a new technology, one which Twitter allows, by the way, and to critics I say, good luck with your rotary dial phones and typewriters.

Twitter already allows users to mute accounts whose tweets they dont want to see or to outright block those accounts they find annoying or even offensive. Twitter doesnt have to do it for them by suppressing the free speech of certain individuals or groups.

Yes, I know it is Twitters sandbox and, yes, there are spammers uninterested in any real dialogue. Yes, there are porn bots and photos any reasonable person would find offensive. There are Twitter equivalents to yelling fire in a crowded theatre. But Twitter has gone beyond enforcing rules of civility to enforcing its view of political correctness, punishing conservatives who use social media, particularly those who are good at it.

Even Matt Drudge found himself caught up in Twitters censorship, further confirming the fact that Twitter shadow bans those on the right side of the political spectrum. As Breitbart reported:

Indeed, with Twitter it depends on whose ox is being gored. Is Scott Adams, the creator of the cultural icon of all cubicle dwellers, Dilbert, a Twitter troll or spammer of offensive tweets? Or was it his support of Donald Trump that put him in Twitters censorship crosshairs? In a blog post, Adams suggested that Twitter has shadowbanned him and other conservatives for political reasons:

The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right of free speech. But what happens when the most effective channels for that speech are corporations such as Twitter and Facebook? Does the government have an obligation to make sure those companies are not limiting free speech for some classes of users?... shouldnt the federal government get involved if a few monopoly corporations start to control the national conversation by filtering out voices that disagree with them? That seems to be the situation right now. For example, Twitter is apparently shadowbanning me because of my past Trump tweets, or so I assume. That means my tweets only go out to a subset of my followers. The rest dont know I tweeted. My followers tell me this is the case. They have to visit my timeline to see my tweets. I cant be 100% sure that Twitter is shadowbanning me to limit my political speech. They might have a bug in their system, for example. But it would be a big coincidence if they are not, given how many Trump supporters were targeted by Twitter in the past year.

Twitter users like Adams usually find they are being shadowbanned only when their followers and others notice and report to them. Twitter says it gives warnings and details when its thought police are offended but Twitter, no pun intended, likes to operate in the shadows. Twitter needs to know that George Orwells 1984 was a warning, not a technical manual. Its insidious form of censorship goes beyond what even Big Brother could have dreamt of.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
North Korea's growing nuclear threats and the proposed economic sanctions to pressure Kim Jong-un to negotiations are in the news. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to send "a message" to Pyongyang to stop its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. This message calls, again, for tightening economic sanctions on companies dealing with North Korea.

President Trump, who expressed willingness to meet with Kim, probably thought his statement would help appease the unpredictable North Korean dictator. But why was this self-proclaimed artful dealer in a hurry to propose negotiations? After all, we tried negotiations with another dangerous country, and it didn't work so well  as Trump himself once was all too quick to acknowledge.

Speaking of which, President Trump did not "rip up" Obama's "really, really bad deal" with Iran. Iran did not sign the deal, and the International Atomic Energy Agency is allowed only limited inspections. Nonetheless, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced: "Iran is compliant through April 18 with its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," thus continuing the charade of allowing the Iranians to advance their nuclear agenda.

Iran could be complying with the limited inspections of its nuclear program facilities. But the Geneva agreement did not demand that Iran stop all of its uranium enrichment programs and nuclear physics research, in return for lifting U.S. and Western sanctions. Moreover, Iran has never allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection of all its nuclear sites and repeatedly stated that it would not allow this. So while Sec. Tillerson stated, "The nuclear deal failed to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran. [and] the Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to future administrations on Iran," it is naive and unrealistic to expect the U.S. to force Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons agenda.

Even if the Trump administration called for more sanctions, the Europeans would not impose them. Their short-term financial gains in dealing with Iran negate the long-term nuclear threat. Besides, Iran's enemy list includes Israel, the U.S., and Saudi Arabia. Europe is not on it.

Obama never made Iran's support of terrorism or its collaboration with North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missiles programs part of the Iran deal. All but forgotten was North Korea's plutonium production reactor in Syria at Al Kibar, which was built in complete violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and destroyed by the Israeli Air Force. Iran's ballistic missile development that was founded on the North Korean model (the Iranian Shahab is the North Korean Nodong, just like Pakistan's nuclear-tipped Ghauri missile is) was also overlooked

The Obama administration deliberately ignored Iran's collaboration with North Korea on nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles research and development. The exchange of nuclear weapons test data from Pyongyang to Iran for some of the Euros Iran has received from Obama for pretending to abide by the deal, plus Iranian oil and gas, completes the package.

The U.S. and the international community had Iran on the ropes with tough sanctions and the threat of tougher sanctions. But Obama threw that away for Iran's promises to play nice for ten years, though the evidence is that the Iranians never stopped cheating.

While the U.S. is quick to credit North Korea with a full deck of nuclear weapons capabilities, it keeps saying Iran is years away from any such capability thanks to the deal. Trump advisers should know better.

The Trump administration's ability to curb Iran's nuclear weapons after infamous deal is limited. It should refrain from offering similar concessions just for a deal's sake to North Korea.
The firing of James Comey as FBI director has generated more prognostications of President Donald Trump's demise.

If I were given the script to the first four months Trump's presidency, I would be amused. But now one can see that the real humor comes from the "serious" denunciations of his presidency by the media and pop culture. They have endorsed the "resist movement" to undermine every aspect of the Trump administration. Many people I know have joined this movement hoping to stop Trump, whom they feel is illegitimate. They can't get past the election loss Hillary suffered.

Two weeks ago, Hillary stated that she was on her way to winning the presidency until Comey reopened the Clinton email investigation in October 2016 and the Russians hacked Democratic correspondences. Sadly, firing Comey for his July 2016 press conference and congressional testimony last week reaffirming his past decisions is not acceptable to the Trump opposition. They are sure that this "Nixonian" activity is aimed at covering up Russian collusion with Trump's team. I still am uncertain what law was broken by the Trump team.

Four years from now, the complaints will be similar, since they aim to undermine Trump's every move. Even some Republicans fear that Trump will succeed in draining the swamp, murky as it is.

Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein, a career professional serving Democrats and Republicans, requested Comey's removal. His letter is devastating in critiquing Comey's faults. But, clearly, Trump had issues for almost a year. He mentioned in his dismissal letter that Comey had indicated that there was no personal link to Russian collusion. Yet Comey never told the public this during the congressional hearings.

Perhaps Donald Trump had had enough of this delaying tactic, which was undermining his administration. Comey had recently requested more funding for the investigation. To Trump, this was further proof of Washington waste.

Trump's schedule was unusually light yesterday. Now we know why.

For four months, every day has been exciting. Trump does not slow down. The press struggles to keep up. The one dependable complaint returns to the Russians. Today, Russian foreign minister Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak visit the White House in an amusing irony or a kick to the D.C. establishment.

Trump's strategy to clean the swamp is not to focus on one item at a time; instead, he creates some establishment chaos daily that disrupts the equilibrium that allows the entrenched to block his moves. He is an amateur in politics, but he appears to be an expert. His communications team is not always allowed to smooth the optics, but then he will always face criticism for every decision.

Donald Trump is a determined person. He does not allow others to deter him from pursuing his policies. He was elected to disrupt Washington.

He plans to undo Obamacare despite congressional weak knees. He will push for tax reform. He intends to strengthen the military, repair the veterans' hospitals, and restore our economic vitality and jobs. He works against the Democrats and many hesitant Republicans, but he continues to enjoy the support of his voters. If he is successful, then he will enjoy the support of those who hesitated in November. The establishment (swamp) fears this result, as it threatens the establishment's income and power. For the bulk of working taxpayers and future generations, Trump's success is our success.
There has been a lot of chatter recently from our buddies on the lunatic left, comparing the firing of James Comey to the Saturday Night Massacre in the Watergate scandal. Those "brilliant people" on the lunatic left who really think the two are comparable are living in some type of alternate universe.

For those of you too young to remember, the Saturday Night Massacre occurred when President Nixon ordered then-attorney general Eliot Richardson to fire the first Watergate special prosecutor, Archibald Cox. Richardson refused and resigned. Nixon then asked Deputy Attorney General William Ruckleshaus to fire Cox. Ruckleshaus also refused to fire Cox and then resigned. Nixon then went to Solicitor General Robert Bork, who agreed to fire Cox. Bork had wanted to resign after firing Cox but was asked to stay on by both Richardson and Ruckleshaus, both of whom were ethical and decent public servants who had a disagreement of opinion with Nixon.

Since I was alive and remember very well the events of the Saturday Night Massacre and remember the angst that many of us felt in 1973, let this be a teachable moment for our dear friends on the intellectual left on just how these two incidents are not at all comparable.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor was formed after the forced resignation of then-attorney general John Mitchell. And as part of his confirmation process, the new attorney general, Eliot Richardson, had to promise to allow Archibald Cox (the first Watergate special prosecutor) to finish his work undisturbed by the Nixon administration  meaning that only Richardson could fire Cox, something Richardson or an acting A.G. could do but refused to do. A federal judge named Gerhard Gesell ruled that the firing of Cox was illegal absent a finding of impropriety as specified in the regulation that formed the special prosecutor's office. Sadly for the Democrats, pretty much everyone agrees that Trump has the right to fire Comey, including Comey himself  other than, of course, their lapdogs in the mainstream media. Oh, and this manufactured controversy does give the Democrats' favorite lapdog, John McCain, freedom to criticize the Trump administration.

The Saturday Night Massacre was more than just the firing of Cox. The Massacre included Nixon ordering FBI agents to seize evidence they had legally obtained, under the guise of sabotage by Cox's deputies  something that occurs only in third-world banana republics, the old Soviet Union, and today's North Korea. Given the evidence at the time, it looked to a reasonable observer that Nixon was trying to circumvent the law to save his presidency from Watergate. In contrast, all that occurred with Comey was one bureaucrat who had committed some mistakes being relieved from his job. There has been no seizing of evidence or breaking into any offices or anything else.

The USA is a country based on laws, not based on men or women. And in our constitutional representative republic (remember: we are not a democracy), the system is set up so that if one person either dies or is fired or has to leave office for unforeseen circumstances, then there is another person ready and waiting and able to do the job. With that being said, does anyone really think that if the FBI had something on Trump, firing Comey would stop the investigation? To the contrary, if the FBI had something on Trump, Trump would want Comey to stay in charge so he could shut down the investigation by owing his job to Trump.

Let's be honest here: the Democrats were for Comey (July 2016) before they were against Comey (November 1, 2016) before they were for Comey again (May 10, 2016). And to quote Washington, D.C. radio talk show host Chris Plante, if it weren't for double standards, Democrats would have no standards at all.

John Massoud is the head of the Freedom Caucus of the Shenandoah County GOP, is a local District GOP chair in Shenandoah County, is a local businessman in Northern Virginia, and is an occasional contributor to the American Thinker.
A note left on the car in April of a black female student at St. Olaf college in Minnesota that threatened bodily harm and contained the "N" word has now been shown to be a hoax.

The note was one of a series of "hate crimes" at St. Olaf's in recent months  all with similar wording and similar writing. What makes that significant is that the black female who discovered the note on her car appears to be the perpetrator.

The hoax was announced in an email from the president, David Anderson, who refused to use the word "hoax" in his announcement and didn't identify the hoaxer.

But the black female who was the supposed target of the hate speech all but admitted her guilt on Facebook.

Campus Fix:

Around the same time Anderson made the announcement Wednesday, the black female student who initially told everyone she found the note on her car that used the n-word and threatened her announced on social media "I will be saying it was a hoax." The typewritten note had stated: "I am so glad that you are leaving soon. One less [n-word] that this school has to deal with. You have spoken up too much. You will change nothing. Shut up or I will shut you up." A Facebook screenshot obtained by The College Fix shows Samantha Wells, the student who reported the incident, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that "it looks like something made its way back to me in the investigation." "I will be saying it was a hoax," she continued. "I don't care. There is nothing more that I can do. I just wanted to give y'all the heads up." In an email to The College Fix, Wells confirmed the post but said it's since been deleted and that she has "nothing to admit." "It was a reaction to something said this morning and my wanting for all of this to end. I did not have to admit anything because there is nothing to admit," she said. She said the probe into her case has concluded, but that she couldn't comment further because of legal reasons.

The incident set off a spate of protests on campus that led to the school being shut down for a day. So would someone please explain to me why this hoaxer hasn't been arrested and charged with filing a false police report or lying to police?

No doubt the school was desperate to keep police out of the process. But until the cops come down hard on these hoaxers, this nonsense is going to continue.

This isn't the first story we've done about hate crime hoaxes, nor will it be the last. Since the media go into hysterics when something like this happens on campus  but are a lot less forthcoming when the incident is discovered to be a hoax  we feel it's our duty to set the record straight no matter how many of these "hate crimes" end up being fake.
In "Confident Trump says he wants to 'prove them wrong' and get a Mideast peace deal" (5/3/17), The Washington Post refers to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as leader of the "moderate" Palestinian government in the West Bank. This government has on its payroll Palestinians who are in Israeli prisons for murdering women and children. Does the Washington Post think that these terrorists are "moderate"? This so-called "moderate" Abbas government also names squares and schools after suicide bombers and inculcates its youth with Israel-hatred and more specifically Jew-hatred. It's part of the Palestinian curriculum to not even name Israel as Israel  it names it "Occupied Palestine."

Interestingly, the Post refers to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party as "hard-line." However, when broaching the subject of the Palestinian political group Hamas, which controls Gaza, the Post passes on a description at all and instead refers to them as a terrorist group according to Israel and the United States. Not according to Post. They just can't get themselves to call Hamas "the terrorist group Hamas."

So why is it that the Post refers to Israel as having a "hard-line" government and refers to Palestinian governments as either "moderate" or with no description at all? If the Post can't see this blatant bias, how is it supposed to be objective when reporting on this conflict? It is high time for the Post to recuse itself from reporting on Israel since it staff apparently can't see through their own one-sidedness.
As Americans, we tend to divide our prominent public figures into two main categories: hero and villain. Would that life were so simple. It has not been, not even in ancient times.

Ancient Greek tragedy is a genre of classic literature, one from which we might learn some important lessons about the powerful people who rule over us, or at least who try to do so. The Greek playwrights often depicted their main character as a great hero, but beset by one fatal flaw, which, in the end, brings him to doom. Well might they have predicted Comey's rise and fall.

Recently fired FBI director James Comey's case is confusing to many, because he fits the profile of an able, competent man, whose eventual ruin contains many elements of classic tragedy.

I have no accomplishments in life that can compare to Comey's, so I will not sit on the sidelines and snipe at him. Even his failings were much greater than mine can ever be, at least in the field of power and politics, because I have never been able to compete in that arena of life.

That said, one cannot help but ask, how does one rise to the station he did, that of the chief of the most prestigious law enforcement bureau in the world, only to be cut down mid-stride by a dismissal letter that he never saw coming?

That is the heart and soul of tragedy: the inability to see what, in retrospect, should have been obvious all along. Comey was able, for a time, to play both sides against each other, which, as every double agent knows, can be a deadly game, especially after both sides turn against you. Comey should have known that.

Comey was not thrust unwillingly into the spotlight. He sought it, and when the opportunity presented itself, he willingly, perhaps eagerly, seized it.

The perfect storm came together to undo him. There was the outrageous calamity of Hillary Clinton, thinking herself above the law in national security matters. There was Comey's boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, agreeing to meet surreptitiously with Clinton's husband in a secret meeting that, by unlikely chance, was exposed to the public. Three villains (Lynch and two Clintons) set into inexorable motion the plot elements of our tragic play.

Comey saw himself as both hero and innocent victim in the unfolding scandal. No doubt he still thinks of himself as having been caught up in events that swirled out of control, through no fault of his own.

He was never humble enough to accept his role as a minor actor and to remain in the shadow of stage left, with all the other bit actors. How could he? He was, after all, the great and mighty heir to the legendary and dreaded J. Edgar Hoover. Comey thought of himself as a successor to him, who had scolded President Kennedy on his unseemly conduct with the commoner, Marilyn Monroe, and had done so with utter impunity, because Hoover (according to legend) had the goods on everyone who could fire him.

In that same tradition, Comey no doubt had, and perhaps yet has, a dossier that could embarrass the Clintons, and perhaps even lead to their criminal indictment. Almost as certainly, he has one on Trump, and on the president's close associates. Was he playing both sides?

This is the James Comey who boasted in a speech that we would be "stuck with" him for the next six years. This is the Comey who in congressional testimony asserted, with theatrical flourish, that he had made no mistakes. He went so far as to say that, if asked to reprise his script, he would repeat his actions. He would once again lay out a compelling case to indict Hillary Clinton for her clear violations of law, and then, assuming the role of another actor (actress), the attorney general, that he would recommend against bringing that very same indictment. He tried to have it both ways  a compelling predictor of tragic failure.

Many of us wondered how a man with so illogical a thought process could have ever achieved his position, much less held it beyond inauguration day.

Perhaps the playwright was awaiting a more climactic moment.
A professor who teaches "liberal studies" at California State Polytechnic University has written an academic paper that claims that the eastern fox squirrels are victims of "gendered, racialized, and speciesist" media bias.

As far as I can tell, the professor did not write this paper from a padded room.

Breitbart:

Teresa Lloro-Bidart, an associate professor of liberal studies at Cal Poly, argues in a recently published postmodernist research paper that eastern fox squirrels are on the receiving end of racially-charged media bias. Lloro-Bidart claims that she worked towards such a conclusion by analyzing the coverage of eastern fox squirrels through "feminist posthumanist," and "feminist food studies" lenses. Lloro-Bidart contends that eastern fox squirrels, which is the most populous species of tree squirrel in North America, are on the receiving end of such bigotry due to several factors, most notably, the "western, modernist," framework by which humans interpret their behaviors and actions.

Multiple choice question: who is more insane? 1) The professor who wrote this idiocy or 2) the "academic journal" that published it?

The paper appears in the online journal "Gender, Place, and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography." The more you read, the farther your jaw drops:

Given that the shift in tree squirrel demographics is a relatively recent phenomenon, this case presents a unique opportunity to question and retheorize the ontological given of 'otherness' that manifests, in part, through a politics whereby animal food choices '[come] to stand in for both compliance and resistance to the dominant forces in [human] culture'. I, therefore, juxtapose feminist posthumanist theories and feminist food studies scholarship to demonstrate how eastern fox squirrels are subjected to gendered, racialized, and speciesist thinking in the popular news media as a result of their feeding/eating practices, their unique and unfixed spatial arrangements in the greater Los Angeles region, and the western, modernist human frame through which humans interpret these actions.

OK  so she gets paid for this sort of thing. Does it matter that Californians are footing the bill for her lunacy? I realize that in academic life, it's "publish or perish," but this is ridiculous.

Eastern fox squirrels, Lloro-Bidart argues, are facing discrimination as a result of the human tendency to lump the species in with the western gray squirrel, a species which is much less tolerant of human beings. Lloro-Bidart also evokes the concept of intersectionality, an academic concept popularized by Kimberle Crenshaw, which describes overlapping human identities and their relationship to systems of oppression, to analyze the plight of the eastern fox squirrel in California.

It wouldn't be so bad if professors like Lloro-Bidart made it clear that papers like this were an "academic exercise" and not a reflection of reality. There are all sorts of academic schools that posit hypotheticals and alter reality to make a point.

Sadly, this isn't one of them.

In the future, I promise not to practice "speciesism" when writing about the eastern fox squirrel. However, if you want my recipe for a sumptuous squirrel stew, I would be happy to email you the ingredients.
Lucie Myslikova is a Girl Scout and social justice warrior (they start young these days) in the Czech Republic. And she is willing to accept being raped as part of the price to pay to advance "diversity, peace, and understanding" (buzzwords courtesy of the World Organization of the Scout movement).



Photo credit: The Geller Report, 5/17

PJ Media reports:

The girl is passionate about politics and believes teenagers should have a voice in the public sphere. This wasn't her first political rally; it was simply the first time she wore her Scout uniform to a demonstration. Her comments emphasized non-violence and non-judgement of the opposition[.] ... What, exactly, was she discussing with the skinhead? "The nation," "borders," and "migration." ... According to CNN's coverage, Myslikova "made some profound comments." If you want to know what she actually said, you'd have to translate an article that appeared in the French language publication the Paris Match. There, buried in the last paragraph, is a quote from the exchange between the Scout and the Neo-Nazi regarding immigration. When the Neo-Nazi asserted the teen would be "violated by those she defends," Myslikova replied, "Even if something happened to me, the physical wounds always end up healing."

Is this the new face of feminism, where women (and girls) accept rape in order to advance leftist notions of politically correct thinking? Where men (and boys) from Islamic countries force themselves on defenseless females in all manner of horrific ways and members of the fairer sex accept it as part of a contract with the new world order?

Little Lucie, feminism's new poster child, not only appears to accept the prospect of being raped, but is naively self-assured in her ability to overcome it. "Physical wounds always end up healing."

Good luck, Lucie.



Photo via europe-israel.org



Photo via newzimbabwe



Photo via Breitbart, 5/17

Hat tip: The Geller Report
Islamic law is totalitarian and must be stopped.

Reported by World Monitor:

Tuesday's verdict of an Indonesian court, sentencing Jakarta's outgoing governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as 'Ahok', to two years in prison for blasphemy, has received widespread condemnation globally as politicians, academics and rights groups express their concern about religious pluralism in Indonesia.

Ahok, a Chinese Christian, was charged with blasphemy after accusing his political opponents of using Qur'anic verses to stop Muslims from voting for him in the bid for re-election as Jakarta's governor.

A day after he lost the election to his Muslim contender, Anies Rasiyd Baswedan, prosecutors downgraded the blasphemy charges against him and recommend that, if he was found guilty, Ahok would serve no prison time. They suggested two years of probation with a possible one-year jail term if he committed a crime during that period. The judge however decided a harsher punishment was called for as he told the court: "Mr 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."
The Justice Department should appoint a special prosecutor. The prosecutor should investigate fully the following:

1. Hillary approving the sale of twenty percent of our uranium to a Russian company by a Canadian company, followed by contributions to the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, aka the William Jefferson Corleone Foundation, and the Russians paying Bill Clinton $500,000 for a speech in Moscow.

2. Hillary's use of a private unsecured email system in violation of various federal laws and regulations. Unlike in recently fired FBI director James Comey's investigation, this prosecutor will empanel a grand jury to subpoena documents and witnesses under oath.

3. The meeting between Attorney General Lynch and Bill Clinton days before Comey interviewed Hillary, not under oath, and days before Comey announced he did not recommend indictment of Hillary. The prosecutor should investigate why Comey believed that Lynch was compromised to the extent that Comey took it upon himself to publicly announce the results of his investigation and to recommend no charges. The procedure is for the FBI to turn over its investigation results to the Justice Department for review and decision as to whether to indict. Why did Comey usurp the power of the attorney general?

4. Comey's use of the "dossier" by the ex-British spy who compiled a gossipy, unverified attack on Trump. This was given to the FBI by Senator John McCain, who says he got it from a former British ambassador. Why was it given to McCain, a critic of Trump? Why wasn't it given directly to the FBI?

James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence, testified that his office could not corroborate the sourcing of the dossier.

5. The basis for the FISA warrants and results, specifically Susan Rice's role in reviewing the warrants and results and unmasking the names.

Susan Rice has refused to testify before the Senate on this.

This is the same Susan Rice who appeared on all the Sunday morning news shows to tell us the Benghazi attack was provoked by a video and was not an Islamist terrorist attack. She lied.

The Opposition Party, consisting of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party, has criticized and attacked Director Comey since he notified Congress on October 28, 2016 that the was re-opening the investigation of Hillary's email use to review emails found on the computer of Anthony Weiner, aka Carlos Danger. Now the Opposition Party suddenly likes Comey because Trump fired him and it can use the firing to attack Trump.

Comey was fired upon the advice of Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who was confirmed on April 25, 2017. Simply stated, Comey usurped the power of the attorney general by publicly announcing there would be no indictment of Hillary, then proceeded to list all the facts that warranted prosecution. Comey still insists he was correct despite near universal disagreement with how he proceeded.

The Opposition Party knows that Comey was fired for valid reasons. It knows that the election was not affected by the Russians. Even if the Russians obtained the emails that document Hillary's lies and corruption, Hillary has not disputed the veracity of the emails. Further, the DNC refused to allow the FBI to inspect its computers that were allegedly hacked.

But now, the Opposition Party is using Comey's discharge to further attack Trump and keep alive the "Russia" story. As usual, the Opposition Party is interested only in hardball politics.
(ANSA) - Brussels, May 11 - The European Commission said Thursday that it expects Italy to continue its "recent modest economic recovery" in 2017, with GDP growth of 0.9%. In its spring economic forecasts, the EC left its growth forecast for 2017 and 2018 for Italy unchanged with respect to the winter ones, with GDP expected to rise 1.1% next year. It said that "the expansion of domestic demand was the main driver of growth" in 2016, when the economy grew by 0.9%, up from 0.8% in 2015.

The Commission said "political uncertainty and the slow adjustment in the banking sector represent downside risks to Italy's growth prospects". It added, however, that "the currently high confidence in manufacturing might imply stronger external demand than assumed in the forecast". The EU executive said Italy's public debt of over two trillion euros in set to rise further this year, in part due to State support for the bank sector. "The general government debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 132.6% in 2016, mainly due to an increase in the liquidity buffer," it said. "A further slight increase is expected in 2017, also due to the additional resources earmarked for the public support to the banking sector and retail investors. "The debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to decline to 132.5% in 2018".


CAIRO - The Libyan navy on Thursday said that the German charity Sea Watch had hindered one of its rescue operations off Libya.



General Ayob Amr Ghasem, Libyan Navy spokesman, said that one of the NGO's boats had sought to stop the rescue operation underway by a Libyan motorboat by threatening to ram into it, according to a document sent to ANSA by the spokesman. The incident occurred on Wednesday morning. The migrant vessel made of wood and carrying almost 500 migrants was intercepted ''19 nautical miles north of Sabratha'', the spokesman said. When the 'Kifah' motorboat came close to the migrant vessel, the Sea Watch boat allegedly ''changed direction in such a way to collide with'' the Libyan Coast Guard said.



At the same time, the document added, the NGO boat sent a dinghy rapidly towards the boat. Given the ''persistence of the Coast Guard vessel'' in keeping to its route, the Sea Watch one ''changed direction at the last minute to avoid colliding'', Ghasem said. On the basis of contact with the NGO boat, the spokesman said that there was a ''German media team'' onboard - Spiegel TV, according to Al Wasat - and ''the organization protested'', by saying that Libya ''isn't safe for migrants''.



They have reportedly been taken to a base in Tripoli.




ATHENS - Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis has urged the government to come up with a concrete plan to solve the issue of growing numbers of undocumented refugees and migrants heading to the Greek capital, with many thousands squatting in empty buildings as official facilities become increasingly overcrowded.

According to Kaminis, the situation of illegal migrants living in Athens is spiraling out of control, with the latest calculations made by the municipality stating that around 2,500 to 3,000 refugees and migrants are being housed in squats alone, apart from those official registered of which the number is around 18,000.

Only last month Kaminis had said that it was high time that refugees should be more fairly distributed around other parts of the country.

"The current picture we have isn't good at all for this city," Kaminis told reporters.

He added: "We have to face the actual reality and that's why I'm ringing the alarm bells; on behalf of the Athenian citizens I say that all the refugees and migrants who are entering Greece should not be heading anarchically - or even planned in some cases - towards Athens and left to their fate - the message sent by the municipality of Athens is clear; we are not going to tolerate this." The thousands of refugees and migrants which are living in various buildings occupied by so-called solidarity groups is causing a major headache for the city, both in terms of security and in unpaid utility bills. Sadly it is becoming a vicious cycle with the response property owners or their lawyers receiving when they go to police stations in a bid to get the problem dealt with is that the current status quo is being tolerated for now as a 'political decision'.

Kaminis has been outspoken in his pleas to the government to act fast on the matter, but in any case he has also began dialogue with his counterparts in Rome and Paris to try and find a way to tackle the issue with the EU's direct help.

He concluded: "What exactly is the country's plan for this? How will we deal with it? From my side, I have taken the initiative to speak with the mayors of Rome and Paris and we are preparing to make a move to the European institutions, in particular to Mr [Dimitris] Avramopoulos (European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs). We are fortunate enough to have a Greek Commissioner in the EU on this issue, so that there is a systematic European policy on this issue, which is one which will affect the whole bloc for the next decade and beyond."
Unaccompanied minor migrant arrivals 5x higher than in 2013 Eurostat says Germany top for asylum seekers, followed by Italy

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MAY 11 - The number of unaccompanied minor migrants who arrived in the European Union seeking asylum in 2016, at 63,300, is five times higher than the average between 2008-2013, which was about 12,000 annually, according to EU statistics bureau Eurostat.



It said arrivals in 2016 have fallen by about a third compared to 2015, when 96,500 unaccompanied minors arrived.



Eurostat said six out of 10 of the migrants applied for asylum in Germany (36,000; 57%), followed by Italy (6,000; 10%) and Austria (3,900; 6%). Among all young asylum applicants in 2016, the largest percentages of unaccompanied minor applicants were registered in Slovenia (where 57% of all asylum applicants aged less than 18 were unaccompanied in 2016) and Italy (54%).(ANSAmed).




Libyan Navy claims German NGO hindered migrant rescue Almost collided during operation

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MAY 11 - The Libyan navy on Thursday said that the German charity Sea Watch had hindered one of its rescue operations off Libya.



General Ayob Amr Ghasem, Libyan Navy spokesman, said that one of the NGO's boats had sought to stop the rescue operation underway by a Libyan motorboat by threatening to ram into it, according to a document sent to ANSA by the spokesman. The incident occurred on Wednesday morning. The migrant vessel made of wood and carrying almost 500 migrants was intercepted ''19 nautical miles north of Sabratha'', the spokesman said. When the 'Kifah' motorboat came close to the migrant vessel, the Sea Watch boat allegedly ''changed direction in such a way to collide with'' the Libyan Coast Guard said.



At the same time, the document added, the NGO boat sent a dinghy rapidly towards the boat. Given the ''persistence of the Coast Guard vessel'' in keeping to its route, the Sea Watch one ''changed direction at the last minute to avoid colliding'', Ghasem said. On the basis of contact with the NGO boat, the spokesman said that there was a ''German media team'' onboard - Spiegel TV, according to Al Wasat - and ''the organization protested'', by saying that Libya ''isn't safe for migrants''.



They have reportedly been taken to a base in Tripoli.



(ANSAmed).




US and Turkey meet over armed Kurds in Syria Prime minister met with Mattis, Erdogan to meet with Trump

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MAY 11 - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim met with US Defense Secretary James Mattis on Thursday morning in London, following Turkey's harsh reaction to the US decision to directly arm Kurdish YPG rebels in the fight against ISIS in Syria, according to Turkish news agency Anadolu.



The meeting in London took place on the sidelines of the UN conference on Somalia and lasted about 30 minutes.



It comes just days before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House next Tuesday.(ANSAmed).




ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 11 - The following are some of the main events scheduled for today in the Euro-Mediterranean area: SIRACUSA - Sabir Festival of Mediterranean Culture begins (until 13/5).



BARI - EU, Commissioner Pierre Moscovici participates in meeting of Finance ministers and G7 central bank governors (until 13/5).



BRUSSELS - EU, meeting of foreign ministers. (ANSAmed).




Athens mayor Giorgos Kaminis issues SOS call on refugees Concern for increasing flow of migrants to the Greek capital

(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, 11 MAY - Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis has urged the government to come up with a concrete plan to solve the issue of growing numbers of undocumented refugees and migrants heading to the Greek capital, with many thousands squatting in empty buildings as official facilities become increasingly overcrowded.



According to Kaminis, the situation of illegal migrants living in Athens is spiraling out of control, with the latest calculations made by the municipality stating that around 2,500 to 3,000 refugees and migrants are being housed in squats alone, apart from those official registered of which the number is around 18,000.



Only last month Kaminis had said that it was high time that refugees should be more fairly distributed around other parts of the country.



"The current picture we have isn't good at all for this city," Kaminis told reporters.



He added: "We have to face the actual reality and that's why I'm ringing the alarm bells; on behalf of the Athenian citizens I say that all the refugees and migrants who are entering Greece should not be heading anarchically - or even planned in some cases - towards Athens and left to their fate - the message sent by the municipality of Athens is clear; we are not going to tolerate this." The thousands of refugees and migrants which are living in various buildings occupied by so-called solidarity groups is causing a major headache for the city, both in terms of security and in unpaid utility bills. Sadly it is becoming a vicious cycle with the response property owners or their lawyers receiving when they go to police stations in a bid to get the problem dealt with is that the current status quo is being tolerated for now as a 'political decision'.



Kaminis has been outspoken in his pleas to the government to act fast on the matter, but in any case he has also began dialogue with his counterparts in Rome and Paris to try and find a way to tackle the issue with the EU's direct help.



He concluded: "What exactly is the country's plan for this? How will we deal with it? From my side, I have taken the initiative to speak with the mayors of Rome and Paris and we are preparing to make a move to the European institutions, in particular to Mr [Dimitris] Avramopoulos (European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs). We are fortunate enough to have a Greek Commissioner in the EU on this issue, so that there is a systematic European policy on this issue, which is one which will affect the whole bloc for the next decade and beyond." (ANSAmed).




Abbas meets with Putin, 'solution impossible without Russia' Israeli, Palestinian and US leaders may meet during Trump visit

(ANSAmed) - MOSCOW, MAY 11 - Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday in meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Sochi that ''it is impossible to solve the Palestinian issue without significant participation by Russia in the peace process''. He added that ''we have stressed this in all international meetings''. ''Russia's position has remained the same. It aims for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital,'' Abbas said. Preparations are meanwhile underway for an upcoming visit by US president Donald Trump to Israel.



Several media sources say that the ancient Jewish fortress of Masada, which overlooks the Dead Sea, is the symbolic location chosen by Trump for a key speech on May 23 on the future of the region and a resumption of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The speech may reportedly be made alongside a three-way meeting between the US president, the Palestinian leader and Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu. (ANSAmed).




ANSAmed - Tomorrow's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 11 - The following are some of the main events scheduled for tomorrow in the Euro-Mediterranean area: RABAT - National Theatre - Mawazine music festival begins, opened by Charles Aznavour (until 20/5).



SIRACUSA - Sabir Festival of Mediterranean Culture begins (until 13/5).



BARI - EU, Commissioner Pierre Moscovici participates in meeting of Finance ministers and G7 central bank governors (until 13/5).



ROME - Accademia dei Lincei conference on 'Migrants since the beginning, the evolution of the human migration phenomenon' BEIRUT - 24th annual Conference Permanente de l'Audiovisuel Mediterraneen, which brings together radio and television broadcasters from the area. Opening remarks will be made by Lebanese president Michel Aoun (until 13/5) BARI - 'Many More than 7: The Other Summit', an event on migrants alongside the G7 finance ministers meeting (until 13/5) FATIMA (Portugal) visit by Pope Francis (until 13/5). (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
The winners were announced following the conclusion of the CIPS Middle East Conference on 9 May. In addition to the Team of the Year award, the company also won awards for Best Contribution to the Reputation of the Profession and Best International Procurement Project.

The team demonstrated to CIPS that it is continuing to rapidly evolve capabilities, relationships and effectiveness across all areas of procurement, bringing value to EAG not just through cost savings but also through reputational enhancement. Donations of surplus and obsolete items are made to the Red Crescent while development of local suppliers is made through an active involvement in the Khalifa Fund and the promotion of local SMEs.

Throughout 2016 the purchasing department also shared best procurement practise with organisations in the UAE including the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, Emirates Nuclear Energy, ADNOC and Al Futtaim Dubai.

Adil Al Mulla, vice president of procurement and supply management for EAG, said: Im delighted and proud that the performance and achievements of the team have again been recognised at the highest level in the MENA procurement profession.

EAG has become the only aviation business in the Middle East region to gain such recognition in the procurement field. The CIPS Award is the most prestigious recognition a company can achieve in the procurement and supply chain profession worldwide and is the benchmark against which all procurement departments are measured.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired Tuesday by US President Donald Trump, on Wednesday sent a letter to select FBI staff, friends and agents.

I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply, Comey said in the letter.

U.S. President Donald Trump ignited a political firestorm on Tuesday by firing FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign's possible collusion with Russia to influence the election outcome.

The Republican president said he fired Comey over his handling of an election-year email scandal involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The move stunned Washington and raised suspicions among Democrats and others that the White House was trying to blunt the FBI probe involving Russia.

White House officials denied allegations that there was any political motive in the move by Trump, who took office on Jan. 20.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. A criminal case has been filed on May 10 on exerting pressures and threats against observers of Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center Monika Antonyan and Europe in Law Association Lena Zakaryan while they carried out observer missions during the April 2 parliamentary election in Armenia.

The Special Investigation Service of Armenia conducts the investigation, the Prosecutor Generals Office told Armenpress.
STEPANAKERT, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces made more than 65 ceasefire violations in the past 24 hours in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact, firing around 1700 shots from various caliber firearms at Artsakhs troops.

Azerbaijani forces also fired 82mm mortars (4 shells) and D-44 cannons (8 shells) in the direction of Martakert.

The defense ministry of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS in addition to the ceasefire violations, at 13:30, May 10, Azerbaijan advanced military hardware (over 10 tanks) in the direction of Tap Qaraqoyunlu-Talish. At 14:55 the tanks returned to their initial positions.

The Artsakhi Defense Army took countermeasures to suppress the Azerbaijani aggression.

Currently the situation on the frontline is calm.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. At least 26 people were killed when a wall collapsed during a wedding in Indias Rajasthan state, RIA Novosti reported.

Earlier it was reported that 23 people were killed and 28 were injured.

BBC reports the guests had taken shelter from heavy rain under a tin shack when a wall collapsed onto it in the storm.

Among the dead are at least 8 women and 4 children.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The investigative committee of Armenia launched criminal proceedings regarding the shooting at Shant TV filming crew.

On May 10, around 18:00, the filming crew of Shant TV came under gunfire while passing through the territories of the Defense Armys military positions.

Particularly, Azerbaijani forces opened gunfire from large caliber firearms, sniper rifles and heavy machine guns, targeting the vehicle of Shant TVs filming crew, which resulted in cameraman Davit Atayan being wounded and hospitalized.

A criminal case has been initiated in the third garrison investigative department, under article 104 paragraph 2, point 1, 6 and 13  attempted murder on grounds of national or religious hatred. An investigation is underway, the investigative committee said in a statement.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. During a working meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan on May 11, Healthcare Minister Levon Altunyan briefed on the ongoing structural reforms and process of programs aimed at solving priority issues in the healthcare sector, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

Minister Altunyan presented the provision of financial control and transparency in the healthcare field, as well as the Ministrys works on installing an electronic healthcare system aimed at improving the quality of medical services, the new mechanism on providing medical services insurance packages to the public authorities which will be submitted to the Governments approval in late May and etc.

The Healthcare Minister reported to the President on the steps taken for applying clinical guidelines and patient management practices based on the advanced foreign experience which aims to improve the quality of medical care and service, as well as the results of the treatment.

Levon Altunyan also informed that the Ministry has developed the telemedicine development vision and the actions timetable. According to the Minister, target programs are designed and implemented aimed at ensuring access to separate medical services, reducing maternal mortality rates and improving maternity services in hospitals.

During the working meeting the President and the Minister also discussed the process of modernization programs of hospitals in provinces.

At the end of the meeting the President gave respective instructions.




YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Republican party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation party signed a coalition agreement.

Vice president of the Republican party Armen Ashotyan and Secretary of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation faction of the Parliament Aghvan Vardanyan signed the deal.

The ruling Republican party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation had signed another memorandum on February 24, 2016, which resulted in the Armenian Revolutionary Federation receiving three ministerial and two Governor portfolios.

The first parliamentary session after the April 2 election will be convened on May 18, and on the same day the government will submit its resignation and a new Cabinet will be formed.
STEPANAKERT, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The plenary session of the Parliament of Artsakh Republic was held on May 11, press service of the Artsakh Parliament told Armenpress.

Opening the session Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghulyan congratulated the participants on the May triple holiday.

Then, the Speaker said the Parliament launches a new process which is a constitutional requirement and aims at making the current legislation in accordance with the Constitution adopted by the referendum on February 20, 2017.

The Parliament discussed and adopted the Law on The Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of the Republic of Artsakh. The co-authors of the draft law said by the law the procedure of the parliaments activity is in line with the functions and powers given to the parliament under the new Constitution. Therefore, the structure of the rules of procedure has been changed, the respective chapters have been combined in 9 sections.

After the discussion, the co-authors proposed the MPs to submit proposals within 14 days and join the further amendment works of the draft law if they wish.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Shant TV released exclusive footage on the May 10 Azerbaijani shooting of TV reporters and filming crew in the northern part of the Artsakh line of contact.

Despite being shot by Azerbaijani forces, Shant TV cameraman Davit Atoyan continued filming.

The Investigative Committee had launched a criminal case on the shooting.

The cameraman underwent surgery. He is currently in a stable conditions and might be transported to Yerevan.

Viewer discretion is advised.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. During the meeting with Russias President Vladimir Putin, President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian issue is impossible to solve without Russias meaningful participation, TASS reports.

It is impossible to solve the Palestinian issue without Russias meaningful participation. That is what we always seek for and have been emphasizing at all international meetings, Abbas said.

He said Russias stance remained firm which supports creation of independent Palestinian state with the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital.

We have been hearing you reiterate this position, Abbas said.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. On May 11 Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan hosted delegation of the Yerkrapah Volunteers Union (YVU) led by chairman of the organization's board Manvel Grigoryan, press service of the Artsakh Presidents Office told Armenpress.

A range of issues related to the situation along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan borderline, army-society ties and upbringing of the younger generation were addressed during the talks.

For courage and bravery shown during the defense of the Homeland and in connection with the Victory Day, the 25th anniversary of the Artsakh Defense Army and Liberation of Shushi, President Sahakyan handed in high state awards to a group of YVU members.

Artsakhs defense minister Levon Mnatsakanyan and other officials attended the meeting.
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Judge of Court of General Jurisdiction of Ararat and Vayots Dzor Provinces of Armenia has been arrested by the National Security Service of Armenia at the moment of receiving alleged bribe. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the NSS Armenia, the judge had demanded and received 600 thousand AMD for sentencing to fine an individual accused of criminal case.

The handover of the sum took place under the supervision of the NSS officials. The materials have been sent to the Prosecutor-Generals Office.
A team of top investigators on Wednesday returned to India after examining ongoing extradition proceedings.

Mumbai: A team of top investigators from Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation returned to India from United Kingdom on Wednesday after examining Vijay Mallya's ongoing extradition proceedings in a UK court.

The team that had interactions with lawyers for India who are pushing for liquor baron's extradition to India has revealed that counsels firmly believe there was enough ground for proving that Mallya was 'dishonest' and that's why defaulted on loans, a report on NDTV said.

Mallya who faces extradition trial in a London court has been accused in India of defaulting on Rs 9,000 payment he owes to a group of 17 banks led by State Bank of India. London's Metropolitan court will take up the case for hearing later this month.

The joint team comprising sleuths from the CBI and the ED visited London to brief the state prosecutor the Crown's counsel who will be arguing India's case.

"The team handed over a folder with 1,500 pages of documents. They include notes related to clarifications sought by the Crown's counsel and supporting documents like bank details," the NDTV report said.
US-based clients are no longer willing to pay more.

According to Kris Lakshmikanth, the CEO of a recruitment firm, Headhunters, nearly two lakh IT jobs will disappear by March 2018.

Bengaluru: With the IT giants such as Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant among others struggling with lower growth, thousands of employees have been asked to leave. Due to a plethora of factors such as automation, changing business models and strict visa regimes, IT firms in India are opting for rapid cost-cutting measures by handing out pink slips to employees.

According to Kris Lakshmikanth, the CEO of a recruitment firm, Headhunters, nearly two lakh IT jobs will disappear by March 2018. He said that the clients in the US are no longer willing to pay more for the services by Indian IT firms.

As a result, markets have come down. The firms have been reducing the main cost  over 60 per cent of people-related expenses  to counter this challenge.

Earlier, people would leave companies for better jobs or to study abroad. However, of late, employees arent willing to leave their jobs easily.

Cognizant has asked employees who earn salary package of 20 lakh and above to opt for separation plan and voluntarily quit the company with severance pay of 3, 6, or 9 months.

Activist investor Elliot Management, which has more than 4 percent stake in Cognizant, has advised the company to match up to the likes of Infosys and Wipro in terms of growth, which results in rapid cost-cutting measures, said Lakshmikanth.

A former Cognizant employee, who recently joined a different firm, said that he couldnt handle the pressure anymore. The company hired large number of people a few years ago. However, it is now giving notice to employees to perform better or quit the company, he said.

Mr Lakshmikanth also added that a couple of years ago Infosys had hired 20,000 people from campuses in one day.

However, this year, they have hired only 500 people. It will be even lesser next year.

Every IT company has got a target to reduce the number of employees through automation, he said.

However, the companies say that they have just been following a performance appraisal process and employees have been handed out pink slips strictly based on their performances.
The industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds.

New Delhi: After Infosys and Wipro, it's now IT firm Tech Mahindra that could hand out pink slips to hundreds of employees as it looks to "weed out bottom performers".

Tech Mahindra -- which ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues -- has begun its annual performance appraisal process.

"We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different," Tech Mahindra said in an emailed response.

The Mumbai-based company, however, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave. However, industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds.

At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

Tech Mahindra's larger rivals, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant have already initiated similar performance reviews and estimates suggest that thousands of employees in the sector could be shown the door over the next few weeks.

The development comes at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

While the companies have termed these layoffs as part of normal business decisions, many believe these are directed more towards controlling costs.

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.

With the US hardening its stance on outsourcing, IT firms are under pressure to hire locals instead of taking Indian employees on work visas to client sites. This also impacts their margins.

Infosys, for instance, has said it will hire 10,000 people in the US over the next two years. It is also looking at setting up four new innovation centres there.

IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. Apart from the impact of stringent visa regime, increasing automation of processes would also lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.
The bullet-riddled body of 22-year-old Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz from Kashmir was found in Harmen area of Shopian on Wednesday morning.

Indian army soldiers cover the coffin of their colleague Ummer Fayaz with Indian flag during his funeral at Sursoona village, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Srinagar. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi/Srinagar: Six militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen were involved in the abduction and killing of a young Army officer in Shopian district of Kashmir and a massive manhunt has been launched to catch them, defence sources said to PTI on Thursday.

The bullet-riddled body of 22-year-old Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz from Kashmir was found in Harmen area of Shopian on Wednesday morning, hours after he was abducted by militants from Batpura village.

"We have identified six militants who were involved in the killing of Fayaz. The militants are from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen," a source said to PTI.

Security forces are carrying out searches in various areas to nab the six militants, the source said.

Fayaz, son of a farmer and an avid sportsman, had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of his maternal uncle at Batapura, about 74 kms from Srinagar, from where he was abducted by the militants around 10 pm on Tuesday night.

On his first leave since joining the Army, he was posted with 2 Rajputana Rifles in Akhnoor in Jammu region. His killing has triggered anger among the locals who demanded action against the culprits.

The Army had yesterday vowed to punish the killers of Fayaz and said the incident marks a watershed moment in Kashmir Valley as people there will decisively turn the tide against terrorism.

Calling the attack a "dastardly act of cowardice" by militants, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said Fayaz's sacrifice reiterates the nation's commitment to eliminate terrorism from the valley.
The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by India, says ICJ.

The announcement was made by ICJ on Wednesday night, a day after it stayed Jadhav's execution following India's initiation of proceedings against Pakistan. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will on Monday hold public hearings in the case of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court.

The announcement was made by ICJ on Wednesday night, a day after it stayed Jadhav's execution following India's initiation of proceedings against Pakistan, accusing it of 'egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations'.

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings on Monday, May 15, 2017 in the proceedings instituted by India on May 8, 2017 against Pakistan. The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by India," the ICJ said in a release.

India had told ICJ that Jadhav "will be subjected to execution unless the court indicates provisional measures directing the government of Pakistan to take all measures necessary to ensure that he is not executed until the court's decision on the merits" of the case.

India also pointed out that Jadhav's execution 'would cause irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India'. Noting that India has been informed by the ICJ that an action has been initiated on the 'provisional measures' sought by New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay in New Delhi said there is 'legal juridical procedure' that will be followed.

Earlier, the ICJ president wrote to Pakistan prime minister, saying, "In my capacity as president of the court, I call upon Your Excellency's government, pending the court's decision on the request for the indication of provisional measures to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on this request to have its appropriate effects."

On whether the 'provisional measures' granted by the ICJ including a halt to Jadhav's execution was binding on Pakistan, Baglay referred to the clauses in ICJ rules which said, "a request for the indication of provisional measures shall have priority over all other cases".

India had submitted that it has 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, a ICJ press release had said yesterday.

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. 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.
Meanwhile, his legal team is planning to approach President Pranab Mukherjee to seek relief from arrest.

Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh police have launched a manhunt to trace him. Justice Karnan was at the State Guest House in Chennai when the seven-Judge Bench slapped the jail term on him. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan, who is facing arrest after the Supreme Court sentenced him to six months imprisonment, is believed to be 'hiding' in Nepal or Bangladesh.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Justice Karnans legal team is planning to approach President Pranab Mukherjee to seek relief.

We are preparing for the next level of legal battle and he needs to be in hiding until that time, W Peter Ramesh Kumar, an advocate at Madras high court, told HT.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh police have launched a manhunt to trace him. Justice Karnan was at the State Guest House in Chennai when the seven-Judge Bench slapped the jail term on him.

He left Wednesday morning saying he was going to Srikalahasti, a pilgrim town in Andhra Pradesh 120 kilometres from Chennai. Shortly afterwards a high-level team from West Bengal Police flew into the city to arrest and take him as the court had directed that he should be jailed in the Calcutta high court jurisdiction area.

The West Bengal police team, led by Surajit Kar Purkayastha, DGP, Home Guards, held discussions with the TN counterparts to chalk out strategy and left for Srikalahasti in the evening, only to return empty-handed along with the Andhra Pradesh Police who were also looking for the judge in vain in the famous temple town. Another team from the Andhra Pradesh Police went to Tada and Sulurpetta in Nellore district.

The second AP Police team also returned disappointed with no clue about the renegade judges whereabouts. Police sources said the team went to Tada after his mobile signal was last picked up near the Andhra Pradesh town close to the Tamil Nadu border. Since then, both his mobile phones are switched off, sources said.

On its part, the Tamil Nadu police also sent teams to his sons residence in Choolaimedu in the city as well as his native place in Cuddalore district.

At the time of going to press, multiple teams of the three state police were searching for Justice Karnan to enforce the Supreme Court order. Upon their arrival, the West Bengal police personnel held discussions with their Tamil Nadu counterparts on executing the arrest order, sources said.
Another objective of such a policy is to fire up the competitive zeal in the defence public sector units.

New Delhi: Chaired by defence minister Arun Jaitley, a crucial meeting to finalise the draft on the long-awaited strategic partnership (SP) model will be held from 11am on Thursday at an undisclosed location in the national capital.

The meeting will be attended by key ministry officials and top defence industry captains. It will discuss the final draft of the SP model before it is taken to the defence ministrys apex procurement body the Defence Acquisition Council which is likely to be held on May 15.

Under the SP model, select private Indian defence firms in collaboration with major foreign manufacturers will be allowed to exclusively make various military platforms for a specified period of time. The central idea behind the model is to harness strengths of private industry to create capacity and infrastructure for these strategic segments over and above that existing in the public sector units like ordnance factories and DRDO.

Another objective of such a policy is to fire up the competitive zeal in the defence public sector units.

The government had set up five sub-groups  aircraft and helicopters, armoured fighting vehicles, submarines, ammunition, and macro process management of issues.

The SP model has been encountering resistance from a section of the MoD bureaucracy. With the initial idea to rope in one private strategic partner for each platform, a few bureaucrats opposing the proposal feel that the one partner norm may usher in a monopoly situation besides allowing for arbitrary price fixation.

It is also felt that the policy should encourage maximum competition with no artificial restrictions and that once companies eligible to be strategic partners are shortlisted, market forces should be allowed to determine the best combination of the Indian SP and foreign manufacturers.

A chapter on Strategic Partnerships was to form part of the Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 (DPP-2016) but had to be postponed as the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar sought suggestions from the corporate sector. Already the DPP 2016 has been made public except for the chapter on strategic partnerships.

The industry on its part has been seeking safeguards from creation of monopoly situation in defence production besides clarity on criteria to select SPs, FDI rules versus SP norms, and joint ventures with foreign OEMs under the SP model.

In many cases, the industry is seeking at least two partners for logistical reasons as the requirements are big as well as with huge market potential. For example, in case of the AFV, the sub-group has itself suggested two separate strategic partnersone for main battle tanks and another for infantry combat vehicles.

After being finalized by the defence ministry, the policy will have to be vetted by the finance ministry as the new policy would involve financial obligations before being okayed by the Union Cabinet.
Rebutting the charges levelled against him by the BSP yesterday, Siddiqui played clippings of his 'telephonic conversations' with Mayawati.

Lucknow: A day after he was expelled from the BSP, Naseemuddin Siddiqui today alleged that Mayawati had demanded Rs 50 crore from him and made objectionable remarks against Muslims.

At a crowded press conference in Lucknow, an angry Siddiqui claimed that he had enough material to cause an "earthquake".

He also claimed that there was a threat to his life.

Rebutting the charges levelled against him by the BSP yesterday, Siddiqui played six audio clippings of his "telephonic conversations" with Mayawati to support his allegation that he was asked to pay Rs 50 crore by selling his property.

Siddiqui said he was in possession of 150 such audio clippings.

"She (Mayawati) was sore after the dismal showing of the BSP in the recent Assembly elections and termed Muslims as betrayers for not voting for the party," he alleged.

Accusing the BSP supremo of having referred to "bearded Muslims as dogs", Siddiqui claimed he had objected to the remark.

He also attacked BSP general secretary Satish Mishra saying he was trying to weaken the party.

"The BSP is being knowingly weakened by Mayawati and Anand Kumar (her brother) under a conspiracy by Satish Mishra and company...People are also of the view that since Mayawati has attained the height to which she wanted to reach, she herself wants to end the BSP so that no other person from among the Dalit 'samaj' could reach this far," he said.

Siddiqui, who was expelled from the party yesterday for "anti-party activities", said he had "solid evidence" against Mayawati but would only speak about the charges levelled against him as of now.

"I have so much material that if I open my mouth it can cause an earthquake....I know her more than anyone else...If I give the proof against Mayawati, Anand and Mishra it will be a big 'tamasha'," he said.

The BSP is totally under the grip of Mishra and company and Mayawati is being blackmailed by them, he claimed.

Continuing his tirade, Siddiqui alleged that Mayawati had a criminal gang which could set any leader's house on fire or even get someone murdered.

During the April 19 party meeting she also tried to "belittle" Kanshi Ram by comparing the party's showing in Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Siddiqui claimed. Kanshi Ram hailed from Punjab.

He appealed to Dalits and 'sarvsamaj' to save the party and the mission of Kanshi Ram and Baba Saheb Ambedkar which had been "crushed" by Mayawati.

Siddiqui alleged that all BSP MLAs had to pay Mayawati and claimed that even his wife, who was a BSP MLC, had given money to her.

To a question about BJP leader Swati Singh against whom Siddiqui had made derogatory slogans after her husband Daya Shankar Singh's adverse comments against Mayawati, he said that his video clippings could be checked as he never said anything wrong against her.

In response, the BSP chief said Siddiqui was made in-charge of western Uttar Pradesh during the Assembly election, but she got complaints from people alleging that he was a "blackmailer".

Addressing the media she said, "If he can record party president's call and tamper it as per convenience then how can he be expected to fulfill responsibilities."

She said Naseemuddin used to scare people for money and was warned by her many times.

Talking about the tapes that were released by Naseemuddin, Mayawati said they were "doctored".

The BSP supremo also responded to Naseemuddin's allegation of her calling Muslims as 'traitors', saying the Muslim Community has full faith in her and believe that "Mayawati cannot make such statements about them".

Yesterday, the BSP had expelled Siddiqui, its most prominent Muslim face, and his son from the party for carrying out "anti-party" activities.
Praises judiciary for decision to hear cases during vacation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar at the launch of the Supreme Courts integrated case management system in New Delhi. (Photo: Pritam Bandyopadhyay)

New Delhi: Launching an integrated case management information system in the Supreme Court which will enable digital filing of cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence that the combination of information technology and Indian Talent would create India Tomorrow. He urged people to adopt technology to remain relevant in changing times.

Speaking at a function at Vigyan Bhavan, Mr Modi said it is a step towards paperless Supreme Court. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed the judiciary for its decision to hear cases during the summer break, and said it would strengthen the sense of responsibility among people towards their work.

Mr Modi recalled the Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehars appeal at Allahabad on April 2 for the higher judiciary to take up hearings of cases, at least some days during the vacation.

He said the appeal was inspirational, and he has heard very encouraging news in this regard from the Supreme Court and the high courts.

CJI Khehar had asked high court judges to volunteer working for a few days during the summer break for speedy disposal of cases, a step which the Supreme Court had already decided to take.

The CJI had on April 6 written to the chief justices of the 24 high courts, requesting them to work for a few days during summer vacations to bring down the pendency of cases.

Over 61,000 cases are pending in the apex court, while the 24 high courts have 38.70 lakh pending cases, according to the latest law ministry data.

Mr Modi urged lawyers to become part of the pro bono scheme launched by the Law Ministry under which advocates can fight cases for the poor for free.

He said several gynaecologists now offer free services to poor pregnant women on 9th of every month on his request. 42,000 students from IT worked for 36 hours non-stop to give solutions to 400 issues the government had flagged, he recalled.

The PM termed unfortunate the mindset of people relating technology with new hardware. He said in government offices, computers have replaced flower vases, but they are used as show pieces only. But no one uses (these computers)...Mindset is a problem, he said.

He said while people go for the latest mobile phones, their use of gadget is limited to red and green  connect and disconnect  buttons.

People send SMS but call up to check whether the other side has received their message, he said.

He said with a paperless approach, millions of litres of water and thousands of trees can be saved. Ten litres of water is used to make one A4 size paper, he claimed.

Mr Modi uploaded the integrated case information management system, marking the introduction of digital filing.

Introducing the system, the CJI said digital filing of cases would make the judicial system extremely transparent and rule out any manipulation of records. Explaining the benefits of the digital filing application, the Chief Justice of India described the initiative as the biggest leap towards introducing technology in the judicial system.

The website aims at integrating the website of all high courts and subordinate courts in the country so that petitions, appeals, applications etc. can be filed through the electronic modem, thus avoid use of paper to make judicial filling system a paperless.

The CJI said he intended to put the digital filling process system in place in all the 24 high courts after it is introduced here and would like to see that it takes place in the lower courts across the country.Justice Khehar said this means a litigant will file one case only in his lifetime, insofar as the paper book is concerned.

This is a process which will ensure absolutely a transparent system. A system which cannot be breached. A system where the documents cannot be manipulated. A system where the records are there for keeps. And for doing this, we do not need to change any rules. This digitised process replaces the pleadings.

Referring to his observations made during a hearing that he would make the Supreme Court paperless, the CJI said the system would be different from the present e-filing process as lawyers will be required to file only the grounds of appeal in the apex court and the remaining judicial files would be automatically transferred. He said he has held discussions with the bar bodies on the issue and have been telling them that it would lessen their work and save their time and effort.

Making a presentation on the application, Shri Justice Khanwilkar said the new initiative would be an illustration of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.nion Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad appreciated the Supreme Court for this digital innovation. Senior SC judges Dipak Misra and J. Chelameswar were also present. Appreciating the system, Mr. Modi said that technology had often been equated to hardware in the past, and therefore, it is important to bring about a change in mindset. He said technology can only be embraced collectively within an institution. He said paperless initiatives save the environment, and are therefore a great service for future generations.

Speaking of the benefits of technology, he recalled the recently organized Hackathon, where 400 issues across Ministries in the Government of India were identified, and 42,000 students from Indian Universities spent 36 hours in an attempt to solve them. He said that Ministries were adapting many of the outcomes of this exercise. Dwelling on the theme of technology, the Prime Minister spoke of the implications and possibilities that Artificial Intelligence could bring about.

The Prime Minister mentioned several occasions in the recent past, when people from various walks of life had come forward to help the poor. In this context, he recalled the success of the Give-It-Up movement to give up LPG subsidy. Similarly, he mentioned the initiative taken by doctors across the country to treat poor pregnant women free of cost on the 9th of every month. In the same vein, he urged lawyers to come forward to provide pro-bono legal aid to the poor and needy.
The second Andhra police team also returned disappointed after gaining no clue about the judges whereabouts.

Chennai: Defiant Calcutta high court judge C.S. Karnan kept several police teams from the three states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh on their toes the whole of Wednesday as he evaded arrest by changing his location frequently since the morning.

Sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, when it convicted him of contempt, the judge left the Chepauk State Guest House on Wednesday morning and proceeded to Srikalahasti, a pilgrim town in Andhra Pradesh 120 km from Chennai, hours before a high-level West Bengal police team arrived in the Tamil Nadu capital.

The West Bengal police team, led by Raj Kanojia, DGP, Home Guards, waited in Chennai till evening, after which it went to Srikalahasti looking for Justice Karnan, but returned empty-handed along with a Andhra Pradesh police team, which was also looking for the judge in vain in the famous temple town.

Another Andhra Pradesh police team went to Tada and Sulurpetta in the states Nellore district looking for the renegade judge, who now appears to be on the run from the police.

The second Andhra police team also returned disappointed after gaining no clue about the judges whereabouts. Police sources said the team went to Tada after Justice Karnans mobile signal was spotted last near the Andhra Pradesh town close to the Tamil Nadu border. Both his mobile phones were switched off, sources said.

On its part, the Tamil Nadu police also sent teams to his sons residence in Choolaimedu as well as his native place in Cuddalore district. At the time of going to press, police teams from three states were searching for Justice Karnan to enforce the order of the Supreme Court. Upon its arrival here, the West Bengal police officers held discussions with their Tamil Nadu counterparts on how to execute the arrest order, sources said.

Meanwhile, as a group of advocates protested outside the State Guest House alleging that Justice Karnan was being victimised, the Chennai police closed the main gate of the guest house to prevent any trouble.

This is the first time a sitting high court judge has been awarded a jail sentence by the Supreme Court on charges of contempt. A seven-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, had also directed the media, both print and electronic, from publishing or airing the contents of any further orders passed by Justice Karnan in the wake of the order for his immediate arrest. The sentence shall be executed and he be taken into custody forthwith, the bench had said on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court had on May 1 ordered his medical examination on the ground that he was medically unfit to defend himself in the contempt proceedings that were initiated on February 8 for his letters to the Prime Ministers and other constitutional authorities seeking a probe against certain judges. Justice Karnan had, however, refused to undergo a medical test.
Jaitley calls officer role model, Rahul says what soldier stood for cant be defeated.

Slain Army officer Lt. Ummer Fayazs mother during his funeral at Sudsona village in Kulgam district on Wednesday. Fayyaz was kidnapped and killed by suspected militants in Shopian district where he was attending a marriage ceremony. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The abduction and murder of Lt. Ummer Fayaz drew sharp political reactions from across the political spectrum. Defence minister Arun Jaitley said Fayazs sacrifice reiterates the nations commitment to eliminate terrorism from the Valley and that he would continue to inspire youth from Kashmir. Mr Jaitley tweeted Abduction & murder of Lt. Ummer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. This young officer from J&K was a role model.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also condemned the killing and said those who tried to defeat what slain army officer Umer Fayaz stood for, would be themselves defeated. Condoling the demise of the Army officer in Shopian of Kashmir, he tweeted, The entire nation shares the grief of Fayazs family, friends and colleagues. My heartfelt condolences. BJP national president Amit Shah also hit out at the dastardly killing of Lt. Fayaz and tweeted  Killing of Lt. Fayaz, a young officer in the Indian Army is dastardly and reflects on the depravity of the perpetrators.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the killing in a statement she said What was more painful to note is that the young officer had come home on vacation where he was attending the marriage of his cousin.

While assuring that the perpetrators of the crime will be brought to justice, the information and broadcasting minister said shocked at the killing of Lt. Umar Fayaz in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists. My prayers are with the family.

Former CM Omar Abdullah said that the recent incident shows a new mindset devoid of fear and retribution and revenge that is very scary.

The Opposition parties have been targeting the government both at the Centre and the state over the death of security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir.
Board said that though pronouncement of triple talaq is considered to be a sin, it is still a valid and effective form of divorce.

New Delhi: A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will hear from Thursday a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala (forms of divorce) and polygamy in Islam.

The bench, sitting in the summer vacation, comprises an interesting combination of CJI J.S. Khehar (Sikh), Justice Kurian Joseph (Christian), Justice Rohinton Nariman (Parsi), Justice Uday Lalit (Hindu) and Justice Abdul Nazeer (Muslim).

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking Muslims not to politicise the triple talaq issue, the Centre has maintained that these practices are not protected under the right to religion guaranteed under Article 25 (1) of the Constitution. It said the fundamental question for determination by this Court in this case is whether, in a secular democracy, religion can be a reason to deny equal status and dignity, available to Muslim women under the Constitution.

The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board on Friday justified in the Supreme Court the triple talaq form of divorce and cautioned the court from interference with personal laws in the guise of social reform and bringing in uniform civil code. The board said all three utterances of Triple Talaq are effective and validly terminate the marriage is accepted by all the four distinct schools of jurists, namely Hanafi, Shafai, Maliki, and Hanbali.

The board said that though pronouncement of Triple Talaq is considered to be a sin, it is still a valid and effective form of divorce. In Islamic jurisprudence, many times an irregular or improper nature of an act does not affect the legal consequences of the Act. Though Triple Talaq is the least appreciated form of terminating a marriage, yet is very much effective and in line with the Shariat law, the board said. Asking the court not to interfere with freedom of religion, the board said the issues raised in the batch of petitions had already been decided by the court and hence the issues need not be re-opened again.

The Centre said it is of the view that gender equality and the dignity of women are non-negotiable, overarching constitutional values and can brook no compromise. The practices which are under challenge, namely, triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are practices which impact the social status and dignity of Muslim women and render them unequal and vulnerable qua men belonging to their own community; women belonging to other communities and also Muslim women outside India.

The Centre said there are unreasonable classifications which arise from practices such as those under challenge in the present petition, which deny to Muslim women the full enjoyment of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The paradox is that Muslim women in India are more vulnerable in their social status because of the prevalence of such practices, even though they live in a secular country.It submitted that the practice of polygamy is a social practice rather than a religious one and therefore would not be protected under Article 25.

Issues to be adjudicated are: The court will determine among other things whether triple talaq violated basic human rights of Muslim women who are subjected to this religious practice; whether the practices of talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are protected under Article 25 (1) of the Constitution (right to freedom of religion); whether Article 25 (1) is subjected to Fundamental Rights of Indian Constitution and in particular 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution; Whether the practices of triple talaq are of a secular nature, namely marriage and divorce, and thus not protected under Article 25(1) although they may be considered as a part of religion?

Whether this practices run counter to Constitutional Morality that guarantees equality before law and equal protection of laws?; Whether instantaneous triple-talaq in one sitting (talaq-e-bidat) in the absence of witnesses and without any attempt at reconciliation and nikah-halala are legally permissible?; Whether this practice has been abolished by various Islamic states, which establishes the fact that such practice is not integral to the practice of Islam?; Whether the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and similar associations have the authority to determine and declare the personal law applicable in India for the numerous sects and sub-communities of Islam that exist in India and practice Islam in various ways?
Upper caste candidates Pramod Tewari, Rajesh Mishra in race.

New Delhi: To woo the upper castes in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is all set to bring back a Brahmin face as its state unit chief. After facing drubbing in UP Assembly elections, Congress chief Raj Babbar had already taken responsibility for the partys defeat. Reports say he will now be replaced by an upper caste Hindu face. Though there are several options with the Congress, the party wants to shed its pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu image as was branded by the BJP and Sangh.

Leading the race for the top post is Rajya Sabha MP and former UP Congress chief Pramod Tewari and former Lok Sabha MP from Varanasi, Rajesh Mishra.

Incidentally, Mr Tewaris daughter, Aradhana Tewari, is one of the seven MLAs who were elected in the Assembly elections. She is in the race to become the party leader in the Assembly, though the party looks keen on making Ajay Singh Lallu the leader, said sources, adding: If the daughter loses, the father can be accommodated as the state chief.

Mr Tewari is the old Congress warhorse of UP. He holds the record of maximum successive wins from one Assembly constituency. After he was elected to the Rajya Sabha, he vacated his Assembly seat for his daughter, who has been winning ever since.

While Rajesh Mishras name has also been doing the rounds for long. He has been a student leader in Benaras Hindu University and has risen up through the ranks in the Congress hierarchy. He is known to be close to current state general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad. The Congress was routed in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand Assembly elections as well as in the municipal elections in Delhi and Mumbai. After the loss, all unit chiefs had sent in their resignations but only Uttarakhand unit chief was replaced.

Delhi chief Ajay Maken and Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupam also continue to hold the posts despite protests. UP state chief Raj Babbar is also facing resentment within the party. Insiders say, He was more of a star campaigner than an organisation man.

The name of former Union minister Jitin Prasada, also a Brahmin, is also doing the rounds but he is not expected to make it to the post.

Currently, the Congress is in a revamp mode with the change of two state chiefs and two state General Secretaries in the AICC. The change in Uttar Pradesh Congress is expected any day now.
Mann was appointed as the chief of AAPs Punjab unit on May 8 at a meeting of the AAP Political Affairs Committee.

Chandigarh: In a major blow to AAP in Punjab, its former convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi resigned from the partys primary membership, just two days after he was replaced by Sangrur MP Baghwant Mann as the convener.

Mr Mann was appointed as the chief of AAPs Punjab unit on May 8 at a meeting of the AAP Political Affairs Committee (PAC). The move came nearly two months after the Punjab Assembly polls results where the Kejriwal-led party had won 20 out of 117 seats. Announcing his resignation at a press conference, Mr Ghuggi said the party has deviated from its principles.

He had earlier questioned the urgency of appointing Mr Mann as the new Punjab president and also questioned under what pressure the decision was taken.

Mr Ghuggi had contested the Assembly elections from the Batala seat from where Shiromani Akali Dals Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal won and Mr Ghuggi came third.

Mr Ghuggi earlier questioned Mr Kejriwals silence over on the corruption charges against the Delhi Chief Minister by now-sacked minister Kapil Mishra.
Mayawati later convened a meeting of around 250 senior leaders of the party and explained the prevailing situation to them.

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday felled its senior most leader, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, when party supremo Mayawati expelled him and his son Afzal Siddiqui from the party for a period of six years.

Naseemuddin Siddiqui, one of the most trusted lieutenants of the BSP president and also the Muslim face of the party, has been charged with indiscipline.

Within hours of Mr Siddiquis expulsion, a number of BSP leaders also put in their papers. They include former MLA and party state secretary Irshad Khan, Dr Kitbatullah (Basti), former MLC Pradeep Singh and several district level leaders.

Ms Mayawati later convened a meeting of around 250 senior leaders of the party and explained the prevailing situation to them.

Mr Siddiqui issued a press statement saying he was not in Lucknow and would soon hold a press conference to expose the truth. I have given 35 years to the party and this is what I get in return, he said in the statement.

Announcing his expulsion, BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said that Mr Siddiqui had made considerable benami property in western UP, which included slaughter houses.

Mr Misra added that Mr Siddiqui had cut deals with a lot of rich individuals privately, and had sought favours from them, promising to return them as soon as the BSP formed government in UP. He was also found guilty of forcibly taking money from party workers and had allegedly taken money while giving tickets to undeserving people which led to the partys losses in the Assembly elections, Mr Misra said at a press conference here on Wednesday. The party had earlier given him the charge of Madhya Pradesh but he did not take any interest in his assignment, which amounts to indiscipline, he stated.

Mr Misra said when the party chief called Mr Siddiqui to seek his clarification, he did not take her calls.

Reports of action against Mr Siddiqui had started trickling out of the BSP camp when Ms Mayawati shifted him to Madhya Pradesh in April. Mr Siddiqui had been divested of UP charge after the party faced a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections.

A former BSP leader said, Ms Mayawati has finally found a scapegoat to absolve herself of all charges of selling tickets for a price. Everyone knew that Naseemuddin Siddiqui was collecting money for her but it is wrong to put all the blame on him.

BJP minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the BSP last year, told reporters, The BSP worked like a gang of looters and Naseemuddin Siddiqui was its head. He would collect money from all sources and give it to Mayawati.
Sources said the police officer was suffering from depression as he had a lot of pending files to clear.

The gunshot sound alerted everyone in the police station and police personnel rushed to his room and saw him lying in a pool of blood. (Photo: Representational/File)

New Delhi: A Delhi Police inspector, in his 40s, allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol in the Chittaranjan Park police station in southeast Delhi Wednesday evening.

Police did not find any suicide note from the spot.

Kaushal Ganguly was posted in the District Investigation Unit of southeast district. His office was on the first floor of the police station.

"He had come to the office despite it being a gazetted holiday today and got his service pistol issued around 5:50 PM and then went to his office and shot himself in the head around 6 PM," police said.

"He got his service pistol issued saying he is deployed on duty for Shab-e-Barat arrangements tomorrow," said DCP Romil Baaniya.

The gunshot sound alerted everyone in the police station and police personnel rushed to his room and saw him lying in a pool of blood.

He was rushed to Max Hospital in Saket where doctors declared him brought dead.

Sources said the police officer was suffering from depression as he had a lot of pending files to clear and was allegedly under pressure from his seniors.
Sambi is a resident of Janakpuri and works as a marketing professional. His car has been seized, police said.

The accused got out of his vehicle and tried to pick a quarrel with Manoj. (Representational Image/File)

New Delhi: A 42-year-old employee of a travel agency, who also works for an official of the Ministry of External Affairs as a driver, was attacked by a man, in an alleged case of road rage.

The victim, Manoj Singh, who stays near Gole Market, was going from Bapu Dham towards south Delhi's Green Park Extension when the incident happened.

When Manoj was near the Embassy of Italy in Chanakyapuri, the accused, Rathim Sambi, tried to overtake his vehicle but could't.

"He wanted to overtake my car but since the turn was such it couldn't happen. He tried this a couple of times but it didn't succeed. He finally managed to overtake my car," Manoj said.

The accused got out of his vehicle and tried to pick a quarrel with Manoj. However, the people who were around brought the situation under control and Sambi was made to sit

inside his car.

"Within a few minutes, he again came out with a stick and hit the window glass of my car's driver's seat," Manoj said, adding he received injuries on his face and hand for which he got stitches.

Police said that based on his car's registration number, Sambi was traced and arrested.

Sambi is a resident of Janakpuri and works as a marketing professional. His car has been seized, police said.
The Shiv Sena today held a protest against the Maharashtra BJP president and burnt his effigies.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Raosaheb Danve on Thursday apologised for his anti-farmer remark which went viral on social media.

"It was a conversation between me and my party workers. Even then if I have hurt the sentiments of farmers I apologise for it," Danve said.

He further said that he was born in a family of farmers and is very much familiar with their pain, adding that he can't even think of using foul language against them.

Danve while addressing the party workers at an inauguration on Wednesday said, "Our party workers should now not cry but fight. Just the day before yesterday, we've asked officials to procure one lakh tonne tur daal. Yet these people (referring to farmers) are crying. Are you reading too many newspapers?"

The video went viral stirring controversy. The Shiv Sena on Thursday held a protest against the Maharashtra BJP president and burnt his effigies.
Waters has changed her Facebook profile to an image of herself breastfeeding in Parliament, attracting dozens of mostly positive comments.

Sydney: A breastfeeding senator has made Australian political history by becoming the first woman to nurse her newborn baby in the nations parliament.

Greens senator Larissa Waters returned to the upper house Senate for the first time Tuesday since giving birth to her second child, and brought her in for a feed during a vote. So proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the federal Parliament! We need more #women & parents in Parli, she wrote on Twitter.

Being able to breastfeed in the chamber follows new rules introduced last year to create a more a family friendly parliament in the wake of what has been described as a baby boom among politicians. Under previous rules, children were technically banned.

In 2003 Kirstie Marshall, a Victorian MP, was ejected from state Parliament for breastfeeding her 11-day old baby girl, Waters added.

Sometimes its difficult not to get disheartened by the sexism women still face in the workplace. But sometimes it pays to look back and see how far we have come.

Breastfeeding in public has become a hot topic in many countries, and female lawmakers have been criticised for taking their babies to parliamentary sessions.

Last year, a politician in Iceland spoke in Parliament while breastfeeding her baby daughter and infants are allowed in the European and Spanish Parliaments. Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher said the moment 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.

Waters has changed her Facebook profile to an image of herself breastfeeding in Parliament, attracting dozens of mostly positive comments.

Thank you for sharing this beautiful picture and helping to normalize breastfeeding in our society! one user wrote. Another added: yessss, you are such a legend. Thanks for being such a strong, groundbreaking woman.
Kapil Mishra has opened the pandoras box by alleging that Mr Kejriwal had accepted Rs 2 crores from Satyendar Jain in his presence.

It is difficult to imagine that a self-styled social reformer, riding on high moral ground with a promise to not only cleanse the Indian polity but also bring about a paradigm shift in it, can have such a fall. AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who fired the imagination of the nation with his highfalutin talk on corruption, has slid into the quagmire of sleazy politics in rather a short period.

Former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra has opened the pandoras box by alleging that Mr Kejriwal had accepted Rs 2 crores from Satyendar Jain in his presence. Allegations, no doubt, need to be proved, but Mr Kejriwal too has been levelling allegations against leaders of other parties, and has been even jailed in a defamation case filed by Nitin Gadkari.

People with high moral standing are expected to resign once they come under a cloud. Many leaders have resigned from political posts when they were chargesheeted in the hawala scam, though it did not stand scrutiny in the court later on.

Till now, Mr Kejriwal has not been chargesheeted in any case, but Mr Mishra has handed over documents that substantiate his claims to the CBI for an inquiry. It is too early to predict what the CBI will do and the authenticity of these documents, but Mr Kejriwal must be above suspicion irrespective of the fact whether or not the charges are proved because he has fixed a different yardstick of political morality.

Even the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, who made a volte face from their stated positions, remained free from the taint of corruption. Napoleon gave the first republican constitution to France but as he got powerful, he declared himself Emperor. He invited the Pope for his coronation to bequeath legitimacy to his rule. When the Pope was about to crown him, Napoleon got so impatient that he snatched the crown from the Pope and put it on his head himself.

Hitler came to power by discrediting all leaders and parties but once elected, he ruled the Nazi Party autocratically by declaring himself the Fuhrer, or absolute ruler. This principle demanded total obedience of subordinates as he conceived the government to be like a pyramid, with him being right at the top. He was so insecure that he encouraged distrust, rivalry and infighting in the ranks to enjoy unquestioned authority.

When Mr Kejriwal talked of shifting the political paradigm during the early days of his political activism, he stressed on doing away with the high command culture. Ironically, he became the highest command in his own party. Nothing moves in his party without his nod; dissent has no place. Going against his stated position that he would not hold any constitutional position himself, he grabbed the post of chief minister at the first instance of winning the election, but did not resign from the post of national convenor of his party defying the principle of one-man, one-post. Mr Kejriwal swore in the name of his children that he would not form a government with the support of the Congress, but did exactly this. When his party was wiped out in the Lok Sabha elections, he got desperate to get the Legislative Assembly, which was in suspended animation, and form the government without an election. The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, in its overconfidence after winning the Haryana elections, held fresh elections in Delhi. It revived Mr Kejriwals fortunes.

Mr Kejriwal promised to send former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit to jail for corruption as soon as he assumed the reins of power, but till date there is not even an FIR registered against her.

V.P. Singh also promised to punish the culprits of the Bofors scam within 15 days of forming the government, and claimed at an election rally at Patna in 1989 before the Lok Sabha elections that he knew the bank account number of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in St. Kitts. He even disclosed the account number and claimed that it was in the name of Lotus, which is an equivalent for Rajiv.

Mr Singh, thus, used honesty as a strategy and could never deliver on the promises made, but he did not face any charge of personal corruption and subsequently refused to hold the post of Janata Dal president also.

Mr Kejriwal too used honesty as a strategy and found resounding success. But soon the self-proclaimed political reformer metamorphosed into a hardcore politician and started treading the beaten track. He removed the names of contributors to his party from the party website on the grounds that they would be harassed by the Union government. Did this new wisdom dawn on him after coming to power? What about the promise at the formation of the AAP that they would upload all information about its funding on the partys website, which would force other political parties to do the same and would usher in political transparency?

He believes in unabashed self-promotion and has no qualms about spending public money on advertising his achievements. The Shunglu Committee on issues of propriety and governance has indicted him.

His mentor Anna Hazare is thoroughly disenchanted with his brand of politics and feels betrayed. Anna was used and dumped under this strategy. The anti-corruption movement became a facade for Mr Kejriwal to climb the ladder of power politics.

There have been many anti-corruption movements in India in the past. Jayaprakash Narayans movement was essentially an anti-corruption movement, which turned into be a movement for the preservation of democracy after Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency and defiled the Constitution of India. Mr Singh also led a campaign against corruption in the wake of the Bofors scam and reaped political dividends.

Annas movement was very short-lived as he lacked vision despite his impeccable integrity and good intentions. Also, Mr Kejriwal had betrayed him. It is heartening to hear Anna say that he will again sit on a fast at Jantar Mantar if the corruption charges against Mr Kejriwal are proved. One can only hope that such a day never comes, and that Mr Kejriwal would resign if a chargesheet is filed and not wait for the judicial verdict.
To their credit, local officials resisted the demand for instant injustice, but a young boy was killed in the violence.

A couple of years ago, in an interview on Irish television, the British actor and TV personality Stephen Fry made some comments that potentially fell foul of the Republic of Irelands 2009 Defamation Act, according to which anyone who says or publishes anything construed as blasphemous shall be guilty of an offence.

A member of the public filed a complaint at the time, which appears to have been ignored until he contacted the police again some weeks ago to ascertain whether the matter had been pursued.

At the end of last week, it was reported that police had launched an investigation. By Monday, the probe had been dropped, after the police were unable to find a substantial number of outraged people; even the complainant said he felt no personal offence but was merely doing his civic duty.

Even if a prosecution had been pursued and a conviction obtained against Mr Fry and the broadcaster RTE, the culprits would have been liable to, at worst, a fine of 25,000 euros. Yet the episode graphically highlights the absurdity of the Irish law, and Ivana Bacik, a senator who campaigned against it in 2009, has been quoted as saying that it is being used as a model by these regimes [including Pakistan] and this is not what Ireland should aspire to.

That is an unfair claim. The Irish model, however odd it may seem from a Western European perspective, would surely be deemed far too lame by many Muslim states.

As we have been reminded far too frequently in recent years, long after the colonial law was beefed up by Pakistans most toxic military regime, the very concept has been appropriated by some of the worst elements in society as an excuse for murder. The vaguest insinuations of blasphemy, invariably false or dubious in the extreme, can  and all too often do  lead to lynchings.

The law itself may be questioned by some, but efforts to reform it were suspended several years ago  not least because it is routinely disrespected by those whom one would assume to be the most ardent of its votaries. They wouldnt want a word of it to be changed, but all too many of them also seem determined to override its processes. Ill-motivated accusations suffice as evidence of guilt. An irrevocable verdict is pronounced in minds inflamed with the passion of ignorance, and then carried out in the most brutal manner imaginable, often in full public view.

The sheer barbarism of the mob that brutalised and then murdered the Mardan university student Mashal Khan in his hostel almost a month ago spurred a broader degree of revulsion than is the norm in such circumstances. The leaders of all the major political parties  including those whose activists are alleged to have participated in or possibly even spearheaded the outrage  lined up to condemn the atrocity.

In many cases, however, they waited for the police to declare that the accusations of blasphemy were groundless before issuing their statements or offering condolences.

By all accounts, Mashal Khan was indeed guilty of holding enlightened views that may not have tallied with those of some of his peers, and of challenging the incompetence of the university authorities. From what one can gather, the latter crime may have been crucial in sealing his fate. Several arrests have been made, and while it obviously must be hoped that the ongoing investigation will clarify matters, there are inevitably grounds for scepticism.

Its reasonably safe to assume, though, that whatever the actual motivation behind the horrific outbreak of violence, at least some of the perpetrators saw their own descent into savagery as some kind of a religious duty.

As, no doubt, did the members of a mob that attacked a police station in Hub, Balochistan, in order to lynch a man from a minority community, who has been accused of blasphemy. To their credit, local officials resisted the demand for instant injustice, but a young boy was killed in the violence.

It seems almost futile to refer back to eras in Muslim history when religious matters could openly be debated, but surely it is worth remembering that just a few decades ago, Pakistan itself represented a relatively open-minded society where differences of opinion could be articulated without risk of bodily harm.

This is not an exclusive phenomenon, of course. Bigotry is on the rise in the neighbourhood, and for that matter pretty much across the world. But wherever those who insist that anyone who disagrees with their beliefs be deprived of their life or liberty are, in fact, conceding a weakness. Fanaticism springs from insecurity.

By arragement with the Dawn
The judiciary was in grave danger of descending to irretrievable levels of ridicule if it did not punish the rebel judge.

Justice C.S. Karnan deserves his fate as the first judge to be sentenced to jail in India. He overstepped the bounds of proper behaviour on numerous occasions. Cornered by his increasingly bellicose behaviour, the Supreme Court had no option but to throw the rulebook after giving him every chance to express regret for his conduct ahead of his retirement. In directing that the renegade judge be jailed within the Calcutta high courts jurisdiction, the seven-member bench may in effect be saving Mr Karnan from himself as his actions were getting too irrational to be explained away as a dalit raging against the systems unfairness. Beyond rescuing the judge from himself, the judges were asserting the majesty of the judiciary so that no disgruntled judge may take recourse to such tactics ever again.

The judiciary was in grave danger of descending to irretrievable levels of ridicule if it did not punish the rebel judge, who was acting on the premise that a high court judge couldnt be disciplined and could only be removed by Parliament. The rulebook had to be thrown at him after he dragged his fellow judges into scornful exchanges in public. Instead of pussyfooting around the issue after giving Mr Karnan every chance to retract, the bench may have relied on the Constitutions Article 129, which gives ample scope for action on several counts, and specifically empowers the Supreme Court to punish for contempt of itself. This was no time to quibble over the niceties of how to act against a judge  and who else should have the authority to sit in judgment on high court judges than Supreme Court judges, who are also the Constitutions custodians. It was important that the judiciarys reputation, after getting dented, be restored by stern action after the likes of Markandey Katju, Soumitro Sen and P.D. Dinakaran, among others, had wreaked sufficient havoc of late. The basic principles of a solemn institution like the court were being threatened by the judge from Tami Nadu, who can have little grouse about his career as he had risen in the ranks thanks to affirmative action. His imagined slights at the hands of fellow judges seem to have triggered the confrontation against the authority of the Supreme Court.

This is not the time or occasion to debate over finding an ideal system of appointing judges. A bad apple could have slipped through regardless of whether judges are appointed by a collegium or a commission. A way must be found to caution, discipline or even dismiss judges with a track record of errant behaviour. Impeachment is too far-fetched. A mechanism to handle errant judges must be devised to exist within the system, and it is up to legal eagles and eminent jurists to find a way.
Heather Graves, a Modesto Police Department spokeswoman, said that Singh and one of the suspects had confrontation inside the store.

Jagjeet Singh had come to the US only 18 months ago from Punjab.(Photo: Representational Image/AFP)

New York: Police in California are investigating the murder of a 32-year old Sikh man as a possible "hate crime" after he refused to sell cigarettes to a man who did not have proper ID.

Jagjeet Singh, who was a clerk at the Hatch Food and Gas convenience store in California's Modesto city, had come to the US only 18 months ago from Punjab.

Singh was stabbed to death last week after he apparently refused to sell cigarettes to his attacker as he did not have proper ID.

Heather Graves, a Modesto Police Department spokeswoman, told NBC News that Singh and one of the suspects had had a confrontation inside the store.

"We have a couple of different witnesses giving some information but that's still under investigation," she said.

"We just know that there were words exchanged between the two of them."

Asked whether the stabbing may have been a hate crime, Graves said, "That is a possibility and we are investigating that possibility as well."

Police have released a surveillance picture of the man who got into an argument with Singh over the sale of cigarettes.

The man left the business parking lot in a dark coloured vehicle and then returned with a second suspect who stabbed the victim.

The preliminary findings suggest that Singh was securing the business after closing when he was approached by the suspect.

The suspect, described as a Hispanic male stabbed Singh and then fled from the scene, according to a statement from the Modesto Police Department.

Singh was the fourth Indian-origin victim of an alleged crime in the US in the last one week alone.

Ramesh Kumar, 32, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the passenger seat of a car parked in a rest area 90 miles of Detroit.

Indian-origin Naren Prabhu, a Silicon Valley technology executive and his wife were shot at their home in San Jose by their daughters ex-boyfriend who was eventually shot dead in a standoff with the police.

Mirza Tatlic, 24, fatally shot the couple in an apparent revenge attack.
Democrats renew calls for appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Kremlin links.

Washington: President Donald Trumps stunning firing of FBI director James Comey throws into question the future of a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaigns possible connections to Russia and immediately raised suspicions of an underhanded effort to stymie a probe that has shadowed the administration from the outset.

Democrats likened Tuesdays ouster to President Richard Nixons Saturday Night Massacre and renewed calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor, and some Republicans also questioned the move.

In his letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore public trust and confidence in the FBI. The administration paired the letter with a scathing review by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein of how Comey handled the investigation into Democrat Hillary Clintons email practices, including his decision to hold a conference announcing its findings and releasing derogatory information about Clinton.

While Comey has drawn anger from Democrats since he reopened the email investigation in the closing days of last years campaign, they didnt buy that justification for his firing Tuesday. Several Republicans joined them in raising alarms of how it could affect probes into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Trump will now appoint a successor at the FBI, which has been investigating since late July, and who will almost certainly have an impact on how the investigation moves forward and whether the public will accept its outcome.

I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Comeys termination, Senator Richard Burr said in one of the strongest statements from a Republican. As chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, Burr is leading one of the three congressional investigations and has been in regular contact with Comey. His dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the committee.

The firing renewed longstanding demands by Democrats for a special prosecutor, especially since the White House has said the firing was carried out upon the recommendation of senior justice department leadership, including Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Russia investigation since attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself because of previously unreported contacts with the Russian ambassador.

It was only the second firing of an FBI director in history. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993. Democrats compared the ouster to Nixons decision to fire the independent special prosecutor overseeing the Watergate probe.
Rocky River police said the 45-year-old driver was wearing nothing from the waist down when he crashed through a store.

Police said the man barricaded himself in a beer cooler (Photo: Pixabay) (Representational Image)

Rocky River, (Ohio): Police in suburban Cleveland say a half-naked man intentionally crashed his car into a closed convenience store to get beer, injuring himself and a store employee.

Rocky River police said the 45-year-old driver was wearing nothing from the waist down when he crashed through a store wall early Sunday and told the worker he needed beer.

Police said the man barricaded himself in a beer cooler and told police to shoot him, but they subdued him with a stun device.

The driver was taken to a hospital, as was the store employee, who suffered leg and chest injuries that weren't considered critical. The driver has been charged with impaired driving.

Police said the worker was fortunate that a deli counter was between him and the car, preventing more serious injuries.
South Koreas new President open to visiting the North over its nuclear progamme, missiles.

South Koreas President Moon Jae-in with his wife Kim Jeong-suk as he waves to his supporters near the presidential Blue House in Seoul on Wednesday. (Photo: AFP)

Seoul: New South Korean President Moon Jae-in said as he took office on Wednesday that he was open to visiting rival North Korea under the right conditions to talk about its aggressive pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles.

Mr Moon assumed presidential duties early in the morning after the national election commission finished counting Tuesdays votes and declared him winner of the special election necessitated by the ousting of conservative Park Geun-hye.

Mr Moons 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.

South Koreas first liberal leader in a decade, Mr Moon also said he would sincerely negotiate with the us, Seouls top ally, and China, South Koreas top trading partner, over the contentious deployment of an advanced US missile-defence 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, Mr Moon pledged to work for peace on the Korean Peninsula amid growing worry over the Norths nuclear weapons and missiles programme.

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, Mr Moon said.
Missiles may be deployed amid tensions with Russia.

US defence secretary James Mattis shakes hands with a German soldier as he meets with US troops deployed in Lithuania, with representatives of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and soldiers of the Nato-enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battlegroup in Lithuania, in Pabrade. (Photo: AP)

Vilinus: The US military is considering to send a Patriot missile battery to the Baltic region for NATO exercises this summer, US defence officials said, though the move would only be temporary.

Speaking to reporters in Vilnius late on Tuesday, two defence officials said the US is moving enhanced air defence assets into the region as part of multinational air drills. The move comes amid heightened tensions with Russia, which is itself holding massive military exercises in Belarus and Kaliningrad in September.

The so-called Zapad drills will see Russia showcase new hardware and upgrade existing systems in its western military region, the officials said. Moscow, last year, deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into its Kaliningrad exclave, which borders Lithuania and Poland, rattling nearby Nato members.

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis was in Lithuania on Wednesday to visit a German Nato battle group and Dutch and Belgian soldiers at a training ground outside Vilnius.

Any buildup of Russian combat power in an area where they know, and we all know, they are not threatened by anything that we are doing in Lithuania or elsewhere in the democratic countries, any kind of buildup like that is simply destabilising, Mr Mattis said at a brief press conference with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. He refused to discuss whether Vilnius had requested a permanent Patriot missile deployment. We will make those decisions in consultation with the Lithuania government, he said. Everyone knows this is not an offensive capability.

The Patriot is a mobile air defence system made by Raytheon, designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, low-flying cruise missiles and aircraft.

Mr Mattis trip to Lithuania is his first to eastern Europe as def-ence secretary and his meeting with Grybauskaite, a very vocal critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, could be interpreted as a signal for Moscow.
A Sri Lanka govt official said it was 'unlikely' to agree to China's request to dock the submarine at any time, given India's concerns.

Colombo: Sri Lanka has rejected China's request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month, two senior government officials said on Thursday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in the island nation.

Sri Lanka last allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in the capital of Colombo in October 2014, a move that triggered fierce opposition from India, which worries about growing Chinese activity in a country it has long viewed as part of its area of influence.

A senior Sri Lankan government official said China's request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month had been rejected. He said Sri Lanka was "unlikely" to agree to China's request to dock the submarine at any time, given India's concerns. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The second official, at the defence ministry, also said China's request to dock this month had been rejected but that a decision on a further docking had been postponed.

"It might happen later," the second official said, adding that China had requested approval to use the port around May 16 "sometime back".

A source close to the Chinese embassy in Colombo confirmed that China had requested permission for the submarine visit but was still awaiting a response.

China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka in recent years, funding airports, roads, railways and ports, unsettling India, traditionally the closest economic partner of the island nation of 21 million people.

More than 70 per cent of the trans-shipment in Colombo port comes from India.

Sri Lanka is finalising a plan to lease 80 percent of its loss-making Hambantotata port to China for 99 years, but the deal has been delayed because of opposition from trade unions.
Moon can play a mediating role between China and the United States. Review of agreements with the United States on Thaad. Start a denuclearization process with North Korea.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Newly elected South Korean president Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping today had a long telephone conversation lasting about 40 minutes. They have promised to improve the bilateral relations between their countries, and to join the efforts of all parties concerned to denuclearize North Korea.

The news was announced by Seoul's Presidential Office. Xi Jinping called the new South Korean leader to congratulate him on his election, said Moon's spokesman Yoon Young-chan. During a briefing with the press, he stressed that this is an exceptional event for a Chinese leader. "The two heads of state discussed ways to improve relations between South Korea and China and exchanged their views on all issues related to the Korean Peninsula," he added.

The Moon-Xi dialogue is an important novelty for South Korea's political position in the international crisis that involves China, the US and North Korea. Such dialogue can lead to key decisions in Pyongyang. "I will fly directly to Washington ... I will go to Beijing and Tokyo and, under certain conditions, also to Pyongyang," Moon had said in his inaugural address.

During his election campaign, Moon wanted to mark the distance with the outgoing administration by committing himself to the path of dialogue with Pyongyang in order to start the denuclearization process. A big difference from the previous sanctions approach, backed by US President Donald Trump, to exert the highest pressure on North Korea.

"With regard to inter-Korean relations, President Moon Jae-in will have no contact with North Korea that will surprise the US," said Moon Chung-in, Honorary Professor at Yonsei University at Yonhap. The professor is a security adviser to former President Roh Moo-hyun, a political mentor for the new president, and is known as the politician of the North with President Kim Dae-jung. Lastly, he participated in a security policy consulting group on Moon's electoral team.

According to Moon Chung-in's analysis, the new president might first seek out an unofficial dialogue with North Korea. The professor underlined the precious mediation role that Seoul can play between Washington and Beijing on North Korean politics in order to point out a leading role for South Korea in the multilateral process to denuclearize the North.

The analyst urges the new administration to adopt a three-stage process of real-world nuclear denuclearization for North Korea, consisting of the initial freezing of nuclear and missile tests, followed by the verifiable dismantling of North Korean nuclear power and nuclear materials, and finally the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

According to Moon's advisor, it is right for the new president to wonder if the Thaad (High Altitude Area Defense) anti-missile system is militarily useful and whether Seoul must meet Trump's request to pay a billion dollars.

This does not mean wanting to compromise the relationship with the United States, but it is clear that Moon has to step down from the strategic rivalry between China and the United States. That is why, during his election campaign, Moon stated that the Thaad decision was taken too quickly and that his administration would have the final word on the systems roll out.
The conquest comes after weeks of intense fighting. The jihadists used snipers and suicide bombers to defend the territory. New route opened for final attack on the Caliphate stronghold. Ankara outraged by Washington's decision to arm Kurdish fighting groups in Syria. High tension on the eve of the summit between Trump and Erdogan.

Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Arab-Kurdish alliance that fights against the Islamic State (IS) has announced the re-conquest of a town of strategic importance so far under the control of jihadist militias. The Syrian Democratic Forces (Sdf) have reportedly "completely freed" the city of Tabqa and the nearby dam, which are about 40 km west of Raqqa, the stronghold of the "Caliphate" in Syria.

The town of Tabqa and the nearby dam, located on the river Euphrates, are located in the governorate of Raqqa, in central-northern Syria. Fighting in the area began at the end of March and several attempts to "take the Tabqa Dam" by the Kurdish forces began.

Kurdish-Syrian military spokesmen have documented the presence of Kurdish militiamen in the plant with photos and videos.

Analysts and experts point out that the military victory opens a new route for the siege of Raqqa, the ultimate goal of advancing Arab-Kurdish forces. The military had to overcome fierce resistance against the jihadists, who used snipers and suicide bombers to defend the territory.

The siege presented no few risks because damages to the dam would have caused the flooding of a large area in the region. Sdf spokesman Talal Sello, stated that "joint operations are under way" to secure the city.

The Arab-Kurdish coalition's military success comes a few hours from the announcement by the US administration that it intends to provide new weapons to the Kurdish fighters of the People's Guardianship Units (Ypg) engaged in the struggle against the Isis. A decision which has enraged Ankara, which considers Kurdish fighters like terrorists.

The issue is likely to worsen the relationship between the White House and its Turkish NATO ally even more, less than a week from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's official visit to the United States, when the Turkish leader and US counterpart Donald Trump are expected to hold talks.

For Washington, Kurdish combat units represent a strategic ally in the struggle against the Islamic State in Syria. In American plans, the Kurdish forces will be the first to attack the jihadist stronghold when the final assault on Raqqa's recapture will be launched.

Ankara, on the other hand, believes the Syrian section of the Kurdish Workers Party (PAK), which since 1984 promotes an armed insurrection aimed at creating a Kurdish autonomous entity in the region that today comprises Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Nurettin Canikli, Turkeys Deputy Prime Minister, stresses that "the supply of weapons to the Ypg is unacceptable" and this policy "will not benefit anyone" and "we hope it will be corrected".

Turkey hosts some 14 million Kurds. Ankara fears that with the multiplication of Kurdish autonomous territories in Syria and Iraq, a secession of the Kurdish region in the southeastern part of the country may occur.
by Weena Kowitwanij

Considered Buddhisms main observance, it draws believers across the country to rituals that follow local ancestral traditions. King Maha Vajiralongkorn led a ritual ceremony. A conference on the Buddhas teachings was held in Bangkok. [L]et us celebrate the wisdom of Lord Buddha by taking action for others with a strong spirit of solidarity, said UN secretary Antonio Guterres.

Bangkok (AsiaNews)  Vesakh Bucha, also known as Buddha Day, is a national holiday in Thailand. It was celebrated yesterday, 10 May, beginning with the full moon of the sixth lunar month on the Thai calendar.

For Buddhists around the world, this is an important observance, marking the three most important events in the Buddha's life, namely his birth, enlightenment and death, all on the same day.

The Buddha reached enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, sometimes called the sacred fig tree, venerated in both Buddhism and Hinduism. And according to legend, this is where Buddha enlightened the four noble truths: suffering caused by worry or illness, the origin or cause of suffering, Nirvana or the state of perfect happiness or peace, and the path or way to end suffering.

The Buddha died at the age of 80 and Buddhists believe he reached the state of Nirvana and reincarnation.

Vesakh Bucha is considered Buddhisms main observance and believers take part in temple rituals around the country following local ancestral traditions. For example, in Pijit province, tradition calls for exchanging money for the life of 19 cows and water buffaloes that are given to poor farmers to work in rice paddies.

Other activities that are normally associated with this holiday include: cash donations, listening to sermons about the teachings of the Buddha, meditation, and the release of birds or fish, who symbolise the decrease of karma or misdeeds.

At 5.30 pm yesterday, King Rama X, Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun led the ceremony of listening to the praying chant of Wat Phra Kaew's temple monks in the royal palace. Government officials and people from all over the country were present. The service ended with participants circle the temple with burning candles, incense and flowers.

Associated with Vesakh, more than a thousand people from 84 countries attended a seminar at the United Nations Centre in Bangkok (6-8 May 2017) on Consciousness: A Path to Perform and a Path to adapt on the basis of Compassion.

In the opening address, Phra Phrombandit, rector of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (for monks) in Wang Noi, invited the international committee to celebrate the 14th Vesakh.

In his message for Vesakh, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed appreciation for the Buddha's timeless message of compassion for human suffering.

In our interconnected world, he said, there can be no peace as long as others are in peril; no security as long as others suffer deprivation; no sustainable future until all members of our human family enjoy their human rights. On this Day of Vesak, let us celebrate the wisdom of Lord Buddha by taking action for others with a strong spirit of solidarity.

The UN general secretary went on to suggest that Buddhists around the world and those in the Council celebrate together in solidarity with one heart and one mind.
Joel Sanders, the former chief financial officer of failed US BigLaw outfit Dewey & LeBeouf, has been convicted of three counts of accounting fraud in Manhattan on Monday, according to The New York Times.The conviction, handed down via a split verdict after the jury deliberated for five full days, comes nearly five years after the downfall of what used to be one of New Yorks most prestigious firms. It is still considered the largest collapse of an American law firm.Sanders, who faces up to four years in prison, will appeal the verdict, according to his lawyer, Andrew Frisch.He was on trial with another former Dewey executive, Stephen DiCarmine, who was acquitted of the same charges. The former executive director of the firm told the Times that he believed Sanders is innocent.The verdict comes about 20 months after an earlier criminal proceeding ended in a mistrial. The new trial at the State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan, which began in January, delved into whether Sanders and DiCarmine deliberately hid the firms money problems from financial backers.Dewey & LeBeouf was created by the 2007 merger between Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. At its peak, it had more than 1,300 lawyers and more than 3,000 employees around the world.After acknowledging in 2012 that reported financial performance might be inaccurate, the firm, which was deep in debt, saw a mass exodus of about two-thirds of its equity partners.
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Angela Skandarajah, MinterEllison s head of real estate, environment, and planning, is leaving private practice to head Development Victoria, the states newest statutory authority, the firm has confirmed.Skandarajah has achieved many accolades in her time with the firm since joining as a student paralegal in 1993. She served as Melbourne office staff partner, Melbourne office managing partner and most recently, national leader of the firms real estate business unit, said Tony Harrington , MinterEllison chief executive.She has been an inspirational role model and mentor to many younger partners and lawyers. Her contribution to the Melbourne office  and to the firm more broadly  has been significant. We thank her for all of that. We will miss her, Harrington said.Formed on 1 April by the combination of Places Victoria and Major Projects Victoria, Development Victoria will oversee the development of properties and precincts to meet the states policy objectives.As legal counsel, Skandarajah will oversee all legal matters at the new authority including corporate governance. She will transfer to her new role by the end of June to early July, MinterEllison said.Angela Skandarajah
By Drew Evans, Associate Professor of Energy & Advanced Manufacturing, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, University of Sou

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls 2015 National Innovation and Science Agenda was a call to arms for Australias research and industry sectors to collaborate and drive our economy.

One and a half years on, youd be excused for thinking a few pages of notes were missing from Budget 2017. Specifically no comment was made about the vision of where our great ideas boom was taking us - setting the scene to unite industry and researchers alike.

For manufacturing there was a glimmer of hope in the announcement of A$100 million to boost innovation, skills and employment in advanced manufacturing.

It addresses people, know-how, process and partnerships. If connected into a strategic plan there could be benefits for businesses as the manufacturing sector redeploys into new activity.

However, it does appear narrowly focused on the here and now for closed and closing automotive manufacturers.

In the absence of linkage with the National Innovation and Science Agenda, the pending 2030 Roadmap from Innovation and Science Australia, and comment on the research and development tax incentive review, the A$100 million may be an expensive band-aid.

Capital upgrades

The funding announcement refers to A$47.5 million for a new Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund to support South Australian and Victorian manufacturers for capital upgrades to make their businesses more competitive through innovative processes and equipment.

My experience of project work with manufacturing companies is that capital cost of equipment (capital expenditure, or CapEx) has never been a roadblock to growth and success.

When the business case stacks up, CapEx is easily justified. The business case is built upon having the right people and know-how in the business.

In isolation the drive to purchase new equipment presents no value to business, and may even lead to stranded assets. But coupled with people and know-how, opportunities may come.

Its important to recognise that right now, existing manufacturers are looking at how to utilise and/or redeploy their existing assets. In particular the automotive parts manufacturers are seeking new opportunities that match with existing equipment.

An example is a company that I am working with, Precision Components in South Australia. They are redeploying their large metal presses previously used in car component manufacturing to create components for capturing solar energy at HeliostatSA. Its a project that has contributed to export capability for HeliostatSA.

Redeployment is the focus for many businesses today, not new equipment.

Small scale research projects

The funding announcement refers to A$4 million to support small scale and pilot research projects in advanced manufacturing, administered through the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre.

This seems like a good move.

Boosting innovation requires broadening the base of businesses looking to grow, and collaboration with university research programs is one way to achieve this. Small grants build confidence in collaborative partnerships, and help to clarify what the innovation is and its future return on investment.

For example, the governments Innovation Connections scheme has had success in seeding innovation and collaboration.

A recent recipient of an Innovation Connections grant, company Sentek Pty Ltd, is utilising this scheme to fund new product development, and to underpin justification for future and larger investment. I am collaborating with Sentek on this project.

Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Projects

The funding announcement refers to A$20 million under the Cooperative Research Centre  Projects initiative for larger scale advanced manufacturing research projects.

This funding should be warmly received.

The CRC program links researchers and industry, with the aim of delivering economic value to the industry partner and the sector more broadly. This scheme funds the real costs of research, develops skills in people, and incentivises transitioning knowledge out of the university.

The newly formed CRC Projects scheme is in its infancy, with industry firmly in the driving seat for administering the projects.

From the first two rounds of funding under the CRC Projects, a total of 28 projects have been funded. Each project has seen a co-investment from industry, universities, other research institutes, and the federal government.

Crunching the numbers for the funded projects shows, on average, the government invested A$2.04 million per project. This indicates that the new A$20 million of funding could support around an additional ten projects. This will stimulate activity and add value to our advanced manufacturing sector.

Innovation Labs

The funding announcement refers to A$10 million to establish Innovation Labs in South Australia and Victoria to serve industry.

Its difficult to know what this means in reality.

Perhaps the purpose is to provide facilities for early stage innovation to be tested at minimal expense, and reduce the risk of the business making significant investment in infrastructure.

Perhaps it will allow researchers or companies to shore up concepts before seeking investment and raising capital. Maybe existing facilities will seek financial support to expand their remit across a diverse advanced manufacturing sector.

A topical example relates to additive manufacturing  generally known as 3D printing. Businesses producing 3D-printed products need a testing ground to conduct certification and accreditation of products prior to sale. The Innovation Labs could fill this void, and complete the link between laboratory research and commercial product.

Engineering excellence

The funding announcement refers to A$5 million investment in engineering student research at universities, technology institutions and in industry to maintain the flow of highly trained engineers to the automotive design and engineering sector.

At the heart of innovation are people.

Engineers represent one discipline that contributes to the pipeline of innovation. An investment to see the continual training of excellent engineers may address the loss of traditional career pathways.

Perhaps the funds will aid in restructuring of engineering education towards emerging opportunities in the health and medical, agriculture, renewable energy and other sectors.

As more details come to light in the coming weeks and months, the Turnbull governments vision for Australias manufacturing future may become clearer.

But the sense from the manufacturers themselves is that they will just get on and do it anyway.

Drew Evans receives funding from Precision Components and Sentek Pty Ltd. A component of this funding is through the CRC and Innovation Connections schemes. While Drew is an employee of the University of South Australia, the views expressed in the article are his expert personal opinions, not necessarily those of his employer.

Originally published in The Conversation.
" for example, would see the cost of an arts degree rise from $6,349 a year to $29,632 and for a science degree from $9,050 to $35,824. "Per year, so times that 3 years, $100,000 for a common Science Degree while on PR now.Source below:Currently you come on a Temp for 2 years, then get PR for 4+ years. Now you are considered not as a Resident for Education in Oz.So many will be forced onto Centrelink while waiting to go to Uni now.


(Gripfast/Bigstock.com) (Gripfast/Bigstock.com)

Visa application fees in Australia are to increase with the Government announcing that is expects to see revenue from the charges increase by almost $200 million.Details in the just published Budget show that the money made from visa application charges is forecast to increase to $2,275.6 million in 2017/2018, a rise of $190.1 million. Over four years an extra $410 million is predicted.Also, from the 01 July visa charges will be index linked which means that they will increase annually in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Visa fees will be indexed annually and rounded off to the nearest $5.The indexation only applies to the first instalment of the visa application fee for both primary and secondary applicants. Indexation does not apply to the second instalment of the visa fee.The increases vary from an extra 10 for a student visa to $70 more for the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme while the partner visa fee will increase from $6,865 to $7,000.Treasurer Scott Morrison also announced an annual foreign worker levy of $1,200 or $1,800 per worker per year on temporary work visas and employers sponsoring permanent skilled visas will face a $3,000 or $5,000 one-off levy.Small businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million will have to pay an annual levy of $1,200 for sponsoring a foreign worker's temporary visa and a onetime charge of $3,000 for a permanent skilled visa. While for those with a turnover of more than $10 million it will be $1,800 per year and a one-off $5,000 for a temporary and a permanent visa respectively.The rise has not been welcomed by the tourism industry, which believes that visitor visas are already priced too high. Industry leaders had lobbied for visa fees to be reduced to make them more competitive with other countries.Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said it will make Australia one of the most expensive countries in the world to visit. 'This visa increase is an extremely short sighted move that will make it even more expensive for international tourists to come to Australia. The task of competing against the multitude of other destinations for the international tourist dollar has just become a whole lot harder,' she explained.She also pointed out that it will mean less investment in the country as a whole. 'The increase in visa fees will reduce the international competitiveness of Australia and seriously jeopardise the potential of the sector to boost Australia's growth and create jobs,' she added.Farmers and businesses in regional areas are also displeased with the new levy on foreign workers which they say will impact on their financial viability.
Good afternoon,



I am a 29-year-old Canadian plumber. I began my apprenticeship in June 2013 here in Nova Scotia, Canada. In June 2017, after my interprovincial exam, I will be a fully qualified "Red Seal" plumber.



My goal is to move to Australia permanently. My partner (29 British citizen, Canadian PR) and I met there on Working Holiday Visas in 2010 and it has been our life aim ever since our 2nd year WHV expired over 5years ago.



We are looking for a migration agent that can help us with this.



Originally we thought that we would wait until I had three years post trade experience and then apply for a 189 skilled independent visa and in the meantime look for sponsorship and apply for a 457 visa and see what came first.



With the recent changes to the 189 and the 457 we realised now that a 189 is no longer possible and that we would have to go down the path of the 457 only. i think!



I have reached out to the MARA agents in Canada (all 6 of them) to see if they can assist. Are any of you using a MARA in Canada? Or an immigration lawyer? Can you recommend anyone?
By the numbers: The city's budget

Highlights of the City of Bakersfield proposed budget for fiscal year 2017-2018:

General Fund: $201,435,000

Total City Budget: $494,350,000

Proposed staff increases:

3 Police officers

1 Solid waste employee

New/Added Costs:

$2.4 million in city-paid CalPERS

General Fund Revenues:

Sales Tax: 32 percent

Property Tax: 39 percent

General Fund Expenditures:

Police: 44 percent

Fire: 19 percent

Public Works: 13 percent

Recreation and Parks: 9 percent

Note: All percentages are rounded to the nearest percent. Not all expenditures or revenues are listed.
On 28 April 2017, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of AB INTER RAO Lietuva (code 126119913, registered address: Antano Tumeno str. 4, Vilnius, the Republic of Lithuania) decided to allocate AB INTER RAO Lietuva profit for the year 2016 and to pay out EUR 0.51 dividend per share.



Dividends shall be paid to the shareholders who at the end of the tenth business day following the day of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders that adopted a decision on dividend payment, i.e. on 15 May 2017 will be shareholders of AB INTER RAO Lietuva.



Dividend will be paid out in the following order on 24 May 2017:



The amount of dividend for shareholder shall be calculated by multiplying the amount of shares held by shareholder by dividend per one share and rounding the result in the following order:



(i) if the result of the figure in fraction (i.e. up to the third figure after comma) would be equal or bigger than 0,005, the shareholders amount of the dividend shall be rounded up until 2 figures after comma, that is  expressed in cents, to the higher amount, by adding one to the second figure after comma;



(ii) if the result of the figure in fraction (i.e. up to the third figure after comma) would be smaller than 0,005, the shareholders amount of the dividend shall be rounded up until 2 figures after comma, that is  expressed in cents, to the lower amount, leaving the second figure after comma unchanged.



 to the shareholders, whose AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares are accounted by AB LIETUVOS CENTRINIS VERTYBINIU POPIERIU DEPOZITORIUMAS (the Depository of Lithuania), the amount of dividends, after deduction of personal income tax or corporate income tax applicable by the laws of Lithuania, shall be transferred to the shareholders accounts held within a respective brokerage firm or credit institution that holds accounting of AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares owned by such shareholder;



 to the shareholders, whose AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares are accounted by the Central Securities Depository of Poland Krajowy Depozyt Papierow Wartosciowych S.A. (the Depository of Poland), the amount of dividends, after deduction of withholding taxes applicable by the laws of Lithuania, shall be transferred to the Depository of Poland. The Depository of Poland, having received the dividends from AB INTER RAO Lietuva or its representative, shall transfer them to companies that hold accounting of AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares owned by shareholders and these companies shall transfer dividends to the shareholders accounts held with a respective a company or credit institution.



Dividends shall be taxed as follows:



 to shareholders, whose AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares are accounted by the Depository of Lithuania:

- dividends paid to natural persons-residents of the Republic of Lithuania and natural persons-residents of foreign countries are subject to withholding income tax of 15 per cent;

- dividends paid to legal entities-residents of the Republic of Lithuania and legal entities-residents of foreign countries are subject to withholding tax of 15 per cent, unless otherwise provided for by laws.



 Dividends paid to shareholders, whose AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares are accounted by the Depository of Poland, shall be taxed with withholding tax of 15 per cent.



Right to refund tax or part of it



Shareholders of AB INTER RAO Lietuva, whose shares are accounted by the Depository of Lithuania and who are residents of the foreign countries, which have concluded agreements on Avoidance of Double Taxation with the Republic of Lithuania, willing to take advantage of such contractual benefits, shall have the right within five years from the dividends payment day, to submit to Vilnius County State Tax Inspectorate the enclosed Claim of Resident for Reduction of Deducted Tax, form FR0022 (DAS  2), and to refund from the budget of the Republic of Lithuania tax or part of it that was withheld by AB INTER RAO Lietuva. The form FR0022 (DAS-2) filled according to the enclosed Regulations on the completion of forms must be submitted to Vilnius County State Tax Inspectorate together with the certificate regarding dividends paid out to the shareholders, issued by the company that holds accounting of AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares owned by such shareholder.



Shareholders of AB INTER RAO Lietuva, whose shares are accounted by the Depository of Poland and who are residents of the foreign countries which have concluded agreements on Avoidance of Double Taxation with the Republic of Lithuania, willing to take advantage of such contractual benefits, shall have the right within five years from the dividends payment day, to submit to Vilnius County State Tax Inspectorate the Claim of Resident for Reduction of Deducted Tax, form FR0022 (DAS  2), and to refund from the budget of the Republic of Lithuania tax or part of it that was withheld by AB INTER RAO Lietuva. The form FR0022 (DAS-2) filled according to the provisions of laws must be submitted to Vilnius County State Tax Inspectorate together with certificates regarding dividends paid out to the shareholders, issued by the Depository of Poland and the company that holds accounting of AB INTER RAO Lietuva shares owned by such shareholder.



ENCLOSURES:

1. Claim of Resident for Reduction of Deducted Tax, form FR0022 (DAS  2).

2. Regulations on the completion of forms.



Legal grounds: Article 17.1 of the EU Regulation on market abuse No 596/2014
Dozens of people helped free a mother manatee and her calf from New Port Richey canals Wednesday.

Pair trapped in Harbor View community canals

Barrier put in place during week prior lead to situation

Mother manatee injured; calf looked healthy



The pair of manatees were trapped in the canals of the Harbor View community.

It was a process that took dozens of people to complete. Workers from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Lowry Park Zoo, and Clearwater Aquarium were on hand, guiding the mother manatee and her calf into an enclosed area and pulling them out of the water.



It all happened in Marcia Housman's backyard.



"It was amazing," Housman said. "I didn't realize it took that many people to get them out. And happy too that so many people, I guess some of these people are volunteers, and to volunteer to do that -- I wish I could do that."

Photo: Kim Leoffler



She said the manatees were trapped in the canals when a barrier was put in place about a week ago. Since then, she said the mother has desperately been trying to get out.



She's been trying to get out for two days through that pipe down there," said Housman, pointing at the canal. "We've seen her down there putting her head into the pipe, trying to push herself through -- they put in a vertical pipe and she moved that out of the way."



Representatives with FWC said the mother likely entered the canals to either give birth, or just bond with her young calf, too big to fit through the new culvert system.



When they pulled her out of the water, she was injured. Her tail was likely cut up by boat traffic. The calf, however, looked healthy.



"There's very little for them to feed in here. We want them out with the other manatees in the winter time," said Andy Garrett, the states manatee rescue coordinator for FWC. "When the temperatures drop, the animals would get cold stress and die, so we thought it was appropriate to get them relocated."



The pair was taken to Lowry Park Zoo where they will undergo rehab. Garrett said they plan to work with the development to block the culvert so no more manatees can get through and potentially get stuck.

Statewide, FWC has rescued more than 60 manatees so far this year. Thirteen of those have been in the region that includes the Tampa Bay area.
An American doctor living in the British Virgin Islands is sharing her story of animal rescue, in hopes of helping others.

Dr. Nicolle Schultze heads Stetson Foundation, which rescues horses

Stetson Foundation

Stetson gofundme

Meet and greet at RES Equestrian. Saturday, May 13 from 3pm-7pm

Dr. Nicolle Schultze hopes her new organization, Stetson Foundation makes things easier for others struggling to save horses.

Retired race horse, Stetson gallops around the paddock at RES Equestrian in Pinellas Park and practices hunter jumping. They are moves his mom, Dr. Nicolle Schultze says are a miracle. She rescued him about four years ago in BVI where she now lives.

"He was on his back dying on the side of the road," said Dr. Shultze. "He was all bone, so he had no skin from the nape of his head all the way to his rear.



There was one pocket of skin that was left, I believe the only thing keeping him alive was the maggots were eating the infection, he had no made and he had no tail."

Nicolle, a Doctor of Chiropractic, an LPN, EMT and a former Combat Medic, says she nursed the starving horse back to health.

"Its amazing, I mean hes gained 800 pounds, so hes a completely different animal," said Dr. Shultze.

But the animal lover says the small island was no place for a thoroughbred. She says it wasnt safe and someone even tried to poison Stetson. So, Dr. Nicolle started the long process of sending Stetson to the states.



Money raised on a GoFundMe page helped pay for the transfer.

"It was nine weeks of absolute stress, extreme stress," said Dr. Nicolle.

Stress, she says because of the lack of resources.



Thats why Dr. Nicolle is starting the Stetson Foundation.

"Help bridge the gap for people who are actually doing rescues, being on an island, I know what it feels like not having the resources that you need and I want my foundation to be able to help these non-profits that are actually rescuing, rehabbing and re-homing."

An international foundation Dr. Nicolle hopes will educate and inspire.

Now thriving in his new Pinellas Park home, mom will visit Stetson every month.




Fire officials are reminding residents that all of Hernando County remains under a burn ban after Hernando County Fire Rescue responded to four separate brush fires throughout the county Wednesday.

The first fire sparked on Crescent Road in Spring Hill. That fire is 100 percent contained and poses no further threats.

The second fire occurred off Moore Road in Brooksville. That fire is currently contained within fire lines at 5 acres. Smoke and flames will still be visible for several days, but officials said there are no threats to structures in the area.

The cause of the fire was from downed power lines, HCFR said.

The third fire broke out during the Moore fire off of Harrison Road in Brooksville. Fire crews were able to contain that fire to 0.5 acres with 100 percent containment.

The fourth fire started from an unattended recreational fire off of Otter Drive in Brooksville. That fire was less than 0.5 acres and is 100 percent contained, officials said.

Officials are also warning residents in eastern Hernando County of lingering smoky conditions for several days due to a brush fire in the Richloam forest near CR 471.

Florida Forest Service had the 54 acre fire 80 percent contained as of 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown has been found guilty of fraud and tax evasion.

Former Rep. Corrine Brown found guilty of 18 counts of fraud and tax evasion

Accused of using fake charity as personal slush fund

Brown's old district ran from Jacksonville to Orlando

Brown, 70, a Democrat who represented a district that at one point stretched from Jacksonville down into Orlando, was on trial for funneling money from a charity called One Door for Education into her personal accounts.

There were 22 counts against her, including counts of wire and mail fraud, tax evasion, and scheming to hide facts and filing false income tax returns. She was found guilty of 18 of the counts. But she pleaded not guilty, blaming Ronnie Simmons, her former chief of staff for stealing.

She watched the judge read each verdict with no visible reaction.

The prosecution says Brown raised more than $800,000 for One Door for Education, a charity that was supposed to give scholarships to poor students, from 2012 to 2015. But they say the money was a personal slush fund.

The charity purportedly only gave out one scholarship of $1,200 to an unidentified person in Florida.

Brown's attorneys said she did raise the money, but did not know the charity was fake. They say she also did not know Simmons was putting the money into her account and taking money for himself.

Simmons and the charity's president pleaded guilty after federal indictments for misusing the charity's funds. Both testified against Brown.

On Wednesday the judge in the case excused a juror who made comments about Brown and "higher beings." The juror was replaced by an alternate and deliberations had to start all over again.

Brown came to Congress in 1993. Her district represented minorities from Jacksonville down into Orlando.

When the district was redrawn by the courts, Brown sued, saying the new, more compact district, which only represented counties in northeast Florida, would not properly represent minorities.

She was arrested for fraud in July 2016. Brown lost the Democratic primary to Al Lawson in August. He went on to win her seat in November.

Much of Brown's former Orlando voters are now represented in a new district by Congresswoman Val Demings.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Oregon Coast History: Debunking the Beach Bill Myth at Cannon Beach

Published 05/11/2017 at 2:33 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Cannon Beach, Oregon)  There is much ado as of late about the Oregon Beach Bill and its upcoming 50th anniversary. This was, after all, the landmark legislation that allowed all Oregon coast beaches to be open to the public. (Photo above courtesy Tom Olsen and KGW TV archives: Gov. McCall and his limo at Cannon Beach).

The celebrations have already begun, with the initial kick off this weekend in Cannon Beach on May 13. Much of that is predicated on Gov. Tom McCall's visit here on May 13, 1967, where he stood symbolically and defiantly in front of a hotel that was the impetus for the beach bill fight, after having dramatically arrived here by helicopter.

But what if part of that never really happened?

Indeed, the one part of McCall's brilliant media show that did not occur was his purported landing by helicopter in Cannon Beach. He arrived here by limo. While not an earth-shattering detail about the Beach Bill history, the false tale has grown over the decades to expand the intensity of the scene and confuse things a tad. It's also been a growing frustration to local historians who have wanted to set the record straight for a long time.

Moreover, the accurate details of the day are fascinating and rarely talked about. Looking into debunking this myth reveals much about McCall's abilities, and what really happened is actually a little more extraordinary.

Among the historians concerned about the misnomer of a tale are Elaine Murdy-Trucke, head of the Cannon Beach Historical Society; Tom Olsen, maker of the documentary The Politics of Sand; and Matt Love, author of the beach bill book The Great Birthright. You can see many illuminating details of the entire Oregon Beach Bill process on Olsen's video, found here.

So many have either glossed over this information or downright published the wrong information, Murdy-Trucke said.

In fact, all three historians were duped by the story at one point or another.

First, what really happened.

Courtesy Olsen and KGW archives: the Copter Cowards at Gleneden Beach on May 13, 1967

Around the rest of the world in May of '67: Jimi Hendrix released his debut that month and the precursor to King Crimson would be formed in London in a few months. But on the Oregon coast, Gov. Tom McCall slyly let it be known he would be heading on a tour up the coast to make his points about the beach bill that was faltering badly in the legislature. He planned this to happen on the day before Mother's Day  May 13  so that the story would make the headlines in the Sunday papers.

In short, McCall started his visit in Gleneden Beach  at the Salishan Spit, with a team of scientists in tow. It was there that a group of helicopter enthusiasts asked him to get into their copters to help celebrate the only helipad outside of Portland at the time: one that had just been built in Neskowin.



The helipad at Neskowin in 1967, at the Pacific Sands.

On a whim, McCall surprised everyone by doing just that  but fully aware of the public relations possibilities. After flying into Neskowin, he and his small team of scientists and surveyors drove up to Rockaway Beach where some measurements were done. From there, the group headed to Cannon Beach in various cars, where McCall got out and made the iconic pose in front of the hotel that was using a loophole to fence off the beach in front of it. No measurements were made here, except that OSU surveyors John Seadars and Bob Schultz set up equipment on the beach for McCall to pose in front of. The pair headed to Seaside to make more measurements while McCall headed for home.

The subsequent media splash made a major difference.



McCall landing in Neskowin by helicopter (courtesy Olsen and KGW archives)

So where did the helicopter landing at Cannon Beach come from? It seems various sources, but the much-lauded McCall biography, Fire at Eden's Gate: Tom McCall and the Oregon Story by Brent Walth, could well be the tale's origin.

While researching his documentary on the beach bill in the mid 2000's, Olsen interviewed Walth on this as well as McCall's secretary and an assistant. Each were certain the governor had come to Cannon Beach by copter.

There were also other people I talked to that were saying Tom McCall went charging up the beach by helicopter, Olsen said. But I couldn't find any sort of documents on who flew the helicopter. Was this an Oregon State Police helicopter? How was this orchestrated?

After researching further and not finding any evidence, he came across more about the group called the Copter Cowards that had been whooping it up over that helipad in Neskowin. He finally got in touch with Jim Lematta, one of the group involved (himself one of the founders of Columbia Helicopters).

Lematta set Olsen straight on the helicopter rides, and some notes taken by Schulz also indicated how the surveyors would go by car ahead of McCall's limo and set up equipment for the photo opps and the actual work.

So, there and then the myth of the helicopter ride into Cannon Beach was debunked. Yet more fun and fascinating details emerged from that day of flying through the air and driving 100 miles or more.

McCall's initial plans had nothing to do with helicopters that day. In Olsen's documentary, you see Lematta talking about the Copter Cowards looking to cash in on the governor's presence for their celebration in Neskowin.

McCall was staying in Lincoln City the night before, and Lematta and friends managed to contact him. The copter rides were a complete spur-of-the-moment thing, with McCall's training as a journalist telling him this would make great press.

There was nothing planned, Olsen said. Can you imagine a governor doing that today? It doesn't matter what state, just the idea of a governor impromptu hopping into a helicopter like that.

The other magnificent aspect here was the science involved. The Oregon Beach Bill was failing on a few fronts, one of them being: just where should the line be drawn in the sand between public and private property? Schulz and Seadars played the major roles here, taking readings about various heights between the tide line and the vegetation line. With their findings firmly in place, Oregon's legislative processes were able to make the determination that everything from the top of the vegetation line to the water should be public, open space.

Now, just about any beach on the Oregon coast stands as testament to what happened that day. This one date was the turning point for the Oregon Beach Bill, thanks to a rather frivolous helicopter invitation and a lot of driving up the scenic shoreline. Cannon Beach Hotels - Lodging for this event - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour. Below: McCall and the iconic photo where he stands looking at the motel that started it all.



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Residents from Magnolia, Todd Mission and surrounding neighborhoods are invited to a town hall meeting to discuss concerns over noise from last weekend's Middlelands festival, an electronic music festival held at the Renaissance Festival grounds.

While the response to the festival was overwhelmingly positive, some nearby residents complained about hearing loud music late at night.

David Tullos, coordinator of the Grimes County Citizen Advisory Group on Facebook, said some parents were upset the night of Sunday, May 7, posting comments that students facing STAAR testing on Monday morning were being kept awake.

DOZENS OF ARRESTS: See the mugshots from the Middlelands Festival

Tullos said he drove out to the area himself and he could hear the music from about five miles away.

The Renaissance Festival issued the following statement:

"The Texas Renaissance Festival and the producers of Middlelands would like to express our gratitude to the residents of Todd Mission and the surrounding areas for supporting the Middlelands event. We were very happy with details like traffic flow, security, and health and wellness, but as is always the case for any new event, there are things we can learn from. First on our list is having better community involvement from the start in the planning of the event. The producers of Middlelands value community as much as we do. Your feedback is appreciated, your voices will be heard, and we will take that into account as we diligently work to reevaluate various elements of the festival."

Tullos said he's appreciative of the town hall meeting in Magnolia, but hopes the Renaissance Festival and Middlelands organizers will also hold a town hall closer to Todd Mission, where the festival grounds are located.

LOTS OF PLANNING: Here's how the Renaissance Festival manages all that traffic

"We love the Renaissance Festival in Grimes County," Tullos said. He said he hopes stricter ground rules will be set up for future music festivals on the grounds, adding that he feels some hiccups are normal for a brand-new event.

"They'll learn from what happened and it will be better next time," Tullos said.

The town hall meeting will be held Thursday, May 18 at 6 p.m. at the Magnolia City Hall.
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The owner of Mami Chulas was arrested Tuesday for allegedly employing a 16-year-old girl to dance provocatively outside the restaurant, according to Laredo police.

Juan Ramon Meza, 43, was charged with employment harmful to children, a second-felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

LPD records show Meza was arrested for the same offense July 9, 2015. His case was dismissed May 2016, according to court documents.

The mother of the girl reported April 30 that she had seen her daughter employed at Mami Chulas Drive Thru, 1806 Barrios St. An LPD report states the girl was wearing a black bikini while dancing and serving customers.

READ MORE: Police: Mami Chulas employee arrested for public lewdness

Investigators with the Juvenile Enforcement Team followed up on the case. Police spoke to employees and the owners of the location. Her mother alleged she recovered photos of her daughter from social media.

The social media pictures were posted on the juveniles Facebook page of her working at Mami Chulas Drive Thru wearing what her mother had stated that she was wearing that day, an LPD report states.

Authorities presented the case to an assistant district attorney, who approved the issuance of an arrest warrant for Meza.

Click through the gallery above to see photos of Mami Chulas.
Here are eight hospitals and health systems that have opened or announced plans for ASCs from the beginning to the end of April.

Evesham, N.J.-based Virtua, a nonprofit health system, is seeking New Jersey State Health Planning Board approval to relocate Mount Holly, N.J.-based Virtua Memorial Hospital to a new campus equipped with an ASC in Mount Holly.

Weston-based Cleveland Clinic Florida broke ground on Family Health and Ambulatory Surgery Center in Coral Springs, Fla.

Warren, Ohio-based Mercy Health hosted a grand opening for its new $14.5 million facility in Warren.

Hospital for Special Surgery plans to open the HSS ASC of Manhattan in June.

Los Angeles-based Shriners for Children Medical Center is holding a dedication ceremony for its new facility which features an ASC.

Honolulu-based Kaiser Permanente Hawaii opened a 9,444-square-foot ASC at Mapunapuna Medical Office on April 18.

New York City-based Lenox Health Greenwich Village announced plans to open an ASC in the National Maritime Union Building in New York City.

UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest health system in Massachusetts, has plans to lower costs for consumers through its new ASC in Shrewsbury.
Here are seven updates:

Senate approves Dr. Scott Gottlieb as FDA commissioner by 15 votes

The Senate confirmed Scott Gottlieb, MD, as the FDA commissioner in a 57 to 42 vote on May 9. In April, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions confirmed Dr. Gottlieb's nomination, mostly along party lines.

Surgery Partners Q1 revenues total $286.2M; 7.2% jump

Surgery Partners fared well in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. Revenues totaled $286.2 million, up 7.2 percent from first quarter fiscal year 2016.

40 patients develop septic arthritis after NJ clinic fails to abide by standard hygiene practices

State reports confirmed 40 patients developed knee septic arthritis after receiving care at Wall Township, N.J.-based Osteo Relief Institute Jersey Shore. One clinic physician told state health department investigators she did not wash her hands between treating patients.

Anthem asks judge for more time to win merger approval

Anthem is seeking a 60-day preliminary injunction from Vice Chancellor Travis Laster that would prevent Cigna from terminating the proposed merger. Two separate courts denied the Anthem-Cigna merger. Anthem is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its case.

European physicians visit Surgery Center of Oklahoma to observe business practices

Oklahoma City-based Surgery Center of Oklahoma hosted physicians from European countries to observe the center's business practices. The surgery center guarantees its procedures' costs and only accepts cash for payment.

Tenet names Jeffrey Welch market CEO

Tenet Healthcare Corp. selected Jeffrey Welch as its new market CEO. In his role, Mr. Welch will be responsible for Tenet hospitals in the northeast division.

Anesthesiologists murdered in South Boston home, suspect opens fire on police

Police found Richard Field, MD, and Lina Bolanos, MD, dead in their Boston home May 6, after a shootout with the alleged suspect. Police said the physicians and the suspect had known each other, but police haven't defined their exact relationship.
Here are 11 recent news updates on health IT companies.

Allscripts posted total revenue of $413.5 million in the first quarter of 2017.

One of American Well's clinical partners  a physician-owned medical group called Online Care Group  now offers online breastfeeding support services.

Doctor On Demand partnered with two laboratories  Burlington, N.C.-based LabCorp and Madison, N.J.-based Quest Diagnostics to provide consumers with diagnostic services.

Epic posted a fact sheet about its work with the U.S. Coast Guard, after industry media outlets reported on the branch's search for a new EHR vendor.

Epic gave Memphis, Tenn.-based Baptist Memorial Health Care a 10-star rating for its EHR implementation  a world first.

IBM Research investigators shared open-source computational models to help governments and humanitarian agencies fine-tune intervention measures for Ebola outbreaks.

Intel joined forces with three English institutions to identify cancer cells using artificial intelligence.

MDLive filed a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit, sparking debate over privacy expectations in direct-to-consumer health apps.

Royal Philips will introduce its Tasy EMR into the European market through an agreement with KrankenHaus Duren, a public hospital in Germany.

Teladoc surpassed its projections by posting $42.9 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2017.

Verato unveiled Universal MPI, a nationwide master patient index.
President Donald Trump's decision to fire James Comey as director of the FBI could create significant challenges in his administration's plans to repeal the ACA, among other legislative priorities, according to the Miami Herald.

When asked whether Mr. Comey's firing would affect the healthcare debate, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said, "I think it already has," according to the report.

The controversy surrounding the firing  and the implications it has on the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the election  is at least a distraction on the agendas of senators on both sides of the aisle. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said, "It certainly is a distraction. There are some really important things going on both domestically and overseas that have to be dealt with and Congress has to deal with these things ... so it does divert attention."

Axios' David Nather reported the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions called off a May 11 "healthcare markup" of an FDA bill after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., convened Senate Democrats to protest Mr. Comey's firing.

In a surprising blow to Republican lawmakers, the Senate voted Wednesday to uphold a climate change regulation implemented during the Obama administration that aims to control the release of methane from oil and gas wells on public land, according to PBS News Hour. Three Republican senators  including John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine  defected from their party to defeat the resolution.

The backlash now facing the White House could spillover into other issues and can make it more difficult for Republicans to maintain the unity they need to execute on ACA repeal and other legislative goals, including the confirmation of new federal judges and the administration's developing plan for major tax cuts, according to ABC News.

5 latest healthcare layoffs

UCHealth to add 200 jobs

Senators respond to all-male group working on ACA replacement plan
The Medical Quality Assurance Commission in Washington state suspended the license of Johnny Delashaw, MD, the former chairman of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, because of an "immediate threat to the public health and safety."

According to The Seattle Times, the committee suspended Dr. Delashaw's license May 5, and he as 20 days to respond and request a hearing.

Dr. Delashaw resigned from his post at SNI in March after a Seattle Times report called his patient care practices into question and said the physician pushed for high patient volume, among other findings.

Commission officials suspended the license because of evidence showing Dr. Delashaw would yell, swear and make threatening movements to fellow staff members to intimidate them. This in turn put patients at risk, according to the commission.

Dr. Delashaw disagrees with the commission's decision to suspend his license, his attorney told the Seattle Times. "It is unfortunate that the commission took this one-sided action without giving Dr. Delashaw any opportunity to present the opposing evidence," the attorney told The Seattle Times. "The totality of the evidence will show that the statutory standard for this type of summary action has not been met, and will support his well-deserved reputation as a world-class neurosurgeon."
Amid an ongoing outbreak of the measles that has infected 51 people in Minnesota as of Wednesday, the state health commissioner asked the state Legislature for $5 million to create an emergency fund to address outbreaks of infectious disease, according to NBC News.

"In recent months, state and local public health officials have had to respond to a series of infectious disease outbreaks including multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, hundreds of new cases of syphilis, and now, the largest measles outbreak the state has faced in nearly 30 years," said Ed Ehlinger, MD, Minnesota's health commissioner, according to NBC News.

Kris Ehresmann, BSN, the health department's infectious disease director, told NBC News the state spent $207,000 in the first three weeks to fight the current measles outbreak.

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The current outbreak has rapidly spread through the Somali Minnesotan community in the Twin Cities. Forty-six of the 51 measles cases were reported among this population. Immunization rates among Somali Minnesotans have declined sharply in recent years after members of the anti-vaccine movement targeted the community.

Approximately 90 percent of individuals who are unvaccinated will contract the measles upon exposure, meaning the health department has to notify hundreds of people for each confirmed case.

"We have had 70 [on] staff at the state health department working on this response," said Ms. Ehresmann, according to NBC News. "This is a hugely expensive outbreak ... Not only are there health costs for treating children. There are economic costs for their families, and there are costs to the public health system."

More articles on infection control:

Hospital serves nurses waffles recalled for listeria at appreciation breakfast

Hospital door handles often harbor MRSA, study shows

Norovirus likely cause of outbreak at college baseball tournament
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Calcutta high court judge CS Karnans legal adviser on Thursday reportedly said the judge, who was sentenced to six months in prison on Tuesday by the Supreme Court for contempt, might have crossed over to Nepal or Bangladesh to evade arrest. He added, the judges legal team is preparing to approach the President for relief. The revelation came a day after police forces launched a cross-city hunt for Karnan.
An horrific accident at just 12 years old changed William Sears' life forever. Now the son of a Co Londonderry dairy farmer is spreading the message about farm safety to ensure no-one else suffers the same fate.

William was helping a friend spread slurry on Easter Monday 1990 - a day he remembers like yesterday - when a moving part on a tractor caught his coat and tore his arm out of its socket.

Read More

The accident happened at Dunamanagh, outside Strabane, 11 miles from the nearest hospital.

Speaking at the Balmoral Show, he told the Belfast Telegraph: "My friend was helping me, he was 16. I was the only son of a farmer so we had been out all day spreading slurry. It was a quarter to eight at night when my mum called us in for tea.

"I was going out past the window when my mother called out for me to put on a coat. I didn't bother zipping it up because I was only doing one load of slurry.

"Everything was going to plan - the shaft was fully guarded bar a bit missing about two inches at the front end."

As William adjusted a vacuum pump at the back of the tractor, disaster stuck.

Part of his coat caught on the tractor's Power Take Off (PTO) shaft, a connection which moves so fast it can take in up to 17 feet of material in one second.

"As quick as I can click my fingers it was all over.

"I was lying with my face and my nose on the ground thinking I had been killed," he said.

"I could see Jonathan who was on the tractor disappearing. I remember getting up on my feet and it was only my underwear and a pair of socks on me and there was an arm lying beside me - and that was my arm. Because of the impact, my right eye swelled up and I couldn't see. I walked back to the house and my sister said she could just see someone walking up the street with one arm. My dad came running out and got me into the car.

"There was so much blood coming out of the wound and I was holding on to it. My dad said, 'You're going to bleed inwards - you're going to die shortly'."

Doctors were unable to save William's arm, but just 16 days later he found himself back on a tractor and helping to spread slurry again.

"My faith has become very strong because when you are in that situation you have nothing else other than faith.

"I have no qualms in saying it was my fault - my father told me what to do but I didn't listen.

"It's very important for me to get the message of farm safety out there, but I don't want the Health and Safety Executive to hammer farmers - I want them to work in tandem.

"You are born into farming, it's your job that you are born into. But I want them to have a bit of common sense.

"I'm a father of three children and I don't want anyone to have to be that person who's watching their son walk down the lane covered in blood. I can feel and understand how I felt, but I can never even start to imagine how that felt for my parents."
World dairy markets look set to remain reasonably stable through to the autumn of this year, according to Dale Farm chief executive Nick Whelan

World dairy markets look set to remain reasonably stable through to the autumn of this year, according to Dale Farm chief executive Nick Whelan.

"We have seen a contraction of supply across all of the world's main dairy regions over the past number of months," he said.

Read More

"Adding to this market-strengthening effect has been a slight pick-up in demand from customers in China and North Africa."

Speaking at the Balmoral Show, Mr Whelan admitted that Dale Farm, Northern Ireland's largest dairy co-op, had benefited from a weaker sterling to the tune of 15% over the past 12 months.

"One negative is the fact that oil prices have remained reasonably weak," he said.

While hesitant to predict how all of these factors will be reflected in future producer prices, the Dale Farm CEO confirmed that the co-op had committed to pay 25.8p a litre for April milk.

"Forecasting milk prices is a bit like predicting the weather in this part of the world - it is fraught with difficulty.

"Just four weeks ago I was of the view that we might have to pull our prices as we headed into the 2017 spring flush. But, thankfully, this has not turned out to be the case."

Looking towards the end of the year, he indicated that New Zealand was gearing up for a significant increase in milk output, to coincide with its spring flush.

"We will wait and see how that transpires," he added.

However, he did say that Dale Farm will continue with its winter bonus scheme in 2017. This will see the co-op pay an additional 2p/L above base for milk supplied in October, November and December.

"We will also push ahead with our winter production premium in 2017. As was the case last year, farmers will receive an extra 4p/L on all extra milk produced during the period of the winter premium," he said.

"This year the increase will be measured against recorded production levels in October, November and December 2015."

He also confirmed that Dale Farm wanted more milk.

"We want all new entrants coming into the dairy industry to commit to a long-term future with Dale Farm. Our main milk growth will be through our existing members and we will take on some dairy farmers supplying other processors if it is right for our business."

He justified the desire for more milk, given the growth in demand from Dale Farm's customer base.

"A number of our retail customers are showing a 20% annual growth in their cheese businesses," he said.

Mr Whelan indicated that outsiders looking in may be of the opinion that Dale Farm was well set up to cope with Brexit when it happens.

"Yes, all our processing facilities are in the UK, as are all our milk suppliers, and we are 100% Red Tractor (quality assured).

"In addition, 85% of our total output is sold to customers in the United Kingdom.

"The UK is far from being self-sufficient where the likes of cheese, butter and yoghurt are concerned.

"And, of course, we have benefited from the weakening of sterling that followed the EU referendum result."
The new Maldron Hotel at Brunswick Street in Belfast

Irish hotel group Dalata has said it has seen strong growth in room revenues in its Northern Ireland operations.

At the firm's annual general meeting, chairman John Hennessy said the properties here - the Clayton Hotel in Belfast city centre and the Maldron Hotel at Belfast International Airport - were trading well.

And he said the construction of its latest local hotel, the Maldron at Brunswick Street, was "progressing on target and within budget".

Due to open early next year, it is one of around 27 hotels planned for the city, and one of six under construction.

Dalata Group paired with Co Tyrone builder McAleer & Rushe for the project.

Mr Hennessy told the company's agm: "Following another year of significant growth in the size of our portfolio and earnings in 2016, trading performance in the first four months of 2017 has been marginally ahead of expectations.

"Revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth in our Dublin and regional Ireland properties has been in line with expectations.

"We have experienced strong RevPAR growth in our London and Northern Ireland portfolios.

"RevPAR growth in our provincial UK properties has been marginally ahead of expectations."

And he added: "The outlook remains positive for the markets in which we operate."

The company is developing around nine new hotels in the UK and Ireland, including the Belfast Maldron and one under the same brand name in Newcastle in England - another venture with McAleer & Rushe.

And construction of a 140-room extension to the Clayton Dublin Airport will start later this month.

Mr Hennessy said: "Investment in the Clayton and Maldron brands continues with a targeted capital refurbishment programme and brand awareness campaigns.

"We also continue to invest in the training and development of our people, as they are key to our continued growth and performance.

"The year 2017 will see further investment in information technology to deliver ongoing improvements in internal controls, the quality of management information and process efficiencies."

He said the company was looking at buying the freehold of some of its existing hotels outright.

And it was hoping to expand the reach of its Clayton and Maldron brands in the UK.

It rebranded the former Holiday Inn on Ormeau Avenue as the Clayton Hotel two years ago after buying it from the former owner in an 18.5m deal - one of the city's biggest hotel transactions.

Mr Hennessy also defended pay and incentive increases for Dalata bosses, including chief executive Pat McCann.

He insisted that Dalata executives were being paid less than other executives of similarly-sized businesses in the sector, despite their pay hikes.

Still, 26% of shares cast at the AGM were opposed to approving the company's remuneration report.

Mr Hennessy said the company was "concerned" that such an amount of votes were opposed to the resolution.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny will meet Michel Barnier when he visits Ireland this week

The Republican of Ireland is to bid to host two EU bodies located in London, Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed.

The European Medicines Agency is responsible for the protection of public and animal health through the scientific evaluation and supervision of medicines.

The European Banking Authority was tasked with finding risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector at the height of the financial crisis.

Mr Kenny addressed the Dail following Michel Barnier's speech to Dublin parliamentarians.

He said: "Ireland will bid along with other countries for the two EU bodies currently located in London, the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority.

"I believe that Ireland offers an excellent opportunity as a location for these."

He said Brexit was a British policy.

"It is not an Irish policy and it is not an EU policy.

"For its part Ireland remains committed clearly to the European Union and its future."

He said 88% of Irish people felt the country should remain a member of the EU and membership had transformed the country over the last 40 years.
Vodafone is to shut down its pager business after the competition watchdog refused to approve its sale to Capita.

The telecoms giant said it was "disappointed" with the Competition and Markets Authority's decision, will no longer pursue a sale, and will close the unit down.

No jobs will be affected, but 1,000 customers will have to find another provider. A Vodafone spokesman said: "We are disappointed with the decision by the CMA to continue its investigation into the transfer of Vodafone's paging customers to Capita's PageOne business.

"This seems to be a surprising decision considering that this market has been contracting for some time and no other country in Europe has more than one wide-area paging network. Due to the expense involved with a prolonged investigation, Vodafone will not pursue the transaction and has made the decision to close down this business."
Game Of Thrones star Aidan Gillen says he felt that he had returned to a familiar world for his role in the new King Arthur film.

The Irish actor has played Petyr Littlefinger Baelish in the popular fantasy since 2011, but recently took a break to star as Bill in Guy Ritchies remake of the classic story.

He admitted there were parallels between the two tales, which both delve into the gorier sides of magic, love and war in dark bygone worlds.

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Speaking at the upcoming epics European premiere in Londons Leicester Square on Wednesday, he told the Press Association:Its not the same, though there are similarities in those medieval-style fantasies.

Game Of Thrones is not this world, but it is part of that fantasy genre  and this film is quite heavy on the sorcery and mysticism, so it is a world I am familiar with.

But it doesnt feel like the same job, so it does feel like I am getting a break.

He will reprise his role in the adaptation of George RR Martins books when it returns for its penultimate seventh season this summer.

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Meanwhile, Guy promised that movie fans can expect something fresh in his remake of the famous legend.

The Snatch director said of the original: Its attractive, its a myth more than a story, so you have that artistic flexibility.

I was most interested in is the essence of the story first and then it was about making it completely fresh and totally different from anything weve seen. You will have to watch it to find out, but its on the same frequency as most of my work. Im not sure its for the 60+ but it should resonate with a young audience.

King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword is released in UK cinemas on May 19.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has warned there is no easy solution to resolving the border issue between the north and south of Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Ahern also said that now was not the time for a border poll on a united Ireland, saying the country still had a "divided society".

One of the key players in the Good Friday Agreement also told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Brexit "was creating more problems than we would have liked", adding that he did not see where a compromise solution could be found between all the different institutions.

Mr Ahern said resolving the border issue was "crucial" for Ireland in terms of jobs, investment and employment.

He added that there was a will from all parties to find a solution.

He said: "Nobody has yet put a solution that does not mean Customs checks.

"You can have all the technology you like, but there doesn't seem to be any easy solution."

Mr Ahern, who left office in 2008, told the programme that now was not the time for a border referendum.

"There still is a divided society, the institutions are not operational, and the big issue for the Irish and the UK Government on the other side of June 8 is to try to help to broker a deal to get the institutions back up and running," he said.

"Certainly, having a border poll in the foreseeable future will not help that process."

He went on to say the general election was "huge" for the Republic, given the implications it could have for Brexit and restoring devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ahern said: "Brexit is creating more problems than we would have liked to have.

"But we're realists. The fact is people voted and now we have to find solutions.

"I spent my life involved in negotiations but normally you can see where the compromise lies.

"This time it's complicated because you have the EU, you have the UK Government, you have the Irish Government, you have Northern Ireland.

"It is tricky to say the least and the compromise and the solution and the way forward are not easy."

This week EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will be visiting the Republic and will visit the border to better understand the risks to Europe's only land frontier with the UK.

Mr Barnier will also address a joint sitting of the Dail - a privilege normally only afforded to visiting Heads of State such as Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and John F Kennedy.

Writing in today's Belfast Telegraph, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said he would be taking Mr Barnier to the border "to see first-hand the unique situation here on the island of Ireland and the potential impact on people's daily lives".

"During his visit, I will be ensuring that there is a good understanding of the realities for people who live on one side of the border and work on the other," he writes.

"Having done the groundwork to ensure that the unique situation in Ireland is a shared priority for the European Union as a whole, we must now begin to seek solutions as part of the negotiations between the EU and the UK."

by john vale
Jeremy Corbyn was accused of ducking a confrontation with a war veteran who wanted to ask the Labour leader his stance on the prosecutions of soldiers who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

During a rally in York, the Labour Leader addressed thousands of supporters. However, he was later embroiled in a row with a war veteran.

Rob Gray, a former soldier who served in Northern Ireland asked if he could ask the Labour leader a question, with Mr Corbyn agreeing to "come down" from the podium to speak to the man.

In an ITV News video Mr Corbyn is seen stepping off the stage, but instead of heading toward the war veteran he climbs off the stage and walks through the crowd and away.

Mr Gray calls to him several times asking "Mr Corbyn, will you answer my question or not?" and walks after Mr Corbyn.

Local media organisation York Mix captured Mr Gray in a confrontation with a security officer.

I was totally respectful, he said. What is the position of Labour on the prosecutions of veterans in Northern Ireland?

Thats all we wanted to ask. And hes gone off  he knew there was a question waiting for him  he saw the beret and the medals and he went.

Hes refused to answer as far as Im concerned.

The Belfast Telegraph has contacted the Labour party for a comment.

Labour sources told York Mix Mr Corbyn's team did not want him among such a large crowd as he had done numerous times on the campaign trail, and later a senior member of his team spoke with Mr Gray for 15 minutes.

A Labour spokesman told the organisation: Labour supports the Good Friday Agreement, which states that the Crown Prosecution Service should be able to prosecute for the most serious crimes committed by any party to the conflict. Labour believes it is vital for all sides to uphold the Good Friday Agreement.

Jeremy Corbyn has faced criticism over reported links to the IRA. He has defended reaching out to Sinn Fein during the Troubles saying he was doing so to try and put an end to violence.

Former soldiers have accused the authorities of a "witch-hunt" against them and their colleagues to try and bring them before the courts, while those that carried out terrorist attacks walk free.

Last year, two former soldiers were told they will be prosecuted for murder over the 1972 death of official IRA commander Joe McCann. Another prominent case involves retired soldier Dennis Hutchings. The 75-year-old is to face trial accused of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm in relation to a fatal shooting in 1974.

A Commons committee has called for a statue of limitations on Troubles-related cases.

Read more:
The photo shows Mike Nesbitt flat out on the lobby's carpet while one woman sits on his legs and another holds on to his collar

Three days after photographs showed him face down on a hotel floor, Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt appeared unfazed as he greeted visitors at the Balmoral Show.

The former UUP leader manned his shift at the party's stand at the show. But the cow and pig-themed stress balls being given away appeared to be more of a talking point among those who stopped to talk, rather than the newspaper photographs of him lying flat out on the carpet of the Stormont Hotel.

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Mr Nesbitt has stuck to his a policy of 'business as usual' for dealing with the fall-out of the incident.

And it was no different as he turned up at the UUP stall as planned yesterday morning.

When asked by the Belfast Telegraph to explain the bizarre images taken a month ago, he responded with a simple "no" through a tight smile.

Questioned about whether the photographs had been mentioned by the many visitors who sought out the well-known former TV news anchor turned politician at the show, he responded again with "no".

Mr Nesbitt was the chief draw at the UUP stand, with scores of show visitors stopping when they saw him and making a beeline for a chat.

But the topics raised were, for the most part, not the photographs but unionist voting pacts, Brexit and the forthcoming election.

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No matter what the topic was, Mr Nesbitt took the time to listen to each person, young or old, and have a discussion, despite a queue for his attention at times.

If he was feeling embarrassed by the photographs splashed on the front page of newspapers, it wasn't apparent.

He appeared to be in good form, if a little weary, saying he enjoyed the show each year, and was particularly looking forward to viewing some of the hens on display, as he himself keeps hens.

However, he would have been left disappointed after a decision by the show this year to scrap this year's poultry section competitions over bird flu fears.

The only apparent reference to the photographs came from one passer-by who shouted over to Mr Nesbitt: "Keep your head up," with a reassuring nod of the head.

His party colleagues displayed no sign of reluctance in standing alongside him, with two party staffers and East Antrim MLA John Stewart cheerfully manning the stall with him.

It is understood that the party's press office has not issued its representatives with an agreed line to respond with if asked about the photographs.

They show Mr Nesbitt lying face down on the floor in the lobby of the Stormont Hotel with one woman apparently sitting on his legs and a second pulling at his collar.

One MLA told the Belfast Telegraph that it has not been an issue for them, and they would stand by him.

Earlier this week Upper Bann MLA Doug Beattie said: "Mike is an incredibly honourable and a really decent man. He is a very genuine man," he said.

Mr Nesbitt reportedly told The Sun that "things happen".

"When you have a profile you can't expect people to respect your privacy," he added.

An anonymous source who contacted the Belfast Telegraph claimed that the incident had been "all in good humour", describing it as simply "banter".

However, Mr Nesbitt has steadfastly refused to offer any explanation for the photographs despite repeated requests.

The Strangford candidate in the upcoming Westminster election resigned as UUP leader following a poor show in the Assembly election in March.

The Ulster Unionist Party has not issued any comment on the photographs.
The Ulster Unionist Party has abandoned its position as a Remain party in favour of an unofficial anti-Sinn Fein pact with the DUP.

While the SDLP, Sinn Fein and the Greens are campaigning on a strong anti-Brexit ticket, the UUP chief whip said yesterday that it accepts "the will of the British people" and has moved beyond the referendum.

The announcement by Steve Aiken, the party's finance spokesperson and Assembly chief whip, effectively ends the party's identification as an anti-Brexit party.

"We are proudly British. The people have spoken in the referendum.

"We now need to get on with it. We support Theresa May in getting the best deal for Britain [in Brexit negotiations] and our position is to get the best deal for Northern Ireland," he said.

Sinn Fein and the SDLP have called for a special deal that would allow Northern Ireland to remain in the EU.

The SDLP had tried to put together a voting pact that would have included all the pro-European parties, including the UUP, but talks broke down late last month.

Mr Aiken said that the party was more interested in ensuring that Sinn Fein does not win any abstentionist seats in Westminster next month.

"We want to see all 18 Northern Ireland MPs taking their seats," he said.

"There is absolutely no point whatsoever in voting for Sinn Fein because they never take their seats in Westminster, they don't sit on the committees.

"Voting for Sinn Fein is a non-vote. There is absolutely no point to it."

Mr Aiken said Sinn Fein voters would be better off hiring a lobbyist in Westminster because Sinn Fein's abstentionist position meant that it is only an expensive lobby group in the House of Commons.

While Mr Aiken stressed that there is no official pact with the DUP, the two parties are "playing their part" in ensuring that unionist candidates can beat Sinn Fein in almost every constituency in Northern Ireland, he said.

The UUP announced on Monday that it will not run in North Belfast, West Belfast and Foyle so that the DUP can maximise its chances of beating Sinn Fein.

The DUP will not run in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to help the UUP beat Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew.

The two unionist parties are only competing in constituencies where Sinn Fein have little chance of winning or where the SDLP is the dominant nationalist party, such as in South Belfast.

Sinn Fein refuses to take its seats in Westminster, but does claim expenses for its five abstentionist MPs and has offices within the Westminster complex.

With the DUP agreeing not to run in Arlene Foster's home constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone, the UUP's Tom Elliott has a strong chance of retaining his seat.

He won it by less than 600 votes from Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew in 2015.

The seat, won in 1981 by Bobby Sands, was held by Ms Gildernew from 2001 until Mr Elliott's victory in 2015.

Mr Aiken said he believed that Sinn Fein may be waiting for Gerry Adams to resign as party leader later this year before abandoning abstentionism.

"They abstained from the Dail, then they took their seats in the Dail; they abstained from Northern Ireland's councils, then took their seats; they abstained from Stormont, then took their seats, they abstained from the European Parliament and are now strongly remain," he said. "Why wouldn't Westminster be next?"

Sinn Fein has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The Prince of Wales meets local school children in Dromore Village in County Down

The Duchess of Cornwall was greeted by 200 of Northern Ireland's best behaved schoolchildren enthusiastically waving Union flags as she officially opened their new building yesterday.

Camilla lavished praise on Dromore Central Primary School as she unveiled a plaque to commemorate the special day, following an extensive tour which saw her laugh and joke with many of the pupils.

"You seem to be able to do everything here," Camilla told a packed assembly.

"I go to lots of schools but Dromore Central Primary School has a wonderful atmosphere and the best behaved children.

"Maybe I'll come back one day and see an even bigger school."

The school, which originally opened in 1938 and was first attended by 100 pupils, has grown significantly since then and currently has an enrolment of 700 pupils. Camilla, a patron of several literacy charities and honorary judge of this year's BBC Radio 2 500 Words competition, was also at the school to encourage young people to read.

She presented a collection of books - including Paddington at the Palace, as well as Roald Dahl and AA Milne classics - as a gift for the library.

The royal visitor also talked to a group of P7 pupils who understood the pressures of being a literary judge.

The 50 pupils were one of 12 judging panels in the UK - and the only one in Northern Ireland - who helped choose the winners of the Blue Peter Book Awards 2017.

"It's quite difficult sometimes to judge," said the Duchess. "I have been judging stories for Chris Evans and it's very difficult."

Young Thomas Wilson agreed.

The 11-year-old said: "It was weird talking to her, but really fascinating.

"I told her that my favourite book is Middle School by James Patterson and she said they were good books.

"Then she told us that her grandchildren like to read David Walliams and Roald Dahl."

P7 teacher and Key Stage 2 literacy co-ordinator Lynne Barr was impressed by the Duchess' interaction with the group.

"She was very nice and she seemed genuinely interested in literacy and in the kids."

Moments later, after being introduced to young computer programmers, Camilla confessed her own struggle with computers.

Watching a group of children programme a robotic device from an iPad, she said: "They make it look so easy, they just pick it up and go. You certainly wouldn't be able to teach me, I know that."

Principal Linda Allen was relieved everything passed off smoothly and said yesterday was "a fabulous day - having the Duchess with us was tremendous".
Mother-of-two Margaret Henderson-McCarroll, who was just about to go on trial, has admitted the unlawful killing of 67-year-old pensioner Eddie Girvan on January 18 last year.

The 31-year-old heroin addict was to have gone on trial for murdering Mr Girvan in his Station Road home in Greenisland, but instead pleaded guilty to his manslaughter.

Her defence QC John McCrudden had asked trial judge Mr Justice Treacy for Henderson-McCarroll, on her instructions, to be re-arraigned before Belfast Crown Court.

With the guidance of her solicitor, Henderson-McCarroll, her short hair dyed red, and wearing jeans with a blue checked shirt over a white T shirt, pleaded in front of the jury of six women and five men, that she was "not guilty of murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility".

Following her guilty plea, Charles MacCreanor QC, for the Crown, said that "the prosecution accept those pleas".

Mr Justice Treacy then remanded her back into custody while pre-sentence and other reports are compiled before sentence next month.

No details surrounding the horrific death were given to the court, however in a bail application last November, the Belfast court heard claims the retired plumber turned amateur antiques collector, was killed in an argument over money for sex.

Following her arrest Henderson-McCarroll, with nearly 100 previous convictions, and with a long-standing history of drug addiction, made several admissions to police.

Belfast Crown Court was also told she claimed that Mr Girvan paid her to have sex with him, that she spent the weekend in his house, and that on the morning he died they had a row over the money.

It also emerged that police found Mr Girvan - his hands and ankles bound together with neckties - with kitchen paper stuffed in his mouth which resulted in his tongue being pushed back and blocking his airway. He had also sustained several stab wounds, including a serious injury to his chest which resulted in internal bleeding.

She told police that during the row, Mr Girvan pushed her and struck out at her with a sword, and that she "poked him in the stomach."

Henderson-McCarroll, also made the case that she gagged him because she didn't want to the neighbours to hear him, and while she denied murdering him, she claimed she acted in self-defence and loss of control.

The bail hearing also heard that she was arrested in south Belfast while on her way to allegedly see a drug dealer, after allegedly selling a gold chain belonging to Mr Girvan for 60 at a Cash Convertors.

In addition to the manslaughter charge, Henderson-McCarroll, living in the Ormeau Centre, in Verner Street, in the Markets area of Belfast, at the time, but whose address on court papers is given as Hydebank Young Offenders' Centre, pleaded guilty to a number of other charges.

They included attempting to steal 20 from the pensioner, stealing his Zodiac watch, a Praktica digital camera, a gold chain, a Garmin SAT NAV, binoculars and a bunch of his keys.

She also pleaded guilty to a series of motoring offences that same day, ranging from taking Mr Girvan's Hyundai Sonata, driving it while unfit through drugs or drink, and with no insurance, crashing it and failing either to stop, remain or report the accident.
Primary school principals from across Northern Ireland have held a crisis meeting over school budgets.

They insist they have no choice but to put their schools in deficit, despite a fresh warning from the Department of Education not to.

The funding dispute began after a letter was sent to schools in March from the department's finance director Gary Fair, who has taken charge in the absence of any Stormont minister.

With no budget for the next school year yet agreed, he advised principals they may have to implement funding cuts of up to 6%.

In response, head teachers at 43 Belfast primary schools wrote to parents expressing their "grave concern" over the "impossible" cuts, adding that in order to protect basic services they would be forced to make decisions which would put schools in deficit.

Mr Fair issued a second letter to schools on Tuesday warning them against going into the red.

The letter stated: "While I appreciate that the majority of schools will continue to exercise budgetary discretion and firm financial management, some principals have indicated that, even in doing so, they may be forced into deficit positions.

"What is of more concern is that some have also stated that they will be planning for deficit budget positions over the next three years.

"No school may plan for a deficit without the consent of the Education Authority."

Yesterday, the number of concerned principals grew as 50 heads from Belfast, Mid Ulster, Lisburn and Newry met.

Speaking after the gathering, Stranmillis PS head teacher Jackie Wallace denied he or his colleagues would be spending foolishly.

"That is not the strategy - we've no choice," he said. "We either cut the core services, meaning no luxuries, or our budgets are going to go into the red. We're not prepared to cut into the bone and fail our children."

Mr Wallace said he believed the concerned group of principals would soon have the backing of a large number of schools.

UUP MLA Rosemary Barton, a former teacher, said she feared "this bubble will burst" after years of mounting financial pressures on schools.

She said nothing would change without political agreement at Stormont.

"Whoever takes this ministerial position must take the financial crisis in our schools extremely seriously and prioritise front line funding in the classroom over everything else," she added.
The search operation in a forest in France for the body of Seamus Ruddy

The sister of a 'Disappeared' victim whose body has now been officially identified has said after the 32 years since Seamus Ruddy's murder, "inside a minute life has changed once again for us".

Anne Morgan was speaking after DNA profiling by French investigators confirmed the remains belonged to the 32-year-old teacher from Co Down.

Mr Ruddy was abducted from Paris, then murdered and buried in secret by the INLA in 1985.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) announced on Saturday that it had discovered a body at Pont-de-l'Arche, near Rouen, in northern France.

It later said an identification had been made. Ms Morgan told BBC Radio Ulster: "All those years of waiting to get this news, inside a minute life has changed once again for us."

She said the body will have to be taken to Dublin "and eventually we will take him home to Newry".

"As the family are getting older it is more poignant now we are able to bring him home and at least we will have some sort of closure."

One of her other brothers died last September.

"At this time it becomes a very personal family journey but we are prepared for this and we are all together for this.

"Those 32 years were the longest years that we had to wait for this, the next few weeks won't be as bad."

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Experts began a fresh search of the wooded area a week ago.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire said this will be a desperately sad time for Mr Ruddy's family and loved ones.

"I would like to express my sympathy as steps are now taken to bring Seamus home."

"My thoughts remain with all those families who are still awaiting the recovery of the remains of their loved ones."

The ICLVR said: "The remains have been confirmed as those of Seamus Ruddy. The remains will be repatriated in due course."

The ICLVR was set up during the peace process by the UK and Irish governments to recover the bodies of the 'Disappeared' - those murdered and secretly buried, mainly by the IRA, in the 1970s and 1980s.

There had been a number of previous searches in the same forest area for Mr Ruddy, the most recent by the ICLVR in 2008.

The latest recovery leaves three of the 16 Disappeared victims still missing. The remains of Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey and Robert Nairac have yet to be found.
Customs controls are part of the EU's border management, Michel Barnier warned people in Ireland.

The measures protected the single market, food safety and standards, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator added.

But he promised to help the Republic avoid a hard border with Northern Ireland after Brexit and recognised the unique position facing it with its shared frontier and strong economic ties to the UK.

He declared: "We have a duty to speak the truth. The UK's departure from the EU will have consequences.

"Customs controls are part of EU border management. They protect the single market. They protect our food safety and our standards."

Businesses and politicians in the Republic and Northern Ireland want to avoid the restrictions on movement of the past.

Brexit Secretary David Davis has said the UK would adopt technology to cover the transport of goods between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The British Government wants a "frictionless" arrangement, to avoid a return to the borders of the past when the area was heavily militarised because of the IRA threat.

Mr Barnier said Ireland's interest would be shared by the entire EU.

"European integration helped to remove borders that once existed on maps and in minds. Brexit changes the external borders of the EU.

"I will work with you to avoid a hard border."

The UK's only land frontier with the EU is in Northern Ireland. It is invisible, with goods and people passing freely, its security apparatus from the 30-year conflict gone.

Mr Barnier has pledged to make it one of his three priorities for the first phase of the negotiations and is due to visit it on Friday.

He told Irish parliamentarians in Dublin: " Because of its historical and geographical ties with the UK, because of your shared border and strong economic links, Ireland is in a unique position."

With the depreciation of sterling, Brexit was already having an impact on the value of Irish exports to the UK, in particular the agri-food sector, the senior negotiator added.

He said: "And many in Ireland fear the return of tensions in the North.

"Today, in front of these two houses, I want to reassure the Irish people: in this negotiation Ireland's interest will be the Union's interest.

"We are in this negotiation together and a united EU will be here for you."

On Friday he will travel to the border with Northern Ireland and meet farmers and workers in a dairy co-operative.

He added: "In Northern Ireland, lifting the borders took time. Only 15 years ago did check-points and controls totally disappear.

"Thanks to the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of violence."

He said he understood the EU's role in strengthening dialogue in Northern Ireland and supporting the 1998 Agreement which largely ended the violence.

Later Mr Barnier met Taoiseach Enda Kenny at his south Dublin offices and signed the visitors' book.

He said: "I am very aware of the concerns on the part of the Irish people and I am ready to find solutions, respecting the market rules but also taking into account the unique situation of Ireland."

He said he hoped next month "as soon as possible" to find agreement on key points where the decision to leave the EU had created "huge and serious" uncertainty.

"I am ready to work and I am ready to work in total confidence and trust with the Irish Government."

Mr Kenny said Ireland would have "open access" to Mr Barnier and his team as the negotiations commence.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said the economic implications of customs posts for the two economies on the island and especially for the border communities were enormous.

"Currently, island-wide trade generates over three billion euros annually.

"Around 60% of the North's exports to the EU are to the Irish state.

"Over 30,000 people regularly commute across the border between the North and South for work or study.

"Brexit puts all of this at risk and with it the jobs of those exporters who may now face customs posts."
Taoiseach Enda Kenny will meet Michel Barnier when he visits Ireland this week

Michel Barnier addresses Ireland's parliament at the Houses of the Oireachtas

There is no reason why the European Union cannot have a "strong relationship" with the UK after it leaves the bloc, Michel Barnier said.

He expressed regret at Brexit, warning it would "come at a cost" to both Britain and the remaining 27 members of the EU and would bring consequences, but his objective was to reach a "fair deal" .

Protecting Irish interests as part of the Union would be an important part of the Brexit negotiations, with efforts to avoid a hard border and protect the peace process central to the talks, Europe's chief negotiator told Ireland's parliament.

He added: "If the conditions are right, a close partnership with the UK is in everybody's interest. And in Ireland's interest in particular."

He said he hoped to negotiate a "bold and ambitious but fair free trade agreement" but only once progress has been made on issues including the UK's bill for leaving the EU.

Mr Barnier was being given a privilege normally only afforded to visiting heads of state and prime ministers, and he joins luminaries such as Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton in addressing both houses of parliament.

In an apparent reference to the diplomatic row caused by the leaks following European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker's meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May, Mr Barnier called for "mutual respect" in the talks.

Mrs May has accused Brussels insiders of seeking to influence the outcome of the June 8 General Election.

Mr Barnier said: "If we put things in the right order, if we negotiate with mutual respect, without any kind of aggressivity... if we are open to finding solutions, there is no reason why a strong Europe cannot maintain a strong relationship with the UK."

Acknowledging the particular issues Brexit poses to Ireland, Mr Barnier said: "I want to reassure the Irish people: in this negotiation Ireland's interest will be the Union's interest.

"We are in this negotiation together and a united EU will be here for you."

He restated the EU's insistence that the issue of the UK-Ireland border, citizens' rights and "the financial settlement" must be the first priorities for talks.

"We first must make sufficient progress on these points before we start discussing the future of our relationship with the UK.

"The sooner this will happen, the better."

Mr Barnier said he wanted the relationship between the UK and EU to extend beyond trade, with co-operation on other cross-border issues.

He said: "We want these negotiations to succeed. I want us to reach a deal.

"The UK has been a member of the EU for 44 years. It should remain a close partner.

"We will need to negotiate a 'bold and ambitious' but fair free trade agreement.

"But we will need the same ambition for our research and innovation networks and for the fight against climate change.

"We need the same ambition in international co-operation and development."
A former board member of Scotlands police watchdog has accused its chairman of bullying her.

Moi Ali also told Holyroods Public Audit Committee that Andrew Flanagan is not fit to continue in the role at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

Ms Ali resigned from the SPA board after raising concerns over transparency at the organisation.

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She publicly objected to proposals to hold committee meetings in private, only to receive a letter from Mr Flanagan expressing his dissatisfaction and suggesting it would not be fair for her to continue to attend committee meetings.

Ms Ali, who quit the board shortly afterwards, told MSPs she did not believe such a letter would have been sent to a man.

A spokeswoman for the SPA said Mr Flanagan rejected the bullying claim.

In an opening statement to MSPs, Ms Ali said: My removal from committees was, in my view, straightforward punishment for speaking out.

Asked by Labour MSP Monica Lennon if Mr Flanagans letter amounted to bullying, Ms Ali said: Yes. I believe that it did.

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A good leader, if he had any concerns, would surely speak to an individual. I think all of us would do that. To write a letter of that nature, its hard to find another word to what it amounts to.

She added: Its been a really horrendous experience.

Asked if she believed Mr Flanagan would have sent the same letter to a man, Ms Ali said: No, I dont think he would.

Its interesting because after I received it, I spoke to (fellow board member) Iain Whyte because he expressed very similar views to me at that board meeting, the only difference was that he didnt ask for his to be minuted.

I asked Mr Whyte if he had received a similar letter and he said no, he hadnt.

Asked if she thought Mr Flanagan was fit to continue as chair, Ms Ali said: I am afraid I dont.

I think he is actually not fit to continue on any public board because he clearly does not observe public-sector values.

A spokeswoman for the SPA said: Moi Ali tendered her resignation from the board of the SPA and her reasons are documented and publicly available  at no point was bullying alleged and the chair rejects this suggestion.
The region is nearly 125 miles south of New Delhi

A building wall has collapsed on to guests at a wedding in western India, killing at least 24 people, officials said.

Hundreds of guests were having dinner or assembling on outdoor lawns when a strong dust storm blew into the area, forcing people on the lawns to go indoors.

Then the 80ft-long wall collapsed on to people inside the wedding hall, Bharatpur district magistrate NK Gupta told reporters.

Another 28 people were injured and taken to hospital, police officer Anil Tank told Press Trust of India. He said police had registered a case of culpable homicide against the building owner and were questioning him.

The district is in Rajasthan state nearly 125 miles south of New Delhi.

Building collapses are common in India, where high demand for housing and lax regulations have encouraged some builders to cut corners, use substandard materials or add unauthorised extra floors.

In 2013, a building being constructed illegally in Mumbai caved in, killing 74 people in the country's worst building collapse in decades.

AP
North Korea will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jong Un last month with a biochemical poison, a top foreign ministry official said.

Han Song Ryol, the vice foreign minister, called a meeting of foreign diplomats in Pyongyang on Thursday to outline the North's allegation that the CIA and South Korea's intelligence agency bribed and coerced a North Korean man into joining in the assassination plot, which the North's Ministry of State Security has suggested was thwarted last month.

The North's state media have been running stories about the plot since last week.

The security ministry has vowed to "ferret out" anyone involved in the alleged plot, which it called "state-sponsored terrorism".

Mr Han took that a step further on Thursday with the extradition statement.

"According to our law, the Central Public Prosecutor's Office of the DPRK will use all available methods to start to work to demand the handover of the criminals involved, so as to punish the organisers, conspirators and followers of this terrible state-sponsored terrorism," he said.

North Korea claims the primary suspect is a man it has identified only by the ubiquitous surname Kim.

It says he is a North Korean resident of Pyongyang who worked in the Russian Far East for a time.

State media said he was involved in the timber industry in Khabarovsk, which is one of the primary places North Koreans can go overseas to work.

The North further said that a South Korean agent named Jo Ki Chol and a "secret agent" named Xu Guanghai, director general of the Qingdao NAZCA Trade Co Ltd, met Kim in Dandong, on North Korea's border with China, to give him communications equipment and cash.

The North also said "a guy surnamed Han" taught Kim how to enlist accomplices.

"These terrorists plotted and planned in detail for the use of biochemical substances including radioactive and poisonous substances as the means of assassination," Vice Minister Han said, reading from a prepared statement.

"These biochemical substances were to be provided with the assistance of the CIA... while the South Korean Intelligence Service was going to provide necessary support and funding for this attempt at assassination on our supreme leader."

In statements for foreign distribution, North Korea often refers to its leader without naming him, instead using the phrase "supreme leadership" or "supreme dignity".

The last time that Mr Han appeared to brief foreign diplomats in Pyongyang was last December, to present North Korea's response to the latest round of UN sanctions after the September 2016 nuclear test.

AP
Could someone in the Electoral Commission please kindly explain to me and the rest of the electorate in South Belfast why Emma Pengelly's photo bizarrely still appears on the Assembly website implying she is still an MLA in the Belfast South constituency, when, in fact, she is not?

Further, could the commission please confirm which name she is actually using to run as a DUP candidate in the General Election? Is it Emma Little or is it now the double-barrelled version, Emma Little Pengelly?

Could the reason for the latest double-barrelled version be in order to appear higher up on the ballot paper? If so, surely her original name, Emma Little, would have sufficed?

JOHN TAYLOR

By email
Christianity is one of the worlds largest religions  with over 2.4 billion followers and 33 percent of the global populations proclaiming themselves as Christians. All in all, Christian believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity  and that His coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Jesus suffered, died, was buried, descended into hell, and rose from the dead, in order for others to trust in Him for the remission of their sins. His incarnation, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection are known as the gospel. Which is the term meaning good news. The gospel refers to written accounts of Jesus life and teachings. Four canonicals, and included in the Bible, are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Throughout history, Christians have debated and through theological disputes about their religion. There are many important distinctions of interpretation and opinion of the Bible and sacred tradition on which the foundation of Christianity is built upon. Since many of these debates have ended in irreconcilable differences in theology and a lack of consensus of the core tenets of Christianity, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and Evangelicals often deny that members of certain branches are in fact true Christians.

The question of how old Christianity actually is can be debated, but the consensus is that it is a little over 2,000 years old. Christianity, like other religions, has adherents whose beliefs and biblical interpretations are different. For Christians, the inspired Word of God is categorized with the biblical canon, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. A traditionalist believes that God worked through human authors so that they produced what God wished to communicate to His current and future followers. Some people believe that divine inspiration categorizes the present Bible as inerrant. However, others claim inerrancy for the Bible in its original manuscripts despite none of those are extant.

Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the Levant of the Middle East around the mid-1st century. Other than Second Temple Judaism, the primary religious influences of early Christianity are Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism. According to the Christian scriptures, Christians were from the beginning subject to persecution by some Jewish and Roman religious authorities who disagreed with the apostles teachings. Further widespread persecutions of the Church occurred under nine subsequent Roman emperors. From the year 150, Christian teachers began producing theological and apologetic works aimed towards defending their faith. These authors are known as the Church Fathers, and study of them is called Patristics. Notable early Fathers include Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen. However, Armenia is considered the first nation to accept Christianity in AD 301.

With around 2.4 billion adherents, split into three main branches of Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox, Christianity is the world's largest religion. The Christian share of the world's population has stood at around 33 percent for the last hundred years, which says that one in three persons on earth are Christians. This masks a major shift in the demographics of Christianity; large increases in the developing world have been accompanied by substantial declines in the developed world, mainly in Europe and North America. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center study, within the next four decades, Christians will remain the world's largest religion; and by 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion.

Christianity has had a significant impact on education as the church created the bases of a number of educational systems. Historically, Christianity has often been a patron of science and medicine. It has been prolific in the foundation of schools, universities and hospitals, and many Catholic clergy - Jesuits in particular, have been active in the sciences throughout history and have made significant contributions to the development of science. Protestantism also has had an important influence on science. According to the Merton Thesis, there was a positive correlation between the rise of English Puritanism and German Pietism on the one hand and early experimental science on the other. The civilizing influence of Christianity includes social welfare, founding hospitals, economics, politics, architecture, literature, personal hygiene, and family life.

Christians have made a numerous amount of contributions to human progress in a broad and diverse range of fields, including philosophy, science and technology, fine arts and architecture, politics, literatures, music, and business. In fact, according to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of Nobel prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4 percent) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. Cultural Christians are secular people with a Christian heritage who may not believe in the religious claims of Christianity, but who retain an affinity for the popular culture, art, music and so on related to it. Another frequent application of the term is to distinguish political groups in areas of mixed religious backgrounds.

Criticism of Christianity and Christians dates back to the Apostolic Age, with the New Testament recording friction between the followers of Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes. Examples of this can be seen in Matthew 15:1-20 and Mark 7:123. In the 2nd century, Christianity was criticized by the Jews on various grounds. The claims were that the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible could not have been fulfilled by Jesus, given that He did not have a successful life. Additionally a sacrifice to remove sins in advance, for everyone or as a human being, did not fit to the Jewish sacrifice ritual, furthermore God is said to judge people on their deeds instead of their beliefs.

Ultimately, theorists will continue to delve into the proof of Christianity and formulate their own perspective timelines. However, the majority of research and proof from the Bible age Christianity at approximately 2,000 years old  give or take 10 to 20 years. The breakdown of core tenets is incredibly interesting because that is where the timelines begin to venture off into various paths that make it more difficult to track and pinpoint events. Nonetheless, its important as Christians to know the general timeline of events that took place from the beginning because these major times have created the Christian lifestyle and upbringing that we live in today.

Angela Guzman is a Writer at Large for Beliefnet and a contributor for the Huffington Post.
Opposition lawmaker Gary Alejano shows a copy of his supplemental impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte, at the Philippine Congress in Manila, March 30, 2017.

Philippine lawmakers on Wednesday formally sent an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte to a congressional panel, which is to hold hearings on accusations that he orchestrated the mass murder of thousands of people in his drug war.

But House of Representatives member Gary Alejano, who filed the complaint for Dutertes impeachment in March, was holding out hope that it would gather enough votes from the chamber dominated by the presidents allies.

The impeachment complaint has been referred to the Committee on Justice yesterday afternoon, Alejano told BenarNews. The deliberation would be next week, on May 15.

He said the complaint would be scrutinized by the 292-member chamber for its sufficiency of form and substance and whether it presents clearly a probable cause to remove the 72-year-old president.

All these stages will go through the process of voting one after another, he said. It will then be reported to the plenary for affirmation or rejection by members of the House.

The first time the Filipino public witnessed an elected president stand in trial and face possible impeachment was in October 2000, when then-President Joseph Estrada was accused of corruption. A close friend of Estrada alleged that he had personally given him millions of dollars as a payoff from illegal gambling operations.

Estradas congressional trial spurred mass protests, followed by the military leaderships withdrawal of support that led to his ouster in January 2001. Estrada was eventually convicted of corruption charges but pardoned by his successor, Gloria Arroyo.

Numbers

A third of the House needs the vote for the complaint to automatically go to the Senate, which would then convene itself into an impeachment court to hear the case.

But more than 260 of the congressmen are allied with the pro-Duterte bloc, and unless they are prepared to break free from the ruling ranks, there is little chance the complaint would actually progress.

Alejano is a former Marine officer, who along with Sen. Antonio Trillanes, then a Navy lieutenant, led a cabal of junior officers in a failed rebellion in 2003 to push for reforms in the military for which they were once jailed.

They later apologized to the then-President Arroyo and were set free. They left the force and subsequently joined politics, choosing to fight inside the political system rather than fighting it with violence.

Trillanes and Alejano are now in the forefront of a battle to oust the president who they claim has led a deadly anti-drug war that has killed thousands since he stepped into office last year.

According to the latest police statistics, more than one million drug users have surrendered, and officers have shot dead 2,692 suspects during anti-narcotics raids since Duterte took office in June.

Officials were also investigating about 5,700 drug-related deaths, including those shot dead by vigilantes, who often leave cardboard signs that the victims were killed because they were addicts or pushers.

In his complaint, Alejano accused Duterte of committing a host of impeachable offenses, including "high crimes of bribery, multiple murder and crimes against humanity" and for implementing a state policy that encouraged policemen and vigilante groups to commit murders.

He claimed Duterte was behind a "death squad" when he was still a longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, based on earlier testimonies of two self-confessed hitmen who have since filed a case against the president at the Hague-based International Criminal Court.

Duterte has denied he has ordered the killings, but said he would support the police from prosecution as long as he is president. But in a sign he was softening his posture, he recently denied earlier statements he made that he personally killed "about three" people when he was mayor of Davao.

UN not impressed

Duterte also sent his officials to explain his drug war at the United Nations Human Rights Commissions recently concluded Universal Periodic Review, where 45 countries condemned the drug war.

Phelim Kine, a deputy director of the Human Rights Watch in Asia, said Duterte's representative at the U.N. meeting, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, tried to cover up the killings in defending the government's crackdown.

"Cayetanos performance was a master-class in innovative defense of the indefensible," Kine said. "The Philippine governments new strategy of denial suggests a recognition its previous reliance on high-profile official apologists to deflect public criticism wasnt working."

He said U.N.-member countries around the world, including Germany, Japan, Chile, Ghana and Canada "called for the killings to stop and for the Philippine government to ensure accountability for the deaths."

"The Philippine government is delusional if it believes that cynical public exercises of fact-denial by official mouthpieces, such as Cayetano, can paper over the scale and savagery of Dutertes drug war," Kine said.

"Instead, the global calls for accountability are likely to only grow louder," he said.
Maj. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, commander of the Philippine militarys 6th Infantry Division, answers questions from reporters in Cotabato while displaying firearms recovered from members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Front who were killed during five days of clashes in the south, May 11, 2017.

Eleven more members of rogue Philippine Muslim rebel group have been killed in five days of clashes in the south, raising the death toll on the enemy side to 31, the military said Thursday.

Military operations were focused on three towns in the province of Maguindanao, where members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were believed to be hiding, 6th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega said.

Dela Vega said those being sought include a BIFF leader named Ismael Abubakar (also known as Bungos), who has resorted to criminality in the southern Philippines since BIFF broke away from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), when the separatist group opted for a peace deal in favor of autonomy three years ago.

Earlier, the military erroneously reported that Bungos was one of two rebel commanders killed in the initial attack. But upon verification by ground troops who have managed to enter the rebel strongholds, it was learned that his slain nephew was mistaken for Bungos.

The number of casualties that the BIFF suffered has already increased from the initial report of 20 of their members killed on the first day to at least 31 killed and another four wounded to date, Dela Vega announced, as he presented firearms and other paraphernalia left behind by the gunmen.

He said the number could still rise pending the verification and validation of troops in the area. Military officials earlier said that seven soldiers were wounded in the clash.

Dela Vega said Bungos was believed being aided by a number of followers, including six Indonesian nationals involved in terroristic activities in the region, particularly on bomb making.

He declined to give more information about the foreign fighters, citing the sensitivity of the information.

It is common for foreign fighters to be in the south because MILF used to operate one of the largest rebel training bases in Southeast Asia. When the group signed a peace deal, the foreign militants gravitated toward the splinter groups, analysts have said.

In 2015, 44 commandos of the police Special Action Force were killed in clashes with the guerrillas after they strayed into an MILF camp in an operation to neutralize Zulkilfi bin Hir, (alias Marwan), a wanted Malaysian bomb-maker hiding in Mindanao.

Marwan was killed, but the police commandos came under heavy fire from MILF, who claimed they were kept in the dark about the operation contrary to the peace agreement. According to the deal, both parties agreed to work together in apprehending wanted personalities in areas controlled by the rebels.

Dela Vega said the troops used air, artillery and armor assets in going after the BIFF. He said the MILF had been informed of the planned government attacks against the rogue militants this time around to ensure that no skirmishes or misencounter would occur.

The fighting earlier this week occurred days after police and troops targeted a BIFF commander accused of drug trafficking in a separate operation. That offensive led to the deaths of a mother and her two young children who were shot by the fleeing BIFF gunmen, officials said.
Police inspect the bomb site in front of Big C store in Pattani, May 10, 2017.

Peace talks with insurgent groups in Thailands Deep South will go on despite a twin bomb attack that wounded 69 people at a department store in the region, an official from the Thai negotiating team said Wednesday.

No one was killed but 13 children were among those injured when two car-bombs exploded outside the Big C store in Pattani town on Tuesday, officials at Pattani Hospital said in releasing updated casualty figures. Four were listed in serious condition, including a 5-year-old girl.

The attack is not getting in the way of the peace talks, which we are pushing forward, Maj. Gen. Sith Trakulwong, the secretary of Thailands peace delegation, told reporters in Bangkok.

Despite the violence, the peace talks will go on, Sith said, adding that the next round of talks facilitated by Malaysia would be held after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which is observed in the predominantly Muslim Deep South.

In Pattani, a supporter of Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the largest of the rebel groups operating in the region, said BRN was behind the attack that targeted civilians.

I can confirm the BRN conducted the Big C attack. It used the same old operatives but the officials cannot catch them yet, the BRN sympathizer, who identified himself as Awae, told BenarNews.

They believe violence is the path to independence.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has ordered police and the military to capture those responsible for the blasts as soon as possible, according to an army spokesman.

Violent backdrop to peace talks

The attack was the largest bombing to strike the Deep South this year, and it took place amid a spate of attacks by suspected rebels across the region that have overshadowed peace talks between Thailands military government and MARA Patani, an umbrella body representing various rebel groups.

Without being specific about who carried out Tuesdays attack, Sith said the perpetrators simply wanted to be in the spotlight by attacking a public place rather than attacking utility poles. Last month, coordinated bombs, set off by suspected militants, targeted electrical infrastructure in parts of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla provinces and caused widespread blackouts, but no casualties.

Tuesdays attack brought to more than 100 the number of people who have been injured in violence in the Deep South that has left 37 dead since January. This years deadliest attack occurred on April 27 when suspected rebels shot and killed six Thai soldiers and tried to mutilate their bodies by setting them on fire during a roadside ambush in Narathiwat province.

While Sith did not identify the suspected assailants, Human Right Watch researcher Sunai Phasuk said attacks in the past decade and especially recent weeks appeared to be the work of BRN.

I think the attacks have eroded confidence in the peace process as many people count on the Thai delegation MARA Patani. But when BRN came out to undermine the legitimacy of MARA Patani and subsequently followed with a few attacks, those are reaffirmations of its rejection of peace talk efforts, he told BenarNews by phone.

On April 10, BRN released a statement rejecting peace efforts by MARA Patani.

The method of attacking resembled that of what BRN used for more than decade. That is attacking civilians indiscriminately regardless of religion and it used a double explosion to force people into the kill zone followed by a second, more powerful one, Sunai said.

But the BRN has never claimed responsibility. It is a coward, he said.

In February, MARA Patani and the Thai delegation agreed to a framework for setting up a safety zone  or limited ceasefire  in one of the districts in the four southern provinces touched by the insurgency. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed since 2004 in violence associated with the conflict in the Malay-speaking Deep South.

We do not condone the violation of safety for public spaces. We condemn any act of cowardice that directly inflicts casualties on civilians/non-combatants, especially women and children. The perpetrators must be brought to justice. Our heartfelt sympathy and condolence to the victims, the people of Patani, of all races and religions, MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafez Al-Hakim said in an email to BenarNews.

Kastrui Mahkota, a leader of the Pulo United Liberation Organization (PULO) rebel group that has a seat on MARA Patani along with BRN, also condemned Tuesdays twin bombings.

Stop attacking or insulting the non-Malays and non-Muslims but instead move professionally by bringing your own initiatives, he said in a Facebook post.

The position of the Malays and Islam has a special place but it is not a license to attack others.

Four suspects spotted

Pattani Gov. Weeranan Pengchan said authorities sought an arrest warrant for Makoseng Ma-ae, 25, who allegedly drove a bomb-rigged pickup truck to one of the spots where explosions rocked the Big C store and destroyed the storefront. The suspect was spotted on a security camera when he left the scene on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice.

The suspected bomber has three previous criminal convictions, including bombing a fishing boat in June 2016, Weeranan told reporters.

In a separate news conference at the regional office of the Internal Security Command, Col. Pramote Prom-in said the authorities were able to identify other suspects.

Now the authorities can identify four suspected bombers from security cameras and we have evidence. Let us have enough time to extend the investigation. ... We can arrest them, he said.

Razlan Rashid in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
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For Immediate Release, May 11, 2017 Contact: Collette Adkins, Center for Biological Diversity, (651) 955-3821, cadkins@biologicaldiversity.org

Michael Beilfuss, Oklahoma Chapter Sierra Club, (979) 218-8941, mbeilfuss@yahoo.com

Ed Brocksmith, Save the Illinois River, (918) 284-9440, info@illinoisriver.org

Rebecca Jim, Local Environmental Action Demanded, (918) 256-5269, rjim@neok.com Ban Sought on Commercial Wild Turtle Trapping in Oklahoma Unlimited Numbers Can Now Be Caught, Sold OKLAHOMA CITY The Center for Biological Diversity and several Oklahoma-based environmental organizations petitioned the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation today to end commercial collection of the state's wild turtles, which are critical to the health of freshwater ecosystems. Turtle trappers can now legally collect unlimited numbers of eight turtle species from waterways on private lands to sell domestically or export for Asian food and medicinal markets. Turtle trappers shouldn't be allowed to pad their pocketbooks by putting the state's precious wildlife at risk, said Collette Adkins, the Center biologist and senior attorney who authored the petition. For the sake of our native turtles and all of us who care about them, Oklahoma has to rein in exploitative turtle trapping.



Commercial traders bought nearly 1 million wild turtles from Oklahoma between 1994 and 2014, according to reports submitted by turtle buyers to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Asian food and medicinal markets drive most of the trade. Because turtles accumulate toxins from prey in their bodies and burrow into contaminated sediment, their meat is often laced with mercury, PCBs and pesticides, posing a health risk. Adult turtles are also taken from the wild to breed hatchlings for the international pet trade. Scientists have repeatedly documented that freshwater turtles cannot sustain any significant level of wild collection without population declines. For example, a 2011 Oklahoma study showed a significant reduction, in comparison to baseline data from 1997-1999, in catch per unit of effort, an index of turtle abundance, across eastern Oklahoma for the three turtle species primarily targeted by commercial trappers: common snapping turtles, softshells and red-eared sliders. Commercial trapping is devastating to turtle populations that are already suffering from multiple other threats, including habitat loss, water pollution and vehicular collisions, said Michael Beilfuss, executive committee chair for Oklahoma Chapter Sierra Club. Unless the state bans commercial turtle trapping, Oklahoma's turtle populations will continue to plummet. In response to a 2008 Center petition, Oklahoma prohibited commercial collection of turtles from the state's public waters. That prohibition, while an important step, insufficiently protects the state's turtles because approximately 95 percent of the state's land is privately held and therefore open to turtle trapping. And enforcement is difficult because turtle traders can claim that turtles illegally collected from closed public waters were collected from waters on private land. Today's petition was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Oklahoma Chapter Sierra Club, Save the Illinois River and Local Environmental Action Demanded. Background

As part of a campaign to protect turtles in the United States, the Center has been petitioning states that allow commercial turtle collection to improve their regulations. In 2009 Florida responded by banning almost all commercial turtle collection from public and private waters. In 2012 Georgia approved state rules restricting commercial turtle collection, and Alabama completely banned it. Most recently, in Iowa in March, new regulations setting closed seasons and possession limits for commercial turtle trappers went into effect. As for states neighboring Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas prohibit commercial turtle collection, and New Mexico strictly regulates it with annual bag limits. In addition, last fall Missouri announced  in response to a Center petition  that it will consider ending unlimited commercial turtle collection through a formal rulemaking proceeding.
For Immediate Release, May 11, 2017 Contact: Brett Hartl, (202) 817-8121, bhartl@biologicaldiversity.org Agriculture Department Official Misleads Senate Over Pesticides, Endangered Species WASHINGTON A top U.S. Department of Agriculture official advocating for fewer pesticide regulations misled the Senate Agriculture Committee today over the need for, and reliability of, the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to protect endangered species from pesticides. Sheryl Kunickis, the USDA's director of the Office of Pest Management Policy, stated that protecting endangered species from pesticides was duplicative and that impacts to protected species could be adequately addressed under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Her assertion ignores the fact that the EPA has systemically failed to protect endangered species under that law for the past 30 years. Sheryl Kunickis and the USDA seem more concerned about protecting the profits of the pesticide industry than protecting people and wildlife from exposure to pesticides, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The USDA is supposed to be a champion of safe farming practices that protect our food supply, farm workers and environment. But it appears that the only thing that they care about is protecting giant corporations like Dow Chemical. That's a disgrace. Today's hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee is focused on the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act, a non-controversial piece of legislation designed to improve the process of reviewing new and existing pesticides. Rather than focusing on the merits of the Act, the USDA chose to spread misinformation and undercut sensible environmental measures guiding the use of some of the most toxic pesticides remaining on the market. Last month Dow Chemical secretly requested that the EPA abandon legally mandated efforts to protect endangered species from chlorpyrifos and two other highly toxic insecticides, diazinon and malathion. The request came after four agencies in the federal government  the EPA, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture  invested four years assessing the pesticides' impacts on imperiled species. The agencies have repeatedly met with stakeholders, including Dow and the USDA, and provided multiple opportunities for public comment. The USDA is completely out of touch with reality if it thinks that these three, antiquated pesticides are safe, and that we should just stick our heads in the sand so that the pesticide industry can maintain the status quo, said Hartl. The Office of Pest Management Policy and Sheryl Kunickis are nothing more than puppets of industry. The EPA's final biological evaluations, supported by more than 10,000 pages of scientific documentation, determined that chlorpyrifos and malathion are likely to harm 97 percent of endangered species nationwide, while diazinon was found to harm 79 percent of protected species. In a stunning about-face, the Trump administration recently decided to scrap a long-awaited ban on the brain-damaging pesticide chlorpyrifos. Around 5 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are used in the United States every year on crops like corn, peanuts, plums and wheat. A recent study at the University of California at Berkeley found that 87 percent of umbilical-cord blood samples tested had detectable levels of chlorpyrifos. 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.
For Immediate Release, May 11, 2017 Contacts: Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, (307) 399-7910; emolvar@westernwatersheds.org

Talasi Brooks, Advocates for the West, (208) 342-7024 x208; tbrooks@advocateswest.org

Kelly Nokes, WildEarth Guardians, (406) 209-9545; knokes@wildearthguardians.org

Andrea Santarsiere, Center for Biological Diversity, (303) 854-7748; asantarsiere@biologicaldiversity.org

Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense, (541) 937-4261; brooks@predatordefense.org Lawsuit Asks Court to Halt Federal Wildlife Killing in Idaho New Lawsuit Seeks to Stop Wildlife Services From Exterminating Native Wildlife BOISE, Idaho Conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal court today to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture's wildlife-killing agency from shooting, trapping, and poisoning Idaho's wild animals. In the suit, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, the Center for Biological Diversity and Predator Defense, represented by Advocates for the West and a staff attorney at Western Watersheds Project, assert that Wildlife Services has written itself a broad, statewide authorization to kill native predators like coyotes and mountain lions along with ravens and other animals without taking a hard look at the impacts of its unscientific slaughter. The program has also never revealed to the public the potential consequences of its actions, as the National Environmental Policy Act requires. The lawsuit asks the court to order Wildlife Services to complete an environmental impact statement and to halt the ongoing and expanded killing of native wildlife until a proper environmental analysis is completed. Wildlife Services is stuck in the barbarism of the 19th century, before the full value of predators in ecosystems was understood, said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project. This is 2017, and the agency's current plan to wage war on Idaho's wild animals is scientifically unjustified and ignores the important role of these animals in the landscape. The suit points out that ravens and other native wildlife are targeted for extermination in an effort to increase sage grouse populations, even though predator-killing programs have been discredited as a means of significantly improving the survival of grouse populations. Wildlife Services wants to expand its activities to include killing native predators at the behest of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said Talasi Brooks, associate attorney with Advocates for the West. Yet, Wildlife Services' own analysis suggests that many of these activities are unwarranted and won't boost prey species populations as intended. It's time for Wildlife Services to embrace science-based management. Most people in Idaho would be shocked to learn how many animals Wildlife Services already kills in our state, said Andrea Santarsiere, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Now this reckless agency wants to slaughter even more of our black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, ravens, and other wildlife using nightmarish methods like poisons and aerial gunning, without even studying the environmental consequences. Such a lackadaisical approach to wildlife management is not permitted by the law. Many of the methods used to kill native predators are indiscriminate, with the potential to impact nontarget animals including lynx, wolverine and even pets. Methods like the controversial M-44 cyanide bomb also present a potentially deadly safety hazard for the public. It isn't just wildlife that is directly harmed by the killing programs, said Brooks Fahy of Predator Defense. These lethal weapons pose a risk to recreational users of public lands, their pets and the nontarget' species that die by the hundreds every year. The groups also pointed out the high cost and lack of benefits for funding Wildlife Services' killing programs for native species. Wildlife Services needs to be accountable to the public for the harm their actions cause to Idaho's natural ecosystems, said Kelly Nokes, carnivore advocate for WildEarth Guardians. Not only are Wildlife Services' killing schemes cruel and unnecessary, the best available science is clear that they are largely ineffective too. It is past time that Wildlife Services' needless killing regime is documented in a complete environmental review so that the public can fully realize how their tax dollars are being wasted. A copy of today's complaint can be accessed online here.
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
The programme will provide employees access to a range of essential health and wellness services for their parents and parents-in-law

Intel has introduced Elder Care Program in India under which healthcare support will be given to its employees parents.Through the Elder Care Program, the US-based hardware and semiconductor major aims to offer better work environment to employees and help them care for their elderly parents and relatives at home.

The programme will provide employees access to a range of essential health and wellness services for their parents and parents-in-law including home health aide, transport and escorting to and from medical appointments, home nurse visits, general physician and physiotherapy visits, sample collection and report delivery for medical tests and a dedicated helpline number for free medical and counselling.

Preethi Madappa, director, human resource, Intel South Asia said, We found in our own assessment there seems to be an increasing vulnerability that elderly seems to experience and this was coming to us from the data of medical claims of employees, percentage of claims and from which segment. We found that a large portion of that was coming in from the parents or the parent-in-laws

Intel has tied up with a third party vendor for Elder Care Program that manages the services across the country including specific tier-II cities.

Life expectancy in India has increased in the past few years and multiple studies suggest it will go up further. This certainly prompted Intel to design a programme for the elderly family members of our employees and especially for those who stays away from family, added Madappa.

We realised that employees feel that they are able to bring the best selves to work when they believe their entire well-being including family is taken care of. As a technology company we have best and the brightest young minds coming in but that also means their families and parents support is another aspect to be considered, she added
Opinion | 04 November 2022 | Interviews

India needs to connect OPD with the cashless insurance network to bring them into the digital economy

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Body language. Advertising in its simplest form is a brand's flirtation with a person. The way a brand makes a human feel will determine the relationship that follows between brand and consumer.

Fighting sexism: I love giving blow jobs to sandwiches, says this model in the #WomenNotObjects campaign in the US. The Loeries aim to encourage local advertisers to celebrate work that acknowledges our humanity.

Its no secret that advertising has the power to influence and change behaviour. Research by neuroeconomist Paul Zak indicates that positive behaviour helps to stimulate the release of oxytocin in humans, which leads to feelings of trust and empathy.

So when a brand communicates in a positive way, it is more likely for that brand to be trusted and to build a relationship with people.

Its summed up by author Maya Angelou: At the end of the day people wont remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.

And now, in a time when humanity is quickly losing its grip on simple human values, advertisers and marketers should be even more conscious of how they make people feel.

Recently, several international advertising award shows  Cannes Lions, the Andy Awards and the Advertising Club of New York  announced they would ask jurors to disregard work that objectifies women or perpetuates gender bias.

This comes as a result of a powerful campaign, called #WomenNotObjects, led by chief creative officer at ad agency Badger & Winters, Madonna Badger. The campaign sets out to reveal how negative images in advertising have, over the years, perpetuated objectification, sexism and gender inequality.

This is an important step in the right direction and it is one that the Loeries will be supporting. Yet our country and our continent demand a different approach. So, we would like to support #WomenNotObjects  and take it a step further.

Our landscape is unique and our social problems layered and born out of a history deeply rooted in all forms of bias. Right now, our country weeps and there is a severe lack of trust that makes us fear for our futures. It makes sense that we come back to simple humanity.

The Loeries would like to recognise and reward work that celebrates who we are as humans, that encourages the upending of stereotypes and the projection of powerful, transformative imagery.

This means that we would like to shine a light on work that challenges racial, cultural and gender bias, work that strips the prejudices to honour ourselves as equal humans. We would like to apply a lens of focus on work that acknowledges that we are human first.

This is not to say that we are advocating for work that is superficial, sentimental, inauthentic or vanilla-safe. The Loeries are about pure excellence and outstanding creativity. They are about provoking conversations about work that force us to feel something, to question and to challenge how we see and do.

This is about applying a crisp consciousness to the work we put out into the world. Its about making sure that were telling better stories about our people.

The Loeries recognises and rewards work that is enviable and remarkable. It makes sense that remarkable work also has the potential to reveal the best side of humanity and celebrate that we are all human first.

Republished with permission from Mail & Guardian. Original here.
Miners in South Africa face an epidemic of occupational lung diseases. According to Julian Mthombeni, Biomedical Technology lecturer at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), despite a plethora of research on the mining industry, research impact (including disease surveillance) on policy implementation and occupational health systems performance lags.

VYACHESLAV SVETLICHNYY via 123RF

Mthombeni conducted a research study that focused on the role of mining hospitals in offering autopsies to families of deceased miners for compensation of occupational lung diseases including recommendations to improving autopsy services for deceased miners as part of her dissertation of her Masters degree in Public Health. As autopsies continued to fall, the study sought to inform interventions directed at increasing autopsies for deceased miners in South Africa by accounting for providers experiences and perceptions regarding autopsies for deceased miners.

Said Mthombeni: In South Africa, the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODMWA) autopsies are declining especially among retired mineworkers. Insufficient knowledge of ODMWA provisions by the mineworkers, their relatives and health personnel has been postulated as one of the causes of underutilisation.

Compensation is a fundamental social right that should guarantee a life of human dignity for the diseased or injured worker, and his family. We described and compared processes for obtaining consent and the experiences and perceptions of personnel involved in these processes in selected South African mines and identified possible impediments, some common to other low- and middle-income countries. That will hopefully inform interventions, Mthombeni added.

Improved consent processes

Mthombenis research involves documenting how consent processes can be improved to increase autopsies for deceased miners in South Africa. We want to make current miners, ex-miners, their families and communities aware of the right of miners and ex-miners to have their lungs and hearts submitted for examination after they die. These examinations are done to determine the presence of compensable lung diseases which may occur as a result of working in the mines, she said.

According to laws of South Africa, that is, the Occupational Disease in Mines and Works Act of 1973 (ODMWA), anyone who has been exposed to risk work while working in the mines or classified works, has the right to have his or her lungs and heart examined after death. It does not matter what the cause of death is. According to this law, it is the duty of the last doctor who attends to the deceased person to arrange for the removal of the lungs and heart.

Mthombeni concluded: For various reasons, the number of autopsies continues to fall despite the potential benefits of the procedure to families and medical science. Some of the reasons for the decline include distrust in the compensation system, fear of mutilating the body, maintaining the body in the best condition possible, lack of knowledge, belief that the examination during an autopsy inflicts further suffering to the body, lack of rapport with the deceased's family, lack of consensus among family members regarding the procedure, concern about funeral delays, dying at home as opposed to hospital or preference to preserve the dignity of the deceased over knowing the cause of death.
There are over 750 business systems in South Africa claiming to be franchises, of which a large number are not accredited members of the Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA).

Aleksandr Belugin via 123RF

FASA is the only body in South Africa that is ensuring that its accredited members, who voluntarily join the association, are adhering to the Code of Ethics, as prescribed in the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), and to international best practices. The requirements of becoming an accredited member of FASA are stringent  this no doubt scares off the less scrupulous operators and those who do not have correct structures and support systems required of a top-class franchise system.

What we are finding, says Tony Da Fonseca, chairman of FASA and CEO of the OBC Group, is that there are some franchise companies that join the association for a short period of time to gain the necessary credibility to launch their concept, then resign their membership but continue to use that accreditation to sell franchises. Although this practice hasnt been prevalent, there is a risk to prospective franchisees that the company they choose may not be upholding the ethical standards as laid down by both FASA and the CPA.

Thorough investigation needed

The recent recession has taken its toll on franchising, as consolidation has had to take place on all levels  from the operational to franchise sales. With loans hard to come by, it has become a buyers market for the investor with capital. Being in the drivers seat and with so many options available, prospective franchisees cannot risk buying into a failing system and should ensure that they choose franchises that are prepared to align themselves to a bona fide association such as FASA. The first question a prospective franchisee should ask is, Is your franchise accredited by the Franchise Association of South Africa?

Franchisees, before they sign on the dotted line, need to ensure that they have thoroughly investigated the franchisor, confirmed that they are FASA accredited members by checking on the FASA website; spoken to existing franchisees and above all, made sure that they fully understand the terms of their agreement and what they are committing to. It is the responsibility of the franchisor to supply a franchisee with a full turn-key operation, give extensive training on how to operate the business and above all give ongoing support and guidance to help the franchisee make a success of his/her business.

Offering recourse

Choosing members of FASA gives prospective franchisees the peace of mind that those companies, in becoming accredited members, have agreed to manage their franchise companies in accordance with not only FASAs Code of Ethics and strict membership criteria, but are kept up-to-date with all the necessary legislative changes.

Furthermore, and until such time as the franchise ombud is appointed, if things go wrong as they sometimes do, FASA offers free mediation and dispute resolution mechanisms to its members. Franchisors that are not members of FASA would be well advised to consider becoming accredited members and use the benefits and support of the association to get their houses in order to ensure their survival within the parameters of the Act.

International upholding of ethics

At the recent World Franchise Council meeting in London, of which FASA is a member, the focus was on sustaining the growth of franchising worldwide in continuing turbulent times through ethical franchise principles.

According to Vera Valasis, executive director of FASA, At the meeting, it was acknowledged that upholding ethical franchise principles through franchise association accreditation continues to be the key to the healthy growth of franchising globally. This is proving to be a challenge in South Africa as the legislative wheels grind slowly and although FASA was able to influence the inclusion of provisions for franchising in the CPA, there are very few checks and balances to ensure that franchisors are indeed adhering to the provisions of the Act.

Despite the on-going recession that is impacting heavily on small businesses, the franchise sector continues to be resilient and franchising globally has fared far better than independently owned businesses  largely due to the strong business format and support system inherent in franchising. Franchising has proved, repeatedly to be a much lower risk investment than starting a new business, with surveys showing that whereas 93% of new small businesses fail within two years of start-up, between 5-7% of franchised businesses fail.

The business model of franchising is globally one of the soundest business methods and in South Africa has grown to over 700 franchise systems, with over 35,000 franchise outlets and employing over 300,000 people contributing 11.6% to South Africas GDP.

Both the franchisors and franchisees have an obligation to make their partnership work. The very nature of the successful business formula of franchising is one of interdependence  one of if the franchisees are profitable, the franchisor will be too, concludes Valasis.

Franchise Business Festival

FASAs upcoming Franchise Business Festival, to be held from 30 June to 2 July 2017 at the Kyalami Race Track Exhibition Centre, will showcase over 100 franchise and business opportunities and will it also hold its annual Franchise Convention on 29 June and the Awards for Excellence in Franchising on 1 July.
Eastern Cape businessman Stephen Dondolo says his black-owned investment firm African Pioneer Group plans to enter the beverage market with its own brand in mind.

Stephen Dondolo. Picture: The Herald

The African Pioneer CEO, who this week clinched a black empowerment deal with Coca-Cola Beverages SA for a 17.5% stake in Appletiser, said the group was ambitious and was creating opportunities to expand its beverage portfolio.

"One day, once the infrastructure is in place, I will develop my own beverage brand," Dondolo said on Wednesday. "This brand will not only compete in SA, but will make a place for itself in the rest of the world as well."

African Pioneer's investment history is nothing to sneeze at. The group concluded the first major empowerment transaction with fishing company Pioneer Fishing in 1997. It is one of the three shareholders of Woodlands Dairy, the leader in boxed processed milk in SA. African Pioneer is also a majority shareholder of Caltex Eastern Cape Marketer, the largest purchaser of fuel from Chevron SA.

Dondolo said the tie-up with Coca-Cola Beverages was a feather in the company's cap and would allow it to extend the group's brand and name.

"It really makes us feel proud to be associated with a brand such as Appletiser. There are very few local brands that are produced in SA with reach in international markets. We will be able to extend the reach of the brand of African Pioneer and Appletiser all over the world using the network of the CocaCola company," said Dondolo.

African Pioneer will be joined by long-serving Coca-Cola Beverages employee Sipho Madlala, who purchased a 4% stake, bringing the total black empowerment to 21.5%. The transaction values were not disclosed.

The deal meets a merger condition set by the Competition Tribunal in 2016 in the creation of Coca-Cola Beverages, whose MD Velaphi Ratshefola said he was delighted to join up with the empowerment partners.

Source: Business Day
The first thing I saw when stepping out of the taxi was a sign advertising craft beer, popular with hipsters everywhere. Sidewalk tables were occupied by attractive young people; a pleasant tableau of the multiracial middle classes eating wood-fired pizza and playing with their smart phones.

In Maboneng, bikes and bistros abound. In adjacent inner-city Johannesburg, people struggle to survive. South African Tourism/Flickr

It could have been a scene from gentrifying downtown Los Angeles or Shoreditch in London. It reminded me of New York but in reality it was Maboneng, Johannesburg. I am conducting research about the area and issues of spatial transformation.

Maboneng was carved out of Jeppestown, a working-class neighbourhood in Johannesburgs CBD. It has developed rapidly since 2009. But surrounding Jeppestown is still mostly occupied by low-income black people. Maboneng is a distinctly hipster cultural time zone or microspace. Its upmarket bars, fashionable restaurants, creative work spaces and loft-style apartments have more in common with its equivalents in Euro-America than less developed local areas adjacent to it.

Maboneng represents one strand of the type of urban development thats advocated for by the proponents of global cities. The problem with this type of development is that it often leads to cities becoming more spatially unequal as urban regeneration or gentrification displaces people.

The citys core areas are occupied by the wealthy. Low-income residents are pushed to the urban peripheries in search of affordable housing. This trend is intensifying around the world: in New York, London, Sydney, Los Angeles and Vancouver as well as in globalising or emerging cities like Johannesburg, Accra, Beijing, Cape Town, Jakarta, Mumbai and Shanghai.

We have seen this model before. It was called the apartheid city.

Apartheid cities

South Africas apartheid architects wanted Johannesburg and nearby suburbs to be reserved for the white population. Economically disadvantaged black people, so-called coloureds and Indians were warehoused on the outskirts in segregated, under-resourced townships. They provided an underpaid labour force for white business.

Apartheid was also known to its critics as racial capitalism. It was a type of social engineering that both spatially and economically gave the white population an advantage to keep them wealthy.

In the era of globalisation since 1990, these same spatial dynamics have played out in cities around the world. They are no longer based on purely racial lines. Instead, theyre grounded in blatant socioeconomic segregation. Urban theorist Richard Florida wrote in 2008 that

the most successful cities and regions in the United States and around the world may increasingly be inhabited by a core of wealthy and highly mobile workers leading highly privileged lives, catered to by an underclass of service workers living farther and farther away.

Several scholars have warned that inequality is an inherent feature of the global city. Others, like Martin J. Murray, argue that post-apartheid Johannesburg has introduced new patterns of social segregation that have further marginalised the largely black underclasses and urban poor.

Yet many cities are striving to become more global  and ever more unequal. Why is this?

Defining global

Annual indices produced by groups headquartered in places like Chicago and London competitively rank global cities according to certain metrics. A city is global if it consists of very particular types of cultural time zones: skyscrapers, cafes and malls which adhere to western notions of modernity and development. Global cultural time zones in global(ising) cities create a network of geographically disparate but culturally similar spaces that allow for certain types of socio-economic transactions.

This sort of development has seen gentrification being generalised as global urban policy. In recent years major cities have witnessed a particular strand of gentrification that I call global hipsterification. A scholarly article on the subject has been accepted for publication in the journal New Left Review.

Knight Franks 2015 Global Cities report states that former industrial districts like Londons Shoreditch and Brooklyns DUMBO are some of the new districts [which] are of increasing significance because they attract younger staff who can find housing, an active social life and burgeoning employment opportunities in various technological or creative industries.

These youngsters often identify as hipsters, originally a counter-cultural movement that has now gone mainstream and global from Hauz Khas village, New Delhi to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They are defined by their consumption of particular types of beverages (coffee, craft beer) and food (quinoa, kale) as well as music, fashion, art and their distinctive aesthetic choices.

Meanwhile, cities in the global South use hipster areas like Dadar in Mumbai or Maboneng to beef up their global city credentials.

And while the hipsters move in, others are pushed aside. Development-induced migration is a growing phenomenon in many cities like Shanghai. There, authorities are removing millions of low-income residents from prime real estate in their quest to become more global.

But heres the question if we are to reduce the global trend of increasing spatial inequality: who gets to define global and why does it only mean skyscrapers and hipster cafes?

A new definition

Instead, shouldnt global be redefined to mean adequate and affordable housing for all income levels, good schools for all children, universal health care, a zero rate of homelessness and greater income equality? What if global was correlated with the Gini coefficient which measures equality?

City officials need to rely less on profit-driven, private developers and more on specific government policies to aggressively protect and create more low and middle-income housing in city centres.

Spatial and economic inequality have many drawbacks and may negatively impact growth. Inclusive growth can only be achieved by rejecting the apartheid/global city model.
Addressing Africa's infrastructure deficit, according to the World Bank , will cost about $93bn a year. That's a pretty penny, even by Bill Gates standards. The gap is certainly daunting, but James Cullis, global service group leader: water at Aurecon, proposes we err on the side of optimism. Rather than indulging in the view that Africa is infrastructure light, he suggests we consider Africa as being infrastructure ready.

James Cullis, global service group leader: water, Aurecon

The continents lack of infrastructure affords us the opportunity to plot a development path thats more geared towards sustainable development, said Cullis. We dont have to make the same mistakes made by our developed counterparts. Cullis was part of the speaker lineup at the recently concluded 24th Annual FIDIC-GAMA Conference on Infrastructure. The 2017 iteration was themed African Partnerships for Sustainable Growth.

A healthy sense of optimism, however, requires a firm grasp of reality. Our reality is that, due to its infrastructure deficit, among other reasons, Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change. But climate change isnt our only challenge...

The African engineers trilemma

With rapid urbanisation, engineers are faced with increasing social pressure to address the backlog in terms of basic services and delivery, explained Cullis, while on the other side we have increasing environmental stress, not only as a result of climate change, but land use change, degradation of water quality, deforestation etc. The third issue entails current resource constraints to development in terms of financial, human, and natural capital. Cullis dubs this trilemma, with its extremely complex dynamics, a super wicked problem or a wicked problem squared.

Solving for a wicked problem squared

He believes engineers need to be less analytical and embrace disruption, innovation and new ways of thinking in order to solve these challenges. Problem-solving using the principles of design thinking is how Aurecon goes about its business, using a more empathetic approach that really grapples with a challenge before implementing a solution.

"We as engineers like to jump into the solution as quickly as we can, and often it's the wrong solution because we don't actually understand the problem," he said.

Emphasising the necessity of collaboration between all stakeholders - engineers, clients, communities, decision-makers - Cullis said, We've got to co-discover the challenges as well as co-explore the solutions.

We also need to invest in quality infrastructure in Africa, he said, based on principles such as full lifecycle cost accounting encompassing both direct and indirect economic impacts.

Inclusivity is also becoming more and more a priority in the infrastructure development space. "Instead of transplanting information and knowledge from the West and putting it into Africa, it has to be much more inclusive - you have to think about issues that are relevant, like job creation, inequality, using local knowledge, and local information. There's a big drive to use more African consulting engineers, design engineers and practitioners on the ground," said Cullis.

Building for the future

As a forward-thinking profession, engineers need to consider future risks for the continent, such as those presented by climate change, he said. It makes sense to prepare for these risks now by rolling out resilient infrastructure, which can take up to 20-30 years, as this could help mitigate the impact of potential extreme scenarios into the future.

There are also a number of benefits to building for resilience, said Cullis, as he explained the concept of 'realising the resilience dividend'. He used the example of investing in a stormwater drainage system built around a water-centred urban design concept that uses urban river corridors. The system could help preserve those rivers, build wetlands and open areas along floodplains, and in the process this has positive impacts on water and air quality, provides opportunities for urban agriculture, reduces the urban heat island effect, all of which has benefits for surrounding communities.

"We need to start embracing that approach of building forward so that we don't make the same mistakes that have been made in the past when we try to build the infrastructure of Africa going forward," concluded Cullis.

Go to www.fidic-gama2017.org.za for more info on the conference. For more info on FIDIC and its members, go to www.fidic.org. FIDIC-GAMA 2017 was held at the CTICC, 7-10 May.
The Treasury has agreed to changes to the insurance bill in a bid to accelerate the transformation of the industry.

This follows criticisms made during hearings on the bill. Black business said it would reinforce barriers to entry in the sector, and MPs across the political spectrum supported this view.

The Black Business Council and four black-owned insurance companies complained that the licensing conditions, high audit and actuarial fees, excessively demanding standards and a heavy regulatory burden served to exclude black players from the market.

A delegation from the Treasury and Financial Services Board led by deputy director-general Ismail Momoniat outlined the amendments in a briefing to the standing committee on finance on Tuesday.

In making the amendments, policyholder protection and the need for strong regulation had to be balanced with transformation, they said.

The objectives of the bill have been amended so that they state explicitly that they are to be achieved in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution and with reference to transformation of the insurance sector.

Transformation has been defined in reference to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.

Amendments have been made to the section on licensing so that applicants for licences would need a "clear plan to meet transformation objectives". The Prudential Authority established under the twin peaks system of regulation will have to take account of the public interest, including transformation, when considering whether or not to grant a licence or to vary one.

Momoniat expressed the fear that perhaps this amendment went too far and proposed that MPs discuss it.

Co-operatives could be insurers and reinsurers, opening the way for mutual insurers.

The section on licence conditions has been amended to allow the Prudential Authority to impose conditions in a manner that facilitates progressive or incremental compliance with the bill. The intention of this is to promote developmental, financial inclusion and transformation objectives.

A section on exemptions has been introduced to empower the authority to exempt any insurer or controlling company from a provision of the bill in order to achieve developmental and transformation objectives or financial inclusion.

The Treasury did not accept objections to the power of the authority to order a capital add-on if the risk profile of an insurer requires this.

It also did not accept the proposal by the black-owned insurers that the provisions for micro-insurance in the bill be scrapped on the grounds that this would create a "playground" for blacks while the main action took place in the established, white-dominated sector of the industry. It said that a micro-insurance licence would allow nontraditional industry participants such as funeral parlours to conduct insurance businesses. Commercial insurers would also be able to conduct micro-insurance business.

"A micro-insurance licence facilitates financial inclusion through having more proportionate regulations, including capital requirements, based on the low risk of micro-insurance products," the Treasury said.

Source: Business Day
For graduates and other job seekers, it's easy to have tunnel vision when it comes to getting a career kickstarted. The old-school way of thinking is that you start at the bottom rung and gradually work your way up. For millennials, though, this can appear tedious and at odds with their worldview, one that states there are endless opportunities just waiting for energetic people willing to take on challenges.

Danny Bryer, Protea Hotels by Marriott

One such challenge is travel and hospitality - there are careers that offer the chance to grow professionally across a number of disciplines so that the experience becomes one of expanding one's worldview while gaining skills that will serve you for a lifetime. Essentially, the world is your oyster.

Expanding list of career opportunities

You can enjoy training programmes designed to accelerate your growth and magnify your capabilities. There are endless opportunities in an evolving professional tourism market not limited to guest-facing roles, including advertising, marketing and social media, graphic design, interior design, financial management and accounting, events coordination, data analysis, IT and other positions - reflecting the richness of digital influence and the diversification of a career in hospitality.

From entry-level positions to senior roles, the opportunities are expansive. The range of jobs indicates the extent to which tourism is a professional career choice that can incorporate all the facets of corporate-level workplace development.

South Africans are excelling in the local market as local ambassadors of a global brand. Of course, Protea Hotels by Marriott is just one of many in the travel and hospitality trade providing the opportunity for locals to become world-class professionals, competing with their colleagues from around the world in the local context, proving that despite coming from the bottom of the continent, were capable of delivering world-class service across a variety of professional disciplines.

Wanderlust satisfied with a salary cheque

A secondary benefit is that you may get to have international work experience, perhaps even settling temporarily or permanently in another country to work with like-minded individuals.

You dont have to limit yourself to one company with an international chain of businesses. Tourism, in general, can help those with the desire to travel see that desire realised with work opportunities that are making this a reality  wanderlust satisfied with a salary cheque.

Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism concurs: Within our organisation, were dedicated to promoting the city as a destination, so part of this includes visiting source markets and trade fairs to ensure that word about our destination gets out across the world. In the process, our team members get to travel and meet like-minded people. Besides our internal travel opportunities, our members such as tour operators and companies also ensure that their offerings are being marketed globally. Its common for the big tourism booking companies to send their teams on trips to experience destinations so that their sales efforts are more authentic, he states.

The job market is evolving; its easy to be pessimistic when you look at how the economic climate is doing at home, but when you look to local companies offering global excellence, you start to see that the world is actually within reach right here and that a career in hospitality can be an enriching, life-enhancing choice.
Mobile browser, Opera, is planning to invest $100 million (R1.3 billion) over the next two years to speed up internet adoption in Africa and strengthen the internet ecosystem with local partners.

 Matthias Ziegler via 123RF

Africa is on its way to transform itself into a digital continent with the rapid adoption of mobile internet. For the past five years, the Opera Mini browser has reportedly been a key facilitator in bringing more than half of Africas internet population online by featuring tools for lowering data costs.

Recently, the company celebrated 100 million monthly users in Africa and is now focusing on making the next generation of web browsers to cater the needs of African internet users.

Developing AI-powered news engine with compression technology for Africa

According to a GSMA Intelligence report, the biggest consumer barriers to internet adoption in most African countries are the lack of digital skills and awareness, locally relevant content and affordability. To bring more first-time internet users without the fear of high data costs or lack of locally relevant content, the company invests in developing a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence engine for smartphone users that will ensure content discovery is at the heart of the browser. Users in Africa will get fully personalised and localised content delivered to their browser, while the data usage can be reduced up to 90%.

Opera is working with over 47 top tier African publishers covering 107 websites on this initiative.

Seeking local patners

To grow together with the African internet ecosystem, the company is planning to seek local partners to integrate value-added services, mobile payment and data bundling into its browser product. This will grant consumers access to quality content and services, giving them the ability to transact more easily on their mobile devices. The range of services to be added over the next 12 months will create a content and services hub.

Africa is a very important market for Opera, says Richard Monday, vice president of Africa, Opera Software. We aim to invest heavily in Africa, to build a local platform and grow with the local business partners. This platform will expand the user base for content providers, e-commerce businesses, operators, OEMs and others to strengthen the African internet ecosystem.

New offices to be opened in Nigeria and Kenya

Currently, the company has operations in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa and is expanding with new offices in Lagos, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya to support business and product development. The plan is to hire around 100 people for these offices over the next three years.
King Arthur: Legend of the Stone is an iconoclastic take on the classic Excalibur myth, tracing Arthur's journey from the streets to the throne; 20th Century Women is a heart-stirring celebration of the complexities of women, family, time and the connections we search for our whole lives; The Warrior's Gate is an action-packed adventure with martial arts derring-do, seen through the eyes of a Gen Z video gamer and set to a hip-hop breakdance beat; in the local drama Bypass, a woman knows that in order to harvest a heart and perform the transplant on her son, she will need to take the life of a young, innocent girl; and A Hero of Our Time is a riveting new production from the Bolshoi Ballet company that dances its way onto the Nouveau screens from Saturday, 13 May.

King Arthur: Legend of the Stone

Acclaimed filmmaker, Guy Ritchie brings his dynamic style to the epic fantasy action adventure starring Charlie Hunnam in the title role.

Everyone knows the fabled Arthurian legend or at least thinks they do. But in the hands of director, Guy Ritchie, the tale takes on a decidedly gritty, modern edge and Arthur himself, not yet king, is instead a ruffian, a thoroughly reluctant hero compelled to discover his true destiny even as he fights against the very monarchy he is meant to rule.

The film is an iconoclastic take on the classic Excalibur myth, tracing Arthurs journey from the streets to the throne.

The young Arthur runs the back passages of Londinium with his crew, not knowing his royal lineage until he draws the sword Excalibur from the stone. Instantly confronted by the swords influence, Arthur is forced to decide where to become involved with his power. Throwing in with the Resistance and an enigmatic young woman named Guinevere, he must learn to master the sword, face down his demons and unite the people to defeat the tyrant Vortigern  who murdered his parents and stole his crown  and became king.

I think the best narratives take a man on a journey that transcends his limitations and allows him to evolve from his most basic nature into someone worthy of a bigger life, says Ritchie, who also co-wrote and produced the film. In our version of the story, Arthurs life starts small: an urchin in a brothel, running the streets, learning to fight and dodging the law with his mates. Then the actions of otherssome with good, some with not-so-good intentionsforce him to expand his vision of who he could be.

There are certain genres we loved as kids that we filmmakers feel can be done for a modern audience in a way that wasnt possible back when we watched them. I hope that pulling that sword from the stone and going on a real heros journey with this King Arthur can give todays moviegoers the same pleasure we experienced in the theatre when we were lads, but in a fresh and exciting new way.

20th Century Women

Writer-director Mike Mills (the Academy Award-winning Beginners) brings us a richly multi-layered, funny, heart-stirring celebration of the complexities of women, family, time and the connections we search for our whole lives. It is a film that keeps redefining itself as it goes along, shifting with its characters as they navigate the pivotal summer of 1979.

Set in Santa Barbara, the film follows Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening), a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie (newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann, in a breakout performance) at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women in Jamies upbringing  via Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields home, and Julie (Elle Fanning), a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour

The film is equally a love letter to Mills mother and to the women who raised him.

Mills says: In a sense, this is the story of the Greatest Generation meeting Generation X  my mom being born in the 20s and me from the late 60s. On one level, the film is a love story between a mother and son, a love story that is very deep and unique, yet may never bring them the solidity for which they both yearn. The film tries to capture those transient moments where you feel true connection with a loved one, these little moments of grace, of understanding and connection,

which are more fragile and transitory than were taught  but when they happen, even fleetingly, they are truly a lot.

The Warriors Gate

An action-packed adventure film with martial arts derring-do, seen through the eyes of a Gen Z video gamer and set to a hip-hop breakdance beat.

Jack Bronson (Uriah Shelton) lives in a part-time virtual world. Bullied at school and on the pumptrack, he lives with his single mom, whos struggling to meet her mortgage payments. So every chance he gets, Jack escapes into the world of computer games  via his fearless avatar, the Black Knight.

One day, Mr. Chang, the antiques dealer Jack helps out after-school, offers him a family heirloom  a mysterious Chinese chest. Little does Jack know that the beautiful box that so intrigues him is actually a warriors gate, a magical portal into the mesmerizing world of ancient China.

Cowardly Jack must learn to face his fears, conquer an unknown universe, become a skilled warrior and save both the princess and her kingdom. Only then will he be able to return home and meet the challenges of his own contemporary world.

As a teenager, I was into judo and ninjutsu. Ive always secretly wanted to make a martial arts movie, admits director Matthias Hoene, who was born in Singapore, grew up in Berlin and has been directing commercials and music videos in London for more than a decade.

What makes this story so strong is that it starts in the very relatable, modern context of middle America, with a kid we can all identify with, director Matthias Hoene observes. Like most of us, Jack loves escaping into the world of computer games. And his computer game suddenly becomes reality. Its not about the joypad anymore, now its about real might. I think thats a very universal story. As a teenager, that was certainly my dream. So I think its a great set-up. On one hand, were capturing the exotic nature of China and the amazing craftsmanship and actors we have here. On the other, we have access to EuropaCorps very cool editing, cinematography, colour correction and music facilities, and a great script by Luc Besson and Robert Kamen, of course. So all the ingredients for success are there.

Bypass

In the childrens ward of St Lukes Hospital, Sam Cooper (Joel Brown) is waiting at the top of the transplant list for a new liver. His mother, Dr. Lisa Cooper, (Natalie Becker) head of cardiac surgery, feels completely helpless, unable to save her son, despite saving her patients lives every single day.

When a liver finally becomes available and is destroyed en route to the hospital, the alternative of sourcing an illegal organ becomes her only option. She turns her back on the system she has devoted her life to and the two secretly head off to New Day Clinic in East Africa. Once behind the derelict walls of the facility, Sam is taken and used as a pawn to force Lisa into performing a heart transplant for a wealthy American patient.

Knowing that in order to harvest a heart and perform the transplant, she will need to take the life of a young, innocent girl to get Sam back, she is faced with the devastating reality that some lives may simply be more valuable than others.

With a screenplay by Shane Vermooten and Bianca Schmitz, this local drama is directed by Vermooten, who says that the film deals with the problem of underground organ trafficking.

Writer/Producer, Diane Vermooten goes on to say: We wanted to capture the dynamics of what goes on in a mothers heart when the decision she makes could mean the life or death of her child. We asked so many mothers what they would do if they had the choice to save the life of their child, and most said that they would do whatever it takes.

As Dr. Cooper in the film explains: The things we believe when we are far removed from a situation are often challenged when we find ourselves confronted with the issue. Very often we may surprise ourselves with the decisions we make.

A Hero of Our Time

This riveting new production from the Bolshoi Ballet company, seen for the first time in cinema, dances its way onto the Nouveau screens from Saturday, 13 May, for limited shows.

Based on the larger-than-life hero, Pechorin, the ballet has been adapted from Russian Mikhail Lermontovs literary masterpiece in three separate stories  Bela, Taman and Princess Mary, that each recount his heart-breaking betrayals. Is Pechorin a real hero, or is he just a man like any other?

Pechorin, a young officer, embarks on a journey across the majestic mountains of the Caucasus, on a path set by his passionate encounters. Disillusioned and careless, he inflicts pain both upon himself and the women around him

In each one of the three parts of the ballet, Pechorin is quite different. He is changed by circumstance, age, the way in which he is presented  in Bela he is seen through the eyes of another character, while in Taman and Princess Mary, he speaks for himself, via the chapters of his diary.

In all these different guises, there can be no question of Pechorin being an integrated character. Each Pechorin has his own character, as revealed in his opening monologue or his own musical characterisation, as conveyed to the audience by a particular solo musical instrument, positioned directly on stage.

This brand-new production for the Bolshoi Ballet company, choreographed by Yuri Possokhov with music composed by Ilya Demutsky, is a tragic poetic journey on pointes.

The ballets director, designer and author of libretto is Kirill Serebrennikov. A Hero of Our Time is one of Serebrennikovs favourite books. But however much one might love a book, not everyone is capable of bringing it alive in ballet. I find it surprising no one thought of doing it before, says Serebrennikov, as it is a quintessentially poetical and inwardly musical work. And where there is poetry, there is ballet.

A Hero of Our Time releases on South African screens on Saturday, 13 May for four screenings only  on 13, 17 and 18 May at 19:30, and on 14 May at 14:30  only at Ster-Kinekors Nouveau theatres in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. Bookings are now open. The running time of this ballet production is 2hrs 45mins, including two intervals.

For booking information on the Bolshoi Ballets A Hero of Our Time at Nouveau, visit the Cinema Nouveau website

Read more about the latest releases and win a fabulous Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 movie hamper by visiting the Writing Studio website.
Kamers/Makers return to the fantastic Castle of Good Hope venue from Wednesday, 24 May 2017 - Sunday 28 May 2017 with more than a 100 amazing makers'.

A third of these are new faces  fresh talents and young entrepreneurs who have been mentored and nurtured to take a well-deserved space  for the first time  at the Cape Town show.

Simply put  there is nothing like Kamers/Makers in South Africa  no platform that, on such a consistently successfully scale, allows artisan producers to showcase their wares, meet new customers and network with other creative souls in a supportive and fertile environment. In this year of Making Good the organisers have structured a number of initiatives aimed at spreading the power of the Kamers/Makers platform further and deeper into the communities in which we operate.

Kamers/Makers will continue their successful partnership with Absa in creating a seamless, cash-free shopping experience at their shows. Absa will be showcasing some real banking innovations at the Castle of Good Hope, all aimed at making shopping a whole lot easier for everyone.

Making good in the broader small business community

This year Kamers/Makers have also launched Mzanzi Makers  an NPO started in concert with some leading lights from the business world. Its aim is to identify creative entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds and to offer them an intensive mentoring and upskilling programme that will culminate in them also taking a deserved space on the Kamers/Makers circuit. Here at the shows, Kamers/Makers will continue to assist them in building real, viable brands and businesses like many of the makers have so successfully done over the years.

Experience Kamers/Makers online

The ever-growing Kamers Online Marketplace are for those who cannot get enough at the shows. We curate special collections by hand-picked makers that you can view and buy online by clicking here.
The Justin Bieber Purpose World Tour will kick off in Johannesburg on Sunday, 14 May 2017 at FNB Stadium followed by Cape Town on Wednesday, 17 May 2017 at Cape Town Stadium. Here's a handy list regarding the Joburg leg of the tour. You'll find all the information you need to know to make sure you get into the stadium as safe and conveniently as possible.

Times

Gates Open: 5pm

Support  Sketchy Bongo: 7.30pm  8.20pm

Justin Bieber: 8.30pm

Restricted access

No camping will be allowed outside the venue.

No persons will be allowed to queue outside the venue until 10am on the day of the show.

If you fail to comply with this requirement and refuse to vacate the area after being instructed to do so by security and/or SAPS, we reserve the right to confiscate your ticket and escort you from the venue. In the case of an unaccompanied minor your parents/guardian will be contacted to collect you from the venue and if they fail to do so within a reasonable time we will contact city social services.

Please note: You risk missing the show without the option of a refund if you chose to ignore this very important safety and security requirement.

Transport

Make sure you book your transport ticket before the show day:

Park and Ride: Book at Computicket

Alberton City, Alberton

Carnival City, Brakpan

East Rand Mall, Boksburg

Royal Elephant Hotel and Conference, Centurion

UJ West Sport, Auckland Park

Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, Pretoria

Silverstar Casino, Krugersdorp

Worldwear, Randburg

Parking: Book at Computicket before show day

Bus Parking: R560

Premium Parking: R560

Mini Bus Parking: R390

Exclusive Parking: R280

General Access Parking: R100

Uber/Taxi: Must drop and collect from the Drop and Stay at the Bus Hub off Landbou Street, only accessible off Golden Highway off Rand Show Road  view map for location.

Connection/bus hub off Landbou Street: A hub has been created at the Drop & Stay point to connect lost people and communicate with the event organisers. Please enter from Golden Highway off Rand Show road.

Disabled parking: can be collected at the stadium between 9am -4pm before Friday 13th May by providing your disabled or doctors certificate along with R80. For any queries please contact Simone on 0112475300.

Please note: Security will be ensuring that all disabled parking ticket holders have the relevant paperwork to allow them access to the dedicated parking area. Disabled parking is located at Gate G across from Safa house on Nasrec Road.

Venue Map

Please print a copy of the map and give it to your children and those attending as it shows entrance points and contact information.

Justin Bieber Johannesburg Concert

Entrance Points

Very important: Note your ticket and the gate you need to use to get into the stadium. All field ticket holders both Golden Circle and General Admission area require an armband to access the field. These are collected at the relevant Gate outlined below:

Golden Circle Standing enter through Gate M or enter through Gate G

General Admission Standing through Gate M

Seated tickets enter through Gate C, Gate K and Gate H. (no armband required). Note: all turnstiles can accept all seated tickets, if the turnstiles in front of you are busy, look left and right for alternative access points and please listen to Security. Rights of Admission apply.

If you purchased your tickets to the Stadium Management Lounge you must enter through Gate C and proceed to Foyer A via Turnstile 23.

Important safety information for parents and minors

Age and height restrictions:

All fans attending the concerts that are younger than 14 years of age must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

No one under 12 years (see website), or anyone that is shorter than 1.2m, will be permitted onto the Front Zone Standing or General Admission field standing areas for safety and security reasons.

Please note: Security will strictly monitor this requirement and anyone not meeting these requirements will be relocated to alternative seats in the stands. If you refuse to be relocated we reserve the right to confiscate your event ticket.

Please note: You risk missing the show without the option of a refund if you chose to ignore this very important safety and security requirement. Please contact Computicket before the day of the show to swap your tickets for seated tickets if you do not meet these minimum requirements.

No disabled persons will be allowed on the field for safety and security reasons.

Emergency Contact Details

Children between the ages of 14-18 years of age who are not accompanied by a parent/guardian must have an emergency contact number for their parent/guardian saved under the name ICE on their mobile phones.

If you dont have a mobile phone, or if you are concerned that you will run out of battery on your mobile phone, please write this information on a piece of paper and keep it safely on your person.

Please ensure that you write your name and surname, that of your parent/guardian, and emergency contact details clearly in bold capital letters.

Please make sure your mobile phone is fully charged before leaving for the concert. There are no mobile charging stations at the event, and you are advised to close all non-essential applications such as Facebook and Twitter and switch off all non-essential services such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when your mobile phone reaches 20% battery capacity.

Lost and Found (missing persons at the concert)

We have set up a Lost and Found Hub at the venue, which is located at Lift Lobby U.

We have also set up a dedicated call centre number which can be reached on 0861 782 3486 should you need to contact the lost and found hub. This number can be used for all incidents, queries and emergencies and will be in operation the day of the event as well as after the event.

We will be employing dedicated chaperones that will be stationed throughout the stadium. They will be easily identifiable, and their sole purpose is to ensure your safety and security.

For unaccompanied minors, it is advisable for parents to educate their children about the inherent dangers of attending large- events. Do not talk to strangers, do not accept food or beverages from strangers, and do not get into a vehicle with strangers. Always adhere to the instructions from security. If you are in a situation where you feel unsafe or uncomfortable always put your safety first and approach the nearest security steward or chaperone or call 0861 782 3486 for assistance.

The Lost and Found Hub inside the venue is at Lift Lobby U and is only accessible by those with a valid event ticket during the event. We have therefore created the Connection Hub at the Drop & Stay/Go point which is to the South of the Stadium over the train bridge at Gate K on Landbou Road (see map) for anyone outside the venue wishing to connect to someone inside, or if you have already left the venue and cannot connect with someone on the outside of the venue.

After the show all lost and found persons from the Lost and Found Hub will be chaperoned to the Connection Hub at the Drop & Stay/Go point where they can wait in a secure environment to connect with those responsible for taking them home.

Security, chaperones, the event organisers and SAPS will not leave the venue until every person in the precinct has left.

Dos and Donts

Don't forget to bring with you on the day: your tickets, ID (if you have one), a fully charged mobile phone, cash (no ATMs on site) or a debit/credit card, and appropriate clothes for all weather conditions.

Do make sure you stay hydrated and eat properly before and throughout the concert. Always put your safety and security first, even if it means you lose your position in the queue or on the field. Security, medical- and disaster risk staff will be positioned inside and outside the stadium to respond to any emergencies, and reserve the right to extract you from any area for safety and security reasons.

Prohibited items:

Professional cameras or professional recording devices are not permitted. Selfie sticks are also not permitted.

Glass bottles or containers or other heavy and/or sharp objects, which could potentially be used as projectiles (excluding sunglasses, binoculars and prescription or reading glasses)

Any illegal drugs

Skateboards, scooters, roller blades or bicycles

Knives, weapons of any nature or fireworks

Any object that could be used to distract, hinder or interfere with any performer including laser pointers and flashlights

Flags with poles, large flags or banners that may obstruct the view of other patrons

Any whistle, horn, musical instrument, loud hailer, public address system

Digital, electronic or other recording or broadcast device

Any item that you intend to distribute, hawk, sell, offer, expose for sale or display for marketing or promotional purposes

No animals apart from authorised guide/companion dogs

Any dangerous goods and any other items by management to be dangerous or capable of causing a public nuisance

Professional cameras or video recorders

Umbrellas

Braais

Camping chairs

Cooler boxes

Food and refreshments (including soft drinks and alcohol) which will be available for sale inside the concert.

Strictly no pass-outs

Food and beverages:

Food and beverages will be available for sale inside and outside the stadium to purchase. However, no food/beverages will be allowed into the venue.

Please note: Alcohol will be sold in the stadium at designated kiosks. No alcohol will be permitted to be brought into the stadium.

Fan flags and posters:

All flags/posters/banners must be detached from sticks/poles.

All banners and flags will be checked by security for profanity or inappropriate wording/statements.

Large flags, banners and other objects that may obstruct the view of others will not be permitted.

Contact Big Concerts at the concert:

Please stay in touch with us on social media on the night for any updates or messages on Twitter: @BigConcerts and Facebook: /bigconcerts or call 0861 782 3486 for lost and found.
The American Creativity Academy in Kuwait has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the University of Johannesburg's Faculty of Education, which allows UJ students to partake in a three-week teaching experience programme in Kuwait.

This partnership, with the focus on work integrated learning, not only highlights the standard of the universitys teaching and learning programmes but also reflects the facultys drive to ensure that graduates are equipped to teach in diverse environments, says Prof Sarah Gravett, executive dean of the Faculty of Education, UJ.

Speaking ahead of the signing, Mathew Neal, superintendent of schools, American Creativity Academy, The partnerships between a university, such as UJ, and K12 schools, such as the American Creativity Academy is essential in preparing future leaders for excellence in education.

Prof Gravett pointed out that having a global teaching experience and understanding of other cultures is part of the facultys undertaking to graduate teachers with wide-ranging experience in a number of different settings.

Excellence in teacher preparation is the hallmark of what we see to be the greatest advantage of teachers. Educators benefit tremendously when prestigious teacher programmes, like UJs offerings, incorporate global learning, said Neal.

Signing the Memorandum of Understanding: Mr Dahi al-Fadhli, CEO of American Creativity Academy and Prof Sarah Gravett, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, UJ.

Memoona Mahomed, lecturer and mentor to the students added, The students should be proud of themselves, as this is the first time South African students have participated in this venture. Our students performance was exceptional, as they taught within a global curriculum. Students displayed caring and nurturing disposition throughout their engagement with the learners. They taught lessons within a global curriculum context and this meant much research had to be undertaken by the students in preparation of their lessons.

I am grateful to have been able to be involved in the teaching experience programme. It would not have been possible if it were not for the lecturing staff at UJ and all the support I received from the university throughout my studies. I am proud to be associated with an institution that continues to give students opportunities to gain experience in the field, says UJs Sadia Dangor, a 4th year BEd Senior Phase and Further Education and Training student.
The just-ended World Travel Market Africa 2017, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, provided a shot in the arm for travel and tourism businesses in Africa. Profitable networking took place between suppliers and buyers who came from all over the world. Being a specialist digital marketing agency for the travel and tourism industry, our attendance at this prestigious event was to showcase our performance-based marketing solutions that build positive brand experiences, foster customer engagement and maximises revenue.

Kamil Macniak via 123RF

The feedback we received from our interactions with the exhibitors was both insightful and encouraging. Clearly, travel and tourism is an indispensable industry to the national economy and it is also a money spinner for savvy investors. However, the marketing landscape within this vertical is fraught with potential landmines and the biggest headaches are the decline in revenue due to high commissions paid to online travel agencies (OTAS) and also the proliferation of non-traditional alternatives provided by disruptive platforms like AirBnB.

Fortunately, it is not all gloom and doom as solutions to remedy this are available. To win the marketing battle, hoteliers can leverage the following proven strategies that enhance their online visibility, drive direct revenues and strengthen the engagement with their customers:

Direct bookings strategies

This is by far the best panacea to the challenge posed by OTAs who charge hefty commissions. A hotels website is central to the success of its direct booking strategies. In fact, the website should be the most successful and profitable booking channel for any hotel. To unlock value and facilitate the conversion of strangers into customers, the website should be compelling and user friendly. Additionally, it should be easy to navigate and guests should be able to complete transactions in the least number of steps.

Another great tactic is to add social proofing onto the website. According to the Wikipedia, Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. With regards to digital marketing, when the number of a business social media followers are displayed on the website, as well as the number of likes, shares and tweets it exerts great influence on conversions.

Hotels can also incentivise bookings by providing value added services that OTAs cannot offer. Examples of these add-ons include bed and breakfast, free Wi-Fi, romance packages, spa services and the combination of seasonal bookings with local activities.

Data

Data is an indisputable game changer in hotel marketing. Why is this so? Hotels gather a lot of data from their guests via channels like reservation and booking engines, WI-FI logins, feedback forms, POS, bar and restaurant orders etc. This data helps hotels to know a lot about their guests, the number of times theyve stayed at the hotel, when they tend to visit, the services they enjoy (and spend their money on), and so forth. By analysing this data, hotels get granular insights that empowers them to connect and engage with their guests effectively.

Data enables hotels to identify their most lucrative customer segments and then create highly targeted, relevant and personalised marketing messages that are delivered through the right channels (website, social media or paid advertising) at the right time to maximise conversions. From pre-stay emails to post-stay surveys to reservation reminders, targeted guest communications increase guest engagement and inspire repeat business.

Data can also be used to build a loyalty programme. These programmes are a marketing system instituted by a business that rewards purchasing behavior, thus increasing the customers urge to stay loyal to the company. A loyalty program may offer convenience, credits, discounts, prizes, or any other benefit that would entice the loyalty of a guest.

Online reviews management

An effective review management strategy leads to improved bookings. A recent study conducted an international travel research company shows that reviews have leapfrogged everything else to become the most important factor when booking decisions are being made. This is because they represent an important source of information affecting tourists pre-purchase evaluation of a hotel. Hotel experiences are intangible products and prospective guests naturally rely on the feedback of others. According to the study, 83.4% of surveyed guests said that they will not book a hotel without reading reviews. Ultimately, positively framed information together with numerical rating details increase both booking intentions and consumer trust.

It is quite clear that the digital revolution has changed how travelers shop for hotels and other attendant service providers. Hotel marketers should incorporate savvy tactics that will help them connect and engage with their customers in a profitable manner. It is imperative that they know the importance of data in marketing and the various ways that it can be utilised to hyper target the relevant audience, drive personalised messages and offer guests unique value add services. Having a great website where specials and discounts are offered results in increased direct bookings.

For more information about our specialist digital solutions to the travel and tourism industry visit www.guerillamarketing.co.za. To request a free audit of your digital marketing assets, kindly contact us on 011 704 2641 or email moc.acirfakcilcda@gnitekramg




PwC's Africa Business Agenda report shows that 85% of African CEOs (global: 85%) are confident in their own company's prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months.

Dion Shango

Africas CEOs are confident that the outlook for business on the continent remains positive notwithstanding the unpredictable economic and socio-political climate. Despite the fact that only 30% of CEOs in Africa (global: 29%) believe the global economy will improve in the next year, no less than 97% (global: 91%) are confident about the prospects for their own companys growth in the medium term.

Hein Boegman, CEO for PwC Africa, says: This level of optimism is the highest recorded since we started our research on Africa CEOs in 2012. However, in the past year we have seen a change in the outlook for some countries as external developments impact many of the drivers of Africas growth.

As countries around the globe try to make sense of the increased levels of risk and uncertainty that have gripped the world, Africa needs to continue rising by capitalising on all the opportunities that lie ahead.

The report suggests that one of the reasons for such optimism on the Africa continent is that CEOs have learned to look for the upside and seize on opportunities.

The report suggests that one of the reasons for such optimism on the Africa continent is that CEOs have learned to look for the upside and seize on opportunities that may arise in the face of uncertainty.

In the wake of climate of muted growth, CEOs have also acknowledged that while they focus on organic growth and cost reductions, they also need to prioritise investment in new strategic alliances and joint ventures to expand their markets and grow their customer bases. According to the survey, organic growth (Africa: 80%; global: 79%) and new alliances (Africa: 69%; global: 48%) are the top activities CEOs are planning in order to drive corporate growth or profitability.

The Agenda compiles results from 80 interviews with CEOs across 11 countries in Africa and includes insights from business. The results are benchmarked against the findings of PwCs 20th Annual Global CEO survey of 1 379 CEOs in 79 countries conducted during the 4th quarter of 2016. The Agenda provides an in-depth analysis and insights into how businesses are adopting to meet the challenges of operating in Africa.

Notwithstanding the current climate and challenges, it is notable that there remains a significant amount of potential to unlock more growth on the continent. African CEOs are looking to international markets for opportunities, with the US (31%), China (28%) and the UK (24%) considered the top three countries for growth. Johannesburg (36%), Lagos (16%) and Cape Town (14%) are considered the top three African cities for growth opportunities.

Main risks to doing business in Africa

Although the returns for doing business on the continent can be high, so too can the risks. Africas CEOs are working in difficult times  finding the right talent for their business, dealing with hurdles that come with working with governments, and managing expansion plans across the continent.

In addition, infrastructure remains a challenge as it lags well behind that of the rest of the world. More than two-thirds of African CEOs (69%) are concerned about inadequate basic infrastructure (global: 54%) and a stronger focus on expanding power supply is required to solve one of the biggest challenges in the business environment.

Other clouds on the business horizon include exchange rate volatility (Africa: 90%; global: 70%); social instability (Africa: 85%; global: 68%); geopolitical instability (Africa: 79%; global: 74%); unemployment (Africa: 79%; global: 45%); and climate change and environmental damage (Africa: 64%; global: 50%).

For most of these factors, the level of concern among African CEOs is higher than the global average. In addition, over-regulation features on the list of concerns this year, with almost half (46%) (global: 42%) of African CEOs saying they are extremely concerned.

CEOs also believe social instability resulting from inequality, an increasing tax burden, a lack of economic diversity with an overdependence on natural resources, and corruption remain problems in many countries.

Globalisation

Overall, globalisation has benefitted connectivity, trade and mobility. However, just over half of African business leaders say globalisation has done nothing to promote equality, in particular in closing the gap between rich and poor  in fact, this gap may well be widening.

A number of CEOs think it is vital to address social challenges. CEOs believe the corporate community can assist in spreading the benefits of globalisation more widely. The majority say the best way is to collaborate, particularly with government.

While Africas potential is undoubted, its achievement remains in question. Business, government and civil society will need to work harder to turn potential into tangible gains against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, Dion Shango, CEO of PwC Southern Africa adds.

Talent and technology

The forces of globalisation and technology are increasingly transforming the workplace. Over half of African CEOs (53%) are exploring the benefits of humans and machines working together in the workplace. Over a third of African CEOs (36%) are considering the impact of artificial intelligence on future skills needs.

In some sectors, automation has already replaced some jobs entirely. As automation takes deeper root in the workplace, companies in Africa will have to increasingly focus on achieving the right cognitive re-apportionment between man and machine, Shango adds.

However, as CEOs develop their services, they are finding that human interaction in the workplace is still important and place the investment in talent as a top business priority. Just over half of African CEOs (51%) plan to increase their headcount in the next 12 months. Conversely, 23% plan to cut their companys headcount over the coming year, with more than two-thirds of expected reductions being attributed to automation and other technologies.

According to the survey results, no less than 80% of African CEOs (Global: 77%) see the availability of key skills as the biggest threat to growth (ahead of volatile energy costs and cyber threats). They are finding it particularly difficult to source soft skills  adaptability, problem solving, creativity and leadership.

Technology and trust

Technology has brought about a number of advancements in efficiency and the ease of doing business in Africa. No less than 91% of African respondents (global: 90%) believe technology has changed competition in their industry in the past five years.

While the digital era offers a host of opportunities, it also creates significant challenges and constraints in the arena of privacy and security. Organisations are holding increasingly large volumes of personal data about their customers, suppliers and employees. According to the survey results, 71% of African CEOs (global: 61%) say they are concerned about cyber threats.

Furthermore, the vast majority of African CEOs (93%) (global: 91%) believe that cybersecurity breaches affecting personal information or critical systems will negatively impact stakeholder trust levels in their organisations in the next five years. A high 96% of business leaders are also concerned that IT outages and disruptions could impair trust in their respective industries over the next five years.

As disruptions gain more speed, the ability to ensure trust, security and privacy across all interactions will become critical to businesses competitiveness. But almost two-thirds of African CEOs (61%) (global: 59%) are concerned that they are not prepared to respond to a crisis in their business, should one arise.

In the face of economic and socio-political uncertainty, we remain confident that the outlook for business in Africa remains positive. But to succeed, businesses need to adapt swiftly to change, Shango concludes.
The protestors gathered at the Shittaung Temple around noon and marched around the town at 1pm while holding placards.

The lives of the Arakan farmers are deteriorating day-by-day because successive governments have ignored our rights. Thats why we want the civilian-elected government to give special consideration to improving the lives of the farmers, protest leader U San Tun Hla told Narinjara News.

He added that Mrauk-Us farmers are living in poverty and are constantly faced with farming expenses that are not covered by the minimal profits of their industry.

In the past years, the price for 100 tins (each tin is equivalent to 9 gallons) of regular rice was over K200,000 and the price for 100 tins of Shwe Wah Tun rice was over K300,000. Now, nobody even wants to pay K100,000 kyats for 100 tins of regular rice, so the farmers are facing a huge loss in profit, he said.

Farmer U Min Naing told Narinjara News that the states farmers are also trapped in a debt cycle. With no profits from their crops, they are unable to pay off the bank loans Increasing commodity prices are also pushing marginalized farmers further into the red, he said.

We are protesting to let the government know about our difficulties, U Min Naing said.

The farmers demands of the government include raising the price of rice, forgiving debts owed to the Myanmar Agriculture Development Bank, issuing loans with no interest and protecting farmers from losing their land to development projects.



Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by Laignee Barron
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
The protesters demanded the Tatmadaw stop killing Rohingya in Rakhine State and criticized Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the governments treatment of the Muslim minority group. Some protesters also called for an end to fighting in Kachin State.



Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met by protesters while receiving award in London Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met by protesters while receiving award in London

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was being presented the honorary Freedom of the City of London award. According to a statement, the prestigious award was presented in recognition of the National League for Democracy leaders "non-violent struggle over many years for democracy and her steadfast dedication to create a society where people can live in peace, security and freedom".

Outside of Guildhall where the award ceremony took place, protesters led by the Burmese Rohingya Organization in the UK, Restlessbeings and the Kachin National Organization in the UK chanted, shame on you and "Suu Kyi is lying; Rohingyas are dying".

What was London thinking? Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watchs Executive Director, said on Twitter.

Some of the protesters expressed what they called a loss of faith in the state counsellor and democracy icon.

"We believed that she would be a champion of human rights but she has been complicit with ... the junta murdering innocent Rohingyas," a protester at the event said, according to AFP.

The Myanmar community in the UK launched an online petition condemning the demonstration against the state counsellor, and urging patience as the complex situation in Rakhine State is addressed.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied allegations of human rights abuses committed during the security operation in Rakhine State.

Last month, she rejected the UN Human Rights Councils decision to send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate allegations of abuses and potential crimes against humanity committed during a counter-insurgency operation in Rakhine State. She said the government is trying to implement recommendations offered by a commission headed by former UN chief Kofi Annan in order to address long-term issues.

When recently asked by the BBC if she feared being remembered as a Nobel Laureate who failed to stand up to ethnic cleansing in her own country, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she thinks ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening.

Since a military crackdown began last October, the UN has reported that more than 1,000 Rohingya have been killed in northern Rakhine, and at least 70,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.



The Honorary Freedom of the City of London is the highest honor that the City of London Corporation can bestow upon an individual.

Edited by Laignee Barron
Out of the funding, $1 million is slated for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), $0.5 million for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and another $0.5 million for the UN Childrens Fund. The donation aims to strengthen the UNs ability to provide ongoing emergency aid to the displaced community, according to Japan.

The UN has estimated some 74,000 Muslim Rohingya crossed the river into Bangladesh since Myanmar began a counter-insurgency security operation in Rakhine State in October 2016. They join another 300,000 to 500,000 Rohingya refugees who having been living in Bangladesh for decades. The aid from Japan will support both the recent swell of arrivals, as well as some who have been living longer-term in Bangladesh.

Many of the new arrivals in Bangladeshs camps and makeshift lack adequate shelter for rainy season, as well as access to health or sanitation facilities.

UNICEF will provide maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health (MNCAH) services for 61,822 children under the age of 5, 58,229 women aged between 15 to 4 and 2,000 adolescents. The funds will help support health facility preparedness, new born and antenatal care interventions, age-specific health awareness and immunization programs, among other initiatives. UNICEF is also providing 45,300 people with access to water, sanitation and hygiene services by constructing or repairing water access points and latrines, Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEFs Bangladesh representative, said in a statement.

With the increasing influx of DPs [displaced persons] in the host communities and the makeshift settlements, the services and resources are falling short, [and] children bearing the biggest brunt, said Mr Beigbeder.

UNHCR will distribute non-food items for the upcoming rainy season among 2600 families in the Kutupalong and Nayapara registered refugee camps.

With the funds from Japan, IOM will work to provide shelter for the homeless refugees, as well as supply them with non-food items (cooking sets, clothes, bedding and mosquito nets) and access to mental health and psychosocial support services.

Edited by Laignee Barron
On November 6, 2016, fishermen crewing three trawlers drifted into Myanmar waters in the Bay of Bengal due to heavy winds. They were stopped by the Myanmar Navy, Nurul Islam said.

Family members have been trying to secure their release ever since, but have not succeeded, he added.

Osman Goni, a fishing boat owner, said concerned relatives and friends complained to the authorities on November 30, 2016. He said he has been told that Bangladeshi officials approached their Myanmar counterparts about the 74 detained men, but their release has still not been secured.

Family of the missing men urged Myanmar to release them as soon as possible, according to a statement.

Edited by Laignee Barron
On March 3, Myanmar began issuing Certificates of Identity (CIs) to workers who were holding temporary pink cards. The CIs are supposed to provide a valid ID to workers who previously lacked documentation and were working illegally in Thailand.

But the new process is both time-consuming and fairly expensive for migrant laborers. To obtain a CI, workers typically need to spend 1,410 baht (US$41).

The workers have to pay a 310 baht registration fee at 7-Eleven convenience stores, then they take the receipt and pay 500 baht to the Thai immigration office for visa renewal, then pay another 500 baht for a medical check-up, and then pay 100 baht to the Employment and Worker Settlement Office.

The CI process is only open to holders of pink cards with a valid visa.

U Moe Gyo, chair of the Joint Action Committee on Burmese Affairs, said the CI process is a challenge for workers who do not speak Thai.

When [the migrant workers] arrive in Thailand, they have to renew their visa at the Thai immigration office. They have to fill in the form there. The form is written in English and Thai. Many of the workers cant properly fill in the form. After that, they have to take the application to the second office  the Employment and Worker Settlement Office  and get another document filled out by their employer or the employers representative. Some workers have to hire agents to help with the paperwork so they end up paying more than the fixed rate, he told KIC News.

U Zaw Myo Htwe, a deputy at the CI issuing center in Mae Sot, said the problems need to be resolved by the Thai side.

These are the restrictions. We cant solve them from our level, he said.

Since the CI issuing centers opened on March 3, 3,951 workers have applied for the CI cards in Mae Sot, according to U Zaw Myo Htwe.

According to statistics released by the Thai Employment Office in November, over 1.79 million Myanmar migrant workers are officially working in Thailand. Over 300,000 people hold pink card, 80,000 of whom are working in Tak Province.

Workers said they dont see any rush to line up for the CI cards.

I have heard about the CI card. The workers who apply for them work in Bangkok and other places. I can go around Mae Sot with this pink card. So I dont plan to apply for [the CI] because Im planning to continue living here, said Ko A Soe, a day laborer based in Mae Sot.

Nay Pyi Taw and Bangkok agreed to issue CIs last November, but the process was mired in delays and did not get started until March. The certificates are valid for four years, according to workers rights organizations.

CIs are being issued at offices based in Samut Sakorn, Mae Sai, Mae Sot and Ranong.

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by Laignee Barron
Foreign visitors to the ancient culture zone that included Kyaiktiyo are charged a 6,000 kyat entrance fee. Between October 16, 2016 and April 19, 2017, 82,953 foreigners visited the site, paying 497,718,000 kyats ($336,000), according to one of the sites trustees, U Soe Hla.

We had higher revenue at the ancient culture zone from foreign visitors than previous years because more foreigners visited. Each foreigner paid 6,000 kyats and all of that money went to the Mon State government, he said.

Before November 2013 the Union Ministry of Culture collected entrance fees at Kyaiktiyo, but transferred that authority to the Mon State governments municipal committee. As the number of foreign visitors has grown, entrance fees have become an important source of revenue for the state.

Admission to Kyaiktiyo is only charged to foreigners, but foreign monks and diplomats are exempted. The largest number of foreigners to visit in the last six months were from Thailand, with a significant number also from Vietnam, China, Japan, the United State and Europe, according to U Soe Hla, the trustee. Kyaiktiyo collects the most entrance fees of any site in Mon State and has recently admitted more than 100,000 foreigners every year.
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
Many administrators and headmen of villages, quarters and towns are selling land for apportionment and selling the soil. I would urge them stop as soon as possible. If they dont, action will be taken, the minister said.

He added that administrators and headmen have specific duties that they should focus on, which do not include selling public land. If action is taken against these headmen and mayors, their associates will also be implicated.

The chief minister also railed more broadly against corruption in the state, saying that it is the responsibility of citizens to report specific instances of bribes being paid or solicited to the state government.

If anyone knows of a specific bribewho gave money to whom, how much they gavethey should tell us and we will act. If we only hear general accusations of bribery, though, it is harder to do anything about it.

Public lands in Mon State were designated under the British colonial government and are used by residents for things like grazing and collecting firewood. Recently, though, some administrators and headmen have been selling the land to outsiders, who then have the legal rights and proof of ownership for the land. Because it has been paid for and the title transferred, it is hard for residents to reclaim their land.

Our village used to have public land, and when we asked the older men they told us that the land was owned by the village for as long as they could remember. Now, though, the land has private owners who say that they bought the land from the former administrator. They have the deed of sale so they are legally the owners, said the headman of a Kyaikmaraw township village.

At the meeting on May 7, Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan said that he had already held public meetings in Chaungzon, Kyaikmaraw and Thanbyuzayat townships.
This is the first time Ive had the chance to meet with the public in Mawlamyine, and I plan to do it four times a year to build consensus with the public, he said.

He added that for Mawlamyine and Mon State to improve and develop, the public must be a part of the decision-making process.

U Maung Maung Zaw Htun, a Mawlamyine businessman, welcomed the news but said that the meetings must be meaningful exchanges to be worthwhile.

We would like to meet him, but I think he needs to be very deliberate about the meetings; what information does he want to share and what does he want to learn. Often at these meetings politicians just talk and dont listen, so I want to know, will he be willing to listen?

U Maung Maung Zaw Htun also said that if the Minister wants the state to develop, he should focus the meetings on a single subject and invite all the stakeholders to that issue. If he can meet enough with stakeholders, the meetings should have a positive effect.

Dr. Aye Zan announced the upcoming meetings at a public gathering on May 7 in the State Hall in Mawlamyine. He has also held meetings in Chaungzon, Kyaikmaraw and Thanbyuzayat townships.

This is not the first time that the chief minister made promises of transparency. Shortly after his appointment in early March, the Chief Minister promised to hold weekly press conferences to keep the media informed of his work. So far though, no such press conferences have been held.
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
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.
The call into question for the existence of the UNFC begins with when Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) whose leader is the current-president of the UNFC, forwarded its resignation to leave the alliance last week, followed by the Wa National Organization (WNA) tendering of its resignation.

WNO is known as White Wa and its counterpart UWSA as Red Wa, due to its affiliation with the Communist Party of Burma before its disintegration in 1989.

According to reliable ethnic sources, the KIO tendered resignation dated April 29, signed by Lan Nan its general secretary, was confirmed by one of its leaders on May 6, subsequently followed by the WNO resignation undated letter a day later that was widely spread publicly in the internet, on May 7.

Reportedly, the WNO was said to plan tendering its resignation in the coming days, according to a WNO spokesperson, and the date of submission was left blank on the leaked document.

This is just a draft. We will have a meeting before making the final resignation. We dont know how it was leaked. Well submit the resignation to the UNFC after our congress, Major Ta Nyi Lu, joint secretary-1 of the WNO, told The Irrawaddy, according its report of May 8.

KIO and Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) are two Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) from northern regions of Burma who have attended the UWSA-led Pangkham ethnic meetings several times 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.

But while the KIO has confirmed its leaving the UNFC, the SSPP said that it is still with the organization, according to Sao Sai Htoo, one of its leaders involving in peace negotiations with the government.

With the KIO and WNO leaving the UNFC and SSPP likely to follow suit anytime soon, the fate of its remaining four EAOs  Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), New Mon State Party (NMSP), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) and Arakan National Council (ANC)  from the total of seven before are now hanging in a sort of limbo, i,e., whether to sign the NCA without much fuss, to join the Pangkham alliance or stay undecided, until its nine-point proposal to the government to alter the NCA becomes clearer.

Peace process landscape

The government is determined to go on with its NCA-based procedure and has confirmed again on May 6 that it is not compromising, which means one either signs the NCA and enter the UPC-21CP or refusing it and stays outside the peace process fold.

But lately, while meeting with the UNFCs Delegation for Peace Negotiation (DPN), the governments Peace Council (PC) said that both parties signing the Deeds of Commitment (DoC) maybe the way to go, given the UNFCs nine-point proposal still needs more deliberation and under discussion. Thus, if the DoC is signed, pending approvement of UNFCs proposal, it would mean that the 5 UNFC could be given a fully fledged participant status. The DoC main thrust is that the 5 EAOs agreement that they would sign the NCA at a later date without reservation.

This DoC arrangement could be because the UNFC secretary Khu Oo Reh and NMSP leader Nai Han Thar have repeatedly said in the past that they would never attend the UPC-21CP merely as observers.

The Pangkham alliance is bent on not to make use of the governments NCA-based peace process, as it sees it is trying to replace the Panglong Agreement of 1947, which it considers as the ethnic nationalities historical-political legacy and the only legal bond between them and the Bamar. Besides, it is also convinced that the ongoing government peace process is just like the 1993 Nyaung Nhapin national convention, held and dominated by the Military that produced its self-drawn, 2008 constitution, that doesnt cater to the ethnic nationalities political aspirations in anyway. Thus, its first priority is to end the armed conflict with the military first, followed by political discussion for eventual political settlement.

The remaining UNFC members would now need to think on what they would do if their nine-point proposal to amend the NCA is put on ice or shelved, as there are possibilities that they could be militarily pressured if they refuse to sign and if they do, they would be going against their own conviction without achieving any of their demanded propositions.

Besides, the WNO and the LDU might join the Pangkham alliance and the position of SSPP, which was said to be still with the UNFC despite being firmly in the Pangkham camp, is far from clear.

This leaves the KNPP, NMSP and ANC, although they would be presumed to be still under the banner of DPN, to talk to the governments PC, the incentive to accommodate the UNFCs nine-point proposal could now be quite low.

Burma ethnologist Nai Banya Aung from Mon News Agency said, The NMSPs meeting will come to an end on 8 May, while the KNPP will hold theirs on May 10. The decision on whether to sign the NCA depends on the outcome of those meetings, reported SHAN on May 8.

The NMSP maintains that the adoption of the NCA should only be taken when all members of the UNFC are in consent.

There will be a meeting between the DPN, a negotiating team formed by the UNFC, and the governments Peace Commission (PC) on May 14  18. By then, we will have a better picture of how close to signing the NCA they are, said Nai Banya Aung.

Government and Pangkam competition

Pangkham alliance statement of April 19 said that it is open to all groups and individuals that cater to its policy. The WNO and possibly the LDU would be the first to join, in this sense.

Part of the said statement stressed that the Union Peace Negotiation Committee (UPNC), Pangkham alliance negotiation bodys door is always open for any ethnic armed revolutionary organization, political party and influential individual, that accepts its rules and regulations of the ethnic armed revolutionary organizations general principles and position on political negotiation, announced during the third Pangkham meeting.

The government is also wooing all the 5 UNFC members  KNPP, NMSP, WNO, LDU and ANC  but until now it still could not agree or say anything concretely to their nine-point proposal to alter the NCA.

The UNFC proposal generally are the governments nationwide ceasefire declaration, federal union formation according to the promise of Panglong Agreement in 1947 and tripartite dialogue composition  government, parliament, military; EAOs; and political parties  in all level of peace negotiation process.

The Mon and Karenni coping with the situation

Observers speculate that the NMSP could be hard pressed if it is militarily attacked as it is surrounded by the neutralized Karen National Union (KNU) that has signed the NCA, together with the governments Border Guard Forces (BGF) and government troops. But as for the KNPP, it would be able to cope with the situation as it usually does in the past and could even consider to join the Pangkam alliance, if militarily pressured.

Outlook

Given such a convoluted and sophisticated political landscape, it is hard to predict which way the political wind would be blowing. But one thing is sure, the UPC-21CP would be held accordingly as planned on May 24, even though it wont be all-inclusive as all wanted to be the case, and the government would continue with it open door policy for more EAOs to sign up, where the ongoing peace conference is concerned.

The most crucial improvement to the peace talks atmosphere would solely depend on the Militarys attitude on whether it would like to agree on all-inclusive participation and hold back or terminate its offensives in Kachin and Shan States. For now, the betterment of the peace process negotiation doesnt seem to be forthcoming, according to Mai Aik Kyaw, the TNLA leader and spokesman.

He recently told the Voice of America: Battles are raging daily starting from April 29, in Namtu, Namkham and Kutkai Townships.

If this unconciliatory attitude of the Military to the peace process is to be the main stay, whether the few more potential EAOs signing the NCA or not wouldnt be that important, as peace and reconciliation will still be a distant dream for the people of Burma and as well, for all the stakeholders.
What Is Shab-E-Barat? Faith Mysticism oi-Renu

Shab-E-Barat is a festival celebrated by the Muslim community. This event is celebrated on the 15th of the Islamic month of Sha'aban which is the eighth month of the calendar.

The night of Shab-E-Barat celebrates the entry of Prophet Mohammed into the city of Mecca. The festival is celebrated with great pomp and show around the world by the Muslim community. The timings for Shab-E-Barat for the year 3028 are-it will begin from the dusk of May 1, Tuesday and will continue till the dawn of the next day, May 2, Wednesday.

They believe that on this day God writes the destinies of all men for the coming year by taking into account the good deeds and misdeeds committed by them in the past. It is considered one of the holiest night in the Islamic calendar.

Shab-E-Barat is the night of deliverance from all the sins. The Shia community of Islam believes that 15th Sha'aban is the birth date of their last and 12th Imam who is invisible and will come back as Imam Medhi. For this reason they celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm.

The festival is celebrated by bursting crackers, illuminating the house and surroundings with lights and candles. Colourful fireworks light up the sky and people stay awake throughout the night of this festival.

So, what exactly is Shab-E-barat? Let us take a look in detail.

Customs Of Shab-E-Barat



Since it is the day of deliverance from sins, the people are supposed to pray by reciting verses from their holy book. It is believed that on the night of Shab-E-Barat, God descends from heaven and forgives all men who ask for mercy. He delivers them from all the sins that they may have committed.

Some people also observe fast on this day as a mark of penance for the sins committed by them. Further there is also a custom of visiting the cemetery on this day to pray for the deceased souls and offer prayers in their name.

Celebrations Of Shab-E-Barat



Shab-E-Barat calls for a grand celebration. Houses and streets are illuminated with lights. Special sweets are prepared and distributed among the family members and guests. Performing charity is also one way of celebrating this festival.

Flowers are offered to the deceased family members and prayers are offered for the deliverance of their souls.

Significance Of Shab-E-Barat



According to the beliefs, Shab-E-barat is the day when Allah frees all His sinful servants from Jahannam (Hell). A person's life in the coming year is believed to be decided on this night. The names of the souls to be born and those who are to depart are decided on this night.

The doors of forgiveness and mercy open wide on this night and the ones who pray with true devotion are forgiven and saved from Jahannam.

Thus, Shab-E-Barat is an important festival for the Muslims. It is a great celebration of God's forgiveness and His descent on the Earth.
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Who Is Arsenio Hall, What Happened To His Talk Show and Why Do Fans Think He Is Gay? He is one of the funniest beings to have graced the comedy constituent of the American entertainment industry. Arsenio Hall has a reputation for the rib-cracking disposition always portrayed in his comedy roles. He is not just a comedian; he is also an actor and a former talk show host for his popular show, The ...

What Is Woah Vicky Famous For and Who Are Her Family Members? Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Woah Vicky is one of those stars that have utilized the internet as a powerful tool to propel themselves to instant fame. The social media space, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc., offers lots of people the right opportunities and potentials to become superstars overnight. Not everyone achieves ...

Where Is Michael Strahan Since His Retirement From The NFL and Who Is His Partner? Michael Strahan is a retired American football player turned media personality. He played the defensive lineman position and holds the record for most sacks in a single NFL season. He also only played for the New York Giants throughout the entire 15-year professional career that saw him win a Super Bowl ring. In February 2014, ...

How Wendy Williams Went From Being a College DJ to Having Her Own Talk Show and More About Her Divorce Wendy Williams is a former radio personality, now talk show host, who is known for her outspokenness and brash no-nonsense attitude. She gained fame and notoriety for her on-air clashes with celebrities before moving on to host her own talk show. Since 2008, Williams has hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show, The Wendy Williams Show. ...

Who is Sunny Hostin? Her Husband, Family & Net Worth Sunny Hostin is no ordinary Latina  American lawyer but also a successful columnist, multi-platform journalist, and social commentator. A happily married woman and mother of two, Hostin is the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News and co-host of ABCs popular morning talk show, The View. She is a legal expert popularly known as a former ...

Who Is Robert Costa and Is He Married, Who Is His Wife? Robert Costa is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC who is regarded as being part of Americas next generation of journalists. The University of Notre Dame graduate, who is of Italian/Portuguese descent, has been lauded for his fresh political perspectives in an industry full of old heads. In addition to his work listed above, Costa ...

Team Valor Pokemon Go  7 Key Facts You Need To Know Team Valor Pokemon Go  The craze of the new game Pokemon Go is one that took the gaming world by storm sending teenagers and adults alike into a frenzy and one of its teams Team Valor, has proven to be instrumental in making it so. Before the game was created, Pokemon was a cartoon ...

Sheryl Underwood  Husband, Family & Net Worth She is known for her trademark smile which can be described as the brightest and broadest smile ever seen on planet earth. She is none other than Sheryl Underwood the comedian, actress, and TV host whose funny wits has left America in great awe. Although Sheryl has risen to become an important personality in the industry, ...

Team Mystic Pokemon Go: 7 Facts You Need To Know And Signs You Are One Team Mystic of the break out game Pokemon Go is a team that is full of sass and chivalry. With an enchanting monicker, Team Mystic stands out from the rest of its counterparts and deserves to take the crown as champion in the Pokemon gaming-verse. To be a member of this exceptional team of Pokemon battle ...

Exploring Guy Beahms Dr Disrespect Persona, Wife and Why He was Banned Permanently From Twitch Guy Beahm who is popularly known by his online alias  Dr DisRespect, is an award-winning Twitch.tv streamer. He has leveraged on the Twitch platform to become an internet personality that is quite widely known. His online success is just more proof that anyone who is good at what they do can attain celebrity status ...

Critical Facts About Lee Ann McAdoo  The Infowars Anchor Lee Ann Mcadoo is a conservative journalist and television host whose interests in conspiracies and astrology has established her as a famous American reporter. Often referred to as Wonder Woman, McAdoo is a reporter who works for InfoWars.com, a controversial right-wing website run by radio show host, Alex Jones. Who Is Lee Ann McAdoo? Lee Ann McAdoo was born on 7 ...

Millie Weaver  Age, Husband & Infowars Career Millie Weaver is an American model, journalist, political activist, and social commentator. The young and beautiful journalist rose to fame working as a reporter for a controversial right-wing website InfoWars.com. Also known as Millennial Millie, Weaver is a social media influencer with over 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 35,000 followers on Twitter. Who Is Millie Weaver and What Is ...

Is Jessica Tarlov Married? What Are Her Height & Weight? Jessica Tarlov is an American political consultant, strategist, and analyst whose influential and regular TV presence has made a popular figure. A good example of beauty with brains, Tarlov has appeared on various TV networks, mostly the FOX News Network where she is known for her liberal views on political analysis and insights. She is also the senior director ...

Who Is Kelly Rebecca Nichols  Alex Jones Ex-Wife? Kelly Rebecca Nichols is the ex-wife of controversial American radio show host, Alex Jones. She got nationwide attention following her divorce and subsequent custody battle with her estranged husband. Nichols, who worked with PETAs public relations department, was herself no stranger to controversies as she was involved in several publicity stunts of the non-profit animal rights ...

Who Is Bree Morgan  Cole Sprouse Ex-Girlfriend And What Is She Up To Now? Although Bree Morgan became famous through the Instagram, she also sapped some dose of popularity from Disneys sweetheart, Cole Sprouse of the Sprouse brothers. She is not only an Instagram star but also a YouTube vlogger whose popularity has long exceeded the ordinary level. Bree is conspicuously prominent on the internet and has her digital savviness ...

Does Vanna White Have Husband or Children, What Is Her Net Worth / Salary? For over three decades, Vanna White has been a household name, famous as the co-host and letter turner of the iconic NBC game show Wheel of Fortune. The talented and beautiful television personality is also an actress with several TV series and films to her credit. Since making her Wheel of Fortune debut in 1982, she has become one ...

Liz Wheeler  Biography, Husband & Net Worth Liz Wheeler is the kind of girl who sets the room on fire whenever she comes around. In this situation, however, she sets our screens on fire each time she appears as the host of One America News Tipping Point. She is, therefore, a presenter, publisher, consultant and a member of the Board of Zoning ...

Betty White  Net Worth, Children & Husband The entertainment industry will remain indebted to personalities like Betty White who brought something extra to the table and kept the world entertained for donkey years. The comedienne, actress, and writer graced the big screens in the early 50s as a show host and has been a delight since then. She is the queen of ...

Is Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Dead or Alive, What Are His Net Worth & Education? Everyone will always remember Bill Nye as the Science Guy. Besides his TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, he is well-known for his Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World which started airing in 2017 as well as his appearances in many famous media projects as a science educator. The star studied mechanical engineering ...

Is Cesar Millan Dead, Who Is The Wife & What Is His Net Worth? Cesar Millan is the famous dog whisperer who often stirs up mixed emotions. The Mexican-American is precisely speaking, a dog behaviorist; he has been in the game for over 25 years. His Emmy-nominated television series, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan further pushed his method and tactics into the limelight. The series was produced from 2004 ...

Is Thomas Sanders Gay and Does He Have A Boyfriend? By the time Vine was shut down in January 2017, Thomas Sanders was already popular within and beyond the internet community for his heavy involvements on the online video hosting platform. After the tragic shutdown of Vine impacted on the growing career of the multi-talented personality, he immediately switched over to YouTube where he continued to upload ...

Is Shepard Smith Gay, Who Is The Boyfriend & What Is His Net Worth? There are only a few media personalities who are as bold and confident as Shepard Smith. Apart from his impressive stint at Fox News Channel which includes but not limited to his classic news delivery, upfront stance on virtually every issue and much more; he loves his job as much as he loves his personality. Smith ...

Is Milo Yiannopoulos Gay? His Husband and Net Worth Milo Yiannopoulos is a popular writer, journalist, polemicist, public speaker, and political commentator who is also known as the founder of The Kernel, an online blog. He has been said to be among the list of 100 weird and influential people in the United Kingdom. He appeared on this list as a result of personal beliefs and ...

Does Ryan Seacrest Have A Wife Or Girlfriend, What Is His Net Worth? From radio to television, Ryan Seacrest is a household name and a force to be reckoned with in showbiz. The radio personality, television host, and producer is best recognized as the host of the popular TV talent search contest American Idol. Heres how the media personality who always knew what his lifes ambition was and diligently pursued ...

Is Anderson Cooper Gay, Who is The Boyfriend or Husband? For many, the thought of becoming a millionaire by writing and talking about other people appears unachievable but this is the reality of the prominent American journalist Anderson Cooper who gathered millions of dollars for conducting accurate political analysis and other vital reports on TV. He is the main anchor of the CNN news show Anderson ...

Is David Muir Gay or Does He Have A Wife, What Is His Salary? David Muir is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works for the ABC broadcast-television network and anchors the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir program while also co-anchoring the magazine program 20/20. The Ithaca College graduate, whose show has become the most-watched newscast in America, has covered stories from all across America and the world; reporting ...

Joel Osteen  Divorce Rumors, Net Worth & Family Members Joel Osteen is an American Televangelist, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church based in Houston, Texas, a husband and a father of two. He is an author of many books, seven of which are New York Times Best Sellers and his televised sermons capture more than 7 million viewers per week and 20 million every month ...

Who Is Todd Chrisley? What To Know About His Children, Gay Rumors & Net Worth Premiered on the USA network in 2014, Chrisley Knows Best is one of the most watched family reality TV shows in the U.S. The series which is currently in its sixth season is centered around U.S real estate mogul Todd Chrisley and his family. The show reveals Todd the patriarch of the Chrisley family as a strict dad who rules ...

Who Is Shannon Bream Of Fox News? Her Husband, Children & Net Worth Shannon Bream who hosts the iconic primetime program started her journalism career in the late 1990s debuting as the evening and late-night news reporter for the CBS affiliate, WBTV. The beauty from America currently works for the Fox News Channel and she is best known for anchoring the primetime program. She also hosts Americas News ...

Is Troye Sivan Gay, Who Is His Boyfriend and What Is His Net Worth? Troye Sivan is an Australian singer and songwriter best known for songs like Happy Little Pill, Youth, Heaven (with Betty Who) and The Boyfriend Tag (with Tyler Oakley) which have all garnered him different awards and ranked on the Billboard Charts. Sivan, who was born in South Africa but now resides in the United States, is ...

Did iDubbbz Have Cancer, Is He Gay and Who Is His Girlfriend Now? iDubbbz is one YouTuber who has made a career out of courting controversy. Renowned for his absurdist channels and comedy video series, the Los Angeles based personality is the owner of two channels, iDubbzTV, and iDubbzTV2, as well as the brains behind comedy video series such as Content Cop, Kickstarter Crap, Gaming News Crap, and ...

Inside Greg Gutfelds Love Story With Wife Elena Moussa and Why Fans Thought He Was Gay Greg Gutfeld is a seasoned American television producer whose career in the media industry has spanned over a decade. He is a man of many talents who makes extra income through comedy, journalism, and editorial works. Gutfeld regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a panellist and co-host of the political talk show The Five ...

Works That Made Bo Burnham A Household Name and How Much He Is Worth Now One of YouTubes first viral stars and the worlds most exciting young comedian, Bo Burnham, has always amazed critics and comedy aficionados alike. Often regarded as the Justin Bieber of comedy, thanks to his fresh looks, floppy blond hair and hoodies, he has a multi-faceted career bigger than many comedians twice his age. It wouldnt ...

Is Louie Anderson Gay And What Is His Net Worth? Louie Anderson has one of the most abstract faces in the industry and equally knows how to use it to his advantage. He is not only a stand-up comedian but also an actor and television host who is known for his distinctive comic wits. Some of his notable projects include Family Feud, where he was ...

Is Don Lemon of CNN Gay, Who is His Partner and What Is His Salary? Don Lemon has risen to become one of the most recognizable faces on CNN over the past few years. The fiery journalist, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, is liked and somewhat disliked for his strong and candid opinions on a variety of matters that do not just include politics but also race, significantly, matters that ...

Is Rachel Maddow Gay, Who is the Wife and How Much Does She Earn in Salary? Rachel Maddow is an award-winning American journalist, political commentator, and television news anchor. She is best known for hosting the popular nightly TV show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Prior to this, she hosted a talk radio program on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. As of now, the TV sensation co-anchors MSNBCs ...

Demystifying Pokimane  Her Real Name, Ethnicity & Boyfriend Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Pokimane Thicc is one of those stars who took advantage of the internet to make a name for herself. Given the unlimited potentials which the social media space offers, many people have been instantly propelled to fame just by posting creative online contents. Not only has ...

A Breakdown of Kris Jenners Net Worth, Sources Of Income and Relationships Over The Years Standing outside and looking in, Kris Jenner looks like the oil that greases the wheels of the entire Kardashian/Jenner machine. She has been dubbed a momager and rightfully so because she seems to have had a part to play in the trajectory of each and every one of her daughters individually and the Kardashian brand ...

Pursuits That Brought Liza Koshys Fame To its Zenith and Her Love Life Since David Dobrik Liza Koshy is an American actress who has leveraged YouTube as a platform to promote her comedy while also serving as a television host on occasions. She is talented and funny and has gathered a lot of fans from around the world. Koshy started on Vine in high school and was able to get millions of ...

Alex Aiono Biography  Inside The Life Of The American Singer Not everyone who started from the streets has attained the heights where Alex Aiono is currently. His story could be referred to as the perfect definition of rising from Grass to Grace. He came into the limelight after he started out as a YouTuber, singer, and producer. One fascinating thing about the young YouTuber is ...

Virginia Vallejo Biography And Her Love Story With Pablo Escobar Virginia Vallejo can be referred to as one of the oldest whistleblowers in history after her involvement with Pablo Escobar which made her famous. Over the years, many questions have been raised about her relationship with the drug lord and why she endangered her life to be with him despite his notorious acts. The death ...

Princess Love Bio  Ethnicity, Real Name & Parents For many people, Princess Love is simply Ray Js wife but there is so much more to this feisty lady than meets the eye. She is a star in her own right and has many feathers on her cap. Princess Love is a reality TV star, a model, video vixen, and fashion designer. She and her ...

Who is Papa Franku Also Known As Filthy Frank or Joji, Where is He Now? The social media as we all know today has given people the opportunity to be creative and innovative and at the same time, make something of themselves. YouTube is one of the known social platforms we have today that makes it possible for people to express their God-given talents and post videos they created to ...

Who Is Molly Qerim, How Did She Become a Famous Sports Anchor and Who Is Her Husband? Molly Qerim is an American sports anchor popularly known for moderating First Take, a highly rated sports talk show, on ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, Qerim hosted Fantasy Live and NFL AM on NFL Network. It is quite obvious that the widely acclaimed television personality is in a class of her own when it comes ...

Safiya Nygaard  Height, Parents & Net Worth Safiya Nygaard is an American YouTuber, writer, content producer, and director who is popular for posting makeup, beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. Her videos regularly top at least one million views, thanks to her lively character as well as her willingness to experiment with outrageous outfits and different beauty products. Here are the things to ...

The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...

Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...

Inside Fred Armisens Life  Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...

Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...

Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...

Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...

xChocobars  Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...

Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...

Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...

Matpat (Matthew Patrick)  Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...

Facts About Ricegum  His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...

Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti  Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...

What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...

David Letterman  Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...

Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...

Lester Holt  Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...

What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...

The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...

Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...

The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...

Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...

The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...

Jeff Dunham  Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...

Ellen DeGeneres  Net Worth, Wife  Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...

Revisiting Joan Rivers Death  The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...

The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...

Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...

Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...

How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...

Madison Gesiotto Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...

Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...

What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...

Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...

Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother  Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...

Carli Bybel Bio  Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...

Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...

Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch  a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...

Norm MacDonald  Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...

Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...

Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...

Samantha Bee  Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...

What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap  and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...

Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...

A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...

Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...

Desi Perkins  Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...

The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...

Connor Franta  Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...

Rhett and Link  Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...

A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...

What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...

David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month  Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...

Merrell Twins Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...

Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...

Ninja  Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...

What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...

Emma Chamberlain Biography  Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...

Anna Akana  Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...

Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...

Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...

Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...

Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...

Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...

The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...

Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography  Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...

PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...

Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman  What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...

Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...

LaurDIY  Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...

Lachlan Ross Power  Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...

Alfie Deyes  Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...

Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...

Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...

Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...

Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...

How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman)  The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...

Grace Helbig  Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...

Mark Wiens Bio  Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...

Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...

CaptainSparklez Bio  Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...

Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...

5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...

Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...

Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...

Jacksepticeye  Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...

Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...

Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...

Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...

Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...

Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...

Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...

Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...

Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...

Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...

Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...

Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...

Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...

Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel  h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...

Lilypichu Bio  Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...

KSI  What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother  Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...

The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...

The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...

What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...

What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...

Matt Carriker Biography  Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...

Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...

Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents  George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...

Gloria Govan Bio  Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA  after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...

Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...

Who Is October Gonzalez  Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...

Who Is Tony Berlin  Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...

The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

Vicky Karayiannis, Chris Cornells Wifes Bio, Children and Family The world of showbiz is made up of different people who serve different roles, and function in a variety of capacities, and one of the most important people are those in the background. Publicists are undoubtedly one of these background people yet they are vital to the life and fame of most of our favorite ...

Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel  Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...

Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...

Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband  Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...

Nadeska Alexis Bio  Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...

Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...

A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...

Kay Adams Biography  Does The Sportscaster Have A Husband or Boyfriend? When you hear the phrase sports enthusiast, women are hardly the first group that comes to mind. Well, thats changing pretty fast. Especially with the rise of female sports analysts and broadcasters like Kay Adams who is famed for knowing more about sports than most men do. And why not, shes paid handsomely for it ...

Ben Shapiros Family  Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...

QVC Shawn Killinger Bio  Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...

Liv Lo  Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...

Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...

Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...

Who Is Jessica Gadsden  Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...

Who Is Collins Tuohy  Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...

Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...

Marty Lagina Bio  Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...

Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...

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The Progression of Howard Sterns Career As A Media Personality And Why He Divorced His First Wife Howard Stern is a legendary American radio host, who has also done some notable work as an actor, producer, author, as well as photographer. The radio personality achieved worldwide fame as a result of his self-titled radio program, The Howard Stern Show. As a professional radio personality, he has worked in different radio stations. Since 2006, ...

Lisa Joyners Biography  Ethnicity, Net Worth and Other Key Facts Lisa Joyner is an American Journalist, TV talk show host, and actress. Some of her well-known works are her correspondences for the Los Angeles based TV KCBS, inFANity show, Find My Family Show including her film and television appearances in Brimstone, American Sweetheart, The Bold and The Beautiful among others. Lisas passion for reconnecting people with their biological families ...

Amanda Balionis Rise Through the Ranks of Sportscasting and the Identity of Her Boyfriend Amanda Balionis is an American sportscaster currently working as a golf broadcaster for CBS Sports. Among so many of her works in the field of sports reporting, Amandas PGA Tour coverage seems to be the most popular so far. She covered the Super Bowl working with CBS Sports social media team in Atlanta, where she ...

Dissecting Charles Paynes Sexual Allegations, Its After Effects and More About His Wife Charles Payne had a respectable career as an analyst on Wall Street before he made the transition to television and became a contributor and later a host on Fox. In that time, his expertise has come under scrutiny, and he has been at the center of at least one major controversy. The major controversy in question ...

Erik Asla And Tryra Banks Split: Everything You Need To Know Tyra Banks and Erik Asla have called it quits! The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ...

What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ...

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The Human Rights Defender of Artsakh is in a visit to Budapest, Hungary, to attend an International Conference on Victims of armed conflicts at the juncture of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

May 11, 2017, 12:50 Artsakh Ombudsman: Safarov's extradition linked to Azerbaijani atrocities during April war

STEPANAKERT, MAY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: The Conference has been organized by the foreign affairs agencies of Hungary and Switzerland and is held on 11 May.

On 10 May Ruben Melikyan had meetings with the leadership and members of Armenian self-government in Hungary, with the Spokesman of the Armenian minority in the Hungarian Parliament Dr. Tamas Turgyan, as well as had an interview for the Armenian minority program, broadcasted by the Hungarian Public Radio.

While referring Ramil Safarovs extradition issue, Mr. Melikyan highlighted its causal link with the atrocities conducted by Azerbaijani armed forces during the 2016 April War.

Mr. Melikyan particularly noted that Safarov's glorification was accompanied by the state encouragement to set his crime exemplary for the Azerbaijani youth, and the example was taken in April 2016.

The ombudsman added that Artsakh people also remember the thousands of Hungarian citizens, who raised their voice of protest against the decision to extradite Safarov.


The DF-26 missiles duirng a parade in Beijing. Photo: China Daily

BEIJING (PTI): A latest missile tested by China can attack both aircraft carriers and the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system deployed recently in South Korea, an official newspaper reported Wednesday.



"To judge from the missile remains disclosed by media, it was a DF-26 that was tested recently, also known as the 'aircraft carrier killer' missile," Song Zhongping, a military expert who used to serve in the PLA Rocket (Missile) Force, told state-run Global Times.



"Considering the type of missile and the test location it is evident that we conducted a firing experiment targeting aircraft carriers, and the warhead possibly featured an electromagnetic pulse that could destroy a carrier's command system, as well as the THAAD system," Song said.



Asked if the test's location in the Bohai Sea, close to the tensed Korean Peninsula, could show that the test was specifically aimed at Seoul's THAAD deployment, Song said that this was unlikely as Bohai is China's usual weapons testing ground.



The missile test was carried amid China's vociferous protests over THAAD interceptor missiles in South Korea, whose powerful radars could see through most of part of China including its missile development programme.



The US said the THAAD deployment was aimed at countering any missile attack by North Korea against the South, Japan and the US.



China has vowed appropriate response for THAAD missile batteries.



A statement by the Chinese defence ministry on Tuesday said that Chinese rocket forces tested a new type of missile in the Bohai Sea.



The statement said the test was conducted in accordance with the annual training plan to "raise the operational capability of the armed forces and effectively respond to threats to national security".



"The test achieved the expected result," it said, without disclosing its exact details.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon businessman is among the defendants ordered to pay for a trainwreck of a business deal in the United States that involved a failed agreement to provide railcars to transport oil.

While he says he wasnt directly involved in the questionable deal, a Colorado judge ruled that Richard K. Brugger and other defendants couldnt escape liability.

Brugger was a director for the Canadian company behind the deal, and his former Brandon-based company a shareholder in it, but says he wasnt directly involved in the deal and didnt know about it until after a lawsuit was filed.

The company seemed to come to an amiable agreement, and then I guess things kind of went sideways for both parties  I was not involved in any of those decisions, said Brugger, who was contacted at his Brandon home on Wednesday.

Brugger said the decision of District of Colorado Judge Richard P. Matsch, whose written decision was released on Tuesday, will be appealed on his behalf and other defendants.

Matsch outlined the following conclusions in his written decision, which tells a complex story of deals gone bad between various companies, one of which didnt actually exist.

The decision lays blame at another man with Brandon connections, Benjamin D. Comis.

The judge ruled that Comiss misrepresentations to the company that ordered the rail cars amounted to common-law fraud.

It was fanciful for him to expect that he could obtain 300 railcars from a two man trucking company in Arkansas, Matsch wrote.

Comis couldnt immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Unrelated prior dealings in family court indicate that he had a Brandon address in 2013. Brugger said Comis has family here.

The plaintiff was UETRR, a subsidiary of United Energy Trading (UET), an energy marketing and logistics company based in Lakewood, Colo. UET transports crude oil by rail throughout North America.

In February 2013, UETRR made a deal with Viero Energy to lease 120 30,000-gallon tank railcars to be delivered on or before June 1, 2014. A second agreement for the lease of another 180 tank cars was reached a month later.

In total, UET paid US$1.56 million in deposits to Viero Energy.

But Viero Energy wasnt real.

In reality, it was a chimera  a mythical creature, Matsch wrote.

Viero Energy was formed in Nevada in 2010, and was owned by Talanda Sykes. Sykes, who was from Michigan, represented the company along with Comis, a Canadian citizen who was a shareholder and director for K3B Partners of Calgary.

K3B was an owner of Viero Energy, and K3Bs shareholders were Comis, his father, a company called Falcon Creek Asset Management out of Calgary, and RKB Investments Ltd.

RKB was based in Brandon, and Brugger was its owner, founder and president. It no longer operates, Brugger said.

K3Bs directors were Comis, Barry Comis, Brugger and Falcon Creek owner and managing director K. Todd Hicks.

No railcars were delivered to UETRR, and it filed its lawsuit in April 2014.

The would-be supplier of the railcars, Viero Energy, went bankrupt in February 2015. It was never a functioning business, Matsch found. It was only used for the transactions in the above agreement that wasnt fulfilled.

Matsch found that Comis and Sykes used the name knowing that it was basically only the name of an account in a Michigan bank where the money from UETRR was deposited. That account was controlled by Comis and Sykes.

Meanwhile, K3B was operating using the Viero Energy name. The judge noted that, under Alberta law, its members have individual liability for its actions.

Comis entered the lease agreements for K3B, using the name Viero Energy, and Comis had the authority to act on behalf of K3B members.

While Hicks and Brugger used the names of corporations, apparently for tax purposes, they do not have a corporate shield from individual liability for the actions of Ben Comis in conducting business of K3B, Matsch concluded.

But the judge said Comiss dealings with UETRR werent shown to be criminal.

Neither Comis nor the UETRR employee involved in the negotiations, David Balleau, knew the business of leasing railcars. They didnt realize the complexity of obtaining railcars that met American Association of Railroads regulations.

Yet Comis claimed he could deliver.

The plan was to lease tank cars from Arkansas oil field service company, SBG Transport LLC, and sub-lease them to UETRR. Comis relied on SBG manager Fred Straub for that task.

Through Viero Energy, Comis wired $1.19 million from the UETRR deposits to SBG for the leases. SBG transferred $362,000 to K3B on June 7, 2013.

Straub  whose whereabouts are currently unknown  wound up defrauding Comis, Matsch concluded.

But, the judge ruled, Comis didnt ask for manufacturing information before signing the leases with Straub, made no effort at due diligence and passed on false information to UETRR.

Matsch wrote that Comis misrepresented Viero Energy as a viable business entity, made false claims that Viero was the holder of 300 railcars and about delivery dates, and made numerous excuses after the delivery dates that prevented UETRR from recovering money while there was still money in Vieros account.

Among the falsehoods  in February 2013, Comis sent an email to UETRR sending specifications for a Viero Energy Tank Car and claimed in capital letters that all their cars were approved by American rail authorities.

The email included a photograph of a tank car provided to Comis by Straub.

All of this was false, Matsch stated in his decision, calling the false claims Comis made to UETRR as egregious and reprehensible.

K3B filed for bankruptcy in Calgary in December 2014. A trustee filed a report that noted the company didnt maintain any accounting records or financial statements.

That companys members did business by email using an account that was later closed, resulting in the loss of the records.

In another deal gone bad, K3B tried to get funds to repay UETRR and handed an entity known as Wall Street Investors $200,000 as an advance fee for financing that was never provided.

The judge concluded by awarding UETRR $1,542,475.30, plus pre-judgement interest of $530,128.09 and post-judgement interest.

Liable are Brugger, Comis, Comiss father Barry, Falcon Creek, RKB, Hicks, and Viero Group (based in Calgary).

Comis and Sykes were also ordered to pay punitive damages of $100,000 each. Sykess whereabouts arent known, however.

All dollar figures are in U.S. currency.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com
In 1968 he was appointed as chaplain to the police of the Royal PNG Constabulary. He was based in Port Moresby but travelled extensively throughout Papua New Guinea. He served as the police chaplain from 1968 until 1988 when he took up his appointment as a bishop of the diocese of Aitape.

As Father Brian Barnes, he was appointed to the mission of Papua New Guinea in October 1959. He served as Assistant Priest in Aitape when he first arrived in the PNG Missions. He then served as Headmaster at Seleo Island and as a parish priest in Monandin, Nuku, Wati, Ningil and Lumi from 1960 until 1968.

Brian James Patrick Barnes was born at Wingham in New South Wales on 23 March 1933 to Arthur Keith Barnes and Eileen Barnes. He joined the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) in 1951 and was first professed on 18 February 1952. He was ordained a priest on 12 July 1958.

IT IS with great sadness that the Franciscan Friars of the Province of the Holy Spirit announce the death of Emeritus Archbishop Sir Brian Barnes OFM (1933-2017).

Father Brian was appointed as Bishop of Aitape on 3 October 1987 and ordained bishop of that diocese on 10 February 1988. He served in Aitape from 1988 until his appointment as Archbishop of Port Moresby.

Bishop Brian was appointed as the seventh Ordinary and the fourth Archbishop of Port Moresby on 14 June 1997. He retired as the Archbishop of Port Moresby on 26 March 2008.

Archbishop Barnes was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1982 and a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in 2003. Perhaps his highest civil honour was bestowed on him in 2011 when he was made Grand Chief Commander of the Order of Logohu (GCL) in a ceremony which took place at Star of the Sea Friary in Waverley NSW.

Archbishop Brian Barnes was a man totally dedicated to the people and the church in Papua New Guinea. He became a citizen of Papua New Guinea in 1976 and fought long and hard for the integrity and stability of his adopted homeland.

He took on the cares and concerns of his people, spoke against corruption within the PNG government of his time, using his weekly radio address to reach his people, encourage goodness and challenge those who sought to do harm to his country. His courageous stance came at a cost to his personal health and safety.

Archbishop Brian returned to Australia as a consequence of health concerns and lived for a number of years at Star of the Sea Friary in Waverley. In his last years, he was a resident of Our Lady of Consolation Nursing Home at Rooty Hill.

Archbishop Brian is survived by his two brothers, Michael Barnes and Denis Barnes, and his sister, Maureen Dingelstad.

Mass of Christian Burial for Emeritus Archbishop Brian Barnes OFM will be celebrated at Mary Immaculate Church, 45A Victoria Street, Waverley NSW on Saturday 20 May beginning at 11am. At the conclusion of mass, the cortege will proceed to Macquarie Park for a cremation.

The remains of Archbishop Brian Barnes will be interred at St Didacus Friary Cemetery, Aitape, Papua New Guinea.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandons Jim McCrae will serve as the board chair of the Social Services Appeal Board, according to Families Minister Scott Fielding.

The Manitoba government named 12 new members to the board yesterday.

McCraes career spans several years within all levels of government. He served as the member of the legislative assembly for Brandon West from 1986 to 1999, which included appointments as attorney general, health minister and minister of education. McCrae recently served a term as a Canadian citizenship judge and has been involved with boards, committees and charitable organizations such as the United Way.

The 15-member board reviews appeals from Manitobans who use government programs such as employment and income assistance, rent assistance and prenatal benefits. It also hears licensing appeals for adoption agencies, child-care and residential-care facilities.

Carmanne (Anne) Berry of Teulon will serve a one-year term as vice-chair. Berry has extensive experience in financial operations and management, and has volunteered with organizations such as the Thompson Kinette Club.

The minister also congratulated the following new members on one- and two-year terms: Dolores Hardy of Brandon, Shirley Kalyniuk of Rossburn, Khaled Al-Nahar of Winnipeg, Teresa Banman of Steinbach, Alice Cook of Grand Rapids, Viola Davidson of Winnipeg, Taranjit Dhaliwal of St. Adolphe, Jason Guy Glesby of Winnipeg, Helene Lariviere of St. Malo and Treena Ross of Fraserwood.

Zanna Joyce of Winnipeg and Annette Niven of The Pas were reappointed to one-year terms.

Garry McLean of Lake Manitoba First Nation remains in his current term.

 The Brandon Sun
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the first travellers to use the new arrivals entrance at Brandon Municipal Airport described it as beautiful, airy and bright.

Tannis Nostedt was a passenger on Wednesdays WestJet flight from Calgary. Arriving at 12:45 p.m., it was the first flight to be greeted by a fully operational terminal building.

In addition to the aesthetically pleasing aspects, Nostedt was excited to see some of the more practical and convenient touches  particularly the baggage conveyor belt.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun 10052017 Friends and family waiting for loved ones to arrive look out the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the arrivals lounge at Brandon Municipal Airports brand new terminal as the WestJet flight from Calgary taxis on the runway after landing. The arrivals lounge officially opened for use Wednesday.

You used to have to walk across the field and drag your bag across the dirt, she said. This is beautiful.

Also on Wednesdays flight was Glenn Noremore, who regularly travels through McGill Field on his way to work in the Northwest Territories.

I think it looks really good. It will be a lot more convenient, he said. Its actually very nice, looks like its well laid out, well organized.

Another passenger, Kevin Podjan, said the new airport terminal is a symbol of Brandon progressing to the future.

The temporary baggage trailer is no longer needed, and instead passengers wait for their luggage in a spacious area with floor-to-ceiling windows. The old terminal building is completely renovated, and includes a seamless corridor that connects it to the new structure. There is a separate security screening area, which is operated by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.

You have plenty of room to queue and go through security, as compared to before where we just really didnt have any room to stand, said Carla Richardson, the citys director of transportation.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Travellers wait for their luggage in the arrivals area at Brandon Municipal Airports brand new terminal on Wednesday.

Once through security, there is a spacious departures lounge with seating for 102 people, free Wi-Fi, vending machines and additional washrooms. Seats include charging stations for cellphones and other devices.

The $10.4-million redevelopment project began in the fall of 2015, and is cost-shared by the city, province and federal government.

There were certainly some trying times as we were working through the operational challenges, Richardson said. To have that large terminal function the way that we had envisioned, and have it run smooth and efficient today, it feels fantastic.

The terminal is three times the size of the original building, and the hope it that it attracts additional routes and other airlines.

We are super excited to have this asset to show off, and we will do whatever we can to promote it and market it, Richardson said.

Jillian Austin/The Brandon Sun The roomy departures lounge includes massage chairs, vending machines and USB charging ports.

Robb Nesbitt was hired at the beginning of April as the citys airport operations co-ordinator. While he came on board near the end of the process, he said it was exciting to see it all come to fruition.

The temporary walls came down on Tuesday, which opened up the arrivals and baggage area. Nesbitt said it will be a positive experience for passengers.

Their experience coming here is going to be a lot more pleasant. Its a beautiful facility to come to, whether youre leaving or coming to Brandon, you cant beat this view, he said.

WestJet station manager Shannon Mannall said the completed terminal will allow for easier day-to-day operation.

This is just amazing, she said. Weve talked to some of our guests who fly in and out every couple weeks. Theyre just as excited as we are, they feel that theyre a part of this because theyre here all the time.

Jillian Austin/The Brandon Sun Shannon Mannall, WestJet station manager, stands in the newly opened arrivals hall at Brandon Municipal Airport. Wednesdays WestJet flight marked the first with full operation of the building.

Mannall has seen the transformation first-hand, as she began working at the airport since WestJet first began offering regular air service in 2013.

Weve gone from the vintage airport that we were, to this, she said. This is something that all of us WestJetters, as Brandon and Westman residents, are super proud of, and were humbled to be a part of.

The airport includes 130 free short-term parking stalls, including designated accessible stalls and those set aside for taxis. Long-term parking is available west of the building. There is still some work to be finished on the parking lot, as well as some landscaping.

Passengers heading to the airport should be prepared to slow down along Sandison Road, as it has significant surface breaks. As this is under provincial jurisdiction, the city is working with Manitoba Infrastructure to fix this issue. According to Richardson, the hope is that it will be rebuilt later this year.

An official grand opening event at the airport is being planned for this summer.

Jillian Austin/The Brandon Sun Robb Nesbitt, airport operations co-ordinator, stands in the arrivals hall at Brandon Municipal Airport's newly renovated terminal.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Hydro has applied for a multi-year rate increase that would see rates jump, when compounded, by almost 50 per cent between 2016 and 2021, but Tim Sawatzky isnt sweating it.

Increases of this magnitude would only serve to further vindicate his decision to have a 20.8-kilowatt solar panel system installed at his MacGregor-area house last year.

His first Manitoba Hydro bill following the systems installation wasnt actually a bill at all, but a $3.90 credit to his account.

Submitted Solar Manitoba employees work at installing solar panels in this file image. The Winnipeg-based company plans on opening sales offices in Brandon and Dauphin this summer in order to meet increased demand for solar energy, in part due to Manitoba Hydro's proposed rate increases of 7.9 per cent per year for the next few years.

He hasnt received a bill since that time because Manitoba Hydro officials have been taken aback by his solar systems output, which has thus far generated a credit of about $89, he said, adding that it still hasnt hit its prime summer sun conditions.

Sawatzky has been far from alone in tackling high electricity costs through alternative means, with Solar Manitoba vice-president Alex Stuart reporting a significant bump in customer inquiries as soon as news broke of Manitoba Hydros proposed multi-year 7.9 per cent annual rate increases.

Anticipating a continued business influx as these potential rate increases roll out, the Winnipeg-based company plans on opening sales offices in both Brandon and Dauphin some time this summer.

The uptake has been just remarkable, Stuart said. Brandon, especially. I dont know what it is. I think its the really pragmatic nature of the folks once you get outside of the city of Winnipeg, that they see the horizon and these increasing rates and they want to take matters into their own hands, which lends itself to the solar realm.

Stuart isnt the only one to have noticed an increase in solar power interest, with Manitoba Hydro public affairs officer Bruce Owen noting a much greater interest in their solar panel rebate program than theyd expected.

Since the two-year Manitoba Hydro Powersmart Solar Energy Program kicked off on April 22, 2016, theyve received 239 applications and have paid out 47 installations, which is almost twice the 25 payouts theyd expected for its first year.

Owen said while staff have been answering a greater number of phone and email inquiries about the program in recent days, its too early to say whether more people are expressing interest it as a result of the proposed multi-year rate increases or whether its just because of the time of year.

At Solar Manitobas offices, Stuart cited the proposed rate increases as a key driver behind recent solar power inquiries, joining environmental consciousness by inspiring people to invest in the technology.

Under Manitoba Hydros Powersmart Solar Energy Program, those with solar panels arent actually off the grid, but instead help power the Manitoba Hydro grid, with the grid serving as your battery bank, Stuart said.

While those with solar panels might earn a credit during the summer, limited daylight hours during the winter months might result in the receipt of a Manitoba Hydro bill, resulting in what could be an annual net zero cost, depending on ones solar panel investment.

Contacted by phone at Canadas Energy and Utility Regulatorss annual convention in Vancouver, Manitoba Public Utilities Board executive director Darren Christle said that while hes not 100 per cent sold on solar panels viability, anything that would have a positive impact on rates to Manitoba consumers and ratepayers is a good idea.

When contacted, Christle had just exited a session about alternative energy solutions, such as the Tesla Powerwall, solar power, wind energy and other innovations coming down the line.

Theres definitely a lot of interest across North America, he said.

The PUB has yet to evaluate Manitoba Hydros Powersmart Solar Energy Program, but plan on doing so in the near future.

At his MacGregor-area property, Sawatzky said that he plans on expanding his solar power generation effort to accommodate his grain farming operation.

Where his net zero household runs on a 20.8-kilowatt system, his agricultural system would require 200 kilowatts; a system he has already received approval for and for which hes currently going through some final planning to have it installed this summer.

While his household system has offered early indication that the solar panels work as advertised, he said that only time would tell whether it was worth the investment and actually saves him money in the long run.

The up-front cost of the household install was about $77,000, of which Manitoba Hydros rebate program covered about $20,000.

If it lasts the 25-30 years its supposed to it will have not only paid for itself, but will have also provided him with about a decades worth of electricity above what he would have received through Manitoba Hydro for the same cost.

Its a project Sawatzky said that he would have not undertaken if not for Manitoba Hydros rebate program, which he said made the up-front costs easier to swallow.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB

SIDEBAR: PUB pushes for energy-efficient measures

While the Manitoba Public Utilities Board sang a very different tune in 2014, theyre currently advocating for Manitoba Hydro to promote energy efficiency measures throughout the province.

In 2014, they released a report that concluded that there is an inherent conflict in Manitoba Hydro being both a seller of electricity and a purveyor of energy-efficient measures.

The following year, they backtracked, reiterating their prior stance that Manitoba Hydro should be providing ratepayers with the tools to mitigate their exposure to rising electricity rates through (demand side management).

Manitobas demand side management efforts are administered through their Power Smart programming  a 15-year, $1.4-billion investment.

Solar Manitoba vice-president Alex Stuart said that any effort to reduce reliance on Manitoba Hydro is actually a positive for the Crown corporation.

Although in doing so their revenue is reduced, they also dont have to build more hydroelectric dams and other pieces of infrastructure to accommodate the provinces growing market.

According to Manitoba Hydro, each year finds the energy needs of Manitobans increase by an average of about 1.8 per cent.

 The Brandon Sun
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The countdown is on. Just three shopping days left. If youre left shopping Sunday morning, you could be in deep trouble. Were coming down the home stretch to the biggest day for restaurants and phone companies all year. Mothers Day. A time to shower mom with love and affection and some great stuff. After all, next to Christmas, Mothers Day is the biggest day for getting gifts all year. When youre a mom, but if youre a dad, were somehow left in the dust. Moms always get more. Maybe thats because moms do more? Anyway, a recent report showed that despite our enthusiasm to go all out to celebrate mom, we arent getting her the gifts she really wants.

RetailMenot.ca says Canadians will spend $76 on gifts and up to $184 to give mom a great experience this year. You read right  experiences. It seems that moms and millennials have something in common. I mentioned just over a month ago, millennials are changing the economy each and every day as they continue to move away from buying things, and move more toward spending money on doing things. These experiences they can share are not only popular among the young, but now also popular among a younger generation and mothers. Who knew they would want to brag about an experience on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter?

According to the survey, the top items Canadian moms wish to receive this year are a dinner out with the family, dinner at home with the family, a spa day alone, or a family experience. Thats a far cry from the top gifts we will buy for our moms this year, which include a card, dinner, flowers, candy and chocolate. And now to the sad reality for dads. Two-thirds of children think dads need serious help from their kids to pick out a gift for Mothers Day. The report went on to say that Fathers Day doesnt get as big a celebration as Mothers Day. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed agree that Mothers Day celebrations outshine Fathers Day, and half of those surveyed dont think their dad cares about celebrating at all. Not true. Please stock up on bacon and beer now if found on sale.

And adding insult to injury, the cost to celebrate Fathers Day is just $136 on the entire experience, almost $50 less than what we will spend for Mothers Day. Then again, were easier to please. As you enjoy celebrating this weekend in Westman, here are a few things you didnt know about Mothers Day Sunday:

 Love it. Oops, really I hate it. In 1906, a year after her mothers death, Anna Jarvis, began campaigning for a day to celebrate moms, by spreading the word through church meetings and writing letters to government representatives and businessmen. And in 1914, it became a holiday. Then it got too commercial and she spent the rest of her days trying to have it abolished. What? Its so uncharacteristic for a mother to change her mind about something. Incredible.

 Greek style. People in ancient Greece paid tribute to Rhea, the mother of the gods, with honey cakes, fine drinks and flowers at dawn. This was the earliest Mothers Day celebration. Danny DeVito pays tribute to Rhea Pearlman. Its not a long holiday. Just a short celebration and back to work.

 In Serbia, its called mom is held hostage. Mothers Day is called Materice and is celebrated on the second Sunday before Christmas. Children sneak into their mothers bedrooms and gently tie her feet with ribbon or string. To negotiate her release, the mother gives her children small gifts. Sounds like your average Saturday morning at our place, just without the ribbon. Ribbon sounds nice.

 If you are going to have an Indian Mothers Day, bring a credit card. In India, Mothers Day is actually a 10-day celebration that happens in October. Thats a lot of butter chicken. That part I love. Getting the bill for a 10-day party might make me want to drown my sorrows in so said butter chicken. Isnt butter chicken wonderful?

 No more womb for more kids. The mother who gave birth to the most children was the wife of Russian Feodor Vassilyev (her name is unknown). Her 69 children included 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets between 1725 and 1765. Incredibly, 67 of the 69 children survived infancy. It bears mentioning, however, that Vassilyev is also said to have had six sets of twins and two sets of triplets with a second wife, for another 18 children in eight births. That would mean he fathered a total of 87 children. Russia: its so cold, there are only two things to do. Drink and give birth. Sounds great. Sure his name wasnt Rasputin?

 Babies in the White House. On Sept. 9, 1893, U.S. President Grover Clevelands wife, Frances, became the first First Lady to give birth in the White House with the arrival of their daughter, Esther. She remains the only child of a president to be born in the White House. However, she is the second baby to take up residence on Pennsylvania Avenue. The other crying child is an orange baby named Donnie.

 You thought you had a big baby! The mother who gives birth to the largest baby on Earth is a mother elephant. After enduring 22 months of pregnancy, she gives birth to a blind, 200-pound calf. Oh. Em. Gee.

Dont let go mama. One other note about mommies in the animal kingdom: a mother orangutan never puts her babies down and typically nurses them for six or seven years, which is the longest mother-child nursing dependence of any animal on earth. Wow. Take that, helicopter parents.

Booze is for mom too! According to a poll, these are the top 10 names of women who are nursing a Mothers Day hangover today: Melissa, Rachel, Laurie, Elizabeth, Natalie, Tracy, Janet, Bonnie, Joy and Brittany. Pass the wine! And happy Mothers Day to my mom, Lana; mother-in-law Shirley and my grandma Ada. Have a great weekend.

JOKE this week

MSW  Mom Say What? Texting acronyms can stump even the best parents

Mom: Your great-aunt just passed away. LOL.

Son: Why is that funny?

Mom: Its not funny, David! What do you mean?

Son: Mom, LOL means Laughing Out Loud.

Mom: I thought it meant Lots of Love. I have to call everyone back.

Daughter: I got an A in Chemistry.

Mom: WTF!

Daughter: Mom, what do you think WTF means?

Mom: Well Thats Fantastic.

Mom: What do IDK, LY & TTYL mean?

Son: I dont know, love you, talk to you later.

Mom: OK, I will ask your sister.

BIRTHDAYS

Marc Watt  Jenni-Lynette Poe  Leanne Doty  Mike Evan Mazier  Shannon Booth  Jen Lee
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was with a mixture of pride and joy that Manitobans recently learned more indigenous students are graduating from post-secondary institutions in this province than ever before.

At Brandon University, where nearly 15 per cent of students self-identified as indigenous in 2015, an annual Graduation Pow Wow recognizes a growing graduate class with drumming, singing and dancers in regalia.

At Assiniboine Community College, 22 Ebb and Flow First Nation students recently graduated from the applied counselling skills certificate program. All of the students pursued their studies in addition to working in the health and education sectors. The program, which was offered in Ebb and Flow First Nation, builds on the colleges commitment to indigenous education.

This is incredibly good news. Higher education is key to freeing indigenous people from a cycle of poverty and familial dysfunction. However, we know by now that there is no such thing as a permanent solution to a big social problem.

Progress on one front must be weighed against regression on other fronts. And just as there is evidence of progress in graduating indigenous students from university and college, so too there are signs of slippage in other parts of the education continuum.

The same week as we witnessed the impressive turnout at graduation powwows, the alarm was raised at a North End Winnipeg high school about extremely high student absentee rates.

Community activists appeared before the Winnipeg School Division board on Monday evening to highlight concerns about St. Johns High School, where student absenteeism is running on any day at nearly 16 per cent. That is five times higher than the absentee rate at Kelvin High School in Crescentwood.

The student body at St. Johns is not 100 per cent indigenous, but there is a very high percentage of students who would self-identify as indigenous. More importantly, a high proportion of the students come from families on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. Education is the most important positive force in their lives. Without an education system that inspires students to attend school and participate fully, many students will be destined to live in the same conditions their parents face.

There are no easy solutions to student absenteeism. The community activists asked that the school division approach the province to create a task force to look at possible solutions. They note that while the province and division provide many resources at the elementary level to watch over students and engage them, there are far fewer resources afforded to students at the high-school level. They want that to change.

The activists say Manitobas education minister, Ian Wishart, has assigned one of his assistant deputy ministers to work with the community to identify ways of improving student attendance at schools in North End neighbourhoods. That is an excellent start, but a commitment to consultation must not be used as a tactic to delay action. Every year that we allow student absenteeism to run at epidemic levels is a year we lose ground in the long-term battle to increase participation of indigenous and impoverished students in post-secondary education.

The graduation powwows at Manitoba post-secondary schools are proof that we are making progress. However, the situation at St. Johns High School reminds us that the only true solution to a profound social problem is constant vigilance.

 Winnipeg Free Press and The Brandon Sun
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

How will you remember Canadas 150th birthday?

One way to mark our countrys sesquicentennial is to present your child with the gift of a week at Wannakumbac,  a true, north strong and free camp.

Theres probably nothing that says Canada more than a camp in the great outdoors, says Wannakumbac manager Janet Gusdal. When the outside world thinks of Canada, they think of canoeing on beautiful lakes, hikes through our forests and meals served over a roaring campfire. We do all that and more at Wannakumbac.

Submitted A double rainbow frames Camp Wannakumbac.

The more includes everything from tending a new wildflower initiative to help our bee population to archery and mountain biking and environmental science. Of course, Wannakumbac also offers all the traditional programming that Manitobans have come to know and love since it first opened in 1948.

Weve had a pretty good track record of knowing what kids need and what kids want, said Jesse Colautti, camps summer director.  We know how to ensure that they have not only the kind of summer that they will never forget, but also experiences that will help them learn and grow.

Camp Wannakumbac offers co-ed weekly camps for children aged eight-15 over the course of the summer. Situated on the shores of Clear Lake adjacent to Riding Mountain National Park, Wannakumbac has 164 acres for children to experience the great outdoors while supervised by our well-trained staff of counsellors. Wannakumbac is accredited by both the Manitoba Camping Association and the Canadian Camping Association. Wannakumbac is run by the non-profit Wasagaming Foundation whose trustees are Federated Co-operatives, Manitoba Credit Unions, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Dairy Farmers of MB, Co-op Hail Insurance, Parrish & Heimbecker, and the Manitoba Elks Foundation.

Theres a good reason why so many Manitobans know about Camp Wannakumbac, Gusdal says. In every town across our province, you will find our former campers whose true patriot love for our land has been shaped in part by the way they have experienced Canada at Wannakumbac. The Wasagaming Foundation, along with families who have attended Wannakumbac in the past, have made generous donations to keep our programs strong and our facility beautiful. Financial commitments from the Community Places Program and the Brandon and Area Community Foundation have helped us with over $130,000 in upgrades to the main dining hall.

Every day at Wannakumbac begins with campers gathered round the flag pole to raise the Maple Leaf. There will be even more pride this summer as campers belt out O Canada. And part of that patriotic chorus could be your child who gets to celebrate the nation in a way that only Wannakumbac can offer.

Submitted From fishing to bonfires, Camp Wannakumbac has a little to offer everyone.

 Submitted
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After writing music with numerous bands over the years, Juno nominee Mo Karrouze knew it was time to for something of his own  a solo album.

Known in Brandon for bringing the tribute band, The Beetles, to town, Karrouze has been creating his own music for decades.

Some songs that were introduced to audiences and then set aside have been renewed and completed for the album, One Worldsparked by Karrouzes own experiences and current events.

Mo Karrouze

The title track, One World, has been around for a while but I didnt know how to do it until Donald Trump came on the scene, and that inspired me play it like I did, Karrouze said. General life might inspire me to write, things that happen to me or might be happening to a friendthe song called Attitude is about being and living in New Yorkand how the city can call out to you and show you things.

Inspiration for a song can strike at any moment, Karrouze said, whether hes trying to create one or not.

Usually Im fiddling around on the guitar or piano and all of a sudden I find a chord sequence and Ill work on itother times I could be driving and get a melody stuck in my head, and I cant wait to get home so I can put some chords to it, Karrouze said with a laugh.

Karrouze said he cant explain where his talent for writing music comes from, but he treasures it.

Writing music and songs is a gift  I know great musicians that cant write, but Ive always had that gift to be able to write, so I give that up to God, Karrouze said.

Working on a solo album allowed Karrouze the freedom to work with a variety of people he usually wouldnt have the chance to, he said.

I didnt have to use a band, so I could choose from among my friends, acquaintances and people whos style I really appreciate to join me, Karrouze said. It was a great experience.

Karrouze also kept the album home grown, recording it all in Brandon.

It all fell together very nicely, Karrouze said.

Now that the album is up on iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby, Karrouzes next goal is to get the album on the playlist at CBC. Once thats done, Karrouze said he will put a lineup together and go on tour.

In the meantime, Karrouze hopes Brandonites will enjoy his music.

I hope everyone has as much fun listening to the album as I had making it, he said.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @erindebooy
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/05/2017 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sitting at boardroom tables across the country, Don Penny and his partners at the accounting firm he helped launch convinced other firms to buy into their vision.

These companies placed their confidence in him, and earning their support is what the 77-year-old, who oversaw expansions at what is now MNP LLP prior to his retirement, describes as his career accomplishment.

Tonight, Penny is being honoured with Assiniboine Community Colleges inaugural Courage Award.

Submitted Don Penny, founding partner and past chairman of MNP LLP (formerly Meyers Norris Penny), will receive the first Courage Award from Assiniboine Community College.

I dont think it was any individual expansion, whether a purchase or a merger; the biggest success was to have people trust me and agree to join in the plans, the vision, he said.

They were the ones who had courage, Penny added. Theyre giving up their own names on the scoreboard typically, and theyre meeting a bunch of people that they kind of like from a social point of view but have never been in business with.

Pennys decorated role in turning a Brandon-based accounting firm, formerly known as Meyers Norris Penny, into a regional giant with more than 65 offices across Canada is worthy of what ACC hopes will become an annual award celebrating people who demonstrate courage in their business, community, professional and personal lives.

Don had the courage to take risks to pursue a vision of a different type of accounting firm, one that saw a future well beyond the comforts of Westman, said ACC president Mark Frison in announcing the recognition.

Penny will be honoured at the Courage Award Dinner Thursday night at the Victoria Inn in Brandon.

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Penny came to the conclusion that expansion was the way their firm could thrive.

I knew that as we walked down a future road that education was going to become more costly, technology was going to become extremely expensive, and we needed to share those costs with someone to keep the costs down on an individual basis for our partners, he said. We needed to have more people in our organization, more owners and more investors, so up came the concept of mergers and purchases.

File photo Penny at his computer shortly after his tenure as Brandon Chamber of Commerce president.

The firms expansion story is dramatic when considering they came from meager beginnings to become one of the countrys leading accounting firm, but all along their growth has been steady.

Starting in Brandon in 1958, they grew to nearly 20 branches on the Prairies by the mid-1990s and now dot the national landscape from British Columbia to Nova Scotia with 66 offices and nearly 3,000 employees.

Their drive for expansion must have been inspired, at least early on, by Pennys business sensibilities, too.

Some of my partners told me I was never an accountant, but a businessman, he said with a laugh.

He enjoyed being an accountant, he said, but I also knew that I didnt want to be serving clients my whole life  I also wanted to grow our business and find out where we could be.

Penny was able to merge his businessman aspirations with the Chartered Accountant designation he received in 1963.

I couldnt have got there without being an accountant, he said.

File photo

He stepped down as CEO in 1998, when MNP was the 10th-largest accounting firm in Canada, with fees of $41 million and more than 400 people as staff. Penny remained chairman of the board for three more years.

Penny said he knew then it was time to leave. Then and now, hes buoyed by his confidence in the leadership team, citing his successors Daryl Ritchie, who remained CEO until 2015, and their current leader Jason Tuffs.

Pennys impressed by how big MNP got, which is now based in Calgary.

Its mind-boggling, and we havent stopped yet, he said, citing the Maritimes, Ontario and Quebec as areas where theres potential for greater market penetration.

Penny stays in the loop with MNPs plans. Every year, he attends the companys annual general meeting, which is a destination event for the Canadian firm. The meeting was recently held in Miami, he said.

Through his decades in Brandon, Penny, now living in Clear Lake, was part of numerous community endeavours, including the Brandon Economic Development Board, Brandon Chamber of Commerce, YMCA and the SW Manitoba Kinsmen Club, among others.

Playing a leading role in the early years of the Brandon University Foundation is one of his highlights, he said.

File photo Penny shakes hands with Don Pottinger after being named the Businessman of the Year in 1987.

He also served as chairman for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants Board of Governors and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba.

He was invested into the Order of Canada in 2006.

Penny now spends half his year in Clear Lake and the remainder in Arizona.

Retirement has been invigorating. He enjoys woodturning, making bowls and pepper mills. And he emails regularly, keeping in contact with people hes met along his travels.

Locally, he gets a lot of invites for lunch  people who want to talk business.

In Penny, they see a builder who fostered the growth of a major firm out of a small city  and someone who had the courage to take on any challenge.

Whoever is building a business, following a dream, there are speed bumps, a couple mountains to climb, he said.

Penny is married to his wife Sandra. They have four children and five grandchildren.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
Update 11.59am: Coillte says a major forest fire in County Galway has been suppressed.

It says staff and army personnel will remain on site at Cloosh Valley today to monitor hot spots as there is still some risk that fires could re-ignite.

A civil helicopter will also remain on standby should it be needed.

Members of the public are still being urged to stay away from areas affected by the fires until they are deemed completely safe.

Update 9.18am: The Health Service Executive has issued a warning to people in areas affected by ash or smoke from a major forest fire in County Galway.

It is now estimated up to 3,500 hectares of forest and bog land have been destroyed at Cloosh Valley.

The HSE is advising people not to go near wildfires especially if they are smouldering.

The Department of Public Health says young children, pregnant women, smokers, the elderly and people with heart or lung conditions are most vulnerable.

Earlier: Rescue workers trying to battle a huge forest fire in west Galway may not get the weather needed in order to fight the blaze.

It is now estimated up to 3,500 hectares of forest and bog land have been destroyed at Cloosh Valley.

Last night, defence forces moved in to assist fire and other emergency services, who hoped a drop in temperatures would ease the flames.

Gerry Murphy from Met Eireann says rescue workers may not get the rain needed in order to fight the fire for several days.

"There will be more significant rain moving in from the West then as we go through Saturday and then after, mainly dry conditions for a time on Sunday, much heavier rain then developing on Sunday night and into morning.

"So gradual change in the weather but initially still staying fairly dry," he said.
Update 11.17am: Gardai say there is nothing to suggest anything suspicious caused a fire at an apartment complex in Dublin.

Forensic investigators are examining the scene at Verdemont in Blanchardstown today.

Earlier: Dozens of people have been left homeless following a serious fire in Dublin yesterday evening.

Up to 100 residents were forced to evacuate after the blaze broke out at the Verdemont complex in Blanchardstown shortly after 6pm.

It is believed the fire was started by a barbeque and there are no reports of any injuries.

Six units of the fire brigade, two turntable ladders and a water tanker were used to tackle the fire, and a drone was also deployed.

An investigation has been launched today.

Labour TD for Dublin West, Deputy Joan Burton has said: "My thoughts and sympathies are with the residents of Verdemont Coolmine, Blanchardstown who suffered a disastrous fire at their apartments.

"I want to salute Dublin fire brigade and all the emergency workers and the Fingal County Council staff who worked to put out the fire and to assist residents.

"There will have to be a detailed enquiry into the fire and how it spread so quickly and destroyed and damaged so many apartments and homes," she said.
Update 1.33pm: Ireland is to bid to host two EU bodies located in London, Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed.

The European Medicines Agency is responsible for the protection of public and animal health through the scientific evaluation and supervision of medicines.

The European Banking Authority was tasked with finding risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector at the height of the financial crisis.

Mr Kenny addressed the Dail following Michel Barnier's speech to Dublin parliamentarians.

He said: "Ireland will bid along with other countries for the two EU bodies currently located in London, the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority.

"I believe that Ireland offers an excellent opportunity as a location for these."

He said Brexit was a British policy.

Update 12.40pm: The EU's chief Brexit negotiator has signalled that the peace process and Good Friday Agreement will take priority over trade and customs matters, during today's special address at Leinster House, writes Juno McEnroe.

Michel Barnier told the packed Dail chamber that Ireland was needed as a bridge for partners across the Atlantic as well as with Britain as he praised the country's role in the European Union.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny thanked the Brexit negotiator for his contribution as well as work which has helped secure Ireland and the peace process as priorities during the exit negotiations going forward.

Mr Barnier, for his part, outlined how Ireland and the peace process would have to be addressed first by London during the fraught negotiations before the contentious issue of a future relations and even trade would then be discussed by the 27 members and Britain.

He told the joint houses of the Seanad and Dail that trade would be an issue but nothing should come before peace on the island of Ireland.

Michel Barnier: 'I want to reassure the Irish people: in this [Brexit] negotiation Ireland's interest will be the Union's interest.' pic.twitter.com/1LO3t6jT1P  RTE News (@rtenews) May 11, 2017

 We have a duty to speak the truth. The UK's departure from the EU will have consequences," he said.

"Customs controls are part of EU border management. They protect the single market. They protect our food safety and our standards.

"I already said many times: nothing in this negotiation should put peace at risk.

"This was recognised by the 27 Heads of State and Government two weeks ago. They were very clear that the Good Friday Agreement must be respected in all its dimensions.

I also made very clear that the border issue will be one of my three priorities for the first phase of the negotiation. Together with citizens' rights and the financial settlement.

We first must make sufficient progress on these points, before we start discussing the future of our relationship with the UK. The sooner this will happen, the better.

Mr Kenny noted how EU leaders had recently agreed at a Brussels summit that sufficient progress would have to be made on three priority areas, including about Ireland, before the exit talks would be moved onto future relations between the EU and Britain.

Both Mr Kenny and Mr Barnier are set to speak at Government buildings later today.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny says he is pleased that Irelands specific concerns are acknowledged in the Brexit negotiating guidelines pic.twitter.com/gVThFI93uM  RTE News (@rtenews) May 11, 2017

Update 9.56am: The Taoiseach has warned against "verbal wars" ahead of the Brexit negotiations.

Enda Kenny is in Wicklow this morning addressing a gathering of MEPs from the EPP group.

The Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier's due to address a joint session of the Dail and Seanad this morning, before meeting the Taoiseach in Government Buildings.

Enda Kenny says the Brexit negotiations need to be conducted respectfully.

"And we believe that it's crucial that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom is managed in an orderly and competent fashion.

"We have consistently urged both sides to adopt a constructive approach to these negotiations, there is no point in having verbal wars before the negotiations ever begin," he said.

Earlier: The EU's chief Brexit negotiator arrives in Ireland today.

Michel Barnier will hold a private meeting with Enda Kenny after addressing a special joint sitting of the Dail and Seanad.

Michel Barnier has already been in Dublin, seven months ago on a tour of European capitals.

But this two day trip is different and will include a visit to the north and the border region.

Today he is south of the border, and enjoying a rare honour in Leinster House, making a speech to a joint sitting of the Dail and Seanad.

It is an honour previously enjoyed by Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.

Afterwards he will hold a private meeting with the Taoiseach in Government buildings.

The goal of the two-day trip is to get a clearer vision of just how Brexit will affect Ireland, and to test the waters about how certain things might go down.
Former Garda commissioners including Martin Callinan could be hauled before a powerful Dail committee over the Garda college financial scandal due to the scale of the crisis, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith, Irish Examiner Political Correspondent.

The cross-party public accounts committee confirmed the potential move on Thursday morning as the controversy continues to threaten both the future of Garda commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

In a detailed discussion after whistleblower John Barrett released 122 pages of documents on Tuesday alleging years of cover-up of what happened, PAC members said officials other than Ms O'Sullivan may now have to be brought in for further questioning.

Labour's Alan Kelly, Sinn Fein's David Cullinane and Mary Lou McDonald and Fianna Fail's Marc MacSharry said the scale of the crisis means former Garda commissioners including Martin Callinan should be requested to attend for questioning.

Mr Cullinane in particular said the meetings should take place over the coming weeks and should be co-ordinated to allow for a detailed PAC report on what happened.

He said these meetings should also include individual discussions with the head of the Garda audit committee, its chief accounting officer and other individuals who should be allowed to speak with the PAC "without their boss [Ms O'Sullivan] beside them".

Fine Gael TD Josepha Madigan said the move, and the involvement of former Garda commissioners, should be considered.

However, her party colleague Alan Farrell said the investigation should be handed over to State financial watchdog the Comptroller and Auditor General as the C&AG is the "competent authority" to examine evidence.

Mr Farrell repeated comments he made to the Irish Examiner last night, saying the C&AG should set up a "special investigation" into events and that this could be used as evidence in further legal cases if necessary.

He described the focus on Ms O'Sullivan as risking becoming a "witch hunt" if the PAC was allowed to control the investigation, a claim strongly rejected by other PAC members.

PAC chair and Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming asked that all committee members provide a list of documents and potential witnesses they want to attend by the group's meeting next Thursday.

He said a decision will then be made on what action to take, with the likelihood that the first witness to attend at that stage will be Ms O'Sullivan the following week due to a series of contradictions between her evidence and that of whistleblower, civilian head of Garda Human Resources, John Barrett.

The development came as it emerged Fianna Fail TDs have discussed the possibility of a no confidence motion in Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, who like other Government ministers continues to support the Garda commissioner.

While Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin is reluctant to make the move at this stage, such a move would place further pressure on Government to remove Ms O'Sullivan.
Gardai have arrested two men after discovering an estimated 1.5m worth of cannabis.

Officers carried out a search at premises in Ballymount Estate, Ballymount, Dublin 12 as part of ongoing investigation.

During the search, Gardai discovered a cannabis growhouse with an estimated 1,500 plants in varying stages of growth, along with approximately 48kgs of vacuum packed cannabis herb.

Gardai also seized 70,000 in cash during a follow-up search at a house on the northside of Dublin.

The two men, aged 54 and 44, were arrested and being detained under the provisions of Section 2 Drug Trafficking Act 1996 at Crumlin and Sundrive Road Garda stations.

The investigation is ongoing.
An Irish woman is reported to have been stabbed to death in Morocco.

Local reports suggest the woman, who was living in Taghazout, had died after being stabbed.
This week, May 8 through May 13, is International Economic Development Week, which makes it the perfect time to address a question we here at the Cayuga Economic Development Agency get all the time: What really is economic development? A very valid question. In the case of CEDA, our mission is: To foster a sustainable quality of life in Cayuga County through job retention, expansion and attraction. We want to create a sustainable economy that contributes to a vibrant community.

In practice, we provide entrepreneurs and existing businesses with easy access to all of the information, incentives and resources needed to move to, start or grow in Cayuga County. This could mean anything from helping Aurora Shoe Co. access funding for their building expansion and resources to improve their exporting process, to assisting Mike and Pam Parks of L.B. Lightning Cyclery with their business plan and finding a location. Furthermore, CEDA board member Kelly OHara of Oakwood Dairy approaches economic development from a decision-making perspective: Anticipating the increased need for technology-based services to process, market and distribute agricultural goods produced within the central New York region has motivated me to be engaged in economic development. As these and other examples show, CEDA provides a suite of incentives, resources and opportunities by collaborating with private and public sector organizations locally and regionally. Some of these partnerships include the Cayuga County Industrial Development Agency, the Auburn Industrial Development Authority, the city of Auburn and Cayuga County offices of Planning and Economic Development, and the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council, just to name a few. Each of these partners provides a different opportunity for businesses.

Kelley Gridley of Tompkins Trust Co. sees how these collaborations impact our community: I have served on the CEDA board for several years and have recently been encouraged by the re-awakening of downtown Auburn with people living and playing locally. The more business we can attract and retain in Cayuga County, the more jobs created, enticing residents to not only remain in the area, but also to buy locally. CEDA has played an important role in assisting many local businesses access funds through the CNYREDC program  these funds have been critical to the growth of many local businesses, contributing to the momentum and fueling the interest in economic development altogether.

Echoing Kelleys sentiments, Cynthia Aikman (small business owner, investor, CEDA board member and self-proclaimed "economic development enthusiast") stresses that all of us play a role in economic development nearly every day. With every purchase residents of our county make, we are participating in our economy. The more we source our needs locally, the more suppliers and choices we have and the more valuable our investments become. By choosing to participate in the Cayuga County economy, residents and visitors are contributing to the vibrancy and viability of our community.

Quality of life is an important component of economic development. As important as it is to have work for people, its also important that people want to live here. To highlight this point, CEDA, in collaboration with Leadership Cayuga and Cayuga Community College School of Media Arts student Juliette Zygarowicz, has produced a video that communicates the importance of this balance. The video includes several interviews with residents who paint a picture of what its like to live, work and play in Cayuga County. The goal is to show individuals and businesses that might be considering a move to Cayuga County that it really is the full package.

Created by the International Economic Development Council, the goal of International Economic Development Week is to increase awareness for local programs that create jobs, advance career development opportunities and increase quality of life. That means its not just about CEDA. There are a plethora of organizations throughout Cayuga County that also participate in economic development efforts, even if it isnt their primary mission. Think the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce, Auburn Downtown BID, educational institutions, municipalities (the county, city of Auburn, towns and villages), arts and cultural organizations, and workforce development providers, among many others. They all play a role in making Cayuga County a better place to live and for businesses to operate and create jobs, which in theory increases incomes and broadens the tax base. These things, in a nutshell, are what economic development is all about.
Update 9.59am: The man shot in yesterday's suspected gangland attack in Dublin has been named locally as James 'Mago' Gately.

The 30-year-old was hit in the neck and upper body by a gunman who shot him through the window of his parked car.

He was on the forecourt of a garage on the Clonsaugh Road near the airport at the time and Gardai have issued as appeal for witnesses.

Earlier: A man shot in a gang-related incident in Dublin yesterday remains in a critical condition in hospital.

The man in his 30s was shot in the neck and upper body at a Topaz garage beside a hotel on the Clonshaugh Road near Dublin Airport.

He was fired at by a gunman in a black 08 Lexus, which was later found burnt out in Ardee, County Louth.

Gardai have described the shooting as "outrageous" and say there were up to 70 innocent people in the area who could have been hurt.

Local Fianna Fail Councillor Paul McAuliffe said it is alarming that more and more shootings are taking place in crowded public areas:

"That's the real problem with this crime, and also the ones in recent times, is that they're taking place increasingly in a more and more brazen manner.

"They're taking place in very public places during the middle of the day and the chances of somebody being - an innocent person - being killed or injured in one of these shootings is increasing," he said.
Update 11.08am: Labour leader Brendan Howlin has said members of the Government are expressing confidence in the Garda Commissioner with "increasing reluctance".

Brendan Howlin said he doesn't think the general public will tolerate the ongoing saga, of the top administration of Garda being "so unaccountable".

Mr Howlin said we cannot have a situation where there is a fear that doing the right thing will lead to a general election.

He added that we also cannot have a situation where we have a dysfunctional Dail and Government, and critical institutions like the policing of the State go 'unanswered for political fears.'

He told Today with Sean O'Rourke on RTE Radio 1 the leadership of An Garda Siochana isn't in crisis management mode but "crisis reaction mode".

Mr Howlin said he was profoundly worried about the way Brexit negotiations were unfolding and the hard lines being taken by the EU and the British Prime Minister.

He said he will tell Commissioner Barnier that the impact of Brexit on Ireland is fundamental, that the uniqueness of the impact of Britain's exit has to be identified and concrete proposals and actions are needed to minimise the damage, as much as possible.

Earlier: A legal expert is warning that the Garda Commissioner's failure to inform the Government of finance problems at the Templemore training college will have 'no consequences'.

It has been revealed that Noirin O'Sullivan only informed the Justice Minister of the issues in October 2016, despite a recommendation to do so in July 2015.

Opposition parties have accused the Commissioner of breaking the rule around sharing information with the Government, known as 'Section 41' .

Criminal law specialist Dara Robinson says what she did may be a crime, but she probably won't face any legal backlash.

"Oddly enough, there doesn't appear to be a consequence in the sense that many of the obligations that are imposed on An Garda Siochana and in respect of which there are breaches, actually are criminal offences and they're much more minor matters by large, but there's no sanction proposed in Section 41," he said.

The Garda Commissioner could be forced to appear before the Public Accounts Committee again within a week.

Noirin O'Sullivan's next appearance was due to take place in July, however fresh controversy over financial irregularities at the Garda training college looks set to change that.

PAC Chairman Sean Fleming says it is time this issue was dealt with, once and for all.

"In July 2015 she became aware of this, she set up a working group, and internal audit followed.

"Some of the recommendations have been implemented, most of them have not yet been implemented and we're almost two years down the road.

"So there's been long enough for it to have been dealt with, if there was a determination to deal with this matter promptly it would have been concluded before now and there isn't sufficient determination to conclude these matters in my opinion," he said.
Primary schools are being encouraged to include Humanism lessons in the classroom.

One in 10 Irish people now identifies as non-religious according to last year's Census.

Humanism lesson plans for first to fourth-class pupils, developed by The Humanist Association of Ireland (HAI) and Educate Together, are available to download now.

New lessons will affirm the identity of schoolchildren from humanist, atheist & agnostic families https://t.co/GvYUERclUM @EducateTogether pic.twitter.com/9vY4U4QAYq  Humanist Ireland (@HumanismIreland) May 11, 2017

Speaking at the launch today, Educate Together CEO, Paul Rowe, said: "These ground-breaking lesson plans are a long-awaited resource and available to any and all national schools throughout Ireland from today.

"They have been in development since 2015, and have already been piloted successfully in eight Educate Together schools.

"Whilst there is no shortage of teaching resources about religious belief systems such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism, there has been very little up until now and certainly nothing Irish-produced, in terms of teaching resources about humanism, atheism or agnosticism. These lesson plans will go a long way towards addressing this need.

"They will also help to affirm the identity of schoolchildren from family backgrounds reflecting these philosophical outlooks."

Speaking at the launch of the lesson plans, HAI spokesperson Philip Byers pointed to the ever-growing non-religious sector within Irish society.

Philip Byers HAI @EducateTogether "knowledge & understanding of differing beliefs should be at the heart of any inclusive model of education pic.twitter.com/1dYi8ucwVh  Humanist Ireland (@HumanismIreland) May 11, 2017

Mr Byers stated: "Last months 2016 Census figures showed a substantial increase in Irelands non-religious sector  468,400 respondents who identified as being non-religious  a 73.6% increase from 2011.

"Educate Together and the HAI believe that knowledge and understanding of differing beliefs should be at the heart of any inclusive model of education.

"Both organisations believe that this is particularly important in an education system where religious beliefs have long held a privileged position."

Mr. Byers added: "These lesson plans address humanism in a matter-of-fact way and were developed in order to enhance childrens confidence in engaging with differing world views and religious beliefs."
The Prince of Wales will mark Ireland's involvement in humanitarian peace missions around the world when he visits a training centre later.

Charles will tour the United Nations Training School Ireland at the Curragh Camp in Kildare as part of his third visit in as many years.

The facility uses knowledge gathered from 50 years of peacekeeping to prepare for deployments overseas.

Ireland has a history of intervention in places like Lebanon during bloody conflict.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall are also expected to travel to Kilkenny.

At Kilkenny Castle they will hear traditional music and watch a GAA hurling match.

Camilla will visit the Irish National Stud horse-breeding facility.

The visit is part of a four-day trip to the North and the Republic.

On Wednesday the royal couple met President Michael D Higgins and his wife after visiting a police memorial in Belfast.

On Tuesday they travelled to the HomePlace visitor centre dedicated to the late Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney.

The Prince urged a spirit of reconciliation during a dinner at the president's house.

He said: "What I have discovered during my many visits on both sides of the border is what lies at the core of reconciliation... which is the process of enabling communities that have been divided and have injured each other to reach out across the divide to build a strong and sustainable relationship based upon a sense of the common good.

"By the very nature of that process, no such relationship is possible if any one community sits in isolation from the rest. But it is also only possible if each community is first of all confident of its own heritage and of its own identity.

"Only then, with compassion and humility, can it seek to define itself alongside those who have another identity, recognising that the other is equally valid.

"I would suggest that, in recent years, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom have achieved this in such a dramatic way that our joint efforts have become a beacon for the rest of the world - an example of how to build a peace and create an enduring and mutually productive relationship between close neighbours.

"I have no doubt, despite current challenges, that our relationship will continue to endure and prosper, and it will do so in no small way because of the natural generosity of spirit that exists here and the integrity of the culture of Ireland which you, Mr. President, amongst many others, have so ably nurtured and protected."
Update 5.35pm: Aer Lingus have said their services to Lisbon are operating as normal today, although their flight yesterday to and from the airport was affected.

The airline said: "Due a fuelling issue at Lisbon airport Aer Lingus flight EI486 from Dublin to Lisbon was rerouted to Faro yesterday evening and landed at 21.50 local time. Guests were accommodated by coach that evening to Lisbon.

"Inbound flight EI487 from Lisbon to Dublin was subsequently cancelled yesterday evening and guests due to travel were offered hotel accommodation and rebooked onto the next days flights.

"We apologise to all affected guests for the inconvenience caused which was due to circumstances outside our control. Todays Dublin-Lisbon services are operating as normal."

Update 11.50am: Ryanair have released a statement after some customers were left stranded at Lisbon airport after a fuel pump failure.

The statement said: Due to a fuelling system outage at Lisbon Airport last night (10 May), we regret that we were forced to cancel a number of flights to/from Lisbon.

"All affected customers were provided with refreshment and accommodation vouchers, were contacted by email and SMS text message and advised of their options of a full refund, a free transfer onto the next available flight, or a free transfer onto an alternative flight route, in full compliance with EU261 legislation.

"Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this disruption, which was entirely beyond our control.

Earlier: Tourists have been left stranded at a major European airport after a fuel pump breakdown grounded flights.

Passengers described seeing people sleeping on the terminal floor at Lisbon airport in Portugal after the system failure on Wednesday left thousands of people unable to get home.

Ryanair was among the airlines affected, along with the Portuguese national carrier TAP, which was warning customers that delays would run into Thursday.

Ella Sykes, 27, from Leeds, said the scene in the terminal was "absolute carnage" when she and a friend arrived at the airport at 2pm for a 5.30pm Ryanair flight to Manchester after a short break in Lisbon.

Speaking to the Press Association on Thursday morning, she said: "We have been here all night.

"It's 17 hours now and we still haven't had any information from Ryanair. We have given up on the queues. We've booked a flight from Faro tomorrow morning.

"We are exhausted and we've had to fork out for accommodation overnight as well. And I was meant to be at work this morning."

She said the only information she had received about what was happening had come from the media, adding: "The airport was absolute carnage. There were far too many people in the departure lounge so they stopped letting people in."

Other travellers took to social media to vent their frustration.

Priyank Lakhia, from London, said: "It's a mess at Lisbon Airport, flights cancelled and barely any staff on ground. Wife still waiting for updates."

Lisbon airport flights blocked due to a fuel system problem. Only one??!!!! Why can not come the flights with enough fuel to return??? pic.twitter.com/hXkqApHWXJ  Juan Salvador (@JuanSUbeira) May 10, 2017

Jonathan Millar, also from London, said on Wednesaday night: "Lisbon airport...what a mess. No fuel, no flights. Tracker boards haven't been updated since 2pm. Utter chaos."

On its Facebook page, the airport said there had been problems with the supply of fuel to aircraft, but it hoped flights would return to normal during Thursday.

Spaniard Javier Rayon wrote: "There are thousands of abandoned users in the airport, with no food, no water, no options to sleep and no options to flight (sic) even tomorrow. Disastrous management of the situation."
It is feared the new National Maternity Hospital will bring south Dublin's traffic to a halt.

Residents in the surrounding area of St Vincent's Hospital say they are not against plans to build the facility on the grounds.
AUBURN  An Auburn teen will be heading back to prison for robbing a 72-year-old man last year.

Austin Coff, 18, of 23 Westlake Ave., pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge of second-degree attempted robbery, a class D felony.

According to Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann, Coff was initially charged with second-degree robbery, a class C violent felony, for robbing an elderly man in the city parking garage in December.

Coff and 20-year-old Majel D. Sheffield were both arrested for the robbery, in which they knocked the victim down and stole his wallet, keys and cell phone. Sheffield pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted robbery in April.

A second felony offender, Coff was previously convicted of fourth-degree grand larceny in September 2015 and sentenced to one to three years in prison.

Coff could face up to seven years in prison for the robbery. However, Judge Leone agreed to sentence him to the minimum: three years in prison plus five years post-release supervision.

His sentencing has been scheduled for July 6.
A man who said he squashed a lemon meringue pie into the face of the boss of Qantas Airways in protest at the airline's support of same-sex marriage has been charged with assault.

Tony Overheu, a 67-year-old Christian and former sheep farmer, faces a charge of common assault, trespass and damage.

The incident happened on Tuesday as chief executive and Dublin man Alan Joyce gave a speech to 500 people in a Perth hotel.

Mr Joyce was on stage when Overheu approached from behind, pressed the pie in his face and then strolled away.

Overheu later released a statement accusing Qantas and other companies that support marriage equality of "corporate bullying aimed at social engineering".

Mr Joyce, who is gay, said he would not be silenced by the attack.

"Qantas has always spoken up on gender issues, on LGBTI issues, on Indigenous issues and we will continue to do so and no attempt at bullying us into suppressing our voice will work," he told reporters in Perth.

Overheu has also been charged with giving police a false name. He is scheduled to appear in a Perth court next month.

- AP
Update 6.33pm: US President Donald Trump has said he had planned to fire FBI director James Comey regardless of the recommendation from his deputy attorney general, contrary to earlier statements from the White House.

Mr Trump told NBC News he had made up his mind to dismiss Mr Comey before he met on Monday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Rod Rosenstein.

"I was going to fire regardless of recommendation." - Trump on Comey to @LesterHoltNBC https://t.co/gBT8FsPaNH pic.twitter.com/3dbkG5rksD  Colin Jones (@colinjones) May 11, 2017

White House officials had said earlier in the week that Mr Trump asked Mr Sessions and Mr Rosenstein for their opinions about Mr Comey, and the president then acted on those recommendations.

Mr Trump also told NBC "I know that I'm not under investigation" for collusion with Russia.

He said he spoke with Mr Comey once during dinner and twice in phone calls, during which time he says the FBI chief told him "you are not under investigation".

Trump says he called Comey and asked him if he was under investigation. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/08VBkU2NEz  Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 11, 2017

He says he initiated one phone call, and Mr Comey initiated the other.

In his termination letter to Mr Comey, sent to reporters on Tuesday, Mr Trump thanked him for informing him "three times" that he is not under investigation.

Mr Trump added: "I know that I'm not under investigation. Me personally. I'm not talking about campaigns or anything else. I am not under investigation."

A group of 20 attorneys general is now calling for the appointment of an independent special counsel to continue the investigation into Russian interference in last year's US presidential election.

The group led by Democratic Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey described President Donald Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey during the ongoing investigation as a "violation of public trust", in a letter sent to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein today.

The group wrote that only the appointment of an independent special counsel "with full powers and resources" can begin to restore public confidence.

Those signing the letter include the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont and Washington.

Earlier:

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said he disagrees with the White House suggestion that it is a low priority of the FBI to investigate Russian interference in the election and potential Trump campaign collusion.

He said it is a "highly significant investigation", contradicting statements made by the White House downplaying the significance.

Yesterday, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was "probably one of the smallest things" that the FBI has "got going on their plate".

Mr McCabe told a Senate panel that he would not describe the investigation that way.

Still, he declined to say exactly how many FBI personnel are involved in the investigation, adding that he cannot discuss that in a public setting.

Mr McCabe also contradicted the White House claim that fired director James Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file members of the bureau.

The White House used that assertion to justify Mr Comey's firing, but Mr McCabe said the claim is not accurate.

He said Mr Comey "enjoyed broad support" within the agency and that he holds Mr Comey in the "absolute highest regard", adding that it was the "greatest privilege" of his career to serve under him.

Mr McCabe assured senators that he will alert them to any effort to interfere with the investigation.

Mr Trump's firing of Mr Comey on Tuesday has led Democrats and others to raise concerns about the future of the investigation.

But Mr McCabe, speaking publicly for the first time since his former boss's ouster, said there has been "no effort to impede our investigation".

"You cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing," he declared.

He also said he would not inform the White House about developments in the probe.

Mr McCabe responded to questions from the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, Mark Warner of Virginia, who said he thought Mr Comey's dismissal was directly related to the Russia investigation.

Days before he was fired, Mr Comey requested more resources to pursue his investigation, US officials have said, fuelling concerns that Mr Trump was trying to undermine a probe that could threaten his presidency.

It was unclear whether word of the Comey request, put to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, ever made its way to Mr Trump.

However, the revelation intensified the pressure on the White House from both political parties to explain the motives behind Mr Comey's stunning ouster.

Mr Trump is the first president since Richard Nixon to fire a law enforcement official overseeing an investigation with ties to the White House.

Democrats quickly accused Mr Trump of using Mr Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as a pretext and called for a special prosecutor into the Russia probe.

Republican leaders brushed off the idea as unnecessary.

Defending the firing, White House officials said Mr Trump's confidence in Mr Comey had been eroding for months.

They suggested Mr Trump was persuaded to take the step by Justice Department officials and a scathing memo, written by Mr Rosenstein, criticising the director's role in the Clinton investigation.

"Frankly, he'd been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected," Ms Sanders said, a sharply different explanation from the day before, when officials put the emphasis on new Justice complaints about Mr Comey.

Mr Trump's action left the fate of the Russia probe deeply uncertain.

The investigation has shadowed Mr Trump from the outset of his presidency, though he has denied any ties to Russia or knowledge of campaign co-ordination with Moscow.

Mr Trump, in a letter to Mr Comey dated Tuesday, contended that the director had told him "three times" that he was not personally under investigation.

The White House refused to provide any evidence or greater detail.

Former FBI agents said such a statement by the director would be all but unthinkable.

Mr McCabe told senators he could not comment on conversations between Mr Comey and the president.

Ms Sanders, speaking on ABC's Good Morning America, said: "I have heard that directly from him (Trump), that that information was relayed directly to him from Director Comey."

On NBC's Today, she said she would defer to the president himself for any additional details.

Outraged Democrats called for an independent investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia's election interference, and a handful of prominent Republican senators left open that possibility.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, with the support of the White House, brushed aside those calls, saying a new investigation would only "impede the current work being done".

The Senate intelligence committee subpoenaed former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday for documents related to its investigation into Russia's election meddling.

Mr Flynn's Russia ties are also being scrutinised by the FBI.

The White House appeared caught off guard by the intense response to Mr Comey's firing, given that the FBI director had become a pariah among Democrats for his role in the Clinton investigation.

In defending the decision, officials leaned heavily on a memo from Mr Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, criticising Mr Comey's handling of the Clinton investigation.

However, Mr Rosenstein's own role in Mr Comey's firing became increasingly murky on Wednesday.

Three US officials said Mr Comey recently asked Mr Rosenstein for more manpower to help with the Russia investigation.

Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill, said that while he could not be certain the request triggered Mr Comey's dismissal, he said he believed the FBI "was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives and this was an effort to slow down the investigation".

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores denied that Mr Comey had asked Mr Rosenstein for more resources for the Russia investigation.

Trump advisers said the president met with Mr Rosenstein, as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, on Monday after learning that they were at the White House for other meetings.

One official said Mr Trump asked Mr Rosenstein and Mr Sessions for their views on Mr Comey, then asked the deputy attorney general to synthesise his thoughts in a memo.

The president fired Mr Comey the following day.

The White House informed Mr Comey by sending him an email with several documents, including Mr Rosenstein's memo.

It is unclear whether Mr Rosenstein was aware his report would be used to justify the director's ouster.

A farewell letter from Mr Comey that circulated among friends and colleagues said he does not plan to dwell on the decision to fire him or on "the way it was executed".

Mr Trump is only the second president to fire an FBI director, underscoring the highly unusual nature of his decision. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.

The White House said the Justice Department was interviewing candidates to serve as interim FBI director while Mr Trump weighs a permanent replacement.

Ms Sanders said the White House would "encourage" the next FBI chief to complete the Russia investigation.

"Nobody wants this to be finished and completed more than us," she said.
A Russian blogger has been convicted of inciting religious hatred for playing Pokemon Go in a church and given a suspended sentence.

Ruslan Sokolovsky posted a video on his blog last year showing him playing the smartphone game in a church built on the supposed spot where the last Russian tsar and his family were killed.
Several activists were detained in Moscow as they prepared to submit signatures they have collected to protest against arbitrary detentions and torture of gay men in Chechnya.

The abuse was first reported in April by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which said about 100 suspected gay men were rounded up and tortured, and at least three were killed.
Parents in England have been reprimanded online by the UK's Department for Education (DfE) for tweeting answers from their children's SATs exams.

Millions of primary school pupils are in the process of taking national curriculum tests, known as SATs, prompting officials to flood social media in a bid to clamp down on cheating.

The DfE's official Twitter account warned against publishing answers as some key-stage two students are still due to sit assessments.

It wrote: "Some children will be taking the KS2 tests next week using timetable variations. Please help us to keep the test content secure. Thank you."

The plea followed a series of interventions against disgruntled parents who had aired concerns about questions in their children's' tests.

Journalist Matt Thrower used Twitter to query whether a part of his daughter's maths paper was relevant to the subject, only to receive an official rebuttal.

My 11 yr old missed a #SATS2017 question today bc she didn't know M in Roman numerals = 1000. How is that useful info? How is it even maths?  Matt Thrower (@mattthr) May 10, 2017

The DfE told him: Hi, can you please remove the tweet referring to SATs? We're trying to maintain the confidentiality & integrity of ongoing tests."

But the father hit back: "Happy to, once you remove such absurd and pointless questions from your tests."

Happy to, once you remove such absurd and pointless questions from your tests https://t.co/Qk2BWcgbko  Matt Thrower (@mattthr) May 10, 2017

Another user complained that a word which had many spellings was too ambiguous to have formed part of his daughter's spelling test.

When asked by the official account to remove details of the question, he responded: "No. I think #SATs are cruel and unnecessary and cause stress for children. Esp when you get situations like that yesterday. Totally unfair."
A US sheriff's deputy has been shot dead and two other people have been found dead in rural Arkansas.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said Lt Kevin Mainhart, 46, of the Yell County Sheriff's Department, was on his way to a disturbance call-out early on Thursday when he pulled over a vehicle.

He was shot dead during the traffic stop, and when officers arrived at the location of the initial disturbance call they found two more people dead, Mr Sadler said.

The causes of death for the other two victims have not been released.

"This deputy checked in for duty this morning not even realising that this would be his last call," Mr Sadler said.

"Our hearts are saddened and we are in prayer for his family and the officers who were his comrades who serve and protect this county."

Mr Sadler said authorities believe the traffic stop and the disturbance call are connected. He said the suspected gunman is holed up in a house in rural Arkansas and officers are attempting to make contact with him.

"Priority one right now is to successfully get this suspect to this surrender and move forward in the investigation of what transpired this morning," Mr Sadler said.

The deaths occurred in Yell County, about 65 miles west of Little Rock.

A statement from state police said Mr Mainhart had been an officer in Yell County for five years. He had previously worked for the West Memphis Police Department for more than 20 years.

AP
The ACT Opposition will fight changes to the territory's liquor laws that would allow minors to buy alcohol in sting operations.

While the ACT government's new liquor laws passed with support of all three parties in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the Canberra Liberals said they would oppose the clause about compliance testing when the details of the legislation are debated next sitting.

Canberra Liberals' Jeremy Hanson. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Shadow attorney-general Jeremy Hanson said the proposal raised questions about the abuse of entrapment powers and the ethics of sending a minor to effectively commit a crime.

"We believe that is an unsafe and unsatisfactory solution," Mr Hanson said.
Outgoing ACT Supreme Court Justice Richard Refshauge has spoken of the "devastating" personal impact of a complaint lodged against him over lengthy delays in the handing down of reserved judgements - a problem he says plagued his term.

But it was his abiding sense of compassion, courtesy and fairness, as well as his fierce work ethic and tireless legal intellect, that his colleagues said would be his legacy as he retired after nearly a decade on the bench.

Giant of the ACT legal fraternity, respected judge, former director of public prosecutions and academic Justice Richard Refshauge after ACT Supreme Court ceremonial sitting that marked his retirement from the bench. Credit:Karleen Minney

Justice Refshauge, a giant of the ACT legal profession and former director of public prosecutions, was farewelled following an illustrious legal career that spanned four decades at a packed ceremonial sitting on Thursday.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell said the crowd of 150 was the largest for any ceremony at the court and fitting for its "most-loved judge", who would be missed for his enormous contribution to the work and life of the court, and wider Canberra community.
Australian National University has been accused of backflipping on its previous commitment to quit investing in fossil fuels.

In 2014 the ANU council agreed to sell shares in seven resource and mining companies following an independent review, which then prime minister Tony Abbott labelled a "stupid decision".

Santos. Credit:David Mariuz

The university's second socially responsible investment policy report reveals holdings in four of the companies previously identified for divestment  Santos, Newcrest Mining, Sandfire Resources and Oil Search.

The report shows total investments of more than $320 million including $3.35 million in Newcrest and $621,653 in Santos.
He may just be the last of the great Canberra mandarins, and Sir Lenox Hewitt was apparently in fine form as he celebrated last weekend in Sydney his 100th birthday.

The former secretary of the Prime Minister's Department under John Gorton and one-time Qantas chairman was joined by guests including former prime minister Paul Keating, retired Liberal MP Philip Ruddock, former National Party leader Ian Sinclair and retired justice of the High Court Michael Kirby for the party at the Union, Universities and Schools Club.

Paul Keating and Sir Lenox Hewitt at Sir Lenox's 100th birthday. Credit:Jeremy Lasek

He received messages of support from the Queen to mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who described Sir Lenox as "such an exceptional gentleman".

Sir Lenox's family was also there, including daughter Patricia Hewitt, a former Canberra Grammar Girls School student who went on to be health minister in the Blair Government in England.
Police are searching for a 50-year-old man in Canberra, who has an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Steven Lockwood is believed to be actively avoiding apprehension.

ACT Policing provided this picture of Steven Lockwood and urged the public not to approach him. Credit:ACT Policing

In a picture uploaded to social media by ACT Policing, Lockwood can be seen with closely cropped hair and neck tattoos.

Police urged the public not to approach him.
Well, it's a happy ending to Baxter's story. He has been granted bail and allowed to return to Australia.

In a court in upstate New York, Immigration Judge Steven Connelly gave Baxter Reid 120 days to leave the country, Finbar O'Mallon reports.

Do you have a heart problem?

About 100 people who had a dissolvable heart stent implanted at Canberra Hospital have been told to talk to their GP. Photo: Nic Walker
People with eating disorders may soon have access to more than 10 Medicare supported psychological treatment sessions each year, thanks to a recommendation made by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.

The minister said the system needed to do more to respond to complex mental illnesses such as anorexia which has the highest associated rate of suicide of any mental illness.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has recommended the expansion of medicare support for people with eating disorders.

Mr Hunt recommended the Medicare review committee look at ways to extend the support to those dealing with the complex mental health disorders.

University of Canberra clinical psychologist Dr Vivienne Lewis, an eating disorder specialist, said even though prevalence was high in adolescents these conditions should not overlooked as byproduct of tumultuous teen years.
The ACT's Barnardos Mother of the Year, Selina Walker, has paid tribute to all the finalists as a Tasmanian took out the national award.

Selina and her friend Maree Alchin, who nominated her, said being in Sydney in the lead-up to Thursday's announcement had been truly memorable as they bonded with the other women.

ACT Barnardos Mother of the Year Selina Walker (left) and friend Maree Alchin, who nominated her, in Sydney for the announcement of the national winner.

"It's been overwhelming and amazing," Selina said.

"No one is upset that someone else won it. When you get to know them, they're just beautiful people."
Collingwood are facing the prospect of being without their two best midfielders for Saturday's clash against premiership fancies Greater Western Sydney after star Adam Treloar was left out of the Magpies side with an ankle injury.

Former Giant Treloar had been in doubt for the clash all week and was an absentee when the Pies named their team on Thursday night. While captain Scott Pendlebury has been picked, he remained in some doubt at the time of selection with wife Alex due to give birth. Pendlebury said earlier in the week he would leave Spotless Stadium during the match if Alex goes into labour.

The Pies have however regained veteran Daniel Wells, while Jarryd Blair, Henry Schade and James Aish have been recalled. Tim Broomhead, Jackson Ramsay and Mason Cox have been dumped from the team that lost to Carlton last weekend at the MCG. The Pies enter the clash with the Giants as underdogs having won just two out of their seven games so far this year. GWS have made three changes to the team that lost to St Kilda last Friday night, with Lachie Whitfield picked to play his first game of the season following his AFL imposed-suspension.

Meanwhile Essendon have regained former captain Jobe Watson for Saturday night's date with Geelong at the MCG. Watson missed last weekend's loss to Fremantle in Perth but is one of three inclusions for the match against the Cats, joined by youngster Andrew McGrath and former GWS forward James Stewart, who will his first senior appearance as a Don. Brent Stanton has again been omitted, as have Aaron Francis and Martin Gleeson.
Greater Western Sydney vice-captain Stephen Coniglio has dismissed suggestions of dissension within his AFL club after an incident involving co-captain Phil Davis and ruckman Rory Lobb.

Davis gave Lobb a strong shove in last Friday's game against St Kilda and the bigger man was clearly unhappy with the key defender's actions.

"I reckon it might just have been the Friday night lights and a few extra cameras," Coniglio told reporters on Wednesday.

"Internally we obviously have high expectations of each other.
Why it won't happen: An estimated $114 billion cost, a staggering sum even with record low interests rates when the federal budget is deep in the red. 1748km of track. 60-plus kilometres of tunnelling. A 2065 completion date. Federal and state inertia. Competing international consortiums like Hyperloop One and CLARA talk a big game, but their plans never seem to go anywhere. Likely to never happen. JAMES MASSOLA Make all high-income earners pay the Medicare levy surcharge Why it's a good idea: At the moment, only high-income earners without private health insurance are made to pay the 1 to 1.5 per cent surcharge. But apply it to all families earning more than $180,000 or singles earning more than $90,000 and you could raise an extra $13.4 billion over four years, according to recent Parliamentary Budget Office costings. This would go a long way towards making Medicare more sustainable, which is exactly what the Coalition says it wants to do. The extra burden would fall on a small number of relatively well-off people - the top 20 per cent of households - some of whom will be getting tax-relief when the deficit levy is taken off on July 1. Why it won't happen: It would be a rollback of the Howard government private health insurance policies and it would certainly hurt the insurers, who would campaign against it. Also, it's an idea recently floated by the Greens and the government doesn't typically like following their lead (although they did poach their bank levy idea). ADAM GARTRELL A nationwide transition from stamp duty to land tax

Why it's a good idea: It would be the single most effective transition of taxes. A tax on land is considered among the most efficient of all taxes because it is hard to avoid, targets the rich more than the poor, and unlike stamp duty, does not discourage people from buying or downsizing to a smaller home, and therefore provides both an economic and budgetary boost. According to PwC it would also increase supply and housing affordability. A costing of a Green's proposal in March found the loans to the states would peak at $800 million in 2020, while saving home buyers up to $40,000 in stamp duty in Sydney and $55,000 in Melbourne, and delivering billions of dollars to fund schools and hospitals. The federal government thinks it's a good idea, the states think it's a good idea, and the Parliamentary Budget Office has already costed it, but it will never happen. Why it won't happen: Because it would require the federal government to subsidise the states' addiction to stamp duty, weening them off lucrative tax dollars by making up the shortfall out of the federal budget. ERYK BAGSHAW 90 days parental leave for dads Why it's a good idea: In Australia, where new dads get two weeks of government-sponsored parental leave at the minimum wage, it is rare for men to be the primary carers for their children. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, only 2 per cent of Australian dads take extended parental leave. This compares to around 40 per cent who take leave in some Nordic countries. For example, in Sweden, parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave. Of this, 90 days are set aside specifically for dads under a "use it or lose it" clause. The policy, which cost Sweden about $A3.75 billion in 2015, helps women re-enter the workforce after a baby and sees family roles more equally shared between men and women. The OECD has recommended the introduction of "daddy quotas" like Sweden's to help legitimise fathers taking leave elsewhere around the world. A Sydney father and his acrobatic daughter, pictured at home in the mid 1950s. Credit:Staff

Why it won't happen: Since 2015, the Coalition has been seeking to reduce parental leave entitlements for the primary carer (usually the mother), with no discussion about changes to dad or partner pay. Sweden's scheme is largely funded through high taxes on Swedish companies. In Australia, the government is all about cutting company tax rates. JUDITH IRELAND A universal basic income Why it's a good idea: What would you do, if income wasn't an issue? A universal basic income is essentially a guarantee from the government that regardless of where else you receive money - benefits, supplements, employment - you will receive a set, and unconditional, amount of money to use as you please. In Canada, the Ontario Basic Income Pilot has just started with the aim of reinvigorating provinces that have suffered under economic downturns. The government will pay the 4000 chosen participants either just under $17,000 (for singles) or $24,000 (couples) every year for three years - at a total cost of just under $A150 million. Finland and Kenya are also testing the idea, with the hope that raising the income of citizens raises quality of life, helps keep people employed and will give people some breathing room, as automation and the gig economy - the shift towards short term contracts, rather than full time employment - gains momentum. Why it won't happen: While most people would welcome help from the government, regardless of income, the question of who would pay for it looms large. And with welfare spending already under the spotlight - and forming the foundation of Scott Morrison's 'bad debt', handing tax free funds to people regardless of their income, with no strings attached, would be met with howls of disbelief and incredulity. In this climate, any move towards something like a basic income trial would be political suicide. AMY REMEIKIS Boost foreign aid spending

Why it's a good idea: Foreign aid is more than charity. Done effectively, it bolsters Australia's credentials as a responsible international player, projects soft power into target countries, saves lives and strengthens economies, human rights and global stability. But right now, Australian aid spending is at a record low. Only a few years ago, the Coalition and Labor were both committed to increased spending of 0.5 per cent of gross national income. Australia is also signed up to the UN's Millennium Development Goals, which mandate 0.7 of GNI per cent by 2020. Instead, spending will bottom out at 0.21 per cent - or roughly $3.9 billion - in the coming years. This amounts to less than 1 per cent of budget expenditure. While Australia is slashing, other developed countries are boosting. As cash for Australian-branded schools in Indonesia has collapsed, Saudi Arabian support for hardline Wahhabist madrassas has exploded. In Britain, the Conservative government has locked in spending at 0.7 per cent and stuck by it. Sweden is at 1.4 per cent. Why it won't happen: Increasing foreign aid doesn't win votes and cutting it doesn't lose them. Such is the average voter's misinterpretation of the size of aid spending that, according to polling, many believe it costs Australia more than 10 times what it actually does. It's also a trouble-free saving because the government doesn't need to pass it through Parliament. All this makes foreign aid the softest of targets for a government seeking to cut the budget deficit. FERGUS HUNTER Give the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax some teeth Why it's a good idea: Australia is on the precipice of becoming the world super power for gas exports. Multinational fossil fuel giants like Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron will soon be notching annual sales of $50 billion. That is $50 billion of a resource, owned by the Australian population, sucked out of the sea bed and sold to Asian countries, predominantly Japan. Under the PRRT, which is a super profits-based tax much like Labor's abandoned mining tax, those companies will not pay a cent for the resource for decades to come. No state royalties, nothing.
Operators of the Little Vienna sandwich outlets in Sydney have been fined $87,040 for allegedly exploiting 11 Korean workers who were paid as little as $10 per hour and for using false pay records.

One of the adult employees was allegedly underpaid by nearly $30,000.

One of the adult employees was allegedly underpaid by nearly $30,000. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan

Sydney man Jae Kwang Kim, who owns and operates six Little Vienna outlets in the Sydney CBD, has been fined $10,880 and his company has received a further penalty of $76,160 in the Federal Circuit Court.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said she was particularly concerned that Kim and his company deliberately recruited Korean employees by placing job advertisements on a Korean-language website.
Gary Vaynerchuk knows you probably don't want to hear some of his most-shared advice.

When Alyson Shontell, Business Insider US editor in chief, asked him about a video he'd shared called Drop One Losing Friend in an episode of Business Insider's podcast Success! How I Did It, he acknowledged that it's hard advice to hear.

"Maybe if you got rid of one friend or spent a lot less time with one friend who's a real drag and a negative force and added a positive person in your office," says Gary Vaynerchuk.

"This has been the one that I've been very hot on talking about in the world, but I've been scared of, because even when you just said that, I'm like, 'Ugh. This guy's terrible,'" he said.

Here's how the CEO of multimillion-dollar company VaynerMedia explains that advice:
Having already taken a drubbing over plans to give big corporations hefty tax cuts at the same time it was cracking down on some of the poorest in the community, the Coalition has just made the same mistake again.

It now plans to allow the two per cent budget deficit levy, first imposed on high income earners in the 2014 budget, to end this July while, on the other hand, introducing a 0.5 per cent increase in the Medicare levy from 2019.

The deficit levy, which cut in at $180,000 per annum, affects about 382,000 of the richest people in the country. The Medicare levy increase, to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme, affects every taxpayer.

Once the two changes have taken effect high income earners will be better off than they are now while those earning under $180,000 a year will go backwards.
If President Donald Trump thinks he can fire his way out of the FBI's investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia, he is sorely mistaken  and attempting to do so makes him look weak and fearful, undermines the rule of law, and diminishes what little prospects there were for bipartisan legislation.

Given Democrats' frequent attacks on Trump and FBI Director James Comey, only Republicans have the credibility needed to contain the damage and save Trump from himself. Now they must show they have the backbone to do it.

A memo from the Justice Department laying out the rationale for Trump's firing of Comey mostly criticised his handling of last year's investigation into Hillary Clinton's email arrangement.

The memo is not the issue. The issue is why Trump now claims to find it persuasive, when it merely rehashes arguments that have been swirling for nearly a year  and contradicts Trump's effusive praise of Comey last fall, after he revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reviewing more Clinton-related emails. After the election, and in the months since his inauguration, Trump gave no indication that he would fire him.
So it is telling that the press kit accompanying news of the latest set of proposals included a list of vice-chancellors' salaries and links to multi-million dollar building projects underway on university campuses.

The government sought peace after it was forced into an embarrassing backdown from the radical higher education measures coupling full-fee deregulation with a 20 per cent funding cut in the 2014 budget, twice rejected by the Senate. The newly minted education minister Simon Birmingham, who replaced Christopher Pyne in the role, said next time he wanted to make sure the vision was well enunciated, and the reforms had the support of the university vice-chancellors.

The government has picked itself another fight over university funding. On one reading, it has chosen a relatively small fight in advance of a much bigger one later.

"Don't listen when the universities cry poor", was the government's obvious message in highlighting vice-chancellors' pay and building projects. "They've got plenty of dosh sloshing around." Accordingly, vice-chancellors have greeted the package with dismay ranging up to anger. The best they can say about it is, it's better than last time.

It's true that many universities have proven adept at doing exactly what the government wants them to do, which is to say, earning income and managing costs so as to generate healthy surpluses.But they argue continued funding cuts are punishing them for their success.

The stoush will continue as long as there is no definitive answer to the question of who should pay for the burgeoning cost of a university education  the government, the universities, or the students?

The answer is, of course, all three. The latest budget package seeks to shift the balance, getting universities and students to pay a greater share so government can pay less.

Course fees will rise by 7.5 per cent over four years, with increases ranging from $400 for an arts degree to $3900 for a medical degree. Most graduates will pay an additional 0.5 per cent of their income a year until the debt is repaid. The biggest change is a reduction in the income repayment threshold for HELP, formerly HECS, debts, from $55,000 now to $42,000. Government funding of universities will be cut by 2.5 per cent over the next four years for an intended overall budget saving of $2.8 billion in that time.
The president of the United States is lying again.

He is lying about the reason he fired James Comey, the FBI director. Trump claimed that he was doing so because Comey bungled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email, which meant that Comey was "not able to effectively lead the bureau."

There is no reason to believe Trump's version of the facts and many reasons to believe he is lying. How can I be so confident?

First, it's important to remember just how often Trump lies. Virtually whenever he finds it more convenient to tell a falsehood than to tell a truth, he chooses the falsehood.
Graduates on low incomes are set to be slugged with an extra $1000 a year in tax as the Turnbull government's changes to the repayment of university fees and an increase in the Medicare levy combine to hit those earning well below the average wage.

In an unexpected consequence of changes announced in Tuesday's federal budget, those earning as little as $37,000 a year and receiving rent assistance will be discouraged from looking for more work because of an increase in the effective marginal tax rate to 100 per cent.

This means that every extra dollar they earn from paid work would be taken away from their rent assistance, cancelling out any financial incentive.

The extra hit to graduates' personal budgets comes through the Turnbull government's increase in the Medicare levy by 0.5 percentage points to 2.5 per cent in order to fund the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme and reducing the income level at which graduates have to repay their HECS-HELP loan to $42,000 a year.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham ignored the advice of his hand-picked advisory group on apprenticeships to award almost $2 million to a trades training school connected to former senator Bob Day.

But the Auditor-General has found he broke no rules in doing so because federal ministers can at times choose not to use competitive tendering for public grants.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham welcomed the finding, saying it must be a 'giant disappointment' to Labor. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Senator Birmingham welcomed the finding on Thursday, saying it must be a "giant disappointment to Labor", which pursued him and Mr Day as the collapse of his building business and a challenge to his election ended the political career of the Family First senator.

The Audit Office began an investigation after Fairfax Media revealed in November last year that North East Vocational College in suburban Adelaide had been handed $1.84 million by the government to trial Mr Day's pet project, "student builders".
On Monday this week, celebrated ABC broadcaster Mark Colvin was sitting on his hospital bed surrounded by friends and family, as they debated what his final message to the world should be.

Since March he had been privately battling recently diagnosed lung cancer on top of a failing kidney and the legacy of the debilitating auto-immune disease, Wegener's granulomatosis, that had been his constant companion for the past 23 years, but still his trademark sense of humour did not falter.

"He was perched on the side of the bed, oxygen going into his nose and a lot of drugs on board at this point, but he was incredibly lucid" said Tony Jones, host of ABC TV's Q&A, and one of Colvin's closest friends at the national broadcaster.

"Suddenly he laughed, and cut across everyone else, and said, 'it's all been bloody marvellous, put that down, because my life has been bloody marvellous'. And he said to put it out at 1pm on the day he died."
Open any fashion magazine published in the past six months and it will tell you: the 2000s - with their going-out tops and Von Dutch caps - are making a comeback.

So, it seems only fitting that W Magazine would venture into the home of the Queen of the mid-noughties, socialite-cum-reality star Paris Hilton, to find out what is happening with her since we all... um... stopped caring about that. Here are the strangest parts.

Paris also appeared in a video for the magazine, where she dissected her favourite trends of the 2000s. Credit:wmagazine.com

1. She has five iPhones

Hilton has a total of five iPhones, and when we first met she was toggling between two of them.
When Jesus Christ sent out his disciples to spread his teachings in what the Bible calls the Great Commission, they might not have envisioned going out on motorcycles.

But that is exactly what the Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe does, and will do again Saturday, May 13, when she participates in the annual Blessing of the Bikes at Christ Episcopal Church in Jordan.

The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a brief worship service in which the bishop blesses the riders and their motorcycles. Then, she will join them on her black Harley-Davidson Softail Slim S  a birthday gift from her husband, she said  and take part in the one-hour ride before returning to the church. Riders are expected back at the church by 12:30 p.m. for a barbecue lunch, and all bikers, family, friends and motorcycle enthusiasts are invited to participate in the free event.

The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, Duncan-Probe is the first woman to hold that position.

"We often separate out faith from every other aspect of God," Duncan-Probe said, noting that she sees the event as a ministry opportunity as much as a leisure activity. "People who ride motorcycles, there's all types, and it's a great commonality, so I'm glad to have the opportunity to pray with people who I wouldn't otherwise get to see and make connections with people. ... It's a good opportunity to expand people's ability to connect with the church."

The bishop said her motorcycle license was actually the first license she held, obtaining it when she was 15. Her father and brothers got interested in riding and owning motorcycles, but her father did not want her riding on the back of one  so he had her get her own license instead.

"I actually did not want to get my license, it turns out. I was a little bit afraid of them, but he insisted I get my license so that I would not be on the back," Duncan-Probe said. "It turns out it was a great thing, because riding a motorcycle has a very spiritual aspect for me. It's something that is very centering."

She rode motorcycles on and off for most of her life since, aside from a span of about 15 years when she did not ride at all. Years went by, she said, and while living in Virginia, she heard the Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride for POWs and MIAs go by, and "just felt that yearning to ride again."

Still, the bishop said, it is not something that she talks about often  "I don't know of many bishops who ride motorcycles, to be honest," she said  and it was always something she did on her own as part of her own recentering.

It was during a journey with the diocese as part of Duncan-Proble's interview process that her hobby came up when she was asked what she does to keep herself spiritually centered. She said she mentioned "the usual things," such as retreats and praying, but then talked about being out in nature kayaking or riding her motorcycle.

Then, shortly after getting her new Harley last year, Duncan-Probe said she was on her way to the dealership to have a new piece installed when she inadvertently ended up in a parade of motorcycles that turned out to be a similar blessing event to the one in Jordan.

When she became a bishop five months ago and found out that she could participate in such a ride in her own diocese, Duncan-Probe said she jumped at the chance, noting the Rev. Joseph Bergin, Christ Episcopal's priest, gave the blessing before last year's ride.

Duncan-Probe said she will not only bless the motorcycles, but take part in the ride  as long as it doesn't rain.

"I'm not your typical motorcycle rider. I go the speed limit. I don't ride unless I have on my full gear. I'm very, very safety-conscious," she said. "I don't fit at all with motorcycle culture, and yet they welcomed me with open arms and it was such a gift of grace for me."

Another gift of grace for the new bishop has the experience learning "what it means to love God and serve one another" in her first five months in the role.

"I'm learning a lot about how the church can empower faith and places where the faith can do a better job of empowering people's faith and ministry and then also just learning a lot about ministry as a whole," Duncan-Probe said. "I've been inspired by the ministries, the parishes where faithful people are gathering together and accepting one another and loving one another despite our differences."

Duncan-Probe noted that she comes into her position at a time when the world seems to be more and more divided, yet she feels blessed to be involved in a denomination that is crossing divisions and seeking reconciliation.

"Right now in the world, there's so much division and so much hostility with people who don't agree with us or look like us," she said. "Part of the work of Episcopal Church is welcoming all people and coming together across those places of division and seeking to serve Christ and all people."

It is a work that the bishop hopes to extend to those who attend the Blessing of the Bikes event and a message she hopes that they hear.

"Each person is a blessed child of God, and there's a place in the church for them," Duncan-Probe said. "God loves us as we are. We don't have to change to be loved by God. We're loved as we are. ... One thing I hope people experience, those who attend the bike blessing, is a sense of acceptance, that God cares about them wherever they may be, on a motorcycle or at the office or wherever life may take them."
A staff exodus at the national pesticides authority before its move to Armidale has smashed its on-time product approval rate, which has halved in six months.

Approvals for new products meeting required timeframes plummeted from 83 per cent in the September quarter to 42 per cent in March after the decision to relocate the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has been the driving force behind the pesticides authority's forced move to Armidale. Credit:Andrew Meares

A surge in resignations since the move was announced has hit pesticides approvals particularly hard, as the agency registered only 30 per cent of new crop protection products on time, compared to 82 per cent six months ago.

But a spokesman for Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, the driving force behind the APVMA's move to his New England electorate, denied the relocation was to blame for the falling rates and said they showed the agency should relocate.
Scott Hillsley knows all too well the horrific consequences of road accidents.

Yet the trauma nurse never thought the dangers would come from above as he drove home over the Sydney Harbour Bridge from Royal North Shore hospital on Saturday afternoon.

"I got half way across and this object came flying towards my window. It ricocheted off my car and smashed into several pieces," he said. "I thought, 'is it someone throwing a rock or something off the bridge?'"

The large object turned out to be a drone, the owner of which has yet to be found.
She had just been shown pages of documents detailing bank transfers, receipts she is accused of tampering and improper reimbursements. Counsel assisting had suggested she had, in fact, a very good handle on her finances and those of the Immigrant Women's Health Services organisation she ran.

"Did you ever pause to wonder why all that money was going into your account?" he wondered.

Deep into Eman Sharobeem's third day of evidence, the acting ICAC commissioner, Honourable Reginald Blanch, QC, cut through the hours of obfuscation and long-winded explanations over allegations of fraudulent spending on jewellery, botox and a Mercedes, with a simple question.

To date, Ms Sharobeem has conceded precious little in her evidence. And every concession has been hard fought for by counsel assisting.

No, she didn't study for a PhD in psychology, she admits, she was instead granted an honorary one in Cairo. It's just that evidence of it can't be found, she says, because of a fire during the Arab Spring.

Yes, all that public money intended for underprivileged community groups of newly arrived migrants appeared in my personal bank accounts, she says, but I most certainly did not put it there.

All that jewellery was a personal expense and has been wrongly submitted for reimbursement by office staff because I was too busy, she contends.

But as the weight of evidence builds up against her, the former Australian of the Year finalist has begun lashing out. First, that she has been "framed" by office administrators and the bookkeeper of IWHS. That it's not her fault there was a fire in the Arab Spring that destroyed documentation.
The 29-year-old Mr Sharobeem, of Abbotsbury, who accompanied his mother to ICAC on the first day of hearings last week, was caught driving a grey Mercedes B180 on the M2 in North Rocks in January with an alcohol level of 0.16.

The Australian of the Year finalist's son Charlie, who is due to give evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Thursday as part of a fraud inquiry into his mother, has been charged with high-range drink driving that could land him in jail for up to 18 months.

Charlie Sharobeem, right, outside ICAC with mother, Eman, left, and brother Richard, rear. Lawyer Arjun Chhabra is in front. Credit:Peter Rae

Eman Sharobeem isn't the only member of her family facing possible jail time.

Charlie Sharobeem faces a heavy fine and possible jail for a high-rang drink driving charge.

It is Mr Sharobeem's first offence, meaning he faces a fine of more than $3000 or up to 18 months in jail or both.

His mother, Eman Sharobeem, faces up to five years jail should ICAC refer her to the director of public prosecutions after an inquiry into allegations she defrauded the taxpayer of more than $650,000 in reimbursements for personal expenses and fake invoices at the publicly-funded Immigrant Women's Health Service she ran for 11 years to 2015.

Ms Sharobeem, and both her sons Charlie and Richard, are due to give evidence at ICAC on Thursday. They are all also due to appear in the Supreme Court next week as part of a court process that saw Ms Sharobeem's assets frozen by the powerful NSW Crime Commission earlier this year, following the ICAC investigation.

Charlie Sharobeem's drink driving matter will be mentioned at Parramatta Court the following week.
The NSW government will net nearly $3 billion after finalising the sale of the final piece of the state's "poles and wires" electricity assets.

The sale of Endeavour Energy to a consortium led by Macquarie Group's infrastructure arm is the last chapter in a controversial three-stage privatisation process the state government took to the last election.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the government has delivered more than expected with the sales. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Macquarie Infrastructure and partners at AMP Capital, and investors from Qatar and Canada, will pay $7.6 billion for a controlling, 50.4 per cent stake in the company, which distributes electricity to western Sydney and the Illawarra region. Net of debt, the sale will deliver $2.9 billion to fund infrastructure.

Together with the previously completed sale of Transgrid and partial lease of Ausgrid, the sales will deliver final net proceeds of $23 billion to the state's coffers, a figure which the Premier said exceeded expectations by about $2 billion.
It was the summer of 1970-71 and Kings Cross was going through a golden era of glitzy clubs and glamorous personalities when photographer Rennie Ellis captured what would become iconic images.

The images would form the basis of a key historical archive documenting Australian life, the work of that momentous year documenting Kings Cross  the year of Ellis' first exhibition  is on show at Mossgreen gallery in Sydney as part of the Head On Photo Festival.

"I remember Rennie would describe the Cross as like a 'beehive where queen bee is life itself'. I think that really sums up these images," curator Manuela Furci told Fairfax Media.

"Rennie really got into places that no one normally would have been able to. His camera was like a key to opening doors", Furci said.

Photojournalist Robert McFarlane, a contemporary of Ellis, recalled his work and the times.
A woman and man have been charged in connection with the shooting of a five-year-old boy at a home in Sydney's south-west last week.



On Thursday, a 37-year-old Lurnea woman was charged with hindering an investigation into a serious indictable offence, and possession of an unauthorised prohibited firearm and ammunition without authority.



Police said on Friday the woman was related to the boy.



It follows the arrest earlier in the week of a 41-year-old Lurnea man, who is facing the same charges.



The boy was hit in the hip by a bullet as he was playing with his sister in a bedroom of the house on the night of May 1.



It was initially reported the boy was hit by a bullet fired from outside his home.

But rather than calling an ambulance, the boy's parents drove him five kilometres to Liverpool Hospital where staff alerted police.



At the time of the shooting, Superintendent Peter Gillam said it was "only for the grace of God" that the boy did not suffer a more serious injury.

He said the couple might have driven their son to hospital because they were concerned about a possible delay in getting medical attention.

He described the shooting as showing a "blatant disregard for the safety of the occupants of the home".

"To injure a five-year-old boy is totally unacceptable," he said.
Ms Palaszczuk said the apology was belated. "I say belated, because Queensland had laws that enshrined discrimination and prejudice until 1990," she said. "Queensland was, in fact, the second-last state or territory to change our laws to end this form of discrimination. "But although belated, this apology is nonetheless sincere and heartfelt, and I acknowledge the pain, the hurt and the suffering experienced by so many Queenslanders for so long." Ms Palaszczuk said the discriminatory laws led to prejudice, violence, harassment and vilification and made criminals of ordinary men.

It is estimated that over 95 years, 464 people had been charged under the laws. Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath then introduced a bill to allow people to apply to have the historic charges expunged from their records. Ms D'Ath said the law reform to decriminalise the offences in the 1990s did not remove the stigma faced by people who still had the convictions on their record. She said Queensland had changed over the previous decades. "Reading some of the Hansard from the 1990 debate, Mr Speaker, is nothing short of revolting," Ms D'Ath said.

"The debate displayed signs of pure discrimination, it was full of hate, it was out-right bigotry." The bill allows a person convicted of, or charged with, an eligible offence to apply to the director-general of the Justice and Attorney-General Department for expungement of the conviction or charge. They must relate to conduct before January 19, 1991, and must have involved homosexual activity. The two types are those involving anal sex or indecent acts, or "public morality offences". The Queensland Law Reform Commission did not recommend that public morality offences be included as eligible offences because they were still on the statute books, but the government felt they should be included to reflect discrimination against LGBTI people.

After the bill was introduced, the public gallery erupted in applause. LGBTI Legal Service executive director Emile McPhee said the laws had left a legacy of shame and stigma on the community. "It's well and truly time for this legacy to be completely erased from the criminal histories of persecuted gays and lesbians," Mr McPhee said. Mr McPhee said he hoped the historic changes would encourage more affected people to come forward. Anna Brown of the Human Rights Law Centre said sex between consenting adults should never have been criminalised.

"These laws had a profound impact on the everyday lives of gay men, lesbians and bisexual people and continue to limit work, travel and volunteering opportunities," she said. Queensland AIDS Council vice-president Pete Black said the bill and apology recognised that homosexuality should never have been against the law. In 2015, the LGBTI Legal Service, Human Rights Law Centre, Caxton Legal Centre, Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services and the Brisbane Pride Festival published a report on the issue. It found a dedicated scheme to consider applications to expunge the records of eligible people would be the most effective and dignified way to end decades of stigma and discrimination. Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope welcomed the reform.
The teenager who went missing north-west of Brisbane on Monday was found "not far from home" by an SES volunteer, police say.

More than 40 SES volunteers and police on horseback and motorcycle set off early Thursday morning on day three of the search for 16-year-old Eric, who was last seen leaving a home at Highvale, about 40 minutes north-west of Brisbane, on Monday afternoon.

His father feared the teenager, who was only wearing a T-shirt and pants when he went missing, might have hypothermia after temperatures dropped overnight.

Luckily SES volunteers scouring the surrounding bushland found the teenager on Thursday morning, Senior Sergeant Seia Akhavan said.
The barista who made your coffee today is probably university-educated and cannot find a career job. As is the attendant who swiped your gym card and the courier who delivered food on the weekend.

Your work supervisor has two degrees and is halfway through an MBA. Yet has a lower-level management role, average pay and poor job security. Like many, the manager is overqualified for their role and bitter about their career trajectory.

The barista who made your coffee today is probably university-educated and cannot find a career job. Credit:iStock

Each in this scenario thought their investment in skills would underpin a successful career. But technology is reducing demand for their output.

Workers who once had white-collar jobs in their chosen profession are being forced to do jobs that require less skill. That, in turn, is forcing unskilled workers further down the occupational ladder, or out of the labour market altogether.
The Friends of Camp Colton and Flagstaff Unified School District are working on a master plan for the more than 40-year-old camp, hoping to expand and improve in such a way that more students can enjoy the great outdoors.

Friends of Camp Colton Executive Director Ari Wilder and Camp Coordinator Mary Giannola said a master plan for the future of the camp will create a roadmap for the future of the camp that can be used to plan fundraising events and improvement projects, such as replacing the current platform tents with cabins for the campers.

Cabins would lengthen the camping season, provide more storage and make setting up camp easier and the camp more accessible for some campers, Giannola said. The current platform tents consist of a wooden floor with a canvas tent stretched over the platform. The tents and the bunkbeds inside have to be put up and taken down and stored at the beginning and end of each camping season. Although some of the tents are handicap accessible, its sometimes difficult to get student with physical disabilities in and out of the bunk beds.

The camp has been a staple experience for 6th graders at FUSD since 33 acres were deeded to the school district by Dick and Jean Wilson in 1976, Wilder said. The Wilsons built the camp in 1970 and used it as a summer camp for troubled youth from Tucson for several years. The property was named Camp Colton in honor of Dick Wilsons mother, Suzanne Colton Wilson, who was the sister of Dr. Harold Colton, the founder of the Museum of Northern Arizona.

The Friends and FUSD are hoping to start with a sustainably built, handicap accessible cabin that will include bunk beds that allow the top bunk to flip upwards, giving caregivers more room to get students into the bottom bunk and allowing campers to stay with their friends.

The cabins would also protect campers against the elements better, Giannola said. The days up at Camp Colton can be warm and sunny, but temperatures can get pretty chilly at night, especially in the spring.

A master plan also provides the Friends with something they can show to donors, so they know exactly what their donations are going to fund, Wilder said.

The physical improvements add to a long line of changes that FUSD and the Friends have been working on at the camp. About three years ago, Giannola and FUSD updated the curriculum at the camp to include more STEM-related activities that are focused on climate science. Students get to explore wildlife, water quality, botany and geology through activities at camp and field trips to places, such as the lava tube near Government Prairie.

Were able to bring climate science to the local level, Giannola said.

These were added to the usual camp activities of enjoying a campfire, singing, learning the history of the area, survival classes, orienteering, astronomy and games. Archery was added this year to the list of activities after the camp received a donation of equipment from the local Elks Club.

Besides providing students with a chance to learn about the environment and climate science, the camp gives students a chance to unplug from todays technology-driven world, Giannola said. It gives students a chance to hold a conversation and create a relationship with each other that doesnt involve a screen.

This is especially helpful to students who come to the camp from other schools, such as the STAR school or Grand Canyon schools, both of which were at the camp last week.

It gets the kids out of their school environment and brings a cultural richness to their lives, Giannola said.

The camp has served more than 40,000 students over the years, Wilder said. It usually operates between August to October and May and June and hosts around 800 students each year. When the camp is not in use, it is rented out to groups, including other local schools.

The district started renting the property out to other schools and educational organizations about three years ago, she said. The district wants every student in Northern Arizona to have the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and learn about the environment.

The district does charge other schools to use the camp, Giannola said. FUSD students get to attend for free -- the cost is included in the districts annual budget. To make the camp accessible to other schools, Friends of Camp Colton have created a scholarship program that cuts the cost of attending the camp for most low-income campers. It costs about $350 for a student to attend and about 100 students from four northern Arizona schools will get to experience the camp this spring. Home-schooled students and private schools are also eligible to apply for the scholarships.

The money for the scholarships comes from donations from the public through the Arizona Tax Credit, donations through the Friends website and fundraisers like the Kahtoola Uphill Race. The camp is also looking for donations of items, such as GPS units, split log benches and other things.

W.L. Gore provided the initial funding for the scholarships four years ago. Friends has awarded scholarships for 286 students from nine different schools since then.
A national survey of how organisations handle privacy shows that 91 per cent believe they could be more transparent with consumers about how their information is used.

The Deloitte Privacy Index also reveals that financial services and government have the best privacy governance.

Bitcoin's underlying software code generated a new clone called Bitcoin Cash.

Deloitte surveyed more than 1000 employees of major companies and government agencies.

The highest ranking industries were found to have a privacy officer, regular privacy training and a policy to notify third parties in the event of a likely data breach.
Australians are unhappy with their broadband and they're not afraid to speak up, with a 33 per cent leap in complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman as the National Broadband Network works to bed down new technologies. Most Australians have a telco horror story, having spent hours on hold fighting to sort flaky out broadband, horrendous billing errors and heavy-handed sales tactics. Sometimes it seems that telco call centre operators are trained to tell whatever lies are required to make you go away. Australians aren't afraid to pick up the phone and complain about their telcos. Unhappy customers who can't get satisfaction can take up their grievances with the TIO, and we clearly weren't afraid to call them in the 2015/16 financial year. While complaints to the TIO cover broadband, mobile and landlines, the most complaints were reserved for broadband and they also saw the fastest growth  leaping 53 per cent in 12 months. Customer service, billing and payments, faults and complaint handling are the most common complaints to the TIO, which comes as little surprise if you've followed the trials and tribulations of the NBN rollout in recent times. The vast majority of TIO complaints came from residential customers, with only 13 per cent coming from small businesses.

Most of the growth in complaints came in the latter half of 2015, corresponding with the launch of NBN's fibre to the node services which saw its fair share of teething problems. While it would see an obvious reason for the spike in TIO complaints, the FttN launch was in September 2015 and NBN tells me it only had 1,000 activated end users by the end of the year, rising up to 150,000 by the middle of 2016 and around 1 million today. You can certainly expect a leap when we see the figures for the first half of 2017, with the NBN HFC cable activation saga leaving hundreds of homes in limbo for months. It wasn't helped by the fact that Telstra Wholesale has been refusing to cooperate with some telcos and restore ADSL services for customers waiting for their NBN connection to be fixed, with little progress in breaking the deadlock. Complaints regarding NBN services jumped a whopping 117.5 per cent, again mostly in the latter half of 2015 as fibre to the node started to reach homes. In NBN's defence, as complaints doubled so did the number of Australians connected to the new national network. Once you allow for this, complaints actually fell 30 per cent. Unfortunately the figures for NBN-related complaints don't distinguish between complaints for which the NBN was to blame, such as activation delays, and complaints for which the retail telcos were to blame, such as billing stuff ups. Pinning down the blame for slow NBN connections is particularly difficult when it's hard to know exactly where the fault lies, although the consumer watchdog has received $7 million in this week's Federal budget for its Broadband Performance Monitoring and Reporting Program. Meanwhile complaints from Australians unhappy with the state of their broadband will certainly continue.
The man charged with starting a fire inside a busy bank, in which 27 people were injured including himself, is set to plead guilty, a court has heard.

Nur Islam, 22, appeared briefly before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday, facing 92 charges over the fire at the Commonwealth Bank branch in Springvale on November 18 last year.

Mr Islam is alleged to have doused himself and the bank in petrol from a container he was carrying and started a fire.

He suffered serious burns, while 26 people inside the bank were injured, including children.
Premier Daniel Andrews' tough on crime policy  locking teenagers in adult jails  has been dealt a savage blow after the Supreme Court ruled the move was unlawful.

It is the third time the courts have ruled against Labor's move to imprison minors in the Grevillea unit of the notorious adult maximum security Barwon Prison.

The Supreme Court says Barwon Prison is no place for children.

Despite Labor's repeated insistence that using the unit for teenagers was lawful, Justice John Dixon said on Thursday that its re-classification as a youth justice and remand centre in December, was "incompatible" with the children's rights to be "treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person" and to have their best interests protected.

Some of the teenagers in the Grevillea unit had been held in lock-down for up to 23 hours in cells designed for adult prisoners, he said.
Teenagers who have been placed on the sex offenders register for sexting will be able to apply to the courts for their names to be removed.

The changes come amid concern that some people aged up to 19 have been ensnared in the register for sexting or engaging in a consenting relationship with someone who is under age.

The Andrews government will unveil new laws that will include giving police fresh powers to search the homes of sex offenders.

The Andrews government will unveil new sex offender laws that will include giving police fresh powers to search the homes of sex offenders to ensure they are complying with reporting requirements.

Police will also be able to take the DNA or fingerprints of offenders already on the register without having to get a court order first.
Melbourne's best known drag venue and gay pub, the 164-year-old Greyhound Hotel in St Kilda, is being demolished for apartments, after Planning Minister Richard Wynne refused to give it heritage protection.

The hotel closed late last year and an attempt by Port Phillip Council to have Mr Wynne add the building to the heritage list has failed.

St Kilda's Greyhound Hotel under demolition on Thursday. Credit:Penny Stephens

Wreckers have begun dismantling the rear of the building.

The company that owns the hotel has an approved permit to knock it down entirely. It plans to build an eight-level apartment tower.
The partner of an Australian man whose bloodied body was discovered in a Bali villa has given her consent for an autopsy in a bid to determine the cause of his death.

Karen East arrived in Bali on Wednesday, two days after her partner Stephen Richardson was found lying lifeless on his bed at his rented villa in Sanur on Monday afternoon.

The Sanur residence where Stephen Richardson's body was found.

Police have been investigating whether Mr Richardson was fatally assaulted or injured himself while intoxicated.

Denpasar District Police Detective Chief, Commissioner Aris Purwanto said they had met with Ms East and explained they were still trying to determine whether his death was the result of a crime or not.
When I found myself unemployed three years ago at the age of 47, I bounded around the lounge room with giddy joy and immediately fired up a joint and listened to Cypress Hill's Hits from the Bong.

I quickly lost myself in a drug-hazed miasma and spent most days pinching the nappy and milk money from the cookie jar to fund my habit.

Getting drug tested on the dole is adding insult to injury. Credit:zodebala

The above hijinks are completely fictional as I loathe Cypress Hill, but if you believe the Turnbull government that's what most of us dole bludgers do.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison announced on Tuesday night the government would next year randomly drug test 5000 Australians applying for welfare payments as part of a host of welfare reforms.
A small WA business have slashed their staff from 22 to 0 because they claim health bureaucrats refuse to honour a security contract it awarded to their company in 2014.

Roy and Paula Cole - proprietors of Katanning Security Services - say they feel "degraded" over their dealings with those running Katanning Hospital, 280 kilometres south-east of Perth.

Roy and Paula Cole of of Katanning Security Services.

In August 2014, Katanning Security Services was contracted by the Department of Health to provide a range of security measures at Katanning Hospital for three years.

The contract, which included mobile security patrols, patient supervision and alarm monitoring, expires at the end of June.
Beijing: When it was suggested to Indigenous Australian author Bronwyn Bancroft that her picture books for children be translated into Chinese, her first thought was the size of the population.

"Being able to take a story, especially the images, to another country that large," she recalls.

Australian children's book writer Bronwyn Bancroft interacts with students at the Beijing Fangcaodi International School during Australian Writers' Week. Credit:Sanghee Liu

The Mandarin translation of Big Rain Coming, one of 30 children's books Bancroft has created, was launched on Thursday as part of Australian Writers' Week in China.

On her first morning in Beijing, she said the reception had been "just crazy". She was moved to tears at the response to her bright images of bush and home at a Beijing primary school.
PHOENIX  Ignoring a claim the measure is horribly crafted, the state House voted 35-20 Wednesday to give license to people to break into cars to rescue children and pets.

HB 2494 would provide immunity from being sued for the damages caused by someone who has a good faith belief the child or animal is in imminent danger of suffering physical injury or death unless removed from the vehicle.

Rep. Kristen Engel, D-Tucson, said this isn't a license for people to start smashing windows.

To qualify for that immunity, a would-be rescuer must notify a police officer, medical services provider or, as appropriate, animal control officer. And after breaking out the window, the person has to remain on the site.

But Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, chided colleagues for approving what he sees as feel-good legislation that has the potential to do more harm than good.

Farnsworth said there are existing laws protecting those who act to preserve human life. That, he said, makes this legislation unnecessary.

Worse yet, he said, putting the rescue of pets on the same level as rescue of children.

This is raising animals to the level of rights of humans, he said, saying the measure is probably on the level of legislative malpractice. That got the attention of some rural lawmakers like Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, who is a rancher, even though the legislation is specifically limited to dogs, cats and any other animal that is domesticated and kept as a household pet.

The bill, which already has been approved by the Senate, now goes to Gov. Doug Ducey who is expected to sign it.

If there's one headline we all dread reading every year, it's the one about the latest child, left in a hot car, dying of heat stroke, he said during his State of the State speech in January. In just minutes, temperatures escalate, and a tragedy occurs.
New York: Cholera, a waterborne disease that can quickly explode into a public health disaster, has begun to spread in Yemen, a war-ravaged country ill equipped to fight it.

The World Health Organisation and Doctors Without Borders, the international medical charity, reported on Tuesday what they described as alarming increases in the number of cholera cases in Yemen in the past few weeks.

"We are very concerned that the disease will continue to spread and become out of control," said Shinjiro Murata, the head of the Yemen mission for Doctors Without Borders.

Murata said the charity's teams in Yemen had seen a drastic rise in cholera, treating more than 780 patients in five provinces since March 30. He called for an urgent increase in humanitarian assistance "to limit the spread of the outbreak and anticipate other potential outbreaks".
Caracas: Young Venezuelan protesters lobbed bottles and bags of faeces at soldiers who fought with tear gas on Wednesday to block the latest march in more than a month of nationwide protests against socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

The extraordinary scenes, in what was dubbed the "Shit March" on the main highway through Caracas, came as thousands of opposition supporters again poured onto the streets decrying Venezuela's economic crisis and demanding elections.

"These kids live in a dictatorship, they have no other option but to protest however they see fit," said Maria Montilla, 49, behind lines of youths with masks, slingshots and makeshift wooden shields.

Many carried stones and so-called "Poopootov cocktails" - faeces stuffed into small glass bottles - that they threw when National Guard troops blocked their path, firing gas and turning water cannons on the crowds.
US President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into links between the president and Russia, has plunged Washington into a fresh state of uncertainty.

The uproar has drawn comparisons to the Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of US president Richard Nixon in 1974.

Here's what we know now.

- In the days before Comey's firing, the FBI had issued subpoenas in the case of Michael Flynn, the short-lived Trump National Security Adviser who hid contacts with Russia officials and money he had received from the Russian government. Comey, who was surprised by his sacking, was seeking more resources for the investigation into collusion between people from Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russian figures.
Latest News AFG appoints three new managers Aggregator's move to boost broker recruitment, support

Tech partnership offers end-to-end lending solution Product designed to help lenders keep costs down

Senior executives from the major banks as well as the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) have come out against the $6.2bn bank levy proposed in the Federal Budget on Tuesday (9 May). Andrew Thorburn , CEO of National Australia Bank ( NAB ), said the tax will impact millions of everyday Australians including employees, customers and shareholders.It is not just a tax on a bank. It is a tax on every Australian who benefits from, and is part of, our industry, he said.Those affected include 10 million NAB customers (depositors and borrowers), 570,000 direct NAB shareholders, over 1,700 suppliers to NAB and the 34,000 staff at the major bank, he said.A tax cannot be absorbed. This tax is borne by these people. It is not possible to impose a tax without an impact on people, and therefore the wider community.While we wait for further information about how this tax is proposed to work, our focus at NAB remains on supporting our customers during what is a critical time in the Australian economy.Brian Hartzer, group CEO of Westpac , said the tax was a hit on bank customers as well as a stealth tax on the retirement savings of millions of Australians.Yesterday, $14 billion of value was wiped off Australian bank shares because of speculation around this new tax, he said.There is no magic pudding. The cost of any new tax is ultimately borne by shareholders, borrowers, depositors, and employees.The banks were already Australias largest taxpayers, he said, with Westpac paying more than 30% of its profits in tax.It is disappointing that the Australian Government has implicitly favoured large foreign banks over Australian banks operating in their home market.In addition these reforms are directly counter to APRAs objective of making the banks unquestionably strong, as higher taxes reduce the banks ability to generate capital that supports lending and stability in times of stress. ANZ had a more neutral tone when responding to the tax saying at this stage it is too early to provide a definitive estimate of the financial impact on ANZ.An update to the market will be provided once an analysis is complete, ANZ said.The Commonwealth Bank of Australia ( CBA ) also took a softer tone with CEO Ian Narev saying time was needed to work through the implications.This is particularly so given the lack of detail and the absence of any consultation. However, as every business owner or employee knows, every extra cost needs to be borne by customers or shareholders, or a combination of both.CBA looked forward to the Treasury outlining how this tax will apply in practice, he said.Once we have received all the details on the new tax, we will do our best to strike the right balance to ensure we continue to enhance the financial wellbeing of people, businesses and communities.Finally, chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association (ABA), Anna Bligh , slammed the tax, saying it was a direct attack on jobs and growth which could hurt investment.Contrary to the governments claim that the tax will only be levied on banking liabilities, the reality is that it will affect the entire banking system, she said.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.She called the tax naive and misguided and expressed her disappointment at the lack of consultation with industry around the proposed levy.In a period in which there has never been more consultation between government and banks on a wide range of issues, on this issue there has been none.
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Explore an artsy, urban jungle!

A local illustrator has transformed the windows of a Bay Ridge wine bar into a whimsical jungle scene, as the final stop on the nabes annual Storefront Art Walk on May 13. The artist behind the transparent fresco fronting the Owls Head vino venue said that she wanted to infuse the Bay Ridge streetscape into her work.

When you look through the window, the street sort of becomes part of the painting, said Greenpoint artist Bethany Robertson. Thats my way of incorporating the neighborhood  everything around it becomes a part of the art.

The Tennessee native also blended elements of her signature paper flora sculptures with her cutesy illustration style to create a 10-foot mural filled with the bars namesake. Owl heads and eyes poke out from behind a fantastical, almost-geometric landscape painted on the window in white chalk. The design is a departure for Robertson, who had to adapt her style to fit the space, which became a makeshift studio for her while she experimented with different approaches, she said.

I love how the architecture of different spaces changes the same piece, said Robertson. I reflected on the bar and explored all these jumping-off points with the owner. I really wanted to challenge myself with a different material and way of working.

Robertson originally planned to install one of her lush paper sculptures, but opted to intersect her style with the neighborhood in the stores window. The result is a testament to the way that art can grow in unexpected places, said Robertson.

Art can literally happen anywhere, she said. I think people think of art as concentrated in Manhattan galleries, but the art walk is a great opportunity to show that art can move.

Robertson is one of 15 artists presenting their works in storefronts along Fifth Avenue, in a 14-block stretch between 68th and 83rd streets, with the art on display from May 13 until June 11. The Storefront Art Walk opens with a meet-and-greet stroll on May 13, where local art lovers can check out the wondrous windows and chat with the creators, who will stay near their artwork during the walk.

The set-up aims to connect art-starved locals with sculptors, painters, and photographers including comic-art inspired illustrator Erin Doge, displaying her work at Quench Wines & Spirits; razor wire sculptor Eirini Linardaki, at the Bay Ridge Animal Hospital, and feminist beadworker Quimetta Perle at Sinzl Wireless.

Bay Ridge Storefront Art Walk (Fifth Avenue between 68th and 83rd streets in Bay Ridge, www.bayri dgesa w.org ). May 13. 11 am1 pm. Free. After-party at the Owls Head [479 74th St. between Fifth Avenue and in Bay Ridge, (718) 680-2436, www.theow lshea d.com ]. May 13, 14 pm. Free.

Reach reporter Caroline Spivack at cspiv ack@c ngloc al.com or by calling (718) 2602523. Follow her on Twitter @carolinespivack.
U.S. Senate candidates break records for spending in Pennsylvania

Im not sure that people get persuaded by these ads, said Matthew Jordan, head of Penn State's Department of Film Production and Media Studies.
The alleged Sunnyside recreation center shooter is hoping to go home while he awaits his trial for first-degree murder, according to Coconino County Superior Court documents.

Fernando Enriquez, 15, is accused of shooting and killing Jacob M. Allen, 20, during a drug deal at Hal Jensen Rec Center on March 3.

Enriquezs lawyer, Albert G. Freeman, requested that Division 1 Judge Jacqueline Hatch reconsider the conditions of release so that the defendant can await trial at his parents house.

Freeman requested that the $2 million bond set for Enriquezs release be lowered to a reasonable figure that his family can afford, or that he be released to pretrial services.

The motion states that Enriquez should be released because he has no prior criminal record, is a minor who has lived in Flagstaff all of his life and therefore is in no danger of being a flight risk.

However, Enriquez had been in trouble in middle school for smoking marijuana in the bathroom, according to statements made by his mother in a Flagstaff Police report.

Enriquez then attended Summit High School, an alternative school, but was not enrolled in school at the time of his arrest according to Flagstaff Unified School District.

Enriquez is a minor, but is being charged as an adult with one felony count of first-degree murder, two felony counts of armed robbery and one misdemeanor count of attempted possession of marijuana.

Freeman wrote that Enriquez would consent to electronic monitoring if his motion for release was granted.

A hearing date for the motion has not been set.

Enriquez has been in Coconino County Detention Facility since his arrest in March after he met the victim Allen and his friend Nicholas Tyler Woods at a prearranged time in the rec center bathroom to buy marijuana.

According to documents filed by the County Attorneys office, Enriquez then allegedly robbed both Allen and Woods with his handgun, shooting and killing Allen in the process.

Allen was also armed and shot Enriquez once between his stomach and chest during a brief firefight. Enriquez was arrested at Flagstaff Medical Center after he recovered from his gunshot wound.

A pretrial hearing is set for May 23.
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...
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.
Birthday wishes

Call 281-422-8302 or email sunnews@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun.

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Tyler Stumbo of DeWitt (Tri County High School), sponsored by Post 212 in DeWitt, will be attending the Nebraska American Legions 49th annual Junior Law Cadet Program. The program has been scheduled with identical programs for boys and girls, according to State American Legion Commander Beth Linn. The female session is June 12-16, with the male session the following week from June 19-23, at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center in Grand Island.

Participation in the one-week program is open to students completing eleventh grade. Three students will be selected from each of the 14 American Legion districts in Nebraska to attend each session.

In a disciplined setting, participants will learn about law enforcement responsibilities and training from representatives of various city, county, state and federal agencies; participate in daily calisthenics; attend classroom sessions; and learn about self-defense, firearms, driving, operating radar and other state patrol equipment.

Evening classes will be devoted to accident and crime investigation, finger printing and polygraph techniques and other special topics. Cadets remain in residence during the week and will be awarded certificates of achievement at concluding ceremonies at 2 p.m. on the respective Friday afternoons, June 16 and June 23.
Amidst the state government facing criticism on losing out the Kia Motors' manufacturing facility to Andhra Pradesh, the Tamil Nadu government has said that Korean companies do not set up two facilities in the same states, which is the reason for the company selecting the neighbouring state for its operations.
Heritage Foods, an entity founded by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, proposes to treble its annual revenue in the next five years as it eyes a larger presence in the organised dairy market.
Cognizant Technology Solutions' (CTS') management representatives have sought two weeks time from the Telangana government's joint commissioner of labour (JCL) to get back with a comprehensive reply on the allegations about forced resignations at their campuses being levelled by a group of employees.
Microsoft's India-born chief on Wednesday attempted to allay concerns over the increasing use of technology in public life and said building trust was crucial to its utilisation as a tool to "empower" people.
The mystery buyer of Jindal Steel and Power's (JSPLs) non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in Franklin Templetons mutual fund schemes in February-March 2016 is, finally, out. And it is none other than Franklin Templeton Asset Management Company, itself, which bought these papers from its six schemes, according to the fund houses annual report.


Vedanta's hope to source bauxite from the Kodingamali mines of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has run into rough weather. As was struggling to feed its Lanjigarh alumina refinery, the Odisha government in January this year, had struck a deal with OMC for supply of bauxite from the latter's Kodingamali lease with 81 million tonne of deposits.


Information Technology (IT) firm on Thursday said a majority of its 12,000-strong workforce in the US are locals and expressed confidence in being able to "navigate" through any visa-related challenges that may emerge.

The comments assume significance as like Infosys and Cognizant are ramping up their workforce in the US to mitigate the impact of tightening of work visa norms.

The Donald Trump administration has been critical of outsourcing firms for unfairly taking jobs away from the US workers, instead replacing them with cheaper manpower from countries like India.

"Today, we have 12 centres in the US, a lot of them at a significant scale. Overall, we have 12,000 employees in the US - greater than 50 per cent of them are locals," President and Chief Executive Officer C Vijayakumar told reporters.

He added that the company has been "proactively" creating more "resilient delivery models" by setting up onshore centres.

Over the past few months, there has been a growing sentiment of protectionism in not just the US but also markets like Singapore, Australia and New Zealand as they seek to safeguard jobs for locals and raise the bar for foreign workers.

"So, I think our overall business model and what we have done over the last few years is really helping us navigate any situation that could potentially come up," he said.

The US market accounted for the largest chunk of the company's revenues at 62.6 per cent at the end of March 2017 quarter. For the industry too, the North American market is the largest contributor to revenues.

The US had recently accused Indian firms, Infosys and TCS, of unfairly cornering the lion's share of America's H-1B work visas.

Indian IT firms are ramping up their operations in the US by hiring more locals in order to comply with norms.

The tightening of visa norms not only pushes up operational costs for these tech firms but also makes movement of skilled workforce difficult.
Granules India has reported a 38 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 45.67 crore in the January-March quarter this year as against Rs 34.1 crore in the same quarter last year. Profits have accrued due to decrease in costs, among other factors.
The move to demonetise high-value currency notes in November 2016 led to a slowdown in the online e-commerce sector, where over 50 per cent of orders are driven by cash on delivery.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party President on Wednesday stirred controversy with his comment that while soldiers from all states were being killed in Jammu and Kashmir there were no casualties from Gujarat, drawing sharp reaction from political parties.
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Tightening the rules for (Non-governmental organisation), the Home Ministry has asked as many as 5,845 organisations to open their accounts in banks having core banking facilities and furnish details for real-time access to security agencies in case of any discrepancy.
The government is considering a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy by Rs 80 per quintal to Rs 1,550 for the upcoming 2017-18 crop year starting from July.

The was fixed at Rs 1,470 for the common grade and Rs 1,510 for the 'A' grade variety for the 2016-17 crop year that ends next month. However, the suggested MSP for the common grade is Rs 1,550 and that of the 'A' grade Rs 1,590. According to sources, the agriculture ministry will move a Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultation, which will likely result in a nod.

The proposed rates are in line with the recommendations of the expert body Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

Paddy is grown in both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) seasons.

But much of the paddy output comes from the kharif crop, sowing of which normally begins with the onset of the Southwest Monsoon.

In the current year, rice output is estimated to have touched an all-time high at 109.15 mt, of which 95.09 mt were grown in the kharif season. The previous record was 106.65 mt in the 2013-14 crop year.
When Justice Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan was sentenced by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the now infamous Calcutta High Court judge came under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Karnan, whom a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar sentenced to six months in prison, has been at loggerheads with the apex court after making allegations of high level corruption in the judiciary through a letter sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January.

The accusations, which were not the first of their kind made by the controversial judge, met the ire of the Supreme Court almost instantaneously, which launched contempt proceedings against Karnan for lowering the dignity of the Indian judiciary. Instead of defending his stance, as one would have expected the judge to do in such a situation, Karnans unprecedented choice of provoking the Supreme Court through his open defiance and retaliatory judicial orders have left both the judicial fraternity and outsiders shocked and surprised.

Terming the Supreme Courts action as illegal and playing the caste card, Karnan refused to cooperate in the contempt case right from the beginning. His defiance, however, did not stop at failing to turn up for the hearings  he went on to initiate criminal actions against the seven judges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and even ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe them. These events and his additional demand of the seven judges to answer the charges before him in Calcutta led to the Supreme Court to question his mental fitness and order a medical examination. Karnan, to ratchet up the fight, passed an order directing the examinations of all these seven judges instead.

Only days after, Karnan refused his medical test and instead took the highly provocative step of sentencing the Supreme Court judges to five years imprisonment without concern for the superiority of the apex court or the procedure of the justice delivery system. This proved to be the last straw and broke the Supreme Courts patience: in the first move of its kind, it ordered the sitting judge to serve six months in jail for contempt of court. The court also barred media houses from publishing any statements made by Karnan in the future and also restrained all courts and tribunals in the country from taking cognisance of any orders issued by the judge since the start of proceedings against him.

Karnan, 61, is not unfamiliar to contempt proceedings. In fact, he had himself initiated such an action in 2015 against the then Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Sanjay K Kaul, after accusing him of corruption and personal harassment. Karnan said he was being given insignificant and dummy portfolios because he was a Dalit. The same year, he also accused another judge of sexually assaulting an intern in his chamber without providing any proof of the allegation. In another instance, he stormed into a courtroom and demanded to hear a case to which he was not assigned. In 2011, Karnan had also sparked a huge controversy by calling a press conference to accuse a fellow judge of deliberately touching him with his foot as he was a Dalit.

This series of events eventually led to the Supreme Court transferring Karnan from the Madras High Court to the Calcutta High Court in March 2016. This decision he stayed through a judicial order of his own, which was later upheld by a two-judge bench of the high court. The Supreme Court had threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against Karnan if he refused to follow the order. After a closed-door meeting with the then Chief Justice, T S Thakur, Karnan accepted the transfer and apologised for his actions saying that he had lost his mental balance.

Karnan hails from the Karnatham village in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu where he was born in 1955. His father was a retired teacher and his mother a housewife, leading one to believe that his background was quite austere. After finishing high school and a pre-university course, he graduated with a science degree from New College, Chennai, and then pursued a course in law from Madras Law College which he completed in 1983. He then started his practice in civil side of the Madras High Court and served as a government counsel for the state and central governments till his elevation as a judge in 2009. His appointment had been made by the then Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan, on the recommendation of the then Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, A K Ganguly. Later, Balakrishnan said he did not know Karnan personally and Ganguly said he did not remember how his name came up for consideration as a judge of the high court  a fact that has lent support to the criticisms of the present collegium b

ased system of higher judicial appointments.

To add a further twist to this tale, Karnan is now known to have left Kolkata the morning of the Supreme Courts decision to send him to jail. His whereabouts are unknown and the West Bengal police is currently looking for him in three states. This interesting turn of events should not come as much of a surprise though, considering the operatic melodrama that this saga has been since the beginning. Given the present situation, this Bollywood-style potboiler may still have some gas left in the chamber.
Sacked Water Minister Kapil Mishra's "satyagraha" fast to protest corruption in the AAP was on Wednesday marked by high drama as he was slapped by a young man. More drama erupted over the the assailant's affiliation with both AAP and BJP terming him an activist of the rival party.

The man identified himself as an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker but the party firmly denied any links with him. As police revealed name of the man as Ankit Bhardwaj, both AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party clashed over his political affiliation.

Police officials said that Bhardwaj, who was caught by Mishra's supporters after the attack, had been detained and kept at Civil Lines Police Station.

AAP insisted that Ankit Bhardwaj, the man was in police custody, was a office-bearer of the BJP's youth wing. But hours later another Ankit Bhardwaj of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BYJM) came at BJP's Delhi office with party leaders stating that he was their office-bearer and they had no links with the man in police custody.

BJYM "office-bearer" Bhardwaj also interacted with the media and accused AAP of hatching a conspiracy to defame the BJP.

Mishra, who began his hunger strike Wednesday morning at his residence demanding that AAP government release details of funds of foreign travels of five of its leaders, alleged he has been receiving "death threats from international numbers".

Mishra was first removed as a Delhi minister and later suspended from the AAP after he levelled corruption allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Mishra said on Wednesday that he will not eat anything till Kejriwal "reveals" who funded foreign trips of five AAP leaders - Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khetan, Satyendar Jain, Raghav Chadhha and Durgesh Pathak - in the last two years. He also wrote an open letter to Kejriwal.

As Mishra's fast progressed, a man from among the crowd slapped him in the evening, shouting: "He (Mishra) has betrayed the party."

The attacker was nabbed by Mishra's supporters and handed over to police.

Mishra said: "The man suddenly attacked me and hit me on my neck before he was caught by the people here" and appealed to his supporters to remain calm.

Before being taken away by police, the man claimed he is of the AAP, but party leader Sanjay Singh, however, said they had received information that Ankit Bharadwaj "is an executive member of the BJYM".

He said that Ankit Bharadwaj has pictures with several BJP leaders like its former Delhi chief Satish Upadhyay and Union Minister Vijay Sampla.

"It is a conspiracy of BJP to tarnish AAP's image and destabilise the party," Singh said, adding that his party "condemns" the attack. Earlier in the day, he had also termed Mishra's allegations about funding of foreign trips as speaking "BJP's language" and was "false" allegations.

Soon after, Praveen Shankar Kapoor, media in-charge of Delhi BJP, said that no BJP Yuva Morcha worker was involved in any such incident. The BJP condemned the attack.

Mishra spent the day under a tent set up in the premises of his official bungalow, with a garlanded portrait of Mahatma Gandhi in the background. He has to vacate the government house in 60 days.He had on Tuesday filed a graft complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Kejriwal, his relatives and other AAP leaders.
On May 9, Umar Fayaz Parray, a 22-year-old army officer from Kulgam district in South Kashmir, was abducted and killed. He was home on a fortnights leave from the Akhnoor sector in Jammu, where he was posted. According to local journalists, he had already spent 12 days at his home in Sudsona village. Parray was at his cousins wedding in neighbouring Shopian district when he was kidnapped.
Prime Minister on Thursday took part in a traditional lamp lighting ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Colombo as part of the International Vesak Day celebrations.

"In holy sanctum. PM @narendramodi visits Gangaramaya temple @ d famous Beira Lake, lights lamps @ temple on Vesak Day eve," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

As Modi put a switch on, the entire complex of the Gangaramaya temple, one of the most important Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, was lit up by colourful lights, which was followed by fireworks in the sky.

According to the state broadcaster Doordarshan, Modi, who was accompanied by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, also offered prayers at the temple.

The Gangaramaya temple was established in the late 19th century by one of the most famous scholar monks, Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumanagala Nayaka Thera.

Its complex comprises the temple, the 'seema malaka' or assembly hall for monks in the picturesque Beira Lake and a vocational training institute.

Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

The visit follows an invitation from Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.

This is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day. The theme of the event is Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace.

The Indian prime minister will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic -- a tooth of Lord Buddha.

In Pallekelle, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India's grant assistance.

Modi will also open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital at Dickoya in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.

Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, the visit is expected to give renewed momentum to India-Sri Lanka ties.

Last month, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe visited India.
Prime Ministers of Pakistan and of India might meet in Kazakhstan, a top Pakistani official has said, amid reports of back channel contacts.

Sartaj Aziz, the Advisor to Sharif, said that a meeting between the two leaders cannot be ruled out on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit next month in Kazakhstan.

But it was too early to speak about such a meeting, the Nation newspaper quoted him as saying on Wednesday. "Pakistan could consider the meeting if interest was shown from the other side."

Aziz said the SCO Summit was important as Pakistan would become a permanent member of the organisation.

The report said there was widespread speculation about a possible Sharif-Modi meeting after the Pakistani Prime Minister recently met Indian business tycoon Sajjan Jindal, who "reportedly conveyed a message of the Indian premier to the Pakistani leader".

Aziz said Pakistan was reviewing India's plea against alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence and also the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the case.

The Nation quoted unnamed senior Pakistani Foreign Office officials as saying that diplomatic efforts had been launched to defuse tensions along the borders with its immediate neighbours.

"There have been overt and covert talks with all the countries (Iran, Afghanistan and India)," an official was quoted as saying.

"Nobody can afford confrontation, so we are trying to resolve the misunderstandings through talks," the official said.

He said that while there had been open talks with Iran and Afghanistan, "back-channels were being used in India's case".

The unnamed official added that if Modi and Sharif do meet on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, "it will be positive to concentrate on the talks process".

Relations between India and Pakistan have touched a new low after a Pakistani military court awarded death sentence to Indian "spy" Jadhav and two Indian soldiers were beheaded on the Jammu and Kashmir border.
Prime Minister arrived here today on a two-day visit, which is mainly aimed at reinforcing the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka at a time when China is seeking to make inroads in the island nation.

Modi, on his second visit to Sri Lanka in two years, is here primarily to participate tomorrow in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists.

He will inaugurate a hospital built with India's assistance of Rs 150 crore.

He will also address the Indian-origin Tamils against the backdrop of India's insistence that Sri Lanka should undertake devolution of power to the ethnic community as part of the reconciliation process.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several senior ministers, including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, were at the Colombo International Airport to receive the Indian Prime Minister.

"As Sri Lanka proudly celebrates #InternationalVesakDay, I warmly welcome Indian Premier @narendramodi who will grace the occasion," tweeted President Maithripala Srisena.





As Sri Lanka proudly celebrates #InternationalVesakDay, I warmly welcome Indian Premier @narendramodi who will grace the occasion.  Maithripala Sirisena (@MaithripalaS) May 11, 2017

Modi was accorded a guard of honour by the Sri Lankan Air Force at the airport.

The visit and the agenda are mainly to re-emphasise the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka, particularly in the context of Buddhism, which is a shared heritage.

This assumes significance since China is aggressively trying to make inroads in Sri Lanka.

China has already developed the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka and its submarines have been making port calls here, much to the discomfort of India.

Prior to his departure from New Delhi, Modi said, "My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka  the shared heritage of Buddhism."

In a Facebook post, he said, "This will be my second bilateral visit there (to Sri Lanka) in two years, a sign of our strong relationship."

During the visit, he said, "I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians."





He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with Sirisena and Wickremesinghe.

The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.

"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.

He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.

"I will also visit the upcountry region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.

Wickremesinghe was in New Delhi only a week back when he held substantive talks with Modi.
As Prime Minister departs on Thursday to attend the International Vesak Day celebrations in Sri Lanka as the chief guest, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has requested him to talk on fisherman issue during his visit.

"Our Prime Minister is visiting Sri Lanka. Our leader Mr. Stalin has requested, rather demanded, the Prime Minister to use this visit and talk about the issues which are plaguing both the countries. Tamil Nadu fishermen have been repeatedly being shot at, killed, and boats being seized. Our leaders want permanent solution on this issue and hence, we request the Prime Minister to end this problem," DMK leader Sarvanan told ANI.

This will be Prime Minister Modi's second visit to Sri Lanka. He had toured Sri Lanka in March 2015.

Prime Minister's two-day Sri Lanka visit starts from today, confirmed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday.

Vesask marks the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha.

It was officially recognised by the United Nations in 1999 and then Sri Lanka had played a very important role and India too had supported the Sri Lankan initiative. Sri Lanka is hosting the event for the first time.

Theme of the Vesak Day is 'Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace'.

Celebrated sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik will be making world's longest sand Buddha statue at a special Vesak zone near Sri Lankan Parliament.

Various religious and political leaders, especially from countries with Buddhist connection, would be attending the event.

According to the MEA, the Prime Minister will also be attending lamp lighting ceremony at Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple in Colombo.

Prime Minister Modi will also be unveiling a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the faculty of the Kandyan dance, which is being constructed with India's grant assistance.

The Prime Minister will also be visiting the hilly regions of Sri Lanka that host tea plantations. He will be inaugurating a 150-bed multi-specialty hospital at Dikoya.

India will be giving an aid of $2.6 billion for the hospital. Sri Lanka's hilly regions home Indian Tamil people who work in tea plantains.

India will also be participating in International Buddhist Film Festival in Sri Lanka.
Australia: In last nights federal budget, Treasurer Scott Morrison announced an anticipated range of measures to encourage doctors to prescribe generic medicines rather than their more expensive brand name equivalents. So unless specified by the doctor, patients will receive a prescription with the generic medication name on it.
In the aftermath of 22 people being killed after a wedding hall collapsed here, District Magistrate NK Gupta said the incident was triggered due to a thunderstorm and rainfall in the district.

"To protect themselves from the rain, some guests tried to stand under a wall, which subsequently collapsed, killing 22 and injuring over 28 people, out of which two have been critically injured.

They have been hospitalised and are being attended to by a team of doctors," he said.

The incident took place in Annapurna Marriage Home located on Sewar road in Rajasthan's Bharatpur.
At its Bhubaneswar national executive on April 15, top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership discussed the contours of a vipaksh/virodh mukt Bharat  an India without opponents and Opposition. Recent developments in Delhi and Chennai indicate the first few steps that Narendra Modi government and BJP have taken in that direction.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard.
In a major push towards use of genetically modified crops, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the regulator for GM crops, today recommended commercial use of in a submission made to the environment ministry.

The GEAC in a meeting held today approved the commercial use of GM mustard, agency PTI reported.
The Gujarat Government on Wednesday decided to give four per cent  two instalments  to the employees of the state government, panchayats and pensioners from July 1, 2016. This move will be a financial burden of Rs 930 crore on state exchequer, reported The Indian Express.
Ram Vilas Paswan, dalit leader and Union minister for food, public distribution and consumer affairs, talks to Archis Mohan and Sanjeeb Mukherjee on the Saharanpur violence and some matters pertaining to his own charge. Edited excerpts:
Minister of Defence, Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Arun Jaitley, accompanied by senior MoD officials, held consultations with representatives of chambers of commerce and industry on the proposed Strategic Partnership model here today. .

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The Ministry is working towards institutionalising a transparent, objective and functional mechanism to encourage broader participation of the private sector in defence manufacturing under the Make in India framework..

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The proposed strategic partner model is intended to enhance competition, increase efficiencies, facilitate faster and more significant absorption of technology, create a tiered industrial ecosystem, ensure development of a wider skill base, trigger innovation and enable participation in global value chains as well as promote exports. This would gradually ensure greater self-reliance and dependability of supplies essential to meet national security objectives..

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Industry representatives welcomed efforts of the Ministry to put in place such a framework and offered several positive and constructive suggestions. The Ministry has taken due note of these proposals, which would be considered while finalising the policy in this regard. .

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Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy and Mines is visiting Austria from May 10-11, 2017 to participate in the Vienna Energy Forum, which has been organized jointly by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). .

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On May 10, 2017, Shri Goyal had an interactive session with leading Austrian energy related companies, especially in the renewable energy sector. Organized by the Embassy of India in Vienna, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) and FICCI, the event was the first structured interaction between Austrian and Indian companies with a visiting Indian Minister in Vienna to brainstorm suggestions for rejuvenating the Austrian-India business partnership, especially in the renewables sector. .

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Shri Goyal spoke about the priorities of the Government of India and action taken to bring in a quantum leap in the share of renewable energy in Indias energy mix. The important link between affordability and scaling up of operations, the role of new technology, the criticality of energy efficient practices, the emphasis on Make-in-India and ease of doing business in India and the potential for international collaboration as India aspires to its goal of energy for all by 2022 in a sustainable manner, were the highlights of Shri Goyals address. .

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The Minister enumerated the milestones achieved by India, including, inter alia, an increase in LED bulbs sold, from 6,00,000 a year to 150 million bulbs a year, the 370% expansion witnessed in solar energy in the last three years, reduction in cost of solar energy from 12 cents per unit to 4 cents per unit in under 3 years, and the growth in fiber optics from 358 kms to 2,00,000 kms in the same period. He explained the focus of the Government of India on building a strong foundation that would give India development space for the coming decades. .

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Shri Goyal recalled Prime Minister Modis emphasis on Minimum government, Maximum governance" and the emphasis on policy to empower all segments in India through programmes such as Skill India, Clean India, Digital India and Make-in-India. Speaking of investments into India, Shri Goyal highlighted Indias position as one of the most open economies in the world, poised to take a quantum jump in every sector. He spoke of GST, set to come into effect from July 1, 2017. He explained the financial inclusion initiatives of Jan Dhan, Aadhar and the Digital Payment Platform. In the context of free flow of capital and people, he pointed to Indias large market, its economies of scale, its potential as a manufacturing hub for the rest of the world and asked Austrian companies to join the growth oriented process of evolution in India. .

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The well attended event included over 30 representatives of Austrian companies, the Vice President of WKO, Ms Ulrike Rabmer-Koller and the FICCI delegation including, inter alia, Shri Pankaj Patel, President FICCI and Chairman and Managing Director of Zydus Cadila. Representatives of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research & Economy also attended the event. .

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Austrian companies indicated keenness to collaborate with Indian partners and share new technologies and innovations. They emphasized the importance of finding right partners in India and Austria in the renewable sector and spoke about their areas of expertise and priority as also their experiences of doing business in India. .

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On May 11, 2017, Shri Piyush Goyal delivered the Key Note Address at the Opening Ceremony of the Vienna Energy Forum. He annotated, what the Organizers introduced as the largest energy transformation project in the world". He highlighted Government of India's priorities and commitments towards sustainable energy. He reminded that SDGs could only be fulfilled through a comprehensive approach which could lay emphasis on affordability, reliability and sustainability. .

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Recalling that the road from Paris had been somewhat difficult, he reiterated that India stood committed to what it had undertaken at Paris, irrespective of what happened in other parts of the world. This commitment was an article of faith for Prime Minister Modi. .

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He spoke of the rapid strides made by India in energy conservation and energy efficiency, the goal of 24x7 power for all by 2022, the year of Indias 75th Anniversary of Independence and his personal commitment to make this happen even earlier by 2019. He asked the UN to look at fast-tracking goal and said that India is willing to play a role in this. On the issue of affordability of renewable solutions, Shri Goyal spoke of the reduction in tariff for solar energy from 12 cents to 4 cents in just three years, in wind energy from 9 cents to 5 cents in the same period and of the scheduled launch on May 12, 2017 of the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. affordable lighting scheme UJALA (UK Joins Affordable LEDs For All) in London. He urged that world leaders look at the link between low-cost technology, renewable energy and sustainable life styles. .

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The Vienna Energy Forum has been organized jointly by the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs in Austria, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). It is a biennial, global and multi-stakeholder forum with a mandate of exploring 21st century developmental challenges from the perspective of sustainable energy and providing a platform for debate on practical solutions to these challenges. VEF 2017 is focusing on Sustainable energy for the implementation of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. .

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The Forum is being attended by Global leaders including, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management in Austria Mr. Andr? Rupprechter, Director General UNIDO Mr. Li Yong, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure of Morocco Aziz Rabbah, Prime Minister of Tuvalu Enele Sopoaga, Director-General, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Adnan Z. Amin. .

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On today evening Shri Goyal spoke at the Financial Times Event 2030 Development Agenda for Energy". Other speakers included Deputy Secretary General of UN, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Ambassador for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of Burkina Faso Princess Abze Djigma and Secretary General of the World Energy Council, Mr. Christoph Frei. The event was attended by companies in the field of renewable energy as also IRENA, IEA, ECREEE, IIASA, OFID, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Austria and other European countries and numerous institutions and NGOs with expertise and credentials in the field of renewable energy. .

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While in Vienna, Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Ms. Rachel Kyte called on Minister Goyal. She was extremely appreciative of the leadership role by India and the achievements in the sector of renewable energy, especially the International Solar Alliance. DG UNIDO also called on the Minister. .

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RM/
PM arrives in Colombo, visits Seema Malaka Temple

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, arrived in Colombo this evening. He was received at the airport by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickramsinghe, and other senior Ministers.

Both Prime Ministers later arrived at the Seema Malaka Temple, where they were received by the Chief Monk of the Temple, among other dignitaries.

The Prime Minister offered flowers at the altar of the Temple. Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Wickramsinghe together pressed a switch for the lamp-lighting ceremony on the eve of Vesak Day, characterised by brilliant multi coloured lights and a fireworks display.

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President of India Congratulates Mr. Emmanuel Macron on his Election as President of the French Republic

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated HE Mr. Emmanuel Macron on his election as the President of the French Republic.

In a message to HE Mr.

Emmanuel Macron, the President-elect of the French Republic, the President has said, On behalf of the people of the Republic of India, I warmly congratulate you on your election to the office of President of the French Republic. In giving you a decisive mandate, the people of France have demonstrated their confidence in your leadership and vision.

India deeply values its multifaceted Strategic Partnership with France and looks forward to consolidating these further with its new Government. I am confident that the long-standing friendship, mutual trust and understanding between our two nations will continue to strengthen in the years to come.

Please accept, Excellency, my best wishes for your success and for the progress and prosperity of the people of France".
The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh launched the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Mobile Application for grievance redressal of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel, here today. The Union Home Minister also launched BSFMyApp on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Rajnath Singh said that he had proposed this App at the DGPs conference held in Hyderabad last year. He said that he wished to relate to every jawan working for nation. He congratulated the BSF for developing this App in short span of time. He said that the CPAFs are one of the most disciplined forces. If they are disciplined, this does not mean that they do not have emotions, he added. He said that they also have some personal problems and the system keeps on resolving their problems from time to time. Shri Rajnath Singh said that this App is required when the jawans feel that their problems need attention of the Ministry of Home Affairs. This has given a Digital Option to jawans to lodge their grievances and he is just one click away from jawans, the Home Minister said. Shri Rajnath Singh said that he will review the dashboard of the App every month and check the status of redressal of grievances. The MHA will intervene, wherever required, he said. He said that everybody should get benefitted from the telecom revolution.

The Home Minister also appreciated the jawans for the dedication with which they do their duty. He said that the Government is making efforts for the welfare of jawans. He said that to curb stagnation, 34,000 jawans have been promoted to Head constable position. He also said that the families of the jawans, who sacrifice their life for the nation, should get minimum assistance of Rs one crore. He said that the Government has recently launched a web portal Bharat ke veer to enable the willing donors to contribute towards the family of a braveheart who sacrificed his/her life in line of duty. The web portal is getting very good response, he added.

The MHA Mobile App has been developed in view of the fact that personnel of various Central Armed Police Forces are discharging their duties at their places of duty all over the Country. In the course of discharging their duties, they come across various personal/service related problems which can be addressed and re-addressed by their organizations. All Central Armed Police Forces have well organized mechanism for Redressal of Grievances of their personnel. Notwithstanding, there are still some personnel who feel that their grievances need further consideration and better solution. As a result, they have a keen desire to raise their level of grievances to the level of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). This required a suitable mechanism to enable Force personnel to submit their grievances to MHA and at the same time provide an opportunity to their organization for further consideration of their requests. Considering this requirement, the MHA Mobile App provides a common system in which all personnel of various CAPFs can submit their grievances through a Mobile Application and the same provides respective Forces to receive the submitted grievance for further action. The Mobile application also has a provision for MHA to continuously monitor the action taken by various CAPFs on their grievances and regulate the process for further improvement in the Grievance Redressal System.

The BSFMyApp launched on the occasion has been developed to cater to the requirement of BSF personnel regarding Grievance Redressal as well as various other service and welfare related issues of the Force personnel, deployed in the field. It provides mechanism to address issues related to Pay, GPF, Leave, Deputation etc. The most significant feature of the Application is its Financial Literacy Module which not only educates BSF Personnel about investment of their savings but also facilitates investment in a safe and systematic manner.
Co said on Wednesday it temporarily halted flights of its new 737 MAX aircraft due to an issue with the engine, which is jointly made by General Electric Co and Safran SA of France.

The grounding comes days before was due to deliver its first 737 MAX to an airline, and marks a high-profile delay in a programme that had said was ahead of schedule.

It poses no safety concerns for travellers because no airlines are yet flying the 737 MAX, but it could mean a costly disruption if the problem persists. Timely delivery is important to planemakers as they get most of the payment for a plane when it is handed to the buyer.

Boeing shares fell 1.3 per cent to $183.15 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. GE shares were down 0.9 per cent at $28.67.

Boeing said it still expects to deliver the first 737 MAX aircraft this month, and that production of both the MAX and current generation 737 will continue.

Safran found a quality problem in a disc used in the low-pressure turbine at the rear of the engine and notified Boeing over the weekend, Rick Kennedy, a spokesman for GE, said.

The 737 MAX replaces an older version of Boeing's best-selling single-aisle aircraft, a key moneymaker for the aerospace company.

Kennedy said the disc that prompted the concern had not been installed in an engine, but the discovery prompted Boeing to halt flights until engines could be inspected.

Safran received the disc from a supplier, but there are other suppliers of that part so production of the engine, known as the LEAP 1-B, was continuing, Kennedy said.

American Airlines Group Inc, which has 100 737 MAX jets on order, declined to comment and referred questions to Boeing. Southwest Airlines Co , the launch customer for the new aircraft, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
are notorious for spending money. In Japan, locals even have a special word  bakugai or explosive buying  to describe the bulk-buying sprees of Chinese travelers. From cosmetics to luxury handbags, shopping is a big part of tourism for outbound Chinese travelers.
Defending Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI chief James Comey, the White House said on Wednesday that the US President had lost confidence in him and was looking to fire him from day one.

"The President had lost confidence in Director Comey. Frankly, he'd been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected," White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at a news conference.

However, she acknowledged that Trump did have a conversation with the deputy attorney general.

"The President asked that they put those concerns and their recommendation in writing," she said, referring to the letter which became the basis for firing Comey.

In his recommendation to Trump, Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein said that the FBI has long been regarded as the nation's premier federal investigative agency.

"Over the past year, however, the FBI's reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage, and it has affected the entire Department of Justice. That is deeply troubling to many Department employees and veterans, legislators and citizens," he said.

Soon after receiving the letter, Trump dismissed Comey.

"I have received the attachment letters from Attorney General and the Deputy General of the United States, recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from the office, effective immediately," Trump said in his letter to Comey.

Trump later told reporters the Comey was not doing a good job.

Sanders told reporters that most of America had decided on their own that Comey was not the person that should be leading the FBI, as evidenced by the numerous comments that they have seen from Democratic party members in the House and Senate, Republican members, members of the FBI, and people across the board.

"I think one of the big catalysts that we saw was last week, on Wednesday, Director Comey made a pretty startling revelation, that he had essentially taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the Department of Justice, by going around the chain of command when he decided to take steps without talking to the attorney general or the deputy attorney general, when holding a press conference and telling them that he would not let them know what he was going to say," she noted.

"That is simply not allowed," Sanders said.
emerged from one of the most brutal and eventful election campaigns in recent European history as Frances next president. This was a campaign in which Frances domestic security, in the shadow of repeated terror attacks, was never far from the centre of broader debates about Frances future.
There is widespread concern that President Donald Trumps May 9 firing of FBI Director James Comey is an attempt to stop or delay the FBIs investigation into Russian interference in the November 2016 presidential election. But little attention has been given to the relationship between Comeys dismissal and another wide-ranging investigation into the 2016 election.

White House spokespeople and the president himself say Trump let Comey go at the behest of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Food is important for our survival, which is why all living beings have developed an urge for high energy foods, like those high in sugar and fat. Historically, this hadnt been an issue, as energy dense foods werent always as available as they are today.
The US Department of Homeland Security is considering to ban all carry-on laptops and other electronic devices in cabins of all flights from Europe to the United States for security purposes.

This rule change would represent an extension of previous regulations that were put in place in March this year, banning carry-on laptops and tablets on flights from some West Asia and African countries.

This move is being considered after the United States recently issued a new terror alert in May for its citizens travelling to Europe in light of recent terror attacks in Britain, France and Sweden. It focused on the threat in Europe at winter holiday festivals, events and outdoor markets.

The ban was put in place after intelligence agencies reported that the Islamic State (IS) are now thinking of hiding improvised explosives or a small bomb in portable electronic devices.

"No finals decisions have been made on expanding the restriction on large electronic devices in aircraft cabins," the Washington Post quoted Department of Homeland Security spokesperson David Lapan, as saying.

Terror groups have adopted innovative techniques to carry out strikes and are now especially targeting transportation sites, including the bombing of an airliner in Egypt in October 2015

The rules have made it harder for travellers to enter the United States from Europe if they had dual citizenship in Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria.

The airports affected include those in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morroco, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Acting Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Andrew McCabe while testifying on Capitol Hill on Thursday disputed the White House's assertion that the agency employees had lost faith in sacked chief James Comey, saying he had "broad support" within the agency.

CNN quoted McCabe as telling the members of the Senate intelligence committee that Comey enjoyed "broad support within the FBI and still does to this day."

He added, "The majority, the vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep, positive connection to Director Comey."

On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that President Donald Trump "and the rest of the FBI" had lost confidence in Comey. She said the White House had heard from "countless" members of the FBI to that effect.

McCabe also said there has been no effort to impede the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the election, but vowed to inform a Senate panel if the White House tried to intervene.

McCabe was testifying on Capitol Hill two days after President Trump fired Comey amid reports he was infuriated about the bureau's probe into Russia connection of the present administration.

The acting FBI director is a part of a hearing testifying in place of his former boss, who had been due to appear before his dismissal.

Alongside McCabe at the witness table on Thursday will be Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Admiral Michael Rogers, who heads the National Security Agency, Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Robert Cardillo, who runs the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

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The Bengaluru Police on Thursday arrested former corporator V. Nagaraj, who was absconding since raid in his office and residence, which led to recovery of Rs. 14.8 crore in old currency notes.

Nagaraj alias Bomb Naga and his two sons were arrested from Arcot area in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu.

Nagaraj was absconding since April 14 when a large sum of demonetised currency was recovered from his possession.

A police team, led by ACP Ravikumar tracked him and nabbed him nearly after a month of chase.

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The Ministry of Finance, through the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has sought the general public's view on a draft version of the Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) on real estate transactions.

Through a press release, it informed the general public that Section 145(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ('the Act') provides that the central government may notify Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) for any class of assessees or for any class of income.

Accordingly, the central government notified 10 ICDS vide Notification No. S.O. 3079 (E) dated 29th September, 2016. These ICDS inter-alia contains provisions relating to valuation of inventory; construction contracts; effects in changes of foreign exchange rates, borrowing costs etc.

These ICDS are applicable from assessment year 2017-18 (previous year 2016-17) in respect of specified assessees for computation of income under the head "Profits and gains of or profession" or "Income from other sources".

The Finance Minister had constituted a committee comprising of experts from accounting field; departmental officers and representatives from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to suggest the areas in respect of which further ICDS may be notified under the Act.

The committee suggested notification of ICDS in respect of real estate transactions and submitted the draft of the same. The draft ICDS submitted by the committee is based on the guidance note issued on real estate transactions issued by ICAI.

For the purposes of providing uniformity and certainty and harmonising the same with provisions of the Act, the committee suggested certain changes in draft ICDS.

The draft ICDS on real estate transactions along with the significant changes suggested in ICDS vis-a-vis the guidance note issued by ICAI are uploaded on the Income-tax website at http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in.

The stakeholders are requested to submit their comments on the draft ICDS on real estate transactions by May 26, 2017 to Director TPL-III by e-mail at dirtpl3@nic.in.

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United States Vice President Mike Pence has praised President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI director James Comey, while insisting that the decision wasn't made due to the ongoing probe into alleged ties between Russia and Trump's campaign.

"As has been stated repeatedly and the President has been told, he's not under investigation," Pence said, added, "There is no evidence of collusion between our campaign and any Russian officials," CNN reports.

He also said Comey's successor would restore the bureau's credibility.

"Let me be very clear that the President's decision to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to remove Director Comey as the head of the FBI was based solely and exclusively on his commitment to the best interests of the American people and to ensuring that the FBI has the trust and confidence of the people this nation," Pence added.

Trump also later responded to the controversy for the first time in person and told the reporters in the Oval Office he fired Comey because "he wasn't doing a good job.

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Calcutta High Court judge Justice C. S. Karnan on Thursday sought relief from the Supreme Court in the contempt of court matter.

Earlier on Tuesday, the apex court sentenced Justice Karnan to six months in jail while holding him guilty of contempt of court.

It was a landmark ruling, as it is for the first time ever that a sitting High Court judge has been sentenced.

The apex court had ordered the immediate arrest of Karnan.

The seven-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar was hearing the contempt petition against Karnan.

Justice Karnan earlier on Monday sentenced the Chief Justice of India and six other apex court judges to five-year rigorous imprisonment after holding them guilty under the SC/ST Atrocities Act-1989 and amended Act of 2015.

Along with the Chief Justice of India, six judges - Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph - had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan in February after he had named 20 "corrupt judges," seeking a probe against them.

Justice Karnan had alleged this was done because he is a Dalit.

Justice Karnan earlier on May 2 directed the court's registrar to issue non-bailable warrant against these seven Supreme Court judges.

He tagged the apex court judges as 'accused' for not being present.

On May 1, in response to the apex court ordering an examination of his 'mental health', Justice Karnan asserted that he would issue a suo moto suspension order against West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) if he forcefully conducted a medical checkup.

Karnan further asserted that the DGP should take all the seven accused judges for medical test too.

Earlier, the apex court constituted a medical board to examine the mental condition of Justice Karnan on May 5 and also directed the DG West Bengal to assist the medical board to get justice Karnan examined.

The apex court said in its order that High Courts, any tribunal and authority would not take any cognizance on the orders passed by Justice Karnan.

Earlier, in an unprecedented move, the apex court had invoked its powers to initiate contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan, for writing letters casting aspersions on several judges.

Justice Karnan has been accused of circulation of disparaging letters against sitting High Court judges of the Madras High Court. He also allegedly wrote about Supreme Court judges in his letters to the Prime Minister's Office.

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The Delhi Police on Thursday has busted an Indian Premier League (IPL) betting racket in the Shahdara area of East Delhi and arrested six people.

Police have recovered two laptops, 22 mobile phones and LCDs.

The investigation is underway.

On Wednesday, the crime branch team of UP police had busted a similar racket in the Sahibabad area where five people were arrested from a flat in the Vrindavan Green Apartments of Rajendra Nagar.

A laptop, an LCD TV, a Wi-Fi modem, two calculators, 15 mobile phones, three chargers, eight note books and Rs 12,000 in cash was seized from the place.

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The Uttar Pradesh Government on Thursday denied permission to the Allahabad High Court for the trial of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the 2007 Gorakhpur riots matter.

The Allahabad High Court has exempted Adityanath from personal appearance and has also allowed to ratify the writ petition.

Uttar Pradesh Advocate General Raghvendra Singh told the Allahabad High Court that the principal secretary had denied permission to try the Chief Minister.

The next hearing on the matter will take place on July 7.

Earlier, the High Court had summoned the principal secretary and had directed him to bring all documents related to the case.

The court had asked the principal secretary to appear in person on May 11 and produce all documents including the sanction given by the state government to prosecute the accused. He was also asked to file an affidavit.

The order was passed on a petition filed by Parvez Parwaz in 2008 at Cantonment police station, in which the then local MP and Adityanath was named as an accused for inciting communal violence.

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As many as six Pakistani fishermen were apprehended on Thursday by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel from Sir Creek on the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat.

Given the sensitive nature of the area, even Indian fishermen are barred from catching fish in the creek. However, Pakistani fishermen often venture into Indian waters to catch fish and then sail off to their side.

In the past, the BSF had recovered abandoned Pakistani fishing boats from Creek area on several occasions as the fishermen swam to their side upon spotting the BSF patrol.

Earlier in March, the Indian Coast Guard held nine Pakistani fishermen off Jakahu coast and seized their boat from the Indian waters.

In February, the BSF seized four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats from Sir Creek on the Indo-Pak border.

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HCL Insys Pte. Ltd. (HCL Infosystems' Singapore based arm) was felicitated with the Quality Excellence Award for Best Customer Service Result at the prestigious Golden Globe Tigers Award held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Anand Prakash, Chief Quality Officer, HCL Infosystems, was honored at the forum for Innovative Leadership in Quality.

Speaking on the occasion, Anand Prakash, Chief Quality Officer, HCL Infosystems commented, "We are honored to be accorded with this international recognition by the Golden Globe Tigers Awards. This Quality Excellence Award is a recognition of our commitment to attain and sustain the highest standards of quality and service levels for our customers and partners. I am also deeply humbled to receive the Innovative Leadership in Quality award in the presence of global industry leaders."

HCL Insys Pte. Ltd. was recognized for its Customer Satisfaction (C-SAT) improvement initiatives, which resulted in continual improvements in customer delight over the last four years. Enhanced customer experience management resulted in positive impact in terms of better client relations and incremental revenues.

The Golden Globe Tigers Awards offers an international platform to recognize organizations and industry leaders across Asia for their commitment to excellence in realms of Marketing, Quality, Branding, CSR and Social innovation, Education and Academics.

Since the last four decades, HCL Infosystems is fully committed to customer delight and the highest levels of excellence in customer service. Its wholly owned subsidiary based out of Singapore, HCL Insys Pte. Ltd. has worked on several prestigious Government projects in Singapore, serving over 50 percent Government agencies and ministries. The company has around 500 onsite engineers, serving more than 50 agencies spread across 380 sites in the Singapore region.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin on Thursday to further strengthen the special and privileged strategic partnership and agreed to take forward their bilateral cooperation in diverse fields including security, nuclear and space.

Stating that relations with Russia are one of the most important pillars of India's foreign policy, Sushma said "I had very fruitful and productive talks with Dmitry Rogozin ."

"We have made good progress made in implementation of agreements signed between the two countries in Goa 2016 during the BRICS Summit," she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold the next summit in St. Petersburg on June 1.

Sushma said both countries "agreed to work closely to take forward many of the collaborative ideas that emerged in diverse fields, including security, nuclear, space, disaster management, trade and economy, science and technology and people-to-people linkages."

She said, the future roadmap is being implemented enthusiastically and over 100 items have been identified, adding that Ministries, Departments and private sectors are coming together to celebrate 70th year of Indo-Russian diplomatic relations.

In his statement, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry Rogozin said, the relationship between India and Russia is very dynamic and strengthening trade and economic cooperation was discussed between him and Swaraj.

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This week St. Vincent de Paul is celebrating its 45th year serving people in Billings while eyeing the calendar for the day in July it can move its operation to the Crane Building, which it is renovating at 3005 First Ave. South.

The agency, still located at 2610 Montana Ave. for the time being, had a birthday party at its new digs Monday even as EEC Construction crews continue work to transform the nearly century-old building into a place where St. Vincent de Paul can continue its mission to promote and perform works of charity through personal service.

This location will really make a difference, said Jim Good, a retired ophthalmologist and current St. Vincent de Paul board member. Good attended a committee meeting Wednesday with staff and contractors smoothing and speeding the move, which will include the thrift store, RiverStone Health providers, free use of a washer and dryer, a chapel and offices for staff, among other services. Its almost a new building," Good said.

Indeed, the 23,000 square foot Crane Building, constructed in 1919 by Crane and Co. Plumbing, has handsome old bones, but now smells new again. Its open ceilings mean exposed sprinklers and ducts above both stories, giving the place a chic industrial vibe.

And the really nice thing here, Good added, is all the additional parking.

Seventy parking spots should be more than adequate for people availing themselves of St. Vincent de Paul services, said Vicki Massie, the agencys information technology manager and volunteer coordinator who also wears other hats for the charity, which now employs about 20 people.

Former executive director Ed Zabrocki resigned in January. Board Member Mick Wolff has stepped in to lead the agency while getting a lot of help from the rest of the board, Good said.

Most of the board has been willing to become more active, Good said. Its nice to think that if we keep after it, poverty will go away in 45 years, but its not going away.

Last fall St. Vincent de Paul secured a $350,000 tax increment financing grant thats been spent on building improvements. We couldnt have done it without that grant, Massie said.

Once the move is complete, programs and services offered at the Montana Avenue location, part of which has been sold, will also be offered at the Crane Building.

One thats popular puts refurbished computers into the hands of students. The agency will continue to collect scrap metal, having recycled more than 31 tons last year. Itll also offer adult education classes.

Perry Roberts, executive director of the nearby Montana Rescue Mission, said he welcomes St. Vincent de Paul to the neighborhood. Hes been talking with the St. Vincent de Paul board in recent days to further define and refine what each agency does best so as not to duplicate services.

Their moving here is exciting for us too, and for the South Side and the community as a whole, he said. Were excited to have them in the neighborhood  at least a block closer.

Serving as tour guide Wednesday, Massie was happy to point out what services will be offered where. Most of the second floor will be given over to the thrift store, while the downstairs will house the washer and dryer, which is free to the public, as well as public restrooms and a drinking fountain. St. Vincent de Paul is one of the few places in and around downtown that opens its restrooms to anyone, even those who arent customers.

In one corner downstairs at the Crane Building, a team of bookkeepers will continue to serve as payees for about 150 Social Security recipients who cannot, due to mental illness or other challenge, pay their bills consistently.

St. Vincent de Paul will continue to distribute sack lunches provided by their partners. Theyll also carry on with a number of other services (see accompanying story).

While the work can get frustrating at times, Massie said she holds onto success stories like that belonging to a man named Adrian, who gave the agency permission to share his story.

Following a prison sentence, he came to St. Vincent de Paul a few years back to work in the thrift store and was a workhorse, pleasant and fun to be around, she said, until he fell off the wagon after about eight months on the job and ended up back in prison.

Massie saw him about a year later, and asked him to return to work, but he hesitated, feeling unworthy. Nonetheless he returned.

Fast forward more than two years later and Adrian has become an apprentice carpenter, using tools St. Vincent de Paul provided him.

Hes now a loving, caring, hard-working man, a husband and father, she said. We have a lot of people with stories like that. We want to be a stepping stone people can use to stay clean and sober.
With the ceasefire violation in Nowshera sector claiming life of a civilian and injuring other, the defence experts on Thursday professed for a swift and punitive action against Pakistan.

Asserting that it is high time Pakistan should mend its ways, defence expert P. K. Sehgal said, "Pakistan continues to indulge in mischief. It is absolutely essential that the retribution from our side is very swift and exceedingly punitive . America to yesterday had warned Pakistan that if it continue to do what it is doing, India is bound to act and react very strongly. It is high time that Pakistan stops this mischief once for all."

Echoing similar views, another defence expert Praful Bakshi called for a stern action while intensifying intelligence output.

Bakshi said that Pakistan is under immense pressure post ICJ ruling in Kulbhushan Jadhav case and hence is resorting to such acts.

"Pakistan is under intense pressure, the case of Kulbhushan has already put Pakistan in its place. The international pressure on Pakistan at this point of time is immense. The Pakistan army and ISI are now getting a little out of control. They just don't know actually how to behave, so they are doing what they do," said Bakshi.

"The problem is we are having casualties and this is the problem which is on our side that we should actually anticipate what is going to happen and we could have pre-empted it, this is what we should do. We should intensify our intelligence gathering agency and we have to take offensive action, before the attackers we have to attack. This is where we are having a little problem and if we change this then I believe that there should be no problem," he added.

One woman was killed and her husband got injured in yet another ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector in Rajouri district, in the early hours today.

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With the international singing sensation Justin Bieber taking centre-stage at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, it's the turnout of the who's who of Bollywood that has been making waves on the social media.

Quite relishing the event, Alia Bhatt has been constantly posting pictures with her sister Shaheen on her Instagram account. But what caught everybody's attention was a certain duo, accompanied by their son, making a joint entrance in the show.

Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan, who separated last year, arrived together at the show. Coming together for their son Arhaan, the former husband and wife looked comfortable with each other.

While Malaika looked classy as always, the boys - Arhaan and Arbaaz - chose to keep it casual.

Earlier in the day, pop sensation Bieber kickstarted his concert in Mumbai.

Veteran actress Sridevi was spotted at the event with husband Boney Kapoor and their younger daughter Khushi Kapoor.

Raveena Tandon, who was also spotted at the event told ANI, "I think it is great, we should have more show like that. We can see everyone go crazy about him [ Justin Bieber].

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Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday welcomed the idea of having a conclave on the Kashmir issue to look for a political solution to current dire situation in the valley.

Asserting that Kashmir is not an issue concerning one party, Abdullah said it will be good if the proposed conclave can emerge with a probable solution to resolve the incumbent crisis in the valley.

"Leaders are meeting to discuss the way forward as far as the Kashmir situation is concerned. I think we all should be happy if they come out with some solution that they can put before the Prime Minister on which he can act, because Kashmir is not only a problem for one party, it is the problem for all of us. And, I think to solve this,we need the good wishes of all parties to work towards the political settlement of this problem," said Abdullah.

Echoing similar sentiments, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said leaders like former prime minister Manmohan Singh who in the past had established peace in the valley will definitely carve out a solution to combat the Kashmir crisis.

Dikshit said, "I welcome this step, when the government is not able to understand how to churn out an effective solution to combat the Kashmir crisis, it is a very good initiative, it involves senior people to resolve the issue. Dr. Manmohan Singh is a very sorted person and under his governance the situation in Kashmir was pacified. Narendra Modi will never be able to understand that under what positive circumstances did the Manmohan Singh government bring back peace in the valley."

A series of meetings between opposition leaders to plan a conclave on Kashmir, as also to look for a political solution, has picked up pace in Delhi.

On Wednesday, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the second time in recent days to discuss the proposed conclave. A date for the conclave is likely to be decided after a meeting between Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Leaders from all parties, including the ruling BJP, are expected to be invited for the conclave, which is likely to be addressed by experts, activists and writers.

There have been spiraling protests in the valley with students, including girls, seen pelting stones on security personnel in these incidents.

There was massive violence during the April 9 by poll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents.

Kashmir has been on the boil since the death of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in an encounter in July last year. More than 90 people lost their lives, while scores of security personnel and civilians were injured in protests that followed Wani's killing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 42 page election manifesto of the main opposition Labour Party, which is not yet finalised has been leaked, contains policies on nationalising railways and suggests that the party will not leave the European Union without a deal.

A leaked copy of the manifesto also shows that the Labour Party will consider to re-nationalise energy, firms, railways, bus companies and Royal Mail , which was fully privatized at the end of 2015.Labour will also consider to abolish university tuition fees if it wins the general election, The Guardian reports.

The leaked draft copy of the election manifesto rejects a 'no deal' Brexit and abstains from setting out migration targets.The document was drafted by Jeremy Corbyn's policy chief Andrew Fisher.

The Labour Party reportedly criticizes UK Prime Minister Theresa May 's statement that "no Brexit deal is better than a bad deal and sets out to keep some of EU laws and funding in the United Kingdom.

The manifesto is due to be published next week after being finalised on Thursday at a meeting of Labour's National Executive Committee.

The manifesto also contains a pledge to hike taxes for those who earn more than 80,000 pounds a year (roughly $103,491). The highest salaries in the companies with government contracts would have to be no more than 20 times higher than the lowest ones.

Earlier this week, UK media reported that the ruling Conservative Party, unlike Labour, was likely to maintain its "tens of thousands" immigration target in the new manifesto.

Both parties are gearing up for the general election scheduled for June 8.

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The Samajwadi Party (SP) has supported its party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who managed to stir a controversy and invited the ire of many with his 'martyr' remark, saying the latter was just asking the Centre to take a stringent action at the border.

"We are always there for the martyred soldiers' families. Akhilesh Yadav's statement was in relation to the soldiers, who are being martyred almost everyday at the border. Akhilesh Yadav's motive was to ask the Centre to take necessary steps to stop such things at the border. We are with the nation," Samajwadi Party leader Juhi Singh told ANI.

"During the demonetisation, it was said by the Centre that after this all this will automatically be stopped, but unfortunately it's not happening. During surgical strike, we stood with the Centre. We never compromise with things that are beneficial for the nation," she added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress earlier on Wednesday reminded Akhilesh Yadav that soldiers belong to nation and not to states.

The two parties flayed Akhilesh's statement wherein he asked why it was that soldiers from all parts of the country were sacrificing their lives, except for those hailing from Gujarat.

.

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Defending champions Mohun Bagan marched on to their second win of the ongoing 38th edition of the Hero Federation Cup in as many matches, after Sanjoy Sen's men defeated Shillong Lajong 3-2 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack here last evening.

Strikes by Darryl Duffy (5'), Sony Norde (27') and Katsumi Yusa (43') cancelled out Pritam Kotal's third-minute own goal and Yuta Kinowaki's 80th-minute goal to aid the Mariners' quest in progressing to the semi-final round. Currently, Mohun Bagan sit on top of Group B with six points out of two matches.

The opening minutes of the match had it all. An own goal, a goal and a header which kissed the left pole, only to bounce back into play. It all started in the third minute when Pritam Kotal scored in his own net in an attempt to clear a cross, to hand Lajong the lead, much to the Reds' astonishment. In the 5th minute, the Mariners equalised proceedings.

Darryl Duffy rounded off Vishal Kaith after the Lajong custodian had come way out of his lines, giving ample of time to the Bagan forward. Duffy steered the ball past a hapless Kaith and passed it into the net to bring the team back on level pegging after a frantic opening five minutes.

There was still more action to come and Lajong rattled the post in the 7th minute after Samuel Shadap's thumping header missed the target by a whisker. Six minutes later, Lajong's defence line made a goal-line clearance after Darryl Duffy's shot from a tight angle tested their waters.

The pairing of Duffy upfront with Balwant Singh proved to be a handful for Lajong defenders and Sony Norde's ability to carry the ball from midfield added more to their woes. The Mariners strike force assisted on the wings by Katsumi Yusa played with intent and fluidity. Norde set up Duffy in the 19th minute, but the latter could only shoot it over the bar.

Sony Norde, in the 27th minute, handed Mohun Bagan the lead when he sweet-timed a freekick from 25 yards out and sent the ball curling into the back of the net. In the 39th minute, Darryl Duffy could have extended Bagan's lead but Vishal Kaith made a quick reflex save to deny him from close range.

But four minutes later Katsumi Yusa had other plans as he bundled home a Sony Norde shot which was going wide of the goal on the far post to double Bagan's lead. The half-time scoreline read 3-1 in Mohun Bagan's favour.

Even in the second half Bagan did not take a breather and got into the thick of things. Substitute Prabir Das came close to scoring in the 54th minute after his shot was saved by Kaith.

A pale complexion of the first half, the Mariners played deep and soaked up the pressure piled by Thangboi Singto's men. Issac came close to scoring in the 58th minute but Debjit proved a fraction quicker than him and collected the ball.

The defensive pairing of Anas and Eduardo did not allow the Lajong forwards time on the ball, while the Bagan midfield dropped back to beef numbers in defence and safeguard the lead. However, Yuta Kinowaki scored in the 80th minute to reduce Lajong's deficit after a lapse in defence let the Japanese unfurl a venomous shot.

The full-time scoreline read 3-2 in Mohun Bagan's favour.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced an ex-gratia of Rs. two lakh for the next of kin of those killed in Bharatpur wedding hall collapse incident.

The Prime Minister also announced a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for those injured in the collapse.

At least 25 people were killed and 28 sustained injuries after a wedding hall collapsed in Bharatpur, Rajasthan last night.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is also likely to visit the incident spot.

District Magistrate N.K. Gupta said that a thunderstorm and rainfall in the district caused the wedding house to collapse.

"To protect themselves from the rain, some guests tried to stand under a wall, which subsequently collapsed, killing 22 and injuring over 28 people, out of which two have been critically injured. They have been hospitalised and are being attended to by a team of doctors," he said.

The incident took place at the Annapurna Marriage Home located on Sewar Road.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Sri Lanka at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday.

During his two-day visit to Colombo, the Prime Minister will visit Seema Malaka Temple (Gangaramaya Temple).

Thereafter, he will be attend a private dinner with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at 'Temple Trees', the latter's official residence.

On May 12, Prime Minister Modi will deliver a celebratory address at the Bandarnaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BIMCH) on the occasion of International Vesak Day.

The Prime Minister will then inaugurate the 15-bed Dickoya Hospital.

Prime Minister Modi will also be addressing the Indian origin Tamil community at Norwood Grounds.

He will then meet representatives of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (TBC). Thereafter, the Prime Minister will also be holding a meeting with representatives of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TBC).

The Prime Minister will then arrive at the President's Palace for a lunch hosted by the Sri Lankan President.

Prime Minister Modi will also visit Sri Dalada Maligawa Temple (The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic), where he will be sign the visitor's book and interact with Mahanayaks.

Just before returning to India, the Prime Minister will be meeting Sri Lankan Leader of Opposition at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

The Prime Minister will also be visiting the hilly regions of Sri Lanka that host tea plantations.

India will be giving an aid of $2.6 billion for the hospital. Sri Lanka's hilly regions home Indian Tamil people who work in tea plantains.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed various issues that concern with the growing cooperation between the two countries.

However, no MoUs were signed at the meeting.

Prime Minister Modi also met President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena.

After their meeting, President Sirisena took to Twitter to praise Prime Minister Modi and said it was "wonderful" to meet him.

"It is wonderful to meet this great human being @narendramodi in Colombo again. Thank you for gracing #InternationalVesakDay," he tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi also took to Twitter to post pictures of his meeting with President Sirisena.

Sanjay Panda, MEA, said there were no MoUs signed between the two neighbouring nations on the opening day of Prime Minister Modi's visit and the focus of the discussions was Buddhism, promotion of tourism, and enhancing the connectivity between the two nations.

"The visit assumes importance because of our common Buddhist heritage that spans over centuries," Panda added, while briefing the media about Prime Minister Modi's itinerary over the day.

"Space cooperation also featured in the discussions and India assured Sri Lanka of her help," Panda added.

Throwing light on Prime Minister Modi's schedule over the day, Panda shared that the former was received by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and other senior ministers at the airport.

Upon arrival, Prime Minister Modi went straight to the Gangaramaya temple to light the illuminations.

Following that, President Sirisena hosted a private dinner in his honour.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Leader of the Opposition, R. Sampanthan, Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, Ministers Mangala Samaraweera, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, and others participated in the dinner.

Prime Minister Modi also met former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa who had earlier accused President Sirisena of compromising the country's sovereignty and declared that black flags would be shown to the visiting Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Modi is expected to deliver a celebratory address at the Bandarnaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BIMCH) on the occasion of International Vesak Day today (May 12).

The Prime Minister will then inaugurate the 15-bed Dickoya Hospital.

Prime Minister Modi will also address the Indian origin Tamil community at Norwood Grounds.

He will then meet representatives of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (TBC). Thereafter, the Prime Minister will also be holding a meeting with representatives of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TBC).

The Prime Minister will then arrive at the President's Palace for a lunch hosted by the Sri Lankan President.

Prime Minister Modi will also visit Sri Dalada Maligawa Temple (The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic), where he will sign the visitor's book and interact with Mahanayaks.

Just before returning to India, the Prime Minister will meet Sri Lankan Leader of Opposition at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

The Prime Minister will also visit the hilly regions of Sri Lanka that host tea plantations and is the first Indian PM to do so.

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A day after he was fired by United States President Donald Trump over not being "able to effectively lead the bureau," former FBI director James Comey sent out a letter to his friends and other agents.

Comey, in the letter, said that he would be fine and would not spend time thinking about the decision or the way it was executed, CNN reports.

The letter, obtained by the CNN, is as follows:

"To all

I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply.

I have said to you before that, in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence. What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality of its people, who together make it that rock for America.

It is very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing. My hope is that you will continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.

If you do that, you too will be sad when you leave, and the American people will be safer.

Working with you has been one of the great joys of my life. Thank you for that gift.

Jim Comey"

Earlier, in a bid to sweep away the man who is responsible for an investigation into whether members of Donald Trump's campaign team colluded with Russia in its interference in last year's elections, the U.S. President fired Comey.

In a signed letter, Trump informed Comey that he was "hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately," explaining that he reached the conclusion that Comey was "not able to effectively lead the bureau," CNN reported.

"It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," the letter added.

"I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in July in Hamburg, Germany.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the announcement following his talks with the U.S. President yesterday, reports TASS news agency.

Lavrov also noted that he and the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would consider issues to be discussed by the two countries' leaders at their meeting scheduled for July.

"The presidents have held a telephone conversation recently, they confirmed their intention to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in July," said Lavrov said following his meetings with both Tillerson and Trump.

Detailing his talks with the U.S. officials Lvvrov said, "Today, Rex and I discussed the ways to advance the agenda, which includes the Syrian issue, so that we could come up with some tangible decisions before the presidents meet."

The Kremlin-Washington relations significantly deteriorated during the last U.S. regime as former president Barack Obama passed many anti-Russia sanctions.

Meanwhile, the new administration has been beleaguered over its Russia connection. Also, Trump has expressed desire to improve ties with Russia.

In their May 2, telephone conversation, Putin and Trump had discussed a number of pressing issues related to bilateral cooperation, including the prospects for coordinating steps in the fight against terrorism in Syria and solving the North Korea issue.

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Mississippi may soon find itself grooving to Snoop Dogg as the rapper is planning for a music festival at his father's hometown Magnolia.

The The 45-year-old rapper, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, had stopped in Magnolia on his way to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where he performed and discuss his plans for "Snoop Fest" with the mayor.

Snoop Dogg said that the festival's first day would feature blues, gospel and country acts for the "aunts, grandmas and uncles," with hip-hop and rhythm and blues on the second day.

The 'Drop It Like It's Hot' hit-maker stated that he wants to bring back Mississippi natives Brandy and Ray J Norwood of McComb, David Banner of Jackson, Souljia Boy of Batesville and newcomer La'Porsha Renae, also of McComb, and to give a shot to some performers who are still local.

The Young, Wild and Free' hit-maker revealed that he wants to do something that reaches out to everyone.

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Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said triple talaq is not a religious issue but related to social evils.

"Triple Talaq not a religious issue but related to social evils. A positive debate started on it. Hope a positive result will come out," he said.

Naqvi referred to the issue currently before the Supreme Court -- and being discussed by organisations representing Muslims and others.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) earlier in the day said it was confident that the verdict would be given keeping in mind the provisions of the Indian Constitution.

"We are confident that the verdict will be as per the Constitution. The Muslim Personal Law already addresses the issue of triple talaq being misused and those doing so are punished," AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali told ANI.

The cleric further said divorce rates within the community were around 0.5 percent, adding that by 2019, triple talaq cases would become negligible.

Supporting his stance, Shaista Amber, President of the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) said Muslim Personal law was a way of life, and those misusing its teachings should be punished.

"Women should have the freedom to live without the fear of talaq. The Islamic law is given to us by Allah and we do not want to change it. Women these days are well-versed with the Shariyat law and are not looking to modify, but ensure better protection against triple talaq," she said.

Furthermore, Shaista, while drawing upon secularism in India, said the Muslim women would continue to abide by the Shariyat law, adding that the apex court would surely take religious sentiments and teachings of the Quran into account before pronouncing the verdict.

"Our apex court considers religious beliefs. We are sure the decision will be taken in line with our Muslim personal law and the constitution. Just like how the Hindu Marriage Act exists, there should be a Muslim Marriage law as well," added Shaista.

Maintaining the same stand on the much debated triple talaq, the Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it opposes the system and wants to fight for women equality and gender justice.

Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi would argue the matter next on May 15.

However, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) counsel Kapil Sibal told the apex court that triple talaq is a matter which comes under the Muslim board and therefore, in his opinion the top court should not interfere into it.

"The Central Government makes rules but in my opinion the apex court should not interfere into it," Sibal said.

Earlier in the day, the apex court observed that it would examine whether the issue is fundamental to religion or not.

A five-judge bench of the apex court further observed that it would not hear polygamy issue along with the triple talaq case.

The apex court is hearing several pleas filed by Muslim women rejecting the practice of triple talaq.

Relentless debates on the validity and plausibility of this practice were instigated soon after one petitioner, Shayara Banu, challenged the Muslim personal law over instantaneous application of triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat), polygamy and nikah-halala.

Supporting the stance of ending the practice of triple talaq, the Allahabad High Court had earlier asserted that the rights of any person, including Muslim women, cannot be violated in the name of 'personal law'.

In December last year, the Allahabad High Court termed the Islamic practice of divorcing a woman by uttering the word "talaq" thrice "unconstitutional".

The court further observed that triple talaq sanctioned under Muslim Personal Law that governs marriage, property and divorce violates the rights of Muslim women.

"Triple talaq is unconstitutional. It violates the rights of Muslim women," ruled the high court, adding that no personal law board was above the Constitution.

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United States President Donald Trump has slammed the Democrats for criticising his firing of FBI director James Comey, accusing them of "pretending to be aggrieved" and "hypocrisy."

Trump took to Twitter to blast the Democrats and said, "Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey," Trump wrote in a tweet. "Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites!"

The Democrats have raised concerns about the "timing" of the sudden termination of Comey.

Earlier, in a bid to sweep away the man who is responsible for an investigation into whether members of Trump's campaign team colluded with Russia in its interference in last year's elections, the U.S. President fired Comey.

In a signed letter, Trump informed Comey that he was "hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately," explaining that he reached the conclusion that Comey was "not able to effectively lead the bureau," CNN reported.

"It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," the letter added.

"I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours."

The sudden move invoked diverse, and sharp, reactions, mostly high profile from the U.S. Senate.

Initial reactions to Comey's termination presented an almost clear picture of the United States administrative hyperbola.

However, Trump's controversial move found some support from Republicans even as more Democrat senators expressed disquiet over the sacking of Comey.

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United States Donald Trump and his team could add to Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects when they arrive in Jerusalem in less than two weeks, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said.

Welby said, "We know from history in this region that determined leadership by the president of the United States, together with patient working by lots of other people in the background, often unknown, can tip things very, very decisively," The Guardian reports.

"People have lots of views about President Trump but when he comes here my prayer for him is that he will be filled with determination and courage and be given gifts of wisdom that will make a difference," he added, while speaking on the penultimate day of his 12-day tour of the region.

"His office has the capacity to make a difference. It's one of the very few offices in the outside this region that does. And so we pray for him to be able to do that."

Welby discussed Trump's imminent visit with both Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in separate meetings this week.

Trump is expected in Jerusalem on May 22 as part of his first foreign tour since his inauguration.

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An official has said that the White House did not anticipate that the Russian Government would allow its state news agency to post photographs of the Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

According to a report by the CNN, photos of yesterday's meeting were posted by Russia's news agency, TASS while the White House did not post photos of the meeting.

The State Department did post photos of Lavrov's meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, but that was open to the press.

"They tricked us. That's the problem with the Russians -- they lie," the White House official said, adding the Russians used the photos to troll the White House in its social media posts on Wednesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry posted a photo of a smiling U.S. President shaking hands with Lavrov on Twitter while also posting a video of Lavrov joking about FBI chief James Comey's firing.

The White House blocked U.S. reporters from photographing the meeting, opting to allow only White House and Russian photographers to capture images of Trump's interactions with Lavrov. The White House official insisted it is standard practice to keep more of a lid on presidential meetings with lower-level foreign officials.

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A new study has paved the way for a promising vaccine for the Zika virus.

Preclinical results of research by City College of New York scientists and TechnoVax, Inc. in animal models demonstrated favourable outcomes in developing a vaccine against the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

The results were announced by Tarrytown, New York-based TechnoVax, a biotechnology developer of novel vaccines whose proprietary virus-like particle (VLP) is the centre of the research.

The VLP vaccine formulations tested in animals not only were highly effective in eliciting protective antibodies with neutralizing activity equivalent to or higher than the activity present in the serum of a patient who recovered from Zika infection but also were well tolerated and safe.

Jose M. Galarza, TechnoVax CEO, noted that the ZIKA VLP vaccine offers an effective and safe strategy to create a prophylactic vaccine that protect against Zika infection as well as its serious effects such as microcephaly.

The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to expand the translational research with TechnoVax by completing the Zika vaccine development and initiate new vaccine projects directed to additional virus pathogens.

The study appear online in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

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Sales rise 26.27% to Rs 10.43 crore

Net profit of Gujarat Themis Biosyn declined 12.23% to Rs 1.22 crore in the quarter ended March 2017 as against Rs 1.39 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2016. Sales rose 26.27% to Rs 10.43 crore in the quarter ended March 2017 as against Rs 8.26 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2016.

For the full year,net profit declined 8.21% to Rs 4.25 crore in the year ended March 2017 as against Rs 4.63 crore during the previous year ended March 2016. Sales rose 9.41% to Rs 35.69 crore in the year ended March 2017 as against Rs 32.62 crore during the previous year ended March 2016. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2017Mar. 2016% Var.Mar. 2017Mar. 2016% Var.Sales10.438.26 26 35.6932.62 9 OPM %16.3021.43 -16.8118.52 - PBDT1.631.70 -4 5.825.83 0 PBT1.321.39 -5 4.704.63 2 NP1.221.39 -12 4.254.63 -8

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Key indices hovered in positive terrain with moderate gains in early afternoon trade as firmness in Asian stocks boosted sentiment. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 101 points or 0.33% at 30,349.17. The Nifty 50 index rose 40.40 points or 0.43% at 9,447.70. IT stocks advanced. HCL Technologies declined after posting Q4 results. Shares of power generation and power distribution companies edged lower.

After opening with small gains, key indices had extended gains and hit fresh record highs in mid-morning trade.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.44%. The BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.49%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,324 shares rose and 1,213 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.

IT stocks advanced. Tech Mahindra (up 0.46%), Infosys (up 0.1%), Wipro (up 0.41%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.08%) and MphasiS (up 0.03%) edged higher.

HCL Technologies fell 0.14%. The company's consolidated net income rose 12.3% to Rs 2325 crore on 2% increase in revenue to Rs 12053 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q3 December 2016. The result was announced during market hours today, 11 May 2017.

In its guidance, HCL Technologies said that in the financial year ending March 2018 (FY18), its revenues are expected to grow between 10.5% to 12.5% in constant currency. The above constant currency guidance translates to 9.9% to 11.9% in USD terms based on 31 March 2017 rates.

Operating margin (EBIT) in FY 2018 is expected in range from 19.5% to 20.5%. The operating margin guidance assumes USD-INR currency rate of $1=Rs 65.50 and other currencies at FY 2017 average exchange rates.

TCS rose 0.04% after the company launched new business process service centre in Patna to create new opportunities as part of Digital India push to leverage IT industry's growth to create new opportunities for India's talent and drive inclusive growth. The announcement was made during market hours today, 11 May 2017.

Shares of power generation and power distribution companies edged lower. Torrent Power (down 0.04%), GVK Power & Infrastructure (down 0.95%), NTPC (down 0.4%), Adani Power (down 2.95%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.48%), Reliance Infrastructure (down 0.04%) and Reliance Power (down 0.31%) declined. NHPC (up 0.32%) and Tata Power Company (up 0.37%) gained.

Shares of psu coal mining major Coal India shed 0.23%.

Ashoka Buildcon rose 2.38% after the company informed that it is in receipt of letters of intent from Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL), for the projects viz. execution of urban electrification works for Ranchi and Medininagar towns in Jharkhand and electric supply to areas covering 12 towns in Jharkahand under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). The aggregate value of the above work is Rs 282.73 crore.

IPDS is the flagship program of Government of India, Ministry of Power and funded by Power Finance Corporation. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 11 May 2017.

Overseas, most Asian stocks advanced as global equities remained at record levels and a rebound in oil boosted energy producers.

Japan's current account balance posted a stronger-than-expected surplus in March on solid income from overseas investments, maintaining a run of uninterrupted monthly surpluses that has continued for almost three years. The surplus of 2.91 trillion yen ($25.45 billion) marked the 33rd straight month in the black, finance ministry data showed.

Most US stocks finished only slightly higher to hit record highs yesterday, 10 May 2017 as a quiet week of trading continued.

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Moody's Investors Service says that its Asian Liquidity Stress Index (Asian LSI) has fallen for a fifth consecutive month, registering 25.4% in April 2017 from 26.8% in March 2017.

Moody's Asian LSI measures the percentage of high-yield companies with the weakest speculative-grade liquidity score of SGL-4, and increases when speculative-grade liquidity appears to deteriorate.

"The strong high-yield issuance momentum continued in April 2017, with Moody's-rated high-yield issuance totaling $3.2 billion during the month," says Annalisa Di Chiara, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Credit Officer. "The majority of the bond proceeds has been used for refinancing upcoming maturities, supporting some of the improvement in the Asian LSI."

Year-to-date bond issuance of $13.2 billion is at the strongest level for comparable periods since 2013.

"However, despite five straight months of improvement, the Asian LSI reading remains above the long-term average of 22.8%, highlighting ongoing weakness in liquidity for many companies in Asia," adds Di Chiara.

The liquidity stress sub-index for North Asian high-yield companies fell to 25.0% in April 2017 from 26.6% in March 2017. Within this portfolio, the Chinese sub-index fell to 25.7% from 27.5%.

And, the Chinese high-yield property sub-index fell to 10.0% from 12.5%, its lowest level since October 2011. The Chinese high-yield industrial sub-index fell to 46.7% from 48.3%.

The liquidity stress sub-index for South and Southeast Asian high-yield companies dropped to 26.1% in April 2017 from 27.3% in March 2017, with the Indonesian sub-index falling to 22.7% from 23.8%.

Moody's report points out that the number of Moody's-rated high-yield companies with Moody's weakest speculative-grade liquidity score of SGL-4 fell to 32 in April 2017 from 33 in March 2017, while the total number of rated high-yield companies increased to 126 from 123 during the same period.

At end-April 2017, Moody's rated 126 speculative-grade non-financial corporates in Asia excluding Japan and Australia with rated debt of $69.7 billion.

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Sales decline 17.66% to Rs 9.37 crore

Net profit of Panasonic Carbon India Company declined 15.69% to Rs 2.74 crore in the quarter ended March 2017 as against Rs 3.25 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2016. Sales declined 17.66% to Rs 9.37 crore in the quarter ended March 2017 as against Rs 11.38 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2016.

For the full year,net profit rose 17.31% to Rs 15.79 crore in the year ended March 2017 as against Rs 13.46 crore during the previous year ended March 2016. Sales declined 1.98% to Rs 47.41 crore in the year ended March 2017 as against Rs 48.37 crore during the previous year ended March 2016. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2017Mar. 2016% Var.Mar. 2017Mar. 2016% Var.Sales9.3711.38 -18 47.4148.37 -2 OPM %29.8834.09 -36.1131.84 - PBDT4.465.25 -15 23.2021.30 9 PBT4.285.13 -17 22.7020.85 9 NP2.743.25 -16 15.7913.46 17

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Four militants and a firefighter were killed in suicide blasts on Thursday during a security raid on a suspected militant hideout in Bangladesh's Rajshahi district, a police official said.

The official said based on a tip-off, security forces surrounded a house early Thursday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Four militants blew themselves when the police tried to enter the house where members of the banned Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group were holed up," another police official said.

He said the firefighter succumbed to injuries in a hospital

Two policemen also sustained injuries as the suspected militants opened fire, said the official.

The Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was blamed for the deadly July 1, 2016, attack on a cafe in Dhaka, which killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

At least two suspected militants were killed on Sunday after police raided a house in Jhenidah district,

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists on Thursday protested outside the Election Commission headquarters here against alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs) during recent state polls.

The demonstrators, who included several AAP legislators, raised slogans against the poll panel and carried placards calling for an end to alleged tampering of the electronic voting machines.

AAP leader and Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said, "Voices have been raised in Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand against EVM tampering."

"Our MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj has shown that EVMs can be easily hacked," he said.

Rai demanded that the doubts regarding the EVMs should be resolved.

"We appeal to the Election Commission that they provide us their EVM and we will hack it," Rai, who is also the party's Delhi convenor, told reporters.

He also demanded that the Supreme Court's 2013 order of conducting elections by using the EVMs equipped with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) should be implemented.

A delegation led by Rai met the officials of the Election Commission and submitted them a memorandum of three demands.

The demands included that the commission should allow technical inspection of its EVMs by the expert panels of various political parties to see if EVMs can be hacked.

"All the future elections should be conducted only on VVPAT enabled machines. In randomly picked 25 per cent of total polling booths in a constituency, EVM counting results must be tallied with the VVPAT slips to ckeck the accuracy of the EVM machines," the AAP's memoranum of demands said.

The Delhi unit of the Congress criticised the AAP's move, saying there was no need for any protest when the Election Commission has called an all-party meeting on Friday.

"They are talking about the use of VVPAT in elections but they should be aware that the EC had used VVPAT in the Rajouri Garden by-poll where the AAP got only 13 per cent of vote. AAP is doing this to divert the attention of people from the main issues," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken told IANS.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday held a meeting with representatives from the industry over the proposed Strategic Partnership model, with sources saying that it is likely to come into force for a few of the identified sectors and might be approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) soon.

The DAC, which is chaired by the Defence Minister, is set to meet on Monday, when it may discuss the Strategic Partnership model, proposed to select key Indian private players for defence manufacturing projects, sources said, adding that its approval in the upcoming meeting has not been confirmed.

Jaitley's meeting with representatives of the industry came as an official statement said the government is looking towards institutionalising a "transparent" mechanism to encourage broader participation of the private sector in defence manufacturing under the Make in India framework.

The statement said the proposed Strategic Partnership model is intended to "enhance competition, increase efficiencies, facilitate faster and more significant absorption of technology, create a tiered industrial ecosystem, ensure development of a wider skill base, trigger innovation and enable participation in global value chains as well as promote exports."

As per sources, unlike the recommendations of the committee under former DRDO chief V.K. Aatre, the Defence Ministry may not unilaterally nominate a Strategic Partner in the identified segments but a two-stage selection process will be put in place.

Under this process, a pool of six Indian companies will be created, and based on competition, one of them will be selected as the Strategic Partner.

Only one company can be the strategic partner for one segment.

"This would gradually ensure greater self-reliance and dependability of supplies essential to meet national security objectives," the statement said.

It said that the industry representatives "welcomed" the efforts and made several suggestions, though the government did not give out any details.

The Strategic Partnership model was proposed after a report from a committee under former Director General (Acquisition) Dhirendra Singh suggested finding strategic partners for high-end defence production. A task force was constituted by the Defence Ministry under former DRDO chief V.K. Aatre, which among other things suggested fnalising only one or two partners for each sector.

The committee's report has been submitted, and it has categorised the sectors in two groups.

The first group includes aircraft, helicopters, aero engines, submarines, warships, guns, including artillery guns, and armoured vehicles including tanks, and it has been suggested that only one partner should be finalised for these.

The second group includes metallic material and alloys, non-metallic material, including composites and polymers, and ammunition including smart ammunition, for which the Task Force said two partners can be identified.

According to sources, the partnership model will be kick-started in four of the 10 identified sectors - single-engine fighter aircraft, helicopters, submarines and armoured vehicles and main battle tanks.

The private industry will also have a tie-up with an international original equipment manufacturer for these.

A chapter on this model was supposed to be there in the new Defence Procurement Procedure that was released by former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar last year.

--IANS

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Denying reports that all withdrawals from State Bank of India (SBI) ATMs will be chargeable from June 1, the largest public lender on Thursday clarified that the charge of Rs 25 is only for withdrawals from State Bank Buddy through ATMs.

"Rs 25 per transaction charge is applicable only for mobile wallet app SBI Buddy using ATM. This is applicable only for State Bank Buddy customers," the bank said here in a statement.

The clarification comes after the SBI in a notification indicated that all ATM withdrawals will be charged a fee of Rs 25, which was later replaced with the corrected notification.

The bank said that the number of free withdrawals from ATMs remained unchanged.

Jan-Dhan account holders with the SBI can avail of four free withdrawals in a month from ATMs.

Normal savings bank accounts holders will continue to get eight free ATM transactions (five from SBI ATMs plus three from other bank ATMs) in metros and 10 free transactions in non-metros (five from SBI ATMs plus five from other bank ATMs).

Earlier in the day, the Kerala assembly saw an uproar over the SBI notification on ATM withdrawals.

Addressing reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac said the only reason he could see for this "mad" new rule was that the SBI was faced with mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) that had touched Rs 1.67 lakh crore.

"This is height of madness and irresponsibility. It would be interesting to find out the list of NPAs of the SBI... One wouldn't be surprised if the majority (of defaulters) are found to be corporates."

"Just take a look at their (SBI) profits, it has dramatically come down. The charges have been levied to bring down their losses. This is something that even private sector banks would not dare think of doing," said Issac.

CPI-M's Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh said, "This is outrageous and the central government is cheating the people. Ever since the demonetisation began, the Centre has been bullying people. This is going to be taken up, both within and out of Parliament very strongly."

--IANS

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The relocation of a koala population in Australia's Victoria state began due to the marsupials' over-eating habits, officials said on Thursday.

More than 400 koalas living on French Island in the middle of the Western Port Bay will swap their ocean view for a dense forest near Kinglake, 170 km away, Xinhua news agency reported.

The marsupials will become the first koalas to call Kinglake home since the region was devastated by Australia's worst-ever bushfires in 2009, which killed 173 people.

Vegetation in the area has been declared ready to support a koala population for the first time since the bushfires.

One koala per hectare is considered a healthy ratio, with the animals consuming roughly 4 kg of eucalyptus leaves every day.

Viv Amenta, manager of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), said moving the koalas would be a "logistically challenging process".

The koalas are captured one-by-one by up to three staff members on French Island and are then given an anaesthetic and a health check.

Female koalas are given hormone implants to prevent them from reproducing.

Up to 30 koalas are then put into special boxes and loaded onto a barge which takes them to the Mornington Peninsula before being driven to their new homes.

"All of this happens in one day and the koalas are then kept overnight before transporting them to their new home," Amenta said on Thursday.

"Koalas have to be released within 36 hours."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Beijing will fund Dhaka for construction of the ninth Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge and other infrastructure development projects, offcials here said.

Bangladesh's Economic Relations Department (ERD) Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang signed an agreement in this regard on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ma said China has been supporting Bangladesh's infrastructure development to help it realise its economic development goals.

"I hope we can use this money smartly and more efficiently so that more and more people can benefit from this excellent relationship between Bangladesh and China," Ma said.

Azam said Bangladesh's relationship with China was excellent and outstanding.

Seven such bridges have been completed across Bangladesh and the eighth is under construction over the Kocha river, he said.

"It will be a symbol of friendship actually. We hope that we will be able to sign another grant agreement in near future."

The Chinese assistance will play a vital role on the economic and social development of the country as well as the communication sector, an ERD statement said.

The construction of the first Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge, 917 metres long, began in October 1986 and was completed in February 1989.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The daughter-in-law and grandson of an elderly woman were arrested on Thursday for allegedly killing her with a sharp weapon in West Bengal's Howrah district, police said.

"An elderly woman named Uma Panja (70) was found dead at her residence in Howrah district's Uluberia on Wednesday night. There were deep wounds in the deceased's body," an officer from Uluberia police station said.

According to police, Panja's body was found lying in a pool of blood by her other family members who lodged a complaint against her daughter-in-law and grandson for committing the murder.

"The daughter-in-law and the grandson of the deceased were arrested on the basis of the FIR lodged. Both are being interrogated. The motive of the murder is not clear yet," the officer said.

"We have recovered a bloodstained 'Da' (sharp one-edged knife with a haft) from the room which might have been used in the murder," he added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dell Technologies' business in India has seen a major upswing, thanks largely to the Indian government's big digital push, according to an official of the company.

Alok Ohrie, President and Managing Director, India Commercial of Dell EMC, said the company had to double its resources in the country to meet the demand of government business.

"The company is present from the edge to the data centre to the cloud. We have an end-to-end product line. Any improved citizen service would require all these technologies," Ohrie told IANS in an interview on the sidelines of Dell EMC World 2017 here.

The company is participating in various government projects like e-Passport Sewa and the Central Board of Direct Taxes tax collection portal built on the Dell Technologies platform. The upcoming Goods and Services Tax Network is also being built on the company's platform, he said.

It is also actively participating with various state governments in their e-governance projects.

The company has India offices across nine cities -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. The manufacturing facility of the company is at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. The company has over 3,000 commercial channel partners.

Talking about the India business, Ohrie said, the company is banking on three areas -- customers embracing technology to bring in a competitive edge, various initiatives by the Indian government and the banking and financial sector's growth.

"The work pressure on IT infrastructure in the recent past has gone up significantly, especially in the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) sector following demonetisation," he added.

The company's India operation is the company's third-largest, following the US and China markets. "India has a critical role to play in the global market," Ohrie said. In the last four years, the India operation's ranking has improved from ninth position.

Asked whether the company is planning another manufacturing facility in India, Ohrie said the current one's capacity is not yet fully utilised. It manufactures around three million units of personal computers, notebooks and servers every year.

(Aparajita Gupta is in Las Vegas at the invitation of Dell EMC. She can be reached at aparajita.g@ians.in)

--IANS

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Hollywood actress Demi Moore might come to India to promote Indian-American film "Love Sonia", says director Tabrez Noorani.

The director added that Moore's role in the David Womark production is small, but she was excited to get on board.

Asked if Moore will visit India to promote the film, Noorani told IANS over phone from Mumbai: "We don't know about it yet. But there is likelihood that she could come (to promote the film in the country)."

"Love Sonia" depicts the brutal realities of human trafficking across the globe. The movie also features Mrunal Thakur, Richa Chadha, Anupam Kher and Frieda Pinto.

Noorani is in Mumbai for the post production work of "Love Sonia". The release date will be locked soon after all the work on the film is wrapped up.

How did Moore find her way into the film? Noorani says she got attracted to the film due to her NGO Thorn that works to abolish sexual slavery and trafficking.

He said: "Demi has her own NGO and fights sex trafficking using technology. So she wanted to get on the project. It is a very small part but was happy to get on board."

In the past, Noorani has been associated as a line producer with projects like "Life of Pi", "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol", "Zero Dark Thirty", "Eat Pray Love" and "Slumdog Millionaire" -- which will air on Sony PIX on May 26.

--IANS

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Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appeared in court where he was questioned by the country's top anti-corruption judge over graft charges, the media reported.

He was closely questioned for five hours by Judge Sergio Moro on Wednesday in a courthouse in the city of Curitiba where thousands of the former leader's supporters gathered in a square nearby, the BBC reported.

Lula has rejected allegations that he received a luxurious beachfront apartment as a bribe in a corruption scandal linked to the state oil company, Petrobras.

This is the first of the five charges Lula is facing related to the Car Wash scandal, the nickname for Brazil's biggest ever corruption probe,.

However, he said the trial is politically motivated and has denied any wrongdoing.

If Lula is found guilty he will face a prison sentence. If cleared, he has said he will run again for the presidency.

Judge Moro is expected to give his verdict in 45 to 60 days.

Known throughout Brazil simply as Lula, he was the South American nation's most popular President during his tenure from 2003 to 2010, reports the BBC.

A former steel worker turned union leader, he came to office as the first left-wing leader in Brazil.

Unable to stand for a third consecutive term, he was succeeded by close ally Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached last year.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Corruption is "like a cancer" that daily wrecks the lives of people across Latin America, Pope Francis told bishops on Thursday, calling it "one of the most serious sins that plagues our continent today".

"Corruption devastates lives by submerging them in the most extreme poverty," Francis wrote in a letter to the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) at the start of its episcopal conference in El Salvador.

"It's a corruption which destroys entire populations by subjecting them to precariousness. It's a corruption that, like a cancer, consumes the daily life of our people," Vatican Radio cited the letter as saying.

Francis deplored graft as "one of the most serious sins that plagues our continent today," and urged Latin American bishops to get closer to local people "especially those on the peripheries".

Representatives from 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries, the US and Canada are attending the CELAM conference, entitled "A poor Church for the poor" which runs through Saturday.

--IANS

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Actor Sushant Singh Rajput will be seen doing a signature step of Shah Rukh Khan in a song titled "Sadda move" from the upcoming film "Raabta". He says he is a big fan of the superstar.

"I have grown up on Shah Rukh's films and I'm a big fan. In fact, he is the only actor I went to a set to meet, but unfortunately couldn't," Sushant said in a statement.

There is a special part of the song where Sushant spreads his arms and does the signature Shah Rukh step. The film's team shot this moment in the fields. They also put together Shah Rukh's look from the iconic film "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge", a jacket and a hat.

The 31-year-old actor says he likes it that he can pay a tribute to "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" in Dinesh Vijan's directorial.

"When the team told me that we are including a SRK step I was immediately on board. I like, how we were able to include the 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' homage in our other song," he added.

Talking about SRK's signature move, Vijan said: "Everyone has that one particular dance move they love and this song is about showcasing your move. Sushant is a huge fan of SRK and he became an actor because of him. It was his idea to pay homage to the famous SRK pose."

"Raabta", which also stars actress Kriti Sanon, is set to release on June 9.

--IANS

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India and the US discussed maritime cooperation in the second round of the India-US Maritime Security Dialogue, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

"During the Dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on maritime developments in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region and considered steps to further strengthen bilateral maritime security cooperation," the ministry said in a statement.

"They also reviewed the implementation of the decisions taken at the first Maritime Security Dialogue held in May 2016," it stated.

The Dialogue was held on May 9-10 in Newport, Rhode Island, in the US.

The Indian delegation was led jointly by Pankaj Sharma, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs) and Munu Mahawar, Joint Secretary (Americas Division) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Devika Raghuvanshi, Joint Secretary (Navy) in the Ministry of Defence.

The US side was led by David Helvey, performing the duties of Assistant Secretary of Defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, and Sean Stein, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

The next round of the Dialogue is scheduled be held in India, according to the statement.

--IANS

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Rising Pune Supergiant will aim to secure a play-off spot while Delhi Daredevils will only have pride to play for when they meet in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Friday.

Sitting at the third spot with eight wins and four losses, Pune are currently on 16 points. They will like to continue their form and will be eager to bag two crucial points from this tie which will put them at the joint top spot with Mumbai Indians and gurantee them a berth in the knock-out stage.

Delhi, on the other hand, are languishing at the bottom of the IPL standings and are already out of contention for the play-offs as they only managed to have five wins in 12 league matches so far.

Delhi have once again been hugely inconsistent this season. Their bowling line-up, on paper at least, is one of the strongest in the IPL but has failed to step up to the occasion.

The batting has also been inconsistent as their top and middle-order batsmen failed to click in unison.

Looking to salvaging some pride, the Zaheer Khan-led side, however, can take some positives ahead of the match as they defeated Gujarat Lions by two wickets in a thriller contest on Wednesday.

Chasing a mammoth 196, Delhi lost half their side for 105 runs before Shreyas Iyer (96) and Australian Pat Cummins' cameo (24 off 13 balls) guided the visitors to the win.

Pune, meanwhile, will aim to carry on their winning momentum.

Young opening batsman Rahul Tripathi, who performed consistently throughout the tournament, has emerged as the find of the tournament for the Pune side.

The visitors will be hoping for another good performance from the Maharashtra right-hander along side skipper Steve Smith, Manoj Tiwary, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ben Stokes.

Pune's main concern will be the form of the other opener Ajinkya Rahane, who has failed to compliment the hard-hitting Tripathi at the top.

The bowlers are also in good form. Jaidev Unadkat, who returned with figures of 5/30 from his four overs, including the hat-trick in the final over against Sunrisers Hyderabad, will also boost the bowling line-up.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu called on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday and held discussions on, among other issues, cooperation in state industrial and tourism sectors.

He discussed the opportunities for higher education in his country for students from Uttar Pradesh, an official said.

The Japanese envoy pointed out how India and his county shared longstanding cultural and historic relations.

The Chief Minister said Uttar Pradesh wished to use these ties for the development of the state.

Ambassador Hiramitsu said the upcoming Convention Centre in Varanasi, announced by Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe during his visit to the Uttar Pradesh city along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be completed soon.

Varanasi and Qyoto have signed a 'partner city' agreement under which modernisation of water supply, sewerage, and waste management will be taken up.

Japan has given financial assistance for regeneration of Ganga river in Varanasi, waste disposal and setting up of the Fatima Hospital in Gorakhpur and a school in Ambedkarnagar.

Hiramatsu assured of similar assistance and cooperation by his country in future too.

The Japanese envoy also informed that Official Development Assistance (ODA), an arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, also provides loans to minimise pollution from thermal power plants and expressed Japan's desire to make these power plants modern by use of new techniques.

The Chief Minister said his government was working to develop the Buddhist circuit encompassing Varanasi, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Kapilvastu and Shrawasti and other areas for the benefit of pilgrims from Japan and other countries.

The Ambassador said his country's government will be willing to chip in for training of state's teachers in teaching of Japanese language.

The facility for learning Japanese has been made in Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, Banaras Hindu University and Amity University, Hiramatsu added.

Similar to educational exchanges between IIT-Kanpur and Tokyo University, other similar pacts can be inked with state universities for research, the envoy added.

The Ambassador expressed the desire to bring a delegation of industrialists and investors from Japan to Uttar Pradesh, which was welcomed by the Chief Minister.

--IANS

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Jharkhand's opposition parties on Thursday expressed unhappiness over the new Medical Protection Bill passed by the state cabinet which ensures "protection" of the doctors.

The opposition parties said the bill -- according to which anyone found damaging hospital property will have to pay twice the price of the damaged property -- will neither help the doctors nor patients.

"Only corporate houses running hospitals and nursing homes will be benefited from such a bill. The patients will continue to suffer. The patient's relatives are forced to pay hefty amount by the hospital management. Jharkhand government should bring Patient Protection bill," Supriyo Bhattacharya, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) General Secretary, told reporters here.

The Jharkhand cabinet on Tuesday approved the Medical Protection Bill 2017 which also has a provision for a three-year jail term for the person who damages hospital property.

Terming the bill as "anti poor", Congress General Secretary Alok Dubey said: "Jharkhand cabinet cleared two proposals on Tuesday, one was medical protection and second was to reduce the open area from 15 to 10 per cent for constructing buildings. Both have been approved to benefit the corporate houses and builders."

"In Jharkhand, the health sector is the worst. Jharkhand money is drained to other states for medical treatment. Such acts will work against poor people," he said.

--IANS

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A BJP delegation on Thursday apprised the Election Commission of the deletion of names of Kashmiri Pandits from the electoral roles and the cumbersome process they had to go through in exercising their right to vote.

The delegation, under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Vikas Manch (JKVM), led by Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also apprised the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi about the numerous difficulties faced by the community in exercising their right to vote in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The M-form is a procedure under which migrant Kashmir Pandits have to repeatedly submit documents to prove that they were genuine displaced people from the Kashmir valley and intend to vote. As a result of this complicated process the number of displaced voters decreased constantly," a statement said.

The JKVM said that the number has reached a dismal number of few thousand from around 200,000 prior to displacement.

"The decrease was progressive with only 147,000 voters left on voter list in 1996 that went further down to 117,000 in 2002 and even more disappearing from the voter list, down to 71,000 in 2008. It seems the community is being disfranchised under a design."

"From around 170,000 before 1989 our number is shown as 72,793 in 2008. It is showcased as an increase from 26,679 in 2002. All this is due to complicated procedure of voting that is open to manipulation by vested interests." the statement said.

The delegation demanded a sustained campaign should be undertaken by the Commission to ensure 100 per cent registration of eligible voters.

It also demanded that the voting booths for the community should be increased to make it possible for the voters to reach there conveniently.

The delgation demanded that electoral rolls of Kashmir valley are made available to the community in English or Devnagri.

"The Commission assured that necessary steps will be taken to remove the hurdles. The CEC also promised to deploy a senior officer of Deputy Election Commissioner's rank to oversee and work out the modalities," the delegation said.

--IANS

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A day after he was sacked from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), former PWD minister on Thursday accused party supremo Mayawati and her brother of making illegal demands, including asking Rs 50 crore for the party.

Addressing a press conference, the former BSP General Secretary also alleged that Mayawati had called Muslims "traitors".

Siddiqui, who has expelled along with his son a day ago, said he had "ample proof" that Mayawati, her brother Anand and party General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra made illegal demands to him.

Alleging that Mayawati had asked for Rs 50 crore from him, he said: "I asked from where can I get this amount, to which, she asked me to sell my property."

The expelled leader claimed he tried to explain to her that his property was not worth even a quarter of money she was asking for.

Siddiqui said after the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress cobbled an alliance ahead of the February-March assembly elections, he told Mayawati the Muslims were drifting towards the alliance.

"An upset Mayawati called the Muslim community 'gaddar' (traitors)," the former minister said.

He also accused the former chief minister of insulting him and many senior party office-bearers repeatedly.

Siddiqui said he had dedicated his whole life to the BSP and the Dalit leader, but she expelled him from the party on flimsy grounds.

She did not even give me an audience to explain whatever was said against me, he said.

"I am pained that sacrifices made by me and my family for the last so many years have been rewarded with sudden expulsion," Siddiqui said.

The former Minister also denied charges against him and his son, who too has been expelled from the BSP.

He said the BSP fared badly in the 2012 and 2017 assembly elections and the 2009 and 2014 general elections due to Mayawati's wrong policies and actions.

Siddiqui, once a confidant of the BSP chief, was expelled along with his son Afzal on Wednesday for alleged involvement in anti-party activities.

Mishra also accused him of taking money from candidates during the 2017 assembly elections, in which the BSP's tally fell to an all-time low of 19.

Siddiqui, a three-time senior minister in previous BSP governments, was also accused of becoming a partner in many slaughterhouse businesses and holding "benami" properties at many places.

He has denied all charges.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena here ahead of the "International Vesak Day" celebrations where the Indian leader will be the chief guest.

"Delighted to meet President @MaithripalaS in Colombo," Modi tweeted soon after the meeting.

On his part, Sirisena said in a tweet: "It is wonderful to meet this great human being @narendramodi in Colombo again. Thank you for gracing #InternationalVesakDay."

Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day, which is celebrated to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

He will attend the opening ceremony of the Vesak Day celebrations here on Friday.

The visit follows an invitation from Sirisena. It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.

This is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day. The theme of the event is "Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace".

Soon after his arrival, Modi took part in a traditional lamp lighting ceremony at a Buddhist temple here as part of the International Vesak Day celebrations.

"In holy sanctum. PM @narendramodi visits Gangaramaya temple @ d famous Beira Lake, lights lamps @ temple on Vesak Day eve," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

As Modi pressed a switch, the entire complex of the Gangaramaya temple, one of the most important Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, was lit up with colourful lights, which was followed by fireworks in the sky.

According to India's state broadcaster Doordarshan, Modi, who was accompanied by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, also offered prayers at the temple.

The Gangaramaya temple was established in the late 19th century by one of the most famous scholar monks, Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumanagala Nayaka Thera.

Its complex comprises the temple, the "seema malaka" or assembly hall for monks in the picturesque Beira Lake and a vocational training institute.

Modi will open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital at Dickoya in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.

The Indian Prime Minister will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic -- a tooth of Lord Buddha.

In Pallekele, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India's grant assistance.

Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, the visit is expected to give fresh boost to India-Sri Lanka ties.

Last month, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had visited India.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JAMESTOWN, N.D.  White Cloud, the albino bison, returned to the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown on Tuesday  this time mounted.

A Jamestown Police Department escort led a truck carrying the completed preservation of White Cloud from the Jamestown Civic Center through downtown to the museum.

The $50,000 preservation project started soon after White Cloud died Nov. 14 at the Shirek Buffalo Ranch near Michigan, North Dakota.

Tex Weatherly, a member of the National Buffalo Museum board of directors, said the decision to have White Cloud mounted was made before the 19-year-old bison died. The board decided that after spending most of her life with the herd at the National Buffalo Museum, that White Cloud should be preserved after she is gone.

We knew that someday she was going to pass, Weatherly said. This turned out really nice and were pretty happy with her.

White Cloud lived to be more than 20 years old. She had 11 calves, including another white bison named Dakota Miracle. Another offspring of White Cloud, named Dakota Thunder, carries the albino gene and is the father of a third white buffalo, Dakota Legend.

The birth of an albino bison is a rare event considered sacred by many American Indians.

More than three million museum visitors had seen White Cloud through the years when she was alive.

Monte Hoggarth, the Jamestown taxidermist who completed the preservation project, said it was a monumental effort when it began. It took 10 days to alter the mount and get the hide to fit.

Everything came back from the tanner well and she mounted up really good, Hoggarth said. There was concern about getting White Clouds white fur to look natural, but it turned out really nice, he said.

It was quite an honor to have the museum give me an opportunity to do such a piece like this, he said. The community is pretty proud of her and there is the tourism part of it, so people stopping in will be able to see her up close and its going to be a good addition to Jamestown.

Dave and JoAnn Vining donated $30,000 toward the restoration project to get it underway in December. Dave Vining said the couple was asked to make a donation and it seemed to be a good cause for Jamestown.

People have been donating for years and we thought it was our turn to pitch in, Vining said. We thought it (White Clouds preservation) was a very nice job.

White Cloud will be part of a larger exhibit on the significance of the white bison in indigenous cultures, said Ilana Xinos, executive director of the National Buffalo Museum. White Cloud will be seen in a temporary museum setting until the permanent exhibit is completed, she said.

Shes just really such a special animal and we are really happy to have her back, Xinos said.

The museum opened on May 1 after a monthlong closing to complete a renovation to the building and has an $8 admission fee. A lobby redesign and a 25-seat theater was added to offer the approximately 25,000 annual visitors a chance to view a 16-minute documentary on the history of the bison prior to viewing the exhibits.

The building received new insulation, and exhibit space is being updated to present a more interactive experience for visitors of all ages.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with new South Korean President Moon Jae-in over phone and invited him to visit India.

"Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in. Wished him every success and invited him to visit India soon. 'Together we succeed'," Modi tweeted.

Moon was sworn is as South Korea's new President on Wednesday after his victory in Tuesday's presidential election.

Moon succeeded Park Geun-hye, who was removed by a Constitutional Court on March 10, over a series of corruption allegations.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rabat, May 11 (IANS/MAP) A delegation of Moroccan parliamentarians is currently in South Africa to take part in the fourth session of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), being held in Midrand, near Johannesburg, from May 8 to May 19.

Speaking in the wake of the Kingdom's return to the African Union (AU), which took place at the organisation's 28th summit held in Addis Ababa in January, this participation aims to prepare for Morocco's official return to the legislative body of the AU, the report said on Thursday.

"Our participation is aimed at finalising the procedures for Morocco's accession to the Pan-African Parliament," Abdellatif Abdouh, a member of the House of Councillors (Istiqlal party), told MAP.

He said that the participation is part of the framework of the dynamisation of parliamentary diplomacy to accompany the return of the Kingdom within its African institutional family.

The return of Morocco to the PAP will be formalised on the occasion of the fifth session of this Parliament, which will be held next October, Abdouh added.

The members of the Moroccan delegation -- three members of the House of Representatives and two of the House of Councillors -- will hold meetings with several African delegations.

Mohamed Zakrani, deputy of the parliamentary group of the constitutional assembly in the House of Representatives, stressed the importance of Morocco's return to the PAP, noting that this return will defend the interests of Morocco.

Another official said that Morocco's return to the PAP will mark the beginning of a new chapter in Morocco's relations with Africa.

"The presence of Morocco in the PAP will enable the Kingdom to defend its just and legitimate causes within a pan-African legislative institution whose influence is constantly strengthening," the official said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Opposition parties, after holding discussions in the past few days, appear to have considered a few names, including former Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Speaker Meira Kumar, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, to pick a common candidate for the upcoming Presidential election.

Though a decision on the candidate will take some time, the process of evolving a consensus is gaining momentum.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has initiated the process of bringing opposition parties together for the election slated in July in a bid to evolve a consensus on a candidate.

This also being seen as a precursor to the possibility of opposition parties coming together to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, who was Secretary to the President when R. Venkataraman held the post, is also said to have a good equation with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, when he was Governor there. He himself has acknowledged that he has been approached.

Sonia Gandhi has over the past few days met Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, National Conference's Working President Omar Abdullah, Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Communist Party of India-Marxist chief Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D. Raja, and spoken to Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.

Gandhi, who was admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram hospital due to food poisoning on May 9, is believed to have spoken to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee from the hospital. The two are likely to meet on May 16. She will also meet DMK leader M.K. Stalin and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in the coming days.

"Sonia Gandhiji is trying to build a consensus on the presidential election over phone, and even by meeting leaders of the opposition parties. But we are waiting for the BJP to announce their candidate. Let them first declare their candidate," JD-U leader K.C. Tyagi told IANS.

Asked if consensus has been arrived at on any candidate, Tyagi said: "A consensus has not been yet reached on any of the names. Let the notification be issued. But we have done our homework already. We will all contest the elections together."

Asked about the names of probable candidates doing the rounds, Tyagi said: "Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a good name, but no consensus has been reached on that. Meira Kumar is also a good name, Sharad Yadav is also a good name."

"No consultations have taken place formally on the names together. Till the BJP announces its candidate or till the election date is announced, all this is just preliminary talk," he added.

A senior Left leader told IANS that the united opposition will wait for the BJP to announce their candidate. He also said that they will announce the name in the end.

"Announcing the name may land the candidate in a legal entanglement, like BJP patriarch L.K. Advani. Immediately after his name started doing the rounds for presidential candidature, the Supreme court revived the conspiracy charge against him on the Babri Masjid demolition," said the leader.

Janata Dal-Secular leader Danish Ali said they will first wait for the government to announce its candidate and only then will they take a stand on it.

"If the government proposes a consensus candidate it will be good for democracy. The government should consult the opposition parties before taking any decision.

"If we don't agree with the government's proposal and if the candidate is not suitable for Rashtrapati Bhavan, if he comes from the right-wing ideology, then the opposition will be forced to field a candidate in that scenario.. And JD-S will stand by the opposition parties," Danish Ali told IANS.

AIADMK leader V. Maitreyan told IANS: "We'll have to see who are the candidates first (from both sides) and also how the Tamil Nadu scenario unfolds. It's too early to comment on this."

However, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal and Shiv Sena, which have been non-committal on the issue so far, will play a crucial role in the presidential elections.

Sources in the BJD said that if Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu's name is proposed by the ruling establishment, the party may have difficulty in opposing her. Murmu's name has been doing the rounds for the top post. She is a tribal politician, who hails from Odisha.

Opposition parties are also trying to garner support from the Shiv Sena and some of the its leaders are in talks with Shiv Sena leaders.

A Congress leader said that if Sharad Pawar becomes the opposition candidate, the Shiv Sena may extend support to him.

In another unity move, DMK leader Kanimozhi met Sonia Gandhi last week and invited her for her father and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi's 94th birthday celebrations in Chennai.

Karunanidhi's birthday on June 3 is likely to be attended by leaders from several opposition parties, including Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad, Sitaram Yechury, D. Raja, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Sharad Pawar. Kerala Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Pinarayi Vijayan may also attend.

The term of President Pranab Mukherjee ends in July. The BJP-led NDA appears to have an advantage as it has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha and rules many of the bigger states.

The electoral college for the election of President consists of elected members the two Houses of Parliament and members of the legislative assemblies and councils.

(Sidhartha Dutta can be reached at sidhartha.d@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday said that he and US President Trump "did not even raise" the issue of any Russian meddling in the election in their meeting.

The meeting came a day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been in charge of the investigation into any ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, CBS News reported.

Lavrov, after meeting with Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday morning, emphasised that the topic did not need to be raised because both he and the US President had already thoroughly addressed it publicly.

Lavrov said "not a single fact" exists to support any Russian intervention in the election, and Trump has persistently called any Russia-US ties "fake news."

"That is why there is no need for him to tell us anything, or to give us assurance behind closed doors," Lavrov said, asked if he received any assurances from Trump about his belief that Russians had meddled in the 2016 election.

Lavrov told reporters the "noise about our contacts (with Trump associates), the fake information" makes for "abnormal background" for relations with the US, calling the whole situation "humiliating" for the American people.

"I believe that politicians are damaging the political system of the US trying to pretend that someone is controlling America from the outside," Lavrov said.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to Comey's firing, said, "We had nothing to do with that."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The district administration has issued a notice to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for using 10,000 square feet land in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli that belongs to the state, an official said on Thursday.

The Trust is giving vocational training to a group of local women on that land.

The district officials said that the land was never transferred to the Trust, hence it was illegal.

They said the land had been earmarked for various activities of the state government like community health centres, schools and other community facilities.

The illegal use by the Trust came to light during a recent review of such plots.

Officials said that a notice has been sent to the local office bearers of the Trust and they were awaiting a response.

"If we are not satisfied with the response, a final notice will be sent and after that action will be taken to vacate the land," an official added.

The land was earmarked in 1982 for vocational training for women by the then District Magistrate but while the Trust started work on the land under the Rajiv Gandhi Women Development Project, there has been no transfer of land thereafter.

The Trust does not have any papers to show their possession of the land.

Rae Bareli is the parliamentary constituency of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the district Congress leaders say the land was given to Thakur Das Trust in 1984.

Since the land was lying vacant, a project to provide provisional training to hundreds of women was started, the Trust officials said. They also said there has been no misuse of the land in any form.

They said that a legal team of the Trust was studying the notice and would respond soon.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Opposition parties will, in all likelihood, again tell the Election Commission about their "loss of faith" in EVMs and to ensure trustworthy mechanism for polling, when an all-party meeting on the issue is held here on Friday.

The meeting will also discuss electoral reforms.

The EC is likely to seek suggestions for its proposed "EVM challenge", which will provide a chance to those doubting Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to prove that these can be tampered with.

The meeting comes in the wake of doubts repeatedly raised by many opposition parties on EVM working once results of assembly polls in five states were declared on March 11. The Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Leaders of 13 parties met Election Commission officials in April to convey their "complete loss of faith" in the EVMs and to demand use of VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) and paper ballots in future polls.

These opposition parties had also conveyed their concerns on the EVMs to President Pranab Mukherjee.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati had raised apprehensions about tampering of EVMs the day Uttar Pradesh assembly election results were out.

The Aam Admi Party, which lost the assembly elections in Punjab, and later the municipal corporation elections in Delhi, also raised its voice on the issue.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj threw a fresh challenge before the poll panel on Thursday by saying his party can prove how the EVMs used in assembly polls were pre-programmed to favour a particular party.

The AAP on Tuesday sought to demonstrate in the Delhi assembly how an EVM can be tampered with, though the Election Commission debunked the claim by saying the machine used was a mere "prototype".

The AAP also contended that it could show how EVM motherboards can be changed in 90 seconds.

AAP activists even protested outside the Election Commission headquarters here on Thursday against alleged EVM tampering.

The Congress, Trinamool Congress and several other parties have raised their concerns over EVMs.

The AAP and Congress had demanded polling through ballot papers for last month's Delhi MCD polls but the the Delhi State Election Commission said EVMs were "completely safe".

The Election Commission too has repeatedly asserted that the EVMs cannot be tampered with.

On May 4, the poll panel released a "Status Paper on Electronic Voting Machines" describing the security measures adopted to make them tamperproof.

Congress leader and MP Vivek Tankha, member of the Congress delegation at the all-party meeting, told IANS that the Election Commission has to take a call on making the election process trustworthy.

He said EVMs do not enjoy their trust any more.

"The Election Commission has to take a call. At the end of the day it (elections) is all about trust," Tankha told IANS.

He said VVPAT, the paper trial mechanism that enables a voter to confirm if the vote he has been cast for a candidate actually goes to him, has not been universally installed.

Tankha, Chairman of the Legal and Human Rights Department of the Congress, said going back to the paper ballot could also be a solution.

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat said the party supports use of paper trail system in each and every election.

"It is a fact that the EVMs can be hacked. However, the only way to secure these against manipulations is to have a paper trail system. So, every election from now on has to have VVPATs," Karat told IANS.

Amid concerns raised by the opposition, the Union Cabinet last month cleared the Election Commission's proposal to buy VVPAT machines for the EVMs to ensure transparency in the voting process.

The proposal involves getting 16,15,000 VVPAT units for EVMs at a cost of around Rs 3,173.47 crore for use in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her state would never stop its fight against intolerance, notwithstanding the silence maintained by other states.

"The intolerance in the name of religion that is going on in the country can only be battled by Bengal. Bihar may be silent, Maharashtra may be silent, Odisha may be silent but West Bengal will never be silent. We don't care... how much difficult a situation Delhi creates. We only care for the people," Banerjee said at a meeting here on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.

Targeting the BJP, she accused it of inciting riots.

The Trinamool Congress supremo said: "We do not believe in government by the dangabaaj (riotous), for the dangabaaj, of the dangabaaj."

"I am in but it does not give me the right to dictate what others will eat or not. They are nothing but pseudo-religious," she added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Russian court on Thursday gave a three-and-half year suspended sentence to a blogger after he posted a video of himself playing the location-based augmented reality game, Pokemon Go in a church, the media reported.

The court in the city of Yekaterinburg found Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, guilty of insulting religious believers and inciting hatred, the BBC reported.

He filmed himself playing the popular game in the local Orthodox Church built in remembrance of Tsar Nicholas II in August 2016.

In the video, Sokolovsky -- just before going inside the church -- is seen saying that the risk of being arrested is "complete nonsense".

"Who could get offended if you're just walking around with your smartphone in a church?"

He was arrested shortly afterwards, reports the BBC.

Sokolovsky was also found guilty of "illegal trafficking of special technical equipment" after a pen with a built-in video camera was discovered during the search conducted at his home.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated Emmanuel Macron, the President-elect of France, on his victory and said that India looks forward to strengthen bilateral ties.

"I warmly congratulate you on your election to the office of President of the French Republic," Mukherjee was quoted as saying in a statement issued on Thursday.

"In giving you a decisive mandate, the people of France have demonstrated their confidence in your leadership and vision," he said.

Mukherjee said India looked forward to consolidate bilateral relations further with Macron's new government.

"I am confident that the long-standing friendship, mutual trust and understanding between our two nations will continue to strengthen in the years to come."

Macron, 39, was elected France's next President on Sunday after he emerged victorious over his far right rival Marine Le Pen.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress-producer Priyanka Chopra's Sikkimese production "Pahuna" will have its trailer screened at the upcoming edition of the Cannes Film Festival, says the movie's director Paakhi A. Tyrewala.

The prestigious gala is due to begin from May 17, and apart from Bollywood actresses Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, India will be represented on the platform by the team of "Pahuna".

Paakhi didn't disclose much about the trip to the French Riviera, but told IANS over the phone: "Its trailer showcasing is in Cannes this year."

Talking about the "Mary Kom" star and her mother Madhu's involvement in the project, the debutante director said: "When Priyanka got on board, things got very easy. The Sikkim government is almost like a co-producer of the film. The project started from March 2016. Priyanka got on board in December.

"She came to India and met me. Soon, the film's recce began and we started shooting in March. Priyanka as a producer is extremely supportive. She has a vision and sees the world very differently from most of the producers I've seen."

She said for Priyanka, who is supporting the film through her and her mother's banner Purple Pebble Pictures, it's not only about money.

"She is financially very sound, especially her mother. They know their numbers and still have a vision. 'Pahuna' doesn't have a regional market. They saw it as world cinema. So, it feels good to have somebody by my side who exactly understands it."

Priyanka often flies in and out of India due to her commitment to the American TV series "Quantico", apart from Hollywood film "Baywatch", which is ready to hit the screens on June 2.

But apart from acting in international and Bollywood projects, she also manages to take out time to produce regional films. In fact, she also made an appearance in her debut Marathi production venture "Ventilator".

Will she do the same in "Pahuna"? "No," said Paakhi.

Any known faces in the film?

"It has local talent -- Amol Subba and Ishika Gurung," said the director, based in Mumbai.

Since she stays miles away from the northeast state, how did it strike her to make a movie based on it?

"I was in Sikkim 13 years ago. I was an Art of Living teacher. I fell in love with the state. Then the story came to me," she said.

"The whole idea was not the lack of competition, but the fact that we will be the first feature film there. There have been (Sikkimese) films, but they have been more like home videos. There's no film industry as such.

"The idea was to start a film industry in Sikkim. A lot of people don't even know that it is a part of India. They think one needs a passport to go there. I believe stories bring people together."

Didn't language pose a problem for her?

"I don't know the language that well. I had a local boy, Bishwas. He helped me with the dialogues in Nepali and Sikkimese," said the wife of director Abbas Tyrewala, to whom she gives full credit for encouraging her to make the film.

"Whenever I would say 'I can't do it', he would say 'You have the passion. Hold on to it'."

She also got help from the Children's Film Society, India (CFSI).

"Had it been just CFSI, it would have been just a regional film. 'Pahuna', which means a visitor, is an international film. It's a big story in a small area," she said about the movie which will premiere in Sikkim in October.

Is it a children's film?

"It can be viewed by children, but it's not a children's film. It's about children. When you say a children's film, you see it as a simplistic film or just an entertaining film.

"We are dealing with issues like gender bias, idea of currency... Money is money, but there is a currency divide, impact of older people on children, our fear of the unknown."

Last month, Presidential approval was given to a parliamentary panel recommendation that the National Film Development Corporation either dub regional movies in Hindi or carry subtitles. Does she consider it a good move?

"I think it's a smart move to increase the market of regional films. Look at 'Baahubali'. It is doing so well. Ideally, I would like it to be only subtitles, but a lot of people don't want to read while watching a movie.

"I'd say take it (regional film) to every state and dub it accordingly."

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)

--IANS

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday urged Washington would "reverse" its decision to arm a Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) before his visit to the US next week.

Speaking on a joint press conference with Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma in Ankara, Erdogan said, "A terrorist group cannot be defeated with another one," Xinhua citing private broadcaster NTV as saying.

"Everything that happens in Syria and Iraq is a matter of national security for Turkey," he stated.

The president said he would express his concerns in this regard at the meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump on May 16, adding the same issue would also be brought up at the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on May 25.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A photographer for a Russian state-owned news agency was allowed into the Oval Office during US President Donald Trumps meeting with Russian diplomats in a level of access that has been criticised as a potential security breach.

Former US intelligence officials pointed to the danger the extra-ordinary access posed in that a listening device or other surveillance equipment could have been brought into the Oval Office hidden in cameras or other electronics, the Washington Post reported.

The ex-intelligence officials raised questions after photos of Trump's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were posted online by the Tass news agency.

When asked whether it was a sound decision to allow the Russian photographer into the Oval Office, former deputy CIA director David S. Cohen replied: "No, it was not."

The White House played down the danger, saying that the photographer and his equipment were subjected to a security screening before he and it entered the White House grounds.

Other former intelligence officials also described the access granted to the photographer as a potential security lapse, noting that standard screening for White House visitors would not necessarily detect a sophisticated espionage device.

An administration official also said that the White House had been misled about the role of the Russian photographer. Russian officials had described the individual as Lavrov's official photographer without disclosing that he also worked for Tass.

"We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency," the administration official said.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at the Russian Embassy after his talks with Trump and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Lavrov did not hide his irritation with questions about Moscow's alleged meddling in the US presidential election.

"I never thought I'd have to answer such questions, particularly in the US, given your highly-developed democratic system," he said.

Lavrov said that no evidence exists linking Russia to hacked Democratic Party emails and that the issue of Russian interference in the campaign did not arise in his meeting with Trump, according to the report.

In a statement after the meeting, the White House said Trump had "emphasised the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria", particularly urging Russia to "rein in" the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran.

Trump also urged Russia to implement the Minsk accord reached in 2014 in an attempt to end the fighting in Ukraine.

--IANS

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Newly appointed South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, a holdover from the former government.

Hwang, who took office in June 2015, offered to resign on Wednesday after Moon was sworn-in following his victory in Tuesday's presidential election, Yonhap News Agency reported.

He had served as acting President since December when former leader Park Geun-hye was impeached over a corruption scandal.

With his departure from office, Yoo Il-ho, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, will serve as acting Prime Minister.

Hwang joined the Park government as Justice Minister in March 2013 soon after its inauguration.

Meanwhile, President Moon also appointed senior presidential secretaries earlier on Thursday.

He has also planned to re-organise the presidential office, and its plan will be announced during an emergency cabinet meeting scheduled later in the day, presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok told the media.

Cho Kuk, 52, was named as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs. He is a law professor of Seoul National University.

Cho Hyun-ock, a professor of Ehwa Woman's University, was named as senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs. It is for the first time a woman has assumed the post.

Yoon Young-chan, a former vice president of Naver, the most used search engine, was appointed as senior press secretary, and Lee Joung-do, a former finance ministry official, was named as secretary for general affairs.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US Senate has voted to uphold a climate change regulation implemented by former President Barack Obama's administration to control the release of methane from oil and gas wells on public land, the media reported.

Senators on Wednesday voted 51 to 49 to block consideration of a resolution to repeal the 2016 Interior Department rule to curb emissions of methane, a powerful planet-warming greenhouse gas, The New York Times reported.

Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine who have expressed concern about climate change and backed legislation to tackle the issue, broke with their party to join the Democrats and defeat the resolution.

The vote was also the first to unwind regulations approved late in the Obama administration.

"People of America and people of the world can breathe a sigh of relief," said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York.

"We were surprised and thrilled to win on this," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of the League of Conservation Voters, which, along with other environmental groups, has lobbied the Republicans to vote against the repeal of the methane rule.

"This is clearly a huge win for our health and our climate," The New York Times quoted Sittenfeld as saying.

The methane rule was one of a suite of environmental regulations put in place by Obama as he sought to use his executive authority to tackle climate change across the US.

While methane vented from oil and gas wells accounts for only a small portion of the nation's greenhouse gas pollution, environmental advocates urged Obama to tackle the emissions, because methane is over 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the earth's atmosphere.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Software-defined data centres and fifth generation telephony will define the future of technology world in the next five to 10 years, feels Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies.

"If we look ahead in the next 5-10 years, I do see couple of things happening. Software defined data centres will become pretty much defacto standard," Dell said.

"Another thing we see in the five-year time frame, is the emergence of 5G cellular network. Japan is leading the way, but we expect it will be a global phenomenon," he said at the Dell EMC World 2017.

Saying that 5G cellular network is all about data, Dell said its low latency characteristics will create a new kind of computing cloud, that is different from cloud of today.

Speaking about the fast changing nature of technology and its impact on industry, he said: "Every industry is having to reimagine itself given all these new access today. They want to be proactive to protect themselves from new companies showing up."

It is always a fast changing super interesting business, said Dell.

Talking about the company's focus, he said: "We are very focussed on infrastructure. We want to be the essential infrastructure company for this fourth industrial revolution."

He reiterated that the personal computer business remains at the core of Dell's business.

"We make PCs but we are focussed on the data centre, enterprise and commercials."

Earlier he had said: "Clearly what Dell Technologies has done is just beyond PCs. But PCs are still very important to our customers and to us. Actually for us, the average selling price of PCs are going up and not down. The revenues of the PC business is up. And with that our share in PC market is going up as well."

Dell EMC employs around 140,000 people in 180 countries across the world. It has a combined revenue of $74 billion.

(Aparajita Gupta is in Las Vegas at the invitation of Dell EMC. She can be reached at aparajita.g@ians.in)

--IANS

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London, May 11 (IANS/WAM) Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani discussed bilateral relations on the sidelines of an international conference being held in London on Thursday in support of Somalia.

During the meeting, the two discussed means of achieving sustainable development in Somalia along with a number of issues of mutual interest.

The Qatari Foreign Minister reiterated his country's commitment to supporting the Somali people in countering the challenges they face and their efforts towards building a stable state and achieving sustainable development.

The one-day conference in London seeks to accelerate progress on security, development and economy of the troubled east African country by 2020.

The meeting will be co-chaired by the Somalia President, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Forty delegations from countries and international institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the League of Arab States are set to participate.

The gathering will focus on stimulating growth in one of the world's poorest countries and securing a path towards debt relief.

According to reports, the meeting was timely as drought, piracy and militant Islamist group Shabaab were all reappearing on the radar.

The UN said last week that Somalia, hit by drought and on the verge of famine, will count 1.4 million acutely malnourished children by the end of the year -- up 50 per cent from late 2016.

--IANS

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Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet on Thursday said that it has expanded its international operations to Male, the Maldives.

The airline launched its daily direct flight service from Thiruvananthapuram to the Maldives capital on Wednesday on a Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

Besides Male, the airline offers connectivity to six other international destinations -- Dubai, Bangkok, Colombo, Kabul, Dhaka, and Muscat.

Currently, SpiceJet on an average operates 354 daily flights to 46 destinations, including 39 domestic and seven international ones.

The airline connects its network with a fleet of 32 Boeing 737NG and 17 Bombardier Q-400s.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his visit to Sri Lanka is a sign of "strong relationship" between the two countries.

"I will be in Sri Lanka for a two-day visit starting today. This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," Modi said in a Facebook post.

He will be inaugurating a hospital in Sri Lanka built with Indian assistance.

"During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on May 12, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," the Prime Minister said.

He also said that it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Prime Minister emphasised that his visit brings to the fore the "shared heritage of Buddhism" calling it "one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka".

Recalling his last trip to the island country in 2015, Modi said: "I had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries."

"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he added.

The Prime Minister said that his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

He will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital, built with Indian help in an umscale area.

He will interact with the Indian-origin Tamil community there.

--IANS

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Days after Afghanistan's cross-border attack in Chaman, its envoy to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal said the Taliban could not have re-emerged in Afghanistan without help from within Pakistan, and peace cannot be restored without Islamabad's help.

No country is better placed to help the peace process in Afghanistan than Pakistan, Zakhilwal told an international conference about peace in Afghanistan on Thursday.

Zakhilwal raised questions about the effectiveness of the ongoing peace efforts in the region, and said that although a number of processes were in place for keeping peace, "there is a question mark on how effective these measures are", Dawn reported.

The Afghan envoy held Pakistan responsible for the Taliban's return to Afghanistan, saying, "The Taliban could not have returned to Afghanistan without help from within Pakistan."

"Taliban have the hidden support of some countries, while there are also questions about the peace-keeping efforts from Russia," he added.

The envoy maintained that peace would prevail in Afghanistan if Pakistan and India joined hands to resolve the issue, and lauded Islamabad and New Delhi for their efforts at trying to keep the peace in 2002.

"We should understand what peace is before talking about it," Zakhilwal said, adding that "help from Iran and Saudi Arabia will go a long way".

Talking about the new terror threats that the region faces, Zakhilwal reminded the conference participants that the IS terror group, a rising threat in the region, is currently engaged in an ongoing tussle with the Afghan Taliban for regional dominance.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHEYENNE, Wyo.  Wyoming launched its latest effort Thursday to diversify its economy, this time with a committee that will look for new opportunities beyond the state's heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

Gov. Matt Mead gave a pep talk to kick off the first meeting of the ENDOW Executive Council tasked with producing two recommendation reports by year's end. The name stands for Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming.

The 25-person panel, which also plans to meet Friday, follows in the footsteps of several not-too-successful economic diversification efforts. The last was in the late 1990s, when Gov. Jim Geringer first suggested the internet could be an economic lifeline for Wyoming, the least-populated state.

Other efforts as far back as the 1960s involved Mead's grandfather, Gov. Clifford Hansen. One in the 1970s looked at manufacturing Barbie dolls.

"Thank goodness we didn't jump on that wagon. But the point is, the idea of diversity is not new in Wyoming," Mead told the committee.

"One of the reasons we fail to diversify the way we want to, we tend to look at it in a two-year, four-year, eight-year term that goes with election cycles," he said "We need a much broader view. We need a 20-year plan to diversify our economy."

Coal, oil and natural gas extraction provide 70 percent of Wyoming's state revenue. All three industries are in a slump right now, requiring major spending cuts by the Legislature.

Public education spending alone is up against a $350 million shortfall. That doesn't count school construction funds that have nearly dried up amid federal coal leasing that has ground to a halt.

The ups and downs in state revenues makes planning difficult, Mead said.

But an even bigger reason to diversify the economy, he said, is to encourage young people to remain. Sixty percent of Wyomingites between 18 and 25 leave the state.

"If we don't reverse that trend, we're not going to be all that Wyoming can be and should be. And it's not just what they bring in terms of their ideas and enthusiasm. Those are our kids and our grandkids and our great-grandkids," Mead said.

Committee co-chairman Greg Hill, CEO of Hess Corp., said he left Wyoming as a young man and spent 25 years trying to find a way to move back. He now lives in Wilson.

While previous economic diversification initiatives came from out-of-state consultants, this one will involve people who live in Wyoming, Hill pointed out.

"I do believe it's going to be different this time," Hill said.
The Telangana government has suspended five police officers for their alleged links with renegade Maoist-turned-gangster Nayeem, who was gunned down by police in an alleged exchange of fire last year.

Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Sharma on Thursday issued orders suspending the officers.

Those put under suspension are Additional Superintendent of Police (CID) Maddipati Srinivas Rao, Assistant Commissioners of Police serving in Hyderabad M. Srinivas Rao and Chintamaneni Srinivas, and Circle Inspectors Ramgopal and Mastan.

Police sources said further action would be taken against the suspended officers if they were found to have income disproportionate to their known sources of income.

This is first time that the government acted against policemen facing allegations of nexus with Nayeem and his gang. Investigations are going on against some other officials as well.

Nayeem was gunned down by police in an alleged exchange of fire on August 8 in Shadnagar town near Hyderabad.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe several cases against Nayeem and also allegations that some politicians and policemen had links with him.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had told the state assembly in December that after the death of Nayeem, police registered 174 cases, arrested 124 accused, and seized firearms and properties worth over Rs 100 crore.

He said the gang's involvement was established in 27 murder cases and it was suspected to be involved in another 25 murder cases.

He had said police had filed two charge-sheets and 15 more charge-sheets were ready to be filed.

As a Maoist, Nayeem had killed an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer K.L. Vyas in 1993. After being expelled from the People's War Group (PWG) for indulging in extortion, he turned a police informer to help them effectively counter Left-wing extremism, which was then at its peak.

Nayeem, with alleged help from police, eliminated some top Maoists and their sympathisers in then united Andhra Pradesh.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of people on Thursday attended the cremation of a paramilitary officer from Tripura killed in a terror attack in Assam.

Amal Sarkar, 42, of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) was cremated at his ancestral hometown Baikhora, 115 km south of Agartala.

The body was laid to rest with full state honours in the presence of his parents, wife, children and close relatives.

Sarkar, a Sub-Inspector of the 15th Battalion of SSB, was killed on Tuesday during a joint operation by the Army and para-military forces in Manas reserve forest in Assam's Chirang district.

Earlier on Thursday, his body was brought to Agartala from Guwahati. West Tripura District Magistrate Milind Ramteke and others received the body at the Agartala airport.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump invited newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit Washington at an early date and Moon accepted the invitation, the White House said on Wednesday.

Trump spoke with Moon to congratulate him and the South Korean people on "his great election victory and their peaceful, democratic transition of power," Xinhua quoted the White House as saying.

The two leaders agreed to continue to strengthen the US-South Korea alliance and to deepen the enduring friendship between the two countries.

Moon was sworn-in as new South Korean President on Wednesday.

In a televised inaugural speech, he said he will be on the move for peace on the Korean Peninsula, vowing to visit Pyongyang, under right conditions.

The new South Korean leader also vowed to sincerely consult with the US and China to resolve the issue on the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faced jeering from Bethune-Cookman University graduates on Wednesday as she gave a commencement address that many students and graduates said she was in no place to deliver.

As she opened her remarks, some students stood and turned their backs to her. At times hecklers drowned out her remarks, CNN reported.

After noticing resistance during her speech, DeVos told the crowd, "While we will undoubtedly disagree at times I hope we can do so respectfully. Let's choose to hear one another out. I want to reaffirm this administration's commitment to and support for (historically black colleges and universities) and the students they serve."

The commencement programme said she was slated to speak an hour or more, but she wrapped up her remarks in nearly 20 minutes.

A huge chorus of boos erupted when DeVos was awarded an honorary doctorate, and again when she said she would visit the home of school founder Mary McLeod Bethune to pay her respects.

Witnessing the whole scenario, School president Edison Jackson interrupted DeVos' remarks and warned the students.

"If this behaviour continues, your degrees will be mailed to you. Choose which way you want to go," he said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma on Thursday held a review meeting at the Agra Circuit House and said the priority of the new government was transparency and efficient governance.

Speaking at the meeting, after a visit to inner city areas to oversee the cleanliness drive, Sharma directed the district administration to launch a comprehensive anti-encroachment drive and free the roads of all illegal obstructions.

CCTV cameras have to be installed at all important centres and civil defence personnel should be mobilised for traffic management, he said.

Reviewing the law and order situation in the district, Sharma directed the administration to free all community ponds and identify land mafiosi for effective action.

Two doctors would now be posted at the post mortem centre from morning till evening, to ensure people did not have to pointlessly run around and face avoidable inconveniences, he said.

A committee headed by the divisional commissioner will work out plans for door-to-door collection of garbage. Sharma instructed the municipal officials to clean up all the drains before monsoon.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A US Congressional delegation led by Democrat Nancy Pelosi called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Thursday.

Welcoming the delegation, Modi appreciated "the strong bipartisan support of the US Congress in deepening the partnership between India and the US", the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Modi and the delegation exchanged views on issues of bilateral and mutual interest.

Modi also called for further enhancing exchanges with the US Congress.

On Wednesday, the delegation met Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala and reaffirmed their commitment to the Tibetan cause.

Leader of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, Pelosi is leading a bipartisan Congressional delegation to India, Nepal, Germany and Belgium.

The team is focusing on national security, global economy, bilateral and multilateral relations and human rights.

The delegation also includes Jim Sensenbrenner, Eliot Engel, Jim McGovern, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Joyce Beatty and Pramila Jayapal.

China has denounced Pelosi's meeting with the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959.

--IANS

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The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the city government what difficulty it faced in shifting the protest site from Jantar Mantar to Ramlila Maidan in the national capital.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra directed the Delhi government as well as Delhi Police to explain through a map the exact location at Jantar Mantar where protests are presently allowed.

The court also asked Delhi Police to submit details on protests taking place, apart from the kind of permission required.

Area residents had approached the court to say that frequent protests and the number of protesters at the Jantar Mantar made it hard for persons living nearby to ingress and egress from their respective buildings.

The petition claimed that police was permitting protests in the public street between Tolstoy Marg and Ashoka Road and the road is obstructed every day due to protests.

Even emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines face obstruction due to presence of a large number of protesters, the plea said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In its preparation to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, NASA may send a year-long crewed mission around the Moon in 2027, media reported.

The lunar presence would serve as a launching point for the spacecraft that will carry humans to Mars, a NASA official was quoted as saying by Space.com on Wednesday.

The area of space near the moon offers a true deep space environment to gain experience for human missions that push farther into the solar system, access the lunar surface for robotic missions but with the ability to return to Earth if needed in days rather than weeks or months.

NASA recently announced that its Mars plan now includes building a "deep-space gateway" around the Moon, Greg Williams of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate said during his presentation at the Humans to Mars Summit in Washington DC on May 9.

This deep space gateway would have a power bus, a small habitat to extend crew time, docking capability, an airlock, and serviced by logistics modules to enable research.

However, before that year-long Moon mission, there would be at least five missions, four of them crewed, to deliver hardware, such as a crew habitat, Williams said.

Williams said that to carry a crew to Mars a Deep Space Transport vehicle would also be delivered.

"If we could conduct a yearlong crewed mission on this Deep Space Transport in cislunar space, we believe we will know enough that we could then send this thing, crewed, on a 1,000-day mission to the Mars system and back," Williams was quoted as saying.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This week, Jammu and Kashmirs Chief Minister accused Indias television anchors of encouraging nastiness against her people. I request national media to not show discussions on TV that spread hatred against people of J&K in the country, said Mehbooba Mufti. A few people pelt stones, all youth of J&K doesnt do that. If all had done sloganeering, so many people wouldnt have passed in the recent exams, she added.
Union ministers will travel across the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will communicate to the beneficiaries of his government's schemes as part of a mega exercise to mark its third anniversary.

The 15-day long exercise will start from May 26, when Modi addresses a meeting in Guwahati, and include over 300 exhibitions to be held across the country to highlight the government's "achievements".

The prime minister may also visit more cities as part of the exercise.

Sources said Modi's vision of a 'new India', which he has often referred to in his recent speeches, will be highlighted as the party seeks to underline the government's development agenda in the run up to a series of assembly polls and then to 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The exercise will include ministers highlighting the works of their ministries during the last three years.
After the victory of Liberal candidates in France and South Korea, Congress leader on Wednesday expressed hope that "achche din" are ahead for liberals in India and urged them to unite and fight out right-wing and communal forces.

"Liberals win in Korea too after France defeating Right Wing. "Achhe Din" for Liberals.

"All Liberals who want to fight Right Wing Communal Forces in India must get together without any hang ups and personal vested interests (sic)," he said on Twitter.

The Congress has been asking Opposition parties to come together under a united front to stop the BJP juggernaut.

In the recently held Presidential elections, Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron defaeted far-right Marine Le Pen in Frence, while South Koreans elected liberal candidate Moon Jae-in.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, Congress leader and former Speaker Meira Kumar, senior Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) leader Sharad Yadav and former West Bengal Governor Gopal Gandhi are among the names being considered by the opposition parties as their joint candidate for the presidential election.

A top opposition leader said these four names have emerged as the top picks for the likely alliance of the several non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties, including the Congress, the Left, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the JD(U) among others.

With his vast political experience, Pawar is being seen as a natural choice for such an opposition grouping while Kumar is a Dalit leader and hails from the Congress, which is the biggest non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Yadav is a veteran socialist leader with extensive parliamentary experience.

Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and respected scholar, enjoys cross-party appeal. Trinamool Congress (TMC) is keen on his name, sources said.

Gandhi PTI that he has been approached by some opposition leaders but declined to name them.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s (CPI(M)) Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, Yadav as well as other opposition leaders have held talks to evolve a consensus for pitting a joint candidate against the NDA's choice.

Efforts are also on to widen the opposition alliance by roping in TMC, Naveen Patnaik-led Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJD) and several regional parties from the southern states.

The electoral college clearly favours the NDA choice for the top constitutional post, more so after the BJP's emphatic win in Uttar Pradesh. Though it is still short of a clear majority but its leaders are confident of getting the required support.

Many opposition leaders believe that putting up joint candidate irrespective of the outcome of the election may also mark the coming together of a larger alliance against the BJP in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The electoral college for the presidential polls has a total of 11,04,546 votes with the BJP-led NDA tally currently standing at about 5.38 lakh votes.

The ruling alliance also received a boost on Wednesday with the YSR Congress Party Chief Jagan Mohan Reddy pledging his party's support to it. It also hopes to get support from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) factions.
One person was killed and fours others were injured when the car in which they were travelling to Delhi fell into a ditch near Khatoli in this district, police said today.

The victims, all members of the same family, were returning from Haridwar when the accident took place on Delhi-Haridwar national highway last evening, a police official said.

The deceased has been identified as Jugal Kishor(40), a resident of Laxmi Nagar in Delhi, the official said, adding the injured have been admitted to a hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was a bloody day on Uttar Pradesh's roads as 12 people lost their lives in a spate of mishaps across the northern state in the last 24 hours.

In Amethi, two persons were killed and another seriously injured when a speeding SUV hit their motorcycle in Gauriganj area here, police said.

The incident took place last evening near the Panga curve when the SUV hit the motorcycle, leaving rider Awdesh (20) and one of the two pillion riders Anil Kumar (22), both residents of Panga village, dead.

Police said the trio was travelling without helmets.

The SUV driver fled the scene of the accident,



In another incident, three generations of a family were were wiped out when a woman along with her daughter and granddaughter were killed in Maharajganj after the bike they were travelling on was hit by a truck, police said.

There were four persons on the bike.

The deceased have been identified as Kamla (55), her daughter Sheela (35), and granddaughter Anamika (5).

The person riding the bike suffered injuries and was rushed to a hospital, where his condition is stable.

In Bhadohi, a young couple and their two sons on a bike were mowed down by a speeding truck.

The incident occurred in Aurai area here when Virendra (30), his wife Somari Devi (27), their sons Arpit (6) and Ajit (5) along with one Dinesh Bind (26) were travelling on a bike.

After the bike was hit by a truck, Virendra, his wife and the children died while Dinesh was rushed to the hospital, where his condition was stated to be stable.

The truck driver managed to flee from the spot in the vehicle. An FIR has been registered and the police are looking to arrest the driver.

In Muzaffarnagar, one person was killed and fours others injured when their car fell into a ditch near Khatoli while travelling to Delhi police said.

The victims, all members of the same family, were returning from Haridwar when the accident took place on Delhi-Haridwar national highway last evening, police said.

The deceased has been identified as Jugal Kishor (40), a resident of Laxmi Nagar in Delhi.

Another two persons were killed and three injured when a roadways bus hit them in Turra village in Banda district, police said.

The incident occurred yesterday when the bus rammed into a few people walking along roadside.

Lalla (40) and Acchelal (35) were killed on the spot.

The three injured were rushed to the hospital where their condition was stated to be stable.

The bus driver and conductor managed to flee, leaving behind the vehicle. An FIR has been lodged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least two primary school students were drowned and four others missing after they went for a swim in a river in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, police said today.

The students, who were from Qingshuikou Township Central Primary School in Beiliu City, went for swimming after school yesterday.

Frogmen aided the search overnight and found the two bodies, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

The city government have asked schools to warn students of the dangers of strong river currents.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It took more than three decades for a group of 40 Sikhs to get compensation after they were detained for a few days by the Army and Punjab police during the Operation Blue Star.

Advocate Bhagwant Singh Sialka, who fought the case for 40 Sikhs, today said that all the petitioners were arrested from the Golden Temple on June 6, 1984, and were kept in illegal custody by the Army and police until June 14 in a temporary jail made at Kendriya Vidyalaya in the army cantonment area of Amritsar and later in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, even after discharge order by a local court there.

He said finally the petitioners won the case after a legal battle for 33 years.

Sialka said that initially there were 270 petitioners who had filed the case, many died and some gave up and in the end only 40 left to continue their legal battle against the system.

He said that many of them were SGPC employees and devotees who had come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple when operation Blue star was launched by the Indian Army.

He said, "on April 12 last month, a court ordered the state and central governments to pay Rs 4 lakh compensation to each of the 40 men".

He claimed that in June 1984, these 40 Sikh petitioners were detained by the Army and Punjab Police illegally.

He said that District Session Judge Gurbir Singh on April 12 in his judgement called it a "case of malicious prosecution, illegal detention and maltreatment on the part of authorities/defendants."



He said the court order states, "No evidence is there on record that plaintiff had fired towards Army personnel during the Operation Blue Star".

Besides the compensation of Rs 4 lakh each, the order says, "the plaintiff is held entitled to interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date of filing the suit", informed Sialka.

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Two police sub-inspectors were suspended today for allegedly producing ten arrested farmers in a Khammam magisterial court near here in handcuffs.

The two Armed Reserve Police sub-inspectors were suspended after a political row erupted following the farmers' production in court in handcuffs.

The ten chilli farmers had been arrested for "vandalising" Khammam Agriculture Market Yard office on April 28 during an agitation triggered by sudden fall in chilli prices.

Following their production in the court, the farmers were eventually granted bail and released.

After suspending the SIs for "breaching" the handcuffing norms, an inquiry too was ordered into the incident, said IGP (North Zone) Y Nagi Reddy.

"Two Armed Reserve Police sub-inspectors, who were leading the police team and responsible for following the rules regarding the use of handcuffs, failed to do so. They were placed under suspension," Reddy said.

"Handcuffing was not necessary. There are clear guidelines and if the handcuffing of the accused is required, necessary magisterial permission has to be taken," he added.

An Additional DCP rank-officer has been appointed as the inquiry officer, Reddy told PTI.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and Telugu Desam Party, meanwhile blamed the TRS government for the incident.

TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the TRS government had committed the grave mistake of handcuffing the farmers.

"It is highly shocking that the accused farmers were brought to the court handcuffed. Are they terrorists or extremists? What is the message the TRS government is trying to convey by handcuffing the poor farmers? Is it trying to say that anyone who holds protest against the TRS government will be considered a hardcore criminal?" he asked.

Terming it as an act of "high-handedness" of the state government, TDP legislator Sandra Venkata Veeraiah said the handcuffing of farmers was not justified.

He said his party will hold dharna (sit-in) for the next two days to protest against the cases filed against farmers.

On April 28, the farmers had brought chilli to the Khammam market yard hoping to sell the produce for a better price, which suddenly dipped below the expected level, triggering an agitation by farmers, the police had said.

According to the police, they had vandalised the market yard office and damaged the furniture.

The farmers in the state have been demanding better price for chilli as the price has dipped to around Rs 6,000 per quintal this season as against Rs 12,000 per quintal last year.

According to the Telangana marketing department, bumper production of chilli coupled with slackening exports has resulted in drop in the price.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid growing resentment in his party BJD over non-representation of over 12 districts in the ministry, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said the MLAs from all areas cannot be included in the Cabinet.

"We have 30 districts. All 30 districts can't be represented in ministry. There is a limit to the number of ministers you can have," Patnaik told reporters on his return from Delhi after four days.

Patnaik had left for the national capital soon after the new ministers had taken the oath of office on Sunday.

Asked as to how the agitating party workers who took to the streets over non-representation of their districts would be pacified, he said "I have come back from Delhi just now. I will certainly look into their problems."



When reporters drew his attention to Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda's 'tweets' that many people of the party left and the resentment was growing over non-representation of many districts, Patnaik said "I do not think any (BJD) leader as such has joined the BJP. One or two, who were expelled from the party on anti-party activities have done so."



He was referring to former BJD MP Jayaram Pangi and BJD youth leader Amar Nayak joining the BJP this week. Pangi was earlier suspended from the BJD for anti-party activities.

Meanwhile, at least six MLAs have expressed 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 openly expressed their 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.

"People have started asking us as to why none from Jajpur got a berth in the ministry," Satpathy said while Nayak termed the ministry as "imbalanced."



Supporters of Raseswari Panigrahi and Padmanav Behera have already hit the streets against their leaders not being included in the council of ministers.

In Sundargarh, the BJD workers expressed their grievances over non-inclusion of the 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.

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Teenager Arjun Maini today joined Haas F1 Team as one of its development drivers, making him only the third Indian to be part of a Formula One squad after Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok.

Haas signed Bengaluru-based Maini along with American Santino Ferucci as development drivers for the team that made its Formula One debut last season.

Like Ferrucci, Maini will be "embedded" with the American outfit, attending races and tests throughout the year while also participating in the team's simulator program.

However, there is no confirmation on when he would make his debut in a Formula One car.

"His debut drive depends on how his GP3 goes. He will start with simulator work in Maranello at the Ferrari simulator," Chandhok, who also happens to be Maini's manager, told PTI.

Asked about the significance of this role, Chandhok added:



"It's a good first step into the F1 world and Arjun will learn a lot. How we convert this to a race seat in F1 will largely be down to his season in GP3 which starts this weekend."



Chandhok and Karthikeyan are the only Indians who competed in Formula One with the latter scoring points when he finished fourth in the six-car United States Grand Prix in 2005.

Maini joined GP3 midway into last season after he had no option but to exit the F3 programme. He ended up competing in 14 out of 18 GP3 races, finishing 10th in the standings including a second place in Hungary.

It has been learnt that Maini did not have to pay for the development driver role with Haas signing him on merit.

"Arjun was successful in karting and has transitioned well to various Formula series and now GP3. We'll keep a keen eye on his progress this year," said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner.

Maini said it was an honour to be part of a Formula One team.

"All of my racing to date has been with the focus of becoming a Formula One driver, and this opportunity puts me one step closer to my goal.

"I am eager to learn, understand and experience how a Formula One team operates. Everything I learn can be used immediately in GP3 while preparing for my ultimate goal of Formula One," he said.

The GP3 series opener will be held alongside the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.

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The Delhi police has arrested an alleged arms manufacturer and supplier carrying a reward of Rs one lakh for his apprehension.

The accused, Richhpal Singh (48), was arrested on May 8 from north Delhi's Burari after a brief scuffle, said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell).

Police have seized 11 pistols and 14 live cartridges from him. The Delhi Police had declared a reward of Rs one lakh for his arrest.

The officer said that Singh is involved in more than 10 cases of Arms Act, Explosive Substance Act, murder, attempt to murder, and dacoity in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Telangana, Maharashtra among others.

He was also wanted in four cases of Arms Act registered by the Special Cell here.

He has links with Maoists in Telangana since he used to supply arms and ammunition including hand grenades to them, said the officer.

Singh had supplied three pistols, 28 live cartridges and two country-made hand grenades to Maoists of CPI(ML) Praja Prathigatane faction in 2006 and he was arrested along with two others in that case, he added.

The Special Cell has been tracking suppliers of illegal firearms in Delhi and has found that illegal weapons are pumped into the national capital from Khargone, Dhar and Burhanpur (MP) and Munger (Bihar).

In the last six months, the Special Cell busted four different modules of illegal arms racket led by Singh, arrested seven associates and recovered 117 semi-automatic pistols, one carbine along with ammunition, said the officer.

Even after the arrest of his associates, Singh continued his business. Several raids were conducted at possible hideouts of Singh in MP but he was not found.

Police received a tip-off about him coming to Delhi to supply pistols to his contact. He was nabbed from near Nirankari Samagam Road, Burari, on May 8 around 12.45 PM.

When the police team tried to nab him, he whipped out his pistol and fired at them.

Singh has been involved in this trade for more than 30 years. In 2006, he was arrested for supplying weapons to Maoists, and was later granted bail.

He did not attend court after that and was declared a proclaimed offender.

Singh told police that it costs him Rs 3,000 to manufacture a pistol and he supplies these pistols in bulk at Rs 10,000 per pistol.

Pistols supplied by him in Delhi are further supplied to dreaded criminals of Delhi and adjoining states at Rs 25,000 per piece.

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A Syrian migrant has been jailed for life in Austria for executing 20 wounded government soldiers in his home country.

The court in the western city of Innsbruck announced its ruling yesterday after a jury found the 27-year-old guilty of 20 charges of "murder as a terror offence".

The man, who denied the charges, was detained in a refugee shelter in Tyrol state last June after being denounced by a fellow Syrian.

According to Austrian media, the accused had boasted to other asylum seekers of belonging to a rebel unit and shooting unarmed or injured troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar-al Assad.

After his arrest, the man initially admitted to the 2013 -2014 killings in the western region of Homs but later retracted his confession, saying his testimony had been badly translated.

The translator rejected this in court: "The defendant told me he had shot badly wounded soldiers. I asked him to repeat his claim and he did."



The man, who was not named, was tried for war crimes under Austrian law.

Austria could not extradite him to face charges in Syria because of the bloody six-year civil war pitting Assad's troops against rebel groups.

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Normal life was paralysed in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district today in a bandh called to press for Medical Council of India (MCI) nod to start a medical college and hospital here in the 2017-18 academic session.

The dawn-to dusk bandh was by and large peaceful as shops, business establishments, banks and offices remained closed and vehicular movement came to a grinding halt, police said.

The courts in the district remained closed which paralysed judicial activities during the bandh called by the district bar association and supported by political parties like Congress, CPI and CPI-M, police said.

With bus services disrupted due to the bandh, a large number of passengers were stranded at different places. Protesters resorted to road blockade on the NH 18 and 49 which left hundreds of vehicles stranded on the highways, police said.

Uncertainties prevailed over the start of the new Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital here as MCI is yet to give the Letter of Permission (LoP) for the purpose, said Prabir Kumar Basa, President of the District Bar Association.

Odisha government has sought intervention of the Supreme Court-mandated oversight committee following failure to get the LoP from MCI to start the medical college here.

"I am drawing your kind attention to gross injustice done to PRM Medical College and Hospital, Baripada by MCI for not recommending for issuance of LoP for commencement of 100 undergraduate intake seat from 2017-18 academic session despite fulfilment of all the mandates," Odisha's health and family welfare secretary P K Meherda said in a letter to Sekhar Kumar, oversight committee secretary.

Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had also sought Union Health Minister J P Nadda's intervention.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan too had taken up the matter with Nadda.

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West Bengal government today said it remained optimistic on seven new IT parks in the state despite job loss threat looming on technology companies over H1B visa crisis.

"We have 13 IT parks currently and we are going forward with seven new parks," state IT minister Bratya Basu said at a seminar organised by Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BNCCI).

The crisis of H1B visa was not yet felt in West Bengal and no major IT companies in the state had approached the government on retrenchment, he said.

Basu said that if the latest round of auction for Sonarpur hardware park failed, the IT ministry would try to reduce the price of land.

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Former US president Bill Clinton and best-selling author James Patterson are in talks with potential filmmakers for a movie adaptation of their upcoming book "The President Is Missing".

This is the third book penned by Clinton and will hit the shelves in June next year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The duo have retained CAA's Richard Lovett to handle the rights and to help them get in touch with filmmakers interested in the project.

This would be the first book-to-film outing for Clinton, who has written three books since leaving office in January 2001, namely, "My Life" (2004), "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World" (2007) and "Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy" (2011).

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The body of a youth, swarmed by flesh-eating ants, was found outside the state-run M Y Hospital here, the police said today.

According to an official from the Sanyogitaganj police station, the unclaimed body was found lying at the hospital's entrance last night.

The identity of the deceased and the cause and time of his death are yet to be ascertained, he said.

It is also not known whether the young man was undergoing treatment at the hospital.

When contacted, Hospital Superintendent, Dr VS Paul, said he had no information on the deceased and the police is probing the matter.

The body has been sent for autopsy, he said.

This was not the first such incident in Indore.

In June last year, a similar matter was reported from a district hospital when ants preyed upon the corpse of a three-day old baby girl, awaiting post-mortem in the mortuary.

She had died due to alleged negligence of the hospital staff.

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The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) today urged the government to enact a "Buy Bharatiya Act" which would make it mandatory for government departments to purchase only goods produced in India.

Continuing with its campaign against the use of Chinese products in India, it submitted a memorandum, addressed to the prime minister, to 430 District Collectors across the country.

The SJM also declared 2017 as the "Year of the boycott of Chinese goods and companies".

SJM co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said in the memorandum that China had taken "advantage" of the Indian market but was consistently hostile to New Delhi.

China was building a military base in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and had blocked India's move to declare Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, Mahajan added.

"China's waywardness towards India never ends," he said.

He added it was "unfortunate" that while China was creating problems for India, the central and state governments were entering into investment agreements with Chinese companies.

"Some state governments are even organising conventions to attract Chinese investment. This trend needs to be curbed and no new investment agreement should be made with China," the memorandum said.

India's trade deficit with China mounted to USD 46.56 billion last year, while the bilateral trade marginally slowed down by 2.1 per cent to nearly USD 71 billion, China's General Administration of Customs said in January.

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Six Pakistani fishermen were today apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel from the Indian side of the Nal Creek on the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat, a senior officer said.

"During the operation in Nal Creek, which is part of Sir Creek in Kutch district, the BSF patrolling party spotted three boats doing fishing in Indian waters in Nal creek. Upon seeing the BSF boats, the fishermen on board two boats sailed off into Pakistani side whereas six fishermen on board third boat were nabbed by the BSF," a senior BSF official said.

He said the captured boat broke down on its way to a nearby location before sinking.

"However, all the six fishermen from the neighbouring country were safely brought to the nearby BSF post," the official said.

Given the sensitive nature of the area, even Indian fishermen are barred from catching fish in the creek. However, Pakistani fishermen often venture into Indian waters to catch fish and then sail off to their side.

In the past, the BSF had recovered abandoned Pakistani fishing boats from Creek area on several occasions as the fishermen swam to their side upon spotting the BSF patrol.

Earlier in February, the BSF seized four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats from Sir Creek on the Indo-Pak border.

In March this year, the Indian Coast Guard held nine Pakistani fishermen off Jakahu coast and seized their boat from the Indian waters.

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Actor Irrfan Khan has said that the censor board's demand that his upcoming film "Hindi Medium" should be released with 'a work of fiction' disclaimer, is "debatable".

"Hindi Medium" is a satire on middle-class parents' struggle to get their children into an English-medium school.

"If a film is inspired by real life incidents, the makers should say it is inspired by real life incidents. I think it is debatable (the demand)," Irrfan told reporters at a promotional event here.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) apparently wants the makers to carry the disclaimer as they feel the story may offend the educational institutions.

In the Dinesh Vijan-produced film, the actor plays a rich Punjabi businessman from Delhi who wants to



Irrfan says he always wanted to do a wholesome comedy film.

"To make a subject, which concerns everyone in big cities, in comedy is really challenging. I haven't done a lead in a comic movie which is of every day concern. I enjoyed myself," Irrfan said.

"It is a comedy film where we have talked about the subject (of teaching in vernacular) in a healthy manner. Nowadays there are reputed government schools (in vernacular language). But we think English medium education is job- oriented."



Irrfan, who also interacted with a group of children in Newtown School here, said as artistes they just try to tell a story and he believes the message that it delivers should not be "underlined".

"It is like an art painting. Don't really underline the message. Let the audience draw the message for themselves," he told the students.

Hindi Medium, directed by Saket Chaudhary, also stars Pakistani actor Saba Qamar. The film is set to release on May 19.

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked its affiliated schools to set up Aadhaar enrolment centres and encourage students who do not have the identification number to be enrolled.

The Board has partnered with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as registrar to collect demographic and biometric data of residents directly or through enrolment agencies.

However, the CBSE has not mandated the schools to set up the centres and asked the schools volunteering to do so to sign an MoU with either the Board or UIDAI.

The Board, as in February 2017, has 18,546 schools in India and 210 schools in 25 foreign countries.

"Schools shall set up enrolment centres to facilitate their bonafide students, teachers, staff and their family members to to enrol for Aadhar and make any updation or corrections," it said in a communication to schools.

It has also asked the schools to procure equipment for the purpose as per the UIDAI check list.

"Equipment such as computer, printer, biometric devices and other such things will have to be procured by the school themselves and should be as per the UIDAI specifications," it added.

While the schools will not be charging any fees for the Aadhaar enrolment, CBSE will pay them Rs 30 for every enrolment.

The schools will also be required to adhere to all code of conducts applicable to other enrolment centres.

The move comes against the backdrop of the Central government mandating Aadhaar card for several benefits in educational institutions, including mid-day meal schemes and several fellowships.

While the government has claimed that nobody will be denied benefits for want of Aadhaar, students have been encouraged to enrol for it within a dedicated span of time.

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Mufti Tassaduq Hussain, brother of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, was today appointed as coordinator of the chief minister's grievance cell on the "honorary basis".

An official spokesman said the appointment of the 45- year-old cinematographer-turned-politician had been made to ensure "good governance and responsive administration".

According to an order issued by the General Administration Department of the government, Tassaduq shall not draw any salary or perks and his job would purely be on honorary basis, the spokesman said.

"In a step towards ensuring good governance and responsive administration, the government appointed Mufti Tassaduq Hussain as the Coordinator of Chief Minister s Grievance Cell," the spokesman said.

"As per the order, Mufti Tassaduq, besides heading the grievance cell would also oversee the outcome and resolution of specific grievances and complaints registered with the Cell," he said.

Tassaduq, who joined the ruling PDP a few months back, was fielded as its candidate for the bypoll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat vacated by his sister Mehbooba.

The bypoll was scheduled to be held on April 12 but it was postponed to May 25 after widespread violence and lowest- ever turnout was witnessed during bypoll to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency on April 9.

However, subsequently the Election Commission cancelled the bypoll as security situation deteriorated further.

Tassaduq was the first to appeal to the Election Commission to postpone the bypoll in view of the large scale violence during the Srinagar bypoll that left nine people dead and several others injured.

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After Saharanapur and Gonda, communal tension gripped Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh today after some people created a ruckus in Nandrauli village here.

According to police, tension prevailed in the village after some people created a ruckus, claiming that a man had eloped with a married woman from another faith.

Yesterday, some people damaged a motorcycle belonging to a member of another community over the issue in Gunnaur area here.

Cross FIRs were lodged in the case by both the sides, police said.

Circle Officer Umesh Yadav said additional security personnel have been deployed in the village and a probe is on in the matter. "No one will be allowed to vitiate law and order," he said.

Meanwhile, the UP Police in an official statement today said, "As many as six persons have been arrested in this regard."



Yesterday, four persons were injured in Gonda district and some vehicles damaged following a clash between people belonging to two communities.

"A boy was beaten by a few persons following which tension prevailed in Tarabganj area. In the clash four persons were injured and two vehicles were also damaged," Superintendent of Police, Gonda, Sudhir Kumar Singh said.

Heavy police force was rushed to the spot to control the situation.

Police today said that 13 persons have been arrested in this connection.

On May 9, a police chowki (outpost) was burnt in Saharanpur and more than 20 vehicles torched while several instances of stone pelting and clashes were reported, as violent protests and caste-based violence engulfed the district.

According to police, an organisation of Dalits sought to hold a 'mahapanchayat' in the Gandhi Park in Saharanpur to demand compensation and relief for those affected in an inter-caste clash last week.

Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chand Dubey said that the district administration had not permitted any such gathering.

Police acted against the people gathered for the 'mahapanchayat' which led to tension and a stampede-like situation, it is learnt.

UP Police in an official release today said, "As many as 31 persons have been arrested so far."



Around 20-25 youths of upper caste Thakur community from Shabbirpur village were on their way to Simlana village under Badgaon police station to take part in a function to garland the statue of Rajput warrior-king Maharana Pratap (on May 9), when the Dalit locals objected to the loud music being played by them.

A police report sent to the state headquarters here said the Dalits objected to the "raucous" celebration, triggering an exchange of words.

It soon snowballed into a full-blown clash with both the groups throwing stones and bricks at each other, it added.

The Dalits asked the percussionists to turn off the music blaring out of loudspeakers as they passed by a Ravidas temple.

The incident led to more violence and there was brickbatting and arson, while 15 to 20 Dalit houses were torched and many vehicles including those of the police, torched.

As many as 16 persons, including a police officer, were injured in the resulting clashes.

Of them, Sumit Rajput (35) later succumbed to his injuries.

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Jammu and Kashmir Congress today strongly condemned the continued ceasefire violations and unprovoked Pakistani shelling on Indian positions and civilian areas in the state in which a woman was killed.

JPCC spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said it is tragic that Pakistan is repeatedly violating ceasefire and it was unfortunate that the firing in Nowshera sector last night resulted in the death of a woman.

Sharma along with several other senior leaders of the partyvisited Pukharni village and attended the funeral of the woman.

He lashed out at Pakistan for repeated ceasefire violations and expressed deep anguish at the killing of innocent persons besides causing great loss to property.

"The people have to shift and migrate from their residences andabandon their fields and cattle due to regular feature of ceasefire violation," hesaid.

He demanded all necessary measures for the safety of people and provisions for timely medical facilities.

He termed the Centre and state government as total failure on allfronts and blamed them for the present situation of the state.

He also demanded the government to immediately fulfil thepromise of allotting of plots to the identified population of border and LoC in order to accommodate them in safer zones so that innocent lives are not lost in firing.

Shiv Sena and Dogra Front also held protests against the government amid anti-Pakistan sloganeering against ceasefire violations and killing of a Kashmiri army officer.

They burnt Pakistani flags and condemned the killing of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, the young army officer from Kulgam.

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The Opposition Congress today staged walk-out from Assam Assembly after the Speaker rejected their prayer to move censure motion against Irrigation Minister Ranjit Dutta.

Congress had submitted an application to the Principal Secretary of Assam Assembly after ending of the Session on Tuesday, but the Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami today rejected it by saying "it is not in order".

"I have received the application to move no confidence motion censuring the Irrigation Minister. This is a Special Session called to pass the GST Bill. The rule 133 must carry the copy of the motion, which is not the case here," Goswami said.

He also said that "One cannot bring a no-confidence motion against an individual minister but only against a council of ministers."



He, however, asked the Chief Minister to make a statement in the House before conclusion of the day's business.

On this, the opposition Congress staged walked out by creating noisy scene.

Late in the afternoon, when all other businesses got over and the Special Session was to be adjourned sine-die, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary rose to read out the government's statement on behalf of the Chief Minister.

Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said as the matter was not allowed to discuss, Congress would walk-out of the House again.

After this, Patowary said: "Congress does not have the courage to listen to the statement. If I start talking about scams in Irrigation Department during Congress period, it will be a Mahabharata."



Claiming that Congress government never arrested any secretary-level official from the secretariat, he said the aim of the BJP-led government would be to make Assam corruption free.

"The Irrigation Minister is responsible if he tries to protect the accused. But it is not the case here," Patowary said defending his cabinet colleague.

On March 28, Irrigation department Secretary Kujendra Doley was caught red handed while accepting bribe at his office chamber in the Secretariat by Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau of Assam Police.

The sleuths had seized Rs 54 lakh in cash from the Irrigation secretary's office chamber and over Rs 11 lakh, passbooks of six bank accounts, LIC policies besides other documents during raids carried out at his home.

The Congress claimed in the House that Doley had confessed to the Police that the bribes were collected on the alleged instructions of the Irrigation Minister.

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Activists of the Dakshina Kannada district unit of Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) today staged a protest before the Deputy Commissioner's office here demanding stringent action against those who allegedly attacked members of the Koraga community in Kundapur taluk on April 24.

The protestors demanded that strict legal action should be initiated against the accused so that the attackers did not get bail.

They urged the government to provide adequate compensation to the victims of the attack and ensure protection to Koragas.

A group persons had allegedly barged into a house at Movadi in Hosadu village of Kundapur where an engagement ceremony was going on and harassed women in the house. They had allegedly abused and offended members of Koraga community who tried to prevent the attack.

The attackers had also threatened to set the houses of eight families on fire if a complaint was lodged with the police, speakers at the protest meeting said.

DSS district committee convenor Lakshman Vamanjoor and other office bearers led the protest.

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The campaigning for Nepal's first local body polls in two decades ended today with the authorities sealing the country's borders with India and China for 96 hours.

The silent period for the much-delayed but crucial local-level elections begins from midnight, meaning political parties and candidates cannot conduct their election campaign during this period, officials said.

The government has stepped up security in the capital Kathmandu as well as in other major parts of the country where the elections are scheduled to take place on Sunday.

Nepal's borders with neighbouring India and China have also been sealed for 96 hours, officials said.

According to the local administration, the borders will remain shut until the election day.

Elections will be held in Provinces 3, 4 and 6 in the first phase while for provinces 1, 2, 5 and 7 - where the number of local levels will be altered - they will be held on June 14.

The country's Election Commission has recommended the government to fix the number of local units at 719. Till date, there are nearly 4,000 local bodies.

Local-level elections should be held in every five years in Nepal but due to political instability, they were halted since May 1997.

Elections held in 2005 under the direct rule of King Gyanendra were widely boycotted by major political parties.

Some Madhes-centric parties opposed the elections, demanding that the country's Constitution be amended to accommodate their views of more representation in Parliament and redrawing of provincial boundaries.

The Nepal government tabled a new Constitution amendment bill in the Parliament to address the demands of the agitating Madhesi parties ahead of the local elections.

Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, launched a prolonged agitation between September 2015 and February last year against the implementation of the new Constitution which they felt marginalised the Terai community.

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Another UN peacekeeper has been found dead in the Central African Republic, bringing to five the toll from an attack this week, the deadliest to target the mission so far, the UN spokesman said today.

Suspected anti-Balaka Christian militias attacked the UN convoy of the MINUSCA force on Monday in the southeast of the country near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The Moroccan peacekeeper who had been reported missing has now been found dead," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

A Cambodian soldier serving in the MINUSCA mission was killed during an exchange of gunfire and ten other peacekeepers were wounded.

The bodies of three other Cambodian peacekeepers were found on Tuesday.

UN officials said the bodies of the four peacekeepers were badly mutilated, to the point of making identification difficult.

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix will travel to the capital Bangui later in the day to attend a memorial on Friday for the five soldiers and to meet with the country's leaders.

He will express "strong support for the UN peacekeeping mission" that was set up in 2014 to help stabilize the country, Dujarric said.

MINUSCA's 10,000 troops and 2,000 police were deployed following bloody sectarian fighting that erupted after the 2013 overthrow of leader Francois Bozize.

The Moroccan royal armed forces separately said in a statement from Rabat that the body of the Moroccan peacekeeper had been returned, and that another wounded soldier remained in serious condition.

The ambush of the UN convoy took place on the Rafai- Bangassou axis, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) southeast of the city of Bria.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council have strongly condemned the attack and called for those responsible to face justice.

Among Africa's poorest countries, the Central African Republic descended into bloodshed in 2013, pitting the anti- Balaka fighters against the mainly Muslim Seleka coalition.

While calm has been restored to the capital Bangui, parts of the country remain under the sway of armed groups.

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A gangster was today shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Bettiah court premises in West Champaran district, police said.

Three assailants who had been laying in wait, shot Bablu Dube dead on the stairs of the court building when he was coming down after trial in a case, Superintendent of Police Vinay Kumar said.

Dube -- accused in over 36 cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping for ransom -- died on the spot while the assailants fled on motorcycles, he said.

The gangster was brought to the court of first-class judicial magistrate Kumud Ranjan for trial in an extortion case.

The body was sent for post-mortem and raids were being carried out to nab the culprits, the SP added.

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India's GM crop regulator today recommended the commercial use of genetically modified mustard in a submission to the environment ministry amid opposition by anti-GM groups, including RSS-affiliated bodies.

In its submission, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the nodal regulator for Genetically Modified (GM) crop, has given a "positive" recommendation-- but "with certain conditions".

With its green signal, the GEAC has pushed the hybrid plant developed by scientists at the Delhi University closer to becoming the country's first edible GM crop.

The environment ministry has to now take a final call on this.

RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) criticised the move saying allowing the commercial use of GM mustard would impact allied agri-activities.

Some anti-GM activists asserted that in okaying the commercial use of GM mustard, the GEAC has "yet again proven" to be "unscientific and uncaring" to the health of citizens.

They said Environment Minister Anil Madhav should uphold BJP's manifesto promise that GM foods will not be allowed and reject the GM mustard "just like the Bt brinjal variety was rejected seven years ago".

The GEAC, which is under the the ministry, today reviewed a report of a sub-committee constituted to look into the safety angle of the commercial roll-out of GM mustard.

It has also put a number of conditions while recommending its commercial use.

"The agenda of GM mustard came up in a meeting of the GEAC today. It has given a positive recommendation. It has recommended the approval of GM Mustard for commercial release," a Ministry official told the PTI.

The Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), Delhi University South Campus, had submitted an application to the GEAC for the environmental release of GM mustard (Brassica juncea) hybrid DMH-11 and the use of parental events (varuna bn 3.6 and EH2 mod bs 2.99) for the development of a new generation of hybrids.

The environment ministry had received over 700 comments from various stakeholders, including farmers and researchers, on the Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES) report on GM Mustard, which it had earlier posted on the ministry website.

The application was submitted in 2015 after which several rounds of meeting were held by the GEAC. The sub-committee also convened meetings with experts.

The GEAC also heard the views of various NGOs not in favour of giving an approval to GM crops.

An anti-GM group had earlier alleged that sub committee, did not have any health expert and three of its members have conflict of interest.

Coalition for a GM-Free India had questioned whether the risk assessment report given by the sub-committee, which has claimed that the hybrid does not pose any risk to biodiversity or agro-ecosystem, was even "reliable and scientific" as it had no health experts in it.

Today's decision, which many of the anti-GM activists were unaware of, got sharp reactions from Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM).

"We are against the commercial use of any genetically modified crops, including the GM mustard. And we will request that the government should not allow its commercial cultivation," SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said.

The productivity of existing desi varieties are higher than this newly developed GM mustard, Mahajan claimed.

He added that the GM mustard variety would impact allied sectors such as beekeepers, orchards and ayurvedic medicine makers and practitioners.

Environment activist Vandana Shiva had also opposed GM mustard earlier, saying it is "illegal" and developers have done "fraud science".

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) general secretary Yudhvir Singh also said the GM mustard technology would not lead to increase in productivity but "monopolise" the seed market.

'Sarson Satyagraha', a broad platform of hundreds of organisations representing farmers, consumers and scientists, said the GEAC ignored questions raised by scientists and chose to function behind a "shroud of secrecy".

"The GEAC has proven yet again that it is unscientific and uncaring to citizens' health and environment. They have failed in their very mandate and purpose for which they have been created, to protect citizens from risks of GMOs.

"Earlier in the case of Bt brinjal too, they behaved irresponsibly and shamelessly unscientific. In this case, it is a hazardous herbicide tolerant food crop at that, which has direct implications for a large number of Indian farmers, agricultural workers and consumers," the body condemning the approval said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government will come out with a policy for promotion of electric vehicles this fiscal with an aim to make India a global leader in the segment, Union minister Piyush Goyal said today.

"We will see a very robust policy (for promotion of electric vehicles) in this fiscal," the power and coal minister, who is on a four-day visit to Vienna and London with a business delegation, told PTI in an interview.

"Niti Aayog has drawn up certain ideas but the project is being looked after by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. I am sure that will have all discussions and come up with a robust policy because we want to encourage domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles," Goyal said on the sidelines of the India- Austria Business Forum, jointly organised by Ficci and the Indian Embassy in Vienna and Austrian Economic Chambers.

The government, he said, wants to encourage research and development in the electric mobility sector and aspires to be a leader in the world.

India is looking at having all electric-car fleet by 2030 with an objective of lowering the fuel import bill and running cost of vehicles.

"We have made a policy decision within the three ministries that all the ministerial vehicles and the vehicles used by our PSUs in and around Delhi will be replaced by the electric vehicles," he said.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) or some other company will be shortlisted to become an aggregator of these vehicles, Goyal said.

He further said the government is confident that it will be able to come up with such vehicles at a cost not exceeding the current cost of hiring vehicles.

Goyal had earlier said initially the government can handhold the electric vehicle industry for 2-3 years to help it stabilise.

Citing the example of Maruti, which has logged over 30 per cent profit this time, he had explained that the government had supported India's largest car maker initially, which eventually led to development of the big automotive industry in the country.

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Harindra Rao, an Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) officer, has taken over as general manager of Eastern Railway, official sources said here today.

Prior to taking over as the ER general manager, Rao was working as chief electrical engineer in South Eastern Railway.

An MTech in Electronics from Kanpur IIT, he joined Indian Railway in 1982, ER spokesperson R N Mahapatra said.

Before joining as general manager of the Kolkata-headquartered zonal railway on May 9, Rao held various important positions in Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Diesel Locomotive Works, East Central Railway, West Central Railway and North Central Railway, Mahapatra said.

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A collection of books and DVDs with a retail value of more than $370,000 will be transferred to Bismarck State College after Gov. Doug Burgum's line item veto prevented the materials from being returned to the authors and producers.

More than 24,000 books and DVDs were published and produced by the Dakota Institute, which was established in 2010 by the Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation.

The Dakota Institute was included in the foundation's sale of assets during the 2015 legislative session, according to David Borlaug, president of the foundation. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn and the Dakota Institute were sold to the state of North Dakota to become part of the Parks and Recreation Department.

State lawmakers this session planned to send all of the Dakota Institute's materials to Bismarck State College. The proposed legislation said the college could transfer any rights, title, interests, copyright or inventory from the Dakota Institute's published works and films to their authors and producers.

But Burgum said he saw this as an opportunity for additional revenue. In his veto rationale, he instructed the president of Bismarck State College to work with the directors of Parks and Recreation and the State Historical Society and other stakeholders to find better use of the material.

"I just think there are a lot of things you can do with this," Burgum said in a phone interview this week. "We can monetize it at a higher level rather than giving it away."

Consulting with BSC President Larry Skogen prior to his veto, Burgum asked whether there was a faculty member who would be willing to work collaboratively to develop a plan that might include getting students involved  from project management to retail sales to website building.

"It was a reasonable idea and a reasonable thing to do," Burgum said. "The other piece is, coming from my background in technology, whenever I see that the state is transferring intellectual property, that catches my attention as well."

The transfer is a good opportunity for the college, which has a bookstore and a way to track sales, according to Skogen.

"Frankly, I was very impressed that the governor wanted to know more about what we were thinking at Bismarck State College before he did anything with that section of the bill," he said. "I appreciate that he had the faith in Bismarck State College to go forward with the transfer."

The book collection includes stories of Meriwether Lewis, Theodore Roosevelt and other anecdotes from the Northern Prairie. Several pieces are penned by scholar and author Clay Jenkinson.

BSC, Parks and Recreation and the State Historical Society will have to find a way to monetize the works, which have royalties attached to them, Burgum said.

Skogen said he will meet with the various stakeholders before the law goes into effect July 1.
The Orissa High Court today heard partly the prosecution counsel arguments against the bail plea of industrialist Mahimananda Mishra, arrested for his alleged role in the murder of a Paradeep firm manager.

The prosecution counsel argument remained inconclusive as Public Prosecutor Janmejaya Katakia sought some more time to file a document in the court in support of the case against Mishra.

On Katakia's plea, Justice D P Choudhury adjourned the hearing to Monday.

Mishra, the chief of Odisha Stevedores Limited and a few others were arrested for their alleged involvement in the last year's murder of one Mahendra Swain, a local manager of another stevedores company in Paradeep.

Mishra's counsel K T S Tulsi, a senior Supreme Court advocate, has already completed his argument urging the high court to grant bail to his client.

He sought bail for Mishra arguing that the Paradeep police has no admissible evidence against Mishra to prove his involvement in the case.

Countering the prosecution's stand, Tulsi argued that as per law, any statement of the co-accused persons against one another is not admissible in Court.

"And so far, the police has failed to gather any tangible evidence against my client," Tulsi said.

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The Bombay High Court has refused to hand over the custody of a minor girl to her biological father, an Iranian national, after the surrogate mother alleged that he is "not of good character".

A division bench of Justices R V More and Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a habeas corpus plea seeking direction to authorities to produce a person who could be in illegal detention.

The petition was filed by the girl's father, who urged the court to direct the Thane police to trace his three-year- old daughter.

The man, in his petition, claimed that his daughter's surrogate mother, whom he had married after she gave birth to the girl through surrogacy and later divorced, had illegally taken the child away from him despite a family court ordering the child's custody to be granted to him.

Following the directions, the Thane police last month produced the surrogate mother and the child before the high court.

"We have interacted with the petitioner as well as the surrogate mother and the investigating officer. The interaction reveals there are allegations and counter allegations by both the parties against each other," Justice More said.

The court noted that while the petitioner relies upon the custody order passed by a family court in Mumbai, the surrogate mother has submitted that the child should reside with her as the petitioner is "not of good character".

The high court last week perused the report submitted by the police and the superintendent of NGO Shanti Sadan Mahila Vastigruha, where the mother and her child were directed to be housed, pending hearing of the petition.

"We are of the considered view that it would be in the interest of the child to keep her in a good in-house school or institution where all her needs including health, education, etc, will be taken care of and where both parents can have the right to visit the child," the court said.

The HC has posted the petition for further hearing on June 16, by when the surrogate mother would have to tell the court if she is willing to put the child in such an institution.

"The additional public prosecutor shall furnish the names of some good institutions/ boarding schools where the child can be housed/educated," the high court directed.

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A delegation of Hindu seers led by Junagadh-based Mahamandaleshwar Bharti Bapu, today met BJP president Amit Shah at his residence here.

Shah is on a personal visit to the state as there is no scheduled programme of the party. He arrived in the city this afternoon, BJP sources said.

The seers called on Shah and made a representation about the development of religious places near Girnar mountain in Junagadh.

"The discussion revolved around the need to undertake development works at Girnar. We made a representation to Amitbhai regarding the same during the meeting," Bharti Bapu told reporters after the meeting.

As the Gujarat Assembly polls are expected to be held later this year, Bapu said political parties should consider giving poll tickets to seers here, just like the BJP chose Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

"It is just my wish. We have not made any representation to Shah about it today. Seers can be given tickets in Gujarat. It is the need of the hour. I wish to see sadhus as elected representatives," he said.

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Isuzu Motors India is looking at exporting vehicles to around 15-20 countries as part of its plans to make India as a hub of its global manufacturing operations.

The company, which has invested Rs 3,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh to set up a manufacturing facility, has already started exporting vehicles to Nepal.

"We have already started exports to Nepal. Besides, we are currently reviewing plans to export to around 15-20 countries. Focus would be on right hand drive markets," Isuzu Motors India Deputy Managing Director Hitoshi Kono told PTI.

He, however, did not share timeframe for start of overseas shipments to these destinations, stating the plan is at a discussion stage.

The company currently has an installed capacity of 50,000 units per annum at its manufacturing facility at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh which can be scaled up to 1.2 lakh units with very small investment, Kono said.

The company sells D-Max V-Cross and variants of D-Max pick-ups for the commercial segment. It today also launched a seven seater SUV mu-X in the country.

The company currently rolls out over 350 units a month from the plant and is planning to gradually ramp up the manufacturing activity.

"We are not in a hurry to expand our presence here. We want to first establish after sales services in the country so that we can offer quality service to customers," Kono said.

Isuzu currently has 28 dealerships across the country.

The company, which is looking at enhancing localisation in its product range, has established a local supplier base of around 100 entities.

"We are working towards having 70 per cent localisation in our product range here. For this we are working with suppliers here. With quality at par with other global locations we are also sourcing components from here to other sites," Kono said.

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Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan today moved the Supreme Court seeking a recall of an order holding him guilty of contempt of court.

The apex court had ordered his arrest and sentenced him to a six-month jail term.

A petition in this regard was mentioned before a five- judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, which agreed to look into it.

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The government is planning to open a Khadi mall in Kottayam this year itself as part of efforts to develop a khadi brand in Kerala, Industries minister A C Moideen said today.

The government's effort is to brand the state's khadi in a big way, the minister said, replying to a queries from members during question hour in the state assembly.

Khadi and its products were coming to Kerala from other states which cannot be restricted. But all steps would be taken to check the sale of fake khadi, he said.

Replying to another question, he said the khadi sector in the state was largely traditional and there was need to keep it that way.

However, there is a need to reduce their workload and research in this regard was on, he said.

There was also a plea to modernise the present khadi looms in the state which were largely hand spun, he added.

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said the work of the ambitious Water Metro project in Kochi, an integrated water transport project, would be launched soon after getting environment clearance.

Replying to a Calling Attention motion in the Assembly, he said the appointment of general consultant for the project was in the final stage.

Water Metro is envisaged to be developed as a feeder service to the Kochi Metro rail.

It proposes to set up 38 jetties connecting 10 island communities, covering a 76-km-route network.

"It is a significant project with several peculiarities. It is expected to improve the connectivity of islands in Kochi backwaters with the main land," Chief Minister said.

Not only the transportation facility but also the livelihood of island people would be improved with the commencement of the project, he said.

"Land acquisition procedures have already begun. The work of the project will be launched according to the getting of environment clearance," he said adding that the first phase of the project was expected to be completed in 20 months.

The government would later consider expanding the project to nearby areas like Muziris heritage site, Kumbalangi and so on, Vijayan added.

Moving the motion, Hibi Eden (Congress) said the multi-model transport system was aimed at shifting 10 per cent road traffic through waterways in and around Kochi.

The government should take immediate steps to complete the project on a time bound basis, he added.

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India and Sri Lanka may have signed deals on economic cooperation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival in the country, the country's former President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed today.

The two countries were set to sign an agreement to lease out oil tanks to India to jointly operate a strategic oil facility in the eastern port district of Trincomalee.

But Sri Lanka's opposition parties have objected to the deal, saying the government was selling state assets to India.

"The information I have is that all deals have already been signed. So the Indian prime minister's arrival or non- arrival would be immaterial," Rajapaksa told reporters in the central town of Kandy, hours before Modi touched down in Colombo.

Rajapaksa said he held nothing against Modi's visit.

"The problem will be only if they sign agreements. I understand these have already been signed," he said.

According to the proposed deal, at least 73 of the 99 storage tanks in Trincomalee is to be managed under a new equity arrangement between India and Lanka. In 2002, the Indian Oil Company was given 14 of the 99 tanks to operate.

Modi is primarily in Sri Lanka to participate tomorrow in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists. This is his second visit since Rajapaksa's unexpected defeat in 2015 polls by Maithripala Sirisena.

Rajapaksa said he would attend the Vesak Day celebrations at which Modi would be the chief guest.

"I will take part in the UN Vesak Day, my going there will not mean I have gone to welcome the Indian prime minister," said the Sinhala strongman who ruled the country for a decade.

Rajapaksa's joint opposition has led a resistance to the Sririsena government's plan to enter into economic cooperation pacts with India, more particularly the Trincomalee venture.

The state petroleum workers last month led a crippling work stoppage to protest the deal.

Ahead of Modi's visit, Sirisena had slammed what he termed the opposition's misinformation about the visit. He said Modi's visit was restricted to the Vesak Day celebration hosted by Colombo.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A lesser-known Dalit group led by a lawyer- "Bheem Army" - actively used social media to rally protestors and allegedly orchestrated Tuesday's violence here in which a police post was set on fire and a number of persons were injured, district authorities said today.

District officials said the group was enraged over members of the Thakur community allegedly clashing with Dalits and torching their houses in Shabbirpur village on May 5 after they refused to allow a procession to mark the birth anniversary of Rajput king Maharana Pratap.

Some of those who were injured in the May 5 clashes and recuperating at the district hospital here said their community members objected to the procession as upper caste Thakurs had earlier stopped Dalits from installing a statue of BR Ambedkar on the premises of a 'Ravidas Mandir' in the village.

Around 600 Dalits and over 900 Thakurs reside in the village, about 35 km from where the violence erupted on May 9.

The officials said the Bheem Army Bharat Ekta Mission, founded by 30-year old lawyer Chandrasekhar, circulated messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, appealing to members of the Dalit community to attend a 'mahapanchayat' on May 9 in Gandhi Park to demand compensation and relief for those affected in last week's inter-caste clashes.

District Magistrate N P Singh said the administration turned down their request for holding 'mahapanchayat' and the Dalit men took to the streets to protest against it.

"The protesters had also come from at least three neighbouring districts," he said.

Singh said it seemed to be a "planned exercise, considering the men indulged in violence in five-six areas across the city simultaneously. The group apparently sent provocative messages to members on WhatsApp.

The protestors blocked roads in Rampur Maniharan, Ramnagar, Nazirpura, Halalpur and Malhipur, and hurled stones at police personnel, who lathi charged them.

They also set the Ramnagar police post, a private bus on Behat road and over a dozen two wheelers ablaze. Several persons, including five policemen, were injured in the violence.

Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chandra Dubey said the rioters opened fire on officers using country-made pistols.

A few media persons were also allegedly manhandled and their equipment damaged.

A group of media persons yesterday protested against the Bheem Army and submitted a memorandum to the Tehsildar, Behat, demanding stern action against the group and its spearhead.

The police said protesters also vandalised Maharana Pratap Bhavan in Ramnagar area on Malhipur road.

They said a Rajput group filed a complaint alleging that Chandrashekhar provoked Dalit men and indulged in violence at Maharana Pratap Bhavan.

Attempts to contact Chandrasekhar on phone did not fructify.

Two persons, Sachin Singh Ambedkar and Rahul Gautam, have been arrested for allegedly circulating provocative messages on WhatsApp and Facebook, the police said.

The SSP said 24 people have been arrested in connection with incidents of stone-pelting and arson.

The police said they will go through the CCTV footage to identify and arrest the others involved in stone-pelting and torching the police post and vehicles.

The district magistrate said the district has been divided into five zones and 22 sectors for better maintenance of the law and order situation.

In April, the police had registered FIRs against local BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma and around 300 other unidentified protestors, after clashes erupted during a rally organised to mark Ambedkar Jayanti in Sadak Dudhli village in the district.

The march was organised without the nod of the administration. Processions on Ambedkar Jayanti are banned in communally-sensitive Saharanpur for seven years.

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A man-made grassland, the first of its kind in the country, has been developed in Nainital district to accommodate the growing population of tigers and elephants in the western forest circle of Kumaon.

Spread over 60 hectares, the grassland, in the Dolly range of Terai East forest division, developed over the last two years, boasts of 39 local varieties of grass, Conservator of Forest (Western Circle) Parag Madhukar Dhakate told PTI.

Started on an experimental basis to accommodate the growing population of tigers and elephants, the project is already on its way to achieving its objective with camera traps recording movement of a big cat family in the grassland area.

Enthused by its success another man-made grassland is being developed over an area of 38 hectares in the same range.

"Camera trap footage confirms that a full grown tiger, a tigress and their two cubs are inhabiting the grassland. It is an indication that the experiment has been successful. The animals are adapting to the surroundings created for them and have accepted it as their habitat," Dhakate said.

Noting that demonstrating indicators show an increase in population of both tigers and elephants in the western circle over the last few years, he said habitat expansion through judicious use of the forest wasteland to accommodate those animals was the need of the hour.

"These grasslands are a step in that direction," Dhakate, who holds a PHD degree in genetics and wildlife management, said.

Dhakate attributes the rise in the number of the big cat and pachyderms in the circle to the presence of Sashastra Seema Bal in the area bordering Nepal which has reduced incidents of poaching and man-animal conflict substantially.

He said more money is being spent by the government over conservation efforts in the state through the Gaula corpus fund which hes led to rise in population of tigers and elephants.

As per 2016 tiger census, the number of big cats in the western circle, which consists of five forest divisions, was 119, whereas the number of elephants in the circle as per the census carried out in 2015 stood at 197.

As per demonstrating indicators it was a substantial increase in their population, Dhakate said.

"This means it is time we build more such habitats for them inside the forests where they feel at home and move securely and freely," Dhakate said.

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Two people were removed, but not arrested, from a rowdy town hall meeting held by Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Thursday afternoon in Mandan. Afterward, the congressman admitted it was the first time a constituent had laid hands on him and lightly pushed him during a policy debate in public.

Cramer faced a crowd of about 80 people at the Mandan Eagles Club, with a majority of attendees jeering him during a question-and-answer session primarily focused on health care reform and his vote on the American Health Care Act.

Hazen resident Mike Quinn rose on multiple occasions and approached Cramer, accusing him and others who voted for health care reform as undermining current health care law and negatively impacting millions of people, including some in the room.

Prior to his shouting at Cramer, an area woman had given a tearful testimonial about her young child whose serious medical conditions has racked up significant medical expenses and debt.

At one point while walking toward Cramer shouting questions, Quinn was grabbed by the throat by a Cramer supporter in the crowd, who was quickly tossed from the gathering.

Shortly thereafter, Quinns final outburst led to his ejection. After taking dollar bills out of his wallet, he attempted to shove them into Cramers suit pocket, lighting pushing him in the process while saying his money could go toward the medical expenses of the womans child.

A Mandan police officer said no one was arrested.

I dont mind confrontation, Cramer told reporters after the 90-minute event in Mandan, which was followed town hall at the Bismarck Eagles Club at 5 p.m. and attended by at least 80 people. My concern was he was dominating, and no one else could participate.

The Mandan town hall was among the most rowdy crowds he has experienced during his time in office, according to Cramer, who said the incident has caused him to think a bit more about security, though he hopes theres never a need to curtail the access he has enjoyed with constituents.

A number of attendees questioned his vote on the AHCA, which passed the House 217-213 earlier this month. The Senate is expected to craft a vastly different version of the bill in the months ahead.

Among the provisions in the AHCA is replacing the subsidies to help purchase individual plans on marketplaces with tax credits. A series of taxes passed in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare, also would be eliminated, along with allowing insurers to charge people with pre-existing conditions more for insurance.

These and other provisions of the bill prompted numerous jeers and questions from those in attendance.

Quinn said, in a phone interview following the event, his actions were prompted by what he thought were efforts by Cramer to dodge harsh questioning.

It was spur of the moment. I was just so mad. I just kept getting angrier and angrier, said Quinn, insisting that his actions werent pre-planned or on behalf of any organization.

He pointed to the Congressional Budget Office estimate that the House health care plan would cut about $880 billion over 10 years in Medicaid spending.

The overall Republican bill is a large tax giveaway to the wealthy, according to Quinn, who characterized the bill as unfair to people such as the woman whod spoken about her child and millions of other nationwide.

Theyre going to take health care away from them, said Quinn, adding, if there were more taxes on wealthier people, sufficient coverage could easily be afforded to all in need.

Attendees also questioned Cramers support for President Donald Trump, with several people accusing the president of being dishonest and unethical in his conduct in office.
The National Green Tribunal today slammed the Delhi Development Authority for casting aspersions on the findings of its expert committee on the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains due to the 3-day cultural event organised by Art Of Living (AOL).

It also warned that action will be taken against those who would pass strictures on the findings of the expert panel.

The green panel also questioned the DDA for granting nod to AOL, despite three initial rejections and said the civic body should have exercised proper caution while granting approval to the cultural extravaganza.

It said if the permission was granted, "it (DDA) should have fulfilled its responsibility properly."



The lawyer for AOL claimed that none of the terms and conditions imposed by DDA while granting permission for the World Culture Festival, held in March last year, were violated or misused.

He claimed that as a responsible organisation, the AOL had removed all the temporary structures from the site after the conclusion of the event and handed it back to the DDA without any damage.

The tribunal took exception to the submission of the counsel for DDA for questioning the conclusions of the seven-member expert panel.

The bench was expressed anguish over the statement of the DDA counsel that the report has been prepared by the expert members in such a manner that it would ensure their involvement with the issue of the Yamuna floodplains for 10 years.

The bench sharply reacted to the submissions of the DDA counse, saying "it is not fair. You make sweeping statements about the members of the expert panel. You are casting aspersions, tell us how much time your engineers will take to restore the damaged area. Ask your chief engineer."



The lawyer representing the DDA said he himself cannot answer instantly as he lacked the expertise but could reply after taking instruction.

At this, the bench shot back saying "how can you make such a sweeping statement about people who have devoted their life to environment. They have put 60 years of life and this is how you treat people. Anybody can err but you can't make such comments."



The tribunal expressed anguish over the DDA counsel's submission that the expert committee's report was based on findings of an engineer who is claimed to be familiar with earthworks, but his background was unknown.

"We are warning you people that if anybody passes strictures, we will not hesitate to take action against them," the bench said.

The DDA counsel said he did not intend to cast aspersions and was just questioning the basis of the findings and technology used by the experts panel.

"All measurements are approximate. How did he work out the total area? Who is this engineer? What is his rank? What technology has been adopted for arriving at the conclusions? Whatever he said was the gospel truth," the DDA lawyer asked.

Elaborating on the conditions imposed on AOL while granting permission, DDA said it was clearly mentioned that safe and sufficient distance has to be maintained from the edge of the river water and no activity should be carried out in the vicinity of the Yamuna.

He strongly submitted that DDA was not responsible for any damage and if there was any liability.

The lawyer for AOL refuted the allegations that it had wiped out the vegetation on the Yamuna floodplains and contended that all such claims are completely "erroneous and false".

"All relevant statutory authorities had no objection or reservation with regard to the World Culture Festival event on the designated site. In the circumstances, AOL was entitled to proceed on the basis that there was no violation of any applicable law or any decision of any court or tribunal," the foundation said in its written submission before the NGT.

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.)
After more than four decades of existence, Air India Charters Ltd, the holding company of the group's international budget airline operations, has been renamed as Air India Express Ltd.

National carrier Air India's low cost international budget arm operates under the name Air India Express.

The name of Air India Charters Ltd has been changed to "Air India Express Limited" with effect from May 5, according to a communication issued by the Corporate Affairs Ministry.

AI Express flies to 14 international destinations, including Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, Kuwait, Salalah, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh and Dhaka.

It also has domestic services on various routes.

The airline carries around 3.5 million passengers a year.

Incorporated way back in September 1971, AI Charters was intended for carrying out charter flight services.

With the plan not materialising for decades, the company finally became the holding firm for the operations of AI Express.

AI Express, which operates international as well as domestic services, took wings in 2005.

Now, after little over 12 years of being operational, the holding entity's name has been changed to AI Express Ltd.

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High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development.

Among those expected to attend the meeting of the Arctic Council beginning Thursday in Fairbanks are US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met yesterday with Trump and Tillerson in Washington.

No formal discussions were set in Alaska on key issues such as climate change, development and drilling. But those issues will provide a backdrop as the chairmanship of the council passes from the US to Finland.

"We are unsure what the Trump administration thinks about the Arctic region in general, about the Arctic Council in particular and about its role," said Victoria Herrmann, president of The Arctic Institute, a Washington, DC-based group that provides research to shape Arctic policy.

The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups. Its focus is sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.

It does not make policy or allocate resources, and its decisions must be unanimous.

"In terms of being a reflection of a nation's priorities, it can only go so far since all eight have to agree to the same thing," said Nils Andreassen, executive director of the Anchorage-based Institute of the North, a non-partisan organization focused on Arctic resources.

The United States an Arctic country because of the state of Alaska - is joined on the council by Canada, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The US began chairing the council two years ago. Much of the council's work during that time stemmed from the policies of President Barack Obama, who made climate change and the Arctic priorities of his administration.

Obama became the first sitting president to travel above the Arctic Circle when he went to the largely Inupiat community of Kotzebue.

The US highlighted three areas during its two-year chairmanship improved living conditions and economies for those living in the Arctic, stewardship of the Arctic Ocean and climate change.

David Balton, a deputy assistant secretary of State, said other accomplishments included an agreement for scientific cooperation among Arctic nations, an assessment of improvements needed for better telecommunications, and implementation of a database of ships passing through the Arctic.

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A member of a banned Rwandan opposition party has been assassinated, party officials alleged today, less than three months before national elections are due to be held.

The body of Jean Damascene Habarugira, a member of the United Democratic Forces party (known by its French acronym, FDU), was found on Monday, police spokesman Theos Badege said, 60 kilometres (40 miles) from where he had disappeared three days earlier.

FDU vice president Boniface Twagirimana, claimed 52- year-old Habarugira had been murdered because of his opposition to the government's agricultural planning policy in his home area of Ngoma, in the east of the country.

"We denounce this as an assassination," Twagirimana said on Thursday.

He said the party member disappeared after meeting a former soldier responsible for village security.

Badege confirmed the man in question, Bizama Theophile, had been detained on Sunday while investigations into Habarugira's disappearance were underway.

Another party member who claimed to have seen Habarugira's corpse said the eyes had been gouged out and the head almost severed.

The FDU is led by Victoire Ingabire who is serving a 15 year prison sentence for crimes including "divisionism", an offence of stoking the ethnic tensions that led to the 1994 genocide in which around 800,000 mostly Tutsi people died.

Ingabire, a Hutu, was arrested while campaigning against President Paul Kagame ahead of the last elections in 2010.

Regularly praised for its stability and economic performance, Rwanda often comes under fire for a lack of political freedom.

Kagame is running for re-election in August after the constitution was changed to allow him to run again.

He has been in charge since taking power at the head of a rebel army in 1994 and has already served two seven-year terms as president.

Several opposition parties are refused legal recognition by the authorities.

So far just three candidates have declared their intention to challenge Kagame who won previous elections with well over 90 percent of the vote.

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Authorities have set up two relief camps in Rajouri district as Pakistani troops on Friday resorted to shelling on civilian areas near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, killing a woman and injuring two others.

"Two relief camps have been established in Nowshera where 50 persons comprising around 15 families have been settled," Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, said here today.

District administration has also earmarked additional camps which may be required in case of further ceasefire violation.

The shelling has affected five-six hamlets along the LoC including Sheri Makeri, Namakdali and Khamba since last night.

As many as 27 families have been affected due to the shelling in which many houses, including a school, have been damaged partially or severely, he said.

More than 40 farm animals are also reported killed in firing, he added.

A woman, identified as Akhtar Bi, was killed in Pukharni village last night. Her injured husband, 40-year-old Mohammad Haneef, has been given a compensatory sum of Rs 1 lakh. Another villager also received minor injuries.

The district deputy commissioner has also directed the essential services department to mobilise their services for ongoing evacuations. The Naushera sub-divisional magistrate and a team of doctors have been tasked with ensuring coordination as well as the emergency response.

Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Dr Mandip Bhandari, along with Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, visited various areas affected by the shelling.

He also convened a meeting of representatives and affected families from various villages including Pukherni, Qila Darhal, Sarya, Khamba and Jhangar.

Issues related to compensation, loss assessment, cultivation of crops, coordination with Army, construction of bunkers, provision of power supply and availability of ambulances were discussed during the meeting.
A full court condolence meet will be observed in memory of Leila Seth tomorrow at the Patna High Court, where she practised as a barrister for 10 years in the initial phase of her illustrious career.

The meeting, scheduled to be held at 1:15 PM, will be presided by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and will take place in his court room, officials said.

"She practised here as a barrister from 1959-69, the second one to enrol at the court. She was also a member of the Patna High Court's Bar Association. And, she possibly was the last surviving barrister and the last surviving former member of the association," said K D Chatterji, advocate and member of the association.

A close friend of the Seth family, Chatterji also said the decision to hold the condolence meet came up spontaneously to the association, and it is to mark her extraordinary contribution to the legal field and recall the persona that endeared her to people of all ages.

The order to observe the 'Full Court Reference' (condolence meet) was issued today by the court.

"According to Patna High Court's tradition, in a full court reference, all the judges and lawyers gather to pay tribute. Representatives of all the lawyer associations then read out obituary messages, and finally the Chief Justice makes his speech.

"A two-minute silence is then observed and after that it is announced that the court will be closed for the remainder of the day. The bereaved family (the Seths) will receive a copy of the proceedings," Chatterji told PTI.

Seth started her career in 1959 in the Patna High Court as a young London-trained barrister, and spent 10 years there, seeking a foothold in a field dominated by men.

But, she rose through the ranks to become the country's first woman chief justice of a high court (Himachal Pradesh in 1991), and broke many a glass ceiling in the process while earning respect and admiration, both in the courtroom and outside.

She was was the first judge of the Delhi High Court before her elevation as the chief justice.

"Justice Seth never rested on her laurels or basked in her glory. Her human qualities and extraordinary persona left a very strong imprint on the lives of people she touched, not to mention the trail she blazed in her career, that still inspires many woman to take up law," Chatterji said.

"She only lived for 10 years in Patna, but her bond with the city was everlasting. And people in the city also adored the Seths," he said.

Seth indeed had a special place for the city in her heart and, she was invited to attend the centenary of the court in 2016, but had regretted missing it due to some unforeseen reasons.

She and her author son Vikram Seth had visited the Patna High Court and their old house, the beautiful 'White Pillar' bungalow, when they had gone to Patna to attend a literature festival.

Seth, who was born in October 1930 in Lucknow, also championed women and gender rights. She died on May 5 at her residence in Noida.

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Telugu film star and Janasena Party founder Pawan Kalyan today supported the Congress and other opposition parties' demand that the Telangana government allow protests at 'Dharna Chowk' at Indira Park here.

"Dharna Chowk has been a great venue for people to voice their protest for decades. Now, it is no longer available for expressing their anguish and sufferings. Keeping it away (shifting the site) is not democratically correct," he told reporters.

Dharna Chowk, like Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, is a democratic space to voice anguish, said the film star-cum- politician.

He announced Janasena Party's support to the 'Reclaim Dharna Chowk' protest proposed to be organised by the Left parties and people's organisations on May 15.

Kalyan said CPI(M)'s Telangana state secretary T Veerabhadram, who met him during the day, and others sought his support on the issue.

Congress, BJP, TDP and the Left parties, besides several people's organisations, have been demanding that the government allow protests at the 'Dharna Chowk', a popular place for holding demonstrations in the city.

A couple of months ago, the TRS government disallowed protests at the chowk, saying they caused inconvenience to residents of the locality, and suggested an alternative site.

The matter had also gone to courts.

Kalyan, however, said he is ready to work with any party that raises people's issues.

A top ranking Telugu hero, Kalyan formed the Janasena Party ahead of 2014 elections.

His campaign in support of the TDP-BJP combine was said to be one of the major reasons for the electoral success of the alliance in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

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A person who commits suicide cannot be termed a martyr, the Delhi High Court today told the AAP government which had conferred the status on an ex- armyman, who allegedly killed himself over the OROP issue.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra asked what duty was somebody, who was at Jantar Mantar, discharging.

"He committed suicide on his own. Can he be called a martyr," the bench asked.

The court was hearing two PILs against the Delhi government's decision to accord martyr status to Ram Kishan Grewal who had allegedly committed suicide during a protest at Jantar Mantar over the 'One Rank, One Pension'(OROP) issue on November 1 last year.

Another PIL opposed the city government's decision to declare as martyr a Rajasthan-based-politician-cum-farmer Gajendra Singh Kalyanwat who had allegedly hanged himself at an AAP rally at Jantar Mantar on April 22, 2015.

The incident took place during an anti-land bill rally called by the Aam Aadmi Party.

The court's oral observation came while clubbing all three matters together and listing them for further hearing on July 7.

During the brief arguments, the petitioners' lawyers told the court that only those persons who die fighting in border areas or while discharging their duty there can be termed or considered as martyr.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke to Moon Jae-in, who has taken over as President of South Korea, and invited him to visit India soon.

"Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in of Korea. Wished him every success & invited him to visit India soon. 'Together we succeed'," Modi tweeted.

Yesterday, the prime minister had tweeted congratulatory messages to Moon in English and Korean languages.

He had said that he looked forward to working with Moon to further strengthen the strategic partnership.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Srisena had a meeting here tonight during which the two leaders are understood to have reviewed the status of the bilateral relations.

"Delighted to meet President @MaithripalaS in Colombo," tweeted Modi, who arrived here earlier on a two-day visit aimed at reinforcing the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka at a time when China is seeking to make inroads in the island nation.

"It is wonderful to meet this great human being @narendramodi in Colombo again. Thank you for gracing #InternationalVesakDay," tweeted Srisena.

Modi, on his second visit to Sri Lanka in two years, is here primarily to participate tomorrow in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists.

He will inaugurate a hospital built with India's assistance of Rs 150 crore.

He will also address the Indian-origin Tamils against the backdrop of India's insistence that Sri Lanka should undertake devolution of power to the ethnic community as part of the reconciliation process.

Prior to his departure from New Delhi, Modi said, "This will be my second bilateral visit there (to Sri Lanka) in two years, a sign of our strong relationship."



In a Facebook post, he said, "My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his visit to Sri Lanka beginning today is a sign of "strong relationship" between the two countries and brings to the fore the shared heritage of Buddhism.

During his two-day visit, he will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, inaugurate a hospital built with Indian assistance and address the Indian-origin Tamil community, besides attending some other programmes.

"This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," he said in a Facebook post, hours before travelling to Sri Lanka.

"During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," Modi wrote.

He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism," he said.

The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.

"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.

He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.

"I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.

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The Railways will examine the possibility of straightening up to 10 major curves on the existing Delhi-Chandigarh rail route to increase train speed upto 200 kmh.

The 245-km Delhi-Chandigarh corridor, one of the busiest routes in northern India, is slated to be first semi-high speed project being taken up by the public transporter to run trains at speeds of 200 kmph with French help.

SNCF, the French railways, has been assigned the task of submitting the execution strategy and implementation model with detailed cost of the semi-high speed project involving upgradation of the Chandigarh route.

A review meeting was held between senior railway officials and a French railway team here which examined various issues including signalling upgradation, elimination of curves, and power control system, concerning the Delhi- Chandigarh route.

There are about 10 major curves spanning over total 32 kms on the existing rail route between Delhi and Chandigarh which need to be eliminated for scaling up the speed to 200 kmh, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved in the project.

Elimination of the curves, crucial for increasing train speed, involves land acquisition to lay 32 kms of new lines between Delhi and Chandigarh.

The review meeting also took note of the need for setting up of power sub-stations along the track.

The French team is expected to submit the final report with details of cost analysis by October.

After successful launch of 160 kmh service on Delhi-Agra corridor, the Railways has identified nine high priority passenger corridors of total 6,400 km length for increasing the speeds of passenger trains to 160-200 kmh.

Besides Delhi-Chandigarh, other routes include Delhi- Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mysore-Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai- Goa, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Hyderabad and Nagpur- Secunderabad.

The aim is to reduce the travelling time considerably so it has been decided to upgrade the existing track for running trains at 200 kmh and the French railways has been asked to prepare the draft document for it, the official said.

According to a rough estimate, it is likely to cost over Rs 10,000 crore with about Rs 46 crore per kilometre for running trains at 200 kmh, which includes rolling stock and signal and track upgradation on the Chandigarh corridor.

Currently, Shatabdi Express covers the 245 km distance in about three hours and 30 minutes travelling at a maximum speed of 110 kmh.

The higher speed will reduce the journey time between the two cities to one hour and 50 minutes with one stop at Ambala.

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In an effort at tapping the cruise tourism potential of North Kerala, the LDF government has drawn up an ambitious rs 300 crore project linking rivers and backwaters in the region. The government's aim was to get the project, called Malanad-Malabar cruise tourism, ready by early next year, according to state Tourism minister, Kadakampally Surendran.

The project, which was evaluated on Tuesday here, is expected to be a 'milestone' in the region's development,he said.

A committee with Kannur district collector as chairman will be constituted to monitor the project which also envisages development of basic amenities and tourism infrastructure facilities.

"The aim was to ensure that the project is ready by early next year", he said.

Walkways and Boat jetties will be constructed at Parassinikadavu and Pazhayangadi and state government had sanctioned rs 15 crore for the same, he said.

The River Bank tourism project envisages linking of the rivers and water bodies at Valapatnam, Kuppam, Perumba, Anjarakkandy, Mahi, Thalassery, Nileswaram, Thejaswini, Vilaya, Paramathadakkam, Chandragiri and their art forms and places of natural beauty has been drawn up.

A tourist can travel along the 197 km river route and at each river bank the visitor can get a feel of the region.

For providing Home stay facilities for tourists, Kerala Institute of Travel Tourism Studies will be providing a basic training to the owners.

As part of Responsible tourism, three islands will be brought under the Malabar Cruise tourism project.

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A Russian court today convicted a video blogger of inciting hatred against believers by posting videos online showing him chasing Pokemons in a church, giving him a suspended sentence.

Ruslan Sokolovsky, a militant atheist who posted the videos on his YouTube channel, was detained in August 2016 and spent nine months in jail and under house arrest.

His case, heard in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, highlighted the role of the powerful Orthodox Church and sparked comparisons with the scandalous case that saw members of the Pussy Riot punk group sent to prison for a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral in 2012.

Sokolovsky, who was born in 1994, was accused of "blasphemy" by the Church after he filmed himself in Yekaterinburg's famous Church on the Blood zapping Pokemons on his smartphone and swearing, as well as saying Pokemons were easier to find there than Jesus.

Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak convicted him on three charges, including inciting hatred and violating believers' rights.

"Aggregating all offences, the court sentences (Sokolovsky) to three years and six months of prison. The punishment is suspended, with a probationary period of three years," Shoponyak said in a packed courtroom.

The court agreed with the prosecution that a number of videos on Sokolovsky's channel hurt the feelings of religious people and incited hatred against them by comparing Jesus Christ to a zombie, saying that God does not exist and arguing that Russia is an obscurantist country.

His statements "confuse citizens" and are "disrespectful of society," Shoponyak said during the three-hour-long verdict.

"These actions are extremist actions," she said of his video postings.

The decision to give Sokolovsky a suspended sentence and free him from house arrest, where he had been currently held, were met with claps and sighs of relief in the courtroom.

"I thought I would die and not see him again," his mother said after the hearing. "Thank you everybody."



Sokolovsky during the trial pleaded not guilty and refused to testify.

In a passionate final statement, he said he is "an atheist, a cosmopolitan and a libertarian" and did not want to prevent anyone from practising their religion.

Amnesty called him a prisoner of conscience and had urged Russia to release him.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called his new South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in today to congratulate him on his inauguration, the first time such a call has been made from Beijing to Seoul and one that raises the prospect of a thaw in relations between the Asian neighbors.

Chinese leaders don't often make congratulatory telephone calls to new foreign leaders right after they take office, normally sending envoys days or weeks later carrying personal letters instead. The call to Moon took place just a day after he took office and comes amid increased regional tensions over North Korea as well as the deployment of a US missile-defense shield in South Korea.

Moon told Xi during the 40-minute call that he plans to send a special delegation to Beijing for talks on both topics, Moon's office said in a statement.

China has been upset by the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system that was approved by Moon's conservative predecessor as a hedge against North Korea, placing Seoul in a difficult spot between its closest military ally in Washington and its largest trading partner in Beijing.

China has already taken commercial retaliation against South Korean business interests on its soil, but will be hoping Moon follows through on his campaign pledge to review the missile system's deployment if elected. Beijing sees the system as a threat to its own security.

During Thursday's call, Xi reaffirmed China's opposition to the THAAD deployment, Moon's office said. Moon responded that he's aware of China's concerns and asked Xi to help resolve the difficulties facing South Korean businesses in China, it said.

Moon told Xi that it would be easier to settle the missile-defense issue if North Korea wasn't engaging in provocations, the statement said.

Moon said he hopes to meet Xi at an early date and Xi formally invited Moon to visit Beijing, it said. While Moon may try to soothe Chinese anger over the missile-defense system, many observers say it appears too late to call for its withdrawal, which would greatly undermine South Korea's relationship with Washington.

Given that, the prospect for improved ties between Seoul and Beijing isn't clear, with some saying China won't back down until it gets a major concession on the system's deployment and others saying China is also eager for improved ties and will settle for less as long as it can save face on the missile-defense issue.

Moon's conversation with Xi came a day after he spoke with President Donald Trump, who in the phone call congratulated Moon on his election win and invited him to visit the White House. The two leaders also agreed to strengthen their alliance, the White House said.

While taking the oath of office Wednesday, Moon said he's open to visiting North Korea under the right conditions. Conservative critics have worried Moon's rise to power might cause a friction with Trump, who wants to increase pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's largest trading partner and aid benefactor.

Moon also received similar congratulatory calls from Japanese and Indian leaders on Thursday.

During his call with Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, the two leaders agreed that their countries must not let their difficult history hamper co-operation in dealing with North Korea's nuclear programme, Moon's office said.

The call also touched on a controversial 2015 agreement over compensating South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military in World War II, Moon's office said. It said Moon told Abe that it was emotionally difficult for South Koreans to accept the agreement.

It wasn't clear whether Moon used the conversation to call for a renegotiation of the deal. He had promised during his campaign to renegotiate it.

Japanese officials have described the call as "positive and meaningful," with the two agreeing to cooperate closely to deal with North Korea.

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The Supreme Court today commenced its historic hearing on a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of triple talaq and nikah halala among Muslims, saying it would first determine whether the practice is fundamental to Islam.

A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, however, made it clear that the issue of polygamy among the Muslims may not be deliberated upon as it is not connected with the triple talaq issue.

"We will deal with the issue as to whether triple talaq is sacramental and whether it can be enforced as a Fundamental Right," the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, said while framing the issue to be deliberated upon.

The apex court also said if it came to the conclusion that triple talaq is fundamental to religion, then it will not go into the question of its constitutional validity.

The bench said it will also deal with the aspect of whether triple talaq formed part of the enforceable Fundamental Right to practice religion under the Constitution.

Senior advocate Amit Singh Chadha, appearing for Saira Bano, one of the petitioners in the case, initiated the arguments against the practice of triple talaq among Muslims and said this practice was not fundamental to Islam and hence can be done away with.

He also referred to the practices in the neighbouring Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to buttress his plea that triple talaq is un-Islamic.

The bench intervened and said it would like to peruse the prevalent laws in various Islamic countries on the issue.

Another senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, said in case of divorces being granted through extra-judicial mechanism, there should be a "judicial oversight" to deal with the consequences.

Former Union Minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid, who is assisting the court in his personal capacity, termed triple talaq as a "non-issue" saying it is not considered complete without conciliation efforts between the husband and the wife.

He said there was no adjudication to determine the validity of the grounds of talaq.

When the bench asked whether reconciliation after the pronouncement of triple talaq in one go is codified, Khurshid replied in the negative.

Another former Union Minister and counsel for All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Kapil Sibal, concurred with Khurshid and said "it's a non-issse, as no prudent Muslim would wake up one fine morning and say talaq, talaq and talaq".

The bench continued with the hearing in the post-lunch session.

The pleas before the apex court have also challenged the constitutional validity of other practices like 'nikah halala' and polygamy among the Muslims.

The bench is also taking up the main matter on its own as a petition titled "Muslim Women's quest for equality".

The apex court had on its own taken cognisance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands.

The hearing assumes significance as the apex court has decided to hear the case during the summer vacation and is likely to sit on Saturdays and Sundays to expeditiously decide the contentious and sensitive issues arising in the matter.

It holds importance as the Allahabad High Court, in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.

The High Court had given its verdict while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq.

The apex court had on March 30 said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are "very important" and involve "sentiments".

Influential Muslim organisations like the AIMPLB have opposed the court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining that these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and hence not justiciable.

The Muslim women, who have filed the petitions, have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message.

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, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then returning to him.

Earlier, the apex court, while referring to the matter to a larger bench, had observed that "sentiments" were involved in it and a five-judge constitution bench would adjudicate the issue which needed a detailed hearing.

The court had said it would decide the issues pertaining to the legal aspects of the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims, but would not deal with the question whether divorce under Muslim law needs to be supervised by courts as it fell under the legislative domain.

The Centre had on October 7 last opposed in the Supreme Court the practice of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims and favoured a relook on the grounds like gender equality and secularism.

AIMPLB had on March 27 told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of the judiciary.

The Board had also said the validity of the Mohammedan Law, founded essentially in the Holy Quran and sources based on it, cannot be tested on particular provisions of the Constitution.

It had said there was a need for "judicial restraint" before going into the constitutional interpretation of these issues unless such an exercise becomes unavoidable.

The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, had referred to the constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.

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BJP legislator Manjinder Singh Sirsa today demanded that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal step down in the wake of the alleged PWD scam.

The Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) has registered three FIRs, including one against a company of Kejriwal's late brother-in-law Surendra Bansal, in the alleged scam.

"How is it possible that when a member of the family of the chief minister was owner of the company, he is unaware of the work being done by such a company and payments being made to it by the PWD," Sirsa said.

The chief minister should resign on "moral grounds" as he has "disappointed" the people of Delhi who voted him to power believing him to be a crusader against corruption, he added.

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Sri Lanka refused permission for a Chinese submarine to dock at Colombo next week after a similar visit in 2014 angered regional super-power India, a top defence official said on Thursday.

Chinese authorities had sought clearance for a port call at Colombo where a Chinese state-owned company operates a mega container terminal, the official said asking not to be named.

"They have asked for permission, but we have said no," the official told AFP. "It is a very sensitive matter." He did not elaborate.

The rejection came as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Sri Lanka as chief guest of Vesak, the island's main Buddhist celebration making the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha.

The request for the Chinese submarine visit was for next week, after Modi's departure on Friday evening, official sources said.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese embassy in Colombo, but two submarine calls at the Colombo harbour in 2014 had reportedly angered India which considered it as undermining their security.

New Delhi traditionally regards its smaller neighbour as being within its sphere of influence. New Delhi is said to have been worried about Beijing's growing influence on Colombo under the former regime of strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse.

Sri Lanka's new President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in January 2015 promising to loosen ties with China after a decade of hefty funding by Beijing under his predecessor.

However, analysts have noted that Beijing's influence was on the rise again as Colombo struggles to find alternative sources of much needed foreign capital.
The triple talaq debate in the Muslim community intensified today as the Supreme Court began hearing petitions on the issue saying it would examine whether the practice was an enforceable fundamental right.

Several organisations voiced their opinion on the matter that has polarised the community between the orthodoxy and the reformists. While some termed it a religious matter that the community should resolve, others expressed faith that the judiciary would deliver justice to Muslim women.

All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) spokesperson Maulana Yasoob Abbas said he welcomed the Supreme Court's observation. "Time has now come to decide whether Prophet's Islam will reign supreme or the Islam of a selected few mullahs."



"Many Muslim countries have already put an end to the practice as it is directly linked to the lives of Muslim women. In the Shia community, there has been no place for triple talaq in one go," he added.

Sharing his view, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) President Shaista Amber said the Supreme Court's comment on enforceable fundamental right was historic and "the decision of the Supreme Court will definitely benefit Muslim women and uphold their dignity".

"Today is a day of hope of betterment and justice for Muslim women. At least we now feel that the betterment of Muslims has started," she said.

Taking a counter view, some clerics reiterated their stance that the petitions challenging the validity of triple talaq were politically motivated and that the practice was part of Muslim personal law.

All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) President Navaid Hamid said, "It is a religious issue. The Supreme Court should give the Muslim community more time evolve a strategy and resolve this contentious issue."



"The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) clearly says that triple talaq is a part of Islam. These petitions are politically motivated," added Maulana Kazmi, a cleric.

AIMPLB member and senior advocate Zafaryab Jilani said triple talaq is part of Muslim personal law but "misusing it is a sin".

His colleague, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali, executive member of the AIMPLB, was of the view that only 0.1 per cent of men were misusing it.

The apex court began hearing a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq and nikah halala, under which a divorced Muslim woman has to marry again, consummate the marriage and then break it if she wants to go back to her first husband.

A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, however, clarified that polygamy among Muslims may not be deliberated upon as it is not connected with the triple talaq issue.

The bench dealing with the issue also comprises Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, all from different religious backgrounds.

The apex court also said if it came to the conclusion that triple talaq was fundamental to religion, it would not go into the question of its constitutional validity.

The bench said it would deal with the aspect of whether triple talaq formed part of the enforceable fundamental right to practice religion under the Constitution and would like to peruse the prevalent laws in various Islamic countries on the issue.

The bench is also taking up the main matter on its own as a petition titled "Muslim Women's quest for equality".

The apex court had on its own taken cognisance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump spoke to his newly-elected South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and invited him to visit Washington, the White House has said.

"President Donald J Trump spoke today with President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea to congratulate him and the Korean people on his great election victory and their peaceful, democratic transition of power," the White House said in a readout of the phone call.

Both leaders agreed to strengthen the US-South Korea alliance and the "friendship" between the two countries.

"President Trump said he looks forward to working with President Moon and invited him to visit Washington at an early date. President Moon accepted the invitation," the White House said.

Moon, South Korea's first liberal leader in a decade, assumed presidential duties after the National Election Commission finished counting Tuesday's votes and declared him winner.

The special election was necessitated by the ousting of conservative Park Geun-hye, whose downfall and jailing on corruption charges marked one of the most turbulent stretches in the nation's recent political history.

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Taking a cue from Uttar Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is preparing to do away with the tradition of having holidays in schools and colleges on the birth anniversaries of national and state icons.

Hinting at it here today Uttarakhand minister of state for higher education Dhan Singh Rawat said, "It is being felt that by closing our schools and colleges on the birth anniversaries of national and state icons, we deprive the younger generation of a chance to know about them."



The minister said that it will be a bigger tribute to those icons if the educational institutions are kept open on those days and programmes like lectures, debates and symposiums aimed at acquainting young students with their inspiring life story or their contribution to society are held on the campus.

"Options are being weighed and a decision on this will soon be taken," said Rawat, who held a meeting with the office bearers of student unions recently to discuss the matter.

The Uttar Pradesh government had recently cancelled 11 declared holidays in educational institutions which were observed to mark the birth anniversaries of national and state icons.

State school education minister Arvind Pandey also supported the idea, saying a decision like this will be welcome as it will provide the students with an opportunity to learn about national and state icons.

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Vijay Mallya-promoted United Breweries today said it has discontinued brewing operations at its manufacturing unit in Bihar due to prohibition of alcohol in the state.

"Consequent to imposition of total prohibition effective April, 2017, commercial production at the company's brewery located at Naubatpur, District Patna has been discontinued," United Breweries Ltd (UBL) said in a regulatory filing.

The Nitish Kumar-led Grand Secular Alliance government had first banned the manufacture, trade, sale, consumption of country-made liquor from April 1, but later imposed a blanket ban on all types of liquor including foreign liquor in the state.

In September last year, the Patna high court quashed the government notification completing banning liquor in the state.

UBL said the Bihar government has challenged Patna High Court's decision and the matter is pending in Supreme Court.

UBL has 21 company-owned manufacturing units across the country. It operated only one unit in Bihar.

In a separate filing, the company said it has launched a new product 'Kingfisher-Storm' in the strong beer category.

The UBL stock was trading 3.94 per cent higher at Rs 834.65 on BSE.

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A draft of the election manifesto yet to be formally approved and launched by Britain's Labour Party was leaked to the media today in which the Opposition pledged to re-nationalise the country's energy industry, railways and the Royal Mail.

The document, seen by the BBC, is the most detailed draft with a 20-point plan on workers' rights alone.

It was yet to be signed off by most senior party figures, including the shadow cabinet and Labour's national executive committee.

The final version will form the foundation of Labour's bid to win over voters in the June 8 general election.

The detailed document has been branded as "socialist" and filled with "class envy" by many sections of the British media as it proposes nationalisation of the country's railways and the postal service and having at least one state-owned electricity supplier.

"We do not comment on leaks. We will announce our policies in our manifesto, which is our plan to transform Britain for the many, not the few," a spokesperson for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said.

The ruling Conservative party termed the draft as a sign of the chaos that a Labour led government would unleash on the UK if it were to win the general election.

"This is a total shambles. Jeremy Corbyn's plans to unleash chaos on Britain have been revealed.

"The commitments in this dossier will rack up tens of billions of extra borrowing for our families and will put Brexit negotiations at risk. Jobs will be lost, families will be hit and our economic security damaged for a generation if Jeremy Corbyn and the coalition of chaos are ever let anywhere near the keys to Downing Street," a Conservative party spokesperson said.

Other details of the manifesto include abolishing tuition fees for students at university, spending an extra 8 billion pounds on social care and not making "false promises" on immigration.

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Rushed here after the killing of a young Kashmiri Army officer, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi today held discussions with Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on the security situation in the Valley and the borders.

Mehrishi arrived here this morning, a day after militants killed Lt Ummer Fayaz in his native Shopian district of south Kashmir after abducting from a wedding function the officer who was on leave and unarmed.

"The Governor and the Home Secretary held extensive discussions about issues relating to effective maintenance of law and order," a Raj Bhawan spokesman said.

Vohra and Mehrishi also discussed matters relating to the security situation along the international border and the Line of Control (LoC), increasing infiltration attempts and the growing incidents of terrorism in the valley, the spokesman said.

Earlier, Mehrishi met Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here and discussed the overall security situation in the state.

"During the meeting, the Home Secretary discussed the overall situation in the state with the Chief Minister," an official spokesman said.

In the evening, the home secretary was briefed by security and police officials about the situation in the Valley.

The officials apprised Mehrishi about the steps taken to restore normality in the Valley which has been rocked by student protests over the past one month.

Weapon-snatching incidents and bank robberies were also discussed, officials said.

Security arrangements for forthcoming Amaranth yatra were also deliberated upon.

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The board of state-owned United Bank of India will meet next week to consider a proposal to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore through various options.

"The meeting of the board of directors of the bank shall be held on May 18 to approve raising equity capital not exceeding Rs 1,000 crore in one or more tranches during any financial year by qualified institutions placement, public issue, rights issue or such other capital issue(s)," United Bank of India said in a BSE filing.

The stock was trading 0.65 per cent higher at Rs 23.15 on the BSE.

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The Trump administration blamed Pakistan for deteriorating Indo-Pak relations and warned that the ties might worsen further if another "high-profile" terrorist attack emanates from across the border this year.

"Islamabad's failure to curb support to anti-India militants and New Delhi's growing intolerance of this policy, coupled with a perceived lack of progress in Pakistan's investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack, set the stage for a deterioration of bilateral relations in 2016," Daniel Coats, director of National Intelligence, told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing.

Testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence along with top intelligence officials, Coats said the relations between India and Pakistan became more tense following two major terrorist attacks in 2016 by militants crossing into India from Pakistan.

"They might deteriorate further in 2017, especially in the event of another high-profile terrorist attack in India that New Delhi attributes to originating in or receiving assistance from Pakistan," Coats said in his testimony before the Senate committee on worldwide threats.

Supporting India's pre-condition for bilateral talks on Islamabad stopping support to cross border terrorism, Coats said increasing numbers of cross-firing along the Line of Control, including the use of artillery and mortars, might aggravate the risk of unintended escalation between the two countries.

"Easing of heightened Indo-Pak tension, including negotiations to renew official dialogue, will probably hinge in 2017 on a sharp and sustained reduction of cross-border attacks by terrorist groups based in Pakistan and progress in the Pathankot investigation," Coats said.

Last year, heavily-armed terrorists sneaked in from across the border and attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in Punjab. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel while four terrorists were killed.

Coats said Pakistan is concerned about its international isolation due to its dwindling position against India's rising international status, expanded foreign outreach and deepening ties with the US.

"Pakistan will likely turn to China to offset its isolation, empowering a relationship that will help Beijing to project influence into the Indian Ocean," said the top US intelligence official.

In his remarks ahead of the possible release of the Afghanistan policy of the Trump Administration, he said "Pakistani-based terrorist groups will present a sustained threat to the US interests in the region and continue to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan."

"The threat to the US and the West from Pakistani-based terrorist groups will be persistent but diffuse. Plotting against the US homeland will be conducted on a more opportunistic basis or driven by individual members within these groups," he told members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Noting that Pakistan will probably be able to manage its internal security, he said anti-Pakistan groups are likely to focus more on soft targets.

"The groups we judge will pose the greatest threat to Pakistan's internal security include Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, Jamaat ui-Ahrar, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, ISIS-K, Laskhare Jhangvi, and Lashkar-e Jhangvi ai-Aiami," he said, adding that the emerging China Pakistan Economic Corridor will probably offer militants and terrorists additional targets.

"Pakistan's pursuit of tactical nuclear weapons potentially lowers the threshold for their use," Coats warned.

"Early deployment during a crisis of smaller, more mobile nuclear weapons would increase the amount of time that systems would be outside the relative security of a storage site, increasing the risk that a coordinated attack by non-state actors might succeed in capturing a complete nuclear weapon," he said.


Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today visited Bharatpur and inquired about the health of those injured in the wall collapse incident that left 24 people dead.

Raje told reporters that the government will conduct survey of all the marriage homes across the state to ensure that safety and security measures are being followed properly. It will be also checked that no illegal marriage home is functional.

The chief minister condoled the deaths in the incident and said action against those found guilty will be taken.

She visited the hospital and gave necessary direction to doctors and other staff.

Raje said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also condoled the death and the Centre has also announced compensation for the victims, apart from the state government.

Earlier in the day, the Rajasthan government ordered an inquiry into the wall collapse incident while the police registered a case against the hall owner who is absconding.

As many as 24 people died when a nearly 12-feet high wall of a marriage hall collapsed following a storm accompanied by rains in Bharatpur district last night.

The marriage home was operating without permission from the Bharatpur Municipal Corporation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When Afghan diplomat Masood Khalili travelled through the high mountains to mobilise people against the invading Red Army, he missed his wife and to console his heart, he would take out his notebook and write the things he saw, felt, heard and experienced.

And now years later, one of those notebooks has been translated by his son into "Whispers of War", a heart- wrenching tale of freedom and hope.

"Whispers of War: An Afghan Freedom Fighter's Account of the Soviet Invasion" by Khalili, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Spain and son of great Afghan poet Ustad Khalilullah Khalili, is published by Sage Books.

As a young political leader, Khalili motivated his people and led them in their fight against the Red Army. Alongside his friend, Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, Khalili travelled on foot, horseback and donkey, sharing the tales of pain, despair, and despondence of his countrymen and women.

In letters to his wife Sohaillah, he writes of his journey through the Himalayan range, accompanied by a team of foreign journalists.

The book is an account of the search for ever elusive peace in a country ravaged by war - a war that changed the landscape of the country and the fabric of its society.

"As I travelled through the high mountains of Afghanistan, I would miss my wife and the only thing that could console my heart, would be to take out my yellow notebook and write the different things that I saw, felt, heard and experienced," the author says.

"In my 13 trips into Afghanistan over the course of the whole jihad, I travelled to every corner and in each one, I had one thing always with me and that was my notebook to my wife. One of those notebooks is the one that my son translated and we made into 'Whispers of War'," he says.

He describes his book as a journey of a young political officer who wanted to bring peace in his country.

"But more than the story of that young political officer, it is the story of the tears, pain, and suffering of the common people of that poor, war-torn country," Khalili told PTI.

He says he would write to his wife almost every hour.

"Whenever we took a break to try and regain some energy in order to keep going on, I would take out my notebook," he says, adding his notebooks helped him with that mental strength.

The inspiration for writing diaries came to him from love of his family and even more so the love for his nation.

"I wanted my wife, for whom I was writing, to really understand the depth of the struggle of my people as I was learning it by being with them. Family is number one in our hearts but our nation is just as important to most patriotic people," he asserts.

He wrote over 40 notebooks, some political, some military and the others for his wife.

"My son, Mahmud, who translated 'Whispers of War' has plans to translate one more of my notebooks. This one is the trip to Herat. It is a totally different kind of feeling because I travel through the Southern provinces of Afghanistan, which has a different people and culture than people of the North," Khalili says.

According to him, it is very hard to know the real life stories of the people unless one hears these from them.

He then recalls one such story when he saw a Nooristani woman extending her hand as if she was seeking alms.

"It was strange to me to see a woman begging in Nooristan. It was very unusual. They are poor but not beggars. I moved past quickly," he says.

"At that moment, one of the men said loudly, 'Khalili Sahib, she has something for you.' As I turned back, I saw that the woman instantly covered her face with her old black headscarf and kept one hand extended towards me.

"I took a few steps in her direction and saw that in her outstretched, there were four walnuts," he recalls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has curtailed work on a natural-gas pipeline in Ohio after the owner, Energy Transfer Partners, reported 18 leaks and spilled more than 2 million gallons of drilling materials.

The pipeline regulator blocked Energy Transfer Partners, which also built the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, from starting horizontal drilling in eight areas where drilling has not yet begun. In other areas, where the company has already begun horizontal drilling, the FERC said drilling could continue.

The FERC also ordered the company to double the number of environmental inspectors and to preserve documents the commission wants to examine as it investigates the spills.

The biggest spill, in a pristine wetland along the Tuscarawas River about 50 miles south of Akron, covered 6.5 acres, the commission said, "coating wetland soils and vegetation with bentonite clay and bore-hole cuttings." A video provided by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency showed drilling mud a foot or two deep.

Energy Transfer Partners has asserted that the spills of nontoxic drilling mud, used to cool and lubricate drilling equipment, were inadvertent and had been predicted in its permit application to build the Rover gas pipeline. The horizontal drilling is done to place pipelines well below ground to minimize the chances of contamination of rivers or wetlands.

However, the FERC said that its staff has "serious concerns" regarding the magnitude of the largest spill, "its environmental impacts, the lack of clarity regarding the underlying reasons for its occurrence, and the possibility of future problems."

It said that the largest spill was "several orders of magnitude greater than other documented inadvertent returns for this project."

The commission, which regulates all natural-gas pipelines, said that "a stoppage of additional drilling is warranted to facilitate a review of Rover's efforts to search for and locate any potential releases."

The Ohio EPA has fined Energy Transfer Partners about $400,000 and has asked the FERC for support. Craig Butler, the Ohio EPA director, said the company's response had been "dismissive," "exceptionally disappointing" and unlike any other response he has seen from a company in his 27 years at the agency.

The Rover pipeline is $4.2 billion project that would link the shale-gas-rich regions of Appalachia to Michigan and Ontario.

It is just one of many pipelines whose fate lies in the hands of the FERC, a technocratic and relatively obscure agency. The five-member commission has lacked a quorum since early February, putting new permits on hold. That has placed an obstacle in the path of the White House.

The Trump administration late Monday, May 8, nominated two new members for the commission, potentially clearing the way for controversial, multibillion-dollar pipeline and natural-gas export projects like Rover, which was one of the last permits issued in February.

President Donald Trump has voiced support for new oil pipeline projects such as the Keystone XL and Dakota Access lines, and Gary Cohn, head of the White House National Economic Council, recently threw the administration's support behind a liquefied-natural-gas export terminal in Oregon's Jordan Cove that had been rejected by the FERC a few months ago.
A 35-year-old woman was today killed and her husband injured in mortar shelling by Pakistani troops in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

The shelling hit a village in Laam belt of Nowshera sector, killing Akhtar Bi and injuring her husband Mohmmad Hanief (40).

"The Pakistani Army fired from small arms and automatic weapons from 10:40 last night on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said.

They also shelled forward posts and civilian areas using 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, he said.

"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said.

There have been six ceasefire violations in April Month.

The latest incident of ceasefire violation comes after the beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan's Border Action Team on May 1.

Under the cover of heavy mortar fire, the Pakistani special forces team sneaked 250 metres across the Line of Control (LoC) into the KG sector of Poonch and beheaded the soldiers.

The Home Ministry has said that at least one incident of ceasefire violation by Pakistan took place daily along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 and 2016 in which 23 security personnel lost their lives.

As many as 1,142 terror incidents were reported in the state between 2012 and 2016 in which 236 security personnel and 90 civilians were killed, it said.

According to the reply, Pakistan breached the truce along the Line of Control 449 times in 2016 as compared to 405 violations in 2015. 23 security personnel were killed in the two-year period.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Archaeologists have discovered bullet cartridges, shell fragments and military items used during the First World War in Israel - evidence of fierce battles between the British and Ottoman armies.

In addition to these items, two military outposts were also 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.

"As archaeologists, 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," said Yossi Elisha, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"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," said Elisha.

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, researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"Our excitement increased even more when we identified the name of the unit to which the soldier belonged whose insignia was found - the Norfolk Regiment," Peretz said.

"The fighting on this site was part of the Battle of Megiddo that took place on September 19, 1918," he said.

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," Peretz said.

"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," said Alexander Glick, a weapons expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"Fragments of artillery shells and shrapnel balls were found in the excavation. It seems that the Turkish forces sustained serious casualties from this barrage," said Glick.

"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," he said.

"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," he added.

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Beaudoin, a scion of Bombardier's founding family which control the company through a dual class share structure, will continue as non-executive chairman, despite calls from several key shareholders for an independent director at the helm of the Canadian plane-and-train-maker.

Maxime Chagnon, a spokesman for Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, the company's largest outside investor, called the change in Beaudoin's role a "step in the right direction," but said the pension fund still believes "Bombardier needs an independent chair."

Other Canadian funds like Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP), which joined Caisse in withholding their votes for Beaudoin's re-election at Bombardier's annual meeting in Montreal on Thursday, declined to comment.

Michel Nadeau, director of the Montreal-based Institute for Governance described Beaudoin's new role as an example of the founding family stepping back and a "new chapter in the history of the company," although he told reporters he would have also preferred an independent director at the board's helm.

A non-executive chairman does not interfere with day-to-day matters and the separation of executive and non-executive chairman roles is often seen as a way to improve corporate governance.

Earlier in the day, the company reported better-than-expected free cash flow usage, a key metric watched by investors, because of lower expenses. Bombardier shares jumped as much as 9.8 percent to C$2.25, logging their biggest one-day percentage gain since April 26, 2016.

While Bombardier executives faced a small protest outside the meeting at a Montreal plant, shareholders approved Beaudoin as board chairman, with 92 percent voting in favour, while 93 percent of shareholders also backed the company's new executive pay plan.

Beaudoin, Bombardier's former chief executive, was named executive chairman to assist current Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare's transition into his new job in 2015. Bellemare told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that Beaudoin's new role comes at a "good time" after his "smooth and stable transition."

It also follows a March decision by the company to award its top five executives and chairman raises of up to 50 percent a few months after announcing thousands of layoffs and receiving more than $1 billion in government funding. The move sparked widespread protests and a dressing down by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Beaudoin later agreed to forgo his raise while other executives deferred them.

When asked on the sidelines of the meeting whether the public should still have confidence in the family, Pierre Beaudoin's father Laurent Beaudoin told reporters: "They (the public) should have because we built the company."

Beaudoin's 2016 executive chairman compensation of $3.8 million will be changed, although the company did not reveal his new salary.

Shareholders like Caisse also reiterated their support for Bellemare, who is leading a five-year turnaround plan praised by analysts on Thursday.

Strength in Bombardier's train-making unit helped the company report a smaller-than-expected adjusted first-quarter net loss.

The adjusted net loss attributable to shareholders was $1 million, narrower than the loss of $22.8 million that analysts estimated, according to Thomson I/B/E/S.

In an analyst call, Bellemare said an anti-dumping petition filed by Boeing Co against the sale of the new CSeries aircraft in the U.S. would have a "serious" impact on airlines, innovation and competition in the aerospace industry..

"We'll fight this," Bellemare said later of the petition.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Bernard Orr)

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By Allison Lampert

(Reuters) - Bombardier Inc Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin is giving up management responsibilities after an outcry over compensation, but will continue to lead the board, the company said on Thursday as it reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.

Beaudoin, a scion of Bombardier's founding family which control the company through a dual class share structure, will continue as non-executive chairman, despite calls from several key shareholders for an independent director at the helm.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, joined other large Canadian funds this week in withholding their votes for Beaudoin's re-election at Bombardier's annual meeting on Thursday.

It's not clear how non-Canadian investors in the Canadian train and plane maker intend to vote.

"In our view, this decision will likely be perceived positively by investors," wrote Desjardins analyst Benoit Poirier in a note to clients.

Bombardier's decision in March to award its top five executives and chairman with raises of up to 50 percent a few months after announcing thousands of layoffs and receiving more than $1 billion in government funding sparked widespread protests and a dressing down by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Beaudoin later agreed to forgo his raise while other executives deferred them.

Earlier in the week, shareholders like Caisse, reiterated their support for Bombardier Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare, who is leading a five-year turnaround plan.

"This change reflects the very successful transition of Bombardier's executive leadership to Alain over the past

two years," Beaudoin said in a statement about stepping down as executive chairman.

Even without the raise, Beaudoin's 2016 executive chairman compensation of $3.8 million was questioned by a family member, arguing he should focus solely on leading the board, and benchmark his salary to industry norms.

One analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media, called the change largely "symbolic" because Beaudoin remains chairman.

A non-executive chairman does not interfere with day-to-day matters and the separation of executive and non-executive chairman roles is often seen as a way to improve corporate governance.

Strength in Bombardier's train-making unit helped the company report a smaller-than-expected adjusted first-quarter net loss, the company reported.

Adjusted earnings in its rail business, before interest and taxes, jumped to $134 million from $23 million a year earlier.

The adjusted net loss attributable to shareholders was $1 million, narrower than the loss of $22.8 million that analysts estimated, according to Thomson I/B/E/S.

On a per-share adjusted basis, the company broke even. Analysts, on average, estimated a 1 cent loss.

Montreal-headquartered Bombardier reported an 8.6 percent fall in revenue to $3.58 billion, missing estimates of $3.84 billion.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Jeffrey Benkoe)

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MUMBAI (Reuters) - New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said on Thursday the U.S. central bank will normalise its balance sheet in a "very careful way", while leaving "sufficient" excess reserves in the financial system.

Dudley, in a speech in Mumbai, also told the audience not to expect any "dramatic change" in monetary policy in the United States.

The comments largely hewed to his previous stance on the subject and came in answers to questions from the audience after Dudley delivered a speech calling trade protectionism a "dead end".

(Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury)

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Motor Co forecast on Thursday an unexpected 7.7% fall in operating profit this year as it sees higher raw material costs and a negative currency impact weighing on its bottom line.

Japan's second-largest automaker expects operating profit to come in at 685.0 billion yen ($6.00 billion) in the year to March, lower than an average estimate of 778.4 billion yen from 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, and down from a 742.2 billion yen profit posted in the year just ended.

Nissan's forecast is based on a projection that the yen will average 108.0 yen to the US dollar in the year through March, compared with 108.3 yen in the year just ended.

Nissan, which has an 18-year alliance and cross-shareholdings with France's Renault, forecast global retail vehicle sales for the year ending in March 2018 of 5.83 million vehicles, compared to 5.63 million in the year just ended.

In North America, its largest market, it forecast sales of 2.14 million vehicles, up 0.5%, even as a strong run of US demand for cars in recent years shows signs of petering out.

In the past year or so, strong US demand for SUVs and other larger models has boosted sales of Nissan's Rogue crossover model, prompting the automaker to import vehicles from Japan and South Korea as local production struggled to keep up with demand.

But industry data last week showed that the US new vehicle sales in April declined on the year for the second consecutive month, suggesting a possible easing in full-year sales from record highs hit in 2016.

Slowing US sales are prompting automakers to push harder to sell their products, raising concerns among industry experts about rising inventory levels and consumer discounts. A pricing war in the market could undermine automakers' profits.

On Wednesday, Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's biggest automaker, forecast operating profit for the current year to slide by a fifth due to increased spending to push sales in the US market and the lingering impact from a stronger yen.

($1 = 114.1200 yen)
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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
After Infosys and Wipro, it's now IT firm Tech Mahindra 1.27 % that could hand out pink slips to hundreds of employees as it looks to "weed out bottom performers".

Tech Mahindra -- which ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues -- has begun its annual performance appraisal process.

Also read: Big layoffs in India's IT sector: Techies protest sacking by Cognizant, seek govt intervention



"We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different," Tech Mahindra said in an emailed response.

The Mumbai-based company, however, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave. However, industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds.

Also read: After Cognizant, Wipro, now Infosys to lay off employees



At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

Tech Mahindra's larger rivals, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant have already initiated similar performance reviews and estimates suggest that thousands of employees in the sector could be shown the door over the next few weeks.

The development comes at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

While the companies have termed these layoffs as part of normal business decisions, many believe these are directed more towards controlling costs.

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.

Also Watch:






The Amazon Great Indian Sale is underway and the company's lightening deals are going out of stock pretty quick. With more deals every hour, here's your chance to get what you want during Amazon's Great Indian Sale. If you follow some of our tips you could buy the items about thirty minutes before others, save time and make quicker transactions.



Prime subscription

Amazon is releasing certain lightening deals exclusively for Prime members. The members get the deals 30 minutes before it is opened for non-Prime members. The Prime membership is selling for Rs 499.

Though Prime subscription is optional, the added benefits are making sure more and more people are lured to it. Prime members also get to enjoy Amazon's Prime Video subscription with the same onetime fee for a year. The video content includes original series like American Gods and many recent movies.



Use Amazon App

Amazon's App is an easy way to access the sale and since new deals come in frequently, installing the official Amazon app will help you stay updated on the go. Apart from the obvious advantage, if you purchase goods worth Rs 500 or more, you'll get flat Rs 1000 off on hotel bookings on Yatra.com.

Save time and get discounts on payment methods

Amazon Pay is the company's own digital wallet that's quicker during checkout. The user will have to recharge their balance like any digital wallet and choose the Amazon Pay option during checkout.

Amazon has also launched a lucky draw of sorts for users who use Amazon Pay to shop during the sale. People who use Amazon Pay to buy goods worth Rs 500 or more stand a chance to win Rs 1 lakh every hour. Over the purchase, the user will also have to answer a simple question to enter the contest.

Another way to make a quick online payment is to save your card details in your Amazon account. Once you save your card details, you'll just need the CVV number and then enter OTP or password to complete the payment.

The sale will have offers on smartphones, big electronic products, fashion products and even home and kitchen appliances. There will be a discount of up to 50 per cent on mobiles, accessories and electronics, 40-80 per cent off on fashion products, up to 70 per cent off on home and kitchen appliances and 20-60 per cent off on toys and games. The website has revealed specific discounts on different brands as well.

Amazon's Great Indian Sale will precede Flipkart's 'Big 10 Sale'. Both sales will run simultaneously on 14th as Flipkart's sale will range from 14th to 18th of this month. The e-commerce giants are pitting against each other in order to gain more market share.
All thanks to Flipkart and its 'Bid and Win ' offer, three Flipkart buyers have cracked jackpot. One of them got an iPad 32GB worth Rs 28990 at Rs 0.26, another buyer got a Fossil Marshall Smartwatch worth Rs 18,995 at Rs 2.08 and the most recent winner got a Fossil ME3062 Analog Watch worth Rs 18,295 at Rs 3.34.

Flipkart Big 10 Sale is going to begin on May 14 and will go on till May 18. This sale will mark Flipkart's 10th anniversary in the Indian e-commerce industry. Apparels, home appliances, TVs and furniture will be on offer between 14th and 18th, while smartphones, electronics, and accessories will be available from 15th to 18th. While Flipkart has announced up to 90 per cent discount on some products, the Big 10 Sale also features a unique 'Bid and Win' offer which most buyers are unaware of.

ALSO READ: Amazon Great Indian Sale: Prime members get offers 30 minutes before others

Here's how the 'Bid and Win' offer works:

What is Flipkart Bid and Win offer?

Flipkart Bid and Win offer allows consumers to place bids on certain products. A customer with the lowest and most unique bidding amount will win that particular product. The winner can then buy the product at the same bidding price but on the condition that the product has to be purchased within 24 hours after the winner is announced.

How to claim products under Bid and Win offer?

Consumers need to be 18 years and above to participate in the Flipkart Bid and Win offer and must have a valid registered account on Flipkart. You have to enter the offer page by clicking on the widget which appears on the homepage of the website.

The bidding period is fixed between 12 a.m and 11:59 p.m till 18th May. Winners for each bid period will be announced after 12 hours of the end of the period, in the offer page on the website. Winners will also receive a confirmation email on their registered email address.

To win, the consumers have to place not only lowest bids but also unique ones. For example- For an iPad worth Rs 32,000, if four users bid separately and two of them are the same, they will be disqualified. Among the other two unique bids, the lowest one will win the bid.

Winners can redeem the offer through the link which will appear in their 'My Reward' section, after logging into their registered account, within 48 hours of the end of the Bid Period. The said link will lead to the product page from where winners can purchase the product at her/ his bid price. Winners must complete the purchase within 24 hours of the appearance of the said link in their My Rewards section, or surrender the offer.

ALSO READ: Flipkart, Amazon back with sales: Upto 80% discounts across brands

Other offers on Flipkart Big 10 Sale

Other than the Bid and Win offer, the Flipkart Big 10 Sale has come up with up to 50% on mobile phones, 50-90% discounts on fashion, 20 to 60% off on TV's and appliances, up to 40% discount on electronics like tablets, cameras, laptops etc. Flipkart Big 10 Sale also offers up to 90% discount on furniture. There's a 10% instant discount for HDFC credit card users and 30% cashback to the consumers purchasing via PhonePe. 20 shoppers stand to win free trips to Kuala Lumpur, and those who purchase goods worth Rs. 2,000 will get MakeMyTrip Hotels gift card worth Rs. 2,500. Top 10 shoppers stand to win vouchers worth Rs 500 every hour on shopping of 3 items.
As the ties between Indian and Pakistan goes from bad to worse over the issue of death sentence given to retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, authorities in New Delhi are tightening visa procedures for Pakistanis who visit India for medical treatment.

India's External Affairs Ministry on Wednesday said Pakistani nationals applying for a medical visa would have to get a letter of recommendation from Pakistan Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz.

MEA Spokesperson Gopal Baglay denied that India had stopped giving medical visas to Pakistani citizens, but said that with a recommendation letter from Aziz, the visa application would be cleared "immediately".

"We have suggested that their Foreign Minister or Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaz Aziz give a recommendation letter and it will be cleared immediately, without any delay," the PTI quoted him as saying.

He added that a recommendation letter would enable to ascertain that the requests received from Pakistan are genuine. He also referred to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj herself receiving these requests on social media and on emails.

It is difficult to ascertain authenticity of such requests, he added.

He also asserted that "in previous years, thousands of medical visas have been issued to Pakistani citizens to come to India and benefit from the health facilities here."

India's decision to impose the condition on medical visas for Pakistani nationals comes in the backdrop of growing tension in Indo-Pak ties due to the retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav episode and the recent beheading of two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan army regulars.

Earlier this week, the International Court of Justice late stayed the hanging of Jadhav. Pakistani military court had given death sentence to Jadhav on charges of spying.

India had approached the Hague-based ICJ against the death sentence. India also accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and said if he was hanged it would be considered "premeditated murder".

Also Watch:




The price of solar power touched an all-time low in the bidding held for Bhadla Solar park in Rajasthan with the lowest bid coming in at Rs 2.62 per unit on Wednesday morning, which is less than the average price of coal-based power in the country. The solar power companies are competing for setting up a total capacity of 250 MW in the ongoing round.

The price for solar power has turned out to be even lower than public sector utility giant NTPC's average coal-based power tariff of Rs 3.20 per unit. The companies that were awarded the contracts are South African solar companyPhelan Energy Group Ltd won 50 MW, US Avaada Power Group which bagged 100 MW at same rate.

Cleantech, the energy arm of SoftBank Group, also clinched 100 MW at Rs 2.63 per unit as the bidding followed bucket filling method to award quantities in the 750MW phase IV auction of Bhadla solar park. This tariff is fixed for 25 years with no escalation and the bidders have sought no viability gap funding from the Government, said officials.



ALSO READ: Now, Tech Mahindra looks to lay off hundreds on 'performance' ground

After the bidding round, Power Minster Piyush Goyal tweeted : ``Another milestone towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of clean affordable power for all: Bhadla Solar Park achieves tariff of Rs 2.62 per unit.'' This tariff is lower than the Rs 3.15 per unit bid received for Kadapa Solar (250MW) in Andhra Pradesh.

It is also lower than Rewa solar park-750 MW (MP) which saw the lowest bid of 2.97 per unit, last month, but the levellised tariff comes out to be Rs 3.30 per unit for 25 years.

Levellised tariff is inclusive of annual cost escalations in the cost of project which is factored into the final tariff. A senior government official pointed out that this tariff is lower than average coal-based price in the country and it will be possible to match the grid parity price for solar with coal.

"It is understood that this fall in solar tariffs is the result of a combination of factors, most important being the decision of the Government of India to cover solar power by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under the ambit of Tripartite Agreement for payment security against defaults by State distribution companies.'' SECI managing director Ashwini Kumar said. SECI is a wholly government-owned public sector undertaking of the ministry of new & renewable energy which executes solar bidding.

ALSO READ: Flight ticket prices under UDAN may be revised every three months

``Other factors contributing are about 7-8 per cent higher yield in Rajasthan due to better solar radiation conditions, drop in module prices in International market, and strengthening of Indian rupee against the US dollar," Kumar added. Solar tariffs have been heading sharply downwards over the last year or so. In January 2016, solar power tariff had dropped to Rs 4.34 a unit which was the lowest till that point, with Finnish energy firm Fortum Finnsurya Energy quoting Rs 4.34 a unit to bag the mandate to set up a 70-MW solar plant under NTPC's Bhadla Solar Park tender.

In November 2015, the tariff had touched Rs 4.63 per unit following aggressive bidding by US-based SunEdison, the world's biggest developer of renewable energy power plants which was also a record low at that point.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged the Medical Council of India (MCI) to issue 'good standing certificates' to doctors who want to work abroad. It also wanted the MCI to seek similar certificates from foreign doctors who want to practise in the country.

"Whenever any graduate or postgraduate from our country intends to register with registering authorities for practising modern medicine in the concerned countries, he/she should be required to furnish an MCI-issued Good Standing Certificate for verification," said K.K. Aggarwal, national president of IMA.

In a letter to the MCI, Aggarwal, points out that the sole purpose of this requirement is "to ensure that the concerned registered medical practitioner has a good track record and there is nothing against him/her, especially with reference to ethical breach and/or violations".

He also said that a reciprocal condition should be imposed on Indian doctors who are practising in other countries after getting registered in those country and intend to come back to India.

The IMA letter was prompted by a suo moto case taken up by the Delhi High Court to examine if Indian-origin doctors, barred from practising by a foreign country, practise in India or not. The court action was triggered by news reports that an Indian-origin doctor, barred from practising by a US court, is now treating patients in Delhi and Gurgaon.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice V.K. Rao directed the member secretary of Delhi State Legal Services Authority to verify the name and address of the doctor, carry out an immediate probe and file a report within four days. It also issued notice to the MCI to file a report on the mechanism, statutory regime and the rules and regulations in place to scrutinise and check such practices. The next date of hearing is on May 15.



Aggarwal said that imposition of similar conditions would be required for Indian students getting their MBBS or equivalent degrees outside India and coming back for registration in India; foreigners coming to India and asking for temporary licences to practise and also for Indian doctors seeking multiple registrations across states.



"This means before they are registered or re-registered with the registering authorities in India, they will have to furnish a similar Good Standing Certificate as a condition precedent," Aggarwal said.
An Indian-origin man in the US has claimed that the United Airlines cancelled his flight reservation because he filmed an employee during an altercation, the latest public relations headache for the under fire airline.

Navang Oza, 37, said he was refused entry on a flight to the West Coast after he started recording his experience on his cellphone.

Oza was quoted by KNTV as saying that he was checking in Monday for a flight home to San Francisco from New Orleans when he complained to a United Airlines agent about a USD 300 charge for his luggage. Oza said he paid USD 125 to check the same bag on the first leg of his trip.

Unable to get an explanation, Oza said he decided to do what many other frustrated passengers have done and film the dispute.

Oza posted an unedited clip of the lengthy interaction with the ticket counter worker in New Orleans.

The clip begins with the agent pointing her finger at him, saying, "You did not have my permission to videotape".

Next, she appears to instruct an agent to her left. "Cancel the reservation," she says.

"I want to know why," Oza asks.

"Because you did not have my permission," she said.

"I was shocked because I didnt know she had the right to cancel my flight because I started recording," he said.

About a minute after ordering his trip cancelled for taping her, the United agent is seen recording Oza.

"Ill do the same thing," she said, pointing her smartphone at Ozas.

Here is the original footage of the conversation as tweeted by Navang:

Oza said the United agent eventually called airport police. Oza was still rolling when an officer appeared.

"Can I at least keep this recording?" Oza asks the officer. The officer replies, "Sir, you have the right to do whatever you want; its a public space".

The California resident said that he ultimately re-booked his flight on a different airline.

United told the news station that it was investigating the incident.

"The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that we apologise. We are reviewing this situation, including talking with Mr Oza and our employees to better understand what happened," United said in a statement.

After the drama at the airport, Navang tweeted the following to people who reached out to him after his experience with the ground staff of United Airlines:

I want to thank everyone for their support. I was surprised by how many people reached out with similar experiences (1/2). - Navang Oza (@Navang25) May 10, 2017

Hopefully, this increased dialogue will help prevent ordeals like this from happening in the future (2/2). - Navang Oza (@Navang25) May 10, 2017

United has faced a series of scandals in recent weeks, including the violent removal of passenger David Dao, who sustained injuries from being dragged off an overbooked flight.

Also this week, a Missouri woman claimed that a United staff told her to urinate in a cup rather than leave her seat to use the restroom on a flight from Houston. The claim has been denied by the airline.

A giant rabbit, who was expected to outgrow his father to become the worlds biggest bunny, also died under the care of United Airlines last month.
As growth in India's $150-billion IT industry slows down, major firms in the sector are beginning to lay off hundreds of employees. After Infosys and Wipro, now IT firm Tech Mahindra could hand out pink slips to many of its employees as it looks to "weed out bottom performers".

Earlier in April, country's apex trade body ASSOCHAM had warned about industry's growth prospect and said: "Aggravated by rising rupee leading to lower realizations for software exports, the Indian IT firms may be forced to displace work force. In that case, the chances of layoffs are real."

At present, the sector is witnessing layoffs on a major scale for the first time since 2008-10 downturn. With a relatvely slow growth and firms looking forward to hire techies from the US, the future can hold more job cuts.

Also read: Big layoffs in India's IT sector: Techies protest sacking by Cognizant, seek govt intervention



At present, senior level employees with 10 to 20 years of experience are the most affected, but experts believe that later in the year, lower level staff too will be impacted.

Also Read: Wipro lay-offs not surprising, more IT firms could rein in hiring: Here's why

Cognizant to cut jobs

Earlier this month, Cognizant Technology Solutions announced a voluntary separation package for its top executives - directors, associate VPs and senior VPs. The programme was a part of its plan to shift operations to automation and digital technology.

It was reported that at least 1,000 executives were expected to go. The company was expected to eventually cut at least 6,000 jobs, or 2.3 per cent of its total workforce.

Soon, Wipro joined the chorus. Reports surfaced of Wipro CEO Abid Ali Neemuchwala speaking in an internal conference call. He said that if revenues did not grow, around 10 per cent of employees would be asked to leave. His statement caused more worry for many in the sector.

Tech Mahindra to "weed out" bottom performers

And now, Tech Mahindra -- which ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues -- has begun its annual performance appraisal process. The company has hinted there could be layoffs.

"We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different," Tech Mahindra said.

However, the Mumbai-based company, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave but the industry sources suggested that the number would run into hundreds.

It is also to be noted that at the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

Meanwhile, a forum of IT professionals has protested the move by Cognizant and called it "illegal termination" of employees. According to a report in NDTV, forum of IT Employees or FITE has sought immediate intervention in its petition submitted to Assistant Labour Commissioner Chennai.

Also read: After Cognizant, Wipro, now Infosys to lay off employees



To which the IT major responded by saying, "Cognizant has not conducted any layoffs. Each year, as is the best practice across our industry, we conduct performance review to ensure we have the right employee skill sets necessary to meet client needs and achieve our business goals. This process results in changes, including some employees transitioning out of the company. Any actions as the result of this process are performance-based and generally consistent with those we've made in previous years."

Infosys may ask job level 6 employees to leave

After Wipro and Cognizant, now Infosys, if reports are to be believed, has also joined in laying off the employees.

The TOI on Wednesday reported that at Infosys, nearly 1,000 employees in job level 6 and above - group project managers, project managers, senior architects and higher levels - may be asked to leave.

"Managers at these levels have been asked to identify, in terms of performance, the bottom 10 per cent of their reportees," the report said.

The development comes at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

While the companies have termed these layoffs as part of normal business decisions, many believe these are directed more towards controlling costs.

Also watch:




Facebook is planning to intensify its crackdown on so-calledclickbait websites, saying it will begin giving lower prominence to links thatlead to pages full of deceptive or annoying advertisements.

The downgrade of the links was expected to take effectbeginning on Wednesday on News Feed, the home page of Facebook where people goto see posts from friends and family.

Facebook said it wanted to downplay links that people postto websites that have a disproportionate volume of ads relative to content, orthat have deceptive or sexually suggestive ads along the lines of "5 Tipsto be Amazing in Bed" or "1 Crazy Tip to Lose Weight Overnight!"

Links to websites with pop-up ads or full-screen ads alsowould be downplayed, it said.

People scrolling through their News Feed are oftendisappointed when they click on such links and do not find valuableinformation, Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's vice president of ads and businessplatform, said in an interview.

"People don't want to see this stuff," he said."We're just trying to figure out how to find it and rank it further downNews Feed when possible."

Facebook uses a computer algorithm to determine which postspeople see first from friends and family, and it frequently refines thealgorithm to keep up with spam or other concerns.

The company said in August it was adjusting the algorithm todownplay news stories with clickbait-style headlines, a style of headline thatintentionally withholds information or misleads people to get them to click onthem.

In December, facing criticism that hoaxes and fake newsstories spread too easily on Facebook in the run-up to the U.S. presidentialelection on Nov. 8, the company made it easier for people to report those kindsof posts.

Facebook, the world's largest social media network with 1.9billion monthly users, has enormous power with its algorithms to potentiallydrive traffic to media publishers or stymie it.

The company said it reviewed hundreds of thousands ofwebsites linked to from Facebook to identify those with little substance butlots of disruptive or shocking ads.

Bosworth declined to name any websites Facebook wants totarget. He said only publishers of spam needed to worry about seeing lesstraffic, and other publishers could see their traffic go up.

"This is a small number of the worst of theworst," he said.
Hyrum City's hydro-electric power plant was originally constructed in 1928.

HYRUM  <a href=http://www.hyrumcity.org/>Hyrum City</a> opened the doors of its hydro-electric plant to the public Wednesday evening, May 10, with tours of the facility being led by Hyrum City Power Superintendent Matt Draper. Dozens of Cache Valley residents made the six-mile drive up Blacksmith Fork Canyon to attend the open house, including several local Cub Scout troops and many families.

When longtime Hyrum City residents Jody and Carl Krawiec learned of the opportunity, they were eager to participate.

Weve lived here for over 40 years and have never been on the inside, so we were kind of curious, said Jody Krawiec. Beautiful day, why not come up and see what its all about, you know?

Built in 1928, the Hyrum Citys hydro-electric plant continues to supply a substantial portion of Hyrum Citys electricity. To meet voltage needs beyond the plants capacity, Hyrum City Power also owns shares in other power plants throughout Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, with electricity being transmitted through <a href=file:///C:/Users/Jennifer/Documents/Jennifer/rockymountainpower.net>Rocky Mountain Powers</a> regional grid.

Hyrum City Power also belongs to the <a href=http://www.uamps.com/>Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems</a>, a nonprofit cooperative that allows the utility to buy and sell electricity at cost among other Utah cities with locally-owned municipal power systems. Draper said there are definite advantages to how Hyrum City Power is operated.

We charge residents enough for power to maintain our system and pay our overhead, and thats about it, he said. Hyrum Citys residents own the power system, and thats why we try to keep prices low. Another benefit of a city owning its own power system is we are able to transfer funds into the citys general fund for other programs and services and we dont have to pay a surcharge to a private organization.

Draper said the way Hyrum City Power is structured also gives the community local control over power rates and allows the city to keep taxes lower while providing a valuable public service.

Honestly, its kind of complex, but the bottom line is that Hyrum City residents benefit from having local control of the power system through their elected officials, he said.

Kenna Dyches, also a Hyrum resident, appreciated being able to learn more about Hyrum City Power as she visited the hydro-electric plant with five of her children. Eight-year-old Holly Dyches said she thought the visit was cool and said she enjoyed the whole tour. Her mother was especially impressed with the buildings history.

I just think its fascinating, Kenna Dyches said. Ive driven by this place so many times and never really noticed it. I knew that Hyrum had its own hydro-electric plant, but I hadnt ever seen inside, so its fascinating to see how it works and to see the old pieces. I loved the telephone booth in there. That might be one of my favorite things. Thats funny, but the doorknob is really old and cool, and its just very vintage in there. I liked that.

Dyches learned through Drapers presentation that the plant has been modernized over the years, but much of the original equipment is still in place. Wednesdays tour was possible because the facility is currently undergoing maintenance.

When they update it, they still try to stay true to the original mechanics of it and to make it look like the old stuff, Dyches said. They still have to come up every day and watch the gauges and make sure its equalized. Every day they have to come up and check on it and make sure its all working right because its still a lot of the original equipment even with the new parts that theyve replaced.

Yesterdays tour of Hyrum Citys hydro-electric plant was part of the Hyrum City Museums Tradition and Innovation: Working Together in Hyrum and Work Worth Doing exhibits, which complement a traveling Smithsonian Exhibition on display in the museum since March 25. The last day to view the Smithsonian exhibit is Saturday, May 13. More information is available at <a href=http://www.hyrumcitymuseum.org/>www.hyrumcitymuseum.org</a>.

<hr />

jennifer@cvradio.com
The Nanjing city government says graduate-degree holders, skilled technicians and professionals working in the city now will be excluded from a promise that they would be eligible to buy a home after paying income taxes and social security fees for five years. Above, Nanjing residents conduct housing transaction procedures in a real estate registration center in the city on Sept. 26. Photo: Visual China

(Beijing)  Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, has become the latest Chinese city to relax home-purchase restrictions for residents with higher degrees in a bid to attract talent.

According to earlier rules, individuals without a household registration in the city had to pay personal income taxes and social security fees for five years before being eligible to own a home. But now the Nanjing government says graduate-degree holders, skilled technicians and professionals working in the city will be exempted from this requirement as the city moves to loosen purchasing quotas introduced last year to tame rising property prices.

Nanjing hopes to draw a younger demographic  homebuyers who want to enjoy the benefits of this exception must be under the age of 40  amid a nationwide trend of tightening home purchase restrictions to diffuse property bubbles. Analysts say this could give the administrative center an advantage when competing for talent with nearby Suzhou, which is more industrially advanced.

Suzhou has adopted similar home-buying quotas since October, but has so far not made exceptions for young professionals.

The graduation diploma has become a voucher to purchase apartments, said Zhang Hongwei, director of research at real estate consultancy Tospur. Nanjings objective is quite straightforward  leveraging housing restrictions to attract talent. He believes other cities in Anhui province and around the Yangtze River Delta  a region that accounts for nearly 40% of Chinas economy  may soon roll out similar guidelines to grab talent.

The property market in Nanjing has cooled since the quotas were implemented in September. Housing prices dipped for four consecutive months between January and April, marking the longest slump in two years. In contrast, prices rose roughly each month in the first four months of 2016.

Nanjing is not the first city to ease house-purchasing restrictions to lure talent. Haikou, the provincial capital of Hainan, was considering preferential support for skilled migrants, while the manufacturing hub of Zhuhai in Guangdong province has made it easier for nonlocal postdoctoral fellows and those with certificates of achievement from the local government to buy homes. In Zhongshan, also in Guangdong, professionals in the high-tech industry and employed by firms that cooperate with the local government also enjoy lower thresholds when purchasing homes.

Even as China tries to cool the property sizzle in major cities by tightening restrictions, residential real estate has remained a favorite investment vehicle, with prices skyrocketing by over 30% in cities like Anhuis Hefei and Fujians Xiamen in the past year.

Netizens in Nanjing joked about the exorbitant price tags, saying, Housing prices are totally out of proportion with the salaries here. You say you have a graduate degree? Whether you make use of that to buy a home will be a real test of your intelligence.

Contact reporter April Ma (fangjingma@caixin.com)
(Beijing)  China is preparing to impose regulatory oversight on trading of Bitcoin to fight use of the electronic currency for money-laundering, a source close to the matter said. The new regulations would roll out next month.

China is the worlds third-largest Bitcoin market with 10% of global trading, behind 46% for Japan and 26% for the U.S. The central bank is drafting two sets of rules to regulate Bitcoin trading platforms and prevent the currencys use for money-laundering, said the source, who declined to be named.

The new regulations grow out of a months-long central bank inspection of the operations of major domestic Bitcoin trading platforms. Bitcoin trading caught the attention of regulators since January after the value of the currency went on a roller coaster ride as investors sought to circumvent currency controls amid a decline in the yuan.

Chinese authorities have stiffened requirements on outbound yuan transfers since late last year to discourage flight of capital. Some investors have skirted the controls by buying Bitcoin onshore in yuan and selling it overseas for foreign currencies, according to a January report by Shenwan Hongyuan Securities Co.

In early January the central bank initiated its probe of major Bitcoin exchanges and urged platforms to enforce foreign exchange regulations and rules against money-laundering.

Three of Chinas largest Bitcoin exchanges  Huobi.com, BTCChina, and OKCoin halted Bitcoin withdrawals and started upgrading transaction systems in February to comply with the rules.

The central banks investigation identified misconduct related to Bitcoin trading and the platforms lax oversight on money-laundering, the source said. The bank will soon issue decisions on penalties for the exchanges, the source said.

After the new rules are in place, suspended Bitcoin withdrawals are likely to be resumed, the source said.

The price of Bitcoin has surged since April in China and overseas, boosted by regulatory moves by Japan, the U.S. and other countries. In China, Bitcoin jumped 10.6% in a single day to reach a record high of 9,740 yuan on May 9. Prices in the U.S rose to $1,779 (12,287.9 yuan) and in Japan, to 2.2 million yen (13,004 yuan) by Thursday.

On April 1, Japan officially recognized Bitcoin as a legal payment method acceptable by at least 260,000 merchants across the country. Later that month, Russias Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev told Bloomberg that the country is considering legalizing Bitcoin as soon as 2018, even though the Russian central bank banned use of digital currency in 2014 to defend the ruble.

Optimism in the market has also grown as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decided to reconsider whether to approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund that would be the first product of its kind in the U.S.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
(Beijing) -- Chinas three biggest state-owned banks provided a total of $225.4 billion (1.56 trillion yuan) in credits by the end of 2016 for projects in countries participating in President Xi Jinpings One Belt, One Road initiative.

In addition, the countrys two policy banks, China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China, have extended $200 billion in loans to projects in the plan, according to Pan Guangwei, executive vice president of China Banking Association (CBA).

China proposed the One Belt, One Road initiative in 2013 to build infrastructure ties between China and central and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Xi will host government and business leaders and scholars from more than 110 countries at a summit on the plan Sunday in Beijing.

Foreign leaders in attendance will include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang.

Officials from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China (BOC) and China Construction Bank (CCB) discussed their support for the presidents project at a news briefing Thursday in Beijing. The three banks together have provided loans for more than 800 projects in countries involved in One Belt, One Road, which focuses on infrastructure investment in developing countries with the help of Chinese builders and financiers.

ICBC, the countrys largest lender, committed $67.4 billion in loans to support 212 Belt and Road projects by the end 2016, according to ICBC Vice President Zhang Hongli. BOC provided $67.4 billion in credits, and CCB, $90 billion, bank officials said.

As part of the initiative, Chinese companies in 2016 signed $126 billion in contracts for construction projects and made $14.5 billion in direct investments in countries along the new Silk Road routes, according to the CBAs Pan.

Over the past four years, nine Chinese banks have set up 62 branches and offices in 26 countries along the routes to better provide funding support.

While banks actively embrace the initiative, Pan said lenders should be aware of the risks of Belt and Road projects, as most of the undertakings require long-term financing without immediate economic returns. Banks should also enhance risk controls to manage foreign exchange and commodity price volatility, he said.

ICBCs Zhang said the bank hasnt seen any non-performing loans in the Belt and Road projects. Sun Ping, vice president of the Exim Bank of China, said his bank has established risk-control mechanisms and set an upper limit of debt for each country.
| BY Ricki Green |

How will Australia perform at Cannes this year? In the lead up to the Festival, Campaign Brief will be showcasing the work we hope will impress the judges

Innocean Worldwide Australia

A family of viewing binoculars became the unlikely heroes earlier this year when they stole a Hyundai Tucson and Australias heart. The Seemores, as theyve become fondly known, head off on an adventure of a lifetime while Dios heavy metal classic, Holy Diver, spurs them on!

Innocean Worldwide Australia
| BY Ricki Green |

In response to the growing demand for paid media solutions to drive reach for content, Edge has officially launched its performance media arm.

The team is part of the strategy department headed up by executive planning director and partner, Richard Parker (pictured).

Says Parker: We began to build capability in this area in response to clear and increasing demand from our clients. As organic reach has dropped across most digital channels, the paid media amplification of content has become more and more important. And the reality was, many of our clients found that their existing media agency relationships were not responsive enough to amplify content in real time to highly targeted audiences.

Edge has historically focussed on building owned media assets (social media properties, brand and content publishing platforms, custom magazines, loyalty programmes). However, when algorithms were changed-up across social channels, the agency moved to a paid and organic model for always-on content, working with influencers on ad hoc projects as well as building branded content partnerships to help drive reach.

Consequently, as of this month the agency is moving to an integrated model, offering a full suite of digital media services across its Sydney and Melbourne offices including: SEM, paid social media across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Youtube, display, native, content discovery platforms, branded content partnerships and influencer programs.

Under Parker, Edge has assembled a crack team of Google-certified media specialists led by Inez Zimakowski, who joined the agency 18 months ago from Harvey Normans in-house agency where she worked across multiple performance media. The team offers both media strategy and implementation.

Says Parker: Whilst this venture was rooted quite specifically in the amplification of content, weve moved beyond that. We believe in the integrated agency model where a creative concept and media idea are indistinguishable  it delivers a better outcome for our clients. Thats why weve chosen to invest in this area and launch a formal division that offers a full suite of digital media services.

In a wider sense, building out this division is also intended to complement our increasing focus on data strategy and CRM. At Edge, we hang our hat on challenging the way brands engage with consumers by delivering one-to-one content experiences at scale. To do that, we need to be able to conceptualise and deliver personalised content to both prospective and existing customers, integrating activity across paid and owned channels as well as databases.
| BY Ricki Green |

Tommy Medalia (left) and Joe Hawkins (right) have won Gold & Silver at the 2017 Gold Siren awards for a highly amusing series of ads designed to change driver behaviour for the Road Safety Commission called Time with Mum at the 13th annual Siren Awards, run by The Communications Council at Alumbra at Docklands in Melbourne.

Hawkins, now at Marketforce, and Medalia created the three ads at 303 MullenLowe Perth to illustrate what happens when you lose your licence and youre at the mercy of your mum and friends for lifts. All three spots  Window, Pilates and Out of Options won Gold for the overall win and the Sliver Siren for best radio campaign (three or more ads in a campaign).

The clever humour in the ads appeals to the target audience of young, potentially over confident drivers and shows what happens when the freedom to drive is taken away.

The Gold Siren winners, Medalia and Hawkins, receive automatic entry for the winning ads into the Cannes Advertising Lions Festival in June. The creatives and their client the Road Safety Commission win accommodation, airfares and delegate passes to attend the event.

The Silver Siren award in the single category went to Evan Roberts (left) and Stephen de Wolf from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for the ad Every Speed has a Consequence for the Transport Accident Commission (Victoria). The powerful sliding door moment ad reminds drivers that slowing down can completely change the outcome of a road accident.

Prolific Siren award winner Paul Le Couteur (left) of Flagstaff Studios took out the Silver Siren in the craft category for production of the ad Ticking Clock for Victoria Bitter. Created to remind tradies that knock-off time is beer oclock, the ad starts with the sound of a normal ticking clock. Slowly the tick-tock of the clock transitions into the classic Victoria Bitter theme song.

The Siren $5,000 Client Award, judged by an industry panel of clients rather than the Siren Creative Council, is chosen from the five overall 2017 round winners and was won by Richard Shaw (left) and Russell Fox (right) from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne with the ad Ticking Clock for Victoria Bitter. Shaw and Fox worked closely with Le Couteur to produce the winning craft entry.

At the presentation of the Siren Awards in Melbourne, Joan Warner, chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia said: This years finalists were outstanding and the radio industry is proud to support the creative talent throughout Australia.

The 13th annual Siren Awards, run by Commercial Radio Australia, recognise the best radio advertising in Australia. The 2017 awards were hosted by stand-up comedian and Fox FM, Melbourne breakfast presenter, Dave Thornton (pictured centre with Medalia and Hawkins) at Alumbra at Docklands in Melbourne.

The Gold Siren and the Silver Siren winners, across the craft, single and radio campaign categories, were selected from hundreds of entries throughout 2016-17 over five rounds, plus a final call. They were judged by the Siren Council, comprised of creative directors and producers from leading advertising agencies and studios throughout Australia.

To listen to the winning ads click here.

2017 Siren Award winners

GOLD

Joe Hawkins & Tommy Medalia

303 MullenLowe

Time with Mum for Road Safety Commission

SILVER

Radio Single

Evan Roberts & Stephen de Wolf

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Every Speed has a Consequence for Transport Accident Commission (Victoria)

SILVER

Radio Campaign

Joe Hawkins & Tommy Medalia

303 MullenLowe

Time With Mum for Road Safety Commission

SILVER

Radio Craft

Paul Le Couteur

Flagstaff Studios

Ticking Clock for Victoria Bitter

Client Award

Richard Shaw & Russel Fox

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
There will be no Black women in governor's mansions or the Senate
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 ...
GRAND FORKS -- Tuition at the University of North Dakota is likely to increase as campus leaders eye a hefty deferred maintenance backlog.

As permitted by the Legislature, UND has delivered proposals to the State Board of Higher Education to lift its rates for the next academic year by 4 percent for both resident and nonresident undergraduate students, the former of which fall under caps set by state lawmakers.

Tuition for students in graduate programs and the UND School of Law are not subject to legislative controls and could see even greater rate hikes for the 2017-18 academic year.

UND has proposed a 7 percent tuition increase for most graduate programs, as well as a 9 percent jump in rates at the law school. Tuition for the law program, which is the only one of its kind in North Dakota, have been ranked in the past among the least expensive -- if not the outright cheapest -- in the country. Even with the proposed rate increase, UND President Mark Kennedy said Tuesday he expects the school to be less expensive than the universitys graduate programs and remain among the very least expensive law programs of national accord.

Kennedy previously has advocated for increased law school tuition to boost revenue at a time of declining state appropriations. He also has suggested UNDs undergraduate tuition has been priced too far below regional competitors such as the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Minnesota. In-state students at those schools, he said, pay about $13,100 and $14,200 per year, respectively.

Current tuition rates for full-time, resident students at UND total to an annual cost of almost $8,140. Nonresidents pay a little less than $19,300 in tuition for a year of enrollment. If rates increase as currently proposed, in-state students would pay about $267 more while nonresidents would see an approximate bump of $713.

As proposed to the SBHE, 1 percent of UNDs tuition increase would be directed to a university capital fund, a pool that doesnt currently exist on campus. Kennedy estimated that fund could provide an annual $1 million capital budget to pay down deferred maintenance costs.

Kennedy described campus revitalization as a valuable recruitment strategy for prospective students. To help address deferred maintenance costs, the state has provided in its appropriations a sum of $4.4 million in 2-1 matching funds, meaning UND needs to raise $8.8 million on its own to receive state dollars. State funding notwithstanding, university leaders have estimated a total campus backlog of $500 million in deferred maintenance needs.

The state of North Dakota has not faced deferred maintenance in the mirror and said, We have a real plan to address it, Kennedy said. Were trying to look in the mirror, and though we havent found the answer yet, were trying to look at everything we can.

The SBHE will consider UNDs proposed tuition increases during its May 15 meeting.
Washburn area residents celebrated Wednesday the expansion of a local wildlife management area and the flood control measures that come with it.

When local officials brought forth the proposed expansion of the Painted Woods Wildlife Management Area south of town, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said it was something agriculture could really get behind, because it would mitigate flooding of nearby cropland.

Weve probably never had one that had this much local support, said Keith Trego, executive director of the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust.

Flood control expected to come with the management areas expansion brought local officials, farmers and ranchers out in support of the project a little over a year ago.

Our initial involvement was to protect private property, said McLean County Commissioner Steve Lee.

The added wildlife habitat is a secondary benefit.

Its a wonderful dual-purpose project, he said.

Expansion of the wildlife area was just the first step. Next is the building of that flood control.

For the past six to eight years, backed-up water flowing into Painted Woods Lake has been flooding adjacent farmland. The problem is caused by years of silt build up and 10- to 12-foot-tall cattails restricting drainage into the lake.

McLean County has spent money trying to mitigate damage to neighboring lands but, for a long-term solution, the county and several state and wildlife advocacy group partners purchased the 255 acres of nearby land to build drainage infrastructure, including a dredge along the eastern part of the property, cattail control and completion of the existing weir system.

North Dakota Game and Fish Director Terry Steinwand, whose department will manage the land, is anxious to tackle the flood control as soon as possible. He said his department will chip in where it can. Money will also be sought from the North Dakota State Water Commission.

A lot of it comes down to funding, he said.

On the wildlife side, Game and Fish plans to backfill the newly incorporated area of Painted Woods Creek with more water to create a community fishery, stocking it with trout and bluegill. Steinwand said the department will also use a portion of a $10,000 donation for pheasant food plots there.
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.
The higher secondary class 12 results for the Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE) has been released. Candidates can check it out on the MBSE official website.

When was the MBSE class 12 exam held?

The board had conducted the class 12 exam between March 1 and April 5 at various test centres across the state.

How to check the MBSE class 12 results?

In order to check the check the MBSE class 12 results, all the candidates need to follow the steps given here:

Log on to the official website, mbse.edu.in

Click on the link ' MBSE HSSLC class 12 Result 2017 '

' Enter your roll number, name, mobile number, and email ID in the space provided

Click on submit

Save it to your computer and take the print out of the same for future reference.

On the other hand, the board has already declared the HSLC or class 10 results on May 2.

About MBSE:

Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE) was established by the Government of Mizoram in 1975 by the Mizoram Board of School Education Act. The MBSE has rules and regulations maintained by the chairman who is appointed on a contract basis. The Board has the power to supervise, regulate and control the schools and education in Mizoram. The secretary of Mizoram Board of School Education is the chief administrative officer who is assisted by three branches heads namely- Controller of Examinations, the Director (Academic) and the Deputy Secretary.

Merit Candidates List In AP Police Constable Recruitment Exam Released
Just as Toyota Motor Philippines updated the specs of the Hilux pickup truck , theyve done the same for the Fortuner as well.
At a time when populist sentiments are on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic, the leader of one former Communist nation has affirmed that free markets open across borders are a blessing. In a new essay at Religion & Liberty Transatlantic, Mihail Neamtu, Ph.D., argues that the wealth created by foreign investment furthers the national interest.

In his new commentary, titled Romania chooses prosperity over populism, he recounts the nations unusually bold embrace of international capital. Urged to keep foreigners out of its economy or restrict their investment, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis replied in perhaps the most pointed manner possible:

President Iohannis  a former mayor of Sibiu, a scenic medieval town built by the Saxons  has categorically rejected recent populist attempts to oppose foreign investments to Romanian capital, multinational companies to Romanian SMEs [small and medium enterprises], according to Romanian press reports. On April 25, the head of state addressed a large group of business leaders, telling them that his deepest conviction is that Romanian entrepreneurship will be strengthened by a stronger cooperation with foreign investors. At a pivotal moment, facing nationalist pressures within his own country, Klaus Iohannis did not say Buy Romanian, Hire Romanian. Why? Because everywhere in the world, smaller countries are bound to buy products they themselves do not produce.

Affirming foreign ownership is the latest setback for populists, after the defeat of Marine Le Pen in France and the re-election of Mark Rutte in the Netherlands, based in part on international economic cooperation.

Neamtu, the subject of the cover story from our the first issue of our revamped Religion & Liberty magazine, asks if modern political commentators arent confused in juxtaposing nationalism against capitalism. While patriots maintain allegiance to their nation, that means following its best interests, and free markets are the engine that fuel social growth and development at every level of society. Economies are built upon capital investment. Whether the funding originates inside or outside the nation, the businesses help each individual nation thrive and develop, becoming part of the national landscape.

He writes that this openness to global capital inflow is part of the long arc of Romanias economic recovery from Marxism  although significant challenges still remain:

After 1989, the Romanian economy has recovered slowly but surely. For nearly two decades, the political elites encouraged the administrators of the welfare state to exercise monopoly over many important industries. In the most arbitrary manner, the government has offered electoral bribes to ordinary people and subsidies for its leaders many business friends. After Romania jointed NATO and the EU, its economic vibrancy started to pick up. In 2016, this former satellite of the Soviet Union boasted with one of the strongest economic growth inside the EU (nearly five percent of its GDP). Foreign investments increased 20 percent from the previous year and the unemployment rate in Bucharest and Transylvania is remarkably low.

His perceptive commentary traces the many ways a free economy and the free movement of labor has benefited the Romanian people.

The most patriotic dreams are sometimes fulfilled by economic measures that open up the space for free trade, for the free movement of people, and for the free exchange of ideas, he writes. The absence of a genuine competition among various economic actors and nations usurps the innovative powers of human intelligence and will.

At all times and in all places, individual freedom remains the bedrock of moral virtues and the long-kept secret of prosperity, he adds.

You can read his full essay here.
Where theres smoke, theres fire? An ABC News report certainly thinks so after investigating dozens of incidents involving parked BMW models bursting into flames across the United States.



While the news station says that an investigation revealed several incidents with BMWs having caught fire, a spokesman for the German automaker stated that they have looked into these fires and had not seen any pattern to indicate there might be something wrong with the cars.

The footage shown here is from an incident that occurred back in October 2016 in Oshawa, Canada, with the description of the video stating that the white BMW 328i caught fire just 20-seconds after the driver had walked away from the vehicle.

However, we also have a more recent report of a similar incident involving a 2016 BMW 2-Series that caught fire in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on February 2, 2017. The fire was extinguished by the local fire department, though not before it engulfed the exterior wall of the house. The homeowners were luckily outside and werent injured in any way.

We were able to make a quick attack on this fire from all angles to get it under control and contain the extension to the first floor of the home, said Chief Eric Smith of the Gloucester Fire Department. I want to commend crews for their hard work, especially given how cold it was last night.

The vehicle was completely destroyed by the flames, with total damages (to the car and the home) valued at an estimated $50,000. As for the origin and cause of the fire, its currently still under investigation by the Fire Department, as well as the local PD and State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. While BMW has issued recalls in the past years over fire-related problems, ABC News learned of more than 40 fires occurring in parked BMW models across the country in the last five years  involving vehicles that did not have open recalls for fire-related issues.

We have not seen any pattern related to quality or component failure, said BMW in a written statement, emphasizing that such fire incidents are rare and that they can result from a wide variety of external reasons unrelated to product defect.

Yet there are those such as New Jersey-based attorney, Joseph Santoli, who say that BMW arent very interested in fully disclosing whats going on.

Ive heard from owners that when they confront BMW about their incident, theyre told that this is the first time that BMW has ever heard of it, stated Santoli. I think some of it is an example of BMW burying their heads in the sand. According to him, BMW has offered cash settlements to customers in the past, while insisting they also sign non-disclosure agreements.

Where BMW insists that such agreements are meant to ensure that each incident is evaluated and then appropriately resolved on its own merits, Santoli believes that the automakers true intentions are to make it less likely that the news spread about a potential problem.

Thats clearly what theyre intending to do. Theyre intending to prevent anyone from sharing notes or comparing, or the media finding out, concluded the attorney.

Auto safety expert, Sean Kane, who is also the founder and president of Safety Research & Strategies, said that the risk of car fires is not at all uncommon, and that they occur usually in vehicles that are still in operation. However, he also notes that a possible reason for cars catching fire after the engine has been turned off might have something to do with modern vehicles never really being fully powered down.

A lot of the power to these electronic systems is going to remain on in the vehicle even when the vehicles off, said Kane. And once the electrical system starts going, youve got plenty of combustibles under the hood.

Its also important to note that these incidents have been occurring on outside of the U.S. as well, with the South Korean government already launching an investigation following a series of BMW car fires (some parked, some running).

We dont know the exact cause yet. We are still investigating, stated Koh Sungwoo, a South Korean transport ministry official. We have to investigate those incidents because its very dangerous to the people in Korea.

Perhaps one of the more heartbreaking stories regarding one such incident dates back to December 1st, 2015, when BMW X5 owner Bill Macko lost his SUV in a fire that engulfed not just his garage, but his home as well.

Other incidents reported by ABC News involve a 2003 BMW that caught fire after being parked for at least three or four days, a 2011 BMW parked overnight that caught fire last month in Los Angeles, and another 2011 model that caught fire in a garage in Raleigh.

Objectively speaking, finding a pattern surrounding some 40+ reported fires over a long course of five years (involving not one specific BMW model, but several different ones from varying production eras), doesnt seem very realistic. Its quite possible they are completely unrelated.

Update:

We reached out to BMW for a comment and they provided a press statement in which the company says it has investigated and in some cases, inspected the vehicles mentioned in the report.

In cases that we have inspected and are able to determine root cause, we have not seen any pattern related to quality or component failure, said BMW.

Vehicle fires can result from a wide variety of external reasons and can range from improper accident damage repair, unauthorized aftermarket modifications (such as remote starters, stereo installations, etc.), previous vehicle flooding, rodent nesting, lack of, or improper preventative maintenance and even arson.





BMW of North America cannot normally comment on incidents outside of the US. However, we can say that as in the US, the incidents in Korea have been investigated and it was determined that the majority were caused by unauthorized aftermarket modifications.

H/T to Vern!

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO
If youre looking for a carmaker willing to use self-deprecating humor to promote its vehicles, BMW is probably the last youd think of. Heck, you wouldnt expect any German brand to.



However, BMW has done just this with its latest commercial for the facelifted 2018 BMW M4 in a spot dubbed Too Low: Beach View.

The short clip shows the driver of a new M4 stopped at a pedestrian crossing and happily looking at the legs and rear-ends of women walking by. However, he is quickly given a strong dose of reality when he looks at the drivers side window to see a male cyclist in lycra right beside him.

The commercial forms part of a new marketing campaign for BMWs M division Where too much is just right, and is pretty funny, even though the sound of the M4s twin-turbo six-cylinder engine has clearly been enhanced too actually sound somewhat pleasant.

VIDEO
Renaults best-selling Captur recently received a mild facelift, with the company releasing a fresh new gallery detailing its new SUV.



The subtle styling revisions were aiming to bring the Captur in line with Renaults newer SUVs in the range and include new full-LED headlights, new front grille, redesigned bumpers and fresh C-shaped LED daytime running lights, among other revisions.

Renault has also added three new colors to the available palette: Atacama Orange, Ocean Blue and Amethyste Black, with the latter being exclusive to the Initiale Paris version. A new Platine Grey option was also added for the roof, creating more than 30 different combinations for customers to choose from.

A fixed glass roof is also part of the update and is offered as an option with two-tone cars, allowing an even brighter cabin.

Speaking of which, Renault was keen to update the perceived quality of the materials used inside, replacing injection-moulded plastics with trimmed materials, revised door panels, an LED ceiling light and an overall upgraded fit and finish of the interior.

Customers will have to choose between three infotainment options, with the range-topping R-Link Evolution system offering a seven-inch touchscreen display, real-time traffic updates, 3G connectivity, standard Android Auto and more.

Renault has also added an Initiale Paris trim level, portraying the Capturs aim to move into a more premium territory. This version will be available with a bespoke chrome grille, metallic grey front and rear skid plates, sequential LED indicators and a specific range of exterior colors, including the aforementioned Amethyste Black, as well as special 17-inch alloy wheels.

The interior for this version will come dressed in Nappa leather, including the steering wheel and dashboard, and all the in-car technologies that are available as options to the rest of the range.

The new Renault Captur will be offered with four engine options, both petrol and diesel. The two diesel options include the dCi 90 and dCi 110, both of them coming with Start & Stop as standard, and the latter providing 110hp and 260Nm of peak torque at 1,750rpm.

The petrol range is comprised by the TCe 90 and the TCe 120, which comes either with a manual or a dual-clutch automatic transmission.

PHOTO GALLERY
PSA Group may have bought the loss-making Opel off GM but this doesnt mean that the French company isnt aware of the financial situation of the German brand.



Carlos Tavares, CEO of PSA, said to shareholders of the company that he expects Opel to lose more money in 2017, according to Reuters.

A certain number of good achievements have been made under General Motors leadership, Tavares said. But we must recognize that the losses are real and probably will be again in 2017.

Back in March, PSA agreed to acquire Opel and its UK-based Vauxhall unit from GM, with the deal valued at 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion).

Merging Opel with PSA will create the second-biggest car company in Europe, with Volkswagen Group remaining the biggest in the region. PSA shareholders also approved the issue of share warrants forming part of the payment to GM for Opel.

These share warrants were valued at 670 million euros when the deal was struck and will maintain a financial incentive for the continued cooperation between GM and PSA.

PHOTO GALLERY
Another Pagani Huayra BC has just landed in the United States and this example is particularly special.



Received by Miller Motorcars, this Huayra BC is actually owned by a family member of the late Benny Caiola, the Pagani collector who was the inspiration for the hardcore Huayra. Fittingly, this BC is unlike any other.

For starters, the hypercar is painted in a very special shade of red dubbed Rosso Dubai. Although these low-resolution images dont show of the color in the best light, it is unlike most reds and from some angles, has a burnt orange tinge. Other distinctive touches include a racing stripe finished in Grigio Monaco and as with the finest Paganis, a number of elements bathed in the worlds finest carbon fiber.

Compared to the already-ferocious Huayra, the BCs 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged AMG V12 engine has been upped to 789 hp and 811 lb-ft of torque. Additionally, Horacio Pagani and his team were able to shed 132 kg (291 lbs) over the standard car thanks to a selection of new lightweight components, including a titanium exhaust system and bespoke Brembo brakes.

PHOTO GALLERY
Around 100 feature-length animated films are currently being developed or produced across Central and South America. Most of them are craftily produced in modest studios with immense creative potential, the financial architecture being the main obstacle for most films. In order to alleviate this, government development measures are being implemented, and at the same time regional and international co-production is becoming an upward trend.

The places that produce the majority of the live-action films are also the most dynamic in terms of animation, such as Brazil, which is developing around thirty films  including the next one by Ale Abreu and Luiz Bolognesi  and Mexico, where animation has been responsible for several of the latest blockbusters, such as the Huevocartoon phenomenon or The Legends theatrical series by Anima Studios, the company that is also behind Guardians of Oz and the cgi Top Cat Begins.

The Peruvian 3D industry is among the most dynamic nowadays and is producing, among others, Condorito by Alex Orrelle and Eduardo Schuldt, to be released in 2017, and Ainbo by Jose Zelada, with sales represented by the American company CMG. Other blooming countries, such as Chile or Colombia, are developing around a dozen films apiece.

We present 10 projects below that are part of the emerging Latin American animation production scene and are worth keeping an eye on.

1. Virus Tropical

Director: Santiago Caicedo (Colombia/France)

Timbo Estudio, Ikki Films / In Post-Production / 2D / 95 min / 2017

Colombian filmmakers debut. Solid 2D aesthetics in black and white for this adaptation of the successful Virus Tropical comic by Colombian-Ecuadorian PowerPaola that has been published throughout the entire continent as well as in Spain, France, and the United States. This Latin American Persepolis arrives in theaters in 2017.

2. Inzomnia

Director: Luis Tellez (Mexico)

Inzomnia Animacion / In Pre-Production / Stop Motion / 90 min / 2018

Feature debut by one of the most important names in Mexican stop motion. Inzomnia is a fantastic and dystopian film that brings together a team formed by national professionals such as Karla Castaneda and international stop motion artists.

3. Dalia and the Red Book (Dalia y el libro rojo)

Director: David Bisbano (Argentina/Peru)

Vista Sur Films, Golem Studio, Felipe Producciones, FilmSharks International / In Production / Mixed technique / 85 min / 2019

The director of Rodencia and the Princesss Tooth is now working on Dalia and the Red Book, an endearing story for the whole family with an innovative mixed media technique that combines cgi with stop-motion sets, textures, and lighting.

4. Bob Cuspe  We Dont Like People (Bob Cuspe  nos nao gostamos de gente)

Director: Cesar Cabral (Brazil)

Coala Filmes / In Production / Stop motion / 90 min / 2019

After award-winning shorts, Cesar Cabral, Brazilian stop-motion icon, makes his feature film debut. Cabral puts together cartoon character, Bob Cuspe (a survivor punk), and his creator, comic strip writer Angeli, in a lyrical and surreal comedy dubbed by Milhem Cortaz, Paulo Miklos, Grace Gianoukas, and Angeli himself.

5. Ana & Bruno (Ana y Bruno)

Director: Carlos Carrera (Mexico)

Altavista Films, Lo Coloco Films, Itaca Films, Anima Estudios, Five 7 Media, Argos Servicios Informativos (Mexico) / Finished / 3D / 90 min / 2017

One of the most anticipated regional films that, after several years of development, will have its premiere at Annecy next month. A film for the whole family about Ana and her fantastic friends that marks the return to animation of Carlos Carrera, winner of the Palme dOr in Cannes for the animated short El heroe (1994).

6. Nahuel and the Magical Book (Nahuel y el libro magico)

Director: German Acuna (Chile/Brazil)

Carburadores, Punkrobot Estudio, Red Animation Studios / In Production / 2D / 100 min / 2018

Produced by Pato Escala, producer of the Oscar-winning Bear Story, Nahuel and the Magical Book is a 2D story that takes place in the cultural and natural universe of the magical archipelago of Chiloe. Chilean filmmakers debut will premiere in 2018.

7. Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos)

Director: Carlos Gutierrez (Mexico/Spain/Portugal)

Metacube Tecnologia y Entretenimiento, Ficcion Producciones, Lightbox / In Production / 3D / 90 min / 2017

One of the most iconic legends in the Aztecs land functions as a muse to this film, which is set in a 3D universe of pure Mexican idiosyncrasy. This film will be Carlos Gutierrezs debut and it already has a release date in Mexico: November 3, 2017.

8. Lilas Book (El libro de Lila)

Director: Marcela Rincon (Colombia/Uruguay)

Fosfenos Media, Palermo Estudio / Finished / 2D / 76 min / 2017

The first animated movie from the Cauca region of Colombia. A film that combines 2D and 3D techniques to tell a story set in Cali that feeds from other natural landscapes in Colombia. Debut feature by Marcela Rincon, director of the series Guillermina and Candelario.

9. Mochica

Director: Luis Angel and Mauricio Esparza (Peru/Venezuela/Brazil)

Caracoles Estudio  Polirama, Red Animation Studios, Cromauno Audiovisuales / In Production / 3D / 80 min / 2018

After making several short films, the Esparza brothers recreate the Mochica Empire from Pre-Columbian era to develop their first animated feature. With Magaly Solier and Marcello Rivera lending their voices to the main characters, Mochica will be released in theaters in 2018.

10. Nimuendaju

Director: Tania Anaya (Brazil/Germany)

Anaya Producoes, Zebra Cinema / In Pre-Production / 2D / 80 min / 2019

The first animated feature film from Minas Gerais is 2D. It uses references from real images and sound, and will be distributed by Vitrine Filmes. A trip through indigenous villages based on the story by German ethnologist Curt Nimuendaju, who from 1903 until his death studied the native communities of Brazil.

(This piece is adapted from an article originally published in LatamCinema.com.)
Over the next 24 hours, crews with the City of Kelowna will be out in force, protecting critical infrastructure in advance of Thursday's expected storm.

The storm is expected to hit the Okanagan sometime Thursday afternoon. Similar to what hit the region a week ago, this storm is expected to bring with it heavy rain and lightning.

City crews will be sandbagging around pump houses within the West Kelowna Estates, Pritchard and Sunnyside water service areas and lift stations at Green Bay, Hitchner Road, Pritchard Drive, Pebble Beach and Whitworth Road as a precaution.

Residents who have already sandbagged their property should keep these in place for the time being.

Sand and sand bags are available at the following locations:

Cook Road Boat Launch outside the Hotel Eldorado on Cook Road

Burne Avenue, west of Ethel Street at Mill Creek

Rowcliffe Avenue at Richter Street

221 Adams Road (Industrial Park)

1341 Green Bay Road

2606 Casa Loma

Pritchard Park at 1587 Pritchard Drive

4081 Hitchner Road

Pebbles Beach Park at 2589 Whitworth Road

For information about sandbags visit here.
Photo: Dustin Godfrey

A pedestrian has been transported to hospital after being hit by a car in the Walmart parking lot in Penticton.

It's not clear how the crash happened, but a vehicle appeared to be turning onto the lane directly in front of the store in the parking lot when it hit the man.

The extent of the man's injuries are not known to Castanet at this time, however he did appear conscious and moving very slightly after the incident.

He was on the ground for some time, and was transported to hospital using a spinal board, which is typically used to limit spinal movements to prevent further injury.

Firefighters and ambulance were both on scene, and police later showed up and were seen speaking to the driver of the vehicle.
Photo: Alanna Kelly

The Okanagan Indian Band has issued a high water advisory for residents living adjacent to creeks and the lake on reserve lands.

The alert comes after a weather forecast of rain and rising temperatures over the next few days and predictions that Okanagan Lake could increase in water volume by 30 cm. The band says the lake is now at capacity.

OKIB has established a command centre to monitor potential situations resulting from water flows expected to exceed those experienced last Friday when flooding developed in many parts of the North Okanagan.

A release urges people to stay safe by keeping their distance from creek and river banks.

There are no current evacuation orders for OKIB locations, but residents living on reserve lands are encouraged to check the band website for updates.

Other information can be found on the River Forecast Centre website or at PreparedBC.

A boil water advisory is in effect.

As well, the OKIB is asking for volunteers to help fill sandbags. Anyone interested in volunteering or who requires more information is asked to contact the OKIB Command Centre at 250-542-7132.
Contributed

Castanet's Evening Update for Wednesday, May 10, with reporter Wayne Moore.
Photo: Contributed

Residents across central and southern British Columbia are being warned to watch for danger as another storm approaches the waterlogged region.

A special weather statement from Environment Canada remains in effect, warning that heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected to blanket a large part of the southern Interior late Thursday.

The province has issued a statement saying the wet weather could trigger landslides and more flooding, and homeowners, farmers and business owners should take steps to protect their property.

Central Okanagan Emergency Operations says people should be prepared to either leave quickly or shelter in place for 72 hours.

Flooding forced hundreds from their homes last weekend and the regional district placed nearly 600 more homes near Lake Country, north of Kelowna, on evacuation alert on Wednesday night.

Canada's safety minister said Ottawa is watching the B.C. situation closely as more stormy weather approaches.

"Rising temperatures, snow melt and thunderstorms are actually expected to worsen the flooding situation over the period immediately ahead," said Ralph Goodale.

"We're watching B.C. and the central part of that province very carefully."

Alerts and evacuation orders remain in effect in other parts of the regional district as residents around Kelowna, Merritt, Cache Creek and many parts of the Shuswap are also dealing with flooding and washouts.

Scaled back searches continue for Cache Creek fire Chief Clayton Cassidy, who is believed to have been swept away last week while checking high water levels, and for 75-year-old Roy Sharp, who hasn't been seen since a mudslide hit his house near Tappen, north of Vernon, on Saturday.
Photo: Nicholas Johansen

The final results of British Columbia's election are still not in, but already experts are predicting an unstable government that is unlikely to last a full four-year term.

Voters in B.C. elected their first minority government in 65 years on Tuesday, awarding the Liberals 43 seats, the NDP 41 and the Greens three.

Hamish Telford, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley, says even if the Liberals take control of the legislature by picking up an extra seat once absentee ballots are tallied, that would still leave the party with a razor-thin majority at 44 seats in the 87-seat legislature.

Conversely, the NDP teaming up with the Greens would give them a fragile minority government.

Norman Ruff, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Victoria, says it's more likely the Liberals or the NDP would sign some kind of two-year accord with the Greens in exchange for their support in propping up the government.

It could take several weeks before the final seat count is confirmed, once absentee votes are counted and any judicial recounts are conducted.
Photo: BC SPCA

SPCAs Leadership Award is being given to Kelowna-based senior cruelty investigator Kathy Woodward.

Woodward was awarded on May 5th for her outstanding achievements and for going the extra mile to achieve the societys goal.

Kathy is truly inspiring, said Marcie Moriarty, chief prevention and enforcement officer for the BC SPCA. She is compassionate and diligent and is a shining example to her team.

She has spent 23 years with the BC SPCA and has worked on thousands of animal cruelty investigations that lead to the saving of many animals.

Her leadership under such duress speaks volumes about her strength and character, and she is truly deserving of this award, said Moriarty.

For a full list of the winner visit their website.
Photo: transmountain.com

Alberta Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd says she doesn't believe the outcome of the B.C. election puts the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in jeopardy.

McCuaig-Boyd notes that the Kinder Morgan line taking Alberta crude to ports in British Columbia has already been approved by the federal government.

And she says her government will continue to work to get the pipeline to completion.

The future of the expansion was put in question after Tuesday's general election in B.C.

Premier Christy Clark's Liberal party, which supports the pipeline, won 43 seats, one short of a majority.

The NDP won 41 seats and the Greens hold the balance of power with three seats  both parties ran on platforms that included opposition to the pipeline.

McCuaig-Boyd says she is not worried.

"I don't know that (opponents) have the (legal) tools to stop it," she said Wednesday.

"We've taken out intervener status to defend Alberta. This is not just about Alberta. This is about Canada. This is a good project."

In an updated prospectus filed Wednesday, Kinder Morgan Canada said it is looking to sell shares at between $19 and $22 to help fund the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion project rather than using a joint venture to fund it.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A dog has severe burns over its body after being thrown into a firepit in a community in northern Manitoba.

Katie Powell, president and founder of Save a Dog Network Canada, says two kids between 10 and 12 years old took a family's dog off a porch on Sunday and tossed him into a firepit on the Red Sucker Lake First Nation.

"Polo ended up coming home about a half hour later. His whole body was smoking ... (and) he had smoke and bubbles coming from his nose," Powell said Wednesday.

"It was pretty horrific and obviously devastating for the family and the children that own this animal."

The family called Save a Dog because the group had vaccinated the pup and about 60 others in the community last summer. Powell's group was able to get Polo, a lab mix, on the next flight out to Winnipeg, about 600 kilometres to the south.

Polo's thick fur actually saved him, Powell said.

"If he didn't have such a thick coat he would have for sure died. The areas that are badly burned are those that aren't covered by fur: his belly, his thighs, his testicles, his neck, face. His nose is pretty badly burned."

Polo, who is about eight months old, is being cared for at a veterinary clinic in Winnipeg, but it's hoped he will get the all-clear to go to a foster home in the next few days. Once he's well, he will be sent to a rescue group in Vancouver, where he will be put up for adoption.

"The family wants a better life for him and clearly there's some issues going on in this community, so they asked us to find him a good home," Powell said.
Photo: CTV

The election of a minority government in British Columbia already has political parties pondering common ground between them as everybody awaits the final results.

With more than 176,000 absentee ballots still to be counted by Elections BC, final totals are due by May 24.

The election Tuesday saw the Liberals win 43 seats, the New Democrats 41 and the Greens three seats, giving them the balance of power. A majority is 44 seats in the 87-seat legislature.

Premier Christy Clark said Wednesday she intends to form a government and is willing to work with others to stay in office.

"In terms of whatever the outcome is, whether it's a minority or a majority, I do intend to make sure we work across party lines with parties that want to work with us," she said.

Clark said she has had a good working relationship with Green Leader Andrew Weaver.

Weaver said the Greens are open to talking to both the Liberals and New Democrats about governing, but until the votes are counted it's too early to discuss political deals.

But he said the Greens, who do not accept political donations from corporations or unions, are committed to removing them entirely from B.C. politics.

"It is a non-negotiable issue for us," said Weaver.

NDP Leader John Horgan said Wednesday he wasn't ready to discuss making deals until the vote count is complete, but in the final days of the campaign he called on Green voters to support the NDP, citing the common goals they share.

Here are a few potential common ground issues that could produce deals in a minority B.C. government:

Campaign finance reform: The Greens do not accept donations from corporations or unions. The NDP has tabled legislation on six occasions proposing to ban union and corporate donations. The Liberals say they will appoint a non-partisan panel to review fundraising reforms.

Electoral reform: The Greens want to introduce electoral reforms to replace the current first-past-the-post system. The New Democrats support electoral reform but want approval through a provincial referendum. The Liberals are not considering electoral reform.

Pipelines: The Greens do not support the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and will work to stop it from proceeding. The NDP also do not support the pipeline project. The Liberals say the proposed pipeline is a federal project, but the government was able to achieve environmental protections and financial benefits for the province.

Carbon tax: The Greens' plan would increase the carbon tax over the next four years from $30 a tonne to $70 a tonne. The Liberals would increase the carbon tax to $50 a tonne by 2020. The NDP also plans to increase the carbon tax to $50 a tonne.
Dustin Godfrey

Mayor Andrew Jakubeit says city hall is attempting to streamline the process of bringing more development into the city in an effort to keep the market flowing.

Newly re-elected MLA Dan Ashton told Castanet in a one-on-one last week that part of the burden of making housing more affordable falls on the shoulders of local governments and how fast they can bring more development. By boosting the supply, he argues, the cost of housing should go down.

Last week's council meeting brought a new development to the city and advances an agenda of densifying the downtown area  a 32-unit apartment building, with office and retail space in a total elevation of eight floors.

That development would be constructed through pre-built modules, craned into position for a faster build, which Jakubeit argues helps to get people into housing faster.

"It's really exciting that we're using a modular construction design, and there's several modular home builders and companies in the Okanagan, in Penticton particularly," Jakubeit said. "For them to create another sort of vertical market for them instead of just building modular homes ... (helps) us with densification so we can get people into buildings faster."

In general, Jakubeit added that the city is looking to keep the developments flowing in town to help densify places like downtown.

"Last year, we had a record year. Three times higher than what we normally do," he said. "This year, construction activity's higher than it was the year before, and so we're really trying to focus on our process in terms of how we approve things and how fast we can approve things."

For Jakubeit, hastening the development process isn't just about affordability.

"The sooner a developer can get a shovel in the ground, the sooner people can move in, the sooner we can actually collect taxes," he said. "A lot of things are at play here."
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A pair of vice-principals have been hired by the Okanagan Skaha School District (SD 67), including one set for middle school and another set for elementary school.

With potential retirements coming up over the summer, Supt. Wendy Hyer says there could be more new hires on the horizon, and because of that uncertainty at this time, the new hires haven't been assigned schools just yet.

Kirsten Odian was appointed elementary vice-principal, while Diane Haddow has been appointed middle school vice-principal, both effective Aug. 1.

Odain has been teaching in the district for 14 years, including at Trout Creek Elementary, Queen's Park and the Home Learners' Program. She has also been the district early learning and literacy helping teacher for six years.

She also has some administrative experience having served as the principal of SD 67's elementary summer school program for four years. She holds a Master's of Education in educational leadership from the University of Calgary, with a Bachelor's of Education at UBC.

Haddow has some past experience with the district, having taught at Summerland Middle School, KVR Middle School and O'Connell Elementary School over 22 years total.

More recently, however, Haddow served as vice-principal of Oliver Elementary School with the Okanagan Similkameen School District.

She holds a Master's of Education in leadership and administration from Gonzaga University and a Bachelor's of Education from SFU.
Photo: Contributed

Kelowna residents are being urged to be ready to leave quickly or find shelter in place for up to 72 hours.

Central Okanagan Emergency operations said the current weather patterns have created a complex series of events that will result in an extended flood.

Creeks and lakes are almost at full pool, and any wind or weather events will create ongoing impacts for the coming weeks, reads a statement. Preventative measures like sandbags should remain in place.

Widespread evacuations are possible, and residents will be ordered to evacuate if there is a threat or imminent danger.

Central Okanangan Emergency operations is suggesting residents do the following:

Prepare an emergency supply of food and water. Consider how much you will need for all members of the family.

Prepare for any pets. Pets may not be able to go outside and you will need food and water as well as a place and cleaning supplies to deal with pet waste.

Call or text your emergency contact. Let them know where you are, if any family members are missing, and how you are doing.

Use your phone only as necessary. Keep the phone handy in case you need to report a life threatening emergency. Otherwise, do not use the phone, so that the lines will be available for emergency responders.

Keep listening to your radio, television, or phone for updates. Do not leave your shelter unless authorities tell you it is safe to do so. If they tell you to evacuate the area, follow their instructions.

Mayor Colin Basran is urging residents to prepare.

Over the next few days, we will see water levels in our city ... reach levels we have never seen before, and so this is going to create a number of issues for the City of Kelowna, he said in a video message.

He added that the flooding is "unlike any we have ever seen in our community."

"I know we got a bit of a taste of it this past weekend, and by all account we will see flooding to that level and possibly beyond.

Basran asked that residents all have a 72-hour emergency prepared kit, even if they don't live near a flood area.

"We are approaching a very serious situation in our city," he said.

Sandbags are available at the Kelowna firehall on Enterprise Way. Sand and sandbags are available at Swalwell Park in Lake Country. Sand is available outside the Hotel Eldorado on Cook Road in Kelowna and on Commonwealth Road by Holiday Park in Lake Country.

In West Kelowna, sand is available at 1341 Green Bay Rd., 2606 Casa Loma, 1651 Pritchard Dr., 4081 Hitchner Rd. and in Pebble Park at 2589 Whitworth Rd.
Photo: Mike Scott

The Township of Spallumcheen has upgraded its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to handle a level two emergency.

The decision was made Wednesday, after Environment Canada issued a thunderstorm watch for the Okanagan early tomorrow afternoon that could impact the area. The township will continually assess Environment Canada reports for extreme weather, said a release.

A Level 2 emergency is described as "as significant event affecting more than 12 people" by Emergency Management BC.

Photos of Spallumcheen that have been posted on Facebook over the last few days have shown the level of flooding in area fields.

The emergency operations centre is located at the Township of Spallumcheen municipal office at 4144 Spallumcheen Way.

A town hall meeting will be held Monday, May 15th at 10 a.m. at the township office.

More information can be found online.

Only life and safety emergency calls from Spallumcheen residents should be made to 250-546-3013.

Residents with non-emergency flooding concerns can email the EOC.

If water is not a threat to structures, the township requests that residents wait for water to naturally dissipate as resources are limited.

Road network advisories have been issued for the following streets and should be used only by residents and emergency traffic:

Powerhouse Road

Demorest Road (single lane)

Stepney Road

Eagle Rock Road

Mountain View Road

Traffic other than residents and emergency vehicles to the area is asked to use alternate routes.

Further assessment areas (re-assessed daily):
Photo: The Canadian Press A man removes debris from the floodwaters surrounding his house in Deux-Montagnes, Que., on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

While water levels continued their slow decline in some parts of Quebec on Wednesday, the province's environment minister warned the situation could deteriorate in others this weekend because of heavy rain.

David Heurtel said the central Quebec region of Mauricie is expected to bear the brunt of the precipitation.

"We're looking at considerable rainfall on the weekend," he told a news conference.

"Depending on the region, we're talking about 20 to 40 millimetres but in Mauricie the impact will be even greater, so we should expect another tough weekend there."

Heurtel said the combination of rain, melting snow in the St-Maurice River basin and rising tides could prove to be damaging in the region.

Trois-Rivieres resident Patrice Bourassa, who has been co-ordinating volunteer efforts in Mauricie, said citizens in some of the worst-hit regions are losing energy and patience.

"It's reached the point they have to leave their homes in the morning and take a canoe to their vehicle 500 metres away because it's too flooded," he said in a telephone interview.

Bourassa said the Facebook page he created has already drawn 1,200 members, with many spending the last few days building dikes, packing sandbags and helping citizens.

He says that while city officials have offered all the help they can, some of the smaller towns in the region have fewer resources to deal with flooding.

 with files from Morgan Lowrie in Montreal.
Photo: Contributed

A Canadian Forces corporal is facing charges including sexual assault, voyeurism and possession of child pornography.

In a news release Wednesday, the military says the investigation started when a hidden recording device was found in January in a home of another member of the Canadian army in Washington, D.C.

Cpl. Colin McGregor has also been charged with theft, interception, breaking and entering, possession of property obtained by crime, transmission of an intimate image and possession of a device for surreptitious interception.

The Canadian Forces says McGregor, who used to be a resource management support clerk with Canadian Defence Liaison Staff in Washington, is currently based at 5th Canadian Division Support Base in Gagetown, N.B.

The forces' National Investigation Service says several electronic devices were also seized from McGregor's home in the United States.

It's alleged recordings on the devices included video of a sexual assault against a Canadian Forces member at the base in Esquimalt in British Columbia in 2011.

McGregor is currently in custody and faces a possible court martial at a later date.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Four people are dead and two others are in serious condition following a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 401 in eastern Ontario.

Ontario Provincial Police say seven vehicles were involved in the westbound crash at about 1:25 a.m. northeast of Kingston, Ont.

The vehicles included four tractor-trailers, a commercial truck and two passenger vehicles, one of which caught fire in the crash.

Police say the four people who died were all in the vehicle that caught fire.

Two other people were taken to hospital with serious injuries. Police say the victims will not be identified until relatives are notified.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash and police say Highway 401 westbound at the accident scene will be closed for an undetermined amount of time to allow for the investigation.
Photo: Jon Manchester

The City of Kelowna took time out from flood warnings and elections to honour some of its finest citizens Wednesday night.

The 42nd annual Civic and Community Awards at Kelowna Community Theatre shone the spotlight on inspiring volunteers and athletes in 18 categories.

Those nominated in many of the categories volunteered thousands of hours to charitable and other organizations across the city in 2016.

Kelly Taverner spent more than 200 hours in 2016 doing street outreach work for homeless and exploited women through Helping Out People Exploited (H.O.P.E.).

The Sarah Donalda Treadgold Woman of the Year also founded Kelownas largest annual International Womens Day event in 2016 and helped facilitate and create the Lets Get Consensual campaign with the Sexual Assault and Awareness Club at UBC Okanagan among her many endeavours.

Lawyer Garry Benson was bestowed the Fred Macklin Man of the Year award.

Benson spent more than 400 hours last year assisting many different organizations, including being a director of both the Uptown Rutland Business Association and the Rutland Park Society as well as the East Meets West Orphan Foundation.

He was also a founding member of H.E.L.P BC and a member of the Central Okanagan Indian Friendship Centre and volunteer with the Hope and Heal Foundation.

Benson has donated more than 1,500 hours of pro-bono legal counsel to people and organizations in need,

including the Knights of Columbus, Housing Society, Serbian Society and First Nations groups.

Former school superintendent and school board trustee Murli Pendharkar received the Anita Tozer Award.

Considered a compulsive volunteer, he has worked with the Society for Community Living, RCMP

Victim Services, for the Red Cross, where he was president of the Thompson-Okanagan regional board,

and as a school trustee for nine years.

But his passion was Rotary. As chair of international services, he sponsored or helped sponsor numerous community and school projects in Asia and Africa. Over the years, hes been presented the Outstanding Rotarian of the Year, District Rotarian of the Year and Service Above Self awards by Rotary International.

Other winners from Wednesday's gala include:
Photo: Contributed

Telus Corp. (TSX:T) is increasing its quarterly dividend and raising some of its 2017 financial targets.

The Vancouver-based telecom company says its quarterly dividend will increase to 49.25 cents per common share with the second-quarter payout in July. That's up 2.6 per cent from 48 cents in this year's first quarter payout and up 7.1 per cent from last year's second quarter payout of 46 cents per share.

The increased dividend is line with the Telus policy of raising dividend by seven to 10 per cent annually, subject to conditions.

Telus is also raising the top end of its estimated earnings range for the year by two cents to $2.66 per share, while the low end of the range remains $2.49 per share.

It's also adjusting its 2017 estimates for adjusted earnings, revenue and capital spending to reflect the completion of its purchase of some of the Manitoba Telecom Services business in a previously announced deal.

The updates were included with the company's financial report, which showed second-quarter revenue was up 2.9 per cent at $3.2 billion and its net income for common shares was up 14.6 per cent at $433 million. The profit amounted to 73 cents per Telus common share.
As the Central Okanagan braces for another round of flooding, the Emergency Operations Centre is providing more information on sandbagging your property.

Sand and sandbags are available throughout the region, but demand is huge and the supply is continually being replenished.

Empty Sandbags

City of Kelowna Fire Station #1 at 2255 Enterprise Way

Sand & Sandbags:

Burne Avenue, west of Ethel Street at Mill Creek

221 Adams Road  North Reeds Corner area (Industrial Park)

1870 Maple Street  Downtown area

1118 Brookside Road  Capri area

Radant Road (two sites)  Mission area

Pre-filled Sandbags, Sand and Sand Bags

End of Bluebird Road  Mission area

Truswell Road  Mission area

Cook Road Boat Launch outside the Hotel Eldorado - Mission

Rowcliffe Avenue at Richter Street  Downtown/Sutherland

Burtch Road  Apple Bowl Parking Lot

West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation residents - Sand and Sandbags

1341 Green Bay Road

2606 Casa Loma

Pritchard Park at 1587 Pritchard Drive

4081 Hitchner Road

Pebbles Beach Park at 2589 Whitworth Road

Lake Country - Sand and Sandbags

Swalwell Park at 9950 Bottom Wood Lake Road

Deldor Rd at Mayrus Rd

Beasley Park on Woodsdale Road

Sand

Okanagan Centre Fire Hall (10591 Okanagan Centre Rd. East)

Peachland - Sandbags

Peachland Fire Department at 4401 3rd Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Outside of these times and on Weekends, please call fire dispatch at 250-469-8801 to arrange a pick up time.

Sand

At the end of Chidley Road

RDCO Electoral area residents - Sand and Sandbags

Ellison Fire Department  4411 Old Vernon Road

North Westside Fire Rescue  Shorts Creek Firehall, Westside Road (call 250-545-1195 to arrange pick up. (Fintry, Valley of the Sun, Killiney, West Shore)

Wilsons Landing Fire Department  2396 Westside Road North (Traders Cove)

Joe Rich Fire Rescue Main hall 11481 Highway 33

Goudie hall 6550 Goudie Road

Filling sandbags is normally a two-person job, says the EOC. One holds the bag open while the other shovels.

Fill bags halfway to make it easier to move. A properly filled sand bag should weigh 35-40 pounds. Wear gloves and goggles.

Scrunch the walls of the bag together like a candy bag. Sandbags filled one-half to two-thirds full should generally be left untied.

Lift with your legs and bend at the knees to save your back.

Lay the sandbag flat and parallel to the expected flow of water and debris. Make sure the closed end of the bag is facing in the general direction of the expected flow, and fold the open end of the sandbag diagonally away from the expected flow.
Photo: Contributed

Local doctors are donating $125,000 to the South Okanagan Similkameen Foundations $20M campaign for equipment in the new patient care tower at PRH.

Dr. Jacqueline Stewart, president of the Penticton Regional Hospital Medical Staff Association, said the association is donating on behalf of the 125 doctors in the organization.

This hospital was built in the early 1950s, so constantly there are issues with inadequate space, she said. The facility is really aging and the doctors felt very strongly that we need this new tower for our community.

Each physician has been contributing annually through their association from 2015 through until the end of 2018. Some are also making personal donations in addition to this group endeavour.

We felt it was important to show that we are committed to providing financial support, she said. We also want to motivate the public and make people aware that money is still needed (for the foundations campaign) to cover the costs of all the equipment the new facility will need.

The new tower will provide immediate benefits for patients, Dr. Stewart said. Its going to be night and day. I think this is going to be quite an amazing facility.

She pointed to the 84 individual patient rooms, compared to the existing situation where up to four patients must share a room. Outpatient clinics will also feature much more elbow room in the new tower, instead of having some patients wait in hallways prior to their procedures.

Construction of the six-storey David E. Kampe Tower at PRH is now underway and should be ready for patients by early 2019 when work begins on Phase 2  a major expansion of the hospitals emergency department.
Photo: Contributed

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Canada's six big banks amid worries about growing consumer debt and housing prices.

David Beattie, a Moody's senior vice-president, said the downgrade reflects an ongoing concern that expanding levels of private-sector debt could weaken asset quality in the future.

"Continued growth in Canadian consumer debt and elevated housing prices leaves consumers, and Canadian banks, more vulnerable to downside risks facing the Canadian economy than in the past," Beattie said.

The debt-rating agency said it expects TD Bank (TSX:TD), Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO), Scotiabank (TSX:BNS), CIBC (TSX:CM), National Bank (TSX:NA) and Royal Bank (TSX:RY) will face a more challenging operating environment for the remainder of this year and beyond.

Moody's downgraded the baseline credit assessments, the long-term debt and deposit ratings and the counterparty risk assessments of the banks and their affiliates by one notch, with the exception of TD Bank's counter party risk assessment which was affirmed. It also maintained its negative outlook for the relevant ratings on the six banks.

A lower debt rating may mean an increased cost of borrowing for the big Canadian banks.

Despite moves by the federal government in recent years to cool the housing market, Moody's noted that house prices and consumer debt levels remain historically high and business credit has also grown rapidly.

"We do note that the Canadian banks maintain strong buffers in terms of capital and liquidity," the report said.

"However, the resilience of household balance sheets, and consequently bank portfolios, to a serious economic downturn has not been tested at these levels of private sector indebtedness."
Photo: Contributed OKM students help with sandbagging efforts on Thursday.

The province has sent 112 provincial firefighters from the Wildfire Management Branch to Kelowna to assist in sandbagging and flood relief.

The help comes at the request of the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre and Emergency Management BC.

The firefighters will be available for as long as they are needed, according to forestry officials. They will mainly be tasked with helping to fill sandbags to help protect roads, infrastructure and property.

EOC information officer Adrian Nieoczym says no other assistance has been requested, at least for the short term.

The military has been called in to assist with flooding in Ontario and Quebec, but Nieoczym says they wouldn't be able to get here in time.

"The secondary issue, the long term, is what happens with the lake if it gets overfull. There are meetings happening with advance planning in case additional assistance from the military is needed," he said.

City and regional district staff are working to assist the effort, while Fortis, BC Hydro and Interior Health are at the ready in case of emergency situations.

In Ottawa, Kelowna-Lake Country MP, Stephen Fuhr assured residents the federal government stands ready to provide support and resources and will continue to liaise with provincial authorities in the event a federal response is requested.

Fuhr says he has spoken with both Mayor Colin Basran and Mayor James Baker, and will be returning to the riding to assist Kelowna-Lake Country residents in any way he can.
When the mayor of Kelowna sends out a direct message to residents, it's evident there is a serious situation upon us. Colin Basran did just that on Wednesday, urging Kelowna residents to prepare.

Over the next few days, we will see water levels in our city ... reach levels we have never seen before, and so this is going to create a number of issues for the City of Kelowna."

The flooding is "unlike any we have ever seen in our community," he said.

Many are doing all they can to make sure their property will be safe, but at the Salvation Army, volunteers fear they wont have enough space to take in everyone needing shelter.

"We won't let people sleep outside or in their car. If we need to, we can accommodate people, but the reality is we can't accommodate thousands," said communications co-ordinator Patty Lou Bryant.

The agency is asking for some help to stay afloat.

"It would be a real help if people could send us some gluten-free, peanut-free, or sugar-free granola bars. Snacks need to be kept on hand for people coming through. Juice boxes and cookies are perfect for the people on the front lines sandbagging today. Store bought is the way to go. We don't take baked goods.

"It's never been this bad, and we need the community to rally together and lend a hand," Bryant said.

Basran stressed the importance of preparing a 72-hour emergency kit. For more information on what to pack in that kit, visit cordemergency.ca
Photo: Contributed My Classic Car last visited Penticton in 2008

Dennis Gage will be filming an episode of his long running series My Classic Car in Penticton during the Peach City Beach Cruise, June 23-25.

Airing on MAVTV, Gage previously shot an episode of My Classic Car during the 2008 Beach Cruise. The show has been capturing North Americas love affair with the automobile since 1996. More than a half a million viewers watch each episode.

The three day car show will bring hundreds of classic cars from all over Western Canada to Penticton for display along Lakeshore Drive. Friday night will feature the parade of show cars down Main Street.

More information on the Peach City Beach Cruise can be found here.
Photo: The Canadian Press Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould.

Demanding a breath sample from a motorist is no different than asking for their licence and registration, Canada's justice minister argued Thursday as the federal Liberal government defended its proposed new crackdown on impaired driving.

Jody Wilson-Raybould tabled a so-called "charter statement" in the House of Commons comprising the arguments why the government believes the new measures are permissible under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized as reasonable the authority, under provincial law and common law, of police officers to stop vehicles at random to ensure that drivers are licensed and insured, that the vehicle is mechanically fit, and to check for sobriety," Wilson-Raybould's statement says.

"The information revealed from a breath sample is, like the production of a driver's licence, simply information about whether a driver is complying with one of the conditions imposed in the highly regulated contexts of driving."

Bill C-46, which includes new powers for police and harsher penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, was introduced in the Commons last month alongside the government's plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

The new screening measures would mean police could demand a breath sample from any driver they lawfully stop  even if they had no suspicion the person had been drinking before being pulled over.

The statement does come with a major caveat: "A statement is not a legal opinion on the constitutionality of a bill."

Anthony Moustacalis, president of the Criminal Lawyers' Association, said he is concerned the new law could lead to a higher number of random stops of visible minorities.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The federal government will make clear its support of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion when it meets with the newly elected government of B.C., the country's natural resources minister said Thursday.

But Jim Carr said it first must be established who won the election on Monday. The results appear to hand Liberal Leader Christy Clark a minority government, but this could change with counts of absentee ballots and recounts.

A total of 43 members of Clark's party were elected, one seat short of a majority.

The NDP won 41 seats and the Green Party three. Both have said they oppose the Trans Mountain expansion and, if they act together, could potentially try to derail it.

At an event in Calgary, Carr says the pipeline received conditional federal approval after "very rigorous review" and he continues to believe it is in the national interest as a job creator and means to export Alberta crude to Asian markets.

He wouldn't say whether he thought the pipeline's prospects of being built were put at risk by the B.C. election results.
Photo: The Canadian Press U.S. trade representative designate Robert Lighthizer.

President Donald Trump says he's ready to start a major renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, now that his trade czar has achieved his long-awaited confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

The upper chamber voted Thursday with a large bipartisan majority of 82-14 to approve Robert Lighthizer, giving the administration its U.S. trade representative and allowing it to finally kickstart its NAFTA process.

The president told an interviewer with The Economist that he intends to proceed quickly thereafter: Trump plans to file a 90-day notice with Congress, work with it on negotiating priorities, and start talks with Canada and Mexico later this year.

"The clock starts ticking (with Lighthizer's confirmation)," Trump told the magazine before the vote. The administration has begun signalling that it wants significant changes in a range of areas, including dairy, lumber, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and the dispute-resolution system.

Trump interjected when the interviewer suggested it sounds like he wants a big renegotiation.

"Big isn't a good enough word," the president replied. "Massive."

But that desire for a "massive" renegotiation is butting up against the mundane realities of the political calendar. The U.S. and Mexico have both expressed a desire to get a deal by early next year, before the Mexican election. Few observers believe a substantive renegotiation is possible within a few months.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Conservative party officials say former leader and prime minister Stephen Harper is not expected at this month's leadership convention.

Members will be gathering in Toronto on May 27 to choose his official replacement.

But while interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose is scheduled to speak, the party says Harper is not.

One official says that's because Harper, who spent 12 years as the inaugural leader of the united Conservative party, wants to pass the torch.

The official says Harper wants to give the new leader a chance to shine at the convention.

There are 13 candidates in the running for the job, with the winner being chosen by way of a preferential ballot.
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
Concerns have been raised in the community regarding Stephen Burrow and Jennifer Colmer of Pascagoula, and Ken Papania of Ocean Springs because of their ties to the Jackson County Utility Authority. Colmer, is the newest councilwoman at-large in the City of Pascagoula while Burrow and Papania will move to the June 6 general election. (courtesy of Facebook)

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Multiple candidates involved in local municipal races have ties to the current lawsuit filed by all four municipalities against the Jackson County Utility Authority -- raising concerns over a possible conflict of interest for those candidates.

An anonymous call received by The Mississippi Press last week first raised the issue, noting that the candidates involved, if ultimately elected to office, would have the means to influence decisions regarding the lawsuit. The three candidates involved each won their primaries on May 2.

The candidates involved are Stephen Burrow and Jennifer Colmer of Pascagoula, and Ken Papania of Ocean Springs. Burrow and Papania have opponents in the June 6 general election, while Colmer, having defeated incumbent Brenda Simpkins and facing no general election opposition, will be sworn in as Pascagoula's new councilwoman at-large in July.

Burrow, Colmer, and Papania each have ties either to the JCUA directly or to the legal firm representing the utility authority in the lawsuit filed by the municipalities.

Burrow is a partner at the Heidelberg, Steinberger, and Colmer law firm handling the JCUA's defense, Jennifer Colmer's husband is also a partner, while Papania serves on the JCUA board of directors.

The four municipalities entered a contract with the JCUA, under which the JCUA receives and treats city wastewater for a fee. The issue is that in recent years, those fees have climbed more than 200 percent over the last few years -- increases which the municipalities claim are exorbitant and unjustified.

The four cities are seeking monetary damages, declaratory judgment solidifying the terms of the JCUA contract, breach of contract, equitable accounting of JCUA's billings and expenditures, as well as an order to prevent JCUA from destroying any documentation.

The Mississippi Press spoke with Burrow, Colmer, and Papania, to learn whether they felt their ties to the JCUA and/or the lawsuit would be an issue were they to win council/alderman seats.

"I can't help if someone in the community sees it as a conflict of interest, but I can tell you legally, it is not," Burrow said. "The issue is would it be a violation of the Ethics and Government Act for me to serve as a councilman at the same time as the city utilizes the services of the Jackson County Utility Authority.

"The short answer for that question is no. Under the Ethics and Government Act, there is a provision and exception known as the single source rule. It says if there is a vendor for the city, or for any government entity that provides the sole source of services being contracted for, then it is not a violation of the Ethics and Government Act.

"However, I will not (if elected) participate in any decisions related to the utility authority even though there is no conflict. I think it is probably good business for me to step aside and not participate in any discussions where action might be taken in regards to the utility authority."

Colmer echoed Burrow's sentiments.

"We both have careers that put us in situations of the utmost confidence of those that we work for and with. We do not discuss work at home because of the nature of our businesses," she said. "It is my understanding that Jimmy Heidelberg is the attorney representing the JCUA, not my husband, but because they are in the same law firm, I would recuse myself.

"I have run into similar situations serving on the school board where I have had to recuse myself for the same reason. I consider myself to be an ethical person and I would not want to participate in anything that would deem me unethical."

Papania, the City of Ocean Springs current appointee to the JCUA board, said he would step down from that position if he's elected.

"What I will do is by the bylaws, if I become alderman, I would no longer be a member of the JCUA and the City of Ocean Springs would appoint a non-politician to the JCUA. It is a very practical, common sense deal and that is how I plan on handling that," he said.

Mississippi Ethics Commission Executive Director Tom Hood told The Mississippi Press that while he was unfamiliar with all the facts of the JCUA situation, at first glance it would appear the potential for a conflict of interest could exist, but could not elaborate further without additional details and investigation.
Zomg lots more anagram stuff



I'm almost done with anagrams. For now, anyway. I think. This article is to mop up the last few leftover anagram-related matters so that I can put the subject to rest.

(Earlier articles: [1] [2] [3] [] )

Code is available

Almost all the code I wrote for this project is available on Github.

The documentation is not too terrible, I think.

Anagram lists are available

I have also placed my scored anagram lists on my web site. Currently available are:

!!Con talk

On Saturday I gave a talk about the anagram-scoring work at !!Con in New York. The talk was not my best work, since I really needed 15 minutes to do a good job and I was unwilling to cut it short enough. (I did go overtime, which I deeply regret.) At least nobody came up to me afterward and complained.

Talk materials are on my web site and I will link other talk-related stuff from there when it becomes available. The video will be available around the end of May, and the text transcript probably before that.

[ Addendum 20170518: The video is available thanks to Confreaks. ]

Both algorithms are exponential

The day after the talk an attendee asked me a very good question: why did I say that one algorithm for scoring algorithms was better than the other, when they are both exponential? (Sorry, I don't remember who you wereif you would like credit please drop me a note.)

The two algorithms are:

A brute-force search to construct all possible mappings from word A to word B, and then calculate the minimum score over all mappings (more details)

The two words are converted into a graph; we find the maximum independent set in the graph, and the size of the MIS gives the score (more details)

The answer to this excellent question begins with: just because two problems are both hard doesn't mean they are equally hard. In this case, the MIS algorithm is better for several reasons:

The number of possible mappings from A to B depends on the number of repeated letters in each word. For words of length n, in the worst case this is something like !! n! !!. This quantity is superexponential; it eventually exceeds !! c^n !! for all constants !!c!!. The naive algorithm for MIS is only exponential, having !!c=2!!. The problem size for the mapping algorithm depends on the number of repeated letters in the words. The problem size for the MIS algorithm depends on the number of shared adjacent letter pairs in the two words. This is almost always much smaller. There appears to be no way to score all the mappings without constructing the mappings and scoring them. In contrast, MIS is well-studied and if you don't like the obvious !!2^n!! algorithm you can do something cleverer that takes only !!1.22^n!!. Branch-and-bound techniques are much more effective for the MIS problem, and in this particular case we know something about the graph structure, which can be exploited to make them even more effective. For example, when calculating the score for chromophotolithograph photochromolithograph my MIS implementation notices the matching trailing olithograph parts right away, and can then prune out any part of the MIS search that cannot produce a mapping with fewer than 11 chunks. Doing this in the mapping-generating algorithm is much more troublesome.

Stuff that didn't go into the talk

On Wednesday I tried out the talk on Katara and learned that it was around 75% too long. I had violated my own #1 content rule: Do not begin with a long introduction. My draft talk started with a tour of all my favorite anagrams, with illustrations. Included were:

Please and asleep and elapse.

Spectrum and crumpets ; my wife noticed this while we were at a figure-skating event at the Philadelphia Spectrum, depicted above.

English and shingle ; I came up with this looking at a teabag while at breakfast with my wife's parents. This prompted my mother-in-law to remark that it must be hard to always be thinking about such thingsbut then she admitted that when she sees long numerals she always checks them for divisibility by 9.

Soupmaster and mousetraps. The picture here is not perfect. I wanted a picture of the Soupmaster restaurant that was at the Liberty Place food court in Philadelphia, but I couldn't find one.

I also wanted to show the back end of a Honda Integra and a picture of granite, but I couldn't find a good picture of either one before I deleted them from the talk. (My wife also gets credit for noticing this one.) [ Addendum 20170515: On the road yesterday I was reminded of another one my wife noticed: Pontiac / caption. ]

Slide #1 defines what anagrams actually are, with an example of soapstone / teaspoons. I had originally thought I might pander to the left-wing sensibilities of the !!Con crowd by using the example Donald Trump / Lord Dampnut and even made the illustration. I eventually rejected this for a couple of reasons. First, it was misleading because I only intended to discuss single-word anagrams. Second, !!Con is supposed to be fun and who wants to hear about Donald Trump?

But the illustration might be useful for someone else, so here it is. Share and enjoy.

After I rejected this I spent some time putting together an alternative, depicting I am Lord Voldemort / Tom Marvolo Riddle. I am glad I went with the soapstone teaspoons instead.

People Magazine

Clearly one important ingredient in finding good anagrams is that they should have good semantics. I did not make much of an effort in this direction. But it did occur to me that if I found a list of names of well-known people I might get something amusing out of it. For example, it is well known that Britney Spears is an anagram of Presbyterians which may not be meaningful but at least provides something to mull over.

I had some trouble finding a list of names of well-known people, probably because I do not know where to look, but I did eventually find a list of a few hundred on the People Magazine web site so I threw it into the mix and was amply rewarded:

I thought Cheryl Burke was sufficiently famous, sufficiently recently, that most people might have heard of her. (Even I know who she is!) But I gave a version of the !!Con talk to the Philadelphia Perl Mongers the following Monday and I was the only one in the room who knew. (That version of the talk took around 75 minutes, but we took a lot of time to stroll around and look at the scenery, much of which is in this article.)

I had a struggle finding the right Cheryl Burke picture for the !!Con talk. The usual image searches turned up lots of glamour and fashion pictures and swimsuit pictures. I wanted a picture of her actually dancing and for some reason this was not easy to find. The few I found showed her from the back, or were motion blurred. I was glad when I found the one above.

Wikipedia

A few days before the !!Con talk my original anagram-scoring article hit #1 on Hacker News. Hacker News user Pxtl suggested using the Wikipedia article title list as an input lexicon. The article title list is available for download from the Wikimedia Foundation so you don't have to scrape the pages as Pxtl suggested. There are around 13 million titles and I found all the anagrams and scored them; this took around 25 minutes with my current code.

The results were not exactly disappointing, but neither did they deliver anything as awesomely successful as cinematographer / megachiropteran. The top scorer by far was ACEEEFFGHHIILLMMNNOORRSSSTUV, which is the pseudonym of 17th-century German writer Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen. Obviously, Grimmelshausen constructed his pseudonym by sorting the letters of his name into alphabetical order.

(Robert Hooke famously used the same scheme to claim priority for discovery of his spring law without actually revealing it. He published the statement as ceiiinosssttuv and then was able to claim, two years later, that this was an anagram of the actual law, which was ut tensio, sic vis. (As the extension, so the force.) An attendee of my Monday talk wondered if there is some other Latin phrase that Hooke could have claimed to have intended. Perhaps someone else can take the baton from me on this project.)

Anyway, the next few top scorers demonstrate several different problems:

21 Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz / Qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm 21 Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz / Qwertzuiopasdfghjklyxcvbnm 21 Ashland County Courthouse / Odontorhynchus aculeatus 21 Daniel Francois Malherbe / Mindenhall Air Force Base 20 Christine Amongin Aporu / Ethnic groups in Romania 20 Message force multiplier / Petroleum fiscal regimes 19 Cholesterol lowering agent / North West Regional College 19 Louise de Maisonblanche / Schoenobius damienella 19 Scorpaenodes littoralis / Steroidal spirolactones

The Qwerty ones are intrinsically uninteresting and anyway we could have predicted ahead of time that they would be there. And the others are just sort of flat. Odontorhynchus aculeatus has the usual problems. One can imagine that there could be some delicious irony in Daniel Francois Malherbe / Mindenhall Air Force Base but as far as I can tell there isn't any and neither was Louise de Maisonblanche killed by an S. damienella. (It's a moth. Mme de Maisonblanche was actually killed by Variola which is not an anagram of anything interesting.)

Wikipedia article titles include many trivial variations. For example, many people will misspell Winona Ryder as Wynona Rider, so Wikipedia has pages for both, with the real article at the correct spelling and the incorrect one redirecting to it. The anagram detector cheerfully picks these up although they do not get high scores. Similarly:

there are a lot of articles about weasels that have alternate titles about weasles

there are a lot of articles about the United States or the United Kingdom that have alternate titles about the Untied States or the Untied Kingdom

Articles about the Center for something or other with redirects to (or from) the Centre for the same thing.

There is an article about Major professional sports leagues in Canada and the United States with a redirect from Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

You get the idea.

The anagram scorer often had quite a bit of trouble with items like these because they are long and full of repeated letter pairs. The older algorithm would have done even worse. If you're still wondering about the difference between two exponential algorithms, some of these would make good example cases to consider.

As I mentioned above you can download the Wikipedia anagrams from my web site and check for yourself. My favorite item so far is:

18 Atlantis Casino Resort Spa / Carter assassination plot

Romania

Some words appear with surprising frequency and I don't know why. As I mentioned above one of the top scorers was Ethnic groups in Romania and for some reason Romania appears in the anagram list over and over again:

20 Christine Amongin Aporu / Ethnic groups in Romania 17 List of Romanian actors / Social transformation 15 Imperial Coronation / Romanian riot police 14 Rakhine Mountains / Romanians in the UK 14 Mindanao rasbora / Romanians abroad 13 Romanian poets / ramosopinnate 13 Aleuron carinatum / Aromanian culture 11 Resita Montana / Romanian state 11 Monte Schiara / The Romaniacs 11 Monetarianism / Romanian Times 11 Marion Barnes / Romanian Serb 11 Maarsen railway station / Romanian State Railways 11 Eilema androconia / Nicolae de Romania 11 Ana Maria Norbis / Arabs in Romania ( 170 more )

Also I had never thought of this before, but Romania appears in this unexpected context:

09 Alicia Morton / Clitoromania 09 Carinito Malo / Clitoromania

(Alicia Morton played Annie in the 1999 film. Carinito Malo is actually Carinito Malo. I've already discussed the nonequivalence of n and n so I won't beat that horse again.)

Well, this is something I can investigate. For each string of letters, we have here the number of Wikipedia article titles in which the string appears (middle column), the number of anagram pairs in which the string appears (left column; anagrams with score less than 6 are not counted) and the quotient of the two (right column).

romania 110 4106 2.7% serbia 109 4400 2.5% croatia 68 3882 1.8% belarus 24 1810 1.3% ireland 140 11426 1.2% andorra 7 607 1.2% austria 60 5427 1.1% russia 137 15944 0.9% macedonia 28 3167 0.9% france 111 14785 0.8% spain 64 8880 0.7% slovenia 18 2833 0.6% wales 47 9438 0.5% portugal 17 3737 0.5% italy 21 4353 0.5% denmark 19 3698 0.5% ukraine 12 2793 0.4% england 37 8719 0.4% sweden 11 4233 0.3% scotland 16 4945 0.3% poland 22 6400 0.3% montenegro 4 1446 0.3% germany 16 5733 0.3% finland 6 2234 0.3% albania 10 3268 0.3% slovakia 3 1549 0.2% norway 9 3619 0.2% greece 10 8307 0.1% belgium 3 2414 0.1% switzerland 0 5439 0.0% netherlands 1 3522 0.0% czechia 0 75 0.0%

As we see, Romania and Serbia are substantially ahead of the others. I suspect that it is a combination of some lexical property (the interesting part) and the relatively low coverage of those countries in English Wikipedia. That is, I think if we were to identify the lexical component, we might well find that russia has more of it, but scores lower than romania because Russia is much more important. My apologies if I accidentally omitted your favorite European country.

[ Oh, crap, I just realized I left out Bosnia. ]

Lesbians

Another one of the better high scorers turns out to be the delightful:

16 Lesbian intercourse / Sunrise Celebration

Lesbian, like Romania, seems to turn up over and over; the next few are:

11 Lesbian erotica / Oreste Bilancia 11 Pitane albicollis / Political lesbian 12 Balearic islands / Radical lesbians 12 Blaise reaction / Lesbian erotica (43 more)

Wikipedia says:

The Blaise reaction is an organic reaction that forms a -ketoester from the reaction of zinc metal with a -bromoester and a nitrile.

A hundred points to anyone who can make a genuinely funny joke out of this.

Oreste Bilancia is an Italian silent-film star, and Pitane albicollis is another moth. I did not know there were so many anagrammatic moths. Christian Bale is an anagram of Birthana cleis, yet another moth.

[ Addendum 20220227: Sean Carney has applied my method to the headwords from Urban Dictionary and says even though it doesnt score quite as well, in my mind, the clear winner is genitals be achin / cheating lesbian. ]

I ran the same sort of analysis on lesbian as on romania , except that since it wasn't clear what to compare it to, I picked a bunch of random words.

nosehair 3 3 100.0% margarine 4 16 25.0% penis 95 573 16.6% weasel 11 271 4.1% phallus 5 128 3.9% lesbian 26 863 3.0% center 340 23969 1.4% flowers 14 1038 1.3% trumpet 6 487 1.2% potato 10 941 1.1% octopus 4 445 0.9% coffee 12 1531 0.8%

It seems that lesbian appears with unusually high but not remarkably high frequency. The unusual part is its participation in so many anagrams with very high scores. The outstanding item here is penis . (The top two being rare outliers.) But penis still wins even if I throw away anagrams with scores less than 10 (instead of less than 6):

margarine 1 16 6.2% penis 13 573 2.3% lesbian 8 863 0.9% trumpet 2 487 0.4% flowers 4 1038 0.4% center 69 23969 0.3% potato 2 941 0.2% octopus 1 445 0.2% coffee 1 1531 0.1% weasel 0 271 0.0% phallus 0 128 0.0% nosehair 0 3 0.0%

Since I'm sure you are wondering, here are the anagrams of margarine and nosehair :

07 Nosehair / Rehsonia 08 Aso Shrine / Nosehairs 09 Nosehairs / hoariness 04 Margaret Hines / The Margarines 07 Magerrain / margarine 07 Ramiengar / margarine 08 Rae Ingram / margarine 11 Erika Armstrong / Stork margarine

I think Margaret Hines / The Margarines should score more than 4, and that this exposes a defect in my method.

Acrididae graphs

Here is the graph constructed by the MIS algorithm for the pair acrididae / cidaridae, which I discussed in an earlier article and also mentioned in my talk.

Each maximum independent set in this graph corresponds to a minimum-chunk mapping between acrididae and cidaridae. In the earlier article, I claimed:

This one has two maximum independent sets

which is wrong; it has three, yielding three different mappings with five chunks:

My daughter Katara points out that the graphs above resemble grasshoppers. My Gentle Readers will no doubt recall that acrididae is the family of grasshoppers, comprising around 10,000 species. I wanted to find an anagram grasshopper / ?????? graph. There are many anagrams of eoprs and eoprss but I was not able to find anything good. The best I could do was spore graphs.

Thank you, Gentle Readers, for taking this journey with me. I hope nobody walks up to me in the next year to complain that my blog does not feature enough anagram-related material.

[Other articles in category /lang] permanent link
The British Library has recently digitised two important manuscripts relating to the Okinawan language (click on hyperlink to get to digital copies): English-Loochooan dictionary: with many phrases in the higher style of the literati, and a glossary of derivatives from the Chinese language (BL Or.40) and Elements or contributions towards a Loochooan & Japanese grammar (BL Or.41), written by the missionary Bernard Jean Bettelheim (1811-1870) and presented to the British Museum on 2 May 1867.



Dedication from Bettelheims Dictionary (BL Or.40 f.2r) :

As this dictionary was written while I was in part supported by kind English friends, and in grateful remembrance of many favors, both temporal and spiritual, recevied from Englishmen while in England & at Loochoo & especially for the gracious protection received from the English Government while in my mission field I wish this volume to become the property of the national museum in London, Great Britain. Cayuga, Illinois, U.S.A., Apr 10th 1867.

Bettelheims career

Bettelheim, the first Protestant missionary in what was then the independent Kingdom of Ryukyu (technically a tributary state of Qing China but de facto under the control of the Satsuma Domain on behalf of the Japanese Shogunate), was born in June 1811 in Pressburg (Bratislava) of Jewish descent. He was educated in Budapest and Vienna before moving to Italy where he obtained a doctorate of medicine at the University of Padua in September 1836. He converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1840 while serving as a military surgeon in Smyrna. Some months later he moved to London where in 1843 he married an Englishwoman, Elizabeth Mary Barwick (1821-1872), and took British nationality. The same year he joined the Loochoo Naval Mission, founded by Lt. Herbert Clifford, as a lay preacher and medical missionary, and on 1 May 1846 he arrived in Naha, Okinawa on board the Starling accompanied by his wife and their two young children.



Bernard Jean Bettelheim (Okinawa Prefectural Museum)

From the outset Bettelheim met with strong opposition from the local authorities and he and his family endured many slights and hardships. His efforts to preach were disrupted by officials and according to one account, People even went so far as to put buckets of filth at his feet while he was speaking (Pierre Leturdu, quoted by Cary, p.23). Nevertheless Bettelheim remained in Ryukyu for eight years, working as a missionary, using his medical skills to treat the sick, studying the Okinawan (or Loochooan language)[1] and translating parts of the Bible. Throughout these years he maintained a detailed journal which chronicles his trials, tribulations and successes as well as providing a vivid account of life in Ryukyu at that time. Bettelheim finally left Okinawa, to the relief of the authorities, aboard an American warship (part of Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet) in July 1854 and went to Hong Kong where his translations of the Gospels of St Luke and St John, and of the Acts of the Apostles and Romans were published in 1855 at the instigation of George Smith (1815-1871), Anglican Bishop of Victoria.

From Hong Kong Bettelheim moved to the USA, settling in New York. During the Civil War he served as an army doctor and was living in Cayuga, Illinois when he presented his works to the British Museum. He died of pneumonia in Brookfield, Missouri on 9 February 1870. In 1926 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his arrival, a memorial was erected on the site of his former home in the precincts of the Gokokuji Temple in Naha. Although it was destroyed in World War II, a new memorial has since been set up.



Memorial to Bettelheim at Gokouji, Nara (Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo by LordAmeth)

Bettelheim was a controversial figure both in his own day and since, with biographers disagreeing over his personality, importance and legacy. His presence was a source of constant irritation to the Ryukyu authorities and his journal details the hardships he faced. His success as a missionary appears to have been limited - according to the highly critical account by George Kerr, he made just one avowed convert in seven years (Kerr, p. 288). However, Earl Bull, a Methodist missionary in Okinawa, considered him a remarkable and self-sacrificing man but one who was not fitted temperamentally to be a successful missionary (Bull, p. 122). Otis Cary said of Bettelheim, The Kingdom of God is not to be built up by the disregard of the rights of others, and it is to be questioned whether its progress was not retarded rather than hastened by what was done in Loochoo (Cary, p.22). One of his more sympathetic critics, Anthony Jenkins, who edited his voluminous journal, wrote A man of science, linguistics, theology, music and even amateur aesthetics, Bettelheim was one who whose brilliance was parallelled by self-importance (Jenkins, p.viii).

Grammar and Dictionary

When he arrived in Ryukyu, Bettelheim had very few resources to assist him in his efforts to learn the language. He had a copy of Medhursts Japanese-English Dictionary [2], Karl Gutzlaffs Japanese translations of portions of the Bible, and a glossary of Okinawan compiled by Clifford in 1818 which Bettelheim found to be full of mistakes. In his study of the local language, therefore, he was compelled to start from scratch, relying principally on what he could learn from the Okinawans themselves.

Bettelheim set to work on compiling his grammar shortly after his arrival. The British Librarys manuscript has a preface dated 4 September 1849 but as early as 10 September 1846 he noted in his journal that he had already begun to collect notes towards a grammar of the Loochooan. Work on the dictionary must have begun around the same time for by 20 March 1847 he wrote in the Dictionary I am at Brib. His linguistic labours continued for five years until finally he recorded in his journal - with a characteristic lack of modesty (Jenkins, Vol. I p.616):

25 Dec 1851  the greatest entry of this day, yea The Greatest Entry of the Year I have to make is that the Dictionary is finished. Thanks be to God for patience & health given to accomplish such arduous work. With such materials as I had, I am sure never man wrote such Dictionary. And I am equally sure, notwithstanding all the defects the work may have, the degree of completeness to which it is brought was never given to a dictionary by one man [.] What a beastly labour of hand & back bending, besides mental toil & anxiety.



Title page of Bettelheims Okinawan grammar (BL Or.41 f.1r)

The status of Okinawan as an independent language or as a dialect of Japanese has been much debated. It seems Bettelheim himself was confused at times - the title page of his grammar shows that the original title was Elements or contributions towards a Japanese grammar with Loochooan & being added later. In his preface he writes I have never been in Japan nor did I hear natives from Japan speak more than three times, we being entirely prevented from coming into contact with those arriving here. Nevertheless he states:

From a regular comparison between our language spoken here, and that contained in the books referred to [3], I hope I am not at all mistaken in calling ours Japanese, with the exception of a trifling difference between the sounds. He concludes that though there may be,as in any other language there are, dialectic differences in the Japanese, and that therefore a Yedoman [4] may as much differ from a Shuri-samure as a London Cockney does from a broadmouthed Scotchman, yet the language of both to all ends and purposes is the same, and they will be able to understand and converse with each other.

Perhaps he later came to change his mind and added Loochooan to the title when presenting the manuscript to the British Museum.

Following the annexation of Ryukyu by Japan, the Ryukyuan languages were customarily regarded as Japanese dialects. They are now recognised as independent languages belonging to the Japonic language family, related to  but distinct from  Japanese. Nowadays, the language described in the grammar and dictionary is defined by linguists as Shuri Ryukyuan or uchinaaguchi, the language of the royal court in Shuri, capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which enjoyed greater prestige among the various Ryukyuan languages [5].



On the Japanese Letters  katakana as used to write Okinawan (BL Or.41 f.3v)

Although Bettelheims Bible translations into Okinawan were published in 1855, his grammar and dictionary were long overlooked. The grammar was finally edited and published in the 1980s (Kina et al. (1980-1984)). It contains 100 pages with sections on the Japanese Letters (i.e. katakana), the phonology, morphology and syntax of Okinawan as well as some exercises and examples of the language. The dictionary, which runs to over 1,300 pages from A to Zoology, remains unpublished.



The last page of Bettelheims dictionary  Zone and Zoology: Through the help of God finished Christmas Day 1851 (BL Or.40 f. 626v)

The British Library also holds copies of Bettelheims Okinawan translations of the Gospel of St John (16011.a.8, 16011.a.11), Gospel of St Luke (16011.a.10), Acts of the Apostles (16011.a.6, 16011.a.9) and Romans (16011.a.7,16011.a.12), and a further translation of the Gospel of St Luke into Japanese (16011.a.13).



Bettelheims Okinawan translations of the Gospels of St John (left) and St Luke (right) (BL 16011.a.8 & 16011.a.10)



Bettelheims Okinawan translations of St Pauls Letter to the Romans (left) and Acts of the Apostles (right) (BL. 16011.a.12 & 16011.a.9)



First chapter of Bettelheims Okinawan translation of St Pauls Letter to the Romans (BL. 16011.a.12)

Whatever his successes or failings as a missionary, later generations have reason to be grateful for Bettelheims energy and dedication to recording the Okinawan language. His Grammar and Dictionary constitute an extremely valuable resource for the study of the language.



Further reading

Bull, Earl R., Okinawa or Ryukyu  the Floating Dragon. Newark (Ohio), 1958.

Cary, Otis, A History of Christianity in Japan. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co, 1909.

Griesenhofer, Christopher, B. J. Bettelheim 1849 : The first grammar of Ryukyuan in Handbook of the Ryukyuan languages: history, structure and use. Berlin ; Boston, Walter Gruyter GmbH, 2015.

Jenkins, Anthony P., The Journal and correspondence of Bernard Jean Bettelheim 1845-1854. Parts I-II. Naha: Okinawa-ken Kyoiku Iinkai, 2005-2012.

Kerr, George H., Okinawa: the history of an island people. Rutland ; Tokyo : Tuttle & Co., 1958.

Kina Chosho et al., Betteruhaimu-cho Ryukyugo to Nihongo no bunpo no yoko, Nanto bunka ; 2 (1980)-6 (1984).

Hamish Todd, Asian and African Collections





___________

[1] Okinawan is one of the five (some argue six) Ryukyuan languages. The obsolete terms Loochoo and Loochooan derive from Liuqiu, the Chinese pronunciation of the characters  which are read in Japanese as Ryukyu.

[2] An English and Japanese, and Japanese and English vocabulary : compiled from native works, by Walter H Medhurst. Batavia, 1830.

[3] i.e. Medhursts dictionary and Gutzlaffs translations.

[4] i.e. citizen of Edo (Tokyo).

[5] For a detailed description of the grammar contained in Elements, see Griesenhofer.
Indiana education officials have decided to give a long-troubled virtual charter school another chance to right its academic ship, despite earning six consecutive years worth of failing grades from the state.

Hoosier Academy Virtual Schools fate has been in limbo for two years as state officials have deferred taking the extreme measure of closing the school because of its persistently low academic scores. The school serves more than 3,000 students.

On Wednesday, the state board of education opted instead to ban the school from enrolling new students and slash how much the schools authorizer can collect in administrative fees.

As I wrote in an investigation by Education Week into full-time online charters last fall, Hoosier Virtual Academys story is not unusual .

Similar scenarios of state scrutiny and near misses involving other online charter schools have played out across the country since the early 2000s. As part of that report, Education Week found that despite more than a decade of state investigations, news media reports, and research documenting at times startling failures and gross mismanagement in full-time online schools, the sectordominated by two for-profit companiescontinues to expand, spreading into new states and enrolling more students. Virtual charter schools, which collectively receive more than $1 billion in taxpayer money each year, are rarely shut down.

Hoosier Academy Virtual School is run by one of those companies, K12 Inc. which is based in Herndon, Va. K12 Inc. is the countrys largest for-profit operator of full-time, online charter schools and runs effective lobbying efforts in more than 20 states, including Indiana, where, according to Education Weeks investigation, it had spent around $1 million dollars lobbying state lawmakers and donating to their campaigns and political parties since 2007.

Outsized Influence: Online Charter Schools Bring Lobbying A Game to States

(To read K12 Inc.'s response to Education Weeks investigation, which includes details about Hoosier Academies Virtual School, click here .)

The head of the school, Byron Ernest, also sits on the state board of education, although he recused himself from the boards decision on the schools fate. School officials blamed student absenteeism for much the schools academic struggles and said they were working on strategies to improve participation.

Getting students to show up and log in to their classes is also a persistent problem facing cyber charters nationally, as detailed by Education Weeks Benjamin Herold .

Another issue that arose during Wednesdays board meetingwhere several students pleaded with board members to spare their school from the chopping blockwas the revelation that much of Hoosier Virtuals curriculum is not aligned to the states academic standards, which could also be driving down student test scores.

Indiana State Board of Education members were divided over whether the school operator, K12 Inc., or the authorizer, Ball State University, should shoulder responsibility for the schools ongoing problems. (Authorizers are the organizations with the authority to approve new charter schools to open.)

Ultimately, they decided to sanction both: Ball State will now only be able to collect 1 percent of its 3 percent authorizing fee from Hoosier Virtual. Meanwhile, Hoosier Virtuals enrollment will be frozen at its current levels, with an exception made for parents who want to sign up siblings of students already attending the school.

Indianas new state schools chief, Jennifer McCormick, who sits on the state board, took a moment in the midst of voting on the boards actions to articulate where she stood on the idea of school choice more broadly.

Its not just about choice, it should be about quality of choice and until this conversation happens in Indiana, we are going to be having this conversation [over closing schools] again and again, she said.

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Texas is the latest state where lawmakers are considering requiring high school students to pass a civics test in order to graduate from high school.

A bill that asks students to take the test required of those applying to become U.S. citizens passed the states House of Representatives last week, according to the Texas Tribune. If the states Senate and governor also approve, the citizenship test would replace a current U.S. history test.

At least 15 states have passed similar requirements, as a result of lobbying from the Arizona-based Joe Foss Institutes Civics Education Initiative. Just last month, Alabama lawmakers also approved adding the citizenship test as a graduation requirement.

The Joe Foss Institutes initial goal was to have legislation requiring the civics test in all 50 states by September 2017, the 230th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. That looks unlikely at this point, as at least 10 states havent even considered adding the test. But the civics test did gain traction quickly: The first state that created such a requirement was Arizona in 2015.

Arizona schools reported that students had a nearly 100 percent pass rate on the test in the first years of the requirement. Thats led some critics to say the test is basically meaningless. Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, told Arizona PBS that the test eats up another instructional day, it gives another silly high-stakes test to our students, and its completely unnecessary.

But the Phoenix school districts social studies coordinator told the PBS station that having the test as a requirement demonstrates the significance of the subject.

In Texas, there seem to be some mixed feelings about requiring students to pass exams in order to graduate even as the civics test bill moves forwarda separate bill, approved by the states Senate, would extend a provision that allows Texas students to graduate from high school even if they havent passed exams technically required of them.

Education technology companies have also gotten into the civics education game. My colleague Ben Herold reported recently on how teachers are using technology and games to help teach about civics and government without getting caught up in partisan issues.

Image: Civics Education Initiative

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The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is funding the education-reform group Chiefs for Change , as both groups seek to grow state- and district-level support for personalized learning.

Neither group would confirm the amount of the grant award.

CZI is the investment and philanthropy arm of pediatrician Priscilla Chan and her husband Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of social media giant Facebook. Chiefs for Change is a nonprofit network of state and district education leaders that focuses on school choice, diversifying the ranks of education leadership, and digital learning, among other issues.

Read more on Mark Zuckerbergs multi-billion dollar commitment to personalized learning .

In statements provided to Education Week, both groups touted the Every Student Succeeds Act as an impetus for the grant.

Theres a unique opportunity to take advantage of innovation in the education sector, wrote a spokeswoman for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. In hopes of providing districts with additional flexibility to innovate, CZI is supporting a number of states in their planning and implementation efforts.

The money will be used to support a new Transforming Schools and Systems Workgroup, according to Chiefs for Change CEO Mike Magee.

This workgroup will provide an opportunity for our members, with support from their peers, to develop a vision and strategy to redesign schools to better align schools with their ambitious goals for all kids, Magee wrote in a statement.

Chiefs for Change originally grew out of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The group initially consisted of just state education chiefs. Its early focus on issues such as test-based teacher evaluation and A-F grading systems for schools made it an occasional lightning rod for criticism .

More recently, Chiefs for Change has moved to add well over a dozen district leaders and shifted its policy focus to ESSA implementation.

The grant marks CZIs second significant effort in recent months to support personalized learning at the state level. In February, Education Week reported that the group is supporting related work in Rhode Island.

See also:
UPDATED

When school boards offer hefty buy-out packages to get rid of superintendents with whom they no longer see eye-to-eye, do taxpayers get the shaft?

It depends.

Lets look at the most recent case.

A bitter, months-long power struggle between the Howard County, Md., school board and its superintendent, Renee Foose, ended this month when the board approved a nearly $1.65 million severance package in exchange for Fooses resignation with three years left on her contract.

The post-termination payments of $1.13 millionnot including compensation for unused days off and pension adds up to more than what Foose would have been paid in salary if the district had kept her on, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Eye-popping parachute packages are not uncommon in the corporate world, where CEOs and top executives snag multimillion-dollar payouts as they walk out the door. But school districtswhere officials are charged with being responsible stewards of public money and in charge of managing resources within very constrained budgetshave also been giving out hefty severance packages to superintendents for them to go away early.

The reasons for the splits vary. Often, there is a divergence in philosophy between the superintendent and the school board, particularly after school board elections bring in new members. Superintendents may not be hitting agreed upon benchmarks and targets. Sometimes, the break-ups come amid investigation and allegations of wrongdoing, and school boardsweighing potential costs and liabilities down the roaddecide its better for the district to pay money upfront and move on.

Sometimes things just dont work out even after careful vetting of a superintendent-candidate, and that can happen whether its a school board or a corporation, said Thomas Gentzel, the executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association.

I think its always good advice for a school boardany board of directors or anybody who is hiring a CEOto be thinking about the potential implications if things dont work out. What are the potential cost implications? Gentzel said.

Thats a fair question. ...When a board makes its decision, it inevitably is going to make the decision in light of, or at least with full consideration of, the financial implications to the organization. But its a cost-benefit question, and its a judgment call so that the board is saying, yes it will cost us X dollars to do this, but there is a bigger cost...if we dont do it. 

Districts of all sizes have paid hefty severance packages. Of course, whats considered a large compensation package is also relative, based on a number of factors including stipulations in the superintendents contract, how much he or she was being paid, and a districts size and budget.

In 2016, a few months after four new members joined the St. Paul, Minn., school board, the majority of the board members approved a $787,500 departure package for then-Superintendent Valeria Silva. The deal included a 15-month consulting arrangement for Silva, who had more than two years left on her contract as superintendent.

Floridas Hillsborough County fired its superintendent, MaryEllen Elia, in 2015, while she was a finalist for the AASAs National Superintendent of the Year Award. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Elias severance package topped $1 million .

The Lees Summit school district in Missouri, which has around 18,000 students, agreed last year to pay its superintendent David McGehee an estimated $450,000 severance package w hen he left the district, according to the Kansas City Star. McGehee, who had been on administrative leave before he left, had recently signed a three-year contract with the board, according to local media .

Large payouts to superintendents with multiple years left on their contracts are unusual, but have been happening with more frequency in recent years, said Daniel A. Domenech, the executive director of the AASA, the School Superintendents Association.

Its unusual because boards have to consider the potential backlash that they will get from the community when they pay out that kind of money to a superintendent who is entitled to it, Domenech said. Thats the problemthats why there are contracts. And when those contracts are terminated unilaterally by the board, then they have to pay the price, and the price, unfortunately, is very high.

The length of superintendents contracts, how much they will be paid, and reasons why they can be fired are often covered in their employment agreements. In a 2016 survey on superintendent salaries, less than a quarter23.2 percentof superintendents who responded said that their contracts contained severance or buyout clauses. When boards fire superintendents for reasons not specified in contracts, they often have to pay a lot of money.

The reality is that there apparently is no cause, Domenech said. I am sure if they could have come up with one, they would have.

In many instances, school boards cant disclose much detail about a superintendents termination without facing possible legal consequences. (The Howard County case involves a lawsuit filed by Foose alleging that the board sought to usurp her power and that she has been subjected to discrimination as an out lesbian.)

Some states have taken steps to curb expensive payouts.

In 2015, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law to limit superintendents severance at 12 months salary, from 18 months, and eliminate payouts to school chiefs who were terminated for fraud and other financial wrongdoing if those actions were confirmed through an independent audit. (Previous state law allowed payouts of up to six months salary to superintendents who were terminated for fraud.) The law followed reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle on the big payout Bay Area chiefs were receiving.

In Texas, the state can reduce state foundation funding if the payout is more than a years salary and benefits agreed to in the superintendents contract. The state reduces funds that are equivalent to the amount when a district exceeds whats specified in the contract. But thats not stopped districts from doing so. According to the states legislative budget board, between 2011 and 2015, the state to withheld $1.5 million in foundation school program funds from districts that exceeded the cap.

New Jersey also limits the amount that tenured administrators, including superintendents, assistant superintendents, and district business managers, can receive in unused sick time at $15,000. (Those under old contracts were able to exceed $15,000.)

Despite the eye-popping numbers that grab headlines, Domenech and Gentzel say that the vast majority of school boards and superintendents work in comity and part ways amicably. The relationship between those two parties is one of the most critical in a school district, they said.

The more-common scenario when supes and boards part ways is to pay the schools chief for accrued sick time, vacation days, pensions and other stipulations in the contract, Domenech said. But even those settlements can surpass $200,000 in some cases.

How do school board avoid getting to this break-up point that may leave their districts on the hook for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars?

Gentzel said boards should rely on legal counsel with expertise in education law. Superintendents and board members should spend time together to build relationships and understand and respect each others roles and responsibilities.

Teams dont just automatically form, he said. They require investment.

Research assistance provided by Maya Riser-Kositsky

Photos: Renee Foose, former superintendent Howard County schools, Md.

MaryEllen Elia, former superintendent Hillsborough County schools, Fla., and current New York state education commissioner. -- Hans Pennink/AP-File
Five Minutes With Damien Geter Audio Article Vocalist, composer and Richmond Symphony artist in residence Damien Geters musical roots sprouted when he was a boy in the Matoaca District of Chesterfield County, where he was raised and...
The Working Families Flexibility Act and Your Business

Last week, the US House of Representatives passed the Working Families Flexibility Act, sending the new proposed law to the Senate. This new law could have a significant impact on private businesses, small and large, as it restructures labor standards to allow more flexible overtime agreements.

The proposed law would allow private employers to offer employees the opportunity to "bank" overtime hours for later use, rather than be paid for the overtime when it is earned. The banked overtime hours would accrue at a 1.5 X rate, and employees could use the hours as "comp time" (akin to vacation) or cash the hours out. The big catch is that if an employee receives a raise before cashing out, they will be entitled to receive their new rate of pay for their banked hours.

Details of the Proposed Law

The law imposes requirements that an employee must meet to be eligible to bank comp time hours. The first requirement is that an employee cannot bank the comp time unless there is valid agreement in place, which can be part of a union's collective bargaining agreement. Additionally though, an individual employee must have worked 1,000 hours for the employer before being eligible (approximately 6 months of full time work).

Furthermore, employers are provided with many protections in this new legislation. For instance, an employer can force an employee to cash out any banked hours over 80 hours by providing a 30 day notice, and prohibits banking over 160 hours. But perhaps the most significant part for employers is the ability to control when an employee can use the comp time.

Will My Business Have to Allow Hour Banking?

The program does not have to made available. However, it may be an attractive option to some employers. As with many forms of incentive based pay, allowing for the banking of comp time hours may be desirable by many employees who seek more flexibility in their daily life. Offering the program could help attract and retain top talent.

Hour banking can be most useful for businesses that have a busy and a slow season. Particularly because the bill allows employers final approval over the use of comp time, hour banking can be an efficient way to cut costs associated with overtime. Requiring all use of comp time to be done outside of the busy season could be a great way to cut overtime costs while addressing overstaffing issues that frequently arise in businesses with strong seasonal shifts.

Related Resources:
Peapod plans to relocate its headquarters from Skokie to downtown Chicago this year, an executive said Wednesday  a move that could affect 180 employees.

The internet grocer is moving all of its corporate employees to one location, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Thomas Parkinson said Wednesday at the ITA Chicago Tech Summit.

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"We're consolidating, hopefully by the end of the year, into one big office with everybody from Peapod downtown," he said. "We're in the middle of leasing right now."

The company has about 300 corporate workers in the Chicago area, including about 120 IT workers based at the Civic Opera Building, 20 N. Wacker Drive, he said. The remainder are at 9933 Woods Drive in Skokie.

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A company spokeswoman declined to comment further on the move.

The shift comes as many prominent companies are moving their suburban headquarters to the city, including Motorola Solutions, McDonald's, Beam Suntory and Kraft Heinz.

Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer.

Twitter @cherylvjackson

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Some companies visit startups for the "entrepreneurial experience," said Laura Frerichs, director of Research Park and Economic Development at University of Illinois. (iStockphoto)

Many corporations are all show when it comes to working with startups, treating meetings with innovators as field trips, Laura Frerichs said.

"There are companies that want to touch the entrepreneurs  they want to go visit the zoo, and see all the zoo animals, then walk away and feel entrepreneurial because they've had that entrepreneurial experience," said Laura Frerichs, director of Research Park and Economic Development at University of Illinois. She made the comments Wednesday on a panel during the ITA Chicago Tech Summit at the Chicago Historical Society

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Those quick drive-bys are a far cry from the hard work she said can be needed to partner with a startup. For example, Frerichs said a large insurance company has, for years, approached entrepreneurs but failed to do deals.

"They cannot figure out a way to get through some of those hurdles. It's not that they don't see the opportunity," she said. "They just have the culture of which if they don't 100 percent own the I.P., they can't see where the value is for them."

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The panel's moderator, TechNexus founder Terry Howerton, said he was familiar with the overtures of the insurer  and that a large bank, too, has gained a reputation for sponsoring events that target entrepreneurs but not actually working with startups.

He suggested startups who are shunned by large corporations keep in mind that others will come along.

"The truth is there's lots of fish in the sea," he said. "Don't waste your time trying to sell uphill into a corporation that has not collaborated with you."

Piloting a program with a corporation can be a good way to form a relationship for a startup, panelists said, because it allows the startup to prove the value of its product and to learn what the larger operations need.

Pilot programs and connecting with a wide array of positions at a company is the best way to go for contact, said David Purdy, lead engineer at SwiftIQ.

"So many times you build a relationship with someone and they move on and you're at ground zero," he said. "Relying on one person to be your advocate at a giant corporation is a bad play. Your advocate needs to be your results."

Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer.

Twitter @cherylvjackson

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TurboAppeal acquired by Dallas-based Paradigm Tax Group

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Peapod moving headquarters from Skokie to Chicago, exec says

Iconic shop George's Music Room booted from Midway Airport, lands at Navy Pier

Jammber wants to be the money-tracking app musicians and labels count on

Grubhub wants to feed your office. Will it eat Fooda's lunch?

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Want to strike out on your own and start a business? Here's what I learned
Tax season is over, but investors in Chicago-based TurboAppeal may be getting a different kind of return.

TurboAppeal, which makes software to help property owners appeal taxes, was acquired by Dallas-based Paradigm Tax Group, a property tax consulting firm, the companies announced Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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The two entered a strategic partnership last summer, through which Paradigm would use TurboAppeal's tools for its clients. Paradigm said the addition of TurboAppeal makes it the only national company that combines residential property tax appeal services with automated technology.

TurboAppeal offers self-service tools for residential property owners; they submit information through the website and are led through an automated evidence compilation process, said co-founder Badal Shah. For that, TurboAppeal charges $29 per appeal. That product will continue to exist and, under Shah's leadership, proceed with national expansion plans.

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Paradigm's commercial property tax consultants will use a different tool designed for internal use that Shah said will help them work faster and serve customers better. He said the company plans to introduce more tools for commercial clients in the future.

Formerly CEO of TurboAppeal, Shah is now chief marketing officer of Paradigm. He said it became clear after the companies started working together last summer that there was potential to do more if they were under one proverbial roof.

"For me, this was kind of the dream, to exit with the largest (company) in the space," Shah said. "That's always been our goal. I just didn't think it was going to happen this quick."

TurboAppeal, which launched in early 2015, had raised $7.2 million prior to its acquisition from investors including Chicago-based Hyde Park Angels, Hyde Park Venture Partners, KGC Capital and Guaranteed Rate, Shah told Blue Sky in 2016. Its self-service product is currently available in select counties in 18 states, including Cook and DuPage in Illinois.

Hyde Park Angels managing director Peter Wilkins  said Paradigm has the resources to build on what TurboAppeal had already built and make change in the industry.

"I think it's the right partner. I think it's a great outcome for investors," he said. "Also I think it's great for the folks in the communities that TurboAppeal solutions are available."

Shah said TurboAppeal, which had about 33 employees at its peak, slimmed down over the past several months as negotiations for the acquisition progressed. When TurboAppeal received a letter of intent from Paradigm, it had 19 employees. He said eight TurboAppeal employees joined Paradigm's offices in Chicago and Denver. Most of them were in leadership, product or engineering roles. He said the other TurboAppeal employees, for whom there were no open roles at Paradigm, were laid off.

aelahi@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @aminamania

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Peapod moving headquarters from Skokie to Chicago, exec says

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Sam Rosenberg, interim dean of the Heller College of Business at Roosevelt University, is photographed May 11, 2017, at the school in Chicago's Loop. Rosenberg says surveys that rank MBA programs can't capture which schools add the most value for their students. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Rankled by a system they say does not reflect their true value, a number of universities are pushing back against annual business school rankings.

Academics from more than 20 business schools participated in a research paper to be published this month in the journal Decision Sciences that questions the methodology and purpose of numerical ranking systems employed by several publications.

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Chief among their concerns is the use of numerical rankings, which they feel are flawed and weighted too heavily toward income.

"How is it you combine that data and say there's a No. 1, there's a No. 2, there's a No.3?" said Kenneth Brown, associate dean of the undergraduate program in business at the University of Iowa, who contributed to the study. "The reality is that often that's done arbitrarily."

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Bloomberg Businessweek, for example, has ranked full-time MBA programs in the U.S. since 1988. The current methodology focuses on "how well the programs prepare their graduates for job success" and is comprised of five elements: employer survey (35 percent), alumni survey (30 percent), student survey (15 percent), job placement rate (10 percent), and starting salary (10 percent).

The 2016 survey, published in November, ranked Harvard the top MBA program, followed by Stanford, Duke and the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management was ranked No. 9.

Both U. of C. and Northwestern declined to comment on criticism of the rankings.

Brown also teaches at Iowa's graduate business school, which is ranked No. 35 by Bloomberg. No Illinois school was represented among the 21 participating in the research paper, which was especially critical of methodologies that put "substantial weight" on the importance of average base salary at graduation, rewarding schools that place graduates in the financial sector.

Francesca Levy, who heads up business school coverage at Bloomberg, defended the survey's methodology.

"We strongly believe in both the service our business school rankings provide, and the validity of our methodology," Levy wrote in an email. "Our ranking aims to answer a key question on the mind of many prospective students: Which B-schools are best at getting their graduates good jobs that set them on strong career paths?"

Critics and proponents alike agree that the business school rankings are influential. Not surprisingly, most of the schools questioning the methodology of the rankings were closer to the middle of the pack in the Bloomberg list.

But dissenters extend beyond the 21 schools that contributed to the research study.

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"The best universities are the ones that provide the most value added to their students," Sam Rosenberg, interim dean of the Heller College of Business at Roosevelt University, said Thursday. "There is no way to capture that in the surveys that are done."

Roosevelt does provide requested data to participate in the academic rankings but didn't make the list of Bloomberg's top MBA programs. Rosenberg said Roosevelt doesn't have the status to buck the system.

"The schools that could withhold the data, if they chose to  and they don't  are the schools with the highest status," Rosenberg said. "They don't withhold the data because they are ranked high."

Bloomberg calculates the average "real cost" of attending the 87 full-time MBA programs that made their list at nearly $250,000, including forgone wages during the two-year programs. Choosing the wrong school could be a costly decision.

"When living costs are factored in, students can spend as much as $300,000 on an MBA," Levy said. "We think they deserve reliable information about the return on that investment."

Brown said the purpose of the research paper is to "start a conversation" and shift the focus to more "useful information" for prospective students  minus the numerical rankings. That includes a call to potentially opt out of the current annual surveys.

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"I do think that there are a lot of schools that just should not participate," he said.

While Brown understands that top-ranked schools are unlikely to protest or even try to change a system that helps them recruit top students, he believes some students would be better off at Iowa than Harvard  if they could get past the numbers.

"Every school has strengths and weaknesses," Brown said. "Each one may be No. 1 for a particular student with a particular interest."

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertChannick
Former coal executive Don Blankenship jumped back on Twitter on Wednesday, renewing his feud with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin on the day Blankenship was to finish a one-year prison sentence arising from the deadliest U.S. mine explosion in decades.

Even before the U.S. Bureau of Prisons listed Blankenship as leaving a halfway house in Arizona, the ex-Massey Energy CEO rattled off a series of tweets. He took swipes at a federal mine safety agency and Manchin, the senator from West Virginia where the Upper Big Branch mine exploded in 2010. Blankenship also re-offered his version of what happened at the mine.

"I challenge Sen. Manchin to debate UBB truth," Blankenship wrote, referring to the mine with initials. "A U.S. Senator who says I have 'blood on my hands' should be man enough to face me in public."

Blankenship was referring to an April 2014 statement from Manchin, six months before federal prosecutors announced an indictment against the mine executive.

A Bureau of Prisons spokesman didn't return requests for comment, and Blankenship was still listed late Wednesday afternoon as being at the halfway house. Blankenship still must serve one year of supervised release.

Manchin said in a statement that he hopes Blankenship "chooses to do the right thing and disappear from the public eye."

Blankenship was sentenced last year for a misdemeanor conviction of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at Upper Big Branch, where 29 workers died. He was acquitted of felonies that could have stretched his sentence to 30 years.

"I'm glad he had time to reflect on the pain he caused," former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin, whose office in Charleston prosecuted the case, said in a text message to The Associated Press ahead of Blankenship's release. "I hope he used it wisely and will come out of prison ready to make amends."

It wasn't immediately clear where Blankenship will serve his supervised release. After his indictment, federal prosecutors indicated Blankenship owned homes in several states, and Blankenship said he lived in Las Vegas. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Charleston referred questions to the Bureau of Prisons.

Blankenship's attorney, William Taylor, didn't return requests for comment.

Former Upper Big Branch miner Tommy Davis, who lost a son, brother and a nephew in the explosion, said Blankenship should still be in prison.

"He didn't get what he deserved," Davis said.

Four investigations found worn and broken cutting equipment created a spark that ignited accumulations of coal dust and methane gas at Upper Big Branch. Broken and clogged water sprayers then allowed what should have been a minor flare-up to become an inferno.

Blankenship has said natural gas, and not methane gas and excess coal dust, was at the root of the explosion. Authorities dismissed that argument.

Massey was later bought by Alpha Natural Resources of Bristol, Virginia. Alpha agreed in 2011 to pay $210 million to compensate the grieving families, bankroll cutting-edge safety improvements and pay for years of violations by Massey Energy. Alpha announced in 2012 that the mine would be permanently sealed.

Blankenship , 67, served most of his sentence at Correctional Institute Taft near Bakersfield, California. While there, he wrote a 67-page blog before his appeal was heard in which he called himself an "American political prisoner."
Shahid Khan, billionaire owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, also owns auto parts manufacturer Flex-N-Gate, which is opening a new facility on Chicago's South Side. (Rob Foldy / Getty Images)

Auto parts manufacturer Flex-N-Gate is opening a new facility that will bring about 300 jobs to Chicago's South Side with help from city and state incentives, the city announced Thursday.

Urbana, Ill.-based Flex-N-Gate, which makes bumpers, radiators, hinges and a variety of other original equipment, will convert an existing warehouse to supply automakers, including a nearby Ford assembly plant.

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The new plant is expected to open in early 2019.

"We are seeing a manufacturing renaissance in Chicago and today Flex-N-Gate is building on that momentum," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a news release. "This new facility will create hundreds of new full-time jobs, bring tens of millions of dollars in new investments, and strengthen Chicago's manufacturing ecosystem for generations to come."

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Started as a small aftermarket parts manufacturer in 1956, Flex-N-Gate moved into producing original equipment for automakers in 1968, supplying bumpers to Jeep. The company has grown into the 10th largest original equipment supplier in North America, according to the most recent Automotive News industry rankings.

Flex-N-Gate's billionaire owner, Shahid Khan, a Pakistani immigrant who attended the University of Illinois, also owns the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars and the English Premier League's Fulham Football Club. He began working at Flex-N-Gate while in college and bought the company in 1980, according to an online U. of I. biography.

"The U.S. automotive industry is strong, and that's also true here today in my beloved state of Illinois and in the great city of Chicago," Khan said in the news release. "We fully anticipate that our future operation here will be a difference-maker for Flex-N-Gate, Ford Motor Co., the automotive industry and workers here in the Chicago area."

The company employs more than 23,000 people at 62 manufacturing facilities and nine product development centers worldwide. The Flex-N-Gate product line includes bumper assemblies, mechanical assemblies, exterior plastic trim and welded structural assemblies for the light vehicle market.

Flex-N-Gate will begin its lease of the 288,000-square-foot Chicago warehouse in January. The facility on East 126th Street in the South Deering community area is leased and managed by CBRE and will be converted into a manufacturing facility over the course of a year.

As part of an incentives deal with the state and city, Flex-N-Gate has agreed to hire at least 286 full-time employees over the next three years and will invest at least $30 million into the facility.

Flex-N-Gate will receive up to $1.5 million from the city and Cook County to train employees, City Hall spokesman Grant Klinzman said. The money is expected to come from a federal grant program that is administered by the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, a joint committee formed by Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle that combines city and county resources for workforce development initiatives.

If the federal funds administered by the city and county are not available when Flex-N-Gate does its hiring, Klinzman said, the city would provide the money from another federal grant in partnership with the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center and the Calumet Area Industrial Commission, a business association focused on retaining and growing industrial jobs.

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Khan has been a major donor to Emanuel's political campaigns, contributing $210,700, while his wife Ann Khan has given another $5,300. Khan has not contributed to Preckwinkle.

The mayor's public calendar shows he had breakfast with Khan on June 30 at the Urbana Country Club. Emanuel was in Champaign that day to meet with U. of I. student leaders and administration officials.

Khan left Pakistan at the age of 16 to attend U. of I., where he studied engineering. His success as an entrepreneur started with a design for a one-piece truck bumper. Flex-N-Gate posted nearly $6 billion in sales in 2016, according to Forbes.

The company and the state entered into a partnership through the state's Economic Development for a Growing Economy program that will provide tax credits and abatements over the 10-year term of the agreement. The state also will offer workforce training funds to Flex-N-Gate.

"This plant represents what is possible for every community in every part of our state," Gov. Bruce Rauner said in a statement. "Despite the current climate, we've had some success in growing manufacturing jobs in Illinois in places like Rockford, Bloomington and downstate. But we can and must do better."

The company won't have to travel far to deliver parts to at least one automaker. Ford's Torrence Avenue plant, which makes the Taurus and Explorer, and last year produced about 385,000 vehicles, is less than a mile away.

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More to come.

Bill Ruthhart contributed.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertChannick
If you're flying out of Midway over the next week or so, the airport could look very different when you get back in town.

Most existing restaurants, bars and cafes at Midway Airport will close over a nine-day period starting Friday and be replaced with new venues as part of a $75 million renovation of the airport's concession area.

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The overhaul is part of the larger Midway Modernization program, announced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015. Vendors had to get approval from a new concession operator to remain at the airport, and at least some aren't going willingly.

Several notable restaurants will no longer have a presence at Midway, including McDonald's, Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Harry Caray's. In total, 21 of the current food and beverage locations at Midway will close completely. Only four existing eateries will remain: Reilly's Daughter Pub, Gold Coast Dogs, Pegasus and Nuts on Clark.

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The 19 new restaurants slated to open at Midway will collectively usher in more upscale food service. Among the new eateries slated to open at Midway are True Burger, Windy City Tap, Pizza Vino, Tabo Sushi and Home Run Inn.

In most cases existing restaurants will close and their replacement restaurants and bars will open the next morning. One of those that will take longer is the transition between an existing Ben & Jerry's and a future Dunkin' Donuts. That will take four nights, but a Dunkin' kiosk and a Jetbox Market will be temporarily placed near the shuttered stores to provide travelers with coffee and grab-and-go sandwiches.

"Our goal is to have a minimal impact on travelers," said Erin O'Donnell of the Chicago Department of Aviation, adding that the number of food and drink options at the airport won't go down at any point during the renovations.

The renovation work and the transition to new brands will take place from Friday to May 20. Concessions in Concourse A will be renovated first, followed by Concourse B and the main concession area, the Midway Triangle, which has the highest concentration of restaurants and bars at the airport.

Most departing restaurants and bar brands didn't return calls for comment. Potbelly, one of the airport's long-running tenants, also declined to provide an executive for an interview, but the Chicago chain's CEO spoke about the impact of the Midway store's closing on a recent conference call after releasing financial results.

"Midway hurts," Potbelly President and CEO Aylwin B. Lewis said, after announcing that the city had declined to renew its lease. "The 16 years we have had that site, we felt it was a privilege. It was a brand-builder." The store reported a profit of $2 million last year with $8 million in revenue. The Midway location was the chain's busiest location.

"Losing an $8 million shop and a $2 million profit shop is difficult, but we can withstand it," Lewis said. "Definitely can withstand it better today than if it had happened three years ago or five years ago."

Potbelly will close on May 14 and will be replaced by Home Run Inn.

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Schaller's Pump, the storied Bridgeport watering hole that closed recently after 136 years in business, is still on schedule to open a Midway outpost, but not during the upcoming nine-day stretch of brand transfers. Schaller's will instead open as part of a later phase of airport redevelopment. The bar, famous with politicians and White Sox fans, was believed to be oldest continuously operated bar in Chicago.

The overhaul of existing concession areas, stores and restaurants is the first phase of the redevelopment. The second phase includes a major build-out to increase total concession space at the airport by about 60 percent, or 26,000 square feet. The concession renovation and expansion project is expected to be complete by summer 2020. Upgrades to the airport also will include the addition of new stores and amenities, as well as other airport upgrades like security checkpoint and terminal parking garage expansion.

The airport currently employs about 700 concession workers, 550 of whom have taken jobs with new vendors there. The city says there were 500 additional workers hired by new concession manager Midway Partnership LLC. Midway Partnership, a joint venture of three companies picked through a modified bidding process, hired all existing employees that reapplied for jobs at the airport, the city said.

In total, the number of concession jobs at the airport is expected to double to 1,400 by the time the project is completed.

As part of its contract with the city, Midway Partnership has agreed to pay higher than the city's minimum wage.

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @SamWillTravel
Meet the Lawyer Taking Down International Terrorists

Zainab Ahmad, the top prosecutor of international terrorists in the United States, sits at a crossroad of contradictions in American law and policy toward Muslims.

Ahmad, 37, is an Muslim-American attorney whose immigrant parents were born in Pakistan. If not for her credentials as a federal prosecutor, she could have been detained at the airport under President Trump's campaign against Muslims.

It is not the first twist in the road of her storied career. Despite challenges in the system, Ahmad has emerged as the prosecutor that terrorists fear.

"They Know Their Chances Are Not Good"

In a New Yorker magazine profile, Ahmad is credited with a perfect record against international terrorists. That includes their acts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria, Nigeria, Niger, Kenya, Somalia, Trinidad, Guyana, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

In one case, Alhassane Ould Mohamed was charged in the murder of an American diplomat in Niger. Even after he escaped twice, Ahmad caught up with him.

In Brooklyn, where Ahmad practices, the defendant's lawyers floated a motion to get a preview of the prosecutor's evidence. It was not good news.

"They know Zainab's reputation," another prosecutor told the magazine. "They know their chances are not good."

The One That Got Away

When a U.S. ambassador to Libya was killed in Benghazi in 2012, Ahmad was on a conference call with American officials about how to proceed. But as she was building the case with agents, other Justice Department prosecutors were lobbying to assign the case to another office.

It was politics at work. Ahmad and the Brooklyn office were the acknowledged experts, but U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen, Jr. and the Washington, D.C. office wanted the high-profile case.

"We all lost some cases to each other," Machen told the New York Times. Ahmed Abu Khattala, the defendant in the case, is awaiting trial.

In a different case that Ahmad won, a defendant was reportedly surprised to learn that a Muslim was prosecuting him. Abid Nasser, a Pakistani operative of al-Qaeda, was convicted of plotting an attack on a shopping center in the United Kingdom.

Ahmad said her religion and Pakistani connection were irrelevant to the case, but important to the community. She said Muslim-Americans reject the "distorted version of Islam that terrorist groups use to justify acts of mass violence."

"Many American-Muslims feel that it's their own culture and their own community that are being hijacked, which makes it a particularly important goal for them to hold accountable the perpetrators of terrorism," she said.

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WLS-Ch. 7 news anchor Alan Krashesky and his wife, Colleen, have sold their longtime five-bedroom, 4,462-square-foot house in Naperville for $830,000.

Krashesky, 56, ascended to the top anchoring job at ABC 7 last May after Ron Magers retired.

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Located in the Will County area of Naperville, the house has been redone in recent years and has hardwood floors throughout; four baths; upgraded moldings; a family room with a brick fireplace and plantation shutters; a mud room with built-in cabinets; a den on the main floor; a finished walkout basement with an open recreation area; and a kitchen with a six-burner Dacor stove, dual islands and granite countertops.

Krashesky and his wife paid $475,000 for the house in 1992. The couple listed the house in January for $849,900 and the sale closed March 10.

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The couple's listing agent, Scott Gerami of Re/Max Professionals Select, declined to comment on the deal. Krashesky could not be reached for comment.

The Krasheskys continue to own a three-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot condo on Chicago's New East Side, which they purchased in 2012 for $795,000.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.







Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 16 (VHT Studios)

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 Billionaire Ken Griffin, Illinois richest man, paid $58.75 million in November for the top four floors in the Near North condominium building at 9 W. Walton St., known as No. 9 Walton. This photo shows a rendering of the lobby. (JDL Development / E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune (inset))
Former Chicago Bulls public-address announcer Ray Clay and his wife, Deborah, sold their three-bedroom, 2,218-square-foot farmhouse-style house in La Grange Park for $528,000 last month.

Clay, who is the public-address announcer for the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, probably is best remembered for his enthusiastic introductions of Bulls players during the team's title-winning dominance in the 1990s. He was the Bulls' public-address announcer from 1990 until 2002.

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Early in June, Clay will retire from his day job of the past 10 years, serving as a physical education teacher at Maddock Elementary School in Burbank. Clay told Elite Street that he and his wife are "empty nesters" and that with his retirement from teaching imminent, the couple has bought a house in Arlington Heights, in an area that's close to Deborah Clay's family.

"La Grange Park was fantastic place, with a fantastic downtown, good schools and close to downtown Chicago," he said.

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Built in 1898, the house that the Clays just sold has been updated and has 2 baths, an enclosed three-season porch, a lower level with a rec room and a workshop, and a recently redone kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, custom wood cabinets, a travertine backsplash and a center island.

The Clays first had listed the house in October for $567,900 and they later reduced it to $554,900.

In October, the Clays paid $367,500 for their new two-bedroom town home in Arlington Heights, which is on one level.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.







Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 16 (VHT Studios)

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 Billionaire Ken Griffin, Illinois richest man, paid $58.75 million in November for the top four floors in the Near North condominium building at 9 W. Walton St., known as No. 9 Walton. This photo shows a rendering of the lobby. (JDL Development / E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune (inset))
"Rose Water & Orange Blossoms" (Running Press, $30), the debut cookbook by Maureen Abood, evokes both her Lebanese-American heritage and her life as a cook, writer, photographer and blogger in Michigan. It is an intensely personal book, filled with evocative family tales of life, love, legacy. It is also a practical cookbook with especially broad appeal given America's ongoing hunger for Mediterranean flavors.

"The stories have always been really important to me. I can't extricate them from the cooking. It all goes together," says Abood, speaking by telephone from Michigan, where she divides her time between East Lansing and Harbor Springs. "I love thinking about the connection of food and memories, and I think a lot of people think that way."

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Certainly, the cookbook offers ample opportunities to craft family meals from which memories are made. It is a mix of traditional Lebanese recipes and dishes she developed, hence the book's subtitle: "Fresh & Classic Recipes from My Lebanese Kitchen."

"I'm making use of traditional Lebanese ingredients like mint, cinnamon and flower water in new ways,'' she says.

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Asked for one must-do recipe in the book, Abood points to the hushweh, a chicken-rice pilaf with butter-toasted almonds.

"No matter who I make it for people want the recipe," she says, noting pine nuts can substitute for the almonds. "That dish is a standout."

Abood is also very excited by her kibbeh recipes. Most people, she says, think this Lebanese signature bulgur wheat recipe is only made with raw meat  and it can be (Abood shows you how to do it safely)  but she offers other variations, including a vegan tomato kibbeh, which she says is on par with the meat version.

Some of Abood's recipes have a distinct Midwest-Middle East vibe, such as Great Lakes whitefish fried in a chopped pistachio crust; roasted leg of lamb paired with a salsa made with pomegranate molasses and black cherries; and baked eggs with spinach, labneh (a thick yogurt) and sumac.

"I hope the book, number one, will get people to go into the kitchen and try Lebanese recipes and cook for families and friends," says Abood, who sees food as a "great equalizer" and a "great communicator" that can be "a way to understanding."

"We do so much around the table, so much happens to our relationships around the table," she says, adding she hopes the book will be "a bridge to understanding for people who may not know that much about Lebanon, the Middle East or Lebanese-Americans. In doing that, I want to present the really rich, distinctive, positive elements of our culture."

More of Abood's writings and recipes may be found on her blog, also titled "Rose Water & Orange Blossoms," at www.maureenabood.com.

Good Eating stage

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Maureen Abood will cook from her book "Rose Water & Orange Blossoms" at Printer's Row Lit Fest, 4 p.m. June 7. For details, visit http://printersrowlitfest.org/schedule.html.

wdaley@tribpub.com

Twitter @billdaley

Pistachio-crusted whitefish with parsley-lemon butter

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 14 minutes

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Makes: 4 servings

Maureen Abood included this recipe using Great Lakes whitefish in her new cookbook, "Rose Water & Orange Blossoms." No whitefish? Abood recommends any thin, white-fleshed fish.

4 (4-ounce) fillets whitefish, or 2 (8-ounce) fillets halved crosswise

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

Few grinds of black pepper

1/2 cup flour

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2 eggs

2/3 cup shelled roasted, salted pistachios, finely chopped

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons grapeseed, safflower or canola oil

2 tablespoons salted butter

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Juice of 1/2 lemon

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1. Season the whitefish fillets lightly with 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste; bring them to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

2. Prepare the coating by setting up three shallow bowls or rimmed plates. Whisk the flour in one bowl with a pinch of salt. Whisk the eggs in a second bowl with a pinch of salt. Combine the chopped pistachios, half of the lemon zest, and 1/4 cup of the chopped parsley in the third bowl.

3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Just before sauteing, dip a fillet in the flour and then the egg. Press the top of the fillet into the pistachio mixture, coating it evenly with nuts on one side. Repeat this with another fillet.

4. Reduce the heat to medium-low so that the nuts don't burn (they can, easily), and place two of the fillets pistachio-side down in the hot skillet. Saute the fish until the pistachio coating is golden brown, 1-3 minutes. Use a long metal spatula to flip the fish; cook until it is golden and the fish is just cooked through, about 4 minutes.

5. Move the fish to a warm plate and tent the plate with foil to keep the fish warm while you coat and cook the remaining two fillets in the same manner as the first two.

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6. In a small pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the lemon juice, the remaining lemon zest, parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook, 30 seconds or so. Drizzle the lemon butter over the fish; serve immediately.

Nutrition information per serving: 418 calories, 30 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 147 mg cholesterol, 8 g carbohydrates, 29 g protein, 734 mg sodium, 3 g fiber
Anat Cohen leads her quartet at the annual Chicago Jazz Festival in Millennium Park on Saturday, September 3, 2016. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

The most joyous moments of last year's Chicago Jazz Festival came from the clarinet of Anat Cohen, whose soaring melodic lines and seemingly effortless virtuosity inspired robust ovations at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

When Cohen returns to Chicago on Monday evening, she'll be playing a decidedly more intimate venue  City Winery  and focusing on a musical genre of heightened importance to her.

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For though Cohen excels in everything from ebullient Fats Waller to deeply lyrical originals, this time she'll be collaborating with Trio Brasileiro in music from their new album, "Rosa dos Ventos" ("Wind Rose" or "Weather Vane").

That Cohen is releasing this recording simultaneously with "Outra Coisa" ("Another Thing")  devoted to the compositions of Moacir Santos  tells you something about her passion for music of Brazil.

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"It began in Israel," says Cohen, who grew up there "hearing a lot of Brazilian music  I just didn't realize it."

Indeed, the sounds of Brazil long have been interwoven into Israeli culture, Cohen unknowingly encountering South American songs that had been translated to Hebrew.

It wasn't until she was a tenor saxophone student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the 1990s, however, that "my whole affair with Brazilian music  my intense affair  began."

With its international roster of students and faculty, Berklee enabled Cohen to become acquainted with Brazilian counterparts and their indigenous choro music, an improvised idiom with some parallels to early New Orleans jazz.

This was enough to lure Cohen to Brazil for the first time in 2000, "and my life was never the same," she says. "I fell in love with choro music  that's really what brought me back to the clarinet, much more than Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw.

"The music was so fascinating to me, and I was so happy to find a style of music that the clarinet fit into. I didn't have to wiggle my way into it."

By this Cohen implies that late 20th and early 21st century jazz does not focus much attention on the comparatively soft-spoken clarinet. Notwithstanding the success of players such as Don Byron, Victor Goines and Cohen herself, the instrument often finds itself drowned out by bigger, brassier sounds.

In choro music, however, the clarinet holds an eminent position, and Cohen weaves contemporary ideas into traditional forms throughout "Rosa Dos Ventos." But as melodically inventive and rhythmically nimble as Cohen's playing is, it benefits enormously from her collaboration with Trio Brasileiro, an ensemble she partnered with on on her "Alegria da Casa" album of 2016.

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To hear Cohen's quick-moving lines alongside shimmering textures created by Dudu Maia on 10-string bandolim, Douglas Lora on seven-string guitar and brother Alexandre Lora on Brazilian percussion is to savor new perspectives on historic forms.

The musicians of Trio Brasileiro are "people that really care about the tiny details of the music, and how to embrace each other as human beings through the music," says Cohen, who was a bit surprised by this approach when she began working with them.

After all, Cohen came to them "from the jazz world, and sometimes things can be rough" in that environment, she says. "And there was so much sharing in every detail of playing the music (with the trio), that for me it was almost like a love festival.

"And it's nice to jump into a ready-made band. You get the cake baked already. You don't have to find the ingredients. You just add toppings."

The sounds are quite different on "Outra Coisa," Cohen's long lines and ornate figurations set against the lush accompaniment of seven-string guitarist Marcello Goncalves, who rearranged Moacir Santos' quasi-orchestral scores for duet. In effect, Cohen and Goncalves cast Santos' innovative Brazilian music in a radiant new light, which was precisely Goncalves' idea.

For when Santos released his groundbreaking album "Coisas" in 1965, "musicians flipped out," says Cohen. "He used the roots of Brazilian grooves, but he had all these jazz influences, and the melodies were not as conventional as choro ensemble and other (sounds).

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"I wasn't familiar in depth with the music, but I heard it. When we tried to play, Marcello and I  omigod, the melodies flow so easily. They were so attractive to me.

"That is the album  our encounter playing those songs that Marcello has been working a lot to arrange a whole big band (sound) to seven-string guitar.  There's a sense of something really eternal in those songs. Those melodies really stay with you."

All the more considering the luster of Cohen's tone in all registers and tempos, seemingly defying the recalcitrant nature of the clarinet.

How does she manage it?

"I have to thank my teacher, Eva Wasserman, from Israel, because she has such a strong passion for sound, and she is the one who made me understand how important sound is," says Cohen.

"I credit my classical roots as far as sound production. But I add to that the techniques I learned from saxophone: how to play jazz, manipulate sound, make sub-tones, make vibrato, tongue in different ways."

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But, cautions Cohen, "If you spend a few months without really paying attention, everything gets a little off. It's high maintenance."

Judging by her new releases, Cohen still is paying attention.

Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.

hreich@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @howardreich

When: 8 p.m. Monday

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Where: City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph St.

Tickets: $20-$28; 312-733-9463 or www.citywinery.com

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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)
It is an exciting time to be a Chicago event creator.

Members of marginalized communities have found the resources to create events that speak to their members. Whether the events are music, social activism or fashion-based, creators now take a stand in the nightlife world to further highlight and promote communities that are typically ignored in the city's more mainstream nightlife scene.

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The latest addition to this rise is called Bad Beti's, a seemingly one-off event organized for Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, taking place this month. This inaugural event will include a number of different members of Chicago's nightlife community who identify as Asian, including local drag stars Soju and Eva Young, and DJ Tomahori, a member of the South Side nightlife collective Meter.

Abhijeet Rane, the event's organizer, created the event as an extension of a viral drag photo shoot he created earlier this year to emulate and celebrate South Asian femininity. "I was looking at my sources of inspiration and icons growing up and seeing how I could translate them to drag culture," Rane said. Rane said that the photo shoot "aimed to provide visibility to South Asian feminist icons often overlooked for their defiance, individuality and nonconformity."

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It is especially crucial in the United States and other Western countries as the history of queer and trans people within Asian cultures is often missing from Western media. Rane, who is in the country on a student visa and leaves in October, set a goal to create a series of events or projects that connected with the things he has learned while here. "I was looking to answer what are good monthly projects I could do to try and showcase everything that I've learned about drag and gender and nightlife and music," Rane said.

Now, with Bad Beti's, Rane will take the imagery and history imbued in his viral photo shoot and bring it to life. Bad Beti's, which as a phrase roughly translates to "bad girl," is a celebration of female characters and figures who stand out from what is typically expected of an Indian or South Asian girl, Rane said. "We took this idea of the underrepresented and the fetishized Asian identity and found performers that were embracing it and challenging it and wanted to put on a good show," he said. Among the night's many performers, Raja, the only winner of Asian descent from "RuPaul's Drag Race," will headline the event.

Bad Beti's is not just a nightlife event, Rane said. The event will feature a number of Asian-identified people in fields as various as drag, comedy, fashion and activism. For Rane, many of these areas intersect rather than conflict. "Something I like to be especially conscious of when I'm putting a group of people together for a nightlife event is that I don't want it to be too much of one kind of representation," he said. "I wanted to put these people together from a bunch of different scenes to see what we could all do together."

Nightlife, it seems, is not a place for divisions but rather a place for building and fostering communities typically lacking strong, centralized support systems. There are hundreds of stories out there that deserve to be told, and Bad Beti's, while only a temporary event, has taken up the mantle to share a story that is typically hidden in the dark.

Britt Julious is a freelance writer.

onthetown@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @chitribent

When: 10 p.m. Thursday

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Where: Berlin, 954 W. Belmont Ave.

Tickets: $10 (21+); www.1833.fm

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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)
The Women's Auxiliary of Misericordia hosted its 33rd annual Spring Luncheon and Fashion Show on May 3 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago with over 650 supporters attending. Operated by the Sisters of Mercy, under the auspices of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Misericordia provides programs, services and housing for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Before the runway show, a Champagne reception in the Fountainview Room featured a Bloomingdale's Old Orchard pop-up shop. There, guests could purchase looks featured in the show with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the charity.

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Cathy Popp, Misericordia Women's Auxiliary Board president, welcomed the crowd and introduced event co-chairs Corinne Guarraia, Michelle Nelson and Leah Thenstedt. She drew guests' attention to the program books and noted that the cover artwork (and invitation) were created by artists in Misericordia's work opportunity program.

Popp introduced Misericordia's executive director, Sister Rosemary Connelly, who has been involved with the nonprofit since 1969. "Only a life lived for others is worth living, and Sister Rosemary lives that life," she said.

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Connelly thanked those in attendance, including Carol Marin and Pam Cullerton, for their support. She said, "We're such privileged people to share life with God's most vulnerable but God's most beautiful people. ... As you know, Misericordia means 'heart of mercy' and that means compassion and empathy and having the ability to enter the world of another and want that world to be as good as your own." She added, "Many of you who have come for tours really do feel God's presence there."

She recounted observing one of the residents when he was asked by a little girl if he was "handicapped." He replied, "Not that I ever noticed." She said, "Our residents teach us to accept life on God's terms and you never hear 'why me.'"

Lois Gates, Misericordia assistant executive director, called for a moment of silence to honor longtime supporter Diane Jones, who recently lost her battle with cancer. Jones and her husband, Paul, were acknowledged as "loyal and generous friends and benefactors."

The Rev. Jack Clair, Misericordia chaplain and associate executive director, offered an invocation before the Heartbreakers, a dance troupe of Misericordia residents, opened the show. They performed a touching number to Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," and the crowd responded with wild applause.

The Misericordia Heartbreakers, a dance troupe of residents, perform at the annual fashion show and luncheon to Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." (Chicago Tribune)

The 20-minute fashion show featured models from the Factor agency in a variety of spring looks. The segments were divided into "Statement Stripes," "Bold Color," "Global Inspired," "Island Paradise" and "Shades of Pink" and included designs from Burberry, All Saints, BCBG, Ted Baker, Karen Millen, Halston Heritage and Michael Kors, among others.

The event raised over $300,000 for Misericordia, which serves more than 600 children and adults from diverse racial, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Co-chair Thenstedt shared the reason for her involvement, "The first time I walked onto Misericordia's campus, I could literally feel the compassion in the air. As a mother of a son with special needs, it's the most incredibly comforting and heartwarming feeling to know that a place like Misericordia exists."

Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events she covers.

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More coverage

Find more photos and events at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace. Visit Candid Candace's website at www.candidcandace.com or follow her on Twitter @CandidCandace.

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Mother's Day is brunch and flowers and handmade cards, but for many, it can feel like a bit of a miracle.

Candace Marsella was diagnosed with stage 1 cervical cancer in 2014. Her doctor recommended a hysterectomy, but at 39, Marsella wasn't ready to give up her shot at pregnancy.

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"They gave me a two-year window to either have children or get the hysterectomy done," Marsella said. "It wasn't even a question. I knew I would pursue IVF and go from there."

On Sunday, she'll spend Mother's Day with her sons: 6-week-old twins Evan and Lucas. Their path to becoming a family was neither simple nor conventional, but it's a testament to the power of modern medicine and maternal instinct.

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Close to 13,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Most cases are found in women under 50.

"We have a lot of patients who are able to maintain reproductive function despite cancer treatment," said John Lurain, Marsella's oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "We do everything we can to preserve reproductive function if we're able to do so without putting a patient's life at risk. And very often, we are able to do so."

Lurain monitored Marsella every three months after her initial cancer diagnosis. After close to two years of cancer-free screenings, she was cleared to see a reproductive endocrinologist and pursue in vitro fertilization.

But first she needed a sperm donor.

"That's not an easy thing," she said. "You're looking through this look book, basically, of potential fathers who aren't really going to be fathers."

She settled on a worthy candidate, and the doctors set to work extracting and fertilizing 15 of her eggs. Five embryos were created, and doctors implanted the healthiest two.

"The doctor said, 'Statistically, at your age, you'll be lucky if one takes the first time, let alone both,'" recalled Marsella, who was 42 at the time. "I said, 'Yeah, but my family is very fertile, and I'm a twin. I really think if you put two in, two will take.' He said, 'Well, you'd defy statistics if that's the case.'"

That was the case.

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Further defying the odds, Marsella had a complication-free pregnancy.

"She had three risk factors," Lurain said. "One is that she had twins, which places her at a higher risk for a variety of disorders, especially premature delivery. Also being 42 years old places her at a somewhat higher risk. And the fact that she had a portion of her cervix removed made it more likely to open up too early."

But her twins stayed put for close to 38 weeks, at which point they arrived weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and 5 pounds, 15 ounces.

"I'm so grateful," she said. "I was very high-risk, and I'm just so grateful they're healthy."

Marsella said she was prepared to accept a very different future if the IVF treatments didn't take. She would travel the world and continue to grow Smashing Jewels, her jewelry design business, and enjoy the embrace of friends and family.

But motherhood feels just right, she said.

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"I wouldn't have thought this would have been my journey," she said. "In my head, I figured I'd get married and have children. But that wasn't how it happened for me. And I'd never want to change it."

She plans to keep Mother's Day low-key. A stroll around her Streeterville neighborhood, maybe some catnaps if the stars align. Her own twin sister will fly in from Florida to visit the next day.

"I have a very full life now with my two little boys."

Here's to happy endings  and beginnings.

hstevens@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @heidistevens13

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Imagine a city of self-serving hypocritical elites at the heart of the American empire  men and women with the souls of pole dancers  suddenly spouting gibberish and foaming at the mouth.

Or if you want something that doesn't sound like a Russian plot, imagine a pack of eighth-graders in your backyard, chewing on fistfuls of Alka-Seltzers for that mad dog zombie apocalypse effect, and spitting on your deck.

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You don't need imagination. It's happening in Washington, foam on the mouths of politicians and pundits dealing with the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Donald Trump as the FBI investigates Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

There is an answer to all this mouth foaming, but it will require Congress to first wipe its mouth.

Depending on your politics, the reaction to Comey's firing cuts two ways:

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Democrats see an evil Nixonian plot hatched by Republicans to turn the republic over to a power-mad dictator (either Vladimir Putin or Trump, I'm not quite sure).

Republicans see the hypocrisy of Democrats who, only a short time ago, would have gladly peeled Comey's skin from his back and danced with it naked around some campfire in Hillary Clinton 's woods of exile.

Now those same Democrats are canonizing Comey as St. James the Martyr, burned at the Trumpian stake.

If Putin's aim were to weaken the country by turning the Democrats into a paranoid destabilizing force and pushing Republicans into a defensive, mumbling shell, he's done a damn good job of it, hasn't he?

If so, he's been helped by reports that Comey sought additional resources for the Russia investigation, and "a few days later," he was fired. Those reports have been skillfully pushed by Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

"I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives," Durbin said.

Clearly, there is so much mouth foam on political suits and ties that every dry cleaner in Virginia should be able to buy a snazzy new vacation home in Marco Island.

So how about we all take a deep breath and step away from social media and the cable news echo chamber for a second, and actually read the letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein?

Rosenstein recently was confirmed to that post by the Senate in a 94-6 vote. His memo laid out the case against Comey for his handling of the Clinton email scandal.

Comey wasn't the attorney general, but he acted like one. He felt compelled to do so after former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch met privately with Bill Clinton while Lynch's office was looking into Hillary Clinton's emails. Lynch went into hiding. Comey became mired in the political tar pit, to later be blamed by the Clintons as part of their ridiculous fantasy that he cost Hillary the election.

It wasn't the Russians or Comey. Hillary Clinton lost because she was Hillary Clinton.

Still, Comey could have resigned, forcing Democrats to drop Hillary Clinton and find a new candidate.

But that didn't happen. So Comey, by all accounts an honorable man, was crippled by circumstance, his own errors of judgment and his hefty ego. And he's gone.

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"The way the Director handled the conclusion of the (Hillary Clinton) email investigation was wrong. 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, the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions," Rosenstein wrote.

It's a reasonable, sound memo written in a sober tone and citing previous attorneys general appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents. But it isn't enough.

We're so partisan and tribal these days we've forgotten where the answer is hiding. It's not in either Republican or Democratic talking points.

It's in the Constitution.

An entire generation has been educated in American public schools without much study of civics, so that many believe government should be run based on our feelings.

But crazy as it might sound, the Constitution isn't about feelings or what your shaman just shouted on cable news. It is about guaranteeing that factions can't use government to devour each other, leading to capitulation and civil war.

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There are a few bizarre paragraphs in the Constitution that America has been encouraged to forget over the past 20 years or so.

They involve an idea called the separation of powers, meaning there are actually three co-equal branches of government.

Oddly, there is no mention of an imperial presidency or imperial judiciary or of a supine legislative branch of the sort that curled up and let the last two presidents rule the empire as if they wore togas.

What's required now is that members of Congress must begin acting like adults. And by this I don't mean having staffers fix their hair as they run to perform on CNN or Fox News, depending on their politics.

I mean a Congress that understands its obligations.

Its members should immediately form a select bipartisan committee and quickly get to the bottom of this business, the Russians, the Clintons, Comey, the Obama government leaks against Trump, everything.

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No secret sessions, no whispers, everything out in the open.

And please, hold the foam.

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
To many who have followed the career of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the longtime prosecutor's starring role in drama surrounding the ouster of FBI Director James Comey has left them surprised  and a little bit baffled.

Rosenstein, who took office last month, has been spared much of the criticism being aimed at President Donald Trump and his top lieutenants. But Rosenstein's authorship of the memo that was used as a justification for Comey's firing has prompted some to wonder whether the Justice Department's No. 2 was fully committed to firing the FBI director  or whether he was drawn into a White House plan to thwart the FBI's investigation of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Some associates took to parsing the words of the memo, which did not directly call for Comey to be fired but said that 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."

"He didn't say, 'I recommend firing Comey,'" said Eric Columbus, who was a senior adviser to the deputy attorney general under President Barack Obama. But "I'm guessing that Rosenstein wanted to push back as much as he could without getting fired."

Others cautioned against tying Rosenstein's views to those of Trump.

"The problem here for Rod is people are ascribing the president's motives to him, and they're acting out of entirely differently motivations," said Tim Maloney, a longtime Maryland defense lawyer who has worked with Rosenstein.

"Rod cares deeply about the integrity of the criminal justice system. These are very different motivations leading to the same result," he said.

Maloney said Rosenstein was apolitical and was "not going to think about what is the best place or time on the public calendar to get rid of the FBI director. He's going to look at the merits."

Rosenstein, 52, was named by President George W. Bush to be U.S. attorney in Maryland and reappointed by Obama, and he has won praise from lawmakers in both parties as a straight-arrow prosecutor.

Rosenstein served on the Whitewater prosecution team that investigated Bill and Hillary Clinton's real estate dealings in the 1990s, and his office took down Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson on bribery and corruption charges.

Rosenstein, who declined to comment, lives in Bethesda, Md., with his wife, a former assistant U.S. attorney, and their two teenage daughters.

From the moment he took office as the Justice Department's No. 2, Rosenstein's role has taken on special meaning in the context of the FBI's investigation into possible ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. Because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the inquiry, Rosenstein is effectively in charge of a case with deep political and legal implications for the president and his associates. Rosenstein, for instance, also has the authority to appoint a special counsel.

His participation in the Comey ouster took shape this week after he and Sessions attended a previously scheduled lunch with Trump on Monday.

The president wanted to get rid of Comey. After the Justice Department officials laid out their view, Trump asked them to put their thoughts in writing, and Rosenstein on Tuesday wrote his memo, according to White House officials.

The White House released the three-page letter as it announced the firing Tuesday.

Columbus and others noted that Rosenstein said in his memo that he agreed with former Justice Department officials who had criticized Comey. However, while all of those former officials were critical of Comey's actions in the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails, none recommended that he be fired. Moreover, at least two of those former officials, Donald Ayer and Alberto Gonzales, criticized Trump's decision to fire Comey. Ayer said the firing was a "sham," and Gonzales said the president failed to make the case for it, leaving people to "assume the worst."

Several of Rosenstein's former colleagues cited what they called a crucial distinction in the memo. They said there is a difference between believing that Comey mishandled matters such as the Clinton email investigation and the idea that the person overseeing an investigation into whether Russia aided Trump's campaign should be fired by Trump. It is the latter that created much of the controversy over Trump's decision.

Rosenstein's memo partly relied on news accounts and statements by Democrats to accuse Comey of overstepping his authority in the Clinton case.

Comey in July announced that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton in the email case but said she was "extremely careless in handling classified material."

Then, in October, he announced that the FBI was reopening the investigation, which Clinton has said cost her the election. Comey testified May 3 that reopening the investigation was justified because a Clinton aide forwarded "hundreds and thousands of emails" to her husband, but the Justice Department said Tuesday that Comey misspoke about the number.

Some who have worked with Rosenstein worried Wednesday that the deputy attorney general had, by laying out widely held criticisms of Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation, provided Trump the political cover he needed to remove Comey just as the Russia probe appeared to be heating up.

Paul Butler, who worked Rosenstein in the public integrity section of the Justice Department, said that prosecutors who come through that unit are trained to be apolitical. The public integrity section was created in response to Watergate, with prosecutors going after FBI agents, Democrats, Republicans and others to combat the social ills of public corruption.

"One of the ways you fight public corruption is to follow the rules," Butler said. "What [Comey] did in July and October with those remarks about Secretary Clinton broke all the rules. That is exactly what Rosenstein said in the memo."

Butler said that even if Rosenstein were aware of possible political motivations the president had for ousting Comey, it would not stop someone who came up through the public integrity unit from rendering an opinion as Rosenstein did.

"Might he have known when he was giving the president his opinion that Comey was unfit to serve that the president could use that to his political advantage?" Butler asked. "He could have, but should that have stopped him from rendering his honestly held and carefully considered point of view? No."

Robert Bonsib, a former assistant U.S. attorney and now a Maryland defense lawyer, said the memo was not surprising.

"If somebody in Rod's office when he was U.S. attorney stepped out and made those kinds of statements about an ongoing investigation, Rod would have fired that person, as well," Bonsib said.

Bonsib called the memo a "very professional, nonpolitical document" and said it would have been unremarkable except for the fact that Comey was investigating connections between Trump and Russia.

Rosenstein's former colleagues said Comey's dismissal played out in ways that were both typical and atypical of Rosenstein's style.

It was typical in that the memo was grounded in the rule of law and focused on protecting the institutional interests of the Justice Department. But it was atypical in that Rosenstein  a graduate of the Wharton School who is known to give books about management to new supervisors  would not have fired someone so abruptly that they had to hear of their ouster from the media.

Trump's nomination of Rosenstein to be the nation's second-ranking law enforcement official drew bipartisan praise, and he was confirmed by a 94-to-6 vote on April 25.

Rosenstein said in a written response to questions from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., during his confirmation hearing that he was not prepared to say whether a special prosecutor should be appointed in the Russia investigation, but he promised to study the matter and make an independent decision. In the wake of Comey's firing, calls for a special prosecutor have escalated, but Rosenstein has not offered his view.

Leahy said Wednesday that the chain of events leading to Comey's firing underscore that "a special counsel must be appointed to lead the Russia investigation. The American people must have confidence that ours is a government of laws, not of Donald Trump's whims."

The Washington Post's Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
Insurer Doesn't Want to Cover Marijuana Candy Related Murder Product Liability

A current Colorado civil wrongful death case involving extra potent marijuana candy has been attracting national attention since 2014. The incident involved a Colorado man who had eaten a physically small amount of very potent marijuana candy, started hallucinating, then shot and killed his wife. In the criminal case, the defense attempted to claim temporary insanity caused by the pot candy. However, the defendant was sentenced to 30 years for the murder.

In the civil wrongful death case, it is alleged that the marijuana candy played a part in the murder. The children have made legal claims against the pot candy maker, and have reportedly settled claims with the store where it was purchased. However, for the candy maker, things have taken a turn for the worse, as their insurance carrier has filed in federal court seeking to be relieved from providing coverage.

Marijuana Product Liability Claims

With the increase in legal marijuana throughout the country, whether for medicinal or recreational purpose, the number of product liability claims related to marijuana products is expected to be a common issue. In fact, there are many new insurance companies that are specializing in providing insurance that covers the potential liabilities specific to the emerging industry.

Like any foodstuff, marijuana edibles that cause a person to get sick can be the basis of a product liability lawsuit. Additionally, because of the stringent regulations that have been passed regarding the labeling of foodstuffs, and specifically marijuana products, in many states, if a product is not properly labeled, that too could form the basis of a product liability lawsuit, especially if someone is injured due to an undisclosed allergen, or from ingesting too much marijuana due to inaccurate labeling.

Can I Really Sue a Marijuana Business in Court?

In states where marijuana is legal, you can sue a marijuana business for their legal wrongs such as selling marijuana edibles that cause injury. Additionally, as mentioned above, not only are the product manufacturers potentially liable, but the product sellers could also be liable.

Related Resources:
Chicago police Cmdr. Glenn Evans, center, leaves court after be acquitted on Dec. 14, 2015, of shoving a gun in a man's mouth. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

A federal court judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a high-ranking Chicago police officer who alleged that the Independent Police Review Authority retaliated against him and set him up for criminal charges by leaking to the media.

Glenn Evans, a controversial former South Side commander, sued after he was acquitted by a Cook County judge in 2015 on felony charges that stemmed from allegations he shoved his service gun down suspect Rickey Williams' throat. Williams' DNA was found on Evans' gun.

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Evans, who is now a lieutenant, alleged that IPRA investigator Matrice Campbell still harbored a grudge 15 years after he wrote her up for insubordination while they both worked at the Wentworth District police station and so leaked the DNA results to a WBEZ-FM reporter who then broadcast stories about the investigation.

The lieutenant alleged the WBEZ reports prompted Cook County prosecutors, who were under political pressure to look tough on cops, to charge him in 2014 with aggravated battery and official misconduct. But U.S. District Judge Manish Shah on Thursday found his allegation "was not credible" and wrote that Evans had "pled himself out of court" by acknowledging prosecutors had probable cause to charge him.

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In an emailed response to the Tribune, Evans' attorney Victor Henderson said the "case is still very much alive." Henderson did not respond when asked what his client's next legal steps would be. One avenue could be filing suit in Cook County Circuit Court.

"We went into this knowing that we are in a battle," Henderson wrote. "After all, we are going up against some powerful people and entities in the City of Chicago. The case is still very much alive  as are we."

In his lawsuit, Evans also said officials with the much-maligned IPRA, the agency charged with investigating allegations of police abuse, retaliated against him for complaining to the inspector general's office about Campbell's alleged leak by reopening an investigation into claims brought by Rita King, who alleged Evans pressed his fist into her nose, breaking a facial bone, when she refused to be fingerprinted in 2011.

But Shah wrote that Evans' claim of retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights failed because no criminal charges were ever brought.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

An effort to fire Evans over King's misconduct allegations fizzled in 2016 after officials realized they had failed to act before a five-year statute of limitations passed on taking disciplinary action.

Both King and Williams have federal lawsuits pending against Evans.

Although Evans had originally sued WBEZ and the reporter who aired reports about the investigation, he previously voluntarily dropped both from his lawsuit.

Evans' suit was not the first high-profile litigation to target IPRA. Former IPRA supervisor Lorenzo Davis is suing the city in Cook County court, alleging that the agency's former chief administrator, Scott Ando, fired him for refusing to change his findings in shootings by police that Davis considered unjustified.

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Davis filed his lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court after a U.S. district judge dismissed his federal complaint for reasons similar to what were cited in the dismissal of Evans'.

sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
The two cousins were waiting in the lobby of their South Side apartment for a GrubHub delivery of chicken wings early Friday when a barrage of gunfire sent them scrambling up the stairs.



"When we made it back upstairs, the gunshots were still going. More came," said one of the cousins, 21, who did not give his name. "We looked out the window. I see one dude, I see his whole pants are red. He had white pants on."



Chicago police said two men were shot outside the Washington Park apartment building about 1:40 a.m. Friday as pedestrians were caught in the crossfire of an apparent shootout between two cars. One of the cars, a black Ford sedan, slammed into the apartment building. The occupants ditched the car, its windshield cracked by at least six bullet holes.



The wounded  a 24-year-old man shot in the arm and a 22-year-old shot in the leg  were taken to Stroger Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized.



The cousins said they led the men inside their lobby and brought chairs for them as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. Splatters of blood on the sidewalk traced the route they took.



The shooting in the 5700 block of South Wabash Boulevard came in the middle of a violent night in Chicago that saw three people killed and 18 wounded throughout the city Thursday and early Friday.



Seven of the victims were shot, one fatally, within an hour and a half Thursday night, from 5:20 to 6:45 p.m.



Fatal shootings



 About 2:50 a.m. Friday on the West Side, officers responding to a call about gunfire in the 100 block of North California Avenue found a 32-year-old man dead in a car. The man had multiple gunshot wounds to the back and head and was pronounced dead at the scene in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.

The man was identified as Zie Easterling, of the 7200 block of North Oakley Avenue in West Rogers Park, according to the medical examiner's office. H was pronounced dead at 3:16 a.m.



 About 11:45 p.m. Thursday on the Far South Side, a 41-year-old man was fatally shot in the Fernwood neighborhood. The man was standing on the sidewalk in the 10100 block of South LaSalle Street when a gunman in a car opened fire, striking the victim in the chest and left hand. The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead.

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The man was identified as Jerry Austin, of the 14500 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Dolton, according to the medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead at 1:57 a.m. at Christ Medical Center.

 About 5:20 p.m. Thursday on the West Side, a 29-year-old man was shot in the 1100 block of North Long Avenue in South Austin. He suffered multiple wounds to the left side and was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

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The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the victim as Terrence Bingham, of the 5400 block of West Cortez Street in South Austin.



Other shootings



 About 2 a.m. Friday on the Northwest Side, a 30-year-old man was shot in the 6900 block of West Belmont Avenue in the Schorsch Village neighborhood after getting into an argument with a man at a bar. That man, the victim told police, followed him in a vehicle, pulled up along side him and opened fire. The victim was shot twice in the legs and suffered a graze wound to the arm.



 About 12:50 a.m. Friday on the South Side, a 26-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the foot while standing in the street in the Bronzeville neighborhood. Someone in a dark-colored sedan opened fire, and the victim was taken to Mercy Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.



 About 9:35 p.m. Thursday on the West Side, a 23-year-old man was shot while walking on a South Austin sidewalk. He got himself to Loretto Hospital and was transferred to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the right knee.



 About 9:10 p.m. on the South Side, a 36-year-old was shot while standing in an alley in the 8700 block of South Emerald Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was treated for a graze wound to the head and his condition stabilized.



 About 6:45 p.m. on the South Side, a 27-year-old man was shot in the left leg and buttocks in the 7200 block of South Dorchester Avenue in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. He drove himself to Jackson Park Hospital but was later taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. He told police he was shot by someone in a gray van.



 About 6:35 p.m. on the West Side, two people were shot in the 4000 block of West Jackson Boulevard in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, police said. A male victim was shot in the abdomen and taken in serious condition to Mount Sinai Hospital. The other male victim suffered wounds to the buttocks and foot. He was listed in good condition at the same hospital. Their ages were not available, police said.



 Shortly after 5:30 p.m. on the Southwest Side, two boys were shot in the 2500 block of West 59th Street in the Gage Park neighborhood. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the neck, leg and heel. He was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital. The other boy, 17, was shot in the left leg. That victim was taken to Holy Cross Hospital and later transferred to Mount Sinai, where his condition was stabilized, police said.



 About 5:30 p.m. on the West Side, a 17-year-old boy was wounded in the first block of North LeClaire Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood. Police had initially reported the shooting as taking place in the 5000 block of West Washington Boulevard. Someone in a newer gray or silver Infiniti pulled up and a backseat passenger fired shots. The boy was shot in the left leg and was taken to Mount Sinai, where his condition was stabilized.



 About 3 p.m. on the West Side, two people were shot in the South Austin neighborhood in the 800 block of North Waller Avenue. A 26-year-old woman was shot in the upper right thigh and was taken to Mount Sinai, where her condition was stabilized. A 15-year-old boy suffered a wound to the lower right leg. He got himself to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where his condition was stabilized, police said.



 About noon on the West Side, a person was shot in the 1100 block of South Independence Boulevard in the Lawndale neighborhood, police said. A 42-year-old man was standing on a porch when a dark vehicle drove up and someone fired shots. The victim suffered a wound to the knee and was taken to Mount Sinai in good condition.



 About 11:30 a.m. on the Northwest Side, a 31-year-old man suffered wounds to the buttocks in the 2300 block of North Normandy Avenue in the Montclare neighborhood. He was standing outside when a black sedan pulled up and someone fired shots. He was taken to Loyola University Hospital in Maywood, where his condition was stabilized, police said.



 Around 8:30 a.m. on the South Side, a 26-year-old man was shot three times in the groin in the 300 block of East 61st Street in the Washington Park neighborhood, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. Police said he was being uncooperative with investigators.



 About 8:10 a.m. on the South Side, a 20-year-old man was shot in the upper left thigh in the 8200 block of South Evans Avenue in the Chatham neighborhood, police said. He was taken in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center, police said.



Police had not made arrests in any of the shootings.
In the past year, Tom and Rosemary Bellaire have grown accustomed to distraught phone calls in the middle of the night from their son, Rob, who lives in a residential home for people with disabilities.

"He says, 'I need to go to the bathroom and no one is coming,'" said Rosemary Bellaire, of Clarendon Hills, who considers driving to her 30-year-old son in Villa Park after each phone call. But she and her husband know that by the time they arrive, he will likely already have had an accident and they'll be too late. "It's just heartbreaking."

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The Bellaires say their situation is evidence of a statewide shortage of caregivers known as direct support professionals who feed, bathe and perform other essential tasks for people with disabilities. After Gov. Bruce Rauner last year vetoed a bill aimed at increasing the minimum wage for these workers  who on average make $9.35 an hour  their turnover rate has grown from 40 percent in 2016 to nearly 56 percent in the first three quarters of this fiscal year at the state's six largest agencies, according to Kim Zoeller, president and CEO of the Ray Graham Association, an agency that serves 2,000 children and adults with disabilities in DuPage County.

"I've been doing this work for about 25 years, and I have never seen this state of our system in such horrible conditions," Zoeller said. "And yet there seems to be this expectation from the state that we carry on business as usual. It's not business as usual."

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Lawmakers in Springfield are now considering legislation that would raise the overall amount the state pays group home businesses so that caregivers are paid at least $15 an hour. The state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that representatives in the House will consider. With weeks left before the end of the legislative session, and lawmakers still at an impasse over the budget, advocates for people with disabilities say the worker crisis has gone from dire to potentially dangerous.

People with disabilities  many of whom waited years on lengthy lists for placement in group homes  are being moved into residential centers without enough staff to integrate them into their new surroundings, much less take them to the bathroom, administer medicine or feed them meals, advocates say.

A Tribune investigation last year found that Illinois steers thousands of low-income adults with disabilities into private group homes in a botched strategy to save money and give some of the state's poorest and most vulnerable residents a better life. Instead, caregivers often failed to provide basic care while regulators cloaked harm and death with secrecy and silence, according to the investigation.

Running out of options to address the shortage of direct support professionals, a legal rights group for people with disabilities last month filed a motion in federal court hoping to convince a judge that current conditions are in violation of a 2011 ruling known as the Ligas consent decree. The decree ensures that, regardless of the state budget situation, funding continues for people with disabilities who want to live in community-based settings, and with the support needed, said Barry Taylor, vice president for civil rights for Equip for Equality, a legal services firm for people with disabilities.

If the federal court motion doesn't work, advocates say they're not sure what else to do.

"Our caregivers and front-line supervisors are burning out. They are exhausted. We are losing more people than we are able to hire," said Jim Haptonstahl, executive vice president of UCP Seguin, which provides day and residential program services for people with disabilities and runs the group home where Rob Bellaire lives. "It's gotten worse in our last year."

In 2015, Aaron Stanley, a resident in a UCP Seguin group home in Berwyn, was attacked by a housemate who nearly pummeled him to death while he lay in bed, according to police records. The sole UCP Seguin caregiver on duty that night told police she tried to intervene, but Stanley's housemate, who had an intellectual disability and an intermittent explosive disorder, became more violent, and the staff member was afraid he would attack her. The family of Stanley, who has cerebral palsy and no longer lives at that group home, is suing UCP Seguin for failing to protect him.

Haptonstahl, who declined to comment on the lawsuit, said the agency always maintains the required number of qualified staff members needed to care for residents at group homes, as well as clients at day service programs and students at training centers. But that often means asking employees to work overtime, or pulling people from other parts of the nonprofit to do the grueling work performed by direct service professionals.

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Anthony DiVittorio, president of Clearbrook, which runs more than 50 group homes in the suburbs for people with disabilities, said families are eager to move their loved ones into Clearbrook's new group home that has been built and furnished. But without staffing, the home can't open.

With a vacancy rate of 30 percent, direct support professionals at Clearbrook homes have been working 80-hour shifts, and are being pulled into homes they are not familiar with to pitch in, DiVittorio said.

"Our staff is doing an enormous amount of overtime," DiVittorio said, adding that he couldn't in good conscience give his already-thin crew more responsibilities. "Without the workers, I can't provide the service. It's courting trouble. And it's a bad way to start."

Wages for direct support professionals have not increased in more than nine years, leading potential applicants in the improving economy to opt for jobs where they can make more money doing less grueling work. The overall caregiver vacancy rate  the number of positions that remained persistently unfilled  reached 30 percent in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2017, up from an average of 21 percent in 2016, according to advocates.

Most of the providers in Illinois that serve people with disabilities operate primarily with funds that come from state allocations, which are either introduced by the governor or included in a budget approved by the state legislature. Money provided by the state is matched with federal funds through Medicaid.

Clifton Hardwidge, 28, dances with group home worker Kimberly Johnson at the home in Downers Grove on May 4, 2017. Group home manager Barbara White said not being able to pay workers more leads to fluctuations in staffing. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

With his veto last year, Rauner said the pay hike would cost the state an additional $330 million a year, adding that the bill provided no way to cover the added expense.

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"We should first acknowledge the difficult and important work of these professionals, who assist persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in residential and day programs," Rauner said at the time. "Many of these professionals have not had a wage increase in years. I am open to finding a responsible way to increase wages for these professionals, but unfortunately this bill is not the answer."

Even if the House joins the Senate in passing a measure, it could face similar opposition from Rauner, who has repeatedly opposed new funding requests without ways to pay for them. An attempt by legislators to overturn Rauner's veto failed, and would likely face a similar fate this year with fewer Democrats in the House.

"The governor is open to working with the General Assembly to find a responsible way to increase wages for these professionals but through an overall balanced budget that appropriately funds such an increase," said Eleni Demertzis, Rauner's spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, direct service professionals say they are not sure how much longer they can remain working under such low wages.

Christine Rivera began working as a direct support professional 16 years ago at a group home in Downers Grove because she loved the idea of being able to help people with disabilities feel safe and secure in a home setting. Today, two of the residents who were there on her first day are still living in the house, and she considers them family.

But her hourly wage has increased only slightly in the last 16 years. When she started at the home run by the Ray Graham Association, she made $10.35 an hour. She now makes $11.89.

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Rivera, 48, said she lives with her children and grandchildren to cut costs, and depends on her daughter's Link card for food. Her daughter wants to move out, but Rivera said if that happens, she won't be able to cover the roof over her head.

"I'm frantically looking for a roommate, and I have an uncle that I might be able to go stay in his basement if worst comes to worst," Rivera said. "I still love my job. I just feel that the state is not compensating us for the work that we do."

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George Hardwidge said it has been hard to watch his 28-year-old son, Clifton, struggle with frequent changes in caregivers because of the high turnover rate. Born with mental disabilities, Clifton has significant fine and gross motor impairment and depends on help to get dressed, bathe and eat his meals.

Hardwidge, a former executive officer with Metra, said he has seen caregivers in Clifton's house work double shifts to cover hours without workers on the schedule. He's seen other staff come in at the last minute from other homes to fill shifts. And while he still feels his son is getting the best care possible, he worries about what further strain on the caregivers will mean for residents' safety.

"This is about the quality of life for those folks who can't defend themselves, who can't argue and make their own case," said Hardwidge, his voice cracking. "These are not folks that are too lazy to work or can't get a job. These are folks who really need help."

Janet Stover, president of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, said she and leaders from other organizations that serve people with disabilities have been lobbying legislators and the governor's office in hopes of explaining the crisis. The advocates are willing to look at alternatives  from finding money elsewhere in the Department of Children and Family Services budget to proposing a phase-in increase in the minimum wage for the workers to $15 per hour.

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"Our primary goal with our advocacy is to help everyone understand that this is not something that can continue to be tied up in a budget solution," Stover said. "It has to be dealt with now."

vortiz@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @vikkiortiz
Melodie Gliniewicz exits the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan in February 2016. The widow of Fox Lake police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz faces felony theft charges releated to his alleged embezzlement of public funds. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

The widow of disgraced Fox Lake police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz won a victory in court Thursday when a judge ruled that texts and emails she exchanged with her husband cannot be entered as evidence in her upcoming trial.

Lake County prosectors allege that Melodie Gliniewicz participated in her husband's scheme to siphon money from a youth policing program that he ran to use for personal expenses like meals and a trip to Hawaii.

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Joe Gliniewicz shot himself to death in 2015 as it appeared his alleged theft was about to be exposed to village officials. He died in a remote area of Fox Lake after reporting to a police dispatcher that he was chasing three suspects on foot, prompting a massive police search, an outpouring of condolences and a hero's funeral. But investigators later determined he staged his suicide to look like a line-of-duty death.

Months later, Melodie Gliniewicz, 52, was charged with money laundering, misuse of charitable funds and conspiracy.

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But in court Thursday, Judge James Booras ruled that any texts, emails, voice mails or other communications between Gliniewicz and her late husband cannot be admitted at her upcoming trial.

Booras cited so-called marital privilege laws that protect someone from having to incriminate his or her spouse under certain circumstances. Booras said the marital privilege law provides no exception for alleged joint criminal activity and that courts and law have all "recognized that communications between a husband and wife is sacred and should be protected."

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"I am required to follow Illinois law," Booras said.

Prosecutors had argued that the marital privilege should apply only to live testimony, not to prior communications between the couple.

The judge, however, declined to dismiss the charges outright against Gliniewicz, but he said he would allow more testimony on that question in June.

Prosecutors have said they have other evidence against Gliniewicz, including bank transactions to and from the Fox Lake Police Explorer fund. Among them, authorities have said, are transactions showing that $7,000 was removed from the Explorer account and the next day the same amount was deposited into her account.

Her lawyer has asserted that the Gliniewiczes occasionally borrowed from the Explorer account to make ends meet but paid the money back. The lawyer, Donald Morrison, said that might not have been smart but was not criminal.

He has also said Melodie Gliniewicz was not aware of or responsible for her husband's actions, which according to authorities included using Explorer fund money for online pornography.

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Susan Berger is a freelance reporter.
A Cook County judge bucked years of court rulings when he appointed a former Cook County assistant state's attorney as special prosecutor in cases where new trials are sought due to alleged police brutality under disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge, defense attorneys said in a court filing this week.

Attorneys for the People's Law Office are asking Judge Thomas Byrne to rescind his April appointment of Robert Milan, a former top Cook County prosecutor who has publicly backed a Burge-era detective linked to numerous wrongful convictions.

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"We feel that it is imperative, given the sordid history of the Cook County State's Attorneys' Office ... in the Burge torture cases  failing to hold Burge accountable let alone acknowledge people were tortured  that the Special Prosecutor in these scandal-tainted cases be completely independent from that history," attorneys G. Flint Taylor Jr. and Joey Mogul said in an emailed response to Tribune questions.

Milan, who now works for a corporate security firm, told the Tribune he was "disappointed" by the filing, which he said fails to acknowledge his work on wrongful convictions.

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Under former State's Attorney Richard Devine, Milan said, he launched a training program for prosecutors to help recognize wrongful convictions and was instrumental in charges being dropped in at least a half dozen Cook County cases.

Milan also said he has never been involved in any way with the 38 Burge-era cases now pending before the special prosecutor.

He was appointed special prosecutor last month after Stuart Nudelman, a former Cook County judge, stepped down from the post late last year. Nudelman's law firm will still litigate cases that come before the special prosecutor, Taylor and Milan said.

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In rulings from 2002 to 2013, former criminal division presiding judge Paul Biebel repeatedly found that the state's attorney's office had an inherent conflict of interest in handling post-conviction cases tied to Burge and his subordinates, according to the defense motion. Milan was with the state's attorneys' office for over 20 years.

When the Tribune in 2005 reported on questions about Chicago police Det. Kenneth Boudreau, a Burge underling who took confessions in more than a dozen cases where criminal charges were dropped or thrown out, Milan voiced his support for the detective. "This detective has had a long career, a good career," Milan told the Tribune.

More recently, Milan has proposed calling for thousands of National Guard troops to saturate violent South and West side neighborhoods this summer to quell persistent violence. While not part of the defense motion, Taylor wrote in his email that the proposal "is hardly reassuring, to say the least!"

Milan said his beliefs about improving safety in the city's most violent neighborhoods are irrelevant to his work as special prosecutor. "People try to paint me as racist," he said. "But I would do it in my own neighborhood. ... people shouldn't be living in fear."

The city and county have paid out more than $111 million in settlements, judgments, reparations and legal fees in cases stemming from the Burge era, according to a tally kept by Taylor, whose law firm has brought numerous such suits. Included in that figure are $5.5 million in city reparations approved in 2015 to compensate victims of abuse from the Burge era.

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sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
Former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge was convicted in 2010 on all three counts of obstruction of justice and perjury for lying about police torture. Special prosecutors had alleged that Burge led the torture of criminal suspects for two decades, coercing dozens of confessions that put some of the men on Illinois Death Row. (See a timeline of Burge's career.)
Jason Van Dyke listens as Special Prosecutor Joseph McMahon asks questions of witnesses testifying about Jason Van Dyke's security at the courthouse on May 11, 2017. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

A Cook County judge ruled Thursday that the Chicago police officer charged in Laquan McDonald's slaying must appear at every court hearing, but he promised to take measures to protect the officer's security at the courthouse.

The decision by Judge Vincent Gaughan came after the father of indicted Officer Jason Van Dyke was called to the witness stand and testified that he and his son have been followed as they left the courthouse, prompting them to drive decoy rental cars to hearings.

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Owen "John" Van Dyke, 75, testified he has accompanied his son to every court hearing since his son was charged in November 2015 and that they have been harassed and followed on several occasions.

"You can see it in his eyes and in his voice that he doesn't know what to expect at times," he said of his son's arrivals and departures at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

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Gaughan, who is presiding over the high-profile case, said he was confident that "everyone will be proud of" the new security measures that he will work out with the lawyers in the case and the Cook County sheriff's office, which is responsible for security at the courthouse.

Lawyers for Van Dyke raised the issue last month for the second time in a little more than a year, saying Van Dyke's safety was at risk outside and inside the county's main criminal courthouse and asking that he be able to skip court appearances.

Van Dyke's lawyer, Daniel Herbert, contended that even on Thursday as the officer was escorted by four sheriff's deputies through the courthouse lobby, a man recognized him and made what Herbert called "a threatening comment."

One of the deputies, Sgt. Michael Gercome, testified Thursday that the man said, "That's the mother------ who shot that kid."

Gercome said the comment prompted deputies to move "a little bit quicker," but he did not believe that Van Dyke was in any danger.

Kane County State's Attorney Joseph McMahon, the special prosecutor appointed to the case, argued that the sheriff's office had the necessary resources and experience to protect Van Dyke.

Bradley Curry, the sheriff's chief operating officer, testified that the office monitors security threats on the internet and social media. He declined to answer if there had been hundreds or thousands of threats against Van Dyke, saying only that there were "a lot."

Eddie Avant Jr., who heads up security at county courthouses for the sheriff's office, testified that protests against Van Dyke have dwindled since his first few court appearances. He said he was not aware of any physical threats made against the officer or his family in the past year.

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Herbert contended security officials were trying to avoid appearing to give Van Dyke special treatment in such a closely watched case.

But McMahon argued that Van Dyke has been provided security "above and beyond" the typical defendant.

In asking last month that Van Dyke be able to skip court appearances as the case winds its way to trial, his lawyers cited three alleged incidents of "threatened violence, intimidation and threats" during the officer's previous court appearance in March.

Attorneys filed a similar motion in March 2016, citing concerns for Van Dyke's safety then as well. Gaughan later said he had worked out a "security plan" to ensure Van Dyke's safe entry and exit from the courthouse on Chicago's Southwest Side.

In the latest motion, attorneys said the "intense public scrutiny" given the case has led to Van Dyke being harassed even inside Gaughan's courtroom.

The court-ordered release in 2015 of video showing the white officer shoot the black teen 16 times in 2014 sparked public outcry and one of the worst crises in Police Department history.

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At Van Dyke's court appearance March 23, the motion alleged, a person sitting in the same row as the officer for an hour and a half held a sign reading "16 shots and a cover up." After the hearing, she held up the sign 6 inches from Van Dyke's face, followed him out of the courtroom and lingered in the hallway until defense attorneys alerted a sheriff's deputy, the motion said.

A Tribune reporter who attended the entire hearing did not observe the alleged incident.

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On that same date, Van Dyke was approached by a woman in the security line outside the courthouse who said "in a loud and provoking voice" that she recognized him from television, according to the motion. In addition, the filing said a group of young black males approached Van Dyke "while in the courtroom and the hallway outside the courtroom," circled him and "scowled."

Gaughan has warned previously that similar actions would not be tolerated.

"Anybody compelled to come to a courtroom should not run a gamut where they are insulted, intimidated or even threatened," he said. "That's not going to be allowed in this courtroom or outside of my courtroom.

"No matter what anybody's charged with, no matter what anybody's done, they should not be compelled to go through some type of harassment."

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Van Dyke is charged with six counts of first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery and one count of official misconduct.

nmoreno@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @nereidamorenos
The body of missing college student Sheila Khalili from Schaumburg was recovered from a pond just north of 6000 North in Bourbonnais, just about two miles north of the Illinois Route50 exit, on May 11, 2017. A large gap in the brush near the pond marks the spot where the vehicle was pulled out. (Warren Skalski / for Chicago Tribune)

A college student from Schaumburg who was reported missing last week has been found dead in her car, which was submerged in a pond near her Bourbonnais school, Olivet Nazarene University.

Remains that matched the description of Sheila Khalili, 27, were removed from the vehicle Thursday morning, Schaumburg police said. Divers started searching the pond along Interstate 57 near Bourbonnais when a Kankakee County sheriff's deputy found a side-view mirror and a front bumper with a license plate matching Khalili's car nearby.

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Schaumburg police said preliminary findings are that the car ended up in the pond after a single-car crash.

Khalili, a nursing student, was reported missing when she failed to return home to Schaumburg on Friday.

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The university released a statement Thursday saying the community is "shocked and deeply saddened by this news."

"We grieve the loss of such a bright young student whose warm heart and passion for serving others was so evident in her life. We are continuing to pray for her family and friends," the statement said. "The ONU family is surrounding Sheila's family, friends and Sheila's nursing faculty with our thoughts and prayers."

As news spread through campus Thursday, fellow nursing students gathered in prayer for Khalili and her family.

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"She's just been our rock," one classmate, Kadie Nicely, of Mokena, said of Khalili. "There's only 25 of us in our program, and we're such a close family. We know God has her. She became a nurse today. She's up there looking down on us. She touched so many lives here and her patients. We know she's going to be with us, and she'll be walking across the stage with us in December, we have no doubt."

Nicely said Khalili and her classmates completed one level of the nursing program with a final exam last Wednesday with a planned graduation in December. The two friends were excited to take their final and had talked about meeting at the beach over the summer.

Nicely called Khalili "very bubbly, very passionate and so positive. ... She was very motivational. She always just had the magic touch with her patients, left her patients with a smile, very caring and kind."

Sheila Khalili. (Provided by the Schaumburg Police Department)

Another fellow student, Maria Kambwiri, said Khalili "encouraged all of us. She would help everybody. She would go above and beyond."

Khalili would often cheer on her classmates with comments like "let's do this together" and "we're not failing."

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Khalili, like most students, had left campus last week after completing the school term, according to friends and a university official, but apparently was returning to meet friends when the crash occurred.

Elizabeth Owens-Schiele and Erin Gallagher are freelance reporters.
A student who was expelled from Glenbrook North High School for trying to hack into its grading system has sued the school board, saying the district abused its power by imposing an "unreasonable" and "oppressive" punishment.

An adult relative filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 15-year-old sophomore after Glenbrook High School District 225 officials expelled him for the remainder of the school year and all of next school year for his role in a grade-changing scheme.

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The plot was engineered by another student, who created a fake email address that appeared to be from PowerSchool, where students' grades are electronically recorded.

According to the lawsuit and a report from the district hearing officer, the student who created the fake email sent it to several teachers and asked them to use a provided link to log in. The login page was also fake but allowed the student to capture the passwords of teachers who fell for the scheme, and two of them did, according to the lawsuit and the report.

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That student told investigators he was able to "view students grades and edit them," the hearing officer's report said.

The student who is now suing over his expulsion had a marginal role, the lawsuit asserts. It claims that the other student shared a teacher's stolen password with him and that he used it to try to gain entry to the grading system but failed. The student also admitted in the lawsuit that he sent emails to two teachers from his own account asking about his grades, and those emails included the link to the fraudulent website created by the other student.

The student is identified in the lawsuit, filed in Cook County last week, only by his initials. His attorney declined to comment about the lawsuit, as did a school district spokeswoman.

School officials first suspended the student for 10 days and then the expulsion was handed down late last month following a formal hearing. It's not clear whether other students involved were also expelled.

The lawsuit argues that state law and legal precedence require that school districts consider other measures of punishment before expulsion, and that failed to happen in this case.

According to the hearing officer's report, an administrator at the Northbrook school did not specify whether other measures were considered but said a disciplinary committee that investigated "felt it was important to send a message."

"If (the student) is allowed to return to school after serving a suspension, then other students could certainly decide that attempting to access a teacher's account to change grades is worth the risk," the report said.

The lawsuit contends that the student has not had disciplinary problems at school and that his actions caused no disruption to school operations, factors that the suit contends should have resulted in lesser punishment.

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In the hearing officer's report, however, district officials countered that "the disruption came in the form of the many work hours spent trying to find the problem and repair it. The loss of trust came in the form of attacking the academic honesty of the system.

"In other words," the report continued, "if the teachers' grades were subject to attack and could be surreptitiously changed, the entire school district would lack credibility."

The disciplinary committee did recommend that administrators consider reducing the length of the student's expulsion if he met certain conditions, such as completing an ethics or digital citizenship course and continuing his education through a private alternative school and home tutoring provided by the district.

The lawsuit states that the student's conduct, though wrong, was not "egregious," and that an expulsion will hurt his chances of getting into college.

District 225 spokeswoman Karen Geddeis said she couldn't comment about the lawsuit or on disciplinary actions taken against students, citing privacy concerns.

"The safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority, so this is something that would fall under that," she said.

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The district has also taken measures to ensure the security of its grading system.

"We do take the best preventative measures we can, but you're never dealing with absolutes with technology and security," Geddeis said.

The scheme was reported to school officials on March 23 by a student who received a screen shot from another student via Snapchat of the teacher grading system, showing the student's grade had been changed.

The mother of the student who is suing told school officials that her son tried to use the PowerSchool email only "to prove that it would not work," according to documents filed with the suit.

Tribune reporters Steve Schmadeke and Grace Wong contributed.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

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Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday was booed by Chicago State University students and their families during a commencement ceremony at the school, an outburst the governor called "negative feedback" while adding he'd "love to boo our system as well."

The university has been among those hit hardest by the ongoing state budget fight between Rauner and Democrats . The two-year impasse has left Illinois' public colleges and universities with diminished, infrequent state funding. About 400 Chicago State employees were laid off last year, which the school said was a consequence of the budget stalemate.

It also has been dogged by management troubles and financial issues that were unrelated to the state budget situation. Rauner recently helped organize a leadership shake-up.

The governor said Thursday that he attended the graduation ceremony to congratulate the students and to show support for the university's administration. When he was introduced by a Chicago State official, a chorus of boos erupted from the cap-and-gown-clad students and the audience.

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At an unrelated event later in the day, Rauner gave reporters his interpretation of the outburst.

"When I was introduced and stood up to speak, there was clapping but there was also some negative feedback," Rauner said. "And you know what, I share their frustration. This system is broken. I am totally with them. I'd love to boo our system as well. I'm not going to boo it, I'm going to change it. We're going to make it right."

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After the Chicago State event, Rauner joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a Hegewisch warehouse where an auto parts manufacturer was announcing plans to create nearly 300 jobs.

Emanuel touted the deal as part of a "renaissance" for the Far South Side community. Rauner called on the General Assembly to renew a tax credit incentive program that helped lure the auto parts maker to Chicago and which has since expired.

The encounter between the Democratic mayor and Republican governor was a rare joint appearance by the two politicians who have been at odds for months after Rauner late last year vetoed legislation that would have provided a $215 million cash infusion for Chicago Public Schools. The two were polite in their encounter. Rauner thanked the mayor for his efforts in luring the auto parts company to Chicago. Emanuel initiated a handshake with Rauner after the two participated in the ribbon cutting.

Their appearance came a day after an attempt by Senate Democrats to push a sweeping budget proposal again fell flat in Springfield. On Thursday, House Republican leader Jim Durkin moved to appoint four lawmakers to work on budget issues with four Democrats named by House Speaker Michael Madigan . Lawmakers face a budget deadline at the end of May.

Neither Rauner nor Emanuel would say when they'd last sat down to discuss the budget situation or funding for CPS. But Rauner said he had urged Emanuel Thursday to use his "influence" with Democratic lawmakers in Springfield to push through legislation that would change the way state dollars are doled out to elementary and secondary schools.

Members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity dance after commencement at Chicago State University on May 11, 2017. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

"A new funding formula will improve the funding for Chicago Public Schools," Rauner said. "The mayor should get involved in pushing to make sure that the new funding formula gets done. He has influence in the Democratic caucus. I hope he'll get involved directly. He hasn't been doing as much of that, I believe, as I would like to see."

Emanuel, for his part, said the problem was in Springfield.

"Illinois has to invest in education, and they have to also not only give all the school districts certainty  what they can't do is have a bait and switch where they say, 'Here's what we're going to do,' and then never pay their bills," Emanuel said.

kgeiger@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimgeiger
Fired FBI Director James Comey was concerned by potential evidence of collusion, reports the Wall Street Journal tonight. Comey got daily instead of weekly updates on Russia investigation three weeks ago, and had been providing updates to top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump didn't like any of this.

From the WSJ:

In the weeks before President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, a federal investigation into potential collusion between Trump associates and the Russian government was heating up, as Mr. Comey became increasingly occupied with the probe. Mr. Comey started receiving daily instead of weekly updates on the investigation, beginning at least three weeks ago, according to people with knowledge of the matter and the progress of the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe. Mr. Comey was concerned by information showing potential evidence of collusion, according to these people. White House officials said Wednesday that Mr. Trump had for months been contemplating the possibility of removing Mr. Comey, and that the dismissal this week wasn't connected to the Russian probe.

Later in the WSJ report, details on how Senate Intelligence Committee investigators became increasingly horrified by the intelligence reports they were tasked with reviewing.

Snip:

To date, the inquiry has produced no "smoking gun," these people said, but some investigators are persuaded that the evidence will show more than just casual contacts. One area of particular interest for the committee is Mr. Trump's business dealings. The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked for information from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, a division of the Treasury Department. The goal of the financial inquiry is to understand the nature of any financial ties Mr. Trump may have to foreign interests, including Russia, and to determine to what extent, if at all, Mr. Trump or his associates have investments that may be tied to the Russian government, people with knowledge of the inquiry said. There currently are 11 congressional staff working on the Senate probe, a number that some lawmakers have said publicly isn't enough to handle the voluminous intelligence reporting and leads that have been generated by the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

Comey's Firing Came As Investigators Stepped Up Russia Probe [WSJ]

FBI Director James Comey arrives for a House Judiciary hearing on "The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans' Security and Privacy" on Capitol Hill in Washington March 1, 2016. REUTERS
House Speaker Michael Madigan, shown in January 2017 in Springfield, explained his perspective on his differences with Gov. Bruce Rauner during a WGN Radio interview. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here.

Topspin

Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan contends that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is offering proposals that would "change history" by stopping government's role of encouraging better wages and standard of living.

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Madigan, speaking in a rare interview with WGN Radio's Patti Vasquez, said that's the fundamental difference in his efforts to block Rauner's agenda, which the governor has said is a prerequisite to reaching an end to the state's historic budget impasse.

The veteran House speaker offered a history lesson.

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"The Rauner proposal would say, let's change history. ... Prior to (Franklin D.) Roosevelt's election, the federal government wasn't greatly involved in the management of the economy. But when Roosevelt became the president in 1933, the federal government became very active using the Federal Reserve and the Treasury and the Congress in managing the economy," Madigan said.

"From 1933 until today, both Democratic and Republican presidents and members of the Congress have always worked to raise wages, raise the standard of living," he said.

"Here in Illinois, the Rauner proposal is: Let's change that history. Let's not have the government working to raise wages and the standard of living. Let's have the government to work and lower wages and the standard of living by bringing down the benefit level in workers' compensation, taking away the right to bargain collectively if you work for a government and if you work in the construction industry, taking away a prevailing wage. That's the proposal. And it would be a proposed change in history. I don't support it," he said.

Madigan's comments come days after he announced he would appoint some of his top lieutenants to work with Rauner "to identify areas of his agenda where compromise can be reached."

Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno called Madigan's effort a "ploy" to undermine "the progress being made in the Senate and our good-faith efforts to reach a comprehensive solution." (Rick Pearson)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will join auto parts maker Flex-N-Gate to announce the company will open a facility on the South Side. The business will serve the nearby Chicago Ford Assembly Plant, according to the mayor's office.

*Gov. Rauner's schedule wasn't available.

*The Illinois House and Senate meet.

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*U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley and Brad Schneider will host a discussion on the "ongoing crisis of opioid addiction throughout Illinois" at the Gateway Foundation in Chicago.

From the notebook

*Marijuana talk resurfaces: The Illinois medical marijuana law should be expanded to help curb opioid addiction in the state, advocates told a Senate panel Wednesday.

Illinois patients must have one of about 40 qualifying conditions to purchase medical marijuana from a licensed dispensary, ranging from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder. The law requires doctors to certify that a patient has one of these conditions without recommending marijuana.

Charles Bush-Joseph, an orthopedic surgeon at Rush University Medical Center, told senators there are thousands of patients who could either come off narcotics or reduce their dosage if granted access to medical marijuana.

A Senate committee didn't discuss a specific proposal to expand Illinois' marijuana law, so it's not set to happen soon. Lawmakers fought for years before approving the state's program in the first place and have debated expanding it before too.

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At Wednesday's hearing, Yajaira Santiago of Oak Park said medical marijuana helped her overcome an opioid addiction. She told senators that doctors prescribed her several opioids following a car accident in 2008. She then descended into addiction, saying she was often sick and in a fog, and eventually chose to detox two years later. She said now uses medical marijuana to treat her PTSD, fibromyalgia and other conditions.

"Medical cannabis has allowed me to have a presence," she said. "I can process life again. I can feel again." (Haley BeMiller)

*Pawar hosting "virtual town hall" next month: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ameya Pawar is hosting a "virtual town hall" on June 15, reflecting the Northwest Side alderman's efforts to use digital and social media for his campaign.

Pawar's team said more than 200 regional volunteers are putting together watch parties across the state. In addition, a digital support team will provide hosts with logistical and technology assistance.

Those who are interested in hosting or attending can go to watchparty.pawar2018.com. (Rick Pearson)

What we're writing

*Cullerton squeezes Republicans on elusive budget deal, rips Rauner.

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*Senate advances controversial abortion proposal toward Rauner's desk. A vote tally is available here.

*Emanuel won't say why he waited so long to reveal depth of CPS money woes.

*Cook County Board approves $380,000 settlement in alleged jail sex assault of Minnesota woman.

*And a Cook Circuit Court clerk racial discrimination lawsuit was settled for $97,500.

*Illinois Democrats want independent probe following Comey firing; Republicans want answers.

*Seven North Side aldermen vow to add affordable housing to end "legacy of exclusion."

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*Illinois Lottery director questions privatization model.

*Woman whose feet were run over by CTA bus gets $6 million settlement.

*Street sign dedicated to Blair Holt on 10-year anniversary of killing.

*Cook County OKs suburban compost plant that residents fear will bring noise, stench.

What we're reading

*FBI chief in Chicago among four interviewed for interim director of agency.

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*Missing River Forest native found safe in Montana: "Everyone is overjoyed."

*More jobless Illinoisans are giving up the search, study finds.

Follow the money

*House Speaker Michael Madigan's campaign fund reported nearly $40,000 in contributions, and his Democratic Majority fund reported about $140,000 more. The Democratic Party of Illinois, of which Madigan is chairman, reported a $10,000 contribution from Anheuser-Busch.

*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

Beyond Chicago

*Comey sought more resources for Russia probe before firing, officials say.

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*Trump's festering anger with Comey led to his firing.

*Federal government records $182.4 billion budget surplus.

*Students boo DeVos during commencement address.
NEW YORK  The Associated Press has conducted an in-depth review of its operations in Nazi Germany, concluding that the news agency acted as "forthrightly and independently as possible." But the review also found AP handled some situations inadequately.

The review was undertaken after an article published last year contended that the AP allowed Nazi propagandists to exert some influence over its news photo report in the 1930s by maintaining a photo subsidiary in Germany, registered under a restrictive Nazi press law.

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The author, historian Harriet Scharnberg, also identified AP German photographers who were drafted into or joined Nazi military propaganda units during World War II, some while still being paid by AP.

AP's review disputed Scharnberg's conclusion that the news agency was in any way complicit with the Nazi regime during the years 1933-41, when the agency was present in the country. The AP was kicked out of Germany when the United States entered World War II in December 1941.

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"We recognize that AP should have done some things differently during this period, for example protesting when AP photos were exploited by the Nazis for propaganda within Germany and refusing to employ German photographers with active political affiliations and loyalties," the report says.

"However, suggestions that AP at any point sought to help the Nazis or their heinous cause are simply wrong," it adds.

"Due in large part to the AP's aggressive reporting, the dangers of the Nazis' ambitions for domination in Europe and its brutal treatment of its opponents were revealed to the wider world."

The report spells out instances in which AP editors clashed with Nazi censors and also demanded that stronger steps be taken to keep the AP German photo service free of Nazi propaganda. It also cites AP reporting in the 1930s that alerted readers in the United States to the acts of anti-Semitism and cruelty of the Nazi regime both in words and photos.

AP Executive Editor Sally Buzbee said the AP's coverage of Nazi Germany reflected its core newsgathering principles.

"It is essential to cover tyrannical regimes and other undemocratic movements, when possible from within the borders they control, in order to accurately relay what is happening inside," she said. "That is what we do, without compromising AP's independence or standards."

"AP believes it is important to know one's own story  warts and all  and so we have re-examined the period, taking a hard look," says the report's introduction, written by John Daniszewski, AP's vice president and editor at large for standards.

The report was written by Larry Heinzerling, an adjunct assistant professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and retired AP deputy international editor, with contributions by AP investigative researcher Randy Herschaft.

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Research began more than a year ago with a review of previously unexamined AP archives. That review was then was extended to other records  including U.S. military documents, and the oral histories and personal papers of deceased employees. Scharnberg also was interviewed.

The report notes that Louis P. Lochner, the AP's Berlin bureau chief from 1928-41, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for his comprehensive coverage of the Nazi regime, including the Nazis' anti-Semitic policies and actions. A German-American and former World War I peace advocate who personally despised the Nazis, Lochner was aware that some critics back home viewed him as pro-Nazi, particularly when he was covering Nazi military victories in the first years of World War II.

Among the report's key findings for the period 1933-41:

The AP's German photo service, established as a subsidiary in 1931, provided photos to German media after Nazis took power in 1933. The Nazis quickly brought the AP German photo service and all other German media companies under the supervision of the Propaganda Ministry. While AP management insisted that its German photo service production stay neutral, German staff members faced constant pressure from Propaganda Ministry officials about the AP's photo output, "with some doing a better job of resisting Nazi demands than others."

AP's photo captions when they appeared in German media often were rewritten or published under misleading or offensive headlines. While the AP protested and fought against Nazi attempts to censor the AP itself, the review found no evidence that AP protested these abuses by pro-Nazi media. Current AP practice requires a strong response when AP customers willfully distort the meaning of AP content.

After resisting for two years, the AP in late 1935 submitted to an anti-Semitic edict that all people working in German media must be of German "Aryan" origin. AP's German photo service let go six employees considered Jewish by the Nazis, while helping them to find work elsewhere. "The AP made the difficult decision to comply because it believed it was critical for AP to remain in Germany and gather news and photos during this crucial period," the report said. With AP's aid, all of these employees emigrated and survived the Holocaust.

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AP's Berlin-based American reporters and German photographers covered the first part of World War II from 1939-41 from the German side of the battle lines. The United States had not yet entered the war but some of this coverage was criticized from within the U.S. Embassy in Berlin as channeling German official views and disinformation; AP executives in New York assessed the accusations and rejected the criticism, stating that AP reports reflected events as seen by the reporters.

A few of AP's German employees held pro-Nazi views and covered the German side of the war enthusiastically. One staff and then freelance photographer employed by the AP German service was Austrian-born Franz Roth, an ardent Nazi who traveled as a war photographer with the Waffen SS to several fronts before and after the AP's expulsion from Germany. He died as a combat photographer in 1943.

After 1939, the German government drafted several AP German photo service employees to serve with propaganda units accompanying troops to cover the fighting, requiring that the resulting photos be pooled for use by German media while their salaries still were paid by AP Germany. AP management at the time believed their photography had news value in spite of the restrictions caused by traveling with German forces.

Among the report's key findings for the period 1942-45:

With the U.S. entry into the war against Germany in December 1941, AP's American staff members were arrested and interned for five months before being deported in a prisoner exchange. The AP German picture service was seized, handed over to the German Foreign Ministry and put under control of a Waffen SS photographer, Helmut Laux. Most German former AP personnel were forced into Laux's operation; others were sent to military units.

In an arrangement reached in neutral Portugal in 1942 between Laux and the local AP correspondent, Laux's operation gathered and sent regular packets of German-censored photos from Germany and German-occupied Europe to AP's New York and London office via Lisbon. In exchange, with the knowledge and approval of U.S. wartime officials, AP sent photographs from the U.S. to neutral countries for ultimate distribution inside Germany. The exchange was approved by AP's New York headquarters and AP annual reports at the time made public that the AP was receiving photos from Nazi-German-occupied areas.

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With one known exception, the AP report says, the AP images that appeared in German publications through this arrangement during the war were unaltered by the Germans, but captions were rewritten by German propagandists to conform to official Nazi views.

According to the report, AP's management in New York considered obtaining the German photos an important way to fulfil its mission to cover the war as comprehensively as possible.

"Although the exchange necessitated dealing with the Nazi regime, it was the AP's belief then and now that the photos gave the U.S. public a much fuller picture of the war than could have been obtained otherwise," says the AP report. "That included scenes of fighting on the Russian front, the results of bombings of German cities and Germany's falling war fortunes."
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was thinking of "this Russia thing" when he decided to fire FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading the counterintelligence investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Recounting his decision to dismiss Comey, Trump told NBC News, "In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.' "

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Trump's account flatly contradicts the White House's initial account of how the president arrived at his decision, undercutting public denials by his aides that the move was influenced in any way by his growing fury with the ongoing Russia probe.

Later in the same interview, Trump said he had no intention of trying to stop or hinder the FBI's Russia probe, which is examining whether any Trump associates coordinated with Russians to influence last year's election. Trump also said he wants the probe "to be absolutely done properly."

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"I want that to be so strong and so good," Trump told NBC anchor Lester Holt. He added: "I want to get to the bottom. If Russia hacked, if Russia did anything having to do with our election, I want to know about it."

Trump's account of his decision to fire Comey - whom he denigrated as "a showboat" and "a grandstander" - exposes the explanations made over the previous 48 hours by White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, as misleading and in some cases false.

Initially, Trump aides had said the president fired Comey simply at the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wrote a memorandum detailing what he considered to be Comey's flawed handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

In media appearances, administration officials repeatedly highlighted Rosenstein's reputation of integrity and bipartisan appeal, effectively using his independence as a shield against criticism that Comey's firing was politically motivated by the president.

Officials insisted that Trump's decision was not shaped in any way by his growing fury with the Russia controversy. Trump has publicly called the ongoing probe by the FBI, as well as those in the Senate and House, "a total hoax" and "a taxpayer charade."

But Trump made clear in Thursday's interview that Russia indeed was on his mind. And he said Sessions and Rosenstein's recommendations did not prompt his decision.

"I was going to fire Comey," Trump told Holt. "Oh, I was going to fire regardless of recommendation."

The White House on Thursday struggled to explain its evolving and contradictory accounts of Trump's decision-making process.

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BREAKING: I was going to fire Comey anyway, Pres. Trump tells @LesterHoltNBC in exclusive interview at White House https://t.co/MAmo1PE1RL  NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) May 11, 2017

"Nobody was left in the dark," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy White House press secretary, insisted at Thursday's news briefing. She added, "It was a quick-moving process. We took the information we had as best we had it, and got it out to the American people as quickly as we could."

In the interview, Trump also detailed three conversations he said he had with Comey about the Russia investigation. The president said the FBI director assured him in each discussion that he was not under investigation - once at a White House dinner when Comey was seeking to remain in his post and again in two phone calls. Trump said Comey initiated one of the calls.

"I said, 'If it's possible, would you let me know am I under investigation?' He said, 'You are not under investigation,' '' Trump said.

In offering more details about an assertion he made when firing Comey on Tuesday - that Comey had repeatedly assured him he was not under investigation - the president raised new questions about his conduct toward the ongoing FBI probe into whether any Trump associates coordinated with Russia to meddle with last year's presidential election.

Trump has repeatedly criticized that investigation, calling it a waste of taxpayer money, and has denied that he has any ties to Russia.

"There's no collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians," Trump told Holt.

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Democrats have called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the matter without the threat of political interference.

In the NBC interview, Trump said Comey came to eat dinner with him at the White House. "I think he asked for the dinner. . . . And he wanted to stay at the FBI, and I said I'll, you know, consider and see what happens. . . . But we had a very nice dinner, and at that time he told me, 'You are not under investigation.' ''

The exchange as described by the president is remarkable because he said the FBI director was discussing an ongoing investigation with the president - something Justice Department policy generally prohibits - at the same time Comey was seeking assurances that he would remain in his job.

Current and former officials said Trump's description of statements by Comey is not accurate, but they declined to elaborate. Legal experts also expressed doubts about Trump's account.

"I just can't even begin to think about that comment being true,'' said Michael Greenberger, a law professor at the University of Maryland who has previously worked in the Justice Department. "It defies belief in general because of the practices of not commenting on investigations, and it would especially defy belief in the case of Comey, who prides himself on strict observance of propriety."

Greenberger noted that the implication of Trump's statement is severe - that Comey may have offered that assurance to try to ingratiate himself with the president and remain in his job. "I just have a very hard time imagining that,'' he said, though he added he also didn't think Trump simply asking that question came close to a criminal act of trying to obstruct the investigation.

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The federal law against obstruction of justice is broadly worded, but in practice, prosecutors have a high bar for bringing charges that someone "corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication'' attempted to "influence, obstruct, or impede the due administration of justice.'' Generally, such cases are brought only when prosecutors have clear evidence of the underlying motive behind a person's actions.

Sanders, the White House spokeswoman, would not provide further details about the conversations between Trump and Comey, such as when they occurred and whether all three took place after the president's Jan. 20 inauguration. She said commentary by legal experts on cable news showed there had been no conflict of interest with Trump asking the FBI director whether he was the subject of the Russia probe.

Robert Chesney, a University of Texas law professor who specializes in national security and constitutional issues, said that even assuming Trump's account is accurate, "legally speaking, I don't think that crosses any lines."

At base it is more a political issue than legal, he said. Offering a more extreme hypothetical - that Trump began firing anyone involved in the investigation - the law professor said that could come closer to obstruction of justice. But then it would be a matter for Congress to act. "Our system is designed so that impeachment is the remedy," Chesney said. "But the fact pattern you'd need is something more Nixonian."

FBI directors are appointed for 10-year terms, and Comey had been on the job less than four years. A president may fire an FBI director at any time for any reason, but it is very rare for that to happen because of the potential political blowback if the White House is perceived to be interfering with federal law enforcement work.

Comey's temporary replacement, Andrew McCabe, told senators at a hearing Thursday morning that no White House officials had tried to interfere with the Russia probe.

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In the interview, Trump said he fired Comey because he had mismanaged the FBI and was an attention-seeker.

"Look, he's a showboat, he's a grandstander," the president said. "The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago. It hasn't recovered from that."

The Washington Post's Robert Barnes contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  All but ignoring the unfurling drama over Russia and the U.S. election, President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to advance prospects for cooperation between the former Cold War foes in Syria and elsewhere in a rare Oval Office meeting with Vladimir Putin's top diplomat.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's talks with Trump were already destined to be a closely watched affair, given the dire state of U.S.-Russian relations and diplomatic wrangling going on over a Moscow-backed deal to stabilize Syria. Yet Trump's stunning decision on the eve of the meeting to fire the FBI director overseeing a Russia-related investigation injected further intrigue into Lavrov's first visit to Washington since 2013.

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Trump "raised the possibility of broader cooperation on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere," according to a White House statement.

Trump and Lavrov met in private, though both sides cast the session as a sign of ties having improved since the U.S. leader's assessment of them last month as at an "all-time low." On Wednesday, they focused on areas of budding agreement and Lavrov sought to blame the recent acrimony on former President Barack Obama.

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"The previous administration bent over backwards to undermine the solid foundation of our relations," Lavrov told reporters at the Russian Embassy after meeting Trump. "We have to start at a very low level."

In contrast, he credited Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom he met earlier in the day, with taking a "businesslike" approach that is "free from ideology," focused on reaching agreements. None were apparently reached Wednesday.

The meeting was Trump's highest level face-to-face contact with a Russian official since taking office and in itself represented modest progress. The last time Lavrov visited the American capital was before Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and intervened militarily in Syria to help President Bashar Assad  actions that fueled U.S.-Russian tensions.

The Russian diplomat steadfastly refused to weigh in on Trump's decision to fire James Comey, the former FBI director, who had been overseeing investigations of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election and possible collusion by Trump's campaign. Lavrov called it a U.S. decision, echoing Putin, who said Russia had nothing to do with Comey's dismissal.

"Was he fired? You're kidding," Lavrov said sarcastically, feigning surprise as he started his day of meetings in Washington.

Comey's dismissal escalated concerns in both parties that Trump may be trying to undermine an investigation that appears to be gaining steam. Trump insisted that wasn't the case. He said Wednesday he fired Comey because he "was not doing a good job."

Still, the overlap between the investigation and Trump's diplomatic efforts made for uncomfortable optics. Russia's Foreign Ministry tweeted a photo of Trump shaking hands with Lavrov and the Russian Embassy posted another of the president greeting another participant in the meeting: Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, a central character in various Russia-related investigations because of his contacts with several individuals close to Trump.

Lavrov chalked up the controversy to "noise" and to "false news"  invoking Trump's frequent references to the Russia allegations as "fake news."

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On Syria, where Russia has backed President Bashar Assad's forces and the U.S. has supported anti-Assad rebels, the talks appeared to indicate a slight narrowing of differences.

Russia, Turkey and Iran last week agreed on a plan for four "de-escalation zones" in the Arab country to quell a civil war that has killed some 400,000 people and contributed to global refugee and terror crises since erupting in 2011. The U.S. isn't party to the deal and has reacted cautiously, especially given its misgivings about Iran's role.

But Lavrov said he detected a U.S. willingness to participate, especially with a zone being formed in Syria's south, near the border with Israel and Jordan.

"We believe the U.S. is really interested in that," Lavrov said, acknowledged details of the plan still needed to be worked out. The zones would not cover areas where the U.S.-led coalition is fighting the Islamic State group, but enforcement and other questions remain unanswered.

In his earlier meeting with Lavrov, Tillerson emphasized the U.S. wouldn't lift sanctions on Russia related to Ukraine until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered the punishment  namely, its Crimea annexation.

Moscow wants the elimination of those and election-related sanctions imposed by Obama. Nevertheless, Lavrov struck a conciliatory tone and said Russia isn't intending to retaliate.

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"Putin doesn't want to follow the lead of those who are trying to poison our relations to the point of no return," he told reporters.

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace in Washington and AP writer Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed.
SOUTH BEND, Ind.  A federal judge says a University of Notre Dame student accused of harassing his ex-girlfriend must be allowed to take final exams despite being expelled.



U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon ruled this week in South Bend in favor of the male student's request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The judge says the exams may be given off-campus.



The South Bend Tribune reports that the university's disciplinary decision remains in place and the student can be barred from campus and this month's commencement and the student's bachelor's degree can be withheld.



Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown says university officials have no comment on the case.



The student's lawsuit said he was unfairly expelled and the school's discipline violated federal Title IX anti-gender discrimination regulations. The student is referred to as "John Doe" in court filings.

The case stems from from an incident last summer and fall in which the male student, a senior in Mendoza College of Business, made suicidal comments to a woman he was dating at the time, also a senior at ND. The couple broke up and got back together several times over this period, according to court documents.



After texting the female student about his suicidal thoughts, the female student reported the matter to Notre Dame's deputy Title IX coordinator, who invoked the school's process relating to the handling of sexual harassment because of the volume and perceived manipulative nature of the messages, according to court documents.



The two students were issued a no-contact order, but both parties violated that order, according to the court documents as reported by the South Bend Tribune.



In making his decision, Judge Simon wrote the disciplinary process against the male student was arbitrary, did not provide him reasonable notice of the allegations against him and did not include a wide enough scope regarding the communications between the couple.
Ellen Gantner, director of the Illinois Artisan Program from about 1985 to 2000. (Illinois State Museum)

Ellen Gantner had an eye for beauty and an appreciation for those who could create it, qualities she used as director of the Illinois Artisans Program from about 1985 to 2000.

"She lifted people up, to say that their artisan work was important, that what they made was important," said Elizabeth Black, who began working with and for Gantner as manager of the Illinois Artisans shop in the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago in the late 1980s. "She gave (Illinois artisans) a place to showcase their work."

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For Gantner, there was no distinction between artisan and artist. "From her I learned how to (really) see things and appreciate things," said Kasha Yankovich, who succeeded Black as the Chicago store manager. "She had this sparkle in her eyes all the time and was very determined to bring fine crafts into the forefront of art."

Gantner, 87, died of natural causes April 1 in the home of one of her daughters, Jenny Herrmann, in Shaker Heights, Ohio, according to her son Gregory. The longtime Chicago-area resident had been living in Ohio about two years.

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She was born Ellen Schmitz in Chicago, grew up in Glenview and returned to Chicago to attend high school at the since-closed Immaculata High School.

She briefly attended college to study piano, but left in 1950 to marry Robert Gantner, who survives her. She soon began raising a family that grew to seven children.

In the mid-1970s, she began volunteering with the archaeology department at Northwestern University and became involved in the work the school was doing at the Koster Site, an important archaeological dig near Kampsville in southwestern Illinois.

She became a director of the school site, her son said, spending time there each summer and at other times making presentations on the site and the work going on there to school and community groups to raise public awareness.

Through that work, she met leaders of the Illinois State Museum and through them joined what became the Illinois Artisans Program.

At the time, Black said, the shop was on the second floor of the Thompson Center. "When I began, it was called the Illinois Artists shop. When I left, it was a program."

Black said Gantner added shops in other parts of the state, including in Springfield, and what Black called a large marketplace at Rend Lake.

"She had a vision and a goal in mind, which was to be bigger and to open shops throughout the state," Black said.

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Gantner often had to work her way around the state bureaucracy. "She had so much fortitude and she could move mountains," Black said.

Black said during Gantner's time, artists were encouraged to submit slides of their work for judging for inclusion in the program and in special exhibits, often featuring a particular medium or type of art or craft, all aimed at showcasing the best Illinois artisans had to offer.

"She saw herself as the employee and the artists as bosses," Black said. "She was in service to them."

As part of that approach, Gantner would travel the state, covering a circuit that included church basements and the halls of fraternal organizations, asking artisans and crafts people to "show me what you have."

Along the way, she connected with local crafters and nationally recognized artists alike, all responding to Gantner's interest and genuine respect for their work.

Yankovich said Gantner saw art as ranging far beyond conventional paintings and sculpture.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 86 Dick Orkin, an award-winning radio advertising creator for close to a half-century who was perhaps best known for his syndicated Chickenman spoof, which aired on Chicago stations, died on Dec. 24 in California. He was 84. Read more. (Handout)

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"She had this appreciation, this historical alignment with things from wood carvings to pine needle baskets," Yankovich said. "I learned how to look at those individual crafts and appreciate the craftsmanship."

Gantner, in a video interview provided by her son, acknowledged the value of art for herself and for others.

"So, I didn't get to be a pianist," she said, "and I didn't get to be a painter or anything, but I got to do something that gave me what I needed to have, to work with artists, and I am very grateful for that."

The Illinois Artisans Program was suspended in 2015 because of a lack of funding.

Gantner also is survived by another daughter, Sarah Granados; her other sons Jim, Paul, Mark and Dan; sisters Mary Polhemus and Betsi Orr; a brother, Tom Schmitz; 21 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Services were held.

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Megan is a freelance reporter.
Chicago is experiencing an unacceptable level of violence. However, misguided proponents of Illinois Senate Bill 1657, the Gun Dealer Licensing Act, attempt to blame law-abiding gun and gun store owners for the violence instead of holding criminals accountable. The bill won't do a thing to stop this violence. What it will do is drive small business owners into bankruptcy due to mountains of red tape and fees.

Federal firearms licensees, or gun dealers, are already licensed and supervised by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF agents conduct extensive background checks and periodically audit every licensee. Most gun shops are staffed like mine: Every employee has a firearm owner's identification card and most possess a concealed carry permit. Both credentials require comprehensive background checks. Adding another level of state background checks simply wastes scarce law enforcement resources.

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Bill sponsor Sen. Don Harmon's obfuscation of "trace" data has been truly appalling. Harmon, D-Oak Park, waited for the TV cameras to announce that 17 percent of crime guns are traced to just three gun shops in Cook County. Harmon's implication is that these shops sell guns to criminals, but that's not what a trace identifies, and he should know it. Law enforcement may trace a gun because it was lost, stolen, recovered by police in a benign setting or recovered at a crime scene. The only thing a trace tells investigators is where a gun was first legally purchased. He also doesn't explain that the average time from first sale to trace is nine years, or that the overwhelming majority of Chicago's crime guns are either stolen or bought on the black market. That's because those revelations won't support his campaign to drive Illinois gun stores out of business.

Most operational requirements in SB 1657 would be determined by rules created by a five-member board. In addition to two law enforcement and one federal firearms licensee, the Gun Dealer Licensing Board is set to include a "public safety advocate" and a lawyer. The last two will probably know nothing about licensed gun retailers' operations and may even have an ax to grind.

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A careful reading of this vague legislation reveals that almost all of the standards, fees and penalties would be determined at a later date. There are no limits on new training requirements, security requirements, written exams, in-store inspections or any other potential regulations. No store would be able to survive the onslaught of a determined, anti-gun-rights board.

Security? The Des Plaines Police Department recently described my gun shop as a "fortress," and a one-size-fits-all security standard from a government board isn't going to improve that truth one bit. Moreover, if the state requires a copy of the blueprints of my shop to demonstrate compliance, then our security plans could be available to any aspiring burglar through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Gun control advocates can't point to a single line in SB 1657 that will prevent illegal firearm transfers or slow the illegal flow guns to criminals. What would make a difference? Vigorously enforce laws already on the books. Last month, a young Mount Prospect woman pleaded guilty to four gun felonies, including the unlawful transfer of firearms to known gang members and juveniles. She was sentenced to probation. No amount of regulations on law-abiding gun dealers will stop a trafficker like her. Only incarceration will.

Sen. Harmon said, " There is no evidence that the gun violence problem is being caused by law-abiding gun owners. We need to focus on the real problem, which is illegal guns getting into the wrong hands."

While the senator's diagnosis is correct, his cure is way off target. Instead of making it difficult for law-abiding gun shop owners, fully prosecute straw purchasers, felons in possession of a firearm and people who unlawfully use a weapon. Incarcerate more criminals, and you'll get less crime. Make it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, and you'll get more crime. Which goal is Sen. Harmon trying to achieve?

Dan P. Eldridge owns Maxon Shooter's Supplies & Indoor Range in Des Plaines.
At the top of Frost Hill at the Morton Arboretum is a young pine tree with long, bushy needles. It is only a few years old but already stands more than 12 feet tall.

This is Nate's tree.

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You can tell it's Nate's tree because of the small metal plate on one of its branches, marking it as a tribute tree. Tucked deep inside is an angel, which mysteriously appeared a few years ago. Hanging from another branch is a wooden sled ornament that says, "We love you."

This space is sacred.

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It's where Christy Grace, Nate's mommy, ran while she was pregnant with him. It's where some of Nate's ashes were spread after he died.

And it is where Christy Grace still runs on many Saturday mornings.

When Christy gets to the tree, she stops. Kisses her hands. She runs them across the branches, saying, "Grow big and strong and healthy, Nate's tree!"

Then she jogs around the tree several times, before continuing on her way.

Christy and her husband, Joe, met a few months before they both graduated from Indiana University. Five years later, they were married, and on December 2013, the Wheaton couple learned a baby was on the way.

And baby makes three

On a Sunday in August 2014, Joe and Christy were scheduled to check into Edward Hospital in Naperville so that Christy could be induced the next morning. But as they prepared to head to the hospital, Christy noticed the baby wasn't moving as much as he usually did.

Outside their house, neighbors were hosting a block party, and they cheered for Joe and Christy as they drove off to the hospital. Soon after they arrived, Christy was hooked up to a monitor, and doctors gave her sugar water to try to make the baby move. He didn't. Then she was connected to an oxygen mask.

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The next thing she remembers is the doctors saying they needed to perform an emergency cesarean section.

Nate didn't cry when he was delivered. He could not breathe on his own and was whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit. "I didn't even get to see him," Christy recalled. "But what I do remember is the doctors saying, 'The situation is grave.'"

Nate's life

Nate was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, or AVM. It's a condition that occurs when there is an abnormal, or tangled, connection between an artery and a vein. Researchers aren't sure what causes it, but some say the condition develops during the first 60 days of gestation. It's not always fatal. In fact, many people live for 30 or 40 years before realizing they have AVM.

But Nate's AVM was visible from the moment he was born. On the back of his neck was a bulge, which had not been detected in prenatal scans. Inside his body, the AVM caused his heart and liver to be enlarged. Most of his internal organs weren't working right. The malformation was so severe that it had bled out on both sides of his brain.

"On the surface and on ultrasounds, he looked like a perfectly healthy baby. He acted like a healthy baby," Christy said. "But almost nothing was working right. The fact that he was inside of me is what made him be active."

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Nate was transferred by ambulance to Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago, while Christy recovered at Edward. "That's when the doctors told us there was nothing they could do for him," Joe said.

It was unclear how long Nate would survive, but Christy still had not held her baby. So Comer offered to send Nate back to Edward in an ambulance.

Family time

Nate survived the trip. Finally, the new family of three was together for the first time.

Joe and Christy held Nate.

They cooed at him.

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They read to him.

They bathed him.

They tickled his toes.

They laid a baptism gown over him, made from fabric from Christy's grandmother's wedding dress, and he was baptized.

They took family pictures and videos.

Christy nursed him by dabbing his lips with a cotton swab.

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"I sang to him 'La-la-la-la-la,' and you could see his tongue move," Christy said.

Joe and Christy sat with Nate on a couch in the hospital room. As he passed, they held him. Talked to him. They told him how much they loved him, as his little body gave up.

Joe and Christy woke up on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014, expecting the happiest day of their lives. That the next time they walked into their house, they no longer would be "Joe and Christy" but instead "Joe, Christy and Nate." They thought the months that followed would be a beautiful blur of diapers, sleepless nights and spit-up. And then just like that, it wasn't.

A pain like no other

To lose a baby  it brings a unique kind of hurt. A most painful kind of hurt. The kind that leaves a hole in your heart that is never, ever filled. The hole throbs day after day. Sometimes, it is like a quiet murmur in the background. "Someone was here," the murmur reminds you. "And now they are not."

The inevitable question your brain asks is, "Why not?" And that's what makes child loss so hard.

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As many as 25 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to the March of Dimes. About 23,600 babies are stillborn every year. About 3,700 die each year of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. The chances of neonatal death, which occurs in the first month after birth, are about 1 in 250.

"This is a very different type of loss," said Sarah Allen, a Northbrook-based psychologist. "You are grieving your thoughts about the baby, rather than the baby himself, because you hadn't met the baby, or known him very long."

When a friend or family member dies, we hang on to our memories. The funny things they said, the shared experiences.

But when a baby dies, whether in utero or shortly after birth, we don't just say goodbye to the baby. Our hopes and aspirations of who we would be with this new baby die, too.

Mother's Day

The first Mother's Day after Nate died was especially difficult. It was around the time Joe and Christy started trying for another baby, and found out they weren't pregnant. Christy decided not to go to church that weekend.

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"They give flowers to the moms," she said. "I felt like it was going to be too hard."

She even stayed off Facebook, trying to avoid pictures of her friends getting Mother's Day presents or doing things she would miss out on.

Seemingly innocent conversation starters become loaded, existential questions.

Do you have any kids?

How many kids do you have?

So, is a woman still a mother after she's lost her child? Do women have to give back the title "mom" when there is no baby to show for it?

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The grief can be isolating. When a parent shares that a baby was lost, very often people say the absolute wrong things.

You'll have more.

It wasn't meant to be.

You weren't ready.

"People don't know what to say, so either they don't say anything or they may say something really silly," Allen said. "That's another reason we don't talk about it."

Another chapter

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Joe and Christy have worked hard to honor Nate, and to keep his memory alive.

They didn't pack up the nursery. The door stayed open.

In fact, Joe and Christy frequently sat in Nate's room, reading out loud "On the Night You Were Born" or books from the "Nate the Great" series.

Some of Christy's friends bought a young pine tree  the one at the Morton Arboretum.

"It gave us a place to go and talk to him," Joe said.

Then almost exactly two years after Nate died, Joe and Christy went back to Edward Hospital. But not for a memorial; they went to deliver their second son.

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Colin Noel Grace was born on Aug. 28, 2016.

One of the first baby photos of Colin says it all. Colin is wrapped in a baby blanket on the bed, with a framed photo of Nate.

"Colin is very much a little brother," Christy said. "They're my boys. We have two kids."

Leaving the hospital with Colin was surreal for Joe and Christy. His birth wasn't just the conclusion of nine months of pregnancy. It was the end to an ordeal that had lasted two years. Finally, Christy  who had been a mommy for more than two years  would go home with a baby.

Colin has brought Joe and Christy an amazing happiness. At 8 months old, he is so curious. He sits up on his own. He likes being held up by his arms and trying to walk. He loves being in constant motion.

And he will grow up knowing about his big brother, Nate.

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"Nate is our son. He will always be our son," Christy said. "He is the one who made me a mom."

Diana Sroka Rickert is a Chicago-area freelance writer.
As one of three assistant special prosecutors who tried Watergate's obstruction of justice case, I know obstruction when I see it.

And President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey  days after Comey asked for more money and resources for the bureau's investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government  is obstruction on the magnitude of Watergate. It is comparable to the smoking gun tape that revealed the first step in the Watergate cover-up  an attempt by President Richard Nixon and his top aides to use the CIA to stop the FBI investigation before it uncovered the link between the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the White House and Nixon's campaign. They had planned to use false claims that the FBI investigation would interfere with national security.

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My advice to today's FBI: Don't quit now.

Comey was clearly wrong to go public about an ongoing investigation (especially just days before Election Day), to offer his opinion of whether there was a prosecutable offense and to seemingly treat the Trump investigation more favorably than Clinton's. Firing Comey now is a threat to democracy.

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The misconduct accusations being used as justification for firing Comey occurred before the Nov. 8 election, when then-candidate Trump heaped praise on Comey. Now Trump views Comey's alleged misconduct as a reason to fire him. Of course, Trump's praise came at a time when, as a candidate, he was the beneficiary  not the target  of Comey's extraordinary violation of the rules governing every prosecutor and FBI agent. The timing of the firing invites no conclusion but that it is an interference with an investigation that implicates the man doing the firing.

During Watergate, the question was "What did the president know and when did he know it?" Today, the question is "Why now?" Comey was serving a 10-year term and, while he clearly misbehaved before the election, firing him in the midst of his supervising an investigation potentially implicating Trump and his aides makes the stated reasons for the termination unbelievable.

The only believable explanation for the firing is that the FBI investigation is getting somewhere and poses a threat to Trump.

Interference by the president in an investigation that could possibly implicate him is an obstruction of justice, a cover-up and a violation of his constitutional duties. It is an abuse of presidential power and just one of many parallels between Trump and Nixon. It must be seen for what it is: an impeachable offense.

Comey's firing, especially combined with Trump's previous dismissal of acting Attorney General Sally Yates, is as bad as the events of the Saturday Night Massacre, when Nixon fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and accepted the resignations of Attorney General Elliott Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, whose courage in standing up to Nixon should be applauded and replicated. Those who supported Nixon ended up in jail.

Could firing Comey be one brazen act too many, the one that will turn the public against Trump like the Saturday Night Massacre did to Nixon? Three days after Nixon refused to comply with a court order to turn over the tapes of his White House conversations about Watergate and firing Cox, the public outcry was so overwhelming that he was forced to reverse course, turn over the tapes and appoint a new special prosecutor.

Like Comey, I was out of town when the news broke. I was in New York and received a phone message from a colleague informing me that the FBI had seized our offices and files and that it was possible that I and all the other assistant Watergate prosecutors had been fired. I returned immediately to Washington to participate in the discussion of whether we should quit in protest if we hadn't been fired. Cox wisely advised us that we knew the evidence better than anyone and that if we hadn't been fired, we should stay and see the case through. If any FBI agents are considering quitting in protest of President Trump's brazenly political act, they shouldn't  unless and until Trump puts in place a new FBI director who is unambiguously beholden to him and if that new director interferes with the investigation.

We should all hope for the appointment of a special prosecutor who is as ethical and independent as Cox was.

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FBI agents must continue to do their best to uncover the truth about any wrongdoing in the White House. They cannot quit now.

Jill Wine-Banks, a former assistant Watergate special prosecutor, lives in Evanston.

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Sean Spicer, have you no decency?
A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows US President Donald J. Trump (L) posing with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) during their meeting in the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 2017. (RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY HANDOUT / EPA)

Sergei Lavrov's official job is foreign minister of Russia, but his visit to Washington Wednesday won't be remembered for any diplomatic breakthrough  just for Lavrov's dripping irony and skill at provoking adversaries. Lavrov's style, which mirrors that of his boss, Vladimir Putin, is often criticized as unfit for a diplomat. But I'd argue that Lavrov knows exactly what he's doing and that the medium is the message here.

In Washington, Lavrov feigned astonishment for a U.S. reporter who asked about Tuesday's firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey: "Was he fired? You're kidding! You're kidding!" The Russian foreign ministry gleefully tweeted out the video.

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He also smuggled a photographer from the state-owned news agency, TASS, into his meeting with President Donald Trump as his official photographer. TASS immediately published photos of Trump beaming at his Russian visitors, Lavrov and Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, who are obviously delighted by the reception. With the U.S. press kept out, these happy photos from their Russian propaganda source created an uproar.

Sarcasm, provocation, a desire to throw interlocutors off balance always bubble just below the surface of Lavrov's communications. He regularly stuns Western conversation partners with crude or offensive comments.

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At a recent meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization ministers, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson quipped, "You cannot tango with Lavrov because he's not allowed to dance that one." He meant that President Vladimir Putin determined policy in Russia and Lavrov wouldn't be authorized to make deals. "My mother used to tell me: Always be a good boy, don't ever dance with other boys," the Russian foreign minister responded.

In this, Lavrov's style mirrors that of his boss. In 2006, Putin memorably told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to say hi to then-President Moshe Katsav, accused of raping and sexually harassing women: "He turned out to be a strong man, raped 10 women. I never would have expected it of him. He has surprised us all, we all envy him." The Kremlin, whose communication was a little more self-conscious back then, had to explain that Putin didn't condone rape and that his words were meant as a hard-to-translate joke.

Putin's crude jokes are often written off as a product of his childhood on the streets of St. Petersburg. He's only as polished as an intelligence officer who served in the former East Germany needed to be. Lavrov, however, is a highly professional diplomat. He knows the protocol, speaks three languages besides Russian, and is sophisticated in his tastes and interests. Even his verse, while not touched by genius, is competent and far less embarrassing than the poetic efforts of many other Russian officials.

Lavrov knows well how his remarks sound to Western ears. He is also aware that sarcasm and taunts are often considered unprofessional and seen as a sign of bad manners in the English-speaking world, especially in the U.S. And yet he keeps saying things that would have gotten any Western diplomat fired, playing out barbed comedy routines and engaging in practical jokes worthy of a college student.

His style is the message: Russians won't play by others' rules, it says. But this isn't about touting Russia's size and its nuclear arsenal; it's more of a mischievous enticement, a dare.

Putin's Russia has allied itself with Western populist forces, whose stand against political correctness and the constant self-censorship that comes with it constitutes a strong voter appeal. During the election campaign in the U.S. last year, I was told many times that Trump's penchant for uncensored speech was his most attractive quality. The Dutch say the same of Geert Wilders, the French of Marine Le Pen. The freedom to say whatever one wants without wondering if it could be construed as misogynist, racist, homophobic or offensive in a myriad other ways is, to many voters, a bonus.

Post-Soviet Russians have relished their freedom to say whatever they want, to be sarcastic, crude and informal, to be provocative and thus project confidence. Cursing in the workplace, a lack of respect for propriety and protocol, an absence of linguistic and ideological constraints were prizes to a society that had just cast off the Communist straitjacket.

In his 2014 book, "After Newspeak: Language Culture and Politics in Russia from Gorbachev to Putin," Michael Gorham wrote,

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"One obvious reason for post-Soviet reticence toward Western notions of political correctness is that the Soviet era featured a state-sponsored form of PC that was both ubiquitous and hypertrophied. The well-documented cliched, wooden language of official speeches, documents and newspapers assumed such a degree of dominance that it came to symbolize in the Gorbachev-era revolts against that system, all that was wrong with it."

In recent years, a backlash to this unfettered freedom has developed in Russia. The advent of a Western corporate culture and many intellectuals' admiration of sanitized Western discourse have constituted one line of attack. Russian Orthodox conservatives attacked from the opposite flank. Stringent laws weed out previously copious profanity from film and theatre. Religion has become a dangerous conversation subject. Public discourse has turned more staid.

Lavrov has fun making his pitch for a politically incorrect Russia  the Russian embassy in the U.K. put up a photo of Darth Vader taking a selfie with the sardonic caption "Come to our side  follow us on twitter on #StarWarsDay"  and it's having an effect. Trolled by official Russian accounts, Western diplomats have started responding in kind.

New kinds of political correctness are developing in Russia, both on the pro-Putin and the anti-Putin side. Yet for export, so to speak, Lavrov is still able to offer Russia's post-Soviet spontaneity and contempt for rules. What other foreign minister would allow his department's hotline to play an English-language answering machine message asking callers to press three for election interference? Lavrov can; that's his way of selling Russia as a freer country than its Western adversaries.

My big problem with Lavrov isn't that he's eccentric and prone to stretching the limits of propriety in the early post-Soviet style. It's that this display of inner freedom is disingenuous and cynical. The policy behind this facade is one of lies and ruthlessness. It's hard to enjoy Lavrov's sense of humor with that in mind.

Bloomberg View

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Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.

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The BBC reports a quick outcome to a televised bout fought between Xu Xiaodong, a practitioner of modern mixed martial arts, and Wei Lei, a Tai Chi master. It was over in a few seconds, with a few more of the traditionalist, hopelessly outmatched, shielding himself on the ground.

Millions of people have since watched video footage of the competition, and it has triggered a huge discussion in China on whether traditional martial arts  or wushu  can ever truly be effective in combat. Tai chi is now associated by many with older people, who use the series of movements to improve posture and release stress and anxiety. They can often be seen in Chinese public parks in the morning, slowly stretching out their arms. But it has been part of Chinese martial arts culture since the 16th Century. Films and TV dramas have historically portrayed martial arts masters as great heroes in conflict, with almost supernatural strength.

Here's the infamous video of Aikido master and telekineticist Yanagi Ryuken, whose (partially apocryphal) $5000 challenge to fight anyone was taken up by an MMA fighter.

The website Bullshido focuses mostly on Westerners exploiting Asian concepts to sell quack fighting techniques to Americans, and has many amusing don't-read-the-comments videos of them at work. The resemblance to Christian revival shows is often uncanny.
These handguns were being processed as potential evidence in the gun storage vault in the Chicago Police Department's Homan Square facility on Jan. 26, 2017. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

"Let's face it: If you had an organization, and your enforcers were your best people to get done what you wanted to do, wouldn't you spend every resource you had to keep them out? Well, gangs, they're not stupid. They need these shooters out on the street, because that's what they do. They shoot people."

 Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson

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Chicago's top cop says he'd like to see changes in state law to make it easier to keep people charged with gun crimes in jail while awaiting trial. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is pushing a bill, sponsored by state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, that would accomplish that. The Senate passed the bill unanimously last week. House members should have zero reservations about doing the same.

Dart and Johnson are frustrated with a phenomenon documented earlier this year by Tribune reporters Todd Lighty, David Heinzmann and Jason Grotto (chicagotribune.com/bond. A spike in violent crime since 2012 was matched by a spike in the bonds set for those accused of gun crimes  but those defendants bonded out faster.

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The median bond set by judges in felony gun cases doubled, from $25,000 in 2012 to $50,000 in 2016. But the average jail stay for those defendants fell from 42 days to 18 days.

One in 10 who bonded out on gun charges were later arrested on another serious charge and then released on bond again.

On Monday, a Tribune story (chicagotribune.com/witness) underscored the consequences of those trends. Comfort Robinson, a career criminal and gangbanger, was awaiting trial on a gun charge that could send him to prison for 30 years. Michael Smith, a security guard who lived in suburban Brookfield, was scheduled to testify against him. While out on bond, Robinson arranged to have Smith killed, paying a rival gang member $10,000 for the hit, according to prosecutors.

Robinson was arrested but was able to bond out again because prosecutors couldn't persuade a judge to hold him without bail. Prosecutors sought another hearing, and a different judge agreed that the circumstances  the killing of a witness, allegedly ordered by a defendant with a dozen convictions, including four on firearms charges  justified holding him without bail.

Cunningham's bill helps clarify which offenses could warrant a denial of bail. Violent felons, gang members charged with gun possession and armed habitual criminals arrested on new gun charges all could be held without bail if a judge determined after a hearing that they posed a "real and present threat" to public safety.

Bail is typically a reflection of the seriousness of the alleged crime. But the higher bonds required since 2012 haven't presented much hardship for the gang leaders who bail out their hit men. One reason: Chicago cops are making fewer arrests, leaving gangs with plenty of drug money on hand and fewer members in need of bail money.

To state the obvious: Keeping repeat gun offenders locked up by denying them bail  or by handing them stiffer sentences once convicted, as another important bill would do  will protect us only from the ones who are arrested. We've heard the theories behind the decline in arrests: Police are making fewer street stops because of burdensome paperwork required in an agreement with the ACLU. They worry that proactive policing could cost them their jobs or worse in what they perceive as an anti-police climate, as a white Chicago cop awaits trial on a murder charge for shooting a black teenager in 2014.

So violent crime is up and arrests are down. Turning that around is Johnson's challenge.

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The flip side to the bond madness is that Cook County Jail is full of inmates charged with nonviolent crimes who can't afford a three-digit cash bail. They're stuck behind bars, awaiting a court date, for months and even years  at taxpayer expense. Many of them spend far more time in jail than the sentence they're eventually handed. All because they don't have money.

While shoplifters languish in jail, the most dangerous defendants are sprung by their dangerous friends so they can commit more crimes. In, out, repeat.

Interrupting that cycle won't end the bloodbath. But it's a start.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.

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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.
The Tribune editorial about increasing danger from Chicago gang gun violence is powerful and timely, but you omit a critical preventive action that Illinois can undertake right now.

Yes, we need the expansion of background checks to every gun sale in every state. Yes, we should consider stiffer penalties for people carrying dangerous long guns. But right now our Illinois House needs to finish the job that the Senate started and pass the Gun Dealer Licensing Act.

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Will allowing the state to regulate dealers prevent all guns from getting in criminal hands? Of course not. But allowing the state to require dealers to improve security measures will help prevent gun theft and burglary. Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stated that since 2012, the earliest year for which data are available, burglaries from licensed dealers have increased by 48 percent, and the number of guns stolen during these burglaries increased by 73 percent. Requiring dealers to train all employees on how to identify potential straw purchasers will also reduce that path of guns getting into the illegal market.

This bill in no way infringes on Second Amendment rights of gun owners, and it imposes no regulations on dealers that they should not already be practicing. I call on all Illinois representatives to vote yes the Gun Dealer Licensing Act.

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 Eileen G. Soderstrom, Chicago
FBI Director James Comey should have been fired when he first came out to give his speech about the Hillary Clinton investigation, clearing her of improper email handling. The head of the FBI only turns over investigation findings. He is not the prosecutor; that is the U.S. attorney general. Loretta Lynch, the attorney general at the time, said she would accept the recommendation of the FBI, since she'd had a private meeting with Bill Clinton. She should have had the deputy attorney general release the findings.

So a rogue FBI director decides to step up and do the function of the attorney general, which was not his purview. He should have been fired by President Barack Obama for overstepping his authority, but the Obama administration would have had had added/jm similar charges leveled by the media of meddling to help Clinton.

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Here we sit. Had Trump fired Comey day one in office, he would still be labeled "Nixonian." Yet the attorney general's office has the authority to recommend that the president fire the FBI director for cause, and again, we saw misstatements by Comey in the May 3 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Last November, voters chose Trump to be president and run the country, not Comey.

 Ken Nelson, Chicago
The fact that Illinois has still not stepped in to provide adequate funding for Chicago students is shameful. Yet, the idea that City Hall should rush forward with a makeshift solution for a Chicago Public Schools budget deficit betrays the best interests of our children.

Any suggestion that this be done is disconcerting and calls to mind an old Yiddish proverb. It goes something like this: Why ruin perfectly good questions with an answer? We saw evidence of this last week in the rushed passage in the U.S. House of the Republican American Health Care Act without any cost-analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. Quick answers dangerously shut down the most pertinent questions and conversation. In contrast, real solutions demand them. As frustrating and unpopular as it may be, solving tough problems often takes time, inquiry and difficult trade-offs, not rushed decisions.

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Because we can't sacrifice today's children for tomorrow or tomorrow's children for today, because state officials  who made decades of inexcusable pension decisions  and the current governor have forsaken Illinois' most needy students, there's no perfect answer. Budget cuts hurt our students short-term, expensive borrowing hurts them long-term. Both, sadly, have to be considered now.

Finding a working balance has brought criticism from both sides of the political aisle, but it remains the courageous and right thing to do. Despite our financial challenges, under our current mayor, Chicago students have made amazing strides in math and reading and their graduation rates continue to rise. Let's be careful not to shoot a diligent messenger and instead work at solving this tough problem patiently, honestly and together.

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 Alana G. Baum, Ph.D., Chicago
Another weekend, another crop of fests ready to be enjoyed. Get outside and get some fresh air, food truck grub and handmade goods. Or support local up-and-coming artists while you groove out to student bands and DJs. Best case scenario, you get to do all three.

Columbia College Manifest

When: May 12

Where: South Loop, 600 S. Michigan Ave.

How much: Free

The skinny: Support the next crop of rising Chicago artists at Columbia College Manifest. Head to the festival to encourage the current student body of Columbia and enjoy gallery exhibitions, fashion shows and readings, all curated by the students themselves. You can also boogie to musical performances by student bands and DJs. And no, you don't need to be a Columbia student to enjoythe fest is free and open to the public.

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Lincoln Park Zoo Food Truck Social

When: May 13

Where: Lincoln Park Zoo

How much: $10 ($8 for zoo members)

The skinny: Grab a meal on wheels while also enjoying the zoo after hours. Vendors include Carnivale, Eataly, Jerk, Harold's Chicken, Pierogi Wagon, Cupcakes for Courage and other Chicago staples, all in one location. Make sure to bring your wildest appetite.

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago Pop-Up

When: May 13-14

Where: Pilsen, 2000 S. Halsted St.

How much: Free

The skinny: Celebrate Renegade's 15th year in Chicago by heading to Pilsen for this outdoor street festival featuring "all things handmade." RCF's pop-up will feature an eclectic group of local artisans and craftspeople showcasing their collections of handmade and one-of-a-kind merchandise from jewelry, clothing, art and ceramics. The festival will also feature Half Acre Beer, workshops, food trucks and DJ sets.

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@shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com

Want even more fests? Check out our ultimate guide to 135+ Chicago summer festivals.
In a small clearing where Anthony Moore crashed May 3 in Aurora, family and friends have been leaving messages and items at a memorial. (The Beacon-News / Hannah Leone)

Friday would have been Anthony Moore's 30th birthday. Instead, his family is having memorial services for him at a church on Aurora's East Side.

Moore died after crashing into a tree May 3 on the city's West Side, a late night event police said they are still investigating.

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A viewing and wake from 10 to 11 a.m. at New Community Baptist Church will be followed by services from 11 a.m. to noon at the church, 900 E. New York St. He will be buried at River Hill Memorial Cemetery at 1650 River St. in Batavia, said Moore's aunt, Brenda Handley.

After the burial, family and friends will gather at Prisco Community Center in Aurora, and the community is invited, Handley said.

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Handley said the family is thankful for the support they have received since Moore's death last week.

"We appreciate what people have done and said," Handley said.

Moore left behind a fiancee and two young children who he loved more than anything, said his mother, Cheryl Moore, describing her late son as smart, helpful and talented.

Handley and Cheryl Moore said Anthony left a relative's birthday party shortly before 11 the night he crashed, and the family is determined to get answers about what happened.

Police said Moore, 29, of the 1900 block of Fescue Drive in Aurora, had a loaded 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine inside the car when he crashed, but declined to specify where they found the gun.

Moore was westbound on Kenilworth Place at 11:05 p.m. May 3 in a 2017 Nissan Murano SUV, allegedly driving "at a high rate of speed" with no other people in the car, police said in a statement posted on Facebook. The SUV struck a tree about 60 feet off the road, near where Kenilworth dead ends west of Kingsway Drive, the statement read. Police said it is unknown what caused Moore to crash.

While no one reported seeing the crash, a resident in the 2000 block of Kenilworth heard it, broke the SUV's windows in an attempt to help and found Moore inside just before first responders arrived, police said.

Amie Riggs said Moore was breathing when she and her partner found him, and that she called 911 and prayed with him until police got there.

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It helps knowing someone was trying to comfort her son in his last moments, Cheryl Moore said.

"That's the best thing of all, to know she was there and that she prayed for him," Moore said.

Anthony Moore was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:29 p.m., police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said. Ferrelli said paramedics treated him unsuccessfully, but did not elaborate on what they did.

Police said they don't know why Moore was driving in the area or if he had been chased by someone in another vehicle, and have not determined whether drugs or alcohol were a factor.

Preliminary autopsy results indicate Moore died of blunt force trauma from the crash, which caused head and internal injuries, Kane County Coroner Rob Russell said.

Toxicology samples were taken, and those results are pending, Russell said.

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An intersection camera in the area apparently was working but did not capture any activity related to the crash, Ferrelli said in an email.

"We continue to ask anyone with information to come forward," Ferrelli said.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
A Somali-American community has been struck with an outbreak of the measles in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Dr. Mahab Ururshe struggles to convince recent emigres that austism is not a result of the vaccine.

Via ABC:

Dr. Mahab Ururshe, a pediatrician at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, is originally from Somalia and says he still sees many parents afraid of vaccines, even though numerous studies have shown no link between autism and vaccines.

The parents say, "I know measles, I have had it and my mom had it  better to have measles than autism," Ururshe told ABC News.

In order to convince some parents that vaccines are safe, Ururshe has spent long periods of time explaining that studies have found no link between vaccines and autism. He also has to point out that the disease can be deadly and that, in Somalia, there was no accurate data compiled about measles complications.

Severe complications from measles include pneumonia and inflammation of the brain and a condition called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) that is fatal and more common in infants, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates one to two of every 1,000 infected children dies from the disease.

Ururshe also tells parents that despite dramatically lowered rates of vaccination in the Somali community in recent years, rates of autism have continued to rise. While parents often believe him, Ururshe said some remain too frightened to act.

"They say 'OK, I know they think it doesn't cause it,'" Ururshe recalled. "[But] I cannot gamble on my son or daughter.'"

While the overall vaccination compliance rate for Minnesota kindergartners is around 90 percent, it is only about 40 percent in the Somali community, according to Kris Ehresmann, director for infectious disease at the Minnesota Department of Health. Ehresmann said with such low levels of vaccination, public health officials have been worried about an outbreak for some time.

"We've known it's going to be a matter of time before something happens," she told ABC News in an earlier interview.
An Aurora man accused of driving drunk with guns in his car during a weekend police chase was booked in jail Wednesday, with bail set at $100,000.

Fernando Morales, 34, of the 1900 block of Heather Drive, is charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol on a suspended or revoked license, aggravated fleeing a police officer driving at least 21 miles an hour over the limit, and driving while his license was suspended or revoked for a prior DUI, all class 4 felonies, according to Kane County court records.

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Morales crashed a 2015 Ford Expedition into a guard rail at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday while speeding away from an Aurora police officer who was pursuing him, according to a statement the police department posted on Facebook.

The event began at a gas station on the 400 block of South Lincolnway, where North Aurora officers took a report of an assault that allegedly involved the drive of the Ford Expedition, according to the statement.

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An Aurora police officer responding to the gas station to help the other department first tried to stop the Expedition, police said in the statement.

About a minute later, another Aurora officer saw the SUV traveling "at a high rate of speed" near Indian Trail and Aurora Avenue, police said.

The second officer pursued the Expedition northbound on Mitchell, reaching speeds of about 75 miles per hour, until the Expedition struck a guard rail on Mitchell just south of Konen Avenue and stopped, police said.

Police said they found a loaded .40 caliber handgun and an unloaded .380 caliber gun while searching the car.

The driver, Morales, sustained minor injuries that were treated at an Aurora hospital, while his only passenger, a 37-year-old woman, declined medical treatment, police said. She was released without charges.

In addition to the felonies, Morales was charged with speeding 40 miles per hour or more over the limit, a class A misdemeanor.

Pending further investigation, police said additional charges may be filed.

Police have not responded to questions sent Wednesday morning seeking further information.

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Morales had been wanted out of Kendall County for allegedly driving on a revoked license, according to police. Court records show Oswego police ticketed him in July 2016 for driving on a revoked license and released him on a personal recognizance bond.

Records show Morales has a long criminal history in Illinois, including prison sentences for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in 2005 in Will County and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in 2010 in Kane County, an Aurora police case.

He is scheduled to appear May 19 in Courtroom 311 at the Kane County Judicial Center.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Kurt Johnson has filed a lawsuit claiming Kane County authorities are getting in the way of him rebuilding his life after spending nearly 20 years in prison for murder.

Johnson, 54, of Oswego, accused Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon, Kane County Sheriff Don Kramer and a county GPS monitoring officer of conspiring to keep him locked up while on parole for a 1993 murder conviction out of Will County. He received a 38-year prison sentence and, based on sentencing laws at the time, served half of that term before being paroled in 2012.

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The lawsuit claims the Kane County officials are involved in "false allegations" and "malicious" prosecutions.

According to court records, Johnson was charged in 2013 with stalking a woman who worked as a dancer at Blackjacks Gentlemen's Club near Elgin. He is alleged to have caused the woman emotional distress and to fear for her safety when he waited for her outside the club and on a nearby road, after being kicked out of the establishment in January 2013, charging documents and other records state. He was also charged with trespassing at Blackjacks. The case remains pending.

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In 2015, while free on bail and under GPS monitoring, Johnson was charged with threatening an officer as she worked on the equipment used to keep track of Johnson's whereabouts, documents show. Johnson allegedly said he had killed someone once and wasn't afraid to do it again, which prompted the GPS officer to contact prosecutors, court records state. Johnson was acquitted last year of two counts of threatening a public official in that case.

Johnson's lawsuit suggests McMahon's office and others went out of their way to trump up allegations in both matters, which caused Johnson to spend tens of thousands of dollars to post bond and pay for legal fees  all in an effort to send him back to prison on a violation of parole in the murder case. Johnson denies stalking the dancer, claiming instead he had "compassion" for her troubled situation and started a relationship with her that was "consensual and was both facilitated and encouraged" by the woman, the lawsuit states.

In that case, sheriff's deputies arrested Johnson because he "had previously been convicted of homicide" and, for that reason, "maliciously prejudged him and took him into custody," according to the lawsuit.

Johnson's attorney, Ted Diamantopoulos, said it's wrong for Johnson to be "deprived of the opportunity to be a contributing member of society" by the actions of Kane County officials.

"Authorities shouldn't intentionally make it harder for societal re-entries to find their way back into the community. We have to give re-entries a pathway to normalcy if we are to be true to our communal ideals," Diamantopoulos said in an email. "Mr. Johnson is hypermotivated to display his respect for the law."

Officials with the sheriff's office and state's attorney's office said they cannot comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit is scheduled for a July hearing.

Johnson does remain on parole until 2018 for an unrelated conviction for unlawful use of a weapon in DuPage County in 2016. He was charged there in February 2015 after being found with a switchblade knife while stopped on the side of a road. That arrest occurred while free on bond in the stalking case, records show.

Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
Yorkville has agreed to a $700,000 tax incentive to help a developer build a hotel and banquet facility in the city.

The Yorkville City Council unanimously approved a development agreement as well as the incentive for the multi-story hotel proposed to be built north of Route 34 on the west side of Route 47.

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Kendall Hospitality, LLC is looking to build a four-story, 90-room hotel with a 12,000-square-foot banquet facility on a main lot within Kendall Crossing, which is anchored by NCG Yorkville Cinemas.

Last month the City Council approved a resolution that allowed the developer to apply for tax increment financing funds. Kendall Crossing is within a tax increment district.

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Under a TIF district, the property tax amount that is collected annually and distributed to various taxing bodies is essentially frozen when the district is created.

As property values increase over time with development, the additional tax dollars are placed into a village fund to help finance infrastructure and public improvements within the district.

According to the development agreement, Yorkville agrees to reimburse the developer $700,000 for a portion of the cost of acquisition of the property where the hotel will be built.

The developer will be responsible for acquiring the property before July 1 and beginning construction before Dec. 31. The project would need to be completed before Dec. 31, 2019, according to the agreement.

Upon opening the facility, the city would be responsible for paying the developer $700,000 in TIF proceeds.

City Administrator Bart Olson said the city has options to finance the TIF proceeds. He said since the earliest the hotel can open is mid-2018, the city would have time to analyze the budget and determine whether borrowing internally or externally is necessary.

He said the city TIF fund currently has a modest surplus. However, they expect it will have a negative fund balance in 2018 due to limited development. Eventually the project will infuse proceeds back into the TIF district, created in 2005 as part of the former Countryside commercial development, he said. The life of the TIF district goes through 2028.

"On the revenue side, we would conservatively expect the hotel and banquet facility to generate $1.5 million back into the TIF over the remaining life of the TIF. That figure would go to offset the $700,000 expenditure associated with the development agreement for the hotel and the ongoing TIF negative fund balance of the Countryside TIF fund."

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City officials said the brand of the hotel has not yet been finalized, as the developer is in the process of receiving approval from a parent company for a franchise.

The banquet facility also does not as yet have a brand.

They said the banquet hall would be modeled both in operation and size after the top banquet facilities in the Chicago region.

Sonny Shah, of Kendall Hospitality, said he has been in the hospitality business for about 30 years.

"We are excited to be in Yorkville," Shah said.

Shah said he owns an independent hotel in Gurnee and a Country Inn and Suites in Bensenville and is building a Holiday Inn Express in Bensenville.

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"We plan to build a state-of-the-art banquet facility which we expect will do very well. There is nothing like this in this area," he said.

Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin (left) celebrates as city Communications Director Clayton Muhammad introduces him during the inauguration ceremony Tuesday night at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)

Although I put the call in early Wednesday morning, I did not didn't expect to get such a quick response from Richard Irvin his first day on the job.

But the new mayor of Aurora, sworn in only hours earlier the previous evening, was in the car on his way to Springfield to meet with legislators, and let them know there's a new sheriff in town and it's imperative the voice of the state's second largest city be heard loud and clear.

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"It's about mending fences and building relationships," he said of his plans to meet Wednesday both individually and in lunch and dinner groups with state lawmakers about how the budget crisis is affecting residents here.

There was no doubt Irvin was still feeling the adrenaline rush from taking the oath of office before an energized and unprecedented Paramount Theatre crowd of around 1,400 people, by far the largest to ever to witness the inauguration of a new mayor and City Council.

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Irvin was on medication in his fight against "a terrible cold," he said, which probably partly explained the lack of animation I noticed during the council meeting held on the Paramount stage and the swearing-in of five returning alderman and the 10th Ward's newly-elected Judd Lofchie.

Irvin's additional reasoning for the poker face: While the enormity of the job ahead "had not yet sunk in," as he looked out into the audience, which spilled from the main floor into the theater's balcony, "I felt like it was an out of body experience," he said.

"This has been my goal for so long and it was unreal  and very humbling."

New Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin is beginning to settle into office after being inaugurated Tuesday evening. (Steve Johnston / The Beacon-News)

While Irvin may have been less than animated early in the evening, that all changed when he stepped to the podium after being sworn in as Aurora's 59th mayor. The passionate rhetoric of the city's first African-American mayor  raised by a single mother in public housing who went on to become a combat veteran, attorney and alderman  reverberated like a Gospel revival within the ornate walls and ceilings of the old theater, moving more than a few to tears, especially when he talked about his 100-year-old great-aunt Dickie (Irene Turner)  who stood proudly and with no assistance on that stage with other family members.

"From her is who I get my strength," he said of the Irvin matriarch who, at one time was not allowed to ride at the front of the bus and who has seen so much change in her lifetime.

"This is your victory as much as it is mine."

Irvin admitted later he took his cue from the energy in the room. And when he declared at the beginning and conclusion of his speech "I am Richard C. Irvin and I am the mayor of Aurora," he said he was speaking not to the identity of one man but as the voice of a proud and united city.

"We must change our mindset," he declared. "We are one. One Aurora."

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There were certainly plenty of unique moments during the evening. Long-time 7th Ward Alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns, perhaps because she's been through this so many times and because she was standing on the set of the Paramount's soulful "Jesus Christ Super Star," gave what had to be one of the most entertaining oaths of office I've ever heard, only to be upstaged by "Team Bugg," 9th Ward Alderman Edward Bugg's adorable youngsters who hammed it up while their dad gave his speech after being sworn in for his second term.

And kudos have to also go to a couple of impressive musical performances. West Aurora School District Director of Community Affairs Tony Martinez, whose encore performance of "I Believe I Can Fly" he sang 14 years ago as a teen on that same stage during an "Aurora Idol" performance, was nothing short of outstanding. And it's hard to find words to describe the talents of international pianist Huntley Brown, who the following day was flying to Washington, D.C., to perform at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and bringing together more than 150 religious leaders from around the world, in addition to featured speaker Vice President Mike Pence.

The real star of the evening, of course, was Irvin, whose themes of diversity and unity intersected throughout the night, perhaps most poignantly when half a dozen clergy representing a variety of religions took part in the invocation.

"I always knew this was a diverse city," Irvin said. "But this election opened my eyes and helped me to recognize that diversity even more and to appreciate it. This is what Aurora looks like."

Even though "the love and acceptance" he felt in that theater energized him, Irvin said he was home by 9:30 p.m. Tuesday because of his cold and the next day's road schedule.

His trip to Springfield, he told me Thursday morning, "went very well." Irvin met with Gov. Bruce Rauner, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Illinois Senate and House leaders on both sides of the aisle, he said, "to let them know that Aurora is in the house" and that "we want to be a regional leader."

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Aurora's new mayor, who is in a position to become one of the most influential African-Americans in the state, also testified at a committee meeting, along with state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia  also his former primary opponent  on extension of the RiverEdge tax credit program.

Irvin's head cold sounded worse, but there was no time for rest. He was on his way back to Aurora for an afternoon appointment with his transition team. And Friday morning, he was scheduled to meet with Amazon, which will be opening two distribution centers in the city; then later that morning he'd likely begin moving pictures and personal items from his law office into that third floor office in City Hall he's dreamed of occupying for so many years.

Richard C. Irvin is, indeed, the mayor of Aurora. And now, he said, "the work begins."

Dcrosby@tribpub.com
The three pigs will be on center state when The Center in Palos Park hosts its Barn to be Wild fundraiser Saturday and Sunday at The Children's Farm, 12700 Southwest Highway. (The Center photo)

The Center in Palos Park will host the Barn to be Wild fundraiser Saturday and Sunday at The Children's Farm, 12700 Southwest Highway, Palos Park.

The Center's director of development Mark Walker will do much of the heavy lifting, spending the entire time in the pig pen with the farm's three little pigs.

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"So, that's a total of 27 hours that one, or sometimes two, staff members stay in the pig pen, eat all the meals there, sleep over and just entertain visitors and guests," Walker said.

Walker said although his schedule is a bit different than usual, families can expect to enjoy the same tours and animal visits between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday as they would any weekend, but there won't be any admission charge.

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"We don't depend on admissions for this," Walker said. "We depend on donations."

Another bonus for visitors is a longer day at the farm. Visitors can keep Walker company until 11 p.m. Saturday. The event officially ends at 4 p.m. Sunday.

There will be plenty to see and do during the extended Saturday hours, Walker said. Activities include meeting special visitors to the pig pen.

Staff members will stop in to discuss the mission of The Center, an interfaith nonprofit organization, and the various programs at The Center and The Children's Farm. Junior Farmers, Toastmasters and a group of horseback riders are scheduled to visit, and there will be live music and karaoke throughout Saturday evening.

Those who are long gone before "lights out" at 11 p.m. can follow the fun on the site's webcam.

Special activities continue on Sunday. Sunday morning begins with a 7 a.m. meditation with Chris Hopkins, followed by breakfast in the pig pen. The event officially ends at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Walker's three little roommates will probably get in on the fun if past experience is any indication, he said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"They run around and they're interested in the visitors and the food," Walker said.

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He said the pigs have been known to play a "grab and drag" game with the plastic chairs, and since it's their home turf, humans better play by pig rules.

"One time people decided we'll do it up fancy," Walker said. "We'll put our tablecloths on and candles and stuff like that, and the pigs immediately came over and pulled the tablecloth right off."

Walker said no matter what happens, his time in the pen will be well spent. The annual fundraiser will raise money for the general operations of The Center, as well as to feed the animals at the farm, repair equipment and help provide 100 scholarships annually for children who would otherwise not be able to afford summer camp programs at the farm, among other things.

This year's goal is $50,000. "Pen pals" can raise money at www.barntobewild.org through pledges from others who donate dollars for every hour Walker spends in the pig pen. Visitors to the event can donate on site, too, Walker said.

A full schedule of events is at www.barntobewild.org.

Ginger Brashinger is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
It's not everyday an 11-year-old youngster gets to jam with the likes of Harry Connick Jr. or his band  let alone one who picked up the trumpet just a year ago.

On Thursday, Liam Nelson, of Flossmoor, will be among six young musicians who will be featured on the "Harry" show.

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The aspiring musicians were invited to the show and got to spend time with members of the band in early April.

In a clip released by show producers Wednesday, Connick, who began playing at age 6, recalled the musicians who welcomed him.

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"(They) were so kind to me, they welcomed me into their tight-knit community and they helped me become the musician that I am today," Connick said. "I've never forgotten the guys and women that mentored me along the way, which is why it's so important for me to try to do the same for the next generation."

Liam Nelson, of Flossmoor, will be among six young musicians who will be featured on the "Harry" show. (Michelle Nelson)

The show is scheduled to air locally at 2 p.m. on Fox 32 Thursday. Nelson's family is planning a viewing party of the show on Friday evening. He is the son of Michelle and Cameron Nelson.

Nelson, a sixth-grader at Parker Junior High School in Flossmoor, started out playing violin six years ago. He picked up the trumpet about a year ago so he could be part of the junior high band and because he liked the way it sounded in "Star Wars" and some video games, like Halo and Destiny.

"It sounded really cool," he said. "I like how it's really easy to get out and play."

Nelson and five other students got to spend three hours with their counterparts in Connick's band. The following day, they taped their segment for Thursday's show.

The advice he got from the trumpet players in the band?

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"They told me when I'm doing a solo, put a space in between the notes in my solo so I don't tire myself out," Nelson said.

Nelson's mother, Michelle, said a friend of her mother's told her that the show was looking for young musicians. She said she mentioned it to her son, who thought it was a fun idea and put together a demo video to send into the show in early March. By late March, she found out he was selected and on April 2 Liam and his mother flew out to New York for the show.

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Her son got to work with two trumpet players from the band for three hours his first day at the show, Michelle Nelson said. Connick also visited during the session.

"He came into the session and was with them offering some feedback," she said.

Liam said he plans to pursue his interest in music. He takes private trumpet lessons with Chris Denmen, a teacher at Chicago Christian High School. His teacher also brought Liam in to play with the high school band and at a farmer's market in Homewood.

"I'm hoping to eventually maybe get a job in some sort of band like the Illinois Philharmonic or something," Nelson said.

Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
An Iowa man alleged in a federal lawsuit that Markham police officers shot and punched him without provocation during an arrest a year ago at a motel in that city.

Along with charges of excessive force, battery and infliction of emotional distress, the complaint alleged officers involved in Jalen Cooper's May 3, 2016, arrest conspired to falsify statements in order to justify the shooting.

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An attorney for Markham said the city had received a copy of the lawsuit, filed April 26, and was reviewing the allegations but had no comment.

The lawsuit, which names the city and several officers as defendants, alleged that during Cooper's arrest at the Southland Inn and Suites Hotel, 2850 W. 159th St., an officer shot Cooper in the right leg even though he was unarmed and had his hands held out to his side.

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The officer allegedly also punched Cooper in the head while putting handcuffs on him, the lawsuit alleged. Cooper was shot and punched even though he was "not armed, was not resisting arrest, and did not pose any threat of harm" to officers, the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, stated.

Cooper was charged with armed robbery, aggravated unlawful restraint and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to the lawsuit, which stated police were initially called to the motel in response to the manager's report of an altercation.

mnolan@tribpub.com

Twitter @mnolan_j
The father of a white former Providence Catholic High School freshman who was expelled in March following an alleged racist incident involving a black classmate has filed suit against the New Lenox high school, its president and principal, and the Diocese of Joliet over his son's dismissal.

The lawsuit, filed April 17 in Will County Chancery Court, alleges breach of contract, violation of the Consumer Fraud Act and false light, which is similar to defamation. It seeks the student's reinstatement at the school, or $4,600 for tuition paid plus costs, and $1 million in damages  $500,000 each for the student and his father  for causing "severe emotional distress" and severely damaging their reputations.

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Steven Glink, the attorney for the plaintiffs, who are identified in court documents as "John Doe" and "John Doe 2," also filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order demanding that his client, John Doe 2, immediately be reinstated at Providence Catholic as a full-time student.

Neither Providence Catholic nor the Diocese of Joliet immediately responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit or the incident that precipitated it.

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According to the suit, the student's expulsion stemmed from an incident that occurred in the high school's cafeteria on March 13 between the plaintiff, a black classmate identified in the suit as "TC," and two other students.

The four students were socializing after school using a video chat app and playing songs when the plaintiff played a parody rap song that contained racially insensitive language, the suit states.

The song, which is not identified in the suit, used the insensitive language in a satirical manner intended to criticize racist behavior not endorse it, according to the complaint.

After the song played, the black student asked the plaintiff to play it again, and then took a video of the students listening to the song, the complaint states.

Two days later, the black student mentioned the incident to his academic advisor and said that upon reflection the song made him uncomfortable, according to the lawsuit. Around the same time, the black student's mother posted on Facebook an edited version of the video her son shot of the students listening to the song.

"I attempted to give my child what I thought would be a better education by sending him to private school, but instead he learned that racism still exists," the student's mother, who did not return a request for comment on this story, posted on Facebook along with the short video.

The five-second clip contains the lyrics, "White is right, and white is good/Keep those . . . back in the hood." The clip appears to be taken from the song "White is Right" by Pink Guy, who stated in an interview with the indie music blog "Pigeons and Planes" earlier this year that it was intended as comedy.

"I made a song called 'White is Right,' and it's so blatantly making fun of white people," the artist, George 'Joji' Miller, is quoted as saying. "I just make fun of every race, every religion an equal amount. Just so people can understand that you can have that sense of humor and not be biased or racist. Just make fun of everyone, including yourself. Don't take yourself or anything too seriously."

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Shortly after the clip was posted on Facebook, a local television station ran a segment in which the black student's mother leveled accusations of racism against the school and said she had removed her son because of it.

Following the news report, Providence held a disciplinary hearing for the plaintiff and immediately expelled him, according to the lawsuit. The school offered to allow the plaintiff to complete his freshman year by taking classes online under the condition that he start his current semester over and pay for the educational service, but the family considered that arrangement inadequate, the suit claims.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

The lawsuit alleges that by expelling the plaintiff  a "high academic performer" and "star athlete"  it violated the binding terms of its student handbook. The handbook, according to the suit, states that expulsion should be used as a last resort for students who have "seriously broken faith with the Providence community by their words or actions."

The suit claims the plaintiff's behavior did not constitute a serious break of faith with the Providence community because the song he played was satirical and actually ridiculed racism; was played at the black student's request; and did not damage the school's reputation or disrupt school operations.

It argues that the school's decision to expel the plaintiff was "grossly disproportional to the nature of the incident" and based on an incomplete presentation of the incident. The suit alleges the hearing committee that handed down the expulsion viewed only an edited version of the video that did not show the black student asking the song to be re-played; was not provided the song's full lyrics; and did not question the black student directly, instead relying exclusively on written statements.

"Plaintiff is being used as a scapegoat by Providence to respond to an array of social media criticisms and media pressure," the complaint states.

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The lawsuit claims that the expelled student has been deprived not only of the opportunity to attend Providence, but also has lost admission opportunities at other schools and had the chances of attending the college of his choice and obtaining a Division I scholarship "seriously impaired" as a result of his dismissal.

zkoeske@tribpub.com

Twitter @ZakKoeske
A Cook County Circuit Court judge has awarded more than $23.1 million to the family of a 5-year-old Tinley Park girl who suffers ongoing health problems due to complications at birth, the family's attorney said Thursday.

The ruling Monday by Judge Kay Hanlon found that Dr. Thomas Myers, a neonatologist who assisted in the girl's June 21, 2011, birth at Palos Community Hospital was negligent, according to attorney Jim Ball, who represented the family of Drew Kerrins. The Palos Heights hospital was not found negligent, although it is liable for approximately $21 million of the total damages awarded, he said.

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The girl, whose numerous health problems include cerebral palsy and epilepsy, suffered massive blood loss and was not fully transfused for some three hours after her birth, and suffered brain damage as a result, according to Ball.

The medical malpractice lawsuit was filed in May 2014, and Ball said he believed the damage amount is a record for birth injury lawsuit decided by a judge rather than a jury.

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He said lawyers representing the doctor and the hospital had, prior to Hanlon's decision, filed stipulations with the court agreeing not to appeal her ruling. Myers did not work directly for Palos Community but for another firm, Renaissance Medical Group, that provided neonatology services to the hospital, according to Ball.

5-year-old Drew Kerrins begins her therapy by trying to take several steps in a gait trainer with the encouragement of her physical therapist Sue Antrim. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)

Drew has occupational, physical and speech therapy and is "reliant on someone for every single bodily function in her daily life," the lawyer said. The girl's mother, Becky, who has a master's degree in clinical counseling, worked as a program manager at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls in Chicago but had to quit in order to care for her daughter, according to Ball.

She had chosen Palos because the hospital advertised having an on site neonatologist, and that because of her age  38 at the time  she was considered a high-risk pregnancy, according to the lawyer.

At one point during the delivery, the mother and a nurse saw that a large pool of blood had collected on her bed and that the baby's heart rate was no longer readable, according to a court document. The baby was delivered by Caesarean section.

Staff tried multiple times to page Myers and reach him on his cellphone, according to Ball and court documents filed in the case. An associate of Myers' was contacted and came to Palos to supervise the girl's care. Myers was later reached at home and arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later, according to court documents.

Blood was ordered for the baby after delivery by Myers' associate, but it wasn't enough and more blood was ordered but there was a delay in it arriving, according to Bell.

In this file photo, therapists Sue Antrim, left, and Caitlin Raebig work with Drew Kerrins, 5, who suffers from severe health issues. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)

The baby was moved from Palos to Advocate Children's Hospital in "guarded" condition, where she spent nine weeks in neonatal intensive care, according to court documents.

Myers had finished working in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit and was heading home, but "for the first and only time in 41 years" had left his cellphone and pager at the hospital when he changed clothes before leaving, Michael Huber, an attorney who represented Myers during the trial, said in an email Thursday.

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Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"Dr. Myers made no excuses for his one-time human failing," the attorney said.

Drew had lost about 60 percent of her blood supply due to a fetal vessel rupture, had no heartbeat for 21 minutes before she was delivered and was delivered with no signs of life, Huber said.

"That combination caused massive brain damage before delivery," the attorney said.

But he noted that neonatologists such as his client "only care for babies after they are delivered," and that there was "no causal connection" between Myers and the girl's brain damage.

Huber said the $2 million verdict against Myers was identical to his settlement offer made before the case went to trial.

mnolan@tribpub.com

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For those lately bereft of leadership, the past few days have provided both a respite and a reason for hope.

Make that two reasons  two women  Sally Yates and Condoleezza Rice.

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It's likely that neither would prefer to be singled out as women who are brilliant but rather as brilliant people who happen to be women. Nevertheless, I'm guessing that women (and enlightened men) who heard Yates and Rice had an extra spring in their steps. I admit, they made me proud.

Yates, as most know by now, is the former acting Attorney General whom Donald Trump fired, perhaps confusing his current role with his previous gig on "The Apprentice." The Donald dumped her because she refused to enforce his travel ban, which she found "unlawful."

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Rice, former secretary of state during the George W. Bush administration, happened to be in town the same day to promote her new book, "Democracy." Watching her on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Tuesday, one was reminded of her unique story growing up in the segregated South to become one of the most powerful individuals on the world stage. Responding to questions about current foreign affairs, she was characteristically reasonable and  that rarest of qualities these days- palpably sane.

As I watched both women, the word that kept coming to mind was competent. Oh, how once gone, we miss it. Other equally dusty adjectives include whip-smart, steady, unflappable, knowledgeable, focused, straightforward, correct.

Anyone watching Yates during her hearing would have been impressed with her calm, her clarity and, especially, her dominance under questioning. Notably, she schooled Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, when he tried to suggest that her legal reasoning was incorrect and that she was partisan in her decision not to enforce the travel ban.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

It must have taken a supreme act of will for Yates to keep a straight face when countering his condescending reading of a statute pertaining to executive power in restricting immigrants' entry into the country. First, Cruz asked if she was familiar with statute blah, blah, blah, section blah blah blah. Not off the top of her head, she said. Upon Cruz's rendering of the statute in his best GreenEggsAndHam voice, Yates said that, yes, she was familiar with that and also with a subsequently promulgated statute that she felt overrode the previous. Namely, that immigration law can't be applied either preferentially or as discriminating on the basis of race, nationality or place of birth.

But she said to constitutional-lawyer Cruz, she was mainly concerned with the constitutionality of the president's ban. Brief pause for relishing the moment. It was riveting theater, made all the more enjoyable because Cruz comes off as persistently arrogant. His debating skills may have been superior to other Republican primary contenders, but debates are won with arguments, not confidence.

Yates also testified on the subject of Michael Flynn, whom Trump also fired, but only after The Washington Post revealed what Trump had known  that Flynn had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the transition and then lied about it. Yates said that she had warned Trump transition officials to beware of Flynn. And, apparently, President Barack Obama personally warned Trump against hiring Flynn.

Meanwhile, Rice, who before becoming secretary of state was national security adviser to Bush leading up to the Iraq War, looked rested and radiant at the "Morning Joe" table and made one hope she's in close contact with the current administration. Her observations on Russia ("Putin is an eye-for-an-eye guy") were especially illuminating. Validating what others had testified during the Senate hearings, she said Putin despised Hillary Clinton and leaked hacked emails from Democratic campaign computers in hopes of hurting her. It was payback, in other words, for when then-Secretary of State Clinton challenged the fairness of Russia's elections in 2011.

But here Rice deviated from the popular narrative that Putin wanted Trump to win and warned against ascribing other motivations to him. Putin would have wanted anyone to win against Clinton, she said. Regarding Russia's interference in the 2016 election, this has long been one of Russia's goals, mainly to undermine Americans' confidence in the democratic process. Hence, in part, Rice's timely book.

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Whatever one's political persuasion, I doubt I'm alone in noting the too-rare character exhibited by Rice and Yates. Being reminded of what we once expected of leaders and leadership, maybe we'll insist upon better next time. As we've seen, there are other women besides Clinton who could be president.

Kathleen Parker is a columnist for the Washington Post.
Persirai is a new strain of Internet of Things malware that infects more than 1,250 models of security camera, all manufactured by an unnamed Chinese manufacturer that has sold at least 185,000 units worldwide.



The vulnerability the malware exploits was discovered and documented by Pierre Kim, an independent security researcher, who has located at least 185,000 vulnerable devices using the Shodan search engine. The cameras all try to tunnel out of their local firewalls by sending unencrypted data over UDP  a cousin to TCP  leaving them vulnerable to hijacking. Once compromised, the cameras can be used to direct devastating, unstoppable floods of traffic to bring down web sites, and can also be remotely monitored by voyeurs, burglars, and other malefactors.

The cameras are "overall badly designed with a lot of vulnerabilities" and are sold as "white-label" goods that other companies can brand and sell under a variety of model numbers (this is common with Internet-of-Shit devices, like the insecure PVRs used by criminals to monitor CCTVs in order to plan robberies).





Less than a month after Kim's report, the Persirai appeared on the scene, harnessing infected devices to serve as part of a denial-of-service botnet. Persirai alters infected devices to prevent them from being infected by competing strains of malware  this may also offer some protection against the vigilante worms (like Brickerbot) that unknown parties have fielded to infect and permanently shut down vulnerability devices.

New IoT malware targets 100,000 IP cameras via known flaw

[Michael Kan/CSO Online]





Multiple vulnerabilities found in Wireless IP Camera (P2P) WIFICAM cameras and vulnerabilities in custom http server

[Pierre Kim/IT Security Research by Pierre]





(via /.)
Illinois voters have to drain the swamp in Chicago, Cook County and other counties along with Springfield and Washington, D.C. All elected and appointed Democrats have to go. The Democratic Party is forcing companies and citizens to flee Illinois in large number. Chicago's on the verge of ending up like Detroit. Downtown Chicago is the only place to visit, shop or eat. That's changing also. Outside downtown Chicago is a war zone. President Donald Trump isn't going to help until all Democrats are gone and Illinois isn't a blue state. It's 90 percent red. Chicago's the only blue. . . Let's start draining the swamp.

Homer Glen

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Why do we have to keep going to foreign oil when we're loaded with oil in America? Former President Barack Obama leaving office was the best thing that ever happened to America. He took care of foreign aid and foreign countries and gave American dollars to them. Good riddance, Obama. You've hurt Americans. We have oil in America. It could mean thousands and thousands and thousands of American jobs.

I was watching George Stephanopoulos grill Paul Ryan on the GOP's health care bill. You'd think George came from another planet in his utter disregard for the disaster that is Obamacare. George, the GOP bill is good, Obamacare care is "real bad," get on board the train to competent health care management.

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Tom, Evergreen Park

Speaking fees are nothing more than a clever way of receiving payment for past favors.

J.K.

What's Speak Out?

Speak Out allows readers to comment on the issues of the day. Email Speak Out at speakout@southtownstar.com or call 312-222-2427. Please limit comments to 30 seconds or about 120 words and give your first name and your hometown.
As part of the first Black-Jewish Seder dinner Sunday at Congregation Kneseth Israel, music considered more traditional to black churches was included in the events ceremony. In this case, the Hebraic version of the song was also included as the two groups talked about their shared heritage. (Janelle Walker / Courier-News) (Chicago Tribune)

One of the cornerstones of the Seder, the Passover feast celebrated by the Jewish community, is to open the door for the stranger or the person who has no where else to go, said Rabbi Margaret Klein of Elgin's Congregation Kneseth Israel.

On Sunday, the synagogue opened its doors by hosting its first-ever Black-Jewish Seder  inviting members of Elgin's Spates Temple and the wider community and incorporating an African American narrative into the tradition.

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Klein, working with Cantor Steven Stoehr of Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook, invited the Rev. Mark Smith of Spates Temple to bring his congregation to the meal.

Stoehr had met Smith when he was pastoring in Chicago and both had talked about doing something with the two faiths.

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Smith  grandson of Spates Temple Church of God in Christ founder Leonard Spates Sr.  took over pastoring at the historically black church just seven months ago after his uncle who was pastoring there died.

"My job now is not just to take the church, but to be a part of bridging whatever divides that exist and bring the community together," Smith said.

Bringing African American and Jewish Elginites together  bonding over the two group's shared ideals and struggles  was something Klein has also been working toward, she said.

"I have cherished the relationships with the African American community," developed since coming to Elgin, Klein said.

Blacks and Jews have "been on the vanguard of the civil rights and voting movements," since the 1960s in the U.S., she added  due to both groups being denied those rights at different times and in different places.

"There is a very good history of black and Jewish relations in Elgin," she noted, with both groups working with city leadership and the police department on race discussions. "The clergy has been a big part of that," Klein said.

For the most part, Sunday's Seder followed the ceremony  13 steps that are incorporated into the meal, including songs and prayers.

While traditional songs were included, so where songs considered more part of African American churches. Those songs included "Down by the Riverside" and "Go Down Moses."

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Stoehr and Klein provided the background on why certain foods are included.

The traditional foods have changed over the years, Klein said.

At CKI, an olive, an orange and a tomato are included on the table.

The orange symbolizes acceptance of diversity, and the olive is the olive branch of friendship.

She and Stoehr also noted that Passover was a month ago, but it is still OK to host a Seder.

The Torah says that if you missed observing Passover "you get a second chance," Klein said.

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Gigi Atkins, 12, will have her Bat Mitzvah in June, and read the passage from the book of Numbers that says it is OK to observe Passover later.

Klein hopes the joint Seder helps draw the two groups together as they learn about each other's traditions and struggles.

"It is the friendship that these two congregations are building to work on the issues here in Elgin," she said.

Not, she added, that the issues in Elgin are severe, adding that in many ways, the town has good relations with both communities.

"The next steps are continuing to engage to make Elgin, which is good, but we can make it even better and the proof of that is having the right people in the room," to have the discussions, she said.

Smith said that while he grew up in the Spates Temple, even preaching there as a younger man, he has much to learn about Elgin and the wider community.

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"As an African American (church) it is easy to be in your own silo, because it is all you know. My thought is, if we are going to be connected, we should be connected by our cultures and our stories."

"First and foremost, we need to be the light that we claim we are," Smith said.

"It is one thing so say and sing it, but we are the witnesses if we are feeding the hungry a meal together, cry on each other's shoulders, and challenge the city and the government together," he said.

Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
The group potentially opening Elgin's first charter school has received a $950,000 federal grant, the Illinois State Board of Education announced Wednesday.

The money is split in two  $150,000 in program design funds and $800,000 for initial implementation to support teachers and staff of the Elgin Math and Science Academy. If approved, it would open initially as a K-3 school in 2018 before gradually expanding into the middle school grade levels by 2023.

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"Our team at the Elgin Charter School Initiative is grateful for the Charter Schools Program funding and for (Illinois State Board of Education's) vote of confidence in our proposed Elgin Math and Science Academy charter school," said Kerry Kelly, president of the Elgin Charter School Initiative, in a written statement. "We are excited to bring a unique math and science charter school based on the EL education model to School District U46. As an all-volunteer team, the (Charter Schools Program) grant will allow us to have a great start and to make important hires prior to our school opening in 2018."

Kelly said in a separate interview the award is structured as a reimbursement-type grant and is pending the approval of the contract between the Elgin Charter School Initiative and District U46, which will come before the U46 school board for a vote before the end of June. The charter school received conditional approval from the board 6-1 during a school board meeting last month.

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According to the State Board of Education, the grant is part of the federally funded Charter Schools Program. The state board can award up to $42 million in federal dollars to expand the number of charter schools in the state, with a particular emphasis on programs that are "high-quality and educationally diverse."

"Congratulations to the Elgin Charter School Initiative and the Elgin community," said State Superintendent Tony Smith. "High-quality school options allow families to find the best learning environment for their children's unique interests and needs. I encourage high-performing charter school operators across the state to consider applying for the next round of Charter Schools Program funds to expand opportunities for more families."

Officials for the Elgin school, also known as EMSA, hope to open at the site of the former Fox River Country Day School near Interstate 90 and Route 25.

The grant does not address repairs and renovations of the facilities, which have deteriorated since it was last occupied. EMSA organizers have said it will cost about $4 million to repair the entire campus by 2023.

raguerrero@tribpub.com
The Evanston-based Civitas Ensemble of Chicago and the Gipsy Way Ensemble from the Czech Republic will present a program of music by Brahms, Liszt, Sarasate, Kreisler, Enescu and others who have composed gypsy-style music.

The word "gypsy" has so much stigma in our society today, said Yuan-Qing Yu, assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and violinist with Civitas. "Historically they were nomads and were discriminated against. My hope with this project is to demystify the word 'gypsy' and make audiences more aware of the positive aspects of Romani culture."

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Civitas, founded in 2011, includes Yu, as well as Kenneth Olsen, assistant principal cello of the CSO and J. Lawrie Bloom, who plays clarinet and bass clarinet in the CSO, as well as Winston Choi, head of the piano department at Roosevelt University's College of the Performing Arts. One of the goals of the ensemble is to present engaging live performances of new and traditional works.

"Civitas is especially interested in cross-cultural projects," said Yu. "We always talk about how to bridge the gap between classical music and other forms.

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"All art forms are connected," she added, "and the members of Gipsy Way have been looking at jazz elements as they approach gypsy music. This collaboration gives us a chance to connect with a culture that we as classical musicians don't usually encounter."

Yu and the head of Gipsy Way, Pavel Sporcl both studied classical music at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, she from 1990-1994 and he from 1991-1994.

In his country Sporcl is known as "the fighting musician" and hailed as the most distinctive member of the young generation of Czech violinists. "My main work lies in classical music," he said. "I just like to explore  I listened to traditional music since I was a child. Gypsy music is close to my traditional music."

He did more than just listen, he soon aspired to master that distinctive genre. "I listened to great gypsy virtuosi and wanted to play their music," he continued, "and I am very happy I can. I was very lucky to get the opportunity to play it with real gypsy musicians and to have my own band."

In addition to Sporcl, Gipsy Way musicians include Tomas Vontszemu, dulcimer; Jan Rigo, bass; and Zoltan Sandor, viola..

Sporcl returned to his homeland after studying in the United States, but he and Yu kept in touch once in a while via email and later on Facebook. He visited Chicago two years ago and it was then that Yu began to think about creating a program together.

After being awarded an international grant by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Civitas traveled to Eastern Europe. Last January, Civitas performed with the Gipsy Way Ensemble at the Czech Touches of Music International Music Festival in Prague. The ensembles presented two world premieres by Czech composer Lukas Sommer, a new arrangement of "Gypsy Fire" by Sporcl, as well as several classical pieces originally inspired by Romani culture that were adapted to include instruments from both groups.

The program, which will be repeated at Merit on May 21, included: Johannes Brahms, "Rondo alla Zingarese" and "Hungarian Dance;" Franz Liszt, "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 for Piano;" Georges Boulanger, "Serenade Tzigane;" Jeno Hubay, "Hullamzo Balaton;" Pablo de Sarasate, "Zigeunerweisen;" David Popper, "Hungarian Rhapsody for Violincello and Piano;" Fritz Kreisler, "Ziguenen Capricio;" Leo Weiner, "Peregi Verbunk for Clarinet and Piano," and George Enescu, "Romanian Rhapsody."

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"I am very happy to be able to have this joint project and play again together,'' Sporcl said, adding that their January concert in Prague was "a huge success."

It is estimated that there are more than 1 million Romani people in the United States. "I hope this project makes classical music fans in Chicago realize that gypsy music can be just as beautiful and highly regarded as traditional classical pieces," Yu said.

As if they didn't have enough to do, Civitas and the Gipsy Way Ensemble are collaborating on recording an album of Romani-inspired music. They are also filming a documentary about the entire project, which is planned for release some time in 2018.

Civitas Ensemble and Gipsy Way Ensemble

When: 3 p.m. Sunday May 21

Where: Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St., Chicago

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Tickets: $30; free students

Contact: 773-231-7740; www.civitasensemble.org
Demar L. Moore, 36, of the 2600 block of Kennedy Drive, North Chicago, was being held in lieu of $3 million bail in the Lake County jail after being charged with two counts of first-degree murder. (Lake County Sheriff Office )

A North Chicago man agreed to a plea deal Thursday in the shooting death of his cousin.

Demar L. Moore, 36, of the 2600 block of Kennedy Drive, was being held in lieu of $3 million bail in the Lake County Jail in connection with the January shooting death of Reginald R. Moore, 44, also of North Chicago.

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On Thursday, Moore's attorneys, Joseph Polenzani and Dan Zeit, and Assistant State's Attorney Jim Newman told Circuit Judge Mark Levitt they had agreed on a plea deal.

Newman said they agreed to reduce the charges against Moore from first-degree murder to second-degree murder, which is a probational offense, and both sides agreed that he receive three years of intensive felony probation. Having served four months in jail already, the agreement also called for two more months of work-release, the prosecutor said.

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"We did reach out to all the families involved, and they agreed with this disposition," Newman said.

Newman said that on Jan. 7, Demar Moore was asked by his cousin to give him a ride to meet someone. Unknown to the defendant, Reginald Moore got out of the vehicle and committed an armed robbery of another man on the street, shooting him in the leg, according to reports. Police were called because of the robbery, the prosecutor said.

As the cousins drove across North Chicago, Demar Moore asked what had happened, and his cousin pointed his loaded firearm at the defendant and told him not to go to police or tell anyone about his actions, Newman said.

As they drove on Victoria Street, just south of 13th Street, Reginald Moore told his cousin to stop. Demar Moore told police that he believed his cousin was going to shoot him, so he grabbed his own loaded firearm, Newman said.

As Reginald Moore began to exit the vehicle with his gun still pointed at his cousin, Demar Moore fired his, hitting Reginald Moore in the back, reports said. The victim was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where he died of his injuries.

"He said he was firing in self-defense," Newman said.

Police officers reviewed video evidence that appeared to confirm Demar Moore's version of events, authorities said.

Polenzani said, "It was a very unique case. I think prosecutors thought long and hard based on the circumstances.

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"It took awhile to sort out," he continued.

While it was an "imperfect self-defense," Demar Moore faced the possibility of at least 45 years in prison, so there was a risk about going to trial, Polenzani said.

The defense attorney said the victim had a long criminal history, including violent offenses. According to Lake County Circuit Court records, Reginald Moore had prior cases for stolen vehicles, possession of stolen property, robbery and assault.

"The victim's family was aware of the negotiations and approved of the negotiations as well," Polenzani said.

fabderholden@tribpub.com

Twitter @abderholden
Dina Matute, 11, tearfully tells U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) her story of coming to Waukegan from Honduras. Schneider met with Honduran immigrants who have resettled in Waukegan on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Many have fled violence and are seeking asylum. (Luke Hammill / Lake County News-Sun)

Parents and children who fled horrific gang violence in Central America and resettled in Waukegan tearfully told their stories to U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) on Wednesday, many fearful that they will not be allowed to stay in the country because of immigration rules and anticipated policy shifts under President Donald Trump.

Many of the families are from Honduras, a country that has been ravaged by murders and other gang and drug violence, and has become one of the most dangerous nations in the world.

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Many of the 68,000 unaccompanied children who appeared at the southwest American border in 2014, causing a humanitarian crisis, were from Honduras. And many Honduran immigrants settle in Waukegan, which is known among Latino immigrants as "Little Honduras," said Julie Contreras, president at the Lake County chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which hosted Schneider Wednesday.

Schneider, who returned to Congress after defeating Republican Robert Dold in November in the candidates' third election battle, represents Illinois' 10th Congressional District, which includes Waukegan.

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LULAC of Lake County has successfully helped win asylum for Honduran immigrants fleeing violence in two cases, Contreras said, but 28 more local cases remain in the pipeline, including some of the families who spoke to Schneider as Contreras translated from Spanish to English.

Many of the immigrants have work permits and pay taxes, Contreras said.

"Donald Trump needs to come to Waukegan," Contreras said. "Because we have refugees who are working, who filled out tax forms for the first time this year. They are contributing to our community, and they are not criminals."

Trump took a hard-line stance on immigration during his campaign for president, and the status of many Honduran refugees was thrown into question earlier this year when an executive order signed by Trump attempted to suspend all refugee admissions to the United States for 120 days. The order was later successfully challenged in court.

More than 11,000 Central Americans have applied for a program that allows children to seek refugee status in the United States, which former President Barack Obama launched in 2014 in an attempt to dissuade those fleeing violence from making dangerous journeys to the American border, the Los Angeles Times reported in February.

The program, only available to children who have a parent or adult relative who is here legally, screens applicants in their home countries, the Times reported. Since the initiative began, more than 2,000 people have been resettled in the U.S., either as refugees or through a process called humanitarian parole, according to the State Department.

Maryori Urbina, 16, was one of the children who appeared unaccompanied at the southwest border in 2014. Her mother, Tania Contreras, had come to Waukegan when she was a baby to find work, leaving Maryori and her older brother in Honduras to live with the family who remained there.

When Maryori was 12, she was robbed at gunpoint. She also witnessed a man shot in the head on the sidewalk. So without telling anyone in her family, Maryori joined a group of Hondurans headed for the American border when she was 13, determined to find her mother in Waukegan. She traveled in buses, cars and on foot, and she crossed the Rio Grande on an inflatable raft.

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She was held in a Texas detention center upon arrival, but eventually reunited with her mother at O'Hare International Airport.

"Thank God, because I'm with her, and I feel safe in this country," Maryori told Schneider on Wednesday. "I have a new life. I don't want to go back to my country."

But, she added, "Things are hard here, too, because we don't have papers. They want to deport us.  Donald Trump has to realize that we are good people."

Maryori applied for asylum in 2015 and was denied, according to a previous story in the Chicago Tribune. Her case in immigration court was continued to 2018 that same year.

Many of the families on Wednesday asked Schneider for his help in their attempts to gain asylum. He could write letters, for instance, throwing a congressman's support behind their pleas. They simply want to stay here so they can keep their children safe, they told him.

"I cannot promise an outcome," Schneider told the families. "But I can promise we will do everything we can."

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The families applauded and thanked him for taking the time to listen to their stories.

lhammill@tribpub.com

Twitter @lucashammill
Kirk Rustman (left), Lee Wolfson, Jordan Glazov, Doug Johnson and Arthur Goldner cut the ribbon during the grand opening of the Arboria of Long Grove. (Courtesy of Arboria of Long Grove )

With a large number of applications already, representatives with the newly opened Arboria of Long Grove said the assisted living facility is filling a demand in the Long Grove area.

Arboria's first resident moved in May 4 and the facility is moving forward with other interested applicants, said Executive Director Brad Jacobsen. Typically, it takes about 12 to 15 months to fill a facility with the 100 residents Arboria plans to serve, but the Long Grove site should be filled within a year, he said.

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"We have them stacked like planes on a cloudy day at O'Hare," Jacobsen said of applications to Arboria of Long Grove. "They're ready to move in. There is definitely a need in this community."

During its two-day grand opening last week, Arboria, 2300 Illinois Route 53, welcomed 250 visitors on May 3 and another 150 on May 4, Jacobsen said.

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Before opening a location in Long Grove, Arboria's owners studied the demographics of area zip codes, including income levels, and determined a need for an assisted living facility existed within the area as more baby boomers enter retirement age, Jacobsen said.

Long Grove Village President Bill Jacob, whose own father recently entered assisted living, said Arboria definitely fulfills a need in the area.

"This is something that is needed. We're all living longer," Jacob said. "We need facilities like this to care for our elders."

Jacob, who visited Arboria, said the Long Grove area already has several assisted living facilities and another new one is on the way, but he added the demand for those services still exceeds the supply.

"There is a need in our community, whether in Long Grove or the surrounding area," he said. "It's difficult to get into some facilities. There are waiting lists and so forth. That means there is a demand for them, and this is something we need."

Arboria, which spans 95,000 square feet, is divided into traditional assisted living and assisted living with memory care needs, including residents with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, Jacobsen said.

"Within memory care neighborhoods, as we call them, we have free secured units, so residents will be safe," he said. "Folks with dementia often get disoriented. This allows them to be in a safe environment. It allows them to leave that environment, but there are sensors on doors, so it alerts staff."

The facility contains a significant amount of common area and social space, including an activity room, arts and craft room, a private dining room, a physical therapy room, family rooms, billiards rooms, a salon, a chapel and an area for playing cards, Jacobsen said.

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"You often see such amenities in large campuses of 200 to 300 residents, not usually in facilities of this size," he said. "The owners spent a lot of assets to build a social model on top of a medical model."

Phil Rockrohr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
A Libertyville man is being held without bond in Lake County Jail awaiting extradition to Michigan where he faces a first-degree murder charge.

Brian Zanetti, of the 600 block of West Park Avenue, Libertyville, was taken into custody May 6 in front of his residence on a warrant out of Battle Creek, Mich., according to a Wednesday night news release from Libertyville police.

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On May 5, Libertyville police were told that Zanetti was a person of interest in a homicide investigation and that he may be returning to town where he had recently been living with friends, according to the release.

He was taken into custody and questioned about his involvement in the homicide. Police said during questioning, Zanetti "made incriminating statements implicating himself in the Battle Creek homicide."

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A firearm and clothing that is believed to have been used in the homicide was found during a search of his car, police said.

Brian Zanetti was named a person of interest in the May 5 shooting death of 63-year-old Frank Zanetti, who Battle Creek police identified as a relative.

Frank Zanetti was shot and killed at his business, Battle Creek Tile and Mosaic, police said.

In Libertyville, Zanetti was charged with being a fugitive from justice. Law enforcement officials in Michigan have charged Zanetti with first degree murder, possession of a firearm while committing a felony and carrying a concealed weapon, according to the release.

Zanetti is being held without bond in Lake County while extradition proceedings take place in Michigan, according to the release.
Plans to convert downtown Naperville's former Nichols Library into four-story structure with retail space, offices and condominiums will be presented to the public in an open house Tuesday.

Property owner and developer Dwight Avram wants to expand the 110 S. Washington St. building, most recently used as a church, while retaining the 119-year-old building's historic facade, Avram spokeswoman Deb Newman said.

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"They're literally going to take the front edifice down brick by brick" and incorporate them into the new design, Newman said. "(Avram) is really trying to keep whatever can be kept. ... If you drive by this building, you will know it was once the Nichols Library."

The first floor will be used for retail space, the second for offices and the third and fourth floors for condos, she said. An underground parking lot would serve condo residents and ground-level outdoor parking would be earmarked for the businesses, she said.

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A library vestibule that doesn't currently meet code could be saved and reincorporated into the design as could a tile floor, which Avram is hoping can be lifted in one piece and relocated, Newman said.

Avram also plans to save and reuse some of the library's front signage and will establish a public gallery to honor James L. Nichols and the library's history.

Nichols, who died in 1895 at the age of 44, bequeathed $10,000 to the city of Naperville to establish the library, which opened in 1898, according to the Naper Public Library website. An addition on the south end was completed in 1962.

By the 1980s, the library had outgrown the site and it was replaced in 1986 by a new building at 200 W. Jefferson St. The new 63,300-square-foot facility was about five times the size of the former library, the library website said.

Truth Lutheran Church has had services at the building for about 20 years, but will be vacating it for a new church being built at Mill Street and Bauer Road.

"While the building has been the site of Truth Lutheran Church and has undergone extensive renovation over the years, we hope to honor the heritage of the property and the contributions Mr. Nichols made to the community," Avram said in a news release announcing the project.

Avram is working with city staff, the Naperville Development Partnership and Naper Settlement to ensure plans are sensitive to the library's historical significance, the release said.

Renderings and more specifics on the proposal will be released at the Tuesday open house, Newman said.

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The community meeting is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Naperville Chamber of Commerce Conference Room at 55 S. Main St., on the third floor of the Main Street Promenade.

ehegarty@tribpub.com
Younhan Shin takes the Oath of Allegiance during a ceremony in which new citizens were sworn in. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press)

As 72 north suburban Chicago residents took their oaths of U.S. citizenship, many spoke of love for their new country and opportunities for their family, though some said the political climate had created a heightened urgency for them to seek citizenship.

Alma Castaneda, of Mundelein, has lived in the United States 26 of her 28 years, but didn't feel pressure to become a citizen until after the presidential election, she said shortly before becoming a citizen in the Northbrook Public Library ceremony.

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'"I think after the presidential election, it hit me," said Castaneda, who was born in Mexico. "It struck me that I want to make sure I am part of this country. This is my home now, and I don't want that taken away."

U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-10th, who gave the keynote speech to the new Americans, said after the library auditorium had emptied that discussions in the last two years about immigration policy have driven people toward seeking citizenship.

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"The nation has been a refuge from persecution, and a place to raise a family and seek opportunities and pursue dreams," he said. "In the current political climate, we have to search for ways to work to aggressively defend that."

Tom Cioppa, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Chicago district director said that "citizenship applications have picked up across the board over the last two years."

The total number of naturalizations rose from 654,949 in 2014 to 729,995 in 2015, and 741, 548 through the first three quarters of 2016, according to USCIS.

One after another, the new citizens from 29 different countries said they had applied in the last three months of 2016, though most denied any direct relationship to the election.

Wilfredo Carrillo, formerly of Colombia, said that citizenship was part of his plans for security for his family of four.

"It's not so important for me. I'm 58," said the Antioch resident. "But it's important for the future of my family."

He and his wife Vilma have two sons, 14 and 13, and his citizenship, the couple said, will lead to theirs.

With the filing of a few forms, USCIS Congressional Liaison Anita Goss-Fields said, foreign-born children of a naturalized citizen can become citizens, too.

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The Carillos only need one citizen parent, but Vilma Carillo said that she, too, has passed the test, and hopes to soon be a citizen.

"It will be a better life for us," she said.

Ignacio Rivera, a Mexican immigrant living in Zion, has lived in the United States for 50 years, but didn't apply for citizenship until Nov. 22, he said. His daughter Araceli, his translator, said that he had previously taken English classes, but found them difficult and put off citizenship.

But she said he decided last fall to take advantage of one of the USCIS exceptions to the English requirement. It kicks in if the applicant is age 50 or over, and has lived as a permanent resident  a "green card" holder  for 20 years. Another exception is for those 55 or older with 15 years of residency.

"I want to stay," Rivera said.

Others who had applied for citizenship said their love for their adopted country stemmed from the welcoming environment.

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"I trust America's political system," said Oscar Sanchez, a Waukegan resident from Mexico. The 16-year U.S. resident said that he admired Americans for their tolerance.

"You have to love America, for its legal protections, its tolerance. I'm blessed to be part of America. You can never take it for granted," he said.

Lake Bluff resident Catherine Clarkson, who emigrated from England 11 years ago, said she agreed.

"I felt so embraced by the people," Clarkson said. "So warm and welcoming."

Eight-year U.S. resident Giovanni Frezza of Italy said, "As soon as I was eligible, I applied. I love this country." He said he also still loves Italy, but "I want to vote, and make opportunities for my wife and family."

ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com

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Patty Hunt said when she and her husband, Ken, bought the circa 1902, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Arthur Heurtley House in early 2007, "originally, we didn't really understand what we were getting ourselves into."

The couple had no idea of the depth of interest surrounding the famed master architect, nor did they realize people would be constantly photographing their home or even ringing their doorbell once in a while, thinking the house was a museum.

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"We don't mind it," said Hunt, who now is even a director on the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust's board. "Rather than owners, we feel we're stewards or guardians of a national treasure. We try and share."

Besides holding charity events and dinner parties at the Heurtley Home, for the third time the Hunts will open their "national treasure" up to visitors from around the globe for the Wright Plus 150 Housewalk, being held May 20 by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust.

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The trust is kicking off a yearlong celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Wright, born June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wis.

Presenting interior tours of 10 rarely seen private homes and public buildings  Prairie and traditional styles designed by Wright and his contemporaries  the full lineup of featured homes is located in an easily walkable loop, just steps from Wright's Oak Park Home and Studio, which is also a tour stop.

This year's Wright Plus 150 celebrates the diverse architectural character of the immediate neighborhood surrounding Wright's Home and Studio, said curator David Bagnall. The walk includes four private Wright homes, with proceeds supporting the trust's preservation and education programs.

Solid and monolithic, the Hunt's Arthur Heurtley house is one of Wright's greatest Prairie designs, said Bagnall. Sheltered beneath a low-hipped roof, the house is defined by dramatic horizontal lines and masses, evoking the expansive Midwestern landscape, he said.

The H. P. Young House, which Wright remodeled in 1895, blends elements of Wright's emerging design philosophy  the chimney of Roman brick and sweeping eaves  with more traditional elements, such as the substantial gable of the roof, said Bagnall.

With its bold roofline, stucco walls, and simple leaded-glass window designs, the Hills-DeCaro house (1906), is considered the most Japanesque of Wright's buildings, Bagnall said. "The art and culture of Japan were one of the defining influences on Wright's Prairie style," he said.

Then there's the powerful geometry of the Laura Gale house (1909), which anticipates developments in European modernism while its cantilevered balcony looks forward to Wright's later masterpiece, Fallingwater, said Bagnall.

"It was at his Oak Park Studio during the first decade of the 20th century that Wright pioneered a new architecture for a modern America," said Bagnall. "The Wright Plus 150 Housewalk allows visitors from all over the world to experience and explore Wright's architecture in the context of the historic village where his visionary Prairie style emerged. "

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There are 37 Wright structures in Oak Park and River Forest, including Unity Temple, Scoville Fountain, Francisco Terrace Archway, and various remodeling projects and stables, said Bagnall.

"The village has the highest concentration of Wright structures anywhere," he said. "From open floor plans and flexible living spaces to the use of locally sourced building materials and a reverence for the natural world, Wright's architecture still resonates today."

Wright Plus coordinator Angela Whitaker called the event "a labor of love," and praised the more than 500 volunteers who will be on hand that day to guide and teach local, national and international visitors.

"You've just got your average Joe, then architects, designers, historians, neighbors  the demographics are people from all walks of life and all interests," Whitaker said.

The event is two-fold  it supports the Trust but also educates both adults and young children, she said.

"Die-hard architecture or Wright fans get to see all kinds of different varieties of houses," said Whitaker. "We mix these up and like people to see what current, modern families are doing to the houses."

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"The streets are full of people, full of excitement," said Whitaker. "It's a fun, festival-like day for us."

Tickets to the Wright Plus 150 Housewalk are sold out but fast pass tickets are still available. For more information about Wright 150 activities, visit flwright.org/wright150.

A "family" affair  John Binder's popular and extremely informative tour of Oak Park and River Forest gangster history "There Goes the Neighbor Hood" returns May 21, June 25, July 23, Sept. 17, and Oct. 15, running twice each day at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Centered on 14 gangster homes, it discusses the murder and mayhem surrounding the lives of the former owners as well as their personal histories and the interesting features of each house. Tickets are $30 ($27 for seniors and active military), and can be ordered through the Oak Park Visitors Center 708-848-1500.

Felicia Dechter is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.
A 4-year-old boy died early Thursday after being shot in the neck in an apartment in the 3500 block of Guthrie Street in East Chicago. (Becky Jacobs / Post-Tribune)

A 4-year-old boy died early Thursday after his family woke and found the boy shot in the neck in the living room, according to a news release from police.

Garrion Glover, of East Chicago, was pronounced dead about 3:05 a.m. Thursday after medics rushed the boy to St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, the release states.

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East Chicago police officers were dispatched at 12:03 a.m. to the 3500 block of Guthrie Street "in reference to an assault with a firearm," according to the release. Officers were met by the victim's mother, who said she was asleep in her bedroom with her boyfriend "when they both heard some type of noise coming from the living room," police said. The mother went to see "what was going on" and "noticed her son lying on the floor bleeding" near the couch, according to police.

Garrion's uncle said he was sleeping on the couch when he also heard a noise and was awoken by his sister, police said. The uncle said he then saw his nephew lying on the floor next to the couch, the release states.

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Someone in the apartment called for medics and police, who took the boy to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the release.

An autopsy was being performed on the boy Thursday morning, according to Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Scott Sefton. While the coroner's office ruled that the boy had been shot once in the neck, whether his death was accidental or a homicide had not been determined by the coroner's office or police as of Thursday morning, Sefton said.

Police said that the investigation is ongoing and more information will be released as it becomes available. Anyone with information is asked to call 219-391-8326 or anonymously call a hotline at 219-391-8500.

The shooting occurred at a three-story, brown-brick apartment building that sits in a row of similar-looking buildings along Guthrie Street. By about 10 a.m. Thursday, the scene was quiet as people gathered on the sidewalk, chatting and looking to see what had happened.

The Rev. Cheryl Rivera, director of the Northwest Indiana Federation of Interfaith Organizations, said she is troubled by the violence plaguing the community.

"We have a very serious problem," she said. "We are very much concerned about the gun violence that's taken place here in East Chicago."

Garrion was one of two juveniles who died in East Chicago overnight. Robert Thompson, 15, was declared dead at 11:18 p.m. Wednesday of a gunshot wound to the "head area" at an abandoned apartment in the 1900 block of East Columbus Drive, about a mile south of where Garrion was shot, according to police.

Post-Tribune reporter Javonte Anderson contributed.

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rejacobs@post-trib.com

Twitter @ruthyjacobs
One by one, family members of Joshua Headley described the devastating loss they experienced when he was killed two years ago in a bar fight in Highland.

The mothers of his children, his sister, stepfather, grandmother, aunt and longtime family friend all described a loving, caring, hard-working man who adored his two daughters and stepdaughter and would go out of his way to help anyone.

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Their testimony came Wednesday at the sentencing hearing for Roberto LeBron, 30, of Hobart, who pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless homicide in Headley's killing.

Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas imposed a 5-year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction and ordered the last two years served in Lake County Community Corrections. LeBron had faced 45 to 65 years on a murder charge, which was dismissed.

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"Every day I am faced with the destruction you have caused," said Nicole Kerr, the mother of Headley's 9-year-old daughter, who brought a photo of her dad to her first dance recital.

Brittney Kidd, whose oldest daughter Headley treated as his own, and her now 3-year-old daughter she had with Headley also are suffering, she said. "Holidays are spent at his grave in hopes of keeping his memory alive," Kidd said.

Nordhoff said her son would bring her flowers for every holiday. "Now I bring him flowers every holiday to his grave," she said.

Roberto LeBron read from a piece of paper as he apologized for his actions. "I see all the pain and heartache this has caused," he said. "I ask for forgiveness every day and night. I hate myself for putting everybody through something so terrible. I truly did not mean for this to happen."

In court on March 23, LeBron admitted he was at Franco's in Highland and Headley was present on March 22, 2015. A fight broke out inside the bar and continued into the vestibule area of the bar. During the fight, LeBron said in court that he recklessly swung a knife at Headley, who was stabbed in the chest and died.

Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Dear Mr. Bradshaw,

I was surprised to learn that my neighbor's son was turned down by all of the top colleges he applied to last year. He was a brilliant student with an outstanding academic record. I am worried about the same fate for my daughter.

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We have asked many people about admissions procedures and protocols and nobody seems to have an answer that would account for a top student not being admitted.

Is it all about connections? Legacy students whose parents are alumni and who contribute a lot of money to the college?

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Sincerely, Concerned Parent

Dear Concerned Parent,

You pose a number of important questions. Certainly legacy students and those whose parents are major donors will always have a leg up when it comes to admissions.

It is important to note that America's leading colleges are no longer looking solely for students with great grades and top test scores, they are looking for students who they believe will make a real and meaningful impact on their community and in our world. Having the ability to make this kind of contribution as a high school student can be tough, but launching and growing your own student venture will set you apart from others in the college admissions process.

In my 20 years of interviewing and preparing students for top colleges, I have found that evidence of leadership is by far, the most important characteristic used in determining who is admitted. The risk is trying to develop these skills within the confines of traditional extracurricular activities. Your daughter may have to step outside the box and launch her own venture.

Here is my recipe for success should she choose to do this.

First, she should pick a project that is important to her  perhaps a program to help improve the environment or combat drug use among students. She will need a vision of who she wants to help and who she needs on board to help the group achieve her goals.

Start out by writing an informal proposal for the project. Outline the elements that she wants to include in her activity and make sure that she comes up with a clear mission statement. The mission should be relatively simple and should speak to what the project seeks to accomplish.

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The proposal should outline how the project will be accomplished. It will describe the "plan of attack" and will provide information about the specific activities that will help her achieve her goal.

Here are some of the skills that she will enhance and/or develop should she choose to start her own venture:

 Learning to speak and write confidently.

 Establishing a clear vision, mission, and goals.

 Forming a dedicated team and membership base.

 Building community support and excitement.

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 Event planning.

 Writing effective letters, invitations and promotional materials.

 Budgeting for long-term success.

 Taking steps to ensure long-term sustainability of the venture.

Some of the most compelling applications I have read over the years have featured student inspired and led projects. I guarantee that college admissions professionals will take notice!

Gerald Bradshaw is an international college admission consultant with Bradshaw College Consulting in Crown Point.

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gerald_bradshaw@post.harvard.edu
Historic House tour at National Lakeshore

Enjoy a special tour of architecturally significant homes in and around Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Saturday beginning at the Visitor Center, 1215 North State Road 49, Chesterton. Included on the tour are two Swedish historical homes: the Gust Lindstrom house and the restored Oscar/Irene Nelson site, two prefabricated enameled steel Lustron houses, the House of Tomorrow home from the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, and several architect-designed mid-century houses. There is a fee, which covers the tour and shuttle transportation to the sites. Reservations are required and can be made at: logstolustronstour17.eventbrite.com or by calling 800-450-4534. The tours are sponsored by Indiana Landmarks and the National Park Service. More information is at 219-395-1882.

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Classical Association spring car wash

Crown Point High School Latin Club students will host a car wash from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at O'Reilly Auto Parts, 1111 N. Main St., Crown Point. All proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the Crown Point Classical Association, which provides funds for scholarships, AP exam fees and trips to the National Junior Classical League Convention. More information is with Judy Katz at 219-776-0147.

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"Sacred Sands" performances at National Lakeshore

The play "Sacred Sands" will be preformed from 2-3 p.m. Saturday at the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education, and from 2-3 p.m. May 20 at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 North State Road 49, Chesterton. The play is inspired from J. Ronald Engel's book Sacred Sands: The Struggle for Community in the Indiana Dunes about the struggle to preserve the Indiana Dunes. More information is at 219-395-1882 or www.nps.gov/indu.

Military Academy Night

Pete Visclosky, U.S. Representative for Indiana's 1st congressional district, will host the 2017 Military Academy Night from 6-8 p.m. Monday at Indiana University Northwest Anderson Library Conference Center, Room LC105, 3400 Broadway, Gary. Students from the First Congressional District who are interested in attending a U.S. Military academy are encouraged to attend. Information will be available about the educational opportunities and the application process for the following institutions: U.S. Military Academy at West Point; U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London; U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis; U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point; and U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. Members of the Congressman's Academy Nomination Board also will be on hand to answer questions and meet prospective applicants. More information and online applications are at visclosky.house.gov.

Naloxone training and informational workshop

Community Collaborators Who Care will present two Narcan/Naloxone training and informational workshops: a professional seminar from 8-11 a.m., and a parent/community seminar from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday at the Memorial Opera House, 104 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso. The purpose of the workshop is to educate professionals, first-responders, parents/caregivers and community members on the tools available to combat the opioid public health crisis. Speakers include retired Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Executive Service employee, Joseph Rannazzisi and the founder of Heartland Recovery Center, David Lee. Registration is required at https://communitycollaboratorswhocare.eventbrite.com.

 Staff report
The Aeroshell team loops over the crowd during the 2016 Gary Air Show. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)

The Gary Air Show could be grounded this summer because it lacks sponsors to support the pricey $350,000 two-day flight festival, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said.

Freeman-Wilson said the city is in talks with a possible sponsor, but it's likely the show won't take place this year. It had been planned for July 8-9 at Marquette Park beach in the city's Miller section. She said Monday is the deadline to notify this year's headliner, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, of the show's status.

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Freeman-Wilson said the city couldn't raise enough sponsorship money to cover the air show that's been a summer fixture for thousands of spectators since 2000.

Over the years, it's been a struggle to find ways to make money off the air show that draws thousands to the lakefront. An official from the South Shore Visitors and Convention Authority, which produced the show until 2015, estimated it lost $1.4 million during its nine-year run with the show.

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"While we all agree it's a great event, we can't justify what we don't have," Freeman-Wilson said of the lack of revenue. It costs the city about $50,000 in police, fire, sanitation and other city services. She said the city was counting on sponsors to supply the rest of the expenses.

"They're ready to go," she said of the acts lined up.

"It's very disappointing."

Freeman-Wilson said the city is now considering hosting the air show every other year so it can spend more time raising money.

That idea appealed to George Rogge, who serves as president of the Miller Business Association and the Miller Citizens Corp.

"The air show takes a lot of work and a lot money. This would relieve you of the stress of coming up with sponsorship money continuously," he said.

"Some people I know have said they go away when the air show comes because it's the same thing every year and it starts to get old," he said.

Speros Batistatos, president and CEO of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, said Wednesday the tourism bureau applauds Gary's efforts the past couple years to resurrect the air show in Gary.

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He said it is likely the city in organizing the event has run up against some of the same challenges the South Shore CVA did. Raising money for an event of that nature is difficult. The large amount of open space also makes it hard to generate revenue.

"At the end of the day it is just too high a revenue for too low a return," he said.

Batistatos said Freeman-Wilson has done a fine job with the event and the South Shore CVA will continue to support the city in its efforts to host events that draw visitors to Northwest Indiana.

In 2015, the city took over the operation of the show from the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, which started sponsoring it in 2006 when the city plunged into a financial crisis.

Former mayor Scott King launched the air show in 2000 after the Gary/Chicago International Airport became the staging area for performers in the Chicago Air & Water Show in 1997. Chicago organizer Rudy Malnati also coordinated Gary's show.

The air show was sidelined by the federal sequestration in 2013. In 2014, the visitors authority planned to move the show to Fair Oaks Farms in Newton County, but heavy rains made the fields that were to be used for parking unusable and the show was canceled.

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Last year, Majestic Star Casino contributed $125,000 as the show's main sponsor. Freeman-Wilson said that initial contribution opened the door to more donations.

Freeman-Wilson said the city's resources have been diminished after losing a property tax assessment appeal to Majestic Star two years ago. The city had to refund $5.2 million to the casino after a judge ruled the casino's value was much less than its assessed value. The ruling also cost the city millions in tax dollars.

Since she's been mayor, Freeman-Wilson said, the casino's tax contribution has decreased from about $20 million to $14 million annually.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Gary resident Karen Cameron, a teacher, said she likes the idea of a residence for homeless men with mental health issues, and thinks the Common Council should move forward in advancing the proposal by Dr. Renecia Williams. (Gregory Tejeda / Post-Tribune)

A medical doctor who wants to operate a residence in Gary for mentally ill people pleaded with municipal officials to grant her a special zoning permit to allow her to proceed with her dream.

Renecia Williams appeared Tuesday before the Common Council's planning committee, which reviewed her request for a special use permit for a structure in the 2100 block of Adams Street, where she wants to have a six-bedroom group home for men who are being released from the Lake County Jail and have no other place to live.

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Williams said she chose Gary for her plan because she is a city native and is familiar with the community. "I could have taken my education and gone to Chicago and made more money," she said. "I came back here because I want to be a light, I want to help."

Some council members, however, are wary of anything that would bring homeless people to Gary.

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Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, said she thinks the presence of the facility in a residential neighborhood will scare people away from moving to the city.

"We're losing population, and now nobody's going to want to live on that block," she said. "If you wanted to put a shelter like this right next to the home where I raise my son, I'd fight it tooth and nail."

Usually an ally of Sparks-Wade, Councilwoman Rebecca Wyatt, D-1st, disagreed.

She said it's wrong for people to be hostile toward people because they have mental illness problems.

"Many of these people don't have a family or a place to go," Wyatt said. "We're continuing to stigmatize these people, and that infuriates me."

She said she sees Williams' project as a small-scale effort to find a place to put people who in many cases are capable of independent living. Williams' project calls for a medical doctor, a therapist and two mental health technicians on staff to watch over the residents.

She said the reason many of those people will wind up in Gary is because the city was their last permanent address, and they wish to remain a part of their home city. She cited jail statistics that showed of 193 inmates with mental illness issues who were released without a current address, 164 claimed Gary to be their most recent home.

Gary resident Karen Cameron, an elementary school teacher, said she supports the idea, and wishes the Common Council ultimately would support Williams. "She has the knowledge of the issue, we should let her work."

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Sparks-Wade argued she believes there already are facilities in Gary providing aid to homeless people, although Williams said many of them will not accept single men on a long-term basis, or do not want to deal with those who have mental health issues.

When Sparks-Wade asked if there were enough facilities in Gary, Williams responded, "No ma'am, it's not a crime to be mentally ill and indigent."

Other council members also were split. Council President Ronald Brewer cited apartment complexes being proposed for the surrounding neighborhood that might lose their attractiveness to residents, while Councilman Michael Protho, D-2nd, said the homeless issue will not go away.

"They're still on our streets, we've got to do something," he said. "We've got to help people who can't help themselves."

Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Activist and retired Indiana University Northwest professor Ruth Needleman, foreground right, urged the Gary Common Council to move forward on making Gary a welcoming city at a May 9 meeting at City Hall. (Gregory Tejeda / Post-Tribune)

The Common Council is split as to whether Gary ought to designate itself a "welcoming city" for people who are not U.S. citizens.

The council's Public Safety Committee reviewed a proposed ordinance last weekput forth by Councilwoman Rebecca Wyatt, D-1st, who said she sees the issue of not harassing people because of their citizenship status as being totally in character with Gary's history.

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"Seventy percent of the people living in Gary in 1910 (when the city was only four years old) came from a foreign country," she said. "These individuals today are like those residents of the past who were looking to build a better life."

The welcoming city ordinance would create a review process that city officials would follow should the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency ask for information. It has the support of Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.

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Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, said she has legal concerns about the issue and does not know how she will vote.

"I will have to give a lot of thought to this ordinance," she said.

More critical was council President Ronald Brewer, who said he's not sure it is necessary for Gary to take a stance on federal immigration policy.

"I don't want to create something that we don't really have any use for," he said, adding that he could understand why a community like East Chicago with a majority Hispanic population in the 2010 Census would be concerned.

Ruth Needleman, a retired labor studies professor at Indiana University Northwest in Gary and now an immigration activist, said there are immigrants from African countries living in Gary, and that it might be possible for locally born black people to face harassment in some mistaken identity cases.

"The level of tensions already run high with the police in the black community," she said, adding of other ethnic groups that Gary is "surrounded by cities with immigrants who cross our paths every day.

"This is a step in the name of achieving a friendlier environment."

The full Common Council could wind up taking a final vote on the issue when it meets again Tuesday, although committee Chairwoman Linda Barnes-Caldwell would not say what was likely to happen.

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Brewer said he would be more comfortable if the Common Council were to consider the issue as a nonbinding resolution, rather than as an ordinance that would have legal authority.

"I look at this as giving special treatment for a certain group," he said of the proposal.

Greg Thomas, city attorney, said the measure was drafted to be similar to welcoming city ordinances that have passed in other communities around the nation  including Chicago suburbs such as Evanston and Oak Park, Ill. It also is similar to an ordinance currently pending in East Chicago, he said.

"This is to ensure that all people are treated equally and that no one is discriminated against," he said.

Wyatt said the current ordinance is designed to ensure that Gary municipal government would continue to comply with the federal and Indiana governments with regard to immigration matters.

"We're not saying Gary would become a 'sanctuary city' (like Chicago)," she said. "All we're saying is that our local government will not expend its resources to do the federal government's work" on immigration.

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Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Officers line up Thursday to pay tribute to their fallen comrades during the annual Indiana State Police memorial at the Lowell ISP Post. (Carrie Napoleon / Post-Tribune)

Troopers with the Indiana State Police Lowell post paid tribute Thursday to the 46 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty since the department's inception in 1933.

The sound of bagpipes from Lake County Pipes and Drums Corps floated in the background as more than 60 troopers marched to a spot in front of the podium for the annual memorial service conducted at the ISP Lowell post.

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Officers stood at attention and bowed their heads as one by one the names, posts and circumstances behind each death were read by Capt. David Kirkham, Area 1 Commander, and Lt. Terry Gose, Lowell district commander.

For new troopers Alissa Partyka, of Crown Point, and Regen Smith, of Cedar Lake, participating in the ceremony in uniform for the first time had meaning. Both women, recent police academy graduates, said they had attended past memorial services, but this was the first one they attended as a trooper themselves.

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Each night at the police academy, the women said, they would talk about the story of an officer who lost his or her life in the line of duty as a way to remember the fallen and learn. Standing in front of the Lowell post where they are now stationed with more than 50 fellow officers paying tribute was significant.

"It's different to be part of it in uniform," Smith said.

Partyka said hearing the names and circumstances of the deaths of other troopers was sobering, especially when streets and places she is now patrolling came up. She said the tribute helps put things in perspective.

"It just makes it so much more meaningful. We are wearing the same uniforms," she said.

Sgt. Brian Schnick, of Valparaiso, closed out the annual memorial ceremony by playing Taps. Schnick said he has performed at the service for years.

Playing the trumpet for the post, where he was first stationed as a trooper, helps him unite his two passions, music and police work. Schnick was studying to be a band director when he changed his major to law enforcement, he said.

His first job as a police officer was with the Indiana State Police a the Lowell post.

"It's neat to be a part of the service here," Schnick said.

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Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Jail officers and deputies with the Porter County Sheriff's Department stand at attention May 11, 2017, during the department's annual police memorial, held at Ivy Tech Community College in Valparaiso. (Amy Lavalley / Post-Tribune)

Douglas Carter had a question for the law enforcement officers with the Porter County Sheriff's Department who gathered Thursday for the department's annual police memorial.

Did they want to leave future generations an opioid epidemic, mass violence, and a world where death, dying and destruction were the new norm? The answer was, "no."

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"Imagine the possible," the LaPorte native and superintendent of the Indiana State Police, said during the program, held at Ivy Tech Community College in Valparaiso. "Now is our time."

Hundreds of people, including officers with the sheriff's department, their family and supporters, and local officials, came together to honor those serving the community now and officers who have lost their lives doing the same.

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With a moment of silence after each name, Pastor Jay Birky, the department's chaplain, read off the names of deputies affiliated with the department who have lost their lives: Edward Blakely; Timothy Hecht; Robert Hardesty; Phillip Pratt; and Robert Ransom.

"Many in our society would attest to having strong convictions but few would be willing to die for their beliefs," Birky said. "Those who put on that uniform assume that risk knowing every day brings new dangers."

On Oct. 1, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed the legislation that deemed May 15 as National Police Officers Memorial Day, and the week that surrounded the date as National Police Week, said Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds, adding more than 25,000 officers commemorated the week last year in Washington, D.C.

In the ensuing 55 years, he said, law enforcement has changed, but so have the officers who fight it. Porter County has the tools to fight its drug problem, domestic violence, and the mental health issues suspects often have when police arrive at crime scenes.

"We're better trained and better equipped than we've ever been," he said.

Porter County Councilman Dan Whitten, D-At large, said the 16 years he served as a police officer before he became an attorney was the favorite chapter of his life.

People who serve in law enforcement do so because it's what they've always wanted to do and who they are, he said, adding that his grandfather advised him that whatever he did, to take a stand for something.

"What other profession is there in the world where you make a stance? You put on that uniform and you have a belief system," Whitten said.

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Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
At 6, Paul Gionfriddo's son sat down in the road waiting for a car to strike him.

His kindergarten teacher saw how he had trouble making friends and struggled to follow directions and stay on task.

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Each event marked the emergence of a lifelong struggle with mental illness, Gionfriddo, President and CEO of Mental Health America, said Wednesday at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster.

Initially diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, his son entered into special education and fell further behind classmates.

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After the fifth grade, he never again finished another year academically on-time, Gionfriddo said, and at 17 was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Gionfriddo urged the audience to advocate for better preventative screening and more robust mental health services that was a missed opportunity to benefit his own son.

Now 32, Gionfriddo's son has spent most of his adult life struggling with homelessness. The greatest periods of stability came during brief stints in jail in California and Texas, Gianfriddo said. In 2014, Gionfriddo wrote a memoir on how he felt gaps in public education and mental health services failed to adequately help his son.

Expanding early preventative screenings and access to mental health care should be a goal throughout the country, he said. Many areas of the country lack sufficient services to provide people effective care before severe manifestations of mental health disorders take hold, he said.

Indiana continues to be hard hit by mitigating factors such as poverty, homelessness, lack of access to care and a shortage of licensed professionals to help those struggling with severe and chronic mental health difficulties, said Renae Vania-Tomczak, head of Mental Health America's chapter in Lake County.

Their group issued its annual report on the state of mental health, which ranked states on factors such as the prevalence of mental health disorders combined with access to care. According to the report, Indiana had one of the sharpest drops to from 19th to 45th between 2011 and 2014.

Paul Gionfriddo, left, CEO and president of Mental Health America, signs a book after speaking for the need for more effective services. (Meredith Colias / Post-Tribune)

Gionfriddo said he saw his son in California last year after he had been living on the street for most of the previous four years. A caseworker is now trying to get him into stable housing, he said.

"He'd been homeless so much of that time, I would go to San Francisco and have to look on the streets for him and wasn't able to find him that way," Gionfriddo said. "This is as tough as anything, and it gets tougher because blame is part of it.

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"People who haven't (gone through it) really a lot of trouble relating to the 24/7 worries that you have about your kids not knowing if they are alive or not," he said.

Hope Robinson, a nurse clinical educator at Community Hospitals echoed the need for mental health preventative services and early intervention, while watching one family member cope with clinical depression and another diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

"We have just seen the struggles that they have had," she said. "The stigma that can come sometimes ... is something that can prevent someone from seeking treatment."

mcolias@post-trib.com

Twitter @meredithcolias
Nicholas Fortin doesn't take "no" for an answer. Or polite excuses. Or unacceptable explanations for not being able to meet in person.

Call it a gift. Or a curse.

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Or, as I believe, call it an essential lesson for all the high school and college graduates who'll soon be sitting through forgetful commencement speeches.

With his persistence and perseverance skills, Nicholas should be a politician when he grows up. Or a journalist. Truth is, he wants to be both someday. I wouldn't bet against him.

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The 17-year-old Discovery Charter School student from Chesterton contacted me months ago, prompted by a suggestion from a former colleague of mine.

"You really should meet this kid," that colleague told me.

I routinely hear similar suggestions from readers, sources and social media followers about teenagers I should meet for one reason or another. I'm unable to follow up on most of them. Not enough time, not enough column space, not enough interest, to be honest.

I first learned about Nicholas through a Facebook post by Porter County Council member Andy Bozak, who also posed for a photo with the camera-friendly teen. I then saw another Facebook post and photo with another public office holder, Portage City Council member Collin Czilli.

"Nicholas is fantastic," recalled Czilli, who started his political career at an early age.

Czilli told me that Nicholas gave him the "toughest interview" since being in office.

"He took the time to research myself, and he asked questions I have never been asked before," Czilli said. "After he interviewed me, which took over an hour and a half, he continued to send me questions on Facebook. I gladly answered. Since he interviewed me, I have seen him at countless public events doing the same to others."

Nicholas has, indeed.

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To date, he has interviewed Porter County Council members Sylvia Graham, Jeremy Rivas and Jeff Larson; Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs; U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky; Chesterton Town Council member Nate Cobbs; Lake County Commissioner Michael Repay; and Valparaiso City Council member Robert Cotton.

"I was flattered to respond with an emphatic 'yes' to an interview request from Nicholas," Cotton wrote on his social media pages. "He is a delightful and politically ambitious student. I must admit to not being able to answer all of his questions, but I felt really good about the comprehensive scope of issues he chose to delve into."

Nicholas, not surprisingly, is a member of his school's newspaper club.

"I have been so happy to have Nicholas participate," said Linda Simon, a school board member who oversees that club. "We started two years ago, for kids in grades fifth through eighth."

Nicholas joined the club in fifth grade.

"I remember his first article was just two sentences long," said Simon, a co-founder of the charter school. "He has grown so much and is truly excited to write about politics."

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In sixth grade, Nicholas wanted to run a mock primary election at his school.

"I helped him do that, and he reported on the results," Simon said. "He is truly passionate about writing about politics. He wrote a blurb about a lot of the local primary candidates for the school paper. And he has written about politics, usually interviews, in every issue since."

When I finally met with Nicholas (he was determined to do so), we met at the Chesterton Public Library. His father, Steve Fortin, drove him there.

"You made it," Nicholas told me, unable to sit still.

Nicholas shows the same enthusiasm for every meeting with anyone on his list. It's a long list, starting with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Yes, that Bernie Sanders, who initially inspired Nicholas to get involved in the political scene during Sanders' presidential run in the 2016 primary.

Nicholas has tried contacting Sanders, with no luck. Yet. I'm serious. I wouldn't be surprised to someday see a photo of the two of them, smiling and shaking hands.

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Nicholas is relentless when it comes to meeting people on his list. On the day we met, I asked him who else, besides Sanders, he would like to meet. He knew instantly.

"Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott," Nicholas blurted out.

That night, I connected him with McDermott via email. The mayor replied to Nicholas that same night, inviting him to City Hall for a face-to-face meeting.

Like I said, Nicholas' tenacity is something that today's high school and college graduates can learn from as they open new chapters in their life.

Doors will be closed on their face. Calls and emails will not be returned. Job rejections are inevitable. They'll need Nicholas-like determination.

Nicholas, of course, is too young to be a commencement speaker, but not too young to be an example to other students who may lack such doggedness.

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Maybe it's his God-given resolve. Maybe it's his age or looks. Or maybe, just maybe, it's his personal delivery. Watch a video of Nicholas in his own words at www.post-trib.com/opinion.

After watching it, maybe you'll want to meet him.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Mother's Day preview

My Mother's Day column will introduce readers to a group of seven local women who've been meeting monthly for six years. Originally it was to celebrate their birthdays and update their lives, but eventually to dine at restaurants across Northwest Indiana and write reviews on their meals and service, based on their ethnic backgrounds.

One of the women, Liz Moses Culp, will be a guest on my "Casual Fridays" radio show, giving listeners a sneak peek at the restaurants they've reviewed through the years.

Also on this week's show will be Robert Sirko, the longtime professor of art at Valparaiso University who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. I recently wrote about his "cancer drawings," which attracted a lot of reader feedback.

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Tune in noon Friday at WLPR-FM 89.1, streaming at www.lakeshorepublicradio.org/programs/casual-fridays-jerry-davich-and-karen-walker. Call in with questions or comments at 219-769-9577.

jdavich@post-trib.com

Twitter@jdavich
What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com.

Trump fires Comey, who is investigating the GOP. The assistant director takes over the investigation. Now Trump gets to appoint a new director. We have become a South American puppet dictatorship.

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"To protect and defend the constitution". Evidently, Republican Senators had amnesia while taking the oath of office. Quite a few of them received law degrees from Ivy League universities; Perhaps they should have become ambulance chasers. The country would be better off.

You are quite the hypocrite. Hillary can raise money for the "Resist" campaign if she pleases. If you disagree we the current chaos in Washington, that doesn't make you an anti-American liberal. That makes you a smart American who is fearful of losing our democracy.

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By firing Comey, Trump just showed how afraid he and his administration is of over the Russia investigation.

UCLA students were expected to sit quietly and attentively while listening to Ann Coulter spew her hatred and intolerance? I suppose if someone were invited to the university to speak about the wonders of alchemy, or phrenology, or explain why the earth is actually flat, then to complain about it would be to suppress free speech or reject "different viewpoints."

Please explain how Republican Senators can make an intelligent decision to vote for a new health plan without reading it? Oh yeah, I must have forgotten there are no intelligent Republican Senators.

Comey flew too close to the Orange flame.

Dear P-T, I know you had great art and a pretty sweet pun for a headline, but next time the president fires the FBI chief who's investigating Russian interference in the aforementioned president's election, maybe that should go on page one and the story about people playing in the dirt can go on page fourteen. Swing and a miss, guys.

It's quite telling when the White House says they don't think a special prosecutor is necessary to investigate Russia connections and intrusions. Of course they don't.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

It took 18 days and a leak before the president fired Michael Flynn. But Comey was out in a flash as soon as Trump concocted a reason.

So we are supposed to believe that Donald Trump fired James Comey because he was unfair to Hillary? Right.

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Every liberal should be required to perform a real job sometime in their life, and every conservative should be required to live on welfare or be a union member sometime in their life. They will then see how the other side sees these issues.

If Trump had nothing to hide in this Russia affair, he would welcome a thorough investigation and do everything in his power to assist it. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. If he has something to hide, he will do everything in his power to thwart it  which he clearly seems to be doing.

Note to Trump fans. Firing Comey is not going to end the "Russian connection" investigation.

Kellyanne Conway is already on CNN giving alternative excuses for why James Comey was fired. If there was a legitimate reason, they wouldn't have to make up excuses.

Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly.
The Western Springs Village Board voted Monday to opt out of Cook County ordinances raising the minimum wage and requiring earned paid sick day.

Four of the six village trustees voted to opt out of the ordinances for the remainder of 2017, with trustees Shelia Hansen and Sue Glowiak voting against the opt-out motion.

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"While I am not opposed to the minimum wage hike, this needs to be done on the state level," said Trustee James Horvath said. "If a business has locations in different counties that may have different wage levels, it would be way too hard on a business to have to pay some workers a higher wage than others only because of where they are located."

Last fall, the Cook County Board passed laws to increase the minimum wage, beginning in July, from $8.25 to $10, and then up to $13 an hour by 2020. The second measure allows employees to earn up to five days of paid sick days each year.

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While the law was designed to mirror the actions in the city of Chicago, which has passed a similar ordinance, both home-rule and nonhome-rule municipalities can choose to opt out at any time before June 1, officials said.

Supporters of the laws say it would get workers out of poverty-level wages and, with increases salaries, workers would be able to spend more money in the communities they live in, helping out the local economy. Critics say that it hurts local businesses, and will force them to raise prices and hire fewer workers due to increased payroll costs.

Lisa Kouba of Western Springs, a small-business owner, said she supports the minimum wage increase.

"You don't want to pit the residents of the village who support this against the businesses here," Kouba said. "That is bad policy. We are one of the most affluent villages in the state, and opting out sends a bad message to the public of who we are, that those who serve us are not worthy of a living wage. That is not who we are as a community."

Another resident, Stephanie Holt, a single mother who said she was forced to take a minimum wage job for three years when her self-employment business fell on hard times, said that it isn't just teenagers who are paid minimum wage jobs.

"I strongly support the minimum wage. It's long overdue," Holt said. "Letting this go through would make for a more healthy community."

But some did support the village's opt out plans. Penny Kirschbaum of Kirschbaum's Bakery in Western Springs, which has been in business for more than 50 years, said paying school-age workers such a high salary would force her to reconsider hiring them. She said she has eight high school age workers right now making minimum wage.

"Many of these young workers don't know how to handle money, talk to customers, or even sweep the floor. They have to be taught everything," she said. "Changing the minimum wage from $8.25 to $13 and hour would make me re-evaluate if I want to train young people on how to be a worker. It may change my hiring practices."

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The Western Springs Business Association issued a statement in support of the village's opt out vote, saying the issue should be addressed at the state level.

Village President Bill Rodeghier said the new board, which will be seated at the May 22 meeting, will have more time to discuss the issue, since they can decide to opt back in. Three new members of the board, including a new village president, will be seated.

"This option postpones the issue for now so the village can take action on it in the future," Rodeghier said.

There are also bills in the Illinois General Assembly that are being discussed in committee, and that any state action in approving those bills would make the Cook County laws no longer valid, said village attorney Michael Jurusik.

Several northwest suburbs, including Barrington, Mount Prospect, Schaumburg and Arlington Heights, have already opted out. Two nearby communities, La Grange and Countryside, elected not to opt out. That led some in Western Springs to worry people who support the county ordinance will shop in those towns to show their support, and lead workers to those towns where there are higher wages.

"What would stop a Western Springs resident from going to work in La Grange if they are going to pay more," asked Hansen said.

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David Heitz is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Wilmette Park District commissioners have chosen Chicago-based Woohouse Tinucci Architects to design a replacement for the current Gillson Park beach house, shown in April of 2015. (Kathy Routliffe / Pioneer Press)

Wilmette Park District residents interested in providing more input to the architects hired to create a new Gillson Park beach house and parking lot can do so at two meetings this month, according to executive director Steve Wilson.

The meetings  the first set for 7 p.m. May 16 at the Community Recreation Center, 3000 Glenview Road, and the second for 10 a.m. May 20 at the Lakeview Center in Gillson Park  are the latest sessions at which architects from Chicago-based Woodhouse Tinucci Architects are looking for public feedback on possible project options, Wilson said.

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Commissioner Ryrie Pellaton, who chairs the park board's lakefront committee, said the concepts took into consideration previous public comments collected after meetings in March, as well as feedback from district staff and from his committee, which met May 1.

Pellaton said public responses so far have placed the highest priority on maintaining views of the lake, providing more natural landscaping, improving both the circulation patterns and the landscaping for the parking lot, providing more seating and shade at the beach, and adding more restrooms, but cutting the size of the beach house concession area.

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Minimizing the look of the fence that controls access to the beach was also a high priority, Pellaton said.

He said committee members liked suggestions from the architect that would extend beach sand dunes north from where they currently exist at the south end of the beach; committee members also liked a suggestion that the district install a wooden control fence, which he said would be more attractive than the metal fence now used.

Pellaton said initial feedback from the public, either through survey results or from the March meetings, showed residents placed what he called a medium priority on ideas such as providing more bike racks, and maintaining or providing more lockers and more showers and rinse areas.

Lowest priority from feedback to date has been placed on providing more district beach programming or additional picnic areas, he said.

So far, the preliminary concepts presented by Woodhouse Tinucci Architects include one that would create a beach house that could act as part of a fence design to control access to the beach; a second one that would design the beach house to act as the gateway to the beach area, much as is the case with the current building; and a third concept that would build a beach house to minimize its appearance on the beach, Pellaton said.

Each concept includes providing better staff office space, but within a footprint that's either the same or smaller than the existing beach house area, Pellaton said.

He said public feedback has included the desire by some residents to take a "less is more" attitude toward any construction, and worry from some residents about potential commercialization of the beach.

The existing Gillson Park beach house is 45 years old, with porous bricks subject to cracking and disintegration, deteriorating wooden roof beams, cold-water washrooms and largely unused showers, according to district officials.

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Commissioner Bryan Abbott urged residents to attend the two meetings: "We can't emphasize these meetings enough. We really want input from the public."

To view the latest presentation from the architects, visit www.wilmettepark.org and click on "Beach House and Park Lot Project: May Workshops."

kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @pioneer_kathy
Why these young voters in Pueblo want to get more youth involved in voting
News / Local

by Alice Dube

Ailing 93 year old President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore for a medical check-up at the recommendation of his Zimbabwean specialist eye doctor.The said doctor is based in Zimbabwe and is black, presidential spokesman, George Charamba has said.The specialist needs the facilities in Singapore, Charamba said.Charamba said the specialist had recommended that, given "Mugabe's age, he needed specialist eye care only available in Singapore" he told CapitalKFM this Wednesday afternoon on 'Fragility of Zimbabwe' debate session.Charamba said his boss is not the only Head of State that visits the Singapore hospital that the president goes to.Mugabe jetted out on Monday for his routine medical check-up.He is expected back in Zimbabwe at the weekend in time to bury late former chief justice Godfrey Chidyausiku.Mugabe who has been in power since 1980 regularly travels to Singapore for health check-ups and private holidays and his last medical trip was in March.He now walks with difficulty and sometimes dozes off during meetings made his last public appearance at the World Economic Forum on Africa last week.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".
Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the third biggest lender in China in relation to assets, opened on Wednesday a Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, clearing branch in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Dubai branch is ABC's first yuan clearing bank and its second branch in the Middle East after another branch in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), the biggest financial free zone in the region.

ABC said in a media statement at the opening ceremony that the new branch is to improve ABC's global settlement business, contribute to internationalization of yuan, and support the Belt and Road Initiative.

Its Dubai Branch will provide diversified banking services including yuan settlement, trade finance, syndicated loans and foreign exchange transactions.

At the opening ceremony, Zhao Huan, President of ABC, said that the branch "operating on a strictly compliant basis, would actively participate in the development of an offshore yuan market in UAE, and promote the use of yuan in China-UAE trade, investment, payment, settlement and market transactions, to support the fast-developing bilateral financial cooperation."

The Gulf Arab state UAE, a major oil supplier, is one of China's most important trading partners. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, China-UAE bilateral trade has grown from $63 million in 1984 to $54.8 billion in 2014 and is estimated to reach $60 billion by the end of 2016, according to UAE official data.

More than 4,000 Chinese firms operate in the UAE where over 300,000 Chinese citizens reside in. Earlier last month, Dubai Tourism said among Dubai's top 20 source markets for inbound tourism, China continued to top the growth rate with a 64-percent increase over the first quarter in 2016, delivering 230,000 tourists.

ABC's move is based on agreement to set up a yuan settlement hub that was signed while Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was in China for an official visit in December 2015.
News / Local

by Stephen Jakes

A man from Killarney in Bulawayo is in trouble after he proposed love to a 14 year old girl who agreed with him and they engaged in sexual intercourse which is against the law that only views the age of consent to sex and love as from 16 years.Blyden Tonderai Chinyoka (20) was not asked to plead to a charge of having sexual contact with a young person when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove.The magistrate remanded him to May 22 for trial.The court heard that sometime in January this year (2017) the girl's pastor asked the girl why she was not happy like what she used to be some other days and she lied to him that she was raped by the accused and that she was five months pregnant.She later told her sister the truth that she had consensual sex with Chinyoka and this led to his arrest.
 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."
You are here: Home

President Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has signed a decree that will release a regulation on military legislation.

The regulation, which took effect Monday, defines the rules for establishing military laws and regulations as well as the drafting of standard documents.

The regulation standardizes the formulation of military laws and regulations, spanning the drafting, submission, modification and issuance stages.

In addition, it regulates the review and compilation of records, and suggests measures to improve the management system for documents.
An unidentified fugitive returns from Indonesia to China. [Photo/Xinhua]

China Wednesday released an update on the cases of 40 corruption fugitives on the Interpol red list who have either voluntarily returned or been extradited to China, including two spared from prosecution.

As of Monday, 15 returnees had already been sentenced to terms of up to life in prison, according to a statement from the office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the central anti-corruption coordination group.

The cases of another nine fugitives have been accepted by courts, but no sentence has yet been given.

Another 13 cases are still under investigation or awaiting review, including the case of Yang Xiuzhu, the No. 1 most wanted on the red notice list, according to the office.

One case was withdrawn in late 2015 after prosecutors confirmed the death of the suspect, Gu Zhenfang, in Thailand.

Among the 15 fugitives already convicted is Li Huabo, a former local finance official in east China's Jiangxi Province, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in January.

Li's illicit gains worth 4.83 million yuan (700,000 U.S. dollars) were returned and 5.5 million Singapore dollars (4 million U.S. dollars) was confiscated.

Li, who fled the country in January 2011, remained in Singapore until he was repatriated in May 2015.

In a separate case, Fu Yaobo and Zhang Qingzhao were sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery and embezzlement in August last year.

Zhang Dawei was exempted from criminal prosecution in November 2016 because Zhang had confessed his crime and returned all his illegal gains voluntarily.

Two of the fugitives, Zhu Zhenyu and Zhang Liping, were spared prosecution because Zhu was an accessary to the crime and turned himself in voluntarily, while Zhang's offense involving falsifying value added tax invoices was minor.

The handling of these cases reflects China's policy for the fugitive hunt, namely offering leniency to those who voluntarily return to China while meting out harsh penalties for those who are brought to justice after being arrested, the statement said.

The Interpol red notice of 100 Chinese corruption fugitives was released in April 2015.

As a move to close a loophole in China's renewed anti-corruption drive, which in the past mainly targeted domestic corruption and left out those who have fled the country, China has launched operations such as "Sky Net" and "Fox Hunt" in recent years, focusing mainly on corruption fugitives and assets recovery overseas.
Mombasa, the biggest port in East Africa, is the gateway to East Africa. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, better known collectively as the Belt and Road Initiative, China's twin global outreach development paradigms enunciated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 during his state visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, are up and running.

Originally designed as a Eurasian transport network and integrated system that is composed of railways, highways, aviation, navigation, oil and gas pipelines, transmission lines and communication networks from which industrial clusters would emerge, it has become a globally inclusive framework.

The Belt and Road Initiative is today taking shape as a trans-regional cooperation model connecting Asia, Africa and Europe's policies, trade, facilities, funds and people in the 21st century.

According to the document Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road co-released by China's National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce in 2015, the joint construction of the Belt and Road is "aimed at promoting orderly and free flow of economic factors, highly efficient allocation of resources and deep integration of markets, encouraging the countries along the Belt and Road to achieve economic policy coordination and carry out broader and more in-depth regional cooperation of higher standards, and jointly creating an open, inclusive and balanced regional economic cooperation architecture that benefits all."

Many initiatives

The initiative has already amassed huge international goodwill with the participation of more than 100 countries and organizations in a cooperation arrangement that is open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.

Originally, the coast of East Africa, where the famous Chinese sailor Zheng He traveled over 500 years ago to inaugurate the historical precursor to contemporary China-Africa cooperation and friendship, was the only part of Africa covered in the traditional Maritime Silk Road.

However, in the new, up and running framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, the whole of Africa is well within the open and inclusive process. The critical challenge of infrastructure network to complement the long-held aspiration for a united and integrated Africa has found a practical and powerful impetus in the China-driven international cooperating framework. Free of a grand institutional behemoth-like separate secretariat and formal red tape, the Belt and Road Initiative will be anchored on existing regional and international mechanisms, a far cry from building another global or regional bureaucracy.

With a growing presence in Africa, China is engaged in the construction of the physical framework for integration. The port of Mombasa in Kenya has reached an advanced stage of completion, and the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway line, which would connect to Uganda, South Sudan and through to Rwanda, is up and running. The long-drawn East African economic integration that would boost the sub-region's economies of scale will gain practical momentum with the trans-regional rail line.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia, a growing industrial hub, initially hobbled by a deficit of port access, is now connected through Africa's first modern electrified railway to the Port of Djibouti. The Tanzania-Zambia Railway built in the 1970s with China's assistance as an enduring monument of China-Africa friendship is due for rehabilitation, with China, Zambia and Tanzania working in cooperation. Through a comprehensive reform of the management system, effectively linking the railway to ports and building an industrial economic belt along the railway, it is hoped that the 1,860-km railway line will gain fresh vigor and help Tanzania, Zambia and other African countries boost independent, inclusive and sustainable development.

Nigeria, one of the largest economies of Africa, is on the cusp of an infrastructure revolution as China deepens its engagement in that vital and value-creating chain. The Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge railway is up and running, and at the ceremony to launch the Lagos-Ibadan rail line which would connect the northern commercial hub of Kano, Vice President Oluyemi Osinbajo called China Nigeria's most reliable friend. The production capacity cooperation with Nigeria is in top gear.

Elsewhere in Nigeria, the Lekki Free Trade Zone, an incubating hub of Nigeria's reindustrialization efforts, is receiving a massive boost from comprehensive Chinese participation. At a recent seminar at the free trade zone, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian said "As the world's largest manufacturing country and second largest economy, China sincerely hopes to share its experience with Nigeria and stands ready to provide capital, technology and personnel in support of Nigeria's industrialization." Zhou added that China supports the relocation of labor-intensive industries to Nigeria on a priority basis and the localization of Chinese companies to create more non-agricultural jobs, especially those suited to young people.

Inclusive process

Already China has expended over 50 percent of the $60 billion given to fund projects in the 10 cooperation plans outlined by President Xi at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in South Africa in December 2015.

The good news is that the process of China and Africa deepening engagement on the decisive infrastructure challenge of the continent will receive a massive boost and will be further mainstreamed in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The initiative is both an all-round opening-up program and an international plan along with public goods under the principle of wide consultation, joint contributions and shared benefits, all aimed at establishing a community with shared destiny.

With the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has led the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for which more than 60 countries, including rich industrialized member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have signed up. The Silk Road Fund is disbursing funds for projects earmarked in the process.

Africa's funding deficit could be considerably ameliorated if the region's governments strategically engage with the global public goods, generously offered by the Belt and Road Initiative. Importantly, the initiative does not have the geopolitical trappings seen in the Marshall Plan through which the United States helped post-World War II Western Europe to reconstruct and recover, but locked it into U.S. strategic national security interests, a burden which fuels the debate about the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Benefiting youth

The connectivity implicit in the Belt and Road Initiative is to boost people-to-people contact. As the network of infrastructure connectivity will be complemented by industrial clusters and other economic activities, the initiative is expected to soak in a large army of young people in Africa, both in the formal and informal sectors of the economy. Not only would transportation duration be considerably cut, but the network arteries would feature a booming informal service sector. Young people attracted to anti-social behaviors, including criminality and extremist insurgencies, would be absorbed into productive and economic activities.

In short, the Belt and Road global integration process has enormous potential to solve the practical problems of unemployment in Africa.

The author is director of the Center for China Studies, Abuja.
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President Xi Jinping called for joint efforts to strengthen mutual political trust and properly handle disagreements in a congratulatory message on Wednesday to the newly elected president of the Republic of Korea.

Noting that he has always attached great importance to China-ROK relations, Xi wrote Moon Jae-in that the two countries should push forward the healthy and stable development of ties under the basis of mutual understanding and respect.

Moon, of the liberal Democratic Party, won the presidential election by a landslide on Tuesday to replace ousted president Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in December on charges of bribery and abuse of power.

Analysts said Moon is likely to seek to mend China-ROK relations damaged by the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system led by the United States.

In the message, Xi said the development of China-ROK relations has not only brought tangible benefits for the people of both countries, but also made positive contributions to regional peace and stability.

Xi pointed out that China and the ROK are important neighbors. Relations have been comprehensively developed in the 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, he said.

Xi said he would like to work with Moon to help China-ROK relations better benefit the two countries and their people.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news conference that China's stance on the deployment of THAAD is consistent. He called on the ROK to attach importance to China's concerns and handle the THAAD issue properly.

Moon said in his inaugural speech that he will sincerely negotiate with the US and China over the deployment of THAAD.

During his campaign, Moon argued for a parliamentary ratification and public consensus for the THAAD installation that can influence the country's society from diplomatic, security and economic perspectives.

Part of the US missile-interception system has been transported to the deployment site in the country's southeastern region, causing strong protests from anti-THAAD activists and residents.

Huang Youfu, a Korean studies professor at Minzu University of China in Beijing, said it's impossible for the ROK's new government to withdraw the deployment given the current situation of the Korean Peninsula.

But Moon is highly likely to take measures to improve the relations with China, and Beijing will welcome such moves, he said.

Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, said Moon faces challenges on the THAAD issue as he has to balance domestic public opinions while also coordinating the relations with both China and the US.

China and the ROK should create opportunities now to enhance strategic mutual trust and improve relations, he said.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he hoped Washington would "reverse" its decision to arm a Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) before his visit to the U.S. next week.

Speaking on a joint press conference with Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma in Ankara, Erdogan said" A terrorist group cannot be defeated with another one,"quoted by local private broadcaster NTV.

"Everything that happens in Syria and Iraq is a matter of national security for Turkey,"he stated.

The president said he would express his concerns in this regard at the meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on May 16, adding the same issue would also be brought up at the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on May 25.

Meanwhile, during an interview with NTV, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that U.S. decision to supply weapons to Syrian Kurdish militants will "neither benefit the U.S. nor the region".

"The delivery of heavy weapons to the People's Protection Units (YPG) is a crisis itself," Isik said.

He reiterated Turkey's stance of not joining any military operation in the region involving terrorist groups.

Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) criticized on Wednesday the U.S. decision, urging President Erdogan to cancel his upcoming visit to the U.S.

The opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also underlined the timing of the announcement, describing it as a move "beyond political disrespect, a mockery against Turkey."

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that U.S. President Trump had approved the arming of the YPG "as necessary to ensure a clear victory" in a planned operation to retake the northern Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State(IS).

Turkey considers the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian affiliates of the PKK, a terrorist organization listed by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.

However, the U.S. has supported the PKK and the PYD as its ally on the ground in combating IS in Syria.
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At least 20 people were killed in explosions that rocked a weapon depot of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Wednesday evening, a monitor group reported.

Two explosions rocked a house the IS militants used to store weapons, and coincided with a passing fuel tanker, which triggered a third explosion, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the explosions destroyed 15 houses and vehicles.

The cause of the bombings is under investigation.
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Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a Senate impeachment trial of suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 29, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Ming)

Brazil's sweeping investigation into the Petrobras corruption ring, named Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash), reached new heights of media and public attention on Wednesday as former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was interrogated by judge Sergio Moro.

At 2 p.m. local time, Lula's interrogation began at the federal tribunal of Curitiba, capital of the state of Parana, with Moro seeking answers to charges of corruption and money laundering against the charismatic politician.

Upon arriving at the court, Lula received applause and cheers by a large number of supporters, which were kept back around 150 meters from the building.

Thousands of activists from Lula's Workers' Party (PT), the Central Workers' Union (CUT) and others had gathered to celebrate the former leader and denounce what they see as a conspiracy against him. Lula's successor and friend, former President Dilma Rousseff, was also on hand to lend her support.

A smaller group of protesters, who support Lula's appearance in court, also made their voices heard.

The interrogation saw Moro interviewing Lula for around three hours, before turning the witness over to federal prosecutors and then allowing the defense team to have their turn.

Earlier in the day, Brazil's Supreme Court rejected a petition by Lula's defense team to postpone his testimony.

His lawyers claimed they had not had enough time to review all the documentation related to the case and requested 90 days to analyze it. They stated they had received around 5,000 documents, with a total of around 100,000 pages, over the last couple of weeks.

Lula is accused of having received bribes worth 3.7 million reais (1.15 million U.S. dollars) from the OAS construction company, in the form of a three-floor apartment in Guaruja, a resort town on the coast of Sao Paulo.

Should he be found guilty and should the sentence then be upheld by a higher court, Lula would be automatically barred from standing for president in the 2018 election. Opinion polls constantly show him as the most favored candidate by the Brazilian electorate.

Also on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurelio de Mello said there was no current motive to detain Lula.

Speaking to the press during Lula's interrogation, Mello said the court case into Lula was not concluded but that, for the moment, "it is not necessary to halt the natural order of the judicial process."

He said that this order should be "investigate, prove guilt and carry out the sentence... What should be an exception, provisional prison...has become the norm."

Moro, the head judge for Lava Jato, has been criticized for maintaining various accused people in preventive prison for long periods.

There is no precise date for Moro to give his ruling on Lula's case but it is expected to take several weeks.
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia, the White House said.

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington DC, Trump raised the possibility of broader cooperation on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, the White House said in a statement.

The meeting came amid tensions between the U.S. and Russia as the two countries hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of NATO.

Trump, who has expressed hopes of repairing relations with Moscow, said last month that the U.S. was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."

At Wednesday's meeting, Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, underscoring the need for Russia to "rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies."

After Trump ordered missile strikes on a Syria airbase last month in response to Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, the Russian government condemned the military action, calling Washington's move "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law."

On Ukraine, Trump expressed his Administration's commitment to remain engaged in resolving the conflict and stressed Russia's responsibility to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

The U.S., along with some European allies, has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia in response to what they called the annexation of Crimea and destabilizing activities in eastern Ukraine.

After the meeting, Lavrov told reporters that Trump confirmed his interest in building "mutually beneficial" relations with Russia.

Earlier in the day, Lavrov held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a range of issues, including Ukraine, Syria, and bilateral concerns.
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Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Wednesday his country strongly rejects the idea of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Neutrality is one of a few things that are not negotiable for Moldova and a NATO membership is unacceptable, said Dodon at a meeting with Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Moldova also cherishes its Orthodox belief and the strategic partnership with Russia, the visiting Moldovan president added.

On Tuesday, Dodon watched a grand military parade together with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Red Square to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II.

Moldova was a republic of former Soviet Union and is now a member of the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States.

Moldova shares border with Romania, a NATO member, and Ukraine, which is at odds with Russia and interested in a NATO membership.
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

Residents from Zvimba communal area have been pushed to bear the brunt of an ineffective waste management system from the neighboring Harare culminating into garbage being illegally dumped into their community causing conflicts, a threat to human life and animals.The locals in rural Rainham Ward 25, located a couple of kilometers from Dzivaresekwa extension expressed dismay on the rate at which people are trickling in at night to dump garbage in their community.Speaking on condition of anonymity, one villager said, "We live in rural areas where logically we do not produce waste as much as our urban counterparts, but here we are, you wake up and find a sack full of baby diapers in your backyard and you wonder where it is coming from,He added that "We had to discover later that people are driving from Harare coming to dump waste here, some dump the waste in water bodies such as dams posing a health hazard to aqua life, domestic and wild animals"Illegal dumps are quickly turning this community into a toxic illegal dumpsite, a sad development that has prompted the local people to raise red flags fearing for their welfare if this is not brought under control.This new anomaly has not come in peace in this community as it has subsequently triggered conflicts as fellow community members counter blame each for dumping rubbish at night.Another villager, Nyarai Chingombe weighed in "Most people here are no longer living in harmony as everyone blames each other for having Illegally dumped garbage on their fields or homesteads,"Recently, some suspected toxins were dumped in Kanyuchi dam by the same coming from Harare and this affected aqua life, we saw dead fish floating on the water".Moses Tendaupenyu, Zvimba District Environmental Officer called for an urgent inquiry by both the local District council and Harare City council to facilitate solving the issue."The growth of illegal dumps in this community is affecting people, beings, domestic animals and it's a serious health threat beings, it's disheartening that the culprits are not local people but from Harare,"That is why we are supporting the creation of Environmental By-Laws so that at least there is set terms on dealing with such issues", said Tendaupenyu.This was revealed during a community engagement exercise for the Environment Africa initiated environmental by-laws making process, aimed at fostering rural districts sustainable resources utilization and development by putting in place laws and regulations that govern environmental management.Environment Africa, working with supporting partners such as the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (ZELA), Environmental Management Agents (EMA), Traditional Leaders and the Agricultural Extension Departments is facilitating the creation of environmental by-laws for rural district councils.Peri-urban areas have always faced conflicts due to increasing urbanization as people from nearby urban areas usually compete with local residents for scarce resources and in this case, the negative impact of illegal waste dumping on the rise in this community cannot be overemphasized.Some Harare residents have taken the matter of garbage disposal into their hands citing the City council has dismally failed to fulfill its mandate of refuse collection. One such case has been the outbreak of typhoid that rocked the city recently, an incident that experts say uncollected garbage contaminated drinking water thereby greatly contributing to the outbreak.
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Germany's defence ministry on Wednesday promised a reform to clear off Nazi sympathizers in the army following the scandals of far-right attack plots.

The German defence force Bundeswehr has been under pressure recently since several soldiers were arrested on suspicion of plotting xenophobic terror acts. They allegedly planned lethal attacks on migrants disguised as refugees.

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced that Bundeswehr will review itself, focusing on "leadership and values".

The reform measures included a modification of its 1982 "decree on traditions", which allows the display of objects of Nazi-era armed force Wehrmacht "within its historical context", for example Wehrmacht weapons, helmets as well as posters.

The minister said the rule might provide "back doors" for the ill-minded military personnel and inspire some far-right ideology.

She added the armed force will be "zero tolerance" on all forms of extremism.

On Sunday, all German barracks were already given order to start clearing off Nazi-era objects.
China is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with Egypt on May 13, 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.


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U.S. FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Oversight Committee over investigation into Hillary Clinton's email system, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, July 7, 2016. [File photo / Xinhua]

U.S. President Donald Trump's dismissal of James Comey from the post of FBI director has sparked a major media firestorm and much disagreement.

Trump's move on Tuesday, which came at a time when the FBI's investigation into his alleged ties to Russia heats up, has dominated the news cycle, with some experts calling it unprecedented and downright suspicious.

Indeed, Democrats and center-left U.S. media outlets said the timing of Comey's dismissal is suspect, and are crying foul over what they say is a stunning power move by the new president.

One media commentator, Chris Matthews, even said the move had a whiff of "fascism" to it. And Democrats in Congress are up in arms over Trump's move.

Democrats are demanding the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate the alleged links between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign. Russia has dismissed the alleged links as fabrications.

But others are much less outraged, and some noted that Comey's firing was made on the recommendation of senior Justice Department officials.

Trump said Wednesday that he fired Comey because he "was not doing a good job," without elaborating.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that he cannot get as excited as many Democrats over the issue.

"To me, Comey didn't know how to handle the public face of the job. The fact that most of his mistakes to date were at Hillary (Clinton's) expense, but most of his sensitive ongoing investigations were potentially at Trump's, increases the partisan tensions and suspicions over the firing," O'Hanlon said.

Indeed, Comey was criticized for reopening probe into Clinton's email scandal in the last days of last November's presidential race, in a move that many said in fact tipped the tight race in Trump's favor.

"But I can't really disagree with Trump -- even though I am a Democrat myself -- provided that the successor (to Comey) has integrity," he said.

U.S. intelligence services have concluded that Russia tried to interfere with last November's elections, as the Kremlin allegedly believed it could do business with Trump as opposed to Clinton. Democrats maintain that Russia's moves allowed Trump to hijack the election and win the White House.

But many others note that millions of rural Americans -- Trump's main backers -- had been struggling financially for nearly a decade under former President Barack Obama, and viewed Clinton as an extension of the Obama administration. It was promises of a better economy that led to Trump's win, some experts and observers maintain.

"The timing of Trump's decision to fire the FBI director is very suspicious," Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies of the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

"The termination appears to be an effort by Trump to stop an investigation that is getting close to home," West said.

Trump seems to believe that he would stop the Russia investigation by firing Comey, but what he doesn't understand is that this move only will intensify interest in Trump's alleged Russia connections, West said.

"A change of leadership at the FBI may slow the investigation in the short run, but the political backlash against the firing will ensure that the Russia investigation will stay on the media front pages for months to come," he noted.

Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua that the Trump administration wants to put their own person into the FBI, "and I reserve judgment on the impact until I know who that is."

"Still, it does send a powerful message to the rank and file in the FBI, and other federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies about their job security," Mahaffee said.

Writing on CNN's website, Princeton University Professor Julian Zelizer noted that the firing is being compared to former President Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre."

Zelizer noted that in that 1973 event, Nixon fired independent prosecutor Archibald Cox for his aggressive inquiry into the Watergate scandal.
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Cheng Guoping is the State Commissioner for Counter-Terrorism and Security Matters of China. [Photo by Dang Xiaofei / China Today]

2016 witnessed more major terrorist attacks around the globe, some of which killed and injured 100 or more people. Many countries, including China, face the threat of terrorism. When delivering his Report on the Work of the Government in March 2017, Premier Li Keqiang outlined the tasks and goals of national defense, and emphasized the importance of counterterrorism in safeguarding stability.

During the annual meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which concluded in March, China Today had an exclusive interview with Cheng Guoping, State Commissioner for Counter-Terrorism and Security Matters of China.

Cheng is an anti-terrorism expert and veteran diplomat. His previous posts include director-general of the Department of European and Central Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China's ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan, and vice minister of foreign affairs. Cheng is one of the two State Commissioners for Counter-Terrorism and Security Matters of China.

Grim State of Affairs

The Islamic State (ISIS) has carried out terror attacks in the French town of Nice, and in Brussels, Belgium. The Russian Ambassador to Turkey was shot dead in the capital city of Ankara, and a suicide bombing killed hundreds of people south of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. Such attacks were frequent in 2016.

Since the beginning of 2017, the fight against terrorism in Syria and Iran has entered a new phase. Pakistan and Afghanistan have both suffered relentless large-scale terror attacks.

"The global political and economic pattern is now in a transitional phase, and the counter-terrorism situation remains grim," Cheng said. Extremist and terrorist groups have taken advantage of the chaos in the Middle East to expand their influence, he added.

"Beyond the phenomenon where terrorist groups utilize religious beliefs to instigate more terror attacks and expand their organizations are the war games of big countries, evident in geopolitical strategies and the wrangles between various political forces," Cheng said.

Under such circumstances, extremist and terrorist groups have constantly adjusted their strategies and organizations. Cheng expounded on this fact by recalling that Iraq and Syria were formerly the two main battlefields for extremist terror attacks. Since being crushed there, however, these extremist groups have moved on and penetrated other regions. Some terrorists have returned to their home countries; others have migrated to countries in Europe. This is at the root of the terror attacks which occured in Europe between late 2016 and early 2017.

China must also combat the growing threat of terrorism. The fight against the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) has long been foremost on China's anti-terror agenda. The ETIM foments disunion among the country's ethnic groups, and is responsible for several terror attacks in China, especially in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It has thus threatened national stability as well as people's lives and property.

"In addition to cracking down on ETIM terror attacks carried out within its borders, China has also enhanced cooperation with countries throughout the world in fighting the ETIM," Cheng said. "The ETIM has now merged with other international extremist groups, large numbers of its members having entered Syria incognito to join local terrorists. They jeopardize the safety and interests of Syria, and also constitute an indirect menace to China."

China has made considerable headway in dealing with the ETIM. "However, we must be prepared at all times for unexpected developments," Cheng said. President Xi Jinping steadfastly enforces counter-terrorism, and has issued many instructions on fighting the ETIM. China's first counter-terrorism law came into effect on January 1, 2016.

Cheng's response to certain reports of extremist and terrorist groups' intentions to move from the Middle East to China's neighboring regions of Central Asia, South Asia, or even Southeast Asia is that the country will keep close tabs on any such trend. This is crucial, as it has a direct impact on the security of Northwest China's border areas, the stability and development of Xinjiang, and China's comprehensive development at this critical phase.
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Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Karunasena Kodituwakku met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People.

The year 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka, and the 65th anniversary of their signing of the Trade Agreement on Rubber and Rice.

The Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Karunasena Kodituwakku observed during an exclusive interview with China Today that the two nations have maintained their friendship throughout history, and enjoyed mutually beneficial business and trade. Fruitful achievements form a solid foundation for their strategic cooperative partnership, and also provide broad development opportunities.

Old Friends

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena expressed the great importance each attached to the bilateral relationship in their exchange of telegrams on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between their respective nations. Both heads of state voiced the desire to consolidate political mutual trust, expand cooperation, and strengthen friendship between their peoples. They agreed that the Belt and Road Initiative has opened a new era of bilateral relations, and that the ancient Maritime Silk Road will add vigor and vitality to the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

China and Sri Lanka are both heirs to millennia of recorded history and grand civilizations. In 1952  after Sri Lanka's independence in 1948, and the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949  the two countries formally signed the Trade Agreement on Rubber and Rice, without having established formal diplomatic relations. In the decades since, China and Sri Lanka have made great achievements in their cooperation in the areas of economy, politics and culture.

Throughout the past 60 years, despite changes in the international community, China and Sri Lanka have been constantly mindful of one another's core interests and concerns. They are good neighbors, friends, and partners. As Ambassador Kodituwakku remarked, "Successive Sri Lankan governments have pursued friendly policies towards China, regarding China as a reliable and sincere friend. This mutual political acknowledgement is essential, and lays the fundamental basis for our further cooperation on trade and economy."

Win-win Cooperation to Boost Free Trade

China is now the world's second largest economy, while Sri Lanka remains the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean." The countries' respective economies are highly complementary.

Ambassador Kodituwakku was upbeat about bilateral trade achievements, "China has kept close ties with Sri Lanka for centuries, and made crucial contributions to its modernization." China is indeed the biggest investor in Sri Lankan real estate and infrastructure, having embarked on large-scale projects involving high-speed railways, ports, and energy.

"To deepen our trade cooperation, both leaders advocated signing the China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement." Ambassador Kodituwakku revealed that the fifth round of negotiations had been completed without a hitch, and that the final agreement is expected to be inked by year end.

Sri Lanka, located along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is a strategic hub linking Africa and Asia. Outbound trade is a main feature of Sri Lanka's economic development, and China is one of its biggest global trading markets. Therefore, the China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement will become a major driver of Sri Lanka's export of high value-added products.
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As close neighbors, the friendship between China and Vietnam goes back to ancient times. And as socialist countries under the leadership of their respective communist parties, China and Vietnam are both in the process of deepening reforms. In the midst of their discrete national independence campaigns and progressing socialist construction, the two countries have extended helping hands to each other, thus consolidating their bond of friendship.

In November 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a state visit to Vietnam on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic relations. Early this year, after re-election as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Nguyen Phu Trong made his first visit to China.

The frequent top-level state visits between the two countries underline the importance their state leaders attach to the bilateral relations. The two leaders have also expressed their mutual intent to advance the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation towards sustained, healthy, and stable development. The two sides are committed also to linking the Belt and Road Initiative with Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan, so to promote connectivity and encourage and promote bilateral investment and economic cooperation.

People in both Vietnam and China are eagerly anticipating the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. But there may still be some who hold a wait-and-see attitude towards the initiative, or who harbor doubts about it. How, then, is China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation progressing? And what benefits can the Belt and Road Initiative bring to Vietnam? With these questions in mind, reporters from China Today, China Report, People's China and china.com.cn, which are all members of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), jointly interviewed Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hong Xiaoyong.

CIPG: What progress is apparent in China-Vietnam economic and trade exchanges?

Ambassador Hong: Economic and trade cooperation is an important part of bilateral relations. China has been Vietnam's biggest trade partner for 13 consecutive years. And last year, Vietnam surpassed Malaysia to become China's biggest trade partner in the ASEAN region, with a bilateral trade volume topping US $98.2 billion. Throughout long-term trade exchanges, Vietnam has been vexed by trade imbalances, in view of China's sizable trade surplus in this respect. Over the past two years, however, the problem has eased. Last year saw a 20 percent growth in Vietnam's exports to China, while there has been a declining trend in China's exports to Vietnam. In the first quarter of 2017, Vietnam's exports to China increased a further 40 percent. The bilateral trade structure is thus becoming more balanced.

Investment is another important facet of bilateral economic and trade cooperation. China long held a ninth or tenth ranking among all investors in Vietnam. But with the progress in bilateral ties towards more stable development, last year saw an impressive increase in China's investment in Vietnam that took it to the eighth rank. This momentum increased in the first quarter of this year, bringing China to the second position in terms of investment increment among 38 countries and regions that have invested in Vietnam. As an important link between the two countries, economic and trade cooperation has greatly promoted bilateral relations.

The trade imbalance between the two countries is actually a temporary problem, attributable to the market and to their different stages of development. Vietnam is now greatly advancing its industrialization and strengthening its manufacturing sector. However, as spare parts and accessories cannot be produced locally, Vietnam needs to import them from China. Mobile phone accessories are an example. Garment manufacturing is another. Vietnam now has many garment factories, but still needs to import fabrics and printed and dyed textiles from China. But Vietnam also exports locally produced clothes to other countries, which generates foreign currency. China mainly imports minerals, agricultural produce, and industrial raw materials from Vietnam.

CIPG: It's often said that economic complementarity exists between China and Vietnam. How do the two countries complement each other economically?

Ambassador Hong: This economic complementarity hinges on the two countries' different stages of development, and on the structure of their production factors. As China's reforms to its economic structure deepen, more surplus production capacity becomes available for overseas transfers. Vietnam is an ideal destination. China possesses abundant capital, advanced technology and equipment, and good management expertise, all of which Vietnam urgently needs for its social and economic development. On the other hand, Vietnam's advantageous demographic dividends, high-quality work force, huge market potential, and demand for improved infrastructure, as well as its rapidly developing economy, all imply huge scope for China-Vietnam cooperation. This is why we believe high economic complementarity exists between the two countries.
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in will send special envoys to China to discuss issues concerning the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a senior presidential press secretary said on Thursday.

Yoon Young-chan told a press conference here on Thursday that President Moon would dispatch separate delegations to discuss THAAD and the DPRK's nuclear program with their Chinese counterparts, although the two issues will be dealt with together.

Yoon said the dispatches were mentioned during the first telephone conversation between Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping which lasted for 40 minutes beginning at about noon.

Xi has congratulated Moon on his election win and the two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys as soon as possible, according to Yoon.

During the phone conversation, the two leaders discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including the Korean Peninsula and the DPRK's nuclear program, Yoon said.

Xi and Moon agreed to meet face-to-face at the earliest possible date, while re-affirming their common goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

During the phone dialogue, Moon advocated a two-track approach of pressure and sanctions toward the DPRK to resolve the country's nuclear issue in a comprehensive, staged way.

Moon said the ultimate goal of sanctions was to bring the DPRK to the dialogue table to abolish its nuclear program.

On Wednesday night, Moon held his first phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump and talked about the Peninsula situations. Trump officially invited Moon to the United States.
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

A 38-year-old Roman Catholic sister, Emmaculate Samkange is dying for sex and has confessed to having an adulterous affair with a married man.According to Samkange who works as a nurse at Chivhu General hospital does not want to break her lover-Philip Dzingai's marriage.All she wants is sex.They started dating in 2013, she said."I am aware that Philip is married and it is true that i am having an affair with him" H-Metro reported."I am a Roman Catholic sister so what i do does not allow me to be his second wife."I am in a relationship with him because i failed to resist sexual temptation. I don't wish to break his marriage, all i want from him is sex" she said.However, according to H-Metro, Philip denied having an affair with the sister.
Radio Free Asia

2017-05-08

 Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan on Monday released rights lawyer Xie Yang on bail after he pleaded guilty at his subversion trial and backtracked on previous reports of his torture while in police detention.

Xie, 45, stood trial at the Changsha Intermediate Peoples Court on Monday, pleading guilty to charges of incitement to subvert state power and disrupting court order.

Xie told the court  that he had not been coerced into a confession nor had he been subjected to torture, state news agency Xinhua reported, reflecting the ruling Chinese Communist Partys official version of events.

Chinese human rights lawyer Xie Yang is shown in an undated

photo. Photo sent by an RFA listener

His defense attorney said he has since been released on bail, although it was unclear whether he had fully regained his liberty.

Chen Jiangang, who was prevented from acting as his lawyer after publicizing his clients torture allegations, said Xie has now been released on bail after doing a deal with the authorities.

I have received news from his government-appointed lawyer that Xie Yang has been released, Chen said. After the trial, he was taken back to the detention center, where he was granted bail.

They cut a deal, Chen said. If you look at the statement he made right at the start, he emphasized this point very clearly, that [any confession] would be either because he was tortured, or because it was part of a deal [for his release].

Completely innocent

Xies admission of guilt and his withdrawal of torture allegations were at odds with a handwritten declaration he made last year, in which he vowed never to confess willingly to charges he has always denied, rights activists said.

I, Xie Yang  hereby state that I am completely innocent of any and all the charges, the note, translated by the China Change website, said.

If, one day in the future, I do confesswhether in writing or on camera or on tapethat will not be the true expression of my own mind, Xie wrote.

It may be because Ive been subjected to prolonged torture, or because Ive been offered the chance to be released on bail to reunite with my family, the note, dated Jan. 13, 2016, said.

Xie told the court that he had received training in allegedly subversive behavior in Hong Kong and South Korea.

In court, Xie claimed to have been brainwashed by Western constitutional thinking with the aim of overthrowing the existing system and developing Western constitutionalism in China, according to transcripts and video of the trial published on the courts official microblog account.

Xie was seen in a short video clip denying that he had been mistreated in custody, and reading a script that called on fellow rights lawyers to stop talking to foreign media.

Everything I did went against my professional role as a lawyer, Xie said. My actions smeared the Communist Party and the government, and had a very bad effect, and I would like to express my sincere guilt and regret for this.

He called on fellow rights lawyers to follow his example: We should stop using foreign media  to hype sensitive news events, attack judicial institutions, and smear the image of government departments when we are handling cases, Xie said.

Asked by the prosecutor about his detailed reports of torture in detention, Xie said: No, I was not subjected to torture.





No trace of named groups

The court said Xie had provided the names of two organizations in Hong Kong which provided the training. But Hong Kong government broadcaster RTHK said it could find no trace of the organizations listed in the former British colony.

It said Xie had openly attacked and defamed governmental agencies, the judiciary, and Chinas legal system, and had incited others to subvert state power on multiple occasions, official media reported.

Xie had also admitted sending more than 10,000 social media messages as part of a smear campaign against the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Chinas legal system, and the political system, as well as disturbing court order.

But Hunan rights activist Xie Fulin said he believes the confession was part of a deal with the authorities.

Of course his guilty plea was under huge pressure, and Im pretty sure that he has refused to confess ever since he was detained, especially now that his wife and kids are in the United States, and cant be used against him, Xie Fulin said. Im pretty sure they forced him into it.

Xie was among dozens of rights lawyers, activists, and law firm staff detained during a nationwide crackdown on the legal profession beginning in July 2015.

An international group of lawyers and judges last week called on Beijing to release Xie immediately, saying that he was arrested and charged for performing legitimate professional functions as a human rights lawyer.

Pattern of harassment

Meanwhile, the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights said on Friday that it was deeply troubled by last Wednesdays detention of Chen Jiangang, a vocal civil rights defender, and his family during a vacation.

We are dismayed by this continuing pattern of harassment of lawyers, through continued detention, without full due process guarantees and with alleged exposure to ill-treatment, the office said in a statement.

Chen, who helped to expose Xies report of torture, was detained by Chinas state security police on Friday after going missing alongside his wife Zou Shaomei and the couples two sons during a family trip to the southwestern province of Yunnan.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang hit out at the United Nations for its criticism of the nationwide crackdown on lawyers, saying its statement on Friday disregards objectivity and constitutes an interference in China domestic affairs and judicial sovereignty.

Incitement to subvert state power carries a maximum jail term of five years in less serious cases, and a minimum jail term of five years in cases deemed more serious, including where the suspect is regarded as a ringleader or a repeat offender.

Jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo is currently serving a 13-year sentence on the same charge.

Reported by Ding Wenqi for RFAs Mandarin Service, and by Ng Yik-tung for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

ChinaAid Media Team

Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985

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For more information, click here
Veteran politician Jean-Pierre Raffarin, picked by French president-elect Emmanuel Macron as special representative at an upcoming forum on the Belt and Road Initiative, called the initiative "an invitation for Europe to look more to the East".

Raffarin is departing for Beijing on Thursday for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on Sunday and Monday.

Raffarin said that Macron decided on sending him shortly after defeating the National Front's Marine Le Pen in the May 7 election.

Raffarin told China Daily in a written interview on Tuesday that he will be leading the French delegation.

He said the decision was announced after President Francois Hollande and president-elect Macron agreed for him to serve as special representative of the French president at the forum, which 28 state leaders will be attending.

Hollande will make way for Macron to move into the Elysee Palace next week.

In addition to the initiative's open door for Europe, Raffarin said, "I don't underestimate the other messages of boosting economic growth and advocating peace, in particular."

He said the new president will be maintaining a strong friendship and strategic partnership between China and France.

"In my country, since General de Gaulle, we have always placed a major interest in the Sino-French relationship, putting aside our internal political differences between various parties," said Raffarin.

He said the priority is the global equilibrium for peace and development because both sides trust in a common vision of a multipolar global system and multilateralism.

Both sides will seek to strengthen a vibrant economic exchange and to promote cultural partnerships, Raffarin said, adding that the two governments will put innovation and research at the heart of their cooperation.

The two countries' relationships with African nations also are on their priority list, Raffarin said.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
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]

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will promote ties through a platform of change and improvement, with more than 50 documents on infrastructure construction expected to be signed, officials with the nation's top economic regulator said on Wednesday.

"We do not want to turn the forum into a performance put on only by China. That is not our goal," said Ou Xiaoli, counsel of the Department of Western Region Development at the National Development and Reform Commission.

"Instead, China hopes to build a platform to enhance cooperation and address global problems," he said.

"We welcome everyone to participate," he added.

The forum will be held on Sunday and Monday in Beijing, where more than 1,500 leaders and experts are expected to participate, according to an agenda released by the commission.

By the end of 2016, more than 100 countries and regions had expressed a willingness to support the Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.

China has so far signed 46 cooperation agreements with 39 countries and regions to implement the initiative, according to the commission.

Ou said that discussions during the forum will focus on eight major areas: infrastructure construction, industrial investment, economic and trade cooperation, energy resources, financial cooperation, cultural exchange, ecological environment and maritime cooperation.

More than 50 cooperative documents to support infrastructure construction are expected to reach agreement during the forum, according to Fei Zhirong, head of Basic Industry Department under the commission.

"Priority for infrastructure construction will be given to fixing bottlenecks and missing links in the transportation network along the Belt and Road countries," he said.

The forum will help infrastructure projects overseas accelerate because it will provide financial institutions with opportunities to offer cofinancing, said Jin Qi, chairwoman of the Silk Road Fund, established in 2014 to focus on long-term investment of initiative related projects.

Humaid Kanji, an environmental economist in the United Arab Emirates, said more convenient transportation across continents will improve efficiency of large-scale regional economic and trade cooperation.

Kanji said building infrastructure projects is not a way for China to export excess capacity, because there is a huge gap in infrastructure constructions that cannot be filled in the short term.

"A more efficient and green transportation system will enhance regional connectivity and help resolve other key issues that the international community is grappling with, such as climate change," he said.

"Many countries touched by the initiative share similar ideas on tackling climate change. We hope to make good use of the initiative to enhance climate policy coordination with China and other countries along the initiative."
Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce [Photo/Xinhua]

Nation launches talks to upgrade trade deals with a number of economies

China will continue to push forward free trade agreement talks with more than 20 economies along the Belt and Road Initiative this year after clinching 11 such deals in the region, senior commerce officials said on Wednesday.

It will sign an FTA with Georgia and launch an FTA feasibility study with Mongolia during the Belt and Road Forum of International Cooperation in Beijing this weekend, Vice-Minister of Commerce Qian Keming said at a news conference.

The country will also explore FTA feasibility studies with Nepal, Bangladesh and Moldova this year, Qian said.

China has launched negotiations with the governments of Singapore and Pakistan to upgrade existing FTAs, Qian added.

China has completed the fourth round of talks on tariff cuts with India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Laos.

"The upgraded protocol of the China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations FTA has been implemented since July. China is actively promoting Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations, and FTA negotiations with Israel, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and the Gulf Cooperation Council," said Qian.

The RCEP is a regional free trade pact between 16 economies including Australia, India and the ASEAN.

China's trade value with countries and regions along the trading routes reached more than 20 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion) between 2014 and 2016.

Chinese companies made $50 billion outbound direct investment in non-financial sectors and signed project contracts worth $304.9 billion in countries and regions along the routes between 2014 and 2016, Ministry of Commerce data showed.

"We will further ease market access for foreign investment and build an international standard business environment to attract investment from these areas," said Zhang Xingfu, deputy director-general of the department of international trade and economic affairs at the ministry.

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 in the second half of this year.

"Infrastructure projects and international capacity cooperation will boost economic growth and employment, and improved transport will further increase trade and economic exchanges and enhance the quality of growth in different countries or regions along the initiative," said Liu.
John MacLeod, site manager at Scottish Sea Farms, Lismore North farm, holds a salmon in Oban, Scotland. JEFF J MITCHELL / GETTY IMAGES

China has a fast-growing appetite for fresh and smoked salmon, but Scotland's fish farmers have been struggling to keep up with demand from the lucrative market.

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.

Figures from the United Kingdom's HM Revenue and Customs showed the export volume of salmon to China fell from around 11 million kilograms in 2015 to 8 million kg last year, something the industry attributed to the sea lice outbreak. In 2014, some 13 million kg of the pink-fleshed fish were shipped to the world's second-largest economy.

Despite the fall in 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.

Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organization, 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.

"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," Landsburgh added.

Landsburgh attributed the fall in exports entirely to the early harvest.

"China likes larger fish, around 7 kg, 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.

JD.com Inc, one of the largest e-commerce operators in China, said a majority of Chinese consumers are willing to buy fresh products online, and seafood products are among the most popular categories. Shrimp, fish and other seafood are quite well-received, especially those who come from the inland regions.

Du Ni, a 27-year-old office worker in Beijing, said: "I like salmon, it is really fresh and tasty. I sometimes buy imported salmon from supermarkets, and at other times eat it at restaurants."
Zhang Hongli, vice-president of ICBC [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest bank by assets, is taking the lead in promoting cooperation among a wide range of international financial institutions in financing projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The bank is talking to more than 20 international financial institutions, including commercial lenders, policy banks and multilateral development agencies, to jointly "capture" business opportunities in the countries and regions involved in the initiative, said Zhang Hongli, vice-president of ICBC.

"Many banks want to jump on board and there are many issues that are common to all the banks. So there is a huge desire to work together," Zhang said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

"There are discussions among the banks on what they can do as a banking community to capture opportunities offered by the Belt and Road Initiative," Zhang said, adding that the ICBC is committed to more dialogue and greater cooperation with other financial institutions.

Analysts said the move by ICBC highlighted China's desire to promote cooperation to expand investment channels and to ensure sustainable financing for projects under the initiative.

Xu Hongcai, deputy chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said forming an alliance of financial institutions for the Belt and Road Initiative would create a resource-sharing platform for the banks and help them diversify project risks.

"Big infrastructure projects often require massive funding and extensive due diligence and risk assessment. An alliance among the financial institutions will allow them exchange information and help reduce the negotiation cost and ensure the sustainability of the funding," Xu said.

Huang Jianhui, a researcher with China Minsheng Bank, said creating a flexible and cooperative financing mechanism for the Belt and Road Initiative would help attract greater investment as it would allow potential investors to see the commercial value and potential returns of the projects.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said earlier it was necessary to enrich the funding channels and to mobilize market forces and local resources.

That was because government funding would not be sufficient to finance the initiative, which involves massive construction of infrastructure projects and industrial cooperation.

The initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, could draw investments worth as much as $502 billion into countries and regions participating in the initiative over the next five years, Credit Suisse Group AG said in a report.
Both domestic and foreign companies are expected to enjoy more tax preferential policies for the Belt and Road economies, after eight more bilateral tax treaties are signed this year, officials with the nation's top taxation administration said.

The authorities will strengthen policy communications, they said. It will send officials abroad to major economies along the Belt and Road with large scale outbound investment projects to help resolve tax disputes and provide consulting services, according to Meng Yuying, deputy head of the international taxation department at the State Administration of Taxation.

Guo Yong, a senior official with the Shandong provincial taxation bureau, said although tax treaties were not signed to specifically serve companies with investment projects along the Belt and Road, they were certainly expected to benefit from the initiative in the future, considering its major importance.

"Treaties aim for win-win results for both governments and enterprisesgovernments avoid duplications on tax collecting and companies are able to reduce costs," Guo said.

"Treaties established with other countries will be revised if new problems and challenges emerge."

China has entered into 106 bilateral tax treaties with different countries and regions, including 54 economies along the Belt and Road, an international cooperation initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

The treaty network established between China and other countries is the third biggest tax treaty network in the world, covering major outbound investment destinations.

By the end of April, an estimated 13.18 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) of repeated taxes had been eliminated since 2013.

Thanks to support from the tax administration, Zhangzhou-based Kibing Glass Co, China's leading glass manufacturer, saved a large sum on paying tax when the company started business in Malaysia in 2014, according to Cao Yuchang, manager of the company.

"We met some difficulties understanding the policies of the local withholding tax," Cao said. "We contacted the tax administration in Beijing straightaway, seeking help."

Withholding tax is an amount withheld by a party making payment (the payer) on income earned by a nonresident (payee) and paid to the Malaysian authorities, according to the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia.

After the State taxation administration negotiated with local tax authorities and signed additional agreements, the company was waived 34 million yuan ($5 million) in tax.

Kibing's Cao said with tax cut after preferential policies were brought in by the Belt and the Road Initiative, the company sees business potential and plans to build more production lines in Malaysia.

The company's overseas project has been listed among 82 provincial key projects along the Belt and Road, according to the development and reform commission in Hunan province.

In the meantime, bilateral tax treaties benefit foreign enterprises when they make investment in China.

In 2016 alone, Chinese tax authorities helped foreign taxpayers in China receive tax relief valued at 28 billion yuan, according to the taxation administration.

Zibo DSM Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a Netherlands-based company, reduced costs on paying tax by submitting a request to the local tax bureau, after China and Netherlands reached a bilateral tax treaty in late 2016.

Guo, the official with the Shandong taxation bureau, said international companies were welcome to submit requests for tax consulting services and China would make sure that their interests were well-protected.
An employee counts yuan banknotes at a bank in Huaibei, Anhui province, June 22, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

DUBAI - Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the third biggest lender in China in relation to assets, opened here on Wednesday a Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, clearing branch in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Dubai branch is ABC's first yuan clearing bank and its second branch in the Middle East after another branch in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), the biggest financial free zone in the region.

ABC said in a media statement at the opening ceremony that the new branch is to improve ABC's global settlement business, contribute to internationalization of yuan, and support the Belt and Road Initiative.

Its Dubai Branch will provide diversified banking services including yuan settlement, trade finance, syndicated loans and foreign exchange transactions.

At the opening ceremony, Zhao Huan, President of ABC, said that the branch "operating on a strictly compliant basis, would actively participate in the development of an offshore yuan market in UAE, and promote the use of yuan in China-UAE trade, investment, payment, settlement and market transactions, to support the fast-developing bilateral financial cooperation."

The Gulf Arab state UAE, a major oil supplier, is one of China's most important trading partners. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, China-UAE bilateral trade has grown from $63 million in 1984 to $54.8 billion in 2014 and is estimated to reach $60 billion by the end of 2016, according to UAE official data.

More than 4,000 Chinese firms operate in the UAE where over 300,000 Chinese citizens reside in. Earlier last month, Dubai Tourism said among Dubai's top 20 source markets for inbound tourism, China continued to top the growth rate with a 64-percent increase over the first quarter in 2016, delivering 230,000 tourists.

ABC's move is based on agreement to set up a yuan settlement hub that was signed while Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was in China for an official visit in December 2015.
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

Gwanda Residents Association:1) After our continuous plea and complaint to ZINWA on the provision of water to the Hospital we have just been advised that ZINWA will be connecting water directly to the hospital outside the mainline to make sure that there is non stop supply of water to the hospital.2) Today we met with Lawyers For Human Rights in Bulawayo on the unconstitutional issue of a bulk prepaid meter being used by ZINWA and the lawyers are taking up the issue to the courts as an urgent matter.3) In conjunction with the Community Youth Development Trust CYDT, and other local Civil Society Organisations we are working on an urgent petition to demand immediate withdrawal of ZINWA from the administration of water in the town. You will be advised in due course on this and ask that we all participate in providing signatures for the petition when the time has come.4) On the issue of debt collectors and the bills that are being used to demand payment on, we are working on modalities to urgently meet with council to discuss this issue and find an amicable way around this as council and residents as we believe that it is extremely improper for council and residents to take each other to court on issues that have not been given enough space for dialogue and arbitration.As the Residents Association we strongly believe that in the period we are going through neither of us between council and residents should be seen to be at loggerheads with each other when we have a common "enemy" to currently deal with. We believe that council is not being considerate to us the residents by throwing the debt collectors on us while we are in the process of discussing the issue of sorting the debts and jointly work on getting residents to develop a culture of paying for council services.
WASHINGTON - The US Commerce Department on Wednesday launched anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty investigations against imports of cold-drawn mechanical tubing from China, Germany, India, Italy, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland.

The investigations are in response to a request from five US steel tubular products manufacturers, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

They alleged that producers in each of these six countries were dumping cold-drawn mechanical tubing in the US market with margins ranging from 12 percent to 209.06 percent.

They also claimed that the governments of China and India were providing improper subsidies to producers of cold-drawn mechanical tubing, the department said.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC), another US trade authority, is scheduled to make its preliminary inquiry determinations around June 5.

The probe will continue if the ITC determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports of cold-drawn mechanical tubing from these countries materially injure or threaten the domestic industry of the United States.

Cold-drawn mechanical tubing is a tubular product with a circular cross-sectional shape that has been cold-drawn or otherwise cold-finished in a manner that involves a change in the diameter or wall thickness of the tubing, the department said.

Last year, imports of cold-drawn mechanical tubing from China were estimated at about $29.4 million, according to the department.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has kept urging Washington to abide by its commitment against protectionism and help maintain a free, open and just international trade environment.
YANGON - The China-Myanmar crude oil and gas pipeline, a pioneer project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, has brought tangible benefits to both sides, and won broad support.

The pipeline project consists of a crude oil pipeline and a natural gas pipeline, which run from the port of Kyaukpyu on Myanmar's west coast to Ruili in China's Yunnan province. The crude oil pipeline was put into formal operation last month, while the gas pipeline went into full operation in 2013.

The project is important for the connectivity and infrastructure construction among the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, as well as China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The oil pipeline has a designed annual transport capacity of 22 million tons, while the natural gas pipeline has a designed annual transport capacity of 12 billion cubic meters.

Since the operation of the gas pipeline, the project has brought economic benefits and public interest to Myanmar, including national revenue, investment bonuses and training funds, improving the living standard of the people along the project area.

For instance, Made Island Port in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, where oil off-loading arms were erected, is now an important window of China-Myanmar economic and trade cooperation and a stellar example of luring foreign investment to Myanmar.

"We strongly support this project. There were only four hours of electricity supply per day previously, while we now have electricity around the clock. Before, we used rain water but now we can get purified and clean water. It's very good, very convenient indeed! We really appreciate what they have done," U Hla Kyaw, a villager on the island, told Xinhua earlier.

The natural gas pipeline directly benefits the inhabitants along the pipeline in Myanmar. The natural gas is carried to a gas-operated power plant in Kyaukphyu Township in Rakhine state, easing the shortage of electricity and bringing down electricity charges. Previously, electricity was generated by diesel power.

U Thein Soe, head of Kyaukphyu County, said by having a natural gas pipeline, Kyaukphyu has become the first township to enjoy a 24-hour electricity supply thanks to the gas-operated power plant in Rakhine state.

But there are even more tangible benefits. The island, which used to have no roads, fresh water, mobile phone signal, or even commodities, has been modernized thanks to the project.

The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline has effectively driven the development of Myanmar's petrochemical production, raised the degree of local industrialization and electrification, promoted its socio-economic development and created job opportunities.

For China, the project is also beneficial. Since becoming operational in 2013, the China-Myanmar natural gas pipeline has supplied gas to three Chinese provinces - Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi - as well as other counties and cities, effectively raising the capability of guaranteeing the supply of more gas to the region.

The project also speeded up the pace of supplying gas to Yunnan.

With such a project, China has realized its hope of opening up an Indian Ocean energy channel and diversify crude oil imports.

The Belt and Road Initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along, and beyond, the ancient Silk Road trade routes.
CHONGQING - A new sea-rail transportation route linking Southwest China's Chongqing municipality and Singapore was launched Wednesday.

A freight train carrying 21 containers left Chongqing at around 11 am and will arrive at Qinzhou Port in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in two days. From there, the containers will continue to Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries by sea.

The Chongqing-Guangxi-Singapore international route complements the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe rail link, providing inland provinces with access to both the Silk Road Economic Belt to their north and the 21st Maritime Silk Road to their south, said Li Muyuan from the China Communications and Transportation Association.

The sea-rail link will allow products from Southwest China to reach American, European and African countries via Singapore, he said.
JAKARTA - The surface of the sea was quiet and smooth at sunrise with boats in the water embracing a golden sunshine which glowed against the background of the dark coast, as masses of clouds floated over the mountains.

The scene was so beautiful that many tourists took photos as they enjoyed the serenity of nature.

Suddenly, someone shouted "Dolphins!" In the direction of the tour guide's hand, several dolphins jumped out of the water and dived back in again, reflecting the sunshine as they did like golden angels of the sea.

This scenic spot aptly named "Dolphin Bay" is located in the northwest of Bali Island which is one of the most well-known resorts in the world. Nowadays, "Dolphin Bay" and Bali attract a great number of tourists who come to enjoy the sight of hundreds of dolphins cruising along in the water.

But tourism here did not really start booming until a power plant emerged in 2015.

This coal-fired power plant was funded, constructed and operated by the Chinese enterprise China Huadian Corporation (CHD).

According to some local residents, Dolphin Bay was also famous at that time, but there were only a few tourists visiting there for sightseeing.

The World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 concluded that Indonesian tourism fell behind Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand in the region.

The report suggested that Indonesia should continually promote the development of its tourism infrastructure including connectivity between regions and supply of hotel rooms.

Liu Ruigao, a local ethnic Chinese man familiar with the region, told Xinhua that Bali's tourism had been held back by its poor transportation system and electric shortage for a long time.

Due to the benefits of CHD's power plant, local tourism has become far more prosperous. A lot of hotels have been built and are now operating and many local inhabitants open their residences for "home-stays" and decorate their houses for their guests.

According to the data provided by CHD, the plant has generated more than 5.2 billion kilowatt hours of power since its operation in 2015, accounting for 40 percent of Bali's total power supply.

Bali's service industry has been rapidly improved thanks to the abundant supply of electric power. However, during its construction, there were some doubts about the plant and some people were worried about its pollution.

It is usually a challenge to build and run a coal-fired power plant in a world-class tourist destination, but the operation and management of the plant has proved successful, which has not only eliminated the doubts, but won the praise from local people and partners.

Shen Yushan, general manager of the Bali division of CHD, told Xinhua that the plant's operation has been running safely and steadily, and the level of energy efficiency and environmental indicators are far beyond Indonesia's state standard. The emission of sulfur dioxide, hydroxide and dust is close to zero, and industrial and domestic water discharge is strictly handled.

"The plant emits no pollution that could damage the local ecosystem or environment," Shen said.

As for pollution, people also can get their answer from the "Dolphin Bay" nearby the plant.

A local resident said that since the operation of the power plant, the number of dolphins there had not decreased, but the tourists had increased quickly.

"I think the dolphins are bothered by the tourists but not the plant," the local resident said.

Wang Qingdong, general manager of production of General Energy Bali (GEB), established for managing the power plant by CHD, told Xinhua that GEB applied the most advanced environmental technology which has no negative effects on the surrounding environment.

He said the emission data of the plant is sent to the local environmental protection bureau each month, and GEB invites a third party to examine the surrounding air and water every half a year.

Sang Xuefeng, a Chinese staff working in the power plant, told Xinhua that when walking along the coast near the plant, he often see groups of dolphins chasing fish.

"It's wonderful, If my wife and child could see these dolphins, they must be very happy," Sang said with a smile, adding that his wife and young child live in their hometown in China's Shandong province.

Sang said he was satisfied with his work and life in Bali, adding that he has good relations with his Indonesian colleagues.

"They are very friendly and enthusiastic, we can exchange ideas in English simply, and understand each other very well," Sang said.

Lalu, an Indonesian employee, said he enjoyed his work and life here, because GEB provided good opportunities for him to learn new skills.

According to GEB, a total of 374 employees work in the plant, including 160 Chinese and 214 Indonesian workers. Shen Yushan said that Chinese and Indonesian employees get along with each other harmoniously.

"GEB will increase the number of Indonesian employees gradually in the future," Shen added.

Sigit Tejo Putranto, a staff working in the Bali branch of Indonesian State Power company, told Xinhua that GEB was the best power plant he had visited. He said that GEB has contributed so much to Bali's electric industry and economic development.

"It also has a good local image," Putranto added.

So far, GEB has donated a school and a mosque to local communities. It also supports and helps local region in holding ceremonies or anniversaries, winning local praise and building a positive image in the community.

Overseas investment expert Shi Xin also made positive remarks about GEB's performance, saying the overseas image of Chinese enterprises has become more and more positive in recent years.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is a historic opportunity for overseas Chinese companies to shape their new images," Shi added.
The logo of Ctrip, an online Chinese travel agency. [Photo/VCG]

The net revenues of Ctrip.com International Ltd increased 46 percent to 6.1 billion yuan ($884 million) in the first quarter, which ended on March 31, according to the un-audited financial results the domestic leading online travel service provider released on Wednesday.

The company's net income attributable to its shareholders for the first quarter was 82 million yuan, compared to net loss of 1.6 billion yuan during the same period last year and net income of 645 million yuan the previous quarter.

Last year, Ctrip acquired its domestic rival Qunar and UK-based travel search site Skyscanner.

The company said the addition of Skyscanner contributed to the sustained strong growth of its transportation ticketing business, as its transportation revenues for the first quarter reached 2.9 billion yuan, increasing by 48 percent year-on-year and 18 percent from the previous quarter.

"This is the first quarter we consolidated Skyscanner results," Ctrip Executive Chairman James Liang said.

"By leveraging Skyscanner and other strategic overseas investments, we expect to further strengthen our international product offerings and improve user experiences for both Chinese and international travelers."

Besides international markets, Ctrip CEO Sun Jie said the company has also been making strides in penetrating markets of lower-tier cities.

In April, Qunar signed China's A-lister Zhao Liying as its first brand ambassador. Ctrip said the move will potentially increase Qunar's influence among younger consumers and grow its customer base, especially in lower-tier cities.

For the next quarter, Ctrip preliminarily expects to see its net revenue growth at around 40 to 45 percent year-on-year, which is subject to change.
CANBERRA - A continually growing demand for Australian cattle from China is likely to make the industry going from strength to strength, according to experts who are lauding China's taste for Aussie beef.

Following news that Australia's richest woman and mining magnate Gina Rinehart was seeking to ramp up cattle exports to China, industry experts have said that Australia's beef industry was likely to see a robust growth.

Michael Whitehead from the ANZ Bank's agribusiness sector overnight told News Corp that it is was no wonder Australia's richest were continuing to pour their money into the beef industry, citing Rinehart and retail giant Gerry Harvey as examples of prime beef investors.

"Being in control of the start of the beef supply chain is a great place to be if protein is going to be increasingly in short supply," Whitehead said of Australia's beef industry.

"Investors, too, are starting to look for industries that can't be disrupted. You can disrupt banks, hotels, media, taxis and property, but how do you disrupt Australian beef?"

"So it follows that if you are a billionaire, it is obvious that you will never lose your money by buying and investing in Australian cattle properties. It's a great project and space to be in."

Harold Mitchell, a prominent Australian beef investor, told News Corp that unlike the mining boom, after which demand for resources dropped, it was highly unlikely that a demand for basic proteins such as beef would subside, instead predicting that demand would continue to rise for decades to come, even if prices come down when supply catches up with demand.

"I've been a great supporter of the industry and still think it has a long way to go. There will always be a shortage of protein in a growing world," he said.

"The China trade is just starting to take off and the US has had so much demand for our hamburger meat; but things are changing fast and we are right at a point where the price of stock is so high that I fear a (price) collapse is coming."

He said if Australian suppliers could breed more beef cattle, Australia would be able to meet the demands for both local and overseas consumers for decades in the future.
By HE WEI in Hangzhou | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-11 08:02

A 22-year-old online shopping veteran searches an app for products using a mobile phone in Moscow. XINHUA

People aged 25 to 34 are the mainstay of cross-border online shopping in economies covered by the Belt and Road Initiative, according to a latest survey.

Cosmetics, furniture and gadgets backed by disruptive technologies are the top three darlings of these young buyers, said AliExpress, the country's largest international business-to-customer online marketplace.

Shoppers from the Maldives, Kuwait and Bahrain spend the most among Eurasian peers, the research said. Cosmetics merchants from China received the highest number of orders from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Israel.

Bargain hunters from Singapore, Israel and Russia snapped up most furniture from the site, while Russian, Turkish and Israeli buyers are willing to purchase items like virtual reality goggles and 3D printers.

"By April, AliExpress has attracted over 100 million international buyers since its debut in 2010. The Belt and Road Initiative has fueled additional momentum for the company, with buyer numbers doubling in the past 18 months," said Shen Difan, its general manager.

Almost 60 percent of transactions are completed via mobile devices, as online shopping takes off alongside a boom in smartphone users, notably in developing nations.

AliExpress has the most loyal and frequent shoppers in the Maldives, Lithuania and Bhutan. The highest number of orders for toys came from Israel, Latvia, Estonia and Iceland.

In Russia, Spain and Israel, the AliExpress app was the most popular shopping app downloaded from both Apple Store and GooglePlay.

Consumers from over 220 countries and regions had placed orders on AliExpress during the annual Singles Day shopping festival on Nov 11.

Shen said he hoped the platform would make China's small and medium-sized enterprises well-known globally.
South China city offers cash rewards to drug trafficking informants

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-05-11 07:41

GUANGZHOU - Lufeng, a hotbed of methamphetamine production and sales in South China's Guangdong province, has offered cash rewards of up to 8 million yuan (1.16 million U.S. dollars) to informants who help crack maritime drug smuggling cases, according to local police.



Rewards ranging from 500,000 to 8 million yuan will be given based on the amount of drugs seized in each case, said Lin Yizhi, head of the local police.



"If less than 100 kilograms of drugs are confiscated, the informant will receive 500,000 yuan. For 100 to 200 kilograms of drugs the reward is 1 million yuan, and 8 million yuan for at least one tonne of drugs," Lin said.



Lufeng has been under the radar of the National Narcotic Control Commission after it emerged as a major meth production base in 2008. Intensified police crackdowns on overland drug smuggling in recent years has pushed many traffickers to transport drugs by sea.



In February 2016, police in eight cities within the province seized a total of 3.32 tonnes of meth, including two tonnes found on a fishing boat berthed at Lucheng Port.
China to promote employment of college graduates

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-05-11 07:44

BEIJING - Chinese central government has called for more efforts in helping college graduates get jobs or start businesses, according to statement issued after a national tele-conference on employment Wednesday.



Premier Li Keqiang's written instruction on employment was read out at the conference, which was attended by vice premiers Liu Yandong and Ma Kai.



The employment of college graduates matters to China's social stability, as a total of 7.95 million college students are expected to graduate in 2017, according to the Ministry of Education.

The central government asked local authorities and schools to encourage the students to work in the grassroots and seek jobs or start businesses in advanced manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, services and agriculture.



In terms of general employment, the central government stressed enhanced vocational training and other public services.



China has set employment targets of 11 million new urban jobs and a registered urban unemployment rate under 4.5 percent this year.
Cinereous vulture Skywalker returns to the wild with a satellite tracking device attached to its back in Chiangmai, Thailand. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The migration of a raptor named Skywalker is being closely followed by bird-watchers via a satellite tracking device on its back

The name Skywalker has been reappearing in reports across China. However, this time it has nothing to do with the main protagonist of the Star Wars movies. Instead, it is soaring in Chinese airspace.

This Skywalker is a cinereous vulture, a large bird of prey found across much of Eurasia. With a wingspan of up to 3 meters, the bird is the largest raptor species found in Asia.

With a satellite tracking device on its back, the young male raptor named Skywalkeror Sky for shortwas released by a Thai conservationist in Chiangmai, northern Thailand, on April 29. Data as of May 4 showed that after six days of flying, the raptor had traveled more than 1,000 kilometers, reaching the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"It's exciting news for us," said Chaiyan Kasorndorkbua, an associate professor at Kasetsart University in Bangkok. He said the data sheds new light on a project that started with tragedy 10 years ago.

In 2007, a cinereous vulture was found injured in eastern Thailand by a British bird-watcher. Some experts suggested the bird be taken to veterinary pathologist Kasorndorkbuaa known raptorphilefor help.

The vulture was rescued and later became healthy enough to be released into the wild by Kasorndorkbua and his colleagues. Kasorndorkbua named the male vulture Anakin Skywalker.

Considering the vulnerable status of vultures worldwide and given that little is known about the migratory habits of the bird in the region, Kasorndorkbua raised sufficient funds to purchase and attach a satellite tracking device on Anakin before releasing him, to collect data about the vulture's migration route for scientific study.

However, the fairy tale of Anakin didn't have a Disney-style endinghe was found shot dead in Myanmar less than a month after his release in May 2007. The news was deeply upsetting for Kasorndorkbua.

"Anakin was the first raptor I rescued. He was like my son, as I took care of him for several months. It was such a joy to watch him grow stronger day by day. It gives people strength and hope to fight for a worthy cause," Kasorndorkbua said.

Soon after, he decided to put the remaining funds he had raised to good use, setting up a raptor rehabilitation unit at Kasetsart University for injured raptors. Since the unit's establishment, more than 500 raptors have been rescued, and half of those have been released back into the wild.
News / Local

by Dumisani O. Nkomo

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition notes with deep concern the snail pace at which key institutional, constitutional and electoral reforms have been carried out barely a year away from the next.Our fear as a Coalition which represents over 150 organizations is that unless key reforms are delivered, the 2018 elections will become a mere farce with the script being the same as that of the 2013 elections, with the apparent possibility of the actor being the same, the plot being distinctly familiar and the outcomes being a dejavous moment.Having said this, we welcome the introduction of the biometric voter registration system with all its challenges.B.V.R can only work effectively if it is accompanied by a broader swathe of institutional and legislative reforms. It is our contention that barely 16 months before the election, there is no clear election roadmap.At best there is neither a road nor a map. Critically the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition notes and laments the following components of the electoral process.1. Untimely implementation of the Biometric Voter Registration. B.V.R was recommended by civil society after the contested 2005, 2008, 2013 elections as a credible method of minimizing election fraud. B.V. R will also ensure that a new voters roll is in place.However, if poorly implemented, B.V R can be a monumental disaster and can result in political parties which have the advantage of incumbency e.g the ruling party, to use prior information to have all their members registered. Since B.V.R captures physical and behavioural features such as fingerprints, the face, iris, signatures etc it can be used as a tool of intimidating people especially in rural areas to the effect that their voting patterns are being monitored. There must be sufficient time in educating and informing the voting public about B.V.R in order for it to be effective.2. Steps must be taken to ensure that the new voters roll produced after B.V.R is accessible to stakeholders and the voting public can check whether or not they are registered.3. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission secretariat must be demilitarized and every semblance of military or security/ intelligence presence in the Z.E.C secretariat must be flushed out as a matter of urgency in order to instill confidence in the electoral body.4. The public media must be depoliticized and all parties must be given equal access to electronic and print media both public and private. The state broadcaster for example must not, as it has become the public relations arm of the ruling party. Section 155 of the Constitution speaks clearly about the imperative of fair access to the media.5. Partisan distribution of food aid must be stopped as it is undemocratic and unconstitutional. Public figures must stop distributing inputs, tractors, rice, maize and clothing secured by government on behalf of the people on party lines.6. Traditional leaders must not be used as commissars for political parties as is still the case in many rural areas where traditional leaders are used to mobilize people for meetings of the ruling party. This is a clear violation of section 281 of the Constitution and the Traditional Leaders Act.7. Some senior members of the security establishment continue to embed themselves in partisan politics and openly siding with the ruling party. This is a violation of the Constitution.8. Government officials and bureaucrats still being used as an extension of the ruling party.9. The slow pace of Constitutional alignment is a cause of concern.10. Civil society organizations and ordinary citizens continue to be denied space to exercise freedom of assembly and association. Organizations are forced to notify the police about all meetings and those without memorandum of understanding are subjected to persecution.RecommendationsAs a Coalition we propose that the Biometric Voter Registration and other attendant processes such as birth registration, access to National I.D's be speeded up and the process should be spread out over a year to give people a chance to understand the process and to check whether the system works.There must be widespread civic education by ZEC and civil society to ensure that people have all the necessary information to participate in elections.The public media space must be opened up to allow for a diversity of voices as the election period spans for over a year and not a few months.The public media must be opened for civil society organizations to carry out civic education on elections. Local, regional and international observers must be accredited on time to monitor both the B.V.R process and the actual election process.Tenets of the SADC Principles and Guidelines on the Conduct of Democratic Elections must be applied in full.Dumisani O. NkomoCrisis in Zimbabwe  Coalition National Spokesperson
China started a yearlong experiment on Wednesday using an airtight advanced life-support system to house eight volunteers as a way to help with the nation's goal of long-term manned deep-space exploration, the project's operator said.

The Lunar Palace 365 experiment was launched at the Lunar Palace 1 bioregenerative life-support laboratory in Beihang University in Beijing.

The eight volunteers, all postgraduate students at the university, are divided into two teams of four and will undertake the experiment in three shifts - one team entered the lab on Wednesday morning and will stay for 60 days before the second team takes over. They will live in the lab for 200 days before the first team will complete the remaining 105 days, the university said.

Lunar Palace 1 is capable of providing a habitable environment similar to Earth's biosphere and can support four people. It was designed to test and verify technologies to be used on space missions of extended duration in deep space, and with multiple crews.

The 500-cubic-meter lab is sealed from the outside. It consists of three cabins with a total area of 160 square meters - one for volunteers to live in and control the facility and the other two to simulate cultivating plants on the moon, the university said.

During the experiment, volunteers will not leave the lab during their shifts unless they encounter emergencies.

They will plant several kinds of grains, such as wheat and corn, as well as many types of vegetables, such as carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms and cucumbers.

The harvest will be part of their food. They also will experiment with growing mealworms to consume as a source of protein.

Liu Hui, one of the volunteers and a doctoral student in biomedicine at Beihang University, said before entering the lab on Wednesday that their main tasks are to grow plants, to observe inner biology within the lab, to record their own metabolism and to test the equipment.

She noted that in the lab they can use a computer, make phone calls or conduct video chats with their families and do physical exercise with the proper equipment.

Professor Liu Hong, director of the Research Center of Space Life Science and Life Support Technology, who heads the project, said astronauts would carry all their necessities with them in short- or medium-length space journeys, such as China's Shenzhou manned missions that last at most one month.

For space stations, cargo spaceships would be used to transport supplies. However, longer-lasting missions in the future, such as constructing a lunar station or manned expeditions to Mars, will require the station or spacecraft itself to be self-sustaining, which mean they must carry physical and chemical instruments that can generate the necessities of life.

"Therefore, such experiments will check whether our bioregenerative life-support system can work well and explore how astronauts can resolve possible psychological problems in a sealed environment for a long time," Liu Hong said, adding the experiment's data and findings also will be useful in manned deep-sea exploration programs.

The professor noted that Lunar Palace 365 is the world's first experiment to examine the recyclable applications of animals and microbes in the space environment.

The Lunar Palace 1 housed a three-person, 105-day airtight experiment in 2014.
Top national legislator promotes education as he completes visit

National education should be given a prominent place in the Macao Special Administrative Region because it gives young people a sense of belonging and encourages a love for the country and the city, China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang said on Wednesday.

Zhang, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, also advised youth in the SAR to be "builders" of the one country, two systems principle.

He made the remarks when meeting with some 100 representatives of Macao's educators and college students before wrapping up his three-day inspection visit.

Macao has achieved remarkable results in the 17 years since the handover in 1999; education has played a vital role in this, Zhang said.

He praised the SAR government, as well as those working in the education sector, saying they had adhered to people-oriented education policies, and had invested in educational development.

Zhang said Macao's achievements include 15 years of compulsory education, promoting Basic Law education in schools and establishing the Centre for Chinese History and Culture at the University of Macau. In 2009, the central government approved leasing 1.09 square kilometers of land on Hengqin Island in Zhuhai to the university to expand its campus, which originally covered only 0.054 square kilometers. This illustrated the success of one country, two systems, Zhang said.

He also expressed his expectations for educators in the city. "The ultimate goal for education is to make a contribution to society," Zhang said. Only through education can the young receive a rounded and intensive knowledge of their society, be more tolerant of different opinions, and become a core force to develop the city, he added.

Zhang said that in the modern world, many ideas circulate in society. "Educators should keep students from getting biased and carried along by them," Zhang urged. One should foster their ability to think and analyze, teaching young people to look at the country with a historical view and in light of its development, Zhang said.

He encouraged Macao's young people to develop broader horizons, concentrating not only on the SAR, but also on the country and the world - even the universe.

Zhang encouraged the SAR's youth to have frequent exchanges with mainland youth, and seize opportunities created by the Belt and Road Initiative and State-level Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area blueprint.

Darren Leong Keng-lon, president of the Students Union of UM, who attended the Wednesday meeting, said he was "encouraged and inspired" by Zhang's speech.

A third-year student in civil engineering, Leong said he has seen big changes in mainland communities from exchange programs in Guizhou province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

He said Macao students had many exchange opportunities. UM alone sends about 30 exchange groups to the mainland every year, Leong said.

willa@chinadailyhk.com

(China Daily 05/11/2017 page3)
The Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan "should reflect thoroughly" on why Taiwan has been able to take part in the World Health Assembly meetings over the past eight years but not this year, An Fengshan, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

The DPP "should not shift blame by misguiding and deceiving the people of Taiwan," An said. Rather, it should take full responsibility for the island's absence from this year's event.

When the registration closed on Monday, Taiwan was not on the list of invitees to the WHA meeting, which is set for May 22 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The prerequisite for Taiwan's participation in international events is that it must recognize the one-China principle, and then make arrangement through cross-Straits negotiations, he said. It's reasonable for the World Health Organization, as a specialized agency of the United Nations, to deal with Taiwan in accordance with the one-China principle, he added.

An urged Taiwan to return to adherence to the 1992 Consensus, the foundation of cross-Straits relations.

"This is the only way that institutional communication between the mainland and Taiwan can be continued, and then both sides can open negotiations regarding Taiwan's participation in the activities of international organizations," he said.

However, dealing with public health in Taiwan is not parallel to its participation at an international meeting, he said, noting that Taiwan and the WHO enjoy smooth two-way communication on health matters.

Taiwan is able to participate in professional and technical activities sponsored by the WHO, he said.

At the briefing, An noted the mainland's efforts to promote cross-Straits communication. Recently, several policies have been released to benefit Taiwan compatriots on the mainland, he said.

For example, Taiwan compatriots with electronic travel passes can use self-service machines at selected railway stations on the Chinese mainland to buy railway tickets.

Law firms from Taiwan are allowed to set up offices and practice in more cities on the mainland.

The mainland will increase cooperation and communication across the Taiwan Straits with ongoing preferential policies, An said.

Wu Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Taiwan Studies, said on Wednesday: "The favored policies reflect the fact that the mainland consistently cares and supports Taiwan people's development on the mainland, and urges people-to-people communication."

The mainland actively promotes social and economic engagement across the Straits under new political conditions, she said.

"Cross-Straits relations have stalled this year because Tsai Ing-wen's administration has refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle," Wu said. "But the mainland has released a series of policies that benefit Taiwan people, reflecting the fact that the mainland opposes 'Taiwan independence' in any form but is also focused on promoting well-being across the Straits."

"The mainland encourages people-to-people communication for Taiwan people's needs and better lives," Wu said, adding that such policies can bring long-term and positive effects to cross-Straits relations.

luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/11/2017 page4)
Police captured a convict on Wednesday, eight days after he escaped from prison.

Zhang Lincang, who fled from No 1 Prison in Yunnan province on May 2, was shot and wounded by police on Wednesday morning in Kunming's Songming county.

Information on his whereabouts was given to the police by members of the public.

Less than 12 hours after his escape, Yunnan authorities issued a Type-A Wanted alert - the most urgent type of public service announcement the police can make - and offered a reward of 100,000 yuan ($14,500) for information leading to Zhang's capture.

According to the provincial Department of Justice, Zhang left the site where inmates were working at around 8:20 am on May 2. He stole a truck, broke through the prison fence and fled. The truck was abandoned on a road 2 kilometers from the prison.

Zhang has been serving a life sentence for drug trafficking since January.

According to media reports, Zhang served in the military, worked as a long-distance driver and ran a karaoke club. He has a wife and a 2-year-old daughter, the reports said.
The 12 victims of a deadly traffic accident in Weihai, Shandong province, on Tuesday have all been identified, the local government said on Wednesday.

Eleven kindergarten students and the driver were killed when the bus with 13 people on board, including the children's teacher, rear-ended another vehicle in a tunnel around 9 am on Tuesday and burst into flames, said Ye Liyun, a deputy mayor of Weihai.

Five of the children, aged 3 to 6, were from the Republic of Korea and six were Chinese nationals. They were pupils at an international kindergarten in Weihai.

The identities of the driver and the children were confirmed through DNA tests on Tuesday, he said.

The teacher, who sustained serious injuries and was sent to Weihai City Hospital for treatment, is now conscious and appears stable, Ye said.

The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the Chinese leadership was greatly concerned about the accident and issued instructions for dealing with the aftermath.

"We are in communication with the Republic of Korea through diplomatic channels" and will help with any issues that need to be resolved, a written statement on the ministry's website said.

Members of the ministry's staff have been assigned to provide comfort and assistance to the families of the victims, the statement said.

The Ministry of Public Security has also sent an expert team to Weihai to guide the investigation.

The Weihai city government has set up 13 teams for relief work, and Korean language interpreters have been assigned.

The children were from a kindergarten under the Weihai Zhongshi International School, which was set up in 2006 mainly to accommodate children of ROK businesspeople in Weihai.

"Due to the tragic loss in our community ... the school will remain closed for the remainder of the week and reopen on May 15," Tobin Holden, the principal, said in a notice published on the school's website.

Weihai, a port city on the eastern coast of Shandong across the Yellow Sea from the Korean Peninsula, has maintained close business relationships with the ROK. Large companies from the ROK, including Heavy Industries Co and Samsung Electronics, have facilities in the city.
By An Baijie in Beijing and Zhang Li in Beihai, Guangxi | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-11 07:37

President encourages more ports in coastal areas to plant seeds of success

President Xi Jinping's inspection tour of South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region last month has invigorated the vision for the development of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, local officials and entrepreneurs said.

Xi, who also serves as general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, promised vigorous efforts to promote the maritime Silk Road, and to advance opening-up under the Belt and Road Initiative, while visiting Tieshan Port in Beihai, Guangxi, on April 19.

He Xiaolong, executive deputy director of the port's Industrial Zone Management Committee, told China Daily that the president's inspection of the port has great significance for its strategic development.

"President Xi has encouraged us to write a new chapter for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. For us it means that we should innovate with modern port logistics," he said, adding that the port will establish a new platform for industrial cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Tieshan Port, a connection point for more than 240 maritime trade routes, including 26 to foreign countries, is an important hub for Southeast Asia.

The Belt and Road Initiative has "added wings to the industrial development" of Tieshan Port, He said, noting that it has led to numerous companies in industries such as petrochemical and new materials to settle in the industrial park in Beihai.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, collectively known as the Belt and Road Initiative, was put forward by Xi in 2013. The initiative aims to expand connections between Asia and the rest of the world.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday. It will be the highest-profile international meeting on the Belt and Road since the initiative was introduced.

During the inspection of Tieshan Port, Xi asked local authorities about the future construction of the port. He encouraged authorities to construct ports in Beibu Gulf and to develop the maritime economy.

"We often say you'd better build roads first to become rich, but in the coastal areas you have to build ports first," Xi said.

Located in the key part of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, Beihai has geographical advantages that help it to link China with ASEAN members through a complex traffic network including seaports, airports, railways and highways.

Mo Qiyu, general manager of the Beihai Port branch of Beibu Gulf Port Co, said the cargo-handling capacity of Tieshan Port increased from 1.17 million metric tons in 2010 to 22.1 million last year.

"General Secretary Xi was very happy when he heard this number because it took us only six years to achieve capacity that generally takes two or three decades for other ports," he said.

Mo attributed the achievement to the region's increasing foreign trade volume and the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Huang Qingzhou, vice-general manager of Beihai Chengde Stainless Steel Group, said the Belt and Road Initiative will bring more business opportunities to his company, which imports nearly 3.5 million metric tons of laterite nickel ore - an important raw material for stainless steel - from the Philippines and Indonesia through Tieshan Port every year.

"Along with boosting connections with Southeast Asian countries under the Belt and Road, the transportation cost of our company will be cut, making our products more competitive," he said.

Closer links with ASEAN members will also help the company expand its market overseas, he said, adding that the fruits of China's development will be shared with all countries along the trade routes.
Editor's note:

Since President Xi Jinping proposed Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, it has won support from over 100 countries and international organizations, with nearly 50 cooperation agreements signed. Here is a selection of how foreign state leaders, officials and experts think it will benefit the world.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to Chinese media during an interview at UN headquarters in New York, May 8, 2017. [Photo by Wang Linyan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Antonio Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General

China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) can be a very important instrument to meet the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Multilateralism is the solution to global problems. And China has been a strong pillar of multilateralism.

When we look at BRI, we see a very important contribution to this solidarity in addressing global problems with international cooperation, where China plays a very central role. So I'm very happy to have the chance to participate in this Belt and Road summit.
China to dispatch 5th peacekeeping force to Mali

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-05-11 15:43

SHENYANG - A 395-strong Chinese peacekeeping force is set to begin missions in Mali on behalf of the United Nations before the end of May.



The troops will be sent to the West African country in two batches, where they will stay for one year.



The troops include military engineers, security personnel and medical staff. This is the fifth Chinese peacekeeping force to be sent to Mali.
Tajinsa Abuduany poses for a photo during an interview with China Daily in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on May 11, 2017. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Tajinsa Abuduany did not speak a word of Mandarin before she moved to Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"I wanted to speak Mandarin, as I dreamt to talk to others from other areas eastern in our country," the 14-year-old said.

However, thanks to the education available at the No 66 Middle School in Urumqi, Tajinsa has excelled at communicating in Uygur and also now Mandarin.

The school, established by the local government in 2004, aims to provide better education for children in lower-income families residing in southwestern Xinjiang, such as Kashgar and Turpan.

Now, 3,373 students,from across 13 ethnic groups around the region, benefit from attending the No 66 Middle School in Urumqi.

"About 90 percent of students are from ethnic groups. They can be enrolled after an examination," Qu Mingcai, the headmaster of the school, said.

He added students learn cultures both in Xinjiang and other places of China "because we hope to provide them with a wide horizon to see the world."

"It helps a number of children from southwestern regions of Xinjiang to learn Mandarin, and encourages them to further study the national histories and other developments in this way," Qu said.

Tajinsa said she worked hard to keep her grades up when she was in her hometown, as she was an only child in a single-parent family.

"My mom gave me support to go to school, and believed the education could bring me a bright future, even though some of my relatives did not agree," she said.

Tajinsa told China Daily she was also shy to speak Mandarin at the beginning, and even wrote down her experiences of anxiety in a dairy.

"When my teacher talked to me at the time in Mandarin, I had no idea what she was saying," she said.

"I wanted to speak, but I worried I couldn't make it, and to my surprise, the teacher was patient and she never gave up."

"She explained what the classes were in Uygur to me again and again."

After conquering her fear, and learning and remembering the language, Tajinsa then received the top score for speaking Mandarin in a competition in her class.

She said she was encouraged, and became confident to learn other courses well, as her classmates applauded her for her performance.

Tajinsa added, in her eyes, Mandarin was a channel to know more about the world "as well as to make my dream come true." She currently also studies English.

"I wish I could be a doctor;saving people's lives and alleviating their pains," she said.

"I want to go to more places in China and then go abroad to understand their medical knowledge, which also needs me to communicate with them in their languages."

Her classmate, another girl from Kashgar, agreed with her. She said her dream was to become a translator or interpreter to contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative, raised by the government.

"I'm practicing my languages and will go outside to see our neighboring countries, or even go further to see other different nations," she said.
Suzana Li holds her translation of The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke. [Photo by Fu Jing/China Daily]

When Milos Zeman gave a speech at Renmin University of China in late 2014, the Czech president received a special gift: a Czech-language edition of The Four Books, a novel by Chinese writer Yan Lianke.

The book, which won the Franz Kafka Prize in 2014, describes events in China during the 1950s and 60s. It took Yan, a professor at Renmin, 20 years to plan and two years to write.

Suzana Li, from the Czech Republic, translated the book, along with works by other Chinese writers, such as Su Tong and Liu Zhenyun.

Recalling Zeman's gift, she said fruitful exchanges between China, the Czech Republic and other European countries rely heavily on gaining the trust of the general populace, winning hearts and minds: "Literature and movies are the perfect vehicles to achieve that aim."

Ahead of Zeman's arrival in Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the weekend, Li was keen to deliver the message that the participants should support the translation of great literature and help bridge cultural gaps, even in an era of digital transformation.

"Films have taken the upper hand now, but literature is essential as well in narrowing the gulf in understanding," said Li, who began studying Chinese in the 1990s and gained a doctorate in Chinese literature at Peking University 10 years ago.

She finds the accounts of love, hardship, despair, sorrow and success in Chinese literature so compelling that she spends six hours a day, six days a week working on translations in her study.

"I spend roughly the same amount of time reading the books when I am tired after a day spent translating. Sometimes, I struggle to understand the writers' narrative styles."

Li is constantly delighted by the plots that show how ordinary Chinese live their lives, how they earn their daily bread and how their fates change.

"I hope more Czech readers will share my delight in reading these stories," she said.

Her latest translation is The Explosion Chronicles, also by Yan, which describes how a village in the writer's home province of Henan, Central China, has been transformed in the past three decades as a result of country's rapid economic development.

Li's translations of Yan's books will help Czech readers understand the path of China's recent development.

One of the other books she has translated is I Did Not Kill My Husband, by Liu Zhenyun. Li is impressed by Liu's writing style, which she finds humorous and easy to understand.

"It's witty and funny, and it illustrates the everyday lives of Chinese people. That's why the Czech publisher was interested in the book. I think it's a good way for Czech readers to understand Chinese people's lives," she said.

Li's translation skills have seen her receive subsidies from the headquarters of the Confucius Institute, which promotes Chinese culture and language overseas. In August, the Chinese government presented her with an award to honor her work.

With regard to the Belt and Road Initiative, she said: "In my view, it is a colossal building that will require patient day-by-day work for many years. I am confident that what I am doing to help Czechs learn about the lives of ordinary Chinese people via translated best-sellers is laying the foundations, which is essential and effective."
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

A concerned citizen from Harare, Maguta Kutonga has said it is not helpful for people in Matabeleland to blame Shonas for hwat ever reasons and even for the Shonas to hate Ndebelels as that does not resolve the economic crisis bedeviling the nation at the moment."I hope my response and comment will find you in good health. My heart bleeds when I imagine some things that are happening in Zimbabwe today. A lot of things went wrong from 1980. Many things are still going wrong even today. It is one of the reasons so many Zimbabweans are living in foreign countries. We must really go to the root of the problem before we blame the Shona girl working on the till in OK Supermarket," said Kutonga."Before I go any further, I must say blaming the Shona or hating the Ndebele will not help us fight our common enemy whom we all know.Both Shona and Ndebele are children of Zimbabwe and we must unite. There are some dynamics that we must understand. The population distribution. I think you will agree with me that the Shona outnumber the Ndebele people approximately 10 to1.Using this approximate ratio, Ndebeles may form only 10 percent of the population."The concerned citizen said this national ratio may also reflect in companies, employment, university enrollment, churches and in many spheres of life."If you visit the army and the police, you will see the same representations at play. Let us stop fighting one another on tribal grounds. Do not evict that Shona Headteacher from your area because she happens to come from Mrewa. Let us unite. Personally I believe the greatest leader Zimbabwe ever produced is our father Papa Joshua Nkomo.Chibwechitedza. A Shona name they gave him, which means,"The slippery rock". Let us all emulate the legacy left behind by this illustrious son of our land. His leadership was accepted from Zambezi to Limpopo, Victoria Falls to Mutare.Let us emulate this leadership that is not questionable," he said."Leadership beyond tribalism, leadership beyond street and/or village politics. Let Zimbabwe produce leaders above petty selfish matters. Then there is going to be enough for everybody regardless of which tribe you are or which region you come from. It is the dearth of good leadership in Zimbabwe today that has given rise to corruption, tribalism, regionalism, mukomaism,and all the evil -ism- you can think of. Let us unite brothers and sisters. Let us rise beyond village politics to national politics. Let us mobilise from every corner and conscientise the people about the evil that has befallen Zimbabwe. Be you Shona, be you Ndebele, the colour of the blood is the same. I love you all. Let us continue to engage one another. The solution is with us."
Zhang Yimou's China-US coproduction, The Great Wall, starring an international cast, including American actor Matt Damon, fails to make a splash in both markets.[Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Zhang Yimou says the disappointing US performance of the biggest budget China-US coproduction to date, The Great Wall, may have been down to a weak story, but he hopes other filmmakers won't be put off from attempting such ambitious Hollywood-Chinese collaboration.

"The actors are all very good; (star) Matt Damon and everyone was splendid," said the acclaimed director on Tuesday.

"Probably the story is a bit weak, or the timing of it wasn't right, or we didn't do a very good job in making the film. There could be many reasons."

Zhang spoke amid preparations for the Beijing opening of the stage play 2047 Apologue, which he described as a "conceptual performance" linking Chinese traditional culture with an imagined future of how humans will interact with technology.

Producers of The Great Wall had hoped the movie with a $150 million production budget could buck the trend of China-US coproductions failing to make a splash in both markets, at a time when movie makers wrestle with how to appeal to Chinese and Western audiences at the same time.

The script for the 3-D adventure fantasy that has Damon and Chinese warriors fighting monsters with China's iconic Great Wall as protection took Hollywood seven years to develop. Zhang added elements of Chinese culture and his opulent visual style, seen in the romantic kung fu drama House of Flying Daggers and the 2008 Beijing Olympics ceremonies.

The Great Wall has pulled in a disappointing $45 million in the US since its February release, though it has earned $332 million globally. In China, where it was released in December, it made $171 million, making it the eighth-highest earner in the country last year.
The Hani work on the terraced paddy fields in Yunnan province. Their lifestyle and culture are a source of inspiration for Chinese musicians.[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Members of China National Symphony Orchestra make trips to Yunnan province to learn from local musicians. Chen Nan reports.

In 1983, when Guan Xia was learning to compose at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, he and four classmates traveled to the Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Yunnan province to seek inspiration from the folk music of the Hani and Yi ethnic groups.

After spending days on a train from Beijing to Kunming, the provincial capital, and then a few more days on a bumpy bus ride and a trek through the mountainous roads, the five finally saw the stunning terraced fields, among which the Hani people live, and watched them perform their ancient folk songs, accompanied by traditional instruments.

The trip inspired Guan's future compositions, in which he combined ethnic and classical music.

Guan, who has been the president of China National Symphony Orchestra since 2004, recalls how Hani folk music influenced him.

In April, he arranged to send five young Chinese composers to remote villages in Honghe again along with musicians of the national orchestra.
Wang Yabin is known for her productions M-Dao and Moon Opera.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese dancer-choreographer Wang Yabin is expressive onstage but off it she is a soft-spoken person.

"A woman is like the ocean that looks quiet and peaceful but could be restless and roaring," she says.

The 33-year-old has turned this idea into her latest choreography work, titled M-Dao, part of the English National Ballet's She Said project.

The project, comprising Wang's piece, Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Broken Wings and Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton's Fantastic Beings, premiered at Sadler's Wells in London in 2016.

In April, the English National Ballet won the 2017 Laurence Olivier Award for outstanding achievement in dance for expanding its repertoire with She Said, and British choreographer Akram Khan's Giselle.

"It was my first internationally commissioned work. I am glad that as a Chinese artist I joined the challenging project," says Wang.

"Although I wasn't there when the English National Ballet accepted the award at the Royal Albert Hall, I was very excited about it."

The Laurence Olivier award is an annual honor established in 1976 and presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial British theater.

Since 2009, Wang has gathered dancers from around the world each year to present her production Yabin and Her Friends.

She has three productions so far - Genesis choreographed by Sidi Larbi Chekaoui from Belgium; Dream in Three Episodes that featured her choreography alongside Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and Moon Opera choreographed by Wang.

With Yabin and Her Friends now in its ninth year, Wang plans to invite young dancers and choreographers from countries participating in China's Belt and Road Initiative to work together on a production that is scheduled to be staged in 2018.

In 2012, Wang met Tamara Rojo, the artistic director and principal dancer of the English National Ballet, in London for the first time when she was touring Britain with Genesis.
An imperial Buddhist painting from the early 15th century. [Photo provided to China Daily]

An imperial Buddhist painting from the early 15th century and a Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century BC) wine vessel called you will be on the block at the inaugural auction of Jung Hau Dian Tsang Auction in Macao on May 22 and 23.

The Buddhist painting, produced during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), boasts vivid colors and sophisticated depictions of the costumes of nine Buddhist figures that are arranged in three groups in the painting. It blends a distinctive style of presenting Buddhist motifs by the Han (206 BC-220) artists since the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and elements of Tibetan Buddhist art. It has been in a private collection in the United States for more than two decades.

Another highlight is a Shang archaic bronze wine vessel, you, which features patterns resembling an eagle and stands 18 centimeters tall. Few fine examples of similar shapes and patterns can be found at art museums in China.

The Macao auction house's first sale includes more than 600 antiques and works of art, such as classic Chinese paintings, Buddhist figures, ceramics and antique jade pieces.

Yi Suhao, chairman of Jung Hau Dian Tsang Auction, says Macao's cultural landscape has boomed since it was returned to the sovereignty of China in 1999. He says important domestic cultural institutions such as the Palace Museum have sent their collections and exhibitions on tour to Macao, intensifying exchanges between the mainland and Macao, adding that the past two years have also seen an emerging art auction market.
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A student at the Dulwich College International network of schools practice their debating skills. [Photo provided to China Daily]

While enrolling your child in extracurricular activities like debate and the performing arts may be at the bottom of the priority list, especially given students' busy academic schedules, there are many reasons why such activities should play a key role in your child's education.

Throughout the world, researchers are linking improved academic success directly to participation in activities that allow for self-expression like debate and drama.

Many studies show noticeable improvement in a variety of academic areas as a result of participating in competitive debate and drama.

Debate students in particular excel in written and oral communication and greatly improve their reading comprehension, sometimes by as much as 25 percent more than their peers.

Researchers also found a direct correlation between an increase in parental involvement rendering reciprocating positive effects, such as how often parents and their children talked about and participated in the performing arts.

Furthermore, children learn self-reliance skills, allowing them to achieve individual goals within the group and see that there are a number of different ways to learn and develop skills.

Drama and debate skills can help in preparation for college and job interviews by allowing students to think on their feet and prepare them to think before they speak.

It also helps with writing a great university application and demonstrating readiness for university-level work. Debate scholarships are offered by numerous universities and colleges, especially in the US.

There are numerous opportunities for your children to get involved in debate and drama on campus and even opportunities for students to win open-ended scholarships by competing in contests like the International Public Policy Forum Debate Contest, which encourages students to participate in written and oral debate competitions on public policies.

These competitions are conducted throughout the year.The eight final teams win an all-expense paid trip to New York, and the winning team gets university scholarships of $30,000 and the opportunity to participate in an oral debate competition before a panel of some of the worlds foremost experts in debate, business, law and politics.

Students who take part in drama or debate inevitably learn the invaluable skill of effective communication.

Forced to question and critique their own views and perspectives and those of others, students learn how to evaluate information and appreciate that which is different.

Through active participation in a performing art, students are given the opportunity to connect with other disciplines, cultures, traditions and audiences and to prepare themselves for a bright future ahead.

The author is director of University and Careers Counselling and Dulwich College International.

Related:

Focus on innovation

Belt and Road Initiative offers more opportunities for students
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Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe speaks at the Japan-US Economic Forum at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, May 1, 2015, in Los Angeles. [Photo/Agencies]

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is using the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula to its advantage. The Japanese media are playing up the nuclear and ballistic missile tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, making Japanese people more apprehensive of the threat from Pyongyang. This in turn has created a public perception that the Abe administration has no choice but to deepen its military cooperation with the United States to protect Japan against external threats. As a result, many Japanese have to come to believe that only a stronger US-Japan alliance can stop the DPRK from pursuing its nuclear programs.

The Japanese administration has been hyping the threat from the DPRK instead of trying to ease public tensions. And Abe's remarks and some media reports have made many in Japan believe that the country will bear the brunt of a conflict, if one were to break out. The fear among Japanese people therefore can be mainly attributed to the exaggerated propaganda of Abe and the media.

Amid the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Abe has delivered many sensational speeches and taken moves that could stir up more trouble. On Tuesday he reiterated the need for explicitly defining the status of Japan's Self-Defense Forces under his plan to revise the pacifist Constitution by 2020.

Addressing a recent meeting of the parliamentary panel on national security, Abe even said Pyongyang might already have the resources and technical know-how to develop and fire missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas. The message he tried to convey is that, since Pyongyang has the capability to launch chemical attacks on other countries, the US should join Japan to launch a military strike in order to preempt a possible attack by the DPRK.

Besides, the Abe administration has also been talking about how its Self-Defense Forces will cooperate with the US military if a conflict with the DPRK were to break out. Perhaps Japan is hyping up the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue to use it as an excuse to dispatch its Self-Defense Forces to help the US in a conflict with the DPRK.

Japan's new national security law came into effect in March last year, allowing it to exercise the right to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to defend the country or a friendly country facing attack. As a result, Tokyo can now provide strategic help for the US and other allies even if Japan itself is not attacked. The purpose of this law is to enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces to take part in conflicts in other parts of the world, albeit on the side of its allies, on the pretext of helping friendly countries in trouble.

Now that Abe has freed the Self-Defense Forces of the restrictions of Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan can pretend to be a "normal country". That will also lay the foundation for Japan's next step, which is to amend the Constitution, and boost its strategic strength to become a major military power. And since the Self-Defense Forces have not found a chance to take part in actual combat after the new security law came into force, Japan sees the DPRK issue as an opportunity to exhibit as well as test its military strength.

Thus it can be safely concluded that the hyping up of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is a well-planned move by Abe to stir up trouble, even a conflict, in the region.

The author is a professor of Japan studies at China Foreign Affairs University.
Aerial photo taken on April 1, 2017 shows Anxin county, North China's Hebei province.[Photo/Xinhua]

The proposed Xiongan New Area in North China's Hebei province is vital for coordinating the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and relieving Beijing of its non-capital functions.

Comprising Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties, with their low population density and development level, the new area is like a sheet of white paper on which China can draw a blueprint for a brand new city meeting the highest standards. Many say the new area, when complete, will be comparable with the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in Guangdong province and the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. But for that to happen, the authorities have to plan and develop the new area with an eye to the long-term future.

As the central authorities have said, the new area is in the first place "a demonstration area for coordinated development" and "an area piloting opening-up policies for development". Therefore, the planning for Xiongan must be done with the regional coordinated development in mind, so as to not only attract advanced technology, management and knowledge from around the world, but also help the new area to "go global".

Xiongan is also an experiment for carrying out the badly needed institutional reform, which will help boost the new area's opening-up, which is expected to prompt Xiongan's internal reform in return.

Through its opening-up, Xiongan should aim to attract advanced creativity and innovation from across the world, in order to become a new innovation center that has the potential of boosting national growth and sustainable development.

This is actually one of President Xi Jinping's key requirements to enable Xiongan to comprehensively open up to the outside world and become a new model for opening-up and a new platform for global cooperation.

Like Xiongan New Area, the Belt and Road Initiative (the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) is also a key development proposal for China. So the planning and development of Xiongan must seize the historic opportunities offered by the Belt and Road Initiative to integrate the construction of the Belt and Road routes.

As Xi has said, Xiongan's development must adapt to the requirements of the "new normal" of the Chinese economy, comply with the trend of economic globalization, adhere to reform and opening-up, and improve its economy by cashing in on the larger scope, broader field and deeper level of cooperation.

To become a big player in the construction of the Belt and Road routes, Xiongan must expedite the transformation of its government function, actively explore effective management models for innovation, form an institutional innovation system according to the rules of global investment and trade, and cultivate its new strengths in regional cooperation and competition. By doing so, Xiongan can also make greater contributions to the strengthening of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region's open economy.

Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that, by the end of last year, Chinese enterprises had constructed 56 trade and economic cooperation zones in more than 20 countries along the Belt and Road routes, invested $18.5 billion, generated nearly $1.1 billion in tax revenue for local governments and created more than 180,000 jobs for local people. As such, Xiongan's integration into the Belt and Road Initiative should be based on a clear industrial policy and its special geographical position.

Hebei province's steel and cement industries, and Xiongan's garment and leather industries all have huge markets along the Belt and Road routes. The Bohai Bay close to Xiongan is not only a starting point of the ancient Silk Road, but also has the potential, thanks to its Huanghua Port, to become a new starting point of the "Eurasian Continental Bridge", with the Rotterdam port in the Netherlands as the western end of that bridge.

The author is a researcher in Belt and Road studies at the Party School of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China.
South Korea's president-elect Moon Jae-in gestures to supporters at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South Korea, May 9, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Almost all of a sudden, the apparently imminent danger of a military showdown on the Korean Peninsula seems to have evaporated into thin air.

A government delegation from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea talked with American political experts in Oslo, Norway, on Monday through Tuesday.

Then on Wednesday, the freshly elected Moon Jae-in, who advocates engagement with Pyongyang, was sworn in as the new president of the Republic of Korea.

At least for now, a temporary relaxation in the once inflammable tensions in the area looks credible, thanks to such precious highlights in the bleak geopolitical landscape of Northeast Asia.

Even better, the region has a precious opportunity to heal some of its most damaging recent rifts.

Although Pyongyang keeps clamoring it will conduct its sixth nuclear test "at any time", and it is ready to enter a nuclear duel with the United States. Although Washington has distanced itself from the Oslo talks, and ruled out any change to its preoccupation with "maximum pressures" on the DPRK. And although it remains to be seen how far Moon can overcome the potential drags at home in Parliament, where his party lacks a majority, when he does reach out to the DPRK.

Given US President Donald Trump's recent indication of his willingness to meet DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, who knows whether or not the informal contact in Oslo will pave the way for more formal, direct engagement?

After all, the White House has left that door open; Pyongyang craves it; Beijing would welcome it; and it would certainly be in Seoul's interests. Coordination with Washington then will be Moon's foremost foreign policy challenge.

Since it is anticipated he will take a milder approach to the DPRK than his predecessor, he will have to first straighten things out with decision-makers in Washington, who until now have favored imposing further isolation and sanctions.

Moon's expressed disfavor toward the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system is certainly conducive to his aspiration for repairing his country's strained ties with China. It is hoped that he has the ability to maneuver a meaningful change to the current impasse.

Yet if their shared interest in peacefully denuclearizing the peninsula does lead to constructive interaction among stakeholders, and the threat from across the 38th Parallel diminishes, Moon surely can make a stronger case for removing THAAD.

For if THAAD is meant solely and specifically to address escalating threats from the DPRK, why should it stay if such threats de-escalate?
News / Education

by Stephen Jakes

The Zimbabwe Peace Project has said it notes that several government schools sent children home on the first day of school over outstanding school fees."The ZPP visited at least 14 Primary schools in Harare and Mashonaland Central provinces where children had been sent back home. Section 75 of the Constitution says every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to a basic State-funded education, including adult basic education. The constitution implores the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within the limits of the resources available to it to achieve the progressive realisation of the right set out in subsection 1," said the ZPP."The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education told the media that school authorities were not supposed to send children home but find other ways to engage parents to pay the outstanding fees. Some school heads have defied this directive from the ministry and were sending children home yesterday in violation of the children's rights guaranteed by the constitution."ZPP said while schools cannot fulfill the right to basic education without adequate resources, they still need to take reasonable steps to ensure that the right of children to basic education is not violated."One such way is to arrange payment plans with the parents. Of the 14 schools that sent children home only two, Seke 7 Primary School and Tamuka Primary School were entering into payment plan agreements with the parents of the affected children while the other 12 did not take any steps to ensure that the right of the children to education was not violated," said ZPP."The ZPP urges government and school authorities to uphold the constitution and also urges parents with affected children to seek legal advice if the schools fail to take reasonable steps not to unnecessarily violate the rights of children. The ZPP also urges citizens to take up their cases with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission to ensure the rights of children are protected."
People check on plants in an eco-farm in Nantong,Jiangsu on August 7, 2016. [Photo/IC]

OVER 1.6 MILLION TONS OF GRAIN RESERVES in Central China's Henan province have reportedly spoiled after being stored for seven years. Nanfang Daily commented on Wednesday:

The colossal waste of grain is lamentable and could have been avoided. The grain was purchased in 2010 by a local unit of the China Grain Reserves Corporation, or Sinograin as it is known. Some of it was later deemed substandard and stored locally in accordance with relevant laws, said Sinograin, which planned to sell the unqualified grain to fodder companies and industrial alcohol makers.

The grain storage company, however, said Sinograin did not pay the storage fee and refused to give the grain back until last month when the local court intervened.

Disputes over interests can happen between storage companies and the State-owned food giant, but the latter has the responsibility to avoid any unnecessary waste. Sinograin has good reason to cooperate with private storage companies, as the increase in grain reserves has fallen behind the annual increase in harvest, and many warehouses do not have adequate facilities to keep the grain from deteriorating fast. It is estimated that around 35 million tons of grain is lost each year.

Sinograin must choose qualified, reputable grain storage companies. The official response to the recently exposed waste of grain has been a draft regulation issued by the State Administration of Grain that stipulates contracted grain storage companies should be either State-owned or State-controlled. That the Henan company defied the court verdict ordering it to ship out the grain it had in storage, to some extent, has something to do with its private ownership.

Another question worth asking is how did Sinograin's local unit fall out with the storage company. The State-owned enterprise receives 70 yuan per ton ($10) for grain storage every year. The contract storage fee was 50 yuan per ton, so Sinograin still made a handsome profit. The dispute shows that both Sinograin and the grain storage companies need to be better supervised by the State Administration of Grain.
When the Criminal Law was revised in 2015, it included infringement on a citizen's personal information as a crime. Those found guilty of the crime face up to three years in prison, with serious violations punishable by up to seven years in prison.

A new judicial interpretation jointly released by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Tuesday, clearly sets out the criteria for sentencing.

According to the judicial interpretation, individuals who earn 5,000 yuan ($724) or more through illegally selling others' personal information face prison sentences of up to three years. While those who illegally obtain, sell or provide 500 pieces of data related to personal credit or property information face a prison term of up to seven years.

Moreover, the judicial interpretation makes clear that general personal information is also protected by the Criminal Law. This includes a person's name, address, identity card number, as well as other personal information such as travel information, the content on a cellphone, transaction data, and credit and accommodation records.

As a legal weapon, this judicial interpretation, which will take effect on June 1, is of great significance to safeguard the safety of people's personal information and crack down on telecom and online fraud.
Announced by President Xi Jinping at Davos in January, the inaugural Belt and Road Forum this May comes at an historic inflection point in the course of economic evolution. China will showcase major infrastructure projects to advance this ambitious initiative, but the tone world leaders adopt in their dialogue on trade could prove just as significant.

The backdrop to the forum is one of global uncertainty. The new US administration is reversing past policies that were designed to increase global economic integration. The UK is trying to negotiate a new relationship with its continental partners in the EU. Recent elections in several countries have marked a political shift from the old order of left versus right to a new order of nationalist versus internationalist.

And as policymakers and negotiators wrestle with their new terms of engagement, trade is evolving too. Digital innovations, plus advances in logistics, are creating opportunities by opening new markets for businesses and challenging deeply-entrenched operating models.

Whilst rapid increases in the complexity of global supply chains may have peaked, what we're now seeing is growing interest in inter and intra-regional trade. China's role in driving these flows is increasingly important, and nowhere is this role more visible than through the Belt and Road initiative (B&R).

By investing in rail, ports and power plants along centuries-old silk routes, China is seeking to stimulate cross-border trade. This isn't just trade with China's neighbours, but with regions as far afield as Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The commercial benefits of this initiative are already becoming apparent. In 2016, Chinese companies signed over 8,000 engineering contracts under the B&R, with a combined value of over $120 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.

Today, these projects require construction materials, heavy machinery and engineering services. Tomorrow, the completion of new infrastructure will simplify supply chains, accelerate physical trade and push down the cost of doing business. Companies will adapt their manufacturing and distribution strategies to capitalize on these new opportunities, with the net result being the volume of trade will grow.

Indeed, China anticipates its trade with countries along the land belt' and marine road' will surpass $2.5 trillion annually in the next decade. One example of a project contributing to this growth is the China-Europe freight rail service, which has run over 3,500 trains linking 27 Chinese cities to 11 European countries since it launched in 2011.

The B&R initiative will also redefine trade from being primarily about the movement of goods to include the provision of services, from consulting to e-retailing. This March, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak joined Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, to unveil details about a Digital Free Trade Zone in Malaysia. The initiative comprises both physical e-fulfillment and satellite service hubs as well as a virtual e-services platform, aiming to boost small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) innovation and the trade of tangible and intangible products.

These are early steps in what will be a multi-decade journey to realise B&R's potential. China undoubtedly stands to benefit from this journey, but so do its Asian neighbors and trading partners further afield.

As emerging markets continue to develop and become consumer-driven economies, their expanding middle classes will demand a greater choice of goods as well as services like healthcare, education and travel. We forecast that about three billion people in today's emerging markets will join the middle classes by 2030, a social change that will pull the centre of gravity of human consumption towards Asia.

Preparing for this growth, China has pledged to help Laos build a $6 billion railway linking Vientiane to China's southern Yunnan province by 2020. Meanwhile, a Singapore-Kunming Rail Link is already taking shape, and Beijing has won the contract to build Indonesia's first high-speed rail link  a $5.1 billion, 150- kilometre project connecting Jakarta to Bandung.

As well as promising to make the movement of people faster and cheaper, this infrastructure will help businesses too. Perishable foods, from New Zealand and Australian lamb to Filipino fruit, will be able to reach markets in Central Asia, Europe and the Middle East by land through China, potentially shaving precious time off their journey. Once China Electric Power Equipment and Technology completes a new grid in Egypt, 16 million Egyptian homes will have access to the reliable power they need to be part of the digital economy.

In promoting the Belt and Road Forum, the Chinese government has stated that it "will facilitate a number of major projects and cooperation agreements" but that "China does not intend to monopolize all the benefits, or even take the lion's share". The goal is to "work with partner countries to make the pie bigger and divide it equitably".

As a statement of intent, the B&R initiative is positive. It says that by boosting investment we can boost trade, because this in turn will boost GDP. Given the global uncertainties we face today, we should celebrate that world leaders are gathering in Beijing and exhort them to use the initiative as a catalyst for even greater international cooperation tomorrow.

The author is Global Head of Trade and Receivables Finance, HSBC.
President Xi Jinping takes the podium on the first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan 172017. [Photo/Agencies]

Despite the apparent tranquility of this year's spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, there are reasons to be concerned about the global economy. The United Kingdom's impending "hard" Brexit from the European Union and US President Donald Trump's anti-globalization agenda are creating economic uncertainty, and will continue to do so for some time.

In contrast to Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping has come to the defense of globalization, and made new capital available for creating global public goods, enhancing connectivity, and creating jobs in developing countries. More than 60 countries have welcomed Xi's Belt and Road Initiative, and 29 heads of state and government will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14 and 15. So, what is China's rationale for pursuing this grandiose visionone that so many countries, especially in the developing world, have embraced?

In our new book, Going Beyond Aid: Development Cooperation for Structural Transformation, we argue that official development aid (ODA) need not always be concessional, and make the case for going "beyond aid", toward a broader approachlike that taken by Chinathat includes trade and investment. Right now, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's definition of ODA does not even include some of the more effective instruments for facilitating structural transformation in recipient countries, such as equity investment and large non-concessional loans for infrastructure.

By combining aid with trade and investment, donor and recipient countries alike can benefit. For example, the South-South development cooperation uses all three activities to capitalize on recipient countries' economic strengths. This allows the South-South development cooperation to avoid the bottlenecks in partner countries that one sees under the standard ODA model, which separates aid from trade and private investmentand thus impedes countries from exploiting their comparative advantages.

In our book, we look at this topic through the lens of new structural economics. NSE treats modern economic development as a process of continuous structural change in technologies, industries, and hard and soft infrastructureall of which increases labor productivity, and thus per capita income.

According to NSE, the most effective and sustainable approach for a low-income country to jumpstart dynamic growth and development is to develop those sectors in which it has latent comparative advantages: where production costs are low, but transaction costs are high due to inadequate hard and soft infrastructure. Governments can help to reduce transaction costs by creating special economic zones or industrial parks, improving infrastructure, and making the overall business environment more attractive in those enclaves. With this approach, a developing country can grow dynamically, and create a virtuous circle of job creation and poverty reduction, even if its overall infrastructure and business environment are still lacking.

Moreover, large emerging-market economies such as China, Brazil and India can use their comparative advantages in infrastructure and light manufacturing to help others. For China, this is in keeping with a Confucian dictum: "One who wishes himself to be successful must also help others to be successful; one who wishes to develop himself must also help others to develop."

China has a clear comparative advantage in infrastructure construction, owing to its lower labor costs (the cost of a project site foreman in China is one-eighth that of OECD countries) and vast domestic market, which have enabled it to achieve economies of scale that other countries simply cannot. Consequently, the overall construction cost for high-speed rail in China is two-thirds of what it is in industrial countries.

But China's comparative advantages in 46 of 97 subsectorsparticularly in manufacturingbenefit other developing countries, too. As labor costs in China rise, labor-intensive industries are relocating to lower-wage developing countries, providing millions of job opportunities. For example, the Huajian Shoemaking Company, C&H Garments and China JD Group (an apparel maker) are now operating in special economic zones in, respectively, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania.

In addition to exporting its comparative advantages, China also deploys "patient capital", which has a maturity of 10 years or more. In a recently published paper, we conceptualize patient capital as an investment in a "relationship", whereby an investor has a long-term stake in a country's development. Patient-capital owners are like equity investors, but they are willing to "sink" money in the real sector for an extended period of time.

Patient-capital owners are also more willing, and better able, to take risks. A country's net-foreign-asset position correlates strongly with its long-term orientation. On the other hand, net-foreign-asset positions of countries with a short-term orientation and a low savings rate tend to deteriorate, while their foreign debts mount.

Patient capital plays an important role in infrastructure financing, because it is often accompanied by technological and administrative know-how, which helps to improve global connectivity and accelerate development.

So far, China's large reserve of patient capital has been used to finance its domestic projects. But it will increasingly be exported as more Chinese enterprises and banks "go global". In fact, China could soon become the world's largest net creditor, and a portion of its net foreign assets will take the form of patient capital that is suitable for improving infrastructure, developing manufacturing sectors, and creating jobs around the world.

Since 2015, development finance has started to come less from traditional aid, and more from development-finance institutions, development banks and sovereign wealth funds in emerging economies. China, for example, has committed $60 billion in development financing to Africa for the 2016-18 periodmuch of it patient capital.

China and other emerging economies are also shifting from bilateralism to multilateralism, by working with partners from the global North and South. As new South-led institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank work with established multilateral development banks, they are learning to be better partners, and adding momentum to global development efforts.

China, moreover, is trying to learn from its partners so that it can improve its own governance, labor and environmental standards. And this two-way process is giving rise to new ideas, theories, and conceptsour book being one of them. China's embrace of a global role should be welcomed. We are cautiously optimistic that the North and South can work together to ensure peace and prosperity for all.

Justin Yifu Lin, a former chief economist at the World Bank, is director of the Center for New Structural Economics, dean of South-South Cooperation and Development, and honorary dean of the National School of Development, Peking University. And Yan Wang is a senior fellow at the Center for New Structural Economics, Peking University.
A 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) for rejuvenating the border areas and enriching the lives of those living there was approved at an executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

According to the plan, the government will take measures to improve local infrastructure and public services including education, medical care, old-age care and employment.

All border villages are to have access to roads, electricity, telecommunications services, drinkable water, medical services and safe houses by 2020.

The government will also offer preferential policies to support the border areas and encourage development of cultural tourism as well as more exchanges and cooperation with neighboring regions.

In addition, opening-up and cooperation along the border areas will be further deepened, and the authorities will promote border areas deeply involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The plan is of great significance to State security, national unity and the building of a well-off society in an all-round way.
Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters entertain visitors at Shanghai Disney Resort.[Photo by Yin Liqin/For China Daily]

Shanghai Disney Resort said it is ready to welcome its 10 millionth visitor, as the resort approaches its first anniversary on June 16.

"In the next few days, Shanghai Disney Resort will welcome its 10 millionth guest," said Robert Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Co, said at a conference call on Tuesday.

"As the resort has become a true national destination in China, attendance is outpacing our most optimistic projections and the park's performance is exceeding our expectations."

Iger said: "The addition of the new Toy Story Land will add to the park's popularity ... and it's just the first of several planned expansions in Shanghai."

According to the second-quarter report, Shanghai Disney Resort has contributed to the operating income growth of the company for the quarter.

Christine McCarthy, senior executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Walt Disney, said: "Parks and resorts delivered another strong quarter, with operating income growth of 20 percent, driven by increases at Shanghai Disney Resort and our domestic parks and resorts."

Disney reported revenues for the second quarter reached $13.3 billion and net income stood at $2.388 billion.
On May 14 and 15, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held at the Yanqi Lake, a beautiful scenic spot in Beijing. The Yanqi Lake is about 50 kilometers northeast of the downtown area and a 30-minute drive from the Beijing International Airport. [Photo/VCG]
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.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Fourteen Zimbabwean opposition parties met in South Africa this week where they signed commitment agreements to kickstart formal negotiations to form a grand coalition that will field one presidential candidate next year, NewsDay reported.Sources told NewsDay yesterday that Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T, Joice Mujuru's NPP, the Welshman Ncube-led MDC and Jacob Ngarivhume's Transform Zimbabwe stayed away from the deal on the basis that they were pursuing another electoral pact. However, some of the parties attended the meeting.The negotiations were initiated by In Transformative Initiative (ITI), an organisation that seeks to assist and support peace-making processes drawing from the South African experience.ITI works towards promoting dialogue among citizens, government and any other sectors where conflict and violence exists or might become an option.The deal came after the parties met in South Africa late last year where formal negotiations began.Although some political leaders in South Africa vehemently refused to talk about the deal yesterday claiming this would jeopardise the ground covered so far, some confirmed saying they would be working together under the Mass Opposition Movement (MOM).Elton Mangoma, RDZ leader, said they were now geared towards bringing change come next year."Yes, it's true that 14 parties have signed. We have cleared the nucleus for all parties to work together," he said, adding that another party was likely to sign the deal.Marcellina Chikasha, the leader of the little-known African Democratic Party, also confirmed the agreement."We have agreed to form a united front that includes all stakeholders with the purpose of fielding one candidate per contested seat," she said.Ncube's MDC said although it had representatives in South Africa for the coalition meeting, they didn't sign the deal."The party is represented at the meeting," party spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi said."We are a democratic party guided by the party organs. We want some time to consult the owners of the party before inking any deal. It must also be noted that we already have a marriage with other political parties in Code [Coalition of Democrats]."After signing commitment agreements to work together, a task force has been set up with a road map on how they will distribute the constituencies.Sources in South Africa, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the deal, but didn't divulge the finer details in the signed agreement."Another coalition is in the making. The players are virtually interested and out of the 16 parties that attended, only two refused to sign claiming they still want to seek the approval of their constituency considering that they are apparently negotiating another coalition deal with the MDC-T," the source said yesterday."What this has done is to pile pressure on the MDC-T which has not been so open with regards to the coalition. Some are not happy with the exclusionary tendencies with the coalition set up by Tsvangirai."Some have a feeling that even the MoUs signed by MDC-T together with MDC and NPP might fall apart since there are too many backroom fights concerning that. However, there is a general feeling that two coalitions will not work because that is practically splitting votes."Other international organisations were reportedly pushing for the new deal with or without the MDC-T, reportedly after losing patience with the exclusionary tendencies applied by the MDC-T and its other partners.PDP leader Tendai Biti, who was reportedly in talks with Tsvangirai, also signed the deal with the other 13 parties.Asked on their position, MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said they would make their announcement once they were done with the negotiations.
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National security adviser General Michael Flynn arrives to deliver a statement during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington US, February 1, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON  The US Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday subpoenaed former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn for documents related to the panel's investigation into Russia's election meddling.

Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman, and Sen. Mark Warner, the committee's Democratic vice chairman, issued a joint statement saying the panel decided to issue the subpoena after Flynn, through his lawyer, declined to cooperate with an April 28 request to turn over the documents.

Flynn and other associates of President Donald Trump have received similar requests from the committee for information and documents over the past few weeks.

Copies of request letters sent to longtime Trump associate Roger Stone and former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page were shared with The Associated Press. Those letters, which were nearly identical, sought emails, text messages, letters, phone records or any other relevant information they have about meetings or contacts that they or any other individual affiliated with the Trump campaign had with Russian officials or representatives of Russian business interests. They also ask for information about any financial or real estate holdings related to Russia, including any since divested or sold.

Stone, Page, Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort all received similar requests for information, a person familiar with the Senate investigation said. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the details of the committee's investigation.

The requests sent to Stone and Page covered documents and information from June 2015 through Jan. 20 of this year. During that period, Flynn accepted tens of thousands of dollars from a Russian state-sponsored television network. He later worked as a foreign agent on behalf of a Turkish businessman, while serving as a top Trump campaign adviser. It also covers the post-election time period in which Trump and his transition team decided to appoint Flynn as national security adviser.

Flynn was fired by Trump after less than one month on the job. The White House said Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials about his communications during the presidential transition with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

The subpoena comes as both the Senate committee and its counterpart in the House are investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump associates colluded with those attempts to sway the election. Flynn's Russia ties are also being scrutinized by the FBI as it conducts a similar investigation.
The new government of the Republic of Korea, it is hoped, will attach great importance to the relevant major concerns of China and take tangible actions to push for the healthy, stable development of bilateral ties, President Xi Jinping told the newly elected ROK President Moon Jae-in during a phone call on Thursday.

Moon said he fully understands China's major concerns, according to an official release of the Foreign Ministry.

Although the release did not elaborate on the major concerns, observers noted that the call was made as Washington and Seoul deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in the ROK, a move that has angered Beijing and chilled China-ROK ties.

Moon said the new ROK government will proactively communicate with China over this and work hard to seek a proper solution.

The call was made one day after Xi sent a congratulatory message to Moon.

Xi and Moon have agreed to keep in contact and meet at an early date.

Speaking of bilateral ties, Xi said achieving a better development of China-ROK ties serves the common interests of our two peoples and is conducive to the peace, stability and development of the region.

Both sides should bear in mind their original goals set at the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, and pay respect to the major concerns and rightful interests of each other, Xi said.

Xi said both countries should work hard to seek common ground, eliminate differences and properly tackle their disagreements.

China and the ROK are neighbors and important countries in the region, and the bilateral relationship, since its establishment 25 years ago, has witnessed great achievements, which deserve being cherished, Xi said.

Moon said he agrees with Xi's comments on the ties, and Seoul attaches great importance to them.

Seoul is ready to work with Beijing to advance the pragmatic strategic cooperative partnership, Moon said.

On the Korean Peninsula situation, Xi said China has been upholding the idea of achieving the goal of denuclearizing the peninsula, championing peninsula peace and stability, and resolving issues through dialogue and consultations.

Moon said Seoul is ready to work with Beijing and achieve the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula by resuming the Six-Party Talks at an early date.

The ROK endorses the Belt and Road Initiative and expects it to bring greater development and prosperity to countries and regions along the routes, including China and the ROK, Moon added.

During the call, Xi also expressed his deep remorse at the deaths of 11 children, from both countries, who perished in a traffic accident on Tuesday in Weihai, Shandong province.

Twelve people, including five ROK kindergarten pupils and six Chinese pupils, died when a school bus crashed and then burst into flames as it traveled through a tunnel in the coastal city in northern China.

Xi requested Moon to convey his condolences to the parents of the dead ROK children.

Moon said he appreciated Xi's condolences and the Chinese government for taking swift action to properly tackle the aftermath of the accident.

Contact the writer at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
What happens if a China employer makes an employee termination decision that is later ruled unlawful? According to the Responses to Several Issues Regarding Application of Law in Trial of Labor Disputes recently released by the Beijing High Peoples Court and the Beijing Labor Personnel Dispute Arbitration Committee, the answer is specific performance. In other words, if you unlawfully terminate an employee, you must reinstate that employee to his or her previous position in your company. This technically applies only to Beijing but we expect this will become the norm in many other places in China as well.

Under this new law, if the employers termination decision is unlawful and the employee demands reinstatement such a demand will ordinarily be granted. If the court discovers reinstatement is not possible, the employee will be instructed to bring a severance claim for the unlawful termination. What circumstances will make specific performance impossible? The new law provides the following guidance:

The employer is declared bankrupt, has had its business license revoked, or has been ordered to close down or has decided to dissolve its entity; The employee has reached mandatory retirement age during the arbitration/litigation process; The employment contract has expired during the arbitration/litigation process, and the employer is not required by law to enter into an open-term contract with the employee; The employees original position is critical to the employers normal business operation and is of an irreplaceable nature (e.g., general manager, finance manager), and the original position has been filled, and the parties cannot agree on a new position; The employee has started working for another employer; During the arbitration/litigation process, the employer delivered a notice of reinstatement to the employee and the employee refused to accept such notice; Other circumstances that demonstrate obvious impossibility of specific performance.

As is true with many (most?) of Chinas employment laws, the employer bears the burden of proving facts sufficient to invoke impossibility. Just because the employer found a replacement for the former employee, without more, it will not be sufficient for the employer to argue specific performance is impossible.

This new Beijing law is really not so new at all; it is more a clarification of existing law than anything else. Beijing has a longstanding reputation for a pro-employee approach and we have routinely seen cases where employers were ordered to give terminated employees their jobs back. It is important to note that employers cannot contract away their employees reinstatement rights.

Bottom Line: As a Beijing employer, you should assume reinstatement will be the norm for an unlawful employee termination, which is all the more reason to be sure you handle all of your employee terminations lawfully. As for the rest of China, reinstatement will still largely depend on where and how.
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Government will not seek to re-align the Citizenship Act with the new Constitution, but will instead move for the amendment of the supreme law to abolish provisions allowing dual citizenship.This was said by Registrar General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede while making a presentation on the Constitution and dual citizenship to the Zanu-PF parliamentary caucus at the party's headquarters yesterday.The new Constitution allows for one to hold dual citizenship and Mr Mudede said this posed a number of security challenges to the country."As the Ministry of Home Affairs, we have decided that we are not going for realignment (of the Citizenship Act to the Constitution), but for amendment," he said.Mr Mudede said some of the challenges that the dual citizenship posed included cases of tax evasion, evasion from justice, involvement in cases of human trafficking, international terrorism and problems in immigration control.He said Sections 36, 37 and 43 of the Constitution had to be amended.Mr Mudede queried why provisions requiring foreigners who acquired Zimbabwe's citizenship to take an oath of loyalty were removed in the new supreme law.
(Photo : Getty Images) An unarmed Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

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The Chinese Ministry of National Defense revealed on Wednesday that the military has successfully test-fired a new type of missile in the Bohai Sea, the interior gulf of the Yellow Sea between China and North Korea.



A short statement from the ministry's website revealed that the military "achieved the intended result" and the training was aimed to enhance its missile capability and prepare for potential "national security threats."



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Although it did not specify details including when the missile test took place and the type of missiles used, a photo that showed a possible wreckage from the missile bearing the letters "E/ADF-26B" is making rounds on the Internet, the Global Times reported. Several experts think that it is a modified DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which is dubbed by netizens as the "Guam Killer" because of its capability to carry out intermediate precision strikes against US bases in Guam.



It is unclear if the missile test is meant to serve as a warning for the US or North Korea.



Beijing has consistently expressed its strong opposition against the deployment of the US' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to South Korea, as it radars could reportedly peer deep into Beijing, permitting US and its allies to better detect rocket launches and aircraft movements, Defense News reported. However, the recent missile test indicates that Beijing is proactively improving its defense and counterattack capabilities.



Meanwhile, China also flaunted its self-built fighter bombers, dubbed the 'Flying Leopard', during a live-fire drill over the South China Sea. The fighter jets conducted a series of exercises including the detection and expulsion of foreign military surveillance aircraft. Details of the said drill were also not known.



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News / Regional

by Staff reporter

The increasing interest being shown by Chinese provinces and cities to invest in Zimbabwe is a good development towards the much-needed economic turnaround.The Chinese provinces should be lauded for taking a leaf from their central government, which has set a good example by maintaining good mutual relations with Zimbabwe.It is the mutual and win-win relations between the two countries that is making it possible for investors from the Asian country to venture into Zimbabwe.By coming to Zimbabwe, the Chinese provinces are showing that it is possible to turn the good political and cultural relations between the two countries into tangible economic benefits.The Chinese government has also realised that it cannot go it alone when it comes to investing in Zimbabwe and is thus encouraging the provinces and the private sector to come on board.This is because the government grants which the central government used to extend to countries like Zimbabwe can no longer satisfy the mammoth developmental needs.Government grants could only work on small projects that had little impact on Zimbabwe's economic needs. With the private sector now on board, financial backing is guaranteed as the Chinese institutions like the China Export and Import Bank come on board to fund mega projects.Just last week, Zimbabwe signed three Memoranda of Understanding with China's Zhejiang Province, as the Asian country's provinces intensify the search for investment opportunities.The outcome of the ZimbabweChina Zhejiang Province Investment Conference held in Harare, where the MoUs were signed, was significant.One of the three MoUs relates to the Memorandum of Co-operation between China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Zhejiang and the Ministry of Macro-Economic Planning and Investment promotion.The second is an Aide Memoire between the Ministry of Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion and China Industrial International Group Zimbabwe, while the third is a friendship MoU. It is important that the MoUs include the development of infrastructure such as manufacturing plant and equipment.These are much needed to help Zimbabwe achieve its vision of quickly becoming an industrialised economy.The interest in Zimbabwe by the Chinese provinces comes at a time the country has enacted the Special Economic Zones Act, which offers more investment opportunities.The SEZs are meant to attract foreign direct investment, promote industry competitiveness, resuscitate ailing industries, promote value addition, enhance exports and create jobs.It is crucial that the Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province Miriam Chikukwa, who was the guest of honour at the investment conference, pointed out the importance of the SEZs to investment."The establishment of these zones is expected to see the country attracting foreign direct investment, while at the same time creating an enabling environment for local and international trade to flourish," she said.Another delegation from various Chinese local authorities was in Zimbabwe last month where it expressed interest in joint venture partnerships.The partnerships targeted four Zimbabwean cities, Harare, Chitungwiza, Epworth and Ruwa, which offer good investment opportunities in tourism, food processing and tobacco farming and processing.The five-member delegation comprised governor of Yanbian Prefecture Li Jinghao, mayor of Yanji city Cai Kuilong and his Hunchun city counterpart Zhang Jifeng, director of Foreign Affairs in Yanbian Government Shen Zaicheng, section chief of Foreign Affairs for Yanbian Government Piao Zhe and Ding Changlu, who is the vice-general manager of Jinlin Tobacco Industrial.Such Chinese deals usually come as joint ventures, which have always ensured there is win-win cooperation and mutual benefit. Mr Li noted that Zimbabwe had great business potential.The interest by the Chinese provinces and municipalities in Zimbabwe is anchored on the mega deals signed between the two countries two years ago.Some of the deals were signed when President Mugabe was on a State visit to China in 2014, while more others were signed in 2015 when Chinese President Xi Jinping paid his own State visit to Zimbabwe.The deals are being pursued in the spirit of the Forum for China Africa Cooperation, whose 6th Summit was held in South Africa in 2015.At the summit, President Xi set the parameters for the continued cooperation between China and African countries based on a quest to industrialise the continent.He also outlined a 10-point plan to support a quick intervention by encouraging more Chinese investors to consider Africa as a premier destination for their cash.Jiangsu province is another Chinese province that has shown a huge interest in Zimbabwe as a safe investment destination.The provinces' firm, the China Jiangsu International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group Ltd (CJI), has been active in the country through carrying out several projects. CJI launched its business in Zimbabwe in 1995.The latest project the firm has worked on is the building and expansion of the Victoria Falls International Airport using preferential loans provided by the Chinese government.The $150 million international airport was commissioned by President Mugabe at the end of last year.CJI is already considering to carry out work of the same magnitude on Harare International Airport.The expansion of Victoria Falls International Airport has greatly improved the equipment and facilities there, as well as the capability of safeguarding civil aviation security.Already, international airlines are lining up to fly to Victoria Falls, thereby increasing the number of tourists visiting the prime resort.Reception of international tourists is expected to increase from 500 000 to two million per year.Wide body airplanes such as Boeing 747 and 767 and Airbus 340 and 380 can now safely land and take off on the newly-built airfield runway.Apart from Victoria Falls International Airport, Jiangsu province has invested in areas such as iron and steel metallurgy, agriculture and construction and installation in Zimbabwe.In 2015, Jiangsu's trade volume with Zimbabwe totalled $56,39 million, up by 18,4 percent from a year earlier.Of this total volume, $53,8 million were from Jiangsu's export to Zimbabwe, up by 72,8 percent, $2,59 million import, down by 84,3 percent.Among the exports to Zimbabwe were machines, mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, base metal and its metal works and textile raw material and textile products.Only last year, six Chinese provinces held the Forum on Global Production Capacity and Business Cooperation in Wuhan city of Hubei province of China to seek ways of increasing their cooperation with African countries.The provinces were Hubei, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Anhui, Henan and Hunan.Speaking at the forum, Zimbabwean ambassador to China Mr Paul Chikawa said African countries needed to broaden their industrial base and increase production capacity.------Feedback: lchikovahh@yahoo.com
(Photo : YouTube) Satellite images revealed China's significant military progress in its Yulin naval base in the Hainan island.

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China is placing installments on strategic island base in the disputed South China Sea, according to the satellite images captured from an ImageSat International Eros B satellite on Monday.



Defense News reported that the People's Liberation Army of China has constructed the Yulin naval base on Hainan Island and has been installing several missile launchers since March.



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"The direction in which the launchers are facing leads us to believe these are shore-to-ship missiles," Amut Gur, imagery analyst, said, noting that the missile systems are now "clearly visible."



He noted that similar systems have previously appeared two years ago, but these had been removed in recent months to make room for infrastructure upgrades at the site.



"We just don't know if they are new systems," or "the ones that were stored during the renovation," Gur said.



From an empty plateau on March 15 to a newly paved infrastructure and several launch sites on May 8, the ISI noted the fast progress taking place on Yulin's eastern side.



"We're seeing the building of infrastructure that wasn't there before and what looks like preparations for shore-to-ship missiles, just like on the western side," ISI spokesperson Gil Or said.



Gur also noted that the Yulin base expansion strengthens Beijing's crucial triangle of forward bases that could quickly project its power beyond neighboring regions like Vietnam and the Philippines, Defense News reported.



Meanwhile, China has also recently test-fired a new type of ballistic missile in the Boha Sea, which sits between China and North Korea. It is unclear if the missile test is meant to serve as a warning for the US or North Korea.



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Tagschina, South China Sea, Yulin naval base, Ballistic missile, Hainan Island
(Photo : Getty Images) In this handout provided by the U.S. Navy, a combined formation of aircraft from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 pass in formation above the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).

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China will not stop constructing aircraft carriers even though it recently launched its second carrier, experts suggested, saying the new Type 001A is just the beginning of Beijing as a maritime power.



"We will continue to build aircraft carriers," Li Jie, a navy expert from Beijing, told Global Times. "The People's Liberation Army Navy will have more than three in the future, so as to ensure its combat ability while conducting practice and maintenance at the same time."



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China's third aircraft carrier will reportedly be conventionally powered but will use steam launch catapults. Dubbed as the Type 002, the third carrier will be larger and more capable. Construction of Type 002 reportedly started in March 2015 in Shanghai, although this is yet to be confirmed.



Meanwhile, Li refused to comment on the reports of Type 002 but confirmed that China would eventually construct its third and fourth aircraft carriers.



Li, however, noted that the Type 002 will be different from the Ukraine-made Liaoning and will look more like the US' aircraft carrier instead of Russia.



Its fourth carrier, on the other hand, could be nuclear-powered and will use advanced launch and lacing systems, Sputnik News noted. It will likely carry fourth-generation fixed wing aircraft, warning aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, and other ship-based aircraft.



Li said that the fourth carrier will be bigger and will have a better stealth performance. But he cannot confirm if the carrier will adopt an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) and aircraft landing technology that could be on par or could even outperform the US.



"I think we must have five to six aircraft carriers. It will take 20 to 30 years for the PLAN to deploy all of them and be able to conduct strike group operations," Li noted.



China has become one of the few countries that can build its aircraft carrier. Lan Yun, deputy editor of Modern Ships, believes that an active production line will help Beijing improve in terms of quality and master its shipbuilding skills.



"The lifespan of an aircraft carrier is about 50 years, and if we keep the pace of making one every five years, we can produce 10 in an updating cycle," he said.



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TagsAircraft carrier, china, Type 001A carrier, Type 002, Liaoning, EMALS, Shangdong
Opinion / Columnist

I believe in unity and oneness. If you don't honor unity you are an enemy of progress in any society. Progress is a good legacy or inheritance we should build for our future generation. The tomorrow is in our youth.Church leaders you have a role to play in nation building. First it starts spiritual and manifest physical. In life we have timing which operates in seasons. Season has its own atmosphere but it can be infiltrated if not properly checked spiritual. Seasons are determined in spiritual realm .Our literacy rate is highest in Africa,resources and economic potential very high. All we need as Zimbabweans is better a better perspective and management aligned to maximize what we have.We have invested in our education. Zimbabweans we are the finest and brilliant mind set carriers in entire world.Many countries have imported almost 80% of our finest minds.This is the high time Church to come up together.We should have a day as entire body of Christ (church) we meet to pray for our country. A day we bless our nation. A day to shift seasons in the spiritual realm.Zimbabwe is not cursed but blessed. The devil of darkness is a liar. The book of Revelation 12 shows how the spiritual world is like, Revelation 12 begins with the statement: "Now a great sign appeared in heaven" (verse 1). The word "sign" comes from the Greek word semeion, meaning "a sign, mark, token  an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature" (Thayer's Greek Definitions).The first great sign is a vision of a woman who gave birth to a child (verse 1). Then in verse 3 we read, "And another sign [semeion] appeared in heaven." We thus understand that these three symbolsa woman, a child and a dragonrepresent things beyond the ordinary events of nature. As we are going to see, these three figures symbolize three major spiritual forces that have been at work for several thousand years. We thank God for his word it now opens our spiritual mindset what is happening in our country its only God who has the solution. verse 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who "will rule all the nations with an iron scepter." [a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled downthat ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. This passage shows spiritual warfare when something good is about to be birthed.First the devil of darkness will try by all means to abort the goodness of the Lord. Zimbabweans don't give up we are the Jewel of Africa /the Israel/Switzerland of Africa and its why devil is fighting us as a nation. Everyone is feeling the heat but doesn't mean we are out.Churches lets come together. Lets bury our differences. Lets put aside our doctrines for sake of unity and progress but Jesus be the center stage. I appeal to our Elders, government leaders, Church leaders, political parties leaders, civil society, youth, diasporas, scholars etc lets put Zimbabwe first, bury our difference come up together to rebuild the brand of our country (the jewel of Africa). Let's have a day we gather as whole country to pray for God to heal our land, bless our land and restore our bread basket status. We have a bright future as a country. We have Pastors, prophets, bishops and apostles from Pentecost, mainline, apostolic churches whom God is using mightily in our country. Lets unite in the name of Jesus and agree together for sake of development. We need to be constructive avoid words which belittles others in our churches. God is spirit and we should honor Him in truth and love.Lets be apolitical and be voice of God in our country.A united prayer meeting of the entire body of Christ (Church as a whole) is going to open heavens for our nation. The devil of darkness we be no longer having grip upon the progress of our beloved nation. Lets not curse one another but lets bless each other. We are all equal. Lets honor and respect our mother which is Zimbabwe so she can breast feed us altogether as her children so no one will cry of malnutrition. All things are possible to them that believe. United prayers from church as whole will shift things in spirit and depopulate the kingdom of darkness. All our policies and principles can work without hindrance.May God bless our country and give us more years to see His goodness in the land of the living. Surely we will witness the goodness of the Lord in ZimbabweEnos DenhereYou Can invite Enos at your Business,Humanity and Nation Building forums.Email enosdenhere@gmail.comApp me 0773894975
Over a hundred Korean students gathered at LA Woori Church for a showcase presented by a praise and worship band, Shake City. This new worship group was about to release an album composed of major songs by Jesus Culture, translated into Korean lyrics for the 1.5 Generation Korean immigrants and international students. Tonight was another of their special praise nights.

The members of Shake City were Jonathan Sim played the electric guitar), Enry Sim was bass, Jihyun Lily Yoon on the keyboard, Gu Min Chung was the drummer, and In-Ki Ahn and Carolin Shin were the vocals.

Pastor Nicholas Lee was MC for tonights worship and began by welcoming all the students present who were mostly from LA Woori Church but there were visitors from other churches including GCJC (Glory Church of Jesus Christ). Pastor Lee moved onto officially introduce Shake City and the show case began.

After the first half of the worship, another special guest appeared. Pastor Jacob Byol Hahn from Seoul Dechi Full Gospel Church, and a renowned Christian author was invited to give a message. The theme for tonight was Numbers chapter two, where there was a description of the Nazirites, a group of people selected specially by God to carry out his works.

Pastor Hahns message to the congregation in a nut shell was to become the Nazirites of Los Angeles, encouraging them that God had brought them to America for a greater purpose, and it was time to move on from simply dreaming about great things, but to actually take action to fulfill Gods dreams.

Shake City ended their performance with great shouts of prayer and applause. Their new album is scheduled to be released after the release of Hollywoods Bible epic Noah. The reason being that the songs they included in the album are also part of the motion pictures original soundtrack. Shake City will have future performances in churches and college campuses in Southern California.
This Sunday, the Associated Press reported that leaders of the Arab League have officially announced that they will now begin to militarily and politically confront the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as well as continuing to cooperate with other nations that are working to deter the efforts of the terrorist group.

Nabil Elarabi, the secretary-general of the Arab League told The Associated Press, "What is happening in Iraq, and the presence of an armed terrorist group that not only challenges the state authority but its very existence and that of other countries  is one of the examples of the challenges that are violently shaking the world."

The Arab League is an international organization of nations including Saudi Arabia, Egypt Qatar, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A representative from the Arab League who was present at a United Nations Security Council meeting endorsed a resolution that was passed in August. The resolution urged all member states to "act to suppress the flow of foreign fighters, financing and other support to Islamist extremist groups in Iraq and Syria." However, the League did not directly endorse U.S. or Iraqi efforts to deter the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, U.S. State Secretary is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia and Jordan later this week. In addition, President Barrack Obama talked about some plans to further neutralize ISIS this Sunday at NBCs Meet the Press. He announced that key NATO nations are working to create a joint task force to engage ISIS. The president stated that the NATO allies are ready to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS.

He added that "Key NATO allies stand ready to confront this terrorist threat through military, intelligence and law enforcement as well as diplomatic efforts. Our goal is to act with urgency but also make sure that we're doing it right, that we have the right targets, that there's support on the ground  that we have a strong political coalition."

American airstrikes have managed to destroy a great deal of ISIS heavy weaponry and personnel carriers. However, ISIS still controls a considerable amount of territory in Iraq and Syria.

After the deaths of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, the Obama administration announced that America will do all it can to deter ISIS. Although it is unclear whether American ground forces will enter the Middle East, it is evident that the U.S. as well as the Western World is moving to combat the militants in more direct and effective ways.
When I learned that the Christian governor of Jakarta had been convicted and imprisoned for blasphemy, I was stunned. So were my dinner companions: four senior Indonesian political leadersthree Muslims, one Christian.

We were celebrating the end of a grueling six-week tour, traveling the United States and Europe to promote the archipelagos religious pluralism. We hoped to persuade political, military, academic, and religious leaders to work with Indonesians to overcome extremist Islamist ideology.

Earlier in the trip, we had received the dismaying news that Basuki Tjahaja Purnamauniversally known as Ahokhad lost his election bid. But since we were laying a foundation for working with many in the West, at the time we were still encouraged.

With the news of Ahoks sentencing to two years in prison, a pall fell over our gathering. Our very well-informed companions believed this victory for radicalism might be a prelude to the demise of democracy in Indonesia, the worlds largest Muslim-majority country.

But there are also reasons for hope.

After years of working on issues of religious persecution, principally in the Islamic world, I became convinced that little would change unless the dominant interpretations of Islam in the region changed.

That led me to pay more attention to Indonesia, a country I have long loved, since it is the largest source of democratic and open Islam. I became a senior fellow at the Leimena Institute, a Christian think tank in the capital, Jakarta, working with Christians and Muslims.

Here is my assessment of the situation, and why American Christians like me should care.

1) The Bad News

The conviction of Ahok culminates a bizarre election for the governorship of Indonesias ...

1
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One counter-fashion movement is calling for major action concerning Ivanka Trump's clothing line, for a "special" reason.

The Rational Dress Society is on a mission to '"reject the signs of class, race and gender that are inscribed onto our daily interactions," by creating a genderless multi-use jumpsuit for all to wear. This borderline Utopian movement is named... JUMPSUIT.

However, JUMPSUIT has rolled out its own political campaign to MARA (Make America Rational Again). The Rational Dress Society will be "soliciting your gently used, and emphatically discarded Ivanka Trump brand garments."

ICYMI: The truth behind Ivanka Trump's controversial billboard

The spokesperson in the campaign video stated that between Nov. 8, 2016 and Feb. 26, 2017, 53 tons of the Ivanka Trump brand clothing were imported into the U.S. from China, despite Candidate Trump's "Hire American, Buy American" campaign promise.

According to the site, here's how JUMPSUIT plans to Make America Rational Again.

Phase 1: Collect used Ivanka Trump brand clothing

Phase 2: Have used Ivanka Trump brand clothing recycled into post-consumer yarn

Phase 3: Weave post-consumer yarn into new fabric

Phase 4: Make special edition JUMPSUITS!

When your donation is received, you'll received an official Rational Dress Society participation certificate.

While JUMPSUIT is making a political point, the large-scale clothing drive is also for a cause. Proceeds from the Special Edition JUMPSUIT will go to supporting advocacy organizations that work for fair labor practices U.S.

Take a look in the gallery above for every look worn by Ivanka Trump during her father's first 100 days into the presidency.
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The smoking and live-fire cooking event that brings some of the nation's top culinary talent to Houston is ready to spark it up again. Southern Smoke, the fundraiser created by Underbelly's Chris Shepherd, has set the date for this year's extravaganza: Oct. 22.

And Shepherd has again leaned on his top toque buddies to make Southern Smoke 2017 a not-to-be-missed event. The popularity of the sold-out event which attracted more than 1,200 people to the Underbelly "campus" last year has prompted Shepherd to expand the Southern Smoke brand.

On Wednesday he announced that there will be an additional Southern Smoke to be held in Spring 2018. Details have not been set for that event, but it will be called Southern Smoke Spring and offer more intimate culinary experiences with exclusive chef's table dinners in private homes throughout Houston. So far the Houston chefs who have signed up for Spring include: James Beard Award-winning Hugo Ortega, Kata Robata chef Manabu Horiuchi, Southern Goods chef Lyle Bento, and chef Brandi Key who has multiple restaurants under the Clark Cooper Concepts umbrella. More details and visiting chefs will be announced in the fall.

But as far as Southern Smoke 2017 is concerned, the lineup is formidable.

This year's chefs (who will all cook using smokers or live fire) will include returning favorite Aaron Franklin, the James Beard Award-winning pitmaster of Franklin Barbecue in Austin; returning barbecue legend Rodney Scott, pitmaster for Scott's Barbecue in Hemingway, SC, and Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ in Charleston, SC; Mike Lata, the James Beard Award-winning chef/partner of FIG in Charleston, SC; James Beard Award-winning chef Jason Stanhope of FIG; returning superchef Ashley Christensen, the James Beard Award-winning owner of Poole's Diner and numerous other restaurants in Raleigh, NC; and one of New Orleans' greatest and most beloved culinary ambassadors, John Besh, the James Beard Award-winning owner of August and other top restaurants in the Crescent City.

The Southern Smoke experience would not be complete without the participation of the HOUBBQ Collective, involved since the first Southern Smoke two years ago. The collective includes chefs Ryan Pera of Coltivare, Seth Siegel Gardner and Terrence Gallivan of the Pass & Provisions, James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu, and Shepherd. Collective members also will participate in southern Smoke Spring.

Shepherd created Southern Smoke to honor his friend and former sommelier Antonio Gianola, diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2014. To date, Southern Smoke has raised $464,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Tickets for Southern Smoke 2017 go on sale Monday, Aug. 7 at noon at SouthernSmoke.org. VIP tickets that include early admission, premium wines, and a gift bag including participating chefs' cookbooks, will be $350; general admission will be $200.

As in past years, the event will be held on the grounds of Underbelly, Hay Merchant and Blacksmith on Westheimer.
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A 20-year-old man is dead after a drive-by shooting in southeast Houston.

The man was shot in the head shortly around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday along the 5200 block of Dumore Drive near Rockford, said Lt. Larry Crowson with the Houston Police Department.

The shooter was driving by the home and opened fire. The man was in his yard.

The wounded man, who has not been identified, was in critical condition when he was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital. He died at the hospital.

The motive for the drive-by shooting remains under investigation. Police late Wednesday had not named any suspects in the case and were struggling to find witnesses.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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Design enthusiasts and professionals will get a treat May 14-19, with the launch of the inaugural Texas Design Week, nearly a week of forums and talks, book signings and parties reveling in the city's stylish side.

The brainchild of friends Alton LaDay, president of Alton LaDay Media, and Holly Moore, founder and editor-in-chief of PaperCity magazine, TXDW will bring some of the country's top design leaders to discuss their work and new collections as well as to sign copies of their newest books.

General admission is $100, a VIP all-access pass is $250 and gets you reserved seating for one and a TXDW Insider ticket is $1,000 and includes reserved seating for two. Gables West Avenue at street level will be the event's main hub, but events are sprinkled all around town.

More than one speaker on the list will be signing new books, with Mark D. Sikes, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, P. Gaye Tapp, Michael S. Smith, Carl Dellatore and Vicente Wolf all discussing or signing copies of their recent releases.

Texas Design Week When: May 14-19 Where: Gables West Avenue (street level) is the main hub; some events elsewhere Tickets: $100 general admission; $250 VIP All Access pass (includes reserved seating for 1); $1,000 Texas Insider (includes reserved seating for 2) Full schedule: www.texasdesignweek.com See More Collapse

A Friday forum on bedding brings together Texas designers of luxury linens, including Karen Pulaski of Tribute Goods and Bailey McCarthy of Biscuit Home. The designers will display their latest goods and participate in a conversation moderated by author-designer Robert Leleux.

Here is the full schedule:

5:30 p.m. May 14: Mark D. Sikes, will unveil his new furniture collection with Henredon and sign copies of his book, "Beautiful: All American Decorating and Timeless Style" at Meredith O' Donnell Fine Furniture, 1751 Post Oak, which the exclusive vendor for Sikes' wares in Houston. (Requires a TXDW Insider ticket)

11 a.m. May 16: Martyn Lawrence Bullard will be the keynoter, talking about design and his newest book, "Martyn Lawrence Bullard: Design & Decoration" (Rizzoli). At Chateau Domingue, 3615 West Alabama. (General admission)

2 p.m. May 16: Luxe Interiors + Design and Ann Sacks present a talk with Erin Heaton, Ann Sacks product manager, at West Avenue. (General admission)

4 p.m. May 16: Nina Magon of Contour Interior Design will discuss 2017 hospitality design trends and recap of HD Expo, High Point Market, and the Decorative Center of Houston Spring Market. At Poliform Showroom, West Avenue. (General admission)

10 a.m. May 17: A panel discussion with designers Robert Leleux, Danielle Rollins, Caleb Anderson, Florence de Dampierre and Ronda Rice Carman, followed by book signings. At West Avenue. (General admission)

1 p.m. May 17: P. Gaye Tapp will discuss stylemakers such as Babe Paley, Bunny Melon, Evangeline Bruce, Helene Rochas and Pauline de Rothschild and sign copies of her new book, "How They Decorated: Inspiration from Great Women of the Twentieth Century" (Rizzoli) at Found, 3433 W. Alabama. (General admission)

4 p.m. May 17: Michael S. Smith and Viyet CEO Elizabeth Brown will be the afternoon keynoters. He will sign copies of his book, "The Curated House: Creating Style, Beauty and Balance" (Rizzoli) at Internum, 3303 Kirby. (General admission)

11:30 a.m. May 18: Interior Design Master Class with author Carl Dellatore, and designers Vicente Wolf and Madeline Stuart. Dellatore and Wolf will sign copies of their new books. At David Sutherland Showroom, Decorative Center Houston, 5120 Woodway, Suite 170. (General admission)

3 p.m. May 18: Vicente Wolf and Katie Scott will discuss their jewelry collection, inspired by nature and architecture. Followed by trunk show; Wolf will sign copies of his book "The Four Elements of Design: Interiors Inspired by Earth, Water, Air and Fire" (Rizzoli) at the West Egg Pop Up Shop at West Avenue. (Requires a TXDW Insider Ticket)

4:30 p.m. May 18: Jessica Napp, associate director at Rizzoli publishing will speak on "Navigating a Book From Conception to Proposal to Contract" at West Avenue. (General admission)

10 a.m.  2 p.m. May 19: Meet and shop new collections with leading luxury linen designers, all from Texas, including Biscuit Home, Hibiscus Linens, Jacquelyn Reese Applique Linens, Peacock Alley represented by Longoria Collection, and Tribute Goods. Robert Leleux will lead the panel discussion at West Avenue. (General admission)

1 p.m. May 19: Studio visit at Artadia Houston to meet artist Joseph Havel. (Requires a TXDW Insider Ticket). Address provided with RSVP

5 p.m. May 19: Dr. Rebecca Peabody, head research projects and programs at the Getty Research Institute, and Valerie Cassel Oliver, senior curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston at Rothko Chapel, will discuss Peabody's work. At Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon. (General admission)
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Florida python hunter Dustin Crum recently nabbed the largest snake ever caught in the Florida Everglades.

Everglades National Park is facing an invasion from Burmese pythons, one of the largest snake species on Earth. The adaptable reptile has decimated wildlife, eating anything from birds, to mammals and even alligators.

Crum is working for a state program that pays hunters for killing the invasive snakes. In this case, Crum said he stumbled upon the 16-foot, 10-inch beast by accident.

TEXAS VETS: There's an increase in rattlesnakes biting dogs in Austin

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"I was driving by and caught a shimmer of something," Crum said. "I thought it was an empty water bottle or something reflecting off the sun. When I stopped, I could see it was a big snake."

The python hunter proceeded to catch the reptile bare-handed, a fight he equated to "Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant."

"It's a battle with heavy weights," Crum said. "The snake is all strong, 130 pounds of muscle."

Fortunately, Crum said a python doesn't have much endurance and will tire after fighting for a couple of minutes.

When officials finally measured the nearly 17-foot snake, even Crum was surprised by the size.

FORT BEND POLICE: Don't mess with alligators or we'll ticket you

"I didn't know it was going to be that big, it was fairly fat, but I didn't know it was going to be 16 10," he said. "I was blown away."

Inside the python, officials discovered 78 eggs  or 78 snakes that won't be hurting native wildlife.

"It's kind of like a ghost town with the way wildlife used to be," Crum said. "There's not much left out there. It's a big problem."

Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia, but were brought to North America as exotic pets. Snakes that either escaped or were released by their owners established a foothold in the Everglades, where they have thrived.

Click through above to see which snakes are common in Texas and how to identify them.
Three animal control officers are accused of euthanizing dogs without sedating them at the Baytown animal shelter, the Harris County District Attorney's office announced Thursday.

Prosecutors say the then-employees' actions were caught on surveillance video at the city's Baytown Animal Control and Adoption Center. The trio faces charges of improperly euthanizing dogs.

"Even prisoners on death row have the right to be sedated before they are put down by lethal injection," prosecutor Carvana Cloud said at a news conference Thursday. "In this case to see animals being treated so inhumanely ... was very disturbing. To watch them suffer was just horrifying."

Cloud said the video was not available for release. It may emerge during a trial.

The officers also stuffed the dogs' bodies into plastic bags without first checking the animals' vital signs to confirm they were dead, prosecutors said. Those incidents allegedly happened in May 2015.

One employee euthanized a blond terrier by injecting sodium pentobarbital without using anesthesia, leaving the dog to feel pain, according to charging documents. Prosecutors suspect it happened many more times.

"We know that it was an ongoing issue," Cloud said, calling the practice "inexcusable."

The animal shelter, located at 705 N. Robert Lanier Drive, closed for upgrades in early 2008 meant to keep diseases from spreading among the animals, the Chronicle reported at the time. The shelter in the city of about 75,000 euthanized 775 animals in just four months at the time -- an average of more than six every day.

The shelter saved just 9 percent of cats and 32 percent of dogs in the summer of 2015, according to data reported by the Baytown Sun -- about the same time the employees are accused of improper euthanasia. The "save rate" in the year ending Sept. 30, 2016, improved to 27 percent for cats and 57 percent for dogs.

In comparison, Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care shelter euthanized only 20 percent of animals in 2015, down from 80 percent a decade earlier, when it drew heavy criticism, the Chronicle previously reported. The Harris County shelter euthanized about 70 percent of animals.

Baytown police launched an investigation after a former employee complained that euthanasia procedures were violated at the animal control center, the district attorney's office said. Prosecutors said they worked with an expert in veterinary medicine and animal shelters.

The investigation began in June 2015 and took more than a year because investigators had to interview many shelter employees and go through hours of video, a Baytown Police Department spokesman said Thursday.

"All of that takes time, so these things don't happen overnight," Lt. Steve Dorris said. "The thing that really slowed it up was that we had to work with the prosecutors' office to track down some experts across the state to get an expert opinion on whether this was proper or not."

"We have a moral and ethical obligation to treat animals humanely, even when we're putting them down," Dorris said, adding that he has spent time as a police dog handler.

"When people think of their local animal shelter, most are realistic and recognize that animals are being euthanized every day, but they don't want them to suffer," said Jessica Milligan, Harris County's top prosecutor for animal cruelty.

"The job of an animal control officer is not an easy job, but it requires compassion and empathy," Milligan added in the news release. "It's unfortunate that these particular officers didn't exhibit the compassion towards animals that we as a community expect and Texas laws require."

Tod Brooks, 53, Veronica Jimenez, 33, and Christopher Nightingale, 27, were charged Tuesday with one count each of improper animal euthanasia, a Class B misdemeanor under Texas' Health and Safety Code. None of the three are current city employees.

They have warrants out for their arrest, Dorris said, but could arrange for no-arrest bonds to stay out of jail pending trial.

If convicted, each employee could face up to six months in jail and a fine up to $2,000.

As of Thursday morning, court documents did not list defense attorneys who could be reached for comment.

The city of Baytown oversees the facility, city spokeswoman Patti Jett confirmed. She said the city conducted an internal review of shelter practices after learning of the allegations in 2015 and also brought in a review team from San Antonio's animal control authority.

The city boosted annual adoptions by more than a third by extending shelter hours and increasing outreach efforts, Jett said, as well as copying some of San Antonio's best practices to better track animals and facilitate adoptions.
Opinion / Columnist

Dear editor,The current constitution of Zimbabwe (which is entrenched) gives the President of Zimbabwe the prerogative to appoint the top judges. However, it is enshrined in international law that the judiciary should be free from politics. That is, it should be an autonomous entity.There is subjectivity in the whole process of appointing of top judges in Zimbabwe (currently) because many people view the justice system of Zimbabwe as not being autonomous. They view it as not impartial in discharging its duties as a result of the appointment procedure which is embodied in the current Zimbabwe constitution (nothing wrong as the constitution is the rule of law of all states).The furore by others is that there is bound to be biased in handling cases by the courts. For example, if the appointed judges are dealing with cases that involve treason allegations, there is a possibility that the judge adjudicating might rule in favour of the government. (COMPARE JUDGE GABI V late JUDGE CHIDJAWUSIKU , land issue case ).The government may influence the outcome of the proceedings to be in their favour. If that particular judge wants to pay back or return a favour, he may appease the government by ruling in its favour. Here the undue influence may unwittingly play a pivotal role in influencing the outcome. Thus the judiciary institutions would not have executed their duties, reasonably, justly and fairly.Everyone is entitled to a fair trial. Even those would be top judges, who are in the line of being promoted, will not be free to exercise their legal skills freely. Because, they would want to impress the government so that when their time to apply for the top positions, they will be recognised for ruling in favour of the government in cases involving the government v the accused. So judges will not execute their duties efficiently, effectively and judiciously as expected by the public of Zimbabwe.The judiciary entity is supposed to be free from any political influence or any other external influence which may compromise the outcome of the judgements made by magistrates and judges. Lest there will be a conflict of interest among judges. Judges and magistrates are supposed to be apolitical or non-partisan. The purpose of justice is to deliver justice.Justice is synonymous with fairness. Fairness, in the judiciary system, is the right of every person alleged to have committed a crime.There is a fear that when a judicial panel, is adjudicating on a high profile matter, they will all agree to the same outcome. By virtue of their professional ethics, they should at one point or another be some judges in the judicial panel who will disagree with the finding. To ensure autonomy, to scrutinise the others most jurisdictions there is what is called, "the separation of powers". That is the Judiciary (independent), Executive (independent) and the Legislative or legislature(independent). However, each scrutinising the others but without imposing any ideas upon each department. This a safeguard, to ensure the smooth running of each department. In this case, Mnangagwa's idea, is right to push for a change in the appointment system as discussed above.In every society, where a people live and interact at various levels, there is bound to be some disagreements in some ideas or policies, norms and values. One sociologist mentioned that, "if in society people always agree with each other, they will be like ants whose lives are programmed." Ants move in a single file line. The merits of appointment of judges by the President, as embodied, in the constitution, are far outweighed by their demerits. (food for thought) (Everyone is entitled to freedom of expression)Njabulo
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The civil case to remove Pct. 1 Commissioner Mike McCarty from office continues this week with the appointment of the Honorable Ernest "Ernie" L. McClendon from the 258th District Court that oversees Polk, San Jacinto, and Trinity counties.

The appointment was made late Monday afternoon and McClendon performed his statutory gatekeeping function by examining the pleadings and apparently found enough merit to the underlying case that he ordered McCarty be served notice of the civil suit.

This civil removal action includes the misdemeanors for which McCarty was convicted and remains out on appeal and an additional matter that includes the Martin Marietta lawsuit where it is alleged that the commissioner tried to circumvent the bidding laws.

Now that County Attorney Matt Poston has a motion for temporary removal on file, he told the Dayton News/Cleveland Advocate that he intends to supplement and pack it with as much information as he can for the court's consideration.

"At any time, the judge can act on it," Poston said, which would not only include suspension of McCarty but appointing a new commissioner temporarily. The move would also require the new commissioner to get a bond, something required of all officeholders. McCarty would serve until that bond has been made.

The sole appointing power of the new commissioner would come from McClendon, who would consider names submitted by County Judge Jay Knight.

"We will be vigorously defending this and when you see my answer, you will see how vigorous our defense will be," said Scott Brazil, the defense attorney for McCarty in the civil trial.

"We're not going to try this case in the media. We're going to let the jury hear these issues, and it will be a different jury that heard the criminal matter. We obviously dispute the jury's findings in the criminal suit and that is on appeal," Brazil said.

Brazil also said that the jury's findings were on two, non-specific misdemeanor findings.

"We don't know exactly where they thought Commissioner McCarty did anything wrong," Brazil said.

McCarty's defense attorney also took issue with the county attorney's petition.

"The allegations in the petition for removal that he somehow admitted or confessed to wrongdoing is absolutely incorrect and we'll be addressing those allegations," the defense attorney said.

Brazil said he hopes to file his answer to the lawsuit sometime next week.

When he does, it is expected that the judge will issue some type of docket control or order telling what discoveries or depositions they can do. The judge will likely set a date for trial and give deadlines that both sides must meet.

Unlike the criminal case which requires conviction beyond reasonable doubt, the civil case has a lower bar relying only upon the preponderance of the evidence.

McCarty still faces removal from office in his criminal case. If his defense attorneys do not pursue the appeal, the final removal could come quickly when the mandate is issued or the time for appeal has lapsed.

Following the notice of appeal given by his defense in the criminal trial, the burden falls on the court reporter and the court clerk to prepare the courts records which could take up to 60 days.

At that point, the defense has 30 days to present the appellate briefs.

The state would then have 30 days to submit their briefs, all of it dependent on the attorney's schedules who could ask for extensions.

In other news regarding Commissioner McCarty, on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, the city council for the city of Liberty met and voted on the appointment of members to the Liberty Community Development Corporation.

According to a press release from the city, "Unfortunately, due to an internal error, LCDC member Mike McCarty's name was incorrectly placed on the list of members with expiring terms.

Based on that information, the city council voted to fill four vacant LCDC positions."

After the meeting, it was discovered that McCarty's term had not yet expired. The city council plans to call a special meeting next week to rescind the new LCDC appointments and vote on new appointments for the three member positions that are expiring.
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Actor Dennis Quaid might travel the world as a bonafide Hollywood star, but part of his heart still resides in Bellaire.

Next Tuesday night the star of Great Balls of Fire, The Right Stuff, The Alamo and currently the acclaimed Amazon series Fortitude returns to the Houston area to play a show at Clear Lakes Scout Bar with his band.

PREVIOUS: Dennis Quaid show coming to Amazon

Dennis Quaid and the Sharks have been active since 2000, playing originals and cover tunes of the songs that Quaid grew up playing at teenage house parties in Bellaire and at coffeehouses in Montrose.

Quaid, 63, has been connected to music in some way or another since he could remember, first hearing the likes of Hank Williams Sr. and Eddy Arnold around his home. He was later leveled by the emergence of the Beatles, like many boomers his age.

There were so many types of music in Texas and in Houston when I was little," Quaid said. "I grew up on country music. From there it was the Beatles, Van Morrison and everything after."

His first concert in Houston was Grand Funk at the old Sam Houston Coliseum.

The Sharks present an opportunity for Quaid to rock out with friends when hes away from the hot lights of a film set. The energetic live shows produce a much more animated Quaid than the stoic leading man seen in his films. It also doesnt hurt that he comes with a name recognition that supersedes many touring bands.

Recently he decided to make music a bigger part of his life. The group has recorded new music and the songwriting process is ongoing. He just spent a year and half in front of the camera and is looking forward to stage time for a change.

FROM 2013: Dennis Quaid honored by University of Houston

Since 2000 or so music has taken up only about 5 percent of my time, with the other part all movies. Now I want to make it a bit more 50-50, Quaid said.

The band has been unchanged since their formation and the members all have gigs away from the Sharks. Quaid sings and plays guitar and keyboard in the band.

I got into keyboards when I played Jerry Lee Lewis. I had a year to prepare, playing 12 hours a day, to get where I had a left hand, which is important, he said. The band does play "Great Balls of Fire during most shows so he can show off his piano skills.

The overall sound of the band is hard to pin down, according to Quaid.

Its mostly rock and blues-based, with a Texas sound. Like a junkyard of American music. We have even thrown lounge music in there, Quaid said.

If fans dont like the show, Quaid said there is a money-back guarantee. However, no one has yet to take him up on it.

We love to get people up and dancing. Dont think just feel. Forget about everything thats been going on, he said.

The old Bellaire family home where he grew up at 4616 Maple was torn down a few years ago to make room for new construction, Quaid said. Back then Bellaire was on the outskirts of the city to an extent. Wide open for kids to explore.

It was a great place to grow up. I had one of those ideal boyhoods. You go out and do a Tarzan yell and you had six or seven boys your age on the street ready to roam, Quaid said.

RELATED: Beloved actor Bill Paxton dies at 61

While hes out in Clear Lake, Quaid hopes to hit up Gaidos on the Seawall in Galveston.

Its been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, Quaid said.

Hes also planning on making a visit to the San Jacinto Monument, which hes been obsessed with since he first learned all about Texas history as a boy. That love only grew larger when he starred in 2004's "The Alamo."

I mean, I did play Sam Houston, he said. "I love the history of Texas and that whole era, starting with Stephen F. Austin."

Check out Dennis Quaid and the Sharks at Scout Bar in Clear Lake on Tuesday, May 16. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. with The Weeds and Rainchild opening the show. Tickets are currently on sale.
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Houston's dining scene is frequently welcoming newcomers, but it's also seeing a slate of second (or more) new outposts of successful spots around town.

These local "mini-chains" are spreading the culinary wealth from Katy to the Heights, downtown and beyond.

Among the Houston-based establishments expanding is Peli Peli, a South African restaurant that first debuted in Vintage Park before opening in the Galleria and, most recently, on the Katy Freeway. It will soon put down roots further west in La Centerra at Katy, which should be opening in June. For founder Thomas Nguyen, this location will leave a personal mark in their portfolio of locations.

"Katy will be special to me because my family has lived there since 1979 and I graduated from Mayde Creek in 1994 which is in KISD. Two of the owners also currently live in Katy, too," he said.

There are very few fine dining and date night spots in Katy and we hope to contribute to that in a unique way. Our (new) location will utilize lighting in a creative manner and hopefully will give Katy something to be proud of. It will not look like any other Peli Peli in Houston."

WHAT THE TIMES GOT WRONG AND RIGHT: The New York Times highlights some of Galveston's best restaurants and attractions

Another locally owned restaurant will be moving into the Heights soon. Dish Society will launch 3,800-square-foot restaurant with a 1,000-square-foot patio at 1050 Yale in fall 2018. The fourth location will seat 150 people and will, thankfully, be mindful of parking in the area with a 60-space lot.

"The Heights was a no-brainer for us," owner Aaron Lyons said in a prepared statement. Lyons founded the company in 2014 based on a concept he developed during business school. "The area is blowing up and is full of our core demographic."

He humbly adds that expanding is exciting but must be done with a strong plan in mind. "We've definitely experienced growing pains but have learned from them and continue to focus on building a strong foundation for growth and consistency," he said.

Popular burger spot The Burger Joint will be joining Lyons in the Heights with a second location, but are still "waiting on city approval of plans," co-owner Shawn Bermudez said. Along with business partner Matthew Pak. Bermudez will launch the new outpost at 2002 N. Shepherd soon.

Also coming to the neighborhood is Bernie's Burger Bus. Owner Justin Turner said he's "patiently waiting" on a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission permit to open the doors of his newest burger stop at 2200 Yale.

JUST OPENED: FM Burger and Bar, from former Triniti owner Ryan Hildebrand

This one, he said, will also include a school bus facade inside the restaurant. Although this location will house the original bus, which helped make his company a success.

"We'll have a plaque saying it's the final resting place of bus No. 1," he said, adding that they would be bringing along their spiked milkshakes, collection of local brews and cocktail program.

Also in the works for the Greater Heights is Hughie's Tavern, a Southern-meets-Vietnamese restaurant that's also known for its extensive selection of local craft beer. It's expected to debut at the space that formerly housed both Canard bar and Foreign Correspondents, 4721 N. Main St., sometime this summer.

See Houston Chronicle food critic Alison Cook's Top 100 Restaurants in Houston roundup in the video above.
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Harris County authorities recently arrested 49-year-old Kelly Harris in Humble after he allegedly led police on a high-speed chase while throwing propane tanks out of the stolen truck he was driving.

On Wednesday, Harris County Precinct 4 officers responded to a call about a stolen travel trailer.

According to police, a witness who saw the theft followed Harris, but stopped after Harris pulled a handgun and threatened them.

POLICE: Two arrested after Webster woman calls 911 on herself for drunk driving

Shortly after, law enforcement located the truck and trailer and began to pursue Harris after he refused to stop the truck, which police said was later discovered to also be stolen.

During the chase, police said Harris threw portable propane tanks out of the truck while driving, presumably in attempt to slow down or evade officers.

After the truck came to stop, Harris continued to evade arrest on foot. Police dispatched a K9 officer to search for the suspect.

ARRESTED: Intoxicated Pearland woman randomly searches apartment complex for boyfriend, police say

"The K9 quickly located the suspect and he was taken into custody," said a police news release. "The suspect was transported to the hospital to be treated for dog bites received as a result of his refusal to surrender."

Police charged Harris with aggravated robbery and felony evading. He is set to be booked at the Harris County Jail once he is released from the hospital.

Click through above to see the most shocking crimes of 2017.
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Humble ISD board members presented Brent Engelage and Heath Rushing, outgoing board members, with the traditional glass bowl to commemorate their work for the school board at the Tuesday, May 9, board meeting.

Engelage is retiring from the board to spend more time in the community, starting by joining the choir at his church, while Rushing is stepping down from his position to assume the role as CEO for Memorial Hermann Katy and Memorial Hermann Cypress. Board members have not made a decision on how Rushing's seat will be filled.

"It's a long-standing tradition for outgoing board members to receive a commemorative bowl for their years of service on the board. It's a bittersweet moment when we have, not one, but two bowls to present," said Board President Keith Lapeze.

Rushing's children - Gram, Harper and Fin - took to the podium to show their appreciation to their father and his work while on the school board.

"As my brothers know, I don't like sharing, but I was OK with sharing my dad with the 42,000 other students. I'm glad the others had a chance to see all the amazing things my dad can do," Harper said.

This month's super staffers also were announced and honored with a $200 gift card to Pappas Restaurants and recognized for their work in the district.

Elementary Super Staffer was Kim Stevens, Atascocita Springs Elementary

Secondary Super Staffer was Tiffany Moraine, community learning center librarian

Support Super Staffer was Renee Beck, campus and department support manager in the financial department.

Kingwood Middle School student Riley Franklin was recognized for earning an Award of Excellence in Literature for creating a 25-page book that included photographs depicting her life's story.

Franklin was first awarded by the Humble ISD PTA for her entries in literature and photography before advancing to the state level, receiving an overall award of excellence by the Texas PTA.

She received a 200 Young Artist Scholarship award at the national convention in June as part of her honors and has been invited to participate in National PTA opening celebration ceremony.

Also Tuesday night, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality presented a check for more than $1 million to Humble ISD to replace 20 diesel school buses with 20 liquid petroleum gas school buses in effort to help keep air in Texas clean.
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It happened so fast, but it was one of the slowest moments in Greg Vradenburg's life.

Vradenburg, an officer with the Conroe Police Department, came inches from death in the wee morning hours of Jan. 3, 2016. He had Christopher Hatton, now 28, face down on the ground in front of a home on Little John Lane after leading officers on a short foot chase from a traffic stop.

Hatton tripped over a sidewalk in front of the home. Vradenburg had one foot on top of him, ordering him to brings his hands out from underneath him as other officers came to assist in the arrest.

Instead of drawing his firearm, Vradenburg had his stun gun pointed at Hatton.

"My thing was to get him to stop running," Vradenburg said. "I don't know how tired I was going to be or how long I was going to chase him. My thing was to tase him, stop him, get him detained with less force than needed. In my mind, the Taser was my go-to."

But Hatton, who had a warrant out for his arrest, rolled on his side and pulled a gun seemingly out of nowhere.

"Everything slowed down," Vradenburg said. "That's when the adrenaline picked up. I saw his hand come around, saw the gun, saw the muzzle flash, saw the slide go back. But I never heard anything."

Hatton had blindly fired a shot at Vradenburg, who initially ran toward a nearby tree for cover. But his policing instinct kicked in, and he started running after the man who just tried to kill him.

Another officer, hearing the shots, dispatched that there had been shots fired. Initially, every officer on duty that night did not know who shot at who, or if anybody had been hurt.

Vradenburg eventually dispatched that he was OK and still in pursuit of Hatton. As that was happening, a deluge of officers flooded the surrounding streets searching for him.

Mere minutes after Hatton shot at Vradenburg, he was in custody. Video from the scene shows once detained, Hatton immediately started denying to police he had a gun and said he never shot at Vradenburg.

Vradenburg said Hatton had tossed the gun  which was still loaded  in the residential area while fleeing from police. The officer stayed late that shift sifting through the brush surrounding to find the weapon.

While officers eventually found the gun, they never found the bullet Hatton fired toward Vradenburg.

"Everybody plays the 'what if' game," Vradenburg said. "I went home that night. Other officers went home that night. He went to jail that night."

Vradenburg said he was wearing a gifted necklace from one of Conroe PD's chaplains on the night of the shooting, one that had Joshua 1:9 inscribed on it. The officer recited it perfectly during an interview Tuesday, saying he has not put on his uniform since the shooting without wearing it.

'Dangerous Job'

Vradenburg almost became one of 63 law enforcement officers throughout the country who died by gunfire in the line of duty in 2016, according to the National Officer Down Memorial Page. Already in 2017, 15 officers have died by gunfire nationwide, two of whom were in Texas: Assistant Chief Deputy Clinton Greenwood with the Harris County Precinct 3 Constable's Office and Detective Jerry Ronald Walker with the Little Elm Police Department.

Conroe Police Sgt. Ed Holcomb, Jr. is the only Conroe officer to die in the line of duty. Holcomb was shot while responding to a domestic disturbance in 1982. He died three weeks later.

In an interview following Hatton's sentence May 4, Conroe Police Chief Philip Dupuis commended Vradenburg's actions that night.

"He knows it's a dangerous job," Dupuis said. "We know what our dangers are, but when we have the community support us like what we have right now, that makes it easier for us to go out and do the job that we do."

Hatton had a slew of other felony charges, including evading arrest, drug possession and unlawful possession of a firearm. Judge Phil Grant, who oversaw Hatton's case in the 9th state District Court, dismissed those charges Monday in light of Hatton's virtual life sentence.

Hatton has not filed an appeal on his conviction as of Monday, court records show. He will not be eligible for parole until he is 58, prosecutors said.
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More than three months after Steven Hafer's death, anewly released medical examiner's report finally sheds some light on why the Houston man's shooting was ultimately ruled a suicide, though police and prosecutors are staying mum about the possible missteps that led to wrongly charging his wife with murder.

On Feb. 2, Tu Huynh was arrested and wrongfully accused of murdering her husband in their Newpark Drive home. Since dropping the charges on April 5, prosecutors have declined to explain what prompted the change of heart.

But now, a report shows that the 34-year-old father died of a gunshot wound to the mouth, and that the medical examiner recovered five buckshot pellets during the Feb. 3 autopsy.

Crucially, testing found gunshot residue on Hafer's hands, along with soot on his left hand. It's not clear exactly when those results came in or if there were other factors at play in the examiner's decision to label the death a suicide.

Hafer's family, however, is still grappling with what they say feels like incomplete information.

"We still have a lot of unanswered questions," Steven's heartbroken mother Cheryl Hafer said Thursday. "We can't believe that Steven would do it."

Though the report clarifies that Hafer's body was found around 4 p.m. the day of his death, it doesn't list a time of death and prosecutors have not said when Huynh arrived home that evening.

After the charges were dropped, Huynh's lawyer David Armbruster said that the timeline helped exonerate his client.

"There was a rush to judgment by police, the press and others," Armbruster said in a statement at the time. "There were even national news stories that assumed facts never alleged or supported."

The Houston attorney declined to comment Thursday.

Initially, investigators grew suspicious when Huynh kept changing her story about the shooting, prosecutors said during a February court appearance.

They also reported that the shotgun had apparently been wiped clean and the trajectory did not match a self-inflicted wound. Since then, prosecutors and police have both declined to offer any explanation reconciling that initial assessment with the suicide ruling.

After a judge dismissed the charges against her, Huynh and her lawyers held an April press conference to address the accusations.

"I want the record to be absolutely clear I do not know specifically what drove Steven to do what he did," she said at the time. "But I pray that he's now in peace. I did not kill him. I did not shoot my husband."
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A Houston man is accused of killing his son-in-law in an early morning shooting more than a month ago.

Quin Henderson was charged Monday with murder, a move that his defense attorney called "completely inexplicable."

POLICE CHASE: Houston-area man allegedly throws propane tanks at police during high-speed chase

On March 30, police responded to a shooting in the 13200 block of Robinglen and arrived around 7:30 a.m. to find paramedics transporting 32-year-old Hollingsworth Green to the hospital, where he died.

Henderson had already left the scene in a Dodge Journey before police got there, and was later charged with taking the car without permission.

He was booked into the county jail three days later for felony unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Then on Monday, prosecutors added a murder charge.

"I'm still waiting for most of the discovery but from the limited amount I've seen so far it seems like very circumstantial evidence," attorney Mike Trent told the Chronicle Thursday.

MURDER: Brother-in-law charged with murder after woman's grisly slaying last month in Houston

"Even in attempting to establish probable cause before the judge they were struggling a bit because apparently there were no eyewitnesses."

Trent said it's not yet clear what happened that morning, adding that there are many unanswered questions.

Previously, Henderson had a smattering of relatively minor arrests in Harris County, including charges for drunk driving and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Currently, he's being held on $50,000 bail for the murder charge and $15,000 for the earlier charge. He's due in court again in June.
Opinion / Columnist

Tendai Ruben Mbofana is Programmes Director at the Zimbabwe Network for Social Justice (ZimJustice). Please call/WhatsApp: +263782283975, or email: tendaiandtinta.mbofana@gmail.com. Please 'Like' our ZimJustice page on Facebook for more info.

There is nothing more disheartening than when an unfairly treated and oppressed worker - who finally seeks and obtains pro bono legal assistance - suddenly develops cold feet, as a result of some flimsy promise they would have received from their employer.A typical example would be that of employees who would not have been paid their salaries or terminal benefits for months, if not years - who approach rights organisations such as the Zimbabwe Network for Social Justice (ZimJustice) for free legal assistance - yet just when their cases are proceeding they decide to withdraw after being offered some empty promise by their employer.This scenario is so disturbingly widespread, such that one wonders why the exploited workers never seem to learn.It is so similar to an abused wife, who reports her abusive husband to the police, but always withdraws the case after he promises never to do it again - yet, only a few days later, he beats her up.The cycle keeps repeating itself, hopefully until the abused one finally realises that enough is enough.How long will exploited workers continue allowing themselves to be punching bags of employers - always succumbing to their wiles?If an employer has been callously refusing to pay an employee for months, if not years, what makes the employee believe that the employer would suddenly have a 'road to Damascus experience' and pay them without a fight?These lies by employers are all too familiar that employees should be wary of them, and refuse to be duped.I have personally experienced numerous such practices by employers through my work with ZimJustice, as workers have been invited to meetings after meetings - and given promise after promise - but, without anything substantial materialising.These tactics are used by employers simply to buy time, hopefully until the affected workers finally give up, or when there is nothing left to give them.Without mentioning any names, but recently, a major company signed an agreement with its workers - both current and retrenched - to pay them a certain amount per month.Needless to say, the workers - who had approached ZimJustice for pro bono legal assistance - withdraw their case; only to return months later complaining that their employer had reneged on their agreement.This not only meant a delay in the workers receiving what was due to them, but also provided the company with ample time to dispose of most of its assets, such that nothing of value was left to be attached in order to pay the workers.Workers need to be cognisant of the fact that the main reason their employers never paid them was that they did not want to part with money.As such, the employer will not easily give up and pay the workers, but will do everything to avoid that - including paying off workers' union leaders, so that they do not proceed with the matter with any seriousness.Several workers have been the victims of such trickery, as they have sheepishly trusted their union leadership to resolve their issues, without the knowledge that they were being taken for a ride.The same applies to some of the legal practitioners that these workers hire and pay huge sums of money.They would believe that their case is making progress, as their lawyer takes them on a wild goose chase - since he or she would also have been paid off by the employer.As such, employers will make empty promises to workers, so that they keep them quiet, whilst nothing meaningful takes place - maybe being paid once or twice, in order to make them (workers) believe that things are now moving.By the time the workers wake up, they realise that their employer is insolvent.The best strategy would be for workers to keep the legal noose firmly around the necks of their employers during these negotiations - preferrably through social justice activist organisations, who are less prone to bribery - as they embarked in such activism out of a genuine passion to fight and stand up for the rights of the oppressed, and also have a reputation to protect.As long as the employer feels legal pressure during these negotiations and agreements, the likelihood of workers being deceived is very low.It is therefore, our earnest hope that workers would bravely resist being duped by employers through these shady promises, and seek legal assistance from well-meaning organisations - as employers will never easily part with even a cent without a fight.
As the Blue Ridge landfill and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality move forward on an agreement to correct nuisance odor violations, Pearland Mayor Tom Reid is asking residents to write letters to TCEQ, asking for faster results.

TCEQ has alleged that the Blue Ridge landfill is the source of the notorious "Pearland odor," a sewage smell that regularly occurs in the Shadow Creek Ranch area.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: West Pearland residents frustrated about timeline to stop 'putrid garbage stink'

Under a proposed agreed order, Blue Ridge has already paid $17,485 out of $43,712 in administrative penalties. The facility will implement a corrective action plan, and will conduct an environmental project to offset some of the remaining penalty fees if the order is approved.

"As Mayor of our fine city, I am urging all citizens in Pearland to write a letter to the TCEQ with your comments about the Blue Ridge Landfill being out of compliance," Reid said on his mayoral campaign's Facebook page. "The TCEQ is not moving fast enough to enforce their rules and regulations on Blueridge."

Reid, who currently faces challenger Quentin Wiltz in a runoff election, was not available for comment.

PLAN A MOVE: The best suburbs to live in across Texas

Republic Services, which operates the Fresno landfill, and TCEQ has entered into an agreement to address a number of emissions violations cited after inspections in October and November 2016.

The agreement will be open for public comment until May 30 before it can receive final approval by TCEQ.

Republic spokesman Russ Knocke said Pearland officials have unfairly ignored other sources of odors in the community, citing TCEQ violations for unauthorized discharge of sludge and wastewater from the Pearland Reflection Bay wastewater treatment plant in 2015 and 2016.

"This is relevant to the broader conversation about odor in the community," Knocke said.

He said other facilities surrounding the Blue Ridge site could also be the source of odors in Pearland.

When TCEQ inspected the landfill in November, inspectors reported finding the following odors: "garbage, decaying/decomposing matter, sour gas, landfill gas, rotten egg, fish and petroleum."

QUIZ: How well do you know Houston-area suburbs?

Inspectors also reported suffering detrimental health effects such as burning eyes, coughing, headaches and numbness of the sinuses at the site.

"At one point, (Investigator Yayma) Martinez observed an odor that caused a metallic taste, nausea and momentary disorientation," the investigative report states. "The investigator relocated to an area outside of the odor plume and after a few minutes, health effects subsided."

Video clips produced by TCEQ during November inspections "show gas and liquid bubbling up from holes and fissures on the landfill cover," the report states.

Knocke said Republic is performing "comprehensive enhancements" at the landfill, and since November 40 new gas wells have been added to the site.

Asked whether area residents should be concerned about the images in the video, Knocke said "No, neighbors do not need to be concerned by the images. Modern landfills are dynamic operating environments. They require a significant amount of science, engineering and environmental management."

NOISE CONCERNS: Resident complaints spark town hall over new music festival

He said the gas vacuum within the landfill can change throughout the course of routine maintenance, causing problems like those pictured in the video.

Knocke said he thought it was disingenuous on the city's part to post the TCEQ video in February that was taken in November, before improvements had been made at the site.

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Knocke said.

"If the city's elected officials are serious about having an honest conversation about odor in the community, they must acknowledge all known or potential odor sources, starting with their own facility."

Comments on the proposed Agreed Order for Blue Ridge Landfill TX, LP (Docket No. 2016-1923-AIR-E; Identifier RN102610102) may be mailed to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality at P.O. Box 13087 Austin, Texas 78711-3087 or faxed to 512-239-2550 and must be received by 5 p.m. on May 30.
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Two local lawmakers are pushing a bill that would allow the shooting of feral hogs and coyotes from balloons.

State Rep. Mark Keough, R-The Woodlands, and Rep. Cecil Bell, R- Magnolia, are two of the several sponsors of House Bill 3535, a measure originally introduced by Keough in March that would have allowed the shooting of hogs from balloons. The wording of the bill was later expanded to also include the shooting of coyotes from balloons.

NEED TO KNOW: The ins and outs of feral hog hunting in Texas

The measure is with the Texas Senate after being approved in the House with no opposition on Tuesday.

Because Texas, as well as wide areas of the southwest have an ongoing problem with the expanding hog population, hunting the animals from helicopters, derisively called "pork choppers" by some, has been legal in Texas for several years.

The new law by Keough and Bell would expand aerial hunting to include balloons, because, according to its backers, hunting from helicopters has its limitations.

"The hogs are smart creatures so they scatter when they hear the helicopters coming," said Jason Millsaps, Keough's Chief of Staff, adding that the state has a "huge hog issue."

HOG NEWS: Lawmakers moving to restrict feral hog poisons

According to Millsaps, balloons provide a hunting platform that is more stable for hunters, and costs considerably less than going up in a helicopter.

"It's a matter of expense and safety," Millsaps said.

Officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, noting they do not provide comment on any pending legislation and that the department does not offer any opinion on the bill, estimate there are more than 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas. And, because there are few factors to curtail their expanding populations -- such as natural predators -- the hog population across the state is virtually running wild.

"The whole state of Texas has a feral hog problem," John Kinsey, wildlife research biologist for the department, told The Courier.

"Some counties may be populated greater than others, but Montgomery County is right in the middle of the battleground."

NO SQUEALING: Texas hunters not so wild about Sid Miller's 'hog apocalypse'

Indeed, a study conducted in 2000 estimated that $1.5 billion was being spent annually in the U.S. on combating feral swine. And as Kinsey notes, that is a 17-year-old estimate. Meanwhile, the feral hog population continues to grow and damage caused by the animals -- such as rooting up and trampling crops, destroying livestock watering and feeding facilities and being a general nuisance -- continues to get worse.

"Economically, they are a huge problem for ranchers and property owners. Ecologically, they are an exotic invasive species that competes with native indigenous wildlife for food, habitat and water," Kinsey said.

Kinsey says though there are several current methods of eradicating the hogs, including aerial hunting, none have shown great success.

"Aerial gunning is effective for controlling or reducing localized feral pig populations, but the problem with aerial gunning is it only works in some places like Lubbock, where there's no tree canopy."

In Conroe, Dale Tibodeau, the owner and operator of Texas Air Adventures, questions the safety of bringing firearms onto a balloon, as well as the practicality of using balloons in a hog hunt.

"They're probably some safety concerns I would have," he told The Courier.

Because operators can't steer a balloon like a helicopter pilot can direct a chopper, balloons used in a hog hunt wouldn't be able to pursue the animals running across the countryside to escape being shot.

"I'm not sure I understand how practical I believe it would be," Tibodeau said.

As for the bill, because the state Senate operates under different rules than the House, after arriving in the Senate it's not clear when the measure would be brought up for further discussion.
The photograph was unexpected.

It shows President Donald Trump meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday, with a coterie of other officials -- including Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak -- in attendance. Although the meeting wasn't unexpected, the photograph was, taken by a photographer who was accompanying Lavrov and was subsequently pushed out by Russia's state news agency.

As The Washington Post reported, the White House wasn't aware that the photo would be released publicly. "We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency," one official told The Washington Post.

When the photo became public, people were quick to question the wisdom of allowing into the Oval Office at least one Russian who hadn't been screened enough to identify that dual role. Much less, one who brought with him electronic equipment in the form of his camera. The Russians would love to place a recording device in the Oval Office, of course, and have a track record of using innocuous-seeming methods to bug their opponents. (Gizmodo noted that the Russians had once had schoolchildren present the U.S. ambassador to Russia with a decorative carving that included a listening device.)

But, really, how much damage could be done? Could an agent actually get away with planting a device in the Oval Office?

An expert we spoke with said they could - but perhaps not for long.

Todd Morris is founder and chief executive of Brickhouse Security, a company based in New York that works with law enforcement and corporate customers on surveillance and counter-surveillance techniques. Some of Brickhouse's clients are financial firms that are looking to prevent surveillance of confidential information that could be used to their disadvantage.

When we spoke by phone, I asked Morris to explain how he would plant a recording device in the Oval Office - and how the information would make its way back out.

"I would bring in a device roughly the size of a book of matches, very small," he said. "It would be set up to record on audio record, audio activated. It would store that data locally. And then, within a certain amount of time and in a burst of transmission, it would transmit that to a server."

Here's what that accomplishes.

First, it's small enough to be hidden easily from the Secret Service. (In The Post's initial report on the meeting, we note that former intelligence officials say that a standard visitor screening on entering the White House might not detect a sophisticated device.) Once in the Oval Office, the device could be slipped out of sight fairly easily.

"Go to any magic show, and you can see that sleight of hand is not all that hard to master," Morris said. "To take a device the size of a matchbook and slip it between some couch cushions or drop it under the carpet as you're tying your shoe? Not impossible." Or, say, if you're standing next to a bookshelf in a small group of people.

Which brings us to the second goal of Morris' device: recognizing that it's not going to be there forever.

"It would eventually be found," he said. "It is an office that does get an extensive sweep by well-trained professionals" - although not necessarily after every meeting. Such a sweep, he said, would include far more than simply holding up some electronic gizmo that would ping if it detected a signal. It would mean looking in every imaginable place - behind electrical outlets, inside cushions - for anything that might be used to spy on Oval Office meetings. "They really disassemble most of the room," Morris said.

In some cases, spies can drop off devices that don't need to transmit out, because the device can simply be picked up again later. That's pretty clearly not the case here. Reporting indicates that Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Trump to host Lavrov in the White House, emphasizing how unusual such access would be. It also makes clear that the Russian government actively sought that access, which is relevant to the current discussion.

Knowing that the device would be found, then, Morris' would transmit a signal out in as quick a burst as possible. This is meant to prevent White House security from detecting the burst - and then tracking down its point of origin. Morris figured that he'd send out the data after about 12 hours, although it would also be useful to send a burst after only a few hours, given that you'd then have captured the conversation debriefing the Russians' visit.

This raises the question of whether a signal could escape the Oval Office. Morris was confident that it could. The room itself isn't a SCIF - a specially designed secure location that's meant to contain electronic communication and prevent eavesdropping. But it does have certain counter-surveillance technologies. For example, Morris said, it probably has a special device attached to the windows that causes them to vibrate, preventing someone from remotely training a laser on the glass to detect the vibrations caused by people speaking in the room.

There are two options for transmitting out: Using a normal cell-tower transmission or using a low-frequency signal that would stand a better chance of passing through the walls of the White House. Nor would the Russians need to park a white van subtly labeled "VLADIMIR'S FLOWERS" on Pennsylvania Avenue to detect the emission. Such a signal could travel a mile, Morris said, allowing them to camp out in a nearby hotel, for example.

Morris, too, was amazed that this was even an issue.

"Obviously the first line of defense for White House security is pre-screening of guests," he said. "The White House is known traditionally as being one of the most secure places on the planet. The fact that someone got in who it sounds like held a dual role without good screening . . . is a little bit shocking." You don't get frisked when you enter the White House grounds, he said, because they don't invite in people who might need to be frisked.

For what it's worth, the photographer who's been the focus of the speculation wrote a post on Facebook denying that he was up to anything nefarious - calling such speculation "hysteria" - and emphasizing that he'd been a member of the media for years.

"I passed the routine check on the scanner, a personal inspection, then your sniffing dogs," it reads, according to Facebook's rough translation (which we've cleaned up a bit). "On the footage, I went with only two cameras. All things, including cell phone, I left in the other room" before entering the Oval Office.

He didn't offer any information about what he or others in his party might have accidentally left behind.
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A man accused of killing his sister-in-law by beating her with a board was in the country illegally after a 2012 deportation, federal officials said Wednesday.

Moises Rodriguez Ayala, 25, was charged with capital murder Monday in the April slaying of Zuleika Hernandez, 23, who was married to Ayala's brother.
A man who said he was assaulted by a Houston police jailer in 2015 has now filed a lawsuit against the jailer and the city of Houston. Former inmate Akrem Azzam said he's seeking compensation for mental anguish and physical pain he said he suffered during the assault.

Azzam, 24, and his attorney held a press conference in front of the Houston Police Departments headquarters Wednesday afternoon, demanding that HPD begin training its jailers on how to properly treat inmates.

Attorney Randall Kallinen, who filed the lawsuit, said the incident caused his client to suffer great pain, anxiety, sadness and anger.

"What happened was unconstitutional," Kallinen said.

Lasswon Shannon, who was 28 at the time, was the jailer assigned to Azzam.

He was charged with striking Azzam, who was handcuffed. He pleaded guilty to assaulting Azzam in 2015. He received deferred adjudication, a form of probation, and was ordered to pay fines.

Azzam and Shannon first crossed paths when Azzam was arrested in 2015 for deadly conduct when he threatened a person with a gun.

Azzam was arrested May 22, 2015 by Houston police and brought to Ben Taub Hospital for psychiatric issues.

At some point after Azzam was placed in a holding cell, Shannon assaulted him several times including once in the holding cell where he repeatedly struck him in the head, face, and body and slammed him onto the concrete floor, according to the federal court records.

Azzam said Shannon became enraged when he spilled water from a sink onto his cell floor. A video used as evidence also showed Azzam being thrown to a concrete floor by Shannon, according to Azzam and federal court documents.

Kallinen said other jailers were present during the assault but did not intervene.

Kallinen said this isnt the first time an inmate locally has been treated inhumanely.

He noted many instances of excessive force at city of Houston jails.

Charles Chukwu in 2008 and Trenton Garrett in 2009 were severely beaten at a Houston jail by city of Houston employees without valid reason, according to the lawsuit.

In November 2014, an HPD officer was caught on video smashing Reuben Williams head into an iron jail cell door while he was handcuffed.

"The officer then applied a neck hold on a non-resisting Reuben until he passes out whilst bleeding profusely," according to the lawsuit.

HPD nor the city have issued a comment or responded to the lawsuit.

The city has until about mid-May to answer.
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Kautman-Jones endorses Davis Please support Meredith Davis in her re-election to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners - 8th District. I have had...
A man convicted of assault escaped a Denton, Texas courtroom when the jury went to lunch Wednesday.

Jeffery Perkins was in the punishment phase of his trial when the jury was offered a break. He never returned to the courtroom.

AT THE SCENE: One man dead in drive-by shooting, police said

The Denton County Criminal District Attorney's Office said:

"ALERT: If you know the location of this defendant, please contact your local law enforcement agency immediately. Defendant Jeffery Perkins chose to flee yesterday, after a jury convicted him of Assault Causes Bodily Injury in County Criminal Court #3. The jury took a break for lunch and came back to start the punishment phase of trial, and the defendant did not return from the lunch break. The jury heard punishment evidence and sentenced the defendant to 365 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. The defendant is still at large, and has an active warrant. We need your help, so that justice may be fully served in this case."

In his absence, Perkins received a two-year jail sentence and $2,000 fine. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is encouraged to contact police.
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A fourth suspect in the alleged Northeast Side kidnapping and gang rape of a 21-year-old woman was arrested late Wednesday by deputies with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

Brandi Marie Hall, 23, now faces charges of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. She remains in the Bexar County Jail on a $150,000 bond.

Her arrest follows the booking of three other suspects in the case: Jamal Wolford, 23, Richard Taylor-White, 22, and Eugene Hodge, 20. All three also face charges of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping.

RELATED: SAPD: Suspected gunman who fled shooting downtown was 'whacked out of his mind'

According to Hall's arrest affidavit, the victim told deputies that Hall called her to hang out around 11 p.m. on Saturday. When Hall picked her up, Wolford and Taylor-White were also in the car.

They took her to a home in the 2600 block of Corian Glen and lead her to Jamal's bedroom.

The affidavit says Hall wanted to have sex with Wolford, and that Taylor-White wanted to have sex with the victim.

"When the victim told Richard no, Brandi grabbed the victim and pushed her onto Jamal's bed and forcibly took her clothes off," the affidavit says.

Hall then allegedly "forced" the victim to perform oral sex on Wolford.

RELATED: 3 accused in alleged gang rape, kidnapping of 21-year-old woman on NE Side

Afterwards, the three suspects took the victim to a trailer home in the 6700 block of Walzem Road, where they met up with Hodge. Once they arrived, Brandi and the victim got into a fight.

"You are accusing my boys of raping you!" Hall yelled at the victim, according to the affidavit.

Inside the trailer home, Wolford allegedly pulled out a handgun and told the victim that she was going to have sex with all the men inside "or she would die," the affidavit says.

She complied.

The next morning, Wolford took her back to his home in the 2600 block of Corian Glen and raped her again.

"The victim described this incident as rough and being choked by Jamal [for what] felt like hours," the affidavit says.

Wolford then took her back to the trailer home, where she eventually escaped. She found help at a nearby church and called deputies.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Office then began investigating the incident and questioned the suspects. All three male suspects told deputies that they had had consensual sex with the victim, but deputies were able to obtain warrants for their arrests.

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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.
WASHINGTON  Texas U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, who is leading the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, pledged Thursday to "move forward" with the probe in the wake of President Donald Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey.

In a joint statement with Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the panel, Conaway also vowed to ensure that the integrity of the FBI investigation.

"The House Intelligence Committee is determined to move forward with its Russia investigation in a thorough and nonpartisan fashion," Conaway and Schiff said in their statement. "As a part of our responsibilities, we will be conducting rigorous oversight to ensure that the FBI's own investigation is not impeded or interfered with in any way."

Texas two Republican senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, have backed Trump's decision to fire Comey, who had come under heavy criticism from Democrats and Republicans over his handling of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.

On Thursday, several other Texas Republicans announced their support for Comey's dismissal, including Kevin Brady of The Woodlands, Randy Weber of Friendswood, and Brian Babin of Woodville. Others have stayed out of the fray so far.

One notable Republican exception is Will Hurd of San Antonio, who echoed Democrats' questions about the timing of Comey's firing as director while he was leading in investigation that could involve Trump and his political associates.

Another is Dallas Republican Pete Sessions, who told the Dallas Morning News that Comey, who was publicly fired without warning, should have been removed "in a more gracious way."

Conaway, a Republican from Midland, also chairs the House Agriculture Committee. He was tapped to lead the House Russia probe last month after Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes of California stepped aside in a controversy over his close ties to Trump, whose campaign associates could be subjects of the investigation.
Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN  Attorney General Ken Paxton's latest attempt to remove the judge overseeing his securities fraud case and return the trial to Collin County was met with resistance by a Dallas judge Thursday who said the Republican's legal team must take the issue to the appellate court.

An email sent Thursday morning by Judge Mary Murphy, the presiding judge of the First Administrative Judicial Region, informed lawyers involved in the attorney general's criminal trial that any decision to return the case to Collin County rests with the trial and appellate court.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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Canada Competing to Attract Global Talent  Immigration Minister CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canada is competing with other nations for international talent, and must do even more to attract and retain newcomers, says Minister of Immigration Ahmed Hussen.

Hussen made the remarks during a wide-ranging opening address on the opening day of the Conference Board of Canadas Canadian Immigration Summit 2017: Innovating at 150 and Beyond. The summit is being held in Ottawa, just steps from the very Parliament where Canadian immigration policies are put into practice.

Growing Canadas population through immigration boosts economic growth and softens the economic burden of a rapidly aging population and low birth rates, said Minister Hussen, himself an immigrant who came to Canada as a refugee at the age of 16.

More and more countries are also using immigration as a tool for economic growth. Source countries for immigrants, such as India and China, have rapidly expanding economies, therefore creating opportunities right at home for their best young and educated citizens.

We must ensure that the programs that we have in place in immigration will allow us to continue to win in the global race for talent . . . we have to be able to be nimble and constantly innovate, because other countries are also coming on board.

The role of Express Entry in achieving these goals is front and centre for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the department headed by Hussen, who referred to the countrys flagship economic immigration management system as part of our toolbox, allowing us to identify the best and brightest people.

Express Entry is now the main driver of economic immigration to Canada, with more candidates being invited to apply for permanent residence so far this year than in the whole of 2016. Moreover, IRCC is achieving its goal of inviting more candidates based on their human capital, skills, and experience, following improvements made to the system last November.

Future changes

We will continue to make improvements to Express Entry to deal with the realities of the global talent pool. stated Hussen.

Whether this refers exclusively to the already announced changes due to come into effect on June 6, or whether it also implies other improvements that may be in the pipeline, remains to be seen. In any event, other IRCC initiatives may have a windfall gain for the Express Entry system. Minister Hussen cited the new Global Talent Stream, which falls under the governments Global Skills Strategy, as a case in point.

This temporary work stream, due to be rolled out next month, sets a two-week processing time for the delivery of work permits for workers in certain occupations. In his speech, Hussen cited these workers as a future source of Express Entry applicants, as many of them may wish to remain in Canada permanently.

The minister also mentioned that pilot programs, if successful, may be extended and replicated across the country. The recently-launched Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP), for example, has shown early signs of success. More than 250 employers across the Atlantic provinces have attained designated status, and IRCC expects to take in 2,000 newcomers, plus their families, through this stream each year for its initial three-year duration.

This is the only immigration program that is completely led by employers, who get to recruit intermediate- and high-skilled workers in all the four Atlantic provinces . . . employers have been enthusiastically embracing this program, said Hussen, who also noted that employers will be involved in the settlement process. In return, these employers are not required to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) when hiring under the AIPP.

The minister admitted his hope that by involving the employers and settlement organizations, Atlantic Canada can retain more immigrants. In contrast to Ontario and Alberta, which boast retention rates of immigrants upwards of 90 percent, only around 60 percent of newcomers to Atlantic Canada remain in their original destination province.

The integration and settlement of newcomers is critically important, because the faster we can do that, the faster that those newcomers can get into the labour market and help us grow as a country and contribute to our common prosperity.

The minister said that Canada is looking at international models of settlement and integration, such as the German model, which combines work and language training.

We have to do better

Though Mr Hussen has only been in the job since January, he has stamped his personal authority and style on the department. In doing so, he recognizes its shortcomings and potential areas for improvement.

We have to do better, he stated. Putting our clients at the heart of everything we do will ensure that everything else works out. If we look at the client as being central to everything we do, processing times will become a priority for us. We will have to drop processing times across all streams of immigration. And we want every Canadian and every foreign national who navigates our website to have a pleasant experience. We dont want them to walk away frustrated.

We want anyone who calls our number not to be put on hold for a long time, and to get real answers to their real questions. We want to make sure that filling the application forms for any stream of immigration does not require a PhD. We want to make sure that people are kept in the loop for each and every stage of their application process.

While making these comments, the minister made it clear that IRCC is already making progress. For example, processing times for the spousal/common-law partner sponsorship program have been slashed by more than half, to a current time of under 12 months. Renewals of Permanent Residence Cards have also been reduced from up to 18 months to just 54 days, and the department aims to get this down to 14 days.

International students were also given their due by the minister, who noted that applications to study in Canada from Indian nationals were way up year-over-year, but that Australia, a competitor country in terms of international education, has more Mexican students than Canada, even though Canada and Mexico share a hemisphere and a continent.

Canada issued 367,000 study permits in 2016, a 22 percent increase over the previous year, but there is room to welcome even more international students, according to the minister. Permanent integration of these students is also a top priority.

A contrast with the world

IRCCs client service improvement goals are all the more pertinent given that the Liberal government  globally recognized as being pro-immigration, particularly given a global cooling of attitudes towards immigration generally  has increased immigration targets over the past two years.

This target may be increased again, though the minister did not mention a specific figure. Speaking exclusively to CICNews following his address, Hussen stated that we have started having national consultations on next years immigration levels, and whatever businesses, ordinary Canadians, NGOs, and provincial governments come up with on the number, but also on the right mix, we will take a look at that. We are currently having those conversations.

These kinds of public-private consultations on immigration may not be the norm globally, but then again Canada is a stand-out country when it comes to immigration and how it perceives integration. To drive home the point, the minister reminded the assembled audience that Canada has citizenship based on values, not based on ethnicity or blood origin.

More than three quarters of immigrants to Canada become naturalized citizens.

To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada through one of the many immigration programs, please fill out a free assessment form.

 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved
Ohio Gov. John Kasich believes too many people are dying in manufactured homes, and he wants oversight of those homes transferred from an industry-controlled board to the state.

Statistics compiled by the State Fire Marshals office show people living in manufactured homes in Ohio are four times more likely to perish in a fire than those living in other types of dwellings, a rate higher than all neighboring states. Manufactured homes include mobile homes and other types of houses built entirely in factories.

The Republican governor wants the Legislature to give the state direct oversight of manufactured homes, changing the makeup of the Ohio Manufactured Homes Commission and moving it into the Ohio Department of Commerce. That department houses the Fire Marshals office.

Firefighters say theres often no fire hydrant and poor access to other water supplies when they arrive on the scene of mobile home fires.

National fire data show that at least 58 people died in manufactured home fires in Ohio from 2012 to 2016. By comparison, 30 people died during the same period in neighboring Pennsylvania.

The Manufactured Homes Commission is responsible for licensing mobile home park operators, training manufactured home installers and inspecting new installations.

It is dominated by people nominated by an industry association. The governors office calls this a conflict of interest and says mobile homes are not regulated to the same standard as other houses.

Commerce Department spokeswoman Kerry Francis said, as lead agency, it would make efforts to raise fire safety awareness in mobile home parks.

The commission argues that expertise is essential to carrying out its duties. It says it inspects 100 percent of installations through contractors, local municipalities and two staff inspectors.

The Fire Marshals office would lack any experience to the highly technical aspect of setting a manufactured home, said Executive Director Janet Williams. They would not be able to regulate an industry they dont understand.

Kasich also contends his proposal would save money.

The commission spends roughly $900,000 of its roughly $1.2 million budget annually. The Commerce Department estimates it could slash that by 40 percent by reducing regulatory overlap and adding efficiencies of scale possible by sharing inspectors. The commission has said it can function on $400,000 to $500,000 a year.

State Rep. Keith Faber, a Celina Republican who sits on the House Finance Committee that rejected Kasichs plan, said it didnt appear to cut costs.

We didnt think this merger was projected to save money, Faber said. I believe that if youre going to do mergers, it ought to be efficiency-based, not just moving around deck chairs on the Titanic.

Regardless of how the homes are ultimately regulated, its unclear whether it will help make existing homes safer.

An Ohio law requiring homes to have fire alarms and smoke detectors doesnt apply to structures built before 2006. It is mobile homes built in the 1970s and 80s, when lightweight steel framing was common, that are particularly vulnerable to fire. Its a loophole not addressed by Kasichs plan.

Mark Keller, the fire chief in the western Ohio town of Urbana, said fire hydrants arent required in mobile home parks, forcing some firefighters to truck water in from miles away.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A leading U.S. railroad says it has implemented new security measures at a Chicago rail yard where thieves in recent years have stolen about 150 guns, most of which The Associated Press found had ended up in the hands of drug dealers and gangs.

Norfolk Southern wrote in a May 4 letter to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin that among the measures it put in place at its 69th Street Rail Yard as of April 1 are rules requiring better train cargo locks. The Senators office provided the railroads letter of response to the AP this week.

The Illinois Democrat had written to the railroad on March 14 in response to an AP report about theft of the guns during three heists from 2014 to 2016 at the South Side rail yard, which he said jeopardized the publics safety. The heists angered residents of the poor neighborhoods that hug the facility, with many complaining that no one seemed to take responsibility for preventing such thefts.

In its letter to Durbin, Norfolk Southern didnt provide details about its infrastructure improvements, including whether it installed better fencing. Key sections of fence at the yard have been in disrepair and posed little deterrent to trespassers.

The letter does specify half-a-dozen new procedures that took effect April 1. They include requirements for stronger locks on train-cargo and for shippers to notify the railroad in advance if they will be shipping guns on its trains.

Locks were an issue in at least one of the thefts. According to court records, street gangs slipped into the Norfolk Southern yard with relative ease in 2015. They used bolt cutters to snap locks off a box car and made off with around 100 new guns that were en route from New Hampshires Sturm, Ruger & Co. to Gunarama Wholesale in Spokane, Washington.

Durbin said in an email Tuesday that hes hopeful that the new measures will help.

These are common sense policy changes that, if implemented properly, should prevent widespread theft in the future, he wrote.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Former San Francisco 49er Joe Montana has filed a lawsuit against the developers of a luxury high-rise condominium tower that is sinking at an unexpected rate.

San Jose television station KNTV reports Montana filed the last suit last week alleging Millennium Partners hid the buildings troubles when he and his wife bought a unit in 2013.

The high-rise that opened its doors in 2009 has sunk about 16 inches into landfill and is tilting several inches to the northwest.

Last year, Chris Jeffries, a founding partner at Millennium Partners, told a news conference, the building is 100 percent safe.

Jeffries blames the buildings problems on an adjacent construction site where a city rail terminal is being built. He says the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, the public agency building the $4.5 billion transit hub, dug a 60-foot hole to create a dry construction site and pumped out millions of gallons of groundwater that wound up compressing and weakening the soil under the Millennium Tower.

Montanas is the latest in a string of lawsuits against the tower that became a haven for the well-heeled. Tenants have included the late venture capitalist Tom Perkins and Giants outfielder Hunter Pence.

The building has a sprawling indoor lap-pool, a health club and spa, an in-house cinema, and a restaurant and wine bar run by celebrity chef Michael Mina. Penthouses have sold for more than $13 million.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Ambulance

An Akron man shot his daughter early Thursday after mistaking her for an intruder, police said.

(File photo)

AKRON, Ohio - An Akron man shot his daughter early Thursday after mistaking her for an intruder, police said.

The 22-year-old daughter suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting that happened at a house on Onondago Avenue near Brittain Road, police said.

No charges have been filed but the incident remains under investigation, police said.

The 42-year-old father grabbed his gun just before 1 a.m. because he heard someone in his kitchen. No one responded when the father called out.

The father saw a shadowy figure, which turned out to be his daughter, and fired a single shot. Investigators did not say where the shot hit the daughter.

The father told investigators that he thought his daughter was house-sitting elsewhere, and did not expect to see her in the house, police said.

The daughter was taken to Summa Akron City Hospital for treatment.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.

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Women in Ohio earned 82.7 cents for every $1 men made, data show

Ohio ranked second for wage theft in which employers violated minimum wage laws, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. The report analyzed wage theft in the 10 largest states.

(Plain Dealer file photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio ranked second among large states for the share of workers whose employers failed to pay them minimum wage, according to a recently released report.

In Ohio, 5.5 percent of workers experienced this type of "wage theft," according to the analysis released Wednesday by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. Ohio's current minimum wage is $8.15 an hour.

In the 10 most-populous states that were the subject of EPI's report, employers failed to pay the minimum wage to an average of 4.1 percent of workers. Florida ranked first with 7.3 percent and New York came in third at 5 percent.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that on the pay stub it says you're only getting $4 an hour," said David Cooper, the senior economic analyst, who co-authored the report with research assistant Teresa Kroeger.

"It could be employers are paying them the legal minimum wage, but asking them to work more hours than they are paying them for, or denying them meal breaks they are entitled to or in the case of tipped workers, not making up the difference when their tips don't bring them above the regular minimum wage," he said. "All these things can lead to a person having an effective minimum wage that is below the legal minimum wage.

In Ohio, 217,000 workers fell into this category and 2.4 million in the 10 states, the report said. The lost earnings represented a substantial amount of these workers' earnings.

"They should have been making $12,400 a year, but because employers are keeping $2,800, they are only ending up with $9,600 in a year," Cooper said about Ohio.

While the Buckeye State ranked in the top, workers here lost slightly less than the national average. While $2,800 represented about 22 percent, the 10 state average of $3,300 represented about 24 percent.

Workers, who believe they have been victims of wage theft, may file complaints with the Ohio Department of Commerce. Department officials there declined to comment on EPI's report.

"We are now reviewing the data cited," wrote department spokeswoman Kerry Francis in an email. "The Department's Bureau of Wage & Hour is a complaint-driven enforcement unit that reviews and issues decisions on each minimum wage complaint it receives. We then partner, as warranted, with the Ohio Attorney General's Office to pursue compensation for complainants."

Cooper said many of the minimum-wage violations occur in the restaurant and hospitality industries. He said in Ohio, 25 percent of workers in the "food and drink service" industry reported that employers paid them less than the minimum wage. Ten percent of those in the leisure and hospitality industries reported wage theft, Cooper said.

He said the high percentage of tipped workers in these industries was a major reason for wage theft. Ohio's minimum wage for tipped workers is $4.08 an hour. However, that is only a base salary. If the employee doesn't reach $8.15 once tips are included, the employer must make up the difference.

"It is an extremely difficult law to enforce because the onus is on tipped workers to basically police their employer to make sure they are getting appropriately paid," he said.

The EPI analysis is based on government data from the monthly Current Population Survey, a selected sample of 60,000 households nationwide. The EPI statistics are based on CPS averages for 2013 through 2015.

Cooper said everyone loses when workers lose pay.

"A lot of these low-income workers and their families have to turn to public assistance when employers keep wages for themselves that they should have been paying these workers," said.

"These businesses that are cheating these workers are really cheating taxpayers because dollars that should be allowing these workers to meet their needs and pay the bills are not coming from paychecks, but instead coming from public assistance programs," he said.

The states included in the report: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The 10 states account for more than half of the total U.S. workforce, the report found.

Follow: @OPinfo
WADSWORTH, Ohio - Some brewers aim to make the craziest concoctions they can to stand out. Others dream of full-scale distribution, with cans or bottles emblazoned with their logo sent across the country. And then there's Ernie Joy and Ericha Fryfogle-Joy of

They just want to know your name.

If you enjoy a "Cheers"-type hangout but prefer good craft beer to run-of-the-mill offerings, then a jaunt to the heart of downtown Wadsworth in Medina County should be in your future.

The brewery opened in early January and already has big plans for the summer:

* An enclosed patio opened, its first customers sipping beer Sunday, May 7. With a gazebo caddy-corner across the street, it will be a nice vantage to hear summer music. There's 14 patio seats plus benches. Being 600 feet of Central Intermediate School, the Joys voluntarily won't serve beer on the patio during dismissal hours. "We want to be good neighbors," Ericha said.

* Two more fermenters were purchased recently to allow the brewery to make lagers and ferment 32 kegs at a time rather than 24.

* A basement kitchen will be in operation and offer pub fare.

Ericha Fryfogle-Joy .

* When their A1A liquor license comes in, WBC can serve wine.

But the husband-and-wife team running the show know, despite all their plans, it's about customers.

"It's fun to talk to people, and they want to talk to us," Ernie said. "That's the fun part of owning a brewery."

Ericha animatedly describes the moments when she and Ernie realized they aren't just pouring beer, that Wadsworth Brewing has quickly become a comfortable spot, even having been open just a few months.

Once, she said, she spotted two couples playing Euchre.

Ernie Joy.

"I never knew you knew each other," she told them.

"We didn't," one replied. "We met here."

The many "friendship connections," as Ericha puts it, continue with families bringing in kids - like many breweries, board games are available.

"We want people to feel welcome," she said. "We want to learn their names."

But the moment she said they were truly attached to their customers came when they missed seeing a customer who visited regularly for growler fills.

"We didn't see him, we started to worry," Ericha said. When they finally saw him they asked if he were OK. Turns out he had a bit of a bug and hadn't been in for a while. Another couple overheard their concern and told them: "Just so you know, we will be gone in Florida for 10 days."

"You start to get attached to people," Ericha said. "That's how we feel, that every single customer is important."

About the brewery

At 1,300 square feet, Wadsworth Brewing can be considered cozy.

The brewery sits on Main Street close to a variety of restaurants - Alexandri's, Subway and Domino's - and is sandwiched between a bookstore, photo studio and boutique. The space previously was the Sub Station, but a fire forced the eatery to move. The Joys fixed up the first floor of the building, which dates to the early 1900s.

The Jenga wall helps with sound.

A reclaimed gym floor from Isham Elementary School, which was razed in 2012, now forms the bar top, bar front, flight boxes and high-top tables.

A pair of small Jenga-like walls jut from the back and bar walls, positioned to soak up some of the ambient noise.

And a 20-pane window the Joys had for 15 years is one of the neatest pieces in the brewery.

"We can do something cool with that," Ericha said when they picked it up.

They did: It became the tap board.

About the beer

Working on a two-barrel system, Ernie Joy brews about four times a week, crafting two to four batches of beer. Fermenters include imprints of "Star Wars" characters, favorites of Ernie's, and tap handles are old trophy tops.

"He has worked tirelessly to have 12 beers on tap," Ericha said.

Top sellers:

* River Styx Double India Pale Ale, 9.4 percent alcohol.

* Thelma Lou Blonde Ale, 7 percent. Named after Ericha's mother.

* College Street Extra Pale Ale, a smooth, clean quaffer at 5.5 percent.

A reclaimed 20-pane window is the tap board.

It's a diverse mix that also includes a pair of Belgian ales, a Southern English Brown Ale with Habanero and others.

You can buy flights and pints as well as howlers (32 ounces) and growlers (64 ounces). In fact, the couple ordered 300 new howlers March 17. They have about 50 to 60 remaining.

"We're trying hard to give a tremendous amount of variety to our customers," Ericha said. "We have had 45 different recipes brewed in four months."

Don't expect bottling or canning, but a focused keg distribution might be possible. The couple hopes to distribute kegs to places in Medina, Wooster and Fairlawn - about 30 to 45 minutes from WBC.

"We are very blessed," Ericha said. "We're really happy with this size. We love the customer interaction."

Six-pack of facts about Wadsworth Brewing

* The brewery is at 126 Main St. (Ohio 94), just south of College Street / Greenwich Road. Hours: 3-9 p.m. Thursday; noon-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; noon-8 p.m. Sunday. But summer hours will include Wednesdays starting May 31.

* They send spent grain to a farm in Wadsworth, and they are looking for dog biscuits made with spent grain.

* Even though they have not been opened long, they awarded a $750 scholarship to a graduating senior this year.

* The couple met at, of all places, a bar at Kent, where they attended college. She's from Alliance, and he is from Lakeside / Marblehead. Their son attends Kent.

* With Ericha's background in health-care sales, market research and strategic planning, her husband has a Jane-of-all-trades nickname for her: "Ernie calls me the 'chief everything officer'," she said.

* WBC is part of the four-county Summit Brew Path's passport program.

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Rick Jackson Chris Quinn

Advance Ohio president Chris Quinn will appear on "ideas" with Rick Jackson on WVIZ tonight to discuss the new cleveland.com advocacy project "A Greater Cleveland."

(Twitter)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Chris Quinn, editor and president of Advance Ohio, will appear on WVIZ ideastream tonight to discuss the new advocacy project called "A Greater Cleveland."

Quinn will appear on "Ideas" with host Rick Jackson. The pre-taped episode will air at 7:30 p.m. Check your listings to find out where you can watch it.

"A Greater Cleveland" is an advocacy project undertaken by cleveland.com reporters with the goal of removing some of the barriers at-risk children in Cleveland "face that those in the suburbs do not," Quinn wrote in a column published Monday introducing the project.

The reporters are partnering with the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland to get a better idea of what day-to-day problems children encounter, and they will continue to volunteer at the clubs to "maintain the relationships they form with their story subjects," Quinn said.
cleveland-fire-truck.jpg

Cleveland will host a career fair Thursday evening for people interested in jobs with the city's safety forces. As part of the job fair at Glenville High School, there will be a symposium aimed at recruiting women for the fire department. Information also will be available on jobs in the police department, with EMS and with animal control.

(cleveland.com file)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The city will host a career fair Thursday evening for people interested in jobs with Cleveland's safety forces.

The job fair will run from 6 to 8 p.m. at Glenville High School, 650 East 113th St. It is supported by Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell (who represents much of the Glenville area), Mayor Frank Jackson's administration, the fire department, the non-profit Famicos Foundations and Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Yvonne Conwell.

A portion of the job fair will seek to recruit women as firefighter candidates. Currently there are just a handful of female officers in the fire department.

Information also will be available on career opportunities for all in the fire and police departments, the emergency medical services and animal control.

As a result of an increase in the city income tax, Cleveland expects to hire people for all of the safety forces, restoring jobs that were lost during lean budget years.

More information is available through Kevin Conwell's office by calling 216-664-4252.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A state hearing officer has ruled that the ECOT online charter school still owes the state $60 million, denying an administrative appeal of an audit that found the school was overpaid last school year.

The decision is not final. The state school board will need to vote to seek recovery of the money. A court appeal is also still pending.

The ruling was released by the Ohio Department of Education just this evening.

See the full ruling below.

The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow is the most prominent of e-schools in Ohio to be slammed by state attendance reviews last year that would require them to return million of dollars worth of state funding to the state.

ECOT has challenged the state's finding that the school could only document class participation of 6,300 of its 15,300 students.

After ECOT lost a case in Franklin County Common Pleas Court last year to block the review, it appealed that ruling to the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel heard oral arguments April 13.

Today's ruling by ODE hearing officer Lawrence Pratt is a separate administrative appeal of that audit.

But Pratt pointed to the Common Pleas ruling several times in his 165-page ruling, noting that several of ECOT's claims that the audit was unfairly conducted were rejected by the court.

Those arguments, Pratt wrote, "were litigated and cannot be raised again."

"ECOT's decision to first pursue this issue in Common Pleas...locked ECOT into that forum for raising all claims and all theories of law related to its requested relief," Pratt wrote.

Among ECOT's complaints:

- That it has been paid in the past for "offering" classes online to students, without having to document their participation. The school says state law backs that funding arrangement.

- That the state's demand last year for how long students logged on to ECOT's system was both improper and without warning. The court had

- That log-on time is a faulty measure of student work, since students can do much classwork offline.

Common Pleas Judge Jennifer French rejected all of those claims.

ECOT spokesman Neil Clark said he expected the department's hearing officer to rule against the school.

"When unelected bureaucrats pursuing their own agenda act as prosecutor, judge, and jury, this is simply the expected result," Clark said. "It is no surprise that ODE's own selected hearing officer found in the agency's favor; those who are allowed to play by their own ever changing rules always win."

He added: "It's the reason we filed our court case and why the legislature needs to craft a fair solution that treats all schools equally."

Others said the ruling backs up their belief that ECOT essentially "embezzles" money from the state. State Rep. Teresa Fedor, a Toledo Democrat, called on Republican legislators to return any campaign donations they received from ECOT and its founder William Lager.

"With sixty-million dollars essentially being stolen from taxpayers, today's ruling draws into question the massive amounts of cash GOP lawmakers have accepted from ECOT over the years," Fedor said. "I am calling on GOP lawmakers to tally up and return all ECOT campaign donations in a check written to the state from their campaign."
Trevonte Jenkins

Trevonte Jenkins was sentenced to 19 years in prison on Wednesday after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder for shooting two people outside Symposium Night Club

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An Elyria man convicted of firing into a crowd of people and wounding two people outside Lakewood's Symposium Nightclub in October was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Trevonte Jenkins, 23, told Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Steve Gall Wednesday that he is "not a bad person," and Jenkins' father asked the judge to show leniency for his son and give him a chance at life.

"I've tried to show him that today's tribulations is tomorrow's history," Juan Jenkins said.

But Gall handed down the 19-year sentence to Jenkins, who chose to take his case to trial and was convicted of all 11 counts including attempted murder and felonious assault, as well as several gun charges that gave him a minimum of 11 years in prison.

"I agree with your dad, we all make mistakes," Gall told Jenkins. "But you made a big mistake."

Jenkins left the Detroit Avenue club about 11:40 p.m. Oct. 8 with a woman and the two started yelling at each other, prosecutors said. Jenkins hit the woman several times, and other customers intervened.

Jenkins stopped and jumped into a Hyundai Accent with a Wisconsin license plate parked at Value World and yelled "I'll be back" as he drove off.

About an hour later, Jenkins returned in the Accent and parked outside Value World. The woman stumbled over and got into the car, records say.

As the car drove by the club toward West 117th Street, Jenkins pulled a pistol and fired several shots into a crowd of people standing outside the front door. Bullets grazed two people, and several shots went into an SUV that was parked on the street, prosecutors say.

Investigators tracked down surveillance footage that showed the car driving near the club, and tracked the license plate to an Enterprise rental agency in Elyria, who told police they rented the car to Jenkins.

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com 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.




Story telling time folks. I cannot wait to begin sharing with you my amazing 11-day trip to Morocco.It all started with a 10-hour direct flight from San Francisco to Charles De Gaulle in Paris. The two-hour layover was spent looking for the next gate to Mohammad V airport Casablanca.The short 2-hour flight from Paris to Casablanca included a meal, which I really appreciated.Upon arrival at Casablanca airport, we were flying blind. Our phones did not work. We had no way of contacting our friends who have gone ahead to Rabat. We needed to be in Rabat, an hours drive from Casablanca. Rolling our luggage we tried to get out of the airport to find the taxi queue, but the guard dissuaded us from even going out to get a taxi. He said it would be way too expensive.Just a floor beneath is the train station, which I have read from other blogs the train is quite reliable, and way cheaper too. The fact that other people from the same flight were lugging their heavier luggage to get to the train gave us validation that we were doing the right thing.Since Rabat is our final destination, we were informed at the ticket booth that we would need to change trains, 3 stations down, which was the Casa port terminal.The first train from airport to the port was smooth sailing. The train was clean and very few people were on train on board.Upon arrival at Casa Port, we all disembarked and boarded the already waiting train in the next platform. This one is air-conditioned and quite nice; however, it stood in the station for a long time. I dont know what was holding up the train, was it not scheduled to leave asap, or was there some technical difficulties, who knew.Anyhow, it finally left and the long ride was wonderful. We passed through lovely sceneries including a vineyard. We shared the seats with two locals who helped us determine what station we needed to stop. After determining it was the Medina station, we were ready to roll our luggage so much so that we abandoned our cushy seats and stood next to the doors for about 3 stations.We finally arrived at our stop in Rabat, which was the old town. We took the escalator up to the street level. Outside the station, we were assaulted with lots and lots of cars. We know that our hotel was near the train station so we asked a local where it is. We were pointed towards the direction across from the station. We were told that it is walkable, 15-20 minutes. I was not having any of that. In a new town when you don't know where things are just yet, it's best to take a taxi, that's my protocol. Thankfully, my husband agreed, mostly because the luggage must be preserved and pulling it around in cobblestone may not be a good idea right that minute.The minute we arrived at the train station I muttered to the hubby, we are late for the welcome talk by the tour manager, but he said it was way too early for the welcome tea and talk.As we entered the hotel, we were identified as belonging to the tour group and were ushered to the meeting room right away. They held onto our bags and check in would be accomplished after the talk.We entered the meeting room the instant that the tour manager was discussing PUNCTUALITY and how lateness is frowned upon. Everyone cracked up the minute we entered dramatically. Everyone knew us from day one, it was not hard to make friends from that moment on.Later that night, we found that we were too tired to get out of the hotel and find a place to eat. The restaurant downstairs would do it for the night we thought and found our friends midway through dinner and we joined them.Hubs went for the tagine right away.As you know from prior post I had the swordfish.Female friend had tagine also.Female friend's husband had this beautiful plate of meat, the name of the dish is a mystery to me.Since this is supposed to be a Skywatch post, I would like to share with you a few sky images from different places in Morocco.All these are phone photos. Unfornately I have not learned how to take good photos from cell phone. SKYWATCH is a weekly gathering of sky lovers and sky watchers. Join us.
Hot August Nights in Reno, Nevada, is the largest classic car and nostalgia event in the U.S.

Apple will spend $1 billion to double the size of its data center east of Reno, NV, and expects to add at least 100 new employees to run it.



The company told CNBC that this investment is separate from the $1 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing that CEO Tim Cook revealed to "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer in an interview last week.

Apple has already invested over $1 billion in the facility, and more than 700 employees work there, the company told CNBC. The Reno City Council approved the expansion Wednesday afternoon, as previously reported by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

In a statement to CNBC, Apple said:
The purchase consideration will be at around book value, or net asset value, of the business at the time of completion expected before the end of 2017, the two lenders said.

OCBC and NAB said at the end of February, the unit to be sold had a $1.7 billion mortgage portfolio and a $3.05 billion worth of deposits of a mix of currencies. The business serves about 11,000 customers across Singapore and Hong Kong .

Southeast Asia's second largest lender by assets Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) announced Thursday it is buying National Australia Bank's (NAB) private wealth business in Singapore and Hong Kong  the latest sign of consolidation in Asia's wealth industry.

"The sale of our Private Wealth business, which is largely a retail business for Private Wealth clients in Hong Kong and Singapore, means our banking offer in Asia remains very focused on business, corporate and institutional customers," NAB's executive general manager for international branches Peter Coad said in a statement.

For OCBC, the addition of $1.7 billion of mortgage loans will increase the overall size of its mortgage portfolio by about 4 percent based on its book as at end-March. With regards to the $3.05 billion deposits, the lender said it will transfer deposits booked in Hong Kong to OCBC Wing Hang and those in Singapore to OCBC.

"This deal makes financial and strategic sense to us. A mortgage loans book of more than 2 billion Singapore dollars is not small. It would have taken us time and money to grow our mortgage loans organically by that amount. We are now getting an immediate boost to our mortgage loans book," said OCBC's chief operating officer Ching Wei Hong.

The sale of NAB's private wealth unit in Singapore to Hong Kong to OCBC follows several similar deals over the last few years. European players such as Barclays and Societe Generale exited the Asia wealth management scene by selling their units to Singapore's OCBC and DBS, respectively.

DBS , Southeast Asia's largest lender, also snapped up ANZ's retail and wealth management businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia.

The Singapore banks benefited from their expanded wealth management units. In the last few weeks, DBS, OCBC and their smaller rival United Overseas Bank (UOB) reported better than expected first quarter net profits thanks to their wealth management businesses.

William Ma, chief investment officer at Noah Holdings, told CNBC's "Street Signs" that OCBC's latest acquisition is a "very smart move."

"I think this is a very smart move. If you look at Chinese community, wealth management and asset management is going to be a bigger and bigger industry. We believe it is a good way to access the consumers, the middle class in China's market. We believe the decision is a very smart move," Ma said.

Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
Zhenye Xie of China, Bruno Hortelano of Spain and Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis compete in the Men's 60 Metres Semi-Final during day two of the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Your life is your creation. You have most things you need to shape it and make it incredible. It's not something that happens to you  unless you abandon your position as its chief architect. If you think your life is out of your control, it's because you've chosen to relinquish the controls. Your life will improve the moment you realize life isn't something to be endured or tolerated. It's an experience of your own creation. If your life sucks, it's because you've been a sucky creator. But you can get better. More from Thomas Oppong:

It's OK to start over

Make art. You are an artist.

You can't get away with staying comfortable Getting unstuck is about making simple decisions and taking actions, always moving away from what you don't want and towards what you want. If you don't know what you want, then just move away from what you don't want until you figure it out. You are immensely resilient. Even when you're in seemingly hopeless situations, you can still dig yourself out and make something better of it. These mindsets can radically improve your success and make you a stronger person.

Aristotle (384-322 BC), Classical Greek Philosopher, student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. UniversalImagesGroup | Getty Images

1. Self-discovery is a process

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." - Aristotle Life and living it is all about the journey. When you follow your own true north you create new opportunities, have different experiences and create the life you want. Simply sitting back and letting things happen doesn't yield the quality of life you aspire. Most people's lives are still not perfectly clear. It's a struggle almost every adult goes through. "What do I want to do with my life?" "What do I not suck at?" Millions of people have no clue what they want to do with themselves. And that's okay. No assessment is going to provide you with immediate clarity and sense of purpose. Seeking clarity in uncertain times can be a daunting experience, and it can be very stressful if the solutions you seek don't appear when you need them. Make no mistake, self-discovery is a journey! There's no better feeling than suddenly becoming clear on something that had previously been a road block in your life. Those "aha!" moments are a real blessing when they come. "The only journey is the one within," says Rainer Maria Rilke. Curiosity, being open to explore the unknown, ready to embrace the surprises that come along the way, are essential attitudes for self-discovery and for gaining clarity about your own life purpose.

Education Images | Getty Images

2. You alone are responsible for your life

"Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you're proud to live." - Anne Sweeney The first and the greatest courage in life is the courage to take responsibility for own life. Like it not, you alone are responsible for the person you are today. Bob Moawad says this about taken ownership of your life: "The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on or blame. The gift is yours  it is an amazing journey  and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins." This shift in mindset isn't easy, but it can help you take control of your own success. It can help you do better at work, develop stronger and more positive relationships, improve your personal productivity and satisfaction. You already have this ability and the responsibility for your life. Everyone does. But most us aren't willing to accept that we alone have the power to live our lives how we want it. The most important thing you need is the mindset of commitment and ownership to a result before you set out to do something, whether it's to get through your day or start a project! Stop blaming your problems and failures  big or small  on the people around you. Stop using "circumstances beyond my control" as the scapegoat for your own choices, decisions, behaviors and actions. Be accountable for your actions. Adopt a mindset of taking more responsibility in your life. Take control of your own success right now!

Irish dramatist and social critic George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) walking along the Strand in London. Fox Photos | Getty Images

3. Life isn't perfect: not everything goes as planned

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. - George Bernard Shaw There is no such thing as perfect. The perfect outcome can sometimes elude you. You won't achieve every goal. But it's important to make plans and move on. Spend just as much time learning what to do when things inevitably stray off your path as you do to create the plan in the first place. Landon Donovan says, "Life isn't perfect, of course, but we all know it's how you react to things that counts ." Your best strategy when making a plan is to make contingency plans for the inevitable result that life will not unfold according to plan. Your plans for tomorrow, next month or next year may not unfold as you expect. Don't be crippled by your failures. Don't stop trying. If you know that changes to your plan are inevitable, it is best to seek them out and adapt when necessary. Life is unpredictable. And that's okay. Embrace it. Always be ready for change . It's what makes life so interesting. When nothing is certain, everything is possible!

American inventor Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931) conducting an experiment in his laboratory, circa 1910. FPG | Getty Images

4. Every obstacle is the way forward

"I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult. I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking." - Og Mandino You will come across obstacles in life  fair and unfair. And you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them and whether we keep our composure. You will learn that this reaction determines how successful we will be in overcoming  or possibly thriving because of  them. On December 10, 1914, a massive explosion erupted in West Orange, New Jersey. Ten buildings in legendary inventor Thomas Edison's plant, which made up more than half of the site, were engulfed in flames. Machinery worth millions and all the papers pertaining to his lifelong research were burnt to ashes. Later, at the scene of the blaze, Edison was quoted in The New York Times as saying, "Although I am over 67 years old, I'll start all over again tomorrow." Thomas Edison's persistence was exemplified in his famous quote, "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." A.H. Wilson, his vice president and general manager, told The Times after the flames died down: "There's only one thing to do, and that is to jump right in and rebuild." In his book, "The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph", Ryan Holiday writes: We forget: In life, it doesn't matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you've been given. People who persist no matter the obstacles, sooner or later are bound to succeed. Despite the setbacks, it's in your best interest to turn obstacles into stepping stones. Don't choose to complain, or worse, to just give up. These choices do nothing to get you across the finish line. Elbert Hubbard once made a profound statement about the importance of not given up. She said, "A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success." The obstacle in your path is the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.

Actress Kelly McGillis Arthur Mola | Getty Images

5. Everything in life is a journey

Life is a journey and it's about growing and changing and coming to terms with who and what you are and loving who and what you are. - Kelly McGillis If you are not putting your 100 percent energy, effort and time into any process, progress will be slow or not happen at all. Our minds are a bit funny, full of cognitive biases that have been shaped over time by experiences, events and memories. Over time, your beliefs can cause your brains to draw false conclusions about life that affects the way you think, and the decisions you make. Carol Dweck, author of "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" said: "The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you live your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value." You don't always need the perfect plan. Sometimes you just need to give it a try, let go, and see what happens. That's courage. Action begets outcome. Outcome begets action. Rinse, lather and repeat and you have momentum. You'll become unstoppable. You have more than one shot to create the life you want! I have screwed up many, many times in the past, but I have moved on. You're going to make your own mistakes, and that's okay so long as you learn from them and figure out a different path towards the same goal. The biggest screw up you can make is to just give up and accept that you can't succeed because of you who you are or where you come from. If you are going through hell, don't stop. And if you catch hell, don't hold it.

Spanish violinist and composer Pablo Sarasate Walery | Getty Images

6. It's okay to suck at most things in the beginning!

"A genius! For 37 years I've practiced 14 hours a day, and now they call me a genius!" - Pablo Sarasate You don't have to be great to start anything you care about. But you have to start right now if you want to be great at some point in your career. The decision to start is the most important step you can ever take to be the best in the world at what you want to do. Your first book, post, podcast, app, real business meeting, interview, pitch will not be great. But don't let that get the best of you. Mary Tyler Moore once said, "Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave." Most people quit the moment they experience that first disappointment. It's a test. You have to fight your way through. That's what matters. A few people stick around until they get it right. In fact, you rarely get it right in the beginning. I still suck at writing. I didn't even like writing. But I like the process. It feeds my curiosity. But guess what, I have never stopped reading and practicing. I love to share my imperfections. I can only become better with practice. I value the process. The greatest impediment to creativity is our impatience, the almost inevitable desire to hurry up the process, express something and make a quick splash. If you want to be the best at anything, you need to be the best at practicing more than anyone else. The value of practice can have profound effects on your career. When we start to believe that we can do no wrong, we lose the edge that keeps us alert and open to new opportunities for growth. When you practice something  anything  you improve, you grow, you advance, you gain a skill and heaps of confidence in the process, because you get better with time.

Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis poses for a picture during the press conference prior to the Sainsbury's Indoor Grand Prix. Tom Shaw - British Athletics | Getty Images

7. Done is better than perfect
Evan Spiegel's Snap faces one major hurdle that Facebook didn't have when it went public five years ago, equity strategist Michael Graham told CNBC on Thursday.

The senior equity strategist at Canaccord Genuity spoke a day after Snapchat's parent fell short of Wall Street expectations for revenue and user growth in its first earnings report as a public company. The report was also an indicator on how the company has fared as Facebook pushes aggressively into its turf.

That's "a big competitor right in front of them," Graham said on "Squawk Box." "The fact that every month Snap will be battling [Facebook's] Instagram for users is a real difference in the two stories."

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the social media company public in May 2012, he faced the rise of Pinterest and Twitter setting records in part from the U.S. presidential election. Facebook acquired Instagram a month earlier.
A signage for the Apple Watch is displayed in the Apple store in Saint Germain, Paris, France on December 1, 2016.

The Apple Watch is proving itself to be a useful tool for monitoring serious medical conditions, and not just for fitness.

A mobile health app made by start-up Cardiogram, backed by Silicon Valley venture firms including Andreessen Horowitz, has proven to be shockingly popular among the people who download it, the company's co-founder Brandon Ballinger told CNBC. Although only 250,000 people have downloaded it to try it, more than 100,000 people use it every day. Of the people who kept the app, more than 73% open it every single day.

Cardiogram uses the Apple Watch's built-in heart sensor to give you advice about heart health -- for instance, showing when you're unusually stressed out by checking your heart rate.

The company is also doing original research, and on Thursday it unveiled the results of a study on Thursday showing how the Apple Watch can be used to detect abnormal heart rhythms.

The company is presenting its results at a conference for cardiac electrophysiologists, called Heart Rhythm Society.

"Cardiologists don't have time to look at streams of data flowing in from [Apple's] HealthKit and Google Fit," said Ballinger, who formerly worked at Google before starting Cardiogram. Both Apple and Google have developed software systems that are designed for users to safely store and selectively share their health information, mostly collected via sensors. "That's not a task that humans do, but machines can review all this data."

The company developed a neural network  a computing system that learns from analyzed data  which it trained on millions of its users' heart rate measurements. The goal was to identify atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heart beat. The study found that it's accurate 97% of the time using the smartwatch's heart rate sensor, compared to screening tests performed at the hospital.

For the study, it partnered up with UC San Francisco's Health eHeart study, which is using mobile tools to collect a massive data-set of heart health data from 1 million people.

"Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common heart rhythm disturbances and a common cause of stroke," said Greg Marcus, a cardiac electrophysiologist at UC San Francisco. "But a lot of people don't realize they have it."

"The hope in working with Cardiogram is to leverage tech that people are wearing anyway to identify those with atrial fibrillation or at high risk for it," he added. In these cases, users might use a mobile medical device like an AliveCor to screen for potential problems, or contact their doctor.

This is the latest in a series of research studies finding that artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to assist physicians in screening for medical abnormalities. Google's Brain team has also conducted research into a variety of ways to use artificial intelligence to detect subtle indicators in medical scans.
The latest price driver was comments from Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari. The policymaker  the technology that underpins bitcoin.

Since Monday, the market capitalization of bitcoin has risen over $3 billion to $29.53 billion. The price of bitcoin has soared 81 percent since the start of the year.

The price of the digital currency was trading at around $1,824 by early morning in London, according to Coindesk's bitcoin price index. It breached $1,700 for the first time on Tuesday.

surpassed $1,800 on Thursday to a fresh record high, rising more than $100 in just two days, driven by comments from policy makers and positive noises around the future of the cryptocurrency.

"I would say I think conventional wisdom now is that blockchain and the underlying technology is probably more interesting and has more potential than maybe bitcoin does by itself," Kashkari said at a technology conference, according to Reuters.

His comments are the latest in a growing number of officials that have supported bitcoin and blockchain technology, helping to bring it more into the mainstream.

Japan legalized the cryptocurrency as a payment method recently and this has led to a greater amount of bitcoin being bought with yen, which is helping to support the price.

At the same time, Russia, one of the strongest opponents of bitcoin is seeking to regulate the digital currency.

In the U.S., Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss proposed an exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would have allowed large institutional investors to get in on bitcoin. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , but they are now reviewing their original decision, stoking hope that it .

Such positive noises have led to some experts, such as Aurelien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, a regulated blockchain assets exchange based in Hong Kong, to suggest that the price of bitcoin .

Meanwhile, within the bitcoin community, a debate has been raging about the future of the technology that underpins bitcoin. Transactions in bitcoin are taking longer than they have done before because of a backlog in the system. Some community members proposed a solution that could have led to a process known as a "hard fork", leading to two separate bitcoin currencies. Such concerns have abated however with an alternative solution being put forward.

and why it matters to the bitcoin price.
The Malaysian government needs to improve transparency in the wake of the long-running 1MDB scandal, CIMB Chairman Nazir Razak, the prime minister's brother, told CNBC.

"It's been a very painful number of months in the international media," Nazir told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Thursday on the sidelines of the WEF Asean conference in Cambodia. "I think they are trying to complete the financial restructuring of 1MDB, but I think the government still needs to improve in terms of overall transparency and understanding of what exactly transpired."

In April of 2016, Nazir voluntarily took a leave of absence from his bank during CIMB's investigation into his role in distributing around $7 million in political funds for his brother in the lead up to the 2013 elections.

Nazir was cleared by CIMB's independent investigation and returned to work about a month later.

Questions about movement of funds from 1MDB came to widespread attention when the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2013 nearly $700 million had flowed from the debt-ridden fund to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal bank account.

Najib, who also chaired 1MDB's advisory board and launched 1MDB as a pet project to promote economic development, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and, under pressure from the outcry caused by the report, said the funds were a private donation from a Middle Eastern country he declined to name at the time, but was later identified as Saudi Arabia. He has denied benefiting personally from the funds.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to seize more than $1 billion of assets it said was tied to an international conspiracy to launder funds funnelled away from 1MDB.

That complaint said officials at 1MDB, their relatives and other associates diverted more than $3.5 billion from the state fund and laundered it through complex transactions and shell companies.
Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe prepares to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill May 11, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Comey had been set to appear at the already-scheduled hearing on global threats before his ouster.

The White House has repeatedly said Comey's abrupt firing on Tuesday had nothing to do with the Russia probe, which Comey explained in March includes investigating any possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin.

"There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date. ... You cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing," McCabe said when Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked if the firing has disrupted any of the FBI's work.

At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, the panel's Vice Chairman, Mark Warner, D-Va., asked McCabe if he would commit to informing the committee of any political interference in the Russia investigation. "I absolutely do," McCabe responded.

He also said President Donald Trump's abrupt firing of James Comey will not disrupt the bureau 's investigation.

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe promised senators on Thursday that he will not give the White House updates on the Russia election probe.

McCabe denied that Comey had lost support of the rank-and-file FBI agents. The White House suggested Wednesday that a loss of confidence in Comey among FBI employees contributed to his firing.

"Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does today," McCabe said.

The Trump administration has suggested multiple motives for Comey's termination, including his conduct in the probe into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information last year and an error in his congressional testimony on the probe last week. However, the timing of the firing  which comes as the bureau is investigating the president's campaign  has raised concerns from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including several Senate Republicans.

It has also sparked questions about whether the Trump administration will attempt to derail the probe.

In his letter firing Comey, Trump went out of his way to write that the FBI director told him three times he was not under investigation. Such a statement from Comey would not appear to follow the FBI's protocol, multiple reports said.

Asked Thursday if he knew if Comey told Trump he was not under investigation, McCabe said he could not comment. Later in the hearing, McCabe said he would not give the White House such updates on the investigation.

He called it a "highly significant investigation." The White House has contended that there is nothing underpinning the probe and Americans should move on from it.

McCabe said he was not aware of a reported Comey request for more resources for the probe, adding that he believes it is "adequately" funded.

Democrats have decried the firing and increased their calls for a special prosecutor in the Russia investigation. Most Republican lawmakers, though, have resisted those calls and said that the Senate Intelligence Committee's probe into Russian interference is adequate.

Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign colluded with Russia, and has even suggested that Moscow may not be responsible for cyberattacks on Democrats. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election, though the consensus among foreign policy experts in the United States and Europe is that Russian routinely interferes with elections in the West.

McCabe, who joined the FBI 20 years ago and became deputy director last year, is respected within the bureau. Comey enjoyed similar popularity among the rank and file of the FBI.
The Zika virus stands to cost the United States billions of dollars, even if few people are infected.

Researchers from several American institutions have calculated that the "virus from Hell" could result in total costs ranging from $183 million to over $1.2 billion, depending on infection rates in several at-risk states in the South.

The researchers warn that infection rates could engender costs that exceed the amounts of money the U.S. government may give for prevention and treatment, if the recent debates over funding are any indication.

"We had the sense that Congress was really not aware of the depth and breath of the vulnerability of the Gulf Coast regions," study co-author Dr. Peter Hotez said in an interview with CNBC.

"One of the problems is we do not do active surveillance for Zika along the Gulf Coast," said Hotez, dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine . "So we still do not know the true number of cases that happened last year. And we are not going to know that until we see the number of babies born with birth defects due to Zika going into the summer months. So we are not out of the woods yet, with respect to last year's epidemic."

And periods of warm weather over the last several months have coincided with higher numbers of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which carry the virus, leaving scientists wondering where Zika could spread next.

The team published its results Thursday in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

The researchers focused on various levels of infection across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas  states with climates well suited to the mosquitoes that carry the disease. In addition, poverty in the region contributes, through factors like poor housing and environmental degradation that can boost to mosquito numbers and infection rates. And then there is all the travel passing through major gateways in the region.

A Zika attack rate of 0.01 percent across this region would cost society $183.4 million, including both direct medical costs and productivity losses, resulting from the burden of the disease.

Raising that by one order of magnitude, to 0.1 percent, would cost $274.6 million. A 1 percent infection rate would cost $1.2 billion, and 2 percent would exceed $2 billion.

These estimates are not unimaginable or even especially pessimistic. In fact, the team aimed to be a bit conservative.

Consider that Zika's infection rate in French Polynesia has exceeded 10 percent  five times the worst-case scenario the researchers outline here. Infection rates in Puerto Rico for the similar chikungunya virus also exceed 10 percent.

This conservatism was influenced in part by the fact that Zika has not quite hit Haiti as hard as expected. The region has a similar climate to other areas affected, and has even higher levels of poverty than Puerto Rico.

This surprised many researchers, Hotez said. Data like these, along with many of the remaining questions about Zika's health effects, reinforce the notion that "we don't know more than we do know," Hotez said.

In addition, the team is not factoring in effects that could ripple beyond these six states. They also do not include any the potential effects on tourism or travel in these states, and they are not considering further medical costs and lost productivity and medical costs that may result from fears of infection, or from infections that strike visiting family and friends coming from elsewhere in the country.

"As we aimed to be conservative in our estimations, our model in many ways may underestimate the economic burden of Zika," the team said. "Our analyses indicate that the health and economic burden of even low attack rates of Zika in the Continental US would be both substantial and enduring."

A strain of the Zika virus first confirmed in Brazil in 2015 has now spread to more than 40 countries, and many researchers believe the disease is already present in the United States. Its symptoms can at first resemble those of far less dangerous diseases, such as the flu, but its effects can severely impair people for life.

It has been linked to microcephaly in babies born to infected women. In these cases, the brain of unborn or infant children fail to develop, leading to lifelong mental impairment and abnormally small skulls.

Zika has also been linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disease where the immune system attacks the nervous system.

The researchers say their study is an attempt to better inform the debate over how much money the U.S. government should devote to Zika prevention and treatment.

For example, the Obama administration had requested $1.8 billion from Congress for prevention, which some had criticized for being excessive. While Congress has since authorized $1.1 billion in funding, the researchers say both sides of the continuing debate over funding levels have limited data on which to base their arguments, without an analysis of the full economic impact of the disease.

"I think it is a wake-up call, not only with regard to the health impact but also the economic impact, and I think the stakes are high," Hotez said.
It's that time again! Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on caller favorite stocks at rapid speed:

Nutanix Inc. : "OK, they develop cloud platforms. Now, I know it's not really that analogous, but if I'm going to be in that general vicinity, Salesforce . Salesforce.com. That's the one to be in.

Paccar Inc. : "You know, somebody downgraded it the other day. I have to admit, I do like Cummins more than Paccar, but I think Paccar's fine. I would not get rid of the stock."

ConocoPhillips : "I'm not going to get rid of it here. I saw a downgrade of that, too. I mean, I've got to tell you, I think that stock is stuck in the middle of a range, but I don't want to do that trade again. Just own it."

Adobe Systems Inc. : "Well, man, that's a big position for my charitable trust. You can follow along at ActionAlertsPlus.com. The club knows that's one of my faves."

Annaly Capital Management Inc. : "I know the people at Annaly, and people tell me I should be not worried at all about their portfolio. It's been a winner. I don't know what's in the portfolio, but it is one of the better well-runs of that kind of a company that does bonds. Basically, it just plays the curve."

NeoPhotonics Corp. : "Look, we've seen Oclero go in and out, we saw Acacia go in and out. I mean, it's entirely possible [they can thrive in the 5G market space], but this space is too hard for me. I think it's too risky a space."

DryShips Inc. : "We do not recommend those stocks on this show. They are too volatile and they're just trades and I don't like them."

Viavi Solutions Inc. : "It's network-servicing-enabled. If you want to do that, I'd maybe look at analytics and Hewlett Packard Enterprise , H-P-E. I think that's one that my charitable trust owns, much less volatile, and I think it's a good situation. And it hit a 52-week high today."

Questions for Cramer?

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein denied on Thursday that he threatened to quit over President Donald Trump's firing of James Comey.

When asked by a Sinclair Broadcast Group reporter if he made such a threat, Rosenstein responded, "No, I'm not quitting."

@LizMcKernan: Deputy AG #Rosenstein says he didn't threaten to quit over #Comey #FBI firing

The Washington Post reported late Wednesday, citing a person close to the White House, that Rosenstein threatened to resign after White House press officials repeated a narrative which painted him as the key influence that led to Comey's dismissal.

The Trump administration has said Comey was terminated because of his handling of the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. The White House insists that Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions initiated the conversation about Comey and that the president simply accepted their recommendation for his removal.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing a person familiar with the conversation, that Rosenstein had urged White House counsel Don McGahn to amend the administration's portrayal of the process that led to Comey's firing.

The person told the Journal that the deputy attorney general implied he "couldn't work in an environment where facts weren't accurately reported."

The Justice Department declined to comment.
Global stocks are trading near all-time highs, driven by a rebound in commodity prices as oil prices rose above the $50 a barrel mark after a fall in U.S. inventories and a bigger-than-expected cut in Saudi Arabia's supplies to Asia helped tighten the market. The MSCI developed markets index is edging close to all-time highs as investors trade on low levels of volatility. Earlier this week, the CBOE volatility index fell to its lowest level since 1993. While this is interpreted by many as a measure of positive times ahead of the market, a number of analysts have warned that this may not last very long as volatility does not stay at low levels for prolonged periods of time.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bilal Hafeez, head of G10 FX strategy at Nomura, warns that the current level of inactivity in the market should not be confused for investor euphoria. "It seems uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration's policies and French elections have resulted in cautious investor positioning and even inactivity," Hafeez writes in his latest research note, adding that the recent decline in commodity prices, seemingly driven by a slowing China, has also been remarkably contained. Hafeez further explained that even though risk measures are at low levels, this does imply investor euphoria. "Instead, external triggers will be needed to trigger a bout of risk aversion. An obvious one would be policy action such as an overly hawkish Fed or a growth-insensitive PBoC (People's Bank of China). With the former, the market is already almost fully pricing a hike in June, and so the Fed would need to talk up later hikes, which we think is unlikely in the run-up to the June meeting. With the latter, we think the Chinese authorities would be reluctant to induce a sharp slowdown ahead of the 5 yearly National Congress to be held later this year." The volatility index was seen to hit single digit lows after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the French Presidential election over the weekend. Global stocks got a boost but safe-haven currencies such as the yen and the Swiss franc suffered but analysts warned against taking huge risks in this quiet market.
Globalism and expanded trade policies have helped the global economy more than they've hurt displaced workers and efforts to suppress their growth won't work, New York Fed President William Dudley said Thursday.

Dudley, an influential voice on the central bank's policy direction, offered a strong defense of open trade borders in a speech at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai, India.

"Countries need to compete better, not compete less," he said. "Trade barriers are a very expensive way to preserve jobs in less competitive or declining industries."

The remarks come at a time when open borders have come under increasing criticism, and they offer something of a rebuke to the Trump administration's vow to get tough on global trade agreements.

"Although the debate about globalization is not new, I believe we are at a particularly important juncture," Dudley said, according to a transcript of his speech. "If support for liberalized trade and an integrated global economy were to suffer a significant setback, the consequence could be slower economic growth and lower living standards around the world."

President Donald Trump won election in November in part on a platform that featured sharp criticism of pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other measures in general that he said provide unfair advantages to other countries.

Though the administration has softened its rhetoric somewhat, concerns remain over protectionism and the potential for costly trade wars.

Dudley's speech did not take aim at the White House on any specifics, but he was vocal in his support of open borders.

"While the gains from a liberalized trade regime are not guaranteed, the alternative of trying to achieve a high standard of living by following a policy of economic isolationism will fail," he said. "Trade has played a key role in nearly all of the high-growth success stories since the middle of the last century."

He pointed specifically to India, which now accounts for about half of all U.S. computer imports. In fact, he said, much of Asia has benefited from more open trade relationships.

But the gains also reflect back to U.S. shores, he said.

"Consumers can benefit from lower prices, higher real incomes, and greater variety and quality of goods and services," Dudley said.

For areas of the economy that have suffered, Dudley advocated stronger programs to help displaced workers. However, he said establishing trade barriers to protect jobs will only result in a global trade war that will hurt the global economy.
The long-haul arm of Malaysian low cost carrier AirAsia could introduce flights to the West Coast of the United States "not too far away" from now, the airline's chief executive Tony Fernandes told CNBC on Thursday.

Fernandes, speaking at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's ASEAN meeting in Cambodia, was responding to CNBC's question on whether flights to the U.S. West Coast is in the carrier's expansion plans.

"Absolutely, I had a fantastic trip to Los Angeles and I would imagine that's not too far away as well," he said.

AirAsia X , the airline's long haul unit, currently flies to 24 destinations primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. Outside of the region, the carrier flies to the Middle East and Hawaii in the U.S.

Fernandes said other than expanding its network, the company is working on listing its Indonesian and Philippine businesses. Following that, it would look into a secondary listing of its group in either another Southeast Asian country or Hong Kong.

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Regina Barzilay teaches computers how to learn. A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her work focused on natural language processing  training computers to understand human speech  until a breast cancer diagnosis three years ago. "Going through it, I realized that today we have more sophisticated technology to select your shoes on Amazon than to adjust treatments for cancer patients," Barzilay said in an interview at her office in Cambridge. "I really wanted to make sure that the expertise we have would be used for helping people." Barzilay's group, in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital, is now applying their expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment. They're asking questions like whether computers can detect signs of breast cancer in mammograms earlier than humans are currently capable of, and whether machine learning can enable doctors to use all the huge quantities of data available on patients to make more personalized treatment decisions. It's a field some say is on the cusp of changing medicine. "The potential is perhaps the biggest in any type of technology we've ever had in the field of medicine," said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute. "Computing capability can transcend what a human being could ever do in their lifetime." Investment is pouring in, from tech giants like IBM's Watson, Alphabet and Philips , to pharmaceutical companies and swiftly proliferating startups. The market for artificial intelligence in health care and the life sciences is projected to grow by 40 percent a year, to $6.6 billion in 2021, according to estimates from Frost & Sullivan. Some of the earliest applications are expected to be in diagnosing disease. For Barzilay, the ability of computers to scour images holds the potential of earlier detection. She had been getting mammograms for more than two years before she was diagnosed at age 43.

MIT Professors Tommi Jaakkola, left, and Regina Barzilay poses for a portrait in Cambridge, MA on Apr. 5, 2017. They teach a popular course on machine learning. Jonathan Wiggs | The Boston Globe | Getty Images

"Looking back, there was clearly no tumor on the previous mammograms, but was there something in these very complex images that would hint at... a wrong development?" Barzilay asked. "It clearly didn't just appear. Biological processes are in place to make a successful growth and it clearly impacts the tissue. So for a human who looks at it, it's very hard to quantify the change, but a machine may look at millions of these images. This should really help them to look at these signs." Dr. Andy Beck, a pathologist at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Aditya Khosla, a computer scientist trained at MIT and Caltech, are tackling cancer diagnosis through images as well. They're training computers to scour digital slides, and learn how to differentiate cells that are cancerous from those that aren't. They formed a startup, PathAI, last year after their technology won a competition in detecting breast cancer. In the April 2016 challenge, an expert pathologist, charged with the same task as the computational teams, achieved an error rate of about 3.5 percent, Beck explained from PathAI's headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their team had an error rate closer to 7.5 percent, the best in the competition. What was most interesting, Beck said, was putting the computer and pathologist together. "The combination of human plus AI in this example reduced the expert's error rate by 85 percent," Beck said. "That was a really exciting finding." And because these trained computers get smarter with the more data they take in, the PathAI team's technology improved over time. By November, Beck and Khosla's system had surpassed the human expert. Researchers are also using machine learning to make connections in data that people may not see. Joel Dudley's team at Mt. Sinai in New York developed a system known as Deep Patient, scouring de-identified health data across the hospital system and combining information in multitudes of ways. "One of the powerful aspects of deep learning is unsupervised feature learning," Dudley explained, "meaning you don't have to constrain upfront what you think is important for predicting something or modeling something." A physician or researcher focusing on type 2 diabetes, for example, may develop a model focusing on blood glucose or weight to try to predict who may be at risk for disease. "But that then ignores all the other information in the health record that could be useful for predicting someone who's at risk," Dudley said. "So we use a deep learning approach where we could just pour in all the information we have on 5 million patients in our health system, from any test that's ever been run on a patient." In results published last year in the journal Nature, Dudley's team showed Deep Patient improved prediction of diseases from schizophrenia to cancer to severe diabetes. MIT's Barzilay was frustrated by medicine's unsophisticated models as well. When she was going through treatment for breast cancer, she had questions about outcomes for different medicines for patients like her.

A woman undergoes a mammogram exam. Media for Medical | Getty Images
"And we got the attention of the Google founders. Yeah. So Larry came to the race itself and  came disguised with, like, a hat and sunglasses so he wouldn't be bothered by everybody. But  he had a keen interest in this. Larry has been a believer in this technology for much longer than I even knew. And so was Sergey. And they really want to understand what's going on."

"My team turned out to be the lucky winner for whatever reason," Thrun told CNBC in an interview for the new series "The Brave Ones" .

Thrun had built a self-driving car to compete in the DARPA Grand Challenge  a 132 mile off-road course through mountain roads in California. The Stanford Racing Team with their vehicle named Stanley came first.

And it began with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin turning up to the race in a disguise.

In 2005, Sebastian Thrun was busy building a driverless car at Stanford to prepare for a race that would eventually lead to him being hired by Google to head up their most ambitious "moonshot" projects.

In 2007, Thrun then built the next version of his driverless cars which had cameras on them, allowing it to record 360 degrees of video. This sparked off the start of a well-known feature on Google Maps known as Street View.

"And we went to Google and said we'd love to help you build Street View. And we kind of ended up  felt like an acquisition of a little start-up company, kind of Stanford transitioning into Google where me and four of my grad students then became Street View enthusiasts. And we built up Street View and with a singular vision to photograph every street in the world," Thrun said.

Three years later in 2010, Google X  the tech giant's lab that created its Waymo self-driving car program and the augmented reality Google Glass device  was set up by Thrun, Yoky Matsuoka, and Astro Teller.

The aim of the lab was to develop "moonshots"  inventions that could be big in the future. Waymo was spun out of Google X in September and is now Google's driverless car division. At the U.S. search giant, Google X was a big secret.

"We started Google X  with the self-driving car project. And the idea was to really kind of build an innovation center that has authority to just do crazy things," Thrun told CNBC.

"We had a separate building that no one knew about. At least for a year and a half no one in Google had a clue we existed."

'Just do it'

Thrun wasn't even convinced that the self-driving car project he began at Google would be safe in public. Page then challenged Thrun to make it work and drew up a 1,000 mile route in California that was very tricky to drive.

"Look, it can be done. People can do it. Just do it," Page told Thrun, according to the Google X co-founder. "And to my complete surprise, blows my mind, about 15 months later a team of 12 engineers did it."

Waymo's autonomous vehicles have now driven 2.5 million miles and the company is looking to partner with established automakers.

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Some investors were stepping in to buy Snap shares amid their big plunge Thursday, but traders and analysts cautioned that this could be a troubled stock through the whole summer simply because of the laws of supply and demand.

Many insiders are restricted from selling stock for an agreed upon lockup period after the initial public offering, but that changes later this year when a ton more shares will likely come onto the market.



"We expect attention to turn to SNAP's July-August lock-up expirations. Snap has 150- & 180-day lock-up expirations beginning July 31," JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth wrote in a note to clients Thursday. He reiterated his neutral rating on Snap in the report.



The analyst cited how an additional 84 percent of the company's shares outstanding will become available for sale from the end of July through August.





Other research analysts also pointed to the lockup expiration as a negative factor for the company's share price. Nearly 70 percent of Wall Street does not have buy ratings on Snap shares, according to FactSet. Such a mixed view on a large technology IPO is a rarity.

"The problem with such a print right out of the gate is that there is little near-term valuation support given the lack of profitability and massive lock up expiration around the corner," Barclays' Ross Sandler wrote in a note to clients Thursday, where he reiterated his equal weight rating on the company.

Snap had fallen more than 23 percent at one point Thursday, but traded off the lows. Most recently, the stock was down about 19 percent.



The large amount in the supply of new Snap shares is a big concern for investors.



"Stock prices, especially in the short term, are all about supply and demand, so any issuance of additional supply has an effect," LPS Financial's chief investment officer, Aron Pinson, wrote in an email. "In the case of SNAP specifically, the magnitude of supply hitting the market vs. the amount currently available is enormous and is sure to weigh on its shares."

Another investor said insiders may still sell at even lower share prices.



"Lock ups when they expire can easily act as a ceiling for the shares even if the news improves from here. It's important to remember these are motivated sellers with little price sensitivity," Belpointe's chief strategist, David Nelson, wrote in an email. "Their cost basis is significantly lower and any proceeds is almost pure profit."

One trader is staying bearish on Snap primarily on his negative view of its fundamentals, not just the lockup dynamics.

Brad Lamensdorf, portfolio manager of the short-selling Ranger Equity Bear ETF , cited the low barriers to entry to Snap's business, the company's net losses and its large capital expenditures.



"We aren't covering a share," Lamensdorf wrote in an email. "It is still at like 35 times sales which is silly. It will never grow into that price to sales ratio. A lower price is needed."



Disclosure: Brad Lamensdorf's HDGE ETF is short Snap shares. David Nelson and Aron Pinson do not have positions in Snap.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, is an investor in Snap.
On-screen, actor Johnny Depp is best known for his role as Jack Sparrow in the highly successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. But off-screen, his legal battle with his former managers has evolved into another must-watch drama due to its potential impact on Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter detailed in a new post.

In mid-January, Depp filed a lawsuit accusing The Management Group, which had represented him for more than a decade, of fraud and mismanagement. During this time, TMG's Joel Mandel claimed Depp made more than $650 million, an enormous figure that Depp used to fuel a lavish lifestyle, including 14 residences, more than 200 artworks and a 156-foot yacht. Ultimately, Depp's extravagant spending led to financial troubles.

TMG slapped Depp with a countersuit, claiming Depp did not pay a commission to the firm for the upcoming installment of Pirates of the Caribbean.

The legal wrangling is shaping up to be a closely watched battle that could reshape how Hollywood management works. Depp's lawyer claims his managers did not have a right to a slice of his earnings without a written contract.

Under California law, attorneys are not entitled to a portion of the clients' earnings until they have a contract. Still, TMG asserts that while Joel Mandel and his brother Robert are attorneys, they did not provide legal work for Depp and thus are exempt from the law.

TMG declined CNBC's request for comment. Depp did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

To learn more about Depp's legal wrangling with his former managers, read The Hollywood Reporter's in-depth profile.
A farmer holds a Greek flag in front of parliament during a protest against the government's tax and social security reforms on February 14, 2017 in Athens, Greece.

The International Monetary Fund's discussions on Greece's debt are ongoing and no deal has been reached, IMF spokesman William Murray said on Thursday.

On Wednesday Slovakia's finance minister, Peter Kazimir, said the IMF was likely to take part in the financing of Greece's third bailout.

Greece agreed earlier this month on further spending cuts to qualify for funding. In return, it wants measures to ease the strain of its debt, which now stands at 179 percent of gross

domestic product.

"Discussions on the debt side of the equation have only just started, so it's really early," Murray told a regular news briefing. "Our position hasn't changed."

The IMF backs debt relief and is reluctant to take part in the financing of Greece's bailout without agreement on a debt burden it views as unsustainable.

Murray added that while the IMF welcomed progress on the economic policy package, it would have to go hand in hand with a credible strategy on debt.

He also said that no deal had been reached on Greece's primary surplus. The lenders want Greece to maintain a 3.5 percent of GDP primary surplus for up to four years, according

to draft documents seen by Reuters.

"We're still in discussions on that and of course the debt discussions affect the primary surplus over the horizon, so until these things fall into place, I can't really comment," he said.

There would likely be further discussions on Greece at the G7 meeting of finance officials and central bank governors this week in Bari, Italy, despite it not being on the official agenda, Murray said.
The largest sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Indonesia in 2016 were Singapore, Japan and China, according to data from the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board.

"The U.S. has not been (a) top three investor in Indonesia in the last few years. I think the (U.S.) president or the vice president hopefully can improve the investment climate between Indonesia and the U.S.," Indonesia's Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto said at the WEF ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

During his visit to Indonesia last month as part of his tour of Asia, Pence met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss bilateral trade ties between the U.S. and Indonesia.

Pence said that there was "room for significant progress" when it came to establishing a "free and fair" trade relationship between the two countries in an official blog post. Pence had also said that the U.S. would be working with the Indonesian government to reduce trade barriers in a bid to improve market access in Indonesia, Reuters reported.

In response, Haratarto said Indonesia was making marked improvements in making the business environment more favorable.

"I think the ease of doing business has improved in Indonesia," Hartarto said, pointing to how Indonesia placed 91 in the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings in 2016. This was 15 places higher than its position in the 2015 ranking.

"Jokowi's presidency now is committed to do a lot of deregulation to make (it easier to) do business, especially in the manufacturing sector. Now, if there is investment in the manufacturing centers ... in the industrial zone, the investor can obtain the license (in) three hours to operate the business in ... (that) area," he added.
Michel Barnier during a news conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said that securing Ireland's interests and avoiding a hard border between with the U.K. will be at the forefront of upcoming talks.

In an address to the Irish houses of parliament Thursday, Barnier said that the Republic of Ireland, an EU-member state which shares a land border with the U.K., was in a "unique position" but pledged that it would receive additional attention in negotiations.

"I want to reassure Irish people that Ireland's interests will be the union's interests," said Barnier.

Ireland has voiced concerns that it will be most impacted by Brexit given the significant geographical, cultural and economic ties it shares with the EU.

"Brexit will come at a cost," Barnier said. "Also to us, the remaining 27  and some more than others."

Currently, Ireland exports 40 percent of its goods and 20 percent of its services to the U.K.  twice the EU's average.

Barnier said that avoiding a hard border would be one of three priorities for the first stage of negotiations, reiterating guidelines set out by the EU late last month.

Barnier's address to members of the Oireachtas, which combines both Ireland's House of Representatives and the Senate, was the first of its kind and is considered something of an honor.

The opportunity is typically reserved for heads of state and prime ministers. The invitation to speak underlines the country's on-going diplomatic charm offensive to secure a good deal for Ireland

"It's a reflection of the importance of the role he has," Neale Richmond, the government spokesman of EU affairs in the Irish Senate said, according to the Financial Times. "That's why we are putting him on the same pedestal as John F Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, and Francois Mitterrand."
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Supposedly incorrect polling has shaped politics in the U.K. and the U.S. in recent years. The improbable became the real following Donald Trump's election to U.S. President, the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union last June and the Conservative party's victory in the 2015 General Election.

Pollsters have had to rethink their strategies. In March 2016, an independent review by the British Polling Council with regards to the last General Election revealed that pollsters had made two key errors: they had not contacted a sufficient number of traditional Conservative voters, nor had they appropriately accounted for the fact that younger demographics, though more likely to vote left, were less reliable at turning up on polling day.

Anthony Wells, director of political and social research at polling company YouGov, told CNBC via e-mail that the company had "invested in focusing (its) recruitment of those groups that were underrepresented in 2015: people less interested in politics, with lower levels of education or (who) did not vote in the last election." The accuracy of traditional telephone polling was also questioned. But Andrew Hawkins, chairman of pollster ComRes, argued that the method "will not become obsolete," offering that it was one of the few ways of guaranteeing a "truly random sample."

The Brexit referendum complicated matters. Hawkins said that Brexit was difficult to predict because it "motivated people to be politically active who wouldn't have been so otherwise." He argued that there was little evidence this sentiment would carry through to June's snap election, due, for example, to the U.K.'s first past the post voting system and the election being focused on more than one single issue.
Dubai headquartered Mashreq could become a branchless bank thanks to new automation and self-service technology, said its CEO Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair in a speech this week to mark the bank's 50th anniversary.

An announcement about a new digital only spin-off bank unit is also expected in late June after the religious festival of Ramadan. This will run alongside the longer-term aim to make the entire bank more technologically advanced and less reliant on people and manual processes in the future.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Mashreq bank will soon be launching "a bank without branches", reported 'Gulf News' in its coverage of the 50th anniversary event.

Al Ghurair reportedly said at the function: "There will be absolutely no need for you to visit a branch in future. You will be able to access all of our services".

The new unit would be "a bank without boundaries" and it is likely to be aimed at tech-savvy millennial customers that live on their mobile phones.

Alongside the plans for a digital only bank, Al Ghurair also spelt out plans to make the bank as a whole more efficient, suggesting that there would be a significant uptake in new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)-inspired chatbots, which can be deployed in customer service roles, and automation techniques that will replace roles currently occupied by humans.

"Machines will start replacing a lot of processes and jobs," he reportedly told 'Gulf News', adding: "The future for employees is not in repetitive work."

Al Ghurair stated a bank is generally structured with 20 per cent of staff in customer-facing roles, while 80 per cent sit in the back office. "It is this 80 per cent that will be eliminated by use of technology," he said.

No detail has yet been given about the bank's enterprise-wide automation plans or digital only standalone unit, so full confirmation will have to await the expected announcement after Ramadan.

However, the financial technology (fintech) plans are in-line with a general trend in the global retail banking sector towards AI-inspired robotic process automation (RPA) and machine learning techniques which can cater for the 24x7 customer service demands of modern customers. Millennials expect their bank to be as convenient, accessible and easy-to-use as the rest of their digital lives and banks either have to develop their own IT to cater for this need or partner with outside fintech firms that are willing to collaborate with them.

Banking trends

Historically, the UAE and particularly the more modern banks in the wider oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, which incorporates Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia among others, have less legacy IT systems and inefficiencies than Western banks, but they too can benefit from customers' desire to bank online or on their mobile. Latin American and Asian banks can benefit too from the move away from branches as so-called digital banks  a clear trend in the sector  require less staff and expensive in-situ employees.

Western banks are hindered by the fact that they probably have more braches to close as part of this paradigm shift, in addition to more legacy IT. They have also likely been in existence for much longer and are hiding siloed systems from past acquisitions on their technology stack that have not been integrated into group-wide systems. This is another cause of operational inefficiencies.

It is something Middle-eastern and particularly GCC banks hope to avoid in future by adopting more open and accessible IT systems as they develop and as they face their own wave of consolidation in the banking sector.

For instance, in the UAE Abu Dhabi's biggest lenders National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB) recently completed their formal merger earlier this year to create the renamed First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). There will inevitably be job losses in the giant new $175 billion bank as any branches that exist side-by-side are closed. But it is to be hoped the more modern technology used at the previous iterations of the bank will be more susceptible to integration efforts.

The Qatari banks Masraf Al Rayan, Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar are also mulling a merger at the moment, which would create Qatar's largest Islamic bank and second largest lender.

In Saudi Arabia, talks are continuing about a merger between Alawwal Bank and Saudi British Bank.

Bigger banks, with a bigger digital footprint and less real estate, would appear to be the future. Integration will be the technological challenge.

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PHNOM PENH  Foreign media are constantly misrepresenting Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, one of his ministers claimed on Thursday. Addressing a small room of journalists during the World Economic Forum's ASEAN meeting in Cambodia, newly-appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter Cayetano said that international news agencies always focused on Duterte's brash remarks and never publicized his presidential statements. "They don't show the statements where he says police cannot abuse."

watch now

International journalists also often use the wrong death toll figures when reporting on the country's situation, he continued. Reuters estimates 8,000 have died since the drug war launched in July last year, while Human Rights Watch pins the number at more than 7,000. Cayetano said, however, that those figures are related to homicides. "1.2 million Filipinos, who were either pushers or users, have surrendered voluntarily and close to 3,000 have been killed in presumed legitimate police operations, those are the real numbers," he said.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Lean Daval Jr. | Reuters
Russian political interference is spreading to more countries around the world, in part because the Internet and social media have made such meddling cheaper, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials.



"It sweeps across Europe and other places," Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, told the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday.



"The Russians have upped their game using social media and other opportunities in ways we haven't seen before," said Coats.



The hearing, which included the directors of six U.S. intelligence agencies, covered a broad range of worldwide threats, from Venezuela to Afghanistan.



The officials said Russia has a history of interfering in other countries' political processes, but it has become more active and more aggressive in recent years.



"We have to put it into context: This is not new," said CIA Director Michael Pompeo. "Only the cost has been lessened."



Coats told the panel that Russia is a threat to U.S. government, military, diplomatic, business and critical infrastructure.



"It's a great threat to our democratic process," said Coats.
President Donald Trump (C) and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) meet at the Oval Office of White House in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 2017.

The press was barred, but a Russian photographer was allowed inside the Oval Office for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, raising concerns by some security experts.

The White House defended its security, but other former intelligence officials said the level of screening granted for a visitor may not have been sufficient enough to detect espionage devices, The Washington Post reports.

The Russian "had to go through the same screening as a member of the U.S. press going through the main gate to the [White House] briefing room," a senior administration official told the Post.

According to the newspaper, the administration official said the White House had been told the Russian was Lavrov's official photographer but was not informed that he also worked for the Russian news agency Tass.

CNBC has reached out to the White House for comment.

The Post noted that among the critics are former deputy CIA director David S. Cohen, who condemned the decision on Twitter.

@cohendavid: No, it was not.

Russia also has a history of sneaking surveillance devices into U.S. facilities.

Wednesday's meeting coincidentally came a day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the agency's investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

Read the full report from The Washington Post here.
President Donald Trump and Mohammed bin Salman meet at the White House in Washington, March 14, 2017.

Saudi Arabia plans to make a $40 billion investment in one of President Donald Trump's pet projects, U.S. infrastructure development, according a media report.

The announcement may coincide with Trump's visit to the kingdom next week, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. However, they cautioned that no final decision had been made and the announcement could be delayed.

Saudi Arabia has been telegraphing its eagerness to invest in the United States for months.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told CNBC in March the kingdom believes U.S. infrastructure in particular is an attractive investment.

"The infrastructure program of President Trump and his administration is something that we're interested in because it broadens our portfolio and it opens a new channel for secure, low-risk yet healthy return investments that we seek," he said.
He spoke at the panel's scheduled hearing on global threats, which featured FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe  filling in for Comey  and top U.S. intelligence officials. Committee chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., stressed that while alleged Russian interference is a "significant threat," the hearing would cover issues beyond Moscow, including North Korea and the Middle East.

"For many people, including myself, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the president's decision to remove Director Comey was related" to the Russia probe, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said.

A key senator said Thursday that President Donald Trump 's firing of FBI Director James Comey seems "related" to the bureau's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Democrats appeared set to hit the Russia issue early and often. Warner asked McCabe if he would commit to informing the committee of any political interference in the Russia investigation, and McCabe responded, "I absolutely do."

"There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date ... you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing," McCabe said when Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked if the firing has disrupted any of the FBI's work.

The White House has repeatedly said Comey's abrupt firing on Tuesday had nothing to do with the Russia probe, which Comey said in March includes investigating any possible links between Trump campaign associates and Moscow.

The Trump administration has suggested multiple motives for Comey's termination, including his conduct in the probe into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information last year and an error in his congressional testimony on the probe last week. However, the timing of the firing  which comes as the bureau is investigating the president's campaign  has raised concerns from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including several Senate Republicans.

Chairman Burr told reporters Wednesday that the timing and reasoning "incites people to believe that there's something that's being covered up." However, he said he does not personally believe Trump wants to cover anything up with the firing.

McCabe also denied that Comey had lost support of the rank-and-file FBI agents. The White House suggested Wednesday that a loss of confidence in Comey among FBI employees contributed to his firing.

"Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does today," McCabe said.

He called it a "highly significant investigation." The White House has contended that there is nothing underpinning the probe and Americans should move on from it.

McCabe said he was not aware of a reported Comey request for more resources for the probe, adding that he believes it is "adequately" funded.

Democrats have decried the firing and increased their calls for a special prosecutor in the Russia investigation. Most Republican lawmakers, though, have resisted those calls and said that the Senate Intelligence Committee's probe into Russian interference is adequate.

In his letter firing Comey, Trump went out of his way to write that the FBI director told him three times he was not under investigation. Such a statement from Comey would not appear to follow the FBI's protocol, multiple reports said.

Asked Thursday if he knew if Comey told Trump he was not under investigation, McCabe said he could not comment. Later in the hearing, McCabe said he would not give the White House such updates on the investigation.

Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign colluded with Russia, and has even suggested that Moscow may not be responsible for cyberattacks on Democrats. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election, though Moscow is widely suspected to have interfered in other Western elections.

McCabe, who joined the FBI 20 years ago and became deputy director last year, is respected within the bureau. Comey enjoyed a similar popularity among the rank-and-file of the FBI.

Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box" earlier Thursday, Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass said "there's something odd" about "this protection of this U.S.-Russia relationship from the get-go."

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
The research arms of Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, both underwriter firms of Snap's initial public offering, told investors to focus on the long-term potential of the social media company and reiterated their buy recommendations on the stock in the wake of a very disappointing earnings season debut.



The company's shares were down 20 percent in early trading Thursday, a day after it reported disappointing first-quarter earnings results.



Snap posted first-quarter sales of $150 million versus the Wall Street consensus of $158 million. It also reported daily active users of 166 million for the quarter compared with 167 million expected by StreetAccount.



"While SNAP remains a near venture stage investment with all of the risks that implies , we continue to believe its audience and engagement represent a unique asset that will benefit from growth and diversification of internet usage and advertiser adoption as both mature," Goldman analyst Heath Terry wrote in a note to clients Thursday.



Terry reiterated his $27 price target for Snap, representing 45 percent upside from Thursday's price.



In similar fashion, Credit Suisse told clients to appreciate how rare and special Snap is in the industry.



"Snap is a scarce asset that offers advertisers access to a coveted younger demographic," analyst Stephen Ju wrote. "Our long-term investment thesis has not changed on the back of this report."



Ju reaffirmed his $30 price target for Snap. The analyst noted there were positive aspects to the company's report such as better-than-expected monetization of $1.81 average revenue per user (ARPU) in North America versus his $1.68 estimate. He cited how the North America's ARPU was more than seven times Europe's ARPU, a gap he predicts will shrink over time.



"Although we would certainly have preferred to have seen higher DAUs reported vs. our expectations and a higher reset to BOTH our revenue and Adj. EBITDA estimates, we settle for profit dollars for now," he wrote.

To be fair, the investment banking and research units of Wall Street banks have been separated by a wall since the early 2000s after they were accused of drumming up investment banking business with favorable research. So there should be no reason to believe that these firms were maintaining their bullish stance just because of the underwriting relationship.

Still, some skeptics say that Wall Street research is too bullish on the companies they do investment banking for and all companies in general. These reports won't do anything to dissuade that opinion.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, is an investor in Snap.
Viu, an over-the-top streaming service, which falls under the umbrella of Hong Kong-listed PCCW , is launching its services in Thailand next week in an effort to beat its regional and international competitors in the market for streaming services in Asia.

The potential for over-the-top (OTT) streaming in Asia Pacific is immense, with estimates it is worth $6.5 billion based on just subscription revenue, according to Rethink Technology Research. The industry by 2021 is set to reach $10 billion on subscriber numbers of about 200 million  which is twice today's figures.

Thailand would be Viu's 15th market since it launched 18 months ago. The OTT service says it has 6 million active users monthly across its 14 markets  which span from Hong Kong to Egypt.

The competition in the streaming services in Asia is intensifying with Netflix's global expansion to 130 countries last year and regional competitor iFlix and HOOQ making similar bids for subscribers across Asia.

Unlike Netflix, which requires a subscription to stream movies or episodes, Viu offers free streaming with built-in advertisement. The company operates on a "freemium" model, which uses a dual revenue stream of advertising-supported and premium subscription services.

PCCW Media, the unit that runs Viu, saw a market gap for an Asian-centric online video streaming and download service.

"Asia is quite diverse in terms of its market landscape whether it is bandwidth, technology availability as well as the language  we have to localize," PCCW Media Group's Managing Director, Janice Lee, told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

The media conglomerate is investing in Asian original content with a strong focus on Korean content.

"We see across the markets that we operate in, about 50 to 80 percent of viewers who watch any video online do watch Korean content, so that is quite staggering, so we have to give them what is popular," Lee said.
Timotheus Hoettges, CEO of German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom, arrives for his company's annual press conference to present the 2015 business report on February 25, 2016 in Bonn, western Germany.

T-Mobile US will very likely be part of merger talks in the United States and its strong position there should give it time to find the best fit, its parent Deutsche Telekom said on Thursday.

"Purely theoretically, we can see several advantages to consolidation and convergence," Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Tim Hoettges told reporters after its first-quarter results.

"The strong position we have established for ourselves gives us the time and space to evaluate all options together with colleagues in the U.S.," Hoettges said.

T-Mobile US, which is 64 percent controlled by Deutsche Telekom, was the main driver behind the German telecoms operator's better than expected 7.5 percent rise in core profit.

Major U.S. operators Verizon and AT&T have been struggling to fend off smaller rivals T-Mobile US and Sprint in a maturing market for U.S. wireless services.

Last month, T-Mobile US reported a 2.7 percent rise in post-paid customers to 35.3 million, continuing the steady increase in its subscriber base over the past four years.

Verizon, however, lost 307,000 retail post-paid customers or those who pay a monthly bill, in the first three months of 2017, the first quarter it has ever lost subscribers. AT&T lost 191,000 post-paid subscribers.

Unlimited data plans are among the latest incentives, one of many T-Mobile US initiatives shaking up the U.S. wireless market. In February, Verizon followed suit to offer an unlimited data plan for the first time in over five years.

"T-Mobile US continues to grow at breakneck speed," wrote Bernstein analyst Dhananjay Mirchandani, reiterating a "market perform" rating. "Leading indicators remain strong."
Senator Ted Cruz has spent much of his tenure in Washington angering Democrats, Republicans, and the Trump team to boot. It often seems like he may be the most hated man in American politics. But now, he just might be the most needed.

This is all because the GOP Obamacare replacement bill is on life support on arrival in the U.S. Senate. As it stands now, it's a lot like Cruz in that it's almost universally hated by everyone. Of course the bill is a non-starter for Democrats, but many Republicans are terrified by the fact that it basically keeps almost all of Obamacare intact without maintaining even its currently insufficient sources of funding. And then comes the White House, which seems to only be interested in getting a replacement bill passed and then declaring victory no matter what's in the measure.

So who can save this damaged bill that has almost no fervent supporters? Don't look to the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who hasn't proven he could do even as good a job as Speaker Paul Ryan did to get the bill squeaked through the House. And don't look to President Donald Trump himself, who didn't play a hands on role in crafting the House bill and won't be doing that now as the Senate wades into its own amendment process.

This sounds like a job for Super Cruz and his super one-shot Obamacare fix!

First, let's look at the plan Cruz is pushing. He wants the Senate to ditch the House bill's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare over three phases. Instead, he's calling for one bill that will repeal the Obamacare mandates, allow for cross-state insurance purchases, bring in medical malpractice reform, and expand the use and size of health savings accounts. Just about every Republican in the Senate has at one time or another called for each of the above changes. And since Cruz's plan also reportedly leans on just getting that 51-49 vote majority in a Senate with 52 Republicans, so far, so good.

Ah, but what about the thorny issue of the folks with pre-existing conditions that almost derailed the House Obamacare replacement bill thanks to those Republicans with cold feet over the fate of their care? No problem, says Cruz who told the Washington Examiner he believes "robust high risk pools" are the answer to covering that segment of the population. That looks like it will be a tougher sell. But as the option of risk pools is getting more scrutiny lately, some good evidence is popping up that they can work when funded properly. A recent defense of risk pools written by the man who ran the pre-Obamacare risk pool system in Maryland was just actually published this week in the Washington Post. Look for Cruz and many other Republicans to lean heavily on that defense and the general logic behind it in the coming weeks.

Of course, this is all about convincing and mobilizing Republicans and only Republicans. Democrats aren't and won't be swayed by any of Cruz's arguments. It'll be hard enough for Cruz to find a way to get polar Senate GOP opposites like libertarian hero Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and moderate stalwart Senator Susan Collins of Maine to agree to back the same bill.

But Cruz is really the only man in the Senate who can get this done. His own hard core conservative and libertarian bona fides should get him a fair hearing before the bill's biggest GOP skeptics like Senator Paul. Paul can't dismiss Cruz as just another liberal when the Texas Senator stumps hard for the risk pools for reasons of compassion and pragmatism. And if he can really back up his push for risk pools with adequate funding, Cruz could soothe senators like Collins and other nervous Republicans who are terrified of any bad p.r. that would come from any Americans losing coverage. It would be one thing if the usually firebrand Cruz was responding to that lost coverage scenario with a hard-edged screed about government free loaders. But as long as he's pushing a risk pool option not done on the cheap, he's going to be a lot more persuasive.

One of the reasons why the House Obamacare replacement bill was a mess is because it really had no nationally prominent leader backing its key details or making the case for them within and without the Republican Party. Cruz may still not win any popularity contests on Capitol Hill, but he demands respect and attention from Republicans and even some Democrats.

When it comes to the sick patient that is the AHCA, Cruz may be just what the doctor ordered.

Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
When anaerobic digestion takes place, organic materials  think food waste  are broken down by microorganisms in an oxygen free environment, producing biogas.



Described by the U.S. Department of Energy as a proven energy source both in the U.S. and around the world, biogas can in turn be processed, purified and turned into biomethane.



The DOE describes biomethane as being "pipeline-quality" and "fully interchangeable with conventional natural gas."

In France, one company has been looking to turn biogas into liquefied natural gas (LNG), or bio-LNG. Cryo Pur says its system generates bio-LNG with a high energy efficiency.

Cryo Pur's process works in three steps. The first step involves the removal of hydrogen sulphide, water and pollutants. The second sees the biogas cooled to minus 120 degrees Celsius, with the separation and liquefaction of CO2 taking place.



The resulting biomethane is then compressed to 15 bar and liquefied at minus 120 degrees Celsius, with the bio-LNG then stored in "cryogenic vessels."

"The process developed by Cryo Pur is especially done to convert biogas into biomethane, and the biomethane that we produce today has exactly the same quality as natural gas, so it's a good result," Pierre Coursan, biomethane market manager at Suez, told CNBC's Sustainable Energy. Suez is one of Cryo Pur's commercial partners.

In a facility on the outskirts of Paris, Cryo Pur has been working with industrial partners to produce a working demonstration of their technology. The system uses several different types of waste material.

"The technology developed here is able to treat every biogas that can be produced from anaerobic digestion, from agricultural feedstock, sewage sludge, organic waste," Coursan added.

Using anaerobic digestion, the organic materials are turned into biogas, which is then purified  separating CO2 from methane  with the resulting biomethane liquefied to make bio-LNG.

"Every day we are able to treat more than two metric tonnes of biogas and we transform it (into) about one metric tonne of liquid biomethane, which can be used in long haul trucks to make long distances in the range of 1,500 kilometres," Denis Clodic, CEO and founder of Cryo Pur, said.
PHNOM PENH  Inclusive growth, harnessing the power of technology and simmering geopolitical tensions are among key issues facing the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the bloc celebrates 50 years of existence. At a CNBC debate during the World Economic Forum's ASEAN meeting on Thursday, a panel of experts identified three key ideas for the region to concentrate on.

CNBC's Sri Jegarajah speaking with a panel of experts at the World Economic Forum's 2017 ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. CNBC

ASEAN doesn't need an EU model

Established in late 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community aspires to implement economic and financial integration across member nations. Still, many have wondered whether the region would be better off taking a page from the European Union and embracing a monetary union as well. "I don't think we need to go so far to have a common union but if we can make borders become connection points in a way so that everybody benefits, you can exist within a trading bloc and not necessarily an EU model," said General Electric Vice Chairman John Rice. Rather than uniting ASEAN with a single currency, a level playing field boasting free flow of human and financial capital would be more beneficial, Rice continued. "Countries must concentrate on fictional points, the things under the surface in terms of getting permits, approvals and moving goods from one place to the next. Those frictional costs are insidious when it comes to the cost of trade." There are several lessons ASEAN can learn from the European model, particularly amid current anti-globalization sentiment, added Grete Faremo, under-secretary-general and executive director at the United Nations Office for Project Services. "It's all about inclusion and leaving no one behind. What rules of engagement do we have to secure equal opportunities for all?"

ASEAN must be friendly to everyone

Following President Donald Trump's "America First" policy and Washington's exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, many Southeast Asian countries have leaned closer to Beijing, drawn by the promise of mainland investment. Still, the U.S. remains a dominant power in the region as it looks to ward off excessive Chinese influence. Amid the U.S.-Chinese rivalry, it's essential for ASEAN to refrain from choosing sides, stressed George Yeo, chairman of Kerry Logistics and a former Singaporean politician. "We must be friendly to everyone and embrace a neutral platform so the major economies have a vested interest in our well being." He added that China's interest in the region, reflected by the country's massive 'One Belt, One Road' project, is a feather in ASEAN's cap. "In the next 10-20 years, ASEAN's infrastructure base will improve beyond recognition. There is a chance that many Southeast countries will now make it to first-world status, this is a historic opportunity we shouldn't let natural tensions between neighbors get out of hand."

Governments can't ignore the power of broadband internet
While newly fired FBI Director James Comey made mistakes, Sen. Mark Warner said he is offended by President Donald Trump's comments about him.

"This is a continuing pattern of disrespecting the men and women who serve in our intelligence community," Warner told reporters after he and Sen. Richard Burr met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Warner, the ranking democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he believes Trump would be "better served" if he supported the intelligence community, rather than questioning the integrity of its leaders.

Earlier Thursday, the president told NBC in an exclusive interview that he was going to fire Comey "regardless" of what the Justice Department recommended, contradicting what the White House said Wednesday.

"Look, he's a a showboat, he's a grand-stander, the FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil. Less than a year ago, it hasn't recovered from that," Trump said at the White House.

Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intel Committee, didn't directly respond to Trump's comments.

While the Republican senator acknowledged Trump's authority to determine who leads the FBI, Burr reiterated his previous statement on Comey's removal, saying he found him to be incredibly ethical. Burr said the "lion's share of FBI employees" respect Comey.

Sen. Richard Durbin, an intelligence committee member, chimed in via a tweet that Trump's interview comments showed the Russia investigation was a reason for firing Comey.

Tweet

White House officials are scrambling to justify the timing of Comey's termination, insisting that he lost his job because of his conduct in the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails last year.

They said it had nothing to do with the FBI's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which Comey first revealed publicly in March and includes any possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

 CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.

Watch: More Americans think Comey firing 'inappropriate'
There are still a lot of questions about what happened with FBI Director James Comey's firing, but the controversy shouldn't derail President Donald Trump's agenda, former Vice President Dan Quayle told CNBC on Thursday.

Quayle spoke soon after Trump told NBC News he was going to fire the "showboat" FBI director "regardless" of what the Justice Department recommended, directly contradicting what the White House said Wednesday.

"He can go full steam ahead with his agenda, but he's got to right the ship," Quayle said in an interview with "Power Lunch."

"They've got to get this under control, find out what the facts are and get them all out as soon as possible."

He also thinks the administration should put forward a new FBI director quickly, which will "change the story to some extent."
President Donald Trump on Thursday defended the discrepancy between how he fired former FBI Director James Comey and the way he terminated national security advisor Michael Flynn, two of the most explosive and politically charged decisions of his young presidency.

In an exclusive NBC News interview, Trump explained why he abruptly terminated Comey but waited to oust Flynn  both moves that have sparked criticism. Trump did not remove Flynn until 18 days after acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned White House counsel that the former lieutenant general could be vulnerable to blackmail because he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Trump contended that White House Counsel Don McGahn, after meeting with Yates, did not make it sound as if firing Flynn was an "emergency" that "had to be done immediately."

"This man has served for many years. He's a general.  In my opinion, a very good person," Trump told NBC News. "I believe that it would be very unfair to hear from somebody who we don't even know, and immediately run out and fire a general."

He reiterated that he fired Flynn not because of Yates' warning but because Flynn misled Pence. Flynn told Pence that he had not discussed Russia sanctions with the ambassador when in fact he had.

Trump said he did not know at that time that Flynn had taken payments from both the Russian and Turkish governments, but alleged that the Obama administration could have known because it renewed Flynn's security clearance.

It is not clear what if anything the Obama administration knew about those payments, but President Barack Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn as national security advisor, according to multiple officials from the former administration.

Contradicting what his White House previously said, Trump also told NBC that he wanted to fire Comey "regardless" of what the Justice Department recommended. He called the former FBI director a "showboat" and "grandstander."
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was going to fire "showboat" FBI Director James Comey "regardless" of what the Justice Department recommended, directly contradicting what the White House said a day earlier.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News' Lester Holt, Trump said the FBI had been in "turmoil."

"Look, he's a showboat, he's a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago  it hasn't recovered from that," Trump said at the White House.

White House officials are scrambling to justify the timing of Comey's termination, insisting that he lost his job because of his conduct in the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails last year. They said it had nothing to do with the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which Comey first revealed publicly in March and includes any possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
President Donald Trump reacts after signing an executive order on education during an event with governors at the White House, April 26, 2017.

After his controversial firing of Director James Comey, President Donald Trump may soon visit FBI headquarters in an apparent attempt to boost morale, his spokesperson said.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday on CBS' "This Morning" that "it's very likely," Trump will go to the headquarters "in the next few days."

More from NBC News:

Did AG sessions violate his recusal by advising on Comey firing?

Comey tells colleagues: 'It is done, and I will be fine'

U.S. diplomat: It's 'increasingly difficult' to explain news from home

On Wednesday, Huckabee Sanders said, "the president will be meeting with Acting Director [Andrew] McCabe later today to discuss that very thing  the morale at the FBI  as well as make an offer to go directly to the FBI if he feels that that's necessary and appropriate."

However, senior White House officials tell NBC News that while Trump is "weighing" a visit to the FBI building, the day is still being worked out.

The senior White House official said it's unlikely it will happen this week.

It is not expected that Trump will discuss the Russia investigation during his visit, according to a New York Times report.

Comey's dismissal has come as a shock to the political world after Trump's sudden firing occurred Tuesday.

In a letter to FBI employees, Comey said he wouldn't spend time thinking about why and how the president fired him, and told his former colleagues to do the same.

Comey called the bureau a "rock" for America, and said he hopes it will continue to uphold the Constitution.

"I have said to you before that, in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence," Comey wrote in his farewell letter. "What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality of its people, who together make it that rock for America."
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Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will address the media during the daily White House briefing. The briefing comes after acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said Thursday that President Donald Trump's termination of James Comey will not disrupt the bureau's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Read more:

Trump: I was going to fire Comey 'regardless,' he was a 'showboat'
Amid Hostilities, Aldermen Pledge To Bring More Affordable Housing To Wards

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 10, 2017 10:56PM



Photo via Flickr user brian kelly

At least seven aldermen from the North and Northwest Sides are reportedly on board to add a minimum of 50 affordable housing units, backed by the Chicago Housing Authority within their wards.

Hanging over the recent announcement was the at-times racially charged blowback that's been launched against an affordable housing development intended to cater in part to veterans and the disabled, in Jefferson Parka neighborhood that has exhibited similar pushback in the past as well.

"Recent efforts to establish affordable housing on the Northwest Side in my collegues John Arenas ward, has exposed widespread, thinly bailed prejudice, said Alderman Deborah Mell (33rd Ward), according to CBS. And a general not in my backyard perspective masquerading as concerns about density and building height."

Despite the fever pitch that engulfs that development, Ald. Arena struck a note of optimism, particularly around parallel efforts to advance the so-called Keeping the Promise ordinance, which has long stalled in the City Council's Housing Committee. He said it's merely a logical extension of the Affordable Requirement Ordinance, which requires that 10 percent of an up-zoning development's units be affordable. "My point of view is that saying the Chicago Housing Authority is part of that mandate is not an alien conceptwe already do it," Arena told Chicagoist.

"I dont see that as a controversial approach, and neither does the general population," he added.

The Chicago Housing Initiative was not immediately available to provide a list of all reps who participated in the pledge. Ald. Proco Joe Moreno, Harry Osterman and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa were among those at Wednesday's conference. Also joining the call was gubernatorial candidate Ameya Pawar (47th Ward). He spoke in support of Arena's plight.

"[I]f Ald. Arena brings up this project and his office gets hijacked for six months for 80 affordable units, how do you bring that forward in other communities?" he asked on Tuesday, according to the Tribune.
Bill To Remove Troubling Abortion 'Trigger' Law Passes Senate, Heads To Rauner's Desk

By Rachel Cromidas in News on May 10, 2017 9:28PM

Lawmakers in the Illinois Senate have passed a bill that meant to safeguard abortion rights for Illinois residents, in addition to expanding options for Medicaid recipients and state employees. The bill is now on to Gov. Bruce Rauner's desk, though the governor has promised to veto the bill.

The bill calls for the scrapping of Illinois's current trigger law, which opponents worry would make abortion automatically illegal in Illinois in case the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade being overturned by future court.

The bill also calls for the expansion of abortion access in Illinois, where right now the state only pays for abortions in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening health risks to the mother. The bill expands coverage to include women on Medicaid and women who are state employees on the state's health insurance as well.

Rauner has promised to veto the bill when it gets to his desk, under pressure from his more socially-conservative supporters. Democrat State Sen. Heather Steans, of Chicago, said "It is time for us to ensure [abortion access] and keep it safe here," according to the Sun-Times, but several state senators expresse both their opposition to the bill, and to abortion access in general, including Sen. Neil Anderson and Dan McConchie.
Chicago Is Getting A Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Bar, Thanks To NYC Cocktail Pioneer

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on May 10, 2017 8:54PM



Jim Meehan / Getty Images / Photo: Bryan Bedder

The man behind perhaps New York City's most famous neo-speakeasy is returning to his Chicago roots in decidedly Chicago fashion. Jim Meehanthe brainchild behind the "super secret speakeasy" PDT in New Yorkis teaming up with one of Chicago's leading cocktail-focused hospitality groups for a bar inspired by none other than architect (and open-house fave) Frank Lloyd Wright.

Meehan, a former James Beard winner, grew up in the Chicago area but made his imprint with PDT (Please Don't Tell), the celebrated East Village cocktail bar that patrons access through a phone booth inside a hot-dog joint. The novelty and by-all-accounts excellent drinks have made it favorite for travelers and production location scouts (see most recently it's appearance in Master of None, Season Two).

But for his Chicago concept, appropriately dubbed Prairie School, Meehan is mining architecture's favorite Midwest-associated modernist. It will land in the bustling West Loop/Fulton Market neighborhood (natch) at 326 N. Morgan St., where the old Smack Shack once lived. The bar is collaboration with Heisler Hospitality, whose long list of hotspots includes Sportsman's Club, Bad Hunter, Pub Royale and Bar DeVille.

"I'm eager to be part of it in this project, which affords me the opportunity to explore my roots as both an outsider and a native son," Meehan said in a statement.

The venture is actually a two-parter, but no specifics are yet available about the second, non-Prairie School half (perhaps a postmodern Jahn-inspired progression?). It'll be designed with help from the Rugo/Raff firm (Alinea, Roister, Aviary). The design and decorlike the drinkstake cues from Wright's style. Luckily, the nature of how liquid sits inside a glass tends to lend itself well to horizontal lines.
More People Are Renting, But De-Conversion & Richer Tenants Are Fueling A Terrible Affordability Gap

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 11, 2017 4:20PM



Photo: Stephen Gossett

More and more people are renting, but the amount of affordable housing lags woefully behind. And Chicago's de-conversion-happy ways, coupled with more and more wealthy renters, doesn't help the issue. That's perhaps the biggest takeaway from a new study.

Every year, the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University crunches the rental numbers. Looking at figures from 2015, the year for which data was most recently available, researchers found that 44.2 percent of Cook County households come from renters. That number has been steadily rising since 2007 (when the rental rate was 37.7 percent). The 44.2 net is essentially on par with rates from the 1990sbefore policymakers, lenders and the housing industry basically started handing out home contracts at the airport, swelling the bubble that burst in 2005.



Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University

But as rental rates have ticked up, so too has the affordability gap. In Cook County, the supply for affordable housing fell 187,848 units short of demand in 2015. And the overall trend says the divide is growing. The affordability gap has shot up by 30,575 since 2007.

In a neighborhood breakdown, the Loopwhere development rages, but rarely to the tune of affordabilityis most unforgiving. More than half of the full share demand of affordable housing is not met by the supply. Other neighborhoods with disconcertingly high rates of unmet demand cluster in the tony sectors of the North Side, including Lakeview and Lincoln Park (45.2 percent) and Lincoln Square and North Center (41.8 percent).

The nature of the housing stock itselfand how landlords transform it, and what layouts some renters preferdoesn't seem to be moving the needle in the right way either. More and more people are renting in singe-family houses and buildings while the iconic two-flat diminishes. "Continuing a trend identified in last years State of Rental Housing in Cook County report, the share of rental units in single-family homes and larger multifamily buildings continues to increase, while the share of rental units in two-to-four unit buildings continues to shrink," researchers wrote in the report. In a word: de-conversionalways a very tricky business.

At the same time, basically ever since the rebound from the recession, the overall makeup of renters in Chicago has become increasingly wealthy. The trend is not new. (See Chicago Mag's dive from one year ago.) But it that hasn't shifted.

Researchers explain:



"As the economy improved after 2012, the number of very low-income renter households declined while there were increases in higher-income renter households. This has led to shifts in the composition of renter households by income level. In 2015, this trend is largely unchanged, with moderate increases in renters earning between 30 and 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) as well as increases in renters earning more than 200 percent of AMI".

You don't have to look much further than recent political developments to see that a lot of people get itwhether it's North Side aldermen's recent pledge to add more affordable housing stock, or proposals that would raise fees on stripping a multi-unit residence down to a single-family. Meanwhile, the numbers show that, without course correction actually getting done, the gaps will likely only exacerbate.
Tym Rourke attends attends a meeting about the opioid crisis in New Hampshire with Gov. Chris Sununu, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and others at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services Jeff Myers attends attends a meeting about the opioid crisis in New Hampshire with Gov. Chris Sununu, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and others at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Rep. Annie Kuster speaks to media following a meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Gov. Chris Sununu, local officials and community members about the opioid crisis. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway leaves a press conference at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, following a meeting with local officials and community members about the opioid crisis. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Gov. Chris Sununu (right) opens a meeting about the opioid crisis in New Hampshire with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (center) in attendance at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway speaks during a press conference at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, following a meeting with local officials and community members about the opioid crisis. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Dozens of protesters staged a die-in outside the governors office at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. The group, concerned about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, waited for the arrival of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. (ELLA NILSEN / Monitor staff)

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway speaks during a press conference at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, following a meeting with local officials and community members about the opioid crisis. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Doors to the Executive Council chambers are closed to the press as a meeting about the opioid crisis continues with Gov. Chris Sununu, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway and others in attendance at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price attends a press conference at State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, following a meeting with local officials and community members about the opioid crisis. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Dozens of protesters staged a die-in outside the governors office at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. The group, concerned about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, waited for the arrival of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Dozens of protesters staged a "die-in" outside the governors office at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. The group, concerned about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, waited for the arrival of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Dozens of protesters, including Margaret Campbell of West Lebanon, staged a die-in outside the governors office at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. The group, concerned about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, waited for the arrival of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price attends a press conference at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, following a meeting with local officials and community members about the opioid crisis. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

Gov. Chris Sununu (left) opens a meeting about the opioid crisis in New Hampshire with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (center) and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway in attendance at the State House in Concord on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff)

At a stop in Concord for a listening session on the opioid epidemic, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price pushed back on the notion that there is less money going to fight the drug crisis under the Trump administration, amid news of dramatic budget cuts to the office of the national drug czar.

I think if you look at the entire federal government and the presidents commitment to this challenge, youll see that there are actually hundreds of millions of dollars of increase on this issue, Price said, although he didnt specify what those increases were.

Outside the press conference, dozens of protesters laid in the State House halls like corpses, meant to symbolize the growing death toll in the state from drug overdoses. Price avoided the protesters by entering the Executive Council chambers through a back door.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday after the closed-door listening session, Price did not deny reports of a 95 percent cut being proposed to the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy. The office coordinates drug policy efforts across the federal government and administers grants to help law enforcement and prevention programs in states including New Hampshire.

My sense is the presidents desire is to make sure the grant-writing and the granting authority is in the departments, that there isnt the expertise in the White House itself for that, Price said.

More than $1 million dollars in federal money flows through the office to fund 13 New Hampshire prevention programs each year. The office also disperses grant money to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, which provides training and support to state and local police as they investigate drug dealers.

Price said that while the office may be slashed, the grant money it contains wont necessarily go away. Rather, he said, it would be distributed among other government agencies.

It makes sense to me that the departments be the ones evaluating whether the grants from states and elsewhere are appropriate and to make certain were getting greater resources than have been given in the past, he said.

Price and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway first held a listening session with New Hampshire officials, first responders, treatment advocates and Jim and Jeanne Moser, two parents who lost a son to the opioid crisis.

The meeting between the Trump administration officials and New Hampshire leaders was off-limits to the public. Attendees later said Conway and Price sat quietly, listened and took notes during the discussion.

Afterward, Conway and Price reiterated Trumps commitment to solving the opioid crisis, and Conway said the presidents concern for the issue was motivated by what he heard in New Hampshire during the 2016 campaign.

He heard about it all through the campaign, nearly everywhere he went, Conway said. But I would say in New Hampshire he heard about it with a fever pitch and with great intensity.

Congresswoman Annie Kuster, who was at the roundtable, said she was encouraged that nearly every participant told the administration officials about the importance of continuing the expanded Medicaid program, which provides insurance and substance use disorder coverage to tens of thousands of Granite Staters.

That program now hangs in the balance, after Congressional Republicans started making headway on a health care bill that would roll back Medicaid expansion and not require insurers to cover substance use disorder treatment and mental health services.

On Wednesday, Price questioned whether the Medicaid program was the best option for low-income individuals or if there was a better way to provide services. The secretary guaranteed health care for all, but was short on specifics.

What the president has committed to and what were committed to is to make certain every individual has access to the kind of coverage that they want for themselves and for their family, Price said. He added that if there is a move away from Medicaid, his office is committed to a seamless transition to get people onto other insurance plans.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu commended the bills passage in the House, but also said he had some severe reservations about the details it contains.

A lot of folks in this state  and I share those concerns  are concerned about making sure that substance use disorder and mental health are included as part of that plan, and most importantly that states have the flexibility, Sununu said. The states need that flexibility so we can design those systems as we see fit, and those systems over time can also be nimble.

However, Sununu said that he believed the Trump administration will let individual states choose what should and shouldnt be covered by insurance.

Unlike the previous administration, where Washington was going to implement and control everything, they want the states to be implementers, he said.

Price, a physician, outlined a multi-pronged approach to fighting the drug crisis, including working on treatment and recovery, addressing the public health aspect of addiction and focusing on pain management.

The Health and Human Services secretary also noted that New Hampshire is set to receive $3 million that was approved by Congress and President Barack Obama last year.

Money isnt everything, governor, but money is something, Price told Sununu.

The departments all in, the presidents all in, Price said. He has such passion for this issue because he knows the misery and the suffering that has occurred across this land and wants to help solve it.

New Hampshire is the latest stop on Price and Conways listening tour, where they are meeting with local officials across the country about the opioid crisis. He visited West Virginia and Michigan earlier in the week.

After the recent passage of the American Health Care Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, Price and Conway were greeted by dozens of protesters who lay on the cold marble floor outside the governors office, their eyes shut for a die-in.

Protesters held up signs resembling gravestones including, Drowned in a high-risk pool, and Trump lied, I died.

Concord resident Louise Spencer, co-founder of the Kent Street Coalition, said she was protesting in the State House because she knows many people who could be affected by a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

This is a concern thats shared across the state, Spencer said. Everybody is impacted by this.

New Hampshire Democratic legislators also held a press conference outlining their opposition to the health care bill as written, saying that gutting Medicaid and essential health benefits would be devastating.

One of the speakers was Valene Colby, a person in long-term recovery who was able to access drug treatment through expanded Medicaid.

This Trumpcare bill is going to strip funding for Medicaid and prevent new people from enrolling, regardless of how desperate their need is, Colby said. We are one nation under God, and our health care system should reflect our decency as human beings and our responsibility to care for one another. It shouldnt be to cut taxes or make a profit.

(Ella Nilsen can be reached at 369-3322, enilsen@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @ella_nilsen.)
Judy Terry is a marketing professional and a former local councillor in Suffolk.

When Jeremy Corbyn talks about investing in infrastructure, jobs and housing, I want to ask: How?

During Labours 13 years in power, there was little to celebrate, despite lots of talk and endless consultants reports. Dont forget were still paying for the Private Finance Initiative-funded empty Fire Service HQs which John Prescott introduced, but were never operational because they simply didnt work. Had anyone bothered to consult local fire services, billions of pounds would have been saved. Small wonder that Liam Byrne left a note in the Treasury saying theres no money left.

This is what Labour loves: unwieldy top-down bureaucracies, which dont listen to those who understand what communities want and need. Instead, ordinary people must be dictated to.

A prime example was the eight Regional Development Agencies (the ninth was responsible to the London Mayor), launched in 1998, employing large numbers of expensive staff, with Chief Executives reportedly paid in excess of 300,000 a year. Funded by central government, their objective was to devise and implement economic development plans; between 2002 and 2011, alone, they were in receipt of 10 billion..

However, a study by accountants, PWC, in 2009 revealed that they were generating a mere 1 for every 1 invested and in 2012 the Coalition Government replaced them with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) which were closer to their communities and local business, providing greater insight to decision-making. They were also cheaper, without the huge salaries, expensive premises and bureaucracy of their predecessors, bringing a much tighter focus.

Conservative MPs, recognising the dearth of opportunities in the modern age in too many locations beyond London and the South East, were amongst the drivers for this fresh approach, supported by Government funding, to overcome decades of neglected infrastructure and training.

Recognised by Government as one of the best and most innovative, the New Anglia LEP is led by a voluntary board comprising business, education, and local authority leaders, transforming investment outcomes with a sharp focus on activities to help grow jobs and remove barriers to growth for business.

In just a few years, it is well on target to realise its ambitions to create 95,000 new jobs, 10,000 new businesses and 117,000 new homes in Norfolk and Suffolk by 2026. Awarded an extra 69 million in February, its Growth Deal fund has grown to 290m for capital project spending by 2021. The strategy is attracting significant private investment right across the region, reviving what was a largely stagnant economy.

As the cabinet member responsible for economic development at Suffolk County Council, I attended a number of meetings in the early stages, and the knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment of the original Chairman and his successor brought a fresh dimension to the public sector, overcoming initial scepticism. Their determination to deliver on their clear objectives, developing a very close working relationship with local authorities  both Labour and Conservative-led  encouraged the private sector to dust off their plans and engage with the process.

Relatively modest sums, provided by the LEP through a careful bidding process, unlocked  and continue to unlock  a range of new and dormant schemes. New training facilities to meet demand have also been at the top of the agenda.

For example, following an independent analysis of the potential benefits paid for by the LEP, Lowestoft and Ipswich will have new river crossings, to relieve congestion and release brownfield sites, with 150m awarded by Government to cover construction costs. Further contributions across the region include more than 50 million on road improvements and 10m for broadband, which is virtually non-existent in too many rural areas, inhibiting small businesses (including holiday lets) and the self-employed. Good internet access is crucial to converting redundant farm buildings for housing or into specialist business units, whether for the Arts, agriculture or the creative industries, which all thrive in a rural environment.

Millions have also been invested in a new construction industry training centre at Easton & Otley College, and a higher level education / training area at Kings Lynn, with a further 7m in energy, engineering and advanced manufacturing in facilities at West Suffolk College. A new aviation academy received 3.3m, with Ipswich and Lowestoft receiving 1.85m and 2.5m for, respectively, a new Innovation centre and Enterprise centre. Many other projects are in the process of delivery, with more in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca moved its global HQ to Cambridge in 2016 with a multi-million pound investment, bringing together world class capabilities and in the last year have delivered over 130 collaborations with academic, healthcare and research partners. The city is an internationally renowned expanding hub for life sciences, with a further 35m being invested in a new home for growing enterprises.

All this activity is bringing new, well-paid, skilled jobs, but it is merely a small indication of what has been happening across the country as a whole during the last seven years, for which all those involved deserve enormous credit. But it wouldnt have happened without the strong leadership of Government, business, local authorities and  crucially  the input from Local Enterprise Partnerships and Conservative MPs, who understand business.

We still have a housing shortage, but new housing follows jobs and jobs follow upgrading skills, and infrastructure improvements.

Beat that, Jeremy! Your vague promises have no substance; the Conservatives are already on the case and delivering long-overdue lasting benefits for ordinary people.
Daniel Hannan is an MEP for South-East England, and a journalist, author and broadcaster. His most recent book is What Next: How to Get the Best from Brexit.

The eclipse of the Labour Party by must now be reckoned more likely than not. Future historians will look back on the years between 1924 and 2017 as the Labour era, the period when a trade union-based party was one of the big two. But, like the Whigs and the Liberals before them, the Peoples Party now face being displaced as the main force on the Centre-Left.

Thats not to say that Labour will disappear completely. There is still a Liberal Party, representing those who rejected the 1988 merger with the SDP, clinging on in parts of Liverpool. There is even, incredibly, a continuity SDP, created by refuseniks on the other side, with a handful of members in East Yorkshire. Something calling itself the Labour Party will be with us for a while yet. But the partys life force is ebbing.

Think about it. All the indications are that, however badly he does, Jeremy Corbyn will refuse to step aside, making a schism inevitable. Even if he is somehow eased out, the electorate that chose him will remain in place. And that electorate  the mass of Momentum agitators  could not have made clearer that it does not care about winning general elections. Even as Labour slides in the polls, its activists remain focused on purging Blairites.

From the outside, Labours behaviour seems almost suicidal. But thats because were not looking at the personal incentives of the various actors. Just as Richard Dawkins showed that apparently self-destructive behaviour in animals can be understood once we grasp that the gene, rather than the organism, is the unit of selection, so we need to identify the motives of the individuals who make up the Labour Party.

Corbyn is, as it were, the ultimate selfish gene, content to allow the host organism to perish for his benefit. His supporters dont regard 28 per cent support in the polls as calamitous. They regard it as a vast improvement on the one or two per cent that has until now been the ceiling for Trotskyist parties. They have never been especially interested in Parliament, which their doctrines teach them to regard as a bourgeois institution. As they see it, the revolution is advancing through an essentially extra-parliamentary movement that just happens to have some MPs attached.

The motives of those MPs could not be more different. First, and most obviously, they want to keep their jobs. That doesnt just mean holding their seats next month; it also means avoiding deselection at the hands of Momentum when the new constituency boundaries kick in.

The longer I have spent in politics, the more I have realised that the lobby correspondents view of the world is more accurate than the leader writers. Preferment, sadly, almost always trumps principle. What was it that led to the formation of the SDP in 1981? Not, as high-minded historians claim, differences over unilateralism or the EEC, but incumbent Labour MPs fear that they would be subjected to mandatory reselection. Exactly the same fear will almost certainly cause a split after polling day.

So much for Labour activists and Labour MPs. What of Labour voters? Lets apply the same Freakonomics principle (or, as we might more pretentiously say, the same Namierite method) and ask what their incentives are. Most traditional Labour voters want what the Labour Party used to be: a party that was economically interventionist and committed to wealth redistribution, but also patriotic and hard-headed about immigration and crime. While no party exactly matches that combination, it seems clear that Theresa Mays Conservatives approximate it more closely than Jeremy Corbyns Labour. Many Labour voters, especially those whose habits were broken during the Brexit referendum, when they found themselves backing a campaign led by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, will now switch.

Labour MPs, Labour activists and Labour voters now occupy three circles that barely overlap. That is what makes a split inevitable. And that is what is behind all this breathless Blairite talk about how Emmanuel Macron won, as Peter Mandelson puts it, by leaving his party, not despite doing so. (New Labour types have always been unusually susceptible to European fashions.)

Even if the moderates could somehow recover control of the party  with its brand, its title and, not least, its trade union links  the problem would remain. These are not friendly times for parties of the traditional Left. It is often pointed out that, of the eight men who have led Labour over the past 40 years, seven failed to win a general election. But the decline of the established Left is a Europe-wide phenomenon. The French Socialists came fifth in the recent Presidential election, with 6.4 per cent; the Dutch Labour Party seventh in the general election with 5.7 per cent.

Parties designed for an age of mass industrialised workforces struggle for relevance when more and more of us are self-employed. Steam railways made mass movements feasible; broadband tilts the balance back from the producer to the consumer.

A new force will eventually emerge on the British Left. In this, as in any country, a chunk of the electorate is looking for a party that stands, essentially, for an activist state. But it now seems all but certain that that party wont be Labour.

In many ways, this saddens me. I wrote here last August that Britain had been unusually lucky in the temper of its chief Leftist party. Unlike the revolutionary socialist parties on the Continent, I observed, Labour was rooted in brass bands and the temperance movement, in working mens libraries and Nonconformist churches. On top of which, I feel for some of my Labour friends, public-spirited (if wrong-headed) parliamentarians who suddenly find themselves being howled down at party meetings by members they have never seen before.

Still, the quicker the reconfiguration happens, and the sooner we get back to normal two-party politics, the better for everyone. We Conservatives need a decent opposition. So, Heaven knows, does Britain.
For the past ten years, since David Camerons modernisation of the Conservative Party, a popular cry has been: theyre all the same. That claim will be just a little bit harder to sustain after the leak of Labours manifesto  though it may be worth noting that its contents are still being finalised by party chiefs.

ConservativeHomes favorite comment on them to date comes from Toby Young, who swoops on the proposal to re-nationalise the railways as each franchise expires. He points out that the last one will do so in 2036, by which time Jeremy Corbyn will be 87. But, then again, the whole draft has been certified by the Diane Abbott College of Arithmetic: no more tuition fees, no rise in the state pension age, the doubling of paternity leave, 6 billion more for schools, 5 billion more for the NHS, 100,000 more council houses, 10,000 more police officersall paid for giving the sturdy trunk of our old friend, the Magic Money Tree, a vigorous shake until the last of those magical mystical miracle 50 notes have fallen off.

We can look forward to enjoying the proceeds in the dark, since Labour wants to ban fracking, while also enjoying lower energy bills because, er, of greater use of renewables. But this site can pour all the mockery it likes over Jeremy Corbyns head. This Neverland prospectus  restoring the spare room subsidy, relaxing work assessments, a higher employment and support allowance, and so on, is as likely to shore up Labours core support as to collapse it. Corbyns main difficulty has been cutting through to voters. He will be greatly assisted in that task by the publicity that this manifesto will generate. The core constituency of what was once the party of the working man is now welfare claimants. Many wont ask themselves who will fund this cornucopia once the wealth-creating sector has been pulverised to a smoking husk.

Better for Corbyn that he is seen as dangerous than as simply irrelevant. Nor will nationalising Royal Mail, the railways or the energy companies frighten all the horses. It is the best part of 40 years since the state owned and ran a mass of utilities, and many will not remember the Soviet-style delights of the experience. You will think that 80,000 or so is not a lot of money, and in some ways you will be quite right. But it is a monarchs ransom to some core Labour voters  and many others. They wont be at all alarmed by those who earn that much and more paying extra tax. That they themselves would bear the brunt of the inevitable panic cuts in public services once the economy nosedived will not always occur to them.

Corbyns tax proposals are so punitive, and his economic sums so plainly awry, that even the North London public sector rich will leak votes elsewhere  deep in the belt of seats represented by Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry and Abbott and Corbyn himself. But the real flaw of the latters prospectus for his core vote lies elsewhere. A mass of it turned out to vote for Brexit last June. And the manifesto draft explicitly rejects the view, backed by Theresa May, that no EU deal is better than a bad deal. It follows that Labour believes that a bad deal is better than no deal  in other words, that Britain should ultimately pay up a 100 billion bill (or insert higher sum here) at the request of Jean-Claude Juncker and Angela Merkel. Lynton Crosby will have a lot of fun with that.

He has not even started yet on Corbyns sympathy for the IRA during Britains long struggle with it. But he will relish the prospect of getting going on Labour and defence. The draft pledges to keep Trident  but says that any prime minister should be extremely cautious about ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction (as though other potential Prime Ministers would be extremely reckless) We can look forward to Corbyn ducking and diving as he refuses to confirm that he would ever use such weapons  thereby, irrespective of the merits of the argument, sending precisely the signal of weakness to patriotic Labour voters that Theresa May, Crosby, Michael Fallon et al want him to send.

But the most exposed flank of all is the drafts immigration proposals. Corbyn proposes to scrap the minimum income rules for the partners of non-EU migrants, and refuses to commit to reducing migration at all  or, as the manifesto puts it, it wants fair rules and reasonable management of migration, and no false promises on immigration numbers: in other words, no pledges of restriction at all. As Lord Ashcrofts polling has found, immigration control was not the main driver of the Brexit vote. But it was the second main factor named, and that the impact of migration is felt especially by poorer voters in Labours heartlands is too obvious a point to stress. The partys draft will not only motivate more Tory voters to turn out, but tempt Labour ones to switch. Go, Lynton, go!
Obama Center Will Deliver Billions For South Side Economy, Foundation Says

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 11, 2017 6:50PM



Photo: Aaron Cynic

Roughly a week after Barack Obama unveiled the uber-anticpated plans for his presidential center and library, the Obama Foundation has released its own report outlining a different, but no less eye-grabbing, batch of details. The Obama Center will have billions of dollars in economic impact for both the South Side and Cook County at large, according to an assessment published by the foundation.

From construction through the first ten years of operation, the Foundation estimates a $3.1 billion in impact for Cook County, including $2.1 billion for the South Side. Construction alone is a windfall, according to the Foundation's numbers: with a $675 million impact for Cook County businesses ($339 million on the South Side).

The foundation is claiming big job numbers as well:

- 4,945 "direct, indirect and induced" jobs created, during construction

- 2,536 jobs after the opening of the Center

For the South Side alone, the Center would generate an economic impact of $177 million each year, with 2,175 jobs, the report said.

David Simas, Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation, said in a statement:



"President and Mrs. Obama chose to develop the Obama Presidential Center in the heart of Chicagos South Side because it is the neighborhood they call home and the place they believed they could have the most impact. By bringing thousands of visitors to the South Side every year, the [Obama Presidential Center] will create new jobs and opportunities in the community, strengthen the economic climate, and revitalize historic Jackson Park. This analysis helps quantify the impact we can expect the OPC to bring to the community, the City, and the State.

The stress on the positive impacts for the South Side is not only notable for the obvious reasonsthat's where the Obamas have such deep roots, that's where the center will be, in Jackson Parkbut also because some community and parks groups in the area have been pushing for a benefits agreement, a guarantee of sorts that residents from within the community feel the economic boon, rather than feared displacement. The Foundation said that visitor, employment and budget figures in its methodology in predicting the economic boon were "conservative."

Not long after the designs for the Center were revealed, Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin compared the aesthetic to that of the Star Wars reboot. That now seems even more fitting: if the Foundation's own internal numbers are correct, it'll indeed be generating blockbuster impact.
Chairperson Xi Yanchun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office. Today's conference will be about the Belt and Road Initiative.

We are delighted to invite Mr. Qian Keming, vice minister of commerce, to introduce trade and economic cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and answer some of your questions. Also present is Mr. Zhang Xingfu, the head of the Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce.

Now, let's welcome Mr. Qian to give his briefing.

Qian Keming:

Good afternoon, friends from the media.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative to boost global development and cooperation. It demonstrated China's willingness to shoulder its responsibilities as a large and important country.

With the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the Initiative features openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation. This fulfills the expectations of countries along the route, with the aim of creating a community of a shared future. So far, the Initiative has received positive responses from more than 100 countries and international organizations.

Unimpeded trade is a major issue under the Belt and Road Initiative. We have made notable achievements in the following five aspects.

Regarding trade, we have actively boosted mutual market openness and increased trade facilitation. Various expositions, including the China-ASEAN Expo, China-South Asia Expo, China-Eurasia Expo and China-Arab States Expo, have played their role in facilitating interaction between businesses along the Belt and Road and helped them enjoy the opportunities created by the Initiative. From 2014 to 2016, trade between China and countries along the routes of the Belt and Road enjoyed a growth rate faster than the global average, reaching 20 trillion yuan in total regarding investment and cooperation, we have continually improved services to encourage more Chinese businesses to invest in countries along the route. Between 2014 and 2016, the total direct investment made by Chinese businesses in those countries surpassed US$50 billion, and the contractual value of new construction projects reached US$304.9 billion. Besides, we have attracted businesses from countries along the Belt and Road to invest in China by offering them wider market access and a comfortable business environment.

Regarding major projects, we have worked with related parties to promote smooth progress in various projects. The China-Laos Railway, the second phase of Pakistan's Karakoram highway and the Karachi-Lahore motorway are under construction. The oil and gas pipelines joining China with Russia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar and other countries are either under construction or already in operation.

Regarding overseas business cooperation zones, Chinese businesses have invested more than US$18.5 billion in 20 countries to build 56 such zones. These have generated about US1.1 billion in tax revenue and created approximately 180,000 jobs for the host countries. The China-Belarus Industrial Park has become a landmark project in the Silk Road Economic Belt. Smooth progress has been made in the building of the Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Egypt, the Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone and Cambodia's Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, among others. Regarding free trade areas, we have signed free trade agreements with ASEAN collectively, along with Singapore, Pakistan and other international organizations and countries along the route. Agreement was reached last July on upgrading the China-ASEAN free trade zone. A free trade agreement is going to be signed with Georgia. Currently, we are working on negotiations over the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and on negotiations over free trade zones with Israel, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Gulf Cooperation Council, among others.

Today, products made in China, projects undertaken by China and services offered by China have become increasingly popular in countries along the Belt and Road. More and more products, services, technologies and investments have flowed into China from those countries. Tangible achievements have been reached in trade and economic cooperation; new energy has been injected into those countries for economic development; new momentum has been provided for the development of an open world economy; innovative modes have been created for economic globalization.

Now, I'd like to answer your questions with my colleague.

Xi Yanchun:

Thank you, Mr. Qian. Now the question session begins. Please identify your media outlets before raising questions.

China Central Television (CCTV):

We have noticed that the Ministry of Commerce is responsible for organizing a parallel session on promoting unimpeded trade during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. How is the preparatory work progressing? Also, could you please introduce the number and size of the free trade zones between China and countries along the proposed routes as well as the impetus they have given to the regional economy?

Qian Keming:

We all know that China will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14-15. The forum will be the highest-level international conference to be held in China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and it has received wide support and positive response from the international community. The conference will consist of three parts  the opening ceremony, high-level meeting and the round-table summit. There will be six parallel themed sessions under the high-level meeting, among which the parallel session on promoting unimpeded trade is prepared and organized by the Ministry of Commerce.

The theme of the parallel session on promoting unimpeded trade is "smooth, efficient, mutual benefits, development and deepening economic and trade cooperation of the Belt and Road." If we can reach a consensus on many issues, we will make an announcement on this at that time.

Currently, all the preparations for the meeting are progressing smoothly. About 200 have confirmed their intention to attend the meeting, among whom about 120 are foreign guests from more than 50 countries. Presently, we are steadily moving ahead with preparations in cooperation with relevant departments and in accordance with the highest standards, most stringent requirements, and most practical measures to ensure the success of this meeting.

Up to now, we have already signed and implemented free trade agreements with 22 countries and regions, including 11 countries along the Belt and Road, namely. the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, and China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. Just now. I mentioned that, during the summit we will sign a formal trade agreement with Georgia, and will start a free trade agreement feasibility study with Mongolia. There is a schedule according to which we will promote the building of free trade zones with 20 countries along the Belt and Road, involving the implementation of the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement (RCEP), and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), China-Maldives, China-Sri Lanka, and China-Israel free trade negotiations. We will carry out a joint free trade feasibility study with Nepal, Bangladesh and Moldova. And, we will start negotiations with Pakistan and Singapore on upgrading the free trade agreements already signed.

Moreover, under the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement, we have concluded the fourth-round of tariff reduction negotiations with India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Laos  four countries situated along the routes. Currently, the outcome of the negotiations is being implemented in an orderly manner.

Phoenix TV:

We've noticed that Chinese companies may face some risks when joining construction projects in countries along the Belt and Road. How will the Ministry of Commerce assess such risks? What specific measures are being taken to guide or help the enterprises? Besides, we've also noticed that a trend in favor of reversing globalization is rising around the world. In particular, we are facing difficulties in cooperation with our principal trade partners. How will the Belt and Road Initiative ensure expanding trade with China, especially in countering any trade barriers from some countries? Thank you.

Zhang Xingfu:

Foreign investment and cooperation are important to the Belt and Road Initiative. The Chinese government is encouraging qualified and capable enterprises to go international in their investment and cooperation activities. Generally speaking, the overall situation is good, according to ministry statistics. However, enterprises inevitably face some difficulties and problems when going international. We know the problems and risks involve political, economic, legal, social and security factors, as well as for business operational reasons. In recent years, we have been enhancing our guides and services for enterprises, by attaching equal importance to development and risk control, to ensure they go ahead in a steadier and better way. We have built a precaution system against risks involving foreign investment and cooperation so as to be able to issue timely risk warnings. We have signed investment agreements with countries related, provided guidance to enterprises on how to reduce and cope with overseas emergencies, and worked hard to safeguard the legal rights and interests of Chinese enterprises as well as foreign nationals. Meanwhile, the enterprises should carry on their business in accordance with the laws and regulations at home and abroad and create feasible international development strategies especially in avoiding blind investment without full investigation.

Qian Keming:

In general, the impact of the global financial crisis that hit the world in 2008 has lasted until now. In the midst of an economic downturn, trade protectionism is rising due to objective reasons, namely that economic globalization may bring about imbalances between the developed and developing countries in regard to their specific interests, within an individual country and among the developed countries themselves. In regard to structural imbalances, different countries take different measures, some turning to trade protectionism. China is committed to open development. In this context, we need a global public product to lead and promote and add fresh momentum to economic globalization, or to offer new political choices. It is in this context that the Belt and Road Initiative has been put forward at exactly the right time. The Initiative will add new impetus to China's future development, especially development of the middle and western regions of the country as well as the opening-up strategy. It will also inject new vitality to the world economy and the development of countries along the Belt and Road in particular and offer a new public product as well.

The Initiative plays a key role in boosting confidence in economic globalization and global economic growth, invigorating the world economy and providing new impetus for the globalization drive. Besides, it is known that the many countries along the Belt and Road, especially those in Central Asia, are landlocked. In a period of rapid development of globalization, they lag behind in economic development and participation in the globalization process. Thus, the previous round of globalization hardly brought any tangible benefits to the region, which is the deficiency we have analyzed in the process of developing our globalization approach, that is, lack of inclusiveness. Moreover, global development is imbalanced. The Belt and Road Initiative exactly covers that particular region and will offer them opportunities for economic integration and development.

Infrastructure construction is an important part in the Belt and Road Initiative. As you know, geographical factors play an important role in creating barrier-free trade and economic integration. The trade in landlocked countries is not smooth. Once the infrastructure is connected, the flow of capital, logistics and information, plus human interaction, will be enhanced. Trade and investment also will be boosted. So, the Belt and Road Initiative is of great significance in breaking down trade protectionism and promoting the development of the regions along the Belt and Road as well as further development of economic globalization.

Reuters:

The Belt and Road Initiative is President Xi Jinping's signature plan. Many think that the plan will continue for decades to come. So I'm wondering what guarantee the rest of the world have that once President Xi's term as president has ended, the overall plan won't be replaced or abandoned by the next leader. Secondly, there is a concern among foreign companies that all these infrastructure, these projects are for Chinese companies, not for other countries' companies. So will they be allowed to bid along with the Chinese companies for these projects? Thank you.

Qian Keming:

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by President Xi in 2013; however, it is not an individual proposal or one that somehow fails to be implemented. It has received worldwide responses and belongs to all. We call it an initiative of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, because it is advanced by all participants rather than one country, namely, China alone. So your concern is unnecessary. The vitality of the initiative lies in the fact that it meets the expectations for future development of countries along the Belt and Road. It has awakened their desires and pursuit of development. This is why the Initiative is so dynamic, and its vitality has nothing to do with who proposes it or how long his tenure in office might be. It has received such a strong response as it accords with the hopes of the countries along the route.

Secondly, while promoting the Initiative, participants including enterprises and governments have all focused on scientific planning and prudent implementation to protect its sustainability. I believe that further promotion of the Initiative will have an ever-larger impact on the region's economic growth, as well as facilitating policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and strengthened people-to-people ties. It will definitely show even greater vitality.

Zhang Xingfu:

The Belt and Road Initiative is an open and inclusive framework. Chinese companies' investment in and cooperation with countries along the route must strictly conform to the requirements of the host country and abide by international conventions. In project bidding, Chinese companies compete and cooperate with their international counterparts on a level playing field. Investment and cooperative projects conducted by Chinese companies have driven the development of the local economy and society, and created many jobs and tax revenue for the host countries. According to our statistics, overseas Chinese companies achieved a sales volume of US$1.5 trillion in 2016, generating US$40 billion in taxes and creating over 1.5 million new jobs for host countries.

At the same time, many Chinese companies have cooperated with enterprises from a third country to contract for projects along the Belt and Road. For instance, the Hassyan Clean-Coal Power Project in Dubai involves joint investment from the Silk Road Fund, banks in the Middle East and multinational banks, and it is jointly contracted by Chinese companies and General Electric. The trade cooperation zone constructed by Chinese companies in Vietnam has not only attracted Chinese companies, but also enterprises from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The Vinh Tan Coal-fired Power Plant (Phase I) Project in Vietnam also involves cooperative investment by China Southern Power Grid, China Power International Development and Vinacomin. These are all examples of our cooperation with other countries. Thanks.

Xi Yanchun:

We noticed that many foreign media have reported on the Belt and Road Initiative, but some of the reports may not be particularly comprehensive and accurate. We will have more press conferences like today to introduce to you the progress of the initiative. On the other hand, we hope that your reports will be more precise and objective. Please continue to ask questions.

People's Daily:

We've noticed that some of the countries along the Belt and Road are small in terms of economic size, and have limited import and export capabilities. How do you see the prospects of China's trade with these countries? What measures will be taken to boost trade with them? Thank you.

Qian Keming:

Thank you for your question. It is indeed a fact that some of the countries along the Belt and Road are relatively underdeveloped, with little trade cooperation among them. What lies behind it is the fact that these countries, small economically, have yet to deeply integrate themselves into economic globalization. This brings about not only problems and challenges, but also enormous potential and opportunities. There is great potential for investment and trade cooperation among them as they are highly complementary in terms of resources. We will introduce multiple measures in this respect, among which achieving infrastructure connectivity is the key. With overall infrastructure connected and standards aligned, trade will surely be boosted.

In addition, we are leveraging the role of joint commissions on commerce and trade and FTZ negotiations in bolstering bilateral trade. Other measures include holding expositions, such as the five or six large-scale national expositions I've already mentioned. I'm convinced that rapid economic growth, infrastructure connectivity and the alignment of standards and development plans will stimulate trade in this region.

Russia Today:

Mr. Qian, you just mentioned some major projects with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. My question is what specific measures will China take or has already taken to achieve synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union?

Zhang Xingfu:

President Xi Jinping proposed jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt during his visit to Kazakhstan in September, 2013. China and the 12 Eurasian countries are taking the lead in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, with fruitful achievements. The work we've done and will continue to do can be summed up in six aspects.

First, we take immediate actions to realize extensive alignment of policies. The Ministry of Commerce has signed cooperation agreements on joint contributions with its Eurasian counterparts, advancing the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and Eurasian Economic Union as well as the alignment of economic and social development strategies.

Second, bilateral trade is growing steadily. The trade volume between China and 12 Eurasian countries increased by 20.9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017. China remains one of their major trading partners. The trade mix continues to improve, with e-commerce thriving and reciprocal market access being achieved for many agricultural products.

Third, breakthroughs are being made in FTZ development. China is about to sign a free trade agreement with Georgia, making the latter the first Eurasian country to sign an FTA with China. China and Moldova have concluded their feasibility study for FTZ negotiations and will officially start the process in due time. China and the Eurasian Economic Union have agreed to take establishing FTZs as our long-term goal, and have conducted the third round of negotiations on an economic and trade cooperation agreement.

Fourth, bilateral investment prospers. China has made all kinds of investments totaling US$83 billion in Eurasia, improving the well-being of local people.

Fifth, notable progress has been made in capital flows. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Silk Road Fund, China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund and China-Kazakhstan Capacity Cooperation Fund have been established and currency swapsare being expanded, thus diversifying the platforms for China to invest in the region.

Sixth, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) plays an increasingly important role. In recent years, China has taken the SCO as an essential platform to pursue connectivity, industrial-capacity cooperation, capacity building and investment and financing cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road. To advance trade facilitation, it has proposed establishing an SCO e-commence alliance and hosted SCO Countries Commodity Fair in Xi'an in 2015. The SCO prime ministers' meeting ratified a list of measures to further promote cooperative projects within the SCO from 2017 to 2021, and initiated SCO institutional arrangements on trade facilitation. SCO regional economic cooperation has entered a new stage featuring integrated development with the Belt and Road Initiative.

CBN:

I have two questions. Firstly, we know that the Belt and Road Initiative is a major move of China to pursue an all-dimensional opening-up under the new historical circumstances. How is the impact of it on the opening-up of the central and western areas? Moreover, we know that the Ministry of Commerce is in charge of the Department of Foreign Assistance. How to construct the Belt and Road in regard to providing foreign assistance? Will the system of foreign assistance be reformed and improved during this process? Thank you.

Qian Keming:

You are asking about the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the opening-up of the central and western areas. After it was announced, we intensified our efforts in opening-up in the central and western areas. You know that we established seven pilot free trade zones, of which five are establish in the central and western areas. At the same time, the two regions are situated along the route taken by China-Europe freight trains. This includes Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Xi'an and Lanzhou. These measures promote the opening-up of the central and western areas. Economic zones in border areas and cross-border economic cooperation areas are also being established to help regional advancement. In general, a new pattern of opening up from eastern areas to western areas has been formed.

Zhang Xingfu:

As for our foreign assistance, I mentioned that the Belt and Road Initiative is open and inclusive. Our foreign assistance is an important manifestation that China is a responsible major country. I believe reform of system of foreign assistance can keep pace with the times and the development of foreign assistance and the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative complement each other. Thank you.

TV Asahi:

My question is about concrete statistics. According to the document, trade between China and countries along the Belt and Road route has totaled some 20 trillion yuan (US$2.90 trillion), with a growth rate above the average world level. So, what I want to figure out is the number of countries along the Belt and Road route. If there is an exact figure, would you please discuss it?

Qian Keming:

I don't know whether you have noted that Foreign Minister Wang Yi was asked a similar question a few days ago. The Belt and Road Initiative is open and inclusive so we only generally say that there are several directions without specifying which countries are included or excluded. Our overall principle is to extend a welcome to all those who voluntarily seek to join the initiative for joint efforts through consultation to bring benefits to all with no exclusions. The statistics are roughly calculated and I have more than once emphasized that the figures including outbound investment that has surpassed US$50 billion and contracted projects worth a total of US$300 billion are all general without showing exactly which countries are involved.

China Global Television Network:

As we know, building economic and trade cooperation zones is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative. You've just mentioned that China has cooperated with over 20 countries along the routes to establish a total of 56 economic and trade cooperation zones. Can you tell us more about the construction progress and the highlights and challenges regarding these zones?

Zhang Xingfu:

Just as Minister Qian has mentioned, China has become involved in building 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in over 20 countries along the routes. Following the market operational mode, Chinese enterprises started from their own development needs and took into consideration the resources, market demand and development strategies of the respective countries to promote construction. According to our classification, there are mainly six types of cooperation zones, namely, processing and manufacturing, resource utilization, the agricultural product industry, trade and logistics, scientific and technological research and development, and comprehensive development.

The construction of cooperation zones is now playing a significant role in promoting economic growth, industrial upgrading, industrialization of those countries and enhancing bilateral trade and economic cooperation. I'll explain through some examples. The Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Egypt has seen total investment of US$780 million, producing a GDP contribution exceeding US$600 million. During President Xi Jinping's visit in Egypt in 2016, he and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi attended the unveiling ceremony of the second phase of the zone, testifying to its ability to develop with greater prosperity.

Then, there is Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in Cambodia. It has become an important textile production base in the country, contributing over 50 percent to the economy of the Preah Sihanouk area, creating 17,000 job opportunities for local people and providing financial assistance of over US$10 million for Cambodia. In addition, China's Hodo Group, undertaking construction of the zone, has created training plan in Preah Sihanouk.

We have two cooperation parks in Hungary. One is the Borsod Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, and the other one is a commerce, trade, logistics economic and trade cooperation zone. The former was constructed by Wanhua Chemical Group Co. Ltd following the mode adopted for Chinese economic and technological development zones. It has become a typical case in borrowing Chinese experiences.

Next, we will continue to promote the construction of economic and trade cooperation zones by stepping up planning and guidance, promoting strategy connectivity, enhancing the cooperative mechanism, and giving full play to the advantages of China, the host country and third-party enterprises to benefit more local people. At the same time, we hope that relevant countries can cooperate with the Chinese government to formulate favorable laws and policies for such construction, and create a good business environment.

Xi Yanchun:

The last question goes to a foreign reporter.

CNBC:

How do you see the development of the Belt and Road Initiative after the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) is held? Will it be an integration of regional trade agreements? Is it going to be developed in this way? And, how often will the BRF be held?

Qian Keming:

Thanks for your question. To us, the Belt and Road Initiative is a great cooperative initiative. It includes five parts: policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonding. So, it is different from free trade zones. Compared with the emphasis of free trade zones on trade and investment, the scope of the Belt and Road Initiative is wider. It not only involves the economy, but also cultural exchanges, and other aspects. The Belt and Road Initiative is not going to become a free trade zone in the future. Free trade zones are surely a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative, but we cannot say that countries along the route of the Belt and Road will be built up into a great free trade zone.

As for your third question, the frequency of the BRF is up to the needs of development.

Xi Yanchun:

Thank you again, Vice Minister Qian. Thank you, Mr. Zhang, and all our friends from the press. Another two press conferences on the Belt and Road Initiative will be held tomorrow morning and afternoon. And more information about spokesman and the conferences will be released on the "SCIO" APP. That's all for today's press conference.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 22, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

"China and India have a combined population of over 2.5 billion. If we speak with one voice, the whole world will listen; and if we join hands, the whole world will pay attention." - President Xi Jinping (September 18, 2014)

Ahead of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing next week, the Chinese government has proposed a four-point initiative for better ties with India.

The proposal came via Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui while giving a speech at a defense think-tank, the United Service Institution, in New Delhi on May 5. Undoubtedly, India needs to take this seriously in order to improve bilateral ties with China that have taken a beating of late over various issues.

The four-point initiative includes aligning China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with India's Act East Policy (AEP, aimed primarily at ASEAN) and also beginning fresh negotiations on a free trade pact. The Chinese envoy also proposed to begin negotiations on a "China-India Treaty of Good Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation" and also focus on finding an early solution to the long-standing border disputes between them.

The initiative put forward barely a week before the two-day BRF which is expected to be attended by at least 28 heads of states minus India, should surely reduce bilateral differences. India has repeatedly opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, one of the key segments of the BRI, as it is supposed to pass through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir region that India claims as its own.

On May 6, 2017, speaking in Japan at the 50th anniversary of the Asian Development Bank, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India had serious reservations about the BRI because of the sovereignty issue and, thus, little desire to join China's giant connectivity project.

However, the truth is that, realistically, India is already closely linked to the BRI. Before the latter was put forward by President Xi Jinping in 2013, China, India and other countries had already reached a consensus on the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor, established an inter-governmental cooperation mechanism and held a series of meetings. The BCIM Economic Corridor is now listed as one of the six land-based economic corridors of the BRI.

It needs to be recognized that the BRI is not just one "Belt" or one "Road;" rather, it is a network of regional cooperation and systematic projects with global significance. The CPEC, as part of the BRI, is a project devised for long term development and cooperation in various fields to enhance regional peace.

India's involvement would be conducive to its advancement. Allaying Indian concerns over the CPEC, Ambassador Luo said: "China has no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan."

India should realize that transportation is the basis of the CPEC, and the connectivity between China and Pakistan unavoidably must pass through the Kashmir area on the Pakistan side. It certainly couldn't detour through India and Afghanistan.

Instead of opposing the CPEC, India needs to get involved in the Chinese BRI with a more pragmatic attitude and look at the opportunities it offers for links with more than 60 countries.

Referring to the frosty India-Pakistan ties, Ambassador Luo emphasized China is willing to mediate to resolve differences between India and Pakistan if both sides accept it. Truly, the development of China, India, Pakistan and for wide regional stability call for a stable and friendly environment.

Unfortunately, the Modi government is focused on isolating Pakistan on the issue of terrorism, and is adopting a hardline domestic policy on Kashmir, thus cutting itself off from the opportunities offered by the CPEC and BRI.

Counter-terrorism is one area in which China and India should make special efforts together. Ambassador Luo said China was also a victim of terrorism, and so strongly supported international efforts in counter-terrorism. He also said that China "is ready to work with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the international community in fighting terrorism and countries need to have compatible policies, consensus and actions in fighting terrorism."

Today, China is the second largest economy in the world, with a GDP of U.S.$11 trillion, and is India's biggest trading partner outside the European Union. In the past two years since President Xi's visit, Chinese investment has been enhanced. For example, U.S.$2.3 billion flowed in during the past three months of this year, compared with only U.S.$1.35 billion between 2000 and 2016. Over 500 Chinese companies now operate there.

On trade ties between the two countries, Luo said he was happy to see China contributing its share to India's development. He suggested a bilateral "Friendship and Cooperation Treaty" along with a Free Trade Agreement to comprehensively boost relations.

Chinese companies are strong participants in the government's "Made in India" campaign, with total investment of U.S.$5 billion so far. However, there is much to explore considering China's investments elsewhere, and the huge untapped potential in India. If India would join the Belt and Road Initiative, it will be a huge boost for capacity investment and financial cooperation between the two countries that best serves the interests of the two peoples.

To confine oneself in a cage or build walls is certainly no way out. As one of the four key countries along the Belt and Road, India has to join hands with China to build super-modern economic and infrastructural connectivity in South Asia, broadening both Belt and Road and create an "Asian Age" within the existing political frameworks.

Rabi Sankar Bosu, Secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Networking News

Verizon Beats Out AT&T In Battle Over Straight Path Communications, Will Pay $3.1B For Spectrum Holder

Gina Narcisi

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Following a monthlong bidding war for wireless spectrum holder Straight Path Communications, Verizon has come out on top. The telecom giant will buy Straight Path for $3.1 billion in an all-stock transaction, beating rival AT&T's offer of $1.6 billion.

The new deal represents a massive 404 percent premium to Straight Path's closing stock price of $36.48 on April 7, one business day prior to Straight Path's entry into a merger agreement with AT&T.

Verizon's Straight Path win will give the carrier valuable --and hard to come by -- millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum licenses that cover the entire U.S., including within the top 40 markets. The wireless spectrum will give Verizon an advantage when building out 5G networks, solution providers say.

[Related: Reports: Mystery Straight Path Bidder Is Verizon; Bidding War For Wireless Spectrum Holder Reaches A Fever Pitch ]

"Wireless spectrum is more valuable than gold right now because so many companies want to buy it," said Rickie Richey, CEO of Fairhope, Ala.-based Altaworx, an AT&T and Verizon partner that focuses on wireless solutions.

AT&T had said in April that it would acquire Straight Path for $95.63 per share, or $1.6 billion. Later in the month, an unnamed bidder came forward with an offer of $104.64 per share or $1.8 billion. The unnamed bidder, which industry analysts and channel partners predicted was Verizon, in May submitted a second bid of $184 per share or $3.1 billion, nearly doubling AT&T's offer.

The bidding war demonstrated how hungry wireless providers are for wireless spectrum as they race to build next-generation networks, according to Rob Chamberlin, co-founder and chief revenue officer of DataXoom, a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based wireless solution provider that partners with both AT&T and Verizon.

"The market significantly undervalued Straight Path's assets," Chamberlin said.

Verizon did not respond to CRN's request for comment on the acquisition prior to publication time.

Straight Path said that its board of directors determined, after consulting with its financial advisers and outside legal advisers, that Verizon submitted a "superior proposal" to the AT&T merger agreement. The Glen Allen, Va.-based company said that AT&T chose not to make any new bids or amendments to its original merger agreement.

Now that Straight Path has taken Verizon up on its offer, the company owes AT&T a $38 million termination fee, which Straight Path said Verizon will be paying on its behalf.

Straight Path's stock has been soaring since AT&T announced its acquisition agreement in April, kicking off the start of the bidding war. However, the company's stock took a nose dive Thursday morning following news of the new deal with Verizon, falling 20.47 percent to $177.97 per share.
Security News

Palo Alto Networks Hires Channel Veteran To Lead Americas Channel, Revamp Partner Program

Mark Haranas

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Palo Alto Networks has hired channel veteran Karl Soderlund to run its Americas channels organization, saying he will play a key role in evolving the vendor's NextWave Channel Partner Program.

"I look forward to playing my part at the helm of the Americas channel team and helping accelerate Palo Alto Networks' momentum in the market with its ecosystem of next-generation security innovator partners," said Soderlund in a LinkedIn post. "[Palo Alto Networks] is a company I have long admired and I am thrilled that I will have the opportunity to help advance their mission of maintaining trust in the digital age by preventing successful cyberattacks."

Palo Alto Networks confirmed Soderlund's hiring.

[Related: 10 Things To Know About Cisco's Acquisition Of Viptela]

"Karl brings a wealth of channel leadership experience to our team, adding to our tremendous bench strength of our current channel organization," said John Spiliotis, senior vice president of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Palo Alto Networks, in a statement to CRN. "At the helm of the Americas channel team, he will play a key role in the evolution of our NextWave channel program by accelerating our momentum and up-leveling our operational scale in the market with our ecosystem of next-generation security innovator partners."

Jamie Shepard, senior vice president for health care and strategy at Lumenate, a Dallas-based solution provider and Palo Alto Networks partner, said Soderlund will shake up the vendor's channel strategy to focus more on specific partners, which will increase profitability for Lumenate.

"Their biggest strategy change right now in the channel is to go into bigger accounts and go deeper into them and get more market share," said Shepard. "Karl coming in is going to put a lot more focus on certain channel partners. They [could] change the channel program and have a different tier channel partne, because they definitely need more focus on the right channel partners to bring them into bigger accounts and to go deeper  that's their only issue right now."

Soderlund declined to comment to CRN as he officially does not start his new position as vice president of Americas channels until May 15.

He is replacing Todd Palmer, who recently joined hyper-converged startup Cohesity. Palmer was key in revamping Palo Alto Networks' partner program in 2016.

Soderlund recently held the position of group vice president of worldwide channels and alliances for unified communications specialist 8x8. Prior to that, he was the global channel chief for cybersecurity vendor Imperva for approximately 18 months.

Soderlund has an extensive channel history, holding positions such as vice president of worldwide channels and alliances at Aruba Networks, as well as vice president, Americas channel sales for Avaya.

"I love that Palo Alto Networks believes that a key measure of success will be when we stop reading about the latest breach in daily headlines and that successful large-scale cyberattacks become the exception, not the norm in our daily lives. Thats the promise the company represents," said Soderlund in his LinkedIn post. "Channel partners have clearly played a pivotal role in helping deliver that promise around the world and making Palo Alto Networks one of the fastest-growing companies in the history of the IT industry."

Lumenate's Shepard said Palo Alto Networks is making the technology moves that customers are demanding, including a major update to its PAN-OS.

"Product-wise, their new OS and everything that's coming out is phenomenal," said Shepard. "Palo Alto [Networks] is gaining a lot of attention. They just need to be in bigger accounts and to go deeper, and I think they're going to do that through the channel and Karl will help that."
Moon Jae-in of the liberal Minjoo Party waves during a celebration event in Seoul, South Korea, on May 9, 2017. Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in of the Minjoo Party said Tuesday that South Korea's presidential election is "a great victory of great people" after most of local media outlets viewed his victory as assured. [Photo/Xinhua]

The election of a liberal, Moon Jae-in, as president of the Republic of Korea presents opportunities for Korean-Chinese relations to move to better ground.

Under the last president, the conservative Park Geun-hye, relations were somewhat rocky. After Park agreed to deploy THAAD, an American missile defense system, China blocked tour groups from visiting Korea and applied other informal economic sanctions. China views THAAD as a threat to its own nuclear deterrent, because the Korea-based long-range radars had the capability to penetrate Chinese territory.

Moon brings to office a desire to improve relations with China and is expected to take a less tough line on North Korea than Park. However, its less clear what specific policies will emerge when his stated views are translated into practice.

For example, it had been the position of his Democratic Minjoo Party, and of Moon himself, for the past year to oppose the THAAD deployment. However, when he was campaigning, the position became somewhat muddled. Rather than take an advance position on the issue itself, he simply said the next president should decide.

Now that he is the next president, he may very well decide to keep the system, given that it has already been deployed and it could damage relations with Korea's closest ally, the U.S., to change course.

The fact is, whatever Moon might want to do, he is going to be constrained by the political and security situation. It would be a lot harder for Moon to remove THAAD or to reopen the jointly-operated Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea at a time when the North continues to conduct frequent missile tests and threatens to conduct its sixth nuclear test.

Korean conservatives feared Moon was too weak to take on North Korea. He said he would visit his neighbor before visiting the U.S., and he refused to refer to the North as "the main enemy" during a campaign debate. While conservatives would consider these positions naive at best, his supporters view him as someone willing and able to negotiate a solution through diplomacy.

Much depends on how the U.S. and its irrational president comport itself. Trump had rhetorically threatened to force the ROK government to pay for THAAD -- much as Trump tried to get Mexico to pay for the border wall he wanted to build.

He has also talked about pulling out of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. If he were to break a deal so early in Moon's administration, then why shouldn't Moon strongly consider breaking Korea's word on THAAD? Trump's actions could easily make Korea question the benefits it derives from the American alliance.

The optimistic view is that, as volatile as Trump is, his actions will also be constrained by politics, security concerns, and the smarter members of his administration. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, for example, reassured Korea that Trump really wasn't going to make them pay for THAAD.

It has become clear now that basically most of what Trump says is bluster entirely disconnected to reality. The U.S. hopes foreign countries will listen to McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis instead.

Recent developments suggest China has indeed gotten tougher on North Korea in the past few months. If China, South Korea, and the U.S. are at least working from the same page, that could set the stage for possible talks. There is a long way to go, but now that South Korea is finally out of its impeachment crisis, it will have a bigger role to play.

Mitchell Blatt is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
The second annual Cyber Investing Summit, held on Wall Street at the New York Stock Exchange, announced that Kevin Mitnick, the world's most famous hacker, will be its opening act on May 23, 2017.

CSO recently reported that the Cyber Investing Summit event producers yanked John McAfee as its keynote speaker because the New York Stock Exchange considered him to be a 'security risk'. McAfee followed with a fiery tweet last month saying he was not allowed in the NYSE building due to security reasons.

Mitnick tweeted back to McAfee "Do you need me to fill in for you :-)". Apparently he wasn't kidding.

A press release states that Mitnick will open the Summit with his technology magic show, and will demonstrate the latest hacking techniques and educate attendees on cyber security prevention and protection.

Once listed as one of the FBIs Most Wanted after hacking into 40 large corporations, Mitnick is now a trusted adviser to Fortune 500 companies and governments worldwide. He educates everyone from top executives to students on the practice of social engineering and cyber protection.

As its name implies, the Cyber Investing Summit - an all-day conference - focuses on investing in the cyber security industry, which is predicted to exceed $1 trillion in cumulative spending on products and services over the next five years from 2017 to 2021,

Mitnick the hacker is also an entrepreneur and the chief hacking officer at KnowBe4, a fast growing security awareness training company which debuted at No. 139 on the 2016 Inc. 500 list of America's fastest growing private companies.

While attendees will have the opportunity to explore the trends, challenges, and investment strategies available in the high growth cybersecurity sector, they'll also hear from an impressive lineup of cybersecurity experts. Notable speakers include Rich Baich, chief information security officer at Wells Fargo, Ann Barron-DiCamillo, vice president of Cyber Intelligence & Incident Response at American Express, Tim McKnight, chief information security officer at Thomson Reuters, and Troels Oerting, chief security officer at Barclays.

Top CISO names are a definite attraction to the Summit, but finding out what Mitnick has up his sleeve is the big draw. Will Mitnick pull McAfee out of a hat on the NYSE stage? Stay tuned. We'll be back with a post-show report.

Your comments won't disappear if you leave them on our Facebook page.
With Mothers Day just a few days away, this is the day that you thank your Mom for her love and support.  But dont thank her with a gift card.

Gift cards have been the favorites of late for hackers. Criminals have been hacking the gift card systems in pursuit of gift card numbers of cards that have already been issued, but haven't yet been spent.

What is your mom going to think when she gets a gift card and then goes to use it, only to find out there is no money on the card?

Since 93 percent of U.S. consumers buy or receive a gift card every year and the market is projected to reach $160 billion by 2018, gift cards have become the ideal target for cyber attackers. The structure of gift cards is well-understood and automated bots can be used to make millions of attempts and successfully crack a card and steal the balance. Not only is this type of fraud disappointing for the recipient who is left with an empty card, for retailers it can impact revenue, damage customer loyalty and decrease brand reputation, said Omri Iluz, CEO and Co-Founder of PerimeterX, a provider of behavior-based web protection.

Iluz said attackers can bring a bot army of balance checkers to a companys website, crack customers gift cards and cash out. They will use the funds in the customer account for purchases, or sell the gift card information on the black market. His advice for retailers is to:

Ensure you identify visitors to your website as human or not and block malicious visitors in real-time to protect your customers.

Have at least a CAPTCHA in place for websites, where your customers can check their gift card balances online. Sophisticated bots are able to solve CAPTCHA better than a human, but youll be able to block the simpler attacks.

Advice for consumers purchasing a gift card

Right after you get a gift card, log into the card account and change password/code.

Always document your balance. Most merchants will return money, if you can tell them it was stolen from the gift card. But for that you need to be able to provide proof of how your gift card funds were used.

If your gift card balance is stolen, report this to the merchant immediately. It will help you get your gift card balance reimbursed and alerts the merchant to the fraud so they can take measures to prevent such crime from happening in the future.

Be aware of phishing scams. Never click on a link from an email to check your gift card balance. Always go directly to the merchants online gift card balance check site, for example Target GiftCard Balance.

Dont leave your card unattended. Fraudsters can pick it up and duplicate it in seconds.

Want other gift ideas before it is too late? Check out Network Worlds list of geeky gifts.

What other gifts should be included, head to our Facebook page to add some.
A one-day conference on 'Scaling up Agricultural Adaptation through Insurance" will take place on the sidelines of the 46th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), set to take place from 8 to 18 May 2017 in Bonn, Germany. The conference is co-hosted by CTA, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA).

Agricultural insurance is an important tool which can help address the increasingly erratic weather and climate shifts, by providing indemnity payments to farmers. However, traditional insurance schemes are costly and not viable for many remote rural smallholders. Fortunately, considerable advances have been made in the field of index-based agricultural insurance, which involves linking payouts to scientific 'triggers' or thresholds beyond which agricultural production begin to suffer. Furthermore, there has been a growing emphasis on climate insurance in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes, and the Paris Agreement explicitly identifies insurance solutions as an area of cooperation to address climate impacts.

The event will bring together the climate change, agriculture and insurance communities to highlight the value of index-based insurance, draw lessons and identify key challenges for effective scaling up of index-based insurance as a climate change adaptation action. CTA will be represented at the event by Michael Hailu, CTA's Director, and Oluyede Ajayi, Senior Programme Coordinator for Agricultural and Rural Development Policy.

Bringing together insurance, big data and agricultural innovation

As climate change takes hold, increasingly erratic weather and climate shifts threaten already tenuous agricultural livelihoods and food security in the developing world. Agricultural insurance is an important tool which can help address this risk, by providing indemnity payments to farmers. However, traditional insurance schemes rely on physical verification of losses, which is costly and not viable for many remote rural smallholders.

Fortunately, considerable advances have been made in the field of index-based agricultural insurance, which involves linking payouts to scientific 'triggers' or thresholds beyond which agricultural production begin to suffer. Index-based insurance schemes are now being piloted and scaled up in many countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, and Nigeria.

Given the number of index-based agricultural insurance initiatives globally, the pace of change in science and technology, and interest in insurance as means to adapt to climate change, it is opportune to pull together the collective experience and draw lessons for further implementation and scaling up. Furthermore, there has been a growing emphasis on climate insurance in the UNFCCC processes, and the Paris Agreement explicitly identifies insurance solutions as an area of cooperation to address climate impacts.

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) are the hosts of this one-day conference on 'Scaling up Agricultural Adaptation through Insurance" on the sidelines of UNFCCC SBSTA week in Bonn.

Parallel session 1: Connecting insurance with farmers' needs

Weather-based insurance has the potential to benefit farmers by assisting them to withstand the effects of climate change. Through the provision of an insurance cover against erratic weather, farmers can be protected against food insecurity and hunger. Pilot projects on insurance have been implemented in different forms by a number of actors in various geographical areas. Some successes have been recorded and lessons have been learnt. In the new effort to scale up weather insurance, it is critical that it responds to the felt needs of farmers and the particular challenges that they face. In efforts to scaling-up weather insurance beyond pilots on limited scale, farmers' needs must be central to its design and implementation.

The parallel session will focus on connecting insurance to farmers' needs by (i) identifying the key critical needs of the various groups of farmers, (ii) tease out key lessons learnt from past and on-going insurance, (iii) address gaps in the design and implementation of weather insurance and, (iv) identify specific approaches to promote inclusive weather insurance.

Chair/Moderator: Prof. Nick van de Giesen, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Rapporteur: Dr Olu Ajayi, Senior Programme Coordinator, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), The Netherlands

Parallel session 2: Big data to improve index insurance products

For insurance to help smallholder agriculture adapt, at scale, to variable and changing climates, it must address several challenges, including:

Developing indexes (e.g. multi-scale) that capture a sufficient proportion of the climate-related risks important to smallholder farmers;

Deploying supporting M&E systems that reduce information asymmetries, transaction costs, basis risk and moral hazard;

Adopting efficient and scalable approaches that tailor insurance products to local needs and contexts.

It will be difficult for an insurance program to scale to tens of millions if it still relies on face-to-face interaction to capture farmers input into product design, on expensive ground-based methods for claims settlements, or on individual spreadsheets to administer customer contracts.This session explores what big data approaches offer for addressing these challenges. The overlay of meteorological datasets, remotely sensed crop and rangeland health, farm & agronomic survey data, customer preferences and supply chains leads to a much more nuanced approach to climate risk management, especially as databases develop over time. It can allow holistic product bundles tailored to the needs of different kinds of farmers, better understanding of climate risk for index design, or much more effective integration between insurance customers and other value chain stakeholders in a growing smallholder contract farming context. Insurance can act as an incentive for farmers to share vital information about planting dates, seed types and other agricultural practices known to control the largest fraction of yield variability in smallholder settings. However, both practical and ethical questions remain. What is the most appropriate data to collect, hold and use, and by whom? What are the regulations and privacy implications of big data for insurance? What are the most effective methods of data collection and proven case studies for big data in agricultural insurance? This session seeks to discuss and shed light on some of these issues.

Chair/Moderator: Jim Hansen, Flagship Leader, Climate Risk Management, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)

Speaker: Pierre C. Sibiry Traore, Director of Research and Development, Manobi

Rapporteur: Pramod Aggarwal, Regional Program Leader for South Asia, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)

Parallel session 3: Connecting insurance to climate-smart technologies and practice

Experiences from index insurance initiatives in India, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Senegal suggest that bundling insurance with production inputs such as drought-adapted seed and other climate smart agricultural technologies and practices (and sometimes finance) can make insurance more attractive to farmers.Well-designed index insurance can achieve specific risk objectives such as protecting farmers livelihoods in the face of major climate shocks by enhancing farmer uptake of climate smart agricultural technologies and practices. In insurance programme this has been achieved either through the direct bundling of farm inputs with insurance or through including insurance within a larger risk management portfolio. Examples of the former include ACRE Africa and insurance linked with credit in Zambia. The R4 Rural Resilience Initiative in Ethiopia is a good example of the latter approach whereby farmers can pay for the insurance through labour on climate-smart agricultural projects (Food for Assets), alongside access to credit and savings.The session will explore further the issue of bundling insurance with climate-smart technologies and practices drawing on existing case studies and participants experiences and perspectives.

Chair/Moderator: Jon Hellin, Value Chain and Poverty Specialist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Speaker: Wellingtone Maaka Wasike, Head of Marketing, Agri SeedCo Kenya (TBC)Rapporteur: Helen Greatrex, Associate Research Scientist  Index Insurance, International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI)

Rapporteur: Helen Greatrex, Associate Research Scientist  Index Insurance, International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI)
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Lower-income Nutmeggers saddled with debt have few options for dealing with their fiscal troubles, but a major study is about to find out whether new strategies could help.

Set to launch within the next few weeks, the research could be crucial for determining the right resources to support Americans in financial straits. Led by a team of law professors from the University of Connecticut, Harvard and the University of Maine, the Financial Distress Project will assess how at least 1,200 state residents fare while using legal aid, financial counseling or self-help materials to tackle their debts.

Financial distress is a driver of other problems, said UConn law associate professor and study co-leader Dalie Jimenez. If we can help with this, hopefully the other problems wont manifest.

Nearly 20,000 non-medical debt-collection cases and about 13,000 medical-related cases were filed in state small-claims courts in 2016, according to the researchers.

Defendants fail to appear in more than 70 percent of small-claims debt-collection cases in Connecticut, an outcome leading to a judgment for the plaintiff. In 2016 non-medical cases where the consumer defaulted, the average judgment totaled about $1,800.

Insufficient legal services exist to help lower-income individuals with debt issues, the study leaders said. Unlike criminal cases, indigent defendants do not receive court-appointed lawyers to contest lawsuits.

Were never going to have enough resources to give everyone a lawyer who would need one, said Harvard Law professor Jim Greiner, one of the studys leaders. Weve got to find ways that make the legal system accessible and usable for folks who cant afford to hire a lawyer.

Self-help materials could help to fill the gaps, but the current crop of literature is laden with legal jargon and seldom uses visuals to illustrate key points, the studys leaders argue.

Trying new approaches

The study envisions more effective alternatives. It will test out plainly written self-help packets that show how to litigate debt-collection actions; spot and correct credit-report errors; deal with creditors; weigh the benefits of bankruptcy and negotiations with creditors; and file a successful Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Literature used in the study will also include cartoons to explain debt-collection issues and processes.

At least 100 law students at UConn, Harvard and Maine worked on the self-help materials.

We think self-help materials need to be tested, said Jimenez, who formerly worked at the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. People who are creating them need to talk to those using them. That doesnt happen right now.

Middletown-based Connecticut Legal Services  the states largest legal aid agency, which has offices in Bridgeport and Stamford  will use study funding to provide three lawyers and a paraprofessional for study participants using its services.

We know from the work we do that debt-collection actions have a huge impact on peoples lives  they can affect credit scores, lead to people getting sued by landlords and make it harder to get housing, said Steve Eppler-Epstein, CLS executive director. Its our hope by getting in there and representing folks in small-claims court that well be able to make a difference.

Finding participants

The researchers are recruiting participants by using records from a number of states small-claims courts  including the Bridgeport and New Haven systems  to identify people who have been sued in debt-collection proceedings. Those who agree to contest their lawsuits, share their credit information and do not exceed certain income limits would be eligible to enter the study.

Participants would remain anonymous when their credit information is analyzed.

From small-claims and bankruptcy courts records and credit-reporting agency data, the researchers are to gather credit scores and other details dating one to three years before participants enter the study and one to three years after joining the research initiative. The study would take five years to complete.

For those who study how law works for people, all of us who have been doing that work have been stopping at the courthouse, Greiner said. Theres no other study of the law like this that has tried to follow people after their interactions with the legal system.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
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Sorrow and demands at rally for teen shot by police

BRIDGEPORT  There was a brief pursuit, but no high-speed chase.

Police and the suspect in a stolen car had traveled less than a block before the teenage driver was shot dead by police.

James Boulay, 30, who was sworn in as a police officer in the city in September after serving in the military, has been identified as the officer who fatally shot 15-year-old Jayson Negron Tuesday night. He is on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation of the shooting by State Police.

He is devastated, Police Chief Armando Perez said. Boulay had no record of discipline in the department, he said.

Hes a solid, straight-up officer, said Charles Paris, president of the police union.

Meanwhile, an autopsy shows that Negron, died from gunshot wounds to the chest, not the head, as was first reported.

Negron, was shot by Boulay after the 15-year-old struck the officer with a stolen car, police said. He died as a result of gunshot wounds to the torso and upper extremities with injury of the lungs, pulmonary trunk and right pulmonary artery, according to the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner. The death was listed as a homicide.

Tuesday nights shooting began as an attempt by officers to stop a stolen car on Park Avenue.

Negrons passenger, 21-year-old Julian Fyffe, was shot in the shoulder and is expected to make a full recovery at Bridgeport Hospital. Neither he nor Negron had a weapon.

Perez said there were no dash cameras in the police cars at the scene and the officers were not wearing body cameras.

We just dont have the money for them, Perez said.

In addition to examining the stolen car, state police are questioning witnesses and reviewing video from cameras in the area, police sources said.

The investigation is expected to take several months to determine whether Boulays actions violated any state law.

Perez said the citys Office of Internal Affairs is doing its own investigation of the shooting to determine if Boulay violated any police department policies.

Merle Berke-Schlessel, president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, was one of the representatives from several groups who announced Thursday they are beginning regular meetings to address issue confronting Bridgeports minority youths as well as their relationship with police.

People dont fall through the cracks; dirt falls through cracks, Berke-Schlessel said. People are neglected. We all failed. We all must fix this.

This is the first time a coalition of groups will be working on a set of objectives and goals, said George Mintz, president of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP. How we will facilitate change remains to be seen.

Mintz said one of the major concerns is how long Negrons body remained uncovered on Fairfield Avenue following the shooting.

We hope to have a discussion and introduce legislation that will ensure no family has to experience that again, Mintz said.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Schools Aresta Johnson said counseling teams were sent to Fairchild Wheeler and the Bridgeport Military Academy to assist students who are having difficulty dealing with Negrons death.

She and Sauda Baraka, the Board of Educations vice president are working on a Boys of Color Forum, which they are planning for June 14.

Following the announcement on the steps of the Margaret Morton Government Center, the groups which also included the citys Initiative for Reentry Affairs, Safe Streets and Save Our Babies, adjourned to the Mount Aery Baptist Church.

Mintz said representatives of the NAACP, You Are Not Alone and CARE have been meeting regularly with Perez.
China National Film Museum was founded in 2005 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Chinese film, and is the largest professional film museum in the world. Getting to the museum is a bit of a hike, with its location near the Airport Expressway in Beijing's northeastern part. The 38,000 square meter China National Film Museum pays tribute to China's long and colorful movie-making history and reveals some secrets of film production. [China.org.cn]

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HARTFORD  Ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft would have to provide drivers with million-dollar insurance coverage and criminal background checks under legislation that was overwhelmingly approved in the House on Thursday.

The bill, which passed 103-39 after a nearly three-hour debate, would also require drivers to maintain their vehicles in good working repair. The bill heads to the Senate.

The legislation also requires non-discrimination agreements and caps on so-called dynamic pricing, when the companies charge more money for rides, such as during snowstorms.

The bill had been scheduled for a vote on Wednesday, but a proposed 25-cents-per-ride surcharge to support state transportation projects ran into opposition and was dropped from the final legislation, along with a proposed 19-point inspection paid by the ride-sharing company.

Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, the bills chief proponent, called the legislation a middle of the road attempt to provide some kind of regulatory oversight for so-called Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft. He said the million-dollar insurance coverage would kick in as soon as a passenger gets into a ride-hailing vehicle.

Rep. Tom ODea, R-New Canaan, a member of the legislative Transportation Committee, said that the background-check process, which would look back at a drivers criminal record for previous seven years, and require a Social Security number and fingerprints, would presumably filter out foreign-born drivers who are here without legal permission.

It would be extremely unlikely, if not impractical or impossible for them to join ride-hailing fleets, ODea said. Its not perfect, but we do not want unregulated TNCs operating in the state of Connecticut, ODea said. We have put our citizens in jeopardy by not having some form of legislation regulating TNCs.

Rep. Richard A. Smith, R-New Fairfield, who voted against the legislation, said that the bills $50,000 fee to the state to get into the ride-hailing business is onerous. Its a huge impediment for somebody coming in, not so much maybe for the big boys, but certainly young entrepreneurs out there looking to start up a company and get it going, Smith said.

Uber not only represents the future, but its obviously the present in terms of people who take Uber, who drive for Uber and clearly Uber has spread throughout the United States and throughout the world, said Rep. Fred Wilms, R-Norwalk. Right now theyre unregulated in the state and this is a common-sense approach to regulate those things that we do need to regulate, such as background checks and insurance.

Wilms said he believes that the taxi and limousine industries have been over-regulated.

In reaction to the House vote, Uber General Manager Matthew Powers said it was the result of years of negotiations among lawmakers and various transportation companies.

It will ensure that Connecticut riders retain access to safe, affordable and reliable transportation and drivers continue to be afforded flexible economic opportunities, Powers said in a statement.

Scott Coriell, Lyft spokesman said Connecticut is on track to be the 43rd state to adopt ridehailing regulations.

The benefits of Lyft are clear: increased transportation options, economic opportunities for individuals and communities, and enhanced public safety, . Wed like to thank Representative Sean Scanlon, the Connecticut House of Representatives and stakeholder agencies for their vision and leadership in helping pass this bill. We look forward to working with the Senate and helping to make Connecticut the 43rd state to enact comprehensive ridesharing legislation.

kdixon@ctpost.com; Twitter: @KenDixonCT

House members who voted against ride-sharing regulations

Rep. Andre Baker, D-Bridgeport

Rep. Mike Bocchino, R-Greenwich

Rep. Mitch Bolinsky, R-Newtown

Rep. Bill Buckbee, R-New Milford

Rep. Adam Dunsby, R-Easton

Rep. Stephen G. Harding Jr., R-

Rep. Brenda Kupchick, R-Fairfield

Rep. David Rutigliano, R-Trumbull

Rep. Richard A. Smith, R-New Fairfield

Rep. J.P. Sredzinski, R-Monroe
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They were once Malloyalists, part the governors kitchen cabinet.

Now theyre rivals in a high-stakes game of Connecticut hold em.

Former Dannel P. Malloy spokesman Andrew Doba and Malloys longtime political adviser Roy Occhiogrosso are on opposite sides of the legislative and legal battle for a third Connecticut casino planned north of Hartford.

Occhiogrosso is representing MGM, which is fighting with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun over the development rights for a third casino in Connecticut. Dobas clients are the tribes that run the two casinos, which are trying to offset the potential losses to an MGM casino opening next year just over the border in Springfield, Mass.

Twice in the past eight days, the longtime friends and fellow Democrats got into a Twitter brouhaha, with Occhiogrosso sarcastically invoking the name of Donald Trumps southern White House, Mar-a-Lago, in a swipe over the economic impact of the tribes casino project.

Now now Andrew, no reason to get testy, Occhiogrosso tweeted May 2. Its hard to follow your numbers (because) they always change #maralagomath.

Doba wasnt about to let his mentor get the last word, however.

Not really. 9,300 jobs will be lost if MGM wins. That hasnt changed at all, Doba tweeted back.

The repartee stands in contrast to the united front put on by the political allies for their one-time boss, Malloy, through budget impasses, the Newtown massacre and the grueling 2014 re-election campaign. Doba left Malloys office at the start of 2015 to join the public relations shop of Stu Loeser, former press secretary to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

I have a great deal of of admiration and respect for Roy, Doba said Thursday. Hes a top flight operative. I learned a lot from him when I was there. It just so happens that on this issue Im working for the home team and hes working for the Las Vegas behemoth.

Occhiogrosso, a managing director of the lobbying powerhouse Global Strategy Group and a behind-the-scenes force in Democratic politics, downplayed the dust-up with Doba.

I love Andrew Doba to death, Occhiogrosso said. Were just on different sides in this issue. He and I have known each other for 13 years. I hired him into the Malloy administration. Hes a good guy and is good at what he does.

The rivalry escalated this week when MGM circulated a letter from U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke raising concerns about allowing the Mohegan Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to build another casino off their respective reservations in southeastern part of the state.

The tribes say that MGM mislead McCain, the principal author of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, about the location and scope of their planned joint venture casino. In McCains letter, the Republican wrote that the tribes were seeking to open an off-reservation casino near the Connecticut-New York border just a few miles from New York City.

Sorry, but no one uses John McCain. The man marches to the beat of his own drummer, Occhiogrosso tweeted Wednesday.

I dont need the apology, but McCain sure does. You guys left him hung out to dry, Doba fired back.

MGM favors an open competition for a third casino in Fairfield County and argues that the tribes joint venture could jeopardize their long-standing compact with the state that sends about $260 million in annual slot machine revenues to the state.

The tribes say that the economic hit of the MGM project to the states casino industry and ancillary businesses is projected to be $702 million and up to $100 million in annual tax receipts, with 9,300 direct and indirect gaming jobs affected.

nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
FAIRFIELD  A lawsuit over the tax status of the former General Electric corporate headquarters has been averted, but papers filed by Sacred Heart University with the town contain explosive allegations.

Universities are tax-exempt, and since December, when Sacred Heart bought the once global headquarters of GE for $31.5 million, its removal from the towns tax rolls was all but set in stone. Apparently, there was a big delay on that paperwork that SHU did not appreciate.

First Selectman Mike Tetreau said an agreement has been reached with the university, and the lawsuit was never officially filed with the courts.

The agreement refunds a tax interest payment to the university and puts a tax-exempt status on the property as of Jan. 15.

Deb Noack, director of communications for SHU, said the universitys goal was for the town to recognize that the property was purchased for their educational mission, and to get a refund on the late interest payment.

Both of these issues have now been addressed to our satisfaction, so there is no need to pursue further action, Noac said. We look forward to working with the town of Fairfield and our neighbors in the community in the future and are excited about our plans to use our new space to further our educational mission and to provide future members of the Connecticut workforce with the skills they  and the staets employers  will need to succeed.

Sacred Heart claims, in documents filed with the town on April 17, former Tax Collector Cinda Buchter was fired because she would not sign a letter sent regarding the propertys tax-exempt status, and town officials forged her signature.

At issue was the towns contention the universitys tax-exempt status would not be applied to the former commercial property until the town received proof the Easton Turnpike property was being used for nonprofit purposes. Sacred Heart was demanding a refund of $11,277 in interest for a late tax payment.

Requiring proof

The property, purchased by Sacred Heart on Dec. 16 for $31.5 million, was assessed as of Oct. 1 as commercial property. On Dec. 20, SHU notified the town of the purchase and claimed the property as exempt from taxation as of the conveyance date of Dec. 16. The letter included the universitys tax-exempt return form.

On Feb. 22, SHU received two letters from the town, one from the Tax Collectors Office and the other from the assessors office. The letter from the assessors office denied the exemption application and stated, The property will be exempt from taxation as of the date that SHU confirms to the town that the property is being used exclusive by SHU for its qualified tax-exempt use.

The letter, from Deputy Assessor Kenneth Carvell, asked SHU to confirm to the town that SHU has commenced construction at the property for the purpose of its future qualified tax-exempt use.

The other letter, which bears Tax Collector Buchters signature, concerned outstanding property tax bills for the property. It is this letter, SHU attorney Jeffrey Williams claims, that was forged. The letter, according to the towns human resources director, Emmet Hibson Jr., was drafted by an attorney for the tax collectors signature.

Buchter resigned as the full-time tax collector on Sept. 18, though she remained as an interim tax collector until a new tax collector was hired on Feb. 27.

Rather than sign the document herself, the deputy provided (Fiscal Officer Robert Mayer) with Ms. Buchters letterhead and a signature stamp, reads the unfilled lawsuit quoting Hibson. The letter was placed on letterhead and Ms. Buchters signature stamp was used on the signature line of that letter.

Disputed letter

Hibson said Buchter told the town on March 9 she was upset her signature was used on the Feb. 22 letter and Hibson told Michael Larobina, SHUs general counsel, Buchter wanted it to be clear she was not involved in drafting, signing or sending that letter.

According to Hibson, Buchters departure from the Tax Collectors Office began over the summer, when she informed officials she was closing on the sale of her Connecticut home on Aug. 29. She stayed on as the full-time tax collector until Sept. 22, when she moved to Florida. Beginning the next day, she became a per diem employee, paid for hours worked. Once the new tax collector was hired, he said Buchter was informed on March 7 she would remain a per diem employee until March 10, and to submit her hours for a final payroll processing.

He told Larobina the tax bill was sent in February at Mayers request. The reason is that based on your letter of December 20, 2016, Mr. Mayer needed to ensure that the towns position was correct, Hibson said. The town retained outside counsel to help ensure that the January 1, 2107, tax bill was in fact valid. He said the confirmation was received shortly before the Feb. 22 letter was sent.

Under state statutes, failure to receive a tax bill does not exempt property owners from having to pay late fees. In fact, the tax collectors website tells property owners to contact the office if a tax bill is not received. Failure to receive a tax bill does not exempt taxes or interest. You are responsible for obtaining your tax bill and paying the taxes on time, according to the website.

The lawsuit not only sought the exemption applied concurrent with the sale date, but also a refund of the $11,277, which Williams states in the filing that the town inexplicably refused to reimburse after admitting it purposely held off sending notice of the taxes.

According to Mayer, the assessor has confirmed acceptance of SHUs exemption application. That exemption will be considered in effect as of Jan. 15, the first date of the property by the university. The town will receive tax payments on the property for the period ending Oct. 15, Mayer said. As part of the agreement, the town paid SHU an amount equal to the interest payment made by SHU for the late payment.

The town received an affidavit from the university that beginning no later than Jan. 15, SHU has been using the property for the purposes of SHUs stated education mission. According to the assessors letter, the exemption will continue as long as the property is being used exclusively for a qualified charitable purpose, or until SHU were to begin to produce any rents, profits, or income from the property.

SHU has paid $751,859.80 for the tax payment period from Jan. 1, 2017 thru June 30, 2017, according to Mayer. Based on the new mill rate, SHU will be billed about $442,000 for the tax payment period fro July 1 to Oct. 15.

greilly@ctpost.com; @GreillyPost
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WESTPORT  Some of the towns most frequented dining destinations  like the Sherwood Diner and Harvest  failed a Health Department inspection within the last year.

In a Nov. 28 inspection, the Sherwood Diner received a failing score of 74 out of 100.

The inspector cited a filthy floor with excess piles of food and garbage, improper storage of soiled rags on the counter, raw, unpasteurized eggs stored above ready to eat tomatoes and numerous instances of employees handling ready to eat foods with their bare hands. Further, the inspector only observed two Sherwood Diner employees who washed their hands.

Any score under 80 is considered failing. If an establishment receives a four-point deduction, a single egregious violation, they also fail.

The chefs that wear their gloves can touch certain ready to eat foods with their hands as long as they wear gloves unless they touch raw foods, said Sherwood Diner owner Zenny Tziolis when asked about employees not washing their hands. They can touch all sorts of ready to eat foods with their hands because theyre wearing gloves.

The Westport Weston Health District usually re-inspects when an establishment fails code within two weeks, but because an inspector left the job, the restaurant wasnt re-inspected until Jan. 28, 2017, shortly after Shaun Duffy, the current part-time health inspector, was hired.

After re-inspection, Sherwood Diner received a 92. An earlier June 30, 2016 inspection resulted in a score of 87.

Tziolis claims the November inspection was stricter than usual because the state was training inspectors during the Nov. 28, 2016 inspection.

What that inspection was was a follow up on a state inspection that they were training people on our establishment. They decided that they wanted to train our future health inspectors on our facility, he said. Its overly done because the state goes by different regulations.

The health district couldnt confirm whether or not there were inspector trainees who scored the Nov. 28, 2016 inspection, but John Cimarosa, director of finance and special projects for the health district said it was possible.

When the state certifies new food inspectors, they generally take them on 10 inspections which tend to yield more critical scores, he said. They do inspections and they count, but they are inspections that are very strict because they are trying to show every possible violation so that the new inspector can see them.

Tziolis said the failing score was an anomaly, That was the only failing score weve had in 30 years.

In fact, the Sherwood Diner received a four-point violation on Aug. 26, 2015 (82 rating) for improper food temperatures and another for the same violation, on March 30, 2015 (81 rating). In an Aug. 4, 2014 inspection, the diner received a failing score of 59 along with four, four-point deductions.

The inspector noted, Chemicals stored near RTE (ready to eat) food and paper (corrected). The violation was immediately corrected. Another inspector comment read, Not all employees doing hand washing between chores.

Harvest failed inspection on April 6  despite scoring an 86  due to a four-point violation for lack of access to a hand-washing station. When Duffy inspected Harvest, he observed the hand sink to be completely blocked.

Public health code says all hand sinks need to be accessible at all times so the employees can wash their hands when needed. The upstairs kitchen sink was blocked and thats why I failed them, Duffy said.

On April 19, Harvest again was inspected and remedied the violations, earning a 94. Harvests history includes an Oct. 28, 2016 score of 93 and a July 12, 2016 score of 83 with a vermin control violation because they had flies in the basement.

Viva Zapata failed with an 88 because of a four-point deduction on Jan. 14 for not properly cooling their food.

I believe they failed for not properly cooling their product so they didnt cool their salsa or beans, Duffy said. There are certain bacteria that can grow between 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Duffy.

Within that temperature rangeThat is the danger zone where bacteria can grow exponentially and if its served when its not properly cooled, it could get somebody sick, he said. The restaurant retested on Jan. 28 and passed with a 94.

Rio Bravo scored an 84 on Feb. 4, 2017, but failed due to a four-point violation for keeping food at unacceptable temperatures. Rio Bravo didnt properly cool the bulk food (either salsa or beans), did not get it down to 70 degrees in the required time, Duffy said. On Feb, 22, they were retested and passed with a 97.

Chinese Take Out scored an 81 but was saddled with a 4-point violation and failed on Jan. 21 for a food protection violation. They retested on Feb. 4 and passed with an 88.

323 Restaurant received an 82 and failed because of two four-point violations on Sep. 21, 2016: one for improper cooling of food and the other for not having approved meats or seafood. They retested on Oct. 17, 2016 and got a 91.

With the exception of the Sherwood Diner, none of the above listed restaurants commented on their failed inspections.

Most of the recently failed restaurants do not have chronic problems; their scores rebounded after failing and they dont have histories of particularly low ratings. When scores go up after a failing score, it shows the restaurants are listening to and working with health inspectors, Chief Sanitarian Jeff Andrews said.

But if a restaurant does show chronic concerns posing a health risk, a health inspector, at their discretion, will request a conference between the owner, inspector and Mark Cooper, Westport Weston Health District Director of Health. The health district generally holds three to four conferences with restaurant owners per year, Cooper said, and none have been held so far in 2017.

It brings it to a head, Cooper said. During the meetings, he will have a serious conversation with the owner of the restaurant and theyll have to make a plan to imminently address the health risk their restaurant is posing  like continuous food temperature violations or unaddressed vermin infestations.

In his eight years at the health district, Cooper and his staff have not had to shut a restaurant down.

The most serious health risks for diners stem from food thats not kept at the proper temperature, cross-contamination (like raw chicken and ready-to-eat tomatoes cut on the same cutting board without sanitization), lack of handwashing by employees and improper cooling and reheating procedures, according to Cooper. Andrews  who spent three years as an inspector when he joined the district in 1996 and still periodically inspects restaurants  added he also looks out for evidence of pests, how dishtowels are kept, kitchen cleanliness and where toxic chemicals and food supplies are kept.

Andrews also noticed a pattern as an inspector: when restaurants consistently score lower rather than higher, it likely means they dont have a manager or owner heavily involved on the site.

Cooper himself is a critic of Connecticuts current restaurant inspection 100-point rating system. He said some restaurants with higher scores can actually pose greater health risks than lower-scoring restaurants. Cooper is on a state committee to implement the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations model code, which assigns letter grades, allows for corrections on-site to improve scores and is updated every four years.

Its time to move on, he said. Its just a better system.

@chrismmarquette; cmarquette@bcnnew.com

@LauraEWeiss16; LWeiss@hearstmediact.com
Republican leaders in Hartford have put forward some good ideas for inclusion in the state budget: eliminating the Citizens Election Program is not one of them.

We have called here repeatedly for full consideration of ideas initiated by the Republican minority over the last few budget cycles in Hartford.

The Democrat-controlled Legislature has just as doggedly excluded them from the conversation.

The so-called Confident Connecticut budget, as the Republicans have dubbed their package, has a number of worthy suggestions, including a revised education funding formula and a plan to maintain tax-exempt status for the states hospitals. It also is mindful of social programs and, for example, would fully fund the Meals on Wheels program.

But cutting the CEP is not the way to save money.

The CEP was created by the Legislature in response to former Gov. John G. Rowlands 2004 resignation and subsequent 10-month federal prison sentence for corruption.

The program was designed to keep out of Connecticuts politics the corrosive influence of special interest money, including that from concerns and individuals that have contracts with the state, the money that leads to quid pro quo situations like the one that sent Rowland to jail.

Under the CEP, if candidates can raise a threshold amount of money from small contributors to be eligible for substantial funds from the state. But where theres a will theres a way, and over the years since its enactment, the CEP has weakened by politicians for whom such contributions are their lifeblood.

Theyve managed to create myriad loopholes that have effectively rendered the CEP a shadow of itself.

Republicans estimate that the program will cost the state some $40 million in 2018, a gubernatorial election year.

So, Republicans offer some logical reasons for eliminating the CEP, namely its growing ineffectiveness.

But wed suggest that the fight in this arena should not center on eliminating the program, but on strengthening it so that it can play the role as initially intended.

Its one relatively modest protest against an American system that is totally out of whack from the White House and Congress, to state capitals, city and town halls and, frankly, wherever an elected officials needs to raise money to get his message out.

Republicans  and Democrats  could display some statesmanship and selflessness by getting together and setting the CEP in stone.

The atmosphere in Hartford over the last few years has deteriorated  right along with the financial situation  into knee-jerk, short-sighted, short-armed grabs at any quick money.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has rightly pointed this out a hundred times. This is why he has taken the longer view on knotty issues such as state pensions.

The Legislature also needs to take a longer view on cleaning up our electoral process. It may not close the deficits the state faces, but in the long run it will make Connecticut a more vibrant and attractive place.
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At least 10 civilians were killed on Wednesday by an airstrike carried out by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition on the a town in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, local media reported.

The airstrike targeted the town of Sour, some 50 km north of Deir al-Zour, said the report.

The U.S. has been active in striking the positions of the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of Deir al-Zour.

The U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has also been backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their push against the IS positions in Deir al-Zour and Raqqa province, the de facto capital of IS in northern Syria.
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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday called for peaceful presidential campaigns and warned that the enemy of the Islamic republic wants to use the ongoing campaigns to create insecurity and turmoil in Iran, official website of the leader reported.

"If the people violate the law and ethics, and make the enemy hopeful with their words, the election will end in our loss," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Iranians will go to the polls on May 19 to elect a new president. More than 56 million people are eligible to vote.

"The short term objective of the enemy is to disturb security and create chaos and sedition in the country," Khamenei said, adding that "if we get ready to confront the creation of insecurity and sedition, we will determinedly annul the enemy's plot."

To hurt economy of the country and livelihood of people is the enemy's mid-term aim, he said.

Therefore, the Iranian officials should feel responsibility about the issues like productivity of economy and unemployment to create hope for the people, he added.

Khamenei also downplayed what he termed "the strategic objective of the enemy to change the fundamentals of the Islamic establishment."

He further warned the presidential candidates against the raise of such issues as "the ethnicity, language, geographical division" among the nation , during their campaigns. Otherwise, it will serve the interests of the enemies, he stressed.

The Iranian leader urged the presidential hopefuls to announce that "the economic issues and the livelihood of people as their priority, and that they will work to solve such problems."

He also said that "the candidates should indicate it openly (in their campaigns) that they are against the excessive demands of the United States and malice of Israel."

Khamenei who was talking to the commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) also said that Iran will increase its missile capability despite the enemies' propaganda against it.

"The hype over Iran's missile capability is because of their (enemies) spite and anger about this element of power in Iran," he was quoted as saying.

On Friday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that the IRGC had unveiled Iran's underground depots of missiles, and written anti-slogan slogans on the testing missiles recently to abort the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers reached in July 2015.

Rouhani was implying the provocations that such moves by the IRGC would have caused on western side to impose other rounds of sanctions against the country.

Khameni, however, said Wednesday that "We possess missiles which are very precise and can hit the targets with high precision from thousands of kilometers away."

"We will preserve this capability with all in power and will increase it powerfully," he stressed.

Iran's military power serves as a tool for "deterring purposes" and relies on domestic potentials, he added.

The U.S. officials have said Iran's ballistic missile launches are in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Resolution 2231, adopted on July 20, 2015, calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

The Iranian officials unanimously called the missile tests "inalienable right" of the country to boost deterrent power.

On Sunday, Khamenei called for a massive turnout in the presidential elections in the country to disappoint the enemy.

"If we want the grandeur and sovereignty of the Islamic republic to be preserved and it remains immune (to the harms), all should participate in the elections," Khamenei said, adding that "The only way to confront the animosity of the enemy is the presence of people at the scene."

"If a dereliction is made and some pave the way for people's disappointment, the country will definitely suffer," he was quoted as saying.
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U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis (2nd R) arrives at the presidential palace in Vilnius, Lithuania, May 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Alfredas Pliadis)

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Wednesday met with Lithuanian leaders and visited allied forces from the enhanced forward presence battalion to ensure the US commitments to security in the region.

This was the first visit of the top US defense official in the region.

While visiting a training area in Pabrade, eastern Lithuania, Mattis told journalists that Allied troops from several NATO nations deployed in Lithuania make certain "that there's no misunderstanding that we all stand together."

Around 1,200 troops from an enhanced forward presence battalion, led by German forces, have agreed to be deployed in Lithuania following last year's NATO summit to strengthen security at the eastern flank of the Alliance.

Lithuania, a small Baltic state with a population of less than 3 million, asked for increased Allied support citing security threats in the region following conflicts in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and the upcoming military exercise Zapad 2017.

Mattis emphasized the mission of the multinational battalion is defensive.

"There's nothing offensive here, it is defensive, to make certain that the NATO alliance article five is understood by everyone -- at home, here in Lithuania, in the Baltic neighbors and certainly elsewhere in this region," the U.S. defense secretary said in his speech.

"It shows NATO can be interoperable and our troops can come together and work together, and, if necessary, fight together," he added.

Earlier in the day, Mattis met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and the country's Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis to address bilateral cooperation and measures to strengthen security in the region. The secretary also had working lunch with the defense ministers from Latvia and Estonia.

Grybauskaite highlighted that security challenges have been changing, and NATO and its decisions have to be adjusted accordingly.

She pointed out that the visit of the U.S. secretary of defense "sent a clear message that the United States placed special focus on Lithuania's, Latvia's and Estonia's security".

Rotational U.S. forces have been present on Lithuanian soil since early 2014 attending joint military trainings in the country.
It might take a few days to see unofficial results in Pa. Here's why
 Flash

Namibian President Hage Geingob on Wednesday launched the revised Editor's Forum of Namibia Code of Ethics during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day in Windhoek, calling on stakeholders' re-dedication towards promoting press freedom in the country.

Amendments on the code of ethics include elements stipulated in the Communication Act as well as other reporting requirements on social aspects including elections.

According to Geingob, the media has a critical role to play in promoting accountability and transparency, adding that in light of the country's drop in press freedom, this can improve.

Rating of the 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders shows that Namibia dropped to number 24, from 17th in press freedom. "As a country, we want our media to be the freest in the world," said Geingob.

Geingob also pledged to promote press freedom for the country to thrive. "As long as I am President of Namibia the freedom of the press is guaranteed."
What's happened to the long-planned, first-ever, full-scale royal visit to Israel, to commemorate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration?

The visit is due to be undertaken by Prince Charles, or a lesser royal, in November, but the Foreign Office is rowing back on the idea, says a source.

Has Israel-averse Saudi Arabia objected? In 2007, emails from then-Charles aide Clive Alderton  mistakenly copied to the Israeli ambassador  counselled against a visit, saying Israel might use it to burnish its international image.

In 2015, Arab expert Alderton returned to Clarence House, having been our envoy in Morocco, as private secretary. A coincidence?

What's happened to the long-planned, first-ever, full-scale royal visit to Israel, to commemorate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration? The visit is due to be undertaken by Prince Charles, or a lesser royal, in November, but the Foreign Office is rowing back on the idea, says a source

The Duchess of Cambridge is in Luxembourg today meeting Grand Duke Henri, 62, and his Cuban-born Grand Duchess, Maria Teresa, 61.

Why? Goodness knows, but she might ask if theyll consider ordering the elephant in this particular room  Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourgs former PM, and the current EU Commission president  to keep a civil tongue in his head when referring to the UK.

Mexican-born Laura Alverez, the third Mrs Jeremy Corbyn, has declined the BBCs invitation to join her husband on The One Show, as the PM did this week with her husband, Philip May.

Comely Laura, 47, doesnt support her husband on public occasions  not even the Queens 2015 Buckingham Palace state banquet for the Chinese president.

While applauding her independence, if she isnt willing to demonstrate her support for Jeremy, why should anyone else do so?

Mexican-born Laura Alverez, the third Mrs Jeremy Corbyn, has declined the BBCs invitation to join her husband on The One Show, as the PM did this week with her husband, Philip May

Former royal butler Paul Burrell, 58, says he approves of his late employer, Princess Diana, appearing as a ghost in the BBC TV drama, King Charles III, commenting: She will always haunt the House of Windsor.

Burrell says he speaks to Dianas ghost in his dreams, claiming she says to him: When are you going to tell the world that Im still here?

Can it be long before the commercially minded ex-flunkey fixes ticket-only Diana seances?

Mischievous biographer Tom Bower, 70, describes to me his plan to publish a Prince Charles book in time for the heir to the thrones 70th birthday next year: Its a study of his resurrection since the death of Diana in 1997. Then his approval rating was 4 per cent. Now its about 55 per cent but its falling again. Its an untold story.

Oh dear, I hope HRH doesnt feel that he has to sue Tom  like previous Bower subjects Robert Maxwell, Richard Branson and ex-Telegraph proprietor Lord (Conrad) Black, although none was successful.

Former James Bond star Sir Roger Moore, 89, who appeared with Herve Villechaize in the 1974 Bond movie The Man With The Golden Gun, is enthusiastic about HBOs plan to make a film about the 3ft 11in actor, wondering: Wholl play me?

Sir Roger claimed in a memoir that Villechaize, who played the Bond villains assistant and shot himself in 1993, aged 50, was a sex maniac, adding: He had a lust for ladies.

'When we were in Hong Kong he would find girls in girly clubs with a flashlight. You, you, not you, hed say. Fancy!
The British Government yesterday made the rash decision to send 100 further troops to Afghanistan to add to the 500 who are already there.

Given that we had some 10,000 servicemen in the country a few years ago, this relatively minor additional commitment may seem very small beer to some. It is also true the new troops, like those already deployed, wont intentionally be involved in combat. Their main role is to train Afghan forces fighting the Taliban.

But they shouldnt be going. Weve done more than our bit in Afghanistan. This country lost 454 personnel in that benighted land, of whom 405 died as a result of hostile action. The cost to the British taxpayer was at least 20 billion, and possibly as much as 40 billion.

Moreover, our past experience should teach us of the perils of mission creep. Its clear that since UK and U.S. troops left the country a few years ago, the Afghan government has been losing the war against the Taliban. We run the danger of our troops again being drawn in.

The British Government yesterday made the rash decision to send 100 further troops to Afghanistan to add to the 500 who are already there. This country lost 454 personnel in that benighted land, of whom 405 died as a result of hostile action. (File image)

Some will say we should do whatever we can to make sure that our previous exertions do not go to waste. But I am afraid they already have. The Taliban is resurgent. We are backing a lost cause.

It grieves me to say that the great sacrifices of our brave servicemen  not to mention the enormous financial outlay  have made little, if any, enduring contribution to peace in Afghanistan.

Indeed, I fear that when historians look back, they will judge that this conflict was even more futile than the Iraq War, and that our leading politicians, foremost among them Tony Blair, misled the British public and threw away the lives of British soldiers in a hopeless cause.

Just look at what happened in Sangin seven weeks ago  not that it was much reported. It was re-taken by the Taliban. In this same southern province of Helmand between 2006 and 2010, the British Army and the Royal Marines suffered 106 deaths  a quarter of the casualties we sustained in the country  fighting the Taliban.

Our past experience should teach us of the perils of mission creep. Its clear that since UK and U.S. troops left the country a few years ago, the Afghan government has been losing the war against the Taliban. (File image)

The Americans, too, suffered awful fatalities after they took over the main responsibility for defending Sangin. The then President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, outrageously expressed dissatisfaction with the British military record, and Uncle Sam was invited in.

Thats the same Hamid Karzai, by the way, who has attracted repeated allegations of corruption. Members of his family and associates have reportedly assembled a property empire in Dubai at a cost of some 90 million.

And now Sangin is back in the hands of the Taliban. There seems no prospect of it being re-taken by the Afghan army. In other words, British and American lives lost in scrapping over this blood-soaked patch of ground were lost in vain. What agony this must be for the families of the dozens of soldiers needlessly sacrificed.

Former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai (above) has attracted repeated allegations of corruption. Members of his family and associates have reportedly assembled a property empire in Dubai at a cost of some 90 million

Have any leading politicians expressed public regret at the fall of Sangin? I havent heard them. Nor have they been put on the spot by the media  not Blair, who took us into Afghanistan in the first place, or Gordon Brown and David Cameron, who gladly kept us there. Cameron, of course, idiotically declared mission accomplished as British troops were leaving in December 2013.

Let us examine, in a spirit of fairness, whether any of our original aims (insofar as they were stated) in committing thousands of troops have been met. I dont believe they have.

In 2001, Blair largely sold the case for war in Afghanistan by insisting the invasion by Nato troops would destroy the countrys illicit heroin trade. He emotionally invoked the sad death of a young woman from what was probably an overdose of Afghan heroin.

Yet the plan to extirpate Afghan poppy fields has spectacularly failed. The country is believed to produce far more heroin than it did in 2001. Poppy fields thrive  especially in Helmand. It is estimated than over 90 per cent of the heroin on British streets comes from Afghanistan.

So no success there, then. What about the claim often trotted out by Blair, Brown and Cameron, and a dozen other robotic politicians, that (in the words of Gordon Brown) we fought them over there so that we didnt have to fight them over here?

Actually, there was never any good reason to suppose that the Taliban was planning to plant bombs on our streets. But there is ample evidence that lots of other nasty people are, and that their inspiration is often Islamic State and the war in Syria.

Its true that Al Qaeda  responsible for the September 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre  was for a time sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan. But now Al Qaeda is regarded by the United States as half an ally in Syria, as it shares a common enemy in President Bashar al-Assad.

In truth, the terrorist danger from Afghanistan was always wildly exaggerated. It probably existed in a modest form but did not begin to justify the huge forfeit of blood and treasure  the loss of hundreds of lives and the thousands of ghastly injuries.

Perhaps the worst aspect of it all is that the Labour government sidled into this war without ever making a reasoned argument. At least before the Iraq war it produced a case, albeit a mendacious one. So far as Afghanistan was concerned, it didnt bother.

In fact, in early 2006, when we started to commit troops in large numbers into the country that had been a graveyard for the British Empire and the Soviet Union, the then Home Secretary John Reid preposterously expressed the hope that our troops might soon return without a shot being fired. By that September, 40 British troops had been killed.

And now the British Government is making what is being presented as a small extra training commitment. In view of what has happened in the past, we would be foolish to accept this at face value.

Its true that Al Qaeda  responsible for the September 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre  was for a time sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan. But now Al Qaeda is regarded by the United States as half an ally in Syria, as it shares a common enemy in President Bashar al-Assad

When will our politicians learn that Afghanistan is a lost cause? I dont doubt that some good has been done by our presence there  roads built and schools constructed  but these benefits pale into insignificance in comparison with the terrible costs.

Think of the schools and hospitals that could have been built in Britain with the billions of pounds that have been squandered in Afghanistan. Think, too, of how our pathetically depleted armed forces, which we need for our own defence, could have been built up with some of this money.

Only yesterday, former military chiefs and decorated junior servicemen urged Theresa May to fix the funding crisis in our armed forces. Compared with 25 years ago, we have half the combat aircraft, half the frigates and destroyers, and fewer than half the tanks.

Why have we made such stupendous errors? Our unspoken motivation, of course, has been to prove to the U.S. we are a dependable ally who can still pack something of a punch.

But the truth is that no outside power  not Britain in her heyday, nor the Soviet Union, nor the Western powers today  has ever been able to bring order or emerge victorious from a conflict in Afghanistan.

Ironically, President Trump has so far resisted putting more troops in Afghanistan. Following pressure from national security adviser General McMaster and Defence Secretary James Mattis, it now seems he will do so. Its unlikely Britain would be deploying any further troops without America taking the lead.

But will anything be gained? Looking back at the tragic waste in Afghanistan and our past delusions, it seems to me highly likely that we still have more to lose.
@realDonaldTrump: Nobody beats me on jobs. I said Id create new jobs and I kept my promise. Hundreds of senior posts soon available in FBI!

@realDonaldTrump: Nobody loves mice like I do but dopey Mickey Mouse has lost all credibility in Disneyland and beyond. This mouse must be terminated!

@realDonaldTrump: Sister Minnie no better. Too-short polka-dot dress totally unbecoming on a public figure. Disrespectful! Shame on her!

@realDonaldTrump: Our nations greatest hospitals are filled with sick, totally ailing patients. Bad! Time for total clear-out! Cut costs, only admit fit and healthy people! No losers!

@realDonaldTrump: Nobody beats me on jobs. I said Id create new jobs and I kept my promise. Hundreds of senior posts soon available in FBI!

@realDonald Trump: I love poor people. They make great cushions!

@realDonald Trump: Honored to be welcoming President Macaroni of Paris. Leader of very, very historic country with iconic Leaning Tower and world-beating bullfights!

@realDonald Trump: Bulls stupid, weak, dishonest, no-talent sleazebags. When did you last see a bull in a smart suit and tie making multi-million dollar deals? NEVER!

@realDonaldTrump: Delighted and honored to welcome a world-class bull as CEO of White House China Shop.

@realDonaldTrump: Honored to accept exclusive invite from can-do billionaire Queen Elizabeth of London, England. Small but gracious lady in very very expensive tiara. Classy!

@realDonaldTrump: Arrived in London, England, to find a Third World country. Even so-called Head of State forced to ride round in horse and carriage! No limo! Total losers!

@realDonaldTrump: And no hot tub on Buckingham so-called Palace roof! Backward!

@realDonaldTrump: Only clock on display in Westminster is Big Ben. So sad  much too big to fit on a desk, and not even digitalized! Hard to read!

@realDonaldTrump: And no hot tub on Buckingham so-called Palace roof! Backward!

@realDonaldTrump: And weak, goofy soldiers outside Palace wear cheap outsize black toupees on their heads, like no one can tell! Embarrassing!

@realDonaldTrump: On my trip to China on fact-finding mission to see how the Chineses keep out their illegals, I plan to visit Great, Great, Great Wall.

@realDonaldTrump: Reliably informed Barack Obama planned to place a bucket of water on Oval Office doorway before my entry. So childish, disrespectful!

@realDonaldTrump: Just ordered Armed Forces to drop big, big bomb on terrible South Korea. Teach those dumb losers a lesson! A GREAT day for the United States of America!

@realDonald Trump: Urgent correction! NORTH Korea!

@realDonald Trump: Too late! But stupid lazy critics take note  wrong area but TOTALLY RIGHT BOMB. Exploded on time, absolutely as planned! Very very exciting! Thats something the critics will never understand!

@realDonaldTrump: Congratulations to all South Korean survivors! Great new beginning for the lucky few remaining! GREETINGS!

@realDonaldTrump: Just ordered Armed Forces to drop big, big bomb on terrible South Korea. Teach those dumb losers a lesson! A GREAT day for the United States of America! ... @realDonald Trump: Urgent correction! NORTH Korea!

@realDonaldTrump: Nobody fights harder for free speech than me. I believe in it so passionately that I will terminate every FAKE NEWS outlet that persists in denying it.

@realDonaldTrump: Grand Canyon not nearly so grand as it makes itself out to be. More like a pathetic hole in the ground. Overrated! Worst ever canyon!

@realDonaldTrump: Dimwit Statue of Liberty has lost all credibility. What kind of a woman stands with one arm in the air wearing nothing but a nightshirt and a goofy grin? Disrespectful!

@realDonaldTrump: Many, many in the White House are saying Im the worlds greatest current President of the USA. So proud!
Just how impartial is the election umpire?

It should go without saying that any evidence of candidates or parties breaking limits on election spending must be properly investigated.

But equally, it is vital to democracy that staff at the Electoral Commission, whose job is to ensure campaigns abide by the rules, must be scrupulously impartial.

Yet after the Crown Prosecution Service found no convincing evidence to charge the Tories with dishonest spending in 2015, grave doubts hang over the commission's motives for pursuing the case.

How can this quango claim to be unbiased when Louise Edwards  its head of regulatory compliance, who prompted police inquiries into the allegations  has made her anti-Tory feelings so plain?

In 2010, she announced on Facebook that she did not want to live under a Conservative government. 'What is wrong with people?' she wrote. 'Do they not remember the last time? Grrr! Words have failed me.'

Many of the allegations related to the use of Conservative national battlebuses (pictured) for the benefit of local candidates

With views like this, why was she ever employed by a quango responsible for seeing fair play? And why was she put in charge of following up claims against the Tories, raised by the Left-leaning Daily Mirror and publicly owned Channel 4?

True, the CPS found inaccuracies in some Conservative expenses returns. But all parties have been guilty of similar mistakes (though none has been punished as heftily as the Tories, who were fined a record 70,000 by the commission this spring).

As for criminal dishonesty, the law on battlebus expenses is such a grey area  and the sums involved so modest  that it should have been clear months ago there was no chance of making the charge stick.

Yet this inquiry dragged on for well over a year, wasting the time of 14 police forces and putting at least 30 candidates and agents under an undeserved cloud.

As we enter another election, hasn't the commission serious questions to answer about its neutrality as an umpire?

Peril of Corbynomics

The more Jeremy Corbyn reveals about his policies, the more he betrays his utter ignorance of how businesses and the modern economy work.

Take his plan to raise corporation tax from 19 to 26 per cent  one of the sharpest tax rises for 30 years.

Yes, this could bring the State a short-term bonanza. But within months, jobs would go, dividends and the pension funds that rely on them would run dry  and tax receipts would plummet, along with wages and growth, as firms fled elsewhere.

Similarly, Mr Corbyn's plan to increase the minimum wage to 10 an hour by 2020 would cost countless jobs, penalising the very people he wants to help.

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) plans to raise corporation tax from 19 to 26 per cent  one of the sharpest tax rises for 30 years

Don't take the Mail's word for it. This is the verdict of leading economic think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which warns of 'substantial' damage if Mr Corbyn  who also wants to renationalise the railways and Royal Mail, and repeal union laws  has a chance to put his ideas into practice.

God spare us from a half-baked Marxist who has learned nothing since the 1970s.

 HOW can it be right that advisers and high-fliers connected to Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management are helping themselves to fees and bonuses of 132million, after a merger that will throw 800 out of work? This is not merely an abuse of hard-working savers' trust. Just as surely as Mr Corbyn discredits the Left, this porcine greed drags capitalism into deep disrepute.

 HIGH Court judge Sir James Munby speaks for everyone with a heart when he says it is 'simply inhumanity' to separate elderly couples when one or both need residential care. Can the UK really claim it is too poor to apply his 'common decency test' while splurging 12billion a year on aid?
Pictured: Royal 'mentor' Mark Dyer watching Prince Harry play Polo with Meghan Markle

An era is drawing to its end: royal mentor Mark Dyer has sold his string of London pubs where Prince Harry entertained Meghan Markle.

He is also planning to move out of the capital, bringing to an end his close supervision of the Prince.

Once described as Harrys second father, Dyer is a former equerry to Prince Charles. Dyer, who has met Meghan several times and kept her company at Harrys polo match last weekend, admits now feels like the right time to move on.

The ex-Welsh Guards officer, 51, has sold his pubs in Chelsea, including the Rolling Stones favourite The Cross Keys, and Sands End in Fulham, where Harry conducted his secret courtship with Meghan.

Ive just sold my pubs  The Brown Cow, Sands End, The Cross Keys  to Cirrus Inns. I trust theyll take care of them, but I wont know how well for at least a year or so, Dyer tells me.

It was a good time to sell. Im not doing anything new, but I just feel the need to sit down and relax after working hard for 20 years.

Id had a lot of interest previously, but until recently I didnt feel like I could let them go.

Everything has come together at the right time, he adds. Although he declines to confirm the price, it is believed the business fetched more than 10 million.

Pictured, Mark Dyer leans over to speak to Prince Harry and Prince William during a military event in 1999. Dyer has been mentoring Harry since the mid-90s

Dyer has been mentoring Harry since the mid-90s when Prince Charles asked him to look after his younger and more wayward son. Dyer had a brief romance with ex-royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, and married Amanda Kline in 2010.

Im going to move out of London. I want to live in somewhere like Wiltshire or Oxfordshire or one of the Home Counties.

Not too far, he adds. Ill do something again in about five years time. Ill stay in the hospitality industry though, Im not going to go and make blankets in Ghana or anything like that.

Lottie wages war on too short skirts

The Occasion: The Ivy Chelsea Garden summer party.

On the guest list: Blackadder star Miranda Richardson, Made In Chelseas Lucy Watson, Prince Harrys rumoured ex, Sarah Ann Macklin.

Personal revelation: Princess Eugenies boyfriend Jack Brooksbank discloses hes wearing boxer shorts from Baar & Bass. They sell Y-fronts, but thats not for me.

Left: Model Amber Le Bon and society girls Alice Naylor-Leyland and Millie Mackintosh. Right, Lottie Moss

Pots and kettles: Kate Mosss half sister Lottie Moss, carrying a 1,700 Bulgari bag says: I dont think girls should wear skirts that are too short  its just not a good look.

Pregnant pause: The Marquess of Readings daughter Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs, who is due to give birth in three weeks, was drinking rose wine with ice: I have a weird pregnancy craving for ice cubes. Before I came here I munched my way through a bucket of ice.

Best co-ordination: Hotelier Sir Rocco Fortes daughters, Lydia and Irene, wore matching 500 red shoes called Wild Thing by Aquazzura.

Left: Irene and Lydia Forte and right, Sky News's Sarah Jane Mee and Jack Brooksbank

A sticky situation for Hurley

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridges university friend, actor Jules Knight, suffered an embarrassing incident during a steamy romp with Elizabeth Hurley, 51, while they were filming The Royals.

I play her secret lover and it was a childhood dream come true, Jules, 35, tells me.

I used to have a poster of her on my wall at school, but I didnt tell her that because I thought it would be awkward.

However, his dream quickly turned into a nightmare during one particular scene.

With these American shows, they use this sort of Ronseal to make sure you look bronzed.

I was looking incredibly tanned and we were doing this love scene down in the cellar of the Palace, and it was extremely hot because there wasnt proper air conditioning in the studio, and it was a total disaster!

There was all this brown stuff all over me. We had to stop and I was like, Can we get the varnish off, because this isnt working.

Single St Trinian's star Talulah's string of suitors

St Trinians actress Talulah Riley, who divorced tech billionaire Elon Musk for the second time last year, arrived at a party with a new man on her arm: dashing diplomat Oliver Lewis.

Im actually not dating anyone at the moment. Im single, the Hertfordshire-born blonde, 31, told me. Im here tonight with Oliver, but were not in a relationship.

Left, Talulah Riley with Oliver Lewis, centre, with Tom Hooper and right, with Elon Musk

'We met at a Foreign Office conference when I was speaking about Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

So what about her being caught in a passionate embrace at a West End theatre last month with Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper? Tom and I are just good friends, the 31-year-old insists.

Ex-Monty Python star Michael Palin, 74, reveals the secret of his good health: Oh I dont know, lack of sleep. Drinking too much.

Late Watership Down writer's WW2 Tribute

Watership Down author Richard Adams left a touching tribute in his will to a student who was his best friend more than 75 years ago. Probate records reveal that Adams left an estate of 445,406.

Adams, who died aged 96 last Christmas Eve, left 20,000 for student bursaries, scholarships and grants at Worcester College, Oxford, where he studied history.

His will asked for the bequest to be in memory of his fellow student Alasdair Christison from Newcastle who died in World War II.

He spoke fondly of their friendship in his autobiography, describing him as the closest friend I have ever had. Adams also left legacies of 10,000 each to the British Red Cross and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

The bulk of his estate was left to his daughters Juliet and Rosamond.

Billie showcases her (slightly scary) sister

Billie Pipers fashionista sister Elle, looks like her identical, slightly scary, twin.

Billie has linked to her account on Instagram and writes: Check out this little hustler @pippy.piper @pipers.clothing. If you like to feel casual and FIT This is your brand.

Billie Pipers fashionista sister Elle (right), looks like her identical, slightly scary, twin

Bestselling Birdsong author Sebastian Faulks could have some new competition in the literary world  his older brother, Lord Faulks.

Of course Sebastian is brilliant but I thought I would have a go at writing a book, reveals Edward, a top barrister.

Speaking at writer chum Joseph Connollys launch of his new tome, This Is 64, at Hatchards, the 66-year-old QC explains: My story has got lots of sex, drugs and rock n roll  just the life of an average barrister really! Ive stuffed it in a drawer.

'But seriously, I dont think I will ever be as good as Sebastian, so I will probably just leave it in there.'

Corbyn's style is so bad it's wonderful!

Interior designer Nicky Haslam, whose clients include Mick Jagger, once hailed Ed Miliband as a gay icon and incredibly attractive.

However, the latest Labour leader leaves him cold. Jeremy Corbyn is touchingly awful. Poor boy, what a role he has, he tells me.

Interior designer Nicky Haslam said the leader of the Labour party leaves him cold. Jeremy Corbyn is touchingly awful. Poor boy, what a role he has', he said

I rather like his very, very mad professor look. His clothes are so bad you cant believe it.

Its wonderful! Jeremys not bad-looking; but the problem is he doesnt have any idea how to make himself look good.

Sad to see Nick Cleggs colourful wife, Miriam, joining in the chorus of humourless, Left-wing criticism of Theresa May after the Prime Ministers husband, Philip, joked about putting out the bins on The One Show.

Prime Minister says there are boy jobs and girl jobs around the house, wails the Spanish lawyer.

I and all other volunteers of Inspiring Girls have spent four years trying to inspire girls to disregard sexist stereotypes. It is sad that women in power still speak like this.

How George Osborne dodged moped muggers

No wonder the London Evening Standard is suddenly so interested in the spate of crimes committed by hoodlums on motorbikes.

New editor George Osborne, the former Chancellor, reveals he almost lost his phone when a pair of muggers on a moped targeted him last week outside the BBCs headquarters.

Last Thursday lunchtime I was walking along Portland Place, outside the BBCs HQ, and looking at my mobile at the same time, he writes in todays Spectator.

Suddenly a moped swooped past me on the pavement, and the passenger on the back reached out and tried to grab my phone. His hand slid off, the moped sped away, leaving me still clutching the phone and completely stunned.

At next mornings news conference, our picture editor said that hed got hold of an extraordinary photo of two thugs on a moped, with the one on the back wielding a hammer.

We put it on the front page, and it was picked up by the dailies. When we asked the sharp-witted photographer Ian Lawrence where and when the photo was taken, he replied: Yesterday, on Portland Place. 
Jane Lu was an 18-year-old business analyst with a successful career ahead of her in the industry.

So when she quit her job only to launch a failed business venture and fall into debt, family and friends doubted her ability to succeed.

But now the 30-year-old is the co-founder of the multi-million dollar Australian global fashion brand Showpo which ships to 45 countries.

Speaking to Jules Sebastian, the entrepreneur opened up about how her failures that led to her success after she made the Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list in 2016.

Scroll down for video

Jane Lu sat down for an honest video with Jules Sebastian about her failures and successes as a businesswoman

'I used to be an accountant and business analyst and growing up I thought that I would get into that finance world because it's secure. Growing up my parents, being immigrants, honed that into me,' Jane told the lifestyle guru.

All of a sudden I had no job, my business failed and I was in debt

'I was 18 when I got my first job in these companies and I thought I was so on track to having a good corporate career and after I started, I realised I hated it and knew it wasn't for me and thought, how could this be my life?'

Devastated after finding out the career wasn't for her after all, the young woman decided to embark on a trip overseas to 'figure things out'.

'I went overseas and spent my whole time drinking and not really figuring anything out and came back and couldn't deal with being in a cubicle,' she said.

Showpo CEO Jane Lu fell into debt after quitting her corporate job at 18 but now owns a successful international brand

Showpo now boasts close to 2,000 styles in their online store and turns over more than $10 million per year

Jane Lu's top tips for business success Make sure your business model works

Good marketing will help you scale a business. Social media has helped grow the brand into a global success

Hire great people to make the business scale even further

Don't compare yourself

Never invest more than you're willing to lose

Learn from your mistakes Advertisement

After she returned, a friend asked to go into business with Jane but after a month the business crumbled.

'It was not a good business idea at all and we would have never made it work, but I was so over my work and used it as an excuse to quit,' she said.

'So all of a sudden I had no job, my business failed and I was in debt. This was all in the middle of the global financial crisis so I couldn't just go and get another job even if I wanted to.'

After meeting another girl who was interested in starting up an online store, Jane and her business partner began their dream.

In debt and with no money, Jane and her business partner gathered stock from a wholesaler on consignment - meaning they didn't have to pay until the stock was sold.

'We got some friends to take photos of the stock as a favour, and a model to model the stock in return for free clothes,' Jane explained.

'I set up the website myself by just googling HTML's, it was so clean and lean with only 40 styles.'

Showpo now boasts close to 2,000 styles and turns over more than $30 million each year.

Jane said it's important to learn from your mistakes and never quit trying to get where you want to be

Jane didn't tell her parents she had quit her job - so for the first six months, she would leave the house in the morning in her suit with an empty laptop bag.

'I would catch the bus into the city with my mum and just fake it till you make it,' she said.

It wasn't until two years later that Jane told her parents the truth - and although they caught on to the fact that she was running her online fashion empire, they thought it was just a side job.

'They know now and I'm really proud, my mum likes to tell everyone but my dad says "shhh, don't show off" so it's quite funny,' Jane laughed.

She explained she didn't have a vision for what she wanted the business to be.

'The thing that was driving me wasn't necessarily business success I just wanted to prove people wrong,' she said.

'When I quit my job, people said I was an idiot and then when my business failed they said "I told you so", so I just wanted to prove a point.'

Jane originally didn't have a vision for what she wanted the business to be and was driven by the need to prove people wrong

She said her parents are now very proud of her and she feels privileged to be able to provide for them

Jane said an important part about running a business is hiring great people and letting them do their own thing.

'Sometimes I think I'm a bit of a phony if I don't know everything that's going on but it's important to remember it's okay not to be the smartest person in the room,' she said.

Despite the business being a global success today, Jane said there were points where she didn't want to spend money on getting a taxi because the brand wasn't completely safe yet.

'One night, I was walking through Pyrmont after a night out when I remembered I had flyers in my bag, so I thought I might as well do some fly-dropping in the middle of night. I was constantly hustling and bustling,' she said.

'The best part is that my parents, who gave up so much for me to immigrate here, don't have to stress about money anymore. I can't believe I can offer them that.'
After having children, many women are quick to compare their recovery and post-body figures with other mothers.

But one mother-of-four has urged women to stop making comparisons and to simply celebrate what they have.

Stevie, an Australian mother and blogger at My Tribe of Six, took to her Facebook page on Thursday to share a photo of herself and encourage women to start being kinder to themselves.

'I often get remarks thrown at me like "You're soo skinny" or "You can't tell you've had four kids",' she wrote.

Stevie, an Australian mother and blogger at My Tribe of Six , took to her Facebook page on Thursday to share a photo of herself and encourage women to start being kinder to themselves

Stevie said women are often placing 'unrealistic expectations' on themselves because of what they see of others

'My first thought is "Well, you haven't seen me naked" and it's true - they haven't (thank God).

'But honestly, people often underestimate clothing and its ability to "cover" things up, but by no means am I trying to hide my "mum tum". No, I totally embrace it because it has done amazing things (like grow and house four kids).'

Stevie said women are often placing 'unrealistic expectations' on themselves because of what they see of others.

'No amount of exercise, or creams will fix it - nor could it have been prevented (trust me, I tried it all...sometimes it just comes down to genetics),' she said

'And that's fine because I am a big believer in embracing our bodies and what they can and have done for us,' she said

'You may look at me and think that it doesn't look like I have had kids but that's because you can't see the saggy deflated skin and scars left on my tummy after it stretched to accommodate my growing babes or that my WHOLE body is riddled with stretch marks,' she continued.

'No amount of exercise, or creams will fix it - nor could it have been prevented (trust me, I tried it all...sometimes it just comes down to genetics).

'And that's fine because I am a big believer in embracing our bodies and what they can and have done for us.'

Stevie said it makes her sad to think that women are 'looking at others and comparing themselves'

'Unless we have been and are on the exact same journey in life as the next person then how can you compare? You simply can't,' she said

Stevie said it makes her sad to think that women are 'looking at others and comparing themselves'.

'Unless we have been and are on the exact same journey in life as the next person then how can you compare? You simply can't,' she said.

'Embrace your bodies Mamma's and never compare or make assumptions about another because the fact is, you really have no idea.

'Be kind to YOU.'
Leila Sweeney isn't your average pageant queen.

The mother-of-one secured her title of Mrs Australia while she was 18 weeks pregnant with her second child.

Not only this but the 28-year-old from Victoria was working as a part-time farmer and a part-time secondary school teacher when she took home the national title.

'Just because you don't wear make up every day, doesn't mean you don't enjoy it,' Ms Sweeney told Daily Mail Australia.

Mother-of-one from Victoria, Leila Sweeney (pictured), secured the title of Mrs Australia while she was 18 weeks pregnant with her second child

Ms Sweeney first got the idea to enter Miss Australia 2017 when an ad popped up on her Facebook page.

'I had entered one pageant before when I'd had my first baby,' she told FEMAIL.

'I didn't do very well, but it helped because once you've given birth to a baby, it can be easy to feel fat and as though your body won't go back to normal.'

The 28-year-old works as a farmer and part-time secondary school teacher (pictured after winning the pageant)

When the advert appeared on her Facebook page when she was first pregnant with her second child, Ms Sweeney thought she would have nothing to lose.

'I entered at 18 weeks, with one of those tummies where people don't know if you've eaten too much or are pregnant,' she admitted.

'It was strange at first having my hair and make up done. I'm used to trudging through mud, not getting facials!,' she added.

'But it was also great fun and I thought it was a good opportunity for me to raise awareness of farming communities and promote the work that they do in a positive light.'

Ms Sweeney told FEMAIL that she is happy to break the stereotype of what a traditional pageant winner is

When the 28-year-old took out the title, she was both surprised and delighted.

Winning Mrs Australia will mean that she will fly over to the USA in June to take part in an international final.

'My new baby will only be six weeks old when I go, which will be hard, but I'm really looking forward to it,' Ms Sweeney said.

'The experience has been great fun and there's been lots of personal development,' she added.

'I think it's refreshing to see someone who is not the typical beauty queen win something like this - and I think it's what sets me apart,' she said (pictured)

While the 28-year-old admitted that she won't mind hanging up her beauty pageant shoes once the final in the US is complete, she also said she has been delighted to break down some stereotypes in the process:

'I think it's refreshing to see someone who is not the typical beauty queen win something like this.

'And I think it's what sets me apart. Beauty is found in different ways, and I think me winning the competition reflects that.'

To find out more about Leila Sweeney and to read her blog, click here.
It's been transformed into a burger, a gravity-defying milkshake, and a donut.

But the latest incarnation of the beloved Golden Gaytime can only be enjoyed by those aged 18 and up.

The Australian ice cream favourite has been turned into a cocktail for a limited time at the Rocksalt Tapas and Wine Bar in Sydney.

Behold the Golden Gaytime cocktail, available for a limited time at the Rocksalt Tapas and Wine Bar in Sydney

The creamy drink looks downright delicious, but beware if you don't have a sweet tooth.

Baileys Irish Cream and Hershey's chocolate syrup are both featured in the concoction, with Golden Gaytime crumbs lining the rim of each glass.

Rocksalt's Instagram picture of the cocktail has been flooded with people tagging their friends, trying to see whose up for a road trip or a change from their usual pub.

A chance to have that golden sip may soon be running out, as the drink was made in honour of World Cocktail Day on May 13.

This isn't the first time the Golden Gaytime has been given an alcoholic twist.

Craft beer producer Big Shed Brewing Concern, located in Adelaide, created the Big Shed Golden Stout Time for those who'd like their beer with a sweet kick.

Baileys Irish Cream and Hershey's chocolate syrup are both featured in the concoction, with Golden Gaytime crumbs lining the rim of each glass

This isn't the first time the Golden Gaytime has been given an alcoholic twist thanks to craft beer producer Big Shed Brewing Concern, who created the Big Shed Golden Stout Time

The beer has been infused with the aromatics of honeycomb, chocolate and caramel and is described as having the body of a 'rich milkshake'.

Thanks to one Canberra cafe, a real Golden Gaytime milkshake actually came to light, giving children a chance to sip on their favourite summertime treat.

The Patissez cafe, famous for their 'freakshakes', released a drink inspired by the ice cream in September 2015.

Anna Petridis, the cafe's co-owner, worked to recreate the Golden Gaytime's same 'exact flavour' without 'cheating and using Gaytime ice cream'.

Instead she used Dulce De Leche and rim rolled in biscuit crumb to mimic the iconic Australian treat.

The Patissez cafe, famous for their 'freakshakes', also released a drink inspired by the treat

Anna Petridis, the cafe's co-owner, worked to recreate the Golden Gaytime's same 'exact flavour' without 'cheating and using Gaytime ice cream'

The AUD $13.50 shake was also topped with homemade whipped chocolate mousee and a mini Gaytime PopSlide, also made by Petridis.

A spin on the classic, the PopSlides were made of caramel moussed dipped in milk chocolate and rolled in freshly made honeycomb and doused with edible gold spray.

Just months ago, the Golden Gaytime was transformed into a mouth-watering burger.

Two of the ice creams were sandwiched between a sweet brioche bun and drizzled with caramel sauce to create the delicious treat.

But the creation was only available in Sydney's northwest for two days, its existence as fleeting as a fever dream.

Just months ago, the Golden Gaytime was transformed into a mouth-watering burger

It came hot on the heels of the Gaytime Doughnut, a pastry using caramelised crepes filled with honeycomb custard and with crushed biscuits on the side

Made more readily available was the 'Golden Gaynetto', a cross between a Golden Gaytime and a Cornetto that had Australians in a frenzy last year.

The toffee and vanilla ice cream was the perfect combination of the two treats, featuring a wafer cone topped with chocolate sauce and Gaytime biscuit crumbs.

Gaynettos were the brain child of Jesse James McElroy, a Sydney-based advertising director who first campaigned for a Golden Gaytime Ice Cream Tub.

The tubs almost instantly sold out when they were released by Streets Ice Cream in 2015.

So it was little surprise that when McElroy petitioned for the Gaynetto, Streets Ice Cream quickly listened.

Gaynettos, which cost $3.20 separately and $6.99 for a four-pack, are sold in petrol stations, convenience stores and Woolworths supermarkets.
Mothers across the globe are sharing breastfeeding selfies in honour of the British mother who was killed in a scooter accident in Thailand.

Sophie Emma Rose, 41, originally from Blackpool, died when the moped she was travelling on was hit by an 18-wheel truck outside a 7-Eleven store in Thalang, Phuket on Monday.

The moped was being ridden by her boyfriend Danny Glass, 29, from Kent, who suffered only minor injuries. Miss Rose was six months pregnant when she died.

Mothers from across the globe are sharing breastfeeding selfies in memory of Sophie Emma Rose who was killed in a scooter accident on Monday. Pictured: Paula Hubble Wynne said she had a 'massive presence' in 'normalising breastfeeding older children'

The mother was best known for her YouTube videos that showed her breastfeeding her son and encouraged women to consider adopting the practice themselves.

And now in honour of Miss Rose, mothers across the globe who have been inspired by her campaign are sharing breastfeeding selfies or 'brelfies' in her memory.

Under the hashtag #SelfieForSophie social media is being flooded with self portraits of mothers feeding their children while paying tribute to Miss Rose.

Many thanked the late mother for 'normalising' breastfeeding and revealed that they adopted a similar approach.

Sophie Emma Rose earned fame for her YouTube channel which saw her breastfeeding her son at age four, and was a supporter of natural term weaning

The pictures have been tagged with #SelfieForSophie and Charlie Ross shared this selfie on Twitter writing: 'Here is my #Brelfie for #selfieforsophie to help continue to #normalisebreastfeeding'

Samantha Leigh Hancox said that while she didn't practice natural term weaning she said 'it's up to each mummy how they want to feed their child'

Miss Rose practiced natural term weaning, whereby the mother continues to breastfeed based on when the child wants to stop rather than when they wish to begin weaning.

While some of the mothers sharing tributes admitted that they did not adopt this method they were in praise of Miss Rose's work towards desexualising breastfeeding.

Miss Rose even spoke to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning about her cause, saying she wanted to 'normalise breastfeeding older kids' and 'expose it until it becomes part of normal reality'.

The babyledkitchen Instagram account shared this snap captioning it: 'Sophie was a huge advocate of attachment parenting, breastfeeding and natural term weaning despite being hounded by the press and trolled by the public. You gave your little boy an amazing start'

Hannah shared an image and thanked Miss Rose writing: 'I'm posting this to honour her work and show my support. My thoughts are with her family and friends. Thank you for all you did'

Her YouTube channel 'Sophie's Joy Breastfeeding Mama' amassed more than 25 million views.

Another parenting YouTube channel, 'Sophie's Joy Family Vlog', which had more than 4,000 subscribers and a million views.

Her last video, posted the day before she died, shows John, Shaye's father who lives in Bangkok, spending time with them in a hotel pool and at a water park.

Tahira posted a photo of her feeding an older child captioning it: 'All our thoughts are with her family as our community has lost a massive presence in terms of breastfeeding older children'

Miss Rose died on May 9 . The incident happened just after 12.10pm local time - 6.10am UK time - on Monday.

The mother died when the moped she was travelling on was hit by an 18-wheel truck outside a 7-Eleven store in Thalang, Phuket.

The moped was being ridden by her boyfriend Danny Glass, 29, from Kent, who suffered only minor injuries. Miss Rose was six months pregnant when she died.

A family has started a crowdfunding page to raise money for Miss Rose's family. To donate please click here
A Welsh woman is to fly 11,000 miles to marry her Tinder match after a glitch on the app paired her with a man in Swansea - New South Wales, Australia.

Jessica Maverick, 29, was matched with Steve Collins, also, 29, from near Swansea, on the dating app in January.

But Steve lived in Swansea, New South Wales, while Jessica lived in Cardiff - despite both setting their profiles to find matches within a 100-mile radius.

After a glitch on Tinder Jessica Maverick from Cardiff matched with Steve Collins in New South Wales Australia - however, the pair say it was fate and are now planning to marry

Jessica's 'radius' stretched as far as Swansea, Wales - and she believes a malfunction in the app linked her to Steve.

But the error was 'the best thing that happened to them', as Jessica and Steve, a DJ, fell in love through a series of messages and Skype calls.

They met for the first time in Dubai on March - the halfway point between their homes - and it was love at first sight.

Jessica said : 'Some might see this as a Tinder error but to me it was fate. Steve and I would never have met one another if we hadn't been 'wrongly' matched on the app. It was meant to be.'

Jessica didn't notice the distance on Steve's profile until after they matched and after making a joke of it the pair got talking

After exchanging messages and several Skype calls the pair decided to meet halfway between their two homes in Dubai

Now, after a four-month whirlwind romance, Jessica is moving to Australia to be with Steve and the couple, who have matching tattoos, plan to wed.

She added: 'People might be sceptical but we speak for hours at a time over Skype and when we met face to face I knew I was meeting my other half.'

Both Jess and Steve had been single for six months when they were 'matched' on the dating app.

Jess said: 'I was attracted to his dark brown eyes straight away and swiped right.

They claim that it was love at first site and Jessica is now planning to move across the world to live with Steve in Australia

Jessica, who has known Steve for four months, revealed that they have both deleted their Tinder accounts and swap 'hundreds' of messages a day

'It was only once I saw we'd matched that I looked at his profile and saw he actually lived 10,655 miles away.

'I realised that there must have been a glitch in the app as we were both in range of a place called Swansea - only I was in Wales and he was in New South Wales!

'I messaged him and pointed out the distance, which Steve hadn't noticed, and we joked about it and got chatting.'

'We bonded over our shared sense of humour and life experiences. Soon, we were messaging via WhatsApp every day.

'We logged on at 9pm UK time, and I drank wine as we chatted, so it felt just like a real date. Our chemistry was amazing, even just on a screen, and we spoke for six hours.

'We both admitted we loved each other. I had never felt that way before and knew we had to arrange to meet in person.'

Jess admits she was nervous flying out to meet a 'stranger', but the two clicked immediately.

On their final day in Dubai, after a week together, they got a tattoo of half a mandala symbol

Steve said that he never imagined that Tinder would help him find 'the love of his life'

'We compared notes on our journeys and went back to our apartment, where we shared our first kiss,' she said.

'Later we swapped presents - he gave me a necklace and I gave him a jar of notes to pull from when he missed me.

'The chemistry was electric and the following night we got intimate for the first time. We spent a lot of the holiday in our hotel room.'

On their final day, after a week together, they each got a tattoo of half a mandala symbol.

She said: 'Steve got one on his leg and I got one on my arm in a slightly different design. It symbolises the fact we are different people but together we're complete.

'I cried when I got on my flight home. I started planning our next meet straight away, and we discussed moving overseas to be together. We've spoken about marriage being in our future.'

Jess says that her family and friends are happy to see her in such an 'equal, happy' relationship.

The pair have both deleted their Tinder accounts and swap 'hundreds' of messages a day.

Jess said: 'Steve and I will always be grateful for whatever Tinder glitch matched us to one another.'

Steve said: 'Everything about the way we met feels like fate.

'I could never have imagined that Tinder would lead me to find the love of my life on the opposite side of the world.'
Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Vanessa celebrated their daughter Kai's 10th birthday a few days early with a unique 'build your own cake' party.

The 39-year-old dad took to Instagram on Wednesday evening to share a darling photo of him and Vanessa next to their little girl, who officially turns 10 years old on Friday, May 12.

The photo sees Kai sitting on a chair in front of her birthday cake as her dad proudly stands behind her, holding her arms.

Scroll down for video

Happy day: Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Vanessa celebrated their daughter Kai's 10th birthday on New York's Upper East Side on Thursday night

'Time flies': The 39-year-old dad revealed that his little girl is officially turning 10 on Friday, and he urged his followers to live in the moment

Meanwhile, Vanessa, 39, is all smiles as she kneels next to her little girl right before she blows out the candles on her cake.

Having Kai celebrate her 10th birthday on New York's Upper East Side got Donald Jr. reminiscing about how quickly time flies by.

'Getting ready for Kai to blow out her birthday candles at her build your own cake party today,' he captioned the image.

'My little girl turns 10 on Friday. How did this happen??? (No wise guy responses needed) I truly can't believe it, double digits,' he added. 'Time flies.

Fun times: Kai's siblings, Tristan, five, Spencer, four, and Chloe, two, (left to right) are seen decorating cakes at a 'build your own cake' party in a video from Tiffany Trump's Instagram

'Enjoy it while it's there as you can't stop the clock or go back to relive what you've missed. #daddysgirl #dad #birthday #bday #daughter.'

Donald Jr.'s half-sister Tiffany Trump, 23, also attended the party, sharing a sweet video of her nieces and nephews decorating cakes together on her Instagram Stories on Thursday night.

The clips sees Donald Jr.'s children, Tristan, five, Spencer, four, and Chloe, two, using icing and sprinkles to decorate their own individual cakes.

At one point, Vanessa is seen pulling Chloe's blonde hair off her face, while Donald Jr. walks up to his son Tristan to check out his icing-filled cake.

Making memories: Donald Jr.'s half-sister Tiffany also filmed her brother and his wife Vanessa (top left) with their children at the party

Granddaddy's girl: Kai is pictured in Mar-a-Lago with her grandfather, President Donald Trump

The father-of-five's eldest son, Donald Trump III, and the birthday girl, Kai, were presumably off playing with their friends, as they were not seen in the short video capturing the night's festivities.

Tiffany, who remained behind the scenes at the party, captioned the footage: 'Cake time!'

It's unclear if Donald Jr.'s younger brother Eric, 33, and his pregnant wife Lara, 34, attended the party.

However, his sister Ivanka, 35, and her husband Jared Kushner, 36, most likely missed the fete because they are living in Washington, D.C. while working for President Donald Trump.

Doting aunt: Although Tiffany attended the party, she remained behind the scenes. She is pictured at an event in New York City earlier this week

Too far: Donald Jr.'s sister Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner presumably missed the party. They are pictured walking into their Washington, D.C. home on Thursday morning

Busy as can be: Earlier in the week, Donald Jr. headed to Indiana on Monday to speak at the state Republican party's spring dinner

The theme of the Kai's latest birthday bash is a play on last year's 'make your own ice cream party', which was attended by Ivanka and their stepmother Melania Trump when they were still living in New York City.

When planning Kai's birthday party, Donald Jr. and Vanessa may have been inspierd by their Easter weekend at the Trump family's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, as their kids happily participated in its annual Easter Bunny cake making.

Earlier in the week, Donald Jr. headed to Indiana on Monday to speak at the state Republican party's spring dinner, and he still has a busy week ahead of him.

On Thursday, President Trump's eldest son will make his second trip to Montana this year to campaign for U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte, according to the Sidney Herald.
Queen Maxima has spent the last few days mingling with royals from Sweden, Denmark and Greece as they celebrated the 80th birthdays of King Harald and Queen Sonja.

But today, she was back on her home turf in the Netherlands to officially welcome the President of Costa Rica to the country.

The 45-year-old chose a bright coral dress for the occasion and smiled for photographs with President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera and his wife First Lady Mercedes Penas.

Queen Maxima chose a bright coral dress at the official welcoming ceremony President of Costa Rica visit to The Netherlands

Queen Maxima stood out in her lace patterned dress which had an underlayer on the body and diamond brooch on the waistline.

The mother-of-three was colour co-ordinated and matched her coral dress with coral-coloured shoes and clutch bag.

She wore dazzling silver and gold bracelets and a black-strapped watch as well as diamond earrings.

The royal wore her blonde hair in an elegant side up-do and kept her make-up relatively low key with a nude lip.

Queen Maxima, in a lace dress with underlayer, posed for photographs with President Luis Guillermo

Queen Maxima (left) and King Willem-Alexander smiled with President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera and his wife First Lady Mercedes Penas (right)

Like Maxima, First Lady Mercedes Penas also went for a bright colour for today's welcoming ceremony and wore a lime green coat.

She made sure the rest of her outfit matched, wearing a black dress and heels.

The First Lady of Costa Rica kept her green clutch bag close to her body as she made her entrance and stood next to the King of the Netherlands.

Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander posed for photographs with the Presidential couple and made sure they felt welcomed at their home.

Just yesterday, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander were in Norway celebrating the 80th birthdays of King Harald and Queen Sonja

Just yesterday, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander were in Norway raising a toast to the king and queen who were celebrating their birthdays with a series of high-profile events in Oslo.

Last night the glamorous cohort assembled at Oslo's Royal Palace for a glittering gala dinner, and on Wednesday afternoon the celebrations continued with a birthday lunch aboard the royal yacht, HNoMY Norge.

This was followed by the Royal Guard's march through the palace, and their next port of call was Oslo Opera House, where festivities ended with a dazzling fireworks display after the gala dinner hosted by the government.
She has allegedly enforced a 'no ring, no bring' policy to her nuptials - excluding plus-ones who are not married or engaged.

And Pippa Middleton's demands of her wedding guests continues with the news that she has also instructed members of the congregation to bring a second outfit for the evening reception.

According to Daily Mail diarist Richard Eden, the Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister, 33, wants her guests to have a change of clothes for the second leg of her big day on May 30.

Twitter users were quick to react to the news, calling it 'pretentious', 'ridiculous' and 'over the top'.

Will Pippa be changing too? Insiders say Miss Middleton has asked her wedding guests to bring a second outfit when she marries financier James Matthews on May 20

Fashion writer Simon Glazin commented: 'If I was a guest at this wedding, and right now I'm very glad I'm not, I wouldn't be best pleased with this request.

'It's hard enough to chose your first outfit, let alone for a wedding that will be all over the media. Imagine having to come up with two looks!

'Does Pippa maybe want to offer guests an outfit budget? That's the only fair way of doing this methinks.'

It comes just hours after Pippa's father Michael, 67, was spotted visiting St Mark's Church in Englefield with wife Carole to meet wedding planners Fait Accompli of Chelsea.

When the Duchess of Cambridge tied the knot with Prince William in April 2011, she changed into a second wedding gown for the evening celebrations at Buckingham Palace - so Pippa may well be planning on a change of outfit herself.

According to Daily Mail diarist Richard Eden, the Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister, 33, wants her guests to have a change of clothes for the second leg of her big day on May 30

Should wedding guests really take a change of clothes to the evening reception? Twitter users were quick to react to the news, calling it 'pretentious', 'ridiculous' and 'over the top'

Arrangements for Pippa and James' nuptials are set to be more complicated than most as they've reportedly invited so many people to the church that more than 30 guests will have to be seated in the vestry.

A sound system and screen is going to be set up for them to see the happy couple exchange vows.

Another potential adjustment to plans could be the last minute inclusion of Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle.

The Suits actress, 35, was previously rumoured to be off the guest list due to the 'no ring, no bring' policy, meaning unmarried partners of wedding guests are denied an invite.

When the Duchess of Cambridge tied the knot in April 2011, she changed into a second wedding gown for the evening celebrations at Buckingham Palace (right)

However, Pippa seems to have had a change of heart and sources say the US actress will accompany her royal boyfriend on the big day.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte will act as page boy and bridesmaid, and Pippa is also borrowing a number of ideas from sister Kates 2011 wedding, in which she stole the show in her form-fitting bridesmaids dress.

Local florist Green Parlour in Pangbourne, Berkshire, are providing the flowers and their displays are set to incorporate trees very much in the way that Kate had the knave Westminster Abbey lined with 20ft English field maples.
United Airlines is finding that it's not so easy to rebound after its recent bout of bad press, and even attempting to piggyback on an uplifting viral news story only digs them deeper into the hole they've found themselves in.

This week, 16-year-old Carter Wilkinson from Nevada was awarded free chicken nuggets for a year by Wendy's after his tweet about the fast food chain became the most retweeted ever.

Wendy's earned ongoing positive press during the month-long saga  positive press that United Airlines unsuccessful tried to muscle in on.

Scroll down for video

Nice try, United: United Airlines tried to piggyback on Wendy's good press this week

Hey, over here! The airline reiterated its offer to give 16-year-old Carter Wilkinson a free flight to any Wendy's in the world after he created a new RT record this week

In early April, Carter tweeted at Wendy's, 'Yo @Wendy's how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?'

A teen's Twitter plea for free Wendy's nuggets has beaten Ellen Degeneres's star-studded Oscars selfie to become the most retweeted tweet of all time - as he is rewarded with free 'nuggs' for a year.

Carter's quest for retweets began last month when he asked the fast food chain, 'Yo @Wendy's how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?'

Wendy's, known for its sassy comebacks on social media, replied with a Herculean challenge: '18 million.'

'Consider it done,' the undaunted high school student had replied, before screencapping the conversation and writing: 'HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS.'

That plea has since been retweeted more than 3.5 million times  including by several celebrities and major brands  setting a new world record.

Making history: Carter was promised free nuggets for a year by Wendy's if he reached 18 million tweets, but they later compromised on setting a new record

Nuh-uh: Social media users were not OK with United for trying to get good press on the back of Wendy's good deed

Back off! Twitter users joked that UA would probably steal his chicken nuggets

Don't do it, bro! Many cracked that they were setting a trap

United Airlines was one of those major brands. On April 7, when the tweet first started gaining traction, they wrote: 'If you get 18 million RTs, we'll give you a free flight to take you to any @Wendys in the world in a city we serve. Good luck!'

Just a few days later on April 10, however, United made headlines for forcibly dragging 69-year-old passenger Dr. David Dao off an overbooked flight.

Video of the bloody incident earned international attention, prompting several people to reply harshly.

'Yo @United how many retweets to not get assaulted by you on my next flight?' wrote one, while another tweeted a warning to Carter: 'Can't wait to see you get dragged out of the plane with a bag full of #nuggz.'

Despite thousands of replies to the April tweet that were critical of United, the airline's social media account still seemed to think it was a good idea to follow up on the tweet this week.

'Hey @carterjwm, congrats on your world record! It's time to decide where in the world youd like to visit a @Wendys! DM to get the  rolling,' they wrote on Wednesday.

Bad one: United Airlines was in the headlines last month when they dragged a 69-year-old passenger off a plane

The passenger, a doctor, was bloodied up from the altercation

Outrage: Many people shamed United for thinking a cute tweet would undo what they did

Twitter users have been showing no mercy in dressing down United for trying to get good publicity on the back of Wendy's, which is also donating to charity in honor of Carter's accomplishment.

Some called it a 'trap' and left gifs indicating they found the offer suspicious, while one wrote: 'They will take your nuggs to feed their victims.'

A man named Mike put it bluntly when he said, 'Way to try and piggy-back on somebody else's campaign.'

On Wednesday, Carter and Wendy's both celebrated their joint accomplishment on social media.

'@carterjwm is now the most retweeted tweet of all-time,' the chain tweeted, alongside a picture of Carter in a #nuggsforCarter t-shirt holding a handful of Wendy's gift cards, and a certificate. 'That's good for the nuggets, and $100k to @DTFA. Consider it done. #nuggsforcarter.'

Winner! This week, Carter's nugget Twitter plea became the most retweeted tweet of all time - and he was rewarded with free 'nuggs' for a year

Carter posted a celebratory post on Twitter, saying 'We did it guys' as he pledged to continue his campaign to try and hit 18 million

Carter's certificate read: 'This certificate certifies that Carter Wilkinson has the most retweeted tweets in the history of ever (sorry Ellen) #nuggsforcarter #consideritdone.'

'We did it guys!' the 16-year-old wrote on Twitter. 'Now let's get to 18 mil!'

After the teen surpassed Ellen's viral Oscars tweet, Wendy's quickly made good on its part of the deal, donating the $100,000 to the charity, as well as rewarding Carter with his well-earned nuggets.

'We could not be more excited for Carter for having broken the record of the most Retweeted Tweet of all time. We love Twitter because it lets us talk with people in real and fun ways, and they have been loving us back as a result.' Kurt Kane Chief Concept and Marketing Officer, The Wendy's Company.

However, before you rush to start their own #nuggs campaign, Wendy's has some bad news for you: 'We've learned our lessons on making those deals.'

Meanwhile, Carter has no plans to stop his campaign, pledging to try and get to 18 million.
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They spent the beginning of the week at a series of glittering celebrations for the Norwegian King and Queen's birthday in Oslo.

But today was a more solemn affair for the Swedish royals as they gathered in Sollebrunn, Alingsas, to pay their respects to a much-loved member of their family who passed away last month.

Niclas Silfverschiold, who died on April 11 aged 82, was the husband of Princess Desiree, Baroness Silfverschiold - the sister of reigning monarch Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Meanwhile, almost 2,000 miles away, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain paid their respects to a Dowager Spanish princess at the chapel of the Royal Palace in Madrid.

Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria died on March 28 aged 99 and her funeral was a formal affair with the Spanish King and Queen in attendance.

A tearful Crown Princess Victoria, joined by husband Prince Daniel, led mourners at the funeral of her uncle, Niclas Silfverschiold in Sollebrunn, Sweden today

Prince Carl Philip and his wife, former glamour model Princess Sofia, joined guests at the funeral today. Sofia is currently expecting the couple's second child

Meanwhile, Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain dressed in matching black today as they paid their respects to the late Duchess of Calabria, who died at the age of 99, in Madrid

In Sweden, leading mourners at Baron Silfverschiold's funeral were his niece, a tearful-looking Crown Princess Victoria, and husband Prince Daniel.

They were joined by Prince Carl Philip and his wife, former glamour model Princess Sofia who is currently expecting her second child.

The newly-widowed Princess, 78, clutched her daughter Christina's arm for support as her husband's coffin was lifted into the hearse after the ceremony.

Baron and Baroness Silfverschiold married in June 1964 and had three children together  Otto, Christina-Louise and Helene as well as several grandchildren.

The widowed Swedish Princess, far left, is led from the church by her son, Carl Silfverschiold, and followed by daughter Christina and her husband Hans in Sollebrunn today

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, 71, pays his respects to his late brother-in-law with his wife Queen Silvia, 73. The congregation were all dressed in black

The King and Queen of Sweden have also just returned from a rain-soaked visit to Oslo where they helped to mark the 80th birthdays of their Norwegian coutnerparts

The King and Queen of Sweden turned out to pay their respects during a dreary day in Sollebrunn

Prince Daniel looked stern as his wife Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein took his arm on the way to the service

Prince Carl Philip and his pregnant wife, former glamour model Princess Sofia walk towards the funeral service

Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel and Princess Martha Louise of Norway hold on to each other for comfort as they attend the service

In Sweden, male members of the funeral congregation helped to lift the coffin into the hearse

Niclas Silfverschiold's widow, 78-year-old Princess Desiree holds onto a clergyman for support after the service as his hearse leaves the church

Royal guests stand by the funeral hearse after paying their respects at the funeral of Niclas Silfverschiold in Sollebrunn

In Madrid, Queen Letizia was at the funeral with King Felipe VI who wore a dark suit and black tie with a crisp white shirt.

The 44-year-old royal looked sombre throughout the service and kept her clutch close her body as she paid her respects.

Letizia - who is mother to parents to Leonor, Princess of Asturias, 11 and Infanta Sofia of Spain, 10 - kept her dark hair down, wore a knee length dress and matching black court shoes.

The royal couple made their way down the aisle of the chapel and remained straight-faced as they honoured the Duchess' memory.

Who was the Duchess of Calabria? Infanta Alicia, the Dowager Duchess of Calabria became a Duchess through her marriage to Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria. Born in Vienna in 1917, she and the Duke of Calabria had three children - a son and two daughters. She outlived her husband by 53 years and her only son by 17 months. At 99 years old, she was the oldest member of the Spanish Royal Family The Duchess was also considered to be the heir Edward the Confessor and David I of Scotland. Advertisement

Who was the Baron Niclas Silfverschiold? Niclas Silfverschiold, who died on April 11 aged 82, was the husband of Princess Desiree, Baroness Silfverschiold - the sister of reigning monarch Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Baron and Baroness Silfverschiold married in June 1964 and had three children together - Otto, Christina-Louise and Helene. They also had several grandchildren who joined mourners in Sollebrunn today. When the couple married, because Baron Niclas was of lower regal rank than his new wife, Desiree lost her title 'Royal Highness' - but was given the courtesy title of Princess Desiree, Baroness Silfverschiold. Advertisement

In the Spanish capital, Queen Letizia looked sombre throughout the funeral and kept her clutch close her body as she payed her respects to the Duchess of Calabria

Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain join mourners at the funeral of Duchess of Calabria in the Spanish capital today

The married couple - parents to Leonor, Princess of Asturias, 11 and Infanta Sofia of Spain, 10 - were straight faced as they stood and listened to the service

All eyes were on the royal couple as they made their way across the Royal Palace in Madrid

Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain remain straight-faced as they make their way through the chapel in the Royal Palace

Former Queen Sofia, King Juan Carlos stood near the royal couple as they joined the mourners in paying their respects

Princess Elena, Princess Cristina and Princess Pilar enjoy a moment of levity during the funeral in Madrid

Princess Elena and Princess Cristina pay their respects during the funeral of Infanta Alicia

Royals from Sweden, Denmark, Greece, and the Netherlands assembled earlier this week to toast to the Norwegian King and Queen who were jointly celebrating their 80th birthdays with a series of high-profile events in Oslo.

On Tuesday they gathered at the Royal Palace for a glittering gala dinner, and on Wednesday the celebrations continued with a birthday lunch aboard the royal yacht, HNoMY Norge.

This was followed by the Royal Guard's march through the palace, and their next port of call was Oslo Opera House, where festivities will end tonight with a dazzling fireworks display after the gala dinner hosted by the Government.

Baron Silfverschiold's daughter Christina de Geer was joined by her husband Hans de Geer

Princess Desiree, Baroness Silfverschiold, clutched her daughter Christina's arm for support as the coffin was lifted in to the hearse after the ceremony
The number of strokes in the UK is expected to soar by almost half in the next two decades as the population ages, researchers say

Britain is heading for a devastating stroke 'epidemic' with numbers due to soar by nearly half in the next two decades, experts warned last night.

A major report comparing stroke rates across 35 European countries predicts the number of strokes suffered by patients in Britain will increase 44 per cent by 2035.

This boom in numbers - which would take the number of strokes the UK from 100,000 a year to more than 140,000 - is significantly higher than the 34 per cent average rise projected across Europe as a whole.

The authors of the report, from King's College London, said the rise is being driven by the UK's ageing population.

Professor Charles Wolfe said: 'The proportion of the population over the age of 65 is exponentially increasing.

'The increase in stroke numbers that we have to deal with is considerable - we have to consider how we provide long-term care for 44 per cent more people a year.'

The report, compiled on behalf of the Stroke Alliance for Europe group of charities, also predicts there will be nearly 800,000 stroke survivors living in Britain by 2035, 32 per cent up on the current figure of 602,000.

Juliet Bouverie, chief executive of the Stroke Association, said: 'The number of stroke survivors is set to rise by almost one million people [across Europe], and that number in the UK is expected to increase by over 30 per cent - that is one of the largest increases in Europe.

'These are shocking figures, and if they are borne out, health services will face a formidable challenge in tackling a stroke epidemic.

'There are alarming variations in delivering even the basic levels of treatment and care for stroke patients, such as access to stroke units and thrombolysis, not just across Europe, but across the UK.

'While it is good news that many more people are now surviving a stroke, we also know that their needs are not currently being met after they've received initial life-saving treatment.'

The paper also predicts there will be nearly 800,000 stroke survivors living in Britain by 2035, 32 per cent up on the current figure of 602,000 (file image)

Professor Wolfe said the main reason strokes in the UK are projected to rise faster than the European average is because British life expectancy is rising faster, meaning there will be more elderly people in the UK.

According to the latest predictions, people born in 2014 in the UK will live to an average of 81.4, significantly higher than the EU average of 80.9. The Bulgarian average life expectancy is just 74.5, Czech 78.9 and Romanian 73.7.

The stroke report also includes non-EU countries, such as Ukraine, where life expectancy is just 71.2, Serbia where it is 75.4, and Macedonia where people can expect to live to just 75.5.

Advances in treatment techniques in the UK will also mean more people surviving a stroke.

The report said: 'Improved survival rates from stroke mean there will be more people living with stroke as a long-term condition.'

Co-author Professor Christopher McKevitt, also of King's College London, said: 'As the population ages, more people will have a stroke, and more will survive with long-term disabilities.

'We need to ensure better access to the best acute stroke care for all; and we need to focus efforts on improving support for stroke survivors in the months and years after they are sent home from hospital.'
Women with elevated levels of a certain protein in their blood are at a higher risk of stroke, a new study reveals.

Those with the highest protein levels are 56 per cent more likely to have a stroke than women with the lowest amounts, the research found.

Study author Dr Pamela Rist, Harvard Medical School, said: 'Given the high rate of disability from stroke, it is important to identify people who may be at higher risk of this disease.

'This protein could be a marker that might help us in the fight against stroke.'

In the US, around 795,000 people have a stroke each year. The disorder affects approximately 152,000 Britons annually.

Women with elevated levels of a certain protein in their blood are at a higher risk of stroke

WHAT IS AN ISCHEMIC STROKE? An ischemic stroke occurs in more than 80 per cent of stroke incidences. It occurs when the blood supply to the brain is blocked. The most common cause is narrowing of the arteries in the neck or head, which occurs when fatty deposits accumulate. High blood pressure, heart disease, smoking and diabetes raise the risk. Symptoms include numbness or weakness in the face, legs or arms, usually on one side of the body. Other signs are confusion, severe headache, loss of balance and difficulty speaking or seeing. Treatment focuses on dissolving the clot and improving blood flow. Medication success depends on getting the patient to the hospital in time. Advertisement

Researchers from Harvard Medical School analysed blood samples from 473 women who had suffered an ischemic stroke within an average of nine years and 473 women of the same age who had not.

Ischemic stroke is the most common form of the disorder and occurs when the brain's blood supply is blocked.

The women were matched based on other factors that can affect stroke risk, including smoking history and hormonal treatment use.

Results, published in the journal Neurology, revealed that women who had previously had a stroke had an average blood protein level of 1.86mg per liter versus 1.80mg per liter in those who had no stroke history.

When the participants were divided into four groups according to their protein levels, those in the highest group were 56 per cent more likely to have a stroke than those in the lowest quarter.

The researchers added, however, the study was only conducted among white women and may not reflect results for other ethnicities.

They also did not examine protein level change and its possible impact on stroke risk.

Dr Rist added: 'Further studies are needed to determine if beta-2 microglobulin levels can be modified through lifestyle changes.'

The effect of protein levels in men is also unclear.

This comes after researchers from the University of Nottingham found putting a special skin patch on a stroke patients arm on their way to hospital could slash their risk of dying by half.

The 39p patch contains drugs that lower blood pressure and relax veins and arteries, improving circulation to the brain.
Britons are the second worst binge drinkers in Europe, according to the findings of a new survey.

Defying stereotypes of beer-loving Britons and Germans, Portugal surprisingly takes the lead as Europe's biggest binge-drinking nation.

Yet, the Guinness-guzzling Irish drink the most alcohol overall, the survey found.

In the Nordic countries, Denmark tops the list for the highest overall alcohol consumption, while weekend binges are most common among Norwegian men.

Although the survey does not say why Portugal has the biggest binge-drinking problem, previous reports have suggested British and Spanish revelers cause drink-fueled havoc after being attracted by its cheap flights.

Britons are the second worst binge drinkers in Europe, with Portugal taking first place

BRITONS ARE EUROPE'S SECOND BIGGEST BINGE DRINKERS Britain comes second to Portugal for the biggest binge-drinking nation in Europe. Ireland has the greatest alcohol consumption overall. In Nordic countries, Denmark drink the most. Yet, Norwegian men are the most likely to binge. Women in central and eastern Europe drink the least amount of alcohol. Across Europe, men drink almost twice as much as women. Those who earn less tend to binge drink, while people who are more financially comfortable consume more alcohol overall. Advertisement

Across Europe, men drink almost twice as much as women, the research added.

Women in central and eastern Europe drink the least amount of alcohol, they found.

The results, published in the European Journal of Public Health, also showed that people who earn less tend to binge drink, yet those who are more financially comfortable consume more alcohol overall.

Yet, the findings do not specify the league table for Europe's biggest drinkers, how much each nation drinks or how results have changed since past surveys.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology collaborated with scientists from more than 40 European countries.

They developed a questionnaire that quizzed participants on their drinking habits.

Crucially, the number of people who took part in the questionnaire, and their ages, are not mentioned.

Professor Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, told MailOnline: 'The results of this study are very worrying, if not entirely surprising.

'Alcohol is associated with over 60 medical conditions, including heart disease, liver disease and cancer.

'In addition, those who binge drink are more at risk of the short-term effects of drinking such as alcohol poisoning, blackout and injury.

'We know that the amount people consume is linked to price  and alcohol is 60 per cent more affordable than it was in 1980.

'Offers such as "all the Prosecco you can drink" also encourage excessive consumption and put people at risk.'

The survey's results have been presented to the EU health commissioner.

This comes after researchers from University Hospital Munich found binge drinking can cause an irregular heartbeat in a study in April.

They tracked 3,000 visitors to the Munich Octoberfest and found those who drank the most were more likely to develop an abnormal heart rhythm, which can cause severe health problems in later life.
Children who have a consistent bedtime routine and limited screen time are at lower risk of being obese, research suggests.

They may also be better at regulating their emotions than those with erratic schedules who watch lots of television or have excessive use of iPads and phones, say the authors.

Excessive TV watching and use of other screen-devices and insufficient sleep have long been linked to obesity in adults.

Now this current study offers a new insight into how these habits may in fact take hold earlier on in childhood.

The study also links emotion regulation to obesity in youngsters.

The Ohio study suggests regular bedtimes encourages a healthy weight in children (file)

Three-year-old children who had regular bedtimes, mealtimes, and limits on their television/video time were better at controlling their feelings and impulses, the authors found.

More chaotic routines meant they at age three meant they had poorer emotion regulation and were more likely to be obese at 11.

'Both lack of a regular bedtime and poor emotion regulation increased risk for later obesity,' lead study author Sarah Anderson, a public health researcher at Ohio State University in Columbus told Reuters.

'These two factors were independent of each other; the link between bedtimes and obesity could not be explained away by a child's inability to regulate their emotions.'

Obese in children is a growing problem (file)

Anderson's team analysed data on 10,955 youngsters born in the UK from 2000 to 2002. They looked at parents' descriptions of household routines and children's behaviour at three as well as measurements of children's height and weight at age 11.

They discovered that by age 11, about 6 per cent of the the children studied were obese.

When this group were three, 41 per cent always had a regular bedtime, 47 per cent always had a regular mealtime and 23 per cent were limited to no more than an hour of TV a day.

Inconsistent bedtimes when younger were associated with a 87 per cent greater chance of being obese by 11.

The children's emotional regulation were scored on a scale of one to five. The preschoolers had average emotional regulation scores of two.

Being glued to mobiles, tablets and other screens can cause health problems for children (file)

Each one-point decline in emotional regulation at age three was linked with a 38 per cent increased chance of obesity when older.

Unsurprisingly, those who always had regular meals were more likely to have regular bedtimes.

While you may expect irregular mealtimes to be associated with obesity - how often are we told to eat little and often - the researchers found the opposite in this study.

Youngsters who rarely, if ever, had regular mealtimes at age three were less likely to be obese by age 11. Therefore, regular meal times were only linked to better emotion regulation.

The study was not a controlled experiment, but the findings still highlight the health benefits of regular bedtimes, say researchers.

The research was published in the International Journal of Obesity.
Scientists claim to have found the first link between endometriosis and gene mutations that have been known to cause cancer.

Endometriosis is an incurable condition where tissue grows outside of the uterus - causing severe pelvic pain, vomiting, bowel and urinary disorders - and can even leave women infertile.

It's very common, affecting one in ten women, including celebrities Lena Dunham, Julianne Hough, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg and reportedly presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

Now researchers say they found cancer-linked mutations in benign endometriosis samples.

They say that, although these mutations do not typically evolve into cancer, it is cause for further investigation, since this is the first scientific study to connect endometriosis with any cancer-related genes.

Scientists claim they found the first link between endometriosis and gene mutations that have been known to cause cancer. Symptoms include severe pelvic pain, bowel and urinary disorders - and can even leave women infertile

Lena Dunham shared a hospital bed snap from her ER visit (left) for complications from her fifth endometriosis surgery after she was rushed to the hospital during the Met gala

Experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of British Columbia think identifying these mutations will help doctors decide on treatment plans for patients with aggressive endometriosis.

Ie-Ming Shih, a gynecology professor at Johns Hopkins, said: 'Our discovery of these mutations is a first step in developing a genetics-based system for classifying endometriosis so that clinicians can sort out which forms of the disorder may need more aggressive treatment and which may not.'

This progress marks a milestone for medical professionals who are still trying to discover exactly what triggers the agonizing affliction.

Endometriosis arises when cells normally found in the womb lining attach themselves to other parts of the pelvic area - causing scar tissue, pain and inflammation.

This often causes intense pain and in rare cases, its been found around the spine, lungs and even the brain.

Lena Dunham and Julianne Hough are some of Hollywood's leading ladies who have revealed their struggle with the condition.

Dunham, 30, was rushed to the hospital from the Met gala just a few weeks ago due to complications from her fifth endometriosis surgery.

She wrote: 'I also want to remind all the women suffering from chronic illness that we aren't weak - quite the opposite, actually. We do our jobs with skill even when we're struggling. We care families even when we can hardly care for ourselves.'

Hough first began experiencing symptoms at age 15 but 'didn't realize that it was anything more than just being a woman'. Dunham used her story to commend women on their strength

Hough opened up about her battle and joined a national campaign to spread awareness about the condition that many women assume is just 'a bad case of PMS'

HOW TO SPOT ENDOMETRIOSIS Endometriosis is a painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus (the endometrium) grows outside of the uterus. The displaced tissue continues to act as it normally would - thickening, breaking down, and bleeding which each menstrual cycle. Because the displaced tissue has no way to exit the body. Surrounding tissue can become irritated, eventually developing scar tissue and adhesions. About 6.5 million women are affected in the US - that's one in every 10. Signs and symptoms: Severe pelvic pain

Painful periods

Pain with intercourse

Pain with bowel movements or urination

Excessive bleeding You can be diagnosed with a pelvic exam, an ultrasound or a laparoscopy. Complications that can arise are infertility or ovarian cancer. While there is no cure for endometriosis some treatment options include: pain medications, hormone therapy or conservative surgery (to remove as much endometriosis as possible while preserving your uterus and ovaries). Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement

Hough opened up about her battle and joined a national campaign to spread awareness about the condition that many women assume is just 'a bad case of PMS'.

She was just 15 - and beginning her career as a professional dancer - when she first began experiencing symptoms, but she didn't think they were abnormal.

'I didn't really realize that it was anything more than just being a woman,' she said.

Hough would experience 'really, really sharp' pelvic pains that became debilitating.

'I'd have to stop for almost 30 seconds and just like, curl down for a minute,' she added.

Just like the lining of the womb, the endometrial tissue, fed by estrogen, swells and bleeds each month.

However, there is nowhere for this blood to go so it can cause inflammation that leads to a build-up of scar tissue that typically gets worse over time.

And each month, endometrial tissue is irritated by more bleeding and swelling.

The result is women find themselves in agony each month, not just during a period but also during ovulation, when the womans body is getting ready to release the egg.

For some women, it takes a long time to diagnosis, suffering for years, and having their condition dismissed as period pains.

A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Womens Health revealed that more than 40 percent of the 2,600 women with endometriosis they surveyed had to visit a doctor at least ten times before getting a correct diagnosis.
As the years go by, our skin loses it springy freshness - and mysterious lumps and bumps start to appear.

These blemishes can come in all shapes and sizes, and many are harmless.

But slight changes could be a red flag: skin cancer is the second most common form of the disease in people under 50.

Melanoma, a type of skin cancer, is one of the most treatable cancers. If caught early, the entire cancer could be removed simply by removing the mole in question.

Basal cell carcinoma is even more manageable - only rare cases spread beyond the site.

And yet, experts warn, the rate of early detection could be much higher.

'Many people are afraid of checking,' Dr David Fisher, director of the Melanoma Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Daily Mail Online.

'It's one of those fear and denial-type things. People would rather not know than find out something scary or devastating.

'But the thing is, six out of seven melanoma cases are cured just by catching it early and removing it. In other words, early detection could be life-saving.'

He added: 'That statistic should help motivate people to be really proactive, to realize that there's a benefit to this.

'Not every cancer has that type of opportunity to catch it so early. This type of cancer does.'

Moles are clusters of cells that produce a pigment in your skin.

The more moles someone has on their body, the higher the risk of melanoma.

Risk also increases if you have fair skin and red hair, if you sunbathe and if you use sunbeds.

Of course, not all moles are dangerous: it's normal to have them.

However, it can be easy to spot ones that are worth worrying about.

Dermatologists use a simple list of five warning signs, using the rule ABCDE.

This animation (above) explains how they work.

A  asymmetry

This means spotting an irregular shaped mole.

B  borders

Look to see if there are ragged edges to the mole.

C  color change

If a mole changes in color or is a different color in one part than in another.

D  diameter

Any increase in size should be checked out, but particularly more than about 6mm across.

E  elevation

In this graphic, the E section is classed as 'elevation', telling you to watch out for the mole raising from the surface, especially if it is irregularly raised.

However, Dr Fisher explains, many dermatologists have different classifications for this.

His preferred word is 'evolving'.

'Is it changing? Do you notice anything suspicious or concerning? That is key,' he says.

'You need to have a very low threshold for what counts as "concerning". I have yet to find a patient who is mad because it wasn't melanoma. It's always worth checking.'
It would take more than a century for a patient to save enough to pay the typical cost of dementia care, a report warns. (File image)

It would take more than a century for a patient to save enough to pay the typical cost of dementia care, a report warns.

They would need to save 800 a year for 125 years to reach the 100,000 experts say it now costs to live comfortably with dementia for five years.

The Alzheimers Society, which carried out the study, warns the cost of social care is leaving families destitute and is calling on the next government to create a long-term, sustainable system to fund it.

A poll of more than 2,300 adults aged 16 to 75 for the charity also found that 47 per cent have not started saving for the care they might need in the future.

Rob Burley, director of policy at the Alzheimers Society, said: People affected by dementia have had to empty their bank accounts and sell their home to foot a tremendous bill for social care.

'This is simply not fair. Other diseases are supported by the NHS, yet people with dementia fall into a void and feel abandoned by the state.

A caller to our helpline told us how they had to borrow money for food from friends and family because all their pension was being drained on care home top-up fees.

Successive governments have shirked this issue. On behalf of people with dementia, I challenge the next government to create a long-term, sustainable system for funding dementia care.

On average dementia patients live for five years.

The Alzheimers Society estimates that three years of care at home costs about 39,000. Sufferers are then likely to need two years in a care home, costing 62,000.

People would need to save 800 a year for 125 years to reach the 100,000 experts say it now costs to live comfortably with dementia for five years. (File image)

The charity also based its calculations on the assumption that people could save 800 a year  the average sum they put aside for their pension.

One family said they spent more than 500,000 over ten years on dementia care after they were found to be ineligible for state-funded help.

Judith Jordan, 48, from Ashtead in Surrey, initially cared for her mother, Joan, who was diagnosed with Alzheimers in her early 60s. Aged 65, she moved into a care home and cashed in stocks, shares, her husbands life insurance and her pension to fund her care.

She could not move properly, suffered bedsores and epilepsy, and could not speak for the last five years of her life.

But despite five assessments for state funding, she was repeatedly ruled ineligible.

When she died in August 2016 aged 76, Joan weighed just over 63lb and was paying 4,000 a month for her care.

Mrs Jordan said: My mum ended up spending over 500,000 on her dementia care.

She would be devastated to know her money was gone and she could only leave her grandchildren a fraction of what she had hoped.
Faced with rising Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh, the Centre is fast-tracking the setting up of a new Army cantonment near state capital Raipur.

The defence ministry had cleared the proposal way back in 2009, but its establishment has been delayed due to one reason or another.

'There are certain issues regarding land acquisition and the use and ownership of an existing air strip in the proposed land.

Maoist guerrilla killed 24 CRPF personnel who were guarding a road project in the district last month (pictured - Indian army soldiers patrol during an operation against suspected rebels in Turkwangam Lassipora)

'The issues will be sorted out soon to set up a new cantonment where Army personnel will be trained,' a senior Army official told Mail Today.

However, sources clarified that the Army will not get involved in anti-Maoist operations directly, but continue to train and prepare the paramilitary forces for taking on Left-wing extremists in the region.

Many parts of Chhattisgarh have been affected by Maoist violence in recent times, especially Sukma, where the guerrillas last month killed 24 CRPF personnel who were guarding a road project in the district.

Family members and relatives mourn the death of CRPF jawan Saurabh Kumar at Danapur Cantt in Danapur

Experts feel that the presence of Army troops in the area will have a psychological impact on extremists and also turn out to be a morale booster for paramilitary jawans operating there.

'A number of CRPF personnel, including officers and jawans, come to us for training at different training centres.

On the other hand, we too depute our personnel in their centres to impart training. We will continue to do that, and if required, we can consider giving more support to them in future,' the Army official added.

A few Army officers have also been deputed to paramilitary forces to head their training schools.

The CRPF's first jungle combat training school in Chhattisgarh was also headed by an ex-Army officer.

In 2009, the then UPA government had given its approval for setting up a brigade headquarters-size formation in Chhattisgarh when the Maoists were quite successful in disrupting government functions in remote areas of the state.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets one of the injured CRPF personnel at a hospital in Raipur

However, due to relative decline in violence levels thereafter, the project had slowed down considerably.

The state government has earmarked 500 acres for development of a cantonment in New Raipur near the capital city.

The Army brass has been against deployment of its troops in anti-Maoist operations as it does not want to be seen as working against its own people.

This, despite the extensive pressure exerted by then home minister P Chidambaram.

There have also been suggestions about involving the Army's counter-insurgency force Rashtriya Rifles in anti-Maoist operations in the past, but the force has been confined to Jammu and Kashmir, where personnel have been fighting an insurgency for almost three decades now.

On the other hand, the Chhattisgarh government is also wooing defence component manufacturers to set up base in the state and has also proposed setting up a defence manufacturing cluster under the aegis of Make in India.
Two United Nations special rapporteurs have urged the Indian government to lift a ban on social media sites and mobile internet service in the Indian-controlled portion of disputed Kashmir.

The U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, and the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, said in a statement issued in Geneva that the ban had 'disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir' and had the 'character of collective punishment.'

Such restrictions 'fail to meet the standards required under international human rights law to limit freedom of expression,' Kaye wrote.

Kashmiri students browse internet on their mobile phones as they sit inside a restaurant in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir

Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir banned 22 social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, and 3G and 4G cellphone data services for one month in an effort to calm tensions after videos depicting the alleged abuse of Kashmiris by Indian forces fueled widespread protests.

The government said the one-month ban was necessary for public safety because anti-India activists were misusing social media.

Forst said such blocking 'disrupts the free exchange of ideas and the ability of individuals to connect with one another and associate peacefully on matters of shared concern.'

Indian telecom engineers struggled for at least three days to block the social media sites after the ban was imposed on April 26, drawing rebuke and mocking by many Kashmiris.

Once in place, the ban has had little impact on the ground as many Kashmiris have continued using the banned sites and chat applications through proxy servers.

Protests and clashes are an almost daily occurrence in Indian-administered Kashmir, where anti-India sentiment runs deep among the mostly Muslim population after decades of armed rebellion and military crackdowns.

Disputes over control of the divided Kashmir region, claimed by both India and Pakistan, have sparked two wars between the nuclear-armed nations since 1947.

Since 1989, rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting and the ensuing Indian crackdown. India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian forces in recent years. However, public opposition to Indian rule remains deep and is now principally expressed through street protests marked by youths hurling stones at government forces.

Kashmiris have been uploading videos and photos of alleged abuse for some years, but several recently posted clips, captured in the days surrounding a violence-plagued local election on April 9, have proven to be especially powerful and have helped to intensify anti-India protests.

Indian police and paramilitary officials accuse agitators of using social media to instigate violence.

The U.N. special rapporteurs said there were at least 31 reported cases of social media and internet bans since 2012 in Kashmir and called it 'a worrying pattern aimed at curbing protests and social unrest in the region.'

The two called on Indian authorities to guarantee freedom of expression in Kashmir and 'to seek a solution for the social and political conflicts of the region through an open, transparent and democratic dialogue.'

Last year, U.S. think tank the Brookings Institution in a report said that India blocked access to the internet in various regions to prevent demonstrations 22 times in the 12 months starting in July 2015, more often than Syria, Pakistan and Turkey did put together.
India's top court on Thursday began examining whether it was legal for a Muslim man to dump his wife by saying 'I divorce you' three times, raising hopes among women campaigners of a long-awaited end to the 'quickie' divorce.

The practice of 'triple talaq' is banned in most Muslim countries but allowed under India's constitution that lets most religions, including Muslims - the biggest religious minority - regulate matters like marriage and divorce through civil codes.

But the Islamic instant divorce has come under increasing criticism as unconstitutional by violating the right to equality. Reports have emerged of men divorcing their wives via Skype, WhatsApp and text message, leaving families destitute.

Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice J.S. Khehar

Muslim women in India have demanded a ban to triple talaq with several women petitioning the nation's top court, the Supreme Court, to overturn the practice.

Conservative Muslim clerics staunchly oppose any change.

At the hearing on Thursday, five multi-faith judges of the Supreme Court started to determine whether triple talaq is part of a fundamental religious right for Muslims.

'If we come to a conclusion that triple talaq is part of (the) fundamental right to religion, we would not interfere,' the judges were quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Local media said the Supreme Court has set aside six days for the hearing - half for those challenging triple talaq and half in defence - with the hearing expected to end by May 19.

The national Law Commission last year sought public views on whether to abolish the practice, triggering a debate between politicians and religious leaders.

More than 90 percent of Muslim women surveyed in 2015 by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which campaigns for women's rights, wanted an end to triple talaq and polygamy.

Noor Jehan from BMMA said they wanted the Supreme Court to rule triple talaq was illegal and unconstitutional, with many women left without support after such a divorce.

'Thousands of Muslim women have been suffering for long and they will welcome it if the court ends this practice of unilateral divorce,' she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a non-governmental body which oversees the application of Muslim personal law, opposes any ban on triple talaq and argues this is a religious matter and not for the courts.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi disagrees and last year waded into a controversy by saying he believed it was destroying women's lives, with Muslims making up about 13 percent of the country's 1.2 billion people.

'It is the responsibility of the government and people of the country to give justice to Muslim women,' Modi said at a rally in Mahoba last year.

(Reporting by Roli Srivastava, Writing by Belinda Goldsmith @BeeGoldsmith, Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. 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)
The BJP, Trinamool and Congress are working hard to evoke the 333 crore of Hindu deities to that their brand of Hindutva is the true one.

The reason? Mamata Banerjee's six years of minority appeasement politics has created a taken-for-granted feeling within the majority.

Realising this, the BJP in Bengal is going all out to woo the Hindu voters.

An artist waits for customers in front of idols of goddess Saraswati, Hindu goddess of education

And the easiest route to do so is to piggy-back on religion.

The BJP leaders are invoking Goddess Saraswati or the goddess of learning as their deity for Hindu jagran in Bengal.

Choosing Saraswati in Bengal is interesting since Bengalis take pride in being intellectually and culturally rich and superior, and the Goddess is revered in almost every household with hopes that children will be blessed with knowledge, wisdom and artistic talent.

The saffron party, which call upon Ram at the drop of hat in the Hindi heartland, is consciously foregrounding Saraswati and Durga in Bengal, which swears by the mother Goddess or the Goddess of power.

Choosing Saraswati in Bengal is interesting since Bengalis take pride in being intellectually and culturally rich and superior

With the Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid issue still a thorn in the Bengali intellectual psyche, Saraswati is a safe option for the party.

So BJP state president Dilip Ghosh has announced that all party programmes in the state will begin with Saraswati Vandana.

The BJP, however, has reasons behind projecting Saraswati. In 2015 and 2016, some schools in Nadia district were stopped from celebrating Saraswati Puja, which is an annual affair in educational institutions.

According to the locals, a particular school in Tehatta came under the ire of a particular community because the authorities had refused to let out the premises for their festival.

The tussle over the festival took an ugly turn leading to that particular school being closed for three months.

The administration initially did not react, allowing the tension to dissipate by itself.

However, the indifferent attitude of the police, coupled with some muscle flexing from the leaders, led to a massive Hindu uprising in the area and locals, without any political banner, mobbed the police station and obstructed the national highway for one-and-a-half hour to draw public attention.

The government was forced to take some stern action arresting members of both the communities but by then, the BJP got the message - a strong Hindu consolidation was happening in Nadia, North 24 Parganas.

A dancer of Diksha Manjari group perform at Indian Museum during the Vasant Utsav

Cashing in on that incident and the general mood of the majority feeling slighted, the BJP is going overboard campaigning on how Hindus in Bengal are finding it difficult to practice their customs, tradition and even religion.

Amit Shah, while touring Bengal on April 24-26 slammed Mamata Banerjee for pursuing politics of appeasement.

'Here, people have to move court for permission for immersion of Durga Puja idols and for organising Saraswati puja,' he reiterated in political programmes.

In a meet with the city's intellectuals, Shah also stressed that the party's major programmes will be launched on the Saraswati Puja day.

Indian Hindu devotees dances during the ritual of 'Charak' worship, an old ritual observed on the last day of the Bengali calendar year in Siliguri

'The idea was to keep the issue of Saraswati Puja alive in the public memory.

'Moreover, by choosing Goddess Saraswati, the BJP is trying to strike a balance, a middle path, which will be acceptable to all Hindus, even those who are sceptical about chanting Ram,' said Biswanath Chakrabarty, political science professor of Rabindra Bharati University.

Moreover, the image of Saraswati perfectly blends with the BJP's ideology and its constant endeavour to respect, revive and restore Hindu tradition, classical art and culture.

Mamata Banerjee Trinamool Congress Supremo

Though Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti organised by the BJP saw massive support in Bengal, the saffron party is consciously trying to explore unexplored areas, unchartered courses, which will have wider acceptability among the majority community in Bengal.

Pitted against this, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is also engaged in an aggressive campaign to establish her Hindu lineage, Hindu upbringing.

'They are talking of Ram, Ram Navami as if they have exclusive rights on them. The Ram, they are talking about, is Ram - the one, who was Ravana's friend. Our Ram stands for tolerance, love,' she tried to drive home that BJP's icon Ram has shades of grey unlike the Ram Hindus worship as the symbol of good vanquishing the evil.

An Indian child dressed as the Hindu deity Shiva dances with others as they begs for alms in Siliguri

'Questions are being raised about my birth, my gender: whether I am male, female or a eunuch. Just think of their audacity,' Mamata Banerjee is reeling off names of Hindu deities, reciting shlokas of Devi Durga, Chandi and Kali.

She is desperate to tug at the sentiments of the majority, who might be feeling spurned by her overt display of smattering of knowledge about the Muslim religion.

Dubbing herself as the 'saccha Hindu' as opposed to the BJP, which she feels is a shame on Hinduism, she has initiated a new divide among the Hindu voters: the liberal Hindus, who believe in the principles of Ram Krishna Paramhansa, Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and the sword-wielding intolerant fundamentalist Hindus, who are out for a grab of all religious spaces.

Tagore goes a certain shade of saffron

Sir Rabindranath Tagore, Hindu poet, writer and philosopher

To the majority of Bengalis, Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore) is a God, not because 'thakur' in Bengali parlance means God, but because of his far-sightedness, his understanding of human life, its philosophy, his great volume of work, which celebrate humanity, love, pain, bereavement and many more.

In Bengal politics, celebration of Tagore's birth and death anniversary is gradually taking the shape of Tagore worship or Rabi Thakur Pujo.

Caught in this race of flaunting Tagore love, the BJP has joined the bandwagon recently.

Mamata, known for being a passionate lover of Tagore's poetry and songs, makes it a point to celebrate his birth anniversary with great fanfare.

For over a week or so, the traffic signals keep belting out popular Tagore numbers and the theatres and halls of the government smell of jasmine and sound musical, putting up soirees and programmes.

The chief minister attends the government programme by putting up a stage on the Cathedral Road adjacent to Rabindra Sadan.

The other ministers and MLAs are instructed to celebrate in their own way in their areas.

In a bid to leave a footprint in Tagore worship, the BJP leaders for the first time visited Jorasanko Thakurbari, Tagore's birthplace, and offered wreath and prayers. The BJP's special observer in charge of West Bengal, Kailash Vijaybargiya, was pleased to be part of the celebration at Jorasanko and pledged that he would come there every year.

The BJP leaders were also asked to put up some impromptu shows in their locality to pay their tribute to the great Bard of Bengal.

They say Tagore is the gate pass to a Bengali heart and to win the Bengali heart one has to develop a taste for Tagore.
Blackmail, betrayal and brutality  three words to describe killing of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz from Kashmir by terrorists.

As the Army quietly mourns the young officer's death, his brothers-in-arms and his family came together to remember him and promise retribution.

Villagers found Fayaz's bullet-riddled body early on Wednesday, a day after he was snatched by terrorists at his cousin's wedding.

Just a month away from his birthday, 23-year-old Ummer Fayaz, an officer from 2 RAJRIF, was found dead, riddled with bullets while visiting his home

'He was a role model and by his actions had inspired some youngsters to join the armed forces.

'Terrorists felt threatened and perhaps that was the reason he was abducted and killed,' said Brig Adish Yadav, commandant, Rajputana Rifles.

Terrorists, separatists and Pakistan's proxies have been desperately peddling a narrative of the entire Valley being against the Indian state.

But 22-year-old Lt Ummer being a part of the Army and yet flourishing defeated their narrative.

The inconsolable mother of the slain army officer Lt. Fayaz during his funeral at his native village Sudsona in Kulgam district

The officer of the 2nd battalion of the Rajputana Rifles had taken leave to go home to the troubled Kulgam town in south Kashmir to attend the wedding.

'He was not scared of going home. He knew all the boys. They had grown up together. In fact his personality was so pleasing that several youngsters in his locality looked up to him.

'He told us about them. We even had a conversation about the unrest in south Kashmir but he was confident it would blow over,' said Major Yuvavir Kadyan, his instructor and company commander.

23-year-old Ummer Fayaz

But his popularity irked the terrorists and defeated the idea of an Islamic caliphate they were so desperately trying to propagate. He was allegedly stabbed in the back by some of his own.

Police sources in the Valley have been piecing together the sequence of events.

Local Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists found out that he had come home.

'Three terrorists barged into the house of his relative in Shopian. He was at that time with his cousin - the bride to be. The Terrorists went to the first-floor room of the house and dragged him down,' police sources said.

'The information we have seems to indicate there was another group of armed terrorists threatening the groom.

'Young Lt Ummer Fayaz did not want either the bride or the groom and even their families threatened. So he went with the terrorists. The family did not immediately inform the police.

'They thought the terrorists would perhaps threaten or rough him up but later return him.'

There was an Army post barely a kilometre away from where the abduction of the young lieutenant took place.

'We could have mounted an operation considering some of the boys were locals and were identified by the villagers. Perhaps had the family or the relatives informed us, he could have been saved,' said an official.

'The terrorists clearly appear to be sending out a signal. They are trying to intimidate people. They don't want locals to either join the Army or the police.

But they will not succeed. Locals are very angry with terrorists killing the son of the soil,' said Maj Avdesh Chowdhary, Lt Ummer's instructor at the Regimental Centre.

Some locals say they thought Fayaz was studying medicine and was not an Army officer. 'Some did tell us that they were shocked to see terrorists pick up a doctor.

'His family had not told many people he was an Army officer,' sources added.

The Army has promised a quick but quiet retribution. 'There is a plan in place. The perpetrators will be identified and neutralised.

We will avenge the death of our own,' promises Subedar Nazruddin and Naik Adeeb Siddique  both instructors of the young officer at the Regimental Centre.

Barely 24 hours after Lt Fayaz was killed to intimidate people against joining the forces, thousands of youth lined up to join the J&K Police  sending out a clear message to Pakistan and its proxies  they remain undeterred in their quest for employment and a better life.

Cops to quiz family on why they delayed reporting the abduction

Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu

Lt. Ummer Fayaz's killers have been exposed

Lt. Ummer Fayaz's killers have been exposed.

Investigations conducted by Jammu & Kashmir police reveal 26-year-old Mohammed Abbas Bhat alias Ali as the mastermind behind the death of 23-year-old Kashmir-based Army officer.

Belonging to Chak Matribug in Shopian, Bhat has been an active militant since 2016. But his crime record began way before 2011 when he was arrested for a murder under section 302 of Ranbir Penal Code.

He was bailed out under unknown circumstances in April 2016 after which he joined Hizbul Mujahideen.

The other two suspected HM terrorists involved in the case are 27-year-old Gayas-Ul- Islam Thoker alias Fahad, active in Shopian since October 2016 and 19-year-old Ishfaq Ah Thoker alias Abrar from Paderpora, who became active even while he was a juvenile in September 2015.

SSP Shopian Shri Ram told India Today, 'The trio has been active in the area. According to prima facie evidence, they are behind the dastardly attack. But, only investigations will lead us to a logical conclusion.'

Though the Army sources said there was suspicion that a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist was also behind the killing.

Three masked terrorists with guns had entered the first floor of the house where a marriage ceremony was taking place and 10 of them surrounded the house.

Sources in police say they will question the martyr's family and friends as to 'Why there was a delay in reporting the abduction'.

Fayaz's family members had failed to report the incident till the bullet-ridden body of the unarmed soldier was found.

The parents of Fayaz were in the hometown of Sursona village in Kulgam.

They also learnt of the incident only when the body was found. The cops say they will question the relatives soon.
BT is to cut 4,000 jobs over the next two years and slash its chief executive's pay package after a 'challenging' year marked by a run of bad news, including an accounting scandal in Italy.

The telecoms company also lowered its earnings forecasts for the year and scaled back its dividend plans as it posted falling profits.

BT, Britain's biggest telecoms group, said it expected to save 300million thanks to the axing of thousands of managerial and administrative jobs in its global division, which has headquarters in London and has suffered from the Italian scandal.

Job cuts: BT said it will slash 4,000 positions at its global division.

Shares in the group were down 2.6 per cent, or 8.12p, to 303.78p this morning.

It said the job cuts were part of a strategic review of the division aimed at making the business more digital.

Meanwhile, it also announced that boss Gavin Patterson will see his total pay fall by 4million, from 5.3million last year to 1.3million, while outgoing finance chief Tony Chanmugam will receive 258,000, down from 2.8million.

The two bosses will also no longer receive their respective 338,398 and 193,412 bonuses.

BT's share price and profits have been dented as a result of a mix of issues over the past year.

The accounting scandal in Italy, which saw the company admitting that 'inappropriate behaviour' caused it to exaggerate its profits in the country, forced it to write down the value of its Italian business by 530million.

The telecoms group has also been troubled by issues relating to Openreach, which, after two years of wrangling with Ofcom, will become a legally separate company without any BT branding.

Remuneration committee chairman Tony Ball said: 'The past year has been challenging.'

'Although good progress has been made in a number of areas, unfortunately our performance has been significantly affected by the accounting irregularities in our Italian business, the issues that arose in Openreach around deemed consent and the significant challenges we faced in the UK public sector and international corporate markets.

'The committee has made a number of difficult decisions this year in light of these circumstances and exercised its discretion accordingly.'

It comes as the company posted a 19 per cent fall in pre-tax profits for the year to 2.35billion, although if one-off items worth 1.17billion are stripped off, profits rose 5 per cent. The fall was in line with its revised outlook set out in January.

It also lowered its profits outlook and scrapped its dividend policy to pay increases of at least 10 per cent.

Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: 'A run of bad news means BT is still cautious and it expects little improvement to earnings and free cash in the coming year.'

'Not much of a surprise - the Italian accounting fiasco had been expected to eat up around 500million in free cash in 2016/2017 and a further 500million in 2017/18. An Ofcom fine of 42m and having to repay 300m to rivals doesn't help matters.'

Pay cut: BT chief executive Gavin Patterson will see his pay cut by 4million.

In March, BT was fined 42million by the telecoms regulator and ordered to pay 300million to corporate customers for delays in installing high-speed lines.

Wilson added: 'Dividend growth will also be slower than expected, which was always the big risk of the dent to free cash from this scandal. Removing boss Gavin Patterson's bonus is aimed at assuaging investor anger but shareholders won't be that impressed. His pay is down 4million, small fry in the ocean of BT revenues.'

Today's results also show that net debt, which had ballooned following the acquisition of EE, fell but remains high at close to 9billion.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said: 'BT has got several millstones hanging around its neck at the moment, not least the huge debts taken on to acquire EE and its sizable pension deficit, which is due for a funding review in June.

'In addition, compensation relating to malpractice at Openreach is set to drain another 300million from the coffers this year, so one has to wonder how 'progressive' the new dividend policy can be.'
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to resign in protest over the White House citing him as the driving force behind President Donald Trump's decision to fire now-former FBI Director James Comey, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Rosenstein is the author of a scathing memo that was written on Tuesday and which the White House used to justify Comey's dismissal.

Rosenstein and his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, were told by Trump to compile a list of reasons for Comey's removal, according to the Post.

If the report is true, it would contradict the administration's narrative that Rosenstein independently wrote the memo and thus initiated the chain of events that resulted in Comey's dismissal.

So he wrote a three-page rebuke of Comey's conduct in which Rosenstein said the FBI director had usurped the attorney general's authority last year when he announced that the FBI was closing its investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email as secretary of state.

Rosenstein added that Comey's behavior was 'a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.'

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly threatened to resign in protest over the White House citing him as the driving force behind President Donald Trump's decision to fire now-former FBI Director James Comey

Rosenstein and his boss, Jeff Sessions, were reportedly told by President Donald Trump to compile written documentation of the reasons for Comey's removal. Trump is seen left with Sessions at the White House in this March 29 file photo

Rosenstein, a veteran prosecutor, said the FBI was 'unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a director who understands the gravity of the mistakes' and promises not to repeat them.

Trump said he fired Comey in part based on the memo, titled 'Restoring Public Confidence in the FBI.'

Rosenstein's supposed influence on the president was one of the main talking points used by Trump surrogates.

'The president took the advice of the deputy attorney general who oversees the director of the FBI, brought those concerns to the attorney general who brought them to the president, and they made a decision to remove him,' Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told CNN.

Rosenstein wrote a three-page rebuke of Comey's (pictured) conduct. He accused the FBI director of usurping the attorney general's authority last year when he announced that the FBI was closing its investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email as secretary of state

Conway repeatedly claimed during the CNN interview on Wednesday morning that Rosenstein acted alone.

His hand was not forced by the White House or Attorney General Jeff Sessions, she said, although that was later contradicted by reports which said that Rosenstein did, in fact, write the memo on the orders of Trump.

'President Trump wants an FBI director who is impartial, who is not politicized and who has the confidence and the trust of people in the bureau, of Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, of the attorney general, of the deputy attorney general who overseas the FBI director, and of the President of the United States, and he had lost that,' Conway said.

Conway argued Wednesday that President Trump fired Comey at Rosenstein's discretion as she was hammered on the network for a second time in 12 hours on the sudden dismissal that the White House and DOJ say was brought on by actions that the FBI director took six months ago.

'You have to have confidence in the impartiality and the non-politicization of the FBI, of the bureau, and Mr. Rosenstein apparently concluded that's not the case and put forth his recommendation to the president,' Conway claimed.

Asked several times about the memo that Rosenstein put together on Comey and the White House distributed, Conway said, 'You'd have to ask Rod Rosenstein.'

'But one presumes that he wrote the report on his own. He's fully capable of writing a report, isnt he Chris?' she said to New Day Host Chris Cuomo.

Rosenstein was reportedly angry over the claim made by White House aides that his memo was the decisive factor in Trump's decision. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway holds up Rosenstein's memo during a television interview on Tuesday night

The assertion was repeated by Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (above), who said that the president was following Rosenstein's recommendation

Vice President Mike Pence (above) denied that Trump's decision to fire Comey had anything to do with the Russia probe. He, too, cited Sessions and Rosenstein as the key factors in the decision

Cuomo matter-of-factly asked if Rosenstein was urged to file the report by Sessions, a supporter of the president's, and Conway curtly told him, 'Well, now you're insulting him, too.'

At one point in the interview Cuomo told the senior White House aide, 'You're creating an image that doesn't reveal itself in fact' and she denied it.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters late Tuesday night that it was 'a DOJ decision' to recommend that Comey be fired.

'It was all him,' Spicer said of Rosenstein.

Giving himself cover on second thought, Spicer backtracked, the Washington Post reported, and said: 'I mean, I can't, I guess I shouldn't say that, thank you for the help on that one. No one from the White House. That was a DOJ decision.'

Spicer's deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told MSNBC that the FBI probe into Russian meddling in the presidential election was 'absolutely not' why Comey was let go.

'He was given a recommendation, and he made a decision and he made it quickly,' Huckabee Sanders claimed.

Huckabee Sanders said on MSNBC's Morning Joe that she was 'not aware' that Rosenstein's review of Comey was 'requested' by anyone.

'I would imagine that that's part of him coming on board and taking a position,' she said on Wednesday's program.

The deputy White House press secretary said it was her understanding that Rosenstein made an 'independent decision' to call for Comey's replacement, but admitted that it was a question that would have to be answered 'in the coming days.'

Vice President Mike Pence also cited the recommendations submitted by Sessions and Rosenstein as the reasons Trump made the decision to fire Comey, according to ABC News.

Sessions recused himself from any Trump-Russia investigation in March after the Justice Department acknowledged he had spoken twice with the Russian ambassador last year and had failed to disclose the contacts during his Senate confirmation process.

Rosenstein, who will now oversee the Russia investigation by virtue of Sessions' recusal, was appointed top federal prosecutor in Maryland by President George W. Bush and remained in the post for the entire Obama administration.

That staying power, extraordinary for a position that routinely turns over with changes in the White House, lends weight to the reputation he's cultivated as an apolitical law enforcement official.

He arrived at the main Justice Department with experience in politically freighted investigations, having earlier in his career been part of the Clinton-era Whitewater independent investigation.

More recently as US attorney, he oversaw the probe of James Cartwright, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff vice chairman who admitted making false statements during a separate leak investigation and was ultimately pardoned by Obama.

'He is so well-respected. He cannot be influenced, he cannot be bought, he cannot be pressured because of outside political forces,' Baltimore criminal defense attorney Steven Silverman, who has known Rosenstein for years, said when Rosenstein was picked to be deputy attorney general.
Liu Yelin got her first job in 1985, aged 17.

More than three decades later, the ex-librarian, who has already retired, doesn't look much older.

With glowing skin, a super-toned body and not a single wrinkle in sight, China-born Ms Liu has stunned millions of people with her incredibly youthful looks.

Can you believe she's nearly 50? Liu Yelin, from China, rose to fame for her youthful looks

Stay active: The woman, 49, said many people wouldn't believe her when she revealed her age

Social media star: After posting her pictures on Weibo, Ms Liu has got 75,000 followers

Not a couple: Ms Liu (pictured with her son) said she's often mistaken for her son's girlfriend

Proud mother: Ms Liu said he son, 22, works as an assistant at a film production company

'People are often shocked to find out I'm almost 50,' Liu Yelin, 49, told MailOnline.

'Whenever I went shopping and told people my real age, I often got mobbed by strangers who wanted to find out my secrets.'

Ms Liu then shared with us her motto: 'If you think you look rough, that's because you haven't sweated enough.'

She added: 'I feel like I'm still 15.'

Then and now: Born in 1968 in China's Henan Province, Ms Liu said she liked fashion from an early age. The woman can be seen wearing stylish clothing aged 15 (left) and 49 (right)

Life-time hobby: Ms Liu said her favourite pastime is swimming outdoors, especially in winter

She attributes her youthful looks to the regular exercise she's kept to for three decades. Her perseverance has made her appear almost as young as her son (left, pictured together)

Ms Liu flaunts her firm figure by uploading photos which show her in attractive bikinis

Liu Yelin, who is also known by her screen name Ye Wen, was born in 1968 in Xinyang, central China's Henan Province.

The confident and energetic retiree said her age-defying appearance has caused her headache. People who don't know her often mistake her son, 22, for her boyfriend.

Ms Liu said once she went to attend a friend's wedding with her son, who works as an assistant at a film production company. She was pestered by many guests who wanted to find out if the 22-year-old was her new partner.

Ms Liu became famous after one of her fans wrote an article about her and shared it online

Her youthful appearance and sporty lifestyle quickly drew her the attention from the public

Decades of swimming has helped her build a body supermodels find hard to compete with

Keep it up: The youthful looking mother confessed it's not easy to stick to her rigorous routine

Although the active mother has enviable olive skin and flawless complexion, she claimed that she rarely uses cosmetics.

Instead, Ms Liu, a fitness fanatic, attributes her youthful looks to the regular exercise she's kept to for three decades.

'I swim in the lake and do weight training every day,' she said. 'My favourite thing is swimming outdoors in winter.

'When everyone was wearing down jackets, I had to strip down to my bikini and dive into freezing water. It's a test for my will and perseverance. I often had to force myself to do it.'

Nevertheless, 30 years of sub-zero swimming has helped Ms Liu build a body even supermodels find hard to compete with.

Natural beauty: Contrary to what many would guess, the mother said she rarely uses makeup

The mother of a 22-year-old man siad she owes her good figure to an active lifestyle

Ms Liu is also a compassionate and charitable person. She is seen holding a certificate after donating blood on her birthday this year. She said she donates blood every year

On Ms Liu's social media account, she flaunts her firm figure daily by updating photos which show her in bright sportswear or attractive bikinis.

They have not only attracted nearly 75,000 social media followers for Ms Liu, but also caught the attention of dozens of TV directors, who fought to get her on their programmes.

Above all, Ms Liu said her tough workout regime has sharpened her character and made her the strong, straightforward person she is today.

The mother has swum across the Yangtse River in China and the Han River in South Korea.

In March 2016, she set a challenge for herself: to swim across the sea for the first time. She successfully crossed the Strait of Malacca after setting out from the shores of Penang, Malaysia.

The active mother boasts enviable olive skin, flawless complexion and a super-trim figure

Although she's nearly 50 years old, Ms Liu said she feels like she's still a 15-year-old girl

Last year, Ms Liu swam four hours across the Strait of Malacca, a challenge she set for herself

'I want to stay this beautiful when I'm 80 years old,' said Ms Liu. The woman said her new goal is to travel around the world

'It's probably the hardest thing I have done in my life so far. I was used to swimming in rivers and lakes, but I had never swum in the sea.

'I struggled because my goggles were leaking and my tongue hurt so much from touching seawater.

'I felt as if there were dozens of cuts on my tongue, and when the salty seawater flowed into my mouth, it was unbearably painful.'

Despite the ordeal, Ms Liu successfully crossed the choppy channel after swimming 12 kilometres (7.48 miles) non-stop. It took her four hours.

She was still excited when she described the life-changing experience: 'For me as an ordinary person, it was a big challenge and a great success.'

After conquering the hearts of the Chinese public, Ms Liu said her next goal is to travel around the world.

'I'm a spontaneous person, so I might pack up my bag and travel to Europe on a whim.'

She also said: 'I want to stay this beautiful when I'm 80 years old.'

The woman then concluded: 'I share my stories because I want to encourage more women to keep up exercising for a more beautiful and confident self.'
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When chef Mark Rosati left a fine dining restaurant to work at a hot dog cart turned burger joint, he thought it would ruin his career.

Ten years later, Shake Shack has grown from its humble beginnings in New York's Madison Square Park to a wildly successful chain with more than 130 locations around the world.

Rosati and Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti are now releasing a cookbook of 70 recipes so fans can perfect their burgers and crinkle cut fries at home.

But don't expect to learn the secret to their famous ShackSauce - only six people in the world hold that secret, and they're not about to give it away.

Scroll down for video

Shake Shack is now releasing a cookbook of 70 recipes so fans can perfect their burgers and crinkle cut fries at home

Each item is carefully dissected in the cookbook, whether its the exact combination of salt and pepper, or the use of a potato bun that 'absorbs juices and cradles the meat'

But don't expect to learn the secret to their famous ShackSauce - only six people in the world hold that secret, and they're not about to give it away (pictured, how to make a ShackBurger)

The cookbook includes a variation of the ShackSauce made from Hellman's mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, ketchup, pickle juice, salt and pepper (pictured, how to make crinkle cut fries)

Restaurateur Danny Meyer contributed to the book, which recounts stories of the burger empire's origin and the insights he's picked up along the way.

When Shake Shack started in 2001, it was a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park, where it opened as part of an art installation.

But success didn't come easy - the cart operated for three summers and failed to turn a profit each year.

Restaurateur Danny Meyer (above) contributed to the book's introduction

By 2004, it turned into a permanent stand in the park and expanded its offerings to include burgers, milkshakes and fries.

Rosati, who worked as a line cook at Meyer's Gramercy Tavern, was an early fan.

He said: 'It's funny because I used to wait in that line in Madison Square Park. It's only three blocks from Gramercy Tavern....I would go there early, wait in line for about an hour on a hot summer day, get my food and run back to the kitchen at Gramercy.

'My colleagues would come in and ask me to share and I was like, "Hey man, I'm the one who put the time in there. You go and put your own time in and get your own burgers."'

But he hesitated to join the establishment as a chef. Rosati said: 'I thought it would destroy my career. I was going from fine dining, cooking with white truffles and foie gras, to flipping burgers?

Despite being an early fan, chef Mark Rosati thought going from a fine dining restaurant to flipping burgers would ruin his career. Pictured at an opening in Seoul, South Korea

Shake Shack started in 2001 as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park. It lost money for three summers before it expanded its offerings and turned into a permanent stand (pictured)

Rosati continued: 'Then I saw all the same ingredients we were using at Gramercy. The same beef, the same produce and the same hospitality our company is known for. So I thought, I'll do this for a year. Fast forward 10 years.'

The chain now has locations everywhere from Dubai to Seoul, with 24 new locations planned for this year alone.

While Meyer has been hesitant about expanding into a global chain, Shake Shack has tried maintained its local charm.

Rosati said: 'We look at going to a city like Los Angeles and we reach out to a lot of our fine dining friends, be it chocolate makers, be it bakers, that we admire and we bring in that talent.

'When we opened in LA, I've always loved this jam maker called Sqirl. We blend their jam into our frozen custard for one shack in one city.

'And another friend who I consider one of the best bakers in all of Los Angeles makes us an old fashioned spice doughnut, then we add sprinkles to it. You can only get it at our West Hollywood location.'

By 2014, the company went public, with shares doubling in the first day of trading.

And now, the burger chain is releasing a cookbook on May 16. Rosati, whose favorite burger is the SmokeShack, worked on 70 recipes for home cooks.

Rosati insists the key to a good burger lies in the quality of the ingredients. The chain has expanded to more than 130 locations around the world, with 24 more in the works

Whether it's the exact combination of salt and pepper, or the use of a potato bun that 'absorbs juices and cradles the meat', the book is chock full of advice to get it just right.

As for the famous ShackSauce, the cookbook includes a variation made from Hellman's mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, ketchup, pickle juice, salt and pepper.

They adapted the recipe to make it easier for fans to pick up store-bought mayonnaise, for example, instead of making one from scratch.

Garutti told Eater: 'We didnt want this to sit on your shelf, we wanted to put out something you would actually reference.'

While homemade burgers from the Shake Shack cookbook might mean skipping out on those long lines, Rosati said it isn't all bad.

'We know couples who started in that line, started chatting, exchanged numbers, went out on dates. The next thing you know they're married and asked us to cater their weddings. It's just so surreal.'
A school bus driver has been charged in the death of a nine-year-old Massachusetts girl who became trapped in a bus door.

Prosecutors said Wednesday that 70-year-old Tendzin Parsons, of Hawley, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Northampton District Court on a charge of negligent motor vehicle homicide.

Authorities say third-grader Summer Steele was getting off the bus in Plainfield last October when the doors closed on her.

Summer Steele, who was nine, was killed when she became stuck in the door of her school bus

Summer was was dragged and struck by the bus. The driver was unable to hear her screams

She was stuck in the door and dragged a short distance before the bus struck her.

The girl, who was a student a Sanderson Academy in Ashfield, was taken to hospital, where she died.

Parsons was a driver for F.M. Kuzmeskus, a private transportation company based in Gill. At the time of the incident, he was taking children home from Sanderson Academy at the end of the school day.

Shortly after the accident, Parsons explained to police that he had dropped two children off and saw the first child get off the bus and run up her driveway but failed to ensure that the second child was clear of the doors before closing them and driving away.

'In operating the bus in this manner, Mr. Parsons failed to exercise a reasonable level of care and attention contrary not only to what a reasonably attentive and careful driver would do, but also contrary to the specific and thorough training he had received in order to obtain and maintain his bus driver's license,' Massachusetts State Trooper John Riley wrote in a probable-cause statement..

The driver saw one child get off the bus but failed to see Summer also get off at the same time

Police said with the bus motor running and the heat and fan on, the driver would not have heard Summer screaming for help outside

In the statement, Riley wrote that Brent Steele, Summer's father, told police the door was shut 'before her feet were even on the ground.'

The office of the chief medical examiner in Holyoke ruled the cause of Summer's death to be blunt force injury to the torso.

Police said with the bus motor running and the heat and fan on, it was likely the noises would have impeded Parsons' ability to hear any yelling or screaming.

Parsons had driven a school bus for three years with the company.

Since the accident, a local politician has suggested that sensors be added onto the side of doors to ensure that children are well away from the side of the vehicle before the doors are closed.
A man who claims he was 'savagely attacked' by a police dog while being escorted by an officer is suing the force for nearly $200,000.

In a statement of claim filed in the Queensland District Court in April, Ryan Michael Cheek claims he was walking through Reedy Creek, near the Gold Coast, on January 2, 2015, when he was allegedly bitten by 'Nico', a three-year-old German Shepherd.

The 20-year-old allegedly suffered nerve damage in the incident and says his ability to gain employment has been negatively effected as a result - leading him to sue the Queensland Police Service for $198,861.60, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

A man who claims he was 'savagely attacked' by a police dog while being escorted by an officer is suing the Queensland Police Service for close to $200,000 (Stock image)

'The plaintiff continues to suffer from chronic pain, cramping and stiffness in his lower leg,' Cheek's attorney Kim Allen said.

Mr Cheek alleges the dog squad officer did not follow 'proper system' when dealing with a police dog.

He alleges the officer - who is not being personally sued - failed to ensure the canine did not 'bite, attack or otherwise make contact with a suspect unless commanded to do so.'

The civil claim says Mr Cheek walked into bushland after seeing police cars, before hearing a police officer shout his name while a police dog was 'barking loudly'.

The claim says the officer did not intend for Nico to 'pursue, attack, subdue or apply force to the plaintiff' and he is not being personally sued.

Mr Cheek claims he has suffered almost $60,000 in financial loss and has not been able to gain employment as a result of the incident.

Ryan Michael Cheek was walking through Reedy Creek, near the Gold Coast, on January 2, 2015, when he was allegedly bitten by 'Nico', a three-year-old German Shepherd (Stock image)

Mr Cheek alleges the dog squad officer did not follow the 'proper system' when dealing with a police dog (Stock image)

According to Mr Cheek's lawyer, a police dog just poses as much danger as a 'loaded weapon'.

'Ryan was not under arrest, he was not resisting any intervention from the police and posed no threat at the time he was savagely attacked,' Kim Allen said.

Queensland Police are yet to lodge a defence.
The text messages sent from an elite Sydney private school teacher to a 17-year-old student she had sex with nine times have been revealed.

The former Sydney Grammar School teacher, 33, and the teenager started a sexual relationship after he drank three beers at her home and she kissed him, the court heard.

After a series of secret meetings in storage rooms to have sex, the student ended the relationship in April 2016, but the teacher sent him text messages for a further five months, the Daily Telegraph reported.

'I'm a f***ing monster but I'm so, so, so sorry,' she wrote on April 1.

The former Sydney Grammar School teacher, 33, (pictured) and the teenager started a sexual relationship after he drank three beers at her home and she kissed him in 2015

The text messages sent from an elite Sydney private school teacher to a 17-year-old student she had sex with nine times have been revealed. A mock-up of the messages is pictured

The Sydney Grammar School (pictured) teacher also told the student she couldn't sleep, eat or breathe after having 'hurt' the teenager

The Sydney Grammar School teacher also told the student she couldn't sleep, eat or breathe after having 'hurt' the teenager.

She also voiced her concerns at the story of their sexual relationship getting out after the student confirmed one of his friends knew.

'I am absolutely terrified the story of us will get out, and you're the only one with any control over that,' she wrote in a text message.

'And lastly, of course, because I love you. I loved you so much it is killing me'.

The former teacher pleaded guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to nine counts of sexual intercourse and one of indecent assault on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old student revealed the relationship to a school staffer in September (stock image)

She was given an apprehended violence order to stop her contacting the teenager and is yet to be sentenced.

The pair started spending time together outside of school hours after they were both involved in the production of a school play in 2015.

She started giving him poems and letters with themes of 'love, intimacy and death,' the court heard.

The schoolboy's lawyer said he was scared to end the relationship over fears she would self harm.

She was arrested on October 24, 2016.

The former teacher pleaded guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to nine counts of sexual intercourse




A woman has been left devastated after her husband died while surfing at a beach north of Perth, just two months after their wedding.

Trent Walker, 36, was surfing at Dewars Beach in Two Rocks on a Saturday morning two weeks ago when he collapsed in the water, reported The West Australian.

He was pulled from the water by friends and given CPR, but was unable to be resuscitated.

Perth woman Lauren Walker (left) has been left devastated after her husband of two months Trent Walker (right) died while surfing two weeks ago

Mr Walker was surfing at Dewars Beach in Two Rocks (pictured), about an hour north of Perth, when he collapsed in the surf

The circumstances surrounding his death are unconfirmed, as he was reported to be fit, healthy and a talented surfer.

Mr Walker's wife Lauren told The West Australian she was devastated and said she had 'lost her soulmate and love of her life'.

The couple were only married eight weeks ago in Margaret River in the state's south west.

'My darling husband, words cant describe the pain I feel with the loss of you,' Mrs Walker said.

Mr Walker was pulled in by friends and given CPR, but was unable to be resuscitated. He was reportedly fit, healthy and a talented surfer

'You were taken from us way too early and no one understands why.

'I will love you forever.'

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to support Ms Walker with a target of $18,000, but it has already raised more than $22,000.

The page says: 'Trento had such a loving and kind heart, let's all show him the best of our hearts and show your generosity to his beautiful wife Lauren.

'Lauren has enough to deal with at the moment, this could help with some of the financial challenges.'

One person wrote: 'Trent touched our hearts and brightened our lives, we were so fortunate to call him our friend! Sending all our love to Loz & the Walker family.'

Another said: 'So sorry for your loss Lauren . Hearts are broken for you Hun. Love and healing from Donna & Andy xxxx.'

One person described how Mr Walker embraced life to the fullest.

'Deepest sympathies Lauren and all the family and dear friends an untimely death of such a beautiful soul. Trent leaves an imprint in our hearts he certainly was an unique fun loving soul.'

Ms Walker (right) told The West Australian she had lost her 'soulmate and the love of her life'
Michigan state Representative John Kivela was found dead hours after he was released from jail on Tuesday for what appeared to be his second drunken driving arrest in less than two years

A state representative from Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been found dead hours after he was released from jail on what appeared to be his second drunken driving arrest in less than two years.

John Kivela's body was found at about 1pm Eastern on Tuesday at a Lansing home with no obvious indications of foul play, police said.

Kivela, 37, 'apparently took his own life,' according to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, as reported by CBS affiliate WLNS.

It will take an autopsy before the official manner of death can be determined, Lansing police said.

Arrest records show Kivela, a 47-year-old Democrat, was arrested Monday with a blood-alcohol level of more than .17, which qualified him for stricter penalties under the 'super drunk' law.

Kivela was released Tuesday on bond, according to Clinton County Sheriff Lawrence Jerue.

Kivela pleaded guilty in December 2015 to drunken driving after his arrest the previous month in Clinton County.

Kivela is seen here with colleagues from the Michigan House of Representatives

Tributes to Kivela poured in from both sides of the aisle as word of his death spread.

Kivela was in his third and final term representing Michigan's 109th House District, which includes Alger, Luce, and Schoolcraft counties and part of Marquette County.

He had recently announced plans to run for the State Senate.

A message was left for the Marquette County medical examiner as to whether an official determination of the cause of Kivela's death had been made.

The message was not immediately returned.

For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 in the US, or in the UK call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
A man who allegedly fled the scene of a dramatic crash was arrested with his pants down after he was sniffed out by a police dog named Kaos.

The 41-year-old allegedly slammed a stolen BMW into two trees in Melbourne's north at about 1.30am on Thursday.

The man left a shoe in the mangled car before making his alleged getaway - and that was all Kaos needed to track him down.

A man who allegedly fled the scene of a dramatic crash was arrested with his pants down

Within 15 minutes he was arrested with his pants at his ankles and his sizeable belly on show.

A neighbour who witnessed the dramatic arrest told Nine News the dog is a hero.

'Dog is good. I heard the dog is barking around,' the man said.

'I thought maybe... police found someone dealing drugs or whatever.'

The man has been charged with car theft, resisting police and an array of driving offences.

He is expected to appear in Heidelberg Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The alleged car thief (pictured left) was sniffed out by a police dog named Kaos (right)

The man left a shoe in the mangled vehicle before making his alleged getaway. That was all Chaos needed to track him down
Patients diagnosed with HIV today can expect to live well into their mid-70s, a landmark report reveals today.

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, highlights the progress made in treatment of the virus in the last three decades.

In the 1980s, an HIV diagnosis was considered a death sentence because the virus invariably triggered the disease Aids.

However, effective antiretroviral drugs mean patients today often live as long as a healthy person.

Patients diagnosed with HIV today can expect to live well into their mid-70s, a landmark report reveals today (file photo)

The study, led by experts at Bristol University, was last night greeted as marking a tremendous medical achievement.

Scientists calculated that a 20-year-old man who started HIV treatment in Europe or the US between 2008 and 2010 could be expected to live until 73, and a woman until 76.

The figures also show HIV life expectancy has increased by nine years for women and ten years for men since the mid-1990s.

By comparison, the average British male was expected to live to 78 in 2010, and British women of 82.

The authors said their findings would encourage HIV-positive people to start treatment as soon as possible in the knowledge they could live a full life.

Lead author Adam Trickey, of the University of Bristol, said: Our research illustrates a success story of how improved HIV treatments ... can extend the lifespan of people diagnosed with HIV.

Newer drugs have fewer side effects, involve taking fewer pills, better prevent replication of the virus and are more difficult for the virus to become resistant to.

Antiretroviral therapy, which first became widely used in 1996, involves a combination of drugs that block the HIV virus from replicating.

However, the drugs are expensive, and make up a large part of the 360,000 cost of treating a patient with HIV over their lifetime.

The study's figures also show HIV life expectancy has increased by nine years for women and ten years for men since the mid-1990s. Pictured, a graphic of the HIV virus in the blood stream

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said: Its a tremendous medical achievement that an infection that once had such a terrible prognosis is now so manageable.

Dr Michael Brady, of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: Todays report reminds us just how far weve come since the start of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s.

'In many cases those who are on effective treatment can expect to live as long as their HIV-negative peers. Researchers analysed data for 88,504 people with HIV who started treatment between 1996 and 2010 in Europe and North America.

They found fewer people who started treatment between 2008 and 2010 died during their first three years of treatment than those who started treatment between 1996 and 2007.

When looking specifically at deaths due to Aids, the number declined between 1996 and 2010, which the experts think is because the newer drugs were more effective at restoring the immune system.
Impoverished British parents are diluting milk, skimping on food and bringing up their children in damp housing, doctors have warned.

Poverty is having a devastating impact on the health of children in the UK, according to a report by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).

The document, based on a survey with 250 paediatricians across the UK, found almost half think things are getting worse.

Just three doctors said the situation was improving for the children in their care.

Impoverished British parents are diluting milk, skimping on food and bringing up their children in damp housing, doctors have warned (file photos)

Data shows that four million children - or three in 10 - across the UK live in poverty after housing costs are taken into account. This is predicted to rise to five million by the end of the decade.

In the new report, more than three in five doctors said food insecurity - including poor nutrition and inability to buy enough food - contributes very much to the ill health of children in their care.

A further quarter said it contributes somewhat.

Doctors said parents deprive themselves of food and rely on food banks, while others cannot afford clothes, toothbrushes or toothpaste.

One paediatrician said: I see patients with poor nutritional state from poverty or low income, with growth below [what is] expected, while another said: Parents dilute down milk as they cant afford formula milk.

Another said: We see parents in A&E who are limiting their eating to care for their children. Children are worried, scared and upset.

More than two-thirds of doctors said homelessness or poor housing contribute very much or somewhat to the ill health of children they work with.

Just under a third said the inability to keep warm at home contributed very much to child ill-health and a third that it contributes somewhat.

Others described mouldy, damp houses and families living in one room.

Data shows that four million children - or three in 10 - across the UK live in poverty (file photo)

One doctor said: Cold, damp, overcrowded housing exacerbate respiratory illness and other conditions, while another said: [I see] children being unwell with back-to-back respiratory illnesses, living in overcrowded shared accommodation.

Paediatricians also pointed to the impact on a childs mental health, with  worry, stress and anxiety meaning children have a little part of their childhood taken away, a part of their day they will spend worrying instead of playing or learning.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of CPAG, said: Day in, day out, doctors see the damage rising poverty does to childrens health.

Their disquiet comes through in the survey findings and should sound alarms for the next government.

Low family incomes, inadequate housing and cuts to support services are jeopardising the health of our most vulnerable children.

We can and must do better to protect the well-being of future generations. Re-instating the UKs poverty-reduction targets would be an obvious place to start.

Professor Russell Viner, officer for health promotion at the RCPCH, said: Poverty has a devastating effect on child health and this report makes disturbing reading.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said he is 'relaxed' about making electoral pacts to keep out the Conservatives - despite insisting he will not form a coalition.

He said it was 'up to local parties' to make tactical decisions after the Lib Dems stood aside in Brighton Pavilion for Green party co-leader Caroline Lucas.

But the Tories warned that his words paved the way for a 'coalition of chaos'  and said that a vote for the Lib Dems would be a vote for Labour's Jeremy Corbyn.

Tim Farron said it is up to 'local parties' to make tactical decisions despite saying the Lib Dems will not make any pacts at the national level

Mr Farron said again yesterday that he would not engage in any pacts, deals or coalitions with other parties after the election.

But asked about the local Lib Dem party decision to stand aside for the Greens, he said he was 'an admirer' of Miss Lucas and that it was 'up to local parties to make those decisions'.

He said: 'What I've been very clear about is the Liberal Democrats will engage in no pacts, no deals.

'There will be no coalition involving the Lib Dems with Labour or Conservatives or any other party following the election.

'Brickie visas' could cost firms 6,000 each Firms could have to pay 6,000 for each bricklayer, plumber and electrician they employ from Europe after Brexit, a think tank suggests. It urges ministers to introduce a brickie visa to plug labour shortages after the UK quits the European Union. But businesses would be forced to pay a fee for each lower-skilled migrant worker in a bid to wean them off cheap foreign labour. Bosses would be encouraged to train up British staff instead to fill the gaps, according to a report by Migrationwatch. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has been given a copy. UK manufacturing employs some 332,000 EU nationals while the wholesale and retail trade has 508,000. The report by Migrationwatch, which campaigns for tighter borders, says a 12-month EU Skills Shortage Visa  dubbed the brickie visa  could cost employers 1,000 but would double to 2,000 in the second year, then 3,000 for a third. Advertisement

'The local party in Brighton made a choice as is their democratic right to choose to withdraw in order to support Caroline Lucas.

'I've always been a fan of Caroline Lucas and I'm relaxed about that decision.'

He said previously that he wanted the Lib Dems to become the new opposition, telling ITV: 'I don't want people thinking a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a proxy for anything else.'

His comments follow ex-business secretary Sir Vince Cable's admission that he would find it 'difficult to vote against' a Labour candidate whose views were 'very close' to his own.

Mr Farron side-stepped questions about his view on Sir Vince's claim that if he were voting in Ealing Central and Acton he would find it hard not to back Labour candidate Rupa Huq.

Instead he insisted that like Sir Vince he was 'a pluralist, not a tribalist'.

He also recalled sharing a battle bus during the EU referendum campaign with Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, London's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, Miss Lucas and other parties.

Lib Dem Richmond Park candidate Sarah Olney, who won against Conservative Zac Goldsmith, also suggested the use of 'paper candidates' or 'not campaigning'.

In Brighton Pavilion, the Lib Dems have agreed not to field a candidate in a bid to get Miss Lucas re-elected to her party's only seat.

She has previously said that there is 'a huge amount of enthusiasm and energy' for deals between parties such as the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour to defeat the Tories in the election.

Mr Farron added that he has 'always been a fan' of Green Party leader Caroline Lucas and is 'relaxed' about the local Lib Dem party's decision not to field a candidate against her

She urged deals between left-wing parties to defeat the Conservatives in marginal seats to prevent a Tory landslide and a Hard Brexit.

Mr Farron refused to be drawn on whether he would stand down as leader if the Lib Dems failed to at least double the number of MPs they had in the last parliament, which would take their tally to 18.

'As if I'm thinking about the ninth of June now,' he said.

'My view is entirely fixed on the next four weeks - leading the Liberal Democrats, being the real opposition, the real alternative to a Conservative government that is taking the British people for granted.'

Mr Farron said he predicted the June 8 general election would result in 'a Conservative landslide', adding 'there's no point in pretending otherwise'.

But he claimed the Lib Dems had 'fire in our belly and a clarity of purpose' to fill 'the real vacancy in British politics and that's for there to be a decent opposition'.

Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: 'Tim Farron might be relaxed about putting Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street, but the consequences would be disastrous.

'It is increasingly clear the Lib Dems are determined to prop Corbyn up in a coalition of chaos to frustrate Brexit and put up taxes for every family and business in Britain. We would all pay the price.

'It might say Lib Dem on the ballot but it's the nonsensical Corbyn who gets the vote.'

The Lib Dems branded his remarks a 'dodgy dossier' and accused Mr McLoughlin of lying.

'Liberal Democrats have ruled out coalition with both Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May time and again,' Liberal Democrat Shadow First Secretary Alistair Carmichael said.

'There will be no coalitions and no deals. Liberal Democrats are fighting for every vote.'
Welfare recipients who test positive for drugs will not be referred to the police.

Beginning next year, 5000 Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients across three locations will be included in the two-year trial of drug testing.

It's understood the government wants to help welfare recipients get off drugs and into a job rather than get the law involved, The Courier Mail reported.

Scroll down for video.

Welfare recipients who test positive for drugs will not be referred to the police (stock image)

Beginning next year, 5000 Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients across three locations will be included in the two-year trial of drug testing (stock image)

Anyone who tests positive will have their welfare quarantined, while those who fail more than once will be referred to medical professionals for assessment and treatment.

'If somebody has got an addiction to drugs and you love them, what do you want to do? You want them to get off their addiction,' the prime minister told Sky News on Wednesday.

The Turnbull government says the trial is part of a suite of reforms to stop welfare payments being used to fuel drug and alcohol addictions.

Mr Turnbull argued there was a correlation between drug addiction and unemployment, and pointed out random drug testing was common in many industries.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said taxpayers had a right to see those on unemployment benefits getting themselves to a position where they could work.

'You are not going to be ready for work if you are drunk ... (or) smashed on drugs,' he said.

Mr Turnbull (pictured) argued there was a correlation between drug addiction and unemployment
A young boy has been applauded for for trying to protect a teenage girl from a fight by standing over her and taking most of the blows.

The boy was captured on video intervening in the argument between the young girl, who is reportedly his girlfriend, and two other teen girls in the Whakatane New World car park, according to the NZ Herald.

The video was posted to Facebook on Wednesday and has been watched more than 490,000 times.

Scroll down for video

A New Zealand boy has been applauded for for trying to protect a teenage girl from a fight by standing over her and taking most of the blows (pictured)

The boy can be seen trying to get in between his girlfriend, who is wearing a black puffy jacket, and a girl in a red jumper who is pulling her by her hair.

'I don't want to hurt no one. Let her f***ing go,' the boy can be heard saying.

A group of teenagers gather around and watch as the girl in the red keeps trying to punch the girl, who is hiding behind her boyfriend.

When the girl in the red jacket tells them to 'hit her,' the boy refuses.

The trio fall to the ground and the girl in the red repeatedly knees the boy in the face as he leans over his girlfriend to protect her.

A second girl then joins in and begins kicking and punching the boy and girl cowering on the ground.

It has been confirmed some of the students involved attend Trident High School.

'Fortunately we don't have issues like this happening on a regular basis ... it's a group of students; some of them are from our school, some of them are not at school, and some of them are from a different school,' Principal Philip Gurney told the NZ Herald.

The boy was captured on video intervening in the argument between the young girl, who is reportedly his girlfriend, and two other teen girls in the Whakatane New World car park (pictured)

Police told the publication they are investigating.

Viewers online have praised the young man for his efforts, telling him his parents would be proud.

'Well done. He isn't a boy, he is a man! A man that did what was right! His family raised him with morals,' one woman said.

'Disgusting girls. Yes that boy needs commending, we need more like him. Shame the other boys and girls watching didn't step up and stop it also,' another said.

'Awesome work to that young boy, regardless of the situation he should be proud of what he did!!' a viewer agreed.
A firm that pestered the public with nearly 100million nuisance calls has been fined a record 400,000.

Keurboom Communications was given the penalty after an unprecedented blizzard of unwanted phone messages about its services sparked more than 1,000 complaints.

An investigation by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) showed the firm instigated a shocking 99.5million automated marketing calls over an 18-month period  equivalent to around 2 every single second.

Members of the public were bombarded from early morning until late at night, with some receiving repeat calls on the same day.

Keurboom Communications were fined 400,000 for making almost 100 million unsolicited marketing calls over an 18-month period according to the Information Commissioner, file pic

The company were accused of targeting old and vulnerable people with their calls

Keurboom recorded messages urging people to make claims for road accidents or PPI compensation.

The company also hid its identity, making it harder for people to complain.

Elderly people and the vulnerable are particularly at risk because they are more likely to be lured into buying products or services over the phone.

Keurboom  which has since shut down  broke privacy rules because it did not have permission to contact the individuals.

Steve Eckerlsey, head of enforcement at the ICO, said: Keurboom showed scant regard for the rules, causing upset and distress to people unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of one its 100million calls.

The unprecedented scale of its campaign and Keurbooms failure to co-operate with our investigation has resulted in the largest fine issued by the Information Commissioner for nuisance calls.

These calls have now stopped - as has Keurboom - but our work has not. Well continue to track down companies that blight peoples lives with nuisance calls, texts and emails.

During the investigation, the ICO issued seven notices ordering the company, which is registered in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, to provide information to the watchdog.

Keurboom and its director Gregory Rudd were prosecuted and fined a total of 2,500 at Luton magistrates court in April 2016 after pleading guilty to failing to comply.

Following the ICOs investigation, the firm was placed in voluntary liquidation. The watchdog has pledged to recover the 400,000 fine by working with the liquidator and insolvency practitioners.

Powers to tackle nuisance call companies are set to be strengthened if the Government keeps its promise to introduce fines of up to 500,000 for directors.

The law was due to be changed this spring to make directors personally liable for unsolicited cold calls but it has been put back by the General Election.

The Information Commissioners Office, which is responsible for regulating nuisance marketing calls and spam text messages, can at present only impose fines up to 500,000 on business.

In 2016-17, the ICO had its busiest year for nuisance calls issuing 23 companies a total of 1.923million for unwanted marketing.

The previous record was in February 2016, when the Prodial, a lead generation company, was ordered to pay 350,000 for making 46million nuisance calls.

In September 2016, the ICO fined communications giant TalkTalk 400,000 under the Data Protection Act for failing to prevent a cyber-attack on its systems.
Pagers are on the brink of extinction after the last major phone company offering them said it was winding down its business.

Once seen hanging from the belt of every yuppie in the City, pager numbers have dwindled to just a handful of loyal users  mainly birdwatchers, emergency service workers and doctors.

And now workers, who rely on the tool, fear that lives could be at risk due to the collapse of the pager network.

Vodafone has announced it is closing down its pager service which still has 1,000 customers

Harriet, a nurse at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust who declined to give her surname, told The Times that pagers were reliable and cheap.

She said: 'People don't always know where I am so they need to be able to get in contact with me.'

Nurses are sent messages with a number to call. In an emergency situation, such as a patient suffering a cardiac arrest, they are messaged saying 'cardiac arrest' with the floor and ward number.

Hit with declining use and an ageing network, telecoms giant Vodafone wanted to sell off its business to Capita's PageOne  its only rival.

But despite Vodafone having just 1,000 customers, the competition watchdog refused to approve the sale, and Vodafone has decided to shut it down.

It means those who still use pagers will have to move across to the UK's last remaining provider, PageOne, or face losing the service.

Pagers  a small device that can receive short messages within 25 miles of a transmitter tower  were first used by doctors in the 1950s.

The Bellboy was launched in the US in 1962, swiftly followed by Motorola's Pageboy in 1964.

They soon became an essential tool for City workers, and by the time pagers reached their heyday in the 1990s, there were more than 61million in use.

But the invention of the mobile phone slowly drove their decline, as pager users switched to the more sophisticated device.

Motorola stopped making pagers in 2001, Orange cut its network in 2002 and O2 followed two years later.

Vodafone and Capita were the last remaining firms to operate networks in the UK, and earlier this year Vodafone announced it wanted to sell off the ageing network.

But the Competition and Markets Authority refused to rubber stamp the deal amid fears customers would be hit with price hikes.

It said its initial investigation, announced in February, found the deal would result in a substantial lessening of competition.

'After the merger, customers could face price rises and reduced quality of coverage,' the CMA said.

Vodafone wanted to sell their pager business to PageOne but were blocked by regulators

Now Vodafone has decided to shut down the business, because maintaining the ageing network would prove too costly in the long term.

It said it would be contacting customers over the next couple of days, and the service would close by the end of the year.

A spokesman for Vodafone said it was disappointed by the decision of the CMA to continue the investigation.

'This seems to be a surprising decision considering that this market has been contracting for some time and no other country in Europe has more than one wide area paging network,' he added.

'Due to the expense involved with a prolonged investigation, Vodafone will not pursue the transaction and has made the decision to close down this business, which is based on ageing, standalone technology no longer supported by network vendors.

'We will do our utmost to minimise the impact on the 1,000 or so customers still using the service.'

In the 1990s, pagers were an important business tool for executives and city types

No jobs will be affected by the decision, but the remaining customers will have to take out a new contract with PageOne  owned by Capita.

Vodafone does not make a lot of money from its pager business, the average monthly bill for customers is just 4 a month.

But there are still a select few loyal users who favour the long battery life and dedicated, reliable radio network.

Companies such as National Express, EDF and Transport for London still provide pagers to employees. They are also used by the NHS and lifeboat services.

The CMA said the two companies must find acceptable ways of addressing competition concerns to avoid an investigation.

A spokesman for PageOne said: 'We are disappointed that the acquisition has not been approved at phase one by the Competition and Markets Authority.'
Prince Harry is set to replace his grandfather Prince Philip as the head of the Royal Marines.

It comes after the 95-year-old Duke of Edinburgh announced he would be stepping down from public duties by this autumn.

He has been the ceremonial head of the elite unit since 1953 but is set to be replaced by the 32-year-old prince.

It is understood Harry has been approved by Major General Rob Magowan, who is Commandant General of the Corps, but The Queen will make the final decision.

Prince Harry, pictured serving as an Apache Helicopter pilot in Afghanistan, is set to replace his grandfather as the ceremonial head of the Royal Marines

Prince Philip, pictured centre at the Beating Retreat event at Horseguards Parade, has been head of the Royal Marines since 1953

A senior Royal Marine officer told the Daily Mirror Prince Philip would be a 'hard act to follow.'

The source said: 'The invite if acceptable is for Prince Harry to step into uniform and support his grandfather and eventually take over as Captain General.'

The position of Captain General has great prestige among the Royal Marines, with a senior officer given the task of liaising with the royal on events and presenting regular reports on the state of the unit.

Prince Philip regularly visited the Royal Marines on exercises abroad and at their headquarters in Plymouth.

But it is not the first time Harry will step into his grandfather's role as far as the Royal Marines are concerned, with the Prince deputising for the Duke of Edinburgh in 2015 when opening a new amphibious centre in Plymouth for 1 Assault Group.

Prince Harry is said to enjoy a strong relationship with the Royal Marines already after supporting the 40 Commando unit in Helmand in 2008 through his role directing air strikes.

Prince Harry, pictured, is said to enjoy a good relationship with the Royal Marines through providing air support for them during his time in Afghanistan

Then in 2012 he flew Apache helicopters to back up marines tracking Taliban commanders.

If appointed, Harry would join other members of his family in holding an honorary role among the armed forces, with brother William heading the Irish Guards. Meanwhile father Prince Charles is the head of dozens of regiments in the Army.

Prince Philip became head of the Royal Marines following King George VI's death. His other titles include Field Marshall of the British Army, Admiral of the fleet and Marshall of the Royal Air Force.
Choking back her tears, Israeli news anchor Geula Even couldn't hide her emotion when she found out while live on air that her channel was being shut down.

Channel 1 news aired its last episode Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly shut it down following a political battle.

Mr Netanyahu has said the shutdown of the struggling state-run broadcaster is part of reforms to create a new replacement organization.

But staffers and opposition lawmakers accuse him of trying to control the media 'like Trump'.

Choking back her tears, Israeli news anchor Geula Even couldn't hide her emotion when she found out while live on air that her channel was being shut down

The state-run Israel Broadcasting Authority was notified an hour before Tuesday's broadcast that 'Mabat LaHadashot' (A glance at the news), which has been on-air for 49 years, was to be shut down.

The program's staff turned out for a tearful send-off and sang the national anthem.

'This comes sooner than we expected. We thought of parting a bit differently than this,' said presenter Michal Rabinovich.

The program was canceled ahead of the long-anticipated launch of a new public broadcaster, which Netanyahu has stripped of its news division. A separate entity will broadcast current events instead.

Channel 1 news aired its last episode Tuesday after a sudden cancellation following a political battle

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the shutdown of the struggling state-run broadcaster is part of reforms to create a new replacement organization

The launch of the new broadcasting entity has been postponed multiple times and is currently slated for May 15.

'It's a mark of disgrace on this government,' veteran journalist Ya'akov Ahimeir said.

'They notify you two hours before going on air that this is the last Mabat. What are we, criminals?'
Advertisement

This is the chilling moment a family is seen standing up on Splash Canyon at Drayton Manor theme park just two days before an 11-year-old girl died after falling from the ride.

The thrill-seekers were filmed getting up from their seats on the raft as it collided with a wall and violently shook, although none of the riders were harmed.

Despite the bump, which shook all of those on board, one of the children immediately stands up again to switch seats.

Two days later Evha Jannath is believed to have been standing up to change seats with a classmate when she was bumped over the side of her raft and 'dragged under the water by the current'.

Her heartbroken family said their 'world has been torn apart' by the death of their 'beautiful little girl'.

They have now called for Splash Canyon to be shut indefinitely until police and safety officials work out how and why she died just four days after she turned 11.

Drayton Manor has said the park will be closed again today 'to allow the Health and Safety Executive to complete their work'.

Speaking on their behalf, the family's local MP Keith Vaz said last night: 'The family requests that the ride in question is suspended, until the inquiry is concluded and the full facts are established'.

In the wake of Evha's death Thorpe Park in Surrey has shut down its similar Rumba Rapids water ride 'as a precaution'.

Thrillseekers were filmed standing up on Splash Canyon at Drayton Manor, pictured, just two days before 11-year-old Evha Jannath was killed falling from the ride after standing up to change seats with a classmate on a school trip

Victim: This is 11-year-old schoolgirl Evha, left, who died after falling from the river rapid ride at Drayton Manor theme park and just days after her birthday, pictured shopping for clothes at the Bullring in Birmingham last Tuesday

This aerial view of the Splash Canyon ride shows the attraction deserted bar a few officials following the park's closure today

The girl sustained serious injuries after falling into the water from the ride and was airlifted to hospital but sadly died

Meanwhile mother-of-four Vikki Treacy said her son Patrick fell off the same ride in 2013 aged 10. He was pulled from the rapids by a member of the public and she had to go to tell staff.

She said: 'I just don't think anything has been done since Patrick fell in. If it's that important not to stand then lap belts should be installed. It was an accident waiting to happen'.

Mrs Treacy's family were on a day trip to the theme park from their home in Rugby.

She told the BBC Radio 5 Live: 'When they came into view, Patrick half stood up still holding on and waved to me. The boat constantly collides with the side and shakes the boat. He was tipped out and went under the water.

'I panicked straight away and the woman next to me jumped over two fences and managed to get him to safety and back to me. He was really traumatised and shaken up.

'As I was watching another family came round the children were knocked out of the seat.

'Patrick was lucky where he fell because he was in view and could stand up, but had it been somewhere else, we would not have seen it and it could have been worse'.

She added: 'I was told the manager would ring me the following morning first thing, but it got to about midday and I'd had no phone call, I ended up ringing the manager myself and he wasn't even aware of my situation.

'I don't think my incident was taken seriously at all. It just seemed to be, 'your child was standing up, there you go, that's what happens'.'

Kim Dorsett's daughter Kate Goodchild, son Luke Dorsett and son's partner Roozi Araghi were killed when their raft overturned on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Australia's Dreamworld park on the Gold Coast, Australia, last October.

The river rapids ride, which was also responsible for the death of mum Cindy Low, was decommissioned after the accident - but bears similarities to Splash Canyon at Drayton Manor in the UK.

Leicester schoolgirl Evha Jannath, 11, died after suffering fatal head injuries when she toppled into the water from Splash Canyon at the Staffordshire theme park on Tuesday.

Government worker Kim, from Canberra, has not given any interviews since the day of the Dreamworld incident - but spoke out today to share her condolences.

She said: 'I can only offer my condolences to the family of this beautiful girl, to the school and to the operators of the theme park.

'To lose a child is horrific, and to lose my three was - and continues to be - heartbreaking. The family and friends of this young girl have been foremost in my thoughts these past hours.

'I understand the pain of all concerned and my thoughts are with them. I send all involved my thoughts and hugs.'

Kim said she could not comment on how the accidents themselves occurred as she had no knowledge of the mechanics of ride.

Victoria Treacy, 46, left, was terrified when her Patrick, 13, fell into the water on the Splash Canyon ride at Drayton Manor in August 2013, aged 10. She says Drayton Manor have failed to compensate her or rectify the safety features of the ride

Drayton Manor has been closed out of respect as the Health and Safety Executive investigate what happened

Mrs Treacy sent a letter, pictured, to Drayton Manor detailing how her son Patrick thrown off a raft on Splash Canyon and 'completely submerged underwater for quite a few seconds'

She was with her family on the raft ride and said a voice recording warning visitors not to stand on the boat was not enough to 'prevent a child falling from a ride'

Drayton Manor said it would not discuss the ride's safety record.

A spokesman said: 'We cannot comment during the ongoing investigation surrounding Splash Canyon other than to say the health and safety of our visitors is of paramount importance and we'd ask Vikki contacts us direct so that we can address her concerns'.

He added: 'The tragic events on Tuesday have shaken the whole Drayton Manor family from the Board, through to staff and visitors.

'We would like to extend our thanks to the emergency services for everything they did yesterday.

'The park will be closed on Thursday, to allow the Health and Safety Executive to complete their work.

'Our thoughts are with the family and all those who have been affected by Tuesday's incident.'

One parent with a child on the same trip claims Drayton Manor's response to the disaster was too slow and believes there was no teacher from the Jameah Girls Academy in Leicester on Evha's boat.

She told MailOnline: 'The kids started screaming and told the staff at the park that their friend has fallen in the water. The teachers came and said that the girl was missing that's when they took it seriously and stopped the ride and started looking. There was four other girls on the same boat with the girl and the teacher's boat was behind'.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will now be examining whether human error - the cause of the Alton Towers crash - played a role in the tragedy and also whether the children were properly supervised.

Tragedy: Miss Jannath, 11, is believed to have been standing up to change seats when she was knocked off the Splash Canyon ride and 'dragged under the water by the current'

Evha attended the Jameah Girls Academy, a Muslim school in Leicester, which also shut and is helping the investigation

The investigation is being led by Staffordshire Police, who were examining the water ride and interviewing staff alongside the HSE.

Both the school and the theme park said they would not comment due to the ongoing investigations.

The ride does not have harnesses, a measure sometimes deliberately adopted by theme parks on similar rides as a safety precaution in case boats were to capsize and leave riders trapped.

The last picture of Evha shows her shopping for clothes at the Bullring in Birmingham as a birthday treat last Tuesday, MailOnline can reveal

Her parents Suable and Nuran Jannath, who recently moved to the area from Hertfordshire, are being offered support by specialist police officers and Drayton Manor and Jameah Girls Academy in Leicester have been closed out of respect.

Evha Jannath, who turned 11 last Friday, is believed to have been standing up to change seats when she was bumped out and into the water

'Yesterday our world was torn apart by the news that our daughter and sister Evha, had lost her life in tragic circumstances, following a school trip to Drayton Manor Park,' they said in statement.

'Evha was a beautiful little girl who was full of love and always smiling. Words cannot describe the pain and loss we feel, we are devastated that we will not see our beautiful little girl again'.

Evha's distraught uncle Abdul Hadi said the family is bereft and said his niece picked out two shirts and two dresses during a birthday shopping trip to Birmingham on May 2 - exactly a week before her death.

Speaking from Bangladesh he said: 'She is our Angel. She is the only daughter of my sister and she just turned 11 on the 5th of May. She was a very quiet and pretty girl.'

Abdul explained that the majority of Evha's family live in Bangladesh and were talking to family in the UK, including Evha's mother Nuran, via video chat.

He said: 'It's a very difficult time for my sister and our family. It's a critical situation. They live in the UK but the rest of our family live in Bangladesh.

'My niece last visited Bangladesh in 2009, she loved it and wanted to go back.'

Drayton Manor has launched an investigation into Evha's death, including probing accusations that staff were not quick enough to respond.

A spokesman for the park said: 'While we await the findings of the ongoing investigation we cannot comment further, other than to say we are all shocked and devastated and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this tremendously difficult time.'

There are also questions for the school over claims that there was no teacher in the boat with her when she fell out.

One teacher, who took her children on the same ride on he school's end of year trip, told MailOnline: 'We have never let children go on without a teacher, teaching assistant or parent helper. We make sure they sit and hold on throughout the splash trip'.

One parent of a child on the ride with Miss Jannath, who attended a private Muslim girls' school in Leicester, said the boat with no teacher on board 'hit a rock' and she vanished in the rapids.

She said: 'When the girl got up to change seats just then it hit a rock and she got knocked out of the boat and fell in the water and the water currents dragged her in.

'They couldn't see her after she fell in'.

Evha suffered life-threatening injuries after plunging into the 5ft deep water and died shortly after being airlifted to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

An older brother of a classmate also said: 'She came back in for the trip but she wasn't wearing the right clothes. It was sorted out and she went with everyone else. It's so tragic that she went then didn't come back'.

Medics were desperately trying to save her life while she was being flown to hospital but she could not be revived.

Much loved: Evha Jannath, who died after falling from the Splash Canyon ride at Drayton Manor theme park, had just turned 11

Shut down: Police, health and safety investigators and park officials survey the scene on the Splash Canyon ride

Probe: Drayton Manor has launched an investigation into Evha's death, including accusation that staff were not quick enough to respond

Deserted: Drayton Manor theme park near Tamworth has been closed for two days and it is unclear when it will reopen

Drayton Manor, who are investigating the incident, announced the park would be closed 'as a mark of respect to the family'

Thorpe Park has shut its Rumba Rapids water ride (file picture) 'as a precaution' following Leicester schoolgirl's death

A parent at the school, who asked not to be named, said her child witnessed the tragic incident.

The brother of a pupil in the boat said: 'My sister was saying that Eva stood up in the boat and looked like she was moving seats.

'Then she looked back and she was in the water. It happened in an instant. But she wasn't struggling  just lying motionless in the water. The other girls then started shouting for the guards who didn't believe them that she was in there'.

Boy, 10, also thrown into water by bumpy ride, mother claims Vikki Treacy's son Paddy fell off the same ride as Evha in 2013 when he was ten, and was tall enough to ride alone with his cousin. The family were on a day trip to Drayton Manor from their home in Rugby. She told the BBC Radio 5 Live: 'When they came into view, Patrick half stood up still holding on and waved to me. The boat constantly collides with the side and shakes the boat. He was tipped out and went under the water. 'I panicked straight away and the woman next to me jumped over two fences and managed to get him to safety and back to me. He was really traumatised and shaken up. 'As I was watching another family came round the children were knocked out of the seat. 'Patrick was lucky where he fell because he was in view and could stand up, but had it been somewhere else, we would not have seen it and it could have been worse'. She added: 'I was told the manager would ring me the following morning first thing, but it got to about midday and I'd had no phone call, I ended up ringing the manager myself and he wasn't even aware of my situation. 'I don't think my incident was taken seriously at all. It just seemed to be, 'your child was standing up, there you go, that's what happens'.' Drayton Park said it would not discuss the ride's safety record. A spokesman said: 'We cannot comment during the ongoing investigation surrounding Splash Canyon other than to say the health and safety of our visitors is of paramount importance and we'd ask Vikki contacts us direct so that we can address her concerns'. Advertisement

The teenager, who gave his name as Talha, added: 'For the past few days I don't think Eva had been going to school because she wasn't feeling well.

'She came back in today for the trip but she wasn't wearing the right clothes. It was sorted out and she went with everyone else. It's so tragic that she went then didn't come back. My sister was still in tears when I got home'.

Floral tributes were left outside Evha's home last night but her mother was too upset to talk.

Amina Sheikh, 34, who lives next door, claimed Evha lived with her mum after she had separated from her dad.

She said: 'I have lived here for 20 years but Evha's family only moved in around a year ago.

'She is really really struggling bless her. She is in pieces. We live right next door and you can hear her wailing but that's not surprising, it's been a massive shock.

'She obviously wasn't even there at the time so it must have been a huge shock for her. My sister saw her only yesterday morning before the trip when she was going to the shop and they spoke then.

'She was a lovely, playful girl. A very good girl and very quiet. We could always hear her playing happily next door, it's a huge shame.

'Her mum went to see her body yesterday and she said there wasn't a scratch on her. We have been trying to help as much as we can. Taking food around and just trying to be there for them.'

Erfana Bora, headteacher of Jameah Girls Academy, said: 'Yesterday, one of our children, Evha Jannath, passed away in tragic circumstances.

'She was a lovely, sweet-natured girl and she was loved by everyone at the school. As a school and as a community, we are trying to make sense of this terrible tragedy.

'Our thoughts and our prayers are with Evha's family at this most difficult time. We will be providing specialist support to our pupils and our staff, and we ask that they be given time to grieve and come to terms with our huge loss.

Suleman Nagdi, from the Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: 'We expect the school to be open tomorrow. The family lives locally. We are providing support for the other children who were on the ride with her'.

Zainab Mohammad, whose 16-year-old sister went on the trip, said the tight-knit school community had been left devastated by the tragedy.

Speaking to reporters near the academy, the 26-year-old said: 'It's tragic. We don't know what the cause is but what we really want is for the family to be able to grieve.

'A family member has been ripped from their family and it's a big loss. Everybody is in utter shock, there are no words.

'I couldn't sleep last night, thinking of this.' Asked how her sister was coping after the death, Ms Mohammed added: 'She came home, she spoke to mum and dad and she just went upstairs.

'She was devastated. She didn't want to talk about it. Nobody knows what's happened, we can't speculate on what has happened.'

Ms Zainab said: 'The school is not very big, everybody know each other. It's really sad for the kids'.

Flowers have been placed outside the home of Evha Jannath in Leicester after her tragic death on a school trip

Erfana Bora, headteacher at Jameiah Girls Academy in Leicester, paid tribute to her student alongside Suleman Nagdi, from the Federation of Muslim Organisations

A note on the school gates, pictured, confirmed pupils were on a trip to the park that ended in tragic circumstances

Staffordshire Police confirmed the girl's identity and are supporting her family.

A police spokesman said: 'Evha sadly died after falling from a water ride at the theme park. She was recovered from the water and received advanced life support from ambulance crews before she was flown to Birmingham Children's Hospital where she later passed away.

'Evha was at the park as part of a school trip with the Jameah Girls Academy.

'A Health and Safety Executive investigation has now begun with the full support of Staffordshire Police.

'The family are being supported by specially trained officers. We would ask everyone to respect the family's right to grieve in private during this extremely difficult time. '

Keith Vaz, the Labour candidate for Leicester East where the school is located, said: 'We are all shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Evha.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and relatives.'

Drayton Park director George Bryan looked visibly shaken as he spoke of the staff's 'shock and devastation' at the girl's death.

The theme park announced on Twitter it would be closed tomorrow as a 'mark of respect to the family'.

He said: 'We are all truly shocked and devastated, and our thoughts are with the family and friends at this horrendously difficult time.'

He added: 'Further to the police statement which has been issued to yourself and your colleagues a few moments ago, it is with great sadness that we have to report that a young girl has passed away at Birmingham Children's Hospital following an incident at one of our rides this afternoon.

'Our staff were alerted that an 11-year-old girl had entered the water.

'Trained park staff were immediately on the scene attending to the patient and West Midlands Air Ambulance arrived and airlifted her to hospital.'

The 2,300-per year Jameah Academy, for girls aged three to 11, had police stationed outside while the father of a pupil said the 'whole school' went on the trip.

He said: 'All the girls had been looking forward to it. My daughter is in the year above the dead girl and is absolutely distraught.

'She was on another ride at the time and realised something was wrong only when she saw other girls in tears. Nobody knows how it happened. People want answers.'

Witnesses captured the air ambulance flying above the park this afternoon, pictured left and right

Park visitors were speculating online that the girl may have been standing up when she fell into the water.

'It was not known whether she drowned or was in some way injured or trapped under water. Park staff pulled her from the water.

A teacher was believed to be on the ride or nearby and the Health and Safety Executive has confirmed it will be investigating the circumstances of the death.

Park director George Bryan, pictured, was visibly shaken as he spoke of the 'shock and devastation' of the staff at the death

The Leicester Muslims Association posted on Facebook: 'An 11 year old girl has passed away, from Leicester she studied at Jameah girls academy and went on school trip to Drayton manor.

'We humbly request all to make dua for her and may Allah grant her family sabr e Jamel ameen.'

Meanwhile hundreds of mourners gathered for evening prayers at Jame Majid Mosque to pay tribute to the 11-year-old girl.

A spokesman for the mosque, which is opposite the girl's school said: 'The young girl's death has shaken the community and we're all devastated.

'Obviously our thoughts are with the family after this heart breaking news. Her family sent her off to school in the morning expecting to hear about her amazing day at Drayton Manor but the unthinkable happened.

'When anyone dies it's a tragedy but when it's a child as young as she was it's just awful.

'All we can do now is pray for her family and hold them in our thoughts.

'It will be a painful wait to hear about exactly what happened following a police investigation because at the moment all we know is she fell, not how or why.'

Superintendent Carl Ratcliffe, of Staffordshire Police, 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 helicopter was later seen arriving at Birmingham Children's Hospital, pictured

The ride was cordoned off shortly after the incident, although much of the park remained open

Splash Canyon was opened in 1993 and children are supposed to be supervised by adults while on the ride, according to safety guidelines

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.'

A spokesperson for Staffordshire Police added: 'We can confirm the patient was on a school trip.

'A teacher must have either been inside the ride or in close proximity but that will be a matter for the HSE to investigate.'

According to the park safety guidelines, adults are told to 'supervise' children near water rides including Splash Canyon, and water quality is continually assessed.

Eyewitness Matt Mason, 44, said: 'I was on Splash Canyon just before the person who fell in.

'Didn't see it happen but was collecting my family photo when a lady came up to the collection booth to say that a girl had fallen in.

'She was pretty calm so we assumed it was nothing major.

'Shortly afterwards, police, fire and ambulances arrived and the ride and whole area was closed.

'No one seemed panicked over an hour later when we left.'

Mother Jenny Mason, who had been on Splash Canyon moments before the accident, added: 'We were literally the last people off the ride before it happened.

'We were just collecting a photo and a lady came up and said a girl had fallen into the water.

'We thought it was all in hand and heard emergency services arrive.'

Officers remain at the scene and investigations continue into how the incident happened

The Splash Canyon ride (file picture) at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire was closed

Witnesses reported that the air ambulance, police and fire units were on the scene - and a large area had been closed off, but some sections of the park were still open.

Witness Graham Johnstone, 40, said: 'The first I knew something was wrong when I saw staff running over to the ride and turn people away.

'Minutes later an air ambulance appeared overhead. All you could hear was crying coming from the steps leading to the ride entrance.

'It was awful. Somebody said a little child had drowned but you just don't know.

'The emergency services were on the scene so quickly. I saw the air ambulance land but it didn't take off again. I just hope the kid was OK.'

Fiona Fletcher, 28, from Burton upon Trent, Staffs, was at the park with her two young daughters.

The air ambulance, police and several fire units arrived at Drayton Manor theme park

She said: 'The first I heard of it was when a car came charging through clearing the path and then paramedics flew past.

'My kids and I had just got off the carousel ride and all we could hear were sirens. It really scared my daughters.

'The entrance to the Splash Canyon was probably a few hundred yards from where I was standing and there was clearly a huge commotion.

'I saw six fire engines, at least five police cars, four ambulances and two paramedic cars and an air ambulance.

SPLASH CANYON: AT A GLANCE The Splash Canyon ride was opened in 1993 and consists of 21 boats holding six people each, with a maximum capacity of 126 guests. According to the description on the theme park's website, Splash Canyon is a 'fast-paced river rapid ride, where guests speed through the water in a dinghy'. The top speed of the ride is unknown, but river rapid rides in general can reach speeds of around 28mph. Minimum height restrictions are in place, and riders must be at least 0.9m (3ft) tall. Anyone under 1.1m (3ft 7in) must be accompanied by an adult. The Splash Canyon ride was opened in 1993 and consists of 21 boats holding six people each There are no seatbelts on the rafts, but guests are encouraged to hold on to a metal wheel found in the centre of the dinghies. Safety information on the ride on Drayton Manor's website said: 'There are two large lakes situated through the centre of the park and several rides expose guests to water. 'These are; the Splash Canyon, Storm Force 10, Pirate Adventure and the Drayton Queen. 'Children must be supervised where necessary. Continuous water quality monitoring is carried out by independent environmental engineers.' Guests who are pregnant or who have heart, back or neck problems are all banned from riding Splash Canyon. Director George Bryan is the grandson of the founder of the park, also George Bryan, who bought up 80 acres of wasteland in 1949. They turned the park - which is also home to the popular Thomasland based on Thomas the Tank Engine - into a family run business with a largely unblemished safety record. In 2000, an attendant was airlifted after an accident at the Black Revolver ride. In 2005, rollercoaster Shockwave broke down and 19 passengers were stranded for 30 minutes but left unhurt. And in 2012, a mother-of-two died of a heart attack after coming off the Maelstrom ride. The incident happened on the Splash Canyon river rapid ride, pictured Following the Alton Towers accident in 2015, the park defended its safety procedures and said its rides underwent a 'rigorous' daily inspection. David Bromilow, Drayton Manor's operations manager said: 'The health and safety of our visitors is of paramount importance. 'All of our rides comply with health and safety requirements for safe operation, maintenance and inspection processes. In addition, each ride has specific risk assessments to ensure that these processes are current.' He added: 'As well as the daily assessment and testing, all rides are verified regularly by independent inspectors in compliance with the HSE guidelines for safe operation. 'As an industry, we have an enviable health and safety record in the UK and it is standard practice to be meticulous where testing is concerned.' Advertisement

'They put metal barriers up around the whole area so no one could get in. It was a quiet day - there was only a few hundred in the park.

'During the day I saw a couple of big groups of children but I couldn't say where they were from.

'I overheard the staff saying 'don't tell anyone yet' and were hurrying people away.

'They just flooded the area with staff ushering people away from the scene. Everyone just looked confused and were asking questions.'

Shocked visitors told how they heard crying and screaming coming from the ride's entrance

West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedics were called to the theme park at 2.18pm

She added: 'I have two young girls, aged three and two, who were on their first visit. We were sat on a bench to calm down but they were still not happy.

'When I saw an ambulance charge out of the barriers with sirens blaring I realised I had to leave.

'Slowly people were wandering away so there was no charge for the gates.'

Stephen Brook, a taxi driver from Armitage near Lichfield, was working in Birmingham when he saw the air ambulance bringing the girl to the hospital and filmed this footage.

He said: 'I was just outside the hospital when I saw the air ambulance coming in.

'I obviously didn't know the details at the time but found out quickly afterwards that it was carrying the child involved in the Drayton Manor accident.'

Safety information on the ride on Drayton Manor's website said: 'There are two large lakes situated through the centre of the park and several rides expose guests to water.

'These are; the Splash Canyon, Storm Force 10, Pirate Adventure and the Drayton Queen.

'Children must be supervised where necessary. Continuous water quality monitoring is carried out by independent environmental engineers.'

FOUR DIED IN RIVER RAPID TRAGEDY IN AUSTRALIA Four people were killed in another river rapid ride disaster in Australia last October. Canberra woman Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35, his partner Roozi Araghi, 38, and New Zealand woman Cindy Low, 42 died after their raft flipped. Two were thrown onto the conveyor belt and crushed to death while the others drowned after plunging into the water. Four people died after a malfunction on the Thunder Rapids ride at Dreamworld in Queensland, Australia, last October, when a dinghy flipped over, pictured Siblings Kim Goodchild (left) and Luke Dorsett (right) were victims of the Dreamworld tragedy New Zealand woman Cindy Low (left) was among those who died in the horror accident, along with Roozi Araghi (right) The incident occurred after the raft collided with an empty vessel and flipped over. A 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, who were in the raft with their mothers were thrown clear and managed to escape. The ride had passed its annual mechanical and structural safety engineering inspection just four weeks earlier. Advertisement

Height restrictions are also in place, with a minimum height of 3ft and anyone under 3.6ft must be accompanied by an adult.

Some previous visitors to the park said they were worried about Splash Canyon due to it previously breaking down.

Author Ann Bowyer, 37, is a season ticket holder and was visiting the park with her husband Craig, 37, two sons, Zack, 8, and Joe, 18 and two younger sisters two weeks ago when she said the ride experienced mechanical problems.

She said: 'I'm disabled so I get a queue jump pass, we went straight to the front but something felt weird.

'The ride had stopped and the turntables the boats sit on was not moving. They told us to get onto the boat.

'About 30 seconds later nothing was happening and they asked us to step out of the boat. There we three staff there and they were quite young.

'The boats were starting to build up behind each other but after 5 minutes we we told to get back onto the ride.

'We eventually went round the ride with no problems but as we got off the ride did stop again.

'We visited the park again on Sunday but didn't use the Splash Canyon ride because we have lost faith and didn't want to get stuck on it.

She added: 'It's terrible news and you just can't help but think it could of been mine.'

Visitors to the park spoke of their shock and confusion on social media earlier when the ride was initially closed.

David Charles tweeted: 'Air ambulance, police and several fire units here at Drayton Manor. Large area now closed off. Not sure what's going on.'

Witnesses reported that a large area of the park in Staffordshire had been closed off

Drayton Manor said Splash Canyon had been 'closed following an incident this afternoon'

Meanwhile Oonagh Law said on the theme park's Facebook page: 'Should have checked this ride Sunday. The carriages were getting stuck when we were on it.'

Eileen Heath added: 'I seen two fire engines ambulances and helicopter go there.'

Anne Bowyer tweeted: 'Hope she recovers, it kept breaking down a few weeks back, told to get on, then get off it. Happened to a few people. Positive vibes to the girl.'

And Martin Blake said: 'Emergency services everywhere in Drayton Manor. Half of the park is closed now.'

A spokesman for Drayton Manor 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 West Midlands Ambulance spokesman said: 'West Midlands Ambulance Service can confirm it was called to reports of a patient in the water at Drayton Manor Park, 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.'

Drayton Manor theme park in Staffordshire is visited by about 1.5million people each year

Some people took to Twitter and said the ride was a 'disaster waiting to happen'

A spokesman for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they attended the incident on Tuesday.

The spokesman said: 'The Service were called to the Splash Canyon area of the park at around 2.20pm today after it was reported a person had fallen into the water from the ride.

'The first appliance from Tamworth arrived just before 2.35pm, followed by the water rescue unit from Tamworth, and appliances from Lichfield and Erdington.'

The Splash Canyon ride was opened in 1993 and consists of 21 boats holding six people each. The minimum height for people is 0.9m (3ft). Anyone under 1.1m (3ft 7in) must be accompanied by an adult.

The theme park website says: 'Hold on tight and experience Drayton Manor Park's very own river rapids. 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, so grab your friends and family, climb on board one of our circular boats, and get ready for a wild ride through the water!

'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.'
Gary Duckworth interjected from his lawn during a traffic stop while his friend Kali Wood received a parking ticket for stopping her car in a no parking zone in North Enid, Oklahoma this week.

Wood was driving home when she saw Duckworth outside mowing his lawn and stopped to talk with him while she kept her car running with her foot on the brake, according to NBC's KFOR.

The officer approached the vehicle, assessed the situation and issued her a $25 citation for stopping in the no parking zone, and Duckworth's interaction with the officer ended in the officer pointing his Taser at the man.

Kali Wood stopped in a no parking zone in North Enid, Oklahoma to chat with Gary Duckworth (pictured) and was given a $25 ticket. Duckworth's interaction with the officer ended in the officer pointing his Taser at Duckworth

'It really angered me to feel like that I cant even be out mowing my own front yard and, when a neighbor drives by and honks, that I cant step out and speak to them without feeling that Im getting harassed by the police,' Duckworth said.

'I was sitting there watching somebody I know for a fact would never hurt a fly and is one of the best people I know getting a Taser pulled on him because he was asking questions,' Wood said.

The officer's first-person perspective camera captured the incident as it unfolded.

Wood kept her car running with her foot on the brake while talking with Duckworth, but a North Enid police officer cited her with a $25 ticket anyway

Duckworth (L) said he tried to explain to the officer on behalf of Kali Wood (R) that her car was not actually in park

Duckworth said he tried to explain to the officer on Wood's behalf that her car was not actually in park.

'I mean, her cars running. Were just talking,' Duckworth said to the officer.

'You can come to court and tell the judge,' the officer said.

The officer then handed over an electronic device to capture Wood's signature and gave her the citation.

'Whats the court date?' Duckworth asked the police officer.

'Ill explain it to her,' the officer said. 'Shes the one getting a ticket.'

'You cant even answer my question?' Duckworth asked.

'Sir, I owe you nothing. Youve been nothing but rude to me since I got here,' the officer said.

The officer's camera then showed Duckworth step around Wood's vehicle and approach the officer.

Duckworth stepped around Wood's vehicle, at which point the officer pulled out his Taser and pointed it at Duckworth, but did not deploy the weapon at any time

'Back up, or youre going to jail,' the officer said.

Really? Duckworth asked.

'Yeah, really. Back up,' the officer said.

The officer then pulled out his Taser and pointed it at Duckworth, but did not deploy the weapon at any time.

The officer then went back to his patrol car, but Duckworth advanced again, causing the officer the react by pointing the Taser at him another time.

North Enid Police Chief Rick Dominic supported his officer's actions.

'My officer didnt shoot him with the Taser. He backed up to his car and, as soon as he holstered, if you watch the video, the guy advances again. And, so you dont know what theyre going to do,' Dominic said.

The officer used a legitimate escalation of force by starting with verbal commands, according to Dominic.

A police committee of four North Enid citizens also reviewed the video and felt the officer acted appropriately.

'Their response was that he followed department policy and acted within his training,' Dominic said.

Wood said she would have complied if she had been given a warning by the officer.

She plans to pay the ticket, she said.
A young Australian soldier has been the second to die in training on home soil in the past week - after he was reportedly shot in the head during a live-fire exercise.

Jason Challis, from Geelong, Victoria, died on Wednesday afternoon at the Royal Darwin Hospital after he was reportedly shot in the head during a training exercise.

The man's family have been notified and are in mourning according to the Geelong Advertiser.

Geelong man Jason Challis (pictured) died on Wednesday afternoon at the Royal Darwin Hospital

It is the second death of a soldier during a training drill in the past week after 21-year-old Stuart Reddan (pictured) was killed by a falling tree branch last Thursday

The man aged in his 20s was reportedly killed by a bullet to the head but Defence Force officials declined to comment on exactly how he died.

'The soldier was taking part in a routine training activity at the time of the incident,' it said.

'He received immediate first aid at the scene and was transported to the Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment.'

It is the second death of a soldier during a training drill in the past week after 21-year-old Stuart Reddan was killed by a falling tree branch last Thursday.

Mr Redden was the passenger in an armoured personnel carrier when the freak accident occurred.

Northern Territory Police major crime unit and forensics were sent to the Mount Bundey training facility to investigate.

He was reportedly killed by a bullet to the head but Defence Force officials declined to comment on the incident beyond confirming his death

The soldier was rushed to Royal Darwin Hospital but did not survive, the ADF confirmed.

His next of kin was notified and are being supported by the army.

'The Chief of Army and Army commanders acknowledge the gravity of this and recent incidents and take all matters relating to personnel and training very seriously.'

'The Army has instigated a suspension of training activities across its combat brigades to review risk assessment processes and training safety management.

The Army has instigated a suspension of training activities across its combat brigade following Mr Challis' death

'It is a deep shock to the orgaisation and will be felt by the broader Army family,' it said.

The last soldier to be accidentally shot dead in training was Commando Mason Edwards, 30, who was hit by bullets passing through a wall he crouched behind.

That incident saw the ADF fined $220,000 for not maintaining a safe workplace or correct supervision, and prompted it to change its live-fire training regulations.

The facility is frequently used by Australian military along with U.S. Marines stationed in Darwin and visiting foreign forces.
The shocking moment a man shot and killed a gunman in a shootout has been captured on surveillance video - and police say he won't be charged.

A motorist pulled out a gun when Ronald Morales, 43, approached his car at a gas station in Elmwood Park, Illinois.

The men shot at each other multiple times in broad daylight before Morales ran away and the driver sped off.

Morales eventually died from his injuries - but police say they won't be charging the man who killed him because he was acting in self defense.

Police say on April 8, at 4:52pm, Ronald Morales (seen in red jacket) made eye contact with a man pumping gas at BP gas station in Elmwood Park, Illinois

Morales exited the convenience store and approached the man, who by then was back in his vehicle

Morales threatened the driver with his gun before the man stepped out with his own firearm, and the two exchanged bullets for about five seconds

Police say on April 8, at 4:52pm, Morales made eye contact with a man who was pumping gas into his vehicle.

Morales exited the convenience store at the BP gas station on Grand Avenue in Elmwood Park.

He walked over to the car and pulled out his gun.

By then, the man who had been pumping gas was back in his vehicle.

Morales opened the passenger door of the car and then closed it before speaking to the man inside through the window.

The man felt he was in danger, according to police, and exited his vehicle armed with his own gun - and the two exchanged gunfire.

After about five seconds, Morales ran away, but not before he was hit with bullets, and the other man sped off.

Morales eventually ran away, and the driver sped off, but he was shot too many times and eventually died from his wounds

Police say they won't be charging the man who shot Morales because he was acting in self defense

At the time, police credited the gas station's 'state-of-the art camera system' with providing them clear footage of the afternoon of the shootout.

They say this allowed them to to quickly corroborate information gathered from eyewitnesses, the man who survived the shootout and the vehicle occupants.

Police say that because the man was acting in self defense, they won't be pressing charges.
Veteran ABC journalist Mark Colvin has died aged 65 after a 20-year battle with a rare auto-immune disease.

Colvin, the host for the radio current affair program PM, contracted the blood disease Wegener's granulomatosis in 1994, suffered kidney failure and had a transplant in 2013.

His family confirmed the veteran journalist, with a career spanning four decades, had passed away at the Prince of Wales hospital and thanked his friends a colleagues who had 'stood by him'.

Colvin tweeted his final farewell on Wednesday night, saying: 'It's all been bloody marvellous'.

Veteran ABC journalist Mark Colvin has died aged 65 after a 20-year battle with a rare auto-immune disease.

On Wednesday night, Colvin tweeted: 'It's all been bloody marvellous'

'Today we lost our beloved Mark,' his family said in a statement on Thursday.

'The family would like to thank the doctors and nurses at the Prince of Wales hospital, as well as the community, the ABC, his friends and colleagues, who have stood by him and supported his career and life.

'At this moment of grief, we request the family be left to mourn in private'.

Colvin contracted the rare disease during a trip to Rwanda to cover the Hutu-Tutsi massacres.

His kidneys were left permanently damaged after the treatment and he spent three years on dialysis.

'The days I'm at dialysis, I'm at dialysis through lunch, and the days I'm not at dialysis, I'm too knackered. I get up very late and just stagger into work at three in the afternoon,' Colvin told Four Corners in 2013.

The veteran journalist met his kidney donor during an interview on the News of the World phone hacking scandal in 2011.

Colvin spoke with Mary-Ellen Field, who was the business adviser to Australian model Elle McPherson, and the pair formed a friendship.

Mr Colvin contracted the blood disease Wegener's granulomatosis in 1994

The journalist had a career spanning more than four decades and was known as the voice the radio current affair program, PM

The veteran journalist met his kidney donor Mary-Ellen Field (pictured) during an interview on the News of the World phone hacking scandal in 2011

'I'd never met anyone on dialysis before and I couldn't believe that you could look so sick and still be walking around,' Ms Field said.

She said she did not want Colvin to die even though the pair barely knew each other and donated her kidney to him in 2013. The story became the basis for a play at the Belvoir Street Theatre earlier this year.

Colvin joined the ABC as a cadet in 1974 before quickly climbing the ranks to become one of the first reporters on Nationwide alongside Jenny Brockie.

At age 28, he became the ABC's London correspondent and in 1988 moved to Four Corners before reporting for Foreign Correspondent in 1992.

After he contracted the auto-immune disease, Colvin returned to Sydney to become the PM radio host.

'For many Australians, Mark's steady and measured voice as host of PM brought them the essential news of the day and kept them informed about events of national and international importance,' ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie said.

'We will miss him enormously, and extend our thoughts to his family and friends'.

'I'd never met anyone on dialysis before and I couldn't believe that you could look so sick and still be walking around,' Colvin's kidney donor said

The veteran journalist met his kidney donor during an interview on the News of the World phone hacking scandal in 2011

In July 2016, Colvin shared a picture of his huge zig-zag scar across his forehead after having a melanoma removed in response to controversial comments from celebrity chef Pete Evans

In October, Colvin released a book titled Light and Shadow, detailing his life as the son of an espionage agent.

His father John gathered intelligence for British agency MI6 after World War II, but Colvin did not find out until his mid-twenties.

In July 2016, Colvin shared a picture of his huge zig-zag scar across his forehead after having a melanoma removed in response to controversial comments from celebrity chef Pete Evans.

During a Facebook Q&A, Evans said he did not use conventional sunscreen due to the 'poisonous chemicals' it contains.

'Good luck with that Pete', Colvin tweeted alongside a link to a report on Evans' comments.

The PM host revealed he had to undergo radiation treatment to prevent the cancer from spreading or returning.
Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has claimed racism was behind the criticism of ABC broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied.

Professor Triggs said the intense backlash Ms Abdel-Magied received following her controversial Anzac Day post was the result of a growing intolerance of Muslims, The Australian reports.

'The recent example of a growing intolerance of demonising Muslims, generally, has been the controversy of a Facebook comment on Anzac Day by Abdel-Magied, a hijab-wearing Muslim woman,' she said at the Melbourne Town Hall on Wednesday.

Scroll down for video.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied came under fire on Anzac Day when she posted 'Lest We Forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)

Yassmin Abdel-Magied came under fire on Anzac Day when she posted 'Lest We Forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine).

She was accused of dismissing Australian soldiers and using the day for her own personal pro-Muslim agenda.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria on Wednesday, Professor Triggs said Ms Abdel-Magied's Anzac Day post was a 'relatively minor incident'.

'Despite a speedy apology from her, to what she said was a disrespectful comment on this important day of remembrance, this relatively minor incident has been used to demand the removal of Abdel-Magied from the Council of the Australian-Arab Relations,' she said.

The Australian academic said Ms Abdel-Magied's critics wrongly attempted to silence her right to freedom of speech.

'Lest We Forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine),' Ms Abdel-Magied posted on Anzac Day

Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs (pictured) claimed racism was behind the criticism of ABC broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Professor Triggs celebrated Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's decision to support Ms Abdel-Magied and allow her to continue working on the advisory body of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Professor Triggs said the ABC presenter was a punching bag for abuse because she wore a head scarf.

'This single incident, however, clearly touched some raw nerves. The head scarf has become a lightning rod for attacking Muslim women,' she said.

The Australian academic said Ms Abdel-Magied's (pictured) critics wrongly attempted to silence her right to freedom of speech

ABC broadcaster Ms Abdel-Magied (pictured) came under fire for a controversial Anzac Day post this year

Professor Triggs (pictured) was concerned about the rise of nationalism, where alt-right enthusiasts put Australia first to the detriment of others

Professor Triggs was concerned about the rise of nationalism, where alt-right enthusiasts put Australia first to the detriment of others.

She said it was unrealistic to expect a citizens speak a certain level of English.

Professor Triggs came under fire from social media users following her speech on Wednesday night.

'Stalinist Gillian Triggs shrieks her fury at critics of Yassmin Abdel-Magied who had the temerity to exercise their right to free speech,' one Twitter user said.

Another Twitter user said Professor Triggs wrongly accused Australians of being racist.

'Gillian Triggs just doesn't get it, people angry about politicising Anzac. Nothing to do with race,' they said.
Advertisement

Bill Shorten has been seen taking an early morning jog around the country's capital in his North Queensland Cowboys jersey just hours ahead of his Budget reply speech.

The Opposition Leader will commit Labor to keeping the coalition's Budget repair levy on high-income earners in his speech and will also address the hike in the Medicare levy in his speech.

Mr Shorten appeared to fatigue as he ran across a footbridge on Thursday morning, before jogging past Old Parliament House.

Scroll down for video.

Bill Shorten has been seen taking an early morning jog around the country's capital in his North Queensland Cowboys jersey

The Opposition Leader will commit Labor to keeping the coalition's Budget repair levy on high-income earners in his Budget reply speech. He is pictured here presenting the annual Women's Budget statement on Thursday

Treasurer Scott Morrison's second budget delivered on Tuesday signalled the end to the two per cent levy, which was temporarily put in place in 2014 to help balance the books.

But Labor believes that with the deficit for 2017/18 being 10 times worse than the Liberals' first budget predicted, now is not the time to remove the levy.

The opposition is still weighing up whether to back a hike in the Medicare levy on most Australian taxpayers to fund disability insurance, which could also be confirmed on Thursday.

The government wants to increase the Medicare levy paid by almost all workers by half a percentage point to 2.5 per cent of taxable income from July 1, 2019, to provide long-term funding for the NDIS.

Mr Shorten appeared to fatigue as he ran across a footbridge on Thursday morning, before jogging past Old Parliament House

Mr Shorten will commit Labor to keeping the coalition's Budget repair levy on high-income earners on Thursday

Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull shook hands at Parliament House as they arrived for interviews on Wednesday

The opposition is still weighing up whether to back a hike in the Medicare levy on most Australian taxpayers to fund disability insurance, which could also be confirmed on Thursday

'At a time when the government is asking every other working Australian to pay a higher rate of tax, Labor will not support spending at least $1.2 billion each year on the wealthiest two per cent,' Mr Shorten will tell parliament.

'It is not fair that - under this government - someone on $1 million will be over $16,000 better off every year while Australians on $30,000 and $40,000 will have to pay more.'

The opposition leader will emphasise budgets are about 'choices'.

'(Mr Turnbull's) chosen his own political survival over everything else.'

With many commentators describing the 2017 budget as 'Labor lite', Mr Shorten will describe it as 'Liberal through and through'.

The opposition leader will emphasise budgets are about 'choices' during Thursday reply speech

With many commentators describing the 2017 budget as 'Labor lite', Mr Shorten will describe it as 'Liberal through and through'
The Australian Federal Police is investigating how the Budget's controversial bank levy was leaked  sparking a $14billion to be wiped off the value of Australia's big four banks.

Senator Derryn Hinch wrote to the AFP asking them to look into how the information was made public.

'It appears to me to be a classic case of criminal insider trading involving the federal government,' he told Fairfax Media. 'It is a very serious thing, it could be a politician.'

A spokesman for the AFP confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that it received a referral from Senator Hinch on Thursday.

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Crossbench senator Derryn Hinch (pictured) wrote to the AFP asking them to look into how the information was made public

The Australian Federal Police is investigating how the Budget's controversial bank levy was leaked  sparking a $14billion to be wiped off bank shares. Above, Scott Morrison

'The referral raised allegations of the possible unlawful release of information relating to the 2017 Federal Budget,' she said.

'The AFP are undertaking an evaluation of the matter referred and as such, it would not be appropriate to comment further.'

Other crossbench senators also joined calls for an investigation.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said he would raise his concerns with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

'If there has been any leaks we would expect it to be fully investigated and anyone responsible for those to be thrown in jail,' he said on Thursday.

Senator Nick Xenophon also believes there needs to be a thorough investigation by ASIC and then the AFP.

Senator Derryn Hinch tweeted he would contact the AFP about investigating a possible leak

'I had no idea that there was a bank levy being planned, neither should I have because of the very market sensitive nature of this information,' he said.

Labor senator Murray Watt believes it was a government decision to leak the measure.

'I would hope they took into account what affect that would have on the markets and on share prices,' he said.

'You'd really have to ask them whether they thought about the consequences.'

But Treasurer Scott Morrison says he has seen no evidence to warrant an investigation.

Treasurer Scott Morrison (right) says he has seen no evidence to warrant an investigation

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Westpac saw a combined $14billion knocked off their stock prices ahead of the $6.2million levy's announcement.

Senator Hinch took to Twitter to question the integrity of the secret lockup.

'Bank Budget levy not the story. It's the leak. Took $14b off bank stocks. Thought it was a secret lockup? Will be contacting AFP tmrw,' he wrote.

The Australian's political correspondent David Crowe wrote: 'Bank shares fell heavily before new $6.2 billion levy announced. Who blabbed?'
If you've spent time looking at property advertisements, you've heard all the lingo.

From 'art deco gem' to 'close to public transport,' the language can be confusing and often misleading.

In reality, these terms can mean 'a rundown house untouched since the 1930s' and 'a 30-minute walk to the bus stop.'

From 'art deco gem' to 'close to public transport,' the language used in property advertisements can be confusing and often misleading. Property adviser and founder of The Successful Investor, Michael Sloan, has given his tips to avoid buying a dud home

With no clear rules about how property is described, how can you read between the lines when looking to buy?

Property adviser and founder of The Successful Investor, Michael Sloan, has given his tips on how avoid buying a dud home.

He says there are five key phrases that buyers should be wary of.

Hurry, only a few left in this fast-selling development

Mr Sloan says says there is usually a reason no one has snapped up the remaining units (stock image)

While it's designed to seem like an opportunity not be missed, Mr Sloan says there is usually a reason no one has snapped up the remaining units.

'Poor design and a bad outlook are common issues. As in any situation, it always pays to do your homework and ask questions,' he explained.

'For example, if someone recommends a particular apartment to you, telling you "its a great one", ask them why it's so good.

'If they try to compare the property to the others that are left, ask them to compare it to all the apartments in the development.'

Entry-level bargain

'Although they are the cheapest properties on the market, they are not selling,' he said of 'entry-level bargains'

According to Mr Sloan, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

'You will find that the ''bargains'' are all niche market properties and very few are under contract,' he said.

'Although they are the cheapest properties on the market, they are not selling.

'The ''bargain'' reminds me of the times I bought cheap things and later regretted it  like buying a car at auction for my son.

'We drove it four kilometres before it broke down and needed a new engine.'

Close to university

'Close to university' can often be better described as 'student accommodation,' Mr Sloane says

'Close to university' can often be better described as 'student accommodation,' Mr Sloan says.

'Its probably a tiny apartment being on-sold at a loss,' he explained.

'For investment purposes, properties that are appealing to home owners offer the most potential.'

Hassle-free investment

'The "hassle-free investment" is likely to mean "serviced apartment",' Mr Sloan said (stock)

'The "hassle-free investment" is likely to mean "serviced apartment",' Mr Sloan said.

'In this case, some major banks wont lend you a single dollar to buy one of these.

'What does this tell you?'

Great cash flow

'The salesperson hasnt really calculated the cash flow but equates it with rental income,' he said (stock)

This term usually means high rent prices, which isn't necessarily the same thing, the property expert explained.

'The salesperson hasnt really calculated the cash flow but equates it with rental income,' he said.

The full list of the information you need to provide to your accountant to calculate cash flow is available on Mr Sloan's website.
A New Zealand Playboy centrefold who posed naked naked on a sacred Maori mountain has caused outrage again by claiming they're not indigenous.

Brunette playmate Jaylene Cook was accused of being culturally disrespectful after she posed nude on the summit of Mt Taranaki for her boyfriend photographer Josh Shaw.

But rather than apologise for her image taken on April 26, the 25-year-old model has instead inflamed the public outrage.

Jaylene Cook sparked outrage when she posed on the summit of a sacred Kiwi mountain

Jaylene Cook's risque pose on the summit of Mt Taranaki was a red rag to outrage

Instagram user @maorimermaid had expressed offence at Cook's naked photo, writing: 'Hey Jaylene, would you do a nude photo shoot at a church or a war memorial, or do you only like to disrespect indigenous sacred sites? Hope your five mins of fame was worth the curses that will haunt you for life.'

Cook responded with a bizarre claim, telling @maorimermaid: 'Lol. Get a clue before you jump on the bandwagon. Maori are NOT indigenous you ignorant tw**.'

Maoris, who are of Polynesian descent, have lived in New Zealand since the 13th century, more than 500 years before British settlement.

In the image taken by her 27-year-old boyfriend, Cook can be seen admiring the view of New Zealand's North Island while wearing just a hat, gloves and shoes.

She then went on radio to defend her controversial images, taken after a seven-hour hike last month.

This Playboy model has exposed herself to criticism by claiming Maoris are not indigenous

Jaylene Cook engaged in an Instagram spat by describing her critics as ignorant

'There was nowhere that we read or were told that it was a bad thing to do, and we believe that it still wasn't. We see nudity as art and pure and natural,' she told Newstalk ZB's Larry Williams.

'I respect everyone's views and opinions, and I'm sorry that people felt we were being disrespectful - that was never our intention.'

She added she had the 'overwhelming support' of the local Maoris.

'People from everywhere saying they're not offended at all - they love the photo, and it's encouraged them to embrace their bodies as well,' she said.

Jaylene Cook has a knack for netting controversy, and has done it again with a bizarre claim
The first time a Sydney private school teacher and her student had sex at her apartment, the pair then sat together and ate ice cream while they watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Half an hour later, the 33-year-old married teacher and her 17-year-old student got bored and decided to have sex again, court documents have revealed.

The former Sydney Grammar School teacher has pleaded guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to nine counts of sexual intercourse and one of indecent assault.

On Tuesday, the court heard the pair would meet in a spare classroom or a storage room to have sex. She sometimes performed fellatio.

The first time a Sydney private school teacher (pictured on Thursday) and her student had sex at her apartment, the pair then sat together and ate ice cream while they watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit

The former Sydney Grammar School teacher (pictured) has pleaded guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to having sex with a school student

Text exchanges between the teacher and student in April 2016 included the teacher saying her dog missed the boy

The teacher and student continued to exchange messages after they stopped having sex

The teacher repeatedly sought help via text from the student with whom she had sex

On Thursday, the court heard the teacher and student would meet in a spare classroom or a storage room to have sex and perform fellatio

Text messages between the pair have been revealed, with the teacher calling herself a 'f***ing monster' and asking the student if she was 'going to jail' after he ended the relationship.

'Please don't be so angry with me. We were such good friends,' she wrote in April 2016.

'I know you don't want me to contact you but I'm on four consecutive nights of insomnia and panic attacks.

'I'd rather kill myself than let my parents down and I just can't see how this isn't going to get out'.

The student told her it was not his 'responsibility to soothe' her fears and said he needed to stop communication because it was using too much credit on his phone.

In another April 2016 text the woman wrote: 'I don't know how long ago you changed your mind about me. The show? The last time we had sex? Before? I don't know how much is real.'

Later that month, the boy wrote: 'Please try to be happy... Because you are a fantastic person, a fantastic teacher and you bring light to the world through your passion for what you do.'

The former Sydney Grammar School teacher, 33, (pictured) and the teenager started a sexual relationship in 2015

Text messages sent from an elite Sydney private school teacher to a 17-year-old student she had sex with nine times have been revealed.

The teacher, who earlier this year had a baby with her husband, continued texting him until shortly before police arrested her at a mental health facility on October 14.

On September 8 she wrote: 'Am I really beneath your notice? Even after everything we shared? All those poems? Even now, when it's so close to the end?'

Before the sexual relationship ended, the pair met in a classroom next to Sydney Grammar School's Palladium Theatre.

Once inside, the teacher performed fellatio on the student. They were then going to have intercourse but decided the floor would be too uncomfortable.

On another weekday around February or March the pair arrived separately at a prop room so as not to attract attention.

That afternoon the teacher performed fellatio on the student for about an hour.

After being arrested on October 24, 2016, she was made the subject of an apprehended violence order to stop her contacting the teenager and is yet to be sentenced.

The Sydney Grammar School (pictured) teacher also told the student she couldn't sleep, eat or breathe after having 'hurt' the teenager

The former teacher pleaded guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to nine counts of sexual intercourse




The wife of Australian man Stephen Richardson, who was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a villa in Bali, has given permission for police to perform an autopsy.

Karen East arrived in Bali on Wednesday after Mr Richardson's body was found in his rented villa in Sanur, Bali on Monday afternoon, reported WA Today.

Denpasar District Police Detective Chief Commissioner Aris Purwanto said they had met with Ms East and explained they were trying to determine the cause of her husband's death.

Karen East (pictured), the wife of Australian man Stephen Richardson, who was found dead in a villa in Bali, has arrived in Denpasar and given permission for police to perform an autopsy

'She finally gave her consent for autopsy and the plan is it will be performed tomorrow,' Mr Purwanto said.

Mr Richardson, 63, was found lying on a mattress in his rented home in a pool of blood with wounds to his right arm, right cheek, and forehead.

Police have uncovered hair and two types of blood at the grisly crime scene, which will now be matched against those of a suspect.

Denpasar police said the suspect will undergo a DNA test but revealed no details on their identity. However Bali police's general crime director earlier said the killer was known by the victim, according to Daily Telegraph.

His heartbroken family believed he had died of a heart attack - until police sent them grisly crime scene photographs. Mr Richardson (right) is pictured with his partner Karen (left)

'If we see from the crime scene, it seems that the perpetrator is someone that is already known by the victim,' Mr Jaya said.

Denpasar police chief Hadi Purnomo later told the publication the suspect would soon be undergoing DNA tests.

'We haven't named any suspect in the case. We will conduct a DNA test on someone,' he said.

The mystery surrounding Mr Richardson's death deepened when it was revealed the gate to his home was shut and locked from the inside when his body was found.

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.

Police are pictured outside the rented villa of Australian man Stephen Richardson in Sanur, Bali on Tuesday. His body was found by a neighbour who jumped his fence to check on him

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.

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'

'The blood on the porch is being checked to see whether it's the victim's or if it is a perpetrator's.'

'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.

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 dad 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.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has slammed Fairfax journalists who went on strike saying their absence had no negative effect and productivity at the paper went up.

Speaking with Ray Hadley on 2GB on Thursday, Mr Dutton said Fairfax journalists were 'out of touch with people' and were not missed during their strike action last week.

'I thought the productivity of Fairfax went up last week with the strike so I don't think lives were affected one way or the other.

'I think people realised you can live without reading Fairfax newspapers,' Mr Dutton said.

'I think it's a better way to lead your life, that would be my advice.'

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton (pictured) slammed Fairfax journalists who went on strike saying their absence didn't affect anyone

Fairfax reporters walked off the job on strike on May 3 and returned to work on May 10.

The strike action was in protest to mass redundancies at the company.

Fairfax announced plans in early April it would cut more than 100 full-time jobs at the company, in an attempt to save $30 million.

The immigration minister went on to say Fairfax journalists, who had a reputation for leaning to the left of politics, were 'out of touch'.

'They're out of touch with people, and listeners on your program know that they're out of touch,' he said.

'Now there are a couple of good journalists there and that's fine, but they've got a political, ideological argument to push,' he said.

'They're out of touch with people, and listeners on your program know that they're out of touch,' Peter Dutton said about Fairfax

The fiery rant was sparked when Mr Hadley asked the immigration minister what he thought about Fairfax journalists' praise of the Federal Government's Budget which was announced on Tuesday.

'Are you nervous that the Fairfax press are singing the praises of the prime minister and Scott Morrison via the Budget?,' he said.

Mr Dutton appeared to avoid the question, and continued to spray Fairfax.

'Are you nervous that the Fairfax press are singing the praises of the prime minister and Scott Morrison via the Budget?,' Ray Hadley (pictured) said

He claimed the organisation attempted to turn readers off the Coalition government and its policies.

Despite Fairfax's apparent agenda, Mr Dutton said the government had the support of the Australian people.

'I believe we've got strong support for the policies we've put in place, particularly in relation to national security and the work we've done in stopping boats and deaths at sea,' he said.

'They can write as many pages as they want, they can write thousands and thousands of square inches of these articles, but they won't budge me one inch.'

Journalists from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age protest outside the Parliament House in Canberra last week

Mr Dutton said left wing journalism would not make a dent in his party's policies.

'I know what we're doing in relation to boarder protection is right for our country,' he said.

'You've got me fired up talking about Fairfax.'

Following Mr Dutton's rant, Mr Hadley perked up and told the immigration minister he was, in part, employed by Fairfax himself.

'This company is majority owned by Fairfax,' he said.

Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood blasted Mr Dutton on Thursday following his attack on the company.

Mr Hywood told The Australian 'Once again Peter Dutton shows why no one rates him'.
Far-right, anti-Islam group United Patriots Front has been banned by Facebook, while associated personal accounts have also been removed.

Leader Blair Cottrell said the UPF page and about 23 other personal accounts have been removed because of 'government supported censorship.'

The group's page has been suspended several times before for posting objectionable material, and was again taken offline this week.

Far-right, anti-Islam group United Patriots Front has been banned by Facebook, while associated personal accounts have also been removed. Pictured: Leader Blair Cottrell with UPF members at a rally

The group's page has been suspended by Facebook several times before for posting objectionable material, and was again taken offline this week (stock image)

Mr Cottrell - whose account has been suspended - told the Herald Sun he did not believe his videos would breach Facebook community standards.

'If I talk about Muslims, I always mention Islam or the Islamic faith. I don't believe I would breach community standards,' he said.

'I believe this must be government supported censorship.'

The UPF Facebook page had more than 50,000 followers at its peak, according to the Herald Sun.

Leader Blair Cottrell (pictured) said the UPF page and about 23 other personal accounts have been removed because of 'government supported censorship'

The UPF Facebook page had more than 50,000 followers at its peak, according to the Herald Sun

Mr Cottrell took to Twitter on Thursday to express his anger, posting an obscene gesture that displays 'how he feels' about Facebook

In one of its last posts on Monday, the UPF asked if a US pastor was wrong for saying schools are producing 'transgender communists'.

Mr Cottrell took to Twitter on Thursday to express his anger, posting an obscene gesture that displays 'how he feels' about Facebook.

'Anarchists and jihadists and Marxists on Facebook is fine - but no Nationalists! Who's really up against the state?' he also posted.

The UPF's Bendigo subdivision remains on Facebook, along with other nationalist pages Reclaim Australia Rally and True Blue Crew.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Facebook for comment.
The heart-warming moment Gold Logie winner Samuel Johnson broke down and cried as he hugged a five-year-old boy who watched his own sister go through chemotherapy has been caught on camera.

Ezekiel Austin and his sister Zipporah, eight, spoke to the popular actor in Canberra on Wednesday during a fundraising event for cancer.

The children explained to Mr Johnson how they were there to support Connie because 'they love their sister Stassi', 15, who benefited from cancer research last year.

The heart-warming moment Gold Logie winner Samuel Johnson broke down and cried as he hugged a five-year-old Ezekiel Austin at fundraising event is Canberra

Ezekiel's big sister Stassi, pictured, suffers from a rare blood disorder and had to have chemotherapy last year

Stassi received IVIG treatment and monoclonal chemotherapy and is now in remission her mother says it is important to donate to cancer research because it benefits others as well

Connie, pictured, stopped her treatment for breast cancer in January

'Aw man, we have to make sure we stay healthy so we can help our loved ones right,' Mr Johnson said as he rubbed tears away while talking to the young siblings.

'I wasn't going to cry today but Ezekeil's hug broke me,' Mr Johnson said.

Stassi Austin has been in remission from immune thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP, a rare auto-immune disease which causes her to have massive bleeds, for eight months.

Her mother Lusi told Daily Mail Australia if it wasnt for cancer research her eldest child will still be battling the disease.

When she was sick with ITP she would bleed so badly she would have to be hospitalised and put on steroids.

'Cancer research saved their sister  it is so important to donate to cancer research because it also ends up helping people with rare diseases like her,' Mrs Austin said.

The mother-of-five from Cowra in the NSW central west said it was really special to be at the fundraising event with all her children.

'We really wanted to support Samuel and everything he has been doing, we supported our daughter, the kids supported their sister and they wanted to recognise someone else doing that too.

The Austin familiy, Stassi, 15, Lusi, Zipporah, 8, Elijah, 13, Ethan, 12, Brett and Ezekiel, 5

The Austin family took a photograph with Samuel Johnson following the emotional chat

'It would be really easy for Samuel and Connie to get holed up and put all of their fundraising on hold and just want to spend time with each other but they haven't and that's inspiring.

'When Stassi was sick last year she was lethargic and flat as a tack  so Connie doing this is amazing.'

Stassi's disease, ITP, only effects three in every 100,000 people, and in children 90 per cent of those cases rectify themselves.

Unfortunately Stassi was not one of them and became a serious 'bleeder'.

She was diagnosed when she was just 13, and after more than a year of being covered in bruises, a red rash caused by burst blood vessels and loosing massive amounts of blood, usually from her nose and mouth doctors decided she should try monoclonal chemo.

The recent fundraising event helped to raise $2m for cancer research

'It would be really easy for Samuel and Connie to get holed up and put all of their fundraising on hold and just want to spend time with each other but they haven't and that's inspiring,' MRs Austin said

Stassi throwing coins in to the heart for Connie

The family are in awe of Connie and Samuel's resistance which is why they wanted to go to the day

'Her platelet count was down to 2500 per millilitre of blood, a normal healthy person would have between 150,000 and 450,000 so she basically had none.

'We would have her on steroids when she got the bleeds, they were also controlled by plugging her nose where blood was coming from, but all too often as soon as she went off or took out the plug the bleeding would start again.'

Stassi had four weeks of gruelling therapy which included blood transfusions as well as chemo. She could be sitting in her treatment chair anywhere from four hours to 12 hours.

A few weeks after treatment the family finally got good results, her platelet levels were at 359,000 - it had worked.

Lusi tossing her coins into the heart to help raise money for life-saving research

The Austin children standing underneath the 'loveyoursister' archway

Connie standing in front of the heart made on the day

'It is such a relief not having to think about when her next bleed will be,' Mrs Austin said.

The loveyoursister campaign has affected the family a lot because they know how much a big illness can impact everyone in the family.

'We took the kids down to the hospital where Stassi had to have her treatment, we showed them the room, they were never kept in the dark.

'But it goes further than that, it is the support we had off other family who took time off to look after them at home, and the dinners people in the community dropped to our house.

Five-year-old Ezekiel 'broke' the Gold Logie award winning actor

'We really wanted to support Samuel and everything he has been doing, we supported our daughter, the kids supported their sister and they wanted to recognise someone else doing that too,' Mrs Austin said

'That spirit is the same spirit we saw at the fundraiser on Wednesday, different people from different backgrounds all impacted by the same story,' she said.

Mrs Austin suffered from ITP herself when she was 25  but says watching her daughter go through it is much different.

'It is strange because I know how she was feeling, but watching it is so different.'

Mrs Austin said with the help of cancer research monoclonal chemotherapy which sent her daughter into remission became accessible on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

'Because of the money going into cancer research the chemo she needed was put on the PBS because it has been found to help people with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and other rare diseases.

The family smiled as they tossed their coins into the circle

Samuel Johnson raises $2million for Love Your Sister Foundation, his sister is pictured in the stack of coins

'Because rare diseases don't have as much money thrown at them because they don't affect as many people it can be really hard to move forward. But thankfully research into cancer can help these people too.'

Stassi, who is now 15, has started doing university subjects  and plans to complete a bachelor of library studies and a business degree.

'We live every day like it is the best day and the last day,' she said.

'We have taught our kids to do that as well because they never know what's around the corner.

'To me that's what is special about Connie and Samuel, they are living today like it is the best day to fight this fight,' she said.

Mr Austin praised her husband Brett for his strength watching herself and Stassi fight the rare disease.

'It is something you have to do as a whole family,' she said.

Stassi will 'probably' not stay in remission as there is no cure for the disease but her family is keen to 'make the most of this time' when she is healthy.

Connie stopped treatment for her breast cancer in January. The mother-of-two and her brother raised $2 million on Wednesday for cancer research.
A deputy head teacher who was falsely accused of rape claims the prospect of similar allegations has made the profession 'like buying a lottery ticket' for men.

In December 2014, having worked his way up to the deputy role at the prestigious St George's School in Ascot, aged just 35, Kato Harris was accused by a 14-year-old at his previous school of raping and sodomising her in his geography classroom.

According to one of her teachers, the girl was competing with a friend 'as to who could have the biggest story'.

He endured a 17-month ordeal during which he was publicly named, humiliated and dragged through the courts, an experience, he says, that left him suicidal.

Kato Harris was accused by a 14-year-old at his previous school of raping and sodomising her in his geography classroom

And, with one in five teachers being wrongly accused of misconduct during their career, he cannot understand why any man would get into teaching.

He told TalkRadio: 'If you become a male teacher, you are buying a lottery ticket. You might win a 10 prize and have a false allegation made that you called a child a rude name, or swore at a child.

'You might win the 1,000 prize and have a pupil suggest you inappropriately touched them while passing in corridor,' he said.

Mr Harris endured a 17-month ordeal during which he was publicly named, humiliated and dragged through the courts, an experience, he says, that left him suicidal

'Or you might win the jackpot and be accused of, on three separate occasions and in full view of the school, raping a pupil. Whatever the prize, who would want that ticket?'

His ordeal finally ended when a jury cleared him after just 25 minutes' deliberation, but the damage could not be undone.

The girl's false claims have destroyed his career  and extinguished his passion for teaching.

The Crown Prosecution Service charged him without the evidence to do so, his school failed him when he was cleared and his local Anglican church turned him away simply because he was awaiting trial.

Yet after his acquittal, he received thousands of messages of support from pupils past and present, colleagues and parents.

From the outset, detectives doubted the girl's 'poor and heavily prompted' account of being raped on three separate occasions in a classroom at lunchtime.

Mr Harris is convinced the case would have been dropped but for the deep pockets of the girl's parents, who hired the services of both Alison Levitt, the former principal legal adviser to the head of the CPS, and Sue Akers, an ex-Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday last month, he revealed his ordeal finally ended when a jury cleared him after just 25 minutes' deliberation, but the damage could not be undone

Mr Harris is convinced the case would have been dropped but for the deep pockets of the girls parents, who hired the services of both Alison Levitt, the former principal legal adviser to the head of the CPS, and Sue Akers (pictured), an ex-Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, last month, Mr Harris added: I had to give up my dream because of a crime I didnt commit.

I am unemployed, living in a bedsit and will soon be on housing benefit. I am toxic.

I genuinely believe she picked me because she had to pick someone. One of the biggest challenges I face in the future is learning to forgive her. I will do, just not now.'
The elderly father of Salt Creek kidnapper Roman Heinze has admitted his son deserves to be behind bars for terrorising backpackers, but denied he is a monster.

Speaking to Ten from his home one day after his sons identity was revealed, Werner Heinze said he was shocked to discover his nasty crimes in 2014.

The fathers comments come as earlier interviews with Heinze's family come to light. Both his son and ex-wife cast doubts on his capability of the heinous crimes.

On Tuesday, Heinze was unmasked as the man behind the sickening attacks after The South Australian Supreme Court lifted extensive suppression orders.

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Heinze was found guilty in March over the 2016 Salt Creek crimes that horrified the nation, and recently pleaded guilty to the earlier offence

Heinze seen at the time of his arrest in 2016, his t-shirt appears to be drenched in blood

He has an aggressive, disrespectful and nasty character, but hes no monster, Heinze told Ten.

Im shocked hes been convicted. He should pay for it. Jail is where he needs to be.

The father laid bare the toll it has taken on him, telling Yahoo he had a very bad day when the suppression order was lifted.

In the days after he was arrested in 2016, his ex-wife, whose identity cannot be revealed, said she struggled to accept the allegations.

"He's never put hands on family at least not on me or the kids, you know," she said.

His son, Jackson, admitted it was starnge he had met up with the backpackers but suggested there may have been another side to the story.

"You never know what the other parties, the victims, you don't know if they were on anything, if they're on drugs or if their story was a bit exaggerated."

Roman Heinze, 61, terrorised and attacked two foreign backpackers at South Australia's Salt Creek last year and indecently assaulted another backpacker in 2014

In February 2016, Heinze assaulted a young Brazilian woman and German woman at Coorong National Park, southeast of Adelaide.

The two women had only met each other through a mutual friend a few days before they decided to travel together.

Heinze offered to drive the women from Adelaide to Melbourne after he responded to the Brazilian woman's advertisement on classifieds website Gumtree.

He picked them up from a train station and drove them to the remote spot in SA's Coorong National Park where he attacked them.

The Brazilian woman previously told the court that she was walking with the man to spot kangaroos when he suddenly dragged her to the sand, sat on her and pulled out the knife, plunging its blade into the sand beside her.

Heinze grabbed the young Brazilian backpacker from behind and pulled a knife on her before binding her wrists and ankles with rope, cutting her bikini off with a knife and sexually assaulting her.

The second backpacker, a German woman, said she woke to sounds of her friend screaming.

Heinze went after the second backpacker with a hammer, hitting her in the head four times, before attempting to mowed the German woman down with his four-wheel drive.

Heinze tied up a Brazilian woman with rope and sexually assaulted her before hitting the German woman in the head with a hammer and ramming her with his 4WD (Pictured: The roof of the vehicle)

Heinze was arrested in his car on the beach after the two women managed to escape

In a victim impact statement, the German woman told the court she feared she would die during the attack and had since relived the horror 'hundreds of times'.

But in a defiant message to Heinze, she said his violence had only made her stronger.

'I want you to know, Roman, that you could not defeat me. You could not break me. You could not win, even when you tried so hard,' she said.

'You could not make me into a victim because I'm a survivor. This only has made me stronger than I have ever been.

'I am very angry, but at the same time, I feel pity for you. I will never understand how and why you could do such things to innocent people.'

The former chef still awaits sentencing for his crimes at Salt Creek, and for the 2014 assault of a third backpacker in Hackham, where he lived

In February 2016 Heinze assaulted a young Brazilian woman and German woman at Coorong National Park, southeast of Adelaide

Pictured are photographs of evidence presented to the court, showing the bikini that was cut from the Brazilian woman's body before she was sexually assaulted

The campsite where the two woman were attacked after Heinze drove them to the remote spot in SA's Coorong National Park

THE SALT CREEK ATTACKER TIMELINE 2014: Heinze indecently assaults a backpacker at a property in Adelaide's south and had agreed to give the woman a ride interstate February 2016: Heinze attacked two young backpackers on a remote beach in Coorong National Park while camping Heinze tied up a Brazilian woman with rope and sexually assaulted her before hitting a German woman in the head with a hammer several times and repeatedly ramming her with his 4WD Both women managed to escape, Heinze was found in his blood stained car further down the beach March 2017: A jury finds Heinze guilty of six charges, including indecent assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, endangering life, and causing serious harm May 5 2017: Heinze was found not guilty of rape and false imprisonment against a former girlfriend May 11 2017: A suppression order on Heinze's identity is lifted, naming him as the Salt Creek attacker Advertisement

The Brazillian woman said she still had to deal with the physical scars of the attack and felt fear every time she went to the beach.

'Every day I see where the rope he used cut into my ankles and wrists. My legs are full of scars,' she said.

The women, both 24, managed to escape the attack and Heinze was arrested in his car on the beach.

His identity could be revealed on Thursday after more than a year of court-imposed suppression orders because prosecutors dropped charges that would have seen him stand trial for a fourth time.

Heinze would have stood trial for the new sexual offence charges later this year.

Heinze has also admitted to indecently assaulting another backpacker in 2014.

Like the Salt Creek attacks, he had agreed to give the young woman a lift interstate.

On the day before they were due to leave, Heinze came up behind her and placed a hand over one of her breasts.

He then directed her to a bedroom where he pushed her down onto a bed.

But the woman kicked and screamed, prompting him to stop, the court heard on Thursday.

In her victim impact statement, she said she was determined to never stop travelling or trusting people, despite what happened.

'Maybe I am not the best example of strength or the best testimonial for women's rights,' she said.

'But I am happy that I had a chance to play my small role in the confrontation against a big enemy that here is embodied by the violence of Mr Heinze.

'Do not give up, trust justice, keep on loving.'

The former chef (right) still awaits sentencing for his crimes at Salt Creek, and for the 2014 assault of a third backpacker in Hackham, where he lived

The women, both 24, managed to escape the attack and Heinze was arrested in his car on the beach (Pictured: Images of the crime scene presented to the Adelaide court)

The former chef still awaits sentencing for his crimes at Salt Creek, and for the 2014 assault of a third backpacker in Hackham, where he lived.

Heinze has been found guilty of crimes against all three backpackers.

He met each of them on Gumtree, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Justice Trish Kelly, who is due to sentence Heinze, was told he was specifically ordered not to approach women on Gumtree at the time of his offending.
The man who shoved a lemon meringue cake in Qantas CEO Alan Joyce's face to oppose his stance on gay marriage has been charged with assault.

Tony Overheu, 67, strolled up to Mr Joyce and shoved a pie in his face during a speech at a business breakfast at Perth's Hyatt Regency hotel on Tuesday.

Mr Overheu said he wanted to take a stand against 'corporate bullying aimed at social engineering' to change the marriage law.

The Perth man has been charged with common assault, trespass and damage and is due to appear before the Perth Magistrates Court on June 7.

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The man who shoved a lemon meringue cake in Qantas CEO Alan Joyce's face to oppose his stance on gay marriage has been charged with assault

'It would appear Alan Joyce is part of a network trying to subvert the federal parliamentary process around the issue of marriage equality,' Mr Overheu told Daily Mail Australia before charges were laid.

But Mr Joyce said the incident would not stop him from speaking out on marriage equality or other LGBTI and gender issues.

'I have every intention to continue to be vocal on those social and community issues,' he told reporters.

'It's important for our shareholders, our employees, and our customers. It's called good corporate social responsibility.

'I'm a big believer in the great Australian expression a fair government it's all about giving people equality.

'Qantas has always spoken up on gender issues, on LGBTI issues, on Indigenous issues and we will continue to do so and no attempt at bullying us into suppressing our voice will work.'

Tony Overheu, 67, strolled up to Mr Joyce (pictured) and shoved a pie in his face during a speech at a business breakfast at Perth's Hyatt Regency hotel on Tuesday

Mr 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.

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, and was only upset he was using his public profile to push the issue.

'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.

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

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.

'Alan Joyce is a very active individual in this process [towards marriage equality] and in that context he was appropriate [to target],' 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.'

The man walked up behind him, grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving the pie in his face

He also attacked other influential companies that have been lobbying the government for same-sex marriage, including Airbnb, Wesfarmers and Holden.

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.

But despite Mr Overheu emailing Mr Joyce an unreserved apology for Tuesday's stunt, the multi-millionaire CEO didn't turn the other cheek - and pressed charges.

Mr Overheu said he calmly walked into the hotel lobby at around 6.15am and waited two hours behind the stage to strike

Mr Overheu was arrested at the hotel and charged with giving false details to police.

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 apologised to Mr Joyce and the event's organisers.

After shoving the pie in Alan Joyce's face, the man was detained by three hotel employees until police arrived

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'.

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 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.

'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.'

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'

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.

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 murdered Mr Scotland bodybuilder yelled 'the p***k's stabbed me' after being knifed by his fiancee's ex who challenged him to a fight on Facebook, a court has heard.

Steven 'Stevie' Kirkwood, 44, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering Michael O'Hanlon at a mechanics in Stevenston, Ayrshire on July 25 last year.

Mr O'Hanlon, a star bodybuilder who won the National Amateur Body Building Association (NABBA) Mr Scotland title in March 2016, was two weeks away from marrying his fiancee Eileen O'Hanlon at a lavish castle wedding.

But O'Hanlon was challenged to a fight on Facebook by Ms O'Hanlon's ex-partner of 16 years Stevie Kirkwood hours before his death, the court heard.

Victim: Mr O'Hanlon, a star bodybuilder who won the National Amateur Body Building Association (NABBA) Mr Scotland title in March 2016, pictured, was stabbed to death

Steven 'Stevie' Kirkwood, 44, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering Michael O'Hanlon (pictured kissing his fiancee Eileen) on July 25 last year

Eileen O'Hanlon, pictured outside court, herself a bodybuilder gave evidence in the trial of Stevie Kirkwood at the High Court in Glasgow, and revealed she had been in a relationship for 16 years with Mr O'Hanlon's alleged killer

Mechanic Lewis McLuckie, 26, who works at Autotek, told the jury Kirkwood turned up as he ate his lunch but was followed in Mr OHanlon and his friend Forbes Cowan.

Mr McLuckie told the court: 'There was a bit of an argument between Michael and Stevie. There was a bit of a ruckus.'

The mechanic was asked if Kirkwood had anything in his hand and replied: 'I believe I seen him taking something from his waistband. I saw him pull it out and that's when I made myself scarce. It looked as though he was throwing punches.

Mr McLuckie said that Mr O'Hanlon told him: 'That p****'s stabbed me' and collapsed seconds later.

He added: 'There was little blood, but I believe what looked like his intestines were hanging out. He had two injuries to his abdominal region.

'Steven Kirkwood said something like "You'd better phone him an ambulance" That's when I saw the knife.'

Prosecutor Mr Goddard asked: 'Did Mr Kirkwood do anything to help Mr O'Hanlon who was lying on the ground?' and he replied: 'No.'

Kirkwood denies stabbing and killing Mr O'Hanlon, in Stevenston, North Ayrshire, in July, last year.

The attack is said to have occurred at HK Autotek in the town's Moorpark Industrial Estate.

Prosecutors allege that Kirkwood struggled with Mr O'Hanlan, punched him and repeatedly struck him on the body with a knife or similar item.

Kirkwood also denies separate charges of having a knife in a public place and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of it.

Challenge: O'Hanlon was challenged to a fight on Facebook by Ms O'Hanlon's ex-partner Stevie Kirkwood hours before his death at this Ayrshire mechanics, the court heard

In love: The couple was two weeks away from marrying at a lavish castle wedding

His fiancee wept as she told a murder trial of the last time she saw her husband-to-be alive.

Eileen O'Hanlon told prosecutor Richard Goddard that Kirkwood sent a Facebook message to Mr O'Hanlon that morning saying: 'So you want to be Johnny big baws. Feel free to come to Hammy's and see me. I will be there at 12 today.'

The High Court in Glasgow heard this was a reference to the Autotek garage run by Ian Hamilton.

Eileen O'Hanlon tried desperately to get hold of her partner by phone and text and then realised something was badly wrong

Ms O'Hanlon said that when Michael saw the message he shook his head. She added: 'He was fed up.'

The jury heard they had been a number of abusive texts and Facebook messages exchanged between Kirkwood, his former partner Ms O'Hanlon and Michael in the days beforehand.

Around noon Michael and his friend Forbes Cowan, a contestant in the Strongest Man competitions, drove from Irvine to Stevenson to the garage.

Mr Goddard asked Ms O'Hanlon: 'Did you see Michael armed in any way when he left,' and she replied: 'Absolutely not. I asked if I could go with him and he said no.

'He told me he wouldn't be long, gave me a kiss and a cuddle.'

When asked if she ever heard from Michael again Ms O'Hanlon broke down in tears.

She said: 'I texted Michael and I never got a reply and he always replied.. I then phoned his mobile and it rang out.'

She then phoned the garage and after being told something had happened drove there.

Ms O'Hanlon told the court: 'The garage was cordoned off. I ran through it..Michael was on the ground. His friend Forbes was holding him. I tried to get to him and the police told me I couldn't.'

She said that she and Michael were due to be married on August 15 and that day they had planned to buy a ring.

Under cross-examination by defence QC Derek Ogg Ms O'Hanlon admitted that she was posting insulting texts about Kirkwood on July 23, last year, and he also posting abusive messages.

Mr Ogg then asked: 'Before he left the house did Mr O'Hanlon take anything off,' and she replied: 'He took his ring and his watch off and he put on ankle boots'.

The trial before judge Lady Rae continues.
The word "covenant" has appeared frequently in the Bible. Its first use was in God's covenant with Noah after He sent the global flood to judge the world. Later, God made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:7). God redeemed people through covenants to restore His relationship with them.

Now, a group of people made a covenant to seek reconciliation between the Han Chinese and other Chinese ethnic minorities. Rev. Ma Jianming, a key member of the "Homecoming" gathering, talked about covenants in the Trial Family Gathering held in Chiangmai on May 4, 2017. He claimed that "Homecoming" is determined to reconcile the broken relationship between the Han people and other ethnic groups for covenants.

Sister Ding, in the front line of serving ethnic minorities for years, shares her insights on their special relationship. She stated that there is a phenomenon among the Chinese ethnic minorities: an ethnic group has no connection with another, and even people who serve the groups are only permitted to nurture in certain regions. For example, a region is divided into several "circles". You can't enter the circle where I'm responsible for; and similarly, I don't go over into that circle which belongs to you. Due to that kind of "circling", the people failed to be united and make a difference for mutual comparison and attack.

"Until six years ago, we began to feel that the Han people should no longer have a dominant heart -- 'We want to help the minorities because they are weak and poor, while we are the eldest.'" The sister holds that the Han should be more humble and have more love. They should perceive: "We need the minorities because they are our family. We should open our hearts to share our love (with them). We ought to believe that we want to give plays with our gifts, talents and abilities on them, who are our stages."

However, where does the heart come from? "It stems from our covenants."

"God's power, which enters their hearts through 'covenants', forms a family connection among the people to replace the former relations of helping and being helped. It is a relation of being with and connecting, marking the beginning of real unity." She said.

Once she and her co-workers visited an ethnic minority family, the locals called them "savages" at the first sight of them. What's worse, mothers in some ethnic groups educate their children with "the Han people", which is regarded as a negative word, because the Han is considered as ferocious and violent people in their eyes.

Because of the covenants, she wanted to mend the Han's relationship with the minorities. She came to realize that the Han were very proud, leaving deep pain to the ethnic groups in the past and even at the present time. Due to some historical reasons, the two sides had no dealings with one another and mutual hatred and guard against each other exists.

"Until six years ago, we started to come together, crying and hugging each other. A call came out of our hearts: you are our flesh and blood and family." She added, "The ethnic groups opened their hearts and confessed: 'We feel very inferior and look down upon ourselves. We also dislike and hate the Han people. We're on the alert to those who help us both at home and abroad.'"

"At that time, we brought a covenant relationship. We declared in our spirits: we are family; all we have is yours and yours belongs to us. We no longer hate each other and argue about sizes and populations of nationalities. We're equal in Christ!"

The "covenant" unleashes the power of authority, breaking curses and overcoming fear. What does "fear" refer to?

She mentioned that they had a gathering four years ago and were informed that the place was heavily guarded when the morning meeting just started. Having encountered similar situations where all the participants left the scene when some people came to check the place, Ding said that nobody left this time. Instead, they asked the newcomers if there was anything wrong with the gathering. Later, they visited a local pavilion for culture and nationalities and over 200 people from different ethnic groups didn't leave because of the relationship of love and covenant. They worshiped God together when given the opportunity.

In the end, Ding confessed that a covenant means walking with our family. "I'll be where you are and we will face what you're confronted with together."

Translated by Karen Luo
A Gold Coast woman who asked 'What can I use to start a fire?' before lighting a jerry can of petrol outside a unit has been jailed.

Danielle Elizabeth Kennedy, 29, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to four charges, including arson, in Southport District Court on Thursday.

The court heard Kennedy, believing an ex-girlfriend of a resident at the unit had stolen from her, gained entry to the property while armed with a hurling stick on the morning of June 6, 2015.

Danielle Elizabeth Kennedy, 29, who deliberately started a fire at a Gold Coast unit complex has been sentenced to five years' jail

The court heard Kennedy (pictured) herself had to be rescued from an upper level of the unit complex and was arrested shortly afterwards despite attempting to deny the fire was her fault

After striking a woman inside the unit on the arm, Kennedy left the property and posed the question about setting a fire to a woman she knew while in another unit.

Shortly afterwards, the court heard, Kennedy bought petrol from a nearby service station and returned to the unit complex.

A resident reported hearing a 'whooshing' noise before seeing flames shoot under the unit's door.

He and another resident attempted to put out the fire while others used balconies to escape while the blaze took hold.

After falling down a stairwell, the man described being in a 'tunnel of flames' and fearing for his life before escaping the blaze with minor burns.

The court heard Kennedy herself had to be rescued from an upper level of the unit complex and was arrested shortly afterwards despite attempting to deny the fire was her fault.

A resident reported hearing a 'whooshing' noise before seeing flames shoot under the unit's door. Many of the residents attempted to escape via their balconies

The court heard an estimated $356,000 in damage was done to the building

Kennedy was sentenced to five years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to four charges, including arson, in Southport District Court (pictured)

The court heard an estimated $356,000 in damage was done to the building.

Judge David Kent drew comparisons with the infamous Whiskey Au Go Go fire in the 1970s, which left 15 people dead, in describing Kennedy's conduct.

'People were not only endangered. They were injured,' Judge Kent said.

Mr Kent also dismissed a claim by defence barrister Sally Robb that Kennedy's intention had been to 'smoke them out' rather than start a fire.

'She was setting a fire on the top floor of the building ... the result she produced was exactly the result she expected,' Mr Kent said.

Kennedy will be eligible for parole in November 2018 after serving 18 months.
One of the men at the center of Australia's chilling Snowtown murders is seeking parole, and the state government may be powerless to stop it.

Mark Ray Haydon was convicted of assisting serial killers John Bunting and Robert Wagner in seven of the 11 gruesome killings that shocked the country.

Eight bodies were found dismembered and dumped in barrels filled with acid below a bank in Snowtown, South Australia on May 20, 1999.

Haydon was sentenced to 25 years for his part in the mass murders, with 18 years non-parole.

Mark Ray Haydon was convicted of 'assisting' in seven of the 11 Snowtown murders

Mark Ray Haydon (left) smiles with wife Elizabeth (left) who was murdered in 1998

Mr Haydon was convicted of 'assisting' in the murders, and as such may use a legal loophole to be granted a release.

A 'dangerous offenders' state law was passed in Adelaide in 2007, aimed at keeping the worst criminals in prison.

But Attorney-General John Rau has been told this does not apply to Mr Haydon, because of the terminology surrounding his conviction.

Because Mr Haydon was charged with 'assisting' rather than 'aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring', he does not apply for the dangerous offenders law.

Supreme Court in 2004 were unable to determine whether Mr Haydon was involved in the murder of his wife Elizabeth (pictured) in 1998

A spokesperson told The Advertiser Mr Rau said there are 'now arrangements for extended supervision orders and continuing detention orders in the Criminal Law (High Risk Offenders) Act where an offenders sentence has expired', which may apply to Haydon.

A Supreme Court in 2004 were unable to determine whether Mr Haydon was responsible for two other murders, including that of wife Elizabeth in November, 1998.

It was alleged by prosecutors Haydon laughed when Bunting opened the large barrel to show him the disfigured remains of his wife - including her severed hands.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens says the force will present a report to the Parole Board, and his preliminary advice is that Haydon's release will be opposed.

Micheal Gardiner, 19, was one of the victims of the horrific Snowtown murders

"We'll prepare a submission for the Parole Board based on our view, having analysed all of the circumstances," Mr Stevens told Radio FiveAA on Thursday.

"I know that we already have a senior office that is reviewing this person's circumstances and the potential impact on the community.

"Preliminary advice to me is that we'd probably be opposing that application. But I will wait and see what the full report tells me before we actually make that submission."

The parole board will make a decision on his future at a hearing next month.
This astonishing footage shows the moment up to 70 men in suits were involved in a wedding brawl that left two victims in a critical condition in hospital.

An argument started inside the Royal Palace hotel in Fremont near San Francisco where up to 700 people were attending a wedding.

It then spilled out into the car park where men in formal wear traded blows outside the venue.

Horrifying footage showed one man being repeatedly kicked and punched by three men as he lay helpless on the pavement.

Manjeet Kaur, 25, the bride, said the fight started when a group of 'drunk' outsiders gatecrashed the wedding and were furious when asked to leave.

Horrifying footage showed one man being repeatedly kicked and punched by three men as he lay helpless on the pavement

Two men were left in a critical condition after the brawl outside the wedding venue

Ms Kaur, who lives in Fremont, California, told the East Bay Times: 'They were outsiders, a bunch of boys my husband and I did not know, who found out about the party and were harassing the girls, so somebody kicked them out.

'They were really pissed off for being asked to leave, so when the party was over, they jumped some of the guests outside and started fighting.'

Raj Singh, who was the wedding photographer, said the fight lasted for at least 20 minutes before police arrived.

He said he believed the fight started after a row on the dance floor.

Mr Singh said he arrived at the Royal Palace around 4pm on Saturday afternoon and set up his equipment as guests started to arrive.

The wedding photographer said he saw 30 or 40 people fighting outside the venue

Some of the men reportedly had metal objects in their hands and were hitting people with them

He said that shortly after midnight, when around 200 guests were still at the event, the fight broke out.

'There was some kind of commotion inside the hall, some loud argument, and then people went outside and I saw 30 or 40 people fighting, beating each other up,' he recalled. 'They were mostly using their hands and feet, but some of them had metal objects in their hands and were hitting people with them.'

When police arrived most people fled, the photographer said.

Mr Singh identified the groom as Sukhchain Gill and said his family own a trucking company in Fremont.

The fight took place outside the Royal Palace hotel (pictured) in Fremont near San Francisco

Security guards had tried to break up the fighting but were overwhelmed, police said.

About 20 officers from Fremont and Newark eventually brought the situation under control.

The owner and manager of the Royal Palace told KPIX 5 a number of security guards who were supposed to be working that night had pulled out at the last minute.

However he said that even the standard contingent of six or seven security guards would have struggled to control the brawling group.

Investigators said two men remain in hospital in a critical condition with serious head injuries after the attack.

One of the victims, Daljit Gill, is in a coma from 'massive brain trauma'.

Amritpal Singh, 25, was charged with felony battery, accused of causing great bodily injury to Daljit Singh.

At his arraignment in a Fremont courtroom on Wednesday afternoon, his bail was set at $100,000, and he was ordered to return to court Friday to enter a plea.

Gurpreet Singh, 25, was initially arrested but was released Tuesday after the District Attorney's Office requested further investigation as to his role in the fight.

Both men had fled the scene in a white Maserati, police said.
A four-year-old girl died when she fell into a sewerage manhole at a government low-cost housing project.

Yossita Boonngam was on her way home after buying sweets in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand, yesterday evening when tragedy struck.

CCTV captured the horrifying moment she walked towards the hole - covered only by a cracked lid resting on two canes - and plunged to her death.

Yossita Boonngam, 4, died after she fell into the open manhole pictured in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand, yesterday evening

Yossita is seen moments before tragedy struck. She had been to the shop with her brother to buy sweets. When he realised she was missing, he ran home to tell his parents

Yossita's parents witnessed the incident on CCTV and rushed to the scene where emergency services scrambled to get her out

Heartbroken mother Sumamas Chan, 34, fainted and broke out in tears after rescuers found her daughter

Rescuers arrived and pulled Yossita from the water but she had already drowned after nobody heard her cries for help

The girl's father Ratchanon Boonngam, 42, said the girl had gone with her brother to buy treats from a nearby shop.

The brother came out of the shop and found his sister missing so he rushed home to inform his parents.

'I don't know what to say about this', he said.

'There are no words. Nobody wants to lose a daughter.

'There is no substitute for this loss. All I can ask is that my daughter is the last to die in this kind of incident.

'Please learn from the past. Why leave the cover without rushing to repair it? My daughter would still be alive.'

Yossita's parents went to the shop and checked nearby CCTV and saw Yosita had fallen into the manhole.

Rescuers arrived and pulled Yossita from the water but she had already drowned after nobody heard her cries for help.

'Why leave the cover without rushing to repair it,' asked Yossita's father Ratchanon Boonngam

Heartbroken mother Sumamas Chan, 34, fainted and broke out in tears after rescuers found her daughter while neighbours tried to comfort her.

Police colonel Wichian Prathumrat said that officers were investigating the tragedy with the local housing authority.

He said they would work out 'suitable compensation and damages' and repair the drain cover 'straight away'.

Officers had also ordered nearby streets and homes to checked for broken drain covers, he said.
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A tribal ceremony during which young women are whipped in order to show the sacrifices they make for men is revealed in a series of photographs.

Members of the Hamar tribe in Ethiopia believe the elaborate scars demonstrate a woman's capacity for love, and if they fall on hard times later in life it allows them to call on those who whipped them for help.

Women are whipped as part of a Rite of Passage ceremony for boys, when female family members declare their love for the young man at the heart of the celebration.

After the ceremony the boy becomes a man, and is allowed to marry.

The brutal tradition is known as Ukuli Bula, and was captured by photographer Jeremy Hunter. Instead of fleeing, women beg men to whip them again during the ceremony, held in the Omo River Valley.

Hamar women of the Lower Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia willingly submit themselves to be whipped during the ceremony of Ukuli Bula

The ceremony is believed to be a demonstration of the women's capacity for love, and in later life - perhaps when they've become widowed - they will look to the boys who whipped them years before to request help. The scars on her back are said to be proof of her sacrifice for the man, and it is therefore impossible for the man to refuse her needs in hard times or emergencies

To reach manhood, Hamar boys must undergo two rituals: circumcision and a leap over the bulls. This determines whether the young Hamar male is ready to make the social jump from youth to adulthood. After a successful bull-jump - always naked - the Hamar boy, now a Maz - a mature member of the society - may get married. During this, he is expected to walk over 15 cows

Men can make the transition to manhood if they can successfully complete a bull jump, carried out why naked. They are required to walk over 15 cattle in the ceremony, after which they are allowed to marry

Some whipping appears to be tender, others more aggressive. Women coat their bodies with butter to lessen the effect of the whipping which is only carried out by Maza - those who have already undergone this Rite-of-Passage

Hamar women are some of the most elaborately dressed of the region - with goatskin skirts decorated with glass beads, whilst their hair is covered with a mixture of grease and red ochre. Elaborate scarification of the body is also the custom of the Hamar

For Hamar women, beatings are not just part of an initiation ritual - they are daily life until at least two children have been born. Under Hamar rules, a man need not explain why he's delivering a beating. It is his prerogative to mete out as he sees fit

The majority of the 20,000 strong Hamar people live in the Omo River Valley, a fertile part of the vast Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of south-west Ethiopia, which is bordered by Kenya and South Sudan. Most still live in traditional villages, although growing numbers are migrating to the region's cities and towns as well as the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa

Cattle form the axis around which the Hamar's world revolves, evidenced by the fact that there are 27 different words to describe the colour of a cow in the local language

No screaming is permitted by the men wielding the canes but the women don't care. Instead of fleeing, they beg the men to do it again and again until blood flows, dripping into the gritty red dust of the Omo River Valley

A woman's body carries the injuries from the whipping, carried out by a Maza from the tribe, and he scars are said to demonstrate her capacity for love. The brutal tradition happens at Rite of Passage ceremonies for tribal men

The women trumpet and sing, extolling the virtues of the young man at the heart of the ceremony, declaring their love for him and for their desire to be marked by the whip

A Hamar woman shows off her carefully braided hair and treasure trove of bright beads, shells and metal bangles. Most still live in traditional villages, although growing numbers are migrating to the region's cities and towns as well as the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa

.

For men, male decoration is simpler with the exception of their facial painting which denote status and progression up the social ladder.

A key element of the ceremony is the whipping of young women who are family members or relatives of the boy undertaking the Rite-of-Passage. The women trumpet and sing, extolling the virtues of the Jumper, declaring their love for him and for their desire to be marked by the whip. They coat their bodies with butter to lessen the effect of the whipping which is only carried out by Maza - those who have already undergone this Rite-of-Passage.

Some whipping appears to be tender, others more aggressive. But once whipped, the girls proudly show off their scars - as proof of their courage and integrity. Itis a kind of Insurance Policy. The ceremony tends to unite the family and is a demonstration of the womenis capacity for love, and in later life - perhaps when they've become widowed - they will look to the boys who whipped them years before to request help.The scars on her back are said to be proof of her sacrifice for the man, and it is therefore impossible for the man to refuse her needs in hard times or emergencies.

Hamar women of the Lower Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia willingly submit themselves to be whipped during the ceremony of Ukuli Bula . It indicates their courage and capacity for love, and is a form of insurance policy. Should they fall on hard times in later life, they will look to the boy who whipped them to request help.

To the south of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, lies the tribal animist area. It stretches from Addis all the way to Lake Turkana, formerly known during colonial times as Lake Rudolph, which borders Kenya.

The italian historian Carlo Conti Rossini has described this part of Ethiopia to be a Museum of Peopleis as there are at least eight major tribal groups living here - numbering around 200,000,

who until recently were largely untouched by outside influences. But change is on the way, not least the impact of global phone technology - and the development of the countryis mineral resources by the Chinese.

The annual flooding of the Omo River has been the life-support for the tribal people of this region. For centuries the powerful flow and huge rise and fall of the river have provided up to three harvests a year for the indigenous peopleis staple crop - the highly nutritious SORGHUM

But in 2006 President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia commissioned the construction of the tallest hydro-electric dam in Africa. The project was never put to tender, the tribal groups never consulted,

and conservation groups today believe that the dam will destroy an already fragile environment as well as the livelihoods of the tribes, which are closely linked to the river and its annual flood.

One of the most spectacular ceremonies in the Lower Omo Valley is the UKULI BULA ceremony of the Hamar tribal group; itis effectively a Rite-of-Passage from boy to manhood. And marriage.

To reach manhood, Hamar boys must undergo two rituals: circumcision and a leap over the bulls. This determines whether the young Hamar male is ready to make the social jump from youth to adulthood.

After a successful bull-jump - always naked - the Hamar boy, now a Maz - a mature member of the society - may get married.

At every ceremony around two hundred members of the Hamar (also spelt Hamer) participate in this life-changing event.

Photo shows: Young Hamar women coat their bodies with butter to lessen the effect of the whipping.
Simon Danczuk's ex-wife has said she is 'standing by' the former MP after he was accused of raping a woman in Westminster.

The 50-year-old politician, who quit the Labour party last week after he was banned from standing in the election, is alleged to have assaulted a young woman last May.

But his ex-wife Karen, who divorced the father-of-four in December 2015 after eight years of marriage, said today: 'I don't believe the allegations for one minute.'

'Shocked by it all': Simon Danczuk's ex-wife Karen (pictured left) has said she is 'standing by' the former MP (right) after he was accused of raping a woman in Westminster in May 2016

The 33-year-old, dubbed the 'Selfie Queen' for posting revealing pictures of herself on social media, told The Sun's Ruth Warrander she was 'shocked by it all'.

She added: 'Myself and our two boys are standing by Simon. It's not the sort of thing Simon would do.

'I'm sure it will be cleared up satisfactorily. I trust the police to do a thorough investigation.'

Mr Danczuk was reported to police on Monday but has dismissed the allegations against him as 'totally false'.

The former Rochdale MP, who plans to stand as an independent in the June 8 election, told the Daily Mail on Tuesday: 'At a time when Im being aggressively leant upon not to stand as an independent, so as to give the Labour Party an easy ride, I can't help but find the timing of these allegations deeply suspicious.

'There is only a day to go before candidates have to submit nomination papers and some people desperately want to stop me.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'On Monday, 8 May 2017, officers from Greater Manchester Police referred an allegation of rape to the Metropolitan Police.

Ms Danczuk, who divorced the father-of-four in 2015, said: 'I don't believe the allegations for one minute.' She is pictured with him and Julie Ward MEP at an art gallery in February 2015

'A woman has alleged that she was raped by a man in his 50's. The incident is alleged to have occurred in May 2016 at a location in Westminster.

'Detectives from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command have been notified and will investigate. No arrests have been made and inquires continue.'

Mr Danczuk quit Labour after saying the party leadership was 'obsessed' with Karl Marx and communism and had 'totally lost touch' with 21st Century Britain.

He confirmed his resignation in a letter to Labour's general secretary Iain McNicol and included his chopped up membership card.

In a statement, released on Monday, he made no direct reference to his continuing suspension from the party over allegations he sent sex texts to a teenager who had applied to work for him.

Mr Danczuk confirmed his resignation in a letter to Labour general secretary Iain McNicol and chopped up his membership card

In March, Danczuk was spotted with his new fiancee, Charlene Meade, who he hoped to marry in Parliament

Mr Danczuk has been suspended since December 2015 over the scandal.

His exit from the party came as his estranged wife Karen failed in her bid to be selected as a Labour candidate for a constituency in Greater Manchester.

The self-styled 'Selfie Queen' had hoped to be chosen to stand for the party in Bury North.

Since the couple's divorce in 2015, Mr Danczuk has been linked to a string of women.

He was suspended over allegations he sent explicit text messages to then-17-year-old Sophena Houlihan.

Last year it was reported Mr Danczuk had sex with a 22-year-old woman on his desk in his constituency office after meeting just days earlier on Twitter.

However, the father-of-four now appears to have settled again with his new glamourous fiancee Charlene Meade, 31, who is almost 20 years his junior.
A father is begging callous thieves to return his six-year-old son's $3,000 wheelchair that was in the back of the car they stole from him.

James Alley, from Brisbane, said his son William has rare muscle-wasting disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and used the wheelchair to get around.

The little boy can walk but the wheelchair helps him avoid muscle fatigue and prevent muscle loss from over-exertion.

A father is begging callous thieves to return his six-year-old son's $3,000 wheelchair that was in the back of the car they stole from him

William in the wheelchair (L) with some of his family

It was custom made for William and took six months to arrive and would be costly to replace in addition to the boy's medical treatments.

'They either dumped it or kept it, I'm still hoping it turns up,' Mr Alley said.

The family's grey Nissan X-Trail 4WD was stolen from their Bracken Ridge home after thieves broke into the house and took Mr Alley's keys and wallet.

He woke up as they were pulling out of the driveway with the stolen car, which was found abandoned 40 kilometres away in Caboolture.

James Alley (pictured) said his son William has rare muscle-wasting disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and used the wheelchair to get around

It was custom made for William and took six months to arrive and would be costly to replace in addition to the boy's medical treatments

The wheelchair was not in the back of the car where it was stored and Mr Alley pleaded with the thieves to return it.

He said they were caught on CCTV when trying to use his stolen credit cards at a petrol station and so will likely be caught soon.

Police appealed for anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious, or who may have dashcam footage, to contact them.
Thousands of 'sleep-deprived' passengers have been left stranded in Lisbon airport for 24 hours after it ran out of fuel, forcing airlines to ground their flights.

British travellers are among those who have been unable to get out of the airport since at least 2pm yesterday.

Weary passengers shared pictures of travel chaos in the airport as people slept on the floor and crowded into terminals.

Passengers have tweeted to say they have not been given information about when their flights will take off and have been left stranded

Weary travellers slept on the floor as they were left for hours without answers about flights

The airport's underground fuel network suffered a glitch, meaning fuel could not be delivered to planes, grounding flights.

Although the airport pledged to have the situation rectified overnight, passengers have tweeted this morning, still grounded.

A photo taken by tourist Ella Sykes who was stuck in the airport for several hours when her flight was grounded in Lisbon showing police moving through the crowds

TAP Portugal, one of the country's national airlines, was redirecting flights going to Lisbon after the fuel crisis became clear

Thousands of passengers were left stranded in the airport because planes could not top up their fuel supplies

One twitter user said people were being treated like animals as they struggled to queue up at each airline desk to get information

One passenger was left for 15 hours at Lisbon airport and vowed to never use RyanAir again

Ryanair was among the airlines affected, along with the Portuguese national carrier TAP, which was warning customers that delays would run into Thursday.

TAP said today they would be diverting flights going into Lisbon to other airports.

Ella Sykes, 27, from Leeds, said the scene in the terminal was 'absolute carnage' when she and a friend arrived at the airport at 2pm for a 5.30pm Ryanair flight to Manchester after a short break in Lisbon.

Speaking on Thursday morning, she said: 'We have been here all night.

'It's 17 hours now and we still haven't had any information from Ryanair. We have given up on the queues. We've booked a flight from Faro tomorrow morning.

'We are exhausted and we've had to fork out for accommodation overnight as well. And I was meant to be at work this morning.'

Scenes of chaos have unfolded at the Portuguese airport, where one person appears to be sleeping on a baggage ramp behind the check-in desks

Crowds of thousands have been left at the airport, waiting to hear about flights out of Portugal. Flights into Lisbon are being diverted, said the national airline Tap

She said the only information she had received about what was happening had come from the media, adding: 'The airport was absolute carnage. There were far too many people in the departure lounge so they stopped letting people in.'

Other travellers took to social media to vent their frustration.

Priyank Lakhia, from London, said: 'It's a mess at Lisbon Airport, flights cancelled and barely any staff on ground. Wife still waiting for updates.'

Jonathan Millar, also from London, said on Wednesaday night: 'Lisbon airport...what a mess. No fuel, no flights. Tracker boards haven't been updated since 2pm. Utter chaos.'

Passengers have vented their fury on twitter after they were left stranded for several hours, with some claiming the problems were known about as early as yesterday afternoon

On Twitter, one passenger wrote: 'Worst flight experience of my life with easyJet, at Gatwick today! Unprofessional,unresponsive and not helpful at all! Shame on u [sic]!'

User Bout wrote: Still in chaos, Don't come here, postborn your trip. Still stuck After 18hours here [sic].'

Heitor Lessa posted: Anyone at Lisbon airport today who can give a real status on flights? No info on whether situation has been improved since last night.'

In Gatwick, passengers claimed they were left sitting on a plane for hours because the flight could not take off to Lisbon airport.

Passengers have claimed they have not been given enough information about when they can expect to leave the airport

Flights have been grounded at Lisbon airport after a glitch in the fuel pump system meant the airport ran out of fuel. File image

WHAT ARE YOU ENTITLED TO WHEN YOUR FLIGHT IS DELAYED? According to Marius Fermi, UK Country Manager at AirHelp, passengers could be entitled to compensation because fuelling an aircraft is a 'normal' air carrier activity. Airlines can be exempt from offering compensation if something beyond their control happens. But Marius says: 'Generally, if your flights delayed or cancelled, the airline should provide you meals, refreshments and access to phone calls and emails, but its also worth holding on to any documents youre given related to the disruption and keeping all of your receipts  you may be able to claim back on any reasonable expenses.' Airhelp explains that while it is worthwhile making the claim for expenses incurred because of the delay, it's up to the airline to decide whether to pay up or not. When flying in the EU, passengers can expect compensation for delays of more than three hours. Flight compensation can range from 210 (250Eur) to 504 (600Eur) depending on destination, distance, and length of delay. Source: Airhelp Advertisement

Twitter user Julemandel wrote: 'No planes allowed to land at Lisbon airport till 5am and they are keeping us on the plane! Disgrace.'

On the airport's Facebook page last night, passengers were warned: 'Due to problems that are occurring in the supply system of jet fuel to aircrafts, there are significant delays in flights departing and arriving at Lisbon Airport.'

In an update shared at approximately 2am, they added: 'The disruptive situation on the aircraft fuel supply systems at Lisbon airport will be reset shortly. As for the subsequent air traffic constraints. Operations will be fully reestablished during the day.'

However passengers have still be questioning the situation on social media this morning.

Alex Smith said: 'Loved being treated like cattle in a 5hr queue that didn't move. Top notch experience.'

A Ryanair spokesman said: 'Due to a fuelling system outage at Lisbon Airport last night (10 May), we regret that we were forced to cancel a number of flights to/from Lisbon.

'All affected customers were provided with refreshment and accommodation vouchers, were contacted by email and SMS text message and advised of their options of a full refund, a free transfer onto the next available flight, or a free transfer onto an alternative flight route, in full compliance with EU261 legislation.

'Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this disruption, which was entirely beyond our control.'

An easyJet spokesman said: 'easyJet can confirm that, like all other airlines, flights to and from Lisbon on 10 May were disrupted due to an issue with the hydraulic fuelling system at the airport which meant that flights could not depart or arrive.

'Whilst this was outside of our control, we understand how difficult this would have been and would like to apologise to passengers affected for the delays and the inconvenience caused.

'EasyJet passengers travelling to and from Lisbon today are advised to check easyjet.com Flight Tracker for live updates.'
Dylann Roof told a judge that he would rather die for killing nine people in a racist attack on worshippers in a Charleston church than have an autism diagnosis made public, according to psychological records released on Wednesday.

Roof, 23, had his first appeal of his death sentence rejected on Wednesday by US District Judge Richard Gergel, the same judge who presided at his trial.

Gergel also ordered the release of hundreds of pages of Roof's psychological records.

They included Roof's insistence he would rather die than have an autism diagnosis made public and he wanted a federal trial so his picture - and what he thought was his unusually large forehead - would be kept off television.

Dylann Roof, 23, had his first appeal of his death sentence rejected on Wednesday by a judge in Columbia, South Carolina, who also released pages of Roof's psychological records

In his first appeal, Roof argued that his crime didn't fit the definition of interstate commerce needed to make a federal case because he bought the gun and bullets in South Carolina and did not travel out-of-state to the church.

But Gergel ruled Roof used a telephone to call the church, GPS to find it and the bullets and gun were manufactured in a different state.

The white supremacist is expected to file other appeals, something his lawyer David Bruck spoke about in a competency hearing.

'He has no intention of waiving his appeals because this will give enough time for the world to turn upside down,' Bruck said, according to a court transcript.

Roof wanted a federal trial so his picture - and what he thought was his unusually large forehead - would be kept off television, according to psychological records

The newly released documents reinforce how little Roof thought of his victims.

He told a psychologist that no one would have paid attention if he killed black criminals, so that's why he sought out worshippers at a church.

'Why would I be sorry for what I planned and did?' Roof told the psychologist. 'You don't feel sorry for people that you don't identify with.'

Roof also told his lawyers and psychologists who examined him that he expected white supremacists to take over the United States within several years, pardon him for the killings and make him Governor of South Carolina.

But during a November competency hearing, Roof told Gergel he figured there was a less than half a percent chance of that happening.

At a different hearing in November, Roof insisted his lawyers not be allowed to publicly say a psychologist found evidence he might have autism. Roof said that would discredit his crime.

'Because once you've got that label, there is no point in living anyway. You see what I am saying?' Roof told the judge.

After a federal jury found him guilty of hate crimes and obstruction of religion, Roof took over his own defense and refused to put in any evidence in an attempt to have jurors spare his life.

Roof, picturd following the shooting, also told his lawyers and psychologists who examined him that he expected white supremacists to take over the United States within several years, pardon him for the killings and make him governor of South Carolina

Roof is being held at the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. The facility houses federal inmates awaiting death sentences

He said he did not want embarrassing information about his family to be made public.

In a pretrial hearing, Bruck gave more insight into Roof's thinking and why he looked the way he did.

The defense lawyer said Roof worried his forehead was too large and unsightly and that's why Roof kept his bowl-shaped haircut.

Roof was also more comfortable with a federal trial because television cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom, Bruck said.

'He did not want the television camera trained on his face and his forehead for the public and the world to see,' Bruck said. 'He could not tolerate the anxiety and distress that that causes. He is on a different planet from the rest of us.'

Roof is being held at the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. The facility houses federal inmates awaiting death sentences.

A jury convicted Roof on federal hate crime charges in December and then sentenced him to death.

He went to a Wednesday night Bible study at Emanuel AME church on June 17, 2015, and killed nine black worshippers during the closing prayer.

He told FBI agents he was hoping to start a race war.
A primary school teacher in Sydney's west has spoken of how radicalised Muslim boys wore ISIS shirts to class and circled around her menacingly reciting the Koran.

The woman, known by the pseudonym of Mrs A, told former federal Labor leader Mark Latham about the horror of being intimidated by students aged between 10 and 13.

'I had students coming into class flying flags from overseas, be it the Syrian flag and possibly the ISIS flag. It looked to me like the ISIS flag,' she told the Mark Latham Outsiders program.

'There was one occasion where a couple of boys had come to school wearing T-shirts that appeared to have the ISIS flag wording.'

Scroll down for video

The western Sydney teacher (pictured right next to Sydney psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed) has described the horror of radicalised schoolboys wearing ISIS shirts to class

Former federal Labor leader Mark Latham interviewed the teacher about school radicalisation

On another occasion, a group of students circled her against a wall and began reciting the Koran, she claimed.

'That was quite scary and it wasnt only scary for me but it was also quite intimidating for the other students,' she said.

'The other students were quite frightened, non-Islamic and Islamic students.

The incidents, involving students in Years 5 and 6, occurred in 2014 as ISIS gained territory in Iraq and Syria.

The teacher, who has taught in the same area for the past decade, also endured students making threats to her with throat slitting gestures.

'Sometimes they would even make comments, "I can do this to you",' she said, demonstrating the intimidating finger movement.

She added that some students would 'constantly make threats to behead' her in class.

Mrs A (pictured centre) with Mark Latham (pictured right) and psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed

A spokesman for the Department of Education confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday the incidents she described had taken place.

The teacher said the students' behaviour worsened after they had watched the ABC's children's current affairs program Behind The News.

'We would watch some programs at school, one of them being the ABC Behind The News program, which tended to have a bit of a sympathetic voice towards ISIS,' she said.

'If there was a segment about ISIS, or something to do with Islam, their behaviour seemed to have heightened. So I actually stopped watching it altogether.'

However, an ABC spokesman denounced the claim about Behind The News.

'Any such claim would be nonsensical and offensive,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
Three gangsters from the notorious MS-13 gang have been arrested for an attempted murder of a rival gang member that left him paraplegic.

Jose 'Flaco' Gonzalez, Kevin 'Stomper' Paniagua and Francisco Ramos savagely attacked the victim and Paniagua then shot him in the head, federal officials said.

Paniagua, 18, had then tried to shoot the man again but his gun jammed.

The man, who was believed to be from the rival 18th Street Gang, is now paraplegic, the New York Post reported.

The incident took place on 179th Street and 90th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, on October 23.

Three gangsters from the notorious MS-13 gang have been arrested for an attempted murder of a rival gang member that left him paraplegic

The incident took place on 179th Street and 90th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, on October 23

Bridget Rohde, Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said: 'As alleged in the complaint, the defendants were members and an associate of MS-13, an international gang known for its culture of murder.

'They sought to spread fear throughout the community by attempting to kill an individual suspected to be a rival gang member.'

The three men were awaiting arraignment on Wednesday at Brooklyn federal court.

During a recent visit to Long Island, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said: 'The MS-13 mantra is kill rape and control, and so that should tell us enough about the kind of groups we confront.

'Our motto is justice for victims and consequences for criminals.'

The Central American gang known as MS-13, linked to a string of bloody murders in the US over the last few years, have been recruiting increasingly younger members and resorting to ever more violent methods, according to alarmed experts.

MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, was started nearly 20 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the US after a violent civil war left more than 100,000 dead.

The criminal enterprise composed, mostly of El Salvadoran and Honduran youths, was the first to be designated by the FBI as an international criminal group.

One of MS-13's distinguishing features is its reliance on the machete - a broad, sharp and extremely durable knife that is ubiquitous in the farming communities of Central America - as the weapon of choice because of it is readily available, relatively cheap and can be used to inflict catastrophic injuries.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions traveled to Central Islip last month (pictured) and vowed to crack down on MS-13

WHO ARE THE MS-13? A member of MS-13 shows his tattoos after being arrested by police in San Salvador in 2003 The ultra-violent street gang MS-13 was started nearly 20 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the US after a violent civil war left more than 100,000 dead. It was the first to be designated as an international criminal group. With as many as 20,000 members in 46 states, the gang has expanded far beyond its initial roots. Members are accused of major crimes including murder, kidnapping, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking. Major roundups of MS-13 members have taken place across the country since the early 2000s. In Charlotte, North Carolina, 53 gang members were arrested as part of Operation FED Up, which targeted MS-13 members. In 2016, 58 members of MS-13 were rounded up as part of Operation Mean Streets. Two of their most notable killings include stabbing to death a federal witness in 2004 and chopping off the hands of a 16-year-old boy in 2005. Advertisement




A lonely Labrador who was dubbed the 'saddest dog in the world' faces being put down in a week after she was rejected by a second family.

Lana's plight touched the hearts of millions of dog lovers in 2015 after a photo of her looking depressed in her kennel when her foster family returned her went viral.

After 4,000 adoption applications and $15,000 in donations to cover her care, the two-year-old pooch finally found a second home in Ontario, Canada, in January 2016.

But the new owners ditched her just months later - and the desolate dog now faces being euthanized on May 20 after her third birthday unless she can find a home.

Lana the Labrador's plight touched the hearts of millions of dog lovers in 2015 after a photo of her looking depressed in her kennel (pictured) when her foster family abandoned her went viral

She now faces being put down after she was rejected by a second foster family (pictured now)

'May 14 is Lana's birthday (she will be three),' Canadian non-profit Rescue Dogs Match wrote in a desperate appeal on Facebook last week.

'Please help find her a foster or forever home. Lana only has until May 20th.'

She is currently at a boarding facility which is getting overcrowded, meaning they no longer have the room to keep Lana.

The Labrador may be put to sleep since she has not been able to find a permanent home for three years.

Lana first arrived at a boarding kennel in Toronto as a puppy  the runt of a large litter in Mexico.

She was kept in a foster program, spending short amounts of time with different families with no problems reported.

Eventually she was placed with one family permanently at five months old, but they returned her in October 2015 after her guarding issues resurfaced.

Lana was the 'size of a hand' when she first arrived at a boarding kennel in Toronto as a puppy  the runt of a large litter in Mexico

She was adopted by a family in 2015 - but they returned her after she snapped at the mother just once while protecting her food. Once returned to her kennel she was so heartbroken she refused to move or go on walks (pictured)

Rescue worker Dahlia Ayoub (pictured with Lana) said the pooch was soon back to her old self and was happy to see her the following day

Dahlia Ayoub, of Mighty Mutts, explained that Lana was the size of her hand when she arrived at the kennel and 'terrified' of everything.

She added that the only time her guarding instincts, stemming from when she was forced to compete for food with her siblings, have only reappeared that one time.

'She snapped at the mom. And they decided because they have kids in the house to bring her back to boarding.'

When her new owners returned her to the kennel, she said Lana was unresponsive for a whole day and too heartbroken to move or go on walks.

'It's almost like her world shut down,' she told The Dodo.

But Lana was soon back to her old self and was happy to see the rescue worker the following day.

After 4,000 applications to adopt her and $15,000 in donations to cover her care, the two-year-old pooch finally found a second home in Ontario, Canada, in January 2016

But unbeknownst to Lana's millions of fans, they returned her to the shelter in July, because they realised she was not the kind of dog to be petted and given belly rubs, but one that preferred having a job and being outdoors (pictured at her first foster home)

Lana's story seemed to have a happy ending when a second family adopted her in January 2016.

But unbeknownst to Lana's millions of fans, they returned her to the shelter in July.

'Lana's adoption did not work out because people want a dog they can pet and play with,' Brenda Dobranski, founder of Rescue Dogs Match, told The Dodo.

'Lana is a silly fun girl but she is not the type of dog that will let you give belly rubs to and sleep in bed with. She loves to have a job.'

She went to a boarding shelter until October 2016.

Then she was placed in a foster home for a week, before going to another boarding house in November 2016 - which needs her out by May 20.

'We need to keep Lana's happiness and well being at the forefront,' Ms Dobranski said. 'It is not fair for her to have to keep moving around.'

Ms Dobranksi explained that every time she settles in one place she is uprooted again - leaving her agitated.

The desolate dog now faces being euthanized by May 20 after her third birthday unless she can find a home due to overcrowding at the kennel where she is staying

'The best environment for her would be a horse or hobby farm where she can be outside most of the time "helping" her person with the chores around the property,' Rescue Dog's Match explained

The non-profit added that the ideal family would be a mature couple or someone with the 'time, patience, determination and commitment to help her become more confident'

'The best environment for her would be a horse or hobby farm where she can be outside most of the time "helping" her person with the chores around the property,' Rescue Dog's Match explained.

'She loves to be outside no matter what the weather. Lana loves to be part of whatever is going on but not in 'tight' quarters.'

The non-profit added that the ideal family would be a mature couple or someone with the 'time, patience, determination and commitment to help her become more confident'.

Lana's chances of adoption are slimmed down by the fact that she must be adopted by a family in Canada.

They are hoping that Lana's match would have a routine she could rely on and an active lifestyle that would 'banish the thought of endless hours in concrete bunkers with nothing to do'.

Lana was described as 'sweet and silly' but has a 'tendency to shut down' when she is not around people she trusts.

'It is important for her to be in a home where she will continue to be exposed to new situations with lots of positive reinforcement,' Rescue Dog's Match concluded.

'She is loyal and loving to the people she trusts.'

Her rescue team was said to be 'committed' to supporting Lana and hopefully finding a family with the training and time to ensure her third home is her last.

Please email info@rescuedogsmatch.com if you are interested in fostering or adopting Lana
Daniel Hilton has been banned from leaving the UK for five years

A paedophile who posed as a talent scout for a musical to molest young girls and conned airline bosses into believing he was a wealthy tycoon has been banned from leaving the UK for five years.

The pervert, who now calls himself Daniel Hilton, has also used the names Adam Hathaway, Adam Bentley and Adam Barraclough.

He travelled secretly to Thailand from where he was deported, and to Cambodia.

Career criminal Hilton was convicted of duping aviation bosses into thinking he was an airline tycoon in a scam likened to the plot of hit film Catch Me If You Can, when he was just 17.

He boasted his company had 4.5 billion turnover and owned chains such as Next and Topshop.

His first conviction for sexually assaulting young girls came in 2011 after he setting up bogus photo shoots.

Claiming he worked for a fake company called Jungle International, he fooled modelling agencies into sending him children for shoots in Manchester, London and Bolton.

He then assaulted the youngsters while pretending to take their body measurements.

Hilton was jailed for 10 months for the offences to run concurrent to a three-year sentence imposed at the same time for sexual attacks on two girls, then aged seven and eight, in North Yorkshire.

Hilton was convicted of duping aviation bosses into thinking he was an airline tycoon in a scam likened to the plot of hit film Catch Me If You Can (Leonardo DiCaprio pictured in the film as Frank Abagnale Jr, who posed as a pilot)

However, a year later he breached the order after being caught travelling in a car with a woman and her 20-month-old son.

Despite not being allowed near children, Hilton - who was at that time known as Adam Bentley - told the woman he was a professional dancer and she had no idea about his past criminal behaviour.

The truth was revealed after the car was involved in a crash and police arrested Hilton for breaching the order.

In 2014, he invited children to a dance studio for fake auditions for Matilda, despite being prohibited from being in contact with anyone under the age of 18.

DANIEL HILTON'S LIFE OF CRIME 2009: Conned aviation bosses into thinking he was an airline tycoon whose company had a 4.5billion turnover and owned high street chains such as Next and Topshop. 2011: Sexually assaulted two young girls, aged seven and eight, in North Yorkshire. Also lured girls to bogus photo shoots in London, Manchester and Bolton. 2012: Breaches a order which prohibiting him from having contact with children after being caught travelling in a car with a woman and 20-month-old child. 2014: Breaks SOPO again after luring children to fake auditons for Matilda and getting front of house job at London's Phoenix Theatre where he was in regular contact with young children. 2015: Jailed for two-and-a-half years for breaching order yet again Advertisement

He was jailed for a further 12 months for being in close proximity to the baby.

He also got a front of house job at the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road, London, and would greet youngsters as they arrived.

He also caught a flight to the Far East via Qatar from Manchester Airport on October 8, 2014 despite being forbidden to leave the country without telling the police.

Hilton denied two further counts of breaching his SOPO related to the unauthorised ownership of a mobile with the capacity to store videos which the judge accepted.

Hilton was jailed for two and a half years in January 2015 for breaching the ban on him contacting children.

York magistrates then banned Hilton from travelling anywhere other than in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, which expired on May 10, but it was extended to five years on Wednesday after police applied to make a full sexual harm prevention order, including 14 restrictions.

At the travel ban hearing solicitor Emma Richards for the police told York Magistrates Court: 'North Yorkshire Police consider Daniel Hilton a risk to children, predominantly in South East Asia.'

They made the ban for five years, which she said was the maximum length allowed by UK law.

Magistrates also ordered Hilton, of Earswick Chase, Earswick, to surrender any passports he has in any name to the police and forbid him applying for new ones.

A prevention order also includes a lifelong ban on unsupervised contact with children, restrictions on his use of the internet and other measures and he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

His lawyer, Mark Whitfield said: 'He doesn't believe he is a risk to children but he doesn't oppose the order.'

He also got a front of house job at the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road, London, and would greet youngsters as they arrived

The sex offender called himself Adam Hathaway for a 2015 court hearing when he was jailed for 30 months for breaching a sexual offences prevention order banning him from contacting children.

Benjamin Nolan QC told him at York Crown Court: 'For a man of 22, you have the previous convictions of an elderly paedophile.'

Recorder Nolan heard about the secret South-East Asian trip and how the paedophile defied an earlier ban on meeting children by getting a front-of-the-house job at a London theatre and posing as a talent scout as well as persuading a mother he met while working in a stage production film to let him meet her children.

Police made the travel ban application as he came to the end of his parole period during which probation officers had held his passport.
A mother has revealed how she slept next to the body of her three-year-old daughter after she suddenly died, in a bid to help her cope with her profound grief.

Georgia Fieldsend collapsed on a beach in Sharm-el-Sheikh on Christmas Day, while on a last-minute getaway with her parents and brother Joshua, then two, in 2013.

The three-year-old was rushed to a local hospital before being airlifted to King's College Hospital in London, but she was pronounced dead on December 27 after suffering a fatal brain aneurysm.

Her mother Ilse has now opened up about how she and her husband James kept their daughter's body at their Surrey home for 11 days ahead of her funeral to help the grieving process.

Georgia Fieldsend, 3, died after collapsing on a beach in Sharm-el-Sheikh on Christmas Day in 2013. Her mother Ilse (right) has revealed why she kept her daughter's body at home for 11 days

Ilse, pictured with her husband James and son Joshua in 2015, said: 'Our daughter's body belonged with us, not in a morgue. Having her at home helped us grieve'

The couple put their daughter in her favourite dress and dancing shoes, and kept her body in her bedroom which was freezing cold to preserve her body.

Ilse and Joshua read her bedtime stories and talked about her life, and Joshua would have morning cuddles with his big sister.

Ilse said while Georgia's fingertips and face became dry, there was no odour and she and her husband washed her hair and put lotion on her hands.

Ilse said she lay alone with Georgia at night before bringing her body into her own bed the night before the funeral so she could lay in between her and James.

She said on the morning of her funeral, she took off her own and Georgias clothes to cradle her naked body: 'I wanted to feel her skin on mine one more time.'

'I stroked Georgia's forehead and told her how much I loved her,' Ilse told Antonia Hoyle of The Telegraph.

The 42-year-old party planner added: 'I know some will think what we did was shocking, but to us it made sense.

'Our daughter's body belonged with us, not in a morgue. Having her at home helped us grieve.'

On Christmas Day Georgia had pestered her mother to be allowed one last paddle before they went back to their hotel to open more presents, when she collapsed suddenly at the shoreline

Georgia (pictured with her father and brother) had suffered a rare aneurysm, causing bleeding into her brain when it burst

Her parents decided to donate Georgia's organs - helping to save six lives - before taking her body from the mortuary to their home

Ilse and Joshua read Georgia bedtime stories, after bringing her home before her funeral, and Joshua would have morning cuddles with his big sister

In 2013, Ilse had persuaded her barrister husband to escape the British winter by taking Georgia and her brother on a last-minute break to the Egyptian resort.

On Christmas Day at the beach, Georgia pestered her mother to be allowed one last paddle before they went back to their hotel to open more presents, when she collapsed suddenly at the shoreline.

Ilse said bringing her daughter's body home helped her grieve

Her parents rushed her to the local hospital in a taxi, desperately trying to perform mouth-to-mouth.

Once they arrived, staff did not immediately give Georgia oxygen and at one stage a doctor told her mother: 'She's fine. She's sleeping.'

A consultant intervened some 20 minutes later and Georgia was taken into intensive care.

The next day Georgia was airlifted to the children's critical care unit at King's College Hospital in London, after what Ilse had described as the 'filth and chaos' of the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital she believed contributed to her daughter's death.

S he had suffered a rare aneurysm, causing bleeding into her brain when it burst.

Her parents decided to donate Georgia's organs - helping to save six lives - before taking her body from the mortuary to their home.

Speaking on what would have been Georgia's seventh birthday, Ilse said being able to bring her daughter's body home was 'a beautiful thing to be able to do'.

Georgia and her brother Joshua: Speaking on what would have been Georgia's 7th birthday, Ilse said being able to bring her daughter's body home was 'a beautiful thing to be able to do'

Ilse told her tragic story after Russell Davison, 50, hit the headlines days ago when he revealed he slept next to his wife's body after she died of cervical cancer.

Wendy was determined to die at home, and after she passed away last month, Russell didn't want her body to be taken into a hospital mortuary.

After sleeping next to his wife in their bedroom at their Derby home, Mr Davison spoke out to convince others that staying close to a loved one's dead body is nothing to be afraid of.

Ilse has asked parents to do seven things with their child and to donate 7 to the Kings College Hospital Charity on JustGiving.
North Korea has accused the US of 'state sponsored terrorism' in an attempt to assassinate Kim Jong-un using a biochemical substance.

The allegation was made by the secretive state's vice foreign minister in a briefing to foreign envoys.

Han Song-ryol vowed to wipe out 'terrorist maniacs' intent on wiping out Kim's regime.

He claimed that a North Korean man was bribed and coerced to join a Washington and Seoul-backed plot to assassinate the despot leader at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Han said North Korea would seek to extradite anyone involved in a conspiracy against Kim.

North Korea has alleged a plot to kill Kim Jong-un (pictured at a plastic goods factory in an image released this week) has been foiled

The CIA and South Korean intelligence services planned to assassinate the despot using a 'biochemical substance', it is claimed

Reporting on Han's briefing, the state-run Korean Central News Agency, describing the attack on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea's official name, said: 'Heinous terrorists were recently detected in the DPRK.

THE PLOTTER: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE MYSTERIOUS 'KIM' North Korea claims the primary suspect is a man it has identified only by the ubiquitous surname Kim. It says he is a North Korean resident of Pyongyang who worked in the Russian Far East for a time. State media said he was involved in the timber industry in Khabarovsk, which is one of the primary places North Koreans can go overseas to work. The North further said that a South Korean agent named Jo Ki Chol and a 'secret agent' named Xu Guanghai, director general of the Qingdao NAZCA Trade Co Ltd, met Kim in Dandong, on North Korea's border with China, to give him communications equipment and cash. The North also said 'a guy surnamed Han' taught Kim how to enlist accomplices. Advertisement

'The terrorists were infiltrated by the CIA of the U.S. and the puppet National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea in a bid to commit state-sponsored terrorism against the supreme leadership of the DPRK by use of a biochemical substance.'

Han said the North Korean government would 'find out all of the terrorist maniacs and mercilessly wipe them out'.

The minister then pledged a 'Korean-style war on terrorism' would commence, and warned of an 'intensive way to root out the plot-breeding centers and dens of evil on this planet, including the CIA and the NIS'.

Han claimed the main suspect - a man identified by the name of Kim - was given communications equipment and cash in order to recruit plotters.

In a prepared statement he said: 'These terrorists plotted and planned in detail for the use of biochemical substances including radioactive and poisonous substances as the means of assassination.'

And he continued: 'These biochemical substances were to be provided with the assistance of the CIA... while the South Korean Intelligence Service was going to provide necessary support and funding for this attempt at assassination on our supreme leader.'

Vice foreign minister Han Song-ryol accused the US of 'state sponsored terrorism' over a plot to kill Kim (centre)
An Afghan migrant jailed for just two years for gang-raping a woman in Sweden is appealing his conviction and insists he is innocent despite broadcasting the attack on Facebook Live.

However, prosecutors are demanding tougher sentences for the three men sentenced for participating in the gang rape that was live streamed in a closed Facebook group.

The men, aged between 18 and 24, were sentenced to prison in Sweden last month after the rape was broadcast in a group with over 60,000 members.

An 18-year-old man from Afghanistan was sentenced to one year in jail on account of rape, while the other man from Afghanistan was sentenced to 27 months.

The third man, a 24-year-old Swedish citizen who was filming the incident, was sentenced to six months in prison for gross defamation as well as for failing to report rape.

The three men, aged 18 to 24, were arrested in January in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, after police received tips about the rape streaming in a closed Facebook group of 60,000 members.

Prosecutor Pontus Melander now wants the 24-year-old to be convicted of complicity in rape however and a tougher sentence to be handed out as a result.

Melander has also appealed the sentences given to the other two men, which he considers to be too low.

The 21-year-old's lawyer, meanwhile, has appealed his conviction and instead wants his client who denied the crime to be acquitted entirely.

The men were arrested in January in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, after police received tips about the rape streaming in the group of 60,000 members and interrupted the broadcast.

The 18-year-old man from Afghanistan was to one year in jail on account of rape, while the other Afghanistan man was sentenced to 27 months. The third man, a 24-year-old Swedish citizen who was filming the incident, was sentenced to six months in prison

The men also were sentenced to pay total damages of 300,000 kronor ($33,890) to the victim.

Judge Nils Palbrandt said the victim, a woman in her 30s, was under influence of narcotics and alcohol was not able to give her consent to the sexual act, as was claimed by the men.

The men had denied the charges, saying the woman had given consent to having sex with them. However, the court said the woman had been heavily intoxicated by alcohol and drugs and was in a very vulnerable situation.

The men, who are not identified under Swedish law, were influenced by alcohol during the act.

'Even if she, in the way the defendants claim, had agreed to intercourse, it is not possible for a person in such a vulnerable situation to consent,' Palbrandt said.

'They shall therefore be held liable for rape,'

The court said the film had received a lot of attention both in Sweden and internationally.

Swedish media have published excerpts of the footage, showing at least one of the suspects holding a revolver.

During the four-day trial, the video was aired behind closed doors, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Eight people who saw the livestream were as witnesses in the case.

The three men were arrested in Uppsala (pictured above) in Sweden after the incident in January

The rape lasted for several minutes, while the 24-year-old was urged by several Facebook watchers to stop it but did not, prosecutors said.

In an email to AFP earlier this year, a press spokesman for Facebook in the Nordic countries denounced 'a hideous crime'.

He said: 'Our teams work around the clock to review content that is being reported by users' and Facebook cooperates systematically with police in criminal investigations.'

The broadcast is the latest graphic video to bring into focus the complex ethical and policy issues faced by Facebook Live and others.

Facebook Live allows anyone to broadcast a video directly from their smartphone. But while traditional TV broadcasters are subject to regulations, Internet streaming services do not face the same restrictions and enforce their own terms of service.
A hamburger shop in northern China has met it's match - a hamburglar.

But this man wasn't there to steal the food, he was more interested in the cash on offer.

CCTV footage of the restaurant captures the moment a man sneaks through a vent in the kitchen and then steals cash at midnight on May 8.

The suspect, surnamed Nie, broke through the vent and sneaked into a burger shop in China

Robble robble: He climbed in naked as the vent was too narrow to go through with clothes on

The man stripped off and entered the premises completely naked stealing 800 yuan (89) from the cash desk.

He was arrested the day after and was put in criminal detention.

According to an official statement from Bazhou police bureau in China's Hebei province, the man surnamed Nie broke into a hamburger restaurant and climbed in through the vent.

However, he was caught on surveillance footage the moment he broke the extraction fan. He can be seen struggling to get in and had to resort to taking his clothes off to enter.

Nei then walked straight to the front desk where the till was.

He took away approximately 800 yuan (89) and headed back to the kitchen.

Shop owner, Ms Zhao, told Pear video in the interview that the burglar used a plastic bag to cover the surveillance camera in the kitchen before breaking it and taking it away.

'He took away my camera in the kitchen, leaving the one at the till. I have no idea when did he leave,' added Ms Zhao.

But the footage had been automatically saved to Ms Zhao's computer.

Nie went straight to the cash till and stole 800 yuan (89) cash from the burger shop

His act was caught on the two CCTVs in the shop and saved onto the shop owner's computer

Local police started a search around the neighbourhood after receiving report from Ms Zhao.

The suspect was wearing black framed glasses and had a tattoo on his right arm.

On May 9, they found him during an ID check at an Internet cafe with the matching characteristics.

Nie admitted to the police that he had stolen the money.

Trying to hide? The suspect covered one of the cameras with plastic bag before taking it away

Ms Zhao, the owner, said she had no idea how long did the theft stay in the restaurant

In the statement, Nie explained that he did not want to be identified from his clothing, and that the exit of the vent was too narrow.

Bazhou police has confirmed that Nie had a previous record of petty theft in 2014 and was sentenced to jail for 15 months.

He is now in detention.
Advertisement

Every day celebrities saturate headlines with their outrageous behaviour, troubled love lives and financial woes - but a new book delving into the stories of notorious Victorian stars has proven this is by no means a modern phenomenon.

A series of incredible portraits of scandal-hit Victorian performers charts the rise of celebrity culture and continued fascination with the lives of the rich and famous.

From actresses' put at risk by obsessive fans to attempts to ruin careers and how the public thrived on tales of intrigue from behind the theatre curtain, the misdemeanors of various Victorian celebrities fuelled the gossip columns.

One portrait shows dashing thespian William Terriss who was stabbed to death by the deranged and disgruntled actor Richard Archer Prince outside the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand.

Other photographs show Kate Rorke whose religion was the focus of newspaper gossip in the 1890s, William Horace Lingard in drag who was the subject of a bigamy case and Cornelie D'Anka who was the victim of a stalker in 1871 where she had a pistol pointed at her and a bullet delivered to her at a theatre.

And Edward Solomon hit the headlines thanks to his sordid brazen bigamy. The popular theatrical composer shot to notoriety on both sides of the Atlantic after marrying women in the UK and America - and attempting to deny his first marriage.

Dashing thespian William Terriss (left) was a Shakesperian actor also known for his swashbuckling hero roles, such as Robin Hood. He was stabbed to death by a deranged and disgruntled actor Richard Archer Prince outside the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand. Actress Madge Kendal (right) later Dame Madge. She and her husband, actor William Hunter Griston, became theatre managers - so it was inevitable that the press would be fascinated by her family

William Horace Lingard, pictured left in drag, was considered one of the funniest performers of his time - but hit the headlines when he became the subject of a bigamy case. Born in England in 1839, he and his wife Alice Dunning Lingard (right) emigrated to America in 1868, where his career flourished and he later became manager of Wood's Theatre

Amy Roselle (left), the English actress shot dead by her husband Arthur Dacre in 1895 as part of a suicide pact. The pair enjoyed successful stage careers, but then ran out of work and ran up debts. Eventually they travelled to Australia where they committed suicide in 1895. Dacre shot Roselle, but ran out of bullets and had to cut his own throat. Celebrated beauty and actress Clara Rousby (right) brought an assault case against Daniel Bandmann in 1878, but found herself accused of alcoholism. She had a stormy marriage and scandalous personal life - which led to a number of court appearances, including one where she was fined 25 shillings for not having a dog licence

Violet Cameron (left), the niece of burlesque performer Lydia Thompson, trod the boards in dozens of theatrical productions. But she became involved in tabloid scandal when her husband David de Bensaudein brought an action for libel against a newspaper editor in 1887 following her adultery with Hugh Lowther, the Earl of Lonsdale. Ellen Terry (right) was embroiled in several scandalous love affairs during her stage career. She became one of the most popular stage performers in both Great Britain and America, but aged 16, she left the stage to marry the neurotic painter G.F. Watts, whose model she had been. After their split, she enjoyed a string of relationships with other actors

The actor Charles Francis Coghlan (1842-1899), was successful on both sides of the Atlantic. However questions arose about his marital status when in 1893 he married 19-year-old Kuhne Beveridge, a sculptor and aspiring actress. He had been married for some 25 years to London-born actress Louisa Elizabeth Thorn, with whom he had one daughter, Gertrude - who later denied Coghlan was her father. Right, JL Toole (1830-1906), the comedian, actor, actor-manager and producer, ran Toole's Theatre, formerly the Folly Street, in London. He became the first actor to have a West End theatre named after him

Cornelie D'Anka (left), who found herself the victim of an unpleasant stalking case in 1871, where she had a pistol pointed at her and a bullet delivered to her at a theatre. Kate Rorke (right), whose religion was the focus of newspaper gossip in the 1890s.

Josephine 'Cassy' Casaboni and Lytton Grey in a publicity shot; Grey divorced his second wife after she had an affair with fellow actor Dick Neville

Eva Sothern (left) gave up her successful acting career when she married at the age of 21. Gaiety Girl Marie Studholme (right), was one of the most photographed stage beauties of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Something of a pin-up in her day her face adorned theatre postcards. She offered her manager George Edwardes her savings when he ran into financial difficulties
A man claims he pricked his tongue on a hypodermic needle that was in his butter chicken served on a Qantas flight from Brisbane to Sydney.

Ben Sabeto is suing the airline saying he developed post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after almost eating the object.

A Statement of Claim lodged by Shine Lawyers David Adams said the 51-year-old was in seat 29B of flight QF553 on December 19, 2016.

A man claims he pricked his tongue on a hypodermic needle that was in his butter chicken served on a Qantas flight from Brisbane to Sydney

Ben Sabeto is suing the airline saying he developed post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after almost eating the object

He was served a butter chicken with cauli pea masala but claims after a few mouthfuls he felt a sharp pain on his tongue, according to News Corp.

The Bribie Island, Queensland, man immediately spat it out and called a flight supervisor who took the serviette and needle for photographs.

The claim filed in the NSW District Court said he asked for the needle back but was only told someone would be in touch to discuss it - but no one contacted him.

Mr Adams said his client was claiming a 'full scope of damages' under the Civil Aviation (Carriers Liability) Act and Australian Consumer Law.

The claim filed in the NSW District Court said he asked for the needle back but was only told someone would be in touch to discuss it - but no one contacted him

He was served a butter chicken with cauli pea masala but claims after a few mouthfuls he felt a sharp pain on his tongue

'Having come across myriad obscure cases in the past, I can confidently say that I have not come across a case such as this before,' he said.

'I can only sympathise with Ben for the amount of stress and anxiety he has had to endure because of this incident.'

Mr Adams said Qantas had not apologised or 'meaningfully compensated' for his injuries, as far as he was aware.

Instead, he claimed the cabin crew instead 'rather despicably' offered Mr Sabeto another meal and a bottle of wine.

The lawsuit came days after Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce had a lemon menagerie pie shoved in his face by an elderly man angry at his corporate promotion of marriage equality

Qantas rejected the claim outright, saying it was not possible for a metal object to get into flight meals because they were scanned twice by metal detectors before being loaded on board.

'There is no evidence to show that a syringe was in the meal at any stage during preparation in the catering centre or on-board,' it said.

Qantas-owned catering company Snap Fresh was listed as the second respondent in the case, with both given 28 days to formally respond.

The lawsuit came days after Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce had a lemon menagerie pie shoved in his face by an elderly man angry at his corporate promotion of marriage equality.
This is the sweet moment a devoted boyfriend flies almost 4000 miles to propose to travelling girlfriend, just six months after meeting online.

Battling bustling crowds at London's St. Pancras station, Lauren Lucille, from Perrysburg, Ohio, was on the last leg of her month-long trip around Europe blissfully unaware of the impending surprise.

Anxiously awaiting her arrival through a sea of faces is boyfriend of six months Tom Jacoby, who has travelled 3816 miles from Perrysburg to ask her a very special question.

This is the sweet moment a devoted boyfriend flies almost 4000 miles to propose to travelling girlfriend, just six months after meeting online

Spotting the 'love of her life' in front of her, Lauren gasps 'honey', but before she has time to react, Tom is down on one knee proclaiming how he 'wishes to never be away' from her again, before asking for her hand in marriage.

Lauren said: 'It was truly the most I've ever been surprised in my life, I just couldn't believe he was standing there in front of me.

'I'd just spent the last three and half weeks travelling round Italy, France and Budapest with almost no contact with Tom and suddenly he was right there waiting for me in London.

'I just couldn't get my head around it.'

Battling bustling crowds at London's St. Pancras station, Lauren Lucille (right), from Perrysburg, Ohio, was on the last leg of her month-long trip around Europe blissfully unaware of the impending surprise. Pictured left, Tom Jacoby

Lauren and Tom met on Match.com in 2016, quickly falling in love with one another.

Despite their relatively short time together, when he asked the question 'will you marry me?' Lauren didn't hesitate in declaring in 'yes' repeatedly.

Lauren said: 'We had already spoken about getting married one day, but never did I expect him to ask me so soon, let alone fly across the world to do it.

Spotting the 'love of her life' in front of her, Lauren gasps 'honey', but before she has time to react, Tom is down on one knee proclaiming how he 'wishes to never be away' from her again, before asking for her hand in marriage

'There is no doubt in my mind that we're absolutely perfect for one another, we've settled into life so well with each other and I can't wait to see what our future holds.

'He only started planning the proposal a week-prior but had already met with my parents to ask their permission and tracked down exactly where I would be to get my next train.

'We finished off the weekend in London together before flying home, it was a great little engagement weekend.

'We're hoping to get married this winter, we are both so excited.'
A mother and daughter were fined 100 each when they drove around a car park in separate cars for 15 minutes before leaving after claiming they couldn't find a space.

Cheryl Parker was visiting Falmouth from Bath with her daughter Danielle when the two of them tried to park their cars in the Cornish town.

The pair drove into one car park, spent 15 minutes circling it and said they then gave up and left after failing to spot any spaces.

Cheryl Parker (pictured) and daughter Danielle were fined 100 each after they drove around a car park in separate cars for 15 minutes before leaving when they couldn't find a space

But days later the pair of them received letters demanding payment of 100 each for using the facility run by Exeter-based Premier Park Ltd, according to CornwallLive.

Cheryl Parker said: 'We drove to Falmouth planning to spend the day there but the car park was very busy due to there being an event on in town.

'We drove around for about a quarter of an hour looking for two spaces in the car park before deciding to go somewhere else.

'When we left we didn't think any more of it but about four or five days later received a ticket, along with evidence that we entered the car park at 12:43 and left at 13:01.'

The Devon company said because the number plates belonging to the cars driven by Ms Parker and her daughter had not been entered into the pay machine, but were pictured entering and exiting the car park, it was within its rights to apply a penalty.

The car park (pictured) is owned by the Maritime Museum but run by Premier Park Ltd

The pair appealed but were unsuccessful. Ms Parker is adamant that the punishment is 'unfair'

The pair appealed but were unsuccessful. Despite this, Ms Parker is adamant that the punishment is 'unfair', adding: 'we definitely won't be paying it.'

The car park is owned by the Maritime Museum but run by Premier Park Ltd.

A spokesman for Premier Park Ltd said: 'We offer a grace period to allow vehicles to enter the car park and decide whether they wish to park and agree to the terms or alternatively, leave.

'In this instance, the vehicle stayed in excess of this period and in the appeal to us, the driver confirmed they had parked on site, with the following statement. I travelled to Falmouth on 15th April with my mother. When I entered the car park, after driving round several times, I finally found a car parking space.

'Based on this statement and the fact that we recorded 15 payments for parking on the payment terminals during this time, this indicated spaces were available and all the machines were working correctly, therefore the appeal was denied.

'If the driver wishes to send in further evidence we would be happy to review the decision.'
An autistic boy who is top of his class has been left too afraid to return to school after he was brutally beaten by bullies.

Ajay Childs, 15, suffered a concussion after he was punched in the head multiple times and nearly strangled by two boys who targeted him on a bus.

A teacher at Bexleyheath Academy started crying when he saw the teen's injuries, according to his heartbroken mother, who has reported the assault to police.

Kelly Childs, from Thamesmead, south east London, believe the Year 10 pupil was singled out for being autistic.

Ajay Childs, 15, suffered a concussion after he was punched in the head multiple times and nearly strangled by two boys who targeted him on a bus

The 36-year-old said no-one on the packed bus tried to intervene during the prolonged beating, which left him with nasty cuts and bruises and a broken thumb.

Ajay fled the bus before his usual stop where he was lost for half an hour until his father Keith, 36, found him and took him to hospital.

The mother-of-five added: 'I am so angry and so devastated. I can't put in to words how I am feeling at the moment. 'For nobody to do anything is just wrong.

'For this to happen to my son in school where it's meant to be safe for him. The bus was packed and no-one even stood up to help him.

Ajay was travelling on the 401 bus on Monday when he was set upon in the unprovoked attack after school.

He was sitting on the upper deck when two boys got on and sat on the back of the bus.

The 36-year-old said no-one on the packed bus tried to intervene during the prolonged beating, which left him with nasty cuts and bruises and a broken thumb (right)

The teenagers then allegedly got up and started kicking and punching him in the head. They also pulled his tie so tight it 'almost strangled him'.

Ajay only started travelling on public transport this year because he worries about meeting crowds and travelling alone. But now he is too scared to venture out.

Kelly added: 'He doesn't want to go back to school. He definitely doesn't want to be going back on buses. He doesn't even want to come out of his room.

'Ajay is one of the top students in the school - he recently won a physics competition.

'He's someone who enjoys school, so for him now to say "I don't want to go to school" is heartbreaking.'

The mother, who has reported the attack to the police, believes the culprits targeted another autistic pupil at the school 30 minutes before Ajay was attacked.

A spokesperson for the school said: 'Near the end of the school day here was a serious assault by a year 10 and a year 9 student on a year 10 boy.

'The two assailants then fled the premises and carried out a similar attack on another year 10 boy on public transport.

'The academy immediately suspended the two boys who allegedly carried out the two attacks for five days so that the incidents can be fully investigated.

'We are giving our full cooperation to the Metropolitan Police with their investigations.

'The safety and welfare of all students at Bexleyheath Academy Is our number one concern and we totally deplore any acts of verbal or physical assaults on members of our school community.

'When the investigations are completed we will not hesitate to take appropriate disciplinary action.'
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A luxury flat, where Brian Epstein put Ringo Starr and George Harrison so he could keep an eye on them at the height of Beatlemania, is up for rent for a whopping 1,400 a week.

The three-bedroom apartment in Knightsbridge, London, was home to the legendary music stars during their first world tour in 1964 and is where the Beatles met for a cup of tea before travelling to Buckingham Palace to receive their MBEs.

The pair, who shared the Whaddon House flat with Georges future wife, Pattie Boyd, moved into the property after it was recommended to them by their manager, Brian Epstein, who lived upstairs on the fifth floor from 1963 to 1965.

A luxury flat, where Brian Epstein put Ringo Starr and George Harrison so he could keep an eye on them at the height of Beatlemania, is up for rent for a whopping 1,400 a week. Pictured is the building's exterior

The three-bedroom apartment in Knightsbridge, London, was home to the legendary music stars during their first world tour in 1964 and is where the Beatles met for a cup of tea before travelling to Buckingham Palace to receive their MBEs. Pictured is the balcony of the luxury flat

The pair, who shared the Whaddon House flat with Georges future wife, Pattie Boyd, moved into the property after it was recommended to them by their manager, Brian Epstein, who lived upstairs on the fifth floor from 1963 to 1965. Pictured is the kitchen area

Epstein was notorious for throwing lavish rock and roll parties on the rooftop and is thought to have wanted George and Ringo nearby to keep an eye on them. Pictured is the spacious dining and living area

Pictured are the Beatles having a cup of tea inside the Whaddon House apartment in Knightsbridge, London

Epstein was notorious for throwing lavish rock and roll parties on the rooftop and is thought to have wanted George and Ringo nearby to keep an eye on them.

The manager reportedly threw a party to celebrate the world tour there which was attended by all four Beatles as well as celebrity guests Mick Jagger, Judy Garland and Keith Richards.

The celebrations spread onto the roof where a temporary ballroom including a red carpet, was set up in a marquee.

The swanky apartment is available to let for 1,400 per week through John D Wood & Co.

The spacious flat is on the second floor and boasts a balcony, two bathrooms, a gated mews and private underground parking with easy access to Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

The manager reportedly threw a party to celebrate the world tour there which was attended by all four Beatles as well as celebrity guests Mick Jagger, Judy Garland and Keith Richards. Pictured is one of the three bedrooms in the flat

A desk space with a large painting of Marilyn Monroe in the living area of the luxury Whaddon House flat in Knightsbridge

The swanky apartment in Knighstbridge, London, is available to let for 1,400 per week through John D Wood & Co
The last time Kalyra Michelutti spoke to her mother she sounded normal, but her father was screaming in the background, a Sydney jury has been told.

About two hours later, her father walked into a police station saying his wife had stabbed herself to death, prosecutor Ken McKay said in the Crown's opening address on Thursday.

Gavin John De Beyer, 51, has pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to murdering Sharon Louise Michelutti at their Riverwood home on February 1, 2016.

The couple, who had been together since they were teenagers, did not have a happy relationship, Mr McKay said.

Sharon Michelutti was found stabbed to death at her Riverwood home in February 2016

The mother-of-five of five was found on her bed with the covers pulled completely over her

Sharon Michelutti's husband, Gavin De Beyer, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife of 15 years

He expected their daughter, Kalyra, would testify to speaking to her mother on the phone around 10am when she sounded normal, but she could hear her father screaming in the background.

From 10.18am to 10.21am, CCTV footage showed De Beyer, wearing distinctive clothing including a yellow and green shirt, at a Riverwood supermarket.

At 10.42am, the mother's phone was used to dial triple zero, but the call did not connect.

Footage from outside another building showed De Beyer, in different clothing, walking past at about 10.53am.

'At about 12 noon, the accused entered Campsie police station, told police his wife was dead and that she had inflicted the wound to herself,' the prosecutor said.

Between the time he left home and spoke to police, there was no evidence that he tried to get help, or speak to a family member or neighbour to alert them to his wife's condition.

Ms Michelutti, who died of a single stab wound, was found on her bed with the covers pulled over her whole body.

Mr McKay said there was some evidence that she took a deliberate overdose of tablets in 2011.

Instead, the father told poice his wife stabbed herself to death. The prosecution did say there was some evidence to suggest she had taken an overdose in 2011

Defence lawyer Angus Webb told the jury his client denied inflicting the stab wound and did not concede he was present when it happened.

One possibility was that Ms Michelutti inflicted the wound herself, but it was not a case that the only other possibility was that De Beyer stabbed her.

'There may be more than these two simple alternatives,' he said.

Neighbour Lissa Elzein testified that she often heard the couple arguing, that they both used alcohol and marijuana, and she had seen police at their house.

Once when they were arguing on the footpath and De Beyer was walking ahead of his wife, she heard him say: 'Hurry up, you dog, woof woof.'

They seemed to have their ups and downs and Ms Michelutti had never told her she was scared of her husband or that he had been violent, Ms Elzein said.

The trial is continuing.
Experts today tore into Jeremy Cobyn's 'delusional and incoherent' leftie manifesto as it emerged it would commit Britain to going on a 650billion decade-long spending spree.

The plan would cost each household in Britain a staggering 2,400 a year for ten years.

Economists said the leaked-plan is the possibly 'the most left-wing manifesto ever' and would take Britain back to the 1940s and the days of economic decline.

The blueprint for power includes vast spending commitments of 250billion on infrastructure, 60bn to cancel increases in the pension age and 10billion for free university tuition - all of which will have to be funded on borrowing or tax rises.

The draft also reveals sweeping proposals to re-nationalise energy companies, the railways and the Royal Mail.

The Institute of Economic Affairs poured scorn over the document, saying that 'the Labour Party seems to have grown a whole forest of money trees'.

While Ben Southwood head of research at the Adam Smith Institute, told the Mail Online 'this is possibly the most left-wing manifesto ever'.

Jeremy Corbyn emerged from his manifesto summit tonight (pictured) to defend plans condemned by experts as the 'most left wing plan manifesto ever'

Mr Corbyn's extravagent plans would cost each household in Britain a staggering 2,400 a year for ten years

The Labour leader told the media his plans would change the lives of millions of people as he stood by the shocking proposals

He said: 'If you look at history  before the Second World War we were one of the most liberal, one of the most free market countries in Europe.

'Immediately afterwards we became one of the most socialist countries in Europe, and from being the richest country in Europe by far we got overtaken by Italy by the 1970s. We got overtaken by pretty much every major country in Europe.

'Then we did Thatcherism and we have overtaken them and are now the richest country in Europe again.

'It's not rocket science.'

Among the most striking proposals in the leaked plans are:

A refusal to commit to cutting immigration levels, and removing rules that new arrivals must have enough money to support themselves;

Ruling out leaving the European Union without a deal, weakening Britain's negotiating hand and suggesting Brexit might never happen;

Trident will be renewed but there will be a 'full' defence review, and the manifesto bows to Mr Corbyn's unilateralist views by making clear a Labour PM would not deploy them;

A slew of huge spending commitments including scrapping moves to push the state pension age beyond 66, scrapping university tuition fees, 6billion a year more for the NHS, 250billion on infrastructure.

Rent caps for the first time since the 1970s, abolition of laws limiting strikes, and pay caps to stop bosses earning more than 20 times the lowest salary at their firm;

A promise to protect the 'nomadic way of life' and 'end discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities';

Analysis by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) found the spending commitments would cost 40bn a year.

While Labour says it will borrow to spend 250bn on big infrastructure projects over a decade - taking Britain spending to an eye-watering 650bn.

And the public purse will take a fresh battering down the road as Labour pledges not to go ahead with the proposed increase of the pension age to 67, due to come into force in April 2028.

The was anticipated to save the government 60bn over ten years.

Mr Southwood said the only good thing about the manifesto is that it if Mr Corbyn leads Labour to a crushing defeat on June 8 its polices could be consigned to the dustbin once and for all.

Mr Corbyn (pictured arriving at his manifesto summit today) ruled out leaving the EU without a deal, according to the leaked manifesto

Hours later an exhausted Labour leader was driven away from Savoy Place after a marathon summit to confirm the details of the plans

He said: 'The policies which they chose literally brought us to the bottom of the pack, we suffered relative decline. It happened, everyone knows it happened.

'There is really no case for bringing them back, and that's why all sensible, vote winning Labour parties haven't done them.

Jeremy Corbyn's spending spree at a glance: 10bn  Abolition of university tuition fees and reintroduce the student maintenance grant. 6bn  Extra funding pumped into the NHS every year. 8bn  Extra funding poured into social care over the next five years. 250bn  Will be borrowed over the next decade to pay for investment in infrastructure, including transport upgrades and rolling out 4G and 5G mobile coverage. 1bn  To pay for free school meals for all primary school children every year, no matter how wealthy their parents are. Advertisement

'I am really glad this election is most likely going to be a heavy defeat for these views, so that Labour can consign them to the dustbin of history forever and never see them come back.'

Julian Jessop, chief economist at the IEA, said: 'The Labour Party's manifesto includes delusional and incoherent economics that would result in economic disaster for this country.

'Enormous tax hikes on business and the so-called 'rich' will discourage innovation and investment, harming much-needed economic growth.'

Mr Jessop warned that promises to hike the minimum wage and ban zero hour contracts will lead to job losses and harm the labour market.

He added: 'On the spending side, the Labour Party seems to have grown a whole forest of money trees, pledging tens of billions of pounds for the NHS, social care, infrastructure, education, policing and the list goes on.

'With our ever-growing government debt, it is alarming that Labour intend to increase spending commitments by as much as 40bn a year  and that's without allowing for any increase in public spending on infrastructure, which could easily double this bill.

'Instead, we should be redoubling our efforts to cut back on spending and encourage investment and economic growth by reducing the tax burden on businesses and individuals.

Jeremy Corbyn's Labour manifesto would 'take Britain back to the 1970s' by re-nationalising railways, the energy industry and the Royal Mail, a leaked draft has revealed

'This is essential to get our economy ready for Brexit.'

Paul Johnson, the director of the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the plan would turn the clock back to the 1940s.

WHO WAS BEHIND THE MANIFESTO LEAK? A blame game is under way over who might have leaked the Labour manifesto. The document had not been widely circulated - meaning the list of suspects is short. There is speculation Jeremy Corbyn's own allies might have done it to 'bounce' moderates into accepting hard-left policies. There are also claims that one of the authors, Andrew Fisher, who once called for MI5 to be disbanded, had left a copy lying around on a desk in Labour HQ. Mr Corbyn himself appeared completely wrongfooted by the news, pulling out of a poster launch this morning at the last moment apparently to avoid difficult questions. The other potential culprit being touted is deputy leader Tom Watson, who has been highly critical of Mr Corbyn's performance and is accused by the leader's allies of trying to undermine him. Advertisement

He told The Guardian: 'I think it's important to be clear that this is not just about tax and spending; this is about the state getting deeply involved in much more of the private sector than it has been, certainly since the 1970s, and perhaps since the 1940s, with respect to, say, telling banks which branches they can't close, setting minimum wages for a quarter of private sector workers and about 60 per cent of young people, and dramatically improving labour regulation.

'All of those things are utterly different from anything we've experienced in many, many decades.

'If you take what's here at face value, then much of it I think is unprecedented even in the 1970s.

'This is a level of state intervention that probably goes back more decades than that.'

Josh Hardie, the CBIs deputy director general, also slammed the plan.

He said: 'If accurate, this is a manifesto that is past its sell-by date.

'With the significant challenges our economy faces, the goal of making the UK the most competitive and fair economy in the world can only be achieved by a strongly pro-enterprise government.

'A number of these policies risk putting our economy into reverse gear rather than moving forward to support business in creating an inclusive, innovative economy that works for people in all corners of the UK.'

Mr Corbyn finally faced reporters this afternoon, telling them that Labour's manifesto will offer a vision of a Britain in which 'nobody is ignored, nobody is forgotten, nobody is left behind'.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer are among the Labour figures attending a meeting in London today to sign off the manifesto

Labour frontbencher Ian Lavery (centre) was left covering for Jeremy Corbyn after he pulled out of a poster launch in central London today. Campaign chief Andrew Gwynne (left) admitted the leak was 'less than ideal' as Labour scrambled to deal with the leak

He emerged from a Labour meeting to say that the party's shadow cabinet and national executive committee unanimously approved the document.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the leaked draft suggested Labour wanted to take Britain 'back to the past'.

NO PROMISE TO CUT IMMIGRATION FROM LABOUR Millions of Labour voters backed Brexit to end free movement of people. But the manifesto makes no commitment to cut immigration  unlike the Tories who want to get it down to the tens of thousands. The move is likely to infuriate many Labour voters who believe they are being undercut in the jobs market by immigrants. The manifesto just says the Labour believes in 'fair rules and reasonable management of migration' and will not make 'false promises'. Labour will scrap the need for immigrants to have to earn a certain amount of money to join their relatives in Britain. Advertisement

Mr Corbyn predicted the policies would prove 'very popular'.

He said it was 'an offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society and ensure that we have a government in Britain on June 8 that will work for the many, not the few, and give everyone in our society a decent opportunity and a decent chance, so nobody is ignored, nobody is forgotten and nobody is left behind.'

As well as gambling with Britain's economy, the 43-page document leaves the door open to Britain staying in the EU - despite last year's historic vote.

It says that a no deal Brexit is the 'worst possible' situation for Britain and would damage the economy.

The position leaves Mr Corbyn open to the accusation he could be held to ransom by Brussels, as he has effectively told them his bottom line in negotiations.

The humiliating leak, which has left Labour at war with itself four weeks from polling day, has thrown the party's campaign into chaos today.

Mr Corbyn was pictured grinning today as he was driven into a crunch summit set to agree the final draft of the manifesto, which was not due to be made public until next week.

As a bitter blame game began over who was behind the leak this morning, Labour's election coordinator Andrew Gwynne admitted it was 'not ideal'.

But Unite chief Len McCluskey, who has been propping up Mr Corbyn, said it was 'really really exciting'.

The Tories revelled in the leak, insisting it proved the 'total shambles' at the heart of Labour's campaign and demonstrated Mr Corbyn could not be trusted with Brexit.

Mr Corbyn (pictured tonight as he left the manifesto summit) is defying claims his proposals would put Britain on the 'road to ruin'

Mr Corbyn's day went from bad to worse this morning as a BBC camera man was hit by his car at he arrived for a meeting about the manifesto

The manifesto was mocked as the 'most expensive suicide note in history' by economic experts today who said it would place an 'implausible' burden on a tiny number of wealthy taxpayers.

The union presence at the 'Clause V' gathering to agree the manifesto was beefed up with an extra eight representatives to help the leader impose his will.

But Labour moderates are not fighting his demands for a socialist programme that is red in tooth and claw and dripping with class envy.

Instead they are trusting voters to deliver a verdict on the proposals - and put an end to the hard-left takeover of the Opposition.

One source warned it was 'Ed Miliband's manifesto with hard left hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top'.

The very fact that the draft - written by Mr Corbyn's top aides Seumas Milne and Andrew Fisher - has leaked underlines the civil war that is still raging within Labour.

A blame game is under way over who might have slipped out the document, with speculation the leader's own aides might have done it to 'bounce' moderates into accepting hard-left policies.

It is understood that the leader's office will be trying to ascertain the source of the leak but will not give a running commentary.

A separate Labour source denied the leak had come from the party's headquarters and insisted no-one there had the manifesto.

Campaign co-ordinator Mr Gwynne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It's not ideal, but on the plus side we are all talking about the Labour Party this morning, we are all talking about some of the visions of how this country can be better.

'Of course this is a draft version, there may well be changes to it made in the Clause V meeting - I'm not going to pre-empt what happens later today.

'But also, we think we've got here a package of policies that are genuinely transformational.'

The Labour manifesto also said all EU migrants already here will be given automatic rights to stay. Pictured are the shadow cabinet at the campaign launch earlier this week

The Prime Minister has argued that without the option of walking away, Britain's negotiating hand is severely weakened.

LABOUR VOW NEW PROTECTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS Labour will create new protections for the 'nomadic way of life' of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, the leaked manifesto reveals. In a policy which will infuriate people whose parks and neighbourhoods are blighted by troublesome groups, Labour's manifesto promises to end 'racism and discrimination' against them. A Corbyn Government will protect the 'right' to live in Britain while moving from place to place. Advertisement

But the draft Labour manifesto says: 'Labour recognises that leaving the EU with ''no deal'' is the worst possible deal for Britain and would do damage to our economy and trade.

'We will reject 'no deal' as a viable and negotiate transitional arrangements to avoid a cliff-edge for the UK economy.'

It also promises an MPs' vote on the final deal  raising the prospect Brexit could be abandoned if Remain-supporting Labour MPs refuse to approve it.

Mr Corbyn sparked confusion earlier this week when he refused seven times to confirm that Britain would definitely leave the EU if Labour wins the election.

A YouGov poll for the Times today indicates that two thirds of the public and more than half of Labour voters think the party has no clear policy on Brexit, are not sure or picked the wrong option from a list.

In another snub to the outcome of the Brexit referendum, Labour will rule out limits on immigration, while saying numbers should be 'managed'.

The Prime Minister this week recommitted the Conservatives to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands.

PAYBACK FOR THE UNION BARONS WHO BACKED CORBYN Union barons who funded Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign and propped him in defiance of Labour MPs are set to get their pay back, the manifesto reveals. As well as imposing collective pay bargaining, the document reveals Labour would impose deals across entire industries  handing vast new powers to the union barons and driving up inflation. As a sop to the rail unions, driver-only trains would be banned. The promise to create an Orwellian sounding 'Ministry of Labour' to enforce workers' rights. And they want to crackdown on the flexible economy by banning zero hour contracts and unpaid internships. Advertisement

Mr Corbyn has previously indicated he wants unfettered migration to continue and been inconsistent on what he expects to happen to free movement rules after Brexit.

His manifesto says all EU migrants already here will be given automatic rights to stay  something Mrs May has refused to do as she wants to make sure the rights of British ex-pats are also secured.

The Labour document says: 'The Conservative government has scapegoated immigrants to divert from for their own failings and have made bogus promises on immigration.

'When politicians fan the flames of fear it has real consequences on both recently-arrived and long-settled communities.

'Today, the National Health Service, our social care providers and private companies across many sectors depend on the labour of migrant workers.

'We value those workers and we will never denigrate them.

'We also understand the importance of more skills training for British nationals, whatever their colour or creed.'

Labour campaign chief Ian Lavery (pictured today unveiling a Labour campaign billboard) has played down the impact of the leak

The extent of the pledges suggests Mr Corbyn's team believes it has nothing to lose in next month's election and can make a series of populist promises with little prospect of ever having to deliver them.

'THE LONGEST SUICIDE NOTE IN HISTORY' - THE 1983 MANIFESTO The 1983 39-page manifesto from Michael Foot, pictured, was dubbed the 'longest suicide note in history' due to its far left policies. Mr Corbyn's manifesto is four pages longer Michael Foot's 1983 General Election manifesto was a 39-page booklet that was derided for its socialist policies. Now Jeremy Corbyn is facing the same treatment for his campaign pledges, which run four pages longer than Mr Foot's. Called The New Hope for Britain, the 1983 manifesto called for unilateral nuclear disarmament, higher taxation on the rich, a withdrawal from the then European Economic Community, the abolition of the House of Lords, and the re-nationalisation of recently privatised industries including shipbulding, British Aerospace and British Telecom. But the policies put off voters and Margaret Thatcher led the Conservative Party to a resounding victory, boosted by her popularity over the Falklands War. Labour ended up securing just 28 per cent of the vote, while the Tories received 42 per cent. It meant the Conservatives gained almost 40 seats, while Labour lost 50, giving Mrs Thatcher a very comfortable 144-seat majority. The slogan itself was the brainchild of Labour MP Gerald Kaufman, displaying the resentment for Mr Foot's policies from within. After the defeat in 1983, Labour began a gradual shift towards the political centre ground, first under Neil Kinnock and then Tony Blair, eventually rising to power in the 1997 General Election. Advertisement

Moderates in Labour are bracing themselves for a heavy defeat as Mr Corbyn drives the party to the left but believe he must lose on his own terms.

The document reveals the depth of influence of the union barons who are bankrolling the party's election campaign.

A new Ministry of Labour will oversee the biggest boost to workers' rights in decades.

The plans reveal collective bargaining will be dramatically extended into more work place and laws designed to prevent damaging strikes will be rolled back.

Around 20billion a year will be raised by reversing the cuts to corporation tax introduced by the Tories since 2010.

Specific union demands have also been written in - including a ban on driver-only trains in the wake of the RMT and Aslef industrial action that has been blighting Southern and other rail franchises.

The proposals will horrify workers whose lives have been disrupted by extensive railway strikes despite the current tough laws.

There will be a further taxes on firms 'with high numbers of staff on very high pay' and a previously-announced tax on private health firms.

And new income taxes will be levied on workers earning more than 80,000 a year.

The 6billion raised by the tax hike will be ploughed directly into the NHS.

Other eye-catching measures include a promise to 'take energy back into public hands'.

While the existing power companies will be allowed to continue, a new publicly-owned competitor firm will be established in every region of the UK.

It suggests a Labour government would also take full control over the National Grid.

The draft manifesto pledges to bring the Royal Mail back into public ownership following the 'historic mistake' of the coalition government to sell it off.

Publicly-owned bus companies will be established, and railways renationalised as each private franchise expires with a pledge 'to repeal the Railways Act 1993 under which the Conservatives privatised the railways.'

Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured today campaigning in south London) is due back on the campaign trail today as the Tories mock the manifesto leak as a 'total shambles'

Mrs May will hope the astonishing leak of the Labour manifesto will bolster her commanding lead in the opinion polls ahead of the June 8 general election

Both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have launched into the campaign at a frantic pace since the shock call of a snap election last month

A Conservative spokesman said: 'This is a total shambles. Jeremy Corbyn's plans to unleash chaos on Britain have been revealed.

STEEP TAX RISES FOR BIG BUSINESS AND THE WEALTHY Labour's draft manifesto sets out plans to raise tax on big business and high-earners to fund an extensive programme of public service investment. As well as previously-announced plans to raise income tax on earnings over 80,000 and hike corporation tax, the document reveals a new proposal for an 'excessive pay levy' on companies with lots of staff on high salaries. And it pledges extra resources for HM Revenue and Customs to 'clamp down hard' on tax-dodging individuals and companies. Extra revenues will go on initiatives including a 6 billion boost in annual spending on the NHS, the abolition of university tuition fees, an extension of 30 free hours childcare to all two-year-olds, free school meals for primary pupils and a maximum class size of 30 for 5-7 year-olds. Advertisement

'The commitments in this dossier will rack up tens of billions of extra borrowing for our families and will put Brexit negotiations at risk.

'Jobs will be lost, families will be hit and our economic security damaged for a generation if Jeremy Corbyn and the coalition of chaos are ever let anywhere near the keys to Downing Street.'

Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, told the Standard: 'Millions of voters may well see this as the most expensive suicide note in history  even if many in Jeremy Corbyn's inner circle are more focused on a Labour revolution'

Professor Tony Travers, of the government department at the London School of Economics, said: 'Inevitably people will speak about longest suicide notes.

'This may be judged also to be the most expensive one.

'The apparent cost of the total of all the commitments would place an implausible burden on a very small group of taxpayers  many of whom are the best able to move their job or avoid at least part of the burden.'

Labour says Brexit might NOT happen as poll finds most voters have NO IDEA where party stands on the issue

Jeremy Corbyn has again raised the prospect of blocking Brexit after the leaked manifesto ruled out leaving the EU with no deal.

The document says that no deal is the 'worst possible' situation for Britain and would damage the economy.

The position leaves Mr Corbyn open to the accusation he could be held to ransom by Brussels, as he has effectively told them his bottom line in negotiations.

Theresa May has been careful to stress that she is willing to walk away from the table if the EU tries to impose punitive arrangements.

Mr Corbyn, pictured with Labour supporters in Rotherham yesterday, ruled out leaving the EU without a deal, according to the leaked manifesto

The Prime Minister has argued that without the option of walking away, Britain's negotiating hand is severely weakened.

But the draft Labour manifesto says: 'Labour recognises that leaving the EU with 'no deal' is the worst possible deal for Britain and would do damage to our economy and trade.

'We will reject 'no deal' as a viable and negotiate transitional arrangements to avoid a cliff-edge for the UK economy.'

It also promises an MPs' vote on the final deal  raising the prospect Brexit could be abandoned if Remain-supporting Labour MPs refuse to approve it.

Mr Corbyn sparked confusion earlier this week when he refused seven times to confirm that Britain would definitely leave the EU if Labour wins the election.

A YouGov poll for the Times today indicates that two thirds of the public and more than half of Labour voters think the party has no clear policy on Brexit, are not sure or picked the wrong option from a list.

In another snub to the outcome of the Brexit referendum, Labour will rule out limits on immigration, while saying numbers should be 'managed'.

The Prime Minister this week recommitted the Conservatives to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands.

Mr Corbyn has previously indicated he wants unfettered migration to continue.

LABOUR SAYS IT WILL RENEW TRIDENT - BUT CORBYN MAKES CLEAR HE WOULD NEVER USE IT The draft manifesto lays bare the weakness at the heart of Labour's positions on defence. Despite Jeremy Corbyn's support for unilateral disarmament, the document says the party backs renewing Trident. But the leader is trying to insist on a get-out clause of a 'full' defence review, and the draft makes clear he would never use nuclear weapons - totally undermining the principle of the deterrent. It also stresses that the Army would only be sent to war as a last resort under Labour. Mr Corbyn has indicated he would not approve strikes against terrorists, and voted against bombing ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria. Setting out the party's defence policy, the manifesto says: 'Labour supports the renewal of the Trident submarine system. 'But any prime minister should be extremely cautious about ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction which would result in the indiscriminate killing of millions of innocent civilians.' Labour would be 'extremely cautious' about using the Trident submarine system, according to the leaked manifesto. Pictured is the Trident-class Vanguard Labour will lead multilateral efforts with international partners and the UN to create a nuclear-free world. There are fears that the party may shy from intervention in conflicts such as Syria having pledged to only deploy the Army once 'all options have been exhausted'. Mr Corbyn clashed with his then shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn over whether to launch air strikes in Syria in 2015 after he called on his MPs to block the Government plan, which was supported by Mr Benn. The Labour leader was recently slapped down by his own defence spokeswoman, Nia Griffith, after he hinted a commitment to Trident might not be included in the manifesto. Ms Griffith said Trident was 'vital' to the UK's defence despite her leader's opposition. Advertisement

Where's Jeremy? Corbyn pulls out of poster launch after leak of 'longest suicide note' Labour manifesto

Labour went into meltdown today after its entire manifesto was leaked a week early -including vows to nationalise industry, scrap strike laws and hammer business.

Activists looked bewildered after Jeremy Corbyn pulled out of a poster launch in the wake of the draft emerging.

The document sets out the most left-wing election platform for decades, in what amounts to a 'wish list' for the leader's union paymasters.

Mr Lavery told reporters at the poster launch today was pleased about the leak because it meant people would talk about the manifesto

Workers on more than 80,000 a year would be hit by a 6billion tax raid, although a spending splurge on scrapping tuition fees, education, the NHS and pensions would cost many times that.

The blueprint also hints that Brexit could be blocked, makes clear there should be no limits on immigration - and calls for restrictions on inflows that are currently in place to be lifted.

The 43-page manifesto is the most radical since Michael Foot's in 1983, which was dubbed 'the longest suicide note in history'.

As a bitter blame game began over who was behind the leak this morning, Labour's election coordinator Andrew Gwynne admitted it was 'not ideal'.
A foreign fighter plane came within 800ft of a head-on collision with an RAF jet over the North Yorkshire Moors, an investigation has revealed.

A supersonic F15 was one of two being flown by an unnamed foreign air force over Britain when they nearly crashed into the British Hawk, which was flying out of RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire.

A report by UK Airprox Board, which investigates mid-air near-misses, found one of the F15s changed course to avoid the Hawk, a plane used by the Red Arrows and for RAF training, but the other did not.

An investigation has found a foreign F15 fighter jet came with 800ft of crashing with an RAF Hawk (left) in a mid-air near-miss over North Yorkshire

Radar information showed there was 800ft separating the two jets and the Hawk pilot deemed the risk of collision as 'high'.

An Occurrence Safety Investigation (OSI) was convened at RAF Leeming and the Airprox report stated: 'The OSI determined that there was a loss of safe separation between the Hawk.

'Contributory factors included communication between air fraffic control and aircrew, the use of secondary radar to provide surveillance and the lack of a collision warning system on the Hawk.'

In a summary of the Airprox board's discussions, concerns were raised about the actions of the pilot in the second F15.

The air force flying the F15 has not been identified, but the US air force does fly the supersonic jets out of British air bases

The British Hawk aircraft is one of the UK's most iconic jets as it used by the Red Arrows

It states: 'The lead F15 pilot saw the Hawk and manoeuvred away, but even with updated traffic information, the [second] pilot thought that the separation was adequate and was content to maintain his heading.

'The board were somewhat perplexed by this and wondered why the F15 pilot didn't just manoeuvre to follow his lead to ensure a decent amount of separation.

'In particular, members with fast-jet experience wondered why a pilot would chose to fly head-on directly over the top of another climbing fast-jet aircraft without knowing the intentions of its pilot.'

The report added: 'Had the Hawk pilot manoeuvred unexpectedly, there was little the F15 pilot could have done about it and, even given that this had not happened, the Hawk pilot's bunt (turning manoeuvre) had probably been the one action that had prevented this from being a much more serious outcome.

'Therefore the risk was assessed as Category B, safety much reduced below the norm.'
A lesbian has been granted the rights of a husband in a bitter custody battle after a judge initially rejected her role as parent to an artificially conceived child.

Erica and Sabrina Witt married in Washington, D.C, in April 2014 and Sabrina gave birth to a girl through a sperm donor a year later - who Erica never formally adopted.

A Tennessee judge initially ruled that Erica had no parental rights to the child as she did not meet the legal definition of 'husband'.

But after furious backlash over the same-sex case, the judge changed his mind, granted the divorce and agreed that Sabrina and Erica Witt could split custody.

Erica Witt (pictured) has been granted the rights of a husband in a bitter custody battle after she was initially denied parental rights to a child conceived by artificial insemination

Erica and Sabrina Witt married in April 2014 and Sabrina became pregnant through sperm donor, giving birth to a girl a year later - who Erica never formally adopted. A Tennessee judge initially ruled that Erica had no parental rights to the child as she did not meet the legal definition of 'husband' (pictured, Erica weeping in court after the first ruling)

The same-sex divorce and custody case became a political flashpoint and was targeted by dozens of conservative lawmakers who tried to intervene in the case.

In the first ruling of its kind, the Knox County judge initially said that because she is a woman who legally married a woman, state law does not confer to her the power of decision-making over the child or the obligation to provide financial support for the girl.

'I believe this is a situation where (Erica Witt) has no biological relationship with this child, has no contractual relationship with this child,' 4th Circuit Court Judge Greg McMillan ruled.

She said Erica is not the legal parent of the child. She has the rights of a stepparent, but not a full, biological parent.

The attorneys for the two women did not respond to calls seeking comment Wednesday.

'There hasn't been a case before on these facts, where the parties were legally married, and there was an artificial insemination, and a child was born during the marriage, and the parties lived together, and raised the child together, and then there's a divorce,' Erica's attorney Virginia Schwamm told WBIR.

Schwamm had asked the judge to use the state's existing child custody laws in the case, and apply 'spouse and spouse' where the language specified 'mother and father' or 'husband and wife.'

'He didn't think he could extend the law the way we were asking him to, and so he stuck with a very narrow ruling,' Schwamm said.

Last Tuesday state legislature was pushing through a bill that gay rights groups say encourages judges to deny rights to same-sex couples when defining words such as 'husband' and 'wife' or 'father' and 'mother.'

Tennessee state law is clear on custody between a man and a woman's biological child - but the Witts' situation is new territory.

But after furious backlash over the same-sex case, the judge changed his mind, granted the divorce and approved a plan for Sabrina and Erica Witt to split custody

The case of the two women whose marriage fell apart became not just a private family matter but one where state officials repeatedly butted in.

Dozens of Tennessee lawmakers filed court papers to intervene in the case.

They were represented by the head of Family Action Council of Tennessee, which supports one-man, one woman marriage. The lawmakers argued that they had to protect their ability to set domestic policy.

However, Knox County Circuit Court Judge Greg McMillan repeatedly refused to let them intervene.

The Tennessee attorney general's office also got involved in the divorce case, arguing that Tennessee law should not be interpreted in a way that runs afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

One of the state's largest LGBT rights organizations says the legislators should have minded their own business and not interfered in one of the most important and personal decisions a couple can make.

'What's next?' Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, asked.

'Are they going to pick and choose other marriages and other divorces to get involved in? It's really startling.'

But David Fowler, president of Family Action Council, said in an email that the judge was right the first time when he initially decided against one of the women and ruled that the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage couldn't be broadened in the Tennessee case.

The lawmakers are appealing the judge's decision denying them intervention in the case.

Fowler has said publicly that his organization is challenging the assumption that the Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage changed state laws.

It supported a newly enacted statute that tells Tennessee judges to use the 'natural and ordinary meaning' of words that are otherwise undefined in state law.

Those words include 'husband' and 'wife.'

The new law tries to circumvent the protections that the U.S. Supreme court gave to same-sex couples, Sanders said.

Four married lesbian couples expecting children through artificial insemination filed a lawsuit Monday over concerns that the new law could strip them of their parental rights.
A man on trial for his role in the murder of Curtis Cheng had pictures of Lindt Cafe siege gunman Man Haron Monis on his computer, a court heard.

Mustafa Dirani, 23, is facing a joint committal hearing accused of firearm supply, and of conspiring with others to aid and abet the preparation of the October 2015 shooting of the NSW Police employee.

Prosecutors say Dirani provided cover and counter-surveillance when his co-accused Raban Alou was allegedly given the murder weapon by Talal Alameddine at Merrylands in western Sydney, a short time before Mr Cheng was shot.

Mustafa Dirani (pictured) is accused of helping plot the murder of Curtis Cheng in Sydney

He had pictures of Lindt Cafe siege gunman Man Haron Monis (pictured) on his computer, a court heard

Crown prosecutor Paul McGuire SC showed the Downing Centre Local Court a sample of extremist material that police had found on Dirani's mobile phone and laptop.

Among the images and videos of Islamic State fighters, Osama bin Laden, the September 11 attacks, executions and other extremist violence were two pictures of Monis.

The images were found 10 months after Monis held 18 people hostage in Sydney's Lindt Cafe in December 2014; the siege left three dead including the gunman.

Monis held 8 people hostage in Sydney's Lindt Cafe in December 2014

The siege lasted 16 hours, shut down the Sydney CBD, and left three dead including the gunman

Mr McGuire said it could be inferred from all the material that Dirani 'was at least aware of these extremist views'.

The court has previously been shown a video Dirani made of himself warning 'all the pigs out there ... we're coming for you'.

Two days before Mr Cheng's death, Dirani also posted photos to an online forum that appeared to show policemen being executed.

Dirani allegedly kept watch while the murder weapon that killed Mr Cheng (pictured) was exchanged

Curtis Cheng was shot dead outside the Parramatta police station on October 5, 2015

Khalil Mohammad Jabar, 15, was the one who shot and killed Cheng before being killed by police

A bloodstained letter was found in the alleged gunman's pocket after he was shot dead

Mr McGuire said this post went further and showed Dirani was aligned with extremist views.

Defence barrister Peter McGrath SC acknowledged Dirani had 'a complete catalogue' of IS material but questioned whether there was any independent evidence that he was involved in the terror plot.

'Possession of all this material... is not of itself illegal,' Mr McGrath said.

Dirani also allegedly had photos of ISIS fighters on his laptop along with execution videos

Photos of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York were also among his files

He also had photos of former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden saved

The Crown is relying on surveillance footage of Dirani at the scene when the murder weapon was allegedly handed over and on a cryptic conversation with Alou that referenced 'the brother', 'Parra' and 'the mosque'.

Magistrate Clare Farnan is yet to decide whether Dirani and alleged co-conspirators Alou, 19, and Milad Atai, 21, should be committed to trial.

On Thursday morning, she committed Alameddine to stand trial on six charges, including acquiring a pistol, supplying a pistol, and aiding and abetting Alou to prepare or plan a terrorist act.
High Court judge Mr Justice Haddon-Cave has made what is thought to be the largest divorce award in British legal history in the case of an oil trader and his ex-wife

An oil trader who built up a fortune in a Russian energy business has been ordered to pay his estranged wife 453million by a divorce court judge.

Senior judger Mr Justice Haddon-Cave made the ruling following a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The judge has not named anyone involved in the ruling but said the man was 61 and was born in the Caucasus and his ex-wife was 44 and from eastern Europe.

The award is thought to be the biggest ever made by a UK divorce court judge.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said the man had worked in London as an oil and gas trader and had been very successful in pursuing business interests in the energy sector in Russia.

Nearly five years ago the man had sold shares in a Russian company for 1.3 billion US dollars.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said the man had been 'very generous with gifts'.

He had bought his ex-wife jewellery worth more than 300,000 and given her unrestricted use of two credit cards and use of a yacht, plane and helicopter.

He also had property, an art collection worth more than 90 million and a 350,000 Aston Martin, the court heard.

The award of 453million comes in the case of an oil trader and his ex-wife

The judge said the art collection and car would be transferred to the woman as part of the payout package.

The woman had been a 'housewife and mother' throughout the 20-year marriage and she still lived at the home they had shared in Surrey.



She contended that the 'total net marital wealth' was just over 1billion and that their entire wealth was 'matrimonial in character', having been built up during a long marriage through 'equal contributions to the welfare of the family'.

The man had argued that he was wealthy before they married and that he had made a 'special contribution' to the creation of wealth.

The court heard the oil and gas trader had made his money from selling shares in a Russian firm

The wealthy husband had bought his children flats in a luxury London development costing 29million and 7.2million, the court heard.

She was not in court on Thursday to see Mr Justice Haddon-Cave deliver his ruling.

But he mysteriously pulled out of the proceedings two weeks before and planned hearing and had not appeared at the final hearing of the case, the court heard.

In late 2014, Jamie Cooper-Hohn, wife of financier Sir Chris Hohn, was awarded more than 330million.

Legal experts said the Cooper-Hohn award was 'certainly' one of the biggest made in the UK.

But they said because family litigation was often conducted at private hearings, it was hard to be certain what a payout league table would look like.

Three years earlier, Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky featured in a multi-million pound divorce case. It was reported that his former wife Galinan Besharova had agreed to accept between 165million and 220million as part of a settlement.
Boeing has grounded the test flights of its new 85 million 737 MAX aircraft over engine fears.

The delay comes days before the firm was due to deliver its first 737 MAX to an airline and marks a disruption to a program that Boeing had said was ahead of schedule.

But the company said it was sticking with plans to begin deliveries this month, adding that production of the jets would continue.

Scroll down for video

Boeing have grounded the new 737 MAX over engine fears

The engine of a Boeing 737X jetliner

The inside of the engine of a Boeing Co. 737 Max 9 jetliner is seen at the company's manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, U.S

The 737 MAX 9 completed a successful maiden flight in April. The plane can carry almost 200 passengers

Boeing Co. is laying plans to expand the family of 737 Max jetliners with a new version tailor-made for transcontinental flights

It poses no safety concerns for travellers because no airlines are yet flying the 737 MAX.

Boeing says it was notified last week of a potential issue involving turbine engine discs manufactured by a supplier to CFM International - the joint venture between US firm General Electric (GE) and French-based Safran.

CFM International said it has not experienced any problems with the discs during more than 2,000 hours of testing.

The new MAX fleet is designed to be a more fuel-efficient version and replaces Boeing's previous 737 model which has been a best-seller for the aerospace giant.

The 737 MAX 8, the first version of the plane to be built, could carry 162 passengers with a price tag of $110 million (85 million).

The next model, the 737 MAX 9, completed a successful maiden flight last month.

Take off: Boeing 737 MAX 9 on its successful maiden flight in April

A Boeing Co. 737 MAX 9 jetliner sits on the production floor at the company's manufacturing facility in Washington

Malaysian airline Malindo Air was set to receive the first 737 MAX on Monday to be used for its Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route from May 19.

American Airlines, Southwest, and China's Shandong Airlines are among those who have also placed orders.

Boeing and engine makers CFM also said they don't know how long the delay will last.
Slumped in their chairs and looking at their phones, Malcolm Turnbull's front bench looked less than impressed as Bill Shorten gave his Federal Budget Reply.

The Opposition leader delivered a heated reply to the 2017 budget, calling it an 'admission of guilt', but his words appeared to have had no impact on his front bench audience.

However, Mr Shorten had one captivated audience member, as wife Chloe dazzled in a gold ensemble, later seen smiling as she congratulated her husband at the House of Representatives in Canberra on Thursday.

Slumped in their chairs and looking at their phones, Malcolm Turnbull's front bench appear less than impressed as Bill Shorten delivered his Federal Budget Reply

Mr Shorten had at least one captivated audience member, as wife Chloe (pictured) dazzled in a gold ensemble

Bill Shorten says Labor will only back the government's 0.5 per cent increase to the Medicare levy to Australians in the top two tax brackets, who earn upwards of $87,000.

The federal opposition leader has also committed to keeping the coalition's budget repair levy on high-income earners, and says his party will back a $6.2 billion tax on the big banks.

Mr Shorten says independent costings show his plan to hit the rich with a Medicare hike will deliver more revenue than the government's plan over the medium term without burdening families earning modest incomes.

'This is the fair and responsible way forward,' Mr Shorten said during his budget reply speech on Thursday night.

He said the Turnbull government's proposed Medicare levy hike would hit people earning as little as $21,000 and see a worker earning $55,000 pay an extra $275 per year.

Chloe Shorten congratulating her husband and Leader of the Opposition after he delivered his 2017-18 Federal Budget Reply speech

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten during House of Representatives question time at Parliament House

Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne arrive to listen to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Thursday

'Labor cannot support making people on modest incomes give up more of their pay packet, especially when this budget goes out of its way to give taxpayer money to millionaires and multinationals,' he said.

Treasurer Scott Morrison's second budget signalled the end to the two per cent budget deficit levy, which was temporarily put in place in 2014 to help balance the books.

But Labor believes that with the deficit for 2017/18 being 10 times worse than the Liberals' first budget predicted, now is not the time to remove the levy.

Mr Shorten later told the ABC a future Labor government would consider scrapping the deficit levy once the budget reached a surplus.

Chloe Shorten listens intently as the Opoosition Leader says Labor will only back the government's 0.5 per cent increase to the Medicare levy to Australians in the top two tax brackets

Bill Shorten also announced Labor would cap the amount people can deduct for the management of their tax affairs at $3000

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull listens to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten deliver his budget reply address

Bill Shorten also announced Labor would cap the amount people can deduct for the management of their tax affairs at $3000 in a bid to stop people exploiting holes in the tax net.

'The days of earning millions and paying nothing are over no matter who you are,' he told MPs.

So too would Labor introduce a new set of laws targetting those who 'aggressively minimise' their tax by hiding money in offshore tax havens.

Mr Shorten said Labor would oppose funding cuts to universities and increases in student fees.

He also committed Labor to restoring $22 billion he says the government has stripped from schools and $600 million torn from TAFE.

The opposition will not support setting aside $170 million for a same-sex marriage plebiscite.

'This parliament should do its job and get on with making marriage equality a reality in Australia,' Mr Shorten said.
A dashcam has captured the shocking moment a drone crashes into a car travelling 70km/h over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Scott Hillsley's car was struck as he was driving home from the North Shore Hospital where coincidentally he is a trauma nurse.

'If I had been one second faster that would have penetrated the window and you would have a fatality, a head-on collision', Mr Hillsley told the Sydney Morning Herald.

A drone has crashed into a car travelling 70km/h while crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Drone struck the car of Scott Hillsley and smashed through the bonnet into the car engine

Initially he believed someone had thrown 'a rock' at his car, but upon taking the car to a smash repairer they found 'pieces of a camera in the engine.'

'Two cars at 70km/h is an impact of 140km/h.

'That will kill you.'

Mr Hillsley will have to pay $1000 in insurance to repair his Suzuki Ignis unless the owner of the drone comes forward.

The airspace above the Sydney Harbour Bridge is restricted and people have to secure permission before flying in the area.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge connects the northern and southern suburbs of Sydney

More than 150,000 cars travel across the Harbour Bridge each day

Drone have become an increasing issue for regulators attempting to enforce laws

This is the second reported incident involving a drone hitting a car on the Harbour Bridge in the past year, and regulators are keen to make steps in better identifying owners of the device.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority receive multiple complaints a day relating to drones and issue penalties for their misuse.

A man was fined $540 by the regulators in March after flying his drone over Sydney Harbour without permission from the body.



Pieces of the drone broke off and scattered across the road as vehicles drive past

Sydney Harbour is a restricted airfield and you must secure permission before using drone
Two teenagers were stabbed multiple times by a Middle Eastern man at train station in Western Sydney.

The pair in their late teens were rushed to Liverpool Hospital after the stabbing at Bankstown station's taxi rank just before 7.15pm on Thursday.

One of the boys had multiple stab wounds to his torso and the other a minor single wound to his groin area. Their conditions were not yet known.

Two teenagers were stabbed multiple times by a Middle Eastern man at train station in Western Sydney

One of the boys (L) had multiple stab wounds to his torso and the other a minor single wound to his groin area. Their conditions were not yet known

Police and emergency services were called to North Terrace by the station and the whole area was taped off as officers investigated.

The teens described their attacker as a man of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance wearing a grey Adidas-brand hoodie, black track pants, and joggers.

He may be with three women wearing dark-coloured clothing.

Bankstown Station passengers were told the North Terrace exit was closed 'due to a police operation'.
Advertisement

A four-bedroom house in converted stables set on a sprawling country estate said to be where Adolf Hitler planned to live after the Nazi invasion of the UK is on the market.

The stunning, Grade-II listed castle in the Apley Hall estate is on the market for 350,000, and sits in 17 acres of parkland where Hitler wanted to live.

The impressive building is set in 17 acres of communal parkland, comprising of four floors, with its own turret and ticking tower clock.

This Gothic fairy tale castle is the converted stables of Apley Hall and estate, set in 17 acres of parkland in Bridgnorth, Shropshire

Now a four-bedroom home, it's on the market for 350,000. The family kitchen includes a breakfast bar and stylish fittings

There are two additional reception rooms at the property, including this spacious family rooms, with tall ceilings and an airy feel

Entertain guests in this grand dining room, with high ceilings and a stone floor. There's also a study room which can be an extra bedroom if needed

The estate, which has had several owners since it was first developed in the 1600s, is referred to in Nazi documents when Hitler was preparing to invade Britain.

Historians believe the dictator took an interest in the hall, in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, as it was geographically in the middle of England.

According to Historians, a lot of Hitler's attention was focused around Bridgnorth as it was close to an airbase.

Hitler's home? The dictator set out plans to invade Britain after it did not fall following the French invasion and is believed to have set his sights on Apley Hall

The main bedroom is on the top floor of the home, in the grand turret, and makes a bold impression with its Gothic window features

The master bedroom has an en-suite but there is also a large family bathroom to make sure there's plenty of room for a growing family

The Grade-II listed property is within the grounds of Apley Hall, where Hitler set his sights for life after the invasion of Britain, that he hoped would be a success in 1940

HITLER AND THE INVASION OF BRITAIN In July 1940, Adolf Hitler issued his Fuhrer directive number 16, which included instructions to invade Britain. It was also known as Operation Sealion. The plan was to land with a surprise crossing stretching from Ramsgate on the Kent coastline, to the Isle of Wight. As part of the directive, the English channel was to be swept for mines, and the morale of the forces so beaten down, they could not offer any fightback. The Strait of Dover was going to be blocked at either end by their own German mines. He also planned to have the Royal Navy too preoccupied in the North Sea and the Mediterranean to intervene. None of it could have gone ahead before the RAF was defeated though, as he did not want them to be able to fire back from the air. Hitler had expected the UK would fall once France had, and didn't expect to have to keep fighting. Sealion was postponed in September the same year and never put into action. Advertisement

It was believed Hitler planned to invade Britain in 1940 and did a lot of research into the area, intending to set up a camp at the property built in 1811.

The Gothic revival house has four bedrooms, featuring exposed brickwork and a crucifix window, as well as a 360 degree view of the estate.

In the living room, the new owner can light a log burning fire to warm up in winter, and entertain guests with two main reception rooms.

It even has its own vineyard.

Estate agent, Scott Kemsley said: 'This is a very unique and well-presented property, situated within a courtyard, with fantastic parkland walks.

'The facilities of Bridgnorth and Telford are both within an easy commute, as are the major road networks.'

In 2012, historian Richard Westwood-Brookes, revealed: 'As far-fetched as it may sound, the papers, which were marked 'top secret, earmarked a place in the middle of nowhere where Hitler hoped to set up camp during his planned invasion.

'It was widely believed that Hitlers invasion was timed for 1940 but that he scrapped the idea after the RAF fended off the Luftwaffe over Kent.

'The fact that some of these documents date from 1941, a year after the Battle of Britain, clearly shows that Hitler never abandoned the plan.

'To go to so much trouble in researching Bridgnorth and the surrounding area indicated that the Nazis saw the town as of key importance for something.'

Apley estate was originally in the ownership of Sir William Whitmore, who owned it from around 1600 until his descendants sold it to William Orme Foster in 1868.

The new homeowner can enjoy scenic parkland from the moment they step out of their front door, with 17 acres surrounding the hall

It is thought Hitler had eyed up the estate because it is based centrally in England, and has good connections, as well as being close to an airfield

The main grand home in Shropshire, just seven miles from Bridgnorth, a surprising place for the leader to have wanted to base his home and operations

The spectacular building has changed hands several times over the years, and was once a boarding school for the county council before it was sold on again

The house, commissioned by Thomas Whitmore in 1811, was designed to look like a romantic castle overlooking the River Severn. The hall boasted not only opulent fittings and furniture but also games and billiard rooms

The estate was said to have been allowed to deteriorate and the Fosters had to invest a great deal of money to bring the home back up to scratch.

But when the last member of the Foster family died in 1960, it stood empty, with alternative uses even including a temporary stint as a boarding school.

It was bought in 1997 by Neil Avery, an entrepreneur who invested in the estate to bring it back to its former glory. It was sold again in 2004, to private investors who divided the estate into separate houses.

Hitler had laid out plans to invade Britain in 1940, through his directive number 16. He had believed Allied Forces would be brought to their knees by the invasion of France, but Britain kept fighting.

It planned an invasion along the south coast, stretching from Ramsgate to the Isle of Wight. In a note to his generals, he wrote: 'Since England, in spite of her hopeless military situation, shows no signs of being ready to come to an understanding, I have decided to prepare a landing operation against England and, if necessary, to carry it out.'
These are the sickening injuries caused when a thug repeatedly smashed a woman's face with a broken mug as she tried to stop him stamping on his girlfriend's head.

Faye Sharp, 24, was left with horrific permanent facial injuries after she leapt to her friend's safety in a bid to stop Karl Gates' violent attack.

Gates, 26, had set upon his partner Jodie Morley and turned on mother-of-one Miss Sharpe when she tried to protect her friend.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how Gates grabbed Miss Sharpe before putting her in a headlock and repeatedly smashed a broken mug into her face.

These are the sickening injuries caused when a thug repeatedly smashed a woman's face with a broken mug as she tried to stop him stamping on his girlfriend's head

Faye Sharp, 24, was left with horrific permanent facial injuries (pictured left and right) after she leapt to her friend's safety in a bid to stop Karl Gates' violent attack

Miss Sharpe required 23 stitches and has now been left with permanent scars after she received multiple blows.

The court heard Gates, who had been drinking, took Miss Sharpe's VW Beetle and crashed it in a bush for a 'joke' shortly before attacking both women.

The trio had been drinking in pubs in Emsworth, Hants, shortly before Gates attacked them at his and Miss Morley's home in the same town.

Gates was jailed for six years and five months after he admitted wounding with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and taking a vehicle without the owner's consent following the incident in February.

The court also heard after the attack Gates claimed 'he knew someone who would kill the girls' and made threats to them.

Judge Linda Sullivan QC said: 'When she [Miss Sharpe] came back she heard screams and shouts and went upstairs to find you with your partner on the bed and you were stamping on her head.

Gates, 26, had set upon his partner Jodie Morley (pictured right, with her mother Lorraine Sharpe) and turned on mother-of-one Miss Sharpe when she tried to protect her friend

'Miss Sharpe, in order to help her friend from being further injured, intervened whereupon you put her in a headlock and obtained a mug, which presumably must have been broken, and then repeatedly smashed Miss Sharpe's face.

'When one sees the photographs there are a large number of cuts.'

The judge added: 'You then implied threats to kill both of them saying you knew someone who would, and threats they would be harmed - both the victims - if they were to tell anyone.'

Gates, who has 22 convictions for 35 offences, ran off after the incident in the early hours of February 12, sparking a police appeal, and wasn't found for another three days.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how Gates (pictured) grabbed Miss Sharpe before putting her in a headlock and repeatedly smashed a broken mug into her face

Miss Sharpe, who wept in the public gallery as Gates was jailed, required more than 23 stitches but didn't want to have her head shaved.

In a statement read by prosecutor James Kellam she said: 'At the time of the assault I thought I was going to die.

'I didn't think Karl was ever going to stop hitting me. Thinking about the assault I do feel worse than ever, I can't sleep, I have nightmares.'

Judge Sullivan QC said Miss Sharpe had suffered 'significant' psychological harm as well as the physical scars to her face.

She said: 'Every time she looks in the mirror she is reminded of it and has nightmares about it.'

The court heard Gates told a probation officer he acted in self-defence, but the judge rejected this.

Detective Constable Lucia Davies, of Hampshire police, said: 'This was a particularly horrific assault against two young women.

'Thankfully it was an isolated incident, however one victim has sustained some scarring, which will be a constant reminder of the assault.

'I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the community who provided us with information as to Gates' whereabouts and also to the victims and their family for the courage that they have shown since this assault.

'I hope today's sentence and Gates' admission of guilt provides the victims with some comfort and that it will help to put the incident behind them.'
Theresa Stroble, of Duncan, South Carolina, had 56 students on her bus when she heard two ninth graders start yelling about seeing smoke on Tuesday morning

A school bus driver in South Carolina has been called a 'hero' after ushering 56 students off of her bus before it burst into flames.

Theresa Stroble, of Duncan, had 56 students from Duncan Elementary, Beech Springs Intermediate and Byrnes High School on her bus when she heard two ninth graders start yelling about seeing smoke on Tuesday morning.

The seven-year veteran bus driver quickly stopped her bus, ushered her students off the bus and radioed the transportation office to call 911 before the bus went down in flames.

Firefighters arrived at the scene minutes later and put out the fire. No one was injured.

Officials from the South Carolina Department of Education and local fire departments are investigating how the fire started on the bus, which was owned by the state of South Carolina.

The seven-year veteran bus driver quickly stopped her bus, ushered her students off the bus and radioed the transportation office to call 911 before the bus went down in flames (pictured above)

Officials from the South Carolina Department of Education and local fire departments are investigating how the fire started on the bus, which was owned by the state of South Carolina. Pictured above, the damaged bus after the incident

Duncan Fire Chief Barry Frost said officials were looking into a heater mounted under a seat in the passenger area of the bus.

District Five Schools of Spartanburg County superintendent Scott Turner praised Stroble's quick-thinking actions.

He said on Twitter that she evacuated the students 'in under a minute' and that he was 'so grateful for her quick action'.

'She did exactly what she was trained to do,' he told WSPA.

Duncan Fire Chief Barry Frost said officials were looking into a heater mounted under a seat in the passenger area of the bus. Pictured above, the damaged bus after the incident

District Five Schools of Spartanburg County superintendent Scott Turner praised Stroble's quick-thinking actions. Pictured above, the damaged bus following the fire

District Five Schools of Spartanburg County, where Stroble is also a teaching assistant, released a statement calling the bus driver a 'hero' following the incident. Pictured above, the damaged bus after the incident

'She was calm,' he added. 'She kept the students calm. She made sure they were safe. They were her first priority. She's our hero today.'

District Five Schools of Spartanburg County, where Stroble is also a teaching assistant, released a statement calling the bus driver a 'hero' following the incident.

The statement said Stroble 'did exactly as she was trained and quickly and calmly evacuated all 56 students from the bus, and got them to a safe location. She is a true hero!!!'

'We are so thankful for the quick action of the Duncan Fire Department in putting the fire out, and all district administrators who responded and helped with what could have been a very tragic situation.'
A black actor starring in a play about racism was stopped and quizzed by police who thought he was a drug dealer.

Oraine Johnson was stood outside the theatre where he was performing in a production of 'Sorry! No Coloureds, No Irish, No Dogs' when a police car drove by and stopped.

Mr Johnson, 31, was on the phone to his brother at the time and was told by one of the policemen to hang up immediately.

The actor said the officers outside Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset, then explained there was a drug problem in the rural market town and that they were on the lookout for a black male thought to be a dealer.

Oraine Johnson, above, was quizzed by officers outside the theatre in Bridport, Dorset, where he was playing Second Lieutenant Walter Tull, the first black officer in the British Army

Mr Johnson, 31, right, plays Second Lieutenant Walter Tull, pictured left, who was the first black British Army officer and died in battle in the First World War in 1918

Mr Johnson explained he was a professional actor performing in a show that is aimed at stimulating discussion about racism, and then pointed to the poster with his face on behind him.

After the 'stop and account enquiry,' the officers returned to their car and drove off - but not before Mr Johnson advised them to watch the play.

Mr Johnson, from Birmingham, said he was shocked and saddened to be 'racially profiled' and claimed the officers had acted aggressively towards him.

He said: 'I was catching up with my brother, minding my own business, when the police car pulled up right in front of me.

The actor, pictured in rehearsals above, said the officers outside Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset, explained there was a drug problem in the rural market town and that they were on the lookout for a black male thought to be a dealer

Sorry! No Coloureds, No Irish, No Dogs, from the production company, Gazebo Theatre, brings together stories from historical black icons such as Mary Seacole and Walter Tull

'They said there had been drugs in the area and that they were looking for a black male who was selling. I was shocked.

'They basically said "you look like a drug dealer, what are you doing here?"

'I explained to them that I'm a professional actor performing in a show called 'Sorry! No Coloureds, No Irish, No Dogs'. I told them they should come and watch it.

'They were clearly put in their place because they went back to the car, but there was no apology or anything. And they kept on eyeballing me while I finished my phone call.

'I'm quite affected by what happened because it's a reminder that even though I've done everything right, like gone to school and become an actor, some people only see you for your skin colour.

'With that being said it definitely got me fired up for the show.

'These are things that happened to my father and grandfather, it's so sad that they're still happening now. We need to change perceptions.'

Sorry! No Coloureds, No Irish, No Dogs, from Wolverhampton-based production company Gazebo Theatre brings together stories from historical black icons including Mary Seacole and Walter Tull.

Pamela Cole-Hudson, chief executive and artistic director of the company, said: 'Incidents such as this are exactly what we aim to highlight.

Mr Johnson's play was performed at Bridport Arts Centre, pictured, last weekend

'For our actor to be racially profiled whilst preparing for a performance of a show exploring racism and discrimination is both sadly ironic and telling.

'Unfortunately it's clear racism is still alive and well.'

Bridport resident Peter Wilson, 66, watched the play and said Mr Johnson told the audience at the end of the performance what had happened.

He said: 'I went along because I was interested in the subject matter. At the end of the show Oraine got up and explained what had happened a few hours earlier.

'Given what the play was about it was very appropriate that he tell his story. He seemed very affected by it.'

Bridport Neighbourhood Inspector Neil Wood claims officers spoke to Mr Johnson in a 'routine stop and account enquiry' and denied that officers acted aggressively.

He said: 'Our local neighbourhood policing team was carrying out intelligence-led patrols in relation to specific issues of drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour in that area.

'Our officers conducted two other stop and account enquiries and one stop and search - these were with three white men.

'We have not received a direct complaint about this incident from the individual concerned, however, I will be making every effort to contact him in order to look into this matter further.'
Malcolm Turnbull says he is 'happy to take a drug test' after it was announced that people on welfare would be tested for illegal substances.

Beginning next year, 5000 Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients across three locations will be included in the two-year trial of drug testing.

Job seekers will be selected at random and tested for drugs including ecstasy, ice and marijuana.

Malcolm Turnbull says he is 'happy to take a drug test' after it was announced that people on welfare would be tested for illegal substances

A known 'pot-smoker', according to HuffPost, the Australian Prime Minister was questioned whether he would be prepared to take a drug test in order to keep his salary.

'I would be happy to undergo a drug test at anytime,' he told the publication.

'But I think the issue about welfare recipients is about protecting them.'

The Turnbull government says the trial is part of a suite of reforms to stop welfare payments being used to fuel drug and alcohol addictions.

Cashless welfare cards will also be expanded across two new locations, with the income management program extended for another two years to June 2019, after two test runs showed positive results for problem gambling and alcohol consumption.

'Theyll receive income, they'll get a cashless debit card which can be used for food and rent and all those essentials but it can't be used for buying drugs,' Mr Turnbull said.

Job seekers will be selected at random and tested for drugs including ecstasy, ice and marijuana (stock image)

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison (left) and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull leave after Question Time in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, the day after the budget

The 2017 Budget was handed down on Tuesday night (budget papers are pictured)

'If people have an alcohol or drug dependency that is preventing them from working then they need help  that will be done through this trial.'

Mr Turnbull further called the move compassionate and its supportive for those addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Welfare will be denied to people with disabilities caused solely by their own substance abuse.

Jacqui Lambie has supported calls for politicians to be drug tested just as welfare recipients will be under new Budget measures

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has supported calls for politicians to be drug tested just as welfare recipients will be under new Budget measures.

Ms Lambie backed the move to test young job seekers before claiming members of parliament should be subjected to the same rules.

'How come politicians and public servants aren't getting the same treatment and leading by example?' she said on Channel Seven's Sunrise program on Wednesday.

Asked if she wanted the same measures introduced in parliament, she responded: 'Yes. I do. If you think it is drug-free up here, you are kidding yourself.'
The battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State is set to be finished within days according to an Iraqi army chief.

Progress has been painstakingly slow in the war-ravaged city, but US-backed coalition forces were moving to surround Mosul's Old City on Thursday in what is being described as a final push.

The massive offensive to retake the city, involving some 30,000 Iraqi troops, was launched in October and Iraqi leaders originally pledged that Mosul would be retaken before 2017.

But the operation has been delayed by months with ISIS using civilians as a human shield and launching deadly car bomb counter attacks.

Up to 350,000 residents are now trapped in the Old City amid fierce fighting, according to the UN.

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A terrified-looking man pushes two children in a wheelchair as they flee heavy fighting between Islamic State militants and Iraqi special forces in Mosul, Iraq

Two men carry children on their shoulders as they flee Mosul in front of a huge toppled vehicle

Smoke rises during heavy fighting in the industrial area of west Mosul, Iraq, on Wednesday

A member of the Iraqi forces walks past a mural bearing the logo of the Islamic State logo in a tunnel that was reportedly used as a training centre by the jihadists

Iraqi special forces Lieutenant General Sami al-Arathi said battle plans had changed last week and troops are now entering from the north after Iraqi forces struggled to push into the Old City from the south.

Referring to ISIS by its Arabic name Daesh, he told the BBC: 'The security forces are carrying out a big and effective effort. I say that Daesh will be finished in days, God willing.'

As Iraqi army and federal police forces push from the north, the country's special forces are moving toward the Old City through Mosul's western industrial neighborhoods.

Smoke rises after an air strike on al-Haramat neighbourhood of Mosul

'The multi-axis advance has presented the enemy with more dilemmas than they can react to,' US-led coalition spokesman John Dorrian told reporters during a press conference Wednesday.

Dorrian said over the past week Iraqi forces retook more than 30 square kilometers (12 square miles) of terrain from ISIS.

Hundreds of civilians could be seen fleeing the fighting Thursday.

A Mosul woman was given a cigarette by an Iraqi soldier, another was handed a cane.

A handful of wounded civilians were evacuated from the front line, and a woman who appeared to have lost both her legs was rushed away on the hood of an armored vehicle.

The operation to retake Mosul began in October, and the eastern half of the city was retaken earlier this year.

The battle for the more densely populated western half, including the Old City, has been slower.

Mosul fell to ISIS nearly three years ago when the militant group blitzed into Iraq from neighboring Syria and took nearly a third of the country under its control.

Today a fraction of western Mosul is the last significant urban terrain IS holds in Iraq.

The UN estimates some 350,000 people remain trapped in terrorist-held parts of western Mosul.

Clashes over the past week have forced more than 11,000 civilians to flee.

Children flee with their families as coalition troops and Islamic State battled for Mosul Old City

A family flees heavy fighting between Islamic State militants and Iraqi special forces in Mosul

Members of the Iraqi forces' Emergency Response Division (ERD) regroup during their advance on the frontlines in west Mosul on May 6

The northern city is where Iraq-born ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - who has urged his men to defend Mosul to the death - made his only public appearance in 2014.

The front lines in western Mosul have inched forward for months as ISIS fighters have used a claustrophobic battle space and hundreds of thousands of civilians as human shields to slow Iraqi troops.

On the southern edge of Mosul's west, Iraq's federal police are just a few hundred meters (yards) from Mosul's al-Nuri mosque.

The mosque is a hugely symbolic prize as it is where al-Baghdadi made his rare public appearance in July 2014.

But the building lies inside Mosul's old city where some of the toughest fighting is expected to unfold due to the narrow streets, according to coalition officials.

Iraqi forces now appear to be moving to surround the old city before launching an operation to clear it.

The fight for Mosul's west has been slow and deadly to Iraqi forces and civilians caught in the crossfire.

The battle is believed to have left 774 Iraqi security forces dead and 4,600 wounded.

Iraq's military does not release casualty information for its forces.

The latest assault is aimed at sealing the siege of the Old City, where die-hard jihadists holding huge numbers of civilians hostage are preparing for a bloody last stand.
He's the man who makes a living peddling items for the world's most sadistic serial killers.

Eric Holler's Serial Killer Ink is billed as a 'true crime collectibles' site, selling the belongings and art of 'mass shooters, cannibals and necrophiles.'

The once-aspiring cop from Florida contacts inmates behind bars - including Australians Ivan Milat and John Bunting - to commission 'murderabilia'.

The 47-year-old told Daily Mail Australia he has no qualms paying bloodthirsty villains to 'help them out'. And he remains defiant in the face of the furore he's drawn.

Crime pays: Eric Holler (posing at the grave of US musician Leon wilkesonl) makes a living peddling items for the world's most infamous serial killers

Infamous: He said there is a huge demand for letters from infamous Australian killers like Ivan Milat

Milat's letters (pictured) have sold for sold for about $US350 each in the past

Mr Holler said there's a huge demand for letters from Milat and Bunting, known respectively for Belanglo backpacker and Snowtown massacres.

'There is a real interest in those guys. They're very popular in the US especially after the films about them.'

He said he sold about five Milats and one Bunting letters, which fetched about $US350 each.

'I don't have anything from them at the moment but I would love to get some more.'

Milat, known as the Backpacker Murderer, butchered seven people between 1989 and 1992 and buried their bodies in the Belango State Forest in southern NSW.

Five of the seven young men and woman Milat killed were backpackers travelling through outback Australia, including British nationals Caroline Clarke and Joanne Walters.

Walters was stabbed 35 times and Clarke had been shot 10 times in the head and both their bodies were found in September 1992.

His victims were kidnapped, raped, shot, and decapitated alive  earning him the title of Australia's most prolific serial killer.

Milat received seven life sentences and is now incarcerated in Australia's toughest prison, the High Risk Management Correctional Centre, known as Supermax, in the city of Goulburn south of Sydney.

Depraved: Milat shot to infamy after he mercilessly slaughtered seven backpackers in a vile killing spree

Lucrative: He said there is a huge demand for letters from the notorious Australian murderers

Bunting and his accomplice Robert Joe Wagner were convicted for 12 equally twisted murders between 1992 and 1999.

The bodies of the victims were stored in barrels and the pair moved the bodies numerous times, keeping the mutilated remains in places including a shed behind Bunting's house and in a Toyota Land Cruiser in Adelaide Plains.

In 1999, eight dismembered bodies were found in six barrels in a disused bank vault in Snowtown, a small town 145km north of Adelaide.

In the most gruesome evidence, jurors heard that Bunting and Wagner had fried and eaten their final victim's flesh, who was slain inside the Snowtown bank vault in 1999.

Sentencing, Justice Brian Martin stated that the men were 'in the business of killing for pleasure' and 'incapable of true rehabilitation.'

Bloodthirsty: John Bunting, known as the Snowtown murderer, and his accomplice Robert Joe Wagner were convicted for 12 murders between 1992 and 1999

Mr Holler poses with 'Vampire Murderer' Roderick Ferrell, who pleaded guilty to the double slaying of a couple from Florida in 1998

Despite the macabre reputations of the criminals he commissions, Mr Holler prides his work.

'I'm proud of what we do. We spearheaded the movement and now we're the world's biggest true crime collectibles company,' he said.

Charles Manson items are the biggest seller, but he also makes a tidy sum from signed photographs, costumes and sinister crime-scene memorabilia.

'There was one Aurora Theatre massacre survivor. She contacted me wanting to sell bullet pellets removed from her body to cover her medical costs.'

'We sold the pellets, then her bullet-riddled purse and jacket. She ended up making $6000 dollars, all of which I gave to her. It was one of my proudest moments.'

Unsurprisingly, Mr Holler has drawn the ire of many - but he's showing no signs of slowing down his life's work.

'I can't stop what I'm doing because people don't like it. They have ever every right to voice their thoughts, scream at the top of their lungs, but in the end of the day this is 100 per cent legal.'

Here he is pictured with a man dubbed the Salerno Strangler, Eugene McWatters, who sexually assaulted and strangled three women in 2004.

Charles Manson items are the biggest seller for the business - pictured is his prison inmate card

The idea was hatched 20 years ago when his friend gave him a prison address list for some of America's vilest killers.

'I was fascinated with what made them tick, what drove them to murder. I saw it as a glimpse into their mind.'

The first contact was with satanic killer Richard Ramirez, who carried out a demonic murder spree before his death in 2013.

Ramirez's bloodlust claimed 13 lives. He mutilated his victims and decorated satanic signs around their bodies during a reign of terror in the 1980s.

'We formed a close friendship. I got to know him over the years and I saw a different side to him.'

The first contact Mr Holler had was with satanic killer Richard Ramirez, with whom he shared a 'close friendship''

The former scouts uniform of a Jeremy Bryan Jones, who was convicted of the rape, burglary, sexual abuse, kidnapping and murder of Lisa Nichols in 2005

An artwork by 'Clown Killer' John Wayne Gacy, who sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered over 30 boys and young men between 1972 and 1978

Mr Holler admitted he does pay inmates who give him their personal effects, describing it as 'helping them out' for giving him things for free.

'I'm not shy to say I help these guys out. They don't have any money, and if they can make me money, then it's only right to give some back.'

He admitted he makes a comfortable living from the business, but denies glorifying heinous crime.

'I don't condone what they've done. But I think it's window into a dark world, and for some people that can be pretty exciting.'




Famine and disease haunt the living in war-torn Yemen.

And it seems not even the dead are being spared the calamities of the country's two-year civil war.

Ancient mummies are rotting in a major museum because power cuts are disrupting dehumidifiers and sanctions have cut supplies of chemicals needed to preserve them.

Pictures taken this week show the mummies displayed in glass cabinets at Sanaa University, in the Yemeni capital

The university has 12 corpses that are 2,500 years old. A Yemeni student is pictured looking at a millennia-old mummy

Some of the mummies at the university are barely recognisable as human remains

The mummies need to be be kept in carefully controlled environments

With electricity intermittent at best and the country's ports under de facto blockade, experts are fighting to preserve the 12 cadavers

There is a thriving blackmarket trade in ancient artefacts, with the Islamic State known to sell priceless relics on the black market

The 12 corpses, curled into the fetal position or swaddled in baskets, are 2,500 years old and have been lying beneath glass panes within the archaeology department in the capital Sanaa's main university.

They are just some of the objects and heritage sites that are being destroyed in the fighting, which has ruined the country's infrastructure.

More than 80 sites have been damaged by airstrikes and terrorist bombings since the conflict started in March 2015.

'The mummies have started to decay and are infected with bacteria. This is because we don't have electricity and the machines that are supposed to maintain them,' said Abdelrahman Jarallah, head of the university's antiquities department.

'We need some chemicals to sanitise the mummies every six months, and they aren't available due to the political situation.'

Funding to government bodies like the university have suffered from a struggle between Yemen's warring parties for control of the central bank.

An ancient skull which has been separated from its body is pictured in a glass cabinet

If the mummies are not perfectly preserved, the health of the people who manage them is put at risk

Another skeleton is displayed in a glass box at the university

Antiquities experts are appealing to the university and the culture ministry for funding and equipment to better fend off the microbes eating into the mummies' flesh.

But the coalition's closure of Sanaa airport and a near-blockade over a key Red Sea port - aimed at stopping weapons shipments - have cut off imports of specialty goods like the chemicals needed to ward off the microscopic menace.

The conflict has killed at least 10,000 people and unleashed a humanitarian crisis.
Douglas Herridge, 18, denies murder and manslaughter at Maidstone Crown Court

A teenager accused of killing his stepfather with a single punch told a jury he hit him after he was grabbed by the neck.

Douglas Herridge, then 17, punched 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.

Herridge, who denies manslaughter, told Maidstone Crown Court in Kent today that he never meant to harm his stepfather when he threw two punches.

The first missed but the second landed to the side of Mr Payne's head just below his jawline, an area described by a pathologist as the 'most vulnerable' on the head.

Mr Payne, who played squash for England and won the over 50s British title, collapsed unconscious from the 'catastrophic' blow and was pronounced dead by paramedics at his home, on November 19 last year.

The father-of-two lived at the property with Herridge, then aged 17, his elder brother William and their mum, Ina Herridge.

Asked why he threw the punches, 18-year-old Herridge replied: 'Well, he had hold of me around the neck and all I wanted to do was get him off me.

He said: 'I didn't really believe that had actually happened.

'It is just something I would never think would happen. I couldn't believe that was the case.'

Softly spoken Herridge was giving evidence after Judge Jeremy Carey told jurors he was no longer facing a murder charge and they would now only have to consider manslaughter.

They have heard how the businessman died as he intervened in a row between the teenager, then 17, and his mother Ina Herridge on November 19 last year.

Mrs Herridge, a 42-year-old NHS risk manager, had refused her son's request for money because of an incident three days earlier.

Herridge said he was very upset when his parents split up in 2011 as he was close to his father.

He claimed he was also deeply affected by his nan dying in January 2012 and a friend, aged 13, dying from cancer the same year.

He admitted punching his mother on her arm but did not know what prompted it.

He did not recall putting his hand on her throat for a few seconds, kicking her on the shin or pushing her towards the top of the stairs in other incidents.

Herridge said: 'After I punched her on the arm I felt really upset. I knew it wasn't right. I would never do it again.'

Colin Payne (left) with Swedish squash champion Fredrik Johnson. Mr Payne was a national squash champion himself and owned three bathroom businesses in Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Asked by his QC Judith Khan how he got on with Mr Payne, he replied: 'We got on very well. I liked him. Sometimes we would have arguments, but nothing serious.'

There had not been any violence between them until November 16 after he clashed with his older brother in his bedroom and police were called, three days before the fatal altercation took place.

Three days later on Saturday, November 19, he said he was planning to go out with a friend and went to the study to ask his mother for some money.

Mrs Herridge told him he could not have any and an argument started. He brought up the incident on the previous Wednesday.

He claims he only lashed out because he was hit with a door.

He said 'I remember being tearful and upset at the time - the fact that nothing had been dealt with. I think I swore.

'I remember the door flying open and hitting me really hard in the back. I think it was the door handle that hit me in the lower back.

'I kicked the door back. It was done quite hard. It was just a reaction from the door hitting me really hard in the back.

Mr Payne, himself a father-of-two, had split from former wife Clare (together, left) before meeting Ina Herridge. Mr Payne was Kent squash champion on five occasions (right)

'I guess I was angry and wound up and upset about what me and my mum were already arguing about. I think the door hit Colin.

'I remember Colin's arms being around my neck.

'Two hands were around my neck. They were tight. I just remember it being tight around my neck.

'I think I was by the door. I can't remember having hold of him at all. I honestly can't remember anything being said before that.

'I remember throwing two punches. The first one missed and the second one connected with the right side of his face. I didn't throw any further punches.'

Miss Khan pointed out that medical evidence showed the blow connected with the left side of Mr Payne's face.

Asked if he recalled how much force he used, Herridge said: 'Thinking back, I don't know how much force was used. I remember Colin letting go.

'When I struck the second blow I was scared. I didn't know what was going to happen. I had to defend myself. I remember him going slowly towards the ground.

'When I left the room I think he was going to the ground. I didn't know how badly hurt he was. I thought he was just a bit dizzy.

'I ran out of the room to my bedroom to get my key and put my shoes on.'

David Herridge (pictured) choked back tears as he gave evidence about his son

Questioned by prosecutor Richard Hearnden, the teenager denied resorting to violence when angry or upset.

He said: 'I have always liked him.'

He could not remember how hard Mr Payne held him around the neck or if he was choking or having trouble breathing.

After he threw the punch that missed, he claimed, the grip on his throat tightened.

'I remember his eyes staring wide at me,' he added.

He could not recall his mother screaming to her partner: 'Colin, Colin, stay with me.'

Mr Payne was punched by the teen after he intervened in an argument between the boy and his mum when she refused to lend him any money.

The row then escalated as they talked about 'inapproriate material' on his brother's phone.

Giving evidence, Herridge said he was tearful and upset and may have sworn at his mother.

The door to the study then 'flew open' and the handle hit him to his lower back. He then back-heeled it shut, telling the court he was 'angry, wound up and upset'.

Asked by his barrister Judith Khan QC what happened next, he told the jury:

'I remember Colin's arms being around my neck. They were around my neck tight, two hands.

'I just remember it being tight around my neck.'

Herridge said he could not recall having hold of Mr Payne or whether either of them said anything to each other.

He continued: 'I remember throwing two punches, the first one missing and the second one connecting with the side of his face.

'He had hold of me around the neck and all I wanted to do was get him off me.'

Mrs Herridge told the court that she saw her son Douglas hit Mr Payne, who then fell to the ground, when she had gone to try to get help from their decorator to split the pair up

The teenager said he could not recall how much force he used. Earlier in the trial the court was told by a pathologist the punch was of 'moderate' force.

Asked what happened after he hit Mr Payne and how he felt, Herridge said: 'I remember Colin letting go and I ran out the room to my bedroom.

'I was scared. I didn't know what was going to happen but I had to defend myself.'

He said he did not realise how badly hurt his stepfather was. 'I remember him slowly going towards the ground. I thought Colin was just a bit dizzy.'

Herridge said the incident lasted 10 seconds. The former business college student went to a friend's house where he was later told Mr Payne had died.

He also spoke to his natural father David Herridge who told him the situation was 'very serious' and he should return home.

Herridge, who had quit his course and two jobs earlier that year, told the jury he felt lost. 'I didn't believe it was actually happening. It was something I never thought would happen.

'I couldn't believe that was the case. I remember my dad saying 'it's very serious, you have to come home'.

'I felt lost, I was all over the place. I didn't know what to believe and what not to believe.'

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

Herridge was arrested later that day in the nearby village of Wilmington. He said he still was not 100% sure of Mr Payne's fate at the time.

He initially declined a solicitor but when interviewed did not answer questions on legal advice.

'I felt lost. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what was going to happen to me,' he told the court.

Asked again by Miss Khan why he punched his stepfather, the teenager replied: 'To get him off me. That's all I wanted.'

When she asked if he would have lashed out if Mr Payne was not holding him by his neck, he said: 'No, never, no.'

The court heard police went to the family home three days before Mr Payne's death after his T-shirt was ripped in a row with Herridge.

Bodyworn camera footage showed 6ft 4in Mr Payne, who ran three bathroom showrooms in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, telling officers he thought he would end up in a fight with the teenager.

Herridge intended to cause his stepfather really serious harm, according to the prosecution

But he added the last time he had fought was when he was picked on as an 11-year-old schoolboy and 'could not fight his way out of a paper bag'.

The prosecution allege Herridge was prone to violent outbursts after he suffered traumatic emotional turmoil following his parents' break-up in 2011.

He would take his frustrations out on household items, such as a thermostat and oven door, and also punched a door.

Herridge himself said he was very upset by the marriage split, as well as the death of his grandmother and a childhood friend from cancer the following year.

He agreed he had hit his mother on the arm during one incident, but could not recall what prompted it, or others she told the court about.

These included putting his hand on her throat, kicking her and pushing her near the top of their stairs.

In contrast, Mrs Herridge said Mr Payne 'would not harm a fly'. His ex-wife, Clare, also told police he was a 'gentle, non-violent' man.

Mrs Herridge, an NHS risk manager, met Mr Payne in February 2014 and he moved in about six months later. Herridge said he got on very well with Mr Payne and 'always liked him'.

'Sometimes we would have arguments but nothing serious,' he added.

During cross-examination Herridge said he may have called Mr Payne 'a pussy' shortly before he hit him.

But he denied he would resort to violence when angry or upset.

Mrs Herridge, who was studying at home for her master's degree, had told her son he could not borrow any money, when her partner stepped in to try to calm the situation

He said he could not remember how hard Mr Payne was holding him by his neck, or whether he was choking or having trouble breathing.

However, the teenager said after he threw his first punch, which missed, he believed Mr Payne's grip tightened.

'I remember his eyes staring wide at me,' Herridge added.

Asked by prosecutor Richard Hearnden whether he was worried when he saw Mr Payne starting to fall to the floor, he replied: 'I think so.'

But he said he could not recall his mother calling Mr Payne's name or for help as he left the house.

The jury is expected to retire tomorrow (FRI) to consider its verdict.

Herridge, who now lives with his natural father in West Malling, Kent, was initially accused of murder at the start of his trial on Tuesday.

But Judge Jeremy Carey ruled after legal argument that there was insufficient evidence on which a jury could return a guilty verdict to such a charge.
A former Republican candidate who has a fetish for 'cranking' has avoided jail and will instead receive mental health and sex offender treatment.

Jordan Haskins, 26, from Michigan, has a self-professed fetish for masturbating to the sound of a vibrating engine after pulling out spark plug wires from vehicles.

Haskins - who describes himself as a 'pro-life, pro-family and freedom loving American' - was sentenced on eight felonies in two separate auto incidents.

Jordan Haskins, 26, who has a fetish for 'cranking' has avoided jail and will instead receive mental health and sex offender treatment

In April, the 26-year-old he pleaded guilty to six counts of unlawfully driving away an automobile, one count of malicious destruction of property and one count of breaking and entering into a building with intent to commit unlawfully driving away an automobile.

The felonies against him related to two vehicle incidents, one involving 'cranking' and the other joyriding.

In the first case against him, police said Haskins broke into and 'cranked' in a Saginaw County-owned maintenance truck on November 20.

In the second case against him, police said he broke into a Martin Chevrolet shop on February 6 and stole four vehicles for joyrides, M Live reported.

Police do not believe Haskins was 'cranking' when he took four vehicles awaiting repairs.

The vehicles all suffered an undisclosed amount of damage.

Haskins, who once ran for a Michigan House seat as a Republican candidate, has been jailed on two separate occasions for his bizarre, sexually-motivated break-ins

Circuit Judge Robert L. Kaczmarek handed down the sentence of five years probation with mental health and sex offender treatment.

Haskins' attorney, James Hession, said: 'It's something I don't think we understand as attorneys, but he's going to benefit from treatment and counseling.

He said his client would not have to register as a sex offender.

He added: 'He's a good person, he has a lot of aspirations for the future, he's highly intelligent.

'However, he's had some problems with compulsive conduct which gave rise to these charges.'

Haskins, who once ran for a Michigan House seat as a Republican candidate, has been jailed on two separate occasions for his bizarre, sexually-motivated car break-ins.

He also reportedly enjoyed gratifying himself sexually inside stolen cop cars, trucks and once in a mosquito control car.

He had previously claimed he was in a 'messed-up state of mind mentally and emotionally' when after by police why he pulled out spark plug wires and masturbated to the sound of a running motor.

But despite calling a prison 'his ultimate wake-up call' he continued with the peculiar 'cranking' act, which he said he picked up online.
United Airlines is denying that a flight attendant told a Missouri mother-of-two to urinate in a cup rather than leave her seat to use the restroom during turbulence on a flight from Houston.

Nicole Harper, a nurse from Kansas City, was on a United flight from Houston to Kansas City last month when she had a sudden urge to urinate because of her overactive bladder.

The woman told KCTV she tried to use the restroom, but a member of the cabin crew sent her back to her seat because the seatbelt sign was still illuminated in anticipation of turbulence.

Harper responded by saying she was going to need a cup.

'After explaining that I have an overactive bladder and would either need to use the restroom or pee in a cup, I was handed a cup by flight attendants,' Harper said in a Facebook post about the incident.

Harper, who was wearing a dress on the flight, said she squatted over her seat and filled two cups with urine while her husband sat next to her.

Nicole Harper was on a United flight from Houston to Kansas City when she tried to use the restroom, but a flight attendant sent her back to her seat because the seatbelt sign was still on. Harper, who was wearing a dress on the flight, said she squatted over her seat and filled two cups with urine while her husband sat next to her

She posted her account on Facebook on Saturday morning, saying she couldn't get anyone at United Airlines to acknowledge her complaint.

'United Airlines refuses to take my call, now I can't sleep and just keep thinking about how wrong this is,' Harper wrote.

United addressed the incident in a statement, saying, in part, it has reached out to Harper to 'better understand what occurred'.

Harper said her experience happened the same day that 69-year-old David Dao was injured while being forced off a United flight that was overbooked. That incident happened April 9.

Upon looking up United flight 6056, which Harper says she was on according to KSHB, it appears she actually traveled on April 10. She said the incident happened 30 minutes into her flight.

United said it has reached out to Harper, pictured above with her husband, to 'better understand what occurred,' but she said the airline was lying

Harper said she only got a call from an airline representative after she shared her story on Facebook (original post is pictured above) and it generated news coverage

Harper, an emergency room nurse at St Luke's Health System in Missouri, said that employees had started their drink service, but due to turbulence the seatbelt sign had been turned on, according to KCTV.

She wrote on Facebook of the incident: 'I was handed a cup by flight attendants. Bad enough? No, crew then escorted me to the restroom (now it's safe to get out of my seat), shaming me down the aisle while other passengers overlooked.

'The flight attendants treated me like I had committed a crime, stating they would be filing a report, calling in the hazmat team to clean the entire row (let me mention there was no mess involved) and told me I would need to talk with the pilot after the flight!

'I guess they would have preferred me to pee in the seat? After all they were the ones that gave me the cups knowing what I was planning to do with it.

'You would think peeing in a cup on an airplane in front my family and strangers, would be the worst part of this story. But the way I was treated by the flight attendants afterwards was worse.

'They were absolutely horrible to use the rest of the flight! And to top it all off, once on our final descent a gentlemen got up from first class (yes the seat belt sign was on, and the plane was flipping tilted) walked right by a smiling flight attendant and entered the bathroom.'

Harper said that her efforts to reach United's customer service department were unsuccessful.

'As an emergency room nurse I completely understand having a bad day on the job and having to deal with undesirable bodily fluids,' Harper wrote.

'What I don't understand is ZERO customer service. If I treated a patient this poorly I would surely have consequences.'

After Harper's Facebook post went viral, United Airlines released a statement about last month's incident.

The airline said: 'Customer safety is always our first priority. Initial reports from the Mesa Airlines flight attendants indicate that Ms. Harper attempted to visit the lavatory on final descent and was instructed to remain seated with the seat belt fastened per FAA regulations.

'The situation as described by Ms. Harper and our employees is upsetting for all involved.

Harper posted her account on Facebook on Saturday morning, saying she couldn't get anyone at United Airlines to acknowledge her complaint

'We have reached out to Ms. Harper and our flying partner Mesa Airlines to better understand what occurred.'

In a follow-up Facebook post on Tuesday, Harper refuted the airline's claim that United officials have reached out to her.

'United Airlines lied about reaching out to me,' she wrote. 'I attempted to reach them multiple times over the past 2 weeks and was repetitively told customer service would not take my call.

'They also lied about the incident happening during the descent... this all happened mid flight, while flight attendants were providing drink service.'

Harper added that she found it 'ironic' that she eventually did get a call from an executive customer service representative with United 'as soon as my stories aired. Power to social media and local news media!'

Harper's claims are the latest in a string of incidents the have underscored the frustrations of flying.

Following the Dao incident, United came under fire after a three-foot rabbit died following a flight from London to Chicago.

More recently, a passenger who thought she was traveling from Newark, New Jersey, was accidentally allowed to board a flight to California.
Adam Cowell, 33, died after taking a lethal dose of cocaine

A coroner has voiced fears that cocaine-related deaths in young people are reaching 'epidemic proportions'.

Coroner Michael Singleton was speaking out at the inquest of Adam Cowell, 33, from Oswaldtwistle, who died after taking a fatal amount of the drug.

Mr Singleton said Lancashire was gripped in an epidemic of cocaine abuse that he had not witnessed before in his 23 years in the job.

Painter and decorator Adam Cowell was 'laughing and joking' with his father and brother at their home in Oswaldtwistle when he suddenly collapsed and started seizing.

The inquest heard paramedics were called after 4pm on November 29 last year and he was taken to Blackburn Hospital where he died.

Mr Singleton told Blackburn Coroners Court: 'I am becoming increasingly concerned with the number of young people who are dying from cocaine toxicity.

'I have been doing this job for 23 years. This is a recent phenomenon. This relates largely to Accrington but to a lesser extent Blackburn.

'I can tell you from the inquests that I have recently conducted, and those that are going to be conducted by me within the next few weeks, that this is reaching epidemic proportions.

'All of these young people, boys and girls, had everything to live for, were not people you would classically describe as drug addicts but with good supportive family, a network of friends and in employment. They are dying.

Coroner Michael Singleton said young people were gripped in an epidemic of cocaine abuse that he has not witnessed before in his 23 years in the job

'If they had all died together at the same time in the same place, this wouldn't just be national news but international news. There would be statements in the House of Commons and members of the Royal Family consoling families in their grief.

'Lancashire Constabulary would have mounted their biggest criminal investigation in the last decade in order to identify those young [dealers] who have no visible means of support.

'Those who drive round in really flash motor cars, the middle men that supply them and ultimately the people that import this.

'My great fear is that there are other parents who will go through what you have gone through because people continue to peddle this filth.'

Speaking after the inquest, Adam's mother Andrea Adamson said the coroner was 'absolutely spot on'.

She said: 'I know Adam would not want us to be suffering like this but he was suffering himself.

'He was very gentle. He was 6ft 7ins tall but he wouldn't have harmed a fly. He idolised his two sisters. Adam had anxiety and depression. He was desperate for help but didn't get it.

'The police need to get their act together and get it off the streets.

'I feel like going into schools and telling the children what could happen. Don't do it. Once might be too many times.'

Adam Cowell's father Anthony Cowell (left) and mother Andrea Adamson (centre) outside Blackburn Coroners Court

The inquest heard how Adam Cowell had taken a 'fatal' amount of cocaine in the hours leading up to his death and a post-mortem examination found he died of cocaine toxicity.

Adam had been prescribed medication for psychosis and occasionally used cocaine and drank 'alcohol to excess'.

His father told the inquest: 'It was only for a brief spell [that he took the medication].

'It did help him quite a lot but he slept a lot of the time through his medication.

'I don't know if he used to binge on it [cocaine]. I never caught him and I said if I did ever catch him there would be trouble because I am dead against anything like that.

'He told me he was suffering with anxiety and it helped with his anxiety.'

Pathologist Dr Richard Prescott said there was a 'very high level' of cocaine in his blood.

Mr Singleton recorded a conclusion of drug-related death.
Two transgender cadets will be allowed to graduated this month from their respective military academies if they pass their exams, but they will not be able to serve in the armed forces.

The Air Force and Army will not let the cadets join their ranks following graduation because the Pentagon has not yet established procedures for accepting transgender troops.

The Pentagon lifted its ban on transgender troops last year, allowing current military members to serve openly. But the Pentagon has not yet created procedures on how to accept transgender troops into the ranks.

The policy for accepting transgender troops into the military is set to be developed later this year.

The Air Force and Army will not let the two transgender cadets join their ranks following graduation because the Pentagon has not yet established procedures for accepting transgender troops. Pictured above, a file photo of cadets at Air Force Academy's 2016 commencement

The names and genders of the two cadets who - if they pass their exams - will graduate from academies this month have not released by their military.

'Currently, there is an Air Force Academy cadet who has identified as a transgender individual,' Lt Col Allen Herritage, an Air Force Academy spokesman, told USA Today. 'The cadet can graduate.

'But, per the current (Defense Department) transgender policy, this cadet cannot commission into the Air Force.

'However, we are strongly recommending this individual for Air Force civil service as an option for continued service after the academy.'

The graduation ceremony at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is scheduled for May 24.

Marine Gen Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will deliver the commencement address.

US Military Academy at West Point will not recognize the cadet's preferred gender at its May 27 graduation ceremony, but it instead will use the candidate's biological sex. Pictured above, a file photo of US Army soldiers saluting during the General Walker Monument Transition Ceremony at a US Army base in Seoul last month

Cynthia Smith, an Army spokeswoman, confirmed that there is a transgender graduate at the US Military Academy at West Point.

'We can confirm that a military academy cadet has identified as transgender, however, per the current Department of Defense medical accessions policy, this cadet cannot commission,' Smith said in a statement to USA Today.

West Point will not recognize the cadet's preferred gender at its May 27 graduation ceremony, but it instead will use the candidate's biological sex.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to give the commencement address at West Point.

It is believed that there are as many as 6,600 transgender troops in the active-duty, 1.3million-strong military force, according to RAND Corp.
The mayor of an Italian village who proposed paying people 2,000 to move there has begged people to stop ringing him after thousands tried to take him up on his offer.

Daniele Galliano floated the idea on Facebook in a bid to encourage more people to live in Bormida, a hamlet of 394 in the mountainous region of Liguria in north-west Italy.

With the nearest major city - Genoa - more than 50 miles away, the village's population has dwindled. Under mayor's scheme, tenants would be paying as little as 12.50 a week in rent as part of a scheme to boost numbers.

But in just four days 17,000 people from around the world called the local council eager to find out more about the mayor's offer. His Facebook post has been deleted and Galliano has insisted: 'It was only a suggestion.'

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The mayor of Bormida (pictured) in Italy who proposed paying people 2,000 to move there has begged people to stop ringing him after thousands tried to take him up on his offer

The mayor, Daniele Galliano, initially posted his idea on Facebook, and said the initiative should be ready to be rolled out in two months

The Mayor of Bormida Daniele Galliano came up with the initiative to stem the flow of people leaving

In just four days 17,000 people from around the world called the local council eager to find out more about the mayor's offer. His Facebook post has been deleted and Galliano has insisted: 'It was only a suggestion'

Initially Galliano, said the initiative should be ready to be rolled out in two months.

The scheme would also have seen rent rates dropped of a number of properties down to 50 (42.50) a month.

However, Galliano suggested respondents had been wrongly under the imprerssion they would receive the 2,000 bonus, a job and cheap rent.

According to The Local, he clarified: 'It was just an idea to be proposed to the Ligurian regional authorities, with whom I am in contact.

'The news has been reported incorrectly and reached a worldwide audience. Italy is a wonderful country but, like others, it is in an economic crisis. Thanks anyway for your interest.'

Bormida's official website thanked those who had called but confirmed the 2,000 had only been a provisional idea.

In Central London, a two bedroom house can cost upward of 3,000 a week, or 12,500 a month.

New York prices are similar, with two bedroom apartments in Manhattan costing $3,000 (2,310) in rent.

The isolated village is home to less than 400 people, and many have left in search of work

Galliano's original plan immediately prompted people to get in touch. Vincent Gaspar wrote: 'Mr Mayor, I would certainly love to live there. I hope this bill goes through, because I will move there in a heartbeat.'

Sohail Rana echoed the comments and said he would even waive the 2,000 incentive, posting: 'Mr Mayor, you can count me in as well. It's not your offer, but the country side is beautiful.'

Mr Rana, a Danish national, said he would have happily emigrated to Italy.

It appeared to be a common theme among those responding, with people from India, the United States, Britain, Hungary and Indonesia all showing an interest in relocating to the Italian mountains.

The threat of not being able to find work in the village which is home to four restaurants and a church did not appear to put some people off.

Many asked if there was a high-speed internet connection in the village, with those responding insisting they could work remotely as long as they had wi-fi.

Deborah Liao wrote: 'As long as there is good wi-fi, I do not need to worry about local employment and can work remotely.

'I have no need for a 2,000 incentive either, just beautiful mountain air and far away from cities.'

Bormida's official website thanked those who had called but confirmed the 2,000 had only been a provisional idea. Pictured is the church in the village

A manager at one of the village's restaurants warned potential residents they would have had to find some activities to help entertain themselves.

'There is nothing much to do here,' the manager told The Guardian.

'But life is so simple and natural, we have forests, goats, the church, and plenty of good food. Life would definitely be free of stress.'

A councillor, who asked to remain anonymous, told the paper: 'Were still working out the plan, but anyone is welcome to come and live here.

'Were a small community but very welcoming. Were high up in a mountain area but also not far from the sea  its a healthy lifestyle, the air is very clean.'
A racist note that threatened a college student and sparked campus-wide protests has been deemed a hoax.

Samantha Wells, one of a few dozen black students at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, found an anonymous, typed note on her windshield on April 29.

It read: 'I am so glad that you are leaving soon. One less n***** that this school has to deal with. You have spoken up too much. You will change nothing. Shut up or I will shut you up.'

Hundreds packed the student union in protest before college president David R. Anderson issued a statement on Wednesday saying the person behind the note stepped forward and admitted it had been fabricated.

Samantha Wells found an anonymous, typed note on her windshield on April 29. She posted it on social media and appeared to reference other handwritten notes that appeared on campus

Protests erupted on campus, leading school officials to cancel classes at St Olaf College

Students worked with administrators to create a task force to enforce racial and cultural sensitivity training and create a policy to address racial threats and hate crimes

The note Wells found on her car came after nine reported incidents of hate speech on campus this academic year.

The college senior posted an image of the note on social media, and student protests led officials to cancel classes.

Students worked with the administration to create a task force to enforce racial and cultural sensitivity training and a policy to address racial threats and hate crimes, among other issues of inclusion.

The college president did not reveal the identity of the note's author and it remains unclear if Wells (above) was responsible

Anderson said: 'This the first step in a process toward a long-term solution, and all of us on campus are committed to moving forward in a spirit of collaboration to address these important issues.'

On Wednesday, Anderson revealed the student behind the note admitted it had been fabricated as a 'strategy to draw attention to concerns about the campus climate.'

The college president said he was prohibited by federal law from revealing the identity of the note's author.

Wells neither confirmed nor denied she was responsible, tweeting: 'So, it looks like something made its way back to me in the investigation. I will be saying it was a hoax. I dont care. There is nothing more that I can do.'

She told police she did not want to spend her last month on campus involved in an investigation, and decided not to file a criminal case, police said.

College president David R. Anderson issued a statement on Wednesday saying the person behind the note stepped forward and admitted it had been fabricated

St Olaf College (file photo) had 2214 white students enrolled in Fall 2016, compared to just 63 black students

Sophomore Ben Parsell told the Star Tribune he was disturbed at the revelation the note was a hoax, while Daniel Katuka said: 'It started something good....It shows that this is a campus that stands together.'

Several other students received unsettling notes before Wells found one on her car, Northfield News reported.

A student found a note in her book bag that read 'Go back to Africa' on April 24, the local newspaper reported.

Three reported acts of hate speech were filed in the fall semester of 2016, while the spring semester saw six incidents, according to the college.

School officials called it 'deeply troubling' and are still looking to find who was responsible.

St Olaf College is predominantly white, with 2214 white students enrolled in Fall 2016, compared to just 63 black students.
The Liberal Democrats want Britain to take in 50,000 Syrian refugees at a cost of more than 4billion - but have not said how they will be paid for.

The UK is one of the biggest aid donors to the war-torn country and has already committed to giving refuge to 20,000 people over five years until 2020.

But Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said Britain should more than double its commitment.

Tim Farron, pictured today in Cardiff Bay, wants to increase the number of Syrian refugees settled in Britain to 50,000 - more than double the current comitment

The move would cost an estimated 4.3bn, but the party was tight-lipped about how it would be funded simply insisting it is 'fully costed' and the details will be revealed in the manifesto which is launched in mid May.

Mr Farron said the initiative will be paid for over time through the hard work of those who settle in Britain.

He said: 'The United Kingdom has taken a pitiful number of people, and only done it under extreme pressure, when the Government has been made to feel under pressure.

'This is Britain doing what Britain always should have done in being a place of sanctuary.

Mr Farron, pictured today on his battle bus in Cardiff with Alex Shimmen, was tight-lipped about how his 4bn refugee pledge would be paid for

'For all that we focus on Brexit, and lots of other things as well, the biggest humanitarian crisis facing our continent is still going on and Britain is turning its back and pretending it's not happening.

'If you show confidence in people and give them sanctuary they become very loyal citizens.

'We are only talking about 50,000 people. We are talking about doing what is right.'

The Lib Dem leader, who today is visiting a refugee charity in Gloucestershire, said the numbers will be accepted over five years.


A bystander has been killed and three police officers injured in an ongoing standoff with a New Jersey sex offender who has barricaded himself inside a house.

Tyleeb Reese, 35, opened fire on US Marshals and sheriffs' officers when they came to arrest him for sexual assault at 6.20am on Wednesday at a home in Trenton, New Jersey.

He was previously jailed for sexual misconduct involving a minor.

Richard Powell Jr., a 56-year-old who lives one street away, was injured when the first shots were fired on Wednesday morning. He later died in hospital.

Three Mercer County officers were injured in a second round of gunfire on Wednesday night. They were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries and have since been released.

Negotiators speaking on a megaphone were still trying to coax Reese out of the house on Thursday afternoon, more than 30 hours after the standoff began.

Mercer County police officers told DailyMail.com on Thursday they were prepared to wait for as long as possible to reach a peaceful resolution.

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A bystander has been killed and three police officers injured by a gunman who has barricaded himself inside a home in Trenton, New Jersey. The innocent man is seen (right) hiding behind a car as officers point their guns at the home on Wednesday morning moments before he was shot

Richard Powell Jr. is shown above crawling towards police officers at around 6.20am on Wednesday morning. He was caught up in their standoff with gunman Tyleeb Reese as he walked past the property while they tried to arrest Reese for sexual assault

When asked what he wants, he told them he wanted to go to heaven, according to CBS.

Shocking footage recorded by a neighbor showed the first gunfire in which Powell Jr. was hit.

He lay motionless on the street behind a car while police fired back at Reese before frantically dragging his body out of the crossfire when the bullets stopped.

SWAT teams dressed in riot gear remain at the scene with a negotiator who is trying to coax Reese out of the home.

Reese is wanted by officers from the US Marshals New Jersey regional fugitive task force went to the home to serve a warrant for a sexual assault arrest on Wednesday morning.

Authorities have not revealed how long he had been on the run from them for beforehand.

In 2010, he was jailed after admitting sexual misconduct with a child. Three years later, he returned to jail for just over a month for not registering as a sex offender, The Trentonian reports.

Details of his most recent alleged crime have not been released.

A police negotiator was heard pleading: 'Please Ty, come out' on Wednesday night as the standoff continued.

Powell Jr. was shot as he lay on the ground behind two cards on the street outside the home

Footage captured by a neighbor showed police dragging the man's body away afterwards

They sent a cell phone attached to a police robot inside the home to communicate with him earlier in the day.

The gunman asked for medical help to treat a leg injury after the second round of gunfire but was refused.

It is not clear who lives at the home where the standoff is playing out.

A middle-aged woman in a robe was escorted out of a property next door on Wednesday. Other residents have been told to stay inside their homes.

The standoff is ongoing. Above, riot police storm a house next door to where Reese has barricaded himself

Officers sent a cell phone in to the property with a police robot on Wednesday to communicate with the gunman

A middle aged woman was evacuated from a home next door to where the man is barricaded on Wednesday

An armored vehicle was also sent to the home on Wednesday afternoon as the standoff continued

Shawntae Carmichael-Livingstone, the gunman's former girlfriend, told DailyMail.com he simply did not want to return to prison.

'He is a good person, this is a mental health issue. He snapped,' she said, revealing that he is a father to one child with another woman.

'He didn't want to return to jail, period,' Ms Carmichael-Livingstone added.

As the standoff continued on Thursday afternoon, she claimed to have spoken to Reese on the phone since he barricaded himself inside the home.

'He wants people to know black lives matter,' she said.

Shocked neighbors gather outside a police perimeter surrounding the home on Wednesday

Officers carrying shields blocked traffic on the residential road on Wednesday afternoon
The CEO of Sears has attacked the media for 'unfairly singling out' the company over the past decade and blamed 'irresponsible' coverage for the retailer's woes.

Sears Holdings Corp CEO Edward Lampert, a hedge fund investor who is rarely seen in public, delivered the riposte on Wednesday at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Sears, once the largest U.S. retailer, warned investors in March there was a chance it may not be able to continue as a going concern after years of losses and declining sales.

The company has not reported a profit for six years, which Lampert compared to Amazon.com Inc's early unprofitable growth.

Sears Holdings Corp CEO Edward Lampert delivered the riposte on Wednesday at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Hoffman Estates, Illinois (file photo)

Lampert kicked off the shareholder meeting with this slide showing negative press headlines

Sears has not reported a profit for six years, which Lampert compared to online retailing giant Amazon's early unprofitable growth

Lampert kicked off his appearance at an annual shareholders' meeting at Sears' headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois with a slideshow of headlines about the company's financial distress, dating back to 2008.

'You'd think it was from a month ago, but it's literally been going on for a decade,' Lampert told about 70 people in attendance.

He predicted people will look back and wonder how they missed the Sears' turnaround, which he said would be driven by the Shop Your Way rewards program.

About two dozen mid-size retailers have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the past two years amid fierce online competition and rapidly changing consumer tastes, while large department stores like Macy's Inc and J C Penney Company Inc have announced store closures for this year.

Six shareholders questioned Lampert, including one who praised the CEO's hard work and efforts to return Sears to profitability but asked if Lampert was in denial about the company's losses and paranoid.

Lampert refuted his question, saying there were 'behind-the-scenes' counterparties trying to take advantage of the company's situation and that he was trying to adapt and preserve as many jobs as possible.

'That's not about denial; that's about caring,' he said.

Sears CEO Edward Lampert is pictured with wife Kinga Lampert at a 2011 breast cancer fundraiser. The reclusive hedge fund manager is rarely seen in public

Lampert said Sears would remain focused on improving its relationship with its customers.

'The strategy we've been talking about for over a decade, we think it's clear. We think it's working. We have a lot of data that shows where it's working, and where we need to improve,' he said.

Shares in Sears closed 6.8 percent higher on Wednesday at $11.24. When Lampert took over the company in May 2013, shares were trading at roughly $40.

Last year Sears teamed up with ride-services company Uber Technologies Inc to give members loyalty points for trips. Lampert said he was trying to strike more such partnerships to boost overall sales.

'We do believe that the more points people accumulate, the more they'll shop with us,' Lampert said.

The bulk of Lampert's 90-minute appearance focused on news coverage, which he said had been 'deliberately unfair.'

Media coverage was 'meant to scare our vendors' who then tried to negotiate better terms with the company.

'It's irresponsible and it's been irresponsible for too damn long. We're just looking for a fair chance,' Lampert said of the media.

'Excuse my rant but a lot of what we're doing deserves a chance to see the light of day.'

Five journalists in attendance were not allowed to speak with Lampert or ask questions.

Amazon's total revenues grew 27 percent to $136 billion in 2016, while Sears' revenues fell 12 percent year-on-year to $22.1 billion

Sears has declined to provide numbers on Shop Your Way, the cornerstone of its growth strategy, but said in its annual report that expenses associated with the program contributed to a drop in its profit margin.

When a shareholder asked Lampert to disclose more data on the program as a way to win investor confidence, Lampert turned the focus back to Amazon, saying he was 'shocked' the online retailer has never provided numbers on its own shopping club, Prime.

Analysts estimate Amazon Prime subscribers at 53million or more in the United States.

While Amazon does not disclose how many members subscribe to its Prime shopping club, it reported last month that sales of retail subscriptions in the first quarter jumped 49 percent from a year earlier to $1.9billion. Prime membership fees are the largest item in this category.

Amazon's total revenues grew 27 percent to $136billion in 2016, while Sears' revenues fell 12 percent year-on-year to $22.1billion.

'A loyalty program was innovative 20 years ago. Now, it is like saying 'our stores have electricity.' Sales still go down, so the loyalty program isn't turning Sears around,' said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.
A 12-year-old girl accidentally ran over her two-year-old brother outside her family's Florida home Wednesday night.

The Florida Highway Patrol says the family was preparing to leave their Orlando residence around 6.25pm when the girl got into the Chevrolet SUV and started it for her parents.

Sgt Kim Montes said the SUV shifted into reverse and rolled down the driveway, striking the toddler, who was standing in the driveway.

A 12-year-old girl accidentally ran over her two-year-old brother outside her family's Florida home on Wednesday. Troopers said the family was getting ready to leave their home around 6.25pm when the girl got into the Chevrolet SUV (pictured) and started it for her parents

Sgt Kim Montes said the SUV shifted into reverse and rolled down the driveway, striking the toddler, who was standing in the driveway. Authorities said the girl started the Chevrolet Traverse to turn on the air-conditioning

Authorities said the girl started the Chevrolet Traverse to turn on the air-conditioning, according to News 6.

Montes says it was a 'very chaotic and emotional scene' as neighbors rushed over to help.

The boy's parents rushed him to Nemours Childrens Hospital.

But the Kissimmee Fire Department transferred him to the Osceola Regional Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

An investigation into the accident is ongoing and the family hasn't been identified.

Officials haven't said why the child was allowed to start the vehicle and it's still unclear how the vehicle shifted into reverse.

The boy's parents rushed him to Nemours Childrens Hospital. But the Kissimmee Fire Department transferred him to the Osceola Regional Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead
A half-naked Ohio man intentionally crashed his car into a closed convenience store to get beer, injuring himself and a store employee, police say.

Robert Mason, 45, was wearing nothing from the waist down when he crashed his Dodge Challenger into SDM Food Market on Hilliard Boulevard around 1am on Sunday.

Rocky River Police Chief Kelly Stillman said Mason was driving about 40mph when he drove right into the middle of the store causing the clerk to be trapped under debris.

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Robert Mason, 45, was wearing nothing from the waist down when he crashed his Dodge Challenger into SDM Food Market on Hilliard Boulevard around 1am on Sunday (scene above)

Rocky River Police Chief Kelly Stillman said Mason was driving about 40mph when he drove right into the middle of the store causing the clerk to be trapped under debris (scene above)

The clerk (pictured above trapped) told police that he just closed for the night when the incident happened, and that Mason got out of the Challenger and said he needed a beer.

The clerk told police that he just closed for the night when the incident happened, and that Mason got out of the Challenger and said he needed a beer.

Police say the man barricaded himself in a beer cooler and told police to shoot him, but they subdued him with a stun device.

The chaotic moments right after the crash were captured on police body camera video and show the destroyed SDM Food Market as officers worked to free the store clerk.

Mason was taken to a hospital, as was the store employee, who suffered leg and chest injuries that weren't considered critical.

Police say the man barricaded himself in a beer cooler and told police to shoot him, but they subdued him with a stun device (scene above)

Mason has been charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence alcohol or drugs. He was still hospitalized at Fairview Hospital as of Thursday morning.

Stillman said that Mason was suffering from issues related to his service in the military and as an officer with the Federal Protective Service.

The store clerk was fortunate that a deli counter was between him and the car, preventing more serious injuries.

'Had the car been over a couple more feet, he was hurt, it could have been serious bodily injury, even possibly death,' Stillman told WJW.

'I mean that's a four, five thousand pound automobile coming at 30, 40 miles an hour. He was lucky, very lucky.'
An Uber driver in south Florida has been accused of raping a woman he drove home from a music festival.

What's more disturbing is that the suspect, 57-yer-old Gary Kitchings, has been a foster parent for more than two decades.

According to police, the victim left SunFest in West Palm Beach early Sunday morning around 2am, when she ordered an Uber back to her home in Jupiter.

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Uber driver Gary Kitchings, 57, was ordered held without bond on Tuesday over allegations he raped a female passenger he drove home from a music festival in south Florida early Sunday

She rode in the Uber with two other women, but they were dropped off first.

The victim says that Kitchings began to 'flirt' with her, and then tried to put his hand up her shirt. He even tried to pull her hand onto his penis, but she pulled away.

She said she tried to jump out of the car when they pulled off the freeway, but Kitchings locked the door.

It has since been revealed that Kitchings, a U.S. Navy veteran, had been a foster parent for more than two decades

That's when she says he threatened her, saying he had a gun under his seat and he would shoot her if she didn't perform oral sex on him.

When they reached her home, the victim says she ran out and thought that Kitchings had driven off. But as she opened the front door, he came up behind her and pushed her inside.

When she started to scream, he reached for his waistband and threatened again to kill her 'and her dogs' if she didn't shut up, the arrest affidavit says.

He then reportedly took her to her bedroom where he proceeded to rape her.

Before he left, he allegedly told the victim that if she told anyone about what happened he would return and kill her.

But the victim defied his orders, calling police while hiding inside her closet after he left.

Police were able to track Kitchings down the following day, using information the victim screen-grabbed from the Uber app.

He was arrested on charges of sexual assault, kidnapping and burglary and was denied bond at his first hearing on Tuesday. If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison. He has no prior felony arrests.

It has since been revealed that Kitchings is a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a petty officer on a ballistic submarine and has been a foster parent for more than 20 years.

Three years ago, Kitchings gave an interview about a new group home he was moving into operated by the organization Place of Hope

The six-bedroom home was to house Kitchings and his wife, their adopted daughter and six foster children from abusive homes, all of them girls

Place of Hope officially fired Kitchings on Wednesday, after first placing him on leave. Above a kitchen at the Place of Hope group home

The Florida Department of Children and Families is opening an investigation into Kitchings. Above, a crib at the Place of Hope home

Uber immediately deleted Kitchings from their app after the 'deeply disturbing' allegations emerged. Above, Kitchings showing off a play room at the Place of Hope home

Kitchings, his wife and their adopted daughter lived in a group home operated by the faith-based organization Place of Hope, which provides foster homes for children 'who have been traumatized by abuse and neglect throughout the region'.

In a video recorded about four years ago, Kitchings described life in one of the organization's group homes. At the time, he said his adopted daughter was 15 years old.

'My wife and I, weve been house parents for 17 years,' Kitchings said in the video, obtained by WPTV. 'So right now the house is occupied by six young ladies. Its an opportunity for me and my wife to teach them all sorts of different things. Whether thats following instructions or accepting no.'

Three years ago, he gave another interview to WPBF showing off the new home he was about to move into with his family to care for six foster children, all girls.

The new Dodero Cottage boasted six bedrooms spread out over 5,500-square feet and was lavishly decorated.

'Kids live up to the quality of their environment,' Kitchings said in the interview. 'If they go into a home thats rundown with holes in the wall, they tend to tear more holes in the wall. But if you demonstrate there are nice things in life, you show them those things are achievable.'

A man who adopted one of Kitchings' former foster kids said the now 16-year-old girl was devastated by the news. Above, the entrance to the Place of Hope community

At the time the new cottage was opened, the Palm Beach Post reported that six foster girls, ages eight to 17, would be living in the home with the Kitchings family.

After initially placing him on leave from the organization, pending the results of a criminal investigation, Place of Hope changed course on Wednesday - officially firing Kitchings. It's unclear whether Kitchings' wife, a breast cancer survivor, will be continued to work with the group and live in a group home.

The Florida Department of Children and Families is also opening an investigation into whether any of Kitchings' foster children over the years were abused.

Kitchings reportedly also worked with children or as a foster parent in Nebraska, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania as well. It's unclear whether those states will also be opening investigations into Kitchings.

A man who adopted one of Kitchings' former foster children told the Palm Beach Post that his now 16-year-old daughter was devastated to hear about Kitchings' arrest.

'To be fair, my daughter said she had an amazing experience and he was a wonderful foster father to her,' the man said.

Uber deleted Kitchings from the app immediately after his arrest, calling the allegations 'deeply disturbing'. He had been a driver for six months, and had no complaints in that time, they said.

They also said that their drivers are required to pass background tests, which Kitchigns did.

While Kitchings had only been driving for the ride-share app for half a year, he had already started offering free Uber driver training courses, according to his Facebook.

In a post on his profile, he said the training was a chance to 'learn to Uber from one of the best.'

'As a top-rated Uber driver here in Palm Beach County, I am offering to help you, a new Uber driver, understand the drivers' app, pitfalls to avoid and secrets that will make you a successful driver,' he wrote.

Records obtained by the Palm Beach Post show Kitchings also owned and operated a pre-school and senior living center at one point.

Anyone with additional information about Kitchings or the alleged assault are being asked to call the Jupiter police at 561-746-6201 or Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 800-458-TIPS (8477).
Vice President Mike Pence's statements that a top Justice Department official was the driving force behind firing of FBI Director James Comey is contradicted by White House officials who say President Trump set the plan in motion.

Pence spoke at some length about the Comey firing Wednesday, stopping to address reporters on the second floor of the Capitol, where he rejected the Russia investigation as a motive for the firing and put the impetus in the lap of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein.

'That was not what this was about,' Pence said. 'The president took strong and decisive leadership here to put the safety and security of the American people first,' Pence said.

Pence called the recently-confirmed Rosenstein a man of 'great character' and integrity. Pence said Rosenstein 'came to work, sat down and made the recommendation for the FBI to be able to do its job that it would need new leadership.'

Vice President Mike Pence told reporters on Wednesday that the deputy attorney general ''came to work, sat down and made the recommendation' for new leadership at the FBI

'The deputy attorney general provides the oversight to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,' Pence continued. 'The deputy attorney general was confirmed just a few short weeks ago by the United States Senate when he brought the recommendation to the president that the director of the FBI should be removed,' he added.

Within a few hours, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders put the instigation of the firing at the first days of the Trump administration.

She said Trump had 'been considering letting Director Comey go pretty much from the day he took office.'

'The president had lost confidence in Director Comey,' she said. 'And frankly he'd been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected. But he did have a conversation with the deputy attorney general on Monday where they had come to him to express their concerns. The president asked they put those concerns and their recommendation in writing, which is the letter you guys have received.'

Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders got grilled by reporters about the Comey firing on Wednesday

Pence spoke about the Pence firing on Wednesday from the Capitol

She was referencing a detailed memo from Rosenstein that was released by the White House. The memo laid out the case for Comey's bad conduct, including with his press conference announcing the decision not to recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton, even while childing her for extreme carelessness with her email.

'Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions,' Rosenstein wrote, 'but we never release it gratuitously.'

The Washington Post reported that Rosenstein threatened to quit after being cast as the prime mover behind Comey's firing.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California says President Trump told her he had asked Rosenstein to 'look into' the matter

'When I talked to the president last night, he said: 'The department's a mess, I asked Rosenstein and [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions to look into it. Rosenstein sent me a memo. I accepted the recommendation to fire him,'' Feinstein recalled, ABC News reported.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein penned a detailed memo cataloguing Comey's lapses that the White House released when it announced Comey's firing

On Tuesday evening, press secretary Spicer told reporters about the firing: 'That was a DOJ decision.'

Asked about the report Rosenstein threatened to resign, Sanders told CBS 'This Morning' on Wednesday, 'I'm not aware of any conversation that took place about that. what i do know is this is an action the president took and wanted to take and had been considering taking since November.'

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California blasted Pence for another aspect of his comments, when he said out of hand that the firing didn't have to do with the Russia investigation.

'For the Vice President of the United States, who ... came into Congress with and I like personally, to abase himself this way is a terrible thing to watch,' Schiff told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.

He's back: James Comey was at home and apparently smiling as he was seen at his home in McLean, Virginia. He is being invited to testify to Congress on Tuesday

'What I found so striking about that clip, Andrea, is he was asked, did the president fire Comey to interfere with the Russia investigation? Well, if he believed that the simple answer was no, but that wasn't his immediate answer, you could see him thinking about the question. And I think what may be going through the vice president's head is, do I want to commit myself to something when I don't fully know the facts of why the director was fired?'

Asked if he is suggesting the vice president is lying: 'I'm suggesting the vice president may not know the full details. That, I think, is the best explanation for the vice president's comments, that he simply doesn't know what went into the decision to fire Director Comey. He was apparently unwitting when Michael Flynn represented certain things to him that weren't true. And he may not know whether this was the Justice Department making a recommendation on its own to the president or the president telling the Justice Department, give me reasons to fire this guy.'
Scottish based Commando Thomas Telford allegedly groped the victim, who was celebrating her graduation

A 'cocky' Royal Marine laughed after sexually assaulting a young student at a university ball as she posed for a picture with her legs in the air, a court heard.

Scottish-based Commando Thomas Telford allegedly groped the victim, who was celebrating her graduation from the University of Exeter in July last year.

The 21-year-old victim was with friends at the ball when the alleged incident happened between 1.30am and 2am.

The womansaid she was posing for a photo with a girlfriend who was holding up her leg while the picture was taken by a male student friend.

Prosecutor Brian Fitzherbert told Exeter Crown Court: 'This defendant Thomas Telford sexually assaulted a young woman on the dance floor at the Exeter University graduation ball.

'Put in simple terms he groped her.'

The court heard that Telford, now 23, who was an invited guest at the ball, was also shown in the photograph.

The victim told the jury that she had drunk two glasses of wine before arriving at the ball where she drank a Pimms, a single gin and tonic and a shot of Sambuca during the night.

She said: 'I was not drunk. I had obviously been drinking. I did not feel impaired in any way and was in control of myself.

'I was posing for a picture with my friend.'

'I turned and saw a male standing very close with his hand just pulling away from me'' before describing he moved his hands down from her stomach towards her vagina.

She said she did not react by doing anything.

She told the jury: 'I felt shocked, violated, incredibly confused as to why it had happened. I just stood there.'

The victim said her friend started shouting at the man and pointing her finger at him.

The victim said: 'He suggested he had done nothing wrong but was laughing. I was feeling really annoyed.'

She said Telford - who is based at Faslane in Scotland - was with a group of other people.

She said: 'My immediate reaction was he was just showing off because he was laughing.

'He seemed to be a bit cocky about the situation.'

She said her friend followed the male suspect and alerted a security guard and the police were called.

Under cross examination, she said: 'I did not see his hand on my body but I felt it.'

Prosecutor Mr Fitzherbert said Telford, of Kenley, Surrey, and the victim did not know each other.

The victim had been celebrating her graduation from the University of Exeter (pictured) that week in July last year

He said Telford at the time was based at the marine's training base at Lympstone in east Devon.

He had been invited as a guest to go to the ball.

He said the alleged sexual assault happened as the two girls posed for the photo with one holding up the victim's leg.

Telford was interviewed by the police and told officers he 'had not touched her in a sexual way'.

Telford denies sexually assaulting the victim by intentionally touching her without consent.

The trial continues.
A World War Two sailor received a long-lost love letter from his late wife after a family discovered it hidden in the dusty walls of their home.

Virginia Christoffersen, then pregnant, penned the sweet note to her husband Rolf in May 1945 while he was serving overseas in the Norwegian Navy.

In it, Mrs Christoffersen declared that she loved her husband 'as I love the warm sun', and added that she felt 'happy and proud' to be carrying his baby.

72 years after it was written, Melissa Fahy and her father uncovered the letter, which had slipped through a crack under their attic stairs in New Jersey.

Ms Fahy managed to track down Mr Christoffersen's son in California - who read it back to his emotional father, now 96, on the sixth anniversary of Virginia's death.

World War Two veteran Rolf Christofferson received a long-lost love letter from his late wife Virginia after a family discovered it hidden in the dusty walls of their home.

Virginia, then pregnant, penned the sweet note to her sailor husband Rolf in May 1945 while he was serving overseas in the Norwegian Navy

In it, Mrs Christoffersen declared that she loved her husband 'as I love the warm sun', and added that she felt 'happy and proud' to be carrying his baby

In the letter, Mrs Christoffersen wrote: 'I just feel happy and proud to be carrying the baby of the person I love most in the world.

'I really feel as if I have a part of you with me all the time.

'You will always be more important to me and the two of us together, alone in each other's arms, will always be heaven on earth to me.'

She added: 'I guess I sounds as if I love my husband. Well, I do!

'I love you Rolf, as I love the warm sun, and that is what you are to my life, the sun about which everything else revolves for me.'

Mrs Christofferson, who wrote the letter to her 'favourite pin-up boy' on her lunch hour, added that she was 'longing for her sweetheart to come home to Westfield'.

She concluded: 'My time is up now, I must get back to work, but here's a warm, warm kiss for my sweet Norske and a prayer that you'll be home with me soon.

'Until death us do part, Virginia.'

Mrs Christoffersen died six years ago this weekend - but her letter lived on in the walls of Ms Fahy's Westfield home in New Jersey.

Virginia wrote: 'You will always be more important to me and the two of us together, alone in each other's arms, will always be heaven on earth to me'. Pictured, the couple on their wedding day

72 years after it was written, Melissa Fahy and her father uncovered the letter, which had slipped through a crack under their attic stairs in New Jersey

Her father Al Cook found the letter under their stairs while renovating their home and was baffled by the post date

'I reached up and I pulled it out of there,' Cook told NBC New York. 'You could see it was old.'

Ms Fahy called it a 'beautifully written letter in a completely different time' and said it reminded her of romantic novelist Nicholas Sparks' books.

'In a way, I guess it's his wife coming back and making her memory alive again,' she said.

'When I read it, I just couldn't believe the love and admiration she had for her husband,' she added.

'It was really sweet to see that long-distance love. You didn't have texting, you didn't have email.'

Ms Fahy managed to track down Mr Christoffersen's son in California - who read it back to his emotional father, now 96, on the sixth anniversary of Virginia's death. Pictured left, Mr Christofferson as a sailor and right, present

Fahy was so touched by the note that she decided to find the Christoffersens to reunite them with it.

She posted a desperate appeal on the Westfield Moms Facebook page for help.

Within just two hours, members of the page had managed to track down the couple's son, also called Rolf, in California.

'He couldn't believe that I reached out and tried to find him and return the letter that belonged to him,' Ms Fahy said.

Mr Christoffersen's son read him the letter written by his late wife - a bittersweet but poignant commemoration of her death.

Users on social media were overwhelmed by the note, calling it 'the most beautiful letter'.

'This is so beautiful. How warming and special for the husband as well as for those who made the discovery. So romantic!' one wrote.

'That is unbelievably the most beautiful letter I've ever read thank you for sharing. Makes your heart just melt,' another added.
Spain was ruled by brutal dictator Francisco Franco who killed up to 50,000 of his own countrymen and crushed any opposition until his death in 1975

Spain's opposition parties have voted to move the remains of fascist dictator Francisco Franco out of a state-funded mausoleum, in a move that the government is likely to resist.

The reviled general is buried at the controversial 'Valley of the Fallen' memorial, dedicated to the 500,000 victims of the Spanish Civil War.

The 150-metre cross at the Catholic basilica, built by prisoners of war over 19 years, towers over the Guadarrama Sierra, a mountain range west of Madrid.

Many of those interred there fought for the losing Republican side and were moved to the monument under Franco's dictatorship without their families' permission.

The motion to exhume Franco's body, backed by parties on the left and centre, reflected growing pressure from campaign groups and politicians to turn the site into a broader memorial honouring those who died on both sides of Spain's 1936-1939 civil war.

It was passed today by 198 votes to one, while 140 lawmakers abstained, including those from the conservative People's Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Carved out of the side of a granite mountain stands an enormous mausoleum crowned with a towering stone cross. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco used forced labour to blast his own tomb out of solid rock, a grandiose project befitting a man who ruled with the absolute power of an Egyptian pharaoh

Former Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco lies in state at Madrid's Royal Palace in this photo (left) taken in November 21, 1975. He is pictured, right, in 1936 when he was chief of staff for the military

Introducing the bill for the socialists, MP Gregorio Camara said there was 'nothing in it that any democrat couldn't support'.

The PP has long opposed attempts to exhume Franco's body, saying this would only stir up painful memories more than four decades after his death and nearly 80 years after the end of the war.

The motion also called for tens of thousands of other bodies buried at the mausoleum just outside Madrid, known as the Valley of the Fallen, to be exhumed.

The mausoleum is seen by many as a relic of Spain's dictatorial past.

Clouds cover the cross on top of the Spanish former dictator General Francisco Franco's tomb at the Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen), near Madrid

Republican prisoners, defeated by Franco's troops in the 1936-39 civil war, built the dictator's mausoleum, over which towers a 150m stone cross

Tourists take a selfie outside the memorial, which has long been a site of pilgrimage for far-right groups in Spain. Today's motion reflects the growing pressure from campaign groups and politicians to turn the site into a broader memorial honouring those who died on both sides of the war

Franco's body lies inside the consecrated Catholic basilica, against his wishes. The government has never provided an estimate of how many died during Franco's regime, but former Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon has estimated that 114,000 could have ended up in the mass graves

Youths give the fascist salute after a mass to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the death of Franco in the Valle de los Caidos in 1998

Dictator Francisco Franco in his open coffin after his death on 20 November 1975

Franco's wife Dona Carmen Franco, and their daughter, Carmen Martinez Bordio, (right) walk past his open coffin at the chapel of El Pardo Palace in Madrid

Opened by Franco himself in 1959, the Valley houses a Catholic basilica set into a hillside, where the founder of Spain's fascist Falange party, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, is also interred.

It has long been a site of pilgrimage for far-right groups in Spain.

The then-Socialist government approved a so-called 'Law of Historical Memory' in 2007, aimed at giving greater recognition to victims on both sides of the war.

It has not always been easy to implement, however, in a country where many streets and squares still bear Franco's name, and the PP cut state funding for this initiative after it came to power in late 2011.

Franco's coffin is carried during the burial ceremonies in Madrid

General Francisco Franco pictured with Carmen and daughter, and dog, Dick. For decades, Spain did not address Franco's, and even now his country-folk are divided on the subject  although many would prefer to forget about it altogether

US President Richard Nixon, left, and Franco salute as the US and Spanish national anthems are played at Madrid airport in 1964

Franco, right, embraces Former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, in 1959, at the end of the latter's visit in Madrid

General Franco speaks to naval forces at Vinaroz, Spain, on July 26, 1938, en route to the front to supervise the drive against the Republican Army at Valencia

Franco (right) salutes beside his wife, the then Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife Princess Sofia as they listen to the national anthem during a ceremony at El Pardo Palace in this October 4, 1975. The picture was taken days before the general's death

Spain's socialists have pushed for his exhumation for years, arguing his presence sullies the memory of the fallen and acts as a pilgrimage site for Francoists.

He is the only person buried at the site who did not die in the civil war.

The motion was spearheaded by the Socialist party, which called for Franco to be moved to a private burial site and for the Valley to be converted into an information centre.

'The government has a democratic duty to understand that our historical memory belongs to all of us, and that the wounds of the past will only be cured with greater truth,' Socialist lawmaker Gregorio Camara told a parliamentary session earlier this week.
More than 63,000 migrants who applied for European Union asylum claimed to be unaccompanied minors in 2016.

The figure, released by the EU's statistical agency, revealed that of the tens of thousands to enter Europe last year, two thirds said they were 16 or 17-year-old men.

More than half of the 63,000 flooding into mainland Europe to flee war in their home nations came from Afghanistan and Syria.

A small child cries during a rescue by the Spanish NGO Pro Activa in the Mediterranean Sea

Children and adults inside a wooden boat during the rescue of the Spanish NGO Pro Activa

Asylum seekers queue outside border control in Salerno after 1,000 people were rescued from a Norwegian ship

A man reacts as he arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos

Eurostat said Thursday unaccompanied minors applied for international protection in the 28 EU nations as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

It said the number was a third down from the previous year but still five times higher than the annual average.

More than two thirds of the minors were said to be males and aged 16 to 17, almost 6,300 were under 14 and nearly 60 percent of the applicants sought asylum in Germany.

As well as the Middle East, migrants are travelling from North Africa in an attempt to escape conflict.

In the Mediterranean Sea, Libya's coastguard said it had intercepted nearly 500 people packed onto a wooden boat and returned them to Tripoli on Wednesday after warning off a ship preparing to pick them up for passage to Europe.

Most migrants attempt the perilous journey on flimsy inflatable boats provided by smugglers that are barely equipped to make it to international waters.

Larger wooden boats carrying several hundred migrants are rarer, but are still regularly seen in the treacherous stretch of water between the two continents.

A refugee raises a child into the air as Syrian and Afghan refugees are seen on and around a dinghy that deflated

Some migrants are turned back by the Libyan coastguard, which generally delivers them to detention centres notorious for poor conditions and ill-treatment.

The coastguard is receiving training from the European Union as it seeks to limit migrant departures and deaths.

Other migrants are taken to Italy after being picked up by NGO ships that run rescue missions, European or Italian naval and coastguard patrols, and other international vessels.

Qassem said the wooden boat intercepted on Wednesday was carrying nearly 300 Moroccans, 145 Bangladeshis, 23 Tunisians, and other migrants from elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.

Those on board said they had left the western Libyan city of Sabratha on Tuesday night.

There were about 20 women, some five of whom were being taken for medical treatment as they arrived in Tripoli and one appeared to be seriously ill.

One 24-year-old Moroccan man said he had come to Libya five weeks earlier in order to try to reach Europe.

A 28-year-old man, also Moroccan, said he had been working in Libya for four years, but had decided to leave because the situation was deteriorating.

A Syrian woman on board said she had travelled through six countries to reach Libya, paying $1,000 in each and leaving two sons aged 12 and 13 behind in Jordan.

'I wanted to leave for Europe,' she said. 'It was an attempt to get a better life and reunite my whole family in Europe, but unfortunately we couldn't make it.'

Illegal immigrants, who were rescued by the Libyan coastguard in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, arrive at a naval base in the capital Tripoli on May 10, 2017

Migrants gesture towards members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO as they wait to be rescued

Young men leaning over the edge of a boat a it pulls into a dock in Salerno in Italy

Illegal immigrants, who were rescued by the Libyan coastguard in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, arrive at a naval base in the capital Tripoli on May 10

Meanwhile, an Italian prosecutor said on Wednesday he is investigating some members of humanitarian organisations rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea on suspicion they may have cooperated with people smugglers.

Ambrogio Cartosio, chief prosecutor of the western Sicilian city of Trapani, told a parliamentary committee in Rome that the organisations themselves were not a target of the inquiry.

Suspicions arose because some rescue crew seemed to know in advance where to find the flimsy boats crowded with migrants after smugglers sent them off from north African ports, he said.

Some Italian politicians have claimed non-governmental organisations (NGOs) run a taxi service bringing migrants to Italy.

'We understand that NGOs made some rescues at sea without informing the Coast Guard,' Cartosio said.

Italy's Coast Guard is in charge of coordinating all rescues in international waters off the shores of Libya and aid groups have strongly denied any ties to human traffickers.
Ann Marie Anastasi, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in December

A woman has been sentenced to 60 years in prison in Maryland after she was convicted of killing her husband and their 25-year-old live-in mistress in a murder plot that was carried out by her teenage daughter's boyfriend.

Ann Marie Anastasi, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in December, acknowledging there is sufficient evidence to convict her without admitting guilt.

Her 40-year-old husband, Anthony Anastasi Jr., was shot dead and their mistress, Jacqueline Riggs, was found stabbed to death in the basement of their Lothian home in October 2015.

Police say all three were involved in a sexual relationship until Riggs moved into their home in summer 2015.

Once she moved in, tensions between Anthony and Ann grew worse in the alleged abusive household.

Authorities said Anthony would leave the bedroom he shared with his wife to go and have sex in Riggs' basement bedroom.

Anthony continued the sexual relationship with Riggs and no longer invited Ann to participate, creating more problems between them, police said.

Police say Ann plotted killing of her husband, Anthony Anastasi Jr. and their 25-year-old mistress, Jacqueline Riggs (pictured), with her then-13-year-old daughter and her daughter's 18-year-old boyfriend Gabriel Struss. Anthony and Riggs were found dead in October 2015

Prosecutors say at the time of the killings, Anthony and Riggs were still in a relationship and lived together in the basement of the home, but he and his wife were not in a relationship, CBS Baltimore reported.

Ann plotted to kill Anthony and Riggs with her then-13-year-old daughter and her 18-year-old boyfriend Gabriel Struss, police say.

Text messages and phone calls among the three discussed the plan to kill Anthony and Riggs.

Authorities say Struss killed Anthony and Riggs on Ann's command, CBS Baltimore reported.

Anthony was shot in the head while he was sleeping by Russ, who then stabbed Riggs to death.

Riggs suffered 42 knife wounds, 20 stab wounds and 22 cuts, according to the Capital Gazette.

Assistant State's Attorney Jason Knight called the crime scene 'heinous and vicious.'

Gabriel Struss, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last year and is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence

Hours after the killings, Ann called 911 and reported that her husband had committed suicide.

When she was told that Riggs was dead as well, she was surprised and then attempted to claim the crime was a murder-suicide, the Capital Gazette reported.

However, investigators found that the gun near Anthony's body did not match the one used to kill him. In addition, Ann was found to have gunshot reside on her clothing and hands.

Ann and Anthony had been married for 18 years.

'Ann Anastasi destroyed multiple lives by coldly planning these murders and manipulating children into executing her vicious plan,' Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Wes Adams said Tuesday.

'Were it not for Mrs. Anastasi at the helm of this scheme, the victims would still be alive today.'

Struss pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last year and is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence.
An email scam has hit tens of thousands of Australians, with Origin Energy customers targeted.

The emails appear to contain the official logo and looks like a real energy bill but Australians have been warned the emails are a scam from a server in France.

Customers have been told not to click on the button 'View Bill' as the email is encrypted with special spyware, according to 7 News.

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The scam email appears to contain a real Origin Energy logo and looks like an energy bill

Origin Energy sent out a Facebook post warning customers of the scam email

The scam was discovered on Wednesday night and once you click on the tab a virus is uploaded and hackers have access to your computer.

Even non-Origin customers received the bill prompting the energy giant to send out a warning.

The post read: 'Scam Alert: Please be aware theres an email scam claiming to contain an Origin bill requiring payment from noreply@originenergysolar.net.'

'Please ignore this email and do not click on any links as this may contain potentially malicious software.'
Kim Jong-un could be removed from power by using a massive $175billion fund to bribe his army and North Korea's high-ranking elite, an expert has claimed.

Up to $30million would be paid to each of the country's top officials while $12billion may be enough to convince Pyongyang's army to abandon the dictator, a radical new theory suggests.

Moves to 'buy out' North Korea's elite - and offer Kim and his ruling family immunity - would avoid the need for a bloody conflict at a time when the country's relationship with the US and South Korea is threatening to boil over, it is claimed.

Professor Shepherd Iverson, a former professor at Inha University in Incheon, South Korea, suggests setting up a 'reunification investment fund' to solve the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

Kim Jong-un (centre) could be removed from power using a massive $175billion fund to bribe his army and North Korea's high-ranking elite, an expert has claimed

Up to $30million would be paid to each of the country's top officials while $12billion could be enough to convince Pyongyang's army to abandon the dictator, a radical new theory has suggested

In his book, Stop North Korea!: A Radical New Approach to Solving the North Korea Standoff, Iverson imagines a scenario where the top tiers of North Korea's power elite could be bribed to ensure a peaceful transition.

The fund would be as much as $175billion and include payments to officials over a number of years, according to a review of the book by NK News.

Iverson suggests the only way to push for denuclearisation and reunification in the region was for Kim to be taken out of the equation - financial incentives would then ensure cooperation from his top officials.

Up to $23.3billion would be paid in total to elite Pyongyang families who wield power in the capital. The top ten families would receive $30million each and the top thousand would get more than $5million.

Moves to 'buy out' North Korea's elite - and offer Kim and his ruling family immunity - would avoid the need for a bloody conflict at a time when the country's relationship with the US and South Korea is threatening to boil over, it is claimed

A further 11,000 of the country's elite, including army generals, would be offered at least $1million and the next tier of 50,000 would be paid between $100,000 and $500,000, the book suggests.

A number of other key groups in Pyongyang would share $17.9billion while $121.8billion would go to the country's general population.

In a bid to avoid blood shed, $12billion would also be split between high-ranking and mid-level army officials as well as tens of thousands of military conscripts.

Kim Jong-un and his family would not receive money, but, to avoid bloodshed, would be offered immunity in return for stepping away from power.

Cash for the scheme would be raised from private groups and through a range of business investment opportunities.

Iverson, a cultural anthropologist, 'proposes that reunification is the best, possibly only, way to denuclearize North Korea, end its government's oppressive regime and create a fruitful, sustainable peace.'

To avoid a bloody transfer of power, $12billion would also be split between high-ranking and mid-level army officials as well as tens of thousands of military conscripts, the theory suggests

The only way to to achieve renunification is 'to buy it while there is still a chance to prevent war and repair the damage already done. It is business-as-peace-crafting in a way that has never been imagined before.'

Publicity for the book, a follow-up to Iverson's 2013 work 'One Korea: A Proposal for Peace', says: 'Imagine that you control a multi-billion dollar capital fund and North Korea is a large under-performing corporation.

'You see it is undervalued and want to take it over, but it is controlled by an old-fashioned board of directors the Kim family and a small number of ultra-elites who will not negotiate a deal.

'In this regressive situation it is logical to offer shareholders the larger number of political and military elites, government managers and bureaucrats, and the general population a higher price for their shares to convince them to overrule their board of directors.'
As Bill Shorten gave his Federal Budget Reply little did he realise his wife's lavish necklace would become a focal point of the evening.

The glamourous gold choker was seen around Chloe Shorten's neck at the beginning of the Federal Budget Reply in Canberra on Thursday, but was mysteriously missing by the end of the Opposition Leader's fiery speech.

The rumour mill was in full swing over the missing piece of jewellery, but Bill Shorten's office told the Herald Sun that the clasp to the three-tiered choker had broken.

Before: Chloe Shorten is seen wearing the three-tiered necklace prior to the delivery of her husbands budget reply address in the House of Representatives

After: The ornate gold choker has disappeared from Chloe Shorten's neck as she congratualtes her husband following his Federal Budget Reply speech

On Thursday evening, Bill Shorten addressed funding cuts to universities, increases in student fees and the Turnbull government's proposed Medicare levy hike.

He also vowed to stand up for 'working class' Australians and increase taxes on the wealthy.

Mr Shorten said on Thursday that Labor will only back the government's 0.5 per cent increase to the Medicare levy to Australians in the top two tax brackets, who earn upwards of $87,000.

The federal opposition leader has also committed to keeping the coalition's budget repair levy on high-income earners, and says his party will back a $6.2 billion tax on the big banks.

Mr Shorten says independent costings show his plan to hit the rich with a Medicare hike will deliver more revenue than the government's plan over the medium term without burdening families earning modest incomes.

'This is the fair and responsible way forward,' Mr Shorten said during his budget reply speech on Thursday night.

The rumour mill was in full swing over the missing piece of jewellery, but Bill Shorten's office said that the clasp to the three-tiered choker had broken

Mr Shorten addressed funding cuts to universities, increases in student fees and the Turnbull government's proposed Medicare levy hike on Thursday

Mr Shorten said the Turnbull government's proposed Medicare levy hike would hit people earning as little as $21,000 and see a worker earning $55,000 pay an extra $275 per year

He said the Turnbull government's proposed Medicare levy hike would hit people earning as little as $21,000 and see a worker earning $55,000 pay an extra $275 per year.

'Labor cannot support making people on modest incomes give up more of their pay packet, especially when this budget goes out of its way to give taxpayer money to millionaires and multinationals,' he said.

Bill Shorten also announced Labor would cap the amount people can deduct for the management of their tax affairs at $3000 in a bid to stop people exploiting holes in the tax net.

'The days of earning millions and paying nothing are over, no matter who you are,' he told MPs.

Labor would also introduce a new set of laws targeting those who 'aggressively minimise' their tax by hiding money in offshore tax havens.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten prepares to deliver his budget reply address in the House of Representatives

Mr Shorten said Labor would oppose funding cuts to universities and increases in student fees.

He also committed Labor to restoring $22 billion he says the government has stripped from schools and the $600 million torn from TAFE.

The opposition will not support setting aside $170 million for a same-sex marriage plebiscite.

'This parliament should do its job and get on with making marriage equality a reality in Australia,' Mr Shorten said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the office of Bill Shorten for comment.
Gordon Brown has made an impassioned plea for voters not to abandon Labour at the General Election but failed to mention Jeremy Corbyn once.

The former Prime Minister spoke for 25 minutes in Coventry today as he joined the fight to save his party from the electoral disaster forecast by the polls.

But Mr Brown lobbied on behalf of Labour candidates and not for Mr Corbyn to be PM. He spoke as Labour was left reeling by the leak if its entire manifesto.

Mr Brown, who was defeated at the 2010 General Election by David Cameron, called for Mr Corbyn to resign as Labour leader last year during a mass revolt by Labour MPs.

The Tories insisted Mr Brown had been right last year when he said the Labour leader was a failure.

Gordon Brown (pictured today at Coventry University) has made an impassioned plea for voters not to abandon Labour at the General Election but failed to mention Jeremy Corbyn once

Speaking in front of a Harrier jump jet at Coventry University, Mr Brown joined the fight to save his party from the electoral disaster forecast by the polls

Speaking in front of a Harrier jump jet at Coventry University, Mr Brown said: 'Ask yourself, is the National Health Service safe with the Conservative candidates, or the Ukip candidates, or the Liberal candidates in Coventry?

'Or is it safe with the people who have always fought for the health service, that supported the extra funding, that made the promises and want to see them kept, that will hold the Government to account on the National Health Service.

'I say to you, the National Health Service is safe only in the hands of Labour people who will fight every day.'

Mr Brown repeatedly spoke of getting 'advocates' and 'champions' for the region in the Commons.

He also urged Mrs May to give straight answers on questions on her domestic policy, rather than just 'slogans and sound bites'.

He added: 'Mrs May says she wants this single issue election to strengthen her hand with Europe.

'(But) we don't know what her hand is - she is not telling us what her hand is in these negotiations.

'And it is to be at the cost of manufacturing and the cost of the car industry and the cost of jobs if we are not told what we are voting for on June 8.

'She wants a free hand - she wants us to write her a blank cheque.'

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured today arriving at a manifesto meeting) has been left reeling today by the leak of his entire manifesto

Opinion polls reveal huge Tory leads with just four weeks to go and Labour is facing the prospect of its worst result in decades, 20 years after its greatest ever success

The former prime minister and chancellor said Mrs May should secure tariff-free access to trade with the EU, as well as 'frictionless access' for parts and components for the region's car industry to move across Europe.

He also said the Conservatives' record on the NHS 'shames' Britain, adding that Mrs May risked 'leaving the country more socially divided than ever unless there is a change in policy'.

Mr Brown said: 'When Mrs May says she is for those people just getting by, the Conservative Party are walking by on the other side and ignoring these needs.

'Politics does go in cycles, which we know. The test, however, is what we do in the difficult times.

Mr Brown lobbied on behalf of Labour candidates and not for Mr Corbyn to be PM. He spoke as Labour was left reeling by the leak if its entire manifesto

Mr Brown, who was defeated at the 2010 General Election by David Cameron, called for Mr Corbyn to resign as Labour leader last year during a mass revolt by Labour MPs

'Because you don't lose the courage to fight for what you believe in, you don't stand back and say this is now not for me, it's too difficult, that you continue to fight and support and champion what really matters to the future of this country.'

Tory chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: 'Gordon Brown was absolutely right when he said Jeremy Corbyn can't provide the leadership our country needs, that he would put our economy at risk and cozy up to our enemies.

'We'd all pay the price with higher taxes, fewer jobs and more waste and debt.

'Only a vote for Theresa May on 8 June can provide the strong and stable leadership we need to see us through Brexit and beyond  and build on the progress we have made with a record high employment rate, a new National Living Wage, and more money than ever for the NHS.'

Labour's leaked manifesto hints Brexit might NOT happen, scraps strike laws, hammers business and unveils plans to re-nationalise power, rail and mail

Jeremy Corbyn has again raised the prospect of blocking Brexit after last night's extraordinary leak of his entire manifesto shattered his campaign.

The 43-page document says that a no deal Brexit is the 'worst possible' situation for Britain and would damage the economy.

The position leaves Mr Corbyn open to the accusation he could be held to ransom by Brussels, as he has effectively told them his bottom line in negotiations.

The humiliating leak, which has left Labour at war with itself four weeks from polling day, has thrown the party's campaign into chaos today.

Jeremy Corbyn's Labour manifesto would 'take Britain back to the 1970s' by re-nationalising railways, the energy industry and the Royal Mail, a leaked draft has revealed

The 1970s-style plan for power includes sweeping plans to re-nationalise energy companies, the railways and the Royal Mail.

It includes billions of pounds in spending commitments and reveals Labour would scrap strike laws and hammer business.

Mr Corbyn was pictured grinning today as he was driven into a crunch summit set to agree the final draft of the manifesto, which was not due to be made public until next week.
The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee urged the newly minted acting FBI director to let Congress know if the Trump administration tries to stand in the way of an ongoing counterintelligence probe into Russia's interference in last year's election.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner asked Andrew McCabe to pledge 'that if you come under any political influence from the White House or others to squash this investigation, or impede it in any way, that you will let this committee know.'

'I absolutely do,' McCabe said under questioning.

McCabe told Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, however, that 'there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date.'

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Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner told acting FBI director Andrew McCabe on Thursday to let him know if the White House leans on him to slow-walk the bureau's Russia investigation

McCabe said he would 'absolutely' inform the Senate if Trumpworld tries to lean on him

And slowing the investigation,' he said, would be impossible regardless of a leadership shuffle.

'The work of the men and women of the FBI continues despite any changes in circumstance, any decisions,' McCabe assured the senators.

'Simply put, sir,' he told Rubio, 'you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.'

He added, in responses to Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine: 'Ma'am, we don't curtail our investigations.'

McCabe was in the room to testify in a hearing about worldwide threats to the U.S., standing in for former FBI Director James Comey, whom President Donald Trump fired on Tuesday.

Warner called his dismissal 'a shocking development' and said the timing was suspect.

McCabe (left) shared the hearing with other witnesses including CIA Director Mike Pompeo (center) and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats (top)

'He was leading an active counterintelligence investigation into any links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government or its representatives,' he reminded a packed hearing room, 'and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts to interfere in our election.'

'For many people, including myself, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the president's decision to remove Director Comey was related to this investigation. And that is unacceptable.'

The administration insists that nothing on the FBI's plate will be different following a changing of the guard  only the identity of the man in charge.

'Any investigation that was happening on Monday is still happening today,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Wednesday.

'We encourage them to complete this investigation so we can put it behind us. Nobody wants this to be finished and completed more than us.'

But Warner painted Comey's firing as a temporary obstruction calculated to slow down the probe.

McCabe promised to blow the whistle on any Trump administration efforts to kill or hamper the probe into alleged links between the president's campaign and Russian efforts to monkeywrench the November election

Trump fired James Comey on Tuesday, removing him from the top FBI post with more than six years left in his 10-year term.

'President Trump's actions this week cost us an opportunity to get at the truth  at least for today,' he said in his opening statement.

Warner reiterated the call of many Democrats for an independent Special Counsel to take over the FBI's investigation, but said the Intelligence Committee will press on with its own fact-finding.

'We will speak to Mr. Comey, and we will speak to anyone and everyone that has something to offer this investigation.' he said.

When Trump swung the axe on Tuesday, his written letter claimed Comey had assured him on three separate occasions that he was not personally the target of any FBI investigation.

Republican committee chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, asked McCabe whether he had been a witness to any such conversation.

McCabe declined to answer, saying that he 'can't comment on any conversations the director may have had with the president.'

In a more direct contradiction to the White House's explanations, he testified that it 'is not accurate' that the FBI's rank and file had lost faith in Comey prior to his sacking.

'Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI, and still does to this day,' McCabe said.

'We are a large organization. We are 36,500 people across this country, across this globe. We have a diversity of opinion about many things. But I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep, positive connection to Director Comey.'

McCabe also disagreed with the White House's contention that the Russia probe is 'probably one of the smallest things' the FBI is engaged with.

It's a 'highly significant investigation,' he said.

Democrats have begun to whisper the 'I' word  impeachment  as Trump's Russia scandal deepens and the White House's efforts to defend him sputter.

'We should maybe have an impeachment clock,' Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan told McClatchy on Wednesday.

'And if we did, I think yesterday moved us about an hour closer to having that need.'

The threat of impeachment, he said, 'has got to still be on the table as an option, especially if, indeed, there was obstruction of justice by the firing of the FBI director.'
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Britons basked in a mini-heatwave today as temperatures reached 72F - with the warm weather set to continue into the weekend.

The milder conditions saw some punters flock to the beach in Essex and Blackpool, with the majority of the UK enjoying dry and balmy weather.

Meanwhile, a large group of men took advantage of the warmer waters to 'tombstone' off a bridge in Salford Quays.

Porthmadog in Wales recorded the British high of 72F, with the London high of 69.2F recorded in Northolt, and temperatures are expected to stick around the 66F to 68F mark tomorrow and into Saturday and Sunday.

And things are looking even better for the week ahead, with a tropical flow set to move in, with much of Britain likely to enjoy temperatures in the high-70s.

The milder conditions saw some punters flock to the beach in Essex and Blackpool (pictured), with the majority of the UK enjoying dry and balmy weather with a few locations in the south enduring regular showers

Britons basked in a mini-heatwave today as temperatures reached 72F - with the warm weather set to continue into the weekend (pictured, Londoners enjoy the sun on the Southbank)

Siobhan Graves, 25, from Leigh on Sea in Essex, enjoys the spring sunshine with a dip in the sea at Chalkwell Beach, Essex

Porthmadog in Wales recorded the British high of 72F, with the London high of 69.2F recorded in Northolt

Meanwhile, a large group of men took advantage of the warmer waters to 'tombstone' off a bridge in Salford Quays (shown)

The group of men, one of which proudly displayed the Union flag on his shorts (right), did not even flinch as they flew through the air

The men were helped out by passers-by, after jumping from dozens of feet off a bridge and into water from the River Mersey

A young girl cools off while playing around near a fountain in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens, which was teeming with people during the afternoon

Harley English, 20, and Rebecca Jones, 18, pose in front of the Blackpool Tower (left), while Siobhan Graves gets in the mood for summer on the Essex coast (right)

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon told the MailOnline: 'Its been fairly variable today depending where you are in the UK but large chunks of the country have had a clear and fine time of it, most notably those in central and northern England.

'In terms of rainfall we have had showery conditions in a few places in the south, with more expected as the evening progresses.

'The warm ground conditions means there is a chance of some thunderstorms in the south west, especially in places found at the western end of the M4 corridor, such as Bath and Bristol.

'The rainfall will progress eastwards throughout the night but it will weaken considerably.'

Temperatures are expected to stick around the 66F to 68F mark tomorrow and into Saturday and Sunday

Celta Vigo fans certainly felt more at home in Britain then they would on an average day in Manchester as their Spanish outfit looks to take on United at Old Trafford this evening

People relax on the grass in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester city centre, as temperatures passed the 65F mark this afternoon

Workers take a break in the sun in London. The outlook for Friday is likely to be more of the same, with showers and clouds in some locations but mild conditions throughout

The outlook for the week after is looking quite warm due to a milder, tropical air moving into the UK as opposed to the easterly flow weve had recently

The outlook for Friday is likely to be more of the same, with showers and clouds in some locations but mild conditions throughout. Showers coming up from the south could be heavy, there is also a chance of hail.

By the time we reach Saturday morning it is likely to be a very dry start for those who have experienced showery conditions over the previous two days, with temperatures around 65F.

In the evening however we will see an organised band of rain pushing in from the south west and moving eastwards across the whole of the UK overnight.

This will disappear into the North Sea by early afternoon on Sunday, leaving behind a mixture of spots of sunshine and showers.

The outlook for the week after is looking quite warm due to a milder, tropical air moving into the UK as opposed to the easterly flow weve had recently.

It is likely to be quite cloudy with a fair bit of rain throughout the week, but there is potential for temperatures in the mid 20s, with a bit of cloud break possibly seeing somewhere reach 78F.
Gretchen Krohnfeldt, 47, a middle school teacher and married mother-of-three, allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday, one day after she was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a former student

A middle school teacher and married mother-of-three was found dead inside her home from a suspected suicide Tuesday, one day after she was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a former student.

Gretchen Krohnfeldt, 47, was pronounced dead in her Arvada home at around 1pm. There was no immediate word on her cause and manner of death.

CBS Denver reported, citing unnamed police sources, that the eighth-grade social studies teacher at Drake Middle School took her own life as police officers were approaching her home to interview her about the alleged affair.

The suspected suicide was reportedly witnessed by at least one law enforcement official.

On Monday, Krohnfeldt was placed on administrative leave after a resource officer at Drake Middle School received a tip that the veteran educator had a tryst with a former student, who was now in high school.

According to a statement put out by the Arvada Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, the initial report was made by a Drake staffer.

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Krohnfeldt was placed on administrative leave after a resource officer at Drake Middle School (pictured) in Jefferson County, Colorado, got a tip

The local CBS station reported that the school employee claimed to have seen Krohnfeldt engage in unspecified inappropriate behavior with the male student months prior, but the staffer only came forward about it this week.

After getting the report, the principal of the school immediately contacted the local police and the sheriffs office, who dispatched officers to the school to search Krohnfeldt's classroom, which was temporarily sealed off.

According to Krohnfeldt's now-defunct biography page on Drake's website, she was a native of Arvada and had been teaching in Jefferson County since 1993.

She had taught social studies, English language arts and reading intervention.

On Tuesday, the school sent home a letter to students informing them that Krohnfeldt 'has suddenly passed away.'

'Our hearts go out to her family at this painful time, and I know many will feel this loss deeply,' the statement read, in part.

Police officers were approaching Krohnfeldt's home in Arvada (pictured) to interview her about the alleged affair Tuesday when she reportedly took her own life

Grief counselors were made available at the middle school to help students and staff struggling with grief.

Jefferson County Public Schools has put out a statement saying that the investigation into Krohnfeldt's alleged misconduct was in its 'infancy' and that the school will continue looking into the matter in coordination with law enforcement.

For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 in the US, or in the UK call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
The war veteran snubbed by Jeremy Corbyn today lashed out the Labour leader saying he had 'delivered a kick in the teeth' to former soldiers for supporting their prosecution from serving in Northern Ireland.

Rob Gray was prevented by party minders from asking Corbyn about his party's policy to prosecute army veteran on historic crimes from 'The Troubles' in the 1970s.

Video footage showed the 62-year-old, who was wearing his army beret and medals, being blocked from speaking with the Labour leader during a rally in York

Gray was unable to directly speak with Corbyn after he was blocked from getting close to him before he disappeared into the large crowds.

He was told a member of his staff would contact him later.

Gray said he was telephoned by a press officer who told him it was Labour's policy to prosecute the 'worst crimes' committed during the conflict.

Furious: Rob Gray, pictured, the army vet who was snubbed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at a rally in York says he would not vote for him 'in a million years'

Long time Labour voter Mr Gray, who was wearing his army beret and medals, said Mr Corbyn had 'delivered a kick in the teeth to army veterans' by refusing to speak to him

Speaking to Mail Online from his home in York, Mr Gray said the Labour leader had 'delivered a kick in the teeth to army veterans'.

'He is happy to see men who served their country hauled into the courts but he says nothing about the IRA,' said Mr Gray.

'We know the man who we believed carried out the Hyde Park bombing killing four soldiers and seven horses is living in southern Ireland without any fear of prosecution as he has an immunity letter from Tony Blair.

'It is just disgusting and Corbyn is an arrogant man who has shown his sympathies for the IRA rather than those who served Queen and country.

'All army veterans must feel the same way when they see colleagues who are living in fear of being charged.

'I know people who have friends who are terrified of being charged. It is nothing more than a witch-hunt. There are no members of the IRA being pursed and having their lives ruined.'

Gray served two tours in Northern Ireland as a member of the 1st battalion of the Duke of Wellington regiment.

During his second tour in the 1970s he was attached to a bomb disposal unit and left the army in 1977

After his discharge he various jobs, including a driver and working in a steel work but ill health forced him to retired four years ago.

Anger: Mr Gray, who served two tours in Northern Ireland as a member of the 1st battalion of the Duke of Wellington regiment, went on to say: 'He has no respect for people who have served their country'. Pictured: Mr Gray as a young man in Northern Ireland

Barrier: Father-of-five Mr Gray, pictured, was attending a campaign rally in York when he appeared to be blocked from approaching Mr Corbyn on stage

He admitted that he had voted for Labour in previous elections but was adamant Corbyn would not get his vote on June 8th.

'Not in a million years will I vote for that man,' he said.

'I've been a labour voter but not anymore. He has no respect for people who have served their country and put their life on the line. He shows more support for the IRA and Hamas.

The married father-of-five was attending a campaign rally in York when he was filmed trying to ask Mr Corbyn a question while he was on the stage.

Mr Corbyn stepped off the plateau but instead of heading towards the war hero, he walked away through the crowd while Mr Gray called out: 'Will you answer my question or not?'

The former soldier appeared to be blocked off by a minder as he pointed to Corbyn's car and declared: 'That's just lost him four million votes.'

A Labour source told MailOnline that Mr Corbyn did try to approach Mr Gray but his security staff told him not to enter the 2,000-strong crowd because it would be too difficult to get out.

The source insisted Mr Corbyn did not ignore Mr Gray because he was wearing an army beret.

Corbyn's aide, James Schneider, eventually took his number and assured him the Labour leader would be in touch.

Hours later, Corbyn appeared to appeal to armed forces and veterans for their votes on Twitter, writing: 'In York for the many, not the few. Remember, our ancestors laid down their lives so we could vote.'

Mr Gray was later jeered at by a member of the crowd when he complained that he had been ignored Mr Corbyn.

Lost vote: Mr Gray, pictured at the rally yesterday, admitted he had voted for Labour in previous elections but was adamant Corbyn would not get his vote on June 8

Hard worker: After his discharge Mr Gray held various jobs including a driver and working in a steel work but ill health forced him to retired four years ago. He now claims that Mr Corbyn 'shows more support for the IRA and Hamas' than for vets

An onlooker branded the scenes 'disgusting' and said the veteran was 'hounded' by people at the rally.

Jayh Kariawrote wrote on Twitter: 'There was no respect given to the man and Corbyn's staff did not help the situation at all and allowed it to continue.'

In another tweet he said: 'It was absolutely disgusting. They were hounding the poor man. Even one of the stewards piled in.'

Another video of the event on ITV News shows Mr Gray asking Mr Corbyn if he can ask him a question while the Labour leader is on stage.

Mr Corbyn agrees and steps off the stage, but instead of heading towards the war veteran he climbs off the stage and walks through the crowd and away.

Mr Gray calls out to him several times and walks after Mr Corbyn for several minutes.

In another video posted online, the clearly upset war veteran said Mr Corbyn purposely left the rally without speaking to him after spotting his beret and medals pinned to his jacket.

During the clip a member of the crowd confronts the war veteran while others watch on.

Clearly upset, Mr Gray said: 'I was totally respectful.'

But the man confronting him replies: 'No you are not'.

Mr Gray said Corbyn 'took fright' after seeing his medals and beret.

'He was a coward and did not want to answer my questions. Someone took my telephone number and said I would get a call.

'A member of his press team called me and in answer to my question about Labour's policy said they would support prosecution of the worst crimes. To me that is a kick in the teeth to all veterans.

'We all know he has been an IRA sympathiser. Why doesn't he support the prosecution of terrorists? All I want is for veterans to be on an equal footing. That isn't what is happening right now.

Gray cites the case of 75-year-old Dennis Hutchings who has been charged with attempted murder.

Defence: A Labour source told MailOnline that Mr Corbyn did try to approach Mr Gray but his security staff warned him not to enter the 2,000-strong crowd

The great-grandfather had previously been assured twice that he would not be dragged before the courts for being in the military unit which gunned down John Pat Cunningham, 27, at the height of the Troubles.

Mr Hutchings, who served 26 years in the Life Guards with distinction, is set to stand trial next year for the 1974 Armagh killing  and faces jail if convicted.

The veteran, who is seriously ill and has been told he has less than two years to live, has even had his passport confiscated by the Northern Irish authorities.

The former corporal major believes the investigation is designed to appease IRA families.

Gray said:' It is absolutely scandalous what is happening to Dennis Hutchings.

'If Corbyn ever became Prime Minister it is his duty to support members of the armed forces, not put them on trial.

'Why should former soldiers face months and years of uncertainty while those who committed atrocities walk free.'
San Francisco police have released bodycam footage of a deadly shooting which took place inside a Subway sandwich shop last week.

The video shows Kenneth Cha firing a single shot at 26-year-old Nicholas Flusche who repeatedly stabbed a worker last Wednesday for not giving him a free sandwich. Flusche died at the scene.

The police department released footage, which was filmed on Cha's partner's bodycam, on Wednesday. It is not clear if Cha was wearing a camera himself.

It showed them storming the Subway after being flagged down in the street as Flusche attacked the worker.

Once inside, they found the knifeman and his victim scrapping on the floor behind the counter as a bystander tried to break them up.

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Bodycam footage captured the moment San Francisco Police Office Kenneth Cha fatally shot 26-year-old knifeman Nicholas Flusche in a Subway sandwich shop on May 3

All three men ran out from behind the counter once police arrived.

Flusche was seen running towards the officers dressed in a camouflage hoodie with blood streaming from his head.

Cha, who had already drawn his gun, fired one shot in the man's back as he ran past him.

Flusche's knife fell out of his hand as he hit the ground and landed on a mat next to the officer. He died at the scene.

It is not yet known what he was doing in California. His family have raised more than $10,000 online to bring his body back to Texas for his funeral.

Flusche, who was dressed in a camouflage hoodie, died at the scene moments after being shot

Officer Cha arrived to find the knifeman behind the counter with his victim and a bystander who tried to intervene. The three men ran out (right) together when he arrived. Flusche was still holding the knife

Surveillance footage captured the moments before police arrived.

Flusche stood hunched over the side of the counter as the victim worked. He suddenly let himself in through a side door, launching at the worker with the knife in one hand.

He was filmed repeatedly slashing him as the pair fell to the floor. Some frightened customers fled the scene.

One woman, who was on the other side of the counter when Flusche stormed behind it, ran in after him and tried to pull him off the victim.

Flusche, a Texan native, died at the scene. Officer Cha has been placed on paid leave while the shooting is investigated

The knife fell out of Flusche's hand as he ran past the officer, landing on a mat beside him

Police recovered the 26-year-old's bloody knife at the scene. His victim survived the attack

She hit him several times with a flat steel lid picked up from one of the work spaces and begged others for help.

Flusche attacked the worker after he refused to give him a free sandiwch

Other male bystanders soon came to help her.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said on Wednesday that Officer Cha would continue to be paid while the incident was under investigation.

Earlier this year, he opened fire on mentally ill man Sean Moore while he was responding to a noise complaint.

Moore was unarmed when Cha shot him.

The 43-year-old survived the shooting.

Residents at a town hall on Wednesday said they were concerned about his violent record.

One told the police chief she no longer trusted the force.
Dozens of beachgoers were warned to 'not enter the water' after a police helicopter spotted nearly 25 great white sharks along the Southern California coast.

The Orange County Sheriff's Duke 1 helicopter spotted the huge sea creatures around 1.30pm on Wednesday and recorded footage of several sharks.

In the helicopter video, sheriffs are heard discussing and contacting local lifeguards about issuing a warning over the loudspeakers.

'We have paddleboarders and swimmers in the water and we have an excess of about 15 sharks in the surfline  Do you want us to make any announcements?' one asked.

Dozen s of beachgoers were warned 'not enter the water' after a police helicopter spotted nearly 25 great white sharks along the Southern California coast

The Orange County Sheriff's Duke 1 helicopter spotted the huge sea creatures (pictured) around 1.30pm on Wednesday and recorded footage of several sharks

'We have some people real close to some of the larger ones.'

Moments later, authorities made an announcement to people who were in the water not far from some of the sharks.

'You are paddleboarding next to approximately 15 great white sharks,' several people heard Orange County Sheriff Deputy Brian Stockbridge say on the helicopter's speaker.

The beachgoers were paddleboarding in the waters off Capistrano Beach in Orange County.

Later in the evening, another group of great white sharks were spotted more than 50 miles north of Orange County off the coast of Long Beach, according to the OC Register.

The Long Beach Fire Department issued a shark advisory, for the area warning all beach patrons to enter the beach 'at their own risk'.

Orange County Lifeguards Chief, Jason Young, told the Register that there were two reports of shark sightings in the Capo Beach area.

'We haven't had any reports of anyone being bumped or charged, just observations of them either swimming or breaching,' Young said.

Sharks are loners, which is why it's unusual for them to gather in groups along the Southern California coast.

Experts say the great whites are hanging out close to shore in areas called 'hot spots'.

In the helicopter video, sheriffs are heard telling beachgoers to get out of the water. The beachgoers were paddleboarding in the waters off Capistrano Beach in Orange County

Experts believe the sharps are gathering in groups partly because of global climate change that is affecting marine life in and near Southern California

Chris Lowe, the director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, has been studying the recent shift in great white behavior in Southern California.

'Ocean temperatures are rising, causing them to live in places they've never lived before,' Lowe told the OC Register.

'Populations are coming back. And ocean conditions may be pushing them to new places.'

Lowe said the part that is unknown is the extent to which global climate change is affecting marine animals in and near Southern California.

The El Nino winter of 2014 and 2015 brought on an interesting change in behavior of a group of juvenile sharks that made Surfside in Huntington Beach their home, year-round.

Instead of migrating south in the winter that year, the sharks remained in the area.

'They didn't migrate south in the winter, which they usually did,' Lowe said. He added that if the water temperature patterns don't return, they "might start residing here."'

Another factor is rising sea-levels, which might be pushing great whites closer to local shores.

'There are a lot of unknowns,' Lowe said. 'That's the scary part.'
A woman has been slapped with a string of charges after a five-year-old boy was shot in the hip in the bedroom of his Sydney home.

The little boy was playing with his sister in the front room at the Lurnea property in Sydney's south-west when he was hit by a shot fired from just outside the home.

A woman, 37, was charged with charged with hindering an investigation and possessing unauthorised prohibited firearm ammunition without a licence.

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A five-year-old boy (pictured) was shot in the hip as he played with his sister in the bedroom of Sydney home last week

The woman has been granted bail to appear in Liverpool Local Court on Friday 26 May 2017.

Her arrest comes after the boy's 41-year-old dad was charged on Monday with possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition without a licence, and hindering a police investigation.

His parents rushed him to Liverpool Hospital and he was then taken to Westmead Hospital. He was expected to make a full recovery.

The father was released on bail and will face Liverpool Local Court on May 24.

The little boy was in the front room at the Lurnea property in Sydney 's south-west when he was hit by a shot fired from just outside the home

'He suffered a gunshot wound while playing with his sister in the bedroom of their home,' Superintendent Peter Gillam of the Liverpool Local Area Command said last week.

'From the information I have at this point in time, I think they [his parents] heard a noise, they heard the child yell out, they've responded... determined what was wrong and taken him straight to hospital.'

Police investigated the circumstances surrounding the shooting and took the family car for forensic examination.

Early investigations suggest the motive for the shooting is unclear and a shot was fired at the house.

His father (pictured) was on Monday charged with possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition without a licence, and hindering a police investigation

The girl's sister pictured with at least $7,000 in $100 notes in the family home last year

'We are not in a position to say whether this was targeted or random,' Supt. Gillam said.

'We are still trying to determine exactly what happened and that's where, hopefully, with the information we get from the parents, hopefully from the children.

'Anybody else that may have been in and around the area that either heard or saw something coming forward, we can put a picture together as to what happened.'

Neighbour Leanne told The Daily Telegraph the boy was a 'bright, happy, always on the go like little boys'.
A model jailed after falsely claiming more than 50,000 in benefits now has four weeks to pay the money back.

Carina Reid, who lived in a flat in Chelsea's exclusive King's Road, was jailed for three years last May at Isleworth Crown Court after she claimed tens of thousands of pounds in housing and council tax.

The 34-year-old, who also worked as a beautician, was caught out when investigators discovered her boasting about her extravagant lifestyle on Facebook.

Carina Reid, who lived in a flat in Chelsea's exclusive King's Road, was jailed for three years last May at Isleworth Crown Court

The 34-year-old former beautician was caught out when investigators discovered her boasting about her extravagant lifestyle on Facebook

Reid claimed benefits to help fund holidays to Hong Kong, Dubai, Spain, Portugal, France and Switzerland.

She then took to Facebook to post photos of herself enjoying the trips and sipping champagne in Harrods and dining at top London establishments including Scotts, the Dorchester Hotel and the Berkeley Hotel.

She told Chelsea and Kensington Council she had no savings, taken no holidays between 2009 and 2014 and accepted free food at a mosque.

Her defence counsel Sonya Saul, said 'every effort' had been made by her client to recuperate the money.

Miss Saul told the judge: 'I have explained to her the need for this matter to be resolved.'

However Judge Douglas Marks-Moore dismissed the claims, labelling Reid 'arrogant' and 'extremely boorish'.

The judge told the court: 'I am sorry, this is pie in the sky. She is very arrogant in my view when she comes into this court.

'She has had ample opportunity I am afraid to get this money. How long has this been going on for, over a year?'

She told Chelsea and Kensington Council she had no savings, taken no holidays between 2009 and 2014 and accepted free food at a mosque

Reid bragged about her lifestyle on social media, posing with supercars and dining in top hotels and restaurants

Eight of the nine dishonesty charges related to Reids failure to declare savings of 180,000 in 19 separate bank accounts

He added: 'She knows very well where her things were and where the money was spent. There were photographs posted on her Facebook page of her enjoying the high life.

'In any event this was a significant amount of money that could have been used by social services.'

A profile of Reid on her beauty business website Enhance said she was a senior medical aesthetician who had worked with a wide range of clientele, from VIP film stars, TV and radio presenters as well as on magazine shoots and celebrity events.

Her Kings Road flat was purchased with a deposit of 20,000, and she got a mortgage based on her true tax returns which showed that Enhance was a successful business.

She had also sent 116,000 abroad in 2013-2014 to acquire property in Dubai, and her LinkedIn profile indicated her desire to expand her business to Dubai and Los Angeles.

Judge Douglas Marks-Moore labelled Reid 'arrogant' and 'extremely boorish'

Reid claimed benefits to help fund holidays to Hong Kong, Dubai, Spain, Portugal, France and Switzerland

Reid has been given an extra four weeks to recuperate the monies she stole from the taxpayer

Eight of the nine dishonesty charges related to Reids failure to declare savings of 180,000 in 19 separate bank accounts. She was convicted of nine charges of fraud by false representation.

The judge allowed Reid an extra four weeks to recuperate the monies she stole from the taxpayer before she is due for release later this year.

Judge Marks-Morre said she had been 'extremely boorish', adding: 'Yes, I know the words that I am using.'

He told her: 'You don't listen to a word I have to say anyway. You have not got a hope in hell of getting an extension.

'You have been playing the system in my view.'

Reid will be back in court on June 30.
Harvard University is set to host its first school-wide commencement ceremony specially for black students.

Organized by students, the event called Black Commencement 2017 will be held on May 23, with students from across Harvard's college and graduate schools wearing African kente cloth stoles over their traditional robes.

Although Harvard's undergraduate college has had black commencement events in the past, this one will be the first open to graduate students across the university.

Black Commencement 2017 is 'not about segregation', Michael Huggins, president of the Harvard Black Graduate Student Alliance, which is organizing the event, told the Boston Globe.

Michael Huggins (left) is president of the group which is organizing Black Graduation 2017. 'We really wanted to come together to celebrate Harvard black excellence and brilliance,' he said

Organizers say the Harvard event is open to students and guests of any race or ethnicity, and that 170 students and 530 guests have signed up to attend

'The primary reason we wanted to do this is we really wanted to come together to celebrate Harvard black excellence and brilliance,' said Huggins, who is set to receive a masters' degree in public policy from the Kennedy School.

The ceremony comes as colleges and universities across the US have grappled with racial issues, including a focus on 'microaggressions' and the rise in prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Harvard, the oldest institution of higher learning in America, has also been attacked for previous ties to slavery.

Last year, the Harvard Law School agreed to redesign its crest, which was modeled on the family crest of an 18-century slaveholder.

Similar ceremonies for black students have been held at other schools in previous years, including Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley and Temple.

Organizers say the Harvard event is open to students and guests of any race or ethnicity, and that 170 students and 530 guests have signed up to attend.

Roughly 14 percent of Harvard's undergraduates are black, while five percent of all students, including graduate schools, are black.

'This is an opportunity to tell everyone that we're here and we're an important part of the culture at Harvard,' Huggins told the Globe.

'And if you want to learn more about that, then come.'
Lee Ferguson, 32, from Wallsend in North Tyneside, attacked Jade Jordan, who suffered burns to 13 per cent of her body and required surgery and skin grafts

A father, who poured petrol over his girlfriend then set her on fire, has been jailed for eight years.

Lee Ferguson, 32, from Wallsend in North Tyneside, attacked Jade Jordan, who suffered burns to 13 per cent of her body and required surgery and skin grafts.

CCTV footage of the incident, which took place in the early hours of February 19, shows Miss Jordan's torso and thighs ignite into a burst of yellow and orange.

She can been seen lying on the ground in the street, screaming in agony, with her clothes burnt off, in further video from a police officer's bodycam.

The victim spent three weeks in hospital after the attack, suffered 'deep' burns to 13 per cent of her body and needed surgery and skin grafts.

She will be scarred for life around her stomach, abdomen and legs.

Ferguson admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Newcastle Crown Court.

He sobbed in the dock as the footage of his attack and his aftermath was played to the court.

The court heard the couple, who had been together for 12 years and have two children, have stayed together after the attack.

Witnesses from a nearby pub had heard Miss Jordan 'shouting and then screaming' in the early hours and saw the flames.

Ferguson, who stamped out the blaze and covered his victim in a coat to try and stop the flames, was heard saying 'I'm going to jail for a long time for this'.

Prosecutor Paul Rowland told the court Miss Jordan did not make a statement about why or how she was attacked.

The court heard Ferguson must have filled a small bottle with accelerant, taken from a larger petrol can found inside his home, and used that in the attack.

The small, plastic bottle was found still at the scene.

Miss Jordan was taken to hospital in Cramlington before being transferred to the RVI in Newcastle and later the Regional Burns Unit.

Mr Rowland added: 'It was established she had burns to 13 per cent of her body.

'An emergency operation was carried out. There was cleaning and dressing of the burns and also a laser scan undertaken.

'That showed burns to her legs and abdomen were deep. The consequences of that was grating had to take place.'

During two police interviews Ferguson denied responsibility but pleaded guilty when the case got to court.

Mr Rowland said: 'There is an acceptance by the defendant he used a weapon, the weapon in this case being petrol.'

John Wilkinson, defending, said Ferguson realises the effects of what he did on the victim and the family as a whole.

Ferguson admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Newcastle Crown Court

Ferguson has sought help from professionals while in custody on remand.

Mr Wilkinson added: 'I cannot and would not seek to explain his behaviour on that particular night.

'In many ways it is inexplicable. He was immediately aware of the enormity of what he had done.

'He has expressed genuine remorse for what has occurred.'

Mr Wilkinson said Ferguson has convictions in the distant past but is not a habitually violent man.

After jailing him for eight years, Judge Robert Adams told Ferguson: 'It seems to me the horror of what you had done and the injury inflicted became clear to you soon after you committed this offence.

'It is hard to imagine how painful those burns must have been.

'The pain and suffering at the time, which your offending caused, must have been extreme.

'There was extensive and deep burning.'

The judge said the background to Ferguson's offending was his drinking vodka, arguments, smoking cannabis and him being jealous.
President Donald Trump's dismissal of James Comey came after the attorney general and deputy attorney general orally recommended the FBI director's firing on Monday and put their concerns into writing Tuesday, the White House has said,

It's not known who else Trump might have asked for advice, but, as Yahoo News points out, his 6'4" personal bodyguard, Keith Schiller, an ex-NYPD officer, was likely polled, as well.

Schiller, whose official title is director of Oval Office operations, was Trump's courier on Tuesday, hand delivering the president's letter notifying Comey he had been fired to the FBI's headquarters.

Trump's 6'4" personal bodyguard, Keith Schiller, an ex-NYPD officer, was likely polled about James Comey's firing

The longtime Trump employee was seen entering the FBI's office in downtown Washington, six blocks down from the White House with a manila envelope on Tuesday and leaving empty handed.

Trump's personal bodyguard since the 1990s, Schiller followed his billionaire employer to the campaign trail, where he infamously removed Univision host Jorge Ramos from a press conference once, and into the Oval Office.

A deputy assistant to the president, he has been known to wrangle press out of the president's work space when they've stayed their welcome.

During the presidential campaign he served as the liaison between Trump's team and the Secret Service.

It is unclear why Schiller was chosen to take the letter firing Comey to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Washington, D.C. office, other than the fact that he's a 20-year Trump associate and he was nearby.

As Yahoo News reported Wednesday, Trump likes to survey the room before he makes big decisions. Schiller was most likely there.

Counselor Kellyanne Conway was out of the building on travel. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that he hadn't discussed Comey with the president since last week.

Spicer's deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Wednesday as she briefed the press that the specifics of letter the president sent were above her pay grade.

Trump's personal bodyguard since the 1990s, Schiller followed his billionaire employer to the campaign trail, where he infamously removed Univision host Jorge Ramos from a press conference once, and into the Oval Office

It is unclear why Schiller was chosen to take the letter firing Comey to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Washington, D.C. office, other than the fact that he's a 20-year Trump associate and he was nearby

She did not deny that it was Schiller who dropped off the letter when a reporter asked about the involvement of one of Trump's 'long-time security advisors.'

'He followed the proper protocol in that process, which is a handwritten notification,' Sanders said of Trump's decision to write Comey instead of calling him.

She added, 'No matter how you fire someone, its never an easy process, and so he felt like following protocol was the best thing to do.'

Trump also sent Comey an email letting him know he'd been fired. He was in California at that time and learned of his sacking while he was addressing bureau employees at the FBI's Los Angeles Office.

Before he was elected president, Trump's claim to fame was his role on a reality television show, The Apprentice, that saw him fire people on camera.

Barbara Res, a former employee of Trump's, said he doesn't actually like to fire people, though. 'He hated it,' she told Yahoo.

Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday, 'No matter how you fire someone it's never an easy process, so he felt like following protocol was the best thing to do.'

A senior official who spoke to DailyMail.com on Wednesday afternoon admitted that there was nothing in the protocol keeping Trump from calling Comey, though - if he'd wanted to.
France's new president Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his party's 428 election candidates for June's general election - with exactly half of them women.

It was revealed today that 52 per cent of those chosen from more than 19,000 applicants 'have never held elected office' before and that 214 were women.

Like him, many of the candidates are new to politics and hope to repopulate the political map of France with new faces and fresh ideas.

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France's new president Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his party's 428 election candidates for June's general election - with exactly half of them women

It was revealed that 52 percent of those chosen from more than 19,000 applicants 'have never held elected office' and that 214 were women.

An initial batch of 14 legislative candidates were previously announced in April by Mr Macron's camp.

They gave a taste of how his grassroots, start-up style party Republic on the Move has sought to recruit from outside of the circle of career politicians.

The party confirmed, as Mr Macron promised, on Twitter that the candidates are split 50-50 between men and women.

Among them is Jean-Michel Fauvergue, who commanded the elite Raid unit during the 2015 siege in which Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a ring leader of the Paris attacks a few days earlier, was killed.

Also in the first batch is Claire Tassadit Houd, whose sister Djamila was among the 130 killed in the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015.

Thousands of would-be legislators answered Mr Macron's call for candidacies.

The party asked them to sign up on its website with a resume and letter explaining their motivation.

Like Macron, many of the candidates are new to politics and hope to repopulate the political map of France with new faces and fresh ideas (pictured with Francois Hollande)

The party confirmed, as Mr Macron promised, on Twitter that the candidates are split 50-50 between men and women

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen made the May 7 presidential election run-off for the first time  she was heavily beaten by Mr Macron but still achieved the highest-ever score for the National Front, a party with a history of anti-Semitism and racism

They have now been whittled down, with the party aiming to contest all 577 National Assembly seats up for grabs in June.

'I signed up right from the beginning on the website,' Jean-Baptiste Moreau, one of the initial 14, said.

The 40-year-old is contesting a seat in the Creuse region of central France, where he farms.

He said he was drawn by the profile of 39-year-old Mr Macron, who will be France's youngest president when he takes power on Sunday, and by the party's efforts to incorporate ideas sent from the grassroots into his campaign platform.

Mireille Robert, the head of a primary school in a village of 1,000 people in the Aude region of south-western France, will be up against a local Socialist Party heavyweight.

Thousands of would-be legislators answered Mr Macron's call for candidacies. The party asked them to sign up on its website with a resume and letter explaining their motivation (pictured, Macron at his election victory with his wife Brigitte Trogneux and her granddaughter)

She likened herself to women who were on the front lines during the French revolution in 1789.

She said one of her main motives for moving into politics under Mr Macron's banner is fighting the rise in France of the political extremes.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen made the May 7 presidential election run-off for the first time  she was heavily beaten by Mr Macron but still achieved the highest-ever score for the National Front, a party with a history of anti-Semitism and racism.

In the first-round ballot, far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon got nearly 20 per cent of the vote.

'I don't want the extremes for my France. Our backs are against the wall,' 55-year-old Ms Robert said.

In her village of Pieusse, Ms Le Pen got 271 votes last Sunday, five more than Mr Macron's 266.

'That's really scary,' Ms Robert added. 'I feel like we are in danger.'
This is the dramatic moment police armed with assault rifles and tasers arrested two men at gunpoint after blowing the tyres on their gold Holden Commodore.

The sensational scenes unfolded in front of stunned bystanders on the corner of Karel Avenue and South Street in Leeming, Perth, around 3.45pm on Wednesday.

Witnesses thought they were watching a terrorist sting when they saw police draw the high-powered firearms in the middle of the street, reports 7 News.

Footage shows the moment police armed with assault rifles and tasers arrested two men at gunpoint

'In the middle of the median strip guns drawn, semi-assault rifles, Tasers to the forehead  it was extremely hectic and really full-on,' said witness Chanelle Dangla-Cruz.

'I automatically assumed, once realising it was a police operation, that it was a terrorist sting.'

Footage shows police pinning two men to the ground and pointing Tasers at their heads as cars zoom past on the busy road.

Details on the arrest are scarce and it is not clear if the men have been charged.

'The TRG were assisting one of our specialist units,' Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said.

He said the dramatic arrest was a 'textbook piece of work.'

Footage shows police pinning two men to the ground and pointing Tasers at their heads
A 12-year-old boy is facing prison after he was caught carrying an eight-inch knife at the scene of an alleged robbery.

The boy appeared in court this morning and admitted carrying the knife.

Sentencing was adjourned until June when he is due to appear again charged with robbery.

Hackney police shared a photo of the eight-inch blade found on a 12-year-old boy on Twitter

Highbury Corner Youth Court heard that the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly fled from police after they were called to a reports of a robbery in Hackney, London last Thursday.

Police said the 8in blade was found in the child's rucksack, reported the Hackney Gazette.

His mother and grandmother accompanied him in court.

Police posted a photo of the knife on Twitter last week, captioned: 'This large kitchen knife carried in street by boy aged TWELVE. Just remanded in custody for his protection and that of the public.'

They added: 'Called to a robbery in Southwold Rd. Juvenile arrested with this on him. #knivestakelives.'

The boy appeared at Highbury Corner Youth Court (pictured) this morning and admitted carrying the knife

The child is on conditional bail and is forbidden to meet with a 15-year-old, who also cannot be named.

On Monday, grieving mothers who have lost children to knife attacks led hundreds in a 'peace march' through Hackney.

The march was just hours before a 17-year-old Elijah Dornelly was fatally stabbed to death in nearby Walthamstow.

He was the 11th person to be stabbed or shot to death in the capital in a fortnight.
Saddening CCTV images have been released showing how a mentally ill patient who was drugged, thrown in seclusion and was left without water before falling up to 20 times.

The images show the lack of resources in Australia's mental health system as mother-of-two Miriam Merten was left abandoned, naked, without water and became covered in her own faeces while in seclusion, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Merten had been admitted to Lismore Base Hospital on May 26, 2014, due to concerns over her wellbeing and the mother died on June 3.

Miriam Merten died following a brain injury sustained falling up to 20 times while in and out of seclusion in 2014 at Lismore Base Hospital

CCTV footage shows Ms Merten was naked and walking the corridor

Corina Merten (pictured left) helped secure the CCTV footage to help raise awareness and funding for mental health resources after her mother Miriam Merten's death (pictured right)

The coroner's report found Ms Merten died from a 'brain injury caused by numerous falls' following a long stint in seclusion from 11.50pm to 5.10am on June 1.

During that stint she was reportedly sedated, naked, not offered water or food fort a period of time and covered in her own faeces and her vital signs were not checked despite it being protocol.

The room contained only a mattress and she was being monitored on a video monitor to check on her wellbeing.

Shockingly Ms Merten can be seen wandering the corridor naked and covered in her own faeces while the senior nurse is seen mopping the floor 'apparently oblivious' to the patient.

Ms Merten was reportedly in seclusion from 11.50pm to 5.10am

Ms Merten while in seclusion naked with just a mattress on the floor

Upon release from seclusion Ms Merten suffered more falls and hit her head.

The coroner described the scenes from the CCTV footage as 'horrific' and as a mentally ill patient she was, 'treated in such an appalling manner is really beyond comprehension'.

Upon the inquest, both nurses were sacked with the junior nurse reportedly told to ignore guidelines because of 'poor staffing levels' during the incident, according to the publication.

In an attempt to raise awareness and resources for the mental health system Ms Merten's daughter, Corina, helped secure the footage for the publication.

After seeing the distressing images, Mental Health minister Tanya Davies said: 'My stomach actually turned at one point.

'I got to a point where I just closed my eyes because I didnt want to see what was going to come next. I am still pretty much shaken by thinking that was happening to a lady. I was pretty disgusted.'

Images show Ms Merten in the background naked wandering the corridor
A criminal has escaped a high-risk facility in south-west Victoria on Thursday evening, as police warn the public not to approach him.

Police are currently searching for 41-year-old Justin Fraser, who was last seen outside the Corella Place facility on Warrak Rd shortly after 6.30pm.

Fraser has previously escaped from police in 2014 when on a integration exercise prior to his release.

On that occasion, he was charged with indecent assault and intended rape.

41-year-old Justin Fraser has escaped the high-risk facility Corella Place in Victoria and remains missing

Since that incident he has been detained at Corella Place near Ararat - a facility for sex offenders deemed too dangerous to be released after serving their prison sentences.

In attempts to locate the man, police have begun an immediate search but have stressed that members of the public must not approach him.

Fraser is described as being 180cm tall with a medium build, short light brown greying hair and a moustache.

Police urge anyone with information as to his whereabouts to call 000.
He's had one of the most disastrous election campaign spells in British history, with polls now showing the Tories are on track to put Labour to the sword on June 8.

But according to eagle-eyed Twitter users, Jeremy Corbyn may have help on the way after he was spotted in a car with a man who bore a rather striking resemblance to Mission: Impossible actor Tom Cruise.

The pair were photographed moments after Mr Corbyn's car ran over the foot of a BBC cameraman as the Labour leader arrived for a meeting with senior party figures in central London this morning.

Mission Impossible: Twitter users questioned what Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was doing in the back of a car with a man many joked bore an uncanny resemblance to actor Tom Cruise

It capped off a woeful 14-hour horror show, which began at around 9pm last night when Mr Corbyn's left-wing manifesto was embarrassingly leaked a week early.

As the party went into meltdown this morning over the unprecedented campaign breach, Mr Corbyn compounded the chaos by pulling out of a poster launch - leaving young activists bewildered.

But few would have expected the latest turn of events, which has seen Twitter erupt with questions about what the Labour leader was doing with a Tom Cruise lookalike.

One user wrote: 'Tom Cruise filming the next Mission: Impossible in Corbyn's car, the mission get Labour into government'.

Another, Alan Kennedy, posted: 'That awkward moment when you get run over by Corbyn's car and Tom Cruise steals the story.'

The man in the photograph was actually Momentum activist James Schneider (left), who is now the head of strategic communications in the Labour leader's office, not Tom Cruise (right)

Ged Hurst tweeted: 'Jeremy Corbyn's day of chaos: no wonder he's got Tom Cruise in the car with him', while Jon Long added: 'Lots of talk about Corbyn's car running over a cameraman's foot, I'm more interested in what his meeting with Tom Cruise was about.'

Sharing the picture, which captures the moment Mr Corbyn appeared to lose his self-style 'Zen' calm as he realised what had happened, Twitter user Kimberley wrote: 'This picture has to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Since when did Tom Cruise recruit Jeremy Corbyn for Mission: Impossible?'

Despite the excitement, the man in the photograph was not Mr Cruise - nor does he actually look that similar to the Hollywood actor.

BBC cameraman Giles Wooltorton's foot was run over by the Labour leader's car as it entered the building on Savoy Place in central London today

Mr Wooltorton had to be taken away in an ambulance after the Labour leader's car ran over his foot

It was actually Momentum activist James Schneider, who is now the head of strategic communications in the Labour leader's office.

The 29-year-old, who was privately educated and grew up in a house now worth 7million in Primrose Hill, one of Londons most exclusive neighbourhoods, has been in the role for just over six months.

He describes himself as having been an 'African-focused' journalist for five years, including posts as editor of an online news analysis website on Africa and a spell on a magazine.

But he first hit the headlines himself as a founder of the pro-Corbyn grassroots movement Momentum. The organisation was set up in October 2015, four weeks after Mr Corbyn was elected leader.

Mr Schneider was a national organiser and press officer for Momentum.

Mr Schneider (pictured in 2015) was a national organiser and press officer for Momentum
A man aiming to be Britain's best boss takes his staff on luxury holidays to Las Vegas and even fills the office with a gigantic ball pit to put smiles on their faces.

Lee McAteer, 32, who runs travel firm Invasion in Manchester, wants his office to be the 'most fun in the country'.

'Big kid at heart' Mr McAteer believes a happy workforce is a productive one, so in order to keep his team's morale soaring he lavishes them with surprise trips abroad and fast food feasts including pizza, burgers, ice cream.

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Travel firm boss Lee McAteer (left) took his staff on a luxury trip to Las Vegas to reward them for their hard work

As well as trips abroad Mr McAteer (pictured) also surprises his team with fast food feasts

Invasion HQ is even decorated with huge movie statues, including a Star Wars stormtrooper, Sully from Monsters Inc. and a massive Bart Simpson.

Mr McAteer said he likes to 'constantly surprise' his team and earlier this month he decided to fill his office with 250,000 brightly coloured plastic balls.

He said: 'I believe if you enjoy your job then you never work a day in your life - so I try to make the office as fun as possible.

'It took us from 3am to 8am to fill the office with quarter of a million balls.

'They guys couldn't believe it and they absolutely loved it.

'We wanted to reward the guys for all their hard work and we like to do things differently.'

In March Mr McAteer took ten members of staff on a trip to the US which included New York, Atlantic City and finally Vegas.

Mr McAteer said he likes to 'constantly surprise' his team and earlier this month he decided to fill his office with 250,000 brightly coloured plastic balls

Pictured: The Manchester-based office of Invasion after it was filled with plastic balls

Pictured: Members of the Invasion team working after their office was filled with plastic balls

He said: 'It was mental, we went to Vegas for Spring Break with some of our top performers.

'We stayed in the Bellagio and ended up at a David Guetta pool party. It was all crazy. We started in New York, went to Atlantic City and ended up in Vegas.'

As well as the English office he has two members of staff from Madrid who he also flew to Vegas because he did not want them to 'feel left out'.

But, in generosity does not stop there.

Mr McAteer also rewarded the office apprentice with a VIP trip to Magaluf for him and all his friends, after he won an award for being one of the best trainees in the country.

Pictured: Invasion HQ is decorated with movie statues, including a Star Wars stormtrooper and Sully from Monsters Inc

Pictured: Mr McAteer and his staff members picking up McFlurries for the rest of the team

Pictured: Members of the Invasion team having fun while on a staff trip to Amsterdam

Mr McAteer said that he never checks his senior staff's holidays because they know 'what needs to be done'.

Ross Alcock, 22, a Marketing Manager at Invasion, said: 'Lee's brilliant - we're always having fun and he's always taking people away.

'I've worked here three years and I've been away loads of times. We went to Wrestlemania and now I'm actually working on setting up tours for people to go.

'I spent five months in Thailand running one of our projects.

'If you ever need any help or have any problem he can help.

'I get brought in in a lot of big projects and he just lets me get on with them and run.

'He's a great guy to work for and he's always going the extra mile for people.'
A family of three became a family of 10 this week, when a Georgia couple adopted seven siblings who had been abandoned by their mother.

Siblings Maria, 14; Elizabeth, 11; Guillermo, 10; Jason, eight; Kristina, seven; Katerin, seven; and James, five; officially became members of the Clark family at a court hearing on Tuesday.

Adoptive parents Joshua and Jessaka Clark had always wanted a large family. On their first date, Josh said he wanted 10 kids - an idea that excited Jessaka, whose parents had fostered children when she was growing up.

'Josh has a heart for the thousands of children that don't have parents and knew he wanted to bring some of them into his home,' Mrs Clark told Fox News.

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Joshua and Jessaka Clark adopted seven siblings into their family on Tuesday, who are now officially big brothers and sisters to their three-year-old biological son Noah (blonde hair, center)

From left to right: Mom Jessaka, Maria (14), Elizabeth (11), Guillermo (10), Jason (eight), Kristine and Katerin (seven), James (five), Noah (three), and dad Joshua Clark

The Clarks decorated their van for the special occasion on Tuesday. It appears that every member of the family also has their own Harry Potter-themed bumper sticker on the car

'I'm a Clark! We're all Clarks! #ClarkClan,' the van reads in the happy picture from Tuesday

The siblings had spent more than three years in the foster care system before they starting living with the Clarks in August

The couple started looking into adoption after the birth of their son Noah three years ago, and in March 2016 they got a call from an adoption worker about the siblings.

When Mr Clark got off the phone, he asked his wife 'What do you think about seven?'

'I said, "A seven-year-old?"' Mrs Clark recalled to 11 Alive. 'He said, "Well there is a seven-year-old, but no...seven children."'

'My eyes probably got as big as his and we both said the same thing: "We need to pray about this,"' she said. 'We prayed that night and didn't sleep well because God told us that these were the kids for us.'

The siblings moved into the couple's Effingham County home in August, and had been waiting for the day they could officially become Clarks.

That day came when they got their May 9 court date.

Joshua and Jessaka (pictured left) say they've always wanted a large family. They started looking into adoption after their son Noah (right) was born three years ago

The morning of their hearing, Mr Clark woke the kids up with party poppers and noisemakers.

In a video recorded by Mrs Clark, her husband yells 'Time to get adopted!' as the kids squeal with joy.

'We are all super excited,' Mr Clark told WSB-TV on Tuesday. 'They have been up since 6, screaming and running around the house.'

All eight children dressed in their Sunday best for the hearing, with the eldest child holding up a sign reading:'We were in foster care for 1,359 days, but today, May 9 , 2017, we're adopted.'

Noah, now the youngest of the brood, held up a sign of his own reading: 'I was an only child for 1,426 days. But today, May 9, 2017, I became a little brother.'

His parents say that he has been very excited to get so many brothers and sisters at once.

'When we told the children about getting a court date, Noah jumped up and down with them because he thought he was getting adopted as well,' Mrs Clark said.

The seven siblings were first placed in foster care four years ago when their mother abandoned them

The seven siblings are all full or half-siblings through a shared mother. Above, the Clark family after the adoption on Tuesday

The Clarks say their son Noah has loved getting a bunch of new brothers and sisters at the same time

The Clarks say Noah thought he was getting adopted too when they told the kids about the court date recently

The new Clark boys give their mom a kiss in a heart-warming picture taking after the adoption on Tuesday

'Josh has a heart for the thousands of children that don't have parents and knew he wanted to bring some of them into his home,' Mrs Clark told Fox News. The couple pictured above

The siblings have one baby sister, who is under the age of two, that the Clarks would also like to adopt. But they have to get a larger home before the state will allow the little girl to stay with them.

For now, the four sisters sleep in one bedroom, while the four boys sleep in another.

A family friend has started a GoFundMe page to help the Clarks extend their home for their vastly-larger family.

The siblings first entered the foster care system four years ago, when Maria, then 10, went to a neighbor's house for help when their mother disappeared.

The family was living in Jesup, Georgia at the time.

The siblings were sent to live at Gabriel's House Ranch in Midway, a non-profit group home which specializes in keeping siblings together.

Megan Wilson, a case manager at Gabriel's House, said that this is the first time a family has adopted seven siblings at once through the organization, according to Savannah Now.

Mr Clark works in the finance department of a Savannah motorcycle dealership while his wife is a stay-at-home mom.
The boyfriend of a schoolgirl who was left for dead during a frenzied butchering of her family today admitted writing her a whatsapp declaring 'I feel like I want to murder the people that are around you' shortly before the killings.

James Reade-Jahn told the trial of Henri Van Breda  the heir accused of attacking his parents and siblings with an axe  that he had been angry after hearing details of a 'heated argument' involving the family.

The 18 year-old university student said he had provided an alibi to police in the wake of the triple murder at the Van Bredas' home in South Africa in January 2015, and regretted sending the 'silly' message to his girlfriend, Marli.

James Reade-Jahn, pictured, the ex-boyfriend of Marl van Breda, who survived an axe attack which killed her parents and one of her brothers at their home in Cape Town, South Africa

Reade-Jahn, pictured, was giving evidence at the trial of Henri van Breda who is accused of murdering his parents and attempting to kill his sister at their South African home

The court today heard Reade-Jahn, pictured, sent a 'silly' message to his then girlfriend Marli expressing his desire to 'murder the people that are around you' before the triple murders

The family had recently returned from Australia where they had lived for seven years.

Van Breda denies killing his parents, Martin and Teresa, and brother Rudi in the frenzied bedroom attack, which his sister, then 16, miraculously survived.

Cracks in the picture of the family whose social media feeds portrayed them as a close-knit unit whose vast wealth enabled them to indulge their shared passions for travel and adventure.

Mr Reade-Jahn confessed to prosecutor Susan Galloway that he his message outburst had been provoked by hearing about a family row in which Marli was picked on by her father for gaining weight and ordered to 'cool' her romance with him. The witness described Martin Van Breda, 54, as 'controlling' and his 55 year-old wife Teresa as 'wanting more freedom'.

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

Prosecutors say Henri (left) murdered father Martin (right), mother Teresa (front right), brother Rudi (centre) and tried to kill sister Marli (front left)

Police claim van Breda used this axe to attack his family members to inherit 13 million

Watched by Van Breda, 21, from the dock, Mr Reade-Jahn was asked to read out loud the full message he had sent to schoolgirl Marli, less than two weeks before the mass murder.

'I know I told you everything I always feel or am doing' and right now' I feel like I want to murder the people that are around you at the moment and I am inches away from losing it with them and breaking down completely but I am being strong to help you,' he read.

He added that he had only wanted to 'comfort' Marli after the ugly family fight over dinner that had left her and her mother 'very upset'.

Explaining his reason for describing Mr Van Breda - who amassed a fortune from property investments in South Africa and Australia - as 'controlling', he added, 'He wanted the best for his kids  he wanted them to be diligent and he wanted to keep the family together.'

He said that arguments had arisen over Martin's hold over the family' and that 'all agreed Martin had been too rough on Marli' during the argument about her weight.

Marli van Breda is set to give evidence against her brother despite not remembering the night

The student, who is no longer in a relationship with Marli, described how he had sent his mother to look for her at her home on the morning after the slaughter after she had failed to arrive at school. His mother later came to break the news that she was fighting for her life.

According to Van Breda's version of the gruesome slaying of his loved ones, they were all set upon by a masked intruder, as he watched helpless through a crack in the bathroom door.

Then 19, he suffered only minor injuries as he single-handedly disarmed the ruthless killer, before chasing him out of the house, he claims.

Mr Reade-Jahn stumbled and appeared close to tears when recalling how he had been shown pictures of the bloodied 9lb axe, wielded more than a dozen times against his then girlfriend and her family, which he had previously seen at their home.

He also said he had recognised a list of emergency contact numbers which had long been stuck to the family's fridge 'for the kids'.

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

Instead Van Breda, then 19, had called and whatsapp messaged a girlfriend, rather than an ambulance or police, claiming in a statement to the court that he had no idea of how else to raise the alarm.

Marli, whose jugular vein was slashed in the appalling assault, is also on the list of prosecution witnesses at her brother's trial, although she reportedly recalls nothing about the horrific events of the night.

Defence lawyer Pieter Botha, who secured an acquittal for British honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani, had previously suggested that notorious intruders known to police as 'the balaclava gang' might have links to the masked killer his client described.

Today, Sergeant Nicolas Steyn, an officer who was investigating the notorious syndicate  which was operating in the area not far from the high security De Zalze estate, outside Cape Town  ruled them out as suspects after attending the crime scene.

He told the court that the established modus operandi of the gang did not fit at all with the bloodbath he found there.

'It is strange they didn't take anything,' he said, adding that he saw no evidence that a blood-strewn killer had fled the scene.

'The way they were killed, the person who did the murders would have been covered in blood, he had to have blood on his hands. If he jumped over wall there would be blood, but there was none. There was also no bloody shoe,' he testified.

The officer said he had spoken to Van Breda outside the house - which lies in the middle of the tightly guarded estate - and he was 'quiet and calm', adding 'men are usually angry, women are usually more emotional.'

Van Breda stands to inherit a fortune from his parents' property empire if he is cleared of killing his family.

He denies three counts of murder, one of attempted murder and one of perverting the course of justice.
Concern over the safety of BMW cars is mounting in the wake of a new report that found dozens of examples of mysterious fires breaking out in vehicles that had been parked for as long as several days.

More than 40 parked BMWs that are not under an open recall have caught fire in the US over the past five years, with similar incidents in Sweden, China, India, and South Korea, the ABC News report from Thursday found.

The inexplicable fires range across several models, years, and generations of the iconic luxury brand's vehicles, which can range in price to over $100,000.

BMW is denying that they've found 'any pattern related to quality or component failure' and says that out of the 4.9million vehicles it has on US roads, fire incidents are exceedingly rare.

After a spate of BMW fires in South Korea, a government investigation found a possible fuel leak, leading to a 1,700-car recall, but it is unknown if the American fires are related to that issue.

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More than 40 parked BMWs that are not under an open recall have caught fire in the US over the past five years, according to a new report out Thursday

A parked 2012 BMW X6 is seen engulfed in flames in Delray Beach, Florida in July 2015

In October of 2016, Tar Zaide had just parked his 2011 BMW 328 in an Oshwa, Canada parking lot on his way to visit a client when it began smoking and then burst into flames

The dramatic, sudden fires in parked cars have left dozens of drivers bereft of their prized luxury vehicles, and at least one man homeless when a car fire in his garage burned his home down.

In December of 2015, Bill Macko was in his Olney, Maryland when his wife parked their 2008 BMW X5, which originally retailed for $46,200, in the garage after a short drive,

Macko, a lifelong BMW enthusiast who had purchased seven of the high-end cars over the years, told ABC that he walked into the garage to investigate a strange smell, and heard a 'snap, crackle, pop' as he entered.

The car burst into flames, and Macko and his wife ran out of the house and watched as firefighters battled the inferno, which ultimately engulfed and gutted their home.

Sixteen months later, he and his wife are still staying with relatives, unsure when they will be able to return to their rebuilt home.

In another case, in New York's Westchester County, the owner of a 2003 BMW told fire crews it had been sitting parked for three or four days before bursting into flames.

In Brookhaven, Georgia, after an unexpected snowfall in January 2014, one motorist left his BMW E36 M3 on the impassable road overnight. It burst into flames before he returned

The BMW in Brookhaven, Georgia was quickly engulfed in flames as police looked on

'Which we thought was a little peculiar,' Mamaroneck Fire Chief Tracey Schmaling told WABC.

In October of 2016, Tar Zaide had just parked his 2011 BMW 328 in an Oshwa, Canada parking lot on his way to visit a client when it began smoking and then burst into flames.

'My son saved by seconds,' wrote the person who posted a video of the fire on YouTube. 'Cannot believe what we were seeing.'

In Brookhaven, Georgia, after an unexpected snowfall in January 2014, one motorist left his BMW E36 M3 on the impassable road overnight.

Tar Zaide had just left his 2011 BMW 328 for a few minutes when it burst into flames

Before he returned the next day, the car was engulfed in flames, the Associated Press reported.

Across the Atlantic, John Minkhe of Sweden got a rude surprise in April 2014.

'An explosive fire started in our BMW X5 a few minutes after my wife and two kids switched off the engine and left the car,' he explained in a post on YouTube.

The car was 'totally flashed over' within 10 minutes, Minkhe wrote.

'My family has had BMW since beginning of 2000s, we thought we invested in quality and safety according to the premium brand BMW considered to be - unfortunately we were wrong,' he added.

John Minkhe of Sweden said his BMW X5 burst into flames a few minutes after his wife and children switched off the engine and got out of the car

FIRE SCANDAL LATEST US-MARKET WOE FOR GERMAN CARMAKERS The spate of mysterious fires in BMW vehicles is only the latest trouble for a German car manufacturer in the US market. Volkswagon is still recovering from the 2015 'Dieselgate' emissions testing scandal, in which it was found the German company had used vehicle software to intentionally trick emissions tests. The company was sentenced in a criminal trial in April, has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the US to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers, and has offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting US vehicles. Mercedes, another German carmaker, announced on Tuesday that it would not seek to sell 2017 year diesel vehicles in the US due to increased regulatory scrutiny in the wake of Dieselgate. Advertisement

BMW denies that there is any quality issue causing the fires not already covered by recalls. Like other automakers, BMW has issued fire-related recalls in the past.

'In cases that we have inspected and are able to determine root cause, we have not seen any pattern related to quality or component failure,' the company said in a Wednesday statement.

'Vehicle fires can result from a wide variety of external reasons unrelated to product defect.'

The company also told ABC News that fires could be the result of any number of factors the manufacturer can't control, including improper maintenance by unauthorized mechanics, aftermarket modifications, rodent nesting and even arson.

New Jersey attorney Joseph Santoli, who has sued BMW in the past, said several BMW owners about their cars catching fire.

'I have heard from owners that when they confront BMW about their incident, theyre told that this is the first time that BMW has ever heard of it,' Santoli told ABC News.

'I think some of it is an example of BMW burying their heads in the sand,' the attorney said.

In a statement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration encouraged motorists to report any safety issues, 'including strange and unexplainable incidents involving their vehicles', through the agency's website.
Carolyn Davis ,67, is charged with child neglect resulting in death

A 67-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in the tragic death of her great-grandson after the 19-month-old was left in a hot car for seven hours, police say.

Carolyn Davis is charged with child neglect resulting in death following the April 5 death of her great-grandson in Mason County, West Virginia.

Authorities say Davis dropped the child's mother off at work and then went back to her home on Lighthouse Lane with her great-grandson and his four-year-old sibling.

Davis got the 4-year-old out of the car, but left her great-grandson still inside and strapped into his car seat, police say.

The 19-month-old was left in the car with all of the windows rolled up from 7:30am to around 2:30pm.

Temperatures ranged from 120 to 140 degrees inside of the vehicle as it was around 81 degrees outside that day, police say.

Davis returned to the car with the 4-year-old to go pick up their mother from work with the boy still strapped in the car seat.

Video courtesy of WSAZ

Police say her 19-month-old great-grandson died after Davis left him inside of the car (pictured above) for seven hours. Temperatures ranged from 120 to 140 degrees inside of the vehicle

The mother immediately noticed her son was unresponsive and when she picked him up he was stiff, WSAZ reported.

Authorities say they believe Davis knew the child was dead, but that she didn't want to be the person who called 911 to report it.

However, they don't believe that she intentionally left the 19-month-old in the car.

'She was able to live by herself and take care of herself up to this point,' Cpl. A.B. Ward with WV State Police told WSAZ.

'Nothing would indicate she wasn't able to take care of the children. She'd taken care of them months prior to this.'

The incident happened after Davis dropped the boy's mother off at work and she went into the home (above) with his four-year-old sibling. She returned to the car and drove to pick up their mother from work, who immediately noticed that her son was unresponsive

Police say the inside of the car and house was in extremely filthy conditions.

'We really believe with the shape the house was in, that the best place for the baby was probably the car for the great-grandmother to leave him there, and it had been cool since she's had the child since January,' Lt. Shawn Ross with the Point Pleasant Police Department told WSAZ.

'This happened to be a hot day, and it just got too hot.'

Davis was arrested in Ohio on May 5 and is currently being held in Gallia County Jail as she is awaiting an extradition hearing.
A man allegedly high on synthetic marijuana and his female companion were arrested in Washington state after police say the pair were caught having sex in full view of a restaurant in broad daylight.

The incident took place at 11.30am on April 30 in the parking lot of Central Teriyaki on Central Avenue North in Kent, according to a newly released police report.

Witnesses contacted the local police department claiming to have seen a man with his pants down and his genitals exposed engaging in sexual activities with a woman, who was described as being largely naked.

Sordid rendezvous: A man allegedly high on synthetic marijuana and his female companion were arrested in the parking lot of Central Teriyaki in Kent, Washington (pictured), for allegedly having sex in public

The woman was said to have performed unspecified sex acts on her partner before the amorous duo proceeded to try other positions.

According to the report, cited by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the entire sordid tryst played out 10 feet from the sidewalk, with multiple cars and pedestrians passing by.

Patrons enjoying a Sunday brunch at the restaurant could see the shameless shenanigans in the parking lot through the windows.

Flower power: At the time of her arrest, the woman, allegedly flashed an officer and pulled a dandelion flower from her vagina (stock photo)

Police officers who were summoned to the scene caught up with the female suspect, aged 36, who was riding on board a bus with an open beer in her hands.

At the time of her arrest, the woman, who has a history of run-ins with the law stemming from indecent exposure incidents, allegedly flashed an officer and pulled a dandelion flower from her vagina.

When she was transported to the Kent city jail, she reportedly stripped naked in her cell, unprompted.

Her 37-year-old paramour was apprehended as he walked away from the scene of his romantic rendezvous.

He was allegedly found to be in possession of synthetic marijuana, known as PCP.

Officers concluded that based on his animal-like noises and blank stare, the suspect was likely intoxicated.

The oversexed pair were both booked on charges of incident exposure, and the man was also charged with a drug offense.

According to records, the female suspect in the case was convicted of indecent exposure in 2013.
Hannah Bladon, 20, (pictured) was stabbed to death on a Jerusalem train

A Palestinian man has been charged with the brutal murder of a British student in Israel.

Hannah Bladon, 20, was stabbed multiple times in the back with a seven-inch knife as she was travelling on a light rail train near the Old City in Jerusalem, on Good Friday.

Jamil Tamimi, 57, from east Jerusalem, has been charged with the shocking attack, that saw Miss Bladon suffer fatal wounds to her back, chest and right arm.

Miss Bladon, who was a student at the University of Birmingham, travelled to Israel to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Her family said she had been taking part in an archaeological dig that morning and described her as a 'talented musician' and 'enthusiastic rugby player'.

Medics performed CPR on the young woman at the scene before she was taken to hospital in critical condition, where she later died.

A pregnant woman and a 50-year-old man were also injured when the tram came to a sudden stop in the aftermath of the attack.

An off-duty policeman pulled an emergency brake and tried to intervene when he heard screaming.

He told the Israeli Police Spokesmanship: 'I was on the Jerusalem Light Rail with my family and during the journey I heard shouts of 'attack, attack'.

Pictured: Medics rush to the scene after Miss Bladon was attacked on the train in Jerusalem

Hannah Bladon, 20, was killed during a brutal knife attack near Jerusalem's Old City. Pictured, medics rush her to an ambulance on a stretcher

Jamil Tamimi, 57, from east Jerusalem, is alleged to have killed Miss Bladon was this knife

'I immediately pulled on the manual emergency break of the train, ran to the scene of the attack and charged at the attacker, neutralising him so that he cannot continue to harm innocent people.'

Israeli Police Superintendent Micky Rosenfeld said the attack was carried out by an 'Arab terrorist' from Rasel Amud, in east Jerusalem.

In a Facebook post earlier this year Miss Bladon wrote that she was enjoying life abroad and that she was 'OK' after a wave of terror attacks in the country.

She said: 'Thanks guys. I'm ok thanks! Security is really tight on campus so no worries at mo (sic)!

'Managed to see a lot of sites before starting my classes today so defo (sic) having a great time! Xx'.
An eight-year-old boy committed suicide just two days after he was beaten unconscious by his Ohio classmates.

Gabriel 'Gabe' Taye was found hanging in his bedroom by his heartbroken mother Cornelia Reynolds on January 26.

At the time, officials at Carson Elementary School told her there was no evidence of bullying and that Gabe had simply fainted.

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Gabe Taye (left and right) committed suicide just two days after he was beaten unconscious by his Ohio classmates

But disturbing video has since emerged showing the eight-year-old being brutally attacked by his fellow classmates in the school restroom.

Surveillance footage, which has not been publicly released, shows a boy in the bathroom, 'punching and threatening and assaulting other children, and the son of my client walks in,' the family attorney Jennifer Branch told Cincinnati.com.

Video courtesy of Fox19.com

'He actually attempts to shake the assailant's hand, and the assailant pulled him forward and slammed him into the wall, and he is knocked unconscious for seven-and-a-half minutes.'

Branch said that was a major concern that there was more violence going on that had never been reported.

At the time, officials at Carson Elementary School (pictured) told her there was no evidence of bullying and that Gabe has simply fainted

But surveillance footage showed the youngster being beaten unconscious in the boy's bathroom

'As we learn things, it's been hard to share them with (Reynolds) because her response is, 'if I had only known,'' she said.

'I just feel like enough is not being done, and I feel like stuff is being swept under the rug,' Reynolds said.

Cincinnati school officials say police and media have 'characterized' events in the video.

They have refused to release the video of the attack to the public.

However school spokeswoman Janet Walsh said previously Carson Elementary had zero reports of bullying in the August-December term.

On the day of the attack, Gabe had returned home to his family and had vomited that evening.

His mom had taken him to the local hospital where they told her it was most likley stomach flu.

Gabe's mother Cornelia Reynolds (pictured kissing her son) has demanded justice for him

Reynolds (pictured) had found her son hanging in his bedroom two days after he was attacked

Gabe was allowed to miss school the next day but returned to school on January 26.

His mother found him dead in his bedroom a few hours after getting home.

'I was in the living room at the kitchen table, and I went back to check on my son and I found him hanging,' Reynolds told WLWT in Janaury.

Reynolds is calling for justice for her only son and his heartbroken that no-one informed her he was being bullied.

'She's devastated that her son's second to last day was so painful for him and that she didn't know and that she couldn't protect him,' Branch added.

Reynolds said that thinking back there had been a few little clues her son was being picked on.

The third grader, a model student, would often visit the nurse's office and would ask his mom to stay home.

'I guess he didn't know how to tell me stuff was happening,' Reynolds said. 'Him going to the nurse's station or him not wanting to go to school, that was his way of trying to communicate with me. That was his way. He probably didn't want to say, 'Ma, somebody's bullying or picking on me,' you know? He just didn't know how to tell me.'

She also had a warning for other parents to be alert to signs their children were being bullied, and could even be pushed to suicide.

'It's not just happening in high school,' Reynolds said. 'It's in elementary schools

Police had launched an investigation into the death of the young boy and detective Eric Karaguleff contacted the school's principal Ruthenia Jackson, assistant principal Jeff McKenzie and CPS officials in an email saying he had viewed the footage and found it 'concerning.'

'I saw some concerning events, and I don't even have a child at that school,' he told them.

Family attorney Jennifer Branch said that was a major concern that there was more violence going on that had never been reported

'I witnessed behavior that in my belief is bullying and could even rise to the level of criminal assault,' if not for the young ages of the perpetrators,' he added in a report.

The detective described how he had watched the footage and saw a boy enter the restroom, and within seconds, other boys fled.

The aggressor hit another boy in the stomach, 'sending him to the floor in all fours' and threatened another.

At that point, Gabe arrived and appeared to 'shake hands' with the bully before the boy 'pulled him forward and slammed him into the wall' knocking him out, Branch added.

Karaguleff said that Gabe's fellow classmates were seen to 'step over, point, mock, nudge, kick, etc.' him until McKenzie was seen rushing into the restroom where he found the boy.

Despite the shocking attack by young boys on a fellow student, the detective's report concluded that the school could handle the issue without their involvement. The investigation was closed.
The lawsuit-loving lawyers who run one of America's best known firms may soon be going head-to-head in a courtroom battle of their own over the future of their personal injury empire.

Ross Cellino filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against his longtime partner Stephen Barnes and their firm, Cellino & Barnes, P.C. in New York State Supreme Court in the County of Erie, with the hopes of dissolving their practice.

That would bring an end to the firm, which was founded in 1958 by his father, Ross Cellino Sr.

Barnes, who has devoted his professional life to dealing with unforeseen accidents, now has a week to submit his own filing arguing against Cellino's request to dissolve the firm.

Barnes is due to appear in court on May 19.

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Ross Cellino filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against his longtime partner Stephen Barnes and their firm, Cellino & Barnes, P.C.

The New York-based firm gained national recognition starting in the mid-90s for their catchy jingle in radio and TV ads

Little else is known at this time about the case or the reason for the split as almost every single document filed by Cellino has been ordered sealed by a judge.

It is also unclear if the request to seal the court documents came from Cellino or the judge in the case.

Terry Connors, who is representing Cellino, had no comment on the case according to WGRZ.

The New York-based practice gained national recognition thanks in large part to their simple yet catchy jingle which appeared in television and radio commercials for the past three decades.

At the end of each commercial, a voice said over the music: 'Don't wait, Call 8.'

Their offices are mostly in New York, with locations in New York City, Rochester, Buffalo and Long Island.

Other offices are located in cities including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
David Harris, 68, admitted he lied repeatedly to his 'soulmate' Hazel Allinson (pictured together), also 68, from the start of their 27-year relationship and even took a picture of his new girlfriend lying on a bed with her three spaniels while she was out

A 'Machiavellian' pensioner accused of ordering a hit on his scriptwriter partner was forced to admit sneaking his young lover into her 800,000 country home and taking a snap of her posing naked with the family dogs.

David Harris, 68, admitted he lied repeatedly to his 'soulmate' Hazel Allinson, also 68, from the start of their 27-year relationship and even took a picture of his new girlfriend lying on a bed with her three spaniels while she was out.

Over five years, he came up with increasingly elaborate tales as he blew tens of thousands of pounds of Ms Allinson's retirement savings on expensive gifts for Ugne Cekaviciute, 28, after meeting her in a brothel, Old Bailey jurors heard.

Harris used his sick brother as an alibi for his trysts with Ms Cekaviciute, even carrying on the deceit when parish councillor Ms Allinson gave him a cake and pre-ordered a copy of James Bond movie Skyfall for them to enjoy on visits, the court heard.

To cover his tracks, Harris also told her Ms Cekaviciute was his nephew Daniel's girlfriend and he had loaned the young couple money to set up a home in Serbia.

When Ms Cekaviciute splashed out on an expensive handmade sweater using Ms Allinson's credit card, Harris told her there had been a 'terrible car crash' in the eastern European country, jurors were told.

Cross examining, prosecutor William Boyce QC told Harris: 'Ultimately the only safe way for you to carry on spending the money was to get rid of her.'

Harris replied: 'Absolutely not.'

Mr Boyce went on: 'You sneaked Ugne into Hazel's home. You had sex with her in the house.'

Harris replied: 'No sir.'

The lawyer said: 'You took naked photos of her in the house.'

Harris replied: 'She was in the guest room with three dogs on her.'

Over five years, Harris came up with increasingly elaborate tales as he blew tens of thousands of pounds of Ms Allinson's (right) retirement savings on expensive gifts for Ugne Cekaviciute (left), 28, after meeting her in a brothel, Old Bailey jurors heard.

Mr Boyce handed a picture to the defendant in the witness box and said: 'Are you saying you did not take photographs of a naked woman in Hazel's house?'

Harris looked at the image and folded it up before replying: 'Yes sir. I was trying to say that was her on the bed with the three dogs and that was the main reason she came to the house. It's not a pin-up shot.'

The prosecutor told him: 'You treated Hazel with complete contempt, didn't you?'

Harris denied it.

He went on: 'Looking back on your Machiavellian machinations does your deceit not impress you? Do you not think you are a very good liar?'

Harris replied he 'probably was' because of his alcoholism and the affair.

But he added: 'I'm not lying when I say I love Hazel and would not harm her in any way. I've done some very silly stupid things.'

The retired TV location manager has claimed he was researching a murder mystery thriller when he allegedly asked three potential hitmen to kill Ms Allinson to get his hands on her savings and house in the upmarket village of Amberley in West Sussex.

Mr Boyce pointed out there was plenty of 'murder and mayhem' on The Bill, which the couple both worked on and watched at home as well as Ms Allinson's past projects on Poldark and Doctor Who.

He said: 'The position is you would have a keen eye to what was believable and what was not believable in relation to police investigations and police drama and you could decide that without help.'

Harris replied: 'I accept I could, yes.'

Mr Boyce went on: 'You could hardly have a more expert pair of eyes to see what was convincing in a crime scenario than Hazel's eyes.'

Harris replied: 'That's correct.'

Mr Boyce accused Harris of being 'deceitful, devious and covert' in hiding his alcoholism from Ms Allinson as well as the 50 people he managed on location of The Bill.

The court heard she only found out about his drink problem after they moved in together.

Mr Boyce said Ms Allinson was careful with money but Harris, who has a state pension, took a 'cavalier' attitude to finances.

The lawyer asked what might happen if the couple split up and Harris set up a home with Ms Cekaviciute.

He said: 'Did you think Ugne would move into a hostel with you, aged 68, on 140 a week?'

Harris said: 'Absolutely not, no. I wouldn't say so.'

Mr Boyce said Harris had treated his life partner with 'complete contempt and disdain' by withdrawing her savings behind her back and using the money to pay for prostitutes.

Harris, who denies soliciting murder, said: 'I was a stupid old man not wanting to get old and I had a function I needed to fulfil.'

The trial was adjourned until Friday.
A gang of young thugs caused 80,000 worth of damage to a car dealership after breaking in and trashing all 60 vehicles inside.

Owner Shane Gordon, 28, opened up to find car tyres had been slashed, windows smashed and vile slurs sprayed across the paintwork.

The range of second-hand vehicles damaged was worth a total of 200,000 -including cars from a 1,500 Ford Galaxy to a 14,000 Range Rover.

Car dealer Shane Gordon arrived at work in Essex to see 60 of his cars vandalised

The vandals slashed tyres, daubed paint on the vehicles and smashed their windows

This Range Rover was on sale for 5499, but the cost to repair the damage exceeds its value

Mr Gordon has reported the damage to the police after finding the trail of destruction but fears it will force his business under.

He said: 'They have smashed every single car window and slashed all the tyres.

'There's foul language and signs painted on some of them and they've cut the convertible roofs off cars, including an 8,000 Audi. They destroyed everything.

'I was angry at first but then collapsed in a heap of tears on the floor. It's just evil and meaningless. We all did stupid things as kids but this is way beyond that.'

Other cars such as this Ford Mondeo suffered panel damage costing hundreds of pounds

Every car in Mr Gordon's lot suffered some form of damage totaling about 80,000

Worse still, Mr Gordon's insurance will not cover the damage as he recently moved location and had not supplied the company with his new trading address leaving him without cover

Some of the cars had obscene messages daubed on the side in white paint

The entrepreneur had moved his business 17-month-old business to a new site in Rochford, Essex, two weeks ago.

He's been devastated to learn he won't receive an insurance pay out as he did not change the business address in time.

Mr Gordon said: I got a phone call on Sunday night and was told that some kids had damaged the cars at the yard.

'I flew down there fuming but could not have imagined the extent of what they'd done.

'I've been so busy trying to make it a nice business that people would want to come to.

Friends of Mr Gordon have launched a 'Go Fund Me' to try and get him back into business

Even a busted side window takes any profit from the resale value of a vehicle

Mr Gordon said he spent 3,000 on a new website and 5,000 on an office in an effort to improve his business shortly before the attack on his 200,000 stock

'I've just spent 3,000 on a new website which goes live next week, 5,000 on a new office and signed an 18-month advertising contract with Gumtree.

'It's such a competitive business and it's been such hard work. Now it's all gone to waste.'

Mr Gordon has temporarily moved back in with his mum as he contemplates his future and has even considered selling his flat to pay for the damage.

He said: 'I've got nothing left. I can't bring myself to get out of bed.

'Everything was going really well. I've just bought a flat and now it looks like I'm going to have to sell it to get myself out of this mess.'

Police have arrested two youths in connection with the incident and are appealing for information.

Police have arrested two juvenile males in connection with the attack on Mr Gordon's business

Sgt Ben Preston, of the Rochford and Castle Point Community Policing team, said: 'We have arrested two male juveniles in relation to large scale criminal damage and the theft of a moped at Purdeys Industrial Estate this weekend.

'The two arrested have both been released under investigation and further enquiries are being conducted.

'If you have any information on the suspects or want to surrender your child, please email CastlePointandRochfordCPT@essex.pnn.police.uk and title it for the attention of the officer in the Case Pc 1325 Joynes.

'This is a very serious crime and has had severe consequences to the victims and we are committed in bringing all offenders to justice.'

An appeal to raise 5,000 to support Mr Gordon and get him back in business has been set up an Just Giving.

It's titled: 'We're raising 5,000 to Help build back a business that was vandalised and destroyed by youths!'

So far the fund has raised almost 1,400. Anyone who wishes to donate can click on this link.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he might publish his personal income tax returns after all  but not until he leaves the White House.

'I might release them after I'm out of office,' the president told The Economist in an interview.

The White House has insisted that Trump's returns are subject to perpetual IRS audits, leaning on that explanation for breaking with tradition by keeping his returns secret.

His critics claim his secrecy is part of a plot to obscure hidden financial relationships with unsavory characters, including some from Russia.

But 'nobody cares about my tax return except for the reporters,' Trump claimed in the interview.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on April 26 during a White House briefing that Trump had 'no intention' of releasing his annual returns.

The White Houe quickly fell back on the audits as its go-to rationale.

'I never spoke to him about it,' Trupm told CBS News a few days later. Honestly, he's never asked me about it.'

He said he would 'consider' releasing them 'after the audit is completed. It's a routine audit.'

'It could happen soon, then I'll make a decision,' he said.

On Thursday, however, the president was in a teasing mood.

'At some point I'll release them,' Trump mused to The Economist. 'Maybe I'll release them after I'm finished because I'm very proud of them actually. I did a good job.'

Hope Hicks, Trump's regular press-minder, piped up: 'Once the audit is over.'

Pressed on pockets of public outrage at his refusal to be transparent about his personla finances, Trump scoffed.

'Well, don't forget I got elected without it,' he told The Economist.

'Somebody said, "Oh but you have to do it." I said, "Look where I am".'
It looks like Chelsea Clinton isn't above a little day drinking.

The former first daughter was spotted carrying a bottle of champagne as she visited a friend in London on Thursday.

Chelsea, 37, is in the UK this week to promote her book on global health policy.

She wrote 'Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why?' with University of Edinburgh Professor Devi Sridhar.

Chelsea Clinton was spotted popping by a friend's house in London on Thursday

The former first daughter showed up to the London residence holding a bottle of champagne

It's unclear what friend Chelsea was stopping to see. She likely has many friends in London, since she attended graduate school at Oxford

The two gave a talk Wednesday night at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

And on Thursday, the two popped up to Chelsea's alma mater Oxford for another talk at the Blavatnik School of Government.

Chelsea went to graduate school for international relations at Oxford, after graduating from Stanford University with a B.A. in history in 2001.

She later returned to the school to get a DPhil degree, which she completed while living in New York City. She was awarded the degree in May 2014.

Chelsea's father, former President Bill Clinton, also attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.

Chelsea studied international relations during graduate school at Oxford

Chelsea has spent her time in London giving talks on her book about global health policy
A violent moped gang who were trying to steal another motorbike were foiled by courageous have-a-go heroes who wrestled the thugs to the floor before sending them fleeing.

A man and a woman rushed to the defence of the biker as a would-be thief attempted to ride off on his vehicle in Sutton, south London.

The pair pulled the bike to the ground and pushed the attacker away, causing him to sprint off down the street, while his friends rode off on a moped.

Violent ambush: A gang member punches the motorcyclist, in red and white leathers, in the head before trying to ride off on the stolen vehicle with the rest of the mob

Pictured: Passers-by rush to the aid of a motorcyclist after he is attacked by a gang of thugs

Dramatic footage of the incident was captured by a witness who watched the assault take place from the window of a nearby house.

The short clip starts with a man, wearing red, white and black leathers, trying to shove the thug off his bike - causing the attacker to lash out with a brutal punch.

The woman then tries to help but is shoved away by another member of the gang who had just jumped off the bike.

A man quickly comes to their assistance and forces the attacker to the ground, with the crew then sprinting from the scene and riding away.

Moped crime is becoming a scourge on London's streets with the number of offences rising by 600% in the last two years.

There were 7,668 incidents involving mopeds last year, with 4,647 in 2015 and 1,053 in 2014.

One of the thugs pushes away the woman while the three men grapple over the bike

The motorcyclist is helped with his bike by the man and the woman after the thugs flee

Hot spots for the crimes include Hackney, Islington, Camden and Westminster - with more than 9,900 moped, scooter and motorcycle thefts reported across London over the past year.

Often gangs will target people on their phones are perform drive by muggings, with the Metropolitan Police concerned that teenagers and young children are committing the crimes.

Chief Supt Peter Ayling, in charge of policing in Westminster, said that despite the rise in moped crime rates - officers are not allowed to pursue offenders.

He told the Guardian: 'With bikes there is an increased risk to riders should police pursue. Often they are so reckless in their actions it could expose the public to danger.

'For that reason the tactics are informed by the standard of driving of the suspect, time of day and apparent risk to all involved.'

However, robberies by scooter or motorcycle are a priority concern for the Met and the force has put covert officers on foot and in unmarked cars to help tackle the thieves.
President Donald Trump directly contradicted three of his aides and the vice president today as he finally gave his account of the events that led to James Comey's firing.

Trump said in an NBC interview that he he was going to fire Comey 'regardless' of what his deputy attorney general recommended - an explanation that put him back in the position of power but undermined the accounts of his senior staff.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders was forced to admit at a live, televised briefing later in the afternoon that she was mistaken in what she had said.

She denied that she, or anyone else, including Vice President Mike Pence, were 'in the dark,' however.

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President Donald Trump directly contradicted three of his aides and the vice president today as he finally gave his account of the events that led to James Comey's firing. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders was forced to admit at a live briefing later that she was mistaken in her interpretation of the timeline

Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and Huckabee Sanders had all said in early accounts of the astonishing dismissal that Trump had acted solely on the advice of Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general.

Rosenstein determined within in two weeks of his confirmation that Comey had made 'serious mistakes' in his handling of Hillary Clinton's email probe and should be replaced.

The Department of Justice official expressed his concerns in a memo to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who then passed on the recommendation that Comey be fired to the president.

'The president took the advice of the deputy attorney general who oversees the director of the FBI, brought those concerns to the attorney general who brought them to the president, and they made a decision to remove him,' Conway told CNN's New Day on Wednesday.

Spicer told reporters asking about Rosenstein's memo on Tuesday evening, 'It was all him.'

Vice President Mike Pence gave reporters a similar explanation on Wednesday.

'The deputy attorney general was confirmed just a few short weeks ago by the United States Senate when he brought the recommendation to the president that the director of the FBI should be removed,' Pence said.

Huckabee Sanders admitted Monday that Trump actually spoke to Rosenstein and Sessions at the White House before the DOJ officials wrote the letters the White House says Trump based the firing on.

Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and Huckabee Sanders had all said in early accounts of the astonishing dismissal that Trump had acted solely on the advice of Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general. Vice President Mike Pence (pictured) gave reporters a similar explanation on Wednesday.

'It was all him': That's what Sean Spicer said of Rosenstein and his recommendation to fire Comey on Tuesday evening. That was the last time Spicer was seen

He solicited their opinions orally, and asked them to put it in writing, she said.

'Frankly, hed been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected. But he did have a conversation with the Deputy Attorney General on Monday, where they had come to him to express their concerns,' Huckabee Sanders stated.

She also said Wednesday that it was her 'understanding' that Trump made his decision on Tuesday, once he received Rosenstein's written recommendation.

That's not what Trump told NBC's Lester Holt on Thursday, though.

Oh, I was going to fire regardless of recommendation,' he said. Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.

At the White House press briefing later, Huckabee Sanders was asked about her earlier statements, and she admitted that she was wrong.

'I know you love to report that that we were mislead,' she told a reporter asking if senior staff and the VP were left 'in the dark.'

Huckabee Sanders said the characterization was 'not true.'

'I think it's pretty simple. I hadn't had a chance to have the conversation directly with the president to say - I had several conversations with him, but I didn't ask that question directly, "Had you already made that decision,"' she said.

The White House spokeswoman said she was going off of the information that she had.

'I've since had the conversation with him, right before I walked on today. And he laid it out very clearly. He had already made that decision.

'He had been thinking about it for months, which I did say yesterday, and have said many times since,' she claimed.

Hour by hour, how the White House story kept changing Tuesday, 5:45 PM: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer emails reporters the following statement: Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office. President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Tuesday, 8:40 PM: Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders appear on CNN, Fox Business and Fox News simultaneously to claim that Rosenstein wrote a memo recommending Comeys firing that Sessions concurred with in a letter than he gave to the president. The president accepted the recommendation and fired Comey immediately. Spicer to Lou Dobbs: He [Rod Rosenstein] made a determination that the FBI director had lost his confidence, made a recommendation to the attorney general, the attorney general concurred with that and forwarded that recommendation today on to the President who agreed with their conclusions and terminatedthe FBI directors position at the FBI. Huckabee Sanders to Tucker Carlson: The president was provided a pretty clear and direct and very strong recommendation by the deputy attorney generalThat deputy made the recommendation, the president made a swift and decisive action and let Director Comey go. Conway to Anderson Cooper: He took the recommendation of Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, to whom the FBI director reports to. Tuesday, 8:50 PM: Spicer is cornered by reporters outside the White House after his interview with Fox Business. Spicer on the Rosenstein recommendation: It was all him. On Wednesday morning Huckabee Sanders was on MSNBC and Conway was on CNN again to say that Rosenstein likely wrote the report of his own volition. Spicer disappears off to Navy Reserve duty. Huckabee Sanders on Morning Joe: I'm not aware that it [the Rosenstein memo] was requested. All I know is that the director reports to him. And I would imagine that that is part of the process of him coming on board and taking over that position. Conway on New Day: One presumes that he wrote the report on his own. He's fully capable of writing a report isn't he, Chris? Wednesday, 1:50 PM: Huckabee Sanders tells reporters at the White Houses daily briefing that Trump actually met with Sessions and Rosenstein on Monday at the White House. They told him then that Comey should go, a sentiment they expressed in writing on Tuesday at the presidents behest. Huckabee Sanders: Hed lost confidence in Director Comey, and, frankly, hed been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected. But he did have a conversation with the Deputy Attorney General on Monday, where they had come to him to express their concerns. The President asked they put those concerns and their recommendation in writing, which is the letter that you guys have received. Wednesday on Capitol Hill Vice President Mike Pence gives reporters the line about Rosenstein coming on the job and making an assessment that Comey has to go. Pence to reporters: 'The deputy attorney general was confirmed just a few short weeks ago by the United States Senate when he brought the recommendation to the president that the director of the FBI should be removed. Thursday morning Conway and Huckabee Sanders went on a full scale assault on morning TV, appearing on CBS, ABC and Fox News to reiterate the timeline the White House laid out the afternoon before. Huckabee Sanders clarified on Good Morning America: The words that were written weren't at the direction, necessarily, of the president. Those were their own thoughts and ideas. She claimed on CBS This Morning: Let's not forget there was a near uprising after Comey from members of the FBI. This isn't just about the president losing confidence. The rank-and-file members within the FBI had lost confidence in the director. Conway told Fox & Friends: We feel very comfortable in this White House referring people to the fact that the president was in his full authority to take the advice of the deputy attorney general. Later on Thursday the president sat down with NBCs Lester Holt. Trump told Holt that the decision to fire Comey originated with him. 'Oh, I was going to fire regardless of recommendation. He made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.' Thursday, 1:45 PM: Huckabee Sanders admits to reporters at the White House daily press briefing that she did not ask the president prior to that afternoon whether he had already made the decision to fire Comey. I went off of the information that I had when I answered your question. I've since had the conversation with him, right before I walked on today, and he laid it out very clearly. He had already made that decision. He had been thinking about it for months, which I did say yesterday and have said many times since. And Wednesday I think was the final straw that pushed him. And the recommendation that he got from the Deputy Attorney General just further solidified his decision and, again, I think reaffirmed that he made the right one. Advertisement

Comey's testimony last Wednesday, in which he made inaccurate statements about Huma Abedin's email habits, was the 'final straw that pushed him,' she said, and Rosenstein's recommendation 'further solidified his decision.'

Huckabee Sanders chaffed at a follow-up question about the VP, and whether he was mislead, again, having been embarrassed previously by Mike Flynn's lies about his conversations with a Russian diplomat in February.

'Nobody was in the dark,' she claimed. 'You want to create this whole narrative.'

Kellyanne Conway did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on her part of the narrative.

She said Thursday morning that she was away from the White House on travel when Comey was fired, though, explaining, perhaps, why she did not have the most up-to-date information on the events when she spoke to CNN twice.

Spicer hasn't been seen since Tuesday evening - when he literally was in the dark, briefing reporters outside the White House after hours.

A spokesman for Pence did not immediately respond to a request for clarification, either.
David Archer ran a prostitution empire with an annual turnover of at least 1.6million

A brothel owner trafficked prostitutes into Britain to help him make a 16milion fortune, a court heard today.

David Archer, 53, used women at low points in their lives and without money to staff a chain of five brothels with an annual turnover of at least 1.6million between 2013 and 2016.

When he was arrested, he had assets worth millions - including four London properties, three in Dublin, and two cars.

He pocketed up to 50 per cent of the prostitutes' earnings, and regularly visited the brothels to collect the money.

He even monitored one brothel, a property in Fulham, from his East London home using CCTV.

One prostitute saw up to 15 men a day, the sentencing hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

His trusted accomplices Emma Cox, 41, and Zobia Taqi, 29, helped run the empire which stretched from a two-bed flat in Fulham, west London to Forest Gate in east London.

Police were tipped off in January last year by a victim, who said a woman was locked inside a bedroom at Archers home in Wanstead, east London.

Reading an impact statement from one victim, prosecutor Ian McLoughlin said: 'She was at a low point when she met David Archer.

'She felt she was lured to his house under false pretences. She felt he had taken advantage of her as he knew she had no money.

'He abused the trust that she had placed in him and made her feel cheap and nasty.

'She felt she blamed herself unfairly when she thinks about what happened. She feels sick.'

Referring to another woman, Mr McLoughlin said: 'At one stage, she said she was seeing 15 different men a day.'

Emma Cox, left, and Zobia Taqi helped run Archer's empire which stretched across London

Police seized a Toshiba laptop from one brothel in Forest Gate, and found a document setting out the rules of the house.

The note said: 'They should be able to work from 12pm to 1am weekdays. They must be wearing sexual underwear.

'Drugs were prohibited, and drinking was prohibited before 9pm.'

Archer, who changed his name from David Grant in 2012, ferried some of the victims between the brothels, and also trafficked women into the UK to work as prostitutes.

Cox, who was initially a prostitute, managed the profiles of sex workers, and later helped run the brothel at the Forest Gate house.

Taqi oversaw some of the financial side of the business and managed the two hotels.

One woman described how she went to the Forest Gate house, and was welcomed by Cox.

Mr McLoughlin said: 'She asked if she wanted to work independently, or get the boss to get her clients and split the earnings 50/50.'

Archer was a director of two companies, Travel Inn Ireland Ltd and Inspire Designs London Ltd, which he used as a front to buy the properties.

He owned a large home in Wanstead, a Travel Inn bought for 1.5m in Forest Gate, and the Excel hotel in Plaistow bought for 545,000, all in east London.

Archer also rented a house in Fulham Mr McLoughlin keeping 'control of that premises at a distance by having installed CCTV which allowed him to monitor the work there.

All three defendants admitted conspiracy to control prostitution for gain.

Archer admitted a string of other offences including human trafficking and concealing criminal property, and was convicted of sexual assault.

Sentencing was adjourned until next Friday.
President Donald Trump is pulling no punches about the TV hosts he loves to hate, bashing Stephen Colbert, Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon as the worst of the worst.

Colbert, he told TIME magazine, is 'a no-talent guy ... There's nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is filthy. And you have kids watching.'

The 'Late Show' host was pilloried this month  except in anti-Trump corners  for saying on the air that Trump's mouth is good for nothing except 'being Vladimir Putin's c**k holster.'

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All-in attack: Donald Trump said of Colbert that he is 'a no-talent guy ... There's nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is filthy.

'Chained lunatic': CNN New Day host Chris Cuomo got both barrels from the president: 'He's like a boiler ready to explode, the level of hatred.'

CNN in his sights: Trump called Don Lemon, who anchors CNN at 10pm weeknights, 'possibly the dumbest person in broadcasting', and said that while 'I love Jeffrey Lord', the other people on panels with him are 'eight unknown killers'

DONALD TRUMP THE CRITIC ...on Don Lemon This Don Lemon who's perhaps the dumbest person in broadcasting, Don Lemon at night it's like  sometimes they'll have a guest who by mistake will say something good. And they'll start screaming, we're going to commercial. They cut him off ...on Chris Cuomo Chris Cuomo, he's sitting there like a chained lunatic. He's like a boiler ready to explode, the level of hatred ...on Stephen Colbert Colbert is pictured during a taping of the Late Show on February 22, 2017 You see a no-talent guy like Colbert. There's nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is filthy. And you have kids watching. And it only builds up my base. It only helps me, people like him. The guy was dying. By the way they were going to take him off television, then he started attacking me and he started doing better. But his show was dying. I've done his show.  But when I did his show, which by the way was very highly rated. It was highhighest rating. The highest rating he's ever had. ...on Joe Scarborough Scarborough used to treat me great. But because I don't do interviews and stuff and want to  He went the other way. Which is fine. He's got some problems. But I don't watch the show anymore. It drives him crazy ...on the printed press Washington Post, New York Times, they're really, really dishonest. You people are quite dishonest in all fairness... newspapers and things, I glance at them. They're really dishonest. I mean they're really dishonest ...on Fox News A man walks under the Fox News ticker displayed at News Corp headquarters in New York in February 2014 I do watch Fox in the morning, and their ratings have gone through the roof because everyone knows I'm watching Fox. But they're pleasant. And if I do something wrong they report on it. I don't mean they  if I do something wrong. But it's really, honestly it's the most accurate ...on TiVo One of the great inventions of all time ...on Jeffrey Lord and CNN panels Poor Jeffrey Lord. I love Jeffrey Lord. But sometimes he's sitting there with eight unknown killers that nobody ever heard of. And CNN actually is not doing nearly as well as others. They're all doing well because of me. But it's not doing as well as others that are doing better actually Advertisement

The president said he thinks the off-color oral sex banter will ultimately backfire on liberals.

'It only builds up my base,' he boasted. 'It only helps me.'

But Trump saved his harshest verdict for CNN foils Cuomo and Lemon.

Cuomo, who co-hosts the early morning 'New Day' program, is 'sitting there like a chained lunatic,' the president said.

'He's like a boiler ready to explode, the level of hatred. And the entire  you know, the entire CNN platform is that way.'

Lemon, he jabbed, is 'perhaps the dumbest person in broadcasting.'

'Don Lemon at night, it's like  sometimes they'll have a guest who by mistake will say something good. And they'll start screaming, 'We're going to commercial.' They cut him off. Remember?'

He also said 'I love Jeffrey Lord' of his prominent CNN supporter - but described him as being on panels 'sitting there with eight unknown killers that nobody ever heard of'.

CNN punched back on Thursday, saying the comments from the Oval Office 'are beneath the dignity of the office of the President.'

The two cable news outlets at the far ends of the ideological spectrum, as expected, ended up on Trump's nice and naughty lists.

'Fox treats me very fairly,' he said. 'MSNBC is ridiculous. It's just bad.'

He added: 'Scarborough used to treat me great. But because I don't do interviews and stuff and want to... he went the other way.

'Which is fine. He's got some problems.'

The president didn't limit his media criticism to television, blasting some of the same newspapers he has allowed to interview him since taking office.

'Washington Post, New York Times, they're really, really dishonest,' he said.

'Ridiculous': Trump criticized the channel MSNBC and said of its morning star Joe Scarborough: 'He's got some problems.'

No quarter: Trump used an interview with Time magazine to attack a series of TV figures, who he watches on a new 60 inch television installed in his private dining room. He was also interviewed by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt on Thursday

They get me: 'Fox treats me very fairly,' the president said of the network which shows Fox & Friends from 6am to 9am

Even TIME, whose reporters he was speaking to, wasn't let off the hook.

'You people are quite dishonest in all fairness,' he said.

He made the comments in an interview with Time, whose reporters and editor he invited to dinner in the White House residence and showed them round other parts of the building.

In the course of the tour he took them to the newly-redecorated executive dining room, where he has had a 60 inch television installed, and used TiVo to show clips of testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee last week.

He enthused: 'This is one of the great inventions of all time - TiVo.'

The president has had a tortured relationship with the journalists who cover him since long before he entered politics.

But his campaign was a daily slugfest between candidate Trump and his traveling press corps, much of which he referred to as 'the fake news.'

Even as the nation's highest elected official, he hasn't let up against the 'incompetent, dishonest' press.

'The media,' he told 10,000 fans last month during a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania rally, 'deserves a very, very big, fat fat failing grade' for its coverage of his first 100 days in office.

He singled out 'the failing New York Times,' saying its poor financial management has forced it to shrink its print edition past the point where 'pretty soon they'll only be on the Internet.'

'The paper's getting smaller and smaller. Did you ever notice?' Trump asked. 'It's starting to look like a comic book.'
A California man wanted on a child molestation warrant was killed Wednesday night when his pickup truck careened into a sign post while fleeing police in Arizona.

Kingman Police Capt. Rusty Cooper, of the Kingman Police Department, said it is not known whether 37-year-old Kevin Robertson crashed intentionally shortly before 10pm after reaching speeds topping 95mph.

However, Cooper says Robertson was reported to have been despondent, suicidal and armed with a handgun.

Fugitive killed: Kevin Robertson, 37 (left and right), who was wanted on a child molestation warrant in California, was killed in a one-vehicle crash in Arizona Wednesday night

Horror crash: This May 10 image provided by the Kingman Police Department shows the remains of Robertson's Chevy pickup truck after it crashed into a sign post

The truck crashed during a police pursuit, with speeds topping 95mph. Robertson was pronounced dead at the scene

According to a statement from the department, law enforcement officials in Kingman were contacted on Wednesday evening by their counterparts in Robertsons hometown of Modesto, California, more than 500 miles away, saying they had information that the fugitive was in the Kingman area.

It's unknown whether the child molestation suspect crashed intentionally, but he was said to have been suicidal

Robertson was wanted on a felony warrant for child molestation.

A short time later, a Kingman officer tracked down Robertson to a parking lot of a pharmacy in the 1900 block of East Andy Devine Avenue.

Capt Cooper said Robertson refused the officers commands and instead sped off in his blue 1994 Chevy S10 pickup truck, heading westbound.

As the cop began to pursue the wanted man, Robertsons vehicle struck a sign post and the 37-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Modesto Police Department, Robertson, who was married, was accused of molesting a child under the age of 10 who lived with him.

He was last seen alive fleeing his Modesto home at around 4am on Tuesday.

Social media posts on Robertson's Facebook page indicate that he got married in August 2014.
The Whitehall mandarin who has presided over Britains foreign aid farce will quit today amid sustained criticism of how he has wasted taxpayers' money, the Mail can reveal.

Sir Mark Lowcock will step down as permanent secretary of the Department for International Development after dishing out more than 60billion during six years in charge.

The civil servant, nicknamed Sir Waste-a-lot, leaves the controversial aid ministry where he has spent his whole career following clashes with International Development Secretary Priti Patel.

Sir Mark Lowcock (left) will step down as permanent secretary of the Department for International Development after dishing out more than 60bn during six years in charge. Nicknamed Sir Waste-a-lot, he leaves the controversial aid ministry where he has spent his whole career following clashes with International Development Secretary Priti Patel (right)

A Whitehall source last night declared that Sir Marks departure would allow a breath of fresh air at the top of the big-spending department.

Referring to the Yes Minister character who always got his own way while letting ministers think they were getting theirs, the source added: Mark is the definition of Sir Humphrey. He has always been good at pursuing his own agenda.

Sir Mark, 54, will move to the United Nations in New York where he will be appointed Under Secretary General at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

It is understood that Theresa May helped him secure his new job after ministers decided it was clearly his time to move on.

Sir Mark was knighted in the New Years honours for public service, despite widespread anger over how the department spends its vast budget.

His departure comes weeks after MPs criticised the 165,000-a-year bureaucrat for failing to provide strategic direction and management.

Sir Mark was knighted in the New Years honours for public service, despite widespread anger over how the department spends its vast budget

Since 2011, he has been responsible for overseeing the controversial target of spending 0.7 per cent of Britains income on foreign aid.

During his tenure, the amount doled out has soared from 7.7billion to a record 13.3billion last year, at a time when other departments have faced deep cuts.

Sir Mark has worked at Dfid and its predecessor department since joining the civil service in 1985, racking up a 1.1million pension pot in the process.

He is a close friend of Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, and is said to have shared a flat with him when they were starting out in the Civil Service.

Dfid has faced repeated criticism over how it spends aid money during Sir Mark s time in charge.

In March, MPs from the Commons international development committee said they were concerned about the lack of strategic direction and management within DfiD.

Sir Mark also came under fire last December over the disastrous decision to build a 285million airport on the remote island of St Helena where it is too windy for commercial planes to land.

The Daily Mail exposed how aid has been spent on projects such as an all-female pop group dubbed Ethiopias Spice Girls (above) and how more than 1billion has been handed out in cash in the past five years despite warnings about fraud

The Commons public accounts committee said Dfid had made a series of staggering errors, which had unquestionably failed the taxpayer.

Sir Mark told MPs he was unable to say who had made the critical decisions, leading the committee to brand his evidence evasive.

In another report earlier this year, MPs said the department needed to do more to tackle the appalling conduct of some international aid contractors used to deliver UK aid.

The Daily Mail has also exposed how aid has been spent on projects such as an all-female pop group dubbed Ethiopias Spice Girls and how more than 1billion has been handed out in cash in the past five years despite warnings about fraud.

Last month aid chiefs were urged to come clean about the true level of fraud in the aid budget, after MPs warned that official figures do not seem credible.

In a stinging report, the public accounts committee suggested it does not believe the remarkably low official statistics which claim that only 3p in every 100 spent on aid is lost to fraud.

MPs called on officials to do much more to identify and root out fraud, saying it was likely the figures were missing significant levels of undetected fraud.

Last month, the Prime Minister disappointed many Tory supporters when she announced that the controversial 0.7 per cent aid pledge remains and will remain, despite pressure for it to be scrapped in the partys manifesto.

In April last year, Sir Mark boasted that the political debate on the value of foreign aid had been won. He added: Increasingly, people dont want to debate whether we should do development or not.

What they want to know is: are we spending the money well and getting the right results from it. I worry much less than I used to about having to make the case for development.

Last night a Dfid spokesman declined to comment.
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He made his billions as the king of online shopping, but Jeff Bezos proved he still enjoys the simple things when he shopped at a historic outdoor market in Rome.

The Amazon founder was spotted basking in the warm Italian sun and company of his wife MacKenzie on Thursday during a much-deserved vacation with his family.

The group, which included Bezos' parents Jacklyn and Mike, his sister Christina and her husband Steve, and his brother Mark with his wife Lisa, were seen posing for photos just like every other tourist in the historic city.

Bezos even bought a zucchini flower box at Campo dei Fiori Market, which dates back to the 15th century and has been filled with vendors daily since 1869.

Amore: Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie were spotted packing on the PDA at a market in the historic Italian city Thursday

Wish you were here! The billionaire was pictured enjoying a well deserved vacation to the European city with his family

PDA: The Amazon founder and his wife looked like any other tourist while shopping at Campo dei Fiori Market

Strike a pose: The family spent the afternoon walking around the fountains of Piazza Navona, before having a photo taken

After some outdoor shopping at the market, the group grabbed some pizza for lunch at Campo dei Fiori.

They then spent the afternoon walking around and admiring the fountains of Piazza Navona.

That was where they all gathered for a group photo.

Bezos' European vacation comes five months into what may be the greatest year of his life thanks to the success of Amazon.

The online retailer that was initially created to sell books followed up the success of their Emmy and Golden Globe-winning original programming like 'Transparent' and 'Mozart in the Jungle' with two films that won big at the Academy Awards.

'The Salesman' won in the Best Foreign Language category while the critically acclaimed 'Manchester By the Sea' took home Best Actor honors for Casey Affleck and Best Original Screenplay for writer and director Kenneth Lonergan.

And then there are his rockets.

So much choice: Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie, alongside other relatives, looked like every other tourist at the market

Having a laugh: Jeff Bezos was clearly enjoying the company of his family on the well-deserved Italian getaway

Historic city: Bezos and his family were pictured at the fountains of Piazza Navona which were commissioned in 1651

Down time: The group included Bezos' parents Jacklyn and Mike, his sister Christina and her husband Steve, and his brother Mark with his wife Lisa

Sightseeing: The family were spotted spending the afternoon walking around and admiring the fountains of Piazza Navona

Bezos said he is selling $1 billion in stock of his retail giant Amazon each year to finance his rocket company, Blue Origin, which aims to carry tourists to space by next year.

At an appearance at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, back in April, Bezos vowed to lower the cost of space travel and start taking customers to space by next year.

The entrepreneur did not say how much a ticket would cost, as he showed off the New Shepard rocket and a mock-up of the large-windowed capsule that tourists will one day ride to suborbital space and back.

Nor did he say how much of his own personal fortune he has poured into Blue Origin, which is building a reusable rocket and is seen as a competitor to internet mogul Elon Musk's SpaceX.

It's been a good year: Bezos' European vacation comes five months into what may be the greatest year of his life

Time to celebrate: Amazon followed up the success of its Emmy and Golden Globe-winning original programming with two films that won big at the Academy Awards

And then there are his rockets: Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, aims to carry tourists to space by next year

Dreaming big: Blue Origin is building a reusable rocket and is seen as a competitor to internet mogul Elon Musk's SpaceX

Well-deserved: Bezos is now worth $81million and could soon overtake Bill Gates as the richest person in America

Bezos did say that the next-generation New Glenn rocket, which would be powerful enough to reach orbit and is expected to start flying satellites by 2020, is expected to cost $2.5 billion to develop.

'My business model right now for Blue Origin is that I sell about $1 billion a year of Amazon stock and I use it to invest in Blue Origin,' he said.

'It's very important that Blue Origin stand on its own feet and be a profitable, sustainable enterprise. That's how real progress gets made.'

Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast, founded Blue Origin in 2000.

It is also appearing more and more likely that he will soon overtake Bill Gates as the richest person in America, with his current net worth valued at $81million by Forbes.




A poster dating back to the first General Election after the end of World War II dominates the main wall of the Labour Partys swish eighth-floor HQ in Londons Victoria.

Used during Clement Attlees brilliant campaign, which ended in a landslide Labour victory against Churchills Conservatives, it read: And Now  Win The Peace. The message encapsulated Labours pledge to look to the future, rather than focus on the past.

Today, more than 70 years on, there is anything but peace in Labours HQ at Southside  nicknamed Dark side by despairing Labour candidates  after one of the most damaging leaks in modern General Election history.

Even though Labour chiefs were caught on the hop by the snap election, work on its manifesto had begun last July in Jeremy Corbyns offices in the Norman Shaw Buildings in Parliament.

The Labour party has just experienced one of the most damaging leaks in modern General Election history

The document was crafted principally by Andrew Fisher, Labours controversial executive director of policy.

He was readmitted to the party in 2015 after being suspended for urging his Twitter followers to vote for the anarchist Class War Party instead of the Labour candidate for South Croydon, London, at the last General Election.

He then revelled in Ed Balls losing his Parliamentary seat, saying: Its fitting that the architect of Labours miserable austerity-lite economic policies should lose.

Fisher also said the views of Ballss MP wife Yvette Cooper were worse than those of the British National Party.

Now one of the most influential figures in Corbyns team, Fisher had amassed tens of thousands of words on his laptop for Labours election manifesto, which over the weeks had been edited and then repolished.

The final document  described by gleeful Tories as Corbyns Kamikaze Manifesto  has strong echoes of an anti-privatisation polemic called The Failed Experiment which Fisher wrote before he joined Corbyn in summer 2015.

The document was crafted principally by Andrew Fisher (above), Labours controversial executive director of policy. He was readmitted to the party in 2015 after being suspended for urging his Twitter followers to vote for the anarchist Class War Party instead of the Labour candidate for South Croydon, London, at the last General Election

Fisher is one of the few true-red Corbynistas among the 32 staffers in Labour HQ. Most are supporters of Tom Watson, the ruthlessly ambitious deputy leader who has a rancorous relationship with Corbyn

Fisher has never been shy of his radical views during a long-term association with Marxists and communists, which led to him writing columns in the Communist Partys Morning Star newspaper.

He has advocated a four-day week, the nationalisation of banks, an end to private ownership of land, banning compulsory redundancies at profitable companies, disbanding MI5 and scrapping Trident.

The 36-year-old is hated by those on the Right of the party  who have never forgiven him for describing Tony Blair as a scumbag for hire to scumbags and former home secretary Jack Straw as a vile git.

It is no wonder that with such a poisonous figure having a key role in drawing up the manifesto, there is no shortage of suspects who had a reason to leak the document and embarrass him and Corbyn.

Fisher is one of the few true-red Corbynistas among the 32 staffers in Labour HQ. Most are supporters of Tom Watson, the ruthlessly ambitious deputy leader who has a rancorous relationship with Corbyn.

Understandably, many have blamed people around Watson for the leak. He was one of only about half a dozen figures entrusted with a complete copy of the manifesto  although he has been kept out of Corbyns inner circle and is bound to run as leader if Corbyn stands down. For his part, Watson angrily protests his innocence.

But such is the toxicity at the heart of the Corbyn machine that other theories abound.

They range from the leak being the handiwork of desperate Blairites who hoped that the extreme nature of the manifesto might force a rethink about the hard-Left policies being presented to voters. Conversely, others claim Corbyns aides were responsible  in a bid to jump the gun before next weeks official manifesto launch and bounce the party into putting forward ultra Left-wing policies.

Another key figure in the manifestos preparation was Seumas Milne, Labours executive director of strategy and communications. Hes the public spokesman and private consigliere for Corbyn (pictured together). Over the last few weeks, hes joined Fisher after their teams 7am strategy meetings

A yet more Machiavellian explanation for the leak is that Corbyns team orchestrated it themselves: to then blame Watson and any supporters of another probable leadership candidate, Yvette Cooper. If successful, they could then purge them from party HQ.

Whatever the truth, Fisher last night fiercely denied that he had inadvertently left a draft on his desk. But since he works in an open-plan office, it could have been easy for anyone to get access to it if it had been left there.

Another key figure in the manifestos preparation was Seumas Milne, Labours executive director of strategy and communications. Hes the public spokesman and private consigliere for Corbyn. Over the last few weeks, hes joined Fisher after their teams 7am strategy meetings.

They have been accompanied by Milnes deputy, Steve Howell, who used to work for Straight Left, a Stalinist newspaper which represented the pro-Soviet Communist Party of Great Britain. The trio would often work past midnight.

A yet more Machiavellian explanation for the leak is that Corbyns team orchestrated it themselves: to then blame Watson and any supporters of another probable leadership candidate, Yvette Cooper (above). If successful, they could then purge them from party HQ

Though Milne was a friend of Michael Foot, I am assured that suggestions that the men copied chunks of Foots disastrous 1983 Labour manifesto are untrue.

It is well-known in Westminster circles that there is little alcohol in Labours Southside HQ. Instead, caffeine-fuelled Milne sends for flat white coffees and there are regular deliveries from Pret A Manger.

With only 24 hours to go before party chiefs were due to agree the contents of the manifesto at a summit known as the Clause V meeting yesterday morning, Milne congratulated his colleagues that they had survived the process without a leak.

(Clause V comes from the fifth section of the party rule book which specifies how the party agrees its manifesto  not to be confused with Clause IV, the historic commitment to mass nationalisation that Tony Blair axed.) As we now know, he spoke too soon.

Milne was in a meeting in Southside at around 9pm on Wednesday when his mobile phone rang. A journalist was calling to tell him that the 43-page document had leaked.

Milne hit the roof, said a party source. He then had to break the news to Corbyn.

Inevitably, immediate suspicion was directed at those 32 staff members at Labour HQ  nicknamed Loto (as in Leader Of The Opposition). Other suspects? Shadow ministers who had been given sections relating to their areas of responsibility. And the partys trade union paymasters who were also kept in the loop.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, a Corbyn loyalist, summed up the sense of despair, saying that he heard that the whole manifesto has been leaked by Labour HQ, adding: Helpful of them to continue their tradition of undermining the leadership.

Given the shameless lack of loyalty to Corbyn, and the unpopularity of his leadership within his own party, there are so many suspects that even Hercule Poirot would struggle to draw up a shortlist.
An elderly man in Florida tragically died on his birthday when he crashed into a fire hydrant and got sucked into a hole under his car and drowned.

Robert Dreyer, 89, was driving his 2016 Mercedes in Melbourne when he veered off the road and crashed into a hydrant at Tavistock Drive and Crelford Way on Wednesday morning, WFTV reported.

When Dreyer got out of his vehicle, a roughly six-foot deep hole opened up beneath him and he was pulled under his Mercedes by the rush of the water from the damaged hydrant.

Heartbreaking: Robert Dreyer, 89 tragically died on his birthday when he crashed into a fire hydrant and got sucked into a hole (seen above on the driver's side) under his car and drowned

Dreyer was driving his 2016 Mercedes in Melbourne when he veered off the road and crashed into the hydrant at Tavistock Drive and Crelford Way on Wednesday morning (scene above)

When Dreyer got out of his vehicle, he was pulled under his Mercedes by the rush of the water from the damaged hydrant and became trapped in a six foot deep hole. Pictured above is the hole covered with water on the driver's side of his car

Witnesses say Dreyer dropped straight down into the hole.

'The water pressure was so strong that it sucked him in and pulled him into the hole,' Pedro Rodriquez ,who witnessed the shocking incident, told WFLA.

Motorists stopped to help the octogenarian, and pulled him out as paramedics arrived to the scene.

Edward Cunningham, one of the motorists who attempted to pull him out, said: 'It was pushing me out of the hole, and I weigh 220 pounds.'

Police say the hole was likely created by the hydrant being destroyed and the resulting intense water pressure.

Motorists stopped to help the octogenarian, and pulled him out as paramedics arrived to the scene (scene above)

But he could not be revived and died later at a hospital. The damaged hydrant is pictured above

Dreyer was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was unable to be revived and pronounced dead.

Rodriguez said he thinks Dreyer was under the water for three or four minutes before he could be rescued.

Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant Channing Taylor told WFTV that the hydrant's safety valve was likely damaged during the accident.

'Usually the fire hydrants will break off and they won't spew water; they have safety valves in place,' he said.

'But if you hit something the right way, the safety doesn't work.'

According to Florida Today, Dreyer may also have had a medical episode just moments before or after the hydrant crash, authorities said.

The crash remains under investigation.
It's not all hard graft for culture minister Matt Hancock, who has been busy campaigning in his West Suffolk constituency this week.

The 38-year-old Conservative MP found time to let his hair down at the Chickenshed theatre gala dinner in London on Wednesday, where he surprised fellow guests by dancing to Do The Funky Chicken (pictured).

He should definitely stick to the day job, observes my spy. He was dancing like a true Englishman.

Nevertheless, one woman, wearing a low-cut red dress and black heels, clearly admired his rhythm, as she joined the married father-of-three on the dancefloor.

Conservative MP Matt Hancock, pictured left and right with an unknown woman, was spotted doing his finest 'dad dancing' at the Chickenshed theatre gala dinner in London on Wednesday

According to sources, the MP should 'stick to his day job' after 'dancing like an Englishman'

I hate my baby weight, says Sienna's sister

Sienna Millers former step-sister, health food writer Natasha Corrett, once posed naked on a bed of kale.

But the 33-year-old  whose celebrity interior-designer mother Kelly Hoppen was once married to Siennas father Ed Miller  is struggling with body confidence now shes 36 weeks pregnant with her first child.

Sienna Millers former step-sister, health food writer Natasha Corrett, pictured, is struggling with body confidence now shes 36 weeks pregnant with her first child

Natasha, right, and Sienna, left, became step-sisters after because Natasha's mother Kelly Hoppen was once married to Siennas father Ed Miller

Posting a picture online, Natasha writes: In the last four weeks, my weight has, in my eyes, gone through the roof, and Im feeling so uncomfortable in my own skin.

Wondering how long it will take me to look like me again, will my husband ever find me attractive again, what are people thinking/saying behind my back . . .

Given that her husband is gym owner Simon Bateman, getting her figure back to how she likes it should be a piece of (sugar-free) cake.

Father-of-the-bride Michael Middleton was this week pictured getting out of his car clutching the wedding day spreadsheet for daughter Pippas forthcoming nuptials.

Inside his car door was a glass bottle of what looks like the upmarket Hildon mineral water  which has just been granted a Royal Warrant by the Queen.

If its good enough for Her Majesty . . .

Neil Kinnock has become a rap icon 30 years on.

Hip-hop star and actor Ashley Walters, who goes by the stage name Asher D, has recorded a video for the Almeida Theatre, in Islington, in which he recites the failed Labour leaders Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university?

1987 election speech in full. Perhaps Jay Z will find inspiration in Jez Corbyns mumblings in 2047?
The White House says a claim that the president was 'very likely' to visit the FBI this week is being misconstrued.

Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not mean to imply that President Donald Trump would visit the government agency that's a few blocks to the East of the White House today or tomorrow.

'It's not on the schedule,' a senior White House official tells DailyMail.com.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

The White House says a claim that the president was 'very likely' to visit the FBI this week is being misconstrued

A visit to the FBI is ' not the schedule,' a senior White House official tells DailyMail.com

Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not mean to imply that President Donald Trump would visit the government agency that's a few blocks to the East of the White House today or tomorrow

Huckabee Sanders, who's filling in this week for Sean Spicer, suggested Thursday morning that Trump would make a trip to the FBI's Washington, D.C. headquarters.

Trump fired the bureau's director, James Comey, on Tuesday evening.

'He's a showboat, he's a grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil,' Trump today said.

Wednesday, Huckabee Sanders claimed that 'countless' agents had lost confidence in Comey. She said Thursday morning there was a 'near uprising.'

She also revealed that Trump was planning to visit the FBI's headquarters, saying on a morning show, 'I believe that its very likely that takes place sometime within the next few days.'

At the White House daily press briefing Huckabee Sanders said once more than she had heard from a 'large number' of agents who believed the president was right to let Comey go.

She said nothing then about a possible FBI visit.

A White House official later said that Trump could go there, or anywhere else he pleases, but it's not in the works currently.

The US president's public schedule for tomorrow has not yet been released. He's speaking at a commencement on Saturday in Virginia.

Late next week, he'll head to Israel and Saudi Arabia as part of what the White House has described as an eight-day foreign trip. The
A man, 30, has been caught having oral sex in the middle of a McDonald's restaurant - in broad daylight.

Conrad Jablecki is charged with with indecent exposure and open lewdness after staff at the York, Pennsylvania branch called the cops.

Police say they are still hunting for the woman who was engaging in the sexual act with him, The Smoking Gun reports.

Conrad Jablecki was caught having oral sex in the middle of a McDonald's restaurant - in broad daylight

Horrified employees at the York, Pennsylvania McDonald's (pictured) threw out the couple and called the cops

A McDonalds employee had spotted the couple in the act, in the middle of the dining room, at around 1.10pm on March 3.

They had kicked the pair out and called the police.

Jablecki was picked up later that day, but was only charged last Monday.

The 30-year-old has a lengthy arrest record with previous charges for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

Jablecki (left and right) is charged with with indecent exposure and open lewdness after staff at the York, Pennsylvannia branch called the cops

He also has form for indecent exposure, having exposed himself to a woman and her five-year-old daughter on a Maryland beach. That incident landed him 60 days behind bars in 2012.

Jableck claims he is the 'head honcho' at Oasis Landscaping on Facebook where he has posted multiple messages and images about sex.

He wrote in 2016 that he'd been looking for 'a bad b***h W/ mean head game [sic].'

'So Hot when a woman knows how too,' Jablecki added. 'Dam i sure can't wait to meet a Girl who is a SupaFreak.'
Every once in a while, a story of everyday animal folk comes along that grips the nation.

In the same way that the Tamworth Two touched our hearts almost two decades ago, today Britain is desperate for every drop of news about Blake and Bella  the sheepdog and lamb that have run off together.

No stone is being left unturned in the hunt for the pair, described variously as friends, very good friends and possibly even lovebirds.

Volunteers, park rangers and even professional pet detectives with sniffer dogs have been scouring Sherwood Forest for the past three days for one-year-old border collie cross Blake and five-week-old Bella. Meanwhile thousands have shared details of the missing pets via social media, on Twitter and Facebook.

Five-week-old Bella the lamb (left) has gone missing along with one-year-old border collie cross Blake (right)

Even TV presenter Phillip Schofield has waded into the hunt, pledging a 1,000 reward to anyone who finds the pair following an appeal live on This Morning.

Blake and Bella have been inseparable since owner Natalie Haywood, 22, adopted the lamb when she was rejected by her mother. The little ewe was still being bottle fed and  although there have been no real sightings since Tuesday  Miss Haywood said she was still hopeful of finding the pair alive. 'We live near very thick forest, so it makes sense that they could just be hiding out together somewhere,' Miss Haywood said last night. '

She and her partner Jordan Knight, also 22, were expected to join the latest search party around the village of Perlethorpe, Nottinghamshire, last night.

They have enlisted the help of pet detectives Phoebe Cooper and Isobel Rickard, whose sniffer dogs specialise in hunting for missing animals.

Locals had seen the dog and lamb close to the couple's home, near a main road at lunchtime on Tuesday, but were unable to round them up.

Search teams found lamb droppings and hoof prints yesterday, around a mile from where the pair vanished. Similar traces were found on Tuesday, while tracker dogs picked up a scent, as well as dog mess and a paw print from Bella on Wednesday.

Volunteers, park rangers and even professional pet detectives with sniffer dogs have been scouring Sherwood Forest

Miss Haywood, who has a son, aged one, and a four-year-old daughter, said: 'They were spotted a mile away from our house, on a main road, on Tuesday.

'Apparently cars were stopping and people trying to round them up, but Bella didn't want to go near them, she's still skittish around humans and Blake was just trying to keep her safe. The [latest] hoof prints and droppings were found close to Thoresby Hall, a mile from our home and close to a water source. We're really hopeful it means they are close.'

She added: 'They have become inseparable We adopted Bella from when she was two days old. The hope is they are still together and keeping each other safe.'

Natalie Haywood, 22, (pictured) adopted the lamb when she was rejected by her mother

The full-time mother said she had been 'taken aback' by the offer of the reward and the public's response. The search area for the missing pets covers several dozen square miles, including Thoresby Hall estate  where Mr Knight works  along with neighbouring Clumber Park and Sherwood Forest. Rangers from the estates have joined the search. Miss Cooper, from nearby Harworth, and Miss Rickard, who has travelled from Lincolnshire, both volunteered their services after hearing about the drama.

Miss Cooper and her dog Wispa, a German pointer-lurcher cross, have been hunting for missing pets for the best part of a decade.

She said: 'I haven't come across this kind of relationship before but it does happen and Blake will have the instinct to look after sheep given his breed.'

Andrew Weaver, Newark and Sherwood Council contract dog warden, who has been organising searches, said they had been continuing until as late as 10pm each night. 'It's a real community effort,' he said.

The Tamworth Two pigs  nicknamed Butch and Sundance  cheated the butcher's knife by going on the run from an abattoir in 1998.

They were eventually caught but, thanks to the Daily Mail, won a reprieve from their death sentence and lived out their days in an animal sanctuary.
President Trump mocked charges of Russian interference in the presidential election by saying Russia must be 'laughing up their sleeves' at all the turmoil among their historic adversaries.

The president sent the missive amid continued blowback over his firing of FBI Director James Comey amid Democratic charges that the firing was linked to the bureau's Russia investigation.

He launched the slam shortly after the White House released photos of Trump's Oval Office meeting with Russia's foreign minister  a full day after Moscow put out its own photos of the meeting in the form of smiling images of Trump and his Russian visitors.

'Russia must be laughing up their sleeves watching as the U.S. tears itself apart over a Democrat EXCUSE for losing the election,' Trump wrote.

President Donald Trump tweeted about Russia Thursday. He also appeared in an NBC News interview, where he defended his firing of FBI Director Comey, even as he contradicted the timeline provided by his own White House

Moscow also put out images of Trump greeting a smiling Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the U.S. They got released by the TASS news agency, the Russian embassy, and the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The White House flickr account did not post a Kislyak photo with the president.

The official White House readout of Trump's meeting didn't mention that Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak was there.

Trump trolled his critics late Thursday by tweeting out a photo of him and Lavrov  as well as an image of himself meeting with Ukraine's foreign minister.

'Yesterday, on the same day- I had meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the FM of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin. #LETSMAKEPEACE!' Trump wrote.

President Trump tweeted that Russia must be 'laughing up their sleeves'

Kislyak's undisclosed post-election contacts with former national security advisor Mike Flynn helped get Flynn fired. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to recuse himself from any election-related investigations after his own meetings with Kisylak were revealed.

Trump's tweet followed a series of attacks on Democrats Wednesday, when he went after them for grousing about the Comey firing, after many Democrats had complained about the former FBI director's conduct.

IT'S OFFICIAL! The White House on Thursday released its own photos of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office  a day after the Russians did

'Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites!' Trump wrote in one example.

U.S. photojournalists were shut out of Wednesday's Oval Office meeting between Trump and the Russians.

After Americans who cover the White House complained, the White House said on background that only official Russian and White House photographers were included.

In a photo released by Russia's TASS news agency, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US President Donald Trump, and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak (L-R) talking during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House

ALL SMILES: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US President Donald Trump, and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak (L-R) talking during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House. Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

The Russian embassy in Washington released this photo of President Trump warmly shaking hands with ambassador Sergey Kislyak

The White House released a businesslike photo of Trump and Lavrov

Images of President Donald Trump meeting with Russia's Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office were issued by the Russian state news agency TASS, and subsequently published by much of the global media

President Donald Trump talks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington Wednesday

The White House did not post an image of Trump and Kislyak  who is at the center of probes of Trump campaign officials and Russia - only photos of Trump and Lavrov

"Our official photographer and their official photographer were present, that's it," said a White House official.

National Security Agency director Admiral Mike Rogers told the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday about potential risks of having a Russian camera crew inside the Oval Office, AFP reported, adding that he hadn't been consulted in advance.

Trump's statement about the nation tearing itself apart may have been a reference to the swarm of investigations of alleged Russian interference in the election.

His rival, Hillary Clinton, has blamed both Comey and the Russians as key drivers that caused her defeat.
After almost a month since her arrest, Cassie's Sainsbury's family have touched down in Colombia to visit their daughter in prison.

On Thursday morning, the accused cocaine smuggler's mother Lisa Evans and sister Khala Sainsbury were seen at Bogotas El Dorado International Airport.

They refused to comment on their daughter's situation to waiting media as they walked through the airport, but were accompanied by a crew from Channel Nine's 60 Minutes.

The family have reportedly negotiated an 'eye-watering' sum just under $1 million for a TV deal the program.

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After almost a month since her arrest, Cassie's Sainsbury's family have touched down in Colombia to visit their daughter in prison. Her mother Lisa Evans is pictured

Accused drugs smuggler Cassie Sainsbury, 22, smiled and waves for cameras from her prison block in Colombia

Channel Nine journalist Liam Bartlett arrived at the same airport just hours earlier.

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.

News of the deal comes as the first photo of Miss Sainsbury from inside her Colombia prison surfaces, with her smiling and waving to camera crews.

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'.

On Thursday morning, the accused cocaine smuggler's mother Lisa Evans and sister Khala Sainsbury (pictured) were seen at Bogotas El Dorado International Airport

They refused to comment on their daughter's situation to waiting media as they walked through the airport, but were accompanied by a crew from Channel Nine's 60 Minutes

Channel Nine journalist Liam Bartlett arrived at the same Colombian airport just hours earlier and he will reportedly tell the family's story

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

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.

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.

The first mug shot of Cassandra Sainsbury emerges after it was taken during her registration at El Buen Pastor women's prison

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 for Ms 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.
A predator who escaped from a prison that's home to Victoria's worst sex offenders has been captured.

Justin Fraser, 41, fled from the Corella Place facility known as the 'Village of the Damned' in Ararat on Thursday.

Police warned the public not to approach Fraser, who was last seen on Warrack Road just after 6.30pm.

He spent a night on the run before being arrested about 10.30am near Beaufort, 45 kilometres from Corella Place.

41-year-old Justin Fraser escaped the high-risk facility Corella Place in Victoria on Thursday

The 41-year-old absconded from the Corella Place facility in Ararat on Thursday

Police began an immediate search of the area to locate Fraser and released his image, urging the public not to approach if they see him.

He previously escaped from police in 2014 during an integration exercise prior to release. He had been charged with indecent assault and intended rape at the time.

Since then, he has been detained at Corella Place near Ararat  home to sex offenders who have been deemed too dangerous to be released after serving their sentences.





The facility is home to sex offenders who have been deemed too dangerous to be released after serving their sentences
Wendi Wright (pictured), from Union City, Tennessee, has been charged with felony reckless endangerment for allegedly running her congressman off the road and threatening him after a university visit

A woman has been accused of running her congressman off the road and then threatening him after leaving a meeting at a Tennessee university.

Wendi Wright, from Union City, Tennessee, has been charged with felony reckless endangerment over an alleged incident that took place on Monday afternoon.

The 35-year-old is accused of following Republican Congressman David Kustoff in her car as he left a tour of the University of Tennessee at Martin's teaching farm.

The Weakley County Sheriff's Office said in a report Wright continued behind the congressman, who was with an aide, Marianne Dunavant, until they were forced to pull off the road into a driveway.

The 35-year-old is accused of then getting out of her car, walking up to the congressman's and pounding on the windows.

'Wright exited her vehicle and began screaming and striking the windows of their vehicle and at one point reached inside,' the police report states.

'She then stood in front of their vehicle in an attempt to keep them blocked in.'

Wright is accused of following Republican Congressman David Kustoff (left) and his aide, Marianne Dunavant (right), in her car as they left a tour of the University of Tennessee at Martin's teaching farm.

The police report goes on to claim officers were called to the area, but Wright fled the scene before they could arrive.

However, the 35-year-old was then identified by police when she posted on Facebook about the incident later that night.

She was then taken into custody, before being released on a $1,000 bond.

Wright is scheduled to appear before the Weakley County General Sessions Court on May 15.

Kustoff is a vocal supporter of rolling back the Dodd-Frank Act - which was introduced after the Global Financial Crisis in an attempt to create further regulation and oversight for banks to ensure persistent issues affecting the financial industry were kept under control.

Supporters of the act say it protects the country against a similar crisis in future, while those against it - including Kustoff - say it over-regulates the industry.
When the Queen is driven down the Epsom track for the Derby next month, she might spot something that doesn't seem quite in keeping with the prestigious race's surroundings.

For the famous mound in the middle of the track is to be rebranded 'Poundland Hill' as part of a sponsorship deal by the budget chain.

The Hill is the free-to-enter infield on the Epsom Downs where many of the 100,000 who flock to watch the race on June 3 will be heading for.

The famous mound in the middle of the track is to be rebranded 'Poundland Hill' as part of a sponsorship deal by the budget chain

But critics will argue that the need to bring in Poundland to back one of British sport's biggest events reflects a serious decline in status for the 'sport of kings'.

Poundland is owned by Steinhoff International. The firm is headed by South African Markus Jooste, a racehorse owner with a growing interest in British racing.

An Epsom spokesman said: 'One of the great things about Epsom and a characteristic of the Derby is that it attracts a huge cross-section of the public.

'If it was Royal Ascot, the deal could be accused of just being about taking the money but racing could equally be accused of a little bit of snobbery.'

Poundland trading director Barry Williams said: 'All of Britain loves the Derby and as the people's store, we're looking forward to helping make the people's hill at Epsom one of the best ways for the family to experience The Derby at Epsom.'
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull expects notorious Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash to be extradited back to Australia, and he is expected to face court in less than a year's time.

Australia has an extradition treaty with Turkey, where Prakash has been kept in a maximum-security prison since his arrest last year.

'He will be brought back to Australia and he will face court,' Mr Turnbull told the Seven Network on Friday.

A source in the investigation told the Herald Sun that they expect Prakash to face court within a year.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expecting Australia will extradite the country's most notorious Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash (pictured) within months

Investigators from Melbourne's joint counter-terrorism team are set to travel to Turkey to expedite the extradition process and Turkish authorities are said to be fully co-operating, the newspaper reports.

The arrest warrant for Prakash, issued by the Australian Federal Police, says he will be charged with foreign incursion offences for fighting with the terror group, membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation and recruitment for a terrorist organisation.

Prakash, a failed rapper, is Australia's highest ranked ISIS fighter after he left the country in 2013 to become a senior recruiter for the terror organisation.

He converted to Islam at the notorious Al Furqan Islamic Centre in Melbourne after dropping out of high school.

Australia has an extradition treaty with Turkey, where Prakash has been kept in a maximum-security prison since his arrest last year

He has been linked to conspiracies to kill Australians, including a failed Anzac Day plot to behead a police officer in April 2015.

Authorities are also investigating the 25-year-old's involvement in an attack by an 18-year-old who was killed after stabbing two police officers in Melbourne in 2014.

The evidence against Prakash, who is reportedly of Indian, Fijian and Cambodian descent, is largely based on his social media activity.

He worked with an English-speaking cell trying to radicalise Western people to fight for Islamic State.

He used the internet to promote ISIS' ideology and recruit Australians to join the jihadist group  many of whom are either still in the war-torn region or dead.

In May last year, Prakash was reported dead by Canberra after Washington advised that he had been killed in a US airstrike in northern Iraq.

Known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, Prakash was reportedly on a list of high-value IS recruiters targeted by the US in drone attacks in Iraq.

However, it later emerged that he had only been wounded by the strike in Mosul on April 29 last year.

Australian authorities kept tabs on him and when he crossed the border into Turkey in October, he was arrested after they tipped off Turkish police.
A landlord who trapped a suspected burglar inside his pub was forced to post an SOS on Facebook after police failed to turn up.

Andrew Forster, 35, realised the intruder had sneaked into the pubs upstairs accommodation while his staff were busy serving customers below.

But when he held the door shut and called 999, the operator told him no patrols were available  so he resorted to a desperate call for help on social media.

In a public post, the landlord of The Wellington pub in Preston wrote: Caught someone robbing the office and upstairs at the Welly, called 999 but they wont dispatch someone because its not an emergency.

Andrew Forster, pictured, trapped a suspected burglar in his Preston pub but was told by police they could not attend because it was 'not an emergency'

Mr Forster was forced to put an SOS call out on Facebook, pictured, when the police refused to attend

'Currently have them trapped in a f****** room but nobody is coming from the police.

What the f*** am I supposed to do now??!! Any ideas??

He was quickly bombarded with offers of help  including one from a man with a big dog  and a crowd soon formed outside the pub.

Finally, after further attempts to contact police, officers arrived more than an hour after the original 999 call and arrested a woman on suspicion of burglary.

The case is just the latest example of how police forces are being accused of downgrading their response to burglaries, and Mr Forster said he was appalled by his experience.

'I called the police three times and each time was told it wasnt considered to be an emergency and they couldnt send a patrol at that time, he said.

The 35-year-old, pictured, said he called police three times and was 'appalled' by the experience

I couldnt believe it could take so long, especially as the intruder was still on the premises.

I didnt know what else to do. I was holding the door shut to make sure they didnt get away. So in desperation I put a message on Facebook and asked if anyone could offer us any help.

People came down, a crowd gathered outside. My post got 250 likes and 150 comments. The public response was amazing.

The intruder is believed to have got into the upstairs accommodation while staff were distracted during a busy afternoon at the pub last Saturday.

Mr Forster, who is vice-chairman of the Preston Pub Watch scheme, said he was told off by a 999 operator when he made a second call as it was not an emergency and he should have dialled 101. According to updates he posted on social media, the intruder drank a bottle of spirits, ran a bath and played music on the staff room stereo.

Im angry that the police didnt think it serious enough to turn out for more than an hour, Mr Forster added.

Lancashire police said they had been called at 3.30pm and told that an intruder was laid down on the floor in an unaggressive manner. Officers arrived at 4.33pm and the arrest was made at 4.44pm.

A spokesman said: We regret that we were unable to attend the incident sooner.

'However, unfortunately, due to a busy period of demand and a number of ongoing incidents across the area, there were no patrols available to attend at that time.

'We take reports of crimes in action very seriously and would always endeavour to attend these as soon as possible.

Police eventually arrived at The Wellington pub an hour after the first call was made and arrested a 34-year-old woman on suspicion of burglary

A 34-year-old woman has since been charged with burglary.

Last year Paul Smart, 65, was forced to watch powerlessly on his office CCTV feed as thieves ransacked his business after he had gone home, because police were too busy.

He said he was told to call the 101 non-emergency number despite the crime being in progress at his photography firm in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.

Separately, Leicestershire police were slammed for a scheme in which forensics teams would only probe attempted burglaries at homes with even  but not odd  numbers to save cash.
A business in China is awarding its employees for every kilo they shed in order to promote 'healthy weight loss.'

Xi'an Jingtian Investment Consulting in Xi'an, China's Shaanxi province will reward employees once they lose at least three kilograms, reports the People's Daily Online.

Despite launching the initiative to keep his employees healthy, the boss Wang Xuebao has failed to lose weight himself.

The firm based in Xi'an is handing employees 200 yuan (22) for every kg lost

The boss was concerned that his staff were overweight as they spent all day in their seats

The 'competition' was launched in March and has proved successful with all employees losing 3kg earning them 66.

According to Wang, he will pay them 200 yuan (22) for every kilogram lost.

He was concerned that his staff were overweight as they spent all of their day sat in their seats.

Employee Zhou Wei has lost 10kg since March earning her 2,000 yuan (224)

One employee named Zhou Wei has lost 10kg since March earning her 2,000 yuan (224).

She told reporters: 'Today I eat fried mushrooms and eggs. Before, I had meat with every meal. '

Zhou also now goes to the gym every day in order to continue to lose weight and gain the rewards.

The company's boss Wang Xuebao told reporters: 'Our employees are in the office all of the time and don't exercise, including myself. Through this we can participate in weight loss activities together.'

He says his goal now is to join his employees to lose weight.
The three 'norths' are due to combine over Britain this month for the first time in history, and will stay over the country for the next three-and-a-half years. What this means is that true north, magnetic north and grid north will all line up, according to national mapping service Ordnance Survey. True north is the direction along the surface of the Earth that ends at the North Pole, while magnetic north points where the planet's magnetic field goes downwards. Grid north is the direction of the grid lines on maps, that usually point towards or near the North Pole. The three norths will make landfall at the village of Langton Matravers just west of Swanage in early November, before slowly travelling up the country. Dr Susan Macmillan, of the British Geological Survey, said: 'This is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Due to the unpredictability of the magnetic field on long timescales it's not possible to say when the alignment of the three norths will happen again.'
China plans to establish a village on the moon with Europe's help by 2036.

Now, in a step towards that goal, the nation has created a 'Lunar Palace' on Earth to simulate living in isolated conditions on the moon.

Four students from the astronautics research university Beihang yesterday entered the 160-square-metre (1,720-square-foot) cabin, dubbed the 'Yuegong-1'.

Groups of volunteers will live in a sealed lab (pictured) simulating a lunar-like environment as Beijing prepares for its long-term goal of putting humans on the moon by 2036

LUNAR PALACE Two groups of four volunteers from Beijing's astronautics research university will live in a simulated space cabin, measuring 160 square metres (1,720 square foot), over the next year. Two men and two women entered the lab, called 'Yuegong-1' or Lunar Palace, yesterday to test how a life-support system works in a moon-like environment. They will then be relieved by another group of four, who will stay 200 days, before returning for an additional 105. The Lunar Palace contains four bed cubicles, a common room, a bathroom, a waste-treatment room and a room for raising animals. Human waste will be treated with a bio-fermentation process, and experimental crops and vegetables grown with the help of food and waste byproducts. Advertisement

Two men and two women will test how a life-support system works in a moon-like environment.

They will stay for an initial 60 days, when they will then be relieved by another group of four who will stay 200 days, before returning for an additional 105.

The secretary general for China's space agency, Tian Yulong, disclosed talks between the agency and the ESA back in April.

And the technology being explored in the latest experiment could prove vital to the success of such a mission.

The Lunar Palace is the world's third bioregenerative life-support base, and the first developed in China.

Human waste will be treated with a bio-fermentation process, and experimental crops and vegetables grown with the help of food and waste byproducts.

It has two plant cultivation modules and a living cabin measuring 42 square metres (452 square foot).

'I will be in charge of the treatment of solid waste, urine, shredding straw, threshing wheat, processing food and other work,' one of the student volunteers told CCTV.

It contains four bed cubicles, a common room, a bathroom, a waste-treatment room and a room for raising animals.

It is the only such facility to involve animals and microorganisms as well as plants and humans, its chief designer Liu Hong told CCTV, calling it 'the first of its kind.'

A similar 105-day trial was carried out successfully in 2014.

Two groups of four postgraduate students will alternate their time in the lab spending a total of 365 days in isolation between them. Two men and two women entered the lab yesterday to begin work (pictured)

Beijing's astronautics research university will be overseeing the project (pictured) which they hope will teach scientists about some of the requirements for living on the moon for extended periods of time

The system, called the Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS), allows water and food to be recycled and is key to any Chinese probes to the moon or beyond.

'The latest test is vital to the future of China's moon and Mars missions and must be relied upon to guarantee the safety and health of our astronauts,' Liu Zhiheng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told news agency Xinhua.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for China to become a global power in space exploration, with plans to send a probe to the dark side of the moon by 2018, the first ever such trip, and to put astronauts on the moon within the next two decades.

'While it remains unclear exactly how long China's first lunar explorers will spend on the surface, the country is already planning for longer stays,' news agency said.

The country's first cargo space craft docked with an orbiting space lab in April, a major step as Beijing looks to establish a permanently manned space station by 2022.

Human waste will be treated with a bio-fermentation process, and experimental crops and vegetables will be grown (pictured) with the help of food and waste byproducts

The Lunar Palace contains four bed cubicles to house its inhabitants (pictured), as well as a common room, bathroom, waste-treatment room and a room for raising animals

Despite the advances in China's space programme for military, commercial and scientific purposes, China still lags behind the United States and Russia.

Last month, it emerged that China is talking with the European Space Agency about collaborating on a human settlement on the moon.

ESA has previously described its 'Moon Village' as a potential international launching pad for future missions to Mars.

Further details on what the collaboration could entail were not revealed.

But last year, the head of the ESA elaborated on plans to build a village on the moon.

'The future of space travel needs a new vision,' said Jan Woerner.

The concept is a base for lunar exploration by humans and robots, which would act as a stopover for spacecraft, and become a 'village' with mining and even tourism.



China is talking with the European Space Agency about collaborating on a human settlement on the moon. Pictured is an artist's illustration released by the ESA last year

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for China to become a global power in space exploration and is hoping to put people on the moon (pictured) by 2036 (stock image)

'The future of space travel needs a new vision.

'Right now we have the Space Station as a common international project, but it won't last forever,' said Woerner.

'If I say Moon Village, it does not mean single houses, a church, a town hall and so on. No, that would be misleading.

'My idea only deals with the core of the concept of a village: people working and living together in the same place.

'And this place would be on the moon.'
New emotion reading technology claims to stop agitated criminals and potential terrorists on the street before they act.

A Russian firm has created software that can be embedded in CCTV cameras to track the age, gender, emotional state and identity of people and keep track of suspicious behaviour.

If someone is feeling particularly stressed or angry the algorithms will flag it up with authorities who could intervene before anything happens.

The company claims it can track the emotional state of a person from CCTV with more than 94 per cent accuracy.

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NTchLab's software, which can be used in CCTV cameras, claims to read people's emotional states. The technology, which is currently in beta testing and not available to the public, did not accurately predict age and was seven years out with one of our reporters

HOW DOES IT WORK? NTechLab has created a tool that can track the age, gender, emotional state and identity to monitor citizens and keep track of any suspicious behaviour. The company claims it can track the emotional state of a person from CCTV with more than 94 per cent accuracy. At first the photo goes through a face detector which analyses the photo and locates the position of the face. It then goes through a neural network which has been trained on a vast number of faces to detect real emotions. This is a sophisticated form of facial recognition technology which identifies people by analysing the shape of a persons face. Each face has approximately 80 unique nodal points which distinguishes one from another. A digital video camera measures the distance between various points on the human face, such as the width of the nose, depth of the eye sockets, distance between the eyes and shape of the jawline. These points are measured using a numerical code which is then stored in a large database. Advertisement

This emotion reading technology is the latest offering by NTechLab, a Moscow-based company which monitors suspicious behaviour by looking at people's emotional state.

'The recognition gives a new level of security in the street because in a couple of seconds you can identify terrorists or criminals or killers,' Alexander Kabakov, NTechLab chief executive told the Telegraph.

The secretive company refused to be specific about the use of its technology although it is reported they are using the software on 150,000 CCTV cameras in Moscow in collaboration with the Moscow city government.

'Face recognition technology automatically identifies all the known suspects and alerts authorities', the company say on their website.

'Any surveillance camera, the video stream from which is processed by the NtechLab technology of facial recognition, suddenly turns into a powerful tool for tracking and apprehending all the above mentioned hooligans and troublemakers.'

The company has raised $1.5 million (1.2m) to develop their products.

'At first, the photo goes through the face detector we developed, which analyses the photo and locates the exact position of the face', co-founder Artem Kuharenko told MailOnline.

'Then the face goes through the neural network, which was trained on a vast number of faces expressing real emotions.

'The neural network predicts the emotion and also provides the rate of confidence it has in the results', he said.

The technology is still in Beta testing and is not currently available for the public to use.

'Now, with smartphones, we don't have privacy because phones know so much about you, including your behaviour and location,' said Mr Kabakov, who not believe there are privacy concerns with the new technology.

'If you're in a public space, you have no privacy', he said.

NTechLab has created a tool that can track the age, gender, emotional state and identity to monitor citizens and keep track of any suspicious behaviour. MailOnline tried out the technology and found it was accurate with sex and emotion but not accurate with age - in this case it was six years out

The company made headlines last year when its FindFace app could track down anyone who was on the Russian social network VKontakte. This technology can also predict emotions, sex and age - although it was a decade out when MailOnline tried it with Brad Pitt

The company made headlines last year when its FindFace app could track down anyone who was on the Russian social network VKontakte.

'FindFace' could identify anyone from their profile picture using only a photograph, with 70 per cent accuracy.

The technology can work with any photographic database, though it currently cannot use Facebook, because even the public photographs are stored in a way that is harder to access than Vkontakte.

It is reported NTechLab are using the emotion-reading software on 150,000 CCTV cameras in Moscow in collaboration with the Moscow city government (stock image)

The company made headlines last year when its FindFace app could track down anyone who was on the Russian social network VKontakte

In April 2016, CCTV footage captured two people setting fire to a building in St Petersburg.

After a complaint was posted online, some 'internet activists' used FindFace to detect the offenders.

'With this algorithm, you can search through a billion photographs in less than a second from a normal computer,' co-founder Mr Kabakov said at the time.

In the two months since it launched, FindFace gained 500,000 users and processed nearly 3 million searches, according to its Russian founders.
Sherlock Holmes is famed for his ability to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated pieces of information.

Now scientists have developed an AI system that can match the super-sleuths crime solving capabilities.

Valcri scans millions of pieces of data to suggest how and why a crime may have been committed, freeing investigators to work on building their case.

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Researchers have created Valcri, an AI super-sleuth that can scan millions of pieces of data to suggest how and why a crime may have been committed, which analysts can access in more detail via interactive touchscreens (stock image)

VALCRI Valcri was conceived as a way to provide early warnings of impending criminal activity. But the system can also take on the more routine work of law enforcement agencies. Valcri studies millions of police reports, including text, images and videos, to suggest links that may be worth further investigation. This data is then presented to crime analysts via touchsreens, which allow them to examine evidence in closer detail. West Midlands Police has been testing Valcri with around 6.5 million anonymised records gathered over three years. And Valcri's creators hope to implement the system in real-time in the near future. Advertisement

The software began life at the University of Middlesex in London, who received a 13 million (10 million / $17 million) investment from the European Union to fund the project in 2014.

Valcri, which stands for Visual Analytics for sense-making in Criminal Intelligence Analysis, was originally conceived as a way to provide early warnings of impending criminal activity, including online fraud and global terrorism.

But the system can also be implemented to solve the more routine work of law enforcement agencies.

West Midlands Police has been testing Valcri with around 6.5 million anonymised records gathered over three years, as well as a force in Antwerp, Belgium.

And Valcri's creators hope to implement the system in real-time in the near future, according to reports in New Scientist.

Speaking to the website William Wong, who leads the project at Middlesex University, said: 'Everyone thinks policing is about connecting the dots, but that's the easy bit.

'The hard part is working out which dots need to be connected.'

Valcri works by studying police reports, including text, images, and videos, to suggest links that may be worth further investigation.

This data is then presented to crime analysts via touchscreens, which allow them to examine each piece of evidence in closer detail.

The Sherlock Holmes style software can make connections between millions of police records, including text, images and video, freeing investigators to work on gathering evidence to prove their case (stock image)

Crime analysts can spend hours trawling through records, but Valcri allows them to access relevant information at the touch of a button.

And by using the latest in machine learning and facial recognition technology, the system can improve its results based on input from the analysts.

Neesha Kodagoda, an expert in human computer interactions from the university, added: 'An experienced analyst needs 73 individual searches to gather all of this information, before manually putting it into an easily digestible form.

'Valcri can do this with a single click.'
Microsoft has developed a vibrating watch that alleviates the hand tremors of sufferers of Parkinson's disease.

The 'Emma Watch', named after the Parkinson's sufferer it was designed for, was showcased at Microsoft's Build 2017 conference in Seattle yesterday.

The prototype device works by sending tiny vibrations into the wearer's wrist, which disrupts the feedback loop between the brain and the hand that causes the tremors.

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Microsoft has developed a vibrating watch (pictured) that alleviates the hand tremors of sufferers of Parkinson's disease

HOW DOES IT WORK? Microsoft's Emma Watch works via a combination of motion sensors and artificial intelligence. This allows the watch to sense and react to symptoms like tremors, stiffness and instability, among others, according to Microsoft. The watch contains tiny, coin-sized motors that vibrate on the wearer's wrist. The vibrations 'short circuit' the feedback loop between the brain and hand that causes the tremors. Advertisement

While only a prototype has been built so far, Microsoft's developers are working with neuroscience researchers on trials with a small group of Parkinson's sufferers.

More than 10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson's disease.

Around 60,000 people are diagnosed each year in the US alone.

But there is currently no cure available for the degenerative condition, which causes tremors and slow movement, and gradually damages the brain over a number of years.

The watch contains tiny, coin-sized motors that vibrate on the wearer's wrist.

'This vibration "short circuits" the feedback loop between the brain and the hand that causes the tremors,' developer Haiyan Zhang said.

'Its like injecting white noise into that feedback loop in order to disrupt it.'

Microsoft's Emma Watch works via a combination of motion sensors and artificial intelligence.

This allows the watch to sense and react to symptoms like tremors, stiffness and instability, among others, according to Microsoft.

The device works by sending tiny vibrations into the wearer's wrist, which disrupt the feedback loop between the brain and the hand that causes the tremors

'Once these symptoms can be identified and measured, it's possible to develop technology and devices that help humans manage their symptoms,' a company spokesperson said during the showcase.

'AI is used to classify the sensor information and elicit real-time responses on small devices like wearables.'

Microsoft stresses that the Emma Watch is not a cure for the neurological disease: 'Rather, its technology has the potential to help Parkinson's patients manage symptoms that impede regular functions.

As part of the watch's showcase, Microsoft unveiled a video diary of its creation. London-based Parkinson's sufferer Emma Lawton (right), 32, who the watch is named after, is helped by Microsoft developer and researcher Haiyan Zhang (left)

WHAT IS PARKINSON'S DISEASE? Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disease. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. But while a tremor may be the most well-known sign of the condition, it also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement. Signs and symptoms: Tremor

Slowed movement (bradykinesia)

Rigid muscles

Impaired posture and balance

Loss of automatic movements

Speech changes

Writing changes Between seven and 10 million people globally have the disease. Of those, the majority of cases have no known cause although scientist suspect a mix of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. Parkinson's disease can't be cured, but medications can help control your symptoms, often dramatically. In some later cases, surgery may be advised. Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement

'The goal of further research is to determine whether the Emma Watch could help other people with similar Parkinson's symptoms.'

As part of the watch's showcase, Microsoft unveiled a video diary of its creation.

The video details the story of two British researchers as they launched a project to ease the symptoms of Parkinson's sufferer Emma Lawton, a 32-year-old graphic designer based in London.

The clip was originally recorded as part of the BBC documentary The Big Life Fix, which followed some of of the UKs top engineers and designers as they invented life-changing solutions for people in desperate need.

In Microsoft's video, viewers meet Ms Zhang, Director of Innovation at Microsoft Research.

Ms Zhang is determined to help Emma by creating a device to increase her control of her pen.

Ms Lawton shows how she typically struggles to write and draw in the video. Despite her job as a graphic designer, Ms Lawton tells Ms Zhang: 'I tend to avoid doing sketching and writing now because it's not really worth it'

But after Ms Zhang gives Ms Lawton the watch, she is able to draw a neat square with relative ease, and is shown as she writes her own name 'for the first time in years'

Ms Lawton tells Ms Zhang: 'I tend to avoid doing sketching and writing now because it's not really worth it.

'Anything you can do to make my hand do what I want it to, and to be able to sign my name, would be an incredible thing.'

Ms Zhang, who has in the past created cutlery for disabled people, eventually creates the Emma Watch to help Ms Lawton's ability to draw and write.

The pattern of the vibration was found to be important to the effectiveness of the watch.

For Lawton, a rhythmic vibration is effective, but for other people, a more random rhythm may work better, Ms Zhang says.
It appears Apple could release its 10th-anniversary smartphone on time.

A new report has claimed that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has begun production of Apples A11 processor that is set to power the OLED iPhone 8.

TSMC had initially aimed to start production of the chip in April, but due to issues involving stacking components it had been delayed  sources have noted that the issues have since been resolved.

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A new report has claimed that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has begun production of Apples A11 processor that is set to power the OLED iPhone 8 (artist impression)

IPHONE 8 RUMORS Several rumors have been circulating about the iPhone 8, and suggest the next device may have: - Dual-lens 3D camera - Augmented reality to generate real-time views of surroundings - Curved glass casing - Plastic OLED screen - Wireless charging - A folding element - New 5 inch (12.7 centimeter) and 5.8 inch (14.7 centimeter) model, which will have a wraparound OLED screen - 5.8 inch will be designed with the Touch ID finger print sensor 'under the glass and in the active display area' - A new 'pure white' model - Aluminum back will be replaced with two reinforced glass panes and a metal frame in the middle - Facial recognition -Premium model could cost $1,000 Advertisement

The latest development regarding the iPhone 8 was published by Digitimes, a newspaper for semiconductor, electronics, computer and communications industries in Taiwan and the Greater China region, which has been sharing numerous reports with insider information over the past few months.

And the information in the latest reports has suggested that iOS users could purchase the device as soon as October or shortly after the release of the iPhone 7s models, which are also said to be equipped with the A11 processors.

A separate report from Digitimes earlier this month, which was shared by the Economic Daily News, also suggested that Apple would stick to its precious timeline.

Sources had said that the firms suppliers 'including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), SLP (substrate-like PCB) makers Zhen Ding Technology and Kinsus Interconnect Technology, and battery supplier Simplo Technology, are ready to ramp up related iPhone parts 'starting June  similar to the new report published by the paper.

TSMC would begin fabricating the wafer starts needed for the production of A11 processes on June 10 and deliver the chips in volume quantity in the second half of July, the report indicated.

It was also discovered that 'iPhone assemblers Foxconn Electronics, Winstron and Pegatron were accelerating the recruitment and training of new workers in China in preparation of mass production of the new iPhone,' said the report.

Although the iPhone 8 may be released on time, KGIs Ming-Chi Kuo noted on Wednesday that there is a 'rising probability' of the 'worst scenario' for production and shipments of the iPhone 8.

Kuo has touched on delays in the past, but the latest research note shared with 9to5Mac highlights the firm's production troubles due to 'major hardware upgrades' could result in a shortage of devices hitting the market at launch.

TSMC had initially aimed to start production of the chip in April, but due to issues involving stacking components it had been delayed  sources have noted that the issues has since been resolved (pictured is an artist impression of the iPhone 8)

TIMELINE: TEN YEARS OF IPHONES 2007: After being unveiled in January, the first iPhone goes on sale amid passionate Apple fan reaction and queues outside retail stores. 2008: On July 11 2008 the second generation iPhone 3G launches, including in a white color option for the first time. 2009: The iPhone 3GS goes on sale in June, and sales for the year reach more than 25 million. 2010: The introduction of the iPhone 4 includes the first major redesign of the iPhone. The front and back casing are both made of glass for the first time, with a steel trim and edges. 2011: The iPhone 4s is introduced, including voice assistant Siri for the first time. 2012: The iPhone 5 ushers in another redesign, this time increasing the screen size to four inches for the first time. 2013: Another 's' model, this time the iPhone 5s, is launched. The first iPhone to include a fingerprint scanner integrated into the home button, known as Touch ID. 2014: In September the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are unveiled, offering the iPhone in two sizes for the first time  both of which have increased screen sizes on previous generations at 4.7 and 5.5 inches respectively. 2015: In September the 6s and 6s Plus are released, complete with a new pressure sensitive screen. 2016: In September the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are announced, with the Plus housing a dual rear camera for the first time that is designed to capture images to rival that of a digital camera. Advertisement

He has said that there is a 'rising probability of worst-case scenario for iPhone shipments' and has lowered what he had predicted in shipments, 100 million to 110 million units, down to 80 million to 90 million units.

We are seeing more evidence that the worst-case scenario forecasted in our April 19 report could materialize, where new iPhone shipments in 2H17F are revised down to 80-90mn units from 100-110mn units (vs. consensus of 100-120mn units),' reads the research note.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin said Nasa could not afford to keep the International Space Station (ISS) and launch a Mars mission at the same time.

Aldrin, who was the second man on the moon told an audience in Washington that Nasa must 'retire the ISS as soon as possible'.

Instead of dealing with low Eath orbit (LEO) activities, Aldrin said Nasa should hand these over to private companies like SpaceX and invest in getting boots on Mars.

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Astronaut Buzz Aldrin warned Nasa could not afford the $3.5 billion (2.7 million) a year to keep the ISS in space and said it should invest in developing a 'sustainable plan to stay on Mars'

MISSION TO MARS Buzz Aldrin hopes future Mars settlers will be launched in the early 2030s. Nasa must 'retire the ISS as soon as possible'. 'We simply cannot afford $3.5 billion (2.7 million) a year of that cost', said the former Apollo 11 moonwalker. He said companies such as Bigelow Aerospace and Axiom Space should build more space stations. Advertisement

'We simply cannot afford $3.5 billion (2.7 million) a year of that cost', said the former Apollo 11 moonwalker in relation to the ISS.

Speaking at the 2017 Humans to Mars conference in Washington D.C, Aldrin also said companies such as Bigelow Aerospace and Axiom Space should build more space stations.

This is the first part of Aldrin's long-term plan to get humans to colonise Mars.

'Let's be certain that we've developed a sustainable plan to stay on Mars,' he said. 'No flags and footprints this time.'

His idea relies on 'cyclers' - spacecrafts that move goods and people between two planets, writes Space.com.

'The foundation of human transportation is the cycler,' he said.

'Very rugged, so it'll last 30 years or so; no external moving parts.'

Aldrin believes these cyclers will be able to send a mission to an asteroid near Earth by 2020 and fly to Venus by 2024.

He hopes future Mars settlers will be launched in the early 2030s.

In 2015 Nasa said it will only fund the ISS until 2028 at the latest so it can focus its resources elsewhere.

In 2015 Nasa said it will only fund the ISS (pictured) until 2028, at the latest, so that it can focus its resources elsewhere. Aldrin suggested private companies should build space stations

'We're going to get out of ISS as quickly as we can,' said William Gerstenmaier, Nasa's chief of human spaceflight during a meeting at the Johnson Space Center in 2015.

'Whether it gets filled in by the private sector or not, Nasa's vision is we're trying to move out', he said.

Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden asked the government to give tax incentives to companies testing in zero-g to help bolster the research.

Nasa has already begun to develop the technologies to send astronauts back into cislunar space in the late 2020s.

Nasa appears to be heeding the advice of a report by the National Research Council (NRC) in June 2014.

The extensive 286-page report said Nasa would be 'doomed to fail' if it didn't alter its proposed method to get to Mars.
Army researchers are teaching artificial intelligence to learn from humans to become sharper shooters.

At the annual Intelligent User Interface conference, scientists from DCS Corp and the Army Research Lab revealed how training a neural network on datasets of human brain waves can improve its ability to identify a target in a dynamic environment.

The approach teaches AI to spot when a human has made a targeted decision, with hopes that it could one day be used to assess a battlefield scenario in real-time.

At the annual Intelligent User Interface conference, scientists from DCS Corp and the Army Research Lab revealed how training a neural network on datasets of human brain waves can improve its ability to identify a target in a dynamic environment. A stock image is pictured

The study comes as part of the multi-year Cognition and Neuroergonomics Collaborative Technology Alliance, according to Defense One.

And, its a step toward artificial intelligence that can solve problems in a changing environment, such as a military setting.

We know that there are signals in the brain that show up when you perceive something thats salient, said Matthew Jaswa, one of the authors on the paper.

By training an AI to recognize these signals using massive datasets of human brainwaves, it could one day be able to instantly understand, in real time, when a solider is making a targeted decision.

If you can improve this to the point where you can put it on guys in the field, you can get to the point where theyre just looking at things and doing their normal tasks, Jaswa said, Defense One reports.

All their years of experience that feed into that normal situational awareness.

By training an AI to recognize these signals using massive datasets of human brainwaves, it could one day be able to instantly understand, in real time, when a solider is making a targeted decision. A stock image is pictured

Were peeking into what their brains are doing.

'If you can have enough guys in a squad looking at similar things, then we can say, Three or four guys looked at this thing. Its probably important.

Military researchers arent only trying to improve the capabilities of their robotics systems.

Last month, it was revealed that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking into ways to hack the human brain to enhance soldiers' cognitive abilities.

US MILITARY LOOKING TO 'HACK' SOLDIERS BRAINS DARPAs four-year Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program aims to use the body's peripheral nervous system to accelerate the learning process. This would be done by activating a process known as 'synaptic plasticity'  a key process in the brain involved in learning  with electrical stimulation. Some teams will be working with intelligence analysts and foreign language specialists to shape the platform around currently training practices. Researchers will look into using the technique across a wide range of applications, including decision-making and spatial navigation, speech perception, and threat recognition. 'Imagine you're struggling to learn something new, like multiplication tables or how to hit a golf ball,' said Dr Robert Rennaker, of the University of Texas at Dallas Texas Biomedical Device Center. 'When you get it right, when that light bulb comes on, this system is being activated. 'By stimulating the vagus nerve during the learning process, we're artificially releasing these chemicals to enhance those connections active during learning.' Advertisement

DARPA revealed it is funding eight separate research efforts to determine if electrical stimulation can safely be used to 'enhance learning and accelerate training skills.'

Ultimately, doing this could allow a person to quickly master complex skills that would normally take thousands of hours of practice.

The program, called the Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program, aims to use the body's peripheral nervous system to accelerate the learning process.

This would be done by activating a process known as 'synaptic plasticity'  a key process in the brain involved in learning  with electrical stimulation.
From zombies to an asteroid impact and nuclear missiles, there are a range of catastrophic events that could wipe humanity from the face of the earth  but what are the odds of them actually happening?

A UK-based betting site has carried out research to learn that top 10 ways the world could end, which also included the probability in which each is likely to occur.

Although the firm shared numerous scenarios that could spark the apocalypse, the sun consuming the earth, Judgment Day and a pandemic as the most likely ways the world would perish.

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Although the firm shared numerous scenarios that could spark the apocalypse, it has listed the sun consuming the earth (pictured), Judgment Day and a pandemic as the most likely ways the world would perish.

TOP 10 EVENTS 1. Sun consumes earth Odds: one in one 2. Judgment Day Odds: one in one 3. Pandemic Odds: one in two 4. Nuclear missiles Odds: one in 30 5. Natural Disasters Odds: One in 45 6. Bioweapons Odds: one in 60 7. Robot uprising Odds: one in 80 8. Grey goo Odds: one in 100 9. Black hole Odds: one in 125(1/125) 10. Aliens Odds: one in 500 Advertisement

The report was created by the 888Poker, which investigated different scenarios of how the end could come about and put them together in an informative infographic.

While theres no foolproof tactics for survival (particularly in the event of the sun destroying the Earth), you can at least start preparing for some of the more unusual disasters, the firm shared in a press release.

So, if somehow you manage to escape the horrors of the Earths demise, you can thank 888Poker for warning you before it was too late.

The event with the best odds was found to be the sun consuming the Earth - it has one in one odds of happening.

Researchers in the past have warned that five billion years from now, the sun will have grown into a red giant star that is more than a hundred times its current size.

And many have speculated that it will be large enough to swallow the Earth.

The sun expands, becomes what is called a Red Giant and its radius will be large enough to envelop the Earth, 888Poker explained.

While a long way off, the odds are exceptional short, as the even it guaranteed.

The next event may not be believed by everyone, but it also has a one in one chance of happening.

The Bible tells of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding swiftly across earth on Judgment Day.

Those who are deemed good will ascend to Heaven, while those who have fallen from grace will spend the rest of eternity in a fiery hell.

Although this is a prediction made by Christians, it is also the second most likely event happen.

The next option would be a catastrophic pandemic that sweeps across the entire globe, which has one in two odds of ending the world.

However, this event is not so far-fetched, as humanity has already had a few scares in the past few years.

The next event may not be believed by everyone, but it also has a one in one chance of happening. The Bible tells of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding swiftly across earth on Judgment Day (pictured)

The next option would be a catastrophic pandemic (pictured) that sweeps across the entire globe, which has one in two odds of ending the world. However, this event is not so far-fetched, as humanity has already had a few scares in the past few years

THE SUN IS EXPANDING Five billion years from now, the sun will have grown into a red giant star, more than a hundred times larger than its current size. While this metamorphosis into the giant star will change the solar system, scientists are unsure what will happen to the third rock from the sun. We already know that our sun will be bigger and brighter, so that it will probably destroy any form of life on our planet. But whether the Earth's rocky core will survive is uncertain. At the end of its evolution, seven billion years from now, the sun will become a tiny white dwarf star. Advertisement

Swine Flu, Bird Flu and Ebola have hit some part of the globe within the decade.

Ebola, being one of the deadliest, was rampant in West Africa from 2014 to 2016 and in the end, 11,000 lives were taken by the grisly disease.

This leaves many researchers worried that there could come a day when a superbug is released that cannot be contained.

The most dangerous kinds, according to experts, are highly contagious but have delayed symptom onset, meaning that infected people unwittingly spread the disease to many others before realizing they are sick.

888Poker has suggested that if a deadly virus doesnt get us, then it could either be nuclear missiles or natural disasters. Nuclear Missiles (pictured) have a one in 30 chance of happening

The odds of a natural disaster (pictured) destroying civilization is one in 45, this includes massive earthquakes, droughts, an Ice Age or super storms. And it has been revealed that 24 percent of people believe rising water levels will spark the natural disaster that ends the world

888Poker has suggested that if a deadly virus doesnt get us, then it could either be nuclear missiles or natural disasters.

Nuclear Missiles have a one in 30 chance of happening, and as North Korea regularly threatens to destroy the United States the odds of this event may increase.

World War III involves the launching of nuclear missiles, with everyone dying either from the initial explosions or from the fallout, 888Poker explained.

A human-engineered virus could easily go rouge and kill every human on Earth  and its odds of happening are one in 60. Research has claimed that Bioweapons (pictured) with the ability to spread deadly diseases could wipe out up to a fifth of the world's population

Another manmade creation is next and has the odds of one in 80 of happening - the event of a robot uprising (pictured). Some experts believe machine life will eventually replace humanity and predicts their reign could last billions of years beyond our time on the planet

GLOBAL PANDEMICS In 2003, Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome)  a serious form of pneumonia  spread to six of the world's seven continents within months, infecting an estimated 8,000 people and killing 750. More recently, Ebola  a grisly disease ravaging West Africa with a death toll over 11,000  threatened to go pandemic in late 2014 after cases seen in travelers arriving back in North America and Europe. Emerging diseases pose the biggest problem, since they involve unknown pathogens with no existing vaccinations. The most dangerous are highly contagious but have delayed symptom onset, meaning that infected people unwittingly spread the disease to many others before realizing they are sick. Shape-shifting diseases that mutate fast are almost impossible to vaccinate against. In today's hyper-mobile, city-dominated world, a deadly disease combining these three features could spell doom for the human race. Advertisement

The odds of a natural disaster destroying civilization is one in 45, this includes massive earthquakes, droughts, an Ice Age or super storms.

And it has been revealed that 24 percent of people believe rising water levels will spark the natural disaster that ends the world.

Similar to pandemics, a human-engineered virus could easily go rouge and kill every human on Earth  and its odds of happening are one in 60.

Research published last year claimed that Bioweapons of mass destruction with the ability to spread deadly diseases like Ebola and Zika could wipe out up to a fifth of the world's population.

888Poker has listed the eight way for the world to end as Grey Goo (pictured), with one to 100 odds of happening. This is the event where nanobots that consume matter to replicate themselves, but would not stop until they have consumed the entire planet

Ex-Nato commander James Stavridis described the prospect of advanced biological technology being used by terrorists or 'rogue nations' as 'most alarming'.

He said that it could lead to an epidemic 'not dissimilar to the Spanish influenza' a century ago.

Another manmade creation is next and has the odds of one in 80 of happening - the event of a robot uprising.

Reports have shown that 38 percent of US jobs will be lost to robots by 2030 and as we train these machines to take our jobs, they may also one-day take our place in the world.

Sir Martin Rees, a royal astronomer, believes machine life will eventually replace humanity and predicts their reign could last billions of years beyond our time on the planet.

A massive black hole could enter into our solar system and swallow Earth, along with the other planets and the sun  leaving no trace that we ever existed in the first place

Rees sees humanity's time on the planet as an extremely brief transitional phase, between primordial organic life and the era of the machines - what he terms a 'post-human' future.

888Poker has listed the eight way for the world to end as Grey Goo, with one to 100 odds of happening.

888Poker hadf ound that many people believe these creatures have superior technology and when they eventually come to earth, would use powerful weapons to destroy the planet

This is the event where nanobots that consume matter to replicate themselves, but would not stop until they have consumed the entire planet.

If the manmade scenarios do not occur, there are always the ones that come from space.

The firm listed black hole with odds of one in 25 and alien with one in 500.

From zombies to an asteroid impact and nuclear missiles, there are a range of catastrophic events that could wipe humanity from the face of the earth  but what are the odds of them actually happening?

For example, a massive black hole could enter into our solar system and swallow Earth, along with the other planets and the sun  leaving no trace that we ever existed in the first place.

And the 10th most likely way the world will end would be done by aliens.

During their research, 888Poker hadf ound that many people believe these creatures have superior technology and when they eventually come to earth, would use powerful weapons to destroy the planet.

Other than the top 10 scenarios, the firm has included other options that could happen including giant monsters with one in 159 million odds of happening, zombies (one in 1,000), vampires (one in 35 million) and an ape uprising (one in 4,600).
Microsoft on Thursday debuted hardware for reaching into virtual worlds powered by its technology as it looked to 'mixed reality' as the next big computing platform.

An update coming to Windows 10 operating system later this year will 'see the magic of mixed reality brought to consumers around the world,' Microsoft executive vice president Terry Myerson said at the company's annual Build developers conference in Seattle, Washington.

Mixed reality motion controllers shown at the conference pair with headsets made by Microsoft partners using Windows software let users interact with both virtual and augmented reality.

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Vendor Gavin Bushnell pulls on a HoloLens device at the Microsoft Build 2017 developers conference Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Seattle. Acer will sell a Windows Mixed Reality headset and motion controller bundle priced at $399 during the holiday season at the end of this year, according to Microsoft.

HOW TO BUY ONE Microsoft is opening preorders today for the first Windows Mixed Reality development kits. The virtual reality headsets from HP and Acer are supposed to ship this summer, and can be found in the Microsoft Store. Acer's kit will cost $299, while HP's version will sell for $329. Advertisement

'These headsets will be the first and only to ship with inside-out, 6-degrees of freedom sensors,' said Microsoft's Terry Myerson.

'Unlike every other VR headset on the market today, it means there'll be zero reason for a separate room, zero need for a complicated setup, and while those less immersive accessories today cost over $500most of the time requiring a new, expensive device, we are announcing today that these Creator's Update accessories start at just $299,' he said.

'Mixed reality is the future of computing,' said Microsoft technical fellow Alex Kipman, the software engineer behind HoloLens augmented reality gear.

'Windows 10 is the only operating system created specifically and from the ground up for mixed reality devices.'

Microsoft slipped when lifestyles shifted to mobile devices, a market dominated by smartphones powered by Apple or Android software, but is dashing forward in the budding trend of augmented and virtual realities, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

'In some ways Microsoft is catching up, and in other ways it is out ahead,' Baker told AFP at the conference.

HoloLens augmented reality gear has been in the hands of developers for a year or so, but Microsoft has yet to release the gear to consumers.

Partners, however, have built the company's mixed reality technology into virtual reality headsets.

Microsoft has also collaborated with agencies and companies to put augmented reality to use in factories, medical schools, and elsewhere.

While virtual reality devices such as those from Facebook-owned Oculus and Sony's PlayStation unit immerse users in fantasy worlds, HoloLens and similar gadgetry 'augment' reality by overlaying holograms on the real world in view.

Members of a design team at Cirque du Soleil demonstrate use of Microsoft's HoloLens device in helping to virtually design a set at the Microsoft Build 2017 developers conference

With its latest devices, Microsoft is betting that both of these technologies will catch on, and is developing the hardware and software for the platforms.

Members of famed Cirque du Soleil acrobatic theater group joined Kipman at Build to show how they plan to use HoloLens to design stages, settings and performances with augmented reality.

HoloLens has been used by US space agency NASA to simulate walking on Mars, and by an airline in Japan to train aircraft mechanics without having to take real jets out of commission.

Tens of thousands of developers in cities around the world have been dabbling with HoloLens, and it will be available for software makers to try in China by the end of this month, according to Kipman.

A member of Cirque du Soleil demonstrates use of Microsoft's HoloLens device in helping to virtually design a set at the Microsoft Build 2017 developers conference, Thursday, May 11, 2017, in Seattle.

'I just love that across the globe inspirational mixed-reality hackathons have been taking place,' Kipman said during an on-stage presentation.

Mixed reality controllers unveiled by Kipman will let people reach into augmented or virtual worlds, with internal sensors tracking hand movements.

The virtual reality headset, Rift, and motion controller Touch will together retail for $598, which Oculus hopes will make the technology more affordable for normal users.

Microsoft had previously limited HoloLens control to pre-set gestures, such as pinching fingers together, to interact with virtual settings.

Acer will sell a Windows Mixed Reality headset and motion controller bundle priced at $399 during the holiday season at the end of this year, according to Microsoft.
Supermassive holes are generally stationary objects, sitting at the center of a galaxy.

However, astronomers believe they have made a rare find - a 'renegade' supermassive black hole on the move.

This possible renegade black hole, which contains about 160 million times the mass of our Sun, is located in an elliptical galaxy about 3.9 billion light years from Earth.

Using data from Chandra and other telescopes, astronomers have found a possible "recoiling" black hole. This black hole, which contains about 160 million solar masses, may have formed and then been set in motion by the collision of two smaller black holes (depicted in the artist's illustration)

WHERE IS IT? The renegade black hole, which contains about 160 million times the mass of our Sun, is located in an elliptical galaxy about 3.9 billion light years from Earth. Advertisement

Astronomers are interested in these moving supermassive black holes because they may reveal more about the properties of these enigmatic objects.

Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes, astronomers believe they have hunted down what could be a supermassive black hole on the move.

This black hole may have 'recoiled,' in the terminology used by scientists, when two smaller supermassive black holes collided and merged to form an even larger one.

At the same time, this collision would have generated gravitational waves that emitted more strongly in one direction than others.

This newly formed black hole could have received a kick in the opposite direction of those stronger gravitational waves.

This kick would have pushed the black hole out of the galaxy's center, as depicted in the artist's illustration.

The strength of the kick depends on the rate and direction of spin of the two smaller black holes before they merge.

Therefore, information about these important but elusive properties can be obtained by studying the speed of recoiling black holes.

HOW THEY FOUND IT Astronomers found this recoiling black hole candidate by sifting through X-ray and optical data for thousands of galaxies. First, they used Chandra observations to select galaxies that contain a bright X-ray source and were observed as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Bright X-ray emission is a common feature of supermassive black holes that are rapidly growing. The left image in the inset is from the Hubble data, which shows two bright points near the middle of the galaxy. One of them is located at the center of the galaxy and the other is located about 3,000 light years away from the center. The latter source shows the properties of a growing supermassive black hole and its position matches that of a bright X-ray source detected with Chandra (right image in inset). Next, the researchers looked to see if Hubble Space Telescope observations of these X-ray bright galaxies revealed two peaks near their center in the optical image. These two peaks might show that a pair of supermassive black holes is present or that a recoiling black hole has moved away from the cluster of stars in the center of the galaxy. If those criteria were met, then the astronomers examined the SDSS spectra, which show how the amount of optical light varies with wavelength. If the researchers found telltale signatures in the spectra indicative of the presence of a supermassive black hole, they followed up with an even closer examination of those galaxies. After all of this searching, a good candidate for a recoiling black hole was discovered. Advertisement

The host galaxy of the possible recoiling black hole also shows some evidence of disturbance in its outer regions, which is an indication that a merger between two galaxies occurred in the relatively recent past.

Since supermassive black hole mergers are thought to occur when their host galaxies merge, this information supports the idea of a recoiling black hole in the system.

Moreover, stars are forming at a high rate in the galaxy, at several hundred times the mass of the Sun per year, which is in line with computer simulations that predict star formation rates may be enhanced for merging galaxies - particularly those containing recoiling black holes.
Two ICON aircraft employees, one being a lead developer, were killed in a crash on Monday in the first-ever fatal accident involving an amphibious light sport aircraft.

Jon Karkow, 55, and Cagri Sever, 41, were testing the A5 over Lake Berryessa in Northern California for about 20 minutes before crashing into the bank.

Both men were confirmed dead at the scene, however, it has not yet been revealed what caused the single-engine, two-seater seaplane to fall from the sky.

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Two ICON aircraft employees, one being a lead developer, were killed in a crash on Monday in the first-ever fatal accident involving an amphibious light sport aircraft. Both men were confirmed dead that the scene

ICON A5: KEY SPECIFICATIONS Seats: Two Maximum Takeoff Weight: 1510 lbs (686.4 kg) Fuel: 91 Octane Auto Gas or 100LL Aviation Gas Maximum Speed (Vh): 95 KCAS (109 mph) (176 kph) Range: 427nm (45 min reserve) Engine: Rotax 912 (100 hp) Interior Cockpit Width: 46 in (116.8 cm) Wingspan: 34.8 ft (10.61 m) Aircraft Length: 23 ft (7.01 m) Aircraft Height: 8.1 ft (2.47 m) Advertisement

Los Angeles-based ICON unveiled the A5 in 2014, which was said to 'open up aviation to the masses'.

The craft is designed to land both on the ground and water, which the firm believes will 'democratize' aviation the same way that brands like Apple, BMW, or Oakley have.

However, the latest news surrounding the amphibious light sport aircraft may set the firm back in its development.

'It is with great sadness that I write this. Earlier today, two ICON Employees were killed in an A5 accident while flying at Lake Berryessa, CA,' ICON CEO Kirk Hawkins shared in a Facebook post on Monday.

'We have no details on the cause of the accident right now and the names of the victims have not been released publicly.

'The NTSB and FAA have been notified and ICON will be working closely with them to fully support their investigation.'

Karkow, who was the pilot, had been employed at ICON since 2007 and was the first to test the Icon A5 in 2014.

He also played a major role in designing and refining the craft's wings and other air and water control surfaces,AOPA Pilot reported.

Sever, the passenger, had only been employed at ICON for a few weeks leading up to the crash.

Officials believe a fisherman may have spotted the wreckage and called for help

Jon Karkow (left), 55, the pilot, and Cagri Sever (right), 41, the passenger, were testing the A5 over Lake Berryessa in Northern California for some 20 minutes before crashing into the bank

Prior to working at ICON, he had been a manager of product design and development at For Motor Company.

'This was a devastating personal loss for many of us,' read Hawkins's Facebook post.

'The thoughts and prayers of our entire organization are with the families of both people onboard, they were both truly amazing individuals.'

The site of the crash is said to be a remote area, between Pleasure Cove Marina and Markley Cove Resort, that is only accessible by boat

The site of the crash is said to be a remote area in Napa County, between Pleasure Cove Marina and Markley Cove Resort, that is only accessible by boat.

'We are looking for witnesses,' Napa County Sheriff's Capt. Keith Behlmer told KTVU.

'Supposedly, a fisherman called it in, and we're trying to reach him, but we don't know if he saw the actual crash.

'Other than that, we have no eye witnesses to the crash.'

There are currently 20 A5 seaplanes in operation, with more than 1,800 pre-orders in place  it costs a total of $190,000 per plane. But it is too soon to tell how the loss of the two employees may affect the business

The 1510-pound craft boasts a 100 bhp Rotax 912 iS gas engine, giving the aircraft a top speed of 120 mph and a range of 345 miles.

And its wings are foldable for easy towing and will fit in a garage, while the engine runs on both regular petrol and aviation fuel.

There are currently 20 A5 seaplanes in operation, with more than 1,800 pre-orders in place  it costs a total of $190,000 per plane.

But it is too soon to tell how the loss of the two employees may affect the business.
National Ferry Fortnight is taking place until May 20 with each ferry company coming up with incentives to book for later in the year.

Here are the main deals. To see all National Ferry Fortnight special offers and find out more about ferry travel, visit discoverferries.com. See terms and conditions on the companies websites.

National Ferry Fortnight is taking place until May 20 with each ferry company coming up with incentives to book for later in the year

Brittany Ferries (brittanyferries.com/offers/ferry/freekids, 0330 159 6820) has a Kids go free on selected daytime sailings to France from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth for travel up to August 31. Up to three back-seat child passengers go free, saving a family of five up to 150 on a return fare.

Book a car plus one and bring a friend for free when you visit Scotlands west coast with Caledonian MacBrayne (calmac.co.uk/NFF2017, 0800 066 5000). Travel before October 22.

DFDS (dfds.co.uk/ferryfortnight, 0871 521 5522) is offering a meal voucher up to the value of 20 (valid on your outbound journey) with return ferry crossing bookings made on Dover to Calais, Dover to Dunkirk and Newcastle to Amsterdam routes. Available on selected departures.

Irish Ferries (irishferries.com, 08717 300 400) has a return fare for a car and up to four people from Holyhead to Dublin from 189.

Ferry together to the Isle of Man with a car and two people for as little as 85 each way with Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (steam-packet.com). Discover the Islands heritage sites for free with two Manx National Heritage Holiday Passes valued at 20 each with Fare Code FERRY.

The Isles of Scilly Steamship Company (islesofscilly-travel.co.uk, 01736 334220) offers a Family Day Trip Ticket for two adults and up to three children for 79 return.

Take your car from Hull to Rotterdam or Zeebrugge, or Dover to Calais. Return fares for as little as 70 with P&O Ferries (poferries.com, 0800 130 0030).

To see all National Ferry Fortnight special offers and find out more about ferry travel, visit discoverferries.com

Book with Red Funnel (redfunnel.co.uk/nff), 0844 844 9988 and enjoy a free ride for two on the Needles chairlift with views of the Isle of Wight. Travel by October 29.

Take a friend for free with Stena Line (stenaline.co.uk/buddy, 08447 707 070) on all routes on the North and Irish Seas. Valid until December 17. Quote BUDDY.

Wightlink (wightlink.co.uk/discoverferries) has teamed up with the Camping and Caravan Club for a competition to win a glamping break to the Isle of Wight.
Malta is booming as a holiday destination. The Mediterranean island 50 miles south of Italy and 170 miles east of Tunisia welcomed nearly two million tourists last year, a ten per cent increase on 2015 and an increase of half a million in four years.

Boosted by the growing number of cruise ships visiting the island and its increasing importance as a destination for no-frills airlines, including easyJet and Ryanair, Malta is expecting another record year for tourism.

Maltas capital Valletta - the smallest national capital in the European Union - is next years European Capital of Culture, presenting it with an opportunity to showcase its eclectic history and heritage.

Sense of history: The Grand Harbour, also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since the 16th century and it has been extensively fortified over the years

Ahead of this, Malta has launched a preview of the Capital of Culture programme highlighting a collection of artistic, cultural and community projects as well as festivals and carnivals.

Next years programme begins on January 20 and as part of the opening festivities, a series of shows will be staged in Vallettas squares - the Triton Fountain, Castille Square, St Johns Square and St Georges Square - using them as the backdrop for performances from the likes of acrobatics company La Fura Dels Baus and digital projections.

Crowd-pleaser: Next years programme begins on January 20 and as part of the opening festivities, a series of shows will be staged in Vallettas squares, which will be backdrops for performances from the likes of acrobatics company La Fura Dels Baus (above)

According to Valletta 2018s Jason Micallef: The European Capital of Culture festivities will take on the spirit of an island-wide fiesta, an event where people and families meet, and which serves to infuse localities with warmth, life and colour, while bringing the community together.

The Valletta 2018 Cultural Programme is filled with innovative participatory events, performances and projects, the likes of which have never been seen in Malta before, said Mr Micallef. It is a great opportunity for people to come together and participate in arts and culture.

The programme also includes Valletta 2018s multi-site visual arts exhibition curated by Maren Richter; Altofest Malta - a Maltese edition of the Naples arts festival; and Malta Calls, a set by international DJ Per QX.

Malta Tourist Offices Peter Vella is looking forward to the programme. The whole of Valletta is a Unesco World Heritage site the city needs to be discovered and Valletta 2018 is an amazing opportunity to make the UK aware of its beauty, he says.
Advertisement

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

But, for a group of locals in north-eastern China, the road through Taihang Mountain is surfaced with blood, sweat and tears.

That's because 800 residents of Changzhi are responsible for constructing one of the range's most impressive - and frequently-used - highways in the Shanxi province, southwest of Beijing.

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Now that's an accomplishment! Locals in Changzhi, Shanxi province, manually constructed the road on Taihang Mountain

According to a report on China's People Daily, the six-mile route was literally hand-crafted by communities frustrated with the area's poor connectivity in 1968.

To combat this, they simply galvanized local man-power to build the solution.

It's claimed 800 workers spent two years living on-site at the mountain - which was formed during the mountain-building process of the Jurassic Period - drilling through five naturally-occurring culverts with primitive tools.

After several months the initial foundations were outlined, before the inside of tunnels were excavated and reinforced.

It's believed the rest of the development took ten years to complete, which saw barriers constructed at the side of the exposed cliff-face and the road's surface swept for use.

Impressive: the highway stretches for more than six miles and offers users a stunning view of the local skyline

Basic, but effective: To this day the road remains in its original condition - unpaved, except for sand and pebbles

The range between the highest and lowest points is 650 feet and it boasts a slope of more than 30 degrees. Dramatic views of the local skyline that are presented along the way have been dubbed a favourite by TripAdvisor users.

The road - which features dramatic twists and turns - remains unpaved to this day and is instead covered with earth and pebbles, so drivers experience a bumpy ride.

One reason for the lack of a proper surface is likely the fact that, until recently, the road's history has been largely undocumented.

A life's work: It took months just to lay the initial foundations, before the inside of tunnels were excavated and reinforced

Man-made: A cyclist enjoys a peaceful ride through the tunnels, which were painstakingly created by hard-working locals

Not that this is the only smart construction in the area, of course.

It also boasts the so-called 'Heavenly Road' - a 5,000ft-long route that is a shortcut to the Jingdi Village at the mountain foot. Local villagers spent 15 years building the road.

Likewise, in 2012, contemporary generations built a 300ft spiral staircase on the wall of mountain to offer the thrill of mountaineering without the danger.

The impressive range encompasses 250 miles from north to south and runs through Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. Most peaks range from 5,000 to 6,500ft, with the principal peak of Xiao Wutaishan reaching 9,455ft.
Restless children and long-haul flights are rarely a formula for success.

In fact, for most airline passengers, the sound of a screaming child is enough to turn the friendly skies into a hive of hostility.

So, the invention of a device which could placate the nation's little darlings might just be a game-changer for everyone involved.

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Silent night flight: The Fly LegsUp could transform travel for restless youngsters on planes

The Fly LegsUp is a simple contraption which, at just 45, instantly transforms an economy seat into a handy hammock.

The Australian-based invention is used by hooking onto the passenger's fold-down tray, then extended to create the effect of a lie-flat bed.

Washable and weighing less than 500g - making it perfect carry-on luggage - it also doubles as a safety net for the child's toy collection, which frequently finds itself lost between the aisles.

The package, which can also serve adults as a leg rest, comes with a large inflatable pillow, two smaller cushions and a travel bag.

Additionally, UK postage from the Fly LegsUp greater London warehouse is just 2.80.

Why didn't I think of that? The package, which can also serve adults as a leg rest, comes with a large inflatable pillow, two smaller cushions and a travel bag

Portable: The cushions are inflatable and the entire package collapses into a handy bag

Good idea: The Australian-based invention is used by hooking it onto the passenger's fold-down tray, then extending it to create the effect of a lie-flat bed

HOW IT BEGAN The first prototype was produced on a long flight using a torn-up pillow case and a travel sewing kit. Input was then sought from an industrial designer and an aeronautical engineer, to perfect the design. It has now been reviewed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and classed as a carry-on comfort aid (just like a neck pillow). Advertisement

One happy customer, called Brionee, detailed her surprisingly pleasant experience with the device after flying from Australia to the United Arab Emirates.

'I recently did a trip from Sydney to Abu Dhabi with my 14mth old son Freddy,' she said on the site's official product page.

'I honestly thought it would be the most horrid flight ever - how wrong I was. The kids Fly LegsUp saved my life. It's such an awesome product and works amazingly to create a cot flat/but comfy feel.

'Freddy slept most of the way, then played with his cars for the remainder of the flight in it. Thanks guys. Here is gorgeous Freddy - loving his big boy seat/bed. Seriously best product ever!'

Comfort: Youngsters will also no longer need to worry about losing their beloved toys
She's the former Bachelor contestant fighting to save her relationship with boyfriend Sarge on 'social experiment' Seven Year Switch.

And personal trainer Stacey Louise, 36, has revealed candid details about her first marriage, as pictures surface of the former couple renewing their vows in Las Vegas.

Stacey confessed she and her ex-husband never planned to grow old together, because she feared she would die young as Huntington's disease runs in her family.

Confession: Seven Year Switch's Stacey Louise married her first husband (right) at 25 because she feared she was affected by an inherited disease that would limit her life expectancy

'We never planned a life beyond me having Huntington's, if that makes sense, beyond me living to middle age,' Stacey Louise told Daily Mail Australia.

'That's the thing, with Huntington's, it's a short life span... We never expected we would grow old together.'

Stacey Louise revealed the former couple eventually 'grew apart' after she tested negative for the disease.

'We separated on really good terms and we're still friends now,' she added.

'We never planned a life beyond me having Huntington's': Stacey told Daily Mail Australia she and her ex never expected to grow old together because she feared she would die young

Stacey and her former husband met when she was just 19 years old, and were introduced by mutual friends. They married when she was 25.

The blonde said they both went through similar journeys together, with her father and his mother being terminally ill.

Her ex-partner's mother had breast cancer and lung cancer, while Stacey's late father battled Huntington's disease.

Current relationship: Stacey Louise is dating Sarge (left), and the couple are being featured on reality TV series Seven Year Switch

Living life to the fullest: Stacey Louise said she always feared she would inherit the disease, so the former couple wanted to have an 'exciting' marriage. Pictured: Stacey's ex-husband

Stacey said she always feared she would inherit the disease so they wanted to have an 'exciting' marriage, which is why they chose to renew their vows in Las Vegas after getting legally married in Australia.

'He married me not knowing if I would get Huntington's disease. If anything, believing I would get it. I told him from the start, "I'm so much like my dad, I think I'll have HD",' she said.

HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE Huntington's disease was originally called Huntington's chorea (Greek for dancing) due to the involuntary movements associated with the condition. It is an inherited disease that attacks the nerve cells in the brain. People can start to show symptoms at almost any age, but most will develop problems between the ages of 35 and 55. Huntington's usually worsens over 10 to 25 years. Early features include slight, uncontrollable movements of the face, jerky movements and slurred speech, which become more extreme. Sufferers increasingly lose co-ordination and tend to find eating tiring as the throat and mouth muscles stop working properly, leading to choking and recurrent chest infections. Hope for a treatment lies in developing medication that can slow or halt the condition by 'switching off' the faulty gene that causes the disease. Advertisement

'We lived our life as though I would live a short life, we really did, because that's just the way I always told him. He'd seen how my dad had got sick, he experienced it and he knew how tough Huntington's was,' she added.

'We were always doing fun things, like going to Vegas and just really trying to experience 100 per cent of the world, because I always said I'm going to have a short life.'

She said their thinking at the time was that they 'were just here for a good time, we're not here for a long time.'

Stacey Louise revealed that when she was given the all-clear before the couple's split 'the world became her oyster' and she got into personal training and lost a lot of weight.

She also claimed she had to adjust to the idea of having a family after getting the all-clear, as she previously never wanted to put a child through having to care for her or lose her.

The fitness model told Daily Mail Australia she was open to having children now, but would want to be in a 'happy relationship' before welcoming a child.

Stacey Louise and former army man Sarge are battling to save their relationship on reality TV series Seven Year Switch.

She also defended him against fans who criticised his behaviour as 'controlling', in particular his rather pedantic food habits.

New life: Stacey Louise revealed that when she was given the all-clear before the couple's split 'the world became her oyster' and she got into personal training and lost a lot of weight

Stacey Louise explained Sarge went to the army when he was just 17 years old, and viewers are being a little 'harsh' towards him.

'He came from a broken family, his dad was never around and he never even had shoes as a kid and he went to the army when he was 17.

'He's spent over 20 years in the army, that's all he knows,' she added. It was previously revealed that Sarge has Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Speaking of their decision to go on the show, Stacey Louise said: 'If we can get through this, we can get through anything.

'But if this breaks us, well it was going to break us anyway, so it may as well happen now,' she concluded.
Thirteen minutes and 39 seconds. Thats all it took yesterday morning for John Cleese to demolish the myth that hes still one of Britains funniest men.

John Cleese Presents, the first episode of which went out at 9.30am on Radio 4, is supposed to be a parody of a radio programme.

The former Python and creator of Fawlty Towers plays himself as a rambling, conceited old bore. And, boy, did he succeed. But there was one small problem. Within seconds, it became clear that this embarrassing ego-tripper was the real Cleese, not a parody.

John Cleese Presents, the first episode of which went out at 9.30am on Radio 4, is supposed to be a parody of a radio programme. (File image)

True, there were a few comic devices intended to persuade listeners that the John Cleese disc jockey was a character as fictional as Basil Fawlty. But they were so lame that they only underlined the real message of the programme.

John Cleese isnt funny anymore. His sense of humour is  like the Monty Python parrot  no more. It has ceased to be. It has kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil and gone to join the bleedin choir invisible.

Cleese is an ex-funnyman. Many of us have known this for years, listening to him drone on about his inner child and the wicked Tories in an attempt to divert our attention from a string of very public divorces  surely the messiest since Henry VIIIs.

If there was anyone left in Britain who thought he was still amusing, John Cleese Presents will have set them right. My toes were curling within ten seconds.

After crashing into the studio, supposedly late, Cleese said he was normally on the other side of the camera. Microphone, the producer corrected him.

So that was the clunking old-fool-thinks-this-is-television joke out of the way, I thought. But it wasnt. Cleese had planned a visual feast which, among others things, involved a racy performance by the Hackettes, a troupe of overweight tabloid journalists

You must remember the scene where Basil Fawlty, out of his mind with panic and rage, thrashes his own car with a stick. Why was I reminded of that yesterday?

Aha! So that was why this comic misunderstanding was so painfully prolonged. Cleese hates the tabloids. For writing about his alimony payments, which would cover the national debt of a small Balkan state? Nope.

Back to the programme (the first of five, God help us) and a listener calls in saying: The Daily Mail says you havent done anything funny for 40 years.

It seems the truth hurts. And with 15 minutes to go, Cleese had resorted to padding and a shameless plug by reading from his memoirs. Speaking of which, you do have to wonder, will the BBC pull the plug on John Cleese Presents, despite their long-running feud only just ending?

Ironically this disastrous experiment has proved Cleeses own point of just two years ago when he accused Aunties commissioning editors of not knowing what theyre doing.

Personally, Im happy for him to carry on and discover its not just tabloid hacks who find him tedious. Car-crash, was the verdict of one listener on Twitter.

Interesting choice of words. You must remember the scene where Basil Fawlty, out of his mind with panic and rage, thrashes his own car with a stick. Why was I reminded of that yesterday?
Former WWE Superstars Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan are flying high.

The two former professional wrestlers welcomed a bouncing baby girl into the world on Tuesday night.

As the two stars have a passion for nature and animals, they named the bundle of joy Birdie Joe Danielson.

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Happy news: WWE Superstars Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan welcomed a bouncing baby girl on Tuesday

Bridie came in weighing at 8 pounds, 10 ounces and is 21 inches tall according to a Wednesday report from E! News.

Brie - real name Brianna Monique Danielson - gushed as she told the publication: 'There is no better feeling in the world than meeting your daughter. I can't even express the overwhelming joy and love that Bryan and I are feeling.

'Now we know what parents mean about the love you feel when you first meet your child. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers on the safety of Birdie coming into this world.'

Her husband - real name Bryan Danielson - is a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion and retired last year due to issues with concussions.

Stressful: WWE star Brie Bella revealed on Saturday she was hospitalized due to issues surrounding her unborn baby's breathing

This comes just days after Brie, 33, revealed she was hospitalized due to issues surrounding her unborn baby's breathing.

The Total Divas favorite had to spend the night in hospital after doctors discovered the problem.

In a video posted on her YouTube channel on Saturday she thanked fans for their support after her 'little scare.'

Speaking in her hospital room, she said: 'There were just some issues with Birdie's breathing they had to track all through the night - so we spent the night.

Exhausted: She said the issues meant medics had to keep 'track all through the night

'Five days late, she is still not here. My defiant little girl has a mind of her own - very strong, which isn't a bad thing.'

Posting a link to the video on her Twitter account, she added: 'A little scare but everything is good now!!! #6dayslate #40weekspregnant #BirdieJoeDanielson (sic)'

Last week, Brie took to the video sharing site to reveal she is past her due date.

She said: 'So today is Birdie's due date, and as you can tell she's still in here. She is very cosy and comfy and obviously does not want to come out here to the great world.

Looking forward: She said she had suffered a 'little scare but everything is good now'

'So Bryan and I are going to start thinking of more things to naturally induce labour. Today I'm super tired. I literally went and I got a pedicure and a manicure, which I didn't enjoy because of how tired I was.'

It is definitely an exciting time in their family as her twin sister Nikki was proposed to by fellow WWE Superstar John Cena in front of over 75,000 fans at Wrestlemania last month.

John and Nikki have been dating since November 2012 after he divorced first wife Elizabeth Huberdeau

Big moment: Last month Brie's twin sister Nikki was proposed to by John Cena in front of 70K fans in Orlando, Florida after their Wrestlemania 33 match

Ultimate thrill ride: In a moment many never saw coming 16-time World Champion Cena got down on one knee and popped the question to the member of the Bella Twins
The CW picked up a pilot for a revamped, modern-day Dynasty revival on Wednesday, which reunites its Gossip Girl producing duo Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz for the 2017-18 broadcast season.

There is no premiere date or episode count yet announced for the primetime soap centering on rich rivals (the Carringtons and the Colbys) - according to E! News.

Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll starlet Elizabeth Gillies will take over the part of the headstrong and promiscuous heiress Fallon Carrington (originally played by Pamela Sue Martin).

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Airing 2017-18! The CW picked up a pilot for a modern-day Dynasty revival on Wednesday, which reunites its Gossip Girl producing duo Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz

The Carringtons versus the Colbys: There is no premiere date or episode count yet announced for the primetime soap centering on rich rivals - according to E! News

The 23-year-old Victorious alum - who used to be BFFs with castmate Ariana Grande - triumphantly tweeted: 'Here we go!'

Elizabeth heads up the eighties reboot alongside the Vampire Diaries' Nathalie Kelley, who plays her soon-to-be stepmother Cristal - perhaps as a tribute to Joan Collins' scene-stealing diva Alexis.

Melrose Place alum Grant Show (as Blake Carrington), The Leftovers' James Mackay (as Steven Carrington), and Empire's Rafael de la Fuente (as Sam) are also featured in the ensemble.

Elementary's Robert Christopher Riley (playing Michael Culhane) cried 'legit tears' breaking the news to his mother on FaceTime, gushing: 'Your sacrifices were not in vain. Happy early Mother's Day!'

Revamp: Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll's Elizabeth Gillies will take over the part of the headstrong and promiscuous heiress Fallon Carrington (originally played by Pamela Sue Martin)

The 23-year-old Victorious alum - who used to be BFFs with castmate Ariana Grande - triumphantly tweeted: 'Here we go!'

Tribute to Joan Collins' scene-stealing diva Alexis? Elizabeth heads up the eighties reboot alongside the Vampire Diaries' Nathalie Kelley, who plays her soon-to-be stepmother Cristal

Leading men: Melrose Place alum Grant Show (as Blake Carrington), The Leftovers' James Mackay (as Steven Carrington), and Empire's Rafael de la Fuente (as Sam) are also featured

Elementary's Robert Christopher Riley (playing Michael Culhane) cried 'legit tears' breaking the news to his mother on FaceTime, gushing: 'Happy early Mother's Day!'

'Pilot time!' Executive producer Brad Silberling (Jane the Virgin) directed the reimagined pilot in Atlanta back in March for the show, which was first announced in September

Executive producer Brad Silberling (Jane the Virgin) directed the reimagined pilot in Atlanta back in March for the show, which was first announced in September.

The original ABC soap - starring Linda Evans, Heather Locklear, and John Forsythe - ran for nine seasons (1981-1989) and creators Richard & Esther Shapiro will return for the new series.

The Golden Globe-winning camp classic was arguably most memorable for its epic, gratuitous catfights featuring dress-ripping, vicious brawls with obvious stunt doubles.

Denver-set Dynasty also spawned a successful line of fashion and luxury products, and a spin-off series called The Colbys.

Dynasty: The original ABC soap - starring Linda Evans, Heather Locklear, and John Forsythe - ran for nine seasons (1981-1989) and creators Richard & Esther Shapiro will return
She looked happy spending time with her rumored beau Lewis Hamilton's bulldog Coco.

And Sofia Richie, 18, showed off all her hard work at the gym in a white long sleeved crop top and high rise black pants.

Her gym sessions have been paying off as the svelte model used her toned muscles to Coco into the car.

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Looking good: Sofia Richie, 18, showed off all her hard work at the gym in a white long sleeved crop top and high rise black pants

Are they an item? Her gym sessions have been paying off as the svelte model used her toned muscles to Coco into the car

Sofia covered up on the cool Los Angeles day with an oversize black jacket with a Balenciaga tag attached to the left arm.

She kept things casual with slip-on flip flop sandals and wore her blonde hair down around her shoulders, loosely pushed back.

The laid-back celebrity wore a bag crossed over her body and dark sunglasses to protect her eyes from the bright glare.

Earlier in the day, the daughter of Lionel Richie was seen on a lunch date with Lewis Hamilton.

Good doggy mom: She kept things casual with slip-on flip flop sandals and wore her blonde hair down around her shoulders, loosely pushed back

Designer duds: Sofia covered up on the cool Los Angeles day with an oversize black jacket with a Balenciaga tag attached to the left arm

Although the pair have not confirmed their romance, the 32-year-old race car driver and the 18-year-old model grabbed a bite to eat at Cecconi's in West Hollywood, California.

The duo - and Lewis' dog Coco - arrived in style, and no doubt fast, with Lewis driving the teenage star in his Porsche 911 Turbo S.

While their relationship status remains up in the air, last week the two were also together in New York.

Cool girl: The laid-back celebrity wore a bag crossed over her body and dark sunglasses to protect her eyes from the bright glare

The model and the racer were seen leaving a screening of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 at the Whitby Hotel.

Following their date, Lewis headed over to a friends' house to meet his god son.

Meanwhile, Sofia just landed a gig as the face of Adidas Originals new footwear design.

Although they have yet to confirm their romance, the duo - and Lewis' dog Coco - arrived in style, and no doubt fast, with Lewis driving the teenage star in his Porsche 911 Turbo S

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.'
He gave up his acting career to raise money for charity with his sister Connie, who is dying from cancer.

And Sam Johnson stood by his blushing sister during an interview on Thursday as she spoke to her favourite Today host Karl Stefanovic.

Based in Canberra where they have set up their Big Heart silver coin project, the siblings also announced they've raised over $2.2 million for their efforts so far.

Blushing! Sam Johnson stood by his sister Connie during an interview on Thursday as she chatted to her favourite Today host Karl Stefanovic

'Connie's been looking forward to speaking with you for so long!' gushed Sam to the popular television host.

'Not nearly as much as I've been waiting,' responded a smiling Karl.

'How are you darling?' he asked her, as Connie broke into a broad laugh.

'Connie's been looking forward to speaking with you for so long!' gushed Sam to the popular television host

'I'm very good, thank you,' she answered, smiling shyly as her brother tapped her on the back with an encouraging grin.

The Gold Logie winner explained how one day earlier over 10,000 people joined him and his sister and 'chucked coins in on the day' to create their symbolic heart.

'I got to watch it and my heart just burst with pride,' he described.

'Connie did such a terrific job, she's certainly shown me up in the fundraising stakes,' he added.

Tremendous: Based in Canberra where they have set up their Big Heart silver coin project, the siblings also announced they've raised over $2.2 million for their efforts so far

The siblings revealed their most recent amount raised is a phenomenal $2.2 million.

'To be honest we wanted to raise $200,000 to break the record and then when we did that quickly, we adjusted it to one million dollars thinking it could never,' he said.

'And we doubled down, man, and then some,' he continued. 'Thank you to everyone who donated metres [for the heart].'

Powerful: The Gold Logie winner explained how one day earlier over 10,000 people joined him and his sister and 'chucked coins in on the day' to create their symbolic heart

Karl resumed his sweet chat with Connie, which immediately put a smile on her face.

'Hey Connie, it's Karl. Hey, I love you,' he declared.

'I'm a bit speechless!' she replied, to which he responded: 'Hey Connie, I'll see you soon!'

'Don't talk like that to her, she'll go silly!' interjected her brother, laughing.

'I'll melt!' she yelled out and was immediately teased by co-host Lisa Wilkinson, who remarked: 'Someone's got a crush!'

'To be honest we wanted to raise $200,000 to break the record and then when we did that quickly, we adjusted it to one million dollars thinking it could never,' he said

Only the night before the pair announced they had raised $1.6 million, a significantly less amount than $2.2 million the following morning.

The siblings and their supporters worked together to make the giant heart out of small silver coins at the Lyneham Netball Courts in Canberra on Wednesday evening.

The mother-of two described the moment as 'incredible' during an interview with The Project.
Pregnancy can sometimes come with unsavoury side effects: mood swings, morning sickness and weird cravings.

But there's one positive consequence of being pregnant that model and television personality Erin Gleave (nee McNaught) is fully embracing: her new cleavage.

Taking to Instagram, the expectant star posted an image zeroing in on her noticeably ample assets.

'One of the perks of being pregnant!' Erin McNaught shows off her ample cleavage in a bikini and says she is loving the changes to her body during her pregnancy

Baby on board: Erin (pictured) is expecting her second child with musician Example

The 34-year-old brunette made it abundantly clear she was loving the natural changes in her body, captioning the image: 'One of the perks of being pregnant #Goodnight'

Donning a bright blue bikini in the snap, the former Miss Universe Australia seemed to be soaking up some sunshine before her new bundle of joy arrives.

It will be the second child for Erin, who is already a mother to two-year-old Evander Maxwell Gleave with her hubby Example.

Loved up: Erin met Example (pictured) after interviewing him for MTV in 2011

Too cute: The pregnant star is already a doting mum to two-year-old Evander Maxwell Gleave

The former television presenter met the English rapper, whose real name is Elliot John Gleave, in 2011 when she was interviewing him for MTV.

After getting engaged in November 2012, the pair tied the knot near Ballina, NSW in May 2013.

But it hasn't all been roses and sunshine for UK-based couple. The duo met with heartbreak in late 2016 when Erin tragically suffered a miscarriage.

The Aussie model was candid about the sad experience in the media.

'We definitely want another baby but I sadly had a miscarriage last month,' Erin told The Morning Show in December 2016.

'Were totally fine, its just one of those things that is unfortunately really, really common.'
She celebrated her one year anniversary with Joey Morrison last month.

But despite him being incarcerated and due for release in 2018, Lauren Goodger still appeared romantic as ever as she took to Instagram on Wednesday.

The former TOWIE star, 30, took to Instagram to share a snap of a gun-toting couple, and a video of her dancing.

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Rose-tinted glasses? Despite her beau being incarcerated and due for release in 2018, Lauren Goodger still appeared romantic as ever as she took to Instagram on Wednesday

Putting on a cheery display, she showed off her toned legs as she danced in a shorts ensemble and trainers.

Sporting the sunglasses snapchat filter she blew kisses at the camera cheerfully, captioning the video with: 'What a beautiful day the summer has finally arrived'.

She then shared a snap of a gun-toting, balaclava-wearing couple, writing True Love.

The snap perhaps gave a glimpse to her relationship status, as she recently took to social media to defend her incarcerated beau.

'True love': The former TOWIE star, 30, took to Instagram to share a snap of a gun-toting couple

Last week she fell victim to claims that her relationship with her jailbird beau, Joey Morrison, 30, has been called off, after deleting his pictures from social media.

But Lauren quenched the swirling rumours - by taking to Twitter to reveal her innermost distress.

Replying to a Tweet sent out by @celebsnow, the reality star hit back at claims that she had split from Joey and pleaded for the public to leave her relationship alone on Tuesday.

Hitting back: Lauren Goodger, 30, took to Twitter to quench rumours that she had split from her jailbird beau, Joey Morrison, 30, after removing pictures of him from social media

'Summer has arrived!' Putting on a cheery display, she showed off her toned legs as she danced in a shorts ensemble and trainers

'Beautiful day': Sporting the sunglasses snapchat filter she blew kisses at the camera cheerfully

The beauty entrepreneur had caused her fans confusion when it was speculated that she had split from Joey after deleting any photographic evidence of the pair together from her social media accounts.

However, she has firmly put the claims behind her.

Lauren expressed her woes: 'no We have not spilt it was our year anniversary last month nAnd I'm keeping my relationship private for now nThanks x (sic)'

Nothing to worry about: She assured her fans that all was well and said the couple have just celebrated their one year anniversary, despite Joey being behind bars

Pleading: Replying to a Tweet sent out by @celebsnow, the reality star hit back at claims that she had split from Joey and pleaded for the public to leave her relationship alone

Lauren was alleged to have even likened her relationship to that of her ex fiance Mark Wright, 30, and his current wife Michelle Keegan, 29, by claiming that they lead 'parallel lives'.

As Lauren awaits for Joey's release from prison later this year, and Michelle films BBC's Our Girl over summer in South Africa leaving Mark back in the UK, Lauren cannot help but draw eerie similarities between she and her ex's relationships.

Speaking to Now magazine, the source said: 'Lauren thinks its strange, but almost fate, how Marks life seems to imitate hers.'

Long distance relationships: Lauren was alleged to have likened her relationship her ex fiance Mark Wright, 30, and his current wife Michelle Keegan, 29, by claiming that they lead 'parallel lives'

Lauren's 10-year relationship with Mark Wright culminated in an engagement in 2011, but was shortly diffused after cheating rumours plagued the pair - pictured in 2011

'Shes telling friends how theyre both in long-distant relationships.'

However, Mark seemed unimpressed by these claims, with one of his sources refuting the claims:

'Mark couldnt believe his ears. He thinks Lauren lives in her own little world sometimes and pointed out theres a big difference between her man being banged up and his wife working in a different country.'

Unimpressed: 'Mark couldnt believe his ears. He thinks Lauren lives in her own little world sometimes and pointed out theres a big difference between her man being banged up and his wife working in a different country'

Lauren's 10-year relationship with Mark Wright culminated in an engagement in 2011, but was shortly diffused after cheating rumours plagued the pair.

Mark met his current wife Michelle at the end of a holiday to Dubai in 2012, and it was said to be love at first sight for the duo, who were engaged just nine months after they met.

At the time, Lauren did not appear to take kindly to the news, posting a cryptic message on her Instagram that read:

Jailbird lover: Lauren has now been with Joey Morrison for a year, but during their time together, he has been in the midst of serving a 16 year violent drugs-related prison sentence

'I'm not going to be the girl you marry, but I'll be the girl you'll be thinking of 20 years from now while you engage in polite sex with your boring wife who fakes her orgasm to make you feel better about your receding hairline.'

She then went on to annoy the couple by speaking about her relationship with Mark in every magazine interview she had, prompting Mark to beg her to stop talking about the past.

Lauren has now been with Joey Morrison for a year, but during their time together, he has been in the midst of serving a 16 year violent drugs-related prison sentence.

He was convicted of a string of offences, including possession of a firearm, kidnapping, blackmail and actual bodily harm, and is due for a 2018 release.
Porsha Williams has not talked to her former best friend Phaedra Parks since the shocking reunion of The Real Housewives Of Atlanta.

The 35-year-old reality star gave her first interview Tuesday to Dish Nation following the explosive reunion finale that drove a wedge between them.

Phaedra, 43, during the fourth and final part of the RHOA reunion Sunday confessed to being the source of the 'date rape' allegations leveled against Kandi Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker.

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Not talking: Porsha Williams, shown in March in New York City, revealed that she has not spoken to former best friend Phaedra Parks since the RHOA reunion

The attorney, who reportedly has been 'fired' from RHOA, spread the lie claiming Kandi and Todd wanted to drug Porsha and seduce her and also told Porsha that Kandi told her directly about it.

'You know my uncle passed a couple of weeks ago and she did text me and offer her condolences. That was it. Besides that I haven't talked to her,' Porsha said.

'This whole situation has been so hard for me, so difficult. I love Phaedra. She was like my best friend. Someone I talked to on the phone every single day,' Porsha added.

'So for me to feel like she had betrayed me like that. And the fact that I was sitting right there and watched her continue to lie on me about it. That's the part I just can't get past and I don't know if I ever will. Right now I just can't talk to her,' she said.

Fractured relationship: Phaedra, shown in February in New York City, was formerly best friends with Porsha and they were known as 'Frick and Frack'

Porsha also revealed that she hasn't been fielding calls from Phaedra since the reunion that was filmed in March.

'She has called. I can't talk to her on the phone right now. I don't know what else to say,' Porsha said.

Porsha indicated it would take some time before the former best friends who embraced their 'Frick and Frack' nickname would talk again.

Emotional reunion: Porsha burst into tears after Phaedra revealed that she was the source of the rumor that Kandi and her husband Todd planned to drug and seduce her

'I may get to the point where I'm strong enough to where I can talk to her and maybe we can work through it. Right now it's still so new to me. I haven't even talked to the other girls,' Porsha said.

Porsha after apologizing to Kandi, 40, during the reunion admitted that she wasn't looking to restore their friendship.

Kandi meanwhile during an appearance on The Ryan Cameron Morning Show in Atlanta on Monday was asked if she was considering taking legal action against Phaedra for defamation.

Legal action: Kandi, shown in March in New York City, said she was considering legal action against Phaedra for defamation

'Uh yeah, I have thought about it. I have to talk to my attorneys and see. The damage has definitely been done. They told me I should sue Porsha at first,' Kandi told The People's Station.

'When it came out at the reunion that Porsha got the information from Phaedra, I was like, you know what, let's just hold up until you guys get to see the whole thing and I'll get their opinion on how they think I should handle it and go from there,' she said.

Kandi didn't sound like she was looking forward to more legal action.

'Lawsuits are stressful,' she said while noting that she was still dealing with former employee Johnnie Winston's lawsuit seeking $168,000 for unpaid overtime.

Kandi also said she currently employs 71 people at the Old Lady Gang restaurant that she and Todd opened in Atlanta.
She is set to spill the beans in a tell-all interview on This Morning about her shock pregnancy following her ex's arrest over an alleged acid attack.

But just weeks before the drama engulfed her life, Ferne McCann filmed a sweet segment for The Mummy Diaries, where she was given breastfeeding advice by the show's star Sam Faiers.

'Have you gone cold turkey?', the 26-year-old former TOWIE star asked as one-year-old Paul attempted to feed on Wednesday's episode of the ITVBe show.

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Little did she know: Ferne McCann filmed a segment for The Mummy Diaries, where she was being given breastfeeding advice by the show's star Sam Faiers - a few weeks before her shock pregnancy announcement

The gal pals were seen chilling on the sofa alongside the adorable little tot as they discussed the vital aspects of motherhood.

Responding to Ferne's serious question about breastfeeding, Sam explained: 'He does still go on there but I'm trying to cut it out.

'He does still go on there but I'm trying to cut it out. I was waiting to move house to stop completely because it's a big thing for him,' Sam revealed, while also referencing moving out of her Essex pad and renting Niall Horan's $1.5million mansion.

And Ferne will soon be finding out the real life details of breastfeeding as she prepared to become a first time mum.

'Have you gone cold turkey?': Ferne, 26, watched as baby Paul, one, attempted to feed on Wednesday's episode of the ITVBe show

Candid discussion: The gal pals were seen chilling on the sofa alongside the adorable little tot as they discussed the vital aspects of motherhood

'I'm trying to cut it out': Sam responded to Ferne's serious questioning about breastfeeding

This comes after a traumatic month - her ex Arthur Collins was charged with 14 counts of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and one count of throwing corrosive fluid on a person with intent to do grievous bodily harm in connection with the acid attack in London nightspot Mangle on 17 April.

Friends of the TOWIE star have told the Daily Star they are 'worried' for Ferne, who is pregnant with her first child, but she is said to be determined to rest to keep healthy.

Ferne has kept silent on social media and has only been seen in public once since her former boyfriend and father of her child Arthur was arrested for the attack on an East London club last month.

Capturing the moment: The girls and adorably youngster ended the conversation with a selfie

She's pregnant: Ferne will soon be finding out the nitty gritty details of breastfeeding as she soon to become a mother herself

A lot to deal with: This comes after a traumatic month, where her ex Arthur Collins was charged over an acid attack in a London club

Moving on: Friends of the TOWIE star have claimed they are 'worried' for Ferne, who is pregnant with her first child, but she is said to be determined to rest to keep healthy

According to the Daily Star friends of Ferne have revealed: 'We are all so worried about her.'

But another friend insists Ferne is simply putting her and her baby's health first as she keeps out of the limelight and lies low at home, explaining: 'She is also determined to do all she can to have a happy and healthy child.'

The incident has left two victims blind in one eye and multiple others potentially scarred for life.

More than 20 people were injured in the acid attack over the Easter Bank Holiday.

Ferne has made it clear to fans that, however difficult her situation, she is up to the challenge of being a single mother, and will do everything she can for her child.
Her next film may be about a wild weekend out on the town.

But on Monday Jada Pinkett Smith had her mind focused on a busy day of errands.

The 45-year-old star was still her chicest, however, wearing a beautiful Gucci bomber jacket, combined with baggy pinstriped pants as she took care of business around Beverly Hills.

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Flower power! Jada Pinkett Smith looked cool and casual while running errands in a beautiful Gucci bomber in Beverly Hills

During her outing, a hilarious trailer for Jada's new film Girls Trip premiered.

Though she looked casual, the mother-of-two's butterfly and floral jacket is quite fancy - selling for just shy of $4K.

Below the luxe silk statement jacket, the star kept things comfortable in loose-fitting pants.

Star in stripes: The mother-of-two teamed the silk statement jacket with baggy pinstripe pants and a simple white tank

Statement piece: The Magic Mike XXL star's luxe Gucci jacket is selling for just under $4k online

Jada's hair was tied back into a ponytail while she kept her face covered with aviators.

The Magic Mike XXL beauty's jewelry was anything but casual though.

On her left ring finger, the starlet donned a hearty rock while her right wrist featured a handsome watch.

Precious metals! Jada accented the look with cool jewels, wearing a sizable ring and handsome wristwatch

Call waiting? Jada carried just her wallet and phone - which appeared to still be in the middle of a call

Just the basics! The True Colors star only carried her essentials, holding onto just a wallet and phone

She topped the look off with red Adidas on her feet.

Carrying only the essentials, the Baltimore native grasped a snakeskin wallet while holding onto a phone that looked like it was in the middle of a call before she hopped into her car and headed home.

While Jada ran errands, a laugh-out-loud trailer for the star's latest project premiered.

Off and away! After taking care of business, the Girls Trip actress headed off in a dark car

Girls will be girls! While Jada was running errands, the trailer for her new flick Girls Trip hit the internet

Girls Trip brings Queen Latifah, Tiffany Hadish, Regina Hall, and Jada together for a story about four life-long friends who enjoy a wild weekend in New Orleans.

In the flick, Jada plays a single mom who's well due for some rest and relaxation.

So she and her closest girls embark on a trip to New Orleans, where their friendships are rekindled and their inner goddesses flourish.

Cheers! The film features the talents of Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall in addition to the Baltimore native

What a trip! The trailer promises plenty of bawdy jokes and NSFW highjinks, including a scene where the BFF's imbibe hallucinogenic Absinthe

Funny lady: Tiffany's character has the trailer's best one-liners, saying Jada's downstairs in 'full of cobwebs' in addition to many other unquotabley crass - but hilarious - jokes

The trailer is full of NSFW laughs from the get go.

'Your mama's going off to get some love so she can stop being so grouchy all the time,' Jada's on-screen mom explains to her grandkids, much to her daughter's dismay.

The sassy Tiffany Haddish, backs grandma up though, telling her pal, 'Your mama knows there's cobwebs on that things.'

Friends forever! The ladies play four life long friends who take a trip to New Orleans to reconnect with each other and spark magic in their lives

No angels! Although the girls make sure to say their evening prayers, their trip appears to be chock-full of debauchery

Out of her element: Although Jada's character is in the mood for love, it takes her friends help for her to relax and enjoy herself. Above you can see her try zip-lining across balconies - which ends disastrously

Letting her hair down: In the flick, Jada plays a single mom who is in dire need of some rest and relaxation

Although Jada's in the mood for love, it takes a little help from her pals to find her groove.

'We got s*** to do, so buckle up b****' explain's Tiffany's character.

The trailer cuts between New Orleans finest offerings - showing off brassy second lines, dark jazz clubs, drinks in the French Quarter and impromptu dance-off - all while teasing plenty of romance between the film's jokes.

Girls Trip arrives in theaters on July 27.
Heathrow: Britain's Busiest Airport (ITV)

Rating:

Confessions of a Junior Doctor (C4)

Rating:

Sue, pictured, has spent 23 years as a passenger experience manager at Heathrow airport

Some people will try anything on. A female passenger was loudly demanding to be allowed on board her flight, in Heathrow: Britains Busiest Airport (ITV), with 80lb of hand luggage.

Her personal items were heaped so high that she needed a baggage trolley to shift them. This wasnt luggage, it was a mobile hoard, which included her reading matter for the plane  a bundle of documents that could fill a library shelf  and a shoulder-bag big enough to swallow a Spacehopper.

But for sheer bloody-minded awkwardness she couldnt match the Indian gentleman who had missed his connecting flight to Dublin, owing to the fact that the plane he was supposed to catch had just left . . . from Gatwick.

Claiming to be incapable of understanding what the problem was, he hectored, blathered, bullied and wheedled in an effort to obtain a free ticket.

Paying for it himself was out of the question, he insisted: how could he, when hed come from a land of poverty to the richest country in the world?

Work is currently under way to build a third runway at Heathrow, but perhaps what it really needs is a gigantic catapult, to fire people like this chancer straight back where they came from, with an almighty twang.

Dealing with him was the unenviable job of the airports Passenger Experience Manager, Sue, who has spent 23 years sorting out strops and meltdowns. To get rid of him, she ended up reaching into her pocket and loaning him a tenner, to help him buy a ticket. Thats money she wont see again.

The last problem passenger on her shift was a young woman in hysterics because her flight was delayed. The girl had just spent a ghastly gap year in Nepal, and this delay had sent her blood pressure higher than the Himalayas. They say travel broadens the mind, but more often it just narrows the arteries.

Confessions of a Junior Doctor revealed only 11 per cent of consultant surgeons are women

Sadly, these vignettes made up only a small part of the show. It seems theres a documentary set at an airport, or on a cruise ship, or on a stretch of motorway, every night . . . and most of them are padded with interchangeable scenes featuring maintenance men.

FEUD OF THE NIGHT: As Bananarama reunited on Tonight At The London Palladium (ITV), their ex-producer Pete Waterman told me hed be there  even though they famously banned him from the studio. Ill be wearing my tin hat, he said. Advertisement

Segments about the plumbing are apparently mandatory, though there cant be anyone who enjoys that. This series would be far more entertaining if it just followed unflappable Sue as she pacified the passengers. It could be called Heathrow: Flying Off The Handle.

Some of the young medics on Confessions Of A Junior Doctor (C4) werent even born when Sue started her job. Almost all the more senior levels are made up of men: the programme revealed that just 11 per cent of consultant surgeons are women.

One exception to the rule explained why: 32-year-old trainee Kayla, who had left her toddler son with his grand-parents in China so she could study in Britain, said that her male colleagues were all egomaniacs. To stand any chance of getting noticed, she believed she had no choice but to dress, talk and act like a man.

But all the natural emotions of a mother were torturing her. She felt crushed by guilt that her little boy was not with her, and her videochats with him only made the longing worse.

The male staff semed to suffer none of same emotions. One said blithely that he coped by being a terrible parent, as though this was something Kayla might like to try.

Thats dreadful advice. Id ask for a second opinion  and not from a surgeon. They clearly make rotten family therapists.
Brad Pitt is headed to war.

The 53-year-old A-list movie star has temporarily left the big screen to make his mark on TV, starring in the upcoming Netflix film, War Machine.

A new trailer for the movie shows Brad plays General Glen McMahon, a tough-talking, no-nonsense, slightly arrogant high-ranking army commander in the soon-to-be released comedy.

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Military man: Brad Pitt plays General Glen McMahon in the upcoming Netflix movie, War Machine

The bumbling, overly confident General McMahon heads to war in Afghanistan with one goal - to win.

But things start going awry when a journalist makes it their mission to take him down.

Though the subject matter may seem to be serious, the short clip shows their could be humor in battle as Pitt's character even points out an interesting juxtaposition about their mission.

McMahon says: 'We cannot help them and kill them at the same time, it just ain't humanly possible.'

Taking charge: The film sees the Hollywood hunk playing a no-nonsense, slightly arrogant high-ranking army commander in the soon-to-be released comedy

On a mission: The bumbling, overly confident General McMahon heads to war in Afghanistan with one goal - to win

The film sees the Hollywood hunk looking decidedly different to the actor fans adore.

For one, Brad's brown hair has been dyed grey for the movie, and he appears to have been aged in makeup.

The actor's voice also sounds much more grizzly than in real life, and he's employed a aggressive walk for his role as the hardened army chief.

However, fans will also get to see the handsome actor donning green army fatigues, as he attempts to single-handedly bring the ongoing war in Afghanistan under control.

The hilarious film gives the normally serious award-winning actor a chance to show off his comedic chops.

Man with a plan: Fans will get to see the handsome actor donning green army fatigues, as he attempts to single-handedly bring the ongoing war in Afghanistan under control

Funny guy: The hilarious film gives the normally serious award-winning actor a chance to show off his comedic chops

Featuring an all-star cast, the surefire hit also stars Topher Grace and Ben Kingsley.

It also features former '80s teen movie icons Anthony Michael Hall and Alan Ruck.

War Machine is set to screen on Netflix from May 26.


She makes no secret of her love for designer brands in her many elevator selfies.

And confirming her status as Sydney's best dressed publicist, Roxy Jacenko will fly solo to Japan on Thursday as a guest of Louis Vuitton to view their latest runway collection.

The trip comes after photos were published last month of Roxy kissing her ex boyfriend Nabil Gazal as her husband Oliver Curtis serves a prison sentence.

That's one high-flying mama! Roxy Jacenko celebrates Mother's Day early with Pixie and Hunter as she flies solo to Japan for Louis Vuitton runway show as a guest of the luxury brand

On Wednesday night, the 36-year-old celebrated Mother's Day early with Pixie, 5, and Hunter, 3, who will remain in Australia in the care of Roxy's mother Doreen.

Roxy will fly to Osaka, Japan, as a guest of Louis Vuitton and will view their 2018 Cruise runway show collection.

The show is being held this Sunday, which also happens to be Mother's Day in Australia, Canada and the United States.

Roxy confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that she would be spending four nights in Japan as a guest of the brand, of which she is a frequent customer.

Mummy and me! Roxy celebrated Mother's Day on Wednesday wearing her gift of pajamas

'Pixie is now in school and attendance is important so cannot travel with me as usual': She will be leaving her two young children behind in the care of their grandmother

'We celebrated Mothers Day last night with a dinner from Chargrill Charlies (at Pixie and Hunters request) in our matching PJs from Peter Alexander that Pixie and Hunter selected as my gift,' she said.

She will be leaving her two young children behind in the care of their grandmother.

Their father Oliver is being detained in Cooma Correctional Centre where he is serving a prison sentence for insider trading until June.

Loves her LV! Roxy makes no secret of her love for the pricey designer brand. She is pictured here in one of their T-shirts

Bag gal: Roxy is rarely seen without a Louis Vuitton handbag on her arm

'Pixie is now in school and attendance is important so cannot travel with me as usual so will stay with my mother, Doreen and her brother Hunter,' she said.

Her overseas trip comes as Daily Mail Australia published photos of Roxy kissing her ex-boyfriend Nabil last month.

Roxy, who has declined to comment on the pictures, previously dismissed speculation she had privately split with her husband Oliver before his imprisonment in 2016.
He recently hinted that he's gearing up to propose to girlfriend of three years, Anna Heinrich.

And Tim Robards no doubt has the support of his mother Tanya and Anna's mother Judith, with the smitten couple treating their mums to a ride on a seaplane in Sydney on Thursday.

The genetically-blessed lovebirds appeared to be in high spirits as they spent quality time with their mums ahead of Mother's Day.

Family outing: Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich treated their mums to a ride on a seaplane in Sydney on Thursday

Lawyer Anna, 30, cut a chic figure in a black bell-sleeved mini dress paired with beige loafers.

She clutched a grey designer winter coat and shielded her eyes with dark shades, which added an element of mystery.

She wore minimal makeup consisting of bronzer and nude lipstick and her luscious blonde locks were neatly parted at the centre and worn loosely.

Low-key: The genetically-blessed lovebirds appeared to be in high spirits as they spent quality time with their mums ahead of Mother's Day

Still going strong: The couple found love on The Bachelor in 2013

Chic: Lawyer Anna, 30, cut a chic figure in a black bell-sleeved mini dress paired with beige loafers. She added a grey designer winter coat and shielded her eyes with dark shades, which added an element of mystery

Chiropractor Tim, 34, looked dapper in ripped blue jeans and a plain white T-shirt.

He wore tan-coloured boots and clutched a black leather jacket, which added a bit of edge to the street look.

The group were seen exchanging laughs as they strapped on safety equipment before making their way on to a large sea plane.

Street style: Chiropractor Tim, 34, looked dapper in ripped blue jeans and a plain white T-shirt

Photo time: The couple posed for a snap with Judith and Tanya wedged between them

What a view! The group were surrounded by picturesque views of Sydney

Smitten: Anna and Tim were seen flirting up a storm as their mums watched on

Last month, Tim delighted fans when he hinted at an upcoming marriage proposal to Anna.

'Let's just say 2017 is going to be a good year,' the fitness entrepreneur told TV Week magazine.

His girlfriend meanwhile, was thrilled to hear the hunk's comment.

Having a ball: The group were seen exchanging laughs before making their way on to a large sea plane

Safety first: They carefully strapped on safety equipment as advised by the pilot

What's so funny? Tim was seen cracking jokes to the group

Perfect weather: They were seen basking in the sunshine as they waited to board the plane

'That's the first I've heard of it. But it obviously it would be great,' she gushed.

Meanwhile, it's not the first time the reality couple have been probed about their marriage plans.

The personal trainer previously spoke candidly to The Kyle & Jackie 'O' Show about popping the question, saying it's 'getting around that time.'

Focused: They all listened attentively as the pilot laid out safety instructions

Off they go: The group eventually made their way onto the seaplane

'It's three years on, so probably getting around that time,' he said in October.

'I know where I'd probably go to get [the ring] ... I know what she likes. I need to steal one of her other ones to find out the size.'

Wedding bells? Tim recently hinted he may propose to Anna his year, revealing that '2017 is going to be a good year' while attending the Logies

Reality love: The pair became the first Australian Bachelor couple after meeting on the show almost four years ago

The revelation came two months after told Daily Mail Australia that he feels somewhat pressured to pop the question.

'With Anna and I, there's lots of pressure... Every photo we put up together, people are like 'when are you getting engaged?' he said.

More recently, the loved-up pair were forced to hit back at reports they were 'shopping' engagement and wedding photos around to various publications.

'It's three years on, so probably getting around that time,' Tim previously revealed on radio that he was planning to pop the question at some stage

A source told The Sydney Morning Herald that Tim and Anna 'are seeking a mid-range, five-figure sum for a two-part deal that includes their engagement and wedding'.

However the report was denied by their agency, Chic, who told the newspaper, 'We are not shopping it around and neither are Tim and Anna.'

Tim also took to Instagram to deny the rumour, adding that it's 'quite mean'.

Drumming up press? It comes after the pair recently slammed rumours that they were 'shopping' engagement and wedding photos to various publications for a 'five-figure sum'

In a joint statement posted to the former shirtless waiter's Instagram account, the pair said: 'This is so disappointing - and also quite mean.'

'Our relationship is the most important thing to both of us, which is why we've never felt the need to rush in to anything,' they continued.

'If we were motivated by anything else we'd have gotten engaged years ago.'

'We're very happy together, and when we take that next step in our relationship it will be because the timing and the moment is right for us.'

In their own time: The pair labelled the rumours 'quite mean,' while also telling fans: 'Our relationship is the most important thing to both of us, which is why we've never felt the need to rush in to anything'
She's in the middle of filming Aquaman with Jason Momoa on the Gold Coast.

And Amber Heard appears to be enjoying her time in Australia, uploading multiple snaps and videos to her Instagram account undertaking various fun activities.

The 31-year-old spent a recent trip to Byron Bay blending in with the locals and dancing in the streets of the popular tourist destination.

Incognito: Amber Heard spent a recent trip to Byron Bay blending in with the locals and dancing in the streets of the popular tourist destination without being recognised

She filmed the video earlier this month on Cinco de Mayo, which she wrote in Australia is 'otherwise known as a good excuse to day drink with your mates'.

The ex-wife of Johnny Depp fly under the radar as she sauntered among boisterous crowds while buskers played music.

With the camera trailing her, she looked back into the lens as she shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head to the sounds of accordions, guitars and drums.

Party time: She filmed the video earlier this month on Cinco de Mayo, which she wrote in Australia is 'otherwise known as a good excuse to day drink with your mates'

Hundreds of her followers rushed to the upload's comments section to cheer the Hollywood starlet on and marvel at her low-key presence amid the revelry.

'It's Australia, we don't need an excuse to day drink!' offered one follower.

'That's awesome that you can enjoy yourself in public sometimes without getting mobbed,' observed a fan.

Who's that girl? The ex-wife of Johnny Depp sauntered inconspicuously among boisterous crowds while buskers played music

'Everybody is so normal seeing you! If it was me I would freak out,' gushed another.

The girlfriend of billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk wore her hair out in messy waves dyed with a new pink hue for her role as Queen Mera in Aquaman.

She plays opposite Jason Momoa's title character in the DC Comics blockbuster as his love interest and is the queen of their undersea nation, Atlantis.
His time filming in Australia ended in controversy when his then-wife Amber Heard was charged with breaching quarantine laws.

And an explosive new report has claimed how Johnny Depp's alleged 'excessive drinking' and 'constant lateness' caused chaos and delays while filming Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on the Gold Coast, Australia, in 2015.

One anonymous source told The Hollywood Reporter: 'Everyone was an innocent bystander watching this train wreck.'

Excessive drinking, constant lateness and fights with Amber Heard: Explosive new report reveals how Johnny Depp caused chaos on set of Pirates Of The Caribbean in Australia

The story details how the Edward Scissorhands actor upset the Pirates sequel filming schedule, with his alleged 'excessive drinking', 'constant lateness' and 'physical fights' with then-wife Amber Heard.

'There were certainly days when our plans were challenged,' the movie's production chief Sean Bailey conceded, while also acknowledging Johnny's great talent in bringing the Jack Sparrow character to life.

Multiple sources told The Hollywood Reporter how extras would often be left stranded on set for hours as they waited for Johnny to turn up.

Caused delays: Multiple sources told The Hollywood Reporter how extras would often be left stranded on set for hours as they waited for Johnny to turn up

Things were difficult: 'There were certainly days when our plans were challenged,' the movie's production chief Sean Bailey conceded

The actor's agent and Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer reportedly fought over whose responsibility it was to pull Johnny into line.

Sources say a staff member was allegedly tasked with keeping watch outside his rented mansion to alert production as to his movements and when he would be coming on set.

'When he got up, he'd turn on the light, and the moment the light went on they'd call the line producer, who would then call the directors [Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg]: "He's up! He's getting ready!",' one insider alleged.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Johnny's representatives for comment on these allegations.

Under pressure? The movie's producer Jerry said the actor was under intense media scrutiny while filming and claimed there was much reported about Johnny at the time which wasn't true

The movie's producer Jerry said the actor was under intense media scrutiny while filming and claimed there was much reported about Johnny at the time which wasn't true.

Jerry told The Hollywood Reporter he doesn't know how Johnny sliced his finger open, however, suspects it was from getting it stuck in a car door and not during an alcohol-fueled fight with then-wife Amber as reported at the time.

During his time filming Pirates a visit from Amber ended in controversy when it was discovered she had brought along her pet dogs Pistol and Boo without going through Australia's strict quarantine procedures.

In April 2016, she pleaded guilty to falsifying quarantine documents and was handed a one-month good behaviour bond and fined $1000.
Jaime King looked appropriately French for the Dior Dinner in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old Miu Miu model's wide-sleeved, belted plum Christian Dior gown, and she paired it with a long gold necklace and black accessories.

The Nebraska-born blonde topped her curly flaxen locks with a whimsical leather beret for the fashionable festivities.

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Ooh lala! Jaime King looked appropriately French for the Dior Dinner in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Magnifique! The 38-year-old Miu Miu model's wide-sleeved, belted plum Christian Dior gown, and she paired it with a long gold necklace and black accessories

Chic: The Nebraska-born blonde topped her curly flaxen locks with a whimsical leather beret for the fashionable festivities

Jaime's next film B***h, in which she plays Jason Ritter's sister-in-law, will screen Sundance London at Picturehouse Central on June 2.

'It's the most powerful film I've worked on,' the Hart of Dixie alum told V Magazine on Wednesday.

'My character is supposed to have this intense hatred for [Ritter], but in real life I'm looking at someone I really deeply love and care about. That kind of history can't be manufactured.'

King and the 37-year-old Emmy nominee previously collaborated on six episodes of CBS sitcom The Class in 2006-07 as well as her directorial debut, the 2011 short The Break In.

'It's the most powerful film I've worked on': Jaime's next film B***h, in which she plays Jason Ritter's sister- in-law, will screen Sundance London at Picturehouse Central on June 2

The Hart of Dixie alum told V Magazine on Wednesday: 'My character is supposed to have this intense hatred for [Ritter], but in real life I'm looking at someone I really deeply love and care about. That kind of history can't be manufactured'

Ethan and Palmer: King and the 37-year-old Emmy nominee previously collaborated on six episodes of CBS sitcom The Class in 2006-07

Missing from Jaime's side was her husband Kyle Newman, with whom she'll impressively celebrate a decade of marriage on November 23.

The Mistletoe Promise actress and her 41-year-old Fanboys director are parents to two sons - James, 3; and Leo, 22 months.

While partying at Dior Surf Club, the make-up mompreneur got affectionate with Juno Temple and Kiernan Shipka.

The British 27-year-old resembled Stevie Knicks with her mussed curly locks, long black coat, Victorian-necked white dress, and suede platform boots.

Still going strong! Missing from Jaime's side was her husband Kyle Newman, with whom she'll impressively celebrate a decade of marriage on November 23

Surrounded by men: The Mistletoe Promise actress and her 41-year-old Fanboys director are parents to two sons - James, 3; and Leo, 22 months

The Most Hated Woman in America starlet - who boasts 81K followers - shared a pensive Instagram snap at the seaside bash captioned: 'Sunset.'

Juno got to reunite with her Vinyl castmate Emily Tremaine, who wore a cap-sleeved LBD with a patent leather pink purse.

17-year-old Kiernan sported a black velvet, long-sleeved mini-dress with sheer booties selected by stylist duo Jill Lincoln and Jordan Johnson.

Hugs! While partying at Dior Surf Club, the make-up mompreneur got affectionate with Juno Temple (L) and Kiernan Shipka (R)

Landslide: The British 27-year-old resembled Stevie Knicks with her mussed curly locks, long black coat, Victorian-necked white dress, and suede platform boots

The Most Hated Woman in America starlet - who boasts 81K followers - shared a pensive Instagram snap at the seaside bash captioned: 'Sunset'

Heather and Jamie! Juno got to reunite with her Vinyl castmate Emily Tremaine, who wore a cap-sleeved LBD with a patent leather pink purse

The two-time SAG Award winner sported a messy updo and finished off her look with trendy translucent-framed shades and a choker.

The Feud starlet hung out with 18-year-old chef Flynn McGarry, who wore a bellhop-style red blazer with black skinny trousers.

Piaget spokesmodel Olivia Palermo - who doesn't have a stylist - also opted for black skinnies with a white silk blouse and furry bomber jacket.

Mad Men alum: 17-year-old Kiernan sported a black velvet, long-sleeved mini-dress with sheer booties selected by stylist duo Jill Lincoln and Jordan Johnson

Not-so-typical teen: The two-time SAG Award winner sported a messy updo and finished off her look with trendy translucent-framed shades and a choker

What's cooking? The Feud starlet hung out with 18-year-old chef Flynn McGarry, who wore a bellhop-style red blazer with black skinny trousers

The 31-year-old fashion maven - posing with Freida Pinto at the party - will celebrate three years of marriage with her husband Johannes Huebl next month.

The 32-year-old SAG Award winner rocked a Dior T-shirt with a grey maxi-skirt, while fashion blogger Negin Mirsalehi donned a baby-blue blouse with PVC pants.

The dinner took place the day before designer Maria Grazia Chiuri's first Dior Cruise 2018 presentation happening at Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve in Calabasas.

The City alum: Piaget spokesmodel Olivia Palermo - who doesn't have a stylist - also opted for black skinnies with a white silk blouse and furry bomber jacket

Dynamic duo: The 31-year-old fashion maven - posing with Freida Pinto at the party - will celebrate three years of marriage with her husband Johannes Huebl next month

J'adore! The 32-year-old SAG Award winner rocked a Dior T-shirt with a grey maxi-skirt, while fashion blogger Negin Mirsalehi donned a baby-blue blouse with PVC pants

800 to attend: The dinner took place the day before designer Maria Grazia Chiuri's first Dior Cruise 2018 presentation happening at Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve in Calabasas
Australian WAG Rebecca Judd recently shared an adorable snap of her twins sons tucking into their first piece of Vegemite toast.

And on Thursday, the cuteness overload continued, as the mother of four spent quality time with twin son, Darcy.

Taking to Instagram, the 34-year-old shared a sweet snap of herself cuddling her seven month old, who pulled a funny face.

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'Mr D's blue steel!' On Thursday, Rebecca Judd shared a sweet snap of herself cuddling her seven month old son Darcy, who pulled a funny face

'Mr D's blue steel!,' Bec captioned the snap, where Darcy is enjoying some tummy time.

Darcy was dressed in a black and white onesie.

Earlier this week, Rebecca shared to Instagram a snap of twin Tom who was sitting in his high chair and enjoying a piece of Vegemite toast.

Sweet! Earlier this week, Rebecca shared to Instagram a snap of twin Tom who was sitting in his high chair and enjoying a piece of Vegemite toast

'First Vegemite on toast. Loved it. As did his brother #riteofpassage,' Rebecca wrote online.

The snap comes just days after Rebecca announced that she will be writing a book with a pic of her twins Tom and Darcy appearing on the front cover.

It appears the star- who is a multi-talented TV presenter, model, radio host and trained speech pathologist- has a way with words, announcing on Thursday that she is penning her own book.

Another step in her career: The snap comes just days after Bec announced that she will be writing a book

The brunette beauty took to social media to share news of the upcoming release of the book to be targeted at 'mummas-to-be and new mums'.

Rebecca teased fans with a behind-the-scenes snap from the cover shoot for the book, which showed her curled up on a bed with Tom and Darcy.

The personality wore a double denim ensemble for the cover shoot, and had her diamond sparkler on prominent display.

It's believed the book will detail the star's hectic life raising her four children with AFL superstar husband, Chris.
Olivia Palermo looked casual chic for the Dior Dinner in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old fashion model and former The Hills star looked radiant in a monochrome outfit.

The Piaget spokesmodel showed off her sartorial style in a pair of black skinny trousers, a white shirt and a monochrome coat over the top.

Beauty: Olivia Palermo looked casual chic for the Dior Dinner in Los Angeles on Wednesday

She tied her ombre brunette locks in a stylish updo as she posed beside actress Freida Pinto.

The fashion mogul accessorized with a gorgeous white designer handbag as she made sure to wear a full face of make-up.

She will celebrate three years of marriage with her husband Johannes Huebl next month.

Pretty pair: The 31-year-old fashion model and former The Hills star looked radiant in a monochrome outfit next to Freida Pinto

Punto looked stylish in a more conservative outfit and a long floor length coat.

Her raven locks were swept backwards into a ponytail as she smiled beside statuesque Palermo.

Jaime King also made a dazzling appearance at the star-studded event.

The Hart Of Dixie actress wore a wide-sleeved, belted plum gown, which she paired with a long gold necklace and black accessories.

Always chic: Jaime King also made a dazzling appearance at the star-studded event

Gorgeous: The Hart Of Dixie actress wore a wide-sleeved, belted plum gown, which she paired with a long gold necklace and black accessories

The blonde beauty topped her curly flaxen locks with a whimsical leather beret for the fashionable festivities.

While partying at Dior Surf Club, the White Chicks actress got cozy with Juno Temple and Kiernan Shipka.

The British 27-year-old resembled Stevie Knicks with her mussed curly locks, long black coat, Victorian-necked white dress, and suede platform boots.

Gorgeous duo: The blonde beauty topped her curly flaxen locks with a whimsical leather beret as she posed with Kiernan Shipka

The girls are here: 17-year-old Kiernan sported a black velvet, long-sleeved mini-dress while Juno Temple also made a chic appearance

Juno got to reunite with her Vinyl castmate Emily Tremaine, who wore a cap-sleeved LBD with a patent leather pink purse.

17-year-old Kiernan sported a black velvet, long-sleeved mini-dress with sheer booties selected by stylist duo Jill Lincoln and Jordan Johnson.

The two-time SAG Award winner sported a messy updo and finished off her look with trendy translucent-framed shades and a choker.

The Feud starlet hung out with 18-year-old chef Flynn McGarry, who wore a bellhop-style red blazer with black skinny trousers.

Matching: Juno got to reunite with her Vinyl castmate Emily Tremaine, who wore a cap-sleeved LBD with a patent leather pink purse
They live in a world where every day calls for a new bikini.

And Wednesday was no different for Instagram stars Tash Oakley, 26, and Devin Brugman, 27, who spent their day signing autographs on their last stop of their collaboration.

The founders of A Bikini A Day were all smiles as they posed with their signature bronzed and toned midriffs on show.

Here comes the bride: Dressed completely in Guess, Tash opted for white ripped jeans, denim jacket and push up bandeau, drawing attention to her busty chest.

Dressed completely in Guess, Tash opted for white ripped jeans, denim jacket and push up bandeau, drawing attention to her ample chest.

The glowing Australian beach babe added black pumps to the mix to break up her all white ensemble.

'When you follow your dreams and work hard to achieve them everyday, there is never not a reason to smile,' shared the stunner with her 1.9 million Instagram followers.

'There is nothing wrong with feeling proud of yourself, at the end of the day you must seek gratification from yourself, not others.'

Happy: The founders of A Bikini A Day were all smiles as they posed with their bronzed and toned midriffs on show.

Sporting a toned and tanned physique, Devin was all about the leg.

Complimenting her business partner with white ripped daisy dukes she mixed in her own style with a tied up denim shirt.

'Together, we can do anything,' she captioned the sweet shot.

Today the designers known for making a living from posting skimpy pictures in swimsuits ended their trip in Santa Monica, California.

The pair who have traveled to the UK and US over the last few weeks to promote their collaboration have sported multiple looks over the trip.

Today, the designers known for making a living from posting skimpy pictures in swimsuits ended their trip in Santa Monica, California.
Despite dating his new love for just six months, Karl Stefanovic, 42, seems to have already won over his new 33-year-old girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough's mother Cheryl.

The Today host was spotted enjoying some friendly banter with Cheryl after she picked up the couple from Brisbane airport.

With both their mums based in the city, the duo flew in from Sydney to spend time with their families on the Mother's Day weekend.

Mum's the word: Karl Stefanovic and new girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough flew from Sydney to Brisbane to spend time with their families during the Mother's Day weekend

Having a laugh: Karl seems to have won over his future mother-in-law as she picks up the couple from Brisbane's airport

Like a giddy pair of teenagers, the couple couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces as they arrived in the Queensland capital.

Jasmine cut a casual figure as she donned a loose grey marl T-shirt paired with tight leather pants.

She accessorised her look with a pair of her own brand Mara & Mine Jem Skull slippers and black Pony Hair cross body bag teamed with a Louis Vuitton tote .

The shoe designer kept her makeup low-key and wore her hair in a tight ponytail.

The ex-model shaded her eyes with a pair of round rimmed sunglasses.

Happy couple: Jasmine and Karl have taken things to the next level, with a trip to Brisbane

Airport arrival: Karl and Jasmine are spending the Mother's Day weekend together

Karl cut a dapper figure in a white T-shirt paired with a navy zip cardigan and dark grey slim fit jeans.

He accessorised his look with his signature oversized buckle-belt and a pair of chocolate brown RM Williams boots.

He wore a brown leather sling bag over his shoulder while he wheeled his suitcase through the airport terminal.

Taxi service: Jasmine's mum picks up the pair from the airport

Cheryl was seen picking up the lovebirds in a navy Range Rover.

Before they landed in Brisbane, the couple were seen at Sydney airport looking relaxed and excited for their incoming trip.

As they waited at security they were seen giggling and laughing with each other.

Getaway: The couple's trip away comes after Karl finalised his divorce from ex-wife Cassandra

Jasmine strutted through the airport keeping herself warm in a light grey sweater.

Karl walked dutifully behind her dragging the suitcases.

At one stage he was seen checking his phone.

Heading out: Karl and Jasmine prepare to leave Sydney

Dressed for comfort: Karl rocked a navy hoodie and jeans while Jasmine donned a grey jumper, flats and leggings

Line up: Even the stars have to wait to check in to their flights

Weekend today: the TV host takes a trip to Queensland's capital

Still fresh: The couple have been officially dating for six months

Comfortably stylish: Jasmine pulls off an understated look

Don't forget the boarding pass! Jasmine checks her details before joining the flight

Security: Jasmine and Karl wait to pass through the airport checks

Before the couple headed to the airport, they were pictured leaving Karl's flat.

They packed their bags into a white Audi as they started out their journey.

Leaving it all behind: Karl departs for Sydney airport

This won't be the first time that Karl has met his girlfriend's family.

Last month, the Today host spent time with Jasmine's parents and her brother in Mexico.

Packing light: Karl packs just enough for a weekend away

The latest trip comes 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'.

Not the first time: This won't be the first time that Karl has met Jasmine's (R) family

Family: Last month, the 42-year-old spent time with Jasmine's parents and her brother in Mexico

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.

The divorce was reportedly finalised before Karl went to the United States and Mexico last month to spend time with his new girlfriend, Jasmine.

Tough: The latest news come just days after The Sunday Telegraph reported that Karl received a 'tough' settlement of just $500,000 from his divorce from Cassandra Thorburn

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'.
One of her sisters is the world's most famous supermodel, the other a spotlight-shunning fashion buyer.

Yet against the odds, Poppy Delevingne insists she feels absolutely no envy towards Cara and Chloe, as she admits the 24-year-old model turned actress is the apple of the family's eyes in a new interview with Evening Standard Magazine.

The socialite, 31, looked sensational for an accompanying shoot with the publication, in which she showed off her high fashion credentials while discussing family life atop her Hollywood career.

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Best of friends: Poppy Delevingne insists she feels absolutely no envy towards Cara and Chloe, as she admits the 24-year-old model turned actress is the apple of the family's eyes in a new interview with Evening Standard Magazine

Poppy and Cara have been propelled into the spotlight, both gracing red carpets, attending the hottest parties and winning high fashion contracts, yet party planner and buyer Chloe has opted to stay out of the limelight.

While many would believe she was jealous of her super successful sisters - the blonde beauty admits she feels no such pang.

She said: 'I am not jealous of her, unfortunately for you. I always knew she was going to be something special, since she was a child.

'She knew the words to every song, the routine to every dance. She was a little actress, wed bring her out to do a performance after lunch and she was just the apple of all of our eyes.'

Dazzling: The socialite, 31, looked sensational for an accompanying shoot with the publication, in which she showed off her high fashion credentials while discussing family life atop her plans for a career in Hollywood

'Happy childhood': Poppy appears to have come away from the battle unscathed as she insists they were a happy family saying: 'We did really have a happy childhood

Despite the Delevingne sisters lives looking picture perfect on the outside, there was an inner battle as their privileged childhood was plagued by their mother Pandora's heroin addiction, which the matriarch discussed in her memoir Shadows On My Wall.

Poppy appears to have come away from the battle unscathed as she insists they were a happy family saying: 'We did really have a happy childhood.

'If anything it made me understand things like depression or addiction better. Thats the only thing I took away from it: a deeper understanding that those things are diseases.'

Happy now: Despite the Delevingne sisters lives looking picture perfect on the outside, there was an inner battle as their privileged childhood was plagued by their mother Pandora's heroin habit, which the matriarch discusses in her memoir Shadows On My Wall

Keeping things cool: Poppy and Cara have been propelled into the spotlight, both gracing red carpets, attending the hottest parties and winning high fashion contracts, yet party planner and buyer Chloe has opted to stay out of the limelight

The full interview appears in this weeks issue of ES Magazine, out Thursday 11th May 2017

Pandora counted Princess Margaret as a close friend and in the Delevingne girls' happy childhood, they would often visit the royal at Kensington Palace.

Poppy speaks adoringly of the late star, saying: 'No one compares to Princess Margaret. To me she was a real live princess and when you are a little girl it doesnt get much better than that. I thought she was sensational.

The blonde beauty spoke of her recent acting role in newly-released King Arthur, where she joins David Beckham as a super star cameo in the movie.

Poppy plays the mother to Charlie Hunnam's King Arthur in the movie, although she admits her role is minimal: 'I havent counted my lines, its probably six or seven, tops.'

Despite one-time being at the hub of the London social scene, Poppy insists she is now more of a homebody: 'I will always love the pub  I am a pints girl  but strapping on eight-inch heels and going to a nightclub fills me with dread.

'And acting is a whole new ball game in terms of being hungover: you just cant do it.

The full interview appears in this weeks issue of ES Magazine, out Thursday 11th May 2017
She is already following in her mother's footsteps, having signed to a modelling agency two years ago.

And it was not difficult to see why Kaia Gerber, 15, has captured such attention in the fashion world, as she displayed her striking resemblance to her stunning mother Cindy Crawford, 51, on Tuesday.

The young beauty proved she was the spitting image of iconic supermodel Cindy as as she arrived with her mother at Georgio Baldi in LA, for a family dinner with father Rande Gerber and her brother Presley.

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Good genes! Kaia Gerber, 15, (L) displayed her striking resemblance to her supermodel mother Cindy Crawford, 51, (R) at their family dinner on Tuesday

The budding beauty looked truly stunning in a navy polka dot tea dress adorned with feminine ruffles as she arrived at the Italian restaurant with her family in tow.

With her wavy tresses falling across her side profile however, Kaia's stunning similarities to her model mother were clear for all to see as she headed inside.

Glamorous Cindy then followed in after her daughter - proving her chic style and killer body all these years later in figure-hugging jeans and a soft pussy bow blouse.

Uncanny: With Kaia's wavy tresses falling across her side profile however, the similarity to her model mother were clear to see as she headed inside with father Rande Gerber (centre)

Still got it: Glamorous Cindy then followed in after her daughter - proving her chic style and killer body all these years later in figure-hugging jeans and a soft pussy bow blouse

While her lookalike daughter kept her look casual with chunky Doc Marten boots, her mother heightened her statuesque frame with stylish raffia wedges as they spent a low-key evening with their family.

The girls arrived at the eatery with Kaia's father and Cindy's husband of almost twenty years Rande Gerber - who opted for a simple grey shirt and jeans combo.

Laughing and smiling ahead of the dinner, the clan, also joined by son Presley, 17, appeared in good spirits once again as Rande drove them home later on.

Feeling good: The clan, also joined by brother Presley, 17, happily laughed together as they headed in for a low-key family dinner

Homeward bound: They appeared in good spirits once again as Rande (R) drove them home later on

With their mother Cindy one of the most famous supermodels of the 80s and 90s, it is no wonder her two children have inherited both her striking good looks as well as her passion for fashion.

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.

Casual cool: Cindy's husband of almost twenty years Rande Gerber opted for a simple grey shirt and jeans combo for the outing, to keep all eyes on the girls

New kids on the block: With Cindy one of the most famous supermodels, it is no wonder her two children have inherited both her good looks as well as her passion for fashion

In her shoes: Lookalike daughter Kaia (L) signed with IMG Models in July 2015, joining the ranks of such coveted catwalk mainstays as Alessandra Ambrosio and Lily Aldridge

Meanwhile big brother Presley, 17, has been recruited for a new number of high-profile shows, including Moschino and Dolce & Gabbana's Fashion Week presentations.

Presley was even honoured last month as an emerging talent at the Daily Front Row Los Angeles Fashion Awards.

While she now focuses on raising her children that modelling full-time, Cindy recently admitted she has loved seeing her kids get involved in the industry that shot her stardom.

Stylish siblings: Meanwhile big brother Presley (R) has been recruited for a new number of high-profile shows, including Moschino and Dolce & Gabbana's Fashion Week presentations

Talking to Vanity Fair last month, she said: 'You know what, it's been really fun for me to see my kids get their feet wet in the fabulous world of fashion.'

As one of the top models of her time however, she added that she does not give them tips for the catwalk or photo shoots - but instead on how to handle themselves backstage.

'The advice I give them is more about reminders - like be on time, be prepared, be professional, don't be on your phone, talk to people, and have fun,' she said. 'They both have good heads on their shoulders, and I'm not worried.'
It's been ten years since Orlando Bloom's last onscreen outing as Will Turner.

But the actor looked right at home as he hit the world premiere for Pirates of the Caribbean's fifth movie: Dead Men Tell No Tales, in Shanghai Disney Resort, China on Thursday.

The Brit actor joined his fellow leading man Johnny Depp on the red carpet, where the duo were promptly mobbed by screaming fans.

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They're back! Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom hi the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales world premiere in Shanghai Disney Resort, China on Thursday

Orlando was suited and booted for his big night, rocking a dark jacket and tie teamed with cool shades.

Johnny, who plays Jack Sparrow, stuck to his signature quirky style layering a waistcoat over a black shirt accessorised with pendants.

The actors were greeted by hundreds of screaming fans who lined the vast red carpet, with the Hollywood stars stopping to sign autographs and dish out hugs.

The event marks the first time a Hollywood movie has premiered in Mainland China.

Will returns: It's been ten years since Orlando Bloom's last onscreen outing as Will Turner. But the actor looked right at home as he enjoyed the premiere for the new film

Leading man: Johnny, who plays Jack Sparrow, stuck to his signature quirky style layering a waistcoat over a black shirt accessorised with pendants

Looking suave: Orlando was suited and booted for his big night, rocking a dark jacket and tie teamed with cool shades

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales follows Captain Jack Sparrow as he searches to find the Trident of Poseidon.

Bond baddie Javier Bardem stars as an equally terrifying foe for Captain Jack - Captain Salazar who focuses on eliminating as many pirates as possible.

While British star Kaya Scodelario, 25, who initially shot to fame in Skins, will appear as Depp's sidekick - just as Keira Knightley, 32, did back in 2003.

Time of this life! Johnny looked in great spirits as he signed autographs for the hundreds of screaming fans

Suited and booted: The suave star is back for his fifth outing as Captain Sparrow

He's got company: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will also star Bond baddie Javier Bardem as an equally terrifying foe for Captain Jack in the eerie epic

Keira meanwhile confirmed she will be reprising her role as Elizabeth Swann, for the first time in ten years, in the new film by appearing in its international trailer.

In a very brief appearance, the actress is seen staring wistfully at the ocean as her character Elizabeth in the trailer - clad in a typical period floral gown and a smattering of jewellery.

Orlando is making his anticipated return to the franchise, for the first time since 2007, and he could be back for more, thanks to his young son.

In demand: Fans clambered for Johnny's autograph and photo at the dazzling premiere

Cool kid: Johnny looked as cool and collected as ever as he posed casually on the carpet

More to come? Orlando is making his anticipated return to the franchise, for the first time since 2007, and he could be back for more, thanks to his young son

Sweet: When if audiences still want the films by Total Film, he said recently: The first thing my son wanted when we went to the Lego store was not a spaceship but a pirate ship'

Gorgeous: Actress Lin Yun also attended the premiere in a quirky lace mini dress

Bright: The star beamed as she posed in her red and blue frock, jazzed up by a chunky leather belt

Asked if audiences still want the films by Total Film magazine, he said recently: The first thing my son wanted when we went to the Lego store was not a spaceship but a pirate ship.'

I do think theyd like to do one more. It was alluded to me that there would be room for something else. But lets see.

He added that the new films directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg have captured the simplicity and charm that made the original movie such a hit.

He said: I feel like theyve landed en pointe. Theyve recaptured the simplicity and charm. Ive seen the film and its fantastic. Really entertaining.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is released on May 26.

Kiss me quick! One lucky fan got a warm embrace from Johnny despite his security trying to pull him back

Also returning: Geoffrey Rush also hit the red carpet as he makes his return as Barbossa

No Keira this time: British star Kaya Scodelario, 25, who initially shot to fame in Skins, will appear as Depp's sidekick - just as Keira Knightley, 32, did back in 2003

Fan following: The crowd dressed to impress for the glittering world premiere

New recruit: Australian actor Brenton Thwaites is a fresh addition to the franchise
The Project panelist launched her Beanies 4 Brain Cancer initiative during her 2015 Gold Logie acceptance speech.

And Carrie Bickmore was beaming with delight as she announced she had won the Twinings Tea design challenge on behalf of her charity on Thursday.

Speaking to The Project from the Sydney event, she excitedly revealed: 'They are about to announce that I have won the challenge. This is my design right here!'

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'I have won the challenge!': Carrie Bickmore gets emotional as she wins four-year design partnership with Twinings to benefit her Beanies 4 Brain Cancer charity on Thursday

The Project panelist launched her Beanies 4 Brain Cancer initiative during her 2015 Gold Logie acceptance speech

The win for Carrie means 10c for every packet sold over the next four years will be donated directly to her charity, which raises funds to help put an end to brain cancer.

The box showcased a ballerina dancing, as she explained: 'I had to design the new morning tea range of Twinings Tea and I did the design based on me as a little girl when I loved dancing.'

She was noticeably absent from the news desk so she could accept the award in person from on the boat upon the Sydney Harbour.

A deserving cause! The win for Carrie means 10c for every packet sold over the next four years will be donated directly to her charity, which raises funds to help put an end to brain cancer

'This is my design right here!' The box showcased a ballerina dancing, as she explained: 'I had to design the new morning tea range of Twinings Tea and I did the design based on me as a little girl when I loved dancing'

'We need to stop it tearing beautiful families apart': Carrie became teary eyed as she told a story of a young boy who recently died from brain cancer because there isn't enough funding going into research

Co-host and comedian Peter Helliar jokingly asked whether could now stop drinking tea, to which Carrie quipped: 'NOW is the time to start.'

She explained: 'Before now I asked you to go on the website and vote and now you have to go buy it because 10 cents from every pack sold over the next four years goes towards Carrie's Beanies for Brain Cancer.'

Pleaded with viewers to buy her design, she got emotional as she told a story about a little boy who recently passed away after suffering from brain cancer.

'A tiny boy who was part of the most incredible family I could ever have hoped to meet and that is why we need more money for brain cancer. We need to stop it tearing beautiful families apart. If you are wondering why I am so passionate and why I got involved in this and why you should buy this tea on the supermarket shelves, that is why,' she said.

Getting teary eyed, Carrie's makeup appeared flawlessly applied with a nude lipstick, bronzer and neutral eye palette.

Pretty in pink! The journalist stunned in a pink frock with sheer netting over her svelte waistline and arms

Stylish: She patterned the frock with nude heels, a gold watch and hoop ear rings

The journalist stunned in a pink frock with sheer netting over her svelte waistline and arms.

She patterned the frock with nude heels, a gold watch and hoop ear rings.

After launching Beanies 4 Brain Cancer in 2015, she revealed in just over a year she already exceeded her target.

Twinings new design by Carrie will hit the shelves of local supermarkets soon
Her split from husband Romain Zago, which happened last December, only became public this week.

But Joanna Krupa was dressed to the nines in a sexy knitted metallic dress when she headed out for dinner on Wednesday night, but flashbulbs exposed her braless assets and underwear in the number.

The former Real Housewives of Miami star, 38, left little to the imagination, with her ample assets clearly visible under the risque one-piece.

Flashbulb faux-pas: Joanna Krupa suffered an epic wardrobe malfunction as she flashed her ample assets in a figure-hugging silver mesh dress on Wednesday evening

Leaving Craig's restaurant in West Hollywood, the dress had a cut-out section at the sides which flashed a hint of skin.

Completing her look were a pair of black heels and a leather clutch bag.

It comes after Joanna was seen steeping out of a Beverly Hills restaurant with a handsome new man.

Dressed to impress: The Real Housewives of Miami star, 38, left little to the imagination, with her ample assets clearly visible under the risque one-piece

The pair left the Chinese restaurant at the same time and got into a dark sedan together.

The Polish beauty looked fetching for her night out. She had on a beige off-the-shoulder top and dark slacks with her hair worn in a ponytail.

The mystery man wore a black top, scarf and coated jeans. Joanna and Romain have been apart since December, according to E! News.

Night out: Joanna posed outside the flashy venue with two of her friends after sitting down for dinner

Loving the look: Krupa is clearly enjoying her time with the girls since her split

'They just grew apart,' a source told the site. The beauty did not spend her birthday in late April with him and last week she stepped out in LA without her wedding rings on. The two remain friends, it was added.

The insider also said that the Playboy cover girl is still flying to Florida to see her estranged spouse as she keeps a home in Los Angeles.

The 38-year-old blonde from Poland wed in Carlsbad, California in 2013.

Pairing: Completing her look were a pair of black heels and a leather clutch bag

The siren used to post several shots with Romain on her Instagram account. But that slowed down last year.

She has not shared a photo with the handsome nightlife guru since November.

Krupa got her starts posing for FHM, Shape and Maxim, then went on to take the cover of Playboy magazine.

She then did the TV series Superstars in June 2009 with Terrell Owens, that led to competing on season nine of Dancing With The Stars.

Bold: Joanna is well known for her sexy Instagram posts where she wears lingerie and swimsuits, and sometimes nothing at all

Since autumn 2010, Krupa has hosted and served as the head judge on the Polish version of Top Model.

She was also one of the cast members on The Real Housewives of Miami.

Joanna is best known for her sexy Instagram posts where she wears lingerie and swimsuits, and sometimes nothing at all.
They're both reprising their roles from Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation for the sixth instalment in the action franchise.

And with filming underway in Paris, Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson were seen on the streets shooting what looked like a scene involving a vehicle chase.

Rebecca - who plays rogue former MI6 agent Isla Faust - looked raring to go as she strutted the set between takes wearing black biker leathers.

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Action girl! Tom Cruise checks out Mission Impossible 6 co-star Rebecca Ferguson on location in Paris as she struts around him in sleek figure-fitting biker leathers

The chestnut haired beauty was seen in a tight leather jacket, done up tightly to her chin, hugging close to her slender frame as she waiting for the next take to be filmed.

She kept her russet locks swept back in a ponytail, ready for when she put the biker helmet onto her head for the adrenaline-fueled sequence.

Keeping her make-up fresh for her action star look, the 33-year-old actress took a stroll around the set, stretching her neck up and down from wearing the heavy headpiece.

She completed her look with tight black trousers, sturdy boots and black leather biking gloves.

Ready to go: The chestnut haired beauty was seen in a tight leather jacket, done up tightly to her chin, hugging close to her slender frame as she waiting for the next take to be filmed

Limbering up: Keeping her make-up fresh for her action star look, the 33-year-old actress took a stroll around the set, stretching her neck up and down from wearing the heavy headpiece

Watching on: The actor grinned as he watched his co-star - and possible love interest to his character Ethan Hunt in the franchise - strolling around the street

The pretty star clearly caught the eye of 54-year-old Tom, who was poised and ready to shoot his scene from inside a car.

The actor grinned as he watched his co-star - and possible love interest to his character Ethan Hunt in the franchise - strolling around the street.

Crew were seen on hand rigging camera equipment to the various vehicles, ready to film the high-paced scene.

They were also spotted adjusting Rebecca's helmet when she put it back on, making sure it was secure and that she looked camera ready.

Rebecca was seen on set for the first time last month, when she uploaded a behind the scenes shot to her Instagram page.

Leathered up: She completed her look with tight black trousers, sturdy boots and black leather biking gloves

Finishing touches: Crew were adjusting Rebecca's helmet when she put it back on, making sure it was secure and that she looked camera ready

Tom was filming with his other co-star Sean Harris on Tuesday afternoon.

The Hollywood star appeared in jovial spirits as he joked with M:I 6 crew members before his action-packed take with his fellow actor.

Tom - who is father to Isabella, 24, Connor, 22, and Suri, 11 - placed a pair of aviator shades over her eyes as he chatted away to those on set.

While Tom looked trendy in his casual threads, his co-star Sean appeared a little tied up as he wore a full-body straitjacket for the day's shoot.

Clad in the restricting piece, his jumpsuit featured leather buckles around his ankles, neck and wrists that highlighted his black plimsolls while a crew member helped tied his arms in the garment.

Leading lady: Rebecca - who plays rogue former MI6 agent Isla Faust - looked raring to go as she strutted the set between takes wearing black biker leathers

Action shot: Crew were seen on hand rigging camera equipment to the various vehicles, ready to film the high-paced scene

Noticeably there was fake blood coming from his ear which fell down his neck and onto the white jumpsuit in dramatic fashion.

Sean - who is set to reprise his role as Solomon Lane in the flick - looked dishevelled for the scene as he sported a wild beard and long locks.

Finished filming the scene, Tom lead the charge as he and Sean walked off set alongside the crew.

Elsewhere, It was announced last month that Henry Cavill had joined the cast in the latest instalment of the famous action franchise.
Kylie Jenner donated nearly $1million to fund surgery for babies to undergo cleft palate surgery, having met suffering children during her trip to Peru.

The 19-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star visited the South American country with her mother, 61, where on Tuesday she met children affected by the facial birth defect in association with the Smile Train organisation.

Dressed in a sporty ensemble, complete with a PE Nation crop top and leggings, the reality favourite appeared to grow emotional as she cuddled baby Mia, the child whose face was saved by the surgery.

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Happy days: Kylie Jenner donated nearly $1million to fund surgery for a babies to undergo cleft palate surgery, having met suffering children during her trip to Peru

Make-up mogul Kylie is working alongside non-profit charity Smile Train in conjunction with her wildly popular lip kit brand, with which she has created a special colour with proceeds going to the charity.

The organisation provides free surgeries for those in developing nations born with the birth defect and the reality star is a staunch supporter of the cause.

Arriving at the hospital in Lima, Kris and Kylie looked beyond touched as they met the staff and cuddled children suffering from the defect and awaiting surgery.

Kylie was clad in a black crop top which acted to boost her cleavage while she also flashed her abs while sporting skin-tight high-waisted leggings and a hoodie.

Getting emotional: The 19-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star visited the South American country with his mother, 61, where on Tuesday she met children affected by the facial birth defect in association with the Smile Train organisation

Working hard: Make-up mogul Kylie is working alongside non-profit charity Smile Train in conjunction with her wildly popular lip kit brand, with which she has created a special colour with proceeds going to the charity

Hold me close: The organisation provides free surgeries for those in developing nations born with the birth defect and the reality star is a staunch supporter of the cause

Posing away: Kylie was clad in a black PE Nation crop top which acted to boost her cleavage while she also flashed her abs while sporting skin-tight high-waisted leggings and a hoodie

Caring Kris: Her mum was happily posing with the tots

Scraping her hair back into a slick bun, Kylie had her make-up uncharacteristically minimal, although her lips were undoubtedly clad in the charity's special colour.

Kris meanwhile looked chic in a gingham coat with a plain black ensemble underneath as she threw her support behind her daughter.

In October Kylie unveiled the charity gloss, which is a lighter pink color than her other glosses, Smile - as Kylie titled it - is unique because of its partnership with Smile Train.

The sister of Kendall Jenner announced that 100 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the limited edition color will be given to the nonprofit organisation.

Real talks: The duo were happy to meet the families as they heard all different stories

Cute: In October Kylie unveiled the charity gloss, which is a lighter pink color than her other glosses, Smile - as Kylie titled it - is unique because of its partnership with Smile Train

Hot mama: Kris meanwhile looked chic in a houndstooth coat with a plain black ensemble underneath as she threw her support behind her daughter

The big reveal: The E! star then continued to showcase the exact shade on her arm, comparing it to a similar lip color that is already out called Koko

The E! star then continued to showcase the exact shade on her arm, comparing it to a similar lip color that is already out called Koko.

She said on her Snapchat video that she wanted pink 'because it is fun and young and for all ages.' Kylie then urged for her fans to 'all come together and help children smile all over the world.'

Smile Train provides free surgeries for those in developing nations born with the birth defect and the reality star is a staunch supporter of the cause.

To help fund the charity, Kylie has created a special lip kit color dedicated to cleft sufferers, with proceeds from the sale going to Smile Train and she was able to give more than 600 children new smiles.

Helping hand: She said on her Snapchat video that she wanted pink 'because it is fun and young and for all ages.' Kylie then urged for her fans to 'all come together and help children smile all over the world'

Deep in chat: Kylie met with babies and parents in the hospital
She claimed on Thursday's The Daily Edition that ex-husband Steve Pollock was unfaithful during their union.

But at a Twinings event in Sydney later that day, Mel Greig proved that looking good is the best revenge.

The 34-year-old showed off her ample assets and toned legs in a sheer black top, tucked into a white mini-skirt.

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Looking good is the best revenge! Mel Greig, 34, showed off her ample assets and toned legs in a flirty ensemble at a Twinings event in Sydney on Thursday, after claiming ex-husband Steve Pollock was unfaithful

Mel posed up a storm in front of the media wall.

A round-neck black top offered a glimpse of cleavage, paired with a white mini-skirt that revealed her bronzed and lean legs.

An embellished black cape worked as a coordinating accessory, while tan suede heels elongated her frame.

Allowing her blonde locks to fall around her face and shoulders in relaxed waves, Mel sported an elegant makeup palette of a dewy complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a glossy nude lip.

Monochrome: A round-neck black top offered a glimpse of cleavage, paired with a white mini-skirt that revealed the radio star's bronzed and lean legs

Coordinating: An embellished black cape worked as an accessory, while tan suede heels elongated her frame

The sighting comes shortly after Mel revealed on Thursday's The Daily Edition that ex-husband Steve Pollock was unfaithful during their union.

The couple parted ways in April last year after 18 months of marriage.

Mel made the claim following a recent holiday to Las Vegas, where she celebrated her 'divorce party'.

Daring to bare: Mel's black round-neck top was sheer, showing the outline of her lingerie

Glamorous: The personality allowed her long blonde locks to fall in relaxed waves

The former Celebrity Apprentice contestant stated her 'now ex-husband announced he has a new partner through social media,' which is 'why I have this wine,' Mel stated, while clutching a beverage.

She then announced: 'Some women have come forward saying that they have had liaisons with my ex-husband.'

'I want to put it out now. My husband was unfaithful, I am aware of it, he is aware of it,' she continued.

'He is sorry for it, he is not proud of it,' Mel added.

Opening up: The sighting comes shortly after Mel revealed on Thursday's The Daily Edition, that ex-husband Steve Pollock was unfaithful during their union

Announcement: 'Some women have come forward saying that they have had liaisons with my ex-husband,' Mel shared on-air

The panel asked her how difficult it was to find out about her ex-husband's new partner Kristen Whitaker through social media.

'It is hard. You put yourself out there thinking you can control the good. You need to be ready for the bad. I did not want to have to deal with that,' she replied.

It is not suggested that Kristen Whitaker was involved in an affair with Steve at the time he and Mel were married.

'I wanted to keep it private. I did not want to drag him through the mud. If someone wants to control my story, I don't want that. Now I'm in a position where I need to talk about it,' she added.

Split: The couple parted ways in April last year after 18 months of marriage

Elsewhere she described her divorce party as 'great' and said she would 'absolutely' recommend anyone going through the same process to take a trip to Las Vegas.

'I came back refreshed and better prepared mentally for what I want to do this year,' Mel offered.

The Wollongong-based media personality gave a statement to YahooBe regarding her claims.

'I was made aware of some of the affairs and have been dealing with it in private the best I can,' she said.

Matters of the heart: The Wollongong-based media personality gave a statement to YahooBe regarding her claims of Steve's cheating ways: 'I was made aware of some of the affairs and have been dealing with it in private the best I can'

She described their marriage as being 'under a lot of stress at the time' and said she was 'heartbroken to discover that it wasn't as strong as I once thought.'

'I don't think Steven is a bad person, but I did deserve much more than that,' she said.

'I'm sure he has learnt from it and will put 100 percent commitment and honesty into his new relationship,' she continued.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Mr. Pollack for comment.
She had commanded attention on the Met Gala red carpet last month, with her dramatic Gothic-inspired gown.

But Lily Collins proved she could dazzle in more relaxed looks as well on Tuesday, as she enjoyed a casual dinner with a gal pal in LA.

The model, 28, looked truly stunning in a simple jeans and coat combo, jazzed up by a vibrant red lipstick, as she animatedly caught up with a friend after a meal at Dan Tana's restaurant.

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Casual chic: Lily Collins proved she could dazzle in more relaxed looks as well on Tuesday, as she enjoyed a casual dinner with a gal pal in LA

The brunette beauty looked truly radiant as she headed out with a friend for dinner in a casually-chic ensemble.

Lily slipped her enviably slim figure into tight skinny jeans from Parker Smith, which she paired with a simple black knitted jumper for her Italian meal in West Hollywood.

Layering a classic camel coat complete with traditional lapels on top, she then made her look more trendy by adding sporty white trainers, and a stylish black suede handbag slung across one shoulder.

Catching up: The brunette beauty looked truly radiant as she headed out with a friend for dinner in a casually-chic ensemble

Leaving her hair in a natural, straight style, the actress' enviably clear and glowing complexion was left on display - drawing attention to her striking natural beauty.

Tying her look together with a slick of scarlet lipstick, the British beauty cut an effortlessly glamorous figure as she spent a night off catching up with a friend.

Lily was no doubt in need of a relaxing evening, after seeing a hectic working schedule over the last few weeks.

Jet-setter: Earlier this month, the daughter of musician Phil Collins had jetted across to the Big Apple to attend the star-studded Met Gala

Gothic princess: A far cry from her meeker looks, the model had showcased her slender physique in a fitted black corset with embellished cups as she posed at the annual event

Earlier this month, the daughter of musician Phil Collins had jetted across to the Big Apple to attend the star-studded Met Gala.

A far cry from her meeker looks, the model had showcased her slender physique in a fitted black corset with embellished cups as she posed fiercely at the annual event in NYC.

The Mirror Mirror star teamed it a statement puffball pink gown, complete with ruffle panel, as well as a Geisha-inspired blunt fringe and raven bob wig, to enhance the dramatic effect.

New project: Having starred in Amazon series The Last Tycoon last year, Lily appears to be turning her attention to film for 2017

Wasting no time however, the beauty was then spotted touching down at LAX only a day later to return to her working commitments.

Having starred in Amazon series The Last Tycoon last year, Lily appears to be turning her attention to film for 2017.

The beauty is set to star in a whopping three flicks in the coming months - including Netflix drama To The Bone, which co-stars Keanu Reeves.

Having premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January the film, which sees Lily portray a young women with anorexia, is scheduled to debut on the site in July.

She will also see the release of her South Korean-American action film Okja, which she filmed in New York, in July, ahead of Halo of Stars - based on Anthony Lucero's long horror poem The Clown.


Danniella Westbrook has worried fans by announcing she is not taking any medication, despite suffering with mental health disorders including, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia.

Speaking on Thursday's Loose Women, the 43-year-old actress looked happy and healthy as she confessed that she made the decision recently in a rehab centre in Spain, but admitted that it 'is and isn't safe' to be off her pills.

Revealing she weaned herself off the medication gradually with the help of a Spanish doctor, she explained: 'I got to Mother's Day and I was so sick of being sick, taking all the medication.'

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Concerning: Danniella Westbrook has worried fans by announcing she is not taking any medication, despite suffering with mental health disorders including, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia

She continued: 'I've come off all the medication I'm on, I felt so ill the first two weeks, I was really, really poorly. I think a lot of it can be done holistically and in therapy.'

As the Loose Women expressed concerns over her welfare, and advised viewers to talk to doctors before adjusting any of their own medication, Danniella assured them 'I feel fantastic', despite their reservations.

Discussing her relapse, Danniella reasoned: 'I will always be an addict of something, I think every chance is your last chance.

Chirpy: Speaking on Thursday's Loose Women, the 43-year-old actress looked happy and healthy as she confessed that she made the decision recently in a rehab centre in Spain

Stepping back: Revealing she weaned herself off the medication gradually with the help of a Spanish doctor, she explained: 'I got to Mother's Day and I was so sick of being sick, taking all the medication'

'You can put down the drugs, I'm not knocking rehab but it's not just about your drugs, its about dealing with trauma. I had a miscarriage and it really broke my heart, I used and my psychosis went crazy.'

She continued: 'I do still have a drink but I am really addicted to making money and being successful - thats my new thing. Structure is so important, having a business, having the kids in my life, I will still be in full time therapy.

'I did that last time and I was clean for 13 years... The 12 step programme is a really big part of my life.'

Holistic: She continued: 'I've come off all the medication I'm on, I felt so ill the first two weeks, I was really, really poorly. I think a lot of it can be done holistically and in therapy'

Feeling good: As the Loose Women expressed concerns over her welfare, and advised viewers to talk to doctors before adjusting any of their own medication, Danniella assured them 'I feel fantastic'

Addict: Discussing her relapse, Danniella reasoned: 'I will always be an addict of something, I think every chance is your last chance'

Underlying issue: Danniella reasoned: 'You can put down the drugs, I'm not knocking rehab but it's not just about your drugs, its about dealing with trauma'

Onwards and upwards: She continued: 'I do still have a drink but I am really addicted to making money and being successful - thats my new thing'

Discussing her previous battles, she explained: 'I was away from meetings, everything, I let my depression eat me up and in some ways I quite liked that.'

Danniella also shocked by the panellists by revealing she has opened a bar in Marbella - despite her problems with addiction.

WHAT THE PROFESSIONALS SAY Before coming off any drug, its important to make sure you have all the information and support you need to do it safely. If you decide you want to stop taking your medication, you should:  Avoid stopping suddenly  Discuss it with someone you trust (ideally this will be your doctor)  If possible, seek help from a support group (Mind's Infoline can give you information about local services in your area) The longer you have been taking a drug, the more likely it is that you will experience withdrawal effects and find it harder to stop. You may need to reduce the dose very gradually in order to minimise these effects. Advice provided by Mind Advertisement

She admitted that she still has a drink, but doesn't see having her own pub as a problem because she will be working from 'the other side of the bar'.

Asked whether part of rehab is removing herself from her triggers, she admitted: 'Well it is really, but my triggers are being down and depressed. That's me, I am a people person and I like structure, I like to be around people.'

When quizzed if it is intoxicating to be surrounded by people who are drinking, she added: 'Not really, I was in it for years. If I say that I should give up completely on this industry I'd be surrounded by people who take drugs.'

She reasoned: 'At the the end of the day, I will always be an addict of something. "I think every time is your last chance and you can't always sit on a sob story. I came in to make people aware of mental health and addiction."

Danniella also claimed she is set to return to EastEnders after reprising her role as Sam Mitchell briefly last year when her alter ego's mother Peggy Mitchell (Dame Barbara Windsor) tragically passed away.

Despite previously suggesting she had been sacked from the BBC One soap, she claimed she is going back to Walford, announcing: 'There's a big chance of me going back into 'EastEnders'. I'm going to be back there at the end of the year.'

However, an EastEnders spokesperson said this was not the case, revealing: 'There are no plans for Danniella to return.'

Positive changes: Danniella reasoned: 'Structure is so important, having a business, having the kids in my life, I will still be in full time therapy'

Past regrets: Discussing her previous battles, she explained: 'I was away from meetings, everything, I let my depression eat me up and in some ways I quite liked that'

Shock: Danniella also shocked by the panellists by revealing she has opened a bar in Marbella - despite her problems with addiction

Kisses: Danniella was joined by her son Kai who watched on from the audience

Making positive changes: Asked whether part of rehab is removing herself from her triggers, she admitted: 'Well it is really, but my triggers are being down and depressed'

Back in work: Danniella also revealed she is set to return to EastEnders after reprising her role as Sam Mitchell briefly last year when her alter ego's mother Peggy Mitchell passed away

Back on the square: Despite previously suggesting she had been sacked from the BBC One soap, she has now claimed she is going back to Walford

Danniella first revealed she was heading to rehab in March in order to become 'a better momma and a better woman'.

She has previously been treated for a cocaine addiction following a collapsed septum.

Taking to Instagram to inform fans of her rehab plans, Danniella explained that appearing on Channel 5's In Therapy show was one of the reasons why she had headed to a treatment centre in Mijas, Spain, after bringing up some painful emotions and old wounds.

For advice and support see Mental Health Awareness Week. Seek advice from your doctor before making a change to any medication.

Family fun: Danniella was joined by her son Kai at the Loose Women studios as she prepared to give them an update on life after rehab - where she was treated for cocaine addiction

Image overhaul: Danniella sported peroxide blonde hair extensions that framed her face and cascaded down her shoulders and past her baby pink blouse

Snap happy: Kai and Danniella cosied up together for selfies before heading inside to the ITV studios in Central London

Loving life: The EastEnders star seemed in great spirits as she enjoyed some quality time with her son ahead of her television appearance

Chirpy: Despite her recent admission that she is off her medication, Danniella looked happier than ever as she snuggled up to her son
She is never far away from a sun-drenched location and a bikini.

And Ashley James was pining for her most recent getaway on Thursday as she shared a sizzling throwback snap on her Instagram page.

The former Made In Chelsea star looked gorgeous in a tiny bikini as she posed on the beach at Holbox Island in the Caribbean.

Missing the sun! Ashley James was pining for her most recent getaway on Thursday as she shared a sizzling throwback snap on her Instagram page

The blonde looks gorgeous as she flaunts her tanned curves in a black and white halterneck two piece.

But the cheeky star found something to joke about in the hot pic, as she pointed out the unusual trunk she is posing with.

'I'm aware I'm posing on what looks like a giant cigarette, but missing #HolboxIsland. #noretouching #imwearingri #ad #takemetotheisland,' she captioned the Instagram shot.

She's an advocate for the body positivity movement, bravely putting unretouched images of her slim bikini body out on her social media to create a realistic image of her phenomenal physique.

Role model: Ashley is an advocate for the body positive movement - but she admitted that even she initially 'judged' Kim Kardashian's unairbrushed bikini photos

But even Ashley, 30, was shocked at her immediate reaction to the now-famous unairbrushed Kim Kardashian bikini photos which were taken during her recent trip to Mexico.

Posting a lengthy caption with a sexy shot of her in a revealing red swimming costume, Ashley admitted that she had to scold herself over judging Kim's 'cellulite'.

Wistfully penning a memory of her time on holiday in Holbox Island, Ashley turned her commentary to the subject of Kim Kardashian's derriere.

'To be honest, when I first saw the photos I thought two things. Firstly, I loved seeing cellulite because I thought it was great that she could of edited images and she didn't,' the model began.

'Secondly, my immediate subconscious reaction was to be judgemental of her body, and I had to stop myself because I realise - why do we do this or care about how another woman's body looks?'

Instagram fan: Ashley regularly posts bikini snaps on her social media

Ashley's post then became philosophical in nature, and she proffered some advice for her fans that she follows herself.

'Does judging Kim Kardashian make me feel better about myself? I think judgement is natural, but I always to train myself not to think it and I never say it out loud to others.'

Ashley is herself a victim of body shaming, claiming last month that a taxi driver 'slut-shamed' her for wearing a plunging black crop top.

Penning another commentary on an Instagram post about the incident, she revealed that she 'broke down in tears' and 'was made to feel like a cheap whore'.

Luckily, she decided to ignore the taxi driver, and bravely went on with her evening in the revealing top after deciding she shouldn't feel ashamed about her 'natural, God-given body'.
China Girl is the highly-anticipated next installment of the Top of the Lake mini-series.

And in the trailer, Nicole Kidman looks almost unrecognisable, sporting a grey wig and freckled complexion.

The 49-year-old stars in the local production as Julia, a mother whose story intersects with Detective Robin Griffin's (played by Elisabeth Moss) search for the identity of 'China Girl'.

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Sneak peek: Nicole Kidman, 49, looks almost unrecognisable in the trailer for Top of the Lake: China Girl, sporting a grey wig and freckled complexion

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Scenes within the trailer see Nicole cutting a much older figure for her character, sporting a grey curly wig.

Her complexion is also slightly weathered with significant freckling.

Playing a local mother Julia, Nicole's attire is rather subdued and conservative.

Plot: The Academy Award-winner stars in the local production as Julia, a mother whose story intersects with Detective Robin Griffin's (played by Elisabeth Moss) search for the identity of 'China Girl'

In character: Playing local mother Julia, Nicole's attire is rather subdued and conservative

The next installment for the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated mini-series, sees Elisabeth Moss reprise her lead role as Detective Robin Griffin.

The Mad Men star is also joined by Nicole, Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones, David Dencik from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as Alice Englert and Ewen Leslie.

Attempting to rebuild her life, Detective Robin Griffin returns to Sydney, Australia.

Starring role: The next installment for the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated mini-series, sees Elisabeth Moss (left) reprise her role as Detective Robin Griffin

Starting over: Attempting to rebuild her life, Detective Robin Griffin returns to Sydney, Australia

A mystery Asian woman's body is found ashore on Bondi Beach, making Robin's mission to hunt for the killer of 'China Girl'.

Not much is given away as to Nicole's character, however it is noted that Julia's history plays a pivotal part in Robin's quest for the perpetrator.

The last time Nicole was in Australia for a local production was back in 1989 for the three-part miniseries Bangkok Hilton.

For this project, the red head returned Down Under for five weeks and brought daughters Faith and Sunday Rose along with her.

Quest: A mystery Asian woman's body is found ashore on Bondi Beach, making Robin's mission to hunt for the killer of 'China Girl'

Pivotal role: Not much is given away as to Nicole's character, however it is noted that Julia's history plays a pivotal part in Robin's quest for the perpetrator

According to The Daily Telegraph, Foxtel boss Brian Walsh said it had taken a year to secure Nicole, having signed the contract in June last year.

'Having Nicole on board is such a great endorsement of the high-concept television we are producing here now,' Brian said.

'I don't think theres been a better time for Australian television,' he added.

Top of the Lake: China Girl will premiere at Cannes Film Festival later this month.

The series will then go to air on BBC First later in the year.
He's getting ready to whizz around Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix.

And it looks like Lewis Hamilton is making the most of his time in the city, snapping a quick selfie before walking into a fashion shoot at a five-star hotel.

Rocking a black pilot's jacket with a white frill and a pair of Top Gun-style aviator sunglasses, the 32-year-old looked uber cool under the Spanish sun.

Quick pic: Lewis Hamilton, 32, snapped a selfie before a fashion photo shoot in Barcelona on Thursday, wearing a black pilot's jacket with a white frill and a pair of aviators

Lewis finished off his look with a pair of light-grey chinos and a gold wristwatch tucked under his left sleeve. A red collar was just visible over his grey jumper.

The racing supremo also appeared on the steps of the W Barcelona wearing a polo neck topped with a snug-fitting suit.

He ditched his shades and completed the all-black number with a pair of Converse-style shoes.

Outfit change: The racing supremo also appeared on the steps of the W Barcelona wearing a polo neck topped with a snug-fitting suit

Lewis, whose wealth stands at 131million - according to the Sunday Times rich list - was spotted on a lunch date with 18-year-old model Sofia Richie on Tuesday.

The pair are yet to confirm if they are an item, but certainly walked very close to each other as they grabbed a bite to eat at Cecconi's in West Hollywood.

For their lunch, Sofia wore a semi-sheer white T-shirt with tailored pants, a trench and a pair of white leather sneakers.

Lewis meanwhile wore a pink sweater with white pants and zebra Yeezys.

While their relationship status remains up in the air, last week the two were also together in New York.

The model and the racer were seen leaving a screening of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 at the Whitby Hotel.

The godfather: Following their date, Lewis headed over to a friends' house to meet his god son

Following their date, Lewis headed over to a friends' house to meet his godson.

The sportsman proudly posted a snap of himself with the little baby on social media.

Meanwhile, Sofia just landed a gig as the face of Adidas Originals new footwear design.

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.
Her mother Belinda tragically passed away the night following the Bachelorette finale.

And in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, to be published in Sunday's Stellar, Georgia Love opened up about the strain it put on her new romance with Lee Elliott, 36.

'It's made our relationship really hard,' the 28-year-old candidly told the publication.

'It's made our relationship really hard': Georgia Love, 28, revealed to The Daily Telegraph that the death of mother Belinda the night after the Bachelorette finale, put a strain on her romance with Lee Elliott, 36

Opening up, Georgia said: 'It's made our relationship really hard. He's the one who has to cop it when I'm having a bad day. He's the one who's there as I break down.'

However the journalist did tell the publication that the mechanical plumber has been nothing but 'incredible'.

'He was there every step of the way. Nothing will ever take that away. That's something that makes me even more in love with him. In so many ways it brought us very close.'

Support: The journalist gushed over her 'incredible' beau: 'He was there every step of the way. Nothing will ever take that away'

Heartbreaking: Georgia's mother Belinda, 60, tragically passed away the night following the Bachelorette finale

Georgia's mother Belinda, 60, tragically passed away the night following the Bachelorette finale.

Belinda endured a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer, admitted into palliative care in late October.

On October 31, Georgia revealed on Instagram the heartbreaking news that her mother had passed away.

Georgia was able to introduce her mother to her chosen Bachelorette winner and boyfriend Lee, shortly before her death.

Battle: Belinda endured a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer, admitted into palliative care in late October

She previously told TV Week: 'It was amazing to see how much he perked her up,' adding: 'She was sitting up talking and laughing with him, which she hadn't been able to do all day.

'It was obviously an awful place and reason to be meeting,' Georgia added.

Lee also revealed in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, that he met Georgia's mother for the first time in hospital straight after the finale aired, receiving her seal of approval.

Georgia is now a Pancare Foundation ambassador.

Approval: Lee revealed in a previous interview with The Daily Telegraph, that he met Georgia's mother for the first time in hospital straight after the finale aired, receiving her seal of approval
She previously starred in Doctor Who as the Time Lord's companion, before taking on her role in Victoria.

And Jenna Coleman looked to be quite the time traveller as she was spotted in full regalia on Wednesday - while carrying a disposable coffee cup during her break.

The 31-year-old was dressed in an opulent gown as she filmed scenes for series two of Victoria with co-star and real-life beau Tom Hughes in Hartlepool.

Modern queen: Jenna Coleman looked to be quite the time traveller as she was spotted in full regalia on Wednesday - while carrying a disposable coffee cup during her break

The British beauty looked resplendent in her deep purple gown and bonnet, as she commanded attention on set during a pause in filming.

But keen to get her caffeine fix during her break, the coffee cup she was carrying stuck out like a sore thumb - as well as the modern day handbag slung over her shoulder.

Ever the professional though, the former Doctor Who star quickly immersed herself fully back into character as she filmed scenes with Tom on board a passenger steamer.

Real-life couple: The 31-year-old was dressed in an opulent gown as she filmed scenes for series two of Victoria with co-star and real-life beau Tom Hughes in Hartlepool

Jenna was seen gazing lovingly at her real-life boyfriend Tom, who stars opposite her as Prince Albert in the critically-acclaimed ITV drama.

With her brunette tresses pinned up off her face, the former Emmerdale star showed off her flawless complexion, while accentuating her lips with a subtle red lipstick.

Tom, 31, meanwhile looked dashing in his full period costume, dressed in a black tailcoat, waistcoat and bow tie.

Time traveller: Keen to get her caffeine fix during her break, the coffee cup Jenna was carrying stuck out like a sore thumb

Personal touch: She accessorised her regal period costume with a modern-day handbag

In costume: The ex-Emmerdale star looked perfectly at home as she walked about the set in her regalia

Filming for the second season of Victoria began at the end of February, with viewers left on tenterhooks after the Queen gave birth to her first child at the end of the first series.

The new series of the historical drama will be set in the 1840s, the decade where Victoria gave birth to six of her nine children.

According to screenwriter Daisy Goodwin, the series will focus on Victoria's struggle to balance family and work life, like a modern woman.

Other half: Jenna was seen gazing lovingly at her real-life boyfriend Tom (C), who stars opposite her as Prince Albert in the critically-acclaimed ITV drama

Dashing: Tom, 31, looked dashing in his full period costume, dressed in a black tailcoat, waistcoat and bow tie

New scenes: The pair were seen filming on board a passenger boat with their fellow castmates in Hartlepool

Catching up: Jenna looked pleased to be reunited with her castmates while on location

Speaking about the new role, Jenna told Digital Spy: 'It's really exciting. 'There's so much story. It's a case of pacing it and working out where to go with it.

'There are nine children to have, so there is a long way to go.'

The new series of the ITV drama is expected to air this autumn.

It was first revealed that Jenna and Tom were an item off-screen last August, following the premiere of period drama.

A source told The Mail On Sunday at the time: 'Theyve been together for months, on and off since last summer.'

All smiles: The British beauty flashed a smile as she chatted to castmates and production crew members

Hotly-anticipated: Filming for the second season of Victoria began at the end of February, with viewers left on tenterhooks after the Queen gave birth to her first child last series

Another added: 'The reason the chemistry is so tangible is because they are dating in real life. Those scenes are very real. They are completely hooked on one another.'

It was reported in late September that the duo had moved in together, having known each other in separate acting circles for as long as three years.

As well as starring in Victoria, Tom is also the lead in new futuristic movie Realive, in which he looks almost unregonisable with a fully shaven head.

Smitten pair: Tom and Jenna have been spending plenty of time together not on set

Drama: The new series of the historical drama will be set in the 1840s, the decade where Victoria gave birth to six of her nine children
Renowned model Linda Evangelista was claimed to have said that she would not get out of bed for less than $10k a day.

And it appears Jordan Barrett has taken a leaf out of her book, receiving a paycheck of $100k for Justin Cassin's upcoming Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week show.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that the 20-year-old will not only receive the hefty amount for most likely one strut down the runway, but also the VIP treatment.

Star power: The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that Jordan Barrett, 20, will receive a $100k paycheck for just ONE day's work at Australian Fashion Week on Monday

Justin Cassin's first Australian Fashion Week showing on Monday will see Byron Bay-raised Jordan take to the runway.

Bringing his star power, shaggy blonde locks and chiselled jaw, ladies' man Jordan will model the label's menswear collection.

Said to be flying business class and obtaining the ultimate in VIP treatment, Jordan will also reportedly find the time for a shoot with GQ Australia.

Taking a leaf out of her book? It was previously claimed that renowned supermodel Linda Evangelista would not get out of bed for less than $10k a day

Highly-anticipated: Byron Bay-raised Jordan will take to the runway at Justin Cassin's Monday show, at Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week on Monday

Also making an appearance on the Justin Cassin runway is Richard Wilkins' son Christian, 21, and former Sydney Swans star-turned model Tom Derickx, 29.

Jordan was discovered at age 14 by a model scout working for international agency IMG.

The chance meeting took place when he was caught stealing matches from a convenience store.

Jordan told New York Magazine about the incident: 'I wanted to have a cigarette, but I couldn't get a lighter because apparently you have to be over 18, so I decided I was gonna take matches from the counter.'

Familiar faces: Also making an appearance on the Justin Cassin runway is Richard Wilkins' son Christian (left), 21, and former Sydney Swans star-turned model Tom Derickx (right), 29

Ladies' man: Jordan's appeal lies beyond the catwalk, having been linked to the likes of 'it' girls Hailey Baldwin (pictured), 20, Sofia Richie, Megan Blake Irwin, Lara Stone and Sahara Ray

Taking the modelling industry by storm, the genetically-blessed star graced the runway for Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino and Versace at Milan Fashion Week.

Jordan's appeal lies beyond the catwalk, having been linked to the likes of 'it' girls Hailey Baldwin, Sofia Richie, Megan Blake Irwin, Lara Stone and Sahara Ray.

Most recently, Jordan arrived at the Met Gala in New York with music legend Lionel Richie's model daughter Sofia, 18.

Posing alongside the slender blonde, Jordan looked dapper in a crisp white shirt, tailored suit jacket, slim-fitting black trousers and grey suede loafers.

All that glitters: Most recently, Jordan arrived at the Met Gala in New York with music legend Lionel Richie's model daughter Sofia (pictured), 18
The pair were seen clashing with James Lock, Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks on the TOWIE season finale earlier this month.

And it seems Tommy Mallett and Georgia Kousoulou have far from resolved the tension with their co-stars, as they fiercely hit out at the ITVBe cast on Thursday's Celebrity Juice.

In a preview clip from the new episode, the 24-year-old Essex lad scathingly refers to his fellow TOWIE cast as a 'bunch of w***ers' - to the shock of Holly Willoughby and Keith Lemon.

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Drama: It seems Tommy Mallett and Georgia Kousoulou have far from resolved the tension with their co-stars, as they referred to the TOWIE cast as a 'bunch of w***ers' on Thursday

On the episode, which also sees Phillip Schofield, Ore Oduba and Chris Ramsay as guests, host Keith immediately asks the reality stars about their explosive bust-up with James Lock, which played out on the final episode last week.

Proving things had not been resolved between the pair, Tommy first responded by joking: 'Who's that?' before admitting they were not friends following the row.

Not holding back when Keith questioned why they had not made up however, Tommy then retaliated: 'How would you feel filming with a bunch of w***ers for six months?'

Probing: Keith immediately asks the reality stars about their explosive bust-up with James Lock, which played out on the final episode last week

The hit was met with shock from both the audience and the panellists, with Keith Lemon replying in surprise: 'What, all of TOWIE?!'

Realising his slip up, Tommy then began to laugh and backtrack his statement, as girlfriend Georgia and show panellist Holly Willoughby erupted into giggles.

The pair finished the recent season of TOWIE last month on bad terms with co-star James Lock, after they accused him of meddling in their relationship.

Hitting out: Not holding back however, Tommy then retaliated: 'How would you feel filming with a bunch of w***ers for six months?', leaving the show hosts shocked

Bold: The hit was met with shock from both the audience and the panellists, with Keith Lemon replying in surprise: 'What, all of TOWIE?!'

Meeting Jon and Chris Clark and Amber Dowding in a bar, Tommy had started his tirade by stating: 'You call people wallies and you think you can get away with things like that. Lockie is a dog.'

Before Georgia interjected fiercely: 'Who the f**k is Lockie for one? Two, don't come at my relationship.'

Tommy then continued on with his rant by adding: 'He's got too much to say for himself and he's got f***ing nothing to back it up with.'

Hilarious: Realising his slip up, Tommy then began to laugh and backtrack his statement, as girlfriend Georgia and show panellist Holly Willoughby erupted into giggles

Clearly angered by his behaviour, the shoe designer had finished his explosive outburst with: 'Hes a six foot b***h. He aint the main man. Hes a p***k.'

However things only worsened when the couple, who have been together for almost three years, then proceeded to fall out with former lovers Pete Wicks and Megan McKenna.

Georgia had come to blows with the brunette after vowing to stand by Chloe Sims - who faced backlash from fans after being accused of cosying up to Pete soon after his split with Megan.

Star-studded: The episode also sees Phillip Schofield, Ore Oduba and Chris Ramsay as guests

Only making matters worse however, Tommy and Pete then became embroiled in a fierce row on the street, after Megan informed her ex of their confrontation.

However, the couple remained united throughout their drama on the show - with the duo admitting they felt they were the strongest relationship by far on TOWIE.

Speaking to stand in Christine Bleakely on an episode of Lorraine last month, Georgia explained: 'Were the only sensible ones that have stayed together for three years. We dont know anything different because we met on the show.

'Viewers have grown with our relationship, and theyve seen it every step of the way.'

Celebrity Juice airs on Thursday at 10pm on ITV2
She showed off her edgy side this week, debuting shock pink tresses while modelling her new swimwear range under the Spanish sun.

But it turns out Megan McKenna was fooling fans with a wig all along and was back to her raven roots back home in Essex on Thursday.

The TOWIE star, 24, wore a flowing black dress complete with a leopard-print scarf and a pair of bulky statement sunglasses while leaving meetings at the Sheesh restaurant in Chigwell.

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Back to usual: Megan McKenna was snapped back in her usual brown locks after sporting a pink wig for a swimwear shoot in Spain

She clutched a black leather handbag in one arm and completed her look with a pair of open-toed brown leather boots.

During her Spanish trip, Megan was keen to boast that she wasn't just modelling the swimwear range - she had also designed it herself.

Captioning one image, she posted: 'Day 1. I just wanna tell you girls that I've designed these swimsuits from scratch & I no your gonna love them! Every swimsuit is made to perfection! I'm so excited for this line! [sic]'

Confident: The TOWIE star, 24, wore a flowing black dress complete with leopard-print scarf as she went back to brown after rocking a colourful wig

Another snap showed Megan in another black ensemble, leaning against what appeared to be a garage door.

Sporting a dark tan, she tied her dark brown tresses into a high ponytail this time, straight and sleek.

This swimsuit featured an oval cut-out down the front, and was nipped in at the waist with a white belt-like design.

Out and a pout: Megan was keen to show her edgy side on Tuesday as she shared snaps of her new swimwear range on holiday in Spain

Megan's latest fashion venture is the latest twist in a career that started out at Britain's Got Talent in 2006 with a rendition of What is This Feeling? (Loathing), from West End musical Wicked.

She went on to appear on The X Factor, made a brief appearance on TOWIE as a member of Jess Wright's band LOLA, two stints on Ex On The Beach, a spot on Celebrity Big Brother and her now-permanent role on TOWIE.

On Ex On The Beach, CBB and TOWIE Megan has been seen to get in blazing rows - leading to being restrained on occasion.

Lapping it up! Megan put on a raunchy display kneeling in the surf in a skimpy swimsuit

The end of TOWIE's 20th season was dominated by her row with co-star Chloe Meadows, who she failed to bury the hatchet with on the finale.

The Essex beauty's ex BFF joined the ITVBe series last year when the former Celebrity Big Brother star was snapped up to appear, as bosses wanted to capture their friendship on screen.

However, following a row over the brunette beauty's then-boyfriend Pete Wicks, they fell out and it doesn't look like they'll be making up any time soon.

Opening up to The Sun Online, Megan insisted that the blonde bombshell doesn't want to salvage their relationship.

She told the publication: 'The truth is she only messages me during the show and even then it is only so she can use it as a storyline.

'I dont believe she genuinely wants to repair our friendship. Shes never actually been there for me.'
She's become used to dealing with catty women as a cast member on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.

But on Wednesday night, the only ferocious thing about Kyle Richards was the leopard print bag she chose for her night out at LA hot spot Catch.

The 48-year-old wore a tan jacket over her black outfit and wore red heels to complete the look.

Fierce: Kyle Richards departs Los Angeles hot spot Catch restaurant on Wednesday night

She was joined by friend Justin Sylvester, who is a host on E's live new show Daily Pop.

Kyle has just returned from a trip to Palm Springs, California for the town's annual White Party, where her plunging white dress caused speculation that she had recently undergone breast enhancement surgery.

Hitting back at rumor, she replied to a fan in her Instagram comments saying, 'No I have never had my boobs done. When I gain weight they get bigger. And when I'm thinner they get smaller.'

Friends: She was joined by the host of E's Daily Pop Justin Sylvester for dinner

'My mom died of breast cancer and I would be too afraid to have implants.'

She added, 'My husband likes them as is.'

Kyle has been married to real estate mogul Mauricio Umansky since 1996.

Keeping abreast: Photos she shared from the White Party in Palm Springs sparked speculation that she had a boob job, of which she denied on Instagram

Kyle appears to be enjoying her time off from her dramatic hit reality series which has just wrapped up it's seventh season.

On the show's three-part reunion, Kyle's sister Kim Richards provided what some have called one of the most awkward moments in Real Housewives history.

Kim was given a toy bunny rabbit to give to her grandson by Lisa Rinna, but at the reunion she returned it, telling Rinna it was not given to her with 'the right energy.'

Break time: The 48-year-old reality star's show The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills just finished airing it's seventh season

Kyle and fellow Housewives Eileen Davidson, Lisa Vanderpump, Erika Girardi and Dorit Kemsley looked on in shock at the exchange which brought Rinna to tears.

The ladies have a stormy past, with Rinna gossiping about Kim's very public struggle to stay sober on their show and Kim calling her out about it.

In 2015, they nearly came to blows while having dinner in Amsterdam hosted by former Housewife Yolanda Hadid.
She was left 'pining' for her boyfriend Count Nikolai von Bismark after he headed to rehab last month.

But Kate Moss, who was last pictured with her beau in January, seemed in great spirits as she enjoyed the company of pal Claude Simonon on Thursday.

The 43-year-old supermodel looked in high spirits as she opted to wear matching jackets with her dashing model company, who was also carrying an adorable Jack Russell, while they headed out for a casual stroll in the park.

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Casual day out: Kate Moss, 43, her male pal Claude Simonon wore matching jackets as they stepped out in London on Thursday

Kate looked typically stylish for the outing - wearing a chic leopard print blouse, skinny jeans and fringed boots.

The British icon, who was clad in a pair of trendy cat-eye shades, wore a studded handbag across her body and layered up with an edgy khaki jacket.

The Vogue favourite was joined by the good-looking chiselled model, who donned a cool bomber jacket in exactly the same shade of Kate.

The pair, who were also joined by another pal later on, look in great spirits as they enjoyed a lively chat on the corner of the street.

Style icon: The supermodel looked typically trendy for the outing - wearing a chic leopard print blouse, skinny jeans fringed boots and a khaki jacket

New friend? The Vogue favourite was joined by a good-looking chiselled man, who donned a cool bomber jacket in exactly the same shade of Kate

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Kate for further comment.

Last month, a report from The Sun stated she was having a difficult time with being away from her boyfriend, Count Nikolai von Bismark, as he's detoxing in the United States at the request of his parents Debonnaire and Leopold.

'Kate is gutted that he is away for so long but knows its for the best,' an insider told the publication. 'She has been pining for Nik and has really missed having him by her side.'

'She's pining for him': Last month, a report from The Sun stated she was having a difficult time with being away from her boyfriend, Count Nikolai von Bismark, as he's detoxing in the United States at the request of his parents Debonnaire and Leopold

The couple were last publicly seen together in January when Kate saw on her 43rd birthday at China Tang restaurant at London's Dorchester Hotel in January.

Having known each other for a number of years with Kate being pals with his mother, they struck up a romance in 2015 after the supermodel split from her musician husband Jamie Hince, 48.

The Croydon-born beauty tied the knot with the The Kills rocker in July 2011 at St Peter's Church, Southrop, Gloucestershire.

Kate raises daughter, Lila-Grace, 15, with her former flame, publishing director Jefferson Hack, 46.

Sighting: The couple were last publicly seen together in January when Kate saw on her 43rd birthday at China Tang restaurant at London's Dorchester Hotel in January




Blac Chyna turned 29 years old on Thursday.

And while Rob Kardashian didn't attend the party thrown in her honor the night before, the 30-year-old star posted two throwback pictures with his baby mama to Instagram.

Rob, who is dad to six-month-old daughter Dream with Chyna, wrote: 'Happy birthday pretty mama.'

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Good terms: While Rob Kardashian didn't attend the birthday party thrown in Blac Chyna's honor the night before, the 30-year-old star posted two throwback pictures of her

The two pictures he posted are from his trip to Legoland with Chyna in March 2016; they were at the park to celebrate Rob's 29th birthday.

One snap showed the former couple smiling ear to ear while giving a playful pose.

The second image Rob shared to his social media on Thursday features the grinning duo in the park's lion-shaped Lego sculptures.

Chyna rang in her birthday the evening before - without Rob.

Flashback: The two pictures he posted are from his trip to Legoland with Chyna in March 2016

Happy: Chyna rang in her birthday with friends on Wednesday evening - without Rob; she turned 29 on Thursday

While the mother of two enjoyed a bash with her friends and mom Tokyo Toni, he was nowhere to be seen.

The duo are reportedly not back together, according to E! News; the two have broken up and reunited dozens of times since they started dating last year.

The former stripper wore a casual all black outfit, including a unique hat that had 'dolls' emblazoned on the front.

Strike a pose: She posed for a series of pictures with her pals at what appeared to be a store; her mom Tokyo Toni (left) and friends were in attendance

She posed for a series of pictures with her pals inside what appeared to be a store; her mom Tokyo Toni and her friends were in attendance.

Hours before her birthday get together on Wednesday, Rob shared a photo of his favorite socks from his Arthur George line.

This time last year, Rob and Chyna were together and happily expecting their daughter.

Where's Rob? The former stripper wore a low-key all black outfit, including a unique hat that had 'dolls' emblazoned on the front

Cheeky: The star appeared to be having a blast at her celebration with friends and family

They spent her 28th birthday together in Miami at a club; Rob even sent her 28 bouquets of roses with a card for each.

In March, Rob celebrated his 30th birthday and Chyna attended his bash.

Chyna shared a video of herself as she got ready on Wednesday, with her cleavage in full view.

On Thursday afternoon, the brunette posted a series of videos to Snapchat flaunting her new birthday gift - a Ferrari 488 Spider with a large bow on the hood; she shared it on her Instagram as well.

Wow: Later in the day, the brunette posted a series of videos to Snapchat flaunting her new birthday gift - a Ferrari 488 Spider; she shared it on Instagram as well

Chyna showed off the car - which retails for $272,000 - on her social media, with Nicki Minaj's track No Frauds playing in the background.

The former reality star gave her followers a detailed view of her luxury car, which she parked next to her pink Range Rover.

Her son King Cairo, four, sat in the new ride as the top came down, much to his excitement; he gleefully said: 'Look at the roof!'

Impressive: Chyna showed off the car - which retails for $272,000 - on her social media, with Nicki Minaj's track No Frauds playing in the background

So cute: Her son King Cairo, four, sat in the new ride as the top came down, much to his excitement; he gleefully said: 'Look at the roof'

King is the son of Chyna and Tyga; the rapper is also the ex-boyfriend of Rob's little sister, Kylie Jenner.

The star welcomed Dream with Rob on November 10, 2016.

E! News' source reported that Rob and Chyna 'are co-parenting and independently working on themselves.'

Better times: This time last year, Rob and Chyna were together and happily expecting their daughter; They spent her 28th birthday together in Miami at a club; pictured on May 11, 2016

Quite the view: Earlier in the day, Chyna shared a video of herself as she got ready, with her cleavage in full view

Their insider added that 'they're more cordial now than they have been, which is why they hung out recently. But by no means are they back together.'

They started dating in January 2016 and announced their engagement three months later. In May 2016, they revealed they were expecting a child together.

The duo had an explosive split in December before reconciling soon after and then splitting once more.

Earlier this year, they appeared to be back on, with reports surfacing in March that they had split again.

What a sweetheart: Dream also took a peek at her mom's new car, as seen on Chyna's snap

Summer ready: What a cutie pie: Rob and Chyna are parents to 6-month-old Dream Kardashian
He became a household name as the steadfast Earl of Grantham in period drama Downton Abbey.

Now Hugh Bonneville will play one of Britain's most beloved children's authors Roald Dahl in a new film about his life and marriage.

The Paddington actor, 53, will portray the author in the 1960s, the decade in which Roald published classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach.

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National treasures: Hugh Bonneville will play Roald Dahl (left) in a biopic of the children's author's life set during the early 1960s

The biopic, which will be of a similar tone to Mary Poppins flick Saving Mr. Banks, will also look at the writer's marriage to actress Patricia Neal.

Patricia, who won an Oscar for 1963's Hud, married Roald in 1953 and they had five children together.

Producer Elliot Jenkins told Variety: 'Personally, I cant imagine anyone better than Hugh Bonneville to give the ambivalent nature of Roald Dahls life.'

Hugh will play the Matilda author as he approached middle age in the early 1960s.

Period drama actor: Hugh, 53, became a household name on both sides of the Atlantic when he played the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey from 2010 to 2015

In 1961 Patricia, who died in 2010, starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Roald's daughter Olivia died of measles in 1962 when she was just seven years old.

The author later dedicated The BFG to his late child.

Difficult time: Hugh, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in Downton Abbey, will play Roald at a time where he struggled to pen his classic novels

The couple got divorced in 1983 and Roald died from a blood disease seven years later.

Hugh made his big screen debut in Frankenstein in 1994 and played a supporting role in Notting Hill in 1999.

He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in Downton Abbey, in which he played Robert Crawley from 2010 to 2015.

Family tragedy: Roald's daughter Olivia died at just seven years old in 1962 and the author later dedicated The BFG to her memory

The period drama, which was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, followed the lives of an aristocratic family during and after the First World War.

In March Hugh's co-star Phyllis Logan revealed the entire cast wanted to reunite for a Downton Abbey film, but would struggle to align their schedules.

She told Good Morning Britain: 'Wed love all to get back together again and have one last hurrah, we certainly would.'

Hugh is also set to appear in a Thomas & Friends film where he voices Merlin, an engine who thinks he wields magical powers.

This isn't Hugh's first foray into children's films - he appeared in Muppets Most Wanted and starred in Paddington.

The actor is set to reprise his role as Mr. Brown in Paddington 2, which will be released in November 2017.
His modelling career is going from strength to strength.

And Rafferty Law continued his fashion takeover as he starred in the new campaign for Timberland's Sensorflex S17 range

The 20-year-old rising star looked just like his famous dad Jude Law, 44, in the collection of snaps which saw him cutting a brooding figure on the stairs, while also hanging out with his pals.

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Rising model: Rafferty Law continued his fashion takeover as he starred in the new campaign for Timberland's Sensorflex S17 range

Uncanny resemblance: The 20-year-old star looked just like his famous dad Jude from his early acting days in the collection of snaps

Rafferty, whose mother is Sadie Frost, is seen wearing the popular footwear brand's new Boat Shoes as he casually chills at the bottom of a staircase.

In another he proves to be slightly braver, as he gets comfortable on some metal railings while a camera snaps away from below.

He looks very much the trendy star in black skinny jeans, a logo-clad top and long gold chain.

While he cuts a solo figure in those snaps, in other images he's joined by a bevy of equally stylish pals.

Like a pro! Rafferty, whose mother is Sadie Frost, is seen wearing the popular footwear brand's new Boat Shoes as he casually chills at the bottom of a staircase

He's done this before: In another he proves to be slightly braver, as he gets comfortable on some metal railings while a camera snaps away from below

Style star: He looks very much the trendy star in a black skinny jeans, a logo-clad top and long gold chain

Despite being a force to be reckoned with in the modelling industry, Rafferty won't be following in his famous actor parents' footsteps, preferring to focus on a musical career instead.

The Dior model - who plays the guitar, piano, bass, drums and keyboard - is a big fan of clubbing and DJs in his spare time.

Busy writing with different musicians, he was formerly in the band The Dirty Harrys along with his best friend Marley, son of Pulps bassist Steve Mackey.

Squad: While he cuts a solo figure in those snaps, in other images he's joined by a bevy of equally stylish pals

Trendsetter: In another image he looks directly at the camera, wearing his hood up for added style points

And the young musician puts his passion for music down to his parents 'playing wicked music from a young age'.

Meanwhile, Raffery modelled for Dolce & Gabbana in October alongside the sons of industry icons Daniel Day-Lewis, Cindy Crawford and Pamela Anderson for the brand's new campaign.

Showing off his model chops, he posed in a number of the Italian fashion house's finest evening wear alongside Gabriel-Kane, Presley Gerber and Brandon Thomas Lee.

Career path: Despite being a force to be reckoned with in the modelling industry, Rafferty won't be following in his famous actor parents' footsteps, preferring to focus on a musical career instead

Music lover: The Dior model - who plays the guitar, piano, bass, drums and keyboard - is a big fan of clubbing and DJs in his spare time

Jude and Sadie, who ended their six-year marriage in 2003, are also parents to Iris, 15, and Rudy, 14.

Jude welcomed his fourth child Sophia in 2009, following a brief relationship with American model Samantha Burke.

Ada, another daughter for the actor, was born in March 2015, following a fleeting romance with Catherine Harding.
She was left heartbroken following a brief fling with DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles last year.

But Gemma Oaten has found love again with film producer Scott Walker, making their official red carpet debut together at the Interlude In Prague World Premiere on Thursday night.

The former soap star turned up at the Odeon Leicester Square in London arm-in-arm with her new man, beaming as they stepped out in public together.

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Smitten: Gemma Oaten has found love again with film producer Scott Walker, making their official red carpet debut together at the Interlude In Prague World Premiere on Thursday night

Gemma opted for a purple strapless dress in a prom style, with a fitted bodice and floral print skirt.

The brunette styled her long locks in perfect curls and accessorised with a pendant necklace and bronze heels.

Proving that she and Scott are very much an item, the actress matched her gown to her new man's tie.

Prom chic: Gemma opted for a purple strapless dress in a prom style, with a fitted bodice and floral print skirt

Going public: The former soap star turned up at the Odeon Leicester Square in London arm-in-arm with her new man, beaming as they stepped out in public together

The pair have been spotted together a couple of times now, partying at several showbiz bashes in recent weeks.

A source recently told The Mirror: 'Its early days but she is happy. Scott is a lovely guy and very supportive. They make a good team.'

Gemma first met Nick last September at the TV Choice Awards and the pair embarked on a short-lived romance.

Bronzed beauty: The brunette styled her long locks in perfect curls and sported a golden tan

Moving on: Gemma first met Nick last September at the TV Choice Awards and the pair embarked on a short-lived romance, feeling heartbroken when he dumped her out of the blue

After they met, Nick immediately whisked Gemma off for a romantic dinner after the glitzy award ceremony and they began dating, eight months after Nick's separation from wife Jessica Knowles.

But when pictures emerged of the pair enjoying a romantic getaway in Edinburgh, the 54-year-old star abruptly broke up with Gemma.

Nick returned to Jessica, 28, and supported her as she battled cervical cancer.

By January they decided to separate but remained on good terms for the sake of their son, Eddie.

Gemma was left heartbroken, telling the Daily Star: 'It was weird. It was very eggy and it did put me off dating. I've been a little bit burned and now is the time for me to be a little bit selfish and look after me.'
They're proud parents of three sons.

And on Wednesday, Zoe Saldana and her husband Marco Perego, both age 38, enjoyed some quality time with the newest addition to their family, three-month-old Zen.

The couple were spotted out enjoying some fresh air in Los Angeles as Zoe carried their little boy in his car seat baby carrier.

Baby makes three! On Wednesday, Zoe Saldana and her husband Marco Perego, both age 38, enjoyed some quality time with the newest addition to their family, three-month-old Zen, in Los Angeles

There was a cafe behind them, so the chances are that the pair had enjoyed a bite to eat.

Zoe, who has been busy promoting Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, in which she plays green alien Gamora, looked laid back in a white cardigan that she wore over a red and white striped T-shirt, and distressed jeans.

The half-Dominican, half-Puerto Rican star smoothed her brunette hair back into a half-up style that kept it away from her face while allowing it to cascade over her shoulders.

Zoe, who also has two-year-old twin sons Cy and Bowie with her husband, also wore a playful pair of black and white flats.

Chatting as the go: The Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 star and the artist, both 38, enjoyed the fresh air

Sweet treat: The couple were spotted taking their two-year-old twins Cy and Bowie to a branch of Yogurtland in Los Angeles in March, leaving baby Zen at home

Marco, who hails from Italy, was also casually dress in a black waistcoat over a white T-shirt, distressed black jeans and sand-colored boots.

He pulled a cap on backwards over his long hair and appeared to be carrying Zoe's red purse.

Both of them toted backpacks, with Marco wearing his on his back while Zoe carried her on her side, almost as if they had packed all the things their children might need.

Saving the Universe...again: Zoe co-stars as green-skinned Gamora along with Chris Pratt as Star-Lord in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, presently storming the box office

Boldly going: She also co-stars as Uhura in the rebooted Star Trek franchise, which is presently setting up the fourth film in the series after the release of Star Trek Beyond last year

Meanwhile, aside from Guardians Of The Galaxy, Zoe also plays blue-skinned Neytiri in director James Cameron's blockbuster hit Avatar, which has sequels lined up to bow in 2020, 2021 and 2024.

And she will reprise her role as Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War, which is presently filming and is due out on May 4, 2018, gathering together a host of Marvel superheroes.

Last year Zoe also played Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek Beyond, the third movie in the rebooted space adventure franchise. A fourth film is reportedly in the works but her role has yet to be confirmed.
She denied divorce speculation, after hinting at a marriage split on Instagram.

But Lisa Oldfield continues to set tongues wagging, with the Real Housewives of Sydney star sharing a snap of what she described as her 'tinder profile' on Thursday.

The 41-year-old mother-of-two posted a very busty selfie and the hashtags instantly raised eyebrows.

Please swipe right: Lisa Oldfield continues to set tongues wagging, with the Real Housewives of Sydney star sharing a snap of what she described as her 'tinder profile' on Thursday

'My new #tinder #profile #pleaseswiperight,' she captioned.

Her fans swiftly flocked to the comments section and while some saw the humour in the playful post, others did not.

'You are hilarious,' one user commented.

No split here: Lisa and David denied they are getting divorced

One seemingly unimpressed fan wrote:''@lisalocks16 this is disgusting behaviour.'

The Tinder post came hours after Lisa and her husband David both laughed off divorce rumours.

'We're not getting divorced. No-one else would put up with me!' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'We did separate for a few months in late 2007, early 2008, before we had children. But we are not separated now.

She added: 'We get regular therapy - and probably need a bit more!'

Former One Nation politician David also addressed split reports while chatting to TheFix on Thursday.

Still married: 'We're not getting divorced. No-one else would put up with me!' she said

'The reports are now suggesting she's changed her mind, and I suspect that's because she's realised I won't be there to do her washing,' he said.

Their comments come one day after Lisa set tongues wagging after sharing a meme on social media indicating that she's divorcing her 'a**hole' husband after 16 years of marriage.

'Divorce - to finally get rid of that a**hole,' read the meme.

Shocking: The comments come one day after Lisa set tongues wagging after sharing a meme on social media indicating that she's divorcing her 'a**hole' husband after 16 years of marriage

Lisa captioned it: 'Kicking this #motherf**ker to the #kerb.'

She added the hashtags: '#byedave #byefelicia.'

Also on Thursday, the reality star laughed off her divorce meme while speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O show.

'[David] said to me 'what do you want for mother's day?' and I said 'how about a divorce?' and he said 'I wasn't planning to spend that much,'' she laughed.

'[We're] extremely intolerant of each other ... he's a pain in the a**.'

When radio host Jackie O Henderson asked what prompted her to post the shocking Instagram post, Lisa jokingly replied: 'probably the second bottle of Bollinger.'

'I hate the idea of splitting up my appliances so we'll probably keep at it.'

This isn't the first that Lisa has had some harsh words for her husband.

'Kicking this #motherf**ker to the #kerb': The Real Housewives of Sydney star wasn't shy about expressing herself

A recent episode of The Real Housewives of Sydney revealed how dire things have become between the controversial couple.

As Lisa spoke to a marriage counselor in one scene, she admitted that she tells David she wishes him dead and even throws things at him during their domestic disputes - some of which take place in front of their two children.

'I was looking at him thinking 'I f**king hate you',' Lisa confessed.

'I wish you were dead': Lisa opened up to a marriage counselor about her problems, confessing that she's wished death upon David before

She added: 'I throw things, I say 'I wish you were dead'.'

The outspoken brunette added that she sometimes says 'just die' to her husband, and described their relationship as 'barely civil housemates.'

She admitted that David calls her nasty names all the time, and besides that the only time they really speak is when they're telling each other to 'f**k off.'

Heartbreak: Lisa admitted that David calls her nasty names all the time, and besides that the only time they really speak is when they're telling each other to 'f**k off'

'I throw things': The reality star said things are so bad that she throws things at David, and that their disputes sometimes take place in front of their two children

Lisa also admitted that it was 'make or break' for their marriage.

'It cant be good for the children, they see us fighting all the time,' she said.

Overcome with emotion, the mother-of-two started to break down in tears as she revealed her desire to salvage her and David's dire union.

'It's a real sense of loss,' she sobbed.

'I really want to salvage my relationship. My children deserve a mum and dad that love each other.'

Daily Mail Australia reached out for comment on confirmation of the divorce.
She recently announced she would be launching her own fashion line.

But Alexa Chung showed off her more relaxed style as she hit New York's trendy East Village on Thursday.

The British presenter, 33, put on a casual display as she enjoyed a walk through its sunny streets.

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Casual chic: Alexa Chung showed off her more relaxed style as she hit New York's trendy East Village on Thursday

Swamping her slender figure in a grey suede jumper, she flaunted her slender pins in fitted leggings.

Making the most of her statuesque height, she teamed the outfit with a pair of trainers.

And accessorizing with quirky horn-rimmed and a net-covered bag, her ensemble was complete.

Turnign heads: The British presenter, 33, put on a casual display as she enjoyed a walk through its sunny streets

The style doyenne recently announced her first eponymous fashion line which has already garnered more than 10,000 Instagram followers in a matter of hours.

Her line, ALEXACHUNG, officially launches on May 30 but the star has been teasing fans with a promotional film as well as images from the line - with Alexa modelling the collection herself.

According to Alexa, who is currently dating Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard, the film is a 'tongue in cheek celebration of the dedication, precision, skill and determination needed to develop and create something aesthetically pleasing, coupled with the feeling that you could spend endless amounts of time trying to create something that means a lot to you, hoping that some might appreciate it.'

Leggy: Swamping her slender figure in a grey suede jumper, she flaunted her slender pins in fitted leggings

She added: 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess its supposed to be funny. Nevertheless it was a joy to make and a dream to work with Lorin and Daniel.'

The fashion muse, who has been named Style Icon at the British Fashion Awards for three years running, has also been Contributing Editor to British Vogue interviewing stars including Christopher Kane and Emma Stone, as well as providing her own original features.

In 2013 she released her first book, IT, offering readers an insight into her fashion influences and became the fastest selling fashion book of 2013, and 2014.

She recently worked as executive producer and host of the widelyacclaimed British Vogue fashion documentary series, The Future of Fashion with Alexa Chung, which has so far earned two Webby Awards.

Named Harper Bazaar UKs Best Dressed of Britain, American Vogues Most Stylish Women of the Year and Footwear News Style Influencer of the Year in 2015, Chung has long been a fashion icon and style muse.

Mulberry's Alexa bag was named and styled after her, and attracted a waiting list of 9,000 as well as helping the company achieve record profits.
Thousands of devotees gathered in Malaysian temples on May 10 to celebrate Buddha's birth, death and enlightenment -- a festival marked on different days across the region, which is also known as Wesak day

Thousands of devotees gathered in Malaysian temples Wednesday to celebrate Buddha's birth, death and enlightenment -- a festival marked on different days across the region, which is also known as Wesak day.

In the idyllic city of Ipoh in western Perak state, surrounded by limestone hills, hundreds of people came to seek Buddha's blessings.

Jonas Wong Wai Leong, 30, came with his new bride to pray for a baby and wealth.

As an offering, he carried a Buddha statue and placed it on the altar of Ipoh's "Enlightened Tibetan Buddhist" temple.

A Buddhist priest wearing a traditional costume takes part in the Wesak day or Buddha Day festival celebrations at the Enlightened Heart Tibetan Buddhist temple in Ipoh on May 10, 2017

"I just got married. Today we prayed for prosperity and we asked for a newborn healthy baby," Wong, who lives in Kuala Lumpur, told AFP.

Like many other devotees, he also lit candles as a mark of respect.

"I am so happy today. The temple gave us rice and sugar. I am going to consume them for strength and good health," he added.

Perak was once a rich state, with the tin rush of the 1880s resulting in a boom.

Buddhist devotees unfurl a 25-year-old, 196-foot-long sacred 'Thangka' under the sun during Wesak day or Buddha Day festival celebrations at the Enlightened Heart Tibetan Buddhist temple in Ipoh on May 10, 2017

But now many locals migrate to the capital Kuala Lumpur for jobs.

Buddhism is the second largest religious denomination in Malaysia after Islam.

There are approximately 5.4 million Buddhists in Malaysia, most of them ethnic Chinese, out of a total population of 30 million.
The old city of Kashgar, in north-west China's Xinjiang region

An earthquake rocked China's western Xinjiang region on Thursday, killing eight people and injuring another 23 as more than 1,500 homes crumbled, state media reported.

The shallow 5.4-magnitude quake struck at 5:58 am (2158 GMT Wednesday) 213 kilometres (133 miles) south-southwest of the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar, the US Geological Survey said.

Some people were buried after their adobe homes collapsed, said Wang Fuyou, Communist Party chief of Taxkorgan county, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Rescuers were searching for people trapped in the rubble in Quzgun, the worst-hit village, which has a population of 449, Wang said.

More than 1,500 homes collapsed in Quzgun, Xinhua said.

An earthquake rocks China's western Xinjiang region

More than 9,000 people were relocated in the region while 1,000 soldiers and 1,500 civilians were participating in rescue efforts, the agency said.

Xinhua said the injured were taken to hospital.

The People's Daily posted a photo on Twitter of a building in complete ruins. Other photos, all from the official earthquake monitoring centre, show ceiling panels on the ground in one building and products on the floor in a store.

The remote and sparsely populated area is close to the border with Tajikistan.

China is regularly hit by earthquakes, especially its mountainous western and southwestern regions.

In February 2003 a powerful 6.8-magnitude quake killed 268 people in Xinjiang and caused significant damage.
James Comey, who was fired as FBI director by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, testifying in Congress on May 3

After FBI director James Comey's firing, his successor faces a tough challenge to assert independence while pursuing a politically-charged investigation into links between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.

Analysts and former agents say Comey's exit gives the Federal Bureau of Investigation much-needed space to get past accusations that he botched the probe into Hillary Clinton's email server last year, helping swing the election to Trump.

But, as FBI directors ever since the agency's creation 108 years ago have found, politics are never far away, and clashes with the occupants of the White House who select them are almost inevitable.

Whoever takes the lead of the 30,000-strong investigative agency could also end up crossing swords with Trump over the probe into Russian interference in the election, which the president has repeatedly branded "fake news."

But not aggressively following that risks more accusations that the agency has given in to politics.

"It is no longer possible for the FBI to conduct its investigation into the Trump campaign's involvement in Russian electoral interference in any meaningfully independent way," said Julian Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

"Even if the next FBI director avoids any hint of improperly seeking to influence the investigation, the damage has been done; the sight of Comey's head on a pike is influence enough."

- 'Closets full of skeletons' -

J. Edgar Hoover, who led the country's top police agency for 48 years from 1924, had a legendary upper hand over the White House thanks to secret files on politicians he amassed over decades.

But since then FBI chiefs serve presidents at their own peril. Hoover's successor L. Patrick Gray, acting director under president Richard Nixon, was forced out after just under a year for obeying White House orders and burning Watergate-related documents.

In 1993, president Bill Clinton fired director William Sessions, who served nearly six years, citing a report about managerial abuse but also clearly seeking his own top cop.

But Sessions's replacement Louis Freeh turned the tables. The former FBI agent became a constant antagonist as the Clinton White House plunged into a series of scandals, most notably the Monica Lewinsky affair that nearly saw Clinton removed from office.

But it also made Freeh look partisan, on the side of a Republican assault on the Democratic president.

Freeh was never apologetic about taking a stance against Clinton, whom he said lacked "moral compass."

"His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out," Freeh wrote in a 2005 tell-all book.

- Reckless -

Comey was well-liked by the FBI rank and file after president Barack Obama named him director in September 2013. The former lawyer and prosecutor paid attention to staff needs, said 25-year agency veteran Ed Shaw.

But when Comey went public on July 5, 2016, to announce he would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton for mishandling classified emails, Shaw says he and many of his colleagues were deeply disappointed.

In the middle of the election, Comey dangerously dragged the agency into politics, Shaw said, when he should have stayed quiet and forwarded his conclusions in the complicated case to the Department of Justice.

"That was recklessly poor judgment," he said. "You don't talk about investigations, let DOJ do that. That's their job."

No one knew at the time that Comey was also juggling another case that involved the Trump campaign and Russian interference into the election.

Together, analysts say, the cases put him in an almost impossible situation -- anything revealed before or after the November 8 vote could draw a severe backlash from political parties and accusations of favoritism.

"When you are going up that high on the food chain, the higher you fly, the harder you fall if you make a mistake," said Shaw.

Agents critical of Comey's handling of the Clinton case nevertheless worry about what happens next.

The FBI Agents Association said in a statement they want a voice in who Trump nominates.

Comey's focus "was to ensure that the Bureau's investigations complied with the law and the Constitution, and that agents performed their mission with integrity and professionalism."

Michael Tabman, a retired FBI veteran in Kansas City, Missouri, was critical of Comey's handling of the Clinton case. But the firing was something else, he said.

"I think many agents are going to question whether this was politically motivated and it's going to be very disheartening to these agents, who work very hard to remain apolitical and just do their job," he told KCTV, a Kansas City station.
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is to co-chair a meeting of leaders in London to thrash out agreements with his country under its new political leadership

International leaders are gathering in London on Thursday to thrash out agreements with Somalia aimed at stabilising the country under its new political leadership.

The one-day conference is looking to strike a new compact that will accelerate progress on security, development and the troubled east African country's economy by 2020.

Britain's Foreign Office said it was aiming for "a new partnership for Somalia".

The meeting is being co-chaired by Somalia's new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini is also attending, along with US Defence Secretary James Mattis and Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon.

Somalia is under a new president, prime minister and parliament this year and the conference is focused on underpinning stability in this electoral cycle.

Around 40 delegations from countries and international institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the League of Arab States are set to participate.

The gathering will focus on stimulating growth in one of the world's poorest countries and securing a path towards debt relief, hence the large turnout from international financial institutions.

Relief of its $5.3 billion long-standing debts will be dependent on Somalia reforming its economy and tackling corruption.

The international community is also looking for commitment to deliver a one person, one vote democracy by 2020-21.

- Famine, piracy, Islamism fears -

Diplomatic sources said the meeting was timely as drought, piracy and militant Islamist group Shabaab were all reappearing on the radar.

The UN said last week that Somalia, hit by drought and on the verge of famine, will count 1.4 million acutely malnourished children by the end of the year, up 50 percent from late 2016.

Meanwhile half a dozen pirate attacks have been recently reported in the region, after falling to zero in recent years, General Thomas Waldhauser, the top US military chief in Africa said last month.

And earlier this month, a US soldier was killed in a night-time raid, in what is believed to be the first US military death in combat in Somalia since the infamous events of "Black Hawk Down" 24 years ago.

For the last decade, the Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the Somali government.

The group attacks government, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere, often deploying suicide bombers, and has over-run several military outposts, massacring soldiers from the 22,000-member African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM.
A dredger pumps sand to reclaim land outside the port of Colombo as part of a $1.4 billion real estate development by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Sri Lanka Thursday as New Delhi seeks to reassert its influence on the island

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Sri Lanka on Thursday on a charm offensive as New Delhi seeks to reassert its influence on the island amid signs of a Chinese comeback.

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in January 2015 promising to loosen ties with China after a decade of hefty funding by Beijing under his predecessor.

When Modi visited the island shortly afterwards, he promised to "script a golden chapter in the history of India-Sri Lanka relations".

Just two years later, analysts say Beijing's influence is on the rise again as Colombo struggles to find alternative sources of foreign capital.

For India, which wants to keep Sri Lanka within its sphere of influence, that is a worrying sign.

"For Modi to visit again so soon is clearly an expression of India's concerns about China's deepening economic roots in Sri Lanka and the potential strategic, even military, advantages this might ultimately bring," said Alan Keenan of the International Crisis Group.

Sirisena halted all Chinese-funded infrastructure projects when he swept to power in 2015, ousting the island's strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse, who had aggressively courted Beijing.

Now these projects, which included new highways, railway lines and a telecommunications tower, are back on track.

A $1.4 billion Chinese-funded land reclamation project outside Colombo harbour has also been relaunched.

New Delhi has long been nervous of a Chinese presence at the Colombo port, a key transshipment point for Indian cargo.

Even more controversially, Colombo is trying to sell a controlling interest in a strategically-located deep-sea port in the south to China.

Shortly after hosting Modi, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will travel to China, where he is expected to try to finalise that sale.

- Black flags -

Experts say India simply doesn't have deep enough pockets to take over China's place as the country's main financial backer.

"The new government realises that its Western allies have not delivered and only China has the deep pockets to invest," said Sri Lankan political analyst Kusal Perera.

"The new government has understood this reality and they are wooing China while keeping India on board."

Last time Modi visited Sri Lanka, he made a highly symbolic trip to the war-ravaged north in a demonstration of support for Sri Lanka's mostly Hindu Tamil minority, who share close cultural and religious ties with counterparts living in southern India.

This time, he will be guest of honour at a major Buddhist festival -- a move seen as aimed at winning the support of the Sinhalese majority, many of whom are suspicious of India.

Former leader Rajapakse's political allies among the Sinhalese community this month called for a black flag protest during Modi's visit.

Manoj Joshi of the Observer Research Foundation think tank in Delhi said Modi would likely use the visit to deepen economic ties with Sri Lanka.

But he cautioned against overly high expectations.

"Everyone in New Delhi has realised that the new Colombo government isn't going to abandon China just like that. It has certain big infrastructure investments," he told AFP.

"When confronted by a big neighbour like India, they can leverage China, just like other countries in the neighbourhood like Nepal and Bangladesh."
A woman cries after a wall collapsed during a wedding, killing at least 24 people, in Bharatpur, in India's Rajasthan state, on May 11, 2017

A wall crashed down on an Indian wedding party during a storm killing at least 24 people including four children, police said Thursday, with one rescuer describing the scene as "horrific".

Dozens more were injured when the 13-foot (four-metre) high concrete wall collapsed, trapping guests who had taken shelter from violent rain in a tin shack on Wednesday night, police superintendent Anil Tank told AFP.

"We worked through the night," one rescue worker at the scene in Bharatpur, Rajasthan state, told India TV news network.

"We tried to rescue as many people as possible, the scene was horrific."

Tank, a senior officer in Bharatpur, said 26 people were injured, 15 of them seriously. Television footage showed anxious relatives standing next to hospital beds.

Police have launched an investigation and detained a wedding hall manager on charges of causing death by negligence.

"We have registered a case and taken one of the managers of the banquet hall into custody," district magistrate Narendra Kumar Gupta told reporters.

"We will investigate if the hall owners had a valid licence. In case they did not have a licence, appropriate action will be taken against them."

At the accident scene, food for the wedding feast lay scattered across the floor, which had caved in places under the weight of the collapsed wall.

A stage traditionally set aside for the bride and the groom had also incurred severe damage.

Gupta also announced compensation of 50,000 rupees ($775) for the family of each person killed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the incident had pained him "beyond words".

A wall collapsed during a wedding party in western India, killing 24 people including four children

"My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. I hope the injured recover soon," he tweeted.

Indian weddings are often grandiose affairs with huge numbers of guests and lavish ceremonies that run for several days.

Many families pour their life savings into them, and it is not uncommon for affluent urban families to host thousands of guests.

In 2014 one guest was killed when a floating platform carrying the bride and groom that was suspended from the end of a crane collapsed onto a wedding party.

Disasters more often result from celebratory firing into the air, particularly in rural north India where gun ownership is widespread.

Last year, at least three people died in such incidents, and earlier this month a 12-year-old boy died of gunshot injuries sustained at a wedding in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Rajasthan is one of India's most arid states, but suffers frequent dust and rain storms during the hotter months.

A heatwave has swept across much of India in recent weeks, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in the capital Delhi.

Building collapses are common in India, especially during the annual monsoon season.

A massive influx of people to cities in search of jobs and a shortage of low cost housing have fuelled the construction of illegal buildings across the country, often with sub-standard material.

Some 1,885 people died from the collapse of various structures in India in 2015, according to the National Crimes Record Bureau.
In Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner recently signed a law setting out more than $200 million in investment annually for renewable energy

Even as President Donald Trump steers the United States away from actively fighting climate change, a number of American cities and states are continuing to pursue renewable energies to reduce their carbon footprint.

Around three dozen states -- even some headed by Republicans -- have established policies that require power companies to expand the amount of renewable energy they produce in the coming decade.

Beyond the traditional Democratic and pro-environment bastions of California and New York, even states headed by Republican governors including Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Texas and Iowa have decided to invest massively in clean energy.

"I think the surprise to me is how Republican governors appreciate there are opportunities for economic development for investment for innovation by embracing new technologies, both energy efficiency and clean energy, and in spite of the Trump administration turning their back and in fact trying to put up barriers," said Dick Munson, head of the Environmental Defense Fund's energy program in the Midwest.

In Illinois, Republican governor Bruce Rauner recently signed a law, struck with the help of the majority Democratic legislature, setting out more than $200 million in investment annually for renewable energy.

"That is probably the most extensive clean energy legislation in the country," Munson told AFP.

- Large mobilization -

In Ohio Governor John Kasich vetoed a bill that would have weakened the state's clean energy efforts

In Ohio, governor John Kasich, who lost his battle for the Republican party's nomination in the presidential race last year to Trump, vetoed a bill that would have weakened the state's clean energy efforts.

And in the highly conservative state of Texas, former governor Rick Perry, also a Republican who became Secretary of Energy under Trump, has aggressively pursued wind energy, before saying he would advise Trump to stay in the Paris climate accord.

Texas "produces more wind power per year than every other state of the nation," said Munson, making up a quarter of US wind capacity and 12.7 percent of Texas's energy needs.

With more turbines under construction, wind will soon furnish 16 percent of Texas's electricity.

Wind made up 5.6 percent of US energy production last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The leadership of cities and states when it comes to green energy offers "most definitely a pathway to meet our Paris commitment even if the Trump administration is uncooperative or hostile," said Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Beyond Coal Campaign at the Sierra Club.

- Energy transition -

In the highly conservative state of Texas, former governor Rick Perry, who became Secretary of Energy under President Donald Trump, aggressively pursued wind energy

"We are not building any new coal fired power plant in this country," she added.

Since 2010, 175 coal plants have closed, leaving 270 in operation which produce about 30 percent of US energy.

Natural gas provides 33.8 percent of US needs, nuclear 19.7 percent and renewable energy -- including wind, solar, biomass and geothermal -- 15 percent.

The clean energy revolution means these methods make good business sense, she added.

And with the abundance of natural gas in the United States, coal is increasingly less competitive. Another 73 coal plants are projected to close by 2030, despite Trump's support for this polluting fossil fuel.

"States and cities in the US is where we make decisions about how we get and produce our electricity," Hitt said.

"Those decisions are not made in Washington and there is not a lot that Trump can do to change these decisions."

More than 200 cities and counties in the United States are now part of Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), a UN-led network of over 1,500 cities, towns and regions committed to building a sustainable future.

"The commitment of mayors and governors in the US to climate action has never been stronger than today," said Gino van Begin, secretary-general of ICLEI, on the sidelines of a conference in Bonn, Germany, to advance implementation of the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The global deal signed by more than 190 countries aimed to limited global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"This is unstoppable," he added.

"My understanding is that already the US economy also has started to begin to decouple from carbon."

In the past decade, US gross domestic product increased 10 percent while the carbon emission decreased nine percent, he said.
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For Chi Chia-wei the imminent court decision that could make Taiwan the first place in Asia to recognise gay marriage is his greatest shot at justice after decades of tireless campaigning.

"It's been so long, my hair has gone grey!" says 59-year-old Chia, who often appears in public draped in rainbow flags.

The celebrated activist, who has led the island's gay rights movement for nearly 30 years, will know on May 24 whether his battle for marriage equality has been won when Taiwan's constitutional court rules on his latest petition.

At the centre of the case is a clause in Taiwan's Civil Code which says an agreement to marry should be made between a man and a woman.

Chi wants the court to rule on whether that part of the Civil Code contravenes elements in Taiwan's constitution which guarantee equality and freedom of marriage.

The decision is binding, so a ruling in his favour would pave the way for same-sex unions to be legalised.

Chi says he is optimistic, but his excitement is tempered by the length of time it has taken to get this far.

"This should have happened long ago. It's belated justice," he told AFP.

Chi is one of two petitioners bringing the case.

The other is the Taipei City government which is seeking clarification as authorities in Taiwan have been rejecting applications for same-sex marriages based on the Civil Code clause.

Chi says this time there is much more public momentum for change -- in December, a pro-gay marriage rally drew 250,000 people according to organisers.

"It was just a one-man campaign when I started -- now I have 250,000 people beside me. I am not alone in doing what is right," Chi said.

- 'One right thing' -

Raised by liberal-minded parents supportive of his sexual orientation, they encouraged him to fight for his beliefs.

He came out to friends at high school and says he was surprised by how accepting they were.

Taiwan's constitutional court began hearing a landmark case on March 24 that could make the island the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage

After starting out as a rights activist for HIV and AIDS sufferers, Chi became a full-time advocate for gay rights after meeting his partner 29 years ago.

But while he may have had support from his family and peers, outspoken Chi has had numerous run-ins with authorities.

In 1986, when Taiwan was still under martial law, Chi says he was imprisoned for five months after submitting his first petition asking for gay marriage to be recognised.

The charges linked him with a robbery and were entirely fabricated, he says.

Since then his appeals for a change in the marriage law have been rejected by government agencies and courts, including a failed petition to the constitutional court in 2001.

"I wasn't discouraged by the setbacks. That's how I have been able to carry on for so long," says Chi.

"My belief is that if you can do one right thing in this life, it's all worth it."

A lack of support in parliament has also previously meant the gay marriage debate stalled.

However, campaigners were given new hope when Tsai Ing-wen won the presidency last year and openly supported marriage equality.

With her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the majority, parliament passed the first draft of a bill to legalise gay marriage in December and it is due for a second reading later this year.

But while there is more support than ever for gay marriage in Taiwan, recent debate has also exposed deep divisions in society.

Conservative groups say allowing same-sex unions would destroy family values and opponents have staged mass rallies in recent months, including a protest outside the constitutional court hearing in March.

Chi says those who are against him accuse him of "spreading heresy" and attention-seeking. They belittle his relationship with his partner, comparing it to children playing house, he says.

"I am not doing this for my own interests," Chi said.

"My partner and I are an old couple now and getting married is not a priority for us. But other gay couples need legal protection."
Republican Representative Tom MacArthur speaks to constituents during a town hall meeting in Willingboro, New Jersey

Tirades, yells and cries of "liar" lit up a town hall meeting in New Jersey, where for five hours furious Americans tore into a Republican congressman for attempting to repeal Obamacare.

Tom MacArthur came home to his swing district to face the music Wednesday after helping to write the amendment that allowed a controversial health reform bill to pass the lower house last week.

But if health care was the focus, the largely hostile audience vented general outrage at President Donald Trump, taking issue with his temperament, his sacking of the FBI director and investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in last year's election.

Hour after hour, the polarization of US politics was laid bare as the former insurance broker was harangued by a crowd of several hundred in the largely Democrat town of Willingboro, northeast of Philadelphia.

US Republican Representative Tom MacArthur faced demonstrators outside, and a largely hostile crowd inside a town hall meeting

"Nobody with a pre-existing condition will either be declined coverage or priced out," insisted MacArthur, defending the bill. "That is a lie," shot back a woman as the crowd groaned.

"Folks I didn't come here to defend a president tonight," said the congressman at one point, pleading with hecklers to keep quiet.

Outside the venue dozens of protesters held up posters reading "Killer Tom" and "People without health care die!" near a skeleton.

Inside certified medical assistant Geoff Ginter, 47, stole the show from the front row, subjecting a red-faced MacArthur to a 10-minute monologue lashing the health bill as "immoral."

- 'Greatest threat' -

"You have been the single greatest threat to my family in the entire world," he bellowed into the microphone, jabbing his finger in MacArthur's direction to cheers and applause.

Demonstrators protest before a town hall meeting with US Representative Tom MacArthur in Willingboro, New Jersey

The father from Pine Beach said his wife lives in fear of her cancer returning and their two children have cardiac and thyroid conditions.

"I will not forgive, I will not forget," he yelled, explaining that he lives in fear of losing his job and not being able to afford health coverage if the bill passes.

"You are the reason I can't sleep," he added, slamming the moderate Republican for working with "an orange-haired buffoon" in the White House.

Republicans blame Obamacare for sending insurance premiums soaring while reducing options for millions. Those who passed the bill says it is a necessary reform.

But Democrats say the law helped 20 million Americans gain health coverage and saved thousands of lives by barring insurers from refusing to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

"I hear people shouting out vulgarities," hit back MacArthur after being interrupted an umpteenth time. "This is part of what's wrong in America, there's no civil discourse," he added.

"You don't like what somebody says and they're an idiot?"

- Masochism -

Several expressed incredulity that he could be responsible for the bill after his mother died of cancer when he was four years old and his daughter, who had special needs, died aged 11.

After being interrupted an umpteenth time during a town hall meeting, US Representative Tom MacArthur complained there was "no civil discourse" in America

"I have a great deal of admiration for your tolerance for masochism. You've really taken a beating tonight," said one woman. As the event dragged late into the night, many people drifted away.

When the congressman ignored yes or no questions about whether the legislation considered rape a pre-existing condition, the audience broke into chants of "answer the question," clapping in unison.

Videographer Bob Finkelstein, 49, who grew up in New Jersey and lives 40 minutes away, says his medication for multiple sclerosis costs $80,000 a year, the vast majority of which is covered by Obamacare.

"I absolutely could not afford the health care that I'm going to need if this repeal goes through," he told AFP.

"If it starts up again because I can't afford my medication I could get paralyzed, I could die an early death," he added.

Back in the room it was left to a frustrated MacArthur to insist that not everyone in his district, which voted for Trump, shared the anger.

"No matter what I do, may be half the people will be disappointed with me," he said shortly before the meeting drew to a close at 11:20pm.
South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In talks to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, on May 11, 2017

South Korea's new president Moon Jae-In spoke to the leaders of China and Japan Thursday, hours after a telephone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump, officials said, as he began shaping his approach to the nuclear-armed North.

Moon favours engagement with Pyongyang to bring it to the negotiating table, unlike his conservative predecessors and the US Trump administration, which backs stronger sanctions and has threatened military action.

But Moon also has to navigate a complex web of regional issues.

Beijing -- the North's biggest trade partner and diplomatic protector -- is infuriated over the deployment of a US missile defence system in the South, and Seoul is embroiled in a row with fellow US ally Tokyo over wartime history.

Moon had a 40-minute conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, his spokesman Yoon Young-Chan told reporters, with the two agreeing denuclearising Pyongyang was a "common goal" between them.

South Korea's new president

China and South Korea enjoyed an increasingly warm relationship early in the tenure of Moon's predecessor Park Geun-Hye, drawn together by shared historical differences with Japan.

But ties have plummeted. Beijing sees the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, newly installed in the South intended to guard against threats from the North, as a threat to its own military capabilities and has slapped a series of measures against South Korean businesses seen as economic retaliation.

Moon called for "dialogue along with sanctions and pressure" on the North, Yoon said, and -- echoing the United States' line -- suggested that Beijing should do more to tame Pyongyang.

Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over the THAAD system and told Xi he was "well aware" of Chinese concerns about it.

The two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys "at an early date", with Moon proposing sending a separate delegation to Beijing and Xi inviting him to visit, Yoon said.

- Comfort women -

Seoul and former colonial power Tokyo are both targeted by the North, but are in dispute over history and Park did not visit Japan while in office.

But in a 25-minute conversation, Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they hoped to meet at an early date and exchanged invitations to visit, according to both sides.

China sees the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system as a threat to its own military capability and has slapped a series of measures against South Korean businesses seen as economic retaliation

Historical issues should be overcome "wisely" and not hamper the countries' relationship or efforts to deal with the North, the Blue House quoted Moon as saying.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also China and other parts of Asia, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The plight of the "comfort women" has marred relations for decades but the two governments reached a "final and irreversible" agreement in late 2015, with Japan offering an apology and a payment to survivors.

The United States is South Korea's security guarantor and has 28,500 troops stationed in the country

But Korean critics said Japan did not go far enough under the deal, and earlier this year Tokyo recalled its ambassador over a statue symbolising the comfort women installed outside its consulate in Busan.

Moon told Abe that most Koreans could not accept the agreement, according to the Blue House, while Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Abe told him it was "extremely important" to implement it.

The phone calls came a day after Moon and US President Donald Trump agreed on "close cooperation" over the North's nuclear ambitions in their first conversation Wednesday night.

The US is the South's security guarantor and has 28,500 troops stationed in the country, but Seoul was startled when Trump suggested it should pay for the $1 billion THAAD system.

The North has staged two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop a way to deliver a nuclear warhead to "imperialist enemy" the US.

Tensions have been running high with rhetoric intensifying on both sides, but Trump recently softened his posture, saying he would be "honoured" to meet the North's leader Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea last week accused the CIA of plotting with the South to assassinate Kim using a biochemical weapon, an allegation impossible to verify -- and following the killing of his half-brother Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia with a banned nerve agent, a murder widely blamed on Pyongyang.

The North's vice foreign minister Han Song-Ryol briefed foreign diplomats in Pyongyang Thursday on the alleged plot, calling it "the most vicious challenge and a declaration of war".
In March, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, who is gay, was one of 20 chief executives of some of Australia's largest companies to sign a joint letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in support of marriage equality

A devout Christian who smashed a pie into Qantas chief Alan Joyce's face to protest gay marriage was charged on Thursday by Australian police with assault, trespassing and damage.

The 67-year-old -- who local media identified as former farmer Tony Overheu -- walked on stage at a business breakfast event in Perth Tuesday and shoved a lemon meringue pie into the stunned Irishman's face.

Joyce, a vocal supporter of equal rights, said Wednesday he would continue to speak up on marriage equality despite the incident.

Overheu, already facing a charge of giving false details to officers, was slapped with three new charges of "common assault, trespass and damage", Western Australia Police said in a statement.

He is due to appear in court on June 7.

In March Joyce, who is gay, was one of 20 chief executives of some of Australia's largest companies to sign a joint letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in support of marriage equality.

Overheu told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Joyce's marriage stance meant "in that context he was appropriate (to target)".

Australia is accused of lagging behind a growing number of countries on marriage reform.

Same-sex couples can have civil unions or register their relationships in most states across Australia, but the government does not consider them married under national law.
US Ambassador to Qatar Dana Shell Smith (L) tweeeted it was "increasingly difficult" to wake up to news from home as she need to explain "our democracy and institutions"

The US ambassador to Qatar has expressed her dissatisfaction with political events back home in a decidedly undiplomatic message posted on social media.

Dana Shell Smith, who has been the American envoy to the Gulf emirate since 2014, took to Twitter in the hours after the dramatic sacking of FBI director James Comey by President Donald Trump.

"Increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home, knowing I will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions," Shell Smith tweeted, in apparent disapproval of the move.

It was a rare public show of exasperation with political events -- either in the US or Qatar -- by the envoy, who was appointed by Barack Obama.

The message was posted on May 9 and has been retweeted more than 2,000 times.

Qatar is a key US ally and home to Al-Udeid, the largest US airbase in the region, which houses around 10,000 troops.

Last month, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis visited Doha and met Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Trade between the two countries is also growing.

Last year, after Trump's election, it was announced that gas-rich Qatar's sovereign wealth fund wanted to invest $10 billion in US infrastructure projects.

There was some angry reaction to Shell Smith's tweet online, with calls for her to be sacked for her apparent criticism of the president.

In a new post on Thursday morning, Shell Smith appeared to try to take the sting out of her earlier message.

"Diplomats explain & defend our political system. Can be tough when partisan acrimony so high, but there is still no greater country. #USA," she tweeted.
Bangladesh police have launched a nationwide crackdown against extremist outfits, arresting scores of suspects

Bangladesh police on Thursday raided a suspected Islamist hideout in an operation that left five relatives and a fire officer dead, officials said.

Police shot dead the five people, all from the same family, as they emerged from a house in northwest Bangladesh, senior police officer Sumit Chowdhury told AFP.

One of the five stabbed the fire officer, who died of his injuries, while two others hurled grenades at police. Two police were also injured.

"We were surprised by the attack. Two of them threw grenades and another attacked a fire service officer with a sharp rod. He later died in hospital," said Chowdhury.

"Five extremists were killed in our shooting. They include a father, his wife and their two sons and a daughter," he said.

Police raided the house in Habashpur, Rajshahi district, following a tip-off that members of the outlawed Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Islamist group were holed up there, Chowdhury said.

Police rescued a two month-old baby and a seven-year-old boy, and believe one woman may still be inside the house.

"The firing has stopped. But we have not entered the compound yet," assistant superintendent of police Ekramul Haq told AFP, adding bomb disposal officers have been called to the site.

It was not clear whether the sons and daughter were adults, but police said two young brothers, named Ashraf and Al Amin, alias Hamza, were suspected to have been killed and that one was wearing a suicide vest.

Bangladesh authorities have blamed the JMB for deadly attacks against religious minorities including Hindus, Christians, Sufi Muslims, Shiites and foreigners in the Muslim-majority country.

These include a major attack on a Dhaka cafe last July in which 22 people were killed, most of them foreigners.

Police have since launched a nationwide crackdown against extremist outfits, arresting scores of suspects.

They have killed more than 70 people since the cafe attack, including at least 11 in the past two weeks.

Analysts say Islamist militants pose a growing danger in Bangladesh, where a long-running political crisis has radicalised opponents of the government.

On Tuesday three men stormed a mosque with cleavers and attacked a cleric from the Ahmadi minority Muslim community. The cleric was critically wounded.

The Islamic State organisation and an Al Qaeda branch have claimed responsibilities for many of the assaults but the government has rejected the claims.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe regularly closes his eyes at public appearances, such as at this 2009 event in Harare

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 93, is not asleep when he closes his eyes for long periods in public events but is resting his eyes from bright lights, his spokesman said Thursday.

Mugabe has regularly had his eyes closed at recent appearances, including when he appeared on a discussion panel at last week's World Economic Forum meeting in South Africa.

"I feel like a failure when there is this reading that the President is sleeping in conferences, no," his spokesman George Charamba was quoted as saying in the state-run Herald newspaper.

"At 93, there is something that happens to the eyes and the President cannot suffer bright lights. If you look at his poise, he looks down, avoids direct lighting."

Charamba compared Mugabe to Nelson Mandela, whose eyes were sensitive to flash photography after years of working in a limestone quarry when he was imprisoned on Robben Island.

"You were not allowed to even use flashes whenever he was in the room," he said.

Mugabe, who has trouble walking unaided, is in Singapore on one of his regular medical trips.

Charamba said the president was receiving specialised treatment for his eyes and that his general health was good.

Mugabe's foreign medical trips are often criticised in Zimbabwe, where healthcare has collapsed due to the country's economic troubles.

Charamba said that Mugabe's medical care is supervised in Harare by a "very, very, very black" Zimbabwean doctor -- and that he only flies abroad for specialist attention.
A general view shows the town of Tabqa after members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces recaptured several neighbourhoods on April 30, 2017

US-backed fighters hunted for jihadist holdouts in Syria's Tabqa on Thursday after overrunning the city and nearby dam in a step forward for their advance on Islamic State group stronghold Raqa.

The Syrian Democratic Forces scored one of their biggest victories against IS jihadists as controversy intensified over a US decision to arm the alliance's Kurdish component.

The SDF was conducting clearance operations after seizing Tabqa and the nearby dam on Wednesday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"The SDF were able to deploy onto the dam itself during the night," the Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman said. "But civilians are still unable to enter some parts of Tabqa because of explosives" left by IS.

The US military command in the Middle East, Centcom, confirmed the "liberation" of Tabqa.

"The SDF's increased pressure on ISIS from each flank allowed it to... clear the final neighbourhoods of the city and isolate Tabqa dam," said Centcom, referring to IS.

A member of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) stands guard in the town of Al-Karamah, 26 kilometres from the Islamic State group bastion of Raqa, on May 10, 2017

The Arab-Kurdish alliance accepted IS's surrender to protect civilians and the dam, it said, adding "the coalition tracked fleeing fighters and targeted those that could be safely hit".

Situated on the Euphrates River about 55 kilometres (35 miles) upstream from Raqa, Tabqa is a key waypost in the operation to capture the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital.

Operation Wrath of the Euphrates has seen the SDF capture large swathes of territory north of Raqa and at their closest point its fighters are just eight kilometres (five miles) from the city.

It is now working to tighten the noose before a final assault.

- Celebrations in Tabqa -

The battle for Tabqa was marked by fears that fighting could damage the nearby dam -- Syria's largest -- with the potential for catastrophic flooding.

Tabqa

Technicians fled the dam as fighting intensified in recent days, a source who works closely with them told AFP.

A repair team was on standby on Thursday, awaiting permission from the SDF, which was still clearing mines, to enter and assess any damage to the structure.

An AFP correspondent saw SDF fighters distributing sweets to their comrades as they celebrated at the dam overlooking Lake Assad, a large reservoir created by the facility in the 1970s.

The SDF is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), seen by the US as an indispensable ally in the fight against IS but considered a "terrorist group" by Turkey.

YPG video footage on Thursday showed half a dozen fighters and youths dancing in Tabqa, and children calling out excitedly: "The dam has been liberated".

Washington has stepped up its support for the YPG in recent days, announcing it would arm the Kurdish fighters in a break with its previous policy of arming only the SDF's Arab fighters.

The move has infuriated NATO ally Ankara.

A displaced child, who fled from the Islamic State group bastion of Raqa, stands outside as she eats a loaf of bread in a camp for displaced near the town of Al-Karamah, 26 kilometres from Raqa, on May 10, 2017

The US-led coalition said a first consignment of weapons was already in place for delivery and could be dispatched to the Kurds "very quickly".

The arms include heavy machineguns to be used against IS truck bombs, mortars, small arms and ammunition, as well as armoured vehicles and equipment to detect landmines, said coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian.

"Every single one of these weapons that are being provided to our partner force, we intend to account for them, and to ensure that they are pointed at ISIS," he added.

- Turkey slams US 'mistake' -

But Washington's reassurances failed to assuage Ankara, which regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

"YPG and PKK are both terror groups, there is no difference at all between them. They only have different names," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

On Thursday, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in London, although it was not immediately clear if they discussed the arming of the YPG.

The issue is set to dominate talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his American counterpart Donald Trump next week, the first meeting between the two heads of state.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is set for difficult talks with US counterpart Donald Trump next week, delivers a speech in Istanbul on May 4, 2017

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," Erdogan said.

Meanwhile, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad described five rounds of peace talks held in Geneva so far as a "media event" whose aim was to get concessions out of his government, according to official media.

In fighting elsewhere on Thursday, government forces gained ground in the capital's Qabun district, as the regime presses efforts to push insurgents into an evacuation deal and to clear Damascus of armed groups, the Observatory said.
Iraqi forces guard a position in the northwestern al-Haramat neighbourhood of Mosul on May 9, 2017

Jihadists preparing for a desperate last stand in Mosul are booby-trapping homes with civilians inside and welding doors shut on starving families to prevent the population from fleeing, residents say.

Iraqi forces are closing in fast on the Old City and its narrow streets, where the Islamic State group is expected to focus its significantly depleted military capabilities.

The most violent group in modern jihad has repeatedly resorted to human shields to cover its movements but in Mosul the jihadists appear to be taking the tactic to new levels.

"Daesh came to our house and welded the door. They gave us a small amount of water and a white cloth and said: 'Here's a shroud for you'," said one resident of Zinjili neighbourhood.

The woman sent a voice message to a relative living in the "liberated" eastern side of Mosul and said she was now trapped in her own house with her husband, her four children and no food.

Resources were already scarce when the huge government offensive to wrest back Mosul from IS was launched in October last year.

After more than six months of fighting, the living conditions of residents of the last neighbourhoods IS still holds are beyond dire.

Iraqi forces guard a position in the northwestern al-Haramat neighbourhood of Mosul on May 9, 2017

A 35-year-old man who gave his name as Abu Rami and lives in the Old City of west Mosul said IS was desperate to keep the population from running away.

"They have been doing this lately. When they suspect a family of intending to escape to the security forces, they lock them in," he told AFP by phone.

- Hunger the biggest killer -

"They have detained several families like this here, and in some cases they weld the doors to be sure," he said. Houses in Mosul often have barred windows or are built around walled courtyards with a single door onto the street.

"Those families have a choice of dying of hunger, disease or shelling."

Abdulkarim al-Obeidi, a civil activist from Mosul, said an estimated 250,000 people were still trapped in the Old City and the handful of other areas that remain under IS control.

"Daesh is locking doors on families inside those areas that have not yet been liberated. They are detaining people," he said.

He put the number of IS fighters defending their last redoubts in west Mosul at around 600, meaning that the jihadists are massively outnumbered and making the resort to human shields an increasingly important part of their defence strategy.

"Daesh members have everything they need because they raided people's homes and took their food stockpiles," Obeidi said, advocating airdrops to save thousands from starving to death.

"Daesh wants to sow terror among civilians with this filthy tactic of welding doors shut on people," said Hossameddin al-Abbar, a councillor for Nineveh, the province of which Mosul is the capital.

A member of Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service carries a home-made explosive device left behind by retreating Islamic State group fighters in the the al-Sanaa neighbourhood of west of Mosul on May 9, 2017

"There are people dying of hunger and disease now, especially children and elderly people," he said, adding that it was impossible to know exactly how many.

"At this stage, hunger is killing more than shelling and fighting."

- Booby traps -

Another method residents say IS has used to prevent a civilian exodus is booby-trapping, a weapon the jihadists had previously used mainly to kill or maim the advancing government forces.

A senior officer of the interior ministry's elite Rapid Response forces said they had found several families stuck in booby-trapped homes since the launch last week of an operation in northwestern Mosul.

"The Daesh gangs are booby-trapping houses with people inside them," Major General Thamer Abu Turab told an AFP reporter in west Mosul.

"We found eight such houses, where our EOD (ordnance disposal) teams were able to defuse the devices and get the families out," he said.

The jihadists' deterrence seems effective as cases of families attempting to flee IS-held areas before the arrival of the federal security forces are relatively rare.

Many of the civilians who are not locked in by IS essentially do it themselves and hunker down in basements with whatever food supplies they still have.

Smoke billows over the northwestern al-Haramat neighbourhood of Mosul following a reported air strike on May 9, 2017

Abu Imad, a middle-aged former restaurant employee who lives with his family of five in the Zinjili neighbourhood, said the population was terrified.

"Behind the walls on the streets, there are rooms and cellars packed with people too scared to move. And hunger is killing people now," he told AFP by phone.

"I know some people have started eating plants and are boiling paper. At this rate you will soon see people eating cats and dogs."
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart could meet at the G20 summit in Germany in July

The Kremlin said Thursday it was too early to speak of a thaw in ties with Washington, a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US President Donald Trump.

"It's too early to draw this conclusion," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

But he added: "Of course the fact that a dialogue is taking place is very positive."

Peskov said both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to be at the G20 summit in Germany in July, which "could serve as a good occasion" for them to meet.

Wednesday's meeting came as Trump was embroiled in a political firestorm over the investigations into allegations his US presidential election campaign had colluded with Russia.

Lavrov met both Trump and US counterpart Rex Tillerson in Washington, saying the US president was seeking "mutually beneficial" and "pragmatic" relations with Moscow.

"The goal of both president Trump and president Putin is to have concrete results which will be tangible and which will allow (us) to alleviate problems, including on the international agenda," he told reporters.

Tillerson also travelled to Moscow last month for talks with Lavrov.

Tillerson, who also had a closed-door meeting with Putin during his visit, deplored the "low level of trust" between the two powers, whose relations have sunk to a post-Cold War low over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

"The world's two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship," the US secretary of state said.

In a shock move on Tuesday, Trump sacked FBI chief James Comey, the man overseeing federal investigations into suspected Kremlin interference in the 2016 US vote.
The leader of hundreds of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails, Marwan Barghouti, who has received his first Red Cross visit since the strike began, flashes the victory sign after a court hearing in 2003

The Red Cross visited the leader of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails on Thursday for the first time since the strike began, a spokesman said.

A delegate from the International Committee of the Red Cross visited strike leader Marwan Barghouti on Thursday morning, the spokesman told AFP, the first such visit since the strike began 25 days ago.

The spokesman was unable to provide an update on his health "in accordance with the principles of medical confidentiality."

The ICRC had been allowed access to other prisoners on hunger strike, but Israel had been restricting access to Barghouti.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners began refusing food on April 17, issuing a list of demands including better medical services, family visits and more dignified detention conditions.

Israel says conditions meet all international standards.

Barghouti, a senior member of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party and a highly popular figure among Palestinians, is serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Earlier this week, Israel produced footage they said showed him secretly breaking his fast in his cell.

His wife Fadwa rejected the footage as fake, saying it was "intended to break the morale of prisoners."
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed vowed to reform his country's economy

Somalia struck a new stability pact with the international community on Thursday, aimed at steadying the fragile state by bolstering its security, staving off famine and rebooting its economy.

New President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed hailed a "historic day for Somalia" after concluding the pact between Mogadishu and the international network propping up the crisis-wracked country at a conference in London.

"As we begin on this journey in this new era of Somalia's recovery, the commitments made must be followed through," said the president, commonly known by his nickname Farmajo.

"The expectations are very high but not performing is not an option."

Somalia and its partners agreed a 17-page security pact, which it is hoped will lay the foundations for a peaceful and prosperous country to emerge from the wreckage of a failed state.

"After more than 20 years of a dramatic conflict that caused immense suffering to the Somali people... all the conditions are now met for Somalia to be a success story," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"Somalia has a government in which we can put our trust, and a plan which makes sense."

The UN chief hailed the security pact which should see more joined-up international training for the army in combating the militant Islamist group Shabaab, which has been fighting to overthrow the Somali government for the last decade.

- Famine warning -

Somalia is facing a terrible famine

But he nonetheless warned that despite more than $600 million (550 million euros) raised so far this year for drought relief, a further $900 million was now needed in the next six months to prevent the situation worsening into a famine.

More than six million people, around half the population, are already dependent on emergency food supplies.

Peter de Clercq, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, told reporters that two failed rainy seasons had exhausted people's resilience "to the absolute minimum".

"People are coming to the cities in a last-ditch attempt to survive. The situation is getting worse. If we don't continue the effort until the end of the year, we are very likely to end up with famine," he said.

The UN said last week that Somalia will have 1.4 million acutely malnourished children by the end of the year, up 50 percent from late 2016.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who co-hosted the conference along with Farmajo and Guterres, said: "We have the means to avoid a famine and stave off catastrophe if, and only if, we escalate our collective response."

"Somalia remains a wounded country but it is in the process of being healed," he concluded.

- Arms embargo call -

Several world leaders attended the event, including UN Chief Antonio Guterres

Somalia, which has frequently topped the Fragile State Index, is under a new president, prime minister and parliament this year and the London conference was focused on underpinning stability in this electoral cycle.

The agreed pact is aimed at ensuring that Somalia can take greater responsibility for its own security from the 22,000-strong African Union troop deployment.

Farmajo called for the arms embargo on Somalia to be lifted in the near future, saying that if its army did not have better weapons than the Shabaab, the conflict would go on for another 10 years.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis held talks with Farmajo at the conference and told reporters as he returned to Washington that the United States would continue kitting out the infantry with gear and non-lethal equipment.

"There is certainly an attitude of renewed hope based on the election of what appears to be a very good leader in terms of understanding the need for military security, but as well economic efforts," he said.

According to a US defence official, the Pentagon currently has several hundred troops stationed in Somalia, primarily devoted to counter-terror training.

The gathering also tried to secure a path towards debt relief in one of the world's poorest countries, which has a $5.3 billion long-standing debt pile and an annual national budget of $250 million -- half the humanitarian aid spend in a good year.
The body of Hamas military commander Mazen Faqha pictured during his funeral in Gaza City on March 25, 2017

Hamas has arrested the suspected murderer of one of its key military commanders in Gaza, the Palestinian Islamist movement's leader said Thursday, while maintaining Israel was behind the March assassination.

"We announce that the killer and criminal that carried out the orders of the officers of the Zionist security services is in the hands of the (Hamas) security services," Ismail Haniya told journalists in the Gaza Strip, referring to Israel.

"He has confessed to the crime."

No details were provided on the suspect's identity, though Hamas has previously suggested Palestinian collaborators worked with Israel on the assassination.

Mazen Faqha was shot dead on March 24 near his house in Gaza City.

He had been in charge of forming cells for the movement's military wing in the occupied West Bank.

Hamas immediately blamed its arch-enemy Israel, with which it has fought three wars since 2008, and implemented strict border restrictions on those seeking to leave the Palestinian enclave.

The press conference was held outside Faqha's house in Gaza City and attended by his widow and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's Gaza chief.
A May 4 agreement calls for the creation of four safe zones in Syria to shore up a ceasefire, ban flights and allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid

The United Nations said Thursday it was in talks with Iran, Russia and Turkey over who should control proposed safe zones in Syria, a key question after Damascus rejected any international monitors.

The UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura and humanitarian pointman Jan Egeland both said it was premature to rule out any scenario.

"I met with three Astana signatories," Egeland told reporters, referring to Kazakhstan's capital where the safe zones pact was signed by Russia and Iran, which back the Syrian regime, and opposition supporter Turkey.

"What they say is that we now sit down and agree, they will agree with our input on whom should be controlling security (and) the monitoring," he said.

Forces from the three countries were one option for monitoring, as were "third parties", he added.

De Mistura, speaking at the same press conference, said the UN had "a lot of experience" when it comes to such monitoring but declined to discuss specifics on implementing the deal.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has rejected any UN role in monitoring the designated areas.

The May 4 agreement calls for the creation of four "de-escalation zones" to shore up a ceasefire, ban flights and allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid.

"We do have a million questions and concerns, but I think that we don't have the luxury that some have of this distant cynicism of saying it will fail," Egeland said.

"We need it to succeed", he added.

The agreement has not been signed by the Syrian government or the opposition.

Japan and Sweden have requested a UN Security Council meeting to obtain specific details on how the zones will work.

Uruguay's UN Ambassador Elbio Rosselli, who currently holds the council presidency, told reporters in New York Thursday that the meeting will take place "probably next week".

- Peace talks -

De Mistura will host a sixth round of Syria peace talks set to open on Tuesday in Geneva.

He said he expected the negotiations to last just four days, far shorter than previous rounds which have typically stretched to 10 days.

While his office has cautioned that major breakthroughs remain unlikely, de Mistura said the safe zones deal had created some momentum and that he "wanted to hit the iron while it's hot ... after the Astana meeting".

The UN hoped to inject "a touch of the will of optimism" into the upcoming round, he added, even if previous rounds have yielded almost nothing concrete.
According to UN estimates the civil war in Yemen has killed more than 7,700 people in since March 2015

Former Yemeni officials on Thursday launched an autonomous body to manage the war-wracked country's formerly independent south, in an open challenge to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Aidarous al-Zoubeidi, the recently fired governor of the southern province of Aden, said the South Transition Council would "manage the provinces of the south and represent (them) domestically and internationally".

The news coincided with a meeting between Hadi and UN special envoy Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed reported by Yemen's state news agency.

Ould Sheikh Ahmed has said he hopes to resume stalled peace talks between the Saudi-supported government and an Iran-backed rebel alliance by the end of May.

Thursday's announcement was a new blow to Hadi's efforts to keep together a loyalist coalition fighting the Shiite Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north and Red Sea coast.

Hadi has relied heavily on militia recruited in the south, where separatist sentiment runs deep, a position that has often forced him into a difficult balancing act with Sunni Islamists and loyalist army units from the north.

Hadi sacked Zoubeidi on April 27 along with cabinet minister Hani bin Breik, in a move widely seen as reflecting divisions among his supporters.

The two men, who played key roles in restoring security to Aden and adjacent provinces after rebels were pushed out in 2015, are believed to be close to southern independence activists.

Thousands of southern Yemenis responded to the sackings by demonstrating in Aden, Hadi's hometown where his government is based, and urged Zoubeidi to set up a new leadership body to represent the south.

The new council is made up of 26 members including the governors of five southern provinces and two government ministers.

Hadi's government did not immediately respond to the announcement.

South Yemen was an independent state until 1990, when it was unified with North Yemen and Ali Abdullah Saleh elected president.

Four years later, it launched a separatist rebellion which culminated in its occupation by northern forces.

Continuing resentment adds to the challenges facing Hadi, whose Huthi rivals are supported by Iran and forces loyal to his predecessor Saleh.

Al-Qaeda militants have also exploited the chaos to consolidate their presence in the south and east.

Zoubeidi, speaking at a press conference, said the new council was "committed to maintaining partnership with the Arab coalition in the south to stand up to Iran... and maintaining partnership with the international community in the fight against terrorism."

The World Health Organisation estimates the Yemen conflict has killed more than 8,000 people and injured another 44,500 since a Saudi-led Gulf coalition intervened against the Huthis in 2015.

Two-thirds of the country's population is now on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
Police acted as terrorists during a dramatic terror drill in Hong Kong

Hong Kong staged a dramatic terror drill Thursday ahead of an expected visit by China's President Xi Jinping this summer, as security tightens around the city.

Special paramilitary forces armed with heavy weaponry exchanged gunfire with police acting as terrorists, who steamed into a carnival with a van in one scenario.

A mock negotiation also took place, as did a bomb disposal in a later exercise.

The Hong Kong terror drill featured a mock negotiation

Though the visits are not yet officially confirmed, China's leaders are widely expected to preside over celebrations on July 1 marking the 20th anniversary since Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule.

Police said the training, which simulated recent Islamic State group attacks in Europe, was not directly related to the festivities but it is the latest security drill ahead of Xi's anticipated visit.

The exercises were designed to test the elite squads' capabilities in handling several major attacks at the same time and coordination with other departments, as well as raise public alertness, police told reporters.

"So far there is no specific intelligence to suggest that Hong Kong is likely to be a target of terrorist attacks," a police representative said.

"However, looking at the latest global terrorist situation, we know that the patterns of terrorist attacks nowadays are hard to predict."

The city's rail operator has also beefed up security measures and planned more drills ahead of July, and after a rush hour arson attack on a subway train in February that left 18 people injured.

Hong Kong police say the patterns of terrorist attacks are hard to predict

The city is polarised between those calling for greater democracy and an establishment camp loyal to Beijing.

Some frustrated activists are calling for Hong Kong to split from China, infuriating Beijing authorities.

Authorities have rejected pro-democracy protesters' submission to begin their annual march on July 1 at their usual point in Victoria Park, which was instead reserved for a pro-Beijing group for handover celebrations.

March organisers accused the government of stifling protest and vowed to keep pushing for the site as their rally's starting point.
Wells Fargo will use more automation, close branches and outsource to reduce costs further

Tarnished banking giant Wells Fargo said Thursday it will cut an additional $2 billion in costs each year as it aims to restore its reputation following a fake bank accounts scandal.

The leader in mortgage lending said it will slash another $2 billion annually by 2019 through a variety of measures, such as greater use of automation, outsourcing and reducing the number of bank branches as more customers use digital technology.

Those cuts are on top of $2 billion in annual savings previously announced which are expected to take effect by 2018.

The bank plans to close 450 branches this year and next, a move that responds to greater consumer use of digital banking programs.

Wells Fargo has been under pressure since last fall after news broke that it had opened some two million deposit and credit card accounts without customers approval or knowledge.

The company reached a $185 million settlement with regulators in September 2016, and has demanded executives responsible repay a large share of their compensation.

The scandal prompted bruising hearings on Capitol Hill and led to a sharp decline in new accounts from consumers.

Chief executive Tim Sloan said the bank was addressing the flaws that led to the fake accounts scandal and had taken a number of actions, such as eliminating product sales goals for retail bank staff.

"We're emerging as a better bank," Sloan told analysts at an investor day in San Francisco. "We have an unwavering commitment to fix anything that went wrong."

In response to the scandal, Wells Fargo has increased compliance staffing and spent more on legal settlements, spending that dented earnings in the first quarter.

Shares of Wells Fargo fell 2.3 percent to 53.46 in mid-morning trading.
Evangelical preacher Emmanuel Momoh, seen attending an auction in Freetown with his wife, says the massive diamond he uncovered is worth $50 million, seven times the top bid, prompting the government to seek higher offers in Belgium

Sierra Leone's government said Thursday it would seek higher offers in Belgium for a massive 709-carat diamond found by an Evangelical preacher after underwhelming offers at auction at home.

A Thursday auction in Freetown drew a top bid for the uncut gem -- which has a reddish stain that has so far resisted efforts to clean it -- of $7.77 million dollars, an AFP correspondent reported.

The prospect of bids not passing muster with the authorities had already previously seen bidding extended once to May 10 at the central bank, where the gem was placed for safe keeping.

Emmanuel Momoh, a 39-year-old pastor who is also one of hundreds of so-called artisanal miners in Kono, Sierra Leone's key mining district, unearthed it in March and handed it over to the government.

Momoh, who remains the official owner, told AFP the diamond was worth far more than bids made to date.

"I want my diamond to be sold abroad so I can get the best price to enable many people to benefit from the proceeds," said Momoh.

"Im expecting not less than $50 million from the diamond," Momoh stated after attending the auction with his wife and several of his employees.

British citizen Ziad al-Ahmadi, based in Belgium's diamond trading centre of Antwerp and reportedly working for Raydiam BVBA, lodged the $7.7 million bid which failed to match the government's unspecified reserve price, prompting the decision to try again in Belgium.

"We are going to sell the diamond in Antwerp, Belgium, for us to get the best (bid) within the next few weeks," said Sahr Wonday, director general of Sierra Leone's National Minerals Agency (NMA).

Experts say the 706-carat diamond unearthed in Sierra Leone could rank as the 10th largest ever found

Experts say the diamond is between the 10th and 15th-largest ever found and the biggest uncovered in Sierra Leone in half a century.

- Colour doubts -

Ahmadi told reporters the colour of the gem made him doubt it would attract much more than $7 million.

Sierra Leone authorities lack the necessary equipment for properly cleaning and polishing the uncut stone.

The Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources said last month it had tried to clean the diamond "by boiling (it) in hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid for 72 hours," but it was not enough to be able to set an accurate value estimate.

Deputy mines minister, Ignosi Koroma, says the government is committed to achieving a competitive and transparent sale despite the underwhelming local bids.

Diamond trafficking, notably to neighbouring Liberia, has left a deep scar on Sierra Leone after helping to foment a brutal civil war which lasted a decade from 1991.

Experts say the money emanating from the smuggling trade in 'blood diamonds' helped to fuel the conflict in Sierra Leone and others in Africa.

A year after the conflict ended in 2002, the Kimberley Process international certification scheme was created to keep so-called conflict diamonds out of the market and lay down export conditions applying to the agreement's 75 signatories.
According to US intelligence agencies, "the political and security situation in Afghanistan will also almost certainly deteriorate through 2018"

The head of US intelligence agencies offered a pessimistic assessment Thursday of the security situation in Afghanistan, where the US government is planning to send more troops to combat resurgent Islamic extremists.

"The political and security situation in Afghanistan will also almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in the military assistance by the US and its partners," Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said at a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"Afghanistan will struggle to curb its dependence on external support until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban," Coats told lawmakers in presenting an annual assessment of threats to US national security.

US-led forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for almost 16 years, making it America's longest war, yet the situation there remains a stalemate.

General Vincent Stewart, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said if the situation was not addressed, the US-led alliance risked losing the fragile gains it had made during the protracted conflict.

"Unless we change something... the situation will continue to deteriorate and we'll lose all the gains that we've invested in over the last several years," he said.

That new beefing-up of efforts would include sending US and NATO advisers at brigade and battalion level to help Afghan commanders coordinate troop movements with artillery, intelligence or close air support, he said.

The Taliban, which first emerged in the mid-1990s in southern Afghanistan, managed to conquer most of the country before its 2001 ouster, with the help of a range of foreign jihadists, including Pakistanis, Saudis and Chechens.

But it has been on the rebound, Coates said, and continues to gain strength.

"The Taliban is likely to continue to make gains, especially in rural areas," said the US spy chief, adding that efforts to bolster local military have been less fruitful than hoped.

"Afghan security forces' performance will probably worsen due to a combination of Taliban operations, combat casualties, desertions, poor logistics support, weak leadership," he said.

"Afghanistan will struggle to curb its dependence on external support until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban."

America has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. Most belong to a 13,300-strong NATO mission to train and advise Afghan partner forces fighting the Taliban.

Last month, the United States dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat in Afghanistan, targeting an Islamic State group complex.
Palestinian protestors throw stones at Israeli security forces following a protest in support of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails, near the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 11, 2017

Clashes erupted in the occupied West Bank on Thursday between Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians protesting in support of hunger strikers in Israeli jails.

At least two Palestinians were wounded by rubber bullets and evacuated on stretchers with bloodied legs, an AFP journalist reported.

Youths wearing hoods or masks threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with rubber bullets and water cannon containing foul-smelling liquid.

The clashes broke out at a major checkpoint at the entrance to Ramallah and another near the Israeli settlement of Beit El, the site of regular demonstrations against Israel's 50-year occupation of the West Bank.

The protest was called in support of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails since April 17.

"We are entering an extremely critical period" for the hunger strikers, Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, said earlier at a rally in Ramallah.

"A large number of prisoners can no longer move from their bed or take care of their basic needs."

Female Palestinian protestors hold stones during West Bank clashes with Israeli security forces after a protest in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails on May 11, 2017

The Red Cross visited the strike's leader, Marwan Barghouti, on Thursday for the first time since the protest began.

An ICRC spokesman was unable to provide an update on his health "in accordance with the principles of medical confidentiality".

The ICRC had previously been allowed access to other prisoners on hunger strike, but Israel had restricted access to Barghouti.

Hunger strikers have issued a list of demands including better medical services, family visits and more dignified conditions in detention.

Israel says its prisons meet international standards.

Barghouti, a senior member of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party and a highly popular figure among Palestinians, is serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Earlier this week, Israel produced footage it said showed him secretly breaking his fast in his cell.

His wife Fadwa rejected the footage as fake, saying it was "intended to break the morale of prisoners".

On Thursday, a legal defence organisation said the filming and distribution of the video was illegal and a violation of the right to dignity and privacy.

The organisation, Adalah, called for a criminal investigation.
Yasir Shah of Pakistan (C) celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer (R), during the third day of the final test match at the Windsor Park Stadium in Roseau, Dominica on May 12, 2017

West Indies replicated their opponents' dour batting effort in crawling to 218 for five off 100 overs in reply to Pakistan's first innings total of 376 at stumps on day three of the third and final Test at Windsor Park in Dominica on Friday.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah lifted his series-leading wicket tally to 20 with three victims in the morning session but the home side then showed resolve with all-rounder Roston Chase leading the defiance in a topscore of 60 before being forced to retire hurt in the final session.

Struck painfully on the right elbow attempting a pull at Mohammad Amir operating with the second new ball, the lanky right-hander's departure after 190 minutes at the crease gave Pakistan a measure of optimism which was heightened when Vishaul Singh fell leg-before to Mohammad Abbas to make the score 189 for five.

However captain Jason Holder, despite sustaining a painful blow as well on his left shoulder, held firm with Shane Dowrich and the pair will resume on the fourth morning heartened by the prospect of Chase returning at the fall of the next wicket to continue his innings.

For all of Shah's perseverance and the efforts of the fast-medium bowlers it was Azhar Ali's part-time leg-spin which broke a stubborn 55-run fourth-wicket partnership between Chase and Shai Hope in mid-afternoon.

Having batted grittily for almost three hours, Hope mistimed a drive off the very last ball of the post-lunch session to be caught for 29. He was a model of correctness and discipline until his critical error of judgement.

West Indies batsman Roston Chase drives the ball off the bowling of Yasir Shah of Pakistan during the third day of their 3rd and final test match at the Windsor Park Stadium in Roseau, Dominica on May 12, 2017

In contrast, Chase played more positively. Nevertheless both found run-scoring difficult and had moments of good fortune.

Troubled again by Shah operating round the wicket, Chase was given out on 23, caught at slip by Younis Khan as he swung at the leg-spinner. However the decision of standing umpire Richard Illingworth was overturned on review of the television replays.

There was more frustration for the bowler in his very next over as Asad Shafiq failed to hold on to a fierce square-cut from Hope.

Earlier, Shah raised Pakistans hopes of dismissing the West Indies cheaply despite the placid pitch.

He broke a 43-run opening partnership when Kieran Powells miscued heave was well caught by Azhar Ali running in off the boundary.

With Kraigg Brathwaite plodding along in his usual stoic manner at the other end, Shimron Hetmyer sought to seize the initiative only for Shah to bring his enterprise to an end when an original "not out" verdict by presiding umpire Bruce Oxenford for an appeal for a leg-side catch by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed was overturned on television review.

There was no doubt though to Ahmeds second dismissal of the morning as Brathwaite, who had grafted his way to 29 off 123 deliveries through three-and-a-half hours, pushed forward to Shah in the last over before the interval and edged a catch high to the wicketkeepers right.
A Myanmar riot policemen sits in a truck on a street in Yangon's Mingalar Taung Nyunt township

Yangon police arrested several Buddhist nationalists Thursday for inciting violence after at least one man was left injured in a confrontation with local Muslims in Myanmar's largest city.

Police issued arrest warrants for seven people including two monks -- among dozens of hardliners who stormed into Mingalar Taung Nyunt township hunting for "illegal" Rohingya Muslims.

Officers fired warning shots to break up the scuffles in the early hours of Wednesday.

The incident comes as nationalists from Myanmar's Buddhist majority have become increasingly vocal in their opposition to the country's hard-pressed Muslims.

The Rohingya, a group of more than a million Muslims who live mainly in western Rakhine State, are particularly maligned as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and their movements are heavily restricted.

Earlier Thursday the nationalists held a press conference defending their actions and demanding the authorities investigate the case.

At least two people have been arrested out of seven who have been charged with incitement to commit violence, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.

''About three lay men were arrested by police this evening," a local police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Warrants have been issued to arrest seven people altogether, including two monks, U Thu Seitta and U Pyin Nyar Wuntha," he added, using an honorific.

However, local media reported that two people had been arrested.

Nationalists in Yangon have held protests, stopped Islamic religious ceremonies and most recently forced two schools to close temporarily over accusations they were illegally doubling up as mosques in recent months.

Tensions have boiled over since militants attacked police posts in northern Rakhine, sparking a brutal army crackdown that has sent more than 70,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.
The glamour of French fashin comes to the exclusive suburb of Calabasas, California as Dior hosts its first show by Maria Grazia Chiuri

The glamour of France's fashion industry hit Los Angeles Thursday as Dior lured a bevy of stars including Charlize Theron and Rihanna to the Santa Monica mountains for its latest runway show.

The couture house's 2018 cruise collection presentation saw around 800 guests decamping to a remote reserve on the edge of the upscale suburb of Calabasas, home to Jennifer Lopez, the Kardashian-Jenners and much of Hollywood's A list.

Around 50 models showcased a wardrobe with a music festival vibe inspired by Lascaux cave paintings, painter Georgia O'Keeffe and feminist shamanic healer Vicki Noble, with plenty of pleated skirts and bolero hats on show.

The remote location for the runway show was chosen by Maria Grazia Chiuri, who was lured from Valentino in July last year to become Dior's first female creative director of women's haute couture and accessories.

As the company celebrates its 70th anniversary, Chiuri has been introducing a more modern, rock 'n' roll look to the house's fashion offering, exemplified by her $710 "We Should All Be Feminists" t-shirt inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's essay and TEDx talk of the same name.

South African actress Charlize Theron says she likes the layering and complexity of the fashion on display at Dior's latest runway show

"Christian Dior in 1947 came to Los Angeles, only two years after the war, to show his collection. So we decided on the anniversary to come back," Chiuri told AFP.

"Normally when you think about LA, the first thing is celebrities, Hollywood, red carpets but I think there is another aspect, the natural aspect -- open spaces. Many people love this place -- also Mr Dior -- because California is in some ways a paradise."

Dior took over Santa Monica seafood restaurant Gladstone's on the eve of the show for a glitzy beachside party welcoming celebrities including "Slumdog Millionaire" star Frieda Pinto, and actresses Kiernan Shipka ("Mad Men"), Jaime King ("Sin City") and Juno Temple ("Vinyl").

- Femininity -

"What's not to love about Dior? I can't wait to see what's going to be the concept of the new collection. I'm excited," Barbadian pop superstar Rihanna, 29, who showcased an off-the-shoulder brown fur coat, said ahead of the show.

The Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior show in California is the latest in a series of fashion showcases leading Loa Angeles to be described as an upcoming centre of global fashion

"It's always a pleasure... to wear Dior. For one, it's expensive and, two, it's really well made and it's always something that helps you express your femininity in the highest level."

The singer stayed for half an hour, leaving immediately after the show and leaving singing duties to Beyonce's younger sister Solange Knowles, 30, who played a rousing set at the after-show party.

Other stars at the glitzy bash included Oscar-winning "Room" and "King Kong" actress Brie Larson, Beyonce's former Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowlands, singer Nick Jonas and British socialite Lady Victoria Hervey.

Long derided for flashiness or faded grunge, Los Angeles is increasingly being described as an upcoming center of global fashion.

Saint Laurent showcased its autumn-winter men's collection and part of its women's range in Hollywood last year while Louis Vuitton presented its cruise collection in the city and Burberry presented at the Griffith Observatory in 2015.

Guests for the Dior show boarded shuttles from Beverly Hills and Santa Monica to the wilderness of the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, around an hour away.

- 'Rich with culture' -

The meadows there were used from the 1920s to 1950s for filming Westerns and other movies, including "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "They Died with Their Boots On" (1941) and "Adventures of Don Juan" (1948).

Models dress backstage during the first cruise collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior show, which comes as the brand is about to be taken over in a $13.1 billion deal by French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH

"I think it was beautiful. It was really inspiring and it felt rich with culture and texture and somewhat other-worldliness," said Oscar-winning South African actress Theron, 41, who currently stars in high-octane car movie "The Fate of the Furious."

"It was really beautiful yet super feminine. I loved that it had some real weight to it. It felt like it was layered with many complexities. It was a really beautiful job."

The show came with the Christian Dior Couture brand about to be taken over in a $13.1 billion deal by French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

LVMH already owns Parfums Christian Dior and the transaction, set to go through in June, would simplify its relationship with the company, handing it control of the haute couture, leather, men's and women's ready-to-wear and shoe businesses.

"In terms of having the plant growing, we have the roots, and we want the tree to continue growing and have nice leaves and flowers," Sidney Toledo, Dior's chief executive since 1998, told AFP.

"This is why any time, whatever we do -- the collections, the presentations, the people together -- has to be positive for the growth of the company, not only short term but long term."
US Defense Secretary James Mattis, shown here at a conference on Somalia held in London

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Thursday he had "no doubt" that Turkey and the United States would work out any differences arising from the US decision to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria.

That decision, announced Tuesday, has led to public statements of anger from Turkey, which says the US-backed Kurdish YPG fighters battling the Islamic State group in Syria are linked to its own domestic Kurdish separatist group the PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party.

"I have no doubt that Turkey and the United States will work this out with due considerations, significant attention paid to Turkey's security to NATO's security and the continuing campaign against ISIS," Mattis said, using an alternate acronym for IS.

Mattis' remarks to reporters traveling with him followed an approximately 30-minute meeting in London with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the highest-profile face-to-face conversation between US and Turkish officials since the announcement.

"We agree 100 percent with Turkey's concern about PKK, a named terrorist group. It is conducting an active insurgency in Turkey, it has orchestrated the killing of innocent Turkish civilians and Turkish soldiers, and we support Turkey in its fight against PKK as a fellow NATO member, just like all the NATO countries stand with Turkey against the PKK," Mattis said.

"We do not ever give weapons to the PKK, we never have and never will."

YPG fighters backed by US-led coalition air strikes and training have carried out much of the ground war against IS in Syria, and have recaptured a series of towns and villages in the country's north.

The focus is now on Raqa, the de-facto Syrian capital of IS's self-proclaimed "caliphate."

The city is largely surrounded and it is only a matter of time before YPG and other forces in a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance launch an offensive against the city.

A first consignment of US weapons is already in place for delivery and could be dispatched to the Kurds "very quickly," US Colonel John Dorrian said Wednesday.

Mattis and Yildirim met ahead of the start of a Somalia conference in London.

"I would characterize it as the usual sort of honest, transparent and helpful discussion between two long-term NATO allies on issues that directly impact the security of the NATO alliance, directly impact the security of Turkey and how we work out the way ahead in regards to the continued offensive against ISIS," Mattis said.
The Egyptian endowments ministry, which controls the country's mosques, said Muslim cleric Salem Abdel Galil would not be allowed to preach Friday prayer sermons unless he retracts his comments saying Christians and Jews wouldn't go heaven

An Egyptian Muslim cleric has been barred from preaching and is set to appear before a court for saying Christians and Jews followed corrupt religions and would not go to heaven.

Salem Abdel Galil, a former religious endowments ministry official, had made the remarks on a television show he hosts, sparking a backlash in a country reeling from deadly church bombings by Islamist extremists.

The endowments ministry, which controls the country's mosques, said Abdel Galil would not be allowed to preach Friday prayer sermons unless he retracts his comments.

Naguib Gobrail, a lawyer and Coptic Christian activist, told AFP that a misdemeanor court scheduled a hearing for June 24 to look into his complaint against the cleric.

"This is slander of religion and threatens Egyptian unity," Gobrail said, referring to a law that punishes perceived insults to religion that has been used to imprison both Christians and Muslims.

Abdel Galil had criticised Muslim clerics who say Christians and Jews are "believers," adding that the non-Muslims were "kuffar" -- an Arabic word for disbelievers denied heaven.

"Yes they believed in Jesus and in Moses, and then they disbelieved in Mohammed," Abdel Galil said on the show aired by the private Mehwar broadcaster, which subsequently apologised.

His comments prompted the endowments ministry to "prevent him from ascending the pulpit unless he remedies the concerns and tension caused by his comments," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Abdel Galil apologised for his remarks on Thursday.

"As some considered it hurtful to Christians, I apologise for the hurt feelings," he wrote in a Facebook post.

"The religious view of the corruption of non-Muslims' faith, in our opinion, is the same as them viewing our faith as corrupt," Abdel Galil said, adding that did not mean Christians should be attacked.

The controversy over his remarks comes as Muslim institutions in Egypt are pressured to take a tougher stance against Islamist extremists following the church bombings.

Suicide bombers from the Islamic State group had killed dozens of Coptic Christians in three church attacks in December and April.

The group has threatened more attacks on the community, which makes up about 10 percent of Egypt's 92 million people.
The completion date for the world's tallest tower has been pushed back to 2019, a Saudi Arabian billionaire said yesterday, almost six years after launching the record-breaking project.

Jeddah Tower is to rise more than a kilometre (almost 3,300 feet), placing it above Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

'The project was delayed... but it'll open (in) 2019,' Prince Alwaleed bin Talal told AFP during a visit to the site beside the Red Sea.

Scroll down for video

The completion date for the world's tallest tower has been pushed back to 2019, a Saudi Arabian billionaire said yesterday, almost six years after launching the record-breaking project

A HISTORY OF THE JEDDAH TOWER Once dubbed 'Kingdom Tower', the 170-storey building is to rise more than a kilometre (almost 3,300 feet), surpassing Dubai's Burj Khalifa as the world's highest building. It will feature a hotel, apartments and offices. Prince Alwaleed first announced plans for the tower in August 2011, saying it would take 36 months to build after the start of construction. By November 2014, a four-storey foundation was in place and Prince Alwaleed said the building would be finished in 2018. But that was before the kingdom felt the full force of a drop in oil revenues. In November 2015, Kingdom Holding said Jeddah Economic Company had reached a financing deal with Saudi Arabia's Alinma Investment to finish the Jeddah Tower, which then had 26 floors. Now the project has been pushed back to the end of 2019. Advertisement

Prince Alwaleed chairs Kingdom Holding Co whose affiliated Jeddah Economic Company is developing the spire-topped landmark.

Once dubbed 'Kingdom Tower', the 170-storey building will surpass Dubai's Burj Khalifa as the world's highest building.

It will feature a hotel, apartments and offices, as well as a large outdoor viewing deck that doubles as an 'air park'.

Costs for the project had originally been estimated at around 900 million ($1.2 billion).

But delays and an oil price crash have skyrocketed the total cost to at least 1.5 billion ($2 billion).

The huge fund, compliant with Islamic sharia law, will also be used to develop the first phase of Jeddah Economic City.

The City is an urban project surrounding the tower in the Obhur area north of Jeddah.

The project contractor Saudi Binladin Group was among construction firms in the kingdom that suffered heavy financial losses after a collapse in oil revenues in 2014.

The company, which has developed other prominent buildings in Saudi Arabia, was founded more than 80 years ago by the father of deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Binladin Group late last year said it had completed payment to 70,000 laid-off employees.

Prince Alwaleed first announced plans for the tower in August 2011, saying it would take 36 months to build after the start of construction.

By November 2014, a four-storey foundation was in place and Prince Alwaleed said the building would be finished in 2018.

A size comparison of some of the world's tallest buildings. The Kingdom Tower - now called The Jeddah Tower - will be built before 2020 and reach a height of more than a kilometre (almost 3,300 feet)

Previously dubbed 'Kingdom Tower', the 170-storey building is to rise more than a kilometre (3,300 feet), surpassing Dubai's Burj Khalifa as the world's highest building. Left, a computer generated image of how it will look, and right, a model of the building

But that was before the kingdom felt the full force of a drop in oil revenues.

In November 2015, Kingdom Holding said Jeddah Economic Company had reached a financing deal with Saudi Arabia's Alinma Investment to finish the Jeddah Tower, which then had 26 floors.

Prince Alwaleed on Thursday rode a construction elevator about 30 floors to meet reporters in the concrete shell of the building, which already offers spectacular views over the rest of Jeddah and the adjacent sea.

Kingdom Holding has shares in the Euro Disney theme park, Apple, News Corporation and US banking giant Citigroup, among other firms.

The skyscraper is intended to be the centre piece of the Kingdom City development beside the Red Sea and will have 170 floors, most of which will be habitable. This is an image of what it might be like to look down on the structure

An illustration of what the buildings luxurious lobby might look like

The Burj Khalifa, by comparison, stands at 2,716 feet. New York City's Freedom Tower, currently the fifth tallest in the world, is dwarf-like at 1,792 feet

The tower will feature a stunning viewing deck allowing visitors to walk around an 'air park'

The project has been hit with multiple delays since it began in August 2011
The settlement brings the total amount the company must pay in the dieselgate matter in North America to more than $22 billion

A federal judge in California on Thursday said he would approve a $1.2 billion settlement between Volkswagen and the US authorities over the last 80,000 cars in the company's emissions-cheating scandal.

The development brought the scandal-plagued German auto giant a step nearer to closing the book on the 'dieselgate' affair, which rocked the company for nearly two years since it admitted configuring some 11 million cars worldwide to evade emissions testing.

US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said Thursday that he expected to issue an order granting approval for the deal, which would apply to 2009-2016 3.0-liter diesel models including Porsche and Audi vehicles equipped with software designed to defeat emissions tests.

The settlement amount will cover buyback, repair and canceled leases for the affected models, as well as $225 million for a fund to mitigate pollution.

The 3.0-liter settlement brings the total amount the company must pay in the dieselgate matter in North America to more than $22 billion.

In October, the court endorsed a record-setting $15 billion compensation deal that covered the approximately 480,000 2.0-liter Volkswagen diesel cars also equipped with software designed to defeat emissions tests.

In a separate criminal case, Volkswagen was ordered to pay a $2.8 billion fine over the emissions cheating last month.

The company said Thursday it welcomed Breyer's decision to approve the agreement.

"This marks an important milestone for Volkswagen and means that a resolution is available to all of our customers with eligible vehicles in the United States," it said in a statement.

The lead attorney for consumer plaintiffs, Elizabeth Cabraser, praised the deal for compensating consumers and keeping polluting vehicles off the road.

"We believe the substantial compensation and steps to repair or remove polluting cars from the roads detailed in the settlements provide excellent value to consumers" and hold Volkswagen to account, she said in a statement.
A brief report by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, seen here during his confirmation hearing in March, was used to justify sacking the FBI chief

The dramatic sacking of the FBI director has left a bespectacled 52-year-old most Americans have never heard of holding the credibility of the US justice system -- and possibly even its democracy -- in his hands.

Rod Rosenstein, a man more used to beavering away in obscurity over case law, has been thrust into the middle of one of the biggest US political upheavals in years by a three-page brief he wrote for President Donald Trump.

The former attorney for Maryland, who has served under five presidents, was only two weeks into his new job as deputy attorney general when he was asked to pen a legal opinion as to whether FBI director James Comey mishandled an inquiry into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

His brief report, saying Comey was wrong to have publicly announced he advised dropping the case -- a decision that rests with the attorney general -- was used by the White House to justify sacking the FBI chief just four years into his 10-year tenure.

The sudden dismissal sent shockwaves through Washington. Democrats pounced, accusing Trump of trying to use Rosenstein's report and his squeaky-clean reputation to neuter an FBI investigation into whether his aides colluded with Moscow to sway last year's election.

In an open letter to Rosenstein Thursday, the New York Times said his spotless record had been tarnished by Trump's decision, and the fate of the explosive probe now rested on his shoulders.

"At this fraught moment you find yourself, improbably, to be the person with the most authority to dispel that cloud and restore Americans' confidence in their government. We sympathize; that's a lot of pressure," the Times wrote.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has pointed to bipartisan support for Rosenstein to play down criticism of Comey's abrupt dismissal.

Trump echoed that argument in an NBC interview Thursday -- while also insisting he always intended to fire Comey, undercutting the White House explanation that he acted on Rosenstein's advice.

"He's highly respected, very good guy, very smart guy, the Democrats like him, the Republicans like him," Trump said of the deputy attorney general.

"He made a recommendation but regardless of recommendation I was going to fire Comey."

Rosenstein's brief said the FBI chief had been "wrong" in his handling of the Clinton email case. But he added that "although the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not be taken lightly."

- 'What I need to know' -

Born in Philadelphia -- where he attended the city's Wharton school, Trump's alma mater, before studying law at Harvard -- Rosenstein is seen as a hard-hitting straight-shooter, despite his mild, almost forgettable appearance.

He was part of the team investigating the so-called Whitewater scandal during Bill Clinton's presidency, and gained the trust of both sides for his integrity.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been thrust into the middle of a political upheaval by a three-page brief he wrote for President Donald Trump

His successful prosecution of a senior government official during his 12-year tenure as Maryland's top law official sealed his reputation, and he was one of only three out of 93 Bush-era attorneys to be kept on by the Obama administration.

On the wall of his office in Maryland, next to a photo of his wife and two daughters, he kept a plaque that read, "Don't tell me what I want to hear. Just tell me what I need to know."

He is now under pressure from Democrats to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations about Trump's Russia ties, something he did not rule out during his confirmation hearings.

Asked by senators if he might be ready to greenlight an independent prosecutor, Rosenstein said, "I am, when I determine it is appropriate based on policies and procedures of the Justice Department."

Following Comey's sacking, however, the top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer argued that the furor had irreparably compromised Rosenstein, and that the appointment of a counsel should not be left in his hands.
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.

Ron Vasek, center, talks of the alleged sex abuse coverup he suffered while addressing a news conference along with his wife Patty, right, and attorney Jeff Anderson, left, Tuesday, May 9, 2017 in St. Paul, Minn. Anderson announced a lawsuit against Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minn., accusing the bishop and diocese of concealing a report of abuse and threatening retaliation against Vasek if he went public. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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.

Vasek, 62, of Tabor, alleges that Monsignor Roger Grundhaus sexually abused him when he was 16 during a trip to Ohio.

Hoeppner has been bishop of Crookston since 2007. The diocese issued a statement saying he "categorically denies that he in any way forced, coerced or encouraged" Vasek not to report his allegations, and that Vasek's allegations against Grundhaus were reported to law enforcement in 2011.

Grundhaus, a retired former vicar general of the diocese, told The Associated Press he had been told he couldn't talk about the lawsuit. He said he has been serving as chaplain to the nuns at Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Crookston. He said he has been suspended from public ministry until this matter is resolved.

The lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, says Vasek was exploring whether to become a deacon in 2010 when he told Hoeppner that Grundhaus had abused him. Vasek alleges the bishop advised him not to tell anyone. Vasek entered the program for becoming a deacon the next year. His son, the Rev. Craig Vasek, was ordained a priest in the diocese in 2010 and still works there.

Ronald Vasek alleged that the bishop summoned him to a meeting in October 2015 and handed him a letter that essentially retracted his accusations against Grundhaus and said the abuse never happened.

Vasek told reporters: "He said, 'If news of this scandal ever came out against Grundhaus, how could I ever ordain you?' He said, 'Where would I put you? Who would take you?' And he proceeded to say, 'It would be very difficult for your son, who's a priest of the diocese too.' I knew at that moment that he was blackmailing me ..."

"I signed that letter to protect my son, because I know how evil a man the bishop could be if he wanted to be," he said.

The complaint says Hoeppner "indicated that he would keep the letter in his vault in case he ever needed it."

Anderson said Grundhaus did not appear on the diocese's list of all accused priests, which was released to his firm under court order in 2015.

The lawsuit also says the bishop's alleged coercion prevented Vasek from filing a claim by last year's deadline for victims of past sexual abuse under a Minnesota law that carved out a three-year exception to the statute of limitations.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages in excess of $50,000, full disclosures and better protections for children and the public.

The Catholic church in Minnesota has been rocked by a broader sexual abuse scandal facing the church. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and the dioceses of Duluth and New Ulm filed for bankruptcy amid a growing number of abuse claims. Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt resigned in 2015 after prosecutors filed criminal charges against the archdiocese for failing to protect children from an abusive priest.

Patty Vasek, left, wipes away a tear as her husband, Ron Vasek talks of the alleged sex abuse coverup he suffered while addressing a news conference Tuesday, May 9, 2017 in St. Paul, Minn. where his attorney, Jeff Anderson announced a lawsuit against Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minn., accusing the bishop and diocese of concealing a report of abuse and threatening retaliation against Vasek if he went public. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Attorney Jeff Anderson points to a photo of Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minn., during a news conference Tuesday, May 9, 2017 in St. Paul, Minn., where he announced a lawsuit against the bishop and diocese of concealing a report of abuse and threatening retaliation against Ron Vasek if he went public. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invited all Republicans on Tuesday to join with what's been an all-male working group of GOP senators to craft a health care bill, after facing criticism that women were being excluded.

"McConnell stood up and said, 'Please come and participate,'" Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in an interview, describing the Kentucky Republican's request to GOP senators during a lunch. She also said, "I think they are opening up those meetings. I don't even know if they had any closed meetings."

The male-only makeup of the 13-member group had been a distraction as GOP senators begin writing their bill repealing much of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, one of the party's top priorities. Earlier Tuesday, McConnell fended off criticism of the group's membership, saying all 52 GOP senators were shaping the legislation.

FILE - In this March 14, 2017 file photo, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y. speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington. Senate Democrats asked Republicans Tuesday, May 9, 2017, to drop their bid to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, offering to help improve the nation's health care system if they did. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

"The working group that counts is all 52 of us, and we're having extensive meetings" daily, McConnell told reporters. "Nobody's being excluded based on gender."

The all-male makeup of the group was clearly an irritant among some of the chamber's five GOP women. It also became a target for Democrats eager to paint the evolving Republican legislation as a measure that's damaging to women needing medical care, even as key decisions are being made by men.

"That's really up to the leadership," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the longest-serving female GOP senator in her 21st year in the chamber, said of the group's lack of women. "It seems to me they've already made their decision. The panel has apparently been meeting for some time, and I'm not a member of it."

Asked about the group, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said, "I just want to make sure we have some women on it."

"We know it makes a difference when women are in the room, and we know it makes a difference when women aren't in the room on what is brought up, how it's seen and how it's put together," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the No. 3 Senate Democratic leader.

Capito, who's criticized House-approved cuts in the Medicaid program for poor and disabled people, attended Tuesday's private meeting of the working group. Her state is among the 31 that has accepted additional money to expand Medicaid under Obama's law.

The GOP drive to write health care legislation has shifted to the Senate, five days after Republicans pushed a version of it through the House.

GOP senators have made clear they will likely make substantial changes in the House bill. Some have criticized that measure's cuts in the Medicaid program for poor and disabled people, the federal subsidies that would leave many consumers with higher out-of-pocket costs and the estimated 24 million people who'd lose coverage.

The 13 senators McConnell appointed to the informal group include himself and other party leaders and committee chairmen, conservative mavericks, lawmakers from states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and others.

Facing solid Democratic opposition and controlling the Senate 52-48, Republicans can lose only two GOP senators' votes but prevail with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer distanced the Trump administration from the group's membership.

"I think the more voices that we can put on a panel to help get this done, the better. So, to the extent - I'm not going to tell Leader McConnell or the White House is not going to tell him how to conduct a panel," Spicer said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the House bill "is so discriminatory against women." He cited a provision that could let insurers levy higher premiums on some people with pre-existing medical conditions, which in the past has included pregnancy.

"It's a very, very bad thing" to exclude women from the working group," he said.

One of the Senate's most moderate Republicans, Collins, 64, has at times been a problem for party leaders, such as opposing a cutoff of federal payments to Planned Parenthood. She's viewed as one who might vote against the GOP bill.

Collins is the 15th longest-serving current senator and hasn't missed a roll call vote since entering the chamber, a streak her office says reached 6,352 votes Tuesday.

Collins told reporters that GOP women senators "are not afraid to make their voices heard." She said she's working with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on an alternative health care overhaul and with other senators on how to revamp Medicaid.

She said she'd spent 15 minutes at Tuesday's Senate GOP lunch describing a high-risk pool Maine uses to help cover costs for people with serious diseases who are expensive to treat. She said to replicate Maine's program nationally would cost $15 billion yearly, "which I do not see in the House bill."

___

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

Rae Seaton challenges U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, on his answer to her healthcare question during a town hall at Dubuque Senior High School in Dubuque, Iowa, on Monday, May 8, 2017. (Eileen Meslar/Telegraph Herald via AP)

In this Monday, May 8, 2017 image made from a video by KCRG, U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, center, walks out of a televised interview with Josh Scheinblum in front of a group of schoolchildren in Dubuque, Iowa, when pressed about screening attendees to his public meetings. The second-term Republican and member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus later said he had been "ambushed" by the television news reporter who was questioning him. (KCRG via AP)

Attendees hold up their red signs to show their disapproval of Rep. Rod Blum's, R-Iowa, answer to a question during a town hall at Dubuque Senior High School in Dubuque, Iowa, on Monday, May 8, 2017. (Eileen Meslar/Telegraph Herald via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the firing of FBI Director James Comey (all times local):

12:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump is criticizing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for comments the New York Democrat made in response to the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2015 file photo, FBI Director James Comey prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump abruptly fired Comey May 9, 2017, 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 election meddling. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Schumer said Tuesday evening that he told Trump in a phone conversation that "you are making a big mistake." Schumer also questioned why the firing occurred on Tuesday and wondered whether investigations into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia were "getting too close for the president."

Trump fired back later on his Twitter account, saying: "Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, 'I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.' Then acts so indignant."

___

11:05 p.m.

FBI Director James Comey was speaking to agents at the FBI's field office in Los Angeles when the news of his firing broke.

That's according to a law enforcement official who was present at the time Tuesday. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

The official says television screens in the field office began flashing the news, and Comey initially chuckled. But he continued to speak to the agents, finishing his speech before heading into an office. He did not reappear in the main room.

Comey later left Los Angeles on a plane to return to Washington.

-By Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles

___

11 p.m.

A former top Justice Department official whose criticism of FBI Director James Comey was used to support his ouster is calling the justification "a sham."

President Donald Trump said he based Comey's firing on a memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that slammed Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe. Rosenstein cited former Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer as saying he agreed it was inappropriate.

Ayer told The Associated Press he thinks the explanation for Comey's firing is a "sham." Trump had supported "the most incorrect things that Comey did," such as speaking out about the closed probe and announcing it was being reopened just days before the election.

Ayer says Rosenstein "should realize that his correct assessment of those mistakes is now being used to justify firing for a very different reason."

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9:15 p.m.

Aides to President Donald Trump are defending his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, saying it was needed to restore confidence in the agency, not about any ongoing investigations.

Counsel to the president Kellyanne Conway says in an interview with CNN, "It's not a cover-up," and says it "had nothing to do with Russia."

Conway says Trump took the recommendation of the attorney general's office that it was time for "fresh leadership." She adds, "This is what leaders do. They take decisive action."

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says in an interview with Fox that Comey had lost the confidence of rank-and-file members of the FBI and members of Congress.

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9:10 p.m.

Newly fired FBI director James Comey is about to leave Los Angeles on a plane to return to Washington.

Authorities say Comey's motorcade left from a federal building and headed to Los Angeles International Airport. Comey appeared to step out of one of the cars and on to a small private plane at about 5:45 p.m. PDT Tuesday.

Comey had been scheduled to speak at an FBI recruiting event in Hollywood at about the same time, but was fired by President Donald Trump a few hours earlier.

Comey's departure from the federal building fueled speculation that he might still appear at the event, but FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said he would not be there.

His motorcade instead headed in the opposite direction toward the airport, with several news helicopters hovered above as he crept along the freeway.

___

8 p.m.

The Senate Republican leading the investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign says he's "troubled by the timing and reasoning" behind President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Sen. Richard Burr, who chairs the Intelligence committee, said he found Comey to a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal "further confuses an already difficult investigation" by his panel.

Burr said Comey was the most forthcoming with information of any FBI director that Burr could recall.

The North Carolina senator called Comey's firing "a loss for the bureau and the nation."

___

7:35 p.m.

The head of a professional association of FBI agents says a change in leadership at the law enforcement agency should be handled carefully.

FBI Agents Association President Thomas O'Connor says the change should be made with an eye toward ensuring the agency can "continue to fulfill its responsibility to protect the American public from criminal and national security threats."

He says agents want a voice in the selection process.

The organization says it appreciated Comey's service and leadership. O'Connor says the fired FBI director "understood the centrality of the agent to the bureau's mission" and knew agents risk their lives daily.

O'Connor says Comey ensured the FBI's investigations were constitutional and that agents "performed their mission with integrity and professionalism."

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7:30 p.m.

A White House official says President Donald Trump's former bodyguard and director of Oval Office operations hand-delivered the White House's letter to the FBI terminating FBI director James Comey.

The White House official says Keith Schiller delivered the letters from the president and top Justice Department officials. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe Schiller's activities.

Video of Schiller outside FBI headquarters was aired by CNN. Comey was traveling to an event in Los Angeles at the time.

Schiller is a former detective with the New York Police Department who worked for Trump's security team for nearly two decades before joining the administration.

- Contributed by Ken Thomas.

___

7:25 p.m.

Republican John McCain says Congress must form a special committee to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election following President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey.

The Arizona senator said he has long called for a special congressional committee to investigate Russian interference in the election and said Trump's decision to remove Comey "only confirms the need and the urgency of such a committee."

McCain said he was disappointed in Trump's decision, calling Comey a man of honor and integrity who led the FBI well in extraordinary circumstances.

Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said Comey's dismissal "will raise questions" and said "it is essential that ongoing investigations are free of political interference until their completion."

He said Trump must nominate a well-respected person to replace Comey.

___

7:25 p.m.

The top Democrat in the Senate says he told Donald Trump "you are making a big mistake" when the president called to inform him that he was firing FBI Director James Comey.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday night that he received a call from the president.

Schumer questioned why the firing occurred on Tuesday and wondered whether investigations into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia were "getting too close to home for the president."

He called on the deputy attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor.

Said Schumer: "This investigation must be run as far away as possible" from the president.

___

7:20 p.m.

The vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee called President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey "shocking" and deeply troubling.

Sen. Mark Warner said it's especially so because it comes during an active FBI investigation into possible improper contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia.

The Virginia Democrat is helping lead a Senate investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He says Comey's firing comes after he dismissed acting Attorney General Sally Yates and nearly every U.S. attorney.

Warner said Trump's actions "make it clear to me that a special counsel also must be appointed" to investigate the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. He said an independent investigation is the only way the American people will be able to trust the results of an investigation.

___

7:05 p.m.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein says former Justice Department officials agree FBI Director James Comey mishandled the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Rosenstein says the FBI is "unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a director who understands the gravity of the mistakes" and promises not to repeat them. He made the comments in a memo titled "Restoring Public Confidence in the FBI."

Rosenstein says Comey has refused to acknowledge his errors and "cannot be expected to implement necessary corrective actions."

President Donald Trump says he fired Comey Tuesday based in part on Rosenstein's memo.

___

7:05 p.m.

More Democrats are renewing calls for a special prosecutor following President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey amid a complex counterintelligence investigation into Trump's campaigns' possible ties with Russia.

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey say the dismissal is reminiscent of the Watergate scandal and the national turmoil during that time.

Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings says Congress needs to have immediate emergency hearings. Cummings says Comey was the one independent person to investigate Trump and his campaign's possible coordination with Russia.

___

7:05 p.m.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein says FBI Director James Comey's public announcement that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges over her emails was a "textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do."

Rosenstein says in a Tuesday memo that Comey was wrong to announce his own conclusions about "the nation's most sensitive criminal investigation" without approval from Justice Department leaders.

He says federal prosecutors should have made a decision on whether to charge Clinton.

Comey has defended his announcement on reopening of the probe just before Election Day, saying "concealing" it from Congress would have been worse. But Rosenstein says that's a loaded term and "silence is not concealment."

He says federal agents have a policy of not speaking publicly.

___

7:05 p.m.

A former top aide to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign says President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey is "related to Russia, not related to Clinton."

Clinton's spokesman during her 2016 presidential bid, Brian Fallon, said Tuesday that "the timing and manner of this firing suggests 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."

In announcing the firing, the White House circulated a memo written by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, criticizing Comey's handling of an investigation into Clinton's email practices.

Fallon said the administration is "falsely citing the very thing that propelled him to the presidency as a convenient excuse" for firing someone "conducting an aggressive investigation into his campaign's connections to the Russian government."

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7 p.m.

Two Democratic senators are criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to fire the FBI director in the middle of an investigation into the president's associates' ties with Russia.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden says Trump's decision is "outrageous." Wyden says FBI Director James Comey should be immediately called to testify about the status of the Russia investigation.

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says the timing of Comey's firing "raises massive questions."

Both Wyden and Whitehouse are members of Senate committees that are doing their own investigations into the Trump campaign's ties with Russia.

___

6:50 p.m.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein says FBI Director James Comey was wrong to announce his conclusion that the investigation into whether Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information should be closed without criminal charges.

Rosenstein says in a memo that Comey usurped the authority of then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch by announcing his findings. Comey was fired Tuesday.

Rosenstein says Comey should have said the FBI had completed its investigation, then presented its findings to prosecutors.

Rosenstein says Comey instead held a news conference "to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation." Comey had said Clinton should not be charged but criticized her work habits.

Rosenstein says Comey "laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without trial."

___

6:40 p.m.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley says dismissed FBI Director James Comey had lost the "public trust and confidence."

President Donald Trump abruptly fired Comey Tuesday. Grassley said Comey's decisions on controversial matters "have prompted concern from across the political spectrum" and from career law enforcement experts.

Grassley criticized Comey's investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton's email practices, saying the FBI was slow to answer questions from his committee.

Grassley said: "The effectiveness of the FBI depends upon the public trust and confidence. Unfortunately, this has clearly been lost."

___

6:35 p.m.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says James Comey was fired from his post as FBI director because the law enforcement agency needs a "fresh start."

In a letter addressed to President Donald Trump and released by the White House, Sessions says the FBI director must be someone who follows "faithfully the rules and principles" of the Justice Department. Sessions also says the individual must be someone who "sets the right example" for law enforcement officials and others in the department.

Session did not go into detail in the one-page letter dated Tuesday in which he recommended to Trump that Comey be removed as FBI director.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced Tuesday that Trump had fired Comey.

Spicer says the search for a new FBI director was beginning immediately.

___

6:30 p.m.

Democrats are insisting on an independent prosecutor to investigate possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia following FBI Director James Comey's firing.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California tweets: "I've said it before and will again - we must have a special prosecutor to oversee the FBI's Russia investigation. This cannot wait."

Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee said "our democracy is in danger," and he pressed Speaker Paul Ryan to appoint a bipartisan commission to investigate the Trump-Russia relationship.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, stood on the Senate floor and said he would await word from the White House on whether the investigation will continue.

Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel.

___

6:20 p.m.

President Donald Trump called at least two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee minutes before the White House announced the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California both said they received calls from Trump. Graham is heading the panel's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and Feinstein is the top Democrat on the committee.

Neither senator criticized the decision. Graham was supportive, saying that "given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well."

Feinstein said Trump told her the FBI needed a change, and that the next director "must be strong and independent."

___

5:46 p.m.

President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, ousting the nation's top law enforcement official in the midst of an investigation into whether Trump's campaign had ties to Russia's 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 Clinton's email practices, including a pair of letters he sent to Congress on the matter in the closing days of last year's election.

Trump made no mention of Comey's role in the Clinton investigation. But the president did assert that Comey informed him "on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation."

FILE- In this May 3, 2017, file photo, FBI Director James Comey listens on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump has fired Comey. In a statement on Tuesday, May 9, Trump says Comey's firing "will mark a new beginning" for the FBI. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The success of Republican efforts to repeal and replace Democrat Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act could depend on an obscure Senate rule that few people have heard of and even fewer understand.

It's called the Byrd rule, named for the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd and designed decades ago to preserve Senate filibuster rights. What it means for health care is that many Republican ideas may be ruled ineligible.

Republicans trying to tackle health care control the Senate with only 52 votes. They can't fully repeal the law; that would require them to match the 60-vote threshold in the 100-member body that Democrats reached when passing the Affordable Care Act seven years ago. Instead, they are hemmed in by the numbers and the rules as they use a fast-track process that requires only a simple majority.

The Byrd rule limits what can go into the filibuster-proof bill known as reconciliation. Such bills were designed to make it easier for Congress to cut the deficit. The Byrd rule blocks lawmakers from giving extraneous policy material a filibuster-free ride on such bills along with tax and spending provisions.

Here's a look at how the Byrd rule is affecting this year's Obamacare debate:

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ORIGIN OF BYRD RULE

The Byrd Rule got its start back in 1985 when the modern budget process was still relatively new. Powerful senators had succeeded in stuffing unrelated amendments on textiles and tobacco into that year's reconciliation bill, which alarmed defenders of Senate traditions such as then-Minority Leader Byrd, who warned it was endangering the filibuster. Byrd and Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., engineered a unanimous vote to curb the ability to tuck extraneous provisions into fast-track budget legislation.

The party controlling the Senate has typically tried to stretch the Byrd rule's boundaries, however, with today's GOP-controlled Senate only the latest example.

"Reconciliation has been thoroughly and totally abused over the years," said former Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin. "People think you can put almost anything in reconciliation."

___

POINT OF ORDER

The Byrd rule generally blocks provisions that don't affect the federal budget - and blocks provisions whose changes to spending or taxes are "merely incidental" to a larger policy purpose. If such provisions are inserted despite the Byrd rule, any individual senators can knock them out with a point of order.

Such "Byrdable" provisions appear to include a controversial House amendment by Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., to allow states to opt-out of Obamacare mandates and allow insurance companies to charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions.

Other policies, such as mandates that individuals buy insurance or employers provide it to their workers, can't be directly repealed but can be gutted through the special budget bill by scrapping the penalties for violating the mandates. The rule also blocks other GOP ideas like allowing insurance companies to sell health care policies across state lines.

___

BYRD AND HIS RULE IN ACTION

Byrd himself played a big role in blocking fellow Democrats from using the budget reconciliation process in a failed 1994 health care attempt. And Democrats started out in 2009 by trying to pass the Affordable Care Act without using the reconciliation shortcut, winning a 60-39 vote on Christmas Eve Day to pass the measure.

But when Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown won a special election to claim the seat formerly held by Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, Democrats turned to a separate budget reconciliation measure to make modest changes to secure the law. Republicans used reconciliation to send a repeal measure to former President Barack Obama last year for his veto and are using it again now.

___

WHAT HAPPENS NOW

The House-passed bill has plenty of Byrd rule problems. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is expected to start from scratch. Key staff have already been meeting with the chamber's nonpartisan parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough. Once Senate Republicans release their alternative to the House bill, Democrats will give it a scrubbing - sometimes known as a "Byrd bath" - and raise points of order under the rule. If there's a final House-Senate conference report that contains offending items, they too can be stripped out on Byrd Rule points of order, which could force the House to vote again.

Some conservatives are arguing that since Republicans control the Senate, they could opt to, in essence, ignore the Byrd rule by having the presiding officer substitute his or her judgement for the parliamentarian's. There's no sign, however, that McConnell is interested in doing that.
BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on Syria (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

Turkey's defense minister has described a U.S. decision to supply arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters as a "crisis" between the two NATO allies.

FILE -- This April 30, 2017 photo provided by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), shows a fighter from the SDF carrying weapons as he looks toward the northern town of Tabqa, Syria. A top Syrian Kurdish official said Wednesday, May 10, 2017, that the U.S. decision to arm Kurdish fighters with heavier weapons will help legitimize the force, which is denounced as a terrorist organization by Turkey. The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will arm the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces "as necessary" to recapture the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. (Syrian Democratic Forces, via AP, File)

Fikri Isik also told private NTV television on Wednesday that Turkey has the power to defend its national interests in Syria, though he did not elaborate.

The United States announced on Tuesday that it would arm Syrian Kurdish fighters in a bid to recapture the Islamic State group's stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, despite Turkey's opposition. Ankara considers the Syrian Kurds as an extension of Kurdish rebels in Turkey that have led a three-decade long insurgency against the authorities.

Isik says it's out of the question for Turkey to support any operation involving the Syrian Kurdish fighters.

___

5 p.m.

Syria's al-Qaida branch has criticized an internationally brokered cease-fire deal for Syria, threatening to wage war against any rebel faction that tries to take advantage of the deal to try to dislodge it form its main stronghold.

The Levant Liberation Committee, which often fights alongside of rebels against Syrian pro-government forces, says the so-called "de-escalation" agreement signed between Russia, Turkey, and Iran earlier this month is a "betrayal" of Syria's 2011 uprising.

The statement, circulated on social media on Wednesday, warns other factions against taking advantage of the respite in fighting to launch attacks against it in Idlib province.

Syrian rebel groups are under pressure from their Western and Turkish backers to fully cut ties with al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria.

___

3 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has spoken out against a U.S. decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters, saying it cannot use one terrorist group to try and defeat another.

Washington regards the Syrian Kurdish fighters as key partners in the fight against Islamic State militants, but Turkey considers the group a threat to its security because of its links to outlawed Kurdish rebels.

Speaking to reporters before departing for London on Wednesday, Yildirim said Turkey cannot accept "direct or indirect" support for the Kurdish rebels, known as the PKK.

Yildirim said "there is still an opportunity for the United States to take Turkey's sensitivities into consideration. Otherwise, the outcome won't only affect Turkey, a negative outcome will also emerge for the United States."

The U.S. announced Tuesday that it would arm Syrian Kurdish fighters as a necessary step to recapture the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

___

1:15 p.m.

The Syrian Kurdish group labeled a terror organization by Turkey is hailing the U.S. decision to arm it with heavy weapons to fight the Islamic State group.

The YPG militia says the decision is "historic" and a "sign of confidence" in the group, in a statement released Wednesday.

Turkey's deputy Prime Minister denounced the decision as "unacceptable" and said it "amounts to support to a terror organization."

The YPG says the U.S. commitment to the group, and its umbrella coalition the Syrian Democratic Forces, will allow it to expand its operations against IS. It says the decision is a refutation of the "distortions" likening the YPG to a terror organization.

___

1 p.m.

Turkey's top diplomat has criticized a U.S. decision to provide arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters, saying every weapon given to them poses a threat to Turkey.

The U.S. announced Tuesday that it would arm Syrian Kurdish fighters as a necessary step to recapture the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa despite opposition from Turkey, which views the group as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency in its southeast.

During a visit to Montenegro on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said there was no difference between the Syrian Kurdish fighters and the outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey.

"Every weapon that reaches their hands is a threat toward Turkey," Cavusoglu said in comments that were televised live.

Cavusoglu said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would take up the issue with President Donald Trump during a visit to Washington planned for next week.

___

11 a.m.

Turkish media are quoting Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli as saying the U.S. decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters viewed as terrorists by Turkey is "unacceptable."

The U.S. said it would provide arms to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to help them drive Islamic State militants from the extremists' de facto capital, Raqqa. Turkey says the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG, which forms the backbone of the force, is the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK, which is waging an insurgency in Turkey.

Turkey, the U.S. and other Western allies view the PKK as a terrorist group.

Hurriyet newspaper quoted Canikli as saying Wednesday: "The United States is providing every kind of aid to the PKK through (Syrian Kurdish forces)."

Canikli expressed hope that Washington would reverse its decision, saying "there is no truth to the claim that the fight against Daesh can only succeed with the (Syrian Kurdish forces)." Daesh is the Arabic acronym for IS.

___

9:30 a.m.

A top Syrian Kurdish official says the U.S. decision to arm Kurdish fighters with heavier weapons will help legitimize the force, which is denounced as a terrorist organization by Turkey.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will arm the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces "as necessary" to recapture the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. NATO ally Turkey strongly objects to the alliance because it sees the Kurds as an extension of the insurgency raging in its southeast.

Ilham Ahmed, a top official in the Syrian Democratic Forces' political office, tells The Associated Press Wednesday the decision means the SDF is the force designated to recapture Raqqa.

She said the decision is likely to be met with "aggression" from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is to visit Washington next week.

FILE - In this file photo released on Aug. 8, 2016 by Hawar news, the news agency for the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas in Syria (ANHA), shows Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces raising their flag after driving Islamic State militants out of the area, in Manbij, Syria. A top Syrian Kurdish official said Wednesday, May 10, 2017, that the U.S. decision to arm Kurdish fighters with heavier weapons will help legitimize the force, which is denounced as a terrorist organization by Turkey. The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will arm the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces "as necessary" to recapture the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. (ANHA via AP, File)
BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) - Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao has arrived in Burundi for a two-day state visit.

Yuanchao was welcomed to the capital, Bujumbura, by his Burundian counterpart, Vice President Gaston Sindimwo, on Wednesday.

Yuanchao is expected to meet Thursday with Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose government receives foreign aid from China.

He will also visit projects that are supported by China, including technical schools and a new presidential palace that is still under construction.

Burundi is trying to recover from a violent conflict that followed Nkurunziza's decision in April 2015 to seek a disputed third term which he ultimately won.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the violence.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The mother of a Tennessee man who authorities say was killed by bounty hunters filed a wrongful death lawsuit against seven men charged with her son's death and two bail bond companies.

The lawsuit filed by Anita Jenkins this week says bounty hunters killed her 24-year-old son in a case of mistaken identity.

Her son and three other men were sitting in a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Clarksville when bounty hunters rushed toward the vehicle with weapons drawn and began to break out its windows, the lawsuit says.

The driver of the vehicle, where her son was a passenger, attempted to flee because the men in the car thought they were being attacked by gang members, the court papers say. That's when the bounty hunters opened fire, fatally shooting Jalen Milan in the back and chest and wounding another man in the car before chasing the car for nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers). The father of three small children died shortly after he was shot.

Police have previously identified him as Jalen Johnson. His parents say his last name is Milan.

The bounty hunters were sued on several additional grounds, including assault and battery, false imprisonment and negligence. Eagle Bonding and Keessee Bonding were also named in the suit, accused of negligently hiring and training the seven men.

A message for an attorney for Eagle Bonding was not returned. A woman who answered the phone at Keesee Bonding said she didn't know anything about the lawsuit.

The bounty hunters face charges including murder in connection with Milan's death on April 23.

Police say none of the men in the vehicle targeted by the bounty hunters had outstanding warrants. It's not clear how the bounty hunters came to be at the Wal-Mart parking lot or why they believed the man they were looking for was in the vehicle carrying Milan. Police are giving limited information while the case is still under investigation.

Online court records show that only two of the seven men charged have attorneys. Those lawyers did not return messages seeking comment. All seven are scheduled to be arraigned next month.

Clarksville is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, near the Tennessee border with Kentucky.
TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) - Decades later, it's still hard to grasp what the federal government did to hundreds of black men in rural Alabama - even if you're among their descendants, lighting candles in their memory.

For 40 years starting in 1932, medical workers in the segregated South withheld treatment for unsuspecting men infected with a sexually transmitted disease simply so doctors could track the ravages of the horrid illness and dissect their bodies afterward.

Finally exposed in 1972 , the study ended and the men sued, resulting in a $9 million settlement. Twenty years ago this May, President Bill Clinton apologized for the U.S. government. It seemed to mark the end of this ugly episode, once and for all.

In this 1950's photo released by the National Archives, a black man included in a syphilis study has blood drawn by a doctor in Tuskegee, Ala. For 40 years starting in 1932, medical workers in the segregated South withheld treatment for unsuspecting men infected with a sexually transmitted disease simply so doctors could track the ravages of the horrid illness and dissect their bodies afterward. Finally exposed in 1972, the study ended and the men sued, resulting in a $9 million settlement. (National Archives via AP)

Except it didn't.

Relatives of the men still struggle with the stigma of being linked to the experiment, commonly known today as the "Tuskegee Syphilis Study." For years they have met privately to share their pain and honor the victims.

And, amazingly, that class-action lawsuit filed by the men in 1973 has outlived them all. The litigation continues to this day, with a federal court currently considering a request that will help determine the study's final legacy.

A key, unanswered question: What should be done with unclaimed settlement money that still sits in court-controlled accounts?

___

Lille Tyson Head wants you to know that her father, Freddie Lee Tyson, wasn't just a man infected with syphilis.

Once a sharecropper in the fields of rural eastern Alabama, Tyson became a carpenter early in his marriage to Johnnie Mae Neal Tyson. He helped build Moton Field, where the famed "Tuskegee Airmen" learned to fly during World War II, he later worked as a firefighter there, his daughter said. He also worked for the government after it established the Tuskegee National Forest in eastern Alabama. Around 1960, he moved the family out of the Jim Crow South to Connecticut, where he worked in a factory.

"He was a wise man, very gentle. He was a disciplined man. Active in the church, loved his family and his extended family," said Head, of Wirtz, Virginia, one of the Tysons' eight children. "He was a good man. He had a sense of humor, he was a good dancer."

Though he displayed no symptoms, Tyson also was born with congenital syphilis inherited from his mother, Head said. And that is how he became a participant in "The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male."

Located about 40 miles east of the state capital of Montgomery, Macon County is one of the poorest places in a poor state. In the early 1900s, the majority black county was a hotbed for syphilis, which affected about 35 percent of its residents of reproductive age.

In 1929, government doctors working in conjunction with a philanthropic fund began treating syphilis patients in the county with bismuth and mercury. Few people were cured, according to a summary from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and some died.

Three years later, the U.S. Public Health Service, working with state and local health agencies, began what was supposed to be a short-lived program in Tuskegee to record the progression of the illness, which begins with a small sore and can progress to open wounds, blindness, deafness, mental illness and death.

Workers initially recruited 600 black men into a health program with the promise of free medical checks, free food, free transportation and burial insurance in a county where many blacks had never even seen a doctor. The men were tested and sorted into groups - 399 with syphilis and another 201 who were not infected.

The disease-free men were used as a control group. Health workers told syphilitic fathers, grandfathers, sons, brothers and uncles only that they had "bad blood."

None of the men was asked to consent to take part in a medical study. They also weren't told that "bad blood" actually was a euphemism for syphilis. Instead, doctors purposely hid the study's purpose from the men, subjecting them during the study's early months to painful spinal taps and blood tests.

Medical workers periodically provided men with pills and tonic that made them believe they were being treated, but they weren't. And doctors never provided them with penicillin after it became the standard treatment for syphilis in the mid-1940s.

The government published occasional reports on the study, including findings which showed the men with syphilis were dying at a faster rate than the uninfected. But it's doubtful any of the men - or their wives, girlfriends or other sexual partners - had any idea what had happened until an Associated Press story was published nationwide on July 26, 1972.

The next morning, farmer and community leader Charlie Pollard walked into Fred Gray's law office in Tuskegee. Gray already was a civil rights legend by that point: His clients included Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks following her arrest in Montgomery in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man.

Pollard "came into my office and asked me if I had been reading in the newspaper about the men who were involved in the syphilis tests for 'bad blood,'" Gray wrote in a memoir.

Pollard was among the men in the study, and his visit with Gray led to the lawsuit and the multimillion-dollar settlement reached with the government on Aug. 28, 1975. In all, Gray said in an interview, government documents showed 623 men were involved in the study.

Payments to men and their heirs differed based on whether men were infected or were in the control group, whether they were dead or alive. Living participants who had syphilis got $37,500; heirs of deceased members of the control group received $5,000. Women and children who were infected with syphilis got lifetime medical and health benefits, and a handful still survive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For decades, the study has been widely blamed for distrust among U.S. blacks toward the medical community, particularly clinical trials and other tests. In medical and public health circles, it's known as the "Tuskegee effect."

___

Freddie Lee Tyson quit the study during the 1950s after hearing rumblings that "something was wrong," Lille Head said.

Unaffected by the disease despite years of being in the study's syphilitic group, Tyson learned the true nature of the program only when the rest of the country found out, his daughter said. His wife and children all tested negative for syphilis, but Tyson was traumatized and feared the disease would show up somewhere in his family.

"After he found out about it he had to live with it. That could bring a person down if he wasn't strong. He was angry and he was upset," she said.

The lawsuit settled years before, Tyson died in 1988 at age 82 after an automobile accident. Today, the 72-year-old Head chairs Voices of our Fathers Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 2014 by the men's relatives to tell the story of the victims of the Tuskegee study.

Through the decades, their loved ones have been portrayed both as unwitting victims of a horrid experiment and as ignorant hicks who brought trouble on themselves with promiscuous behavior. Many descendants are still steamed over a 1997 movie called "Miss Evers Boys," which they believe cast the men in a bad light. A big part of the foundation's purpose is rounding out the narrative of the men's lives by telling the story of people like Freddie Lee Tyson, Head said.

Descendants of the men began gathering a year or two after Clinton hosted five remaining test survivors in the White House. The meetings are held in conjunction with Tuskegee's National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, established in 1999 to address ethical and human rights issues in science, particularly concerning minorities.

The last man involved in the syphilis study died in 2004 and this year, for the first time, relatives both allowed The Associated Press into their annual gathering and invited the public to a ceremony where they lit candles for the men.

This year's ceremony included about 110 descendants, friends, community members, a gospel choir from Tuskegee University and public officials. There were speeches by Head and attorney Gray and others. The "community day of healing" was a big step for the families, Head said.

"It was important that the people of Macon County knew what the descendants were doing, and it gave them a chance to come out and be a part not only of the healing but also remembering of the men," she said. In the future, she hopes, more descendants "will come out of the shadows and be a voice for their fathers and grandfathers."

Retired public health nurse Amy Pack both visited with men of the study through her job in Macon County and had relatives who were among the test subjects, including great-uncle Seth Barrow. She said the foundation is still trying to find additional descendants; there's a small chance that syphilis dating back to the years of the study could still be in the bloodlines of families who are unaware of their connection to the study, she said.

___

The legal fallout from the Tuskegee syphilis study lives on at the federal courthouse in Montgomery.

Settlement funds were used for decades to compensate study participants and more than 9,000 of their relatives. Court workers were unable to locate other descendants, and some never responded to letters from the clerk's office, which disbursed millions before the last payment was recorded in 2008.

Court officials will not say how much money is left, but documents indicate the balance is mostly interest earnings from money first paid by the government decades ago. Gray said he's heard it's less than $100,000.

Some family members say the money should be used for additional funding for medical screenings for the men's families, and others want a long-discussed memorial at the old hospital where the study was run at Tuskegee University.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson is currently considering a request Gray filed in August to use the remaining money to fund operation of the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, a combination museum and town welcome center that includes a display about the syphilis study.

The center is located in an old bank building owned by the county, and it's operated by a nonprofit headed by Gray and his daughter; the organization had net assets of more than $850,000 in 2015, with money coming from grants and donations, tax records show. The names of the men who were involved in the program are etched in a circle on the floor as a memorial.

In his address to descendants during the community service, Gray made what amounted to a closing argument for using the money for the museum, which is open only during the summer because of funding shortages. Gray told descendants that the men of the study - the people he represented after that meeting with Charlie Pollard - wanted a lasting memorial to their legacy, and he has worked for 20 years to make it happen at the center.

A judge refused a similar request from Gray to provide the leftover money to the museum in 2004 after the government insisted it should get the money, records show.

But Pollard's 92-year-old daughter, Ralphine Pollard Harper, said she likes the idea. People need to know what happened, she said, even if her father didn't like discussing the study.

"He'd get mad about it," she recalled. "He said, 'They just took us up here and made guinea pigs of us.'"

In this 1950's photo released by the National Archives, men included in a syphilis study pose for a photo in Tuskegee, Ala. For 40 years starting in 1932, medical workers in the segregated South withheld treatment for unsuspecting men infected with a sexually transmitted disease simply so doctors could track the ravages of the horrid illness and dissect their bodies afterward. It was finally exposed in 1972. (National Archives via AP)

In this 1950's photo released by the National Archives, a man included in a syphilis study sits on steps in front of of a house in Tuskegee, Ala. For 40 years starting in 1932, medical workers in the segregated South withheld treatment for unsuspecting men infected with a sexually transmitted disease simply so doctors could track the ravages of the horrid illness and dissect their bodies afterward. Finally exposed in 1972, the study ended and the men sued, resulting in a $9 million settlement. (National Archive via AP)

In this 1950's photo released by the National Archives, a nurse writes on a vial of blood taken from a participant in a syphilis study in Tuskegee, Ala. For 40 years starting in 1932, medical workers in the segregated South withheld treatment for unsuspecting men infected with a sexually transmitted disease simply so doctors could track the ravages of the horrid illness and dissect their bodies afterward. Finally exposed in 1972, the study ended and the men sued, resulting in a $9 million settlement. (National Archives via AP)

Tabitha Julkes lights a candle during a ceremony near Tuskegee, Ala., on Monday, April 3, 2017, to commemorate the roughly 600 men who were subjects in the Tuskegee syphilis study. Julkes' great-grandfather Albert Julkes was a test subject, and she is among the descendants of men who are now stepping forward publicly to tell their stories. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

A speaker holds a candle at the podium during a ceremony near Tuskegee, Ala., on Monday, April 3, 2017, to commemorate the roughly 600 men who were subjects in the Tuskegee syphilis study. Their descendants held their first public ceremony to honor the men and step forward to tell their stories. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

Attorney Fred Gray visits the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center in Tuskegee, Ala., on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Gray represented the Tuskegee syphilis study men in a lawsuit against the federal government that resulted in a $9 million settlement. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

Amy Pack attends a gathering of descendants of the roughly 600 men who were subjects in the Tuskegee syphilis study, in Tuskegee, Ala., on Monday, April 3, 2017. A retired public health nurse, Pack visited with men of the study through her job in Macon County and had relatives who were among the test subjects. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

Ralphine Pollard Harper attends a gathering of descendants of the roughly 600 men who were subjects in the Tuskegee syphilis study, in Tuskegee, Ala., on Monday, April 3, 2017. She says her father, Charlie Pollard, a subject in the study, didn't like discussing the subject. "He'd get mad about it," she recalled. "He said, 'They just took us up here and made guinea pigs of us.'" (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Thursday:

1. WHAT PRECEDED TRUMP'S FIRING OF FBI CHIEF

Days before he was dismissed, Comey asked for more resources from the Justice Department to pursue the investigation into Russia's election meddling and the possible involvement of Trump associates.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivers a commencement address to graduates at Bethune-Cookman University, Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

2. MICHAEL FLYNN FACES SENATE SUBPOENA

The Senate intelligence committee subpoenas Trump's former national security adviser for documents related to the panel's investigation into Russia's election meddling.

3. NEW COMPLICATION FOR US MILITARY

With the Trump administration's decision to supply Kurdish fighters with weapons, American troops in Syria are in the crossfire between Turkey, a NATO ally, and the Kurdish fighters that Ankara deems terrorists.

4. ANOTHER STEP TOWARD OFFSHORE DRILLING

The Trump administration moves forward on seismic surveys in the Atlantic, the first step toward offshore drilling in a region where it has been blocked for decades.

5. BETSY DEVOS BOOED DURING COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

The Education secretary powers through her address at a historically black university in Florida, even as many of the graduating students turn their backs in protest.

6. HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS RAISE ALARM IN VENEZUELA

They say more than 250 detained protesters have been put before military tribunals over the last week - a practice that could violate Venezuela's constitution.

7. WHICH MESSAGING APP IS DISAPPOINTING INVESTORS

Snapchat's parent company suffers a massive loss as user growth continues to slow.

8. TUNNEL COLLAPSE AT HANFORD NUCLEAR SITE RENEWS SAFETY CONCERNS

Critics have long said that the toxic remnants of the Cold War are being stored in haphazard and unsafe conditions in the U.S.

9. WHO'S NOT RULING OUT WHITE HOUSE BID

After conquering Hollywood, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson says that a presidential run is "a real possibility."

10. ESPN PERSONALITY'S WIFE KILLED IN TRAFFIC CRASH

Katherine Ann Berman, 67, wife of broadcaster Chris Berman, was one of two victims in a two-vehicle accident in Connecticut, police say.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 2, 2017, file photo, Snapchat co-founders Bobby Murphy, left, and CEO Evan Spiegel ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as the company celebrates its IPO. Since it couldn't buy its smaller rival, Facebook is bent on copying Snap to death. Snap Inc., the company behind Snapchat, meanwhile, is intent on forging ahead against its much bigger rival, courting older users, keeping young ones and along with them, advertisers. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
NEW DELHI (AP) - A building wall collapsed onto guests at a wedding in western India, killing at least 22 people, police said Thursday.

The hundreds of guests were having dinner or assembling on the outdoor lawns when a strong dust storm blew into the area Wednesday night, forcing people on the lawns to go indoors. Then the 80-feet-long (32-meters-long) wall collapsed onto people inside the wedding hall, Bharatpur District Magistrate N.K. Gupta told reporters.

Another 28 people were injured and have been hospitalized, police officer Anil Tank told Press Trust of India.

The district is in Rajasthan state nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of New Delhi.

A power outage hampered rescue work. It wasn't clear if the dust storm was a factor in the collapse.

Building collapses are common in India, where high demand for housing and lax regulations have encouraged some builders to cut corners, use substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors.

In 2013, a building being constructed illegally in Mumbai caved in, killing 74 people in the country's worst building collapse in decades.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The new South Korean president is so eager to distance himself from his disgraced, jailed predecessor that he plans to partially abandon one of the job's major perks: the mountainside presidential palace, the Blue House, from which Park Geun-hye conducted her imperial presidency.

Addressing the nation after taking the oath of office Wednesday, Moon vowed to eventually move out of the palace that dominates downtown Seoul, where every modern South Korean president has lived and worked since the end of World War II. It is also closely associated with Park, who grew up there as the daughter of a dictator.

Moon instead plans to commute to an office in the nearby streets of Gwanghwamun, near the square where millions took part in peaceful protests for months before Park was removed from office and arrested in March on corruption charges.

FILE - This March 10, 2017, file photo shows the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea. Addressing the nation after taking the oath of office on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to eventually move out of the Blue House, where every modern South Korean president has lived and worked since the end of World War II. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

"After preparations are finished, I will step out of the Blue House and open the era of the Gwanghwamun president," Moon said in his speech, without offering a specific timeline. "I will be a president willing to communicate with people at any time. The president will directly brief the media on important issues. I will stop by the market after leaving work so I can talk candidly with citizens. I will sometimes hold large debate events at Gwanghwamun Square."

Moon's plans to abandon precedent, and, partially, the Blue House, are part of an attempt to be a more down-to-earth president. In other words, the opposite of what critics saw in Park's presidency.

Park was described by many as aloof and autocratic, and was notorious for refusing to take questions during the few news conferences she allowed.

So his new approach was clear when Moon personally introduced his prime minster and spy chief nominees at a news conference Wednesday at the Blue House and his nominees answered questions.

Moon spent his first night as president in his private Seoul home as workers were furnishing the Blue House's residential space. He began his second day by shaking hands and taking selfies with some of the dozens of people gathered near his home Thursday morning, telling one of them "Wow, you take good photos," before heading to the Blue House in his presidential vehicle.

Park's life was strongly linked to the huge palace. She lived in the Blue House twice, first as the daughter of military strongman Park Chung-hee, who moved into the palace in 1963, two years after he staged a coup and took control of the country.

Park left the Blue House following the assassination of her father in 1979. But, following a meteoric political career, she returned after winning the presidency in December 2012, thanks to overwhelming support from older voters who remembered her father as a hero who rescued the nation from poverty, despite his brutal record of civilian oppression.

When massive protests against her mounted starting late last year, she retreated to the Blue House, rarely appearing in public.

Moon expects to find a much smaller presidential residence near Gwanghwamun. But he won't entirely abandon the Blue House. Officials from his presidential camp have told reporters that Moon will continue to use the Blue House's underground rooms for important national security meetings. He will also continue to use the Blue House's helicopter pad and also the Yeongbingwan Hall to greet foreign guests, they said.

But Moon plans to open the rest of the Blue House space to the public and convert the remaining buildings into museums or other facilities to draw tourists.

His plan is unusual to be sure. World leaders have typically abandoned official residences only when forced, by natural disaster, war or revolution. And leaders, both democratic and autocratic, recognize the residences and their grandeur as symbols of their office and its might.

But nearly every move Moon makes will be seen in relation to Park, who now sits in a small solitary cell at a detention center near Seoul, awaiting trial over allegations that she colluded with a confidante to take tens of millions of dollars from companies, charges that could potentially send her to jail for life.

Park's saga has raised debate on whether South Korea gives too much unchecked power to the president. Following Park's ouster, some politicians argued for constitutional changes to curb presidential powers. Among the ideas were to let the prime minister handle domestic affairs or strengthen the autonomy of regional governments. These discussions will likely be revisited during Moon's presidency.

"I will share the president's imperial powers as much as I can," Moon said in the speech. "I will make a system that can prevent any government agency from wielding unchecked power."

FILE - In this May 10, 2017, file photo, South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in waves to supporters upon his arrival outside the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea. Addressing the nation after taking the oath of office on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to eventually move out of the Blue House, where every modern South Korean president has lived and worked since the end of World War II. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
Trump: I was going to fire that 'showboat' no matter what

WASHINGTON (AP) - Contradicting previous White House explanations, President Donald Trump declared Thursday he had planned to fire FBI Director James Comey all along, regardless of whether top Justice Department officials recommended the stunning step. His assertions came as Comey's temporary replacement joined in, contradicting other administration statements on the snowballing controversy.

In an interview with NBC News, Trump also said he'd asked Comey point-blank if he was under investigation and was assured three times he was not. Trump showed no concern that the request might be viewed as interference in an active FBI probe into his 2016 campaign's possible ties to Russia's election meddling.

"I said, 'If it's possible, would you let me know am I under investigation?' He said you are not under investigation," Trump told NBC. He said the discussions happened in two phone calls and at a dinner in which Comey was asking to keep his job.

Comey has not confirmed Trump's account.

The White House initially cited a Justice Department memo criticizing Comey's handling of last year's investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails as the impetus for Trump's decision. But Trump on Thursday acknowledged for the first time that the Russia investigation - which he dismissed as a "made-up story" - was also on his mind as he ousted the man overseeing the probe.

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White House struggles to straighten its story on Comey

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House's explanation of President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey has been a moving target.

Since the explosive decision was announced Tuesday, the president's advisers have struggled to come up with a consistent timeline and rationale. They said Trump was prompted by a scathing memo written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, only to acknowledge Trump had been planning to fire Comey regardless of the recommendation. They've distanced the decision from the FBI probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 campaign, only to later suggest Comey's firing would aid the investigation.

"I think we were absolutely given the information that we could have at that time," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders of the evolving statements. "It was a quick-moving process. We took the information we had as best we have it and got it out to the American people as quickly as we could."

"Our story is consistent," she said.

Here's a look at some of the contradictions uttered over the last several days:

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Trump launches commission to investigate voter fraud

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday launching a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression, building upon his unsubstantiated claims that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.

The White House said the president's "Advisory Commission on Election Integrity" would examine allegations of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration in states and across the nation. Vice President Mike Pence will chair the panel and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be vice chair of the commission, which will report back to Trump by 2018.

Trump has alleged, without evidence, that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in his 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton. He has vowed since the start of his administration to investigate voter fraud, a process that has been delayed for months.

Last November, Kobach said he supported Trump's assertions that he would have won the popular vote if "millions" of people hadn't voted illegally.

Democrats and voting rights groups called the panel a sham, arguing there are few, if any, credible allegations of significant voter fraud. They warned that the panel would be used to lay the groundwork for stricter voting requirements that could make it more difficult for poor and minority voters to access the ballot box.

___

US Justice Department to probe police shooting of Texas teen

DALLAS (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of a black 15-year-old by a white police officer, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday.

The investigation prompted by the April 29 fatal shooting of Jordan Edwards by Balch Springs police Officer Roy Oliver is separate from the district attorney's prosecution of Oliver on a murder charge, said Brittany Dunn, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Faith Johnson. She said she did not know the scope and focus of the investigation of the Balch Spring Police Department, and a message left for a Justice Department spokesman was not returned.

Oliver was fired and charged with murder in the April 29 shooting and is free on bond.

Edwards' family and its attorney said Johnson advised them of the federal investigation during a meeting Thursday.

A Justice Department investigation could end in a wide variety of outcomes - some civil, some criminal.

___

More price hikes likely for government insurance markets

Early moves by insurers suggest that another round of price hikes and limited choices will greet insurance shoppers around the country when they start searching for next year's coverage on the public markets established by the Affordable Care Act.

Insurance companies are still making decisions about whether to offer coverage for individuals next year on these markets, and price increase requests are only just starting to be revealed by state regulators. But in recent weeks big insurers like Aetna and Humana have been dropping out of markets or saying that they aren't ready to commit. And regulators in Virginia and Maryland have reported early price hike requests ranging from just under 10 percent to more than 50 percent.

Increases like that will probably will be seen in other states, too, as insurers set prices to account for uncertain support from a federal government led by a new president who wants to scrap and replace the law, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown Health Policy Institute. "For the consumer, they're going to see big rate hikes," Corlette said.

Prices for this type of insurance are already being affected by evaporating competition.

With the latest departures, more than 40 percent of U.S. counties would have only one insurer selling coverage on their marketplaces for next year, according to data compiled by The Associated Press and the consulting firm Avalere. That assumes no other insurers leave and none step in by the time customers start shopping for coverage in the fall.

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Lawmaker: Vet citizenship of non-English-speaking schoolkids

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A Republican member in the Oklahoma House is suggesting that tens of thousands of non-English speaking students in public schools be turned over to U.S. immigration officials as cost-saving measure in the cash-strapped state.

Broken Arrow Republican Rep. Mike Ritze told News9 in an interview Wednesday that the newly created Republican Platform Caucus believes the state could save $60 million if Oklahoma would identify what the caucus believes is 82,000 non-English speaking students "and then turn them over" to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine whether they are citizens.

It's unclear from the segment if he was referring to turning over the students' names or rounding up the children. The State Department of Education said there are actually about 50,000 English learners in pre-K through 12th grade in Oklahoma public schools, but many of those students could be U.S. citizens.

Ritze also questioned whether the state should have to educate children who aren't citizens, although a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision holds states cannot deny students a free public education based on their immigration status. Also, the United States also has no official language.

Ritze wasn't at the Capitol on Thursday and didn't reply to phone messages or emails, but several Republican members, including members of the Republican Platform Caucus, quickly distanced themselves from Ritze's comments.

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Report paints harrowing picture of Central America migration

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Migrants from Central America's violence-plagued Northern Triangle region endure harrowing abuses while trying to make their way through Mexico toward the United States, a report from an international medical group said Thursday.

Doctors Without Borders, or MSF for its initials in French, called the situation a "humanitarian crisis" that demands the U.S. and Mexican governments do more to process applications for asylum and humanitarian visas.

It said the study was based on surveys and medical data from the last two years and documents "a pattern of violent displacement, persecution, sexual violence and forced repatriation akin to the conditions found in the deadliest armed conflicts in the world today."

Among its findings:

- Almost 40 percent of those interviewed said they left home due to attacks, threats, extortion or attempts at forced recruitment by gangs in Central America. About 44 percent of the migrants had a relative who had died in the last two years due to violence, and that rose to 56 percent for those from El Salvador.

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New Zealand's ambitious plan to save birds: Kill every rat

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand has set itself an environmental goal so ambitious it's been compared to putting a man on the moon: ridding the entire nation of every last rat, opossum and stoat.

The idea is to give a second chance to the distinctive birds that once ruled this South Pacific nation. When New Zealand split away from the supercontinent Gondwanaland 85 million years ago, predatory mammals hadn't evolved. That allowed birds to thrive. Some gave up flight altogether to strut about the forest floor.

Then humans arrived, bringing predators with them. Rats stowed away on ships. Settlers introduced opossums for the fur trade and weasel-like stoats to control rabbits. The pests destroyed forest habitats and feasted on the birds and their eggs. More than 40 species of birds died out and many others remain threatened, including the iconic kiwi.

Now people want to turn back the clock. Yet the plan sounds impossible. How do you kill millions of vermin across a country that's the size of the United Kingdom? How do you ensure a few furtive rats won't undo all the hard work by surviving and breeding?

Scientists are talking about the mission in military terms: choking off pests on peninsulas and then advancing the front lines from there; developing new traps and genetic weapons; winning the hearts and minds of children and farmers alike.

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Dutch group says it will soon start cleaning up ocean trash

UTRECHT, Netherlands (AP) - A Dutch foundation aiming to rid the world's oceans of plastic waste says it will start cleaning up the huge area of floating junk known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within the next 12 months, two years earlier than planned.

The Ocean Cleanup aims to use long-distance floating booms that act like coastlines to gather plastic as it drifts on or near the surface of the water while allowing sea life to pass underneath. The plan originally was to anchor the barriers to the sea bed with a system used by oil rigs, but the organization said Thursday it now will use anchors that float beneath the water's surface, making it much more efficient.

The Ocean Cleanup, founded by Dutch university dropout Boyan Slat, announced that testing of the first system will start off the U.S. West coast by the end of the year and barriers will be shipped to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch between California and Hawaii in the first half of 2018, two years ahead of the organization's earlier schedule. The patch is a huge area of the ocean where swirling currents concentrate the trash.

"At the ocean cleanup we always work with nature. So instead of going after the plastic, we let the plastic come to us, saving time, energy and cost," Slat, a shaggy-haired 22-year-old, told The Associated Press.

Floating barriers concentrate the plastic garbage at a central point where it can be fished out of the water and shipped back to dry land for recycling.

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Mormon church severs some of its ties to the Boy Scouts.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Mormon church, the biggest sponsor of Boy Scout troops in the United States, announced Thursday it is pulling as many as 185,000 older youths from the organization as part of an effort to start its own scouting-like program.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the move wasn't triggered by the Boy Scouts' decision in 2015 to allow gay troop leaders, since Mormon-sponsored troops have remained free to exclude such adults on religious grounds.

But at least one leading Mormon scholar said that the Boy Scouts and the church have been diverging on values in recent years and that the policy on gays was probably a contributing factor in the split.

Saying it wants a new, simplified program of its own that is more closely tailored to Mormon teenagers, the church announced that boys ages 14 to 18 will no longer participate in the Boy Scouts starting next year. The church said the decision will affect 185,000 teens; the Boy Scouts put the number at 130,000.

The loss is only a fraction of the 2.3 million youths in the Boy Scouts of America, but the organization has been grappling with declining membership for years and has enjoyed an unusually close bond with the Mormon church for more than a century because of their shared values. Joining the Boy Scouts is practically automatic among Mormon boys.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - The Latest on a meeting of the Arctic Council (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

Arctic nations have approved a document calling for global action to address climate change. But U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says his country continues to review its own policies.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, seated right, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, seated left, speak with representatives of Alaska Native groups at an Arctic Council event in Fairbanks, Alaska. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska this week amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Tillerson spoke Thursday in Fairbanks, Alaska, at a meeting of the Arctic Council, made up of the eight Arctic nations and indigenous groups.

The council adopted a document noting the need for global action to reduce long-lived greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants.

Tillerson says the United States appreciates that the other countries have important points of view and will take time to understand their concerns.

But he says the U.S. will not rush to make a decision on climate change policy.

The United State chaired the council for the last two years and turned the chairmanship over to Finland on Thursday.

___

10:30 p.m.

The secretary of state is in Fairbanks for a meeting with the world's eight Arctic nations amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development.

Rex Tillerson landed on Wednesday afternoon and immediately held a meeting with a congressional delegation as well as Arctic representatives from Alaska's indigenous people.

Protesters gathered in a city park nearby to denounce the presence of Tillerson, who is the former president of Exxon Mobil Corp.

The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups. Its focus is sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.

It does not make policy or allocate resources, and its decisions must be unanimous.

___

10 p.m.

High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development.

Among those expected to attend the meeting of the Arctic Council beginning Thursday in Fairbanks are U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met Wednesday with Trump and Tillerson in Washington.

No formal discussions were set on key issues such as climate change, development and drilling. But those issues will provide a backdrop as the chairmanship of the council passes from the U.S. to Finland.

The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups. Its focus is sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.

A few hundred people chanted slogans and made speeches to protest the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

A few hundred people chanted slogans and made speeches to protest the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, draped on each side by the American and Alaska flags, speaks at the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, draped on either side by the American and Alaska flags, speaks at the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017.. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

The logo for this year's theme for the Actic Council appears on a television at a welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council event in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Hannah Hill, 36, was among a few hundred people who protested U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's presence for the Actic Council meetings, Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Fairbanks, Alaska, She said her message for Tillerson, a former oil company executive tapped to lead the State Department, that "Alaska shouldn't be for sale for what's in our earth." (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, seated right, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, seated left, pose with Nulato Chief Mickey Stickman at an Arctic Council event in Fairbanks, Alaska. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, laughs as he talks to people before the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom atend a welcoming ceremony to kick off the Arctic Council event in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, left, talks to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson before the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

A few hundred people chanted slogans and made speeches to protest the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Arctic nations have renewed calls for the world to address climate warming, but U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the United States will not rush to make a decision on its policies.

Tillerson spoke Thursday in Fairbanks, Alaska, at a meeting of the Arctic Council, an advisory group made up of the eight Arctic nations and indigenous groups.

The council adopted a nine-page "Fairbanks Declaration 2017," which noted that the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of the global average. The document noted the importance of reducing soot and methane emissions and said climate change is the most serious threat to Arctic biodiversity.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Tillerson signed the document. But in opening remarks, he cautioned that the United States is reviewing several important policies, including how the Trump administration will approach the issue of climate change.

"We are appreciative that each of you has an important point of view, and you should know that we are taking the time to understand your concerns," Tillerson told other representatives on the council. "We're not going to rush to make a decision. We're going to work to make the right decision for the United States."

The Arctic Council, he said, will continue to be an important platform as the Trump administration deliberates.

Trump has said little about Arctic policy, but he has taken steps to put U.S. Arctic Ocean waters back in play for petroleum drilling.

The Arctic Council's goals are sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic. The council does not make policy or allocate resources, and its decisions must be unanimous. The United States, an Arctic country because of the state of Alaska, is joined on the council by Canada, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallstrom said she walked away from a private conversation with Tillerson hopeful of the U.S.' intent in the region.

"He said, well, you know, we ought to first establish our climate policy and then decide on the Paris Agreement and how it relates," Wallstrom told The Associated Press. "And I think that sounds reasonable to do so."

The worst-case scenario feared by some would be that Tillerson used this gathering to announce the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

"Then that did not happen, and I think that bodes well for the future," Wallstrom said. "I believe that we will see a continued American engagement and commitment to the Arctic."

The United States chaired the council for the last two years. The U.S. highlighted three areas during its two-year chairmanship - improved living conditions and economies for those living in the Arctic, stewardship of the Arctic Ocean and climate change.

David Balton, a deputy assistant secretary of State, said other accomplishments included an agreement for scientific cooperation among Arctic nations, an assessment of improvements needed for better telecommunications, and implementation of a database of ships passing through the Arctic.

Tillerson at the close of the meeting turned the gavel to Timo Soini, minister of foreign affairs for Finland, which will take over chairmanship until 2019. Soini said Arctic resources and transportation routes may attract interest.

"We should make sure that all human activity is sustainable, increasing opportunities to benefit the people who already live in the Arctic region, and certainly also the indigenous communities," he said.

Two broad frameworks, Soini said, should be taken into account in all Arctic Council activities: Climate change, especially the Paris Climate Agreement, and sustainable development goals that the United Nations adopted two years ago.

Tillerson arrived late Wednesday afternoon in Fairbanks. Protesters gathered in a city park nearby to denounce the presence of Tillerson, who was president of Exxon Mobil Corp.

"My message for Rex Tillerson is: Alaska shouldn't be for sale for what's in our earth," said Hannah Hill, 36, who works at a Fairbanks soup kitchen. "This place is beautiful, and this place is delicate, and what already is happening in the Arctic will affect the rest of the Earth. And that is science."

Pat Lambert, a retired University of Alaska math professor, attended the rally because he believes climate change is a serious problem.

He suggested Tillerson "should get away from his cronies in the oil business and start listening to the people of Alaska, for instance, and the people of the world who are so interested in these issues."

After the rally, the protesters marched behind a sign reading, "Welcome to the frontline of climate change," to the building where the Arctic Council welcoming celebration was being held.

A few hundred people chanted slogans and made speeches to protest the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations, including Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, seated right, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, seated left, speak with representatives of Alaska Native groups at an Arctic Council event in Fairbanks, Alaska. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska this week amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom atend a welcoming ceremony to kick off the Arctic Council event in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, laughs as he talks to people before the welcoming ceremony to kick off Arctic Council events in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Balton, middle, poses with delegates from the Aleut International Association from Kamchatka, Russia,before the start of the Arctic Council meeting Thursday, May 11, 2017, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Arctic nations at the meeting approved a document calling for global action to address climate change, but U.S. Secretary Rex Tillerson says the United States continues to review its policies. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is shown before the start of the Arctic Council meeting Thursday, May 11, 2017, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Arctic nations at the meeting approved a document calling for global action to address climate change, but U.S. Secretary Rex Tillerson says the United States continues to review its policies. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, right, speaks with delegate Renee Sauve at a vendor's booth before the start of the Arctic Council meeting Thursday, May 11, 2017, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Arctic nations at the meeting approved a document calling for global action to address climate change, but Tillerson says the United States continues to review its policies. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov walks through a vendors area during the Arctic Council meeting Thursday, May 11, 2017, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Arctic nations at the meeting approved a document calling for global action to address climate change, but Tillerson says the United States continues to review its policies. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Ivan Vozhikov, a member of the Aleut International Association from Kamchatka, Russia, walks through a vendors area during the Arctic Council meeting Thursday, May 11, 2017, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Arctic nations at the meeting approved a document calling for global action to address climate change, but U.S. Secretary Rex Tillerson says the United States continues to review its policies. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Pyongyang will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jung Un last month with a biochemical poison, a top North Korean foreign ministry official said Thursday.

Han Song Ryol, the vice foreign minister, called a meeting of foreign diplomats in Pyongyang to outline the North's allegation that the CIA and South Korea's intelligence agency bribed and coerced a North Korean man into joining in the assassination plot, which the North's Ministry of State Security has suggested was thwarted last month.

North Korea's U.N. Mission late Thursday issued a statement calling the purported plot to kill Kim a "declaration of war."

FILE - In this April 13, 2017 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is accompanied by Pak Pong Ju, right, Hwang Pyong So, second left, as he arrives for the official opening of the Ryomyong residential area, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Pyongyang will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jung Un April, 2017, with a biochemical poison, a top North Korean foreign ministry official said Thursday, May 11, 2017.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

It said the aim was to hurt "the mental mainstay that all the Korean people absolutely trust" and "eclipse the eternal sun" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name.

The North's state media have been running stories about the plot since last week. The security ministry has vowed to "ferret out" anyone involved in the alleged plot, which it called "state-sponsored terrorism."

The U.N. Mission said the Ministry of State Security has declared that a "Korean-style anti-terrorist offensive will be commenced to mop up the intelligence and plot-breeding organizations of the U.S. and South Korea."

Han took that a step further with the extradition statement.

"According to our law, the Central Public Prosecutor's Office of the DPRK will use all available methods to start to work to demand the handover of the criminals involved, so as to punish the organizers, conspirators and followers of this terrible state-sponsored terrorism," he said.

North Korea claims the primary suspect is a man it has identified only by the ubiquitous surname "Kim." It says he is a North Korean resident of Pyongyang who worked for a time in the Russian Far East. State media said he was involved in the timber industry in Khabarovsk, which is one of the primary places North Koreans can go overseas to work.

The North further said that a South Korean agent named Jo Ki Chol and a "secret agent" named Xu Guanghai, director general of the Qingdao NAZCA Trade Co. Ltd., met Kim in Dandong, on North Korea's border with China, to give him communications equipment and cash. The North also said "a guy surnamed Han" taught Kim how to enlist accomplices.

"These terrorists plotted and planned in detail for the use of biochemical substances including radioactive and poisonous substances as the means of assassination," Vice Minister Han said, reading from a prepared statement. "These biochemical substances were to be provided with the assistance of the CIA ... while the South Korean Intelligence Service was going to provide necessary support and funding for this attempt at assassination on our supreme leader."

North Korea's U.N. Mission said the organizers infiltrated "the terrorist" into the DPRK with several pieces of satellite communications equipment so he could be updated "with the operational code of terrorism against the supreme leadership, various terrorist methods of using biochemical substances, ways of bribing and hiring the one who would actually carry out the terrorist act and ways of entering the venue of the event."

The statement said the organizers also gave him instructions to report on the "creed" of the person who would carry out the attack "and the state of his 'brainwashing,'" and to make sure the preparations were perfect, as there could be a war if it was revealed that South Korea's intelligence agency backed the operation.

In statements for foreign distribution, North Korea often refers to its leader Kim Jong Un without naming him, instead using the phrase "supreme leadership" or "supreme dignity."

The last time that Han appeared to brief foreign diplomats in Pyongyang was last December, to present North Korea's response to the latest round of U.N. sanctions after the September 2016 nuclear test.

___

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations

North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song Ryol, center, speaks during a meeting at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang, Thursday, May 11, 2017. Pyongyang will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jung Un last month with a biochemical poison, Han, a top North Korean foreign ministry official said Thursday.(AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on a long-stalled bill to make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire its employees, part of an accountability effort touted by President Donald Trump.

The deal announced Thursday could smooth the way for final passage on an issue that had been in limbo since the 2014 wait-time scandal at the Phoenix VA medical center. As many as 40 veterans died while waiting months for appointments as VA employees created secret waiting lists to cover up delays.

The bipartisan deal on Capitol Hill followed a fresh warning from the VA inspector general of continuing patient safety problems at another facility, the VA medical center in Washington, D.C. After uncovering serious problems there last month, the IG's "rapid response" team visited the facility again on Wednesday and found at least two new instances in which patients were "placed at unnecessary risk."

FILE - In this April 7, 2017, file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressional Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on a bill to make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire its employees. It's part of an accountability effort touted by President Donald Trump. The measure led by Rubio softens portions of a bill that passed the House in March. Democrats had criticized that bill as unfairly harsh on workers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

In one case, they found a patient prepped for vascular surgery in an operating room, under anesthesia, whose surgery was postponed because "the surgeon did not have a particular sterile instrument necessary to perform the surgery." The team also found "surgical instruments that had color stains of unknown origin in sterile packs," according to the IG. The VA last month had promised immediate fixes.

VA Secretary David Shulkin told senators at a hearing that he had "no safety concerns today" and that the auditors' visit revealed a process "that works" - doctors stopping a procedure when they identified a potential risk. He agreed legislation was needed to improve the VA. "In the cases we need to make changes in management, today I just don't have that ability to do it," he said.

The Senate measure softens portions of a bill that had passed the House in March, which Democrats criticized as unfairly harsh on workers. Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, the top Democrat and the Republican chair on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, worked to make modifications that would give VA employees added time to appeal disciplinary actions.

House Veterans Affairs' Committee Chairman Phil Roe, sponsor of the House bill, said he would support the revisions.

"To fully reform the VA and provide our nation's veterans with the quality care they were promised and deserve, we must ensure the department can efficiently dismiss employees who are not able or willing to do their jobs," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the bill's lead sponsor.

It comes after Trump last month signed an executive order to create a VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, with an aim of identifying "barriers" that make it difficult for the VA to fire or reassign bad managers or employees.

The GOP-controlled House previously approved an accountability bill mostly along party lines.

The Senate bill adopts several portions of a bipartisan Isakson bill from last year, including a longer appeal process than provided in the House bill - 180 days vs. 45 days - though workers would not be paid during that appeal. VA executives would be held to a tougher standard than rank-and-file employees for discipline. The Senate bill also codifies into law the VA accountability office created under Trump's order, but with changes to give the head of the office more independent authority and require the office to submit regular updates to Congress.

Still, the bill would lower the burden of proof for the VA to fire an employee - from a "preponderance" to "substantial evidence," allowing a dismissal even if most evidence is in a worker's favor. The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, said it remained opposed to the bill as "trampling on the rights of honest, hardworking public sector employees."

Conservative groups praised the legislation.

"These new measures will disincentivize bad behavior within the VA and further protect those who bravely expose wrongdoing," said Dan Caldwell, policy director of Concerned Veterans for America.

The agreement comes in a week in which Senate Democrats are standing apart from Trump on a separate issue affecting veterans, the GOP bill passed by the House to repeal and replace the nation's health care law. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., warned the House measure would strip away explicit protections to ensure that as many as 8 million veterans who are eligible for VA care but opt to use private insurance would still receive tax credits. A group of GOP senators is working to craft their own health bill.

Congress has had difficulty coming to agreement on an accountability bill after the Phoenix VA scandal. A 2014 law gave the VA greater power to discipline executives, but the department stopped using that authority after the Obama Justice Department deemed it likely unconstitutional. This week, a federal appeals court temporarily overturned the VA firing of Phoenix VA hospital director Sharon Helman over the wait-time scandal.

Critics complain that few employees were fired for various VA malfeasance, including rising cases of opioid drug theft, first reported by The Associated Press.

___

Follow Hope Yen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/hopeyen1
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Freida Pinto is loyal to Dior, a company that took a chance on her before she was famous.

During a beachside party hosted by the French fashion house Wednesday, Pinto recalled how Dior was one of the first brands to dress her while promoting her Academy Award-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2008.

She was relatively unknown in Hollywood and had been turned down by other designers.

Actress Freida Pinto mingles at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

"(They were) accepting and welcoming. You just feel a sense of gratitude," said the star of Showtime's "Guerrilla."

Pinto was joined by fellow fashionistas Jaime King, in a belted, wide-sleeved gown, and Kiernan Shipka of "Mad Men."

Shipka said she was channeling one of her new favorite shows, Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale," with her velvet cloak dress.

"What Maria Grazia Chiuri doing is just insane," said Shipka of Dior's creative director. "It has this backbone of just championing women and just really honoring them and creating beautiful stuff."

The relaxed, sunset soiree was a held on the eve of Dior's cruise collection show, presenting in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas.

"What I always expect from Dior is something that will be elegant, modern, chic, useful, timeless, pushing the bar forward," said King of Thursday's runway show. "It's great that people are now bringing high fashion, important fashion and these important designers to our city."

___

Online:

http://www.dior.com

___

Follow Nicole Evatt on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

Actress Freida Pinto arrives at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Actresses Kiernan Shipka, left, and Jaime King pose together at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Actress Jaime King arrives at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Actress Kiernan Shipka arrives at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Chef Flynn McGarry, left, and actress Kiernan Shipka pose together at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Socialite Olivia Palermo, left, and actress Freida Pinto pose together at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Actress Jaime King poses at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Actress Jaime King poses for photographers at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Twins TK, left, and Cipriana Quann arrive together at the Dior Cruise Welcome Dinner at the Dior Surf Club on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Rev. William Barber, who led the state NAACP in blocking North Carolina's attempts to limit voting rights and fiercely supported gay rights, said he's stepping down as state chapter president and will focus on a poor people's campaign like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was building when he was slain.

Barber gained prominence in launching "Moral Monday" protests in North Carolina this decade and trained others in more than 20 states in such peaceful civil disobedience. But he said Wednesday that after 12 years as an NAACP state leader, he wants to focus on the new campaign and "a national call for a moral revival."

"We need a moral narrative because somewhere along the line we've gotten trapped in this left vs. right conversation," said the 53-year-old NAACP leader in an interview via conference call.

FILE - In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, the Rev. William Barber speaks during a news conference after a second night of violence following the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, N.C. Barber, who led the state NAACP as it successfully challenged North Carolina's attempts to limit voting rights and took the organization deeper into support of gay rights, said Wednesday, May 10, 2017, that he won't seek re-election as president of the state chapter. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

Barber also leads a nonprofit called Repairers of the Breach and said that group, along with the Kairos Center, Union Theological Seminary and others will lead a movement that will concentrate on 25 states and the nation's capital where voter suppression, poverty and other problems are prevalent. The groups plan major actions next summer, which would mark the 50th anniversary of the start of King's campaign in 1968.

Barber said more details would be forthcoming at a news conference Monday.

Though Barber's term officially ends in October, he said he would step down in June. He will remain on the NAACP's national board of directors, whose chair, Leon Russell, said he'll "continue to be a voice for North Carolina, for the South and for issues he holds dear."

Barber took the national stage in the literal sense last July, when he addressed the Democratic National Convention, saying then that the heart of the country's democracy was on the line in the November elections. He called on voters to be "the moral defibrillator of our time" and to shock the nation with the power of love, mercy and the fight for justice.

Barber's path to that stage began publicly when he was elected in 2005 to lead the state chapter of the NAACP, turning himself into a national leader fighting on progressive issues both on the streets and in the courts.

The minister of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, Barber founded a movement called "Moral Mondays" during which more than 1,000 people were arrested for civil disobedience at North Carolina's Legislature, including Barber on several occasions. Typically, the protesters rallied outside the legislative building, then moved to the legislative building, singing and holding up signs. Police warned them to leave before arrests began.

The protests were part of the broader Forward Together movement led by the NAACP, which won several protracted battles over voter access in the state.

Under Barber's leadership, the NAACP fought the North Carolina law known as House Bill 2, the "bathroom bill" limiting rights for gay and transgender people that drew a national outcry, business boycotts and was subsequently modified under a political compromise.

The NAACP chapter also opposed North Carolina's constitutional ban on gay marriage, which passed in 2012.

It was clear that the same people who opposed gay rights also supported bills such as voter identification, Barber said. "We refused to allow the extremists to isolate our position," he said.

The various causes are parts of Barber's vision for a country where like-minded people work together and not against each other.

"We need a narrative shift that's ... not just about the normal discussion of left vs. right and conservative vs. liberal, but really a reset of our deepest values," he said. "Dr. King said in 1968 we needed a moral revolution of values, and we say we need a moral revival."

___

Follow Martha Waggoner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mjwaggonernc .

FILE - In this photo taken Monday, July 1, 2013, the Rev. William Barber pauses during a Moral Monday rally at the General Assembly in Raleigh, N.C. Barber, who led the state NAACP as it successfully challenged North Carolina's attempts to limit voting rights and took the organization deeper into support of gay rights, said Wednesday, May 10, 2017, that he won't seek re-election as president of the state chapter. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

FILE - In this photo taken Monday, July 8, 2013, General Assembly police direct the Rev. William Barber, center, President of the N.C. chapter of the NAACP to step down during "Moral Monday" demonstrations at the General Assembly in Raleigh, N.C. Barber, who led the state NAACP as it successfully challenged North Carolina's attempts to limit voting rights and took the organization deeper into support of gay rights, said Wednesday, May 10, 2017, that he won't seek re-election as president of the state chapter. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Jurors will return for another day of deliberations in the fraud and tax evasion trial of former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown.

The jury will return Thursday, a day after the judge excused on panel member who made comments about Brown and "higher beings." That juror was replaced by an alternate, and the jury had to start its deliberations over again Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors say Brown, a Democrat who represented the Florida district that included Jacksonville since 1993, funneled money from One Door for Education into her personal accounts.

She has pleaded not guilty, blaming her former chief of staff Elias "Ronnie" Simmons for stealing.
LONDON (AP) - British Prime Minster Theresa May and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for more support for drought-stricken Somalia, with the U.N. chief requesting another $900 million in aid this year.

They spoke at a high-level conference to address the Horn of Africa nation's deepening humanitarian and security crisis.

"Somalia now hangs in the balance between peril and potential," Guterres said. "Here in London we can tip the scales from danger to safety."

FILE - In this March 30, 2017 file photo, Somalis displaced by a drought arrive at makeshift camps on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia. Britain is hosting a high-level conference on Thursday, May 11, 2017, to address the threat of famine in Somalia. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)

He said political stability has improved but the gains are fragile in part because growing food insecurity is affecting millions of Somalis.

Guterres said some 439,000 people are at risk of famine and more than 6 million are "severely food insecure."

Somalia is also facing new military interest from the United States, as President Donald Trump has approved expanded operations, including airstrikes, against the extremist group al-Shabab. Aid agencies have expressed concern that the military moves could endanger the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the drought.

Pressure is growing on Somalia's military to assume full responsibility for the country's security as the 22,000-strong African Union multinational force, AMISOM, that has been supporting the fragile central government plans to leave by the end of 2020.

The U.S. military has acknowledged the problem. The AU force will begin withdrawing in 2018, and the head of the U.S. Africa Command, Commander General Thomas Waldhauser, has said that if it leaves before Somalia's security forces are capable, "large portions of Somalia are at risk of returning to al-Shabab control or potentially allowing ISIS to gain a stronger foothold."

May said the conference is proposing that Somalia's military be strengthened with regional forces from across the long-fragmented state. The African Union force "simply cannot be expected to carry the burden of Somalia's security forever," she said, noting that al-Shabab has tripled its attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who was elected in February and also holds U.S. citizenship, has repeatedly vowed to defeat al-Shabab within two years.

Somalia also confronts the worst outbreak of cholera in five years, with almost 690 deaths so far this year and cases expected to reach 50,000 by the end of June, the World Health Organization said in a statement Thursday.

WHO added that if the current drought situation continues, "famine could soon be a reality."

Charities working to stave off famine in Somalia are urging that the African country's debts be cancelled.

Save the Children chief Keven Watkins said the African country "continues to drift toward an avoidable famine." He called for "decisive action" including increased help from the World Bank.

Hundreds of thousands of Somalis, the vast majority women and children, have been displaced by a drought since November.

___

Anna reported from Johannesburg

CORRECTS THE NAME AND OFFICE OF THE ETHIOPIAN POLITICIAN Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, center, meets with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, right, and Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Boris Johnson, left, ahead of the Somalia Conference at No 10 Downing Street in London, Thursday, May 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
A Russian blogger has been convicted of inciting religious hatred for playing Pokemon Go in a church where the last Russian tsar is said to have been killed.

Ruslan Sokolovsky posted a video on his YouTube channel last year showing him playing the smartphone game in a church built on the supposed spot where the last Russian tsar and his family were killed.

He had been in prison and on home arrest since October and judge Yekaterina Shoponyak on Thursday found Sokolovsky guilty of inciting religious hatred and gave him a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence.

Russian blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky is flanked by officers ahead of the verdict in court today

Ruslan Sokolovsky, 21, from the Urals city of Yekaterinburg was convicted inciting hatred today

Ruslan Sokolovsky's mother Yelena Chingina hugs her son after the announcement of the verdict at Yekaterinburg's Verkh-Isetsky District Court

The Russian arrives in court (left) and is pictured inside the building hugging his mother (right)

Russian blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky (centre) filmed himself playing Pokemon Go at the Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land and uploaded the video to his YouTube channel in August 2016

She earlier said Sokolovsky's behavior and his anti-religious videos manifested his 'disrespect for society' and that Sokolovsky 'intended to offend religious sentiments.'

When the verdict was read out, the blogger's mother rushed to her son to give him a hug.

The video blogger filmed himself zapping Pokemon in a Russian Orthodox church in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

He uploaded the video to his YouTube channel, Sokolovsky!, in August 2016, where it has been viewed more than 1.9million times.

Sokolovsky went to Church on the Blood and filmed himself playing Pokemon Go on his phone

The Russian Orthodox Church accused him of blasphemy after playing the game in a church built on the supposed spot where the family of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, was killed

Russian blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky (left), charged with extremism and insulting the religious feelings of believers, attends the announcement of the verdict at Yekaterinburg's Verkh-Isetsky District Cour

Ruslan Sokolovsky talks to journalists during his sentencing at a court in Yekaterinburg, Russia

But the Russian Orthodox Church accused him of blasphemy after playing the game in a church built on the supposed spot where the family of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, was killed.

He pleaded not guilty in the case which has been compared to that of the Pussy Riot punk art group, whose 2012 'punk prayer' in a Moscow cathedral led to two-year prison terms.

'I didn't aim to offend anyone,' Sokolovsky said in court in a video broadcast by Life News, adding that he was ready to apologise if anyone was offended.

He said he created the videos 'with critical and polemical aims', describing himself as an atheist.

'I didn't ask these people to watch my video clips,' he told journalists during a break.

'Who is the Russian Orthodox Church that I have to publicly repent in front of them?'

Sokolovsky spent several months in prison ahead of the trial before being put under house arrest.

He pleaded not guilty and told the court he didn't mean to offend anybody with his actions

Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game which lets you walk in the real world to catch the monsters

He could have faced incarceration of up to seven years over the stunt, but he was given a more lenient sentence of half that time which was suspended.

Amnesty International condemned the charges against him as 'farcical' and called him a prisoner of conscience.

The video blogger also faced a separate charge of illegally possessing a 'spy pen' with a recording function, which was found in a search of his flat.

In court, he said that the pen is widely available to buy and unsuitable for covert recording.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy said Thursday after left-wing activists threw a pie in his face in Serbia that the incident illustrates the Balkan country is far from having democracy.

Levy, a philosopher known for his criticism of Serbian nationalist policies during the 1990s Balkan wars, was in Belgrade for the showing of his documentary film about the Kurds fighting the Islamic State group.

A young man chanting "Murderer, leave Belgrade" hurled a pie at his face while he was presenting his film, "Peshmerga," on Wednesday. Another man climbed the stage with a banner bearing a communist hammer and sickle that read, "Bernard Levy advocates imperialist murders."

French philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Levy, right, holds a microphone after being struck in the face with a pie by leftist activists during the presentation of his documentary with Serbian movie director Goran Markovic, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Bernard-Henri Levy, known for his criticism of Serbian nationalist policies during the 1990s Balkan wars, is in Belgrade for the showing of his film about the Kurds' battle against the Islamic State group. (AP Photo)

Levy reacted by shouting "Long live democracy" in French.

Serbian nationalists perceive Levy as one of the main advocates of the NATO bombing in 1999 over the country's crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists.

"He deserved much worse than a cake in his face," Serbian ultranationalist official Vojislav Seselj said in parliament on Thursday.

Organizers of the documentary festival apologized to Levy on Thursday, giving him a cake as a present during an appearance that saw tough security in the hall.

Levy said "this incident illustrates what democrats face" in Serbia.

"You have a mixture of (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor) Orban who strive for Europe, but do not accept European values," Levy said in an apparent reference to the autocratic rule of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who soon is to be inaugurated as president.

The French-Jewish intellectual has a history of being the target of pie-wielding critics.

Noel Godin, a Belgian actor and author who has made a career out of throwing pies at celebrities, has pied Levy at least seven times since 1985, the last time in 2015.

French philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Levy attends the presentation of his documentary, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 11, 2017. Levy, known for his criticism of Serbian nationalist policies during Balkan wars in the 1990s, is in Belgrade for the showing of his film about the Kurds' battle against the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

CORRECTS THE DATE - French philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Levy, right, arrives at the presentation of his documentary with a bodyguard, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 11, 2017. Levy, known for his criticism of Serbian nationalist policies during Balkan wars in the 1990s, is in Belgrade for the showing of his film about the Kurds' battle against the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand on Thursday became the second nation after Japan to ratify a Pacific trade deal that will need changes to proceed after the United States pulled out.

Trade Minister Todd McClay said New Zealand is exploring alternatives for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and that ratifying the deal helps keep its options open.

President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 12-nation deal immediately after taking office in January after campaigning against it.

In its current form, the Pacific rim deal requires U.S. participation before it can go into effect. That means the remaining countries would need to change the rules for any deal to go ahead, and it would be significantly smaller without the involvement of the world's largest economy.

McClay said New Zealand expects other nations to ratify the agreement in the coming months.

"Following the U.S. withdrawal from TPP, our export sector and business community sent a clear message to find a way forward for this valuable agreement and that's what we have been working hard to do," he said in a statement.

New Zealand's ratification comes ahead of a trip by Prime Minister Bill English next week to Japan, where he will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. McClay later this month is scheduled to co-chair a meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership ministers in Vietnam.

New Zealand is a strong proponent of free trade. The country relies on exports of dairy products and other farm commodities to help power its economy.
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Television journalist Julia Kirienko was sheltering with Ukrainian soldiers and medics two miles (three kilometers) from the front when their cellphones began buzzing over the noise of the shelling. Everyone got the same text message at the same time.

"Ukrainian soldiers," it warned, "they'll find your bodies when the snow melts."

Text messages like the one Kirienko received have been sent periodically to Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country. The threats and disinformation represent a new form of information warfare, the 21st-century equivalent of dropping leaflets on the battlefield.

In this photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, television journalist Julia Kirienko holds up her smartphone to show a text message reading "Ukrainian soldiers, they'll find your bodies when the snow melts", in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers fighting pro-Russian separatists are being bombarded by threats and disinformation via text message, the 21st-century equivalent of dropping leaflets on the battlefield. (AP Photo/Raphael Satter)

"This is pinpoint propaganda," said Nancy Snow, a professor of public diplomacy at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.

The Associated Press has found that the messages are almost certainly being sent through cell site simulators, surveillance tools long used by U.S. law enforcement to track suspects' cellphones. Photos, video, leaked documents and other clues gathered by Ukrainian journalists suggest the equipment may have been supplied by the Kremlin.

The texts have been arriving since 2014, shortly after the fighting erupted. The AP documented nearly four dozen of them , including the one that Kirienko received on Jan. 31 in Avdiivka, a battle-scarred town outside the principal rebel-held city of Donetsk.

The messages typically say things such as "Leave and you will live" or "Nobody needs your kids to become orphans." Many are disguised to look as if they are coming from fellow soldiers.

In 2015, Ukrainian soldiers defending the railroad town of Debaltseve were sent texts appearing to come from comrades claiming their unit's commander had deserted. Another set of messages warned that Ukrainian forces were being decimated. "We should run away," they said.

"They were mostly threatening and demoralizing, saying that our commanders had betrayed us and we were just cannon fodder," said Roman Chashurin, who served as a tank gunner in Debaltseve.

Ukrainian military and intelligence services had no comment on the phenomenon, but government and telecommunications officials are well aware of what's going on.

A 2014 investigation by a major Ukrainian cellphone company concluded that cell site simulators were to blame for the rogue messages, according to an information security specialist who worked on the inquiry. He spoke on the condition that neither he nor his former firm be identified, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

Col. Serhiy Demydiuk, the head of Ukraine's national cyberpolice unit, said in an interview that the country's intelligence services knew the devices were being used as well.

"Avdiivka showed that the Russian side was using fake towers," he said. "They are using them constantly."

Cell site simulators work by impersonating cellphone towers , allowing them to intercept or even fake data. Heath Hardman, a former U.S. Marines signals analyst who operated the devices in Iraq and Afghanistan, said they were routinely used by American military intelligence officers to hunt insurgents.

Sending mass text messages in wartime isn't entirely new. Israelis have sent mass texts to urge evacuations in Gaza, for example, while the Islamic militant group Hamas sent threateningmessages to random Israelis in 2009.

Cell site simulators significantly sharpen the ability of propagandists to tailor those kinds of messages to a specific place or situation, according to Snow, the academic.

"There's just something about viewing a message on your phone that just makes people more susceptible or vulnerable to its impact," she said.

The type of hardware involved remains a matter of speculation. But last year, the Ukrainian investigative website InformNapalm published a video and photographs appearing to show a LEER-3, a Russian truck-mounted electronic warfare system, in the Donetsk area. InformNapalm also disclosed what it described as leaked Russian military documents discussing the LEER-3's deployment to the Luhansk area of eastern Ukraine.

A 2015 article in Russia's Military Review magazine said the LEER-3 has a cell site simulator built into a drone that is capable of acting over a 6-kilometer-wide area and hijacking up to 2,000 cellphone connections at once. That makes it a "pretty plausible" source for the rogue texts in Ukraine, said Hardman, the former signals analyst.

Russia's Defense Ministry did not return a request for comment. Moscow has long denied any direct role in the fighting in Ukraine, despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary.

The effectiveness of the propaganda texts is an open question. Soldiers say they typically shrug them off.

"I can't say that it had any influence on us," said Chashurin, the former tank gunner. "We were even joking that they must be so afraid of us the only thing they can do is to spam us with these texts."

But Svetlana Andreychuk, a volunteer who has made frequent trips to the front line to distribute food and supplies, said the threats and mockery sometimes hit a nerve in a grinding conflict that has claimed more than 9,900 lives.

"Some people are psychologically influenced," she said. "It's coming regularly. People are so tired. You see people dying. And then you face this."

___

Valeriy Kulyk in Kiev and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

___

Know more about military cell site simulators?

Raphael Satter, AP Cybersecurity Writer, can be reached at: http://raphaelsatter.com
BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union's statistical agency says that more than 63,000 children traveling without adult company applied for asylum last year, more than half of them Afghan and Syrian nationals.

Eurostat said Thursday that 63,300 unaccompanied minors applied for international protection in the 28 EU nations plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

It said the number was a third down from last year but still five times higher than the annual average.

More than two thirds of the minors were males and aged 16 to 17. Almost 6,300 were under 14. Almost 60 percent of the applicants sought asylum in Germany.
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - The formidable surveillance power of cell site simulators has put them at the forefront of privacy debates in the U.S. and Europe. Now The Associated Press has found evidence that the devices are sending threatening text messages to the soldiers fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

So what are cell site simulators and how do they work?

-What are they?

Cell site simulators work by masquerading as one of the millions of cell towers that keep people connected all around the world. The devices, which can vary in size and are also known as IMSI catchers, or by various brand names such as DRT boxes or Stingrays, take advantage of well-known flaws in cellphone network security to trick nearby handsets into divulging information or behaving in ways that they shouldn't. They've been used to block phone use in British prisons , track gang members in Canada and allegedly eavesdrop on protesters in Chicago . Authorities have long fought to keep the hardware out of the public eye , but cell site simulators are increasingly becoming subject to judicial scrutiny and have even popped up in popular culture, appearing in shows such as the Baltimore crime series "The Wire."

"They're mass surveillance devices," said Christopher Parsons, a researcher with Citizen Lab, at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs. He added that there are still many unanswered questions about how the devices are being used internationally and by whom.

"This is product line that principally operates in the darkness," he said.

-How do they work?

Handsets try to keep their users as connected as possible, jumping from one cellphone tower to another in a constant struggle to improve reception. Because securing phones' signals from eavesdroppers has long taken a backseat to making sure calls get through clearly, it's relatively easy to create set up a malicious device that mimics a cell tower, drawing data from nearby phones like an invisible magnet. Although traditionally the domain of intelligence agencies and the military, cell site simulators are now so widespread that even local police forces , talented amateurs and criminals can quietly using the devices to steal secrets.

"It's not that the phones are stupid," said Heath Hardman, a former U.S. Marines signals analyst who used simulators in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It's just that the phones are not programmed to detect lies."

___

Online:

Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://raphaelsatter.com
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. TRUMP ALTERS ACCOUNT OF DECISION TO FIRE FBI CHIEF

The president declares he had planned to fire Comey all along, regardless of whether top Justice Department officials recommended the decision.

In this July 3, 2010, photo, Boy Scouts salute during the Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah. The Mormon church, the biggest sponsor of Boy Scout troops in the United States, announced Thursday, May 11, 2017, it is pulling as many as 185,000 older youths from the organization as part of an effort to start its own scouting-like program. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

2. PANEL WILL REVIEW ALLEGED VOTER FRAUD

Trump signs an executive order creating the panel and building on his unsubstantiated claims that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.

3. WHO'S BACKING AWAY FROM THE BOY SCOUTS

The Mormon church, the biggest sponsor of Boy Scout troops in the U.S., is cutting some of its ties to the organization

4. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO PROBE POLICE SHOOTING OF TEXAS TEEN

The decision follows the killing by a white officer of a black 15-year-old who was a passenger in a car leaving an unruly party.

5. WHERE FREE SPEECH SEEMS TO BE FADING

In campus clashes from California to Vermont, many defenders of the First Amendment say they see signs that free speech is losing ground as a priority at U.S. colleges.

6. BRAZIL DECLARES END TO ZIKA HEALTH EMERGENCY

The move comes 18 months after a surge in cases of the virus drew headlines around the world.

7. WHY HEP-C VIRUS IS SPREADING

The heroin epidemic is driving up hepatitis C infections, with the biggest increase in people in their 20s, U.S. health officials say.

8. 'SERIOUS' NEGOTIATIONS TO FREE CAPTIVES

Nigeria's government is seeking the release of more than 110 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls and will exchange more detained members of Boko Haram for them if needed, an official says.

9. CLEAN-UP TARGETS PLASTIC WASTE IN OCEAN

A Dutch foundation says it will start getting rid of the huge area of floating junk known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within the next 12 months.

10. SEAN SPICER OUT ON ASSIGNMENT

Missing your daily dose of Trump's chief spokesman? He's been on Navy Reserve duty.

Plastic garbage is displayed prior to a press conference of the Ocean Cleanup foundation in Utrecht, Netherlands, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The foundation aiming to rid the world's oceans of plastic says it will start cleaning up the huge patch of floating junk known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within the next 12 months, two years ahead of schedule. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Two civilians were killed and three others injured Thursday when Indian and Pakistani soldiers traded gunfire and shelled each other's border posts in the disputed Kashmir region, officials from the two sides said.

Indian army spokesman Lt. Col. Manish Mehta said Pakistani soldiers attacked Indian military posts on Wednesday night with automatic weapons and mortars in Nowshera sector along the highly militarized Line of Control dividing Kashmir between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Mehta said the Pakistani army "initiated indiscriminate firing," and called it an "unprovoked" violation of a 2003 cease-fire accord. Indian police said a 35-year-old woman was killed and her husband was injured when a Pakistani shell hit their home.

However, Pakistan denied that it initiated the clash and accused Indian soldiers of firing and shelling in at least in five sectors, causing the death of a civilian and injuries to two others. The Foreign Ministry said it summoned an Indian diplomat in Islamabad to register a protest and "strongly condemned the unprovoked cease-fire violations" by Indian troops.

In the past, both countries have often accused the other of initiating border skirmishes that led to the deaths of soldiers and civilians.

Earlier this month, India accused Pakistani soldiers of killing two Indian soldiers and mutilating their bodies. Pakistan denied the allegation.

Last year, Indian and Pakistani soldiers engaged in some of the worst fighting along the Line of Control since the two nations agreed to the cease-fire accord.

India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed by both. They have fought two of their three wars over the region since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

___

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania's membership in the European Union has brought "peace and stability to our continent," the European Commission's president said Thursday, adding there should not be a second-rate Europe.

Jean-Claude Juncker told the country's Parliament that Romanians are "a courageous and committed people."

Juncker said that Romania's EU membership in 2007 had extended the bloc's reach to the Black Sea that forms Romania's eastern border.

The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker, right, kisses former Romanian President Traian Basescu's forehead before an anniversary session of parliament marking 10 years since Romania joined the European Union in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The European Commission's president said Thursday that Romania's membership in the European Union had brought "peace and stability to our continent" adding there should not be a second-rate Europe.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

"In the EU, there have never been second-rate countries or countries that are left behind," Juncker said. However he said European countries could progress "with different rhythms. A Europe with several speeds is foreseen in treaties."

There is some sensitivity, even resentment, among Romanians about their place in the EU. A decade after joining, Romania still isn't part of the visa-free Schengen travel zone and the EU is still monitoring the government's progress on judicial reform and fighting corruption.

Juncker said Romania deserves to be a Schengen member as soon as possible.

His comments came days after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told lawmakers that the country is "not a second-rate state in the EU," and urged citizens to "overcome an internal barrier that prevents us from manifesting our national capacity and limits us to unjustly considering ourselves a second-level state."

Juncker said when Romania takes over the presidency of the EU in 2019, it should no longer be monitored by the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism implemented when it joined the bloc.

"One cannot preside over the European Union while under the impression that one is controlled by the others," he said, noting he had personally promised this at the beginning of his mandate.

Speaking later at a reception at the Cotroceni presidential palace, Iohannis underscored the European credentials of Romanians, calling them "the most pro-European citizens of the union,"

Iohannis said the country could "reinvigorate and consolidate" the European project. "In a region marked by complex challenges, Romania has the advantage of being a source of stability."

Juncker warmly greeted former Romanian prime ministers, and tightly hugged Traian Basescu, president from 2004 to 2014, kissing him on the forehead.

The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker, center, walks with the heads of Romania's parliament chambers Calin Popescu Tariceanu, left, and Liviu Dragnea before an anniversary session marking 10 years since Romania joined the European Union in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The European Commission's president said Thursday that Romania's membership in the European Union had brought "peace and stability to our continent" adding there should not be a second-rate Europe. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker, right, kisses former Romanian President Traian Basescu's forehead before an anniversary session of parliament marking 10 years since Romania joined the European Union in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The European Commission's president said Thursday that Romania's membership in the European Union had brought "peace and stability to our continent" adding there should not be a second-rate Europe.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker, stands while Romania's national anthem is played before an anniversary session of parliament marking 10 years since Romania joined the European Union in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The European Commission's president said Thursday that Romania's membership in the European Union had brought "peace and stability to our continent" adding there should not be a a second-rate Europe. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker, stands while Romania's national anthem is played before an anniversary session of parliament marking 10 years since Romania joined the European Union in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The European Commission's president said Thursday that Romania's membership in the European Union had brought "peace and stability to our continent" adding there should not be a two-speed Europe.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) - Kosovo's president has met with political leaders to discuss a date of an election next month.

Hashim Thaci's meeting on Thursday follows the fall of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's government in a no-confidence vote, about a year before an election was due.

Thaci dissolved the parliament and the voting is expected in a two-week spell between 30 to 45 days.

The government collapse suggested a breakdown between the two governing partners following months of political deadlock over a border demarcation deal with neighboring Montenegro that critics claim would mean a loss of territory. The Cabinet and local and international experts say the deal would not change the country's land area.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It is recognized by 114 countries, but not by Serbia.
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - A new prime minister of the Bahamas was to be sworn in Thursday after the opposition won a sweeping victory over the ruling party in the island chain.

Hubert Minnis of the Free National Movement would lead the country with 34 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly, according to unofficial returns from the election a day earlier. Prime Minister Perry Christie of the Progressive Liberal Party conceded defeat as results were still being tabulated and certified from the far-flung islands that make up the country of nearly 400,000 people.

"My colleagues and I in the Free National Movement have been given the solemn responsibility to form the next government of the Bahamas," Minnis told jubilant supporters at a victory rally. "We have been given a mandate for change."

Christie and his Progressive Liberal Party have been in power since 2012. The party struggled with public anger over rising crime, a sluggish economy and allegations of corruption involving the construction of a new mega resort on the most populated island of New Providence.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Hamas' newly elected supreme leader on Thursday announced the arrest of the man believed responsible for the mysterious shooting death of one of his organization's top military commanders in March, a breakthrough in a case that has embarrassed and shocked the Islamic militant group.

Hamas hopes the arrest will shore up its standing with the public at a time when it has been weakened by the shooting, an economic crisis and rising tensions with the rival Palestinian Authority. Accusing Israel of orchestrating the assassination, Hamas declared victory and scheduled celebratory rallies across Gaza.

Ismail Haniyeh, who was named the head of Hamas' political bureau last week, announced the arrest at a hastily scheduled news conference. He declined to identify the suspect but implied he was a Palestinian who had collaborated with Israel.

Hamas Supreme Leader Ismail Haniyeh announces the arrest of a suspect in the March shooting death of Mazen Faqha, a top Hamas militant commander, in a hastily arranged news conference in front of Fagha's home, in Gaza City, Thursday, May 11, 2017. Haniyeh refused to identify the suspect, but said that Hamas had determined the gunman, apparently a local Palestinian, had acted on the orders of Israel and he expected the suspect would face execution. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

"All the evidence we have indicates that the perpetrator committed this crime based on orders from the Israeli occupation," Haniyeh said. More details will be released in the coming days, he added, noting that the suspect would face execution.

The death of Mazen Faqha, a shadowy senior figure in Hamas' military wing, has shocked the militant group that has ruled Gaza with an iron fist for the past decade.

Faqha, 38, was killed in the garage of his apartment building on March 24, shortly after he had dropped off his family. Hamas said the killer used a weapon with a silencer, allowing him to escape undetected before Faqha's body was discovered an hour later.

At the time, the group quickly blamed Israel and imposed a lockdown on Gaza. It set up military-style checkpoints throughout the small, seaside territory, sealed Gaza's border with Israel and rounded up hundreds of people for questioning.

Israel has not responded to Hamas' accusations that it was behind the killing. Officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday.

"What the enemy did was a painful strike in terms of strategy and security," Haniyeh said.

He thanked the public for showing its "understanding" of the security measures and praised his intelligence services for cracking the case.

"What happened was a strategic achievement," he said. "The world will be surprised by the level of this mighty work."

Human rights groups repeatedly have criticized Hamas for torturing people in its jails and for running a system of justice that does not meet international standards. Last month, it executed three alleged "collaborators" with Israel in what was widely seen as a response to the Faqha shooting.

But Thursday's high-profile announcement indicated the group is confident it has found Faqha's killer. Haniyeh stood next to Faqha's smiling wife, Nahed, as he delivered the news.

Hamas organized victory celebrations in dozens of neighborhoods across Gaza on Thursday night. In the southern city of Rafah, jubilant supporters handed out sweets.

The group is desperate for a lift after a series of setbacks. Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade on Gaza since the group seized control of the territory from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas, which seeks Israel's destruction, from smuggling in weapons, but the closure has hit Gaza's economy hard.

The blockade was tightened after the 2013 military ouster of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a close ally of Hamas. The next year, Hamas lost hundreds of fighters in a war with Israel that also inflicted heavy damage on Gaza.

The shooting of Faqha exposed flaws in Hamas' security procedures and its inability to find the assailant quickly caused further embarrassment. More recently, Abbas, who governs the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, has cut financial support to Gaza, further squeezing Hamas.

Faqha, originally from the West Bank, was serving nine life terms in Israeli prison for directing suicide bombing attacks before he was freed with more than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier in 2011. Under the release, Faqha was sent to Gaza.

Haniyeh's appointment came shortly after Hamas' rulers unveiled a new, seemingly more pragmatic political program aimed at ending the group's international isolation.

Hamas is trying to rebrand itself as an Islamic national liberation movement, rather than a branch of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed by Egypt. It also has dropped explicit language calling for Israel's destruction, although it retains the goal of eventually "liberating" all of historic Palestine, which includes what is now Israel.

Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group and says it has not changed its ways.

Supporters chant Islamic slogans as Hamas Supreme Leader Ismail Haniyeh, center, announces the arrest of a suspect in the March shooting death of Mazen Faqha, a top Hamas militant commander, in a hastily arranged news conference attended by Faqha's widow Nahed Asida, in front of Fagha's home, in Gaza City, Thursday, May 11, 2017. Haniyeh refused to identify the suspect, but said that Hamas had determined the gunman, apparently a local Palestinian, had acted on the orders of Israel and he expected the suspect would face execution. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A burgeoning Indianapolis suburb has paid the wife of an influential congressman $580,000 since 2015 for legal consulting she largely does from the Washington area, an unusually large sum even in a state rife with highly paid government contractors, according to a review by The Associated Press.

Jennifer Messer, the wife of Republican Rep. Luke Messer, makes $20,000 a month working as a contract attorney for Fishers, according to the AP's review of public documents. That's drastically more than either of the city's two staff attorneys are paid - or many other government lawyers in Indiana.

Legal experts say the agreement, which pays about $240,000 a year, doesn't appear to break any rules because state law allows considerable leeway for governments to enter into professional service contracts. But it could create an awkward situation for her husband, who was elected to Congress in 2012 on a pledge to "stop the reckless spending" and has plans to challenge Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly next year.

In a Dec. 13, 2012 photo, Luke and Jennifer Messer are photographed in their home in Shelbyville, Ind. Jennifer Messer receives $20,000 each month as a contract lawyer for Fishers, an Indianapolis suburb, most of the work done from the Washington area. Legal experts say that under the arrangement, Messer is paid more than either of Fishers' two staff attorneys and many other government lawyers in the state. (Tom Russo/Daily Reporter via AP)

Meanwhile, many of Fishers' daily legal needs are handled by salaried lawyers, or other local law firms. That leaves a limited work portfolio for Messer, a lawyer of 16 years, who is free to take on additional clients and whose contractual duties to the city include "providing legal advice and services" with an emphasis on economic development.

In recent years, Republican-dominated Indiana and local governments in the state have increasingly replaced government workers with contractors in a bid to drive down the headcount of public employees.

Former Gov. Mike Pence, now the vice president, employed trusted aide Josh Pitcock to be the state's federal lobbyist through a lucrative contract that paid $23,000 a month, an arrangement his administration argued exempted Pitcock from ethics rules that applied to rank-and-file workers. Seema Verma, a Pence protege who is the current head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, also had a lucrative contract, though her duties were similar to those of a high-level state administrator.

In a statement issued late Thursday, Luke Messer defended his wife's job, calling her "the brains of the Messer outfit" and pointing out that her work as a lawyer predated his political career.

Both Jennifer Messer and Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, a rising Republican star in Indiana, say the arrangement has been beneficial to the city and helped usher in an era of "unprecedented" economic success in the growing suburb of about 85,000 people.

"It is not unusual for municipalities to seek specialized contracted legal services for such technical and nuanced legal documents," Fadness said in a statement. "The size of the City of Fishers, combined with the volume of economic development activity, merits her specialized legal services."

Messer pointed to an IKEA home furnishings store and a high-end driving range, which are both under construction, as examples of high-profile projects she helped the city land.

But not everyone is convinced Fishers' taxpayers are getting a good deal.

"I'm flabbergasted," said Indiana University public affairs Professor Paul Helmke, a former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne who also is a lawyer. "What does she do each month that can't be done by the other folks on staff - particularly when she's not there? Even if she were the only lawyer for a city, that would still be an extraordinary amount of money."

Jennifer Messer has worked for Fishers since 2010, primarily through a firm that handled the town's legal needs over three decades. But after a major restructuring in 2015, the city created its own legal department and the firm lost out.

Messer, however, did not and secured the contract despite living out of state in McLean, Virginia, records show.

Before moving away when her husband took office in 2013, Jennifer Messer regularly staffed Fishers meetings, attended planning groups and sat in on closed-door executive sessions, where sensitive legal matters are often discussed. But after her husband's election, Messer's attendance dropped sharply and she hasn't been present at a meeting since 2015, records show.

She now lists her mother-in-law's Greensburg, Indiana home as her in-state business address - the same address where her husband is registered to vote, after the family sold their home in nearby Shelbyville.

In a recent podcast with a local resident, Fishers' lead staff attorney Chris Greisl described Messer's role as supplementary to the legal department's day-to-day work.

"I just get pulled in so many different directions," said Greisl, who makes about $100,000 less a year than Messer. "I don't have the time to dedicate and to be in every single place at once."

Messer says her pay is commensurate with her level of experience and says she regularly submits detailed statements of the work she performs so the city can track her productivity.

Records furnished by the city which document her billable hours in April 2016 and April 2017 indicate she did not work full-time either of those months. The city did not provide a complete accounting of Messer's billable hours, as requested by The AP.

Through her contract, Messer earns more than Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb's top attorneys, who generally make between $100,000 and $150,000 a year, records show. Her pay also surpasses the head attorney for the city of Indianapolis, who tops out at $118,999 a year, according to figures provided by the city.

"It sure seems to me like it's a sweetheart deal for the Messers, but the taxpayers in Fishers are being short changed," said Julia Vaughan of the left-leaning government watchdog group Common Cause Indiana.

But Messer and Fadness say it is not fair to compare the contract work she does for the city to salaried government attorneys around the state. And they say the arrangement has actually helped the city save money.

Documents provided by Fishers show the city initially saved money on core legal services under the current arrangement. But they are on track to spend more this year after hiring an additional staff attorney.

"We have a dynamic, successful team, and I am proud to be a part of it," Messer said.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A Charleston-area man is facing federal charges after authorities say he defaced a structure at the South Carolina fort where the Civil War began, officials said Thursday.

Noah Sigalas, 21, of Sullivan's Island was indicted Tuesday on charges of defacing an archaeological resource and government property, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Beth Drake. Authorities said that Sigalas was visiting Fort Sumter, in the Charleston harbor, in March when he pulled on a support pole that was stabilizing a casemate wall, causing more than $1,000 in damage. A casemate is a gun emplacement.

If convicted, Sigalas faces possible penalties of more than a decade in prison and nearly $300,000 in fines. Court papers listed no attorney for Sigalas, who was scheduled to appear in court later this month.

Fort Sumter, on Charleston Harbor, was bombarded by Confederate guns on April 12, 1861, in a fight that started four years of civil war. It's part of the Fort Sumter National Monument, one of 84 national monuments among 413 sites administered by the National Park Service.

Chief ranger Ben Byrnes said the fort is a valuable historical resource, where many of the bricks date back to its original construction, which began in 1829.

"Destroying any part of Fort Sumter brick is like literally erasing a page from the history of the United States," he said.

___

Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP. Read more of her work at https://apnews.com/search/meg%20kinnard.
LINCOLN  The Nebraska Department of Revenue offered a report on tax collections Wednesday showing they were down for April, based on the February economic forecast.

That prompted Gov. Pete Ricketts, who now has the budget and who wants to see more cuts, to send out a statement saying he would "responsibly" address the shortfall to protect the budget and Nebraska taxpayers.

"I will be reviewing the budget in the coming days, and will take appropriate action on the bills in light of this revenue shortfall, he said.

But that shortfall is based on a three-month-old forecast from February.

When looking at the most recent forecast from April, net receipts could actually be up $10 million, or 2.14 percent, relative to the forecast, said Appropriations Chairman John Stinner. That could put year-to-date tax collections at about even with the April forecast.

That April forecast is expected to be certified in the next few days. The Revenue Department chose to put the report out based on the February forecast rather than wait for the April forecast to be certified.

The committee already has dealt with the April forecast by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Board, which lowered tax collections for this year and the next two by a total of $55 million, as it balanced the budget, Stinner said.

If you look back at March, the net tax collections were up $24 million, a 7.9 percent increase, according to the Revenue Department.

The budget fight fired up again Wednesday morning, a day after the mainline budget bill had made its way from the Legislature to Ricketts' desk. Senators who voted against the bills said they were never going to shut down state government. They criticized those who lashed out at them on Tuesday for their votes.

Regarding the animosity, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers said he predicted how the session would end by how it began.

"I told you all, we're going to run out of time, we're going to get to the end. We'll be fighting like scorpions in a bottle. But everything that we will need to do we will do when the session shuts down," he said. "We will build a budget, for better or for worse."

Omaha Sen. Bob Krist said there was a time in years past when the governor and Appropriations Committee chairman worked together to make the best budget decisions.

"This is not a war," he said of the current budget fight. "It's not a game."
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The death toll has risen to five in the worst attack on U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic with the discovery of the body of a missing Moroccan soldier, the United Nations said Thursday.

Four Cambodian soldiers also died - one in Monday night's ambush by a Christian rebel group and battle that followed near Bangassou, about 474 kilometers (295 miles) east of Bangui, the U.N. said. The bodies of three missing Cambodians were found on Tuesday.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday that searchers found the body of the missing Moroccan near Bangassou, about 474 kilometers (295 miles) east of Bangui where the ambush occurred.

A U.N. official said the bodies of the four peacekeepers who had been missing were badly mutilated, making identification difficult. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

In the attack, Dujarric said nine Moroccans and one Cambodian were also wounded, none with life-threatening injuries.

Eight fighters from the Christian anti-Balaka rebel group were also killed, he said.

Dujarric said the U.N. is conducting an investigation and "we are working with the Central African authorities to try to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice."

The country descended into sectarian conflict in 2013 when Muslim rebels overthrew the nation's Christian president.

The United Nations launched a peacekeeping mission there in 2014 and now has more than 12,000 troops deployed to protect civilians from violence between Christian and Muslim factions. Some 890,000 people have been displaced inside the country and into neighboring Cameroon, the U.N. 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 that 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.

The U.N. Security Council condemned Monday's attack "in the strongest terms" and reiterated that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes. Members called on the Central African Republic's government to swiftly investigate the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Amnesty International and civil society groups in the Central African Republic launched a national campaign Thursday urging authorities to tackle what they called "a deeply entrenched culture of impunity which has prevented thousands of victims of human rights abuses and crimes under international law from receiving any form of justice."

The campaign calls for tougher government action against impunity and international funding for the country's new Special Criminal Court.
TIRANA, Albania (AP) - A senior European Union official says he regrets that Albania's opposition will not take part in the parliamentary election and denounces its boycott as not in line with European democratic standards.

A statement from EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Thursday warned Albanian leaders would be held accountable for preventing their people's "legitimate aspirations ... for a better future."

Hahn said he respected the "deliberate choice by the current opposition not to run for elections ... but at the same time deeply regret this decision from a democratic point of view."

"The democratic process must continue, even if some decide to stay behind," he said.

Last week the ruling Socialist Party canceled a mayoral vote in a western town by withdrawing its candidate, apparently fearing a confrontation with opposition supporters who were planning a protest there on the same day.

Hahn called the cancellation "a clear loss for democracy."

Albania expects to launch full membership negotiations with Brussels if it holds free and fair polls in June 18 and launches the justice reform, blocked because of the opposition.

The opposition Democratic Party has boycotted parliament since February and demanded that Prime Minister Edi Rama resign before the election because of fears that his Cabinet will manipulate the vote.

The opposition, which has not registered for the June 18 polls and has threatened that they will not be held, has planned a national protest in the capital Tirana this weekend.

Hahn condemned what he called "call for 'actions' that would undermine each citizen's right to vote and other fundamental freedoms."

Hana also regretted that several attempts to by EU representatives, including himself, to promote dialogue among political parties in Albania had failed to convince "parties and leaders live up to their responsibility to find a joint solution."
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on the fraud trial of former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (all times local):

2:25 p.m.

Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown has been found guilty of taking money from a charity that was purported to be giving scholarships to poor students.

FILE In this May 5, 2017 file photo, former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown walks to the federal courthouse in Jacksonville, Fla., where she is expected to retake the stand in her trial on federal fraud and tax charges. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)

The jury's verdict on Thursday came after prosecutors accused the 70-year-old Brown of using hundreds of thousands of dollars from the One Door for Education Foundation for lavish parties, trips and shopping excursions.

She was found guilty on 18 of the 22 counts against her, including lying on tax and financial disclosure forms.

Brown, a Democrat who represented the Florida district that included Jacksonville since 1993, had pleaded not guilty to all charges including fraud.

Brown's former chief of staff, Elias "Ronnie" Simmons, and One Door's president pleaded guilty after their federal indictments for misusing the charity's funds, and testified against Brown.

Simmons said Brown ordered him to take cash and checks from One Door's account that was put into the congresswoman's personal accounts.

___

2 p.m.

The jury has reached a verdict in the fraud and tax evasion trial of former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown.

Judge Timothy Corrigan says the verdict will be read at 2 p.m. EST.

Prosecutors say Brown, a Democrat who represented the Florida district that included Jacksonville since 1993, funneled money from One Door for Education into her personal accounts.

She has pleaded not guilty, blaming her former chief of staff Elias "Ronnie" Simmons for stealing.

___

9 a.m.

Jurors will return for another day of deliberations in the fraud and tax evasion trial of former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown.

The jury will return Thursday, a day after the judge excused on panel member who made comments about Brown and "higher beings." That juror was replaced by an alternate, and the jury had to start its deliberations over again Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors say Brown, a Democrat who represented the Florida district that included Jacksonville since 1993, funneled money from One Door for Education into her personal accounts.

She has pleaded not guilty, blaming her former chief of staff Elias "Ronnie" Simmons for stealing.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A new Republican caucus in the Oklahoma House is suggesting that more than 80,000 non-English speaking students in public schools be turned over to federal immigration officials.

Broken Arrow Republican Rep. Mike Ritze told News9 in an interview Wednesday that the newly created Republican Platform Caucus believes the state could save $60 million if it would identify what the caucus believes is 82,000 non-English speaking students "and then turn them over" to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine if they are citizens.

It's unclear from the segment if he was referring to turning over the students' names or the students themselves.

Ritze also questioned whether the state should have to educate children who aren't citizens.

A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision holds states cannot deny students a free public education based on their immigration status.

Ritze wasn't at the Capitol on Thursday and didn't reply to phone messages or emails.

Ryan Kiesel, who heads the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, described the caucus' suggestion as "disgustingly inhumane."
A Pennsylvania restaurant received backlash from the community after serving raw horse meat during a special event.

Pittsburgh's Cure Restaurant hosted a Quebecois-themed dinner with Canadian chefs Monday that included horse tartare on the menu.

When horse welfare advocate Joy Braunstein found out, she started a petition to the governor to ban the serving of horse meat in all Pennsylvania restaurants, according to CBS's KDKA.

Pittsburgh's Cure Restaurant hosted a dinner with Canadian chefs Monday that included horse tartare on the menu, prompting a petition to ban the dish in Pennsylvania

Braunstein said she received multiple screenshots of a Facebook post made by the restaurant that they had served the dish.

Braunstein was outraged to hear that horse was served at Cure, which prompted her to start an online petition to ban horse meat from being served in all Pennsylvania restaurants.

After receiving backlash online for the post, Cure edited the post to remove the reference to horse tartare, but did not delete an earlier post that showed a picture of the printed menu which included the dish by name.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cure Restaurant is shown here, located at 5336 Butler Street

When horse welfare advocate Joy Braunstein found out horse meat was served at a Pittsburgh restaurant she was inspired to create a petition to ban the dish in Pennsylvania

After receiving backlash online for the post, Cure edited the post to remove the reference to horse tartare, but did not delete an earlier post that showed a picture of the printed menu which included the dish by name

Once the petition is closed, a letter stating 'I demand that No Horse Meat be Served in PA Restaurants' will be sent to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf

Horse is commonly served in Canada and other countries, like France

Cure chef and co-owner Justin Severino released the statement giving context to the special menu selection:

Cultural Differences in Diet Across the World While beef is a major food staple in the United States, many countries consider eating cattle unacceptable. Below is a partial list of animals consumed in countries around the world that aren't typical to the US diet. France: Horse, Frog Peru: Guinea Pig, Dog Cambodia: Spider Australia: Kangaroo, Opossum China: Starfish, Scorpion Republic of Congo: Elephant Source: Spoon University Advertisement

'On Monday night we hosted a collaborative dinner with chefs from Canada, a Quebecois feast. One of the courses included horse tartare, which is traditional Quebecois. It was sourced from a sustainable horse farm in Alberta, Canada. This dish was available for one night only and it is not part of the Cure menu,' Severino said.

Horse is commonly served in Canada and other countries.

Braunstein said that there are no American slaughter plants that handle horses, which she attributed to the idea that horses are given medication that is toxic to humans if ingested.

Braunstein's petition currently has nearly 1,000 signatures. Once the petition is closed, a letter stating 'I demand that No Horse Meat be Served in PA Restaurants' will be sent to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

The petition is posted online on Change.org and is available for viewing and signing here.
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) - The Latest on military exercises in Guam (all times local):

11 a.m.

Amphibious landing exercises at the U.S. Pacific island of Guam have been indefinitely postponed after a French landing craft ran aground.

A French sailor stands watch near the FS Mistral, a French amphibious assault ship docked at Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017 near Hagatna, Guam. Military personnel from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian. The exercises come at a time of regional tensions in the South China Sea and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

Joint Region Marianas Chief of Staff Capt. Jeff Grimes told reporters Friday he didn't know when the drills would resume.

U.S. Naval Base Guam spokesman Jeff Landis says a French catamaran landing craft ran aground just offshore. He says the vessel didn't hit coral or spill any fuel. No one was injured.

The exercises involving the U.S., U.K., France and Japan were expected to begin Friday.

The drills were designed to show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters, an issue that has come to the fore amid concerns China will restrict access to the South China Sea.

___

10 a.m.

Amphibious landing exercises at the U.S. Pacific island of Guam are delayed after a French landing craft ran aground just offshore.

U.S. Naval Base Guam spokesman Jeff Landis says a French catamaran landing craft ran aground as the drills were getting underway Friday.

He says the troops will review maps and procedures before attempting again in the afternoon. The landing is meant to be a rehearsal for a drill at Tinian island on Saturday.

Landis says the vessel didn't hit coral or spill any fuel. No one was injured.

Exercises involving the U.S., U.K., France and Japan are starting in Guam amid concerns China will restrict international access to the South China Sea.

The troops will practice amphibious landings, delivering forces by helicopter and urban patrols during a week of drills.

___

5 a.m. Friday

The top Republican and Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee have written to President Donald Trump to express concern that the U.S. has not conducted freedom of navigation operations since October 2016.

The letter from Republican Sen. Bob Corker, Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin and five other senators supported a recent assessment by the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific that China is militarizing the South China Sea and is continuing a "methodical strategy" to control it.

The letter, dated Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, urged the administration to "routinely exercise" freedom of navigation and overflight. The senators described the South China Sea as critical to U.S. national security interests and to peace in the Asia-Pacific.

___

5:30 p.m. Thursday

Troops from the U.S., Japan and two European nations are gathering on remote U.S. islands in the Pacific for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea.

The drills around Guam and Tinian may also send a message to North Korea about the breadth of its allies and the U.S. commitment to the region. Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea spiked last month after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile and the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

The drills are being led by France and include the United Kingdom. The troops will practice amphibious landings, delivering forces by helicopter and urban patrols.

The French stealth frigate Courbet is docked at Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017 near Hagatna, Guam. Military personnel from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian. The exercises come at a time of regional tensions in the South China Sea and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

An informational plaque about World War II amphibious assaults on Guam is displayed in the War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Thursday, May 11, 2017 near Hagatna, Guam. Troops from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters. The exercises come amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea and with heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

The French stealth frigate Courbet is docked at Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017 near Hagatna, Guam. Military personnel from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian. The exercises come at a time of regional tensions in the South China Sea and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

FS Mistral, a French amphibious assault ship, docks at Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017, near Hagatna, Guam. Military personnel from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian. The exercises come at a time of regional tensions in the South China Sea and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

A sailor with Marine Nationale stands guard next to the French stealth frigate Courbet docked at Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017 near Hagatna, Guam. Military personnel from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian. The exercises come at a time of regional tensions in the South China Sea and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

FS Mistral, a French amphibious assault ship, pulls into port at Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017, near Hagatna, Guam. Troops from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters. Two ships from France are participating, both of which are in the middle of a four-month deployment to the Indian and Pacific oceans. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

A United States Navy submarine torpedo is displayed inside the War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Thursday, May 11, 2017, near Hagatna, Guam. Troops from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters. The exercises come amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea and with heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

A United States memorial is displayed in the War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Thursday, May 11, 2017 near Hagatna, Guam. Troops from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian for drills they say will show support for the free passage of vessels in international waters. The exercises come amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea and with heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge in the nation's capital said Thursday she won't act on a request to block President Donald Trump's revised travel ban because two other judges have already stopped the executive order from going into effect.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said in an order that she is "inclined to agree" that Trump's effort to temporarily bar new visas for citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries is unlawful. But she said the best course of action is to delay proceedings until appeals from the rulings in Maryland and Hawaii are resolved.

Chutkan heard testimony last month from Iranian-American and Muslim groups that say Iranians have faced delays and disruptions in obtaining visas even after the ban was blocked. They had asked for a more sweeping injunction that would restore the normal visa application process.

Organizations challenging the ban in Washington, D.C., include the Iranian American Bar Association and the National Iranian American Council. The lawsuit claims the ban was driven by anti-Muslim sentiment and is harming students, business travelers and families.

Justice Department lawyers insist the ban targets countries that pose terrorism risks and say courts should not second-guess the president's foreign policy decisions.

Chutkan was the first judge to allow witnesses to testify in court about the effects of the travel ban. She appeared sympathetic to the groups last month, and said Thursday that she is prepared to issue a ruling "without delay" if orders from courts in Maryland and Hawaii are overturned. Those judges blocked the vast majority of the ban, which would restrict immigration of people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The Trump administration is appealing both rulings. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, heard arguments in the Maryland case on Monday, while a federal appeals court in San Francisco will consider the Hawaii ruling next week.

Meanwhile, Chutkan said the litigation on the merits of the case would continue and she ordered the parties to file legal briefs by the end of June.

Cyrus Mehri, a lawyer representing the challengers, said the groups would have a preferred a ruling, but are pleased with the judge's comments that the ban likely is illegal. He said his clients would continue to "vigorously prosecute" the case.

The case is being heard together with another lawsuit filed by the Universal Muslim Association of America, the country's largest organization of Shi'a Muslims.

The revised travel ban issued in March is narrower than an earlier one from January that was blocked by a federal judge in Washington state. The new version removed language that would give priority to religious minorities and erased Iraq from the list of banned countries. It also made it clear the ban doesn't apply to those who already have valid visas.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A 28-year-old inmate who died after a jail altercation had asked police to see a counselor and authorities received mental health evaluations that prompted them to keep him in custody, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley told reporters Thursday.

Nashville, Tennessee, resident Tory Sanders died Friday after his arrest and detention at the Mississippi County jail, located in a rural county of about 14,000 residents about 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of St. Louis. His death and the alleged involvement of the county's embattled sheriff prompted an investigation by Hawley's office and the sheriff's temporary removal from office.

"I want to make this pledge to the family of Tory Sanders and to the people of Missouri: my office will conduct a full, independent and vigorous investigation into the events that happened at the Mississippi County jail," Hawley said. "We will get to the bottom of what happened there and will see that justice is done."

Hawley said Sanders left his Nashville home May 4 before his arrest the next day and ran out of gas in southeastern Missouri. He hitchhiked and eventually ended up in the small Mississippi County town of Charleston, where Hawley said he approached police at a convenience store and appeared confused about where he was.

Hawley said Sanders approached police again May 5 and told officers he had a warrant out for his arrest in Nashville related to an altercation with the mother of his children. He also told officers he was in "some sort of distress" and asked to see a counselor, the attorney general said.

Police arrested him, and Hawley said Sanders later received two mental evaluations at the county jail, the second of which led an official to recommend he be held for 96 hours.

Jailers then tried to move Sanders to a different holding cell, but Sanders was "apparently unwilling to move," Hawley said. The attorney general said police used pepper spray on him and jail staff deployed stun guns at least three times.

That's when Hawley said Cory Hutcheson, who has since been temporarily removed from office as Mississippi County sheriff in response to Sanders' death, stepped in.

Hawley said Hutcheson directed police and jail staff to force their way into Sanders' cell. Shortly after, Sanders was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

Coroner Terry Parker, who has been named acting sheriff, told the Riverfront Times that Sanders had become "agitated and uncooperative" and that he collapsed while jail staff were trying to restrain him. He said an autopsy showed no signs of foul play or trauma. Toxicology results are pending. Hutcheson, 33, told the newspaper in an email that Sanders hurt six officers in the confrontation.

Hutcheson's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, told The Associated Press that Hutcheson welcomes an investigation by Hawley's office, which Rosenblum said "would serve to show no criminal conduct on the part of Cory or any of his deputies."

The investigation comes as the embattled sheriff faces a raft of charges and two federal lawsuits.

One of those who sued is is a 77-year-old woman whom Hutcheson is charged with handcuffing with so much force that she suffered a heart attack. Also suing are five members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, who are the alleged victims of illegal monitoring. Hutcheson is charged with using a system that provides the location of cellphones in near real time to examine information about them.

Curt Poore, who is representing all of those who have sued, told AP that the officers who were subjected to the surveillance in 2014 and were part of a team that conducts investigations into serious wrongdoing. Poore said he is seeking further information about the motive behind the monitoring.

"A sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of a county," Poore said. "When a sheriff doesn't follow the law, it places everyone in that county at risk. The sheriff here hasn't followed the law and he must be held accountable for his actions."

Both suits seek injunctions and monetary damages.

The FBI and Missouri State Highway Patrol arrested Hutcheson in April on 18 counts. His sheriff's license was suspended after his arrest, which would have prevented him from acting as sheriff after he was released from jail. But the terms of the suspension still allowed him access to law enforcement facilities such as the jail.

Hawley said he's now trying to get Hutcheson permanently removed from office, which Rosenblum said Hutcheson is fighting.

The Missouri Attorney General's Office has alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI for a potential civil rights investigation, Hawley has said.

___

Information from: Southeast Missourian, http://www.semissourian.com . Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine contributed to this report from Jefferson City, Missouri.

___

Information from: Southeast Missourian, http://www.semissourian.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - Conservative senators are pushing to diminish insurance coverage requirements imposed by President Barack Obama's health care law as Senate Republicans try fashioning legislation overhauling the nation's health care system.

Their ideas include erasing Obama consumer protections, such as barring higher premiums for people with pre-existing medical conditions, but allowing states to opt into them.

That's a more conservative twist on the health care bill the House approved last week. That measure retains the coverage protections but lets states get waivers to drop some of them.

FILE - In this March 21, 2017 file photo, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Conservative senators are pushing to diminish insurance coverage requirements imposed by President Barack Obama's health care law as Senate Republicans try fashioning legislation overhauling the nation's health care system. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Conservatives say eliminating the coverage requirements would remove a top reason why premiums rise. Democrats tout the protections as a major Obama achievement that's helped millions of consumers, and some moderate Republicans also oppose removing them.

Conservative senators are also talking about curbing health care tax credits Republicans want and slowing the growth of the Medicaid program for poor and disabled people.

Obama's insurance requirements are among the most popular aspects of his 2010 law, and conservatives' chances of annulling them in a GOP Senate bill are uncertain. They're getting pushback from more centrist Republicans, and the conservatives' effort to void them may not even be allowed into the measure because of special rules the Senate is using.

Win or lose, the effort is one example of the flashpoints GOP senators face early in their closed-door effort to deliver a top priority for themselves and President Donald Trump: scuttling much of Obama's law.

"We're going to leave it up to consumers to decide what they want to buy, what they need, so we're going to eliminate mandates, not add them," No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters Thursday, referring to Obama's coverage requirements. But he added, "We haven't made any decisions."

Conservative Sen. Mike Lee would like to eliminate Obama's requirements that insurers offer coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and charge them the same premiums as healthy customers, a GOP aide said.

The Utah Republican would also erase Obama's mandate that insurers cover a range of services such as maternity care and prescriptions, and the limitation that insurers charge older customers a maximum of triple what they charge younger ones. Lee would let states choose to retain those coverage requirements.

In addition, he'd limit tax credits that help people cover medical costs to amounts equaling whatever taxes people owe. The House bill's credits are refundable, which means they even go to those who owe little or no taxes.

Some conservatives fear that in a bid to win moderate GOP support, the Senate bill will drop House provisions barring the use of the tax credits to buy coverage that includes abortions. Curbing the credits could appeal to abortion foes who want to limit money for such policies, conservatives say.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also wants to curb Obama's coverage requirements, which in an interview this week he called "the prime drivers of premiums skyrocketing." While declining to discuss details, he praised the House for easing some provisions but said there is "considerably more work to be done."

Cruz supports other steps, including letting insurers sell policies across state lines, expanding the use of tax-favored health savings accounts and boosting Medicaid payments to states limiting punitive damages in malpractice lawsuits.

Other Republicans are less enthusiastic about rolling back Obama's coverage provisions.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., noted Trump comments about protecting people with pre-existing conditions and said, "We have to ask ourselves, are we serious about President Trump's pledge?"

A working group of 13 senators - which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has opened to all 52 Senate Republicans - is meeting twice weekly to discuss the bill. All 52 of them discuss the measure at three party lunches weekly.

Lee and Cruz are on the working group. It is unclear how long it will take Republicans to write a bill and push it through the Senate, assuming they can.

When House GOP leaders were struggling to move a health care bill through their chamber, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus pushed to eliminate Obama's consumer protections. Their demands helped sink an initial version of the legislation.

Under pressure from the White House and top Republicans, they agreed to language letting states escape from some coverage requirements. The House-passed legislation allows state waivers so insurers wouldn't have to cover specific services, could boost prices on older people beyond Obama's limits and could raise premiums on some people with pre-existing conditions who'd led their coverage lapse.

The House-passed bill continues to face strong public opposition, a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday said.

The poll found that only 21 percent of voters approve of the House-passed bill, while 56 percent disapprove.

A day before House leaders abandoned a planned March vote on their measure amid a rebellion among GOP conservatives and moderates, their bill was viewed favorably by 17 percent.

___

AP reporters Mary Clare Jalonick and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed.
NEW YORK (AP) - A judge presiding over a criminal case against a wealthy Turkish businessman says he's not sure ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani can work for the defendant while his law firm represents Turkey.

Federal Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan asked prosecutors and a defense lawyer Thursday to submit information to the court before he decides if Reza Zarrab (RAY'-zah ZA'-rahb) can waive any potential conflicts of interest.

Zarrab hired Giuliani and ex-Attorney General Michael Mukasey (myoo-KAY'-zee) to work on a diplomatic solution to the case. They met with Turkey's president and have said they intend to speak with U.S. officials to see if the case can be resolved outside court.

Zarrab has pleaded not guilty to violating sanctions against Iran. Prosecutors say he processed hundreds of millions of dollars illegally.
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As the two EU political institutions with a direct link to citizens, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Parliament today joined forces to restore citizens' trust ahead of the European Parliament elections in 2019. They proposed joint measures to bring the European Union closer to citizens and deliver concrete answers to their concerns. From the side of the European Commission, the CoR was tasked to help bridge the gap between what people expect from the EU and what Europe is actually able to deliver on the ground.

Despite the recent victories of pro-EU candidates in France, the Netherlands and Austria, political leaders in Europes regions and cities are still hearing calls from their citizens for Europe to change. Opening the CoR plenary session, alongside European Parliament President, Antonio Tajani, today, CoR President Markku Markkula stressed: " As politicians elected in Europe's regions and cities, we have to use our leverage to show the concrete results and added value of the European project, while also addressing their real concerns. It is up to each one of us to bring the EU closer to them. " This echoes the Declaration of Rome, in which Member States and EU leaders made a plea to better listening to citizens by working together at the level that makes a real difference, be it the European Union, national, regional, or local, and in a spirit of trust and loyal cooperation, both among Member States and between them and the EU institutions, in line with the principle of subsidiarity.

President Tajani responded by highlighting that citizens have granted the EU an opportunity to change:  As local representatives, you have a leading role in increasing the efficacy of EU funds in your regions and communicating Europe to our citizens at the local level. Last weeks vote in France indicates that when properly explained, citizens can endorse the added-value of the single currency, and Europe as a whole , he stressed, before citing cohesion funds as the most visible part of the EU budget for citizens.  We believe that our money should follow our political objectives and make a leap forward on the governance of EU funds while focussing on priorities to address citizens concerns ., he said.

CoR First Vice-President Karl-Heinz Lambertz added: " Citizens rightly expect more from the European project. To restore trust, everyone working for and with the EU must fulfil the promise of more social and economic progress whilst standing up for European solidarity. This needs a far more flexible approach to local public investment to demonstrate that the EU does benefit the daily lives of every citizen ".

This debate was further enriched with the participation of the European Commission Vice-President responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, who encouraged the CoR to take an active role in the debate on the White Paper on the Future of Europe . Addressing the CoR members, Vice-President Katainen said: " I count on the European Committee of the Regions to continue participating to the reflection process on the Future of Europe, and make sure this debate will also reach the citizens. As representatives of regional and local authorities you play a crucial role in bridging the gap between what people expect of Europe and what Europe is actually able to deliver. I am looking forward to hearing the ideas and priorities Europe's regions and cities have for the future development of our Union. They will be an important part of our common answers ."

CoR members also took the occasion to welcome the European Commission's reflection paper on "Harnessing globalisation" , which was published one day earlier and underlines that forging resilience is a shared responsibility at EU, national, regional and local level.  We want a more transparent and democratic EU, which defends the principles of subsidiarity, partnership and multilevel governance. In the face of increased globalisation, investment needs to address skills gaps and regulatory obstacles while being adapted to the territorial specificities , President Markkula concluded.

This White Paper is intended to be a wake-up call: the starting point for an honest and wide-ranging debate in the Unions future beyond Brexit and will be the subject of a Resolution , which is due to be adopted by the CoR tomorrow. Debates on the "Future of Europe", as well as the next Commission's reflection papers, will continue to be a priority for the CoR, including on the occasion of a conference on the "Future of Europe" as part of its CIVEX external meeting in Caen (France) on 21-22 September.

***

CoR's "Reflecting on Europe" campaign

As part of the ongoing reflection on the past, present and future of Europe, the CoR has launched a bottom up process called " Reflecting on Europe ", which aims to provide people with a local space to participate in an honest and open discussion about the way forward for the EU. This citizen-oriented process follows a request from the European Council's President, Donald Tusk, asking the CoR to send its recommendations on the ways to rebuild trust in the EU, through the voice of cities and regions. More recently, the European Commission 1 March White Paper calls for debates on the future of Europe in Parliaments, regions and cities. The CoR has also launched a public online survey that includes questions related to the future of EU policies. It will be used to collect and present citizens' feedback during local events and citizens' dialogues.

 Photos from the plenary session can be downloaded from our CoR flickr gallery .



Contact:
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - A political consultant has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of paying her $11 million in cash to cover the costs of the 2012 re-election campaign of his predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chavez, using money that she says was illegally provided by Brazilian companies.

Monica Moura, a Brazilian who ran the Chavez campaign with her husband, made the accusation in plea bargain testimony that is part of Brazil's probe into a huge bribery scheme at the state oil company Petrobras. She alleged most of the cash given to her by Maduro came from the big Brazilian construction companies Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez.

Venezuela's foreign ministry did not respond to requests from The Associated Press for comment on Moura's accusations, which were made public Thursday by Brazil's Supreme Court.

In one excerpt from her testimony, prosecutors said Moura had informed them that "Maduro welcomed her in his own office, gave her binders with cash and offered her guards for the trip between the foreign ministry and her producing company." At the time, Maduro was Venezuela's foreign minister under Chavez, who died in 2013 while still president.

Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez spokesmen declined to comment on her testimony, but noted the companies are cooperating with Brazilian investigators. Odebrecht has admitted in a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors that it paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes across Latin America for help in winning public works contracts.

Moura is married to Joao Santana, who is Brazil's most acclaimed political campaigner. They are partners in a number of political consulting firms, including Polis Caribe, which was involved in the Chavez campaign.

No documentation for her allegation was presented with her testimony, but Moura said in one excerpt that she has evidence of her claim, including data on Swiss bank accounts allegedly used by the Brazilian companies to pay the money funneled to her by Maduro.

"Odebrecht paid about $7 million in connection with the work delivered by Polis Caribe, and Andrade Gutierrez paid $2 million through Swiss banks in an account named Shelbill, in connection with the value of the political project of the campaign" for Chavez's re-election, Moura said.

In February, Moura and her husband were sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for money laundering in a separate case tied to the Petrobras probe. They were released on bail as they wait for a decision on an appeal.

Moura also made accusations against former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

She said shoe boxes filled with cash were used to pay for her services in his re-election campaign in 2006. She said her company was illegally paid with about $3.5 million at current exchange rates during Silva's campaign. Half of that amount was paid by Odebrecht, she said.

Moura said her company received illegally more than $53 million from both candidates and construction companies outside Brazil.
EAST HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, said political forces - even within the GOP - were working to undermine his father's administration, and he urged voters in Montana to send more Republicans to Washington who can help advance the Trump White House's agenda.

"We need more people in D.C. to help my father," he said during a rally in East Helena, Montana, to stump for a wealthy Republican vying in a May 25 special election to become the state's only representative in the U.S. House. The post became vacant when Ryan Zinke joined President Donald Trump's administration as Interior secretary.

"The deck is really stacked. It's stacked against us - by the way, even from people in our own party - we've all seen that," Trump Jr. said in a red barn converted into an events center.

Donald Trump Jr. poses for a photo with supporters of Republican Greg Gianforte, at a rally in East Helena, Mont., Thursday, May 11, 2017. Trump Jr. urged voters to support Gianforte in the May 25 special U.S. House election to fill the seat of Ryan Zinke, now President Donald Trump's Interior secretary. (AP Photo/Bobby Caina Calvan)

It was the second trip for Trump Jr. to Montana in recent weeks, as national and Montana Republicans shore up support for Gianforte, a Bozeman businessman who has campaigned to help the president drain the Washington swamp.

Two protesters were forced out of the rally after one of them, Mark Girdler of Helena, disrupted Trump Jr. while the president's son excoriated the news media as "dishonest."

"How about your dad's tax returns? I'd like to see them," the protester shouted, amid jeers from the crowd of about 300.

Trump Jr. responded saying that the president made $150 million and paid $45 million in taxes, noting the 2005 tax returns obtained and published in March by MSNBC. The tax returns obtained by "The Rachel Maddow Show" indicated the president paid $38 million in taxes on earnings of $150 million.

"I want to see all his tax returns," Girdler said in an interview afterward. "I want to see to what extent he has foreign financial dealings. I'm especially concerned about his Russia ties."

Girdler called himself a reluctant supporter of Democrat Rob Quist.

At times, Quist has attempted to focus the campaign on the Trump administration's alleged ties to Russia by questioning Gianforte's investments in index funds that include Russian firms under sanction by the U.S. government because of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Gianforte's campaign has scoffed at suggestions that he had any direct ties to the Russian government.

At their stop in East Helena, Trump and Gianforte touted their support for gun rights, which has become a central theme in the Bozeman entrepreneur's campaign. They tried to cast Quist as out of touch with Montana's conservative values while drawing financial support from liberals from the East and West coasts.

With two weeks left in the campaign, Gianforte and Quist are hoping to harness the star power of the country's political elites to help draw voters to the polls and more cash into their campaign coffers. Libertarian Mark Wicks is also running for the seat.

Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to speak to Gianforte supporters at a 6 p.m. rally on Friday at the MetraPark pavilion in Billings. Before the campaign event, the vice president is expected to visit the Westmoreland Coal Company's Absaloka Mine on the Crow Indian Reservation, as well as take part in a "business listening session," his office announced.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who won Montana in last year's Democratic primary against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton, plans to visit the state in support of the Quist campaign. Details of that visit, however, have yet to be announced.
DALLAS (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of a black 15-year-old by a white police officer, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday.

The investigation prompted by the April 29 fatal shooting of Jordan Edwards by Balch Springs police Officer Roy Oliver is separate from the district attorney's prosecution of Oliver on a murder charge, said Brittany Dunn, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Faith Johnson. She said she did not know the scope and focus of the investigation of the Balch Spring Police Department, and a message left for a Justice Department spokesman was not returned.

Oliver was fired and charged with murder in the April 29 shooting and is free on bond.

Jordan Edwards' parents Charmaine Edwards, left, and Odell Edwards stand during for a news conference in Dallas, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation prompted by the fatal shooting of Jordan Edwards, a black 15-year-old boy, by Roy Oliver, a white suburban Dallas police officer. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Edwards' family and its attorney said Johnson advised them of the federal investigation during a meeting Thursday.

A Justice Department investigation could end in a wide variety of outcomes - some civil, some criminal.

Civil rights activists are watching closely for clues to how the Trump administration's Justice Department intends to handle racially charged shootings by police. But conclusions are hard to draw because each case is so different and prosecutions of officers are rare.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said he believes sweeping federal investigations of police departments can hurt officer morale and undermine crime fighting. He has also promised his Justice Department will prosecute individual officers who break the law.

In the case of Ferguson, Missouri, the Department of Justice investigated both whether the fatal shooting of Michael Brown merited civil rights charges against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson and whether there were systematic issues of civil rights violations inside the city's police department. Investigators did not support charges against the officer, but found systematic constitutional violations for stopping people without reasonable suspicion, using unreasonable force and other charges.

Like Ferguson, Balch Springs has a small white minority in its population but an overwhelming white majority in its police department. The Dallas suburb's population of almost 24,000 is 19 percent white, but its police force is 80 percent white.

Other incidents of officer-involved shootings in recent years have involved bringing federal charges against officers as individuals.

Earlier this month, Officer Michael Slager in South Carolina pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he had violated the civil rights of Walter Scott by shooting without justification. A witness shot a cellphone video in the 2015 shooting that captured images of Slager firing at Scott as he ran away, killing him.

The Justice Department also earlier this month decided not to charge two Baton Rouge police officers with civil rights violations in the shooting death of Alton Sterling.

The murder warrant issued against Oliver was based on evidence that suggested Oliver "intended to cause serious bodily injury and commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that caused the death," the Dallas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Oliver fired a rifle at a car full of teenagers leaving a party, fatally shooting Edwards who was a passenger in the vehicle. The teen's death led to protests calling for Oliver to be fired and charged.

Jordan Edwards' father Odell Edwards tries to hold back tears during a news conference in Dallas, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation prompted by the fatal shooting of Jordan Edwards, a black 15-year-old boy, by Roy Oliver, a white suburban Dallas police officer. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jordan Edwards' parents Charmaine Edwards, front, arrives with her husband Odell Edwards for a news conference in Dallas, Thursday, May 11, 2017. The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation prompted by the fatal shooting of Jordan Edwards, a black 15-year-old boy, by Roy Oliver, a white suburban Dallas police officer. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) - A racist note left on a student's car at St. Olaf College has been deemed a hoax, but some students at the southern Minnesota school say the incident resulted in action toward addressing minority student concerns.

The note April 29 sparked outrage, fear and hurt at the small college, as well as campuswide protests that forced classes to be canceled earlier this month, the Star Tribune reported (http://strib.mn/2q6HRF3 ).

A student confessed to writing the note, college President David R. Anderson said in a message to students. He said the note was fabricated in an attempt to bring concerns about the campus climate to light. He said privacy laws prevent the school from identifying the student.

Sophomore Ben Parsell said he doesn't think the note will make it harder for a victim of a genuine racist threat to get help, but that the situation was concerning.

"I think it's disturbing that it was written deliberately, just to stir up the campus," Parsell said.

Senior Daniel Katuka said the note brought the campus together "in a positive way" in the face of an apparent threat.

"It shows that if there's a problem, it's not a big problem," he said. "It shows that this is a campus that stands together."

On April 29, St. Olaf senior Samantha Wells, who is black, posted images on social media of a threatening note she said she found on her windshield. She said the anonymous typewritten note said:

"I am so glad you are leaving soon. One less (N-word) this school has to deal with. You have spoken up too much. You will change nothing. Shut up or I will shut you up."

Wells addressed the president's disclosure on social media Wednesday, but it was unclear whether she acknowledged or denied being the author of the note.

"So, it looks like something made its way back to me in the investigation," she wrote. "I will be saying it was a hoax. I don't care. There is nothing more that I can do."

The Associated Press couldn't reach Wells for comment Thursday. She doesn't have a listed phone number and the school's online student directory isn't public.

Northfield police said they've closed their investigation into the note and that Wells didn't want to file it as a criminal case. Northfield Police Chief Monte Nelson said Wednesday that his department had received no information questioning the note's authenticity. He added that he was not aware of any law that would enable him to charge someone with such a hoax.

___

Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
The family of an 11-year-old schoolgirl who died at a theme park have said they are devastated that we will not see our beautiful little girl again.

Evha Jannath, from Leicester, fell out of a boat on the Splash Canyon ride during a school trip to the Tamworth-based theme park on Tuesday.

Staffordshire Police said Evha was recovered from the water and received advanced life support from ambulance crews before she was flown to Birmingham Childrens Hospital where she later died.

In a statement issued through police, the family said: Yesterday our world was torn apart by the news that our daughter and sister Evha, had lost her life in tragic circumstances, following a school trip to Drayton Manor Park.

Evha was a beautiful little girl who was full of love and always smiling.

Words cannot describe the pain and loss we feel, we are devastated that we will not see our beautiful little girl again. We ask that you allow us to grieve in private and deal with our loss as a family.

Photo taken from the Twitter feed of David Charles of police at Drayton Manor

Drayton Manor Theme Park will remain shut on Wednesday as a mark of respect, and while investigators from the Health and Safety Executive continue their work.

Jameah Academy, an integrated Islamic day school for girls, will also remain closed for the day, with counselling being offered to pupils affected by the tragedy.

Zainab Mohammad, whose 16-year-old sister went on the trip, said the tight-knit school community had been left devastated by the tragedy.

Speaking to reporters near the academy, the 26-year-old said: Its tragic. We dont know what the cause is but what we really want is for the family to be able to grieve. A family member has been ripped from their family and its a big loss. Everybody is in utter shock, there are no words. I couldnt sleep last night, thinking of this.

Erfana Bora, headteacher at Jameah Academy, reads a statement on behalf of the school (Matthew Cooper/PA)

Asked how her sister was coping after the death, Ms Mohammad added: She came home, she spoke to mum and dad and she just went upstairs. She was devastated. She didnt want to talk about it. Nobody knows whats happened, we cant speculate on what has happened.

She also urged people not to speculate about the incident on Facebook and other social media.

Ms Mohammad said: The school is not very big, everybody knows each other. Its really sad for the kids.

Police at Drayton Manor, which will remain closed on Wednesday (Richard Vernalls/PA)

Drayton Manors company director George Bryan, whose grandfather opened the park in the 1950s, said they were truly shocked and devastated by the death.

Jameah Academys headteacher Erfana Bora said the school community was trying to make sense of this terrible tragedy.

She said: We will be providing specialist support for our pupils and our staff, and we ask that they be given the time and the space to grieve and to come to terms with our huge loss.
Former Labour MP Simon Danczuk has described an allegation of rape against him as totally false.

The 50-year-old strongly denied the claim, made by a woman in Manchester on Monday, over an alleged incident in Westminster last May.

Mr Danczuk, who plans to fight his former Rochdale seat as an independent in the General Election, said the timing of the allegation was deeply suspicious.

Simon Danczuk resigned from the Labour Party on Monday ( Nick Ansell/PA)

The Metropolitan Police have not been in touch with me about this, he told The Sun. It is a totally false allegation and I look forward to the police clearing it up.

He repeated his denial to the Mail Online and added: I cant help but find the timing of these allegations deeply suspicious. There is only a day to go before candidates have to submit nomination papers and some people desperately want to stop me.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: On Monday, 8 May 2017, officers from Greater Manchester Police referred an allegation of rape to the Metropolitan Police. A woman has alleged that she was raped by a man in his 50s.

The incident is alleged to have occurred in May 2016 at a location in Westminster. Detectives from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command have been notified and will investigate. No arrests have been made and enquires continue.

Simon Danczuk said the timing of the allegation was "deeply suspicious" (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Mr Danzcuk was suspended by the Parliamentary Labour Party in December 2015, pending an investigation into allegations concerning his conduct, but continued to serve as an independent MP.

He resigned from the party on Monday after he was barred from standing for Labour in Rochdale, a seat he had held since winning it from the Liberal Democrats in 2010, on June 8.
Jeremy Corbyn will go into the General Election pledging to nationalise key industries and reverse years of austerity, according to a leaked draft of the Labour manifesto.

The 43-page document sets out plans to take the energy industry, railways, buses and the Royal Mail back under public control.

It commits Labour to scrapping tuition fees, boosting workers rights and reversing a series of benefits cuts  including the so-called bedroom tax.

No income tax rises for those earning less than 80,000.



Watch @johnmcdonnellMP on how Labour will stand up for the many, not the few  pic.twitter.com/gKuXQEONPc  The Labour Party (@UKLabour) May 10, 2017

Labour is expected to finalise its manifesto at a meeting on Thursday, but an extraordinary leak of the policy document saw details released a week ahead of its planned publication in a blow to the partys campaign strategy.

The Daily Mirror and Daily Telegraph both claimed to have obtained drafts of the manifesto ahead of the meeting.

According to the Mirror:

Publicly owned bus companies will be established;

The manifesto commits to take energy back into public ownership by setting up a rival to the existing Big Six private firms

Euston station (Sally Wardle/PA)

To pay for the policy pledges, Labour has already announced plans to hike corporation tax to 26% by 2022, bringing in an extra 20 billion for the Exchequer, and indicated that people earning more than 80,000 will face tax rises.

But the manifesto indicates a further levy on firms with high numbers of staff on very high pay.

Labour has insisted its manifesto will be fully costed, and the document vows to eliminate the deficit and balance the budget by the end of the next parliament, the Mirror reported.

Mr Corbyns effort to win support from voters who backed Brexit may be hampered by the manifestos measures on the EU and immigration.

The leaked manifesto contains plans to create publicly owned bus companies (Danny Lawson/PA)

The Telegraph said the document ruled out setting a target for cutting net migration  something Theresa May has committed to despite so far failing to hit the Conservatives tens of thousands ambition.

The manifesto says Labour believes in fair rules and reasonable management of migration but rules out making false promises on immigration numbers.

Mr Corbyn has insisted Britain is leaving the European Union but the manifesto reportedly rules out breaking away from Brussels without a deal.

Andrew Gwynne, Labours national campaigns co-ordinator, denied the document was the partys manifesto.

He told Good Morning Britain: This document that has appeared in the newspapers today isnt a manifesto. Its a draft of policy ideas that have been collated from various members of the shadow cabinet, their teams and other stakeholders.

A Conservative spokesman said: This is a total shambles. Jeremy Corbyns plans to unleash chaos on Britain have been revealed.
Theresa May has pledged another 21 million to Somalia as she met African leaders in London.

The Prime Minister vowed to continue support of the famine-hit country as she opened a major international conference focusing on the future of the East African nation.

She said she is proud of the UKs role in helping Somalia and said the 21 million, to be spent over the next two years, would be used to provide training and mentoring to the countrys army and to improve security.

Theresa May at the 2017 Somalia Conference (Jack Hill/The Times/PA)

Our commitment to Somalia matters, not just because its right to help Somalia overcome the threat of terrorism and the devastating effects of years of famine and bloodshed, but also because these challenges that face Somalia affect us all, she said during her opening address at Lancaster House.

If Somalia is a foothold for terrorist groups like Al Shabaab and Daesh, if global trade is hijacked by pirates or if millions are continually displaced in a desperate bid to escape poverty and drought, the impact of instability in Somalia is felt across the whole region and the wider world.

She added: As a global Britain we will continue to drive co-ordinated international efforts that increase global security and protect our values around the world. Britains commitment to Somalias future remains steadfast.

"More than 6 million people in Somalia need assistance  or nearly 1/2 the population" - @antonioguterres at #FutureforSomalia Conference pic.twitter.com/yntEoXedST  UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) May 11, 2017

Mrs May continued: Im glad that the United Kingdom is at the forefront of these efforts, providing 110 million over two years for emergency food assistance, lifesaving nutrition, safe drinking water and emergency healthcare.

World leaders have gathered at Lancaster House in London for the talks, aimed at improving stability and prosperity in Somalia and boosting the humanitarian response to the drought, which charities say has pushed millions of people to the brink of starvation.

Boris Johnson accompanies Prime Minister Hailemariam of Ethiopia to meet Theresa May at Downing Street pic.twitter.com/zfPBvw0KAp  Lizzy Buchan (@LizzyBuchan) May 11, 2017

Mrs May held talks with both President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at Downing Street ahead of the conference.

Somalia has frequently topped the Fragile State Index due to threats from Islamic extremism, piracy and famine.
Quarantine authorities in Australia have urged travellers through Asia to avoid bringing in hitch-hiking amphibians, after a passenger arrived at an airport with a dead Indonesian toad in his shoe.

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources issued the warning on Thursday for travellers to check their luggage and other belongings for biohazards, after toads from Thailand and Indonesia were found recently at three Australian airports.

MEDIA RELEASE: Travelling from SE Asia? Check your closed toad shoes! | https://t.co/ruz9omVqi9 #Biosecurity pic.twitter.com/61jLwHJ4HM  Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (@DAFFgov) May 11, 2017

The departments head of biosecurity, Lyn OConnor, said a sniffer dog reacted to a shoe that an Australian was wearing as he arrived at Cairns Airport in north-east Australia.

A black-spined toad in a shoe belonging to a passenger from Indonesia (Australia's Department of Agriculture and Water Resources via AP)

She said the black-spined toad found by a biosecurity officer inside the shoe had only recently died and was probably alive when the passenger put the shoe on in Indonesia.
A little boy was overcome with an attack of shyness after meeting the Duchess of Cambridge when she visited Luxembourg to celebrate the 150th anniversary of a treaty that secured the nations future.

Teo Schleck, aged three, presented Kate with a posy of flowers, but seconds later buried his face in the shoulder of his mother Jil.

Kate met the youngster during the overseas visit which saw her spend the day in the land-locked country which is holding national celebrations to mark the signing of the historic 1867 Treaty of London.

Brokered 150 years ago to the day in the British capital, it confirmed Luxembourgs independence and neutrality and led to the formation of the modern nation.

Find out more about The Duchess of Cambridge's first official visit to Luxembourg here: https://t.co/apECbw65G0 #RoyalVisitLux  pic.twitter.com/VArFCitIvo  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 11, 2017

Kate met the three-year-old in Luxembourg Citys Place Clairefontaine where she attended a cycling-themed festival and unveiled a mural to one of Britains greatest cyclists Tom Simpson  who died while racing in the Tour de France.

His mother Jil said afterwards: Kate asked if he was shy. She was very nice  you can see shes a mum.

Kates second solo tour has been billed as a Brexit charm offensive and it appears to be working after a Luxembourg minister praised British pragmatism during a speech delivered during the cycling event.

The Duchess of Cambridge with Crown Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie. (Victoria Jones/PA)

The address by Francine Closener, Luxembourgs economy, international security and defence secretary, gave a strong hint Luxembourg  where the EU Parliament has an outpost  might be ready to put differences aside and work for a Brexit solution.

She said: The Luxembourg way of doing things is characterised by pragmatism, an ability to adapt, as well as a tremendous talent to build its partnerships with respect. Theres a capacity to listen to others, understand their needs and find a solution.

Luxembourg shares the British pragmatism and the commitment to constant improvement.

The Duchess viewed original copies of the Treaty and a model of Luxembourg City before the fortress demolition pic.twitter.com/GzG51P7vUY  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 11, 2017

These common values serve as a longstanding basis for the strong political ties and the excellent business relations between the UK and the Grand Duchy.

Those values are at the core of the ties built by many previous Governments, and we shall continue to respect those values as our relationship evolves.
Team Skys Geraint Thomas remains six seconds off the Giro dItalia lead after breakaway rider Silvan Dillier won stage six on Thursday.

Welsh rider Thomas finished 39 seconds back on BMC Racings Dillier in a group containing race leader Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), third-placed Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) and the rest of the general classification contenders.

A five-man breakaway managed to keep clear of the peloton on the 217 kilometre race from Reggio Calabria to Terme Luigiane.

Silvan Diller (right) and Jasper Stuyven

Dillier, Jasper Stuyven (Trek Segafredo) and Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) surged clear of their fellow escapees with five kilometres remaining.

Dillier kicked first inside the last 200 metres and managed to hold off Stuyven to take his maiden grand tour stage win.

Briton Yates remains 10 seconds behind Jungels, as are former Giro winners Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

10th on the stage is enough to ensure @GeraintThomas86 retains second overall at #Giro100. Still +6" on leader Jungels (QST) pic.twitter.com/RMfqFaseO3  INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) May 11, 2017

Thomas was pleased to tick off another stage as the GC contenders keep an eye on Sundays first summit finish.

Its just a case of getting through these stages, Thomas told Team Skys website. Its always a bit weird on stages like today and yesterday, youre not completely switched on, like you might be on a big GC day. But the legs seem to be okay.

The break going clear meant it was a bit less stressful, although it was still pretty stressful.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been backed to play for many more years by the surgeon who operated on his injured knee.

The 35-year-old Manchester United striker tore an anterior cruciate ligament in last months Europa League victory over Anderlecht, leading to speculation that his professional career may be over.

But doctor Freddie Fu Ho-keung believes Ibrahimovic is in fantastic condition and should recover.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

I can tell you hes in superb shape in all things, the surgeon told the South China Morning Post. Healthy morphology, the quality of the bone and muscle, everything is as good as you can possibly see.

Hes one of the top athletes Ive ever touched, he is in superb shape. He can still play for many years, hes so healthy, so strong.

Ibrahimovic has been in fine form during his debut season at Old Trafford, hitting 28 goals in 46 appearances since arriving from Paris St Germain.

Dr Fu Ho-keung, who is based in the United States, also suggested that Ibrahimovics physical condition was so impressive that he would like to carry out research on the Swede when he finally does hang up his boots.

Sure, in the future absolutely, when hes retired, he added.
By Parisa Hafezi

ANKARA, May 10 (Reuters) - The charismatic 55-year-old mayor of Tehran seems a long-shot contender for Iran's presidency, but could emerge as the main threat to President Hassan Rouhani if he beats other hardliners to emerge as the sole challenger in a second round.

A chisel-jawed former Revolutionary Guards commander with an action man persona, an airline pilot's license and a populist economic message, Baqer Qalibaf has so far defied the clerical establishment by refusing to drop out before the May 19 vote.

In the last election four years ago, Qalibaf very nearly made it to the run-off, despite placing a distant second to Rouhani with just 16.5 percent of the vote. Rouhani, who promised to reduce Iran's international isolation and grant more freedoms at home, averted a second round by winning just over 50 percent.

This time around, establishment hardliners who want to unseat Rouhani are mainly placing their trust in Ebrahim Raisi, a jurist and cleric who studied at the feet of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

They are not happy that the maverick Tehran mayor is standing again and splitting the anti-Rouhani vote.

"Qalibaf's decision to remain in the race represents is a risk for him and the establishment," said an official in Tehran, who asked not to be identified. "It will divide hardliners' votes but it will also endanger his future career, as Qalibaf has ignored influential hardliners' call to step down."

Still, with his own record of drawing millions of voters, Qalibaf may be hoping he can beat Raisi in the first round to face Rouhani in the run-off a week later, which would force conservatives to rally behind him.

A similar path carried a previous populist Tehran mayor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the presidency in 2005, despite never quite dispelling the discomfort of the establishment.

From Qalibaf's perspective, that could have been him: in 2005, he resigned his military posts to run for president and was seen as a strong contender, only to lose the crucial battle for second place in the final days when hardliners switched their allegiance to Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad won 19.5 percent in the first round, good enough for second place, on his way to a surprising triumph against former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the run-off. Qalibaf went on to win Ahamdinejad's job as mayor of the capital, a post he has held ever since.

Qalibaf promotes his record as a pragmatic problem-solver, tackling the capital's acute infrastructure problems and improving public transportation.

But Tehran's chaotic and chronically snarled traffic, a corruption investigation in 2016 and the deaths of 50 firefighters in the collapse of a 17-storey building in January in Tehran have dented his popularity.

To civil rights activists and reformers he is also known for his previous role as a police chief who boasted of crushing protests and personally beating demonstrators.

He joined the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) at 19 and served as the commander of its air force from 1996. He still has a license to fly big airliners. He was appointed by Khamenei as Iran's police chief after a bloody crackdown on students in Tehran ignited nationwide unrest in 1999.

In a two-hour audio recording, released by opposition websites and the U.S.-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Qalibaf is heard describing how he personally beat up protesters with batons.

He was among a group of IRGC commanders who in June 2003 sent a letter to then-president Mohammad Khatami, now seen as the father of Iran's reform movement, effectively threatening a coup unless the president took firm control of protests. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Peter Graff)
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

CYFROWY POLSAT

Cyfrowy Polsat, Poland's largest media group, reported a 59 percent jump in its first-quarter net profit to 279 million zloty ($72.02 million), beating analysts' estimates, aided by higher operating income and a one-off forex gain.

EURO ZONE ACCESSION

Accessing the euro zone would currently not be beneficial for the Polish economy, which is doing well outside of the common currency bloc, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo told Rzeczpospolita newspaper.

HOMEOWNERS

The ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) plans to convert homeowners' lease of land into full ownership to allow people to save money at the cost of local governments and improve party's standing in public opinion polls, Gazeta Wyborcza daily said.

TRANSPORT

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo who goes to China, wants to invite Chinese investors to co-finance PiS' flagship economic projects such as central airport and fast railways, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily said.

TAURON

Polish state-run power producer Tauron on Wednesday reported first-quarter net profit of 640 million zlotys, against 323 million zlotys a year earlier, thanks to a reversed impairment related to a heating plant project.

EDF

Poland's Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski expects France's EDF to conclude within days the sale of its local power and heating assets to Polish utilities, he said on Wednesday.

EUROCASH

Eurocash needs acquisitions to increase its scale and competitiveness against low-cost markets, but the company will be patient in its actions, chief executive and largest shareholder of Eurocash Louis Amaral said.

TAX ON STATE ENERGY FIRMS

The finance ministry has received no signals of any energy ministry plans to increase this year the nominal value of shares in state-run energy firms to extract more tax for the state budget, Puls Biznesu reported citing a finance ministry source.

GETBACK

Debt collection firm GetBack may debut on the Warsaw stock exchange before July, Parkiet daily reported citing its sources. The initial public offering may be worth a few hundred million zlotys, Parkiet said.

PGE

Poland's biggest power group PGE to release first quarter financial statement after market closes.

****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 = 3.8737 zlotys) (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau)
By Ju-min Park and Christine Kim

SEOUL, May 11 (Reuters) - South Korea's new president launched international efforts to defuse tension over North Korea's weapons development on Thursday, urging both dialogue and sanctions while also aiming to ease China's anger about a U.S. anti-missile system.

Moon Jae-in, a liberal former human rights lawyer, was sworn in on Wednesday and said in his first speech as president he would immediately address security tensions that have raised fears of war on the Korean Peninsula.

Moon first spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping and later to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The conversations were dominated by how to respond to North Korea's rapidly developing nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, which are in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"The resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue must be comprehensive and sequential, with pressure and sanctions used in parallel with negotiations," Moon's spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, quoted Moon as telling Xi.

"Sanctions against North Korea are also a means to bring the North to the negotiating table aimed at eliminating its nuclear weapons," Yoon told a briefing, adding that Xi indicated his agreement.

Moon has taken a more conciliatory line with North Korea than his conservative predecessors and advocates engagement. He has said he would be prepared to go to Pyongyang "if the conditions are right."

Moon's advocacy of engagement with North Korea contrasts with the approach of the United States, South Korea's main ally, which is seeking to step up pressure on Pyongyang through further isolation and sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who spoke with Moon on Wednesday, this month opened the door to meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un, saying he would be honored to meet Kim under the right circumstances.

U.S. officials have said they see no value in resuming international talks with North Korea under current circumstances and that Pyongyang must make clear it is committed to denuclearization.

Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington had worked closely with Seoul on North Korea and would continue to do so.

"We remain open to talks with the DPRK but need to see that the DPRK will cease all its illegal activities and aggressive behavior in the region," she said, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Regional experts have believed for months that North Korea is preparing for its sixth nuclear test. It has also been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States, presenting Trump with perhaps his most pressing security issue.

On Thursday, the U.S. director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that North Korea posed "a very significant, potentially existential threat to the United States that has to be addressed."

Trump told Reuters in an interview last month major conflict with North Korea was possible but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome.

North Korea says it needs its weapons to defend itself against the United States which it says has pushed the region to the brink of nuclear war.

"Threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile development have entered a new stage," Japan's Abe told Moon in their telephone call, according to Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda.

"How to respond to North Korea ... is an urgent issue. I would like to closely cooperate with the president to achieve the denuclearisation of North Korea," Abe told Moon.

But Abe also said "dialogue for dialogue's sake would be meaningless" and he called on North Korea to demonstrate "sincere and concrete action," Hagiuda said, adding that Moon shared Abe's views.

Japan has been concerned that Moon will take a tough line on feuds stemming from the bitter legacy of its 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula and could fray ties at a time when cooperation on North Korea is vital.

Moon told Abe to "look straight at history" and not make the past "a barrier," though he raised South Korea's dissatisfaction with a 2015 agreement meant to put to rest a dispute over Japanese compensation for South Korean women forced to work in Japanese brothels before and during World War Two, Korea's presidential office said.

'IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING'

While South Korea, China and Japan all share worry about North Korea, ties between South Korea and China have been strained by South Korea's decision to install a U.S. anti-missile system in defence against the North.

China says the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) undermines its security as its powerful radar can probe deep into its territory.

China says the system does little to curb the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, which Pyongyang has been pressing ahead with in defiance of U.S. pressure and U.N. sanctions.

The deployment of THAAD was agreed last year by South Korea's previous administration after North Korea conducted a long-range rocket launch that put an object into space.

Moon came to power with a promise to review the system and he told Xi North Korea must cease making provocations before tension over the deployment could be resolved, officials said.

In the first direct contact between the South Korean and Chinese leaders, Xi explained China's position, Yoon, the South Korean presidential spokesman said, without elaborating.

"President Moon said he understands China's interest in the THAAD deployment and its concerns, and said he hopes the two countries can swiftly get on with communication to further improve each other's understanding," Yoon told a briefing.

South Korea and the United States began deploying the THAAD system in March and it has since become operational.

Xi told Moon South Korea and China should respect each other's concerns, set aside differences, seek common ground and handle disputes appropriately, China's foreign ministry said.

As well as clouding efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions, the THAAD deployment has also led to recriminations from Beijing against South Korean companies.

Moon explained the difficulties faced by South Korean companies that were doing business in China and asked for Xi's "special attention" to ease those concerns, Yoon said.

China has denied it is retaliating against South Korean businesses.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING, Kiyoshio Takenaka in TOKYO and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel and Bill Trott)
NICOSIA, May 11 (Reuters) - Greece's central bank has granted a license to Pillarstone, the platform set up by private equity firm KKR, to provide long-term capital to large Greek corporate borrowers and manage non-performing exposures for Greek banks, Eurobank said on Thursday.

Pillarstone will begin talking within coming weeks with a number of Greek companies, the bank said in a statement without giving details.

KKR signed an agreement with Eurobank , the country's third largest lender Eurobank, and fourth largest Alpha Bank in 2016, to roll out its platform into Greece.

"The provision of fresh capital and operational expertise to over-indebted businesses, and the ongoing support of Greece's largest banks in managing their underperforming exposures, can play a significant role in the recovery of the country's economy," Johannes Huth, head of KKR EMEA said in a statement.

Greek banks are continuing to struggle with problem loans after a deep, protracted recession pushed unemployment to record highs, making it hard for borrowers to service their debts. They have agreed with regulators on ambitious bad debt reduction targets spanning a 3-year time horizon.

The banks are aiming to cut their so-called non-performing exposures (NPE) to 66.7 billion euros by 2019 from 106.9 billion euros in September 2016, meaning their NPE ratio would fall to 34 percent from 51 percent.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will selectively co-invest in partnership with KKR, Pillarstone and the banks, Eurobank said.

Sabina Dziurman, EBRD's director for Greece and Cyprus, told Reuters on Wednesday that EBRD was ready to invest in Pillarstone "to help get companies back on a performing path" once Pillarstone was licensed by the central bank. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Writing by Renee Maltezou Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
By Tom Perry and Laila Bassam

BEIRUT, May 11 (Reuters) - Lebanon is on the brink of crisis again with its politicians at odds over an election law at the heart of the nation's sectarian system, threatening to leave the country without a parliament for the first time.

Parliament's term expires on June 20 and without a compromise Lebanon faces what one minister has called the most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Some analysts believe the dangers of a parliamentary vacuum - including the risk this would topple the government - will force a compromise deal, though there is no sign of one yet.

A short extension of parliament's term beyond June 20 now looks inevitable to allow more time for a deal, though a so-called "technical extension" of a few months will also require a political agreement. Leaders have ruled out a longer extension on concerns of a popular backlash that could cause unrest.

"This is the most dangerous crisis the country has been through since the Taif agreement," Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters, referring to the 1989 peace deal that ended the civil war. "It is the first time since even before Taif that we are close to a (legislative) vacuum," he said.

However, the prospect of a return to civil war appears remote. Lebanese leaders remain committed to containing sectarian tensions exacerbated by six years of war in Syria.

The bigger risk is state paralysis as the government tries to revive an economy saddled by massive public debt and to cope with the strain of 1.5 million refugees from neighbouring Syria.

MARONITE GRIEVANCES

Parliament's 128 seats are split equally between Christians and Muslims under the terms of the Taif agreement, which diluted the Christians' power by reducing their seats in parliament and curbing the powers of the Maronite president.

The agreement also strengthened the powers of the prime minister - a post reserved for a Sunni Muslim. The post of parliament speaker is reserved for a Shi'ite Muslim.

Lebanon's once-dominant Maronite Christians are at the heart of the dispute. Maronite leaders say the law used to hold the last election gives Muslims too much say over which Christian MPs get elected.

The main Christian party, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) founded by President Michel Aoun, wants a law that redraws constituencies so that more of the Christian seats are decided exclusively by Christian voters.

Aoun said a new electoral law was one of his priorities when he took office last October in a deal that ended a 2-1/2-year vacuum in the presidency and saw Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri become prime minister.

Lebanon last held a parliamentary election in 2009. Elections have been postponed twice since then, with MPs opting to extend their own term rather than tackle fundamental disagreements over how the polls should be conducted.

Critics say the Christian FPM's logic is too sectarian: the existing system has helped to forge political alliances that cut across sectarian lines.

"Our position on the electoral law is not sectarian, but we are trying to restore the greatest number of rights to their owners," Aoun said in a written statement from the presidency.

Proposals tabled by FPM leader Gebran Bassil, the foreign minister and Aoun's son-in-law, have been rejected by most other parties including his allies in the powerful, armed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah.

JUMBLATT WANTS "PACKAGE DEAL"

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah noted in a speech this month that Lebanese Christians and Druze were more worried about the law than Sunnis and Shi'ites - Lebanon's dominant sects since the civil war. Nasrallah said to some Lebanese, it was a matter of "life or death" and a deal must be reached.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said if there was no deal, the election should be held under the existing law to avoid a vacuum. Lawmakers were so far unable to find a way out of "a vicious circle", he told Reuters.

In their efforts to strike a deal, politicians have broadened the talks to include the possible establishment of a senate envisaged by the Taif deal. At the time of Taif, it was agreed that the head of the senate should be a Druze. But that understanding has also become a point of contention.

"We prefer that we stick to this agreement, and we want our other partners to understand us," Jumblatt said. "It's better to agree on the leadership of the senate - a package deal."

Nabil Boumonsef, a commentator with an-Nahar newspaper, said he believed the risk of failure would force a compromise.

"All the parties know the meaning of this possibility, and fear of its consequences will push them to a settlement at the last moment," he said. (Additional reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Louise Ireland and Janet Lawrence)
By Lin Taylor

LONDON, May 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The UK government is hosting a conference on Thursday to discuss the security threats and humanitarian situation in Somalia, where 3 million people are facing famine and 6 million, or half of the population, are in need of aid.

The United Nations is seeking a further $900 million this year for Somalia, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the conference.

Here are some facts about Somalia's security and humanitarian situation:

* Somalia has been shattered by civil war that began when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other.

* About 2.9 million Somalis are facing famine, and 6.2 million need aid after drought withered crops, killed livestock and dried up waterholes in East Africa, the U.N.'s World Food Programme says.

* More than 620,000 people have left their homes because of the drought since November, the U.N. says, slowing farmers' work to prepare their land and plant crops as the rainy season starts.

* Drought has led to the largest cholera outbreak in the last five years, with more than 36,000 cases and nearly 700 deaths so far this year, the World Health Organization says.

* Measles are also on the rise, with nearly 6,500 cases reported this year, 71 percent of them children under the age of 5, according to WHO.

* Some 1.4 million Somali children are projected to suffer acute malnutrition this year, 50 percent more than estimated in January, UNICEF says.

* Islamist militant groups like Al Shabaab often carry out attacks in a bid to topple Somalia's government and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops. The al Qaeda-linked group wants to impose its harsh version of Islamic rule in Somalia.

* The kidnapping of aid workers and extortion at checkpoints are on the rise in Somalia, hindering efforts to prevent the country slipping into renewed famine. In the first 27 days of April, 13 humanitarian workers were abducted, the highest monthly figure since 2011, the U.N. says.

Sources: United Nations, World Health Organization, Reuters, Thomson Reuters Foundation, UK Government

(Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Alisa Tang. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, global land and property rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, women's rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories)
BEIJING, May 11 (Reuters) - China's trade with African countries in the first quarter climbed by nearly a fifth from a year earlier, while its direct investment in the continent soared 64 percent, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday.

Trade cooperation between China and Africa is "off to a flying start" in 2017, thanks to policy benefits from a cooperative framework laid down by the Chinese and African leaders in South Africa in 2015, said Sun Jiwen, spokesman at the ministry.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to plough $60 billion into African development projects at a summit in Johannesburg in 2015, saying it would boost agriculture, build roads, ports and railways and cancel some debt.

China's total trade with Africa rose 16.8 percent to $38.8 billion in the first quarter, its first year-on-year increase since 2015, Sun told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

That's mainly due to a 46 percent jump in annual imports from Africa in the first quarter with agricultural imports rising 18 percent, while Chinese exports recorded a smaller fall of 1 percent from a year earlier, Sun said.

China's non-financial direct investment to the continent also jumped 64 percent in the quarter, as countries such as Djibouti, Senegal and South Africa all saw a more than 100 percent rise in the quarter.

China's growing investment in the region is also likely to have been buoyed by its ambitious global trading strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative, which appeared to be gaining traction recently, particularly in parts of East Africa where major infrastructure and defence projects are being built.

However, despite the bullish figures, some experts on China-African trade said that sharp price rises in products such as copper since late last year could be a major factor contributing to the impressive gains in trade value in the first quarter. China's trade relations with African countries are often dominated by big natural resource deals.

There was also scepticism over Beijing's willingness to ramp up trade and investment in Africa, as China appears to have been looking at investments in resource-rich markets with better economic performance such as Peru.

Chinese firms rushed to court the remote African continent in the past because of stiff competition from savvy western multinationals in traditional resource-rich countries, said Kai Xue, a Beijing-based lawyer and Africa expert at DeHeng Law Offices.

But Africa's strategic significance has been fading as competition lessened with the downturn in global commodities in recent years, leaving a gap for China to fill, while slowing growth in Africa muted some Chinese interest, he said.

"There could still be increases (in trade and investment to Africa) every year in a decline scenario, because China's economy is still expanding quite considerably. But a modest growth figure is not comparable to the peak times in the past."

Xue added that the Belt and Road Initiative may actually divert some of the Chinese financing away from Africa as China moves increasingly closer to other allies such as Pakistan.

Africans broadly see China as a healthy counterbalance to Western influence but, as ties mature, there are growing calls from policymakers and economists for more balanced trade relations. (Reporting by Yawen Chen and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
By Lidia Kelly

KATOWICE, Poland, May 11 (Reuters) - Poland could set up a power capacity market under certain conditions, EU Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said on Thursday.

Poland, which produces most of its electricity from coal, hopes to launch a capacity market in which producers are paid to keep power plants online to generate electricity when needed.

"After our very profound analysis and sector-wide inquiries the European Commission concluded there might be circumstances where capacity mechanisms and capacity markets would be needed," Sefcovic told the European Economic Congress in Katowice, southern Poland.

"At the same time, we also proposed several conditions which should be met before the capacity markets are introduced," he said.

Capacity mechanisms can make power supply more secure but the European Commission is worried that if not designed properly such a system could hinder competition and electricity flows across borders. It could also lead to higher electricity prices for users.

"The planned law on capacity market in theory secures Poles against breaks in power supplies. In practice, though, this is another tax, which would preserve Poland as a coal energy heritage park," environment non-government group Polish Climate Coalition said.

It calculated that launching a capacity market in Poland would increase the electricity bill of an average household by 120-140 zlotys ($36) annually.

Sefcovic said that a proposal should take those aspects into consideration, but that there are also more conditions.

"It should be temporary because through the capacity market you should actually cure the problem on the market itself," he said.

"The last condition was that if you want to invest and use public support for such a capacity mechanism you should also make sure that you are supporting the best available technologies."

The European Commission has proposed a limit on emissions of 550 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour for new plants, something which Poland has called that "unacceptable".

"We have a very intense exchange (with the EC) on this subject, on different solutions, proposals," Deputy Energy Minister Michal Kurtyka said at the conference.

"We are working to ensure that this mechanism is transparent to take under consideration neighbouring countries, so we are in a position to move forward and compete in this important area as quickly as possible," Kurtyka said.

($1 = 3.8899 zlotys) (Writing by Agnieszka Barteczko)
ISTANBUL/MOSCOW, May 11 (Reuters) - Turkey resumed wheat imports from Russia on Monday, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci told Reuters on Thursday, just a few days after the trade dispute between the two countries was settled.

Turkey, traditionally the second-largest buyer of Russian wheat after Egypt and the top buyer of its sunflower oil, imposed what Moscow regarded as prohibitively high import tariffs from mid-March.

The dispute, which had brought Russia's grain supplies to Turkey to a virtual standstill, was resolved at the meeting of the presidents of the two countries - Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin - on May 3.

"Wheat imports from Russia to Turkey began on Monday," Zeybekci said.

Russian wheat and sunflower oil are again being sold to buyers in Turkey, a Russian lobby group of grain exporters and the union of sunflower oil producers also said on Thursday.

"The wheat (trade) has opened. Some of our association members are already signing contracts," Sergey Balan, the head of Russia's National Association of Exporters of Agricultural Products, told Reuters.

Mikhail Maltsev, the head of Russia's Oil and Fats Union, also said that Russian sunflower oil suppliers received the confirmation from the Turkish buyers on Thursday that all restrictions were removed and had started to enter into new contracts.

Russian Agriculture Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Wheat traders in Russia, Western Europe and a Turkish flour miller also confirmed that the Russian wheat trade with Ankara was back to normal.

"I have made sales of Russian wheat for May and June shipment and Russian new crop is also being negotiated, in my view the trade is back to normal," one of the traders said.

A Turkish flour miller said that "all hurdles" had been lifted on Russian wheat imports and the restrictive list of countries had been removed and wheat could be imported without customs duties "from any origin". The miller also said he had just purchased two consignments of Russian wheat for a total of 8,000 tonnes.

Russia, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, is expected to speed up its grain exports in the coming weeks due to resumed supplies to Turkey and also due to the rouble currency weakening, SovEcon consultancy said on Wednesday.

It was not clear whether the trade with Russian maize (corn) has also been restored. (Reporting by Can Sezer in Istanbul; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt and Olga Popova in Moscow; Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Gus Trompiz and Valerie Parent in Paris; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul and Polina Devitt in Moscow; Editing by Daren Butler and Jane Merriman)
TASHKENT, May 11 (Reuters) - The U.N.'s human rights chief urged Uzbekistan on Thursday to avoid "repressive policies" in its fight against Islamist radicalisation, a growing threat throughout Central Asia, while welcoming a rapprochement with Tashkent.

Zeid Raad Al Hussein, the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Uzbekistan since the post was created in 1993, said the former Soviet republic had agreed to work with his office after previously refusing to do so.

Commenting on President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's reform plans, which include an overhaul of the judicial system and measures to tackle religious extremism, Hussein said it was crucial to balance the latter with ensuring individual rights.

"As in other countries, I have emphasised that the answer to the risk of radicalisation is not simply heavy-handed security measures and repressive policies which breed resentment and frustration, thereby making it easier for extremists to recruit new supporters," he said.

President Islam Karimov, who died in September after 27 years in power, had been widely criticised for his government's human rights violations, and Tashkent's ties with the West hit their lowest point after troops violently suppressed unrest in the city of Andijan in 2005.

Hussein, describing the Andijan events as "terrible", told a briefing: "While it is important to look forward, it also important to come to terms with past events and ensure that victims are not forgotten and their grievances are addressed."

Hussein said he had had an hour-and-a-half meeting with Mirziyoyev, "in which we found much common ground and reached agreements on a number of concrete steps".

Uzbekistan found itself in global security spotlight after an Uzbek man living in Sweden was identified as the main suspect behind the deadly truck attack in Stockholm last month. Hundreds of Uzbeks are also believed to have joined the Islamic State militant group based in Syria and Iraq. (Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Louise Ireland)
DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - A cholera outbreak in Yemen has killed 51 people since April 27, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, more than double the toll of 25 reported three days ago.

WHO said there are 2,752 suspected cholera cases and 58 more people have been confirmed as having the diarrheal disease.

A epidemic late last year faded but outbreaks are frequent and made worse by the degrading of health and sanitation systems by more than two years of civil war that has also killed at least 10,000 people and displaced millions.

Only a few medical facilities are still functioning and two-thirds of the population are without access to safe drinking water, the United Nations has said.

The capital Sanaa was worst hit, with 34.6 percent of the cases, followed by the surrounding province with 12 percent, the data showed. Cases were also reported in Yemen's other major cities: Hodeidah, Hajjah, Ibb, Taiz and Aden.

WHO said that 7.6 million people live in areas at high risk of cholera transmission.

Although most sufferers have no symptoms or mild symptoms that can be treated with oral rehydration solution, in more severe cases the disease can kill within hours if not treated with intravenous fluids and antibiotics.

Yemen's conflict pits the Houthi movement and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh against the Saudi-led military coalition backing the internationally recognised government. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by William Maclean and Louise Ireland)
By Brenda Goh and Andrew R.C. Marshall

BOKEO, Laos, May 12 (Reuters) - Kongkaew Vonusak smiles when he recalls the arrival of Chinese investors in his tranquil village in northern Laos in 2014. With them came easy money, he said.

The Chinese offered villagers up to $720 per hectare to rent their land, much of it fallow for years, said Kongkaew, 59, the village chief. They wanted to grow bananas on it.

In impoverished Laos, the offer was generous. "They told us the price and asked us if we were happy. We said okay."

Elsewhere, riverside land with good access roads fetched at least double that sum.

Three years later, the Chinese-driven banana boom has left few locals untouched, but not everyone is smiling.

Experts say the Chinese have brought jobs and higher wages to northern Laos, but have also drenched plantations with pesticides and other chemicals.

Last year, the Lao government banned the opening of new banana plantations after a state-backed institute reported that the intensive use of chemicals had sickened workers and polluted water sources.

China has extolled the benefits of its vision of a modern-day "Silk Road" linking it to the rest of the world - it holds a major summit in Beijing on May 14-15 to promote it.

The banana boom pre-dated the concept, which was announced in 2013, although China now regards agricultural developments in Laos as among the initiative's projects.

Under the "Belt and Road" plan, China has sought to persuade neighbours to open their markets to Chinese investors. For villagers like Kongkaew, that meant a trade-off.

"Chinese investment has given us a better quality of life. We eat better, we live better," Kongkaew said.

But neither he nor his neighbours will work on the plantations, or venture near them during spraying. They have stopped fishing in the nearby river, fearing it is polluted by chemical run-off from the nearby banana plantation.

CHINESE FRUSTRATION

Several Chinese plantation owners and managers expressed frustration at the government ban, which forbids them from growing bananas after their leases expire.

They said the use of chemicals was necessary, and disagreed that workers were falling ill because of them.

"If you want to farm, you have to use fertilizers and pesticides," said Wu Yaqiang, a site manager at a plantation owned by Jiangong Agriculture, one of the largest Chinese banana growers in Laos.

"If we don't come here to develop, this place would just be bare mountains," he added, as he watched workers carrying 30-kg bunches of bananas up steep hillsides to a rudimentary packing station.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was not aware of the specific issues surrounding Chinese banana growers in Laos, and did not believe they should be linked directly to the Belt and Road initiative.

"In principle we always require Chinese companies, when investing and operating abroad, to comply with local laws and regulations, fulfil their social responsibility and protect the local environment," he told a regular briefing on Thursday.

Laos' Ministry of Agriculture did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment for this article.

China is the biggest foreign investor in Laos, a landlocked country of 6.5 million people, with over 760 projects valued at about $6.7 billion, according to Chinese state-run media.

This influence is not only keenly felt in the capital Vientiane, where Chinese build shopping complexes and run some of the city's fanciest hotels. It also extends deep into rural areas that have remained largely unchanged for decades.

BANANA RUSH

Lao people say Chinese banana investors began streaming across the border around 2010, driven by land shortages at home. Many headed to Bokeo, the country's smallest and least populous province.

In the ensuing years, Lao banana exports jumped ten-fold to become the country's largest export earner. Nearly all of the fruit is sent to China.

For ethnic Lao like Kongkaew, Chinese planters paid them more for the land than they could earn from farming it.

For impoverished, hill-dwelling minorities such as the Hmong or Khmu, the banana rush meant better wages.

At harvest time, they can earn the equivalent of at least $10 a day and sometimes double that, a princely sum in a country where the average annual income was $1,740 in 2015, according to the World Bank.

They are also most exposed to the chemicals.

Most Chinese planters grow the Cavendish variety of banana which is favoured by consumers but susceptible to disease.

Hmong and Khmu workers douse the growing plants with pesticides and kill weeds with herbicides such as paraquat. Paraquat is banned by the European Union and other countries including Laos, and it has been phased out in China.

The bananas are also dunked in fungicides to preserve them for their journey to China.

SWITCHING CROPS

Some banana workers grow weak and thin or develop rashes, said Phonesai Manivongxai, director of the Community Association for Mobilizing Knowledge in Development (CAMKID), a non-profit group based in northern Laos.

Part of CAMKID's work includes educating workers about the dangers of chemical use. "All we can do is make them more aware," she said.

This is an uphill struggle. Most pesticides come from China or Thailand and bear instructions and warnings in those countries' languages, Reuters learned. Even if the labelling was Lao, some Hmong and Khmu are illiterate and can't understand it.

Another problem, said Phonesai, was that workers lived in close proximity to the chemicals, which contaminated the water they wash in or drink.

In a Lao market, Reuters found Thai-made paraquat openly on sale.

However, some workers Reuters spoke to said they accepted the trade-off. While they were concerned about chemicals, higher wages allowed them to send children to school or afford better food.

There is no guarantee the government's crackdown on pesticide use in banana production will lead to potentially harmful chemicals being phased out altogether.

As banana prices fell following a surge in output, some Chinese investors began to plant other crops on the land, including chemically intensive ones like watermelon.

Zhang Jianjun, 46, co-owner of the Lei Lin banana plantation, estimated that as much as 20 percent of Bokeo's banana plantations had been cleared, and said some of his competitors had decamped to Myanmar and Cambodia.

But he has no plans to leave. The environmental impact on Laos was a "road that every underdeveloped country must walk" and local people should thank the Chinese, he said.

"They don't think, 'Why have our lives improved?'. They think it's something that heaven has given them, that life just naturally gets better." (Additional reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING and Amy Sawitta Lefevre in BANGKOK; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Rabindra Jayanti is an annually celebrated cultural festival, prevalent mostly among Bengalis and lovers of art worldwide, to mark the birth anniversary of Indian Poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. In Sri Lanka Tagores 156th birth anniversary was marked by a commemoration event held at the main library of the Colombo University. The event organized by the Colombo Universitys Centre for Contemporary Indian Studies in collaboration with the Indian Cultural Centre on May 8 was graced by Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Colombo University Vice Chancellor Lakshman Dissanayake and faculty members including Prof. Sandagomi Coparahewa. At this event Rabindranath Tagores bust was garlanded by the High Commissioner while floral tributes were paid by the distinguished guests.

His short stories such as Kabulwala have been translated into several languages and have found their way into the curriculum of literary studies across the world, including Sri Lanka

Tagores influence in literary and musical culture across Asia is undoubtedly far-reaching. Although known mostly for his poetry, Tagore also penned novels, essays, travelogues and more than a thousand songs. His notable works such as Chandalika and Valmiki Pratibha were the first of their kind in this part of the hemisphere with its extended monologues, thickened and intricate sub-plots exploring philosophical narratives. His short stories such as Kabulwala have been translated into several languages and have found their way into the curriculum of literary studies across the world, including Sri Lanka. Kabulwala or the fruit seller from Kabul is a story of a Pathan merchant who has come to Calcutta to find work and sells fruit for a living. In the midst of his travails he befriends a five-year-old girl in Calcutta who reminds him of his own daughter back in Kabul. The soft nuances of seemingly guiltless plots such as these were one of Tagores many literary attributes.

High Commissioner Sandhu and Vice Chancellor Lakshman Dissanayake

Tagores most notable collection of prose, Gitanjali or song offerings was published in 1912 with an introduction from Irish poet William Butler Yeats. Yeats himself a pillar of Irish and British literary establishments could not seem to contain his awe and reverence for the enigma that was Tagore as is evident in his introduction to Gitanjali. He said, We have other poets, but none that are his equal. We call this the epoch of Rabindranath. No poet seems to me as famous in Europe as he is among us. He is as great in music as in poetry and his songs are sung from the West of India into Burma wherever Bengali is spoken. It is apparent that Yeats was as enthralled as he was with the completeness that is Tagore and was seemingly unaware of the developments a little south of India.

Samarakoon was a student at Tagores Viswa Bharati University, Shanti Niketan in India. Influenced by Tagore he returned to Sri Lanka after several months, changed his name to Ananda Samarakoon and embraced Buddhism



Tagores influence could hardly be contained as he was in amazement with life as much as life was deliberated by him. According to Prof. Sandagomi Copeahewa, who writes in his paper titled Tagores visits to Sri Lanka, among the many aspects of Tagores diverse personality was his fascination for travel.

High Commissioner Sandhu pays tribute to Guru Dev Tagore

He kept his doors open to ideas from the East and the West, carrying a message of truth and love. Tagore visited more than a third of the countries in the world including Sri Lanka. In fact, his last overseas visit was to Sri Lanka. During his travels, Tagore explained his ideal of Visva Bharati and raised funds for its development and made a deep impact on the cultural life of the people, Coperahewa said.



Attempting to discuss Tagores impact on Sri Lankan culture by examining ways Tagore interacted with the cultural personalities of that era, Coparahewa concludes that Rabindranath Tagore was the greatest foreign influence on Sri Lankan arts and culture in the twentieth century. He arrives at this conclusion taking into consideration Tagores great interest in the Sri Lankan people and his emotional attachment with Lankan history.

According to scholars Tagores fascination with Sri Lankan seems to have been prompted by two factors: First the general belief that the Sinhalese -- the majority of Sri Lankans descended from immigrants from Bengal

Tagore was opposed to Imperialism and a vocal supporter of Indian nationalism. First revealed in his composition Manast he urged masses to escape the victimology and seek education and dependence upon self. Although it attracted initial criticism, in a British-controlled South Asia, he maintained that even for those in the extremes of poverty there can be no question of blind revolution. He preferred purposeful education instead, emboldened in his ideology of establishing Shanti Niketan.



Given this backdrop it comes as no surprise that the Sri Lankan national anthem too was a product guided by Tagores influence. One of the most notable features of Tagores influence would be his awestruck admirers. His multi-faceted genius displayed across his body of work in prose, music and also his philosophy of re-building lost glory of his nation, left us with the likes of Ananda Samarakoon. Egodagahage George Wilfred Alwis Samarakoon was a student at Tagores Viswa Bharati University, Shanti Niketan in India. Influenced by Tagore he returned to Sri Lanka after several months, changed his name to Ananda Samarakoon and embraced Buddhism.



Upon his return to Mahinda College as an educator, Samarakoon wrote the now immortalized Namo Namo Matha and taught it to his students. Although not envisioned as a nomination for Ceylons new national anthem, it was formally adopted in 1951. From this point onward, Sri Lankan history depicts a rather tragic fate for the creator of our national anthem. Ensued in controversy the national anthem was changed because of an ill perceived gana sequence sans Samarakoons consent. The trifling query charge to tarnish Samarakoons story was that the inauspicious gana had an effect on Ceylons various misfortunes leaving Samarakoon oppressed with shattered spirit. Perhaps the events that unfolded were the only barriers before a flourishing nation Ceylon; a story of what could have been, had it been guided by the inspirational minds like that of Tagore.



Chetto jetha bhoyoshunyo is one of Tagores politically charged compositions, prior to Indias independence, conveying his vision of an awakened country. It appeared as poem No: 35 in Gitanjali, Tagores Nobel Prize winning collection of prose published in 1912.



His words immediately resonated in a South Asia chained by servitude to colonial masters. His call to awaken was carried far and wide through song and prose. Tagore himself recited the poem translated into English titled Indian Prayer at the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta. His call to strike a sleeping nation with no mercy struck Sri Lankas Mahagama Sekara who translated it as Mage deshaya awadikaranumena, piyaneni immortalized with the vocals of Pandit Amaradeva.

Tagores sentiments were carried across the world by many who were in awe of his persona and shared his vision. According to scholars Tagores fascination with Sri Lankan seems to have been prompted by two factors: First the general belief that the Sinhalese -- the majority of Sri Lankans descended from immigrants from Bengal and the second, a profound respect for Theravada Buddhism and the Buddhist heritage of the island. (Dharmadasa, 2011:2)



The enthusiasm created by Tagores visits to Sri Lanka was manifest in the formation of the Lanka Gandharva Sabha and the Tagore Society of Ceylon, established by his students at Shanti Niketan and Tagores admirers. His was the influence when oriental music was introduced to the Lankan curriculum in 1944, a breakthrough in Lankan education curriculum in its formative years. According to the activities of the youth who followed the light of Tagore at Shanti Niketan is the best way of assessing Tagores level of influence. These youth would include not only Samarakoon, but the likes of Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Sunil Shantha, Edwin Samaradiwakara and Chitrasena to name a few. They channelled the teachings of Tagore for the revival of Sri Lankan folk music, dance and drama, influenced by Rabindrasangeet. The first monk to be enrolled as a faculty member of the University of Ceylon the Rev. Udakendawala Saranankara was a social reformer inspired by the poet.



During one of Tagores visits to Colombo in 1934, he said As a poet, it is my passion to restore that ancient association of mind through my efforts that speak through a direct language of art. It is our fervent hope that his vision lives on in the minds of kindred spirits in the years to come.
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said today the joint opposition was not planning a conspiracy to grab power in the country.

"We are only opposed to the privatization and alienation of national resources," he told journalists after visiting Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy.

When asked about the removal of a Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) provincial councillor from his portfolio, Mr. Rajapaksa said what happens when some members are removed is this his or her colleagues also resign in protest.

He said when agreements are being signed with the United National Party (UNP), other parties raised objections.

The crux of the problem is not the decrease or increase of the support to any party. The people will show displeasure when other parties join the UNP. These protests against the government increase day by day. This exposes the political instability in the country, Mr. Rajapaksa said. (J.A.L. Jayasinghe)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Sri Lanka this afternoon to attend the 14th UN Vesak Day celebrations to be held in Colombo and Kandy.

He will be welcomed by Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe at a special ceremony to be held at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake with state honours.

Prime Minister Modi will take part in a religious ceremony at the Gangaramaya Temple in the evening and attend the opening ceremony of the International Vesak Day Celebrations at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) tomorrow, where he will deliver a special lecture.

Later, he will travel to Hatton to inaugurate the new Indian-funded building-complex of the Dickoya Base Hospital.

He will later address a gathering of estate workers of Indian-origin at the Dunbar Stadium in Norwood, Hatton. President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe are also expected to attend this event.

All Tamil medium estate sector schools in the Nuwara Eliya and Hatton Educational Zones will be closed tomorrow.

After paying homage at Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Indian Prime Minister will hold bilateral talks with the President at the Presidents House in Kandy where the President will host a luncheon in honour of the visiting Premier.

The Indian Prime Minister will leave for New Delhi from the BIA at 3.pm on Friday.(Lahiru Pothmulla)
In the wake of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India, the Government is hoping to sign a similar agreement with China during Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes visit to that country.

The Cabinet yesterday endorsed the MoU to be signed with China on cooperation in the fields of urban development, transportation, power and energy and road development though no specific project is outlined in the agreement.

The Prime Minister will leave for China soon after Vesak to attend the One Belt, One Route summit to be conducted in Beijing. He is expected to meet Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit.

During a visit to New Delhi, the Prime Minister signed a MoU with India for the implementation of several projects including the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm on the basis of a joint venture.

The Cabinet also discussed a modified version of the agreement to be signed with China Merchants Ports Holding Company Ltd., to develop the Hambantota Port as a joint venture. President Maithripala Sirisena was entrusted with the responsibility of making the final decision on this agreement.(Kelum Bandara)
The grisly shooting that took place in Piliyandala on Tuesday night, killing an officer of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), is alleged to be a trap set up by leading underworld figure 'Matara Madush,' the police alleged yesterday.

Police Media Spokesman DIG Priyantha Jayakody told the Daily Mirror that according to information received, the police suspected that the PNB officers were allured into a trap by a false tip off.

It was reported that the PNB sleuths had agreed to purchase a stock of heroin, weighing three kilos and worth more than Rs.4 million, by a supporter of the notorious drug kingpin Matara Madush. Following the lead of an informant, the PNB officers had pursued to conduct the raid in Piliyandala. En route to the location, they had been ambushed outside the Peoples Bank Piliyandala Branch at around 8.45 p.m. by two unidentified gunmen who had opened fire at them.

The PNB officer, Constable Chaminda Abeywickreme (49446), who was severely wounded by the shooting, succumbed to his injuries on admission to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.

Police Inspector M. Neomal Rangajeewa and Constable Chaminda (67055) who sustained injuries were transferred to the Colombo National Hospital in critical condition. They were visited by IGP Pujith Jayasundara yesterday.

However, police said the motorcycle used by the suspects to flee the scene was found abandoned in Maharagama yesterday.

They said several vehicles including the three vehicles that transported the PNB officers were sprayed by bullets, and that six civilians including three children who sustained injuries were admitted to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.

However, police said further investigations into the shooting were being carried out by a special police team under the guidance of Western Province Senior DIG Nandana Munasinghe and Mount Lavinia Division SSP Chandana Athukorala.

Also, two other police teams have been deployed by Nugegoda Division SP Prasad Ranasinghe and Colombo Crime Division SSP to arrest the suspects. On the other hand, a PNB team led by DIG Kamal Silva is looking into the incident.

The funeral of the deceased will be held on Saturday (13) at the Marawila Public Cemetery with police honours.

It was learnt that the deceased police officer had been felicitated 112 times during his 15 years of service. Also, the injured Police Inspector, M. Numal Rangajeewa, was identified as a leading officer in the field. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)
Retired SSP Susan De Silva (68) was found dead and his wife unconscious at their home in Malabe.

The Athurugiriya Police, who made the detection, hospitalized the unconscious woman, a 70-year-old retired teacher.

The Police accompanied by the Inquirer Into Sudden Deaths visited the scene after being tipped off that a couple had died inside a house in Malabe. (Buddhika Kumarasiri)
Thailand is unlikely to be able to sign the Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka this year as expected, a high-ranking Thai state official has told the Bangkok Post.

Director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, Boonyarit Kalayanamit has said the planned Thailand-Sri Lanka FTA is still being studied and is likely to be completed in July.

"We expect the two dialogue partners to open talks late this year, starting with the liberalisation of trade in goods," he said.

On Feb 17, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who met Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama, said the two countries aimed to sign an FTA later this year to triple bilateral trade to US$1.5 billion over the next five years.

Mr. Somkid also proposed that Thailand and Sri Lanka conduct parallel strategic cooperation in certain areas in order to expedite mutual economic benefit for the two countries, as FTAs require time for negotiations.

The cooperation is set to be conducted both on a government-to-government and private-to-private basis.

The sectors in which Sri Lanka is eager to attract Thai investment include jewellery, electronics, consumer products and industrial estates, the news article said.

Sri Lanka and Thailand first began considering an FTA in 2016, when Mr. Somkid made an official visit to Sri Lanka.

The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation, a letter of intent on cooperation in small and medium-sized enterprise development and a joint programme on tourism for the period of 2016-2018.

Mr. Boonyarit said the Thai government intends to kick off the trade talks as quickly as possible, particularly on issues where the two countries are most prepared, including trade in goods, before extending talks to cover the service and investment sectors.
Centenary birth anniversary of Bakeer Markar

The late Bakeer Markar was a politician and gentleman par excellence, a man worthy of emulation. In 1978, when I served as OIC Crimes of the Mannar Police, Mr. Markar as Speaker of Parliament visited the Mannar Peninsula and that is when I first set eyes on this distinguished gentleman. My older brother, Ibrahim Hamid, who later retired as a Senior Superintendent of Police, was attached to the Presidential Security Division and informed me that Mr. Markar wanted a bachelor and teetotaler for his Security Division. Since I had served in the North and East from 1973 to 1979, I felt it best to take a break and be close to my family in the process.



In 1979, I was transferred from Mannar to the Ministerial Security Division as Personal Security Officer to the Speaker. I reported for duty at Mumtaz Mahal, the official residence of the Speaker, and met his Private Secretary Mr. Azwer who introduced me to the Speaker in his office. Having first surveyed the inner and outer perimeters of the residence, I became well-acquainted with the place and able to carry out my duties. We had a team of five Police officers, a backup security jeep and motorcycle escort from the Traffic Police Headquarters. On our first visit to Parliament, as required, I did a thorough survey of the inner and outer perimeters of Parliament to gain first-hand knowledge for security coverage.



On the day after my arrival at the residence, I noticed a large crowd waiting to meet the Speaker, most of them from Beruwela. I briefed my men on their duties and proceeded to the office where the public were allowed to call on the Speaker. Some of those who were closely attached to the Speaker were unhappy about the security arrangements adopted by me as they were used to coming and going as they pleased and being scattered all over the residence. When we reached Parliament, I was summoned by the Speaker to his chambers. I was told that although he was satisfied with the security detail, it was necessary for me to ensure that the public were made comfortable when visiting for without them he would not have come to that position. It took some time for me to adjust but in time, I was gradually able to gain the confidence of those who visited the residence.

In accordance with tradition, Speakers were required to visit Parliament only when Parliament was sitting; in the first and third week of every month. However, Bakeer Markar visited Parliament regularly except for weekends and public holidays. Parliamentarians, who were under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Parliament, gradually began to adjust to seeing the new Speaker constantly in Parliament and he won the hearts of all except for a few.



The Speaker was quick to detect some discrepancies in Parliament and made a written request to the Auditor General to have the Parliament audited. This was long overdue and to the surprise of the Parliament staff, all matters started functioning smoothly after the auditing.

All parliamentarians delegated to go abroad on official visits came under the purview of the Secretary General of Parliament. However, once Mr. Markar took charge of this subject, a roster was drawn to ensure that equal opportunities were given to all MPs to travel overseas on official duty. One day while in Parliament, the then Galle MP Mr. Albert Silva requested to see the Speaker and I accompanied him to the Speakers chamber. Mr. Silva bowed at the Speakers feet and was promptly asked to stand up. He then thanked the Speaker profusely in Sinhalese for the opportunity given to him to go abroad, bowed again and left smiling broadly. On one occasion, a senior Cabinet Minister requested permission from the Speaker to join a delegation proceeding to Geneva so he could visit a close relative. However, he was informed that his request could not be complied with and he would have to await his turn on the roster. The minister then fell out with the Speaker and did not speak with him till his term was over.



The routine of the Speaker was to visit Parliament on week days and the Beruwela electorate on weekends. Large gatherings from all walks of life were constantly seen at his Arab Road residence in Beruwela and each individual need was attended to, to their complete satisfaction. He was an extraordinary humanitarian, visited close friends and relations, attended weddings and funerals and went wherever and whenever he was needed. As President of the Muslim League Youth Front Youth at Heart, he travelled to the four corners of the country, continuously meeting people and giving redress to their needs. All petitions and requests were perused in his chambers and the relevant ministers were summoned to deal with and give redress to the humanitarian problems of all concerned.



While the new Parliament was under construction at Kotte, the Speaker visited whenever time permitted to look into its progress. While it was half way through, it was observed that according to the Construction plan, there was no floor allocated for the Speaker. This was brought to the notice of the President and Prime Minister who obliged by allocating the first floor to the office of the Speaker. When the new Parliament was convened at Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte in 1982, many meetings were held pertaining to high security matters, chaired by the Speaker. On matters of security, the then ASP Mr. Milroy Cruz informed that in the old Parliament, police personnel were able to obtain meals at their convenience but this was not possible in the new Parliament due to security reasons and suggested that meals be provided by Parliament. The then Secretary General flatly refused to accede to this request, which made the Speaker question what duties were performed by the Police, which the Secretary General had to concede was providing security to Parliament. The Speaker then questioned whether that did not include providing security to all of us. The Speaker then made a ruling that the Parliament Police Division were to be given meals by Parliament. The entire Police Department thanked the Speaker profusely for this magnanimous humanitarian gesture.

Mr. Markar was the Founder President of the Iraq-Sri Lanka Friendship Association and held this position until his demise. He was closely connected with President Saddam Hussein and through that connection convinced the Iraqi Government to build the Saddam Hussein Village in Eravur for the cyclone victims in the Eastern Province. Mr. Markar was personally invited by the Iraqi Ambassador in Sri Lanka to participate at the annual Bath Party Anniversaries on behalf of President Saddam Hussein.



One evening in Parliament, the Speaker informed me that the President had summoned him for an urgent discussion in an hour and we had to proceed to the Presidents House. Half an hour after our arrival, the Speaker came out with a big smile and when I asked him on the way back what had happened, he informed me that the President had requested him to submit his resignation as Speaker to accommodate a Senior Cabinet Minister and that he had done so. I instantly replied that he should have contacted his supporters to get their views before making such a decision. He laughed at my naivete and said he strongly stood by Party decisions. After his resignation, he was sworn in as Minister without Portfolio and moved into one of the Stanmore Crescent residences. Though numerous calls and efforts were made to contact the Secretary to the President, we were eventually informed that he was not available. Finally, Mr. Markar told me that enough was enough and he was quite content to serve as Minister without Portfolio and serve the community at large.

After Mr. Premadasa became President, Mr. Markar was appointed Governor of the Southern Province and his staff started to shift his residence to Beruwela which turned out to be the Governors Residence too.



When the UNP returned to power in 1989, Mr. Imthiaz Bakeer Markar was sworn in as State Minister for Housing and used to visit Beruwela on weekends to meet members of the public. One morning, the Governor summoned me and in the presence of the State Minister requested me to take care of his security detail as I had done for him. I was aghast, my eyes filled with tears and I was speechless. I then said that when I get a capable officer to take charge of his security detail only, I would take the security of the minister. That was when I realised that the reason the Governor wanted me to do this was so I would be close to my family members in Colombo. This was yet another facet I discovered in you Sir, a man among men, a humanitarian act which I will never forget in my life, or the quintessence of the gentleman who performed it.



Sir, you epitomised a gentleman in every sense of the word, thank you for what we are today because of what we learned from you. You taught us not to limit our challenges, but to challenge our limits!

T.N.M. HAMID

(RTD.) SENIOR SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE
Theres a story about a teacher and some children that offers a fitting metaphor for our political landscape. This teacher had drawn a circle. He had asked his assistant to describe it. A circle, of course! was that assistants reply. He had then asked the children to describe it. Three replies had followed: that it was a lima bean, that it was a cowboy, and that it was a Mexican hat.

Whether a circle resembles either of these is beside the point. Children are creative. They see what we dont. They like to unveil, sometimes undress. On the other hand, when a set of adults confuse circles for Mexican hats, they arent being creative. Theyre being evasive. And dodgy. Its bad enough when these adults are supposed to be informed. Its worse when they happen to be political commentators.

Our government has seen better days. Better is of course a relative construct, but for the moment lets forget that. Whats important here is that the euphoria that greeted Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2015 has died down. This has everything to do with the incumbent and not so much with the Joint Opposition. That latter point is important, because no regime before the present one here has become so unpopular both for what it does and for what it does not do.

Consider the May Day fiasco. The president and the prime minister were handed an opportunity to upend Mahinda Rajapaksas legitimacy. They denied that opportunity to themselves and their cohorts when they raised speculation as to whether theyd ban the Joint Opposition from holding its rally at Galle Face, allowed it to go ahead with that rally, and shot themselves in the foot when the Rajapaksas held the biggest such May Day turnout and the JO subtly made it look as though the government had let it hold its meeting as a challenge which it (the government) obviously lost.

What did the Joint Opposition do? Nothing. What did the regime do? Everything. That is why, at the end of the day, forgetting those hilarious claims and counterclaims made by a larger-than-life oppositional movement, it is the government that is to blame for what it does to itself. Lets not forget, after all, that no less a figure than Mahinda Rajapaksa entertained doubts as to the size of the crowds for his rally and tried to fix the stage in the middle of Galle Face so as to soften the threat of a low turnout. The police prevented him from going ahead. The fact that he won speaks volumes about whos propping up whom in our political sphere.

Our government has seen better days. Better is of course a relative construct, but for the moment lets forget that. Whats important here is that the euphoria that greeted Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2015 has died down

Considering all these, one can glean some points. Pertinent points. First and foremost, our political dynamism has been toned down to a series of predictable events: the government lambasts the Joint Opposition, the JVP dismisses both it and the government, the latter challenges Mahinda to better it, gets politically creamed by his cabal, and then tries to dodge those hard-to-dodge realities by engaging in conjecture.

Crowds heading towards the Joint Opposition May Day rally at Galle Face Green

Secondly, this process (which is so simplistic that theres little space for any of those other, more pertinent issues ailing the country) is facilitated by an even more simplistic set of responses by those who vouch for the regime. Malinda Seneviratne, in his column last week, underlined the fiasco sections of the government led themselves to when they swore vengeance on the Rajapaksas and their cohorts. He could have found a confirmation of this with the reactions given by unabashed yahapalanists towards the Galle Face rally.

Considering all these, one can glean some points. Pertinent points. First and foremost, our political dynamism has been toned down to a series of predictable events

These responses, broadly speaking, fall into either of two categories. The first downplays the significance of the turnout. The second accepts that significance but downplays the political relevance of the JO. So when Shyamon Jayasinghe argues that the the totality of the crowds of the other three meetings would have exceeded Mahindas rally and rebukes Sarath de Alwis (who, by the way, is no Mahinda lover), he is not only making that first kind of response, he is also showing that hes willing to debate with even those ideologically opposed to the Rajapaksas with crass, numerically unsound assertions. When this same yahalapalanist is roundly routed by Alwis and then fires back Rajapaksa should be arrested, we can only side with Alwis as he infers how that he and his ilk prefer delusion to truth.



On the other hand, when Jehan Perera contends rather lucidly that the JO rally showed the willingness of the present government to allow space to everyone in the polity to discuss and debate but also showed its inability to obtain mileage from its democratic credentials, he is making the second kind of response while ignoring the fact that this willingness had less to do with democratic credentials than a miscalculated gamble that Mahinda Rajapaksa would fall flat on his face with a low turnout. I am of course not denying that political decisions must sometimes be assessed on the basis of outcome, not intention, but I wonder: does that willingness explain that erroneous remark by Rajitha Senaratne that Sarath Fonseka would be given a new position to contain (inter alia) strike action and protests?



Its hilarious, in a Beckettian sense almost, that none of these pundits seems to have inferred the political reality: that there was a crowd, that this crowd filled Galle Face Green, and that Galle Face Green is bigger than Getambe and Campbell Park combined. That even Rajapaksa was unsure about how many would attend speaks volumes about how even the JO is unaware of the intense hatred against the regime.



Theres little that can be said about the political worth of the SLFP and the UNP. The JVP is losing what legitimacy it had with a propped up leadership that shows one face to the parliament and another to the public. The TNA is less concerned about the country than an ethnic constituency thereof. The Old Left shows itself as a kingmaker to the Rajapaksa Cabal when it is not. Barring Dinesh Gunawardena and a few other committed loyalists, the Joint Opposition has for the most done nothing. When a political force that does absolutely nothing gains mileage over a regime that tries to do everything, you know whos calling up the numbers and the popularity and whos not.



I know what those wholl (grudgingly) accept this say: that this regime is headed by doers, not populists. Thats a cop-out of the worst sort, not because we need populists but because those in power are not doers by any stretch of the imagination. Political doers do. They dont talk shop. This government likes to talk shop. For the most. And as Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena (again, no Mahinda lover) succinctly puts it, the same civil society that was instrumental in getting the Rajapaksas out have been weakening since 2015. That, more than anything else, should point at whats in the circle. If those who vouch for this regime prefer to look away, perhaps what they need is another set of children, this time to make them see what the Emperor is (not) wearing.
For many of those who are bogged down with day-to-day responsibilities, serving humanity looks like quite a tall order

People yearn for something or someone to tell them how to live the life on ideal terms so that they would feel secure and content

Despite marked improvements in living standards, life expectancy and technology, the people of today seem to be more disillusioned and insecure than before. This includes the rich and the poor, the political elite and the powerless.

There is a definite palpable and all-pervading feeling of helplessness. People feel they miss life for the rat race. They yearn for something or someone to tell them how to live the life on ideal terms so that they would feel secure and content. This feeling is shared by billions across the globe, from the United States to China and Iceland to the South Sandwich Islands.



Neither the capitalist U.S. nor the state-controlled capitalist China or Russia nor any other political system has been able to offer what the man wants most  a meaning to life.



I suppose the plight of man in todays world is best summed up by the following quote attributed to The Dalai Lama. When asked by someone what amazes him the most about humanity, the spiritual leader replied, Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then, he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and that he dies having never really lived.

Time certainly flies. We grow old every second. Yet, are we really living our lives in a meaningful way? Is there a value for our life? Arent we just getting too busy with our daily chores that we hardly have time even to stop and think about the purpose of life? These are the questions one often asks.

The meaning of life is to serve humanity, said Leo Tolstoy. But, for many of those who are bogged down with day-to-day responsibilities, serving humanity looks like quite a tall order.

One feels that not everyone is driven to serve humanity, not unless one is as noble as Mother Theresa or Florence Nightingale. However, if this means helping each other in daily work or running an errand for an elderly neighbour, well that certainly is much less daunting.



After all, as Jean Jacques Rousseau said, What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness. Kindness surely is the crowning glory of humanity. The human race would not have survived this far if everyone were unashamedly selfish and did not look beyond ones walls. The civilization has survived because of those who looked for solutions for its ills  health issues, moral degradation, political turmoil, natural catastrophes and many others.



While technology has helped man out of his many troubles, it has also kept him busy and distracted as never before.



Life is really simple. But we insist on making it complicated, said Confucius 2,500 years ago. The 25 centuries that followed had seen man making life more and more complicated that it is fast becoming almost unbearable. The simplicity is long lost.



Living the moment, according to Buddha, takes most of the burden out of the mans shoulder. The Enlightened One insisted that one should neither mourn the past nor worry about the future. The modern science has proven beyond doubt that mindfulness (Sati in Pali) espoused by Buddha contributes to greater well-being of man, and mindfulness based treatment is being recommended for mental ailments as a therapeutic application.



Accept the present moment as if you had invited it. It is all we ever have so we might as well work with it rather than struggling against it. We might as well make it our friend and teacher rather than our enemy, says New York born Buddhist nun Ven. Pema Chodron. When living mindfully, we get space to gauge our intentions. The honesty of our intentions in everything we do is vital as the value of our life is totally dependent on our intentions.



Leading Washington based Buddhist nun Ven. Thubten Chodron (Cherry Greene) insists that a good ethical conduct with right motivations form the foundation for a meaningful life.

When we keep good ethical conduct and are able to examine our motivations and let go of the corrupt ones and have kind motivations, we feel happier within ourselves and when we feel happier within ourselves, then our craving for external things decreases considerably, Ven. Chodron observes in her writings.



Needless to say that a good ethical conduct also prevents us from falling into many pitfalls in life.

Ven. Chodron holds that people today are under the misconception that what they do to gain others appreciation decides the value of life.



Having a good reputation, money, success, being famous, having love, praise, appreciationthese things get us absolutely nowhere in terms of our Dharma aims. Were so habituated to, Well, if I do something outside and outside appreciates it, then my life is worthwhile. But the whole thing about karma isthe karmic value of an action isnt how other people see it and respond to it. The karmic value is our own intention and that comes only from us, Venerable Chodron points out. So being famous, having money and prestige that stuff doesnt increase our good karma at all is zero, adds the Venerable Bhikkhuni. The problem with people, the Venerable Bhikkhuni says, is that they are being too hooked on to the external world and having a lot of attachment and craving for objects that seem to spark pleasant feelings.



She explains that what people are attached to, actually are the pleasant feelings. Under the notion that the objects seem to bring pleasant feelings, they get attached to the object. That has its disadvantages in the sense that then our happiness is always dependent on external people and things, which we cannot control. Whereas in our Dharma practice, what were trying to do is develop ourselves internally so that were happy with whatever is happening at the moment and arent so moved around by external people and external things. That gives us a lot more emotional stability, she points out. The best giving is the absence of possessiveness. When we clutch onto things, we want everything to be fixed and permanent. When we arent possessive, were more in tune with the reality of things arising due to causes and conditions and disappearing, changing into something else, due to causes and conditions. The more we can accept that flux, the more at ease our mind is, the less fear we have, and the more peaceful we are, Ven. Chodron observes.
Beijing is getting ready for its big event on May 14, when 28 world leaders will descend on the Chinese capital for the first Belt and Road Forum.

The meet will push Chinas "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR) initiative, announcing new agreements and mechanisms to flesh out President Xi Jinpings vision of building a land economic belt to Central Asia and Europe, and a maritime silk road to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.

The attendees include Russian President Vladimir Putin, the prime ministers of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and seven ASEAN leaders. As of Tuesday, India isnt sending any official representative  the only country in South Asia to not do so, Beijing notes  reflecting its wariness about the plan.

One reason is the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. But beyond that, India is also cautious about what Chinas long-term strategic goals are with OBOR.

China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

For OBORs advocates  and there many in India too  Delhi is making a big mistake and risks missing out on a $1 trillion (Rs 64,69,549 crore) game changer for Asia, that will ostensibly bring infrastructure and prosperity to everyone but India.

Its detractors, though, say OBOR is doomed to fail and will probably result in bankrupting not just China but every country that signs on. Time will tell whos right, but whats clear is that OBOR is increasingly emerging as a strategic Rorschach test, with each camp seeing what they want to in the still ambiguous plan.

Keeping that in mind, here are five common OBOR myths that are doing the rounds as Beijing readies for its first summit  and as the OBOR debate grows ever louder  and the views of top Chinese economists on the future of the plan:

Myth 1: Its a new initiative

OBORs ambitious scope has caught the imagination, whether it was the first 12,000km China-London train that opened last week or the many ports China is building, from Hambantota to Gwadar. Question is, how on earth has China managed to build all this in the four years since Xi announced OBOR in October 2013?

As Zhang Yunling, a top economist of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing admits, most of the projects being talked about under OBOR are not new. The 12,000 km track connecting China and Europe existed long before OBOR, as did Chinas regional projects (including CPEC).

OBOR is, in many ways, simply repackaging (and credit to Beijing for selling it so well); the Silk Road is mostly a new label for pre-existing Chinese projects (and sounds much less frightening than a string of pearls). It is, however, providing a limited boost to such plans, for example, by increasing the frequency of trains on old routes.

Myth 2: Theres an OBOR plan

Experts talk about OBOR as if its a spelled out blueprint of strategic projects. Remarkably, three years on, there is still no concrete OBOR vision document or plan. The only official vision, released by Chinas National Development and Reform Commission, put forth vague ideas about connectivity and the likely range of projects.

Even more remarkably, three years on, there isnt even an official OBOR map released by China (the maps circulating are all imagined unofficial renderings of OBOR by the Chinese media). This lack of specifics, actually suits China as it doesnt have to commit (even if it means experts can let their imaginations run wild).

Myth 3: OBOR is an economic initiative

A common criticism of the plan outside China is that many of its projects are not viable. Wang Yiwei, a top Chinese scholar at the Renmin University in Beijing, laughs this off. He says China is more than aware of the risks and that a fundamental misreading of the plan abroad is an assumption that its supposed to be profitable.

Some are strategic projects like CPEC, they arent about making money and the fact is that its hard for infrastructure to make money, he says. We know this. Its a long term plan about bringing stability to Pakistan, starting with bridging its energy deficit. And that is already happening, he argues.

Myth 4: OBOR will bankrupt China

If OBORs detractors in India are banking on the plan to fail, they should probably reserve their judgement for now. For China, its actual exposure may be far less than advertised.

As much as Beijing tom-toms a $1 trillion (Rs 64,69,549 crore) investment, the actual money its spending is far less. Official data with Chinas ministry of commerce shows that China only invested $30 billion (Rs 1,94,040 crore) along OBOR in 2015 and 2016. (It invested more than $2 trillion (Rs 129,39,098 crore) at home on infrastructure in the same period.)

Even in Pakistan, most of the investment so far has not been on fanciful pipelines but on energy projects by Chinese companies (including private ones) that Chinas economists believe arent high risk. As deep as Chinas wallet is, its debt at home is probably a bigger concern.

Myth 5: India will suffer by not signing

Nepal on Monday became the latest country to sign on to OBOR through an MoU, but the agreements are symbolic. Ultimately, Chinese companies say they will invest in India depending on specific projects and their returns, regardless of whether or not India officially endorses OBOR.

As of now, there are no clear directives from Beijing on differential policies for signees, so India has little to lose and could still work with China on specific projects, with or without the OBOR label. As China likes to say, a win win outcome.
The idea of peace between India and Pakistan at the moment is almost unimaginable. Especially with the latest news and discussions on the brutal killing of Lt Ummer Fayaz, a 22-year-old soldier, in Jammu and Kashmir, flashing across TV screens and all over social media. Amid calls for tough action, the question is not if but what kind of retribution the Indian Army is going to seek.

Peace seems to be the last thing on peoples minds, except for a group of politicians, activists, artists, journalists and writers who have signed a resolution pledging their contribution towards improving relations between India and Pakistan and requesting the two governments to do the same.

We condemn all forms of violence regardless of its objectives, the resolution states, saying: Deeply concerned at the current rise in animosity and antagonism between India and Pakistan, we urge both governments and their security establishments to take all steps possible towards improving relations.

Initiated on May 5, the resolution has more than 500 endorsements so far, from political leaders (including Mani Shankar Aiyar and Omar Abdullah), retired soldiers, writers (including Mohsin Hamid), musicians, journalists, teachers, physicians, students from both sides as well as elsewhere in the region.

It all began when Beena Sarwar, journalist and editor of the Aman ki Asha website, made a comment on an India-Pakistan chat group and on social media about how the timing of the Indian soldiers beheadings and the Indian response were predictable.

Coming as they did right after the Jindal-Sharif meeting. Every time something happens to improve relations, such an incident takes place. Indias reaction falls right in line with what hardliners on either side want. In fact, I think that the predictable state reaction - on both sides - benefits the hate-mongers, says Sarwar.

The US-based journalist of Pakistani origin suggested that the chat group draft a resolution that would reflect their ideas of peace and have like-minded people across both nations to endorse it.

Congressman-diplomat Mani Shankar Aiyar has endorsed the peace resolution. Photo: India Today

I asked one of the group members, Anish Mishra, a young researcher in Singapore who focuses on South Asia and has written for Aman ki Asha, to draft it. He agreed readily and shared a draft the very next day. We worked on the draft and then started sharing it with our contacts on May 5. Within 24 hours, we had some 250 endorsements, reveals Sarwar.

The resolution is not an online petition or a public signature campaign, but one the group would rather share by word of mouth. This enables us to keep it credible as one or other of the group members - and also some who are not in the group but have been getting endorsements - personally knows each signatory, she adds.

Additionally, each signatory is well known or emerging in their own fields. Filmmakers including Mahesh Bhat and Nandita Das were among the first few signatories, joined by actors Swara Bhaskar, Dolly Thakore and Yuki Elias.

A few people felt they could not endorse the resolution publicly but are supporting it behind the scenes - activists, academics and political leaders. I was telling one such person that weve done these statements before but who knows what it actually accomplishes. Please keep doing what you are doing. Its like throwing a pebble in a pond. It will create ripples and strengthen people, was the response, says Sarwar.

Actress Swara Bhaskar is one of the signatories. Photo: India Today

The resolution urges the governments of India and Pakistan to do the following:

1) Develop an institutionalised framework to ensure that continuous and uninterrupted talks between India and Pakistan take place regularly, no matter what. Make dialogue uninterrupted and uninterruptable.

2) Ensure that political leaders, diplomats and civil servants from both countries conduct talks on the sidelines 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 parties concerned.

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 others 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.
Make no mistake, the cowardly murder of Lt Ummer Fayaz, aged 22, while he was unarmed and attending a wedding on Tuesday in Shopian, is truly a "watershed" moment, as officially described by the Army.

It has finally pushed the Kashmir Valley over the precipice it has been teetering over, ever since militant Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter last summer.

The grisly saga in the Valley goes on, as recently three soldiers were killed and one mutilated by Pakistan after it crossed the Line of Control in the wake of the cancellation of the Anantnag election.

Most things about Kashmir are smoke and mirrors and this situation is back to the worst days of the nineties. This time around, the new dimension is the despair of school children as young girls take to stone-pelting.

Says a senior Army official undertaking his second tenure in J&K with utter disbelief: "Have you seen what it is to see young kids turn feral? That's what this is. These kids none older than 16 despair of their lives, seem to crave shahadat (martyrdom). Please tell me how do you expect the Indian Army to fight school children? Does any honourable Army do that?"

His question is fundamental, and yet Fayaz's murder will ensure that reprisals are inevitable as the Army, and rightfully so, extracts retribution. However, even before the unprecedented abduction and murder of Fayaz, decisions had been taken by the Centre to clamp down hard on Kashmir and to "clear and level the ground" in south Kashmir - now seen by the Centre as the "nursery of Pakistan-sponsored militancy".

To ensure that the country had an appetite for the planned crackdown, jointly planned by national security advisor Ajit Doval and BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, stories emerged of south Kashmir turning into an "India-free liberated zone" via obliging "nationalist mouthpieces".

The fact is that south Kashmir has always been turbulent and after the PDP/BJP alliance came to power, things became worse. It has not helped that CM Mehbooba Mufti has ensured that her party cadre get sensitive jobs in the local administration in the area.

As is always the case with the Valley, it's a case of a doomed history repeating itself. Mufti, who has been utterly hobbled by the much ballyhooed "Doval doctrine" of no talks till militancy is finished, is still desperately trying to stay relevant by nursing her version of "soft touch to extremists" in south Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi brusquely brushed aside her suggestion that talks be started when he met her recently in Delhi.

To a watching world, India's moral legitimacy as a vibrant democracy is a question mark now in J&K. Photo: Reuters

Mufti and her government's legitimacy are increasingly under question in Kashmir and by a watching world after elections to Anantnag had to be cancelled. To a watching world, India's moral legitimacy as a vibrant democracy is a question mark now in J&K.

That can be tackled with some sense. We have two stories to tell the world. One is the story of Burhan Wani and his ilk and the other is Fayaz's story - a young man, the son of an apple farmer, who after clearing his Class 12 exam only had one dream - to sit for the National Defence Academy entrance exam and become an officer.

Other examples, like IAS official Shah Faesal, who despairs of the binaries of the street and TV studios, also make the case that sensitivity can save the situation in the Valley.

Unfortunately, in this time of studio warriors and keyboard generals, soldiers are a weapon to be deployed to score political points.

Tension between India and Pakistan increased after the September 18 "surgical strike" last year, which was hugely publicised by the government. The "surgical strikes" inside PoK came ten days after the Uri terror attack, in which 17 soldiers were killed and 19 injured in a strike on an Army camp.

So what exactly, apart from pellet guns and shutting off the internet, is the Centre's policy in the Valley?

In one sentence - confused ad-hoc reaction with no thoughts of consequences.

Since we can't attack Pakistan directly, we clamp down on the Valley and blame Pakistan for all militancy. This is only the partial story.

When someone as knowledgeable and battle-hardened as former border security chief EN Rammohan, who lost his only Army officer son in Kashmir, says on record in an interview to The Telegraph that "the anti-Muslim Hindutva approach of the BJP in Kashmir is damaging", he must be paid heed to.

Rammohan lays the blame for poor handling of Kashmir on Ajit Doval's door. "The NSA should be scrupulously neutral. When the party does something which is violating the Constitution, the NSA should stand up and point out that it's wrong," he says.

Instead, in the most ham-fisted fashion, India, after insisting for years and resisting all intervention saying Kashmir is a bilateral matter with Pakistan, has now taken Kulbhushan Jadhav's case to the International Court of Justice in Hague.

This has drawn sharp criticism from the Congress, which expressed concern that India was incredibly internationalising the Kashmir issue.

The Hague hearing will begin on May 15 and the Modi government has not yet seen it fit to tell the country exactly what changed India's stand on Kashmir by 180 degrees.

The real tragedy of the Valley is this boomerang policy of "maximum publicity, minimal thought" mixed with mindless muscle-flexing. Caught in the middle are the Army and the people of the Valley.
Kashmir has been in the limelight since the holding of by-polls, when incidents of stone-throwing and attacks on police and CRPF increased. It made front page headlines when a local was tied in front of an army vehicle, as part of a rescue mission. It has been the focus of discussion in every form of media.

Controversial politicians in the form of Farooq Abdullah continue to vent venom against the government and security agencies, but as usual all he gains is more hatred, with almost no sympathy, even in Kashmir where the locals mark him and his family as the architects of failure.

He regularly bellows the only line he knows - talk with the Hurriyat and Pakistan, sounding more like a Pakistani parrot, while in his heart he knows that this is the opposite of what should actually be done.

The recent abduction and brutal assassination of young Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz shocked the nation. The officer was on leave; hence information of his presence would only have been conveyed by his local friends. He was attending a marriage and was in the presence of the bride when he was abducted.

No one even reported his abduction, nor recovered the body when it was dumped, post being riddled with bullets, leaving his father and relatives to carry it to the hospital. It signalled the end of Kashmiriyat and Insaniyat in the Valley.

The Hurriyat mentions talks, but is unwilling to budge from its stand. It has also commenced passing contrary statements, basically because it has no locus-standi left. Their latest call to locals to shun Army schools, while educating their own children in safe cities, is a joke; however, there is no one in the Valley to project this paradox to the masses.

The present situation is beyond the Hurriyat's control. To safeguard its own importance and seeking to continue to enjoy state privileges, it recently resorted to announcing that the agitation is not linked to ISIS or al-Qaeda, as if anyone believes them anymore. Even if did attempt to call a halt to terror activities and stone-throwing, nobody would listen.

It is only a conduit for flow of funds. Money from Pakistan is channelled through various sources into the hands of the Hurriyat, from where it flows to districts, to support the only prevailing industry of the state - stone-throwing and violence. Hence, the Hurriyat per se is as worthless as demonetised notes.

The current agitation is now spearheaded by Pakistan-sponsored local youth leaders, with funds to incite and buy violence, co-supported by anti-India Imams spitting venom against non-Muslims from the minar of the mosque, giving the movement a religious flavour.

Videos are galore of small children chanting slogans of "go India, go back", most too young to be even aware of what it means, having learnt the words in local madrasas. College and school children before participating in stone-pelting, dance a standard ritual, singing and shouting "azadi, azadi", with most confused about what they mean by it.

Is it azadi as a separate state, azadi to join Pakistan, azadi to become a caliphate or azadi with greater autonomy, no one seems to be aware. It cannot be a separate state, as the Jammu and Kashmir flag has never been flown, only Pakistani and ISIS flags have. The Hurriyat is equally confused and states that things would be decided by the people, failing to mention whether the "people" referred to are from Jammu and Kashmir or just from the five affected districts of the state.

The generation participating in the violence has been born during militancy, having seen soldiers, guns, house searches, road blocks and violence since birth. Hence they fear the Army less. Further, having been born post the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits, they have never seen any other religion in the region and thus consider Kashmir as an Islamic state, subjugated by India.

This is reinforced by the easy availability of religious channels from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, spouting hate against other religions and sects, further igniting the fire. They seem to be getting carried away by the ISIS ideology of paradise after death.

Supporters of the agitation from the Valley, in television debates, talk of fear within the region of being engulfed by a Hindu India, led by the present government. In discussions, they compare stone-throwers to gau rakshaks, stating that if gau rakshaks are justified in protecting their religion, so are Kashmiris in seeking azadi, again unclear about what it implies.

The nature of militancy has also changed in the region. In the initial phases of militancy, locals were equal targets along with security forces. They were harassed and forced to provide succour and support to militants, hence information flowed. The present is witness to a different phase.

Open support by locals to trapped militants, especially during encounters, enabling their escape, instigation of the public by locally recruited militants (which has seen an increase) and merger of militant groups under the United Jihad Council (UJC) has changed the relationship between locals and militants.

While Kashmir is being brought to normalcy, enhancing the anti-infiltration grid is important. Photo: Reuters

This change in relationship has resulted in only security forces, including the police, being targets. Recent videos showing suspected informers being tortured by militants would impact further flow of information.

While the agitation is confined to limited districts, with only a limited population (mainly youth), attacks on security forces and open support to militants infiltrating from across the border have made it national headlines.

There is also a fear of migration of population from the Valley to presently peaceful areas of the state, mainly south of Pir Panjal and Jammu. This could in the long term be disastrous as it could alter the existing demography, increase the divide and enhance security problems, if not checked.

The agitation is also being impacted by growing tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. The recent border incident in Poonch and increased attempts at infiltration, supported by enhanced firing, have only engulfed the Kashmir problem.

While forces employed for both tasks are different, there is a realisation that till Kashmir continues to simmer, the border would remain hyper-active, as Pakistan would continue to ferment trouble and increase pressure. If the tempo in Kashmir is reduced, the border would simultaneously be controlled.

In this melee, there have been a variety of suggestions, with almost everyone and anyone projecting his perception of the options available to the government in resolving the crises. While the majority seeks hard and strong action with application of maximum force, a few speak of continuing with a soft approach.

Most Indians opine that Article 370, which is the cause of the problem, should be abrogated and the state bifurcated into three parts, with Jammu and Kashmir being states and Ladakh a Union Territory directly under the Centre.

Further, Kashmir could then be placed under Governors Rule and handled with a firm hand. Those still advocating a softer line suggest talks with stakeholders. Some include the defunct Hurriyat as a stakeholder, which others refer to political parties and student leaders.

No government can ever consider or even accept secession or an uprising, irrespective of criticism. It would have to resort to every means to prevent it, its internal debate being to apply force when the situation demands, not when options still exist.

The major dilemma facing the government is whether its boundaries of tolerance have been breached or alternatives can still be considered.

Any hard approach, implying application of force, as a means of last resort is exactly what Pakistan desires, since it seeks to project a high-handed Indian government at the Centre. It has no love for the locals, but incites them only to seek international support.

For India, it is simple. A decision once taken should be implemented irrespective of international or internal comments or criticism. Pro-Pakistan supporters and opposition politicians with no scruples would blame the government and further incite and alienate the population, even in areas which are still relatively calm.

Thus, when considering a hard approach, the government must have in place soft measures to placate the population, alongside application of force.

Any avenue being considered by the government should include a few steps. Firstly, it should move the leadership of the Hurriyat away from the region, thus cutting off the Valleys means of illegal funds, irrespective of local backlash.

Secondly, it should isolate the affected districts from the rest of the state, which has remained calm and unaffected by the agitation. This could imply involving larger forces spread across districts to dominate the region, pushing militants away from populated areas. Simultaneously, arrest those who instigate, while forcing students away from the streets, employing force, if necessary.

While Kashmir is being brought to normalcy, enhancing the anti-infiltration grid is important. By controlling infiltration, the Army would be able to reduce further induction into the region, though anti-infiltration measures can never be a zero-sum game.

In the ultimate analysis, the government must act, bringing this phase of agitation to a close.

At the end of the day, irrespective of the model applied, the final scenario would be a secure border, with Pakistan at bay, a disgruntled population in some districts of the state, confused about their status, unhappy and unwilling to accept their present, but in no position to change their future.

They would continue to lament quietly, seek support of arm-chair activists and anti-government press, however they would know that they will remain a part of India. The cost of curbing the agitation would be high in casualties, international reputation and standing, the end result - enforced peace. This is when a serious healing touch is essential.
As the Supreme Court today, on May 11, 2017, began hearing the arguments in what is easily one of the biggest cases in the history of personal and especially Muslim personal law debate, the senior counsel appearing for the Muslim women petitioners, Indira Jaising, dubbed the controversial practice of triple talaq as an extrajudicial, unilateral act thats civil death for a Muslim woman.

TripleTalaq is an extrajudicial, unilateral act. Can status of a woman be unilaterally changed? It means civil death for her: Indira Jaising  Krishnadas Rajagopal (@kdrajagopal) May 11, 2017

Personal laws are not religious laws. They draw sustenance from religion: JaisingPersonal laws can b based on religion or need not be: CJI May 11, 2017

Constitution shud not stop wer family law starts. All personal laws, Hindu, Muslim, Parsi shud stand scrutiny of fundamental rights: Jaising  Krishnadas Rajagopal (@kdrajagopal) May 11, 2017

Jaising further argued that personal laws are not religious laws, but that they draw sustenance from religion. She asserted that the Indian Constitution should not stop where family and personal laws, including those from Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, Christian backgrounds, start. Every law in the India should stand scrutiny of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

How SC would hear the triple talaq case

The Triple Talaq case, technically known as Shayara Bano vs. Union of India, is being heard in the highest court of the country, before a five-judge constitution bench that is unparalleled in its diversity.

It has five judges from five different religions: namely, Chief Justice of India, Jagdish Singh Khehar, whos a Sikh; Jusice Kurian Joseph, a Catholic Christian; Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, a Parsi; Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, a Hindu; and Justice S Abdul Nazeer, a Muslim.

CJ Khehar, Js Kurian, Nariman, Lalit, Nazeer on d #TripleTalaq Bench reflects d diversity of India. A Sikh, Catholic, Parsi, Hindu & Muslim  Krishnadas Rajagopal (@kdrajagopal) May 10, 2017

However, the lack of a single woman judge in the bench has also raised eyebrows.

The basic tenet of the case against triple talaq that is being heard before the five-judge constitutional bench is whether triple talaq and related practices such as nikah halala violate Muslim womens rights to equality and dignit, and are not protected by the right to profess, practice and propagate religion under Constitutions Article 25(1).

The Supreme Courts is basically examining whether triple talaq is fundamental to Islam, with CJI Khehar clarifying: "The matter can be summed up in three points: whether triple talaq is fundamental to Islam; if it is fundamental we have to see if we can interfere. Two, whether it is sacramental or not, and three, whether there is an enforceable fundamental right that is violated."

#TripleTalaq: Broad issues SC will consider- 1. Whether Triple talaq is fundamental to religion2. Are there enforceable fundamental rights  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

In other words, whether the constitutionally-guaranteed Right to Religion would be infringed in case triple talaq is struck down, and in case personal laws can be scrutinised to stand the test of fundamental rights.

Appearing as an amicus curiae, senior lawyer and Congress leader Salman Khurshid told the apex court, "The right and the responsibilities of a man and a woman in marriage under Islam are divided. Quran prescribes a three-month process for divorce giving opportunity for arbitration and reconciliation. We cannot understand the Islamic law by contrasting it to modern day sensibilities.

#TripkeTalaq: "Representatives of both parties will try for reconciliation, if it fails the same is informed to a Quazi", Salman Khurshid.  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

The Muslim women petitioners

The Muslim women petitioners include chiefly Shayara Bano, who is also contesting the affiliated practices of nikah halala (that requires a Muslim woman to marry another man and consummate the marriage before she can remarry the man who had divorced her via triple talaq), and polygamy. (However, the constitution bench expressly said that the current hearing would be on the efficacy of triple talaq and would not consider taking up polygamy at present.)

#TripleTalaq: Hearing commences, Supreme Crt will hear on Constitutionality of Triple Talaq alone and will not consider validity of polygamy  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

In addition to Shayara Bano, Aafreen Rahman is a second petitioner, who is legally contesting the triple talaq conveyed to her by her husband via speed-post. Further, the non-profit Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan has become an additional party in the Shayara Bano case.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) maintains that striking down triple talaq would infringe right to religion and that the courts should steer clear of what they see as interfering with religious laws. Kapil Sibal is representing AIMPLB in the Supreme Court defending the triple talaq as an something that should be left untouched by the courts and should be approached legislatively.

Photo: Reuters

It must be mentioned here that PM Narendra Modi as well as the whole of BJP-led Centre have thrown their full weight behind the case against triple talaq, and are using it as a bogey to claim that the government is firmly behind Muslim women in their fight against triple talaq.

The case against triple talaq

As pointed out by legal experts, the triple talaq is essentially a case to determine whether the practice is fundamental to Islam, and/or whether, its a personal law not intrinsic to Islam, therefore already invalid under 1937 Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act. Secondly, whether as a personal law, it can be scrutinised for alleged violation of fundamental rights of Muslim women

The two-pronged approach taken by the counsels for the petitioners is represented by a narrow view, and a broader, more radical view. Senior advocate Anand Grover took the narrow, straight-forward view in the court by saying that its not fundamental to Islam, and therefore does not breach right to religion, or right t equality (Article 14), Prohibition of Discrimination (Article 15) and right to life and liberty (Article 21) of the Constitution.

#TripleTalaq: "Triple talaq is un-islamic, if it so decided there is no need to go into violation of Articles 14 and 21", Anand Grover.  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

As noted by legal commentators, this view contests AIMPLBs claim that state has no right to interfere in the personal religious domain, by saying that the religious domain doesnt allow for triple talaq.

As this article notes, only those features of a religion are constitutionally protected which are integral or essential parts of it.... In fact, the Supreme Court itself, in a number of cases, has either doubted the validity of instantaneous triple talaq, or gone so far to say its not a part of Muslim personal law.

On the other hand, Indira Jaising is taking the more radical, broader path, underlining how even as a personal law thats not law in force (Article 13), must stand constitutional scrutiny and cannot violate fundamental rights of a human being. She argued that even if triple talaq were integral to Islam, the court must not allow a practice in the garb of a personal/religious law to violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.

#TripleTalaq: "Basic question is whether personal laws, Hindu, Muslim or Parsi will have to stand scrutiny of Constitution", Jaising.  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

#TripleTalaq: "All personal laws will have to comply with the discipline of Part III of the Constitution", Indira Jaising.  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

#TripleTalaq: "This issue came up for Supreme Court's consideration many times, but the Court did not decide it", Indira Jaising.  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

Jaising, in effect, asked the SC to overrule the 1951 Bombay High Court judgement (State of Bombay versus Narassu Appa Mali), which held that personal laws are not subject to the rights enumerated under part III (rights) of the Constitution. The 1951 Bombay HC judgement held that only a law thats defined as a law in force under Article 13 can be subjected to the rights under Part III, thereby in effect, exempting the nebulous regions of personal laws that have not yet been properly codified.

#TripleTalaq ;@IJaising seeks re-consideration f Bombay HC Jt in State v. Narasu Appa Mali which held personal law does not come under Art13  Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 11, 2017

More importantly, by virtue of State recognition, it assumes badges and incidents of law, and must therefore be subject to the Constitution. https://t.co/fl2Nl26YqR  Gautam Bhatia (@gautambhatia88) May 11, 2017

Yet, this is a highly problematic stance as the years of colonial rule had in fact codified a number of religious practices and the Indian Penal Code of 1860 too was an amalgamation of indigenous religious/folk practices and British legal acumen. Therefore, to relegate all personal laws to the domain of non-Article 13 is rather short-sighted and violative of fundamental rights of those in the receiving end of such sociocultural/communal/religious practices.

Bench rebuts

However, the constitutional bench has rebutted (not unanimously) Jaisings argument by saying that the Muslim Personal Law has been codified as statute, and therefore the Article 13 is completely applicable to it.

#TriokeTakaq: Bench rebuts Jaising arguments on Article 13 by saying that Muslim Personal Law has been codified as statute.  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 11, 2017

In effect, this leaves enough scope for triple talaq to be debated as under Article 13 of the Constitution (laws in force) and can be challenged under Part III.
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Banc of California, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Banc of California, National Association that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, retirement, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand accounts, as well as certificate of deposits. It also provides various commercial and consumer loan products, such as commercial and industrial loans; commercial real estate and multifamily loans; construction loans; single family residential mortgage loans; warehouse and indirect/direct leveraged lending; home equity lines of credit; small business administration loans; and other consumer loans. In addition, the company offers automated bill payment, cash and treasury management, foreign exchange, card payment, remote and mobile deposit capture, automated clearing house origination, wire transfer, direct deposit, and internet banking services; and master demand accounts, interest rate swaps, and safe deposit boxes. Further, it invests in collateralized loan obligations, agency securities, municipal bonds, agency residential mortgage-backed securities, and corporate debt securities. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 29 full-service branches in Southern California. The company was formerly known as First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Banc of California, Inc. in July 2013. Banc of California, Inc. was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California.
The deadline to sign up for this free community event that is open to all is Nov. 16.

Kennebunk Post

"We need to invest in our kids," said resident Brenda Robinson. "That's how we keep graffiti out of Waterhouse Center and mischief out of the downtown on Saturday night."
Mumbai: A team of top investigators from Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation returned to India from United Kingdom on Wednesday after examining Vijay Mallya's ongoing extradition proceedings in a UK court.

The team that had interactions with lawyers for India who are pushing for liquor baron's extradition to India has revealed that counsels firmly believe there was enough ground for proving that Mallya was 'dishonest' and that's why defaulted on loans, a report on NDTV said.

Mallya who faces extradition trial in a London court has been accused in India of defaulting on Rs 9,000 payment he owes to a group of 17 banks led by State Bank of India. London's Metropolitan court will take up the case for hearing later this month.

The joint team comprising sleuths from the CBI and the ED visited London to brief the state prosecutor the Crown's counsel who will be arguing India's case.

"The team handed over a folder with 1,500 pages of documents. They include notes related to clarifications sought by the Crown's counsel and supporting documents like bank details," the NDTV report said.
Mumbai: Amazon, second largest e-commerce player in India, kickstarted today its four days' Great Indian Sale that will last through May 11-14. The sale by Amazon will be followed another customer-luring sale days by Flipkart as part of its ten-year celebrations.

Amazon India is offering up to 80 per cent discounts on home appliances, accessories, kitchen appliances, home appliances and electronics items. Besides, mobile phones and their accessories have also been put on sale with huge concessions in their prices.

"Products on offer at incremental discounts during the four-day sale include major brands like Adidas, UCB, Levi's, Samsung, LG, Fastrack and Bombay Dyeing, among others, a report in The Economic Times said.

The report added the e-commerce player has put a 43-inch television display up for sale for less than Rs 25,000, a price substantially lower than its actual market value.

The company is offering a 36 per cent discount on Voltas AC at Rs 27,990 that is much cheaper than the market price. Shoppers can also step on up to 65 per cent cut on footwear by United Colors of Benetton and Red Tape.

"Other hot offers include American Tourister bags for less than Rs 800 and over Rs 8,000 off on LG 32 inch televisions -- some brands are also offering 43 inch variants for less than Rs 25,000," the report added.

Amazon Prime, a faster delivery paid service, members are getting an early access to best deals under a 30-minute window and are also getting free home deliver on select items.

Smartphone lovers covered under Amazon Prime would also get huge discounts on top mobile phone brands like Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung. Prime members would also get a 10 per cent cut in price on Amazon gift cards until the stock lasts.
Mumbai: Axis Bank MD and CEO Shikha Sharma today welcomed changes in NPA resolution as moves that will "force" decisions by cutting layers, and also said the bank is looking for one more life insurance distribution tie-up.

"There are layers of process (in resolution). What the ordinance is doing is that it is cutting that layer off then having to go back to the board. It is forcing a decision mechanism because it is saying that if 60 per cent agree, rest have to fall in line," she told reporters here.

She said the government's last week ordinance has been a "great boost" and the bankers were seeking similar measures for a long time. Sharma, while speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by industry lobby CII here, said the trouble with Joint Lenders Forum at present is that decisions do not get taken for want of having adequate ratio of bankers on board, or the boards do not approve decisions taken by the bankers.

The government's ordinance, followed by notifications by the RBI creates a "forcing mechanism" to take decisions, she said.

The CEO of country's third largest private sector lender, saddled with high proportion of dud assets, said all bad assets will not turn good, and banks will have to take haircuts because of this mechanism.

She, however, underlined that getting the mechanism is important. When asked specifically about how this will help her bank's Rs 9,436 crore watch-list of potentially stressed assets, she said.

"Difficult to predict if our watch-list will get upgraded. It depends on how soon we are able to come with solutions and what is the solution."

Meanwhile, Sharma also said that Axis Bank is looking to tie-up with one more life insurance player for distributing policies. She also added that it is not interested in entering the segment itself because of big opportunities in core banking business.

"In the case of life insurance, we currently partner with Max Life and LIC. Now, the regulation allows for open architecture with up to three insurers, we will at some point look at adding a third partner as well," she said.

She declined to give a timeline for a tie-up and added that the tie-up will not be influenced by geographical considerations. Sharma said even though the digital transactions have gone down with the inflow of cash into the system, there has been a 50-60 per cent jump because of demonetisation, which would have otherwise taken 12-18 months for system.

"Cash is not going to go away from the system anytime soon and the move is only aimed at making us a 'less cash' economy, rather than a 'cashless' one," she said.

On concerns surrounding a jump in retail lending, Sharma said the growth is good till the banks are prudent.

She was all praise for Bengaluru, where her bank has set up an innovation centre, saying it is only the second place after the US' Silicon Valley, which she admires, and it even dwarfs the financial capital now.
Mumbai: State Bank of India, country's largest public sector lender, has said it will start levying Rs 25 for every withdrawal done at its automated teller machine or ATM kiosks, according to a report in The Financial Express.

The new charges will be applicable to SBI card holders as well and they will also be required to pay the levy. The bank has also clarified that it will also charge the amount for exchange of "sullied" notes worth and above Rs 5,000.

A public outcry broke out in Kerala after bank customers came to know that SBI has revised its ATM withdrawal charges. Many customers who were lined up at SBI cash kiosks expressed their anger.

This is outrageous and the central government is cheating the people. Ever since the demonetisation began, the Centre has been bullying people. This is going to be taken up in and out of parliament very strongly, FE quoted CPI-M Lok Sabha member M B Rajesh as saying.

Popular film personality Shobi Thilakan was another big personality who slammed the recent government move which according to him was anti-people policy" of the central government.

Kerala has 880 State Bank of Travancore branches of which more than 400 were closed due to bank holiday. The state also has over 800 State Bank of India branches.

The recent move comes weeks after SBI made maintenance of monthly minimum balance compulsory in savings accounts under metro, urban, semi-urban and rural categories. All categories require Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 minimum balance to be maintained to avoid suspension of the accounts after a said period.
Brussels: Ride-hailing app Uber may be a pioneer in its field but at heart it is an ordinary taxi company and should be regulated as such, a top EU lawyer said Thursday.

Uber claims it is a service provider, connecting riders with freelance drivers directly and much more cheaply than traditional cab companies.

It has run into huge opposition from critics and competitors who say this allows it to dodge costly regulations such as licensing requirements for drivers and vehicles.

In an opinion on a case brought by a taxi drivers' association in the Spanish city of Barcelona, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the European Court of Justice said California-based Uber should be treated as a traditional taxi company.

"The Uber electronic platform, whilst innovative, falls within the field of transport," Szpunar said in an ECJ statement.

"Uber can thus be required to obtain the necessary licences and authorisations under national law," he said.

The company reacted sharply, saying the opinion would change little in practice and only harm innovation.

"To be considered a transport company will not change the regulations we are subject to in most European countries," a spokesman for Uber France said.

"It will however hurt the necessary reform of outdated laws which prevent millions of Europeans being able to find a reliable ride with just one click," the spokesman said.

Officials at the company's main office in San Francisco were not immediately available for comment.

The opinions given by the ECJ's advocate generals -- its top lawyers -- are potentially significant since the EU's top court very often follows the advice in its final rulings, expected later this year for the Uber case.
Mumbai: Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was the official backstage afterparty host for international pop star Justin Bieber but the lovely actress left the venue heartbroken.

A little birdie tells us that Jacqueline left the venue, DY Patil Stadium in Vashi, discreetly with her new bodyguard. She was so upset that despite repeated requests, she wouldnt walk the red carpet.

Apparently, Bieber was supposed to stay back for a lavish afterparty with the organisers and the rest of the crew, with Jacqueline as its host, but the pop star decided to exit the stadium right after his performance. And that left the actress really upset, who had flown down all the from London, where she was shooting Judwaa 2, just for the gig.

In fact, Justin has not even visited Jaipur, Delhi and Agra like he was supposed to.
Mumbai: When the mind mirrors your reality differently- psychological thriller Mirror Game: Ab Khel Shuru explores fresh territory in Hindi cinema. First time writer-director Vijit Sharma has gone beyond mainstream films to tell an unusual story about the perceptions and reality of our lives. That it is narrated as a whodunit makes the film more intriguing.

Shot entirely in the US, Mirror Game: Ab Khel Shuru is about a psychology professor in New Jersey battling complications both in his personal and professional lives. When paths cross with an ambitious young student who asks help with his research, the professor finds himself getting sucked into a whirlpool of mind games that he seems to have little control over. Throw in deceit, an affair, a crime and a police investigation and you have an edge of the seat thriller, a whodunit that keeps you hooked till the end.

The film features a cast of actors that is both experienced and unusual. Parvin Dabas plays the lead role of a professor of psychology, Omi Vaidya plays a pivotal part and the beautiful Pooja Batra portrays the role of an investigative police psychologist.

While Hollywood has had a legacy of building and narrating suspense and drama in the space of psychological films like Rear Window, Psycho, Memento, The Shining and Fight Club, the genre is more or less unexplored in Hindi cinema. Filmmaker Vijit Sharma explains, I have worked on a textured, layered cinematic journey for the audience with Mirror Game: Ab Khel Shuru.

The idea is to send them on different exploratory paths through the life of the protagonist, the professor of psychology. And just as they seem to arrive at a conclusion, the end takes another unexpected turn! That a talented cast of actors with great pedigree agreed to work on this film has been a blessing. Pooja Batra, Parvin Dabas and Omi Vaidya elevate this story with their performances.

While Parvin won us over with strong performances in successful films like Monsoon Wedding and Khosla Ka Ghosla, no one can still quite get over Pooja Batra, the gorgeous leggy lass from Viraasat and Haseena Maan Jayegi and Omi Vaidya has a near cult fan following thanks to 3 Idiots. That they have come together to enact finely etched out characters makes the film stand out.

According to Parvin Dabas, Mirror Game: Ab Khel Shuru takes up a less explored genre in Hindi cinema and does complete justice to it. I loved Vijits writing and story and enjoyed playing the lead with many different shades.''

When I read the script I found it very engaging & wanted to play Dr. Roy, a very intense & interesting character. adds Pooja Batra.

Watch the trailer here:
Bhopal: An eight-year-old girl who had injured another seven-year-old girl by inserting her fingers into the latters vagina, said she had learnt it from her bhaiya that it was good for health.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the older girl during interrogation had said, Bhaiya ne bola ye sehat ke liye achcha hai (brother said this is good for health).

She had further added, He used to sleep with me every day. Whenever I complained of pain, he used to tell me it is good for health, the girl revealed.

With the older girls statements making it evident that she had been molested, the police interrogated further to discover that the abuse had gone for around two months.

Police also found out that the man she referred to as Bhaiya was a peon at an orphanage for under-6 years where the girl had been put up earlier. She was shifted to the current orphanage as soon as officials discovered she was eight years old.

The 30-year old peon was arrested soon after. On the other hand, the injured younger girl was taken to the district hospital for treatment.

The older girl had lost her parents a few years back and used to beg on trains before she was rescued by NGO Child Line. She is currently being counselled.
CHENNAI: A woman working as the Child Protection Officer in Dharmapuri district lodged a complaint with Chennai police on Thursday alleging that the Social Welfare Minister Dr. V. Saroja asked her to either quit her contractual job or pay Rs 10 lakh as bribe to keep the job. The woman, who is a single mother, said in her complaint that she is facing not only facing a threat to her life from the minister but also a threat to her job.

The complainant, identified as Rajam Meenakshi, alleged that Dr Saroja called her to her residence on May 7 and kept her under captive custody for two hours despite her having undergone a surgery recently. I got into the job during J.Jayalalithaas tenure and the Minister told me that the rate of the job I hold is Rs 30 lakhs and that I might have to pay Rs 10 lakh to keep the job or quit immediately, she alleged in the petition.

Rajameenakshi further said that the minister told her to pay Rs 20 lakh if she wanted a transfer to Chennai and also pointed out that after the demise of former CM Jayalalithaa, there is no one to protect her. The minister said that her target was to amass wealth to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore in the coming years, Rajameenakshi further said.

I was given appointment to discuss about an invitation that I had extended to her to participate in an event, but the discussions centred only round my job. Only then I realised that the pressure that I got from seniors were due to interference from the Minister, the woman said. She also alleged that the Minister and her husband verbally abused her and cast remarks about her personal life.
Allahabad: The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday denied permission to the Allahabad High Court for the trial of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the 2007 Gorakhpur riots matter.

The Allahabad High Court has exempted Adityanath from personal appearance and has also allowed ratifying of the writ petition.

Uttar Pradesh Advocate General Raghvendra Singh told the Allahabad High Court that the principal secretary had denied permission to try the chief minister.

The next hearing on the matter will take place on July 7.

Earlier, the high court had summoned the principal secretary and had directed him to bring all documents related to the case.

The court had asked the principal secretary to appear in person on May 11 and produce all documents including the sanction given by the state government to prosecute the accused. He was also asked to file an affidavit.

The order was passed on a petition filed by Parvez Parwaz in 2008 at Cantonment police station, in which the then local MP and Adityanath was named as an accused for inciting communal violence.
Thiruvananthapuram: In the first-ever Bridges Survey conducted by the PWD it has been found that 365 bridges in the state were in such grave condition that they required emergency maintenance. This is cause for great concern, PWD minister G. Sudhakaran said in the Assembly on Wednesday, while replying to the discussion on Demands for Grants in the Budget. Of the 2209 bridges in the state, only 606 bridges are in fine condition. The amazing this is ten of them are more than 100 years old, the minister said.

The most number of faulty bridges were in Alappuzha (44) and Kozhikode (42). Some of the reasons identified for the poor state of bridges are: old age, proliferation of heavy vehicles, defects.....in construction, design faults, poor maintenance, sand mining from rivers and lakes, floods, and earthquake. The minister said that considering the importance of the issue, a chief engineer will be appointed exclusively for bridges. Till the post is created, a chief engineer has been asked to hold charge to look after issues related to bridges, the minister said.

Mr Sudhakaran said that corruption would not be tolerated in PWD. Action has been taken against 105 officials after the LDF came to power, the minister said. He said that the PWD would also conduct a social audit of its assets across the state. Committees will be formed at the state, district and Assembly levels for the purpose, he said. While taking part in the discussion, CPM MLA A Pradeepkumar alleged that former PWD minister V K Ibrahim Kunju practiced the worst form of discrimination. While his constituency got works worth over Rs 200 crore, many CPM constituencies received money in single figures, he said. G Sudhakaran said there would be no such discrimination under his watch. He also reminded Ibrahim Kunju that almost all the orders issued by then PWD secretary T O Sooraj were illegal.
New Delhi: Maintaining the same stand on the much debated triple talaq, the Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it opposes the system and wants to fight for women equality and gender justice.

Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi would argue the matter next on May 15.

However, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) counsel Kapil Sibal told the apex court that triple talaq falls under the Muslim board and therefore, should not intervene.

"The Central Government makes rules but in my opinion, the apex court should not interfere with it," Sibal said.

Earlier in the day, the apex court observed that it would examine whether the issue is fundamental to religion or not.

A five-judge bench of the apex court further observed that it would not hear polygamy issue along with the triple talaq case.

The apex court is hearing several pleas filed by Muslim women rejecting the practice of triple talaq.

Relentless debates on the validity and plausibility of this practice were instigated soon after one petitioner, Shayara Banu, challenged the Muslim personal law over instantaneous application of triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat), polygamy and nikah-halala.

Supporting the stance of ending the practice of triple talaq, the Allahabad High Court had earlier asserted that the rights of any person, including Muslim women, cannot be violated in the name of 'personal law'.

In December last year, the Allahabad High Court termed the Islamic practice of divorcing a woman by uttering the word "talaq" thrice "unconstitutional".

The court further observed that triple talaq sanctioned under Muslim Personal Law that governs marriage, property and divorce violates the rights of Muslim women.

"Triple talaq is unconstitutional. It violates the rights of Muslim women," ruled the high court, adding that no personal law board was above the Constitution.
Justice Karnan had refused to undergo a medical test and on May 8, Monday, he had passed an order of jail term against 8 SC judges.

Chennai: As a group of advocates protested outside the State Guest House alleging that Justice Karnan was being victimised, the Chennai Police closed the main gate of the guest house to prevent any trouble.

This is the first time that a sitting high court judge has been awarded a jail sentence by the apex court on charges of contempt. A seven-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, had also disallowed the media -- print and electronic -- from publishing or airing the contents of further orders passed by Justice Karnan in the ake of the top court order calling for his immediate arrest. The sentence shall be executed and he be taken into custody forthwith, the bench had said on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court had on May 1 ordered his medical examination on the ground that he was medically unfit to defend himself in the contempt proceedings initiated on February 8 for his letters to the PM and constitutional authorities seeking probes against certain judges.

Justice Karnan had refused to undergo a medical test and on May 8, Monday, he had passed an order of jail term against 8 SC judges. Following this, the SC had ordered his arrest on Tuesday.
Vijayawada: Guntur district tops the list of fire related cases in the state. The fire department has issued 421 prosecution proceedings across the state this year till March 31 over irregularities in fire safety norms. Out of the total proceedings issued in the state as many as 113 are only in Guntur district which would be more than 25% of the total cases in the state.

Interestingly, there were no cases pending in the districts of Srikakulam and West Godavari according to the data given by the fire department. However, director general of fire services and disaster management K. Satyanarayana clarified that data pertaining to Srikakulam and West Godavari was incomplete and needed to be updated.

He observed that many commercial and industrial establishments in Guntur district did not comply with the fire safety norms.

There were many cold storage units in Guntur district without safety measures and we have issued prosecution proceedings against them, he said. Prakasam, Visakhapatnam and Vizainagaram districts followed respectively in number of cases.

The fire department has conducted inspections, found irregularities at 1,222 hazardous locations across the state, and issued notices this year. Guntur district also tops the list with 220 cases followed by Srikakulam with 200 cases, Kurnool with 132 cases, YSR Kadapa with 123 cases and Krishna district with 122 cases. Anantapur and Prakasam have less number of cases with 12 and 13 cases respectively.

In fire accident cases also Guntur district tops the list with almost 50 per cent of the cases registered in the district. Out of the total 50 prosecution proceedings issued in the state, 24 of them were in Guntur district.

Fire department to get high-end vehicles soon

Fire department would get five advanced first rescue-respond vehicles. These vehicles would be placed at Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur Tirupati and Kurnool districts. Director general of fire services K. Satyanarayana has said that in the second phase, all districts will have at least one advanced first response vehicles. He said these vehicles wou-ld be equipped with all tools to respond in any kind of emergency.

Mr Satyanarayana held a meeting with fire officers of all districts on Wednesday to explain them about the new tools that are going to be introduced in the fire department. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Satyanarayana said they are strengthening the district fire units. He said new improvised tools are being provided to the district units and the fire officers were given a demo on them.
New Delhi: India values its strategic partnership with France, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday, stressing that the friendship between the two nations would continue to strengthen in the years to come.

In a congratulatory message to France's new President- elect, Emmanuel Macron, President Mukherjee said he was confident that the "long-standing friendship, mutual trust and understanding" between India and France would always thrive.

India looked forward to further consolidating the "multifaceted strategic partnership" with the new government, he said.

"In giving you a decisive mandate, the people of France have demonstrated their confidence in your leadership and vision," he said.
Activists of Joint Movement Committee protest on the issue of 'triple talaq' at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it would examine whether the practice of triple talaq among Muslims is fundamental to their religion, but it may not deliberate upon the issue of polygamy, as it began hearing petitions challenging the practice.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said it would look into the aspect whether triple talaq is part of an "enforceable" fundamental right to practice religion by Muslims.

The bench also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, however, said the issue of polygamy among Muslims may not be deliberated upon by it as this aspect is unrelated to triple talaq.

The bench, made up of judges from different religious communities -- Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslim -- is hearing seven petitions, including five separate writ petitions filed by Muslim women challenging the practice of triple talaq prevalent in the community. The petitions claim that triple talaq is unconstitutional.

The apex court made it clear that each side will get two days each for canvassing their arguments on the two questions formulated by the bench and one day will be given for the rebuttal.

It also made it clear that it would stop any counsel who repeats the arguments.

"Each side can argue whatever they want but there should not be any repetition. They will only focus on the validity of triple talaq," the bench said.

The pleas have also challenged the constitutional validity of other practices like 'nikah halala' and polygamy among Muslims.

The bench is also taking up the main matter on its own as a petition titled "Muslim Women's quest for equality".

The apex court had on its own taken cognizance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands.

The hearing assumes significance as the apex court has decided to hear the case during the summer vacation and is likely to sit on Saturdays and Sundays to expeditiously decide the contentious and sensitive issues arising in the matter.

It holds importance as the Allahabad High Court in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.

The High Court verdict had come while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq.

The apex court had on March 30 said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are "very important" and involve "sentiments".

Influential Muslim organisations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have opposed court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and were not justiciable.

The Muslim women, who have filed the petitions, have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message.

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, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then coming back to him again.

The apex court, while referring to the matter to a larger bench, had observed that "sentiments" were involved in the matter and a five-judge constitution bench would adjudicate the issue, which required a detailed hearing.

The apex court had earlier said it would decide issues pertaining to the legal aspects of the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims, but would not deal with the question whether divorce under Muslim law needs to be supervised by courts as it fell under the legislative domain.

The Centre had on October 7 last 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.

AIMPLB had on March 27 told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary.

The Board had also said the validity of the Mohammedan Law, founded essentially in the Holy Quran and sources based on it, cannot be tested on the particular provisions of the Constitution.

It had said there was a need for "judicial restraint" before going into constitutional interpretation of these unless such an exercise becomes unavoidable.

The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, had referred to constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.
Army personnel pay tribute to the slain army officer Lt. Ummer Fayyaz during his funeral at his native village Sudsona in Kulgam district on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: A young Kashmiri Army officer was kidnapped and subsequently killed by suspected militants in southern Kashmirs Shopian district. The gory incident has evoked a nationwide outrage and a pledge from the government that terrorism will be eradicated from the Valley at any cost.

Umar Fayyaz Parray, working as a lieutenant in the Army, was on leave to be part of the marriage celebrations. His first leave after joining the Army in December last turned out to be his last and the wedding gathering he had joined turned into his funeral procession.

The bullet-riddled corpse of Umar was found in Harmain area on Wednesday morning, a night after he was abducted by masked gunmen from the wedding of his cousin in Batpora village of neighbouring Kulgam district, in an apparent bid to intimidate people and discourage the young from joining security forces. Some TV reports claimed that the young soldier was tortured before killed.

The autopsy report showed marks on his body, indicating that he had resisted the militants who abducted him.

The killing comes amid a spike in violence and street protests in Kashmir, where militants have repeatedly attacked security forces and banks in recent weeks.

The killing was a watershed moment in the Valley and local residents will turn the tide against terrorism, a senior Army official said.

Umar was posted with the Armys 2 Rajputana Rifles in Akhnoor area close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region. He had come to his native village Yaripora, also in Kulgam, a few days ago to attend the wedding. At 8 pm on Tuesday, two masked gunmen appeared at his cousins home and took him along at gunpoint. They warned the family not to inform the police. The Army on Wednesday pledged to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror to justice.

Slain soldier was a sportsperson

Major General B.S. Raju, part of a force responsible for counter-terrorism operations in south Kashmir, has directed all its units in and around the area to launch a manhunt for the killers.

The mortal remains of the slain officer were laid to rest with full military honours in the ancestral graveyard on Wednesday.

The J&K police has taken up investigations and said that the autopsy report showed marks on his body, which indicated that he had resisted the gunmen. The police also said that preliminary investigations and also the autopsy report suggest that he was fired at from a close range and the bullets had hit his head and stomach or chest.

Defence minister Arun Jaitley termed the abduction and killing a dastardly act of cowardice.

In a series of tweets, he said that Parray was a role model Kashmir youths. He on behalf of the government pledged to eliminate terrorism from the Valley and said Parrays sacrifice will continue to inspire the youth.
Chennai: Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan, who is facing arrest after the Supreme Court sentenced him to six months imprisonment for contempt of court, is believed to be 'hiding' in Nepal or Bangladesh.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Justice Karnans legal team is planning to approach President Pranab Mukherjee to seek relief.

We are preparing for the next level of legal battle and he needs to be in hiding until that time, W Peter Ramesh Kumar, an advocate at Madras high court, told HT.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh police have launched a manhunt to trace him. Justice Karnan was at the State Guest House in Chennai when the seven-Judge Bench slapped the jail term on him.

He left Wednesday morning saying he was going to Srikalahasti, a pilgrim town in Andhra Pradesh 120 kilometres from Chennai. Shortly afterwards a high-level team from West Bengal Police flew into the city to arrest and take him as the court had directed that he should be jailed in the Calcutta high court jurisdiction area.

The West Bengal police team, led by Surajit Kar Purkayastha, DGP, Home Guards, held discussions with the TN counterparts to chalk out strategy and left for Srikalahasti in the evening, only to return empty-handed along with the Andhra Pradesh Police who were also looking for the judge in vain in the famous temple town. Another team from the Andhra Pradesh Police went to Tada and Sulurpetta in Nellore district.

The second AP Police team also returned disappointed with no clue about the renegade judges whereabouts. Police sources said the team went to Tada after his mobile signal was last picked up near the Andhra Pradesh town close to the Tamil Nadu border. Since then, both his mobile phones are switched off, sources said.

On its part, the Tamil Nadu police also sent teams to his sons residence in Choolaimedu in the city as well as his native place in Cuddalore district.

At the time of going to press, multiple teams of the three state police were searching for Justice Karnan to enforce the Supreme Court order. Upon their arrival, the West Bengal police personnel held discussions with their Tamil Nadu counterparts on executing the arrest order, sources said.
New Delhi: Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan on Thursday moved the Supreme Court, seeking a recall of its order, sentencing him to six months imprisonment for contempt.

The seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, said it will consider his appeal.

Advocate Mathew Nethumpara, who was appearing for Justice Karnan in the Supreme Court, was asked for the documents to prove that he is the lawyer of Karnan. Nethumpara told the court that he has the 'wakalatnama' and authorisation letter.

Nethumpara also told the media that Karnan is in Chennai. Earlier, reports suggested that Justice Karnan had left India and was 'hiding' either in Nepal or Bangladesh.

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh police have launched a manhunt to trace him. Justice Karnan was at the State Guest House in Chennai when the seven-Judge Bench slapped the jail term on him.

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

He left on Wednesday morning saying he was going to Srikalahasti, a pilgrim town in Andhra Pradesh 120 kilometres from Chennai. Shortly afterwards a high-level team from West Bengal Police flew into the city to arrest and take him as the court had directed that he should be jailed in the Calcutta high court jurisdiction area.

The West Bengal police team, led by Surajit Kar Purkayastha, DGP, Home Guards, held discussions with the TN counterparts to chalk out strategy and left for Srikalahasti in the evening, only to return empty-handed along with the Andhra Pradesh Police who were also looking for the judge in vain in the famous temple town. Another team from the Andhra Pradesh Police went to Tada and Sulurpetta in Nellore district.

The second AP Police team also returned disappointed with no clue about the renegade judges whereabouts. Police sources said the team went to Tada after his mobile signal was last picked up near the Andhra Pradesh town close to the Tamil Nadu border. Since then, both his mobile phones are switched off, sources said.

On its part, the Tamil Nadu police also sent teams to his sons residence in Choolaimedu in the city as well as his native place in Cuddalore district.

At the time of going to press, multiple teams of the three state police were searching for Justice Karnan to enforce the Supreme Court order. Upon their arrival, the West Bengal police personnel held discussions with their Tamil Nadu counterparts on executing the arrest order, sources said.
Thiruvananthapuram: The liquor sales in the state dropped by 30 percent last month subsequent to the closure of a number of liquor outlets from April 1 in view of the Supreme Court ban on outlets within 500 metres from highways.

While 3.11 crore litres of liquor was sold in the state during April 2016, it was only 2.16 crore litres last month. It means a decline of 94 lakh litres (30.34 percent), according to Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) - India.

The Beverages Corporation sources said that the corporation's revenue last month was also 10 percent less than that during the same month in the previous year.

ADIC-India director Johnson Edayaranmula said in the statement that beer sale last month suffered the maximum drop of 81.4 lakh litres (53.5 percent) compared to April 2016, followed by IMFL 12.6 lakh litres (7.99 percent). Wine sales also came down by 44,000 litres, a drop of 43.5 percent.

"Instead of highlighting the monetary loss, the government should acknowledge this positive reality and consider it as a big boost for the public health and well-being of society," said Mr. Edayaranmula.
Lucknow: A day after he was expelled from the BSP, Naseemuddin Siddiqui on Thursday alleged that Mayawati had demanded Rs 50 crore from him and made objectionable remarks against Muslims.

At a crowded press conference in Lucknow, an angry Siddiqui claimed that he had enough material to cause an "earthquake". He also claimed that there was a threat to his life.

Rebutting the charges levelled against him by the BSP on Wednesday, Siddiqui played six audio clippings of his "telephonic conversations" with Mayawati to support his allegation that he was asked to pay Rs 50 crore by selling his property.

Siddiqui said he was in possession of 150 such audio clippings. "She (Mayawati) was sore after the dismal showing of the BSP in the recent Assembly elections and termed Muslims as betrayers for not voting for the party," he alleged.

Accusing the BSP supremo of having referred to "bearded Muslims as dogs", Siddiqui claimed he had objected to the remark.

He also attacked BSP general secretary Satish Mishra saying he was trying to weaken the party.

"The BSP is being knowingly weakened by Mayawati and Anand Kumar (her brother) under a conspiracy by Satish Mishra and company...People are also of the view that since Mayawati has attained the height to which she wanted to reach, she herself wants to end the BSP so that no other person from among the Dalit 'samaj' could reach this far," he said.

Siddiqui, who was expelled from the party yesterday for "anti-party activities", said he had "solid evidence" against Mayawati but would only speak about the charges levelled against him as of now.

"I have so much material that if I open my mouth it can cause an earthquake....I know her more than anyone else...If I give the proof against Mayawati, Anand and Mishra it will be a big 'tamasha'," he said.

The BSP is totally under the grip of Mishra and company and Mayawati is being blackmailed by them, he claimed.

Continuing his tirade, Siddiqui alleged that Mayawati had a criminal gang which could set any leader's house on fire or even get someone murdered.

During the April 19 party meeting she also tried to "belittle" Kanshi Ram by comparing the party's showing in Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Siddiqui claimed.

Kanshi Ram hailed from Punjab.

He appealed to Dalits and 'sarvsamaj' to save the party and the mission of Kanshi Ram and Baba Saheb Ambedkar which had been "crushed" by Mayawati.

Siddiqui alleged that all BSP MLAs had to pay Mayawati and claimed that even his wife, who was a BSP MLC, had given money to her.

To a question about BJP leader Swati Singh against whom Siddiqui had made derogatory slogans after her husband Daya Shankar Singh's adverse comments against Mayawati, he said that his video clippings could be checked as he never said anything wrong against her.

Yesterday, the BSP had expelled Siddiqui, its most prominent Muslim face, and his son from the party for carrying out "anti-party" activities.
Colombo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Colombo on Thursday on a two-day visit, which is mainly aimed at reinforcing the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka at a time when China is seeking to make inroads in the island nation.

Modi, on his second visit to Sri Lanka in two years, is here primarily to participate tomorrow in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists.

He will inaugurate a hospital built with India's assistance of Rs 150 crore.

He will also address the Indian-origin Tamils against the backdrop of India's insistence that Sri Lanka should undertake devolution of power to the ethnic community as part of the reconciliation process.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several senior ministers, including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, were at the Colombo International Airport to receive the Indian Prime Minister.

"As Sri Lanka proudly celebrates #InternationalVesakDay, I warmly welcome Indian Premier @narendramodi who will grace the occasion," tweeted President Maithripala Srisena.

Modi was accorded a guard of honour by the Sri Lankan Air Force at the airport.

The visit and the agenda are mainly to re-emphasise the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka, particularly in the context of Buddhism, which is a shared heritage.

This assumes significance since China is aggressively trying to make inroads in Sri Lanka.

China has already developed the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka and its submarines have been making port calls here, much to the discomfort of India.

Prior to his departure from New Delhi, Modi said, "My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka  the shared heritage of Buddhism."

In a Facebook post, he said, "This will be my second bilateral visit there (to Sri Lanka) in two years, a sign of our strong relationship."

During the visit, he said, "I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians."

He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with Sirisena and Wickremesinghe.

The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.

"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.

He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.

"I will also visit the upcountry region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.

Wickremesinghe was in New Delhi only a week back when he held substantive talks with Modi.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday embarked on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka during which he will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, and address the Indian- origin Tamil community.

"This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," he said in a Facebook post prior to his departure.

"During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," Modi wrote.

He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism," he said.

The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.

"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.

He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.

"I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu farmers, who drew attention to their plight by agitating in New Delhis Jantar Mantar for more than a month through novel methods, have threatened a bigger protest if their demands are not met by the Union Government.

The leader of the farmers, Ayyakannu, said representatives of various farmers groups from Tamil Nadu will travel to New Delhi on May 21 to hold talks with our counterparts from across the country to decide on the future course of action.

The farmers have been demanding Rs 40,000-crore drought relief package, farm loan waiver and setting up of the Cauvery Management Board by the Union Government.

We will decide our future course of action on May 21 in New Delhi. We will discuss with farmers from across the country on what should be next - whether to gherao parliament or picket outside Prime Ministers office and residence. We will plan bigger protests if our demands are not met, Ayyakannu said.

He was speaking to reporters after meeting with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami along with a delegation demanding desilting of water bodies across the state.

Ayyakannu led the farmers protest in New Delhi for 41 days that sent shockwaves across the country. The farmers had called off their protest after the chief minister Palanisami met them in New Delhi on April 23 and agreed to look into their demands, besides taking them up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While withdrawing their protest, the farmers had made it clear that they would not hesitate to come back to New Delhi to agitate again if their demands are not met.

Ayyakannu also questioned whether India was a democratic country as farmers who question the government are being branded as terrorists.

I have a doubt whether India is a democratic country because we are being branded as anti-nationals and terrorists. We are fighting for our rights and if the government does not heed to our demands, we have to agitate. Agitation cannot be termed anti-national, he said.

Ayyakannu was taking a dig at BJP leader H Raja who alleged that he had links with 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged in February 2013. If we continue to protest, Raja might even us call as Pakistani terrorists, he said.
New Delhi: Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is visiting Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to take stock of the situation in the valley.

During the trip, Mehrishi will meet Governor N N Vohra, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and discuss with them the prevailing situation in the state.

The home secretary will also hold a meeting with top civil, police and army officers to review the security situation in the state.

Mehrishi's visit comes a day after a young Kashmiri Army officer was killed by militants in Shopian district.

Jammu and Kashmir had witnessed violence during the April 9 bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents.

The Election Commission had also cancelled the May 25 bypoll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, saying situation there was not feasible for holding election.

There have been protests by students in the valley last month against alleged police excesses. Students, including girls, were seen pelting stones on security personnel in these incidents.
Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah will embark on a three-day visit to Telangana and will spend almost three days in Nalgonda district, where he will visit one village every day in a door to door campaign to win votes for the BJP.

Confirming his visit, BJP Legislature Party leader G Kishen Reddy said on Thursday that Mr Shah will arrive in Hyderabad on May 22 morning and will drive straight from the airport to a village near Nalgonda district headquarters. He will then tour the village till afternoon, meet the villagers, and have lunch with them, in what is now a well defined strategy of his to bring all states under the BJP banner.

He will return to Nalgonda in the evening, have meetings with the BJP state executive, office bearers, constituency in-charges and others. On May 23, he will visit another village and return to Nalgonda to continue strategy meetings with party leaders.

On the third day, the visit to a village will be followed by a meeting with booth level workers in the Karvan area in Hyderabad. He will leave for Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh on May 25.

Mr Shah has been directing party leaders to reach into villages in Telangana and campaign door-to-door. He is expected to scrutinise the reports from party in-charges on what has been done to date. Telangana is one of the states where Mr Shah has called upon party workers to exp-and the party base so that the party returns to power in 2019.

Unlike AP, where the BJP had an alliance with the TD, in Telangana there is no party that the BJP can tie up with, and it can only grow on its own. This is the message Mr Shah will convey during his visit, said party sources.
Khammam: Taking exception to the manner in which protesting chilli farmers were handcuffed by police, opposition parties in the state have demanded an apology from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for his alleged anti-farmer policy.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has strongly condemned the polices action against farmers, who were demand remunerative prices for their chilli produce.

The TRS government has committed a grave mistake by handcuffing farmers, who are accused in a case pertaining to protest at the Khammam Market Yard. Poor farmers had staged a protest demanding a remunerative price for their crop. Instead of accepting their demand, the government has registered criminal cases against them and put them behind bars, Mr Reddy said.

Questioning the logic behind handcuffing them, Mr Reddy said: It is highly shocking that the farmers were brought to the court handcuffed. Are they terrorists or extremists? What is the message that the TRS government is trying to convey by handcuffing the poor farmers? Is it trying to say that anyone who holds protest against the TRS government will be considered a hardcore criminal?

In an open letter to the Chief Minister, Telugu Desam working president A Revanth Reddy said that the real nature of the governments policy towards the farmers has come to the fore with this act.

It is nothing but devilish act and the government is getting satisfied by handcuffing the farmers, he said, adding that it is the first time in the country that the government filed sedition cases against farmers. No farmer is happy with the TRS rule. Instead of providing remunerative prices for their produce, the government is sending them to jail, the TS TD chief said.

The party activists of CPI burnt the effigy of the Chief Minister at Yellandu Cross Roads for handcuffing the farmers.

CPI state deputy secretary K. Sambasiva Rao said The act of police is a humiliation to the Telang-ana, which emerged with several struggles.

The farmers led by Sattupalli MLA Sandra Venkata Veeraiah staged a dharna in Sattupalli, Vem-soor, Tallada and Kallur in protest against the handcuffing of the farmers.

Farmers get conditional bail

The farmers, who were in Khammam sub-jail for 12 days for allegedly ransacking the chilli market, have been released on a conditional bail on Thursday.

The SC and ST Court Judge Jnaneswar heard the arguments of the government and the defense lawyers team in the case and issued the conditional bail.

The court has ordered them to pay Rs 10,000 deposit and sign in the register in three-town police station every Sunday.

The court granted the bail after the completion of hearing on three charge-sheets filed against them. A team of defense counsels led by Jammula Sarat Kumar Reddy and Kolli Satyanarayana argued the case on behalf of the farmers. Interestingly, about 62 lawyers submitted bail applications on behalf of the farmers.

About ten farmers, including N Anand Rao, Nelluri Venkateswarlu, Sattu Kondaiah, Islavat Babu, Bhukya Ashok, Bhukya Narasimha Rao, Bhukya Srinu, Banothu Saidulu, Tejavath Bhava Singh and Boanothu Upe-nder have been arrested in the case on the basis of a complaint lodged by Kha-mmam Market Committee deputy secretary Palak-urty Prasada Rao. They were charged under 147, 148, 353, 427, 448, 120 (B), red with 149 under IPC of 3 and 4 of PDPP Act, 1984.

The family members of the farmers expressed happiness after their release. We were worried about the arrest for the last 12 days. My husband who went to market to sell our chilli produce, was sent to jail, said B. Jyothi, the wife of a farmer.
New Delhi: In a major shift in its counter-insurgency tactics in the Kashmir Valley and a sign of a no-holds barred toughening of the rules of engagement, the Army will now fan out into the hinterland in the Valley and operate in a seeking and engagement mode, defence sources told this newspaper.

Five sensitive areas in the Valley where incidents of militancy have been rampant recently  Kulgam, Traal, Pulwama, Budgam and Shopian  will be the focus of such operations. Except Budgam, which is near Srinagar, all other areas are in south Kashmir, the latest vortex of recent militant activity.

Abandoned in 2002, the cordon and search operations will be kickstarted again and will be a permanent feature of all future Army counter-insurgency operations. This involves cordoning off an area, and asking civilians and locals to step outside their homes while a hunt is carried out for militants and weapons.

The aim is to go after the terrorists now, get behind them and hit them hard in their camps, in their homes and in their hideouts and shelters, the sources said.

With many reported cases of militants moving around freely, displaying sophisticated weapons, the counter-insurgency grid is also being rearranged. We will rearrange deployment patterns in the hinterland so as to control the movement of terrorists as they have been taking advantage of certain gaps in the CI grid, a source pointed out.

This change in tactics was needed as militants are now believed to be hiding amongst the civil population and of using them as human shields, while many civilians have been found to be harbouring militants.

Quite a few Army operations against militants recently have suffered due to stone-pelting by civilians, enabling the militants to flee in the ensuing melee. The latest incident, where the bullet-riddled body of 22-year-old Indian Army lieutenant Umar Fayyaz Parray was found on Wednesday morning has only hastened the need for a tactical change in operations.

Meanwhile, defence sources on Thursday said that six militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen were involved in the abduction and killing of a young Army officer in Shopian district of Kashmir and a massive manhunt has been launched to catch them. Security forces are carrying out searches in various areas to nab the six militants, the source said.

Social media ban

Terming the ban on social media networks in Jammu and Kashmir as collective punishment, two United Nations human rights experts on Thursday demanded that it be immediately lifted. In a press release on the official website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, David Kaye and Michel Forst asserted that the scope of these restrictions has a significantly disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court made it clear on Thursday it will decide only the legality of the triple talaq form of divorce and whether it violates the fundamental rights of Muslim women, but will not go into the issue of polygamy.

A five-member bench comprising Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Nariman, Uday Lalit and Abdul Nazeer at the outset told the counsel, If we come to the conclusion that triple talaq is part of the fundamental right to religion, we would not interfere. We will also determine whe-ther triple talaq is sacramental and whe-ther it can be enforced as a fundamental right. We will not go into the issue of polygamy.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, in his preliminary remarks said triple talaq falls under the AIMPLB and therefore the court should not intervene.

He said, The Central government makes rules but, in my opinion, the apex court should not interfere with it. The day-long hearing saw additional solicitors-general Tushar Mehta and Pinky Anand telling the bench that the Centre was not taking sides and only assisting the court on the issues of gender justice, equality for women and dignity of women.

Triple talaq is non-issue: Khurshid

The Union of India is not on any side. We are on (the side of) gender justice, equality for women and dignity of women. triple talaq is against the dignity of women. Issue of gender justice is there, Mr Mehta said.

He added that attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi would put forward his arguments on May 15.

He added that the arguments by Mr Rohatgi would not only include triple talaq in all forms, but also the issue of polygamy.

To this, the bench said, We have not asked (you) to consider this (polygamy). Do what you want. All we are saying is you are answering a case which is not before us.

Former Union law minister Salman Khurshid, who has intervened in this case briefly, submitted that triple talaq is a non-issue as it is not considered complete without conciliation efforts between husband and wife.

He noted that there is no adjudication to determine the validity of the grounds of talaq, but talaq cannot take effect without prior reconciliation. Talaq should be spread over three months and will be effective only after compensation is paid to the wife and children. When the CJI asked Mr Khurshid if reconciliation after the pronouncement of talaq three times is codified, he said no.

When Justice Nariman wanted to know if what is being attacked is triple talaq at one stroke which is irrevocable, the counsel said yes.

Appearing for the main petitioner, Shayara Banu, senior counsel A.S. Chadda submitted that instantaneous talaq said three times was not part of the Holy Quran and was against God and not part of Muslim law. He said even if it is assumed triple talaq is a part of religion, it must go as it violated Article 14 of the Constitution (right to equality). He said the law had to change with the times, and international covenants and treaties could be referred to in order to examine the validity and reasonableness of a provision.

CJI asked the counsel what had prevented Parliament from enacting a law to ban triple talaq. Justice Joseph wondered if the courts can interfere in such matters when the legislature had chosen to keep its hands off.

Justice Lalit asked the counsel what remedy Muslim men could have for divorce if triple talaq was struck down as unconstitutional.
Hyderabad: The face-off between officials of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the use of Resident Commissioner quarters in the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi reached the Centre on Tuesday.

Enraged over AP staff breaking a locked door, Telangana authorities lodged a complaint with the Union home ministry.

In its complaint, the Telangana state government alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government was not co-operating in using rooms and offices as per 42:58 ratio as mentioned in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

The objection of Telangana officials was the Resident Commissioner quarter was being used as a dormitory, for outsiders by the staff belonging to AP and that it would comprise the security of Chief Minister as it is close to his suite.

Arvind Kumar, the Resident Commissioner of Telangana, had written to the Andhra Pradesh government on this issue earlier, but no breakthrough has been achieved. Meanwhile, Telangana officials filed a police case against AP staff with local police.
A former Cumberland County attorney who pleaded guilty to stealing money from his clients will receive a new sentence.

On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ordered that Karl Rominger, 43, be resentenced.

Rominger, who is incarcerated at State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill, was sentenced to up to 18 years in state prison in August after pleading guilty to one count of theft by deception and 18 misdemeanor counts of misapplication of entrusted property. Prosecutors said he stole more than $750,000 from clients and spent the money on casino gambling and other interests.

The Superior Court determined an error was made in calculating Romingers sentence.

Rominger was sentenced to a minimum of five-and-a-half to 18 years in state prison and 18 years of probation to be served at the same time.

The five-and-a-half year minimum prison sentence was based on combining three to 12 month sentences for each of the 18 misdemeanor counts plus an additional 12 month sentence.

Despite the trial courts arithmetic explanation, we cannot uncover where the additional 12-month prison term was imposed, the court wrote in its opinion. The only sentences of total confinement are the 18 sentences of three months to 12 months for misapplication of entrusted funds.

The Superior Court also determined it was not within the authority of the trial court to impose a county probation sentence that runs concurrent with a state prison sentence.

Rominger was ordered to pay nearly $800,000 in restitution, and Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said the purpose of the probation sentence was to allow more local control of the collection of that money.

Freed said his office will not appeal the Superior Court decision, and Rominger will be resentenced at a later date.

In October, Rominger was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison following his state sentence for a federal tax evasion charge.

Rominger was also sentenced to pay more than $300,000 in restitution in that case.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, Rahul Bhatnagar, on Thursday, informed the Allahabad High Court that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cannot be prosecuted in a 2007 riots case.

Yogi Adityanath, who was then an MP from Gorakhpur, is accused of exacerbating tensions in Gorakhpur by making an inflammatory speech.

The chief secretary informed the court of the home departments decision to deny permission for the prosecution of the Chief Minister.

The court had sought an explanation from the chief secretary over the delay in prosecuting the five accused in the riots case. The accused include the Chief Minister.

Mr Bhatnagar, while explaining the governments stand, told the court that forensic examination of the CD of Adityanaths alleged hate speech revealed that it has been tampered with.

The petitioners, who had earlier moved the court seeking an independent investigation in the case, said that they would challenge the governments move.

Earlier, the petitioners had said that The person against whom sanction for prosecution is to be granted by the state government, has himself become the head of the state. He also holds the home ministry portfolio.

In 2007, after the death of a youth injured in communal clashes, Yogi Adityanath violated the district magistrates order that barred him from entering Gorakhpur.

His alleged hate speech led to a fresh round of communal violence. After Adityanath broke the curfew imposed in light of the violence, he was placed under arrest and lodged in jail for 15 days.
Thiruvananthapuram: BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan has shot off a complaint to Reserve Bank officials for granting loan to Munnar resort owners. Kummanam has sought a detailed investigation by the RBI as well as by the CBI.

He alleged in the letter that the loans have been granted to the resort owners against the banking rules and norms set by the RBI.

"Several resort owners in Munnar managed to get bank loans by providing forged documents before the banks. Since the lands are illegal lands, the banks are finding it difficult to retrieve the land for non-payment", said Kummanam.

He also alleged that the unholy nexus between the politicians and the resort owners have caused heavy loss to the exchequer.
CHENNAI: DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Thursday said he is not ready to invite the BJP to the diamond jubilee function of party president M. Karunanidhi since the saffron party had vowed to wipe out the Dravidian movement.

He said, I am not ready to create an embarrassing situation for the BJP leaders by seating them in the diamond jubilee function, reacting to a question on the views of BJP leaders that the DMK is uniting parties against the saffron party.

The DMK had organised the diamond jubilee of its leader Karunanidhi on June 3, which is also his 94th birthday. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other non-BJP leaders at the national level will attend the meeting.

Stalin also dismissed suggestions to meet Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on the corruption complaints against ministers saying that there is no use in petitioning him. The party will take the corrupt activities of the ministers to the people, he added.

Stalin also promised support to National South Indian Rivers Linking Association president Ayyakannus protests in future. He also charged the state government with having no concern about farmers protests and solution to their problems.

He was speaking to reporters after taking part in the desilting works of Muthumariamman temple pond in his Kolathur constituency. Stalin said his party functionaries are carrying out desilting of water bodies throughout the state.

Accusing the AIADMK government of having no concern for drinking water problems, he said the previous DMK government had ensured that water bodies were desilted to store water. Besides, the DMK government had introduced several integrated water schemes, besides desalination plants in Nemili and Minjur.

Integrated drinking water schemes were implemented for Ramanathapuram, Vellore, Dharmapuri and Krishnagir, he noted and added that no such schemes are being undertaken by the present government. The AIADMK government is not concerned only about saving its government, merging the party and indulging in corruption.

Wont attend M Karunanidhi function, says BJP

Close on the heels of Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan who had dared the DMK to invite the AIADMK and also the BJP for the birthday celebration of DMK president and former CM M. Karunanidhi, the BJP clarified that it would not attend the birthday bash even if the party was invited.

Categorically stating that his party would stay away from the celebrations, Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said, greeting Kalaignar (Mr. Karunanidhi) is different. But even if the BJP is invited for the birthday function, we will not attend it.

The Minister who is currently touring Kanyakumari district, told reporters in Nagercoil on Thursday that the DMK intended to gain political mileage through the birthday celebrations of its leader.
The International Court of Justice at The Hague on Tuesday stayed the decision of the Pakistan military authorities to hang former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, now in their custody, for alleged spying. India recently took the case to the ICJ to pre-empt Pakistan from acting if Islamabad really proposes to carry out the death sentence that was confirmed by the Pakistan Army at the highest level.

India has gone to the ICJ against Pakistan for the first time since 1971. Its case is strong. Pakistan has refused India consular access to Mr Jadhav despite 15 such formal requests, and hasnt been given any of the case papers in the military trial of an Indian national. The denial of consular access is a breach of the Geneva Convention, to which Pakistan  like India  is a signatory. In light of these gaps, the trial has assumed the form of a kangaroo trial.

However, any hoopla about the ICJ directive to restrain Pakistan is premature. Its far from certain Islamabad will indeed honour the ICJs decision. It can sidestep the ruling simply by arguing that the matter of Mr Jadhav is a domestic one as it involves a foreigner involved in spying and other criminal activities within Pakistans jurisdiction.

This is a bogus argument as Mr Jadhav was abducted from Iran, where he works as a businessman. But the hard fact is that he is in Pakistans custody. They can easily execute him and present the ICJ with a fait accompli. In that event the logic of the external affairs ministry, that the decision to move the ICJ was a carefully considered one, will fall flat on its face.

There was absolutely no reason for the MEA spokesman to put this on record for the media as it should be the case that all government decisions are carefully considered, not just this one. The impression that goes out is that the government is trying to score propaganda points as it finds itself caught in a bind.

Some have argued that Pakistan may be using the Jadhav death sentence as a leverage to extract concessions in the political field. This may well be true. However, nothing can be said with certainty for now. Possibly the only way to steer Pakistan in the direction of a mutual exchange or move for a quid pro quo is to present it with a dilemma similar to the one India has suffered in the Jadhav case.

It is debatable whether the move to go to the ICJ can serve our purpose. This internationalisation gives Islamabad the handle to cry itself hoarse on imaginary violations of human rights in Kashmir and rush to an international body with the plea for intervention.
" Tonight, France won, solemnly declared Emmanuel Macron, the new President of the French Republic, after winning the most unexpected presidential elections. The 39-year-old former investment banker defeated Marine Le Pen of the Front National with 66 per cent of the valid votes.

It is the finish of an extraordinary rise for Mr Macron, Frances youngest-ever leader since Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, who was elected President in December 1848 at the age 40. So far, since the creation of the Fifth Republic in 1958, the youngest President was Valery Giscard dEstaing, who at 48 became head of the French State in 1974.

The leader of En Marche! (On the move!) movement will also be the youngest among the G-20 leaders, before Justin Trudeau, who turned 45 and as a head of state in the world, he will be fifth, far behind Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, King of Bhutan, who stepped onto the Happiness Throne at the young age of 28.

During the second round of the presidential election, the rate of abstention touched a rather high level with 26 per cent, but more interestingly, more than 4.2 million electors who went to the booths deposited a white (blank) or nul (invalid) ballot. A record!

On Sunday, just before 11 pm, Mr Macron met his supporters near the glass pyramid of the world-famous courtyard of Le Louvre in Paris. He told the jubilant crowd: Merci mes amis! (Thank you, my friends), adding: France has won, what we have done has no precedent, no equivalent. He continued: Everyone said that it was impossible, but they did not know France. I want to thank those who voted for the defence of the Republic. Then he addressed those who voted for Ms Le Pen, his unsuccessful rival: I know our disagreement, I will respect them. You have expressed anger, disarray, sometimes convictions, I respect this. I will do everything possible during the next five coming years to make sure that you dont find reasons to vote for the extreme.

Paraphrasing the revolutionary leader Georges Danton, who during the French Revolution exhorted: de laudace, encore de laudace, et toujours de laudace, (audacity, more audacity, and ever more audacity), Mr Macron asserted: this audacity will guide us. Accepting her defeat, Ms Le Pen proposed a profound transformation of her xenophobic party, which will have a new name. Her Front National, however, objected to Beethovens Ode to Joy (the European anthem) being played when Mr Macron entered the Louvre, instead of La Marseillaise.

In retrospect, it was the strangest French elections campaign for decades. First novelty: primaries for the Left and the Central/Right were organised.

A first surprise, Francois Fillon, who served as President Nicolas Sarkozys Prime Minister, emerged the winner on the right side of the spectrum. His intentions of introducing drastic cuts in the bureaucracy to reduce the budgetary debts had made him rather popular, but fate struck. The satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine, published documents showing that for more than 30 years, Mr Fillons wife, Penelope, had been employed by him as a parliamentary secretary... while she was not working.

Mr Macrons masterstroke was perhaps to have avoided the primaries, and a possible defeat against his former Socialist Partys colleagues. His fate had turned in August 2015, when he stated that he was no longer a member of the Socialist Party (PS); he was just serving as a minister for economy and industry in Francois Hollandes government as an Independent.

On April 6, 2016 in Amiens in northern France, he founded an independent political movement, En Marche! He was then officially reprimanded by President Hollande (though some rumours say that the entire operation to get him elected may have been piloted from the Elysee Palace).

On August 30, 2016 Mr Macron resigned from the government and on November 16, he formally declared his candidacy for the French presidency; he then spoke a democratic revolution and promised to unblock France.

Retrospectively, one could ask, what was the use of the primaries? Apart from the post-election rhetoric (and euphoria), times are difficult for the nation, which gave the triple mantra of liberty, equality and fraternity to the world (and to the Indian Constitution).

During the last five years, a weak presidency has demoralised the nation further. Mr Hollandes unpopularity had beaten all records, mainly due to his lack of charisma and many goof-ups. Has Gen. de Gaulles grandeur de la France (Frances greatness) gone for good?

This election saw the fading of the differentiation between the political right and the left. Symbolically, Mr Macron, the candidate, refuses to carry a rightist or leftist label.

Though his party, En Marche! wants to challenge the entire political system, it might not be easy knowing that the new President is a pure product of the establishment, having worked first with Mr Sarkozy, then with Mr Hollande. Cleverly, he has managed to remain vague, trying to please both the right and the left time; Mr Macron nevertheless remained a fervent European, as Beethovens piece demonstrated. His victory gave an immediate boost to the euro and the European stock exchanges.

The defeat of Ms Le Pen, who spoke of a Frexit, created a sigh of relief in Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel immediately called Mr Macron to congratulate: She praised him for championing a united European Union that is open to the world, said her spokesman.

But huge challenges will soon be facing the new President. The first one is the legislative elections due in June; there are good chances that the French semi-presidential system will witness a cohabitation so specific to France. When the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of Parliament, he has to name a Prime Minister acceptable to the parliamentary majority, in other words, opposed to his policies.

The Prime Minister must be acceptable both to this President and to the legislature; it is not an easy endeavour. This has happened a few times since the beginning of the Fifth Republic in 1958, making governance difficult to say the least. Next week already, Mr Macron needs to nominate a Prime Minister; it will certainly not be an easy choice.

At Le Louvre, Mr Macron admitted that the future may be full of hurdles: I am aware that the task will not be easy, but I will tell you the truth I want the unity of our people, the unity of our country I will serve you with love.

Two days before the vote, hundreds of thousands of emails and documents stolen from his campaign were dumped online and then spread by WikiLeaks (Mr Macron called it an attempt at democratic destabilisation).

This may bring some surprises, though as President, he will be covered by immunity for five years. His election, ending the most acerbic election campaign in modern French history was marked by repeated surprises, but the defeat of the extreme right is certainly a morale booster for the French nation.

Will the result change Frances relations with India? It is still too early to know if it will make a difference; it may depend on the alchemy between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the new French President. In any case, whatever the new legislative (and majority) may be next month, the strong strategic partnership between France and India will remain En Marche.
We are well aware about SpaceXs plans to launch a rocket that would travel to the Moon and Mars. Now it appears like the firm has completed what is reported to be the first static fire test of the Falcon Heavys centre core, that could take man to the moon and Mars. The rocket is considered to be the worlds most powerful rocket.

SpaceX tweeted the footage of the first test fire of a Falcon Heavy centre core that was conducted at the McGregor facility in Texas last week. The rocket was initially scheduled to launch back in 2013, however; the official launch will probably take place this summer.

You can watch the video here.

First static fire test of a Falcon Heavy centre core completed at our McGregor TX rocket development facility last week, SpaceX tweet read.

The rocket is still in the making as it still needs to be equipped with three more cores thereby making it a total of 27 Merlin engines to generate 5.13 million pounds of thrust at lift-off.

It will be able to carry more than 140,000 pounds of payload to low-Earth orbit, making it the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two, SpaceX said.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Users searching the web for businesses like restaurants, shopping and more can click the option of Chat to connect to an available bot.

We have known for quite sometime that Microsoft is great at coming up with innovative ideas and concepts. Simple look at their portfolio and you will find a plethora of services and products that set new trends in the market and followed by others in the present. The only issue with Microsoft is their lack of ability to implement their ideas and concepts efficiently for mass use. Microsoft still keeps trying and at this years developer conference, they showed a simple but revolutionary way to enhance web search services by introducing bots to Bing search.

The Bing search will incorporate bots from the Skype platform into itself. The bots can be used to interact with visitors without any human interaction on the business side, while visitors can get the information they need instantly. Users searching the web for businesses like restaurants, shopping and more can click the option of Chat to connect to an available bot. You can start a conversation for things like reservations, menus or anything that you are interested in.

Microsoft gave a demo for getting information about a restaurant in Seattle with a dedicated bot that could offer details like menus, parking, reservation, and accept payment. The owners are allowed to expand the capabilities of the bot with all the necessary information they want to disseminate.

The bot is available to try by searching Bing for Monsoon Restaurant Seattle and the clicking the Chat button. The conversation is performed on Skype and you can even transfer it from the browser to Skype if you find this more convenient. You have to ensure that the location option for Bing is set to the US.

Microsoft also pointed towards the vision of making Bing a bot directory, i.e. users will be able to search for relevant bots and gain the benefits. With this, Bing could challenge Google for the position for a feature-rich search engine.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
One European official acknowledged that the expanded ban could affect flights to the United States from Britain. (Photo: Representational/AP)

Washington: The Trump administration is likely to expand a ban on laptops on commercial aircraft to include some European countries, but is reviewing how to ensure lithium batteries stored in luggage holds do not explode in midair, officials briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.

Any expansion of the ban could impact US carriers such as United Airlines (UAL.N), Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) and American Airlines Group (AAL.O). Six US and European officials said they expect the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to make an announcement but declined to say when.

DHS officials plan to meet with airline industry officials on Thursday to discuss security issues, two people briefed on the matter said. Also on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will give a classified briefing to senators about domestic threats and airline issues are expected to be discussed, a congressional aide briefed on the matter said.

In March, the US announced laptop restrictions on flights originating from 10 airports including in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey because of fears that a concealed bomb could be installed in electronic devices taken onto aircraft.

Britain quickly followed suit with restrictions on a slightly different set of routes. One European official acknowledged that the expanded ban could affect flights to the United States from Britain.

DHS spokesman Dave Lapan said Kelly "hasn't made a decision but we continue to evaluate the threat environment and have engaged in discussions with airline representatives and other stakeholders about the threat."

Some US airlines have been making plans in the event of an order to require them to bar passengers from travelling to the United States without larger electronics in the cabin, airline officials briefed on the matter said.

The US laptop ban and on other electronic devices larger than cell phones has affected direct flights to the United States by Royal Jordanian Airlines RJAL.AM, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways.

One issue under discussion is how to ensure that lithium batteries in any large collection of devices stored in aeroplane holds do not explode in midair, officials told Reuters.

European regulators have warned placing what could be potentially hundreds of devices in the hold on long-haul flights could compromise safety by increasing the risk of fire from poorly deactivated lithium-ion batteries.

Peter Goelz, a former managing director at the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States, said a significant expansion of the in-cabin ban on larger electronics "is going to represent a major logistical problem for airlines."

Goelz said more money needs to be spent to improve screening.

"It is very difficult to determine whether a dense object is actually a battery or a plastic explosive," Goelz said.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that a United Nations agency has begun an effort to craft global guidance for the use of laptops and other portable electronics in passenger aircraft cabins after the bans upset airline passengers and Middle Eastern carriers.

The International Civil Aviation Organization met on Tuesday to debate the issue after the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other countries complained their airlines had been unduly penalised by the decision, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Airports and airlines in Europe have already been working on plans for a possible extension of the ban since the US announced the first restrictions on larger electronic devices in the cabin, according to several industry sources.

Issues that need to be resolved include how best to inform passengers of any new restrictions to keep disruption at airports to a minimum. On the operational side, measures such as stopping online check-in for US-bound flights or ensuring US flights depart from a dedicated part of terminals are among ideas being mulled, although no decisions have yet been taken.
Nicole Harper said that the incident happened less than 30 minutes into the flight. (Photo: Youtube videograb)

Kansas City: United Airlines is denying that its staff told a Missouri woman to urinate in a cup rather than leave her seat to use the restroom on a flight, and it implied that the flight in question involved one of its regional partners, Mesa Airlines.

Nicole Harper told KCTV News that she had a sudden urge to urinate because of her overactive bladder on a flight last month from Houston to Kansas City, Mo.

She said that a flight attendant told her she wasn't allowed to stand up because the pilot was expecting turbulence, and that she responded by saying she was going to need a cup. Harper said she filled two cups and was then escorted to the bathroom to empty the urine.

In a Facebook post, Harper said: The flight attendants treated me like I had committed a crime, stating they would be filing a report, calling in the hazmat team to clean the entire row (let me mention there was no mess involved) and told me I would need to talk with the pilot after the flight.

She said the incident happened less than 30 minutes into the flight.

United said in a statement that based on initial reports from our flight attendants, Harper attempted to visit the lavatory on the final descent.

The airline said it has reached out to Harper and Mesa Airlines to better understand what occurred.

The airline industry has received a lot of backlash since last month when video showed a United Airlines passenger being dragged off a plane.

Dr David Dao, 69, was injured and bloodied when aviation security officers pulled him from the crowded flight after he refused to give up his seat. United had picked Dao and three others to be removed from the plane so that airline employees could have seats.

The April 9 incident, which was caught on cellphone video and seen worldwide, led United to apologise, adopt 10 policy changes to improve passenger service and reach an undisclosed settlement with Dao. Airline executives were even called to explain themselves before congressional panels.

The passenger-dragging scandal hurt Uniteds image but has yet to damage the airlines bottom line, according to data released Monday.
Los Angeles: An Indian-origin man in the US has claimed that the United Airlines cancelled his flight reservation because he filmed an employee during an altercation, the latest public relations headache for the under fire airline.

Navang Oza, 37, said he was refused entry on a flight to the West Coast after he started recording his experience on his cellphone.

Oza was quoted by KNTV as saying that he was checking in Monday for a flight home to San Francisco from New Orleans when he complained to a United Airlines agent about a USD 300 charge for his luggage. Oza said he paid USD 125 to check the same bag on the first leg of his trip.

Unable to get an explanation, Oza said he decided to do what many other frustrated passengers have done and film the dispute. Oza posted an unedited clip of the lengthy interaction with the ticket counter worker in New Orleans.

The clip begins with the agent pointing her finger at him, saying, "You did not have my permission to videotape". Next, she appears to instruct an agent to her left. "Cancel the reservation," she says.

"I want to know why," Oza asks. "Because you did not have my permission," she said.

"I was shocked because I didn't know she had the right to cancel my flight because I started recording," he said.

About a minute after ordering his trip cancelled for taping her, the United agent is seen recording Oza.

"Ill do the same thing," she said, pointing her smartphone at Ozas. Oza said the United agent eventually called airport police. Oza was still rolling when an officer appeared.

"Can I at least keep this recording?" Oza asks the officer. The officer replies, "Sir, you have the right to do whatever you want; its a public space".

The California resident said that he ultimately re-booked his flight on a different airline. United told the news station that it was investigating the incident.

"The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that we apologise. We are reviewing this situation, including talking with Mr Oza and our employees to better understand what happened," United said in a statement.

United has faced a series of scandals in recent weeks, including the violent removal of passenger David Dao, who sustained injuries from being dragged off an overbooked flight.

Also this week, a Missouri woman claimed that a United staff told her to urinate in a cup rather than leave her seat to use the restroom on a flight from Houston. The claim has been denied by the airline.

A giant rabbit, who was expected to outgrow his father to become the worlds biggest bunny, also died under the care of United Airlines last month.
About 750 students from across Pennsylvania will be in Carlisle Friday and Saturday Taking a Stand in History.

Carlisle High School is the host site for the 2017 National History Day state contest where students from over 120 middle schools and high schools will compete to represent Pennsylvania in the national-level contest in June in Maryland.

We are looking forward to a great event, said Jeff Hawks, state coordinator for National History Day in Pennsylvania and education director at the Army Heritage Center Foundation. The foundation has been the sponsoring organization of National History Day in Pennsylvania since 2007.

National History Day engages students in grades 6-12 in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. The annual competition starts in September with the selection of a theme around which the students base research papers, performances, documentaries, websites or exhibits.

The theme this year is Taking a Stand in History. Working as individuals or in groups, students used primary and secondary source material to research an issue or historical event characterized by argument, controversy and negotiation to explain the success or failure of a particular approach and the consequences of the outcome.

The students develop a thesis and then have to demonstrate what they have learned to defend their findings, Hawks said. Along the way, they hone critical thinking and information literacy skills.

The students visiting Carlisle this weekend are the top three finishers from each category who qualified for the state competition after participating in one of 12 regional competitions held in February and March, Hawks said. The top two finishers from each category at the state contest advance to the National History Day national contest scheduled for June 11-15 on the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park.

There they will compete with students from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam along with international contingents from South Korea, Indonesia, and Shanghai, China, Hawks said.

National History Day has two levels of competition. The Junior Division is for students in grades 6-8 while the Senior Division is for students in grades 9-12.

Carlisle High School has been very gracious to host this, said Hawks, who added most of the National History Day activity will be in the McGowan building. We are partnering with the [Cumberland Valley] Visitors Bureau.

The students will stay in local hotels, and there are plans to show them, their teachers and their parents to Carlisle-area sites, While in town, the students might visit the Cumberland County Historical Society and the Army Heritage and Education Center.

There are a lot of local judges and volunteers helping out, Hawks said. Its a community effort. We get a lot of participation.

He said M&T Bank is a sponsor of National History Day.
Seoul: South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday and said North Korea needs to cease making provocations before tensions over the deployment of a US anti-missile system in the South can be resolved.

Yoon Young-chan, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, said Xi had explained China's position over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to Moon, who took office on Wednesday.

He did not elaborate, but Yoon also said the two leaders agreed that all sides must work together to ease tensions over North Korea's weapons programme.
On another occasion, a group of students cornered her against the wall and started reciting the Koran, she said. (File Photo)

Sydney: A primary teacher in Australia has shared a shocking story about her class, saying that boys aged between 10 and 13 wore pro Islamic State (IS) t-shirts and recited Koran while cornering her.

According to a report in Daily Mail, the teacher whose identity wasnt revealed, explained that the horrific incident happened with her during a programme called Outsiders hosted by former federal Labor leader Mark Latham.

She said the boys had once come into class waving flags of a foreign country, which she believed to be ISIS flags since something was written in Urdu on them.

She added that on one occasion, a few boys entered school wearing t-shirts that appeared to have the ISIS flag slogan on them, the report said.

On another occasion, a group of students cornered her against the wall and started reciting the Koran, she said.

Other students attending class, both Muslim and non-Muslim, were also frightened by these events, the teacher said.

The teacher believed that the students' behaviour worsened after the watching ABCs children's current affairs program Behind The News. She claimed that the ABC programme is slightly sympathetic to ISIS.

But the ABC spokesperson criticized the teachers claim and said, Any such claim would be nonsensical and offensive.

Meanwhile, confirming the primary teachers revelation, Department of Education spokesman said that the incidents she described had indeed taken place.
Pakistan was caught by surprise when India moved swiftly to ICJ and Islamabad received a midnight order that stayed the execution of Jadhav. (Photo: Screengrab)

The Hague (The Netherlands): The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has sent an urgent communication to Pakistan from the office of its President under Article 74 for Islamabad and New Delhi's cooperation till a decision is reached on the death sentence case of former Indian naval officer and alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Judge Ronny Abraham, the President of the ICJ, has forwarded the urgent communication to both Pakistan and India.

ICJ President Judge Abraham in his letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said, " In my capacity as President of the Court, and exercising the powers conferred upon me under Article 74, Paragraph 4, of the rules, I call upon the parties concerned ie. Your Excellency's Government, pending the court's decision on the request for provisional measures, to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make on this request to have its appropriate effects."

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will be holding public hearings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case on May 15. Indian lawyer Harish Salve will argue the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav on New Delhi's behalf.

Pakistan was caught by surprise when India moved swiftly to ICJ and Islamabad received a midnight order that stayed the execution of 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 his death sentence.

Pakistan has denied consular access to Jadhav, who is an Indian citizen on 16 occasions. So, as per the Vienna Convention, India had to take recourse to one of the legal options available to it because both India and Pakistan are signatories to this additional protocol of the convention.

India earlier contended that it was not informed of Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan had failed to inform the accused of his rights, an official release from the ICJ said.

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 Balochistan" on March 3, 2016, and that the Indian authorities were notified of that arrest on March 25, 2016.
London: UK Prime Minister Theresa May faced flak for making what has been labelled as a "sexist" remark by social media users during a television interview in which she said her husband handled "traditional boy jobs" at home.

In her first television interview alongside husband Philip May on Wednesday, 60-year-old Theresa May light-heartedly told the BBC that "there's boy jobs and girls jobs."

But many TV viewers took to social media soon after to express outrage.

Asked by the host if his wife was a tough negotiator, Mr Philip, 59, said, "Well, there's give and take in every marriage. I get to decide when I take the bins out. Not if I take them out." Theresa jumped in and said, "There's boy jobs and girls jobs, you see."

"I definitely do the bins. I do the traditional boy jobs, by and large," her husband added.

Scottish Labour party leader Kezia Dugdale said online, "The Prime Minister tells the country there are 'boy jobs and girl jobs' at home - I despair."

A Twitter user said, "Can someone please tell Theresa May, it's 2017."

Another tweeted, "Sexism at it's finest. Should the woman running our country be more supportive of gender equality?"

The couple, who were introduced at Oxford University during a student disco by mutual friend Benazir Bhutto - the future Pakistan Prime Minister - appeared together for the first time on the more informal 'The One Show' as part of the general election campaign.

Asked about his first impressions of the woman who would become his wife, Mr Philip said, "What a lovely girl. And she still is."

When asked whether he "fancied her instantly", he replied, "Absolutely, it was love at first sight."

PM May's investment banker husband also said that his wife had first harboured an interest in leading the country when she was in the Shadow Cabinet, which she had joined in 1999.

Speaking about the problems of "fake news", Theresa May revealed a difficult moment years ago for the couple, who don't have children, when a newspaper predicted she'd have trouble being selected as a Conservative Party candidate because of her new baby.

She said her mother-in-law had rung up hoping there was happy news. "So I was disappointed," the PM said.

Asked about the downside to being married to Theresa May, Mr Philip insisted it was a privilege, adding, "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," he said.
The statement said the test was conducted in accordance with the annual training plan to "raise the operational capability of the armed forces and effectively respond to threats to national security". (Photo: AP/Representational)

Beijing: The latest missile tested by China can attack both aircraft carriers and the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system deployed recently in South Korea, an official newspaper reported on Wednesday.

"To judge from the missile remains disclosed by media, it was a DF-26 that was tested recently, also known as the 'aircraft carrier killer' missile," Song Zhongping, a military expert who used to serve in the PLA Rocket (Missile) Force, told state-run Global Times.

"Considering the type of missile and the test location it is evident that we conducted a firing experiment targeting aircraft carriers, and the warhead possibly featured an electromagnetic pulse that could destroy a carrier's command system, as well as the THAAD system," Song said.

Asked if the test's location in the Bohai Sea, close to the tensed Korean Peninsula, could show that the test was specifically aimed at Seoul's THAAD deployment, Song said that this was unlikely as Bohai is China's usual weapons testing ground.

The missile test was carried amid China's vociferous protests over THAAD interceptor missiles in South Korea, whose powerful radars could see through most of part of China including its missile development programme.

The US said the THAAD deployment was aimed at countering any missile attack by North Korea against the South, Japan and the US. China has vowed appropriate response for THAAD missile batteries. A statement by the Chinese defence ministry yesterday said that Chinese rocket forces tested a new type of missile in the Bohai Sea.

The statement said the test was conducted in accordance with the annual training plan to "raise the operational capability of the armed forces and effectively respond to threats to national security". "The test achieved the expected result," it said, without disclosing its exact details.
Islamabad: Pakistan has "vital lessons" to learn from China's overtures to India and must emulate Beijing's policy of boosting trade ties with New Delhi despite the long-standing bilateral disputes, according to a media report.

The report published in 'Dawn' newspaper warned that the Pakistani policymakers' reflexive argument that China is Pakistan's "friend first" in South Asia need to be reconsidered.

The editorial came after China's ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said in New Delhi that for all of its close ties with Pakistan, China sought "stable and prosperous ties with India too."

"The comments were made to an Indian audience, but they are of profound relevance here in Pakistan," the report said.

"For Pakistan, there are vital lessons to be drawn from the Chinese overtures to India. First, China's policy of putting trade ahead of disputes, and not just verbally emphasising but working practically for regional connectivity, is something that Pakistan must seriously consider emulating," it said.

The write-up noted that although there continues to be a "great deal" that divides India and China, yet rational voices in both the countries have prevailed and pulled the nations into "closer, near-irreversible" economic ties.

"Luo's comments are also a warning against giddy notions inside Pakistan that CPEC has solidified Pakistan as its greatest, and possibly only, ally in the South Asia region," it said.

India and China have been negotiating to resolve their border dispute for more than 20 years but an agreement is yet to be reached.

The dispute covers the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control. While China claims parts of Arunachal as Southern Tibet, India asserts the dispute also covers the Aksai Chin area which China occupied during the 1962 Sino-India war.

Last month, China opposed to the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, particularly Tawang, which it considers as Southern Tibet.
A lesbian-themed novel is reviving debates on culture codes and curbs on literary expression after authorities of a prominent womens college in Kochi revoked permission to use the college as the venue for the books formal release.



Meenukal Chumbikkunnu (The Fish Are Kissing), a novel by freelance journalist and writer Sree Parvathy, was scheduled to be released on May 14 at St Teresas College. But the event was cancelled after the college authorities backed out, apparently after learning about the theme of the novel. Sree Parvathy said the college authorities conveyed their decision through the organisers, a week after St Teresas was finalised as the venue for the event.



Im told that the issue is the theme of the novel and that it was being released at an all-women college. We had printed brochures of the event after obtaining the college authorities permission. The authorities backed out after reading the brochures, which briefly discuss the content of the novel, she told DH on Wednesday.



Sajimol Augustine M, college principal, while stating that the permission for the event was denied, said she was not aware of the reasons for the same. Officials designated to sanction and monitor events held in the college were not available for comment.



Sree Parvathy said the novel, her first, was an attempt to look at relationships among women beyond the curiosity of sexually charged male imagination. She also dismissed suggestions of a manufactured controversy, considering the choice of a Christian educational institution for the release of the novel.



The fact is that we never thought on religious lines; all we wanted to do was to release the book on a stage that had women, in the presence of women, Sree Parvathy said. Even as the writer pointed out the irony in such strictures being imposed in an institution identified with modern and progressive students, support for her emerged on social media.



Sree Parvathy and her publishers have decided to organise the event at a childrens park near the original venue; same day, same time.








A 35-year-old woman was killed and her husband was injured as Pakistani troops opened fire on forward areas and border hamlets in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday night.



Reports said Akhtar Bi was killed while her 40-year-old husband Mohammad Hanief was injured when a mortar shell hit their house in Laam village of Nowshera sector along the Line of Control (LoC).



Defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta said the Pakistan troops used 120 mm and 82 mm mortar shells to pound border hamlets and military posts in Nowshera sector from 10.40 pm (Wednesday). Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively and firing was intermittently going on, he added.



Eyewitnesses told Deccan Herald over phone that several mortar shells have landed on the houses in border villages creating a wave of panic among the residents.



The latest ceasefire violation came just 10-days after the Pakistani soldiers in a provocative attack crossing the territory near the LoC in Krishan Ghati sector of neighbouring Poonch district ended up in killing two Indian soldiers and mutilating their bodies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his visit to Sri Lanka beginning today is a sign of "strong relationship" between the two countries and brings to the fore the shared heritage of Buddhism.



During his two-day visit, he will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, inaugurate a hospital built with Indian assistance and address the Indian-origin Tamil community, besides attending some other programmes.



"This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," he said in a Facebook post, hours before travelling to Sri Lanka.



"During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," Modi wrote.



He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.



"My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism," he said.



The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.



"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.



He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.



He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.



"I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.


Nearly anyone who is a long-term care resident of a skilled nursing home can immediately apply for Medicaid to pay for the care.

To do so, an applicant who is not yet impoverished must shuffle assets according to a complex method that has been approved by federal courts. The reward for doing this can be a savings of around $100,000 per year in nursing home costs.

Most married couples have an opportunity to get Medicaid immediately. Federal law allows the shuffling of assets to benefit the spouse who is not in the nursing home.

Single individuals may be permitted to apply immediately, but may have to wait a period of time before receiving the benefit. The complicated process involves the use of a specific insurance product that is not widely available. Under current law, it is usually possible to save a bit more than half of an individuals net worth.

When it comes to politics, I am a fiscal conservative. But when it comes to long-term care, I am a guide and advocate, not a politician. Federal courts have heard numerous cases brought by Pennsylvania and other states to challenge the techniques that elder law attorneys use to accelerate Medicaid eligibility for long-term care. Federal courts have ruled conclusively that, until Congress changes the current law, the techniques we employ are legal.

It is hard to put an absolute dollar amount on how large an individual or married couples net worth may be and still be able to qualify for Medicaid. A million dollars is not necessarily too much, but at some point, a net worth can be too large. Immediately applying for Medicaid can be an option for probably 90 percent of the population after the applicant goes through the process of re-characterizing assets or accelerating the spend-down.

There are some cases in which an accelerated spend-down would be impractical or excessive. Objective analysis on a case-by-case basis will determine whether accelerating the spend-down will be practical and result in saving a significant amount of money. To determine whether a spend-down is excessive requires experience and current knowledge of what might invite challenge within the long-term care system, and what will not.

Few people are wealthy enough to withstand several years of paying for skilled nursing care at a cost of around $10,000 per month locally. It is a shock to many middle-class families that, after a maximum of 100 days, Medicare will not pay for care in a skilled nursing home.

Unfortunately, relatively few people have prepared by purchasing long-term care insurance. An accelerated spend-down has become the solution for the relatively few who are aware of it.

The long-term care system is at best confusing. Nursing homes have no duty to explain to residents that it is legally possible for them to accelerate the spend-down process to get the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) to pay for their care. Since the amount of Medicaid-subsidized payment by DHS to a nursing home is about 70 percent of the rate that is charged to persons paying privately, promoting the accelerated spend-down has the effect of reducing the nursing homes net operating income.

Pennsylvanias payment and reimbursement system in relation to long-term care seems to short-change nursing homes, and this has a detrimental effect on innocent consumers who pay privately.

Obviously, if a nursing home is getting only 70 percent from DHS of what they get from patients who pay privately, that shortfall needs to be offset by a surcharge to those who pay privately for care. That might explain why, according to Genworth Insurance, Pennsylvanias average cost of skilled nursing care in 2016 was 33 percent more than the national average.

Many persons have the mistaken belief that the quality of Medicaid-funded long-term care is not as good as care that is paid for privately. Thats not true. Every skilled nursing home in our area accepts Medicaid as a source of payment. Providing a different level of care because of the source of payment would violate federal and state laws. It is impossible to walk through a nursing home and know whose care is being paid for by Medicaid and whose is not.

In 2014, Pennsylvania followed a national trend and changed the name of the agency that administers federal Medicaid dollars from the Department of Public Welfare to the Department of Human Services. This change came decades after the county poor house became Claremont Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, which is a high-quality nursing care facility that offers a level of nursing care that rivals the most expensive retirement communities in the area.

Terms like welfare, county home and Medicaid might carry an historical stigma, but that should no longer influence a wise person who is choosing a nursing home and deciding how to pay for long-term care.

Unless your family has a loved one in a nursing home and is facing a dual-whammy of emotional distress and financial devastation, the notion of getting government aid to pay for care might seem distasteful and inappropriate. Some families try to do it themselves.

Often we hear from families who made multiple gifts of up to $14,000 per year, or have retitled a house according to a recommendation of a well-intentioned adviser, only to discover that when the parent eventually exhausted all resources and applied for Medicaid, they were told that they would need to find another way to pay tens of thousands of dollars before getting the benefit. In such cases, the filial support laws of Pennsylvania make adult children financially responsible.

If you are an agent for someone in a nursing home who is not getting payment subsidies from Medicaid, you should wonder why. A confidential appointment at our office can explore your case in detail. Or, you can attend a free seminar we are offering on Tuesday, May 16 (planning for an individual) or Tuesday, May 23 (planning for a couple) at 7 p.m. Space is limited. Call our office at 717-697-3223 to register.

Learn more about the articles author, and other community education opportunities, at www.keystoneelderlaw.com. Check out the book, Long Term Care Guide: Essential Tools for Solving the Elder Care Puzzle, at the Whistlestop Bookshop or Amazon, and see Keystones free directory of services for older adults at www.mypeaceguide.com. Keystone Elder Law has offices in Mechanicsburg and Carlisle. Call 717-697-3223 for a free telephone consultation.
Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi today met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here and discussed the security situation in the state.



Mehrishi, who arrived here this morning a day after a young Kashmiri Army officer was abducted and shot dead by militants in Shopian district, is also scheduled to call on Governor N N Vohra later in the day.



He will also chair a meeting of senior security officials, including Director General of Police S P Vaid, to get a first-hand information about the security scenario in the state, particularly in Kashmir Valley.



"During the meeting, the Union home secretary discussed the overall situation in the state with the Chief Minister," an official spokesman said.



Jammu and Kashmir had witnessed violence during the April 9 bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents.



The Election Commission had also cancelled the May 25 bypoll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, saying situation there was not feasible for holding election.



There have been protests by students in the Valley last month against alleged police excesses. Students, including girls, were seen pelting stones on security personnel in these incidents.
UN chief Antonio Guterres today called on the global community to draw inspiration from the journey of Lord Buddha and embrace his message of compassion on the occasion of 'Vesak Day'.



Vesak marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.



"Born a sheltered prince, Shakyamuni (Buddha) went out into the world to confront and overcome human suffering. This message of compassion is timeless," the UN chief said.



The UN Secretary-General also emphasised that in the current interconnected world, there can be "no peace as long as others are in peril, no security as long as others suffer deprivation [and] no sustainable future until all members of our human family enjoy their human rights".



He called on the people of the world to celebrate the wisdom of Buddha by taking action for others with a strong spirit of solidarity.



On the occasion, a special commemorative event was held yesterday at the General Assembly attended by UN ambassadors, diplomats and Buddhist monks. The event included sermons and a Buddhist musical interlude by a group of children from Sri Lanka.



India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin told the gathering that Buddha's key messages of truth, non-violence, peace and harmony continue to resonate across the world two and half millennia after his death.



"The modern world continues to be beset with great human suffering, deepening inequalities violent conflicts and environmental degradation. The teachings of Buddha which essentially is a reaffirmation of a sustainable lifestyle, harmony with inner self and with nature, hold great promise for achievement of global sustainable development goals and to unite the world to fight climate change," Akbaruddin said.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also visiting Sri Lanka to attend the 'Vesak Day' celebrations in Colombo.

In 1999, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it recognised the International Day to acknowledge the contribution that Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world, has made for over two and a half millennia and continues to make to the spirituality of humanity.






The Supreme Court on Thursday began its crucial hearing on Constitutional validity of triple talaq, observing that it would consider if the practice was fundamental to Islam.



A five-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar also clarified orally that it would adjudicate upon the practice only and not deal with question of polygamy.



We are going to consider if the practice of 'triple talaq' is fundamental to religion. If so, whether it can be enforced under Article 25 (freedom to practice religion) of the Constitution, the bench said.



Senior advocate Amit Singh Chaddha, appearing for first woman petitioner Shayara Bano, said that the method of instant talaq by pronouncing it thrice was not an essential part of Islam and therefore was not protected under the Constitution. Though men have untrammelled right, the same was limited for women, he said.



Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for NGO Bebak Foundation, said we are concerned about its nature of being extra judicial. Such kind of Triple talaq has got no judicial oversight, she said.



We are dealing with a particular type of divorce. What is attacked (agitated) here is its irrevocable nature, the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and S Abdul Nazeer, said.



Senior advocate Salman Khurshid intervened into the matter to assert that in all Triple Talaq is not instanteous. It is to be pronounced within a period of three months and in between, there is conciliation efforts and if all these failed, then only, it becomes irrevocable.



Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing All India Muslim Personal Law Board, the instant Triple Talaq has been banned through legislations in some Islamic countries but not by courts.



Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Union Government, submitted that it affected fundamental right of women.



Besides triple talaq, a group of Muslim women has also challenged 'Nikah Halala' and polygamy, practised among Muslims in the country.



Triple Talaq is divorce made by husband by pronoucing 'Talaq' thrice while 'Nikah Halala' is a bar against remarriage with divorced husband, without an intervening marriage with another man, as mandated under the Muslim Personal Law.



The main matter is being heard as 'Muslim women's Quest for Equality' started suo motu by the apex court in 2015. There are five separate writ petitions filed by Muslim women led by Shayara Bano. One special leave petition is also listed for consideration before the court against Allahabad High Court's order that held the practice of Triple Talaq is unilateral and bad in law.



Notably, the Union government had maintained before the court the practice of Triple Talaq and polygamy denied the Muslim women full enjoyment of fundamental rights and should be declared as unconstitutional.



It claimed these practices impact the social status and dignity of women and did not enjoy the sanction from Islam. It claimed those practices existed due to social norms certain centuries ago.



The government claimed several Islamic countries had done away with these practices.



Prominent NGO All India Muslim Personal Law Board and others have intervened into the matter saying the court cannot adjudicate on personal laws of a community.
An exchange of fire took place between Naxals and BSF personnel in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Kanker district today.However, no casualty or injury was reported from either side, police said.



The skirmish took place this morning when a team of the 171st battalion of Border Security Force (BSF) was out on a road security operation in Bande police station area, a senior police official told PTI.



The BSF personnel had launched the operation to ensure security to the construction of Bande-Irpanaar road (36 km), he said.



While the patrolling team was carrying out the road security operation between Kurenar and Kanhargaon villages, the armed ultras opened firPe at them following which the BSF personnel retaliated, he said.



However, the rebels soon escaped in the forest, he said, adding that BSF's patrolling was underway in the region.



The BSF had last month set up its camp in Kanhargaon village, that lies on the border of Kanker and Gadchiroli districts (Maharashtra), to ensure security to the Bande-Irpanaar road.



The road between Bande and Irpanaar goes through a dense forest, along the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border, which is a Naxal hotbed, a BSF official said.



The Naxals are frustrated with construction of the road and are trying to disrupt it by making such attempts, he said.
A 17-year-old youth was today hacked to death here by members of an unidentified gang who severed his head and threw it inside the Reddichavavadi police station in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The body of the deceased, identified as Swethan, was dumped in a lake bed in Bahoor village of Puducherry.

After going through the CCTV footage of cameras near the police station, three persons in the age group of 20-24 years were arrested today in connection with the incident, the police said.

Interrogation revealed that the youth was hacked to death and beheaded by one of the accused at Bahour in Puducherry, 13 km from here, last night, due to previous enmity. After decapitating him, they travelled on a two-wheeler with the head wrapped in a gunny bag before throwing it into the premises of the Reddichavavadi police station last night, the police added.

The body was shifted to the Puducherry government hospital for post mortem.
A lesser-known Dalit group led by a lawyer- "Bheem Army" - actively used social media to rally protestors and allegedly orchestrated Tuesday's violence here in which a police post was set on fire and a number of persons were injured, district authorities said today.



District officials said the group was enraged over members of the Thakur community allegedly clashing with Dalits and torching their houses in Shabbirpur village on May 5 after they refused to allow a procession to mark the birth anniversary of Rajput king Maharana Pratap.



Some of those who were injured in the May 5 clashes and recuperating at the district hospital here said their community members objected to the procession as upper caste Thakurs had earlier stopped Dalits from installing a statue of BR Ambedkar on the premises of a 'Ravidas Mandir' in the village.



Around 600 Dalits and over 900 Thakurs reside in the village, about 35 km from where the violence erupted on May 9.



The officials said the Bheem Army Bharat Ekta Mission, founded by 30-year old lawyer Chandrasekhar, circulated messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, appealing to members of the Dalit community to attend a 'mahapanchayat' on May 9 in Gandhi Park to demand compensation and relief for those affected in last weeks inter-caste clashes.



District Magistrate N P Singh said the administration turned down their request for holding 'mahapanchayat' and the Dalit men took to the streets to protest against it.



"The protesters had also come from at least three neighbouring districts," he said.



Singh said it seemed to be a "planned exercise, considering the men indulged in violence in five-six areas across the city simultaneously. The group apparently sent provocative messages to members on WhatsApp.



The protestors blocked roads in Rampur Maniharan, Ramnagar, Nazirpura, Halalpur and Malhipur, and hurled stones at police personnel, who lathi charged them.



They also set the Ramnagar police post, a private bus on Behat road and over a dozen two wheelers ablaze. Several persons, including five policemen, were injured in the violence.



Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chandra Dubey said the rioters opened fire on officers using country-made pistols.



A few media persons were also allegedly manhandled and their equipment damaged.

A group of media persons yesterday protested against the Bheem Army and submitted a memorandum to the Tehsildar, Behat, demanding stern action against the group and its spearhead.



The police said protesters also vandalised Maharana Pratap Bhavan in Ramnagar area on Malhipur road.



They said a Rajput group filed a complaint alleging that Chandrashekhar provoked Dalit men and indulged in violence at Maharana Pratap Bhavan.



Attempts to contact Chandrasekhar on phone did not fructify.



Two persons, Sachin Singh Ambedkar and Rahul Gautam, have been arrested for allegedly circulating provocative messages on WhatsApp and Facebook, the police said.



The SSP said 24 people have been arrested in connection with incidents of stone-pelting and arson.



The police said they will go through the CCTV footage to identify and arrest the others involved in stone-pelting and torching the police post and vehicles.



The district magistrate said the district has been divided into five zones and 22 sectors for better maintenance of the law and order situation.



In April, the police had registered FIRs against local BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma and around 300 other unidentified protestors, after clashes erupted during a rally organised to mark Ambedkar Jayanti in Sadak Dudhli village in the district.



The march was organised without the nod of the administration. Processions on Ambedkar Jayanti are banned in communally-sensitive Saharanpur for seven years.


An Indian-origin man in the US has claimed that the United Airlines canceled his flight reservation because he filmed an employee during an altercation, the latest public relations headache for the under fire airline.



Navang Oza, 37, said he was refused entry on a flight to the West Coast after he started recording his experience on his cellphone.



Oza was quoted by KNTV as saying that he was checking in Monday for a flight home to San Francisco from New Orleans when he complained to a United Airlines agent about a USD 300 charge for his luggage. Oza said he paid USD 125 to check the same bag on the first leg of his trip.



Unable to get an explanation, Oza said he decided to do what many other frustrated passengers have done and film the dispute.



Oza posted an unedited clip of the lengthy interaction with the ticket counter worker in New Orleans.



The clip begins with the agent pointing her finger at him, saying, "You did not have my permission to videotape".





Next, she appears to instruct an agent to her left. "Cancel the reservation," she says.

"I want to know why," Oza asks.



"Because you did not have my permission," she said.



"I was shocked because I didn't know she had the right to cancel my flight because I started recording," he said.



About a minute after ordering his trip canceled for taping her, the United agent is seen recording Oza.



"I'll do the same thing," she said, pointing her smartphone at Oza's.

Oza said the United agent eventually called airport police. Oza was still rolling when an officer appeared.



"Can I at least keep this recording?" Oza asks the officer. The officer replies, "Sir, you have the right to do whatever you want; it's a public space".



The California resident said that he ultimately re-booked his flight on a different airline.

United told the news station that it was investigating the incident.



"The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that, we apologise. We are reviewing this situation, including talking with Mr Oza and our employees to better understand what happened," United said in a statement.



United has faced a series of scandals in recent weeks, including the violent removal of passenger David Dao, who sustained injuries from being dragged off an overbooked flight.



Also this week, a Missouri woman claimed that a United staff told her to urinate in a cup rather than leave her seat to use the restroom on a flight from Houston. The claim has been denied by the airline.
Police in California is investigating the murder of a 32-year old Sikh man as a possible "hate crime" after he refused to sell cigarettes to a man who did not have proper ID.



Jagjeet Singh, who was a clerk at the Hatch Food and Gas convenience store in Californias Modesto city, had come to the US only 18 months ago from Punjab.



Singh was stabbed to death last week after he apparently refused to sell cigarettes to his attacker as he did not have proper ID.





Heather Graves, a Modesto Police Department spokeswoman, told NBC News that Singh and one of the suspects had had a confrontation inside the store.

"We have a couple of different witnesses giving some information but that's still under investigation," she said.



"We just know that there were words exchanged between the two of them."

Asked whether the stabbing may have been a hate crime, Graves said, "That is a possibility and we are investigating that possibility as well."



Police have released a surveillance picture of the man who got into an argument with Singh over the sale of cigarettes.



The man left the business parking lot in a dark coloured vehicle and then returned with a second suspect who stabbed the victim.



The preliminary findings suggest that Singh was securing the business after closing when he was approached by the suspect.



The suspect, described as a Hispanic male stabbed Singh and then fled the scene, according to a statement from the Modesto Police Department.



Singh was the fourth Indian-origin victim of an alleged crime in the US in the last one week alone.



Ramesh Kumar, 32, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the passenger seat of a car parked in a rest area 90 miles of Detroit.



Indian-origin Naren Prabhu, a Silicon Valley technology executive, and his wife, were shot at their home in San Jose by their daughters ex-boyfriend who was eventually shot dead in a standoff with the police.



Mirza Tatlic, 24, fatally shot the couple in an apparent revenge attack.
The Rajasthan government today ordered an inquiry into the collapse of a wall of a marriage hall in Bharatpur district that left 24 people dead while the police registered a case against the hall owner who is absconding.



The incident occurred yesterday on Sewar road in Bharatpur where a nearly 12-feet high wall collapsed following a storm accompanied by rains. A wedding was going on when the wall came down trapping guests.



The marriage home was operating without permission from the Bharatpur Municipal Corporation.



State Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf told reporters in Bharatpur that three separate committees have been formed to look into the incident. They will submit reports in seven days.



"One committee will probe the incident. The second will conduct a survey of all the marriage homes to check their safety and security measures and the third will probe whether there was any delay in treatment or any kind of laxity on part of the RBM Government Hospital staff where the victims were rushed," he said.



Prime minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and others expressed grief over the incident which occurred at the wedding hall which was being run without permission from authorities concerned.



The health minister visited the RBM Government Hospital in Bharatpur to inquire about the health of the injured and also the site of the incident and announced compensation.



He said a power cut at the hospital made the task of doctors difficult but the electricity supply resumed after ten minutes.



It will be probed whether the power cut occurred due to negligence on part of any employee or it was due to the heavy winds which hit the region last night, he said.



The situation became more difficult due to the subsequent power cut amid rains and people used mobiles and search lights to help the victims.



"It was brought to my notice that the generator of the hospital was out of order and there was only one inverter.I have asked the hospital authorities to replace the generator as soon as possible, the minister said.



He said that of the more than two dozen injured, nine are admitted and rest have been discharged.



Of the nine, two have been referred to the SMS Hospital in Jaipur and as many others are being treated at a private hospital in Bharatpur and rest are in RBM Government Hospital.



The minister said free treatment will be provided to all the injured.



"The state government will give a compensation of Rs.2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for seriously injured. A similar compensation of Rs.2 lakh to next of the kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for seriously injured will also be given by the central government, he said.



Bharatpur district collector N K Gupta had also announced a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs. 10,000 for injured.



"Primary investigation reveals that there was no permission with the marriage home owner to run this establishment. The owner Bharat Lal Sharma has been booked and he is absconding. His brother has been detained by police, the collector told PTI.



SP Anil Tank said that the owner was booked under section 304 of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) with Sewar police station today.
India's top audit body has pulled up Air India for not recovering crores of rupees owed to the national carrier for special flights used by the president, vice-president and the prime minister.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has asked the Government and Air India Limited (AIL) to make more efforts to recover the money spent on VVIP chartered flights.

In its latest report, released in March this year, CAG noted that that the total unpaid dues as on March 31, 2016, stood at Rs 513.27 crore. Of this, Rs 472.09 crore were spent on the operation of VVIP flights and Rs 41.18 crore for the External Affairs Ministry.

A Right to Information (RTI) application by activist Lokesh Batra disclosed that on March 31, 2017, Air India had dues worth Rs 451.74 for the use of chartered flights by the president, vice president and prime minister, besides special missions.

"AIL earmarked three B747-400 aircraft for the sole purpose of operating special extra section flights for VVIP operation," the CAG report said.

The carrier was rapped for taking six months to raise invoices for VVIP travels and special missions despite the revenue constraints it faced.

Air India had told CAG on February 02, 2016, that the delay was on account of information that had to be gathered from various stations. It said in view of the audit observations, efforts were being made to speed up the process.

"Though with continuous efforts, AIL was able to recover 50 per cent of the old dues... the total unpaid dues as on March 31, 2016, were Rs 513.27 crore," it said.

The government audit body said considering the significant quantum of the pending dues and in the context of government support to AIL for a turnaround, "more efforts need to be made" for an early reimbursement both AIL and the government.

The Turnaround Plan and Financial Restructuring Plan of Air India was approved by the Government in April 2012.

"Government had committed to infuse equity of Rs 42,182 crore from 2011-12 to 2031-32," CAG noted.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said only West Bengal can fight and save the country from the prevailing "intolerance" and "divisive" politics and cannot be silenced by "threat and intimidation" by the BJP.



"The tactics of threat and intimidation cannot silence me. Other states like Bihar, Maharashtra may be silent but Bengal will not stop its fight and protest, whatever be the situation. Only West Bengal can fight against this communal politics and intolerance and save the country," she said while speaking at a meeting here on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.



Challenging the BJP to put her in jail, Banerjee said that she will continue her fight against them (the BJP) and even go to jail. She will not leave the fight and will protest till the end.



In a veiled reference to 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat, she said "Butchers are born in slaughter houses, not theeunuch philosophers."



"I am in politics but it does not give me the right to dictate what others will eat or not. This is not the real religion. Religion does not teach us to do politics over it or kill people. Religion means faith, peace, love and brotherhood," she said.



Criticising the politics over beef and cow slaughter, she said threat and intimidation cannot silence her against intolerance.



Banerjee also lashed out at the state BJP leadership for calling her a "eunuch".



"I have been even called an eunuch. I want justice. This is a shame. I may be a very bad person, but I still have the right to lead a respectable life. I want justice from the people," she added.



West Bengal BJP committee member Shyamapada Mondal had on April 30 described Banerjee a eunuch while addressing a party meeting at Chandrakona in West Midnapore district, accusing her of practising the politics of appeasement.




In bias-motivated crimes, four Muslim women in Australia were allegedly punched in the face by a 39-year-old journalism student from Paraguay.



One of four Muslim women targeted in four successive and unprovoked Islamophobic attacks yesterday said she was randomly punched in the face as she walked through the city wearing her headphones.



Maria Claudia Gimenez Wilson, a 39-year-old journalism student from Paraguay, is charged with assaulting the four women, aged 18-23, as they walked along busy roads near University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Ultimo, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

All four women were wearing hijab, and were allegedly punched in the face.



Officers are treating the assaults as "bias-motivated crimes" after Wilson allegedly told police she was motivated by a hatred of Muslims, the report said.



One of the alleged victims, Hanan Merheb, posted on Facebook that she was walking past UTS listening to music and "in a pretty good mood" when she was punched out of nowhere.



"[I was] staring absent-mindedly ahead of me when some lady ... came up to me and punched me in the face," she said.



"She didn't speak to me, didn't run away, she just punched me and walked off, as casually as if she had just come to say hello."



Wilson, who moved to Australia to study, was ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment in Prince of Wales Hospital today after her Legal Aid solicitor, Vanya Hampel, told Central Local Court that her client was seeking to be dealt with under mental health legislation.



A medical report said that Wilson had schizoaffective disorder and "appears to be suffering persecutory beliefs".



"The only thing I did was to take a bull cut [sic] to a Muslim lady," Wilson said. "I don't see any problem with that."



Mariam Veiszadeh, founder of Islamophobia Register Australia, said Australian Muslim women in hijab often bear the brunt of Islamophobia.



"We are very concerned with the escalation of both the frequency of incidents of Islamophobia and the level of violence," she said.



New South Wales Police spokesman for bias-motivated crime, Superintendent Daniel Sullivan, said police will "fully investigate" any race-related crimes.



"We encourage anyone who suspects they have been a victim of a bias motivated crime to report it to police. If we don't know about it, we can't investigate it," he said.



The attack comes amid assaults targeting hijab-clad women in different parts of the world from the US to the UK.
Kirodi Lal, a vegetable vendor and his wife Ganga Devi had left no stone unturned to make wedding of their daughter a memorable affair.



But the wedding turned out not only to be unforgettable to groom and bride but for everyone who attended it, although for different reasons. Despite a major mishap that claimed 24 lives at the wedding venue, amid rain and storms, the family battled all odds throughout the fateful night to conduct the nuptial rituals of Dharmendra and Asha Saini.



Like every bride, Asha too had her dreams of the world witness the sparkling ceremonies on a beautiful stage. But phera's, the most important ritual of the wedding, where the bride circumambulates around the sacred fire in a decorative mandap, took place inside a dingy 6 x 6 feet corner of her house. Instead of the bright lights and cheering guests, three candles, two priests and six relatives were witness to a solicited bond between the couple.



The house still has the fresh Kumkum (Vermillion) sprinkles on its walls suggesting an auspicious ceremony. Bride's mother Ganga Devi, who is puzzled , whether to celebrate her daughters wedding or mourn her father's demise told DH, "After the wall collapsed, for three hours we were rescuing the guests and relatives. But around 3 AM priests suggested that we should tie the nuptial knot of the couple on the scheduled mahurat (auspicious time)." Since marriage lawn had turned into a mass 'funeral ground,' family brought both Dharmendar and Asha to their house 3 kms from the venue and priests performed the remaining ceremony.



Anju Saini younger sister whose hands are painted with Henna points towards a wall which says 'Shubh Vivaah', "A few days before wedding we painted our house for my sisters wedding. Last night there was no light due to bad weather and after the fatal accident everything seemed impossible for a few hours, but we all tried to make it happen." Interestingly there is no wedding photograph of the couple, who returned to Jaipur on Thursday early morning. Groom Dharmendra resides at Jaipur's Chaura Rasta situated in Walled City. Out of the sixty Baraatis who accompanied groom, one died on the spot and 7 are injured.
A woman was killed and her husband injured as Pakistani troops fired on forward areas and border hamlets of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday night.



Following the incident, the authorities ordered the closure of schools along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district on Thursday. Reports said, Akhtar Bi (35) was killed while her husband Mohammad Hanief (40) injured when a mortar shell hit their house in Laam village of Nowshera sector along the LoC.



Defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta said Pakistan troops used 120 mm and 82 mm mortar shells to pound border hamlets and military posts in Nowshera sector from 10.40 pm. (Wednesday). Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively and firing was intermittently going on, he said.



Eyewitnesses told DH over phone that several mortar shells landed inside or close to houses in border villages creating panic among the residents. An official said Nowshera sub-divisional magistrate ordered the closure of all schools along the LoC as a precautionary measure.



Villages affected



The shelling has affected several hamlets along the LoC including Sheri Makeri, Namakdali and Khamba since Wednesday night, he said.



The latest ceasefire violation came just 10 days after Pakistani soldiers crossed into the Indian territory near LoC in Krishan Ghati sector of Poonch district and killed two Indian soldiers and mutilated their bodies.



The official figures showed that Pakistan breached the 2003 ceasefire agreement along the LoC 449 times in 2016 as compared to 405 violations in 2015.



A senior army officer said they expect the violations to increase in coming days as Pakistan has been relentlessly trying to push heavily-armed militants into India to disturb peace and cause casualties among security forces in the hinterland.
Vinay Mohan Kwatra Appointed as Ambassador to France

Published: May 11, 2017

Diplomat Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as Indias next ambassador to France. He is currently serving as joint secretary in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO). Kwatra will succeed Mohan Kumar who is due to retire soon.

Kwatra has served in Indian diplomatic missions in China and the US and has experience dealing with the UN organisations such as International Labour Organisation (ILO) and World Health Organisation (WHO). In the MEA, he had served as the joint secretary incharge of the counter-terrorism division in the MEA.



Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017

Topics: appointments  International

Latest E-Books
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday unveiled a mobile application for grievance redressal of paramilitary personnel with a promise that he is just a click away from the soldiers.



The application launch comes after a few personnel posted a series of videos on social media complaining about problems pertaining to food and leave among others. Launching the app, he said he had proposed such a facility at the conference of the DGPs in Hyderabad last year.



This app comes handy when the jawans feel that their problems need attention of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). This has given a digital option to the jawans to lodge their grievances. I am just one click away, Singh said.



He said he will review the dashboard every month and check the status of redressal of grievances. The MHA will intervene, wherever required, he said, adding everybody should be benefitted from the telecom revolution.



The paramilitary forces are one of the most disciplined ones. But this does not mean they do not have emotions. They, too, have personal problems and the system keeps resolving their problems from time to time, he said.

Elaborating on the welfare measures taken by the government, he said to curb career stagnation, 34,000 personnel have been promoted as head constables. He said the families of personnel, who sacrifice their lives for the nation, should get a minimum assistance of Rs 1 crore. He also referred to the recently launched web portal Bharat Ke Veer to enable donors to contribute towards the families of the bravehearts who sacrificed their lives in line of duty.
Student protests in Kashmir show no signs of abating. Fresh clashes broke out between students and security forces in several areas of the Valley on Thursday.



Police lobbed teargas shells and resorted to cane charge the moment groups of students assembled to take out protest marches in Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam and Baramulla districts, resulting in street clashes.



According to witnesses, a number of school and college students took to streets in the volatile Pulwama town to protest the detention of their mates and began throwing stones at security personnel. Shopkeepers in the town said the police not only damaged their goods, but also beat them. They later staged massive protests and the police threw teargas shells on the shopkeepers rally, triggering further clashes.



The shopkeepers announced a complete shutdown on Friday to protest the police excesses and demanded the transfer of erring officers.



Intense stone-pelting clashes were also reported from the Magam town of Budgam district between students and the security forces. Many students were injured when the police used pellets and teargas shells, reports said. In the Dooru area of Anantnag district, dozens of students clashed with the police and staged pro-freedom protests, expressing solidarity with fellow students in jail.
Even after two days, the five-member Kolkata Police team, which arrived in Chennai on Wednesday to arrest Justice C S Karnan, could not trace the judge till Thursday night.



Justice Karnan, who was staying at the State Guest House at Chepauk on Tuesday, even before the Supreme Court passed orders awarding him six months jail term, is missing since Wednesday morning.



The police team stayed put here for the second successive day, trying to find clues to track Justice Karnan. With the help of the Tamil Nadu Police, the Kolkata Police team interrogated Justice Karnans son Sugan at Nungambakkam.



They (the team) also discussed with senior authorities at the State DGP office with regard to the whereabouts of Justice Karnan and on the next course of action to be taken, said a senior police officer.



Apart from searching in Chennai, the team from Kolkata also visited Justice Karnans native place Vridhachalam. However, he could not be traced. The squad from Kolkata is expected to stay on till Friday. In light of reports that Justice Karnan visited the Kalahasti temple, the Andhra Pradesh Police have been asked to maintain high alert in the border areas.


Bengaluru, dhns: Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday said that police department will have zero vacancy by 2018-19.



Speaking to reporters here after holding a review meeting with senior police officials, including DG&IGP R K Dutta and ADGP (Recruitment) Raghavendra H Auradkar, the minister said that since 2013-14 till date, the department has recruited 1,304 police sub-inspectors and 22,457 constables.



This information was furnished to the Supreme Court and the court appreciated the efforts made by the state government in the police recruitment. To speed up the recruitment process, we have taken clearance from the Finance Department to add 16,000 policemen in the next three years, he said.



Parameshwara explained that the total strength of the police force in the state in 2013 was 75,389, excluding IPS officers, and the number of vacancies stood at 19,000.



As in January 2017, the staff strength has been increased to 1.56 lakh and the vacancies stand at 24,399. However, if the number of recruitments in the past three years are added, the actual number of vacancies would be 17,000. Besides, the other reason for vacancies was that no recruitment took place in 2010 and 2011 as far as PSIs are concerned and, in 2013 the recruitment process was delayed because of confusion over 371 (J) clause,'' he said.



A senior official said that one of the problems with the recruitment is a large number of policemen retiring every year. Around 2,500-3,000 policemen retire every year and the department has to keep tabs on this. We have set out a target of recruiting 8,000 policemen every year to meet the tally of retiring staff and the vacancies for various reasons. Moreover, the state has eight permanent training schools and 22 temporary schools. At a time, a maximum of 7,000 policemen can attend the training,'' the official said.




Senior advocate Fali S Nariman, who heads Karnatakas legal team on the inter-state water dispute, has advised the state government against accepting at this juncture the Centres offer to form a group of experts to deal with the Cauvery river water dispute.



Law Minister T B Jayachandra and Water Resources Minister M B Patil met the legal team here on Thursday to seek its opinion on the Ministry of Water Resources proposal to form the group of experts.



Since Karnataka has already challenged the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunals final award before the Supreme Court, accepting the Centres suggestion on forming an expert committee at this juncture is not wise, Patil told DH after the meeting, quoting Nariman.



At the meeting, also attended by state government officials, discussed the pros and cons of the proposed expert group. Nariman said the state should wait and watch. Right now, we should not accept the Centres offer, Patil said and added that the meeting with legal experts would continue on Friday.



The ministry has proposed setting up of a group of experts to deal with the Cauvery dispute and sought the opinion of riparian states. The terms of reference of the group include making suggestions on equitable distribution of water among basin states during a distress year, identifying the key reasons behind the water dispute, recommending a framework for collection and dissemination of water data in the river basin and estimating the availability of water in each season.



Earlier this week, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had held a meeting with leaders of different political parties in Bengaluru and sought their opinion on the group of experts. The meeting decided to seek Narimans opinion before firming up the governments stand on the matter.



Karnataka is handling the matter cautiously as the Supreme Court will start hearing in July the states application against the tribunals final award.



Our main concern is that the expert group should not harm our interests on the Cauvery, a Karnataka government official said.




Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to attend the 94th birthday celebrations of DMK supremo M Karunanidhi in Chennai on June 3.



Sonia accepted the invitation extended by Karunanidhis daughter and DMK MP Kanimozhi, who had last weekend invited the 70-year-old Congress chief to the event.



Leaders across the Opposition spectrum are expected to attend the event, which is also seen as a platform to discuss a possible grand alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.



Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav have already announced their attendance at the event.



Sonia has emerged as the fulcrum of the Opposition unity and has been reaching out to various leaders in a bid to reach a consensus on a joint nominee for the presidential election.



The names of former West Bengal governor and Mahatma Gandhis grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav are doing the rounds as probable candidates for the top post.



President Pranab Mukherjees tenure ends on July 25, 2017. While the Narendra Modi government is yet to open its cards on its presidential nominee, the Congress-led Opposition has made it clear that it would put up a joint candidate as a signal of resistance to the high handedness of the BJP-RSS.



The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA is about 15,000 votes short of a majority in the 10.98 lakh vote value that makes up the electoral college for the presidential election.



The NDA received a shot in the arm on Wednesday when YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy met Modi and announced his partys support to the BJPs presidential candidate.
At a time when the country is bracing to elect its next President, a book has revealed that Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of making a Dalit woman as the first citizen. But the Mahatmas radical suggestion was turned down.



The country had to wait till 1997 to get a Dalit president in K R Narayanan, even as the Mahatmas grandson Rajmohan Gandhi, a writer and academician, reveals a couple of conversations and a speech the Mahatma made in June 1947, spelling out his preference.



The book Why Gandhi Still Matters: An Appraisal of the Mahatmas Legacy comes at a time when Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, both Dalits, are being speculated as possible candidates from the BJP and the Opposition camps, respectively.



The Mahatmas other grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi is also being actively considered as a candidate by the Opposition, which is looking at a possibility of fielding a joint nominee to take on the BJP-led NDA. He was proposed as a vice president nominee in 2012.



The book says the death of a talented young Dalit from Andhra Pradesh triggered the idea of installing someone from the backward community as the first President in the Mahatma . Chakrayya was with the Mahatma at the Sevagram ashram since its inception.



The Mahatma had on June 2, 1947 said at a prayer meeting in memory of Chakrayya that he would have proposed his name for the top post had he been alive. Four days later, he repeated his views to Rajendra Prasad, who became the countrys first President on January 26, 1950, saying a Dalit like Chakrayya on whom he had nursed high hopes or a Dalit girl should be made the first President.



If I have my way, the President of the Indian Republic will be a chaste and brave Bhangi girl... If such a girl of my dreams becomes President, I shall be her servant and I shall not expect from the government even my upkeep. I shall make Jawaharlal (Nehru), Sardar (Vallabhai) Patel and Rajendra Babu her ministers and therefore her servants, he told a gathering on June 27, 1947.



However, the book says the Mahatmas radical suggestion was turned down as Nehru, Patel and company wished to retain Lord Mountbatten as governor general.



They thought the subcontinents princely states would be more likely to choose India over Pakistan if the Kings cousin continued... Gandhi agreed to Mountbatten staying on, but repeated that he wanted an untouchable to head the Indian state before long, the book says.
While the spotlight is focussed on the toppers, there are other students who fought against odds to do well in the second PU examinations.



Raghu G has come a long way from being a child labourer on a construction site to scoring 86% in Commerce and nursing ambitions of becoming a chartered accountant. His family moved to Bengaluru from Andhra Pradesh when he was eight and he had not even completed Class I. My parents were working at a construction site but my father injured his leg and he couldnt work. So, I had to take up the responsibility, Raghu said. He worked at the site and later in a bakery, before he was taken in by Sparsha Trust at the age of 14. He stayed at the shelter home and they helped him enrol as a private candidate for SSLC examination. I really wanted to study, but amma said no. My father was supportive and then my mother also came around, recounted Raghu. He scored 64% in a class X and the trust enrolled him in Sheshadripuram PU college, Yelahanka. I couldnt understand anything that was taught at first, but I kept trying and eventually the subjects made sense, Raghu said. He has scored 519 marks and he wants to study BCom to become a CA.



Strained finances of her family did not stop Manaswi Hegde of Deeksha PU College from dreaming about becoming an Ayurvedic doctor. When Manaswi completed her SSLC exams with a score of 98%, chances of her studying further had looked slim.



My father had been working in a paan shop but the owner asked him to leave all of a sudden. I had just finished the exams and our financial situation which was already bad became worse, she said. She received a scholarship from Deeksha PU College, which took care of half her fees. Manaswi has scored 574 marks in the Science stream, making her college and parents proud. Unlike other PCMB students, Manaswi does not want to study MBBS. Our family always goes to an Ayurveda doctor and I have been inspired by her since I was a child. I have written CET and hope to get a merit seat since my parents cannot afford a management seat, she said. Her father is now an auto-driver and her mother a homemaker.




Indias topmost regulatory agency on Thursday recommended commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard, developed by scientists from the Delhi University.



The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union environment and forest ministry approved the commercial cultivation of the GM mustard, overruling the objections and apprehensions raised by the anti-GM lobby.



If cleared by the ministry, it would be Indias first GM food crop. The application on GM mustard was appraised at the GEAC meeting on Thursday. Earlier, a sub-committee had appraised the safety document for GM mustard. The GEAC has recommended the approval of GM mustard to the environment ministry, said an official.



Final decision



The final decision on the commercial release of GM mustard would have to be taken by Union Environment Minister Anil Dave. In doing so, he would follow a precedence set up by his predecessor, Jairam Ramesh.



When Bt cotton, Indias first GM crop was approved in 2002, the decision taken by GEAC was the final. But when Bt brinjal came up for commercial release clearance in 2009, Ramesh stopped it, negating the GEAC clearance.



The GM mustard has been developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants in Delhi University South Campus under the leadership of Deepak Pental, a former vice chancellor of the

university.



If they clear it, it is good. But I cant comment till I hear from them officially, Pental said. The anti-GM lobby groups slammed the GEAC for the decision.



The GEAC has proven yet again that it is unscientific and uncaring with regard to citizens health and environment. They have failed in their very mandate and purpose for which they have been created, to protect citizens from risks of GMOs, said Kavitha Kuruganti from the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture.



The university team had submitted an application to the GEAC for the environmental release of GM mustard (Brassica juncea) hybrid DMH-11 and the use of two parental events (genetic traits that go by the names of Varuna bn 3.6 and EH2 mod bs 2.99) to create new generation of hybrids.



The environment ministry received over 700 comments from various stakeholders, including farmers and researchers, on the assessment of food and environmental safety report on GM mustard, which it had earlier posted on the ministry website.



DH News Service
  , 14    :     40     ; 3      
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would consider whether the practice of triple talaq was intrinsic to Islam.



It also asked the government how it would deal with Muslim men seeking divorce if triple talaq was declared unconstitutional. A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar began a crucial hearing on the constitutional validity of triple talaq, with the caveat that it would not deal with the question of polygamy.

We are going to deal with triple talaq and nothing else, the bench said.



If triple talaq is intrinsic to Islam, the court will see if it is enforceable under Article 25 of the Constitution, dealing with the freedom to practise religion.



The bench also comprises Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and S Abdul Nazeer. Hearing suo motu a petition on equality for Muslim women, the bench also observed, Several countries have abolished triple talaq by passing laws... thats the way to do it.



Senior advocate Amit Singh Chaddha, appearing for Shayara Bano, the first woman petitioner, said triple talaq as practised with three utterances was not an essential part of Islam. Therefore, it was not protected under the Constitution.



Though men have untrammelled right, the options are limited for women, he said. Bano and a group of affected women have also sought that polygamy be barred, as also the condition that remarriage with a divorced husband can take place only after an intervening marriage with another man.



Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for NGO Bebak Foundation, described triple talaq as extra-judicial. It has got no judicial oversight, she said.



The solution to the problem is for the court to say Parliament should make a law on it, she submitted. She also questioned the Central governments affidavit, saying it had sought to compare Hindu and Muslim personal laws. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected, Let her show one such line from our affidavit.



She said the practice of marriage in Muslim law was better as it mandated consent from the wife, while in Hindu law, the consent was considered implied. Does the Constitution stop where family law begins? she said.



She wondered what was stopping the government from codifying Muslim personal law. To this, the bench said, You did not come to us. We began this suo motu. We are dealing with a particular type of divorce. What is attacked here is its irrevocable nature, the bench said.



Senior advocate Salman Khurshid intervened and said not every triple talaq was instantaneous. It is to be pronounced within a period of three months, with conciliation efforts in the interim. The divorce becomes irrevocable only if all such efforts fail, he explained. Who should decide: courts or parliament?



Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said instant triple talaq had been banned through legislation in some Islamic countries, but not by their courts.



The law officer for the government submitted the practice affected the fundamental rights of women. The government is not on any side, but will fight for gender justice, equality and dignity of women, it said.


As the clamour rises against private schools charging excess fees, the District level Education Regulating Authority (DERA), which has the authority to hear such complaints, has not been able to address the issue for want of reform.



The authority in Bengaluru (Urban) district, under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner, has met only four times in the academic year 2016-17. The number of complaints received in the same period has risen to 66.



According to records in the DCs office, most of the complaints by parents are about excess fees charged by schools and improper admission procedures. Of the four meetings held in the previous academic year, two were to discuss the same issue. In the 2015-16 academic year, approximately the same number of complaints were received. However, records of meetings and action taken were not available.



The Karnataka Educational Institutions (classification, regulation, and prescription of curricula etc.,) Rules 1995 lay out the jurisdiction and constitution of DERA and give it the authority to hear cases of educational institutions violating rules about admission and fee collection. The Karnataka Education (Second Amendment) Act 2017, has made DERA part of the Act and given it additional powers to impose penalty on institutions for not taking measures to ensure child safety, for not paying teachers on time, employing faculty without necessary qualifications and not maintaining a schedule of employees.



Ajay Seth, additional chief secretary, Department of Primary and Secondary Education, acknowledged that DERA has limitations and in certain districts, meetings may not be happening regularly. There are some missing elements. The basic rules say that DERA shall devise its own procedure to conduct enquiries. We need to lay down rules on what these procedures are, he said. In the coming months, Seth said that they would lay out DERAs functioning in detail and make it more effective. We will have a relook at the constitution of the authority as well and it will be open for review. We want to provide a credible forum for matters to be heard, he said. They will consider creating a public domain where details of cases can be accessed.
Three men, who allegedly duped a city-based jeweller by paying him Rs 32 lakh in photocopied banknotes, were arrested by police on Wednesday.



The suspects had given photocopies of 2,000-rupee notes to buy one kg of gold on the busy KG Road in the heart of Bengaluru on April 24. Police gave their names as Vinod Tilakchand (45), Hemanth Gowda (33) and Harish Kumar (31)  all from Mysuru.



Fake identity



One of the suspects had assumed a fake identity of Jugraj, a businessman from Chikkamagaluru. He called the jeweller, Dinesh Kumar, on his mobile phone on the pretext of placing an order for one kilogram of jewellery for his daughters wedding.



Feigning preoccupation with the wedding preparations, he told Dinesh that his manager would hand over the cash to get the jewellery, police said.

Photocopies of notes



Accordingly, another suspect met Dinesh near Shikshakara Sadana on KG Road and handed over a bag containing photocopies of Rs 2,000 notes and took the delivery of gold jewellery.



He managed to divert Dineshs attention by engaging him in conversation and rode off before the jeweller could count the cash, police said.



When Dinesh returned to his shop and began counting the notes, he had the biggest shock of his life: they were all photocopies. He then approached the jurisdictional Halasuru Gate police station and filed a complaint.



Police tracked down the suspects based on the call detail record (CDR) and arrested them in Mysuru. They have seized the gold along with a large amount of photocopied notes, a photocopier, two cars and other accessories.



The masterminds



Tilakchand and Gowda are believed to have masterminded the plot to con the jeweller while Harish supplied them fake notes. Harish also used to print cheques, bonds and fake notes and had cases against him in Mysuru, Chamarajanagar and Bengaluru, police added.
The Agara lake in the city, for long choked by contamination, will soon breathe easy. The waterbody, lying between Koramangala and HSR Layout, will sport a refurbished look by the end 2017.



Work is on in full swing to clear the 95-acre lake of the large swathes of weeds covering whatever water is left there. The cleaning process will follow a number of steps - dewatering, desilting, construction of bund and others. The rejuvenation project has been undertaken by the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) with the support of the Agara Lake Protection and Management Society (ALPMS), a registered public society of citizens interested in the development of the lake.



ALPMS has been working closely with the government authority for the restoration of the waterbody. The first phase of the revival project is almost complete. Works under the second phase include construction of a cycle track, walkway and beautification are expected to start soon.



Munivenkatappa G N, president of ALPMS, said the total project cost was between Rs 14 crore and Rs 15 crore.



During 20092012, the lake deteriorated at an alarming rate. In 2012, the court directed KLCDA to hand over the management of the lake to an NGO/public trust with active participation of neighbourhood welfare groups. ALPMS joined the efforts in 2013. Since then, various initiatives have been taken to improve the lake, with the support of the stakeholders, said Suresh B Bhadraiah, the ALPMS secretary.



KLCDA sources said they had floated tenders in January 2016 for the development and rejuvenation of the lake which comes under Begur hobli, Bengaluru South taluk.




In November 2016, Missouri voters overwhelmingly threw their support behind Amendment 2, which re-established limits on campaign contributions by individuals and groups and prohibited them from intentionally concealing the sources of such contributions. In a time when Americans are more or less evenly split regarding political ideology, what does it say that 70 percent of Missouri voters supported Amendment 2? And what does it say that on the very same ballot Missourians passed Amendment 2, they elected as governor a candidate who ran on a drain the swamp campaign  a candidate who promised transparency?

It says our citizens are tired of feeling like their votes dont matter because they cant afford to donate $100 to a candidate, let alone $1 million. It says they dont want to cast their ballots for candidates who are already bought and paid for  candidates who are beholden to special interests from the moment they take their oaths. And it says theyre sick of not knowing whos doing the buying and paying. When it comes to discerning how Missouri citizens feel about the lack of serious ethics reform and transparency in our elections, reading between the lines isnt necessary because theyve sent us a clear message: theyre tired of being disappointed.

Amendment 2 was a good step, but as the saying goes: where theres a will, theres a way. And that new way is called a 501(c)(4). Named after the federal tax code provision governing them, 501(c)(4)s are nonprofit organizations that are allowed to keep secret the identity of their donors and how they spend their money. They are also the biggest channel of so-called dark money, campaign contributions that are essentially made to a nonprofit to hide the donors identity. The use of 501(c)(4)s are on the rise in politics, here in Missouri and throughout the country, and its a direct result of the push to implement reformed campaign finance laws.

Although less than 50 percent of a 501(c)(4)s money can be spent on political activities, an organization isnt limited in how much money it can raise. This means a single wealthy donor can still very easily influence an election. It also means 501(c)(4)s can pay for personal attack ads against lawmakers and dont have to disclose the sources of their funds. Such has been the recent case with the governors nonprofit, A New Missouri, Inc., which was expressly created to promote the governors agenda.

In April, A New Missouri, Inc. released attack ads against a fellow senator. The ads were not only categorically untrue but also contained his personal cell phone number. As if that wasnt bad enough, A New Missouri, Inc. then had the audacity to threaten similar petty action against any lawmaker who dared to get in the way of the governors agenda. What happened to my Senate colleague was unacceptable, but thats exactly the kind of dishonest and unethical behavior dark money enables.

Dark money prevents the public from knowing who is influencing, or outright funding, a candidates campaign or an elected officials agenda. It is a corrupting influence, a threat to our democracy and clearly the next ethics reform. That is exactly what I, along with some of my Senate colleagues, have been trying to do in these final days of session  loosen the grip dark money has on Missouri politics and, by extension, our state government. Senate Bill 73, sponsored by Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, creates the Dark Money Disclosure Act, which would require 501(c)(4)s to identify their donors.

Now, you may have heard that business in the Senate slowed down considerably this week. You also may have heard it was mainly due to a group of obstructionist senators, myself included, who were determined to prevent all other legislation  even the budget  from moving forward unless SB 73 was given a hearing. Part of this is true.

I was among the small group of senators who held the floor Monday evening until an agreement was reached to hold a hearing on SB 73, and an agreement was reached. After that, we made it clear we were ready and willing to take up any measure that might help move the budget process along. For example, we couldve spent part of this week figuring out the circuit breaker tax credit piece of the budget puzzle, but we didnt. Instead, the Legislature abruptly adjourned Tuesday morning, without advancing a single measure.

I cant speak for how other senators spent the rest of their Tuesday, but I know where I was  in my office meeting with constituents and taking part in a working group with several of my colleagues. The goal of our working group was to review the legislative calendar and then develop a list of bills we felt were non-controversial in nature that should easily and quickly be able to pass through the Senate.

The reality is the House has sent a lot of bills over to us, and theyre concerned none of them will get passed. We wanted to help facilitate the process of moving legislation along, and we worked for many hours to come up with a solid list. We may have held our ground for a short time Monday evening, but to say we were somehow dead set on obstructing or impeding the Senates work is utterly false. We were and are very motivated to tackle the important issues before us. The whole point of creating the list was to be as proactive as possible, and I believe everyone who participated in the working group was sincere in determining what bills we might yet be able to move across the finish line before May 12.

I want to make it perfectly clear  we want to get the business of this state done, but we also want to address our remaining priorities. And the very personal attack on our fellow senator by way of dark money has raised the significance of SB 73 to a level where it must be a priority. No lawmakers should ever be put in the position where theyre forced to vote the governors agenda, or anyones agenda, over their personal beliefs and their constituents interests for fear of having negative ads and their personal cell phone number splashed across the media.

Senate Bill 73 was heard by the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, May 2. I hope to be able to report a positive outcome on this issue at the end of session next week.

Finally, my staff and I were very happy to once again welcome back Chris Schillinger and crew from Baylee Jos BBQ Seafood & Grill in Ironton. This was the ninth year Chris and his staff have brought their great barbecue to the Capitol. I know our Senate family always looks forward to seeing the folks from Baylee Jos, and I sincerely thank them for going out of their way, navigating around the flooded roads and bridges, to come see us in Jefferson City.

I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at 573-751-4008. You may write me at Gary Romine, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101; or email me at gary.romine@senate.mo.gov.
Adam Camacho has been named the new principal of San Dieguito Academy, taking over for Bjorn Paige, effective July 1, according to a press release.

Camacho, who has been the principal of Earl Warren Middle School since 2014, joined the San Dieguito Union High School District in 2000 as a counselor at La Costa Canyon High School.

After six years in this role, Camacho became a counselor at Earl Warren Middle School where he served for four years, before becoming the assistant principal at Carmel Valley Middle School in 2010. In the spring of 2014, Camacho was selected as the principal of Earl Warren where he has led successfully and overseen the complete demolition and reconstruction of the school with the new campus set to open in August of 2017, according to the press release.

Camacho is a native of Pismo Beach, graduate of Arroyo Grande High School and came to San Diego to attend San Diego State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice Administration.

After college, Camacho worked for two years as a juvenile probation officer for the County of San Diego, before deciding to pursue a career in education. He subsequently earned a Master of Science in Counseling degree from San Diego State University before beginning his tenure in the San Dieguito Union High School District. He is also a musician.

Camacho lives in Carlsbad with his family, including his children, ages 5, 8 and 11.

School district officials said Camacho and Paige, who has accepted a principal position in Beaverton, Oregon, will work closely over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition in leadership.
It was just last month that Farmington L.I.F.E. Center Director Tim Azinger was "all smiles" getting ready for the center's 20th anniversary celebration. Now he's preparing to meet with his board of directors to make the hard decisions necessary for the center to survive.

Centers for Independent Living across the state of Missouri  including the L.I.F.E. Center in Farmington that serves people with disabilities in the Parkland  are facing the reality of staff layoffs, reduced services and the closure of satellite offices after getting hit with $2.5 million in cuts in the fiscal year 2017 state budget.

"We got hurt and we are kind of scurrying around to see what kind of impact it's going to have on us and the services we provide," Azinger, a former Marine left wheelchair bound after breaking his neck while in the service, said. "We've got a board meeting [Tuesday night] and, of course, they'll have the final say, but we are, as staff, preparing for cuts to put before their eyes and see what they decide to do."

According to Azinger, the L.I.F.E. Center is built on five core services that include

- advocating for accessibility and disability rights on the state and national level, along with training people with disabilities to advocate for themselves and others;

- providing peer support by staff and volunteers share their own experiences to help others explore options, solve problems, and develop new skills;

- researching topics, upon request in the center's library of disability resources, as well as referring to other agencies as appropriate;

- helping individuals learn daily living, attendant management, money management, pre-employment and other skills critical to independent living; and;

- supporting individuals in the transition process from an institutional environment into the greater community, assisting individuals at high risk for nursing homes to remain in the community and training youth with significant disabilities for their next stages of life with job skills and employment placement.

"While $2.5 million may not sound like a lot of money in the state, for us it's a big deal," Azinger said. "We have a slice of that pie, so what they cut (was) our VR (Vocational Rehabilitation) grant by about half. So, we will have fewer people that we can serve or have some wait lists, perhaps. We're trying to minimize the impact."

The director said that, while area legislators were supportive of the L.I.F.E. Center, their efforts turned out not to be enough.

"I believe they were on our side, but in the end it just didn't carry the day," Azinger said. "[Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Brown] was the one who really strongly wanted us to receive a cut and so we are."

Asked how many staff cuts might be necessary at Farmington and/or the L.I.F.E. satellite offices in Fredericktown and Bismarck, Azinger said, "Well, I don't know just yet, and I don't want to speak out of turn without speaking to my board first.

"They will have the final say. I have suggestions of what we can do differently, but whether it's closing an office  which I don't really want to do, but we may have to do  things like that, along with some layoffs and reduction of some our services, are certainly on the table."

State Senator Gary Romine, R-3rd District, said the problem is "a lack of growth in revenues" to adequately fund the state budget.

"We're not meeting the projections that we were anticipating for the state," he said. "Cuts need to be made. It started with the governor modifying the point system on eligibility for [handicapped] services.

"It was quite the battle between the House and the Senate to where we could get to some compromise, but it still ended up with some cuts going to the independent living centers that will affect them across the state. It's just that area of service that is going to be cut back. Our goal with what we're trying to do with economic development  everything from career tech education and making sure we have a trained workforce, to some of the issues that have been passed as far as tort reform  is to be able to fund in future budgets areas where we had to make cuts this year.

"There's a couple of bills on the House side that need to be voted on  Senate Bill 43 and 45 on employment discrimination. Those are some of the things we hope will bring more business and industry into our state and to make the businesses already here comfortable in growing their businesses in the state."
Why Should We Let You Go Off So Easily When Mahira Khan Faced Problems In India
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Herman William Westmeyer, age 104, passed away at the Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community in Manhattan, KS, on May 8, 2017. Herman was born on November 15, 1912, in Farmington, MO, to Charles and Alice (Rodekohr) Westmeyer. He grew up on the family farm with three brothers and five sisters. He attended St. Paul Lutheran School and Farmington High School and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1936 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Following graduation, Herman was employed by the Kansas Cooperative Extension Service. Prior to World War II, he served as a County Agent in Lane, Harper and Barber Counties. He had a tremendous respect and admiration for the farmers and ranchers of Western Kansas who in the late 1930s survived the hard times associated with the great dust bowl. He felt these people were the toughest of the tough. While serving in Barber County he met his future wife Nadine (Fowler) in Medicine Lodge, KS, while she was working at the soda fountain in Carters Drug Store. They married in May of 1942 just prior to Herman being drafted into the Army for WWII. While Herman was serving in the military, Nadine worked at the Boeing Plant in Wichita building B-29 bombers.

During the war, Herman saw action in the European Theatre during the Battle of the Bulge as a Forward Observer for the 490th Field Artillery Battalion, 11th Armored Division. He received a Purple Heart medal for serious wounds received during the battle and was awarded a Bronze Start medal for valor.

Herman resumed his work as a County Agent after the war, serving as a County Agent in Harvey and Ford counties. Herman and Nadines two sons, Mel and Rex, were born in Dodge City during this time. He often spoke of his 14 years of work with the farmers, ranchers and 4H Clubs of Ford County in the period after the war with great fondness.

In 1961, he earned a Master of Animal Science degree at Kansas State University and started a new role as an Extension Beef Cattle Specialist. His passion for working with beef cattle began at an early age. His father, C. J. Westmeyer, was a founding member of the National Polled Herford Association. He was associated with a variety of beef cattle research efforts throughout the state over the years and conducted meetings and seminars that disseminated the latest research information on raising cattle to ranchers across Kansas. He had a passion for the role that 4H played in the lives of young farmers and ranchers, and was a lifelong supporter of 4H programs. He judged beef cattle at the Kansas State Fair, the American Royal, and numerous county fairs.

Herman was transferred to Chanute, KS, in 1973 where he finished his career as Area Director of Extension for Southeast Kansas. He retired as a Kansas State University Professor Emeritus in 1978 in Chanute. He was a member of Epsilon Sigma Phi, the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, Rotary, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and the Zion Lutheran Church in Chanute. In retirement, he served on the board of charities and continued his life of public service well into his 90s.

Herman was preceded in death by Nadine in 2008; his parents; and siblings, Walter, Florence, Juanita, Irma, Carl, Louise, Lillian, and Clarence. He is loved and missed by his sons, Mel (Dorie) Westmeyer of Chicago, IL, and Rex (Pam) Westmeyer of Manhattan, KS; his grandchildren, Travis (Sylvia) Westmeyer of Oak Park, IL, Ashley (Justin) Graff of Portland, OR, and Charlie Westmeyer of Chicago, IL; and by his great-grandchildren, Genevieve, Solomon, Harrison and Elliot.

A graveside funeral service will be held Tuesday, May 16, 2017, at 11 a.m. at the Chanute Memorial Cemetery, Chanute, Kansas.

In lieu of flowers, Herman asked that donations be made to the Zion Lutheran Church of Chanute, Kansas; and/or an Alzheimers research organization of their choice.

For more information, to send an email condolence visit the funeral home website www.irvinparkview.com. Arrangements entrusted to Irvin-Parkview Funeral Home and Cremation, Manhattan.
As per reports Netflix has started pushing out the updated version 5.0 of its Android app to LG G6 users. LG and Netflix had announced a partnership to exclusively launch HDR and Dolby Vision content on the new flagship device back when it was unveiled at

A few days ago, Netflix announced that it will soon be adding HDR and Dolby Vision content to its platform. The streaming company also said that this content will be pushed out through version 5.0 of its Android app, starting with the LG G6 smartphone.

Now, as per reports, Netflix has started pushing out the updated version 5.0 of its Android app to LG G6 users. LG and Netflix had announced a partnership to exclusively launch HDR and Dolby Vision content on the new flagship device back when it was unveiled at MWC 2017. Netflixs own website lists the LG G6 as the only mobile device supporting this content currently. If you do own the LG G6, you could try downloading the updated Netflix app through the Play Store.

Netflix supports two different HDR streaming formats, Dolby Vision and UltraHD Premium (HDR). The content can also be viewed on a TV that supports either Dolby Vision or HDR, along with the Netflix app. Apart from the LG G6, some other non-TV devices that support Netflix in HDR (not Dolby Vision) include - Chromecast Ultra, Nvidia Shield, Nvidia Shield Pro, Roku Premiere+, Roku Ultra, Xbox One S. The company recommends an internet connection with speeds of at least 25 Mbps to stream this high quality content.

Even though Netflix has given dibs to the G6 for launching its HDR, Dolby Vision content on mobile, we expect the update will soon be rolled out to Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus users as well. Both the S8 and S8 Plus also support HDR streaming. The Galaxy S8 devices have a similar screen ratio as the LG G6, i.e 18:9, which Samsung claims will offer better video watching and multitasking, along with streaming HDR content.

If you are a LG G6 user and have access to Netflix's app version 5.0, let us know your experiences of watching Dolby Vision, HDR content on your phones. If you have an HDR capable device and the 4 Screen Netflix streaming plan, available titles will display an HDR logo next to their description. Similarly, If you have a Dolby Vision capable device and the 4 Screen Netflix streaming plan, available titles will display the Dolby Vision logo next to their description.
Amongst many things, Microsoft has announced that Microsoft Teams new now open to developers to publish apps through the Office Store

At its Build 2017 developer conference, Microsoft has announced that it will be bringing new opportunities to developers through Office 365. The company says that Microsoft Teams is now open to all developers to publish apps through the Office Store. These apps will be visible in a new discover apps experience feature that will make it easier for users to add and use apps within teams. These features are now available in Developer Preview, and will be available to all users soon.

Besides these, the company also introduced two new capabilities available in Developer Preview. These included Compose extensions, and third-party notifications in the activity feed. Compose extensions allows users to issue commands to bring information from an app or service directly into their Team chat. As the name would suggest, third-party notifications in the activity feed allows developers to alert users of important information and updates to their service.

Further, Microsoft announced that new Teams APIs are coming to Microsoft Graph, allowing developers to access team and channel information. Developers can now package capabilities like abs, bots and connectors, compose extensions, and activity feed notifications into a single Teams app in order to make it simpler to publish and manage.

Besides Teams specific updates, announced that it will be expanding JavaScript APIs in Word and Excel in preview, which would let developers access and extend structured data within documents.

OneDrive will be getting new File Handler capabilities that will allow partners to extend the experience of working with files with new web-based views and connected actions. The SharePoint Framework will allow developers use modern javaScript tools and framework to build web parts within SharePoint. The preview version will soon be getting SharePoint Framework Extensions, lettings developers use these tools to customise SharePoint team sites, document libraries, and lists

During the event, Microsoft demonstrated its upcoming Presentation Translator add-in, which uses Microsofts translation APIs in PowerPoint. This would allow presenters the ability to add subtitles to their presentations in the same or different languages. New Insight APIs will allow developers build smarter processes by leveraging relationships between users and documents. The company also made two new core capabilities of Microsoft Graph, namely Delta Queries and Custom data generally available.

Microsoft announced an offer for Microsoft Azure ISV customer that allows them to directly provide new PowerApps and Flow Connectors to Office 365 customers. The company is rolling out its Actionable Messages to more Office 365 users in Microsoft Teams as well as in Outlook 2016 for Windows Insiders who are a part of the fast ring. Further, new Actionable Message tools are now available for developers.
The first Mi Home store has opened in Bengaluru and the company plans to open more stores across the country.

I think by now almost everyone has bought (or at the very least, tried buying) a Xiaomi phone or product. Over the years the Chinese OEM has gathered a large fan following in India, but most of its fans or prospective buyers complain about its products being out of stock. This has been one of the biggest complaints from its customers and even reviewers. To offer some relief, the company recently moved onto the offline market, launching the Redmi 4A and today the company announced a dedicated store for all its products in Bengaluru. Manu Jain, MD, Mi India tells us that the Mi Home will never go out of stock and you will always get the devices they sell at their online price. To be clear, Xiaomi has tried the offline route in India before, but never with its famed Mi Stores.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the launch, Manu Jain told us that the Mi Home is basically a way for their customers to get a feel of the devices before they buy them, while also offering them the devices itself. He was very clear about the fact that the whole concept of having a dedicated store will not diminish Xiaomi's presence online. He said, Mi Homes and Mi.com are two extensions for the same business. Also, the reason behind opening the first store in Bengaluru is the fact that Xiaomis office is very nearby and he tells us that anyone from the company can just drop by anytime and take user feedback. This will help them understand what the customers want and the company plans to launch almost 100 Mi Homes in India. Major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad will be getting the next Mi Home stores.

Talking about the Mi 6 and Android updates on the current Xiaomi phones, Jain did not give us a definitive answer. However, he did tell us that the company will be launching a new device soon and plans to launch newer devices every 2-3 months. He did not give us a concrete answer on whether Xiaomi plans to bring the Mi Notebook to India either. He said that while the company has a long list of products in China, bringing them to India with the current import duties would mean higher price tags. However, he suggests that future Mi Homes will have dedicated experience zones that will have all Xiaomi products. Via this, the company will be taking feedback from people at the store itself and planning what products it should bring to India based on the same.

On the topic of Mi Home exclusive products, Jain confirmed that at the moment they have no such plans. However, he said the Mi Homes will cater to all the products the company has in its Indian portfolio, and people can buy them without pre-booking. However, in the event of a Mi Home going out of stock, customers will get an F-Code then and there, via which they can jump the queue online. The Bengaluru Mi Home opens for the public on May 20.
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PORTLAND (AP)  Oregon transportation officials say a large rockslide has closed a highway near the Washington-Oregon border.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that Columbia River Highway or U.S. 30 located between Hood River and The Dalles may be closed for two to three weeks. Department spokesman Peter Murphy says travelers headed to Rowena viewpoint will be able to access the area by heading east on the highway from Mosier.





. . .
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QUINCY, Mass. (AP)  A Massachusetts real estate mogul who defrauded investors of millions of dollars is headed to prison.

The Patriot Ledger reports that Daniel Flynn III, of Quincy, was sentenced to four years in federal prison and three years of probation on Tuesday. Flynn pleaded guilty to criminal fraud in February.





. . .
Exxon Mobil to buy a refining and petrochemical plant in Singapore for reported $1.7 bn

US energy giant ExxonMobil Corp today struck a deal to buy a refining and petrochemical plant in Singapore from Jurong Aromatics (JAC) in order to boost its fuel and chemical production in Asia.

Exxon Mobil did not reveal the purchase price, but The Korea Herald reported in March that the Texas-based company had outbid Lotte Chemical Corp with a $1.7-billion bid.

The plant will be integrated with Exxon Mobil's existing petroleum complex on Jurong Island, said Gan Seow Kee, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.

In April, Exxon Mobil had said, "We can confirm that we are currently negotiating with the receiver for Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd to acquire JAC's assets on Jurong Island.''

JAC went into receivership in September 2015, and restructuring, insolvency, and forensic accounting services firm Borelli Walsh had been appointed the receivers and managers of JAC by lender BNP Paribas.

JAC's facilities include a 100,000-barrel per day condensate splitter and petrochemical units, which produce paraxylene, a raw material for textiles and plastic bottles.

Built at a cost of around $2.4 billion, JAC's integrated refining-petrochemical complex at Jurong Island is one of the world's largest petrochemical plants.

Facing mounting, the plant operations ground to a halt in December in 2014 amid slowing demand, and weakness in prices of oil and related chemical products.

JAC, which is owned by a group comprising of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, Chinese polyester maker Jiangsu Sanfangxiang Group, Glencore and the Economic Development Board and others, had $1.53 billion in liabilities and $68.7 million of accumulated losses at the end of 2013.

Suppliers, British oil giant BP, Glencore and SK Energy had secured claims against the company, while BNP Paribas led a $1.73-billion loan facility in 2011 that was not repaid.

The plant was restarted in July last year under tolling agreements with BP and Glencore.
The Palestinian flag is to be raised at Donegal County Council offices in Dungloe, following a motion tabled at the Glenties Municipal District this week.

Sinn Fein councillors have welcomed the support of their fellow members in the district for their proposal to fly the Palestinian flag at the council public services centre in Dungloe, in support of the 1,500 Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger striker while imprisoned in Israeli jails.

The gesture was proposed by Cllr. Marie Therese Gallagher and seconded by Cllr. John Sheamais O Fearraigh, and met no opposition at a district meeting on Tuesday.

After the meeting, Cllr. Gallagher thanked her fellow councillors for their support.

I am proud of the decision by the members today of Glenties Municipal District to fully support this move, which will send out a message of solidarity to the hunger strikers involved and their families," she said.

Earlier this week, Dublin City Council approved flying the Palestinian flag at Dublin City Hall this month, a measure that faced resistance from the Israeli ambassador to Ireland.

This is more than the mere flying of a flag, it is a symbol of support for the hunger strikers currently incarcerated in Israeli prisons who are protesting against the inhumane and degrading treatment which they are being forced to experience daily, Cllr. Gallagher said. She said some prisoners have been detained without trial, and are now in prison without access to proper medical care and are also facing torture.

Cllr. O Fearraigh said, Council officials have now informed us that the flag will shortly be ordered and, once delivered, the flag will fly proudly above the local council offices here in Dungloe in a sign of solidarity to the Palestinian prisoners.
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Udaras na Gaeltachta expect to see 100 more jobs at the Gaoth Dobhair Business Park by the end of the year, Glenties Municipal District councillors heard on Tuesday.

Glenties councillors held their May meeting at the Aislann Ghaoth Dobhair, which Donnchadh O Baoill of Udaras called one of the biggest economic hubs in Donegal.

In remarks to councillors, Mr. O Baoill said the second floor of the Aislann contains 27 units, 19 completed in the past year. That floor is half filled at the moment, with most of those jobs created in the past 12 months, he said.

The Aislann sits in the Gaeltacht business park, which now employs 450 people; Udaras expects 550 jobs there by years end.

At the business parks height in 1998, more than 1,330 people were employed at businesses there, Mr. O Baoill said. The business park lost 950 jobs between 1999 and 2005, and two years ago there were about 350 people employed at the park, 100 fewer than today.

So things are going in the right direction, Mr. O Baoill told councillors.

He said the Aislann has drawn local people who have moved home from Dublin, Edinburgh, Limerick and the United States, and offers office space for Donegal-based operations, including Pramerica and LYIT.

People are happy to come back because you have the proper infrastructure here, Cllr. John Sheamais O Fearraigh said. Referring to progress at the Aislann, Cllr. Terence Slowey said Udaras is at the forefront of where we need to be.
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Students at Moville Community College and Scoil Mhuire Buncrana have been recognised for their work for global justice and an equal world.

In recognition of their extra-curricular work in development education, the schools received a WorldWise Global Schools Global Passport at an annual schools conference held at Dublin's Croke Park recently.

More than 40 Irish secondary schools received prizes at the event, which was hosted by Worldwise Global Schools, the organisation that delivers Irish Aids schools development education programme.

Moville Community College has been building up a strong base of DE," WorldWise Global Schools Director, Mary McCarthy, said. "The whole school has been engaged in the themes of the Global goals, child labour and the importance of Fairtrade.

Scoil Mhuire Buncrana started DE just this year," she said. "They have done some wonderful work and have plenty of plans to build on this. The students created their own video highlighting awareness of Human Rights issues and this was shown to the 1st and 2nd years at their morning assemblies."

Emma McCauley and Colleen Cooney from Moville Community College and Gavin Hamilton and Sophia Guiney from Scoil Mhuire Buncrana were among 320 people from 60 secondary schools at the 4th annual Irish Aid WorldWise Global Schools conference.

The conference , led by TV presenter Michael Carey, included school exhibits, interactive workshops, plenary discussions and debates.

The event provided a platform for Irish secondary school students to speak out on critical global issues, as they call for the Irish government to take the issue of sustainability seriously. The day focused on three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which provide the framework for reducing poverty and inequality globally by 2030.

The Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Joe McHugh, TD, opened the proceedings.

Development Education provides schools with the opportunity to really explore global issues and to identify appropriate action they can take in response to inequality and injustice," the minister of state said. "All of the students and teachers who are at the conference today have demonstrated their commitment to making the world more just and sustainable  which is inspiring for us all."
Dundalk is suffering as a result of Irelands two-tier economy, says Micheal Martin.

The Fianna Fail leader believes regional towns are being neglected in favour of big-city investment, and reckons more needs to be done to redress the balance.

Its a sense that I get from people whenever I leave Dublin, he told The Democrat upon his visit to Louth on Friday.

Were in the midst of an economy which is developing in a very lopsided manner, one which puts a premium on cities and ignores regional areas.

Spending time in Dundalk today I got that impression, people outlining the need for more investment in the town.

Michael Gaynor spoke to me about issues spawning from the Living City Initiative and the need to improve footfall and conditions for local traders. Its a reality which is true across the north-east where there is a particular need for industrial jobs, and one which is likely to be even more keenly felt once the full repercussions of Brexit emerge.

Weve already seen the effect that the falling sterling has had in that respect, with everything from agri-food industries and tourism feeling the pinch.

The hope would be that the impact of Brexit can be mitigated somewhat if Britain makes a firm decision to remain in the customs union and opts against a hard border, thus enabling our companies to operate tariff-free.

5 billion is currently in play when it comes to north-south trade and - with several formal and informal border crossings occurring daily in this region - its for that reason that Fianna Fail is pushing for special economic zones to safeguard towns like Dundalk.

We have also long since noted the potential need to seek contingencies from Europe to help our indigenous companies through what is likely to be a rocky transition, sending the message to Brussels that state aid may indeed be required to that end.

Furthermore, Louth TD Declan Breathnach is serving as our spokesperson on the border, and we are currently putting together an initiative which centres on the prospect of a United Ireland and what it might look like in the present climate. The party feels that the potential of the Good Friday Agreement hasnt been optimised, and we will be aiming to liaise more effectively with the North going forward.

GENTLEMAN

Mr Martin was speaking ahead of a function for recently retired party member Seamus Kirk. The Knockbridge resident served as TD for Louth for 24 years, while also assuming the role of Ceann Comhairle in Dail Eireann.

He is a gentleman to his fingertips, said Mr Martin of his retired colleague.

Hes a very steady kind of person who always managed to, in the midst of any crisis, have a calming and knowledgeable impact. Seamus could always see both sides of the debate, bringing a degree of perspective, all with a view to developing unity and consensus.

After the 2011 General Election he was a huge source of strength, someone who offered inestimable support to myself at a time when the party was facing unprecedented difficulties and challenges with only 20 TDs across the country.

I now use Seamus very much as the model of the way Fianna Fail will seek to develop public representatives going forward, people of unwavering character whose priorities are rooted in community.

DISCONNECT

The perceived lack of grassroots engagement with the present political class is one showcased not only in Ireland but across the world, France's election season once again speaking for this ongoing sense of turbulence.

For Mr Martin, the new era of disenfranchisement stems from a distrust among voters that the old governmental model can still deliver.

From being out and about, its clear that people are a bit disillusioned by the political narrative at the moment.

In Ireland, housing is an obvious example. The line is being peddled that billions are being made available, yet the upswing isnt being felt by people on the street.

Government strategists are saying that emergency housing will be gone by next July, and yet, in the Capuchin Day Care centre, the number of people availing of services has gone up by 76% over the last three years.

For those in rural areas, issues like broadband are also a persistent concern. The lack of provision in outer regions is hindering not only existing companies but also preventing any new companies from being set up. More interaction is needed to ensure that government officials and those whom they are serving can get back on the same page.

According to the Fianna Fail leader, one of the prime roadblocks to increased engagement in that respect is the ongoing turbulence at Fine Gael, with stories surrounding the impending leadership debates very much taking precedence in the news cycle.

It has definitely caused the issues to take a back seat, pressing matters such as health being put on the backburner.

This internal angst within Fine Gael has hindered any prospect for progress since the General Election. The party never let Enda Kenny settle down as Taoiseach, always nibbling away and undermining him. It has meant that the governments legislative output has been very poor, leading to a state of inertia taking over at state level.

While all of this remains up in the air, Fianna Fail will be working hard to rebalance economic development at the coalface, remaining absolutely determined to redirect economic activity to towns like this one.
Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland, visited St Vincents Secondary School last Wednesday.

His first port of call was the beautiful St Vincents school chapel where he heard a marvellous rendition of Seek ye First by the schools chamber choir, led by Mr Stephen Hennessey, a hymn close to the Archbishops heart as it was the college anthem in St Columb's College, Derry, where he was a former President.

Having met with Sr Joan Watters, former Principal, and Mrs Mary Caffrey the chairperson of the schools Board of Management, the Principal Deirdre Matthews, Deputy Principals Mrs Deirdre McEnteggart and Dr Orla Walsh the Archbishop also met the Religious Education team to discuss Religious Education at post primary level.

Archbishop Eamon met with Lighthouse Leaders. TheArchbishop listened to the students as they shared stories of their learning and the nurturing of their faith and leadership while participating in the Lighthouse leadership programme.

The lighthouse programme is a Faith and Leadership peer ministry programme where the leaders having first trained to be servant leaders went to Realt Na Mara primary school and led a Confirmation preparation module with 53 sixth class pupils.

The programme took place over a five month period and culminated in the Confirmation ceremony with Archbishop Eamon.

Genuinely impressed with the students words, Archbishop Eamon shared his own faith story and how the words of Pope John Paul II on his visit to Ireland had inspired him to become a priest.

Archbishop Eamon told the students that he wasimpressed with their sharing and the confidence they displayed while discussing faith as well as the impact the programme had made on their faith development and leadership skills. Having thanked the students, Archbishop Eamon prayed with them. This was a particularly special moment of the Archbishops visit said Dr Walsh, Deputy Principal who had developed the Lighthouse Programme for students.

Archbishop Eamon also visited a number of classes in action.

He discussed teaching and learning with an iPad and shared his love of technology with Ms McGrorys Science classwhere the students embrace their learning using the interactive technology of an iPad. He told the students that he is working hard to be paper-free and uses his iPad for all talks and lectures without a printer!

He then joined Mr McAteerssenior RE class and enjoyed a discussion on the Gospel story The Road to Emmaus that was introduced in a digitally animated format.

In a reception with the teaching staff, The Principal, Mrs Deirdre Matthews thanked Archbishop Eamon for his gentle presence in the school during his visit, and the genuine interest he had shown in the work of the school. She presented him with a piece of art by Ms Cathy McKeown, an inspired artist and recent St Vincents past pupil.

She wished him well in his work as leader of the church. Archbishop Eamon graciously received her best wishes and spoke of how the St Vincents school ethos had been genuinely communicated over the course of his visit.

He thanked the teaching staff for the great work that they do in education and wished them well for the weeks ahead.

It was agreed by many who met Archbishop that he is indeed a gentle presence who listened and shared in such a blessed and gracious manner.
Drogheda has opened up a sizable gap over Dundalk in the race to be Louth's and indeed Ireland's largest town.

Drogheda now has nearly 2,000 more people than Dundalk.

Drogheda, with a population of 40,956 (up 6.2% since April 2011) remained the largest town in Ireland. Swords (39,248) and Dundalk (39,004) complete the top three, although Swords doesn't really count as everyone knows it's actually part of Dublin and not really a town in its own right.

The total population of Louth is 128,884 as of April 2016, 66.1% (85,224 persons) lived in urban areas, with 33.9% (43,660 persons) living in rural areas.

Nationally, 62.7% lived in urban areas and 37.3% in rural areas.

Drogheda is the largest and one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland, with 40,956 persons. It is the largest town in the county (as well as both province and State). The fastest growing town in Louth in percentage terms was Clogherhead, which experienced 7.6% population growth between 2011 and 2016.

Nationally, Saggart was the fastest growing town, seeing its population increase by 46.1% between 2011 and 2016.

On the move Of the 5,945 usual Louth residents who moved in the year to April 2016, most (4,200) moved elsewhere within the county.

Only 473 of the 2,412 Louth households who moved in the year preceding the census bought their new home with a mortgage or loan, while 1,626 rented their accommodation.
The continuation of the $20,000 instant tax write-off for small businesses will come as little surprise: the Treasurer had been hinting heavily at this in his pre-Budget briefings.

However, the announcement that businesses with an annual turnover of less than $10 million can claim up to $20,000 worth of depreciating assets each financial year, is a sweet, largely unpredicted kick-back that will certainly not go unappreciated (the $10 million threshold has been raised from the previous $2 million).

Not all SMBs stand to benefit, however. Where are the lower taxes and extension of the instant write-off to mid-large sized businesses? These companies sought greater simplification of the business environment, including lower taxes, and little has been done in this area to build on last years cuts.

Many of these mid-large sized businesses are now global. E-commerce makes it much easier to have international cost and income streams than was previously the case. Gone are the days when Australian global businesses were multinationals, or at the very least, large enterprises.

No substantive tax reforms were delivered for these mid-large sized businesses as part of yesterdays Budget. And unless tax reform is delivered to e-commerce enabled global companies, we are more likely to see brain drain, with companies seeking labour, services and technology from other countries  whether that be outsourcing their accountancy services to the Philippines or manufacturing to Vietnam.

When Australia is competing against the likes of Iceland (which has a 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate) and with President Trump muting the idea of cutting the corporate tax rate to 15 per cent, ongoing tax reform is crucial in fostering entrepreneurialism, investment and innovation at home.

On a side note, whilst yesterdays Budget has been described as a blow to the banks, there has been disappointment in some quarters with the governments failure to deal with slow paying big businesses. For years, small business operators have complained about big businesses starving them of cash by stringing out payments to them. The Federal Small Business Ombudsman, Kate Carnell had urged the Federal Government to legislate to force big businesses to pay small business suppliers within 30 days. The failure to act on late payments represents a lost opportunity for small businesses.

As we know, speed of payments is of utmost importance to our customers buying and selling in foreign currencies  and a key determinant of the future success of Australian businesses selling their wares overseas. Speed of transfer by alternative financial services providers is a unique selling points of new entrants coming from the traditional banking sector. In some instances, it can make the difference between profit and loss on a monthly balance sheet for some of our SMB customers.

See also: Federal Budget: small business $20k instant asset write-off scheme extended by one year, Federal Budget: foreign worker tax introduced, Federal budget: start-ups and innovation and Small businesses being used as cheap form of finance by larger ones: late payment inquiry.

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As bad as things are in Flint, Michigan  and they are REALLY BAD  in the past couple of weeks, theyve gotten far, far worse. With the state of Michigan no longer subsidizing the city residents water bills having declared the water there now safe (its not), the city has now started charging residents again. Keep in mind that Flint has some of the highest if not THE highest water rates in the entire country. Not only that, if they dont pay for the water that is making them sick and is still not safe to drink, they may lose their homes:

Following a water crisis that saw sky-high levels of lead contamination in Flint, Mich., many homes in the city still do not have access to safe tap water. But that doesnt mean theyre not being charged for it. And if they cant pay in time, they may lose their homes. The city has mailed 8,002 letters to residents in an effort to collect about $5.8 million in unpaid bills for water and sewer services. If homeowners do not pay by May 19, property liens are transferred to tax bills, which begins a process that can end with residents losing their homes unless they pay their outstanding bills before March 2018. Flint generally sends these letters annually to property owners whose payments are at least six months late. But because Flint skipped this process in 2016, this years letters cover two years of past-due balances. The letters came as a shock to some Flint homeowners who had already been struggling to deal with the public health crisis caused by contaminated water. While I understand this is the way that the law reads, we are in a totally different situation, Melissa Mays, a Flint resident and activist, said in an interview with Fox 66 News, a local news affiliate. The city is asking her for $891.60 in overdue payments to avoid foreclosure. I got scared, for probably the first time since this all started, Ms. Mays said. This actually scared me.

Melissa Mays has become a friend of mine through all of this and if she is scared, this is a BFD. Mays is a fierce and fearless warrior for the residents of Flint and has stared down countless frightening things in the long saga of the beleaguered city. As she made very clear in the interview we did with her on the podcast recently, not only is Flints water not safe due to lead contamination, there is an ongoing bacterial issue that is almost never discussed and that is, in some ways, as bad as the lead problem. Its leading to myriad bacteria-related infections and illnesses and it is widely believed to have killed at least dozen people.

I contacted Melissa Mays to get her response to this newest outrage. Putting profit over people still continues in Flint right along with punishing people for being poor or standing up for their familys rights, she told me. Now the State is allowing 8,002 residents to lose their homes because they either cannot or refuse to pay the highest rates in the US for water that is destroying our bodies and homes. The State refuses to revoke their archaic law that allows a land grab to happen as a result of the state-created disaster in Flint including the financial distress by ending water subsidies to the City. The victimization of Flint residents continues as the Governors office turns yet another blind eye.

Shes absolutely right. Putting this in perspective, the taxpayers of Michigan have so far ponied up over $12 million to cover the Flint Water Crisis-related legal bills of Gov. Snyder and others in his administration. However, they arent paying a dime to keep the victims of this human-caused disaster in their homes. And, to date, there hasnt been a single response from the Snyder administration about this revictimization of Flint residents. On top of that, there are still as many as 20,000 homes in Flint that still have lead water service lines and who, because of this, are threatened with lead poisoning any time they come into contact with unfiltered water. And the final replacements arent expected to be completed until 2020.

To characterize this as unacceptable is to be far too charitable. This is an environmental injustice with few if any precedents. The state of Michigan caused this catastrophe and is now turning their backs on the people they poisoned. Gov. Snyder and his administration may want the world to believe that this crisis is over, that the water is now safe, and that everyone can just move on, but that doesnt change the facts. This crisis is NOT over. The victimized people of Flint are NOT out of the woods. And the state of Michigan is responsible for making them whole again, to the extend that that is even possible.

Dont let the people of Flint languish in the shadows, ignored and forgotten. Use your voices to keep this story at the front of everyones minds. And pressure your elected officials to fix this NOW. As weve said all along, if this had happened to an affluent community rather than a poor, majority African American community, we wouldnt be having a conversation like this 588 days after the governor admitted that the drinking water in that community was poisoned with a powerful neurotoxin due to the actions and decisions of his appointed Emergency Managers.

This is a scandal of epic proportions and this country is being far too silent about it. Lets fix that.
Video footage of a senseless murder in Cleveland, posted after the fact on Facebook Live, has attracted national attention to the role of the platform in criminals minds.

Authorities Tuesday morning announced that Steve Stephens  the 37-year-old suspect wanted for the cold-blooded shooting of Robert Godwin Sr.  shot himself to death after a short pursuit by Pennsylvania State Police. Officials had responded to a tip about a sighting of Stephens white Ford Fusion in a McDonalds parking lot in Erie, Pennsylvania.

We are grateful this has ended, said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams. We would prefer that it had not ended this way, because there are a lot of questions Im sure that not only family, but the city in general would have had for Steve, as to why this transpired.

Stephens had been on the run after allegedly killing 74-year-old Godwin shortly after he left an Easter Sunday dinner with family. Stephens apparently chose his victim at random and shot him at point blank range before taking off in a white Ford Fusion.

Stephens uploaded the shooting to Facebook Live later on Sunday. He claimed that he had shot 15 other people as well, but officials said that claim thus far appears unfounded.

Philadelphia police officials confirmed via Twitter that several schools in the city were put on lockdown Monday afternoon, amid reports that Stephens was in the area of the Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Police later said that the lockdown was lifted, and they found no information indicating the suspect was in the city.

Cleveland P. D.s Williams confirmed that a cellphone ping from Erie had been noted earlier during the manhunt, but he was not aware why the suspect was in the Erie area.

Platform for Violence?

The video of the shooting, which went viral across social media over the weekend, has put Facebook on the defensive, raising new questions about the suspects use of the live-streaming feature to commit a cold-blooded murder against an innocent man that he didnt even know.

The suspect posted a video to Facebook announcing his intent to commit a murder, and then two minutes later posted another video of himself shooting an elderly man, who turned out to be Godwin, Facebook VP of Global Operations Justin Osofsky said Monday. A few minutes later, Stephens went live, confessing to the killing.

Facebook is reviewing its reporting flows to be sure people can report videos and other material that violates Facebook standards as easily and quickly as possible, Osofsky said, noting that the report about the shooting video did not come into Facebook until an hour and 45 minutes after it was posted.

The suspects account was closed 23 minutes after Facebook received the report about the murder video and two hours after it received a report of any kind, he noted.

Artificial intelligence plays a major part in preventing unacceptable videos from being reshared, Osofsky said, adding that the company was working on improving its review process.

Thousands of people around the world review millions of items that are reported to the company every week, he pointed out, and Facebook prioritizes items that have serious safety implications.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the companys F8 developer conference on Tuesday, expressed his condolences to Godwins family and friends.

We have a lot more to do here  and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening, he said.

Law enforcement authorities have cautioned before that people not live their lives on social media, Cleveland P. D.s Williams said in response to a reporters question.

The shooting was not something that should have been shared around the world, he added.

Facebook Live drew attention last summer, following its use to document the immediate aftermath of the police shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota.

St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez is facing a charge of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of intentional discharge of a dangerous weapon in that case.

Castiles fiancee, who was sitting next to him during the traffic stop that led to the shooting, filmed the aftermath while he was in the car bleeding to death.

Other violent events have been live-streamed on Facebook in the past, including a triple shooting in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2016.

Criminals Thought Processes

Certain types of personalities may be prone to using social media as a platform for promoting their crimes.

Like any social media, it depends on the person behind the screen, observed Tina Meier, executive director of the Megan Meier Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on cyberbullying and harassment.

I do think that live feeds allow [the type of people] who want to commit crimes or certain actions to feel powerful, knowing that it can be seen by hundreds, thousands or even millions of people in an instant, she told the E-Commerce Times.

Social media companies may need to take further steps to restrict live video feeds to prevent violent actions from being broadcast.

If a pattern of copycat incidents should follow this latest tragedy, it could justify a case for additional regulation of the platform, said Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at Poynter.

However, Facebook cannot be held responsible for any wrongdoing in this case, he suggested.

As commentators have noted, there are precedents  mercifully infrequent, he told the E-Commerce Times.

There have been two on-air suicides, and the shooting of the young morning show film crew in Virginia, a few years back, Edmonds recalled, but no one is talking about closing down TV live shots as a precaution.
After having a dying red oak removed from their property, homeowners Beth Goodpaster and Rick Duncan decided to do something different with the trees stump. They contacted Curtis Ingvoldstad, a Minnesota chainsaw artist, who worked his magic by commemorating Dr. Seuss character The Lorax, famous for defending Truffula trees against the greedy industrialist The Once-ler.

The couple, both conservationists and environmental attorneys, asked Ingvoldstad to carve the word UNLESS into the stump to emphasize a point of hope from Dr. Seuss story, written soon after the first Earth Day in 1970. The book ends with a final plea: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. Its not.

Curtis Ingvoldstad

Goodpaster consulted with Ingvoldstad to decide on The Loraxs pose, City Pages reported. We didnt want his arms sticking way out, she said. Curtis was thinking he should have a nice pensive look to him.

While Goodpaster and Duncan said they miss their tree and the shade it provided, they do enjoy the response they receive from people passing by who are hiking the Minnehaha Creek Trail near their Minnesota home.

Its bringing some joy, so we are happy about that, Goodpaster said.
The Interior Department announced it is moving forward with seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean following President Donald Trumps executive order last month to aggressively expand offshore drilling in protected areas off the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

Six permit applications by energy companiesones that were rejected by the Obama administrationare being reviewed by the department.

The oil and gas industry has long pushed for seismic surveys used to search for oil and gas deposits deep below the oceans surface.

However, environmental groups warn that the surveys are an extremely loud and dangerous process.

Seismic airguns create one of the loudest manmade sounds in the ocean, firing intense blasts of compressed air every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for weeks to months on end, Dustin Cranor, Oceanas senior director of U.S. communications, told EcoWatch. The noise from these blasts is so loud that it can be heard up to 2,500 miles from the source, which is approximately the distance from Washington, DC to Las Vegas.

These blasts are of special concern to marine life, including fish, turtles and whales, which depend on sound for communication and survival, Cranor said. He noted that the governments own estimates show that seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic could injure as many as 138,000 marine mammals like dolphins and whales, while disturbing the vital activities of millions more.

Furthermore, Greenpeace said pursuing this development stands at cross-purposes with the nations necessary and rapidly accelerating move away from fossil fuels, and with previous commitments to address global climate change.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Societys Capt. Paul Watson explained, One of the major threats to the survival of cetaceans, is noise pollution. More seismic testing and military LFS testing will result in more strandings. This decision equates to a death sentence for thousands of whales and dolphins.

Seismic data has not been gathered in the mid- and south-Atlantic regions, from northern Florida to Delaware, for at least 30 years.

The Interior Department said that the surveys are needed to update information about the Outer Continental Shelf that was gathered more than three decades ago, when technology was not as advanced as today.

The Associated Press reported that any new drilling activity is expected to be limited to the coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia.

Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke said that the surveys will help a variety of federal and state partners better understand our nations offshore areas  and evaluate resources that belong to the American people.

Industry groups applauded the departments decision to review the permit applications. There has been no documented scientific evidence of noise from these surveys adversely affecting marine animal populations or coastal communities, Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, said.

Trumps executive order was aimed at rolling back President Obamas permanent ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

Renewed offshore energy production will reduce the cost of energy, create countless new jobs, and make America more secure and far more energy independent, Trump said before signing the document last month.

But Greenpeace said that Atlantic drilling would threaten the regions vibrant fishing and tourism industry, warning that a spill equivalent to the BP Gulf oil disaster could coat beaches stretching from Savannah to Boston.

Additionally, Cranor pointed out that more than 120 East Coast municipalities, 1,200 elected officials, and an alliance representing 35,000 businesses and 500,000 fishing families have publicly opposed offshore drilling and/or seismic airgun blasting.

These individuals and groups understand that nearly 1.4 million jobs and more than $95 billion in gross domestic product are at risk if dangerous offshore drilling activities occur in the Atlantic Ocean, Cranor explained.

Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against President Trump, challenging his decision to reverse President Obamas ban.
The news broke Wednesday in the most banal of venues: the biweekly environmental compliance report submitted by Arlington Storage Company to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Deep in the third paragraph of section B, this wholly owned subsidiary of the Houston-based gas storage and transportation giant, Crestwood Midstream, announced that it was walking away from its FERC-approved plan to increase its storage of methane (natural gas) in unlined, abandoned salt caverns along the shoreline of Seneca Lake.

In its own words, Arlington has discontinued efforts to complete the Gallery 2 Expansion Project.

It was a blandly expressed ending to a dramatic conflict that has roiled New Yorks Finger Lakes region for more than six years. Together with a separateand still unresolvedplan for lakeside storage of propane (LPG) in adjacent salt caverns, Crestwoods Arlington operation has been the focus of massive, unrelenting citizen opposition that has taken many forms.

The Gas Free Seneca Business Coalition has, at last count, 398 members. Together with the more than 100 members of the Finger Lakes Wine Business Coalition, this group has been a powerful voice in promoting wine and agri-tourisma $4.8 billion industry in New York Stateas the centerpiece of the Finger Lakes economy, deploying renewable energy systems for wineries and providing an alternative vision to Crestwoods plan to turn the region into the gas storage and transportation hub for entire Northeast. In letters, petitions, press conferences, interviews and editorials, these business leaders have made clear that industrialized gas storage on Seneca Lakewith all the attendant pipelines, compressor stations, flare stacks and air pollutionis incompatible with the pristine environment on which wine and tourism depend.

Local business leaders have also hammered home the message that gas storage is all risk and no reward for the region. The gasmethane or propaneis not intended for local use. All of it would be sent, via pipeline, to burner tips far from the Finger Lakes. Moreover, shoving massive amounts of fossil fuels into crumbly salt mines creates, as it turns out, only a handful of jobs.

Meanwhile, 32 municipalitiesrepresenting 1.2 million residentshave passed resolutions against gas storage on Seneca Lake. These efforts have played an important role in generating political pressure, capturing media attention, and raising awareness among community members about the public health threats created by storing highly pressurized, explosive gases in abandoned salt caverns situated below a lakeshore in an area crossed by geological fault lines.

Seneca Lake serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people. Even absent earthquakes or catastrophic accidents, simply pressurizing the briny salt caverns with compressed gases may salinate the lake in ways that could potentially violate drinking water standards.

And then theres the direct action movement. We Are Seneca Lakein which I have participatedhas engaged in protests, marches and repeated acts of civil disobedience. Since October 2014, when construction on the Arlington project was authorized to begin and all legal appeals to FERC were exhausted, more than 650 arrests have taken place at the gates of the Crestwood compressor station site on the hillside above Seneca Lake. For the act of blockading trucks on Crestwoods driveway, some of us have gone to jail, serving sentences as long as nine days, while others have had their charges dismissed in the interests of justice.

As the months went by, Crestwood, waiting on remaining approvals from New York States Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), did not begin construction.

We Are Seneca Lake continued protesting.

When the state clearances still did not arrive, FERC granted Crestwood a two-year extension to accommodate the New York DECs underground storage approval process.

We Are Seneca Lake continued protesting.

The power of our all-season civil disobedience movement did not lie in the daring risks that we tookno one ever scaled fences, rapelled down walls, went limp, or chained themselves to heavy equipment. We called ourselves the Girl Scouts of civil disobedience because participants engaged in actions whose sanctions were intentionally limited to violation-level charges (trespass or disorderly conduct).

Tantamount to traffic tickets, such charges do not result in criminal records (although one might choose, by refusal to pay a fine, to serve a jail sentence). This practice allowed arrestees to represent a diverse cross-section of area residents. Ranging in age from 18 to 92, Seneca Lake Defenders have included teachers, nurses, doctors, midwives, farmers, winemakers, faith leaders, town board members, military veterans, mothers, fathers, chefs, bird watchers, cancer survivors and numerous disabled individuals.

Our goal was to showcase the breadth and depth of citizen opposition to gas storage. Accordingly, we sought to make civil disobedience as inclusive as possible for as many people as possible, and, for those whose conscience so led them, as safe as possible.

We sustained our movement, season after season, by careful vetting of all participants, meticulous preparation for each action, and requiring that all those risking arrest or playing support roles undergo a training session in non-violence. As a result, We Are Seneca Lake maintained high levels of personal discipline during our actions and, through our almost ceremonial approach to civil disobedience, won the (somewhat begrudging) respect of the county sheriff and his deputies.

We did not turn away luminaries. Seneca Lake Defenders have, variously, included filmmaker Josh Fox, actors James Cromwell and John Hertzler, and environmental leaders Bill McKibben, Rachel Marco-Havens, David Braun and Wes Gillingham.

Seneca Lake Defenders blockaded while reading aloud from Pope Francis encyclical on climate change, while enjoying a potluck of local food, and while performing a concert. Our efforts were featured in the New Yorker and the New York Times, as well as in local and regional media. We have received messages of solidarity from around the world.

Unsurprisingly, none of the above activities are mentioned in the official explanation for why Crestwood is now abandoning its plans to expand methane storage.

Nor does it reference last months incident at an underground gas storage facility in rural southwestern Indiana where a well failure prompted evacuations and a highway closure. Nor the blowout in Californias gas storage field at Aliso Canyon where, from October 2015 until February 2016, more than 100,000 metric tons of methane spewed into the atmosphere, thousands of households and two schools were relocated, and many residents suffered illnesses from exposure to the emissions.

Instead, the company has this to say about why it is folding its tents:

Despite its best efforts, Arlington has not been successful in securing long-term contractual commitments from customers that would support completion of the Gallery 2 Expansion Project. While demand for high-deliverability natural gas storage services remains robust in New Yorkbids for firm storage capacity which Arlington has received from time to time are not adequate to support the investment required to bring the project to completion.

Credible? For area resident Suzanne Hunt, who, as president of HuntGreen, advises wineries about their renewable energy options, the bigger question is how to make this explanation come true over and over again. In other words, lets use renewables to make wavering bids for fossil fuels even more unworthy of continued investment.

The winery owners and other business leaders here didnt just say no to gas but also collectively invested million of dollars in clean energy systems both to demonstrate their economic and technical viability and to show the state that we are serious about protecting our unique and beautiful Finger Lakes region, Hunt said.

As with any major transition, it has been challenging, but we are succeeding in demonstrating that renewables can meet our energy needs and enable economic growth without compromising the health and safety of people today and generations to come.

For her mother, Joyce Hunt, who is the co-owner of Hunt Country Vineyards in Branchport, New York, the point is to demonstrate how the economic future of the regionbased on agriculture, tourism and small businessis aligned with the long-term climate and energy security of the state.

We applaud the governor and the DEC for withholding permits for natural gas storage, and we are all counting on the governor to deny the permits for LPG, recognizing that these caverns that are unfit for natural gas storage are likewise unfit for propane storage, she said.

But is Arlingtons natural gas storage expansion project really gone for good? Maybe, maybe not. Fossil fuel infrastructure projects are always resurrectable. Even the Keystone XL pipeline is back in play. But for California native David Braun, who was arrested in a civil disobedience action at Seneca Lake last July, the point is in understanding that we are each, after all, our brothers keeper.

None of these gas storage facilities are a problem until they are. And once you see firsthand the kind of devastation and disruption they causeas I have seen at Aliso Canyonyou begin to understand your moral responsibility to make sure it doesnt happen somewhere else, to someone else, Braun said.

I risked arrest at Seneca Lake because we only need to look at how the last bad idea turned out to know what the next one is going to do.
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Ramsey residents call for meeting to discuss hospital's future

Ramsey residents are calling for the town's local authority to hold a meeting to discuss the future of Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital.

Ramsey Town Commissioners has revealed its received a request for a public requisition meeting signed by 14 registered voters, as well as a number of residents from surrounding parishes.

The request describes a "secretive culture" within the Department of Health and Social Care, and wants to discuss the Departments intentions for the hospital.

The residents insist clarity is required from Health Minister Kate Beecroft, calling for her and Chief Minister Howard Quayle to attend the meeting.

Chairman of the Commissioner Andy Cowie has acknowledged the request and confirmed it is being considered, with an update to be released in due course.
McGuinness's TT in doubt after North West 200 crash

John McGuinness could miss this year's TT after crashing at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland this afternoon.

The 23-time TT winner has been taken to hospital in Belfast with a suspected broken leg after coming off his superbike in practice at the event.

Honda confirmed the 45-year-old, who also has six previous wins at the North West, was conscious following the incident.

However, if the fracture is confirmed it's likely to prevent McGuinness competing at the TT, with the start of practice week just 16 days away.
11 May 2017

INPI President Damaso Pardo and EPO President Benoit Battistelli

The EPO and the National Institute of Industrial Property of Argentina (INPI) have signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral co-operation. The agreement was signed by EPO President Benoit Battistelli and INPI President Damaso Pardo during a visit to the EPO in Munich by an INPI delegation on 9 and10 May. It foresees joint activities in the areas of patent procedures, search, examination and automation, as well as use and exchange of patent data and databases.

"We are very pleased to intensify our co-operation with the National Institute of Industrial Property," said EPO President Benoit Battistelli. "Argentina is a major destination for trade and investment from European companies so this co-operation agreement will be a win-win situation for companies and researchers in our regions, as well as our two offices."

INPI President Pardo said: "We are glad to have signed a bilateral co-operation agreement with the EPO, one of the best patent offices in the world. By working closely with the EPO, INPI will be able to provide a high-quality training programme to patent examiners in order to improve and strengthen our IP system, boosting innovation and economic growth in Argentina."

During the two-day visit, the EPO and INPI held in-depth discussions on various topics, including the search and examination of patent applications, and the EPO's Early Certainty from Search initiative which is decreasing the time needed to process applications. Data exchange was also an important topic on the agenda, given the strategic importance of patent information for users and applicants. Also discussed were the classification of patent documents (including the Cooperative Patent Classification system), the Patent Prosecution Highway programme for accelerated treatment of applications, the use of tools such as the EPO's professional search tool EPOQUE Net. President Battistelli also underlined the EPO's quality policy and the latest measures that the EPO is taking in this field

Further information
We make IT, security, or any business decision by weighing the risks and the rewards. What investments can we make to drive down costs or increase sales? Or as is often the case with security, what costs can we skip and still escape big penalties later?

Unfortunately for those of us indulging in wishful thinking, the likelihood and costs of data breaches continue to increase. The Ponemon Institute estimates that data breach costs rose to an average cost of $4.24 million per incidenta 10% increase in cost over the previous year.

This dollar amount is scary enough, but we also need to add on the consequences of other incidents such as business email compromise (BEC), distributed denial of service (DDoS), or even something as mundane as severed internet access.

Dealing with an incident is a matter of when and how bad, not if. Yet, it can get worse. Research conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance estimated that 60% of small and medium-sized businesses go out of business within six months of being hacked.

No one wants to go out of business because of sloppy preparation. Instead, lets prepare for incident response, so the damage from the inevitable can be contained.

See our top picks for the Best Incident Response Tools and Software

Creating an Incident Response Plan

Developing and executing an incident response plan is a complicated undertaking, so weve broken up the process into a number of steps:

Incident Response Defined

Incident Response Preparation

Tips for Effective Incident Response Preparation

Setting Up an Incident Response Team

Incident Response Execution

Incident Response Vendors

What is an Incident Response Plan?

Lets start by defining the scope. What is an incident, what is a response? An incident is an event that affects our scope of responsibility, and a response is how we deal with the incident.

For cybersecurity personnel, our scope of responsibility may be limited to cyberattacks on IT systems, such as ransomware attacks, phishing attacks, and DDoS attacks. For IT managers, the scope might expand to encompass physical IT systems and events such as a flooded data center, a lost executive laptop, or squirrels chewing on network cables.

In small companies where managers cover many roles, an incident might broaden to include personnel and business processes with events such as insider data theft, sexual harassment, embezzlement, or the failure of a machine on an assembly line.

Regardless of the incident scope, our goal is to be able to perform the necessary steps and take into account any unexpected contingencies, and for that we need an incident response plan because our response needs to be as quick and thorough as if wed practiced it (which we should). The foundational principles of incident response preparation and execution outlined below will help you develop your plan.

See the Best Ransomware Removal and Recovery Services

Incident Response Preparation

At a minimum, our incident response preparation process should:

Define incident response responsibilities

List incident response contacts

Document the incident response process as a plan

Circulate the incident response plan

Keep the incident response plan current

When we define incident response responsibilities, we nominate the employee, manager, department, or vendor who needs to manage a specific incident, asset, or threat. For example, we might nominate:

The IT security manager to handle a ransomware incident;

Our external accountant to investigate financial fraud; or

The building manager to handle threats to physical security at a specific office

After deciding responsibilities, we need to create a way for an incident to trigger notification to the responsible parties by listing incident response contact information. Tools can be configured to send automatic notices via text or email, but we should also make sure we list phone numbers as a contingency for tool failure.

Some of us dont formally document our processes. We trust in our competence to act appropriately in the moment to handle any incident. This might work fine for calling 911, but beyond that, having a written process can help enormously.

Surgeons and aircraft pilots use checklists to handle the basics so they can concentrate on the nuances that require their expertise. Creating a written incident response policy or checklist will similarly help staff dealing with the stress of an incident so that no basic steps will be overlooked.

A serious incident will not happen at our convenience nor will it often allow for a relaxed schedule. Once the staff is in panic mode at 3 a.m., theres no time to check if the contact list has the old CIOs phone number or to print out the latest instructions for responding to a company-wide ransomware attack.

We need to regularly update our documentation on a quarterly, annual, or event-driven schedule. Then we must effectively circulate the incident response documents. The circulation can be through a shared file server, but we should probably also use email and printed versions, so key information will remain available for a wide variety of emergencies.

What are Tips for Effective Incident Response Preparation?

The basics alone can create adequacy, but to be truly effective, incident response should:

Eliminate grey zones

Document contingencies

Incorporate stakeholder feedback

Be in-line with insurance policies

Plan at a high level

Be tested

Eliminate gray zones

When assigning responsibility, any grey zone or gap in responsibility can lead to confusion or even cause an incident to be overlooked. To prevent any vagueness, assign secondary responsibilities with overlap for every incident, asset, or threat.

In large organizations, some potential incidents, such as a misconfigured cloud data bucket exposed to the internet, may fall between departments. Ultimately, someone will need to step up and take responsibility for those itemsand therefore, those incidents as well. For example, assign the cloud team to initially respond to incidents involving cloud assets with the cybersecurity team providing backup resources.

The assignment of backup resources will also be useful as a contingency. If our cloud team is based in an office currently disabled by a widespread blackout, a cybersecurity team member in another office assigned as a backup already knows to step up and address cloud issues without delay.

See Best Backup Solutions for Ransomware Protection

Document contingencies

Contingencies for likely communication issues (internet or phone disruption, email server crippling, etc.), infrastructure issues (power outages, cloud outage, etc.), or personnel issues (illness, unreachable, etc.) should also be incorporated into our planning.

Incorporate stakeholder feedback

Plans developed only by those assigned direct responsibility will suit their needs and expectations; however, they might overlook the needs and issues of others. A drafted plan should be circulated among business executives, legal counsel, key vendors, and possibly even affected key customers for feedback. These stakeholders may point out additional considerations to protect the organization against lawsuits, violating regulations, or unnecessary business disruptions.

Be in-line with insurance policies

Insurance policies can also heavily influence how we respond to an incidentparticularly cybersecurity. Some policies require initial contact to be made with an insurer who will deploy their own incident response team. Others might require specific documentation and forensic evidence to pay out on expenses related to an incident. Work with legal counsel and insurance representatives to make sure the requirements are well understood and incorporated into our incident response plans.

Plan at a high level

When planning, some of us will be tempted to create prescriptive and detailed plans for specific types of attacks. This school of thought wants to include an appendix for different incidents, but this may not be as helpful as we might like. Plans, especially for smaller organizations without resources to change documentation frequently, should be less specific and generalized for two key reasons.

First, technology and personnel changes happen too quickly to be easily captured in a static document. A server web shell attack incident response plan designed last year when we had our on-site data center quickly becomes obsolete when we transition some of our servers to the cloud and transition others onto virtual machines.

Second, we may not know what types of attack we are dealing with until we complete the investigation. Sure, it may be obvious that our St. Louis office has been struck by ransomware, but how long will it take to determine if the source of that attack came from a phishing attack on the VP of sales for the office, a web shell we missed while cleaning our Kansas City Exchange server after it was patched, or an insider attack facilitated by a disgruntled IT employee in our Phoenix office? A rigid step-by-step process will not be flexible and may lead an incident response team away from the evidence at hand in favor of checking off the steps in the process.

The goal of an incident response document is to be useful, not to consume hours of time to keep them current or to misdirect us. However, checklists and decision trees can be helpful in keeping the team focused and reducing errors. The trick will be to strike a balance between details and generalizations to maximize utility and minimize obsolescence.

For example, instead of creating a specific plan for a ransomware attack on a desktop computer incident, generalize it to a malware attack on an endpoint device and possibly have a secondary checklist for ransomware attacks. Similarly, instead of escalating a detected server data breach incident to Janet in IT and Dickinson in legal, escalate incidents to data breach team leader and legal, create the email address databreachincident@mycoemail, and hyperlink documentation to the continuously updated contact list.

Test your plan

Lastly, test the plan. Run a simulation as a table-top exercise drill to see how easily the plan can be understood and how readily the team can use the document. Most plans make sense when they are read, but when trying to execute the plan, people may notice items that are overlooked.

It is better to discover details in a meeting room than during an attack over the 4th of July weekend

For example, it may make perfect sense to route a web server DDoS attack to the cybersecurity team on paper, but in an exercise, the cybersecurity team may realize that only the marketing department and their outsourced designers hold the passwords to access the server. It is much better to discover such details in a meeting room than during an attack over the 4th of July weekend when the marketing department is on a no-phone, team-building whitewater rafting trip.

Setting Up an Incident Response Team

When we build our contact list, we define roles. If those roles have individual people assigned to them, then that is our team. However, if we list a department, then we also need to go to each department and determine the specific team members with the primary responsibility for incident response.

When selecting members, volunteers are nice, but competence is essential. Some members may need to be drafted, so the incident response team can be effective. Technical savvy is required for technical roles, but there should also be non-technical roles as well.

Typical roles include:

Company executive to authorize costs, approve escalation, etc.

Information security analyst and specialist to track and contain IT attacks

IT systems specialist to manage recovery, temporary systems, etc.

Operations to help the organization deal with operational challenges

Legal to deal with legal issues and advise about evidence

Human resources to deal with internal personnel issues

Finance to deal with financial incidents and financial consequences to other incidents

Public relations and marketing to handle internal and external communications

Incident-specific specialists (often outsourced) such as: Firemen for fires Physical security for physical breaches Forensic IT specialists to gather computer evidence



Not all roles need to be filled by employees. PR can be handled by PR agencies, and some aspects of incident response can be outsourced to technical consultants. However, the company should retain overall supervision and coordinate communication. After all, no one else can be as motivated as the victim to have a successful result.

Incident Response Steps

Regardless of the type of incident, the basic steps will always be:

Identification

Containment

Eradication

Recovery

Lessons Learned

These steps become easier with thorough preparation, but even completely unprepared organizations need to deal with these steps once an incident occurs.

Identification

Identifying the nature of the attack may seem simple, but it can be an evolving process. For example, an IT team dealing with a ransomware attack might discover that the source of the attack came from unpatched firewall vulnerability or that their data has been exfiltrated. Identification may need to recognize several different types of incidents (ransomware, web shell, data breach, etc.) and immediately address them upon discovery.

Some incidents turn out to be false alarms. A SIEM may produce an alert indicating a compromised machine, or a user may desperately call the help desk and mistakenly report that a huge amount of data has been deleted.

Each of these instances trigger the beginning of the incident process, and the first level of incident response must identify if the issue is valid. The alert might be a false positive, and the deleted data may be that a folder on the shared server was accidentally dropped into a subdirectory out of sight. Only an investigation into the details can properly identify how the organization should proceed.

Containment

Containment involves minimizing the scope of the incident. As the identification process determines the nature of an incident, the team can move to isolate the incident to prevent further infection, damage to other systems, etc.

Often, we need to assume the worst condition and take down many more resources than are initially perceived to be infected. While this can severely disrupt business operations, infections can spread faster than detections and thereby justify drastic action.

Eradication

Eradication requires the incident response team to remove the cause of the incident. For a physical event, such as a flood, we can easily see when the water has been removed. However, for digital attacks, the traces of the event can be much more subtle and may involve checking many systems for possible infections that were never there.

Our businesses need to be patient to ensure we do not rush to declare the event over before we remove hidden back doors, reset everyones passwords, and other steps needed to eradicate advanced persistent threats (APT).

The process of eradication naturally requires us to trace the infection or malicious activity through log files and other records. In todays world, a significant incident could also lead to lawsuits (customer, shareholder, privacy breach, etc.) or regulatory action (HIPAA, GDPR, etc.), so we should also ensure we capture and preserve possible evidence during the eradication phase.

Recovery

Recovery must restore systems and operations to full functionality. Depending on the type of incident, this may include restoring data from backups, acquiring replacement systems, reinstalling software, or even physical restoration from flood or fire damage.

Some recovery processes may be delayed by regulatory, investigation, or eradication processes. Recovery teams need to communicate with legal and other advisors to verify how to safely recover without harming other initiatives (law enforcement investigation, preparation of data for lawsuit defense, etc.).

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned involves gathering information after recovery and using it to improve future incident response. Trace each step and progression of the incident to identify possible mitigations that could in the future prevent that step or to trigger alerts earlier.

Incident Response Services

Most companies cannot afford to hire experts for every possible future need. Incident response tends to be infrequent, so most do not prioritize retaining incident response specialists.

Fortunately, we dont have to limit incident response to internal resources. We can always outsource part or all of our incident response needs to consultants, managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), or corporations specializing in incident response and forensics investigations.

The incident response market exceeds $1 billion in annual revenue, and those in need can consider many small and large corporations. Massive brands such as Kaspersky Lab, AT&T, Carbon Black, Cisco, CrowdStrike, IBM, Broadcom-Symantec, Trustwave, and Verizon have service offerings available.

Ideally, an organization should look ahead and screen potential incident response vendors in advance. Many incident response vendors can prepare Master Service Agreements that lock down the legal terms and basic pricing in advance. Once an incident has started, companies lose the luxury to be selective.

When creating a starting list of candidates, discuss options with legal counsel and with the cybersecurity insurance company. Often, they may limit selection to a pre-approved list of vendors.

Whether during an incident or in advance, the same criteria will require consideration:

Pricing

Technical skills

Understanding of the specific technology in use

Availability on short notice

Company culture match

The prioritization and weight for each of these categories will vary from organization to organization. Fortunately, the earlier a company prepares for an incident, the more likely it will be able to handle it.

Further reading:
The European Union has been helping Tunisia pave the way for a modern democracy based on freedoms, socio-economic development, and social justice for 6 years on from the so-called Arab Spring revolution in 2011. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, the EU committed itself to support the Tunisian peoples transition towards greater democracy and freedom by reinforcing bilateral relations and collaboration in key areas. To further boost the mutual relations, both sides established a Privileged Partnership in 2012 and an ambitious action plan for its implementation.

The EU has granted a special status to Tunisia, reflecting the Unions commitment to support its transition as the North African country tackles a number of interrelated challenges in a delicate regional context: the consolidation of democracy mostly by implementing the Constitution of January 2014, terrorist threat and socio-economic conditions characterized by high youth unemployment and extremism. The status also gives a practical expression to the shared ambition of boosting bilateral relations in every possible area  political, the economy, culture, trade and security  and of intensifying exchanges between both societies.

Since 2011, the EU has increased its financial aid by the factor of two. Tunisia is the principal beneficiary of the EUs financial assistance in the Southern Neighborhood of the umbrella program, which provides funds in recognition of progress made in the field of democracy and human rights. Through the combination of all sources of financial assistance  grants (more than 1.2 billion euros), macro financial assistance (800 million euros) and loans, including those from the European Investment Bank (1.5 billion euros)  the EU focuses its attention on the following key areas: first, socio-economic reforms to foster inclusive growth, competitiveness, and integration; second, consolidation of the fundamental building blocks of democracy; third, sustainable regional and local development.
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When German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his "magnificent" victory over Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, there was no reason to doubt her sincerity. President Le Pen would have been such a disaster for Europe that the Brexit calamity would have seemed trivial in comparison.

Even so, Macron's success and the U.K.'s decision to quit the EU present Germany with mutually reinforcing problems. They put the German conception of Europe's future under pressure.

Macron is pro-Europe in the traditional French way: He wants a deeper European Union, with closer integration of fiscal policy in particular. Germany is pro-EU as well, of course, but has generally preferred making the union broader rather than deeper. Its goal has been to spread the blessings of peace and prosperity more widely, and especially to its east, rather than pursuing with French zeal a United States of Europe (to be led, incidentally, by France).

Seen in this light, the creation of the euro -- an act of radical economic deepening -- was Germany's great strategic mistake. In effect, it was the price Helmut Kohl paid for French acquiescence to German reunification, but German voters were never in favor of the single currency, rightly suspecting its constitutional implications. In case anybody needed reminding, Macron spelled these out during his campaign.

To work well, a single-currency area needs a prominent fiscal dimension. In the euro zone, monetary policy cannot work on a country-by-country basis to attenuate the ups and downs of the business cycle. Without targeted monetary stimulus, countries can get trapped for longer, and perhaps indefinitely, with slow growth and high unemployment. Fiscal policy has to be brought to bear. Yet, at Germany's insistence, the EU's Stability and Growth Pact, imposing limits on deficit spending and public debt, makes this difficult. And Germany has consistently resisted the idea of a "transfer union"; the European Union's budget amounts to a mere 1 percent of the total income of its 28 member states.

Now that the euro exists, dismantling it would be a financial nightmare, so economic logic strongly favors a more deeply integrated EU. Macron gets that. He has talked about an EU budget ministry and centrally coordinated public investment financed with eurobonds, presumably with an EU guarantee. He's right -- but that's exactly what Germany doesn't want. Magnificent as she believed the election result to be, Merkel was quick to add that "German support cannot replace French policy-making," and her officials said Germany wouldn't be dropping its longstanding opposition to eurobonds.

Macron fought Le Pen by calling for more Europe, not less. It's true that a majority of French citizens count themselves pro-Europe, but compare Macron's stand with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, who dealt with the Dutch brand of militant populism by making rhetorical concessions to it. This shows the strength of the French elite's commitment to deeper integration. If Germany isn't alarmed about that, it should be.

In resisting these political and economic pressures, Germany used to have an ally in the U.K. Not anymore. The principal skeptic on deeper integration -- so skeptical it refused to join the euro system -- is no longer around to provide cover for Germany's reservations and help check France's ambitions for the union. Almost all of that burden will now fall on Germany.

Merkel's dilemma will soon be apparent. Macron, with unsteady parliamentary backing at best, will struggle to get his way in Paris -- so the French structural reforms that he promised and Merkel is calling for will be hard to deliver. This will raise the political stakes for EU policy reform: Gains in that area will matter more for Macron, yet be harder for Merkel to justify to her own voters. If she continues to resist Macron's proposals, she'll embarrass the new president and further inflame French euroskepticism. If she gives way, her own euroskeptics will be energized.

Merkel might come to regret -- if she isn't regretting it already -- her failure to help Britain's David Cameron save face last year. His attempt to wring yet more concessions and special favors from the U.K.'s EU partners was brusquely rebuffed, and Cameron was humiliated. Much to his surprise, rather than accepting this refusal to budge any further, the Brits decided to go, leaving Merkel to make the case against deeper integration without their help. How do you say in German, "You don't know what you've got till it's gone"?





: bloomberg.com

22
Gente

Rocio Flores: "Si hay alguien que se ha partido la cara por Olga Moreno he sido yo"
I have the list of the documentation I need but a few logistical issues concern me.



a) It says children 12 and under don't need an appointment but do they have to be present?

Presumably I have to bring their passports at a minimum. Click to expand...

b) They ask for plane tickets. Do they have to be return tickets? Click to expand...

c) What are the sticking points they are looking for. I'm guessing the health insurance is one anything else? Click to expand...

d) Finally how long before they mail you back your passport. Their website is a mess! some places say 10 working days others say 1 month! Click to expand...

For the children, you should bring their visa applications and supporting documents. They don't need to be present and they don't need their own appointments. But they do need to apply for a visa, same as anyone else.In practice, they don't seem to need the actual tickets, just a reservation so they can see your itinerary. The airlines won't take bookings more than 10 to 12 months in advance anyhow - so you could conceivably book an outgoing flight with open return. Or, place a "reservation" online (without paying for it) that they will hold for 48 hours (or whatever the limit is these days). Print that off and bring it with you. They need to see when you are planning on flying so they can date the visa appropriately.The health insurance isn't a "sticking point." It's a legal requirement. Basically what they want is your "reason" for going to France and support for that reason, plus some sort of proof that you will return home when you say you will. If you are only going to be in France for a year, you will not be eligible for PUMA, but rather must have private insurance that meets their coverage requirements.As with most government agencies, it takes as long as it takes. It may take longer if you go in during a holiday period (i.e. when the consulate staff is away on summer holidays, or just when there are lots of public holidays when the consulate is closed), or if there are problems or questions with your application. As we are heading into the summer holiday season, I'd plan on a month - but you may be pleasantly surprised, particularly if you make their jobs easier by submitting a complete dossier for each application.Cheers,Bev
UK Teacher's Pension (BRUT/Gross) plus UK State Pension (Net).

I follow Face to face advice from Centre d'Impots every year and advice in newspaper booklet that I pay for each year.. BUT THIS YEAR... oh la la!

In contrast to discussion with lady yesterday who said forms were filled in ok, the man today declared the pink form and blue form were incorrect.

I only returned to ask about which box the mortgage interest goes in, but, evidently, as it is more than five years ...six last year...the entry is zero! Ok for that.

I maintained French language throughout which after 12 years (I am 67) is not too bad, far from perfect, but I could discuss aspects of politics with French friends this week.

The chap today was insistent I should have come to the English date which was at end of April but I never knew they did that! He recoiled as soon as he realised I was English look French (French roots)

I asked for new pink form to refill but he would not give one, so I had to go to ACCEUIL where the lady detected I was upset!! Further discussion with the first lady ensued so she asked a third official to help. He changed all my entries for the blue and pink forms. He said that Teachers Pension goes to Blue 1AL and to 8TK as it is net (tax paid at source in UK) and UK STATE PENSION (gross / brut goes to Blue 1AM because it's now treated as PENSION Privee for French people and English people! ...

News to me!

He says to not total the two from PINK form page one and put into Blue 1AS, section 6 and 8TK which is what I have always done in the last three years and more and this year.

Last year they reimbursed me 90 euros and th 256 euros I'd had to pay in February and May by DD....the year before charged me 370 euros and the year before that 335 euros.

I never got to query that before December 2016 as I have been under enormous renovation pressures, STUFF, and since September been mainly in UK sofa surfing for family issues and funerals. Rather shattered with Executor stuff!!!!! BUT that is another tale!

So...

tax experts... is it true that UK state pension should be declared thus???

and UK teachers pension declared thus?



I am beginning to think I would prefer the both to be taxed at source in UK ...



Thank you for any KNOWLEDGE.
At 11:45 on a weekday morning, Casa Chacon was mostly empty behind its barred windows, its long row of comfortable tan and green booths like an upholstered vacant parking lot. Even so, the staff seemed on edge. Not exactly unfriendly, just coiled like a predator waiting on prey.

It made sense when the rush hit 15 minutes later, with almost every table full, with plates flying by in a motion blur, with two babies chirping and squawking from their high chairs. This breakfast and lunch spot is a high-traffic cafe on a high-traffic road, with tacos to back it up.

Tacos: Take a minute to close your eyes and be thankful for all the San Antonio restaurants that fry their own tortilla chips for your free basket of chips and salsa. At Casa Chacon, theyre salty, small and super-crisp, and theyre the superstars of a chilaquiles taco ($1.99). But its beauty is more than chip-deep, with a 50-50 ratio of eggs and a saute of tomatoes, fresh jalapenos and lots of tangy white onions smothered not in plan American cheese, but thick cheddar like the nachos your parents used to make.

The mystery of the manifest crowd resolved itself in a puffy taco. No, not an appearance of the Madonna on a taco shell, but the Thursday special of two puffy tacos with rice and beans for $5.99. The shells a featherweight puff with the outsized strength of a handbag folded around salty beef and potatoes. Its crunchy, greasy and crisp all at the same time, with a crown of cheddar. ($2.59 a la carte)

Casa Chacon leaves the shaggy surface of the tongue intact when it roasts lengua for tacos. Whereas that usually leaves a sour, other-meat aftertaste, its like a beef tip roast here, on the tip of your tongue with sharp, sweet notes of pico de gallo cooked in ($2.99).



Tortillas: Give half the credit for an excellent chilaquiles taco to a handmade flour tortilla with rippled, bubbly fluff under a dusty and elastic exterior. The soft and strong corn tortillas are in the same premiere league.

Salsa: The shops red sauce is like the stuff you make in your blender with canned tomatoes, garlic and peppers. For something with more spirit, theres a pulpy squeeze-bottle jalapeno verde with enough cilantro to make it smell like a grocery store flower department.

Location: 2954 Culebra Road, 210-432-0222, no web presence

Rating: A solid neighborhood option

Follow the complete 365 Days of Tacos series at ExpressNews.com/Tacos. Get 365 Days of Tacos sent to your inbox. Sign up here

msutter@express-news.net

Twitter: @fedmanwalking




The fear of missing out is a powerful force, and Sunday brunch is the most FOMO-tastic event of the restaurant week.

On a day when we might rather sleep in or commune with the almighty, FOMO compels us to stand in line for eggs Benedict and cheap mimosas because its the only day we can do that at most places.

NOLA Brunch & Beignets treats the symptoms of FOMO five days a week. Ironically, Sunday is not one of those days. Because sometimes you just have to sleep in, or at least atone for your sins.

And theres a whisper of sin in a New Orleans beignet. You see it on every table at NOLA, traces of powder like a Hollywood house party in the 70s. Traces of confectioners sugar where beignets have been.

Theyre more dense and less greasy than the beignets you had at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans that one time, like a sugar-dusted dinner roll. Theyre just as satisfying, in their way, sitting next to hot cafe au lait with the weedy twang of Community Coffee with chicory.

Pieter Sypesteyn is the restaurateur behind NOLA, and he has a monopoly on the New Orleans experience on this block just off St. Marys Street. His other place around the way, Cookhouse, does po-boys at lunch and the rust-colored Cajun rainbow at dinner.

More Information NOLA Brunch & Beignets * 111 Kings Court, 210-320-1572, eatatnola.com Quick bite: New Orleans-style brunch served five days a week in a sunny cottage off North St. Mary's Street. Hit: Brisket grillades, beignets, French toast, Uptown Eggs Bennie Miss: Hash brown-crusted trout, boudin flautas, shrimp and grits Hours: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday Price range: Beignets, $5-$7; small plates, $10; large plates, $12-$18; sides, $4-$5. Alcohol: BYOB, with orange juice for mimosas **** Superior. Can compete nationally. *** Excellent. One of the best restaurants in the city. ** Very good. A standout restaurant of its kind. * Good. A restaurant that we recommend. (no stars) We cannot recommend this restaurant at this time. Express-News dining critics pay for all meals. See More Collapse

NOLA channels some of that Cajun and Creole intensity into grillades and grits, a Southern classic with tender cuts of braised brisket in spicy gravy served with a poached egg over rich, compact grits. San Antonians will appreciate the way it takes the salty brownness of carne guisada to a sharper, brighter place.

And NOLA knows how to poach an egg. A montage of bursting golden yolks would show those willowy eggs improving everything they touch.

Theres a pair of poached eggs on an Uptown Eggs Bennie, which gives the tired brunch staple an inspiring makeover with the crunch of fried green tomatoes and the spark of shrimp Creole on biscuits. NOLA makes a biscuit with real weight and a soft, baking-powder character that makes it flaky at the golden crown and cakey and crumbly at the core.

The biscuit helps to soak away the flatline flavors of NOLAs shrimp and grits. Its like a hotel version of the classic, with pasty grits, a sauce as unchallenging as tomato cream and shrimp too small and pale to stand up to it. At Cookhouse, they do a dish with head-on jumbo shrimp, and Id trade a bunch of little shrimp for a few full-bodied monsters at NOLA. But I imagine brunch is not the time for a crustacean anatomy lesson.

Undersea anatomy played a sideways part in trout crusted with hash browns. The potatoes were less of a crust and more of a second skeleton and just as hard to cut through. The trout itself was cooked hard in that starchy cage. The poached egg and its lemony hollandaise wash seemed less like a brunchy affectation and more like a lifeline to hydrate and soften up the host.

Hollandaise shouldnt be a blanket to cover up the dry character of the food underneath it, but thats the way it worked with an overcooked omelet topped with crab meat, the one dish that gave me value vapors at $18 with no sides. NOLAs dried-out frittata didnt have hollandaise to rescue it, but I liked the novelty of adding Zapps potato chips for texture and salt.

Brunch burgers tend to be the canvas for frustrated chefs everywhere. Thats when they whip out the Mad Libs layering of sauces, cheese and proteins. Not so at NOLA, and while I appreciated the straightforward double-meat cheeseburger on a white picnic bun, I can get a good-better-best version of that down the street at Burger Boy.

And lets talk about Cajun boudin flautas. Cajuns already a pastiche cuisine. Adding tortillas, chipotle and guajillo to that mix creates chaos. Chaos with lemon cream.

In that same less-is-more spirit, NOLAs praline bacon reinforces my thought that plain old bacon is already the ultimate sidekick, adding big background sounds to whatever bit of breakfast celebritys going on up front. Did Clarence Clemons need sequins to back up Bruce Springsteen? Neither does bacon benefit that much from sugar and pecans, and not at $5 for two slices.

But in the spirit of too-much-is-never-enough, I cant get enough of NOLAs bread pudding French toast, which takes a dense, starchy indulgence and dunks it in egg custard and cooks it all over again. Flan meets bread meets orange marmalade Danish, with a side of Steens cane syrup that could kick Canadian maples skinny butt any Sunday of the week. Ask for some extra to go on pancakes with a satisfying balance of fluff, structure and salted caramel.

The atmosphere and look of NOLA both channel the attitude and aqua-tinted awning of Cafe Du Monde and the New Orleans aesthetic in general. The sun porch embodies the ease of a Southern breakfast, with strangers sitting together at a communal table on one day, a moms-day-out brunch party on another, all of it bathed in the dappled sun of a tree-lined neighborhood street and tended by a sharp, professional staff with the right genteel disposition for it.

The front room, by contrast, is claustrophobically dim and crowded. On the way out, my guest had to dodge a waiter sailing through the rooms tiny doorway, putting his waistline precariously close to the table next to that doorway. Shrieking ensued. It was awkward, embarrassing and unnecessary, considering that tables could be moved to suit obvious traffic patterns.

Such is the reality of running a restaurant in a neighborhood cottage so small that the storage for glassware creeps around the hosts stand like a Crate & Barrel display.

The ups and downs of the food on any given day cant stop me from recommending NOLA  Id return for French toast drizzled with cane syrup and dappled in sunlight  and thats what one star in our four-star system means, a star awarded in part for comforting us in our time of FOMO.
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Jorge Garcia Navarro, a junior at Edison High School, won himself celebrity status Wednesday for next years cafeteria line.

Navarro, 17, used his fathers recipe in the San Antonio Independent School Districts first-ever salsa cook-off, besting about 30 other students from five high schools. Navarros winning recipe was deemed the official salsa of SAISD and will be offered in all district cafeterias next year.

Navarro said he looks forward to asking the cafeteria workers, Can I have some of my salsa, please?

Im not sure if theyll know, but I will know for sure that its mine, he said.

The district challenged students to create recipes for the SAISD cafeteria menu for all schools, said Jenny Arredondo, senior executive director of child nutrition. Arredondos department plans to sponsor similar culinary competitions in the future for other cafeteria staples.

Going forward, we would like to have menus created that are geared towards the taste buds of our own students, Arredondo said. In the end, theyre going to be the ones eating it. They are our customers.

With high levels of student poverty and food insecurity, SAISD serves free meals districtwide. But the district must deal with the waste that occurs when students dont like the food. Some admit to rejecting the cafeteria lunch and spending the entire school day with an empty stomach, but teachers say students dont learn as well when theyre not properly fed.

More Information The winning salsa Created by Jorge Garcia Navarro at Edison High School, this will be the SAISD Child Nutrition Department's standard salsa for all the district's cafeterias. Ingredients One 8 oz. can tomato sauce Two jalapenos One white onion Bunch cilantro Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon Garlic powder Salt Directions 1. In a blender, mix tomato sauce and jalapenos until well blended. 2. Add onion, cilantro, lemon juice. Mix 3. Add garlic powder and salt to taste. 4. Serve. See More Collapse

Students in culinary arts and nutrition classes at Edison, Burbank, Lanier, Sam Houston and Brackenridge high schools were instructed to create traditional salsas with spice and heat levels appropriate for students as young as kindergarten. Dressed in chefs outfits, competitors served their concoctions with tortilla chips to judges Wednesday morning at the Cooper Learning Center. Each school made several varieties, including creamy green jalapeno, ranch and roasted salsas.

The judges included Patti Radle, the SAISD school board president; Arthur Valdez, board vice president; Willie Burroughs, the districts chief operating officer; and Nathan Graf, senior executive director of transportation. They sat at a table with glasses of water, tasting and rating the salsas.

All of them were pretty darn good, Valdez said.

Navarros salsa will be included as an ingredient or served on the side as a condiment for meals including tacos, enchiladas, chalupas, quesadillas and Spanish rice, Arredondo said.

Navarro said his father would be excited to hear that the family recipe had become the official salsa of SAISD.

It uses tomato sauce, jalapenos, salt, garlic powder, onions and cilantro, Navarro said. He spent at least an hour making the salsa Monday in class. He had never made so much of it at once, and keeping the kindergartners in mind, he cut back on the jalapenos.

Its actually a pretty spicy recipe, Navarro said.

amalik@express-news.net
The Southwest Independent School District has become the only school district in Bexar County, and one of just seven statewide, selected for the inaugural class of a $100 million educational leadership program founded by H-E-B Chairman and CEO Charles Butt.

Superintendent Lloyd Verstuyft and district administrators will begin training this summer at the Holdsworth Center in Austin, named after Butts mother, former educator Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt.

It has the potential to create a whole different education system in the state, Verstuyft said. I think we have something to offer and I think we have a lot to learn.

Butt founded the program earlier this year to train public school leaders in best practices across industries and talent management, with the long-term goals of improving public education statewide and creating a national model. The program includes international travel, visits with leadership experts and renowned faculty nationwide, and group discussions.

Each district remains in the program for five years. Apart from the training in June, central office administrators will go to Singapore in July to learn about education leadership there. District administrators participate in the program for two years, and principals next year will begin a similar two-year leadership program. The next cohort of school districts will be chosen in 2019, with subsequent ones introduced annually.

In addition to the superintendent, the Holdsworth Center has designated a champion for each district. In Southwest ISD, that person is JoAnn Fey, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Because a lot of our leadership has been home-grown, I think being exposed to something outside of our system is going to be really healthy, Fey said.

When the center launched in January, about 200 districts were invited to apply. Of those, 19 were chosen as finalists, including San Antonio ISD. In addition to Southwest, those that made the final cut were Arlington, Grand Prairie, Klein, Lamar Consolidated, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo and Round Rock ISDs.

Southwest ISD enrolls almost 14,000 students in southwest San Antonio and a rural portion of Bexar County. It has built a reputation of strong academic performance despite the challenges of student poverty. About 83 percent of its students are considered economically disadvantaged.

Southwest was picked for Holdsworths first class because the district is doing good work but still has a growth mindset, said Kate Rogers, the centers executive vice president. Southwest also has a stable school board that is strongly aligned with Verstuyft and other district leaders, Rogers said.

We were just really appreciative of the time and effort that the districts put into their applications and we were just blown away by the level of innovation happening in the districts, Rogers said. It was encouraging to see whats actually happening in our public schools.

Although SAISD narrowly missed being chosen, Rogers praised the positive momentum there and said it could be a part of Holdsworth in the future.

SAISD is in the middle of implementing an ambitious five-year turnaround plan. Spokeswoman Leslie Price said the district was pleased to be invited to apply, and would try again.

With all of the transitions and things were doing to transform this school district, this would have been an additional asset for us, Price said.

amalik@express-news.net
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Along old, dark, wooden floors, museum director Jacqueline Davis unravels the history of Army uniforms in San Antonio inside of the historic Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston. In building 16 of the East wing, Davis tells the story of uniforms once worn by men and women who served their nation during war and peace.

From 1974 to 2004, Davis served as an Army reservist, accumulating data about exhibits from reference materials, museums, other collectors and the quartermaster museum about uniform specifications. Davis, a 30-year curator at the museum, is a passionate student of how the uniforms design evolved with the times, shifting from wool, to lighter material to the current camouflage battle dress uniforms that display a 21st Century digital pattern.

The thing about uniforms is purpose, Davis said, as she walked through uniformed mannequins clad in festooned outfits and plain ensembles encased in glass, and photos on limestone walls showing soldiers from past eras.

The thread starts in the 1770s, during the American Revolution, with the Spanish Army Granaderos de Galvez, who operated from the Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar, fighting the British under the command of Bernardo de Galvez on the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River.

The soldiers wore wool uniforms, with white stockings and leggings to protect them from the knee down. To light the fuses of grenades, they had a container on their left shoulder that held a smoldering match and they wore hats without brims, so their aim wouldnt be obstructed.

The soldiers wore the uniform while fighting, for parades and pulling details. The militia wore different uniforms.

By 1845, the Army had issued field uniforms to fight in and a dress uniform for dining. That year, the Army stationed troops at the Alamo, the historic battle ground between Mexican military forces and Texan rebels. The soldiers clad in the uniforms of the day, stocked supplies at the mission annexed by the United States.

The color blue became a mainstay of Army clothing in honor of the Continental Army led by George Washington, a tradition that continues with the dress uniform.

Davis said by the 1850s the uniforms were reminiscent of what French troops wore. The frock coat was in vogue for general officers. After the Civil War, the style moved toward British and German uniforms and helmets.

Davis pointed out a five-button sack coat, looser to move in, and cheaper to make that became the basis for the Army uniforms until 10 years ago.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, this is the uniform also worn by the African-American Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th and 25th Infantry regiments that guarded settlements, scouted for Indians and built forts and roads on the Texas frontier. Buffalo Soldiers uniforms were the same as other soldiers except for the insignia.

Davis said after the Indian campaigns ended, the Army had its first Base Realignment and Closure of frontier posts, reducing the size of the Army and equipment. San Antonio was chosen as a garrison, suited as a strategic locale for communication, transportation and close proximity to the Mexican border.

During the war with Spain in Cuba and the Philippines, the Army issued cotton uniforms to clothe the Rough Riders with the iconic look of blue shirts and khaki pants. A blue fatigue uniform, made of simply cut canvas, followed, reserved for cleaning stables and nasty jobs.

In 1902, khaki and olive drab colors replaced blue for service dress.

A variation of the uniform was worn by Gen. John J. Pershing, who was commander of the Southern Department at Fort Sam Houston and pursued Pancho Villa along the Texas/Mexico border.

With the arrival of brown khaki uniforms, the Army based new uniforms on purpose, climate and fighting in jungles and humid locales. The shoulder insignia becomes smaller and worn only on the right sleeve to save money.

Beyond the Rough Rider exhibit, Davis pointed out the dress coat and helmet of Sgt. Norman MacLeod, who served as quartermaster sergeant at Fort Sam Houston from 1898 to 1913.

Walking to a wall display titled, An Air Force of One, she told the story of Lieutenant Benjamin D. Foulois, credited for making the first flight in an Army-owned aircraft. The airplane was shipped from Fort Meyers, Virginia, in 17 crates and with the help of nine men. Foulois reassembled the plane, named Airplane No. 1, and flew it for seven and a half minutes at an unimproved drill field at Fort Sam Houston. His improvised uniform consisted of a motorcycle helmet, goggles and a calvary mans gauntlets.

Civilian styles influenced the Armys clothing through the years. Davis gave the example of the civilian windbreaker that was the model for the olive drab M1941 field jacket worn during World War II. The jacket was nicknamed the Parsons coat after Gen. J.K. Parsons, the 2nd division commander who recommended the design.

In 1942, the Army created the Women Army Corps, issuing uniforms that mirrored those of their male counterparts.

They end up with something very similar to what the men were wearing, Davis said.

Beside the WAC exhibit was the Nisei Soldiers display, featuring a unit of Japanese American soldiers wearing denim and khaki uniforms, with wide-brimmed daisy hats. Nisei refers to an American whose parents are Japanese immigrants. When the soldiers arrived at Fort Sam Houston, they were taken to the Prisoner of War camp beside the Personnel Center. The commander of the center, Col. Telesphor Gottschalk, recalled the prejudice his family endured during World War I and had the men released.

Davis said the styles stabilized into the Korean conflict, shifting toward cotton polyester blend fatigues during Vietnam War.

Toward the end of the exhibits, Davis walked among cases where mannequins modeled camouflage patterns on the Army Combat Uniform. There were Chocolate Chip designs, the uniform worn during the Persian Gulf War, with intricate 6-color desert motifs. Soldiers wore a trio of gray, green and tan universal camouflage pattern during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, a forerunner to the current uniforms soldiers at Fort Sam Houston and other posts wear with an operational camouflage pattern.

vtdavis@express-news.net

COMING FRIDAY: The women at the Alamo.
AUSTIN  Using teddy bears, bathing suits and puppets as tools, students as young as 5 years old could be required to undergo annual sexual assault protection training in school as a growing number of children fall prey to sexual offenders.

The Texas House last week approved the idea, which comes as sexual assaults against children have risen to a high of 51,000 allegations in the last fiscal year, along with increased reports of human trafficking and record numbers of teachers being accused of having inappropriate relationships with students.

Its unbelievably sick when you think about whats happening in society, my friends, said Rep. Tan Parker, a Republican from Flower Mound.

In a move to counter that trend, the Texas House passed House Bill 1342, a bill supported by anti-sexual-assault groups around the state that say children should be learning in school to say no to unwanted touching and feel empowered to tell a teacher or parent when someone steps over the line. Action is pending in the Senate, which would have to approve the measure before it goes to the governors office for his consideration.

The annual training programs are much like stranger danger lessons, experts say, although 95 percent of sexually abused children were assaulted by someone they knew, such as a relative or a neighbor.

Its soul murder, said Madeline McClure, a former therapist who said she has counseled victims as young as 2 years old as they worked through sexual assault trauma. Now the CEO and president of Tex Protects, which focuses on child abuse and prevention, McClure is pushing the bill.

The legislation would allow the Texas Education Agency to select age-appropriate researched-based curriculum that counselors would present to students every year from kindergarten to 12th grade.

For example, one second-grade lesson would teach students the difference between a safe touch, like a wanted hug, and an unsafe touch, such as a pinch, and an unwanted touch, like covering someones eyes in an unwanted game of Guess Who.

How do you talk about that to kids? We have puppets, said Sylvia Orozco-Joseph, national director of WHO (We Help Ourselves) and director of the Adolescent Symposium of Texas.

WHO offers curriculum that is already in use in Texas. The lessons, which are broken up into different age levels, rely on playing out scenarios, such as analyzing why one of three boys are opposed to vising a teachers house, or what an eighth-grader should do when the father of a child she baby-sits puts his hand on her shoulder while driving her home.

Thats what we want kids to do  to think their way out of a situation, said Orozco-Joseph, who said high school lessons include dramatizations about date rape and teen dating violence.

In the lower grades, she uses puppets, including Kimberly Koala who helps children talk about not keeping secrets from adults, and Billy Brown Bear who talks about touching.

The state would have the power to review the curriculum and other programs that rely on animated video lessons or scripted instruction for school districts to choose from.

I have really mixed feelings about it, said Sarah Becker, an active parent at Houston Independent School District, after putting her 6-, 4- and 2-year-old children to bed. I would argue we should be teaching people not to rape people, not teaching people how to avoid it.

But Becker says requiring high school students learn how to avoid sexual assault equates to sex education, which is a good thing.

Lawmakers in the Texas House sent the bill to the Senate on a 128-15 vote last week, but not before stripping language that referenced combating child pregnancy as part of the purpose for the bill to make the bill more palatable to Republicans.

This is not about sexual education training. That is not what this is, not at all, no way, shape or form. It is exclusively training to prevent child sexual abuse. Period, said Parker, who sponsored the bill.

Roughly 10,000 girls under 18 gave birth in Texas in 2014, the latest year which data is available, according to the Wright Family Foundation, which focuses on education for at-risk youth. Of those pregnancies, nearly 500 were to girls between 10 and 14 years old.

While the number of accusations of sexual assault have climbed in recent years, the number of confirmed cases of abuse have slowly dropped to 5,640 from 5,721 last year.

It is a very touchy subject, but we cannot run from the seriousness of this issue, said Parker, who sponsored the bill. We cant sweep it under the carpet. This is very real.
AUSTIN  Some House Democrats are casting a sharp eye on any legislation that might increase peoples interactions with law officers in the wake of the sanctuary cities ban  scrutiny that extends even to a bill meant to ensure more humane conditions for tethered dogs.

We need to take careful look at any law or any bill that comes through thats creating more opportunities for the police to shake somebody down and be able to ask for their papers, said Rep. Poncho Nevarez, D-Eagle Pass.

Nevarez said he doesnt object to the idea and the spirit of the (tethering) bill. I think its legitimate. But he said he looks at legislation now through the prism of Senate Bill 4, the sanctuary cities ban: Its unfortunate that these are the cards that weve been dealt.

Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, said he opposes the tethering bill because of SB4.

A police officer could literally stop at your home, knock on your door, and at that point, in light of SB4  Show me your papers, Canales said. I will be voting against the tethering bill. Im a dog lover, Im an animal lover  I believe that animals are special. But  it may seem somewhat callous  but I place human beings lives before those of animals.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed the sanctuary cities ban into law Sunday. Among its contentious provisions is one to ensure law enforcement officers can ask people they detain about their immigration status even during routine stops.

For some Democrats who say it will lead to profiling, it signals a need for caution on bills that would give officers one more reason to question people  whether raising the smoking age, requiring whistles on rowboats or requiring the most basic care for tethered dogs.

For the tethering bill, the potential for some Democratic opposition is a challenge despite the fact it has had bipartisan support. The measure earlier was sent back to the Public Health Committee from the House floor, where it was poised for a vote, after several Republican lawmakers raised objections.

I cant predict the proposals chances after it was returned to committee, said its author, Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place. It never occurred to me there would be opposition to trying to treat dogs humanely.

Davis said Tuesday she had heard about the potential Democratic opposition, but hadnt heard directly from Democratic lawmakers about it.

I have heard that rumor, she said. I dont know if its true. If it is, thats disappointing. Its the dogs that suffer.

Davis said the House version of the bill is dead after being returned to committee, given deadlines coming up as the legislative session races to its May 29 end. So she is pushing a version that earlier passed the Senate, Senate Bill 1090 by Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville. It must be approved by the House committee before getting a chance at another vote by the full House.

The bill would strengthen the current state law on tethering, which animal welfare advocates call unworkable because it requires 24 hours notice for people to comply with requirements. Backers of the tethering bill cant find an instance of the current law being used. They say people who habitually improperly tether their dogs may temporarily fix a violation to avoid a citation.

The bill would prohibit restraints with weights attached and ban chains. It would require tethers to be a certain length and prohibit those that cause injury to a dog. Tethered dogs would have to be provided with water, adequate shelter and shade in an area where they could avoid being in standing water.

Violations would be a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500.

Laura Donahue, executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, said the tethering bill would provide clear standards and prevent interactions in which tethering has turned into a cruelty case by allowing officers to intervene before a dog is down and dead.

She also said that while any law enforcement officer can enforce an animal care statute, the majority of animal control officers arent peace officers or deputized law enforcement. That means the men and women that enforce animal code for the vast majority of this state can only enforce animal statute. So this is unfair to paint this bill as one that would elevate police interactions.

Leaders of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus in the House and the House Democratic Caucus said theres no strategy to target the tethering bill in response to SB4.

If an officer wants to ask for papers, SB4 provides them everything they need to do so, regardless of what else we pass this session, said Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas, chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. Hes among 31 House members from both parties listed as co-authors of the House tethering bill; another four are joint authors with Davis.

But lawmakers say the issue is being discussed.

Everything we do now is being viewed through this sort of lens of, Does this increase, or could it increase, contact between law enforcement and the community? said Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio. I probably will vote for the (tethering) bill, but thats with a lot more anxiety and with my fingers crossed, hoping that Im making the right decision.

Bernal, who describes himself as an animal person, as a city councilman championed a provision to allow Animal Care Services investigators in the field to request a warrant by video conferencing to allow quicker action to help animals. He said he wants to respect the spirit of the bill, and the authors intent but cant help but be concerned about unintended consequences.

pfikac@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac
Considering that spring is having such a hard time presenting itself its no wonder the early fishing scene is anything but consistent.

Never the less, fishing success is on the minds and wish lists of every angler in the region. The Ohio Division of Wildlife is offering a one-time evening program on bass fishing, an appropriate topic since bass fishing, especially largemouth bass fishing, is easily most popular angling pursuit throughout inland Ohio.

And the location of the seminar is right in the middle of some of the best largemouth bass fishing in eastern Ohio.

Learn how to take advantage of this spring feeding frenzy at a free clinic according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Interested bass anglers need to understand that attendance is limited.

ODNR Division of Wildlife experts will present basic bass fishing strategies in a clinic May 24 from 6:-9 p.m. The location of the seminar is Wildlife District Three Headquarters, 912 Portage Lakes Drive, Akron.

Topics to be included: what makes a bass tick, equipment and lure selection, local lakes to consider, and how to locate bass in those particular lakes.

Register

While the seminar is free, pre-registration is required as spaces are limited. Call Ken Fry, ODNR Division of Wildlife, 330-245-3030 to pre-register.

Buckeye anglers are fortunate to have access to plenty of fishable water including 124,000 acres of inland lakes and reservoirs, 7,000 miles of streams, 2.25 acres of Lake Erie and 481 miles of Ohio River.

Maps

Thats a lot of water to cover in search of creatures as elusive as Buckeye sport fish. Maps might help in the search and new this season is an interactive fishing map allowing fishermen to select features to customize their own fishing maps.

Smartphone and tablet owners will be able to gather fish finding information while they move about a body of water. Interested fishermen can find instructions and maps by clicking the fishing tab at www.wildohio.gov.

Top picks

State wildlife officials have published their picks for the best 2017 fishing lakes. Best bass fishing, according to the state is to be found in the Portage Lakes chain with Turkeyfoot Lake identified as a good first choice.

Just to add another option, especially for non-boat owners, look to farm ponds and private compounds for fast bass action right now before summer weeds clog these small bodies of water.

Keep in mind that landowner permission is required. Many landowners will grant permission if no bass are kept and if a child is involved.

Atwood Lake is the divisions top choice for crappie fishing backed by a five-year rating as one of the top ten crappie producers in northeast Ohio. Not just crappies but crappies over nine inches nose to tail. Boaters who would like to try Atwood are limited to 25 hp motors.

Cannel cats are a highly rated fishery at Springfield Lake just east of Akron. Division fisheries target this lake for cats and stock it yearly to boost its reputation. Anglers might also want to try Lake Milton where channel cats are plentiful.

Inland walleye chasers will be wise to head for Mosquito Creek Lake just north of Warren where the states highest numbers of success on walleye catches have been recorded for several years.

Walleye anglers chase fish by wading, tolling, drifting and still fishing. The divisions officials suggest that the best walleye fishing found here at depths ranging from 6 to 15 feet.

Other good walleye lakes include Pymatuning, Milton and West Branch.

Muskellunge are the big deal at West Branch where annual catch numbers tell the story. Lots of muskies and plenty of big fish offer muskie fishermen the best chance of scoring multiple fish on any given day.

Although late fall probably produces the highest catch rates of the year, these giant predators are nearly always ready to attack the right lure.

Bad gas

Lets talk gasoline, specifically bad gas.

The concern over the implementation of upcoming planned changes to the Renewable Fuel Standards is beginning to worry everyone who knows about or has experienced, the costly damage ethanol charged fuel can and often does to marine engines and recreational equipment.

It is well documented that a huge percentage of damaged engines can be attributed to ethanol blended gas.

In the pages of the 1995 RFS legislation is written a switch from 10 percent (E-10) to higher levels of corn-ethanol, up to 15 percent (E-10) and the change is scheduled to take place this year.

Most of the protest letters to Federal legislators being delivered ask for a common sense solution to this potentially disastrous mix. The current law as written needs to be altered.

The big question will be if legislators will care enough about the negative effects of the additional ethanol on constituents to do the right thing or simply go along with lobbyists who tend to hold the lions share of political influence.
SALEM, Ohio  Two weeks before a new rule for organic livestock and poultry was set to take effect, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue called for an additional six-month delay, pushing the effective date to Nov. 14.

Delay

The USDAs Agricultural Marketing Service published the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule Jan. 19  in the final hours of the Obama Administration. The effective date for this ruling was originally delayed 60 days, from March 20 to May 19, to give the new Trump policy team an opportunity to review the rules.

The new effective date will give the new policy team still more time to review the rule, which, according to a press release from the USDA, contains significant policy and legal issues that warrant further review.

The public will have a new 30-day comment period to specify whether USDA should: let the rule become effective, suspend the rule indefinitely, delay the effective date of the rule further, or withdraw the rule. Comments will be accepted through June 9.

The rule

According to the USDA, the rule sets production standards for organic livestock and poultry, and assures consumers that organically produced products meet a consistent standard.

Major provisions of the rule include:

Clarifying how producers and handlers must treat livestock and poultry, including transport and slaughter.

Specifying which physical alterations are allowed and prohibited in organic livestock and poultry production.

Establishing minimum indoor and outdoor space requirements for poultry.

The rule was designed to create a level playing field among organic livestock producers. But, according to Chuck Lippstreu, who helps manage communications and policy for the Michigan Agri-Business Association, it could force a majority of commercial egg farmers to leave the organic market.

Space requirement

Previous standards allowed enclosed porches to be used  like the back of your house has a deck, explained Paul Patterson, Penn State professor of poultry science.

This was a way larger, commercial producers were getting into organic, he said. But now those porches will no longer be allowed. Those birds will have to have access to the earth.

Farmers with multiple hen houses will have to reconfigure their outdoor paddocks to allow the maximum space per bird, Patterson said. The new ruling calls for a maximum of 2.25 pounds of bird per square foot for layers.

Its is a dollar and cents cost and a challenge to have the acreage to let them be outdoors, said Patterson.

It is not a simple thing to convert one of these (commercial) facilities into a cage-free facility, said Lippstreu.

Biosecurity

Whenever birds are housed outdoors, farmers increase the potential for loss of birds due to predators and disease, Patterson said. Lippstreu feels biosecurity is a big concern with the outdoor access requirement.

In 2015, the U.S. was hit with avian influenza, which killed millions of birds, and earlier this year, a few smaller cases were detected. At this point, this is not the right time nor is there a good time for this rule to be implemented, said Lippstreu.

He expects putting this ruling into play will cause a large majority of commercial organic egg producers to leave the market, taking with them the demand for organic feeds and grains. Lippstreu said many Michigan farmers have switched to organic grains to meet this demand.

Supporting the rule

Chris Pierce, president of Heritage Poultry Management Services, in Annville, Pennsylvania, feels the rule is a step in the right direction for organic producers. We work with many small (organic) producers, he said. We believe the standards will benefit (our producers).

Pierce feels the standards match the needs and wants of the consumers, and in a consumer-driven market, the ruling will put organic producers on a level playing field.
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio  A record 46 Zane Trace FFA members attended the Ohio FFA Convention May 4-5.

During the convention, the chapter was honored as a gold rated chapter.

Six members were recognized as proficiency finalists. They included: Mariah Cox, first place in integrated research; Olivia Pflaumer, first place in animal research; Ann Shelby, first in food science; Cody Clark, second in plant research; Cole Fyffe, third in ag mechanics; and Alanee Fannin, fourth place in home and community development.

Seven students participated as agriscience fair finalists and four were named first place winners.

They included the team of Julia Everidge and Olivia Pflaumer in social science and the team of Gabby Wycinski and Katie Shelby in food science. Pflaumer was also honored as a star finalist in agriculture science and received a $300 award for her efforts.

Pete Dunkle, a longtime supporter of the Zane Trace FFA, received the Honorary State Degree and eight members received their state degree; Mike Bell, Olivia Congrove, Cassidy Corcoran, Kylie Lathey, Brittany Lott, TJ Pack, McKenzie Ray and Alexis Waltz.

In addition, Alanee Fannin, Ann Shelby and Sky Graves received gold officer pins and the chapter was recognized for donations made to Childrens Hospital and CROP/Church World Services through charity fundraisers throughout the year which include the sausage breakfast.

Kurumi Yamada and Micah Kelley represented the chapter in the Ohio FFA Band and 20 members participated in a service activity to pack meals for the Mid-Ohio Food Bank during their time at the convention.

The chapter also competed in the Food For Thought contest sponsored by Ohio Corn and Wheat growers. The chapter placed third overall out of 10 teams in the state contest.
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Nawww......let's allow all Communist dictators (and any other kind of dictators) AND their press AND their assasins into the WHouse, while Trump is there.



I think it's a great idea. In fact, the more the merrier. Take down the fences. Get rid of the Secret Service. What better way to balance the budget.

Let's go back to the good old days of Lincoln, where everyone was welcome to pull up a chair and sit on the porch. A sense of community!

AND Trump should go to the theater more often! So many good performances.
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Ronnie Wood and his ex-wife Jo Wood spotted a UFO while they were on holiday in Brazil.

Ronnie Wood

The 62-year-old former model has claimed the couple have seen evidence of aliens, recalling the time when she was looking after their three kids - Jamie, 42, Leah, 39, and Tyrone, 33 - and the Rolling Stones rocker started screaming for her to look at "something weird" on the horizon.

She said: "I was in Recife in Brazil with Ronnie and our kids.

"Ronnie was out wandering around and he started shouting. 'Jo, Jo, come here, come here, there's something weird over by the sea'."

When Jo joined Ronnie - who she was married to from 1985 until 2011 - they saw what they thought was a spaceship hovering over the sea and beaming lights, before it whizzed off into the sky.

Speaking as part of Peter Andre's new segment on 'This Morning', Jo explained: "Above the sea was this massive thing and the lights came down. It just suddenly went and stopped and then went... It was gone, just like that."

Peter, 44, admitted that he had never seen an unidentified flying object, but he has often witnessed strange lights in the sky that dart about quickly and are completely unexplained.

The pop star admitted he had no understanding for what he's seen, saying it simply "blew" his mind.

He said: "What I saw was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it, they were erratic - objects going from one point in the sky to the other in split seconds, disappearing and reappearing. It blew my mind."
Prince Harry will reportedly take over from his grandfather Prince Philip as the head of the Royal Marines.

Prince Harry

The 95-year-old royal has been head of the Marines since 1953, but is to step down from public engagements later this year, and it has now been reported that the 32-year-old flame-haired hunk is being lined-up for the job.

It would mean Harry - who is dating 'Suits' actress Meghan Markle - would have to make regular trips to Norway and to 3 Commando Bridge in Plymouth.

Sources have said that Major General Rob Magowan, the Commandant General of the Corps, has approved Harry's position, but that Queen Elizabeth - Harry's grandmother - has the final say.

Despite having experience in the armed forces having served as an Apache pilot two years ago, a senior Royal Marine office says the Duke of Edinburgh is a "hard act to follow."

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, a source said: "The invite if acceptable is for Prince Harry to step into uniform and support his grandfather and eventually take over as Captain General."

Harry previously stood in for Philip at the opening the Royal Marines, 1 Assault Group in Plymouth in 2015.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Edinburgh was full of jokes when he announced his retirement last week.

Making light of the news, he quipped that he is standing down because he can no longer stand up.

A guest at St James's Palace said: "I'm sorry to hear you are standing down."

And Philip, who is known for his witty remarks, is believed to have replied: "Well, I can't stand up much longer."

Although Philip will not accept any new invites or visitation requests during the latter part of the year, he will remain committed to the engagements he has lined up from now until that period, and could attend "certain public events from time to time" if he chooses to.

The official announcement regarding the Royal Knight of the Garter states: "His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision.

"Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen. Thereafter, The Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements.

"Although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time."
James 'Arg' Argent has turned to God to continue his journey as a changed person following his stint in a self-help retreat in Thailand.

James 'Arg' Argent

The 29-year-old reality star - who previously battled with his weight and spent time in rehab after admitting to feeling "badly depressed" - enjoyed his daily mediation sessions so much that he has reportedly been attending church regularly and is determined to become a full-time Christian, something which has surprised his close friends.

A source told The Sun online: "Arg has been working hard on himself and is determined to stay well.

"He's always been a spiritual person but he found faith while he was away. It's something he wanted to continue when he came back to the UK and now he's attending church regularly.

"It shocked some of his mates because they had no idea he was into that but if it works for him then everyone is going to support him."

It comes after reports that Arg has been dropped from 'The Only Way Is Essex'.

He is believed to have met with bosses of the ITVBe show last month and was reportedly told that he wasn't allowed to return for the current because they were worried it would throw him back off the bandwagon.

A source previously said: "Arg loves 'TOWIE' and was hoping he would make a cameo in the final few episodes of the series. But bosses believe after a lengthy stint in a rehab, being rushed back into the fold would not be in the best interests of Arg and other cast members. He was also told a full-time return is unlikely unless there was a dramatic improvement in his lifestyle."

The hunk - who was also suspended from the programme in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine - was last seen on screens at the end of 2016.
Aleph, an emerging leading player in the digital printing industry, has signed a binding agreement with Wise SGR, a leading Italian management company of private equity funds with significant experience in the digital printing industry. Under the agreement, Wise SGR - on behalf of Wisequity IV closed-ended fund - will purchase a majority stake of Aleph.It is not a coincidence that the leading companies within this industry are Italian and Aleph is emerging as one of the most reliable solution providers. Innovation capabilities, service attitude and a great deal of commitment convinced us that Aleph team is the right one to invest on, Valentina Franceschini, partner at Wise, said.

Aleph, an emerging leading player in the digital printing industry, has signed a binding agreement with Wise SGR, a leading Italian management company of private equity funds with significant experience in the digital printing industry. Under the agreement, Wise SGR - on behalf of Wisequity IV closed-ended fund - will purchase a majority stake of Aleph.#

Alessandro Manes, founder and CEO of Aleph, said: Aleph has chosen Wise as a partner because they have a significant knowledge of our industry and a successful track record in supporting small and medium companies like us in growing business through operations improvement, internationalisation and M&A.Wise SGR is a leading Italian management company of private equity funds and has a significant experience in the digital printing industry, following the investment in JK Group, a leading producer of inks for digital printing, then divested in 2015.Aleph is emerging as a leading player in the digital printing industry providing not only large format textile digital inkjet printers for textile and other applications but also drying systems, proprietary software and consumables. Over the last 18 years, Aleph has installed over 400 digital plotters and provided customers with related consumables in Italy and abroad. In 2015 the company successfully launched the new series of LaForte large format printing machines and since then is contributing to the further digitalisation of the textile market.Beside developing and producing state of the art products for all printing processes, Aleph has invested a lot in offering a prompt and reliable post-sales technical support and this is recognised by its customers as one of the key assets of the company. Aleph has successfully combined the software competencies of its team with the knowledge of the textile industry being based in the unique textile district of Como.Aleph founders will continue to manage the company focusing on the development of new products and solutions and the improvement of the international presence. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Government of Mozambique, a country in southeastern Africa, has increased the minimum price paid to farmers by more than 50 per cent for the 2016-17 agricultural season. The minimum price has been raised based on a proposal presented by cotton growers. For Mozambique, cotton is the third largest export earning commodity after coal and shrimps.

For first-grade cotton, the minimum price has been increased from about 22.5 US cents per kilo to about 35 US cents per kilo, Mozambican media reported quoting Cabinet spokesperson Mouzinho Saide.

Likewise, for second-grade cotton, the minimum price has now been raised from 16 US cents per kilo to 24 US cents per kilo, the reports said.

The Government of Mozambique, a country in southeastern Africa, has increased the minimum price paid to farmers by more than 50 per cent for the 2016-17 agricultural season. The minimum price has been raised based on a proposal presented by cotton growers. For Mozambique, cotton is the third largest export earning commodity after coal and shrimps.#

Mozambique has set a target to increase cotton production to 200,000 tons by 2020, compared to the current output of around 70,000 tonnes a year. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
When A Site Claimed AbRam As Aryan's Love Child

Recalling those bizarre headlines, SRK said, "Four years ago, my lovely wife Gauri and me decided to have a third child."

"It was claimed on the net that he was the love child of our first child who was 15 years old. Apparently, he had sown his wild oats with a girl while driving her car in Romania. And yeah, there was a fake video to go with it."

This Pathetic News Left SRK & His family All Disturbed

SRK further added, "And we were so disturbed as a family. My son, who is 19 now, even now when you say "hello" to him, he just turns around and says, "But bro, I didn't even have a European driving license."

However, SRK Left The Crowd In Splits Instantly. Heres What He Said:

"I even tried to get into a skin-tight superhero suit to reinvent myself and I failed miserably.

And just an aside, I want to say on behalf of all the Batmen, Spidermen and Supermen of the world, you have to commend them because it really hurts in the crotch, that superhero suit.

Heres How SRK Introduced Himself at TED2017

He introduced himself with a Namaskar' and said, "I'm a movie star and 52 years of age and I don't use Botox as yet. But I do behave like you saw like a 21-year-old in my movies."

"I sell dreams and I peddle love to millions of people back home to India, who assume that I am the best lover in the world." Impressive much?

SRK Also Made Fun Of Himself & Left The Crowd All Giggling

He further said, "I've also been made to understand, there're lots of you here, who haven't seen my work, and I feel very sad for you. The moment SRK said this, it was followed with the laughter & clap of the crowd.

Im Completely Self-Obsessed: SRK

Concluding his intro, SRK said, "That doesn't take away the fact that I'm completely self-obsessed as a movie star should be."

When Suhana Enlightened SRK In The Most Unexpected Way

Speaking about the difficulty to understanding the acronyms, used by current generation, he said, "'ADIDAS' someday wrote back to one of my thought-provoking tweets, and I was wondering why would you write the name a sneaker to me?"

Suhanas Reply To SRK

SRK further added, "So, I asked my daughter and she enlightened me. ADIDAS' now means All Day I Dream About Sex'."

SRK Also Talked About The Love That He Receive From India..

Speaking about India, SRK said, "The land I come from is the source of inexplicable but very simple spirituality."
While the entire nation was gripped with Bieber fever yesterday including our Bollywood biggies like Alia Bhatt, Malaika Arora, Jacqueline Fernandez and others, there was one Bollywood celebrity couple who were left disappointed at Justin Bieber's Mumbai concert.

We are talking about the hottie Karan Singh Grover and his wife Bipasha Basu who did arrive at the venue but had to leave within five minutes. Shocking, isn't it?

Well, but that's exactly what happened. The lovebirds arrived at DY Patil Stadium expecting it to be a serene event but instead were greeted by a huge crowd of people who started shouting at the top of their lungs the moment they saw the duo.

Thus, the couple had to immediately leave the venue. Bipasha told the media, "We didn't get security with us and it is too crowded so we are leaving." Oh no! Now that's quite unfortunate.

However the couple took it sportingly and headed for a dinner together. Later Bips even shared few photos on her Instagram page. Check it out here...

All dressed up for nothing Ha ha ha! A post shared by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on May 10, 2017 at 10:56am PDT

So what we could not enjoy at the concert... still it's always fun with you my love. Thank you  A post shared by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on May 10, 2017 at 10:58am PDT

Coming back to the concert, Alan Walker performed the opening act for Justin, who took the stage at 8 pm. He performed for over 90 minutes belting out his hit tracks like Sorry, What Do You Mean, Never Let You Go, Baby and others.

The gig came to an end at 10 pm as the Canadian popstar bid adieu to his Indian fans, promising to come back soon.
Television actors Kishwer Merchant and Suyyash Rai were angry at VJ Anusha Dandekar and VJ Gaelyn as they mocked SuKish's friends - Rahul Sharma and Gurneet Chadha on social media. Anusha and Gaelyn made fun of Rahul and Gurneet's accent. Anusha made a video and shared it on Instagram.

Kishwer Merchant lashed out at VJ Anusha by sharing a post, "It's sad when a 35yr old doesn't knw how to behave @vjanusha@vjgaelyn .. grow up !!! And fyi the guy in the video is @rahullsharma and the girl is @gur4neet .. now u knw them !!!"



Suyyash too, was angry at Anusha and took to social media. He shared a note and wrote, "People consider u guys their role models / idols ... it doesnt suit u guys @vjanusha @vjgaelyn . Disappointed seriously...U guys r probably trippin on something and enjoying but unfortunately for you they are my frns."

"U shudnt have put this on ur socail networking websites specially wen there millions of people looking up2 u...and unfortunately they are your FANS :)."

"U guys probably well educated and have probably studied and stayed abroad all ur lives its juss that my frns r tooo desi to have that accent...n unfortunately that guy is from punjab too just like @kkundrra. AND je lodh payi metho vadda desi labna v nai...GROW UP..."

Later, VJ Anusha also tried to explain Suyyash about her actions in his post. She wrote, "It was a video we found really funny, we wouldn't make fun of anyone, it wasn't meant to be offensive! @suyyashrai."

The argument continued for a long time. The fans were also divided in their support. While some felt Anusha was wrong, a few other felt SuKish shouldn't have made it public.
In 1991, India started a campaign to sell government stakes in state-owned enterprises, part of its effort to liberalise the economy. These divestments have since become a significant source of income for the government and a core part of the budget every year.

But they have never quite met the high targets the government has set.

India has had ambitious divestment targets in recent years, seeing these sales as an important way to improve the operational efficiency of public sector companies.

Some state-owned companies put a huge burden on government expenditure, driven to inefficiencies by their monopoly power. It made sense to reduce Indias exposure to these bloated corporations.

Click the graphics below for a full view.

But the Indian government of Prime Minister Nardedra Modi appears to have gone too far  setting unrealistic divestment goals year after year. The country failed to meet the annual target for the seventh consecutive year in the 2016-17 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2017.

The government has put the blame on market volatility and fluctuations in oil and commodity prices. But it does not have appeared to have learned its lesson  the governments divestment target for the new fiscal year is Rp725 billion ($11.2 billion), a new record.
Avita Medical Limited (ASX:AVH; OTCQX:AVMXY), a regenerative medicine company focused on the treatment of wounds and skin defects, has filed an Inter Partes Review (IPR) petition against US Patent No. 9,610,430 (the '430 patent) owned by Renovacare Sciences Corp., as Avita holds that all claims in the '430 patent are unpatentable and should be cancelled.

Avita filed the IPR challenge with the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which has accepted the petition and will now decide whether the case should come to trial. The IPR process allows a petitioner to challenge the validity of a patent by looking at prior art consisting of patents and printed publications. Avita's IPR petition has been assigned the Review Number IPR2017-01243.

"We believe we have presented a very strong rationale to the PTAB as to why this patent should never have been issued, and thus, we respectfully request that all claims in the '430 patent should be cancelled," said Avita CEO Adam Kelliher. "Avita is a pioneer in the regenerative medicine arena, and we are very protective of our intellectual property rights."

ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LIMITED

Avita's patented and proprietary collection and application technology provides innovative treatment solutions derived from the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin. Our medical devices work by preparing a Regenerative Epithelial Suspension (RES), an autologous suspension comprised of the patients' own skin cells and wound healing factors that are necessary to regenerate natural healthy skin. This is then applied to the area to be treated.

In all countries outside of Europe, our portfolio is marketed under the ReCell brand to promote skin healing in a wide range of applications including burns, chronic wounds and aesthetics.

ReCell is TGA-registered in Australia, and CFDA-cleared in China. In the United States, ReCell is an investigational device limited by federal law to investigational and compassionate use.

In Europe, our portfolio of medical device products received CE-mark approval as three tailored product presentations, with three individual brand names. ReCell is designed for the treatment of burns and plastic reconstructive procedures; ReGenerCell has been formulated for chronic wounds including leg and foot ulcers; and ReNovaCell is tailored for aesthetic applications including the restoration of pigmentation.

To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This letter includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "could," "may," "will," "believe," "estimate," "look forward," "forecast," "goal," "target," "project," "continue," "outlook," "guidance," "future," other words of similar meaning and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements in this letter include, but are not limited to, statements concerning, among other things, our ongoing clinical trials and product development activities, regulatory approval of our products, the potential for future growth in our business, and our ability to achieve our key strategic, operational and financial goal. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Each forward-looking statement contained in this letter is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, the timing of regulatory approvals of our products; physician acceptance, endorsement, and use of our products; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits from approval of our products; the effect of regulatory actions; product liability claims; risks associated with international operations and expansion; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, economic or political conditions outside of the company's control. Investors should not place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this letter. Investors are encouraged to read our publicly available filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this letter speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510006759/en/

Contacts:

Avita Medical Ltd

Adam Kelliher

Chief Executive Officer

Phone: +44 020 8947 9804

akelliher@avitamedical.com

or

Tim Rooney

Chief Financial Officer

Phone: 1 (661) 367-9170

trooney@avitamedical.com

or

Australia

Monsoon Communications

Sarah Kemter

Phone: +61 (0)3 9620 3333

Mobile: +61 (0)407 162 530

sarahk@monsoon.com.au

or

USA

Westwicke Partners

Jamar Ismail

Phone: +1 (415) 513-1282

jamar.ismail@westwicke.com
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/10/17 -- MEXICAN GOLD CORP. ("Mexican Gold" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MEX) is pleased to announce that further to its news release dated September 28, 2016, the Company has issued an aggregate of 1,052,129 common shares ("Common Shares") at a deemed price of $0.31 per Common Share and an aggregate of 611,000 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.25 per Common Share to certain of its officers and/or directors in settlement of outstanding debt in the aggregate amount of $478,910.22 (the "Debt Settlement") as summarized below.

The Company directly or indirectly issued: (i) 716,877 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.31 per Common Share and 330,000 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.25 per Common Share to Brian Robertson, the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, in settlement of outstanding debt in the amount of $304,732; (ii) 335,252 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.31 per Common Share and 150,000 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.25 per Common Share to David Baker, a director and the former Executive Chairman of the Company, in settlement of outstanding debt in the amount of $141,428.22; (iii) 65,500 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.25 per Common Share to Earl Terris, a director of the Company, in settlement of outstanding debt in the amount of $16,375; and (iv) 65,500 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.25 per Common Share to Gorden Glenn, a director of the Company, in settlement of outstanding debt in the amount of $16,375.

The issuance of an aggregate of 1,052,129 Common Shares at a deemed price of $0.31 per Common Share in settlement of outstanding debt in the aggregate amount of $326,160.22, representing amounts owed directly or indirectly to Messrs. Robertson and Baker for management fees in excess of $2,500 per month, was approved by a majority of disinterested shareholders of the Company at the special meeting of shareholders held on April 12, 2017.

The issuance of the Common Shares to each of Messrs. Robertson, Baker, Terris and Glenn or their respective affiliates pursuant to the Debt Settlement constitutes a "related party transaction" for the purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation and minority shareholder approval in connection with the Debt Settlement in reliance on sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a), respectively, of MI 61-101, as, at the time the transaction was agreed to, neither the fair market value of the securities to be received by such parties nor the fair market value of the debt to be settled exceeded 25% of the Corporation's market capitalization as calculated in accordance with MI 61-101.

The securities issued pursuant to the Debt Settlement are subject to a four month hold period pursuant to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange which will expire on September 11, 2017. The securities issued pursuant to Debt Settlement are also subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up agreements entered into between the Company and each of Messrs. Robertson, Baker, Terris and Glenn. The transfer restrictions under the lock-up agreements expire on January 1, 2018.

About Mexican Gold Corp.

Mexican Gold is a Canadian based mineral exploration company committed to building long-term value through the discovery, acquisition and advancement of mineral properties. Mexican Gold holds an option on the Las Minas gold, silver and copper exploration project located within the Las Minas mining district in the State of Veracruz, Mexico. The district hosts one of the largest underexplored skarn systems known in Mexico and has a strong production history that dates back to the Aztec era.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Mexican Gold Corp.

Brian Robertson

Chairman, President & CEO

807-474-4270 or 807-251-1816

807-474-4272 (FAX)

info@mexicangold.ca

www.mexicangold.ca




DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2017 / With keen ability for predicting market trends, famed Texas developer and investor Marcus Hiles began his distinguished career developing affordable properties that offered upscale amenities. To date his companies manage and own over 15,000 townhomes and apartments across Texas. His vision for offering luxury homes to working class Texans revolutionized the Dallas real estate landscape. Now, Hiles is taking his property expertise and focusing on the areas poised for exponential growth - Woodlands and coastal regions of Houston.

There has been much speculation about how President-elect Donald Trump will affect real estate policies when he enters office in January. Many investors are looking forward to having a businessman in the role of President of the United States, believing this is an opportunity to lessen many of the regulations being applied to businesses. Even with his extensive background in real estate, Trump has been mostly silent about what his impact in this area will be. According to a recent Forbes article written by Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist of National Association of REALTORS, one of Trump's biggest influences on the property industry could be changes in some form to the Dodd-Frank financial regulation. "A clear positive would be the lifting of compliance costs imposed on small-sized banks. Around 10,000 local and community banks have traditionally been the source of funding for construction and land development loans. With less regulatory burden, these small banks can make more loans and will boost home building activity - something that is needed in the current housing situation."

The growing municipality of Houston ranks as the fourth largest metro area in the United States, coming in just behind New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Nearly half of all Fortune 500 energy companies are headquartered here, giving the city unparalleled influence in the global energy industry. Much of Houston's job and population growth has been driven by the energy industry. The expansion of the Panama Canal also offers big benefits to the city, where industrial giants strive to beat West Coast competitors in attaining foreign goods. The Port of Houston is the second busiest port in the United States, quickly becoming competitive with the Port of Los Angeles for trade and jobs. And the Texas Medical Center, sitting just three miles south of downtown, has over 100,000 employees and includes facilities such as hospitals, research institutions, nursing programs, pharmacy schools, and a dental school.

Active in the real estate market for over twenty-five years, Marcus Hiles is a graduate of Pepperdine University and Rice University with a deep commitment to education. His philanthropic contributions include over $2.5 million donated to various K-12 initiatives, after school programs, and job placement programs. Coming from humble beginnings as the son of an inner city minister, Hiles funded three large Churches in Texas as well as his home state of Massachusetts. He also underwrote a $13 million environmentally impactful tree planting initiative. Marcus Hiles is driven by his unwavering commitment to create communities and improve the lives of others.

Marcus Hiles - Chairman & CEO of Western Rim Property Services: http://www.MarcusHiles-News.com

Marcus D Hiles Founder Of Texas based Western Rim Property: http://www.marcusdhiles.com

Marcus D Hiles- Real Estate Entrepreneur- marcusdhiles.us: http://www.marcushilesdallas.com

Marcus Hiles - New Luxury Apartments in Frisco, TX - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmsJNbfOh-g

Contact Information

MarcusHiles-News.com

www.MarcusHiles-News.com

marcus@marcushiles-news.com

SOURCE: Marcus Hiles
LA DEFENSE (dpa-AFX) - Total SA (TTA.L, TTFNF.PK, TOT) said that its shareholders adopted all resolutions recommended by the Board of Directors. At the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, the shareholders approved 2016 financial statements and payment of a 2016 dividend of 2.45 euros per share, an increase compared to 2015. They approved the option for shareholders to receive the final 2016 dividend and any 2017 interim dividends in cash or in new shares of the Company. The shareholders approved renewal of the terms as Directors of Patricia Barbizet and Mrs. Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette for a three-year period. They approved election of Mr. Mark Cutifani and Mr. Carlos Tavares to three-year terms as Directors. The shareholders adopted opinion on the elements of compensantion due or granted to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for year 2016; the principles and criteria for the determination of the compensation granted to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for year 2017. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 09, 2017) - American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP ("AHIP") (TSX: HOT.UN) (TSX: HOT.DB.U) (OTCQX: AHOTF) announced today its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017. The following comments should be read in conjunction with AHIP's unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 which are available on AHIP's website at www.ahipreit.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Q2 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During the second quarter, AHIP continued its disciplined investment strategy through the acquisition of premium branded, select-service hotels located within larger secondary U.S. markets with diverse and stable demand from both corporate and transient travelers. AHIP completed a transformative acquisition with the purchase of 18 Marriott and Hilton branded, select-service hotels totaling 2,187 guestrooms located in high-barrier to entry secondary metropolitan markets located along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

"In the second quarter, AHIP executed on our pragmatic acquisition strategy to diversify the portfolio geographically with strong, demand focused hotels that deliver higher margins with lower volatility, and our results reflect that growth. As a result, year-over-year, AHIP's hotel portfolio has grown by 41% to 113 hotels with premium branded, select-service hotels making up over 66% of total guestrooms and over 75% of total revenues," said Rob O'Neill, CEO of AHIP. He continued, "With such rapid growth also come the challenges of professionally integrating the 23 newly acquired hotels into the operations systems of our exclusive Hotel Manager, and the opportunities to deploy the approximately $64 million of cash which remains available for both investment in capital improvements and further accretive acquisitions."

In Q2 2017, revenues increased by 56.0% to $69.5 million, EBITDA rose by 47.7% to $22.3 million, funds from operations ("FFO") increased by 38.4% to $14.5 million, while adjusted funds from operations ("AFFO") rose 34.0% to $12.5 million, in each case, as a result of the addition of new hotels.

THREE MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2017 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Total revenues for the quarter increased by 56.0% to $69.5 million compared to $44.5 million for the same quarter last year as a result of the acquisition of new hotels between reporting periods.

Total portfolio revenue per available room ("RevPAR") growth for the quarter was 12.8% led by occupancy increases of 2.6% and average daily rate ("ADR") increases of 10.0%. Notable pro-forma RevPAR gains were achieved in Ohio, Tennessee and Florida with growth rates of 10.5%, 9.9% and 5.2%, respectively. This was offset by pro-forma RevPAR declines of 5.0% at the DFW property caused by new supply. Pro-forma RevPAR includes operating results for periods prior to their ownership by AHIP.

Net loss for the quarter was $5.5 million as a result of a partial write-down in the value of an Oak Tree Inn located in Nebraska. When excluding the write-down, AHIP would have generated net income of $1.9 million compared to net income of $3.5 million in the prior quarter. Diluted net loss per Unit was $0.06 compared to a diluted net income per Unit of $0.10 in the prior year.

For the quarter, FFO was up 38.4% to $14.5 million (2016 - $10.5 million) and AFFO was up 34.0% to $12.5 million (2016 - $9.3 million) as a result of the net addition of 33 hotels over the past three quarters.

For the quarter, Diluted FFO per Unit was $0.23 (2016 - $0.30) and Diluted AFFO per Unit was $0.20 (2016 - $0.27).

Same-property revenue RevPAR for Branded Hotels was down 1.6% with strong performance in Florida which saw RevPAR increases of 6.5% offset by weakness in Pittsburgh and Amarillo, which saw RevPAR declines of 8.1% and 10.0%, respectively. When excluding these two weaker regions, AHIP's Branded Hotels would have generated RevPAR increases of 0.8%.

Total portfolio same-property revenues for the quarter were $42.2 million (2016 - $43.6 million) with Rail Hotel revenues decreasing due to lower guaranteed revenues from recent rail crew contract renewals and Branded Hotel revenues impacted by the entrance of new supply in certain markets and displacement occurring at certain properties undergoing mandatory PIP renovations. Total portfolio same-property NOI was $14.8 million (2016 - $16.9 million) lower as a result of higher labor costs and lower revenues.

EBITDA for the quarter was up 47.7% to $22.3 million compared to $15.1 million in the same period last year and EBITDA margin declined to 32.2% (2016 - 34.0%).

The AFFO payout ratio during the quarter was 84.8% (2016 - 61.0%) reflecting the issuance of Units from the June 2017 Offering, the net proceeds of which were partially invested late in the quarter.

AHIP's interest coverage ratio for the second quarter was 3.7x (2016 - 4.3x).

AHIP's mortgages have an average term of 8.0 years (2016 - 7.7 years) and a fixed weighted average interest rate of 4.60% (2016 - 4.56%).

AHIP paid monthly distributions of $0.054 per Unit during the quarter, which is equivalent to $0.648 per Unit on an annualized basis.

As at June 30, 2017, AHIP had an unrestricted cash balance of $28.1 million, a restricted cash balance of $50.7 million and an unutilized revolving line of credit of $10.0 million.

AHIP's debt-to-gross book value as at June 30, 2017 was 53.9% within AHIP's target range of 50% to 55%.

SECOND QUARTER DEVELOPMENTS

On June 9, 2017, AHIP completed a public offering, on a bought deal basis, of: (i) 19,410,000 Units at a price of Cdn$10.35 ($7.6935) per Unit, for total gross proceeds of approximately Cdn$200.9 million ($149.3 million); and (ii) approximately $48.9 million aggregate principal amount of 5.00% convertible unsecured subordinated debentures due on June 30, 2022 (the "Debentures") at a price of $1,000 per Debenture (collectively the "June 2017 Offering"). The gross proceeds included the issuance of 1,050,000 Units from the partial exercise of the Unit over-allotment option and approximately $6.4 million aggregate principal amount of Debentures from the full exercise of the Debenture over-allotment option.

On June 22, 2017, AHIP completed the acquisition of 18 premium branded Marriott and Hilton select-service hotels located in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut for a total purchase price of $395.0 million (or $186,000 per key) excluding $12.4 million in mandatory change of ownership PIPs. This acquisition was partially funded by proceeds from the June 2017 Offering and $236.2 million in long term, fixed rate mortgage financing with terms of 5 to 10 years, interest rates of 4.46% to 4.53% and significant interest-only periods.

SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2017 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Total revenues for the period increased by 54.9% to $131.2 million compared to $84.7 million for the same period last year as a result of the acquisition of new hotels between reporting periods.

Total portfolio RevPAR growth for the period was 14.8% led by occupancy increases of 3.2% and ADR increases of 11.3%. Notable gains were achieved in Ohio, Tennessee and Florida with pro-forma RevPAR gains of 10.9%, 6.6% and 4.2%, respectively. Pro-forma RevPAR includes operating results for periods prior to their ownership by AHIP.

Same-property RevPAR for Branded Hotels was flat with strong performance in Florida which saw RevPAR increases of 6.9% offset by weakness in Pittsburgh and Amarillo, which saw RevPAR declines of 8.3% and 3.8%, respectively. When excluding these two weaker regions, AHIP's Branded Hotels would have generated RevPAR increases of 2.3%.

Net loss for the period was $3.1 million as a result of a partial write-down in the value of an Oak Tree Inn located in Nebraska. When excluding this write-down, AHIP would have generated net income of $4.2 million compared to net income of $2.0 million in the prior period. Diluted net loss per Unit was $0.05 compared to a diluted net income per Unit of $0.06 in the prior year.

For the period, FFO was up 47.7% to $26.1 million (2016 - $17.7 million) and AFFO was up 44.7% to $22.3 million (2016 - $15.4 million) as a result of the 34 new hotels added over the past three quarters.

EBITDA for the period was up 51.9% to $39.2 million compared to $25.8 million in the same period last year and EBITDA margin declined slightly to 29.9% (2016 - 30.5%).

The AFFO payout ratio for the period was 90.0% (2016 - 73.9%) reflecting the issuance of Units from the June 2017 Offering, the net proceeds of which were partially invested during the period.

Ian McAuley, President of AHIP commented, "Our Hotel Manager's expertise in sales, revenue and yield management contributed to our Branded Hotels portfolio outperforming its competitive set, despite headwinds at certain properties that are expected to persist." Mr. McAuley continued, "In addition, AHIP invested $5.4 million in capital expenditures including mandatory PIP renovations at our hotels which resulted in some guest displacement, and partially impacted our operating results, though the guest experience improvements are expected to generate positive returns in the coming months. Our asset management strategy is expected to result in greater cash flows and provide AHIP investors with consistent annual yields of approximately 8.0%, while significantly improving the quality of our hotel portfolio through accretive acquisitions and value-added capital expenditures."

Q2 2017 FINANCIAL RESULTS CONFERENCE CALL

Management will host a conference call at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern), 1:00 p.m. (Pacific) on Thursday, August 10, 2017 to review the financial results and corporate results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017.

To participate in this conference call, please dial one of the following numbers approximately 10 minutes prior to the commencement of the call, and ask to join the AHIP conference call.

Dial in numbers: North America Toll free: 1-877-291-4570 International or local Toronto: 1-647-788-4919

CONFERENCE CALL REPLAY

If you cannot participate on Thursday August 10, 2017, a replay of the conference call will be available by dialing one of the following replay numbers. You will be able to dial in and listen to the conference call replay two hours after the call end time, and the replay will be available until Thursday August 17, 2017. An audio recording of this conference call will also be available at www.ahipreit.com under the "Investor Info/Presentations & Calls" tab.

Please enter replay PIN number 53624988 followed by the # key.

Replay dial in North America Toll free: 1-800-585-8367 numbers: International or local Toronto: 1-416-621-4642

NON-IFRS MEASURES

Certain non-IFRS financial measures are included in this news release, which include NOI, EBITDA, FFO, Diluted FFO per Unit, AFFO, Diluted AFFO per Unit, interest coverage ratio, AFFO payout ratio and debt-to-gross book value. These terms are not measures recognized under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. Real estate investment trusts often refer to NOI, FFO, Diluted FFO per Unit, AFFO, Diluted AFFO per Unit, and AFFO payout ratio as supplemental measures of performance and interest coverage ratio and debt-to-gross book value as supplemental measures of financial condition.

Debt-to-gross book value, NOI, EBITDA, FFO, Diluted FFO per Unit, AFFO, Diluted AFFO per Unit, interest coverage ratio and payout ratio should not be construed as alternatives to measurements determined in accordance with IFRS as indicators of AHIP's performance or financial condition. AHIP's method of calculating NOI, EBITDA, FFO, Diluted FFO per Unit, AFFO, Diluted AFFO per Unit, interest coverage ratio, AFFO payout ratio and debt-to-gross book value may differ from other issuers' methods and accordingly may not be comparable to measures used by other issuers. For further information, please refer to AHIP's MD&A dated August 8, 2017, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on AHIP's website at www.ahipreit.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking" information that involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and it may cause actual results, performance or achievements or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or industry results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "feel", "intend", "may", "plan", "predict", "project", "subject to", "will", "would", and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Some of the specific forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the sustainability and nature of AHIP's distributions; management's acquisition strategies for the growth of AHIP; and AHIP's long-term objectives.

Forward-looking information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions made by AHIP, including, without limitation: a reasonably stable North American economy and stock market; the continued strength of the U.S. lodging industry; AHIP will be able to successfully integrate properties acquired into its portfolio; capital markets will provide AHIP with readily available access to equity and/or debt financing on terms acceptable to AHIP; the accuracy of third party reports with respect to lodging industry data; and the value of the U.S. dollar. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on what AHIP's management believes to be reasonable assumptions, AHIP cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such information.

Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to: general economic conditions; future growth potential; Unit prices; liquidity; tax risk; tax laws currently in effect remaining unchanged; ability to access capital markets; competition for real property investments; environmental matters; the value of the U.S. dollar; and changes in legislation or regulations. Management believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and information currently available; however, management can give no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Additional information about risks and uncertainties is contained in AHIP's MD&A and annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2016, copies of which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to AHIP. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release and AHIP assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law.

ABOUT AMERICAN HOTEL INCOME PROPERTIES REIT LP

AHIP is a limited partnership formed under the Limited Partnerships Act (Ontario) to invest in hotel real estate properties located substantially in the United States and engaged primarily in growing a portfolio of premium branded, select-service hotels in larger secondary markets with diverse and stable demand generators as well as long standing contractual railway customers.

AHIP's long-term objectives are to build on its proven track record of successful investment, deliver reliable and consistent U.S. dollar denominated distributions to unitholders and add value through ongoing growth of its diversified hotel portfolio.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Additional information relating to AHIP, including AHIP's unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, AHIP's MD&A dated August 8, 2017, and other public filings are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR THE ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

For further information, please contact:



Andrew Greig

Investor Relations

American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP

Suite 1660 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5A1

Phone: 604-633-2857

Email: agreig@ahipreit.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Power Metals Corp. ("Power Metals Corp." or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PWM) (FRANKFURT: OAA1) is very pleased to announce the completion of a 3D exploration model for the Company's 100% owned Case Lake Property. The 3D model will aid Power Metals in targeting drill holes as well as aid in our understanding of the morphology of the pegmatite dykes. This will assist in understanding the known mineralization and aid in its expansion.

The Case Lake spodumene pegmatite swarm is located 80 km east of Cochrane, northeastern Ontario. Case Lake pegmatite swarm consists of five dykes exposed on surface: North, Main, South, East and Northeast Dyke. North, Main and Northeast Dykes contain spodumene. North Dyke is has greater than 100 m strike length, Main Dyke has greater than 350 m strike length and the Northeast Dyke has greater than 75 m strike length.

A 3D exploration model has been created for Case Lake pegmatite swarm based on 7 historic drill holes, channel sampling, detailed mapping and general mapping. The fault planes were identified from geophysics maps and satellite images. The pegmatite dykes are modelled to a depth of 100 m.

One purpose of the 3D model is to understand the morphology of the pegmatite dykes (Figure 1). The 3D model indicates that the North and Main Dykes have a strike of 60 degrees NE and a dip of 33-43 degrees N. South and East Dykes have a strike of 80-90 degrees E-W. The fault plan has a strike of 347 degrees NW.

Another purpose of the 3D model is drill targeting and predicting the extension of the spodumene pegmatite dykes. Power Metals summer 2017 drill program will consist of approx. 5000 m of drilling of approximately 50 drill holes. 3D modelling suggests that the Main Dyke is actually two parallel dykes not just one dyke. This will be tested during Power Metals' drill program, in addition to drilling the portion of the Main Dyke that has been exposed on surface but not yet drilled. The drilling will also target the extension of North, Main and South Dykes to the east and to the west with a goal to extend the Main Dyke from 350 m to 780 m long.

The extension of the spodumene North and Main Dykes has been faulted down and thus the offset dyke is an 800 m long exploration target (Figure 2). Both the Northeast and Far East Dykes need trenching and geological mapping to fully expose their strike lengths on surface.

Additionally, an initial bulk sample of lithium rock is being collected and forwarded to Thibault and Associates Inc. in Fredericton, News Brunswick (See press release dated April 10th, 2017). This sample will be used to evaluate technology that would best process the feed stock to meet end user requirements. This initial sample will be supplemented with core samples from the upcoming drill program on the property.

Johnathan More, Chairman of Power Metals states "This 3D model of Case Lake is a huge step in the planning of the upcoming drill program not only in terms of drill locations but also in realizing the potential size of this exciting structure. Additionally, we will be providing an update on our Petro-Lithium assets associated with our technology process in the very near future. Furthermore, we are running at full steam ahead on all of our projects while we wait for the recently filed share spin-out."

To view Figure 1: '3D model of Case Lake North, Main and South Dykes and exploration targets, looking north,' please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094352fig1.pdf

To view Figure 2: '3D model of Case Lake pegmatite exploration targets, looking north,' please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094352fig2.pdf

Qualified Person

John F. Wightman, MSc. (Geology), P.Eng., FGAC, a qualified person, prepared the disclosures reports related to these projects. National Instrument 43-101 reports have not been prepared on these properties.

About Power Metals Corp.

Power Metals Corp. is one of Canada's newest premier mining companies with a mandate to explore, develop and acquire high quality mining projects for minerals contributing to power. We are committed to building an arsenal of projects in both lithium other and clean power fuels. We see an unprecedented opportunity to supply the staggering growth of the lithium battery industry.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

Johnathan More, Chairman

None of the TSX Venture Exchange, the CSE nor their Regulation Service Providers (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains projections and 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 Power Metals such as the statement that: (i) the Plan of Arrangement will be completed; (ii) Power Metals shareholders will receive shares of Power Lithium on a 1:1 basis pro rata with their shareholdings in Power Metals; (iii) Power Metals will transfer all of its interests in its hard rock lithium properties to Power Lithium (iv) Power Lithium will be listed on the CSE or at all and (v) Power Metals will transfer an amount of cash to Power Lithium through the Arrangement such that Power Lithium Corp will meet CSE listing requirements. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and Power Metals' plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including other factors beyond Power Metals' control. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those 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 are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, Power Metals assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

Contacts:

Power Metals Corp.

Johnathan More

Chairman

646-661-0409

info@powermetalscorp.com




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- NuVista Energy Ltd. (TSX: NVA) ("NuVista") announces that the following matters were approved at the annual and special meeting of the shareholders of NuVista held on May 10, 2017 in Calgary, Alberta. Each of the matters is described in greater detail in the Notice of Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders and Information Circular dated March 23, 2017 (the "Circular").

1. Fixing the Number of Directors

By resolution passed via ballot, the number of directors to be elected at the meeting was fixed at nine members. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For Percent Votes Against Percent ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- 141,841,878 99.80% 282,202 0.20%

2. Election of Directors

By resolution passed via ballot, the following nine nominees were appointed as directors of NuVista to serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders of NuVista, or until their successors are elected or appointed. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Name of Nominee Votes For Percent Votes Withheld Percent ---------------------- ---------------- --------- ---------------- --------- Keith A. MacPhail 138,858,404 98.51% 2,105,116 1.49% Ronald J. Eckhardt 140,792,417 99.88% 171,103 0.12% Pentti O. Karkkainen 139,583,106 99.02% 1,380,414 0.98% Ronald J. Poelzer 139,603,886 99.04% 1,359,634 0.96% Brian G. Shaw 140,768,088 99.86% 195,432 0.14% Sheldon B. Steeves 140,771,888 99.86% 191,632 0.14% Deborah S. Stein 140,925,606 99.97% 37,914 0.03% Jonathan A. Wright 140,040,980 99.35% 922,540 0.65% Grant A. Zawalsky 121,392,153 86.12% 19,571,367 13.88%

3. Appointment of Auditors

By resolution passed via ballot, KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, were appointed as auditors of NuVista to hold office until close of the next annual meeting or until their successors are duly appointed, and the directors were authorized to fix their remuneration. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For Percent Votes Withheld Percent ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- 141,683,934 99.69% 440,146 0.31%

4. Non-Binding Advisory Resolution on Executive Compensation

By advisory resolution passed via ballot, NuVista's approach to executive compensation was approved. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For Percent Votes Against Percent ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- 138,035,855 97.92% 2,927,665 2.08%

5. Ratifying and Confirming the Amendments to the Amended and Restated By-Laws

By ordinary resolution passed via ballot, confirmation of the adoption of NuVista's amended and restated by-laws was approved. The results of the ballot were as follows:

Votes For Percent Votes Against Percent ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- 136,909,268 97.12% 4,054,252 2.88%

INVESTOR INFORMATION

NuVista is an independent Canadian oil and natural gas exploration, development and production corporation with its Common Shares trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "NVA".

Contacts:

NuVista Energy Ltd.

Jonathan Wright

President and CEO

(403) 538-8501



NuVista Energy Ltd.

Ross Andreachuk

VP, Finance and CFO

(403) 538-8539




CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The New Zealand dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday. The NZ dollar fell to 3-day lows of 1.5940 against the euro and 77.87 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.5683 and 79.14, respectively. Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the kiwi dropped to nearly a 1-year low of 0.6818 and a 6-day low of 1.0777 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6926 and 1.0625, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.61 against the euro, 77.00 against the yen, 0.67 against the greenback and 1.09 against the aussie. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
20 Genentech medicines are included in more than 190 abstracts during ASCO 2017

New pivotal results for Perjeta (pertuzumab) and Alecensa (alectinib) demonstrating improvement over standards of care

Early results from Genentech's broad cancer development program preview next generation of cancer immunotherapy, including Genentech's first T-cell bispecific antibody

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), today announced new data on 20 approved and investigational medicines will be presented during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting from June 2-6, in Chicago. More than 190 abstracts have been accepted, including two "late breakers" and 24 oral presentations.

"We are making significant advances with personalized medicines and cancer immunotherapies," said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "With continued research and collaborations, we are striving to develop medicines and combinations, incorporate sophisticated diagnostics and integrate big data in our effort to get closer to the goal of curing cancer."

Key highlights from the Genentech oncology portfolio include new results from the APHINITY study in early breast cancer and ALEX study in lung cancer. Both of these studies will be highlighted as part of ASCO's official press program on Monday, June 5. APHINITY is a randomized Phase III study, investigating Perjeta plus Herceptin (trastuzumab) and chemotherapy as an adjuvant (after surgery) treatment for people with HER2-positive early breast cancer. The APHINITY study was conducted in collaboration with the Breast International Group (BIG), Breast European Adjuvant Study Team (BrEAST) and Frontier Science Foundation (FS). ALEX is a randomized, multicenter, open-label Phase III study that compared Alecensa and crizotinib in people with previously untreated ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

There has been great progress in the area of cancer immunotherapy in recent years, and Genentech continues to investigate novel ways to harness the immune system in the fight against cancer as part of its vision to bring the next generation of cancer immunotherapies to patients. With more than 20 investigational cancer immunotherapies in development and 12 in clinical trials, Genentech will be presenting early results on its first T-cell bispecific antibody (CEA-CD3 TCB: RG7802; RO6958688) for the treatment of CEA-positive cancers, including metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). These data have been generated from two ongoing dose-escalation Phase I studies in which CEA-CD3 TCB is used alone or in combination with Tecentriq (atezolizumab).

Visit http://www.gene.com/asco for resources and perspectives from scientists, doctors and others in the cancer community on important topics at ASCO. Follow Genentech on Twitter via @genentech and keep up to date with ASCO 2017 Annual Meeting news and updates by using the hashtag ASCO17.

Key presentations featuring Genentech medicines at ASCO 2017 Medicine Abstract title Abstract number Perjeta (pertuzumab) (investigational use APHINITY trial (BIG 4-11): A randomized comparison of chemotherapy (C) plus trastuzumab (T) plus placebo (Pla) versus chemotherapy plus trastuzumab (T) plus pertuzumab (P) as adjuvant therapy in patients (pts) with HER2-positive early breast cancer (EBC) Abstract LBA500 (oral) Monday, June 5 9:45 AM 12:45 PM CDT Alecensa (alectinib) (investigational use Alectinib versus crizotinib in treatment-naive advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Primary results of the global phase III ALEX study Abstract LBA9008 (oral) Tuesday, June 6 9:45 AM 12:45 PM CDT CEA-CD3 TCB (RG7802) (investigational use Phase Ia and Ib studies of the novel carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) T-cell bispecific (CEA CD3 TCB) antibody as a single agent and in combination with atezolizumab: Preliminary efficacy and safety in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) Abstract 3002 (oral) Monday, June 5 1:15 4:15 PM CDT CEA-CD3 TCB (RG7802) (investigational use) Pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of a novel carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) T-cell bispecific antibody (CEA CD3 TCB) for the treatment of CEA-expressing solid tumors Abstract 2549 (poster) Monday, June 5 8:00 11:30 AM CDT ipatasertib (investigational use LOTUS (NCT02162719): A double-blind placebo (PBO)-controlled randomized phase II trial of first-line ipatasertib (IPAT) paclitaxel (P) for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) Abstract 1009 (poster) Sunday, June 4 4:45 6:00 PM CDT Tecentriq (atezolizumab) (investigational use IMmotion150: A phase II trial in untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients (pts) of atezolizumab (atezo) and bevacizumab (bev) vs and following atezo or sunitinib (sun) Abstract 4505 (oral) Monday, June 5 8:00 10:00 AM CDT Tecentriq (atezolizumab) (investigational use Atezolizumab (atezo) plus platinum-based chemotherapy (chemo) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Update from a phase Ib study Abstract 9092 (poster) Saturday, June 3 8:00 11:30 AM CDT Tecentriq (atezolizumab) (investigational use Clinical activity, safety and biomarker results from a phase Ia study of atezolizumab (atezo) in advanced/recurrent endometrial cancer (rEC) Abstract 5585 (poster) Saturday, June 3 1:15 4:45 PM CDT Tecentriq (atezolizumab) (investigational use Impact of atezolizumab (atezo) treatment beyond disease progression (TBP) in advanced NSCLC: Results from the randomized phase III OAK study Abstract 9001 (oral) Tuesday, June 6 9:45 AM 12:45 PM CDT Tecentriq/IDO1 (atezolizumab/GDC-0919) (investigational use A phase Ib dose escalation study of combined inhibition of IDO1 (GDC-0919) and PD-L1 (atezolizumab) in patients (pts) with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors Abstract 105 (oral) Sunday, June 4 9:45 11:15 AM CDT

About Perjeta

Perjeta is approved for use in combination with Herceptin and docetaxel in people who have HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to different parts of the body (metastatic) and who have not received anti-HER2 therapy or chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer.

Perjeta is approved for use prior to surgery in combination with Herceptin and docetaxel chemotherapy in people with HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early stage (tumor is greater than two centimeters in diameter or node-positive) breast cancer. Perjeta should be used as part of a complete treatment regimen for early stage breast cancer. This use of Perjeta is based on an improvement in the percentage of patients whose cancer shrinks or disappears after treatment. Currently, no data have shown whether or not treatment with Perjeta prior to surgery improves survival.

The safety of Perjeta in combination with doxorubicin-containing regimens has not been established.

The safety of Perjeta administered for greater than six cycles for early stage breast cancer has not been established.

Important Safety Information

Side effects with Perjeta

Not all people have serious side effects; however, side effects with Perjeta therapy are common. It is important for a patient to know what side effects may happen and what symptoms a patient should watch for.

A patient's doctor may stop treatment if serious side effects happen. A patient should be sure to contact their healthcare team right away if they have questions or are worried about any side effects.

Most serious side effects

Perjeta may cause heart problems, including those without symptoms (such as reduced heart function) and those with symptoms (such as congestive heart failure).

A patient's doctor may run tests to monitor the patient's heart function before and during treatment with Perjeta.

Based on test results, a patient's doctor may hold or discontinue treatment with Perjeta.

Receiving Perjeta during pregnancy can result in the death of an unborn baby and birth defects.

Birth control should be used while receiving Perjeta and for seven months after a patient's last dose of Perjeta. If a patient is a mother who is breastfeeding, the patient should talk with her doctor about either stopping breastfeeding or stopping Perjeta.

If a patient thinks she may be pregnant, the patient should contact her healthcare provider immediately.

If a patient is exposed to Perjeta during pregnancy, or becomes pregnant while receiving Perjeta or within seven months following the last dose of Perjeta in combination with Herceptin, the patient is encouraged to enroll in the MotHER Pregnancy Registry by contacting (800) 690-6720 or visiting http://www.motherpregnancyregistry.com, and to report Perjeta exposure to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.

Other possible serious side effects

Perjeta should not be used in patients who are allergic to pertuzumab or to any of the ingredients in Perjeta.

Infusion-related reactions: Perjeta is a medicine that is delivered into a vein through a needle. This process can cause reactions known as infusion-related reactions. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta, Herceptin and docetaxel were feeling tired, abnormal or altered taste, allergic reactions, muscle pain and vomiting. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta alone were fever, chills, feeling tired, headache, weakness, allergic reactions and vomiting.

Perjeta is a medicine that is delivered into a vein through a needle. This process can cause reactions known as infusion-related reactions. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta, Herceptin and docetaxel were feeling tired, abnormal or altered taste, allergic reactions, muscle pain and vomiting. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta alone were fever, chills, feeling tired, headache, weakness, allergic reactions and vomiting. Severe allergic reactions: Some people receiving Perjeta may have severe allergic reactions, called hypersensitivity reactions or anaphylaxis. This reaction may be severe, may happen quickly and may affect many areas of the body.

Knowing if Perjeta is right for the patient

Perjeta has only been shown to work in people with HER2-positive breast cancer. A patient must have a HER2 test to know if their breast cancer is HER2-positive before receiving an anti-HER2 treatment, such as Perjeta.

Most common side effects

The most common side effects of Perjeta when given with Herceptin and docetaxel for treatment of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic) are:

Diarrhea

Hair loss

Low levels of white blood cells with or without a fever

Nausea

Feeling tired

Rash

Damage to the nerves (numbness, tingling, pain in hands/feet)

The most common side effects of Perjeta when given with Herceptin and docetaxel as part of an early breast cancer regimen before surgery are:

Hair loss

Diarrhea

Nausea

Low levels of white blood cells with or without a fever

The most common side effects of Perjeta when given with Herceptin and docetaxel following three cycles of epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil as part of an early breast cancer regimen before surgery are:

Feeling tired

Hair loss

Diarrhea

Nausea

Vomiting

Low levels of white blood cells with or without a fever

The most common side effects of Perjeta when given with Herceptin, docetaxel and carboplatin as part of an early breast cancer regimen before surgery are:

Feeling tired

Hair loss

Diarrhea

Nausea

Vomiting

Low levels of white blood cells with or without a fever

Low platelet count

Low levels of red blood cells

Patients are encouraged to report side effects to Genentech and the FDA. Report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.

Please see the full Prescribing Information for additional Important Safety Information, including most serious side effects, at http://www.perjeta.com.

About Herceptin

Adjuvant Breast Cancer

Herceptin is approved for the treatment of early stage breast cancer that is Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2-positive (HER2-positive) and has spread into the lymph nodes, or is HER2-positive and has not spread into the lymph nodes. If it has not spread into the lymph nodes, the cancer needs to be estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor (ER/PR)-negative or have one high-risk feature.* Herceptin can be used in several different ways:

As part of a treatment course including the chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and either paclitaxel or docetaxel. This treatment course is known as " AC?TH

With the chemotherapy drugs docetaxel and carboplatin. This treatment course is known as " TCH

Alone after treatment with multiple other therapies, including an anthracycline (doxorubicin)-based therapy (a type of chemotherapy).

Patients are selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved test for Herceptin.

*High risk is defined as ER/PR-positive with one of the following features: tumor size greater than 2 cm, age less than 35 years, or tumor grade 2 or 3.

Metastatic Breast Cancer

Herceptin has two approved uses in metastatic breast cancer:

Herceptin in combination with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel is approved for the first-line treatment of H uman E pidermal growth factor R eceptor 2 -positive (HER2-positive) metastatic breast cancer.

uman pidermal growth factor eceptor -positive (HER2-positive) metastatic breast cancer. Herceptin alone is approved for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer in patients who have received one or more chemotherapy courses for metastatic disease.

Patients are selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved test for Herceptin.

Gastric Cancer

Herceptin is approved, in combination with chemotherapy (cisplatin and either capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil), for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic cancer of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction (where the esophagus meets the stomach) in patients who have not received prior treatment for their metastatic disease.

Patients are selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved test for Herceptin.

Important Safety Information

Possible serious side effects with Herceptin

Not all people have serious side effects, but side effects with Herceptin therapy are common.

Although some people may have a life-threatening side effect, most do not.

A patient's doctor will stop treatment if any serious side effects occur.

Herceptin is not for everyone. A patient should be sure to contact their doctor if they are experiencing any of the following:

HEART PROBLEMS

These include heart problems-such as congestive heart failure or reduced heart function-with or without symptoms. The risk for and seriousness of these heart problems were highest in people who received both Herceptin and a certain type of chemotherapy (anthracycline). In a study of adjuvant (early) breast cancer, one patient died of significantly weakened heart muscle. A patient's doctor will check for signs of heart problems before, during, and after treatment with Herceptin.

INFUSION REACTIONS, including:

Fever and chills

Feeling sick to your stomach (nausea)

Throwing up (vomiting)

Pain (in some cases at tumor sites)

Headache

Dizziness

Shortness of breath

These signs usually happen within 24 hours after receiving Herceptin.

A patient should be sure to contact their doctor if they:

Are a woman who could become pregnant, or may be pregnant

Herceptin may result in the death of an unborn baby or birth defects. Contraception should be used while receiving Herceptin and after a patient's last dose of Herceptin. If a patient is exposed to Herceptin during pregnancy or within seven months of becoming pregnant, the patient is encouraged to enroll in the MotHER Pregnancy Registry by contacting (800) 690-6720 or visiting http://www.motherpregnancyregistry.com and to report Herceptin exposure to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.

Have any signs of SEVERE LUNG PROBLEMS, including:

Severe shortness of breath

Fluid in or around the lungs

Weakening of the valve between the heart and the lungs

Not enough oxygen in the body

Swelling of the lungs

Scarring of the lungs

A patient's doctor may check for signs of severe lung problems when he or she examines the patient.

Have LOW WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNTS

Low white blood cell counts can be life threatening. Low white blood cell counts were seen more often in patients receiving Herceptin plus chemotherapy than in patients receiving chemotherapy alone.

A patient's doctor may check for signs of low white blood cell counts when he or she examines the patient.

Side effects seen most often with Herceptin

Some patients receiving Herceptin for breast cancer had the following side effects:

Fever

Feeling sick to your stomach (nausea)

Throwing up (vomiting)

Infusion reactions

Diarrhea

Infections

Increased cough

Headache

Feeling tired

Shortness of breath

Rash

Low white and red blood cell counts

Muscle pain

Some patients receiving Herceptin for metastatic stomach cancer had the following side effects:

Low white blood cell counts

Diarrhea

Feeling tired

Low red blood cell counts

Swelling of the mouth lining

Weight loss

Upper respiratory tract infections

Fever

Low platelet counts

Swelling of the mucous membranes

Swelling of the nose and throat

Change in taste

A patient should contact their doctor immediately if they have any of the side effects listed above.

Patients are encouraged to report side effects to Genentech and the FDA. Report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.

Please see the full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNINGS and additional Important Safety Information, at http://www.herceptin.com.

About Alecensa

Alecensa is a kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of people with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or are intolerant to crizotinib. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response (DOR). Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

Important Safety Information

Everyone reacts differently to treatment with Alecensa. It's important to know the most serious and most common side effects with Alecensa.

A doctor may lower the dose or stop treatment with Alecensa if any serious side effects occur. Patients taking Alecensa should contact their doctor right away if they have any of the following side effects.

Alecensa may cause serious side effects, including:

Liver problems (hepatotoxicity). Alecensa may cause liver injury. A doctor will do blood tests at least every 2 weeks for the first 3 months and as needed during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they experience any of the following signs and symptoms:

Feeling tired

Feeling less hungry than usual

Yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes

Dark urine

Itchy skin

Nausea or vomiting

Pain on the right side of stomach area

Bleeding or bruising more easily than normal

Lung problems. Alecensa may cause severe or life-threatening swelling (inflammation) of the lungs during treatment.

Symptoms may be similar to those symptoms from lung cancer. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they have any new or worsening symptoms, including:

Trouble breathing

Shortness of breath

Fever

Cough

Slow heartbeat (bradycardia). Alecensa may cause very slow heartbeats that can be severe. A doctor will check a patient's heart rate and blood pressure during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they feel dizzy, lightheaded, or faint during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor if they take any heart or blood pressure medicines.

Muscle pain, tenderness, and weakness (myalgia). Muscle problems are common with Alecensa and can be severe. A doctor will do blood tests at least every 2 weeks for the first month and as needed during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they have any new or worsening signs and symptoms of muscle problems, including unexplained muscle pain or muscle pain that does not go away, tenderness, or weakness.

Before taking Alecensa, patients should tell their doctor about all medical conditions, including if they:

Have liver problems

Have lung or breathing problems

Have a slow heartbeat

Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Alecensa can harm an unborn baby. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they become pregnant during treatment with Alecensa or think they may be pregnant Women who are able to become pregnant should use effective birth control during treatment with Alecensa and for one week after the final dose of Alecensa Men who have female partners that are able to become pregnant should use effective birth control during treatment with Alecensa and for three months after the final dose of Alecensa Are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Alecensa passes into breast milk. A patient should not breastfeed during treatment with Alecensa and for one week after the final dose of Alecensa. Patients should talk with their doctor about the best way to feed their baby during this time.



Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor about all the medicines they take, including prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Patients taking Alecensa should avoid spending time in the sunlight during treatment with Alecensa and for seven days after the final dose of Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa may burn more easily and get severe sunburns. Patients taking Alecensa should use sunscreen and lip balm with a SPF 50 or greater to help protect against sunburn.

The most common side effects of Alecensa include:

Tiredness

Constipation

Swelling in hands, feet, ankles, and eyelids

These are not all of the possible side effects of Alecensa. For more information, patients should ask their doctor or pharmacist. Patients should call their doctor for medical advice about side effects.

Report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Patients and caregivers may also report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.

Please see additional Important Safety Information in full Prescribing Information, including Patient Information

About Tecentriq

Tecentriq is a prescription medicine used to treat:

a type of bladder and urinary tract cancer called urothelial carcinoma.

Tecentriq may be used when your bladder cancer: has spread or cannot be removed by surgery (advanced urothelial carcinoma), and you are not able to take chemotherapy that contains a medicine called cisplatin, or you have tried chemotherapy that contains platinum, and it did not work or is no longer working.

The approval of Tecentriq in these patients is based on a study that measured response rate and duration of response. There is an ongoing study to confirm clinical benefit.



a type of lung cancer called non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Tecentriq may be used when your lung cancer: has spread or grown, and you have tried chemotherapy that contains platinum, and it did not work or is no longer working.



If your tumor has an abnormal EGFR or ALK gene, you should have also tried an FDA-approved therapy for tumors with these abnormal genes, and it did not work or is no longer working.

It is not known if Tecentriq is safe and effective in children.

Important Safety Information

Important Information About Tecentriq

Tecentriq can cause the immune system to attack normal organs and tissues in many areas of the body and can affect the way they work. These problems can sometimes become serious or life-threatening and can lead to death.

Getting medical treatment right away may help keep these problems from becoming more serious. A healthcare provider may treat a patient with corticosteroid or hormone replacement medicines. A healthcare provider may delay or completely stop treatment with Tecentriq if a patient has severe side effects.

Patients should call or see their healthcare provider right away if they get any symptoms of the following problems or these symptoms get worse.

Tecentriq can cause serious side effects, including:

Lung Problems (pneumonitis) - Signs and symptoms of pneumonitis may include: new or worsening cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain

Signs and symptoms of pneumonitis may include: new or worsening cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain Liver Problems (hepatitis) - Signs and symptoms of hepatitis may include: yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes, severe nausea or vomiting, pain on the right side of the stomach area (abdomen), drowsiness, dark urine (tea colored), bleeding or bruising more easily than normal, feeling less hungry than usual

Signs and symptoms of hepatitis may include: yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes, severe nausea or vomiting, pain on the right side of the stomach area (abdomen), drowsiness, dark urine (tea colored), bleeding or bruising more easily than normal, feeling less hungry than usual Intestinal Problems (colitis) - Signs and symptoms of colitis may include: diarrhea (loose stools) or more bowel movements than usual, blood in the stools or dark, tarry, sticky stools, severe stomach area (abdomen) pain or tenderness

Signs and symptoms of colitis may include: diarrhea (loose stools) or more bowel movements than usual, blood in the stools or dark, tarry, sticky stools, severe stomach area (abdomen) pain or tenderness Hormone Gland Problems (especially the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal glands and pancreas) - Signs and symptoms that the hormone glands are not working properly may include: headaches that will not go away or unusual headaches, extreme tiredness, weight gain or weight loss, dizziness or fainting, feeling more hungry or thirsty than usual, hair loss, changes in mood or behavior (such as decreased sex drive, irritability, or forgetfulness), feeling cold, constipation, voice gets deeper, urinating more often than usual, nausea or vomiting, stomach area (abdomen) pain

Signs and symptoms that the hormone glands are not working properly may include: headaches that will not go away or unusual headaches, extreme tiredness, weight gain or weight loss, dizziness or fainting, feeling more hungry or thirsty than usual, hair loss, changes in mood or behavior (such as decreased sex drive, irritability, or forgetfulness), feeling cold, constipation, voice gets deeper, urinating more often than usual, nausea or vomiting, stomach area (abdomen) pain Nervous System Problems (neuropathy, meningitis, encephalitis) - Signs and symptoms of nervous system problems may include: severe muscle weakness, numbness or tingling in hands and feet, fever, confusion, changes in mood or behavior, extreme sensitivity to light, neck stiffness

Signs and symptoms of nervous system problems may include: severe muscle weakness, numbness or tingling in hands and feet, fever, confusion, changes in mood or behavior, extreme sensitivity to light, neck stiffness Inflammation of the Eyes - Signs and symptoms may include: blurry vision, double vision, other vision problems, eye pain or redness

Signs and symptoms may include: blurry vision, double vision, other vision problems, eye pain or redness Severe Infections - Signs and symptoms of infection may include: fever, cough, frequent urination, flu-like symptoms, pain when urinating

Signs and symptoms of infection may include: fever, cough, frequent urination, flu-like symptoms, pain when urinating Severe Infusion Reactions - Signs and symptoms of infusion reactions may include: chills or shaking, itching or rash, flushing, shortness of breath or wheezing, dizziness, fever, feeling like passing out, back or neck pain, and swelling of the face or lips

Before receiving Tecentriq, patients should tell their healthcare provider about all of their medical conditions, including if they:

Have immune system problems (such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or lupus); have had an organ transplant; have lung or breathing problems; have liver problems; have a condition that affects their nervous system (such as myasthenia gravis, or Guillain-Barre syndrome); or are being treated for an infection

Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant Tecentriq can harm an unborn baby If patients are able to become pregnant, they should use an effective method of birth control during treatment and for at least 5 months after the last dose of Tecentriq

Are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed It is not known if Tecentriq passes into the breast milk Do not breastfeed during treatment and for at least 5 months after the last dose of Tecentriq



Patients should tell their healthcare provider about all the medicines they take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

The most common side effects of Tecentriq in people with urothelial carcinoma include:

feeling tired

decreased appetite

nausea

constipation

urinary tract infection

diarrhea

fever

The most common side effects of Tecentriq in people with non-small cell lung cancer include:

feeling tired

decreased appetite

shortness of breath

cough

nausea

muscle or bone pain

constipation

Tecentriq may cause fertility problems in females, which may affect the ability to have children. Patients should talk to their healthcare provider if they have concerns about fertility.

These are not all the possible side effects of Tecentriq. Patients should ask their healthcare provider or pharmacist for more information.

Report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Report side effects to Genentech at 1-888-835-2555.

Please visit http://www.Tecentriq.com for the Tecentriq full Prescribing Information for additional Important Safety Information.

About Genentech

Founded more than 40 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. The company, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510006787/en/

Contacts:

Genentech

Media Contact:

Emmy Wang, 650-467-6800

or

Advocacy Contact:

Angela Wilson, 202-423-2739

or

Investor Contacts:

Neera Dahiya Ravindran, M.D., 650-491-5281

Karl Mahler, 011 41 61 687 8503
2020 sales to exceed 2.5 billion driven by Specialty Care sales growth above 14% per year1 with a Group Core Operating Income margin greater than 30% of sales

Regulatory News:

Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), a global specialty-driven pharmaceutical group, will today host an Investor Day at which the management team will provide a comprehensive update on its current business, corporate strategy and outlook.

David Meek, Chief Executive Officer of Ipsen said: "There is tremendous momentum at Ipsen. Our Specialty Care business is driving top-line growth which is outpacing that of our peers and the industry. We are benefiting from a growing focus in Oncology, which already represents almost 1 billion in sales, and from increasing geographical diversification, with a strengthening presence in the U.S. Looking forward, we are focused on driving continued double-digit growth, improving profitability and building a sustainable pipeline of innovative and differentiated assets to deliver our improved 2020 guidance and create long-term value to our patients and shareholders."

In Specialty Care, Ipsen is focused on three key therapeutic areas, Oncology, Neurosciences and Rare diseases, where Ipsen can establish a leadership position and leverage its expertise from drug development to commercialization. To complement the continued execution on its key products including the important launches of Cabometyx and Onivyde, Ipsen has defined a targeted and dynamic innovation model to accelerate Specialty Care growth.

To build a sustainable pipeline of innovative assets, Ipsen will transform the R&D model by accelerating focused internal projects, de-prioritizing select internal programs and externally sourcing assets.

Ipsen will continue to invest in business development through innovative deal structures with a focus on early to mid-stage assets in the three key therapeutic areas, targeting best-in-class, wholly-owned assets with global rights.

In Consumer Healthcare, to establish a sustainable and growing business, Ipsen will complete the OTx2 model transformation and leverage the three main market-leading brands through consumer innovations, capture the underlying market growth in emerging markets and strengthen the European business.

Updated 2020 financial targets

Ipsen provides improved 2020 financial targets to reflect the contribution of the acquisitions announced in early 2017, the change of definition of Core Operating Income (to exclude the amortization of intangible assets and the gain or loss on disposal of fixed assets) and the strong performance of the Specialty Care business over the last 15 months:

Sales greater than 2.5 billion, including Specialty Care sales growth of greater than 14% per year over the period 2016-2020 and Consumer Healthcare sales growth between 4% and 6% per year;

Core Operating Income margin greater than 30%.

This guidance includes the contribution from the recent 2017 acquisitions and excludes the impact from any further business development (other than development costs associated with potential new early to mid-stage R&D assets). It also covers the impact from potential Somatuline competitive threats.

Ipsen will also outline its priorities for capital allocation, which include capital expenditures, business development, dividend, and anti-dilutionary share buybacks to support its ambition to increase shareholder return.

Press conference, webcast and conference call for media (in English)

Ipsen will host a press conference on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 10.00 a.m. GMT at the May Fair Hotel, Stratton St, Mayfair, London W1J 8LT.

A web conference (audio and video webcast) and conference call will take place simultaneously. Participants should dial in approximately 5 to 10 minutes prior to its start. No reservation is required to participate.

Dial-in numbers:

France and continental Europe: +33 (0)1 7099 3534

UK: +44 (0)20 7162 9960

United States: +1 646 851 2094

Conference ID: 961804

Replay:

A recording will be available shortly after the call. This replay will be available for one week following the meeting.

France and continental Europe: +33 (0)1 70 99 3529

UK: +44 (0) 20 7031 4064

United States: 1-954-334-0342

Conference ID: 961804

Meeting, webcast and conference call for the financial community (in English)

Ipsen will host an analyst meeting on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. GMT at the May Fair Hotel, Stratton St, Mayfair, London W1J 8LT.

A web conference (audio and video webcast) and conference call will take place simultaneously. Participants should dial in approximately 5 to 10 minutes prior to its start. No reservation is required to participate.

Dial-in numbers:

France and continental Europe: +33 (0)1 7099 3534

UK: +44 (0)20 7162 9960

United States: +1 646 851 2094

Conference ID: 961805

Replay

A recording will be available shortly after the call. This replay will be available for one week following the meeting.

France and continental Europe: +33 (0) 1 70 99 3529

UK: +44 (0) 20 7031 4064

United States: 1-888-365-0240

Conference ID: 961805

About Ipsen

Ipsen is a global specialty-driven pharmaceutical group with total sales close to 1.6 billion in 2016. Ipsen sells more than 20 drugs in more than 115 countries, with a direct commercial presence in more than 30 countries. Ipsen's ambition is to become a leader in specialty healthcare solutions for targeted debilitating diseases. Its fields of expertise cover oncology, neurosciences and endocrinology (adult pediatric). Ipsen's commitment to oncology is exemplified through its growing portfolio of key therapies improving the care of patients suffering from prostate cancer, neuro-endocrine tumors, renal cell carcinoma and pancreatic cancer. Ipsen also has a significant presence in consumer healthcare. Moreover, the Group has an active policy of partnerships. Ipsen's R&D is focused on its innovative and differentiated technological platforms, peptides and toxins, located in the heart of the leading biotechnological and life sciences hubs (Les Ulis/Paris-Saclay, France; Slough/Oxford, UK; Cambridge, US). In 2016, R&D expenditures exceeded 200 million. The Group has more than 4,900 employees worldwide. Ipsen's shares are traded on segment A of Euronext Paris (stock code: IPN, ISIN code: FR0010259150) and are eligible to the "Service de Reglement Differe" ("SRD"). The Group is part of the SBF 120 index. Ipsen has implemented a Sponsored Level I American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program, which trades on the over-the-counter market in the United States under the symbol IPSEY. For more information on Ipsen, visit www.ipsen.com.

Forward Looking Statement

The forward-looking statements, objectives and targets contained herein are based on the Group's management strategy, current views and assumptions. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated herein. All of the above risks could affect the Group's future ability to achieve its financial targets, which were set assuming reasonable macroeconomic conditions based on the information available today. Use of the words "believes," "anticipates" and "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, including the Group's expectations regarding future events, including regulatory filings and determinations. Moreover, the targets described in this document were prepared without taking into account external growth assumptions and potential future acquisitions, which may alter these parameters. These objectives are based on data and assumptions regarded as reasonable by the Group. These targets depend on conditions or facts likely to happen in the future, and not exclusively on historical data. Actual results may depart significantly from these targets given the occurrence of certain risks and uncertainties, notably the fact that a promising product in early development phase or clinical trial may end up never being launched on the market or reaching its commercial targets, notably for regulatory or competition reasons. The Group must face or might face competition from generic products that might translate into a loss of market share. Furthermore, the Research and Development process involves several stages each of which involves the substantial risk that the Group may fail to achieve its objectives and be forced to abandon its efforts with regards to a product in which it has invested significant sums. Therefore, the Group cannot be certain that favorable results obtained during pre-clinical trials will be confirmed subsequently during clinical trials, or that the results of clinical trials will be sufficient to demonstrate the safe and effective nature of the product concerned. There can be no guarantees a product will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that the product will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Other risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the Group's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the Group's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions. The Group also depends on third parties to develop and market some of its products which could potentially generate substantial royalties; these partners could behave in such ways which could cause damage to the Group's activities and financial results. The Group cannot be certain that its partners will fulfil their obligations. It might be unable to obtain any benefit from those agreements. A default by any of the Group's partners could generate lower revenues than expected. Such situations could have a negative impact on the Group's business, financial position or performance. The Group expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward looking statements, targets or estimates contained in this press release to reflect any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless so required by applicable law. The Group's business is subject to the risk factors outlined in its registration documents filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers.

The risks and uncertainties set out are not exhaustive and the reader is advised to refer to the Group's 2016 Registration Document available on its website (www.ipsen.com).

1 Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for the period 2016-2020

2 OTx: Combination of prescripton and over-the-counter

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510006271/en/

Contacts:

For further information:

Media

Didier Veron

Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs and Communication

Tel.: +33 (0)1 58 33 51 16

E-mail: didier.veron@ipsen.com

or

Brigitte Le Guennec

Corporate External Communication Manager

Tel.: +33 (0)1 58 33 51 17

E-mail: brigitte.le.guennec@ipsen.com

or

Financial Community

Eugenia Litz

Vice-President, Investor Relations

Tel.: +44 (0) 1753 627721

E-mail: eugenia.litz@ipsen.com

or

Come de La Tour du Pin

Investor Relations Manager

Tel.: +33 (0)1 58 33 53 31

E-mail: come.de.la.tour.du.pin@ipsen.com
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Destatis releases Germany's wholesale prices for April in the pre-European session on Thursday at 2:00 am ET. Wholesale prices had increased 4.7 percent annually in March. Ahead of the data, the euro showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro rose against the Swiss franc, it fell against the U.S. dollar, the yen and the pound. As of 1:55 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.8399 against the pound, 1.0966 against the Swiss franc, 1.0868 against the U.S. dollar and 124.11 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.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - The assay results that TerraX Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TXR) released give it plenty of targets to follow up with at its Yellowknife City Gold Project.

Company included in article: TerraX Minerals Inc.

TerraX Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TXR) has released assay results for the first 22 holes of its 43-hole 2017 winter drill program at the Yellowknife City Gold Project in Canada's Northwest Territories. Six holes were drilled at Dave's Pond and were designed to test 400 meters to the north and south of the discovery hole that intercepted 2.40 meters at 9.89 grams per tonne (9.89 g/t) in 2016.

According to TerraX CEO Joseph Campbell, the "high grade multi-gram gold intersections confirm the continuity of the Dave's Pond structure along strike. This supports our belief that this area hosts classic high grade lode gold targets common to Archean gold systems in Canada."

Gwen Preston, writing in Resource Maven on May 3, noted that the six Dave's Pond holes "hit gold, defining a zone 400 metres long. Highlight results were 3.3 metres of 7 g/t gold, 2 metres of 9.2 g/t gold, 2 metres of 4.8 g/t gold, and 1.9 metres of 14 g/t gold. Three of the holes also hit a second smaller mineralized structure in the footwall."

Continue reading this interview: Drilling Extends Strike at TerraX's Yellowknife City Project

About Streetwise Reports/ The Gold Report

Investors rely on The Gold Report to share investment ideas for the precious, base and critical metals sector. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

DISCLOSURE:

The following companies mentioned in this article are sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Red Eagle Mining Corp. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services.

The full disclosure is provided at the end of the published article: Drilling Extends Strike at TerraX's Yellowknife City Project

For more information, please contact

Melissa Farley

Associate Publisher

Email contact


Ferratum Oyj: Interim Report January - March 2017 / Ferratum Group reports 50.6% year-on-year revenue growth in Q1

DGAP-News: Ferratum Oyj / Schlagwort(e): Quartals-/Zwischenmitteilung Ferratum Oyj: Interim Report January - March 2017 / Ferratum Group reports 50.6% year-on-year revenue growth in Q1 11.05.2017 / 09:09 Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent verantwortlich.

Interim Report January - March 2017

Ferratum Group reports 50.6% year-on-year revenue growth in Q1 2017

Helsinki, May 11, 2017 - Ferratum Oyj (ISIN: FI4000106299, WKN: A1W9NS) ("Ferratum" or the "Group") announces preliminary unaudited results for the 3 months ended 31 March 2017 ("Q1 2017").

Q1 2017 highlights

- Revenue of EUR 50.0 million - up 50.6% year-on-year - Operating profit (EBIT) of EUR 6.8 million - up 31.9% year-on-year - EBIT margin of 13.7% - Positive operating cash flow of EUR 1.9 million - Profit before tax (EBT) of EUR 6.0 million - up 56.8% year-on-year - EPS (basic and diluted) increased 53.3% to EUR 0.23 per share

- Maturing EUR 20 million Ferratum Bank p.l.c. bond (WKN: A1Z4JU) repaid with proceeds from the EUR 25 million senior unsecured bond (WKN: A189MG) issued in Q4 2016

- Net financing costs decreased by 36% to EUR 0.9 million (Q1 2016: EUR 1.4 million) due to currency gains

- Net book value of loan portfolio grew by 11.9% to EUR 206 million (Q4 2016: EUR 184 million)

- Deposits from customers further increased by 17.1% to EUR 118.8 million

- Active/former customers increased by 335,967 (25.6%) to 1.65 million (Q1 2016: 1.31 million)

Key Figures

3 months ended March 31, EUR '000 2017 2016 Revenue 50,009 33,213 Operating profit (EBIT) 6,849 5,193 Profit before tax 5,946 3,792 Profit before tax % 11.9% 11.4% Net cash flows from operating activities 23,706 13,171 before movements in portfolio and deposits received Net cash flows from operating activities 1,940 (11,401) Net cash flows from investing activities (2,172) (2,041) Net cash flows from financing activities (8,487) 7,813 Net increase/decrease in cash and cash (8,719) (5,629) equivalents Earnings per share, basic (EUR) 0.23 0.15 Earnings per share, diluted (EUR) 0.23 0.15 EUR '000 March 31, December 31, 2017 2016 Accounts receivable - consumer loans 206,290 184,346 (net) Deposits from customers 118,795 101,436 Cash and cash equivalents 64,600 73,059 Total assets 311,683 295,683 Non-current liabilities 73,362 72,246 Current liabilities 144,873 135,563 Equity 93,447 87,875 Equity ratio % 30.0 29.7 Net debt to equity ratio 1.64 1.53 Key Developments And Progress

Ferratum continued last year's growth trend during the first three months of 2017: The Group's revenue rose to EUR 50.0 million, an increase of 50.6% compared to the respective period of the previous year (Q1 2016: 33.2 million). Growth drivers were product diversification and optimization in consumer lending as well as the further development of business lending. The number of active and former customers increased by 25.6% year-on-year to 1.65 million as of 31 March 2017.

The operating profit (EBIT) increased by 31.9% year-on-year to EUR 6.8 million. Optimization of marketing efforts have improved significantly, pushing down marketing costs from 20.2% of revenues in Q4 2016 to 15.8% in Q1 2017. Impairments on loans have, as expected, increased from 28.7% of revenues in Q1 2016 to 34.4% in Q1 2017.

The profit before tax (EBT) grew significantly by 56.8% y-o-y to EUR 5.9 million, benefiting from a foreign exchange gain of EUR 842 thousand as part of net finance costs. In the first quarter of 2016 a currency loss of EUR 338 thousand was realized.

Equity increased to EUR 93.4 million from EUR 87.9 million as of 31 December 2016, while the equity ratio remained strong at 30.0%. Net receivables from customers grew by 11.9 % to EUR 206.3 from EUR 184.3 million. The loan coverage ratio remained stable, decreasing slightly from 25.4% in Q4 2016 to 24.2% in Q1 2017. Deposits from customers further increased by 17.1% from EUR 101.4 million to EUR 118.8 million. The interest offered for deposits has been reduced in Q1 2017 in order to slow down the inflow of deposits. The Mobile Bank is planned to be launched in further countries during 2017.

On January 21, 2017, Ferratum Bank p.l.c. repaid its EUR 20 million bond (ISIN: MT0000911207) with the proceeds from the EUR 25 million senior unsecured bond issued in the final quarter of 2016.

As of March 1, 2017, the two bonds issued by Ferratum Capital Germany GmbH - Ferratum Capital Germany GmbH 8% 2018 (WKN: A1X3VZ) and Ferratum Capital Germany 4.875% 2019 (WKN: A2AAR2) - have commenced trading on Scale, Deutsche Borse's new market segment for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Ferratum's group rating of BBB+ from Creditreform AG was confirmed during Q1 in its regular annual review.

Subsequent Events

During the first quarter, Ferratum focused preparations for market entry into Brazil and the launch of a new consumer lending product in Finland.

Ferratum is pleased to report that in May, Ferratum Brasil commenced consumer lending operations in Brazil with credits of up to BRL 3,000 (EUR 850).

Ferratum is also pleased to announce that a new loan product "Primeloan" was launched in May in Finland. Primeloan is an unsecured personal loan with amounts of EUR 3,000 to EUR 20,000 and lending terms of 1 to 10 years. The product uses a new risk model which links pricing to the risk profile of the customer.

During the Annual General Meeting held in Helsinki on May 4, 2017, Christopher Wang was appointed as a new board member. Mr Wang is a Managing Partner at J&W Partners Co. Ltd., a private equity firm based in Seoul, South Korea that he co-founded in 2014. He has more than 15 years' experience as a transactional lawyer and investor operating in the Asian market.

During the Annual General Meeting shareholders also approved the payment of a final dividend of EUR 0.12 per share for the financial year 2016.

CEO and Founder Jorma Jokela commented:

"We have made a positive start to 2017 with robust revenue and profit growth in the first quarter that maintains the momentum we saw in the final quarter of 2016. The strong performance of our Credit Limit and PlusLoan products continues to validate the strategy of offering a range of innovative lending solutions across multiple markets. Growth for these products is partly driven by Microloan customers who now take advantage of our larger, longer term products, but our addressable market also continues to grow with the launch in May of Primeloan, and entry into the strategically important Brazilian market.

Following the successful launch of our mobile bank in three countries last year, customer deposits have continued to grow, reaching 118.8 million euros at the end of the first quarter. With further market entries planned for 2017, and exciting plans in the pipeline to enhance the range of Mobile Bank services through third-party partnerships, 2017 promises to be another transformative year for Ferratum and we remain fully confident in achieving our 2017 full year revenue and EBIT margin guidance."

About Ferratum Group: Ferratum is an international provider of consumer and small business loans, distributed and managed by mobile devices. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Ferratum is a pioneer in the fields of financial technology and mobile lending and has expanded rapidly to operate in 24 countries (as at May 11, 2017). Ferratum's customers utilize digital media to apply for consumer credit in amounts varying between EUR 25 and EUR 20,000 and small businesses instalment loans up to EUR 100,000 with a term of six to twelve months. Led by its founder, Jorma Jokela, Ferratum has more than 1.6 million active and former customers who have been granted one or more loans in the past (as at March 31, 2017).

Ferratum Group is listed on the Prime Standard of Frankfurt Stock Exchange under symbol 'FRU.' For more information, visit www.ferratumgroup.com.

Contacts:

Ferratum Group Dr. Clemens European media enquiries: Krause, CFO T: +49 30 88715308 Edelman.ergo, A Daniel J Edelman F: +49 30 88715309 E: Company Alexander Schmidt | Andreas [1]clemens.krause@ferratum.com Martin T: +49 69 27 13 89 26 E: 1. [1]Alexander.Schmidt@edelmanergo.co mailto:clemens.krause@ferratum. m E:

com [2]Andreas.Martin@edelmanergo.com 1. mailto:Alexander.Schmidt@edelmaner go.com 2. mailto:Andreas.Martin@edelmanergo. com

Ferratum Group Paul Wasastjerna UK media enquiries: Smithfield, A Head of Investor Relations T: Daniel J Edelman Company Alex +358 40 7248247 F: +358 20 741 Simmons | Brett Jacobs T: +44 20 1614 E: 7903 0669 | +44 20 7903 0675 E: [1]paul.wasastjerna@ferratum.com [1]asimmons@smithfieldgroup.com E: 1. [2]bjacobs@smithfieldgroup.com 1. mailto:paul.wasastjerna@ferra mailto:asimmons@smithfieldgroup.com

tum.com 2. mailto:bjacobs@smithfieldgroup.com

11.05.2017 Veroffentlichung einer Corporate News/Finanznachricht, ubermittelt durch DGAP - ein Service der EQS Group AG. Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich.

Die DGAP Distributionsservices umfassen gesetzliche Meldepflichten, Corporate News/Finanznachrichten und Pressemitteilungen. Medienarchiv unter http://www.dgap.de

Sprache: Deutsch Unternehmen: Ferratum Oyj Ratamestarinkatu 11 A 00520 Helsinki Finnland

Internet: https://www.ferratumgroup.com

ISIN: FI4000106299 WKN: A1W9NS

Borsen: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Munchen, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange

Ende der Mitteilung DGAP News-Service

572443 11.05.2017

ISIN FI4000106299

AXC0126 2017-05-11/09:10
LONDON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Activated carbon markets are at the centre of a controversy surrounding the possible revision of a major US government air pollution rule by the new US administration in early 2017. The market for activated carbon in air pollution control had been reenergised in April 2016, following the US Court of Appeal's decision to keep the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) regulation in place. Roskill estimates that if all US coal-fired utilities achieved compliance with MATS, the US industry would consume approximately 150,000tpy activated carbon to reduce mercury emissions. Powdered activated carbon systems are one of the dominant technologies in the control of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plant flue gas. This EPA rule is unlikely to be rescinded by the new US administration. Coal plants have already spent billions of dollars complying with its requirements or shutting down.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150909/264974LOGO )



Nearly 40% of the electricity generated in the USA comes from burning coal. In China, more than 80% of electricity generation is from coal-fired power stations. If China enacts similar legislation to the US EPA MATS rule, the potential world demand for activated carbon in flue gas treatment systems could double to 300,000tpy of powdered activated carbon. China was one of the 140 countries that signed the Minamata Convention on mercury on 19 January 2013 and it went on to ratify the treaty on 31 August 2016. By late September 2016, 140 countries had signed the treaty and 32 had also ratified it. The Convention will enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by 50 countries. In Canada, where there is a Country-wide mercury reduction agreement among all the provinces that required a 60% reduction in 2012, and which will likely require an 80% reduction beginning in 2018, individual provinces may move faster to stricter emissions control.

In the municipal drinking water market, an important driver of activated carbon use in 2016 was the reduction of Disinfection By-Products Rule in the USA. Water treatment in industrialising countries represents a larger long-term potential market.

Activated carbon is expected to enjoy further market growth to 2025 and expansion in world production capacity to meet this growth is underway, led by China and the USA but at least four other countries have increased their capacities.

Cabot Purification Solutions remained the leading producer of activated carbon in 2016. Since the acquisition of Jacobi Carbons of Sweden from Addsorb Holding in June 2014, Osaka Gas Chemicals of Japan has moved up into second place. A relatively recent entrant to the market, Datong Coal Jinding Activated Carbon, is already the largest activated carbon producer in Asia and the third largest producer of activated carbon in the world.

Calgon Carbon, the leading producer of granular activated carbon and the largest regenerator of spent activated carbon worldwide, increased its regeneration capacity with the acquisition of Ceca in November 2016. Calgon Carbon has a granular activated carbon capacity of more than 123,000tpy and net capacity is scheduled to increase further by end-2017.

Activated carbon production is based largely on coal, coconut shells and wood charcoal, and raw materials availability can be an issue. Activated carbon is a by-product. Coal (or coconut, or wood) producers do not make production decisions based on the market for activated carbon.

International trade increased in 2016 while prices fell from the peaks experienced in anticipation of the MATS rule and then recovered when the regulation stayed in place. Monthly prices continued to increase in North America, in contrast to trends seen in Chinese and south-east Asian prices. The average value of shipments from the USA increased from US$2,967/t in 2012 to US$4,200/t in 2016. This upward trend is supported by a range of factors and partly reflects higher shipments of speciality activated carbons produced for specific applications. Roskill expects that US prices for speciality grades will continue to increase during 2017.

Essential reading for anyone requiring a comprehensive overview of this sector. Click here to download the brochure.

For further information, contact us on:

+44-20-8417-0087 Email: info@roskill.com Web: www.roskill.com
LINN COUNTY COURTHOUSE

Burglary and theft charges  3 p.m. Wednesday. Michael John Brooks, 50, of Albany, was arraigned on charges of breaking into a residence and taking several items. He was held on $10,000 security.

Aggravated theft and burglary charges  Brittany Rae Kleint, 24, of Albany, was arraigned on charges of breaking into a residence and stealing items while brandishing a weapon. She was held on $25,000 security, and was also wanted for probation violations.

LINN COUNTY SHERIFF

Burglary  5:43 p.m. Tuesday, 34500 block of Grand Prairie Road. A caller reported that her door had been kicked in and a laptop and other property valued at $43,500 had been taken.

Recovered stolen vehicle  7:31 p.m. Monday, 600 block of Egret Avenue. A vehicle listed as stolen on May 5 was located.

Stolen motor home recovered  11:20 a.m. Friday, 37900 block of Jefferson Scio Road. A motor home with license plates that did not match the VIN was located. It had been listed as stolen with the Dallas, Ore., police department.
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.
AMSTERDAM, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Constellium N.V. (NYSE and Euronext Paris: CSTM) announced today the grand opening of its new plant in White, Georgia, dedicated to the production of advanced aluminium automotive structural components and crash management systems. The 135,000 sq. ft. facility is strategically located to supply automakers in the Southeast U.S. and may be expanded to 220,000 sq. ft. to meet customers' supply needs in the future. Constellium expects to have 150 employees in White, Georgia, by 2019.

"I am very pleased to be in Georgia today to celebrate the opening of this new plant, its state-of-the art manufacturing capability and world-class team that is committed to work in partnership with our automotive customers," said Paul Warton, President of Constellium's Automotive Structures & Industry business unit. "Being closer to our customers' assembly plants will allow us to better serve automakers in their mission to make vehicles lighter and safer and to respond to the industry's growing demand for aluminium structural parts."

"On behalf of Constellium, I would like to extend our gratitude to the State of Georgia, Bartow County, our local partners and employees for their strong support in establishing the White, Georgia, plant," commented Eric Krepps, Vice President and General Manager of Constellium Automotive Structures North America. "We are honored to be part of your community."

Aluminium is a material of choice in the automotive industry to reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel economy and lower emissions, and increase safety. Our advanced solutions help automakers achieve these goals across the globe.

About Constellium

Constellium (NYSE and Euronext Paris: CSTM) is a global sector leader that develops innovative, value added aluminium products for a broad scope of markets and applications, including aerospace, automotive and packaging. Constellium generated 4.7 billion of revenue in 2016.

www.constellium.com

Forward Looking Statement

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release may contain "forward looking statements" with respect to our business, results of operations and financial condition, and our expectations or beliefs concerning future events and conditions. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as, but not limited to, "believes," "expects," "may," "should," "approximately," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "targets," likely," "will," "would," "could" and similar expressions (or the negative of these terminologies or expressions). All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Many risks and uncertainties are inherent in our industry and markets. Others are more specific to our business and operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of Constellium and Wise Metals to achieve expected synergies and the timing thereof; Constellium's increased levels of indebtedness, which could limit Constellium's operating flexibility and opportunities; the potential failure to retain key employees, the loss of customers, suppliers and other business relationships slower or lower than expected growth in the North American market for Body-in-White aluminium rolled products, and other risk factors set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and as described from time to time in subsequent reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The occurrence of the events described and the achievement of the expected results depend on many events, some or all of which are not predictable or within our control. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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Digital consumer finance leader Euroloan has secured the largest ever funding deal made to an unlisted company in Finland. The group, says founder Tommi Lindfors, is well positioned for accelerated growth. Helsinki, Finland, 2017-05-11 10:59 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euroloan has doubled the size of its structured financing facility with funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG), from EUR 60 million to EUR 120 million. The credit line comes with the news that Euroloan increased net revenue by 90% in 2016 and is now focused on scaling its business significantly across Europe. "The previous deal with Fortress was the largest in the company's history and now we're doubling it" says Tommi Lindfors, Chairman of the Euroloan Group. "Further, this is the biggest funding deal ever made by an unlisted company in Finland. This is a real testament to our internal capabilities, track record of sustainable growth and the value of our long term partnership with Fortress. This deal enables the Group to focus on our core strengths, leveraging our state-of-the art digital lending systems to generate higher volumes and acquiring new customers as we accelerate and expand our business across Europe." Euroloan's digital consumer finance services include pay by invoice, credit and payment solutions for point of sale terminals, credit cards, e-commerce platform support and real-time online and mobile lending. Euroloan Group Plc is a rapidly growing digital financial services group providing consumer loans, online and in-store pay-by-invoice capability, revolving credit lines and credit cards. The group operates in Finland, Poland and Sweden and has plans for significant growth across Europe. For more information, please contact: Jonas Lindholm Euroloan Group Plc Tel +358 10 217 1003

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.
TOKYO, JAPAN -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Secretary-General Dr. Santhi Kanoktanaporn today called upon developing countries, particularly APO members, to focus on Sustainable Productivity to meet the challenges posed by fast-changing technologies shaping the global economy and driving new business models.

"We need to join forces in raising awareness and modifying our behaviors, strategies, and business models at different levels, so we can timely respond to emerging environmental challenges and proactively manage the opportunities that lie ahead," the Secretary-General stated at the International Environmental and Economic Forum held in parallel with the 11th Eco-products International Fair (EPIF 2017).

The EPIF 2017 is being organized by the APO, Vietnam National Productivity Institute, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Vietnam Environment Administration at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City, 11-13 May 2017. It is supported by the Vietnamese Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment.

Dr. Kanoktanaporn added that, at the national and global levels, the key to Sustainable Productivity would depend on the ability of countries to adapt to changing technologies, market needs, and consumer behavior to review, revise, and adopt new policies. "Governments will also need to create favorable policies and business environments aimed at encouraging R&D and innovation by organizations, as well facilitate and motivate entrepreneurship," he stressed.

The Secretary-General explained that, with the rapid changes occurring around the world in various spheres, the APO would focus on promoting Sustainable Productivity as a key element of its activities. "To assist our member countries to become resilient at a time of extreme turbulence, high uncertainty, and fast changes, the APO is committed to assisting and preparing its member countries to become future-proof," he declared, acknowledging that sustainable productivity growth today was a complex issue cutting across multiple domains, including government policies and concerns related to industry, agriculture, climate change, and others. "We are calling for concerted efforts in all spheres to move toward a sustainable future," Dr. Kanaktanaporn concluded.

Welcoming dignitaries and delegates to the EPIF 2017, Vice Minister Tran Viet Thanh of the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology commented that sustainable development was one of the fundamental criteria in reforming the model of economic growth as well as the most significant goal for Vietnam. "With the theme Green Technologies and Products: Actions for the Future, the EPIF 2017 is an important step toward the development of Vietnam's economy and an important event to disseminate and raise community awareness of productivity and sustainable development through producing and consuming eco-friendly products, services, and technologies," Vice Minister Thanh observed.

The three-day EPIF promotes awareness of sustainable development through the production and consumption of eco-friendly products, services, and technologies. The theme Green Technologies and Products: Action for the Future focuses on future-proofing productivity efforts while achieving sustainable industrial development and growth in APO member countries.

In his address at the EPIF Opening Ceremony, Green Productivity Advisory Committee Chairperson Hajime Bada, Honorary Adviser, JFE Holdings Inc., pointed out that with APO member countries continuing to experience rapid economic growth, the burden on the environment had increased due to greater energy use. "This is now a major problem and I hope that this EPIF, which is showcasing the world's best and latest environmental technologies, will help change perceptions of the Paris Agreement so that it is viewed not as a constraint but as an opportunity for new contributions to sustainable development," he remarked.

The EPIF is one of the largest international environmental exhibitions in Asia, and this is the second time for Vietnam to host the event. Among the 174 exhibitors, companies from PR China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam are introducing their latest environmentally friendly equipment, products, and services. Industry players can explore business collaborations, investment cooperation, trade promotion, and technology transfers. The fair is also a good opportunity for local counterparts to build national strategies, identify needs, and promote activities for green growth in Vietnam.

Note to Editors: For full version of the Press Release and the EPIF Fact Sheet click http://www.apo-tokyo.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/05/Press-Release_EPIF-2017_2_11May2017_web_RR.pdf.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3138421



For details contact

Shubhendu Parth/Yoko Fujimoto

Information & Public Relations Unit

Tel: 03-3830-0411; Fax: 03-5840-5322

WhatsApp/Viber/Line: +81-70-4347-4836 / +91-98-1140-2655

e-Mail: Email Contact / Email Contact




WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium announced it will work with NATO Allied Command Transformation on an initiative to enhance interoperability for NATO's Federated Mission Networking (FMN) capability, which is being developed to support command and control and decision making in future operations through improved information sharing.

Through the Interoperability Verification (IV) Initiative, NCOIC will assess the evidence of interoperability of different solutions and whether they meet FMN needs. Having this evaluation before products and services are purchased can assist FMN affiliates (NATO, its 29 member-nations and mission partners) reduce cost, delays and risk in the development of the FMN environment.

When FMN affiliates get products and services that work together before acquisition, they can lower or eliminate the investment needed for integration. NCOIC has shown that fixing interoperability issues after system acquisition can add up to 40 percent in integration costs.

The interoperability assessment will be based on a vendor's product testing that takes place as part of the normal quality manufacturing process. NCOIC will evaluate the integration risk based on how well the product's attributes meet FMN interoperability needs, how easily it can be implemented and whether participants can interoperate.

"NCOIC verification will help companies understand interoperability is a basic requirement and that products are more likely to be acquired if they have test evidence confirming it," said Tip Slater, NCOIC chief financial officer. "Verification won't create significant costs and will enable businesses to deliver on the basic FMN interoperability requirements."

NCOIC expects interest among businesses in Europe and the U.S. that want to be part of this effort and anticipates the marketplace will expand with more qualified vendors representing all FMN participants. The consortium has restructured its membership categories to enable more providers to take part in the Interoperability Verification Initiative. It is holding a kickoff meeting on September 13 to present details to government and business leaders.

The IV Initiative builds on a five-year collaboration between NCOIC and NATO to create cross-domain interoperability in support of NATO's 2030 vision. In 2012, NCOIC reviewed multi-national technical, cultural and business issues within NATO and recommended a secure, integrated-cloud environment to serve military and civilian users. Most recently, NCOIC completed a study for NATO ACT describing the "art of the possible" for 21st century command and control using industry best practices, and outlined methods, processes and recommendations to achieve it.

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Wanted Washoku cooking challengers -For professional Japanese cooking chefs in the world

About the Washoku World Challenge

The Washoku World Challenge is a cooking contest in which Japanese cuisine chefs from all over the world compete in technical expertise and passion for Japanese food. The contest, the 5th of its kind, is organized by the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for non-Japanese chefs.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170804005249/en/

WWC_image (Graphic: Business Wire)

To widen the door for chefs like you to share your love for Japanese cooking, this time we will be holding qualifying tournaments in six cities worldwide (London, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Tokyo). The six chefs who pass the qualifiers will be invited to the final tournament, to be held in Tokyo on February 13th and 14th, 2018. This is an excellent opportunity for you to test your talent in washoku. Don't miss it!

Official Site: http://washoku-worldchallenge.jp/5th/

Check latest news on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WashokuWorldChallenge/

Application form: https://www.research.net/r/G69TLWV

Contest Theme: UMAMI

Contest theme is UMAMI, which is the source of the savoriness of Japanese cuisine. In Japan, the technique of extracting umami from kombu kelp and bonito flakes to create dashi broth was developed approximately 500 years ago. Japan has a long history of valuing dashi highly, and its umami has brought out the flavors of ingredients and played key roles in the creation of delectable dishes.

Click here for more on umami: http://www.tasteofjapan.jp/ingredient/umami/

Application Outline

1. One SUIMONO (with at least three ingredients) reflecting the UMAMI theme

2. One FUCHIDAKA MORI (with at least five dishes) reflecting the UMAMI theme

Application Process

1. Application document screening

2. Qualifying Tournaments in 6 cities worldwide

3. Final Tournament in Tokyo

Application form: https://www.research.net/r/G69TLWV

Schedule Deadline for entry: Notification of

application

screening results: qualifying tournament London August 18th September 6th London qualifying tournament:

September 16th New York, Los Angeles,

Hong Kong, Bangkok

and Tokyo End of September Mid of October US qualifying tournaments:

end of October

Asian qualifying tournaments:

beginning of December

Travel and hotel expenses for qualifying tournaments are to be paid for by the contestants.

* Travel and hotel expenses for the final tournament will be covered by the contest organizing committee.

* There is no participation fee.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170804005249/en/

Contacts:

Washoku World Challenge Executive Committee

Miyajima/Takahashi, +81-90-5908-3480

wwc@jtbcom.co.jp
LONDON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

As Marshall Motor (MMH) celebrates the second anniversary of its flotation on AIM, it can reflect positively on the continuation of its strong growth record, which has driven it to rank seventh among UK automotive retailing groups. The strong brand coverage and excellent relationships with major manufacturers should continue to deliver growth opportunities, despite potentially tougher market conditions. Our fair value for MMH currently stands at 214p per share.

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MMH trades on an FY18e P/E ratio of 5.7x on our forecasts, 28% lower than the average for UK auto retailers (excluding Inchcape). We do not believe the discount is warranted by relative growth potential, which is supported by a progressive dividend policy. We believe an in line rating is more appropriate, which together with a potential unwinding of the sector's multiple contraction seen since the Brexit vote could drive a significant re-rating.

Click here to view the full report.

All reports published by Edison are available to download free of charge from its website:http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com

About Edison: Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and AsiaPac. The heart of Edison is our world-renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise.At Edison Investment Research, our research is widely read by international investors, advisers and stakeholders. Edison Advisors leverages our core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting.

Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Edison is not an adviser or broker-dealer and does not provide investment advice. Edison's reports are not solicitations to buy or sell any securities.

Contact details: Learn more at http://www.edisongroup.com and connect with Edison on:

LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/company/edison-investment-research

Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/Edison_Inv_Res

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/edisonitv

Google+: https://plus.google.com/105425025202328783163/posts

For more information please contact:

Andy Chambers, Edison Investment Research, +44(0)20-3681-2525

Ali West, Edison Investment Research, +44(0)20-3077-5700, industrials@edisongroup.com


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - U.K. construction output declined for the third straight month in March, defying economists' expectations for an increase, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. Construction output fell 0.7 percent month-over-month in March, slower than the 1.3 percent decrease in February. In contrast, economists had expected a 0.4 percent rise for the month. Both all new work and repair and maintenance reported decreases, falling by 0.1 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. On a yearly basis, construction output grew at a faster pace of 2.4 percent in March, following a 0.9 percent gain a month ago. However, that was below the 2.9 percent rise expected by economists. During the first quarter of the year, total construction output increased 0.2 percent compared with the preceding quarter. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were mixed on Thursday as growing worries about U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to move forward on policy issues such as tax reform and deregulation offset investor optimism over higher oil prices and UniCredit's upbeat first-quarter results. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.1 percent at 395.95 in late opening deals after rising 0.2 percent to close at a fresh 21-month high the previous day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was also moving down 0.1 percent, while the German DAX and France's CAC 40 index were marginally higher. UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank by assets, soared 4 percent as its Q1 net profit topped forecasts. British bank Barclays rallied 2.5 percent after chief executive Jes Staley apologized to shareholders for his behavior over the whistleblowing incident. French bank Credit Agricole lost 1 percent despite reporting a near fourfold increase in first-quarter profit. BT shares slumped 3.5 percent. The troubled British telecoms giant has unveiled plans to cut 4,000 jobs worldwide in a major overhaul, after reporting a fall in fourth-quarter pretax profit. Spain's Telefonica also lost 3 percent after announcing its Q1 results. Hikma Pharmaceuticals slumped as much as 8 percent after U.S. regulators delayed approval for a new drug. Deutsche Post tumbled 4 percent. The German postal and logistics company reported lower than expected first-quarter profit because of difficult price environment in its freight division. In economic releases, U.K. industrial production declined for the third consecutive month in March, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Industrial output fell 0.5 percent from the previous month, following a 0.8 percent drop in February. Another report showed that the U.K. visible trade deficit widened in March to GBP 13.44 billion from GBP 11.44 billion in February. Meanwhile, the euro area economic recovery is expected to continue at a largely steady pace this year and next, the European Commission said. In its Spring forecast, the European Union executive raised the Eurozone growth forecast for this year to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LEBANON  The Lebanon School Board is expected to decide tonight on a plan that would change the principal configuration at Lacomb and Hamilton Creek schools.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the district office, 485 S. Fifth St., Lebanon.

Superintendent Rob Hess had proposed eliminating an administrative position for the 2017-18 school year by moving Principal Tim Geoghegan from Lacomb to Lebanon High School to replace an outgoing assistant principal there and having Principal Geno Bates of Hamilton Creek split his time between Hamilton Creek and Lacomb for administrative coverage.

But some parents and teachers protested the idea, saying the district's two smallest and most rural schools still need full-time administrative support.

Hess has now adjusted the proposal, asking for board approval to move Geoghegan to the high school but to have Kim Fandino move from the high school to be a part-time principal at Lacomb each day.

The plan would be to have Fandino continue to teach Spanish classes each morning at Lebanon High, then travel to Lacomb, working there from about 11 a.m. until the end of the day. Her responsibilities with Beyond LHS and Saturday School likely would shift to other staff members.

Bates would be tapped for any morning emergencies and would spend one morning or afternoon a week at Lacomb.

Both Fandino and Geoghegan have the administrative credentials for the positions. Geoghegan's salary would increase from $96,598 to $97,979. The salary for Fandino, who already does some administrative work with new teachers for the district, isn't expected to change.

Both schools serve kindergarten through eighth grades. Lacomb has 238 students this year and Hamilton Creek has 278. Both are on the east side of the Santiam River, on opposite sides of the district and about a 15- to 20-minute drive apart.

Hess said he came up with the new proposal based on reactions at the April board meeting, other communications and visits with staff members at the affected schools.
BROOKFIELD, NEWS -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE: BAM)(TSX: BAM.A)(EURONEXT AMSTERDAM: BAMA) a leading global alternative asset manager, today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Bruce Flatt, CEO of Brookfield, stated, "Our scale and global reach have enabled us to deploy $17 billion of capital into attractive investments over the last twelve months, and we continue to see opportunities to put capital to work in high quality businesses across our real asset strategies. With our flagship funds moving closer to being fully invested, we are preparing for our next major round of fundraising in response to strong investor demand."

Operating Results UNAUDITED FOR THE PERIODS ENDED MAR. 31 (US$ MILLIONS, EXCEPT PER SHARE Last Twelve Months AMOUNTS) Three Months Ended Ended ---------------------------------------- 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income(1) $ 518 $ 636 $ 3,220 $ 3,867 Per Brookfield share(2) (0.08) 0.23 1.25 1.77 Funds from operations(2,3) $ 674 $ 703 $ 3,208 $ 2,705 Per Brookfield share(2,3) 0.65 0.69 3.15 2.64 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Consolidated basis - includes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests 2. Excludes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests 3. See Basis of Presentation on pages 3 and 4 and a reconciliation of net income to FFO on page 9

During the first quarter we achieved "same-store" growth across most of our operations, and benefited from a positive contribution from recent acquisitions. This was offset in net income by fair value changes in the quarter arising from the impact of lower stock market prices on market-valued investments. The aggregate value of our $57 billion real estate portfolio was largely unchanged. The per share number is after the allocation of net income to non-controlling interests and preferred share dividends.

Funds from operations ("FFO") grew 3% on a comparative basis as 2016 included catch up and transaction fees of $49 million. FFO benefited from an increase in base fees on the higher level of fee bearing capital and growth in incentive distributions. FFO includes realized disposition gains of $214 million, which were consistent quarter over quarter.

Annualized fees increased to $1.2 billion, up 24% from the prior year, while target carried interest increased by 43% to $860 million. The growth results from a 14% increase over the last twelve months in fee bearing capital, which now stands at $113 billion. We benefited from strong capital inflows to our private funds, including the closing of three flagship funds in 2016 and new product offerings, as well as growth in the market capitalization and unitholder distributions of our listed issuers.

Dividend Declaration

The Board declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.14 per share (representing US$0.56 per annum), payable on June 30, 2017 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on May 31, 2017. The Board also declared all of the regular monthly and quarterly dividends on its preferred shares.

Highlights

We announced or completed acquisitions that deployed $17 billion of capital over the last twelve months, including $3 billion in the current quarter.

We completed the acquisition of a U.S. manufactured housing portfolio, added to our portfolio of student housing assets in the U.K., acquired a portfolio of U.S. office properties and a preferred equity investment in a public, non-traded hospitality REIT. We also completed two investments in our new open-ended core-plus fund - an office building in downtown San Francisco and a portfolio of logistics assets.

Our renewable power business announced the acquisition of a 51% controlling interest in TerraForm Power, and 100% of TerraForm Global. These businesses collectively own and operate a 3,600 megawatt global wind and solar portfolio. This transaction marks our first major investment in solar and establishes a platform for further growth in the sector.

In April, our infrastructure group closed the purchase of a 90% interest in a natural gas pipeline business in Brazil for $5 billion. This is a fully contracted and highly cash generative business that will significantly expand our utilities operations in a sector and geography that we know well.

In our private equity business, we recently closed the acquisition of an 85% interest in a leading road fuels provider in the U.K. and our previously announced 70% stake in Brazil's largest private water distribution, collection and treatment business. We also announced an agreement to acquire one of the largest gas station networks in Canada from a major national retailer.

Our flagship funds are significantly invested, positioning us well for future fundraising.

Our second flagship real estate opportunity fund, BSREP II, is now approximately 80% committed or invested. This enables us to launch a successor fund in the second quarter. Our flagship funds in infrastructure (BIF III) and private equity (BCP IV) closed in 2016 with a solid pipeline of investment opportunities and are now over 45% and 55% invested or committed, respectively. We expect to begin fundraising for our next infrastructure and private equity flagship funds in 2018.

We continue to maintain high levels of liquidity in order to pursue further transactions.

We finished the quarter with core liquidity of $9 billion and dry powder in our private funds of $20 billion. In addition, we continue to recycle capital as a key source of liquidity, particularly within our real estate group which has raised $3 billion over the last twelve months through property sales. We recently sold our 51% interest in 245 Park Avenue, a New York office tower, for equity proceeds of $650 million.

We are broadening our product offering to provide additional options for our investors.

In addition to our traditional funds, we have been deploying capital in several new entities across asset classes and geographies. We continue to raise capital and invest it for our open-ended private real estate fund. Another particular area of focus has been credit strategies: we have built dedicated private credit programs within each business group, including an infrastructure debt fund where we will provide loans against high quality core infrastructure assets, a real estate debt fund in North America, and a credit fund in our private equity operations.

Special Dividend of Trisura Group Shares Declared

We have now received the necessary approvals to complete the previously announced distribution of all of the common shares of Trisura Group Ltd. ("Trisura Group") to holders of Brookfield's Class A and B Limited Voting Shares (the "Shares"). Trisura Group is an international specialty insurance provider operating in the surety, risk solutions, corporate insurance and reinsurance niche segments of the market.

On June 22, 2017, shareholders of record as of June 1, 2017 will receive one Trisura Group common share for every 170 Shares of Brookfield (see below for further information about the trading of Trisura Group and Brookfield). The dividend is currently estimated to be valued at approximately US$0.11 per Brookfield Share, or approximately US$110 million in the aggregate. Trisura Group has received conditional approval to list its common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") under the symbol "TSU".

Shareholders will receive a cash payment in lieu of any fractional interests in the Trisura Group common shares. Brookfield will use the volume-weighted average trading price of the Trisura Group common shares for the five trading days immediately following the spin-off to determine the value of the Trisura Group common shares for the purpose of calculating the cash payable in lieu of any fractional interests.

Only holders of Brookfield Shares as of close of business on June 1, 2017 will be entitled to receive the distribution of the common shares of Trisura Group. Holders of "BAM" or "BAM.A" who sell their shares before June 1, 2017, and whose sales of such securities settle before the close of business on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") or the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") on such date, will not be entitled to receive the distribution of the common shares of Trisura Group. Similarly, investors who purchase shares before June 1, 2017, and whose purchases of such securities settle after the close of business in New York (if listed on the NYSE) or Toronto (if listed on the TSX) on such date, will not be entitled to receive the distribution of the common shares of Trisura Group.

Brookfield expects common shares of Trisura Group to begin trading on a "when-issued" basis on the TSX on May 30, 2017. Trisura Group is expected to begin "regular-way" trading on the TSX on June 22, 2017 under the symbol "TSU".

Basis of Presentation

This news release and accompanying financial statements are based on International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"), unless otherwise noted and make reference to Funds From Operations ("FFO").

We define FFO as net income attributable to shareholders prior to fair value changes, depreciation and amortization, and deferred income taxes, and include realized disposition gains that are not recorded in net income as determined under IFRS. FFO also includes the company's share of equity accounted investments' FFO on a fully diluted basis. FFO consists of the following components:

-- FFO from Operating Activities represents the company's share of revenues less direct costs and interest expenses; excludes realized carried interest and disposition gains, fair value changes, depreciation and amortization and deferred income taxes; and includes our proportionate share of FFO from operating activities recorded by equity accounted investments on a fully diluted basis. We present this measure as we believe it assists in describing our results and variances within FFO. -- Realized Carried Interest represents our contractual share of investment gains generated within a private fund after considering our clients minimum return requirements. Realized carried interest is determined on third party capital that is no longer subject to future investment performance. -- Realized Disposition Gains are included in FFO because we consider the purchase and sale of assets to be a normal part of the company's business. Realized disposition gains include gains and losses recorded in net income and equity in the current period, and are adjusted to include fair value changes and revaluation surplus balances recorded in prior periods which were not included in prior period FFO.

We use FFO to assess our operating results and the value of Brookfield's business and believe that many shareholders and analysts also find this measure of value to them.

We note that FFO, its components, and its per share equivalent are non-IFRS measures which do not have any standard meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.

We provide additional information on the determination of FFO and reconciliation between FFO and net income attributable to Brookfield shareholders in our quarterly Supplemental Information and filings available at www.brookfield.com.

Additional Information

The Letter to Shareholders and the company's Supplemental Information for the three months ended March 31, 2017 contain further information on the company's strategy, operations and financial results. Shareholders are encouraged to read these documents, which are available on the company's website.

The attached statements are based primarily on information that has been extracted from our interim financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2017, which have been prepared using IFRS, as issued by the IASB. The amounts have not been audited by Brookfield's external auditor.

Brookfield's Board of Directors reviewed and approved this document, including the summary unaudited consolidated financial statements prior to its release.

Information on our dividends can be found on our website under Stock & Distributions/Distribution History.

Quarterly Earnings Call Details

Investors, analysts and other interested parties can access Brookfield Asset Management's 2017 First Quarter Results as well as the Shareholders' Letter and Supplemental Information on Brookfield's website under the Reports & Filings section at www.brookfield.com.

The conference call can be accessed via webcast on May 11, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time at www.brookfield.com or via teleconference at 1-800-319-4610 toll free in North America. For overseas calls please dial 1-604-638-5340, at approximately 10:50 a.m. Eastern Time. A recording of the teleconference can be accessed at 1-800-319-6413 or 1-604-638-9010 (Password 1254#).

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $250 billion in assets under management. The company has more than a 100-year history of owning and operating assets with a focus on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity. Brookfield offers a range of public and private investment products and services, and is co-listed on the New York, Toronto and Euronext stock exchanges under the symbol BAM, BAM.A and BAMA, respectively. For more information, please visit our website at www.brookfield.com.

Please note that Brookfield's previous audited annual and unaudited quarterly reports have been filed on EDGAR and SEDAR and can also be found in the investor section of its website at www.brookfield.com. Hard copies of the annual and quarterly reports can be obtained free of charge upon request.

Forward-Looking Statements

Note: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, include statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of Brookfield and its subsidiaries, as well as the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods, and include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "seeks," "intends," "targets," "projects," "forecasts" or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would" and "could."

Although we believe that our anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Brookfield to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political and market factors in the countries in which we do business; the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and foreign exchange rates; global equity and capital markets and the availability of equity and debt financing and refinancing within these markets; strategic actions including dispositions; the ability to complete and effectively integrate acquisitions into existing operations and the ability to attain expected benefits; changes in accounting policies and methods used to report financial condition (including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates); the ability to appropriately manage human capital; the effect of applying future accounting changes; business competition; operational and reputational risks; technological change; changes in government regulation and legislation within the countries in which we operate; governmental investigations; litigation; changes in tax laws; ability to collect amounts owed; catastrophic events, such as earthquakes and hurricanes; the possible impact of international conflicts and other developments including terrorist acts and cyber terrorism; and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in our documents filed with the securities regulators in Canada and the United States.

We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, Brookfield undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This release does not constitute an offer of any Brookfield fund.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS Unaudited March 31 December 31 (US$ millions) 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 6,427 $ 4,299 Other financial assets 4,693 4,700 Accounts receivable and other 9,055 9,133 Inventory 5,437 5,349 Assets classified as held for sale 948 432 Equity accounted investments 24,936 24,977 Investment properties 57,092 54,172 Property, plant and equipment 45,653 45,346 Intangible assets 6,271 6,073 Goodwill 3,906 3,783 Deferred income tax assets 1,578 1,562 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Assets $ 165,996 $ 159,826 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liabilities and Equity Accounts payable and other $ 12,025 $ 11,915 Liabilities associated with assets classified as held for sale 52 127 Corporate borrowings 5,272 4,500 Non-recourse borrowings Property-specific mortgages 56,635 52,442 Subsidiary borrowings 7,990 7,949 Deferred income tax liabilities 9,830 9,640 Subsidiary equity obligations 3,766 3,565 Equity Preferred equity 3,950 3,954 Non-controlling interests 43,965 43,235 Common equity 22,511 22,499 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Equity 70,426 69,688 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Liabilities and Equity $ 165,996 $ 159,826 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS UNAUDITED FOR THE PERIODS ENDED MAR. 31 Three Months Ended ---------------------------- (US$ MILLIONS, EXCEPT PER SHARE AMOUNTS) 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenues $ 6,001 $ 5,218 Direct costs (4,387) (3,648) Other income and gains 265 35 Equity accounted income 335 152 Expenses Interest (843) (767) Corporate costs (25) (23) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,346 967 Fair value changes (204) 352 Depreciation and amortization (499) (481) Income tax (125) (202) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 518 $ 636 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) attributable to: Brookfield shareholders $ (37) $ 257 Non-controlling interests 555 379 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 518 $ 636 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) per share Diluted $ (0.08) $ 0.23 Basic (0.08) 0.23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARIZED FINANCIAL RESULTS UNAUDITED Last Twelve Months FOR THE PERIODS ENDED MAR. 31 Three Months Ended Ended ------------------------------------------- (US$ MILLIONS) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asset management $ 166 $ 184 $ 848 $ 599 Real estate 325 373 1,513 1,477 Renewable power 67 68 179 220 Infrastructure 83 71 386 266 Private equity and other 94 62 500 472 Cash and financial assets 14 34 131 13 Interest expense and operating costs (75) (89) (349) (342) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Funds from operations(1,2) $ 674 $ 703 $ 3,208 $ 2,705 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNAUDITED Last Twelve Months FOR THE PERIODS ENDED MAR. 31 Three Months Ended Ended ------------------------------------------- (US$ MILLIONS, EXCEPT PER SHARE AMOUNTS) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FFO from operating activities(2) $ 457 $ 491 $ 2,131 $ 1,783 Realized carried interest(3) 3 - 152 30 Realized disposition gains(2) 214 212 925 892 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Funds from operations(1,2) 674 703 3,208 2,705 Realized disposition gains not in income (83) (193) (622) (568) Fair value changes (353) 65 (763) 564 Depreciation and amortization (201) (206) (895) (804) Income tax (74) (112) 429 (28) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders $ (37) $ 257 $ 1,357 $ 1,869 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Per share $ (0.08) $ 0.23 $ 1.25 $ 1.77 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1. Non-IFRS measure - see Basis of Presentation on pages 3 and 4 and a reconciliation of net income to FFO on page 9 2. Excludes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests 3. Excludes carried interest generated that is subject to future investment performance

EARNINGS PER SHARE UNAUDITED FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MAR. Last Twelve Months 31 Three Months Ended Ended ------------------------------------------- (US$ MILLIONS, EXCEPT PER SHARE AMOUNTS) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 518 $ 636 $ 3,220 $ 3,867 Non-controlling interests (555) (379) (1,863) (1,998) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders (37) 257 1,357 1,869 Preferred share dividends (36) (33) (136) (133) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) available to shareholders $ (73) $ 224 $ 1,221 $ 1,736 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average shares 958.5 959.2 958.8 956.7 Dilutive effect of the conversion of options and escrowed shares using treasury stock method(1) - 15.6 15.3 21.6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shares and share equivalents 958.5 974.8 974.1 978.3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ (0.08) $ 0.23 $ 1.25 $ 1.77 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1. Includes management share option plan and escrowed stock plan RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS UNAUDITED Last Twelve Months FOR THE PERIODS ENDED MAR. 31 Three Months Ended Ended ------------------------------------------- (US$ MILLIONS) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 518 $ 636 $ 3,220 $ 3,867 Equity accounted fair value changes and other non-FFO items 122 274 306 (7) Fair value changes 204 (352) 686 (1,405) Depreciation and amortization 499 481 2,038 1,775 Deferred income taxes 108 170 (620) 67 Realized disposition gains in fair value changes or prior periods(1) 152 212 706 897 Non-controlling interests (929) (718) (3,128) (2,489) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Funds from operations(1,2) $ 674 $ 703 $ 3,208 $ 2,705 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1. Non-IFRS measure - see Basis of Presentation on pages 3 and 4 2. Excludes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests

Contacts:

Claire Holland

Communications & Media

(416) 369-8236

claire.holland@brookfield.com



Linda Northwood

Investor Relations

(416) 359-8647

linda.northwood@brookfield.com

www.brookfield.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Timmins Gold Corp. (TSX: TMM)(NYSE MKT: TGD) ("Timmins Gold" or the "Company") is proposing to change its name to Alio Gold Inc. at its upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. If approved, the Company expects to begin trading on both the TSX and the NYSE MKT under the ticker ALO on May 16, 2017. The Company is pleased to announce a revitalization plan for its San Francisco Mine (the "Mine") in Sonora, Mexico. All figures are US$ unless otherwise stated.

HIGHLIGHTS

-- Increase in 2017 guidance of 86,000 to 92,000 ounces of gold produced (from 70,000 to 75,000); -- Production of an average of 103,000 ounces of gold per year for a further six years (2018 to 2023); -- Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 54.8 million tonnes at 0.53 g/t gold (928,700 ounces of contained gold); -- Cash costs of $900/oz (AISC for the site of $935/oz) average over the life of mine; and, -- Cash flow from operations of $34 million per year for six years (2018 to 2023 at $1,250/oz gold).

Commenting on the revitalization plan, Chief Executive Officer, Greg McCunn, said, "The San Francisco Mine is a cornerstone asset for the Company located in an excellent mining jurisdiction. Our plan to revitalize the Mine by investing some of the cash flow from operations back into improvements to the operations and capital stripping will result in the Mine generating significant cash flow from operations over the next seven years. The cash flow generated will fully fund the revitalization and be instrumental in executing our growth strategy, including building our high-grade, high margin Ana Paula Project".

The updated Mineral Reserves for San Francisco were estimated at $1,200/oz gold and are shown in the table below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Classification Tonnes Gold Grade (g/t) Gold Ounces ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Proven 29,619,000 0.569 541,600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Probable 17,974,000 0.566 326,900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Low Grade Stockpile 7,199,000 0.260 60,200 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Mineral Reserves 54,792,000 0.527 928,700 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Revitalization Plan will be published as a NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report and will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on or before June 30, 2017. This will replace the Updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Plan dated September 30, 2016, and amended November 25, 2016. It is the Company's intention to begin a routine process of updating its Mineral Resources and Reserves on an annual basis at the end of every calendar year.

SAN FRANCISCO REVITALIZATION PLAN

Background

The San Francisco Mine is situated in the north central portion of the state of Sonora, Mexico, approximately 150 kilometres north of the state capital, Hermosillo. The Company owns 100% of the mining operation, which consists of 13 mining concessions, multiple open pit mining operations, crushing and heap leaching facilities.

The mineralization at the Mine is granitic gneiss and the deposit contains principally free gold and occasionally electrum. The mineralogy, the possibility of associated tourmaline, the style of mineralization and fluid inclusion studies suggest that the San Francisco deposits may be of mesothermal origin.

The Mine declared commercial production during April 2010. The table below summarizes production from 2010 through 2016:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year Gold Produced (ounces) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010 54,011 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2011 72,506 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2012 94,444 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 119,655 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 120,023 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 93,353 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 100,322 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updated Mine Plan

The Company has updated the life of mine plan for San Francisco as of April 1, 2017. The mine plan is based on Measured and Indicated Resources, including low grade stockpile material processed at the end of the mine plan. The mine life extends to 2024 with residual gold recovered from the leaching operations following the cessation of mining.

The updated Mineral Resources for San Francisco were estimated at $1,350/oz gold and are shown in the table below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Classification Tonnes Gold Grade (g/t) Gold Ounces(i) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured 47.5 0.535 816,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated 27.3 0.553 485,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total M&I 74.8 0.541 1,302,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred 0.72 0.566 13,000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(i)Total may not add due to rounding

A detailed mine plan was estimated based on the Measured and Indicated Resources using a gold price of $1,200/oz. The updated Mineral Reserves are shown in the table below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Classification Tonnes Gold Grade (g/t) Gold Ounces ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Proven 29,619,000 0.569 541,600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Probable 17,974,000 0.566 326,900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Low Grade Stockpile 7,199,000 0.260 60,200 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Mineral Reserves 54,792,000 0.527 928,700 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The mining and production is shown in the following table:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 mo 2017(1) 2018 2019 2020 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore Mined (Mt) 6.1 8.0 8.0 8.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Waste (Mt) 14.3 24.6 27.6 34.7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strip Ratio (W: O) 2.4 3.1 3.4 4.3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore Stacked (Mt) 6.1 8.0 8.0 8.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore Grade (g/t Au) 0.49 0.55 0.60 0.56 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Produced (oz) 66,087 104,922 112,984 108,518 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore Mined (Mt) 8.0 8.0 1.2 - 47.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Waste (Mt) 31.9 34.5 2.2 - 169.8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strip Ratio (W: O) 4.0 4.3 1.8 - 3.6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore Stacked (Mt) 8.0 8.0 8.0 0.4 54.6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore Grade (g/t Au) 0.57 0.58 0.33 0.26 0.52 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Produced (oz) 110,294 109,638 71,225 11,103 694,771 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. 2017 is for the 9 months of production remaining in fiscal 2017 (April 1 to Dec 31).

The cash flow from operations for the life of mine was estimated using current operating costs for mining, processing, site administration, transportation and refining as well as sustaining capital. The following table shows the annual cash flow from operations estimations at a spot gold price of $1,250/oz:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 mo 2017(1) 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenue ($M) 83.2 132.0 142.2 136.6 138.8 138.0 89.6 14.0 874.3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Costs(2) ($M) 62.5 88.9 99.3 106.9 106.0 113.8 41.1 9.0 627.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Costs(2) ($/oz) 896 822 852 968 952 1,012 691 1,200 900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sust Capital ($M) 7.2 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 1.3 - - 24.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Site AISC ($/oz) 1,004 860 888 1,005 989 1,024 691 1,200 935 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Flow from Ops(3)($M) 13.5 39.1 38.9 25.7 28.8 22.8 48.5 5.0 222.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Cash costs include silver by-product revenues, metal inventory movements, royalties and realization costs. 3. Cash Flow from Operations is pre-tax.

Sensitivity to Gold Price

The revised mine plan will generate positive cash flow from operations at gold prices as low as $1,000/oz as shown in the table below. All cash flows are shown after royalties and before taxes:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Price ($/oz) Life of Mine Before-Tax Cash Flow from Operations ($M) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,000 55 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,100 121 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,200 188 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,250 222 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,300 257 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,400 325 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,500 392 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Expansion Capital

The updated life of mine plan expands production over the remaining estimated life of mine to 694,771 ounces. The previous life of mine plan envisioned production of approximately 340,000 ounces over the same period. In order to expand production to approximately double the previous life of mine plan, the Company intends to invest expansionary capital over the next three years as shown in the following table:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 mo 2017(1) 2018 2019 Total(i) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Capital Stripping ($M) 4.3 20.5 13.3 38.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crushing Modifications ($M) 2.1 2.6 0.2 4.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Power Upgrade ($M) 1.5 0.5 - 2.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total ($M) 7.8 23.6 13.5 44.9 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(i)Total may not add due to rounding.

The expansionary capital is predominantly made up of capital stripping to open up the San Francisco main pit and the La Chicharra pit. In addition, modifications will be made to the crushing circuit to provide finer material to the heap leach pads, leading to enhanced gold recovery. Life of mine gold recovery is expected to average 73%. An upgrade to the site power distribution system will eliminate the need for a diesel power generator which has been providing power to a portion of the crushing circuit for a number of years.

Operating Costs

The operating costs for the life of mine were based on current operations and updated pricing from the mining contractor, Peal Mexico SA de CV, for the new life of mine plan:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Area Unit Cost ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mining $/t mined $1.80 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Processing $/t processed $3.35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Site Administration $M/year $4.16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

About Timmins Gold / Alio Gold

Timmins Gold / Alio Gold is a Canadian gold mining company engaged in exploration, development and production in Mexico. Its principal assets include the producing San Francisco Mine in Sonora, Mexico and the development stage Ana Paula Project in Guerrero, Mexico. The Company also has a portfolio of other exploration properties, all of which are located in Mexico.

Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) nor the New York Stock Exchange MKT accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Technical Information & Qualified Person Notes:

The Company retained Micon International Limited (Micon) to conduct an audit of its resource and reserve estimates and prepare an update of its 2016 Technical Report. The purpose of this Technical Report is to support disclosure of the results of Micon's resource and reserve audit and the updated mining plan, compliant with National Instrument NI 43-101 (NI 43-101) and Canadian National Instrument (NI) 43-101.

Micon's most recent Technical Report for TMM was entitled "NI 43-101 F1 Technical Report, Updated Resources and Reserves and Mine Plan for the San Francisco Gold Mine, Sonora, Mexico", dated September 30, 2016 and amended November 25, 2016. That Technical Report was filed on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR, www.sedar.com) which is an electronic filing system developed for the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). Prior to this current Technical Report, Micon has written nine prior reports on the San Francisco Mine since 2005.

Micon does not have nor has it previously had any material interest in Timmins Gold / Alio Gold or related entities. The relationship is solely a professional association between the client and the independent consultant. This report is prepared in return for fees based upon agreed commercial rates and the payment of these fees is in no way contingent on the results of this report.

This news release includes technical information which requires subsequent calculations or estimates to derive sub-totals, totals and weighted averages. Such calculations or estimations inherently involve a degree of rounding and consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, Micon does not consider them to be material.

This news release is intended to be used by the Company subject to the terms and conditions of its agreement with Micon. That agreement permits the Company to file a supporting report as a Technical Report with the CSA pursuant to provincial securities legislation or with the SEC in the United States. Except for the purposes legislated under provincial securities laws, any other use of this report, by any third party, is at that party's sole risk.

The conclusions and recommendations in this new release reflect Qualified Persons' best independent judgment in light of the information available to them at the time of writing. The Qualified Persons and Micon reserve the right, but will not be obliged, to revise this report and conclusions if additional information becomes known to them subsequent to the date of this report. Use of this report acknowledges acceptance of the foregoing conditions.

The qualified persons responsible for the preparation of the technical content of this news release are William J. Lewis, B.Sc., P.Geo., Alan J. San Martin, MAusIMM (CP)., Mani Verma, P.Eng. and Richard M. Gowans, P.Eng.

Mr. Lewis conducted the February 2016 site visit. Messrs. Verma, San Martin and Lewis conducted the previous 2013 site visit. Mr. Gowans conducted his desk top review in Toronto, based on the information provided to him by Timmins. Mr. Lewis has conducted a number of site visits to the San Francisco Project since 2005 and is familiar with the Project.

Mr. Lewis, a Senior Geologist with Micon, is responsible for the independent summary and review of the exploration on the San Francisco Project, the comments on the propriety of Timmins Gold's exploration drilling program, the plans and budget for the next phase of exploration and the review of Timmins Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program at the mine site. Mr. Lewis and Mr. San Martin, a Mineral Resource Modeller with Micon, conducted the review and audit of the resource estimate.

Mr. Verma, an Associate Mining Engineer with Micon, is responsible for the review of the mine plan, production scheduling, operations and the terms of the existing mining contract. Mr. Verma also reviewed the capital and operating cost estimates for the Project and reviewed the discounted cash flow and sensitivity analyses used to evaluate Project economics. Mr. Gowans, President and Principal Metallurgist of Micon, reviewed the metallurgical aspects of the San Francisco Project.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements which relate to future events including: estimates, forecasts and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, business and financial prospects, financial multiples and accretion estimates, future trends, plans, strategies, objectives and expectations, including with respect to production, exploration drilling, reserves and resources, exploitation activities and events or future operations.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans, "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential", or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggestions herein. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.

Contacts:

Timmins Gold Corp.

Greg McCunn

CEO and Director

604-638-8980

greg@timminsgold.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Timmins Gold Corp. (TSX: TMM)(NYSE MKT: TGD) ("Timmins Gold" or the "Company") is proposing to change its name to Alio Gold Inc. at its upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. If approved, the Company expects to begin trading on both the TSX and the NYSE MKT under the ticker ALO on May 16, 2017.

The Company announces the results for the first quarter 2017 ("Q1"). Production results were previously released on April 4, 2017. All results are presented in United States dollars ("US Dollars") unless otherwise stated. Readers should refer to the Q1 management discussion and analysis and condensed interim consolidated financial statements available on the Company's website or 32TUwww.sedar.com for complete information.

The Company will host a conference call at 11:00am EST today, Thursday, May 11(Pth)P. Please see details at the bottom of this news release.

Q1 HIGHLIGHTS

-- Strengthening balance sheet with $39.2 million in cash and working capital of $41.0 million. -- Metal revenues of $32.3 million from 26,048 ounces of gold sold at $1,232/oz. -- Cash provided by operating activities of $9.7 million after changes in non-cash working capital. -- Earnings and comprehensive income of $6.0 million ($0.02/share). -- Cash costs(1) of $735/oz and All-in Sustaining Costs(1) P11of $848/oz.

Commenting on the Company's performance, Chief Executive Officer, Greg McCunn, said, "The first quarter of 2017 was a strong quarter in which the San Francisco mine exceeded production guidance by a significant margin. The continued focus on maintaining our cost structure has resulted in another strong quarter of cash flow generation which more than funded the Company's development expenditures at our high-grade, high-margin Ana Paula project and continued to allow us to build cash on the balance sheet. With our revitalization plan now complete, we expect to start executing the plan in the second half of this year which will allow the mine to continue to perform at these levels out until at least 2023."

Financial performance

-- Metal revenues were $32.3 million compared to $28.6 million during Q1 2016. This represents a 12.9% increase from the prior year. The increase was a result of both an increase in gold ounces sold (26,048 compared to 24,667 ounces during Q1 2016) and an increase in the average realized gold price ($1,232 per ounce compared to $1,160 during Q1 2016). -- Earnings from operations were $9.8 million compared to a loss of $8.6 million during Q1 2016. The difference was due to an impairment of $12.8 million that was recognized during Q1 2016 related to the Caballo Blanco asset sale. In addition, there were improved earnings from mine operations during Q1 2017 of $11.1 million compared to $6.3 million during Q1 2016. Corporate and administrative expenses decreased to $1.3 million compared to $2.1 million during Q1 2016. -- Earnings and comprehensive income were $6.0 million or $0.02 per share compared to loss and comprehensive loss of $10.7 million or $0.03 per share during Q1 2016. -- Cash provided by operating activities was $9.7 million or $0.03 per share compared to $2.4 million or $0.01 per share during Q1 2016. -- Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2017, were $39.2 million. During the quarter, the Company generated $9.7 million from operations, invested $1.6 million on sustaining capital expenditures, $0.4 million on exploration and evaluation projects, and $2.8 million on the Ana Paula gold project ("Ana Paula" or "the Project"). Also, the Company received $3.6 million of its VAT receivable in cash. Subsequent to March 31, 2017, the Company received $0.6 million of the $3.5 million VAT receivable. -- Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at March 31, 2016, were $9.7 million and $1.0 million, respectively, after investing $0.1 million on exploration, $0.2 million on sustaining capital, and $2.7 million on the Ana Paula property. -- Working capital at March 31, 2017, was $41.0 million, an improvement of $38.4 million from March 31, 2016. This increase is a result of cash provided by operating activities of $9.7 million compared to $2.4 million during Q1 2016. Additionally, during the prior fiscal year, the Company: -- Sold the Caballo Blanco Property increasing cash by $9.2 million; -- Completed a bought deal financing increasing cash by $13.8 million; and, -- Settled the loan facility and debenture decreasing cash by $10.2 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

Operating performance

-- The Company produced and sold 26,048 ounces of gold, compared to 25,120 and 24,667 ounces of gold, respectively, during Q1 2016. The production increase was due to improved recovery, offset by a decrease in average processing grade of 0.48 g/t Au compared to 0.62 g/t Au during Q1 2016. -- The Company's cash cost per ounce on a by-product basis was $735 (all-in sustaining cost per ounce on a by-product basis - $848) compared to $761 (all-in sustaining cost per ounce on a by-product basis - $848) during Q1 2016. This decrease in cash cost was due to a lower strip ratio and increased production.

Q1 results conference call and webcast:

Date: Thursday May 11, 2017 Time: 11:00 a.m. ET Live: 1-855-427-9509 (Canada and U.S. toll free) 1-201-229-8822 (Outside North America) Conf ID: 7736649

Webcast: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/x79rj9k2

Replay: To be available on the Timmins Gold website at http://www.timminsgold.com/

SUMMARIZED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND OPERATING RESULTS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- US dollars (thousands) except where noted Q1 2017 Q1 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold ounces sold (ounces) 26,048 24,667 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silver ounces sold (ounces) 11,899 14,671 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Metal revenues 32,306 28,609 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Production costs, excluding depreciation and depletion 19,362 18,993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings (loss) from operations 9,780 (8,585) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings (loss) 6,042 (10,720) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings (loss) per share, basic and diluted 0.02 (0.03) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash flows from operating activities 9,743 2,373 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total cash and cash equivalents, end of period 39,194 9,641 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total assets, end of period 173,492 138,741 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total cash costs per gold ounce on a by-product basis(1) 735 761 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- All-in sustaining cash cost per ounce gold(1) 848 848 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Average realized gold price per gold ounce 1,232 1,160 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

(1) Non-GAAP Financial Measures - please refer to page 10 of the Company's Q1 Management's Discussion and Analysis for more information.

Technical Information & Qualified Person Notes:

This news release was reviewed and approved by Taj Singh, M.Eng, P.Eng of the Company, who is recognized as a Qualified Person under the guidelines of National Instrument 43-101.

About Timmins Gold / Alio Gold

Timmins Gold / Alio Gold is a Canadian gold mining company engaged in exploration, development and production in Mexico. Its principal assets include the producing San Francisco Mine in Sonora, Mexico and the development stage Ana Paula Project in Guerrero, Mexico. The Company also has a portfolio of other exploration properties, all of which are located in Mexico.

Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) nor the New York Stock Exchange MKT accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements which relate to future events including: estimates, forecasts and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, business and financial prospects, financial multiples and accretion estimates, future trends, plans, strategies, objectives and expectations, including with respect to production, exploration drilling, reserves and resources, exploitation activities and events or future operations.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans, "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential", or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggestions herein. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.

Contacts:

Timmins Gold Corp.

Greg McCunn

CEO and Director

604-638-8980

greg@timminsgold.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Sphinx Resources Ltd. ("Sphinx" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: SFX) is pleased to report that high priority drill targets have been identified following the completion of a ground magnetic survey and an induced polarization survey ("IP") conducted earlier this spring on the Chemin Troilus gold project (the "Project"). The integration of data from these geophysical surveys with the results obtained in 2016 from both the till sampling program and prospecting campaign (press release of January 10, 2017) has generated targets that will be validated by drilling starting around mid-June 2017. The objective of the drilling program is to discover the primary source of the mineralized boulders.

The areas to be drill-tested shown on Figure 1 (attached) are characterized by:

-- An axis defined by moderate to weak IP responses and coincident, strong magnetic anomalies trending 1.0 km northeast from the mineralized boulders; and -- A parallel axis 400m to the southeast defined by weak to locally moderate IP responses immediately to the northwest of a newly-defined magnetic high.

In addition to the drilling program, a new till sampling program will be carried out by a team of specialists to cover the entire Project area. The program will be under the supervision of the Table Jamesienne de Concertation Miniere of Chibougamau and Consultants Inlandsis of Saint-Alexis-des-Monts, Quebec. The objective of the till sampling program is to identify other proximal source areas for gold.

The ground geophysical work was conducted by Geosig Inc. a geophysical services firm based in Quebec City, from April 12 to 20, 2017, under the supervision of MB Geosolutions of Fossambault-sur-le-Lac, Quebec. The surveys covered a total of 15 line-km with wood pickets and surveyed lines. Line cutting was carried out by Native Exploration Services (Sam Bosum) of Ouje-Bougoumou, Quebec.

The Project is located at the southwest end of a gold-copper corridor trending north-east. This corridor is located at the northern limit of the Frotet-Evans greenstone belt, in the Opatica geological subprovince of the Superior Province and it includes the Troilus Mine. The Project consists of 61 claims (33.2 km2). It is located 110 km north-north-west of the town of Chibougamau along existing road access to the Troilus Mine and therefore exploration can be carried out at a relatively low cost. Funding for the program includes funds provided by the Societe de developpement de la Baie-James.

The technical information presented in this press release has been approved by Normand Champigny, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sphinx, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

About Quebec and Sphinx

Quebec has established itself as one of the world's most attractive mining jurisdictions, ranking 6th globally. The Quebec government has created market confidence by following a proactive approach to mining policy. Quebec's mining sector has also been encouraged by the clarity and certainty of the legal and regulatory framework adopted by its government. Sphinx is engaged in the generation and acquisition of exploration projects in Quebec.

For further information, please consult Sphinx's website: www.sphinxresources.ca.

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 press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and activities to vary materially from targeted results and planning. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in Sphinx's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by Sphinx from time to time with securities regulatory authorities.

Contacts:

Normand Champigny

President and Chief Executive Officer

514.979.4746

info@sphinxresources.ca

www.sphinxresources.ca




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- San Angelo Oil Limited ("San Angelo") (NEX: SAO.H) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a business combination agreement dated May 10, 2017 (the "Agreement") to acquire Cabral Gold Ltd. (the "Transaction"). Cabral Gold Ltd. ("Cabral") has a 100% interest in the Cuiu Cuiu gold deposit which is located in the Tapajos Region of Brazil.

Pursuant to the Agreement, the Transaction will be carried out by way of a three-cornered amalgamation (the "Amalgamation"), whereby Cabral will amalgamate with a newly-incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary of San Angelo to form Cabral Gold B.C. Inc. ("Amalco"). San Angelo proposes to complete a 1:5 consolidation of its common shares (the "Consolidation") concurrently with closing, and pursuant to the Amalgamation, shareholders of Cabral will receive 0.18 of one post-Consolidation common share of San Angelo for each one common share of Cabral held (the "Exchange Ratio"). Amalco will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of San Angelo, and San Angelo proposes to change its name to Cabral Gold Inc. on closing of the Transaction. San Angelo will issue approximately 22,822,548 post-Consolidation common shares to shareholders of Cabral. In addition, outstanding options and warrants of Cabral will be exchanged for similar instruments of San Angelo exercisable for or convertible into San Angelo post-Consolidation common shares on the basis of the Exchange Ratio.

About Cabral Gold Ltd.

Cabral is a private BC corporation that has approximately C$1.35M in cash (as at April 30, 2017, unaudited). Cabral's key asset is the Cuiu Cuiu gold project which is located in the Tapajos Region within the state of Para in northern Brazil.

The 34,000 hectare Cuiu Cuiu property historically produced 1.5-2Moz of placer gold and had approximately C$21 million spent on exploration between 2006 and 2016. During this period, a gold-in-soil anomaly was defined which extends in a NE-SW direction for approximately 18 km. A historic resource estimate was completed in early 2011 and resulted in resources of 3.4Mt @ 1.0g/t gold (0.1Moz) in the Indicated category and 31Mt @ 1.2g/t gold (1.2Moz) in the Inferred category. Approximately 26,000 metres of drilling supports this historic estimate. The historic estimate is detailed in the "Resource Estimate and Technical Report for the Cuiu Cuiu Project, Tapajos Region, North-Central Brazil" dated April 19, 2011 prepared for Magellan Minerals Ltd. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources and neither San Angelo nor Cabral is treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources.

Since 2011, a further 22,070m of drilling has been completed within the historic resource and on other exploration targets within the 18km long geochemical-structural corridor. Positive drill intersections have been returned on at least six other targets at Cuiu Cuiu beyond the historic resources, and include 39m @ 5.13g/t, 47m @ 1.76g/t, 27m @ 6.94 g/t, 106m @ 0.6 g/t, 39m @ 1.25g/t and 8m @ 2.78g/t gold. Numerous geochemical, geophysical and structural targets remain untested.

Dennis Moore, a director of Cabral and a qualified person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release. Further information about the scientific and technical information on the Cuiu Cuiu property in this press release, including a summary of data verification measures, and a description of the assumptions, parameters and risks associated with this information, will be available in a NI 43-101 Technical Report that will be filed by San Angelo.

The Resulting Issuer

Following the Amalgamation, San Angelo will be in the mining industry and will have a flagship property. The Agreement requires San Angelo to have a minimum of C$3.8M in working capital. Cabral brings a strong management team with significant experience in Brazil, and following the Amalgamation, San Angelo will be led by Alan Carter as President and CEO and Paul Hansed as CFO. Dr. Carter previously founded Magellan Minerals Ltd. and together with Paul Hansed managed the Company until it was acquired by Anfield Nickel Ltd. (now Anfield Gold Corp.) in May 2016. The board of directors of San Angelo is expected to include Alan Carter, Dennis Moore, Donald Njegovan, Derrick Weyrauch and Charles Oliver as Chairman of the board.

Alan Carter: Dr. Carter has over 25 years of experience in the minerals exploration industry and spent 10 years living in South America, principally Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru. He spent seven years working for Rio Tinto Corp. and six years with Billiton and BHP Billiton. He was a co-founder of both Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. and Peregrine Metals Ltd., the latter being acquired by Stillwater Mining in 2011 for $475M. He has a BSc in geology from the University of Nottingham, U.K., and a PhD in gold geochemistry from the University of Southampton, U.K. Most recently, Dr. Carter founded Magellan Minerals Ltd. (along with Mr. Moore), which was listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") in early 2008 and acquired by Anfield Gold Corp. in May, 2016. Dr. Carter sits on the boards of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd., Anfield Gold Corp., Altamira Gold Corp. and Blackrock Gold Inc.

Dennis Moore: Mr. Moore has over 35 years of experience as an exploration geologist. Originally working for major companies in Australia and the southwest Pacific, he later moved to South America and has extensive experience in Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. Mr. Moore co-founded Magellan Minerals Ltd. with Dr. Carter in 2005 and was responsible for the discovery of the Tocantinzinho gold deposit which is owned by Eldorado Gold Corp. He has been directly involved in at least four other gold discoveries in South America, including Amayapampa in Bolivia, and Cuiu Cuiu, Coringa and Cajuiero in Brazil.

Donald Njegovan: Mr. Njegovan has 20 years of experience in the mining industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts. He is currently the Vice President, New Business Development at Osisko Mining Corporation. He was formerly Managing Director of Global Mining at Scotiabank and an investment banker at Toll Cross Securities Inc., and worked underground for Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. Mr. Njegovan was also a director of Royal Road Minerals Ltd. and a director of St. Andrew Goldfields Ltd. prior to its acquisition by Kirkland Lake Gold Inc.

Charles Oliver: Mr. Oliver has over 25 years of experience as a fund manager. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and a Bachelor of Science in Geology. Mr. Oliver is currently a director of Klondex Mines Ltd. and Integra Gold Corp. He was formerly Lead Portfolio Manager of the Gold and Precious Metals Fund at Sprott Asset Management and Senior Vice President and Lead Portfolio Manager of several funds, including the Precious Metals Fund, at AGF Funds.

Derrick Weyrauch: Mr. Weyrauch has over 27 years of experience that includes corporate financial management, financings, corporate restructuring, strategic planning and merger and acquisition transactions. He currently serves as a non-executive director on the Audit Committee for the board of directors of Banro Corporation. Mr. Weyrauch was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Jaguar Mining Inc., and, prior to its sale in 2013, was the Chief Financial Officer of Andina Minerals Inc. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA), is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Paul Hansed: Mr. Hansed has more than 25 years of accounting and finance experience, including eight years as CFO of Magellan Minerals Ltd. from 2008 until 2016, when the company was acquired by Anfield Gold Corp., and five years as CFO of ECI Exploration and Mining Inc. from 2010 until 2014. Prior to joining Magellan Minerals Ltd. in 2008, Mr. Hansed worked for 20 years with KPMG in Canada and Europe. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA) and holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from Simon Fraser University.

Closing Conditions

The closing of the Transaction is conditional upon the following and other customary conditions:

-- Consolidation: San Angelo will complete the 1:5 Consolidation. Upon completion of the Consolidation, San Angelo will have approximately 1,298,550 common shares issued and outstanding -- Working Capital Requirement: The resulting issuer is required to have no less than C$3.8M in working capital immediately following closing of the Transaction -- Shareholder and TSX-V Approval: The closing of the Transaction is subject to San Angelo obtaining approval of the TSX-V. In addition, San Angelo is required to obtain shareholder approval of the Consolidation, and Cabral is required to obtain shareholder approval of the Amalgamation -- Board Reconstitution: On closing of the Transaction, the board of directors of San Angelo is expected to be composed of Alan Carter, Dennis Moore, Donald Njegovan, Charles Oliver and Derrick Weyrauch

The Transaction is an arm's length transaction under the policies of the TSX-V. San Angelo will not be seeking shareholder approval of the Transaction due to the following reasons: (i) the Transaction is not a related party transaction and no other circumstances exist which may compromise the independence of San Angelo or other interested parties with respect to the Transaction; (ii) San Angelo is without active operations; (iii) San Angelo is not subject to a cease trade order and will not be suspended from trading on completion of the Transaction; and (iv) approval of the Amalgamation by San Angelo's shareholders is not required under applicable corporate or securities laws.

Further details regarding the Transaction will be set forth in a filing statement of San Angelo, a copy of which will be available at www.sedar.com. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSX-V acceptance. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of San Angelo should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX-V has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such 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 forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively "forward-looking statements"). The use of any of the word "will", "proposes", "expected" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. This news release contains forward-looking statements and assumptions pertaining to the following: completion of the Transaction, receipt of required shareholder and regulatory approvals, strategic plans and future operations, results of exploration, capital expenditures and objectives. Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors. The Company believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct.

Contacts:

San Angelo Oil Limited

Eileen Au

Interim Chief Executive Officer

(778) 725-1488




ONTARIO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Kiwa Bio-Tech Products Group Corporation (OTCQB: KWBT) ("Kiwa" or the "Company"), a Company focused on eco-friendly bio-based fertilizers promoting soil health, is pleased to announce that the company has secured note financing in the amount of approximately US$ 4.5 million (RMB 30,000,000).

Under terms of the financing, the note has a two-year maturity and accrues interest at a rate of 15% per annum. The investor has the right to convert the principal balance and accrued interest into Kiwa common stock at a price of $3.50 per share, which represents an approximately 25% premium over our Kiwa's current stock price.

"We are extremely pleased with this 'above the market financing' for Kiwa. This financing will support Kiwa's business operations and expansion in China, which includes the manufacturing and distribution of its bio-fertilizers and distribution of fresh produce grown by its fertilizer clients," stated Kiwa's CEO Yvonne Wang.

Additionally, the Agreement signed with Yantai Fruit Company on April 27, 2017, indicates that Kiwa will sell 50,000 tons of fertilizer products. Kiwa Bio-Tech Products Group Corp. had a record year in terms of revenues and net income in 2016. In its fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, Kiwa reported revenue of $9,617,845 and net income of $1,193,359.

"We expect this year's operating results will surpass our 2016 results. In 2017 we are expanding our market penetration and sales throughout China and other Asian countries," added Wang.

About Kiwa Bio-Tech Products Group Corporation

Kiwa Bio-Tech Products Group Corporation develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets innovative, cost-effective and environmentally safe bio-technological products for agricultural and environmental conservation. The Company's products are designed to enhance the quality of human life by increasing the value, quality and productivity of crops and decreasing the negative environmental impact of chemicals and other wastes.

Kiwa is dedicated to eco-agricultural development and environmental control by developing, producing, and selling bio-technological products with high technology, low-cost, and high productivity to satisfy the growing market demand. Kiwa's development is creating a standardized and ecologically safe agricultural industry chain platform. The Company's development effort is based in China, and has gradually expanded to the international market.

Kiwa uses new bio-technological skills at its core, with organic, ecologically sound, and "green" practices as its theme. The Company strives for customer satisfaction and continued development. Kiwa is dedicated to making safe food, further developing eco-agriculture and upholding a responsibility of contributing to China's agricultural safety, food safety, and a healthy lifestyle.

For more information on Kiwa and its products, please refer to the Company's website at www.kiwabiotech.com or the Company filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, available for free at www.sec.gov

This press release contains information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results described by the forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could contribute to such differences include those matters more fully disclosed in the Company's reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking information provided herein represents the Company's estimates as of the date of the press release, and subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's estimates to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking information in the future. Therefore, this forward-looking information should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

CONTACT:

Kiwa Bio-Tech Products Group Corporation

Molly Han

molly@kiwabiotech.com

(909) 456-8828




REDONDO BEACH, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- SECFilings.com, a leading financial news and information portal offering free real time public filing alerts, recently published an article discussing Innovus Pharmaceuticals' (OTCQB: INNV) recently announced deal to commercialize and launch FlutiCare in the United States as a treatment for seasonal and perennial allergic and non-allergic rhinitis.

The nasal allergy market is worth billions of dollars per year with many different product lines on the market. Nasal sprays have become increasingly popular as a way to quickly control allergies without waiting for tablets to kick in. Fluticasone propionate nasal sprays represent a great way to manage the symptoms of seasonal and perennial allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, as evidenced by the wild success of products like Flonase.

Fast Tracking Commercialization

Innovus Pharma announced a partnership agreement with West-Ward Pharmaceuticals International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC, on May 9, 2017 that will enable Innovus to launch FlutiCare under West-Ward's recently approved ANDA application No. 207957. Under the terms of the agreement, Innovus will be the first and only nationally branded over-the-counter product under the ANDA, and one of three nationally branded products with the same formulation.

It is worth noting that West-Ward previously granted license to Perrigo for brand stores only. In other words, Perrigo can make the product for a chain such as Walgreens (for example) to sell as a Walgreens brand, but Perrigo cannot create a separate brand to be sold everywhere. The fact that Innovus Pharma is considered for the only national brand to compete with Glaxosmithkline plc's Flonase and Bayer AG's Clarispray is a testament of trust in the company's commercial capabilities and the strength of the FlutiCare brand.

"Having an approved ANDA drug in our portfolio in a very large indication and being one of only three national brands in the U.S. is a great and long awaited achievement for Innovus Pharma," said Innovus Pharma President & CEO Dr. Bassam Damaj. "We are putting significant efforts into the launch of FlutiCare in the U.S. in the second half of this year through our Beyond Human sales and marketing platform, our other online channels, and select retail store[s]."

Previously, Innovus Pharma's undisclosed partner filed an abbreviated new drug application -- or ANDA -- with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 2014 for fluticasone propionate nasal spray. This is a separate filing and deal than the West-Ward arrangement. If approved, Innovus would have two manufacturers, ensuring that it has continuous product availability and doesn't suffer from any production shortfalls that could arise.

The company expects to generate between $10 million and $15 million in additional revenue from the sale of FlutiCare in the U.S. during the first 12 months from the planned launch date later this year.

Significant Market Demand

The long-term potential could be much larger as the FlutiCare brand permeates the market. FlutiCare will compete against national brands like Flonase and Clarispray -- both extremely successful product lines.

According to some sources, Flonase sales peaked at around $1.3 billion before Clarispray was introduced as a competitor. Clarispray has become an important revenue contributor to the Claritin division, which generates nearly $200 million per quarter. With few competitors in the market, Innovus Pharma has a unique opportunity to introduce a third national competing product under the trusted FlutiCare brand name, The Rx form of the API has sold over 177 million prescription units.

The company plans to market the nasal spray through well over 20,000 U.S. retail stores where it is well established as a vendor of record, including Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Kroger, Target, and Safeway. In addition, the company plans to leverage its Beyond Human Sales & Marketing Platform, which has access to ~3,000 newspapers and magazines reaching 20-30 million consumers per month, two million current subscribers, access to over 140 of its websites, online retailers and Amazon.

To get a gauge of how Innovus is doing so far in 2017, interested parties are encouraged to tune in to the company's Q1 2017 financial results conference call. Innovus will be releasing its financial results with a corporate update after market hours on Friday, May 12 and follow that with a conference call and discussion.

Follow the link to read the full article: http://analysis.secfilings.com/articles/170-innovus-fast-tracks-fluticare-commercialization-with-new-hikma-partnership

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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.

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Paul Archie

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WINNIPEG, MANITOBA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Kane Biotech Inc. (TSX VENTURE: KNE) (the "Corporation" or "Kane Biotech") is pleased to provide an update on its business activities and intellectual property achievements.

The Corporation continues to focus the majority of its resources on the development and commercialization of its technologies and products for the companion animal oral care market. Pets have become part of the family and our vision in the companion pet market is to offer the premier program of quality oral care products based on science with proven efficacy and certified safety. The goal is for dog and cat pet owners around the world to have their pets enjoy healthier lives and live longer as valued members of their families. As the Corporation moves forward our vision will propagate further into other areas of animal health, human health and commercial, institutional and industrial facilities where we know Kane Biotech's anti-biofilm technologies are needed more than ever in the battle against the evolution of bacteria and their developing resistances to many antibiotic/antimicrobial approaches.

Kane Biotech's strategy is to advance our technologies and products and then license them worldwide to industry leaders. Kane Biotech's recently announced exclusive licensing and distribution agreement with Dechra Veterinary Products LLC for the North American veterinary market is the Corporation's first commercial licensing deal. Our objective is to find and sign many more agreements like this over the coming months and years.

Business Update

Below are some highlights of the Corporation's recent progress:

Kane Biotech's bluestem brand of companion pet oral care products are now being sold in over 1,000 pet specialty stores across Canada and the United States.

Kane Biotech is actively supporting Dechra in the transition and promotion of the Corporation's StrixNB veterinarian oral health care technology.

In support of developing its business opportunities in veterinary and pet specialty Kane Biotech has recently attended the following industry events:

-- Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (Toronto, Ontario January 26-27) -- North American Veterinary Community (Orlando, Florida February 3-7) -- Western Veterinarian Conference (Las Vegas, Nevada March 5-9) -- Global Pet Expo (Orlando, Florida March 21-23) -- Atlantic Provinces Veterinary Conference (Halifax, Nova Scotia April 21- 23) -- Association des medecins veterinaires du Quebec (Montreal, Quebec April 21-23) -- Global Pet Foods AGM (Collingwood, Ontario May 6-7)

There has been strong international interest in both StrixNB and bluestem at the major veterinary and pet specialty conferences in Orlando and Las Vegas which the Corporation is actively pursuing.

In Q2 and Q3 2017 Kane Biotech will be exhibiting and promoting its bluestem companion pet oral care products at the following events. Everyone is encouraged to come visit with us.

-- Woofstock (Toronto, Ontario May 27-28) -- PIJAC Western Canada Pet Industry Tradeshow (Calgary, Alberta June 4-5) -- Paws in Motion (Winnipeg, Manitoba June 25) -- SuperZoo (Las Vegas, Nevada July 25-27) -- Petapalooza (Calgary, Alberta July 29-30) -- Petapalooza (Victoria, British Columbia August 12-13) -- PIJAC "ExpoZoo" Quebec (Drummondville, Quebec August 20-21) -- Petapalooza (Vancouver, British Columbia August 27) -- Pet Valu AGM (Ottawa, Ontario August 30-31) -- PIJAC National Pet Industry Tradeshow (Mississauga, Ontario September 17-18)

In addition, Kane Biotech will be supporting Dechra at the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association conference in Charlottetown, PEI July 13-16.

Eleven Patents Issued, Another Three Imminent

The following 11 patents have been issued from the United States, European, Japanese and New Zealand Patent and Trademark Offices. Kane Biotech now has 33 issued patents and 37 pending.

-- The patent entitled "Antimicrobial compositions and uses thereof" was issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office (US Patent # 8,906,364) and in Europe (European Patent # EP1906736) and validated in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany (under same patent number). This patent covers Kane Biotech's protamine sulfate-chlorhexidine technology for antibiofilm-antimicrobial coating of medical devices to prevent hospital acquired infections and relates to Kane Biotech's Aledex technology. -- The patent entitled "Dispersin B, 5-Fluorouracil, DeoxyribonucleaseI and Proteinase K-Based Antibiofilm Compositions and uses thereof" was issued in Europe (European Patent # EP2283130) and validated in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany (under same patent number). This patent covers the synergistic combination of Dispersin B with 5-fluorouracil and DNaseI for treating wounds, oral infections, and an antibiofilm- antimicrobial effect on initial colonizers involved in lung infections of cystic fibrosis patients. -- The patent entitled "Compositions and methods for treatment and prevention of oral diseases" was issued in Japan (Japanese Patent # 6038167) and in New Zealand (New Zealand Patent # 624850). These are the two initial patents to be issued in this portfolio. These patents cover the synergistic combination of EDTA, citrate, and zinc developed for antibiofilm-antimicrobial use in oral care products and relate to Kane Biotech's StrixNB and bluestem companion pet oral care products.

In addition, Kane Biotech has been informed that the following 3 patents are soon to be issued:

-- A patent entitled "Antimicrobial compositions and methods and uses thereof" has received a Notice of Allowance and will be issued in the coming months by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This patent covers Kane Biotech's synergistic combination of EDTA, citrate, and/or zinc antibiofilm-antimicrobial combinations for use in animal and human wound care products. -- A patent entitled "Biofilm-removing antimicrobial compositions and uses thereof" has received the Intent to Grant and will be issued in the coming months by the European Patent office. This patent covers the synergistic combination of sodium metaperiodate and chlorhexidine developed for antibiofilm-antimicrobial hard surface disinfectant applications for Kane Biotech's KBI Hard Surface Disinfectant technology. -- A patent entitled "Dispersin B, 5-Fluorouracil, DeoxyribonucleaseI and Proteinase K-Based Antibiofilm Compositions and uses thereof" has received a Notice of Allowance and will be issued in the coming months by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. This patent covers the synergistic combination of Dispersin B with 5-fluorouracil and DNaseI for treating wounds, oral infections, and an antibiofilm-antimicrobial effect on initial colonizers involved in lung infections of cystic fibrosis patients.

Registered Trademarks Granted

The bluestem and coactiv+ registered trademarks have been granted in Europe and registered in classes 3, 5, 31, 35, 39, 40 and 44. These marks can be used in wound care products for pet and human uses such as shampoo, otic drops, wound spray and gels, bandages, wipes, lotions and creams. The marks can also be used for food additives, nutritional care products, pill supplements, treats, and food and oral care products such as water additive or spray. The wholesale and retail services, distribution, and custom manufacturing for these products is covered by these trademarks. Using the marks in the operation and maintenance of an internet website has also been accepted.

These marks are pending in Canada and the United States.

About Kane Biotech Inc.

Kane Biotech is a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of technologies and products that prevent and remove microbial biofilms. Biofilms develop when bacteria and other microorganisms form a protective matrix that acts as a shield against attack. When in a biofilm, bacteria become highly resistant to antibiotics, antimicrobials, biocides, disinfectants, high temperatures and host immune responses. This resiliency contributes to numerous human and animal health related problems such as wound care infections, recurrent urinary tract infections, tooth decay, medical device associated and hospital-acquired infections, and foodborne bacterial infections. According to the United States National Institutes of Health biofilms are estimated to be responsible for 80% of all human bacterial infections and cost individuals, industry, governments and hospitals billions of dollars each year. As such, there is significant interest in safe and effective products that can combat the biofilm problem.

Kane Biotech uses patent protected technologies based on molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation and methods for finding compounds that inhibit or disrupt biofilms. The Corporation has evidence that these technologies have the potential to significantly improve the ability to prevent and/or destroy biofilms in several medical and industrial applications.

Kane Biotech has a portfolio of biotechnologies, intellectual property (patents, patents pending, trade secrets and trademarks) and products developed by the Corporation's own biofilm research expertise and acquired from leading research institutions. StrixNB, DispersinB, Aledex, bluestem, AloSera, coactiv+ and Kane are trademarks of Kane Biotech Inc. The Corporation is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "KNE".

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, our objectives, goals, targets, strategies, intentions, plans, beliefs, estimates and outlook, including, without limitation, our anticipated future operating results, and can, in some cases, be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "will," "may" and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements.

These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations include, among other things: the Corporation's early stage of development, lack of product revenues and history of operating losses, uncertainties related to clinical trials and product development, rapid technological change, uncertainties related to forecasts, competition, potential product liability, additional financing requirements and access to capital, unproven markets, supply of raw materials, income tax matters, management of growth, partnerships for development and commercialization of technology, effects of insurers' willingness to pay for products, system failures, dependence on key personnel, foreign currency risk, risks related to regulatory matters and risks related to intellectual property and other risks detailed from time to time in the Corporation's filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, as well as the Corporation's ability to anticipate and manage the risks associated with the foregoing. The Corporation cautions that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on the Corporation's forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to the Corporation's, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.

These risks and uncertainties should be considered carefully and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Corporation cannot provide assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. All Rights Reserved 2017.

Contacts:

Mark Ahrens-Townsend

President & CEO

Kane Biotech Inc.

204-477-7592 phone

204-474-7552 (FAX)

ir@kanebiotech.com

www.kanebiotech.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN)(OTCQX: IVPAF) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three mine-development projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Platreef platinum-palladium-gold-nickel-copper discovery in South Africa; and the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery and the Kipushi zinc-copper-lead-germanium mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

HIGHLIGHTS

-- On April 12, 2017, Ivanhoe announced the start of early-works construction for Shaft 2 at the Platreef platinum-group metals, nickel, copper and gold mine now being developed in South Africa. Shaft 2, which will be the main production shaft, will be sunk to a planned, final depth of more than 1,100 metres below surface. It will be equipped with two 40-tonne rock-hoisting skips capable of hoisting a total of six million tonnes of ore per year - which will be the single largest hoisting capacity at any mine in Africa. -- Sinking of Platreef's Shaft 1 is proceeding at an average rate of approximately 45 metres per month and is expected to reach the Flatreef Deposit, at a depth of 777 metres below surface, in the first half of 2018. Sinking will continue to a planned final depth of 980 metres below surface. Development work will include four shaft stations at depths of 450, 750, 850 and 950 metres below surface. Shaft 1 will provide development access into the Flatreef Deposit while Shaft 2 is being developed. -- On April 25, 2017, Ivanhoe announced the appointment of three leading mine-financing institutions -- Export Development Canada, Nedbank Limited (acting through its Corporate and Investment Banking division) and Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking -- as Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers to arrange debt financing for the development of the Platreef Mine. -- On February 24, 2017, the five-million-volt-ampere power line connecting the Platreef site to the South African national grid was energized and now is supplying electricity to Platreef for shaft sinking and construction activities. The new line, a collaboration between Platreef, the South African government and local authorities, also is providing energy to the neighbouring community of Mzombane, which previously was without electricity. -- The feasibility study for the first phase of underground mine development at Platreef, which is being finalized by DRA Global, is expected to be completed in Q2 2017. -- On March 21, 2017, Ivanhoe announced that a new discovery hole had intersected a shallow, 3.8-kilometre extension of the Kakula Copper Discovery at the Kamoa-Kakula Project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This latest extension has been named Kakula West. The discovery hole, DD1124, intersected 5.83% copper over 8.86 metres at a 2.5% cut- off, including a 6.14-metre interval at 6.84% copper. This drill hole essentially doubled the presently-defined length of the copper-rich mineralized system at Kakula to more than 10 kilometres. -- Excellent visual drill intercepts continue to be returned at Kakula West. The results show a rapidly growing area of shallow copper mineralization characterized by finely disseminated chalcocite in siltstone and maroon diamictite. The style and the overall geometry of mineralization are typical of the high-grade Kakula trend to the east. -- The Kakula Discovery remains open for significant expansion along trend to the west and the southeast, while the remainder of the Kakula Exploration Area remains virtually untested. Twelve rigs now are drilling in the Kakula Exploration Area. More than 25,000 metres have been drilled at Kakula since the start of the year. Ivanhoe expects to issue an updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Kakula Discovery later this month. -- Nearly 200 square kilometres of the approximately 400-square-kilometre Kamoa-Kakula Project area remain untested. The Kamoa-Kakula geology team, with the assistance of its technical advisors, has intensively evaluated the structural and stratigraphic controls on mineralization of the broader Kamoa-Kakula basin. This work has highlighted at least nine high-priority targets located in the untested parts of the Kamoa-Kakula Project area that are planned to be drill tested this year. -- Kamoa Copper has retained OreWin Pty. Ltd., of Australia, to prepare a follow-up preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the development of the Kakula and Kamoa deposits. The study will be based on the updated Mineral Resource Estimate expected later this month. It is expected that the increased resource base at Kakula will support a mine capacity of approximately six million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The Kansoko mine capacity also is expected to be six Mtpa, giving the revised PEA a projected peak mine production of approximately 12Mtpa from the presently delineated Kamoa and Kakula deposits. In light of the successful step-out drilling at Kakula West, as well as the potential to find additional resources in high-priority targets located in the untested parts of the Kamoa-Kakula Project area, the Kamoa-Kakula development plans will be reassessed and amended as the project moves forward. -- Underground mine development at Kamoa's Kansoko Mine has made good progress and is expected to reach the high-grade copper mineralization at the Kansoko Sud Deposit during Q2 2017. The service and conveyor declines each have been advanced more than 770 metres and are in Kamoa pyritic siltstone, which overlies the copper ore. -- Specialist engineering firm DRA Global is finalizing the design of the Kakula box cut. Construction of the box cut is expected to begin in Q2 2017 and take approximately five months to complete. -- On February 8, 2017, Ivanhoe received the fourth of five scheduled $41.2 million installment payments from a Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. subsidiary as part of a strategic co-development agreement under which Zijin acquired 49.5% of Ivanhoe's majority stake in the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery. Zijin - through its subsidiary, Gold Mountains (H.K.) International Mining Company Limited - agreed to pay a total of $412 million for the interest in Kamoa Holding Limited, beginning with an initial payment of $206 million in 2015. The fifth and final US$41.2 million installment payment from Zijin is due on May 23, 2017. -- A pre-feasibility study for the redevelopment of the Kipushi zinc- copper-germanium-lead-silver mine is being prepared by OreWin, of Australia. The comprehensive study will refine Ivanhoe's May 2016 preliminary economic assessment of Kipushi's proposed redevelopment. -- Preparations are underway to start a 6,500-metre drilling program at Kipushi. The planned program, which is expected to begin later this month, will include six metallurgical holes and additional resource drilling in the Fault Zone and the Nord Riche and Southern Zinc zones to upgrade inferred resources to indicated resources. -- Ivanhoe Mines' three projects achieved a combined 11.73 million work hours free of lost-time injuries (LTIF) by the end of Q1 2017. Ivanhoe had recorded 16,055 LTIF hours at Platreef, 5.32 million hours at Kipushi and 6.39 million hours at Kamoa-Kakula to the end of Q1 2017.

Principal projects and review of activities

1. Platreef Project

64%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines

South Africa

The Platreef Project is owned by Ivanplats (Pty) Ltd., which is 64%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines. A 26% interest is held by Ivanplats' historically-disadvantaged broad-based, black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) partners, which include 20 local host communities with a total of approximately 150,000 people, project employees and local entrepreneurs. In January 2017, Ivanplats reconfirmed its Level 3 status in its third verification assessment on a B-BBEE scorecard. A Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corporation and its affiliate, ITC Platinum, plus Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation and JGC Corporation, owns a 10% interest in Ivanplats, which it acquired in two tranches for a total investment of $290 million.

The Platreef Project hosts an underground deposit of thick, platinum-group metals, nickel, copper and gold mineralization in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, approximately 280 kilometres northeast of Johannesburg and eight kilometres from the town of Mokopane in Limpopo Province.

On the Northern Limb, platinum-group metals mineralization is hosted primarily within the Platreef, a mineralized sequence that is traced more than 30 kilometres along strike. Ivanhoe's Platreef Project, within the Platreef's southern sector, is comprised of three contiguous properties: Turfspruit, Macalacaskop and Rietfontein. Turfspruit, the northernmost property, is contiguous with, and along strike from, Anglo Platinum's Mogalakwena group of mining operations and properties.

Since 2007, Ivanhoe has focused its exploration and development activities on defining and advancing the down-dip extension of its original discovery at Platreef, now known as the Flatreef Deposit, which is amenable to highly mechanized, underground mining methods. The Flatreef area lies entirely on the Turfspruit and Macalacaskop properties, which form part of the company's mining right.

Health and safety at Platreef

The Platreef Project reached a total of 7,121,029 million hours and 16,055 lost-time injury-free hours worked in terms of the Mines Health and Safety Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act of South Africa by the end of March 2017. Two medical treatment cases and two lost-time-accidents occurred during the first quarter of 2017.

The Platreef Project continues to strive toward its workplace objective of an environment that causes zero harm to any employees, contractors, sub-contractors and consultants.

Shaft 1 construction now in fast-sinking mode

Shaft 1, with an internal diameter of 7.25 metres, will provide access to the Flatreef Deposit and enable the initial underground capital development to take place during the development of Shaft 2 and ultimately will become the primary ventilation intake shaft during the project's four Mtpa production case. Following the successful commissioning of the stage and kibble winders and ancillary equipment, the permanent sinking phase started in July 2016. The initial sinking phase was completed to 107 metres below surface and the main sinking phase has been initiated. Shaft 1 had reached a depth of 346 metres below surface as of May 8, 2017.

An average sinking rate of 45 metres per month is expected during the main sinking phase. The shaft includes a 300-millimetre concrete lined shaft wall. The main sinking phase is expected to reach its projected, final depth of 980 metres below surface in 2018. Shaft stations to provide access to horizontal mine workings for personnel, materials, pump stations and services will be developed at depths of 450, 750, 850 and 950 metres below surface.

Figure 1: A Platreef engineer examining geotechnical features of the Shaft 1 sidewall: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F1.pdf

Figure 2: Members of the Platreef sinking team underground in Shaft 1, which was at a depth of 346 metres below surface on May 8, 2017: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F2.pdf

Shaft 2 early-works construction

Shaft 2 will be located approximately 100 metres northeast of Shaft 1. Shaft 2, with an internal diameter of 10 metres, will be lined with concrete and sunk to a planned, final depth of more than 1,100 metres below surface. It will be equipped with two 40-tonne rock-hoisting skips with a capacity to hoist a total of six million tonnes of ore a year - which will be the single largest hoisting capacity at any mine in Africa. The headgear for the permanent hoisting facility was designed by South Africa-based Murray & Roberts Cementation.

The early works for Shaft 2 will include the excavation of a surface box cut to a depth of approximately 29 metres below surface and the construction of the concrete hitch (foundation) for the 103-metre-tall concrete headgear (headframe) that will house the shaft's permanent hoisting facilities and support the shaft collar. The early works are planned to commence in Q2 2017 and will take approximately 12 months to complete.

Figure 3: Illustration shows two perspectives of Shaft 2's 103-metre-tall concrete headgear, the hitch (foundation) and internal permanent hoisting facilities: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F3.pdf

Platreef implementing a phased approach to a large, underground, mechanized mine

Ivanhoe plans to develop the Platreef Mine in phases. The initial annual rate of four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) is designed to establish an operating platform to support future expansions. This is expected to be followed by a potential doubling of production to eight Mtpa; and then a third expansion phase to a steady-state 12 Mtpa, which would establish Platreef among the largest platinum-group-metals mines in the world.

Ivanhoe has made good progress on advancing the feasibility study of the first phase of development of the Platreef Mine. The study, which began in August 2015, is being prepared by principal consultant DRA Global, with specialized sub-consultants including Stantec Consulting, Murray & Roberts Cementation, SRK Consulting, Golder Associates and Digby Wells Environmental. The study is planned for completion in Q2 2017.

Metallurgical testwork and processing

Metallurgical testwork has focused on maximizing the recovery of platinum-group metals and base metals, also while producing an acceptably high-grade concentrate grade for sale to third parties. The three main geo-metallurgical units and composites have produced concentrate grades of approximately 85 to 110 grams per tonne platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (3PE+gold) at good platinum-group-elements (PGE) recoveries (86% to 88% 3PE+gold).

Comminution and flotation testwork has demonstrated that the optimum grind size of 80% passing 75 micrometres, in one stage of milling is sufficient to achieve the PGE recoveries referred to above. This simplifies the circuit and should enable Ivanhoe to optimize the capital and operating cost of the concentrator.

The flow sheet for phase one comprises a four Mtpa, three-stage crushing circuit, which will feed into two parallel milling-flotation modules, each with a capacity of two million tonnes per year. Flotation is followed by a four Mtpa tailings-handling and concentrate-thickening, filtration and storage circuit.

Planned mining methods to incorporate highly productive, mechanized methods

The selected mining areas in the current mine plan occur at depths ranging from approximately 700 metres to 1,200 metres below surface. The main access to the Flatreef Deposit and ventilation system is expected to be through four vertical shafts: 1, 2, 3 and 4. Shaft 2 will host the main personnel transport cage, and the material and ore-handling system; shafts 1, 3 and 4 will provide ventilation to the underground workings. Shaft 1, now under development, also will be used for initial access to the deposit and early underground development.

The planned mining will incorporate low-cost, mechanized mining methods, including long-hole stoping and drift-and-fill mining. Mined-out areas will be backfilled with a mixture of tailings from the processing plant and cement. The ore will be hauled from the stopes to a series of ore passes that will connect to a main haulage level at Shaft 2, from where it will be hoisted to the surface for processing.

Bulk water and electricity supply

The Olifants River Water Resource Development Project (ORWRDP) is designed to deliver water to the Eastern and Northern limbs of South Africa's Bushveld Complex. The project consists of the new De Hoop Dam, the raised wall of the Flag Boshielo Dam and related pipeline infrastructure that ultimately is expected to deliver water to Pruissen, southeast of the Northern Limb. The Pruissen Pipeline Project is expected to be developed to deliver water onward from Pruissen to the municipalities, communities and mining projects on the Northern Limb. Ivanhoe is a member of the ORWRDP's Joint Water Forum.

The Platreef Project's water requirement for the first phase of development is projected to peak at approximately 10 million litres per day, which is expected to be supplied by the water network. Ivanhoe also is investigating various alternative sources of bulk water, including an allocation of bulk grey-water from a local source.

The Platreef Project's electricity requirement for a four Mtpa underground mine, concentrator and associated infrastructure has been estimated at approximately 100 million volt-amperes. An agreement has been reached with Eskom, the South African public electricity utility, for the supply of phase-one power. Ivanhoe chose a self-build option for permanent power that will enable the company to manage the construction of the distribution lines from Eskom's Burutho sub-station to the Platreef Mine. The self-build and electrical supply agreements are being formulated.

First phase of the relocation of informal graves completed; second phase underway

On February 2, 2017, a South African judge issued a ruling in favour of Ivanplats clearing the way for the company to proceed with the relocation of informal graves in the vicinity of its Platreef Mine development project.

A total of 75 informal graves were successfully relocated from land outside the perimeter of the active mine development site to new burial plots in a formal cemetery. An additional 19 locations were investigated and found not to contain human remains. The Ivanplats support program included assistance in providing new burial plots in a formal cemetery, tombstones and related services.

Ivanplats plans to relocate an estimated 27 additional informal graves as part of the second phase of its relocation program after the permits for the exhumations and reburials have been received. Further phases on peripheral infrastructure areas also are planned. The relocation of remaining informal graves will not impact the development of the Platreef Project.

2. Kipushi Project

68%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines

Democratic Republic of Congo

The Kipushi copper-zinc-germanium-lead mine in the DRC is adjacent to the town of Kipushi and approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Lubumbashi. It is located on the Central African Copperbelt, approximately 250 kilometres southeast of the Kamoa-Kakula Project and less than one kilometre from the Zambian border. Ivanhoe acquired its 68% interest in the Kipushi Project in November 2011; the balance of 32% is held by the state-owned mining company, La Generale des Carrieres et des Mines (Gecamines).

Health, safety and community development

The Kipushi Project achieved a total of 5,321,941 work hours free of lost-time injuries, equivalent to 1,694 days, to the end of Q1 2017. Malaria remains the most frequently occurring health concern at Kipushi which increased after the rainy season to an average of 26 cases per month over the quarter.

In an effort to reduce the incidence of malaria in the Kipushi community, a Water Sanitation and Health (WASH) program has been initiated in cooperation with the Territorial Administrator and the local community. The main emphasis of the program's first phase is cleaning storm drains in the municipality to prevent accumulations of ponded water, where malarial mosquitos breed.

The Fionet program to improve malaria diagnostics and treatment expanded to 300 Deki readers installed in 252 medical service providers in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba provinces in Southern DRC, which host Ivanhoe's Kipushi and Kamoa-Kakula projects. Deki readers provide automated readings of rapid diagnostic tests to remove the human-error factor and avoid prescription of unnecessary medication. The data is uploaded to a cloud server for analysis by the Ministry of Health in planning malaria-control measures. There were more than 40,000 patient encounters where Deki readers provided diagnostic testing during the past year, with only approximately 48% of Kipushi Project employees who were symptomatic testing positive for malaria.

Project development and infrastructure

The Kipushi Mine, which had been placed on care and maintenance in 1993, flooded in early 2011 due to a lack of pump maintenance over an extended period. At its peak, water reached 851 metres below the surface. Ivanhoe restored access to the mine's principal haulage level at 1,150 metres below surface in December 2013; since then, crews have been upgrading underground infrastructure to permanently stabilize the water levels.

Since completion of the drilling program, water levels have been lowered to the bottom of Shaft 5, which is planned to be the mine's main production shaft. The shaft is eight metres in diameter, 1,240 metres deep and approximately 1.5 kilometres from the planned main mining area. It provides the primary access to the lower levels of the mine, including the Big Zinc Deposit, through the 1,150-metre haulage level and underground ramp decline.

Engineering work has focused on the upgrading of Shaft 5 conveyances and infrastructure, installation of the rock conveyor system, the stripping and evaluation of the underground jaw crusher, refurbishment of bearer sets on the main rising-water pipes, and the replacement of shaft buntons (struts that reinforce the shaft walls). A new twinned high-volume ventilation fan also has been installed and is being commissioned on surface at Shaft 4 to provide fresh air to the underground workings.

Figure 4: Shaft 5 main pumping station at the 1,200-metre level: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F4.pdf

Figure 5: New rollers being installed on the 1,150-metre-level ore conveyor belt as part of the infrastructure upgrading program: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F5.pdf

Pre-feasibility study underway at Kipushi

In September 2016, Ivanhoe began a pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the Kipushi Project that will further refine the optimal development scenario for the existing underground mine at Kipushi. Orewin, of Australia, has been appointed the main engineering firm for the preparation of the PFS. Golder Associates, MDM, SRK, DRA, Murray & Roberts and Grindrod also have been engaged to complete various aspects of the study.

The PFS will refine the positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the redevelopment of the Kipushi Project that was announced on May 2, 2016. The PEA was prepared in compliance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Highlights of the 2016 PEA, prepared by OreWin and the MSA Group (Pty) Ltd, of Johannesburg, South Africa, include:

-- After-tax net present value at an 8% real discount rate is $533 million. -- After-tax real internal rate of return is 30.9%. -- After-tax project payback period is 2.2 years. -- Leveraging existing surface and underground infrastructure significantly lowers the redevelopment capital compared to a greenfield development project, as well as the time required to reinstate production. -- Life-of-mine average planned zinc concentrate production of 530,000 dry tonnes per annum - with a concentrate grade of 53% zinc - is expected to rank Kipushi, once in production, among the world's major zinc mines. -- Life-of-mine average cash cost of $0.54/lb. of zinc is expected to rank Kipushi, once in production, in the bottom quartile of the cash-cost curve for zinc producers globally.

Figure 6: Upgraded supports for Shaft 5 pump columns at the 1,200-metre-level pump station: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F6.pdf

Preparations are underway to start a 6,500-metre drilling program at Kipushi. The planned program, which is expected to begin later this month, will include six metallurgical holes and additional resource drilling in the Fault Zone and the Nord Riche and Southern Zinc zones to upgrade inferred resources to indicated resources.

3. Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project

39.6%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines

Democratic Republic of Congo

The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining, has been independently ranked as the largest copper discovery ever made on the African continent, with adjacent prospective exploration areas within the Central African Copperbelt in the DRC, approximately 25 kilometres west of the town of Kolwezi and about 270 kilometres west of Lubumbashi.

Ivanhoe sold a 49.5% share interest in Kamoa Holding Limited to Zijin Mining in December 2015 for an aggregate consideration of $412 million. In addition, Ivanhoe sold a 1% share interest in Kamoa Holding to privately-owned Crystal River Global Limited for $8.32 million - which Crystal River will pay through a non-interest-bearing, 10-year promissory note. Since the conclusion of the Zijin transaction in December 2015, each shareholder of Kamoa Holding has been required to fund expenditures at the Kamoa-Kakula Project in an amount equivalent to its proportionate shareholding interest in the company.

A 5%, non-dilutable interest in the Kamoa-Kakula Project was transferred to the DRC government on September 11, 2012, for no consideration, pursuant to the DRC Mining Code. Following the signing of an agreement with the DRC government in November 2016, in which an additional 15% interest in the Kamoa-Kakula Project was transferred to the DRC government, Ivanhoe and Zijin Mining now each hold an indirect 39.6% interest in the Kamoa-Kakula Project, Crystal River Global Limited holds an indirect 0.8% interest and the DRC government holds a direct 20% interest. Kamoa Holding Limited continues to hold an 80% interest in the project.

Kakula West Discovery confirmed by assay results and additional follow-up drilling

On March 21, 2017, Ivanhoe announced that a new step-out hole, DD1124 - drilled 5.4 kilometres west of the present boundary of Kakula's current Inferred Resources - intersected a relatively shallow, 16.3-metre zone of typical Kakula-style, chalcocite-rich copper mineralization similar to holes drilled in the centre of the high-grade Kakula Deposit on the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project. The new discovery, now referred to as Kakula West extended the length of the Kakula mineralized trend to approximately 10.1 kilometres, essentially doubling the previously estimated strike length of 5.5 kilometres contained in Ivanhoe's January 23, 2017 news release.

On April 10, 2017, Ivanhoe announced the assay results for DD1124 that confirmed significant high-grade mineralization. DD1124 intersected 8.86 metres (true width) of 5.83% copper at a 3.0% copper cut-off, beginning at a downhole depth of 428.70 metres; 8.86 metres (true width) of 5.83% copper at a 2.5% copper cut-off; 16.05 metres (true width) of 4.14% copper at a 2.0% copper cut-off; and 16.05 metres (true width) of 4.14% copper at a 1.0% copper cut-off. DD1124's best six-metre intercept was 6.17 metres (true width) at 6.84% copper.

Figure 7: Drilling at Kakula West: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F7.pdf

In addition to DD1124, additional follow up drilling confirmed the significance of the initial discovery with two western step-out holes:

-- DD1138, drilled 400 metres west of DD1124, intersected a zone of moderate-to-strong chalcocite mineralization six to seven metres thick, beginning at a downhole depth of 565.5 metres. Mineralization is hosted in a laminated siltstone horizon, typical of Kakula-style mineralization seen elsewhere at Kakula. The siltstone was separated from the Roan footwall sandstone by a sandy diamictite unit. -- DD1144, drilled 800 metres west of DD1224, intersected similar geology and mineralization to DD1138 with approximately ten metres of moderate chalcocite mineralization, including more strongly mineralized zones starting at a downhole depth of 502 metres and hosted in a laminated siltstone unit.

Full details of the DD1138 and DD1144 intersections can be found in the April 10, 2017 news release.

Excellent visual drill intercepts continue to be returned at Kakula West. The results show a rapidly growing area of shallow copper mineralization characterized by finely disseminated chalcocite in siltstone and maroon diamictite. The style and the overall geometry of mineralization are typical of the high-grade Kakula trend to the east.

The Kakula Discovery remains open along a westerly-southeasterly strike. Importantly, the chalcocite-rich zone of mineralization in DD1124 was intersected at a depth of approximately 400 metres below surface, significantly shallower than several of the mineralized intercepts announced in January 2017 that were drilled closer to the western boundary of the Kakula Inferred Resource.

Figure 8: Exploration staff processing Kakula drill core at the Kamoa camp facility: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F8.pdf

Kamoa-Kakula studies

The Kamoa-Kakula Project has started a PEA for larger production cases at both Kamoa and Kakula. The Kakula study will be based on an updated Mineral Resource Estimate expected in May 2017. It is anticipated that the increased resource base will support a Kakula mine capacity of approximately six Mtpa. The Kansoko mine capacity also is expected to be increased to six Mtpa through a change in mining method. The revised PEA targets peak mine production of approximately 12 Mtpa from the current resource base at the presently delineated Kamoa and Kakula deposits. In light of the successful step-out drilling at Kakula West, the Kamoa-Kakula development plans will be reassessed and amended on a continuous basis as the project moves forward.

The updated PEA is expected to be completed in Q3 2017.

Health and safety at Kamoa-Kakula

Health and safety remain key priorities for all people working at the Kamoa-Kakula Project. As of March 31, 2017, the Kamoa-Kakula Project had achieved 6,394,834 lost-time injury-free man hours.

During Q1 2017, 58 cases of malaria were diagnosed at the Kamoa clinic, compared to 85 for the same period in 2016. This progress is, in part, due to the project's malaria control plan.

Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessment

A major update to the Kamoa Environmental, Social & Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) was submitted to DEPM (DRC environmental authority) on January 30, 2017, before the required five-year anniversary of the approved 2012 ESHIA. The scope of the updated ESHIA included the Kansoko Mine and concentrator, Kakula Mine and concentrator, Kakula tailings storage facility and main Kolwezi access road. Approval for the updated ESHIA was received from the DEPM on March 3, 2017.

Ongoing exploration activities to focus on other high-priority targets

As of the end of Q1 2017, more than 25,000 metres had been drilled at Kakula since the start of the year. There are 14 rigs on site, 12 of which are currently drilling; 10 from the contractor and two project-owned rigs. Included in the drilling total were holes drilled for geotechnical and metallurgical studies.

Exploration activities significantly increased in Q1 2017. The accelerated exploration program was driven by resource expansion drilling to support an updated Mineral Resource Estimate planned for early Q2 2017 to be used for future development studies on the project. Nine of the 14 rigs on site were dedicated to resource expansion at Kakula. Coinciding with this expansion drilling, exploration activities were increased on untested parts of the Kamoa-Kakula licence. The Kakula West discovery was a result of the expanded grass roots program with three rigs currently dedicated to this area.

With the onset of the dry season, the intention is to reallocate a number of rigs from Kakula resource expansion and development activities to test other areas on the Kamoa-Kakula licence where significant Kakula-style targets have been identified but have been inaccessible during the wet season.

Figure 9: Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, showing copper grade of Indicated and Inferred Resources at a 2% copper cut-off, untested areas, current target areas and location of Kakula West Discovery: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F9.pdf

Improved copper recoveries and concentrate grades confirmed by preliminary metallurgical tests on drill core from Kakula

Following on from the positive preliminary testwork results received during Q4 2016 of 87.8% recovery at an extremely high concentrate grade of 56% copper, the next phase of flowsheet development has been initiated.

A metallurgical drilling campaign to compile a representative composite sample is underway and is planned to be completed during Q3 2017. This sample will be used for the PFS circuit development and optimization testwork which is planned for the second half of 2017.

Earlier metallurgical testwork indicated that the Kamoa and Kakula concentrates contain extremely low arsenic levels by world standards - approximately 0.02%. Given this critical competitive marketing advantage, Kamoa-Kakula concentrates are expected to attract a significant premium from copper-concentrate traders for use in blending with concentrates from other mines. The concentrates will help to enable the other concentrates to meet the limit of 0.5% arsenic imposed by Chinese smelters to meet China's environmental restrictions.

Mine development at the Kansoko Mine expected to reach high-grade copper in Q2

Byrnecut Underground Congo SARL progressed well with the decline development at Kansoko Sud during Q1 2017. A total of more than 1,600 metres of development had been achieved at the end of Q1 2017.

The service and conveyor declines each have been advanced more than 770 metres and are in Kamoa pyritic siltstone, which overlies the copper ore. Development of the underground mine is scheduled to reach the high-grade copper mineralization at the Kansoko Sud Deposit during Q2 2017.

Figure 10: Operating the underground drill rig during decline development: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094410-F10.pdf

Kakula box-cut and decline development

The Kamoa-Kakula technical team has identified a location for a box cut for the initial portal to planned decline ramps that will provide underground access to the Kakula Deposit. The design of the box cut has been completed and the excavation, support and civil works have been tendered. A preferred bidder has been identified and the project team is in a position to award the contract. Construction of the Kakula box cut is expected to take approximately five months, after which development of the set of twin declines can commence.

A tender document for the Kakula decline development has been completed and will be issued to prospective contractors during Q2 2017.

Kamoa mine site connected to the national hydroelectric grid

The construction of the 120 kilovolt (kV) power line that branches off from the main supply at Kisenge has been completed. A 120kV mobile substation was installed, commissioned and energized on October 30, 2016. The Kamoa mine site now is connected to the national electrical grid and is receiving hydropower for work on site.

An eight-kilometre, 11kV overhead power line with mini substations has been constructed from the mine site to the Kamoa camp and is supplying hydropower to the camp. The supply of electricity from the grid has resulted in significant savings from reduced use of diesel fuel.

The design of a 120kV line connecting the Kansoko mine site with Kakula has been designed and tenders from potential contractors have been received.

Initial repair work enables Mwadingusha power station to supply electricity to grid

The Mwadingusha Unit 1 repair work was completed in August 2016 and the official inauguration ceremony was held at the Mwadingusha power station on September 7, 2016. The Mwadingusha G1 unit, supplying 11 megawatts, was synchronized to the SNEL, the DRC's state-owned power company, national interconnected grid on September 6, 2016.

The contract to purchase four turbines for the Mwadingusha power plant upgrades was awarded and the contract signed between SNEL and the consortium Andritz Hydro & Cegelec Corporation. A site visit by the consortium took place in December in preparation for demolition work to start in August 2017.

Continued focus on community and sustainability

The Sustainable Livelihoods project is largely aimed at economically empowering communities in the vicinity of the planned mine. The project, which has been in place for the past five years, continues to successfully manage the following programs during Q1 2017:

-- a small-holder maize (corn) production program yielded maize from local communities as well as the mine's farm; -- a vegetable program supplying produce to the Kamoa-Kakula Project camp kitchen; -- a poultry project that supplies the Kamoa-Kakula Project camp kitchen with chickens and eggs; -- a beekeeping program managing over 50 honey-producing hives; and -- a fish-farming program consisting of two fully-stocked dams.

SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following table summarizes selected financial information for the prior eight quarters. Ivanhoe had no operating revenue in any financial reporting period and did not declare or pay any dividend or distribution in any financial reporting period.

3 Months ended -------------------------------------------- December September March 31, 31, 30, June 30, 2017 2016 2016 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 Exploration and project expenditure 8,296 9,507 7,769 8,233 General administrative expenditure 4,953 7,272 4,213 3,657 Share-based payments 1,372 1,442 1,750 1,312 Finance income (6,429) (6,827) (7,239) (7,367) Finance costs 479 471 454 445 Total comprehensive loss (profit) attributable to: Owners of the Company 1,749 14,101 (1,860) 6,568 Non-controlling interest 3,273 3,914 2,445 3,483 Loss per share (basic and diluted) 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Months ended -------------------------------------------- December September March 31, 31, 30, June 30, 2016 2015 2015 2015 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 Exploration and project expenditure (i) 6,917 10,271 8,553 9,009 General administrative expenditure (i) 3,693 5,833 4,430 1,323 Share-based payments 1,473 2,345 1,655 1,736 Gain on partial sale of subsidiary - (357,671) - - Re-measurement to fair value of the interest retained in joint venture - (376,148) - - Finance income (8,469) (1,191) (273) (445) Finance costs 428 1,556 36 48 Mark-to-market gain on revaluation of warrants - (429) (970) (1,334) Loss (gain) from subsidiary held for partial sale - 755 (7,958) 2,675 Total comprehensive loss (profit) attributable to: Owners of the Company 4,203 (717,213) 9,420 11,008 Non-controlling interest 2,897 2,468 3,439 3,564 (Profit) loss per share (basic and diluted) 0.01 (0.93) 0.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) Prior period amounts have been amended to show the (gains)/losses from subsidiary held for partial sale separately in order to improve comparability.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Review of the three months ended March 31, 2017 vs. March 31, 2016

The company's total comprehensive loss for Q1 2017 of $5.0 million was $2.1 million lower than for the same period in 2016 ($7.1 million). The decrease mainly was due to a $5.3 million increase in exchange gains on translation of foreign operations that was partly offset by a $2.0 million decrease in finance income.

The decrease in finance income was due to the decrease in the deemed finance income on the purchase price receivable from the partial sale of the Kamoa Project from $4.3 million in Q1 2016 to $1.1 million for the same period in 2017, which coincides with the decrease in the purchase price receivable.

Exploration and project expenditures for the three months ending March 31, 2017, amounted to $8.3 million and were $1.4 million more than for the same period in 2016 ($6.9 million).

With the focus at the Platreef Project on development and the Kamoa Project being accounted for as a joint venture, $8.2 million of the total $8.3 million exploration and project expenditure related to the Kipushi Project. Expenditure at the Kipushi Project increased by $1.5 million compared to the same period in 2016.

The company's share of losses from the Kamoa Holding joint venture increased from $4.2 million in Q1 2016 to $5.5 million in Q1 2017. The following table summarizes the company's share of the comprehensive loss of Kamoa Holding for the three months ending March 31, 2017 and for the same period in 2016:

Three Three months months ended ended March 31, March 31, 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $'000 $'000 Interest expense 9,183 7,064 Interest income (292) - Exploration costs 5,415 1,684 Foreign exchange (gain) loss (102) 189 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loss for the period 14,204 8,937 Loss attributable to non-controlling interest (3,056) (419) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loss for the period attributable to joint venture partners 11,148 8,518 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Company's share of losses from joint venture (49.5%) 5,518 4,216 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The costs associated with mine development are capitalized as development costs in Kamoa Holding, while the exploration expenditure at Kakula is expensed. The interest expense in the Kamoa Holding joint venture relates to shareholder loans where each shareholder is required to fund Kamoa Holding in an amount equivalent to its proportionate shareholding interest.

Financial position as at March 31, 2017 vs. December 31, 2016

The company's total assets decreased by $3.1 million, from 1,002.2 million as at December 31, 2016, to $999.1 million as at March 31, 2017. This resulted from the company utilizing its cash resources in its operations. The company's total liabilities decreased by $2.7 million to $43.3 million as at December 31, 2017, from $46.0 million as at December 31, 2016.

The remaining purchase price receivable due to the company as a result of the sale of 49.5% of Kamoa Holding decreased as the company received $41.2 million from Zijin on February 8, 2017. The present value of the remaining consideration receivable, net of transaction costs, was $38.4 million as at March 31, 2017 and is due on May 23, 2017.

The company's investment in the Kamoa Holding joint venture increased by $12.5 million from $473.6 as at December 31, 2016, to $486.2 million as at December 31, 2017, with the current shareholders funding the operations equivalent to their proportionate shareholding interest. The company's portion of the Kamoa Holding joint venture cash calls amounted to $13.5 million during Q1 2017, while the company's share of comprehensive loss from joint venture amounted to $5.5 million. At Kamoa-Kakula, the focus remained on development, together with an exploration program at the Kakula Discovery.

Property, plant and equipment increased by $13.5 million, with a total of $9.7 million being spent on project development and to acquire other property, plant and equipment, $9.0 million of which pertained to development costs of the Platreef Project.

The company utilized $12.2 million of its cash resources in its operations and earned interest income of $0.8 million in Q1 2017.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

The company had $291.2 million in cash and cash equivalents as at March 31, 2017. Certain of the company's cash and cash equivalents, having an aggregate value of $10.7 million, are subject to contractual restrictions as to their use and are reserved for the Platreef Project.

As at March 31, 2017, the company had consolidated working capital of approximately $338.0 million, compared to $364.8 million at December 31, 2016. The Platreef Project working capital is restricted and amounted to $5.6 million at March 31, 2017, and $14.8 million at December 31, 2016. Excluding the Platreef Project working capital, the resultant working capital was $332.4 million at March 31, 2017, and $350.0 million at December 31, 2016. The company believes it has sufficient resources to cover its short-term cash requirements. However, the company's access to financing always is uncertain and there can be no assurance that additional funding will be available to the company in the near future.

On December 8, 2015, Zijin, through a subsidiary company, acquired a 49.5% interest in Kamoa Holding for a total of $412 million in a series of payments. Ivanhoe received an initial $206 million from Zijin on December 8, 2015, and a further $41.2 million on each of March 23, 2016, July 8, 2016, October 25, 2016, and February 8, 2017; the last remaining $41.2 million is scheduled to be received on May 23, 2017. Since December 8, 2015, each shareholder in Kamoa Holding has been required to fund Kamoa Holding in an amount equivalent to its proportionate shareholding interest.

The company's main objectives for 2017 at the Platreef Project are the completion of the phase one feasibility study, the continuation of Shaft 1 construction and commencement of construction of Shaft 2. At Kipushi, the principal objective is the completion of the PFS and continued upgrading of mining infrastructure. At the Kamoa-Kakula Project, priorities are the continuation of drilling, the continuation of construction of the twin declines at Kamoa and the commencement of a box-cut at Kakula. The company expects to spend $50 million on further development at the Platreef Project; $26 million at the Kipushi Project; $4 million on regional exploration in the DRC; and $11 million on corporate overheads for the remainder of 2017 - as well as its proportionate funding of the Kamoa-Kakula Project, expected to be $35 million for the remainder of 2017.

This news release should be read in conjunction with Ivanhoe Mines' Q1 2017 Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis report available at www.ivanhoemines.com and at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Person

Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature in this news release have been reviewed and approved by Stephen Torr, who is considered, by virtue of his education, experience and professional association, a Qualified Person under the terms of NI 43-101. Mr. Torr is not considered independent under NI 43-101 as he is the Vice President, Project Geology and Evaluation. Mr. Torr has verified the technical data disclosed in this news release.

Ivanhoe has prepared a current independent NI 43-101-compliant technical report for each of the Platreef Project, the Kipushi Project and the Kamoa-Kakula Project, which are available under the company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com:

-- Technical Report dated January 20, 2017 prepared by OreWin Pty. Ltd., Amec Foster Wheeler and SRK Consulting Inc. covering the company's Kamoa-Kakula Project; -- Technical Report dated April 22, 2016 prepared by OreWin, Amec Foster Wheeler, Stantec Inc., SRK and DRA Projects (Pty.) Ltd. covering the company's Platreef Project; and -- Technical Report dated March 11, 2016 prepared by MSA Group (Pty) Ltd and OreWin covering the company's Kipushi Project.

These technical reports include relevant information regarding the effective dates and the assumptions, parameters and methods of the mineral resource estimates on the Platreef Project, the Kipushi Project and the Kamoa-Kakula Project cited in this news release, as well as information regarding data verification, exploration procedures and other matters relevant to the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release in respect of the Platreef Project, Kipushi Project and Kamoa-Kakula Project.

Website www.ivanhoemines.com

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect the company's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this release.

Such statements include without limitation, the timing and results of: (i) statements regarding Shaft 1 providing initial access for early underground development at the Flatreef Deposit; (ii) statements regarding the station development of Shaft 1 at the 450-, 750-, 850- and 950-metre levels; (iii) statements regarding the sinking of Shaft 1, including that a sinking rate of 45 metres per month is expected; (iv) statements regarding Shaft 1 reaching the planned, final depth at 980 metres below surface in 2018; (v) statements regarding the timing of the commencement of Shaft 2 development, including that construction of the early works is to commence in Q2 2017 and will take approximately 12 months to complete; (vi) statements regarding the operational and technical capacity of Shaft 1; (vii) statements regarding the internal diameter and hoisting capacity of Shaft 2; (viii) statements regarding the company's plans to develop the Platreef Mine in three phases: an initial annual rate of four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to establish an operating platform to support future expansions; followed by a doubling of production to eight Mtpa; and then a third expansion phase to a steady-state 12 Mtpa; (ix) statements regarding the planned underground mining methods of the Platreef Project including long-hole stoping and drift-and-fill mining; (x) statements regarding peak water use of 10 million litres per day at the Platreef Project and development of the Pruissen Pipeline Project; (xi) statements regarding the Platreef Project's estimated electricity requirement of 100 million volt-amperes; (xii) statements regarding the completion of a feasibility study at the Platreef Project in Q2 2017; (xiii) statements regarding the declines having been designed to intersect the high-grade copper mineralization in the Kansoko Sud area during the second quarter of 2017; (xiv) statements regarding the completion of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate at the Kamoa-Kakula Project in May 2017 and an updated preliminary economic assessment in Q3 2017; (xv) statements regarding the timing, size and objectives of drilling and other exploration programs for 2017 and future periods including a metallurgical drilling campaign at the Kakula deposit planned for Q2 2017; (xvi) statements regarding the implementation of the Social and Labour Plan at the Platreef Project and pledged expenditure of R160 million; (xvii) statements that the Kakula box-cut is expected to take approximately five months; and (xviii) statements regarding expected expenditure for the remainder of 2017 of $50 million on further development at the Platreef Project; $26 million at the Kipushi Project; $4 million on regional exploration in the DRC; and $11 million on corporate overheads - as well as its proportionate funding of the Kamoa-Kakula Project, expected to be $35 million for the remainder of 2017.

As well, all of the results of the pre-feasibility study of the Kamoa-Kakula Project and preliminary economic assessment of development options for the Kakula deposit, the pre-feasibility study of the Platreef Project and the preliminary economic assessment of the Kipushi Project, constitute forward-looking statements or information, and include future estimates of internal rates of return, net present value, future production, estimates of cash cost, proposed mining plans and methods, mine life estimates, cash flow forecasts, metal recoveries, estimates of capital and operating costs and the size and timing of phased development of the projects. Furthermore, with respect to this specific forward-looking information concerning the development of the Kamoa-Kakula, Platreef and Kipushi Projects, the company has based its assumptions and analysis on certain factors that are inherently uncertain. Uncertainties include: (i) the adequacy of infrastructure; (ii) geological characteristics; (iii) metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization; (iv) the ability to develop adequate processing capacity; (v) the price of copper, nickel, zinc, platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold; (vi) the availability of equipment and facilities necessary to complete development; (vii) the cost of consumables and mining and processing equipment; (viii) unforeseen technological and engineering problems; (ix) accidents or acts of sabotage or terrorism; (x) currency fluctuations; (xi) changes in regulations; (xii) the compliance by joint venture partners with terms of agreements, (xiii) the availability and productivity of skilled labour; (xiv) the regulation of the mining industry by various governmental agencies; and (xiv) political factors.

This release also contains references to estimates of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. The estimation of Mineral Resources is inherently uncertain and involves subjective judgments about many relevant factors. Estimates of Mineral Reserves provide more certainty but still involve similar subjective judgements. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The accuracy of any such estimates is a function of the quantity and quality of available data, and of the assumptions made and judgments used in engineering and geological interpretation (including estimated future production from the company's projects, the anticipated tonnages and grades that will be mined and the estimated level of recovery that will be realized), which may prove to be unreliable and depend, to a certain extent, upon the analysis of drilling results and statistical inferences that ultimately may prove to be inaccurate. Mineral Resource or Mineral Reserve estimates may have to be re-estimated based on: (i) fluctuations in copper, nickel, zinc, platinum group elements (PGE), gold or other mineral prices; (ii) results of drilling; (iii) metallurgical testing and other studies; (iv) proposed mining operations, including dilution; (v) the evaluation of mine plans subsequent to the date of any estimates and/or changes in mine plans; (vi) the possible failure to receive required permits, approvals and licences; and (vii) changes in law or regulation.

Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed below and under "Risk Factors", as well as unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the company to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this release are based upon what management of the company believes are reasonable assumptions, the company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.

The company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the factors set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's Q1 2017 MD&A.

Contacts:

Ivanhoe Mines - Investors

Bill Trenaman

+1.604.331.9834



Ivanhoe Mines - Media

North America:

Bob Williamson

+1.604.512.4856



South Africa:

Jeremy Michaels

+27.82.939.4812

www.ivanhoemines.com




LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2017 / Hurricane Energy's 2016/17 drilling programme has significantly increased understanding of the Greater Lancaster Area (GLA) and Greater Warwick Area (GWA) hydrocarbon accumulations. Initial data analysis suggests that the GLA is one large accumulation including the Halifax and Lancaster basement oil discoveries contained between the Westray Fault Zone and Brynhild Fault Zone. RPS resource estimates for Lancaster alone range from 157-1,166mmbbls recoverable (P50 523mmbbls), making it a giant oil field and one of the largest discoveries on the UKCS over the last decade. Incorporating wider GLA and GWA resource is likely to take this figure to upwards of 1bnbbls, 100% owned by Hurricane. Management expects first oil from a Lancaster early production system (EPS) in 2019, with the company looking at equity and debt funding options. We assume a 60/40 equity to debt split in our latest Lancaster NAV of 102p/share, rising to 134p/share including risked Halifax/Lincoln upside.

Our Lancaster NAV stands at 102p/share for Lancaster and 134p/share including risked resource at Halifax and Lincoln. On the basis of Lancaster alone, we believe the market is implying a long-term oil price of sub-50$/bbl Brent.

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SOURCE: Edison Investment Research
The Millersburg City Council approved a development coordinator position for the fast-growing small town, but voted against a dog ordinance during its Tuesday night meeting.

A memorandum of understanding between the city, Linn County and Samaritan Health Services also was approved unanimously. The document deals with the rerouting of Morningstar Road and could result in Samaritan building a regional medical center in Millersburg, according to council minutes from previous meetings.

The vote on the development coordinator position was 4-1, with Scott McPhee in opposition.

About $65,000 has already been placed in next years budget for the position.

The development coordinator would deal with many of the day-to-day planning duties of the city, such as minor project management, including shops, partitions and single homes rather than dealing with large subdivisions.

Mayor Jim Lepin said the cost of the new position, as well as that of the newly created city manager, would be less than what the city spends to contract out for development help.

Im convinced of that.  And well get the service we need, he added.

The vote against the dog ordinance, which included a leash provision, was 3-2, with Lepin, Dave Harms and Scott Cowan opposed and McPhee and Don Miller in favor.

The decision came after about five residents spoke against the proposal, saying it was unnecessary and some locals would be overzealous with complaints.

During the discussion, the council expressed interest in creating an off-leash dog park, and City Manager Steve Hasson said the city already has property in mind.

Some dog owners at the meeting acknowledged that, when appropriate, they let their canines run off leash at the city park, contrary to the park rules.

Though it wasnt on the agenda, Hasson addressed stop work orders issued by the Oregon Department of State Lands on Millersburg subdivisions due to wetland concerns.

I think those people have disrespected our community. I think we need to push back, Hasson said.

Again, he blasted the state agency for not handling the wetlands issues before developers were well into constructing neighborhoods.

Lepin said the wetlands issue could stunt the citys economic growth, because much of Millersburg could be on wetlands or seasonal wetlands.

In other Millersburg news:

 A proposal for business licenses was voted down unanimously, largely because of penalties that could result in a $100 fee and potential jail time if someone refused to complete the paperwork. The license would have had a small fee, such as $5, Hasson said.

 Barbara Castillo plans on retiring next month after serving for 42 years as the city recorder for Millersburg. A retirement celebration is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 28.

 Next months council meeting will be a week earlier than normal, on June 6, to avoid conflicts with high school graduations.

 A groundbreaking for Loves Travel Stop & Country Store is tentatively set for July 18, and the facility should be completed six or seven months from that date, Hasson said.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/12/17 -- Atico Mining Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ATY)(OTC PINK: ATCMF) ("Atico" or the "Company") is pleased to announce preliminary results of a 15 holes, 2863 meter drill program (ATDHAR-05 to ATDHAR-19) that tested a 450 meter strike length between the northern end of the El Roble mine and a historical intersection of massive sulfide mineralization at Archie target.

Results from holes ATDHAR-05, ATDHAR-08, ATDHAR-09 & ATDHAR-10 have been received, while results from the remaining holes ATDHAR-06, ATDHAR-07, ATDHAR-11 to ATDHAR-19 are pending. Data from drill holes ATDHAR-01 to ATDHAR-04, referred to below have been reported in a previous news release dated June 26, 2013.

Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO, commented: "Intercepting a copper-rich massive sulfide fragment at the Archie target, just north of El Roble Mine, along with the newly discovered geological indications has made this site a near term priority. We will continue assessing the Archie information as it becomes available to delineate the next phase of drilling while also continuing the preparation of additional targets."

Regional Exploration Drilling Update

The highlight of the drill program was an intersection of 2.8 meters of copper-rich massive sulfide from 18 meters in hole ATDHAR-09. The intercept assayed 2.39 % Cu, 1.69 g/t Au and 6.5 g/t Ag. Hole ATDHAR-05 intersected 3.3 meters of 1.00% Cu, 0.88 g/t Au and 3.9 g/t Ag from 2.2 meters. Hole ATDHAR-08 intersected 3 meters of 1.17% Cu, 2.24 g/t Au, 6.59 g/t Ag from 157.2 meters. Hole ATDHAR-10 intersected 5.5 meters of 1.27% Cu, 0.17 g/t Au and 6.66 g/t Ag from 2.5 meters. Holes ATDHAR-03, ATDHAR-04 and ATDHAR-09 encountered "black chert", the favorable host horizon, strongly anomalous in silver at depth some 280 meters north of the Zeus mineralization. Likewise silver is strongly anomalous near the top of hole ATDHAR-02. Geochemically anomalous silver has been shown to form a halo around massive sulfide mineralization.

The drill program has significantly clarified the geology of the area between the El Roble mine and the Archie target. A sub-vertical fault filled by andesitic dykes north of the Zeus mineralization has been verified. North of this boundary there is a change in attitude of the prospective basalt-"black chert" contact from sub-vertical to east-dipping. Consequently any future exploration to trace the extent to the massive sulfide intercept in hole ATDHAR-09 should be directed to intersect this east-dipping contact at depth and along strike toward the El Roble Mine.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Interval Cu Au Ag Hole ID (m) (m) (m) (%) (g/t) (g/t) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATDHAR-02 7.2 56.0 48.8 nsr Anomalous ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATDHAR-03 239.5 242.0 2.5 nsr Anomalous ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATDHAR-04 296.0 303.7 7.7 nsr Anomalous ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATDHAR-05 2.2 5.5 3.3 1.00 0.88 3.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATDHAR-08 157.2 160.2 3.0 1.17 2.24 6.59 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATDHAR-09 18.0 20.8 2.8 2.39 1.69 6.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATDHAR-10 2.5 8.0 5.5 1.27 0.17 6.66 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- nsr - No Significant Result

El Roble Mine

The El Roble mine is a high grade, underground copper and gold mine with nominal processing plant capacity of 800 tonnes per day, located in the Department of Choco in Colombia. Its commercial product is a copper-gold concentrate.

Since obtaining control of the mine on November 22, 2013, Atico has upgraded the operation from a historical nominal capacity of 400 tonnes per day.

El Roble has a measured and indicated resource of 1.87 million tonnes grading 3.46% copper and 2.27 g/t gold, at a cut-off grade of 0.93% copper equivalent. Mineralization is open at depth and along strike and the Company plans to further test the limits of the resource.

On the larger land package, the Company has identified a prospective stratigraphic contact between volcanic rocks and black and grey pelagic sediments and cherts that has been traced by Atico geologists for ten kilometers. This contact has been determined to be an important control on VMS mineralization on which Atico has identified numerous target areas prospective for VMS type mineralization occurrence, which is the focus of the current surface drill program at El Roble.

Qualified Control

Dr. Demetrius Pohl, Ph.D., AIPG Certified Geologist, a qualified person under NI 43-101 standards and independent of the Company, is responsible for ensuring that the information contained in this news release is an accurate summary of the original reports and data provided to or developed by Atico Mining Corporation. Dr. Pohl has approved the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About Atico Mining Corporation

Atico is a growth-oriented Company, focused on exploring, developing and mining copper and gold projects in Latin America. The Company operates the El Roble mine and is pursuing additional acquisition opportunities. For more information, please visit www.aticomining.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO

Atico Mining Corporation

Trading symbols: (TSX VENTURE: ATY)(OTC PINK: ATCMF)

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.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The securities being offered 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 in the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, a "U.S. person" (as defined in Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act) unless pursuant to an exemption therefrom. This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation the use of net proceeds, are forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs; the need to obtain additional financing to maintain its interest in and/or explore and develop the Company's mineral projects; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral projects; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the prospectus of the Company dated March 2, 2012 filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Contacts:

Atico Mining Corporation

Investor Relations

Igor Dutina

+1.604.633.9022






BONN (dpa-AFX) - German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGY.PK) Thursday reported a sharp decline in its first-quarter profit, mainly on negative remeasurement effects, while revenues increased from last year.



Looking ahead, Deutsche Telekom continues to expects higher net revenues, and adjusted EBITDA would rise by just under 4 percent to around 22.2 billion euros. Free cash flow is expected to increase by about 12 percent.



Net profit for the first quarter fell 76.1 percent to 747 million euros from last year's 3.13 billion euros. Earnings per share declined 76.5 percent to 0.16 euro from 0.68 euro last year.



The 2.4 billion euros reduction in net profit was primarily due to negative remeasurement effects from the exercise and subsequent measurement of embedded derivatives in T-Mobile US bonds and impairment of its financial stake in BT.



Adjusted for special items, net profit was 939 million euros or $0.20 euro per share, compared to 1.05 billion euros or 0.23 euro per share a year ago.



Earnings before interest and tax or EBIT for the period slid 38.8 percent to 2.8 billion euros from 4.5 billion euros. Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA grew 7.5 percent to 5.6 billion euros. At 29.8 percent, the Group's adjusted EBITDA margin increased slightly from prior-year level's 29.3 percent.



For the first quarter, net revenue grew 5.8 percent to 18.6 billion euros from 17.63 billion euros a year ago. On a comparable basis, excluding exchange rate effects and effects from changes in the composition of the Group, net revenue increased by 3.9 percent.



Of the total revenues, domestic revenues represented 32.7 percent in the quarter, down from last year's 34.5 percent. International revenues represented 67.3 percent of total revenues, up from 65.5 percent from the previous year.



United States operating segment remained the Group's growth driver with revenue increasing by 14.9 percent. Revenue also increased 0.7 percent in Europe operating segment, while Germany operating segment saw revenue remain stable with an increase of 0.2 percent.



The company reported positive revenue and earnings trends in Europe.



As of March 31, Mobile customers increased 4.7 percent from last year to 165.8 million. Fixed-network lines dropped 1.7 percent to 28.3 million, while Broadband lines grew 3.3 percent to 18.6 million.



In Germany, Deutsche Telekom shares were trading at 16.81 euros, down 0.30 percent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Natural Gas Prices Supported by Cold Snap, Storage Withdrawals

LONDON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthy UK generation margins and a solar power record offset the effects of a cold snap in April as both electricity and natural gas prices dipped again, according to S&P Global Platts data.

Chilly conditions late in April saw day-ahead power prices surge to GBP45/MWh, but averaged across the month spot power prices were down 2% on March.

Natural gas prices lost close to 4% on March but the rate of decline was much reduced by exports, necessitating storage withdrawals. The longer view, however, shows both gas and power prices remain strongly up on year.

April was notable for two events in the power sector. With coal plant economics firmly stuck in negative territory due to the country's Carbon Price Floor, April 21 was the first day in the UK completely devoid of any coal-fired power generation in over a century.

Meanwhile solar power availability peaked at over 8 GW midday April 8, a new UK record achieved during a period or extraordinary price formation.

For several days in April day-ahead peak prices out-turned flat with or below baseload for the first time ever.

"Markets with significant solar power penetration are seeing conventional peakload price curves being turned on their heads by surplus midday PV production," said Anuradha Ramanathan, Team Lead, European Electricity, S&P Global Platts.

"With around 12-GW installed, the UK is now officially one of those solar markets," she said.

In the gas market, the NBP spot gas price was supported by a cold snap towards the end of the month in addition to strong exports to Belgium.

This led to a heavy reliance on storage withdrawals to balance the system, forcing the day-ahead contract back above the 40 p/th mark, where it has remained well into May.

Some relief was offered from higher LNG regasification and a relatively conservative Norwegian maintenance schedule. Nevertheless storage withdrawals of 627 million cu m compared to injections of just 273 million cu m in April, with the depletion offering price upside into May.

Platts UK Day-Ahead Power and Gas Assessments









Apr-17 Mar-17 MoM change Apr-16 YoY change



UK power (/MWh)













Day-ahead average 41.12 42.02 -2% 33.47 +23



UK gas (pence/therm)













Day-ahead average 39.54 41.09 -4% 29.30 +35



Source: S&P Global Platts















For more information on electric power or the methodology used by Platts in its power assessments, visit the S&P Global Platts website www.platts.com.

About S&P Global Platts

At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We're the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping.

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for companies, governments and individuals to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.

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SANTA CLARA, California , BANGALORE and DUBAI, UAE, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Trianz, a leading global digital transformation consulting and technology solutions firm, is a Gold Sponsor of this year's Informatica World and Executive Summit. Informatica World 2017 (IW17), one of the world's largest Information Management conferences, will be held on May 15-18, 2017 at Moscone West in San Francisco, US. The event will offer roadmaps on how best to leverage data to drive business growth in the digital age and take Information Management to the next level.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/452308/PRNE_TrianzUpdated_Logo.jpg )



Trianz will showcase a unique solution at the conference, which has been built in partnership with Informatica to enhance and expand the adoption of Marketing Data Lake. The solution facilitates the alignment of clients' marketing and sales teams to drive operational efficiencies through self-service analytics, real-time data driven sales and marketing campaign customization, and automated marketing campaign deployment. It does so by leveraging the unified repository for the complete sales cycle, touch points and campaigns across every channel.

"Harnessing actionable insights from data has the potential to give businesses an edge over their competitors. Trianz is playing a vital role in solving such Information Management challenges for various clients across geographies and industries. IW17 is a great platform to showcase these capabilities, and we are looking forward to a successful event," Ira Horowitz, Vice President - Client Relationships at Trianz, said in a statement.

Prasanna Rajagopalan, Senior Director and Big Data Analytics Practice Head at Trianz, said, "We are delighted to be a part of IW17. Trianz has developed comprehensive data management suites that have given our advisory and technology services an unparalleled edge. Our subject matter expertise, deep industry knowledge, technology capabilities and Informatica's Data Lake Platform will undoubtedly help clients get more business value from their data and make quicker decisions."

Trianz and Informatica are also co-sponsors of Project Night Night, a philanthropic initiative to be held on May 16, where the IW17 attendees can volunteer to stuff 600 packages of childhood essentials for homeless children in the community.

Trianz invites IW17 participants to meet its Information Management experts at booth G 03.

About Trianz

Trianz enables digital transformations through effective strategies and excellence in execution. Collaborating with business and technology leaders, we help formulate and execute operational strategies to achieve intended business outcomes by bringing the best of consulting, technology experiences and execution models. Powered by knowledge, research, and perspectives, we enable clients to transform their business ecosystems and achieve superior performance by leveraging Cloud, Analytics, Digital and Security paradigms. With offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC Metro, Jersey City, Dubai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai, we serve Fortune 1000 and emerging organizations across industries globally. As a professional services firm, our values and culture are focused on delivering measurable business impact, predictability in execution, and a unique partnership experience.

Prashant Bhavaraju

Director, Marketing

+1-408-387-5800

http://www.trianz.com

reach@trianz.com


TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- ALGAE DYNAMICS CORP (OTCQB: ADYNF) (the "Company" or "ADC"), a company focused on the development of unique health products and pharmaceuticals utilizing cannabis, hemp and algae oils, today announced that it has engaged the services of Carter, Terry & Company ("Carter Terry"), an Atlanta-based broker dealer, as financial advisor and placement agent to assist with raising capital for the Company. The capital is intended to fund the Company's continuing general operations.

Under the terms of the engagement, Carter Terry will use its best efforts to assist the Company in one or more capital raises. The engagement also covers a full array of investment banking services including mergers, acquisitions, and sales of assets.

Paul Ramsay, Chairman and President of Algae Dynamics, said, "We are very excited to announce the appointment of Carter Terry as our financial advisor and placement agent as we expect it will allow us to fully execute on our business plan, including the funding of our research programs with the University of Waterloo and University of Western Ontario. Importantly, we expect to have the working capital we need for product development and marketing, which we believe will lead to revenues and future growth."

About Carter Terry

Carter, Terry & Company is a full-service investment brokerage, investment banking, asset management, and banking services firm. Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the firm has had a consistent pattern of dynamic growth through the leadership of Timothy J. Terry, President and CEO, and Belfield H. Carter, Jr., Chairman. Since its inception, Carter, Terry & Company has grown to become one of the largest independent firms in Atlanta to serve clients throughout the country. The firm is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Securities Industry Association, and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

About Algae Dynamics

Algae Dynamics is engaged in the development of unique health products and pharmaceuticals that utilize hemp, cannabis and algae oils. To assist us, we have engaged two Canadian universities to provide research, focusing on the use of cannabis oil in the context of cancer, and the use of cannabis derivatives for the development of novel pharmacotherapies for mental health. We intend to utilize this research to develop products that combine the significant health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids derived from algae oil with extracts from cannabis oil, for the rapidly-growing medical and non-medical markets in Canada and globally. We have developed strategic relationships with licensed producers of cannabis to ensure a source of cannabis oil, as well as a joint venture to test, formulate, manufacture and sell products under the current and/or future medical and recreational cannabis regulations. Our product development efforts are designed in the near-term for over-the-counter nutraceuticals, and in the longer-term for patented medicines. Our recent initiatives are an extension of our previous plan which was focused solely on commercialization of our proprietary BioSilo algae cultivation system for the high volume, low cost production of pure contaminant-free algae biomass which is high in Omega-3 fatty acids.

NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, use of proceeds and the development, costs and results of current or future actions and opportunities in the sector. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects and development stage companies, our ability to raise the additional funding we will need to continue to pursue our exploration and development program, and our ability to retain important members of our management team and attract other qualified personnel. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume 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 we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate.

Investors should consult all the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.algaedynamics.com



OR CONTACT:

Investor Relations:

Jack Eversull

President

The Eversull Group, Inc.

Email Contact

972-571-1624




SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- CFN Media Group, the leading creative agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, announces the publication of an article and CEO video interview discussing United Cannabis Inc.'s (OTCQB: CNAB) Prana Bio Medicinals, the company's award winning line of cannabis treatments, and how its unique approach to medical marijuana benefits its patients while positioning the company to further refine and develop proven medicinal products.

Bridging the Gap with Patients

United Cannabis has developed a complete line-up of cannabinoids that are licensed to regulated dispensaries. In addition, the company's A.C.T. Now program helps patients mix and match cannabinoids for therapeutic purposes. These products and services are designed to help bridge the gap between providing legal access to cannabis and helping patients effectively treat serious medical conditions at a time when many physicians remain skeptical.

The company's Prana Bio Medicinal cannabinoid products use a patent-pending infusion process utilizing select fatty acids, lipids, and specific combinations of cannabis-derived terpenes to increase bioavailability. The capsules are packaged in airtight blister packs for 10-30-60 day regimen and are formulated with full-spectrum (e.g. whole plant) cannabis derived terpenes with various percentages of CBD and THC.

When a patient signs up for the complementary A.C.T. Now service, which comes free with Prana Bio Medicinal purchases, they are assigned to a nurse that will assess his or her current medications and create a personalized program for them. The patients then rely on a robust HIPPA-compliant cloud-based software to record their health conditions, schedule follow-ups, and continue to fine-tune their programs with their assigned health professional.

Experienced Leadership

United Cannabis' Chief Executive Officer, Earnest Blackmon, and Chief Technical Officer, Tony Verzura, have been involved with medical cannabis since it was permissible in California in 1999. In 2009, they turned their focus to Colorado when medical cannabis was legalized. The team has more than 30 years of combined experience in the industry, including engineered facilities, security, regulatory compliance, genetics, cultivation, manufacturing, extraction, branding, and retail operations.

Since 2009, the company has accumulated observational data from more than 15,000 medical marijuana patients that have successfully used its Prana Bio and A.C.T. Now programs. These efforts caught the attention of prominent members of the medical community, including Brent Reynolds, Ph.D. and Dr. Barry Bialek, who went on to join the company's Medical Advisory Board to help further develop its programs.

This highly-qualified team is committed to advancing the use of cannabinoid-based medicine with a focus on the refinement of genetics for medical-grade strains of CBD-rich cannabis plants. The company is also dedicated to bringing best practices across all areas of the industry, including operation, planning, products, governance, and patient care.

Please follow the link to read the full article and see the CEO interview: http://www.cannabisfn.com/united-cannabis-bridging-gap-mmj-patient-care/

Learn how to become a CFN Media featured company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/

Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from your smart phone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8

Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com

About CFN Media

CFN Media (CannabisFN) is the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis. We help marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the US and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed.

Disclaimer:

Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CFN Media and CannabisFN.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. Emerging Growth LLC may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/.

CFN Media

Frank Lane

206-369-7050

flane@cannabisfn.com




SUWANEE, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- SANUWAVE Health, Inc. (OTCQB: SNWV) is pleased to announce that the company has appointed LOK North America to act as Territory Sales Manager for sourcing and screening of potential distributors for SANUWAVE's products in Canada.

Andre Mouton, V.P. International Sales and Relations of SANUWAVE, stated, "This decision to engage LOK North America was made to increase visibility within the Canadian market and to maximize the exposure that SANUWAVE can get for their registered and approved product line in Canada. LOK North America will give us an extended reach and establish rigorous evaluation methods of the regional distribution options in Canada to ensure the development of a strong distribution network. All of these factors will lead to faster market entry and closer ties with identified Key Opinion Leaders (KOL's)," concluded Andre Mouton.

Eric Fillion, V.P. Sales and Marketing of LOK North America, stated, "LOK North America is an ideal partner for SANUWAVE by providing both regulatory and commercial support when introducing and expanding the Company's medical device portfolio in Canada."

"LOK North America will provide targeted assistance to SANUWAVE with a team of professionals that are dynamic individuals with diversified backgrounds and each having his/her own area of expertise," continued Mr. Fillion. "Our multidisciplinary approach enables us to offer our services in an integrated and efficient way. Our commercial support expertise, with its in-depth knowledge of the Canadian medical landscape will allow SANUWAVE to have the maximum impact in the shortest time span."

SANUWAVE is using this occasion to further educate on our lead wound care product dermaPACE. This Extracorporeal Shockwave Technology (ESWT) device, based upon electrohydraulic principles, is CE Marked and has enjoyed success in certain markets within the European Union treating a wide variety of skin conditions such as pressure ulcers, burns, post-operative wounds, and scar reduction. dermaPACE has been proven, in two US based clinical trials enrolling 336 subjects, to be safe and effective in the treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers. Within a few weeks of initial treatment, wounds treated with dermaPACE reduce in area at superior rates compared to control subjects. dermaPACE exhibits superiority in wound area reduction within 12 weeks of initial treatment and exhibits superiority in wound closure within 20 weeks of initial treatment. The use of dermaPACE allows the clinician to more easily, and more cost-effectively, manage wounds. More importantly, the patient's quality of life improves significantly.

For more information on SANUWAVE's technology, please read our blog, "Shock This", on our website at www.sanuwave.com.

About SANUWAVE Health, Inc.

SANUWAVE Health, Inc. (OTCQB: SNWV) (www.sanuwave.com) is a shock wave technology company initially focused on the development and commercialization of patented noninvasive, biological response activating devices for the repair and regeneration of skin, musculoskeletal tissue and vascular structures. SANUWAVE's portfolio of regenerative medicine products and product candidates activate biologic signaling and angiogenic responses, producing new vascularization and microcirculatory improvement, which helps restore the body's normal healing processes and regeneration. SANUWAVE applies its patented PACE technology in wound healing, orthopedic/spine, plastic/cosmetic and cardiac conditions. Its lead product candidate for the global wound care market, dermaPACE, is CE Marked throughout Europe and has device license approval for the treatment of the skin and subcutaneous soft tissue in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S., dermaPACE is currently under the FDA's de novo petition review process for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. SANUWAVE researches, designs, manufactures, markets and services its products worldwide, and believes it has demonstrated that its technology is safe and effective in stimulating healing in chronic conditions of the foot (plantar fasciitis) and the elbow (lateral epicondylitis) through its U.S. Class III PMA approved OssaTron device, as well as stimulating bone and chronic tendonitis regeneration in the musculoskeletal environment through the utilization of its OssaTron, Evotron and orthoPACE devices in Europe, Asia and Asia/Pacific. In addition, there are license/partnership opportunities for SANUWAVE's shock wave technology for non-medical uses, including energy, water, food and industrial markets.

Abou LOK North America

Based out of Laval, Quebec, Canada, LOK North America is a member of the LOK Network, which currently maintains 12 offices worldwide and has the combined expertise of over 150 seasoned professionals around the world. The consortium presents global solutions for start-ups, mid-size and multinational companies to accelerate their market entry and the commercialization of their products worldwide. Lok North America is your partner for both regulatory and commercial support when introducing medical devices in Canada. LOK North America has a wealth of expertise and experience advising clients on a range of issues by providing medical devices manufacturers with solutions ranging from market entry strategy, regulatory for Health Canada and FDA, quality system, clinical requirements, distributor identification and selection, distributor agreement negotiations to sales management

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements relating to financial results and plans for future business development activities, and are thus prospective. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Among the key risks, assumptions and factors that may affect operating results, performance and financial condition are risks associated with the regulatory approval and marketing of the Company's product candidates and products, unproven pre-clinical and clinical development activities, regulatory oversight, the Company's ability to manage its capital resource issues, competition, and the other factors discussed in detail in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

For additional information about the Company, visit www.sanuwave.com.

Millennium Park Capital LLC

Christopher Wynne

312-724-7845

cwynne@mparkcm.com



SANUWAVE Health, Inc.

Andre Mouton

Vice President International Sales and Relations

+1-678-578-0117 (Office)

+1-615-823-9907 (Cell)

+1-678-569-0881(Fax)

Skype: andre.w.mouton

Andre.Mouton@sanuwave.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Trevali Mining Corporation ("Trevali" or the "Company") (TSX: TV)(LMA: TV)(OTCQX: TREVF)(FRANKFURT: 4TI) announces it has received initial delivery of part of its new Sandvik underground mining fleet for the Caribou Zinc Mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northeastern New Brunswick. Components of the new fleet, specifically new haul trucks and loaders, have arrived as scheduled and are currently being transitioned into operations where they are expected to deliver higher availability and production performance upon integration (Figure 1).

To view "Figure 1: New Sandvik loaders and haul trucks getting delivered to Trevali's Caribou Zinc Mine in NB" accompanying this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094389_Fig1.pdf

As part of a site-wide optimization initiative, the new underground mining fleet for the Caribou Zinc Mine is an approximately Cdn$20-million investment through a partnership with Sandvik Mining that will supply and maintain a full fleet of mining equipment for Caribou operations. This initiative and transition to owner-operated status is expected to deliver safer and more productive operational capabilities and significant savings in overall Caribou operating costs.

Currently there are three loaders and four TH540 trucks onsite at Caribou as part of this initial equipment delivery. Additional components of the new Sandvik underground mining fleet are scheduled to be delivered over the next several weeks. The project is currently approximately a Quarter ahead of schedule for full transition of mining activities by the end of Q2-2017.

Caribou Underground Resource Conversion and Expansion Drill Program Commences

Trevali also announces commencement of its 2017 underground diamond drilling program. Boart Longyear Canada have been awarded the 14,400-metre contract for underground diamond drilling services. The program is a follow up to the 14,000-metre 2016 drill program that targeted inferred and indicated resources on both the North and East limbs of the deposit.

The 2017 program will continue this effort below the current workings on both the North Limb and East Limb, with a concerted emphasis on the down-plunge area of the North Limb that shows the greatest potential for addition of inferred resources (Figures 2 & 3). The goal for the 2017 program is to upgrade a significant portion of inferred resources (approximately 2-2.5 million tonnes) to the indicated category. A portion of the 2017 program is also slated to further delineate and upgrade indicated resources into the measured category. The proposed Caribou underground drilling for 2017 is shown in the longitudinal section views below (Figures 2 & 3).

To view "Figure 2: Caribou Mine - North Limb 2017 underground drill program plan" accompanying this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094389_Fig2.pdf

To view "Figure 3: Caribou Mine - East Limb 2017 underground drill program plan" accompanying this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094389_Fig3.pdf

In addition to the Caribou underground drill program, a surface drill campaign is currently underway to test near-mine targets.

ABOUT TREVALI MINING CORPORATION

Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company with two commercially producing operations.

The Company is actively producing zinc and lead-silver concentrates from its 2,000-tonne-per-day Santander mine in Peru and its 3,000-tonne-per-day Caribou mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick. Trevali also owns the Halfmile and Stratmat base metal deposits, located in New Brunswick, that are currently undergoing a Preliminary Economic Assessment reviewing their potential development. Additionally, the Company has entered into a definitive agreement with Glencore PLC to acquire a portfolio of zinc assets from Glencore, including an 80% interest in the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia, a 90% interest in the Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso, an effective 39% interest in the Gergarub project in Namibia, an option to acquire 100% interest in the Heath Steele property in Canada and certain related exploration properties and assets.

The common shares of Trevali are listed on the TSX (symbol TV), the OTCQX (symbol TREVF), the Lima Stock Exchange (symbol TV), and the Frankfurt Exchange (symbol 4TI). For further details on Trevali, readers are referred to the Company's website (www.trevali.com) and to Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

TREVALI MINING CORPORATION

Mark D. Cruise, President

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States private securities litigation reform act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Statements containing forward-looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Company's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results and the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation to, update such statements containing the forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to statements as to: the expected benefits of the proposed Transaction, the closing the Transaction" including the anticipated timing thereof, the satisfaction of all conditions to closing the Transaction and the Offering including, without limitation, obtaining all necessary consents and approvals, the completion of the debt financing, the Company's plan to prepare a new PEA for its Halfmile and Stratmat properties, the accuracy of estimated mineral resources, anticipated results of future exploration, and forecast future metal prices, expectations that environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, political, marketing or other issues will not materially affect estimates of mineral resources. These statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies.

These statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in spot and forward markets for silver, zinc, base metals and certain other commodities (such as natural gas, fuel oil and electricity); fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar and Peruvian sol versus the U.S. dollar); risks related to the technological and operational nature of the Company's business; changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, the United States, Peru or other countries where the Company may carry on business in the future; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected geological or structural formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); risks relating to the credit worthiness or financial condition of suppliers, refiners and other parties with whom the Company does business; inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards;

employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources as properties are mined; global financial conditions; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, the Company; the Company's ability to complete and successfully integrate acquisitions and to mitigate other business combination risks; challenges to, or difficulty in maintaining, the Company's title to properties and continued ownership thereof; the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, and changes in project parameters to deal with unanticipated economic or other factors; increased competition in the mining industry for properties, equipment, qualified personnel, and their costs. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty or reliance on forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.

Trevali's production plan at the Caribou Mine is based only on measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources, and not mineral reserves, and does not have demonstrated economic viability. Trevali's production plan at the Santander Mine is based only on measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources, and not mineral reserves, and does not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is therefore no certainty that the conclusions of the production plans and Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) will be realized. Additionally, where Trevali discusses exploration/expansion potential, any potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.

We advise US investors that while the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources" and "inferred resources" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the US Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize these terms. US investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the material in these categories will ever be converted into reserves.

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 described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

The TSX has not approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release.

Contacts:

Trevali Mining Corporation

Steve Stakiw

Vice President, Investor Relations and

Corporate Communications

(604) 488-1661 / Direct: (604) 638-5623

sstakiw@trevali.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Whitecap Venture Partners congratulates the entire team at Real Matters (TSX: REAL) on its Initial Public Offering (IPO). Real Matters, the leading network management services platform for the mortgage and insurance industries, began trading today, a month after announcing its intention to go public. Real Matters raised approximately C$156.7-million in the IPO from the sale of 12-million common shares at C$13.00 per share, giving the company a valuation in excess of C$1 billion.

Whitecap participated in eight financing rounds in Real Matters prior to the company's IPO, beginning with a seed investment in 2007 when Real Matters had less than a million dollars in revenue.

"It's been two years since we've seen a Canadian technology IPO of this magnitude. This is just the beginning for Real Matters as Jason and his team continue their mission to build a world class technology company in Canada," said Carey Diamond, Partner at Whitecap Venture Partners.

"From the nascent beginnings of Real Matters, Whitecap quickly understood our value proposition and more importantly where it could evolve. They supported us both with their capital and their expertise, through both good and difficult times - in short, they've been great partners. To this day, Whitecap Partner Blaine Hobson is a trusted advisor and continues to add tremendous value as Chairman of the company," said Jason Smith, CEO & Founder of Real Matters. Jason Smith has been a member of the Whitecap Venture Partners Fund III advisory board since 2015. Blaine Hobson has been a board member of Real Matters since 2008, and was appointed Chairman in 2016.

"Our firm has deep historical ties to the real estate industry. That, along with our past investment experience in the market (Whitecap participated in Teranet's seed funding round), helped open our eyes to the opportunity Real Matters represented," said Diamond. "We recognize the hard work that Jason and his entire team have put in to make Real Matters one of the leading players in the US mortgage appraisal market. It's fitting that Real Matters is the first company in our third fund (Whitecap Venture Partners Fund III) to go public."

For additional insights into the history of Whitecap's investments in Real Matters, read this blog post.

About Whitecap Venture Partners

Whitecap Venture Partners is a $100M Toronto based early stage venture capital fund investing in high growth companies across three verticals: Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Med Tech and Food Tech. Our team of operators and investment professionals have partnered for over 25 years with entrepreneurs in verticals where they have deep domain expertise and can bring significant operational and strategic value to companies. Additional information is available at www.whitecapvp.com.

Contacts:

Press Contact

Jodi Echakowitz

Boulevard Public Relations

905-709-9600

Jodi@boulevardpr.com




OCP S.A. ("OCP" or the "Company"), a global leader in the fertilizer industry, will release its first quarter 2017 results on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. The results will be available to holders of the Company's bonds, qualified institutional buyers, securities analysts and market makers on the OCP Intralinks portal from 10 a.m. ET and 3 p.m. Morocco/London time.

In line with OCP's quarterly communications program, management will not be hosting a conference call to discuss the first quarter 2017 financial results. Regular quarterly conference calls will resume as of the second quarter of 2017. Institutional buyers, bondholders, securities analysts and market makers seeking further clarification on first quarter 2017 results are invited to contact Mrs. Ghita LARAKI, Investor Relations at g.laraki@ocpgroup.ma.

Eligible parties that have not already registered for access to the Intralinks portal may do so by contacting the Investor Relations Department by emailing g.laraki@ocpgroup.ma.

About OCP

OCP is a global leader in the fertilizer industry, backed by almost a century's production history. OCP has exclusive access to the largest phosphate rock reserve base in the world. It is one of the lowest cost producers of phosphate rock in the industry and has become a leading player in production and trade volumes across the phosphate value chain. OCP employs 23,000 people and contributes to regional development through its mining and fertilizer operations, and through its sustainability program.

For more information visit: www.ocpgroup.ma.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511005744/en/

Contacts:

OCP Investor Relations

Ghita Laraki, +212-522-924-183

g.laraki@ocpgroup.ma
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES

EnerGulf Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: ENG)(FRANKFURT: EKS) ("EnerGulf" or the "Company") is pleased to provide the following corporate update. The Company has executed a term sheet to acquire an additional 20% interest in the Selectron Shallow and Canoe Prospects in the Gulf of Mexico, and amended its prior letter of intent in respect of the acquisition of those prospects (the "Transaction"). Furthermore, subject to required approvals, EnerGulf will undergo a consolidation of its outstanding securities on a 5 for 1 basis (the "Consolidation"), intends to complete a private placement of units for gross proceeds of up to CAD$5,000,000 at a post-Consolidation price of CAD$0.10 per unit (the "Private Placement") and has reached agreements to settle an aggregate total CAD$738,514 in debt by the issuance of units of the company at a deemed post-Consolidation price of CAD$0.10 per unit (the "Debt Settlement").

Gulf of Mexico - Amended Letter of Intent

The Company announced on June 9, 2016, that it had entered into a letter of intent ("LOI") with Texas South Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: TXSO) ("Texas South") to acquire, through a series of payments, a 43.75% working interest in Block 378, Vermilion Area, South Addition ("Canoe Prospect") and Block 375, Vermilion Area, South Addition ("Selectron Shallow Prospect") and, by making additional payments, acquire 25% working interest in four sub salt prospects. As additional consideration, EnerGulf had agreed to issue 7,000,000 warrants to Texas South (the "LOI Warrants").

On March 23, 2017, the Company and Texas South entered into an amended letter of intent (the "Amended LOI"), replacing and superseding the Company's prior LOI. Under the terms of the Amended LOI, the parties agree that EnerGulf has paid for and, subject to (i) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ("BOEM") approval, and (ii) the execution of definitive agreements, owns the right to the assignment of a 16.8% working interest in the Canoe and the Selectron Shallow Prospects. Upon approval of the assignment of interest from the BOEM the Company is required to purchase the seismic licenses for the Canoe and Selectron Shallow blocks for a cost of US$50,000 each. For the first two wells, the Company will pay 29.3% of the costs for its 16.8% working interest. For future wells, the Company will pay 16.8% of the costs for 16.8% of the revenues. The Company will be responsible for 66.6% of annual rent (US$63,147/yr) and 46.1% of permitting, insurance, and bonding for the Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects. The Company is obligated to pay its share of expenses for its 16.8% interest in the Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects, however the Company has no further investment obligations relative to either the Canoe or Selectron Shallow Prospects under the Amended LOI. The Company has made payments totaling US$400,000 towards the acquisition of its interest in the Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects.

Pursuant to the terms of the Amended LOI, EnerGulf is no longer obligated to issue the LOI Warrants to Texas South and no has no interest in or had any obligation to make any payments on the four sub salt prospects. The Amended LOI is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange").

Gulf of Mexico - Acquisition of Additional Interest in Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects

On April 30, 2017, the Company and HTX Resources LLC ("HTX") entered into a term sheet (the "Term Sheet") wherein the Company agreed to take assignment of HTX's right to acquire up to a 20% interest in each of the Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects (the "Rights") from Texas South pursuant to a letter of intent between HTX and Texas South dated April 3, 2017 (the "Underlying Agreement"). As consideration for the Rights, EnerGulf will pay US$400,000 by May 31, 2017 and issue 2,000,000 post-Consolidation units of the Company (each a "Transaction Unit") at a deemed price of CAD$0.10 (post-Consolidation) per Transaction Unit. Each Transaction Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company and one half warrant one common share purchase warrant (each whole such warrant a "Transaction Warrant"). Each Transaction Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one common share of the Company for a period of two years at a price of CAD$0.15 (post-Consolidation). The Rights set out in the Underlying Agreement grant HTX the right to acquire up to a 20% working interest in each of the Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects from Texas South in consideration of US$10,000 per one percent (US$200,000 for the 20%) until the earlier of (i) August 31, 2017 and (ii) 30 days from notification of permitting activities at the Canoe Prospect by Gulfslope Energy, Inc. ("Gulfslope"), operator of both the Selectron Shallow and Canoe Prospects. Following completion of the Transaction and on exercise of the Rights the Company will become obligated to fund up to 22.86% (1.143% for each 1% interest acquired) of exploration expenditures incurred in respect of the Selectron Shallow and Canoe Prospects, or have its interest subject to dilution on a straight-line basis. The acquired 20% interest will have a 77.25% Net Revenue Interest, net of a mandatory 18.75% royalty in favour of the United States Department of the Interior and a 4% royalty in favour of HTX. In addition, the Company will reimburse HTX US$12,630 in rent paid on the Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects. The Term Sheet is subject to the approval of the Exchange.

On completion of the Transaction, the Company's combined interest in the Canoe and Selectron Shallow Prospects will be a 36.8% working interest with a 79.08% Net Revenue Interest. For the first two wells, the Company will pay 52.16% of the costs to earn its 36.8% interest. After the first two wells, the Company will pay 36.8% of costs to earn its 36.8% interest. EnerGulf will have the benefit of 79.08% of the revenues associated with its working interest.

Loan Amendment

On June 29, 2016, the Company announced that it had entered into an agreement with Carrelton Asset Management, Carrelton Horizon Fund, and others (the "Lenders") for a bridge loan in the amount of US$220,000, including a $20,000 commitment fee (the "Loan"). Pursuant to the Loan agreement, the Company was obligated to pay either a cash bonus of US$30,000 or issue the Lenders a warrant to purchase 3,000,000 common shares of EnerGulf at a price of CAD$0.05 per share (pre-Consolidation).

On December 7, 2016, the Company and the Lenders entered into amended and restated Loan agreement wherein the principal amount of the Loan was increased to US$240,000, inclusive of a cumulative commitment fee of USD$30,000 and additional Loan proceeds of USD$10,000 (the "Amended Loan"), and pursuant to which the Amended Loan became due and payable May 31, 2017. Pursuant to the Amended Loan agreement, the Company became obligated to pay the Lenders an additional cash fee of US$30,000 or issue a warrant to purchase 3,283,582 common shares of EnerGulf at a price of CAD$0.05 per share (pre-Consolidation). The Amended Loan remain subject to the approval of the Exchange.

Share Consolidation, Shares for Debt and Private Placement

The Company's Board of Directors has determined to consolidate the Company's issued share capital on a ratio of one (1) new post-Consolidation common share for every five (5) old pre-Consolidation common shares. There are currently 99,319,960 common shares outstanding, and following the Consolidation there will be approximately 19,863,992 shares outstanding. The Board of Directors determined the Consolidation is necessary in order for the Company to raise additional capital and pursue the opportunities described above. The Consolidation remains subject to the acceptance of the Exchange.

EnerGulf also proposes to conduct the Private Placement of up to CAD$5,000,000, consisting of up to 50,000,000 units at a price of CAD$0.10 (post-Consolidation) per unit (each a "Placement Unit"). Each Placement Unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (a "Placement Warrant"). Each Placement Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional common share of the Company at a price of CAD$0.20 (post-Consolidation) for a period of 24 months after the date of issuance of the Placement Warrant. On closing of the Private Placement, the Company may pay finder's fees in accordance with the policies of the Exchange. EnerGulf intends to use the proceeds of the Private Placement to settle outstanding liabilities, for payments in connection with the acquisition and development of its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas projects and for general corporate purposes.

The Company further announces that it has reached an understanding with certain of its creditors holding an aggregate CAD$738,514 in Company debt (the "Debt") to settle such Debt in exchange for (i) 6,535,140 post-Consolidation units of the Company (the "Debt Settlement Units") at a deemed price of $0.10 per Debt Settlement Unit and (ii) 850,000 common shares at a deemed price of $0.10 per common share. Each Debt Settlement Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (a "Debt Settlement Warrant"). Each Debt Settlement Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional common share of the Company at a price of CAD$0.20 (post-Consolidation) for a period of 24 months after the date of issuance of the Debt Settlement Warrant.

The Private Placement and Debt Settlement are subject to Exchange approval - all securities issued in connection therewith shall be subject to a four month and one day hold period.

Annual General Meeting Results

All resolutions were approved at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting on December 15, 2016: (i) electing Ernie Miller, Clive Brookes, Jeff Greenblum and Don Wilson to the Board of Directors, (ii) reappointing Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton Labonte LLP as the Company's auditors and (iii) approving certain amendments to the Company's stock option plan.

Namibia - Block 1711

EnerGulf is awaiting the 3D program required of the operator and remains committed to the prospective block.

Lotshi Block - Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC")

The Company's Lotshi Block Production Sharing Contract with the government of the DRC (the "PSC") expired in February of 2016 - EnerGulf is currently in discussions to negotiate an extension of the PSC. The Company remains committed to the DRC and the Lotshi Block's potential in the face of current industry difficulties.

Albania

EnerGulf has been issued a Production Sharing Agreement for certain Block 8 hydrocarbon licenses as well as an exploration license and two operations licenses in respect of certain chromite exploration assets, each in the Republic of Albania (the "Albanian Assets"). The Company is currently in default of certain payment obligations in respect of the Albanian Assets, and is evaluating the Albanian Assets' role in the Company's corporate and exploration strategy going forward.

About EnerGulf

EnerGulf is a publicly traded international oil and gas exploration company with property interests located in the Gulf of Mexico, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Namibia and the Republic of Albania.

On Behalf of the Board of EnerGulf

"Ernest B. Miller IV"

Ernest B. Miller IV

CEO

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.

This release may include certain forward-looking information and statements, as defined by law including without limitation Canadian securities laws and the "safe harbor" provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("forward-looking statements"). In particular, and without limitation this news release contains forward-looking statements respecting the Transaction; the Company's intention to seek an extension of the Lotshi Block Production Sharing Contract; completion of the proposed Debt Settlement; completion of the Consolidation; completion of the proposed Private Placement; the future prospects for the Company; management's beliefs, assumptions and expectations; and general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including without limitation assumptions about the following: Texas South's ability to complete the acquisition of certain drilling rights to concerning the Canoe and the Selectron Prospects from Gulfslope; the ability by EnerGulf to thereafter complete a definitive agreement with Texas South; the time frame within which a development strategy will be determined for Block 8 and chromite exploration assets in the Republic of Albania, and the associated costs, permitting, and other requirements being met, if at all; the expectation that the DRC will be willing to entertain negotiations as to the extension of the Lotshi Block and that an extension can be agreed upon on terms that are acceptable to EnerGulf; the Company's ability to raise sufficient capital to carry out its goals and objectives; changes in the business or prospects of the company; unforeseen circumstances; general business and economic conditions, including those impacting the oil and gas industry and the global economy as a whole; and ongoing relations with employees, consultants, partners and joint venturers. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and we undertake no obligation to update any of the foregoing except as required by law.

Contacts:

EnerGulf Resources Inc.

(604) 408-1990

info@energulf.com

www.energulf.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Quinto Real Capital Corporation (TSX VENTURE: QIT) ("Quinto" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that IAMGOLD Corporation provided today an update from its 2017 winter drilling campaign on the Monster Lake project located 50 kilometres southwest of Chibougamau, Quebec, Canada.

For a complete update, please read IAMGOLD Corporation's press release that was issued at:

http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/iamgold-expands-gold-potential-on-the-monster-lake-project-quebec-621974443.html

Quinto currently owns 5% of the Monster Lake property.

About Quinto Real Capital Corporation

Quinto Real Capital Corporation (TSX VENTURE: QIT) is a Canadian gold exploration company. It owns a 5% interest in the Monster Lake property (IAMGOLD: 50%/TomaGold: 45%) and an option to acquire a 75% interest in the Gwillim, Fancamp and Embry properties, all located close to the Chibougamau mining camp in Quebec, Canada.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" and readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results, may vary materially from those in these "forward-looking" statement.

Contacts:

Michael Curtis

President and Chief Executive Officer

(514) 793-1915

mcurtis@cardwellcap.com

www.quintocorp.com



Louis Morin

The Ask Marketing Services Inc.

(514) 591-3988




VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 15, 2017 / Canyon Copper Corp. (TSXV: CNC) ("Canyon") announces that it has allotted and issued 200,000 common shares in the capital of Canyon ("Bonus Shares"), pursuant to the terms of the loan agreement, entered into on May 3, 2016, with Metamin Enterprises Inc. ("Metamin").

The Bonus Shares are subject to restrictions on resale expiry on September 16, 2017.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Stephen Wallace"

CANYON COPPER CORP.

Stephen Wallace, CEO

Contact:

Canyon Copper Corp.

Investor Relations

(604) 331-9326

(604) 684-9365 (FAX)

info@canyoncc.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information

This News Release may contain, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phases such as "believe," "expect," "plan," "anticipate" and similar expressions identifying forward-looking statements. Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Canyon's expectations, and expressly does not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to the following, limited operating history, proposed exploration and/or drill programs and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Canyon to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such 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.

SOURCE: Canyon Copper Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 26, 2017) - Lithion Energy Corporation (TSXV: LNC) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the sale of its 80-per-cent equity interest in each of PT Gayo Mineral Resources and PT Linge Mineral Resources, under a share purchase agreement (SPA) with a private Indonesia company.

As per the terms of the SPA (see News Release date March 9th 2017), the private Indonesian company will pay the Company a total of $1-million (U.S.) (equivalent to approximately $1.32 million CAD). The proceeds will be used to finance the Company's lithium projects (Nevada & Arizona), review additional technology metals properties and to evaluate potential corporate transactions. A finder's fee of $100,000 (U.S.) is to be paid to an arm's-length company in association with the transaction.

"Not only did we add significant cash to the balance sheet, the Indonesian subsidiaries held all of the Company's financial liabilities," added Shawn Westcott, President and Director. "The sale therefore represents a significant change to Lithion's balance sheet and will enable the Company to efficiently pursue its growth strategy,"

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, visit the Company's website at www.lithionenergycorp.com or contact Shawn Westcott

Vancouver, British Columbia

T: +1 604 365 6681

E: info@lithionenergycorp.com

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this News Release, which are not historical in nature, constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under applicable Canadian securities law. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements or information concerning the use of proceeds from the SPA, the Company's growth strategy and the Company's future performance. These statements reflect management's current assumptions and expectations and by their nature are subject to certain underlying assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or events to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Those risks include the interpretation of drill results; the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with our expectations; commodity and currency price fluctuation; failure to obtain adequate financing; regulatory, recovery rates, refinery costs, inability to identify or successfully conclude corporate transactions, and other relevant conversion factors, permitting and licensing risks; and general market and mining exploration risks. Forward-looking statements should not be construed as investment advice. Readers should perform a detailed, independent investigation and analysis of the Company and are encouraged to seek independent professional advice before making any investment decision. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect events or changes in circumstances that occur after the date hereof.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/08/17 -- Changfeng Energy Inc., (TSX VENTURE: CFY) ("Changfeng"), an energy provider in China, is pleased to announce that a joint venture agreement ("Agreement") has been signed between Sanya Changfeng New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. ("the Company"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Changfeng Energy Inc., and EDF (China) Holding Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the EDF Group.

According to the Agreement, both parties will set up a joint venture company named EDF Changfeng (Sanya) Energy Co., Ltd. with 50 percent ownership respectively. The new joint venture company will invest, construct and operate four energy-processing stations to supply cooling, hot water to the hotels, shopping centers, and residential households in Haitang Bay.

The Company and EDF (China) Holding Ltd. won the tender of the Haitang Bay District Energy Distribution project on 8th August, 2017. It is a 30 years exclusive operational contract starting from the date the concession right agreement is signed with the Sanya municipal government.

After the establishment of the joint venture company, the construction of the facilities will begin at the end of 2017. Phase one of the first station will be completed by mid 2018. The station will be in operational after the completion of phase one. The Company will use its internal cash flow to invest into the joint venture. The Company is currently working with the local government to acquire the land necessary for the energy station.

On August 2nd, 2016, the Company entered into a Statement of Intent for Cooperation (the "Statement") with Sanya municipal government and EDF (China) Holding Ltd. to jointly pursue the integrated energy system program in Sanya City, Hainan Province.

According to the Statement, all three parties, Sanya Municipal Government, EDF Group and Changfeng, will cooperatively develop the integrated energy system project to promote a low carbon and energy intelligent urban city. Sanya municipal government is in full support of the integrated energy project.

Huajun Lin, the Company's CEO and Chairman of the Board states that "The Haitang Bay integrated energy project is the first step in Changfeng's strategic shift in becoming an integrated energy utilization and smart energy systems provider. In combining the exclusive concession right operating model with innovations in clean technology, Changfeng hopes to increase value for the society and shareholders."

About Haitang Bay

Haitang Bay is a popular tourism destination in Sanya, Hainan, China with a local population of 250, 000 people. It covers 96 square kilometers and 24 kilometers long beach. Due to the tropical climate and an abundance of resorts and hotels, Haitang Bay has a high year round energy demand.

About EDF (China) Holding Ltd.

EDF (China) Holding Ltd. is the wholly owned subsidiary of EDF Group, one of the world's largest power producers, achieved revenues of 35.2 billion Euros in 2016. In recent years, the international development of EDF has been accelerated, allowing EDF to play a big role in today's global electricity market, especially in Europe, Latin America and Asia. EDF (China) Holding Ltd. has been operating in China for nearly 30 years. Since 1997, it has become an investor in China's electricity production.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the 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. Although Management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Corporate Investment Relations

Investor.relations@changfengenergy.cn



Ann Siyin Lin

VP, Corporate Development

ann.lin@changfengenergy.cn




DUBLIN, July 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Pharmacogenomics Technology/Theranostics/Companion Diagnostics (CDx) Market Analysis By Therapeutic Area (Oncology Neurological, Cardiovascular, Immunology Disorders), By Technology, And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

The global pharmacogenomics technology (theranostics and companion diagnostics) market is expected to reach USD 18.3 billion by 2025

Diagnostics is coming to grips with the wave of pharmacogenomic tests that are followed by new biological therapy introductions. These tests enable cost-effective treatment and also add value to the process of drug-development. Advantages associated with the usage of these tests such as disease risk prediction, patient stratification, and therapeutic response monitoring over the traditional methods is anticipated to significant source of progress in this market.

In addition, pharmacogenomics testing products aid physicians in individualizing and optimization of patient's therapeutic regimen. Pharmacogenomics and theranostics are paving the way for integrated medicine. Rapid evolution in this group of specialized molecular diagnostic tests are contributing in improvement for assessment of real-time treatment of disease.

However, presence of challenges pertaining to early integration of pharmacogenomic based testing into drug development time lines for gaining the approval simultaneously is anticipated to impede growth. Proper designing and implementation of clinical trials in order to identify individual as well as population variations from a given therapy has become a necessary attribute for the success of theranostics.



Further key findings from the report suggest:



Oncology is estimated to account for the largest revenue share owing to the presence of substantial number of products in this segment

Furthermore, precision oncology investigators envision in giving multiple medications, in varied sorts of combinations, in an effort to squelch a tumor rather than just temper its growth

Aforementioned fact is responsible for the estimated revenue share of cancer in pharmacogenomics technology market

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was the largest revenue grossing segment of the with respect to technology for theranostics

Advantages associated with the use of the PCR technique makes it current workhorse of clinical diagnostics

Moreover, reproducible and precise results produced with the assays without sacrificing the sensitivity are responsible for the estimated share

North American region dominates the market as a consequence of economic incentives for drug developers to pair their products with diagnostics.

Asia Pacific market is projected to showcase fastest growth over the forecast period as the companies are engaged in capturing untapped opportunities

market is projected to showcase fastest growth over the forecast period as the companies are engaged in capturing untapped opportunities Diagnostic companies are positioning themselves to offer theranostic tools by widening the application of in-vitro diagnostic technologies to include more than just disease detection

Key Topics Covered:



1 Research Methodology



2 Executive Summary



3 Pharmacogenomics Technology (Theranostics and Companion Diagnostics) Market Variables, Trends& Scope



4 Pharmacogenomics Technology: Therapeutic Area Estimates & Trend Analysis



5 Pharmacogenomics Technology: Technology Estimates & Trend Analysis



6 Pharmacogenomics Technology: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis, by Therapeutic Area & Application



7 Competitive Landscape



Companies Mentioned



Illumina Inc.

F Hoffman La Roche

Qiagen NV

Myriad Genetics Inc.

Agilent Technologies

Foundation Medicine, Inc

Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmBH

Merck & Co Inc

Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Ltd.

Astra Zeneca

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

Beckman Coulter Inc.

Abbott Laboratories

Pfizer

Focus Diagnostics

AmeriPath Inc

Bristol Myers Squibb

Novartis Ag

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cll8tw/pharmacogenomics





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Research and Markets

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PYONGYANG (dpa-AFX) - The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has established a special unit to address the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea.



CIA said the unit, named 'Korea Mission Center,' will harness the full resources, capabilities, and authorities of the Agency to keep an eye on the nuclear activities of the reclusive Communist country.



The new Mission Center draws on experienced officers from across the Agency and integrates them in one entity to bring their expertise and creativity to bear against the North Korea target.



A veteran CIA operations officer has been selected as the new Assistant Director for Korea and presides over the Mission Center. The Mission Center will work closely with the Intelligence Community and the entire U.S. national security community.



Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump spoke to his newly-elected South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and invited him to visit Washington.



The United States is mulling new diplomatic, security and economic sanctions targeting North Korea, which claims to be developing a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with an atomic warhead.



A bipartisan legislation introduced in the House of Representatives in March warns: 'Soon, many believe the Kim Jong Un regime will be able to target all 50 states and our Asian allies with a nuclear warhead.'



Pyongyang claims it is in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, fitted with a nuclear warhead, that could reach the US mainland. Experts say the reclusive Communist nation may be able to reach such capability in this decade.



Recently, North Korea fired four rockets in what it termed as a rehearsal for an attack on US bases in Japan.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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PUNE, India, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the new research report "Text-to- Speech Market by vertical (Healthcare, Enterprise, Consumer Electronics, Automotive & Transportation, Finance, Education, Retail & Other) and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets', the global text-to-speech market was valued at USD 1.30 Billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 3.03 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 15.21% between 2017 and 2022. Rising demand for handheld devices and increase in government spending for the education of differently abled persons are the major factors driving the demand for the text-to-speech technology.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 57 market data tables and 69 figures spread through 131 pages and in-depth TOC on"Text-to- Speech Market - Global Forecast to 2022"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/text-to-speech-market-2434298.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

Consumer electronics vertical to hold the largest share of the text-to-speech market

Text-to-speech is widely used in smartphones for navigation and personal assistant apps. Laptops and televisions also use this technology to help blind and partially sighted people access the menu with the help of audible instructions. The consumer electronics vertical is one of the major application areas of the text-to-speech technology. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Disability & Health report published in November 2016, over a billion people-about 15% of the world's population-have some form of disability. Smartphones can help this group of people to live more independently. With text-to-speech, these people can easily communicate, seek assistance from others, and stay connected to the society.

Download PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=2434298

Americas to hold the major share of the text-to-speech market during the forecast period

The Americas, which comprises the US, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil, among others, dominates the text-to-speech market in terms of geography. The US is expected to be the major contributor to the text-to-speech market in the Americas between 2017 and 2022. The increased adoption of machine learning in various end-user industries is driving the growth of the text-to-speech market in the Americas. The increased medical spending and government funding for education further contribute to the growth of this market in the region.

Inquiry Before Buying @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=2434298

The companies covered in the text-to-speech market are Nuance Communication (US), Microsoft Corporation (US), Sensory Inc. (US), LumenVox LLC (US), NeoSpeech (US), Amazon.Com (US), SESTEK (Turkey), iSpeech Inc. (US), TextSpeak (US), NextUp Technologies (US), Acapela Group (France), CereProc (Scotland), ReadSpeaker (Netherlands), Nexmo (US), and rSpeak (Netherlands).

Browse Related Reports

Speech & Voice Recognition Market by Technology (Speech Recognition, Voice Recognition), Application (AI Based, Non AI Based), Vertical (Automotive, Consumer, Finance, Retail, Military, Healthcare & Government) and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022



http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/speech-voice-recognition-market-202401714.html

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WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - At its Annual Conference last night, The ESOP Association bestowed its highest communications award to Mid South Building Supply of Springfield, VA.

The award (the Annual Award for Communications Excellence) recognizes companies that do an outstanding job of communicating with employees and the broader community about their employee owned businesses. The AACE is presented in two categories, based on company size. Mid South won the award among companies with fewer than 250 employees.

"The AACE is an outstanding achievement for Mid South, which is 100 percent owned by its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP," said J. Michael Keeling, President of The ESOP Association. "An ESOP is a unique retirement plan, and companies that implement them effectively often do so as a result of their outstanding communications efforts with employee owners and the public."

ESOPs have many unique wrinkles with which new employees and the community may be unfamiliar. Helping them understand this benefit requires particularly clear and effective communication.

Unique aspects of ESOPs include the following:

ESOPs hold stock in a trust (the ESOP trust) for employees for the duration of their tenure with the business.

Typically, stock is granted to employees, who incur no out of pocket expense to purchase stock or participate in the plan.

ESOP companies are required to provide employee owners with an annual update on the share price of their stock. As part of these efforts, many ESOP businesses offer financial training, open book management, regular town hall meetings with executives, and other forms of communication that go beyond what conventionally owned companies typically provide.

How a business defines employee ownership will vary based on the company's culture. So communication about corporate culture becomes important for ESOP companies.

The way a company defines employee ownership may benefit its customers. Communicating those benefits to customers may provide the business with a competitive advantage.

Mid South excelled at a multitude of communications efforts. Comments from the judges stated that:

Mid South produced a video that provided a clear and concise overview of the company, its values, and the pride of ownership felt by the many employees who are featured. The company offered 38 special events designed to maintain awareness of the ESOP throughout the year, and excelled at promoting the fact it is employee owned through a wide variety of channels including its website, logo (which announces it is 100 percent employee owned), trucks, return envelopes, and more.

Judging for the award was conducted over a two-day period by a five-person panel comprised of representatives from various ESOP companies and a business that assists ESOP companies. Panel participants included employee owners ranging from mid-level managers to top executives.

The ESOP Association has run the AACE program continually since 1992.

ABOUT THE ESOP ASSOCIATION:

The ESOP Association is America's largest employer-sponsored advocacy and education association focused on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Founded in 1978, the Association seeks to enhance federal laws governing ESOPs, provide members with expert information, and fund research via the Employee Ownership Foundation (an affiliate). The ESOP Association's members include ESOP companies, companies considering an ESOP, and service providers that assist in setting up and maintaining ESOPs.

For More Information:



Patrick Mirza

Communications Director

The ESOP Association

(202) 293-2971

Patrick@esopassociation.org

@ESOPAssociation

www.esopassociation.org

www.esopassociationblog.org
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has continued his attacks on members of his own party, accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., of creating a 'mess' over raising the nation's debt limit. Trump claimed in a series of posts to Twitter on Thursday that he asked McConnell and Ryan to attach an increase in the debt ceiling to a recently passed veterans affairs bill. 'I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval,' Trump tweeted. 'They didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval,' he added. 'Could have been so easy-now a mess!' Lawmakers face a September 29th deadline to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default on the national debt, which economists warn would be disastrous. A report from Bloomberg said Republican leaders discussed using the veterans bill as a vehicle to raise the debt ceiling but noted conservatives in the House have demanded that steep spending cuts accompany any debt limit increase. Despite attacking McConnell over the debt ceiling, Trump claimed in a later tweet that his only problem with the Senate Republican leader is his failure to repeal and replace Obamacare. 'The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened!' Trump tweeted. Trump has repeatedly attacked McConnell over the failure of the Obamacare repeal effort, although the White House has sought to downplay the tension. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The idea is intriguing: Enlist the Oregon State University College of Forestry to help manage the controversial Elliott State Forest.

But we're a long way from inking any kind of deal between OSU and the state  and OSU officials, in particular, should proceed with caution.

The Elliott State Forest has been at the center of controversy for years. It covers 82,500 acres of low-elevation woodlands in the Coast Range north of Coos Bay and features significant strands of old-growth trees.

The forest, like other forests managed by the state, is supposed to generate revenue through timber harvests for the Common School Fund. Here's where the tricky issues start to kick in.

Logging revenues have fallen short of expectations in recent decades, in part because the Oregon Department of Forestry also is managing these lands for other values such as wildlife habitat, clean water and outdoor recreation.

The decline in revenue from the Elliott forest has triggered some recent saber-rattling on the part of the Oregon School Boards Association, which has threatened legal action. (If this general legal argument rings a bell, it's because this is essentially the same case that a variety of Oregon counties  including Linn and Benton  have brought in a lawsuit against the state. In fact, attorney John DiLorenzo, who's leading the counties' lawsuit, also represents the Oregon School Boards Association.)

The most recent furor surrounding the Elliott fired up last year, when the State Land Board proposed selling the forest for $220.8 million. Environmental groups worried that an accelerated timber harvest could harm threatened and endangered species, while hunters and anglers worried about losing access to the forest.

In a remarkable turnaround, the three members of the Land Board (Gov. Kate Brown, Secretary of State Dennis Richardson and Treasurer Tobias Read) voted this week to keep the forest publicly owned. Brown pushed through a plan to use $100 million in taxpayer-generated bonds to generate money for schools without threatening the forest's old-growth trees, riparian areas and steep slopes.

Decisions about managing the rest of the land would be entrusted to a plan that would determine where logging could occur and where habitat for threatened species would be protected.

Still unanswered is the question of who would actually manage the land. That's where OSU potentially could enter the picture: Before the board's vote this week, Read reached out to OSU officials, suggesting that the university could buy the forest for $121 million after the state's initial $100 million payment.

OSU's response: It's an interesting idea. OSU President Ed Ray and Thomas Maness, dean of the College of Forestry, were intrigued enough to travel to the Land Board's meeting.

We understand some of the appeal: As Maness noted, the university's 15,000 acres of timber holdings don't include any old-growth habitat for threatened species; adding the Elliott to its portfolio would give OSU a chance to research how best to manage those lands and species. And OSU officials have to be tempted by another high-profile opportunity to position the university as an institution that's prepared to help solve some of the state's vexing problems.

But here's a situation in which discretion may turn out to be the better part of valor. To list just one loose end: OSU doesn't have $120 million to spend on the purchase and would have to use revenue from logging on the forest to finance the deal. But you can be sure that any plan for logging the Elliott will draw very close attention, if not legal action, from environmental groups.

We suppose that spending time defending logging plans in court could be good preparation for OSU's forestry students. But this may not be precisely the kind of hands-on experience the university has in mind. (mm)
The U.S. supplier of automation systems for the PV industry also saw order intake and quarter-end backlog increase in the latest quarter. All of the company's segments contributed to the turnover growth registered in this period.U.S. based supplier of automation systems for the PV, semiconductor and sapphire industries Amtech Systems Inc. reports that it registered turnover of $32.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2017, which ended on Mar. 31, 2017. Revenue for the period amounts to $32.9 million, of which $16.6 million comes from the solar division. In the same period of 2016, turnover was $22.5 million, while in the previous quarter sales reached $ 29.1 million. "The sequential increase and the increase from the prior year quarter," the company ...

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.
AGOURA HILLS, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Vape Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: VAPE) (the "Company" or "Vape"), a holding company focused on providing healthy, efficient, and sustainable vaporization products, would like to announce that it has reached a settlement regarding the recent dispute with HIVE Ceramics. The Company believes that the settlement is a fair resolution for both parties, which will allow Vape to refocus on its core business.

HIVE Ceramics remains a premier brand in the vape/smoke shop sector and can be found in over 600 retail stores nationwide. In addition to the Company's network of retail stores, it also has distributors within the United States and internationally. While HIVE has been less aggressive in its marketing recently, it plans to be more active in future events to coincide with releases of planned new product. Please visit the following link for a more detailed list of our authorized shops: www.hiveceramics.com/authorized-shops

Management apologizes for its limited availability in recent months and would like to ensure the public that the Company is working diligently to continue increasing transparency and communication. With the ongoing support Vape has from its financial partners, the Company is continuing to evaluate business development opportunities and manufacture products to satisfy the market's demand for new designs.

About VAPE Holdings, Inc.

VAPE Holdings, Inc. focuses on designing, marketing, and distributing various vaporization products. The company offers medical and food grade ceramic products primarily under the HIVE Ceramics brand throughout North America, Europe and South America. HIVE offers a nonporous, non-corrosive, chemically inert ceramic vaporization element, which can be used for a range of applications, including stand-alone vaporization products and electronic cigarettes. The company is based in Agoura Hills, California.

For more information on HIVE Ceramics and to visit our e-commerce site, please visit: http://www.hiveceramics.com.

From time to time, VAPE Holdings will provide market updates and news via its website http://www.vapeholdings.com/ or the Company's Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/1d5c7iO.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" that include information relating to future events and future financial and operating performance. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential" and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which that performance or those results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time they are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in demand for VAPE Holdings' products, the introduction of new products, the Company's ability to maintain customer and strategic business relationships, the impact of competitive products and pricing, growth in targeted markets, the adequacy of the Company's liquidity and financial strength to support its growth, and other information that may be detailed from time-to-time in VAPE Holdings' filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Examples of such forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future sales, costs and market acceptance of products as well as regulatory actions at the State or Federal level. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting VAPE Holdings please refer to the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which are available at www.sec.gov. VAPE Holdings undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations:

Marcus Laun

info@growthcircle.com

(888) 518-3274




ATLANTIC CITY, NJ -- (Marketwired) -- 11/09/17 -- Sysco Corporation has joined the 22nd Annual East Coast Gaming Congress as a co-organizer and co-producer. Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging and gaming establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries.

"We are thrilled that Sysco Corporation has joined forces with Cooper Levenson, Spectrum Gaming Group and Friedmutter Architectural Group to produce this important conference. Sysco is a great addition to the congress as the hospitality side of gaming becomes increasingly important to the future of the casino industry," said Lloyd D. Levenson, CEO of Cooper Levenson, Attorneys at Law.

"As the world of gaming continues to evolve with a greater focus being placed on food and beverage, Sysco is well-equipped to provide its customers within the casino world with innovative products and services, as well as differentiated customer facing technology," stated Karla Perez, vice president of gaming for Sysco. "As the leading foodservice distributor, Sysco helps customers grow through leveraging strategic partnerships and being a valued and trusted business partner."

ECGC will offer attendees its most ambitious agenda ever, with panel topics ranging from daily fantasy sports and sports betting, to eSports, to millennials and the casino floor of the future, to regulatory updates. Highlights of the event will include keynote addresses from industry-leading CEOs.

More than 600 gaming operators, equipment manufacturers, regulators, attorneys, architects, analysts, public officials, investors and other gaming-related professionals are expected to attend ECGC, which takes place at the Waterfront Conference Center at Harrah's in Atlantic City. The full conference schedule and registration is at www.ecgc.us. Early-bird registration savings will be offered.

For more information and to register, visit www.ecgc.us. For sponsorship information, contact Donna Vecere at dvecere@cooperlevenson.com.
AUSTIN, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- L2 Consulting Services, Inc. (L2) is pleased to announce the company has hired Adam Tsakonas to the position of Technical Sales. Prior to joining L2, Adam was Regional Sales Manager at International Communications Group (ICG) where he was responsible for aftermarket sales on business and heavy aircraft for over 10 years. Before ICG, Adam worked as an avionics lead with Associated Air Center, PPI & Chelton Aviation.

"Adam brings a wealth of real-world sales experience in addition to a working-knowledge of aircraft avionics, including Satcom and Cabin Communications Systems," said Ray Larkin, L2 Head of Business Development. "We are delighted that he has chosen to be part of the L2 sales team."

"I am excited to join such a dynamic company," stated Adam Tsakonas. "I look forward to utilizing my skills while helping to continue to grow the L2 customer base."

Adam began his career with the U.S. Navy and was responsible for maintenance of A-6 Intruder medium attack aircraft on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Adam currently resides in Dallas, Texas, but will be relocating to Dripping Springs this summer.

About L2

L2 Consulting Services, Inc. (www.L2aviation.com) provides avionics engineering, integration and installation services (FAA CRS L2ZR265X) for the global air transport industry. Since 1997, the company has been performing integration of digital avionics systems into analog and digital aircraft. Additionally, L2 offers full installation and support capabilities. L2 specializes in Satcom, EFB, e-Enabled, Flat Panels, ACARS/DataLink, RAAS, TAWS, Terminal and Cabin Wireless, Flight Data and FMS among other avionics systems.

L2 Contact:

Ray Larkin

512-894-3414, ext. 307

Email Contact




BOCA RATON, FL / ACCESSWIRE / July 18, 2017 / The Center for Information Security Awareness (CFISA), based in Boca Raton, FL, is pleased to announce the launch of several new and updated online cyber security awareness training courses. These new updated security awareness training courses provide 15 separate lessons which cover key information security issues that can impact the workplace. A full course addressing PCI DSS credit card compliance rules will also be available. Those interested can contact CFISA by filling out a form on their website.

Michael Levin, CEO and Founder of CFISA, says, "We are excited to provide our new and updated security awareness training made simple course and services to our customers. Since phishing and ransomware are now clearly such a significant risk to all businesses, we have incorporated this into all of our lessons. We have also included the security of social media and the Internet of things as an integral part of our training. Our customers have asked for shorter course blocks and we now have several new options."

The 15 updated lessons include up to date information on ways to protect against cyber security threats to the workplace including: phishing and ransomware scams, email security best practices, understanding social engineering, regulatory PCI DSS compliance, workplace physical security, effective password practices, safer Internet practices, social media security, as well as laptop and device security.

A growing number of reports, have identified employees and other insiders as the cause of most data security breaches. Better day to day security awareness practices along with security awareness training are central to reducing these incidents.

Based on customer requests, CFISA will now also offer two different course lesson options that provide the training in different levels of time allotments. The new CFISA courses will provide various options based on customer needs and the size of the organization.

CFISA currently has a wide variety and diverse blend of customers using their valuable training. These include federal, state and local government agencies, colleges and universities, hundreds of small, medium and large enterprises, and many financial institutions.

CFISA provides the online training in several delivery mechanisms including hosting the training on their site. They also provide the lessons in SCORM compliant learning management system (LMS) format to be hosted by their customers. Those interested can also view their Facebook page for further information.

To celebrate the release of the new course lessons, CFISA is offering special pricing options for all new customers and businesses of all sizes.

People are encouraged to fill out their "Request a Quote" form on their website to receive additional information and pricing.





Contact CFISA:

Michael Levin - CEO & Founder

(561) 325-6050

mlevin@cfisa.org

PO Box 810961, Boca Raton, FL, 33481

SOURCE: The Center for Information Security Awareness
Regulatory News:

NOT FOR PUBLICATION, DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, ITALY, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION OF SUCH A RELEASE IS UNLAWFUL OR WOULD SUBJECT VIVENDI TO ANY LEGAL OBLIGATIONS. YOU MAY NOT FORWARD OR OTHERWISE TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS INVITATION OR THE RELATED PRESS RELEASE AND PRESENTATION TO ANY OTHER PERSON.

Vivendi (Paris:VIV) announces that it submitted today an indicative offer to Groupe Bollore to purchase the approximately 60% stake it owns in Havas at a price1 of 9.25 euros per share, financed by Vivendi's available cash. The price offered provides an instant premium of 8.8% over the closing price for Havas shares on May 10, 2017. Factoring in the detachment of the 0.18 per share dividend declared by Havas, the share offer price represents a premium of 11.2% over the Havas share price on May 10, 2017 (ex-dividend), 11.5% over the weighted average share price over the past month (ex-dividend) and 20.6% over the weighted average share price for the last twelve months (ex-dividend).

This transaction displays a price consistent with industry multiples and is expected to have an accretive effect on Vivendi. It takes into account recent comments made by Havas management during its Q1 2017 earnings release presentation.

After having consolidated its foundations, Vivendi is now entering a new phase in its development and this transaction will give the Group a new dimension to compete against powerful global players.

This strategic transaction will allow Vivendi to accelerate its building of a leading world-class content, media and communications group and will ensure the newly created group a unique positioning in an environment in which content, distribution and communications are converging.

The proposed acquisition will enable Vivendi to strengthen all of its businesses at a time of profound transformation. In this environment which offers attractive development prospects, in-depth consumer knowledge and strong data analytics capabilities represent a significant competitive advantage.

This transaction will enable Havas to leverage Vivendi's skills in talent management, content creation and distribution. In return, Vivendi will gain access to Havas's expertise in consumer science, data analytics and new creative formats.

Through joining Vivendi, Havas will have access to financial resources for both its organic and external growth worldwide.

The teams from both companies, who share the same passion for creativity and innovation, will work together to develop value-creating joint projects while maintaining execution agility and their own identities. This transaction should not have any negative employment impact. On the contrary, it would generate attractive opportunities for all the groups' employees.

Vivendi's Supervisory Board, which met today, approved the indicative offer. Vivendi's objective is to reach a binding agreement with Groupe Bollore on the acquisition of its stake in Havas as soon as possible.

The closing of this transaction remains subject, among others, to the completion of satisfactory due diligence, the execution of a share purchase agreement between Vivendi and Groupe Bollore, the consultation with the employee representative bodies and the approval of the relevant competition authorities.

If the acquisition is completed, in accordance with applicable law, Vivendi will launch a simplified public tender offer on the remaining Havas shares at the same price, without seeking a delisting of Havas shares.

An analyst conference call will take place this May 11, 2017 at 6.45pm Paris time, 5.45pm London time. Speakers will be Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi, and Herve Philippe, Member of the Management Board and Chief Financial Officer of Vivendi.

Media are invited on a listen-only basis. The conference will be held in English.

Numbers to dial:

France: +33 176 77 25 06

UK: +44 330 336 94 12

Access code: 174 97 22

Slides will be available on http://www.vivendi.com/en/investment-analysts/financial-transactions/

About Vivendi

Vivendi is an integrated content and media group. The company operates businesses throughout the media value chain, from talent discovery to the creation, production and distribution of content. Universal Music Group is engaged in recorded music, music publishing and merchandising. It owns more than 50 labels covering all genres. Canal+ Group is engaged in pay-TV in France, as well as in Africa, Poland and Vietnam. Its subsidiary Studiocanal is a leading European player in production, sales and distribution of movies and TV series. Gameloft is a worldwide leader in mobile games, with 2 million games downloaded per day. Vivendi Village, groups together Vivendi Ticketing (in the United Kingdom, the United States and France), MyBestPro (expert counseling), Watchever (subscription streaming services), Radionomy (digital radio), the venues L'Olympia and Theatre de L'uvre in Paris, and CanalOlympia in Africa, as well as Olympia Production. With 3 billion videos viewed each month, Dailymotion is one of the biggest video content aggregation and distribution platforms in the world. www.vivendi.comwww.cultureswithVivendi.com

Important Disclaimers

This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer and should not be construed as constituting any form of solicitation for the purchase or sale of securities in any jurisdiction, including in France.

Vivendi does not intend to open the public tender offer described above, directly or indirectly, in the United States or to persons who are in the United States. Accordingly, no copy of this press release or any other document relating to the public tender offer may be published, distributed or released directly or indirectly in the United States in any manner whatsoever.

The dissemination, publication or distribution of this press release is prohibited in any country where such dissemination, publication or distribution would constitute a violation of applicable law or regulation or would subject Vivendi to any legal requirements.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the offers to purchase Havas shares by Vivendi as described herein. Although Vivendi believes that such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements do not guarantee the completion of the offers to purchase or the terms of such offers. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, including but not limited to the risks related to antitrust and other regulatory approvals as well as any other approvals which may be required in connection with certain transactions and the risks described in the documents Vivendi files with the Autorite des Marches Financiers (French securities regulator), which are also available in English on Vivendi's website (www.Vivendi.com). Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of documents filed by Vivendi with the Autorite des Marches Financiers at www.amf-france.org, or directly from Vivendi. Accordingly, we caution you against relying on forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and Vivendi disclaims any intention or obligation to provide, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Unsponsored ADRs. Vivendi does not sponsor an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) facility in respect of its shares. Any ADR facility currently in existence is "unsponsored" and has no ties whatsoever to Vivendi. Vivendi disclaims any liability in respect of any such facility.

1 Price paid at closing, dividend of 0.18 per share detached.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006034/en/

Contacts:

Vivendi
DUBLIN, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast in (West Europe) Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and United Kingdom By (Child & Adult)" report to their offering.

Influenza vaccine market for West Europe was more than US$ 500 Million. United Kingdom is having the highest seasonal influenza vaccine market share followed by Germany and France respectively. In children vaccination, United Kingdom is the leader and France holds the second spot. In adult vaccination United Kingdom and Germany have a close fight for top slot.

Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast in (West Europe) Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and United Kingdom By (Child & Adult) is a 113 page report with 99 Figures and 11 Tables covers 7 countries of Europe countries influenza vaccine market. In total 7 Europe Countries influenza vaccine market and its vaccinated population numbers have been captured in the report. All the 7 Europe countries are as follows: Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and United Kingdom.



Key Questions Answered in the Report?



What is the Influenza Vaccine Market in Netherlands , Germany , France , Ireland , Luxembourg , Poland and United Kingdom ?

, , , , , and ? What is the Children Influenza Vaccine Market in Poland , Germany , Netherlands , France , Luxembourg , Ireland , and United Kingdom ?

, , , , , , and ? What is the Adult Influenza Vaccine Market in United Kingdom , France , Luxembourg , Ireland , Germany , Poland and Netherlands ?

, , , , , and ? What is the Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast in Netherlands , Germany , France , Ireland , Luxembourg , Poland and United Kingdom ?

, , , , , and ? What is the Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast for Children in Poland , Germany , Netherlands , France , Luxembourg , Ireland , and United Kingdom ?

, , , , , , and ? What is the Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast for Adult in United Kingdom , France , Luxembourg , Ireland , Germany , Poland and Netherlands ?

Growth Drivers:



Vaccine Manufacturers Plan to Increase Flu Vaccine Production

Growing Child & Ageing Population in Western European Region

Rising Healthcare Expenditure Share of the Western Europe Countries GDP

Market Challenges:



Regulatory Challenges with New and Novel Influenza Vaccines

Lack of Healthcare Infrastructure

Limited Reimbursement and Access to the Vaccines



Key Topics Covered:



1 Executive Summary



2 Western Europe Countries Seasonal Influenza Vaccinated Total Population



3 Western Europe Countries Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Market



4 Western Europe Countries Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Market Share



5 Netherlands



6 Germany



7 France



8 Ireland



9 Luxembourg



10 Poland



11 United Kingdom



12 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine - Growth Drivers



13 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine - Challenges



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/lp9s79/influenza_vaccine

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
MONTREAL, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Montreal is back on top as the city having hosted the most international conventions in all of North America, according to the Country and City 2016 rankings released by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). Montreal finished ahead of destinations like Toronto, Vancouver New York, Chicago and Washington with 76 events held at the Palais des congres de Montreal, the universities and the city's hotels. These events attracted nearly 37,000business travelers and delegates to the city - 21% more than the runner-up destination. The last time Montreal finished atop the North American rankings was 2013.

Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/510830/Palais_des_congr_s_de_Montr_al_Montr_al_tops_2016_North_American.jpg

"The excellent work performed by the Palais des congres and its Ambassadors, by Tourisme Montreal and all the tourism and institutional partners, is generating remarkable results, including a top spot in international rankings like the ICCA's," indicated Raymond Larivee, President and CEO of the Palais des congres de Montreal.

"It's easy to do business in Montreal. There's a synergy among the city partners, the quality of the services offered by local experts is outstanding, as is the opportunity to interact with influencers from various industry sectors, not to mention the increase in number of flights, which makes the city even more accessible. I would like to point out the excellent of everyone involved," said Yves Lalumiere, President and CEO of Tourisme Montreal.

"I salute the collective effort that continues to nurture Montreal's international standing. Business tourism is of capital importance for the city's hospitality community," declared Eve Pare, President and CEO of the Hotels Association of Greater Montreal.

Satisfied attendees

Furthermore, once conventions are confirmed, Montreal and the Palais have an outstanding track record of meeting the needs and requirements of convention organizers and delegates. In fact, in a poll conducted by the Ipsos research firm for Tourisme Montreal, 95% of leisure and business tourists responded they were satisfied with their experience during their stay in Montreal in 2016. Also, 97% of business tourists would recommend Montreal to work colleagues and business contacts. "We provide an infrastructure that meets the needs of major international associations, and we are proud of our role in nurturing Montreal's reputation as a premier destination," said Chrystine Loriaux, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Palais des congres.

About Tourisme Montreal

Tourisme Montreal is responsible for providing leadership with regard to the concerted hospitality and promotion efforts aimed at positioning Montreal in leisure and business travel markets. It is also responsible for developing Montreal's tourism product in accordance with changing market conditions. For more information, visit www.mtl.org.

About the Palais des congres de Montreal

Recipient of the highest quality standards certification in the industry and shortlisted for the World's Best Congress Centre award (AIPC), the Palais des congres de Montreal attracts and hosts conventions, exhibitions, conferences, meetings and other events. It generates major tourism revenues and intellectual wealth for Montreal and Quebec, while also contributing to the international reputation of Montreal, the top host city in the Americas for international events. www.congresmtl.com.





For further information, Source: Chrystine Loriaux, Fellow Adm.A., B.A.A., Director, Marketing and Communications, Palais des congres de Montreal, Phone: 514 871-3104; For information: Amelie Asselin, Advisor, Communications and Public Affairs, Palais des congres de Montreal, amelie.asselin@congresmtl.com, Phone: 514871-5897; Andree-Anne Pelletier, Manager - Corporate Public Relations, Tourisme Montreal, 514 844-3344/514 248-7844, aapelletier@mtl.org
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session in the red, adding to the losses of the previous day. After a positive start to the day, the market slipped into negative territory in the afternoon. The weak opening on Wall Street dampened the mood among investors in late trade. The Swiss Market Index decreased by 0.27 percent Thursday and finished at 9,064.88. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.49 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.29 percent. Shares of Zurich Insurance were in focus, following the company's quarterly report. The company reported results that were slightly above expectations. Shares finished higher by 0.2 percent. Lonza climbed 0.8 percent and Dufry gained 0.7 percent. Lonza has completed its capital increase for the partial financing of its purchase of Capsugel. Index heavyweight Nestle ended the day higher by 0.1 percent. Financial stocks were under pressure Thursday. Baloise, Swiss Re and Swiss Life dropped by 1.3 percent each. UBS weakened by 1.4 percent, Julius Bear declined 1.2 percent and Credit Suisse fell 0.9 percent. Sika decreased 2.1 percent and Kuehne + Nagel sank 3.7 percent after it began trading on an ex dividend basis. The pharma heavyweights finished with small losses. Novartis surrendered 0.5 percent and Roche slipped 0.1 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - John McAvoy, chairman and CEO of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED), will provide a company update at the 2017 AGA Financial Forum on Monday, May 22 at 9:45 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time).

A live audio webcast and a replay of the presentation will be available at http://wsw.com/webcast/aga17/ed. The link also will be posted at the Con Edison Investor Relations website at: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=61493&p=irol-presentations

Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy-delivery companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $48 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through the following subsidiaries: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., a regulated utility providing electric, gas and steam service in New York City and Westchester County, New York; Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., a regulated utility serving customers in an approximately 1,300-square-mile-area in southeastern New York State and northern New Jersey; Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, Inc., which through its subsidiaries develops, owns, and operates renewable and energy infrastructure projects and provides energy-related products and services to wholesale and retail customers; and Con Edison Transmission, Inc., which invests in electric and natural gas transmission projects.

Contact:

Media Relations

212-460-4111
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Thousands of delegates representing unions from across Canada hosted a street party in Toronto's financial sector at lunchtime today. Delegates, observers and guests of the Canadian Labour Congress' 28th Constitutional Convention flew flags championing equity, green jobs, and an end to Islamophobia as key to a fair future for all Canadians.

Speakers at the event, co-hosted by the CLC and the Ontario Federation of Labour, highlighted the need for decent work and a $15 minimum wage. They also said that for Canada's unions, a fair future also means challenging racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia.

"The vision for a fair future means different things to different people. All of you here today show how important Canada's unions are in fighting to make our country better for all workers," said CLC President Hassan Yussuff.

"But too many Canadians still have precarious and temporary jobs, or have to juggle multiple jobs just to get by. Two million workers in Canada are in temporary jobs, and one million Canadian workers are working multiple jobs. We have to elevate the standard for all Canadian workers," added Yussuff.

"Tackling insecure, precarious work is the most important social justice and equity issue of our time in that women, racialized people, new Canadians, young workers and those with disabilities are the most affected," said OLF President Chris Buckley. "Here in Ontario, we need to see changes this year to our outdated employment laws."

Student union leaders also spoke to the importance of building a fair future for generations to come.

"Students in Ontario pay the highest tuition fees in the country," said Rawan Habib, President of the York Federation of Students. "As a result, students from the most marginalized communities end up taking on two to three jobs to access education and cover the cost of living. This often places us in precarious working conditions in a competitive workforce."

Bilan Arte, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of students, added: "Students and workers must be united in our collective struggles against austerity, and for good jobs, social justice and equity. A better world is possible - and united, we will never be defeated!"

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




REDWOOD CITY, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Lastline Inc., the leader in advanced threat protection, today announced a partnership and integration with Nimbusec, an Austria-based provider of advanced website security. Available immediately, Nimbusec now incorporates Lastline's proven advanced threat protection capability to detect malware that easily evades "next-generation" security tools before a compromised site is used to infect visitors and breach internal systems.

"We're enthusiastic about integrating Lastline capabilities into our solution because of the added value it will deliver to our customers," noted Alexander Mitter, Nimbusec CEO. "Advanced malware protection is essential to any effective enterprise security stack, and after careful review of available technologies we quickly realized the superiority of Lastline's solution."

Nimbusec customers now can analyze web pages for malicious code and block malware before it infects unsuspecting visitors. The proven integration makes it easy to deploy and supports compliance with European Union cyber security laws and the GDPR data privacy regulations. It's particularly beneficial for large enterprises that must monitor and maintain numerous global websites and have a distributed external hosting infrastructure.

"Lastline is already used to provide protection against advanced malware for a wide range of security products, from endpoints and email to firewalls and IPS systems," noted Brian Laing, VP of Products and Business Development at Lastline. "We're honored that Nimbusec selected Lastline, reinforcing our reputation as the go-to enterprise threat protection solution."

Lastline Enterprise is a behavior-based technology that uses a unique isolation and inspection environment to detect every action that advanced malware makes, while signature-based sandboxes and other "advanced" products only see a small portion of the malware's intended behaviors, or miss it altogether. There isn't a behavior that evasive malware can execute that Lastline can't see.

About Lastline

Lastline is innovating the way companies prevent breaches caused by advanced persistent threats, targeted attacks, and evasive malware. Headquartered in Redwood City, California with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia, Lastline's platform is used by global managed security service providers, Global 5000 enterprises, and leading security technology vendors worldwide. www.lastline.com

About Nimbusec

Nimbusec enables enterprise security teams to protect their organization from security incidents on their own websites. Its scalable technology detects hidden malware distribution, content defacements and blacklisting through high frequency monitoring. Based in Austria, Nimbusec provides its services to the financial industry, government organizations and IT security professionals across the globe.

Media Contact:

Email Contact

Noe Sacoco for Lastline

(408) 340-8130



Email Contact

Ingrid Baumgartner for Nimbusec

+43 720 88 49 59




LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- A coalition of faith-based organization leaders gathered in front of the oldest African American church in Los Angeles to endorse Robert Lee Ahn in his bid for the 34th Congressional District; calling him the type of leader residents are yearning for now.

"We just observed the civil unrest that gripped Los Angeles 25 years ago and seen the images of angry residents and burned out businesses. While the media has chosen to focus on the divide felt between African-Americans and Korean-Americans back then, we stand here today to show how far our communities have come in bridging those gaps by endorsing Robert Lee Ahn as our next Congressman from the 34th district," said Rev. J. Edgar Boyd, senior pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles (FAME).

The location at First A.M.E. Church was significant for its symbolism as a religious and cultural touchstone for the entire Los Angeles community and central starting point for the healing that has now brought the most ethnically diverse congressional district in California together.

"Robert Lee Ahn is smart and superbly qualified to be our next Congressman. He's a man of unique character and high moral fiber. Robert is a uniter, his history of bringing people together and commitment to our community make him the perfect choice for Congress, that's why I am proud to endorse him. Robert understands that service and helping others is what makes an excellent member of Congress. Robert's faith is an important part of his life and his servant-mindedness will empower the people of the 34th Congressional district," said Rev. Dr. Cecil "Chip" Murray, pastor emeritus of FAME and on the faculty at the School of Religion at the University of Southern California, in a statement.

The district is the most ethnically diverse in California representing African-Americans, Latinos, whites, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Filipino, Ethiopian, Jewish and Muslim communities and faiths. It is also the poorest district, an irony considering it includes the shiny skyscrapers of downtown LA.

"The needs of our community are many, but all too often we have not had a champion whose roots come from deep within it. In Robert, we have someone born and raised here, who has rolled up his sleeves and worked for the betterment of everyone and fought for affordable housing, keeping families together and small businesses hiring," said Pastor Jae Yul Kim, president of the Council of Korean Churches of Southern California. "This district deserves one of its own in Washington and we believe Robert is the right man to do it."

Faith-based groups have long been on the front lines providing housing, food, clothing, comfort, hope and referral services to this population of need and Ahn lauded the work they do and the important role the federal government should play in supporting their work.

"Politics and business as usual won't work anymore. We have complicated issues such as gang violence, lack of jobs, slow business development, drug and alcohol addiction, an abundance of homeless and a large immigrant community and a desperate need for leadership that speaks to the needs of the people and not of lobbyists and special interests," Ahn said.

"We need someone representing our district who has the intelligence, dedication, and moral fiber of Robert Ahn to bring about the real change we are all looking for. More than ever, it cannot be politics as usual, we need someone who has the courage to stand up against special interest groups and fight for the low income and middle class in our city who have been marginalized for too long. After spending time with Robert and seeing his track record of bringing people together to get things done, I am proud to support his campaign. Our country has become far too divided, and we need someone who will speak up for those who feel voiceless, but also be pragmatic in his approach. This is why you are seeing this historic coalition of ethnically and culturally diverse faith groups supporting a Korean-American candidate. His own experiences growing up here have helped shaped his sensitivities and awareness of what this district needs," said Jordan Wagner, pastor at Oasis Church and Co-Founder of Generosity.org.

Ahn is running to become the first Democratic Korean-American in Congress ever and the first in 20 years to serve in Congress. He also works as a public interest attorney and community organizer and was most recently a Los Angeles Planning Commissioner.

The 34th District represents all of Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Little Bangladesh, as well as parts of Historic Filipinotown, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Downtown, Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, City Terrace, Echo Park, El Sereno, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, Mt. Washington, Montecito Heights, and Westlake/Pico Union. For more information, go to www.AhnforCongress.com. The general election is June 6th.

Contact:

David Meraz

Campaign Manager

(661) 443-4842

Email Contact




Signatures are a common and essential part of the procurement process, and obtaining them can become costly and time-consuming. It tends to involve a considerable amount of paper, and introduces risk when documents need to be shipped back and forth to the concerned parties.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006186/en/

SpendEdge procurement intelligent experts explore the benefits of digital signatures and e-signatures. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Procurement market intelligence firm SpendEdge discusses these challenges in its blog How Digital Signatures and E-signatures can Streamline Procurement.

In the blog, SpendEdge points out that "Digital signatures and e-signatures both offer a solution to these problems. They allow documents to be signed legally without paper being mailed or participants traveling to another location."

However, the blog also notes some drawbacks to the process. "These types of signatures are not treated equally around the world. Different countries have different laws around their use, and what is acceptable in one may not be up to par in another. Additionally, not every organization or individual is willing to take on the risk of using them over a physical signature."

For more insights, get in touch with SpendEdge procurement market intelligence experts

Despite these challenges, digital and e-signatures are overall very beneficial to organizations, allowing for faster, easier procurement activities and reducing waste and expenses. With the right processes and tools in place, these tools can be invaluable.

Read the entire blog here: https://www.spendedge.com/blogs/digital-signatures-e-signatures-can-streamline-procurement

More information on the latest procurement trends how Fortune 500 companies are adopting procurement intelligence to their advantage can be found using resources from SpendEdge. These resources are compiled from SpendEdge's team of 500+ procurement solutions experts.

About SpendEdge

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are a preferred market intelligence partner for Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across industries. Our strength lies in delivering actionable insights that help sourcing and procurement professionals get the right information in the right format, without any unnecessary frills. For more information on SpendEdge's services, please contact us.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006186/en/

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

https://www.spendedge.com/

hello@spendedge.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump's approval rating saw a small improvement after the missile strike in Syria last month but has pulled back near a record low in a new Quinnipiac University national poll. The poll found that 36 percent of voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 58 percent disapprove. Trump's approval rose to 40 percent in a poll conducted shortly after the attack on Syria but is now back near the record low of 35 percent seen in a poll released in early April. Quinnipiac noted Trump is losing support among independents voters as well as white voters with no college degree and white men, which are important parts of his base. 'There is no way to spin or sugarcoat these sagging numbers,' said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. The poll also found that 58 percent of voters say Trump's first 100 days in office have been 'mainly a failure,' while 38 percent say they have been 'mainly a success.' The Quinnipiac survey of 1,078 voters was conducted May 4th through 9th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 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.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump sought to defend his controversial decision to fire FBI Director James Comey on Thursday, claiming that the law enforcement agency has been in turmoil. In an interview with NBC News' Lester Holt, Trump stated he had been planning to fire Comey even before receiving a recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 'He's a showboat, he's grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil,' Trump said of Comey. 'You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that.' 'You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago,' he added. 'It hasn't recovered from that.' Trump has attributed the decision to recommendations from Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who cited Comey's decision to publicize the results of the FBI's investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The move has generated considerable criticism, however, as it came as Comey was leading an investigation of potential ties between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign. Trump told Holt he specifically asked Comey whether he was under investigation for alleged ties to Russia, noting that he spoke with the former FBI Director once over dinner and twice by phone. 'I said, 'If it's possible would you let me know, am I under investigation?' He said, 'You are not under investigation.' Trump said. The president claimed he never tried to pressure Comey to drop the Russia investigation and said he was not trying to send a 'lay off' message to the next FBI Director with the firing. 'I want to find out if there was a problem in the election having to do with Russia,' Trump said. 'If Russia did anything, I want to know that.' Trump denied there was any collusion between his campaign and the Russians and asserted that the Russians did not affect the outcome of the election. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) 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.
WINNERS WILL BE HONORED AT GALA EVENT BY THE U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL H.E. ANTA"NIO GUTERRES MID - DECEMBER 2017 (Date TBD) AT CIPRIANI WALL STREET, NEW YORK

NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) invites media worldwide to submit entries for its 22nd annual UNCA Awards for the best print, broadcast (TV & Radio) and online, web-based media coverage of the United Nations, U.N. agencies and field operations.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/510968/United_Nations_Correspondents_Association_Logo.jpg

The prizes amount to over $60,000 to be distributed among the prize categories and winners.

Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2017

The awards are open to all journalists anywhere in the world. The Awards are:

1. The Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial Prize, sponsored by the Alexander Bodini Foundation, for written media (including online media). The prize is for print and online coverage of the U.N. and U.N. agencies, named in honor of Elizabeth Neuffer, The Boston Globe bureau chief at the U.N., who died while on an assignment in Baghdad in 2003.

2. The Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize for broadcast (TV & Radio) media. The prize is for broadcast coverage of the U.N. and U.N. agencies, named in honor of Ricardo Ortega, formerly the New York correspondent for Antena 3 TV of Spain, who died while on an assignment in Haiti in 2004.

3. The Prince Albert II of Monaco and UNCA Global Prize for Climate Change. The prize is for print (including online media) and broadcast media (TV & Radio) for coverage of climate change, biodiversity, and water.

4. The United Nations Foundation Prize. The prize is for print (including online media) and broadcast media (TV & Radio) for coverage of humanitarian and development aspects of the U.N. and U.N. agencies.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS:

Coverage of the U.N. and U.N. agencies is specified in each category; the committee welcomes coverage of all issues particularly on the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, peacekeeping operations and nonproliferation, including the elimination of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Work in print, broadcast (TV & Radio) and online coverage must be published between September 2016 and August 2017.

The judges will look for entries with impact, insight and originality, and will consider the courage and investigative and reporting skills of the journalists. Entries from the developing world media are particularly welcome.

Entries can be submitted in any of the official U.N. languages (English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian).

A written transcript in English or French will facilitate the judging process.

Each candidate can submit to no more than two (2) prize categories, with a maximum of three (3) stories in each. Joint entries are accepted.

Electronic files and web links uploaded to the online Entry Form are required .

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY:

Entries are submitted online by completing the UNCA Awards Entry Form.

On the first page, please complete your personal information and bio and upload your photo, then proceed to submit your work electronically by including web links and or/uploading files directly to the Entry Form.

** Electronic entries are mandatory **

All entries must be received by September 1st, 2017

For Questions regarding UNCA Awards & entries please contact:

The UNCA Office, 1-212-963-7137.

Or send an email to uncaawards@unca.com



CLICK ON THE ENTRY FORM BELOW TO GET STARTED:

ENTRY FORM

http://unca.com/unca-awards-call-for-submissions-form/
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. (the Company) (TSX: ENF) announced that the nominees listed in the Management Information Circular dated March 13, 2017 were elected as directors of the Company at the Annual Meeting held earlier today in Calgary, Alberta. Detailed results of the vote are set out below.

Election of Directors

On a vote by ballot, the following seven nominees were elected as directors of the Company to hold office until the end of the next annual meeting or until his or her successor is elected or appointed:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Votes For Votes Withheld ---------------------------------------------- Nominee # % # % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- J. Richard Bird 66,609,656 99.20 535,048 0.80 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura A. Cillis 66,989,134 99.77 155,570 0.23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian E. Frank 67,014,967 99.81 129,737 0.19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- M. George Lewis 67,031,373 99.83 113,331 0.17 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- E.F.H. (Harry) Roberts 66,829,301 99.53 315,403 0.47 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce G. Waterman 67,036,156 99.84 108,548 0.16 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- John K. Whelen 67,036,156 99.84 108,548 0.16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ABOUT ENBRIDGE INCOME FUND HOLDINGS INC.

Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. is a publicly traded corporation. The Company, through its investment in Enbridge Income Fund (the Fund) indirectly holds high quality, low-risk energy infrastructure assets. The Fund's assets consist of a portfolio of Canadian liquids transportation and storage businesses, including the Canadian Mainline, the Regional Oil Sands System, the Canadian segment of the Southern Lights Pipeline, Class A units entitling the holder to receive defined cash flows from the US segment of the Southern Lights Pipeline, a 50 percent interest in the Alliance Pipeline, which transports natural gas from Canada to the U.S., and interests in more than 1,400 MW of renewable and alternative power generation assets. Information about Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. is available on the Company's website at www.enbridgeincomefund.com.

Contacts:

Media

Suzanne Wilton

(403) 231-7385 or Toll Free: (888) 992-0997

suzanne.wilton@enbridge.com



Investment Community

Adam McKnight

(403) 266-7922 or Toll free: (800) 481-2804

adam.mcknight@enbridge.com




MONTREAL, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

ALGOLD RESOURCES LTD. (ALG: TSX-V - the "Corporation") announced today that the company is not aware of any specific reason, other than short-term fluctuations in commodity prices, that might be contributing to the recent fluctuations in the company's share price.

Francois Auclair, Algold CEO stated: "We are continuing to build on the momentum from the publication of our NI 43-101 report in early May 2017 and Phase III drilling results on our flagship Tijirit Property in Mauritania, are starting to flow. With approximately 60% of our Phase III drilling completed, the results published to date represent less than 30% of the 25,000 meters of Phase III. As of May 1st, 2017, Algold has sent to the SGS Bamako lab facility for analysis 6,594 samples (excluding QA/QC) from the Phase III drilling program. To date, Algold has received 4,095 results, with assays still pending for 1,963 RC and 536 DDH samples. Samples shipments to the laboratory take place on a weekly basis, and Algold anticipates releasing assays results as they become available in the coming weeks. The Phase III drilling program is focused on further increasing the resource base of the Tijirit Project.

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.

For further information, please contact:

Algold Resources Ltd.

1320, boul. Graham, bureau 132, Mont-Royal, Quebec, H3P 3C8, http://www.algold.com

ABOUT ALGOLD

Algold Resources Ltd is focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits in West Africa. The board of directors and management team are seasoned resource industry professionals with extensive experience in the exploration and development of world-class gold projects in Africa.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Thispressrelease contains and refers to forward-looking information based on current expectations. All other statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements (or forward-looking information). The Corporation's plans involve various estimates and assumptions and its business is subject to various risks and uncertainties. For more details on these estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties, see the Corporation'smost recent Management Discussion and Analysis on file with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate.Forward-lookingstatements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and 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 that are included herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Francois Auclair M.Sc., PGeo

President & Chief Executive Officer

f.auclair@algold.com

+1(514)889-5089



Alex Ball

Executive VP, Finance and Corporate Development

a.ball@algold,com

+1(647)919-2227


According to the Complaint, during the Class Period, Citizens Financial made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company's employees were falsifying information related to the Citizens Checkup program; that the Company's reported Citizens Checkup figures were exaggerated; and that as a result of the above, Citizens Financial's statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. On March 29, 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported that certain Citizens Financial employees acknowledged that Company employees faked "financial checkup" meetings with customers. The Company stated that the "Citizens Checkup" program resulted in 400,000 scheduled appointments in 2016, but the report stated that former employees said they falsified information due to the Company's pressure to meet certain program expectations. When this news was announced, Citizen Financial's stock price dropped materially, which harmed investors according to the Complaint.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - ECN Capital Corp. (TSX: ECN) ("ECN Capital" or the "Company") today reported financial results for the three-month period ending March 31, 2017. Readers should note that in this release, amounts reported for the comparable quarter ended March 31, 2016 is presented on a carved-out basis.

For the three-month period ending March 31, 2017, ECN Capital reported After-tax Adjusted Operating Income of $19.7 million or $0.05 per share (basic) versus $25.2 million or $0.07 per share (basic) for the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2016 and $28.8 million or $0.07 per share (basic) for the same period last year.

Book Value per Common Share as at March 31, 2017 was $4.75 versus $4.47 as at the end of the previous three-month period, including the precautionary valuation reserve for heavy-lift helicopters.

Originations for the three-month period ending March 31, 2017 were $398.2 million versus $533.8 million for the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2016 and $477.3 million for the same period last year.

Total Earning Assets under Management on a continuing basis as at March 31, 2017 were $5.7 billion, versus $6.2 billion as at December 31, 2016 and $6.3 billion as at March 31, 2016, which excludes the discontinued U.S. Commercial & Vendor business.

Net Financial Income, net of interest expense and provision for credit losses, for the three-month period ending March 31, 2017 remained stable at $52.0 million as compared with $54.8 million for the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2016 and $55.9 million for the same period last year.

Adjusted Operating Expenses for the three-month period ending March 31, 2017 were $25.9 million versus $21.4 million reported for the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2016 and $18.5 million for the same period last year. The increase over the previous three-month period is primarily due to corporate expenses incurred in the quarter.

Net Income (Loss) for the three-month period ending March 31, 2017 was $283.8 million versus ($18.7) million for the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2016 and $26.6 million for the same period last year. Adjusted operating income after tax of $19.7 million for the current quarter declined $5.5 million compared to the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2016 primarily driven by timing of corporate expenses.

"I am very pleased with the Company's operating results as we continue to position for ECN Capital's next stage of growth strategy. I am especially pleased with the impressive results in our C&V Canada business in the quarter, including increased origination yields, net interest margin and returns", said Steven Hudson, ECN Capital's Chief Executive Officer.

Dividends Declared

The Company's Board of Directors has authorized and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per outstanding common share of ECN Capital for the second quarter of 2017. The dividend will be paid on July 14, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 30, 2017. These dividends are designated to be eligible dividends for purposes of section 89(1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The Company's Board of Directors also authorized and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40625 per outstanding Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Share, Series A (TSX: ECN.PR.A) payable on June 30, 2017 to shareholders of record on the close of business on June 20, 2017. The dividend payment is for the quarterly period up to but excluding June 30, 2017. These dividends are designated to be eligible dividends for purposes of section 89(1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Webcast

The Company will host an analyst briefing to discuss these results commencing at 5:00 pm. (Eastern Time) on Thursday May 11, 2017. A live webcast of this briefing will be available through the following URL: http://services.choruscall.ca/links/ecncapitalcorp20170511.html. Presentation slides to be referenced during the briefing will be accessible in the webcast and on the Company's website: http://www.ecncapitalcorp.com/investors/presentations.



The audio portion of the briefing can be accessed by dialing 1-800-319-8560 toll-free in North America or the appropriate international number from http://services.choruscall.ca/public/accessnumbers.html and entering the passcode 47234.

The webcast will be available until August 11, 2017. A recording of the conference call may also be accessed until June 11, 2017 by dialing 1-855-669-9658 in North America or +1-604-674-8052 and entering the passcode 1372.

Non-IFRS Measures

The Company's audited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") and the accounting policies we adopted in accordance with IFRS.

The Company believes that certain Non-IFRS Measures can be useful to investors because they provide a means by which investors can evaluate the Company's underlying key drivers and operating performance of the business, exclusive of certain adjustments and activities that investors may consider to be unrelated to the underlying economic performance of the business of a given period. Throughout this Press Release, management used a number of terms and ratios which do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS and are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other organizations. A full description of these measures can be found in the Management Discussion & Analysis that accompanies the financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

ECN Capital's management discussion and analysis for the three-month period ended March 31, 2017 has been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and is available under the investor section of the Company's website (www.ecnapitalcorp.com).

About ECN Capital Corp.

With total owned and managed assets of more than $5.7 billion, ECN Capital Corp. (TSX: ECN) is one of North America's leading equipment finance companies. ECN Capital operates across North America in three verticals of the equipment finance market (Rail Finance, Commercial & Vendor Finance, and Commercial Aviation Finance).

Forward-looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding ECN Capital and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of ECN Capital's management. In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, including the future financial and operating performance of ECN Capital, the strategic advantages, business plans and future opportunities of ECN Capital and the ability of ECN Capital to access adequate funding sources, identify and execute on acquisition opportunities and transition to an asset management business. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting ECN Capital, including risks regarding the equipment finance industry, economic factors, and many other factors beyond the control of ECN Capital. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. A discussion of the material risks and assumptions associated with this outlook can be found in ECN Capital's March 31, 2017 MD&A and Alternate AIF Disclosure Document dated September 3, 2016 which has been filed on SEDAR and can be accessed at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and ECN Capital does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact:



John Wimsatt

647-649-4634

jwimsatt@ecncapitalcorp.com
Regulatory News:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (ticker: PSH:NA) today announces that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's ordinary shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"):

Date of purchase: 11 May 2017 Number of Shares purchased: 27,118 Shares Highest price paid per Share: 1,226 pence 15.80 USD Lowest price paid per Share: 1,218 pence 15.69 USD Average price paid per Share: 1,219.86 pence 15.72 USD

PSH intends to cancel these Shares. The net asset value per Share related to this Share buyback is USD 18.36 GBP 14.20 which was calculated as of 9 May 2017. After giving effect to the above Share buyback, PSH has 239,846,268 outstanding Shares. The prices per share in USD were calculated by Jefferies.

The number of PSH Management Shares and the 1 special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) has not been affected.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (PSH:NA) is an investment holding company structured as a closed ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170511006366/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Maitland

James Devas, +44 20 7379 5151

Media-pershingsquareholdings@maitland.co.uk
LAVAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- Savaria Corporation (TSX: SIS), one of North America's leaders in the accessibility industry, discloses its results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Highlights:

First quarter 2017 results, including Revenue, Operating income and EBITDA(1) , reached unprecedented levels for a first quarter.

Quarter ended March 31, 2017

-- Revenue of $31.1 million, up $4.9 million or 18.7%; -- Gross margin of $10.8 million, up $2.4 million or 28.1%; -- Operating income of $4.6 million, up $914,000 or 24.5%; -- EBITDA of $5.1 million, up $1.2 million or 31.4%. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (in thousands, except per-share amounts and percentages - Quarters Ended unaudited) March 31, ------------------------------------------ 2017 2016 Change ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenue $ 31,126 $ 26,216 18.7% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gross margin $ 10,845 $ 8,467 28.1% % of revenue 34.8% 32.3% n/a ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 3,337 $ 2,383 40% % of revenue 10.7% 9.1% n/a Earnings per share - diluted $ 0.09 $ 0.07 28.6% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBITDA $ 5,104 $ 3,884 31.4% % of revenue 16.4% 14.8% n/a EBITDA per share - diluted $ 0.13 $ 0.11 18.2% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1)Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization (see section Compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards)

A Word from the President

"Revenue in the first quarter of 2017 reached $31.1 million, up 18.7% from $26.2 million in the first quarter of 2016, establishing a new record for a first quarter. EBITDA reached $5.1 million, up 31.4% from $3.9 million in the first quarter of 2016. Moroever, our EBITDA/revenue ratio of 16.4%, is more than satisfactory for a first quarter," declared Marcel Bourassa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Savaria.

"I am very pleased with the start of activities of our new acquisition, Premier Lifts. The transition is proceeding very well thanks to the collaboration of the former owner, Timothy Blair, and of the employees in place. In addition, the launch of our portable patient lift is progressing according to plan; this product is part of our new "Monarch" product line which is under development and that will significantly contribute to our revenue in 2018. Our second quarter will see the positive impact of the manufacture of 37 inclined platform lifts for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Hubei Province in China.

"Our balance sheet is very healthy and enables us to envision a speedy revenue growth over the coming years, either through acquisitions or product development thanks to the contribution of our two R&D centers located in Magog (Quebec) and Huizhou (China)," concluded Mr. Bourassa.

Outlook 2017

Factoring in the benefits of the acquisition of Premier Lifts that was completed in February 2017 but without taking into account the eventual acquisition of Span-America, the Corporation keeps its forecast of revenue of approximately $143 million and of adjusted EBITDA in a range of $25.5-$26.5 million for the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2017.

Dividend

As per the Corporation's dividend policy, the Board of Directors has declared a dividend of 6.5 cents ($0.065) per common share for the first quarter of 2017. The dividend is payable on June 6, 2017, to shareholders of record of the Corporation at the close of business on May 23, 2017. This is an eligible dividend within the meaning of the Income Tax Act.

Savaria Corporation (savaria.com) is one of North America's leaders in the accessibility industry. It provides accessibility solutions for the elderly and physically challenged to increase their mobility and independence. The diversity of its product line is one of the most comprehensive on the market. Savaria designs, manufactures, distributes and installs accessibility equipment, such as stairlifts for straight and curved stairs, vertical and inclined wheelchair lifts, elevators for home and commercial use, as well as patient lifts. In addition, it converts and adapts vehicles to be wheelchair accessible. It also operates a network of franchisees and corporate stores through which new and recycled accessibility equipment is sold and, in certain locations, vehicle conversions are performed. Savaria operates a plant located in Huizhou, China, which increases its competitive edge. Savaria records close to 60% of its revenue outside Canada, primarily in the United States. It operates a sales network of some 400 retailers and affiliates in North America and employs some 500 people. Its principal places of business are located in Laval, QC, Brampton, ON, and Huizhou, China.

Compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS")

The information appearing in this press release has been prepared in accordance with IFRS. However, the Corporation uses EBITDA and EBITDA per share for analysis purposes to measure its financial performance. These measures have no standardized definitions in accordance with IFRS and are therefore regarded as non-IFRS measures. These measures may therefore not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies. Reconciliation between net income for the period and EBITDA and EBITDA per share is provided in the Reconciliation of EBITDA and EBITDA per share with Net Income section below.

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" regarding Savaria, including, without being limited thereto, understanding of the elements that might affect the Corporation's future, relating to its financial or operating performance, the costs and schedule of future acquisitions, supplementary capital expenditure requirements and legislative matters. Most frequently, but not invariably, forward-looking statements are identified by the use of such terms as "plan", "expect", "should", "could", "budget", "expected", "estimated" "forecast", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", variants thereof (including negative variants) or statements that certain events, results or shares "could", "should" or "will" occur or be achieved. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors liable to cause Savaria's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those set forth in or underlying the forward-looking statements. Such factors notably include general, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Although Savaria has attempted to identify the key elements liable to cause actual measures, events or results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements, other factors could have an impact on the reality and produce unexpected results. The forward-looking statements contained herein are valid at the date of this press release. As there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove accurate, actual future results and events could differ materially from those anticipated therein. Accordingly, readers are strongly advised not to unduly rely on these forward-looking statements.

For further information:

www.savaria.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savariabettermobility

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mobilityforlife

Reconciliation of EBITDA and EBITDA per share with net income is provided below.

Complete financial statements and the management's report for quarter ended March 31, 2017 will be available shortly on Savaria's website and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Reconciliation of EBITDA and EBITDA per share with Net Income

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quarters Ended (in thousands of dollars - unaudited) March 31, -------------------------------- 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 3,337 $ 2,383 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plus: Interest costs 182 196 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Income tax expense 1,147 877 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Depreciation of fixed assets 368 325 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amortization of intangible assets 187 168 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Less: Interest income 117 65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBITDA $ 5,104 $ 3,884 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding 38,016 33,684 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBITDA per share $ 0.13 $ 0.11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contacts:

Helene Bernier, CPA, CA

Vice President, Finance

1-800-931-5655, ext. 248

helene.bernier@savaria.com



Marcel Bourassa

President and Chief Executive Officer

1-800-661-5112

marcel.bourassa@savaria.com




SAINT LAURENT, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/11/17 -- IntelGenx Technologies Corp. (TSX VENTURE: IGX)(OTCQX: IGXT) (the "Company" or "IntelGenx") today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. All dollar amounts are expressed in U.S. currency and results are reported in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles except where noted otherwise.

2017 First Quarter Financial Highlights:

-- Revenues reached $1.4 million, an increase of 65% over the same period last year -- Adjusted EBITDA was ($117,000), a 79% improvement over ($556,000) in Q1- 2016 -- Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totalled $3.9 million at March 31, 2017, compared to approximately $4.5 million at December 31, 2016

Recent Developments:

-- Signed a definitive agreement with Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. for the development and commercialization of a drug product containing the cannabinoid Dronabinol for managing anorexia and chemotherapy-related pain -- Together with partner RedHill Biopharma, received marketing approval in Luxembourg for RIZAPORT for the treatment of acute migraines -- Granted an exclusive license from Eli Lilly for tadalafil film products under erectile dysfunction (ED) dosing patent, United States Patent No. 6,943,166 -- Signed a definitive agreement with Chemo Group for a generic CNS tablet -- Filed a preliminary short-form prospectus for a proposed offering of a minimum of Cdn$7.0 million and maximum Cdn$10.0 million in convertible unsecured debentures

"The first quarter marked a strong start to the year, as we advanced our clinical and commercial goals with the signing of significant new licensing deals and the completion of the approval process of RIZAPORT under the European Decentralized Procedure," said Dr. Horst G. Zerbe, President and CEO of IntelGenx. "Moving forward, we remain committed to delivering on our partnership agreements and bringing their associated products to the market as expeditiously as possible. With the newly granted exclusive license from Eli Lilly, we are also actively pursuing negotiations with potential commercialization partners for our tadalafil film products. We look forward to updating investors as we progress."

Financial Results:

Total revenues for the three-month period ended March 31, 2017, amounted to approximately $1.4 million, representing an increase of $535,000 or 65%, compared to $818,000 for the three-month period ended March 31, 2016. The increase for the three-month period ended March 31, 2017 compared to last year's corresponding period is mainly attributable to the increase in upfront and deferred revenues, which were partially offset by a decrease in royalties.

Operating costs and expenses were $1.8 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, versus $1.5 million for the corresponding quarter in 2016. The increase for the three-month period ended March 31, 2017 is mainly attributable to an increase in Research and Development expenses of $163,000.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, the Company had an operating loss of $457,000, compared to an operating loss of $706,000 for the comparable period of 2016.

Net comprehensive loss was $468,000 or $0.01 on a basic and diluted per share basis, for the period ended March 31, 2017, compared to net comprehensive loss of $707,000, or $0.01 on a basic and diluted per share basis, for the comparable period of 2016.

As of March 31, 2017, the Company's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totalled $3.9 million, compared with approximately $4.5 million at December 31, 2016.

Conference Call Details:

IntelGenx will host a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2017 financial results today, Thursday, May 11, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. EDT. The dial-in number for the conference call is (877) 201-0168. The call will be also be webcast live and archived for twelve months at www.intelgenx.com.

About IntelGenx:

Established in 2003, IntelGenx is a leading oral drug delivery company primarily focused on the development and manufacturing of innovative pharmaceutical oral films based on its proprietary VersaFilm technology platform.

IntelGenx' highly skilled team provides comprehensive pharmaceuticals services to pharmaceutical partners, including R&D, analytical method development, clinical monitoring, IP and regulatory services. IntelGenx' state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, established for the VersaFilm technology platform, supports lab-scale to pilot and commercial-scale production, offering full service capabilities to its clients. More information about the company can be found at www.intelgenx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This document may contain forward-looking information about IntelGenx' operating results and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about IntelGenx' plans, objectives, expectations, strategies, intentions or other characterizations of future events or circumstances and are generally identified by the words "may," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "could," "would," and similar expressions. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Because these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, IntelGenx' actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in IntelGenx' annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov, and also filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and www.sedar.com. IntelGenx assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Each of the TSX Venture Exchange and OTCQX has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

Source: IntelGenx Technologies Corp.

Contacts:

Investor Relations

Stephen Kilmer

(514) 331-7440 ext. 232

stephen@intelgenx.com



IntelGenx Technologies Corp.

Andre Godin, CPA, CA

Executive Vice-President and CFO

(514) 331-7440 ext. 203

andre@intelgenx.com

www.intelgenx.com




COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Key players from thefashion industrygathered in Copenhagen today forthe world'sleadingannualeventon sustainability,Copenhagen Fashion Summit.By the end of the dayglobal leaderslikeInditex, H&M, Adidas, Kering,M&Sand Bestsellerhad signed a commitment to accelerate a circular business model.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/511026/Global_Fashion_Agenda.jpg )



A significant outcome ofCopenhagen Fashion Summit, which took place today on 11 May 2017 from 9am to 6pm,was the launch of The Call to Action for a Circular Fashion System,presentedon stageby Global Fashion Agenda, the Summit organiser.

Eva Kruse, CEO of Global Fashion Agenda, states:

"I'm very pleased that some of the world's leading and biggest companies signed our Call to Action for a Circular Fashion System. I take this as a clear sign that the industry is not only aware of the need to change and the need to strive towards a closed loop system, but also ready to act."

Signatoriesof the Call to Actioncommittodefiningacircularstrategy,tosettingtargetsfor 2020 andtoreportingon theprogressofimplementingthe commitment. Variousglobal leaders like Inditex, H&M, Adidas, Kering,M&Sand Bestsellerpledged their support.

800 decision-makers gathered

Proclaiming that"beinglessbad is notbeinggood",sustainabilityleaderandco-founderof theCradle-to-Cradlemovement,William McDonough,kickedoffthe Summit's nine-hour programme,which boastedmore than 50 high level speakers,includingTiffany & Co. CEO Michael Kowalski,The New York Timeschief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman, circular economy authority Dame Ellen MacArthur, founder ofEcoAge Ltd. Livia Firth, fashion designerPrabalGurungand Hugo Boss CEO Mark Langer.

First-ever UN resolution on fashion

In the two days prior to Copenhagen Fashion Summit, students from around the worldworked to draft aUN resolution, the first ever on fashion. Today, they hit the stageto presentthe draft, whichwill be presented to the UN in New York later this year.

New global report: Pulse of the Fashion Industry

Earlier this week, ahead of the Summit, Global Fashion Agenda, in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, published agroundbreakingin-depth assessment of the fashion industry's environmental and social performance - the first edition of thePulse of the Fashion Industryreport. The 139-page report shows that the industry's sustainability pulse is weak - scoring only 32 out of 100 points - and that especially small and medium-sized firms, which represent about half of the market, have done little to improve their impact.The report is the first of its kind to ever use data from the HIGG Index, the world's leading standard in measuring sustainability performance.

These and many more of the report's findingsare nowavailablefor download.

Images from this year's Copenhagen Fashion Summitarealreadynowavailableat: copenhagenfashionsummit.com/press/. Click on "imagebank" for high-resolution images. Next week, all films of the stage sessions will be available for download.

For videos in broadcast qualityor any otherspecific requests for images,pleasecontactourpressdepartmentatpress@copenhagenfashionsummit.com.""

PleaseremembertocreditCopenhagen Fashion Summitwhenusing images and videos.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 11, 2017 / Renaissance Gold Inc. (TSX-V: REN) ("RenGold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has today signed a share purchase agreement ("SPA") with the shareholders of Kinetic Gold Corp. ("Kinetic"), a private BC corporation, whereby RenGold will acquire all of the shares of Kinetic in exchange for the issue of 6,832,933 common shares ("Consideration Shares") of RenGold (15.64% of RenGold post-closing). The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.

Kinetic was founded in 2011 by Robert P. Felder and Gregory T. Hill to explore for gold and silver in Nevada. Since 2011, Kinetic has acquired a 100% interest in six properties, a 50.1% interest in one property and an option to acquire a 100% interest in three additional properties - all in Nevada. These 10 high-quality properties complement the 15 exploration projects in RenGold's mineral property portfolio and in particular add more good eastern Nevada and trend plays that hold the strongest interest in the market. The acquisition of Kinetic's exploration projects will help replace projects which have or will be sold, optioned or joint ventured, and will accelerate growth in the portfolio when new inventory is important. Evidence of this interest is that the two most recently generated projects, Diamond Point and Spruce East, are being optioned by Kinross within four months of being staked. To keep potential JV partners interested in coming back to the Company, it needs fresh projects, and developing those itself rather than acquiring them will be slower given the Company's expected commitments of time and resources to our recently announced exploration agreements with Coeur and Kinross (see news releases dated February 9 and February 20, 2017).

On closing, Robert P. Felder will be appointed to the board and as President of RenGold and Gregory T. Hill will be appointed Principal Geologist. Ronald L. Parratt will become Executive Chairman and remain CEO.

Robert P. Felder, B.S., M.S., CPG - Bob has worked as an exploration geologist and in senior management for major and junior mining companies for the past 35 years. This experience has been largely in Nevada, where he has been directly involved in the discovery or resource development of five gold deposits, notably the Long Canyon deposit with Pittston Nevada Gold, New West Gold and Fronteer, and the Twin Creeks, Lone Tree, Trenton Canyon and Valmy deposits with Santa Fe Pacific Gold. For the past 20 years, Bob has served in corporate management and executive positions, where, in addition to his technical and leadership roles in exploration, he has been involved in corporate financing activities, investor relations, and presenting technical and corporate information to the markets. Bob received a Bachelor's degree in Geology and Mineralogy in 1979 and a Master's degree in Geochemistry and Economic Geology in 1981, both from The Ohio State University.

Gregory T. Hill, B.A., M.S., CPG - Greg is an exploration geologist with 25 years experience with major and junior mining companies in Nevada, and internationally. This experience includes exploration, development, and expansion of resources at several major Nevada mines including Barrick's Goldstrike mine, the Twin Creeks and Lone Tree mines then operated by Santa Fe Pacific Gold, and the Rosebud mine. He has served in technical and executive roles ranging from mine site exploration and development to prospect generation, project management, financing, and corporate leadership. Greg has worked or consulted for many companies, notably, Harvest Gold, Cambior, Placer Dome, Santa Fe Pacific Gold, and Barrick. Greg is a past President and Director of the Geological Society of Nevada and an active member of the geologic community. Greg received a Bachelor's degree in Geology in 1991 from Western State College of Colorado and a Master's degree in Geology in 1994 from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

To view the graphic, please click here.

Kinetic Properties - Wholly Owned:

South Roberts (Carlin-type Au) is a pediment project on the southern Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend. The targets occur along a major structural break interpreted from detailed gravity data, and are further defined by a strong enzyme leach gold anomaly, with associated As and Sb, with a defined strike length of 3.4 miles (5.5 km). Initial drill testing in 2014 has confirmed the presence of a gold bearing hydrothermal system.

Ferguson Mountain (Carlin-type Au) is in the platform carbonates of eastern Nevada. Targets are indicated by surface geochemical leakage of Au, As and Sb along structures. Drill targets are defined by the intersection of high angle, gold-bearing structures with extensive dissolution/collapse breccias and strong terra rossa development at the top of the Devonian section. The targets have not been drill tested.

Spring Peak (Epithermal Au-Ag) is a well persevered system in the Walker Lane structural corridor near the Aurora, Borealis and Bodie deposits. Spring Peak contains widespread gold on surface, in banded veins with grades up to 35 g Au/t and associated high As, Sb and Hg. Past drilling consisted of mostly shallow vertical holes which encountered widespread gold mineralization with grades up to 1.93 g Au/t. Kinetic's work has defined multiple high-grade bonanza vein targets, which have not been tested by past drilling.

Ely Springs (Carlin-type Au) is in the platform carbonates of southeastern Nevada. Rock chip samples up to 1.93 g Au/t with elevated As, Sb, Hg and TI  base metals occur in lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks displaying jasperoid and extensive development of solution/collapse breccias in a similar stratigraphic setting to Long Canyon. This area has not been explored for gold in a modern context.

Jupiter (Carlin-type Au) contains a large, exposed gold-bearing hydrothermal system with a known strike length in excess of 5 kilometers, and limited historic drilling. Extensive mineralized jasperoids, folded and thrusted Cambrian-Ordovician carbonate stratigraphy, Carlin-suite geochemistry and altered felsic dikes represent key prospectivity elements for targeting the discovery of a large Carlin-style gold deposit. Kinetic's geologic and targeting work has developed several new, high-quality, untested drill targets.

Pluto (Carlin-type Au) lies within the N-S "Rabbit Trend" and contains surface outcropping of high grade gold up to 13.1 g Au/t. Drill targets are defined by mapping, gravity and surface geochemical surveys and aim to test Antler Sequence rocks beneath the Golconda Thrust, analogous to the Lone Tree and Marigold deposits.

Kinetic Properties - 50.1% Participating Interest:

Raven (Carlin-type Au) contains a large gold system exposed in and around a window through the Roberts Mountains Thrust. Historical drilling indicates widespread mineralization in both upper and lower plate lithologies. Lower plate targets are minimally tested and represent a significant discovery opportunity in one of the few underexplored classical Carlin-type environments in Nevada.

Kinetic Properties - Option to Purchase 100%:

Ecru (Carlin-type Au) lies in a pediment setting on the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend near the Cortez and Pipeline deposits. Targets are defined by a large dome-shaped gravity high representing an uplifted block of favorable lower plate host rocks and spatially coincident Carlin-suite geochemical anomalies. Barrick has reported high grade drill intercepts (up to 1 oz/t Au) from their adjacent property, drilling on the same gravity feature.

Jake (Epithermal Au-Ag) lies within the Northern Nevada rift and contains multiple Au-Ag occurrences. Limited historical drilling has intersected significant mineralization including long runs (>100 feet) of 0.5-1.0 g Au/t mineralization including higher grade intercepts up to 11.3 g Au/t. This project has significant untested targets with strong discovery potential.

Many (Carlin-type Au) lies on the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend directly adjacent to our South Roberts project, and bordering McEwen Mining's Gold Bar project, scheduled to begin production in 2018. Lower plate targets similar to Gold Bar occur under alluvial cover.

SPA Overview

The principal terms of the SPA provide that upon receipt of regulatory approval RenGold will issue the nine selling shareholders of Kinetic the Consideration Shares. John Tognetti, a shareholder of both RenGold and Kinetic will indirectly own a total of 13.13% of RenGold post closing and will once again be a reporting insider of RenGold. Three directors of RenGold hold an aggregate of 5.14% of the shares of Kinetic and they will be issued an aggregate 351,351 of the Consideration Shares. These three directors declared their conflict and did not vote on the SPA and transaction terms. The Consideration shares will carry a hold period of 12 months from date of issue.

Subsequent to closing the acquisition of Kinetic, the Company has agreed to exercise an option to purchase the 49.9% participating interests in the Raven project not held by Kinetic for consideration of the issue of 370,767 common shares of RenGold and the retention by the current holder of the 49.9% participating interest of a 0.5% net smelter returns royalty on the claims of the Raven property as they are currently constituted. The shares will carry a hold period of 12 months from date of issue.

Kinetic holds an option to acquire 100% of each of the Ecru, Jake and Many projects until June 30, 2018 for consideration of share of the Company as to 477,331 shares for the Ecru claims, 372,541 shares for the Jake claims and 234,613 shares for the Many claims. The Company has not yet exercised any of these options to purchase.

Ronald L. Parratt, President & CEO, stated, "The acquisition of Kinetic accelerates the growth of our Nevada exploration project portfolio with the addition of 10 high quality exploration projects at a time when demand for new exploration opportunities is growing. Although the past many years have been difficult, Bob Felder and Greg Hill have acquired an excellent portfolio of exploration properties primarily by staking in a period with less industry competition. We welcome them both to the RenGold team and know that their substantial exploration experience in Nevada and technical skills will be of great benefit to ongoing activities within RenGold."

Robert P. Felder, President & CEO of Kinetic, states, "The combination of Kinetic with Renaissance creates unique synergies that increase our chances for discovery. Our high-quality property portfolios complement each other well and the combination of our collective expertise and experience will create a very strong platform for success. Both Greg and I very much look forward to contributing to the future success of Renaissance Gold."

Qualified Person

All Kinetic technical data disclosed in this press release, has been verified by the Kinetic's qualified person Robert P. Felder.

About Renaissance Gold Inc.

Renaissance Gold Inc. is a gold/silver exploration company that has a large portfolio of exploration projects in Nevada and Utah. RenGold's objective is to place the projects in exploration earn-in agreements with industry partners who provide exploration funding. RenGold applies the extensive exploration experience and high-end technical skills of its founders and team members to search for and acquire new precious metal exploration projects that are then offered for joint venture.

By: Ronald L. Parratt, President and CEO

For further information, contact:

Ronald L. Parratt, 775-337-1545 or rparratt@rengold.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.

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 Renaissance Gold Inc. 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 Renaissance Gold Inc's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Renaissance Gold Inc. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

SOURCE: Renaissance Gold Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 28, 2017) - Curlew Lake Resources Inc. (TSXV: CWQ.H) announces that Len Werden has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company.

Mr. Werden has over thirty years of experience in horticulture, with knowledge in propagation, hybridization and optimizing growth patterns and ecosystems in plants. This included being the designated grower for two medicinal marijuana clients licensed under the MMAR, and he was integral to developing specialized nutrient formulas and tools, which were utilized in the production of high-quality organic crops.

As a certified Millwright, over the past thirty years, Mr. Werden has been involved in numerous projects, including the Cyclotron Project for TRIUMF (Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics) at the University of British Columbia. Mr. Werden was President and CEO of Seashore Organic Marijuana Corp, which transitioned to Veritas Pharma Inc where he served on the board of directors. Additional positions include; President of the B.C. & Yukon Territory Building Construction Trades Council, Chief Negotiator of the Bargaining Council of B.C. Building Trade Unions, Governor of the Workers Compensation Board, Canadian President of the Canadian Millwright Conference, and a member of the B.C. Apprenticeship Board as well as serving on various charitable boards, community service boards and government advisory commissions.

For clarification, the Company's Officers and Directors are currently comprised of the following:

Jurgen Wolf, Interim President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Christopher Cherry, Chief Financial Officer and Director

Harold Noyes, Director

Len Werden, Director

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

SIGNED: "Jurgen Wolf"

Jurgen Wolf, Interim President

For more information contact:

Christopher Cherry, Chief Financial Officer and Director

Tel: (604) 718-2800 (ext. 314)

For additional information or to be added to the corporate mailing list please visit the following page:

http://www.curlew-lake.com/curlew/contactus.html.

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.
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 23, 2017 / Dr. Karl Jawhari, D.C., who founded the medically-integrated clinic dedicated to chronic back pain Dallas Spine and Disc Center, has spent his career working towards innovative treatments for bulging and herniated spinal discs. Often described as being similar to a jelly donut - consisting of a firm outer layer of tough cartilage surrounding a softer layer composed of cartilage fibers suspended in a mucoprotein gel - the purpose of intervertebral discs is to cushion and act as a shock absorber between adjacent vertebrae, as well as to serve as connecting ligaments holding spinal vertebrae together. While tough enough to typically absorb a lifetime of shock and impact, the effects of poor posture, spinal injury, repetitive strain and the normal wear and tear of aging can lead to a bulging disc or a herniated disc and associated pain.

"Intervertebral discs are an amazing bit of engineering," says Dr. Karl Jawhari. "The twenty-three discs help keep the spine in alignment and prevent the vertebra from contacting each other, while also staying soft and pliable. But it is not a flawless system, and bulging discs or herniated discs may occur."

A bulging disc is medically described as "contained," meaning there is no tear or rupture is present within the outer layer of the disc, although it is pushing outward and into the spinal canal. The degree of pain depends on whether the disc impinges a nerve root. It may not be painful at all, or it may produce mild symptoms ranging from numbness, tingling and weakness up to severe pain. Coughing, sneezing, sitting, driving and bending forward can make the pain worse due to additional pressure put on the nerve by these various activities.

Herniated discs are the second condition that commonly account for chronic back pains and are described as "non-contained," meaning a tear or rupture is present. They often begin as a bulging disc, until long-term extended pressure on the outer wall leads to a herniation. The pain from a herniated disc is frequently much greater than with a bulging disc, as it is caused by both compression of the nerve, in combination with painful inflammation of the nerve root caused by the gel-like nucleus pulposus leaking into the spinal canal.

Dr. Karl Jawhari, D.C., is the founder of Dallas Spine and Disc, an innovative healthcare center with a focus on back pain. He is a nationally recognized speaker for the Health Awareness Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes health and wellness in local companies by educating employees and creating a healthier environment through workshops. Dr. Jawhari has consulted with over 120 doctors in the U.S. on the application of non-surgical healing techniques such as New Life Laser, lumbar decompression, litecure laser and cervical decompression. He and his talented staff have treated hundreds of patients who previously had little expectation of relief from chronic pain.

Dr. Karl Jawhari, D.C. - Founder of Dallas Spine and Disc Center: http://www.DrKarlJawhariNews.com

Dr. Karl Jawhari - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-karl-jawhari-1b84b516

Dr. Karl Jawhari - Relieves Chronic Back Pain with Lumbar Decompression Therapy: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dr-karl-jawhari-relieves-chronic-113000032.html

Contact Information:

DrKarlJawhariNews.com

http://drkarljawharinews.com

contact@drkarljawharinews.com

SOURCE: Dr. Karl Jawhari
CANNES, France, June 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Senior EVP SY Lau Reveals Three Drivers of Innovation in the Digital Era; QQ Alert Wins Gold Cyber Lions Award

Tencent, the leading providers of Internet value-added services, yesterday hosted China Day in Cannes Lions and won its first Gold Lions Award, the Cyber Lions, for its QQ Alert. Reflecting China's growing importance in the global brand, advertising and marketing industries, China Day is the only national signature program to be held on Cannes Main Stage. The recognition of the QQ Alert: Hope Never Dies, reflects Tencent's ability to connect others, empower society and bring good and warmth to the public through its technology. Several divisions of Tencent Group are participating at the event, including Tencent Online Media, Tencent Social Ads, and the Tencent AI Lab.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/525952/SY_Lau_Tencent_China_Day.jpg )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/525953/Tencent_at_Cannes.jpg )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/525954/Tencent_QQ_Alert.jpg )



"Today's China is more commercially attractive than any other country, full of both fascinations and frustrations. No one can afford to ignore it, much less bypass it. International companies need to find a way to develop connections with China," said SY Lau, Senior Executive VP of Tencent, Chairman of Tencent Advertising, Chairman of Group Marketing and Global Branding in his China Day opening speech. "Today, China is the world's largest mobile market with 695 million mobile internet users, and the number is still growing rapidly. As one of the most mobile-oriented countries in the world, China's digital economy accounts for as much as 30.61% of its total GDP, and its growth rate is the world's fastest. Today, digital transformation is penetrating every aspect of Chinese society, and digital is the norm. China is transforming from a follower to a leader in the digital economy, becoming a true 'Digital Nation'," he continued.

SY Lau revealed three key drivers of innovation - ABC for short - through which the business and creative world will usher in China's digital economy; Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Cloud Computing, respectively.

Tencent has been researching and developing AI technology in four fields: machine learning, computer vision, speech recognition and natural language processing which will help to enhance our leadership in content, social networking, games, and cloud platform tools. And in each field the company has already made a number of developments. Tencent's "Fine Art" go-playing robot won the championship in Japan's Computer Go UEC Cup, and Tencent has applied AI technology to improve voice and facial recognition, social advertising intelligence and many other fields. Meanwhile, the company has created related technology available to government, banks, logistics, construction and other partners.

"AI will be the core force driving the evolution of marketing in the future. The focus of marketing will evolve from 'Big Idea' to 'Big Data', and from precision marketing to predictive marketing. The only way to advance in our quest towards the holy grail of marketing is to embrace this trend," said SY Lau.

During Cannes Lions, Wei Liu, Director of Computer Vision of Tencent's AI lab, spoke with Jean Lin, Global CEO of Isobar, on the main stage. Dr. Liu said: "AI Lab is striving to improve AI's abilities in understanding, decision-making and creation. AI can help us understand consumer demands better and faster. In addition, AI will help generate a strong emotional connection between brands and consumers, deepen their interactions, and create an unprecedented marketing experience."

With the continued development of the Internet and the rapid growth of data capacity, Big Data will become the ultimate competitive advantage for businesses. Tencent has years of experience in massive data operations, and the total storage of its data storage center exceeded 1,000PB, more than that of 15,000 largest libraries, including the US Library of Congress, in the world combined. Tencent ranks first in China in terms of the number of uploaded images and video views, as well as mobile "red envelope" cash gifts.

Cloud Computing is becoming the core infrastructure supporting the development of the global digital economy. Ma Huateng, Chairman and CEO of Tencent, suggested that future companies will process big data on the Cloud with AI. "Cloud Companies" are trending not only in China but in the rest of the world. Today, many companies are no longer limited to simple 'webification'; instead, they are rapidly moving back-end operations and data to the Cloud. Tencent focuses on providing enterprises with cloud computing infrastructure, along with AI, location-based services, security and other capabilities to promote the development of China's digital economy.

Traditional fields such as finance, government, public security, transportation, media and manufacturing, including heavyweight clients Taikang Life, CGNPC and Sany Heavy Industry have chosen to migrate Tencent Cloud. In 2016, revenue from Tencent Cloud services more than tripled from the previous year, and the growth rate ranked the first among Cloud service providers.

During Cannes Lions, Tencent hosted the China Day Signature Program commissioned by China Advertising Association. During the China Day forum, Kiki Fan, General Manager of Planning & Implementation Department of Tencent Online Media Group; Zhang Minyi, Deputy General Manager of Tencent Social Ads; Yan Xuan, President of Nielsen Greater China; Asmita DUBEY, Chief Digital Officer, Consumer Products Division, of L'Oreal China; and Chee-Guan, Group Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Shanghai, conducted discussions around topics such as how to leverage big data into insight, turning consumers into fans and how Tencent data sits across the entire customer journey.

Tencent's first Cannes Gold Lions Award win came with the Cyber Lions for its QQ Alert: Hope Never Dies, which leverages the 861 million monthly active users on the platform and AI-driven facial recognition technologyideveloped by Tencent Youtu Labito help find children missing in the Golden 72 hours, as well as years later. To date, QQ Alert has publicized 286 Notices for Missing People and helped locate 176 children and reunite them with their families. QQ Alert also won the Bronze Lions Award in the Mobile category.

Recently, Tencent Social Ads and Cannes Lions entered into a strategic cooperation to bring digital social networking to Cannes. Through multi-level cooperation, the two parties have driven brand marketing innovation in the mobile social era; and together with domestic top-caliber creative talents, the two parties launched IDEA + Creative Lab to promote the integration of Chinese brands with international creativity. During Cannes Lions, Tencent Social Ads promoted the exchanges among top creative professionals at home and abroad by sponsoring The Clubhouse. Cannes Lions also cooperated with Tencent Social Ads in launching a WeChat official account so that audiences who cannot attend in person can enjoy highlights of the event.

As the world's largest annual event in the communications, advertising and creative industry, Cannes Lions draws attention from major enterprises worldwide. This year, 15,000 guests from more than 90 countries participated in the event.

Founded in 1998, Tencent is one of the leading providers of Internet value-added services in China. Tencent provides core services including social platform, digital content and Internet finance, and, through strategic cooperation and M&A, has created an ecosystem that "connects everything". Listed in Hong Kong in 2004, Tencent has recently achieved a market value of more than US$300 billion, becoming one of the world's top ten companies in terms of market value. Recently, Tencent was ranked eighth on the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, a list put out by WPP, the world's largest communications group.
CBien, a French insurtech startup, raised 8m in a second funding round.

Backers included existing investors MAIF, MACIF and 5M Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to increase its reach in France, and internationally (Germany and the United Kingdom first), and continue to develop the platform.

Created in December 2013 by David Gascoin and Pierre Delage, CBien provides a digital asset management platform to secure, estimate and manage personal belongings such as a laptop, a smartphone, a bicycle, etc.

People can make a free inventory of their items, sell, rent, share and protect them in a few clicks.

The company has Paris, Nantes and Hamburg.

FinSMEs

11/05/2017
The job insecurity in the IT sector is getting scarier by the day. With Tech Mahindra joining the lay-off bandwagon, the employees in the IT sector are fearing a blood bath of sorts.

Complains that Infosys is "doing unthinkable' in the name of cost cutting.

A report in The Times of India notes the confessions of IT staff earlier used to be more about breakups and problems with managers. But now they are more about Indian IT companies cutting jobs in India while hiring in the US.

The report points to the role reversal that happened for the US and Indian engineers after Donald Trump's policies. Earlier US engineers wined about getting Bangalored while now it is the turn of the Indian engineers to complain about their jobs being snatched away by the US.

Every day there are reports of some or other company laying off staff. On Wednesday, it was Infosys, while on Thursday there is Tech Mahindra. Though the companies claim these retrenchments are part of the annual appraisals, they are creating panic among staff in other companies as well.

"Everyone is worried. There is so much talk about layoffs because of automation and needing to pay for US hiring. There is a new rumour every day, a TCS employee has been quoted as saying in the ToI report.
Cognizant Technology Solutions has blown the whistle on what many have merely whispered about on receding cost arbitrage of H1B workers versus locals onsite.

In a departure from niceties on the global outsourcing model pioneered by Indian IT giants, Cognizant CFO Karen McLoughlin said the gap in the price tag dangling on an H1B worker and a local American techie is now next to nothing.

The remarks came when Cognizant, which competes with TCS and Infosys, had an hour-long earnings call Friday, and the CFO was asked about the 13.5-billion IT giant's cost base.

In terms of the onsite cost, if we are hiring people with the same skill sets  a local worker versus someone who comes on an H1B visa, there really is no significant cost difference when you consider the cost of wages and relocation etc versus the compensation we are paying And with the H1B visa, you have to remember that there is a prevailing wage that sets the salaries and those are set at market rate, so there is no signifinant difference as you shift the workforce. The real issue to find the right talent. If we can find the talent here or in Europe, we go there, but if the talent is not available. As for the issue of moving work offshore, if we dont find the talent here, then the issue there too is about finding talent," McLoughlin stated.

Straight talk like this confirms US president Donald Trump case for an assault on H1B in the interest of American jobs.

Last week, Infosys became the first Indian IT giant to go all in and announce 10,000 US hires for its zero distance model from the client.

Now Cognizant is admitting the cost difference between an onsite worker, H1B worker and offshore techie has narrowed so much it does not matter anymore.

Whats in short supply and significantly more important, in all situations, is finding the right people for the job.

As the CFO, McLoughlin, who oversees a wide sweep of Cognizant's crucial worldwide financial planning and analysis, owns the companys balance sheet details. She confesses to a drop in realisations because of the rash of hiring last year.

Friday's earnings call, accessed by Firstpost, puts an official stamp to what was mere water cooler talk.

At Tape Counter 47:00 of the earnings call, McLoughlin explains how the cost difference that was celebrated in the early years of the (Indian) IT boom has been upgraded to irrelevance.

Reproduced is the most crucial part for H1B junkies:

Question from Bank of Montreal analyst: Karen, is there a way to think about how your cost base is changing? What I mean by that what I mean is youre applying for less visas but youre adding more onshore labour, so your cost per head count is going upIs there any way to quantify how thats changing your cost base? Are your costs going up by five percent or 10 percent as you increase your on shore head count? How much more can you move mix to be offshore? With the H1 issues that are arising, it seems like clients are more willing to move work offshore How much more room is there to move work offshore to mitigate the effects of higher cost of onshore labour?

Karen McLoughlin: On a like-on-like basis, in terms of the onsite cost, if we are hiring people with the same skill sets  a local worker versus someone who comes on an H1B visa, there really is no significant cost difference when you consider the cost of wages and relocation etc versus the compensation we are paying And with the H1B visa, you have to remember that there is a prevailing wage that sets the salaries and those are set at market rate, so there is no significant difference as you shift the workforce. The real issue to find the right talent. If we can find the talent here or in Europe, we go there. As for the issue of moving work offshore, if we dont find the talent here, then the issue there too is about finding talent.

So, in her answer, McLoughlin addresses all the three models:

-Onsite H1B

-Onsite local worker, say American in this case

-Offshore worker, say, in India.

Yes, the bubble has burst. It was a long time coming. We all knew this all along, its no secret within the industry, a New Jersey-based Cognizant contractor said, confirming the CFO's point and requesting not to be named.

Hidden away in McLaughlin's reply is a decade of shifts in how Indian IT outsourcing companies have bid for and gained from large projects.

Whether its a fixed bid, competitive bid or pure time and material projects where bodies are given for hourly rates or capacity contracts (so many people on site for so many months) which are renewable every year with minor variations like cost of living adjustments, there is always a rate card that supports these contracts and those rate cards in turn have many layers to pay for the staffing from juniormost to seniormost broken up into hourly or daily basis.

These rate cards dont typically vary too much between IT companies and these rates are not the basis on which projects are won or lost, unlike say in civil construction tenders. In the current market, TCS rates are lower than Cognizant, Accenture often is among the highest followed closely by Capgemini and management consulting firms, illustrates a New York-based banking industry client.

IT workers we spoke to in the New York area tend to agree that the fight is never on wage rates because the cost structure is mostly the same everywhere. The fight is who has the better people, better facilities and delivery model.

TCS, Cognizant and Accenture tend to win on these parameters is the client side view.

The size of the pie has not increased much, its the same players trying to bite off a bigger chunk of the same size pie rather than increase revenue because the customer is spending more.

In 2000-2001, the rate for a junior programmer sitting in Bangalore or Hyderabad was between $19-23 an hour offshore. Today that rate card for offshore is between $37-42 per hour. In the last half decade or so, Cognizant, TCS in particular got their nearshoring act together within the US and Mexico in less pricey locations where theyre offering the same junior developer at around the same $45 per hour rates, so the differential between Bengaluru and say, Texas is almost nil.

Clients naturally prefer nearshore to offshore because theyre in the same time zone. A large banking client in New York prefers to send its people to its nearshore centre in Tampa, Florida rather than deal with a Chennai offshore or Hyderabad. All this hits the margins that CFO McLoughlin spoke about in the earnings call.

In the mid-2000s, there was an unofficial rule of thumb many IT companies followed while bidding for projects - a gross margin of 60 percent. What does that mean? Coming back to the example of the junior programmer offshore whos paid around $27 per hour, the cost to company may be $9-10 so the gross margin could very well be 100 percent for low end resources and 40 percent for senior level people, so the overall fixed bid project margin mix used to be around 60 percent. Less than 50 percent, you dont propose for it.

As overheads drag IT company profits down, the overall margin that has now become realistic is barely 10 to 15 percent if you start at 60 percent.

What are these overheads?

Theres a cost to having a bench, theres a cost to not having a bench - you lose business. Cognizant seems to have perfected the art of the perfect bench, their marketing guys get the business and trusting in them, the company keeps the bench ready, says Ananth Shankar, an H1B worker who works closely with Cognizant contractors.

From the companys point of view, its the overall mix of revenues that matters more than being hung up on the H1B, onsite, offshore, near shore or hiring local.

When Infosys Vishal Sikka announced plans to hire 10,000 American workers, big data, AI-led work etc in Indiana, a lot of punditry followed thick and fast. Taking what Karen McLoughlin said in the CTS earning call and putting the pieces together, the writing is on the wall.

Welcome to the asset light, Uber version of outsourcing. New York, Texas, San Jose or Hyderabad makes no difference.

That said, Cognizant is handing out severances  the company calls them "performance reviews"  with one estimate putting job losses at 1,000.

Some sources who have spoken on H1B have not been named in the interest of confidentiality
In the last week of April 2017, NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy lobbed what could euphemistically be called a hot potato into the lap of the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The alacrity with which the FM reacted to this proposal was much more interesting than the Debroy suggestion.

Debroy made a strong case for taxing agriculture income. This was in sharp contrast to the governments stated position. It may be recalled that even while and after submitting his budget proposals, the FM had categorically ruled out taxing agriculture. On 22 March, he even emphatically informed the Parliament that Agriculture income is not taxed and will not be taxed.

Later at a press conference, Debroy stated that he would like to see the government tax [the] rural sector, including agriculture income above [a] certain threshold. Some people thought that Debroy was tilting against windmills, because taxing agriculture income is a politically sensitive issue and successive governments have refrained from doing so.

At best . . . instead of using agriculture income for one particular year, what I could do is I average it over three-year period or maybe over a five year period -- as agriculture income is subject to annual fluctuation. Barring that the threshold should be the same [as other taxpayers], added Debroy, at that conference.

In May 2016, the Prime Ministers Office had advised the NITI Aayog to prepare documents on 15-Year Vision, Seven-Year Strategy and Three-Year Action Agenda.

In a sharp rejoinder to Debroys suggestion, the FM stated that it did not make sense to start taxing agriculture at a time when you need to support it because of (agricultural) distress. He further went on to say that In any case, the central government has no power (to tax farmers). It is the power of state governments (to tax farm income) and my own view is that none of the states is going to do it.

The FM was clearly wrong on three points.

First, agriculture is stressed only for small farmers, but the fat-cat farmers. Large farmers have always found a way to beat the odds. They either manage to persuade the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to purchase their grain  even at inflated prices  or by getting the government to bail them out in other ways. In any case, the small farmers do not earn more than the exemption limit that most tax payers across the country enjoy. That is why calling all farmers stressed is wrong. The FM should also look at the ways large farmer-legislators thrived even as farmers starved (read here).

Second, the FM does not even need to tax farmers. He has only to find out if the income declared as agricultural income was actually from agriculture.

All that he has to do is to allow the income tax department to prepare a ready reckoner for agriculture the way the government has for real estate. That would allow the department to easily disallow non-agricultural income from being wrongly declared as agricultural income. This ready reckoner should clearly outline the maximum amount that could be earned per acre of land in specific areas. If the normal yield is Rs 5 lakh per acre, and the highest yield could bring in Rs 10 lakh, then the norm should treat excess income as non-agricultural, and thus subject to taxes.

In fact, this is what happened in 2011 and 2012 (see chart). Some 8 lakh farmers declared agricultural incomes of a collective (hold your breath) Rs 874 lakh crore. The figure was at least five times the total GVA (Gross Value Added) for the two years combined. It also represented 66 times total direct taxes collected over those two years (read here).

This matter might not have come to light had it not been for a PIL (public interest litigation) filed by a retired income tax officer before the Patna High Court. The petition asked the court to direct the income tax authorities to release the names of the top 1,000 assessees who had declared huge agricultural incomes. According to the petition, the total agricultural income filed exceeds Rs 2,000 lakh crore. Phew!!!

As the table shows, the average (which means that some declarations could be for significantly higher amounts) declaration was for Rs 30 crore per assessee in 2011, and Rs 83 crore per assessee in 2012. Surely, a farmer making an income of Rs 83 crore a year is preposterous. It must therefore be a false declaration.

The FM has thus not done the following

(i) to our knowledge none of the cases have been slapped with penalties for unpaid taxes;

(ii) none of the declarants have been hauled up for wrongful declarations (declaring non-agricultural income as agricultural income is wrongful declaration);

(iii) the declarations have not been cancelled. As of today, the declarations remain with the income tax department. However, they have not been taken into account by the RBI, the NITI Aayog, or the statistical arms of the government. The numbers give lie to the statement that rich farmers are very rare.

Third, when milk processing and poultry can be taken as non-agricultural income, surely sale of agricultural land, income from cash crops and other such activities can easily be considered as non-agricultural income. When the FM can do the former, why not the latter?

Yet the finance minister  once again, a couple of days ago  reiterated that farm income will not be taxed. But then wouldnt that be contrary to the governments espousal of transparency and equality?

The ministers refusal to tax agriculture raises even many many questions.
Last time the employees of the Indian IT industry went into a panic was when the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reportedly started firing hundreds of its employees in 2015-2016 leading to a new labour rights ferment in Tamil Nadu. Almost a year later, reports of widespread layoffs by IT majors have escalated fears of massive unemployment and loss of livelihoods.

The company in the spotlight this time around is Cognizant, that is reportedly sacking about five percent of its employees which will translate to about 10,000 people. This is still lower than the number of people allegedly laid off by TCS in 2015, as quoted by employees and labour unions. But the problem now is more complex because its not just Cognizant thats sending employees home, but also others such as Infosys, Wipro, HCL, Tech Mahindra and so on.

The writing about the changing complexion of IT and services outsouring has always been on the wall because of the changing nature of technology and its practice. A US research company had said last year that by 2021, India would lose 6.4 lakh jobs in the sector - on an average, more than a lakh a year. However, when it begins to happen, its like a savage storm hitting the shore. Losing ones job with poor prospect of finding another one is devastating. Pink slips are being handed to the employees with a demoralising advise that they hadnt performed well. When it happens to be people in their 30s and 40s, its far more devastating.

In addition, that there will be fewer entry level jobs make the situation bleak for tens of thousands of aspiring engineering students. The sector employs close to 40 lakh people and the annual hire runs into a couple of lakhs.

What the companies are doing, in their perspective, is unavoidable because they have to cut the flab. But the process is unethical and against labour rules. Last year, in the wake of the TCS layoff, the Tamil Nadu government had clarified that employees can form trade unions to redress their grievances by invoking the Industrial Disputes Act 1947. Three years earlier, Karnataka had tried to lift the decade-long exemption from the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act (1946) that it had granted the IT industry for more than a decade; but had to retreat within a few months under pressure. Given their contribution to the economy and the job market, and their growth potential, the state and central government have always treated them with remarkable exceptions. This blanket exclusion will certainly come under pressure if layoffs become a norm.

Not that the industry and the policy makers didnt know that there would be an end to the IT-outsourcing and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) honeymoon sooner than later. The forecast of losing jobs was based on the changing nature of technology in the industry. Automation can easily skim off about 30 percent routine, assembly line code-writers and another eight percent semi-skilled employees. Unfortunately, bulk of the IT-hire in India are for low-paid, low-value software writing and testing, a sizeable part of which could be taken over by machines. However, whats of value will be big data, analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things etc. Sadly, the new engineering graduates have no idea what they are and all they aspire for is to get mass-recruited for the low-value jobs that are on the chopping board now.

If machines and artificial intelligence always remained a threat to the labour-intensive Indian IT market, whats making the threat more imminent now is the rapid roll out of protectionism by the Donald Trump administration in the US. Theres immense pressure on Indian IT companies to replace onsite Indian workers with Americans, and Cognizant is already doing it. According to the company CFO, hiring Americans for onsite assignment - instead of bringing Indians on H-1B Visa - doesnt have major financial advantage any more. If the low value jobs of code-writing and testing can be handled by machines and onsite jobs can be managed by Americans themselves, its bad news indeed for Indians.

Seemingly, the Indian companies dont care much about the job-losses because in most locations they are practically untouched by conventional labour laws and unionism. Whats more important to them is maintaining their double-digit growth and meeting the quarter-to-quarter projections. So, if Trump wants them to hire Americans, they will hire Americans. Infosys has already announced they would recruit about 10,000 people in multiple US locations, while Cognizant is also hiring Americans lest they should lose their existing outsourced projects.

With pressure of local hire mounting, many American companies that were dependent on offshore talent, including for back office work and knowledge processing, have started hiring directly. It would also translate into job losses in India. In fact, the threat is two fold - Indian companies losing contracts and hence laying off people, and Indian companies voluntary hiring Americans to keep their contracts and hence culling unwanted employees back home.

The IT-BPM (Business Process Management) industry was a godsend for the Indian economy since the 1990s. According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), it earns about US $143 billion a year, out of which about US $110 billion are from exports. In fact, India accounts for more than half of global outsourcing in this sector. Its the largest private employer in the country that also accounts for the largest share of export of services. From about 1.2 percent 20 years ago, its share of the of the GDP today is pushing 10 percent.

Conventional wisdom always advised against putting all the eggs in the same basket. Too much reliance on the American market - about 60 percent - being content with labour-contracting for immediate balance sheet requirements and not moving up the value chain have finally started biting the industry. Sacking 10,000 people means depriving livelihoods for 10,000 or more households. When the scale increases, its cascading effect will certainly hurt local economies.

Will the sector still touch the US $300 billion revenue target projected by Nasscom? Will it continue to grow at about 13 percent?

The glimmer of hope is the domestic industry which the Nasscom expects to grow at 15-17 percent this year, mainly riding on the e-commerce expansion; but if the local e-commerce industry is run over by global biggies employing predator technologies and financial muscle, India will be left with fewer options.

Heres some food for thought: imports account for 65 percent of the Indian electronics industry, thats projected to touch US $400 billion by 2020, at an annual growth of 25 percent - more than double the growth rate of the IT-BPM industry. Can Make in India change this? Then we can more than compensate for our projected losses. India should be ashamed of the fact it cannot survive without imports from China - from plastic disposables to telecom equipment and underground boring machines.
(This is an updated version of an earlier published story)

News of large scale job cuts are increasingly emerging from major Indian IT companies. According to a report in the Times of India, these job cuts are happening in a scale not seen since 2008-2010 global economic crisis. Those who have handed over pink slips to middle level staff or in the process of doing so include Cognizant, Wipro, Infosys and Tech Mahindra (read here).

Though these companies have maintained that the job cuts are part of the regular process of weeding out the bottom performers, it is not hard to understand that slowing business growth, pressure to cut costs and work permit restrictions for foreigners in countries like US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand also weigh heavily leading to staff reductions. Some large IT firms have lowered their growth forecasts giving an indication of what lies ahead. Globally, countries are focusing more on local hiring and the writing was on the wall for the IT industry too. In a difficult business environment, companies typically tend to take measures to preserve capital and cut jobs.

Partly, it is also a failure of India to convince the developed countries to taka a softer approach to Indian workers. As pointed out by Sanjay Ghosh, Labour Lawyer and columnist in this article in DNA, this is also a foreign policy failure of Modi and the inability of this government to put pressure on foreign governments to calibrate their policies taking into account Indias interest.

What does it mean for India? IT industry is one of the largest employers for Indians. Hence, the problem of job losses isnt something one can ignore. But, more worrying aspect is that the trend may not confine to the IT sector alone. Pressure on margins, difficult business environment and automation will push companies to trim more staff, particularly in sectors like manufacturing and construction and e-commerce companies. Manufacturing sector has already seen a number of jobs being cut.

In April-September period last year, engineering major Larsen & Toubro laid off 14,000 employees across businesses saying it was a 'strategic decision' necessary to stay 'agile and competitive', a PTI report said. Similarly, in July last year, reports came that India's largest e-commerce company, Flipkart was sacking at least 700 employees, or over three percent of its workforce, as it looks to cut costs, the PTI reported. There have been job cuts across other verticals too (read Firstpost story here) from companies such as Ola Cabs, AskMe and others. The tightening of H-1b visa regulations in the US and elsewhere poses an immediate problem. Industry Assocham has already warned that Indian IT firms may be forced to lay off staff due to the tightening of US H-1b visas.

Modis challenge

Ever since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 May, job creation has been a major challenge for his government. Modi promised one crore jobs to Indians during his term. But, after three years of his rule this promise remains a promise. That is despite his ambitious Make in India programme generating interest from foreign investors. Reasons for this arent difficult to understand. With private investment cycle refusing to take off in a big way and global situation turning adverse, job creation is an extremely difficult task for any government, not just for Modi. Even the previous UPA-government had faced criticism for an era of jobless growth.

But, the current global economic scenario poses even bigger challenges for Modi government. The Modi-government seems to have sensed the urgency to focus on job creation. In May this year, PM Modi directed (read here) that all proposals sent to the cabinet must state the number of jobs they can generate. In the run up to 2017 Union Budget, rating agency, Crisil, said that over 1.5 million people are entering the job market every month and the rapid adoption of automation which reduces the dependency on labour is only aggravating the situation.

"The last three years have seen a slow but steady uptick in economic growth, but it is likely that this hasn't been accompanied by commensurate job increase in employment and that those sectors which grew faster have low labour intensity and share in overall output," the agency said in a note. NITI Aayog, the governments think-tank has estimated the unemployment rate between 5 percent and 8 percent currently.

According to a response by Minister of State for Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh in Parliament in February this year, the unemployment rate in the country is on the rise. The condition of people in the category of Other Backward Classes (OBC) is worse among the broader population. While the overall unemployment rate in the country is 5 percent, it is 5.2 percent for OBCs.

To get a perspective, one needs to look at the historic numbers as well. The unemployment rate in the country was 4.9 percent in 2013, 4.7 percent in 2012 and 3.8 percent in 2011. As for the scheduled castes, the unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in 2011, which has now risen to 5 percent. That means, while there has been a steady increase in the number of jobless people since 2011, there has been a worrying, almost double, jump in the figures pertaining to the unemployment figures among the scheduled castes.

In fact, ever since Modi came to power, there have been several cases of job losses in the informal sectors, thanks to steps such as 8 November, 2016 demonetisation announcement that has hit cash-intense sectors. Why is there no job growth domestically? The simple reason is that investments are not picking up at the desired pace. Unless new factories and projects come up, it is difficult to generate more jobs.

Clearly, Modis challenge is political as well. The PM has faced criticism even from the labour arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for losing more jobs rather than creating new ones. "Under the new government, 1 lakh and 35 thousand job opportunities have been created so far but 20 lakh people have lost their jobs," Baij Nath Rai, president of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, told The Telegraph in December last year.

In a difficult business environment and adverse global scenario, pink slips may not be limited to the IT sector alone, the pain will be visible in other sectors as well. This makes Narendra Modi task of employment generation a lot tougher.
If a circular on the website of the State Bank of India (SBI) is any indication, from 1 June onwards every cash withdrawal from SBIs ATMs will attract a charge of Rs 25 per transaction.

Every IMPS transfer through mobile, UPI or internet banking will be charged Rs 5 till Rs 1 lakh plus service tax, Rs 15 till Rs 2 lakh and Rs 25 above that. For basic savings bank deposit accounts, beyond 4 free cash withdrawals (both at branch and ATM), SBI will charge Rs 50 plus service tax for withdrawals at branches, Rs 10 per SBI ATMs and Rs 20 per other bank ATMs.

Not just that, even to exchange soiled notes, the bank will now charge a nominal fee. An SBI official said there is some confusion about the charge structure and the bank will soon clarify on the issue. But, already, there has been protests against the bank in states like Kerala (read here), where the LDF government has sought explanation from SBI officials for charging common customers."

This is outrageous and the central government is cheating the people. Ever since the demonetisation began, the Centre has been bullying people. This is going to be taken up in and out of parliament very strongly," IANS quoted CPM Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh as saying.

It wasnt long ago when SBI said it will penalise customers if minimum average balance falls below Rs 5,000 a month, which drew protests. As things stand, the Rs 25 per cash withdrawal rule will have even bigger adverse impact on the common man, particularly those who are yet to migrate to internet, mobile banking for daily transactions. As far as this segment is concerned, SBIs move is illogical and something thatll drive away the common customer from the banks back to the informal banking channels.

Also, it is a bit surprising to see banks like SBI even imposing charges on internet fund transfers and deposit/withdrawals through BCs (business correspondents) at a time when the Narendra Modi-government is trying hard to encourage more number of people to use non-cash methods and expand banking services to the far flung areas of the country where bank branches are not present.

Not just SBI, other banks too have been more aggressive in the recent past to charge the customer almost for every service including cash withdrawals, particularly non-home branch customers. Non-home branch customer will have to pay more for services compared with home-branch client. Here, the question is why should a bank punish its customers on the basis of a home branch and non-home branch transactions when bank accounts are operated in core banking mode? Typically, banks give a reason to keep restrictions on cash transactions (even in public sector banks) from a customer from other branches of the same bank citing the KYC issue.

The logic is that the home branch would know the background of the customer better and hence can take more informed decisions on their transactions. But, in the era of core banking, this shouldnt happen. For instance, if a young customer has his home branch in one city and if he/she is currently based in another place for employment purpose, obviously the person cannot go to home branch to perform the cash transaction to avoid non-home branch customer fees.

As far as imposing charges on every ATM withdrawals are concerned, SBIs move lacks logic in every sense. In the rural India, people still predominantly use cash to fulfill their daily transactions and ATMs continue to be major centres for cash withdrawals. Those customers in the small income group and students will have to draw small amounts multiple times from ATMs. The Rs 25 per transaction charge will impact them hard.

If the idea is to push people to use less cash, this should happen over a period of time in a gradual manner. By suddenly imposing charges on every ATM cash withdrawals, SBI seems to be in a hurry to drive away the common man from its branches and ATMs. With a major shift to a cashless society is still away, ATMs continue to be the favourite options for the common man to draw cash. In this context, SBIs move to impose charges on ATM cash withdrawals is illogical and will hurt the common man.

SBI clarification: Later SBI clarified that the Rs 25 per ATM transactions is only for SBI Buddy customers and not for all customers. The bank also clarified that the limit of 4 ATM withdrawals in a month only applies to the Basic Savings Banks deposit account. All Normal Saving Bank accounts will continue to get 8 free ATM transactions (5 SBI ATMs + 3 other bank ATMs) in Metros and 10 free transactions in Non Metro (SBI ATM + 5 Other Bank ATMs) free apart from the bank transaction.
Mumbai: Businessman Raj Kundra on Wednesday attended Kongaon police station in neighbouring Thane district to face inquiry in a case of cheating registered against him and his actor wife, Shilpa Shetty Kundra.

Raj came to Kongaon police station in Bhiwandi tehsil at 10 am and was questioned till 1 pm, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Manoj Patil said. "He was asked to come to the police station for questioning tomorrow and the day after too", DCP Patil said.

Last month, the police registered a case against Shilpa and Raj for allegedly duping a textile firm owner of Rs 24 lakh under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

Big Deals, a company of which Shetty and Kundra are directors, sold bed sheets through TV ads and collected money on behalf of Bhiwandi-based Malotia Textiles, but didnt pay the proceeds to the manufacturer firm, the FIR said.
By Alexander Cornwell, Agnieszka Flak and Tim Hepher

| DUBAI/MILAN/PARIS

DUBAI/MILAN/PARIS The naming of a new boss at Etihad Airways presents the Gulf carrier with an opportunity to rethink its aggressive expansion strategy after the failure of minority-owned Alitalia underlined the big barriers to global growth. Ray Gammell was appointed interim CEO this week, days after Alitalia sought bankruptcy protection with $3.3 billion of debt. He replaces veteran boss James Hogan.Hogan's strategy was to buy up minority stakes in myriad airlines but the struggles of that strategy, most recently with Alitalia, are emblematic of a quandary peculiar to the industry. The path to growth for airlines often lies in gaining access to rivals' routes. Yet in the European Union, which mainly operates as one nation in aviation, foreigners cannot majority-own an airline. At Alitalia, the lack of full control meant that Etihad could not deal effectively with labour problems.Since 2011, Abu Dhabi state-owned Etihad has spent billions of dollars buying minority stakes from Europe to Australia as it races to catch up with regional rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways.Alitalia was Etihad's eighth and most high-profile bet. But the 560-million-euro ($609 million) investment lies in tatters, placing Hogan's wider strategy under the microscope, after staff overwhelmingly rejected its latest restructuring plans. Now the future of Etihad's other leading investment, in Air Berlin, is also in doubt as the Gulf carrier pursues a strategy review that began last year. Like Alitalia, the German carrier has made big losses and it said two weeks ago it was seeking a new partner, which could include a new investor.An Etihad spokesman said its review was ongoing but declined to comment on how its strategy might change or the impact of Alitalia's failure on its global plans. But a senior source at the Gulf carrier said lessons would be learned from the Italian investment and they would play a role in shaping future strategy. CONTRASTING TACTICS

Etihad's strategy has allowed it to cut costs by pooling items like airplane procurement, while offering a larger network; it says it brings together 600 destinations and over 700 aircraft. Hogan's "approach to partnerships did not pan out, but a few of his principles are still valid", said Will Horton, senior analyst at Australian aviation consultancy CAPA.Etihad's efforts to grow through minority stakes have at times been compared to Swissair's failed "Hunter" strategy of the 1990s. Swissair's buying binge, often acquiring stakes in ailing airlines, contributed to huge losses which eventually saw it grounded in 2001 and sold to Germany's Lufthansa in 2005.

Hogan has always rejected the comparison, saying Etihad was doing things differently to Swissair and had demonstrated it could control costs. Etihad and its rivals have demonstrated spectacular growth but are increasingly pressured by a slowing Gulf economy due to relatively low oil prices. They have chosen different strategies to sidestep the regulatory dilemma governing foreign ownership and pursue global expansion.Qatar Airways, like many other carriers, has entered one of three global alliances. These give some access to other carriers' traffic rights without breaking ownership rules, but allow only limited control over route-planning and costs.Dubai's Emirates, by contrast, mainly operates alone - an approach that gives it control of over its network and costs but also means it carries all the risk. The Middle East's largest airline, reported a drop in annual profit on Thursday for the first time in five years As the youngest of the three major Middle Eastern carriers, 14-year-old Etihad has looked to catch up, and followed a third path of buying into other airlines to expand its reach. ITALIAN WOES

When Hogan rescued Alitalia in 2014 after months of negotiations, he had been encouraged by two reformist prime ministers, Enrico Letta and his successor Matteo Renzi. Letta flew to Abu Dhabi to help clinch the deal.

"When Etihad arrived in 2014, we thought this time it would finally work, that this was it," said Alitalia pilot Stefano Di Cesare of the Fit-Cisl union.Yet Italian industry leaders say Etihad underestimated the country's tangled politics and chronic labour strife. Italian executives, officials and unions said in interviews with Reuters that alienating Alitalia's workforce was among a series of mis-steps that ended Etihad's Italian dream. Many also say Etihad underestimated the blistering growth of low-cost carriers Ryanair and easyJet.Without a majority stake, Etihad's influence was limited despite being the largest single investor on 49 percent. And despite the lure of Italy's important tourism market, it was forced to watch Alitalia's efficient rivals mop up the benefits."There is no doubt that the idea to manage the company from Abu Dhabi was a very serious mistake," Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda told parliament last week.The Etihad spokesman said Alitalia had been in financial trouble for decades and that its investment was welcomed wholeheartedly in Italy. Etihad believed the new restructuring plan developed by Alitalia's management would have addressed its problems, he added. AIR BERLIN

In Germany too, Etihad had seen Air Berlin, its first investment in 2011, as the door to unrestricted access in a market where it has limited traffic rights with its own planes.But that airline has seen losses widen to a record 782 million euros in 2016. For now, Etihad continues to provide funding. Air Berlin says Etihad has granted another loan facility of 350 million euros and a letter of support for at least 18 months. But industry sources say Etihad could exit Air Berlin by seeking a deal with German flag carrier Lufthansa, with which Etihad is keen to work. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said on Friday he had held talks with Abu Dhabi about the future of Air Berlin, but that it was up to the emirate to resolve Air Berlin's 1.2-billion-euro debt problem, which also prevents Lufthansa buying it."Air Berlin and Alitalia have proven extremely tough challenges," said UK aviation consultant John Strickland. Etihad's new CEO will need to address losses already incurred and then "assess lower risk methods of extracting value out of the important German and Italian markets," he said.Other investments such as Air Serbia and Air Seychelles have been more successful. There, Etihad was given hands-on management control and benefited from close diplomatic ties.Even as the carrier picks up the pieces of its European adventure, Etihad faces its own restructuring that sources close to the company say has seen near-daily redundancies. This may also weigh on the strategic decision facing Irishman Gammell as he takes up his interim post this week, followed in coming months by a permanent successor to Hogan."Etihad is likely to look to growth markets for further organic growth such as the Indian Sub-Continent and Asia, but as ever this will be dependent on traffic rights," Strickland said.($1 = 0.9196 euros) (Additional reporting by Stanley Carvalho in ABU DHABI, Stefano Bernabei and Isla Binnie in ROME, Victoria Bryan in BERLIN and Mark Bendeich in MILAN; Editing by Pravin Char)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Tommy Wilkes and Fayaz Bukhari

| PULWAMA, India

PULWAMA, India Images of students confronting police on campuses have come to symbolise Kashmiri protests against Indian rule as much as gun-toting militants in fatigues, in what security officials and separatist leaders say is a dangerous new phase of the conflict.The sharp rise in violence in recent weeks is more spontaneous than before, complicating the task of Indian security forces trained largely in counter-insurgency and poorly equipped to contain broader unrest.A political stalemate in India's only Muslim-majority state is a further hurdle to resolving the long-running Kashmir dispute, as is rising Hindu nationalism in some parts of India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014."We can ensure that militant numbers remain relatively low and we have stopped the weapons flow. The bigger challenge is how to control protesters, how to engage with them," said one senior army official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to media.When security forces entered a college last month in Pulwama, 30 km (19 miles) south of Kashmir's summer capital of Srinagar, hundreds of students threw stones at their vehicles before fighting pitched battles inside college corridors and bathrooms.Within days, widespread protests forced most colleges and secondary schools in Indian-controlled Kashmir to close. Teenaged girls took to the streets for the first time in years. At least 100 protesters were wounded."Every student is trying to say that we ... want nothing to do with India," a 19-year-old protester said in the backroom of a Pulwama restaurant, as security forces clashed with locals on the outskirts of town.He asked not to be named because his father was a policeman.A local police chief said security forces were steering clear of campuses to avoid provoking more violence.Police were appealing to parents to ensure children "do not indulge" in violence, Kashmir inspector general of police S.J.M. Gillani said, adding that most areas were back under control.Unrest has simmered in Kashmir, home to a separatist movement for decades, since last July, when a popular militant leader was killed, sparking months of clashes that left more than 90 civilians dead.One of the world's oldest conflicts, Kashmir's troubles began when the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided in 1947 between India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed rivals who fought two of three wars over the region.

An insurgency that erupted in 1989 against India has eased in recent years, but most Kashmiris yearn for independence, accuse security forces of widespread rights abuses and some support the few hundred militants still fighting.DELHI DEMANDS END TO VIOLENCE

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, leader of a moderate Kashmiri separatist faction, said protesters were for the first time ignoring calls to stop."Today there is absolute hate for India. They don't listen to anyone," he told Reuters in Srinagar.India's former spy chief, A.S. Dulat, said the Kashmir situation "has never been so bad".Still, New Delhi has stuck to its tough line, demanding an end to violence before talking with separatists.

"All these activities of stone pelting have to stop. Then will the government consider talking," said K.S. Dhatwalia, a home ministry spokesman.Politicians also say that, in contrast to earlier unrest, there is no obvious leader to negotiate with.Previous waves of violence in 2008 and 2010 fizzled out after a year or so as local people tired of shutdowns. There is little sign the current protests will end soon, however.In villages set amid the mustard fields and apple orchards of Kashmir Valley, people openly praise militants and protesters. Locals complain of more police checkpoints, while grieving mothers show photos of loved ones killed in the unrest.Politicians in southern districts have left home for the relative safety of Srinagar. Suspected militants shot dead Abdul Gani Dar, Pulwama district president for the ruling party, in April, one of a spate of attacks on mainstream politicians.Support for violence has expanded to central parts of the state, traditionally the most peaceful.

March saw the first large-scale violence in the town of Chadoora since the early 2000s, and three civilians were killed. Fresh graffiti praising militants and telling "Indian Dogs" to "Go back" dot the town centre."INDIA LOSING KASHMIR"

Shabir Ahmad, a doctor, said he began supporting militants and protesters after his brother-in-law, 21, was shot dead in Chadoora amid a stand-off with security forces."India is losing Kashmir because of its own doing," the 35-year-old said at his family home, sitting next to his grieving mother-in-law.Some Kashmiris warn that rising nationalist sentiment across parts of India, led by Modi's hardline Hindu supporters, is deepening their sense of estrangement.Modi last month asked Kashmiri youngsters to choose between "tourism and terrorism", comments that angered locals.Several Kashmiris living in 'mainland' India have returned home after facing discrimination, including student Hashim Sofi, 27, who arrived at his hostel room in Rajasthan state to a T-shirt with "Kashmiri dog" scribbled on the front."They are saying that all Kashmiris are terrorists," he said by telephone.A series of attacks against Muslims accused of slaughtering cows, an animal sacred to Hindus, has increased worries among Muslims.Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, an aide to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who governs in an alliance with Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, said he remained hopeful that Delhi would launch a new dialogue."Kashmir cannot be seen as an isolated place," he said. "Indian politics are becoming more polarised." (Additional reporting by Rupam Jain in NEW DELHI; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Mike Collett-White)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Jabalpur: At least 11 labourers were killed and 15 others injured when a mini truck overturned and fell into a 10-feet-deep culvert near a village in the district early on Thursday, a police official said.

The accident took place at around 1 am near Jamunia village when the labourers were travelling in the truck of the forest department to Chargavan for plucking tendu leaves, Jabalpur's Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Manjeet Chawla said.

The truck driver lost control over the vehicle while approaching the culvert. As a result the vehicle fell into it, he said.

The victims were contractual labourers and had come from Maharashtra's Gondia district, he said. Nearly 35 people were travelling in the truck when it met with the accident.

While 10 of the victims died on the spot, one succumbed later on the way to hospital, the DSP said. The deceased were identified as - Budhram Rawat (45), Chunni Lal (35), Gajesh (33), Pradeep (18), Ramnath (33), Tularam (30), Sumeshwar (32), Lachhu Choudhry (30), Chagan Kamde (43), Shankar Marskole (40) and Santu (50), the police official said.

The injured persons were admitted in the Jabalpur Medical College for treatment. Jabalpur Collector Mahesh Chandra Choudhry said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced an ex-gratia of Rs one lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.

The chief minister has also announced a help of Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured persons, Rs 25,000 to those who sustained 'simple' injuries and are admitted in hospital, and Rs 15,000 each to those who suffered minor injuries in the mishap, according to the collector.

Police have registered a case and arrested the truck driver, identified as one Prahlad. A forest guard, Bhupendra Singh, who was also sitting in the vehicle, escaped from the site after the mishap, the police official added.
Earlier this month, newspapers reported that a 13-year-old girl from Tirupur was lured and raped by a 21-year-old man in Chennai. What makes this incident even more shocking is that the rapist had befriended the victim first on Facebook and sexually assaulted her after having gained her trust online. This incident brings to light a growing concern surrounding child safety issues on the internet, namely, online grooming.

Child grooming incidents in India

Child grooming is generally understood as the practice of befriending and forming an emotional bond with a child by a person with the objective of sexual abuse. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word grooming was first used in connection with a paedophile in a 1985 story by Chicago Tribune which stated, "These 'friendly molesters' become acquainted with their targeted victim, gaining their trust while secretly grooming the child as a sexual partner."

Child grooming incidents have increased with the advent of the internet, where such incidents are increasingly taking place online, through public chatrooms and social media. In India too, such instances have been reported in the past. Last year, two teenagers were arrested in Kolkata for kidnapping and rape of a 15-year-old girl whom they had befriended on Facebook. Another instance of online grooming was reported in December 2016 where a teenage girl was raped by a Facebook friend in Mumbai. More recently, in January 2017, a minor girl in Cuttack alleged rape by a boy whom she had met through a social networking site. With the proliferation of smartphone users in India, child grooming incidents can only be expected to rise in future.

How the internet abets child grooming

A unique feature of child grooming which takes place on the internet is the relative ease with which groomers are able to operate and gain a childs trust online. The anonymity provided by the internet and the social media addiction (which is prevalent today among children before they even enter teenage) are factors which have contributed to the rise of child grooming online.

Another reason could be that it is difficult for parents to monitor the activities of their children on the internet. This makes it easier for child groomers to approach children online with the intent of befriending unsuspecting victims. Further, social media interaction has grown by leaps and bounds in the recent past making it the perfect modus operandi for child groomers.

Social media policies are also conducive to child participation in social networking. Facebooks Statement of Rights and Responsibilities permits children as young as 13 years of age to sign up for an account. The minimum age restriction is regularly flouted by children by lying about their age on Facebook. Given the tendency of social media users to share (and even over-share) their personal details such as residential addresses, location (information about their favourite hangouts) and family details, one can imagine how easy it is for a child groomer to lure kids online with the intent to sexually abuse them.

Indian laws dealing with child grooming

At present, the law in India to protect children from sexual offences is The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO). Section 11(vi) of POCSO provides that a person who entices a child for pornographic purposes or gratification, with sexual intent is said to commit sexual harassment upon a child. Further, section 11(iv) of POCSO states that a person is said to commit sexual harassment when such person "repeatedly or constantly follows or watches or contacts a child either directly or through electronic, digital or any other means" with sexual intent.

Section 67B(c) of Information Technology Act, 2008 also punishes the enticement of children in an online relationship with the purpose of publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act in electronic form. These provisions, however, do not use the term grooming explicitly. In 2016, a UNICEF report titled, Child Online Protection in India, highlighted the inefficacy of Indian laws to protect children from online abuse including grooming. The report notes that limitations in the law include lack of clear-cut and uniform terminology in legislations, risk of subjective interpretation of legal provisions and absence of any legal duty on intermediaries (such as internet service providers) to protect children from online threats.

Recommendations aimed at preventing online grooming

To make laws against grooming more robust in India, grooming needs to be explicitly recognised as an offence in India. The legislature must formulate a definition of grooming to avoid any ambiguity in the meaning of the term. In June 2016, the International Labour Organisation issued Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse to bring about consensus on terminology related to sexual exploitation and sexual abuse against children. The Guidelines define grooming as "the process of establishing/building a relationship with a child either in person or through the use of the Internet or other digital technologies to facilitate either online or offline sexual contact with that person." India could adopt this definition to ensure that countrys understanding of grooming is in line with international standards.

While there is a need to strengthen Indian laws to protect children from online grooming, legal provisions are more in the nature of cure than preventive measures. This necessitates that alternative measures aimed at preventing online grooming are also explored. One way of doing this could be through stringent social media policies against grooming- Section 4 clause 6 of Facebooks Statement of Rights and Responsibilities states, You will not use Facebook if you are a convicted sex offender. Facebook further outlines steps to report a convicted sex offender on Facebook, following which Facebook disables the account of the said person. Facebooks Friend Verifier App further aids in identifying whether a particular Facebook user is a registered sex offender. These measures are helpful to the extent that they prevent the use of Facebook by sex offenders including paedophiles and child groomers who have been convicted in the past.

However, these can be implemented in India only when the Indian government maintains a national register of convicted sex offenders in India which could be accessed by Facebook. (India has been deliberating the setting up of a national registry of sex offenders especially after the Jyoti Singh gang-rape case, however, a law to implement the same has not been enacted yet.) It is only through collaborative measures such as these between the Indian government and social networking sites that we can effectively tackle online grooming and protect children from online abuse.

The author is a research fellow at Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. She is also a Volunteer at Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights. Views expressed are personal.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail for a week to a convict serving life term in a 1984 antiSikh riots case to enable him look after his wife, who is to undergo an operation next week.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra released former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar on bail as his wife is slated to undergo an operation at the AIIMS on 15 May.

While restraining the convict from moving out of Delhi, the bench asked him to surrender immediately after the expiry of a week starting that day. It also asked him to furnish a bail bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount. Khokhar, who is aged, has urged the court to release him on twomonth bail to look after his wife after she undergoes the operation at AIIMS.

His plea was opposed by the CBI on the ground that the convict's conduct in the past was not satisfactory.

Khokhar, a retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on 1 November 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

They had challenged their conviction and the award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013.

The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar but awarded life term to Khokhar, Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal and threeyear jail term to two others  former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

The convicts have filed appeals before the High Court while CBI too has filed an appeal alleging that they were engaged in "a planned communal riot" and "religious cleansing". The agency has also appealed against acquittal of Kumar.

The high court had on 29 March issued show cause notices to 11 accused including Khokhar and Yadav in five 1984 antiSikh riots cases. The accused, who were acquitted of the charges, were asked why should the court not order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of "horrifying crimes against humanity".

The bench had issued notices on the complaints filed regarding the violent incidents on 1 and 2 Novermber 1984 in Delhi Cantonment area.
The decision of the BJP-led government in Assam to disband the State Madrasa Board in order to mainstream it apparently seems to be quite forward-looking. The decision to simultaneously dissolve the Sanskrit Board has deprived the regular critics of the government a very good chance to lambast it by flagging the card of discrimination in the name of religion.

But even then, there are some important factors which could not be overlooked due to the peculiar socio-demographic history of Assam where immigration of Bengali speaking people from the neighbouring countries has resulted in the emergence of certain narratives and counter-narratives over the ticklish issue of human migration.

The present day map of Assam is different in several ways from the one in the colonial times. For some years under the British, Assam was a part of East Bengal which comprised the entire land mass of present day Bangladesh. At other times, Sylhet district was a part of Assam. It remained so up to Indias independence and partition. The migration of people from one part of the state or the country to the other was quite common. But even then, much before Indias freedom, many leaders of the state raised their voice quite strongly against the unending stream of immigrants.

As a result, after independence, and especially after the famous Assam Agitation of 1979-85, issues pertaining to Bangladeshi immigration, border sealing, and undue population pressure on limited resources have started occupying the centre stage in state politics. The present day politics in the state has been inextricably linked with those narratives. Sometimes, it becomes pronounced, and at other times, it remains somewhat subterranean in nature.

While analysing the recent statements of the state Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on social media regarding the decision of the government, one should not lose sight of the context which has structurally remained more or less same in the state for many decades, of course with some outwards changes. In addition to the Modi factor, BJPs stellar performance in the 2016 assembly elections in Assam was greatly facilitated by the creeping fear in the minds of many indigenous people about the possibility of their identity and culture being overshadowed by the ever increasing number of the immigrants from Bangladesh.

After dissolving the Madrasa Board, Sarma wants to hand over the academic part to the Board of Secondary Education. Similarly, the responsibility of looking after the Sanskrit Tols would be given to Kumar Bhaskarvarma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University. He also hinted at the introduction of modern learning like computer education with a view to widening its appeal. All Assam Minority Students Union (Aamsu) has already registered its protest against the decision to disband the Madrasa Board. They have decided to burn effigies of the minister throughout the state as a mark of their opposition.

Azizur Rahman, president, Aamsu has decried the move of the government terming it as unconstitutional. He referred to Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution wherein the need for taking up certain steps for improving the educational and social status of minorities was highlighted. He also felt that Sarmas decision runs counter to the oft-repeated slogan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- Sabka saath, sabka vikash. They have threatened to launch a big agitation if the government does not rescind its earlier diktat.

Some political analysts feel that there is a grain of substance in Aamsus allegation that Sarma is doing this to please the RSS. They also feel that Aamsus strong opposition is not disproportionate to the original decision as the minister had said something very disturbing in December 2016. Sarma appealed to all the madrasas to shift their weekly holiday from Friday to Sunday to be in line with other educational institutions of the state. He also said that only the madrasas in Bangladesh or Pakistan should remain shut on Fridays. Because of such earlier utterances laced with disdain for the minority community, their reaction has turned out to be much sharper. But the sad part is sharp exchanges of rhetorical statements by both the parties would further toxify the social discourse without leaving any room for the development of fraternal feeling among different groups.

Metaphorically speaking, the present situation in Assam is somewhat like troubled waters, which many commoners try to avoid whereas politicians are often found to be fishing relentlessly and remorselessly.
Imphal: A tripartite MoU was signed in Churachandpur district of Manipur on Wednesday over claiming of eight dead bodies lying in the district hospital morgue since September 2015 following dispute over demands of some agitating tribal bodies.

Following the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU), the bodies will now be claimed within 25 May to perform their last rites.

The parties to the tripartite MoU are the Manipur government, central government and the Joint Action Committee, which has been spearheading agitations against the "three anti-tribal bills".

While AK Jha, Secretary, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, signed papers for the Centre, Manipur Chief Secretary Oinam Nabakishore represented the state government and the Joint Action Committee representatives were there to give their consent to the MoU.

Nabakishore said: "The government shall pay ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the nine persons who had died. Besides, government job will be provided to one member each of the bereaved families and compensation would be paid to the 48 injured persons."

On 31 August, 2015, the assembly had passed three Inner Line Permit System bills. But within hours, the tribals in Churachandpur district had launched violent agitations. Houses of almost all MLAs and ministers and government buildings in the district were torched.

Nine persons had died in the violence, out of which one body had been claimed earlier.

With the signing of this MoU government, it is believed that the impasse over non-claiming of dead bodies stands resolved.

The government efforts to resolve it had repeatedly failed as the activists demanded much more, according to Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

The Chief Minister said: "The activists demanded a rollback of the creation of the seven districts, extension of the 6th Schedule and creation of yet another district. The talks could not proceed since a Chief Minister cannot make commitments on all these issues."
There is still a long way to go before India manages to bring retired naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav home, if at all, but it is fair to say that Pakistan has been outsmarted in round one of an intriguing battle of diplomatic chess.

Indian media has interpreted International Court of Justice's (ICJ) missive to Pakistan in roughly two ways. While one section sees this as a diplomatic victory and has exhibited chest-thumping triumphalism, another section reads it as nothing more than a temporary reprieve and has painted a picture of inevitable fatalism. Both interpretations are wrong.

The ICJ ruling is neither a 'verdict', nor a 'stay'. It is quite simply a communique to Pakistan not to carry out the execution of the Indian national at least until both sides are given the chance to present their respective cases in an oral hearing at the ICJ court in The Hague, Netherlands, on Monday.

As The Times of India reports, Harish Salve's 20-minute " intense and urgent briefing" to the ICJ registrar - since the court was not in session - prompted president Ronny Abraham to shoot off a midnight letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The letter, cast in legalese, is interesting.

"In my capacity as president of the court, and exercising the powers conferred upon me under Article 74, paragraph 4 of the rules of the court, I call upon Your Excellency's government, pending the court's decision on the request for the indication of provisional measures to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on this request to have its appropriate effects."

The wording makes it appear as if it is nothing more than a "request" to Pakistan to postpone temporarily its plans of sending Jadhav to the gallows but the effect of the letter, as Devirupa Mitra writes in The Wire quoting a Hague-based ICJ official, "was more in the nature of a warning."

This needs a bit of explanation. Both India and Pakistan are signatories to Optional Protocol of Vienna Convention. The protocol gives ICJ the power to adjudicate on matters related to interpretation of Vienna Convention. Member states may bring cases related to flouting of such norms to ICJ. In its application before the court, India reportedly pointed out four such previous instances of breach in Vienna Convention where the ICJ was called upon to adjudicate. In The Wire report mentioned above, Mitra points out that these were "the 1986 border and transborder armed actions case (Nicaragua vs Honduras); The 1971 appeal relating to the jurisdiction of the ICAO council (India vs Pakistan); The 1999 La Grand case (Germany vs US); The 2008 Avena case (Mexico vs US)."

On ICJ's power to enforce a ruling, Soujanya Sridharan writes in The Hindu that "judgements of the ICJ are considered binding and are without appeal. It is rare for a decision not to be implemented. However, the Court itself has no direct powers to ensure implementation and members can approach the UN Security Council for matters relating to non-compliance."

The key question is, will Pakistan honour an unfavourable verdict? Islamabad is yet to give its official reaction to the ICJ communique at the time of writing but it has already made it clear on several occasions that on Jadhav, it will go by bilateral agreement rather than Vienna Convention. It is obvious because Pakistan is aware that it is guilty of violating several international conventions in Jadhav case.

As the press statement by ICJ points out, India has in its application sought several reliefs on Jadhav. One among these is "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."

Note what India is doing. It is segregating Jadhav's case from the purview of bilateral relationship, stripping it of the baggage associated with Indo-Pakistan relationship and placing it within the ambit of international law.

India hopes that such a move will make it difficult for Pakistan to treat Jadhav merely as a "bilateral issue" because by denying India consular access 16 times, sitting on a visa application from Jadhav's parents, conducting a secret trial via a military court without proper and adequate legal representation and linking the granting of consular access to probe assistance Pakistan has made a mockery of the 1963 Vienna Convention and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In case of an unfavourable verdict, Pakistan has much less room for manouvre than it would like to believe. The Pakistan army may still brazen it out and do so - as China did in flouting The Hague Tribunal on South China Sea  but its civilian government will pay a heavy diplomatic price.

India's overture has put Pakistan in a quandary because if the international court stays Jadhav's execution, then Pakistan's witch-hunt against an innocent Indian national and brazen flouting of international rules and conventions becomes evident. Obeying the ICJ ruling will result in loss of face at home while defying the verdict will earn it international opprobrium.

Salve, the noted lawyer who will argue India's case The Hague on Monday, told The Times of India, "If Pakistan dares to breach the directive to hold its hands till a formal hearing on India's plea, it will be inviting dangerous consequences as the issue will then be taken up by the UN Security Council."

By approaching the ICJ, a move which Pakistan may not have anticipated, India has exploited a huge mistake by Islamabad to tom-tom its handling of Jadhav. Mandarins in Islamabad and Rawalpindi khakis obviously calculated that wide publicity on an alleged "Indian spy" will give it a strong case against India on international forums. Having internationalized it, Pakistan may now find it difficult to argue that it is a bilateral issue.

Finally, apprehensions that ICJ approach will open India to international mediation on Kashmir is rubbish. India has been careful enough in placing the Jadhav case as a 'breach of international law', not a 'breach of bilateral agreement'. Hence there is no window for Pakistan to exploit and link this to Kashmir, where India's position, that it is strictly to be moderated within a bilateral framework, remains consistent.
New Delhi: Highlighting the need for India-Austria collaboration in clean energy, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said a policy directive on quality of modules will soon be in place, according to a statement New Delhi on Thursday.

Goyal was speaking at the India-Austria Business Forum organised by the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) in collaboration with the Embassy of India in Vienna and Austrian Economic Chambers (Wirtschaftskammer A-sterreich WKO).

"India needs to put entire solar value chain under quality direction... The government will have a policy directive in place on quality of modules (by end of May)," the minister said, according to the industry lobby statement.

The other policies to follow it would be on solar cells, which would be in the next six-seven months and on wafers and polysilicon in the next two years, it added.

Goyal said the two nations could leverage each other's strengths to benefit both economies. India can offer better pricing for Austrian products while providing low-cost manufacturing base.

He underlined affordability was a paramount imperative to be able to change India's energy mix.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a new dimension to renewable energy.

The latest solar tariff of four cents was a case in point for Modi's vision of scaling up rapidly giving good returns in more ways than one.

Highlighting that within six months of his visit to Finland, there have been multiple exchanges facilitated by FICCI, Goyal said that India could fast track with Austria what it has done with Finland.

A high-level business delegation accompanied the minister, who went to Vienna for the two-day business forum.

Noting that an estimated $160 billion is required to meet India's ambitious clean energy goals between now and 2022, FICCI President Pankaj Patel highlighted the immense potential of green bonds for channelling debt capital funds towards clean energy financing in both the countries.
Chennai: The whereabouts of Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan, sentenced to jail for six months by the Supreme Court, remained a mystery on Wednesday, even as a West Bengal police team reached Chennai.

Some sources in Chennai said he had left the State Guest House for the famed Shiva temple in Srikalahasti town in Andhra Pradesh.

But an official at the temple, about 120 km from Chennai, told IANS over telephone that there was no trace of the judge.

"He did not arrive yesterday or today. We have no idea if he will reach the temple tomorrow," the official said.

Another temple official had earlier said that the judge was likely to reach the Andhra town on Wednesday evening and offer prayers on Thursday morning.

Justice Karnan checked into the Chennai Guest House on Tuesday after leaving his home in Kolkata. But he has not officially vacated the guest house room and his bill remains to be settled.

Officials said two other advocates who came with the judge have been asked to vacate their rooms in the Chennai guest house.

The apex court has ordered the Director General of West Bengal Police to set up a team to implement its arrest order "forthwith".

Justice Karnan was found guilty of contempt for hurling corruption charges against Supreme Court judges including the Chief Justice.
UN human rights experts have called on India to immediately lift its ban on social media and mobile internet services arguing that the move is a collective punishment and impinges on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir.

The scope of these restrictions has a significantly disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir, undermining the governments stated aim of preventing dissemination of information that could lead to violence, special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye and special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst said in a press statement.

The internet and telecommunications bans have the character of collective punishment and fail to meet the standards required under international human rights law to limit freedom of expression, Kaye stressed.

The statement cites information made public through media reports and individuals in Kashmir that the government has blocked access to 22 websites and applications, including WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, and 3G and 4G data services for mobile phones and other devices from 17 April following student demonstrations.

Though the Opposition has complained of the ban, the UN statement says that there has been an estimated 31 reported cases of social media and internet bans since 2012 in Jammu and Kashmir, and that this seems to be a worrying pattern aimed at curbing protests and social unrest in the region.

The internet gag has affected our work. We are not able to communicate with the workers and organise meetings, the National Conference provincial spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar had said last month.

However, PDP spokesman Mehboob Beg had said that the placing of a ban on the internet is the last resort. The government sees it as a necessity to improve conditions in Kashmir, Beg had argued. The police had said that curbing internet access was necessary to counter the spread of rumours and prevent youth from mobilising support to stone-pelting.

During Indias recent human rights record review on 4 May, Sweden had urged India to ensure that "any measure limiting freedom of expression, assembly and association on the internet, is based on clearly defined criteria in accordance with international law, including international human rights law."

According to a report by Freedom House  a US-based internet access watchdog  internet freedom around the world in 2016 declined for the sixth consecutive year and that governments are increasingly going after messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.

The UN experts, in their statement on Thursday, noted that the UN Human Rights Council had adopted a resolution on internet access: In July 2016, 70 countries adopted a resolution that condemned "measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online".

The recent killing of a young, unarmed Indian army officer, Ummer Fayaz, who was a Kashmiri, has made the army and the administration more worried of whether this is the beginning of a pattern of targetting officers even when off-duty.

As such, the situation in parts of the state remains fragile.

We call on the Indian authorities to guarantee freedom of expression in Jammu and Kashmir and to seek a solution for the social and political conflicts of the region through an open, transparent and democratic dialogue, the experts concluded.
Srinagar: Clashes broke out on thursday between student protesters and security forces in Anantnag and Baramulla districts of Kashmir, police said.

Dozens of students from a government higher secondary school in Dooru area of Anantnag district demonstrated against the alleged highhandedness of security forces during students' protests last month in Pulwama district, a police official said.

Some of the students started hurling stones at security forces deployed there compelling them to use force in an attempt to chase the protesters away.

The clashes were still going on till last reports came in but no one was reported to be injured so far, the official said.

Similar clashes took place in Sopore town in Baramulla district as students from a local government higher secondary school staged a protest, he said.

Additional police force has been rushed to both the spots to bring the situation under control and restore order, the official said.

The students were protesting against the alleged highhandedness of security forces against students of Degree College Pulwama on 15 April and the subsequent protests thereafter across Kashmir.

They also demanded the release of the students arrested by the police during these protests over the past one month.

A police raid on Government degree college, Pulwama had triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on 17 April and these have been going on intermittently since then, prompting authorities to suspend classes in the higher educational institutions for over a week in last month.

A number of students were also arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
New Delhi: CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said approaching the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav indicated the Narendra Modi government's "diplomatic failure".

"Going to the ICJ indicates government's diplomatic failure to resolve a sensitive issue. A bilateral matter is now being internationalised," Yechury said on Twitter.

"From inviting the Inter-Services Intelligence to Pathankot (in Punjab) to going for a wedding in the Nawaz Sharif family to the ICJ now, Modi's Pakistan policy is marked only by its absence," added Yechury.

"By setting this precedent, let's hope the government is able to handle it better, unlike its record of botching up things so far," he said.

India on Wednesday said the ICJ had been approached to save the life of Jadhav, an Indian national sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges.

The ICJ, which suspended Jadhav's death sentence, is likely to hear India's plea on Monday.

Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Brinda Karat had welcomed Jadhav getting international support.

She said ICJ's intervention "reflected the larger international sentiment against Pakistan's decision".

"Pakistan will be questioned thoroughly if it does not respect the ICJ's decision," she had said following the ICJ stay on Jadhav's execution.
The International Court of Justice has asked India and Pakistan to cooperate until a decision is reached on the case of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court.

ANI reported that the ICJ sent an urgent communication to Pakistan, which was also forwarded to India, from the office of its President Judge Ronny Abraham under Article 74.

"In my capacity as President of the Court, and exercising the powers conferred upon me under Article 74, Paragraph 4, of the rules, I call upon the parties concerned ie. Your Excellency's Government, pending the court's decision on the request for provisional measures, to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make on this request to have its appropriate effects," ANI quoted Judge Abraham as saying in his letter to Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The ICJ will hold public hearings in the case on 15 May. This announcement was made by the ICJ on Wednesday night, a day after it stayed Jadhav's execution following India's initiation of proceedings against Pakistan, accusing it of "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations".

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings on Monday, 15 May 2017... in the proceedings instituted by India on 8 May 2017 against Pakistan."

"The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by India," the ICJ had said in a release.

India had told ICJ that Jadhav "will be subjected to execution unless the court indicates provisional measures directing the government of Pakistan to take all measures necessary to ensure that he is not executed until the court's decision on the merits" of the case.

India had also pointed out that Jadhav's execution "would cause irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India".

Noting that India has been informed by the ICJ that an action has been initiated on the "provisional measures" sought by New Delhi, eternal affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay in New Delhi had said there is "legal juridical procedure" that will be followed.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday congratulated the government for approaching the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav, even as his party has expressed caution over the move.

"Congratulations to our government for deciding to pursue international action on Kulbhushan Jadhav. It was the best way," said Tharoor on his official Twitter account.

Congratulations to our Govt for deciding to pursue international action on #KulbhushanJadhav. It was the best way. https://t.co/ue8uKMf4zH  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 11, 2017

On Wednesday, the Congress said that approaching the ICJ on the issue of Jadhav might expose India to the "risk" of Pakistan raising issues internationally and stressed that issues must be solved bilaterally. The ICJ has asked Pakistan to put on hold the death sentence on Jadhav.

Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said on Wednesday: "Does it ever give Pakistan the right to question, and if that is what they are looking for to internationalise this issue, then India has to be careful about this."

"The best resolution between India and Pakistan can be discussed at bilateral level all the times irrespective of however intransigent and badly behaved Pakistan is," said Kumar.

He also asked if the government has thought through all the ramifications of its move on approaching the ICJ.
Mumbai: Maharashtra BJP chief Raosaheb Danve on Wednesday stoked a controversy when he said farmers continue to complain despite the state government doling out sops to bail out tur growers.

"The state government has so far procured the highest amount of tur in the history and it is going to purchase additional 1 lakh tonne; still some (referring to farmers) continue to complain," Danve said.

"...ajoon ek lakh tonne tur kharedi karnaar aahe taree radtaat (We are going to procure 1 lakh tonne of tur but still they are crying)," he said in a reply to a question raised by a BJP worker in Jalna in Marathwada on Wednesday afternoon.

The worker had asked Danve how he should respond to farmers on delayed tur procurement issue.

Danve was interacting with party workers after inaugurating the office of Maharashtra Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Babanrao Lonikar.

The Centre last year had undertaken a massive programme to increase production of tur in Maharashtra. The state saw record production of the cereal due to good monsoon.

However, the glut led to fall in prices of tur, adversely affecting cultivators. A delay in opening procurement centres further worsened farmers' condition.

A few days back, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had admitted gross mismanagement in tur procurement.

Fadnavis managed to get an extension from the Union government to keep procurement centres open till May-end which came as a relief to the BJP, which was under attack from allies and opposition over tur procurement.

"If someone is buying a produce at lower rate than the state defined price, then 25 percent of the total volume is procured by the state government. It is a common and traditional intervention by the state machinery to stabilise the market prices and avoid losses of cultivators.

"The state government not only purchased 4 lakh tonne tur but also increased its quota by additional procurement of one lakh tonne... still some complain," he said.

"We have also given Rs 400 per quintal subsidy to farmers which is happening for the first time. One must stop complaining and start spreading the good work done by the BJP government," Danve said.

Meanwhile, opposition Congress reacted sharply to the BJP leader's comments.

Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said farmers will teach the ruling BJP a lesson for its "arrogance of power".

"Farmers will teach these people a lesson," the former chief minister said.

Despite assurances of additional tur procurement by the chief minister, purchase centres are yet to start functioning at many places, Chavan alleged.
Srinagar: Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on thursday met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here and discussed the security situation in the state.

Mehrishi, who arrived here on thursday morning, a day after a young Kashmiri Army officer was abducted and shot dead by militants in Shopian district, is also scheduled to call on Governor N N Vohra later in the day.

He will also chair a meeting with senior security officials, including Director General of Police(DGP) S P Vaid, to get a firsthand information about the security scenario in the state, particularly in the Kashmir Valley.

"During the meeting, the Union home secretary had discussed the overall situation in the state with the Chief Minister", an official spokesperson said.

Jammu and Kashmir had witnessed violence during the 9 April bypoll in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents.

The Election Commission was then forced to postpone and then cancel the 25 May bypoll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, saying that the situation there was not feasible for holding election.

There has been protests by students in the Valley last month against alleged police excesses. Students, including girls, were seen pelting stones on security personnel in these incidents.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Moon Jae-in for his election as the South Korean President and said he looks forward to meeting him soon and working closely as strategic partners.

"I warmly congratulate H.E. Mr. Moon Jae-in upon his election as President of the Republic of Korea," he tweeted in English and Korean languages.

"I look forward to meeting H.E. Mr. Moon Jae-in soon and also look forward to working closely as special strategic partners," Modi added.

Moon, South Korea's first liberal leader in a decade, assumed presidential duties this morning after the National Election Commission finished counting yesterday's votes and declared him winner.

The special election was 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.
Raipur: An exchange of fire took place between the Naxals and BSF personnel in Chhattisgarh's insurgencyhit Kanker district today. However, no casualty or injury was reported from either side, police said.

The skirmish took place this morning when a team of the 171st battalion of Border Security Force (BSF) was out on a road security operation in Bande police station area, a senior police official told PTI.

The BSF personnel had launched the operation to ensure security to the construction of Bande-Irpanaar road (36 km), he said.

While the patrolling team was carrying out the road security operation between Kurenar and Kanhargaon villages, the armed ultras opened fire at them following after which the BSF personnel retaliated, he said.

However, the rebels soon escaped in the forest, he said, adding that BSF's patrolling was underway in the region.

The BSF had last month set up its camp in Kanhargaon village, that lies on the border of Kanker and Gadchiroli districts (Maharashtra), to ensure security to the BandeIrpanaar road.

The road between Bande and Irpanaar goes through a dense forest, along the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border, which is a Naxal hotbed, a BSF official said.

The Naxals are frustrated with construction of the road and are trying to disrupt it by making such attempts, he said.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday rapped the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in a case over damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains because of the three-day cultural event organised by Art of Living (AOL) last year.

The tribunal, talking tough on the issue, came down heavily on DDA, maintaining that the organisation will be held responsible for damage done to the environment.

"If there is damage to the biodiversity of Yamuna, then DDA would be responsible, because DDA allowed AOL to hold an event," the NGT panel said, according to news agency ANI.

It also asked the DDA to commit to a deadline for the restoration of the floodplain's environment. However, DDA said that it does not have the expertise to gauge a timeframe at present, and the restoration work could even take up to 10 years.

Earlier, all parties summoned by the NGT had tried to evade responsibility in the case. On one hand, AOL shrugged off accusations that the damage was caused by its event, saying that the foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if river Yamuna was so fragile and pure.

AOL Matter: NGT asks DDA "how much time will you take to restore the environment on Yamuna bank". DDA says "no expertise, may take 10 years"  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

In separate submissions, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Water Resources also told the green panel that they were not responsible for the damage to the fragile floodplains, as was alleged by AOL. They said they had "no role" in permitting the cultural extravaganza of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's organisation.

"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 the NGT.

The NGT also slammed DDA for casting aspersions on the findings of its expert committee about damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson, justice Swatanter Kumar, took exception to the submission of the counsel for DDA, who questioned the conclusions of the seven-member expert panel.

"It is not fair. You cannot make sweeping comments on people who have devoted their life to environment. We are warning you people that if anybody passes strictures, we will not hesitate to take action against them," the bench said.

The DDA counsel said he did not intend to cast aspersions and was just questioning the basis of the findings and technology used by the experts panel.

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 the cultural extravaganza.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Opposition parties, after holding discussions in the past few days, appear to have considered a few names, including former governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former speaker Meira Kumar, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and JDU leader Sharad Yadav, to pick a common candidate for the upcoming presidential election.

Though a decision on the candidate will take some time, the process of evolving a consensus is gaining momentum.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has initiated the process of bringing Opposition parties together for the election slated in July in a bid to evolve a consensus on a candidate.

This also being seen as a precursor to the possibility of opposition parties coming together to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, who was secretary to the President when R Venkataraman held the post, is also said to have a good equation with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, when he was governor there. He himself has acknowledged that he has been approached.

Sonia has over the past few days met Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, National Conference's Working President Omar Abdullah, Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Communist Party of India-Marxist chief Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, and spoken to Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.

Gandhi, who was admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram hospital due to food poisoning on 9 May, is believed to have spoken to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee from the hospital. The two are likely to meet on 16 May. She will also meet DMK leader MK Stalin and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati in the coming days.

"Sonia Gandhiji is trying to build a consensus on the presidential election over phone, and even by meeting leaders of the opposition parties. But we are waiting for the BJP to announce their candidate. Let them first declare their candidate," JD-U leader KC Tyagi told IANS.

Asked if consensus has been arrived at on any candidate, Tyagi said: "A consensus has not been yet reached on any of the names. Let the notification be issued. But we have done our homework already. We will all contest the elections together."

Asked about the names of probable candidates doing the rounds, Tyagi said: "Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a good name, but no consensus has been reached on that. Meira Kumar is also a good name, Sharad Yadav is also a good name."

"No consultations have taken place formally on the names together. Till the BJP announces its candidate or till the election date is announced, all this is just preliminary talk," he added.

A senior Left leader told IANS that the united opposition will wait for the BJP to announce their candidate. He also said that they will announce the name in the end.

"Announcing the name may land the candidate in a legal entanglement, like BJP patriarch LK Advani. Immediately after his name started doing the rounds for presidential candidature, the Supreme court revived the conspiracy charge against him on the Babri Masjid demolition," said the leader.

Janata Dal-Secular leader Danish Ali said they will first wait for the government to announce its candidate and only then will they take a stand on it.

"If the government proposes a consensus candidate it will be good for democracy. The government should consult the opposition parties before taking any decision.

"If we don't agree with the government's proposal and if the candidate is not suitable for Rashtrapati Bhavan, if he comes from the right-wing ideology, then the opposition will be forced to field a candidate in that scenario... And JD-S will stand by the opposition parties," Danish Ali told IANS.

AIADMK leader V Maitreyan told IANS: "We'll have to see who are the candidates first (from both sides) and also how the Tamil Nadu scenario unfolds. It's too early to comment on this."

However, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal and Shiv Sena, which have been non-committal on the issue so far, will play a crucial role in the presidential elections.

Sources in the BJD said that if Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu's name is proposed by the ruling establishment, the party may have difficulty in opposing her. Murmu's name has been doing the rounds for the top post. She is a tribal politician, who hails from Odisha.

Opposition parties are also trying to garner support from the Shiv Sena and some of the its leaders are in talks with Shiv Sena leaders.

A Congress leader said that if Sharad Pawar becomes the opposition candidate, the Shiv Sena may extend support to him.

In another unity move, DMK leader Kanimozhi met Sonia Gandhi last week and invited her for her father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi's 94th birthday celebrations in Chennai.

Karunanidhi's birthday on 3 June is likely to be attended by leaders from several opposition parties, including Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Sharad Pawar. Kerala Chief Minister and CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan may also attend.

The term of President Pranab Mukherjee ends in July. The BJP-led NDA appears to have an advantage as it has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha and rules many of the bigger states.

The electoral college for the election of President consists of elected members the two Houses of Parliament and members of the legislative assemblies and councils.
As a five-judge Constitution bench of Supreme Court begins its historic hearing on a plea whether triple talaq is fundamental to Islam, here's the story of Shayara Bano.

After being married for 15 years, Shayara's husband gave her triple talaq in October 2015. The woman from Uttarakhand then approached the Supreme Court in 2016, challenging the validity of arbitrary practices against women followed by Muslims.

Her petition seeks the Supreme Court to declare talaq-e-bidat, polygamy and nikah halala illegal and unconstitutional on the grounds that they violate the rights guaranteed by the Constitution under Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25.

Shayaras husband has opposed her plea on the ground they were governed by the Muslim Personal Law and all three discriminatory practices are sanctified provisions under the very same law.

However, under the Constitution, religious freedom is subject to all other Fundamental Rights. Article 25  which guarantees Freedom of Practice and Propagation of Religion  does not protect religious practices since they can negatively affect the welfare of citizens. Article 14, which guarantees the Right to Equality, overrides Article 25 because triple talaq denies a Muslim woman's equality before the law.

Similarly, Article 25 is subject to Article 15 (1) which says that the State "shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex..." Since triple talaq does not work in the favour of women, it violates Article 15 (1) of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court's decision will affect many women victims in the country and those who are vulnerable to the instantatenous oral and unilateral triple talaq.
New Delhi/Srinagar: Six militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen were involved in the abduction and killing of a young Army officer in Shopian district of Kashmir and a massive manhunt has been launched to catch them, defence sources said on Thursday.

The bullet-riddled body of 22-year-old Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz from Kashmir was found in Harmen area of Shopian Wednesday morning, hours after he was abducted by militants from Batpura village. "We have identified six militants who were involved in the killing of Fayaz. The militants are from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen," a source said.

Security forces are carrying out searches in various areas to nab the six militants, the source said.

Fayaz, son of a farmer and an avid sportsman, had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of his maternal uncle at Batapura, about 74 kms from Srinagar, from where he was abducted by the militants around 10 pm on Tuesday night.

On his first leave since joining the Army, he was posted with 2 Rajputana Rifles in Akhnoor in Jammu region. His killing has triggered anger among the locals who demanded action against the culprits.

The Army had vowed to punish the killers of Fayaz and said the incident marks a watershed moment in Kashmir Valley as people there will decisively turn the tide against terrorism.

Calling the attack a "dastardly act of cowardice" by militants, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said Fayaz's sacrifice reiterates the nation's commitment to eliminate terrorism from the valley.
An uneasy calm prevails in western Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, after several incidents of caste-based violence were reported from the region. Caste assertions and subsequent face-offs are not unheard of in the area, and the upper-caste Thakurs have sparred with Dalits in the past too. But the Dalits' increasing assertiveness wasn't taken very well by the upper castes, who were used to their traditional superiority in society. This has resulted in frequent clashes.

However, a new phenomenon has emerged of late, where Dalit leaders have regrouped, the community reorganised, and lone one-off incidents of clashes transformed into organised resistance movements, where Dalits don't shy away from standing up to authorities from the upper castes.

This new phenomenon is being credited to the rise of the Bheem Army, which had been staging a sit-in in protest ever since clashes broke out last week between Dalits and Thakurs, leaving one person dead and over two dozen injured.

They demand equal rights and compensation for those who incurred losses, after 15-20 Dalit houses were burnt. The message in these unified movements is loud and clear: They want justice for the wrongs done to them, and discrimination of any sort will not be tolerated.

And this message has bound together an army of 40,000 Dalit youth across seven states in northern India, according to Chandrashekhar, who founded the Bhim Army merely two years ago.

The 30-something lawyer is well-built, often dons a blue scarf and talks of ideas of equality and annihilation of caste. According to a report in The Indian Express, Chandrasheskhar would have gone on to study abroad, but had to scrap his plan because of his ailing father. Staying at his village in Chhutmalpur while looking after his father, he decided that something needed to be done about the upliftment of "his people", as he thought the political entities touted as Dalit parties are too deeply entrenched in politics to afford to upset the upper castes.

Another report in The Quint quotes him as saying, "We need a BSP, but we also need a Bhim Army... political parties must appease all communities: Those lathicharged for a signboard with their own name on their own land, and those who ordered the lathicharge."

Chandrashekhar was referring here to another incident from last year in Gadkauli village, when a major controversy had broken out when some Dalit boys erected a board on their property proclaiming "the great Chamaar" Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Village Gadkauli. According to The Quint, the local Thakurs expressed displeasure over the word "great" and involved the police to work out a compromise. This compromise included blackening of the board. A few days later, a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar was blackened in the village, and the Dalits already disgruntled by the compromise formula forced on them, roped in Chandrashekhar's Bhim Sena. Policemen were thrashed, stones were pelted, and the board was re-erected.

This incident brought the Bhim Sena into prominence. The mere idea of Dalits standing up to the police was enthralling for many, and since then, Chandrashekhar's popularity has only swelled.

Even in last week's incident, a police chowki was burnt and over 20 vehicles were torched while several instances of stone pelting and clashes were reported from Saharanpur as a result of a incident emanating from a small village called Shabbirpur. Protests here started after 20-25 youth of the upper caste Thakur community were taking out a procession to garland the statue of Rajput warrior-king Maharana Pratap, when the Dalit locals objected to the loud music being played. It soon snowballed into a full-blown clash, with both groups throwing stones and bricks at each other.

The incident led to more violence and there was also arson, while 15-20 Dalit houses were torched and many vehicles, including those of the police, torched. As many as 16 persons, including a police officer, were injured in the resulting clashes. Of them, Sumit Rajput (35) later succumbed to his injuries. As the situation spiralled out of control, senior police officials ran and sought shelter in a residential colony to escape the wrath of the mob.

Around 600 Dalits and over 900 Thakurs reside in the village, about 35 km from where the violence erupted on 9 May.

According to the district authorities, it was the Bheem Sena that actively used social media to rally protestors and allegedly orchestrated Tuesday's violence. His organisation circulated messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, appealing to members of the Dalit community to attend a 'mahapanchayat' on 9 May in Gandhi Park to demand compensation and relief for those affected in last weeks inter-caste clashes.

Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chandra Dubey said the rioters opened fire on officers using country-made pistols. The police said protesters also vandalised Maharana Pratap Bhavan in Ramnagar area on Malhipur road.

They said a Rajput group filed a complaint alleging that Chandrashekhar provoked Dalit men and indulged in violence at Maharana Pratap Bhavan.

However, Chandrashekhar told The Indian Express that he condemns the violence. He claims that not all people who participated in the protests were members of the Ambedkar Army, and that he was called by the authorities to pacify the protesters. "We follow Ambedkar and we believe in the law of the land. But what will our people do when there is a difference in the treatment meted out to them?" the article quotes him as asking.

After the Saharanpur incident, the police arrested 30 people, mostly Dalits, in connection with the violence. Chandrashekhar sees a clear case of discrimination. "In Shabbirpur, when the Thakurs started a procession, there was no lathicharge on them. Why this treatment for us alone?" he asked.

He insists that he takes pride in his "apolitical" organisation and that he will fight only for the rights of his people. However, he added that this is only a part of the struggle, and the only way forward is education of the people.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Even as Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan's whereabouts remain a mystery, the Supreme Court was moved on Thursday seeking suspension of the six-month sentence awarded to him for contempt of court, which the apex court has agreed to consider.

As Karnan's counsel Mathew Nadumpara mentioned the petition before the Constitution bench at the fag end of the proceedings on Thursday, Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, who is heading the bench, said they would consider it.

When Nadumpara mentioned the petition, CJI Khehar asked: "Who are you?"

At this, counsel presented the waqalatnama, or authorisation, and said it had been notorised in Chennai.

He told Chief Justice Khehar that Karnan had approached a large number of lawyers "but they all refused as they are very scared of you" (SC bench).

To this, the CJI asked, "Where is Karnan?"

Nadumpara answered, "He is in Chennai."

CJI Khehar then said, "Ok, we will consider". But he gave no commitment.

Of the nine-judge bench hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of "triple talaq", only CJI Khehar and Justice Kurian Joseph are part of the seven-judge bench which had issued a contempt notice against Karnan.

Karnan was said to have left the State Guest House in Chennai for the Shiva temple in Srikalahasti town in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on 11 May, 2017. It is being re-posted in light of the fact that the Supreme Court will pronounce a verdict on this issue today.

The Supreme Court commenced the hearing from 11 May on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among Muslims.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar will hear seven petitions, including five separate writ petitions filed by Muslim women challenging the practice of triple talaq prevalent in the community and terming it "unconstitutional".

The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, will also take up the main matter on its own as a petition titled "Muslim Women's quest for equality".

Interestingly, each judge of the five-member bench, which is hearing the case while officially being on a summer break, belong to different religions. While Chief Justice JS Khehar is a Sikh, Justice Kurian Joseph is a Malayali Christian, Justice Rohinton Nariman belongs to the minuscule Parsi community, while Justice Uday Lalit is a Hindu, Justice Abdul Nazeer is a Muslim.

Here is a brief profile of all the judges in the five-member bench.

Chief Justice JS Khehar

The first Sikh to become the Chief Justice of India, Khehar has been the Chief Justice of India since January 2017. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on 13 September, 2011, prior to which he had served as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court between 8 August, 2010 and 12 September, 2011. His first appointment as a chief justice of any high court was in November 2009, when he was the top judge of the Uttarakhand High Court.

Before being elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh on 8 February, 1999, Khehar had practised before it as well as the Himachal Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court.

Khehar also presided over the five judges' constitution bench that had quashed the then Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa's decision to pre-pone the assembly session from January 2016 to December as it directed restoration of ousted Chief Minister Nabam Tuki's government.

He was also a part of the bench which sent Sahara chief Subrata Roy to jail while hearing the matter relating to the refund of money invested by people in his two companies.

Khehar was instrumental as he presided over the constitution bench that junked the National Judicial Appointment Commission as unconstitutional holding that it intruded upon the independence of judiciary.

Justice Kurian Joseph

Born in 1963, Joseph is an alumnus of the Kerala Law Academy Law College. He began his legal career in 1979 in the Kerala High Court. He became a government pleader in 1987 before becoming the Additional Advocate-General in 1994. He was designated as a Senior Advocate in 1996. In 2000, Joseph was elevated as a judge of the Kerala High Court.

Joseph became the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2010 and continued to remain in the position till 2013. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on 8 March 2013.

Justice Rohinton Nariman

A Parsi, Nariman is the son of distinguished jurist Fali S Nariman. He was a senior counsel at the Supreme Court of India before being elevated as a judge in the apex court on 7 July 2014. Notably, Nariman also served as India's solicitor-general between 27 July 2011 and 4 February 2013.

Beginning his legal career in 1979, the 60-year-old jurist became a senior counsel in the Supreme Court in 1993. He is also known as a scholar on the Zoroastrian faith.

Justice Uday U Lalit

Justice Lalit was appointed as a judge in the apex court in July 2014. Lalit had famously represented Amit Shah in the Tulsi Prajapati encounter case in the Supreme Court. He was also a special prosecutor in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

Lalit is known a slew of high profile cases. He represented the government, opposing Dr Binayak Sen's bail plea when he was held on sedition charges. He has represented Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh in a corruption case as well as his cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu in a culpable homicide case.

Lalit, who hails from Maharashtra, joined the Bar in June 1983 and had been practising in the apex court between 1986 and 2014. He has also worked with the former Attorney-General, Soli J Sorabjee, from 1986 to 1992.

Justice Abdul Nazeer

Justice Abdul Nazeer was born in 1958 in Karnataka's Moodbidri. According to Udayavani, a Kannada newspaper, Nazeer completed his B.Com degree at Mahaveera College in Moodbidri before obtaining a law degree from SDM Law College. He enrolled as an advocate in 1983 before being elevated as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2003. He became a permanent judge of the Karnataka High Court on 24 September 2004. Nazeer was elevated to the Supreme Court in February 2017.

With inputs from agencies

Follow LIVE updates here.
With the abduction and killing of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz while on leave in Kulgam (Jammu and Kashmir), Pakistan has raised the level of its proxy war to a new high, more so since it comes close to the beheading of Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh and BSF head constable Prem Sagar by a Pakistani BAT on 30 April. Whether the significance of these incidents matters to policymakers beyond the numbers is not known, notwithstanding the rhetoric.

Fayaz's life was brutally snuffed out just as he had commenced his career in the Indian Army. What Pakistan is doing is literally mocking the Government of India knowing full well that its focus is more on trade, economy and commerce. Do we realise what hybrid war is all about and that it is militarily-strong nations that the world respects? Donald Trumps references to Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping and increased financial and military assistance to Pakistan being just a few indicators. Stone-pelting close to Fayazs house while his funeral was underway, greatly undermines Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who recently told the media not to describe these youth as stone-pelters.

The late MK Dhar, who was former joint director of IB, wrote in his 2005 book Open Secrets: Indias intelligence unveiled, "I continued to advocate for an aggressive and proactive counter and forward intelligence thrust against Pakistan. My voice was rarely heard and mostly ignored The Pakistani establishment is a geopolitical bully. The best response to blunt such a bully is to take the war inside his home. India has allowed itself to be blackmailed by Pakistan even before it went nuclear. The sabre-rattling of 'coercive diplomacy', which is nothing but sterile military power, cannot convince the Islamist Pakistani establishment that India can take the border skirmishes inside their homes and hit at the very roots of the jaundiced Islamist groups."

Recently, a former RAW official has gone on record as saying the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir is because Delhi is trying to change the character of the Valley and Pakistan has nothing to do with it. Ironically, just before Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed, RAW continued to advise policymakers that Hurriyat separatists were inconsequential, which gave them a free hand to radicalise the youth and to visit Pakistan's high commission. Intel news now that Hurriyat has been funding stone-pelters and former high commissioner Abdul Basit is linked to all this, doesnt impress all that much when for years IB has been funding the Hurriyat.

The Pakistan Armys anti-India agenda is irreversible. It has never won a war and cant get over the ignominy of losing East Pakistan and having 93,000 prisoners of war taken by India. Jihad against India is not going to end even if Kashmir is resolved. The bible of Pakistans army is the Quranic Concept of War authored by Brigadier SK Malik of the Pakistan Army in 1979. It includes a 13-page preface by Allah Buksh K Brohi, former Pakistani High Commissioner to India, and Zia-Ul-Haq, former President of Pakistan and army chief, starting off the book with the concept of jihad within Islam, justifying terrorism and explaining that jihad is not simply the domain of the military, but every citizen must participate in jihad. Little wonder then Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani nuclear physicist, wrote in 2008, "The promotion of militarism in Pakistans schools, colleges and universities has had profound effect on young people, with militant jihad having become a part of the culture in college and university campuses, and armed groups inviting students for jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan."

It is time we set aside rhetoric of the surgical strike and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's threat that 'if there is one more Uri, Pakistan will lose Balochistan'. Retribution at the army unit-level will invariably be extracted, albeit what gets publicised is only fire assaults. This suits Pakistan portraying India as a soft State. But the 'free hand to the Army' is accompanied by a Supreme Court ruling to file an FIR for every encounter. In 1990, Pakistani infiltrators interrogated at the joint interrogation centre in Srinagar revealed that the ISI briefed them to go and kill Indians and take advantage of as many Kashmiri girls, with the promise of no prosecution if they get caught. Additionally, they were assured that Indian human right activists would be screaming to have them released.

Today, there are self-styled Gandhians advocating that the other cheek be offered when slapped, without knowing that in 1947 Mahatma Gandhi told Brigadier (later Lieutenant-General) LP Sen, then Commander of the 191 Infantry Brigade, "If one has to choose between cowardice and violence, I will choose violence."

Do we as a nation understand hybrid warfare  the major components of which include special operations, information operations, cyber warfare, regular and irregular operations? Rameshwar Nath Kao's 'Kaoboys' did a wonderful job in the 1970s, but warfare has moved beyond intelligence to special operations combining both external intelligence and special forces  something India fails to acknowledge. Hence, we have adverse strategic asymmetry vis-a-vis Pakistan and China at a sub-conventional level.

Then, there is the constituency that wants to keep the military aside instead of optimising its capabilities.

The use of the National Security Guard instead of the army's special forces (who had arrived before the NSG) at the IAF base in Pathankot and sending Indo Tibetan Border Police commandos to Afghanistan instead of special forces in ITBP uniform (although proposed) are examples  both ironically at the insistence of Doval. The subtle wedge being driven between the armed forces and the police forces, though attributed to bureaucratic machinations, actually indicates the finesse with which our adversaries are targeting India internally.

Hybrid war is not waged against the military but against a nation. The cliches of "appropriate response" and "will do at time and place of our choosing" executed at the tactical level will not suffice. This is a vicious hybrid war in which India must respond at the strategic level against the Pakistan Army. The earlier done, the better and it must be carried out without waiting for a politically-opportune moment  read 2019 General Election. Our response spanning the full range of hybrid war must be ruthlessly taken deep inside Pakistan at the strategic level. The prime ministers advisors and know-alls in the administration may have convinced him India doesn't need a cohesive national security strategy. But not being proactive in hybrid warfare will leave us holding our moneybags, talking trade and economy, but no one will respect us.

The author is a veteran lieutenant-general of the Indian Army
14:05 (ist)

Details of the Shayara Bano case

After being married for 15 years, Shayara Bano was subjected to triple talaq by her husband in October 2015.

Hailing from Uttarakhand, she then approached the Supreme Court in 2016, challenging the validity of arbitrary practices against women followed by Muslims.

Her petition asks the Supreme Court to declare talaq-e-bidat, polygamy and nikah halala as illegal and unconstitutional on the grounds that they violate the rights guaranteed by the Constitution under Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25.

Shayara Banos husband has opposed her plea on the grounds that they were governed by the Muslim Personal Law and all three discriminatory practices are sanctified provisions under Muslim Personal Law.

Religious practices are not protected by Article 25 since they might jeopardise the welfare of citizens.

It is clear under the Constitution that religious freedom is subject to all other fundamental rights. Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality, overrides Article 25 because triple talaq denies a Muslim woman's equality before the law.

Similarly, Article 25 is subject to Article 15(1) which says that the State "shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex..."

Since triple talaq does not work in favour of women, it violates Article 15(1) of the Constitution.

Banos plea will affect many women victims in the country who are vulnerable to the instantatenous oral and unilateral triple talaq.
The Supreme Court on Thursday commenced its historic hearing on a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of triple talaq and nikah halala among Muslims, saying it would first determine whether the practice is fundamental to Islam.

How the hearing went

A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, however, made it clear that the issue of polygamy among the Muslims may not be deliberated upon as it is not connected with the triple talaq issue.

"We will deal with the issue as to whether triple talaq is sacramental and whether it can be enforced as a fundamental right," the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, said while framing the issue to be deliberated upon.

Chief Justice JS Khehar (Sikh), Justice Kurian Joseph (Christian), Justice Rohinton Nariman (Parsi), Justice Uday Lalit (Hindu) and Justice Abdul Nazeer (Muslim), will cumulatively hear seven petitions relating to the issue of triple talaq, with the lead petition titled 'Quest for Equality vs Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind', The Times of India reported.

The apex court also said if it came to the conclusion that triple talaq is fundamental to religion, then it will not go into the question of its constitutional validity.

The bench said it will also deal with the aspect of whether triple talaq formed part of the enforceable fundamental right to practice religion under the Constitution.

Senior advocate Amit Singh Chadha, appearing for Shayara Bano, one of the petitioners in the case, initiated the arguments against the practice of triple talaq among Muslims and said this practice was not fundamental to Islam and hence can be done away with.

He also referred to the practices in the neighbouring Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to buttress his plea that triple talaq is un-Islamic.

The bench intervened and said it would like to peruse the prevalent laws in various Islamic countries on the issue.

Another senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, said in the case of divorces being granted through extra-judicial mechanism, there should be a "judicial oversight" to deal with the consequences.

Former Union minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid, who is assisting the court in his personal capacity, termed triple talaq as a "non-issue" saying it is not considered complete without conciliation efforts between the husband and the wife.

Don't need to ask my party for every case I take. Felt there were bad feelings so I decided to become amicus:Salman Khurshid on #TripleTalaq pic.twitter.com/Bj1cUwZX9W  News18 (@CNNnews18) May 11, 2017

He said there was no adjudication to determine the validity of the grounds of talaq.

When the bench asked whether reconciliation after the pronouncement of triple talaq in one go is codified, Khurshid replied in the negative.

Another former Union minister and counsel for All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Kapil Sibal, concurred with Khurshid and said "it's a non-issse, as no prudent Muslim would wake up one fine morning and say talaq, talaq and talaq".

Meanwhile, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "The issue of triple talaq is not of any religion or community. This is about gender justice, gender dignity and gender equality."

"Nothing wrong can be done in the name of religion. If a Hindu says that he wants to indulge in untouchability because of his religion, that is not allowed," he added.

The bench continued with the hearing in the post-lunch session.

The pleas before the apex court have also challenged the constitutional validity of other practices like nikah halala and polygamy among the Muslims.

The bench is also taking up the main matter on its own as a petition titled 'Muslim Women's quest for equality'.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that each side will get two days each for canvassing their arguments on the two questions formulated by the bench and one day will be given for the rebuttal.

The apex court also made it clear that it would stop any counsel who will repeat the arguments. "Each side can argue whatever they want but there should not be any repetition. They will only focus on the validity of triple talaq," the bench said.

The apex court had on its own taken cognisance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands.

The hearing assumes significance as the apex court has decided to hear the case during the summer vacation and is likely to sit on Saturdays and Sundays to expeditiously decide the contentious and sensitive issues arising in the matter.

It holds importance as the Allahabad High Court, in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.

The high court had given its verdict while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq.

The apex court had on 30 March said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are "very important" and involve "sentiments".

Muslim organisations like the AIMPLB have opposed the court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining that these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and hence not justifiable.

The Muslim women, who have filed the petitions, have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message.

With inputs from PTI
The five-member bench of the Supreme Court of India on Thursday will hear the final arguments over the constitutionality of the Islamic practice of triple talaq. However, what will make the path-breaking event unique is the fact that the arguments will be heard by judges belonging to five different religions, reported The Asian Age.

Interestingly, the five-member bench, which is hearing the case while officially being on a summer break, comprises of Chief Justice JS Khehar (Sikh), Justice Kurian Joseph (Christian), Justice Rohinton Nariman (Parsi), Justice Uday Lalit (Hindu) and Justice Abdul Nazeer (Muslim), the report noted.

The bench will cumulatively hear seven petition relating to the issue of triple talaq, with the lead petition aptly titled "Quest for Equality vs Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind", The Times of India reported.

The report added that the lead petition is followed by six other petitions by Khuran Sunnath Society, Shayara Bano, Aafreen Rehman, Gulshan Parveen, Ishrat Jahan and Atiya Sabri.

Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi will assist the bench which will also examine to what extent the court can interfere in the Muslim personal laws if they are found to be violative of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution.

The apex court had on its own taken cognizance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands.

The top court will examine the issue to give an authoritative pronouncement on the constitutional and legal validity of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among Muslims.

The hearing holds importance as the Allahabad High Court in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.

The High Court verdict had come while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq.

Anti-triple talaq activists hope favourable verdict

Activists from West Bengal under the banner of Joint Movement Committee, which has been campaigning for a ban on triple talaq and polygamy, on Tuesday exuded confidence that the Supreme Court verdict on the issue will be in their favour.

Syed Tanveer Nasreen, an activist and an academician from Kolkata, had said the constitutional rights of women, and gender equality should be ensured and divorce should take place in the court of law.

"It is a patriarchal practice which seeks to exploit the women in the name of religion. We have great faith in Khehar, who, we believe, will do justice and hold human rights above the sentiments of minorities," Nasreen had said.

Questioning the locus standi of the Muslim Personal Law Board which has opposed the petitions filed in the SC, Osman Mallick, Convenor of the Joint Movement Committee, had said the board is just an NGO and holds no authority to comment on such issues on behalf of the entire Muslim community.

"The Sharia law directly hits the basic structure of the constitution as it does not believe in gender equality. If there has to be a talaq, let it come through the judicial process," Mallick said at a press conference in Kolkata.

Jamaat-e-Islami calls issue "unnecessary"

On 30 April, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind chief and All India Muslim Personal Law Board vice-president Sayed Jalaluddin Umri had said the nationwide debate on the triple talaq issue was "unnecessary" and there will be no dispute if Muslims follow the Sharia law.

"There will be no dispute or discord if Muslims follow the Sharia law in true spirit with regard to the issues of marriage, divorce, inheritance, Mehar (right of a wife) and Nafqa (monthly stipend). The debate is unnecessary," he had said.

The Muslim personal law is "balanced and justified" and it helps and promotes healthy family traditions, the Jamat chief had told reporters in Patna.

Narendra Modi had asked for not politicising issue

On 29 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged Muslims not to view the triple talaq issue from a political perspective and expressed the confidence that efforts to end the practice would be led by "enlightened" members of the community.

At a function to mark the Basava Jayanti celebrations inhonour of Kannada philosopher Basaveswara, Modi referred to the 12th century reformer's movement against regressive practices to speak about triple talaq.

"I appeal to you not to view the triple talaq issue from a political perspective. Come out and find a solution. That solution will have its own majesty and generations will remember you," he said.

Modi had said that he hoped that "powerful people" would emerge from society and help "eradicate outdated practices and evolve modern systems".

With inputs from PTI

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For decades, since the gunfire replaced lullabies in Kashmir, mourning has been a political expression. But never have been the fault lines so clearly visible as they are today on the surface of the Valley's social fabric that we even get a clear idea about who will mourn whom in this brutal conflict zone.

On Wednesday, at the funeral procession of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz Parry and even after he was lowered in the grave, apart from the family members and close relatives, a few people mourned his death. It was not just the death of a 22-year-old army officer but it was also death of an only son, a brother and a friend.

There was no stone pelting when Parry's shrouded body was buried and a few shed tears of grief. But something was certainly amiss. No slogans were raised, or perhaps people did not know what kind of slogan they should raise at the funeral of a man, who chose a job which would become a reason for him to be riddled with bullets.

Just like present generation which has engulfed the streets with anti-India protests or the gun wielding militants in the forests, Ummer wasn't born when this armed rebellion started in Kashmir in late 1980s  when the Russian made Kalashnikovs or AK-47s changed the political narrative of Kashmir.

Looking at his grave, people clung to a fence bordering an orchard where soldiers and fellow officers offered floral tributes to their fellow soldier. But given the situation in the Valley, it's hard to guess what could stoke violence. Still many turned up, for it was death of a Kashmiri  a man who also had equal stakes in Kashmir's future like anyone else.

The tragic death of Ummer, a lieutenant of the Rajputana Rifles, may not remain etched in our memories for very long but it has exposed, once again, how even your job can become the reason for your untimely and tortured death. Was he killed for being part of the Indian Army or was he killed because he chose to be on the other side of the narrative? But whatever the intentions of killers were - can we justify killing of an unarmed armyman when we are condemning killing of unarmed civilians? Will the separatists condemn this killing too, like they condemned the recent killing of politician Abdul Gani Dar? Dar was also on the other side of the narrative and was unarmed, just like Ummer was on that night of his relative's wedding.

On my way back from the funeral, I kept wondering what was missing from the funeral and from the corner of my notebook a few prophetic words, told to me by Ummer's cousin, stared back at me: "The lines are so clearly drawn that we know today who will mourn for you and who will mourn for me."

Ummer had gone to attend the marriage ceremony of his cousin sister after he was taken out of the house and killed, they found his dead body in the main chowk of the village on Wednesday morning. He was commissioned into the Army's Rajputana Rifles regiment just five months ago.

Ummer has never meant harm to anyone, in fact, he did not have the disposition of a typical army jawan  he would play with children on streets. He was a local boy of South Kashmir  the region that is today filled with militants and anti-India protests. But after his death, for everyone here Unmner is now an Indian, an Indian army officer, a Kashmiri and a Muslim, while as majority of the people living in Kashmir these days are Kashmiris, Pakistanis or Independent ideology people and anything but Indian.

People in Ummer's home village, Sursanoo, remember that the village has had only one militant - Mohammad Ayub Parry, who was killed while crossing the Line of Control in early 1990s, and he was brother of Ummer's father.

Who will decide which mourning is acceptable? Was mourning for his brother in 1990s or for his son in 2017  the lines are so clearly visible that Kashmir once again has reached a point where there are battles within battle. It is Kashmiris who are choosing their battles because they can clearly see who will mourn for them and who they will mourn for.
New Delhi: Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to take stock of the situation in the Valley.

During the trip, Mehrishi will meet governor NN Vohra, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and discuss with them the prevailing situation in the state.

The home secretary will also hold a meeting with top civil, police and army officers to review the security situation in the state.

Mehrishi's visit comes a day after a young Kashmiri army officer was killed by militants in Shopian district. Jammu and Kashmir had witnessed violence during the 9 April bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents.

The Election Commission had also cancelled the 25 May bypoll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, saying situation there was not feasible for holding election.

There have been protests by students in the Valley last month against alleged police excesses. Students, including girls, were seen pelting stones on security personnel in these incidents.
New Delhi: Hundreds of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers demonstrated outside the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi, demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)-equipped EVMs be used in future elections.

The protesters, including AAP MLAs and newly appointed Delhi convener Gopal Rai, alleged that the manipulation of electronic voting machines was killing democracy.

"EVM manipulation is a real possibility and should be looked into immediately," said RK Gupta, an AAP worker who had come from Dwarka in southwest Delhi to the poll panel's central Delhi headquarters.

"This is how BJP won polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Even the division along caste lines could not have helped them with such a huge victory," added Pragati, another worker, who had come from Mundka near the city's western border.

Asked to elaborate, most protesters cited AAP legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj's live demo on EVM manipulation in the Delhi Assembly.

Apart from demanding that VVPAT-equipped EVMs be used, the party plans to approach the Election Commission with the

request that votes registered in EVMs and paper trails of 25 percent randomly chosen booths be tallied.

VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense paper slips which help voters confirm that their vote has indeed gone to the candidate of their choice.

Participating in a discussion on the issue during a day-long special session of the Delhi Assembly earlier this week, Bhardwaj claimed that a voting machine could 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.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday expressed his displeasure over franchisee model of power distribution system and described its work as unsatisfactory

especially in terms of rural electrification in the state.

"In my opinion, the functioning of franchisee is futile (bekaar). The state government's intention is to get rid of the franchisee (system). The electrification of some of the villages in few districts could not be completed because of the franchisee system," Kumar said here.

The chief minister was addressing a function organised by Energy department where he inaugurated, dedicated and laid foundation stones for various schemes of the department worth Rs 2660.51 crore that includes construction of grid and power sub-station laying of new 33 KV, 11 KV and Low Tension lines, sub-divisional control room cum customer facilitation centre,

rural electrification, etc.

While referring to 633 unelectrified villages of the state which would be electrified by December 2017, the CM, who seemed unhappy with the distribution franchisee's work, said that 24 villages in Muzaffarpur and six in Bhagalpur are yet to be electrified.

He, however, asked the concerned officials to get the villages electrified by the end of the year.

Distribution franchisees had taken over the power distribution network of town areas and its peripheries in Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya earlier.

A senior official of the power company, told PTI that these franchisees have not made any desired impact both in terms of providing service and improving revenue collection.

Consumers' complaints especially with regard to faulty electricity bills, power cuts, etc, still galore in these areas, he said adding that these franchisees were supposed to make investments to improve services and power distribution network besides carrying out electrification of villages that are included in their franchisee areas.

Stating that every household will be provided electric connection by the end of 2018, Kumar said that of 633 unelectrified villages, electrification will be carried out through solar and renewable energy sources in 218 remote villages.

Enumerating his government's achievements with regard to improving power infrastructure of the state, Kumar said that "We have travelled a long distance from 45 grid sub stations (in 2005-06) to 112 grid sub stations at present and augmenting evacuation capacity from 1000 MW to 7000-8000 MW at present."

The state government has now shifted its focus to provide quality (with adequate voltage) power supply in the state, he said.

Making a fervent appeal to people for "power conservation", he exhorted them to use power when it was required and asked officials and people's representatives to make it a "campaign".

Kumar said that even the Centre during recently held Energy ministers' conference hailed Bihar government's decision to file zero base tariff petition and asked other states to follow the same.

Speaking on the occasion, Energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said that the state drew a record power supply of 4100 MW few days back and was focusing to improve efficiencyof billing and collection.

Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, CM's Energy Advisor PK Rai, Energy Department's Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit and other officials were present on

the occasion.
A day after former PWD minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui was sacked from the BSP, he accused party supremo Mayawati and her brother of making illegal demands, including asking Rs 50 crore for the party.

Addressing a press conference, the former BSP general secretary also alleged that Mayawati had called Muslims "traitors". Siddiqui, who was expelled along with his son a day ago, said he had "ample proof" that Mayawati, her brother Anand and party General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra made illegal demands to him.

According to India TV, Siddiqui claimed to possess 150 tapes and a few of the recordings reportedly also consist a murder threat, however, during the press conference on Thursday, he played the audio recordings where Mayawati was allegedly heard demanding money.

Siddiqui and his son Afzal were sacked by Mayawati from BSP on Wednesday on grounds of "anti-party activities", amid allegations of taking money from candidates during the Assembly election in which the BSP's tally fell to an all-time low of 19. The ousted MLC had said, "Whatever charges have been levelled against me, applies to her (Mayawati) and I can prove those with evidence."

Alleging that Mayawati had asked for Rs 50 crore from him, he said on Thursday: "I asked from where can I get this amount, to which, she asked me to sell my property."

The expelled leader claimed he tried to explain to her that his property was not worth even a quarter of money she was asking for.

Siddiqui said after the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress cobbled an alliance ahead of the February-March assembly election, he told Mayawati that the Muslims were drifting towards the alliance.

"An upset Mayawati called the Muslim community gaddaar (traitors)," the former minister said.

He also accused the former chief minister of insulting him and many senior party office-bearers repeatedly. Siddiqui said he had dedicated his whole life to the BSP and the Dalit leader, but she expelled him from the party on flimsy grounds.

She did not even give me an audience to explain whatever was said against me, he said. "I am pained that sacrifices made by me and my family for the last so many years have been rewarded with sudden expulsion," he said.

"She (Mayawati) was sore after the dismal showing of the BSP in the recent Assembly elections and termed Muslims as betrayers for not voting for the party," Siddiqui alleged. Accusing Mayawati of having referred to "bearded Muslims as dogs", Siddiqui claimed he had objected to the remark.

He also attacked BSP general secretary Satish Misra, alleging he was trying to weaken the party. "BSP is being knowingly weakened by Mayawati and Anand Kumar (her brother) under a conspiracy by Satish Mishra and

Company...people are also of the view that since Mayawati has attained the height which she wanted to reach, she herself wants to end BSP so that no other among the Dalit Samaj could reach this far," a visibly angry Siddiqui said.

BSP is totally under the grip of Mishra and company, Mayawati is being blackmailed by them, he claimed. Continuing his tirade, Siddiqui alleged that Mayawati had

a criminal gang who could set any leader's house on fire or even get someone murdered.

On Wednesday, Siddiqui had said, "I was associated with the party's ideology for over three decades. For the sake of the party, I did not even visit my ailing daughter who died due to lack of treatment as Mayawati wanted my services during election and did not permit me to go for her self-interest." "I have so much material that if I open my mouth it can cause an earthquake....I know her more than anyone else...if I give the proof against Mayawati, Anand and Mishra it will be a big 'tamasha'," he said.

According to NDTV, sources in the BSP said that the expulsion could be Mayawati's attempt to distance herself and her party from Siddiqui, who faces several corruption cases that are likely to be pursued with vigour by the new BJP government.

Holding Mayawati's "wrong policies" responsible for BSP's poor performance in 2009 and 2014 (Lok Sabha), 2012 and 2017 (UP Assembly), he alleged that the BSP chief levelled "false and misleading" allegations against Muslims and also made objectionable comments against them, especially in the 2017 polls.

Meanwhile, the BSP chief on Thursday, said that Siddiqui was made in-charge of western UP during the election but she got complaints from people alleging that he was a "blackmailer". "If he can record party president's call and tamper it as per convenience then how can he be expected to fulfill responsibilities," she said. The BSP supremo also denied making any comments against the Muslims.

I gave Naseemuddin Siddiqui responsibility for western UP in elections but ppl came & told me that he is a very big blackmailer: #Mayawati pic.twitter.com/BYaV05BIOW  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 11, 2017

If he can record Party Pres' call&tamper it as per convinience then how can he be expected to fulfil responsibilities: #Mayawati on Siddiqu pic.twitter.com/t16qZ16tWS  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 11, 2017

With inputs from agencies
Mumbai: The Congress party has threatened to launch an agitation against Maharashtra BJP chief Raosaheb Danve's comments on tur dal growers. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Chavan told reporters on Thursday that his party will launch a statewide stir from tomorrow against Danve's "derogatory" comments.

He also demanded an apology from the BJP over Danve's remarks against the farmers.

Danve had stoked a controversy on Wednesday by saying that farmers continue to complain despite the state government doling out sops to bail out tur growers. "The state government has so far procured the highest amount of tur in the history and it is going to purchase additional 1 lakh tonne; still some (referring to farmers) continue to complain," Danve said at Jalna in Marathwada.

Chavan said Danve has insulted the farmers when the government is not procuring the tur produce and also not giving a loan waiver to help them tide over the agrarian crisis resulting out of drought conditions, unseasonal rains and lack of good market price for their produce.

"Important leaders in the ruling party are making irresponsible statements," he said. "This is nothing but sheer arrogance. Power has gone to their heads. By abusing farmers, Danve has added insult to their injury," he said.

Slamming Danve's remarks, Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said in a tweet, "...he first abused the farmers and cursed then too. This is the true face of BJP. Anti-farmer BJP."

Notably, even ruling ally Shiv Sena had slammed Danve for seeking a guarantee from the opposition that loan waiver will stop suicide by farmers. The Sena said this showed that the state BJP chief has no sympathy for farmers.

Danve, while talking to reporters after visiting Sai Baba temple at Shirdi in Ahmednagar on Monday, asked the opposition to "give in writing" that a loan waiver would stop farmers' suicides in Maharashtra.

The Centre had last year undertaken a massive programme to increase production of tur in Maharashtra. The state saw record production of the cereal due to good monsoon. However, the glut led to fall in prices of tur, adversely affecting cultivators. A delay in opening procurement centres further worsened the farmers' condition.

A few days ago, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had admitted gross mismanagement in tur procurement. Fadnavis managed to get an extension from the Union government to keep procurement centres open till May-end. This came as a relief to the BJP, which was under attack from allies and opposition over tur procurement.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday slammed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his remark that no soldier from Gujarat got martyred.

Rupani termed Yadav's statement as "anti-Gujarat" and said the SP leader is making such a "low level" comment out of frustration after his party's humiliating defeat in the recently held Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

"I condemn the views expressed by former UP chief minister on martyrs today. Such statement is anti-Gujarat," said Rupani in a statement.

Yadav on Wednesday appeared to question the patriotism of the people of Gujarat when he said no soldier from the state got martyred.

"Jawans from UP, Madhya Pradesh, South India and other parts of the country have sacrificed their lives but tell me if anyone from Gujarat has been martyred," he said.

Responding to Yadav, Rupani said the SP leader is trying to malign the image of Gujarat and its people by making such statement.

"Yadav is making such statement out of frustration, as his party faced humiliating defeat in UP. Such statement is an attempt to malign the image of Gujarat and its people. He is indulging in a very low level politics," said Rupani.

The chief minister added this is not the first time Akhilesh has made such derogatory remarks about Gujarat. Earlier, the SP chief had targeted Gujarat by asking Amitabh Bachchan, who is the face of Gujarat Tourism, not to advertise for "donkeys of Gujarat".

"Earlier, Yadav defamed Gujarat by comparing wild ass of Gujarat to donkey. I believe that people in public life should rise from such low level politics. He is trying to attract cheap publicity by making such statements" Rupani added.

At least three soldiers from Gujarat have laid down their lives in the line of duty in the months of January and February this year.

In January, two soldiers, Sunil Patel of Panchmahals district and Deva Parmar of Bhavnagar district, were martyred in avalanche in Machhil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

In February, Lance Naik Gopal Singh Bhadoria, a resident of Ahmedabad, was martyred in a fierce gun-battle with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Bengaluru: After finding himself in the vortex of a factional war within the Karnataka unit of the BJP for the last couple of weeks, party's state president B S Yeddyurappa has said that all is well within the party.

Claiming that the party was united as it prepares itself for the 2018 assembly polls, he said there is no difference of opinion between him and senior party leader K S Eshwarappa, both of whom had engaged in an unsavoury public spat.

"There is no problem at all, there is no difference of opinion at all", Yeddyurappa said in a reply to a question if the differences have been sorted out between him and Eshwarappa.

"No problem at all, we are together, we are going to win 150 seats. That's why I'm touring for about 45 days. All our leaders will be in important places, our leaders Ananth Kumar and other Union ministers will also take part", he said.

Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa had indulged in a public spat, over the former's "unilateral" style of functioning and appointment of party officebearers "ignoring loyal workers" and the old guard of the party.

Yeddyurappa was speaking to reporters after releasing a "chargesheet" against Siddaramaiahled Congress government here.

Setting the tone for 2018 assembly elections, Yeddyurappa along with several senior party leaders will be travelling across the state from 18 May to 27 June.

The "chargesheet" released in the form of a booklet was prepared by the Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly Jagdish Shettar. It lists the 'failures' of various departments and seeks to point out the level to which the government has kept up its promises, as it completes four years in office.

Asked about Eshwarappa's absence at the event, Yeddyurappa remained silent while Shettar said "in the last three years also when the chargesheet against the government was released, Eshwarappa was not part of it and it has continued".

Claiming that as per various surveys of private agencies, Karnataka is the most corrupt state with number one position, Yeddyurappa alleged that the law and order situation in the state has "completely failed" under Congress government.

Karnataka stood second in the country in terms of numbers of farmer suicides, he said adding the crime and

extortion rate has increased and there was no honest effort by the government to control them.

Accusing the state government of showing "inefficiency" in distribution of central relief to the affected farmers, Yeddyurappa also charged that loans taken by the government was the highest compared to any of its predecessors.

He also demanded that the chief minister waive farmers' loans, while chiding the government for blaming the centre for not doing its part in mitigating the problem.

Listing the government's 'failures' department wise, Shettar called the state government "irresponsible".

He said like the chief minister, his government is also in "sleeping mode".

Stating that the Congress has been "failing" across the country, Shettar said in Karnataka, the BJP under the leadership of Yeddyurappa will ensure that the state is "Congress free".

He also claimed that people will bring the BJP back to power in 2018 and teach a lesson to the Congress.
Congress has not taken a break from being decimated in every single venture it undertook ever since the debacle of 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. When it lost power in 1977, 1989, 1996 and 1998, it still had the most MLAs in the land and the states always powered the party back to the Centre. This is the first time this is not the case. After its poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh and a clamour for restructuring, the Congress has said that it has already started preparing itself for the 2019 general election and will pose a "formidable challenge" to the BJP. Those reading this article might just snigger at that idea, however, let's bear in mind the fact that anything is possible in politics. That being said, let also bear in mind the fact that miracles are scarce in politics. It is all about strategy.

Senior Congress spokesperson CP Joshi recently said that the entire political narrative after 2014 elections has changed and have posed new challenges for which the Congress has to align with other parties across the country to take on the BJP.

"Since the BJP came to power under the leadership of Narendra Modi, we are facing a new narrative. We are preparing ourselves to meet the new challenges. I am hopeful that we will give a formidable challenge to Modi in 2019 under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi," he told reporters.

Joshi also sprung to the Congress vice-president's defence and said that his leadership brought together various parties to fight against Modi and cited the example of Bihar. "In view of the new political narrative is that to meet challenge of the single largest party, we will have to ally and join hands with other political parties across the country and fight out.

"Rahul has played a major role in bringing parties together. Rahul was the leader who has changed the narrative in Bihar. We assure you that under the leadership of Rahul we will face the new narrative and we will deliver in 2019," Joshi said, adding that they will give no space to BJP in Bihar in 2019.

He said there are very good leaders in Congress who will come out, adding the role of Rahul must not be underplayed.

With the party reeling through probably what is its worst phase in history, leaders of the Congress are preparing for a "bounce back." The Congress is eyeing the upcoming Karnataka Assembly election, the presidential election and the big one  2019 general elections. According to various media reports, Rahul 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.

Here's how the Congress is slowly attempting to regroup:

Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 and a structural reijg

The Congress appointed a new-look team including 17 new office bearers out of which 10 are under the age of 50, reported ANI. The news was confirmed by Congress leader and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala who addressed a press conference on Thursday. According to PTI, Pritam Singh has been appointed as the new Uttarakhand Congress president and will replace Kishore Upadhyay. The decision might be a result of partys failure to form government in the state after losing the assembly elections earlier this year.

In a similar rejig, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge might be removed as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), so that he can play a more active role in Karnataka politics. Basically, Congress is pulling all its big guns ahead of the 2018 Karnataka elections and Kharge, who is a stalwart in the state, might help fortifying the party'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 2016, 20 MLAs had revolted against Siddaramaiah, accusing him of corruption, however, the Congress high command was able to save the party from a mass defection. In March, 2016, many Congress MLAs had written to the central leadership 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 Siddaramaiah.

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. Ruling out any difference within the state unit, the party's new state unit in-charge K C Venugopal said "all the confusion" regarding the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president would be cleared this month. "With the support of our leaders and workers and because of the people-friendly programmes of our state government headed by Siddaramaiahji, we are going to retain power in Karnataka," Venugopal said.

Karnataka is the last standing Congress bastion. It is only normal for the party to go all out to save the last shred of dignity left. Even though the news about Kharge moving to Karnataka is warming up, The Indian Express quoted senior Congress members saying 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.

Preparing for a bigger role in the Kashmir issue

As India and the world reacted to the heinous mutilation of two Indian soldiers' bodies in Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch sector of Kashmir, political parties went into a huddle over how to dissipate the tension between the two countries. Major opposition parties  Congress, Left parties, Janata Dal (United), Nationalist Congress Party and Trinamool Congress  are planning to host a national meet in New Delhi to discuss the unending crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to The Economic Times, JD(U) senior leader Sharad Yadav met with former prime minister Manmohan Singh recently and suggested that they come up with an alternative to defuse the tension in the Valley. Ever since the encounter of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on 8 July, 2016, Kashmir has been a boiling pot of protests, unrest and stone-pelting which has resulted in several civilian deaths and questions being raised at Indian Army's role in the Valley.

The Modi-led BJP government at the Centre, which is also part of the ruling government in Jammu and Kashmir along with Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has come under carping criticism for the way the situation is being handled in the extremely sensitive state.

Yadav said that the Opposition may use the opportunity to exchange "views with stakeholders, independent observers, intellectuals and activists" to come up with an alternative vision to alleviate the volatile situation in Kashmir and resume political initiative. "Given the grave situation in Kashmir and the failure of the NDA regime and PDP-BJP government to politically deal with it, there is a need for like-minded Opposition parties and other independent activists and observers of the Valley to jointly work and present before the nation an alternative vision for political initiative in Kashmir," The Economic Times quoted the senior JD(U) leader as saying.

Presidential elections

Just as the Congress is hoping to unite the scattered Opposition on the issue of Kashmir, the party is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that it is represented well in the upcoming and extremely crucial presidential elections.

The Congress, till the 2012 presidential elections, always dominated the electoral college which is one of the reasons why former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee opted "the neutral" APJ Abdul Kalam in 2002. In 2017, however, BJP is leading the troika of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state assemblies and by default dominates the electoral college to push its own candidate. The Rajya Sabha is headed by the vice-president, so it will dominate that too in 2017.

To improve its chances and not be handed with another loss, the Congress is rounding up crucial Opposition leaders, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, to ensure, if not a win, then a tough fight to BJP. The Opposition leaders are well aware of BJP's shining chances, but according to NDTV their real agenda is the inception of a sprawling front to take on the ruling BJP in the general election that is two years away.

On Wednesday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is hospitalised for food poisoning, spoke to Mamata and agreed to meet in Delhi early next week, as part of Gandhi's efforts to forge a broader unity among Opposition parties against BJP and field a joint Opposition presidential candidate. In the wake of raging political confrontation between the Modi-led NDA regime and Mamata's TMC government, the Bengal chief minister is widely believed to be as anxious as Congress and many other similarly-placed Opposition parties for a united defence line against the Centre and BJP.

Sonia has already met with big guns like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and chief of Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar. Meanwhile, Rahul has met with CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and ally Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. The President of India is chosen by an electoral college consisting of national and state lawmakers. In case of an election, the BJP and its allies are about 25, 000 votes short. Should the BJP need more support, parties down south  ruling parties in Tamil Nadu and Telangana  can easily make up for the deficit.

With inputs from agencies
This is one corruption charge against Mayawati, levelled by Naseemuddin Siddiqui her most trusted party colleague till the other day, which she will find most difficult to counter. The tapes released by the ousted BSP leader who has for long been considered to be virtual number two in the party has effectively sounded the endgame bugle for the Dalit Tsarina of Indian politics.

Over an hour long press conference which concluded with Siddiqui releasing some tapes where Mayawati is openly asking him to arrange for money and warning him that he should deliver it on time is not all the ammunition which the expelled BSP's Muslim face for two decades has. He even threatened his erstwhile boss saying that he has 150 audio conversation tapes to expose Mayawati, party general secretary Satish Mishra and Anand Kumar (Mayawati's brother), as also several other evidence -- their benami properties and a whole lot of their corrupt deeds.

The tapes and other evidence include the way physical and material harm of detractors, party rivals and critics were carried out at the behest of the BSP supremo. Politically, his words would be music to the ears of the ruling BJP government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh. The revelations made by Siddiqui is a fit case for the constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) and the state to ask the CBI to take up the investigation. If the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh does not do this then it would perhaps be failing in its duty. Though Siddiqui has yet not said that he was submitting the tapes and other such evidence of the BSP leadership's corrupt and dirty deeds to state agencies, these can still be procured by any probing team.

The fact that Siddiqui's words over the years have been taken as the words of Mayawati for he was the second most influential leader on the ground after her in the party, his charges as also the audio records would be taken seriously. His charges in no way can be brushed aside as the rant of a disgruntled leader.

The corruption charges against BSP chief as made by Siddiqui is almost same as those made by some other senior leaders who left BSP and joined BJP or Samajwadi Party, Swami Prasad Maurya, Brajesh Pathak and others. But then there is a difference. Siddiqui has been with the party until the other day and is perceived to be one person who kept all the secrets of her boss. More so, he has actually released tapes.

The other significant thing that Siddiqui conveyed by quoting her private conversations and her speech at the 19 April party meet that Mayawati actually believed that Muslims, upper castes, OBCs, various sub-castes of Dalit did not vote for her party, for which she took her party leaders to task. This effectively means that the "EVM manipulation" charge which she made against BJP on 11 March, even as Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll results were being announced now sound hollow. In all likelihood, the BSP chief hurriedly made tampered voting machine charge against the victorious BJP only to somehow convince her party workers and social constituents that she still had the popular support and was not dumped by people.

The other charge levelled by Siddiqui that will haunt Mayawati for a long time is that she called the Muslims as traitors. Siddiqui quoted Mayawati as saying Musalman gaddar hai...dadhiwale (Maulanas) ye kutte mere paas aate thhe.. ("Muslims are traitors. The bearded ones came to me like dogs"). A section of the Muslim community could take Siddiqui's words at face value, no matter what Mayawati says in her counter attack on him or in her defence.

Remember in these elections Mayawati was counting on Muslim-Dalit votes and in rally after rally she publicly talked about votes from the Muslim community. She had put up around 100 Muslim candidates. BSP could manage to win only 19 seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly meaning that Mayawati couldn't even get elected as a Rajya Sabha MP when her term expires next year. She has zero representation in Lok Sabha and soon will have zero representation in Rajya Sabha.

Siddiqui's revelations, the intensity of his evidence backed charge is such that she might never be in a position to resurrect her party. The ousted leader made it clear that with every move against him made by Mayawati and Mishra would force him to release some more tapes and other evidence. He even claimed that he knew of gang leaders and members who did this dirty job for party chief.

The former BSP leader charged that Mayawati allegedly asked him to arrange for Rs 50 crore because the party immediately needed that much of money. When Siddiqui expressed his inability Mayawati asked him to sell his landed property and if that can't fetch full amount then he should ask his friends, relative, those (officers and businessmen) they had helped when BSP was in power and the leaders who were given tickets in recently concluded elections. But the money had to be arranged without fail and at the earliest. In the tapes, Mayawati is heard admonishing him for "taking too much of time in delivering on the work given to him." She is also heard giving instructions to persons and areas from where he should raise money.

The language is that of extortion not of donation. The tapes also reveal that the kitab or the membership book given by the BSP leadership to its candidates and other leaders was an unaccounted money-spinning exercise.

Mark Siddiqui's words: "I have her birth chart. If I release the volume of evidence I have against her then an earthquake is going to come." Given his proximity with BSP chief for the last 34 years, his threat might not be empty.
Thiruvananthapuram: A public outcry erupted in Kerala after the State Bank of India (SBI) announced that charges would be levied on all cash withdrawals from its ATMs from June onward.

The bank's new order states that every time a SBI customer withdraws cash from an ATM a charge of Rs 25 would be levied and charges would also be levied for exchange of old and sullied notes above Rs 5,000.

"This is outrageous and the central government is cheating the people. Ever since the demonetisation began, the Centre has been bullying people. This is going to be taken up in and out of parliament very strongly," said CPI-M Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh.

Popular film personality Shobi Thilakan called it an "anti-people policy of the Centre".

"The SBI has turned out to be worse than the local money lenders and is out to fleece the common man. There has to be a public outcry against this new policy," said Thilakan.

Customers spotted in front of an SBI ATM here also expressed anger.

"The Centre has cheated people and it has to be seen from the perspective that they did this very tactfully because Kerala's own bank (State Bank of Travancore) has been merged with the SBI. The people who banked with SBT have now become SBI customers and now they are at the receiving end," said a retired teacher, after withdrawing money from the ATM.

Another angry SBI customer from Kottayam said barring the lone Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator in the 141 member Kerala assembly, all others strongly opposed the merger and passed a resolution to this effect.

"This was bound to happen and these are measures to pick the pockets poor people. We wish to know what the state BJP leaders have to say on this. There should be mass protest in Kerala against the SBI," said the angry SBI account holder.

Of the 880 SBT branches in Kerala, more than 400 were closed and at present there are over 800 SBI branches in the state.
Brussels: The European Union's statistical agency had said that more than 63,000 children traveling without adult company had applied for asylum last year, more than half of them been Afghan and Syrian nationals.

Eurostat (an agency that publishes statistics relating to the EU) had said on Thursday that 63,300 unaccompanied minors have applied for international protection in the 28 EU nations plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

It said the number was a third down from last year but still five times higher than the annual average.

More than two thirds of the minors were males and aged 16 to 17. Almost 6,300 were under 14. Almost 60 percent of the applicants sought asylum in Germany.
By Susan Heavey and Patricia Zengerle

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON The man who took over from ousted FBI Director James Comey declined to say on Thursday whether he ever heard Comey tell Donald Trump that the president was not a target of an investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe also pledged that he would inform the panel of any effort by the White House or others to interfere with the agency's probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.McCabe testified in place of Comey, who Trump dismissed as FBI director on Tuesday in an action that has roiled Washington. Democrats have accused the Republican president of trying to foil the FBI's probe into Russian meddling.Republican Committee Chairman Richard Burr asked McCabe whether he ever heard Comey tell Trump the president was not the subject of investigation. McCabe sidestepped the question, saying he could not comment on an ongoing investigation.In his letter firing Comey on Tuesday, 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."U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a January report that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to disrupt the election that included hacking into Democratic Party emails and leaking them, with the aim of helping Trump.

Leaders of the U.S. intelligence agencies, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA chief Mike Pompeo, testifying on Thursday said they agreed with that finding. Moscow has denied any such interference and the Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia.Thursday's hearing was scheduled to address global security threats, but there were frequent questions about Comey and the FBI's Russia probe. Several congressional panels are also investigating Russia's role in the election.The Senate intelligence committee's top Democrat, Mark Warner, said in light of Comey's firing, "It is important to restate the critical importance of protecting the independence and integrity of federal law enforcement."The firing has made the committee's investigation into Russia's influence on the presidential election even more important, Warner added.

"And while it's clear to me now more than ever that an independent special counsel must be appointed, make so mistake our committee will get to the bottom of what happened during the 2016 presidential election," Warner said.Democrats have ramped up calls for an independent investigation into the Russia issue, and some Republicans in Congress have also said they were concerned about the timing of the move. Republicans control both chambers in Congress."We will not be deterred from getting to the truth. These actions will do nothing to undermine our resolve to follow the evidence where ever it leads," Warner added, although he said he was not happy with the pace of the committee's probe.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley called on the FBI to publicly confirm whether or not it is probing Trump.In a statement, Grassley said that Comey had previously briefed him and the panel's top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and that the lawmakers "heard nothing that contradicted the president's statement." Trump is weighing a visit to the FBI's Washington headquarters in coming days to address agents, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CBS News. The Trump administration has said Comey's firing was unrelated to the Russia investigation.Former Republican congressman Mike Rogers is being considered as a candidate to replace Comey, a senior White House official said. (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Writin by Will Dunham; Editing by Frances Kerry)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on the global community to draw inspiration from the journey of Lord Buddha and embrace his message of compassion on the occasion of 'Vesak Day'.

Vesak marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.

"Born a sheltered prince, Shakyamuni (Buddha) went out into the world to confront and overcome human suffering. This message of compassion is timeless," the UN chief said.

The UN Secretary-General also emphasised that in the current interconnected world, there can be "no peace as long as others are in peril, no security as long as others suffer deprivation [and] no sustainable future until all members of our human family enjoy their human rights".

He called on the people of the world to celebrate the wisdom of Buddha by taking action for others with a strong spirit of solidarity.

On the occasion, a special commemorative event was held on Wednesday at the General Assembly attended by UN ambassadors, diplomats and Buddhist monks. The event included sermons and a Buddhist musical interlude by a group of children from Sri Lanka.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin told the gathering that Buddha's key messages of truth, non-violence, peace and harmony continue to resonate across the world two and half millennia after his death.

"The modern world continues to be beset with great human suffering, deepening inequalities violent conflicts and environmental degradation. The teachings of Buddha which essentially is a reaffirmation of a sustainable lifestyle, harmony with inner self and with nature, hold great promise for achievement of global sustainable development goals and to unite the world to fight climate change," Akbaruddin said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also visiting Sri Lanka to attend the 'Vesak Day' celebrations in Colombo.

In 1999, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it recognised the International Day to acknowledge the contribution that Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world, has made for over two and a half millennia and continues to make to the spirituality of humanity.
London: A draft of the election manifesto yet to be formally approved and launched by Britain's Labour Party was leaked to the media on Thursday in which the Opposition pledged to re-nationalise the country's energy industry, railways and the Royal Mail.

The document, seen by the BBC, is the most detailed draft with a 20-point plan on workers' rights alone. It was yet to be signed off by most senior party figures, including the shadow cabinet and Labour's national executive committee.

The final version will form the foundation of Labour's bid to win over voters in the June 8 general election. The detailed document has been branded as "socialist" and filled with "class envy" by many sections of the British media as it proposes nationalisation of the country's railways and the postal service and having at least one state-owned electricity supplier.

"We do not comment on leaks. We will announce our policies in our manifesto, which is our plan to transform Britain for the many, not the few," a spokesperson for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said.

The ruling Conservative party termed the draft as a sign of the chaos that a Labour led government would unleash on the UK if it were to win the general election.

"This is a total shambles. Jeremy Corbyn's plans to unleash chaos on Britain have been revealed. "The commitments in this dossier will rack up tens of billions of extra borrowing for our families and will put Brexit negotiations at risk. Jobs will be lost, families will be hit and our economic security damaged for a generation if Jeremy Corbyn and the coalition of chaos are ever let anywhere near the keys to Downing Street," a Conservative party spokesperson said.

Other details of the manifesto include abolishing tuition fees for students at university, spending an extra 8 billion pounds on social care and not making "false promises" on immigration.
Washington: Frances Townsend, a former White House counter-terrorism official, may replace fired FBI director James Comey.

Townsend was spotted at the White House shortly before Comey was "terminated" on Tuesday, six years ahead of the end of his term.

Townsend, who served in the George W Bush administration as a White House homeland security and counter-terrorism adviser, posted several photos on her Twitter and Instagram accounts snapped while inside the White House on Monday afternoon, ABC News reported.

"Looking up and down the spectacular staircases of the #EEOB @WhiteHouse #DC," Townsend tweeted the following day.

Townsend met with President Donald Trump at Trump Tower last year when she was under consideration for a top administration job.

When asked if she was visiting the White House to discuss the appointment, which would make her the first woman to occupy the FBI director's office, Townsend told ABC News she was in the Executive Office Building for an unrelated meeting and would not comment on whether she was being considered.
Seoul, South Korea: South Korean President Moon JaeIn spoke to the leaders of China and Japan on Thursday, hours after a telephone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump happened, officials and reports said, as he began shaping his approach to the nuclear armed North.

In a 40minute conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the two agreed denuclearising Pyongyang was a "common goal" between them, Moon's office said.

Ties between Seoul and Beijing have soured over the South's deployment of a controversial US antimissile system aimed at guarding against threats from the nucleararmed North.

Moon also had a telephone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese news agency Jiji reported.

Seoul is embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with her former colonial power Japan over its wartime history, however fellow US ally Tokyo is also been targeted by the North.

China sees the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system as a threat to its own military capability and has slapped a series of measures against South Korean businesses now seen as economic retaliation.

In their first telephone conversation, Moon and Xi "agreed that denuclearising the Korean peninsula is the two countries' common goal", the South Korean president's spokesman Yoon YoungChan told reporters.

Moon, who took office on Wednesday, favours engagement with the North  whose key diplomatic backer is China  to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear and missile ambitions.

Moon also called for "dialogue along with sanctions and pressure" on the North to push Pyongyang to talks, Yoon said.

Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over the THAAD system and told Xi he was "well aware" of Chinese concerns about it, calling for bilateral talks to "increase understanding over the issue".

The two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys "at an early date" and Moon proposed sending a separate delegation to Beijing that will "exclusively discuss the THAAD and the North's nuclear issues", Yoon said.

Echoing the United States' line, Moon also suggested that China, the North's sole major ally and its economic lifeline should do more to tame Pyongyang, saying "solving the THAAD problem would be easier if there was no more provocation by the North."

Xi officially invited Moon to visit Beijing, Yoon added.

The telephone conversation came a day after Moon and US President Donald Trump agreed on "close cooperation" in dealing with the North's nuclear ambitions in their first conversation on Wednesday night.

The North has staged two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since last year in its quest to deliver a nuclear warhead to "imperialist enemy", the US.

Tensions have been running high with Washington calling for more sanctions and warning a military option was on the table, but Trump recently softened his posture, saying he would be "honoured" to meet the North's leader Kim JongUn.

The US is the South's security guarantor and has 28,500 troops stationed in the country, but Seoul was startled when Trump suggested it should pay for the $1 billion THAAD system.
Washington: Top Indian and American officials discussed ways to strengthen maritime security cooperation during the two-day India-US Maritime Security Dialogue in Rhode Island.

The officials also reviewed the implementation of the decisions taken at the first Maritime Security Dialogue between the two countries.

According to an official readout of the meeting that ended on Wednesday, "The two sides exchanged views on maritime developments in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region and considered steps to further strengthen bilateral maritime

security cooperation."

The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (disarmament and international security affairs) Pankaj Sharma while the American delegation was led by David Helvey, the acting assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.

The next round of the dialogues will take place in India. Last month, US Pacific Command Commander Admiral Harry Harris had emphasised on increasing cooperation in between the two countries in the maritime security area.
By Ahmed Elumami

| TRIPOLI

TRIPOLI Libya's coastguard said it had intercepted nearly 500 migrants packed onto a wooden boat and returned them to Tripoli on Wednesday after warning off a ship that was preparing to pick them up for passage to Europe.Footage filmed by Sea-Watch, a non-governmental organisation, showed a Libyan coastguard vessel coming within metres of its own ship as it sped to stop the migrants. Tripoli coastguard spokesman Ayoub Qassem said the incident occurred about 19 miles (30 km) north of Libya's coast.It highlighted the confusion in the crowded waters as desperate migrants try to reach a better life and authorities scramble to deal with the chaos. "An international rescue organisation called Sea-Watch tried to hinder the work of our coastguard ... in a bid to take the migrants, claiming Libya is not safe for migrants," he said.Qassem said the coastguard had also exchanged fire with smugglers, but gave no details.

Ruben Neugebauer, a spokesman for Sea-Watch, said the NGO had received instruction from Italy's coastguard control centre in Rome that the Libyan coastguard would be taking over "on-scene command", and that the Sea-Watch ship had stopped to await further instructions. "Without any warning, they crossed our bow on the way to the migrant boat," Neugebauer said. "They made an extremely dangerous manoeuvre. They nearly hit our boat, they endangered our crew."Libya is the main departure point for migrants hoping to reach Europe by sea. The country has been in turmoil for years and migrants living there or passing through say they are subject to a range of abuses. A record 181,000 made the trip in 2016 and arrivals in Italy so far this year are up 30 percent. Most are from sub-Saharan Africa. PERILOUS JOURNEY

Most migrants attempt the perilous journey on flimsy inflatable boats provided by smugglers that are barely equipped to make it to international waters. Larger wooden boats carrying several hundred migrants are rarer.Some migrants are turned back by the Libyan coastguard, which generally delivers them to detention centres notorious for poor conditions and ill-treatment. The coastguard is receiving training from the European Union as it seeks to limit migrant departures and deaths. Other migrants are taken to Italy after being picked up by NGO ships that run rescue missions, European or Italian naval and coastguard patrols, and other international vessels.

Qassem said the wooden boat intercepted on Wednesday was carrying nearly 300 Moroccans, 145 Bangladeshis, 23 Tunisians, and other migrants from elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.Those on board said they had left the western Libyan city of Sabratha on Tuesday night. There were about 20 women, some five of whom were being taken for medical treatment as they arrived in Tripoli. One appeared to be seriously ill.One 24-year-old Moroccan man said he had come to Libya five weeks earlier in order to try to reach Europe. A 28-year-old man, also Moroccan, said he had been working in Libya for four years, but had decided to leave because the situation was deteriorating.A Syrian woman on board said she had travelled through six countries to reach Libya, paying $1,000 in each and leaving two sons aged 12 and 13 behind in Jordan."I wanted to leave for Europe," she said. "It was an attempt to get a better life and reunite my whole family in Europe, but unfortunately we couldn't make it." (Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Rome; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Gareth Jones and Alison Williams)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated France's new President-elect Emmanuel Macron for his election victory.

President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday that India values its strategic partnership with France, stressing that the friendship between the two nations would continue to strengthen in the years to come.

In a congratulatory message to Macron, President Mukherjee said he was confident that the "long-standing friendship, mutual trust and understanding" between India and France would always thrive.

India looked forward to further consolidating the "multifaceted strategic partnership" with the new government, he said.

"In giving you a decisive mandate, the people of France have demonstrated their confidence in your leadership and vision," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called up 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 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.

With inputs from PTI
Islamabad: Pakistan and Iran have set up a joint commission to ensure better border management, two days after Islamabad had summoned the Iranian envoy to express its concern over Tehran's assertion that it will hit terror "safe havens" in the neighbouring country.

Pakistan had summoned the Iranian ambassador on Tuesday 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 crossborder attacks.

The commission has been set up to ensure better border management, Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had said on yesterday. Relations between the neighbours are tense due to the killing of Iranian border guards in a clash with militants.

Iran's state news agency IRNA on Tuesday quoted Major General Mohammed Baqeri as saying that "unless Pakistan controls the borders, arrests the terrorist and shuts down their bases, we will hit their safe havens and cells wherever they are".

Aziz, while giving details of the Joint Border Commission to the media said, "four members from each side will be its members and it will be functional soon".

He said that apart from militants, smugglers and other elements were also present along the PakistanIran border.

Aziz also stated that a larger number of members of JaisheAdl, a militant group responsible for the recent attack on Iranian guards, were present on the Iranian side of the border.
Islamabad: Pakistan Army on Wednesday withdrew a controversial tweet that had rattled the government of Nawaz Sharif over a media leak about a rift between the two power centres over fighting militancy in the country.

The army, which enjoys considerable influence over policy decisions in Pakistan, had on 29 April in a tweet "rejected" a notification by the Sharif government stating that he had sacked his top aide and Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi.

Fatemi was dismissed for his alleged role in leaking details of a high-level meeting during which the civilian leadership reportedly confronted the army over their alleged reluctance to combat militancy in Pakistan. The episode later came to be known as Dawn Leaks, after the name of the daily that reported it.

On Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, said that the "tweet on 29 April, 2017 was not aimed at any government office or person."

"Recommendations, as contained in Para 18 of the Inquiry Committee Report, duly approved by the prime minister, have been implemented, which has settled the Dawn leaks issue," it said.

"Accordingly, ISPR's said Twitter post stands withdrawn and has become infructuous. Pakistan Army reiterates its firm commitment and continued resolve to uphold the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and support the democratic process."

The withdrawal of the 29 April tweet by the army could mean the two power centres have arrived at a settlement on the issue, that had also led to action being taken against Rao Tehsin Ali, the principal information officer of the Ministry of Information.

Earlier the army had demanded the full implementation of recommendations by a committee which investigated the news story published last October.

Following the ISPR statement on Wednesday, a document issued by Pakistan's Ministry of Interior said: "Since action on orders of the prime minister has already been completed by the respective ministries and divisions, the issue of Dawn Leads [sic] stands settled."

The latest disagreements between the civilian and military leaderships dates back to 6 October when the Dawn newspaper in a front-page report claimed that the civilian authorities have warned the Inter-Service Intelligence spy agency to act against militants or face international isolation.

The rift was a grim reminder of 1999 when then army chief Pervez Musharraf had ousted the government of Sharif. Also on Wednesday, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa held a meeting with Sharif in Islamabad on the issue.

According to a PM House spokesperson, the meeting was held in a "cordial atmosphere" and both sides agreed to "amicably resolve the matter". ISI chief Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar was also present during the meeting.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is believed to have played a role in arranging the meeting which led to army taking back its tweet.

Later, ISPR spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor told reporters that the issue has been resolved as all recommendations of the probe committee have been implemented.

According to the Interior Ministry, the committee had recommended that the role of Dawn newspaper, its editor Zafar Abbas and the reporter behind the story Cyrill Almeida may be referred to All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) with a direction to take disciplinary actions against them.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday hanged four more "hardcore" Taliban terrorists, a day after executing an equal number of militants convicted of "heinous" terrorism-related offences by the military courts.

The terrorists, who were involved in the killing of civilians, destroying educational institutions and attacking armed forces were executed early today in in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)said in a statement.

"Today another 4 hardcore terrorists, who were tried by Military Courts have been executed," the statement said.

"These terrorists were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including killing of civilians, destroying educational institutions, attacking the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, and Saidu Sharif airport, the ISPR said.

Those executed were identified as Bakht-e-Ameer, Asghar Khan, Muhammad Nawaz and Mushtaq Ahmed.

All of them were active members of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the statement said.

Military courts were restored in March for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January.

The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment following a terror attack on an Army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 which killed more than 150 people, most of them students.

Human rights group Justice Project Pakistan says 441 people have been executed since the Peshawar attack.

Pakistan has been fighting various extremist groups for over a decade. Militant attacks have killed tens of thousands of people.

The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.
Islamabad: A leading Pakistani newspaper on Thursday urged the government to learn how China and India have deepened their trade ties despite some persisting bilateral problems.

The Dawn also gently warned the Pakistani establishment in an editorial not to take China's friendship for granted vis-a-vis India.

The editorial came after Beijing's ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui, said in New Delhi that for all of its close ties with Pakistan, China sought stable and prosperous ties with India too.

"The comments were made to an Indian audience but they are of profound relevance here in Pakistan," the daily said. "For Pakistan there are vital lessons to be drawn from the Chinese overtures to India."

The editorial said that China's policy of putting trade ahead of disputes "is something Pakistan must seriously consider emulating".

India and China went to war in 1962 and continue to dispute their border. At the same time they have steadily deepened their economic and other bilateral ties.

The Dawn said Pakistani policymakers' argument that China was Islamabad's foremost friend in South Asia ought to be reconsidered in the light of the "China first" policy enunciated by the Chinese envoy in New Delhi.

"There continues to be a great deal that divides India and China... Yet, rational voices in China and India have prevailed and pulled the countries into closer, near-irreversible economic ties.

"Contrast the forward-looking, economy-focused message of China with Pakistan's relations with three of its four neighbours in recent times...

"Luo's comments are also a warning against giddy notions inside Pakistan that CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) has solidified Pakistan as its greatest, and possibly only, ally in the South Asia region."
Islamabad: Pakistan has summoned India's deputy high commissioner here to "condemn" the ceasefire violation carried out by India along the Line of Control in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir that killed a man and injured three others.

The Foreign Office said in a statement that Indian security forces violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Tandar, Subzkot, Khuiratta, Baroh, Bagsar, Khanjar sectors in PoK early today.

It said the alleged Indian firing killed a civilian while three others, including a woman, were injured.

"The Director General (SA & SAARC), Mohammad Faisal, summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, J P Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violation by the Indian occupation forces on the night of 10th and 11th May," it said.

The Foreign Office said the "deliberate targeting" of civilians is contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws.

"The Director General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire understanding; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC," it said.

An official at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad said Singh conveyed to Faisal that the "cross-border firing was initiated by Pakistani troops to give cover to terrorists" and "Indian troops responded only in selfdefence".

"We have noticed increased movement of terrorists along the LoC," the official quoted Singh as saying.

India and Pakistan often trade fire along the LoC, resulting in deaths and injuries on either side of the border. The intensity has increased in recent months as tensions have run high between the two sides on a number of issues, most recently over the death sentence given to an Indian national on spying charges by Pakistani military court.

Kulbhushan Jadhav was sentenced by a Field General Court Martial to death. But the trial and the sentencing of Jadhav was carried out under utter secrecy and Pakistan has refused India consular access for at least 16 times.
Donald Trump sent a shockwave through Washington by firing James Comey, the FBI's powerful director since 2013 who played an outsized role in American politics during and after the US election.

Democrats suspect the Republican leader of seeking to hamper an FBI investigation into the possibility Trump's campaign colluded with what US intelligence says was a Russian effort to sway the 2016 vote.

The president says his decision was motivated strictly by Comey's mishandling of a high-stakes probe into the emails of his presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

Here are answers to some of the questions raised by Comey's ouster:

Why was Comey fired?

Officials said Trump based his decision to fire Comey on a three-page memo from new Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a respected former federal prosecutor who was confirmed in his post on April 25.

Rosenstein's letter lists a string of failings in Comey's handling of the final stages of a drawn-out probe into Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state  which the Democrat says cost her the presidency.

Based on his deputy's assessment, Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the recommendation that Comey be removed from his post, upon which Trump acted immediately.

Rosenstein faulted Comey for publicly announcing, in a bombshell news conference on July 5 last year, that the FBI was closing its probe into the matter without recommending charges -- while describing Clinton's conduct as "extremely careless."

"It is not the function of the director to make such announcements," Rosenstein wrote, noting that public statements on whether to press charges normally fall to federal prosecutors and the Justice Department -- acting on advice from the FBI.

"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."

Finally, Rosenstein criticized Comey for announcing  on October 28, 11 days before the presidential election  that the FBI was reopening its investigation following the discovery of a cache of new emails on the laptop of a Clinton aide's husband.

Comey's revelation triggered a political earthquake  which Democrats believe tipped the scales against their candidate  even though the newly-discovered emails turned out to contain nothing of significance.

The FBI director had argued he had a duty to keep Congress informed of the state of play -- and all the more so with an election looming -- despite the Federal Bureau of Investigation's tradition of silence on such matters.

Why fire him now?

Trump's stated reason for firing Comey was greeted with overwhelming skepticism from Democrats as well as some Republicans, and many US political observers.

Back in October, Trump was outspoken in praising Comey's handling of the email probe, and he kept the FBI director in his post upon taking office  in what critics saw as a tacit reward for his role in damaging Clinton's chances.

The Republican had seized upon Comey's damning assessment of Clinton's "careless" practices as a major line of attack during the campaign.

But on March 20, Comey informed Congress that the FBI was investigating possible coordination between members of the Trump campaign team and Russia  a scenario the president dismissed as "fake news."

Comey also flatly rejected Trump's explosive claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor Barack Obama.

According to Politico, the president -- increasingly exasperated by the attention given to allegations of Russian election meddling -- had been looking to fire Comey for more than a week.

The political website reported that the letters from Rosenstein and Sessions were written to provide a rationale for doing so.

The White House says Rosenstein wrote his letter of his own accord, and that it triggered Trump's decision.

What about the Russia probe?

The FBI's investigation into Russian election meddling  and possible links with Trump's campaign team  continues despite Comey's dismissal.

Where it leads  and whether it gives rise to any criminal charges  will be determined in large part by who succeeds Comey as director of the FBI.

The Democratic opposition is united behind a key demand: for the Justice Department to appoint a so-called special counsel to oversee the investigation.

Such a figure would enjoy more autonomy than an ordinary federal prosecutor, who answers directly to the Justice Department  although it would still be possible for the administration to remove him under certain conditions.

In Congress, the intelligence committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives have been pursuing their own high-profile probes into suspected Russian interference for several months. The Senate judiciary committee is also actively probing the allegations.

But several lawmakers  from both camps  are calling for the creation of a powerful independent commission of inquiry, with a full-time staff named jointly by Republican and Democrat leaders in Congress.

The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, on Wednesday rejected calls for either a special counsel or a commission of inquiry, which he said would only impede the work of existing probes.
Three suspects in April's bombing in the Saint Petersburg metro have been charged for their involvement in a "terrorist act", Russian investigators said Thursday.

Russia's Investigative Committee said suspects Bakhram Ergashev, Ibragimzhon Ermatov and Makhamadyusuf Mirzaalimov had been charged with involvement in a "terrorist act" and for having illegally used explosives.

Seven other suspects in the 3 April attack, which killed 15 people, will be charged in the near future, the committee said.

The Imam Shamil Battalion, a group suspected of links to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the bombing, US monitor SITE Intelligence Group said last month.

In a statement by the group cited by SITE, it said the bombing served as a message to Russia and countries engaged in war with Muslims that the "price" of that war was "expensive".

The claim came weeks following the attack, after Russian investigators had said they were looking into possible ties with Islamic State jihadists, who had threatened to attack Russia in retaliation for its intervention in Syria.

Russian authorities have attributed the attack to 22-year-old Akbarjon Djalilov, thought to be a Russian national born in Kyrgyzstan, who died in the blast.
By Patricia Zengerle and Arshad Mohammed

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump blasted ousted FBI chief James Comey as a "showboat" and "grandstander" on Thursday even as the agency's acting leader contradicted the president's account that the agency had been in turmoil before he fired Comey.In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe promised to tell the panel of any White House meddling into the agency's probe of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. McCabe also declined to say whether he ever heard Comey tell Trump that the president was not a target of the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.McCabe testified in place of Comey, who Trump abruptly dismissed as FBI director on Tuesday in an action that has roiled Washington. Democrats have accused the Republican president of trying to foil the FBI's probe into Moscow's actions and many have called for a special prosecutor to look into the Russia matter."He's a showboat. He's a grandstander. The FBI has been in turmoil," Trump told NBC News in his first interview since firing Comey. "I was going to fire Comey. My decision," Trump said. "I was going to fire regardless of recommendation."McCabe's testimony contradicted Trump's appraisal of turmoil at the FBI under Comey."I can tell you also that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day," McCabe testified. "I can tell you that I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity," McCabe added. "And it has been the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life to work with him."Republican Committee Chairman Richard Burr asked McCabe whether he ever heard Comey tell Trump the president was not the subject of investigation. McCabe sidestepped the question, saying he could not comment on an ongoing investigation.In his letter firing Comey on Tuesday, 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."

McCabe said it was not typical practice to tell a person they are not a target of an investigation."It is my opinion and belief that the FBI will continue to pursue this investigation vigorously and completely," McCabe said, adding that he saw no "crisis of confidence within the leadership of the FBI."U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a January report that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to disrupt the election that included hacking into Democratic Party emails and leaking them, with the aim of helping Republican Trump.Leaders of the U.S. intelligence agencies, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA chief Mike Pompeo, testifying on Thursday said they agreed with that finding. Moscow has denied any such interference and the Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia.Thursday's hearing was scheduled to address global security threats, but there were frequent questions about Comey and the FBI's Russia probe. Several congressional panels are also investigating Russia's role in the election.

'GET TO THE BOTTOM'

The Senate intelligence committee's top Democrat, Mark Warner, said in light of Comey's firing, "It is important to restate the critical importance of protecting the independence and integrity of federal law enforcement.""And while it's clear to me now more than ever that an independent special counsel must be appointed, make no mistake our committee will get to the bottom of what happened during the 2016 presidential election," Warner said, although he said he was not happy with the pace of the committee's probe."The timing of this firing is wrong to anyone with a semblance of ethics," added Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley called on the FBI to publicly confirm whether or not it is probing Trump.In a statement, Grassley said that Comey had previously briefed him and the panel's top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and that the lawmakers "heard nothing that contradicted the president's statement." McCabe said he has met with Trump this week but that the Russia investigation did not come up, adding that he also has not spoken about the probe with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday the Russia probe was one of the smallest things the FBI is dealing with, but McCabe testified, "We consider it to be a highly significant investigation." McCabe added that Comey's firing did not force a curtailment of the probe and said the agency has adequate resources to pursue it.A congressional source said on Wednesday Comey, days before being fired, told lawmakers he had sought more resources for the agency's Russia probe.The Trump administration has said Comey's firing was unrelated to the Russia investigation.Former Republican congressman Mike Rogers is being considered as a candidate to replace Comey, a senior White House official said. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who played an instrumental role in the firing, ventured to Capitol Hill to speak with members of the Senate panel. Asked about media reports that Rosenstein this week had threatened to quit, Burr said that issue was not brought up. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, David Alexander, and Susan Cornwell; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Frances Kerry and Grant McCool)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Geneva: The United Nations said on Thursday that it was in talks with Iran, Russia and Turkey over who should control the proposed safe zones in Syria, a key question after Damascus rejected any international monitors.

.

The UN Syria envoy StaffandeMistura and humanitarian pointman Jan Egeland both said it was premature to rule out any scenario.

"I met with three Astana signatories", Egeland told reporters, referring to Kazakhstan's capital where the safe zones pact was signed by Russia and Iran, which back the Syrian regime, and opposition supporter Turkey.

"What they say is that we will now sit down and agree, they will agree with our input on whom should be controlling security (and) the monitoring", he said.

Forces from the three countries were on one option for monitoring, as were "third parties", he added.

De Mistura, speaking at the same press conference, said the UN had "a lot of experience" when it comes to such monitoring but declined to discuss specifics on implementing the deal.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has rejected any UN role in monitoring the designated areas.

The 4 May agreement calls for the creation of four "deescalation zones" to shore up a ceasefire, ban flights and allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid.

"We do have a million questions and concerns, but I think that we don't have the luxury that some have of this distant cynicism of saying it will fail", Egeland said.

"We need it to succeed", he added.

The agreement has not been signed by the Syrian government or the opposition.

Japan and Sweden have requested a UN Security Council meeting, likely to be held this week, to obtain specific details on how the zones will work
New York: Police in California are investigating the murder of a 32-year old Sikh man as a possible "hate crime" after he refused to sell cigarettes to a man who did not have proper ID.

Jagjeet Singh, who was a clerk at the Hatch Food and Gas convenience store in Californias Modesto city, had come to the US only 18 months ago from Punjab.

Singh was stabbed to death last week after he apparently refused to sell cigarettes to his attacker as he did not have proper ID.

Heather Graves, a Modesto Police Department spokeswoman, told NBC News that Singh and one of the suspects had had a confrontation inside the store.

"We have a couple of different witnesses giving some information but that's still under investigation," she said.

"We just know that there were words exchanged between the two of them."

Asked whether the stabbing may have been a hate crime, Graves said, "That is a possibility and we are investigating that possibility as well."

Police have released a surveillance picture of the man who got into an argument with Singh over the sale of cigarettes.

The man left the business parking lot in a dark coloured vehicle and then returned with a second suspect who stabbed the victim.

The preliminary findings suggest that Singh was securing the business after closing when he was approached by the suspect.

The suspect, described as a Hispanic male stabbed Singh and then fled from the scene, according to a statement from the Modesto Police Department.

Singh was the fourth Indian-origin victim of an alleged crime in the US in the last one week alone.

Ramesh Kumar, 32, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the passenger seat of a car parked in a rest area 90 miles of Detroit.

Indian-origin Naren Prabhu, a Silicon Valley technology executive and his wife, were shot at their home in San Jose by their daughters ex-boyfriend who was eventually shot dead in a standoff with the police.

Mirza Tatlic, 24, fatally shot the couple in an apparent revenge attack.
By Andrew Cawthorne and Carlos Rawlins

| CARACAS

CARACAS Young Venezuelan protesters lobbed bottles and bags of faeces at soldiers who fought with tear gas on Wednesday to block the latest march in more than a month of nationwide protests against socialist President Nicolas Maduro.The extraordinary scenes, in what was dubbed the "Shit March" on the main highway through Caracas, came as thousands of opposition supporters again poured onto the streets decrying Venezuela's economic crisis and demanding elections. "These kids live in a dictatorship, they have no other option but to protest however they see fit," said Maria Montilla, 49, behind lines of youths with masks, slingshots and makeshift wooden shields.Many carried stones and so-called "Poopootov cocktails" - faeces stuffed into small glass bottles - which they threw when National Guard troops blocked their path, firing gas and turning water cannons on the crowds. "There's nothing explosive here. It's our way of saying 'get lost Maduro, you're useless!'," said one young protester, who asked not to be named, between tossing bottles of faeces. Wednesday's chaos in Caracas claimed another life, with 27-year-old Miguel Castillo killed during the protests, the state prosecutor's office said, without giving more details.With trouble flaring in various parts of Venezuela, there was also another death in the Andean city of Merida. Motorbike taxi driver Anderson Dugarte, 32, died on Wednesday after being injured in a protest, the state prosecutor's office said.Local media said he was shot in the head.The unrest has killed at least 39 people since early April, including protesters, government sympathizers, bystanders, and security forces. Hundreds have also been hurt and arrested. Maduro says foes are seeking a coup with U.S. encouragement.

The opposition, which enjoys majority support after years in the shadow of the ruling Socialist Party, says authorities are denying a solution to Venezuela's crisis by thwarting a referendum, delaying local elections and refusing to bring forward the 2018 presidential vote. They are seeking to vary tactics to keep momentum going and supporters energized.The government accused the opposition of breaking international treaties on biological and chemical weapons by throwing faeces. Maduro is seeking to create a new super body called a "constituent assembly," with authority to rewrite the constitution and shake up public powers. Foes dismiss it as an attempt to keep the socialists in power by establishing a biased new assembly."They closed all the democratic doors, we warned how dangerous that would be for our country," said opposition leader Henrique Capriles, joining protesters on the highway.

"FAITHFUL TO CHAVEZ"

In downtown Caracas, government supporters also rallied, dancing salsa and waving pictures of Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez who remains venerated by many, especially the poor. "I'm here to support the constituent process, which brings opportunities to resolve the crisis," said agriculture worker Ilian Leon, 40. "We're faithful to Chavez's legacy." Rights group Penal Forum says 1,991 people have been detained since April 1, with 653 still behind bars.Opposition leaders have complained the government is processing 250 detainees via military courts.

The state prosecutor's office, which has in recent months, been dissenting from the government over judicial matters, said 14 prisoners accused of destroying a statue of Chavez in western Zulia state should be judged in civilian not military courts. "They are not military officials, so it is wrong to judge them in that jurisdiction," it said, without mentioning other cases raised by the opposition.Maduro, 54, a former bus driver and foreign minister under Chavez, and his allies appear to be hoping the opposition will run out of steam and are banking on a rise in oil prices to help assuage four years of recession.They are seizing on vandalism by young opposition hotheads who burn rubbish in the streets and smash public property, to depict the whole movement as intent on violence.The protests so far have failed to garner massive support from poorer, traditionally pro-Chavez sectors of Venezuela's 30 million people. But a bigger cross-section of society has been apparent at recent marches, some of which drew hundreds of thousands. Looting has been breaking out in some cities, especially at night.Chavez's former spy-master Miguel Torres has broken with Maduro's government, despite having served as interior minister and fighting against protests in 2014. He warned on Wednesday that the violence in Venezuela may be getting out of control. "What is happening may be the starting point for a huge armed confrontation between Venezuelans," he told Reuters."Nobody wants that." (Additional reporting by Jackson Gomez, Andreina Aponte, Girish Gupta, Corina Pons and Diego Ore in Caracas; Editing by Girish Gupta and Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Alissa de Carbonnel

| TEHRAN

TEHRAN Desperate to show off the rewards of his landmark deal to get sanctions lifted from Iran, President Hassan Rouhani has rolled out the red carpet for global investors before he faces the voters in an election next week.But so far the executives jetting into town have made more speeches than deals."If at the end of the day, it is only words and no facts, there's a problem," Stephane Michel, French oil major Total's president for exploration and production in North Africa and the Middle East said at an EU-Iran oil and gas forum last month."We are trying to make it work," he said on the sidelines of the forum hosted in Tehran's cavernous energy ministry, where speaker after speaker hailed the potential of Iran's vast oil and gas reserves.Total has been poised to be the first European energy major to put real money into Iran since sanctions were lifted: a $2 billion deal to help develop South Pars 11, part of the world's largest gas fields.In the wake of Rouhani's deal with global powers to curb Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions, international energy firms reached more than a dozen agreements with Tehran last year to conduct oil and gas field studies. But none has yet turned into a contract to invest. At least one potential investor has decided the prize is not worth the risk for now: oilfield services firm Schlumberger said last month it was ending an agreement for an oilfield study.Rouhani's government points the finger for its failure to attract international billions squarely at Iran's oldest foe, the "Great Satan" United States.The U.S. government is required by Congress to certify every 90 days that Iran is abiding by the 2015 nuclear deal or sanctions can be reimposed. Washington has also left some financial sanctions in place that have prevented Iranian banks from joining the international financial system.And President Donald Trump has called the nuclear accord the "worst deal ever signed", leaving companies to worry about the prospect he could abruptly pull out of it altogether."The major thing is the political limitation for them and pressure on them in the United States," Iran's oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, told reporters in Tehran on April 29, explaining why European oil majors have yet to invest.

"I hope the European Union supports companies."OTHER RISKS

Those who do business in Iran say that they have to put escape clauses into contracts making clear that any agreement could be revoked if sanctions suddenly return."All our contracts are water-tight," said one Tehran-based businessman. "Put yourself in the shoes of the Iranians ... We tell them, 'We have the right to pull out in twenty-four hours.' It adds a layer of suspicion to already complex relationships."Oil companies have been asking for waivers from Washington to guarantee that any investments they make now would be protected if the United States reimposes sanctions in the future. Michel cited the wait for such a waiver as one of the main issues holding up Total's investment.

But privately, executives also cite many other risks closer to home in Iran itself: a lack of transparency, skeletal banking system, red tape and the chance that Rouhani himself and his pragmatist faction could be sidelined in next week's election by hardliners, who are sceptical of his moves to open the country.In addition to holding up their deals while they wait for guarantees from Washington, the big oil companies are also holding out for more enticing commercial terms from Tehran.That, in turn, could depend on Rouhani winning not only re-election but also a decisive enough mandate to keep his hardline opponents in check. He faces a slate of challengers mostly from hardline factions in the first round of polling on May 19, with a second round a week later if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes cast.Companies like Total and Italy's Eni last invested in Iran in the 1990s under short-duration contracts lasting 3-5 years, which offered such poor terms that they lost money. They have made clear that they will come back only if Tehran can offer a better deal this time.Rouhani's government is working on a new framework called the Iran Petroleum Contract, or IPC, that would permit foreign investors to form joint ventures lasting up to 25 years, with greater assurance that they will recoup their costs.However, not a single IPC deal has so far been approved. The new model has generated criticism from parliamentarians and government hardliners, who see it as an attempt to sell resources for cheap to the West.

Many of Rouhani's opponents enjoy the support of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, a powerful military force that also has a vast business empire and is reluctant to see competition from Western investors.Iran's self-imposed deadline for the signing of the first IPC has slipped by more than a year, with Western industry sources saying it has been complicated in part by internal Iranian tensions between the reformists and hardliners."We are still waiting the final decision ... to look carefully at the new IPC and how this new IPC will be applied," ENI vice president Lapo Pistelli told forum attendees in Tehran.The biggest choke point for big-ticket investors is the refusal of big Western banks to risk U.S. restrictions or the snap back of sanctions if Iran violates the deal. While some smaller banks are forging ties, Iran is a long way from international financial standards. Agreeing on a dispute settlement mechanism is another hurdle to sealing deals.If Western firms prove too wary, Iran could seek its investment elsewhere, from Asian or Russian companies that may not have as much technical sophistication as the big Western oil majors, but appear less put off by the risks.More than half of the 29 companies allowed to bid for Iran's much-anticipated first tender on oil and gas projects are from Asia or Russia."They can get a cheap solution from the Chinese or an off-the-shelf one from the Russians," one EU diplomat said. "That's not a long-term solution, but it might be what they're left with."Ebra Gohari, partner at a Tehran-based consultancy, Parisa Business, said: "Europeans have the cutting edge technology, but that's not everything because of the legal, financial and political issues they face.""We haven't had this problem with Korean or Chinese investors," he added. (Additional reporting by Ron Bousso and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin Nouri in London; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Google is making it easier for you to search for events that are happening near you. The company is adding a new feature to Search app and mobile web that will show list of all the local events happening near you.

For example, when you search for concerts this weekend you will see a new Events tab at the top of your search results. Google will also allow you to filter the results by time periods. So you can search for events happening today, tomorrow, next week, next month and so on. If you search for art events this weekend Google Search will now show list of events happening around you. You will be able to see the details about each event like its title, date, time, and location. Tapping more events will expand the view to see additional dates, and you can tap again for more details or to buy tickets.

Moreover, if you are not looking for anything specific, you can simply try typing events near me and Google Search will share a list of events whats happening around the corner. Unfortunately, this feature is currently available only in the U.S as of now and there is no word about a global roll out. Google already shows you list of nearby restaurants, places nearby, cafes, restaurants and more in India. It will be great if it also rolls out the local events feature in the country as we do have several interesting events happening around us almost daily.

Source
Actor Fabio Lanzoni said Europe is proof that when you give up your right to bear arms, you give more power to politicians.

aEverybody comes here because of the American dream,a Fabio said during an interview on the FOX Business Networkas Varney & Co. aLook what happened to Nazi Germany a they took away all the guns from people and you see what happened.a

The Italian-American actor, best known for his appearances on romance novel covers throughout the 1980as, blamed political corruption for the violent attacks in Europe.

aPolice there have handguns [and] the bad guys, they have rocket launchers, RPG, [and] hand grenades,a he said.

He also spoke out against California Governor Jerry Brownas Proposition 57, which modifies the stateas prison system.

aHe is releasing tens of thousands of criminals back in the streets and also he lowered the crime into misdemeanor,a he said, and added that acops are very demoralized.a

aYou saw it happen to Europe, the politicians in Europeathey neuter the law enforcement and now they have to be shot before they can even return the firea you donat want this movie coming to a theater near you,a he said.
Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ:SAVE) and the Air Line Pilots Association, International have agreed to extend a temporary restraining order (TRO), ending the work stoppage among the airlines pilots.

"On behalf of our customers and fellow Spirit team members, we really appreciate the effort of our pilots who are taking on open flying to restore the operation," said John Bendoraitis, Spirit Airlines' chief operating officer, in a statement.

We apologize for current service disruptions. We appreciate your understanding as we recover our operation. https://t.co/JYT4yFk6Cr  Spirit Airlines (@SpiritAirlines) May 9, 2017

On Monday, the airline cancelled numerous flights at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport due to a shortage of pilots, which led to a fight among customers and the subsequent arrest of three individuals.
A state economic development agency has approved borrowing up to $300 million to finance Republican Gov. Chris Christie's plan to renovate the statehouse.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved the bonds at a board meeting Thursday.

Christie announced plans last fall for the major renovations to the deteriorating 18th-century building. Workers have begun boarding up windows with plywood.

The project has drawn questions from both Christie's political opponents and advocacy groups worried about the cost.

Treasurer Ford Scudder said in February the governor's office and state department employees who work in the statehouse would be moving to a state building down the street in the capital.

Christie says the building is a "fire trap" that hasn't been significantly updated in six decades.
The deadline for most companies to decide whether they will sell plans on the ObamaCare marketplace next year is June 21, as instability on the exchanges and rising costs continue to discourage companies from participating.

On Wednesday, Aetna (NYSE:AET) became the latest major health insurance company to commit to completely exiting the ObamaCare marketplace in 2018, citing exorbitant costs.

Our individual Commercial products lost nearly $700 million between 2014 and 2016, and are projected to lose more than $200 million in 2017 despite a significant reduction in membership. Those losses are the result of marketplace structural issues that have led to co-op failures and carrier exits, and subsequent risk pool deterioration, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Here is look at the deteriorating ObamaCare landscape, where many Americans face a real risk of losing coverage in 2018.

Insurers That Have Exited

In addition to Aetna, Humana (NYSE:HUM) announced earlier this year it would not participate on the ACA exchanges next year.

Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) is contemplating exiting some, if not all, of its positions next year, CEO Joseph Swedish said during an April earnings call.

"Recognizing the level of volatility in the individual ACA-compliant product offerings, we are assessing our marketfootprint in 2018 as well as rate increases necessary to reflect the underlying morbidity and expected costs of this population," he said.

If Anthem did decide not to participate, it would leave nearly 250,000 customers without coverage options.

The United States largest health insurer, UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH), has also already exited most of its exchange positions.

UnitedHealthcare and #Obamacare

2016: Exchanges in 34 states

2017: Exchanges in 3 states

2015 & 2016: Lost over $1 billion on Obamacare  Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) May 5, 2017

Areas with Little to No Coverage

Five statesAlabama, Alaska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wyoming and 31 percent of counties across the country currently only have one ObamaCare exchange provider.

In 2018, 16 counties in Tennessee could have no coverage under the Affordable Care Act, though Blue Cross Blue Shield said earlier this week it may step in to fill those gaps. Meanwhile the law is on life support in Iowa where the last major insurer, Medica, has threatened to pull out unless there is swift action by the state or Congress to provide stability, following Aetna and Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shields withdrawal from the state.

The former CEO of Molina Health (NYSE:MOH) threatened to pull out of the exchanges at the end of April if Congress failed to extend subsidies for healthcare support for low income individuals. Under those circumstances, Dr. J. Mario Molina told FOX Business earlier in April the entire ObamaCare marketplace would likely collapse.

Rising Costs

Rising costs are not only a problem for health insurance companies, but rising premiums will plague consumers next year as well. Average premiums are set to rise by more than 20 percent in at least three states that have already posted ratesMaryland, Virginia and Connecticut, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield will request a more than 50 percent rate increase in Maryland, a 35 percent increase in northern Virginia and a 29 percent increase in Washington, D.C., according to The Washington Post.

CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield forecasted by the end of 2017 it will have lost $600 million collectively as a result of its participation in the ObamaCare marketplace, The Washington Post reported.

No Quick Fix?

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Wednesday described Aetnas exit from the ObamaCare marketplace as a call to action to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Aetnas decision to completely withdraw from the ObamaCare exchanges adds to the mountain of evidence that ObamaCare has failed the American people. Repealing and replacing it with patient-centered solutions that stabilize the marketplace to bring down costs and increase choices is the only solution, Price said.

The revised GOP health care bill passed the House of Representatives last week and will move on to the Senate to be amended. House Speaker Paul Ryan told Fox News Tuesday he is hopeful the Senate will pass the bill within a month or two.
Costco officials have given final approval for construction of a planned chicken processing operation in eastern Nebraska.

Company Vice President of real estate Jackie Frank said Wednesday that site work could begin in the next few weeks. A ceremonial groundbreaking is also planned for June, the Omaha World-Herald reported .

Costco would invest about $280 million to build the plant, hatchery and feed mill complex. Supporters said area farmers would raise chickens to be slaughtered at the facility, a system they said could generate about $1.2 billion annually for the eastern Nebraska economy.

Opponents of the plant expressed concerns in a series of Fremont city meetings last year, some speaking out on how the chicken industry treats farmers as a disposable resource.

The company still needs to secure permits from the state Department of Environmental Quality and the City of Fremont, but City Administrator Brian Newton said it's typical for large projects to begin without all the necessary permits in place.

"It's just a matter of working with their engineers to get the comments and everything addressed," he said.

Documents on the Environmental Quality Department's website show that the project engineers and permitting officials have discussed a timeline in which an air quality construction permit could be issued in August after a public comment period and public hearing. Costco also would need wastewater permits from the department.

Costco already has a permit from the city for grading work, and reviews for other permits are "moving right along," according to Newton.

Farmers wanting to put up chicken bars would also need permits from their own counties. Project manager Walt Shafer of Lincoln Premium Poultry said his company will present to area county boards the project.

The plant is projected to open April 2019.

___

Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
Ford (NYSE:F) executives on Thursday defended the automakers strategy of investing heavily in self-driving vehicles and other fledgling businesses, as pressure on CEO Mark Fields is said to be heating up.

Fields, joined by Ford Chairman Bill Ford and other executives for the companys annual shareholder meeting, faced pointed questions from investors about the automakers slumping shares. The stock recently took a symbolic blow when Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), the unprofitable electric car maker, surpassed Ford in market value amid concerns that Fords attention to new technologies has come at the expense of its core business.

In questions submitted in writing, shareholders pressed Ford on the automakers declining U.S. market share and the negative performance of its stock, which is down 36% since Fields succeeded Alan Mulally as CEO in 2014. Fords share of domestic sales dropped to 15.1% in April compared to 15.6% a year earlier.

Fields, backing Fords approach to electric and self-driving vehicles, said Ford is prudently expanding into new forms of mobility as the companys biggest strategic shift in its history is underway. He also noted that 2016 was Fords second-most profitable year.

Bill Ford, responding to a question regarding the Ford familys position on stock buybacks, said the board would continue to discuss that option as a way to lift the value of Fords shares. However, he added that buybacks may not work for a company that contends with boom-and-bust cycles.

Were as frustrated as you are by the stock price, he said.

Ford also faced some shareholder criticism over holding a virtual meeting that was available to view online. Until now, Fords annual meeting was held in Delaware.

The shareholder meeting followed multiple news reports alleging that the board of directors extended meetings this week to discuss the Blue Ovals overall strategy. According to the Wall Street Journal, the board is urging Fields to focus more on profit growth.

We do not share details or discussions from our Board meetings for competitive reasons, Ford said in a statement. We also are unable to comment on rumors or speculation.

Fields is also among the group of high-profile CEOs who have been working with President Donald Trump on boosting manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Ford has warned investors that profits are on track to fall in 2017, due in part to weaker U.S. sales and investments in new businesses that dont offer immediate returns. First-quarter earnings were down 35%, even as revenue climbed 3.7%. Meanwhile, rival General Motors (NYSE:GM) reported a 33% profit surge in the quarter, fueled by strong sales of pickup trucks and SUVs.

GM is also seen racing ahead of Ford in electric cars. Chevrolet has begun selling the Bolt, which is priced around $37,500 before tax credits and travels 238 miles on one charge. Ford is expected to sell a long-range electric vehicle in 2020.

As for self-driving vehicles, GM has gained an advantage over some competitors with its investment in Lyft and acquisition of Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based self-driving startup. This year, GM plans to add a new technology to the Cadillac CT6 sedan called Super Cruise, which allows the vehicle to drive itself on highways.

Despite increasing scrutiny, Ford remains highly profitable. The Dearborn, Mich.-based company is forecasting a full-year pretax profit of $9 billion versus the $10.4 billion it earned in 2016.

In a recent note to clients, Barclays analyst Brian Johnson wrote that bearish views on the automotive industry and U.S. sales are weighing on stocks. However, Ford may see its profits improve in the second half of 2017, making the stock a bit more ownable.

Ford shares dipped two cents to $11.02 in recent trading.
Breaking from the pack of most other defense contractors (and in a bad way), military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII) reported weak earnings last week, sending its shares down more than 6% in a day.Since those earnings came out, however, Huntington has recovered more than half the ground it lost. At its last reported price of $196.47, the stock is down only 2.3% from its pre-earnings price.

So which investors are right? Those who sold the stock last week, or those who rushed in to snap up "cheap" Huntington Ingalls stock this week? Let's find out.

Much like the nuclear submarines it builds, Huntington Ingalls stock first submerged, then rose again from the depths after reporting earnings last week. Image source: Huntington Ingalls.

Earnings disappoint. Dive! Dive!

On Thursday last week, Huntington reported that:

Sales declined 2% year over year to $1.7 billion.

Operating profit margins plummeted 170 basis points to 9.5%.

Profit declined 11% on the bottom line -- $2.56 per diluted share.

So far, so bad. And the news gets worse the deeper you read into the results. For example, Huntington Ingalls' Ingalls Shipbuilding unit -- which builds destroyers and amphibious assault ships for the Navy -- is Huntington's most valuable business. In last year's first quarter, it produced nearly twice as much operating profit per revenue dollar as did Huntington's larger Newport News division.In Q1 2017, however, Ingalls' revenues declined 6%, and its operating profit margin contracted by 200 basis points, to 12%. In contrast, the larger-but-less-profitable Newport News division (responsible for building nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers) suffered only a 2% revenue decline, and only an 80-basis-point decline in profit margin to 7.4%.

In other words, Huntington's more profitable division was harder hit than its less profitable division, resulting in an outsize hit to overall profits for the company as a whole.

Meanwhile, Huntington's tiny technical-solutions business, responsible for special projects such as Huntington's new drone submarine, had the worst news of all. Although revenue grew 8%, technical solutions lost money on every dollar it booked, and turned entirely unprofitable in Q1 -- a real shame, considering that this division had finally begun booking profits just last year.

Adding to the gloom, Huntington noted that it won only $600 million in new business during the quarter. That wasn't nearly enough to replace all the revenue Huntington booked in the quarter. Relative to the $1.72 billion in revenue collected, that gave Huntington Ingalls a downright abysmal book-to-bill ratio of about 0.35.

Grasping at straws

Not all of Huntington Ingalls' news was bad. Casting about for something -- anything -- good to say about last week's report, I lit upon the fact that the company generated positive free cash flow of $40 million last quarter. That was twice the cash profit Huntington managed to generate in Q1 of last year.

Granted, that's still less than 10% of the $423 million in free cash flow that Wall Street hopes Huntington Ingalls can produce this year -- and it took the company 25% of the year to come up with it. But at least it's a start, and a better start than Huntington made of things last year. And last year actually worked out pretty well for Huntington Ingalls, with the company eventually generating $537 million in cash profit when all was said and done.

So, as bad a start as Huntington Ingalls seems to be making of 2017, there's still a chance 2017 will turn out well in the end. This year is still young.

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The Latest on a meeting of the Arctic Council (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

Arctic nations have approved a document calling for global action to address climate change. But U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says his country continues to review its own policies.

Tillerson spoke Thursday in Fairbanks, Alaska, at a meeting of the Arctic Council, made up of the eight Arctic nations and indigenous groups.

The council adopted a document noting the need for global action to reduce long-lived greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants.

Tillerson says the United States appreciates that the other countries have important points of view and will take time to understand their concerns.

But he says the U.S. will not rush to make a decision on climate change policy.

The United State chaired the council for the last two years and turned the chairmanship over to Finland on Thursday.

___

10:30 p.m.

The secretary of state is in Fairbanks for a meeting with the world's eight Arctic nations amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Donald Trump called for more oil drilling and development.

Rex Tillerson landed on Wednesday afternoon and immediately held a meeting with a congressional delegation as well as Arctic representatives from Alaska's indigenous people.

Protesters gathered in a city park nearby to denounce the presence of Tillerson, who is the former president of Exxon Mobil Corp.

The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups. Its focus is sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.

It does not make policy or allocate resources, and its decisions must be unanimous.

___

10 p.m.

High-level officials from the world's eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the future of the sensitive region after President Trump called for more oil drilling and development.

Among those expected to attend the meeting of the Arctic Council beginning Thursday in Fairbanks are U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met Wednesday with Trump and Tillerson in Washington.

No formal discussions were set on key issues such as climate change, development and drilling. But those issues will provide a backdrop as the chairmanship of the council passes from the U.S. to Finland.

The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups. Its focus is sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.
OPEC expects oil producers outside of the group to pump far more oil than previously thought, reflecting strong activity among U.S. shale drillers.

The oil cartel, which published its monthly report Thursday, said non-OPEC producers such as the U.S. and Russia will increase supplies by 950,000 barrels per day this year. OPECs last forecast called for a 580,000-barrel increase.

OPEC and 11 non-member nations agreed to slash oil production beginning in January, hoping to drive up prices by shrinking a global glut in crude. Despite those moves, global production has kept a brisk pace, largely due to a resurgence for U.S. shale.

U.S. oil and gas companies have already stepped up activities in 2017, OPEC said in its report.

OPECs report is the latest sign that American oil companies are ramping up production to fill the void left by OPEC and capitalize on higher prices. Analysts predicted that U.S. producers would bring idled rigs back online following OPECs coordinated cuts. Earlier this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said domestic oil production would average 9.31 million barrels per day in 2017, up about 1% from its previous forecast. The EIA also raised its 2018 outlook to 9.96 million barrels per day, which would mark a record high.

The EIA also lowered its expectations for U.S. oil prices, which are now on pace to average $50.68 a barrel this year. Oil was trading at $47.94 a barrel on Thursday.

U.S. shale plays, particularly the Permian Basin, have attracted new investments since oil prices bounced back from their lows of 2016. Companies have also managed to cut the cost of extracting oil from shale formations, a process that requires a combination of hydraulic fracturingknown as frackingand horizontal drilling.
Wells Fargo is planning an additional $2 billion in annual cost cuts as it recovers from a sales scandal last year.

Wells Fargo has already announced that it would cut $2 billion in annual expenses by the end of next year. Most of those savings will come from consolidated operations and the closure of 450 branches.

Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry says another $2 billion in cuts will be made in 2019.

Executives with the San Francisco bank met with investors Thursday to discuss plans going forward.

The bank acknowledged last fall that employees opened as many as 2 million bank accounts without customer approval for the purpose of meeting unrealistic sales goals.
The Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald is looking to restore some political balance to its upcoming health care conference and is eying a Trump administration official to join former President Barack Obama as headline performers for the event, FOX Business has learned.

As first reported by FOX Business, Cantor Fitzgerald has signed the former president and author of the eponymous health care law to make a luncheon speech during its September health care conference and has agreed to pay a $400,000 speaking fee. Obamas acceptance of the large sum, nearly twice as much as Hillary Clintons average fee, created a public firestorm since the former Liberal Democratic president was a harsh critic of Wall Street during his time in office.

Even though Cantor Fitzgeralds snaring of Obama as a headline speaker was considered a coup, highly-regulated Wall Street firms are extremely cognizant of the political implications of any such a move, particularly since President Trump has made a repeal of ObamaCare a primary legislative goal for his nascent administration, and former President Obama is likely to defend the law at the event.

As a result, senior executives inside Cantor Fitzgerald led by chief executive Howard Lutnick, are now eying the possibility of adding someone from the White House to give an alternative perspective, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Cantor Fitzgerald needs to be careful and they need to look like theyre being respectful to the current administration, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, a political organization that advocates for right-wing policies. (Cantor) has business before the administration, before Congress, before the agencies and regulators, and they would be smart to have good relations with the party thats in charge in Washington, he added.

Its unclear who the firm might request to speak at the conference, which is likely to garner significant media attention since it would be the first time Obama has addressed a Wall Street crowd after leaving office, and because of the controversial nature of the topic. A White House spokeswoman didnt comment to FOX Business on whether the firm plans to ask Trumps Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who is leading the ObamaCare repeal effort for the White House, or some other official to speak at the conference.

A Cantor Fitzgerald spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny that the firm was considering asking someone from the current administration to speak. It is unclear if the White House would produce a speaker, who under ethics and conflict of interest rules, would likely not be able to receive a speaking fee.

The conference will be held September 25 through 27 in New York City; a Cantor Fitzgerald spokeswoman has said the final speaker list for the event has not been set.

In the days following FOX Businesss exclusive on Obamas speaking arrangement, the former president has come under intense criticism, much of it from progressive members of his own party, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for accepting a fee from an industry that they believe was complicit in the creation of the 2008 financial crisis, and the Great Recession that followed.

Obama said as much during his presidency, when he railed against Wall Street bankers for making huge salaries while average Americans were suffering from the ravages of the banking collapse. He also signed the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that drastically cut Wall Street profits. The bill also curtailed practices, such as proprietary trading, and Wall Streets investments in hedge funds, that some analysts also say contributed to the excessive risk-taking that sparked the crash. His Justice Department, meanwhile, levied huge fines against some of the nations biggest banks for financial-crisis related issues. Through the end of 2016, $321 billion has been paid, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group.

A spokesman for the former president said in a statement to Fox News that Obama recently accepted an invitation to speak at a health care conference in September, because, as a president who successfully passed health insurance reform, its an issue of great importance to him. With regard to this or any speech involving Wall Street sponsors, Id just point out that in 2008, Barack Obama raised more money from Wall Street than any candidate in history  and still went on to successfully pass and implement the toughest reforms on Wall Street since FDR.

Cantor Fitzgerald has a different potential controversy on its hands: Looking as if its supporting a former president, whose signature legislative achievement is under assault by the sitting president of the opposing party.

At the urging of president Trump, the House recently passed a bill revamping ObamaCare that now goes to the Senate. By time of the conference, the health care law will likely either be repealed by the Congress and the current administration or it will still be a work in progress. Obama will likely be forced to address other Trump initiatives, such as tax reform, and possibly his plans to build a wall along the southern border of Mexico.

Giving just Obama the opportunity to defend the law amid the continued debate over health care or taxes could be politically awkward for Cantor Fitzgerald, which like most financial firms, must deal with intense federal regulatory scrutiny of its business now led by Trumps appointees to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice.

Most people in highly regulated businesses try to walk a fine line between party lines in order to show respect to both sides, Schlapp told FOX Business.
The fallout from the firing of FBI director James Comey goes well beyond politics and Americans may bear the brunt in costs and safety, according to former RNC Chairman Haley Barbour.

aI canat quantify it from the federal government but it does cost [taxpayers],a he said during an interview on the FOX Business Network. aIt also presents the cost of taking FBI agents off other matters, criminal matters,a he cautioned.

Barbour also said Americanas should hone-in on the memo written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensteinaa career Department of Justice attorney appointed by the Obama Administration, who advised President Trump on Comey.

aI havenat seen the memo, but I assume itas because Comey usurped the power of the attorney general when he said that the FBI and he had decided that there would be no prosecution of Hillary Clinton,a he said. aThe FBI doesnat have any authority to decide who ought to be prosecuted and not. Their job is to recommend to the attorney general.a

Comey, who was leading a 10-month investigation into the alleged Trump campaign-Russia collusion, carries major implications, according to Barbour.

While we still donat know what urged President Trump to fire the FBI director, in his letter to Comey, President Trump mentioned he was informed that he was not under investigation.
Among the standard GOP lies about TrumpCare-- promulgated by Ryan's office-- is that the process was not rushed or chaotic. When Ryan was on This Week with George Stephanopoulos Sunday morning, he responded to a question about the disorderly process by claiming such assertions are "a bogus attack from the left." Many Republicans have admitted they never read the bill; I suspect the majority hasn't read it and that the decisions most made to support it was a political calculation, not a decision based on policy considerations.

One Republican who showed Ryan up as a liar was principled North Carolina conservative Walter Jones, one of the 20 Republicans to vote NO. He explained his vote on his official congressional website and Ryan's disjointed process poisoning the well played into his decision.

For over seven years, I have heard from the people of Eastern North Carolina about their trials and frustrations with Obamacare. It is clear that Obamacare is not working. That is why I voted against the bill that created it in 2010, and have continuously voted to repeal it, said Congressman Jones. Now in 2017, for reasons I cannot understand, instead of moving a bill to repeal Obamacare and replace it with reforms that will fix our broken health care system, the Washington Republican leadership jammed a bill through the House that does neither. Furthermore, the rushed, behind-closed-doors process theyve used is shameful. Over the past several weeks, they cut deal after deal to secure members support, and then pushed the bill to the floor without a CBO score. As a result, no one has any idea how much those deals will cost the American taxpayers, or how they might affect the cost, quality and availability of health insurance coverage for American families. Seven years ago, Speaker Nancy Pelosi infamously said of the Obamacare bill: You have to pass the bill so we can find out whats in it. Sadly, the Washington Republican leadership is repeating the same mistakes.





Furthermore, there are many aspects of the bill that deeply trouble me because of their potential effects on Eastern North Carolina and rural America. For example, the bill discriminates against as many as 7 million American veterans by making them ineligible to receive tax credits provided in the bill. It would also result in low-to-middle income seniors paying dramatically higher premiums.





Over the past two months, thousands of Eastern North Carolinians of all political stripes have contacted my office about the AHCA, Congressman Jones concluded. Well over 90 percent are opposed to the bill. I asked for this job to represent the people of Eastern North Carolina, and they have spoken clearly.
An ICE-led anti-gang operation resulted in the arrest of more than 1,300 individuals across the country, the department announced Thursday.

The six-week operation, directed in coordination with local law enforcement partners, was the largest gang surge ever conducted, ICE said in a press release. It primarily targeted violent gang members involved in human trafficking, sex trafficking, murder, racketeering and weapons and human smuggling. However, 280 individuals were arrested solely on immigration-related offenses.

Of the 1,378 people arrested, 1,095 belonged to, or were affiliated with, gangs, including the Bloods, the Surenos, the Crips and MS-13. The surge resulted in the seizure of more than 230 firearms, nearly 800 ounces of cocaine, more than 8,000 ounces of marijuana and about $490,000.

While the majority of the people taken in were American citizens, more than 400 were foreign nationals, though there is no word yet on whether they were in the country illegally.

Of the 10 captured individuals who crossed the border as unaccompanied minors, eight of them were MS-13 members, according to the release. As previously reported by FOX Business, MS-13 members often exploit a loophole in the immigration lawknown as the Unaccompanied Minors Programin order to both smuggle in and recruit members.

The Trump administration has promised to crack down on gangs, specifically MS-13, through increasing border security and building a wall along the southern border. Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited the community on Long Island, N.Y. last month where MS-13 is believed to have brutally murdered four teenagers, while Trump has both spoken and tweeted about the group specifically on multiple occasions.

ICE, which had a special section of its report dedicated to MS-13, said it has made 4,300 criminal arrests and 3,000 civil arrests of MS-13 members.
Utah Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) made a formal pitch to senior White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, that the administration should try to appoint Judge Merrick Garland to replace James Comey as FBI chief, FOX Business has learned.

The move suggests that senior GOP officials have become increasingly anxious over the fallout of President Trump's decision to fire the FBI director earlier this week, as the bureau conducts a widening probe of the alleged ties between Trump advisers and Russian intelligence as it attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Lee, a leading conservative Republican and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made his pitch Wednesday during a private gathering with senior White House officials, including Pence and White House counsel Don McGahn, at the White House, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Lees suggestion came after a larger meeting between various lawmakers and Trump advisers to discuss tax reform, these people say.

When Lee floated the possibility of trying to appoint Garland as Comeys replacement, the reception was mostly positive, these people say. Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and while Republicans in Congress successfully blocked his appointment by President Obama to the Supreme Court during the 2016 presidential campaign, no one can argue with his vast legal knowledge as a judge, a former prosecutor and corporate lawyer.

Indeed, both Pence and McGahn are said to have seen merit in the idea of Garland as FBI chief, while others in the White House said it was a non-starter given Garland's affiliation with the Obama administration. Among those who voiced doubt was White House staff secretary Rob Porter.

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters had no comment on the matter. A spokesman for Lee would not comment, but wouldnt deny the substance of the conversations. A spokesman for Pence said: the Vice President encourages senators to offer names and offer thoughts on certain topics but there would have been no reaction from him other than taking note of their suggestions.

Instead of a special prosecutor, @realDonaldTrump should nominate Merrick Garland to replace James Comey.  Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) May 11, 2017

On Thursday, Lee tweeted that Garland should be nominated to replace Comey - instead of appointing a special prosecutoras many Democrats are suggesting in the wake of the firing of the FBI chief. He did not mention the private meeting or the reactions of Pence and McGahn in the tweet.

In an interview with Fox News Shannon Bream Thursday, Lee was asked about Comeys replacement, he brought up Garland and said the White House might see some advantages to it. As you point out this is someone who has a lot of bona fides as a prosecutor, hes a prosecutors prosecutor, and hes someone whos got likely allies as a potential FBI director nominee in both political parties.

Lee also said he hasnt discussed the idea of becoming FBI chief with Garland.

To be sure, the appointment of Garland as FBI chief appears to be a long shot. Garland is a Democrat and was successfully blocked as the replacement for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died during the 2016 campaign, with Republicans arguing that the new sitting president should fill the vacant seat. Moreover, he has a lifetime position as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals. In effect, he would be giving up a secure job to work for a volatile chief executive in Trump, who could fire him at any moment.

The FBI chief will be selected by Trump and approved by the U.S. Senate and its unclear how Trump would view Lees recommendation. Garlands name has not appeared on any short list of possible choices, which include prominent Republicans such as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Congressman Trey Goudy.

Still details of the meeting, which were first reported by FOX Business, underscore the angst among Republicans both inside the White House and among prominent members of Congress, over Trumps decision to fire Comey, as well as the general tenor of his administration since taking office in January.

Over the past three months, the Trump Administration has been beset by controversy, much of stemming from the presidents own volatile management style and his use of Twitter to attack political opponents. Trump has been incensed about the media coverage of his campaigns alleged ties to Russian intelligence agencies, which law enforcement believes was trying to influence the presidential election and defeat his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, who was seen more hostile to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Trump meanwhile has claimed he has been the victim of illegal press leaks by law enforcement officials leading the probe and even blamed Obama for wiretapping his phone lines during the campaign. Both Obama and the FBI have denied those claims.

With that, Trump has grown increasingly impatient with Comey, who has publicly confirmed the FBI investigation into the Trump campaigns Russian ties.

Trump made the announcement to fire Comey late Tuesday night and only after consulting his senior staff, which was divided about the timing of the move. In the subsequent days, the White House press team has seemed ill prepared to spin what is obviously a controversial decision given the FBIs Russian probe that has been expanded over the course of the past three months to include Trumps former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn and Russian diplomats, among other matters. Flynn was fired by Trump after he failed to disclose certain conversations with Russian officials. His attorneys have denied wrongdoing.

Amid all of this, Democrats have pounced hard on the Comey firing, comparing it to Richard Nixons ousting of a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, and have called for a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump administrations Russian connections.

Trump meanwhile has said the firing of Comey was merited. In remarks to the press, Trump has said he was weighing the move for months, and finally came to the decision that Comey was not doing a good job as FBI chief, primarily for his handling of the Clinton email probe. He also described Comey as a grand stander during an interview with NBCs Lester Holt.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Comey held a now famous press conference where he exonerated Clinton over her use of the private email server to receive classified documents during her tenure as former President Obamas Secretary of State. He would then play an unexpected player role during the final days of the election. About 10 days before voters went to the polls to choose the next president, he announced that he reopened the Clinton email case after finding new information. Then just days later said he would not be recommending charges because the new evidence didnt show that Clinton had conclusively intended to violate the law over the handling of classified information.

But the damage was done; Democrats believed Comey had broken with FBI protocol, which was to refrain from confirming or denying an investigation and his public airing of the inquiry hurt Clintons chances for winning the presidency. Some Republicans believed Comey had developed enough evidence to recommend charges that Clinton had mishandled classified information, and that Trump should immediately fire him for not following the law.

Trump, meanwhile, announced he had no intention of asking Comey to step down and recently stated he had confidence in the FBI director, making the timing of the firing even more suspect. Some Republican lawmakers say the current controversy created the impression that the president is looking to stall the FBIs Russian probe and could have severe consequences for Republicans during the 2018 mid-term elections.

They say Lees recommendation to appoint Garland to the FBI posthowever remoteis designed to change the Democratic narrative and show Republicans are not looking to stall the Russian probe.

Even the mention of appointing Merrick Garland as FBI director could be seen as a deft gesture to at least stop Democrats from attacking the administration, said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant, who added that Trumps ultimate problems will be with the Republicans who have been disrupted by his behavior.
An award-winning stunt performer is suing CBS and other parties for injuries he claims he suffered on the set of "Hawaii Five-O."



Justin Sundquist doubled for Alex O'Loughlin's character, Steve McGarrett, for an episode titled He Moho Hou filmed on July 27, 2016.

He claims in a lawsuit filed on May 10th with the Los Angeles Superior Court of California that he was hit by a fast moving vehicle, resulting in potentially career-ending injuries.

According to the suit, obtained by Deadline, there were a series of reckless, negligent mishaps  [that] caused or contributed to this accident, including a rushed, hectic set, lack of safety meeting and clear safety instructions and turning a blind eye to controlled substance abuse by key safety personnel.

He is suing for negligence, requesting unspecified damages and a trial by a jury.



The suit alleges that Sundquist who worked as a stuntman for films like Furious 7 and Captain America: Civil War was at the highest point in his career until he was injured on CBSs hit shows set, and that a key personnel who had safety responsibilities was under the influence of narcotic controlled substances.

The suit claims the unnamed individual, enticed certain stunt performers with a quid pro quo: if they supplied him with pills, he supplied them with work.

Fox News reached out to both Sundquist's attorney and CBS but did not receive comment.
Liberaces glitzy getups, extravagant showmanship and even that giant candelabra made him the highest paid entertainer in the 70s  but even he didnt turn his nose up at a good bargain.

He shopped at Walmart! claimed friend Jody Ghanem in an interview with Closer Weekly. Hed drive his Excalibur car there wearing his polyester pants.

He was rich, but you wouldnt know it, added Zola Luckie, the daughter of the American pianists longtime personal chef and house manager Gladys Luckie. Hed always say thank you, and he was real humble. Around the house, hed just have on shorts, flip-flops and a t-shirt.

LIBERACE'S GLITTERY MEMORABILIA

Liberace, whose real name was Wladziu Valentino Liberace, grew up during the Depression and never forgot his roots. He was recognized by friends as a lifelong bargain hunter.

But on stage, Liberace made sure to play up his persona. At the time of his death in 1987 at age 67 from cardiac arrest, the New York Times described his equally famous wardrobe, which filled racks in his mansions. It highlighted a silvery plum lame cape with an eight-foot train of pink feathers, a $300,000 Norwegian blue-fox cape with a 16-foot train, a sequined uniform paired with hot pants, a gold lame jacket that would later inspire Elvis Presley, as well as piano-shaped rings.

Even though Liberaces income averaged $5 million a year for more than 25 years, he always made sure to give back to his loved ones.

He was always giving things away, even cars and houses, said Jonathan Warren, the chairman and CEO of the Liberace Foundation, to Closer.

If you saw something and mentioned you liked it, chances are youd get it for Christmas! he added.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Today, his friends still remember their beloved Lee not as the iconic entertainer, but as a generous friend who enjoyed life to the fullest while making audiences smile.

He kept his personal life to himself, but he was a very happy individual, said Ghanem.

He was a dream, added friend Rip Taylor. He was full of nothing, but love and giving. He wasnt Liberace the pianist; he was Liberace the man and friend.

The new issue of Closer Weekly is currently in newsstands.
Avocados are widely praised for their taste, versatility and health benefits, so of course it was only a matter of time before the medical world found a reason to scare consumers away.

That reason is avocado hand.

According to The Times of London, doctors and surgeons in the U.K. are becoming alarmed at the increasing rate of patients who accidentally lacerate their own hands while attempting to slice through avocados.

WHY A LONDON RESTAURANT BANNED AVOCADO

In fact, avocado hand has become so common that doctors at the St. Thomas hospital in London reportedly ready themselves for a post-brunch surge of avocado-related injuries on Saturday afternoons. One particular surgeon at the citys Chelsea and Westminster Hospital says he stitches up an average of four avocado hands per week.

People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them, said Simon Eccles, a plastic surgeon and the former president of plastic surgery with the Royal Society of Medicine, to the Times.

Eccles isnt just dealing with minor cuts and scratches, either. The Independent reports that amateur cooks have sliced their hands badly enough to require surgery. And other times, avocado hand has led to serious nerve damage.

AVOCADO PRICES SOAR AMID HIGH DEMAND

Thats not to say doctors are advising foodies to go without their precious, precious green fruit. They simply want the public to learn better avocado-handling skills.

The British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, for example, has called for warning labels to be affixed directly to the skin of the fruit  kind of like a PLU sticker  along with instructions for slicing them up.

The safest way to do this, the site notes, is to lay the avocado horizontally on a flat surface, place a hand on top of it, and slice into the fruit horizontally, twisting the avocado around until its separated into halves. Then, to remove the pit, wrap the fruit in a heavy towel, place it on a sturdy countertop, chop down into the pit so its stuck in the blade, and twist to remove.

Of course, it's anyone's guess as to how a single sticker plans to explain that.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

We dont want to put people off the fruit but I think warning labels are an effective way of dealing with this, reiterated Eccles. Perhaps we could have a cartoon picture of an avocado with a knife, and a big red cross going through it?
A New York City restaurant chain owner is standing up for his employees after customers were caught on security surveillance camera yelling racial slurs at workers over the weekend.

Jason Wang, the owner of the fast casual chain Xi'an Famous Foods, told Fox News that the incident occurred at a restaurant location in midtown Manhattan, shortly before closing time Sunday. In a video posted to Facebook, two men can be seen at the cashier counter where, according Wang, the customers became agitated when they were asked to pay by card, rather than cash, because the store had already closed the registers for the evening.

As the situation escalated, Wang said the customers started yelling racial slurs and ticking off cultural stereotypes directed toward the African American workers. At one point, someone is heard screaming the N-word.

The customers continued to argue with the Xi'an workers even after receiving their food. Wang posted the video of the men yelling at his employees to the restaurant chain's official Facebook page on Thursday.

"While I'd rather be posting food related things for your enjoyment, this is beyond ridiculous and should be called out. It infuriates me and we need to acknowledge this type of thing still happens in NYC in this day and age," Wang wrote.

Warning: Video contains explicit content.

TEXAS PIZZERIA FIRES EMPLOYEE WHO WROTE ANTI-POLICE NOTE ON RECEIPT

In a statement sent to Fox News via email, Wang recalled how "painful" it was to watch the video.

"I am a minority and have been subject to racist attacks growing up, but there's no way for me to fathom the African-American experience, I can only try to relate to how painful these attacks are," Wang said. "Our company has no tolerance for this type of behavior. It was very shocking and painful for me to review this video and to imagine the what my employees felt at this time."

"Regardless of what the grievances people have, they should have shown more respect for their fellow men and women and be aware of the shameful history of the N-word," Wang added.

The restaurant CEO says the two customers are now banned from all of his restaurant locations.

The video has since been viewed over 18,000 times and dozens of Facebook users have posted supportive comments, applauding Wang's actions to bring a sensitive issue to light.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

One user said, "While I'm really sad this still happens, I applaud you for posting the raw, unmuted/unbleeped footage."
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 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 peaks where the conditions are harsh and oxygen level low.

Nepali law requires Everest climbers to be at least 16 but there's no upper age limit.

THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS PLACES TO TAKE A ROAD TRIP

"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 the Everest base camp. Another Nepali man, Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, died in 2011 at age 82 while attempting to scale Everest.

Hundreds of climbers have died on Everest alongside the more than 4,000 who've successfully summited the world's highest mountain since 1953. Bottled oxygen and better climbing equipment have helped reduce deaths significantly in recent decades, along with satellite communication equipment and better medical facilities.

Dinesh Bhattarai, who heads the Tourism Department, said that the government is seriously discussing an upper age limit.

THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS PATH IS REOPENING TO HIKERS

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 Everest 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.

At a funeral ceremony held at the Thakali Service Society premises in Kathmandu, hundreds of family members, friends and supporters offered flowers and colorful scarfs while Buddhist monks chanted a hymn and burnt sandalwood incense.

A government minister and fellow climbers were also among those who paid their respects.

The body was later cremated.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Sherchan is survived by a wife, seven children, 17 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
After spending the day sitting through classes, teens across America head home to start on homework, check social media and catch up on Netflix. With concerns about obesity rates rising in America, adolescents should establish a fitness routine early in life, setting themselves up for success in health. Specifically, teenage girls can perform several challenging exercises outlined below to keep themselves fit and toned.

Tips for Success

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, teenagers should get at least 60 minutes of exercise per day. They should focus the majority of this time on moderate or vigorous exercise and include some strength training three times per week.

Also, adults should encourage teenage girls to exercise for health and fitness, not placing too much emphasis on a thin appearance. They already receive much pressure from peers and media to have a beautiful, thin body. Unless these girls weigh more than the recommendation for their age, adults should not encourage them to exercise for weight loss.

TREATING TEEN ACNE

Challenging Exercises for Teenage Girls

During exercise, teenage girls should practice care by slowly increasing the workout intensity. Setting weekly or daily goals may help them limit the intensity while still challenging and conditioning themselves. As always, they should talk about their fitness with a doctor before beginning a rigorous workout routine.

WHY EVERY MOTHER SHOULD CONSIDER A FETAL ECHOCARDIOGRAM

Here are eight challenging exercises that will keep teenage girls fit and healthy:

Dips Position yourself on the edge of a chair with hands resting on it, palms down. Keeping your legs outstretched, slowly slide off the chair while lowering yourself. Your arms should reach a 90-degree angle before you pull yourself back up. Repeat several times for one set. Side Leg Raises Using a yoga mat, lay on your left side with your left hand facing palm down on the floor (to balance your weight). Then, raise your right leg up and hold, pointing the toe. Do several repetitions before switching to the other side. Jumping Lunges Start with right knee slightly bent and left leg forward in lunge position. Keep your hands at your sides or on your hips for balance. Then, jump in the air while switching to the opposite leg, landing in lunge position. For added intensity, keep one arm raised above the head and switch to the opposite arm during the jump. Repeat several times for one interval. Cardio Squats Stand straight with hands resting on the hips. Then, bend your knees and lower your glutes into the squat position, being careful not to push your knees to far forward. You should feel your glutes working. For an added cardio challenge, repeat these squats at a rapid pace for at least 60 seconds and rest. Jump Rope To get that cardio worked into the fitness routine, jumping rope makes a great option. This movement will bring the heart rate up in vigorous exercise while working on core balance. Beginners should work up to the intensity by jumping rope for a short interval and increasing that rate over time. Plank Leg Raise Start in plank position with elbows resting on a mat or cushioned area and body raised off the floor. Keep the feet and elbows about shoulder-width apart. Lift one leg off the mat, pressing up on the glutes. Then, push the raised leg off to one side and hold. Return to normal plank position and repeat with the opposite leg. Weighted Shoulder Press Using two- or three-pound weights, start with elbows tucked in and weights held vertically at your sides (as if youre holding an ice cream cone). Keeping elbows tucked in, bring the weights up to shoulder level, then push them above your head. Bring them back down to your shoulders and finally by your sides again. To work even more muscle groups, alternate pushing up into a shoulder press with bringing the hands in front of you for a chest press. Repeat for several repetitions. V Sit and Twist Start by sitting on a mat or cushion. Then, bring your legs up with knees bent. At the same time, pull your upper body off the mat with your abdominal muscles until your body is holding a V shape. In this position, reach your right arm across to your left side and back again, twisting at your trunk. Repeat with the left arm in this deep core-strengthening exercise. After several repetitions, lower yourself onto the mat for a rest.

While teenage girls should not focus solely on attaining a small size, they should stay fit and active. They can combine the above exercises with a balanced high-intensity cardio routine for optimal health. Establishing this routine at a young age will help to keep them fit and toned both now and later in life.

This article first appeared on AskDrManny.com.
A 5-year-old cancer patient got an amazing surprise when his favorite superheroes showed up to give him gifts and encouragement as he heads into a surgery on Thursday.

Asher Thrift smiled from ear-to-ear on Wednesday when Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, and Spiderman all came into his room. Asher was given his own superhero cape, a one-of-a-kind superhero badge, and superhero gadgets.

He was diagnosed with stage IV ganglioneuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer, in January. Since his diagnosis, Asher has been receiving his chemotherapy treatments in Atlanta. On Thursday, Asher is traveling to Atlanta for an extended time for an important surgery.

CHICK-FIL-A ENCOUNTER MOVES OF SON WITH SPECIAL NEEDS TO POST TOUCHING THANK YOU NOTE

Asher was having nausea and vomiting intermittently, and we werent sure of the cause, Eric Thrift, Ashers father, said. Our primary care doctor thought maybe it was an intestinal issue, like inflammation, but when we saw a childrens gastroenterologist in January, they didnt find any problems.

The hospital staff at Piedmont Athens Regional wanted to make sure Asher had fun before heading to Atlanta.

Asher gets to come in and see familiar, friendly faces, Eric said. It is great. I sit here in my chair and he sits in the bed, and Courtney will come in with a bunch of games and stuff. Then, he doesnt want to leave!

Decreasing the anxiety and fear that can come with visiting a hospital is one of the ways White strives to make a positive difference in the lives of Piedmont Athens Regionals pediatrics patients.

HOSPITAL HEROES: KNITTERS MAKE THOUSANDS OF HATS FOR CHEMO PATIENTS

Each day is different for Asher, and we try to provide care for what he needs each time he visits, White said. The important thing is that I help him to understand what were doing while hes here to make sure that he feels in control. No child should have to go through this, but Asher is a superhero, with an amazing attitude.

Approximately 6 percent of children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Ganglioneuroblastoma is a rare form of neuroblastoma in that it contains both malignant (cancerous) and benign (noncancerous) parts.

This article first appeared on Fox 5 Atlanta.
The Nation this week lean towards the oinkster theory in their data-driven piece, The Atlantic backs them up, referring to Trump voters' " Sean McElwee and Jason McDaniel, writing forthis week lean towards the oinkster theory in their data-driven piece, Economic Anxiety Didn't Make People Vote For Trump, Racism Did . Emma Green, writing forbacks them up, referring to Trump voters' " cultural anxiety ." She wrote that "a new study finds that fear of societal change, not economic pressure, motivated votes for the president among non-salaried workers without college degrees." Voters from the white working class gave Trump a 2 to 1 advantage over Clinton.

The Atlantic found something different: Evidence suggests financially troubled voters in the white working class were more likely to prefer Clinton over Trump. Besides partisan affiliation, it was cultural anxiety-- feeling like a stranger in America, supporting the deportation of immigrants, and hesitating about educational investment-- that best predicted support for Trump. In the wake of Trumps surprise win, some journalists, scholars, and political strategists argued that economic anxiety drove these Americans to Trump. But new analysis of post-election survey data conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute andfound something different: Evidence suggests financially troubled voters in the white working class were more likely to prefer Clinton over Trump. Besides partisan affiliation, it was cultural anxiety-- feeling like a stranger in America, supporting the deportation of immigrants, and hesitating about educational investment-- that best predicted support for Trump.



This data adds to the publics mosaic-like understanding of the 2016 election. It suggests Trumps most powerful message, at least among some Americans, was about defending the countrys putative culture. Because this message seems to have resonated so deeply with voters, Trumps policies, speeches, and eventual reelection may depend on their perception of how well he fulfills it.



...[T]hree factors stood out as strong independent predictors of how white working-class people would vote. The first was anxiety about cultural change. Sixty-eight percent of white working-class voters said the American way of life needs to be protected from foreign influence. And nearly half agreed with the statement, things have changed so much that I often feel like a stranger in my own country. Together, these variables were strong indictors of support for Trump: 79 percent of white working-class voters who had these anxieties chose Trump, while only 43 percent of white working-class voters who did not share one or both of these fears cast their vote the same way.



The second factor was immigration. Contrary to popular narratives, only a small portion-- just 27 percent-- of white working-class voters said they favor a policy of identifying and deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally. Among the people who did share this belief, Trump was wildly popular: 87 percent of them supported the president in the 2016 election.



Finally, 54 percent of white working-class Americans said investing in college education is a risky gamble, including 61 percent of white working-class men. White working-class voters who held this belief were almost twice as likely as their peers to support Trump. The enduring narrative of the American dream is that if you study and get a college education and work hard, you can get ahead, said Robert P. Jones, the CEO of PRRI. The survey shows that many white working-class Americans, especially men, no longer see that path available to them It is this sense of economic fatalism, more than just economic hardship, that was the decisive factor in support for Trump among white working-class voters."



While the analysis pointed to some interesting patterns around economic status, more research is needed to confirm them. The findings contrast with much of the coverage of the election: People who said their finances are only in fair or poor shape were nearly twice as likely to support Clinton compared to those who feel more economically secure.



...Nearly two-thirds of the white working class say American culture has gotten worse since the 1950s. Sixty-eight percent say the U.S. is in danger of losing its identity, and 62 percent say Americas growing number of immigrants threaten the countrys culture. More than half say discrimination against whites has become just as problematic as discrimination against minorities.









I'll bet the picture that emerged of the white working class from the PRRI survey would be similar to a look at French voters in the only two departments that went from Le Pen, rust-belt areas in the northeast near the Belgian border, Pas-de-Calais and Aisne. These are the Americans:

 Nearly two-thirds (65%) of white working-class Americans believe American culture and way of life has deteriorated since the 1950s.

 Nearly half (48%) of white working-class Americans say, things have changed so much that I often feel like a stranger in my own country.

 Nearly seven in ten (68%) white working-class Americans believe the American way of life needs to be protected from foreign influence. In contrast, fewer than half (44%) of white college-educated Americans express this view.

 Nearly seven in ten (68%) white working-class Americansalong with a majority (55%) of the public overallbelieve the U.S. is in danger of losing its culture and identity.

 More than six in ten (62%) white working-class Americans believe the growing number of newcomers from other countries threatens American culture, while three in ten (30%) say these newcomers strengthen society.

 Nearly six in ten (59%) white working-class Americans believe immigrants living in the country illegally should be allowed to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements, while 10% say they should be allowed to become permanent legal residents. More than one in four (27%) say we should identify and deport illegal immigrants. Notably, support for a path to citizenship is only slightly lower than support among the general public (63%).

 More than half (52%) of white working-class Americans believe discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities, while 70% of white college-educated Americans disagree.

 Fewer than four in ten white working-class Americans report they are in excellent (5%) or good shape (33%) financially, compared to six in ten who say they are in fair (35%) or poor shape (25%). White working-class Americans about as likely to say their financial situation has diminished (27%) as they are to say it has improved (29%). White college-educated Americans, in contrast, are about three times as likely to say their financial circumstances have gotten better than gotten worse (41% vs. 14%, respectively).

 A majority (54%) of the white working class view getting a college education as a risky gamble, while only 44% say it is a smart investment.

 Six in ten (60%) white working-class Americans, compared to only 32% of white college-educated Americans say because things have gotten so far off track, we need a strong leader who is willing to break the rules.









McElwee and McDaniel aren't shy about diagnosing the affinity for Trump as a manifestation of racism, while asking "how the racial resentment that powered Trumps ascent differed from the support for Republican candidates in prior elections? And what was the relative importance of economic peril to voting in 2016 compared to several different types of racism and racial animus exhibited by voters?... Trump," they wrote, "accelerated a realignment in the electorate around racism, across several different measures of racial animus-- and that it helped him win. By contrast, we found little evidence to suggest individual economic distress benefited Trump. The American political system is sorting so that racial progressivism and economic progressivism are aligned in the Democratic Party and racial conservatism and economic conservatism are aligned in the Republican Party."
A young woman from Minnesota wants to change the way people look at Down syndrome, and to do so, shes making a splash in one of her states most high-profile events: Miss Minnesota USA.

Mikayla Holmgren, 22, will be the first person with Down syndrome to compete in the pageant, PEOPLE reported.

Im going to blaze the trail! Holmgren, from The Marine on St. Croix, told the website.

JULIANNE HOUGH ON HOW SHE STAYS CONFIDENT AND FIT

Holmgren is a seasoned performer. Not only did she already win the Minnesota Miss Amazing pageant, which focuses on showcasing the talents of women with special needs, in 2015, but she also speaks for her university and tutors kids, TODAY reported.

TODAY reported that doctors werent sure what Holmgrens future held when she was a child, as she was born with an underdeveloped esophagus and epilepsy. Yet, Holmgren overcame their expectations when she began walking at 9 months old and speaking at 13 months old.

#DISABLEDANDCUTE: THE VIRAL CAMPAIGN INSPIRING CONFIDENCE AMONG THE DISABLED

Holmgrens mother, Sandi Holmgren, enrolled her daughter in dance classes around age 6. Holmgren took to them and moved onto gymnastics next.

I just think how blessed am I to have this beautiful daughter that is making a difference in the world and showing others a different face of beauty, Sandi Holmgren told TODAY. She's just a go-getter  I don't know what it is about her.

Miss Minnesota USA executive co-director Denise Wallace said she thinks Holmgren is confidently beautiful.

Mikayla is such an incredible and accomplished young woman, Wallace told PEOPLE. We feel she definitely has what it takes to compete at the Miss Minnesota USA pageant this fall.

INSTAGRAMMER HAS POWERFUL MESSAGE FOR WOMEN STRUGGLING WITH BODY CONFIDENCE

The pageant is Nov. 26 and includes three segments, The Mighty reported: evening wear, swimsuit and an interview. If Holmgren wins, shell have a chance to compete in the Miss USA competition in 2018, TODAY reported.

Now, Holmgren is raising the $4,000 she needs to cover fees, her gown and other competition-related costs on GoFundMe. Since launching her campaign a couple of months ago, shes raised about $1,800 of her goal.

I want the world to know that Down syndrome does not define me, Holmgren wrote on her GoFundMe page. With your help, I can help break through walls.

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But the chance to be crowned in any pageant isnt why Holmgren competes. Rather, she is aiming to flip the script on how she feels society views people like her.

I want to show my personality, Holmgren told PEOPLE. I want to show what my life looks like, being happy, and joyful. I want to show what Down syndrome looks like.
The Revolutionary War lasted eight years, but ask any eight-year-old if theyd rather go to a museum to learn about it or play on an iPad  guess which answer youll get? But take heart, ye who fear that 21st century kids are in danger of losing our history! There is a revolutionary movement happening for the minds of the next generation in books, music, and museums, and if we get this right, well turn their technology-saturated worlds upside down with a new-found love for history.

Go ahead, let kids take a swipe at history.

The new Museum of the American Revolution opened its doors on April 19 and it, like many other museums today, is learning to speak the language of the next generation.

Giant iPad-ish walls of timelines allow kids to take a swipe at history with pictures, videos and other hands-on tools.

Please Touch! is the secret password here. Get your hands on an 18th century cannon and real wood from the Annapolis Liberty Tree. Please Smell! is another. Get a whiff of tea from the Boston Tea Party or a tar-pitched rope as kids enlist as sailors, lift a twelve-pound cannon ball and board a life-size sloop.

Pictures come to life with animation reminiscent of a Harry Potter movie. Life-like mannequins act out scenes such as George Washington breaking up a brawl or Banastre Tarletons British Dragoons shouting and wielding sabers atop their charging horses.

After a movie about George Washington as the Sword of the Revolution, the curtain rises to reveal the catalyst for the museums existence: General George Washingtons beautifully preserved tent sitting amidst the four seasons that magically change in the background. Kids walk out of this smiling, thinking how totally awesome George Washington was to camp out for the majority of the war "share in the hardship" and "partake of every inconvenience" with his men.

This and other museums like Colonial Williamsburg and the brand new American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, Virginia, have learned the answer to todays troubling question for Americas kids: How do you move a young mind from airplane mode to #passionateabouthistory!? You do it by making history relevant, making it personal, making it fun, and making it come alive.

But music and books are also playing a role in this revolutionary movement for young minds. Im honored to partner with the National Park Service to put on Epic Patriot Camp at Revolutionary War parks like Kings Mountain and Cowpens. The purpose? To make history personal and come alive for kids. Campers wear period dress and assume the identity of a patriot or loyalist who was there at the battle. They craft their version of their characters story while they go on treasure hunt research missions in the museum and in books, drill and march, make musket balls, sleep on the ground in colonial tents, and eat blue ice pops (for those colonial Bluetooth moments).

At Epic Patriot Camp last year I shared how my upcoming Revolutionary War novels will feature Patrick Henry and the Marquis de Lafayette, and two young girls rushed up to me, bursting to do their Oui, oui je mappelle Lafayette rap from Hamilton. A Broadway musical used hip-hop to make history relevant and come alive for the next generation. Some adults and history purists may bristle at George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Lafayette rapping, but if kids are singing the history of the American Revolution, isnt that a good thing?

Some adults and history purists may also frown at a novel with talking animals (whhhhat?) who lead Patrick Henry to rally a nation to Independence. But when twelve-year-old Katie Wyrick read my 672-page book in a couple of days (#thesefastreadingkidsslayme) she said The Voice, the Revolution, and the Key, instills the ideal of liberty in readers, making them feel as if they might one day be willing to say, Give me liberty, or give me death! That makes this author shout, HUZZAH! as loudly as the soldiers must have done after the victory at Yorktown.

Some fifth graders from Jefferson School in Summit, NJ, happily jumped off the bus on a field trip to the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton while I was there researching this week. I decided to turn the focus of my research on them. I asked if I could pick their brains on why kids should visit museums. Their top three reasons? To learn! To have fun! To understand the history behind it all. They loved museum docents in period dress who fired a musket and taught them how Washingtons soldiers were inoculated against the small pox (ew-gross, pus! COOL!).

After the tour, I asked why its important for their generation to learn Americas founding history. Catherine said, The things that happened in our past follow us to our future. E.J. said, History is what we all grow from.

Fifth-graders said this. (#tearsofjoymomentforthisauthor)

I asked kids at Epic Patriot Camp what would happen if we lose our history. Young Julia Slaughter answered, Wed lose a piece of ourselves. I then asked them who is responsible for keeping history alive for the next generation. Their answer? We are.

Thats why kids should visit museums.

Whether they swipe, camp, sing or read, kids are jumping onto the new cloud of the American Revolution, so theres hope for America. Can I get a #HUZZAH!?
Students of history know that governments rarely give up power without a fight. To paraphrase Edmund Burke, those who have been intoxicated with power never willingly abandon it. Yet, last year, the federal government passed a new education law which returns a significant amount of power and decision-making authority to states, districts and schools.

The bi-partisan passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act creates a unique and exciting opportunity for improving American education. The law explicitly bars the Department of Education from dictating or influencing standards or curricula at the federal level, and states and districts have a wide range of new liberties when it comes to developing accountability systems, testing and content.

But with this newfound freedom from Washington comes a newfound responsibility for excellence at the state and district level. We cannot confuse local control with laissez faire. State and local leaders must embrace this opportunity and lift expectations, not relax them.

This is a large task and will require some heavy lifting, though. For years, states have been in compliance mode  overly focused on meeting detailed federal criteria  and that mindset has lulled some states into complacency. But that is the case no longer. Authority over American education has undergone a seismic shift. Now the states and locales have both the power and the accompanying responsibility to improve our nation's performance.

Although daunting, this is not an insurmountable task. Several states have done an excellent job at reforming and improving education outcomes. Take Massachusetts, for example. In the 1990s, the Bay State dramatically raised standards, improved accountability and raised the bar for teacher certification. Within several years, it became the nation's leader in education and on par with some of the leading countries in the world. (However, there is a legitimate concern today that Massachusetts has begun watering down some of its rigorous standards and that performance is starting to backslide.)

In addition, states now have a genuine partner at the federal level in the Trump administration who will not overreach federal authority and seek to exert influence through federal funds or Title IX bathroom threats. In fact, the administration went so far as to issue an executive order to study previous overreach into our schools by Washington in the hopes of reversing the federal power grab. When was the last time that happened in federal education policy?

The focus of the administration and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is in the right place: empowering states to better employ market forces and create choices for the benefit of students. DeVos will exert federal oversight in a limited but proper fashion, and she knows that the specifics of education reform in particular circumstances are properly left to state policy leaders.

We're already witnessing states taking advantage of this new paradigm shift. In Kentucky, for example, Republicans led an overhaul of the state's education system that returns control of standards to the state, improves teachers' influence over testing and empowers local districts to find their own solutions to turning around failing schools, rather than yielding to intervention from the state department of education or the federal government. In Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey and Republicans have passed a massive expansion of the state's education savings account program, and are now looking at innovative school financing ideas that actually reward student success.

The combination of hands-on state leaders and a hands-off federal government is the recipe for education success. And while school choice and local control are important, they are only two of the elements necessary for serious education reform. We can't take our eyes off the importance of high-quality content and curricula as well as rigorous accountability systems. A new study from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Center for Research and Reform in Education found that [c]omprehensive, content-rich curriculum is a common feature of academically high-performing countries and [t]he cumulative impact of high-quality curriculum can be significant.

We know what works in education, but for years, states, districts, superintendents and teachers have had their focus distracted and hands tied by burdensome federal regulations. For years, they have been asking for relief. Now they have it. We cannot squander this opportunity.
Lennox Lake was having the time of his life on Saturday. The six-year-old had tagged along with his mom and dad on a road trip to central California.

Lennox had been such a good boy, his parents decided to treat him to a surprise stop at Disneyland  the happiest place on Earth.

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On the way drive back home to San Ysidro, the Lakes treated their good little boy with one final treat - a frosty milkshake from In-N-Out. They were just a block from their home. But they never made it.

Police say the Lakes were hit by an alleged drunk driver  a man identified as a Mexican national  a man living in our country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells Fox 5 in San Diego the suspect had been deported 15 times over the past 15 years.

Constantino Banda-Acosta is accused of slamming his pickup truck into the passengers side of the Lake familys Honda Accord. And then, he fled the scene.

Benjamin and Ingrid Lake suffered minor injuries, but Lennox was gravely injured. He was bleeding from his nostrils and his ears.

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The San Diego Tribune reported that the child was unconscious, not breathing.

Benjamin Lake tells me his son has had two surgeries and doctors are cautiously optimistic the child will fully recover.

Hes a fighter, Ben said. Really  my strength comes from Lennox and seeing him fight so hard. I want to do everything possible for him.

Ben and Ingrid have been taking turns sleeping on a couch in the hospital room  24 hours a day.

We dont want to leave his side, Ben told me.

In the meantime, family members have launched a GoFundMe page to help cover medical bills and other expenses.

The San Diego Tribune reports the suspect is being held on $100,000 bail. Banda-Acosta faces a number of charges including felony hit and run, drunken driving and driving without a valid license.

Its hard not to be angry  the fact that this is like the 15th time hes had a run-in with the police, Ben told me. Its angering. There is something wrong with the system where this guy can keep coming back.

The Lake family has every right to be angry  furious.

Hes hurting people and somehow he keeps coming back  it doesnt make any sense, he said.

San Diegos mayor says they are not a sanctuary city  but the Lake family feels otherwise.

Its hard not to feel that way after this happened, Ben said. Before all of this I was indifferent, but I definitely dont support sanctuary cities.

I hope you will pray for Lennox and his family and I hope you will support their GoFundMe page. They could use a helping hand.

But I also urge you to call your elected leaders  and demand they take immediate action to secure the border and rid our nation of the scourge of illegals.

How many more six-year-old children must be injured by illegal aliens before Washington, D.C. takes action? How many more families must be terrorized by the invaders?

California lawmakers are considering legislation to become a sanctuary state. The legislation would, in effect, provide refuge for illegals like the one who nearly killed Lennox Lake.

Let me be clear: sanctuary cities may provide a safe haven for illegals, but they create a living hell for the rest of us.
Deranged, liberal crackpots are at it again. They are using President Trump's very sound decision to fire FBI Director James Comey to push all kinds of bizarre conspiracy theories.

It was to stop the investigation into Russian interference in the election. He put others up to it to settle a score. He fired Comey during a temper tantrum.

Well, actually, there is a very simple explanation, and Trump told it to anyone willing to listen.

He was not doing a good job, Trump told reporters Wednesday.

And Trump has the facts on his side. Comey failed the American people. He disrespected the Constitution. He made a mockery out of the rule of law and equal justice under it by carving out a separate justice system for Bill and Hillary Clinton.

In fact, it's why not that long ago, Democrats were calling for Comey's head. But those same, alt-left, destroy-Trump Dems are now suffering a massive case of selective amnesia and feigning moral outrage.

It's a grotesque abuse of power by the president of the United States, CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies.

MSNBCs Chris Matthews called it a whiff of fascism.

They compared it to President Nixons firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox, back in 1973. But they didnt really have to go back that far: In 1993, President Clinton fired the FBI director. And Comey, in a letter to his former colleagues, acknowledged the president had every right to fire him at any time, for any reason.

We all know the liberal media wants to destroy President Trump. They want him out of office, and they will do and say anything to make that happen. They are the very folks who colluded with Hillary Rodham Clinton during her campaign and cried when she lost.

The media and the alt-left Democratic establishment suddenly loves Jim Comey! Its as if they think we dont remember what they were saying about him for the last year, when simply investigating Hillary Clintons illegal, secret server was such an affront to democracy.

He's got a big burden of proof, so to speak, on him for why he did what seems to be such an appalling act that goes against the tradition of prosecutors at every level of government, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said back in October. It was  hard to believe that Comey, who I thought had some degree of integrity, would do this.

House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi thought Comey was unfit to direct the FBI, apparently right up until the time Trump agreed with her.

I think he made a mistake on this, she said last year. And he clearly has a double standard. In these jobs, if you're not in it for a while, you can't take the heat. And I think he just couldn't take the heat from the Republicans. It's really unfortunate because I do believe he is a good person. Maybe he's not in the right job.

And Harry Reid, who was the outgoing leader of Senate Democrats, was scathing in his criticism of Comey back in December.

I am so disappointed in Comey, Reid said. He has let the country down for partisan purposes. That is why I call him the new J. Edgar Hoover because I believe that."

Need more proof the Democrats are full of it? Just last week, Hillary Clinton blamed Comey for her election loss.

I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on Oct. 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the mind of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off, she said on May 2.

There is no getting through to these alt-left, radical kooks. They're detached from reality and they suffer from Trump derangement syndrome.

Sadly, there's no cure. They will continue to suffer for the next four years. Or will it be eight?

Adapted from Sean Hannity's monologue on "Hannity," May 10, 2017
April 19, 1967.

Major Leo Thorsness had been fortunate. Skilled too, without a doubt, but other equally experienced fighter pilots and electronic warfare officers had been lost around the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Dozens of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with thousands of anti-aircraft guns, and the enemy had fighter jets of their own: MiG-17s and MiG-21s. They all combined to make the sky over Hanoi a lethal place for American combat aviators where 600 mile-per-hour duels were fought and decided in seconds.

Thorsness and his wingman were Wild Weasels; specially trained men flying uniquely equipped F-105F Thunderchief fighters. Their mission -- to pick fights with enemy missiles and guns then kill them.

Flying as Kingfish One and Two, the pair attacked and destroyed two SAM sites when Kingfish Two, flown by Majors Tom Madison and Tom Sterling, was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Madison desperately tried to nurse the mortally damaged "Thud" to the border of Laos; fifty miles farther west and just six minutes of flying time.

But he couldn't make it.

Leo watched the two parachutes come down near the Black River thirty miles from Hanoi and deep within enemy territory. Low on fuel himself, he refused to leave without doing everything possible to save the two men.

Circling overhead, he was trying to initiate the Search and Rescue (SAR) operation when a flight of four North Vietnamese MiG-17s, attracted by the downed fighter's smoke, appeared over the low peaks. Reacting instinctively, Thorsness shot one down with his 20 mm cannon, and scattered the others long enough to escape.

Now critically low on fuel, he diverted to an air refueling tanker, filled up with gas and immediately headed back into North Vietnam. Arriving over the Black River just as the SAR aircraft, two A-1 Skyraiders, were jumped by MiGs, Thorsness never hesitated and pitched into the fight at four-on-one odds. Damaging one enemy jet, he forced the others away from the rescue aircraft. Inbound U.S. fighters then pounced on the remaining North Vietnamese, allowing Leo to disengage and limp back through a line of thunderstorms to the Royal Thai Air Base at Udorn.

Despite truly heroic efforts, Madison and Sterling were captured, but Leo had been as lucky as he was good. Two SAMs destroyed, one MiG shot down, another damaged, and yet he had returned alive.

Eleven days later fate caught up with him.

During his second mission on April 30, 1967, Leo and his electronic warfare officer, Captain Harry Johnson, were ambushed by a MiG and shot down fifty miles west of Hanoi. Ejecting at nearly 600 miles-per-hour, both men were captured immediately and would spend nearly six years as prisoners of war.

Refusing to cooperate with the enemy, Leo was starved, beaten, and tortured repeatedly.

Placed in solitary confinement for a year, he was told he had been abandoned by Washington, his comrades had all gone home, and his wife had forgotten him. With no news from the outside world, he had only his extraordinary depths of inner strength. And faith.

Leo kept the faith.

He never doubted his family, his God, and those at home who were trying to set him free.

Despite his destroyed knees and badly injured back, after some 2,100 lonely days of captivity Leo Thorsness walked out of the infamous Hanoi Hilton, a proud man with his head high.

On March 4, 1973, he left North Vietnam the same way he got into it; by plane.

Leo flew to freedom, landing in Illinois on March 10 and stepping off the transport into his wife's arms.

The unbroken officer would recover and go on to become a state senator, successful executive, author; an inspiration to generations of fighter pilots, myself included.

Despite everything that had happened, the lost years away from a family he adored, his extensive injuries, and memories that would never completely fade, he refused to permit his past to dictate his future.

This is a lesson we can all share and is the true legacy of an American hero; Leo Thorsness, fighter pilot, father, husband and proud American passed away on May 2, 2017, in St. Augustine, Florida, at the age of 85.

Godspeed and tailwinds.
As reported by South Koreas Yonhap News Agency, North Korea recently sent out a new combination of mysterious random numbers thought to be coded orders to its spies in South Korea. The random encrypted numbers were sent out over a radio broadcast. Further, the U.S.-Korea Institutes 38 North program now tells us that North Korean scientists have actually developed a quantum encryption device.

What Kim Jong Uns regime is now doing from a cyber standpoint should be a red flag to Americas entire national security structure.

Whoever is first to master the science of quantum computing and random number generation will likely have a leg up in winning the cyber war, as these random numbers are the roots of every encryption algorithm. It could be the great equalizer and enable a small country with less advanced technology in other areas, and with bad economic conditions, to gain a real strategic advantage. Combine it with ballistic missile and nuclear technology, and youve got a big problem on your hands.

While the North Korean working system is still most probably in a lab, the fact that they have this technology and are working with random number generated codes should be a real wake-up call for the United States. Today there is strong evidence that the science of quantum computing can provide for the generation of truly random numbers. Once this technology has matured, it would greatly reduce, if not eliminate, the likelihood of hacking into any system. From a U.S. national security standpoint, having this technology would make it almost impossible for our enemies to hack us. If, on the other hand, a country such as North Korea were to get this technology first, it would make it much more difficult for us to disrupt them from attacking us.

Cyber warfare is the most complicated national security threat that the U.S. has ever faced because technology is changing so quickly. In fact, the speed of change in the cyber technology realm is changing faster than the Pentagon and that of our broader national security apparatus ability to analyze and adapt. After air, land, sea and space, cyber is the 5th dimension of warfare. Cyber attacks are killing us both economically and from a national security standpoint. A few companies and a couple of U.S. universities are pursuing the science of quantum computing and random number generation. In the U.S Government sector, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have been out front. Sadly, though, it has not been a major priority for the National Security Agency or other American intelligence agencies.

Dr. Warner Miller is a Ph.D. physicist and retired Air Force officer who ran the Joint U.S. Air Force-Department of Energy Quantum Physics Lab at Kirtland AFB. He says, Secure encrypted communications have always been a cornerstone of preserving freedom and this is becoming more true in this emerging interconnected world of ours.

Miller, who now teaches at Florida Atlantic University, notes that Winston Churchill directed a focused research effort to crack the German Enigma Code which eventually cracked their war machine. Hes right. At the beginning of World War II, Nazi Germanys Enigma Code appeared unbreakable. As shown in the recent movie, The Imitation Game, the British brought together the best cryptographers and mathematicians and in the end, under the genius of Alan Turing, built a machine to crack the Nazis Enigma machine.

While a number of the British codebreakers were already assembled at Bletchley Park when he became Prime Minister in May of 1940, it was Churchills personal involvement and leadership that made a big difference. Churchill made sure they had whatever resources they needed and that the best minds were recruited to the effort. In fact, when Turing and other cryptographers made a request for specific resources, Churchill immediately granted it. Further, he engaged directly with the cryptanalysts and would even visit personally to boost their morale. Sir Winston knew the stakes and that his personal leadership was required. The significance of the effort at Bletchley Park in breaking the Enigma Code is best summed up in a letter at the end of the war by then General Dwight Eisenhower, which was recently made public. Ike called the effort of priceless value and said it saved countless British and American lives and, in no small way, contributed to the speed with which the enemy was routed and eventually forced to surrender.

The British Bulldog gave us the framework to achieve victory. Its a blueprint for President Trump to bring together Americas best minds in the science of quantum computing and random number generation. Lets get our very best cryptologists, mathematicians and physicists together at one location like the Brits did at Bletchley Park. Lets bring together Americas Alan Turings of this generation. Men and women like NISTs Dr. Lily Chen, AFRLs Dr. Paul Alsing, Dr. Warner Miller, and many others. Make sure they have the resources they need. They should continue to work there until the job is done. And just as Chief of MI6 Stewart Menzies oversaw the Bletchley Park effort that broke the Enigma Code for Churchill, President Trump can have his own national security lieutenant oversee this effort.

Today, whoever wins the Cyber War will have the upper hand in current and future conflicts. And whoever masters the science of quantum computing and random number generation will likely win the Cyber War. Losing this war is not an option. The good guys must win it now just as they did by cracking the Enigma Code in the 1940s.

Kim Jong Uns recent cyber activities are a real wake-up call for America and the rest of the free world. Its an opportunity, though, for American ingenuity to lead and win the cyber war for this and future generations.
Lauren Green currently serves as Fox News Channel's (FNC) chief religion correspondent based in the New York bureau. She joined FNC in 1996.Read More

Green reported live from Rome in 2013 on the election of Pope Francis, as well as on the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI. Additionally, she provided live coverage of the beatification of Pope John Paul II from Rome in 2011 and Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States in 2008.

Prior to joining FNC, Green served as a weekend news anchor and correspondent at WBBM-TV (CBS-2) in Chicago, IL. From 1988 to 1993, she was a general assignment reporter at KSTP-TV (ABC-5) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Outside of her career at FNC, Green is a reputable concert pianist with a degree in piano performance from The University of Minnesota. She has interviewed some of the most prominent people in the classical music world including Placido Domingo, Pierre Boulez, Joshua Bell and has covered such events as the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and opening night of The Metropolitan Opera. In 2004, she released her debut album, "Classic Beauty."

A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Green was named Miss Minnesota in 1984 and was the third runner-up in the 1985 Miss America contest.
Fired FBI director James Comey recently asked lawmakers to help him secure more "resources" for the bureau's counterintelligence investigation of possible connections between President Trump's campaign team and Russian officials, sources told Fox News Wednesday.

The Justice Department repeatedly denied Wednesday that Comey had asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to bolster the Russia probe.

The sources said Comey met with Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va.,  the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate intelligence committee  to discuss the ongoing inquiry Monday, the day before the FBI Director was fired by Trump.

During their meeting, Burr and Warner pressed Comey to speed up the investigation. According to the sources, Comey responded that he needed more manpower and asked the senators to help him get it.

It was not immediately clear whether Comey made a similar request to the Justice Department. Senior DOJ officials told Fox News that Comey and Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Russia investigation, had not met since May 1, and Comey had not requested any more resources during that meeting.

Rosenstein's memo to Attorney General Jeff Sessions recommending Comey's dismissal makes no mention of the investigation, which is also probing Russia's hacking of Democratic groups during last year's election campaign.

In a brief letter Tuesday to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore "public trust and confidence" in the FBI. The administration paired the letter with Rosenstein's scathing review of how Comey handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices, including his decision to hold a news conference announcing its findings and releasing "derogatory information" about Clinton.

Trump, in his letter, pointedly thanked Comey for telling him three times "that I am not under investigation." The FBI has not confirmed that Comey ever made those assurances to the president. In public hearings, Comey has declined to answer when asked if Trump is under investigation, urging lawmakers not to read anything into that statement.

While Comey has drawn anger from Democrats since he reopened the email investigation in the closing days of last year's campaign, they didn't buy that justification for his firing. Several Republicans, including Burr, joined them in raising alarms of how it could affect probes into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia to influence the election.

Fox News' Mike Emanuel and Jake Gibson contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
A top constitutional law professor told Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Wednesday that President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey had created a "major credibility problem" that could necessitate the appointment of a special prosecutor.

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley told MacCallum that he had previously opposed the idea of a special prosecutor to investigate possible ties between Russia and Trump's campaign because "I'm not too sure what the crime is."

However, Turley added that "the way the White House fired Comey  and the when, more importantly  does give greater justification for the appointment of a special counsel."

Turley added that a better time for Trump to fire Comey would have been soon after his inauguration in January and said the White House needs "to recognize the realities here.

"The president has been criticizing the Russian investigation for weeks. Hes been making it known that hes not happy with it," Turley told host Martha MacCallum. "To lop off the head of the FBI director after that [extended] criticism creates a real appearance problem, and appearances matter in a political system."

Despite his criticism of the timing of Comey's ouster, Turley dismissed suggestions that Trump was attempting to head off the investigation into Russia's actions during last year's election campaign.

I criticize many of those folks that are saying, 'This had to be because the investigations closing in on Trump,'" the professor said. "I dont see the crime, so I dont see how its closing in on Trump."
The Central Intelligence Agency said on Wednesday that it opened a mission center at an undisclosed location that's sole task is to monitor North Korea.

Many of the details about the center are not yet known. It is led by an unnamed CIA veteran, who was tapped as the new assistant director for Korea. The CIA offshoot will work closely with the intelligence and national security community, the agency said.

Creating the Korea Mission Center allows us to more purposefully integrate and direct CIA efforts against the serious threats to the United States and its allies emanating from North Korea, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said in a statement. It also reflects the dynamism and agility that CIA brings to evolving national security challenges.

The opening of the mission center comes as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea increased over the last few months.

The U.S. sent a strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, to the Pacific near the Korean Peninsula last month  a move that was met with fiery rhetoric from Kim Jong Uns regime.

Last week, North Korea accused the U.S. and South Korea of an assassination against its leader. The countrys state-run news agency said a hideous terrorists group directed by CIA and South Korean spies ideologically corrupted a North Korean dissident identified as Kim and paid the man more than $20,000 to carry out the attack.

Ryan Gaydos is a news editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @RyanGaydos.
President Trumps decision to fire James Comey touched off widespread speculation in Washington over what will happen to the FBIs Russia meddling probe  but the prospect of new leadership at the bureau also could hold implications for the closed Hillary Clinton email case.

Brian Weidner, a veteran former FBI agent, suggested both the case and the immunity deals struck during that investigation could be revisited.

"I would be surprised if they did not review all the investigations regarding HRC and come up with [a] conclusion regarding prosecution. The statute of limitations hasn't come into play yet," he said in an email to Fox News.

As for the immunity deals struck with key players in the Clinton orbit, he noted those deals are with the government, so in theory it wouldn't change.

However, he wrote, a new AG and new director may take a good look at the entire case, and if anyone who received immunity did not live up to their agreement, like Huma [Abedin] with the classified documents on her computer, the deal is off and they are potential targets again.

For dozens of current and former agents, the key factor will be who is the next director of the worlds most powerful law enforcement agency.

Does Trump pick from the FBI ranks or opt for a more political choice?

"No one can figure out how this POTUS [president of the United States] operates," one former agent connected to the Clinton email probe said.

While Democrats allege Trump fired Comey because of his discomfort with the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and potential ties to Trump associates, the stated reason for the ouster was Comeys handling of the Clinton email probe last year. A detailed memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein faulted Comey for announcing his findings last July, going around his boss, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and for making public a decision to revisit the case shortly before the election.

Former State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard told Fox News that he remains critical of how Comey led the email investigation  including the immunity deals with key Clinton aides Abedin, Bryan Pagliano, Cheryl Mills, John Bentel and Heather Samuelson.

Krongard described it as the granting of immunity to five senior Clinton aides for virtually nothing in return.

He said this is normally done in return for a proffer of evidence or testimony which will build a bridge from one level to a higher level; in this case, the immunity grants built a moat around the higher level, not a bridge.

Krongard stressed that the FBIs interview with Clinton, the highest level person and ultimate person of interest in the investigation was held on July 4 weekend, when the investigation had to have been virtually complete."

It also still baffles Krongard why Mills  a participant in the use of Clintons private email systems to send and receive classified messages  "was allowed to be present during the interview [with Clinton] and even to act as counsel."

There is no shortage of criticism surrounding other aspects of that investigation.

A former FBI agent familiar with the counterintelligence investigation into Clinton's use of non-secure email devices and servers told Fox News that "no stone was unturned in the probe but alleged the process was deliberately "slowed down" by Clintons personal attorney David Kendall.

We got everything we needed, but it was more painful than it needed to be, the source said. We would draft up search warrants for the servers in both residences -- then the process would be slowed down. It was like Step 1 and a pause, Step 2 and a pause.

The source said coordinating with Kendall bothered him and others, saying, Only when we threatened with the search warrants, something would be given up.

The source said, "It was so much harder than it should have been."

The source added that the Justice Department was running the show, and the tone of the investigation was set at the top. There was distaste for the investigation during the entire time.

Rosenstein, in his memo, used the word "wrong to describe Comey's handling of the conclusion of the criminal investigation into Clinton's use of private email servers and a private email account for all government business while she served as secretary of state.

"The way the director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong," Rosenstein wrote, specifically noting that, "the director announced his own conclusions about the nation's most sensitive criminal investigation without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders."

The source, though, asserted that Comey wanted to protect then-Attorney General Lynch."

Lynch at the time was under fire for meeting in late June 2016 with former President Bill Clinton on a Phoenix tarmac.

Eight days later, Clinton appeared for her official FBI interview at the Washington Field Office. The next day, Comey held his press conference proclaiming no criminal charges would be brought against Clinton despite her being "extremely careless" with the handling of highly classified materials while serving as the secretary of state.
Former FBI Director James Comey said in a farewell letter Wednesday that he does not plan to dwell on the decision to fire him or the "way it was executed."

He says in the letter that although he'll be fine, he will miss the FBI and its mission "deeply."

The letter circulated among Comey friends and colleagues. It was posted online Wednesday night and a person who had seen the note confirmed the online version was authentic.

The letter read, "I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply.

I have said to you before that, in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence. What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality of its people, who together make it that rock for America.

It is very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing. My hope is that you will continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. If you do that, you too will be sad when you leave, and the American people will be safer.

Working with you has been one of the great joys of my life. Thank you for that gift."

Senate Democrats meanwhile intensified efforts Wednesday to pressure Republicans who control the chamber to support the appointment of a special prosecutor for the probe into Russias alleged election meddling and ties to the Trump campaign, vowing to block President Trumps appointees and apparently try to disrupt meetings and other official business.

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he would vote against the confirmation of any Trump appointee unless Republicans commit to appointing a special prosecutor.

Blumenthal spoke the morning after the president fired FBI Director James Comey, whose agency was investigating whether Trumps 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

I'm hoping the outcry will prompt Republicans to join me, Blumenthal added. The American people want the truth uncovered. I am talking with my colleagues about what the strategy will be to prompt a special prosecutor.

The Comey firing triggered calls from Democrats for a special prosecutor. They argue that the Trump administration cannot fairly or independently conduct such an investigation on its own president.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Former Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown was found guilty on 18 fraud and tax evasion charges Thursday afternoon in a Jacksonville federal court.

The charges stemmed from accusations she illegally siphoned thousands of dollars from her charity into her own bank account for lavish parties, trips and shopping excursions.

Brown was found not guilty on four of the 22 total charges.

Brown served as a Florida representative in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 until 2017. She was defeated in her 2016 primary race.

The indictment came after an investigation into the charity One Door for Education Foundation Inc., which federal prosecutors say was purported to give scholarships to poor students but instead filled the coffers of Brown and her associates.

Earlier this year, One Door President Carla Wiley pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after it as determined that she had deposited $800,000 into the foundation's account over four years. Over that time, federal prosecutors say it gave one scholarship for $1,000 and that Wiley transferred herself tens of thousands of dollars.

"Congresswoman Brown and her chief of staff are alleged to have used the congresswoman's official position to solicit over $800,000 in donations to a supposed charitable organization, only to use that organization as a personal slush fund," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Leslie Caldwell, chief of the Justice Department's criminal division, said in a statement earlier this year.

Brown's former chief of staff, Elias "Ronnie" Simmons, and the charity's president pleaded guilty after their federal indictments for misusing the charity's funds, and testified against Brown.

Brown said she was left in the dark about the goings-on with One Door's money, and blamed the theft on Simmons.

Brown said she left those details to Simmons and other hired staffers, and said she should have paid more attention to her personal and professional finances.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A little more than two weeks ago, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called incoming Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein someone who is independent, who would stand up for the law. Schumer said just last weekend he was a fair man and excellent prosecutor.

By Wednesday, that characterization of Rosenstein  who was confirmed to his current position by a 94-6 Senate vote  was dead.

Serious doubts have been cast on Mr. Rosensteins impartiality, said Schumer, D-N.Y., in the aftermath of President Trumps decision to sack FBI Director James Comey, due in part to a memo Rosenstein wrote.

Rosenstein, a longtime federal prosecutor with a sterling reputation, is now at the center of immense speculation, pressure and finger-pointing in Washington where the level of political toxicity could hardly push higher.

WHO IS ROD ROSENSTEIN?

The low-profile Rosenstein was thrust onto the national stage with a single memo, a three-page May 9 document castigating Comey over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons secret email server. That memo was cited by the Trump administration as the primary basis for firing Comey on Tuesday evening.

The narrative now pushed by Democrats is: the memo was mere pretext for Trump to oust the FBI boss digging into his campaign's Russia ties.

It's an unfamiliar position, at the center of the storm, for Rosenstein.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that the newly confirmed deputy AG threatened to resign after reports began painting him as the primary mover of the decision to sack Comey.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday morning, however, said she was not aware of his threatening to resign.

Rosenstein later told reporters he did not threaten to quit and did not intend to quit his post.

Regardless of Rosenstein's personal reaction to the attention, Democrats increasingly are calling on him to name a special prosecutor.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., put out a statement Thursday saying she's "more troubled" by his memo each time she reads it, likening it to a "political document."

"The memo appears to have been hastily assembled to justify a preordained outcome," she said. The attorney general and deputy attorney general should recuse themselves from the appointment, selection and reporting of a special counsel. This issue should be handled by the most senior career attorney at the Justice Department.

Meanwhile, Schumers 180-degree turn from Rosenstein backer to detractor was representative of the linguistic gymnastics numerous Democrats have employed to oppose a man they once, nearly universally, said they respected.

He's been a person who has called it the way it should be, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., told MSNBC on Sunday. He has not been partisan.

Yet on Tuesday, Cardin was signaling Rosensteins continuing oversight of the FBI wouldnt be good enough, and he joined Democratic calls for an independent prosecutor to pick up where Comey left off in his probe of alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election and possible ties between Trump associates and Russian officials.

This latest action has now added more questions upon questions, Cardin wrote in a Facebook post.

Its under some debate if Rosenstein, whom Comey reported to directly, wrote the missive of his own accord or was instructed to do so by a senior Trump administration official. The White House suggests the memo was all him.

Rod Rosenstein apparently got to the Department of Justice 16 days ago or so and did a fresh analysis, and these were his conclusions, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway told Fox & Friends on Thursday.

Further looking to push Rosenstein into a corner, The New York Times editorial board published an Open Letter to the Deputy Attorney General on Thursday telling Rosenstein that he was deeply implicated in the shocking decision to fire Comey, and that Trump exploited the integrity you have earned over nearly three decades in public service, spending down your credibility as selfishly as he had spent other peoples money throughout his business career. The Times board said that since Rosenstein wrote the memo laying out Comeys alleged sins, his ability to oversee any Russia investigation was compromised and his only choice was to appoint a special counsel.

But while anonymous sources, senior aides and newspaper editorial boards have all spoken out over Rosensteins actions and what lies ahead of him, the one person yet to go on the record is Rosenstein himself.

That could soon change.

Feinstein called Wednesday for Rosenstein to brief members of the Judiciary Committee on the reasons and the timing of the firing, as well as what steps are being taken to ensure this action will have no impact on the work of the FBI on the ongoing investigation.

Fox News' Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to launch a commission to review alleged voter fraud, a White House official confirmed to Fox News, after months of claiming voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election.

The order, titled Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, would establish a bipartisan commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, to review alleged voter fraud and suppression. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has investigated voter fraud in Kansas, will serve as vice chair.

"This action by President Trump fulfills another promise made to the American people, Pence said in a statement. "We can't take for granted the integrity of the vote."

The White House announced five members to the commission on Thursday: Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R), New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (D), Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D), Christie McCormick, commissioner of the election assistance commission, and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell(R).

The White House said the commission will review practices that affect the integrity of federal elections--spanning improper registrations, improper voting, fraudulent registrations, fraudulent voting and voting suppression.

"We expect the report to be complete by 2018," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee-Sanders said. "The experts will follow the facts where they lead--we'll share updates as we have them."

Trump originally vowed to create such a commission in January. Days after his inauguration, Trump took to Twitter calling for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, saying that depending on the results of the investigation, we will strengthen up voting procedures! He cited illegal" voters and those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time) which he claimed cost him the popular vote, which Hillary Clinton won by 3 million votes.

But on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed the commission.

"Putting an extremist like Mr. Kobach at the helm of this commission is akin to putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department," Schumer said. "President Trump has decided to waste taxpayer dollars chasing a unicorn and perpetuating the dangerous myth that widespread voter fraud exists."

Voting experts and many lawmakers have said they haven't seen anything to suggest that millions of people voted illegally, including House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz. The Utah Republican said his committee won't be investigating voter fraud.

In a lunch meeting with senators in February, Trump said that he and former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte would have won in New Hampshire if not for voters bused in from out of state. New Hampshire officials have said there was no evidence of major voter fraud in the state.

In a February interview with Bill OReilly, Trump said the main issue of voter fraud was registration, and vowed to look at the situation very, very carefully.

When you look at the registration and you see dead people that have voted, when you see people that are registered in two states, that have voted in two states, when you see other things, when you see illegals, people that are not citizens and they are on registration roles, Trump said. We can be babies, but you take a look at registration, you have illegals, you have dead people, you have this, its a really bad situation, its really bad.

The decision to revisit the voter fraud issue comes during a tumultuous week, after Trump on Tuesday fired FBI Director James Comey. The administration cited Comey's handling of the Clinton email probe, but Democrats also question what role his bureau investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 race played.

In a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian election tampering in March, voter fraud became a topic of questioning -- Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., asked Comey if the FBI had any evidence that votes were changed in states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio, to which Comey answered No.

After winning the election, Trump singled out several states and claimed fraud in their voting system, but officials in those states insisted that his claims were unfounded.

Fox News' Kristin Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Space is hard, but the human race has achieved some impressive feats over the past few decades. Men on the moon, a laboratory circling the Earth, exploration of the surface of Mars, and the list goes on. However, the task of getting people to Mars, let alone allowing them to stay and survive there, is extremely hard due to all the problems that need to be overcome first.

Well-known former engineer, astronaut, and man on the Moon Buzz Aldrin, suggested something rather radical this week to speed up our eventual trip to Mars. He wants NASA to retire the International Space Station and in the process save billions of dollars.

Aldrin made the comments as part of a presentation at the 2017 Humans on Mars conference held in Washington, D.C. According to Space.com, Aldrin said, "We must retire the ISS as soon as possible ... We simply cannot afford $3.5 billion a year of that cost."

Instead of ISS, Aldrin wants private industry to take over low Earth orbit activity, for there to be more cooperation with China in space, and that the focus should be on Mars and what he calls "cyclers." Cyclers are spacecraft whose sole purpose is to be constantly traveling back and forth between Earth and Mars. Built to last decades, cyclers would be our solution to getting people and cargo to and from our potential next home.

As a way of testing this tech, Aldrin suggests we use the Moon. Setup cyclers from Earth to the Moon, then create a lunar base to carry out all the required testing for Mars before evolving the then proven system to form a transportation system and base on Mars.

I suspect NASA will disagree with Aldrin on retiring ISS, which is currently funded until 2024 and may yet get a funding extension. ISS forms a valuable laboratory for carrying out hundreds of experiments, testing out equipment, and monitoring what happens to humans when they spend months at a time in space. You could also argue we already have a basic form of the cyclers Aldrin mentions operating between ISS and Earth.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
Last month, it was widely reported that NASA and the European Space Agency were teaming up for a joint lander mission to Jupiter moon Europa in 2025. According to NASA, however, this is fake news.

An independent fringe researcher presented a paper at this conference a couple of weeks ago that suggested maybe NASA and ESA could work together, a NASA spokesman told Fox News. It is not the case at all that the two agencies are pursuing a lander mission [together].

The submarine is not a part of any approved missionyet, Impey said. There is a prototype design, but it is far from being folded into a funded mission. It would be the most direct and exciting way to search for life if it ever moves forward.

One of Jupiters 67 moons, Europa has an ocean of liquid water hidden beneath its icy crust. This crust, which NASA estimates to be 1015 miles thick, shields the water from Jupiters harsh radiation belts, which makes it one of the best candidates in the solar system for hosting life.

NASA'S CASSINI PROBE FINDS 'BIG EMPTY' ON DARING SATURN RING DIVE

We think it has all the ingredients that life requires  a large ocean of liquid water, the right chemical elements, and sufficient energy sources, Dr. Cynthia Phillips, a Europa scientist working on the Lander concept at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said. But just because life could exist on Europa doesnt mean that life does exist there  thats why we need to go there with a mission like a Europa lander to search for direct evidence of life.

According to a 264page report the space agency released earlier this year, a lander would launch around 2024 and use retrorockets and a sky crane to touch down on Europas surface at some point in 2031. It would then dig down at least ten centimeters below the surface to extract samples of the icy crust that have been shielded from radiation. The lander would then analyze the samples organic and inorganic contents using a powerful microscope capable of distinguishing microbial cells as small as 0.2. microns in diameter.

NASA INFLATABLE GREENHOUSE COULD HELP FEED ASTRONAUTS ON OTHER PLANETS

Researchers are also working on an autonomous submarine, developed as part of multimillion dollar grant from NASA, called ARTEMIS. The sub, which is nearly 14 feet long and weighs 2,800 pounds, would be used to explore the pitchblack waters underneath the Europan ice. Stone Aerospace, who developed and ran tests on the sub in Antarctica back in 2015, are also developing a nuclearpowered cryobot to laser through the 1015 miles of icy crust. Currently, the bots maximum penetration rate is around 72 feet of ice per hour. While exciting, deploying the tech on Europa wont happen for a long time.

Adds Phillips, A mission that can melt or drill through Europas ice to access the ocean directly, perhaps with a submarine like ARTEMIS, is unfortunately a long way off.However, just because the two space agencies arent joining forces doesnt mean that the Europa lander mission isnt going to happen. Despite the Trump administration cutting the mission from the budget, the NASA spokesman explained that the concept is still under consideration and could go forward at a future time.

Jupiters radiation puts the mission under the gun in terms of time. Housed within a radiation vault, the lander can only survive for about 20 days on Europas surface.

The harsh radiation environment severely limits the lifetime of a mission to Europas surface, meaning that all the science has to be accomplished on a timeline of less than a month, Phillips told Foxnews.com.

Contamination is also a big concern  the spacecraft itself must be sterilized to avoid contaminating the surface with terrestrial microbes. And, according to Phillips, these arent even the biggest challenges.

Perhaps the biggest technical challenge is in developing instruments that will be able to detect signs of life, she said. Unfortunately, we dont have a Star Trekstyle tricorder that we can just point at the surface!

The Trump administrations 2018 federal budget blueprint might have cut the lander mission, but it did leave funding for continued development of NASAs

Europa Clipper mission. Scheduled to launch sometime around 2022, the Clipper spacecraft will travel the five years it takes to get to Europa, then fly by the moon 4045 times to take high resolution images of the moons icy surface. NASA researchers will then be able to get a better idea of Europas composition and structure.

The challenges for the Europa Clipper are the long duration flight, getting enough power so far from the Sun (which is why a radioactive isotope must be used), and the intense radiation environment, astrobiology expert Dr. Christopher Impey of the University of Arizona told Foxnews.com. The radiation could make the spacecraft toast in a few months. So it will mostly be in Jupiter orbit, protected by Jupiter's magnetic field, and make occasional forays for a week at a time to do multiple passes of Europa and map it.

Impey also points out that the Clipper instruments will only measure the potential habitability of the moon, not actually detect life. For that, we need the lander. But what would happen if NASA actually did discover life in the salty waters beneath the moon ice?

If NASA does find life on Europa, this would be a huge scientific accomplishment, and potentially change our understanding of our place in the universe, Cynthia Phillips said. If life started not just once, but twice, in our very own solar system, then it becomes more probable that a large fraction of the exoplanets that we now know orbit other stars could also be inhabited. The answer could be earth-shaking!

While acknowledging that the discovery would be dramatic, Impey had to bring the party down.

The instruments can't look for DNA or RNA, only show that a metabolism is at work, he said, so it's not a slam dunk detection of Biology 2.0.
This is a rush transcript from "Your World," May 10, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: All right, he's out of there. James Comey has been fired, as you know.

But a lot of Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, want to have hearings, closed-door hearings, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions as to why and how that all transpired.

To Democratic congressman of the beautiful state of California Eric Swalwell.

Congressman, good to have you.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL, D-CALIFORNIA: Thanks for having me back, Neil.

CAVUTO: Are you for these hearings just to find out the -- what happened and why it happened?

SWALWELL: Yes, Neil.

I'm offended by what happened for the same reason that most Americans are. This is the United States of America. You don't get to fire the person who is investigating you. That violates the independence that law enforcement is supposed to have from our nation's leaders.

So, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, I hope that we could bring before us the attorney general and understand first, Neil, why was he involved at all in this decision? He was supposed to be recused with anything doing with Russia. And, also, who else was involved?

CAVUTO: All right, well, we do know that Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, was the one I guess, sir, who actually wrote the letter recommending this action.

They seem to cite just the flip-flopping and the mistakes and everything else that had to do with the Clinton e-mails. Now, even some Republicans, to your point, have raised eyebrows on that response.

But what do you hope to prove here, that apparently the president made reference in his letter firing Comey to the three occasions in which he was-- and I'm paraphrasing here -- exonerated the president.

Now, the question that I had there -- and maybe you have the same one -- how would he know that? Would Comey have relayed that to him, that these Russian ties are being investigated, but they don't go up to his level, to President Trump's level?

SWALWELL: There's really no way to know.

And Director Comey, whether he told him or not, will not reveal that. That's not something that he would able to tell the public at this point in time.

CAVUTO: Then what would make the president say that?

(LAUGHTER)

SWALWELL: You know, what would make the president say that President Obama was wiretapping him, Neil? I can't get into the mind of the president.

But what I would like to see, to your earlier question, is to make sure that the investigation that was on its way into criminal and counterintelligence matters as to whether anyone on the president's team was working with Russia during the interference campaign, I want to make sure that that is ongoing and that it's not disrupted by this firing.

CAVUTO: Well, it would be safe to say that it goes on, right?

Now, the question is, wouldn't it be very obvious and almost too obvious for the administration to do something that Nixonian, I guess, for want of a better term? That's the comparison people have made, when Richard Nixon fired Archibald Cox, the Watergate prosecutor. We simply got another prosecutor down the road who finished the job.

So is that a fear here that that just stops, that the requests that have gone out for information just stop? Because that would be highly unlikely, wouldn't it?

SWALWELL: I believe that the men and the women who serve at the FBI and at the Department of Justice will follow the evidence.

And I'm just afraid that the person at the top of the FBI, there may be a chilling effect, knowing that the last person who was conducting this investigation and leading it just got fired, that Sally Yates...

CAVUTO: But the last guy who was leading it, right, Congressman, did a pretty shabby job, I think, by your estimation, other Democrats' estimation, when it came to handling Hillary Clinton. Maybe there's a better person to do that with President Trump.

SWALWELL: You know, I never called for Director Comey to go back in the November election season, but...

CAVUTO: No, I'm not saying that, but...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: ... critical of the timing of his -- his coming before the public days before the election, and then essentially exonerating her a little more than 48 hours before the election. You know what I mean?

SWALWELL: And however people felt about that -- and they could have been right that he handled that wrong -- but once he told Congress back in March that the president's campaign was under criminal and counterintelligence investigations, unless Director Comey broke the law, I don't think he should have been pulled off this investigation.

And that is what has happened. And I think that is why people are so concerned.

CAVUTO: Well, then you stand out, sir. And I commend for you that. But many in your party, including Chuck Schumer and others, Hillary Clinton just last week saying, if not for him, she would be president now. Now, maybe that's the case. Maybe you agree or disagree.

But there was this pile-on that this guy was just horrific. And now, all of a sudden, he's practically Jesus Christ. I don't understand that part, you know?

SWALWELL: Well, what offends people, Neil, though, is that he was leading the investigation.

So, whether you thought he was right or wrong when it happened, the president came in on January 20 and did not fire him. He was only fired after he told Congress and the American people that he was investigating the president's campaign.

CAVUTO: But wasn't a lot of it having to do with exaggerating the number of e-mails that had made their way to Anthony Weiner's server, you know the whole drill, and that started raising credibility issues and that he could be sloppy?

I'm just here passing that along, that if he's that sloppy, or in that regard, that maybe they felt maybe, look, you're just not up to snuff here. Even fellow FBI agents were preparing a report, we're told, Congressman, to correct the record on that. That's a rarity.

SWALWELL: Yes, I just don't buy that, Neil.

CAVUTO: OK.

SWALWELL: And to suggest that the reason was how he handled the Hillary Clinton investigation, which Donald Trump applauded and said he showed guts, it just -- it doesn't add up.

CAVUTO: Do you think that what Donald Trump did was Nixonian?

SWALWELL: Neil, I think what we need to do is conduct our investigation in the House, not to be influenced by politics, to let the FBI have all the resources they need to chase...

CAVUTO: You got an investigation in the House. You got one in the Senate. You got some of your leaders, sir, talking about getting a special prosecutor going, others a commission. That's a lot of stuff going on.

SWALWELL: Yes, I think the House and Senate should have done a joint investigation, as happened after September 11, to avoid redundancies.

But an independent commission, I think, would be the best way to depoliticize this, declassify and debunk a lot of the myths that are out there.

CAVUTO: All right. Congressman Swalwell, very good seeing you again. Thank you for coming.

SWALWELL: My pleasure.

CAVUTO: All right.

END

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A record 330 million people visited a U.S. National Park in 2016, and while its great news that people want to explore the outdoors, it means that hiking trails and scenic drives are likely to reach capacity this year-- especially during the peak summer months.

If you're planning a trip to one of America's national parks, here are five tips to help you make the most of your visit and even enjoy some measure of solitude during your vacation.

1. Explore the Backcountry

One of the best ways to see a national park is via the backcountry, portions of parks outside the range of the main visitor center, but still offer hiking trails and unspoiled scenery.

Investing a little bit of time and sweat equity researching and exploring the little-known secret places of our National Parks pays huge dividends, says Janice Holly Booth, author of Only Pack What You Can Carry (National Geographic, 2011).

Fewer people means less noise, and when it's quiet, you're more likely to see wildlife, notice the subtle nuances of the landscape and hear all the sounds of nature around you.

Camping can be a great option, since it allows visitors to be in the park during the least busy hours of evening and early morning. You can also enjoy amazing sunrises and sunsets. But, camping in the parks is also on the rise and usually requires a permit, so youll need to plan far ahead, booking as soon as permits become available.

You can also choose to go glamping with a company like Under Canvas, which has options at Yellowstone, Zion, Moab (Arches and Canyonlands parks in Utah), Glacier and Grand Canyon National Parks.

2. Go Early and During the Week

To truly beat the crowds, its best to arrive literally at the crack of dawn. In most parks, arriving with the sun assures youll have at least a few hours to yourself before hiking trails and parking lots fill up.

Kyle Patterson, public information officer for Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the fourth most popular U.S. national park, recommends arriving before 9 a.m. but explains that sometimes even that is not early enough. The parking lots for some of the most popular hikes, such as Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge, can fill by 8:30 a.m. or even as early as 6 a.m.

In Utah's Zion National Park, the main parking lot tends to reach capacity by 10 a.m. After that time, park visitors will need to leave their car in the nearby town of Springdale and ride a shuttle into the park.

Patterson also says that weekdays tend to be the least busy times in the park, so planning trips to avoid weekends can help with crowd control.

3. Avoid the Busiest Trails and Park Entrances

Sometimes you can skip the majority of the crowds by entering through a less-busy side of the park-- not the entrance that houses the main visitor center. At Rocky Mountain National Park, more than 80 percent of park visitors arrive through the east entrances, according to Patterson.

Visiting the park from the west side and using the town of Grand Lake as your home base, versus the busier and more well-known Estes Park (where about 80 percent of visitors enter) on the east side, may save you some precious park time.

Many of the parks also have iconic hikes that everyone wants to cross off their bucket list. Examples include Angels Landing and The Narrows in Zion, Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Highline Loop in Glacier. Steer clear of these, and opt for backcountry hikes -- or even lesser known hikes accessible from the main entrance -- that offer the same scenery without constantly stopping to let someone pass.

4. Travel With a Tour Company

Traveling with a tour company is another way to see portions of the parks unknown to most of the public, as well as stay in the historic park lodges that are often booked years in advance.

Dan Austin of Austin Adventures, an adventure tour company that specializes in National Park trips, says they can also help visitors avoid the masses, because they know where the crowds arent, as well as the best times to be there. Plus, they throw in some fun surprises like fresh made ice cream and fruit parfaits served along the hiking trail.

5. Visit State Parks

The true secret to enjoying national park scenery with almost no crowds is to head to a state park near the national park. The state parks offer much of the same scenery but usually have far fewer visitors.

In Utah, for example, you can explore the states beautiful red rocks found at Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park at nearby state parks like Kodachrome Basin, which also has fantastic views of Bryce Canyon. Another undiscovered gem in Utah is Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, an area the size of Delaware that was the last portion of the lower 48 states to be mapped. Plan to navigate dirt roads but be rewarded with truly remote hiking trails deep in the wilderness with gorges, slot canyons and rivers galore -- all without ever passing another person.

Visit Utah's public relations manager Emily Moench says,"The spectacular scenery of Utah's Mighty 5 doesn't end at the national park boundaries, it extends to the surrounding areas like the state parks, which are particularly great way to experience red rock country without the crowds."
Amid renewed scrutiny of how airlines treat passengers, a mother of two from Missouri claims she was forced to urinate in a cup after a flight attendant reportedly refused to let her use the restroom during a United Airlines flight in April.

Nicole Harper, who says she suffers from an overactive bladder, was traveling from Houston back home to Kansas City, Mo. on April 10.

"I get out of my seat to go to the bathroom, the flight attendant gets on the intercom and says I need to return to my seat, Harper recalled to FOX 4.

Harper says she attempted to make her way to the restroom multiple times but was continuously told to stay seated.

UNITED PASSENGER CLAIMS TRIP WAS CANCELED AFTER FILMING FIGHT OVER LUGGAGE

"They very rudely [said] that I was not allowed to get out of my seat and at that point I said `well I`m either going to need to go to the bathroom or you`re going to have to give me a cup to pee in or something,'" she said.

Shockingly, Harper says, the attendant then handed her two cups. While she was still seated, Harper proceeded to relieve herself surrounded by other passengers.

"It`s so degrading because there are passengers, strangers, that I have to basically do this in front of," she said.

After going to the bathroom, Harper claims she was then taken back to the planes restroom to empty the cups and forced to hold onto them until she left the plane. The mother of two says that the crewmembers were unapologetic, extremely rude and proceeded to basically treat me as if I was a criminal for doing this.

United says that the plane had already started its final descent and, per FAA regulations, crewmembers had alread instructed all passengers to remain seated for the duration of the flight.

According to KSHB, Harper has since filed a complaint with both United Airlines and the Department of Transportation. The incident occurred just one day after a 69-year-old passenger was infamously dragged off a United flight for refusing to give up his seat to airline crewmembers on a full flight to Kentucky.

Harper hopes that sharing her story will bring more awareness to how airlines are really treating people.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

"The more that people speak out about situations that have happened and being mistreated that hopefully there will be a shift in a way that these companies do business," she said.

This isnt the first time an airline passenger claims to have been mistreated for needing to use the restroom. In April, a Milwaukee man was reportedly kicked off a Delta Air Lines flight after going to the restroom while the plane waited to takeoff on the runway.

United Airlines sent the following statement to FOX 4:

Customer safety is always our first priority. Initial reports from the Mesa Airlines flight attendants indicate that Ms. Harper attempted to visit the lavatory on final descent and was instructed to remain seated with the seat belt fastened per FAA regulations. The situation as described by Ms. Harper and our employees is upsetting for all involved. We have reached out to Ms. Harper and our flying partner Mesa Airlines to better understand what occurred.

A representative from United Airlines was not immediately available for comment.

More from FOX 4.
Fast-food gourmands rejoiced with Carter Wilkerson when he recently broke the Twitter retweet record and earned himself a year's worth of chicken nuggets from Wendy's.

Also excited, apparently, was United Airlines, which had been closely following Carter's story on its own since tweeting last month that if Carter got to 18 million retweets, it would fly him to any Wendy's in the world, as long as it was in a city it serviced.

Even though Carter didn't come near the 18 million mark (he's at 3.57 million), United decided to honor him anyway, as Wendy's had, and tweeted at him Wednesday to "decide where in the world you'd like to visit." But as Mashable reports, the airline's very public PR attempt backfired, in a very public way, mainly because Twitter has a long memory.

Hey @carterjwm, congrats on your world record! Its time to decide where in the world youd like to visit a @Wendys! DM to get the  rolling https://t.co/3prDeaQdbL  United (@united) May 10, 2017

It hadn't forgotten about United's other recent headlines, including a debacle involving leggings, a dead rabbit, David Dao being dragged off a plane, and, just this week, a woman who says United staff forced her to pee in a cup (United takes some issue with her remarks, per the Washington Post).

The tweets responding to United's gesture referenced those other incidents, with one warning Carter not to wear leggings on his flight, while another noted the offer was a "trap" to "reaccomodate" [sic] Carter (a reference to the airline's response to the Dao fiasco).

Two commenters even dragged another company with its own recent PR flub into the mix: "You should invite him and Dr. Dao together, to a @wendy's outing," said one, met by the response: "They can share a Pepsi together." (Delta has had its own problems.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: United Tries to Be Cool, Twitter Rolls Its Eyes
This one-of-a-kind piece of Disney memorabilia is nothing to Sneezy at!

The first-ever map of Disneyland could fetch up to $1 million when it hits the auction block next month.

The 3  foot by 5  foot tri-fold, hand drawn poster created by Walt Disney in a weekend in 1953, features the first iterations of attractions at the now-famous amusement park  some of which had their names changed, and others scrapped entirely.

For example, Frontierland and Tomorrowland, two of Disneys themed lands, were originally marked as Frontier Country and World of Tomorrow, respectively.

DISNEY BRINGING HUMAN-LIKE ROBOTS TO PARKS?

Meanwhile, something called Lilliputian Land never came to fruition. Other attractions were seen through from concept to reality.

Disney wanted his park to include a train station, old-fashioned Main Street square, princess castle, pirate ship and perhaps even a rocket  attractions that exist in the Anaheim, Ca., park today.

He and his brother/business partner Roy Disney used the drawing to obtain financing from investors to build the park. It fell into the hands of collector Ron Clark some 40 years ago through a former Disney worker whod been pals with Walt himself.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

It had this aura, Clark said. It just kind of puts you in awe that this is the piece that came out of Walt Disneys mind and this is what came about: this park, these parks worldwide, the passion people have for it today and the happiness of hundreds of millions who have graced these lands.

But now the avid Disney fan, who visits the California park at least three times a year, wants to pass on his prized possession to another diehard.

It was always my desire to somehow return it to Disney, he said. I wanted it to go home. For 40 years, that has been my wish.

This story originally appeared on NYPost.com.
A racist note found on the campus of St. Olaf College in northern Minnesota was "fabricated" and not a genuine threat to minority students, the school's president said Wednesday.

David R. Anderson said in an email to students that the notes were apparently meant "to draw attentions to concern about the campus climate."

"We learned from the author's confession that the note was fabricated," Anderson wrote.

Citing student privacy laws, his emails did not name the author who confessed or say whether the person is a student or otherwise affiliated with the private Lutheran college. The student body is 74 percent white and 2 percent black.

The April 29 incident prompted a rally that night and a bigger protest May 1 that led administrators to cancel classes for the day.

Anderson said the college continues to investigate other reports of racist messages since last fall.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Fox9.com.
A Connecticut woman who put college on hold decades ago is set to receive her degree Saturday, at age 84.

Charlotte Butler of Naugatuck, Conn., will graduate from Post University, in Waterbury, where she resumed her studies four years ago. She put her college education aside when she was younger to get married and have children, according to WTNH.com.

Butlers inspiration to go to college came to her as a thought in the middle of the night when she was 80, according to a press release from Post University.

A smarter America is a stronger America. And a stronger America uses brain power, said Butler.

Butler said her three sons were surprised when she told them that she was going to college. She said her sons helped her along the way and told her they are proud of her.

I want the best for them and I always encourage them to keep learning-even though theyre in their 60s now. Its never too late to learn, Butler said.

LOUSIANA VETERAN AND DAUGHTER TO GRADUATE FROM UNIVERSITY TOGETHER

The biggest challenge Butler faced during her education process was learning how to use a computer.

I had no knowledge of the computer. I went and bought a computer for seniors - its a touchscreen, which made things a little easier, but that didnt solve things, Butler said.

INDIANA TEEN TO GET COLLEGE DEGREE BEFORE SHE EVEN GRADUATES HIGH SCHOOL

Butler believes going back to school could help her avoid dementia, which runs in her family. She hopes her story will motivate other seniors.

Do something for you. Dont sit back in the easy chair and watch TV all day long. Senior citizens owe it to themselves, Butler said.
A standoff in Arkansas came to an end Thursday with the arrest of a suspect after a sheriff's deputy was shot dead during a traffic stop and two women were found dead outside a house.

"This has been a sad day for law enforcement across this state," Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler told reporters.

Sadler said James Bowden, 32, surrender to authorities around 2:40 p.m., a half hour after he allowed a female hostage to leave the home where he was held up for several hours.

Authorities are not yet able to identify the bodies of the two women found outside the home, according to Sadler.

The incident began early Thursday in the Dardanelle-Chickalah area of Yell County, located about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock.

The deputy killed in the shooting has been identified by Arkansas State Police as Lieutenant Kevin C. Mainhart, 46, of the Yell County Sheriffs Office.

Mainhart had served the citizens of Yell County as a law enforcement officer for five years and previously retired from the West Memphis Police Department following a career of more than 20 years, according to Arkansas State Police.

Officials said Mainhart made a traffic stop around 7:15 a.m. after identifying a vehicle believed to be associated with a disturbance call nearby. A short time later, police said a driver passing the scene notified local law enforcement that Mainhart had been shot.

TRENTON STANDOFF THAT HAS LEFT ONE DEAD ENTERS 2ND DAY

A vehicle carrying the Mainhart's body was escorted through Little Rock on Thursday.

What happened today once again highlights the dangers that are facing law enforcement officers across this country, Sadler told reporters at an earlier briefing. This deputy checked in for duty this morning not even realizing that this would be his last call."

The causes of death for the other two victims have not been released.

"Our hearts are saddened and we are in prayer for his family and officer who were his comrades that served and protect this county," Sadler added.

MASSACHUSETTS MAN ALLEGEDLY STOLE POLICE CRUISER AFTER FOOT CHASE

Arkansas State Police is assisting local law enforcement in the search. Authorities advised that people stay away from the area while the incident remains under invsetigation.

Anytime a member of law enforcement falls in the line of duty, our hearts are broken, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement. Today, the State of Arkansas mourns the loss of Yell County Sheriffs Deputy Lt. Kevin Mainhart. As an officer of the law, Lt. Mainhart began his day with one mission: to protect and serve the people of his community. While today will mark his end of watch, he never wavered in his steadfast commitment and responsibility to safeguard his neighbors from harm."

It was not immediately clear if the other two victims had any connection to the suspect. Police said they would release more details on Friday.

Read more from FOX 16.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Authorities say a 4-year-old boy has died after being shot in northwestern Indiana.

The Lake County coroner's office says in a statement that Garrion Glover of East Chicago was pronounced dead around 3 a.m. Thursday at a hospital.

Details of the circumstances of the shooting haven't been released and the death is under investigation.

The Associated Press left a message Thursday morning with the East Chicago Police Department seeking additional information.
The owner of a small country music station in rural Arizona, who caused a firestorm when he aired public service announcements advising listeners how to hide their child pornography, was forced to take it off air after threats were made against his station's advertisers.

The statements, which provoked widespread negative reaction, were broadcast for more than two years after hours on CAVE 97.7 FM in the town of Benson, which is about 46 miles southwest of Tucson. Among other things, the PSA told people how to disguise the illegal imagery.

Cave FM owner Paul Lotsof said in an interview with the Associated Press that he does not like child pornography but created the announcement because he thinks Arizona's 10-year minimum sentence for each image of child porn is too harsh and costly for taxpayers.

Nobody put me up to it, and nobody paid," he said. "My feeling is that these people don't deserve life in prison just because they have pictures of naked juveniles.

Lotsof adds that the recent public response to the PSA was 99.9 percent negative and that some of his stations advertisers were receiving threats.

Residents within range of the stations broadcast signal were irate over the PSA. A petition with nearly 1,000 signatures was posted online to shut down the station.

CAVE broadcasted a sickening message (apparently many times over more than one year) about a huge issue that plagues this country, child pornography. There is no excuse for this and they need to be shut down, reads a passage of the petition posted on Change.org.

We as a community may not be able to fix the world, but we can keep this garbage out of our community. We are mothers, fathers, children. We are families that do not have to put up with this garbage. Let's stand together and make sure this never happens again!!

FCC officials say that there is no regulation on the books that explicitly states what can or cannot be played over the airwaves when it comes to PSAs.

Lotsof has admitted in past interviews that the PSAs were part of his own agenda, according to News 4 Tucson, and expanded on his disagreement with Arizonas child pornography laws. In the Southwestern states law books, possessing child pornography is a felony that carries a prison sentence of up to 24 years per violation.

There's no picture in the world that's that dangerous, Lotsof said, adding theres nothing wrong with possessing such images.

"Pictures of whatever you want to call them. They're minors, they're pictures of minors and you go to prison for the rest of your life for possessing them, he said.

Lotsof also said that he was doing his community a service by broadcasting these unusual PSAs.

"The difference is: one case, you're molesting children and abusing them, causing children to do things that are not natural for children to do. And, the other case, they're just possessing pictures, he said. There's no connection between those two.

Arizona is known for having some of the strictest laws in the United States.

In 2003, a former Phoenix-area high school teacher was convicted of possessing 20 pornographic images of children and is currently serving a 200-year prison sentence.

Officials with the Benson police department told BBC News they are investigating the stations PSAs to see if they are in breach of any laws.

"We are now seeking legal advice on actions that can be taken for the content that has already been released and to ensure this kind of information is not released again," the police statement read.
A man wearing nothing from the waist down intentionally crashed his car into a closed Ohio convenience store to get beer, police said.

Rocky River police said 45-year-old Robert Mason was traveling at around 40 mph when he drove through the front wall of the store early Sunday, Fox 8 Cleveland reported. Once inside, police said, he told the store clerk he needed beer.

COPS: HOME DEPOT THEFT SUSPECT FLED ON HOOD OF GETAWAY CAR

The clerk, who suffered leg and chest injuries that werent considered critical, told police he had just closed for the night when the car hurtled into the store.

Mason, who police said was suffering from issues related to his service in the military, barricaded himself inside a beer cooler and told police to shoot him. He was eventually subdued with a Taser.

The chaotic scene was captured on a police officers body camera.

Caution: Graphic language

Mason is facing charges that include DUI and reckless operation.

The store clerk told police he was spared from more serious injuries because a deli counter was between him and the car.

Had the car been over a couple more feet, he was hurt, it could have been serious bodily injury, even possibly death, Rocky River Police Chief Kelly Stillman told Fox 8 Cleveland. I mean, thats a 4-, 5,000-pound automobile coming at 30, 40 miles an hour. He was lucky, very lucky.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Army Specialist Tue Minh Do Nguyen is among nearly a hundred immigrants celebrating their naturalization and graduation from Fort Jacksons Army Basic Combat Training.

Everything was exploding in me. I just wanted to scream out loud Dad, Mom I made it, Nguyen said excitedly.

Specialist (SPC) Nguyen grew up in Vietnam with the desire to travel the world. She told Fox News joining the military gives her the ability to travel, but more importantly to make her father proud.

Another part of the motivation is my Dad is a veteran, Nguyen said.

Nguyen went through 10 weeks of intense training. After graduation, she will be flown to Fort Eustis in Virginia to start Advanced Individual Training (A.I.T).

Specialist Sandip Paudel also grew up a military brat. He later decided he wanted to leave Nepal and follow in his fathers footsteps as someone that served in the armed forces.

OLDEST LIVING WWII COMBAT VETERAN TURNS 111

My dad was also in the army and it made me feel proud to march here with this uniform, Paudel said.

Paudel says he couldnt stop thinking about his father during a battalion march right before the naturalization ceremony.

He makes me feel proud, Paudel said.

More than 65,000 immigrants served in the armed services and more than 37,000 were naturalized according to data collected by the Department of Defense in 2008.

NJ BOY COLLECTS THOUSANDS OF COMICS FOR U.S. SOLDIERS

Generally, the armed forces require enlistees to be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents (green card holders) unless they go through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program (MAVNI).

In Nguyens case, she got her citizenship through MAVNI, which allows a non-citizen to get expedited citizenship by enlisting in the military.

During basic training the recruits go through a series of screening checks done by the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Justice, and Intelligence Community. They also have to fill out the proper paperwork to receive citizenship.

Once all the paperwork is finalized, a ceremony is held the day before graduation where the individuals are sworn in as American citizens. However, this process is not available at every military installation.

Since January, the MAVNI Pilot Program has paused any new enlistments after a new enhanced security screening criteria was implemented.
An Indianapolis man who justified his four-day killing spree with the horror movie "The Purge" was sentenced Thursday to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Johnathan Cruz, 20, was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole, with an additional 16 years in prison for armed robbery. He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder last month. Prosecutors dropped plans to seek the death penalty.

Cruz was charged with shooting and killing three men  Billy Boyd, Jay Higginbotham and Jose Alberto Ruiz  between May 12 and May 15, 2016. Prosecutors claimed he "killed for the sport" and the attacks were "absolutely random," Fox 59 Indianapolis reported.

DEAD PRIEST'S DNA COULD SOLVE COLD-CASE MURDER OF NUN

Witnesses said Cruz confessed he'd been "purging" by shooting and robbing people, according to detectives. He allegedly posted one message that said, "I purge every night now," and kept videos of shootings and gang activities on his phone.

He justified the murders by referring to the 2013 movie about a night in a year when people were allowed to commit violent crimes.

Click for more from Fox 59 Indianapolis.
Congressional Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on a bill to make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire its employees. It's part of an accountability effort touted by President Donald Trump.

The deal could smooth the way for final passage on an issue that had been largely stalled since the 2014 wait-time scandal at the Phoenix VA medical center. As many as 40 veterans died waiting months for appointments.

The measure spearheaded by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida softens portions of a bill that passed the House in March. Democrats had criticized that bill as unfairly harsh on workers.

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe, who sponsored the House measure, said he would support the Senate revisions.
A man has admitted bribing Philadelphia's indicted district attorney with gifts and cash.

Prosecutors say Mohammad N. Ali gave District Attorney Seth Williams a vacation to the Dominican Republic, a $3,000 sofa, expensive electronics and jewelry, a fancy dinner and thousands of dollars. They say in return Williams helped Ali get through airport security more quickly after foreign travel.

Authorities say Ali also wanted Williams' help with criminal charges against an associate.

The 40-year-old Ali is from Feasterville, just northeast of Philadelphia. He pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court. He faces up to five years in prison on the bribery count. He also admitted filing a false income tax return.

Williams is a two-term Democrat. He awaits trial on charges he took more than $100,000 in cash, trips and luxury gifts from several businessmen. He denies the charges.
A Plymouth man is facing serious charges after he allegedly stole a police cruiser following a pursuit and foot chase early Thursday morning.

The incident began around 1 a.m. when Hanson police said they observed a vehicle headed north on Route 58 at a high rate of speed. Police said the vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign, and when officers tried to stop it, the vehicle fled and shut its lights off.

HALF-NAKED OHIO DRIVER CRASHES CAR INTO STORE TO GET BEER, POLICE SAY

Officers said they pursued the vehicle to East Washington Street up to the area of the Hanover/Pembroke line, back to Hanson Center via Winter Street and then back on to Route 58 south.

At some point, police said the vehicle hit and then attempted to force a Hanson police cruiser off the road. The cruiser received damage and the officer was not injured, according to officials.

The vehicle eventually came to a stop on Route 58 in Halifax after officers used tire deflation devices in the area of Route 58 and Route 106.

The suspect, later identified as Daniel Eagan, 36, of Plymouth, then fled the scene into a wooded area.

COPS: HOME DEPOT THEFT SUSPECT FLED ON HOOD OF GETAWAY CAR

While officers were searching the area for the suspect, police said Eagan was somehow able to get into and then steal a police cruiser.

Officers from Hanson, Halifax and Pembroke began to chase and tried to once again stop Eagan as he fled in the cruiser on Route 58 south.

Read more at Fox 25 Boston.
At least 14 students and the driver were hurt after a school bus slammed through an interstate highway guardrail and ran into a ravine in the St. Louis area on Thursday.

The students were headed from St. Louis to a suburban grade school as part of a voluntary desegregation program.

The crash unfolded on I-44 in St. Louis County, briefly trapping the driver. Paramedics raced to get everyone on the bus to the hospital.

"Everybody is going to be okay," Highway Patrol Sgt. Al Nothum told Fox 2.

I-85 COLLAPSE: BRIDGE TO OPEN NEXT WEEK, GEORGIA GOVERNOR SAYS

One child ejected through the bus' emergency door during the crash had moderate injuries and others suffered bumps and scrapes, Nothum said.

A car and truck crashed ahead of the bus, highway patrol officers said, adding that the bus hit one of the vehicles before running off the interstate. It finally came to a stop about 15 feet down the embankment, investigators said.

WILDFIRE NEAR FLORIDA-GEORGIA LINE

The children, who ranged from kindergartners to 5th graders, were heading from St. Louis to Hanna Woods Elementary School in Manchester.

At least six ambulances rushed to the scene. The drivers of the white truck and red car involved in the initial crash weren't hurt, Fox 2 reported.

First responders initially estimated 12 children were on the bus.

Click for more from Fox 2.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The Mormon church, the biggest sponsor of Boy Scout troops in the United States, announced Thursday it is pulling as many as 185,000 older youths from the organization as part of an effort to start its own scouting-like program.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the move wasn't triggered by the Boy Scouts' decision in 2015 to allow gay troop leaders, since Mormon-sponsored troops have remained free to exclude such adults on religious grounds.

But at least one leading Mormon scholar said that the Boy Scouts and the church have been diverging on values in recent years and that the policy on gays was probably a contributing factor in the split.

Saying it wants a new, simplified program of its own that is more closely tailored to Mormon teenagers, the church announced that boys ages 14 to 18 will no longer participate in the Boy Scouts starting next year. The church said the decision will affect 185,000 teens; the Boy Scouts put the number at 130,000.

The loss is only a small portion of the 2.3 million youths in the Boy Scouts of America, but the organization has been grappling with declining membership for years and has enjoyed an unusually close bond with the Mormon church for more than a century because of their shared values. Joining the Boy Scouts is practically automatic among Mormon boys.

Boy Scouts of America spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos said the organization is saddened by the decision but understands the church's desire to customize a program.

About 280,000 Mormon boys ages 8 to 13 will remain in the Scouts while the church develops its program, the Mormons said. The Boy Scouts estimated their number at 330,000. The church did not say when the younger boys will be withdrawn from the Boy Scouts.

Bryan Burton, a 26-year-old Mormon in Salt Lake City, said the decision makes sense. He likes the idea that the church is moving toward its own scouting program.

"We're trying to be an inclusive church worldwide," Burton said. "If our Boy Scouts is only for boys in America, what are we doing for the rest of the world?"

Like other conservative faiths, the Mormon church opposes gay marriage and teaches that being in a homosexual relationship is a sin. The church initially said it was "deeply troubled" by the Boy Scouts' policy change on gays but stayed with the organization after receiving assurances it could appoint troop leaders according to its own religious and moral values.

In Thursday's announcement, the church said that it learned recently that the Boy Scouts are considering admitting girls, but that its decision was made independently of that.

Matthew Bowman, a Mormon scholar and history professor at Henderson State University, said the schism reflects the two organizations' diverging values, with gays and girls among the issues on which they are moving apart.

"The church is wedded very much to traditional gender roles and they see the Boy Scouts of America increasingly move away from that," Bowman said. "That means that they have come to see it as less of a hospitable place."

Thursday's announcement represents a first step toward something that has been in the works for years: a Mormon-run scouting-type program that could be used in congregations around the world. The church has 15.8 million members, nearly 6 in 10 of them outside the U.S. and Canada. The programs the church uses with the Boy Scouts of America are only available in the U.S. and Canada.

"The long game here is the church looking forward to a time when Americans are even more of a minority in the church than they are now," Bowman said.

Mormon teenagers who want to continue working toward the Eagle Scout rank will be able to do that on their own while also participating in the new program, said church spokesman Eric Hawkins.

The Boy Scout movement has been entrenched in Mormon culture for as long as anyone can remember.

In 2013, the church put on an extravagant theatrical production inside its 21,000-seat auditorium in Salt Lake City to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the faith's alliance with the Boy Scouts.

A Boy Scout training complex in West Virginia is named after Mormon church President Thomas S. Monson, a longtime member of the Boy Scouts' executive board and a major supporter. Charles Dahlquist II, a Mormon, holds the top volunteer position with the Boy Scouts.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is an especially proud badge of honor within Mormon culture. Many Utah lawmakers list it on their resumes. Social media was buzzing with jokes Thursday about Mormon women adjusting their hopes of finding a husband who was an Eagle Scout.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the Mormon church says 185,000 teenagers will no longer participate in the Boy Scouts, not 180,000.
Older teenagers will be pulled from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the Mormon church announced Thursday.

The announcement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints means an estimated 130,000-180,000 teenagers ages 14-18 will no longer participate in Boy Scouts starting next year. The Mormon church is the largest sponsor of Boy Scouts troops in the United States.

The Boy Scouts' "Varsity" and "Venturing" programs for older teens had become difficult to implement within the religion, Mormon officials said in a news release.

"Instead, Young Men activities will focus on spiritual, social, physical and intellectual outlined by the Church," officials said. "These activities are designed to be fun and meaningful and provide opportunities for personal growth and development."

The change applies just to the United States and Canada, where the "Varsity" and "Venturing" programs are implemented, according to Mormon officials. Some 280,000 younger boys ages 8-13 will be kept Scouts while the church continues to develop a global scouting-type program.

The loss is only a fraction of the 2.3 million youth in Boy Scouts, which has had a close bond with the Utah-based religion for more than 100 years.

BOY SCOUTS WILL ALLOW TRANSGENDER CHILDREN INTO PROGRAMS

The faith said the decision wasn't triggered by Boy Scouts policy change in 2015 to allow gay troop leaders since Mormon troops were allowed to run their groups to adhere to church teachings.

The Mormon church opposes gay marriage and teaches its members that being in a homosexual relationship is a sin.

The church has been working on an overarching global program for years.

WOMAN 'PRIEST' ORDAINED IN NORTH CAROLINA BY CONTROVERSIAL REBEL GROUP

"No, this is not the global program, but an important step that addresses an immediate need," the church said on its website. "Varsity and Venturing programs have been difficult to run effectively on a local level. The Church continues to work toward developing a program for young men and young women globally."

The church did not provide a timeline for rollout of the program that will be for all age groups.

Mormons who want to work toward an Eagle Scout award can continue to do so.

"In every discussion with the Boy Scouts of America, they have expressed a shared desire to do what is best for young men," Mormon officials said. "We are grateful for their continued support with this new change and look forward to continuing our strong relationship in the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs."

BSA spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos said the organization is saddened about the decision but understands the need for the religion to customize its programming.

"Although thousands of youth and leaders who participate in Venturing crews nationwide embrace and support the program, we recognize that not all programs are a perfect fit for all partners," BSA said in a statement.

"We anticipate that many youth from the LDS Church will continue to participate in Scouting beyond the age of 14 as young men work to earn the Eagle Scout rank."

"The BSA values our ongoing partnership with the LDS Church in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts programming and look forward to our continued efforts to extend the benefits of Scouting to as many youth and families as possible," the statement continued.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Some of Americas F/A-18 pilots say they are being asked to take greater risks than ever before because aging equipment on the fighter jets, particularly ones that help them breathe, is failing.

It appears the life support systems on all versions of the F/A-18  one of the most important combat aircraft in service  are increasingly failing to supply pilots with safe, breathable air.



When there is a breakdown of life support systems, like the so-called On-board Oxygen Generating System (OBOGS), or cabin pressurization systems, pilots often experience what the Navy and Marine Corps call physiological episodes.

F-18 crashes attempting to land aboard USS Carl Vinson, pilot ejected safely

That means pilots experience hypoxia, an oxygen deficiency, and decompression sickness. They can experience dizziness, tingling in the fingers or toes and confusion  some have even lost consciousness.

And that puts everyone on the fighter jet in serious danger. The Navy told Fox News this week that hypoxia, or a loss of oxygen, was a possible contributing factor in at least three fatal F/A-18 crashes.

During a congressional hearing in March, Rear Adm. DeWolfe Miller, director of the Air Warfare Division for the U.S. Navy, confirmed that from 2015 to 2016 some models of the F/A-18 experienced as much as a 90 percent increase in potentially deadly physiological events.

Three active-duty F/A-18 pilots, who spoke to Fox News under the condition that their name not be used, said they are putting their lives in danger just by getting behind the controls of an aging fighter jet.

When I go flying in combat, whats more likely to kill me is not getting shot down by enemy fire, said one of the F/A-18 pilots. Its a failure in my most basic life support system.

He added that his feelings were shared by many F/A-18 pilots.

Trump asks Boeing to price-out 'comparable' F-18 Super Hornet to Lockheed's F-35

If you ask 10 aircrew: What are you most scared of? he said, "nine out of 10 would probably say, 'OBOGS failure or decompression.'

Two of these three pilots said they have experienced hypoxia-like episodes in the cockpit. One saw an indication of pressurization problems and pulled the green apple, a green-colored ring that has about 10 minutes of emergency oxygen stored in the ejection seat.

The other pilot had pressurization problems but was already hypoxic by the time he realized it. He said he basically felt like he was intoxicated.

I remember having trouble thinking. I obviously had trouble performing procedures, and I definitely did not have awareness of how much trouble we were in, he said.

In fact, he said, his mental state was so impaired by hypoxia that he didnt pull the green apple because he became was more concerned about burdening the maintenance crew with the task of refilling the oxygen  than his own life.

He landed safely, but that was just luck, he said.

The military is aware of the problem. According to a memo Fox News obtained from the House Armed Service Committee, the Navy has noticed a rise in hypoxia among pilots operating F/A-18s. In fact, since 2009, theres been a steady climb in such episodes.

To deal with the situation, the Navy has installed decompression chambers on two of its deployed aircraft carriersthe USS Carl Vinson and the USS George H. W. Bush. The USS Ronald Reagan will deploy soon with one onboard. But this only helps pilots who make it back to the ship.

The real issue is how to prevent the oxygen problems before they cause trouble. As a Marine pilot noted, his job is an inherently risky business.

But, he added, the Navy and Marine Corps should give you a better than average chance.

This issue isnt limited to frontline combat aircraft. As first reported by Fox Business Network and Fox News, in April the T-45 aircraft used to train pilots was grounded after instructor pilots refused to fly because of an alarming occurrence of physiological episodes. According to one T-45 pilot, the decision to strike was made in part because they felt the risk was not worth the gain when they were only training and not flying vital combat missions.

But that same aviator notes F/A-18 pilots need to stay combat ready and, as a result, need to keep flying despite the added risk.

Following this pilot protest, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Bill Moran, ordered a 30-day Review of the episodes involving the T-45 and F/A-18, including how the issues were addressed. Moran promised to provide a full and open accounting to our aviation community, their families, and the public.

Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, Commander in the Naval Air Forces, said the issue was his No. 1 safety priority.

We will not be limited by money or manpower as we diligently work toward solutions," he said.

One of the Navy pilots who spoke to Fox News acknowledges the Navy is doing the best it could to address the problem. One thing the pilots and their leadership agree on, he said, is that its a complex problem.

A Marine Corps Aviation public affairs officer told Fox News that Marine Corps Aviation has seen fewer incidents than Navy pilots, but said its leaders are taking this matter very seriously. Physiological events remain a top safety concern until we fully understand all causal factors.

Boeing, the aircrafts manufacturer, said it was looking into the matter.

We are working closely with the Navy to help identify root causes of physiological episodes and their solutions, the company told Fox News. Crew safety is a top priority for us, and well continue to be a proactive partner on the way forward.

The Navy has also been training pilots in simulators with a device that induces hypoxia so it can recognize the symptoms and learn how to deal with them. And the Navy is also providing pilots with portable hypobaric recording watches that may alert them if cabin pressurization fails, as well as devices that measure and record cabin pressure changes for post-flight review. The Navy has also increased the frequency of aircraft inspections.

But the precise cause of the growing incidents of hypoxia and other physiological episodes is still not known. On top of that, there is nothing currently in a jet that will detect if pilots arent getting the right amount of oxygen and then automatically switch over to an emergency supply.

So, for now, the issue is identified but unresolved.

The heat needs to come, and I think it needs to come at the highest levels, a Marine pilot told Fox News. The guys at the lowest levels are working their butts off, and we dont see any change.
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A man has surrendered after a 2-day standoff in Trenton. FOX 29's Jeff Cole caught the moment live on the air Thursday shortly after 5 p.m.

Officers have been pleaded with 35-year-old Tyleeb Reese to go downstairs and leave the Trenton home where he was holed up since Wednesday morning. A robot even delivered a phone to him.

There has also been shooting as recently as just before midnight.

ARKANSAS POLICE SHOOTING: SUSPECT IN CUSTODY AFTER 3 DEAD, INCLUDING OFFICER

Keeley reports Reese has been shot in his leg and says hes bleeding badly. Authorities say they have a medic ready to treat him outside, but will not go inside.

Police say Reese started shooting when the U.S. Marshals Service Joint Regional Fugitive Task Force tried to serve a warrant.

MASSACHUSETTS MANHUNT: 'EXTREMELY DANGEROUS' MURDER SUSPECT AT LARGE, COPS SAY

A bystander who lived a block away on Lamberton Street, 56-year-old Robert Powell Jr., was shot and killed outside the home on Wednesday morning.

Three Mercer County sheriff's officers suffered minor injuries and were treated at a hospital, and then released.

Read more from FOX 29.
United States military veterans should be treated with more respect, a North Carolina Navy vet told Fox News after he discovered a hateful note placed on his car that was parked in a veteran-designated spot on Saturday.

Rod Boyle, 56, said he parked his car in a "reserved for veterans" spot at a Harris Teeter location in Wake Forest at about 5:45 p.m. to quickly grab a few items.

"I was kind of in a hurry so I used the veteran parking spot because I am a veteran. I served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years," Boyle told Fox News on Thursday.

As he was pulling away from the parking lot, he discovered the note flapping under his windshield wiper.

"You are a [expletive] moron! I hope karma visits you often! (this is parking for our veterans)," the note said.

Boyle said he was initially angry that someone would assume he wasn't a veteran and place such a scathing note "written using colorful metaphors."

"Why would somebody do this? This is just such a hateful note," Boyle said. "Why is someone assuming based on my car that I didn't serve in the military?"

Boyle served in the Navy from 1981 to 2001. He told Fox News he joined the military because he felt "it was the right thing to do" to protect his country, his family and to honor his grandfather, who was his only family member to serve in the military at the time.

"I am a veteran. I served in the United States military. What business is it for a customer to do that?"

VETERANS BLAST VA HOSPITAL IN DC TOWN HALL MEETING

Boyle didn't want the incident to go unnoticed, so he drove back to the store and called for the store manager.

"I told him, 'First of all, before you say anything, I want you to know that there's nothing you can do for me,' but I wanted him to know the nature of the situation," Boyle said.

The retired Navy veteran said he hopes his story will make others think twice before jumping to conclusions, but to also remind people to show more appreciation for veterans.

"I take it to heart that growing up as a child I saw how Americans treated Vietnam veterans  it wasn't great," Boyle recalled. "Today, that viewpoint really hasn't changed."

He added, "Somebody should be rewarding veterans rather than handing out a hateful message."

But Boyle said he doesn't hold it against the individual for speaking out because that person had the right to do so. "However, where is the line of standards between rights and moral/ethic conduct?" he wondered.

Boyle said he still doesn't know who left the note on his car, but joked that he wanted to thank that person for bringing awareness to a situation that often goes unnoticed.

WWII VETERAN GOES SKYDIVING FOR 96TH BIRTHDAY

Harris Teeter has offered veteran-designated parking spaces since October 2014. Boyle said the company reached out to him to thank him for his service and apologize for the incident. He will be meeting with Harris Teeter representatives on Thursday.

"It is extremely unfortunate anyone would receive a note like this, and we are certainly disappointed it happened while this veteran was shopping in our store," a company spokeswoman said in a statement to Fox News.

Boyle said he doesn't blame the supermarket chain at all, but thanked it for offering veteran-designated parking spaces.
An Ohio man was charged on Thursday with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, according to the Department of Justice.

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Laith Waleed Alebbini, 26, of Dayton and charged him with one count of trying to join the Islamic State.

According to the DOJ, attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Alebbini, a legal permanent resident of the United States and citizen of Jordan, was arrested at the Cincinnati/Kentucky International Airport on April 26 after authorities say he was trying to fly to Syria to fight with ISIS.

Court records say Alebbini was arrested in January for unlawful entry at the Turkish embassy in Washington, but those charges were later dropped.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman commended the investigation of the case led by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, as well as others prosecuting the case like first Assistant Vipal J. Patel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace and Trial Attorney Justin Sher of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Maybe it was a sign?

Authorities arrested a man who was allegedly drunk when he smashed into an Oregon alcohol addiction clinic.

Christian James Powell, of Sutherlin, was driving westbound on April 30 when his truck veered into the eastbound lanes and slammed into The Crossroads, a drug and alcohol rehab center, according to The News-Review. The 23-year-old hit a sign and three parked vehicles before crashing into the facility.

Powell reportedly ran off, but police used a Taser to subdue him. He and a passenger in the truck were treated and taken to a hospital.

Two dogs in the bed of the truck were hurt. Animal control took them for medical care.

PENNSYLVANIA WOMAN ENDS UP IN WRONG HOUSE, BED AFTER NIGHT OUT DRINKING, POLICE SAY

Powell was arrested for a number of charges, including suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving.

He's been placed in a county jail in lieu of $125,000 bail.
A 6-month-old from Hawaii was mauled to death Monday by her family's pit bull.

Layla Tsuda, who said she was with the girl, told KHON-TV that the baby was playing in a baby walker inside their home in northwest Las Vegas valley when she was attacked.

Tsuda reportedly went to the bathroom and when she came back she found the dog mauling the girl. Tsuda was able to stop the attack, but the baby already suffered major injuries, according to KTNV.

The child was rushed to the hospital where she died.

It's an absolute true tragedy," Larry Hadfield, a Las Vegas police officer, said. "Regardless of how trusting you are of animals you have to make sure you are supervising. You have a family that's going to be grieving for today and the rest of their lives."

TEXAS RANGER RESCUES PIT BULL

The family said they were left blindsided by the attack. The pit bull was part of the family was for the last nine years and had not bit anyone prior to the attack.

I have no words to explain my pain, Tsuda said.

PIT BULLS ATTACK MAN TRYING TO RESCUE JACK RUSSELL TERRIER

The family said that the dog will be put down. Police said no charges will be filed.

The childs organs were donated and the family created a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses.
As many as 15 great white sharks crept in along the coastline of Southern California, prompting emergency officials to warn paddleboarders: "Exit the water in a calm manner."

Aerial video showed sharks swimming near the coastline between Capistrano Beach and San Onofre State Beachon Wednesday afternoon. The Orange County Sheriff's Department issued a two-day warning for surfers and swimmers.



"You are paddleboarding next to approximately 15 great white sharks," a law enforcement officer said. "Please be advised that the area is heavily populated at the moment with large, great white sharks, some of which are in the surfline."

Beachgoers were urged to stay out of the water after the spotting. On Thursday, they could enter the water "at their own risk." The advisory is set to remain in effect through Friday and beaches will remain open, OC Lifeguards wrote on Facebook.

The swarm of sharks were south of San Onofre State Beach, where a shark bit a woman on April 29, according to The Orange County Register. A shark was also spotted on the beach's surf break "displaying aggressive behavior" on Wednesday, according to the Marine Corps Community Services at Camp Pendleton.

SHARK MAULS TRAINED SHARK-SPOTTER BODYBOARDING OFF FRENCH ISLAND

OC Lifeguards Chief Jason Young told the Orange County Register that there have been no reports of beachgoers coming into direct contact with a shark.

"We havent had any reports of anyone being bumped or charged, just observations of them either swimming or breaching," Young said.

VIDEO: SHARKS DYING BY THE THOUSANDS IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Experts believe sharks are attracted to areas along the Southern California coast because they are "hot spots."
A Pennsylvania woman who doused another woman in gasoline during an argument about her smoking while she fueled up is headed to prison.

Police say Meshoppen resident Kimberly Brinton was pumping gas with a lit cigarette at Mehoopany Dandy Mart when Tami Donovan told her to put it out. The women argued before Donovan threw water at Brinton's cigarette.

Police say as Donovan tried to pull away in her car Brinton threatened to light her on fire and pumped gas on her. Donovan then got out of her car and slipped and broke her arm.

WNEP-TV reports Brinton pleaded guilty Tuesday to risking a catastrophe and drug charges stemming from another episode. Brinton has been sentenced to two to six years in prison.

___

Information from: WNEP-TV, http://www.wnep.com
Almost two weeks ago, Afghan national police were forced to drop their ammunition and flee from the Zibak district of Badakhshan province in the far northeastern corner of Afghanistan as insurgency numbers swelled.

Despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, surviving soldiers established a new front line in the Ishkashim district of the province. With ceaseless heavy fighting over the past 13 days, they came dangerously close to losing the strategic peninsula of land between the Tajikistan and Pakistan borders, which connects Afghanistan to its vital trading partner, China.

Commanding Officer Col. Mohammad Nader, of the 5th Battalion, 7th Brigade of the Afghan Border Police, told Fox News this week that the strength of the insurgency  in an area that just a few years ago was considered a beacon of stability  forced his troops to push back, and again many had to drop their ammunition in a devastating retreat.

AFGHAN FORCES LOSING TO TALIBAN IN FIGHT FOR KUNDUZ

But on Thursday, Afghan officials claimed a much-needed victory. Not only have their troops gained critical ground closer to Zibak, but Ishkashim has been reclaimed from the clutches of the radical Islamist Taliban fighters.

So what made the difference between losing and regaining?

"We reorganized troops and brought in 600 elite Special Forces," Nader explained. "Most importantly, many of these soldiers were from the region so they really knew the terrain."

The support from civilians over the past few days also proved vital, Nader said, with fed-up villagers uniting to provide food and crucial information regarding terrorist routes and locations.

Government forces captured more than 20 mountain positions in the village of Sohkhdaka on Wednesday, pausing only in the midst of heavy fog. In the process, they killed more than 130 insurgents and destroyed three of the tanks they had previously captured.

MOAB DAMAGE IN AFGHANISTAN EXTREME, WIDESPREAD

"This is also a moral victory," Nader said. "This time, the terrorists lost their will to fight."

Afghan government forces were also able to seize some of their weapons back from the enemy  82mm recoilless rifles, mortar rounds, DShK dishka machine guns and ammunition. Nader noted that his battalion did receive some NATO air support but emphasized the need for more strikes if they are to hold onto the retaken land and continue repelling the Taliban from the area.

Yet perhaps even more fundamental to their continued success is the need to stop the flow of reinforcement terrorists coming in directly from the Chitral area in northern Pakistan.

"It's encouraging that the Afghans have the ability to mobilize quickly to respond to threats. Their efforts to reinforce Ishkashim and subsequent move to retake Zibak were critical as Afghanistan could have lost its connection to the entire Badakhshan peninsula," Lt. Col. (Ret) Jim Reese, a Delta Force veteran and founder of TigerSwan told Fox News. "Now they must coordinate with the increasing U.S. presence to secure the border and disrupt the flow of terrorists on that key roadway into Afghanistan."

INSIDE AFGHANISTAN: ARE MORE US TROOPS WHAT AFGHANS WANT?

As it stands, the Taliban and other armed militias control Zibak, Warduj, Yamgan districts as well as 10 other districts in Badakhshan. The province's governor, Ahmad Faisal Begzad, has vowed that the operation will continue until the terrorists have been completely annihilated from the area.

On a larger scale, the Taliban occupies at least 40 percent of Afghanistan, which has prompted the United States to consider sending up to 5,000 more troops to take up advisory and training roles in support of the Afghan government.

Testifying before Congress in February, Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the leading American commander in Afghanistan, also raised the Pakistan issue.

"It is very difficult to succeed on the battlefield, he said, when your enemy enjoys external support and safe haven.
A Venezuelan attorney says at least 65 members of the country's military have been detained, including officers and the captain of an important border region unit.

Alonso Medina, with the lawyers' cooperative Foro Penal, said Thursday that some of the officers have been charged with betraying the motherland and instigating rebellion while others are still awaiting a court hearing.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles contends the nation's military is "completely divided" and "profoundly unhappy" with the government.

The detentions come after more than a month of political unrest in which hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets demanding elections. The protests frequently end with national guardsmen and police launching tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.

Government leaders deny there is any fissure among the ranks.
An Austrian court has found a former fighter for a Syrian rebel group guilty of 20 counts of murder and sentenced him to life in prison.

The court reached the verdict Wednesday after hearing testimony that the man shot and killed at least 20 wounded and defenseless Syrian government soldiers while a member of the Free Syrian Army.

He was charged after a fellow migrant sharing a shelter with the accused reported the man's story to police last year.

State broadcaster ORF says he denies committing the killings. But law enforcement officials say he confessed to them during questioning.

The defendant isn't being named in keeping with Austrian confidentiality rules.
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The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator has reassured Ireland that the bloc will fight to ensure there is no return to a hard border with Northern Ireland when the U.K. leaves the bloc.

Ireland is the only EU country that shares a land border with Britain, and could face economic turmoil if Brexit brings tariffs and other trade barriers between the U.K. and the bloc.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier told Irish lawmakers on Thursday that "I will work with you to avoid a hard border."

Addressing both houses of the Irish parliament in Dublin, Barnier acknowledged that Ireland is in a unique position over Brexit and said "Ireland's interest will be the Union's interest."

He said nothing in the exit negotiations should put Northern Ireland's peace settlement at risk.
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Britain is hosting a high-level conference to address the deepening humanitarian crisis and security situation in Somalia.

Prime Minster Theresa May and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are expected to speak Thursday along with Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

Charities working to stave off famine in Somalia are urging that the African country's debts be cancelled.

Save the Children chief Keven Watkins said the African country "continues to drift toward an avoidable famine." He called for "decisive action" including increased help from the World Bank.

Guterres said in a statement that a famine has thus far been averted but the threat is deepening.

He said that "we fear the worst."

Hundreds of thousands of Somalis, the vast majority women and children, have been displaced by a drought since November.
The European Union's statistical agency says that more than 63,000 children traveling without adult company applied for asylum last year, more than half of them Afghan and Syrian nationals.

Eurostat said Thursday that 63,300 unaccompanied minors applied for international protection in the 28 EU nations plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

It said the number was a third down from last year but still five times higher than the annual average.

More than two thirds of the minors were males and aged 16 to 17. Almost 6,300 were under 14. Almost 60 percent of the applicants sought asylum in Germany.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is rejecting calls for the reintroduction of military conscription in response to an investigation of an alleged far-right plot by two soldiers to assassinate prominent political figures.

Merkel's government ended conscription in 2011. A prominent lawmaker in the chancellor's conservative party, Patrick Sensburg, has argued that conscription should be introduced because citizens in uniform are "a reliable early-warning system to recognize extremism of the left and right."

Merkel said Thursday Germany made a fundamental decision on conscription, "and we should conduct necessary reforms in continuity with this decision." She added that "what the Bundeswehr needs is predictability."

Prosecutors believe the soldiers planned to blame their attack on refugees. One of the soldiers allegedly passed himself off as a Syrian refugee while also serving with the Bundeswehr.
U.S. Central Command announced Thursday that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab force, recaptured the key Syrian city of Tabqah, the Tabqah Dam and a nearby airfield from the Islamic State, continuing to weaken ISISs control of territory and people.

The successful recapture of Tabqah, located roughly 30 miles west of ISIS stronghold Raqqa, denies the terrorists a key coordination hub that had been used by the group since 2013 to plan attacks on the West. Tabqah served as a base for planning such attacks after ISIS lost other territories in northern Syria.

According to the statement from U.S. Central Command, 70 ISIS terrorists surrendered to the U.S.-led international coalition Wednesday, and left heavy weapons behind them.

Coalition spokesman Col. John Dorrian said the recapture of Tabqah is yet another victory for the Kurdish-led forces, the U.S.s most effective partner on the ground fighting ISIS in Syria.

The SDF's success against ISIS demonstrates the power of working by, with and through local partner forces fighting ISIS, among their own people, in their own territory," Dorrian said in the U.S. Central Command statement. "The SDF, fighting to liberate their own people and lands, have freed more than 8,000 square kilometers of Syria from ISIS since November."

MATTIS MEETS WITH TURKISH PM AMID FEUD OVER ARMING SYRIAN KURDS

The battle for the recapture of Tabqah began nearly two months ago when American helicopters inserted hundreds of Syrian fighters into the city, along with a handful of American special operations forces.

Dorrian had previously said once Tabqah was secured, the Syrian Kurdish-led forces will continue operations to isolate and seize Raqqa.

OHIO MAN INDICTED FOR TRYING TO JOIN ISIS

The capture of Tabqah came a day after the Trump administration announced it will supply the SDF with heavier weapons ahead of a push on Raqqa. Talal Sillo, a commander with SDF, said no weapons have been delivered yet but noted the U.S.-led coalition said a delivery was expected from weapons already in Syria with the international coalition.

According to Dorrian, 3,000 to 4,000 ISIS terrorists remain in Raqqa, and 30,000 residents have been displaced since the battle to recapture Tabqah began in March. Dorrian said the priority now is to protect those who remain.

Fox News Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Kosovo's president has met with political leaders to discuss a date of an election next month.

Hashim Thaci's meeting on Thursday follows the fall of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's government in a no-confidence vote, about a year before an election was due.

Thaci dissolved the parliament and the voting is expected in a two-week spell between 30 to 45 days.

The government collapse suggested a breakdown between the two governing partners following months of political deadlock over a border demarcation deal with neighboring Montenegro that critics claim would mean a loss of territory. The Cabinet and local and international experts say the deal would not change the country's land area.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It is recognized by 114 countries, but not by Serbia.
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The Latest on Syria (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

The U.N.'s Syria envoy says a plan crafted by world powers to establish safe zones in the war-battered country should only be seen as an "interim" arrangement and not a precursor to partition.

Staffan de Mistura said Thursday that the proposal agreed upon by Russia, Iran and Turkey last week could lead to increased access by aid groups. But he said the safe zones should not be used as launch pads for new military operations.

De Mistura spoke ahead of a planned resumption of U.N.-mediated talks between the Syrian government and opposition next week in Geneva.

___

1 p.m.

Syrian Kurdish-led forces say they are carrying out mine-clearing operations at the country's largest dam and the nearby town of Tabqa a day after seizing them from Islamic State militants.

The media office of the Syrian Democratic Forces said Thursday a special operation was underway to de-mine the dam and the surrounding area.

Concerns were raised earlier this year that the dam could be damaged in the fighting or degraded by lack of maintenance, or that the extremists might sabotage it to flood the surrounding areas.

The capture of Tabqa seven weeks after the launch of the SDF offensive, with help from the U.S.-led coalition, sets the stage for an advance on Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the extremists' self-styled caliphate, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the east.
The Mexican government is speaking out against a newly released study labeling the country the second deadliest on Earth.

The report released earlier this week by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said that drug-related violence in Mexico has caused the death toll to surpass both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nearly 23,000 people were killed in Mexico in 2016 as the battles among drug cartels raged on. Around 17,000 were killed in Afghanistan and 16,000 in Iraq during the same time frame.

Syria  which has seen around 290,000 people killed since the start of a civil war there in 2011  was ranked first with some 50,000 deaths during 2016.

MEXICO: VIDEO OF SOLDIERS KILLING DETAINED MAN SPARKS UPROAR

The Mexican government said the IISS report "uses figures whose origin is unknown, draws estimates based on uncertain methodologies and applies legal terms in a wrong way," so its conclusions have no merit in the case of Mexico.

The report is treating nations with completely different situations, which are neither comparable nor measurable against each other, in a similar fashion, Mexicos Foreign and Interior Ministries said in a joint statement.

The statement went on to claim that all murders in the country are not linked to turf wars between drug cartels.

The studys assumption that all the killings that took place in Mexico were related to the fight against criminal organizations is far-fetched," they said.

They added the report is inaccurate because the data provided by the Mexican Statistics Office include cases of fighting deaths, white-arms deaths, deaths associated with the commission of common-law crimes.

MEXICO NAMES NEW PROSECUTOR FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS

Actually, the Mexican homicide rate is low when compared to other countries in the area like Brazil and Venezuela, they said.

The presence of Mexican criminal groups and the use of armed forces against them doesnt constitute a need to discuss a non-international armed conflict in the country, they said.

A link to an article discussing the IISS report was retweeted by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

A top Mexican government official later told the Wall Street Journal that the report had caused anger in the Mexican government and that its findings provided false arguments for Trump to use against the country.
It has been one month since the U.S. military dropped its largest non-nuclear combat weapon -- the MOAB -- to eradicate ISIS from its base in Afghanistan's Nanganhar province. And still, the ghostly destruction zone is a vision that haunts.

FoxNews.com has obtained exclusive images illuminating the bombs impact taken this week, showing the gouged and singed earth and even the limb of a dead fighter that had yet to be removed or buried.

While the use of the MOAB, which stands for Massive Ordnance Air Blast, has been controversial, with analysts claiming it had little effect other than decimating Afghanistan's territory, others on the ground are still insistent that it worked extremely well, not only to kill more than 90 ISIS fighters, but to eliminate supply routes and squash morale within the terrorist organization.

"This was very effective -- many of ISIS' training camps are gone, bunkers destroyed," Gen. Qadamshah Shahim, chief of the general staff of the Afghan Ministry of Defense, who just stepped down from his role following the Mazar-i-Sharif attack, told Fox News.

But according to one high-ranking Afghan defense official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the topic, the decision to use the MOAB was not taken hastily. Rather, it was a carefully calculated move.

The official said that a request to use such a weapon -- one designed to penetrate the earth's surface and thus destroy underground tunnels and dwellings -- was brought to the attention of Afghan officials several months ago, and wasn't given the green light until all other options were explored and potential collateral damage and effectiveness studied.

"This was the only solution to bring stability to the area and avoid more bloodshed by this brutal terrorist group," said Commander Ahmad Muslem Hayat, a former military attache for Afghanistan's British Embassy and current security adviser for the U.S.-based firm, TigerSwan. "This wasn't about sending quick messages to show strength to other threatening countries like North Korea. This was about saving innocent Afghan lives from ISIS torture."

Capt. William Salvin, a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, defended the use of the MOAB, saying it was used for a specific tactical purpose on the battlefield.

Nonetheless, the area remains a no-go zone for all.

It is not yet clear whether U.S. forces -- which are currently revising the battle strategy toward the increasingly unstable Afghanistan -- intend to deploy such a large-scale weapon anytime in the near future. But there is a growing sentiment among the Afghan people for such attention to be devoted to defeating Taliban hubs, too, which they view as a much greater threat to their safety than the country's fast weakening ISIS branch.

"Different flags, different names," noted Major Abadullah Karimi, spokesperson for the 202nd Shamshad Police Corps, the headquarters for operations in eastern Afghanistan. "But the same games."
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A Nigerian minister says the government is negotiating "seriously" for the release of the more than 110 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls still held by Boko Haram extremists.

Minister of Women's Affairs and Social Development Aisha Alhassan told reporters on Thursday that "we will not relent until all are back."

She says Nigeria's government has no regrets about exchanging Boko Haram detainees for the 82 young women released over the weekend. The young women are in government care in the capital, Abuja.

Alhassan says they are undergoing medical screening for a couple of weeks and that some have needed surgery.

Families in Chibok are meeting with community leaders to identify photos of the newly freed schoolgirls to determine if they will travel to the capital to meet them.
North Korea is pursuing the extradition of anyone who participated in what the country has claimed to be a CIA-supported plot to kill leader Kim Jong Un.

The plan, which the secretive regime claimed it thwarted, was to kill the dictator with a biochemical poison, a North Korean foreign ministry official said.

Pyongyang provided no concrete evidence of the alleged plot, described as "vicious" according to a BBC translation.

But Han Song Ryol, the vice foreign minister of the country, still called a meeting of foreign diplomats in Pyongyang on Thursday to discuss the claim that the CIA and South Korea teamed up to convince a North Korean man to join the assassination plot, which they said was set for April.

CIA TO FOCUS ON NORTH KOREAN THREAT WITH NEW MISSION CENTER

The country has identified the primary suspect as a man named Kim. They alleged that a South Korean agent named Jo Ki Chol and a secret agent named Xu Guanghai met with Kim on North Koreas border with China to provide him with communications equipment and cash. The regime also claimed a guy surnamed Han showed Kim how to enlist accomplices.

"These terrorists plotted and planned in detail for the use of biochemical substances including radioactive and poisonous substances as the means of assassination," the vice foreign minister said. "These biochemical substances were to be provided with the assistance of the CIA ... while the South Korean Intelligence Service was going to provide necessary support and funding for this attempt at assassination on our supreme leader."

THE NORTH KOREAN THREAT IS NOT THEORETICAL, IT IS REALITY

Now, Han said, North Korea wants anyone involved to be handed over for punishment.

"According to our law, the Central Public Prosecutor's Office of the DPRK will use all available methods to start to work to demand the handover of the criminals involved, so as to punish the organizers, conspirators and followers of this terrible state-sponsored terrorism," Han said in the extradition statement.

Han last briefed foreign diplomats last December in Pyongyang to address North Koreas response to a new round of UN sanctions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pyongyang will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jung Un last month with a biochemical poison, a top North Korean foreign ministry official said Thursday.

Han Song Ryol, the vice foreign minister, called a meeting of foreign diplomats in Pyongyang on Thursday to outline the North's allegation that the CIA and South Korea's intelligence agency bribed and coerced a North Korean man into joining in the assassination plot, which the North's Ministry of State Security has suggested was thwarted last month.

The North's state media have been running stories about the plot since last week. The security ministry has vowed to "ferret out" anyone involved in the alleged plot, which it called "state-sponsored terrorism."

Han took that a step further on Thursday with the extradition statement, though the North has yet to name any foreign or North Korean suspects who are abroad.

"According to our law, the Central Public Prosecutor's Office of the DPRK will use all available methods to start to work to demand the handover of the criminals involved, so as to punish the organizers, conspirators and followers of this terrible state-sponsored terrorism," he said.

The only person it has named -- and only by the ubiquitous surname "Kim" -- is a North Korean resident of Pyongyang who it says worked for a time in the Russian Far East. State media said he was involved in the timber industry in Khabarovsk, which is one of the primary places North Koreans can go overseas to work.

He was allegedly contacted there by foreign agents who bribed, brainwashed and cajoled him into participating in the elaborate plot.

"These terrorists plotted and planned in detail for the use of biochemical substances including radioactive and poisonous substances as the means of assassination," Han said, reading from a prepared statement. "These biochemical substances were to be provided with the assistance of the CIA ... while the South Korean Intelligence Service was going to provide necessary support and funding for this attempt at assassination on our supreme leader."

In statements for foreign distribution, North Korea often refers to its leader Kim Jong Un without naming him, instead using the phrase "supreme leadership" or "supreme dignity".

The last time that Han appeared to brief foreign diplomats in Pyongyang was last December, to present North Korea's response to the latest round of U.N. sanctions after the September 2016 nuclear test.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to negotiate a Middle East settlement.

Speaking Thursday after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's Black Sea city of Sochi, Abbas said the Palestinians were ready to cooperate with Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal.

Abbas, who met Trump in Washington last week, has expressed willingness to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the auspices of the American president. It's not clear if such a meeting is in the works for Trump's visit to the Holy Land later this month.

American-brokered peace talks between the two sides failed amid mutual recriminations in April 2014.

Putin also said Thursday Russia will continue efforts to help restore direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
A retired Idaho school teacher claims a hospital in a Mexican resort is holding her hostage until she pays a multi-thousand dollar bill.

Vikki Moormann, a former English teacher at Coeur dAlene High School in Idaho, was vacationing in the Mexican coastal city of Nuevo Vallarta with her sister-in-law in late April when she began vomiting uncontrollably. After checking into the Hospital San Javier Riviera Nayarit, she was told by doctors that she had a urinary tract infection and was on the brink of pneumonia  a diagnosis that seemed strange to Moormann who said that aside from her stomach issues she felt fine.

I wonder if Im being extorted, Moormann told Fox News in a phone call from her hospital room. Im good enough to get out of the hospital, but they wont let me go until I pay the bill.

When questioned about Moormanns status, a representative from the hospital told Fox News that the patients family is working with the hospital to pay the bill and that Moormann is not well enough to leave the hospital until, at the very least, Saturday when her flight home is scheduled to depart.

The hospital representative, who refused to identify herself by name, said that the retired educator was content and blamed the media and Moormanns son for the reports that she was being held against her will.

We cant physically hold her in the hospital," the representative said "No one is going to hold her against her will.

The hospital bill, which she said started at $15,000, has risen to $40,000 and kept the 67-year-old retiree trapped in the beachside hospital as her family frantically struggles to gather the funds. Moormann said that despite the efforts of her son Ryen, a cook back in Idaho who has set-up a GoFundMe page, the family doesnt have enough to pay the ever-increasing bill.

Its up to $40,000, a clearly exasperated Moormann said. I dont have that kind of money.

Moormann said that she has paid $1,000 of the bill and her son has contributed $5,000. She has also said she would pay a monthly fee to the hospital if released.

Speaking to a local Idaho news outlet earlier this week, Ryen Moormann's son added that even if the family does scrounge up enough money to pay the hospital bill, they wont have any funds left over to fly her back home if she misses her pre-booked flight. The family has also reached out to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Consular Agency in Puerto Vallarta, but said that so far no resolution has been reached.

Despite the hospital representatives assurances, Moormann and her son both continue to say that she is being kept in the hospital until her bill is paid in full. Ryen Moormann recently posted a Facebook video of a conversation he had with another hospital representative in which he is told that Vikki will be held in the hospital until the family pays up.

During the Fox News conversation with Moormann, the phone call cut out numerous times and when the reporter called her room back, the phone was answered by a hospital representative who said Moormann was busy.

The trip to Mexico was supposed to be a way for the former schoolteacher to relax as the one-year anniversary of her husbands death approaches.

Im just so frustrated, Moormann said. I feel like Im a hostage here.

Since ending her teaching career, Moormann has become a published author, penning a series of murder-mysteries set in Coeur dAlene along with fellow retired educators Yvonne Deitz and Susan Schreiber.
South Korea's new president has told his Chinese counterpart that he plans to send a special delegation to Beijing for talks on North Korea and a contentious U.S. missile-defense shield.

President Moon Jae-in's office says in a statement he made the remarks during a phone conversation Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The 40-minute talks were arrearage as Xi called Moon to congratulate him on his election victory this week.

The statement says Xi relayed China's opposition to the missile-defense system being installed in South Korea that it says threatens its own security.

It quotes Moon as saying he's aware of Chinese worries about the system and saying he hopes the two countries would have more understanding on each other's positions on the system.
Spain's National Court recommends former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato and 31 others should stand trial for fraud and falsifying financial statements in relation to the 2011 flotation of Bankia savings bank, which was later bailed out.

The case comes on top of another in which Rato and 64 others were sentenced for misusing Bankia's corporate credit card.

Bankia initially reported a 2011 profit of 309 million euros ($336 million) but months later showed a 3 billion-euro loss. It was nationalized a year later after a 22-billion-euro rescue.

In his conclusion Thursday, Judge Fernando Andreu cleared Spain's market regulator and the Bank of Spain of responsibility in the case.

Rato, a former Spanish economy minister, was Bankia chairman between 2010 and 2012 and International Monetary Fund chief from 2004 to 2007.
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Spanish lawmakers have voted in favor of moving the remains of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco from the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum in central Spain, a measure that has long been rejected by the conservative governing Popular Party.

The 198-1 vote Thursday with 140 abstentions puts no obligation on the government. But it has reopened debate relating to one of Spain's most painful episodes, the 1936-39 Civil War and its aftermath.

The mausoleum, located close to Madrid, is seen by many as a relic of Spain's dictatorial past.

The lawmakers also called for funds to remove remaining dictatorship symbols and to set up a commission to investigate the estimated 115,000 people still missing since the conflict, a recommendation backed by the United Nations.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to protecting Turkey at a meeting with the Turkish prime minister in London.

It's the first meeting of the officials since the Pentagon announced the U.S. would arm Syrian Kurds in the fight to oust Islamic State militants from the group's stronghold in Raqqa.

A Pentagon spokesperson says both leaders affirmed their support for peace and stability in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey is deeply opposed to the arms agreement and has called for its reversal.

Turkey believes the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, known as the YPG, are terrorists. But the U.S. is convinced they are the most effective local fighting force against IS.

Turkey's prime minister said Wednesday the U.S. can't use one terrorist group to fight another.
Two days after the Pentagon said it would supply arms to Syrian Kurds, a group that NATO-ally Turkey considers terrorists, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yldrm on the sidelines of a conference in London, a defense department spokesperson said in a statement.

The Thursday meeting comes hours after U.S.-backed Syrian fighters captured a strategic ISIS-held city on the outskirts of Raqqa.

Both American leaders affirmed their support for peace and stability in Iraq and Syria, said Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White. Mattis also reiterated U.S. commitment to protecting NATO-ally Turkey.

TENSIONS RISE AFTER TURKISH ATTACK ON SYRIAN KURDS

It was the first face-to-face meeting between top U.S. and Turkish officials since the Pentagon announcement.

Just a few weeks ago, Turkish jets carried out airstrikes against the U.S.-backed Kurds in Iraq and Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit the White House next week and has said he will raise the issue of U.S. support to the Syrian Kurds.

On Thursday, the U.S. Central Command announced U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab force, recaptured the strategic Tabqa Dam and its neighboring city, which is located roughly 30 miles west of the ISISI stronghold of Raqqa.

The U.S. military supported the operation with Apache helicopter gunships, airstrikes from jet aircraft and artillery fire from a nearby U.S. Marine Corps battery.

TURKEY THREATENS FURTHER STRIKES ON US-ALLIED SYRIAN KURDS

About 70 ISIS fighters surrendered to the U.S.-backed force, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

The battle for the city of Tabqah and nearby dam began nearly two months ago, when American helicopters inserted hundreds of Syrian fighters along with a handful of American special operations forces.

The hard-fought battle denies ISIS a key coordination hub that its foreign terrorist fighters used since 2013 to plan local operations and external attacks against the West, the statement said.

The decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters came after Raqqa was successfully isolated, one senior U.S. defense official told Fox News. The next phase of the battle will be an assault on Raqqa itself in a battle that is expected to last for months.

There are roughly 3,000 to 4,000 ISIS fighters remaining in their so-called capital, according to Col. John Dorrian, a Baghdad-based U.S. military spokesman.
The Venezuelan government is accusing the opposition of breaking international treaties on biological and chemical weapons by throwing feces during the increasingly violent street protests across the country.

Many demonstrators have started carrying so-called "Poopootov cocktails"  feces stuffed into small glass bottles  they throw when National Guard troops block their path with tear gas and water.

During an interview Wednesday night on state television, Courts Inspector General Marielys Valdez called the new bombs biological weapons.

"It is a biological weapon ... The use of biochemical weapons is a crime, it is completely typified, and it carries high penalties," she said.

"The use of these weapons, including feces, has consequences because they can affect the waters and sectors of an area, she added. It affects not only the person targeted, but over time it can spread and cause disease."

TRUMP COULD SAVE VENEZUELA. HERE'S HOW

Extraordinary scenes of flying feces were seen again Wednesday on the main highway through Caracas, as thousands of opposition supporters poured onto the streets decrying Venezuela's economic crisis and demanding elections.

"There's nothing explosive here. It's our way of saying, 'Get lost Maduro, you're useless!'" said one young protester, who asked not to be named, between tossing bottles of feces.

"These kids live in a dictatorship, they have no other option but to protest however they see fit," said Maria Montilla, 49, behind lines of youths with masks, slingshots and makeshift wooden shields.

Dozens of people were injured throughout the day and 27-year-old Miguel Castillo, a popular student activist, was killed in unclear circumstances.

Authorities also announced that Anderson Dugarte, 32, died from a gunshot wound he suffered Monday at a protest in Merida.

VENEZUELA INCREASINGLY ISOLATED AS IT ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL FROM OAS

At least 39 people have died in the unrest since early April, including protesters, government sympathizers, bystanders and security forces. Hundreds have been hurt and arrested.

President Nicolas Maduro says foes are seeking a coup with U.S. encouragement.

The opposition, which enjoys majority support after years in the shadow of the ruling Socialist Party, says authorities are denying a solution to Venezuela's crisis by thwarting a referendum, delaying local elections and refusing to bring forward the 2018 presidential vote.

Maduro is seeking to create a new super body called a "constituent assembly," with authority to rewrite the constitution and shake up public powers. Foes dismiss it as an attempt to keep the socialists in power by establishing a biased new assembly.

"They closed all the democratic doors, we warned how dangerous that would be for our country," said opposition leader Henrique Capriles, joining protesters on the highway.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Sotheby's International Realty Brand Expands Luxury Presence into Austria

May 11, 2017 // Franchising.com // MADISON, N.J., USA, and VIENNA, AUSTRIA - Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC today announced it has signed a 25-year franchise agreement with Laguna F&Z Immobilien GmbH. to further expand the Sothebys International Realty brand in Europe with the opening of Austria Sothebys International Realty.

Austria Sothebys International Realty, led by owner Wilhelm Zirngast and Chief Executive Officer Georges Luks, will serve the luxury residential real estate market throughout the country from the flagship office located in Vienna. The firm has future plans for additional offices in the cities of Graz and Kitzbuhel.

Austria is an attractive market for luxury homebuyers in Central Europe, said Philip White, president and chief executive officer of Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC. For those who appreciate architecture, the capital city of Vienna is graced with an inspiring baroque style, while the landscape throughout the rest of the country varies from elegant city living, to country estates and vineyards, to mountain ski chalets, offering something for everyone. I am proud to welcome Austria Sothebys International Realty to our global network.

We have an exceptional team of sales professionals who are dedicated to delivering the best service to our clients, said Luks. Our approach is built on respect, proven marketing methods and a client-based approach. We are delighted to affiliate with the Sotheby's International Realty brand in Austria and we endeavor to surpass even the most exacting demands by providing added value and service in a friendly, transparent, informative, proactive and accommodating manner.

The Sothebys International Realty network currently has more than 20,000 affiliated independent sales associates located in approximately 880 offices in 69 countries and territories worldwide. In 2016, the brand achieved a record global sales volume of $95 billion USD. Austria Sothebys International Realty listings will be marketed on the sothebysrealty.com global website. In addition to the referral opportunities and widened exposure generated from this source, the firms brokers and clients will benefit from an association with the Sothebys auction house and worldwide Sothebys International Realty marketing programs. Each office is independently owned and operated.

About Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC

Founded in 1976 to provide independent brokerages with a powerful marketing and referral program for luxury listings, the Sothebys International Realty network was designed to connect the finest independent real estate companies to the most prestigious clientele in the world. Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services. In February 2004, Realogy entered into a long-term strategic alliance with Sothebys, the operator of the auction house. The agreement provided for the licensing of the Sothebys International Realty name and the development of a full franchise system. Affiliations in the system are granted only to brokerages and individuals meeting strict qualifications. Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC supports its affiliates with a host of operational, marketing, recruiting, educational and business development resources. Franchise affiliates also benefit from an association with the venerable Sothebys auction house, established in 1744. For more information, visit www.sothebysrealty.com.

Contacts:

David Russell

Director, International Marketing and Public Relations

Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC

175 Park Avenue

Madison, NJ 07940

+44 208 123 1959

David.Russell@sothebysrealty.com

sothebysrealty.com

George Luks

Chief Executive Office

Austria Sothebys International Realty

Parkring 4 Bel Etage 1010

Vienna, Austria

+43 13431000

georges.luks@austriasothebysrealty.com

SOURCE Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC

###

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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (PG) 3 STARS Theres more than enough magic here to recommend this enchanting return to the story of Belle and her Beast. Rated PG for some action violence, peril and frightening images. 129 min. [MC, RF]

BORN IN CHINA (G) 2.75 STARS This Disneynature film focuses on three animal families in the wilds of China, and it has all the amazing footage you expect. Rated G. 79 min. [PV]

BOSS BABY (PG) 2.5 STARS Though this manages to deliver a nice message about an older brother eventually welcoming a new baby to the family, its an odd sort of cartoon. Rated PG for some mild rude humor. 97 min. [MC, PV, RF]

THE CIRCLE (PG-13) 2 STARS This movie about the danger of social media firms abusing peoples private information fails badly, despite the efforts of Emma Watson. Rated PG-13 for a sexual situation, brief strong language and some thematic elements including drug use. 115 min. [RF]

THE DINNER (R) (NR) Two brothers meet up at a restaurant to discuss what to do about a horrific crime their sons committed. With Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan. Rated R for disturbing violent content, and language throughout. 120 min. [RF]

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (PG-13) 2.75 STARS This mindless tale is more fun than the past couple of Furious outings. The plot has the crews leader betraying them for an evil hacker. Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of violence and destruction, suggestive content, and language. 136 min. [MC, PV, RF]

GIFTED (PG-13) 3 STARS Chris Evans proves that he can handle roles more subtle than Captain America, but its a sweet 7-year-old who makes this movie a real treat. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some suggestive material. 101 min. [PV, RF]

GOING IN STYLE (PG-13) 2.75 STARS Theres a surprising sweetness in this film about three elderly gentlemen who rob a bank. Rated PG-13 for drug content, language and some suggestive material. 96 min. [MC]

HOW TO BE A LATIN LOVER (PG-13) 2.25 STARS One part farce about an over-the-hill gigolo and one part cautionary tale about the importance of family, this uneven comedy scrapes by on the charm of its cast. Rated PG-13 for crude humor, sexual references and gestures, and for brief nudity. 115 min. [RF]

KONG: SKULL ISLAND (PG-13) 2.5 STARS This latest version of the all-powerful Kong is so cool that youll forgive a plot that steals from other movies. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for brief strong language. 120 minutes. [RF]

THE LOST CITY OF Z (PG-13) 2.5 STARS This historical tale suffers from trying to do too much, with multiple trips into the Amazon and World War 1 with British explorer Percy Fawcett. Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, brief strong language and some nudity. 141 min. [RF]

SLEIGHT (R) 2.25 STARS This story about a hustler and street magician caught in a world of vicious drug dealers works well about half the time. Rated R for language throughout, drug content and some violence. 89 min. [PV]

SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE (PG) 2 STARS The young will enjoy this new adventure with Smurfette and her friends, but its clear this animated franchise is on the decline. Rated PG for some mild action and rude humor. 90 min. [MC, PV]

UNFORGETTABLE (R) 1.5 STARS Youve seen this ex-wife goes killer crazy a jillion times, though it must be said that Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson are perfectly cast. Rated R for sexual content, violence, some language, and brief partial nudity. 100 min. [RF]

THE ZOOKEEPERS WIFE (PG-13) 3.5 STARS With Jessica Chastain in the lead role, this is a compelling tale that mixes love, fear, war and pain as a Polish couple hide and move Jews in what was a thriving zoo. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, disturbing images, violence, brief sexuality, nudity and smoking. 124 min. [RF]
A man who was wanted on a failure to appear charge in Spotsylvania County was arrested Tuesday following a hit-and-run accident in southern Stafford County, police said.

Stafford Sheriffs spokeswoman M.C. Morris Moncure said a driver called police about 7:35 p.m. and reported a white van being driven erratically westbound on State Route 3.

The witness saw the van run off the road, jump the median and hit and uproot a guardrail, among other things. The vehicle finally stopped at the Burger King on Route 3.

Deputies D.G. French and J.T. Forman responded and found the van with its front bumper completely missing. The windshield was damaged and had blood and hair fragments embedded in the glass. Four people were near the vehicle, including a man sitting in the vehicle who appeared to be injured.

The injured man was identified as Ted Edward Veverka, 29, of Spotsylvania. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, hit and run, driving without a license, no seatbelt and other traffic violations. He was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

Tara Lynn Drehs, who lives with Veverka, was charged with obstructing justice and public intoxication. She was also placed in the regional jail.

According to Moncure, the woman asked to use the bathroom while deputies were investigating the incident and was escorted inside the restaurant. A deputy who was waiting in the hallway reported hearing the woman on her cell phone telling someone to get up here and tell the cops you were driving so Teddy doesnt get locked up.

Court records show that Veverka was wanted for failing to show up in Spotsylvania General District Court for a hearing on a charge of driving on a suspended license.
A man accused of holding a Stafford County man hostage in the victims home for five days and forcing him to make multiple ATM withdrawals was convicted of four charges this week.

Jamhal Scott Blanks, 29, of Stafford entered Alford pleas Tuesday to charges of abduction with the intent to extort money, armed burglary, robbery and unlawful wounding. A number of extortion charges were dropped.

Blanks will be facing the possibility of more than three life sentences when he is sentenced Aug. 17 in Stafford Circuit Court.

According to the evidence, Blanks and 19-year-old Brianna Archie of Woodbridge were arrested Sept. 29 after Joseph ONeill told a patron at the BB&T at 760 Warrenton Road that he was being robbed.

The witness got the tag number of the vehicle ONeill left in and that led deputies to the victims home on Cynthias Place. Blanks and Archie were arrested at the home, and ONeill was taken for medical treatment.

Archie is facing similar charges and currently has a two-day jury trial set for June 13 and 14.

At a preliminary hearing, ONeill testified that his assailants showed up uninvited on Sept. 24 and forced their way into his home. He said he was knocked to the floor and Blanks was standing over him with a knife.

Over the next five days, ONeill said, Blanks forced him to make multiple trips to ATMs and various stores. About $3,600 of his money was spent on such things as clothes, food and drugs.

ONeill said he was physically abused during the ordeal, even though he did everything he was told to do. He said he was whipped with belts and power cords, punched and thrown against a cabinet.

Blanks exploded at the end of the preliminary hearing, using a homosexual slur at ONeill and claiming he was lying because he was no longer receiving sexual favors from Blanks. He also offered to plead guilty to everything if the prosecution would drop the charges against Archie.

ONeill admitted that he and Blanks had several prior sexual encounters after Blanks responded to an advertisement on Craigslist. But ONeill said there was no sex during those five days and that neither Blanks nor Archie were welcomed guests.

At the time of his arrest, court records show, Blanks had been out of prison for about two years for a robbery that took place in North Carolina.
Paige McKinsey stood on the steps of George Washington Hall at the University of Mary Washington in March 2015 during a End Campus Rape march and addressed the crowd.

You can keep threatening me, you can keep threatening Feminists Unitedbut I am not going to stop! Feminists United is not going to stop!

And the group hasnt stopped.

Five former University of Mary Washington students, along with the campus feminist club and its national affiliate have filed a federal lawsuit against the school alleging its administrators, including former president Rick Hurley, fostered a violent and sexually hostile environment.

The lawsuit, filed May 4 in federal court, alleges that beginning in 2014, students Paige McKinsey, Julia Michels, Kelli Musick, Jordan Williams and Alex Lehman were subjected to sexual harassment and violent threats through social media platform Yik Yak after being outspoken about issues of sexual violence and a misogynistic chant performed by members of the UMW rugby team.

The same group of women filed a gender discrimination complaint with the U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights that has been under investigation since October 2015, claiming that university officials did not protect the members of Feminists United from anonymous attacks on Yik Yak.

Plaintiff Kelli Musick said she is no longer confident that the OCR can provide justice under the leadership of Betsy DeVos and that the next step needed to be taken ... to see change come to Mary Washington. Thats what we all wanted when this started.

She said the process has been tedious and and that they never anticipated an outcome taking this long.

Attorney Joseph Abboud with the law firm of Katz, Marshall and Banks, which represents the plaintiffs, also said they have notified OCR that they are no longer seeking relief through the Department of Education.

The complaint, now in federal court, rests under the auspices of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as Title IX.

We want to make clear that universities are places where students should have access to the benefits of education regardless of sex or advocacy for equality, Abboud said.

According to the complaint, the harassment began after a campus forum on Greek Life, during which members of the club spoke out about the increase in incidents of sexual assaults involving fraternities.

After that, messages began populating Yik Yak, saying these feminists need to calm the hell down, these feminists need to chill their [breasts] and other insults.

The plaintiffs say they informed the school about the harassment and were met with deliberate indifference.

Following that incident, UMW student Zakaria Kronemer heard a chant at a party attended by members of the schools rugby club with explicit lyrics demeaning to women.

He recorded the chant and shared it with the schools administration.

The complaint alleges he was threatened, as were members of the feminist group who wrote opinions in the school newspaper about it.

Even though sanctions were brought against the team, threats then became more intense and the university did not respond, the complaint alleges.

Anonymous posters on social media then said, Gonna tie these feminists to the radiator, other threats and specific insults toward the plaintiffs calling them a plethora of derogatory names.

The complaint also names UMW student Grace Mann, who was murdered in April 2015 by her roommate, Steven Vander Briel. Mann was a member of the Feminists United Club.

Shortly after [a Day of Silence to raise awareness about bullying of sexual minorities], Ms. Mann returned to her home, where she was murdered by ... Briel, a former member of the Universitys rugby team.

The plaintiffs then emailed the university, asking what will it take for the administration to take its students seriously.

Briel was convicted of murdering Mann, and his attorneys claim he snapped during a schizophrenia-induced delusion.

The complaint says harassment escalated again after Hurley wrote a hostile letter to Feminist Majority Foundation president Eleanor Smeal in 2015.

The social media posts continued through the summer of 2015.

The complaint says: Due to this sexually hostile environment, Plaintiffs suffered emotional and psychological harm that, in some cases, required professional treatment. By choosing to permit the harassment to go unaddressed and unpunished, and, thereafter, choosing to allow the escalated attacks to proceed without consequence, defendant UMW became liable for the acts of retaliation.

In a response to the suit, UMW spokeswoman Anna Billingsley said the federal lawsuit makes allegations that are similar to those made in 2015, which are still being investigated by OCR.

No new allegations are included in the suit, and there have been no factual developments related to the earlier claims, she said.

She also noted that UMW has fully cooperated with the OCR investigation.

She said UMW has adopted a number of initiatives including hiring a Title IX investigator; creating a sexual assault task force; requiring Title IX and sexual violence training for all faculty, staff, and students; offering bystander intervention training for all students; and completing a campus climate survey.
ACCORDING TO a new Associated Press report, 4,549 sexual assaults were reported in Virginias elementary and secondary schools during the four school years between 2011 and 2014. It was the second most reported by any state during that four-year period.

Florida reported 165. Iowa didnt report any.

Whats going on here? Is there really that much sexual violence going on in Virginia schools compared with schools in other states?

Good question. The upshot, as AP sees it, is that school district and state reporting practices vary so widely, with some states collecting data meticulously while others gather no information at all, that its next to impossible to get an accurate picture. Its not just comparing apples and oranges, its comparing apples, in many cases, with a complete absence of fruit.

It may seem unfair to tag Virginia with all those reported incidents because it is diligent in its record-keeping and upfront in its record-sharing. The reality is that Virginia is leading by example. California was tops in the country with 4,630 incidents reported. After Virginia, the number drops to 900 in New Jersey.

Unlike the tracking and reporting of sexual assault on the nations college campuses, there is no requirement for states to maintain records of such incidents in elementary and secondary schools. The AP refers to a case in Indiana, one of 18 states that does not collect any data on student sexual assaults. There, the case of a rape in a high school bathroom would not have been identified as an in-school incident had the details of the case not played out in court with a guilty plea by the boy.

Information coming out of states that have no reporting policy would be nonexistent if not for here-and-there reporting by districts that believe its important to bring in-school incidents to light. They can turn to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, a database of participating states crime reports collected by the FBI.

Those states that do file data have vastly different reporting standards, AP found, and categorize offenses in ways that blur the particular circumstances and make reaching conclusions difficult. At least one state reports forced kissing.

What makes this issue even more complex is that schools are being urged these days to deal administratively with as many behavioral problems as possible, and limit the infamous school-to-prison pipeline. But sexual assault cannot be dealt with like a playground fight or backtalk to a teacher. It is a crime.

AP begins its report with the story of a junior high school student in Maine who starting at age 12 complained to teachers and administrators of being taunted and bullied. There were physical attacks that eventually escalated into rape, three times. That part of the story he couldnt bring himself to tell until a year later.

A lawsuit brought in his case cites his school for failing to protect him by taking no action despite his continued reports of bullying.

Under pressure from superiors to keep information about incidents contained, schools may not even suspend an offending student, let alone report him to police. Certainly, that would help explain why data from some school districts and states is so inconsistent or lacking.

After all, if reporting is voluntary, why collect data in the first place? Well, might it be worthwhile to bring attention to the problem and maybe prevent another young student from becoming the victim of a life-changing crime?

In Virginia, school districts are required by the state Department of Education to report all incidents of sexual assault by students, regardless of whether they resulted in discipline. That helps explain Virginias high figures, but it begs the question: How can an incident that merits reporting not merit some form of discipline?

Virginia officials reported four specific forms of sex assault: rape/attempted rape, sexual battery, aggravated sexual battery and offensive sexual touching.

The categories are straightforward, which should translate to a manageable collection of data. Other states should follow Virginias lead and cooperate in order to create a national database of comparable information.

In its report, AP quoted Charol Shakeshaft, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who specializes in school sexual misconduct: Schools are required to keep students safe. It is part of their mission. It is part of their legal responsibility. It isnt happening. Why dont we know more about it, and why isnt it being stopped? We have to agree.
Medicaid policy, not need, drives eligibility

Having worked with the Virginia Medicaid program for 29 years, I read with sympathy the article about Mike Witt [ Good dude, paralysis and a sea of red tape, May 1].

How very tragic to be so disabled so suddenly. It sounds as though Witt is blessed with many friends who have come through for him. I hope that soon he will be able to wend his way through the paper and online processes.

Perhaps I am being oversensitive, but the local agency is not the bad guy in preventing this gentleman from receiving the assistance to which he may be entitled. No one wants to see this man do without.

The agency determines eligibility based upon the rules (some are antediluvian) dictated by Medicaid policy, not by an applicants apparent entitlement or need for assistance. These same rules mandate equitability for all applicants, ignoring exceptions for previous lifestyles, the legitimacy of the need or whom the applicant might know.

Share your concerns with Richmond and Washington, the sources of the convoluted applications processes and the funding for assistance.

Mary Raye Cox Falmouth
Chen said that their parents, for whom the endowment is named (Chen is their fathers last name and Hu, their mothers) instilled in them the value of education; independence in thinking and decision making; the true value of money and its impermanence; love and dedication to family; and the importance of sharing ones fortune with those who are less fortunate.

The money Yeuliang left is not huge, Chen said, but will be enough to send two young researchers a year to scientific meetings so that they can present their results and they can learn.

A dream dashed

Learning was a way of life for Yeuliang, according to Chen, whose team studies the molecular epidemiology of tobacco- and hormone-related cancers and gene signatures linked to head and neck cancers. Chen is also an affiliate professor of otolaryngology and epidemiology at the University of Washington and a graduate school faculty member for the UWs School of Public Health.

He was very bright and graduated with top honors in economics from the best university in Taiwan, she said. He really wanted a Nobel Prize.

The youngest of three children, Yeuliang emigrated to the U.S. in the early '80s, first attending Rice University before transferring to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, to study with top economists. He entered a highly competitive Ph.D. program, teaching classes and studying into the wee hours of the morning.

His secret to staying up: chain smoking.

At the time, nobody knew that smoking was a risk factor for heart attacks, said Chen. When I got a call from one of his friends [in February 1983] that Yeuliang was in the hospital and had had a heart attack, I said, What are you talking about?

Chen flew to Providence to be with her brother, but Yeuliangs health struggles were just beginning. On the night before he was to be released from the hospital, he suffered a massive stroke while taking a shower. Incapacitated and unable to call for help, he wasnt found for 45 minutes.

When Chen saw him next, her brilliant little brother had gone through a profound change. The stroke left Yeuliang partially paralyzed and wiped out his short-term memory.

He couldnt recognize his name in Chinese, he couldnt speak. It was terrible, she said. He lost all of his Cantonese, his first language. The Mandarin was still there.

There was no interpreter at the hospital so Chen stayed on for several months to help, translating and teaching her brother how to speak and write again. She also made arrangements for her mother to travel from Taiwan to help with Yeuliangs care.

She did not speak the language but came all by herself, said Chen. I was just amazed at the amount of love a mother has for her child.
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Ease of harvesting could become just as important as ease of management when it comes to choosing oilseed rape varieties.

The threat to glyphosates future and the possibility of greater restrictions on the use of pre-harvest desiccants means that farmers are starting to consider alternative ways of getting their oilseed rape crops to ripen evenly in time for harvest.

As a result, they are turning to plant breeders for solutions, some of who are investigating whether harvestability is a trait that can be measured and ranked.

See also: Clubroot on the rise with tighter rapeseed rotations

One of these is DSV, which is in the very early stages of giving its own varieties a score, although the company is quick to point out that harvestability is a complex trait that is influenced by the amount of biomass and maturity of straw, as well as several other factors.

Its a trait that is expected to become more important in the future, and not just in the UK, points out Alex Doering, DSVs oilseed rape specialist for Europe.

Factors affecting harvestability Biomass

Straw senescence

Early maturity

Lodging resistance

Plant population

Biomass and straw maturity

Starting with the influence of biomass, he explains that shorter varieties are easier to harvest simply because less material passes through the combine and cleaning is easier.

With straw maturity, we know that green, moist straw is more difficult to get through a combine. It also causes higher grain losses and hampers cleaning on the sieves.

While National List trials in Germany have a score for delay in the senescence of straw, it has been controversial, he reports.

It caused a great deal of discussion, he admits. Thats because the healthier the variety, the greener the stem in the summer. It isnt necessarily a bad thing when it comes to yield.

Lodging resistance

Of course, harvestability is more closely linked to lodging resistance. A heavily lodged crop is the most difficult to harvest  a standing crop is always better.

Dr Doering believes that early maturity will become far more important if glyphosate does get banned.

In Germany, only 10-15% of the crop is desiccated, so early varieties are much more popular than they are in the UK.

Plant population

German experience has also shown that low plant populations have caused issues, as these crops have been more difficult to harvest, he notes.

Single plants are very thick and they dont ripen evenly. High plant densities of 30-45/sq m make the harvesting operation more straightforward.

Semi-dwarf varieties could also be helpful, he suggests. These types are starting to make inroads now and their plant architecture means that they can have an advantage at harvesting.

Simon Kightley, Niab Tags oilseeds specialist, believes that crop height is less of an issue with big combines that have wide tables, but stresses that good lodging resistance is always of value.

He also points out that here are plenty of seasons where glyphosate is not the perfect solution to crop ripening, as it can be very slow to work.

Theres very little discrimination on crop maturity currently, he says.

More work needs to be done on varieties going through to natural maturity, so that growers have that information to hand.
Sheepmeat exports from New Zealand to the UK fell to 20,800t in the first quarter of the year  down 18% on the same months in 2016.

Driving this decline were adverse currency movements that caused NZ prices to increase, as well as the commitment from retailers such as the Co-op to promote and stock British lamb, said a report by AHDB Beef & Lamb.

Total New Zealand exports grew by 12% to 147,000t in the first quarter of 2017, according to data from shipping analyst IHS Maritime.

See also: Feed plan halves pre-lambing ration costs on Devon farm

Despite this, the volume of NZ product coming into the EU fell by 10%, mainly due to the reduced sales to the UK, said the AHDB report.

In the first three months of 2017 the price of NZ shipments to the UK averaged NZ$7,951/t (4,237.87/t)  down 4% on January-March 2016.

However, in sterling terms the cost increased by 19%, illustrating how expensive it had become for the UK to import from NZ.

The fall in the value of sterling had coincided with a strong appreciation of the NZ dollar against other currencies, including the euro  making the effect of currency even greater, said the AHDB report.
Jones said plan is to play Friday since also chance of rain Thursday

The Indians playoff motto is a familiar and simple one: Survive to play another game. The Indians did just that with a 60-23 win over Rock Hill this past Friday...
You can bet the Preakness Stakes online from Maine in the comfort of your home at any one of the internationally licensed racebooks, none of which will ever require a social security number.

Maine is the only state in New England with horse tracks, though its a big state and not all are accessible to everyone in Maine. Most US-based websites will not permit online betting for races that take place at the states race tracks.

Scarborough Downs is a harness race track that will be hosting a Preakness Stakes party on Saturday. Its a great place for bookies to interact with likeminded individuals as well. See their website for when doors open and what festivities will be available.

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Solar power : Bonns SolarWorld announces insolvency

Bonn Solar panel manufacturer SolarWorld AG announced in a written statement on Wednesday evening that it would apply for insolvency. The Bonn company has 300 staff locally and 3,000 employees worldwide.

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On Wednesday evening, photovoltaic manufacturer SolarWorld AG released a statement saying it could no longer meet its debt obligations and that it would file for insolvency. CEO and founder Frank Asbeck described this as a bitter step for SolarWorld but also for the solar industry and Germany. With headquarters in Bonn, the company has around 3,000 employees worldwide, 300 of them in Bonn. Most of the workers are in manufacturing plants in Freiburg and Arnstadt, Germany, producing solar module products. Solar World also has a factory in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Some weeks ago, SolarWorld had announced a restructuring to rescue the firm, including cutting 400 jobs. The company had tried to counter what it characterized as unfair competition from Chinese producers. SolarWorld led a fight against illegal price dumping in the U.S. and Europe. But this dumping has only increased, said Asbeck in the statement. "The next few weeks and months will now decide the future of Europe's largest and most modern production in the key industry of photovoltaics," Frank Asbeck said in a written statement.

The prices for solar cells and modules have crashed massively since the middle of last year, said Asbeck. Further, the statement went on to say that prospects have now also deteriorated for the coming months. Because of this development, the strategic measures which were carried out at the beginning of the year are not enough to maintain the positive continuation forecast confirmed in March.

Adding to the challenges the company faced was a legal dispute with U.S. silicon manufacturer Hemlock Semiconductor. SolarWorld had been ordered to pay 720 million euros in damages to Hemlock, which had charged SolarWorld with violating a long-term supply deal.
Taxi on the Rhine : Positive reception for water bus in Bonn

Bonn The Association of German Architects (BDA) Bonn-Rhine-Sieg is pushing for it and 88 percent of GA readers were support of it in an online survey: The idea of a water bus or water taxi on the Rhine is very popular.

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The vision of a water bus service between the SolarWorld campus in the north and the Rheinaue, and Bonn International School in the south, with a number of links to the left and right of the Rhine is arousing the imagination and desire to use the river as a traffic conduit. The concept also leads to highly emotional debates, as seen in the panel discussion of the Association of German Architects (BDA).

Water bus skeptics outnumbered the proponents at the meeting, leaving Jorg Beste, managing director of the Kolner Architekturforum Rheinland (Cologne Architectural Forum Rhineland) to counter arguments of Bonn authorities from city planning and economics. Ulrich Ziegenhagen, deputy head of the office of Bonn economic promotion, found the idea charming but said he didnt see a need for a water bus nor the possibility to finance it. And for commuters, there would be no park and ride, so the journey would take even longer. Ziegenhagen expressed great doubts about the reliability of a water timetable for commuters. "It is a vision without great implementation quality," he said.

Rolf Beu, Green Party member and chair of the Bonn City Planning Committee, pointed out that there is already a scheduled service on the Rhine, but it is declining. He expects that costs for a water bus would run five times that of a regular bus on wheels.

Hotel operator Olaf Dreesen, who was unable to be at the Tuesday evening panel discussion, issued a statement to GA: The idea ofthe water-taxi "from the perspective of the hotel operator and citizens would be a winner. It would be fantastic and practical ", he said, both for tourists and hotel guests as well as for the connection between Rungsdorf and Bonn. But he said he was not in on the financing details. The idea was also floated to use a water bus as a nice gesture during the World Climate Conference or Beethoven Jubilee 2020.

Previously, Christoph Waack from the Geographical Institute of the University of Bonn had presented a study from his students "Water-buses in Bonn? A multi-perspective view of the potential for everyday traffic ". They conducted interviews, put out questionnaires and consulted experts for the study. 26 percent signaled a general interest in the transportation alternative of a water bus, and 90 percent said they could see this as part of the public transportation offer. 29 percent would be willing to pay a surcharge. Only 20 percent would not be willing to pay 5 euros more for their transportation pass.
A new species of giant bird-like dinosaurwhich tended to enormous nests that were bigger than a monster truck tirehas 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 journaland to name the new speciesuntil 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.

Reference:

Perinate and eggs of a giant caenagnathid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of central China, Nature Communications (2017). DOI:10.1038/ncomms14952

Note: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Calgary.
An opportunity for foodies and beer lovers to get lost in a world of food and drink from a hand-selected range of food trucks and breweries from around New Zealand.
Google adds local event search feature on its App and Mobile website News oi -Samden Sherpa Making plans for an event? Google can help.

In these couple of months that have gone by, Google has been working on delivering a better experience to its user by upgrading or adding new features to its various products and apps.

And working on the same line, the tech giant has now rolled out a new feature on the Google app and mobile website, that will help you search for local events that are happening in and around. Basically, with this new feature when you search for events the app will bring up a summary of activities from different sites across the Internet.

SEE ALSO: Best 5 offline Chrome Apps to stay productive

However, this feature is currently available only for users in the US region.

Results in Order Well, when you search for an event, with the new update the app will list all the events gathered from multiple sources in a chronological order. Further, you will be able to see the event's organizer name, date and time, venue details for each search result. via GIPHY How to use it? Google in its blog post says, "To try it, type in a quick search like, 'jazz concerts in Austin,' or 'art events this weekend' on your phone. With a single tap, you'll see at-a-glance details about various options, like the event title, date and time, and location." SEE ALSO: Google to unveil details about the Android O' Beta this month What else you can do? Considering the method mentioned above, it seems you can also search using the artist's or organizer's name to find events happening near you. Further, on tapping on a particular event, the event's website will be opened, which will let you buy tickets directly. Additionally, Google says, "You can also look up events over different time periods, simply tap on filters like "today", "tomorrow", "next week" and more. And if you're feeling open to more options, you can also try typing "events near me" to see what's happening around the corner. After all, who knows what fun activities await?"

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Reliance JioFiber broadband is in trials in six cities, confirms Jio News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu JioFiber trials are confirmed.

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz going on about the Reliance JioFiber broadband service. Recently, we saw that the broadband service is coming soon offering 100GB data at 100Mbps speed free for 90 days on paying a refundable amount of Rs. 4,500 under the Preview Offer.

Reliance Jio has started testing this broadband service in select cities in the past. Now, the company has officially confirmed that they are testing the service in six cities and that the service will be expanded to other major cities across India in the coming days. The company has also confirmed the Preview Offer in these six cities.

The official Twitter handle of Reliance Jio, @JioCare confirmed this information while replying to a user's query. It has been confirmed that the JioFiber Preview Offer is offered in select areas of Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi-NCR, Surat, and Vadodara.

JioFiber Preview Offer to offer 100GB data at 100Mbps speed free for 90 days

Under the Preview Offer, Reliance Jio will offer free services to its employees and people known to them for testing purposes. Even the Jio 4G service was initially offered to the employees and their friends as Preview Offer before being launched for the public.

What's interesting is if JioFiber Preview Offer is rolling out now, then the service might be officially rolled out to the public in the coming months. There are speculations that it will provide free services under the Welcome Offer just like it did with 4G service.

Jio 4G VoLTE feature phone to be priced at Rs. 1,500

If the JioFiber is launched with 100Mbps speed and remains free for 90 days, then it will definitely create a tough competition to the other service providers in the broadband arena. Already, Airtel is gearing up with its fiber service offering 100Mbps speed to compete with Jio.

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Redmi Note 4 to be launched first

Xiaomi has officially revealed their plans to enter into Mexico initially as their first step in North America. They are all set to use the successful mid-ranger, the Redmi Note 4 to strike the Mexican market.

Also read: Factors that made Xiaomi the second largest smartphone brand in India

Redmi Note 4 pricing and availability in Mexico

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 will be sold by Sam's Club, Coppel, and Best Buy stores by the end of this month. If the users choose to buy the device online, they can order the handset through Elektra and Soriana and branches of Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy in Mexico. The Redmi Note 4 will be priced at 5,499 MXN (approx. $287/ Rs. 18,600).

Xiaomis plan

"Mexico is a really important market for us and acts as our starting point to reach the rest of Latin America," stated Donovan Sung, Xiaomi's director of product management and marketing. It is not known about the expansion in the other U.S. markets, but it is definitely an giant leap taken by Xiaomi in the international market.
Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy.
Military Strikes Hit ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 10, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 21 strikes consisting of 75 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged an ISIS sniper and destroyed a front-end loader.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed a front-end loader an and ISIS wellhead.

-- Near Tabqah, seven strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, three vehicles; damaged a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 61 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed a heavy machine gun, a fighting position and damaged an ISIS supply route.

-- Near Rutbah, a strike destroyed a bunker.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and a sniper; destroyed seven mortar systems, five fighting positions, three vehicle bombs, two supply caches, two vehicles, and a command-and-control node; damaged 18 ISIS supply routes, a fighting position, a tunnel; and suppressed four mortar teams and four ISIS tactical units.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes destroyed three vehicle bombs, an ISIS staging area and a weapons cache.

Additionally, four strikes were conducted in Syria on May 8 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- Near Tabqah, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed a fighting position and a mortar system; and damaged an ISIS supply route.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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OIR Spokesman Reports Progress in Defeating ISIS in Syria, Iraq

By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2017  Partnered forces in Syria and Iraq are making progress in defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve said today.

The Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Arab Coalition have liberated most of the Syrian city of Tabqa, Air Force Col. John Dorrian told Pentagon reporters via videoconference from Baghdad.

The partnered forces are clearing ISIS remnants from the final two neighborhoods of Tabqa, cutting off the Tabqa dam from the rest of the city and isolating the remaining terrorists there, Dorrian explained.

"Even as ISIS is completely isolated and ultimately eliminated from Tabqa, their tactics continue to create incalculable human suffering," he said.

Dorrian said about 30,000 of the city's residents have been displaced from their homes since the battle for the city started in late March. Protecting the civilians who remain in Tabqa is an important priority, he told reporters.

"Tabqa is an extremely dangerous battle zone," the colonel said, explaining the SDF are encountering ISIS snipers who are using apartment buildings, hospitals and mosques to mask their position in the dense urban terrain.

Tabqa Important in Liberation of Raqqa

Dorrian highlighted the importance of finishing the seizure of Tabqa and the Tabqa dam in relation to the eventual liberation of Raqqa. ISIS terrorists used the area to facilitate ISIS fighters in Raqqa, he explained.

"They used it for supply, command and control, and to reinforce their fighters in Raqqa, so it's good that the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Arab Coalition are making good progress in retaking that terrain," he said. "After Tabqa is completely liberated, the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Arab Coalition and coalition forces will continue operations to isolate and seize Raqqa."

Coalition strikes this week in Raqqa destroyed a number of ISIS boats and barges, as well as heavy construction equipment that ISIS is using to build berms and barriers to try to complicate operations for the liberation of that key Syrian city, he said.

Iraqi Forces Advance in West Mosul

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces are making progress as they move in on west Mosul on multiple axes. Their advance is presenting the terrorists with "more dilemmas then they can react to," Dorrian said.

"Iraqi security forces have continued advancing in west Mosul, after the 9th Iraqi Armored Division and Iraqi Federal Police started a new axis of advance in northwest Mosul last week," he said. "We've also seen the Iraqi counterterrorism service accelerate their advances into the industrial section of west Mosul."

The Iraqi forces liberated more than 18 miles of terrain in west Mosul this week, Dorrian said, adding that although the enemy is weakened, a tough fight remains.

"As the [Iraqi security forces] advance, they continue encountering tough resistance from enemy snipers, enemy vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and human shields," Dorrian said, noting that Iraqi citizens fleeing the fighting have reported these enemy tactics.

It is difficult to predict how long the liberation of Mosul will take, he said. "But we are seeing the enemy's defenses degraded with each passing day," he added.

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Dunford Pleased With Israeli Talks, Discusses Deconfliction Zones

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

JERUSALEM, May 10, 2017  The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was pleased with the military-to-military relationship with close ally Israel after a visit with his counterpart this week.

Israeli army Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the chief of General Staff for the Israel Defense Forces, hosted Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford in Tel Aviv and here. The chairman also met with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"This is my third visit here as chairman," Dunford said during an interview with reporters traveling with him.

Close U.S.-Israel Partnership

Israel is a close U.S. partner, the chairman said, adding that "coming here as a matter of routine is important."

He noted it was a typical day in the U.S.-Israeli military relationship. At the same time he was meeting with Israeli leaders, American troops were training with the IDF, a U.S. ship was putting into port in Haifa and the deputy commanders from U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command were holding meetings.

"There is always a lot of activity going on in the [U.S.-Israel] relationship,' the chairman said.

Dunford said he spoke to his Israeli hosts about several issues of mutual concern.

"We spoke today broadly about the region," he said. "And clearly, the major concern is Iran's influence in the region -- their malign activities in the region, what's happening with Iran in Iraq and Iran in Syria."

Dunford said he and his Israeli hosts also spoke about Lebanese Hezbollah, and the presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the tri-border area of Israel, Syria and Jordan.

Counter-ISIS Progress

The Israelis are pleased with the progress being made against ISIS, Dunford said. They believe the trend is in the right direction and can look forward to the demise of the group. "Their concern is about the day after ISIS is defeated in Raqqa and the long-term political structure in Syria and the role that Iran would play in Syria and the region," he said.

Dealing with the Iranian threat network was a big part of the conversation, Dunford said.

"The greatest challenge from Iran is the Iranian threat network," the chairman noted, which he said includes the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force and the support they provide for Lebanese Hezbollah.

"The big threat to Israel, Dunford added, would be Lebanese Hezbollah having a presence in southern Syria, which "would give Israel two fronts to deal with.

Lebanese Hezbollah now fields a conventional force armed with missiles, rockets, artillery, armored vehicles and tanks, the chairman said.

Situation in Syria

Refugee flows from Syria into Jordan and Turkey are also a concern, Dunford said. Turkey now has about 2.2 million refugees and there are 1.2 million refugees in Jordan, he added, with millions more displaced people inside Syria.

"We talked about that and how quickly we can return to some stability so people can return home," Dunford said. "There is an argument to be made that an investment in Syria today would be less expensive than the flow of refugees over time."

U.S. and Israeli officials spoke about the deconfliction areas that came out of the recent meeting among Russia, the Syrian regime and Iran in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Dunford said the United States was an observer at those talks. The United States and Russia, he said, already have a process in place to deconflict areas of operations, but this is done at the operational level.

"The next steps that might be appropriate are geographical deconfliction that would allow us to continue to put pressure on ISIS and other terror groups" and get the political process moving, he said.

The violence must be reduced in order to set the conditions on the ground that is conducive to moving toward a peace process in Syria through talks in Geneva, Switzerland, the chairman said.

The deconfliction zones were proposed by the Russians, the chairman said.

"To be clear, the Russians proposed these deconfliction zones in Astana," Dunford said. "We now have a proposal from the Russians that Secretary of State [Rex] Tillerson is speaking to this week with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov and I would assume it will come up in President Trump's meeting with Lavrov, as well."

The Russians would like the United States to be a part of the group of nations "deconflicting" inside Syria, "but no decision has been made," the general said.

Possible American participation in helping to establish deconflicting zones in Syria is a political question that must be decided by U.S. civilian leaders, the chairman said.

"What we are doing now is prudently talking to military planners, and in our conversations with the Israelis we are asking about the proposal and what it would look like on the ground," Dunford said. "It is fair to say that the Israelis would want to make sure that their security concerns are addressed."

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis May 10, 2017

Joint Press Conference with Secretary Mattis and President Grybauskaite in Vilnius, Lithuania

PRESIDENT DALIA GRYBAUSKAITE: So we welcome, of course, the defense secretary in Lithuania, as not only symbolic gesture, but a most important gesture for all our region, which is (inaudible) as a grantor of our security.

(THROUGH TRANSLATOR): So I have just welcomed the secretary of defense in Lithuania. His visit to our region and Lithuania means that the United States as a key ally of NATO, and also on a bilateral basis supports -- understands the challenges of security facing our region.

Therefore, it was a long-awaited visit. We discussed the possibilities of the United States (inaudible) on a bilateral basis to the West that may rise (inaudible) neighborhood. We also discussed the challenges in the upcoming NATO summit and the (inaudible) future reform of NATO because the challenges are changing, NATO has to adapt to the situation, and change together, especially when we think about the speed of the decision-making process, about the places of deployment of troops.

When we think about cooperation and also additional security measures, but (inaudible) the Baltic region because the Baltic region is the furthermost east flank of NATO. So what measures of deterrence are necessary were also discussed.

I see a great professional in the case of the U.S. secretary of state (sic). He's a good friend of Lithuania and the Baltic states. He will understand the challenges facing us, the threats facing us. We can trust him.

Thank you.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Madam President, thank you very much for the warm welcome that you have given, and for taking the time to meet today. I am grateful for the opportunity to gain your perspective on the situation that we face here in Lithuania and in the whole Baltic region.

Our two countries, the United States and Lithuania, stand together in defense of democratic values. We continued to recognize Lithuania as a sovereign political entity during the Soviet occupation. We celebrated when your parliament voted to restore your country's independence in 1991. And we welcomed your NATO accession as you joined other democracies in defense of our shared values.

Marking that occasion, President Bush said, and I quote here about NATO's new members, that you "brought moral clarity to the purposes of the alliance, moral clarity, knowing that when great democracies fail to confront danger, far worse peril can follow."

So now united by our trans-Atlantic bond, I believe that you who have withstood oppression can most keenly savor freedom and never taking it for granted or looking away when it is threatened.

Even in the face of a neighbor next door shredding trust, Lithuania has nonetheless contributed to the NATO-led mission far away in Afghanistan. And it has continued to provide capable trainers for the counter-ISIS mission in Iraq.

I believe that 2014 was a watershed year here in Europe. Lithuania, your Baltic neighbors, and the NATO alliance faced dangers from terrorism and aggression, cyber attacks and more. In response, we must adapt NATO's stance and affirm our commitment to common defense.

Have no doubt, we stand with you, united in a common cause. NATO stands visible and indivisible in the face of any to sovereignty, any threat to international law or any threat to international order.

The United States' commitment to the security guarantee of NATO's Article 5 remains ironclad. I comment Lithuania for your commitment to raise defense spending above the two percent of gross domestic product by next year. Your recognition of the threat and of our treaty obligation under NATO Article 3 to maintain our individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack heartens the American people. And you rightly stand as an example for all NATO allies.

Later today, I will take part in a ministerial meeting with my Baltic MOD counterparts, and that's where I will reiterate our strong commitment to our Baltic allies' defense. I will also visit Pabrade Training Area, and there I will meet with the NATO battle group, which is a stabilizing force in this region.

These allied forces are deployed in Lithuania to demonstrate our solidarity and our determination to defend NATO territory against any aggression. The Americans joined the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada as NATO framework nations, leading varied and diverse allied defensive forces deployed in Eastern Europe, reinforcing our deterrent posture while our diplomats are open to engaging with a Russia that respects international law.

NATO's purely defensive stance is designed to assure allied sovereignty by preventing miscalculation and buying time for our diplomats to restore mutual respect. We stand together in defense of freedom, buttressing the alliance. In the words of a NATO minister of defense, together, we will confront any aggression with determination, deterrence and purpose.

NATO's hard power in a defensive orientation is our ticket to peace, prosperity and tranquility, just as it has been throughout its decades of service. Again, Madam President, thank you very much.

PRES. GRYBAUSKAITE: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

And now a question for journalists. Baltic News Service, please.

Q: (inaudible) -- I'm a journalist with the Baltic News Service, and I'm -- I have a question for Mr. Secretary of Defense.

Lithuanian officials have repeatedly said they were seeking bigger American role in the Baltic air defense system. Is the administration considering deploying Patriot missiles or other -- other tools to address the air defense gap in the Baltic States? Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: Yes, the United States is one of the -- the allied nations, one of the NATO nations. It stands by Lithuania, stands by all the Baltic nations. We'll make those decisions in consultation with the Lithuanian government and we'll work together.

We are here in a purely defensive stance. Everyone knows this is not an offensive capability. And for anyone who says otherwise, I would just say I have too much respect for the Russian army to think that they actually believe there's any offensive capability.

They know, and the world knows, this is defensive and we'll deploy only defensive systems to make certain that sovereignty is respected.

PRES. GRYBAUSKAITE: And Reuters.

Q: Hi, Mr. Secretary, thanks again.

Just following up, are you concerned, then, about Russia's deployment of Iskander missiles in -- in Kaliningrad and -- and would you keep a Patriot battery here in the Baltic states to guard against any miscalculation through Russia's Zapad exercises in September?

And -- and Madam President, do you think that there should be a Patriot battery brought -- brought here to the Baltics? Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: The -- the specific systems that we bring are those that we determine necessary. I think any buildup of Russian combat power in an area where they know and we all know they are not threatened by anything that we are doing in Lithuania or elsewhere in the democratic countries -- any kind of build up like that is simply destabilizing. I'd just leave it at that.

PRES. GRYBAUSKAITE: So, I can answer to your question that we need all necessary means for defense and for deterrence. And that's what we'll decide together with Americans, how much and what we would like to have on our territory.

STAFF: Thank you, (inaudible).

-END-

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1179145/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; Lithuian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis May 10, 2017

Joint Media Availability with Secretary Mattis and Minister Karoblis in Vilnius, Lithuania

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and my fellow ministers from three NATO allies standing here with me. It sends a message I think to look at these fine troops from several NATO nations working together, training together, and making certain that there's no misunderstanding, that we all stand together in defense -- purely in defense.

There's nothing offensive here. It is defensive, to make certain that the NATO alliance Article 5 is understood by everyone at home, here in Lithuania, in the Baltic neighbors, and certainly elsewhere in this region.

So, with our ministers, we've had some good talks this morning together as we share in appreciation the situation and of the road ahead. And what you see here, with the enhanced forward brigade, is matched in several other Baltic nations as well.

This one, with a strong German contingent, but allied nations also part of the battlegroup under the command of the German commander here. It shows the way NATO can be interoperable and our troops can come together and work together, and if necessary, fight together.

So, can we take your questions? And the ministers are here. So, please direct your questions also to them because I don't want to answer them all. (Laughter.)

Yeah?

STAFF: Julian (off mic)

Q: Mr. Secretary, do you share concerns of the Baltic States that Russia could leave troops behind after the Zapad exercise or use the exercise to upgrade and modernize the forces they have in this new -- (inaudible)?

SEC. MATTIS: Well, the -- the question has to do with the Zapad exercise that the Russians will run. This is a routine exercise. I trust it'll stay routine.

At the same time, NATO will conduct its exercises here. They're exercising today, tomorrow. They're on a -- on an exercise right now.

And our concentration is on showing the unity of NATO at this time of year and making certain there's no misunderstanding there. So, no concerns. Simply staying very visible.

NATO is very visible, as you see here today. You can see it. But it's also indivisible when it comes to its partnerships with each other.

We are unified as an alliance. And that's really what we're all about out here, Julian.

Q: Mr. Secretary, Lolita Baldor with the Associate Press. In the wake of the announcement yesterday, the Turkish foreign minister has said that any weapons that are going to the YPG threatens Turkey.

Did he -- did the Turks express these concerns to you yesterday when you spoke to them? And how much do you think this threatens the U.S.-Turkey alliance?

SEC. MATTIS: In the alliance -- in NATO alliance, all of the nations are coequal. We have very in-depth discussions.

Turkey is a NATO ally. It confronts -- it's the only NATO country that confronts an insurgency in its own ground from the PKK. And we will work very closely with Turkey in support of their -- their security on their southern border.

It's Europe's southern border. And we'll stay closely connected.

We have very open discussions about options. And we will work together. We'll work out any of the concerns.

I'm -- I'm not concerned at all about the NATO alliance and the relations between our -- our nations. It's not always tidy, Lolita. But we work out the -- the issues.

STAFF: (Inaudible) from Reuters has a question.

Q: Mr. Secretary, I'd like to ask about the air defenses, which are the major -- a (inaudible) in the Baltics. Do you think NATO and -- and U.S. should do more to help the Baltics to -- to plug that hole in order to create real deterrence?

And foreign ministers, I'd like to ask, will you be asking the United States to deploy Patriot or Valkyrie in the Baltics beyond the (inaudible) exercises?

SEC. MATTIS: The -- the question is about the air defense. And we will deploy whatever capability is necessary here.

The reason for the deployment you see right now is the lack of respect for international law by some nations -- by a nation in the region. And so long as nations show respect, then we wouldn't have to deploy that.

But we will talk to the -- to the leaders of each of the nations and we'll work this out in Brussels. And we'll work together if necessary.

Any of you wish to say something here?

DEFENSE MINISTER RAIMUNDAS KAROBLIS: Well, whatever we hear from the secretary -- or the -- the all defense systems, which are necessary will -- will -- will be in the region. And, well, we are not speaking here about the real tactics, real concrete, specific systems. But also, speaking about air defense, it's not totally what we have or what we'll have -- (inaudible) -- but also around us.

STAFF: And one last question from (inaudible).

Q: Yes, so, a question to Mr. Secretary. How do you evaluate the effort the Baltic countries has made to increase defense spending? And is there something you would bring to the table for the next NATO summit on that?

SEC. MATTIS: In NATO, there is a goal that all the nations signed up for at Wales. It was 2 percent of GDP to be spent on defense and 20 percent of that to be spent on basically filling in capability gap with modern systems.

These nations are a model for the trajectory they are taking their defense spending. They are serious about it. They are setting an example of growing their defense.

In the case of Estonia, they're already at 2 percent and going higher. Lithuania, Latvia are on the right track.

We salute what they're doing. The American people are heartened by what they're doing.

And we have no reservations about the direction they're on. We're completely aligned with them. OK?

STAFF: I'm afraid that is as much time as we've got. Thank you so very much for questions. Thank you for coming.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1179220/

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Secretary General in London: UK leads by example in NATO

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

10 May. 2017

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday (10 May 2017) to discuss preparations for the upcoming meeting of Allied leaders on 25 May. The Secretary General thanked the United Kingdom for its enduring commitment to NATO and its leadership in Europe and beyond.

In their talks, the Secretary General and Prime Minister May underlined the importance of fairer burden sharing and NATO's role in the fight against terrorism. Mr. Stoltenberg noted that both issues will be high on the agenda for the meeting of NATO leaders and thanked the UK for leading by example on both fronts. The UK spends 2% of GDP on defence, and is making significant contributions to NATO's collective defence and deterrence. British troops are leading a NATO battlegroup in Estonia, Royal Air Force jets patrol the skies over the Black Sea region and the UK leads NATO's Spearhead Force this year. British troops also continue to play a leading role in NATO's mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces as they secure their country.

The Secretary General and Prime Minister May discussed what more NATO can do in the fight against terrorism. The Alliance is supporting the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIL with AWACS surveillance planes and training for Iraqi forces, with strong UK support. Mr. Stoltenberg noted that strengthening local forces is essential in fighting terrorism, and NATO has untapped potential to do even more. He noted that NATO's military authorities have requested a few thousand more troops for Afghanistan, and that decisions will be taken in the coming weeks.

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USS Carney Visits Germany

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170510-05

Release Date: 5/10/2017 10:52:00 AM

By Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Weston Jones USS Carney Public Affairs

KIEL, Germany (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) arrived in Kiel, Germany, for a scheduled port visit to enhance U.S.-Germany relations as the two nations work together for a stable, secure and prosperous Europe.

The ship's presence in the Baltic Sea is a demonstration of the continued commitment to the collective security of NATO under Operation Atlantic Resolve.



Quote:

"The crew and I are excited to see the historic naval city of Kiel, Germany. Visits like this allow us to see new places and to build upon already strong ties with our NATO allies in the Baltic Sea."

Cmdr. Peter Halvorsen,

commanding officer, USS Carney



Quick Facts:

Carney is expected to host distinguished visitors during a reception in Kiel.

Strengthening alliances during the port visit to Kiel demonstrates the shared commitment both nations have to promoting safety and stability within the region, while seeking to enhance interoperability.

The United States continues to demonstrate commitment to the collective security of our NATO allies and support for our partners in Europe. All Department of Defense efforts in support of our NATO allies in Eastern Europe fall under the umbrella of Atlantic Resolve.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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US, NATO prepared to deter Russia in Europe: Pentagon chief

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 3:58PM

US Defense Secretary James Mattis says the United States and NATO are prepared to deploy military equipment to the Baltic region to deter Russia.

"We will deploy whatever capability is necessary here," Mattis said on Wednesday when asked about regional air defenses at a press conference with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite in Vilnius.

His remarks came after two US military officials earlier said the Pentagon was considering deploying a Patriot missile battery to the Baltic region ahead of NATO military maneuvers there this summer.

Last year, Russia deployed nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles to the country's westernmost region of Kaliningrad, near its border with the Baltic countries and NATO member states.

Kaliningrad is sandwiched between Lithuania from the north and east and Poland from the south. The Baltic Sea is on the region's west.

Wary of the US-led NATO alliance's military buildup near its borders, Russia is preparing for massive military exercises in its western military region in September.

Mattis on Wednesday condemned Russian moves. "Any buildup of Russian combat power in an area where they know, and we all know, they are not threatened by anything that we are doing ... is simply destabilizing," he said.

The Pentagon chief refused to clear whether US Patriot missiles would be deployed to Lithuania permanently or temporarily.

"We will make those decisions in consultation with the Lithuania government," he said.

"Everyone knows this is not an offensive capability," Mattis said, referring to Patriot missiles.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have been strained largely due to the Ukraine crisis. The US and its allies accuse Moscow of sending troops into eastern Ukraine in support of the pro-Russian forces. Moscow has long denied involvement in the crisis.

The ties further deteriorated when Moscow in September 2015 launched an air offensive against Daesh terrorists in Syria, many of whom were initially trained by the CIA to fight against the Syrian government.

Russia has accused the US of taking hostile actions against Moscow.

The Russian military has also warned the Pentagon against conducting airstrikes on Syrian military positions, noting that its S-300 and S-400 air defense systems in Syria are active.

In addition, Moscow has suspended a series of nuclear deals, including a symbolic pact to cut stocks of weapons-grade plutonium in both countries.

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NATO assessing request for more troops in Afghanistan

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 1:46PM

NATO says its military authorities want more troops deployed to war-ravaged Afghanistan in the form of a "train, assist and advise operation."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters following talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May at her Downing Street office in London on Wednesday that the troops were needed to train local Afghan forces.

"We have received a request from our military authorities to increase our military presence in Afghanistan with a few thousand troops," media outlets quoted the NATO chief as saying.

"It will be a train, assist and advise operation, because I strongly believe that the best answer we have against terrorism, the best weapon we have against terrorism, is to train local forces against terrorism and to stave off" threats by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, Stoltenberg said.

"I strongly believe that the best thing you can do to fight against terrorism is to train local forces, enabling them to stabilise their own country and to fight terrorism themselves."

American authorities have written to NATO partners about the future of the 28-country coalition's military presence in Afghanistan.

"We are now assessing that request. We will make decisions on the scale and the scope of the mission within weeks," Stoltenberg said.

In early May, US military officials and the State Department recommended sending 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops, including hundreds of Special Operations forces, to Afghanistan.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the NATO secretary general said the issue would be high on the agenda at an upcoming annual NATO summit in Brussels on May 25. "We will address our presence in Afghanistan at the leaders' meeting but we will also address what NATO can do to step up its efforts to fight terrorism, including providing support to the counter-ISIL coalition," he said, referring to an alternative name for Daesh.

The request for the deployment of more troops to Afghanistan could signal how NATO is increasingly being drawn back into fighting in Afghanistan. US-led forces formally ended the combat mission in the country in 2014.

The United States has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan with about another 5,000 from NATO allies.

Afghanistan is still suffering from insecurity and violence nearly 16 years after the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington's so-called war on terror. The invasion removed Taliban from power, but militancy continues to this day.

In addition, Daesh has also gained ground and recruited militants across several provinces of Afghanistan over the past few years.

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Comey lost confidence of nearly everyone in Washington: Trump

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 12:59PM

US President Donald Trump says he has fired FBI Director James Comey because he had lost the "confidence" of nearly everyone in Washington, DC.

Trump early Wednesday said the new FBI director will do a better job than Comey, and predicted people would be "thanking" him for his decision of firing the man, who had been leading a politically charged investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

"James Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI," Trump tweeted.

"Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike," Trump said in another tweet. "When things calm down, they will be thanking me!"

Comey has been criticized by lawmakers in both Republican and Democratic Parties for his handling of investigations connected to the 2016 presidential election -- the Russia investigation as well as the inquiry into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's email practices while she was secretary of state.

Comey learned about his firing as director of the FBI through a news report on television while he was giving a speech and thought it was a joke, according to bureau staffers.

He was addressing his FBI team in Los Angeles on Tuesday when he saw the news on television screens in the room. He laughed after he saw the news, but he "stepped into a side office, where he confirmed that he had been fired."

In the dismissal letter, Trump wrote to Comey that it was time for a "new beginning" at America's "crown jewel of law enforcement."

The move by Trump provoked backlash from several lawmakers, who questioned the timing of Comey's removal as the FBI is investigating Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election.

'Comey could lead Senate probe on Trump-Russia ties'

In an interview early Wednesday, independent Senator Angus King suggested Comey could lead the Senate's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

"I had a fun idea in the middle of the night," King told CNN. "The Intelligence Committee ought to hire James Comey to direct our investigation. He's already got his clearances, knows the subject, man of integrity. I'm going to float that today and see what kind of reaction I get."

"He's a free man as of today, he doesn't have a job," added the senator, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

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Some US lawmakers warn against troop surge for Afghanistan

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 7:12AM

Members of Congress warn that a White House plan to deploy thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan would raise the casualty toll and enormous expense of the longest war in US history.

Top Pentagon and administration officials are recommending an expansion of the US military strength in Afghanistan, presenting President Donald Trump with a stark choice that could threaten his "America First" agenda.

Officials hope that the troop surge would boost Afghan security forces and push back against a resurgent Taliban, but some lawmakers are skeptical.

"We spent billions of dollars. We've lost thousands of American lives. We've been engaged in this war for over 15 years. And we are still struggling to determine how it can end favorably for the best interest of the United States and the Afghan people," said Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois.

The senior Democrat urged fellow lawmakers to "ask some hard questions" about the proposed deployment and warned it could lead to "a permanent occupation" of Afghanistan.

"How long will this go on? How long will it be a battle and, when does it become a permanent occupation?" Durbin said during an appearance on MSNBC. "That's a question Congress needs to face."

The US currently has around 8,400 soldiers in Afghanistan with about another 5,000 troops from NATO allies. Military commanders are proposing 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops, including hundreds of Special Operations forces.

The extra troops would add to the war's $23 billion annual price tag, and the added loss of blood is also weighing heavily on the minds of some on Capitol Hill.

The proposal has yet to be approved by President Trump, but he is reportedly close to signing off on the recommendation, which is the result of a broad review of the Afghanistan strategy by the Pentagon, the State Department, intelligence community and other agencies.

The plan is said to give broader authority to the Pentagon over how many troops are required and would call on NATO members to send additional soldiers.

However, details of the latest plan are still scant, and some lawmakers demand a clearer strategy in the war-torn country.

"The president must articulate to Congress and the public what he intends to achieve by sending more of our young men and women into danger, how he will ensure success in meeting those goals, and how he intends to pay for a military escalation," House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said in a statement.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, meanwhile, said the potential surge was another reason for Congress to debate a new authorization for the use of military force.

"The commitment of additional ground troops is a very ominous sign of what is to come and what is necessary for the Congress to do if we're going to have this escalating commitment," the Connecticut Democrat said.

The latest plan, if approved, would be a turnaround from Trump's past criticisms of the war in Afghanistan as well as a campaign pledge that he would not let the US get caught up in foreign conflicts.

US Marines returned to Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province last month, the first such deployment since NATO officially ended its combat mission there in 2014.

Nearly 2,400 American soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion and another 20,000 have been wounded, according to the Pentagon.

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U.S. Criticizes Russian Buildup In Baltics, May Temporarily Deploy Patriot Missiles

RFE/RL May 10, 2017

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has criticized what he called a "destabilizing" Russian military buildup near the Baltic states, as officials said the United States was considering deploying Patriot missiles in the region for military drills later this year.

Mattis was speaking on May 10 at a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite in Vilnius.

Last year, Russia moved Iskander missiles with the potential to carry nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad, its exclave on the Baltic Sea between NATO members Lithuania and Poland. Moscow said the deployment was part of routine drills, but Western military officials worry that it may become permanent.

Asked about the missile deployment, Mattis said: "Any buildup of Russian combat power in an area where they know, and we all know, they are not threatened by anything that we are doing in Lithuania or elsewhere in the democratic countries -- any kind of buildup like that is simply destabilizing."

Meanwhile, U.S. defense officials were cited by Western news agencies as raising the possibility that a Patriot missile battery could be deployed to the Baltic region during NATO exercises this summer. The drills, named Tobruk Legacy, focus on air defense.

The Patriot is a mobile air-defense system designed to intercept aircraft, cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted that the missiles would likely be withdrawn when massive military exercises by Russia and Belarus kick off in September.

The Zapad (West) exercises could reportedly involve up to 100,000 troops and see Russia showcase new hardware.

In Vilnius, Mattis declined to comment directly on the possible Patriot deployment, saying, "The specific systems that we bring are those that we determine necessary."

NATO capabilities in the region are purely defensive, he insisted.

Grybauskaite said, "We need all necessary means for defense and for deterrence, and that's what we'll decide together."

Mattis's first trip to the Baltic region as defense secretary comes as relations between the West and Russia have sunk to lows unseen since the Cold War amid rancor over Moscow's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, and other issues.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-criticizes-russia-baltic-buildup -may-deploy-patriot-missiles/28478345.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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White House: FBI Director Was Fired Due To 'Missteps, Mistakes'

RFE/RL May 10, 2017

WASHINGTON -- The White House said President Donald Trump had considered firing the director of the FBI "since the day he was elected," as the administration sought further to explain the abrupt decision that has stunned Washington.

Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on May 10 that Trump had lost confidence in Director James Comey as a result of "missteps and mistakes."

Comey, whom Trump had publicly praised as recently as last month, was overseeing the criminal investigations into ties between Trump associates and Russian officials -- something that has shadowed Trump since his election in November.

Comey has not made any public statement since the May 9 announcement that he was being fired.

The two top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating alleged Russian meddling in last year's presidential election, said they had asked Comey to testify before the committee next week.

In his May 9 announcement, Trump explained the firing, saying that Comey had mishandled an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's e-mails. Clinton's use of a private e-mail server was a major issue during the election campaign, and Comey spoke publicly about it in the final days before the November 8 election.

Early on May 10, after a White House meeting with Russia's foreign minister, Trump further explained his decision.

"He wasn't doing a good job, very simply. He wasn't doing a good job," Trump told reporters.

It was the second time in U.S. history that an FBI director had been dismissed. President Bill Clinton fired William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.

Vice President Mike Pence also defended the move, saying that Trump had made "the right decision at the right time."

Pence said Comey's firing was unrelated to the Russia probe.

He told reporters that Trump was in the process of evaluating candidates with "great integrity and great experience" to take over the FBI.

Earlier on May 10, Trump said in a series of posts to Twitter that Comey "will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI."

"Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me," Trump added on Twitter.

Justice Department officials said Comey's deputy, Andrew McCabe, will serve as acting FBI director. McCabe was tentatively scheduled to speak before another Senate committee on May 11, but it was unclear if that appearance would go forward.

The firing shocked many in Washington and led to accusations from Democrats and others that the White House was trying to undermine the FBI probe involving Russia.

At least three different congressional committees, including the Senate intelligence panel, are also looking into Russian meddling in U.S. politics.

The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said he did not support appointing an independent investigator, saying it would impede the current probes under way.

"Today we'll no doubt hear calls for a new investigation, which could only serve to impede the current work being done," McConnell said.

He didn't give his own view on Trump's decision to fire Comey. But he noted that Democrats had repeatedly criticized Comey in the past and had called for his removal.

Following McConnell on the floor, the body's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, did call for a special prosecutor.

Schumer also asked that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy appear before the Senate to answer questions about the firing.

In one of the strongest Republican reactions, Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was "troubled" by the firing.

"His dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the committee," he said.

"This is the biggest evidence to date of why we need an independent commission to investigate Russia's interference in our election," Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on May 9 in a statement.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that just days before his dismissal, Comey had requested additional funding and personnel for the agency's probe into alleged Russian interference.

Comey had asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last week for a significant boost in resources and later briefed U.S. lawmakers on the request, the newspaper said, citing three unnamed officials.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met with Trump at the White House, sarcastically acknowledged Comey's dismissal by saying, "Was he fired? You're kidding. You're kidding," as he posed for photographs with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump's decision was an "independent decision, which has nothing to do and should have nothing to do with Russia."

Peskov said he hoped the issue would not affect U.S.-Russian relations.

Trump called for better relations with Russia during the campaign in 2016, but since assuming office has followed a more conventional Republican line, strongly backing NATO's efforts to counter Russia's military buildup and aggression in Europe, from the Baltics to Ukraine and Georgia.

With reporting by Reuters, AP and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-defends-firing-fbi- director-comey-russia/28478597.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Trump Fires FBI Director Comey Amid Probe Of Russian Election Meddling

RFE/RL May 10, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey, the top U.S. law enforcement official and the man who led the agency charged with investigating his campaign's ties with Russia.

As his reason for the May 9 dismissal, Trump cited what he said was Comey's mishandling of an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's e-mails last year, saying both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had recommended Comey's ouster over that matter.

Trump told Comey in a letter that "while I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation [in connection with the Russia probe], 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," he said.

Trump defended Comey's firing in a series of tweets on May 10. Trump said Comey "will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI."

"Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me," Trump added on Twitter.

Democrats have criticized Comey for announcing a new twist in the Clinton e-mail investigation only days before the November 8 election -- a move Clinton said turned undecided voters against her at a crucial moment. But Democrats in Congress nearly unanimously denounced the president's decision to fire Comey.

The move shocked many in Washington and led to accusations from Democrats and others that the White House was trying to undermine the FBI probe involving Russia.

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Trump's dismissal of Comey was "beyond the pale  even for him."

"This is the biggest evidence to date of why we need an independent commission to investigate Russia's interference in our election," Cardin said in a statement. "We also need a special prosecutor to complete the ongoing criminal probe, now that the president has undermined the integrity of the FBI's investigation."

In January, the U.S. intelligence community issued an assessment charging that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" seeking to undermine faith in the U.S. electoral system and denigrate Democratic candidate Clinton. It said that Russia developed a clear preference for Trump.

With Comey having testified only days ago about about the FBI's ongoing investigation into Russia's suspected efforts to help Trump get elected, Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat-Vermont) said the firing brings back memories of President Richard Nixon's firing of a special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal in a famed "Saturday night massacre" in 1973.

"It's nothing less than Nixonian," Leahy said.

Democrats: 'Big Mistake'

Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York said he told Trump it was a "big mistake" to fire Comey.

"We know the FBI has been looking whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians, a very serious offense. Were these investigations getting too close to home for the president?" Schumer asked.

Schumer called on Rosenstein to make good on his promise in testimony before Congress that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Russian meddling in the election, if necessary, to ensure the White House did not interfere with the probe.

"This investigation must be run as far away as possible from this White House, and as far away as possible from anyone that President Trump has appointed," Schumer said.

Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said any attempt by Trump to undermine the Russia investigation through Comey's dismissal "would raise grave constitutional issues."

Durbin called on the White House to immediately say whether the administration intends to continue the Russian investigation under a new FBI director.

Most Democrats backed Schumer's call for a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations of Russian election meddling, saying the White House cannot be trusted to appoint someone who will retain such independence.

At least one prominent Republican -- Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman John McCain of Arizona -- agreed that a "special committee" is needed to take over the Russia investigation.

But other Republicans in Congress appeared more supportive of Trump's decision, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky promising to move quickly to confirm Comey's replacement.

Underscoring the abruptness of the firing, the White House apparently had not even begun to field candidates to replace Comey and said it would begin the search "immediately."

Comey, 56, is only the second FBI chief to be fired. FBI directors normally are appointed to serve a single, 10-year term.

Comey was popular within the agency and was well-regarded by both Republicans and Democrats when former President Barack Obama appointed him four years ago.

The White House in defending its ouster of Comey released a highly critical memo written by Rosenstein that found fault with Comey's handling of the Clinton e-mail investigation on many points.

"I cannot defend the director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's e-mails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken" to make an announcement about the investigation just days before the election, Rosenstein wrote.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-fires-fbi- director-comey-amid-probe-russian-election- meddling-/28477002.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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White House 'Certifies' That Trump Has No Russian Business Ties

May 10, 2017

An inquiry from a prominent Republican rival of U.S. President Donald Trump about whether Trump had business dealings with Russia has prompted a response from the White House.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham , who chairs a Senate judiciary subcommittee that is investigating suspected Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, raised questions about Trump's business interests in Russia at a hearing and in a television interview on May 9.

"I'm not a prosecutor. But if you ask me if I want to know if there are any Trump business ties to Russia that are inappropriate, the answer would be 'yes'," said Graham, who vied with Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year.

Graham's inquiry prompted Trump to direct a law firm to send Graham a certified letter stating that "he has no business in Russia; he has no connections to Russia," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

Graham later told CNN it would be helpful to see Trump's tax returns to determine whether the president has business ties to Russia. But he told the network that it was too soon to say whether he would subpoena those records.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/white-house-certifies -senator-graham-trump-has-no-russian- business-ties/28477500.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Before Getting Axed, Ex-FBI Chief Reportedly Sought More Funds for Russia Probe

Sputnik News

22:01 10.05.2017(updated 00:18 11.05.2017)

According to several reports, in the days before FBI Director James Comey was fired by US President Donald Trump, he had asked the Justice Department for more money for the investigation into alleged ties between Trump and Moscow. The DOJ is calling the claims "completely false."

The New York Times, quoting three unnamed Congressional officials, alleges that Comey went to Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, for additional funds. They noted that Rosenstein is also the one who wrote the Justice Department memo that supported Comey's firing.

Rosenstein is the highest official involved in the Russian investigation, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself.

The Associated Press reported a similar story, also citing unnamed sources.

But Katy Tur of NBC News reported on Twitter that Sarah Isgur Flores, the director of public affairs at the Department of Justice, flatly denied that Comey asked for more money or more resources.

"Completely false," Tur quoted Flores as saying.

The New York Times also quoted Flores as saying that the paper's sources are incorrect, and that "the idea that he asked for more funding" for the Russian investigation was "totally false." Still, the Times article continued to state the claims from their unnamed sources as fact.

"It was unclear how Mr. Rosenstein reacted to the request, or whether the White House was informed of it," the Times reported.

The article goes on to speculate that, "to a president who puts a premium on loyalty, Mr. Comey represented a fiercely independent official who wielded incredible power."

During Wednesday's White House press briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, filling in for Sean Spicer, claimed a need to "drain the swamp back a little bit further."

"Frankly, I don't think it matters what this president says, you're going to have Democrats come out and fight him every single step of the way. I think that is one of the things that's wrong with Washington, and I think that is one of the reasons that we have got to get back to focusing on those issues," Huckabee Sanders said.

When asked whether Trump was surprised by the backlash or anticipated it, Huckabee Sanders responded, "How could he have, considering the fact that most of the people that are declaring war today were the very ones that were begging for Director Comey to be fired?"

"If Hillary Clinton had won the election, which thank god she didn't, but if she had  and she had been in the same position  she would have fired Comey immediately and the very Democrats that are criticizing the president today would be dancing in the streets celebrating," Huckabee Sanders said. She added that such behaviour is the "purest form of hypocrisy."

 Sputnik

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Tillerson Tells Lavrov Sanctions to Stay Until Minsk Deal Implemented

Sputnik News

20:13 10.05.2017(updated 20:17 10.05.2017)

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Washington that US sanctions on Russia will remain until the Minsk agreement is fully implemented, the Department of State said in a press release on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The two diplomats met for more than an hour in Washington, DC on Wednesday before heading to the White House for a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

"On Ukraine, Secretary Tillerson stressed the need for progress toward full implementation of the Minsk agreements," the release stated. "Sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them."

Tillerson and Lavrov agreed in a meeting to continue dialogue on areas of mutual concern, including stability.

"The United States and Russia agreed to continue discussions to resolve other issues of bilateral concern, including strategic stability," the release stated.

Tillerson and Lavrov spoke about the importance of allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria.

"The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the importance of defeating ISIS [Daesh], de-escalating the violence in Syria and ensuring that humanitarian assistance reaches hundreds of thousands of civilians throughout the country," the release stated.

"The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the importance of defeating ISIS [Daesh], de-escalating the violence in Syria and ensuring that humanitarian assistance reaches hundreds of thousands of civilians throughout the country," the release stated.

Tillerson and Lavrov reaffirmed in a meeting on Wednesday their support for the UN-led political process on Syria in Geneva.

"[The] Secretary and Foreign Minister restated support for the UN-led political process in Geneva, which is central to international efforts to bring about an enduring resolution to the [Syrian] conflict," the release stated.

 Sputnik

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NATO Membership 'Categorically Unacceptable' for Moldova - President

Sputnik News

12:31 10.05.2017

The Moldovan president said that NATO membership was unacceptable for the country.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Moldovan President Igor Dodon said Wednesday that membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is "categorically unacceptable" to his country.

"I have always said to all our external partners there are three or four things that I can never [allow] to be subject to negotiations. This is our statehood, the preservation of Moldova, not union with some countries. Second is our neutrality, NATO is categorically unacceptable," Dodon said.

Dodon also added he was ready for constructive work with the leadership of the breakaway republic of Transnistria toward unifying the country.

"I am personally inclined very constructively toward the leadership of the region, we have already had two meetings with the head of the Transnistrian region. I hope there will be others in the near future," Dodon said in Moscow.

He said "step by step" efforts to resolve issues between residents of the opposite banks of the Dniester River would be made "so that at the right moment, when everyone is ready, to decide on a political settlement."

Speaking alongside Russian lower house parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Dodon named Moldova's Orthodox belief and strategic partnership with Russia as his country's third and fourth non-negotiable principles.

 Sputnik

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NATO to Decide on Increasing Afghanistan Military Presence Within Weeks - Chief

Sputnik News

12:33 10.05.2017(updated 13:56 10.05.2017)

NATO has received a request from its military authorities to increase its military presence in Afghanistan with a few thousand troops, and is assessing it, a decision is expected in coming weeks, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  In the end of April, Stoltenberg told German Die Welt newspaper that NATO could increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, but the decision about it would be made in June.

"We have received a request from our military authorities to increase our military presence in Afghanistan with a few thousand troops. We are now assessing that request. We'll make a decision on the scale and the scope on the mission within weeks, but this is not about returning to a combat operation in Afghanistan," Stoltenberg told reporters in London after meeting with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, calling on NATO allies to provide servicemen for the operation.

On Tuesday, media reported that NATO had asked London to consider increasing its military presence in Afghanistan now amounting to some 500 UK troops.

The NATO-led Resolute Support mission has been operating in Afghanistan since January 2015. The participants aim to advise and train the Afghan security forces.

Afghanistan has been torn apart by the activities of terrorist organizations, such as Taliban and more recently the Islamic State, both outlawed in Russia, as they continue carrying out attacks against civilian and military targets in the country.

 Sputnik

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Taliban Advances in Northern Afghan Kunduz Province

Sputnik News

05:41 10.05.2017(updated 07:49 10.05.2017)

The Taliban terrorist movement, which is outlawed in Russia among other countries, has advanced in northern Afghanistan, claiming new territories, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Taliban terrorist movement, which is outlawed in Russia among other countries, is continuing its offensive in the northern part of Afghanistan establishing control over new territories in the Kunduz province.

The TOLOnews broadcaster reported Tuesday that at least five military and police outposts near the city of Kunduz are besieged by the terrorists.

According to the media outlet, the Taliban militants were at some 150 meters (164 yards) from the city's gate in Charkhab area, which was located not far from the city's central part.

The Taliban movement infamous for numerous acts of violence in Afghanistan, is currently controlling large territories across the country. For years, the Kunduz province has been a battlefield between the government forces and Taliban militants that had even controlled the provincial capital for several days in fall 2015.

 Sputnik

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Secretary Tillerson's Meeting With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

May 10, 2017



The below is attributable to Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert:

Secretary Tillerson met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today in Washington for more than an hour to discuss a range of issues including Ukraine, Syria, and bilateral concerns.

The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the importance of defeating ISIS, de-escalating the violence in Syria, and ensuring that humanitarian assistance reaches hundreds of thousands of civilians throughout the country. Additionally, the Secretary and Foreign Minister restated support for the UN-led political process in Geneva, which is central to international efforts to bring about an enduring resolution to the conflict.

On Ukraine, Secretary Tillerson stressed the need for progress toward full implementation of the Minsk agreements. Sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them.

The United States and Russia agreed to continue discussions to resolve other issues of bilateral concern, including strategic stability.

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Amid spreading cholera outbreak, UN migration agency aids South Sudanese

10 May 2017  United Nations humanitarian workers are responding to a growing cholera outbreak in Ayod, the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan, one of multiple counties throughout the country where the disease has spread since June 2016.

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it deployed a rapid response team to Jonglei late last month, to support local health partners and try to contain the outbreak.

"Conditions are extremely difficult for families in Jiech," said Carol Kipsang, an IOM health officer and nurse, referring to a town in Ayad County. More than 230 people are affected there.

"We met one mother who was caring for her new born and her sister's child, after her sister died from cholera two weeks ago in her community. The young mother walked one hour to the IOM clinic to receive treatment for the children and seek nutritional support for her malnourished daughter."

The UN agency launched its response after 140 suspected cases of cholera were reported in Ayod during the first weeks of April, threatening the population of some 175,000 people.

"Access to Ayod is difficult during the rainy season, and its proximity to the Nile River increases its vulnerability to outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera," IOM said, noting also the ongoing crisis in Jonglei and the lack of health workers and medical supplies.

The majority of suspected cholera cases in Ayod come from communities living in cattle camps along the river.

Since the cholera outbreak was declared in June 2016, more than 7,200 cases of cholera have been reported, including 229 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the South Sudan Ministry of Health.

The disease is also reportedly spreading through swamp water, with millions of people displaced and moving through the swamps to avoid fighters.

WHO has provided response kits, medication and equipment for oral rehydration points and cholera treatment units.

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South Sudan Army Chief Sworn In One Day After Malong's Ouster

By Tito Justin May 10, 2017

General James Ajongo was sworn in Wednesday as the new SPLA army chief, a day after South Sudan President Salva Kiir fired his predecessor, General Paul Malong, with no explanation.

Ajongo said he would work to implement the security arrangements stipulated in the 2015 peace agreement and strive to end the fighting. He also said he would address the increasing numbers of armed groups across South Sudan who are trying to topple Kiir's government.

Amid tight security in and around the Presidential Palace, Ajongo was sworn in by South Sudan's chief justice in front of a small audience of government officials. Afterward, Ajongo told reporters he recognized that the conflict is South Sudan's biggest problem.

"It is a difficult task, given the fact the country is actually in conflict by itself, but making use of our good human resources [of] my colleagues behind here, I believe that they are the right people who [are] posted in the right place. We will be able to manage the situation, and we will exit from this conflict," Ajongo said.

Career soldier

Like Malong, Ajongo is from Aweil in the former Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.

Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny described Ajongo as a career soldier. "He is the former deputy chief of general staff for administration and finance. ... He has been in the SPLA since 1983 and he has not taken any position like General Malong."

Malong, sometimes referred to by supporters as "King Paul" for his lack of remorse, was appointed by Kiir in 2014. Since taking office, he has never seen peace in his country.

Malong was born sometime in the early 1950s in Warawar, north of Aweil town. His exact birthdate was not recorded. In 1969, he attended basic school in his home village before completing intermediate studies at St. James in Khartoum. Malong completed school in Khartoum and returned to Aweil to form Anya-Nya, a military and political movement, which later became part of the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Presidential guard unit

In 2005, Malong set up the South Sudan presidential guard unit of the army, becoming commander of the Republican Guard. He served as a deputy of the National Intelligence and Security Services in Khartoum after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Malong was promoted to general by Sudan President Omar al-Bashir that same year.

In April 2008, Malong was appointed governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state. After fighting broke out in December 2013 in Juba, Malong was appointed SPLA chief of staff in April 2014, a position he held until Tuesday.

Malong vowed to restore law and order. Since his appointment, however, fighting has continued across South Sudan, even spreading to areas that were previously calm.

Malong was accused of recruiting pro-government militias known as the Mathiang Anyor who reportedly attacked civilians in Wau, Yei, Kajokeji, Parjok, Magawi and Morobo in the former Central Equatoria state.

Malong arrived in Yirol in Eastern Lakes State on Wednesday, where he was cheered by supporters.

Malong reportedly headed home to Aweil with a heavily armed convoy. That has aroused fears among some residents of possible clashes between government forces and those allied to the general.

Further splits feared

Aweil resident Abraham Wol Kom is one of them.

"The presidential decree which relieved the chief of staff is very surprising," he said. "The decree will increase the current political crisis. It may spark further splits across the nation, and as I speak now, Juba has been deserted. The chief of General Staff has left with a huge number of army."

Resident Mayen Tong feared Malong's firing could lead to another rebellion.

"I am not feeling comfortable. I don't know what this guy will do, because he has been the chief of army. He can rebel against the government," Tong said.

Brian Adeba, associate director of policy at the Enough Project, said that although Malong was a powerful figure, not much would change under Ajongo.

"If you see his replacement, a protege of Malong, he was active in the war front in Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile in the beginning of this war. He's been pictured with Malong at theaters of operation. So he's literally following in the footsteps of Malong," Adeba said.

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Rewards for Justice - Reward Offer for Information on al-Nusrah Front Leader Muhammad al-Jawlani

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

May 10, 2017



The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Muhammad al-Jawlani, leader of the al-Nusrah Front (ANF) terrorist group.

This is the first Rewards for Justice reward offer for a leader of al-Nusrah Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaida.

In April 2013, al-Jawlani pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. and its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri after he had a public falling out with ISIS. In July 2016, in a video posted online, al-Jawlani praised al-Qaida. and al-Zawahiri and claimed the ANF was changing its name to Jabhat Fath Al Sham ("Conquest of the Levant Front").

In May 2013, the U.S. Department of State, under the authority of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, named al-Jawlani a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, blocking all his property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from dealing with him. On July 24, 2013, the UN Security Council ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida. Sanctions Committee placed al-Jawlani on its list of sanctioned terrorists, making him subject to an international asset freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.

Under al-Jawlani's leadership, ANF has carried out multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria, often targeting civilians. In April 2015, ANF reportedly kidnapped, and later released, approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria. In June 2015, ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in the Druze village Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province, Syria.

In January 2017, ANF merged with several other hardline opposition groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). ANF remains al-Qaida. 's affiliate in Syria. Jawlani is not the leader of HTS, but remains the leader of ANF, which is at the core of HTS.

ANF has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under the Immigration and Nationality Act and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under E.O. 13224. The UN Security Council ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida. Sanctions Committee has also added ANF to its sanctions list.

More information about al-Jawlani is located at www.rewardsforjustice.net. We encourage anyone with information about al-Jawlani to contact the Rewards for Justice office via e-mail on the website, (info@rewardsforjustice.net), by phone (1-800-877-3927 in North America), or by mail (Rewards for Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA). All information will be kept strictly confidential.

The Rewards for Justice Program is administered by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid in excess of $125 million to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @Rewards4Justice.

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Defense Ministry: PLA Rocket Force test-fires new-type missile weapons

People's Daily Online

(China Military Online) 09:21, May 10, 2017

BEIJING, May 9, (ChinaMil) -- The Rocket Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA) recently conducted an operational test for its new-type missile weapons in waters of the Bohai Sea and achieved the expected results, said the Information Bureau of China's Ministry of National Defense(MND) on Tuesday.

China's MND Information Bureau was asked by the media on Tuesday to confirm whether the PLA Rocket Force had conducted a trial firing of missile recently.

The Information Bureau answered that, to improve the troops' capability of carrying out missions and efficiently deal with national security threats, the PLA Rocket Force recently conducted an operational test for its new-type missile weapons in waters of the Bohai Sea according to the annual training plan and achieved the expected results.

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What Makes New Chinese Sea-Skimming Combat Drone Perfect for South China Sea

Sputnik News

19:55 10.05.2017(updated 21:14 10.05.2017)

Pictures have emerged on social media of a new Chinese anti-ship drone that uses ground effect technology to fly at an extremely low altitude above the water.

The pictures show a flying vehicle with a set of forward canards and a pair of upward swept wings. The drone is painted in the blue camouflage of the Chinese Navy.

According to an article on Defense Blog, the new sea-skimming drone will be able to fly as low as 50 cm above the surface of the water. It can reach a maximum altitude of 3,000 meters and has an endurance of 1.5 hours. The drone has a maximum takeoff weight of 3,000 kilograms and can carry a 1,000 kg load.

In an interview with Sputnik China, Russian military expert Vasily Kashin said that the available information indicates that China is on the verge of creating a new type of weapon that would embody the anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) conception.

Kashin said that the drone can take off from the water and this is why it is well suited for deployment to China-controlled islets and facilities in the South China Sea. Unlike planes, the drone could be used even if airstrips on those islands are destroyed.

"Its index name begins with CH, by analogy with Rainbow-type combat unmanned aerial vehicles. Probable, the new drone was developed by the 11th academy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)," Kashin suggested.

Media reports do not provide details on the drone's speed. Usually, ekranoplans cannot surpass 500-550 kph. The expert said that with a flight time of 1.5 hours the drone is expected to reach up to 600 kph and to be able to fly at 1-6 meters above the water.

Kashin said that the drone has three main purposes. First, it is designed to deliver strikes at large surface targets. Second, it can be used for rapid torpedo attacks at long distances. Finally, the drone will be useful for isolating maritime areas. Due to its low altitudes, the drone will not be suitable for reconnaissance missions.

"Probably, for the first group of tasks it can carry a powerful warhead with a weight of up to 1,000 kilograms. In such a scenario, the drone is not reusable. It is slower than anti-ship missiles. At the same time, its low flight altitude will allow for traveling slightly touching the surface of the water," the expert said.

Kashin also assumed that the unit cost of the new drone could be much lower than that of an anti-ship cruise missile, especially a supersonic missile, due to a cheaper design of its body and engine.

The expert also pointed out that China is also working on so-called swarming drone technology. This concept refers to the use of an autonomous group of drones, which can intercommunicate and distribute roles on a mission. Similar technologies were used in Russian-developed heavy-anti-ship missiles, such as the Granit and the Vulkan.

"In theory, despite its low flight speed, drones of the new type could operate in a group, distributing directions of attack between each other. Thus, they could breach the air defense of the enemy naval group. The drone could also be equipped with radio and electronic warfare devices and armored protection," Kashin said.

Moreover, according to Kashin's assumption, an attack by these new drones could be coordinated with the use of other weapons, including anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles and combat aircraft.

The new drone can also carry torpedoes, which makes it a kind of reusable anti-submarine missile, Kashin added.

"In this scenario, the vehicle would fly to the target probable location area and drop a torpedo. Possibly, it could receive information on the target from an underwater monitoring system currently developed by China. It could also coordinate with anti-submarine aircraft," the expert said.

Furthermore, according to the expert, the new drone could hypothetically be used against ground targets, with the use of the Chinese version of the Russian-made Shkval torpedo.

 Sputnik

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North Korean Diplomat: Pyongyang 'Not Afraid' to Continue Nuclear Tests

Sputnik News

22:22 10.05.2017(updated 00:18 11.05.2017)

North Korea's ambassador to the UK has said his country is "not afraid" to continue its missile and nuclear weapons activity, and that Pyongyang intends to conduct its sixth nuclear test as soon as the leadership deems it necessary.

Choe Il said that United Nations sanctions, international calls for denuclearization and the US' aggressive posturing won't deter the North from persisting with its nuclear and ballistic missile program, telling Sky News, "In regards to the sixth nuclear test, I do not know the scheduled time for it, as I am here in the UK, not in my home country  However, I can say that the nuclear test will be conducted at the place and time as decided by our supreme leader, Kim Jong-un."

In his first televised interview as ambassador, Choe said that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was unmoved by US President Trump's threats of military action, stating that, "If we were afraid of it, we probably would not have started conducting nuclear tests or launching ballistic missiles."

"We are developing our nuclear strength to respond to that kind of attack by the US. If the US attacks us, our military and people are fully ready to respond to any kind of attack."

As a US Navy carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson sits near the Korean Peninsula, accompanied by the nuclear-powered tomahawk-missile-equipped USS Michigan submarine, Choe said Pyongyang would reduce Washington's defenses "to ashes" if the US dared to launch a preemptive strike.

He said, "The US cannot attack us first  If the US moves an inch, then we are ready to turn to ashes any available strategic assets of the US."

Choe affirmed the DPRK's right to develop nuclear power as a sovereign nation, suggesting that this activity is necessary given Washington's hostile behavior.

The US vessels are taking part in annual military exercises with South Korea, a set of drills that the North views as practice for invading their country.

The South's newly elected President Moon Jae-in, considered more liberal than his predecessor, the ousted Park Geun-hye, has said he wants to bring "integration, unity and harmony" to the country, even expressing willingness to visit the North and other players in the conflict if it helps facilitate peace.

During his Wednesday oath-taking ceremony, Moon remarked, "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."

The president also said he would "sincerely negotiate" with Washington over the controversial deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) on South Korean soil.

 Sputnik

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Germany to launch reforms in army, defense minister says

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 2:25PM

Germany's Defense Ministry plans to begin a reform process in the army's recruitment and education system amid reports that far-right sympathizers in the military have been plotting to launch hate attacks in the country.

Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that she would carry out reforms into the German military's founding principles in an attempt to respond to the issue of far-right sentiments in the army.

The announcement comes a day after police detained a second soldier over his alleged role in a plot by a military officer and a student to carry out an "extremist" attack. Prosecutors said the soldier was suspected of involvement in the plot, which those who hatched it sought to blame on refugees.

Von der Leyen said she would inform a special session of the parliamentary defense committee later in the day about a probe that the ministry had launched into the presence of the followers of the far-right in the army.

The minister said the reforms would cover a clarification of the armed forces' founding principles. The post-Nazi era policies, known as the "Traditionserlass," and updated in 1982, allow troops to have a differentiated view of how to treat the legacy of the German military.

"I am completely clear ... that we need a broad process in the military itself, that we must travel together, from recruits to generals, from instructors to the minister," Von der Leyen told reporters.

The German defense minister added that there was the need in the military for a faster and more efficient reporting scheme that could cover incidents and potential threats. She said the army also needed to revise its education system to increase the political awareness of the troops.

Von der Leyen is a key ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel in the conservative-dominated government. Her handling of the case, as the commander in chief of Germany's armed forces, could be of critical importance as Merkel and her party are seeking a fourth consecutive term in office in the upcoming elections in September.

Spared of hate attacks the size of those that took place in countries such as France and Belgium over the past two years, Germany has seen a surge in assaults by far-right elements. Many of the attacks have been induced by a historic flow into Germany of refugees, some of them recruited by terror groups to carry out attacks on crowded places in large German cities.

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Army: Pakistan, Iran enjoy strong brotherly ties

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, May 10, IRNA -- Pakistani army says Iran and Pakistan enjoy strong brotherly and historical relations which will continue to grow in the future.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said that Iran and Pakistan have a border coordination mechanism which will improve in the future.

"Our relations with Iran are not bad, Iran is our neighbor and we enjoy good and historic relations with Iran and Inshallah they will continue to grow in future," he viewed.

Army media wing ISPR (Inter-Services Public Relations) Director General went on to say that 'if there is some tension on our borders then please understand the plots of our common enemies'.

"Pakistan has been passing through a difficult phase for last ten years, but now we are moving towards a better future and the anti-Pakistani elements are playing their last cards to destabilize Pakistan and its borders," Major General Ghafoor pointed out.

He also mentioned that recently Pakistan Army Chief had a good meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Ambassador of Iran.

Last week, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in a meeting with Iranian foreign minister had assured him that Pakistan will take effective measures to improve security along the border with Iran.

272**1723**2050

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Pak top official: Iran-Pak border commission to meet this month

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, May 10, IRNA -- Pakistan's Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz hopes that border management commission between Iran and Pakistan will meet within this month to make sure border incidents may not happen again.

Responding to a question by IRNA on Wednesday, he said that Iran and Pakistan have agreed to create a new border management commission with four members each to sort out border issues.

"We are about to nominate our members and we hope the commission will meet within this month to make sure such incidents may not happen again and any complaints that comes in can be sorted out at the local level and if necessary at the political level," he said.

To another question, he said that Pakistan also expressed its concerns on the recent border incident but Iran believes that Jaish-ul-Adl like terrorist organizations carry out these activities from our side of the border, that is why when Iranian Foreign Minister came here both countries agreed to strengthen border mechanism and establish hotlines.

He said that sometimes smugglers and terrorists do carry out activities on Iran-Pak border, but there should be no impression that such activities are being sponsored by anyone.

"It is our priority to make the border safer and secure so that no vacuum could be created for undesirable elements," he said.

He said that neither Iran nor Afghanistan are enemies of Pakistan.

On April 26, nine Iranian border guards were martyred and two others injured by terrorists near Pakistan border in southeastern province of Sistan-Balouchestan, when they were patrolling at the zero border point. The terrorists after the killings and abducting one Iranian border guard fled to Pakistan's territories.

Last week Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Pakistan and met with Pakistani civil and military leadership to have better cooperation between the two countries on recent border incident.

272**1723**1771

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Over 1,300 Daesh terrorists killed in west Mosul battle

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 3:0PM

Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, have killed more than 1,300 members of the Takfiri Daesh militant group ever since they launched joint operations to flush the extremists out of the western part of Mosul.

Commander of the Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said on Wednesday that soldiers from the army's 9th Armored Division had killed 1,321 Daesh militants, including senior commanders, since the start of the offensive in February, English-language online newspaper Iraqi News reported.

Yarallah added that 55 districts, villages and vital facilities -- or a total area of 406 square kilometers -- had also been liberated from the clutches of Daesh terrorists ever since.

The top Iraqi commander further noted that a total of 111,750 people had also been evacuated from conflict zones and moved to refugee camps.

Moreover, 139 vehicles rigged with explosives had been destroyed and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles shot down, he said, adding that 61 militant hideouts, 10 bomb-making workshops and five command centers were also demolished.

Separately, Major General Wasiq al-Hamdani told Basnews news agency that Federal Police forces had carried out a sweep operation in parts of eastern Mosul, and arrested 20 Daesh terrorists in Karamah, Khadra and Kokceli neighborhoods. A number of high-ranking militant commanders were among those detained.

Hamdani noted that the detainees have been transferred to a police station to undergo interrogation, and face justice at last.

Iraqi CTS forces retake another neighborhood in western Mosul

Meanwhile, members of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) have established control over al-Ma'amel neighborhood in the western flank of Mosul, and raised the national flag over several buildings in the area.

The CTS soldiers also killed a senior Daesh figure, identified as Abu Ayoub al-Shami, and three of his associates during a separate operation in western Mosul. Shami was reportedly Daesh's commander for the al-Islah al-Zarayeh district.

Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, have made sweeping gains against the Takfiri elements since launching the operation to retake Mosul last October.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

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Bangladeshi police detain Rohingya refugees headed to Malaysia

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 5:47PM

Bangladeshi security forces have detained more than a dozen members of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim community and two men accused of attempting to smuggle them into Malaysia by boat.

Mainuddin Khan, a regional police chief, said on Wednesday that they were arrested in the Bangladeshi border town of Teknaf.

"Acting on a tip-off, we arrested 19 Myanmar nationals from a house in Teknaf on Tuesday as they gathered there for a boat trip to Malaysia," Khan said, adding, "They said they paid Tk 10,000 ($125) each for the trip."

Khan added that the two Bangladeshis were also charged with people smuggling offences after arranging the trip to Malaysia.

In recent years, thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in neighboring Myanmar have taken refuge in Bangladesh's southeastern towns of Cox's Bazar, Ukhia and Teknaf.

Several members of the Rohingya community and Bangladeshi economic migrants seeking jobs have made the treacherous journey across the Bay of Bengal toward the relatively prosperous countries of Thailand and Malaysia.

In 2015, thousands of refugees on boats were turned away by Southeast Asian countries, triggering a regional crisis and a crackdown on the human trafficking trade.

Meanwhile, a leader of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said many refugees were now trying new routes to other regions, including the Middle East.

"As people are desperate to leave, these traffickers are now getting prepared to exploit them," AFP quoted Rohingya community leader Mirza Ghalib as saying.

Abu Zafar, another Rohingya elder in Bangladesh, said the refugees caught by police had endured hunger, poverty and the "toughest test of patience."

"They tried to migrate to Malaysia for a better future. It was a do or die situation for them," Zafar said, adding, "The trafficker rackets are getting organized and activated again. They are a mixed gang of both Bangladeshi and Rohingya people."

The Rohingya are already facing abuse, including torture, murder, and rape, in Myanmar, with the government laying a siege to Rakhine state, where they are concentrated.

Persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar has been going on for years.

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New S.Korean president appoints PM, spy agency chief, presidential staff

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 15:03, May 10, 2017

SEOUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- President Moon Jae-in of South Korea on Wednesday appointed new prime minister, intelligence agency chief, presidential chief of staff and chief of the presidential security service.

Lee Nak-yon, an incumbent governor of South Jeolla province, was named as the first prime minister of the Moon government.

Lee, 65, is a former journalist who entered politics in 2000 and served as a four-term lawmaker.

He worked as spokesman for late liberal presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. He was elected in 2014 as the provincial governor.

The prime minister nominee will be subject to the parliamentary hearing, requiring a parliamentary ratification to take office.

Im Jong-seok, 51, was named as presidential chief of staff. He is a two-term lawmaker who served as chief of staff for Moon's campaign team in the presidential race.

Im is a famous student activist in 1980s who visited a students' festival held in 1989 in Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

For the visit, he was jailed for three and a half years. Under the national security law, it is illegal to visit the DPRK without advance permission from the government.

He entered politics in 2000 by joining the New Millennium Democratic Party, a predecessor of the current ruling Minjoo Party, and was elected as the youngest lawmaker in the year.

Im also worked for Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon as vice mayor on political affairs.

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New South Korean president vows to tackle North Korean nuclear issue, THAAD tensions

People's Daily Online

(People's Daily Online) 16:18, May 10, 2017

The newly elected South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, pledged at his inauguration on May 10 that he would take action to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue as well as the THAAD-related tensions between Seoul, Washington and Beijing.

Moon, 64, took the oath of office at the National Assembly in Seoul on May 10, after earning 41.1 percent of the vote in the presidential by-election, defeating his two main rivals by a large margin.

In his first speech as president, Moon vowed to prioritize tackling North Korea's nuclear program and resolving disputes over the deployment of a controversial U.S. missile defense system, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"If necessary, I will fly straight to Washington," he was quoted as saying. "I will go to Beijing and Tokyo and, under the right circumstances, go to Pyongyang as well."

On May 10, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to Moon that China would like to work with South Korea to ensure the development of Sino-South Korean ties, in order to better benefit the two countries and peoples.

Xi also said that China attaches great importance to its relationship with South Korea, and, on the basis of mutual understanding and respect, is committed to cementing political trust, handling differences and enhancing cooperation, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The presidential race was closely followed by Chinese media, and prevailing reports project improved bilateral relations under Moon's leadership. South Korea's deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Defense (THAAD) system  despite China's persistent protests  has soured relations between Beijing and Seoul. It has also affected China's economic relationship with South Korea, as the number of Chinese tourists traveling to South Korea has plummeted, among other impacts.

Moon has said the decision to deploy THAAD was made hastily, and his government should have the final say on whether or not to deploy it, Reuters reported.

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Moon Jae-in sworn in as South Korea's president

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 4:54AM

South Korea's new president, Moon Jae-in, has been sworn in a day after he was declared president in a decisive election victory.

Moon took the oath of office in Seoul's National Assembly building on Wednesday to begin his five-year term in office.

The surprising speed with which Moon assumed office  one day after election  was because the country's former president, Park Geun-hye, had been impeached and removed from office, leaving a caretaker government in control.

Just moments after Moon officially began his term, he declared his willingness to work for peace with North Korea. While tensions are high over the North's nuclear and missile programs, Moon said he backed engagement with Pyongyang.

"If needed, I will fly to Washington immediately," he said. "I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right circumstances... I will do everything I can to build peace on the Korean Peninsula."

The South's 19th president  the son of refugees from North Korea  during his campaign advocated for a combination of negotiations and economic cooperation alongside military and security measures in dealing with the North.

Engagement with the North, however, has not been popular with the US, which is Seoul's decades-long military and political ally and which opposes Pyongyang's missile and military nuclear activities.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has several times warned that all options, including a military strike, were being considered to halt Pyongyang's missile and nuclear activities, which North Korea says act as deterrence against a potential invasion by its adversaries.

But the Trump administration has not been consistent, and, amid all the hostile posturing, the US president has said he would be honored to meet with North Korea's leader.

Moon, who has faced criticism from opponents in his country for being anti-American, reassured them that he was on the "same page" as Trump.

The new president, however, seems not to be in agreement with Washington over the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in his country.

Seoul and Washington announced last week that the missile system was up and running. The then caretaker administration in South Korea accelerated the THAAD roll-out, despite widespread protests against the deployment.

Moon has criticized that haste and argued that the missile's deployment should have been contingent on a vote in the country's National Assembly. But he may not be able to reverse its deployment, and he seemed to be referring to that inability last week when he told The Washington Post that the swift deployment of the THAAD may have been meant to box him in as president.

China congratulates Moon, looks forward to cooperation

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Moon on his election as president on Wednesday and said Beijing was willing to work with the new government in Seoul to improve relations.

The South's relations with China have sunk to the lowest point over the past 25 years. China blamed Park, the impeached president, for creating friction in their relations by her decision to allow the deployment of the THAAD, which Beijing says threatens its security.

Park, who was ousted over a corruption scandal in March, had an approach of tough sanctions and aggressive rhetoric vis-a-vis the North.

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Trump, New South Korean President Agree to Cooperate Against North Korean Nuclear Threat

By Ken Bredemeier May 10, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump and new South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed in a phone call Wednesday to closely cooperate in dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons development program.

South Korean officials said that Trump, in the call on Moon's inauguration day, described issues involving Pyongyang's military ambitions as complicated, but ones that could be resolved.

Trump said the U.S.-South Korean relationship, long a bulwark against North Korean threats, was strong and invited Moon to visit Washington, the South Korean presidential office said.

The new South Korean leader, however, has taken a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea than Trump, who has dispatched a naval strike group to the waters off the Korean peninsula as a warning to the North against its nuclear missile development. Trump wants new sanctions against the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and further isolation for the reclusive communist nation.

Moon's assumption of power ends nearly a decade of hardline conservative rule in South Korea, with Seoul focused in years past on pressuring North Korea to curb its weapons development.

Moon, in his inaugural address, said, "If needed, I will fly directly to Washington. I will go to Beijing and Tokyo. And if conditions are met, I will go to Pyongyang. In order to bring about peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, I will do everything that I can."

The new South Korean leader has also been reluctant to support the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system, for which Trump recently demanded $1 billion in added defense costs. China also opposed the advanced weapons system as a threat to the region and has retaliated against South Korea with limits on tourism and imports.

Moon has played down policy differences with Washington. He has emphasized the importance of the U.S. alliance with South Korea and voiced confidence that Seoul and Washington ultimately want the same thing: to bring North Korea to the negotiating table to peacefully resolve the nuclear threat.

North Korea has yet to comment on Moon's election.

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ELKO -- The Elko High School Choraliers have returned from their trip to Hollywood, and the Choral Music Department Spring concert will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the Elko Convention Center.

The concert will feature six choirs from Elko High School, including the high school chorus, advanced choir, Choraliers Women's choir, Choraliers Men's choir, Choraliers and show choir. Musical selections will vary from traditional choral standards to Disney and chart topping pop tunes. Admission is free.

The Choraliers recently competed in a national choral competition in Hollywood, earning gold ratings and an invitation to perform at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2018.

The Choraliers, Men's and Womens's choirs and Advanced choir also received superior ratings at the Elko County Choir festival on May 8.
Veteran 'Silovik' Named To Head Chechen Presidential Administration

Liz Fuller May 10, 2017

Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov recently demoted one of his closest associates and promoted a second. That in itself is not unusual, given that Kadyrov constantly transfers from one post to another, regardless of relevant qualifications and competence, the estimated 80 to 100 men, most of them either blood relatives or born in his native village of Tsentaroi, whom he trusts.

Both recent moves, however, appear to be a direct response to the alleged plot to assassinate Kadyrov a year ago and may significantly affect the balance of power within his entourage.

The man whom Kadyrov demoted is his third cousin Islam Kadyrov, who according to the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta was indirectly implicated in the assassination plot. Islam Kadyrov is said to have passed to his relative Valid Yakikhanov the number of Kadyrov's personal mobile phone, which Yakikhanov then gave to one of the plotters. For several weeks last summer, Islam Kadyrov had casts on both wrists, which prompted speculation he had been ungently questioned to establish how much he knew about the conspiracy.

Islam Kadyrov, 30, began his career in one of the numerous security units subordinate to Ramzan, but was singled out for rapid promotion in 2009 after he married a niece of Kadyrov's wife, Medni. After serving as an aide to Kadyrov, he was appointed first deputy mayor of Grozny in January 2012, first deputy prime minister in May 2012, Grozny mayor in November 2012, and head of the presidential and government administration in July 2015.

But in November 2016, after news of the planned assassination attempt became public knowledge, he was transferred to the post of deputy prime minister with responsibility for coordinating the work of the law enforcement agencies. And on April 25, Ramzan Kadyrov announced that his cousin had been named to another, unspecified, post in law enforcement, RFE/RL's Kavkaz.Realii reported.

The post of deputy prime minister with responsibility for the "force" agencies remains vacant.

Meanwhile, Kadyrov has promoted to head the presidential and government administration Vakhit Usmayev, 52, one of his most efficient, ruthless, and feared henchmen. (Sultan Tagayev, who succeeded Islam Kadyrov in that post, has been appointed finance minister, replacing Usman Rassukhanov.)

Usmayev, like Kadyrov, is a native of Tsentaroi. His official biography is a blank from 1984, when he completed his military service, until 1993, when he graduated with a degree in history from Grozny University, which suggests he may have been recruited in his early 20s for a career in the KGB or military intelligence. It is similarly not clear where and how Usmayev spent the 1994-96 and 1999-2000 wars, although he received several military medals.

In late 2001, 18 months after Ramzan Kadyrov's father Akhmed-hadji was installed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as Chechnya's puppet leader, Usmayev resurfaced as a company commander with the Russian Interior Ministry forces contingent in Chechnya; his duties were the protection of top officials and government buildings.

He rose steadily through the ranks, serving for a year in the town of Gudermes, east of Grozny, prior to being appointed commander of the Akhmad Kadyrov special purpose regiment in September 2004. In 2009, he graduated from the federal Interior Ministry Management Academy.

On his return to Chechnya, Usmayev played a key role in hunting down and killing the last remnants of the Chechen resistance, including the Gakayev brothers in February 2012. (According to Kadyrov, he participated in more than 100 such special operations.) In August 2014, Kadyrov named him to head the Council for Economic and Social Security, and in June 2016 as Gudermes district administrator.

Then, in January 2017, Kadyrov brought Usmayev back to Grozny to head his personal secretariat, effectively making him the third most powerful man in Chechnya after Kadyrov himself and parliament Chairman Magomed Daudov (who headed the presidential and government administration from May 2012 to July 2015.)

Announcing Usmayev's most recent promotion on Instagram, Kadyrov described him as "a veteran member" of the team founded by his father. Usmayev himself told his new subordinates that Kadyrov has tasked him with "raising the work of the administration to a qualitatively higher and more efficient level."

Given the range of issues for which the presidential and government administration is responsible, the replacement of an economist (Tagayev) by a veteran silovik suggests that Kadyrov's current priorities are to discover and quash at an early stage any further conspiracy against him, and to preclude any further attack on federal security personnel on the lines of that in the northern Nauri district in March 2017. On that occasion, a group of disaffected young men armed only with knives succeeded in killing six members of the National Guard and injuring three more.

Kadyrov assured Putin during a face-to-face meeting in April that the Chechen economy is flourishing, with double-digit growth in agricultural output and budget revenues.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/chechnya-kadyrov-uzmayev-new -presidential-administration-head/28478407.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Arctic Region Has No Issues Requiring Military Solutions - Foreign Ministry

Sputnik News

16:25 10.05.2017

There are no issues or disagreements over the Arctic region, which would call for military solutions, and the region's prosperity can be ensured only through cooperation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take part in the Arctic Council ministerial meeting scheduled to take place on Thursday in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the United States will conclude its two-year chairmanship and transfer the council to Finland.

"There are no insoluble contradictions in the region and especially issues, which would require military solutions. The prosperity of the Arctic region can be provided only through cooperation. Russia's actions on the Arctic track correspond to the very same look at the region," the statement said.

According to the ministry, Moscow is seeking to enhance the international collaboration in the Arctic region, both on the bilateral and multilateral basis, first and foremost, within the Arctic Council.

"In many respects, thanks to the activities of the Arctic Council, it was possible to prevent the degradation of the situation in the Arctic and continue the policy of cooperation, despite the complication of international relations. None of the projects of the Arctic Council has been rolled up," the ministry added.

Earlier in the day, US Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science David Balton told Sputnik that he regarded US-Russia cooperation in the Arctic region, and in the Arctic Council in particular, as being successful.

Canada, Russia and the United States, alongside Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark, are the Arctic Council's member states. The intergovernmental group aims to facilitate cooperation among the eight states and Arctic indigenous communities and focuses on sustainable development and environmental protection of the region.

 Sputnik

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US ignores Turkey's objection, approves arming Kurdish forces in Syria

Iran Press TV

Tue May 9, 2017 8:32PM

US President Donald Trump has authorized the arming of Kurdish forces in Syria despite fierce opposition from Turkey.

The Pentagon made the announcement on Tuesday, stressing that arming the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is to "ensure a clear victory" in operations aimed at the liberation of Raqqah from the Daesh terrorist group.

The US currently provides air support for members of the SDF -- a Kurdish-dominated and anti-Damascus alliance. They have largely surrounded Raqqah and are expected to begin an offensive soon.

The SDF is led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara views as a terrorist organization over its alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey," said Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White. "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," she added.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also confirmed the announcement, "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 ISIL in Raqqah, Syria. The SDF partnered with enabling support from US and coalition forces are the only force on the ground to successfully seize Raqqah in the near future."

The move was announced after US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Washington will be cooperating with Turkey to liberate the Daesh-held northeastern Syrian city of Raqqah.

"We are going to sort it out and figure out how we are going to do it, but we are all committed to it," he added.

Meanwhile, reports coming out of Syria suggest that a joint military force of US, British, and Jordanian troops, equipped with tanks and helicopters, have been deployed in the war-torn country's southern border areas.

Different foreign-backed terrorist groups have been wreaking havoc in Syria since 2011.

Over the past few months, Syrian forces have made sweeping gains against Takfiri elements who have lately increased their acts of violence across the country following a series of defeats on the ground.

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Erdogan calls on US to reverse bid to arm Kurdish militants in Syria

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 6:31PM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Washington to immediately overturn its decision to arm Kurdish militants that Ankara regards as members of a terrorist group.

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," Erdogan stated on Wednesday, following an announcement by the US that it intends to supply arms to the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) in the battle against Daesh militants in Syrian territory, AFP reported.

Erdogan further emphasized that he would mention the issue in upcoming discussions with US President Donald Trump when the two are scheduled to meet in Washington on May 16 in their first formal encounter as heads of state.

"I will personally express our worries in a detailed way when we talk with President Trump on May 16," said the Turkish leader, noting that he would also bring up the issue during a NATO summit in Brussels on May 25.

"We want to believe that our allies would prefer to be side by side with ourselves rather than with the terror groups," Erdogan further said, adding that whatever happens in Syria and Iraq is a matter of "national security" for Turkey.

The development came shortly after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed resentment over Washington's plans to arm the YPG, underlining that any armaments supplied to the Kurdish forces will constitute a threat to Ankara.

Speaking to reporters while on a visit to Montenegro on Wednesday, Cavusoglu further said that Washington is well aware of Ankara's position on the YPG and should not take wrong steps in Syria.

Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian branch of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been battling to establish an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.

Turkey has stepped up its attacks against PKK positions in northern Iraq and YPG outposts in Syria over the past few weeks.

Cavusoglu's remarks came a day after the US Defense Department's chief spokeswoman Dana White declared in a written statement that Trump had authorized arms shipments to YPG militants.

She further claimed that the US-backed Kurdish militiamen are "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqah in the near future."

This is while the Syrian government has censured and protested the US and Turkish support for armed militants in Syria, and has vowed to resist any moves by foreign-sponsored militants to seize territories inside the Arab country.

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US-backed SDF recaptures Tabqa near Raqqah from Daesh

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 6:7PM

US-backed militants, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have fully captured the city of Tabqa and a nearby dam from the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

The SDF, an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, on Wednesday recaptured the city, which sits on the Euphrates River and on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometers west of Raqqah, Daesh's stronghold in Syria.

SDF spokesman, Talal Sello, told AFP that the forces had "achieved victory and completely liberated the city and the dam."

Rami Abdel Rahman of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed the development.

Both the dam and the city are under the control of the joint force, according to the monitoring group.

The SDF had been fighting Daesh in Tabqa, as part of the "Wrath of the Euphrates" operation, which was launched in November 2016.

The recapturing of Tabqa comes ahead of a broader offensive for Raqqah, which fell to the terrorists in March 2013.

Syria has been battling foreign-backed militancy since March 2013. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated last August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.

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Every weapon obtained by YPG threat against Turkey: Cavusoglu

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 12:57PM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has expressed great resentment over the US administration's decision to arm Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters battling Takfiri Daesh terrorists in Syria, stressing that every weapon obtained by the forces constitutes a threat to Turkey.

Speaking to reporters while on a visit to Montenegro on Wednesday, Cavusoglu stated that Washington knows Ankara's position on the YPG very well and should not take wrong steps in Syria.

The top Turkish diplomat added that the United States should distinguish between the YPG and their Arab allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and that the Arabs should be the ones to enter the northeastern Syrian city of Raqqah, which has been the de facto capital of Daesh in Syria since 2014.

Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian branch of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.

Turkey has stepped up its attacks against PKK positions in northern Iraq and YPG outposts in Syria over the past few weeks.

Cavusoglu's remarks came a day after Dana White, the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, said in a written statement that US President Donald Trump had authorized arms shipments to YPG fighters.

She noted that the US-backed Kurdish militiamen are "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqah in the near future."

The Pentagon statement was released before a scheduled meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump in Washington next week.

The US administration is set to use YPG forces in a planned US-led offensive to seize Raqqah. Erdogan has made it clear that he expects a turnaround from Washington on such a move.

Meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish forces have welcomed the "historic" US decision to supply weapons and military equipment to them, stating that the move would speed up Daesh's defeat.

"From now on, after this historic arming decision, our units will play a more influential, powerful, and decisive role in fighting terrorism at a faster pace," YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said in a statement.

He said the decision had come "somewhat late, but would still provide a strong impetus" to all forces fighting against Daesh extremists.

SDF spokesman Talal Sello also said the US decision "to arm the YPG... is important and will hasten the defeat of terrorism."

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Turkey slams US decision to arm Kurdish militants in Syria

Iran Press TV

Wed May 10, 2017 9:42AM

Turkey raps as "unacceptable" a US announcement that Washington will be supplying arms and military equipment to Syria-based Kurdish militants.

The Pentagon made the announcement on Tuesday, stressing that arming the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is to "ensure a clear victory" in operations aimed at liberating the northern Syria city of Raqqah from the Daesh terrorist group.

Raqqah, which fell to Daesh in 2014, is the Takfiri terror group's main stronghold in Syria.

The Kurdish-dominated and anti-Damascus alliance of the SDF, to which the US said would be channeling the hardware, is led by the Washington-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli reacted to the US decision on Wednesday, saying, "The supply of arms to the YPG is unacceptable."

"Such a policy will benefit nobody," added the deputy premier.

Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian branch of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.

On August 24, 2016, Turkish air force and special ground forces kicked off the so-called Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a bid to support the so-called Free Syrian Army militants, who similar to the SDF oppose Damascus.

The mission is also meant to rid the border areas of the YPG and their fellow Kurdish fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The Turkish and Western military presence in Syria comes without the consent of the central government in Damascus, which slams the uncoordinated intervention as illegitimate and a violation of its sovereignty.

Syrian government forces, backed up by Russian airpower, have been pushing against Daesh from the west of Raqqah, while SDF militias have been squeezing the terror group from the north.

SDF welcomes US decision

Meanwhile, the SDF reacted to the US announcement by saying that receiving US arms and military equipment would "hasten the defeat" of Daesh.

"The US decision to arm the YPG... is important and will hasten the defeat of terrorism," an SDF spokesman told AFP.

Separately, Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the PYD, said the US decision was expected.

"The Raqqah campaign is running in parallel with the international coalition against terrorism. It's natural that they would provide weapons" to the Kurdish forces, Muslim said.

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Erdogan Urges U.S. To Reverse Decision On Arming Syrian Kurds

RFE/RL May 10, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed hope that a U.S. decision to arm Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State extremist group in Syria will be quickly changed.

"I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately," Erdogan told a news conference.

Erdogan said he wanted to believe that Turkey's allies would side with Ankara and not with "terrorist" organizations.

He vowed to bring up Turkey's "worries" on the issue in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 16 in Washington.

The comments come after the Pentagon said that Trump had given his authorization to equip the People's Protection Units (YPG) Kurdish group as it battles IS militants in Syria.

Turkey considers the YPG to be a terrorist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting a decades-long insurgency against Turkish forces for greater autonomy.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State said on May 10 that the United States may start distributing some weapons and equipment to Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria "very quickly," but it will be done incrementally and be closely monitored.

"We've got a certain amount of supply in the country already that was used to equip the Syrian Arab Coalition and some of that may be distributed very quickly," coalition spokesman U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian told reporters. He did not give a timeline but said it would be incremental and provided as needed.

On the ground, a U.S-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias said they fully captured the town of Tabqa and Syria's largest dam from Islamic State on May 10, a major objective as they prepare an assault on IS stronghold Raqqa.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been battling IS for weeks in Tabqa, some 40 kilometers west of Raqqa along the Euphrates River.

Nasser Haj Mansour, an adviser to the SDF, said the town and Tabqa dam were now "completely liberated" after the SDF drove all IS fighters out of the area.

Their offensive appeared to have stalled around Tabqa, where the SDF made only slow progress after besieging the town.

They pushed into the town earlier this month, capturing most of its districts and besieging Islamic State in part of the dam.

The battle for Tabqa began after U.S. forces helped SDF fighters conduct an airborne landing on the southern bank of the Euphrates in late March.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-protests-us-arming- syria-kurds/28477965.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Turkish Defense Minister Calls US Decision to Arm Syrian Kurds 'Crisis'

Sputnik News

20:49 10.05.2017

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik on Wednesday slammed the United States' plan to arm Kurdish militias fighting terrorism in Syria, saying that Ankara will protect its national interests, and that the US decision provokes crisis.

ANKARA (Sputnik)  Despite objections from Turkey, US President Donald Trump approved on Tuesday a plan to arm the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the military branch of Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in order to Daesh in Syria.

"The delivery of heavy weapons to the YPG  is a crisis itself. This decision will not benefit neither the region, nor the United States, while the consequences will impact not only the region and Turkey, but a whole world and foremost, the United States. Turkey does not have the strength to single-handedly change this game, but it does have forces to protect its interests," Isik told the Turkish NTV broadcaster.

Ankara considers the YPG to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union. However, the PYD and the YPG, as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been receiving support from the United States in fighting Daesh in Syria.

Earlier in the day, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would personally tell Trump about Ankara's concerns during his visit to Washington on May 17.

 Sputnik

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Pentagon Chief Vows to Resolve Tensions With Turkey Over US Arming Syrian Kurds

Sputnik News

18:31 10.05.2017(updated 18:43 10.05.2017)

The United States will manage to resolve all tensions with Turkey related to the former's plan to arm "Kurdish elements" of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are engaged in the fight against terrorism in northern Syria, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Tuesday, following the US Defense Department's announcement that President Donald Trump approved a plan to arm YPG, the Syrian Kurdish PYD party's affiliate, fighting Daesh terrorists in Syria, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis ensured his Turkish counterpart Fikri Isik over phone of the US commitment to prevent security risks for Turkey.

"We'll work out any of the concerns We will work very closely with Turkey in support of their security on their southern border. It's Europe's southern border, and we'll stay closely connected," Mattis told reporters as quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper.

Ankara considers the YPG, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party's (PYD) military branch, to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union. However, the PYD and the YPG, as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been receiving support from the United States in fighting Daesh in northern Syria.

Turkish leadership has repeatedly expressed regret regarding the attention Russia and the United States are paying to the Syrian Kurds. Russia, in particular, has repeatedly criticized the absence of the Kurds during the talks on the Syrian reconciliation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit the United States to hold a meeting with Trump on May, 16. The two leaders will discuss the particulars of the situation in Syria, Iraq and the larger fight against terrorism.

In November 2016, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which predominately consists of Kurdish fighters, but also includes members of the Syrian Arab Coalition, launched an operation called the Rage of Euphrates in order to seize control over Syrian Raqqa, the de facto Daesh capital, and are now starting the fourth stage of the campaign aimed at liberating the rural areas of Raqqa province from terrorists.

 Sputnik

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Kurdish Militia Says US Arms Will Hasten Assault on IS-held Raqqa

By Rikar Hussein, Ahed Al Hendi May 10, 2017

Commanders in the Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, and the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State say Washington's decision to send more arms to the YPG will accelerate their advance into Islamic State's de facto capital, Raqqa.

"We need all types of weapons to complete our war against IS and to capture Raqqa," Nasir Hacimansur, a senior adviser of Syrian Democratic Forces general command, told VOA.

"This American support will significantly expedite and ease the war against IS," he said. "It will also have a very positive psychological effect on our soldiers to see a country like the U.S. is supporting them."

The YPG is a Kurdish militia that leads the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces that has driven IS militants from large swaths of land in northern Syria over the past two years with the backing of the U.S.-led coalition.

The SDF said Wednesday it has ousted IS from the strategically important town of Tabqa, 40 kilometers west of Raqqa, using its assault there to move toward the IS stronghold.

Washington sees arming the Kurdish fighters as the easiest way to bring about Raqqa's downfall. And Kurdish officials have continuously told Washington that the assault on the IS capital could be long and costly for their forces if they are not provided with heavier weapons.

"We need heavy and light weapons for that operation," Hacimansur said. "We are consuming [using] many bullets every day and many of our guns are weary that need replacement. We are also recruiting more people on daily basis as a preparation for the major operation."

U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, said on Wednesday that the YPG will receive the arms in short order. The weapons will include small arms, ammunitions, heavy machine guns, and mortars.

"Some of the equipment and the resources that are going to be [provided] are already in theater, and some of those may have begun being dispersed very quickly. Some will be metered out as it's needed," Dorrian told reporters in a weekly televised briefing from Baghdad. He added that the arms shipments are directly tied to speeding up the Raqqa operation against IS.

IS is showing fierce resistance on the northern outskirts of Raqqa, detonating suicide car bombs and using civilians as human shields.

"We already know how insane the warfare [techniques] of IS are," Hacimansur said. "From our side, there is a limit to what we can use while they are using all type of weapons, including the prohibited ones."

Turkey's response

Washington has previously supplied light weapons and armored vehicles to the Arab element of the SDF. The U.S. has avoided that supply to the YPG because of opposition from NATO ally Turkey, which sees the YPG as an extension of the Turkish-Kurdish separatist PKK.

Turkey expressed outrage Wednesday at the U.S. decision to further arm the YPG.

"Every weapon obtained by the People's Protection Units [YPG] constitutes a threat to Turkey," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

But the coalition spokesman said the coalition will "carefully monitor what is given and what it's being used for."

"We have made sure that those who are receiving these weapons pledge to use them against ISIS and we're going to be watching to make sure that that's how they're used. Any departure from what's been agreed will affect how we operate with partner forces going forward," Dorrian said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Fawza al-Yusuf, a political leader of Kurdish self-proclaimed Democratic Federal System, told VOA that if the decision had been made earlier, "we would have seen a lot more advances against IS."

Kawa Azizi, a political science professor at Salahaddin University in Iraq's Kurdish region, said that by sending arms, the U.S. is expecting a rapid defeat of IS.

"The U.S. made that decision because its priority for now is to defeat IS both in Mosul and Raqqa," he said. "It wants a group that's only focus is IS, and YPG is that force. Other Syrian groups that the U.S. supported before either disintegrated or turned their focus away to fighting each other and the Syrian regime."

VOA Kurdish Service's Shahed Alavi and Mutlu Civiroglu contributed from Washington.

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Erdogan to Grill Trump Over Decision to Arm Kurdish Militia in Syria

By Dorian Jones May 10, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will grill President Donald Trump about the U.S. decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish militia when he visits Washington next week.

"The fight against the terrorist organization Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Islamic State] should not be carried out with another terrorist organization," Erdogan said Wednesday. "This kind of step would endanger the future of Syria and the region."

The YPG Kurdish militia is widely recognized as the most effective in Syria in fighting Islamic State.

However, it is considered by Ankara to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' party, PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state. Turkey and the U.S. have designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.

"Every weapon obtained by the People's Protection Units [YPG] constitutes a threat to Turkey," declared Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Erdogan in Washington

Erdogan's Washington visit is seen as the most important leg of his international tour to bolster his legitimacy, after last month's controversial referendum victory granting him sweeping powers. The vote remains marred by voter fraud allegations.

The ongoing controversy over Kurdish fighters is a point of contention between allies, especially as most experts predicted Washington would ultimately arm the YPG.

"It's obvious Americans are quite pragmatic about the Syrian question," said Atilla Yesilada, political consultant of Global Source Partners. "They prefer Kurds, not because they are in love with them, but simply because Kurds have 50,000 valiant fighters at the gates of Raqqa. What they need is heavy weaponry."

Weapons and PKK

The kind of weapons Washington will ultimately deliver to the YPG will likely be closely followed by Ankara. The Turkish military has repeatedly claimed that sophisticated anti-tank missiles delivered by its Western allies to Syrian Kurdish forces have fallen into the hands of the PKK fighting in Turkey.

Washington is going on the charm offensive.

"We'll work out any of the concerns," U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday. "We will work very closely with Turkey in support of their security on their southern border. It's Europe's southern border, and we'll stay closely connected."

But the YPG is still claiming victory.

"We believe that from now on and after this historic decision, [the YPG] will play a stronger, more influential and more decisive role in combating terrorism at a fast pace," spokesman Redur Xelil said in a written statement to Reuters.

Ankara has threatened retaliation against its Western partners if they pursued a policy of arming what it considers to be terrorists. U.S. forces depend heavily on the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, not only for military operations against Islamic State, but also as a strategic logistics hub. Turkish ministers from time to time have threatened Washington over its use, but analysts predict Ankara remains reluctant to take such a drastic step and risk wrecking relations with Trump.

Erdogan has met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, five times in less than a year, most recently this month in Sochi. But given that Moscow also is backing the YPG, Ankara's room for maneuvering is viewed as limited.

Washington's decision to support the YPG will also likely preclude any repeat of last month's Turkish military strikes against the Syrian Kurdish militia, both in Syria and Iraq.

"The Americans have pushed Ankara into a corner where no military operations against the presence of YPG in Syria are possible and, second, Ankara from now on will have to live with the fact the YPG is a political organization like any other that is fighting Islamic State," said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen.

VOA's Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report.

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Tsai thanks allies for backing Taiwan's international participation

ROC Central News Agency

2017/05/10 21:32:56

Taipei, May 10 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () said Wednesday that she was grateful for the support extended by Taiwan's diplomatic allies for its participation in international organizations and programs.

Taiwan's diplomatic allies have been speaking up on its behalf in many international forums and voicing support for its meaningful participation in international organizations and programs, Tsai said at the Presidential Office, where she was receiving a group of senior military and police officers from Latin America and the Caribbean.

"This valuable friendship will be remembered by the Taiwanese people," she told the senior military and police officers from Belize, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Paraguay, which are all Taiwan's diplomatic allies, as well as from Peru.

They are in Taiwan to participate in an international military exchange program between Taiwan and other countries, which has been in place for many years.

Tsai also mentioned that since she took office in May 2016, she has twice visited allies in Latin America, including Paraguay, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.

The president said Taiwan hopes to continue to develop substantial, mutually beneficial military, diplomatic and economic relations with its allies under its policy of "steadfast diplomacy."

(By Sophia Yeh and Elaine Hou)

ENDITEM/pc

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China accused of blocking Taiwan's WHA participation

ROC Central News Agency

2017/05/10 22:46:57

Taipei, May 10 (CNA) Taiwan's government and citizens at home and abroad on Wednesday accused Beijing of obstructing Taiwan's efforts to attend this year's meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva.

Taiwan had been hoping to attend the WHA meeting as an observer, as it had been doing since 2007, but did not receive an invitation this year.

The WHA, the decision making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), closed its online registration for the May 22-31 meeting at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Taiwan time.

Taiwan's exclusion this year is widely seen as the latest move by China to clamp down on Taiwan's international participation.

Vice President Chen Chien-jen () said Wednesday that it is unwise for China to block Taiwan's WHA participation, politicize health issues and put the world's health safety-net at risk.

It requires joint efforts to combat diseases, Chen said, adding that viruses know no boundaries..

If given the opportunity, Taiwan can contribute greatly to global disease prevention, he said.

Taiwan first attended the WHA meeting as an observer in 2009, a year after the government of former President Ma Ying-jeou () came to power and began pursuing a more conciliatory policy toward Beijing.

Since then, Taiwan had been participating under the name Chinese Taipei as an observer in the annual WHA, in keeping with an agreement between the WHO and the governments of Taiwan and China.

The agreement included a political condition that both sides of the Taiwan Strait adhere to the 1992 consensus -- a tacit agreement that there is only one China but each side is free to interpret what that means.

However, since President Tsai Ing-wen () of the Democratic Progressive Party took office in May 2016, cross-strait relations have cooled considerably, mainly because of her refusal to recognize Beijing's "one-China" policy. Taiwan received a last-minute invitation to the WHA in 2016 and has not been invited this year.

Chen said Taiwan government agencies have exhausted all means to let the WHO know that its participation in the WHA is vital to the global efforts to combat epidemics. Taiwan needs to continue seeking the support of diplomatic allies so that its voice can be heard at the WHA meeting, he said.

Meanwhile, several overseas Taiwanese groups issued a statement Tuesday in New York in protest against Taiwan's exclusion from the WHA meeting, saying it was due to political obstruction by China.

They accused China of political interference in matters of health care and of blocking Taiwan participation's in the international community.

The UN for Taiwan Keep Taiwan Free Committee, an organization of young Taiwanese Americans, said it will hold a rally May 20 in front of the U.N. headquarters in New York to protest against Taiwan's exclusion from the WHA meeting.

Also on Tuesday, overseas Taiwanese groups in France called on the WHO to extend an invitation to Taiwan to attend the WHA meeting and not to let political issues obstruct the development of the global health network.

(By Sophia Yeh, Timothy Hwang, Emmanuelle Tzeng and Evelyn Kao)

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Turkish Foreign Minister Says Weapons Obtained by Kurds in Syria Threaten Turkey

Sputnik News

17:02 10.05.2017(updated 17:36 10.05.2017)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday that the weapons obtained in northern Syria by the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) militia pose a threat to Turkey, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Despite objections from Turkey, US President Donald Trump on May 9 approved a plan to arm Kurdish groupsfighting Daesh (jihadist group banned in numerous countries) in Syria.

According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, Cavusoglu stressed that Washington was aware of Ankara's position on YPG and warned against taking the "wrong steps" in Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday that Ankara hopes that Washington understands that the involvement of Kurdish forces in the fight against the terrorist organizations in Syria is a sensitive issue for Turkey.

"Our position is clear: Turkey is against the Kurdistan Workers' Party and other groups being used in the fight against the IS We still think that the United States may take into consideration the fact that it is a sensitive issue for us," Yildirim said.

The prime minister stressed that Turkey informed all its partners, including the United States, of its attitude towards the PKK.

Yildirim added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would personally tell Trump about Ankara's concerns during a visit to Washington on May 17.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the Kurds, are currently carrying out an operation to encircle Raqqa, an Daesh stronghold in Syria.

Ankara considers the YPG and the Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party's (PYD) to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union. In spite of this, however, the PYD and the YPG, as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been receiving support from the United States in fighting the Daesh terrorist group in northern Syria.

 Sputnik

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After Buying S-400, Turkey Aims to Build Own Components for Air Defense Systems

Sputnik News

17:01 10.05.2017(updated 19:13 10.05.2017)

Talks with Russia on deliveries of S-400 air defense systems to Turkey are at final stages, but Ankara still aims to manufacture its own components for such systems, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said Wednesday.

ANKARA (Sputnik)  Russia and Turkey have been engaged in talks on the S-400 deal since 2016. In March, Sergey Chemezov, CEO of the state-owned Russian corporation Rostec, confirmed that Ankara was willing to buy the S-400 if Moscow provides a loan.

Turkey's purchase of the S-400 system was also discussed during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Russia.

"Negotiations with Russia on the S-400 have reached a mature stage, only technical details are remaining. When we agree on a price, we will submit it to our president, and a decision will be made," Isik said in an interview with Turkey's NTV television.

"[However], our main goal, against which no one can speak, is to produce our own components for an air defense system. And we have started a serious work in this direction," Isik stressed.

On April 28, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Moscow and Ankara had reached an agreement on the purchase of the S-400 air defense systems with the negotiations on joint production and the prices being underway.

The S-400 Triumf, which NATO refers to as the SA-21 Growler, was developed by the Almaz-Antey defense contractor and manufactured by the Fakel Machine-Building Design Bureau. The system is capable of intercepting all types of modern air weaponry, including fifth-generation warplanes, as well as ballistic and cruise missiles at a maximum range of nearly 250 miles.

 Sputnik

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Its all too easy to be scammed these days, and for some elderly people, it can be a struggle to work out whats real and whats not with ever changing technology.

Age UK Gloucestershire has teamed up with Financial Fraud Action UKs Take Five campaign to help people in the county protect themselves and loved ones from falling victim to financial fraudsters.

As part of the activity, Age UK Gloucestershire has been hosting Take Five Over Tea, which involves a range of speakers who provide advice and answer questions on the issue of financial fraud.

Tony Blake, from the Polices dedicated card and payment unit, explained the top five tips to staying safe from scammers and fraudsters.

They are:

- Never give your passwords out

- Dont be rushed into making a decision

- Dont assume it is genuine

- Listen to your instincts

- Stay in control

Take Five is led by FFA UK and brings together all major banks and key financial services providers across the UK.

The campaign was launched in September 2016 and it aims to put consumers and businesses back in control with straight-forward advice to help prevent financial fraud.

Age UK Gloucestershire Chief Executive Rob Fountain, said: We are delighted to have teamed up with the Take Five campaign to host this session.

"Financial Fraud is a very real problem and older people can be particularly vulnerable. As part of our vision to make Gloucestershire the best county in which to grow older, we want to help older people to protect themselves by encouraging them to take five and stop financial fraud.
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Thomas Cook has cancelled all its holidays to the Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh due to continuing terrorism fears.

The holiday company has ruled out all pre-arranged flights to and stays in the resort for winter 2017/2018 and summer 2018.

It comes as the Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to the area due to a heightened risk of terrorist attack.

Around 300 people who have booked trips to Sharm el-Sheikh have been affected.

What should I do if my holiday has been cancelled?

Thomas Cook is urging all those affected to get in touch by calling 01733 224 536.

The company says it is proactively contacting people with bookings to the resort to arrange alternatives.

The Foreign Office has urged against all but essential travel to Sharm el-Sheikh since December 2015 after a Russian passenger plan crashed in North Sinai, killing 224 people.

Russian authorities claimed the plane was brought down by an explosive on board.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives crafted a partisan compromise bill that endorsed and reinforced the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. This was done notwithstanding claims to the contrary by President Donald Trump and the House Republican leadership, who want us to believe that this bill, if it becomes law, will effectively repeal and replace Obamacare.

Obamacare is a stool with four problematic legs. The constitutional leg is the premise that the federal government has the lawful power to regulate the delivery of health care. The legal leg is the premise that the federal government is obliged to provide health insurance to everyone in America. The economic leg commands that everyone in the U.S. purchase and maintain health insurance. And the Orwellian leg says that every physician in the U.S. shall retain all patient records digitally and that federal bureaucrats shall have access to all those records.

None of that is changed in the House-passed bill. Here is the back story.

The original Obamacare proposal had the taxpayers foot everyones medical bills through a series of taxes, regulations and controls. That is the so-called single-payer system that former President Barack Obama dreamed of. It would have been much like the systems in place today in Great Britain, Canada and Australia, where one waits for months to see government-employed physicians who are stingy with government-owned medications and mired in red tape and long lines over government-financed medical procedures.

Even many of the Democrats who controlled both houses of Congress during Obamas first two years in office were unable to accept that idea. In its place, they produced a 2,700-page piece of legislation, which candidate Trump vowed to dismantle  saying he favored a market-based, state-regulated system with no federal involvement, the kind we knew in the pre-Obamacare era.

None of those goals is reached by the House-passed bill.

Obamacares imposition of the federal government between all patients and their physicians was a radical departure from the traditional delivery of medical services in America. This was done with utter disregard to the constitutional constraints imposed upon Congress  whereby the regulation of health, safety and welfare was retained by the states  and by radically expanding federal power derived from the Constitution.

Congress favorite constitutional hook upon which to hang its regulatory hat has been the commerce clause. After more than a half-century of letting Congress characterize nearly any human activity as commerce  and thus regulable federally  the Supreme Court in 1995 required that only those behaviors that constitute or support a truly commercial transaction can be reached by the feds. The professions  medicine, law, architecture, engineering, university teaching, for example  though one pays for them, had never been considered to be commercial in the sense that they could be federally regulable, until Obamacare came along.

None of this is changed in the House-passed bill.

Under Obamacare, the federal government took over the regulation of health care from the states with a one-size-fits-all metric administered by faceless bureaucrats. I say faceless because when you go to your doctor today, she or he may need the approval of a federal bureaucrat to perform a procedure for you  a bureaucrat the doctor will never see, only read via a laptop.

None of this is changed in the House-passed bill.

Obamacare also established the duty of the federal government to provide health insurance for every American. No law before Obamacare ever attempted that ambitious unconstitutional improbability. When the Supreme Court accepted a constitutional challenge to the Social Security system, it ruled that the system consisted of taxing and spending  but created no legally binding obligation on the part of the federal government to spend in the future. Stated differently, under Obamacare, the feds can take your money that they have promised you they will spend on your health care and spend it as they see fit.

None of this is changed in the House-passed bill.

The individual mandate in Obamacare requires that every person in America have health insurance. It also requires employers of more than 50 people to provide health insurance for all employees who work for those employers for more than 30 hours a week. The failure to provide or maintain a health insurance policy by employers or individuals triggers the imposition of a tax by the IRS.

Under the House-passed bill, your employer no longer has to provide you with health insurance, but you must still maintain your own health insurance. Instead of paying the IRS if you let your coverage lapse, you have to pay a $3,000 annual penalty to your insurance carrier  once you do sign up  for every year you lacked coverage.

What kind of a repeal is that?

And the faceless bureaucrats still reign. The House-passed bill permits the feds to decide whether your doctor is treating you in a manner consistent with the availability of government resources and to administer Obamacares thousands of minute politically driven regulations.

By definition, Obamacare will soon be a failure because it causes the expenditure of more money than it takes in. Eventually, it will have no cash. But Barack Obama may have subtly succeeded in changing the landscape of thinking about federal involvement in health care. For those who believe that the Constitution means what it says, it was disheartening to see President Trump and so many Republicans in Congress who once defended the free market now assume that all Americans want the feds to care for them and that somehow the Constitution permits it.

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton rarely agreed on principles of government. But they did agree that when the public treasury becomes a public trough and the people recognize that, the people will send to the federal government only those who will bring home the biggest piece of the federal pie. The House-passed bill was produced by federal government representatives who manifest that.

Thats the same federal government that cant deliver the mail.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 11, 2017) - Maxtech Ventures Inc. (CSE: MVT) (CSE: MVT.CN) (CNSX: MVT) (FRANKFURT: M1N) (OTC PINK: MTEHF), ("Maxtech" or the "Company") details Phase 1 Manganese Exploration Program on Juina claims in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

The company initiated its Phase 1 Exploration Program in Brazil on March 3rd. After an intensive review of the filed NI 43-101 Brasnorte Summary Research Report prepared by John Harper P.Geol. and announced on March 30th, ground work was scheduled on the 4 Juina claims located north of Juina, MT. The claim package totals 39,667.89 hectares in size.

Maxtech's exploration work performed to date focused on claim 866872/2016, part of the Juina claim group. In this area 3 pits were hand dug and samples sent to SGS Geosol LaboratArios LTDA, Belo Horizonte, Brazil for analysis. The 3 assays were received by Maxtech and analyses details were announced by the Company in a news release on April 28th. The samples returned the following assay values; MLB-01 52.9% Mn, MLB-02 55.9% Mn and MLB-03 51.5% Mn. Further to initial pitting there were 16 auger holes drilled covering an area 50 m by 25 m, centered around pit MLB-03. The mineralized horizon occurred from surface to an average depth of 0.6 m. Some peripheral auger holes did not encounter Mn at the surface but are now being followed up with further prospecting and remain open as exploration continues. Pits MLB-01 and MLB-02, located in the same claim, were sampled and also returned high assay values for manganese. These mineralized pits have not yet been followed up. Detailed exploration is on-going.

The Maxtech team is Brazilian based and organized by MLB Mining and Marcio Bastos who has led successful manganese exploration teams for companies in the region. Mr. John Harper B.Sc., P.Geol, who is a Qualified Person with respect to Maxtech's manganese project as defined under National Instrument 43-101 is in charge of all exploration activities for the Company in Brazil.

Peter Wilson, CEO said, "The company's preliminary assay results are fantastic, therefore Phase 2 exploration will be immediately ramped up. The grades of Mn found are directly attributable to our on-the-ground prospecting team in Brazil."

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. John Harper B.Sc., P.Geol, who is a Qualified Person with respect to Maxtech's manganese project as defined under National Instrument 43-101.

About Maxtech Ventures Inc.

Maxtech Ventures Inc. is a Canadian based diversified industries corporation with gold and manganese mineral properties. Its focus is on mining and the products that are derived therefrom.

For additional information see the Company's web site at http://www.maxtech-ventures.com

Further information about the Company is available on www.SEDAR.com under the Company's profile.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, the Property, financing and certain corporate changes. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.
Toronto, ON (FSCwire) - Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (Aston Bay; or the Company) (BAY:TSX-V) is pleased to announce that it has appointed a syndicate led by Red Cloud Klondike Strike Inc. (Red Cloud KS) to sell a combination of non-flow-through units (the "Units") and flow-through shares (the "FT Shares"), at a price of $0.13 per Unit and $0.16 per FT Share, for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000 (collectively, the "Offering").

Each Unit shall consist of one common share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant, each whole warrant entitling the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a price per share of $0.18 for a period of 18 months after the date of issue. It is anticipated that the Offering will close on or before June 30th, 2017, and is subject to the completion of formal documentation, receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"), and other customary conditions.

All of the securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of closing of the Offering.

Net proceeds from the Offering will be used by Aston Bay to conduct a planned property-wide geophysical survey, a planned geological field program on Somerset Island to be led by Dr. David Broughton, Chief Geologist for the Storm and Seal Projects, as well as for general corporate purposes. The Company intends to use the data collected from these programs to generate and prioritize drill targets.

The Company and Red Cloud KS may agree to increase the size of the Offering at any time prior to closing of the Offering, subject to Exchange approval.

An engagement letter between the Company and Red Cloud KS entitles Red Cloud KS and members of the syndicate to receive a total cash commission equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Offering, and warrants equal to 6% of the aggregate number of securities issued in the Offering, both excluding subscriptions initiated by the Company.

ABOUT ASTON BAY HOLDINGS LTD.

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) is a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on the 976,066-acre (395,000-hectare) Aston Bay Property located on northwest Somerset Island, Nunavut. The Aston Bay Property hosts the Storm Copper project and the Seal Zinc project. Historical drilling has confirmed the presence of sediment-hosted copper and zinc mineralization on the property.

The Companys public disclosure documents are available on www.sedar.com.

ABOUT RED CLOUD KLONDIKE STRIKE INC.

Red Cloud Klondike Strike Inc. (Red Cloud KS) is a new concept capital markets advisory firm dedicated solely to the mining sector. It uses its extensive experience in the business to help companies identify alternative sources of capital and quality actionable growth/divestiture opportunities, and to generate and maintain important relationships with key investors. Red Cloud KS is registered as an Exempt Market Dealer (EMD) in all provinces of Canada, as well as the Yukon, and is subject to applicable securities regulations.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this press release, including those regarding the closing and the use of proceeds of the private placement, management objectives, forecasts, estimates, expectations, or predictions of the future may constitute forward-looking statement, which can be identified by the use of conditional or future tenses or by the use of such verbs as believe, expect, may, will, should, estimate, anticipate, project, plan, and words of similar import, including variations thereof and negative forms. This press release contains forward- looking statements that reflect, as of the date of this press release, Aston Bays expectations, estimates and projections about its operations, the mining industry and the economic environment in which it operates. Statements in this press release that are not supported by historical fact are forward-looking statements, meaning they involve risk, uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Aston Bay believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which apply only at the time of writing of this press release. Aston Bay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by securities legislation.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE UNITED STATES. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (416) 456-3516

To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/astonbay05112017.pdfSource: Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX Venture:BAY)

To follow Aston Bay Holdings 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.
VANCOUVER, May 11, 2017 - Atico Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ATY) (OTC PINK:ATCMF)("Atico" or the "Company") is pleased to announce, further to its February 8, 2017 press release, the complete results of the five hole exploration drill program at Santa Anita and the four hole program at San Lorenzo targets, along with the planned 2017 exploration program.

Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO, commented: "Positive assay results of the new scout drilling program, particularly at the Santa Anita target, continue to be very encouraging. The new drill data confirms the presence of favorable pathfinders similar to those that we see inside the El Roble mine and continues to support our thesis that this large target area remains highly conducive to hosting new massive sulfide mineralization." Mr. Ganoza added, "We will continue assessing these results to delineate further drilling at Santa Anita while we continue to prepare additional targets for the 2017 regional surface drill program."

Regional Exploration Drilling Update

Santa Anita Target

At Santa Anita, which lays south of the El Roble mine, the Company drilled 1207 meters of core in five drill holes up to a depth of 300 meters. The holes were collared, and oriented to test the contact between the favorable "black chert" unit - basalt contact and were between 200m and 300m apart. This contact is the locus of mineralization for the El Roble mine mineralization. Historic drilling carried out by the previous operator, at Santa Anita, had intersected a quartz-chlorite breccia with pyrite and chalcopyrite (DDH MERSA-1 = 37.5 meters 0.54% Cu, MERSA-4 = 3.6 meters 0.16% Cu). In particular, anomalous gold values in one of the drill holes interpreted by Atico's geologist represent the lower levels of a massive sulfide feeder, which lays stratigraphically below the current drill holes.

The recent drilling clearly demonstrated a thickening of the "black chert" unit over a strike length of approximately 600 meters indicative of a sub-basin favorable for the deposition and preservation of massive sulfides. The sub-basin appears to be bounded by faults which might have acted as feeders for mineralization. The black chert unit also contains 5-10% bedding-parallel stringers and blebs of pyrite-pyrrhotite suggesting a distal massive sulfide depositional environment.

Hole ATSA-005, drilled on the northern margin of the sub-basin intersected two intervals of highly anomalous gold (3.9 m at 2.25 g/t Au from 114.80 m and 5.3 m at 2.31 g/t Au from 138.55 m) supporting the alteration and pathfinder element vectors.

The Company is highly encouraged by these results, which have outlined a depositional sub-basin with potential for massive sulfide preservation, elevated basemetal, pathfinder and alteration element geochemistry rising sharply at the contact of basalt basement and the overlying favorable host "black chert" unit. The multi-element geochemistry vectors are concentrated with the sub-basin and trend toward the northern margin of the basin.

The drill core was analyzed by ICP and AAS for 32 elements plus silver and gold. The basemetal, pathfinder and alteration element geochemistry values (Au, Ag, Cu, Zn, Hg, Sb, As, Ba, K) in the "black chert" rise strongly immediately above the contact of the underlying basalt unit and show and increase toward the northern margin of the sub-basin. The chlorite-carbonate-pyrite alteration index (CCPI), an indicator of hydrothermal alteration commonly associated with massive sulfide mineralization, also increases within the sub-basin and toward the northern margin of the basin.

Further drilling will be directed to follow the geochemical vectors by drilling a fence of holes beneath the current holes and both extending and closing the interval between drill holes particularly at the northern end of the Santa Anita target area.

San Lorenzo Target

Drilling of 4 holes at the San Lorenzo target was also directed to test the basalt-"black chert" contact. All holes intersected the contact but basemetal, pathfinder, alteration geochemistry was much more subdued and there was very little variation in thickness of the "black chert". In addition, a reddish "ash unit" occurs within the "black chert" suggesting oxidation conditions at the time of deposition which are generally not compatible with preservation of massive sulfide deposits. Consequently the San Lorenzo prospect has been given lower priority for future exploration.

Further Exploration Priorities Planned

Several other high priority exploration targets exist within the "El Roble property", specifically Anomaly 28, about 1 km NE of Santa Anita which shows elevated rock chip geochemistry on basalt-"black chert" contact and is on trend with geochemical vectors at Santa Anita. This geochemically anomalous portion of contact is also associated with a ground magnetic anomaly.

The massive pyrite-pyrrhotite outcrop, announced on November 22, 2016, between the La Dicha prospect and Anomaly 42 is approximately 4.5 km NW of El Roble Mine, is another high priority target which has locally elevated, gold, copper and lead geochemistry. It will require mapping and trenching to fully define the prospect, since it is structurally offset from the main "El Roble property".

The Company plans to drill at least test two of the above mentioned new targets along with another drill program at Santa Anita, which is scheduled to continue in the following weeks.

El Roble Mine

The El Roble mine is a high grade underground copper and gold mine with nominal processing plant capacity of 800 tonnes per day, located in the Department of Choco in Colombia. Its commercial product is a copper-gold concentrate.

Since obtaining control of the mine on November 22, 2013, Atico has upgraded the operation from a nominal capacity of 400 tonnes per day. The mine has a continuous operating history of twenty-two years, with recorded production of 1.5 million tonnes of ore at an average head grade of 2.6% copper and an estimated gold grade of 2.5 g/t. Copper and gold mineralization at the El Roble property occurs in volcanogenic massive sulfide ("VMS") lenses.

Since entering into the option agreement in January 2011 to acquire 90% of El Roble, Atico has aggressively explored the mine and surrounding claims. The Company has completed 31,377 meters of diamond drilling and identified numerous prospective targets for VMS deposits on the 6,679-hectare property. This exploration led to the discovery of high-grade copper and gold mineralization below the 2000 level, the lowest production level of the El Roble mine. Atico has developed a new adit access from the 1880 elevation to develop these new resources.

El Roble has a measured and indicated resource of 1.87 million tonnes grading 3.46% copper and 2.27 g/t gold, at a cut-off grade of 0.93% copper equivalent. Mineralization is open at depth and along strike and the Company plans to further test the limits of the resource.

On the larger land package, the Company has identified a prospective stratigraphic contact between volcanic rocks and black and grey cherts that has been traced by Atico geologists for ten kilometers. This contact has been determined to be an important control on VMS mineralization on which Atico has identified numerous target areas for VMS type mineralization occurrence, which is the focus of the surface drill program at El Roble.

Qualified Control

Dr. Demetrius Pohl, Ph.D., AIPG Certified Geologist, a qualified person under NI 43-101 standards and independent of the Company, is responsible for ensuring that the information contained in this news release is an accurate summary of the original reports and data provided to or developed by Atico Mining Corp.. Dr. Pohl has approved the scientific and technical content of this news release

About Atico Mining Corporation

Atico is a growth-oriented Company, focused on exploring, developing and mining copper and gold projects in Latin America. The Company operates the El Roble mine and is pursuing additional acquisition opportunities. For more information, please visit www.aticomining.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO

Atico Mining Corp.

Trading symbols: (TSX VENTURE:ATY) (OTC PINK:ATCMF)

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.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The securities being offered 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 in the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, a "U.S. person" (as defined in Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act) unless pursuant to an exemption therefrom. This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation the use of net proceeds, are forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs; the need to obtain additional financing to maintain its interest in and/or explore and develop the Company's mineral projects; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral projects; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the prospectus of the Company dated March 2, 2012 filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com







Contact



Investor Relations

Igor Dutina

+1.604.633.9022


Vancouver, May 11, 2017 - Ashanti Gold Corp. (TSXV: AGZ) ("Ashanti" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has formed an Advisory Board to attract highly qualified and respected people in the mining industry to help the company advance its corporate development.

The starting members of the Advisory Board are Henk Van Alphen and William Pincus.

Mr. Van Alphen has had a long and successful career in the mining industry and has delivered exceptional value to the shareholders of his companies. Currently, Henk is CEO and Director of Wealth Minerals, a lithium exploration and development company with a large asset portfolio in Chile. Wealth has a substantial position in the Atacama Salar, developing a lithium project near to two operations that are the highest grade, lowest cost lithium producers globally and which account for 1/3 of global lithium production. Wealth was ranked #3 in Mining for the 2017 TSX Venture 50 Awards. Mr. Van Alphen was also a key player in such companies as Corriente Resources, Cardero Resources, Trevali Mining, Balmoral Resources, and International Tower Hill. During his career Van Alphen has raised and helped raise over $1bn in various financings.

Mr. Pincus has over 40 years of industry experience. Most recently, Mr. Pincus was Chairman of Global Minerals Ltd., a company developing the Strieborna silver deposit in Slovakia. Prior to that he was Chairman of Esperanza Resources, which was acquired by Alamos Gold for a total value of $85M in 2013. His experience includes: Vice President of Sunshine Mining Company, overseeing the development of the 155-million-ounce Pirquitas silver deposit and Executive Vice President of the mining consulting firm, Pincock, Allen and Holt. Additionally, Mr. Pincus was a key player at FMC Gold (acquired by Meridian Gold) and Atlas Corporation where he was involved in the successful exploration and acquisition of various precious metal projects. He graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in geology in 1975 and received an M.Sc. in geology and an M.Sc. in mineral economics in 1981 and 1986, respectively, from the Colorado School of Mines. He is a Certified Professional Geologist.

Ashanti's CEO Tim McCutcheon said "We are very excited to have Mr. Van Alphen and Mr. Pincus join our advisory board. I take it as a vote of confidence in the quality of our projects and our approach to gold exploration. Drawing on these close relationships and their wealth of experience will be vital to Ashanti's aggressive advancement of our world-class assets."

ABOUT ASHANTI GOLD

Ashanti is a gold-focused, exploration and development company with projects in the northern Ashanti Belt of Ghana and the Kenieba Belt of Mali. The Company targets projects where it has a competitive advantage due to past work experience of the team and specific project know-how.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

Ashanti Gold Corp.

"Tim McCutcheon"

Tim McCutcheon

CEO

For further information, please contact:

Ashanti Gold Corp.

2300 - 1177 West Hastings Street

Vancouver BC, V6E 2K3

Phone: 604-638-3847

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

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.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are 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. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. 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, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company 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, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.


Gov. Paul LePage will not enter the 2018 race for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Angus King, said LePage's former gubernatorial campaign strategist and current political adviser in a prepared statement Wednesday night.LePage started talking publicly as early as 2015 about mounting a challenge to King, an independent who was Maine's governor from 1995 to 2003.But in a statement issued late Wednesday, his political adviser, Washington, D.C.- based Brent Littlefield, said the Republican governor, who will turn 69 in October, feels he could better serve his constituents by remaining focused on the duties of governor."Governor Paul LePage has helped the State of Maine achieve the largest number of private sector jobs in history, implement the largest tax cut in state history, and implement reforms which have resulted in Maine showing a significant revenue surplus earlier this year and, while these accomplishments are great, there is more to do. Therefore the Governor will remain focused on the job at hand and not enter the United States Senate race in 2018," the statement said.LePage's second and final four-year term runs until January 2019.King, 73, is in his first six-year term in the Senate.Maine's Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said in April that she is contemplating a run for governor in 2018.If Collins runs for governor and wins, LePage has the authority to appoint a successor to serve the remaining two years of Collins' Senate term, and he could appoint himself. When asked if LePage had an interest in Collins' seat, Littlefield said he had no comment.Littlefield was asked why the governor decided to announce his intentions now. Littlefield said the question was answered by the statement."He just feels there is more work to be done in Augusta," said Littlefield, who was LePage's campaign strategist during the 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races.While acknowledging that LePage has spent a lot of time in Washington lately, Littlefield would not directly answer a question about whether the governor is being considered for a post in President Trump's administration.LePage appeared Wednesday in Augusta with two top Trump officials -- Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and White House counsel Kellyanne Conway. The two officials are touring the country and meeting with state leaders about ways to battle the opioid addiction epidemic."The (governor's) statement speaks to that. He still has a job to do in Maine," Littlefield said about possible job offers.Littlefield said it will be up to the governor to reveal what he plans to do after his term expires.The only announced candidate for King's Senate seat is state Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn.Brakey released a statement Wednesday night saying, "Governor LePage is a tremendous leader for conservative principles, limiting the role of government to protect the liberty of the little guy. As he focuses on fighting for the people of Maine as our Governor, I look forward to working with him to end the reign of Angus King and restore liberty for the little guy, not only in Maine, but down in Washington, D.C."
After losing billions in property tax revenue during the foreclosure crisis, local governments notched a win last week when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the city of Miamis right to sue big banks under the Fair Housing Act.But dont expect a flood of lawsuits to follow any time soon. The ruling leaves open a key legal question about the burden of proof cities must present to show they were financially harmed.In the 5-3 ruling , the court sided with Miami, agreeing that the 1968 act, which prohibits racial discrimination in the lease, sale and financing of property, applied to cities as well as people. But the ruling didnt agree that Miami had provided enough direct evidence linking discriminatory lending practices by Wells Fargo and Bank of America to the financial harms incurred by the city. It also stopped short of saying what a city must do to prove economic harm and remanded the case back to the lower court to answer that question.So what it leaves open right now is, can cities who brought this kind of case establish the kind of proximate cause the court has flagged in this decision? says Joe Rich, a fair housing expert for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.Proximate cause is essentially an event that sets in motion a sequence of events that result in a foreseeable effect, such as an injury, which would not otherwise have occurred. Last week's ruling said Miami would have to prove the banks' practices had a "direct" effect on its finances.In its complaint, Miami had alleged that Wells Fargo and Bank of America intentionally targeted African-American and Latino neighborhoods for predatory practices by lending to them on worse terms than non-minority borrowers. The banks also failed to extend fair refinancing and loan modifications to those borrowers, the city said, which resulted in a high rate of defaults.The conduct, according to Miamis complaint, led to a disproportionate number of foreclosures and vacancies in majority-minority neighborhoods. By late 2013, when the suit was filed, Miami had the highest foreclosure rate among the 20 largest metro areas in the country. According to the complaint, loans in majority-minority neighborhoods were nearly six times as likely to result in foreclosure as loans in majority white neighborhoods.The ensuing crisis not only cut the citys property tax revenue, it strained Miamis' limited resources by creating an increased demand for public safety services in those neighborhoods. An amicus brief filed by the Miami Fraternal Order of the Police (FOP) listed dozens of horrors that played out in these semi-abandoned neighborhoods. Foreclosed homes were used to hide dead bodies and to advertise child sex trafficking, for instance. In one heartbreaking case, a toddler drowned in the swimming pool of his neighbors vacant house. The FOP even alleged that untended pools in foreclosed homes became breeding grounds for swarms of mosquitos and "created the epicenter for Americas first Zika outbreak."It will be up to the federal appeals court in Atlanta to decide if Miami has shown proximate cause. But the ambiguity of the High Court's ruling, plus the three-year statute of limitations on fair housing lawsuits, makes it unlikely that a slew of localities will use the decision as a license to start suing big banks. There are, however, a number of open cases in places like Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; and Providence, R.I., that benefit from the ruling.Civil rights advocates say the decision is an important win in terms of enforcing the Fair Housing Act. Individuals have been successful at bringing cases against lenders following the foreclosure crisis. But governments have struggled : No case has gone to trial and there has just been one major settlement -- a $175 million payment by Wells Fargo to several cities and borrowers across the country.Ajmel Quereshi, senior counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, hopes the ruling will "act as a future deterrent to banks that are thinking about these practices in the future.
Description

Some seven investment projects in Les Salines, Black River, totalling around Rs 25 billion, are under appraisal at the Ministry of Housing and Lands, and approval is expected within a week.

The statement was made yesterday in Ebene by the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Lands, Mr Showkutally Soodhun, following a meeting on various development projects in the region of Les Salines in Black River. According to Mr Soodhun, with these developments, job potential in the Black River region will reach 5,000.

The Vice-Prime Minister also announced that infrastructural facilities related to projects development namely road networks, geotechnical investigations and utilities services will cost more than Rs 485 million. The construction of roads and drains alone will amount to Rs 385 million. The projects are situated within a complex topography, and this has necessitated the expertise of a consultant for the design of the road networks in the area, to the tune of Rs 10 million, he said.

The costs for the infrastructural facilities will be borne by various stakeholders involved. Government will cover 15% of the Rs 485 million given that the Ministry of Arts and Culture will implement a project in Les Salines region. Mr Soodhun added that the road networks in the region will be completed within a year. For the time being, he pointed out, an eight-metre stretch of road will be constructed to enable promoters to kick-start their projects works.

The Vice-Prime Minister recalled that upon approval of their projects, promoters have a period of 18 months to kick-start works, urging them to respect the terms and conditions of their lease letters. A meeting will be held soon with all concerned Ministries and organisations as well as with stakeholders so as to pre-empt bottlenecks, Mr Soodhun added.
Description

GIS - 11 May, 2017: Mauritius will host the Sub-Regional Meeting on Graphic Health Warnings organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in June 2017. Mauritius will host the Sub-Regional Meeting on Graphic Health Warnings organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in June 2017.

The objective of the Meeting is to bring together national partners to share their experience, and discuss the way forward and how support can be provided to countries aiming at sensitising their population with large graphic health warnings.

Some 40 participants, as well as regional and international experts, would participate in this Sub- Regional Meeting.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provides for parties to the Convention to implement large rotating health warnings

on all tobacco product packaging and labelling.
To combat a budget deficit of nearly $500 million, West Virginia State Auditor John B. McCuskey is launching a new open data platform that will make it easier for everyone  from ordinary citizens up through actual policymakers  to find, analyze and disseminate specific information about government spending.

This new platform, a product of a partnership between McCuskeys office and the gov tech company OpenGov , is expected to have a simple and intuitive interface, not unlike Googles search feature, which will allow interested parties to track how tax money is being spent.McCuskey, who began his term in January after campaigning on a platform of increased budget transparency, said the hope is that a better-informed citizenry will lead to West Virginia being more responsible with tax dollars.

We have a pretty significant budget crisis in West Virginia right now, and it is my personal opinion that the best way to solve a budget crisis is to involve the taxpayers as much as possible into the spending of their money, McCuskey told. The OpenGov platform creates a bridge between the citizen and the spending of their tax dollars, to the point that the information allows them to interact with their government in such a way that they can help control spending, and spending control needs to come from the taxpayers because history has borne out that governments are bad at controlling their own spending.

Previously, West Virginias financial information was available through a website built within the government. McCuskey said that site was good, but this new site will be a major improvement, seeing as its being built by leading experts in the field.

In addition to its Google-style search capabilities, the platform, dubbed the OpenGov Smart Government Cloud, will allow lawmakers to share complex financial info in easy-to-read formats. The public will also be able to compile information into reports, McCuskey said, churning out materials that make them look like veteran financial managers. The state auditors office expects to have the platform live and operational in the coming months.

This effort is part of a regional trend sparked by Josh Mandel, Ohios state treasurer. McCuskey said he so greatly admired the digital transparency efforts undertaken by Mandel that he contacted him and asked to be put in touch with the company that collaborated on the work  OpenGov.

Tim Melton, director of strategic accounts for OpenGov, said his company is creating a platform for West Virginia that is capable of hourly updates about even the most granular public spending, from how much money goes to public schools down to which state offices are buying pizza for lunch.OpenGov also plans to create a prominent landing page for West Virginia, analytics reports and FAQ pages, in addition to providing guidance for getting the public to engage and pay attention.

In addition, Melton said an understated benefit of the platform is that putting scrutiny on public spending discourages fraud while also helping to avoid misunderstandings about spending. For example, he described a recent odd-looking transaction in which it appeared as if government money had been spent at Victoria's Secret. However, it turned out that Victoria's Secret owned a billboard that a government agency was buying space on. OpenGovs platform allows public servants to annotate such spending to avoid any potential confusion.

West Virginia joins a growing trend of government agencies that are installing similar digital accountability platforms and online transparency measures, from Boston to South Bend, Ind

At OpenGov we only do government, thats all we do, Melton said, adding that the OpenGov team is seeing a trend among elected and appointed officials coming into office. "Theres generally a thirst out there to make a lot more of this data public, and were definitely seeing a trend throughout the country. We expect this just to be the tip of the iceberg.
(TNS)  Police Chief Douglas Bracy said police and other emergency responders are unable to communicate with dispatchers at the station when they're in certain parts of York  inside many buildings, down in valleys, on certain beaches. In all about 35 percent of York is out of reach, a situation he said could pose a danger."We had an active shooter drill last year at the high school, and we had no communications inside the building. What would have happened if that had been a real event?" he said. Since then, the schools have upgraded their internal systems so that now officers can speak to each other within the building. But they still can't communicate with dispatch.Article 51 on the May 20 ballot seeks to change that. Voters are being asked make a third and final financial commitment to a multi-year effort that has included the purchase of updated dispatch consoles and a new antenna at the new station on Hannaford Drive.The scope of the proposed project is quite large and so is the cost  $526,000. But Bracy said he wants to assure voters that once the system is in place, the town will be close to 100 percent covered and the equipment will be good for another 20 years.Most of the money will be used to purchase new antenna towers and microwave systems that will be erected throughout town. The plan is to erect three "simulcast" sites that will allow simultaneous transmission of audio on the same frequency from two or more sites. These will be the core of the system. At this point, these towers are expected to be located on Birch Hill Road, at the public works garage on Chases Pond Road and at the Cliff House on Shore Road.Cliff House, for instance, has to install its own microwave system as part of state-mandated life safety requirements, said Bracy, and will be partnering with the town if voters approve this measure. The hotel will pick up $80,000 or more of the cost, and the town, just over $16,000.Selectmen raised questions about the Chases Pond Road site, if voters approve a separate measure on the May ballot to buy a Maine Department of Transportation garage on Route 1 and public works moves there. If the tower is on the old DPW site, would that hinder the town's ability to eventually sell the property? Bracy said a 25-feet by 25-feet area is needed to erect the tower, a very small portion of the overall parcel. Cost of that tower is expected to be $151,400.Selectmen also wondered if the tower in western York could be placed on the town landfill instead of on the Birch Hill Road property of Jack's Towing. The town would pay $1,200 a month rent, and selectmen have asked Bracy to explore town-owned options. The cost to erect that tower is estimated at $129,500.Finally, "receiver" towers are also expected to be installed at the Village fire station, all four schools, Mount Agamenticus and at the old station in York Beach.The new towers at the schools will be hooked up to the schools' fiber system, which will allow for transmission through the tower to police dispatch."So during a school emergency or a natural emergency, we will be able to run our own show. That, to me, is extremely important," he said.The end result of all of this work will be to allow officers and dispatchers to be in contact at all times throughout the town and in all situations.In addition, he said, this will be a benefit to the town's bus drivers, who will be able to speak to each other and their dispatcher on a separate frequency, and all of the town's emergency personnel including firefighters and ambulance workers. In addition, the antenna system can serve neighboring communities as well."If Eliot or South Berwick has a fire in some remote location and they have a means to switch over to our platform, they can do that," he said.2017 Portsmouth Herald, N.H.Visit Portsmouth Herald, N.H. at www.seacoastonline.com/portsmouthheraldDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
We said enough is enough. Homeowners have always been organized, and it is high time that tenants did the same, says Jaime Palomera, a spokesman for a Barcelona-based initiative called Sindicato de Inquilinos, or Tenants Union. There are 200,000 [renting] families in Barcelona, and if we get organized we can achieve a historic change, adds Palomera, noting that the Catalan capital is experiencing a rental housing price bubble that is pushing tenants out of their homes.

A For Rent sign in Barcelona. Albert Garcia

The initiative draws from the tenant unions already in existence in other European countries. In Barcelona, the initative is backed by the Federation of Neighborhood Associations (FAVB) and by affordable housing advocacy groups. In Sweden, for instance, the 580,000-member tenants union negotiates rental prices with private landlords and with government agencies in the case of public housing.

Barcelona  which is run by the leftist mayor Ada Colau, herself a former housing activist  has applauded the initiative, describing it as in sync with her own policies.

This is more necessary than ever

Barcelona Housing Commissioner Josep Maria Montaner

This is a very good piece of news that will serve to reinforce the role of renting in Barcelona, says Josep Maria Montaner, the citys housing commissioner. This is more necessary than ever.

Montaner confirms that the city council shares the groups demands: a reference price index, longer leases and policies to encourage public housing rentals.

The Sindicato de Inquilinos was launched on Tuesday and its first public event is scheduled for Friday. Its stated goal is: to be a voice to defend housing as a right in the face of those who consider it merchandise.

The group says it will defend rent control and longer leases, which are currently up to three years long. The union will report situations that violate the right to housing and offer its members technical and legal advice. Membership fees are 30, and a crowdfunding effort will attempt to raise 20,000 to pay legal fees.

Home evictions became the focus of media attention in Spain throughout the crisis. Alvaro Garcia

The founders of this new support group note that in 1931, tens of thousands of cash-strapped Barcelona families went on a rent strike, refusing to pay their rent unless landlords lowered them. The authorities reacted with hundreds of arrests, while the police tossed furniture out apartment windows to make sure that tenants in default could not move back in.

Palomeras does not rule out a strike. We will employ all means at our disposal to pressure government agencies and private [landowners] who are making a profit.

All areas affected

Irene Sabater and Lourdes Garcia, also with the Sindicato, said that the current rental bubble is affecting all areas of Barcelona, where it is now impossible to find an apartment for under 800 a month, even though a third of the population earns less than that amount. The growing popularity of short-term tourist apartments has also been blamed for the rising rents in the city center.

Sabater said that three injustices are being committed: prices, with growing pressure that pushes local residents out; legislation, which favors short-term leases; and huge rent hikes when contracts end or when entire buildings are sold to investors who kick out residents."

English version by Susana Urra.
(TNS) -- OKLAHOMA CITY -- Mayor Mick Cornett put on his near-futurist hat Wednesday, giving the audience at the Mayor's Development Roundtable a glance at how autonomous vehicles will affect the city.Cornett said he expected autonomous  computer-controlled, driverless  cars, trucks and buses to start showing up on Oklahoma City streets in the next four to five years.Cornett acknowledged the difficulty in grasping that fact, after presenting a slide on the testing of autonomous cars, currently under way in Pittsburgh."All of us are in denial that this is really going to take place," said Cornett, who is on a federal advisory committee on transportation system automation. "It is such a drastic change."No technology has impacted the city more than will autonomous vehicles," he said. "It's going to give us great opportunities to live more productive lives  if we plan correctly."Cornett spoke at the Cox Center downtown, at the last Development Roundtable he will host as mayor. He has announced plans to retire when his fourth term ends next year.Cornett presented the 2017 Mayor's Award for Outstanding Development to the 21c Museum Hotel, which opened last year in the renovated Ford auto factory at 900 W Main St.Cornett said cities will have to assess the impact of autonomous vehicles: "Do we need fewer parking garages?  Are people likely to commute shorter distances or longer distances?"Are people just going to be dropped off where they're going and tell their autonomous vehicles to keep going around the block until I'm ready to go home?" he asked.And the transition, as drivers share the road with cars on autopilot, "will create some havoc.""The intellectual part of your brain will tell you that this is a good thing, it's going to be safer," the mayor said."The emotional side of your brain will say this scares me to death because I'm going to be driving against computers, robots, and it's got to be more dangerous."Cornett said he turned to urbanist and author Jeff Speck for ideas on managing autonomous vehicles. In 2009, Speck consulted on plans to produce a more pedestrian-friendly Oklahoma City.First, Speck told the mayor, "Autonomous vehicles are inevitable, so plan ahead." Among Speck's considerations, according to Cornett:Cities should decide how much traffic to allow, rather than fighting to accommodate hordes of traffic, to figure out how best to apply local traffic laws.Autonomous vehicles will collect a lot of data about the city. The data is likely to be very valuable and, "Jeff's advice to cities is to make sure you own your own data."Cornett said the rise of autonomous vehicles could diminish transit and produce sprawl."A cheaper, easier commute might make it more likely for you to live farther away," he said. "If you're sitting in the luxury of the back seat of your car, you have a television, you have the newspaper, you may not mind if your commute is longer than it is today."How do we decide whether we want more sprawl or not?" Cornett said.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.  Sitting in the heart of Silicon Valley, IT officials gathered to discuss how they're working to create smarter, more responsive communities. Chief information and technology officers from Philadelphia; San Jose, Calif.; San Leandro, Calif.; and Seattle helped break down some of the biggest hurdles, and what steps they're taking to overcome them.Procurement processes will always remain a sticking point for many public agencies. Some of the most entrenched stereotypes of how government agencies operate revolve around bureaucratic-rooted onerous procurement procedures. This is sometimes a justified criticism, explained Philadelphia CIO Charles Brennan.As an IT official from one of the countrys oldest and most historic cities, Brennan understands the frustration vendors experience when trying to do business with Philadelphia. In many ways," he said, "it is easier to get money than it is to spend it.One holdover regulation for vendors looking to work with the city is for the company to disclose whether it had ever been involved in the slave trade. Another antiquated regulation was the need for any software to use four-digit year codes for fear of a Y2K apocalypse. The city has several software systems that are over 30 years old, he explained.With constrained budgets and lack of proper procurement processes to replace systems quickly and efficiently, the only other option is to keep old software on life support. The systems continue to be used and repaired rather than replaced. The systems are so old, Brennan explained, that it's really like dealing with zombie versions of software that shouldve been replaced long ago.One defense for seemingly excessive procurement processes is for cities to establish what their values are and ensure that any potential partners share the same standards.The provisions are there for a reason, said Seattle Chief Technology Officer Michael Mattmiller, who understands both sides of the equation as he previously worked with Microsoft and joined the city three years ago. For example, he said Seattle is committed to keeping resident data security safe and private, therefore any RFP or RFI released by the city requires respondents to include rigorous data security protocols.One of the largest opportunities for economic development that cities are pursuing in the smart city space is the overhaul of their transportation systems. Where to start, however, depends on whom you ask.San Jose recently spoke with 30 autonomous vehicle manufacturers to gain insight for a demonstration pilot project it hopes to have concrete ideas for later this year. Shireen Santosham, the city's chief innovation officer, is hoping to create designated testing zones near the airport, the Diridon rail station and Stevens Creek west to San Carlos, a high-traffic corridor that connects the area with job centers.By working closely with the AV manufacturers, the city is working to make sure any partnership enhances the quality of life for residents.How do we make sure that as the technology is implemented, that it really benefits our residents?" Santosham said. "It must be developed in a way that is clean, incentivizes sharing and also is beneficial to the industry, and we need to be having that conversation now.For San Leandro, just 30 miles north, the vision is muddied due to uncertainty of what infrastructure environment is suitable for next-gen vehicles.City Chief Innovation Officer Deborah Acosta explained that San Leandro is hoping to leverage its fiber loop to entice connected vehicles. The final recipe for how cities should prepare themselves for a future with connected and autonomous vehicles remains unfinished. Must sensors be embedded throughout the built environment, or will the vehicles themselves shoulder the entire burden?Whether or not autonomous vehicles end up populating the streets of San Leandro, the fiber that has been laid serves as the base for all smart city activity in the future. The city sent out a smart city RFI earlier this year, and expects to begin sorting through responses and launching projects in the near future, explained Acosta.Philadelphia is also prepping the foundation for its smart city ascendance. The city entered a partnership with Comcast in late 2015 to rapidly expand the number of fiber-optic lines throughout the city that will hopefully significantly increase connectivity for residents. After all, explained Brennan, it's the backbone that counts.
(TNS) -- Legislation that would allow the agriculture commissioner to regulate Uber, Lyft and similar taxi services advanced to the House floor without objection Wednesday.The House & Governmental Affairs Committee approved House Bill 527 , which allow the state, solely, to regulate the transportation network companies that use occasional drivers to take riders where they want to go. Under the measure, the state would collect 1 percent of the services' gross receipts, most of which would then be returned to local governments where the rides took place.House Transportation Committee Chairman Kenny Havard, who sponsored HB527, said the new industry that relies on smart phones to connect drivers and riders needs uniform, statewide regulations rather than the "patchwork" of rules in effect now through ordinances in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and other places.Nick Juliano, who handles policy for Uber in the Southeast, said 42 states have rules like those in the bill, and implementing them in Louisiana would help spread the ride-hailing services throughout the state.Uber drivers are telling him that they could make more money if different rules didnt apply in different jurisdictions, Juliano said.Under HB527, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry would have oversight powers and prohibit local government, special districts, airport authorities and other entities from imposing taxes or licensure requirements on the transportation network companies starting on July 1, 2017.But the legislation also limits regulatory and public access to company records  not only for trade data, but the names of drivers and trip information. The companies would keep the records for one year, under the terms of the legislation, and allow regulators to physically inspect a portion of the data at an agreed upon location.Sami Naim, public policy manager for Lyft, said these companies differ from traditional taxicabs because their drivers usually work occasionally to pick up a few extra dollars, whereas cabbies operate full time.Local government and the Louisiana Press Association noted that the bill allows the companies to skirt the states open records laws.New Orleans Advocate Managing Editor Martha Carr asked the committee why a few select companies should be allowed to keep secret records that would help ensure passenger safety and fair business practices.Local governments also wouldnt have access to the records. Sure, the companies would send checks for amounts they calculate. But we have no way of knowing if thats accurate, argued Rodney Braxton, who lobbies for the City of New Orleans.The Louisiana Public Service Commission regulates taxis, limousines and other conveyances operating within the state. Much of the information that the companies wants to keep secret are posted on the PSC website, such as the names of cab drivers.Havard said the difference is that Uber and Lyft are private companies, so such information should be confidential. He said the agriculture commissioner was chosen to regulate because his department checks the accuracy of the meters that cabbies use to determine how much a particular ride costs.
Monisha Kaltenborn says she is confident Sauber will be more competitive next year with Honda power.

Currently, the Swiss team is struggling with year-old Ferrari power units, but Sauber but will become works McLaren partner Honda's first engine customer for 2018.

However, the Honda is currently the least competitive and most unreliable engine in F1.

But Sauber chief Kaltenborn told Bild newspaper: "I'm not worried about what we are seeing now. We are confident that Honda will get its problems under control."

As for how Kaltenborn can have that sort of confidence, she revealed that her discussions with Honda before signing the deal were lengthy.

"It's important to have transparency," she said, "and we were talking for a long time and have a good insight. It's important that Honda is aware of the problems and is committed to solving them."

(GMM)
More than 10 years ago, a tense debate over Catalonias status within Spain sparked a boycott of cava from the region in the rest of the country  a protest from which the sector has never recovered. But early this year, the regions sparkling wine industry appeared to bounce back, bubbling with optimism as it gave the future a positive spin.

Codorniu workers protest against lay-offs at the firm. Albert Garcia

Presenting sales results for 2016, the chairman of the Cava Regulatory Council, Pere Bonet, downplayed the importance of the drop in domestic sales of around 700,000 bottles (0.8%) and predicted better results based on general economic recovery in Spain.

A necessary price hike has hurt sales of Spanish bubbly in foreign markets

However, two weeks ago, the cava giant Codorniu announced that it would stop production for third parties, with 93 workers to be made redundant. Freixenet, meanwhile, is beset by infighting among its main shareholders, suggesting an altogether flatter outlook.

The sector is starting to crack, warns Miguel Angel Dominguez, who heads up the food industry division for the CCOO general workers union in Catalonia.

In the last 10 years, there has been a drop of 12% in the consumption of cava in Spain and, despite Bonets confidence, there is no sign of a reverse in the trend. During the crisis, the sector was propped up by exports, which accounted for 65% of the market. And while consumption abroad continues to rise  particularly in non-EU countries such as Russia  domestic sales remain stagnant.

Freixenet bottles inside the winery at Sant Sadurni, Catalonia. Ignacio Adeva

Both the government and the sector believe that some of the fault lies with the undervaluation of the product, resulting in a price hike last year, which Bonet deemed a necessary move  though not one that went down well in countries such as Germany, where sales have dropped by 14%, and Belgium and Britain, where Italian prosecco is proving popular.

According to Bonet, A marketing push on premium champagne is vital for consolidation. This strategy has been adopted by both Freixenet and Codorniu, who are boosting profit margins by investing in luxury labels that now account for 12% of sales.

House brand

On the downside, this strategy has meant the end of house brand production and redundancies in Codorniu. The oldest family firm in Spain makes cava for huge supermarket chains in Britain such as Tescos but while production of this brand represents a fifth of the groups production, it accounts for only 5% of revenue, according to union sources.

The cava sector is starting to crack Miguel Angel Dominguez, union spokesperson

Freixenet cut down on production for third parties four years ago. However, the company, which belongs to the Bonet, Ferrer and Hevia families, had net profits of just 2.35 million in 2016, an improvement of 6.7% on the previous year, but hardly impressive for such a prestigious brand. And while shareholders have expressed their disappointment, the three families are struggling to reach a consensus on how to keep them happy.

English version by Heather Galloway.
After three years without official figures, Venezuelas Health Ministry has just released its Epidemiology Bulletin, which contains data from last year. And the figures in this new report have shattered one of the symbols that the Bolivarian revolution was most proud of: the quality and reach of its public social and health systems.

A February protest in Caracas over lack of medicines. AFP

More information La difteria y la mortalidad infantil se disparan en Venezuela

According to the report, infant deaths rose 30% in 2016 from the previous year, while maternal deaths grew by a staggering 65%. Meanwhile, diphtheria  a disease that had been eradicated two decades ago  made a comeback last year with 324 cases.

And malaria, which was brought under control in the 1940s, has become endemic again, with cases doubling in a year to more than 240,000. A third disease, Zika, grew spectacularly from 72 cases in 2015 to 59,348 in 2016. Hepatitis A and tuberculosis also made considerable advances.

If the chronic shortage of medicine and medical supplies at hospitals and pharmacies is taken into account, the emerging picture is nearly catastrophic.

Rather than numbers, what this report contains is faces and names, stories of mourning

Jose Manuel Olivares, opposition deputy

Venezuela is currently experiencing the worst health crisis in its republican history, said Maritza Duran, president of the Venezuela Society of Internal Medicine, in statements to the Efe news agency.

The opposition deputy Jose Manuel Olivares, who is a doctor and president of the Health Subcommittee at the National Assembly, said that these official figures only confirm the health crisis that Venezuela is going through, and which the government of Nicolas Maduro has insisted on concealing.

Venezuela had been publishing epidemiology bulletins on a weekly basis since 1938. Under Hugo Chavez, they were intermittently suspended to avoid political interpretations, according to the government. In April 2014, with Maduro in the presidency, the reports were suspended indefinitely.

The ER at Caracas Medical Center. AP

One of the oppositions main demands throughout the crisis has been for the government to allow a humanitarian aid channel in the country, to alleviate the countrys dire health situation.

In 2014 Henry Ventura, who was the health minister at the time, announced that the bulletin would never come out again and would be replaced by press conferences that never came to pass. The document had been designed to report on the incidence of 73 infectious diseases.

The report was partially restored in 2016. On Tuesday, a new document came out compiling all the figures for last year.

Rather than numbers, what this report contains is faces and names, stories of mourning, said the deputy Olivares. This is a result of the involution of our health system. While these figures are on a downward trend in Latin America, they are soaring in our country because of the serious social and health indicators we are registering. The ministrys figures are truly alarming, and they evidence the serious crisis we have been denouncing from the National Assembly.
The European Unions Advocate General announced on Thursday that Uber is primarily a transport company rather than an intermediary between passengers and drivers, and as such the US firm could be obliged by member states to hold the same licenses and permits to carry out its activities as existing taxi service providers.

A fleet of Uber taxis in Pittsburgh. AARON JOSEFCZYK (REUTERS)

More information El abogado de la UE da la razon a los taxistas y propina un varapalo a Uber

Taking account of the fact that the supply of transport constitutes, from an economic perspective, the main component, whilst the service of connecting passengers and drivers with one another by means of the smartphone application is a secondary component, the Advocate General proposes that the Courts answer should be that the service offered by the Uber platform must be classified as a service in the field of transportation.

Uber cannot be regarded as a mere intermediary between drivers and passengers. In addition, in the context of the composite service offered by the Uber platform, it is undoubtedly transport (namely the service not provided by electronic means) which is the main supply and which gives the service meaning in economic terms, adds the Advocate Generals statement.

Uber has been given a rough ride in Spain, with taxi drivers staging mass protests to protect their livelihoods

This reasoning is shared by most rulings on Ubers activities in the Spanish courts brought before them by taxi associations. The Advocate Generals comments are not binding, and the EU is expected to issue a final ruling before the end of the year. If it follows the Advocate Generals assessment, Uber will face serious problems implementing its business model in Europe.

The European Court of Justice will have to decide in the coming months whether Uber is a transportation company or an intermediary platform, the job of which is solely to put drivers and passengers in touch. However, such a ruling will only affect its UberPop ride service, which was the origin of a lawsuit in Barcelona and that in Europe is still only available in Zurich.

Uber has already been given a rough ride in Spain, with taxi drivers staging mass, and at times violent, protests to protect their livelihoods.

In 2014, a Spanish judge ordered Uber to cease all activities in Spain. The company had set up its UberPop operation in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

The ban was imposed without hearing the arguments of Uber, given that the company is based in the US tax haven of Delaware. The judges writ also instructed telecommunications and electronic-payment firms to stop processing transactions for Uber in Spain, as well as no longer hosting its software and applications.

In mid-2015, Uber returned to Barcelona operating as a food delivery service known as Uber Eats.

Uber has introduced a luxury service in Madrid. KIKE PARA

In March 2016, it announced a comeback in the Spanish capital via UberX, which puts users in touch with professional drivers holding passenger transport vehicle (VTC) licenses, which fall under different regulations from the taxi sector.

In December of last year, Uber launched UberONE, using luxury Tesla electric cars.

Uber has always described itself as an intermediary, arguing that it has no vehicle fleet of its own and doesnt pay the drivers it uses a salary and concluding that therefore it should not be subject to the same rules as the taxi industry.

The Advocate General disagrees with this definition, and charges that Uber is not a ride-sharing company either, as it also claims: Uber does not offer a ride-sharing service, since the destination is selected by the passenger and the driver is paid an amount that far exceeds the mere reimbursement of costs incurred.

Uber does not offer a ride sharing service either, says the EU Advocate General

The Advocate Generals announcement comes after a Barcelona court passed on the issue to the European Court of Justice in 2015, requesting orientation on interpreting EU law after a lawsuit was brought before it by the Barcelona-based Elite Professional Taxi Association in 2014.

The taxi drivers called for Uber to be prevented from operating in the Catalan capital on the basis of unfair competition. If the judge accepts that it offers passenger transport, [Uber] will have to adjust to the law: possess a license and pay taxes. Otherwise, it will have to detail what it does and the magistrate will decide if it is legal, said the association at the time it presented the lawsuit.

The European Commission has issued a number of statements in recent years suggesting it takes a different view of Uber, defending the so-called sharing economy, arguing it brings innovation. It has also noted that taxi drivers should not consider Uber an enemy.

Last year, Uber recruited former EC Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neellie Kroes, a long-standing advocate of free competition in the taxi sector.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Once again, Argentina has shown the world that when it comes to historical memory issues, it continues to be a global leader. After emerging from a brutal dictatorship (1976-1981) and then watching leading figures of the repression walk free following the pardons of 1991, Argentinean society has come out in force, in what amounts to a civic revolt against a Supreme Court decision that opens the door to early release for inmates convicted of human rights crimes.

Marchers hold a sign reading Never Again. AP

More information Masiva marcha en Argentina contra la sentencia favorable a los represores

On Tuesday, the lower house of Congress held an impassioned session on the issue, and in under 24 hours managed to pass legislation to limit the effects of the Supreme Court ruling.

A day later, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demand no more privileges for perpetrators of crimes against humanity. Entire families with small children in tow turned up at the march, as well as scores of young people, proving that the antidote against repression is passed from generation to generation.

I oppose any tool that favors impunity, more so when it concerns crimes against humanity

President Mauricio Macri

They all converged on Plaza de Mayo, the square made famous by the mothers of the disappeared who have been marching there every week for the last 40 years. There were a few cries against the conservative government of Mauricio Macri, whom some accuse of being behind the court ruling  two out of the three justices who delivered the decision were appointed by the president.

Macri himself has since rejected a court decision that would favor more than 500 inmates by making any time spent in preventive detention count twice as long as time spent serving the sentence proper.

But the overall mood was one of satisfaction.

Fortunately, society has reacted firmly, said Estela Carlotto, leader of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo movement. Many judges are rejecting the calls to release the repressors. Lawmakers passed a law that seeks to stop the implementation of the Supreme Courts ruling.

People clogged the arteries leading to the Plaza de Mayo in central Buenos Aires. Sara Martos (EFE)

Looking out at the sea of white headscarves  the same symbol used by the Plaza de Mayo demonstrators since 1977  organizers of the march felt overwhelmed at their own success, and estimated that around 400,000 had come out in support. All avenues leading into the square were clogged with people.

The impact of this social movement can be gauged by the fact that for the first time, Mauricio Macris position was in line with his predecessor, the leftist Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Macri has stated that I oppose any tool that favors impunity, more so when it concerns crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, Fernandez de Kirchner, speaking from Brussels, said that with these three votes there is an attempt to take Argentina back 20 years on human rights issues after being a role model.

The onus is now on the three justices who handed down the ruling  Rosatti, Rosenkantz and Highton de Nolasco  to defend their decision. The repercussions within the Supreme Court itself are hard to foresee, as its president, Ricardo Lorenzetti, delivered a dissenting opinion in the case.

The only ones who could offer reconciliation and forgiveness are our children, and they are not here

Once more, it has been demonstrated that el pueblo unido jamas sera vencido [the people united shall never be defeated], said Tati Almeida, of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo Linea Fundadora group, quoting a popular political slogan from the 1970s. This law is so aberrant [] that theres been a reaction not just in Argentina, but abroad as well.

What a coincidence that the Church hierarchy also talks about reconciliation, she adds. Never. No reconciliation and no forgiveness. The only ones who could offer that are our children, and they are not here.

English version by Susana Urra.
Monolithic integration combines several components on a single GaN chip, enabling extremely small, powerful systems to be created. Besides being very compact, monolithically integrated half-bridge circuits have significantly better electronic properties. For example, the switching frequency can be improved by a factor of around 10 in comparison with conventional voltage converters.

Half-bridge circuits are the centerpiece of many voltage converters. Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF has now produced and demonstrated the worlds first monolithically integrated GaN half bridge for the important 600 volt class. In power electronics components, this is the standard volt class for grid-connected electrical devices, ranging from tablets and washing machines to e-bikes and electric cars.

A switching frequency of up to 3 MHz allows us to achieve a much greater power density. This is very important in areas such as e-mobility, where many converters which are as efficient as possible have to be fitted in very little space. Richard Reiner, research associate at Fraunhofer IAF in the Power Electronics business unit

Monolithically integrated half bridges are more compact, are easier to assemble and improve reliability.

Fraunhofer IAFs half-bridge circuit comprises two GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) and two integrated freewheeling diodes. The HEMTs have a breakdown voltage of more than 600 volts and an on-state resistance of 120 m.

A folded chip layout enables the DC link capacitance to be tightly connected between the supply voltage and ground. This design creates an optimized power path and allows for clean, stable switching at high frequencies. The operation of this circuit was demonstrated at the 4th IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA) in a down converter from 400 to 200 volts at a switching frequency of 3 MHz.

Even more complex circuits, such as a monolithically integrated multilevel inverter, have already been produced using this GaN-on-Si technology. In this topology, ten GaN power devices are placed on one chip with an area of 2 x 3 mm2. Each switch has a breakdown voltage of 400 volts in off state and a resistance of 350 m in on state.

Compared with conventional converters, multilevel inverters generate less noise during DC/AC conversion. This means that they require smaller output filters. Monolithic integration therefore not only reduces costs, but also makes voltage converters more compact and lightweight. This converter was demonstrated in inverters operating at the grid voltage level used in the US (120 volts).

Covering long distances without generating any emissions requires not only powerful batteries but also the development of lightweight electric cars which generate as little energy as possible. This can only be accomplished using electronic components based on semiconductor materials such as gallium nitride (GaN), which in contrast to silicon carbide (SiC) can be grown as epitaxial layer on cost-effective, large area silicon substrates. When used to produce electronic components for electric vehicles, GaN enables higher power densities to be achieved more energy efficiently. The aim of car manufacturers and users is to develop extremely efficient on-board chargers for electric vehicles which take up as little space as possible.

Their compact design minimizes negative influences such as line impedances, improving the electrical switching characteristics. The integration of additional sensor technology, such as a thermal monitoring system, improves operation even further.

This innovative approach brings a new level of power density, efficiency, robustness, functionality and reliability to e-mobility. Dr. Patrick Waltereit, deputy head of the Power Electronics business unit at Fraunhofer IAF

Fraunhofer IAF is presenting its monolithically integrated half-bridge circuit at PCIM Europe in Nuremberg, 16-18 May 2017.
This is the boards largest school bus grant to date and was the only application approved of all the school bus applications submitted to the state grant program.

Motiv Power Systems, in partnership with Type-A school bus manufacturer Trans Tech, is bringing electric school buses to the Sacramento, California region. A $7.5-million grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will support the building of 13 battery-electric school buses as part of the Sacramento Regional Zero-Emission School Bus Deployment Project. The 13 buses will go to Elk Grove Unified School District and Twin Rivers Unified School District.

The new all-electric buses will be powered by Motivs all-electric powertrains, which are both designed and manufactured in California, supporting local manufacturing jobs. The buses, Trans Techs all-electric eSeries built on the Ford E450 chassis, will be distributed by First Priority GreenFleet.

Motivs powertrain replaces the diesel or gasoline engine on a standard chassis. The powertrain includes a remote real-time data system which monitors vehicle performance, offers preventative and predictive diagnostics and allows remote software updates.

The electric school buses support a battery capacity of 85 or 106 kWh, with a range of 68 to 85 miles. The 150 kW electric motor delivers 1,200 Nm of torque (885 lb-ft). Top speed for the bus is 60 mph.

As the only all-electric technology approved by Ford for its commercial chassis, the Motiv All-Electric Powertrain has successfully been scaled from school buses in California and New York, to shuttle buses funded by Google and the California Energy Commission, delivery walk-in vans for AmeriPride and North America's only all-electric refuse truck deployed by the City of Chicago.
A local credit union recently purchased a Green River-based bank, resulting in a credit union with more than $218 million in assets.

Trona Valley Community Federal Credit Union purchased State Bank in a deal designed to bolster Trona Valleys presence in Green River and Rock Springs.

The deal was announced through a media release from Trona Valley.

Despite purchasing a bank, Jeremy Gibson, the President and CEO of Trona Valley said it will remain a credit union.

Gibson said while deals where credit unions purchase banks are uncommon, the surviving entity in the transaction remains.

We are excited about combining these two financial institutions covering the Southwest Wyoming area, Gibson said in the media release. Both entities have developed strong relationships with their member-customers. Both entities have built robust platforms and production capabilities, and established low cost deposit bases with significant focus on member service.

As of Dec. 31, 2016, Trona Valley had approximately $181 million in assets and offices in Green River, Rock Springs, Evanston and Mountain View while State Bank had approximately $37 million and locations in Green River and Rock Springs.

We are excited to join forces with Trona Valley Community Federal Credit Union and believe we are building a powerful credit union dedicated to serving the demanding needs of growing and successful individuals and businesses here in the Southwest Wyoming area, Mark Borders, President of State Bank said in the media release. The combination of these two financial institutions is a great cultural and business strategy fit as we share the same passion for serving customers with superior personal service and products customized to fit each clients needs.

The boards of directors representing both companies approved the agreement, which is subject to conditions including approval by State Banks shareholders, bank regulatory agencies and the National Credit Union Administration.

According to data from the NCUA, Trona Valley was chartered in 1963. According to State Banks website, it was founded in 1997 four years after the original State Bank of Green River, which started business in 1895, was sold.
Federal funding for meals on wheels is on the chopping block. The Trump administration budget blueprint released in March calls for the elimination of two federal block grants: Thats money the federal government gives the states for social welfare programs, and those programs include home-delivered meals and meals served in senior centers.

Most of the nations 5,000 meal programs also rely on money from the Older Americans Act passed in 1965 to fund about 35 percent of the cost of the meals they serve. Those funds are also in jeopardy. The budget blueprint calls for an 18 percent cut to the budget of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which administers the Act, and programs are bracing for more cuts.

Paul Kraintz who heads the senior nutrition program at Meals on Wheels in Martinez, California, says while his program would lose about $67,000 it now gets from one of the block grants, hes really worried about the potential budget cut at HHS. If they take 18 percent of that, its going to be big.

Why the attack on meals delivered to the elderly, many of whom are homebound, ill, and unable to cook or shop?

At his March news conference, budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters, Meals on Wheels sounds great, but to take that federal money and give it to the states, and say, Look we want to give you money for programs that dont work  I cant defend that anymore. He claimed the program was just not showing any results.

Mulvaney didnt say what he meant by results. He didnt have to. His comments were aimed at creating doubt in the minds of legislators who might look favorably on cutting the Health and Human Services funds for use elsewhere in the federal budget. The potential impact on hungry elders was not a high priority. It didnt matter that thousands of seniors on waiting lists for food in communities across the country are, in effect, stuck in a bread line.

Several academic studies examining meals on wheels programs have challenged comments like Mulvaneys regarding the programs effectiveness. A recent randomized controlled study funded by the AARP Foundation showed significant differences among seniors on waiting lists, those receiving home-delivered meals, and those getting deliveries of frozen foods. Seniors with home-delivered meals reported the greatest improvement in health and quality of life.

In 2013 Brown University researchers found that meals delivered to seniors allowed them to stay in their homes rather than going to a nursing home, and that resulted in a net savings to Medicaid, which pays for about half of all nursing home stays.

Nursing home funding from Medicaid may be in trouble, too, if Congress cuts more than $800 billion out of Medicaid over the next 10 years, which has been proposed. States could have fewer dollars to channel into nursing home care. The picture is bleak for senior services. Thirty-eight states also use Medicaid dollars for home-delivered meals.

None of this makes much sense. The number of people needing food is growing rapidly and has been for decades. Erika Kelly, a government affairs officer for Meals on Wheels America, an umbrella organization for local programs, told me its members are already serving 23 million fewer meals than in 2005, a decline that has resulted in an increase in hunger.

Federal funding has not kept pace with the need. Money from state and local governments and private philanthropy hasnt been able to provide the rest of the money to feed everyone who needs a meal. The gap has grown so much theres no way private philanthropy will fill it, says Ellie Hollander who heads Meals on Wheels America.

Philanthropy works only in places where there are lots of wealthy individuals and corporations to tap. In Dallas, donors who can write checks for $1 million or $2 million have helped whittle the waiting list from about 3,000 a year ago to 2,000 today.

What do those still on the lists do? People have come to us who are literally starving, or they ask family to bring stuff from the food bank. Its whatever they can do to get food into their homes, Katherine Krause, president of VNA Texas, the agency that delivers the meals, said.

Programs like those in Pine Bluff, Ark., arent as lucky. There arent many rich donors or big companies. Its worse now than it ever has been for funding, says Director Betty Bradshaw.

In 1963 President John F. Kennedy, quoting the historian Arnold Toynbee noted in a special message to Congress, a societys quality and durability can best be measured by the respect and care given its elderly citizens.

That respect and care may be threatened if government support to feed the elderly is cut.

Have you or a family member had experience with meals on wheels? Write to Trudy at trudy.lieberman@gmail.com.
Discussion Tuesday night amongst the Green River City Council caused us to realize the future of affordable garbage service in Green River is in privatizing it.

This isnt a knee-jerk reaction to a slick sales pitch, but a realization after looking at a comparison presented during the Tuesday night discussion.

In short, the city stands to save money, up to approximately $1 million a year after five years while receiving more than $100,000 in franchise fees each year.

Residents would be projected to save as well, saving $10 from the projected city rate during the first year. The level of...
Richard Shuck is joined by his daughter to receive his Republic of Korea Ambassador for Peace Medal.

In a packed room, Korean War Veterans and their families gathered together to reflect on the war and to receive a peace medal.

According to Doug Uhrig of the Wyoming Veterans Commission, the Korean War, was on of the bloodiest wars, but due to lack of public attention, it's often referred to as "The Forgotten War."

"It was a short, but exceptionally bloody," Uhrig said.

According to www.history.com, about 5 million people died in the war and half of those were civilians. Forty thousand American soldiers died in the war and 100,000 were injured.

The Korean War started June 25, 1950, when 75...
Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

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Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

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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
Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan
Director Doug Liman is best known for such big-budget action-adventure thrillers as "The Bourne Identity," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," and "Edge of Tomorrow," so it's curious to see him paring down his vision in "The Wall" to what's essentially a one-set, three-character play.

It's 2007, and the war in Iraq is theoretically winding down, but not for Shane Matthews (John Cena) and Allan Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), two American soldiers called to the aid of a group of contractors who've been ambushed and slaughtered by a sniper. After several hours of quiet, Matthews leaves their camouflaged position to investigate the scene, only to find that the attacker  who may be the legendary sniper named Juba  is still very much in the vicinity.

With Matthews down, Isaac rushes to his aid and gets shot in the leg. He finds sanctuary behind a crumbling wall and this is where the bulk of the film takes place.

As the soldier tries to run through his options, he finds that the sniper has managed to break into his communication system to taunt and threaten him. The invisible Juba (the voice of a very effective Laith Nakli) is trying to get into his head as he's slowly bleeding out into the desert sand. This is the start of a cat-and-mouse game that is an exceptional showcase for Taylor-Johnson, who carries the film completely on his shoulders.

Yet, for all of that, "The Wall"  penned by first-time screenwriter Dwain Worrell, whose script was well-regarded in Hollywood before it got turned into a film  feels longer than its brief 81 minutes. Watching a wounded man possibly bake to death under an unforgiving Iraqi sun turns out to feel almost as grueling as living it.
A Kansas abortion clinic that was among the first in the country to open after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade has been inundated with patients. Some drive 10 hours or more to get there, coming from Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and even Louisiana. But thats only if they can get an appointment. Planned Parenthood clinics in the state, including this newest one, are only able to take about 10% to 15% of the patients seeking abortions. Kansas is one of the few states in the region still providing abortions in the wake of the court's ruling.
Bob Luckey / Bob Luckey

GREENWICH  The assistant principal of Parkway School announced her retirement Wednesday. Deborah Clines six year tenure in the role will come to an end on June 30.

I have been most fortunate to work for the GPS for the past 25 years as a teacher, reading consultant, learning facilitator, and administrator, said Cline. I greatly appreciate the opportunities I have had to learn with and from my colleagues in four schools and in the reading and pupil personnel services departments. I will greatly miss this community, but I also look forward to bringing what I have learned to children nearer to my new home in Massachusetts!
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BRIDGEPORT  May was supposed to be a happy time for Desiree Alicea.

The 16-year-old had bought a gown for the Harding High School prom she planned to attend with her boyfriend.

Instead, she will go to his funeral.

I feel empty, Alicea said. I dont know how Ill get by.

On Wednesday morning, Alicea stood with her mother, Nancy Rios, and activist Arlene Mercer as they mopped the 15-year-old Jayson Negrons blood off the street.

Negron died and the passenger in the car he was driving, Julian Fyffe, 21, was wounded when a Bridgeport police officer shot at the vehicle during a pursuit Tuesday. Police said the officer had been struck by the car but managed to fire some shots at it. The officers name has not been released.

While they mopped, Mercer said, they discovered a bullet fragment. She said she called 911 and it was collected.

On Wednesday evening, Alicea, Rios and Mercer were among about 300 people gathered on Fairfield Avenue to pay tribute to Negron. About two dozen blue balloons were released into the air.

As many of those involved in organizing the event spoke, there was a collection intended to help cover the cost of the funeral. Several medium-sized containers were filled with $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills. Rios said she was concerned about Negrons family and the funeral costs.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim was among those at the rally. He stood in the crowd and said he wanted to participate in the remembrance throughout the evening.

Were all struggling, Ganim said. Its a tragedy. All emotions are welcome tonight.

Some speeches addressed police officers standing across the barricades from the rally, while others addressed Ganim as he stood a few feet away.

At one point, away from the crowd, an unidentified member of Negrons family spoke with the mayor, her voice shaking and tears running down her cheeks.

Its justice for Jayson, the woman cried. Jayson was a good kid, Mayor Ganim. I want to understand. They didnt have to kill him. He was a real kid. He didnt deserve to die.

Ganim embraced her, and many others at the rally. He said he is waiting for the appropriate time to meet with Negrons family and express condolences to them.

Many of those at the rally said they are hoping for change in Bridgeport.

Among those at the rally were Jacqueline Pettway, Nicole Matthews and six other women who formed You Are Not Alone after losing children to violence on Bridgeport streets. Members of CORE, members of Black Lives Matter and supporters of Connecticuts ACLU branch were at the rally as well. Community activists including Iman Lyle Hassan Jones, former state Sen. Ernie Newton, Cecil Young and former mayoral candidate Tony Barr were present.

Barr expressed the importance of the city getting to the heart of the issue.

This is a tragedy, Barr said. At the end of the day, death should not be like (this). Im not condemning what they (the police) did. Im condemning the death that happened.

Others, like Genesis Pressley and Wanda Simmons, want action.

They want more money for education, for after-school activities  and more money for training and recruiting police officers. They want a full and impartial investigation into Negrons death at the hands of an officer who has been on the Bridgeport police force for about a year.

Theres always three sides to a story, Pressley said. Yours, mine and the truth.

And they want closure.

The boy didnt wake up Tuesday planning to steal a car; the cop didnt wake up planning to kill someone, said Jones. As long as we are on opposite sides, we will never move this community forward.
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GREENWICH  Women in whimsical floral hats at the Belle Haven Club on Thursday fauned over Furla, Chanel, Celine and Prada. Holding flutes of prosecco, they submitted their bids for the lambskin leather clutch, the suede boho bag and the structured neon purse.

High school girls in black skirts and white gloves circled the packed room with the priciest of pocketbooks  bidding starting for some at a few thousand dollars  whetting the womens appetites for the live auction.

But when the luncheon began and several speakers took to a stage where the background was the waves of Long Island Sound, attention turned from fashion and frivolity to one of the most serious issues plaguing Greenwich: domestic violence.

Domestic violence is the number one crime in our community in terms of violent crime and it has been for many, many years, said Mary Lee Kiernan, president and CEO of the YWCA Greenwich, as she addressed a crowd of some 370 coiffed ladies. Last year the YWCA Domestic Abuse Services provided help to 1,367 individuals, our friends, our neighbors and members of our community who reached out for help.

Thursdays event marked the 12th Annual Old Bags Luncheon, a fundraiser for the YWCAs Domestic Abuse Services. The YWCA is the only licensed provider of domestic violence services in Greenwich and provides confidential counseling, shelter, court resources and safety planning to victims of abuse free of charge.

Without the support and funding generated by this event, we wouldnt be able to provide the full spectrum services that we do for victims of domestic violence in Greenwich, said Meredith Gold, director of Domestic Abuse Services. We are very grateful to be in a community like Greenwich where people are committed to supporting us and have really come out to make this event, so successful.

During the luncheon, a domestic violence survivor shared her story.

It always started the same way. There wasnt anything in particular that I said or did that would set him off, said the survivor, a portfolio manager with an MBA from Wharton School of Business. Then, it would develop like a wave crashing on the shore, gaining momentum and strength from the sand and stones that it carried and left in its wake.

Months after their wedding, while she was pregnant, her husband berated her with questions, insulted her, tore her clothes, dragged her across rooms and threw her out of their apartment, she said.

Over many years of marriage following that incident, I was subjected to every kind of humiliation from being pushed, pinched, spit at, having the car or house keys taken away, not to mention endless verbal abuse, she said. My husband succeeded in isolating and controlling me.

For a while, the poised brunette thought she could fix things with her husband if she just had another baby, made more money or had dinner ready on time. But when she began a group counseling session with other victims of domestic abuse, she realized just how far from normal her situation really was.

As much as we all like to think of ourselves as unique, their chilling tales were surprisingly familiar, as if we were all married to the same man, she said. Weve all heard the same vile words. Weve all experienced the same sudden and frightening incidents of anger with no apparent reason. I knew that they didnt deserve it and they made me see that I didnt truly deserve it either.

After two tries and eight years, the woman left her abuser.

It was a long and hard journey to get here, she said.

The survivors story was met with a standing ovation. Chief of the Greenwich Police Department Jim Heavey applauded the YWCA Greenwich for empowering victims to become survivors through their services.

Were able to contact the YW from the scene of an incident so that the victim and the family can immediately get services, he said. Making the arrest doesnt always solve the issue and there (are) a lot of support services ... the fact were able to partner with everybody really makes sure we are taking care of the whole problem.

The sold-out event was organized by Eva Maria Janerus, Cecilia Lieberman, Karen Morstad, Lauren Walsh and Judith Wertheimer. More than 200 bags, most donated by community members and local businesses, were up for bid before and during the luncheon. A raffle was held for a beige quilted Chanel CC flap bag.

Greenwich resident and stand-up comedian Jane Condon served as auctioneer for the live auction of the most expensive purses of the event.

I truly, madly, deeply love the Y, said Condon, who performed three shows at the Greenwich organization in the 1990s when she was first getting her start as a comedian. It is all about empowerment. It does so much for everybody.

emunson@greenwichtime.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
Clove: Nokia's 3, 5 and 3310 are still due for June launch in UK

The new quartet of Nokia smartphones has gathered a big interest on Clove UK's online store. The retailer has was recently asked by HMD Global/Nokia UK to stop pre-orders because the maker felt it's too early for those.

But Clove assures buyers that pre-orders for the Nokia 3, 5 and the new 3310 will be renewed in just a couple of days. The retailer also mentioned that interest in the three devices was very high.

Clove confirmed that the release estimates haven't changed and the phones will start shipping in June and that the dates on Clove's listings are legitimate.

Currently the Nokia 3310 and Nokia 6 store pages say 'Launching in June' while the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 listings say 'June 30th'.

Outside of Clove's retail channel the Nokia 3310 will be released in the UK a bit earlier, on May 24.

Source
Journalist on visit of policemen: They shouted, frightened my child (video)

Early in the morning journalist of Civilnet Arpi Makhsudyan received unwelcomed guests, When I walked out of the room, I saw four handsome men in our room, who were having a tense conversation with my mother-in-law and father-in-law, the journalist told A1+. Unfriendly foreigners were police officers. Not willingly they explained the purpose of their visit. Arpi tells, They said that they have operative information that there is a criminal in our house and that they came to search the house. When I asked them whether they had a warrant from the Court for searching the house, they gave negative answer, so I told them that they had no right to search the house. The policeman told me not to tell him what to do, saying that I dont have appropriate legal awareness. The policemen in the house of the journalist were looking for a criminal, who, according to their information, used Wi-Fi connection of the flat. Learning that they came by wrong address, Shengavit police department policemen tried to take the journalists father-in-law to the police station. The policemen discussed for a while what to do and decided to leave. They left, saying that they will come back and find out our connection with that person and that we will regret. Journalist doesnt want to link the surprising visit of the policemen to her professional activities. But she will not remain inactive. She will report to the police. The police used unlawful methods, didnt introduce themselves, when I asked them, they shouted at me, frightened my child, tried to threaten my elderly father-in-law and mother-in-law, tried to take my father-in-law to the police station, and the most important, they left without making a report, notes Arpi Makhsudyan. Later the police clarified that they didnt have a purpose to search the house, but they simply carried out operative-intelligence work.
Published on 2017/05/10 | Source

Looking for the best airport dresser

Advertisement

Stars and their styles are always in the spotlight but they're not always that fancy. If one is making a long flight abroad, nothing beats a comfortable outfit because something too fancy or dressy may seem out-of-date. Here are some stars who put comfortable and stylish together; Gong Yoo, Ha Jung-woo, Park Hae-jin and Lee Min-ho. They were seen wearing simple T-shirts.

- Luxury on-point, Ha Jung-woo

Ha Jung-woo was off to promote the movie "The Handmaiden" in a tight white T-shirt and navy slacks. He put on black framed sunglasses carried a high-quality leather big-bag, making simple not so simple. His matching white sneakers topped off the look.

Ha Jung-woo usually shows up at official events in neat suits so this was a new look for him. Still, he managed to look luxury and classic with accessories and a big bag.

- Fatal black, Gong Yoo

Gong Yoo expressed his carefree personality with all-black. He was on his way to promoting the movie "Train to Busan" wearing a black T-shirt and oversized black pants. He looked comfortable yet, manly. He wore white slip-ons, a metallic watch and gold framed sunglasses to finish the look.

Gong Yoo brought about the long-coat fashion in the tvN drama "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" and he looks good in comfortable wear too. His chic-ness makes up for the simplicity.

- Color play, Park Hae-jin

Park Hae-jin was on his way to Taiwan. He wore a tight-fitting black T-shirt and navy colored slacks. The simplicity of the fashion was noted by the shirt tucked-in his pants that were rolled up. His signature yellow bracelet was not an exception.

Parl Hae-jin is always in a satisfying look. He dresses casually but not too casually and adds point items to his look to make the finishing touches.

- Soft Lee Min-ho

Lee Min-ho wore a grey colored T-shirt with matching slacks for a 'soft' look. He looks neat and the clothes run down his body-line, making him look more elegant than comfortable. He added sunglasses and a metallic watch to his look.

Lee Min-ho went for quality this time. He made things even better by patting the heads of the children he saw as he went into the airport.
GOVERNOR IGE ANNOUNCES NINE PERCENT DECREASE IN STATES HOMELESS POPULATION

News Release from Office of the Governor, May 10, 2017

HONOLULU  Hawaiis homeless population has decreased for the first time in eight years. The annual Point in Time counta census of people experiencing homelessnessshowed a nine percent overall decrease in the number of homeless individuals across the state compared to the same period last year.

The 2017 count found 7,220 homeless individuals across Hawaii compared to 7,921 in 2016.

I commend the many partners who have gotten out of their silos, come to the table and rolled up their sleeves. Together, we are finding more efficient ways to move people off the streets and into homes. This report is proof that our collective efforts are working, said Gov. Ige. While todays news indicates that the tide has turned, there is more to do. My administration remains focused on increasing affordable housing and reducing homelessness in the State of Hawaii.

Hawaii County saw the largest decrease at 32 percent, Maui County saw a 22 percent decline and Kauai County a seven percent drop compared to 2016. Oahu saw a half percent increase in homeless individuals.

A link to the overview of Point in Times full report, compiled by Hawaiis two Continuums of CareBridging the Gap and Partners in Carecan be found on the governors website at governor.hawaii.gov.

FULL TEXT: STATE SEES NINE PERCENT DROP IN HOMELESS POPULATION

* * * * *

GOVERNOR IGE ANNOUNCES 32 PERCENT DECREASE IN HAWAII COUNTYS HOMELESS COUNT

News Release from Office of the Governor, May 10, 2017

HONOLULU  Gov. David Ige announced today that the homeless population across the state decreased for the first time in eight years. The annual Point in Time counta census of people experiencing homelessnessshowed a nine percent overall decrease in the number of homeless individuals across the state.

This years count found 7,220 homeless individuals across Hawaii compared to 7,921 in 2016.

Hawaii County saw the largest decline in homeless individuals  a 32 percent decrease.

We have partnered with every mayor in every county, along with the private sector and service providers. Weve had housing summits to identify the benefits of renting to the homeless. We have service providers to provide supportive care so that we can place families in permanent housing. Its terrific news that homelessness is down 32 percent on Hawaii Island, Gov. Ige said.

Maui County saw a 22 percent decline in homeless individuals and Kauai County experienced a seven percent drop compared to 2016. Oahu saw a half percent increase in homeless individuals.

I commend the many partners who have gotten out of their silos, come to the table and rolled up their sleeves. Together, we are finding more efficient ways to move people off the streets and into homes. This report is proof that our collective efforts are working, said Gov. Ige. While todays news indicates that the tide has turned, there is more to do. My administration remains focused on increasing affordable housing and reducing homelessness in the State of Hawaii.

A link to the overview of Point in Times full report, compiled by Hawaiis two Continuums of CareBridging the Gap and Partners in Carecan be found on the governors website at governor.hawaii.gov.

News Release: MAUI COUNTY SEES 22 PERCENT DROP IN HOMELESS POPULATION

News Release: KAUAI COUNTY SEES SEVEN PERCENT DECREASE IN HOMELESS COUNT

* * * * *

Mayor Caldwell statement on 2017 Point in Time Count

News Release from City and County of Honolulu, May 10, 2017

Our hard work over the past several years has resulted in significant progress, including decreases in the homeless census in areas where we have focused on creating housing such as the Leeward Coast and East Honolulu, including Waikiki and Makiki. I thank all of the Point in Time Count volunteers for donating their valuable time to help generate a more accurate, and therefore larger count, that helps the city and state secure federal funding.

Through close cooperation with the state, service providers, and community members across Oahu, we were able to place more families into housing this year, resulting in a 14 percent decrease in family homelessness. The 2017 Point in Time Count confirms that our Housing First and affordable housing programs coupled with our compassionate disruption efforts are making a difference, but we need to continue working to address homelessness in Central and Windward Oahu and among our veterans.

With projects like 1506 Piikoi and 1727 Beretania in Makiki, and 86-537 Halona and 85-248 Farrington in Waianae, as well as plans to issue a third Housing First contract this year after demonstrating success with the first two, we are poised to place even more people into safe and stable homes. In addition, we continue to make the most of our existing properties as evidenced by the six new micro units and 29 rehabilitated apartments at Winston Hale.

Meanwhile, the city continues to engage in innovative efforts to address homelessness while keeping our public spaces accessible to everyone. This includes mobile hygiene service that we expect to be operational later this year, the expansion of the Hale Mauliola Navigation Center to accommodate an additional 21 people, the conversion of our Kuwili Street property in Iwilei into a hygiene center, outpatient service center and 42 permanent supportive housing units, and our continued commitment to house every veteran on Oahu under the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.

Im sending a heartfelt mahalo to everyone at Bridging the Gap and Partners in Care who helped with the 2017 Point in Time Count, which helps secure federal resources and allows us to gauge our successes and challenges as we move forward. I also want to thank the many Oahu residents who have opened their hearts to welcome formerly homeless individuals and families into their neighborhoods. Together we are making a real difference in peoples lives.

* * * * *

How Accurate Are Point-in-Time Counts?
Neighborhood elections continue with more than 15,500 votes cast so far

News Release from Honolulu NCO, May 10, 2017

Honolulu  As of 11 a.m. today, Wednesday, May 10, over 15,500 voters have cast a ballot for the 2017 Neighborhood Board elections.

Voters may use their unique passcodes to cast ballots online at www2.honolulu.gov/nbe via their computers or mobile devices through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 19.

Those who have voted in the 2016 general or primary elections and live in a contested seat area are eligible to vote in the 2017 Neighborhood Board elections. To find out if your board is contested, visit http://bit.ly/2qUlbZO.

During this voting period, the city and its partners will also make computers available to the public at these locations:

Kapolei Hale, 1000 Uluohia Street (Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

Kapalama Hale, Suite 160, 925 Dillingham Boulevard (Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

The KEY project in Kahaluu at 47-200 Waihee Road (Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

Any public library on Oahu within the Hawaii State Public Library System (see library hours)

The NCO strongly encourages voting online as it saves paper and keeps costs down. However, you may request a paper ballot if you are unable to vote online. To request a ballot by mail, voters may call the Ballot Request Hotline at 768-3763 no later than Monday, May 15, 2017, by 4:30 p.m. with your full name, residential address, and last four digits of your Social Security Number. Returned ballots must be postmarked by Friday, May 19, 2017 and received by the NCO no later than Friday, May 26, 2017.

Online voting closes at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 19, 2017. Election results will be announced no later than June 1, 2017. Newly elected board members will assume office on July 1, 2017.

Candidate profiles and photos are posted online at: https://www2.honolulu.gov/nbe/candidateprofiles.php.

-END-

Related: 70 Republicans Running for Oahu Neighborhood Board
Until last year, children were banned from the chambers and breastfeeding lawmakers were given a proxy vote. Waters was among the lead campaigners who pushed for change.

"If we want more young women in parliament, we must make the rules more family friendly to allow new mothers and new fathers to balance their parliamentary and parental duties, Walters said.

While the Queensland senator has caused a stir  facing both praise and criticism from around the world  shes not the first politician to make a public stand in support of breastfeeding.

In 2016, Spanish MP Carolina Bescansa was both criticised and commended for taking her baby into parliament and breastfeeding him. In the same year, a politician in Iceland breastfed her one-month-old child while speaking at the national parliament.
A KFC outlet in Adelaide has been convicted and fined after a young cook fell into a vat of cooking oil and suffered burns to 9% of his body.



The Industrial Court convicted KFC over the incident, which was its first work health and safety conviction.



On 15 May 2015, the 16-year-old cook stepped backwards and fell into a tank of hot oil which had been placed by another young worker on the floor behind him without warning him.



The 17-year-old colleague was showing a trainee how to clean an oil filter in one of the cookers and left the vat of oil on the floor, behind the cooking station.



He was on his fifth three-hour shift at the KFC restaurant when he fell into the 51-litre tank, which was about half full.



The 16-year-old suffered burns to his lower back, buttocks, right elbow and left shoulder.



KFC was charged with offences under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) for failure to provide a safe working environment free of tripping hazards and failing to maintain a safe system of work by not providing and maintaining a working procedure for filtering hot oil.



Moreover, they failed to provide adequate information, training and supervision for the tasks of filtering, changing, removing or cleaning oil from a cooker.



HC contacted KFC for comment and a spokesperson said: No injury in any of our restaurants is acceptable. We have been working closely with SafeWork SA to ensure this type of incident does not happen again.



"The welfare of our people is of upmost importance and we are committed to creating the safest possible environments in our restaurants.



Magistrate Lieschke said although KFC had identified the hazard of hot surfaces, it had failed to specifically address the hazard of hot oil and where the used oil tanks should be placed once they had been removed from its cookers.



As a result, a 17-year-old trainer, a necessarily inexperienced youth, was left to work out a system for performing the task and instructing new employees, in this instance as to an unsafe procedure, Lieschke said.



I accept that KFC did have a system of training that included some online learning, on-the-job training and skills assessment, together with general safety awareness instructions for trainers. However, the system was clearly deficient, as admitted.



The initial penalty of $175,000 was reduced because of KFCs early guilty plea.



Moreover, SafeWork SA Acting Executive Director Dini Soulio said the case highlighted the need for business operators to identify foreseeable risks to health and safety and implement control measures to eliminate or minimise risks.



When young workers are involved business operators should be particularly mindful of ensuring they are aware of the hazards and risks in the workplace and are trained in safe systems of work, Soulio said.



The teenager returned to work at KFC just six weeks after the incident and received $73 a week in workers' compensation for the time he spent recovering.



After hearing his victim impact statement in court, the company gave him $15,000 in reparations.



KFC has also changed its cleaning practices and no longer uses water in cleaning oil filters.




Several members of the opposition reiterated their concerns that the bill will not satisfy the objectives set for it.

The Finnish government's bill for granting consumers greater freedom of choice over their provider of social and health care services has come under a wave of criticism after it was presented to the parliament for consideration on Tuesday.

The bill is part of the comprehensive reform of social and health care services pursued by the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre). The main objectives of the reform include promoting health equity, bringing social and health care costs under control, and establishing a seamless chain of key health and well-being services.

By granting customers greater freedom of choice over their social and health care provider, the government is seeking to facilitate the integration of social and health care services, to encourage citizens to take greater responsibility for their health and well-being, and to improve the quality, availability and integration of services.

The bill is also expected to generate cost savings of three billion euros in the social and health care system by 2029.

Li Andersson, the chairperson of the Left Alliance, demanded on Wednesday that the government explain how the reform is expected to generate the savings.

Setting up a system that in itself raises costs while the government is seeking to cut the costs by three billion euros isnt a way to improve basic services. Hows that equation supposed to work? she asked during the question time debate on Wednesday.

You havent given a single answer to that question, because the only answer is that itll lead to either raises in customer fees or cut-backs in neighbourhood services.

Her statement prompted a response from Juha Rehula (Centre), the Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services.

Now youre fuelling fears that the entire reform will be funded by raising customer fees, he stated. Well have a piece of legislation thatll define the customer fees. Its currently being prepared, but I have to say that not a single group or party in the [session] hall is likely ready to remove the fee cap system.

That means that well make sure that low-income families will get the services also in the future, stressed Rehula.

Sari Essayah, the chairperson of the Christian Democrats, estimated that the bill could be in violation of the constitutional right of citizens to equal opportunity and access to services. Whether or not the bill complies with the constitution will be determined later by the Constitutional Law Committee.

Freedom of choice would be realised only in some of the counties, she said.

The bill, she added, would also fail to promote the integration of social and health care services. The bottom line is that this governments proposal wouldnt promote integration. Itd disperse service production to separate companies that are competing against each other, stated Essayah.

Ville Niinisto, the chairperson of the Green League, warned that the bill could increase social and health care costs by effectively allowing service providers to benefit financially from customers who only use occupational social and health care services but are registered as both regular and occupational service users.

Occupational health care customers  a total of 1.7 million Finns  would become an automatic revenue source for social and health care centres despite not needing any services. The system would be very, very expensive, he stated.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Markku Ulander  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Ex-Prime Minister Alexander Stubb (NCP) says he is honoured and grateful to have been nominated as the chairman of the board of Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), a Finnish non-governmental organisation dedicated to preventing and resolving conflicts around the world.

Ahtisaari, who served as the President of Finland in 19942000, on Tuesday announced that he will step down as the board chairman of the peace-brokering organisation and nominated Stubb as his successor. Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his efforts over three decades to resolve several serious and long-lasting international conflicts.

Stubb identified three responsibilities for himself after announcing his decision to accept the nomination.

One is to make sure that Martti Ahtisaari and the name Martti Ahtisaari remain a visible part of peace brokering. The second is to develop CMI as an organisation and the third to promote Finlands role in peace brokering, he said in a news conference on Wednesday, according to YLE.

Stubb gained experience of peace mediation during his tenure as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 20082011, as he participated in thrashing out a ceasefire agreement between Georgia and Russia in 2008. He will be able to assume his new responsibilities at CMI without relinquishing his seat in the parliament.

He is also considered a viable candidate to succeed Jan Vapaavuori (NCP) as a vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) after Vapaavuoris upcoming appointment as the Mayor of Helsinki. Stubb only commented briefly on the position to be relinquished by Vapaavuori.

Well take it easy with that one, he said.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Markku Ulander  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
A reveller jumped up onto the bonnet of a new BMW car and ran up and down it after he left a city centre club.

Kevin Dunster (20), who had been drinking heavily, caused 5,000 damage to the car, which belonged to the owner of the nightclub that he had just left.

Insurance

The BMW owner indicated to a court that he had had to pay for the damage himself, as it would have affected his insurance premium.

Judge Fiona Lydon ordered a restorative justice services report and adjourned sentencing to a date in July.

Dunster, of Thomastown Crescent, Sallynoggin, Co Dublin, admitted criminal damage.

Dublin District Court was told that Dunster left the Academy Club on Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1, at 4.10am on June 9, last year.

The owner of the club was leaving the venue at about the same time, and his 151-registered car was parked outside on the street.

A garda sergeant said the defendant jumped up onto the bonnet and roof of the BMW and ran up and down the vehicle.

Security staff from the club stopped Dunster and he was held until gardai arrived at the scene.

The defendant took responsibility for the damage that he caused.

The court was told that Dunster had never been in trouble before.

Defence solicitor Murrough O'Rourke said he had previously worked as a merchandiser in supermarkets, but he lost his job in February.

Spirits

Mr O'Rourke said Dunster had had a lot to drink on the night in question, having drunk three or four cans of beer at home and then drinking "quite a number of spirits" in the nightclub.

He said his client had no explanation as to why he had jumped up on the car.

He added that Dunster was willing to pay some compensation for the damage he caused.
Michael Parkinson has described his interview with Helen Mirren as "cringeworthy" but said the actress had continued their "feud" for a long time.

The veteran broadcaster (82) introduced the stage and screen star as the "sex queen" of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a 1975 encounter and asked if her "equipment" hindered her being recognised as a serious actress.

"You have to look at that interview in the context of the time," the former chat show host said. "When you've had a career as long as mine, you're going to have lots of cringeworthy moments and that was one of them.

"She took umbrage, I don't blame her. But she's carried on that feud for a long time.

"We did have a meeting on television about 20 years ago and we decided ... we'd kiss and make up ... we didn't get that far ... I didn't get a kiss at all."

Hollywood actress Meg Ryan made it clear she did not enjoy the experience of being interviewed by Parkinson, maintaining a frosty silence, in another encounter.

"I'd like to get the Meg Ryan one right. We were both in a fairly grim mood for various reasons," Parkinson said. "I just took against her. There was another way to handle that [Ryan being difficult]. It just got worse and worse.

"She regularly says not charming things about me."

Asked what he would ask Donald Trump if he could interview the US President, he said: "If he's all there ... it's very erratic behaviour."

Pleasant

Of the British Queen he said: "I'd like to ask her what her old man is really like."

Parkinson said British prime minister Theresa May, was his local MP who he knew socially and described her as "a very pleasant lady".

In a recent TV interview with her husband, Mrs May joked about taking the bins out and Parkinson said it was his wife Mary who did that.

"Of course she does, she's Irish," he said.
The fire rages at the Verdemont apartment block

Residents of a west Dublin apartment block ran for their lives yesterday when flames ripped through the top floor.

Gardai believe a barbecue may have caused the fire that destroyed two flats.

Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the Verdemont apartment block off the Snugborough Road in Blanchardstown at 5.10pm when fire broke out in a top floor apartment.

Six pumps, a turntable ladder and a command support vehicle attended the scene.

It is believed apartments on the ground floor were damaged by water as firefighters brought the flames under control.

Brycen Cluster (19) and his roommate Taylor Thompson (19) from America told the Herald that their home was one of those destroyed in the fire.

The two men have been living in Ireland for two years.

"We were in the flat next to the one that initially caught fire," said Mr Cluster.

"We heard a big bang and kids screaming outside.

"We then walked to our window and saw the flames.

"We grabbed our shoes and managed to leave.

"Sadly, we didn't manage to take any of our possessions with us."

"We don't know the extent of the damage but looking at our flat from the outside, it's clear not much will have been saved.

Personal

"We had a lot of family photos and personal things that are now gone.

"It's still setting in to be honest but I suppose it's out of our control.

"There's nothing you can do. We have to just move on."

Christina Farrell, who lives in one of the flats unaffected by the fire, said: "I was going to the gym when I saw a man on a balcony trying to put out a fire.

"I rang the fire brigade and they asked me what the situation was and how bad it was.

"They said just alert everyone and get them out

"I went inside [the burning apartment block] and started knocking on doors telling people to evacuate.

"By the time we got to the top floor there was so much smoke that it was hard to see so we had to get out of there."

A number of traffic diversions were put in place as firefighters fought the blaze.
Poor Willey. The founder of the Willey Boom & Lumber Company has gone down in the history of Sullivan County, Tennessee, with his name spelled two different ways.

Correct: Willey.

Common: Willie.

Why, even the invitation to the Willie Boom Neighborhood Reunion on Saturday, May 13 has shown up with two different spellings.

And yet, says retired pharmacist Nick Graybeal, that discrepancy is owed to what was put on buses that ran through the community during the mid-20th century.

As a bus stop, the neighborhood that had been named for The Willey Boom and Lumber Company was called Willie Boom, Graybeal said.

Thats how everybody spelled it, because thats what was on the bus, Graybeal said. His name was spelled e-y.

This company had a lumber operation in the vicinity of what is now the Food City on Virginia Avenue (U.S. 421). There, Graybeal said, you would have found a pond that was used to float logs.

Mr. A.F. Willey operated the lumber company and lived at the corner of Ash Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in a home that has since been torn down, Graybeal said.

Willey (Willie) Boom is located along Virginia Avenue, in what is now the vicinity of Tooties Restaurant, Food City and Zeros.

Located at 1310 Virginia Avenue, Tooties describes itself as Bristols Oldest Restaurant in the location of Willie Boom, TN.

The Willey (Willie) Boom neighborhood took its name after a trolley station was established, Graybeal said.

Even so, the Willey Boom & Lumber Company actually got its start in Bluff City before moving to Bristol. It later became the Cortrim Lumber Company, Graybeal said.

Graybeal, 68, grew up in the Willey (Willie) Boom section of Bristol, Ten-nessee, in a house on Carolina Avenue-Extension. He called his childhood neighborhood one of working class people with a good strong character, church-going people ... It was a poor, working-class neighborhood. And it was built for the men who worked at Willey Boom & Lumber.

Today, Graybeal lives near his old stomping grounds - about a mile away in the nearby Fairmount neighborhood.

Eight years ago, Graybeal created a Facebook page celebrating some Willey (Willie) Boom history. And I was asked to do that, he said.

The upcoming reunion on Saturday at Virginia Avenue Baptist Church runs 6-9 p.m. in the fellowship hall and will include plenty of food, Graybeal said, plus an old-fashioned cakewalk.

I just want to connect with some old friends, Graybeal said. We had grown up in that neighborhood ... We just want to connect and see each other and see what everybody looks like.
WISE, Va.  Businessman Steve Smith said he doesnt believe a silver bullet or magic wand will transform Southwest Virginias economy into a powerhouse.

The magic, Smith said, will come from hard work.

I think its a coming together of a lot of folks who are really focused on economic development and trying to do the right things, collaborating with each other to bring jobs to our region to keep the best and brightest here, said Smith, president and CEO of K-VA-T Food Stores, the parent company of the Food City grocery chain.

Smith was one of the speakers at the 2017 Southwest Virginia Economic Forum, a gathering of business professionals, civic leaders, government officials and citizens to discuss strengthening the Southwest Virginia economy.

A couple hundred people convened Wednesday at the David J. Prior Convention Center at the University of Virginias College at Wise to engage with experts about the regions economic challenges and how they might be overcome.

Sitting down with local legislators

One of the days events featured a question-and-answer session with state Delegates Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, and Israel OQuinn, R-Bristol. They were asked what Virginia can do to train displaced workers for emerging technology jobs.

OQuinn said the creation of regional training centers housed in places like local colleges is one important piece of workforce development. Such schools, like Mountain Empire Community College or UVa-Wise, OQuinn said, can quickly create those services.

To ensure that the General Assembly is making those types of services easy to create, OQuinn stressed the need for communication with legislators.

If there are legislative barriers  thats what were here for  to help remove those barriers, he said.

Kilgore added that nearly $300 million in state monies goes to workforce development, but that money needs to be carefully spent in areas that will connect workers with jobs.

The best thing that we can do is to train someone for a job that actually exists, Kilgore said.

When asked what Virginia can do to encourage entrepreneurship, the delegates agreed that the states business environment needs to instill confidence in those who might invest in a new business.

Starting a new business can be absolutely terrifying, OQuinn said, and the governments role should be to help limit the risks.

Adam Wells, of Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit that works to end harmful environmental practices and promote clean energy sources, asked the lawmakers what the General Assembly can do to attract information technology and data centers, which he said use a lot of energy and often require renewable energy sources.

I want to be all of the above when it comes to renewable energy, Kilgore said, citing the regions openness to wind mills and solar panels.

Kilgore pointed to the fact that Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Monday signed 11 bills passed by the General Assembly that promote the use of solar and other renewable energy options and aim to reduce energy consumption across the commonwealth.

Competition through collaboration

Steve Smith said a grocery store is the crossroads of any community.

A states economic market is often reflected in the aisles of a grocery market. When the economy is down, it dictates what people buy and what they eat.

Were painfully aware of what happens when communities lose jobs and lose population, he said during a presentation at the forum.

That pain is one reason Smith said he chose to join GO Virginia, a group dedicated to fostering private-sector growth and job creation through state incentives for regional collaboration by business, education and government.

GO Virginia has been broken into nine regions. Each region has a handful of business leaders who will identify the needs of the region, prioritize projects to send to GO Virginias state board and encourage collaboration, Smith said.

The Region One Council serves 13 counties in Southwest Virginia.

[Each] region is the organizing unit of the 21st century economy, he said.

The regions will receive funding based on the needs of the projects.

Smith said projects that receive GO Virginia funding should be in the initial stages by early 2018.
We do not normally fashion ourselves as trouble-makers. We prefer to lower our voices while others are raising theirs. Come, let us reason together.

However, it may be time to make an exception. More specifically, it may be time for those most interested in Southwest Virginia  especially the coal counties  to start being more of a disruptive force in Virginia politics.

Weve bemoaned a litany of grievances before: When coal counties found themselves facing an unprecedented funding crisis earlier this year  brought on by the collapse of the coal economy  the states Democratic governor offered nothing except empty words.

When one state legislator, Del. Nick Rush, R-Christiansburg, came up with a temporary solution, Republican-led budget negotiators tweaked that formula to still leave some counties with nothing.

Its hard to avoid coming to the conclusion that neither party in Richmond is really interested in the economic fate of Southwest Virginia. But wait, theres more:

Of the five candidates for governor, theres really only one  Republican Frank Wagner  who lays out a specific plan for the economy of Southwest Virginia. Hed raise the gas tax to build lots of roads, from widening Interstate 81 to getting started on Interstate 73 and the Coalfields Expressway. (News flash: Hes also unlikely to win the nomination.)

Instead, this is a more typical response: When a questioner at the recent Democratic debate in Roanoke asked about far Southwest Virginia, the candidates turned the answer to a more general answer about rural Virginia  not exactly the same thing.

Finally, when the Southwest Virginia Technology Council invited the candidates on both sides to debate before the June 13 primary in the coalfields to address issues there, the response was mostly silence.

Granted, the council extended its invitation after both parties had set their pre-primary debate schedule, but if the Northern Virginia Technology Council had made the same offer, we suspect the candidates would have found it possible to re-jigger their schedule.

All this, of course, comes against a backdrop of an ongoing demographic crisis in the coalfields: People are moving out at a rate not seen anywhere else in the state.

In most rural counties in Virginia, the majority of the population decline is attributable to the aging of the population  deaths outnumber births. Some rural counties actually have more people moving in than moving out, just not enough to make up for the deaths/births deficit.

In Virginias coal counties, though, the population decline is overwhelmingly driven by people moving out in search of work. Jack Kennedy, the Democratic clerk of court for Wise County, even has a phrase for these people. Americas first climate refugees, he calls them, a phrase potent enough to discomfit partisans on both sides.

Since 2010, Buchanan County has seen the largest percentage drop of any locality in the state  down 6.7 percent. Nearly 73 percent of that decline is due to people moving out, not dying. Dickenson County next door has the second-biggest rate of population decline with a drop of 5.7 percent. There, out-migration accounts for 75 percent of the countys population loss. In Wise County, people moving out accounts for 81 percent of the countys population decline. Why is this not a crisis that candidates are talking about?

Perhaps its time for people in Southwest Virginia to be a lot more vocal to get Richmonds attention.

Heres an idea: Its time to start making these candidates uncomfortable.

Two years ago when Sweet Briar Colleges board wanted to shut down the school, alumnae tried to get Attorney General Mark Herring to intervene to enforce the will of the schools founder, which called for the college to be a perpetual memorial. When Herring initially distanced himself from the controversy, some alumnae took to shadowing the attorney general at his public appearances  waving signs and generally causing a ruckus that couldnt be ignored. Eventually, Herring did get involved by calling in a mediator  and Sweet Briar College remains open today. (The schools endowment was never really the problem; the problem was that its old board simply lost faith in its mission.)

Perhaps community leaders in the coal counties should follow the example set by those activist Sweet Briar alumnae. They could even turn that exodus of workers to their advantage because that means they now have potential advocates scattered across the state. Maybe some of Americas first climate refugees should start showing up at appearances by the gubernatorial candidates wherever they are and try to force them to address the economy in the coal counties.

Well even offer up some ideas for signs, playing off the names of communities there. When will (insert candidate name) Wise up? Will we see you Monday in Grundy? Or, for those of a particular bent, Make Appalachia Great Again.

Laugh if you want. Admittedly, theres a certain level of silliness in the slogans, but a deadly seriousness behind the purpose: To force our next governor, whomever he may be, to focus on the coalfields and talk about the economy there. Democrats Northam and Perriello spend time talking about rural Virginia in general  and the need to get more students into workforce training programs at community colleges. Republican Ed Gillespie gives a good conservative account of how his proposed tax cut will rejuvenate the economy across the state. All those might be good ideas, but they are not specific to the coalfields. If a Southwest Virginia county wanted to tear down a Confederate statue, perhaps even Corey Stewart might pay attention.

To be fair, Gillespie has told the Southwest Virginia Technology Council hed accept an invitation to debate his Democratic opponent in the coalfields this fall if hes the Republican nominee (which he probably will be). Ideally, all the candidates would commit themselves to at least that minimal level of conversation.

If not, we know some Sweet Briar alumnae who could probably offer some advice to Americas first climate refugees on how to get a politicians attention.
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.
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Grand Prize Winner: Donna Rickey Blog Winners: A Song for her Enemies by Sherri Stewart: Mary Ann Hake Spies & Sweethearts by Linda Shenton Matchett: Connie Ruggles Sword of Trust by DebbieLynn Costello: Brenda Walters Justice for Julia by Donna Schlachter: Natalya Lakhno Party Prize winners: Sherri Stewarts Winners A Song for her Enemies: Angie Pool Bottle of Dutch Syrup: Carol Koch Alscheff Corrie ten Boom book: Deb Gramie Burgess Linda Shenton Matchetts winners: $5.00 gift card to online retailer or choice (Kobo, B&N, AppleBooks, Amazon): Karen Hadley A Bride for Seamus: Carol Osterhouse Wotring DebbieLynn Costellos winners: Sword of the Matchmaker: Melissa Planas Sword of Forgiveness: Paty Hinojosa Gomez Shattered Memories: Charlene Zall Capodice Sword of the Perfect Bride: Licha Haney Donna Schlachters winner: Leather Journal: Lisa Turley

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HICKORY  The AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance is marking its 30th anniversary with a community art project that allows people to share their own memories of the organization or the HIV/AIDS crisis.

ALFA provides case management and support services for those suffering with HIV or AIDS, as well as educational and preventative resources like HIV testing.

Based in Hickory, ALFA covers nine counties in Western North Carolina.

To commemorate 30 years, ALFA set up a table with scrapbooks chronicling the organizations history. The display is placed nearby the community art project in a room at the Hickory Community Theatre.

The community art project consists of a timeline with pieces of paper attached to a template created by artist Hannah Grace, which describes key events in the history of ALFA and of HIV/AIDS more broadly.

Individuals are invited to add photos and other meaningful objects to the artwork, which will be on display during the theaters upcoming showing of the musical Rent.

The spiral design shows the continual evolution regarding the disease and how it is addressed, ALFA Executive Director Chris Kliesch said.

By having this, it kind of shows that there is not an end yet, Kliesch said.

For John Rambo, the theaters managing director, the spiral design also is indicative of the progress made with regard to HIV/AIDS over the decades.

But the way theyve organized the timeline I really like because the spiral is coming out, so instead of spiraling down, its spiraling up; so thats a pretty neat thing that its more positive that way, Rambo said.

Through his own experiences, both personally and through his work at a nonprofit organization in California, Rambo said he has seen a general upward spiral in terms of how the disease can be treated.

Rambo said he has known well over a dozen people who have died from the disease but also has seen how advances in treatment have allowed people to live longer, more full lives.

Though HIV/AIDS is an element of the musicals plot, Rambo also emphasized that Rent is not just a play about AIDS.

Its a play about living, Rambo said. The disease is not the driver of the plot. Its more about people trying to express themselvesits a celebration of life and love.

During the drop-in period Wednesday, where people were invited to view and add to the artwork, three employees of Fairgrove Primary Health stopped by the display.

Fairgrove Primary Health is a clinic affiliated with Catawba Valley Medical Center and offers services to those with HIV/AIDS in the same nine counties ALFA covers.

The clinic also is a partner organization to ALFA.

ALFA refers patients to the clinic and helps provide support in areas like housing or finances so the clinic can concentrate on medical treatment.

Fairgrove Program Coordinator Janet Cote says the clinic has seen a number of changes over the years.

Weve definitely increased the number of patients that we see tremendously, Cote said.

The clinic serves about 370 patients, Cote said.

One positive change focuses on a medication regime adjustment, which allows patients to take a single pill instead of multiple pills previously, Cote said.

The Affordable Care Act also has helped the clinic rely less on grant funding to pay for services to patients, Cote said.

Now our money stretches a lot further because those individuals now have insurance, Cote said.

Another trend is that some people have taken the disease less seriously, Glenda Sigmon said, who is the Fairgrove medical case management supervisor.

People have kind of lost the zeal about HIV, and so they think its not something thats going to affect them, Sigmon. We have a lot of young people being infected.

One of the medical advances ALFA has touted is the drug PrEP, short for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.

The drug, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012, is a daily medication that reduces the risk of contracting HIV by 95 percent in high risk populations, Kliesch said.

So right now, we have great ways to prevent HIV and great ways to treat HIV so we really have to work on the stigma so people will get tested and get treatment, Kliesch said.

Rambo said there has been a change in the nature of the stigma surrounding the disease.

Oh, its a lot different, Rambo said. I mean, in the earliest days of the disease, you had doctors who wouldnt see people, funeral homes who wouldnt bury people because at the beginning, nobody knew where it came from or how you could get exposed.

Sigmon said misconceptions about the disease persist, however.

I think as far as stigma in this area, people still think its a gay male disease, but it definitely affects straight people, gay people, any race by far, Sigmon said.

For more information about ALFA and its services, call 828-322-1447 or visit http://www.alfainfo.org.

Rent will play at the Hickory Community Theatre from Friday through June 4. The show will be 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.

For more information about the show or to purchase tickets, visit hickorytheatre.org/Season/rent/ or call 828-328-2283.
NEWTON  Western North Carolina native and former Americas Got Talent finalist Benton Blount will play a benefit concert for Relay for Life hosted by Lee Industries, the City of Newton, and Hickory Jaycees on Saturday.

The concert also features two other local bands, Idle Wilde and Buick Mackane, scheduled to open for Blount. Idle Wilde plays all types of music from 80s rock to country while Buick Mackane plays Americana and blues.

Lee Industries, a local furniture manufacturer, has been involved with Relay for Life for several years, Administrative Manager Liz Van Horn said.

The company has raised money for the American Cancer Society in the past and has set the lofty goal of raising $30,000 this year for the cause, she said.

Lee Industries also held a 5K race in February to raise money for Relay for Life.

Last year, we did $28,000, so this year, we got a little aggressive and said $30,000  we did the 5K and got about $7,000 off of that. We said what else can we do and one of our employees lives up in Burke County, and she knew Benton, Van Horn said.

After getting in contact with Blounts manager, the company was able to book him for a concert, and now, they are hoping to get the word out about the show to raise more money for Relay for Life, she said.

Relay for Life is the main fundraising event for The American Cancer Society and consists of members of a team walking around a track continuously to show support for the fight against cancer.

After the CFO of Lee Industries passed away from cancer, the company became involved with Relay for Life, Van Horn said.

We have had so many employees here at Lee that have been affected by cancer, she said.

This year on June 2, the Relay for Life event will take place at the American Legion Fairgrounds in Hickory, Van Horn said.

Around the track, people can buy luminaries and light them to remember those lost to cancer, survivors and those still fighting, she said.

The idea is that we keep someone walking on the track all night long because cancer never sleeps, Van Horn said.

The concert is at Southside Park in Newton on Saturday at 5 p.m., and attendees can purchase tickets in advance at Lee Industries or online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/benton-blount-benefit-concert-for-relay-for-life-tickets-34198831626. Food, drinks and beer will be available for purchase at the event, and all proceeds will go to Relay for Life.
Forty years in journalism gave me extreme respect for freedom of speech. I am not dismayed in the least about the executive order that relaxes IRS oversight of churches.

If a minister or congregation leader wants to talk to the flock about an election, there is nothing that can get in the way. I have long thought that threatening a church with loss of tax exemption if politics is mentioned in the pulpit is as arrogant as it is wrong.

Yes, there is a wall of separation between church and state. It means the church does not practice anarchy and the state may not dictate doctrine. The constitutional separation disallows state sponsorship of any religious faith and guarantees the state shall not discriminate on the basis of religion.

Neither church nor state is empowered to compromise the safety, security or liberty of anyone without just (legal and constitutional) cause. Well, thats the ideal, anyway.

President Trumps executive order is not going send shivers throughout our social, religious and political structures as some critics claim. The IRS will continue oversight of everybodys money matters. The tax man, however, should not act as pulpit police. That duty is reserved for the congregants.

If you think a minister (by whatever title), denominational leadership or conventions are more powerful than the flocks themselves, you havent been paying attention.

WHAT SHOULD GIVE US SHIVERS are the misbegotten moves in several state legislatures to give themselves the authority to override court decisions or  worse  simply ignore them. That flies in the face of our basic division of power among the judiciary, executive and legislative branches of government  state and federal.

Ignoring the judiciary has been done before. Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln come to mind. On the state level, the feds had to step in when states refused to accept policy, law and court decisions on integration and equal rights.

Giving any legislature the power to override or dictate to the courts is bad business. Such is rank interference, manipulation. An independent judiciary is not a luxury, but a necessity.

North Carolina has gone back and forth on whether judicial elections should be partisan. In my experience covering elections, I have seen elections lost and won because voters did not look at the candidates records of service and qualifications, only political affiliations.

In the long run, the wheels of justice were not thrown off the track, although I think gubernatorial appointments ensured some excellent judges from both parties continued to serve in the system.

The General Assembly has not signaled if it wants to grab the authority to override a court decision, which by the way is prohibited by our state constitution. It has stripped the governor of judicial appointment and curbed other gubernatorial powers because voters kicked out the Republican and elected a Democrat while maintaining GOP superiority in the legislature.

I await a sensible explanation why the electorate should be punished and demeaned for doing so, but Im not holding my breath while waiting.

The courts, state and federal, have no armies to enforce rulings. The premise is that our constitutions and our love of liberty are enough to preserve the separation of governmental branches. Its a sad and desperate day when the people we trust to lead us want to burn parts of the constitutions that protect our freedoms.

It would be far better if our lawmakers would exhibit expertise in crafting a balanced budget and ensuring no citizen is excluded from the benefits of public policy. It would be vastly preferable to plan instead of plot, discuss instead of argue, go forward instead of sidestep, and lead instead of divide.

Nothing good, nor positive can come from a legislative assault on the judiciary. I understand the old saw To the victor goes the spoils in politics, but we dont deserve an all-out political war that changes our basic government institutions every time the other side wins a battle.

An imperial attitude by one branch of government against another is not progress. It is a waste of our time and money. An independent judiciary is not a luxury, its a necessity.

I admire many people in our government. There are lawmakers  both parties  in other states and even Washington worthy of high praise. But I cant think of anyone, in the pose of legislator, I want to pass judgment that would invalidate or give license to ignore a court decision.

If you want to influence a judicial proceeding and decision, if it matters that much, run for judge.

Reach Larry Clark at wryturlc@yahoo.com.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modis two-day visit to Sri Lanka starts today and it is expected to further strengthen New Delhi-Colombo ties. Bilateral ties have been on an upswing, especially after Maithripala Sririsena was elected Sri Lankas president in January 2015 defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa whose pro-China tilt was watched with disquiet by South Block.

This visit will be Modis second since he became prime minister in 2014; the earlier one being March 2015, which was the first stand alone visit by an Indian PM in 28 years. The four pacts signed then, including one on customs, showed that as far as ties with Colombo were concerned the foot was on the pedal

Modi, who has been invited by Sirisena, will be the chief guest at the International Vesak (Buddha purnima) Day celebrations, which will be attended by leaders from various countries. It is the first time Sri Lanka is hosting this UN-recognised international celebration and the theme this year is: Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace.

Prime ministers visit....assumes significance because this is a reflection of our shared Buddhist heritage which is spanning centuries and this also reflects the importance we attach to the ties with Sri Lanka, Sanjay Panda, joint secretary, Indian Ocean Region, MEA, said in a briefing on Wednesday.

Modi will take part in a lamp-lighting ceremony at the famous Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple in Colombo. Modi will also visit the hill country region where the tea estates are situated and will be the first Indian PM to do so. He will inaugurate a 150-bed multi-speciality hospital in Dickoya. This part of the visit will be of particular interest back home because the tea estates have a high number of Sri Lankan Tamils who have strong ancestral ties with the people in Tamil Nadu.

It is unlikely that there will be formal announcements or bilateral pacts; however, the visit will be closely watched for its political undertones.

The issue of Eelam Tamils is integral to regional parties in Tamil Nadu, but its a sentiment that is often not shared by New Delhi. Dravidian parties, in general, take a hawkish stand against Colombo for its treatment meted out towards Eelam Tamils and because of the frequent arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen. Many leaders have already asked Modi to take up the fishermen issue with Colombo. Coalition governments at the Centre have had to walk the tightrope because of this, leading to criticism that domestic political considerations are jeopardising Indias ties with its neighbours. Parts of Modis visit will be viewed through this prism.

The two-day visit will reflect the qualitative transformation in bilateral ties that have worked in Indias favour and it has helped, to a certain extent, to check Beijings ambitions in the island nation. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes April visit saw the signing of an MoU on economic cooperation between the two nations.

Under Modi there has been a concerted neighbourhood first push which has had mixed results. April which saw the visits of three leaders from neighbouring countries was an example of the positive results of this push. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasinas visit was followed by a five-day visit by Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari; the third was Wickremesinghes four-day visit.

Modis visit is a sign of the growing bilateral ties but closely watched will be whether Modi discusses with Sirisena or Wickremesinghe the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen and Chinas role in the region.

@VijuCherian

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The approach to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Kulbhushan Jadhav goes against conventional thinking in India to date of keeping disputes with Pakistan out of international fora. This was the lesson learnt from the fate of the application to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in January 1948 on the Pakistani invasion of J&K. Since then, the government of Indias approach has been to try and limit exposure of bilateral issues to outside influences, legal or otherwise. The Simla Agreement further reinforced this point of view. In the three decades since Simla for instance, India preferred to deal with contestations over the Salal hydroelectric project and the Tulbul navigation project bilaterally with Pakistan. This was often to its cost but was still the preferred option rather than go in for the dispute resolution mechanisms provided for in the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) itself. Indias only reference to the ICJ was a defensive one and to prevent Pakistan from raising the overflights issue in 1971 in another multilateral body- the International Civil Aviation Organization.

From 2005 the approach to the IWT changed with India agreeing for the first time to approach, jointly with Pakistan, the World Bank to appoint a neutral expert. Thereafter the use of the dispute resolution mechanisms of the IWT has become more frequent. The current move however represents a more significant change since it is not an engineering dispute of the kind covered under the IWT. It is seeking the ICJs intervention in a consular matter and human rights matter, more specifically the death sentence awarded following a court martial, and for violation of procedures and provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR).

Clearly if Jadhavs life had to be saved, something needed to be done since the bilateral track was not yielding results. The fact that both India and Pakistan are signatories to the VCCR and non-compliance with its provisions can be appealed to the ICJ provided the opening. There is also the fact that Indias acceptance in 1974 of the ICJs jurisdiction was made subject to a number of exceptions. These have precluded Pakistan from bringing in issues pertaining to J&K or others before the ICJ. The expectation now therefore is that the focus will remain on the consular case alone and no precedent will be set outside the consular domain.

For Pakistan, this move represents a challenge. First, this is a change from Indias reluctance in approaching multilateral legal fora on bilateral disputes. Second, it will be on the defensive since a retrograde military court martial has been used to summarily award a death penalty to a foreign national. Most of all it will be in a quandary on whether to contest the Indian move on grounds of jurisdiction or similar procedural basis. To do so will mean diluting its longstanding position that third party or international mediation can help in settling disputes with India. Then, Pakistan will consider whether it should present the evidence it claims it has for scrutiny before a more impartial process than a summary court martial. This too is risky given the lengths it has gone to convince its public that an Indian hand explains all its travails in Baluchistan.

The treatment of nationals of the other country who are prisoners or undertrials has long been unsatisfactory in the India Pakistan context. Various bilateral means attempted to improve this situation have not been very effective. Involving the ICJ to uphold provisions of the VCCR is therefore a novel step and may lead to establishing and raising standards in this difficult area and ensuring consular access, legal representation etc. Nevertheless, the present case has wider implications. The mainstreaming of military courts in Pakistan is a symptom of the civil military imbalance which periodically erupts in Pakistan. That the ICJ hearings will coincide with this ongoing tussle in Islamabad adds more dramatic force to the proceedings. Secondly, Pakistans efforts to bolster its international image as a crucible for terrorism have involved blaming India for the backlash it has inevitably suffered. This too will now come under scrutiny. Most significantly, however, the case represents an India Pakistan contestation on an international platform where India has taken the initiative to go to save the life of one of its citizens. In itself the step opens up many possibilities from different points of view in the otherwise repetitive terrain of India Pakistan relations.

TCA Raghavan is a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan

The views expressed are personal
Filmmaker Prawaal Raman is all set to release his upcoming film, Dobaara, based on the Hollywood film Occulus and what could have been a better promotion than to garner praises from the director of Oculus - Mike Flanagan - himself! Raman has said that the Fangans comment is a sign that they are heading in the right direction.

Flanagan took to Twitter to applaud the trailer of the Bollywood film, which features actors and siblings Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem. He posted: Heres the official trailer for Dobaara - See Your Evil. It looks like a fantastic, faithful adaptation.

Here's the official trailer for DOBAARA: SEE YOUR EVIL... and it looks like a fantastic, faithful adaptation! https://t.co/oiK2Kh5HVx  Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) May 9, 2017

Here it is! The official trailer for DOBAARA: SEE YOUR EVIL. This is so cool... https://t.co/ywDNbYmkw1  Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) May 9, 2017

Reacting to this, Raman said in a statement: We couldnt have asked for more and being praised by Mike Flanagan has given us greater confidence that we are heading in the right direction. The response that we have been getting is overwhelming.

Oculus, which released in 2013, is a supernatural psychological horror film starring Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites. It revolves around a young woman who is convinced that an antique mirror is responsible for the death and misfortune that her family suffered.

Watch Occulus trailer:

The trailer of Dobaara was released on Tuesday. It is slated to release on June 2.

Watch Dobaara trailer:

Produced by B4U Motion Pictures in association with Zahhak Films, the film also features Lisa Ray, Adil Hussain, Madalina Bellariu and Rhea Chakraborty.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Actor Shahid Kapoor is celebrating 14 years of his being in the film industry. The Haider actor commands a huge fan following. His image of a family man, after he got married to Mira Rajput in 2015, and when he became a father to an adorable baby girl in 2016, has only added to his charm.

The actor tweeted on Tuesday, May 9, thanking his fans for their support and love.

Thanks peeps for the many wishes. 14 years of doing what I love. Beauty of cinema,you always feel like a student. Too much to learn.  Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) May 10, 2017

Shahid, before making his film debut in 2003, was with the Shiamak Davars dance institute. As a student there, he appeared as a background dancer in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer film Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer Taal (1999).

Too much to achieve. Too little time. Time to put my blinders on and run like there's no tomorrow. Gratitude and love. For believing in me.  Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) May 10, 2017

His lead role in his debut film, romantic comedy Ishq Vishk, was much appreciated for its freshness. Since then, he has impressed viewers with his versatility in films such as Vivah (2006), Jab We Met (2007), Kaminey (2009), Haider (2014) and Udta Punjab (2016).

Shahids look in his last film Udta Punjab. (Twitter/shahidkapoor)

The 36-year-old is now busy shooting with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, for his upcoming magnum opus Padmavati - scheduled to release this year.

Actor Deepika Padukone will be seen in Padmavati that also stars Shahid.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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After Infosys and Wipro, its now IT firm Tech Mahindra that could hand out pink slips to hundreds of employees as it looks to weed out bottom performers.

Tech Mahindra -- which ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues -- has begun its annual performance appraisal process.

We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different, Tech Mahindra said in an emailed response.

The Mumbai-based company, however, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave. However, industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds.

At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

Tech Mahindras larger rivals, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant have already initiated similar performance reviews and estimates suggest that thousands of employees in the sector could be shown the door over the next few weeks.

The development comes at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

While the companies have termed these layoffs as part of normal business decisions, many believe these are directed more towards controlling costs.

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.

With the US hardening its stance on outsourcing, IT firms are under pressure to hire locals instead of taking Indian employees on work visas to client sites. This also impacts their margins.

Infosys, for instance, has said it will hire 10,000 people in the US over the next two years. It is also looking at setting up four new innovation centres there.

IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. Apart from the impact of stringent visa regime, increasing automation of processes would also lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.
Baba Ramdev-led home-grown FMCG major Patanjali Ayurved, which posted a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore in the last fiscal, is now looking at a 10-fold jump in sales in the next five years.

Our turnover was Rs 10,561 crore last (fiscal) year. Now, we are targeting to achieve a turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years, said Ramdev at a press conference here today.

On the occasion, the yoga guru-cum-entrepreneur announced his company will donate an equal amount of money for various social causes during the next 20 to 25 years.

Foreign companies (operating in India) do not give anything for charity, while we donate 100 per cent of our profit for the betterment of the society. We have set a target of giving away Rs 1 lakh crore for charity, including for education, during the next 20 to 25 years, he said.

Asked about his plans for Gujarat, Ramdev said the Patanjali Yogpeeth may come up with a Cow Research Centre in the state.

We are working on a project to increase milk yield of various cow breeds of Gujarat such as Kankreji and Gir. By using various methods and through embryo transplantation, we can increase the yield from 5 litres to almost 50 litres per day, said Ramdev.

It is very much possible that we would set up a Cow Research Centre in Gujarat to carry out these activities. However, you have to wait for a formal announcement on June 21, he added.
Tesla will soon begin selling solar roof tiles.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted early today that ordering would begin later in the day.

Musk said the tiles will be sold worldwide. Theyll go to US customers first this year and to other countries next year. He gave no other details.

Palo Alto, California-based Tesla, which makes electric cars, announced last fall that it would produce the tiles with solar power company SolarCity Corp. Tesla and SolarCity completed a merger in November.

The glass tiles are designed to look like a traditional roof, with options that replicate slate or terracotta tiles.

They contain photovoltaic cells that Tesla says are invisible from the street.

The energy from the tiles can power a home when combined with Teslas Powerwall energy storage unit.
This is the story of two daughters of India, both victims of horrific sexual crimes. Jyoti Singh was a bright 23-year-old, dreaming of a career in medicine that would lift her family out of poverty when she was brutally gangraped and murdered in the heart of the national capital in December 2012. Bilkis Bano was just 19 and five months pregnant when she was gangraped while trying to escape the mob in her village in Gujarats Dahod district during the 2002 communal riots. Bilkiss three-year-old child was killed in front of her while 13 members of her family were also murdered. Jyoti and Bilkis hold a mirror to the darker side of our society and yet their narratives do diverge, a separation that deserves serious introspection.

Last week, Jyoti Singhs killers were given the death sentence by the Supreme Court. It meant that within four-and-a-half-years of the date of the original crime, justice had been delivered. Just a day earlier, the Bombay High Court affirmed the life sentences of 11 accused in the Bilkis case, while sentencing the six police officers and a government doctor who tried to cover up the case to three years jail. While Jyoti Singhs verdict was the top headline and received 24 x 7 carpet coverage across television channels, the Bilkis ruling did not attract screaming banner headlines or prime time debates.

The difference is not surprising. Jyoti Singhs sickening death occurred in the national capital where most television channels and newspapers are headquartered and barely a few kilometres away from parliament where our law-makers reside. Within hours of her death, thousands of people had converged on Rajpath, with constant live coverage magnifying the surge of protests. The anger echoed in parliament, the country mourned her death, leaders went and met her family members and eventually a high level committee was set up to examine the troubling issue of sexual violence.

Bilkis Bano, by contrast, was languishing in a refugee camp for riot victims in Dahod, a tribal-dominated district of southern Gujarat, about 200km from Ahmedabad. Bilkis had attempted to register a case with the local police station who chose to ignore her pleas and threatened her instead to drop the charges. It was only with the support of highly committed NGOs, the National Human Rights Commission and a strong legal team that Bilkis managed to get the Supreme Court to direct the CBI to take over the investigation and transfer the case out of Gujarat. For over a decade, Bilkis fought her case bravely even as she had to move home repeatedly and couldnt return to her village out of sheer fear that her attackers were still around.

Bilkiss case slowly became just another Gujarat riots case even as the Jyoti Singh case became a cause celebre, a symbol of the fight for gender justice. Those who supported and fought for Bilkis were accused of being pseudo-secular jholawallah liberals only seeking to malign the government in Gujarat. Those who took up the Jyoti Singh case were seen as being at the vanguard of redefining rape laws. Global documentaries were planned in memory of Jyoti Singhs courage, hardly anyone wanted to visit Bilkis and her family.

While the accused were punished in both the cases, the judges final orders reflected the contrasting public mood. Describing the Delhi gangrape case as demonic, the judges saw it as a crime against humanity and ruled that it was a rarest of rare case that deserved the death penalty. In the Bilkis case, the judges rejected the conspiracy charge, claiming that the crime had occurred on the spur of the moment even while admitting that the accused were hunting for Muslims. While rejecting the death penalty for the rapists, the judges said, the accused were boiling with revenge after the Godhra train burning.

Ironically, when I asked Bilkis if she was satisfied with the verdict, she softly replied: I always wanted justice, never revenge! My counter-question to the world at large is simply this: is justice then for a gangrape victim in a communal riot different from justice for a gangrape in a bus in Delhi?

Post-script: Bilkis is now 34. The child she was pregnant with when she was gangraped is now 15. He wants to be a lawyer, she tells me with a smile. Maybe, he will one day be able to tell new India the true meaning of justice.

Rajdeep Sardesai is senior journalist and author. The views expressed are personal

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The Uttarakhand government Thursday imposed a ban on Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN), citing irregularities on part of the Uttar Pradesh government undertaking, legally preventing it from taking up any project in the state in future. A decision to this effect was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat here.

A technical and financial assessment of construction works taken up by UPRNN in the past would also be carried out jointly by the state planning department and an independent agency. If irregularities are found, suitable action will be taken, state urban development minister Madan Kaushik said after the cabinet meeting.

Kushik said the decision to ban UPRNN was taken owing to the general impression about the work by construction agency not being good and also due to irregularities in works carried out by it.

Uttarakhand government, after its creation in 2000, kept assigning construction works to the UPRNN as the hill state had no agency in place to take up such projects.

Among other decisions, the cabinet also approved a proposal to withdraw 1% cess on petrol. Following the withdrawal of cess, petrol would be cheaper by about 50 paise. The fuels rate then would be at par with that in UP, Kaushik said.

At present, residents in the border areas often cross over to UP to buy petrol owing to slightly lower prices there.

The cabinet also approved a proposal to grant full salary for the third year to the graduates from state-run medical colleges pursing specialty courses elsewhere.

Till now, they were entitled to salaries only for two academic years while pursuing the three-year higher medical courses, Kaushik said and added that they would be entitled to the facility on condition that they would serve in the state at least for five years after completing their courses.

Such a facility is being provided to doctors in other states, he added.

The cabinet also approved to constitute a sub-committee that would submit a report in connection with setting up of a proposed management board for upkeep of hydropower projects on the Ganga and its tributaries. It is mandatory to set up such a board as per the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, for which the high court had also recently issued directions to the Centre, Kaushik said. Cabinet ministers Prakash Pant, Harak Singh Rawat and Subodh Uniyal would be the members of the panel, which would submit its report within a week.

Kaushik said that electronic weighing machines would be installed at fair price shops, which would facilitate transparent transaction of subsidised ration. As many as 92000 such machines would be installed at all the points of sale across the state by July this year, he added.

The cabinet also cleared a plan proposing relaxation in rules relating to the state government Employees Provident Fund. Thanks to the soon-to-be revised rules, the employees would be able to easily withdraw their provident fund for family needs such as childrens education or marriage, the minister said.

The cabinet also cleared a plan under which the state government would accept the self assessment by traders of their returns relating to various taxes pending for the past three years. The relaxation would be granted so that proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime could be introduced in the state with a clean slate, chief secretary S Ramaswamy said. The GST regime is likely to be introduced across the country from July 1.

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Putting a lid on infighting, the Uttarakhand Congress put up a show of unity as they welcomed the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief.

A half-kilometer road show was organized on Thursday as Pritam Singh took charge as Uttarakhand PCC president. Former chief minister Harish Rawat, too, was present at the event. Almost all Congress leaders unanimously agreed that the party will remain united under Singhs leadership as he has cordial relations with all party workers.

The Congress was defeated in the recently held state assembly elections. But the party is not finished yet, as believed by the BJP. We will bounce back. BJP will never be able to attain its dream of Congress-free India. Congressmen will work hard and strengthen the partys base across the state, said Singh in his maiden public address at a packed Congress office in Dehradun. Singh claimed that the BJP government has given enough issues to the Congress within two months of forming the government in the state.

When we questioned them about the CBI inquiry ordered by the government on NH 74 scam in the assembly, they were speechless. They failed to reply on the steep increase in the price of PDS food grains. We are, however, willing to wait for six months as promised by senior party leaders. However, the Congress will be forced to hit the streets earlier if BJP keeps doing what its doing now, said Singh as he appealed to party workers to join hands and strengthen the organization.

Speaking on the occasion, Harish Rawat assured Singh that he would assist him to revive the party in the state. I assure the new PCC chief that the party will remain united under his leadership. Every leader and worker will work to strengthening the partys base and defeat the BJP. Pritam Singhs appointment has created a sense of confidence in the party cadre, he said.

No one can defeat the Congress if its leaders stand united. We have lost elections in the past not because of the BJP, but because of our infighting, said the outgoing PCC president Kishore Upadhyay.
The Delhi Lokayukta has issued notice to sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra in connection with corruption allegations made by him against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and minister Satyendar Jain.

Lokayukta Justice Reva Khetrapal has asked him to appear on May 19 to record his statement pertaining to his allegations. The notice came after a petition was filed by the legal cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Seeking an enquiry into the matter, the petition filed by partys legal team member Neeraj, an advocate, said both public functionaries have abused their positions as such to obtain any gain or favour to themselves.

Neeraj told HT that if Mishra is unable to appear before the Lokayukta, as he is sitting on fast, a court-appointed commissioner may go to record his statement.

The anti-corruption ombudsman may seek documents, which Mishra has given to Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to substantiate his allegations.

In its petition, the legal cell of Delhi BJP had relied on various media reports including the Hindustan Times.

It is further submitted that till the time of filing this complain no clarification has come from Arvind Kejriwal or from Satyendar Jain regarding the transaction of R two crore in cash, said the petition.

A day after his removal from the cabinet, Mishra, former water minister had alleged on Sunday that he saw Jain giving R two crore to CM Kejriwal at his residence on Friday.

When I asked Kejriwal what (money) is this for, he refused to answer and said such things happen in politics and he will explain to me later, he had said.

Mishra had also alleged that Jain had told him that he had settled a land deal for a Kejriwal relative at Rs 50 crore.
Delhi witnesses another politically charged day with more action on the two issues that have shaken the Capital over the week: corruption allegations against AAP brass by rebel leader Kapil Mishra and AAPs claims of EVM tampering.

Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra, who has accused Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and minister Satyendar Jain of corrupt practices, approached the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) with more details in the Water Tanker scam. Mishra had alleged that Kejriwal had taken Rs 2 crore cash from cabinet colleague Satyendar Jain and that Jain had helped a relative of the CM in reaching land deals. Read: Scams, feuds, controversies: The many troubles of Arvind Kejriwals AAP govt

The AAP, meanwhile, pushed its line on the EVMs by holding a protest at the Election Commission office and demanding that doubt over reliability of the EVMs must be addressed by forming an all-party panel.

Here are the Live updates:

3pm: How was EVM brought inside the House, asks BJP: As per the rules, no MLA is permitted to carry any mobile phone, apparatus or electronic gadgets into the House. Taking note of their act and objection raised by the Leader of the Opposition in 2013, the Speaker directed the MLAs to remove their caps, which were prohibited items. Even a glass of water is placed on the table with the permission of the Speaker. It is surprising that an elected member brings an EVM, Manish Tiwari said.

2.40pm: What happened in the assembly on Tuesday was completely unconstitutional. A fake man brought a fake machine into the House and committed an illegal act , said Manoj Tiwari.

2.30pm: BJP says EVM demo violated House rules: Delhi BJP chief said that the party will lodge a complaint with L-G Anil Baijal and demand probe into how an apparatus presented as EVM was taken into the Assembly.

2.18pm: AAP corruption row: ACB officials say they will formally record Kapil Mishras statement on Monday.

2.05pm: AAP corruption row: Have never seen Kejriwal silent in such a way. He is silent because he has lot to hide. Chup chup baithe ho zarur koi baat hai, Kapil Mishra said while speaking to a TV channel. Read: Kapil Mishra says Kejriwal has lots to hide, promises more details to ACB on Monday

1.55pm: AAP corruption row: ACB officers said they have taken details from Kapil Mishra and have asked him to come again with more information. Leaving the ACB headquarter after meeting Additional CP Alok Kumar, Mishra said he would go to the ACB again on Monday. I will go there again at 11am with more details, he told reporters.

1.44pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj expose: We will provide technical expertise to show on camera how votes are rigged. There is a gap of 20 secs between two votes,gives enough time for tampering.

1.40pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj expose: Make a committee with representatives from each party to find out if tampering took place.

We will request EC to form a committee to probe discrepancies in recent elections of UP, Uttarakhand, Pune.

1.37pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj expose: Most elections conducted after demonitisation were won by BJP.

Have come here to give the answer to the question that have EVMs have been tampered?

1.32pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj expose: Cites incidents of alleged technical glitches in Dhaulpur and Bhind.

Two questions in peoples minds: Can EVM machines be tampered and have machines been tampered.



1.30pm: Ankit Bhardwaj, the man who allegedly attacked sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra on Wednesday, is a chartered accountant who sidelined his work after getting inspired by Arvind Kejriwals politics, says a senior police officer after questioning him. Read: Man who tried to attack Kapil Mishra is a CA, left job to work for AAP

1.25pm: Former Congress MLAs led by Ajay Maken to meet L-G Anil Baijal on EVM issue.

1.20pm: AAP corruption row: Kapil Mishra still inside the ACB office.

1.15pm: AAPs three demands from EC: Gopal Rai submitted a memorandum to EC demanding that:

1. All elections be held only through VVPAT equipped EVMs

2. 25% polling booths to be randomly selected for tallying votes and

3. Gujarat elections be fought completely through VVPATs

1.05pm: Protesters asked to disperse after the three leaders meet EC and put up their demands. Saurabh Bhardwaj likely to make another disclosure about assembly elections at the party office.

12.50pm: AAP vs EC: We met ECs director. Requested him to announce date for EVM hackathon in tomorrows all-party meeting, says Rai. Gujarat elections scheduled in December should be conducted fully through VVPAT-equipped EVMs, he adds. Read: VVPAT machines at every polling booth by 2019 general elections says EC

12.45pm: AAP vs EC: Addressing protesters outside EC office, Gopal Rai says EC cant keep its eyes shut. SaurabhBhardwaj proved to the country that EVM tampering is possible, he says.

12.40pm: AAP vs EC: Taking cue from Saurabh Bhardwajs demo in the assembly on Monday, party workers protest with dummy EVMs. Meeting with Election Commission officials over, Gopal Rai comes out to join protest.

.@Saurabh_MLAgk has set a trend of sorts. Workers use dummy EVMs in #AAP 's #SaveDemocracy protest outside EC office in #Delhi pic.twitter.com/0c1EYt9q8W  Sweta Goswami (@sweta_goswami) May 11, 2017

12.35pm: AAP vs EC: AAP workers shout slogans while party leaders Gopal Rai, Alka Lamba and Som Dutt have gone inside the EC office to put forward their demands.

12.25pm: Gallery of AAP leaders at protest: AAP MLAs Alka Lamba, Gopal Rai and Som Dutt arrive at the protest near EC office.

12.15pm: AAP to participate in all-party meet: Gopal Rai said AAP will take party in the all-party meet called by EC on May 12 and decide the next course of action based on its outcome. Apart from demanding VVPAT-enabled EVMs, we will request the EC that votes registered in EVMs and paper trails of 25% randomly chosen booths be tallied.

12.05pm: AAP corruption row: Kapil Mishra arrives at ACB office to submit more proof.

11.55am: AAP vs EC: Gopal Rai arrives at the protest site. The party is demanding that VVPAT-equipped voting machines be used in all future elections.

11.45am: AAP vs EC: AAP volunteers shouting slogans Vote Chori Band Karo near EC office. Party leaders yet to join Save Democracy protest.

11.35am: AAP vs EC: AAP workers assembling at Patel Chowk metro station for the protest Save Democracy. They claim police has cordoned off all roads to the EC office.

11.25am: Shocking how low AAP can stoop, says Manoj Tiwari: This is shocking and shameful. Every citizen of India has the right to expose corruption. The police must increase Kapil Mishras security. I am shocked to see this. There must be an investigation into this, said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.

11.15am: Rai along with Delhi MLAs will protest at the EC office against the alleged irregularities in EVMs. AAP has blamed tampered EVMs for its recent poll debacles.

11.05am: Gopal Rai to lead protest: AAP Delhi convener and transport minister Gopal Rai will lead the partys protest at the Election Commissions office in central Delhi.

10.53am: We built our own EVM, says AAP: EVM AAP insists that the dummy EVM used in the live demonstration in Delhi assembly was put together by its own team of engineers, amid intense speculation over where the machine had come from. Read: AAP says its own team built replica that was tampered with in Delhi assembly

10.43am: Attempts on to pass off lies as truth, says Mishra: In his letter to the CM Kapil Mishra accuses him of attempting to pass off lies as truth, as in the case of EVMs. He, however, adds that this wont last for long. Requests him to make public the details of junkets by leaders.

10.33am: Mishra shoots another letter to CM: In another letter to Arvind Kejriwal, Kapil Mishra informs the CM about attack on him. Mishra claims the attacker was an AAP worker, but attempts were being made to portray him as a BJP man.

10.23am: Another jolt for AAP: Actor-politician Gurpreet Singh Waraich Ghuggi resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday, two days after he was replaced as the Punjab unit convener to make way for Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann. Read: Ghuggi quits AAP: Cant work under Mann, party deviating from principles

10.13am: Another AAP expose: AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj will reveal the truth behind recent elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Chandigarh at the party office at 1pm.

10.03am: Second day of Mishras hunger strike: Mishra says he will continue his protest till the Delhi government give details of the foreign trips undertaken by five close associated of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, including health minister Satyendar Jain.

9.50am: Kapil Mishra attacked:A man, who allegedly attempted to attack sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra at his home at Civil Lines in north Delhi was thrashed by his supporters on Wednesday evening. Read: Man tries to attack sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra, thrashed by supporters

9.40am: AAP says it will hold a protest outside the office of the Election Commission at 11am. The party had on Tuesday organised a demo during a special session of the Delhi Assembly to show that EVMs could be tampered with. Read: Kejriwals AAP shows how to rig EVM in Delhi assembly

9.30am: A day after he was attacked by a man, sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra said he will go to anti-corruption bureau on Thursday to give more details on the alleged water tanker scam.

9.20am: Mishra says he will continue to sit on hunger strike till the details of junkets are released by AAP.

I will continue to sit on hunger strike till details of international travel expenses of five AAP leaders are shared: Kapil Mishra pic.twitter.com/011ika2mk4  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

8.15am: Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra says he will make important announcement at 9am. Mishras hunger-strike has entered second day. He has demanded that the AAP should reveal details of foreign trips by party leaders.

   , important announcement at 9 am  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 11, 2017

Row erupts

The 36-year-old Mishra, who has been suspended from the AAPs primary membership, has also alleged people close to Kejriwal were threatening him but stressed that he was not afraid.

On Wednesday evening, a man allegedly attempted to attack sacked Mishra at his home at Civil Lines in north Delhi. He was caught and thrashed by the former ministers supporters.

The ousted minister has 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 also 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.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has termed the allegations untrue and insensitive.

The AAP has 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.

But the BJP and the Congress have demanded action against the Kejriwal government.
A three-member Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) team led by MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj will participate in Fridays all-party meeting on EVM manipulation called by the Election Commission.

The AAP  which protested in front of the EC headquarters on Thursday over EVM tampering  said it would ask the poll panel to form an all-party committee to look into matter. The AAP will depute two in-house technical experts with Bhardwaj at Fridays meeting.

We will demand committee consisting of representatives from all parties and the Election Commission. We would demonstrate before them EVM tampering in an on-camera proceeding. Our experts will show that their so-called unreadable chip can be decoded to hack the machine and divert the votes, Bhardwaj said on Thursday.

For that, he said the party would request the EC to get EVMs of any of the five polling booths. Be it in UP, Uttarakhand or even Pune, wherever you or any party has felt doubt regarding the polling process. We will probe it, in front of you, in a controlled environment and prove the truth, he said.

Bhardwaj, who had on Tuesday shown a live demonstration in the assembly of how an EVM look-alike could be tampered, said the party hoped the EC would announce a date for the hackathon in the all-party meeting.

The party on Thursday took its fight on EVM rigging to the commissions doorstep. Hundreds of workers led by Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai demonstrated outside the EC headquarters demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)-equipped EVMs be used in future elections.

Rai, who met the EC director during the protest, submitted a memorandum to the poll panel. We have given three demands to the EVMs. Apart from setting up the committee, our other two demands are that all elections be conducted only on VVPAT enabled machines and at least 25% polling booths must randomly be picked for tallying votes, Rai said while addressing party workers after coming out of the EC headquarters.

Dozens of AAP MLAs were present at the venue following a party whip.

The fight against EVM tampering is going to continue even after the EC meeting tomorrow. The partys future course of action on our Save Democracy campaign will be decided after we get to know the outcome of the EC meeting, labour minister Gopal Rai said.
The four convicts in the December 16 Delhi gang rape case are fighting depression after the confirmation of their death sentence by the Supreme Court, even as their lawyers are pinning hopes on review petitions.

The apex court had last week upheld the conviction and death penalty to Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh awarded to them by the Delhi High Court court on March 13, 2014.

I will be filing the review petition before the Supreme Court next week, perhaps on Monday or Tuesday, said Mukeshs advocate M L Sharma.

A P Singh, the lawyer of the other three convicts, said he it would take him some time before filing the review petitions.

We are preparing the petitions, but chances are it will take some time, he said.

The four convicts are being provided counselling by the authorities in Tihar jail where they are lodged since their arrest in the horrific gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012.

They are under depression and being given expert counselling, said a source in Tihar.

They have also been freed from the jobs assigned to them in the jail to keep them relaxed, the source said.

The jail authorities have kept Vinay in Jail number 4, the remaining three Mukesh, Pawan and Akshay are in jail number 2.

They are also being watched round the clock with the help of CCTV cameras and jail staff to ensure that they do not take any extreme step under depression, said the source.

Upholding the HC verdict in the matter, Justice R Banumathi, the lone woman judge in the Supreme Court, had said that if at all there is a case warranting death sentence, it is the December 16, 2012 gangrape-cum-murder case which shocked the collective conscience of the society.
A group of students of a government school in Faridabad on Thursday found a small snake in their mid-day meal, prompting the district administration to launch a probe in the incident.

Sources said that the incident occurred on Thursday when the students of Government Girls Middle School in NH 2 area of New Industrial Township were being served their mid-day meals.

Eyewitnesses said that right before some girls of Class Seven were about to start eating, one of the students spotted a small dead snake on her plate and raised an alarm.

The district administration was contacted and officials immediately stopped other schools from consuming mid-day meals supplied by the ISKCON Foundation.

A sample of the food was later collected and sent to a laboratory for testing in Chandigarh. There are 371 schools where mid-day meals are served in Faridabad district.

A committee, under tehsildar of Faridabad, has been constituted to conduct a probe in the whole incident.

Contacted, vice chairman of ISKCON Food and Relief North India said that the school had not shown them the snake that they found in the food.

 Our food is cooked in 120 degrees Celsius temperature. There is no chance that even an insect can enter our kitchens, forget a snake , said Dhananjay Krishen Dass, the vice chairman.

He added that the food is handed over to the mid-day meal in-charges after thorough checking. Today too, the food was checked before being handed over. The in-charge of mid-day meals in this school accepted the food against a proper receipt, he added.

Dass said that generally it had been found that schools keep the cooked food under trees in the open which increases the chances of insects falling in the meals.

We have lodged a complaint with the district administration against the school. They should have shown us whatever they found in the food, Dass said.

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Contrary to reports of experts, a Delhi Development Authority team hasnt found anything wrong with the Yamuna floodplains where a three-day cultural event was organised by the Art of Living in 2016.

A team of DDA officials visited the site after the event to see if conditions imposed for holding the event were met. The officials didnt find anything wrong. There were no violations, the DDAs counsel told the NGT on Thursday.

A seven member expert committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal earlier had pointed out that the event had adversely affected the ecology of nearly 420 acres of land on the banks of the Yamuna. The committee also claimed that it would take at least 10 years to fix the damage done.

DDAs statements appeared to be in line with views expressed by former Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra, who had criticised the NGTs expert panel report in April this year.

The DDA admitted before the NGT that there were no violations by Art of Living. All conditions for the permission were adhered to, said a spokesperson of the Art of Living.

The principal bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, however, didnt seem to be convinced with the DDAs comments and observed that the land owning agency should have been more cautious while giving permission to hold the event.

The DDA should have exercised more caution before giving permission to the NGO. If they have granted the permission, then they must own some responsibility, the bench observed.

The observation came after DDAs counsel told the tribunal that permission to organise the event was granted to the foundation headed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, subject to certain conditions.

Earlier in April, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had claimed that the Centre, Delhi government and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) should be held responsible for the damage to the Yamuna floodplains.

If, at all, any fine has to be levied, it should be levied on the Central and state governments and the NGT itself, for giving permission, the spiritual guru had claimed.

DDAs counsel however countered that the agency cant be held responsible as permission to hold the event was given on the basis of representation made by Art of Living.

The DDA had thrice rejected the NGOs application for organising the three-day World Culture Festival in March 2016 before finally agreeing.
When the members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and All India Students Association (AISA) clashed at Ramjas college in February this year, the conflict evoked reactions not just from Delhiites but even from Bollywood celebrities.

There were debates over whether JNU student leader Umar Khalids participation in the seminar, which led to the clash, was justified or not. This followed a political divide; ideologies were discussed and protest marches with allegations and counter-allegations were held. However, those who were directly affected, were the college students and the staff. Chronicling those events, a third-year student of the college, Vaibhav Yadav, will come out with his book  Ramjas: The Aazadi Episode.

Ive seen my college change, but never in the way this incident did. My class had 80 students. After the incident, I saw them get divided into two distinct groups  right wing and left wing supporters. I saw three years of friendships vanish. The hatred and its effect was unimaginable, says Yadav, a History honours student.

The college is about to end for us and we might not see each other again after graduating. But, this incident has caused many to wish they didnt see each other already. Is this really how the college is supposed to be? I want that to change.

So, what prompted him to write a book? The book was my way of reaching to the people to tell the truth. The book is an unbiased account about the incident. Adding to my words are the experiences of students from both sides. The college is about to end for us and we might not just see each other again. But, this incident has already created a rift among us. Is it how a college life supposed to be? I want that to change. I hope my book changes some of that adds Yadav.

Besides the book, Yadav, with six of his friends, has also been working on educating children of construction workers, who used to work in the Ramjas college campus. We had seen these kids in the college grounds and felt that they should not miss out on their education, which is a fundamental right. Convincing their parents, which was a bit difficult, we used to teach them for two or three hours, every evening. While the core team was of just seven people, many others volunteered to provide books and stationery. The kids have now moved from out of the college premises since the construction is over. However, our mission hasnt ended. We will continue to provide basic education to the needy illiterate children and will try to change the world in the little ways we can, says Yadav.

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Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra went to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Thursday and recorded his statement in the water tanker scam, promising to reveal more details in his next visit on Monday.

I have shared all the information I have with the ACB. Kejriwal has lots to hide. I have never seen him so silent , he said, after his meeting with the ACB.

ACB officers said they have taken details from Mishra and have asked him to come again. Leaving the ACB headquarter after meeting Additional Comissioner of Police Alok Kumar, Mishra said he would go to the ACB again on Monday.  I will go there again on Monday at 11 am with more details, he told reporters.

Mishra, who has accused Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain of corrupt practices, is on hunger strike since Wednesday.

Mishra began his protest to get the AAP government in Delhi to reveal details about foreign trips undertaken by five close associates of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, including Jain.

He said he would continue the hunger strike till the details are revealed.

Mishra, who was suspended from the Aam Aadmi Party on May 8, wrote another open letter on Thursday - third in three days.

The former water minister wrote that the party spread a lie that Ankit Bhardwaj, who allegedly tried to attack him on Wednesday, was from the BJP even though he claimed to be an AAP worker and associated with Jains Mohalla Clinic project.

Even before the police could take him away, Sanjay Singh announced in a press conference that he is a BJP man and also released some photos. It all happened so quickly that it looks like you had all the details. You also retweeted it, he said in the letter.

Mishra said the man had campaigned for the party in Mundka. An AAP official said the party will take action against Bhardwaj if found to be a party worker.

Mishra had earlier written a letter to the CM on Wednesday . I am not seeking anyones resignation or any other political demand. I am only seeking information about foreign trips done by these five people. We were always told there was no money to fight elections. Then how did these people go on foreign trips? he wrote.

The rebel MLA had earlier accused Kejriwal of accepting Rs 2 crore from his cabinet colleague Satyendar Jain. He also alleged that Jain had settled a Rs 50 crore land deal for the AAP chiefs brother-in-law.

Meanwhile, Ankit Bhardwaj, the man who allegedly attacked Mishra on Wednesday, is a chartered accountant who quit his work after getting inspired by Arvind Kejriwals politics, a senior police officer has revealed.
Jantar Mantar, a popular protest site in Delhi, has come under challenge by residents of the area who say that due to frequent demonstrations and noise, people living nearby are finding it hard to move in and out of their buildings.

What is the difficulty in shifting this protest site to Ramlila Maidan? a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra asked the government.

This come just two days after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had pulled up the Delhi government for not exploring alternative sites to Jantar Mantar after a plea said massive noise pollution was caused due to the frequent agitations.

The high court directed the government and city police to explain in a map the exact location at Jantar Mantar where protests are allowed. It asked the police to submit details of protest taking place, including the kind of permission needed to do it.

Show us in a map, where you permit (to protest) and (also) what you permit, the bench said.

The petition claimed that police was permitting protest in public street between Tolstoy Marg and Ashoka Road. It further claimed that due to the volume and frequency of protest in the area, the road is obstructed everyday.

It alleged that even emergency vehicles such as amublances and fire brigades face obstruction due to the presence of a large number of protesters.

The Delhi police, however, told the court that it has made arrangement at the protest site, including deployment of adequate staff to ensure that entry and exit of people are not blocked. It said protests at Jantar Mandar are permitted only after taking into account the number of people joining the protest.

To this, the court asked if police keep a check on the number of protesters who turn up to protest.

Previously, the police had in an affadavit filed in the case said that, In the past, demonstrations were permitted at Boat Club Lawns but due to rise in the number of people gathering, it was found that it was causing traffic problems.

Thus the venue was shifted to Jantar Mantar where demonstrations could be held. In the case of large demonstration of more than 8000 people, it was decided to be permitted in Ramlila Maidan, it had added.

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BJP councillor from Rohini, Preeti Aggarwal, who filed nomination for the post of mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Thursday, is likely to be elected unopposed on May 18.

With candidates of no other political party filing nominations for the post on the last day, the mayoral elections on May 18 now remains a formality.

The BJP has won 181 out of 270 seats in the recently concluded civic body elections that was conducted on April 23.

Vijay Kumar Bhagat, who won from the Swami Sharda Nand Colony ward on a BJP ticket, was also the only candidate to file nomination for the post of deputy mayor in the north corporation.

Aggarwal, whose first test as a mayor would be to contain the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in Delhi, said, My goal is to ensure 3S in the corporation Swacchata, Shiksha and Swasth, (cleanliness, education and health) in North Delhi areas.

We are already running awareness campaigns in corporation schools and meetings have been held with sanitation workers, during which they were asked to undertake cleanliness drives on a larger scale, she said.

Tilakraj Kataria from Shalimar Bagh (south) filed nomination for the post of chairman of standing committee and Ramesh Kumar Valmiki from East Patel Nagar filed his nomination for vice chairman of standing committee. Besides, BJP councillors Jai Prakash, Jayendra Dabas, Aadesh Kumar Gupta have also filed their nominations for members of standing committee.

The north corporation will elect its mayor, deputy mayor and six members of standing committee on May 18, out of which the mayor, deputy mayor and four standing committee members will be from the BJP and once each from the Congress and the AAP.

Seema Tahira from Congress and Vikas Goel from AAP have filed nominations for the post of members of standing committee.

The last day for filing of nominations for south and east corporations is Friday with mayoral election for south being schedueld on May 19 and for east on May 22.

The three Corporations South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and North Delhi Municipal Corporationwill have female mayors as the seat is reserved for women candidates as per the Delhi Municipal Act.

Sources in the BJP said that the party wants to take care of both caste and regional arithmetic while choosing a mayor. Since the north corporation seat has gone to a member of the baniya community, a poorvanchali face could be preferred in east Delhi and a Jat or Punjabi in south Delhi.

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The arbitration over Delhi metros controversial airport express line, decided by a three-member committee after more than three years of hearing, has ended in favour of the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.

RInfra said it won an arbitration of Rs 2,950 crore against the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which the latter may challenge in a higher court.

Previously operated by the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure (Rinfra), the airport line was mired in controversy soon after it started operations in February 2011.

After Rinfra pulled out of line in 2013, the three-member committee was formed for an out- of-court settlement, sources said. Rinfra wanted the money invested in the project but DMRCs contention was who was at fault.

The 22.7-km line connects the New Delhi railway station with airport terminal T3 and was jointly developed by DAMEPL and DMRC as public a private partnership (PPP) project.

Its operations were suspended in July 2012 after DAMEPL complained of construction defects in the rail lines built by DMRC. In 2013, DAMEPL terminated the agreement and the tussle ended in an arbitration.

We welcome the award and hope it will encourage the private sector to participate in the nation-building process, said a company spokesperson.

The three-member arbitration committee, forked out of a DMRC panel, began hearing the case in September 2013 and gave its verdict after three-and-a -half years.

We are studying the award given by the arbitrators in the airport express line case and will decide our further course of action in the matter after due deliberation, said Anuj Dayal, executive director of corporate communications, DMRC.

The verdict held the agreement termination by DAMEPL as valid and awarded the amount the company.

Metro built the infrastructure and DAMEPL brought in the rolling stock and was supposed to run it for 30 years. The project was built on a shared cost of about Rs 6,000 crore.

Under the guidelines approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and issued by Niti Ayog last year, DMRC is expected to pay 75% of the award amount against a bank guarantee even if they challenge the order.

Therefore, RInfra is expected to get Rs 2,210 crore as per the guidelines against bank guarantee in case DMRC proposes to challenge the award, the company statement said.

Sources in the company said DMRC will also have to pay interest charges, which may take the compensation to Rs 4,800 crore.

After the dispute with DMRC, DAMEPL had suspended the airport metro operations for six months, which the company claimed led to significant losses.

RInfra through its subsidiary also operates the Mumbai metro. Top sources in the company said, We will not enter projects under PPP again unless the government makes significant changes in it.

Experts have long pointed out the challenges of developing metro rails through the PPP model, as the cost of development is high and the return on investment is low because ticket prices are subsidised.

E Sreedharan, the man behind Delhi Metro, had warned against the delay in the Hyderabad metro project and bearing that may have on a private company.

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Sacked Delhi water minister Kapil Mishras recent complaint of corruption against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal may be the least of Kejriwals worries.

Kejriwal and his colleagues are facing multiple probes from the Delhi Police, CBI, Income Tax, Punjab Police and the Election Commission. The Delhi governments own anti-corruption branch is investigating graft charges against them.

The AAP has often accused the Centre of launching a witch-hunt against them; refusing to let their government work. Delhi Police have arrested at least 14 AAP MLAs on allegations such as rape, forgery, molestation and abetment to suicide. Three of its MLAs have been acquitted, and investigation is pending in other cases.

It isnt just police probe. Kejriwal is facing trial in at least four defamation cases, including a criminal defamation case filed by finance minister Arun Jaitley. If convicted, the CM could be sent to prison, for the offence.

The AAP, which came to power in 2015 winning 67 out of 70 seats, lost the civic elections in April, prompting partys Delhi convener Dilip Pandey to resign. Within days of the loss, senior party leader Kumar Vishwas while contradicting the partys claim of EVM tampering behind the loss, blamed the party leadership. We can deal with false Delhi Police cases but the problem is internal politics. Some leaders are acting against the partys philosophy, said an AAP leader on condition of anonymity.

Sanjay Kumar from the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) told HT, If it was only police probe then people would think that the centre is after them but when there is an internal fight, people will realise something is wrong in the party.

Two party MLAs  Amanatullah Khan and Kapil Mishra  were suspended last week for rebelling against the party. A week before this, Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia had to pacify senior leader Kumar Vishwas, who was reportedly upset with party leadership.

Also, the Election Commission will soon pass its verdict in the office-of-profit case. The hearing ended on March 27. An adverse verdict could substantially reduce the strength of the Kejriwal government, leaving it vulnerable to defection and staring at another state poll.

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The special cell of Delhi Police arrested a 48-year-old illegal firearms manufacturer and supplier of Madhya Pradesh (MP) with 11 illegal pistols and 14 cartridges from north Delhis Burari.

The dealer, Richhpal Singh, was wanted in various states for his alleged involvement in smuggling of firearms to criminals. Delhi Police wanted him in four cases and had declared a cash reward of R1 lakh on his arrest.

Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said Singh was arrested earlier for supplying arms, ammunition and hand grenades to Maoists in Telengana. He said Singhs arrest came 20 days after his brother Rajpal Singh was caught from Nizamuddin area with 30 semi-automatic pistols, a carbine and cartridges.

Singh was arrested on Monday from north Delhis Burari after a brief scuffle with the police party. Singh is the kingpin on the interstate gang of firearms manufacturer and suppliers operating from Madhya Pradesh.

His interrogation revealed that he has links with Maoists in Telengana and he used to supply them firearms and ammunition. In 2006, he had supplied 3 pistols, 28 cartridges, and two country made hand grenades to Maoists of CPI (ML) Praja Prathigatane faction. He was arrested in that case along with two others, said Yadav.

In the last six months, special cell teams have busted four different modules run by Richhpal Singh, and arrested eight of his carriers and accomplices. A total of 106 semi-automatic pistol and one carbine along with cartridges and spare magazines, were recovered from them.

Their interrogation revealed that Singh was the kingpin of the syndicate and he was the top manufacturer and bulk supplier of illegal weapons in Delhi and adjoining states. Further probe revealed that despite the arrests of his accomplices, Singh was continuing his illegal activities by sending weapons in Delhi and adjoining areas through his carriers, the officer added.

Further interrogation of Singh revealed that he was into the hereditary illegal trade for over 30 years and had learnt the art of manufacturing weapons from his ancestors, who used to prepare these weapons for more than 80 years.

Presently, his family members including his father and six brothers are involved in manufacturing of illegal arms in his village and supplying the same in various parts of country including Delhi. He used to send consignments of illegal arms in Delhi, UP, Punjab, Haryana, MP and Maharashtra through his carriers, said the DCP.

Singh is so expert in his trade that he can prepare any weapon including revolver, pistol and even carbine. Pistols supplied by him are so good in quality that it is difficult to distinguish between these pistols with factory made pistols, he said.

Singh told us that it costs him Rs3,000 to manufacture a pistol and he further sell it at R10,000. The same pistol is then sold to a criminal for Rs25,000 in Delhi and other states, added Yadav.
Pakistans tightrope walk between Iran and Saudi Arabia has suddenly become a lot tougher. Tehran, perhaps taking a leaf out of New Delhis book, has warned it was prepared to carry out cross-border military strikes against Pakistan-based terrorists following the deaths of 10 Iranian border guards at the hands of Sunni militants. Islamabad has agreed to strengthen its military presence along the Iran-Pakistan border, but this is little more than a diplomatic band-aid on a much larger geopolitical wound.

Pakistan has traditionally had close security ties with Saudi Arabia but has sought to maintain cordial relations with Iran, despite the open hostility between the two Gulf countries. However, partly out of concern at deepening relations between Riyadh and New Delhi, Pakistan has been tilting closer to Saudi Arabia. The former Pakistan chief of army staff, General Raheel Sharif, was recently appointed the head of the Saudi-backed Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism. While the alliance remains amorphous, it is notable in lacking the Shia-dominated regimes of Iraq and Iran. Pakistan also seems to turn a blind eye to Saudi financing of extremist Sunni groups who carry out attacks into Iranian Balochistan, one of which, Jaish al Adl, is believed to be responsible for the killing of Iranian guards. Most of these anti-Iranian terrorist groups are the scions of the Sipajh e Sahaba, a virulent anti-Shia terrorist group created years ago by the Pakistani military.

As Saudi-Iranian rivalry deepens, Pakistans attempts to play both sides become increasingly difficult. Islamabad declined an earlier request by Riyadh to send Pakistani troops to fight a Sunni-Shia civil war in Yemen, much to the fury of the Saudis. India benefited as it helped persuade the Gulf Sunni monarchies, led by the United Arab Emirates that Pakistan was undependable and they should build bridges with India. Similarly, Irans anger with Pakistan will make it more amenable to helping India in Afghanistan and building the North-South Transport Corridor, an important project for Indias security interests. India and Iran have been squabbling over their oil and gas relationship, but these are commercial rather than strategic problems.

However, even while India may gloat a bit at Pakistans dilemma it must also be wary of treading on the waters of the Persian Gulf. The governments Link West policy has now led India to become much more engaged with the major Gulf states, including both Saudi Arabia and Iran. Of course, these contradictions are much easier to handle for India because New Delhi is not in the business of supporting terrorists based on its soil, a lesson that Pakistan should learn.
ALLAHABAD: Cant cheat? Well, then try bribing the evaluator. Strict checks on use of unfair means in high school and intermediate examinations in Uttar Pradesh by the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad or UP Board has made some students desperate for good marks. They have attempted to bribe evaluators by tucking in money inside answer sheets. Scrambling to nip the evil in the bud, the state Board is reportedly considering a ban on high denomination currency notes inside examination halls from next year.

Reports received from different parts of the state during the evaluation of over 4.30 crore answer sheets at 253 evaluation centres, currency notes of various denominations, including Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500 and even Rs 2,000, have been found in the answer sheets.

On Wednesday, evaluators at the Government Inter College and Kali Prasad Inter College stopped work for some time and had heated arguments with the deputy head examiner (DHE) and the person in charge of the stock rooms (where the Boards high school and Intermediate examination answer sheets were kept). The DHE and his helper had allegedly closed from stock room from inside and examined the answer sheets before giving them to the evaluators.

Calling the examinees desperate, Lal Mani Diwedi, a teacher at Kesar Vidyapeeth Inter College, Allahabad, and state general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Sangh, said It is true that currency notes are being found in answer sheets at different evaluation centres all over the state. It shows the desperation of examinees who are left with no scope of using unfair means. They opted for offering money to evaluators for good marks. It is a wrong practice but proof enough of strict measures implemented by the Board in its over nine decades of existence.

Diwedi also suggested that the Board ban currency notes more than Rs 50 denomination inside examination halls, just as calculators, Bluetooth devices and mobile phones had been prohibited. There was no need for students to carry currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 while writing an exam, he added.

Talking to Hindustan Times, UP secretary Shail Yadav said the Board would consider banning high denomination currency notes inside examination halls from next year. We will take a final decision after consulting higher officials of Secondary Education department and the state government soon, she added.

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Admissions to the Maharashtra state-board affiliated, first year and second year junior college (Class 11 and 12), will be delayed by at least a couple of weeks this year. While the admission process is undergoing an overhaul this year, the state school education department is running behind schedule so the admissions are likely to begin only in the second half of May. Last year, the admissions began on May 9.

According to the government resolution on January 23, the new process was supposed to begin earlier than usual and wrap up by September 1. But the department is yet to finalise the timetable and publish instructions manual. A source at the board said that the timetable is likely to be announced next week.

With the delay, students are unlikely to get more than a few days to sign up for the admissions portal or read the instructions manual before Class 10 results are announced. ICSE and CBSE boards declare their results towards the end of May while SSC results are out in early June. Principals said that it is important that students and teachers get ample time to understand the new process so that they do not make mistakes in filing their applications. We encourage students to register on the portal in advance and read the manual multiple times to avoid goof-ups, said Vidyadhar Joshi, vice-principal, Vaze-Kelkar College, Mulund. He added the entire procedure is new, even teachers need time to grasp it so that they can guide students better.

Education officials attributed the delay to the new admission process and change in the nodal agency that conducts the admission. The whole process is being revamped. The admission process is going to be more student-friendly and flexible, said BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region.

Last year  number of colleges had taken part in the admission process but this time the numbers are supposed to be higher as the entire admission process will be conducted online. This resulted in the board taking a longer time to register the colleges, said Chavan.

We were forced to extend registration because many of the institutions did not turn up for it even after multiple reminders, he said. Currently, the department is verifying the registrations. The admission portal will be opened to the students after the verification.

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The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday gave one weeks time to the Punjab government to submit a plan for shifting of the 350-odd MBBS and MDS students of Gian Sagar medical college in Banur which is in deep financial crisis.

The direction was given on the petition of students seeking shifting to other colleges, following which the state advocate general, Atul Nanda, told the court that the essentiality (or consent) certificate for running the college had been withdrawn by state government for MBBS and MDS. All the students would be shifted to private and government medical colleges in Punjab, for which the Union government has also been informed to direct the Medical Council of India (MCI) to expedite the process, he informed.

Upon a demand raised by the petitioners counsels, senior advocate Gurminder Singh and Puneet Gupta, that students be allowed to attend classes pending the finalisation of the plan, Nanda said the matter would be discussed with top officials and the court would be informed on the next date of hearing. The matter was adjourned to May 16.
Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) will declare the results of Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations on the same day on Friday in a departure from the ongoing practice of announcing both separately.

According to MPBSE chairperson SR Mohanty, the decision to declare the results both of Class 10 and Class 12 together was taken to make students stress free.

Earlier, the result of Class 12 used to be declared first and after a gap of a week, the result of Class 10 was declared. Thus for about a week the students of Class 10 remained in stress and the news of the failure of students in Class 12 used to disturb them a lot, Mohanty said.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will declare the results and felicitate the meritorious students.

The state government will pay the tuition fees of those who score more than 85% in the Class 12 exam to help them continue higher education. Students who score less than 85% marks will be given the facility of an interest-free loan to pursue higher education in the best institutes of India.

Nearly 13 lakh students took the Class 10 exam and 5.50 lakh students wrote the class 12 exam.

The evaluation of the answer sheets was done in two phases and evaluators were asked to check them carefully. If a student applies for a revaluation and their doubt is legitimate, the evaluators will have to pay a fine.

Teachers were paid Rs 11 to check a Class 10 an answer sheet and Rs 12 for Class 12.

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Despite previous reports, vitamin D supplements are unlikely to reduce the risk of asthma, atopic dermatitis, or allergies according to a new Canadian study.

The study, carried out by researchers from McGill University, Canada, and the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital, Canada, looked at genetic and health data on more than 100,000 participants from previous large-scale studies to determine whether genetic changes associated with vitamin D levels lead to a greater chance of developing asthma, atopic dermatitis (an itchy inflammation of the skin) or high IgE levels (an immune molecule linked to allergies).

Previous research has linked low vitamin D levels to all three of the conditions. Contrary to these previous results, the new research found no statistically significant differences between people with or without any of the four genetic changes associated with lower levels of vitamin D and rates of asthma (including childhood-onset asthma), atopic dermatitis, or IgE levels.

The team pointed out that the study did have its limitations, including looking only at white populations of European ancestry, and they now recommend further research in non-European populations and those with a vitamin D deficiency.

Researchers said those at risk for multiple sclerosis should ensure that they have adequate vitamin D levels. (Shutterstock)

However, the teams findings from a recent study using the same participants did suggest that low vitamin D levels increase risk for other inflammatory diseases, with evidence for a causal link between low vitamin D levels and multiple sclerosis, a common neurological disorder more common in white people of European descent and women.

These findings suggest those at risk for multiple sclerosis should ensure that they have adequate vitamin D levels, while researchers concluded increasing levels of vitamin D is unlikely to result in a reduced risk of asthma or dermatitis in adults and children, with lead author of the study Dr. Despoina Manousaki, adding that, Our findings suggest that previous associations between low vitamin D and atopic disease could be due to spurious associations with other factors.

The findings can be found published in PLOS Medicine.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.
To streamline traffic flow and facilitate a smooth movement of vehicles between Rajiv Chowk and Kherki Daula Toll on the Delhi -Gurgaon Expressway, new U-turns at the busy Hero Honda Chowk will soon be opened to commuters.

The distance between the Rajiv Chowk and Kherki Daula is about seven kilometres and in the absence of U-turn at Hero Honda Chowk, which falls exactly between the two points, the commuters are forced to cover a longer distance.

The Haryana urban development authority (Huda) has requested the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to build U-turns at the Hero Honda Chowk at the earliest.

The Huda said the NHAI has already consented to build two U-turns on the busy stretch.

The commuters coming from Kherki Daula side can take one of the proposed U-turns. Now, they take U-turn at Rajiv Chowk. The new U-turn will save both distance and time. The U-turn will also decongest traffic at the Kherki Daula Toll and facilitate a smooth traffic movement, Yashpal Yadav, Huda administrator, said.

At Kherki Daula, the traffic chaos is a regular affair and is a big challenge for the police and Huda. This is because of the sheer volume of vehicles that the converge at the toll through the day and move from one side of the highway to the other.

The new U-turns at Hero Honda will present a solution to this problem as the commuters could then use it to cross over to the other side of the highway. Similarly, commuters coming from Rajiv Chowk can take the U-turn at Hero Honda Chowk to save time and distance, the Huda administrator said, adding that the NHAI will open the new U-turns to traffic soon.

Read I Delhi-Gurgaon e-way: Traffic woes ease at Hero Honda Chowk

The NHAI is currently in the process of constructing a flyover and an underpass at Hero Honda Chowk in a bid to decongest the stretch and separate the highway traffic from the local.

Rambir Singh, a resident of Narsighpur, said, We have been struggling for years in our quest for a safe passage to the other side of the highway. We were relieved when the government agreed to construct a flyover and underpasses at Hero Honda Chowk. Since the volume of traffic on the stretch remains high, the new U-turns will go a long way in ensuring a smooth flow of vehicles.

Despite repeated calls and messages, NHAI project director AK Sharma was not available for comment.

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Gurgaon

Harassed parents of children studying in Delhi Public School Ghaziabad (DPSG) held a protest on Thursday against the rise in fees, despite divisional commissioner D Suresh stating that in the current scenario, the fee hike was not possible.

Unmindful of the summer heat, over 200 parents stood outside the school gate and shouted slogans against the police and the management.

Although the school management had declared a holiday on Thursday in the wake of protests, parents managed to enter the school premises. The school management then called the police to defuse the situation.

The parents, however, alleged that the school management was threatening them over fee hike. The school management is neither listening to us nor to directions issued by the government. They are also not adhering to the directions issued by the FFRC (Fee and Fund Regulatory Committee). This agitation will continue till the fee hike is not rolled back, said Yashesh Yadav, one of the protesting parents.

Another parent alleged that the DPSG management had duped them by running an illegal school. They dont have permissions and they did not reveal the status of the school. Why should parents be told later about all this? said Madhu Singh.

After the protest began, school officials agreed to meet some parent representatives and allowed them inside the school.

The management also said their senior executives had gone to Chandigarh today (Thursday) to get authorisation and recognition for the school .

The parents did come to meet the management despite it being an off. They broke a door and entered the school which was wrong. As far as fee hike is concerned, whatever is done is within rules and it wont be rolled back, Sudhir Chitnis, senior administrator, DPSG, said.

The school will remain closed till the recognition is given but the now parents are threatening to bring students on Friday, said Chitnis.

DPSG has also written a letter to the divisional commissioner on Thursday stating that the Form 6, as per rules, is filed only by a recognised school. Since DPSG is still awaiting recognition there was no need to submit Form 6, the letter stated.

D Suresh on Monday met parents of students from four schools and school representatives and had said that Delhi Public School Ghaziabad (DPSG) at Palam Vihar, and Vega School in Sector 48 have not submitted Form 6 under Haryana school education rules and so the schools were not eligible to increase their fees.

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When it comes to movies, David cant bend it like Beckham, say fans who mocked his acting debut, labelling it as lifeless like a mannequin. Fans also compared his acting skill to his wife Victoria Beckhams pathetic singing skills. David Beckham made his acting debut in his friend, director Guy Ritchies movie, King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword. The movie is based on the popular and historic legend of King Arthur and its cast includes actors such as Charlie Hunnam, Annabelle Wallis and model turned actor Poppy Delevingne.In the movie, Beckham plays a character called Trigger. The movie was released yesterday in United Kingdom.

Fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment at Beckhams cameo. Check out the Twitter reaction below.

What did you think of David Beckham's acting performance in the new King Arthur movie? pic.twitter.com/ccRAAfs2iL  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 9, 2017

The only thing I took away from King Arthur is that David Beckham can't act. And I think I already knew that.  Sam Cornish (@SamCornish92) May 8, 2017

#davidbeckham acting debut. Pure comedy genius.....oh it wasn't supposed to be !!  Peter Timmins (@petertimmins3) May 9, 2017

What did you think of David Beckham's acting performance in the new King Arthur movie? pic.twitter.com/ccRAAfs2iL  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 9, 2017

Ryan Gosling reacting to David Beckham's acting in the new King Arthur movie pic.twitter.com/f3psHPgiZQ  DeathDisco (@DeathDisco80) May 9, 2017

What did you think of David Beckham's acting performance in the new King Arthur movie? pic.twitter.com/ccRAAfs2iL  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 9, 2017

What did you think of David Beckham's acting performance in the new King Arthur movie? pic.twitter.com/ccRAAfs2iL  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 9, 2017

Hilarious seeing David Beckham act  he was playing a tough bad guy, but I couldn't take him serious  Ida Elvon  (@purpleview) May 7, 2017

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Uttar Pradesh has denied permission to prosecute the accused in the 2007 Gorakhpur riots that killed one person and injured several others, the states top legal officer told the Allahabad high court on Thursday. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath is among the accused for allegedly inciting violence through inflammatory speeches.

The development came during hearing into a petition seeking an independent probe into the violence. UPs advocate general Raghvendra Singh told the court that the case was politically motivated and that principal secretary (home) declined to grant sanction for prosecution.

In 2008, an FIR was lodged by Parvez Parwaz in which he accused then local MP Adityanath, then city mayor Anju Chaudhri, then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal and one more person of inciting communal violence.

But the advocate general said the CB-CID had already completed its probe and raised doubts over the petitioner registering the case 10 months after the incident. The court fixed July 7 as the next date of hearing.

The charge sheet against the accused had already been prepared but the previous government didnt sanction the permission to prosecute them .Now when they are in government, they too denied the permission .Its like jiski lathi usi ki bhains (might is right), said Parvez Parvaz, who lodged the case.

Parwazs counsel sought time to file an application to challenge the refusal of sanction for prosecution. The bench comprising justice Ramesh Sinha and justice UC Srivastava granted 10 days time.

As per law, the sanction for prosecution under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (inciting communal violence) is granted by the state government.

The riots in Gorakhpur were sparked allegedly after a provocative speech by Adityanath, who is also the head of a powerful local Hindu sect, outside the railway station. The then MP was speaking in response to the killing of a Hindu youth Raj Kumar Agrahri, who was stabbed to death in clash between Hindu and Muslim groups during Moharram processions. Adityanath was arrested and send to jail for 15 days .
A recruitment drive by the police in Kashmir Wednesday evoked an overwhelming response, with nearly 3,000 young men and women turning up for it, a spokesman of the force has said.

The youth in Kashmir are showing overwhelming response to the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir police recruitment process, the spokesman said.

Today (Wednesday(, the recruitment rallies were held in south Kashmirs Anantnag and north Kashmirs Bandipora district where hundreds of young men and women thronged the recruitment venues, he added.

On the first day of the rally, 1674 candidates participated in Anantnag, while 1295 turned up in Bandipora, the spokesman said adding the recruitment rallies will continue in Bandipora on Thursday and for next three days in Anantnag.

The candidates who qualified the physical test today will have to appear in the written examination for the final selection, the spokesman said.

The significant turnout for police recruitment assumes significance as on Wednesday militants killed a young Kashmiri army officer Ummer Fayaz in an apparent attempt to dissuade the locals from joining the forces.

Ummer Fayaz, described by top army officials as a promising officer, was commissioned in the armys Rajputana Rifles regiment in December last year and was availing the leave for the first time to attend the marriage, from where he was abducted by militants.

The killing caused anger among locals who demanded that the men responsible be identified and punished.

Defence minister Arun Jaitley described the abduction and killing as a dastardly act of cowardice.
A ship load of tramadol, a synthetic opioid-like drug, from India to be sold to Islamic State terrorists in Libya to give them greater resilience has been seized by the Italian police, according to media reports on Wednesday.

The 37 million tramadol pills, worth $75 million, were found packed into three containers at the port of Genoa, labelled as blankets and shampoo and set to be loaded on a freighter bound for Misrata and Tobruk in Libya, The Times reported.

ISIS is making a fortune from this traffic, giving it to its fighters to make them feel no pain, the British newspaper quoted an Italian investigator as saying.

Tramadol is a synthetic opioid-like drug used as a painkiller.

Italian police said the consignment had come from India and would have been used for two purposes: to help finance Islamist terrorism and for use by jihadist fighters as a stimulant and to heighten resistance to physical stress, the BBC reported.

Boko Haram, the Nigerian terror group, is said to feed child soldiers dates stuffed with tramadol before sending them on missions.

ISIS is already known for feeding its fighters Captagon, an amphetamine that blocks hunger, fear and fatigue.

Italian investigators traced the tramadol shipment to an Indian pharmaceuticals company, which allegedly sold the pills for $250,000 to a Dubai-based importer, which then shipped them from India to Sri Lanka where they disappeared from the freighters documents, the report said.

The tramadol pills would sell for two dollars each in Libya, said the investigator.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has gently reminded his son Akhilesh of an unfulfilled promise. And the subtle attack presents a bigger picture of the feud within the Yadav family.

It is a fact that Akhilesh Yadav had promised to return the post of party president to me after three months, Mulayam said at a press conference on Thursday.

Why dont those in the media ask Akhilesh why he is not keeping his words, he said but quickly added that he was not hungry for the top post in the party he had formed and nurtured.

Former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had taken over a SPs national president in a coup against his father, weeks ahead of the assembly polls in the state and amid a bitter power struggle with his uncle Shivpal Yadav.

Akhilesh was ousted from power as the BJP swept the polls and many in the SP believe that the family fued was one of the main reasons for the partys drubbing.

After taking charge of the SP, Akhilesh had purportedly promised to gift UP to his father besides returning the presidents post.

Mulayam, who sided with his brother Shivpal, is, apparently, yet to mend fences with his son. And he is also not giving up hopes of leading the party once more.

The senior leader was in Agra to attend the marriage anniversary of Kshama Jain, a local corporator who named as the party candidate from Agra South constituency when Shivpal Yadav was state president of SP. A few days later, Akhilesh Yadav left the seat to Congress after a pre-poll alliance between the two parties despite opposition from Mulayam. The BJP won the seat.

The once-powerful regional satrap, however, side-stepped queries on a secular front proposed by Shivpal.

Mulayam spoke on a range of issues including killing of security personnel on the border with Pakistan and the EVM controversy.

He expressed reservations about electronic voting machine (EVM) and urged the Prime Minister to discourage its use in elections as most of the political parties were questioning it.

Japan is the nation that manufactures these EVMs, but itself goes to polls with ballot papers, he said.

There are apprehensions that EVMs could be manipulated. Majority of voters are puzzled as to where they voted and where their vote went finally.

However, the former chief minister took a pragmatic view when asked about the performance of new chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

At least six months time should be given to any government to perform and their work should be assessed only after that, he stated.

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Police have shifted the officer leading the investigation into the lynching of a Muslim dairy farmer last month by alleged cow vigilantes amid mounting criticism of the slow progress in a case that shocked the nation.

Jaipur Police told HT on Thursday that the probe into Pehlu Khans death on April 1 near Alwar would be headed by a more senior officer.

I have transferred the investigation of the case from the deputy superintendent of police to additional Superintendent of Police of Jaipur Rural police district in the larger interest of the case, said Jaipur Range inspector general of police Hemant Priyadarshy.

Priyadarshy said there was also a request for change of IO from the family of Pehlu Khan.

This does not mean that the investigation was not in the right direction, he added. I am monitoring the case on a daily basis and am satisfied with the investigation so far.

Additional SP (Kotputli) Ram Swaroop Sharma will now investigate the case of Pehlu Khans death instead of DSP Behror Parmal Singh Gurjar.

Pehlu Khan, the 55-year-old dairy farmer from Nuh in Haryana died in a hospital in Behror, Alwar, on April 3, two days after a mob of self-styled cow protection vigilantes attacked him and four others when they were transporting cattle procured from a weekly market in Jaipur to their village. Video footage of the thrashing went viral on social media.

Pehlu Khans death again pushed to prominence the growing clout of cow vigilantes who have gained strength since the BJP stormed to power in 2014. The cow is considered holy by many Hindus but experts say violence around cattle trade and beef is a proxy war against Dalits and Muslims.

The case sparked further controversy after Rajasthan minister Gulab Chand Kataria accused Pehlu Khan of being a cow smuggler and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi claimed in Parliament that the version of events was wrong. Opposition parties have accused the police of going slow in the investigation.

Police registered a case of culpable homicide against six named and 200 unnamed accused for lynching the five men. The FIR was registered on the basis of Khans statement he gave to police from his ICU bed. After Khan died, the section of culpable homicide was replaced with section for murder (302 of the IPC).

The named accused are: Om Yadav (45), Hukum Chand Yadav (44), Sudhir Yadav (45), Jagmal Yadav (73), Naveen Sharma (48) and Rahul Saini (24).

They are absconding since April 3 and have not been arrested. During the course of investigation so far, we have not come across any evidence to take coercive action against them, the IG said.

However, seven others, identified from the videos of the lynching circulating on social media, have been arrested for the attack.

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah claimed that Tripura has the highest rate of crimes against women in the country and that 25% of the literate population of the state is unemployed.

Tripura has the highest rate of crimes against women & unemployment of literate population under Manik govt: Shri @AmitShah #TripuraWithBJP pic.twitter.com/gXP5yUZ5Yb  BJP (@BJP4India) May 7, 2017

BOOM analysed official data to fact check his claims:

CLAIM 1: Tripura has the highest rate of crimes against women in the country

BOOMs analysis found it to be false.

Tripura is at the eighth position among 29 states and seven union territories with high rates of crimes against women and does not top the list, according to 2015 data of the National Crime Records Bureau.

Rate of crimes against women refers to crimes committed against women reported per 100,000 female population.

Tripura recorded a rate of 68.2, which is above the national crime rate of 53.9, in 2015.

Delhi (184.3) had the highest rate of violence against women followed by the northeastern state of Assam (148.2) and Telangana (83.1).

Source: National Crime Records Bureau

The BJP president also said that 919 cases of crimes against women were reported in 10 months in Tripura.

While it was not clear from the speech which months Shah was referring to, a study of crimes against women by the Tripura Police shows that the number of crimes against women reported between January-November 2016 declined 20% to 977 cases from 1,221 cases in 2015.

Source: Tripura police; Data for January to November each year

CLAIM 2 : 25% of the literate population of the state is unemployed

BOOM found that the government data show unemployment among graduates in Tripura is about 23%, which is close to what Shah said.

Of every 1,000 graduates in Tripura, 228 are unemployed, according to the 5th Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16) by the ministry of labour and employment. That means 22.8% of graduates in Tripura are unemployed.

Of every 1,000 graduates in India, 100 (10%) are unemployed.

We assume that, by literate population (see BJPs tweet above), Shah is referring to the population with graduate-level qualification.

Tripura ranks as the fourth worst state in terms of unemployment among graduates in the country.

Source: Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16), Ministry of Labour and Employment

(Alexander is a correspondent with BOOM, an independent digital journalism initiative.)

FactChecker.in is fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life.
The bride wore red. The groom had splotches of red on his sherwani. Red patches of blood that had turned crimson by the time the couple walked around the sacred fire. But then, it was a marriage solemnised in dramatic, and tragic, circumstances.

Dharmendra Saini and Komal exchanged marriage vows past midnight on Wednesday, hours after a wall collapse left 24 people dead and several others injured at the wedding hall they had booked in Rajasthans Bharatpur town.

On Thursday morning, Saini (35) recounted the ordeal to HT after returning to his home in Jaipur with his bride.

Family members described their mixed emotions when they decided to go ahead with the wedding.

After the wall collapsed, for a moment we couldnt understand what happened. Only when we saw bodies strewn everywhere around us, we realised the gravity of the situation, Saini said, looking at the traces of mehendi on his hand.

Seconds later, all of us were rushing to rescue people trapped under the rubble of the wall.

He helped pick up the injured, some of them bleeding profusely, and put in vehicles to be rushed to a nearby hospital.

Saini said many lives could have been, perhaps, saved had the police had arrived on time.

The cops took at least 45 minutes to arrive after the accident and even after that, we didnt get much help. The hospital to which the injured were taken to, didnt have any electricity and they were treated under the light of mobile phone torches, Saini added.

Family members sat in groups, talking in hushed tones about the incident. Others were trying to comfort the bride, numb with shock.

People gather in front of a morgue in Bharatpur after the tragedy on Wednesday night. (HT Photo)

After the injured were taken to the hospital, the wedding was completed amidst sorrow and fear. We had never imagined that such an accident could hit our family, said Mukesh Saini, nephew of the groom.

Other family members said it was the hardest decision they had taken  to conclude the marriage despite the tragedy.

Only the most important and unavoidable rituals were performed, they added.

This incident will forever remain fresh in our memories as even now, all we can think about is the gory sight all around us in the marriage venue, said Saini, adding there will be no happy memories.

No one took a single photograph of the couple exchanging vows. Not even on a mobile phone.
The husband of Bilkis Bano, a 2002 Gujarat riots victim, on Thursday demanded compensation from the state government.

The Bombay High Court last week upheld conviction of 12 persons in the case related to the gangrape of Bilkis and murder of her family members while quashing acquittal of seven others.

We will wait for the government to pay us compensation before approaching the court, her husband Yakub told reporters in Ahmedabad at an event organised by the civil society members to felicitate the special public prosecutor in the case, RK Shah.

Bilkis said she and her family faced much hardship during their 15-year-long fight for justice, but received no support from the government despite repeated appeals.

We have faced many difficulties during these fifteen years. We frequently changed houses, while also being worried about the education of our children. The Gujarat government has not given us any support, nor have we received support from any government official, Bilkis said, while thanking advocate Shah and others who supported her.

I am thankful to all those who supported us. I am happy about the High Court verdict. I have full faith in our countrys judicial system. Policemen and other officials were also sentenced, and I am very happy about that, she said.

When asked if they are thinking of going back to their village in Dahod district, Yakub said they would like to return, but would face hostility there.

The convicts and their relatives live there. Our family is destroyed....I do not want to go back in this situation, he said.

He wants their five children to get education so that they can become lawyers and help victims like them, he said.

Advocate Shah said the case was unusual, and Bilkiss deposition before the court was a crucial piece of evidence.

This was an unusual, complex case where police filed a report saying the accused could not be traced. Only because the CBI investigated it, we could have them prosecuted, he said.

The incident took place at a deserted place with no eye-witnesses. Bilkis saw her relatives getting murdered. Her account before the court was vital. She was cross-examined for 22 days by three learned lawyers. We examined 73 witnesses, but Bilkiss deposition was the most important. No other witness account was valued (as much).

Whoever the victim is, she should get justice. For a successful court case, we need a skilled prosecutor and a sensitive judge, Shah added.

Gagan Sethi of NGO Janvikas, which helped Bilkis in her legal fight, said they never doubted the judicial system but there should be better prosecutors, lawyers and judges at the district-level courts.

Police may be wrong at times, but they are not a state unto themselves. Our district-level courts still do not have good prosecutors, lawyers or judges, he said.

On March 3, 2002, as the post-Godhra violence raged in Gujarat, Bilkiss family was attacked at Randhikpur village in Dahod district as they were trying to escape rioters.

Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang-raped, while seven members of her family were killed.
The governments biotech regulator on Thursday approved Indias first transgenic food crop GM Mustard for commercial release.

The environment ministrys Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recommended the commercial release after day-long deliberations on the safety aspects of the crop, government sources said.

Read: Is Modi preparing to defy RSS outfit on GM mustard rollout?

The genetically modified (GM) Mustard seeds developed by Delhi Universitys Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) will be released for sowing after the environment ministry approves it.

The GEAC has proven yet again that it is unscientific and uncaring with regards to citizens health and environment. They have failed in their mandate and purpose for which they have been created, to protect health of citizens from GMO, said Kavita Karuganti of Coalition for GM Free India.

Read: Govt panel gives go-ahead to GM mustard: Sources

On September 2016, the GEAC made public safety assessment report prepared by one of its sub-committee which termed the GM Mustard technology to be safe.

However, civil society organisations opposed the claim saying the report was flawed.

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Alleging that the number of Kashmiri Pandits on the electoral list of Jammu and Kashmir is shrinking on account complicated procedure that is open to manipulation by vested interests, a delegation led by BJP ministers met the Election Commission on Thursday and demanded a revision of the electoral list for the community.

Minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singh and minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi led the delegation.

There are many problems being faced by the community and we asked the EC to look into the issue so that their voting rights are secured. To being with there should be a separate and a permanent electoral list, Naqvi told HT.

The delegation, which included members of the Jammu and Kashmir Vichar Manch, an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, informed the poll panel that the process of registration is cumbersome and acts as a deterrent for members to register as voters.

Pandits are required to fill an M form, which establishes them as migrants, and allows them to cast their vote for the assembly polls as well as for the Lok Sabha polls as registered voters of the state.

The M-form (migrant form) is a procedure under which migrant Kashmiri Pandits have to repeatedly submit documents to prove that they were genuine displaced people from the Kashmir valley and intend to vote, the delegation told the Commission.

Read more: J-K govt identifies 100 acres of land for resettling Kashmiri Pandits

The Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957, includes a special provision in Section 36-A, which allows voters to cast their ballot in polling stations outside the territorial limits of their constituency. After the exodus of Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, the poll panel introduced the M form and made provisions for voting at special polling booths outside the state.

As a result of this complicated process the number of displaced voters decreased constantly reaching a dismal number of few thousand from around 200,000 prior to displacement. The decrease was progressive with only 147,000 voters left on voter list in 1996 that went further down to 117,000 in 2002 and even more disappearing from the voter list, down to 71,000 in 2008, the delegation said.

The delegation also demanded the deletion of M forms, issuing photo identity cards to migrant voters and increasing the number of voting booths for the community during elections.

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Patna A bride not only walked out of her wedding mandap, but also ensured that the groom and his father were detained under police custody for their lust for dowry, at Shahpur village under Bikram block of rural Patna, Tuesday evening.

The bride walked out of her marriage after the jaimaal (exchange of garlands between bride and groom in a Hindu marriage) ceremony when she heard the boys family haggling with her parents, demanding more money.

What triggered the ugly turn of events was a sarcastic comment when the grooms father gifted the bride a bronze ornament  dholna (pendant). Usually, one expects it to be of gold.

The taunts and the jibe reportedly ticked off the grooms father, Ramashankar Chouhan, who began demanding more money. The matter precipitated to such an extent that the bride walked out of the wedding mandap, saying she would not marry a boy whose family was greedy.

When the matter turned from bad to worse, the brides family lodged a complaint with the local police, which came and took the groom and his father to the police station.

He (the groom) would have tortured me and continued with his taunts even after marriage, making my life hell, said the bride, defending her decision to call it quits.

Brides relative, Krishna Kumar, said: The boys father began demanding Rs 10,000-20,000 more than what we had already given him.

The groom and his family had come to the residence of Buddhadev Chouhan, the brides father, from Kanti village in Gaya, 165 kms south of Patna, but ended up in the police station.

The grooms side, however, rubbished the allegations and said that the brides family had held them hostage for no fault of theirs before lodging a complaint with the police.

Earlier this month, a man in Samastipur district, 85 km from Patna, was allegedly kidnapped and made to marry his lover after he is said to have insisted for a car and Rs 2 lakh in cash as dowry.

According to a report, 1,154 dowry-related bridal deaths were reported from Bihar in 2015-16. This figure marginally came down to 987 in 2016-17, even as cases registered in womens helpline went up from 93 in 2015 to 111 in 2016.

Young women have found the courage to stand up to such social evils after chief minister Nitish Kumar, recently embarked on a dowry-less Bihar campaign. He had championed an anti-liquor crusade last year.

AGAINST SOCIAL EVIL

QUOTE

He (the groom) would have tortured me and continued with his taunts even after marriage, making my life hell

The bride-to-be

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Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is visiting Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to take stock of the situation in the valley, a day after a young Kashmiri officer of the Indian Army was killed by militants in Shopian district.

Mehrishi will meet governor NN Vohra, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and discuss with them the prevailing situation in the state.

The home secretary will also hold a meeting with top civil, police and army officers to review the security situation in the state.

Jammu and Kashmir had witnessed violence during the April 9 bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in which eight people lost their lives in more than 200 incidents. The Election Commission had also cancelled the May 25 bypoll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, saying situation there was not feasible for holding election.

There have been protests by students in the valley last month against alleged police excesses. Students, including girls, were seen pelting stones on security personnel in these incidents.

The bullet-riddled body of 22-year-old Lt Ummer Fayaz was found in Harmen in Shopian, hours after he was abducted by militants from Batpura village where he had gone to attend his cousins wedding.

The army has vowed to punish the killers of Lt Fayaz, saying the incident marks a watershed moment in the Kashmir Valley as people there will decisively turn the tide against terrorism.

I assure the family that the perpetrators of this heinous crime and dastardly act will not be spared, Lt Gen Abhay Krishna, General Officer Commanding-in Chief of South Western Command and Colonel of Rajputana Riffles, said in a condolence message to the family of Fayaz.

Calling the attack a dastardly act of cowardice by militants, defence minister Arun Jaitley said Fayazs sacrifice reiterates the nations commitment to eliminate terrorism from the Valley.

Abduction & murder of Lt. Ummer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. This young officer from J&K was a role model, Jaitley said in a tweet.

Abduction & murder of Lt. Ummer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. This young officer from J&K was a role model  Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) May 10, 2017

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi condoled the death, saying Fayaz will always be remembered.

His memory will never be forgotten. Those who tried to defeat what he stood for, will themselves be defeated, Gandhi said on Twitter.

His memory will nvr be forgotten.Those who tried to defeat what he stood for,will themselves be defeated #UmmerFayazhttps://t.co/Ch7XKzrDdE  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 10, 2017

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed and said violence is never a solution.

Extremely saddened at the murder of Lt Umer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian. My sympathies with the family. Violence is never a solution, she said in a tweet.

Extremely saddened at the murder of Lt Ummer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian. My sympathies with the family. Violence is never a solution  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 10, 2017
Mahatma Gandhis grandson and former governor of West Bengal Gopal Krishna Gandhi may emerge as the oppositions candidate in the upcoming presidential election that will be held in July.

Gandhis name has come up in internal discussions of opposition parties and according to a news report, preliminary discussions with him have also taken place.

In a rare show of unity, arch rivals CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress, which has more than 64,000 votes, are also backing Gandhis candidature.

Gandhi will be the first and possibly the only choice for Mamata (Banerjee). She had earlier batted for Gandhi as the vice-president candidate, sources close to the West Bengal chief minister told the Hindustan Times.

Banerjee is scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi next week to chalk out the strategy for the presidential election. Banerjee, who enjoys an excellent personal rapport with Gandhi, will arrive in Delhi on Monday and is likely to meet the Congress chief on Tuesday.

Trinamool Congress votes are crucial for the opposition to give a close fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The left parties have already proposed Gandhis name to the Congress leadership.

Top opposition sources told HT that when CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury met Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik last week in Bhubneshwar, Gopal Gandhis name was also mentioned during the discussions.

Gandhi, an eminent scholar and a former civil servant, was appointed as the governor of West Bengal during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. He was Indias ambassador to South Africa and some other countries. The son of Devdas Gandhi also enjoys a clean image.

Gandhis candidature, however, is not final as the Congress president is yet to complete discussions with different opposition leaders.

One opposition leader also pointed out that although Gandhi is an ideal candidate with excellent credentials, he may not be able to garner votes from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) camp like Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

A section of the opposition is keen to field Pawar as he enjoys tremendous rapport across party lines and may be able to secure votes from the BJPs biggest ally, Shiv Sena.

The opposition, with around 4 lakh votes, requires widespread support from many fence sitters and may also seek votes from a section of the NDA to win the presidential poll.

The names of Draupadi Murmu, Sumitra Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj, M Venkaiah Naidu, and Thawar Chand Gehlot are also doing the rounds as the NDAs likely presidential nominees.

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PATNA/ BETTIAH: Notorious gangster Mithilesh Dubey alias Babloo Dubey was gunned down on the court premises at Bettiah, 182 km north of Patna, in Bihars West Champaran district on Thursday.

Dubey, the alleged mastermind in kidnapping of Nepal industrialist Suresh Kedia last year and accused in 70 other criminal cases in East and West Champaran districts, was brought to the court from Bettiah jail for a hearing in connection with the murder of Jawahar Sah, mukhiya of Majhaulia village.

Police said Dubey was being escorted to jail after being produced in the court of first class judicial magistrate Kumud Ranjan when three persons, apparently members of a rival gang, fired at him from sophisticated weapons. The assailants escaped using the huge crowd on the court premises as a shield, the police said.

Dubey, who sustained five bullet injuries, was taken to Maharani Janki Kunwar Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, the police added.

Lawyer Satyendra Sharma told HT over phone that incident took place in a crowded area and Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) jawans, accompanying Dubey, it seemed, did not fire as it would have put the life of people present there at risk.

Additional director general (police headquarters) Sanjiv Kumar Singhal said he had directed West Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Vinay Kumar to investigate the case and submit a details report.

Police said Dubey was considered a terror in East and West Champaran districts of Bihar as well as Parsa and Bara districts in neighbouring Nepal. He was arrested in June 2013 while trying to enter India after serving 10 years in Nepal jail for his involvement in murders and bank robberies, the police added.

East Champaran SP Jitendra Rana said Dubey, a resident of Siswan-Kharar village in Kalyanpur police station area of East Champaran, was shifted to Bettiah jail from Motihari on April 11 to face trial in the Jawahar Sah murder case. Rana said Dubey was facing more than 70 cases of murder, extortion and loot and 45 of them has been registered in East Champaran alone.

Police said the West Champaran police had earlier recommended holding of trials in cases involving hardcore criminals through video conferencing. The matter was under consideration by the government, they said.

The incident has once again raised questions over security on court premises and lawyers at Bettiah have announced a phase-wise agitation for better safety arrangements.

Earlier on January 23, 2015, a woman and a police constable were killed and 15 injured in a crude bomb explosion on Ara civil court premises in Bihars Bhojpur district, 55 km west of Patna.

On April 18, 2016, six persons, including two women and an undertrial prisoner, were injured in a blast at Chapra civil court, 80 km northwest of Patna.

One person was killed and three were injured in a bomb blast outside the Sasaram civil court premises on July 13, 2016.
Top government officials will meet defence equipment manufacturers on Thursday to discuss ways to allow Indian private companies to build high-tech weapons systems with foreign suppliers.

The government released its defence procurement procedure in March 2016 but without a key chapter on the partnership model, which would works as the template for cooperation between Indian and foreign firms.

The worlds biggest arms importer, India needs to upgrade its defence infrastructure and manufacturing equipment at home would save precious foreign exchange, cut procurement delays and generate jobs.

Once ready, the partnership model is expected to give a push to several big-ticket projects, including those for next-generation submarines, fighter planes and helicopters.

Thursdays meeting would be the fourth such interaction between all stakeholders, including leading private sector companies and industrial associations, sources in the defence ministry said.

Differences within the government over what the modalities of the strategic partnership have been holding up the policy.

Several issues had been resolved and the government had made significant headway in fine-tuning the proposed model, sources said.

L&T, Tata, Mahindra Defence and Reliance Defence are among the private sector firms eyeing opportunities to build complex weapon systems in the country under the strategic partnership model.

These guidelines are expected to provide fresh impetus to talks between India and Western aircraft makers for setting up production lines for single-engine and twin-engine fighter planes in the country. India plans to induct more than 400 fighter planes over the next decade.

The guidelines will also govern a Rs 64,000-crore project to build submarines in the country. Several foreign manufacturers are eyeing tie-ups with domestic shipyards to be part of the one of the costliest projects under the Make in India programme, the Modi governments ambitious plan to attract foreign investment and step up manufacturing.

Implementing the strategic partnership model will be one of the key challenges for new defence secretary Sanjay Mitra, who takes over from G Mohan Kumar. Kumars two-year tenure ends May 24.
Things are on the edge in Halol, an industrial town in the heart of Gujarat, these days. On April 28, global automobile major General Motors (GM) abandoned its 172-acre manufacturing plant  a sprawling blue-and-white monument  and moved operations to Maharashtra.

The exit of Gujarats first automobile plant, set up in 1996 , is a disaster for its 1,100 employees. Six hundred of them have rejected the firms offer: relocation or retirement. Several of these workers HT met in Vadodara said they were too settled to move to Maharashtra and too old to find new factory work in Gujarat. Our families have long moved here, our children go to Gujarati-medium schools in the area, this is the only community we will ever know, said Jayanti Bhai, 32, who joined GMs shop floor as a teenager.

You dont go looking for a new job at this age. The factories employ only 20-year-olds these days, said Shailesh Parmar who is desperately giving job interviews. Hundreds of workers staged a silent hunger strike at the plant for weeks leading up to the plant closure. From 4am when we get on the bus for Halol to 4pm when we leave the plant, none of us ate anything. On May 4, GM offered a fresh separation packages to the workers.

The workers plight highlights the challenges industry is facing in Gujarat. Three years after Narendra Modi shifted to Delhi as PM, the state continues to put big companies at the centre of its industrial roadmap, even as their ability to create and retain jobs is under strain. According to the state industries department, Gujarats automobile sector has received $2 billion in investment from Ford, Suzuki Motors, Honda and Hero MotoCorp. Additional investment of $3.2 billion is committed to this sector by 2020. And the number of jobs created by the sector? The employment department put it at more than 1.35 lakh persons.

Capital-intensive industries in Gujarat are growing. Labour-intensive industries like textile, readymade garments and leather are not, said Devendra Pant, chief economist at India Ratings, a market analytics agency. But that is true of any part of India. We have an employment problem. Whatever you do, manufacturing cannot create jobs for everyone, said Laveesh Bhandari, head of economic think-tank Indicus Foundation.

GROWTH OF INDUSTRY AND JOB SCENARIO The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Gujarat in 2015-16 was recorded as 6.7%, lowest in past 10 years.

The manufacturing sectors contribution to Gujarats GDP is 31.6%, according to latest estimates.

Total number of working factories in the state increased from 18,880 in 2001 to 30,192 in 2014.

Locals form 92% of private sector workforce in Gujarat. Percentage of local employment in automobile sector ranges between 82% and 85%.

Gujarat is ranked 15 in the share of wages in the net value added in the industrial sector. SOURCE: MINISTRY OF PLANNING, GUJARAT SOCIO ECONOMIC REVIEW, ANNUAL SURVEY OF INDUSTRIES, GUJARAT GOVERNMENT, GUJARAT STATES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 201314

Even after Modis departure from Gujarat, industry continues to grow in the state. Gujarats manufacturing sector grew at 11% between 2011-12 and 2015-16, compared to a 6.1% growth for India, according to Gujarat Socio Economic Review 2016-17. Thats because of the nature of industry in Gujarat  chemicals, pharma  which is growing steadily. A good set of firms have been able to evolve over a period of time. Moreover, the lower-level bureaucracy of Gujarat is less intrusive than in other places, Bhandari said.

Government insiders liken the situation to something that is on auto-pilot. Modi or no Modi, industry enjoys a momentum that the change of guard in the state hasnt impeded. However, the growth doesnt translate into employment. Big-ticket industries  chemicals, petrochemicals, automobiles, pharmaceuticals  get the best deal (taxes, land, water, power) from the government. But the states traditional network of small and medium industries  diamond, textile, leather, ceramics  that accommodate most job-seekers often complain of neglect.

The Union labour ministrys employment survey for 2016 says Gujarat had the lowest unemployment rate among all states in India. Yet, the states employment exchanges had recorded 6.11 lakh job-seekers on their live registers as of October 31, 2016.

Over the last three years, youth across Gujarat have hit the streets demanding jobs and quota. Fourteen young Patidars lost their lives, 700 OBC youths detained for locking down factories, and one CM  Anandiben Patel  has had to step down.

More than six lakh jobs have been created in the industrial sector between 2014 and 2017, said Rajeev Gupta, principal secretary, department of labour and employment. Half of these jobs came up in industrial units with fewer than 10 employees. According to data shared by the industries department, the state has 6,240 large industries and 6.3 lakh MSMEs; the former employs 11 lakh people and the latter 46 lakh. The large, small and medium industries sector in Gujarat is facing a crisis, partly because they are dependent on the international market. Over the last decade, more than 10% of this industry has been declared sick, said Ghanshyam Shah, a Gujarat-based political scientist.

Close to 20,500 MSME units reported sick in 2013, the number more than doubled to 42,500 in 2016. A quarter of the 600-odd units in Morbi, the biggest ceramic cluster in India, shut down during the note-ban drive.

This is grim news for many like Dharmendra Singh Vaghela of Sanand. The ITI graduate has given three interviews at an automobile factory. Each time they said they will call back. They never do.

(This is the third part of HTs four-part series)

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To ensure residents dont complain about rude and hostile behaviour of the policemen, all police stations (around 300) in Haryana will have Mitra Kaksh (friendly room) to offer hassle-free services to the citizens.

The newly appointed director general of police (DGP) BS Sandhu said these friendly rooms will be set up just outside the police stations and are likely to be run by non-police staff.

Many times people complain that they are not being properly attended by the police. So we have decided to set up these friendly rooms where they will be dealt politely. People can lodge their complaints here and police investigation will follow as usual. These rooms will be helpful especially for those seeking services like character verification, passport verification, etc. For such things, people will no longer need to go inside police stations anymore, Sandhu said, while adding that they were also going to include soft-spoken skills in training of policemen to make them deal with complainants with empathy.

Special task force to end drug menace

The DGP said the focus of the police will be to end drug menace in the state and make it safer for women. We will soon set up a special task force to crackdown on drug peddlers. We have already launched Operation Durga to help women feel safe on roads and public transport. At the same time, we will ensure that these drives never become harassing for the common man, he maintained.

The top cop further said that the state police was going to introduce high-technology initiatives to curb cyber crime. He said the recruitment for around 15,000 posts in the police force will soon be done and for the first time, check the intelligence of the cops besides their physical strength.

On the recent cases of several policemen found stealing electricity, the DGP said the police department will cancel official house allotment to such cops who are found habitual power thieves.
Indian officials who flew to London to press for fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallyas extradition have returned disappointed.

British prosecutors reportedly asked them to provide material evidence to explain the circumstances in which the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines defaulted on loans, a query that indicates scepticism over allegations of Mallya being a wilful defaulter.

An agency official privy to their deliberations in London told HT that they want India to provide evidence that he did not suffer bona fide losses, and the liquor barons offence is criminal  not civil  in nature. Its a loaded demand that could weaken Indias case for his extradition if not accorded an adequate response, he said.

Once called the king of good times, the liquor baron is facing investigations for alleged financial fraud and money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A consortium of banks has accused him of wilfully defaulting on loans amounting to Rs 9,000 crore. He fled to London in March last year.

Mallya was arrested and then let out on bail by a London court on April 18, when a preliminary hearing in the case was held. The next hearing in the Westminster Magistrates Court, originally scheduled for May 17, has now been pushed to the second week of June. This will give the prosecution more time to prepare its case.

A team of CBI and ED investigators recently visited London to hold talks with lawyers of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represents the state in court. While the Indian side provided documents in support of their case, informed sources in London said various potential pleas to prevent extradition  including alleged political vendetta and serious fraud  were discussed.

Indian agencies believe Mallya may argue in court that his offence was civil in nature, and he had defaulted on the loans due to genuine losses. He could also claim that the cases against him are politically motivated because he was appointed as a member of Parliament during the UPA regime.

Mallyas Kingfisher Airlines increased its losses from Rs 337 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 1,647 crore by 2008-09, as fuel and operational costs outpaced revenues. Banks restructured Kingfishers debt  amounting to Rs 8,000 crore in 2010  but even that failed to prevent the ailing airline from defaulting on staff salaries, fuel bills, airport charges and taxes. Though he asked the government to exempt Kingfisher from some taxes and interest on bank loans (as was done for the ailing state-owned carrier Air India), the request was declined because his was a private company.

Our teams have enough evidence on Mallya, and so there is no problem with providing documents related to losses (as demanded by British prosecutors). What remains to be established is his dual criminality with regard to usage and location of funds allegedly siphoned off to United Kingdom, an ED official told HT.

The extradition process in the UK follows seven steps: The extradition request is made to the secretary of state; the secretary of state decides whether to certify the request; judge decides whether to issue a warrant for arrest; the person is arrested and brought before the court; a preliminary hearing is held; an extradition hearing follows; and the secretary of state finally decides whether to order extradition.

The preliminary hearing on April 18 was the fifth stage in the process.

The legal process in the UK can be a long drawn-out one, given the opportunities for appeal to the high court. If the courts clear the extradition, it has to be finally ordered by the home secretary. Such individuals also have the final option of appealing to the European Court of Human Rights (at least until the UK leaves the European Union  likely in 2019).
At a time when the Narendra Modi government is going all out to promote digital India and online cash transactions, tourists visiting Kaza valley in the remote district of Himachal Pradeshs Lahaul and Spiti are facing inconvenience with the two ATMs located at a height of 11,980 feet defunct for months.

Local residents say they have been doing without the services of the two ATMs but tourists, who arrive between May and September, are finding it difficult to make do without the cash dispensers. The towns State Bank of India (SBI) ATM has been out of order for nine months, while the other belonging to Kangra Central Cooperative Bank has been closed for four months.

TOURISTS BEAR BRUNT

Dev Raj, posted at the states tourist information centre here, says the two ATMs in Kaza rarely work. Tourists from across the world have one grievance and that is the defunct ATM. Even I had to travel to Tabo and withdraw money from the ATM, he says.

Bank officials blame the harsh winter and tough topography for the poor maintenance of the two ATMs but have no explanation when told about the SBI ATM working at Tabo, which is 50 km from Kaza. Sometimes residents of this town with a population of about 2,000 go all the way to Tabo to withdraw cash.

Tourists are worst hit. They manage by borrowing from local residents, says Lara Tsering, a tour operator. Local resident Tsering Bodh says shops in Kaza prefer cash but with ATMs shut, tourists find it difficult to make purchases.

Himanshu Chaudhary, a tourist from Delhi on his second visit to Kaza in a year, says, This ATM was out of order last time too. I transferred money to the account of a travel agent and borrowed cash from him.

More about Kaza Kaza is the subdivisional headquarters of the remote Spiti valley in Lahaul and Spiti district At 11,980 ft, the valley is an eight-hour drive from Shimla and attracts tourists, especially foreigners, between May and September Kaza, the commercial centre in Spiti, is the base camp for trekking and mountaineering besides being a hub of Buddhist culture.

Michael, another tourist from Candida in Italy, who has been visiting Lahaul and Spiti regularly, says, I thought the ATM issue would have been resolved by now. Ill need to borrow money from a friend again.

COLD TO BLAME?

SBI assistant general manager KL Mahajan said the banks lone ATM at Kaza is an old one. He said the private company responsible for maintaining it has been told to replace it. In winter, the belts of ATM machines get cracked due to low temperature. We will be replacing the Kaza ATM with a new one soon, Mahajan said.

Branch authorities said senior bank officials were seized of the matter.

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The Jammu and Kashmir police have held a local module of the Hizbul Mujahideen responsible for the killing of a 22-year-old Army officer in South Kashmirs Shopian district on Tuesday night.

Inspector general of police Javeed Gillani said investigators have recovered two empty INSAS rifle cartridge cases used for the crime. A probe was on to check if they were same cartridges snatched from policemen a few days ago, he added.

Gillani, however, refused to disclose the names of those behind Rajputana Rifles officer Ummer Fayazs abduction and murder. A local Hizbul Mujahideen module was involved. Though we have identified the militants, their names cannot be revealed immediately, he said.

Lieutenant Fayaz was kidnapped from a relatives house in the midst of a wedding ceremony, and shot dead the same night. Witnesses said the army officer was taken away while he was sitting with the bride, even as more militants waited outside the house.

A farmers son, Fayaz had been commissioned into the Indian army in December 2016.

Although police are yet receive the post-mortem report, preliminary examinations revealed that there were no torture marks on his body, Gillani said.

This was the most recent incident in a series of militant attacks witnessed by the strife-torn state since the beginning of this year. Five policemen and two bank guards were shot down by militants in an attempt to rob a cash van at the beginning of this month. On April 24, militants shot the PDPs district president for Pulwama, Abdul Gani Dar, with an assault rifle from a close range. A former public prosecutor affiliated with the National Conference was also killed in Shopian district the same month.

According to police, five political workers have been attacked in the Valley since March.

Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz was the son of a Kashmiri farmer. (HT Photo)

Jammu and Kashmir police have identified Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants involved in two bank robberies across south Kashmirs Pulwama district recently. The two militants involved in the Kulgam killings have been identified as Umar Majeed and Farooq Ahmad. Their posters have been put up across south Kashmir, said a senior officer.

Although police claimed that the LeT was involved in the May 1 attack on the cash van, Hizbul Mujahideen owned up to the crime. The outfit claimed that they did not do it for the cash, or kill the bank guards.

Police said the lines separating militant groups have blurred, and they are now working together against the establishment. These militants function independently, and even handlers from across the border dont have a lot of control over them, said a senior officer.

Police said that of the 200 militants active in Kashmir, around 88 are local youth hailing from South Kashmir. These home-grown, self-trained militants are armed mostly with rifles taken from policemen. They are a paranoid lot who need to create an environment of terror to survive, said Gillani.

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Family members of a Hyderabadi woman allegedly lured to Riyadh with the promise of a good salary and then held captive and sexually harassed by her employer have appealed to the Telangana government and the external affairs ministry to rescue her.

Thirty-one-year-old Haleemunnisas woes once again underlined the plight of underprivileged people going abroad to earn money and then becoming a victim of their employers exploitation.

According to her brother Mohammad Asif, a resident of Vattipalli area in the old city of Hyderabad, Haleemunnisa, who had done a beauticians course, was trapped by an agent named Viquar from Dabeerpura area, who promised her a good job in a Gulf country.

We believed him because he was our neighbour in the past and he regularly sends people from old city to the Gulf for various jobs, Asif told HT.

In March, Viquar, along with another agent Ahmed from Mumbai, told Haleemunnisa that they had found a beauticians job with a firm owned by one Khalid Abdul Sayeed Lateef in Riyadh for a monthly salary of Rs 70,000 (in Indian currency). However, there was no appointment letter nor was there any agreement of employment. But they assured that everything would be arranged once she went there, Asif said.

On March 19, Haleemunnisa left for Riyadh and soon realised that she was cheated. She ended up as a maid servant of the employer, who started ill-treating her. After a few days she called up her family and narrated her tales of woe.

Read more: Overworked Tamil Nadu maid injured in escape from Saudi employers

She told us that she was made to work for more than 20 hours a day and was not allowed to sleep. She was not given proper food and was physically tortured, her brother said.

Asif approached Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahender Reddy, who forwarded his complaint to Falaknuma police station. On April 13, the police filed an FIR against the agent Viquar under Section 420 of the IPC, but he was only questioned.

When the matter reached the Nampally criminal courts, the magistrate asked the police to get the victim back to India or get a formal complaint from her about the harassment meted out to her. On May 3, the agent submitted to the police an audio tape containing the telephonic conversation with Haleemunnisa and a letter purportedly written by her, stating that she was comfortable in Riyadh and that she was getting proper salary.

Based on these so-called evidences, which we did not believe, the police are press me to compromise with Viquar so that case can be closed, Asif said.

He said Haleemunnisa spoke to him and his aged mother on May 4 and told them that her employer had started torturing her more intensely after the case was filed. She told me that she was also forced to have sex with him. She lamented that unless we pay him Rs 6 lakh rupees, she wont be allowed to go back to India,

Asifs mother Habeebunnisa was hospitalised after coming to know about her daughters plight. She is crying all through the day and want to see my sister at the earliest, Asif said.

When contacted, Falaknuma sub-insepctor of police M Ramakrishna said the complainant had not produced any evidences so far to show that his sister was being tortured in Riyadh, so that she would be brought back to India. We have booked the case and questioned the agent. We have asked the victims brother to at least submit the audio tape of the telephonic conversation he had with her explaining her plight. Once we get it, we shall make all efforts to bring her back to India, the SI said.

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A posse of policemen guarded a park in Saharanpurs Ghadkoli village where Dalits paid obeisance to Gautam Buddha and BR Ambedkar on Buddha Purnima on Wednesday. A few kilometres away in Chhutmalpur village, a group of Dalit youth called on Chandrashekhar, a 30-year-old lawyer and founder of Bhim Army Ekta Mission who is fighting for the community, to chalk out further course of action in the communitys ongoing protests against the oppression.

Both the events have a connection. The Bhim Army Ekta Mission had led the Dalit protests in the communally sensitive Saharanpur district of western Uttar Pradesh. And the Buddha Purnima event was organised by Bhim Army at the park that saw skirmishes between Dalits and Thakurs in April last year after a provocative signboard in Hindi was installed next to it.

In the absence of any organised political voice to take up Dalit issues, the hitherto lesser-known Bhim Army, which claims to have 40,000 members in seven states, has emerged as a strong voice of the community in Saharanpur and adjoining districts.

After the arson at Shabbirpur village on May 5, allegedly by Thakurs, the members of the organisation were involved in clashes with the police on Tuesday after it was denied permission to hold a mahapanchayat in Saharanpur town. The meeting, they said, was aimed at seeking justice for the affected Dalit families. Chandrashekhar was injured in the protest.

It is strange that Behanji (Mayawati) just paid lip service to the arson at Shabbirpur village where houses of 25 Dalits were torched by Thakurs. No one from the government visited the village and no compensation has been announced for the victims. It seems they (politicians) dont care about us at all, said Shyam Kumar, an activist of the Bhim Army.

Until recently, Saharanpur, with 26% Dalit and 41% Muslim population, used to be a traditional Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) stronghold. But the party led by Mayawati lost four out of seven seats here in the 2017 assembly polls. Worse, its leaders including former member of Parliament (MP) Jagdish Rana and Dharam Singh Saini, switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Saini defeated Imran Masood of Congress from Nakur in 2017.

After the planned attacks on Dalit houses and the death of one Thakur last week, it is common knowledge that it will spread to other areas. Emergence of new Dalit groups like Bhim Sena is due to absence of BSP on the ground and crossover of BSP leaders to BJP. The Thakurs are becoming assertive because of ministerial berth to west UP BJP leaders like Suresh Rana and his daily interference in local administration in the region, said political analyst Prof Sudhir Kumar.

The Bhim Army first shot to fame in August 2015 when it was involved in a commotion with the administration of a Rajput-run inter-college in Saharanpur where Dalit students complained of discrimination. The skirmish over the signboard in Ghadkoli a year later proved to be a turning point in which several members were arrested. The group staged a protest in Meerut last week when chief minister Yogi Adityanath was holding a meeting on law and order.

Behanji (Mayawati) has no time for us. She doesnt come out of her Lucknow/Delhi comforts, said Main Lal, a member of the Bhim Army from Ghadkoli village.

Chandrashekhar, who has gone into hiding, said he formed the Sena (Army) in 2014 after he found that his father Govardhan Das, a headmaster, was frequently humiliated in meetings. He said the objective of his apolitical organisation is not violence but to give voice to the voiceless.

We will raise our voices whenever Dalits are harassed, said Chandrashekar, who was an ABVP member as a law student.

The Army activities have not pleased many though. With regard to Tuesdays violence, Saharanpur district magistrate NP Singh said the Bhim Army had used social media to mobilise Dalits for the gathering, which was not allowed for security reasons. Two members of the Bhim Army, Sachin from Ghaziabad and Gautam from Saharanpur, were arrested in this connection, said Singh.

Local Thakur leader Virendra Rana, who joined the BJP from SP recently, said, They are gundas who masquerade as Dalit activists.

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The Indian government can resolve the Kashmir issue only by acknowledging the aspirations of its residents, the hardline Hurriyat Conference said on Thursday.

The people of this state are peace-loving, and Indian leaders can play a key role (in resolving the issue) by respecting their aspirations instead of adopting coercive measures. They should shun fanatical politics because the need of the hour is to acknowledge the ground realities of the long-pending Jammu and Kashmir dispute, a statement by the Syed Ali Geelani-led front read.

The Hurriyat Conference termed the prevailing bloodshed in the state as an outcome of wrong policies and arrogance of the Indian authorities, and sought UN intervention because its resolutions form an important framework for arriving at a resolution on the dispute.

The volatile situation in Jammu and Kashmir was a natural reaction against Indias stubborn attitude, the statement read, adding that Delhi was desperately trying to impose its verdict on the state through military might.

Reacting to chief minister Mehbooba Muftis criticism over the killing of an Army officer from the region, the Hurriyat Conference said no sane person can derive pleasure from the loss of human lives. The Indian army set this trend, and almost all killings (until now) were carried out by them. It is surprising that Mehbooba Mufti never expressed regret or even enquired about these killings by security and police personnel, the statement added.

The Hurriyat Conference said the chief minister could have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh to try resolving the Kashmir issue through political means instead of merely picking on the pro-freedom movement. It then went on to enquire how Muftis felt about the state-sponsored killings in Kashmir over the last one year.

The Geelani-led front alleged that the sole aim of the Mufti government was to hold on to power for as long as humanly possible. Whenever they find power slipping from their fingers or Delhi looking out for some other stooge, they hurriedly apologise with bowed heads to appease their masters, the statement read.

The Hurriyat Conference said Jan Sangh leaders were speaking rubbish about the state because its government had become irrelevant. They (the Centre) are fully aware of the fact that every soul in Kashmir wants to do away with forced occupation. Jammu and Kashmir has practically become a police state, with Army and government forces running the roost. However, no amount of brutality or coercion can make the Kashmiri people give up their just struggle, the statement added.
India must immediately revoke a ban on social media in Jammu and Kashmir to guarantee freedom of expression and seek a lasting solution to the decades-long conflict through democratic dialogue, the United Nations said on Thursday.

A statement released and published by the UN high commissioner for human rights said the gag was a collective punishment that didnt meet the international standards for limiting free speech.

The scope of these restrictions has a significantly disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir, undermining the governments stated aim of preventing dissemination of information that could lead to violence, the report, authored by two UN human rights experts, said.

Anger has mounted in the Valley in recent months over a series of viral videos showing alleged human rights excesses by security forces, including a Kashmiri man tied to an army jeep.

Hundreds of students and local residents have clashed with police and army personnel, a string of banks have been looted and stone pelting incidents have increased.

On April 17, the government banned 22 social media sites and applications, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, in an attempt to stop people from spreading rumours and uploading controversial videos. But the ban has been largely ineffective as residents have circumvented the gag using virtual private networks (VPNs).

The report said there were already an estimated 31 reported cases of social media and internet bans since 2012 in Jammu and Kashmir, noting what seems to be a worrying pattern aimed at curbing protests and social unrest in the region.

The experts noted that in 2016, the UN Human Rights Council condemned such disruptions and called upon states to avoid them.

Denying such access disrupts the free exchange of ideas and the ability of individuals to connect with one another and associate peacefully on matters of shared concern, said the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst.

The report noted a ban on mobile internet -- 3G and 4G data services  which were restored last month after a brief disruption.

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Top Indian and American officials discussed ways to strengthen maritime security cooperation during the two-day India-US Maritime Security Dialogue in Rhode Island.

The officials also reviewed the implementation of the decisions taken at the first Maritime Security Dialogue between the two countries.

According to an official readout of the meeting that ended on Wednesday, The two sides exchanged views on maritime developments in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region and considered steps to further strengthen bilateral maritime security cooperation.

The Indian delegation was led by joint secretary (disarmament and international security affairs) Pankaj Sharma while the American delegation was led by David Helvey, the acting assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.

The next round of the dialogues will take place in India.

Last month, US Pacific Command Commander Admiral Harry Harris had emphasised on increasing cooperation in between the two countries in the maritime security area.
Two senior citizens were arrested and sent to jail in Bihars Supaul district, 250 km north east of Patna, for allegedly snatching cash and a gold chain at gun point from a retired IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre.

Accused Jivendra Thakur,70, and Amrendra Thakur,63, a retired school teacher, however, said they had been framed as complainant Jayshree Jha was involved in a land dispute with their family.

Jha, a resident of Morabadi in Bariatu police station area Jharkhands capital Ranchi and a native of Supaul, had lodged a case against Jivendra Thakur, Amrendra Thakur, Birendra Thakur alias Bhagwan Thakur,65, also a retired teacher, and two others, alleging that they committed the crime while she visited her agricultural land at Veena-Babhangawan village in the district last month.

In her FIR lregistered on April 24, Jha alleged that the five accused had accosted her and Jivendra Thakur whipped out a pistol, forcing her to part with Rs 7,370 cash she was carrying in her bag.

Another accused, Upendra Thakur alias Kumari Thakur, 52, snatched her gold chain, worth Rs 60,000, while others thrashed her and asked her to pay Rs 2 lakh per year as extortion.

Soon after the FIR was registered, the Supaul police arrested Jivendra Thakur and Amrendra Thakur and sent them to jail.

Villagers at Veena-Babhangawan are baffled as to how could senior citizens snatch cash and gold chain from her. They attributed the developments to a land row, which the police also do not dispute.

Relatives of the accused said that the police acted under influence of Jha. How can a 70-year-old person loot cash and jewellery? they asked.

Supaul superintendent of police (SP) Kumar Eklay said the FIR had also mentioned about land dispute and the alleged incident could have been a related to that. She has nine bighas of land in the village. The retired IAS officer has complained that the accused had been creating trouble there and cutting trees, he added.

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Veteran BJP lawmaker from Gorakhpur Radha Mohan Das Agarwal met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow and discussed the situation arising out of his argument with a woman IPS officer Charu Nigam.

Agarwal was reportedly summoned following a video of additional superintendent of police Charu Nigam in tears after being admonished by Agarwal going viral. Nigam had subsequently made a series of Facebook posts targeting the lawmaker and a successful practising paediatrician too, without naming him.

A defiant Agarwal had also taken to social media to claim that the woman IPS officer had been cruel to a pregnant woman, a child and an elderly who were part of protests against 56 liquor outlets that were operating illegally in Gorakhpur. Nigam had subsequently withdrawn the posts following demands to act against her for violating service rules.

Before meeting Yogi, the lawmaker had staged a sit-in to drum up support for his demand to shut down liquor outlets. The IPS officer had described Agarwals sit-in as publicity stunt.

The CM heard me. I had gone to meet him with development projects for Gorakhpur that included getting funds for about 28 roads in the city as well as closure of illegal liquor outlets operating there. Yogiji heard me and assured that he would get the issues looked into, Agarwal told HT.

He said he had not demanded any action against Nigam but merely put up facts before the CM.
At least 20 families moved from Jhangar to a temporary shelter set up at a government higher secondary school in Rajouri district on Thursday, after intense shelling by the Pakistani army left a woman dead and her husband injured the previous night.

More were expected to evacuate villages near the border to camps in safer areas before dusk. The administration has set up two relief camps in as many government higher secondary schools across Naushera.

Over 20 families  comprising around 50 people  moved from Jhangar to a shelter set up at a Naushera school. We have stocked rations and other basic amenities for those coming to the camps. Health teams have also been deputed, Rajouri district deputy commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary told Hindustan Times, adding that schools along the line of control (LoC) will remain shut on Friday as a precautionary measure.

The woman, identified as Akhtar Bi, was killed after a mortar shell hit her house in Pukharni village. Her injured husband, 40-year-old Mohammad Haneef, has been given a compensatory sum of Rs 1.10 lakh.

Last night, Pakistani troops opened fire on seven to eight villages in Naushera. Intermittent exchanges are still taking place in Laam and Bhawani areas, Choudhary said, adding that the situation is being monitored constantly.

The district deputy commissioner has also directed the essential services department to mobilise their services for ongoing evacuations. The Naushera sub-divisional magistrate and a team of doctors have been tasked with ensuring coordination as well as the emergency response.

Besides this, Dr Mandip K Bhandari  Jammus newly appointed divisional commissioner  also held a high-level meeting with officers from the district administration and police departments on Thursday evening.

A local resident told HT over the phone that two mortars fired by the Pakistani army hit the Jhangar government middle school while five others exploded in the open field before it. The school building suffered extensive damage in Wednesday nights shelling. While a newly constructed toilet block was completely demolished, the computer laboratory and several doors and windows are now in need of repairs, he said.

Defence spokesperson lieutenant colonel Manish Mehta said the Pakistani army began targeting the villages with small arms and automatic weapons, besides 82-mm and 120-mm mortars, along the LoC in Naushera sector from 10.40 pm on Wednesday.

Pakistani forces have indulged in several truce violations along the LoC in recent times. On May 1, one of its notorious BAT units trespassed into Indian territory and beheaded two soldiers  JCO Paramjit Singh and BSF head constable Prem Sagar  in KG sector of Poonch district. The Indian army had vowed to avenge the killings at a time and place of its choosing.

Wednesdays ceasefire violation came close on the heels of the cold-blooded murder of a young Army officer, Lt Ummer Fayaz, in Kashmirs Shopian district.

Meanwhile, Pakistans Dawn newspaper quoted Chaudhry Zulqarnain Sarfraz  senior superintendent of police at Kotli in Pak-occupied-Kashmir  as saying that shelling from the Indian side has killed one and injured two others in Sabzkot area. Pakistans Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria alleged in a tweet that India had violated the ceasefire agreement at the Tandar, Sabzkot, Khuiratta, Baron, Bagsar and Khanjar sectors along the LoC.

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A 35-year-old woman was killed and her husband wounded after the Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district early on Thursday.

Rajouri district deputy commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary told Hindustan Times a mortar hit a house in Laam area killing Akhtar Bi and injuring her 40-year-old husband Mohammad Hanief.

Last night, Pakistan opened heavy fire on 7 to 8 villages in Naushera. Presently, intermittent exchanges are on in Bhawani area, Choudhary said.

The official said the administration has made arrangements for evacuation from villages in the forward areas. ... We are on standby. If heavy firing and shelling resumes and if the need is felt, we shall evacuate the villagers to safer areas, he added.

Rajouri (J&K): Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Nowshera sector continues, using 120 mm mortars. One woman dead and one injured. pic.twitter.com/1TubmaNaMN  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

Defence spokesperson lieutenant colonel Manish Mehta said Pakistani army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 10.40pm on Wednesday along the LoC in Naushera sector.

Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively and the firing is presently on, he added.

The district administration has directed the closure of schools in villages adjoining the LoC after the ceasefire violation, an official said. Government higher secondary schools have been earmarked as camps for migrants.

Sub-divisional magistrate Naushera Harbans and a team of doctors have been deputed for coordination and emergency response. Choudhary has also directed the essential services department to mobilise their services in case of an evacuation.

There have been regular truce violations on the LoC by Pakistani forces.

About a week ago, a rogue Pakistani army team killed and beheaded two Indian security personnel, triggering outrage across the country and prompting the government to vow a strong response.

Under the cover of heavy mortar fire, the Pakistani special forces team sneaked 250 metres across the LoC into the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch and beheaded the soldiers.

There have been six ceasefire violations this April and four in March.

The latest ceasefire violation comes close on the heels of the murder of a young Kashmiri army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz on Wednesday. Villagers found Fayazs body on a road in Shopian early Wednesday, a day after the 22-year-old was snatched by unidentified men from his cousins wedding a few kilometres away. He was shot twice.

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Calcutta high court judge CS Karnan might have escaped to Nepal or Bangladesh and his team is preparing to approach the President for relief, his legal adviser said on Thursday, the latest twist in an unprecedented face-off in Indias higher judiciary.

The revelation came as police forces scrambled across cities to catch hold of the elusive Karnan, who is facing six months in jail for contempt of the Supreme Court.

We want the President to refer the case to the International Court of Justice, just as was done in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, W Peter Ramesh Kumar, an advocate at Madras high court, told HT.

We are preparing for the next level of legal battle and he needs to be in hiding until that time.

His legal team also filed a petition in the top court seeking a recall of his conviction and arrest order. Karnan has repeatedly alleged that he was being unfairly singled out because he is Dalit.

Justice Karnan is entitled to protection of the Constitution of India and the laws of the land. He is invoking the remedies open to him in law by instituting petitions, his counsel Mathews J Nedumpara said in a statement. The judge retires next month.

The apex court convicted Karnan on Tuesday, attempting to end months of defiance by the judge who had sentenced Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and six other SC judges to five years in jail under the SC/ST act. He became the first sitting high court judge to be sentenced to jail.

But since then, the 61-year-old has eluded authorities in Kolkata and Chennai. Karnan flew down to Chennai on Monday night and checked into a government guest house, but when a five-member Bengal Police team reached the Tamil Nadu capital, he couldnt be found.

Some reports said he travelled from Chennai to the Andhra Pradesh shrine of Srikalahasti, around 120 kilometres away, but he didnt show up at the temple.

The team from Bengal police raided several places on Wednesday and travelled to the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, but failed to trace the judge. A senior officer of the Bengal Police also complained that they didnt receive adequate help from their Tamil Nadu counterparts.

The drama over his whereabouts is only the latest twist in a dramatic, sometimes farcical judicial saga.

The controversy began in January when Karnan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an investigation against judges of the Madras high court and the apex court of corruption.

Earlier this month, the SC ordered Karnan to appear before a medical board for a mental health evaluation but he refused to comply.

The ICJ sprang into national headlines earlier this week after it stayed the hanging of Jadhav, who is accused of spying and espionage in Pakistan.

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Top security officials in Kashmir on Thursday called on governor NN Vohra and discussed the security situation in the state and the arrangements for the annual Amarnath Yatra, beginning from June 29.

Inspector general of CRPF in Kashmir, Ravideep Singh Sahi, and inspector general of BSF Sonali Mishra called on Vohra in separate meetings at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar, an official spokesman said.

He said the two officials briefed the governor about their respective areas of responsibility, the obtaining internal security situation and the arrangements being made for the safety and security of the pilgrims who are scheduled to undertake the journey this year.

The 40-day-long annual yatra to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the South Kashmir Himalayas will commence on June 29. The pilgrimage will conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 7. This years yatra will be shorter by eight days against the 48-day event last year.
Operation Wild Net, a crackdown on illegal wildlife trade through internet, delivered its first breakthrough on Tuesday when the Malaysian police arrested an Indian smuggler and seized 55 turtles, some of which are endangered, from him.

Fakruddin Ali Ahmad Habeeb was arrested based on a tipoff by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), an Indian agency dealing with wildlife crime, which was tracking a popular social networking site.

We tried to convince him (Habeeb) to sell the turtles to us so that he could be arrested red handed. But when we learned that he was trying to smuggle the animals to Kuala Lumpur, we informed the Malaysian police and he was nabbed, a WCCB official said.

The species which the accused smuggled include Red Crowned Roof Turtle, Dhongoka Turtle, Indian Tent Turtle and Spotted Black Terrapin.

Operation Wild Net Operation Wild Net is a crackdown on the illegal wildlife trade The environment ministry had listed 106 popular sites dealing with animal parts First breakthrough came with inputs received from a social networking app Indian was arrested from Malaysia; 55 turtles of four species worth USD 1,200, seized

Though Dhongoka and Indian Tent turtles are considered endangered as per the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement between governments, these animals are yet to be included in Indias Wildlife Protection Act.

The officials said the Malaysian police is investigating how Habeed smuggled the turtles from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur.

Operation Wild Net is the first crackdown on wildlife trade that is being done over the internet through social networking sites and online trading sites. We have been tracking them over the past few months before the operation was formally launched on May 1, said Tilottama Verma, director of WCCB in Delhi.

The Operation involves police and forest departments of all the states and Union territories, and information is also passed on to the Interpol regularly for action against traders located outside the country.

A year back, the Union forest department had listed names of around 106 e-commerce sites which were dealing with illegal trade of protected animals and their body parts.

Posing as decoy customers, cyber specialists of WCCB regularly scan the sites with some code words and terminologies used by the smugglers. Whenever a message offering some wild animals or its parts is detected on any website, officials start gathering information, which is then passed on to the police and forest department for legal action.

Words such as lakdi, chaddar, indrajal, kodi and murgi are used by smugglers. While lakdi refers to bones of tigers and leopards, skins are sometimes traded under the code name of chaddar. Indrajal is actually a sea fan and Murgi is a Tokay Gecko. Pangolin scales are sometimes traded as chimta, said an official.

The most frequently traded items are star tortoises, parakeets, hill mynah, ivory articles, and Indian soft shell turtles. Sometimes tiger nails, pangolin scales, Kasturi and Musk pods are also traded.

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Expelled national general secretary of the BSP Naseemuddin Siddiqui on Thursday described party chief Mayawati as a gangster who leads a number of criminal gangs while she hit back labeling him a habitual blackmailer.

On her direction, members of her gang kill people, set houses afire, beat up rivals, break their cars and issue threats as well, he alleged. She had also hatched a conspiracy to kill a senior BSP leader, Siddiqui said at a press conference, a day after he and his son Afzaal were expelled from the Bahujan Samaj Party for alleged anti-party activities.

A belligerent Siddiqui said that on Mayawatis direction, members of her gang set afire the house of former UP Congress Committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who is now cabinet minister in the BJP government.

A number of BSP leaders who challenged her authority were beaten up and tortured by members of her gang, he said.

Once a confidant of the BSP chief, he said Mayawati had demanded Rs 50 crore after the assembly election. He released audio tapes to support his charge. In the tapes, the BSP chief is directing him to fulfill her orders and collect money from the candidates. Mayawati is also heard directing him to deposit the fund collected during the membership drive.

When I failed to fulfill her demand she expelled me from the party, he said. I joined BSP in 1984 and served it since then. I am aware of all the illegal investments made by Mayawati and her brother Anand. I will release more proof of her illegal properties to the media soon, he said.

He also accused the partys national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra of amassing illegal assets.

Within five years there was Rs 200 crore increase in the value of Mishras property. Hutments of 150 Dalit families were razed for the construction of Mishras palatial bungalow. Mayawatis younger brother Anand was a class four employee. He owns property worth Rs 2,000 crore. Mayawati has also invested illegal money in immovable properties in various parts of the country, Siddiqui claimed.

On Wednesday, Mishra had accused Siddiqui of investing in benami property.

Siddiqui refuted the charges. In the Taj Corridor case, the CBI had given me a clean chit and the state vigilance department had also given me clean chit in the disproportionate assets case, the probe into which was ordered by the Lokayukta, he said

He said he has urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to set up an inquiry against Mayawati and take appropriate action.

Siddiqui also accused Mayawati of running down Muslims after the debacle in the assembly election. She said Muslims are traitors. BSP has fielded 99 Muslim candidates but failed to get their vote. I told her that due to SP-Congress alliance, Muslims were confused and there was division in their votes.

A few hours after his press conference, Mayawati also addressed journalists where she rubbished Siddiquis charges and described him as a habitual blackmailer and held him responsible for the partys poor show, especially among the Muslims in the recent assembly elections.

The tapes of her conversation that the sacked BSP leader made public were doctored, she said.

Mayawati said she had made Siddiqui in-charge of western Uttar Pradesh during the assembly election but party workers complained that he was blackmailing them and minting money in the name of the party.

Workers in the April 19 party meeting told me how he (Siddiqui) was blackmailing them by taping their conversations. He misused his proximity to me and projected himself as Number 2 in the party among the workers, she said. She said Siddiqui had sidelined genuine party workers and was promoting only his business partners in the party.

I dont want his money or his properties. But poor people, who you have robbed to amass this wealth want an account of their money, she said reacting to the charge that she had demanded Rs 50 crore from Siddiqui.

She refuted Naseemuddins allegation of her calling Muslims as traitors, saying the Muslim Community has full faith in her. She added that she was neither aware nor Siddiqui ever told him that he had a daughter.

Earlier Siddiqui had alleged that he could not attend the burial of her daughter because he was election agent of the BSP supremo and she had refused to let him go back to his native village to perform the last rites of her daughter
Katni district policemen running a routine check into what seemed to be an injury suffered by a child during sexually exploratory play at a government-run orphanage for girls were in for a nasty shock when they questioned the eight-year-old who inflicted the injury.

Bhaiyya ne bola ye sehat ke liye achcha hai (brother said this is good for health), is what the eight-year-old girl told policemen on Sunday.

At that moment, the policemen realised it was a case of rape of a minor. As the child told her story, it became clear she had been sexually abused for nearly two months by the man she kept referring to as bhaiyya.

This man was a peon at an orphanage for under 6-year-olds where she was admitted earlier. She was shifted to the current shelter when they discovered she was eight years old.

The accused, a 30-year-old, was arrested soon after.

The seven-year-old had suffered injury in her vagina when the older girl inserted her fingers. The bleeding girl was taken to the district hospital for treatment and the police informed.

When asked why she hurt her friend, she told the police about her abuse. He used to sleep with me every day. Whenever I complained of pain, he used to tell me it is good for health, a Katni police officer quoted her as saying. The officer told HT, Counsellors are working with the girl. The injured girl is in hospital, but she is fine.

A mental health expert said the older childs behaviour was not uncommon under the circumstances. A lot of time ragging continues in colleges because those who were ragged continue to rag. It is the same principle in this case, said Dr Samir Parikh, director, department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis Healthcare, Delhi.

The older girl lost her parents a few years ago and was begging on trains when she was rescued by Child Line.

Child rights activist Archana Sahay said, I never came across such a case before this.

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Six persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of a temple priest near Nasirpur railway crossing in Ghaziabad, police said on Thursday.

On the intervening night of April 28 and 29, Nasik Giri was killed at his quarters inside the temple. The body was found the next morning.

SP City Aakash Tomar said six persons along with the priests nephew Papoo, resident of Ballia district, were arrested on Wednesday evening.

Pappu confessed that he had smothered to death his uncle Sitaram alias Mahant Nasik Giri with the help of his accomplices named Deepak, Dinesh, Avdhesh, Tribhuvan and Ashokm, the SP said.

Papoo said that he killed the Mahant to loot the temple money.
Beijing The Chinese government on Wednesday said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) does not affect Beijings stance on the Kashmir issue and it was up to New Delhi and Islamabad to settle it through dialogue and negotiation.

Beijing, however, was willing to make constructive efforts to improve relations between the two countries, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Chinas position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan, and shall be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiation, it said.

The statement comes in the wake of a state media article that indicated that China was getting ready to mediate on the Kashmir issue to protect its increasing financial investment in the CPEC, a cluster of energy and infrastructure projects and road networks connecting Chinas Kashgar in northwest Xinjiang to Pakistans Gwadar port city.

Given the massive investment that China has made in countries along the One Belt, One Road, China now has a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the article in Global Times said.

But the Chinese foreign ministry sought to sidestep the article in the tabloid affiliated to the Peoples Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China.

The building of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor does not affect Chinas position on this issue, the statement said.

We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will properly handle differences by increasing communication and dialogue, and jointly uphold regional peace and stability. China is willing to make constructive efforts for the improvement of India-Pakistan relations, it said.

It was a reiteration of what foreign minister Wang Yi had said at a press conference on the upcoming Belt and Road Initiative forum, to be h eld in Beijing later this month.

It (CPEC) is for the purpose of serving economic cooperation and development. It has no direct link with political and boundary dispute. Certain sections of the CPEC have raised concern on the Indian side, Wang had said.

As for the dispute of Kashmir, Chinas position remained unchanged. Also, CPEC has no relationship with the dispute in certain regions. I want to reaffirm to the Indian friend if India wants to take part in the One Belt, One Road, there are many channels and ways, Wang said.

But the Global Times article, given it came out in a state-controlled newspaper, does possibly give an indication about a long-term strategy of the CPC.

For instance, while China has the capability to resolve conflicts through mediation given its increased economic influence, the nation needs to be very prudent in dealing with other big powers, India included, in the region, it said.

In fact, mediating between India and Pakistan over Kashmir issue would perhaps be one of the toughest challenges facing China in dealing with regional affairs to safeguard its overseas interests.
Pakistan summoned Indias deputy high commissioner in Islamabad on Thursday over alleged firing along the Line of Control that killed one person and injured three others.

Earlier, Pakistan accused India of violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which one person was killed and three others were injured.

Deputy high commissioner JP Singh was summoned over the firing by Indian forces along the LoC, sources said in Islamabad.

Foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria has tweeted that India violated the ceasefire agreement in Tandar, Sabzkot, Khuiratta, Baron, Bagsar and Khanjar areas early on Thursday.
Members of Parliament have become extra cautious after more incidents of seat ruckus on flights have surfaced, the most notorious being Shiv Senas Ravindra Gaikwad assaulting an Air India staffer.

On May 8, Bihar MP Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of MP Pappu Yadav, also famous for riding Harley Davidson to Parliament, was forced to change her seat by Air Vistara after the chief air hostess told her she had the authority to shift her.

The MP shifted to another seat but later complained to the Lok Sabha speaker and ministry of civil aviation about the air hostess rude behaviour.

I was coming from Bagdogra to Delhi on May 8 and was allotted seat number 1F in business class. As I boarded, another passenger was sitting on my seat and before I could request them, the air hostess comes to me and asked me to sit at seat 2D. I objected to this, to which she said I am the supervisor and have all the right to shift your seat. She was very rude... Ranjan told HT over phone.

The airline has apologised.

The MP had requested and was assigned seat 1F in business class, but prior to her boarding, another customer had taken that seat... the crew should have, instead, re-seated the other customer as per standard process, and seated the MP in her assigned seat. We have apologised for this lapse, said a Vistara spokesperson.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Colombo on Thursday on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka where he will be the chief guest at the International Vesak Day celebrations.

The Prime Minister was received at the airport by his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Modi will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

His second trip to the South Asian country, the visit follows an invitation from Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. Modi first visited Sri Lanka in march 2015.

A legacy of cultural, religious & linguistic synergy. PM @narendramodi arrives in Colombo to attend #InternationalVesakDay, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

This years theme of the International Vesak Day is Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace, and is being hosted by Sri Lanka a first time.

As part of the celebrations, Modi participated in a lamp lighting ceremony at the Gangaramaya temple, one of the most important and oldest Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka.

PM Narendra Modi with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe as they step out of a temple in Colombo on May 11, 2017. (AFP)

Modi will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lankas most important Buddhist relic  a tooth of Lord Buddha.

In Pallekelle, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with Indias grant assistance.

Modi will also open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital at Dickoya in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.

Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, the visit is expected to give renewed momentum in India-Sri Lanka ties.

Last month, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe visited India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his visit to Sri Lanka beginning on Thursday was a sign of strong relationship between the two countries that brings to the fore the shared heritage of Buddhism.

During his two-day visit, Modi will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, inaugurate a hospital built with Indian assistance and address the Indian-origin Tamil community, besides attending some other programmes.

This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship, he said in a Facebook post, hours before travelling to Sri Lanka.

During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians, Modi wrote.

Will be in Sri Lanka for a two day visit during which I will join Vesak Day celebrations & other programmes. https://t.co/MHGfTxALih  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism, he said.

The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a Unesco world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.

This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, he said.

He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.

I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community, Modi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis two-day visit to Sri Lanka from Thursday comes after a gap of 158 days, the longest between his two foreign trips after he went to Japan in November last year.

Before this, the longest gap was of 102 days between Modis visit to Nepal to attend the SAARC summit between November 25-27 in 2014 and then to Seychelles on March 10, 2015.

And, prior to that, there was a gap of 94 days after his unscheduled visit to Pakistan on December 25 last year and then his travel to Saudi Arabia after three months on March 29 this year.

The gap this time around has been attributed to a hectic domestic schedule of the PM due to the assembly elections in 5 states as well as other national issues.

The PM is the star campaigner of his party. Also, he had to focus on national issues such as demonetisation, rolling out of GST etc, sources said.

Modi is in Sri Lanka to participate in the celebrations marking the UN Vesak Day, the most important in the Buddhist calendar, which commemorates Lord Buddhas birth, enlightenment and passing away.

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 are expected to participate.

Modi had visited the island country earlier in 2015.

Modi will have a packed schedule of foreign visits from next month till July, starting with the trip to Sri Lanka. He is expected to travel to Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Israel, and Spain. PM Modi may also visit the United States, but it has not been finalised yet.

The Prime Minister will travel to St Petersburg in Russia to attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) to be held from June 1-3. Along with that, he is expected to travel to Germany and Spain on bilateral visits, the officials said.

Afterwards, Modi will visit Kazakhstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet to be held in Astana on June 7-8. Significantly, Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif is also expected to attend the Summit of the SCO, a grouping which includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Prime Minister is then slated to travel to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit scheduled to take place between July 7-8, officials said. He will also go to Israel in July, dates for which are being finalised, sources said.

Modi has made 54 foreign trips during his tenure as the Prime Minister so far. He made 9 trips in 2014, 27 in 2015 and 18 in 2016.

Modis foreign trips have been criticised in the past by opposition parties who have accused the BJP leader of neglecting domestic issues.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with new South Korean President Moon Jae-in over phone and invited him to visit India.

Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in. Wished him every success and invited him to visit India soon. Together we succeed, Modi tweeted.

Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in of Korea. Wished him every success & invited him to visit India soon. 'Together we succeed'  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

Moon was sworn is as South Koreas new President on Wednesday after his victory in Tuesdays presidential election.

Moon succeeded Park Geun-hye, who was removed by a Constitutional Court on March 10, over a series of corruption allegations.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister had tweeted congratulatory messages to Moon in English and Korean languages.

I warmly congratulate H.E. Mr. Moon Jae-in upon his election as President of the Republic of Korea. @MoonJaeIn365  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 10, 2017

He said he looked forward to working with Moon to further strengthen the strategic partnership.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday congratulated Emmanuel Macron, the President-elect of France, on his victory and said that India looks forward to strengthen bilateral ties.

I warmly congratulate you on your election to the office of President of the French Republic, Mukherjee was quoted as saying in a statement issued on Thursday

President Mukherjee said also said that India values its strategic partnership with France and stressed that the friendship between the two nations would continue to strengthen in the years to come.

In the congratulatory message, President Mukherjee said he was confident that the long-standing friendship, mutual trust and understanding between India and France would always thrive.

India looked forward to further consolidating the multifaceted strategic partnership with the new government, he said.

In giving you a decisive mandate, the people of France have demonstrated their confidence in your leadership and vision, he said.
From Mahatma Gandhis grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi to Babu Jagjivan Rams daughter Meira Kumar, the opposition camp is keeping its options open for fielding a candidate in the upcoming presidential polls.

There is no final decision on who will be our candidate. If the BJP fields some hardcore RSS functionary as its nominee, we may think about Gopal Krishna Gandhi. If they nominate Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu, we may consider fielding former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, said a leader.

Congress sources added that if the BJP proposes incumbent President Pranab Mukherjees name for another term, the Opposition will agree, but it will not pitch for Mukherjee on its own.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar is seen as the ideal candidate by a section of the Opposition.

The leaders feel if Pawar can be convinced to fight the polls, the Opposition can expect support from the Shiv Sena and some other NDA constituents and fence sitters, given the Maratha strongmans personal rapport with leaders cutting across party lines. But he hasnt said yes so far, said a Congress strategist.

The opposition parties, however, will wait for the Narendra Modi government to reveal the name of its candidate first. Depending on their candidate, we will decide who can be our nominee, said a senior Opposition leader.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, with the help of senior leaders such as CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, is talking to opposition parties to forge a united front to take on the NDA in the presidential polls.

The Opposition has reached out to parties such as Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress, TRS and DMK. Next week, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to meet Gandhi to discuss the strategy for the polls.

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Four months after BSF trooper Tej Bahdaur Yadav complained on social media about quality food at the paramilitarys bases, Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday launched a mobile phone app  MHA Mobile Application - to remain just a click away from troopers of all central forces to address their grievances.

Though the minister said he had proposed such an app at the conference of police chiefs in Hyderabad last year, its launch came at a time when more and more paramilitary personnel are using social media platforms to air their grievances.

I am just a click away from all jawans, Singh said at the launch. He added that he wished to relate to every jawan working for nation.

Jawans of the central police forces are most disciplined. If they are disciplined, this does not mean that they do not have emotions. They may also have some personal problems and the system keeps on resolving their problems from time to time. The app is required when the jawans feel that their problems need attention of the ministry of home affairs, said the minister.

Singh said that he will review the dashboard of the app every month and check the status of redressal of grievances. The MHA will intervene, wherever required. Indias paramilitary strength is 10 lakhs.

He also said that the families of the jawans who sacrifice their life for the nation, should get minimum assistance of Rs one crore.

Paramilitary officials said the app will not be available on the BSF website for security reasons.

The mobile application also has a provision for the home ministry to continuously monitor the action taken by various central paramilitary forces on the grievances of the troopers and regulate the process for further improvement in the grievance redressal system.

Rajnath Singh also launched a dedicated app for BSF personnel named BSFMyApp.

The app provides mechanism to address issues related to pay, provident fund, leave or deputation of the personnel. The app will also help troopers with financial literacy. The financial literacy module will not only educate personnel about investment of their savings but will also facilitate investment in a safe manner.

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The Patna police, on Thursday, recovered Rs 30 lakh in demonetised Rs 1,000 denomination currency notes from a flat in Ganesh Tower residential apartment building in Agamkuan locality of eastern Patna. They arrested a builder, Vinod Vishwas, and his four associates, for being in illegal possession of the money.

The seizure came six months after Rs 1,000 and rs 500 currency notes ceased to be legal tender, following an announcement by prime minister Narendra Modi on November 8, last year. It came over four months after the expiry of time given to exchange or deposit of such notes, on December 31.

This was the second such seizure in Bihar since the Centre, on February 28, notified the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, section 5 of which bars any person from knowingly or voluntarily, holding, transferring or receiving any specified (demonetised) bank note.

Earlier, on April 24, the police had seized old currency notes worth Rs 30 lakh from a house in Dharampur locality under Town police station area of north Bihars Samastipur district. It had also arrested from the spot an alleged peddlar of demonetised currency notes.

Giving details of the demonetised currency notes seizure and the consequent arrests, on Thursday, Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said the Agamkuan flat of the builder was raided by the [police following a tip off.

I directed the station house officer (SHO) of the Agammkuan police station, K N Singh, to verify the intelligence input. After receiving confirmation, a police team raided at the flat of Vinod Vishwas and recovered old currency worth Rs 30 lakh, he added.

The SSP said that Vishwas and his four associates were brought to the Agamkuan police station for interrogation. In the course of their interrogation, we gained the impression that the builder and his associates might be into peddling demonetised currency notes. As such, they have been arrested, he added.

The SSP said efforts were on to glean the identities of other members of the gang so that they could be nabbed, as well.

Section 7 of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, provides that whoever contravenes the provisions of section 5 shall be punishable with fine which may extend to Rs 10,000 or five times the amount of the face value of the specified bank notes involved in the contravention, whichever is higher.

Officials said the builder and his associates had been held for being in possession of unexplained huge amount of cash.

.Even during the period when demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes could be exchanged or deposited in banks (November 8 to December 31, 2016), some big seizures had been reported in Bihar.

An abandoned bag containing old currency notes worth Rs 35 lakh, in Rs 500 denomination, and 14 liquor bottles was seized by the Railway police from the Ranchi-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express train at Gaya in south Bihar, on December 7 last year.

Even earlier, on December 1, 2016, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel seized Rs 1.2 crore in demonetised currency notes from a Thai national, at the Patna airport, following an intelligence input. The passenger had flown in from Lucknow.
Sri Lanka has rejected Chinas request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month, two senior government officials said on Thursday as the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in the island nation.

Sri Lanka last allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in the capital of Colombo in October 2014, a move that triggered fierce opposition from its northern neighbour India, which worries about growing Chinese activity in a country it has long viewed as part of its area of influence.

Modi arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday for a two-day official visit.

A senior Sri Lankan government official said Chinas request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month had been rejected. He said Sri Lanka was unlikely to agree to Chinas request to dock the submarine at any time, given Indias concerns. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The second official, at the defence ministry, also said Chinas request to dock this month had been rejected but that a decision on a further docking had been postponed.

It might happen later, the second official told Reuters, adding that China had requested approval to use the port around May 16 sometime back.

A source close to the Chinese embassy in Colombo confirmed that China had requested permission for the submarine visit but was still awaiting a response.

China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka in recent years, funding airports, roads, railways and ports, unsettling India, traditionally the closest economic partner of the island nation of 21 million people.

More than 70% of the trans-shipment in Colombo port comes from India.

Sri Lanka is finalising a plan to lease 80% of its loss-making Hambantota port to China for 99 years, but the deal has been delayed because of opposition from trade unions.

The Sri Lankan government also wants to establish a petroleum hub with the help of India in the eastern port city of Trincomalee, where Lanka IOC, the subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, handles 15 out of 99 oil tanks.

A 1987 accord between India and Sri Lanka provides that their territories not be used for activities deemed prejudicial to each others unity, integrity and security.
Toilets have gone missing from a house in a Chhattisgarh village and a woman and her daughter want a bewildered police to trace them fast.

A local RTI activist claims that the toilets existed only on paper.

The women filed the police complaint last week after they found out that the two toilets, proposed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, were shown in documents as already constructed for which the fund was also released.

Bela Bai Patel (70) and her daughter Chanda (45), residents of Amarpur village in Bilaspur, filed the complaint stating that their toilets were stolen, Pendra station house officer Ishaak Khalko said.

The women wanted their toilets to be traced and action taken against those involved in the theft, he said, adding that an inquiry was underway.

As per preliminary information, Bela and Chanda, both widows belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, live in two different parts of their house in Amarpur.

The duo had submitted their application to the village panchayat in 2015-16 for the construction of two toilets in their house, the SHO said.

The applications of all the beneficiaries from the village were forwarded to the janpad panchayat at Pendra for approval following which the permission was granted, he said.

When the work did not start even after a year of the approval, as claimed by villagers, Bela and Chanda approached the janpad panchayat office last month to enquire about the status of the work.

To their surprise, they were informed by the panchayat officials that the toilets have already been made.

The two women later filed a complaint with police.

A local activist, Surendra Patel, sought information on the status of the toilets in Amarpur through an RTI query with Pendra janpad panchayat.

Patel said that as per the reply received last week, the work of construction of toilets in the houses of all the beneficiaries has been completed and money has also been paid for it.

He alleged that the toilets were only built on paper and not on the ground.

There is a gross irregularity in the construction of toilets under the Clean India mission in Amarpur village. Not only these two women, but several other beneficiaries are affected by the corruption, he alleged.

When contacted, Pendra janpad panchayats chief executive officer KS Dhruva said he has received information (about status of toilets in Amarpur) and it was being verified.
Triple talaq hearing begins, Supreme Court says wont examine polygamy among Muslims

The Supreme Court said on Thursday it would not examine the Islamic custom of polygamy while hearing petitions challenging triple talaq, described as biased by several Muslim women who want the divorce practice scrapped. A constitution bench of five judges, who have decided to work through the summer break, began hearing seven separate petitions challenging the divorce practice that allows a man to end his marriage by uttering the world talaq (I divorce you) thrice in a succession.

Read the story here.

PM Modis Sri Lanka visit begins today, says it reflects strong ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka to attend the biggest Buddhist festival Vesak Day as its chief guest. The celebrations will include an international Buddhist Conference in which over 400 delegates from more than 100 countries will participate. The MEA has said that no formal talks have been scheduled, but Modi will be interacting with the Sri Lankan leaders. During the two-day trip, his second to Sri Lanka since becoming the Prime Minister, Modi will also visit Kandy in the Central Province, which is famous for production of Ceylon Tea. This will be PM Modis second visit.

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AAP crisis: Kapil Mishra to go to ACB with more proof; Saurabh Bhardwaj too promises another expose

Delhi is set to witness another politically charged day with more action on the two issues that have shaken the Capital over the week: corruption allegations against AAP brass by rebel leader Kapil Mishra and AAPs claims of EVM tampering. Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra says he will approach the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) around noon to divulge more details in the Water Tanker scam. The AAP is set to push its line on the EVMs by holding a protest at the Election Commission office and promising another revelation on the Assembly elections in five states.

Follow live updates on story here.

UP chief secretary appears before high court with documents about 2007 Gorakhpur riots

The Allahabad High Court has summoned the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh, directing him to bring along all documents relating to the 2007 Gorakhpur riots in which the then local MP and current chief minister Yogi Adityanath was named as an accused. A division bench of justices Ramesh Sinha and Umesh Chandra Srivastava directed the chief secretary to appear in person and file a personal affidavit besides producing all documents relating to the 2007 riots, including the sanction given by the state government to prosecute the accused.

After Infosys and Wipro, Tech Mahindra may sack hundreds of employees

After Infosys and Wipro, its now IT firm Tech Mahindra that could hand out pink slips to hundreds of employees as it looks to weed out bottom performers following its annual appraisal process. We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different, Tech Mahindra said in an emailed response. The Mumbai-based company, however, did not specify the number of employees that could be asked to leave. industry sources suggest that the number would run into hundreds.

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Gujarat after Modi: Industry on auto-pilot but strains on job-creation front

Three years after Narendra Modi shifted to Delhi as PM, the state continues to put big companies at the centre of its industrial roadmap, even as their ability to create and retain jobs is under strain. Capital-intensive industries in Gujarat are growing. Labour-intensive industries like textile, readymade garments and leather are not, says an economist.

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Amit Shahs remarks on Tripura having highest crime rate against women are false

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah claimed that Tripura has the highest rate of crimes against women in the country and that 25% of the literate population of the state is unemployed. Tripura is in fact at the eighth position among 29 states and seven union territories in figures for crimes against women, according to 2015 data of the National Crime Records Bureau. Tripura ranks as the fourth worst state in terms of unemployment among graduates in the country.

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Wont dwell on sacking, will be fine: FBIs Comey in farewell letter

Former FBI director James Comey says in a farewell letter to colleagues that he will be fine, and wont dwell on how he was fired by President Donald Trump, CNN has reported. I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all. Im not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you wont either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply, Comey said in a letter to agents and colleagues.

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The brutal killing of a young Kashmiri Lieutenant, who had returned home unarmed for a family wedding, has been termed by the Indian Army a watershed moment that will help turn the tide against terrorism. It would not be wrong to say that the kidnapping and deliberate killing of Lt Ummer Fayaz is also a political watershed moment that New Delhi must seize.

On a trip to the Valley last week, it was evident, that the average local Kashmiri is against such acts of terror. A police officer posted in South Kashmir, where five Jammu and Kashmir policemen and two bank staffers were pulled out of a car and shot dead on May 1, said he saw the anger and the silent protest in the eyes of the villagers in Kulgam when he visited the spot.

The governments, both at the Centre and the State, must distinguish between the terrorists  who pulled Fayaz out of a wedding  and the alienated youth who take to the streets. An outreach to the Kashmiris at this very juncture will go a long way in helping Srinagar and New Delhi draw that crucial line.

An outreach is important because the contours of the 27-year-old insurgency changed for the worse last year after the encounter that killed Burhaan Wani, the poster-boy militant who emerged as a role model after he posted videos on social media platforms.

Till Wani was killed in July 2016, the insurgency was largely an urban phenomenon. It has now penetrated deep into the rural swathes of South Kashmir and as one official told us, There are several villages which are like liberated zones.

In such liberated villages, almost the entire population is willing to side with the militants  who are now home grown. The local militants outnumber those who manage to sneak in from Pakistan and alienated locals are not only happy to give them shelter; they also gather in large numbers each time the security forces lay a cordon for a counter-insurgency operation. Only last week, men drawn from the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the army were ambushed when they were returning after a huge anti-terror operation spread across 20 villages across Shopian in South Kashmir. Fayazs bullet-ridden body was found in the same district.

The targeted killing of Kashmiris is worrying the locals and last week, many were asking themselves if they were now staring at a return of the 90s  a decade marked by everyday violence, custodial killings and random shootings of police informers.

Then, the locals found themselves trapped between two sets of guns: the terrorists and the security forces.

At present, no one is voicing the condemnation that the killings of Fayaz, the policemen and the bank officials deserve. The separatists, always quick to call a hartal after a civilian is killed, have not had the courage to speak up against such killings, despite knowing that the constituency they claim to represent is getting increasingly uneasy.

New Delhi must seize the political opportunity and help a sullen population turn the tide against terrorism.

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Kashmiri local newspapers on Thursday gave wide coverage to the abduction and killing of army officer Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, but stayed away from taking a stand on the murder.

None of the papers carried an editorial or an opinion piece condemning or questioning the killing of the unarmed young officer in Shopian while on a holiday. Fayazs body was found on Wednesday, a day after he was taken away at gunpoint from a wedding by suspected militants.

Army officer abducted, killed in Shopian, said the headline of leading English daily Greater Kashmir. The paper carried the condemnation of the killing by national and local political leaders, alongside a report on the soldiers grieving family. The paper also carried a news agency report on how Fayazs first leave after having joined the army six months ago also became his last.

Rising Kashmir, another leading daily, had pictures of Fayazs funeral and grieving relatives. The paper also carried a condemnation of the killing by leading politicians.

The headline on Kashmir Readers first page said, Young Kashmiri army officers bullet-riddled body found in Shopian village. Major Urdu newspapers, like Srinagar Times, Daily Aftab and Kashmir Uzma also had front-page reports on the killing.

Opinion on social media was divided. While users from other parts of the country were unanimous in their criticism of the murder, responses inside Kashmir were mixed. While some criticised the killing, others called for an understanding of the context leading to violence and loss of lives in Kashmir.

In conflicts condemnation is politics. If we actually care about those killed, we should ensure the context within which these killings are taking place is transformed. Belligerence hurts the self too, wrote Srinagar-based rights activist Khurram Parvez on Facebook.

Journalist Wasim Khalid wrote on Facebook, I do not think it was a right decision to kill an army officer, who was unarmed, and had come home to attend a marriage function. He was not a combatant. He was not fighting a war, neither he had done anything which was against the peoples cause. He could have been counselled.

He continued: This is utterly disgustful (sic) since we cannot stoop low as Indian state is. There needs to be a distinction. Our whole struggle is based on truth, justice, and on morals, which means humanity. Such acts muddy our cause and place us along with the occupier.

We must not forgo the values and principles that we fight for. Our beliefs and humanity must supersede evil. The tyrants are not our teachers, tweeted blogger Muhammad Faysal.

Several other users, argued that an army man does not cease to be an army man and a target even when not on duty. Some blamed the Indian authorities.

A renowned Kashmiri photographer wrote: If a militant goes to open a bank account or attend his cousins wedding, without arms, does he become a civilian, a non-combatant? Does he cease to be a terrorist for India? By the way, Burhans brother Khalid didnt have any weapon on him when he was killed. Neither was he a combatant. Why was he killed then?

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The Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana governments move of transferring school teachers through an online policy has caught the attention of Uttar Pradesh government.

Meanwhile, the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab on Wednesday gave its nod for online transfer of government teachers from the next academic session, on the lines of a similar system existing in several other states, including in Haryana.

An officer in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has contacted officials of the Haryana education department over phone to know about this online transfer policy for teachers. We understand the PMO wants Haryana policy to be replicated in other BJP-ruled states, a top Haryana government functionary told Hindustan Times.

After discussing informally Haryanas transfer policy, which started in June 2016, the BJP government of UP has formally invited additional chief secretary (school education) PK Das for deliberations.

Sources say the senior bureaucrat is likely to give a power-point presentation about the transfer policyand how it eliminated middlemen and corruptionto the UP government on Friday.

The key feature of this policy, simply put, is that eligible teachers apply online for transfer by submitting their choice of schools from January 15 to February 15 every year. And the transfer order is issued online from April 1 to April 30.

All teachers have to select the zones in order of their preferences across districts. They further opt for a minimum five or available number of schoolswhichever is morein order of preference within each zone so that their claim is considered against multiple vacancies within a zone.

In case the teacher does not get preferred choice then in such cases, teachers are given any available school in the same zone. In case there is no school available in the said zone, then they are considered for the next zone of preference and so on.

All the options once exercised online by the teachers are available for view to all teachers concerned in their login. This transfer policy covers all teaching cadre posts including principals and headmasters.

But the teaching post of English medium sarthak school, government model sanskriti schools and aarohi model schools are out of the purview of the teachers transfer policy. No male teacher below the age of 50 years is posted in a girls school, while every teacher completing five years in a particular school is transferred.

The policy guarantees five-year tenure and the teacher cannot be transferred midway. All the reasons are given online why the teacher was posted or why wasnt posted in his first choice of station. This transparency in transfers has reduced litigation and eliminated corruption at every level, a senior IAS officer said requesting anonymity.

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The Indo-US security cooperation and the terrorist threat were among the issues discussed when an American Congressional delegation met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Thursday.

The eight-member delegation was led by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

The prime minister welcomed the delegation to India. He appreciated the strong bipartisan support of the US Congress in deepening the partnership between India and the United States, a PMO statement said.

Modi exchanged views with the delegation members on the bilateral partnership and other issues of mutual interest.

He called for further enhancing exchanges with the US Congress, the statement added.

Later, in a statement, Pelosi said, Our bipartisan delegation was pleased to meet with Prime Minister Modi, where we had a productive conversation on the importance of the U.S.-India relationship and the shared values which bind our two countries.

She said they exchanged views on our security cooperation and the terrorist threat, Indias leadership (in) addressing the climate crisis, and our mutual priority of respecting the human rights of all people in our countries.

Yesterday, the delegation met Minister for Finance and Defense Arun Jaitley and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. The delegation also met civil society representatives and members of the India-U.S. Business Council.

In our meetings with top government officials, our delegation expressed our gratitude to the government and people of India for hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, and for the support of Tibetans living in India, said Pelosi.

We paid our respects and gratitude to Indias inspiration to the world, Mahatma Gandhi, at his last home and expressed our gratitude for his leadership in non-violence which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also embraced, she added.
Seasoned diplomat Vinay Mohan Kwatra, currently a joint secretary in the Prime Ministers Office, has been appointed as the next ambassador to France.

Announcing his appointment, the external affairs ministry said Kwatra is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

A 1988-batch foreign service officer, Kwatra will succeed Mohan Kumar, who is retiring.

Apart from having experience of dealing with the UN organisations such as International Labour Organisation (ILO) and World Health Organisation (WHO), he has served in Indian diplomatic missions in China and the US.

He has also held the position of joint secretary incharge of the counter-terrorism division in the MEA.
22 dead, several injured as wall collapses in Bharatpur, Rajasthan

At least 22 people were killed and several others injured as a wall of a building used for wedding ceremonies collapsed amid heavy storm in Rajasthans Bharatpur on Wednesday, a police official said. A marriage function was going on in the building when the storm hit the area, the police said.

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International Court of Justice to hear Jadhav case on Monday; Pakistan says will review its jurisdiction

The International Court of Justice, which has stayed the death sentence of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan, will hold public hearings in the case on Monday. The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by India, the ICJ said in a release. Pakistans civilian government said it will review ICJs jurisdiction in the case but the Pakistani army appeared defiant. Pakistani military spokesman Asif Ghafoor said it will respond at an appropriate level to any query by the ICJ on Jadhav.

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Ummer was a brilliant student; he wasnt scared: Family and friends remember Kashmiri army officer killed by militants

Ummer Fayazs body was found at Harmain Chowk in Shopian on Wednesday morning, hours after he was abducted by masked assailants from the marriage venue of his cousin in an adjacent village. My son was born in 1994, and was about to turn just 23 in a few weeks. He was a very good boy, my only one... said Fayaz Ahmed, his father, before breaking down. Then he lapsed into silence, tears still streaming down his face, even as his relatives pitched in to narrate the story of the deceased soldiers life.

Read the story here.

Debate on social media: Kashmiris divided on army officers killing

Several social media users in Kashmir, where militancy has support among sections of society, have criticised the killing of a young local army officer Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz after he was allegedly abducted by militants from the wedding ceremony of a cousin. I do not think it was a right decision to kill an army officer, who was unarmed, and had come home to attend a marriage function. He was not a combatant. He was not fighting a war, neither he had done anything which was against the peoples cause, wrote a local journalist on Facebook.

Read the story here.

Indian workers held captive by company in Saudi Arabia, embassy intervenes

A group of Indian workers have been held captive by a company in Saudi Arabia over salary-related disputes, prompting the Indian embassy in the gulf country to make efforts for their repatriation. The embassy intervened in the matter after Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik sought help from external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and the Prime Ministers Office.

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West Bengal cadre IAS officer Sanjay Mitra to be next defence secretary

The government on Wednesday approved the appointment of West Bengal cadre and 1982 batch officer Sanjay Mitra as the next defence secretary of the country. He will get a fixed tenure of two years as the defence secretary. Mitra, who was holding the charge of secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways till now, has been appointed officer-on-special-duty in the defence ministry and will assume charge on May 24 when incumbent G Mohan Kumar retires.

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After BJP MLA Agarwal threatens to skin cops alive, Yogi calls him to Lucknow

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday asked belligerent BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal to meet him Lucknow shortly after he warned senior police officials that they would be skinned alive if they failed to take action against woman IPS officer Charu Nigam for violating service rules. Agarwal had drawn flak after he was caught on camera berating Nigam during a agitation by women against unlicensed wine shops on Sunday.

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Blasphemy on internet is a punishable offence: Millions of Pakistanis get warning text messages

Millions of Pakistanis have been receiving text messages from the government warning them against sharing blasphemous content online, a move rights activists said would encourage more vigilante attacks. It comes amid a surge in mob violence linked to accusations of insulting Islam including three attacks within the past month. Uploading & sharing of blasphemous content on Internet is a punishable offence under the law. Such content should be reported on info@pta.gov.pk for legal action, read the SMS.

Read the story here.

Iran elections: Ayatollah Khamenei says troublemakers in election will be slapped

Irans supreme leader warned Wednesday that anyone trying to foment unrest around the upcoming presidential election will definitely be slapped in the face  a sign authorities want to avoid a repetition of the violence that followed the countrys disputed 2009 poll. Ayatollah Ali Khameneis comments came as the countrys intelligence minister said his agents already disrupted one plot to cause disruptions.

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Israeli TV news host cant hold back tears as she announces end of longest running show

With an emotional signoff, Israels longest running TV news programme aired its last episode on Tuesday after a sudden cancellation following a political battle with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Choking back tears, Channel 1 News anchor Geula Even announced that the broadcast would be its last. The programmes staff turned out for a tearful send-off and sang the national anthem.

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Opinion: Sexual violence against women in riots and other mass crimes is being normalised

We live in a social regime where women are seen as an embodiment of mens izzat (honour). Attacking their women then becomes the undoing of the whole community. The pattern of sexual violence one sees during pogroms is a part of what Paul Brass would call the institutionalised riot system through which violence in produced and re-produced. One needs to pay attention to the spirit behind the transgressions that becomes the driving force in the hypermasculinity towards women.

Read the story here.

Shreyas Iyers knock carries Delhi Daredevils to win vs Gujarat Lions in IPL

A scintillating 96 by Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Daredevils maintain their winning record against Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League as they beat the hosts by two wickets with two balls to spare at Kanpur on Wednesday.

Read the story here.
A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court comprising five judges  a Sikh, Christian, Muslim, Hindu and a Parsi  will commence on Thursday hearing petitions challenging practices such as triple talaq and polygamy followed by Muslims .

The bench is led by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, who has decided to complete hearing the petitions during the ensuing summer vacations. He is due to retire in August.

Filed over the last two years by Muslim women affected by the practice, the petitions raise the critical issue of their rights and demand abolition of the discriminatory practices.

Talaq-ul-bidat or triple talaq is a Sharia law practice which gives men the power to end a marriage by simple uttering the word talaq to their wives three times in succession.

India is home to worlds third-largest Muslim population governed by the Sharia or Islamic jurisprudence under which women of this community face the threat of a sudden, oral, and out-of-court divorce.

There have been many cases that made headlines for men practising triple talaq even via instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and emails.

The BJP-led NDA government has openly come out in favour of abolishing these gender insensitive practices.

This is the first time the Centre has taken a stand on the contentious issue.

As a part of its written submissions to the court, the government has argued that since gender equality is part of the basic structure of the Constitution and is non-negotiable, Muslim women cannot be denied this right.

Any practice by which women are left socially, financially or emotionally vulnerable or subject to the whims and caprice of men-folk is incompatible with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, it said.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which is one of the highest decision-making bodies for Muslims in India, defended the practice of triple talaq and opposed the petitions, saying personal laws cannot be challenged as being violative of fundamental rights given in the constitution.

Personal laws of a community cannot be re-written in the name of social reform, the board said. Triple talaq was protected by the right to religious freedom of Muslims, it further argued.

The Centre has referred to several countries, even theocratic states, to stress that reforms were necessary under the Muslim personal law.
A 17-year-old youth was hacked to death on Thursday by members of an unidentified gang who severed his head and threw it inside a police station in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The body of the deceased, identified as Swethan, was dumped in a lake bed in Bahoor village of Puducherry.

Police of both the neighbouring Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are probing the incident. The body was shifted to the Puducherry government hospital for post mortem.

Police have registered a case and are investigating the gory crime.
A special tribunal, headed by justice Sangeeta Dhingra of the Delhi high court, on Thursday upheld the governments decision to ban controversial preacher Zakir Naiks NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

The presiding officer of the tribunal found that IRF was involved in activities threatening sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of India.

The entire material placed on record shows that the IRF was involved in activities which not only incite and encourage the youth to under take the unlawful activities with and intent to threaten the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of India.

It also cause disaffection against India, which leaves no doubt that the ingredients of section... of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967 are met and there is every reason to conclude that the IRF be declared as an unlawful association, the tribunal said.

On March 16, the Delhi high court had also held that the Centres decision to ban the IRF was taken to safeguard national security.

It had dismissed IRFs plea challenging the ban.

The IRF had challenged the November 17, 2016, notification of the ministry of home affairs which had imposed an immediate ban on the organisation under the UAPA.

It has been banned for five years.
The body of a youth, swarmed by flesh-eating ants, was found outside the state-run MY Hospital in Indore, the police said on Thursday.

According to an official from the Sanyogitaganj police station, the unclaimed body was found lying at the hospitals entrance on Wednesday night.

The identity of the deceased and the cause and time of his death are yet to be ascertained, he said.

Read: Hospitals in Indore in news for all the wrong reasons

It is also not known whether the young man was undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Hospital superintendent Dr VS Paul said he had no information about the deceased and the police was probing the matter. The body has been sent for autopsy, he said.

This was not the first such incident in Indore.

In June last year, a similar matter was reported from a district hospital when ants preyed upon the corpse of a three-day old baby girl, awaiting post-mortem in the mortuary.

She had died due to alleged negligence of the hospital staff.
Ben Stokes had set the IPL 2017 auction on fire when he was snapped up for a record Rs 14.5 crore by Rising Pune Supergiant. With this astronomical sum came high expectations to deliver something special.

Rising Pune Supergiant are just one win away from the playoffs, a far cry from their debut edition in IPL 2016 when they narrowly escaped finishing last in the points table. The prime factor behind their resurgence is Stokes. His performances have silenced people who have been critical of his high price.

(Watch | Ben Stokes IPL heroics excite England skippers Root and Morgan)

As they take on Delhi Daredevils at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Friday, Rising Pune Supergiant will be aiming to seal a spot in the playoffs and maintain the winning momentum initiated by the England all-rounders brilliance.

Far from ideal start

Rising Pune Supergiant started the IPL 2017 campaign in style when they defeated Mumbai Indians. However, they lost their next three games. After losing to Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils thrashed them by 97 runs. After losing against Gujarat Lions, it seemed the ghosts of IPL 2016 were back to haunt them.

(Read | IPL should allow foreign players to be loaned just like football)

To make matters worse, Stokes had not performed with the bat or ball in the first four games. He took one wicket and scored 98 runs with one fifty. It seemed Stokes high price tag wasnt getting the returns for Rising Pune Supergiant.

Stokes leads Rising Pune Supergiants revival

However, Stokes led Rising Pune Supergiants recovery against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The England all-rounder removed Virat Kohli to break RCBs momentum and proceeded to dismiss Shane Watson and Adam Milne, giving RPS a 27-run win.

(Read | Why MS Dhoni, Mumbai Indians continue to dominate IPL 2017)

Stokes followed up his haul of 3/18 against RCB with another great performance against Mumbai Indians. He picked two wickets in his first two overs but conceded just seven runs in the 19th over to help RPS to clinch a vital three-run win. His back-to-back Man-of-the-Match awards had given Rising Pune Supergiant the belief.

Silencing critics the Stokes way

After missing two games due to a shoulder injury, Stokes returned in a crucial match against Gujarat Lions and stole the show after his team were reduced to 42/4 in pursuit of 162. In an exhibition of power-hitting, Stokes blasted an unbeaten 103 off 85 balls to help RPS break the victory drought against Gujarat Lions.

Stokes contribution has helped Rising Pune Supergiant win four consecutive matches and it gives the team great momentum ahead of the playoffs. For impact, the England all-rounder has not only silenced critics, but has become the driving force in Rising Pune Supergiant dreaming of an IPL title.

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Three suspected bookies were arrested on Thursday from a Kanpur hotel which hosted players of Gujarat Lions and Daredevils who clashed in the first Indian Premier League (IPL) match held in the Uttar Pradesh city, police said.

Police are also likely to question two Gujarat Lions players who were allegedly named by the suspected bookies.

The arrests have raised suspicion of betting in the cash-rich tournament that was blighted by corruption scandals involving players and officials in 2013 and led to a massive shake-up of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Gujarat Lions found a place in the IPL line-up last year after a Suprme Court-apppointed panel suspended the Chennai Superkings Rajasthan Royals for spot-fixing. The other new team is Rising Pune Supergiant.

Cash and phones

Police found Rs 40.90 lakh in cash and five mobile phones from the suspects identified as Ramesh Nayan Shah, a businessman from Thane Mumbai, Ramesh Kumar and Vikas Chauhan, both from Kanpur, said the citys senior superintendent of police Akash Kulhari.

Shah and Vikas were arrested from a room on the 17th floor of the citys only five-star hotel Landmark where both teams stayed. Ramesh was arrested from the Green Park stadium, the SSP said.

Police indicated that the suspected bookies might have succeeded in placing bets on the match. The the accused were remanded in judicial custody later in the day.

Ramesh Kumar, who has a contract of putting up hoardings in the stadium, had booked the room for Shah, police said.

According to police, Shah was in touch with one Bunty, a racket kingpin from Ajmer, to whom he used to pass on information following which bets were placed. A police team was in Ajmer to arrest Bunty.

Players alleged role

During questioning, Shah allegedly disclosed the names of two players of Gujarat Lions with whom he was in touch. He had sent a WhatsApp message to Bunty naming both of them claiming that they were set and will do as asked, said police sources.

In one WhatsApp message, Shah mentioned that Gujarat Lions would lose the match even after scoring 200 runs. Police are withholding the names of the two players.

Both Gujarat and Delhi have already been knocked out of this IPL edition.

BCCIs claim

The BCCI issued a statement claiming that a betting bid was foiled.

The anti corruption unit of the BCCI has been tracking activities of certain individuals, as a result of which, three suspects were arrested in Kanpur, on Thursday. The Uttar Pradesh police crime branch could successfully foil the alleged betting attempts of the accused, it said.

This was an outcome of the ACU of the BCCI, having worked closely with various law enforcement agencies, who will continue further investigations, in this matter.

Dark history

After the match-fixing scandal broke in 2013, India international S Sreesanth along with domestic cricketers Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila were arrested on charges of spot-fixing by the Delhi Police. All three were playing for Rajasthan Royals.

The erstwhile BCCI president N Srinivasans son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan -- the former Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings -- was also arrested.

Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were later banned from cricket administration for life for being involved in spot-fixing. The three cricketers were also banned for life.

(With PTI inputs)
Lendl Simmons scored his second half century in three matches to keep Mumbai Indians in hunt to chase down 230 set by Kings XI Punjab in the 51st match of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. (MI vs KXIP: T20 MATCH BLOG)

The West Indies batsmans half-century came off 27 balls and included five boundaries and three sixes. His first half century was a quickfire 66 against Delhi Daredevils which was also his first match of the 2017 IPL. Simmons, who impressed last season, had lost opening spot to Jos Buttler. (MI vs KXIP: T20 MATCH SCORECARD)

He started with a boundary on the very first ball of the Mumbai Indians chase off the bowling of Sandeep Sharma. He then focussed on settling into a rhythm, hitting odd boundaries in between and then opened his shoulders in the sixth over -- the last of the powerplay. He hit two huge sixes of the sixth over bowled by Mohit Sharma to help Mumbai Indians post 68 without losing a wicket in the powerplays.

He also got a life when he was dropped by Mohit Sharma at long off on the bowling of Axar Patel. He was batting on 44 at that moment.

His knock kept Mumbai in hunt to chase down mammoth total of 230 set by Kings XI Punjab. However, at the end of a thrilling encounter at the Wankhede, Mumbai Indians lost by seven runs to the visitors.

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Mumbai Indians have won the toss and elected to bowl against Kings XI Punjab in the 51st match of IPL 2017 at the Wankhede Stadium today. This is the eighth time Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has won the toss and on seven occasions he has elected to bowl. While Mumbai Indians will field an unchanged squad that suffered humiliating defeat at the hands of from Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last match, Kings XI Punjab have brought in Ishant Sharma for Swapnil Singh. Get MI vs KXIP live score here.

If you cant get the full score of MI vs KXIP, then click here
Two daughters of a retired army personnel, who were found murdered inside their house in a crowded Para locality, had fallen prey to a hate crime. The elder sisters jilted lover had allegedly stabbed them to death with a pair of scissors after feeling betrayed. The police claimed to work out the case on Wednesday after arrest of the jilted lover Saurabh Sharma, who stays in the girls neighbourhood.

Inspector General (IG) of Police, Lucknow zone A Satish Ganesh told HT that Sharma was feeling betrayed due to elder sister Aartis friendship with two other youths Indrajeet Tripathi and Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, who also stay near her house in Ram Vihar colony. He said the accused was very possessive regarding his relationship with Aarti and had even warned her earlier to stay away from other youths. He said Aarti had confronted Sharma over the same issue.

Ganesh said Sharma was preparing for banking examinations and had friendship with Aarti Singh since 2011. Sharma used to share his notes of banking exam preparations with Aarti and had even written papers for her when she had become ill during her B Tech part II examinations.

He said the accused developed sudden hate for Aarti and decided to murder her after he spotted her along with Indrajeet in Phoneix mall on Sunday where they had gone to watch a movie. The accused had also spotted Aarti roaming with Akhilesh on Saturday.

Sharing the sequence of events, the IG said Sharma was keeping a watch on Aartis family and he immediately went to her house when her parents, LB Singh and Renu Singh, left for the command hospital at around 8.10am on Tuesday. He said the accused first spoke with Aartis younger sister Antima when she opened the main gate as the former was in bathroom at the time.

Antima confronted Sharma when he forcibly entered into her bedroom searching for Aarti. The IG said Sharma, who was in a fit of rage, first attacked Antima with the scissors that he had brought along. The accused then attacked Aarti when she came rushing out of the bathroom after hearing the screams of her younger sister. He said the accused single handedly murdered the two sisters and silently sneaked out of the house after washing his hands in a washbasin.

How the case was cracked?

Aartis mobile call details pattern revealing her frequent conversations with Indrajeet and Akhilesh led police to them. When police quizzed the duo then they came to know about her previous friendship with Saurabh Sharma. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Deepak Kumar said a fresh injury in Sharmas right hand immediately brought him under suspicion. He said Sharma initially misled the interrogators but gradually broke down when he was rigorously quizzed.

Evidences to prove guilty

SSP Deepak Kumar said police have collected multiple evidences to prove Sharma guilty during a court trial. He said the most crucial evidence is the lock of hair found in the hands of Antima who had a scuffle with him when he attacked her with the scissors. Kumar said the hair would be sent for forensic examination and a report confirming Sharmas hairs in Antimas hand would be sufficient enough to prove his involvement in the crime.

Kumar further said the scissors used in the crime has also been recovered from his house, which will be the second crucial evidence. He said the third major evidence is Sharmas clothes that had blood stains of the victims. He said the injury on his hand will also be mentioned as one of the evidences. He said Aartis two other friends statement will also be helpful in getting Sharma convicted in the case.

Not going to school claimed Antimas life

The accused Saurabh Sharma told the cops that he was expecting Aarti alone in the house as her parents had left for the hospital and Antima was to be in school. But Antima had skipped the school for the day due to her mothers illness and was at home. Sharma revealed during interrogation that he had planned to murder Aarti but Antima was also killed due to her presence at home. While interacting with media persons during the police press conference, the accused did not expressed any regret over killing Aarti but regretted killing her younger sister unnecessarily.

Killer was present when cops were examining crime scene

Saurabh Sharma acted normally after committing the crime and went to meet Aartis family at the command hospital after cleaning his wound and changing his blood stained clothes. He even remained present outside Aartis house when the cops were examining the crime scene. He stayed at his home the whole day as he believed his absence from crime scene may bring him under suspicion.

Neighbours prefer to remain silent

SSP Deepak Kumar said Saurabh Sharmas family is considered to be most social and political influential in the locality and nobody dared to speak against them. The SSP said the sequence of events revealed by Sharma confirmed that both sisters resisted and shouted when they were attacked and people in such a crowded locality would have surely heard their screams. Moreover, some locals also spotted him coming out of the girls house but nobody shared these crucial facts with the police.
IPS officer Charu Nigam, who was publicly berated by BJP MLA from Gorakhpur Sadar Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, removed all her Facebook posts related to the incident on Wednesday.

While Agarwal and his supporters attacked Nigam, working and retired IPS officers rallied behind her. They said the woman IPS officers might have violated the service rules but she was left with no other option but to take to social media to clarify her stand.

No doubt airing views on social media was against service rules but what were the options before her (Nigam) to challenge false charges? Police officers are being attacked and humiliated but no action is taken against the culprits, former DGP Sri Ram Arun told HT.

The BJP MLA not only humiliated the IPS officer publicly but also levelled false charges against her. The MLA tried to muzzle the voice of the officer who was trying to control an unruly mob. When the MLA reached the spot she tried to clarify police action but he humiliated her. She had no other option but to take to social media to make her stand clear, he said.

Arun said the officers of the all-India services as well as other cadres were using social media to reach out to the people.

Government departments and peoples representatives are also active on social media these days. Rather than taking action against the officer, the government should inquire into the merit of the case and take appropriate action, he said.

IG, rules and manuals, Amitabh Thakur, who is also quite active on the social media, said: Service rules restrict an officer from criticising governments policies. Nigam has not criticised the government policy but has expressed her views on an incident. I have challenged the sections of the service rules in the Allahabad high court. I believe the rules are archaic. I have urged the court to grant permission to the officers to express views on government policies as well. The case is pending with the court, he said.

A member of the IPS officers association said the body had already taken up the matter with the chief secretary and demanded action against those who not only humiliated the IPS officer but also stopped her from discharging duties.

The video of the MLA humiliating an IPS officer went viral on media and people came to know about her stand through Facebook post. An FIR has been lodged and the police will take action against the culprits, he said.

Former IPS officer SR Darapuri, who has launched a political party All India Peoples Front, said, Around half-a-dozen cases of attacks on police officers have been reported in the state but no action has been taken against the culprits. In Saharanpur, the supporters of BJP MP vandalised the house of the SSP. Instead of taking action against the MP, the state government transferred the SSP. The social media is the only medium where officers can put forth their opinions rather than bearing the humiliation in silence, he said.

Meanwhile, the MLA and his supporters accused Nigam of violating service rules by expressing her views on the social media and demanded action against her.

I will raise the issue on the floor of the legislative assembly and demand action against Nigam as well as senior police officers in Gorakhpur, Agarwal said.

She tried to demean the image of an elected representative by taking to social media to counter charges against her. Instead of using a public platform, she should have informed the SSP or sent a report to the state police department, said Vikas Pandey, a BJP leader in Gorakhpur.

The Gorakhpur unit of the BJP will demand action against Nigam, he added.

Read more: After BJP MLA Agarwal threatens to skin cops alive, Yogi calls him to Lucknow

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One of the Capitals landmarks, Rajghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated on January 31, 1948, is set to undergo a revamp, as approved by the Urban Development Ministry.

The hi-tech project, costing Rs 3 crore, includes setting up of digital screens at Gandhi Samadhi and a centre for interactive learning about Bapus life and works. Today, the spot has a black marble platform where almost every diplomat or politician visiting India goes to pay homage to the man who was the harbinger of non-violence in the Indian freedom struggle.

What Jawahar Lal Nehru had done for the place was beautiful. I havent been there for the last two years and would like to know what the government is planning to do, says Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, granddaughter of Gandhi. Remembering the day when he was cremated, she says, I have all the memories of that [time]. I was nearly 14 years old, when Bapu was cremated. For a long time, every Friday we used to go there to pray. I liked the place.

(Above) A view of Mahatma Gandhi 's funeral procession near the Delhi Gate (Below): Lord Mountbatten, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Baldev Singh at the Rajghat.

Cut to the present, the upliftment plan is to install three 46-inch LED, around the Samadhi, to display visuals depicting Mahatmas life, his quotes and the national movement for freedom. There will also be screens for interactive learning through a quiz on the life and work of Gandhi and his speeches.

Funeral of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat as captured by the famous French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

We have provided whatever digital material was required. Now its the decision of the government to take a call on what all will be used, says A Annamalai, director, National Gandhi Museum and Library. He informs, Besides the footage of video films on Gandhi, ranging from half-an-hour to one hour, theres also, Richard Attenboroughs film Gandhi (1982) and Shyam Benegals The Making of the Mahatma (1996), which we have provided. The first documentary on Gandhi by Chettiar, in Hindi and English, is also in the list of films provided. Annamalai adds that the technology can be used to teach the youth about the life of Mahatma Gandhi.

A still from the movie Gandhi (1982), directed by Richard Attenborough, which might be screened at the Rajghat post its revamp.

Bhattacharjee is happy that the proposal includes building of ramps to enable easy access for differently-abled persons and toilets accessible to all. There are fundamental and good that the place will have all these. In brief, a memorial should be very well kept, neat and tidy, and in the original state. At Rajghat, everything should be in harmony with the refinement of Gandhi and the era (in which) the building was built, she says.

Technology shouldnt overshadow the Gandhian philosophy  A Annamalai

Annamalai says, We have to spread Mahatmas message to all. People can use technology to teach his thoughts. But technology shouldnt overshadow the Gandhian philosophy.

Recently, there was also news of setting up a Swachh Bharat Mission monitoring centre, at Rajghat, to monitor the progress of the cleanliness project. Will that add more meaning to the memorial?

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Eleven men beat up three youngsters with a belt outside Oscar Hospital early Monday, even as passers-by continued to remain silent, with not even bothering to inform the police about it.

He took off his belt and started hitting us. After he was done, his friends took turns to beat us, Kiran Kharva, a friend of 18-year-old Nitesh Patel told police in a statement on Tuesday.

Kharvas statement was recorded a day after Patel, along with him and Kailash Angar, 19, confronted Praful Ingawale, an ambulance driver, for allegedly harassing Patels fiance, outside the hospital in Kandivli.

Ingawale, who was with 10 of his friends, threatened Patel to break off his engagement as he was in love with her, police said.

Ingawales friend Pankaj Saidhane then took off his belt and beat us up with it. He then handed over the belt to another person and he continued the same. This went on until everyone had beaten us with the belt, Kharwa, 20, said.

According to Kharva, Saidane flung the belt towards a group of people watching the assault. He threatened them by saying, If anyone came forward to rescue these boys, I will teach them a lesson, said Kharva.

According to the police, Patel and Angar tried to escape on a bike, but their attackers also got on a bike to chase them. Near Charkop, Patel crashed into a tempo while trying to take a turn, He later succumbed to the injuries at Oscar Hospital itself while Angar, who was riding pillion, also sustained injuries,

The remaining nine accused stopped Kharwa from escaping, police said.

Five people were arrested on Tuesday on charges of culpable homicide while a sixth was arrested on Wednesday. The police are now looking for the remaining five.

The five were produced before a metropolitan court on Tuesday that remanded them in two weeks judicial custody.

Kharva, in his statement, said, Nitesh (Patel) told Ingawale to stop harassing a woman who was working as a nurse at the same hospital. Patel told Ingawale that the woman was his fiance. However, Ingawale started arguing and gathered his friends.

One Mohammed and a Shahabuddin Khan got on another bike and chased Patel while the rest of them kept hitting me. The men wanted my friends addresses. When I told them I will not give them anything, they beat me up more. I somehow managed to flee around 3 am, said Kharva.

After the accident, the police zeroed in on Kharva who told them about the fight.

Security guard of the hospital was part of the gang that beat up trio

The Charkop police investigating a culpable-homicide case after 18-year-old Nitesh Patel died in a bike crash following a chase on Monday, have arrested six people in the case.

Five of them were arrested on Tuesday, while the sixth, a security guard of Oscar Hospital near where the fight that led to the chase broke out, was arrested on Wednesday.

According to the police, Rajendra Sarsar was part of the gang of 11 who beat up three people with a belt.

The police are now checking the CCTV footage from outside the hospital and also of the spot near Charkop where Patel crashed into a tempo, killing him. On Wednesday, a forensic team collected samples from the spots.

Meanwhile, the police found that the main accused, Praful Ingawale, had proposed to Patels fiance two days before the incident.

The police had recorded the statement of Patels fiance, a nurse at the hospital. In her statement to the police, she told officials that Ingawale, an ambulance driver, had proposed to her two days before the incident. The police said that she had rejected his advances several times in the past.

Patel, along with two of his friends, confronted Ingawale outside the hospital early on Monday asking him to stop harassing her. However, Ingawale told him that he loves her and instead warned Patel from coming between the two, police found. Ingawale then gathered his friends and proceeded to assault the three with a belt.

According to the police, Patel and the woman were engaged in October last year and they were planning to get married in 2018. Patel worked as a housekeeping staff at a popular confectionary company. He is survived by his parents, two brothers and a six-year-old sister.

Patels mother was sitting at her doorstep in Patilwadi in Charkop village.

Whatever I say now will not bring my son back. This was not his age to die, she said looking down and then at his other son. Outside the house, a condolence poster was strung with a picture of Nitesh. Patels mother was sitting at her doorstep in Patilwadi in Charkop village.

Read

Keenan-Reuben murder: All 4 accused found guilty, sentenced to life

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On the night of December 8, 1992, Burhan Parkar left his office on Cadell Road, in Mumbais Mahim area, in search of his nephew who had returned from Saudi Arabia just a week ago. There was tension in the air as the Babri Masjid had been demolished two days before. A huge mob of Muslims had gathered opposite St Michaels Church, but the cops had calmed them down.

Parkar was caught in the melee when stones suddenly rained down from the rooftops of buildings dotted along the road.

I felt a sudden sting in my left leg but thought that it must have been one of the stones. I walked a few paces and felt a rush of pain. I had been shot and could not move my bloodied leg, recalled Parkar.

An ambulance rushed him to KEM hospital, where he found his nephew lying injured in one of the beds.

We both survived. However, the number of people killed, be it Hindu or Muslim, our neighbours, friends, some of whom were burnt alive, is an unforgettable memory, said Parkar.

The demolition of the disputed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, 1,570 km away from Mumbai, rocked the city in December 1992-January 1993. It burned in a cycle of protests, riots, communal and retributive violence as the state machinery and law and order collapsed.

The demolition of Babri Masjid in December 6, 1992, triggered violent communal riots in Mumbai, killing over 900 people. (HT File)

The lawlessness culminated in the dastardly serial bomb blasts on March 12, 1993 killing 257 people and injuring several others.

The Supreme Court recently restored the charges of criminal conspiracy against senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti on an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

To hasten the process, the top court has also clubbed two separate ongoing trials  one in Lucknow against kar sevaks and the other in Rae Bareli against BJP leaders on conspiracy charges.

The apex courts actions, however, are unlikely to expedite the legal process in cases related to violence in the city.

To find witnesses and re-investigate the cases after 25 years is not going to be easy. However, now that the apex court has intervened, it should also frame guidelines on handling riot cases, says Shakil Ahmed, a lawyer-activist, who has been fighting for justice for riot victims.

Many families tired of the long-drawn court battles are accepting defeat.

I have been running around courts, government offices and police stations all these years. Last year, I had a slipped disc which restricted my movement. I am now even contemplating to withdraw the case as we cannot go on fighting the legal battle, said Tahir Wagle, 56, whose son was killed in the riots.

They have reasons to be pessimistic. Even recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission constituted by the Maharashtra government to probe the cause of the riots are yet to be implemented.

Shahnawaz Hassanmiya Wagle was 16 when he was shot at point-blank range after being dragged out of his house at Pathan Chawl allegedly by the police on January 10, 1993. The commission in its report termed it cold-blooded murder.

Stating that the inquiry conducted by the then deputy commissioner of police Surinder Kumar into the murder was just eyewash, the commission recommended an impartial inquiry.

Even after two decades and change of political power, such recommendations contained in the 800-page report of the commission that indicted top political leaders for the riot are gathering dust in government shelves.

The commission made three major recommendations  to take action against the policemen involved in rioting, to re-open several cases for investigation and provide compensation to victims. However, there has been hardly any action, says Shakil Ahmed.

Ahmed had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 2002, for action against 31 policemen indicted by the commission.

The case is still pending. While some of the officers have retired, some have also been promoted, he said, lamenting that there is no ray of hope for justice in cases where the victims themselves were held guilty.

Take the case of Farooq Mapkar. He had gone for his afternoon prayers to the Hari Masjid in Wadala on January 10, 1993. He was shot in his left shoulder as the police force led by sub-inspector Nikhil Kapse opened fire, killing seven people. His 25-year struggle for justice has been all about going from one court to the other.

Farooq Mapkar, who was shot in his shoulder in 1993. (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

Acquitted of all charges in 2009, the bank employee is still fighting for justice even though Kapse has been indicted in the commissions report released in August 1998.

The Srikrishna report called the firing at Hari Masjid unjustified, excessive that resulted in killing of innocent citizens.

For five days in December 1992 (6th to 10th December 1992) and fifteen days in January 1993 (6th to 20th January 1993), Bombay, urbs prima of this country, was rocked by riots and violence unprecedented in magnitude and ferocity, as though the forces of Satan were let loose, destroying all human values and civilised behavior, observed Justice (retired) BN Srikrishna in his report on the riots.

Neighbour killed neighbour; houses were ransacked, looted and burned, all in the name of religion, as if to vindicate painfully the cynical observation of Karl Marx, Religion ... is the opium of the people. Those fateful fifteen days saw the people on the streets opiated beyond the call of right and wrong, he added.

Unfortunately, even those strong words failed to spur the state machinery into action to ensure justice for the victims.

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Students will have a lot of options to choose from in the first year junior college (FYJC) admissions for the academic year 2017-18. Thirty-nine new colleges have been added to the list this year, taking the total number of colleges from last years 739 to 778.

The procedure is conducted online for students taking admission in Class 11.

The new colleges will offer many streams, from minimum competency vocational courses (MCVC) to technical ones, along with the regular humanities, science, and, commerce subjects. These colleges include the ones that are self-financed.

This means that the number of seats will increase when compared to previous years. While in 2016, the number of seats was 1. 49 lakh and 1.45 lakh in 2015, this year it is expected to cross 2 lakh. Admissions to technical and vocational courses will be done online this year. In the past, applicants for these courses had to go through the admission procedure offline.

Education officials said that this will benefit students as they will be able to apply at the click of a button, instead of following a separate admission procedure. All class 11 admissions in Maharashtra will be done online, this will save students from running pillar to post for filling forms, said BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region.

However, college principals are sceptical about any differnce that the increased number of seats will make. In Mumbai, students apply only to selected colleges and mainstream courses. These are popular colleges with attached degrees, said Vidyadhar Joshi, vice-principal, Vaze Kelkar College, Mulund. He added that new colleges do not find many takers.

The admission process has undergone an overhaul for the upcoming academic session, drawing lessons from last years goof-ups, in which students complained that they were not allotted seats according to merit.

From the upcoming admissions, aspirants will be able to apply to fewer colleges  a maximum of 10. This rule has been introduced for the first time this year, as students complained that it was tough to list 35 colleges as per the earlier requirement.

Candidates will be allowed to apply to only one stream, instead of two. But they will be able to change their choices during admissions. Choice of junior colleges will not be restricted to zones or wards anymore. Students can pick a minimum of one and a maximum of 10 colleges in their region.

Whats new this year:

More number of colleges: 778 colleges have registered so far, up from 739 last year.

Fewer options to be selected:Students can pick a minimum of one and a maximum of 10 colleges in their region.

Only one stream: Candidates will be allowed to apply to only one stream, instead of two earlier. But they will be able to change their choice of stream during admissions.

Apply to a college anywhere in Mumbai: Choice of junior colleges will not be restricted by zone or wards anymore.

Early admissions: The admission process is also expected to begin earlier than usual in the first week of June.

Four admission rounds: Soon as the SSC results are announced, the education department will conduct four rounds of admissions, once every week between June 15 and July 15, after which FYJC classes can begin.

Complete admissions by September: If vacant seats remain, three additional rounds of admission will be held once every two weeks up to September 1.

No need for provisional admissions: Students allotted their first preference must pay the complete fees and finalise their admission. They will then not be allotted seats in further rounds. Those who are happy with the seat allotted to them can also pay fees. Only those who do not take admission can wait for further rounds.

Zero round: Will be conducted for online admissions to Higher Secondary Vocational Course (HSVC) and quota seats  religious or linguistic minority, in-house and management. If seats remain, they will be filled on a first-come-first serve basis.

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A sessions court in Thane sentenced two men to death on Thursday for gang raping two women and murdering one of them on May 9, 2012.

Judge SC Khalipe also ordered the men to pay a fine of Rs30,000, said district government pleader Sangita Phad.

The convicts, Rahimuddin Shaikh alias John Anthony Dsouza, 24, and Sandip Shirsat alias Raghu Rokda, 20, are Mankhurd residents who worked as labourers.

They had lured the ragpickers  aged 20 and 28 years  from a Vashi bus stop on the pretext of giving them jobs. They raped them at knife point at a nearby tunnel. While they killed the 28-year-old on the spot, the 20-year-old woman escaped and fled to the highway, where passersby helped her and alerted the police.

CBD Belapur police said Rahimuddin had been carrying a knife and Shirsat had an axe at the time of the incident. Both women suffered injuries on their thighs and private parts.

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The Bombay high court, in a recent order, denied bail to a Mumbai resident booked on charges of assault, observing that the man had also assaulted a police officer who was on patrol duty and had tried to intervene in the incident. The court held that preventing a public servant from performing his lawful duty was a heinous crime in itself and deserved no leniency.

Justice AS Gadkari was hearing a bail plea filed by one Faiyaz Shaikh, a resident of Wadala. Shaikh was arrested in November 2016 while he was engaged in a violent tussle on the streets with three other persons.

Sandip Govind Mane, the police sub-inspector then attached to Wadala T. T. Police Station, was on patrol duty at the time. When he was informed of the said fight, he rushed to the spot with his staff and found Shaikh brandishing a sword, trying to attack another person.

When Mane intervened, Shaikh began assaulting him and his staff. When several passers by intervened, Shaikh fled from the scene.

Read: 48-year-old Mumbai cop assaulted with iron rod during demolition drive

He was arrested two days later, charged under the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, and a charge sheet was filed against him.

He approached the HC for bail earlier this month, arguing that the charge sheet had already been filed against him and thus, there was no possibility of him tampering with the probe or the evidence.

Shaikh also cited several Apex court orders granting bail in similar circumstances.

Justice Gadkari, however, observed that the other cases did not include any assault on a police officer.

Read: Mumbai man assaults traffic cop, destroys e-challan machine; wife threatens to get him suspended

He said that the charge sheet revealed that Shaikh had tried to attack sub-inspector Mane and another police constable with a sword while the officers were trying to discharge their lawful duty.

The charge sheet reveals that the applicant (Shaikh) questioned the authority of the police officer and assaulted him with iron rod and sword. It appears that he has scant respect towards the law enforcing agency. The applicant has dared to assault a police officer who was performing his lawful duty, injuring him in the process. This is a factor distinguishing this case from the others cited by the applicant, Justice Gadkari said.

Any attempts to obstruct a public servant in the discharge of his duty, his endeavours to disperse an unlawful assembly etc. is a serious offence and the applicant does not deserve bail, he said.

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The tag of an unsafe city continues to dog Mumbai  A day after a 28-year-old woman was found with her throat slit at her Colaba home, a sessions court in Thane sentenced two men to death for raping two women and murdering one of them five years earlier.

Mumbai doctors performed life-saving surgery on a two-month-old girl who suffered from blue baby syndrome. In other news, fans of Canadian popstar Justin Bieber left roads in Nerul littered after his concert, inconveniencing commuters.

1. Mumbai homebuyers look north for affordable flats

With prices of homes skyrocketing in Mumbai, homebuyers are now looking at areas like Kalyan, Dombivali, Karjat, Ambernath, Badlapur, Lodhivali, Nalasopara, Vasai and Virar to buy flats in the range of Rs50 lakh.

2. This is what Justin Biebers fans left at the Mumbai stadium after the concert

After Canadian pop star Justin Biebers concert got over, the service roads around DY Patil Stadium in Nerul were left in a filthy state, as hundreds of people threw papers, plastic bags and bottles during the show on Wednesday night. The food stalls also threw away their unsold items near the Sion-Panvel highway.

3. After Dec 16 verdict, two Thane men get death for gang raping 2 women, murdering one of them

A sessions court in Thane sentenced two men to death on Thursday for gang raping two women and murdering one of them on May 9, 2012.

4. Mumbai doctors save two-month-old who suffered six heart attacks a month after surgery

A two-month-old girl diagnosed with a critical heart condition suffered six heart attacks in the month following a surgery to save her life. The girl, Vidisha Waghmare, underwent surgery at BJ Wadia Hospital in Parel to correct a major congenital defect called transposition of great arteries.

5. Unsafe Mumbai: 28-year-old woman found with her throat slit in SoBo home

A 28-year-old woman was murdered inside her residence at Colaba in south Mumbai on Wednesday. The police said that an unidentified person entered the house of the deceased and after assaulting her, the accused slit her throat with a sharp object.
Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve apologised to farmers on Thursday, a day after his comment that farmers are complaining, even though the state has procured large quantities of tur dal produce led to a controversy.

Marathi news channels on Wednesday aired clips of Danve speaking at a meeting of BJP workers in Jalna. Even after the state has bought so much tur, they (farmers) have not stopped crying. Danve apparently said, adding an expletive.

Danve, in a press statement on Thursday said he was only explaining the procurement crisis to his party workers during an interaction in Jalna district, on May 10 and he did not pass any derogatory remark.

I am a farmer and have been in active politics for more than 35 years. It was an interaction with party workers, who have been given the task of going to farmers to explain the governments achievements in the state and Centre. When a worker asked questions on the tur crisis, I started to elaborate on the governments decision of procuring 1 lakh metric tonnes of tur dal. There was no question of using any foul language. The interaction between us should not be linked with the farmers. I apologise if anybodys sentiments are hurt, the statement reads.

Congress state president Ashok Chavan said the party should clear its stand if it approves Danves remarks.

The Nationalist Congress Party has sought Danves resignation.
A 28-year-old man was injuries after the car he was driving was hit by a Land Rover on the Western Express Highway (WEH) in Andheri (East) on Thursday morning.

Andheri police said the incident took place at T junction following which Naaz Shaikh, 24, who was driving the Land Rover, fled the spot. Shaikh was arrested and booked under relevant sections of the India Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act for rash driving and fleeing the spot without rendering help to the injured. His blood samples were sent to the laboratory to ascertain whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

Cops added that Rajkumar Patel, who was injured in the accident, is out of danger.
A 28-year-old woman was murdered inside her residence at Colaba in south Mumbai on Wednesday. The police said that an unidentified person entered the house of the deceased and after assaulting her, the accused slit her throat with a sharp object.

The police have identified the victim as Shweta Mahendra Tandel, and said that the incident took place between 8.45am to 12.30pm on Wednesday, when her husband Mahendra had gone out for work.

An officer from Colaba police station said, Shweta was staying with her husband at Colabawadi, who left for work at 8.45am. When he returned home for lunch at 12.30pm, he found his wife lying in a pool of blood with her throat slit.

Following which, her husband, immediately took her to St George hospital and informed other family members. However, the victim was declared dead before admission. The hospital authorities informed the police, and a case was registered.

We have registered the complaint based on her fathers statement, said an investigating officer.

The Colaba police have registered a case under section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code and are investigating further.

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The Ghaziabad district administration on Wednesday expressed their inability to check the issue of arbitrary fee-hike by private schools and only a state level committee can address the issue.

District magistrate Ministhy S on Wednesday clarified that a state level committee had been formed by the administration and was empowered to look into the issue. The state committee comprises nine members, including principal secretaries, secretaries and directors of secondary education and higher education departments and the secretary (basic education).

We have no control over the issue of fee hike and only the state level committee is empowered to take any decision about the said, Ministhy said.

The state-committee, according to officials, also has representation from a private school in Ghaziabad, an educationist from Lucknow University and a journalist from Lucknow. However, parents or their associations have not been given any representation.

How can parents expect transparency when we have no representation in the state committee? The parents will be on the losing side. And, why has a representative of a school been included? said Neeraj Bhatnagar, a parent, whose daughter was rusticated from a school after he staged protest over the issue of fee hike.

Earlier, district magistrate Ministhy S had ordered the formation of a district level committee and the officials had asked the schools to submit details of accounts and others after complaints by the parents and several associations. The district committee is to submit the report to the DM, who will pass it on to the state committee.

Some schools have forwarded their account details. Those who have not submitted have been asked to state the reason or any court directions/government order for not doing so. We had asked the schools about their replies on 17 points. Some of them flatly refused to divulge details, said Rajesh Yadav, additional district magistrate (finance) who heads the district committee.

During meetings with parents association and private schools earlier, the district officials had asked private schools to abstain from charging annual-fee.

Parents have been at loggerheads about the issue of arbitrary fee hike for past two months and have repeatedly staged protests and also forwarded their complaints to the district administration about nearly 28 schools in Ghaziabad.

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The father of a Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer was shot dead inside his house at Sector 2 of upscale Raj Nagar locality in Ghaziabad on Thursday.

The police registered a murder case against the younger brother of IPS officer Sanjeev Tyagi after the body of the 65-year-old man was discovered early on Thursday morning.

Police said that the accused, identified as 26-year-old Anuj Tyagi alias Dabbu, the brother of IPS officer Sanjeev Tyagi, was suffering from schizophrenia. He has been booked for murder at the Kavi Nagar police station after a complaint by the family and was reportedly absconding.

The police are yet to ascertain whether the murder of Ishwar Tyagi was planned or the fallout of a sudden provocation. Three police teams have been formed to trace and nab Anuj, who is a BTech.

Police said the members of the family  including Sanjeev Tyagi, who is posted in Lucknow  had stayed at the house till a day before the incident. On Thursday morning, the victims wife Raj Kumari went to Ishwars room to wake him up around 6.30am and found him dead, lying in a pool of blood on the bed.

After a complaint by the family, we have booked Anuj for murder. We are trying to find out the reason behind the attack. The family of the deceased told us that Anuj allegedly shot dead his father. The accused had stayed at home during the night and shot his father dead in the morning. We have found that Anuj had been suffering from schizophrenia and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Delhi, said Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city).

The police were informed by the family about the incident around 8.30am. On Thursday, the police and the family members remained tightlipped about the incident and the motive and waited for Sanjeev to arrive from Lucknow. After his arrival, a formal complaint was filed at Kavi Nagar police station.

The victim, police said, hailed from Morta area of Ghaziabad. Apart from Sanjeev and Anuj, the deceased has three other sons  Praveen, Kuldeep and Kapil.

Sources in the police said that Amuj had started some business in partnership some time ago, and was going through a rough patch. He was later found to be suffering from schizophrenia.

Anuj stayed back at home on Wednesday night along with the victim, his wife, domestic help Manish and Sanjeevs wife. The family has not spoken much about the incident but Ishwar was allegedly shot dead in sleep in the back of his head. The murder weapon is yet to be recovered, said a police officer who is investigating the case.

The police stated that they are scanning the CCTV footage installed at the house and will be using it for investigation. The police are also yet to ascertain the motive and the type of weapon, whether licensed or illegal, used during the incident. They are awaiting the post-mortem report of Ishwar.

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After regular monitoring by the Supreme Court, the Ghaziabad district administration has expedited disbursal of land compensation and the pending arbitration cases of farmers whose lands were acquired under the eastern peripheral expressway (EPE) project that envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal.

District magistrate (DM) Ministhy S, said on Wednesday that a total of Rs 26 crore was handed over to farmers as the major amount of over Rs 400 crore was pending for three major projects, including EPE, dedicated freight corridor and Delhi-Meerut Expressway project.

The amount could not be disbursed due to a number of bottlenecks like pending cases, demands by farmers etc. We formed a committee of officials who discussed the pending issues with farmers and organised camps where nearly Rs 26 crore was distributed in two days. We are expecting that the pending amount will be disbursed within a month now as we will also be working on holidays, the DM, said.

According to official estimates, amounts of nearly Rs 84 crore for EPE, Rs 214 crore for dedicated freight corridor and another Rs124 crore for Delhi-Meerut Expressway were pending to be disbursed to farmers. The official sources said that this had led farmers to stage protests and stall work often.

Apart from this, there were nearly 900 arbitration cases and most of these have been decided by the executive court of the DM while some are pending in judicial court, she added.

Under the jurisdiction of Ghaziabad district, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had to construct nearly 24.5kms of EPE project and the work often got stalled by farmers. The villagers have also demanded a service lane over the entire stretch of the expressway and the issue is yet to be fully decided on.

The apex court had earlier asked the Uttar Pradesh director general of police to provide security for the construction work of the expressway (EPE) as the work was stopped by farmers.

The NHAI had earlier told the Supreme Court Bench that no construction was being carried out in the 25-km stretch in Ghaziabad due to protests by farmers and lack of police protection, despite the apex courts order. The officials now stated that the work has resumed and the pending issue of the service will be resolved as per NHAI guidelines.

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Industries minister Satish Mahana assured builders of necessary help to finish stuck projects but warned them of stern action if they fail to deliver flats to buyers.

A delegation of homebuyers and realtors on Thursday met Mahana separately at the Sector 6 administrative building. We will provide help to builders so that they can deliver flats to homebuyers. We will not provide undue help to builders. If they do not deliver, we will do what they havent expected us to do, the minister said.

Homebuyers demanded action against builders who have delayed delivery of flats. They also demanded that the Noida and Greater Noida authorities ensure realtors deliver flats without further delay.

A delegation of 30 homebuyers met the minister. Another group of around 50 homebuyers in Amrapali Zodiac and Unitechs Unihomes protested at the Noida authority office because the minister refused to meet them. However, a delegation of five protesters was later ushered in by Santosh Kumar, an officer on special duty.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed the industries minister and officials to address homebuyers issues at the earliest. We briefed the minister about harassment of buyers by PAN Oasis builder for many years. It had allowed possession in an incomplete building and used poor construction material. Our builder has violated sanctioned building plans and constructed shops on the green area, Kapil Kumar, a PAN Oasis buyer, said.

Noida authority chairman-cum-principal secretary for industrial development department Alok Sinha and chief executive officer Amit Mohan Prasad were also present.

Jaypee Infratech was supposed to give possession by 2011 in Aman housing project but the construction has been stopped for several years now. The UP government should seize Jaypees assets to finish stuck projects. Only holding meetings will not help, said SK Nagrath, president of Jaypee Aman flat buyers association.

In the meeting, realtors asked the minister to ensure that the state government waives off interest for the periods when construction was halted due to National Green Tribunal order and during a dispute over land.

The Noida authority and the Uttar Pradesh government should waive off interest so that realtors are in a position to deliver projects, said Anil Mithas, CMD of Unnati Fortune Group.

Supertech, Jaypee Infratech, 3C Group and ABA Corp, among others, met with the industries minister.

If the authority waives the interest, we will deliver projects with the help of escrow accounts, which will ensure that buyers funds cannot be diverted and is spent solely on finishing the housing project, Vidur Bharadwaj, director of 3C, said.

However, Mahana said they will waive interest for a 77-day period for 105 projects when NGT had stopped construction.

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Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday directed the top brass of the Bihar administration and field officials to act tough against the liquor Mafiosi, as continued supply of illicit liquor in the state from outside needed to be stopped at any cost.

According to sources, taking cognizance of media reports about rats guzzling down huge quantity of liquor stocked in police stations, an oblique reference to complicity of police officials in letting illegal liquor trade flourish, Kumar said that no one should be spared for defying law in a dry state.

He also called for putting in place a mechanism for periodic monitoring and destruction of seized liquor stocks and confiscation of vehicles, godowns or places used for storing liquor.

This was the first review meeting on prohibition this year at the level of chief minister and lasted for over four hours. In November 2016, Kumar had chaired an all-party meeting after bringing in a new, tougher prohibition law.

The meeting, on Wednesday, was due in the face of relentless opposition attack on tardy implementation of prohibition, which completed one year on April 5 last, continued seizure of truckloads of liquor coming from other states and allegations of its easy availability at premium prices due to alleged complicity of local administration.

READ: Who finished over 9 lakh litres of seized alcohol in Bihar? Police say rats did

There should be a weekly monitoring to prevent sale and supply of liquor through Mafiosi and they should be nailed, no matter who they are and under whose patronage they operate. Raids should be intensified and intelligence should be developed to get timely information. People in general are happy with prohibition, said Kumar, adding that enforcing total prohibition was a conscious decision of the government.

The CM also took feedback from DMs and SPs through video conferencing and asked them to increase vigilance and monitoring, as there could be no compromise on prohibition.

READ: After liquor prohibition, Bihar to achieve de-addiction: Nitish Kumar

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, DGP PK Thakur, home secretary Amir Subhani, who also has the additional charge of excise department, CMs principal secretary Chanchal Kumar and other senior officials were present at the meeting.

Citing the provisions in the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, Kumar said there should be proper implementation of the law to create an effective deterrent and accountability should be fixed in case of frequent instances of negligence, slackness or complicity on part of the officials at any level.

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The Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) on Thursday gave its go-ahead to a five-member committee to search its student hostels, after two of its doctors were charged with consuming alcohol on the medical college campus in dry Bihar.

While one doctor has been arrested, the other is absconding. The authorities have reasons to believe that contraband could be seized during the raid.

Dr Akhilesh Kumar was arrested on Wednesday after he tested positive in the breathalyser test. He is a final year post graduate (PG) diploma student of tuberculosis and chest diseases at the PMCH.

Kumar has, however, claimed that he was framed in the case after a tiff with a colleague.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Baitha, a PG degree final year student of pathology, who faces the same charge, is absconding. Both Kumar and Baitha, who graduated from the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital, were reportedly involved in a drunken brawl on the college campus.

The search committee is headed by professor and head of department of surgery, Dr Ajit Bahadur Singh. It comprises representative of the district magistrate, PMCH officer on special duty Dr Kumar Arun, superintendents of the respective hostels and a police representative, said PMCH principal Dr SN Sinha.

If medical college sources were to be believed, Kumar ,a resident of Telhara village under Hilsa sub-division of Nalanda district, was also under the scanner for ragging.

The PMCH has total eight hostels -- six for boys and two for girls --having a capacity to accommodate around 1,350 medicos. There are five undergraduate boys hostel, one PG boys hostel, besides two girls hostels --one each for undergraduate and PG medicos.

Six police officials were already being tried under the states stringent prohibition law.
It is an activity in the framework of the 6th Quang Nam Heritage Festival 2017.

The event aims to promote cultural values and the potential of island tourism. Meanwhile, the exhibition contributes to affirming Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

Cua Dai beach in Quang Nam province (Source: vietnamtourism.gov.vn)

The exhibition will be divided into two parts. The first part will reflect a general overview on Vietnams sea and islands ranging from prehistoric times to now, through nearly 300 documents, ancient maps and artefacts asserting Vietnams sovereignty over the two archipelagos.

The second part will introduce characteristic values of cultural heritages, island tours, a folk arts programme and products of 16 provinces and cities across the country./.
In a first, a local court questioned the role of army during Operation Bluestar in a recent judgement.The court observed, There is no evidence that army made any announcements asking ordinary civilians to leave Golden Temple complex before launching the operation in 1984.

The court had ordered the Punjab government to compensate 40 Sikhs who were arrested from inside the Golden Temple complex by the army and Punjab Police illegally. The victims won the legal battle after 33 years.

The court has directed the Centre and state government to award compensation of 4 lakh each to the 40 Sikhs who were kept in illegal custody and later shifted to Jodhpur, Rajasthan, for four to five years even after discharge order by a local court.

Suspected Sikh militants surrender before the army in Amritsar. (India Today Group/Getty Images)

Army men take positions from a building adjoining the Golden Temple during the operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister, to remove Sikh separatists who were amassing weapons in the Temple in 1984. (India Today Group/Getty Images)

The judgment by district judge Gurbir Singh raised many other questions during the hearing. There is no written record of any public announcement by the civil authorities requesting the people to come out the complex. No log of vehicle used for making such announcements is there,reads the judgment. Although, the judgment endorses the operation stating, The main aim of the armed forces was to target militants. The event underlines the human rights violations by troops during the operation, observed the court.

Soldiers take positions outside the premises of the Golden Temple in Amritsar during the operation in 1984. (India Today Group/Getty Images)

The court stated The plaintiff is entitled to interest on the compensation amount at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of filling the suit till today. The plaintiff is further entitled to future interest at same rate from the date of decision till actual realization of the decretal amount. In June 1984, around 365 persons were arrested from the Golden Temple complex. The arrested were either SGPC employees or people who had come to pay obeisance. Welcoming the Courts order to compensate 40 Sikhs the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has stated that it is victory of truth. Badungar announced to honour advocate Bhagwant Singh Sialka legal counsel in the case.

SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar said, Army attack on Sri Darbar Sahib and Akal Takht Sahib was inhuman and detaining innocent Sikhs was unfair. It is sorry to say that victims of state atrocities had to struggle for so long to get justice.

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The decision of the Punjab government to withdraw essentiality certificates of medical institutes run by Gian Sagar Education and Charitable Trust has left more than 1,000 employees working for past several years jobless.

However, the government has already decided to shift at least 1,500 students enrolled with MBBS, BDS and nursing courses to other medical colleges across the state. But the future of medical faculty, para-medical and Class 4 employees is in the dark as there are no plans to rehabilitate or compensate them so far.

The government has also shown reluctance to take over the college due the controversial and shoddy past of the college management, headed by the family of Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, the main accused in the Rs 45,000 crore chit-fund scam by the Pearls Group.

On Tuesday, the government told the Punjab and Haryana high court regarding decision of withdrawing necessary certificates due to failure of the college management to clear its pending liabilities worth over Rs 100 crore. The medical college was in a chaos as the academic activities remained suspended for past four months due to non-payment of salaries to its teaching and non-teaching employees.

Besides non-payment of salary to the staff, the power connection to the college has also been snapped due to non-payment of Rs 2 crore bills. The management has not renewed its annual maintenance contract due to pending liabilities amounting to Rs 18 crore.

Dr Sandeep Bansal, a senior faculty member, said the shutting down of the college and shifting of the students will not be a sensible decision by the state government.

Earlier, the students who were shifted from Chintpurni College to other medical colleges have not been rehabilitated properly. How can the state government assure streamlined shifting of students to other colleges, when there is shortage of resources and equipment in other colleges too, he said.

The delegation of medical faculty and para-medical staff also met senior officials in chief ministers office on Monday and appealed them to take over the college in interest of the students, staff and their families.

The closure of the institute will lead to professional loss of students and will make more than 1,000 employees unemployed, while pushing their families into dark. Moreover, it will be a major setback to the healthcare of the region, as the hospital presently has state-of-the-art medical machinery and medical equipment, Bansal added.

Earlier, Brahm Mohindra had clarified that the students were the only responsibility of the state government as they were admitted through government medical tests, while the management of private medical college, which hired these employees, ran away from paying salaries to them.

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While a Kashmiri patients remark of facing discrimination at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here has created a buzz on social media, other patients undergoing treatment are full of praise for the institute.

The PGIMER caters to lakhs of patients from far off places, including Jammu and Kashmir as well. In 2015-16, more than 53,000 patients from this state were treated at the institute.

Last week, a patients son Javaid Malik said, The moment a doctor got to know that we are Kashmiris, his attitude changed. He just got angry and threw away the documents and said that Vahan Kashmir mein hamare jawanon ko patthar marte ho, aur phir yahan ilaj ke liye aate ho (you people pelt our security personnel in Kashmir with stones and then come here for treatment). However, an inquiry conducted by the PGI director could not establish any truth in the claim.

On Wednesday, the HT correspondent interacted with a few people, who had come from Kashmir to the hospital for treatment, and found that all were happy with the treatment.

Mohammad Akbar, 60, is from Pulwama, Kashmir. He has come to the PGIMER with his wife Sherifa Banu, 50, for her treatment. He said tauba, when he was told about the incident. Whosoever is saying this, he is lying. I visited the place five times this year and have found them very dedicated. Nobody ever said anything wrong.

However, Mohammad Altaf believes that the respect for Kashmiris is gradually declining in the eyes of other countrymen, including doctors.

I have never faced discrimination, but other people have told me that now there is a change in behaviour, which is quite obvious. Throughout our lives, we are dependent on the Indian government, but then youth throw stones on them. Obviously, it will impact the mindset of the people, he said.

Mushtaq Ahmad, 35, is from Anantnag and has come to the PGIMER for the treatment of his 7-year-old daughter, Simrat, who injured her eye while playing.

Everybody in Kashmir is full of praise of the PGIMER and its staff. I have earlier visited the hospital and know how dedicated the doctors are. I have full faith in the doctors of the institute and that is why I brought my child directly to the PGIMER. Here everybody treats us well, he said.

Another person sitting in the row was Baharudin, 40, who is also from the valley. He has been coming to the PGIMER for the treatment of his child for the past two years, .

My childs joints were swollen and he was having difficulty in movement. These doctors have made him walk, and I am grateful to them. They are very dedicated and can never discriminate against their patients, he said.

Abdul Rehman, 52, is from Kulgam. His friends brought him to the PGIMER after he complained of severe pain in his head. Doctors examined us like all other patients and I did not notice any discrimination, said Abdul Rehman.
A resident of Basti Jodhewal, Shivam Arora, stuck in Malaysia wrote to the President and the Prime Minister, seeking their intervention. Arora is putting up at the Indian embassy for the past six days.

Arora went to Malaysia on December 7, 2016, after a Jalandhar-based agent charged Rs 2 lakh from him. Another agent in Malaysia has allegedly confiscated his passport.

He has also lodged a complaint against the agent with Jalandhar police, for duping him. An inquiry was marked into the issue by police commissioner of Jalandhar.

After working in a five star hotel in Srinagar, I wanted to get international exposure. I approached an agent to work in the hotel industry in Malaysia, he said.

He said he was assured by the agent, who was identified as Jimmy Rajput, that he will get a job in a hotel and could earn Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 in Indian currency. But after I reached here, I am working in a cold storage unit and getting a meagre amount as salary, he added.

Shivam has written to President Pranab Mukherjee, PM Narendra Modi, and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

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Gurpreet Kaur, a 26-year-old woman belonging to Balachaur town of SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) district, was found dead in mysterious circumstances in Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday, it is learnt.

She had gone to New Zealand two years ago on a student visa and was working as a computer operator in a private company. She had got married in 2014 and her husband, Satwinder Singh (30) of the same town, had joined her in New Zealand only six months ago.

Her brother-in-law Charanjit Singh said Satwinder told him Gurpreets body was found at her workplace with injury marks on her neck. He said it was yet to be investigated by the Auckland police whether it was murder or suicide. The post-mortem report is awaited.

A pall of gloom descended on the town on Thursday after the family received the news. She had talked to us two days ago. The family is in shock. We cannot believe that she is not with us anymore, Charanjit told HT over phone.

Kaurs two elder brothers, Gurjeet Singh and Surjit Singh, live in Balachaur. Gurjeet said their father Balbir Singh lives in Dubai. The victim had completed a diploma from a local Industrial Training Institute (ITI) before moving to New Zealand.

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To keep an eye on manhandling of traffic cops on duty and catch unruly commuters, Ranchi traffic police department for the first time has equipped constables, manning thoroughfares in the city, with hi-tech spy cameras.

The department had procured 100 button cameras a fortnight ago and fitted them in cops uniforms. These cameras have been distributed in a way that at least one camera captures the behaviour of traffic violators at every square.

The decision was taken in the wake of alleged rowdy behaviour by a few car owners with traffic cops during regular checks. Some of the violators even boasted about their political clout and bureaucratic links to scare constables and escape the challan (fine).

Ranchi superintendent of police (traffic) Sanjay Ranjan Singh said the rowdy behaviour of well-to-do car owners in the city, especially those belonging to political parties here, has been a cause for concern for the police. But from now on, if one misbehaves, refuses to cooperate, or tries and threatens the cops, his car will be towed and he will be taken to police station. The recording in the button camera will be used as evidence against the violator.

Earlier, SUVs on many occasions with badges of regional and national political parties were allowed to go without checking due to pressure from influential vehicle owners, but now traffic cops would have more solid evidence against the violators with the help of spy cameras, Singh said.

The button cameras can record four hours of video and it can be saved for future references.

A total of 350 traffic cops are deployed to regulate traffic on Ranchi roads.

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The three-day census of elephants began simultaneously in four states, including Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Chattisgarh, on Wednesday. This is for the first time when dung-decay method is being used in Jharkhand sanctuaries for the elephant count.

The state forest department has formed a number of teams in Jharkhands sanctuaries such as Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) and Dalma wildlife sanctuaries to ascertain more actual count. Altogether 98 teams, each comprising four members, have been formed only in PTR for the census.

Forest officials said the objective of the census was to know the current status of elephants  whether their numbers have risen in last five years or declined compared to last census. In the backdrop of rising human-elephant conflicts, the census would help understand their movement and routes. In Jharkhand, 589 people were killed in last 10 years in human-elephant conflicts.

Principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), LR Singh said, The most important feature of this years census is involvement of neighbouring states. Elephants are migratory animals, which leads to repetition of counting.

In the census last conducted in 2012, the jumbo population in Jharkhand was 688.

Singh said, The elephants will be counted by four methods block counting, direct sighting, dung-decay and waterhole counting, adding, the dung-decay method would be used in PTR on Thursday and efforts were being made to use the method also in Dalma sanctuary.

This a new method of elephant count, which was first used in south India. Now, the central wing of forest wants to apply the method in census across the country. For this, PTR has been selected, he said.

PTR director MP Singh said, We carried block and direct sighting census on Wednesday. However, on Thursday the dung decay method will be used. For this, professor Sukumar of Indian Institute of Science, project elephant director RK Srivastava and joint director CP Thomas are arriving at PTR.

He said dung-decay method is used to get more accurate data. In direct sighting method, it is possible that some elephants go missing from the count due to their non visibility in dense forest. With dung-decay method, we will get more accurate figure, he said.

Explaining the method, the PTR director said various factors were observed in the method, including dung density, decay rate and defecation rate. Fresh piles of elephant dung is marked in an area. Thereafter, photograph is taken and GPS location is recorded. The marked dung area is revisited after a certain period to understand decay rate of dung, he said.

Singh said experts use set formulas to identify number of elephants through dung decay rate.

Meanwhile, pachyderms went on the rampage at Tetratoli village of Gumla district on Wednesday damaging around half a dozen houses there. However, no casualty was reported. The villagers demanded compensation from the forest department.

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Bollywood actor Kajol, who is making her comeback in Tamil cinema after 20 years with the upcoming film Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 (VIP 2), revealed that she was a little apprehensive about speaking Tamil in the film.

The 42-year-old actor said, I am very excited about VIP 2. I am glad that the film is over and I had a great time shooting the film. I was little apprehensive about speaking Tamil, I was not sure whether I could do it or not and I have to say that Dhanush and Soundarya Rajinikanth were absolutely wonderful with me, around me and reassured me constantly that its working.

When asked about her experience of working with South superstar Dhanush, the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai actor said, Its been great working with Dhanush. He has been a fabulous co-star to be with. He is a wonderful actor and I think we really worked out all the scenes.

Kajol was in the national capital to launch Harpers Bazaar India book titled The Iconic and the actor looked stunning in a blue saree with diamond earrings. She has also graced this months cover page of Harpers Bazaar magazine.

India's darling @KajolAtUN is our #May #CoverStar. Pick up a copy to read on her 25 years in Bollywood,how she stays relevant,& #motherhood. pic.twitter.com/lgQr6gHcm0  Harper'sBazaar India (@BazaarIndia) May 4, 2017

Kajol, who made her acting debut in the 1992 romantic film Bekhudi was last seen in 2015-flick Dilwale alongside superstar Shah Rukh Khan. When quizzed about her Bollywood plans, Kajol said, I am doing our home production film, which will be starting in September.

On a related note, the Dhanush starrer VIP 2 is all set to hit the theatre on July 28.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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The much anticipated teaser of Ajiths upcoming spy thriller Vivegam was released late Thursday and it has already garnered 1.8 million views on YouTube within 12 hours of the release.

Ajith in a still from Vivegam teaser.

Despite leaking nearly half hour before its scheduled time, the teaser was lapped up by fans and how!

The visuals look very slick and Ajiths catchphrase Never, ever give up has already become a catch phrase among his fans. Ajith looks his stylish best in the film and has also set an example by sporting six-pack abs despite a long history of medical condition.

Vivegam team is currently filming the final schedule in Bulgaria where they have already shot majority portion of the film.

Slated to hit the screens worldwide in August, the film with a global backdrop is said to be made on an estimated budget of over Rs. 75 crore.

Directed by Siva, who has teamed up for the third time with Ajith after Veeram and Vedalam, the film also introduces Vivek Oberoi as the antagonist to Tamil film industry.

Kajal Aggarwal and Akshara Haasan play pivotal roles in the film. Produced by Sathya Jyothi Films, Vivegam has music by Anirudh Ravichander and it is loosely based on Liam Neesons Taken, according to industry grapevine.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh presented educational equipment to the High School No.14 (Photo: VNA)

The Vice President learnt about the teaching and studying of the school; appreciated the achievements and major developments of the school in recent years, as well as its positive contributions in the common work of the Mongolia-Vietnam Friendship Association.

She thanked the School Managing Board for always taking care of the statue of President Ho Chi Minh on the campus, preserving and developing the Ho Chi Minh Cultural Centre, and regularly organizing contests on learning about the biography and career of President Ho Chi Minh.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thinh wished the School Managing Board and students would win more achievements in teaching and studying for a new school year. On the occasion, she presented a number of pieces of educational equipment to the school.

Also on the afternoon of May 9th, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh met Mr. S. Dashtsevel, President of the Mongolia-Vietnam Friendship Association, and members of the association.

The Vice President appreciated the role and contribution of the Mongolia-Vietnam Friendship Association and President S. Dashtsevel in consolidating and strengthening the traditional friendship and cooperative relations, especially, Mr. S. Dashtsevel had devoted time and effort to translate and publish Vietnams famous works such as "Diary in prison," "Ho Chi Minh - life and career," and "Tale of Kieu" in Mongolia.

She suggested that the friendship association of the two countries continue to closely cooperate, strengthen cooperation, education and training activities, promoting friendly exchanges among universities and high schools of the two countries, as well as promotional activities, writing books, introducing information on each country's situation in order to increase mutual understanding between the two peoples.

The President of the Mongolia-Vietnam Friendship Association reported the activities of the association over the past time, as well as the work plan of the association in the coming time. It affirms that the association will make all efforts to practically contribute to enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples and strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

The Vice President updated those present on Vietnam's situation and position on the East Sea issue. The President of the Mongolia-Vietnam Friendship Association supported Vietnam's viewpoint on the East Sea issue, supporting the settlement of disputes by peaceful means based on international law.

Earlier, the Vice President attended and delivered a speech at the Vietnamese-Mongolian Business Meeting, organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Mongolian Employers' Federation and the Vietnamese Embassy in Mongolia.

At the meeting, she affirmed that with particular advantages such as political stability, favourable geographic location in the dynamic development region, main commodity circulation route of the world and plentiful source of labour, Vietnam has a competitive advantage to attract investors.

On this occasion, the Vice President also proposed that Mongolia should have policies to encourage Vietnamese investors to seek projects and support the implementation of projects after being granted license.

On the same day, she visited and talked with officials, staff and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Mongolia.

She appreciated and praised the efforts of the Vietnamese Embassy and community in Mongolia. Though they arent many, they have united successfully to fulfil the political task, significantly contributing to the development of bilateral relations, especially in trade, which is appreciated by the host country./.
They formed the charming backdrop to Graham Greenes sin-filled Saigon in The Quiet American, but the colonial-era buildings of Vietnams biggest city are fast disappearing  sparking fears it is losing its unique charm.

Any visitor to Ho Chi Minh City, as Saigon is now known, cannot help but notice the construction cranes dotting an increasingly crowded skyline. They are the most visible symbols of one of Asias fastest growing economies.

But like many locals, office worker Tran Trong Vu is dismayed the citys gleaming new look that is so often acquired at the expense of its colonial-era architecture.

They have cultural value, so we should preserve them, not replace them with high-rise buildings, he says.

City Hall, a French-colonial era building, pictured with a nearby new shopping mall (R background) in downtown Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). (Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP)

Others are concerned the demolition of its famed French architectural gems will render Ho Chi Minh City indistinguishable from other Asian megalopolises.

In the 1960s and 1970s it was very much French, but now its very Americanised, McDonalds on every corner, says Hiep Nguyen, born in Ho City Minh City and author of several books on its architectural history.

A streetscape without a story has no value, he adds.

Money talks

Much of the demolition is happening in the citys rapidly-developing downtown core, to keep apace with a mushrooming young population hungry for modernity and to feed the demand for more housing and office space.

But those arent the only needs being fed, says Nguyen.

The key is money, the key is interest groups, he tells AFP from Sydney, where he now lives.

Developers with deep pockets have scooped up swathes of land in the city centre, with privately-owned old villas or historic municipal buildings replaced by sprawling construction zones.

The most recent demolition to spark ire from conservationists is the Ba Son ship yard, an enormous French-built military complex on the banks of the Saigon River.

Ho Chi Minh statue in front of City Hall. (Shutterstock)

It is now being developed into a series of highrise towers by Vincom Group, owned by the countrys richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, dubbed the Donald Trump of Vietnam.

City officials have inventoried more than 1,000 buildings constructed by the French when they ruled the country from 1887 to 1954 that remain today, including the famed Opera House, Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral, all must-sees on city tours.

A few of the old haunts on Rue Catinat frequented by Greene remain, but the street is now called Dong Khoi and also features Hermes and Chanel boutiques for the citys growing number of high-rollers.

There is no comprehensive survey of how many buildings have been demolished.

But in one central district, some 50% of French villas have gone down since 1993, according to Fanny Quertamp, the co-director of the urban development organisation PADDI.

Heritage Go

The breakneck pace of destruction has prompted some to leap into action. Former video game developer and conservation buff Daniel Caune is creating a mobile app called Heritage Go for city residents and tourists.

The app, which is still in development, will ask users to hold their phones up to colonial-era buildings, and aims to automatically generating images of the edifice in eras past.

Its to make people conscious of their heritage, says Caune, who helps to runs the Heritage Observatory website dedicated to archiving colonial-era buildings in Vietnam.

City officials are now writing a nine-point plan to classify buildings and mark some for protection, but admit such a huge task could take years to be implemented.

Pressure for economic development is very high, says Tuan Anh Nguyen, deputy head of the architecture research centre in Ho Chi Minh Citys planning department.

He said many developers who scoop up precious downtown land do not value historic buildings, adding that he would like to see the structures incorporated into development plans, as has happened in Old Montreal, for example.

The destruction in Ho Chi Minh City comes even as developers have built a replica French medieval village in the tourist hub of Danang, drawing foreign and local tourists keen for a slice of history.

The city risks losing the millions of tourists that stop into the city every year to soak in its colonial charm, said architect Ngo Viet Nam Son. Its like losing the chicken that gives the golden egg, he says.
Workers and volunteers have collected four tons of garbage from the Chinese north side of Mount Everest in the first five days of a clean up operation, state media reported Thursday.

Hoping to find a more permanent solution, the local government in the Tibet region is setting up stations to sort, recycle and break down the garbage, which includes cans, plastic bags, stove equipment, tents, oxygen tanks and other mountain climbing paraphernalia, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The nine-day clean up that began on Saturday targets climbing trails and campsites between 17,000 and 21,300 feet.

Parts of Everest are in China and Nepal. Each year, about 60,000 climbers and guides visit the Chinese north side of the mountain, which China refers to by its Tibetan name, Mount Qomolangma.

On the Nepalese side, mountaineering expedition organisers have begun sending huge trash bags with climbers during the spring climbing season to collect trash that then can be winched by helicopters back to the base camp.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday launching a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression in the US election system, three White House officials said.

Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will lead the commission, which will look at allegations of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration in states and across the nation, one official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorised to discuss details ahead of the formal announcement.

Trump has alleged, without evidence, that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in his 2016 campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton. He has vowed since the start of his administration to investigate voter fraud, a process that has been delayed for months.

The commission will include Republicans and Democrats and be composed of current and former state election officials and other experts, the White House official said.

The panel will aim to ensure confidence in the integrity of federal elections while looking at vulnerabilities in the system and the possibility of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration and voting, the official said.

Potential panel members include former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson, the official said.

Other names under consideration include longtime New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner and Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, both Democrats, and Christy McCormick of the US Election Assistance Commission.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly alleged that the election system was rigged and after his election argued that such massive, widespread fraud kept him from the popular vote.

Trump won the presidency with an Electoral College victory despite losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.

Voting experts and many lawmakers have said they havent seen anything to suggest that millions of people voted illegally, including House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz. The Utah Republican said his committee wont be investigating voter fraud.

In a lunch meeting with senators in February, Trump said that he and former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte would have won in New Hampshire if not for voters bused in from out of state. New Hampshire officials have said there was no evidence of major voter fraud in the state.

Trump had previously identified Pence as the person to oversee the long-awaited commission. Kobach advised Trumps transition team and has been a leading GOP proponent of tighter voting regulations.

The secretary of state championed Kansas proof-of- citizenship requirement as an anti-fraud measure that keeps noncitizens from voting, including immigrants living in the US illegally. Critics contend it suppresses voter turnout, particularly among young and minority voters, and that there have been few cases of fraud.
Relations between India and Pakistan could worsen in 2017 unless there is a sharp and sustained drop in cross-border terror attacks from Pakistan, the US intelligence said on Thursday in its first report on worldwide threat assessment under the Trump administration, putting the onus of improving ties on Islamabad.

The report warned of Pakistans tactical nuclear weapons being captured by non-state actors, and of persistent but diffuse threats from Pakistan-based terrorist groups to the US and the West.

Plots against the US homeland, it said, will be conducted on a more opportunistic basis or driven by individual members within these groups.

The US intelligence gives Congress a report every year called Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community with inputs from all 17 entities that comprise the community. It covers an entire range of threats from cyber to terrorism to weapons of mass destruction and new emerging challenges, such as artificial intelligence.

The warning that India-Pakistan relations might deteriorate further in 2017 was premised on the event of another high-profile terrorist attack in India that New Delhi attributes to originating in or receiving assistance from Pakistan.

The report put the responsibility for improving relations squarely on Pakistan, arguing, Easing of heightened Indo-Pakistani tension, including negotiations to renew official dialogue, will probably hinge in 2017 on a sharp and sustained reduction of cross-border attacks by terrorist groups based in Pakistan and progress in the Pathankot investigation.

The report echoed Indias long-held position that Pakistan had failed to curb its support to anti-India terrorists and said New Delhis growing intolerance of this policy, coupled with a perceived lack of progress in Pakistans investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack caused a deterioration of relations last year.

Terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad attacked an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2, 2016, killing six soldiers. The attackers were killed in an operation lasting three days.

US intelligence also worries about Pakistans tactical nuclear weapons, the existence of which has been officially confirmed by Islamabad, saying its pursuit (of these weapons) potentially lowers the threshold for their use.

Pakistans stated willingness to deploy such weapons earlyduring a crisis, the report warned US lawmakers, would increase the amount of time that systems would be outside the relative security of a storage site, increasing the risk that a coordinated attack by non-state actors might succeed in capturing a complete nuclear weapon.

Pakistan has the worlds fastest growing nuclear arsenal, according to multiple reports and assessments, and has publicly owned up to the existence of tactical nuclear weapons, which are smaller and designed for use on the battlefield, aimed at offsetting Indias heavy superiority in conventional weapons.

Concerns about these smaller weapons being more prone to theft were raised publicly by former president Barack Obama in April 2016, at the conclusion of a nuclear summit in Washington attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had said, without naming countries, nuclear arsenals are expanding in some countries, with more small tactical nuclear weapons which could be at greater risk of theft.
The Kremlin feels cautious optimism about the prospects for an improvement in US-Russian relations after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met US President Donald Trump in Washington, a Kremlin spokesman said on Thursday.

The conversation itself is extremely positive, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call with reporters, referring to Lavrovs meeting with Trump on Wednesday.

Peskov said the Kremlin viewed the prospects of a thaw with cautious optimism.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, he said.

The meeting received close attention, coming as it did the day after the president fired FBI director James Comey, who was overseeing an investigation into Trump campaign aides contacts with the Russians, specially ambassador Kislyak.

American media were denied access  the limited access White House pool reporters and photojournalists get to the start or ending minutes of such meetings  and the first pictures of Trump with Lavrov and Kislyak were released by the Russian foreign ministry.

Trump later told the White House pool of reporters on Wednesday he had a very, very good meeting with Lavrov. He said both sides want to end the killing - the horrible, horrible killing in Syria as soon as possible and everybody is working toward that end.
Lebanese Hezbollah said on Thursday that any future conflict between the Shia group and Israel could take place inside Israeli territory, at a time of high tension between the arch foes.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also said in a live televised speech that the group had dismantled all its military positions along Lebanons eastern border with Syria, and this area was now the responsibility of the state.

Israel is scared and worried of any future confrontation... and knows that it could be inside the occupied Palestinian territories, Nasrallah said.

Two Israeli air strikes against Hezbollah targets inside Syria in recent weeks have raised tension between the two.

Nasrallah said the Syrian conflict had entered a new phase, without elaborating, but added that any opportunity to halt the fighting in the country should be seized.

The group has sent thousands of its supporters to Syria to shore up President Bashar Assads military in Syrias civil war and continues to be engaged in battles across many parts of the war-torn country. Its fighters have also fought battles against Sunni militants along the northeastern border with Syria.

Nasrallah said the group will maintain a security presence along the border with Syria to protect against any new infiltration by militants.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has informed Pakistans powerful army his meeting with Indian steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal was part of back-channel diplomacy but the military made it clear that Kulbhushan Jadhavs case cannot be discussed during such contacts.

BBC Urdu quoted government sources as saying that Sharif had, during a recent meeting, taken army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa into confidence regarding his discussions with Jindal.

Sharif told the military leadership that Jindal had the backing of Indian authorities for the meeting aimed at reducing bilateral tensions, the report said.

However, the army leadership made it clear that the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy officer sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, will not be the subject of any back-channel or diplomatic contacts between the two sides.

The military leadership believes Jadhav cannot be part of any exchange and his case should be taken to its logical conclusion after the completion of legal processes, the report said.

The army has taken senior officers into confidence regarding the meeting between Sharif and Jindal, and Bajwa told his colleagues the meeting was part of back channel diplomacy.

The report said it was unclear if there had been any progress since the meeting between Sharif and Jindal.

Jindal, who reportedly played a key role in facilitating an hour-long secret meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharif on the sidelines of the Saarc Summit in Nepal in 2014, met the Pakistani premier in the resort of Murree on April 26.

The meeting immediately sparked speculation that Jindal may have been involved in efforts to revive the stalled dialogue between the two countries.

Pakistans Foreign Office had described the informal meeting as a private affair while Sharifs daughter had, in a tweet, said Jindal was an old friend and dismissed suggestions that the meeting was secret in nature.

A leader of the ruling PML-N party considered close to Sharif told BBC Urdu the premier had been tight-lipped about his discussions with Jindal. However, Sharif told his aides that the Indian businessman was trying to reduce bilateral tensions and he had taken the military leadership into confidence about this.

India-Pakistan ties have been at an all-time low following a string of cross-border attacks that were blamed on Pakistan-based terror groups and the death sentence awarded to Jadhav. India approached the Hague-based International Court of Justice this week to stay the execution of Jadhav.

Jindals sudden visit to Pakistan sparked speculation that it could have been aimed at facilitating a meeting between Sharif and Modi on the margins of the SCO Summit at Astana in Kazakhstan during June 8-9. Sartaj Aziz, Sharifs adviser on foreign affairs, told reporters on Wednesday Pakistan will look into the possibility of such a meeting if India shows interest.

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A Russian court on Thursday convicted a video blogger of inciting hatred against believers by posting videos online showing him chasing Pokemons in a church, giving him a suspended sentence.

Ruslan Sokolovsky, a militant atheist who posted the videos on his YouTube channel, was detained in August 2016 and spent nine months in jail and under house arrest.

His case, heard in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, highlighted the role of the powerful Orthodox Church and sparked comparisons with the scandalous case that saw members of the Pussy Riot punk group sent to prison for a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral in 2012.

Sokolovsky, who was born in 1994, was accused of blasphemy by the Church after he filmed himself in Yekaterinburgs famous Church on the Blood zapping Pokemons on his smartphone and swearing, as well as saying Pokemons were easier to find there than Jesus.

Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak convicted him on three charges, including inciting hatred and violating believers rights.

Aggregating all offences, the court sentences (Sokolovsky) to three years and six months of prison. The punishment is suspended, with a probationary period of three years, Shoponyak said in a packed courtroom.

The court agreed with the prosecution that a number of videos on Sokolovskys channel hurt the feelings of religious people and incited hatred against them by comparing Jesus Christ to a zombie, saying that God does not exist and arguing that Russia is an obscurantist country.

His statements confuse citizens and are disrespectful of society, Shoponyak said during the three-hour-long verdict.

These actions are extremist actions, she said of his video postings.

The decision to give Sokolovsky a suspended sentence and free him from house arrest, where he had been currently held, was met with claps and sighs of relief in the courtroom.

I thought I would die and not see him again, his mother said after the hearing. Thank you everybody.

Sokolovsky during the trial pleaded not guilty and refused to testify.

In a passionate final statement, he said he is an atheist, a cosmopolitan and a libertarian and did not want to prevent anyone from practising their religion.

On Thursday Sokolovsky walked out of the courthouse to greet a crowd of supporters, which included a man wearing a yellow Pokemon costume, and said that he is very pleased to be free.

He added that he will be very calm and quiet since they can chase me down and give me a real term.

It will be a long time before a new video clip appears, he said. Im not an extremist, that much is certain.

A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, Serapion Mitko, told RIA Novosti agency that he hopes Sokolovsky draws the right conclusions from the case, adding that a suspended sentence is evidence of humaneness of the Russian court system.

Amnesty International called him a prisoner of conscience and had urged Russia to release him.

On Thursday, the rights group said that Russia blatantly misused the criminal justice system in Sokolovskys case, calling it a show trial.

While some may see Ruslan Sokolovskys comments on religion as disparaging, this alone is not enough to throw him behind bars, the NGOs Russia director Sergei Nikitin said in a statement.
A Sikh politician from Ontario province considered persona non grata by the Indian government is expected to announce his intent to run for the leadership of the New Democratic Party (NDP), one of Canadas three major national parties.

The 38-year-old Jagmeet Singh Dhaliwal (better known as just Jagmeet Singh) will make the special announcement in the Toronto suburb of Brampton on May 15.

Popular within the party and its supporters, Singh, who is a member of the provincial parliament in Ontario, will become among the favourites to replace outdoing NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, who was Leader of Opposition when Conservative Stephen Harper was prime minister.

Singhs announcement will not be a welcome development for New Delhi. He may have become the first elected representative from Canada, if not the West, to be denied a visa when he was refused the travel document in December 2013.

While not referring directly to Singh, Indias consul general in Toronto at the time, Akhilesh Mishra, told the Canadian daily Globe And Mail in an email at that time that, Anyone indulging in, directly or indirectly, attacking Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity is not welcome to India.

Singh had also moved a motion in the Ontario Assembly last year to declare the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India genocide. While that motion was defeated, a similar one, moved by Liberal Party lawmaker Harinder Malhi, was carried this April.

File photo of Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh at a fashion show. (Facebook)

In her speech introducing the motion, Malhi referred to and recognised Singh for the earlier motion. While speaking on the floor of the assembly during the debate on the motion, Singh had been critical of India and the Narendra Modi government. He also raised the denial of visa to him, as he said, This is a country that continues to use visa denial as a form of silencing its critics.

Singh has been considered one of the rising young leaders in Canada and one who has been celebrated for his impeccable dress sense, having figured in fashion spreads in Canada and the United States.

He has been influential in the Greater Toronto Area and has increasingly been called on to campaign for NDP candidates in other provinces, as in the case of recent elections in British Columbia.

Mulcair resigned from the post of party leader after the NDP was reduced to third place in the Canadian federal elections in 2015.

After a series of leadership debates take place, the first round of voting in the leadership race will begin on September 18. Singhs entry into the contest will make it one that India will watch keenly.

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A family of five and a fire officer died and two young children were rescued when police raided a suspected Islamist hideout in Bangladesh early Thursday, a senior officer said.

Sumit Chowdhury told AFP police shot dead all five family members after they emerged from the suspected hideout in southwest Bangladesh.

One of the five stabbed the fire officer, who later died of his injuries, while two others hurled grenades at police.

We were surprised by the attack. Two of them threw grenades and another attacked a fire service officer with a sharp rod. He later died in hospital, said Chowdhury.

Five extremists were killed in our shooting. They including a father, his wife and their two sons and a daughter.

Chowdhury said police raided the house in Habashpur village in Rajshahi district after receiving a tip-off that members of the outlawed Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Islamist group were holed up there.

Police have rescued a baby of two months and a seven-year-old boy, and believe one woman may still be inside the house.

It was not clear whether the sons and daughter were adults, but police said one of the younger men, named as Al Amin, alias Hamza, was the prime suspect.

Bangladesh authorities have blamed the JMB for a wave of deadly attacks against religious minorities and foreigners in the Muslim-majority country.

These include a major attack on a Dhaka cafe last July in which 22 people were killed, most of them foreigners.

Police have arrested scores of suspected extremists and killed more than 70 people since the cafe attack including at least 11 in the past two weeks.

Analysts say Islamist militants pose a growing danger in conservative Bangladesh, where a long-running political crisis has radicalised opponents of the government.

On Tuesday three men stormed a mosque in Bangladesh and attacked a cleric from the Ahmadi minority Muslim community with cleavers, leaving him critically injured.
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South Koreas new president Moon Jae-In spoke to the leaders of China and Japan on Thursday, hours after a telephone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump, officials said, as he began shaping his approach to nuclear-armed North Korea.

Moon favours engagement with Pyongyang to bring it to the negotiating table, unlike his conservative predecessors and the US administration, which backs stronger sanctions and has threatened military action.

But Moon also has to navigate a complex web of regional issues.

Beijing - the Norths biggest trade partner and diplomatic protector - is infuriated over the deployment of a US missile defence system in the South, and Seoul is embroiled in a row with fellow US ally Tokyo over wartime history.

Moon had a 40-minute conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, his spokesman Yoon Young-Chan told reporters, with the two agreeing that denuclearising Pyongyang was a common goal between them.

China and South Korea enjoyed an increasingly warm relationship early in the tenure of Moons predecessor Park Geun-Hye, drawn together by shared historical differences with Japan.

But ties have plummeted. Beijing sees the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, newly installed in the South to guard against threats from the North, as a threat to its own military capabilities and has slapped a series of measures against South Korean businesses seen as economic retaliation.

Moon called for dialogue along with sanctions and pressure on the North, Yoon said, and - echoing the US line - suggested that Beijing should do more to tame Pyongyang.

Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over the THAAD system and told Xi he was well aware of Chinese concerns about it.

The two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys at an early date, with Moon proposing sending a separate delegation to Beijing and Xi inviting him to visit, Yoon said.

Comfort women

Seoul and former colonial power Tokyo are both targeted by the North, but are in dispute over history and Park did not visit Japan while in office.

But in a 25-minute conversation, Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they hoped to meet at an early date and exchanged invitations to visit, according to both sides.

Historical issues should be overcome wisely and not hamper the countries relationship or efforts to deal with the North, the Blue House quoted Moon as saying.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also China and other parts of Asia, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War 2.

The plight of the comfort women has marred relations for decades but the two governments reached a final and irreversible agreement in late 2015, with Japan offering an apology and a payment to survivors.

But Korean critics said Japan did not go far enough under the deal, and earlier this year Tokyo recalled its ambassador over a statue symbolising the comfort women installed outside its consulate in Busan.

Moon told Abe that most Koreans could not accept the agreement, according to the Blue House, while Japans top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Abe told him it was extremely important to implement it.

The phone calls came a day after Moon and US President Donald Trump agreed on close cooperation over the Norths nuclear ambitions in their first conversation on Wednesday night.

The US is the Souths security guarantor and has 28,500 troops stationed in the country, but Seoul was startled when Trump suggested it should pay for the $1 billion THAAD system.

The North has staged two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop a way to deliver a nuclear warhead to imperialist enemy the US.

Tensions have been running high with rhetoric intensifying on both sides, but Trump recently softened his posture, saying he would be honoured to meet the Norths leader Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea last week accused the CIA of plotting with the South to assassinate Kim using a biochemical weapon, an allegation impossible to verify - and following the killing of his half-brother Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia with a banned nerve agent, a murder widely blamed on Pyongyang.

The Norths vice foreign minister Han Song-Ryol briefed foreign diplomats in Pyongyang on Thursday on the alleged plot, calling it the most vicious challenge and a declaration of war.
India and Sri Lanka may have signed deals on economic cooperation before Prime Minister Narendra Modis arrival in the country, the countrys former president Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed on Thursday.

The two countries were set to sign an agreement to lease out oil tanks to India to jointly operate a strategic oil facility in the eastern port district of Trincomalee.

But Sri Lankas opposition parties have objected to the deal, saying the government was selling state assets to India.

The information I have is that all deals have already been signed. So the Indian prime ministers arrival or non- arrival would be immaterial, Rajapaksa told reporters in the central town of Kandy, hours before Modi touched down in Colombo.

Rajapaksa said he held nothing against Modis visit.

The problem will be only if they sign agreements. I understand these have already been signed, he said.

According to the proposed deal, at least 73 of the 99 storage tanks in Trincomalee is to be managed under a new equity arrangement between India and Lanka. In 2002, the Indian Oil Company was given 14 of the 99 tanks to operate.

Modi is primarily in Sri Lanka to participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations on Friday, the biggest festival of Buddhists. This is his second visit since Rajapaksas unexpected defeat in 2015 polls by Maithripala Sirisena.

Rajapaksa said he would attend the Vesak Day celebrations at which Modi would be the chief guest.

I will take part in the UN Vesak Day, my going there will not mean I have gone to welcome the Indian prime minister, said the Sinhala strongman who ruled the country for a decade.

Rajapaksas joint opposition has led a resistance to the Sririsena governments plan to enter into economic cooperation pacts with India, more particularly the Trincomalee venture.

The state petroleum workers last month led a crippling work stoppage to protest the deal.

Ahead of Modis visit, Sirisena had slammed what he termed the oppositions misinformation about the visit. He said Modis visit was restricted to the Vesak Day celebration hosted by Colombo. PTI CORR ABH AKJ ABH
A photographer for a Russian state-owned news agency was allowed into the Oval Office during US President Donald Trumps meeting with Russian diplomats in a level of access that has been criticised as a potential security breach.

Former US intelligence officials pointed to the danger the extra ordinary access posed in that a listening device or other surveillance equipment could have been brought into the Oval Office hidden in cameras or other electronics, the Washington Post reported.

The ex-intelligence officials raised questions after photos of Trumps meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov were posted online by the Tass news agency.

When asked whether it was a sound decision to allow the Russian photographer into the Oval Office, former deputy CIA director David S Cohen replied: No, it was not.

The White House played down the danger, saying that the photographer and his equipment were subjected to a security screening before he entered the White House grounds.

Other former intelligence officials also described the access granted to the photographer as a potential security lapse, noting that standard screening for White House visitors would not necessarily detect a sophisticated espionage device.

An administration official also said the White House had been misled about the role of the Russian photographer. Russian officials had described the individual as Lavrovs official photographer without disclosing that he also worked for Tass.

We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency, the administration official said.

A handout photo made available by the Russian foreign ministry shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov at the White House in Washington, DC. (AFP Photo)

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at the Russian embassy after his talks with Trump and US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, Lavrov did not hide his irritation with questions about Moscows alleged meddling in the US presidential election.

I never thought I would have to answer such questions, particularly in the US, given your highly-developed democratic system, he said.

Lavrov said no evidence existed linking Russia to hacked Democratic Party emails and that the issue of Russian interference in the campaign did not arise in his meeting with Trump, according to the report.

In a statement after the meeting, the White House said Trump had emphasised the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, particularly urging Russia to rein in the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran.

Trump also urged Russia to implement the Minsk accord reached in 2014 in an attempt to end the fighting in Ukraine.
As a US congressional panel served a subpoena requesting papers from former NSA Michael Flynn, accounts surfacing of FBI director James Comeys firing indicated growing anger and frustration in the White House with the continuing investigation into Donald Trump campaign aides contacts with Russians.

The subpoena was issued on Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting one of three independent investigations into allegations of Russian meddling in 2016 elections, after Flynn refused to cooperate and hand over the papers requested by the panel in April.

The subpoena requests documents relevant to the Committees investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election, the panels chairman Richard Burr and ranking member Mark Warner said in a joint statement, adding Flynn  declined, through counsel, to cooperate.

This was the first subpoena issued by the panel. Flynn was fired by Trump in February after it emerged he had lied about his interactions with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak in December, the day President Barack Obama had announced sanctions against Russia for its alleged meddling in US polls.

The other two investigations, underway separately and independently, were being conducted by the House of Representatives intelligence committee and the FBI. According to multiple accounts in US media, the latter was the reason behind Trumps stunning firing of Comey on Tuesday.

The president had been frustrated about the ongoing investigations that have dogged his young presidency right from the beginning. In fact, Comey revealed in a Congressional hearing recently, the FBI launched the investigation last July when evidence first surfaced of hacking of the Democratic partys computer network by Russians.

That further irked Trump, who was already frustrated by the FBI directors refusal to, one, back his claims that Obama had ordered a wiretap on his Trump Tower offices and, two, that he was not paying as much attention to leaks about the investigations that had kept the issue on the front burner.

The president is reported to have made up his mind last weekend, the last straw being Comeys latest testimony that he felt mildly nauseous that he might have caused Hillary Clintons defeat by his remarks close to polling day. And he soon set the ball rolling in discussions with close aides.

The White House has officially blamed Comeys handling of the Clinton investigations for his firing. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokesperson, called his moves atrocities at the briefing on Wednesday and said the president had been wanting to let him go since his election, but finally made up his mind on Monday. The justice department, to which the FBI reports, was asked to send recommendations, which were cited in a memo explaining the firing the next day.

But accounts emerging of the firing put the Russia investigation  and not the one about Clinton  centre-stage and said that Comey and in recent days sought more resources and manpower for it. Also, the reports pointed to rank incompatibility between the two men as individuals  Trump prized loyalty above everything else and Comey was fiercely independent and treasured it.

Comey was astonished by Trumps wiretapping claims and told aides, according to The New York Times, it was outside the realm of normal and perhaps crazy. Trump, on the other hand, felt there was something wrong with Comey, as he told aides, according to the same newspaper account. He also thought Comey was grandstanding at his Congressional testimonies.
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday launching a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression in the US election system, White House officials said.

Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach will lead the commission, which will look at allegations of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration in states and across the nation, one official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorised to discuss details ahead of the formal announcement.

Trump has alleged, without evidence, that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton. He has vowed since the start of his administration to investigate voter fraud, a process that has been delayed for months. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly alleged that the election system was rigged and after his election argued that such massive, widespread fraud kept him from the popular vote.

Trump won the presidency with an Electoral College victory despite losing to Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.

The commission will include Republicans and Democrats and be composed of current and former state election officials and other experts, the White House official said.

The panel will aim to ensure confidence in the integrity of federal elections while looking at vulnerabilities in the system and the possibility of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration and voting, the official said.

Potential panel members include former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell and Indiana secretary of state Connie Lawson, the official said.
The UKs Independent Police Complains Commission (IPCC) on Thursday confirmed it had launched an investigation into allegations that a unit of Scotland Yard obtained access to email accounts of journalists and environmental activists in the country through hackers based in India.

The Yards National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit (NDEDIU) was accused by a whistleblower  believed to be a serving or retired officer  of obtaining the services of computer hackers via counterparts in India.

The hackers are alleged to have illegally accessed the email accounts of named individuals who were members of political and environmental pressure groups. Further allegations include the accessing of emails belonging to journalists, the IPCC said in a statement.

Calling for the whistleblower to make contact, it said the investigation was looking at whether officers from NDEDIU contacted Indian counterparts and if the services of computer hackers in India were obtained to access email accounts.

It will also examine if any officers within NDEDIU used any information gained from this contact if it took place.

IPCC deputy chair Sarah Green said: These are clearly serious allegations and the IPCC is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the matters raised. This will be a complex investigation given the potential involvement of foreign participants.

We would like to hear from the officer who brought these allegations to light or any other officers or police staff who may be able to provide information of use to the IPCC investigation.

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The United Nations still has a million questions about a Syria deal struck last week by Russia, Turkey and Iran, with aid convoys almost totally stalled despite a reported reduction in the fighting, a UN aid official said on Thursday.

Russia and Turkey and Iran explained to us today and yesterday ... that they will work very openly, proactively, with United Nations and humanitarian partners to implement this agreement, UN Syria humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland told reporters.

We do have a million questions and concerns but I think we dont have the luxury that some have, of this distant cynicism, and saying it will fail. We need this to succeed.

The three-country deal on de-escalation zones was signed last week in the Kazakhstan capital Astana, with a goal of resolving operational issues, such as how to police the zones, within two weeks and of mapping them out by June 4.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said he was convening what he called rather business-like, rather short peace talks in Geneva from May 16-19 to take advantage of the momentum. The political weight of the signatories and the staggered timing of the deal gave it a strong chance of working.

The alternative would be another 10 Aleppos, he said, referring to Syrias second city which fell to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in December after years of fighting.

A key aspect of the Astana deal was that it was an interim arrangement to address urgent issues, not a permanent partition of Syria, he said.

De Mistura said the Astana talks had also made rapid progress on agreements covering prisoner releases and de-mining, and both were almost complete.

Egeland said he could point to one concrete result from Astana  the reported reduction in fighting and aerial attacks. But aid convoys were only being allowed in at the rate of one per week, with no permission letters coming from the government.

Although some recent local surrenders meant the number of people who were hard to reach with aid had fallen by 10 percent to 4.5 million, a further 625,000 were besieged - 80 percent of them by forces loyal to Assad, he said.
An Indian-origin man in the US has claimed that the United Airlines cancelled his flight reservation because he filmed an employee during an altercation, the latest public relations headache for the beleaguered airline.

United has faced a series of scandals in recent weeks, including the violent removal of passenger David Dao, who sustained injuries from being dragged off an overbooked flight.

Indian-American Navang Oza, 37, said he was refused entry on a flight to the West Coast after he started recording his experience on his cellphone.

Oza was quoted by KNTV as saying that he was checking in on Monday for a flight home to San Francisco from New Orleans when he complained to a United Airlines agent about a USD 300 charge for his luggage. Oza said he paid USD 125 to check the same bag on the first leg of his trip.

Unable to get an explanation, Oza said he decided to do what many other frustrated passengers have done and film the dispute. Oza posted an unedited clip of the lengthy interaction with the ticket counter worker in New Orleans.

The clip begins with the agent pointing her finger at him, saying, You did not have my permission to videotape. Next, she appears to instruct an agent to her left. Cancel the reservation, she says.

I want to know why, Oza asks.

Because you did not have my permission, she said.

I was shocked because I didnt know she had the right to cancel my flight because I started recording, he said.

About a minute after ordering his trip cancelled for taping her, the United agent is seen recording Oza.

Ill do the same thing, she said, pointing her smartphone at Ozas.

Oza said the United agent eventually called airport police. Oza was still rolling when an officer appeared.

Can I at least keep this recording? Oza asks the officer. The officer replies, Sir, you have the right to do whatever you want; its a public space.

The California resident said that he ultimately re-booked his flight on a different airline.

United told the news station that it was investigating the incident.

The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that we apologise. We are reviewing this situation, including talking with Mr Oza and our employees to better understand what happened, United said in a statement.

Also this week, a Missouri woman claimed that a United staff told her to urinate in a cup rather than leave her seat to use the restroom on a flight from Houston. The claim has been denied by the airline.

A giant rabbit, who was expected to outgrow his father to become the worlds biggest bunny, also died under the care of United Airlines last month.
United Airlines is denying that its staff told a Missouri woman to urinate in a cup rather than leave her seat to use the restroom on a flight from Houston.

Nichole Harper told KCTV she had a sudden urge to urinate because of her overactive bladder on the flight last month to Kansas City, Missouri.

She says a flight attendant told her she wasnt allowed to stand up because the pilot was expecting turbulence. She responded by saying she was going to need a cup.

She says flight crew reprimanded her after she filled two cups.

Harper says it happened less than 30 minutes into the flight. United says it was during descent.

United said in a statement it has reached out to Harper to better understand what occurred.
The Trump administration on Thursday blamed Pakistan for deteriorating Indo-Pak relations and warned that the ties might worsen further if another high- profile terrorist attack emanates from across the border this year.

Islamabads failure to curb support to anti-India militants and New Delhis growing intolerance of this policy, coupled with a perceived lack of progress in Pakistans investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack, set the stage for a deterioration of bilateral relations in 2016, Daniel Coats, director of National Intelligence, told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing.

Easing of heightened Indo-Pak tension, including negotiations to renew official dialogue, will probably hinge in 2017 on a sharp and sustained reduction of cross-border attacks by terrorist groups based in Pakistan and progress in the Pathankot investigation, Daniel Coats said.

Testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence along with top intelligence officials, Coats said the relations between India and Pakistan became more tense following two major militant attacks in 2016 by militants crossing into India from Pakistan.

They might deteriorate further in 2017, especially in the event of another high-profile terrorist attack in India that New Delhi attributes to originating in or receiving assistance from Pakistan, Coats said in his testimony before the Senate committee on worldwide threats.

Supporting Indias pre-condition for bilateral talks on Islamabad stopping support to cross border terrorism, Coats said increasing numbers of cross-firing along the Line of Control, including the use of artillery and mortars, might aggravate the risk of unintended escalation between the two countries.

Easing of heightened Indo-Pak tension, including negotiations to renew official dialogue, will probably hinge in 2017 on a sharp and sustained reduction of cross-border attacks by terrorist groups based in Pakistan and progress in the Pathankot investigation, Coats said.

Last year, heavily-armed militants sneaked in from across the border and attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in Punjab. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel while four militants were killed.

Coats said Pakistan is concerned about its international isolation due to its dwindling position against Indias rising international status, expanded foreign outreach and deepening ties with the US.

Pakistan will likely turn to China to offset its isolation, empowering a relationship that will help Beijing to project influence into the Indian Ocean, said the top US intelligence official.

In his remarks ahead of the possible release of the Afghanistan policy of the Trump Administration, he said Pakistani-based terrorist groups will present a sustained threat to the US interests in the region and continue to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan.

The threat to the US and the West from Pakistani-based terrorist groups will be persistent but diffuse. Plotting against the US homeland will be conducted on a more opportunistic basis or driven by individual members within these groups, he told members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Noting that Pakistan will probably be able to manage its internal security, he said anti-Pakistan groups are likely to focus more on soft targets.

The groups we judge will pose the greatest threat to Pakistans internal security include Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, Jamaat ui-Ahrar, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, ISIS-K, Laskhare Jhangvi, and Lashkar-e Jhangvi ai-Aiami, he said, adding that the emerging China Pakistan Economic Corridor will probably offer militants and terrorists additional targets.

Pakistans pursuit of tactical nuclear weapons potentially lowers the threshold for their use, Coats warned.

Early deployment during a crisis of smaller, more mobile nuclear weapons would increase the amount of time that systems would be outside the relative security of a storage site, increasing the risk that a coordinated attack by non-state actors might succeed in capturing a complete nuclear weapon, he said.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
Police in California are investigating the murder of a 32-year old Sikh man as a possible hate crime after he refused to sell cigarettes to a man who did not have proper ID.

Jagjeet Singh, who was a clerk at the Hatch Food and Gas convenience store in Californias Modesto city, had come to the US only 18 months ago from Punjab.

Singh was stabbed to death last week after he apparently refused to sell cigarettes to his attacker as he did not have proper ID.

Heather Graves, a Modesto Police Department spokeswoman, told NBC News that Singh and one of the suspects had had a confrontation inside the store.

We have a couple of different witnesses giving some information but thats still under investigation, she said.

We just know that there were words exchanged between the two of them.

Asked whether the stabbing may have been a hate crime, Graves said, That is a possibility and we are investigating that possibility as well.

Police have released a surveillance picture of the man who got into an argument with Singh over the sale of cigarettes.

The man left the business parking lot in a dark coloured vehicle and then returned with a second suspect who stabbed the victim.

The preliminary findings suggest that Singh was securing the business after closing when he was approached by the suspect.

The suspect, described as a Hispanic male stabbed Singh and then fled from the scene, according to a statement from the Modesto Police Department.

Singh was the fourth Indian-origin victim of an alleged crime in the US in the last one week alone.

Ramesh Kumar, 32, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the passenger seat of a car parked in a rest area 90 miles of Detroit.

Indian-origin Naren Prabhu, a Silicon Valley technology executive and his wife, were shot at their home in San Jose by their daughters ex-boyfriend who was eventually shot dead in a standoff with the police.

Mirza Tatlic, 24, fatally shot the couple in an apparent revenge attack.
The director of national intelligence said Russia and other countries, including China, North Korea and Iran, were using cyberspace to target US and its allies, and will do so in future.

The senate intelligence committee is holding a hearing on worldwide threats, and intelligence director Dan Coats said Russia was a threat to the US government, military, diplomatic, business and critical infrastructure.

Coats said Iran was also making use of its high-tech capabilities.

In 2013, an Iranian hacker intruded into the industrial control system of an American dam. In 2014, there was a data-deletion attack against a US-based casino.

Coats said China was also targeting the US government and American businesses. He added that such activities had diminished since US-China cyber commitments in 2015.
Popular Indian-American stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj has vowed to fight for the immigrant narrative amid a rise in hateful rhetoric in the US as he was honoured by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Minhaj, who became the first Indian-American to host the White House Correspondents Dinner this year, was honoured by Blasio and New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray at their official residence in New York on Wednesday at the Asian-Pacific American Heritage reception.

Blasio presented Minhaj with a proclamation that declared May 10, 2017 in the city as Hasan Minhaj Day.

Minhaj, accompanied by his wife Beena, described the honour as unbelievable.

In our country we are dealing with two different narratives - the nativist narrative and the immigrant narrative. I am fighting for the immigrant narrative where regardless of creed, colour, class, sexuality, gender, this (New York) is the meritocracy and the great place for ideas to rise to the top. If you have a great idea based on merit, this is the great market place for ideas and I am going to continue fighting for that, Minhaj said to loud cheers and applause.

Join us live at Gracie Mansion to honor Asia-Pacific American Heritage and special guest @HasanMinhaj! https://t.co/kUacBBOUwS  Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 10, 2017

Minhaj 31, whose parents hail from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, delivered a memorable and entertaining speech at the annual Correspondents Dinner which was not attended by President Donald Trump, the first time since 1981 that a US president skipped the event.

As he made fun of Trump, the Indian-American comedian said one has such freedom only in a country like the US because of its commitment to freedom of speech enshrined in its Constitution. Only in America can a first-generation, Indian American Muslim kid get on the stage and make fun of the president, he had said.

Referring to his speech at the annual dinner, Blasio said Minhaj got a message across to America that is nothing less than memorable.

Blasio slammed the hateful rhetoric emanating from Washington, saying it is an effort to demonise all immigrants, divide people and suggest that there is something wrong with immigrants. He referred to last months horrible assault on city taxi driver Harkirat Singh, an immigrant from Punjab, who was attacked and had his turban knocked off by unruly passengers.

We see how many members of the Muslim community have been demonised, we see how many members of the Sikh community have been demonised. We will not stand for that in this city. We will stand up against bigotry, the Mayor said.

He added that the city and its police department stood by Singh, who was attacked because he was Sikh, and will continue to ensure such attacks do not go unpunished.

The Mayor called on New Yorkers to stay strong in their belief in a multi-faith and multi-cultural society, saying we cannot let the hateful rhetoric cause us to shrink from the truth.

New York is the ultimate city of immigrants. We have more people born in another country who are New Yorkers today than any time in the last 100 years. New York City is safer, stronger and more prosperous than ever because we are a city of immigrants, Blasio said.

He lauded Minhaj for standing up for values of equality and justice by using one of the most powerful weapons of humour and satire.

He uses his humour to shine a light on injustice, racism and bias and he does it in a very powerful and effective way, de Blasio said.
The Pakistani man accused of forcibly marrying and sexually abusing an Indian woman approached the Islamabad high court on Thursday to arrange a meeting with her to clear misunderstandings.

Uzma, a 20-year-old woman from Delhi, has taken refuge in the Indian high commission in Islamabad after alleging that Tahir Ali, a resident of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province, forced her into marriage at gunpoint and then sexually and physically abused her.

Ali said he loves Uzma and wants to meet her to clear all misunderstandings. I have requested the high court to arrange a meeting with Uzma in a free environment, he was quoted as saying by PTI.

He asked the high court to bar Uzma from leaving Pakistan until a decision is made on his application.

Pakistans interior and foreign secretaries, the Indian mission and Uzma were named as respondents in Alis application. The high court will hear the matter on May 15.

Uzma filed an application in a judicial magistrates court in Islamabad on Monday which alleged she was forcibly married to Ali. She also said she would not leave the Indian mission till she is repatriated with complete security.

She also alleged that she had found out after the marriage that Ali had a wife and four children. The magistrates court will hear the case on July 11.

However, Ali accused the Indian mission and Uzmaa brother Waseem for creating misunderstandings with her. Everything changed after she went inside the high commission building. We were happily married and lived peacefully, he said.

Ali said the marriage was performed at a district court in the presence of witnesses. He claimed Uzma signed an affidavit that she was marrying him without any pressure. He denied that he had sexually abused Uzma and said she should be medically examined to prove these allegations.

He also said Uzma knew about his first marriage. She knew everything and was ready to live and die with me. I wonder why she has changed suddenly, he said.

Uzma became friendly with Ali in Malaysia, where he worked as a taxi driver. She got in touch with Ali again after returning to India from Malaysia.

Her application in court said Ali forced her to get a Pakistani visa to visit him. When she crossed the Wagah land border on May 1, Ali picked up Uzma in a car and, after travelling a short distance, gave her a sleeping pill, she told reporters outside the court.

Pakistans Foreign Office said on Wednesday that Uzma will be repatriated only after all legal requirements are completed.
Outnumbered and outgunned, the Marine pilots of VMF-221 paid a heavy price for their heroic efforts to stem the Japanese onslaught on Midway Atoll.

At 0555 hours on June 4, 1942, the heart-pounding wail of Midway atolls air raid siren sent the pilots of Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221) scrambling to their aircraft. The islands air defense radar had detected a swarm of Japanese aircraftMany planes, 93 miles, 310 degrees, altitude 11,000 feetheading their way, and no pilot wanted to be caught on the ground when they arrived.

Second Lieutenant John C. Musselman Jr., the squadron duty officer, jumped in the command post pickup truck and raced along the line of aircraft revetments, gesturing wildly. Get airborne! he yelled excitedly. Within minutes, the taxiway was crowded with Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo and Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters urgently scrambling to get into the air.

Major Floyd B. Red Parks, the squadron commander, took off first with his five-plane division of Buffalos. He was followed closely by three other F2A-3 divisions (one with a Wildcat attached) and a three-plane division of F4F-3s led by Captain John F. Carey (two additional Wildcats, already flying a patrol, joined Careys division after refueling). The five divisions were divided into two equal groups, one vectored out on an azimuth of 310 degrees and the other on 320 degrees. Altogether, VMF-221 put 26 fighters into the air, although one had to turn back. Second Lieutenant Charles S. Hughes engine was vibrating badly and losing power. The engine was [running] so rough it would have been suicide to try and fight the plane, he reported.

Albatross chicksthe offspring of Midways famous Gooney Birdssurvey the confusing scene on Sand Island as oil tanks burn after the Japanese attack. (National Archives)

Captain Careys fifth division was the first to make contact. As Carey peered intently through his Wildcats windshield, scattered cumulous clouds cut visibility, making it difficult to see the reported many bogies heading Midway. He was at 14,000 feet, with 2nd Lt. Clayton M. Canfield echeloned right and slightly to the rear, and Captain Marion E. Carl several hundred yards behind. Canfield slid behind his leader as Carey made a wide 270 degree turn, then a 90 degree diving turn. Canfields radio suddenly came alive with the electrifying Tally-ho! Hawks at angels 12, and, after a slight pause, accompanied by fighters.

Arrayed in five V formations 2,000 feet below, 36 Nakajima B5N2 Kate level bombers and 36 Aichi D3A1 Val dive bombers roared toward the island. An escort of 36 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros flew out of position just below and behind them, expecting to catch the Americans climbing to attack. The Marines altitude advantage gave them a free pass at the exposed Japanese bombers.

Carey started his run high side from the right on the leader of the first V. He waited until the enemy plane filled his gunsight and then opened up with his four .50-caliber machine guns, shredding the Kate and setting it on fire, but not before its gunner cracked Careys windshield with a slug. Milliseconds later, the bomber blew up, filling the air with debris. Carey streaked down through the bomber formation, then zoomed up and turned back for another attack. He started to make a high wingover run when his F4F was raked by a burst of fire that tore through his right knee and left leg. In excruciating pain and on the verge of losing consciousness, Carey dove at about a 40-degree angle and headed for a large cloud about five miles away.

Canfield followed Carey through the enemy formation and fired at the number three plane in the number three section until it exploded and went down in flames, he reported. In the middle of the run, the Zero escort dived on the three Americans, cannons and machine guns blazing. Canfield said his Wildcat was hit on the right elevator, left wing and flap and just ahead of the tail wheel by a 20mm cannon shell. There was also a .30-caliber hole through the tail wheel and one that entered the hood on the right side about six inches up, passing just over the left rudder pedal and damaging the landing gear.

Despite being wounded in both legs, Captain John F. Carey managed to return his shot-up Wildcat to Midway. (National Archives)

Canfield wisely decided to follow Carey to safety. I went around the cloud in the opposite direction and joined up with him again, he said. The two airmen headed in the general direction of Midway on an unsteady course. Carey kept losing altitude and falling behind. I kept throttling back so he could keep up, Canfield explained. Careys wounds kept him from working the rudders, and his plane was all over the sky.

The two pilots reached the field, which was under attack, and prepared to land. Canfield discovered that he did not have any flaps. When the wheels touched the ground the landing gear collapsed and the plane slid along the runway, he said. When it stopped, I jumped out and ran for a trench just as a Japanese plane strafed my abandoned plane. Carey landed right behind him, and ended up in a ground loop, as I had a flat tire and could not control the plane because of the wound in my leg. He was pulled out of the wreck just before the bombs began to fall.

Meanwhile, Captain Carl had been tangling with the Japanese. As he rolled in on an overhead pass, he caught sight of these damn Zerosthe air was full of them! Carl made a high-side firing pass on one of them, and looked back to see the results of his attack. He was surprised to see several Zeros swinging into position on his tail, so he dived straight down at full throttle, then zoomed back up to 20,000 feet. Heading toward Midway, Carl spotted three Zeros at low altitude. They didnt see him drop astern and to the inside of the circle made from one of the fighters. I gave him a long burst, until he fell off on one wingout of control, [and] headed almost straight down with smoke streaming from the plane.

Wildcat pilot Marion E. Carl scored his first of 18 1/2 victories over Midway. (National Archives)

I looked around and cant find a friendly airplane any place, Carl continued, and the next thing I know, Ive got a Zero on my tailthats shooting away. He headed for a cloud, chopped the power, and threw the plane into a skid. When I came out of the other side, the Zero had overrun me. I pulled the trigger on my gunsand got nothing! His guns had jammed, but evidently Carls maneuver scared [the Japanese pilot] so badly that he gave up the fight.

Despite being shot up, Carl was able to limp back to safety. He went on to become the Marine Corps seventh-ranking fighter ace, with 18 victories.

Elsewhere, Red Parks led his divisions obsolete Buffalos against the incoming raiders, and was immediately jumped by the Zero escort. Hughes, who watched the battle from the ground, said the Buffalos looked like they were tied to a string while the Zeros made passes at them. Parks, one of the first victims, bailed out of his burning aircraft. His parachute opened, but as he dangled from the shroud lines, a Zero pilot strafed him all the way down, and continued to fire even as his body landed on a reef.

Parks may have had a premonition the night before his death. Normally an extrovert, he was moody and distracted. Captain Kirk Armistead tried to cheer him up. By this time tomorrow, itll all be over, he said. Yeah, Parks replied, for those of you who get through it. All the pilots in Parks division were shot down.

Captain Philip R. White was one of only two men in the second division to survive. After the first pass, I lost my wingman and the rest of the division, he reported. I made a long, low, fast climb and made a second above-side pass, and started for a third, when I saw a Zero fighter climbing up on my tail very rapidly. I pushed my stick forward as hard as I could and went into a violent dive. When I recovered and looked around, I had lost the Zero fighter.

White spotted a Val and made a long fast side pass on [it]. The dive bomber wavered and then made an easy left turn into the water. White regained altitude and targeted another Val, making two passes on it before running out of ammunition. He returned to Midway and rearmed, but did not get back in the fight. In his after-action report, he complained bitterly: The F2A-3 is not a combat aircraft. It is inferior to the planes we were fighting in every respect.It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in a F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground.

Captain Armisteads third division attacked in column, starting their firing run at 17,000 feet. His target consisted of five divisions of five to nine planes each, flying in division Vees. He made a high-speed head-on approach on the fourth enemy division. I saw my incendiary bullets travel from a point in front of the leader, up through his plane and back through the planes on the left wing of the Vee, Armistead reported. He looked back as he continued his dive, and saw two of those three Japanese planes falling in flames.

Armistead pulled out of his dive and zoomed back to 14,000 feet for another run. Suddenly three Zeros made a firing pass on his Buffalo. I kicked over in a violent split S and received 3 20mm shells: one in the right wing gun, one in the right wing root tank, and one in the top left side of the engine cowling[plus] 20 7.7mm rounds in the left aileronwhich sawed off a portion of the aileron. He pushed over in a power dive, barely in control as his Buffalo corkscrewed toward the ocean. The Japanese fighter pulled off, assuming the American was done for. Armistead regained control, however, pulling out at 500 feet before shakily landing on Eastern Island.

Pilots of VMF-221s Brewster F2A 3 Buffalos (shown here being fueled in a makeshift revetment on Ohau) were generally less fortunate. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

Captain William C. Humberd rolled in behind Armistead and shot down one bomber in a high-side approach. He attacked again from the other side. I was halfway through another run when I heard a loud noise and turning around, saw a large hole in the hood of my planeand two Jap Zeros on me about 200 yards astern. He pushed over in a steep dive to escape, but one of the enemy planes kept on his tail. I stayed at water level with full throttle until I gained enough distance to turn into him. We met head on. I gave him a long burst when we were about 300 yards distant, and the plane caught fire and, out of control, dived into the water.

Humberd landed his battle-damaged aircraft shortly afterward. My hydraulic fluid was gone, and my flaps and landing gear would not lower, so I used my emergency system to lower my wheels. He landed safely, although his Buffalo had three or four holes in the left fuel tank and two 20mm holes in the fuselage. Despite the damage, Humberd refueled, rearmed and took off intending to go some distance from the field for a period [of time] when orders to land were given to all fighting planes.

Second Lieutenants William V. Brooks and William B. Sandoval made a pass down the right side of the enemy formation. One of us got a plane from the right side of the Vee, Brooks said. When he pulled out of the dive, two fighters attacked him. I could not out-dive these planes [his landing gear had partially locked in the down position], but I managed to dodge them and fire a burst or so into them as they swept past. At this point Brooks was close enough to Midway for anti-aircraft fire to drive the Japanese off.

Brooks stayed in the fight. I saw two planes dog-fightingand decided to go help, he said. My plane was working very poorly, and my climb was slow. As I neared the fight, both planes turned on me! Brooks believed he had been trickedthat the Japanese were staging a sham battle to attract him. I turned and made a fast retreat, collecting a goodly number of bullets on the way. With his aircraft shot up, he decided to land. As I circled the island, I saw two Japs on a Brewster, he continued. Three of my guns were jammed, but I cut across the island, firing as I went with my one gun. He was too late, and the Marine was shot down. Brooks landed his tattered aircraft with 72 bullet and cannon holes in it.

Sandoval was not so lucky. One of his squadron mates reported that he leveled off on his firing run and got nailed by a backseat gunner. He failed to return and was listed as killed in action. He was later credited with a victory after Brooks requested that Lt. Sandoval, deceased, be logged up with the bomber which one of us got in our first run.

Second Lieutenant Charles M. Kunz was the last pilot in Armisteads division to survive. I saw tracers go by my cockpit and bullets ripping my wings, he recounted. He immediately dived for the water in an attempt to shake the Zero off his tail. I made radical turns at full throttle hoping the pilot couldnt get steadied on me. He was partially successful. His aircraft was still flyable but bullets passed along each side of his head, creasing his scalp above each ear. Despite being close to passing out, he managed to land his aircraft safely. That night the group commander said it was necessary for the group surgeon to give him several stiff shots before he could sleep. Credited with two Vals, Kunz would become the only American ace to have scored any victories in the Buffalo.

I was just preparing for another run on the bombers, when I saw a Japanese fighter already on my tail, recalled 2nd Lt. Darrell D. Irwin, flying in the two-plane fourth division. I immediately dove (from 16,500 feet)attaining at least 300 knots, pulling out about 3,500 feet. He was unable to shake his pursuer, who shot away most of his left aileron. Irwin dropped to 500 feet off the water and headed for Eastern Island. Another Zero joined the chase and continued to make runs on me, each time going by me and making steep wing-overs for another runon several occasions I heard bullets strike the armor plate in back of my seat which is only shoulder high. I ducked my head as far as I could in the cockpit. Irwin landed his heavily damaged Buffalo safely, during a full scale dive bombing attack.

Of VMF-221s 25 aircraft that engaged the Japanese, 15 were shot down, and only two of the remainder were flyable after the brief but deadly encounter. The air group suffered 14 pilots killed in action and four wounded. VMF-221 had been all but wiped out as an effective fighting force. Twenty-three squadron pilots were awarded the Navy Cross, the majority posthumously.

Seated, from left: 2nd Lt. William V. Brooks, 2nd Lt. John C. Musselman Jr., Captain Philip R. White, Captain William C. Humberd, Captain Kirk Armistead, Captain Herbert T. Merrill, Captain Marion E. Carl and 2nd Lt. Clayton M. Canfield; standing, from left: unidentified, and 2nd Lts. Darrell D. Irwin, Hyde Phillips, Roy A. Corry Jr. and Charles M. Kunz. (National Archives)

Most of the surviving pilots were stunned by their experience, Carl wrote. [T]he commanding officer and executive officer both were missing; nobody seemed to know if any of the others might have bailed out.VMF-221 was a shattered command.

VMF-221 pilots claimed eight Vals and three Zeros shot down, plus four aircraft damaged. However, with the benefit of hindsight, author Barrett Tillman stated in Wildcat: The F4F in WWII, At best, it appears that Parks squadron knocked down one Zero and two bombers. On the Japanese side, Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo reported the loss of three B5Ns and two A6Ms in aerial combat and four planes to anti-aircraft fire.

Lieutenant Colonel Ira E. Kimes, Marine Air Group 22s commanding officer, stated in a report to the commander in chief, Pacific Fleet, that The performance of the F2A-3 and F4F-3 types of airplanes is markedly inferior to that of the Japanese 00 2 Sento K1 Fighter in speed, maneuverability, and rate of climb.[I]t is recommended that the F2A-3 and F4F-3 be not assigned as equipment for use in combat, but be retained for use at training centers only. Midway was indeed the Buffalos swan song in American service, but the Wildcats glory days were far from over.

Colonel Richard Camp (U.S. Marine Corps, ret.) is the author of 13 books and more than 100 articles on military history. Further reading: Miracle at Midway, by Gordon W. Prange; History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II, by Robert Sherrod; and Marines at Midway, by Lt. Col. Robert D. Heinl Jr.

This feature, originally titled A Shattered Command, appeared in the July 2017 issue of Aviation History. It received the General Roy S. Geiger Award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for best article published in 2017 about Marine Corps aviation. Subscribe here!
B uilder Taylor Wimpey apologised last month and set aside 130 million to sort out its part in the ground rent scandal.

Selling houses and flats between 2007 and 2011 with leases where the ground rents doubled every 10 years was not consistent with our high standards of customer service and we are sorry for the unintended financial consequence and concern that they are causing, it said.

The charity Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, responsible for bringing this to public attention, applauds the company for taking this decision.

The ground rents terms  typically rising from 295 to 9,440 in 50 years  were so onerous that home owners found they could not sell their properties: their buyers would be advised by solicitors to pull out and mortgage companies would refuse loans.

The open question now is, what effect will Taylor Wimpeys announcement have on the rest of the market?

NATIONWIDE WON'T LEND ON HOMES WITH HIGH GROUND RENTS

The doubling ground rent game was effectively ended by Nationwide Building Societys announcement last week that it would decline future loans on any new properties where it applies. Other lenders will almost certainly follow suit. In broad advice, Nationwide said the maximum acceptable ground rent should be 0.1 per cent of a propertys value  for example, 300 a year for a 300,000 property.

This is not such a brilliant idea if you own, say, one of the 25 million flashy penthouses at Neo Bankside, beside Tate Modern. It would bump the ground rents up to a possible 25,000 a year, instead of the far more sensible 850 a year they are at present.

But London penthouses are not really Nationwides core market. In general, its ban on unfair ground rents is welcomed. It shows the market is correcting itself in the face of widespread disapproval of onerous ground rent terms.

Builders beware: Taylor Wimpey has apologised for selling leasehold homes with ground rents that double every 10 years. It has set aside 130 million to alter lease terms and make ground rents cheaper / Alamy Stock Photo

Many housebuilders are also hitting reverse gear, particularly on leasehold houses. Just over 38,000 of these have been registered with the Land Registry over the past five years. Prime Minister Theresa May, among others, cant understand why. She told the Commons in March: I do not see why new homes should not be built and sold with the freehold interest at the point of sale.

HOW TO BEAT THE GROUND RENT TRAP

The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership advises would-be buyers of leasehold houses to insist on buying the freehold, and copy in correspondence to the chief executive and to the housing minister, Gavin Barwell. This has resulted in the immediate offer of the freehold in dozens of cases.

Londoners bear the brunt of leasehold: 94 per cent of newbuild registrations on the Land Registry in central London are for leasehold properties. Leasehold accounts for 44 per cent of all new-build registrations, and they totalled 13.7 billion in value in 2015. Last years Land Registry figures are not yet available.

THE FREEHOLD INVESTMENT GRAVY TRAIN

The Leasehold Advisory Service quango estimates that developers earn 300 million to 500 million a year from selling freeholds on to investors, often anonymous, who can then hide their beneficial interest behind nominee directors. Leasehold rules may well be raised as an issue by the main parties in the impending general election, with the focus likely to be on Help to Buy.

Taxpayers have spent millions underwriting loans, only to find that they have helped pitch a generation of first-time buyers into unwanted longterm tenancies  which is what leasehold means.

CHANGES IN LEGISLATION ON THE WAY?

The market is self-correcting already, thanks to Nationwide and the other lenders expressing concern, but politicians may well want to give it more help.

Taylor Wimpeys 130 million is intended for a fund to convert doubling in a decade leases to less onerous ones. This is the only way of assisting flat owners, but leasehold house owners may want to buy the freeholds to their homes at the prices originally offered by the company, before it sold them on to investors. We will see whether there is any movement on this.

The new government will almost certainly put new leasehold rules on the statute book, last altered in the 2002 Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act which introduced commonhold, where all flat owners own a share of the freehold. Thats the way the rest of the world, including Scotland, organises flat ownership. Maybe it is time for England and Wales to make commonhold mandatory and end leasehold tenure, which is the source of so much concern.

Sebastian OKelly is trustee of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership.
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Robert-Jan Woltering, Regional Vice President, UAE and General Manager, Fairmont Dubai is pleased to announce the appointment of Pranav Vohra as Director of Sales and Marketing for Fairmont Dubai. We are delighted to welcome Pranav to our Fairmont family, within our seasoned and dynamic team here on Sheikh Zayed Road. His remarkable passion for sales and marketing will further build on our teams success and provide a fresh approach which will allow us to strengthen the brand and its relationship with our stakeholders within this very competitive city. said Woltering. Pranav joins Fairmont Dubai from his most r ecent role as Director of Sales & Marketing at Hyatt Regency Dubai, bringing along a wealth of experience, spanning over 13 years in the hospitality industry in the United Arab Emirates. Having obtained a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Hotel Management from University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom and further an MBA in Marketing and Operations, from SP Jain School of Global Management, Dubai, Pranav began his journey in 2004 in India. He obtained extensive knowledge in front office, housekeeping, food and beverage and sales and marketing departments, in addition to the Advanced Marketing Certification, obtained from Cornell University in 2008, specialising on marketing, revenue, distribution and sales. Furthering his career in Dubai, Pranav joined the Front Office department in 2005 within a luxury hotelgroup, where he was subsequently promoted to Sales Executive in 2006 and Senior Sales Manager in 2011. Pranav then spearheaded the corporate and leisure market as an Associate Director of Sales in 2012. A year later he was promoted to Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing, being part of various mid-scale luxury hotel pre-opening teams until 2016. As the new Director of Sales & Marketing for Fairmont Dubai, Vohra will carry out the responsibilities of overseeing the propertys reactive and proactive sales efforts, determining and developing marketing communication activities in conjunction with the overall brand strategy, at the companys flagship hotel located in the heart of Dubai.
Ludacris has blessed his mama Roberta with an early Mothers Day gift. Luda, a self-proclaimed mamas boy, teamed up with Houzz TV to completely renovate and revamp his mothers house. As Luda explains it, Roberta moved into his old house, which was his first piece of post-Ludacris real estate. There was even a massive Disturbing Tha Peace logo adorning the dining room wall.

Once Roberta moved into her new Atlanta home, she never quite finished fixing up the place to her liking, leaving some of the rooms in a state of renovation limbo. The Area Codes rapper and his wife Eudoxie enlisted a Houzz TV designer to help facilitate the process, and give mama Ludacris the house she deserves.

Its heartwarming stuff. Shout out to all the mothers out there, keep doing what you do.

Ludacris
The rock legends will unite on Paranormal

U2s Larry Mullen Jr. is one of a number of stars due to guest on Alice Coopers newly-announced 27th studio album.

Paranormal is Coopers first record in six years and is also set to feature ZZ Tops Billy Gibbons and Deep Purples Roger Glover.

The album is set for release on 28 July and comes after the rock legend signed a new record deal with earMUSIC.

Coopers long-time producer Bob Ezrin suggested the collaboration with Mullen Jr, he said on US radio show Trunk Nation.

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In preparation for the collaboration, Mullen asked to see the lyrics, saying I play to the lyrics, I dont play to the bass,' Cooper explained. And I said that is so cool, just the idea that youre interpreting the lyrics on the drums. It totally makes the album another album.

Paranormal will feature 12 tracks and will come with a bonus CD that will include three songs written and recorded with original Alice Cooper band members Dennis Dunaway, drummer Neal Smith and guitarist Michael Bruce, alongside some live recordings.

Cooper brings the album tour to Dublin this winter, hitting the Olympia on the 8 and 9 of November - and with no U2 dates scheduled for then, perhaps therell be a guest appearance on the cards.
Netflix are back with another true crime offering.

The Keepers is a seven part Netflix original documentary series, which explores the unsolved murder of the nun Sister Cathy Cesnik who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School, in Baltimore, almost 50 years ago.

The Catholic high school teacher went missing November 7, 1969 and her body was found nearly two months lateryet her death remains unsolved.

Sister Cathys former students have long believed that the nun was murdered to prevent her from speaking out about the sexual abuse of children by the schools priest, and the authorities, along with the Catholic hierarchy, covered up her death.

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The series attempts to uncover the truth about this dreadful crime, that went largely unreported outside of Baltimore at the time.

The series will be released on Netflix on May 19.
Last year, CenterPoint proposed a rate increase of $31.4 million - about $2.50 to the average monthly bill in Houston - saying it wanted to recoup money spent improving the safety of the gas distribution system, including fixing and replacing pipes.

But a review of that rate request by a coalition of local governments found that nearly all that money would go to cover the costs of employee benefits, pensions and bonuses for executives, including CenterPoint CEO Scott Prochazka, who earned more than $6.7 million - including a $1.3 million bonus - in 2016.

That review ultimately led CenterPoint to agree last month to cut its rate request almost in half, to $16.5 million, which would boost the average gas bill in Houston about $1.23 cents per month.

"We identified a number of issues - expenses that we thought were unreasonable - that brought (the rate increase) down significantly," said Thomas Brocato, a lawyer for the Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, which advocates on behalf of energy customers in Texas.

The rate case is the latest example of CenterPoint seeking to pass off costs that Brocato and other lawyers representing customers said should be borne by shareholders of the regulated utility. Simply put, they said, the more costs the utility can pass off to customers, or ratepayers, the higher the profits for the company and its shareholders.

Alicia Dixon, a spokeswoman for the company, said CenterPoint considers all of the expenses included in its rate requests to be reasonable and necessary. CenterPoint agreed to cut its rate request to avoid a lengthy and expensive legal battle, she said.

As a regulated utility, CenterPoint is charged with ensuring the reliability of the systems that distribute natural gas and electricity.

The rates it collects from customers are supposed to cover the costs of operating, maintaining and improving the distribution system, plus a reasonable rate of return determined by regulators.

But the local governments that challenged the recent rate request said CenterPoint wants the money for expenses that go beyond ensuring the reliability of the gas distribution system.

This time, lawyers found more than $46 million in expenses they thought ratepayers shouldn't have to cover, enough to justify a rate decrease, Brocato said.

Those expenses included:

$300,000 to recoup money spent on severance pay for laid-off employees

$5.3 million for executive and employee bonuses

$700,000 for a separate bonus plan for highly paid employees. (This bonus plan, known as the deferred compensation plan, allows employes to delay acceptance of a bonus for income tax purposes.)

$5.9 million for an employee benefits fund

In addition to bolstering employee pensions, CenterPoint hoped to add funds to a supplemental pension plan for executives and top management, according to documents from the rate case.

CenterPoint's gas utility undergoes a thorough review, or rate case, every five years, when regulators and customer advocates look over the company's rates, revenues and profits.

Brocato, who has overseen rate cases for more than two decades, said he invariably finds expenses - like executive bonuses or pension plan boosters - that he says should be borne by CenterPoint's shareholders, not its customers.

Nonetheless, the settlement allows CenterPoint to funnel its rate increase into any costs.

The gas utility rate increase is the second in two years for more than 1 million customers in the Houston area.

CenterPoint customers in Houston also could see their electric bills rise in 2017.

In April, CenterPoint proposed a $44.6 million increase to its electric rates. If approved, the rate increase, which would add 80 cents for 1,000kilowatt-hours, would be the third electric rate increase for CenterPoint customers since September 2015.
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Petrobras is considering the sale of a Pasadena refinery that got caught up in recent corruption scandals and that environmental groups believe is among the worst polluters in Texas.



Brazil's state-run oil company may sell the facility, about 15 miles east of Houston, as part of a plan to divest $21 billion in assets over the next two years, it said in regulatory documents filed on Wednesday.



The announcement comes as Petrobras, under the leadership of new chief executive Pedro Parente, is still reeling from revelations of widespread corruption and a severe recession in Brazil that forced the company to find outside cash to pay down its ballooning

$120 billion in debt.



The company didn't say how much it expected to get for the refinery, but it appears likely to be far less than the $1.2 billion that Petrobas paid for it. Brazilian prosecutors have alleged that the plant's previous owner, the Belgian company, Transcor Astra Group, paid bribes to Brazilian and Petrobras officials to secure a massive overpayment in the refinery's acquisition price.



The $1.2 billion, paid between 2006 and 2012 was a 3,000 percent premium to the $42.5 million Transcor Astra paid in 2005, authorities alleged.



Whoever buys the refinery also will likely face the legal entanglements of two separate lawsuits filed this spring by Harris County and environmental groups against Petrobras' Pasadena Refining System, which runs the facility.



"That plant probably needs a whole lot of work," said Rock Owens, managing attorney of the Harris County Attorney's Office environmental group. "They probably want to get rid of it."

The troubled Pasadena refinery, nearly a century old, has become notorious for its multiple accidents, fires and emissions releases over the years. The federal government has said about 75,000 people live within three miles of the plant, as well as several schools and day care facilities.



Harris County sued Petrobras' Pasadena Refining System this spring, alleging it repeatedly violating Texas clean air and water acts. A sale, Owens said, wouldn't affect the lawsuit. But the plant needs a lot of work, he said, and the lawsuit has likely made it even less attractive to the Brazilian government.



Owens said he believed the county would add any new buyer as a party to the suit. Still, he added, "we would certainly want to talk to the buyer to find out what their intention was before we ran out and sued them."



In a separate suit filed in March, two environmental groups  Environment Texas and Sierra Club  argued the refinery routinely exceeds its emissions limits for levels of soot, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants.



"It stands out as one of the worst-run and dirtiest facilities in Texas," said Luke Metzger, founding director of the advocacy group Environment Texas in Austin.



This suit was filed under a provision of the federal Clean Water Act that allows citizens to file lawsuits against companies they believe are in violation of federal environmental laws.

The groups believe Petrobras' refinery released more than 70,000 pounds of unauthorized particulate matter last year.



That estimate is based on reports filed by the company with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.



"Pasadena Refining System, Inc. is aware of the lawsuit being brought by Environment Texas and Sierra Club, and is currently reviewing the filing," Petrobras spokeswoman Sophie Gates said in an emailed statement. "We are committed to complying with all local, state and federal regulations and are keeping our team's focus on safe and reliable operations."



In April, a Houston federal judge ordered Exxon Mobil to pay a civil penalty of nearly

$20 million for releasing 10 million pounds of pollutants from its Baytown refining and chemical complex over the course of eight years.

David Hunn and Jordan Blum contributed.
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration's efforts to unwind former President Barack Obama's climate change legacy were dealt a blow Wednesday after the Senate rejected legislation to repeal a regulation limiting the amount of methane that oil and gas drillers can vent or flare on federal lands.

The surprising vote was a setback for the oil and gas industry, which launched an intense lobbying campaign to overturn the so-called methane rule that they said imposed unnecessary costs on drilling projects.

It was one of a number of Obama-era regulations selected for reversal by Republican leaders under the Congressional Review Act, which gives Congress the power to strike down executive orders within 60 legislative days, or days when it is in session. But after a series of defections from Republicans ranks, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Democrats blocked the repeal by a vote of 51-49. Vice President Mike Pence, called to the Capitol in the event he was needed to break a tie, left the building without casting a vote.

"You can produce oil and gas in a responsible way," said Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., who fought against repeal.

More Information By the numbers 51-49 The Senate blocks repeal of a rule limiting methane release from oil and gas wells on public lands. 3 defections Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins break with their party to join Democrats in the vote. See More Collapse

The House passed legislation repealing the methane rule in February, but Majority Whip Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and the rest of the Republican leadership struggled to find enough votes in the Senate, where the party holds a slim majority.

McCain, who was expected to vote for repeal, explained in a statement that while he was concerned this particular rule was "onerous," repealing it would have prevented the government from putting in place similar regulations in the future.

With the deadline for using the review act set to pass this week, the Senate vote was a last ditch effort against an unlikely coalition of environmentalists, taxpayer advocates and western landowners, which argued the methane rule was not only protecting the environment, but putting more money into federal coffers in the form of royalty payments. Environmentalists say the release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, dirties the air and only helps to accelerate climate change.

Public officials across Western states, meanwhile, have complained that venting and flaring natural gas deprives the government of much needed royalties from production. They believe Obama's rule will incentivize companies that might have otherwise flared or vented gas to build pipelines to bring it to market.

The Environmental Defense Fund estimates more than $1.6 billion of gas has been wasted on federal lands since 2013.

'It certainly sets the context for the administrative fights to follow," said Mark Brownstein, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund. "The Senate has spoken and what they're saying is wholesale elimination of basic protections for public health, the environment and waste reduction simply won't fly."

Whether Wednesday's outcome portends future struggles for the Trump administration, as it seeks to expand domestic energy production through the repeal of environmental regulation, remains to be seen. The methane rule still faces legal challenges.

Last year, oil and gas groups sued the Bureau of Land Management to block the regulation, arguing it illegally forces costly upgrades and monitoring at drilling sites at a time the industry has addressed the problem of escaping methane, the principal component of natural gas.

"This overreaching rule puts independent producers - many of which are small family-run businesses with limited resources - on the hook for complying with the costly burdens of a flawed regulation," said Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

But for those who live around federal lands where the oil and gas wells are located, the venting of natural gas into the atmosphere has long been a cause for concern. Dan Schreiber, a New Mexico cattle rancher, who traveled to Washington to watch Wednesday's vote, said he worried what health effects he and his family might suffer from nearby gas wells.

"You don't have to die from something to know it's bad for you when there's signs up warning about benzene and saying wear a respirator," he said. "Are my cattle supposed to wear a respirator?"

Even with the defeat in the Senate, efforts to repeal the methane rule might not be over.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is in the process of reviewing his department's regulations to look for opportunities to increase energy production on federal lands, following an executive order by President Donald Trump in March. With the legislative approach failing, repealing the methane regulations would require a formal rulemaking process that could take years, far from the quick remedy oil and gas lobbyists hoped for.

"While it is disappointing that the Senate did not act to correct the rule more quickly, we look forward to working with the administration," Erik Milito, a director at the American Petroleum Institute, said following Wednesday's vote.
BISMARCK, N.D. - The Dakota Access pipeline leaked 84 gallons of oil in South Dakota early last month, which an American Indian tribe says bolsters its argument that the pipeline jeopardizes its water supply and deserves further environmental review.

The April 4 spill was relatively small and was quickly cleaned up, and it didn't threaten any waterways, the state says.
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The free-standing emergency room industry has launched a fierce challenge to a recent academic study examining the pricing of emergency care in Texas, not only attacking the validity of the data but allegedly striking at the professional integrity of the authors.

The preliminary findings of the study, posted on a medical journal's website in March but now removed, showed stark disparities in the prices charged for the same diagnosis depending on which type of clinic or emergency room a patient chooses. That can lead to confusion and ultimately sticker shock, the study found.

Lead author Vivian Ho of Houston said this week that Dr. Paul Kivela, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians, contacted her in April to complain about some numbers in an appendix and implied she could be sued.

The emergency physicians group said in a statement that it "did not and does not support or condone any interference on study authors." The organization, headquartered near Dallas and representing 36,000 members nationwide including those in the free-standing emergency room industry, declined further comment.

Kivela, a Napa, Calif., emergency-medicine physician, declined comment through the group.

It is a rare storm in the typically staid world of academic research. At its heart is a 15-page article on price disparities in emergency care in Texas.

"They don't like the findings and they don't want them to see the light of day," said Ho, a health economist at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy who led the study, which was funded by the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute.

She said Kivela questioned her about her affiliations with insurers. She said she interpreted the questions as a veiled accusation she was receiving some type of incentive to skew the results.

"What are you accusing me of?" she said she asked Kivela.

Ho added that in her 26 years in academia she has never felt so bullied. "I'm horrified they are saying I'm unethical," she said.

Using 16 million insurance claims provided by the state's largest insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Ho and a team of economic and health-care researchers from some of Houston's most respected institutions analyzed medical codes and found that on average a patient can be charged as much as 10 times more in a free-standing emergency room center than in the lower-priced urgent care clinic for the same diagnosis.

Both types of clinics have proliferated in recent years in Texas and across the country, offering walk-in service as a more convenient alternative to traditional hospital emergency rooms.

Reimbursement rates

The study explained that free-standing emergency centers are expensive to operate because they are more regulated than the urgent care clinics, must treat everyone regardless of ability to pay, and offer a higher level of treatment than their lower-cost cousins.

But it also concluded that people can be confused by the similar appearance and placement in retail centers, potentially leading to hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of surprise medical bills if a patient with minor needs walks in the wrong door.

The research was submitted to and accepted by the Annals of Emergency Medicine for publication. A preliminary version appeared on the medical journal's website in March, and Rice University publicized it in a news release on March 23. The findings were picked up by media outlets across the state, including the Houston Chronicle.

Six days later, a public relations firm for the Texas Association of Freestanding Emergency Centers contacted Texas reporters and said one of the study's authors, Dr. Cedric Dark, had disavowed the study. Dark responded that wasn't true. In a Chronicle interview at the time, he said he thought it was problematic to compare the types of centers because of the different levels of available care but that he stood by the overall findings.

The public relations firm backed off the assertion.

Dark said he did not want to discuss the latest fallout.

Ho said Kivela called her April 10 about the potential conflicts of interest and sent her an email last week with further complaints about numbers in the study.

In addition to Ho, the other authors came from Baylor College of Medicine, UTHealth's School of Public Health, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Meanwhile, drama was building on another front.

Several emergency-room physicians began lodging complaints with the medical journal, saying the data were incorrect, Dr. Michael Callaham, professor emeritus of emergency medicine at the University of California-San Francisco and editor-in-chief of the publication, said in an email.

The journal is the official publication of the American College of Emergency Physicians, but Callaham said he demands editorial independence.

The complaints centered on data concerning reimbursement rates paid to doctors, Callaham said. Ho acknowledged a transcription error in an appendix, not the body of the study, as the reimbursement figures were transferred from one format to another. She said the information was corrected.

Followed protocol

Critics now say the entire study should be disregarded because of that error.

Callaham said in an email that he found the complaints serious enough to remove the paper from its website for additional review. The print version was scheduled for June but has now been put off until after the review, he said. A note on the website now says the online article "has been temporarily removed."

"A replacement will appear as soon as possible in which the reason for the removal of the article will be specified or the article will be reinstated," the note says.

The removal of the article was first reported by HealthDataBuzz. Callaham said he was not pressured by ACEP but made the decision based on protocol when ethical questions arise.

One who complained is Dr. Carrie De Moor, CEO of Frisco-based Code 3 Emergency Partners and president of the ACEP's free-standing emergency centers section. She sees something much darker than a typo, accusing Blue Cross and Blue Shield of deliberately manipulating and providing false data as part of a "smear campaign against emergency medicine doctors" to keep reimbursement rates low.

She did not accuse the authors of collusion, however.

The majority of Texas' independent free-standing emergency rooms are physician-owned, but De Moor said her complaints had nothing to do with the financial stakes of the centers.

"I'm more concerned about my patients," she said, accusing insurers of confusing them by "trying to get them to go to urgent care instead of an emergency room."

Blue Cross and Blue Shield pushed back hard Wednesday against the allegations. "We stand by the accuracy of the data used in the study," the insurer said in an email statement, adding it "firmly supports the work done by researchers led by Vivian Ho."

John Budd, who studies academic research as professor emeritus of the University of Missouri's School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, said he was surprised at the toxicity surrounding the incident. Attacking the integrity of a study's author and threatening legal action is "extremely rare," he said.

"I'm not worried for my reputation," Ho said. She said she has found an outpouring of support from colleagues and other academics. Still she finds it all rather baffling. "All we were trying to do was lower health-care costs."
Nearly a year after the oil bust reached its bottom, Houston's economy is only barely starting to recover and its future is still clouded by oil prices that have remained stubbornly low, according to a closely-watched analysis.

Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston's Bauer School of Business, forecast about 38,000 new jobs  more than twice as many as 2016, but far below the recent historical average  if current trends continue.

"Like you, I'm plenty tired of the crash of oil prices," he told an audience of business people on Thursday. "We're not going to get good strong growth based on $48 a barrel, where we were this morning."

Related: Years of pain still ahead for Houston

That lukewarm forecast comes in spite of a rapid run-up in the rig count and a spike in what Gilmer calls "basic" jobs  those in industries that bring in revenue from outside the region, such as manufacturing and petrochemical refining, rather than selling services to locals.

Part of the problem is the industrial construction boom that powered Houston through the oil downturn is rapidly coming to an end, which will leave tens of thousands of construction workers out of a job.

Ideally, those workers could move back to oil production. But Gilmer doubts the burst of drilling activity can continue indefinitely at current prices, since producers will exhaust the extremely productive wells to which they've retreated in recent months, forcing cost of production upwards.

Crude settled in New York Thursday at at $47.83 a barrel, up 50 cents.

Gilmer, like many economists, declined to predict where oil prices are headed. But, he said, OPEC's failure to boost prices significantly through cutting supply late last year  caused in part by the quick increase in production by U.S. shale drillers  was a disappointment.

"All of the optimism we were seeing back in November has pretty much been flushed out of the market," Gilmer said. " The problems we have continue to be about oil."

Despite efforts to diversify the Houston economy, Gilmer said, the region still depends heavily on the energy industry. The ratio of energy jobs to non-energy jobs in Houston's employment core  those "basic jobs"  hasn't changed in 20 years.

Related: Houston is probably out of the economic woods

The local economy, instead, has been largely supported by a strong national economy. In a convenient historical accident, downturns in the oil industry have corresponded with periods of robust growth nationally, in the national economy, and vice versa.

"There is no structural change here," Gilmer says. "We haven't changed a thing in terms of how we're connected to oil."

There was some good news in Gilmer's presentation. The residential housing market seems to have worked through the glut of high-end homes and production is returning in more modest housing that provides Houston with one of its key economic advantages  affordability  and attracts workers that help the economy grow.

Prices and sales in more expensive inner-loop neighborhoods continue to suffer, while growth flows to more affordable communities along the ship channel.

All in all, Gilmer said, the local economy can expect a "pretty mediocre year"  which, after a severe oil bust, is nothing to sniff at.
Although oil and gas company executives believe that they're doing right by the world, they're under no illusions that the public at large agrees  and they're correct.

Only 37 percent of general population respondents to a survey conducted by the consulting firm EY said that the oil industry can be trusted to do the right thing (compared to 75 percent of executives who rated themselves as good corporate citizens). Half thought the industry would be important 100 years from now..

Renewable energy is viewed far more positively than oil, with natural gas falling somewhere in the middle. Only 14 percent of respondents thought oil and gas should be our primary source of energy, while 29 percent thought it shouldn't be. The rest are willing to tolerate it until alternatives are available.

That's nothing energy companies don't already know. The 109 executives surveyed believed public perception was even worse than EY's survey suggested. Only one in four said their industry had the public's trust.

That dim view is starting to matter more now, EY says, because so much energy production happens on American soil. Negative perceptions of fossil fuels  fueled by movies such as Deepwater Horizon, widespread coverage of ExxonMobil's efforts to discount climate science, and painful layoffs during the oil bust while CEOs of bankrupt companies made off with millions  are starting to influence both public policy and industry recruiting efforts. Many young people would rather go work for tech companies that they believe are operating in the public interest.

It's something the EY consultants like to call an industry's "social license to operate." Come off as too evil, and eventually the walls cave in. "This is a call to action," Deborah Byers, EY's U.S. energy leader said at an event unveiling the research.

So...is there anything the oil industry can do to solve the problem?

EY, which would like to sell its services to oil companies feeling insecure about their place in the world, has a few suggestions. Reach out to young people in the media they're consuming, such as Twitter and Facebook. Or even through the school system.

"You think about the curriculum that is in primary schools and high schools, there's an opportunity," Byers said. "I'm not talking about propaganda, I'm talking about education about how is power generated, what's important to allow consumers to make informed choices."

The EY consultants suggest the oil industry's problem is one of perception. If only people knew what executives knew, they wouldn't be so eager for a quick transition to wind and solar.

"They don't have as many of the facts," said John Hartung, a US strategy principal with the firm who spent 11 years at Mobil before it joined with Exxon. "The executives have run the numbers, and the younger generations have not."

But consumer perceptions seem based on facts, too. It's a fact that the earth is warming fairly quickly now, with scientists attributing most of the blame to carbon emissions from fossil fuels. It's a fact that oil spills have caused enormous damage to coastal environments. It's a fact that air quality regulations and more efficient cars, which the oil industry hasn't exactly championed over the years, have meaningfully improved life in cities around the world.

Rather than a perception problem, the oil industry would seem to have a behavior problem. Some companies, like BP and the French company Total, have adapted by shifting their portfolio away from oil and towards lower-carbon sources of energy, actions that conform to popular desires for cleaner power.

It's a lot easier to fix your message when you have something real to talk about.
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The world of Houston sandwiches just got more interesting with the opening of chef Kris Jakob's 1895 Deli. The new takeout and delivery spot is located inside his hit Friendswood restaurant, Brasserie 1895.

Diners who remember Jakob's charcuterie talents from his days at Kris Bistro, the restaurant of the Culinary Institute LeNotre, will be happy to find his cured and smoked meats in everything from an exuberant take on a muffuletta to a wonderfully eccentric play on the banh mi. These are great big sandwiches with great big attitude, and Jakob has the flavor sense to pull them off.

The menu of eight sandwiches, a half dozen species of deviled eggs and a trio of soups is available at a window at the end of the kitchen pass-through to the restaurant dining room. Jakob is thinking of the venture as a sort of incubator for what he hopes will be a full-fledged deli down the road.

BEST NEW RESTAURANTS: See where Brasserie 1895 ranked on our list.

Everything from the meats to the condiments to the breads is made in-house. Jakob and his crew are experimenting with house-baked loaves  including baguettes, rye and focaccia  as well as smoking ham, curing various salumi, and roasting pork and turkey. The latter is given a graceful brine treatment, so that the meat emerges juicy and only lightly salted.

The Italian-American focaccia sandwich here is a $12 meat festival stacked way-high with spicy soppressata, capocollo and ham, all of it cured in-house. Provolone, a zippy pepper relish and just enough garlicky olive salad put the New Orleans swagger in its step.

A 10-buck banh mi gets an electric Calabrian 'nduja spread in place of pate. Its roasted pork and ham layered with pickled vegetables and jalapeno are bound up with a green-curry mayo that works surprisingly well.

You can argue about whether this sandwich is a banh mi all you want. What you can't dispute is that it is curiously terrific.

Same goes for a "pambazo" riff involving chicken grilled with red mole, refried beans, vegetables in tart escabeche and lime cabbage slaw. Cotija cheese crumbles sneak in there, too, and the bread is painted with spicy red sauce instead of soaked in more traditional fashion. You'll think you can't finish it until boom, it's all gone.

That's the wilder stuff. More classic versions of pastrami, ham and cheese, and Cuban sandwiches are available, too, along with a turkey club kicked up with house-cured bacon and soused cranberries.

Vegetarian? There's buffalo mozzarella with house-made peperonata and oven-roasted tomato on focaccia for you.

The breads are respectable and seem to be serious works in progress. In fact, Jakob has kicked the wood-fired pizza off his dining room menu in order to devote the oven solely to bread loaves.

It's all very promising. Sandwich buffs worthy of the name will want to make a field trip down to Friendswood to check it out. As to people who live nearby and will be eligible for delivery when it becomes available in a month, well, I envy you.

1895 Deli, inside Brasserie 1895 at 607 S. Friendswood Drive No. 11, in Friendswood. 832-385-2278. Open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday.
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BAYONNE, N.J. - Forty-two years after he stepped into the ring against Muhammad Ali as a 40-to-1 underdog, Chuck Wepner's business card still has a picture of the moment when he knocked down the champ.

For the New Jersey boxer, it gave him brief hope that he could win. For Ali, it led him to start fighting with a vengeance, eventually taking an exhausted Wepner out with 19 seconds left in the 15th and final round.

For Sylvester Stallone, the overmatched underdog's fight was a moment of needed inspiration while writing the script for "Rocky."

Stallone became a superstar and Rocky Balboa became an iconic character. Wepner reeled off a few more wins and continued his day job as a liquor salesman, while living a hard-partying lifestyle that led to prison.

Wepner's life story has now arrived on the big screen with Liev Schreiber playing the Bayonne Bleeder in "Chuck," which opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles before coming to Houston May 19.

"Everyone says to me, 'Oh, Chuck, finally you got your due,' " the 78-year-old Wepner said from his living room in Bayonne, the working-class town across the harbor from New York where he grew up.

"You know what, I've been living large for 42 years. I fought Ali in '75, I went 15 rounds, I had him down, and then they made the movie 'Rocky.' I was the inspiration. I haven't been waiting around."

Wepner and Balboa's story share similarities - low-level working-class fighters getting a shot at the champ. But while Rocky went on to beat the Ali-like Apollo Creed in their "Rocky II" rematch, Wepner turned to a life of partying and cocaine. He pleaded guilty to drug charges in 1987 and served two years of a 10-year sentence.

Like Rocky's fight with Hulk Hogan's Thunderlips character in "Rocky III," Wepner was thrown out of the ring by wrestling legend Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium in New York in 1976. Unlike Rocky, Wepner also fought a bear.

Wepner sued Stallone in 2003, arguing that he improperly used his name to promote the "Rocky" films. Stallone responded that Wepner benefited by making public appearances as "the real Rocky," but later settled. A spokeswoman for Stallone said he wasn't giving interviews ahead of the film.

Schreiber said that it's hard to look at some of the parallels between Rocky Balboa and Wepner and not think that Stallone was inspired by Wepner's life.

"But I also know from talking to Sylvester Stallone that he thought the fighter was an amalgamation of several fighters," Schreiber said, "and that probably the biggest inspiration to him was sort of his own battles as an artist, that was really the inspiration for the character."

Schreiber, who said he was drawn to Wepner's life as a cautionary tale of fame and celebrity, said that storytellers often exploit real people to create their narratives.

"And I think that's OK," he said. "I think that's the nature of art and storytelling. Some stories stay very close to the truth  but I think we should also feel the license to expand on some things and express ourselves as fits the person that's creating the story."

"Chuck" also stars "Mad Men's" Elisabeth Moss as Wepner's second wife and Naomi Watts as his third wife, Linda. It was Linda who helped Wepner get his life together after he was released from prison and later convinced him to sue.

While Wepner admits he did a bad job auditioning after a night of partying when Stallone tried to give him a part as his sparring partner in "Rocky II," the last straw was not being considered for a part in the Stallone and Robert De Niro film "Cop Land," which filmed near Bayonne.

"I sued for $15 million, fuhgeddaboudit, I didn't get a minute percentage of that," Wepner said. "Stallone and I are friends now. We had to go to court. That was just business. I love Sylvester, I think he's great. I think his moves are great."

"Chuck" director Philippe Falardeau said that while there are similarities between Wepner and Rocky, Stallone's character was "much more low-key, much more insecure. Chuck Wepner has no insecurities. He's so confident."

Falardeau said that Stallone gave the filmmakers his OK. Just as important, Falardeau says: As the movie ends with Schreiber's Wepner and Watts' Linda walking down the boardwalk, he stops for a Polaroid photo in front of a Rocky statue outside of a Planet Hollywood.

Falardeau said Stallone lent the statue to the filmmakers from his personal collection.
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JON Garner's art pulls people in like a tractor beam.

The Houston artist frequently draws a crowd at his Comicpalooza booth. People are caught first by the art itself: bright spray-painted pop culture iconography spread across well-worn slats of wood. But they also are charmed by Garner himself, a youthful 41-year-old occasionally clad in a robe and Wookiee slippers. He's void of preciousness about his work.

"All day you have kids who are told not to touch anything at the convention," he says. "My stuff you can touch. Within reason, there are no rules. I want more people to have fun with it. And to know what they're seeing is uniquely Houston."

The Deer Park native's work is rooted in street art with its bold hues, stenciled imagery and occasional drips. But Garner doesn't look for public canvases for his work, instead making his own from Houston history. He pieces together floorboards from old Houston homes that have been designated for demolition or already razed.

"It's something tangible that was made by hand by somebody in Houston," he says. "This isn't something from Home Depot. It's old wood cut by hardworking Texans between the 1910s and the 1950s. There's texture and feeling in it. In the digital age we really like perfection. But I think there's energy missing in a lot of that work. You can imagine Houstonians walking on it, somebody's baby crawling on it."

RELATED: Look back at 9 years of Comicpalooza in Houston

More Information Comicpalooza When: 10 a.m. Fri.-Sun. Where: George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenidas de las Americas Tickets: single day passes $30-$40, three-day passes $70-$275, children $10 per day or $15 for three-day pass; comicpalooza.com See More Collapse

Conventions often pull attendees through their famous guests. In its 10th year, Comicpalooza has quickly grown from a small event at an Alamo Drafthouse theater to occupying the George R. Brown Convention Center this weekend. Special guests remain one of the big baited hooks for these events. Comicpalooza has Chuck Norris as well as numerous actors from the Marvel comics universe on TV and film. But guests also can be a burden: Last month, Dallas' Fan Expo was like a whale in a wetsuit, a chaotic mess pushing the confines of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center thanks to big bookings like Mark Hamill and two of the leads from "The Walking Dead."

The artist area often offers a more comfortable environment, where creative types can present their wares.

Garner's work may be familiar to some in town, as he occasionally sets up shop with his eye-catching works on the side of Memorial. His subjects are broad: He's made pieces with Darth Vader from "Star Wars," and he's done others with more detail presenting street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, writer Hunter S. Thompson, as well as some Houston hip-hop artists. Some works are merely playful in the choice of color, others are more strikingly funny like his Stormtrooper in a mafia-blue suit and tie.

Musician Erykah Badu has bought six of his works. And Garner's floorboard paintings helped him find other work, doing art design for restaurants like Peli Peli.

Interesting projects are now finding their way to Garner. He was given the wood from an old ranch where Willie Nelson performed regularly. Garner created a special series of Nelson paintings on them. He's been approached by Merle Haggard's family for a similar project.

"Americans love to upgrade," he says. "So I'm not too worried about running out of wood."

Quilted creations

Houston resident Andi Hamilton is another local artist who will have her work on display at Comicpalooza, which is just her second convention.

At Fan Expo last month, a man ran through the artist's alley area when one of her quilts with a Final Fantasy motif caught his eye.

"He asked me how much it cost, and I told him," she says. "He said, 'Oh my god,' and just kept running."

Hamilton's work covers a lot of ground that appeals to comic convention crowds, with images inspired by "Doctor Who," "Ghost Busters," "Star Wars" and various video games. But her work isn't mass produced on a machine. An accountant by day, Hamilton spends her evenings measuring, cutting and stitching. One Pac-Man piece took about 24 hours. Others move a little faster, but still require 12 to 15 hours of work.

"Not everything you see at a convention is machine made," she says. "These just take some time and effort."

RELATED: 'Battlestar Galatica' Mary McDonnell compares comicpalooza crowds to football tailgating

Hamilton's entry point into quilting was through the Girl Scouts, an effort to earn a quilting patch.

"My pillow sucked," she says. "Fortunately my great aunt Ethel was a quilter and she helped me fit it."

She started making quilts for friends when they'd get married. Soon after, she was making quilts for babies.

"A friend suggested I try some 8-bit characters," she says. A science fiction fan, Hamilton plotted out a TARDIS, the blue police call box/time machine from "Doctor Who."

Like Garner's work, Hamilton's seeks to fuse traditions. She calls her work, "old school meets new school."

"It was interesting to me at Fan Expo the number of people who stopped by and told me their grandmother was teaching them to quilt," she says. "It's time consuming, and not everybody has the patience for it. But there's something special about it. Every one of my quilts has a flaw, I'll admit. Nothing lines up perfectly. And those flaws are what make them one of a kind. I love that each of them has this little bit of character that makes them unique."

Minimalist pop art

Steven Katz is another artist with work on display at Comicpalooza this weekend. His takes familiar iconography - science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic book characters - and recasts it in a minimalist manner, sometimes as vector images. Imagine Quint from "Jaws" reduced to a restroom icon and then dropped inside the shark's jaws.

Katz's first piece, "Prof. X," represented the X-Men character Professor Charles Xavier as a wheelchair icon with some telepathic semicircles emanating from his head.

"It just came to me, and I thought, 'Why doesn't this exist in the world?' " he says.

The Houston native studied animation, and for years took ad agency work for commercials - mostly for oil and gas.

"I got tired of having 10 different art directors tell me 10 different things," he says. "So I got out of that game."

RELATED: Chuck Norris kicks his way into Houston's Comicpalooza

He's been much happier since, with local comic book shops agreeing to sell his work. And conventions also have become good for his business. His price point is particularly agreeable, under $25 per piece. He thinks he could and should ask for more, but "I know you get gouged at conventions. Between parking, the door fee, food and all that stuff, I want people to be able to walk by and see something they like. Something they can buy and then just keep going on with their day."

Katz favors bold colors for his unfussy images, like a striking piece with Finn's Stormtrooper helmet smeared with a bloody handprint from "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens."

He has hundreds of other designs both completed and in development. Some are serious, but many reflect his sense of humor as a guy who once did stand-up comedy.

Katz's first few pieces were made from stencils he designed by hand, a process that proved too slow. Now he prints his designs with a wide-format printer and then stretches the canvases himself.

The bold simplicity makes the pieces difficult to ignore, though winnowing down an idea to its essence is the tough part.

"That's the problem with minimalism," Katz says. "You have to convey as much information with as little information as possible.

"But the response to it is immediate. There's a visceral quality that people react to. Minimalist pop art stuff grabs people."
In recent weeks, there has been considerable hand-wringing over the Netflix show "13 Reasons Why," which depicts the suicide of a teenage girl.

Though the show has received critical praise, the National Association of School Psychologists and others express concern the show might trigger suicidal thoughts in vulnerable teens. But does the evidence suggest that watching fictional media can result in imitative suicidal behaviors?

The idea of suicide contagion  that vulnerable individuals may be prompted toward suicide by peers, news media or fiction  is controversial. The best evidence appears to be for peer contagion, where exposure to a peer's suicide can increase risk among closely associated teens. For media, the evidence is less clear.

Much of that research has focused on the media. Concerns that news coverage of suicides might promote copycat suicides have prompted numerous groups, including the Centers for Disease Control, to release news media guidelines for covering suicides without glamorizing them.

Yet data linking news media to suicides has been mixed. In one famous study concerning suicides on the Vienna subway, the authors linked such suicides to news coverage, with suicides dropping after news media agreed to cover such suicides more carefully. Details from this study are surprisingly thin  the data source for suicides is left vague. And these results might simply be an ecological fallacy (when two things in the environment are mistakenly attributed to cause one another  say, Beyonce's salary year-to-year and the average global temperature).

Nor has this study been replicated in other cities with subways. By contrast, the suicide death of Kurt Cobain did not seem to spark copycat suicides. Other scholars, such as James Hittner at Charleston College, have suggested that research linking news media to imitative suicide has been methodologically weak, and when data are reexamined using more sound methods, evidence is less conclusive.

Beth Dubber/Associated Press

This is not to say that there is no evidence at all for news media contagion effects; but the evidence is not as definitive and consistent as sometimes suggested.

The evidence for fictional media influences is even weaker. A 2005 review of the research by psychologist Steven Stack concluded that studies examining fictional media were about 79 percent less likely to find evidence for contagion effects than studies of news media. A 2001 review of 34 studies came to similar conclusions, noting that methodological problems were common.

Part of the problem might be the assumption that objectionable content in media is directly linked to real life. In the last decade, new research has revealed that it's difficult clearly to attribute youth behavior to media, however objectionable that media seems to be. Violent video games are not responsible for violent youth crimes, and watching sexy media does not clearly link to outcomes like teen pregnancy.

AFTER A SUICIDE: A letter to the students of Pearland High School

Similar concerns about the suicide risk of heavy metal music like Ozzy Osbourne and Dungeons and Dragons in the 1980s proved ephemeral. And it is interesting that we worry over "13 Reasons Why" and yet teach "Romeo and Juliet" (as suicide glamorizing media as ever there was) to teens in high school.

Our relationship with media is more complex than that, and how we react to media often depends on why we chose to consume that show, book or game in the first place. Individuals respond very differently to the same media, and it is difficult to make direct attributions. It is possible that a particular teen might watch "13 Reasons Why" and feel more suicidal, but another teen might watch the same show and actually feel better. And yet another might watch a family show and conclude they'll never have such a loving family and become suicidal. It is just not as simple as "13 Reasons Why" equals suicide risk.

If the attention to "13 Reasons Why" helps families talk about mental health and suicide, this is a good thing. But scapegoating media comes with real risks that such efforts will refocus the conversations away from pressing issues such as family stress and mental health reform in the United States.

Dr. Chris Ferguson (@CJFerguson1111) is a professor of psychology at Stetson University and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. He is coauthor of the book Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong and author of the mystery novel Suicide Kings.

Bookmark Gray Matters. It read "Romeo and Juliet" in high school.


Eleven days before the general election, President Donald Trump took the stage at a rally in New Hampshire to the cheers of hundreds of rejuvenated supporters.

"I need to open with a very critical breaking news announcement," Trump said, as the crowd excitedly cut him off with applause, already knowing the news. "The FBI has just sent a letter to Congress informing them that they have discovered new emails pertaining to the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's investigation."

The crowd cheered and began to chant: "Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!"

As soon as that letter landed, Trump's campaign felt it was a game changer, a last-minute opportunity that they so direly needed. Clinton and many of her former staffers now point to that letter as the chief reason that she lost the election - a prominent reminder of her shortcomings in the final days of a race that had become much closer than her supporters had ever expected.

Now, more than six months later, Trump has decided against locking up his Democratic opponent as he had repeatedly promised, and instead fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday. In doing so, his administration pointed to that same Oct. 28 letter as evidence that Comey had mishandled the investigation of Clinton and is not suited for the job.

The decision - which comes amid an FBI investigation of ties between Trump's campaign and Russian officials - shows once again that Trump is more than willing to take whatever position or action will serve him well in the moment, even if it contradicts his earlier positions.

"When it comes to strategy, he's like a day-trader on crack," said John Weaver, a Republican strategist who has worked on the GOP presidential campaigns of Sen. John McCain, Ariz., and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. "There's no central thread in their messaging . . . It's always: 'What do we have to do to get through this?'"

On the campaign trail, Trump routinely took numerous positions on a single issue, allowing his supporters to select whichever one they liked best and blaming the media for any confusion. Since taking office, Trump has abandoned many of his campaign promises with little explanation.

Trump has wavered on whether Comey was a good guy or not. In April 2016, Trump said that he heard "fantastic things" about Comey. Two months later in July, as Comey recommended not charging Clinton, Trump slammed the decision and called the system "rigged."

Three weeks before the election, Trump accused the FBI of "covering up to protect her." But 11 days after that, when Comey reopened the investigation, Trump announced that he has "great respect for the FBI for righting this wrong." At a rally the next day, Trump praised Comey, saying that it"took a lot of guts" to do "the right thing."

Soon after winning the election, Trump said he respects Comey "a lot." At a reception two days after inauguration, Trump warmly hugged Comey and declared him "more famous than me." At one point, Trump even appeared to blow Comey a kiss.

But last week, Trump turned again, tweeting: "FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!" And then came the unexpected firing this week.

Throughout all of this, Trump was steadfast in his support of the investigation into Clinton - applauding the steps Comey took and always calling for more. That is a major reason why Comey's firing this week was so jarring.

As CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed White House counselor Kellyanne Conway late Tuesday evening, he asked about the inconsistency.

"Why now are you concerned about the Hillary Clinton email investigation when, as a candidate, Donald Trump was praising it from the campaign trail?" Cooper asked.

"I think you're looking at the wrong set of facts here," Conway said. "In other words, you're going back to the campaign. This man is the president of the United States. He acted decisively today."

Cooper cut her off: "That makes no sense. He said one thing as a candidate and now he's concerned as president?

"It makes complete sense," Conway said.

The White House released the letter that Trump sent to Comey letting him know that he was fired, in which the president provides no detailed reason for the dismissal but notes: "I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation."

The rationale comes in a two-and-a-half page memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who criticizes Comey's "handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails" and the former director's "refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken."

Rosenstein focuses on two key moments: July 5, when Comey announced at a press conference that Clinton should not face charges but also shared "derogatory information" and her, and Oct. 28, when Comey sent the letter to Congress announcing he had come across new emails that may pertain to the investigation.

When news of that letter first broke, Trump was preparing to speak at the rally Manchester, New Hampshire. He dispatched retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to entertain the crowd while he composed a response.

"I love our New England Patriots - man, are they doing good right now. Wow," Flynn said. "Shout out for our Patriots. Unbelievable."

Flynn went on to be the president's national security adviser for 24 days, after which he was fired for misleading the vice president and other senior officials about his communications with a Russian diplomat.

When Trump finally took the stage, the crowd was pumped up and ready. There was a new energy in the room.

"Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before," Trump said. "We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made."

But by Wednesday, after his firing of Comey had rocked Washington, the new president and his aides were trashing Comey's job performance as a longstanding problem.

"He wasn't doing a good job," Trump told reporters at the White House. "Very simply, he was not doing a good job."
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WASHINGTON  Amid the political skirmishing over President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, the White House received the backing Wednesday of Texas' two Republican senators.

But another Texas Republican, Will Hurd, called the firing "troubling, especially since the Justice Department Inspector General was conducting an independent investigation into Comey's handling of the Clinton email case."

Hurd, just returned from a fact-finding mission to Ukraine, added this in a statement: "Due to the ongoing criminal investigation into Russian interference in our elections, I'm concerned that Comey's firing is going to create new concerns around the public trust in the Department of Justice."

Hurd, just reelected narrowly to his second term in the U.S. House, represents a swing district spanning from San Antonio to El Paso. He is one of only three Texas Republicans in districts won in November by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Despite his stand questioning Comey's firing, Texas Democrats faulted him Wednesday for not calling for an independent prosecutor.

"Anything less allows the political cover-up to continue," said Texas Democratic Party Deputy Executive Director Manny Garcia.

After withholding comment Tuesday night, Sen. Ted Cruz issued a statement echoing the White House narrative that the FBI that had lost the public's trust after Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

"The Director of the FBI needs to be above reproach, with an unquestioned reputation for fairness and impartiality," Cruz said. "Unfortunately, Mr. Comey had lost the confidence of both Republicans and Democrats, and, frankly, the American people."

Cruz's Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, called for an independent counsel, and accused Cruz of "playing it safe" by sticking with Republicans who oppose the idea.

Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn also defended the president's action in an interview on Fox News' America's Newsroom: "This was within the president's authority but it is really important, it's absolutely essential, that we have a new FBI Director that shares the confidence, not only of the president but of Congress and the American people."

Cornyn also dismissed Democratic outrage over Comey's firing, tweeting "Ds were against Comey before they were for him."

Neither Cornyn nor Cruz joined in the calls of many Democrats and some Republicans for a special prosecutor to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The issue has dogged Trump as the FBI probe expanded into possible Russian links of Trump campaign associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Among those joining the call for a special prosecutor Wednesday was U.S. Rep. Gene Green of Houston. Apart from Hurd, House Republicans from Texas have largely remained silent on the Comey affair.

Cornyn, for his part, praised the work of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which he serves.

"Clearly the bipartisan investigation of the Senate Intelligence Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Burr and the Vice Chairman Senator Warner, a Democrat  we have a bipartisan commitment to get to the bottom of this Russian investigation," he said.

The committee is scheduled to hear testimony from Comey next Tuesday.

"Nothing will change by virtue of Director Comey's termination," Cornyn said.

Some Texas Democrats said they were surprised by the attack from Cornyn, who is usually seen as the less partisan of the state's two senators. "It tells me that they have made the decision to not try to straddle, but go full-bore pro-Trump and try to hang with him," said Matt Angle, executive director of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic group in Texas.

Houston U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, announced plans to introduce legislation requiring the appointment of a special prosecutor or independent counsel to take over the Russia investigation.

"This legislation is imperative because at the time of Director Comey's firing, he was engaged in an active investigation into collusion of Trump campaign officials with Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election," she said. "This Administration cannot be allowed to investigate itself."

Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, who is leading the Senate's Russia probe, said he was "troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination."

The North Carolina Republican also praised Comey in a tweet, saying that "Dir. Comey has been more forthcoming w/ information than any FBI Director I can recall in my tenure on the congressional intel committees."

But GOP voices for an independent investigation seemed muted on Wednesday as Republican lawmakers rallied around the president.

That made Jackson Lee's effort appear a long-shot, at best, with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell all but foreclosing on the possibility of an independent counsel, and House GOP leaders similarly opposed, on the grounds that it would be counterproductive.

"Today we will no doubt hear calls for a new investigation which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the Russians may have done, but also to let this body and the national security community to develop the countermeasures and war-fighting doctrine to see that it doesn't occur again," McConnell said in a floor speech.
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AUSTIN - Civil rights groups vigorously opposed to Texas's new anti-"sanctuary cities" law - which would allow the jailing of sheriffs and police chiefs if they refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities - expect to file within the next two weeks long-awaited lawsuits seeking to block the measure, they said.

They are prepared to ask a federal judge to temporarily halt the law's enforcement until the court can undertake a broader review of its constitutionality, while Republican state leaders who passed the law remain confident they will prevail.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a constant thorn in Republicans' sides from earlier legal battles, is expected to play a key role in the litigation over Senate Bill 4, which will allow police officers to question people about their immigration status if they are detained during routine interactions. Gov. Greg Abbott, who believes the law is legally sound, signed the bill May 7.

Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF's president and lead attorney, focused on a provision of the law that commits the state to use taxpayer money to defend every local entity that could be sued for incorrectly honoring a federal detainer request. In such a case, Saenz said, a police department could mistakenly hold the wrong person because they have a similar or identical name than the person's listed on the detainer request, which would be a clear violation of constitutional rights.

"Lawsuits challenging and blocking the law before its implementation, while costly for the state, will actually save Texas money," he said in a conference call with allied groups Wednesday.

Long before it won approval, Democrats drew parallels between SB 4 and a handful of notable immigration-related proposals passed by Republican legislatures, particularly in Alabama and Arizona, over the years that essentially use local police to target immigrants in the country illegally and help drive them out of the country.

Janet Murguia, the president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, anticipated that SB 4's legal challenge could differ from previous lawsuits due to Texas's second-largest-in-the-country Latino population, which includes an estimated 11 million people.

"The most significant difference between Texas' law and its counterparts is the sheer size of the number of people who now have targets on their backs because of this law," she said.
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WASHINGTON - Members of Congress involved in the several investigations into Russian meddling in last year's presidential election pledged Wednesday to continue their work despite the firing of FBI Director James Comey, though they worried how the dismissal might delay probes already plagued by too few resources.

"We were negotiating with him for access to some intelligence," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said of Comey. "I worry that will be put on the back burner. It could very well slow down the investigation."

She called Comey's firing "tantamount to tampering with evidence."

Multiple investigations

Others foresaw little impact on what are now at least eight congressional investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In addition to the House Intelligence Committee, investigating committees include the Senate Intelligence Committee, the House Government Oversight Committee, a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

"Multiple federal entities are currently and independently conducting Russia investigations, working together to uncover all of the facts," said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. "I have no reason to believe they won't. I also do not believe that the director's dismissal will affect how the FBI carries out its investigations."

On Wednesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, demanding that he deliver documents "relevant to the committee's investigation." He refused to surrender the documents, which the committee did not describe, voluntarily last month. It was the first subpoena the committee had issued since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

According to news reports, a federal grand jury in Virginia also has issued subpoenas for documents from Flynn's business associates.

Flynn has become the center of the investigations, with former acting Attorney General Sally Yates testifying this week that she had met twice with White House counsel Donald McGahn in late January to warn the Trump administration that Flynn was lying about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was fired 18 days later, after Yates' meeting with McGahn was reported by the Washington Post.

Yates also was supposed to testify before the House Intelligence Committee March 28, but her appearance has yet to be rescheduled.

Comey expected to appear

Whether Comey's firing will knock those plans off kilter remains to be seen. Comey had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, but his position will now be taken by the FBI's acting director, Andrew McCabe.

But Comey is expected to make an appearance before the panel, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, and members of Congress and aides tried to convey that little will change in their investigations.

"This is a White House that is deeply, deeply worried about the Russia investigation," said Sen. Tim Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton's running mate last year. "Certainly, there's an effort to obstruct the investigation."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., a member of his chamber's Judiciary Committee, said he expected his committee to try to determine what precisely happened before Trump fired Comey after first requesting a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Also likely to come up in congressional probes is whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions had violated his pledge to remain disengaged from the Russia probes by joining Rosenstein in an Oval Office meeting with Trump on Monday to discuss Comey's future.
Days before he was fired as FBI director, James Comey asked the Justice Department for more prosecutors and other personnel to accelerate the bureau's investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election.

It was the first clear-cut evidence that Comey believed the bureau needed more resources to handle a sprawling and highly politicized counterintelligence investigation.

His appeal, described Wednesday by four congressional officials, was made to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, whose memo was used to justify Comey's abrupt dismissal Tuesday.

It is not yet known what became of Comey's request, or what role - if any - it played in his firing. But the future of the FBI's investigation is now more uncertain than at any point since it began in late July, and any fallout from the dismissal is unlikely to be contained at the bureau.

Two separate congressional inquiries into Russian meddling are relying on evidence and intelligence being amassed by the FBI, and if the bureau's investigation falters, the congressional inquiries are likely to be hobbled. Perhaps for this reason, Comey's firing appears to have imbued the Senate Intelligence Committee with a renewed sense of urgency.

The committee Wednesday issued its first subpoena in the Russia investigation, ordering Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, to hand over records of any emails, phone calls, meetings and financial dealings with Russians.

It was an aggressive new tack in what had been a slowly unfolding inquiry. A day earlier, the Senate panel began pressing a little-known government bureau that tracks money laundering and terrorism financing for leads in the Russian investigation.

Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the Democratic vice chairman, also invited Comey to testify in a closed session - a setting that would allow Comey to discuss classified information and any meetings he held with superiors at the Justice Department or with Trump. Comey has not yet said whether he will attend.

The Senate's rush to press forward with its investigation set up a potential showdown with the Trump administration over the future of the FBI investigation. While it appears unlikely that the Justice Department or White House would move to shutter the investigation outright, the president and other administration officials have called for it to end, sowing concerns at the FBI and among some in Congress that it could be starved of needed resources.

White House denial

Still, the White House insists that Comey's dismissal had nothing to do with the Russia investigations, and Sarah Isgur Flores, the Justice Department spokeswoman, said that "the idea that he asked for more funding" for the Russia inquiry was "totally false." She did not elaborate.

But Democrats were unconvinced, and Comey's firing was quickly taken up as Exhibit A in the case for the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the case.

"I'm told that as soon as Rosenstein arrived, there was a request for additional resources for the investigation, and that a few days afterward, he was sacked," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. "I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives, and this was an effort to slow down the investigation."

According to the congressional officials, the Senate Intelligence Committee learned of Comey's request Monday when Burr and Warner asked the FBI director to meet them. They wanted him to accelerate the bureau's investigation so they could press forward with theirs. Congressional investigators do not have the authority to collect intelligence that agencies like the FBI and the CIA possess.

Rosenstein is the most senior law enforcement official supervising the Russia investigation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself because of his close ties to the Trump campaign and his undisclosed meetings with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

To a president who puts a premium on loyalty, Comey represented a fiercely independent official who wielded enormous power. But if the White House was hoping Comey's firing would provide some relief from the pressure of the Russia investigations, the Senate Intelligence Committee appeared eager to fill any temporary void.

Late last month, it asked a number of high-profile Trump campaign associates to hand over emails and other records of dealings with Russians, and the committee's subpoena of Flynn on Wednesday made good on its threat to compel anyone who failed to voluntarily comply with its request.

Likely subject at hearing

Russia's efforts to meddle in the presidential election are also likely to be a focus Thursday of the Senate Intelligence Committee's annual hearing on worldwide threats, which is ordinarily a wider-ranging and policy-focused event.

Also on Wednesday, Burr and Warner asked the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for financial information on Trump and some of his associates that was relevant to the Russia investigation.

Both Warner and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon - the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee with jurisdiction over the Treasury Department and also a member of the Intelligence Committee - have said they will block the confirmation of Sigal Mandelker, Trump's nominee to be the top Treasury official for terrorism and financial crimes, until the network delivers the information.

"I have stated repeatedly that we have to follow the money if we are going to get to the bottom of how Russia has attacked our democracy," Wyden said Wednesday. "That means thoroughly review any information that relates to financial connections between Russia and President Trump and his associates, whether direct or laundered through hidden or illicit transactions."
AUSTIN  A move to keep alive the most significant open-government measure of the legislative session was overwhelmingly approved by the Texas Senate on Thursday, including measures to reopen government contracts and spending open to public disclosure.

Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, amended House Bill 2328 to include the wording of bills that earlier passed the Senate by a large margin that would mandate public disclosure for government contracts and the details of public funding provided to non-profits and quasi-governmental agencies.

Those two provisions restored state law on disclosure about public contracts and spending that were blocked by two Texas Supreme Court rulings last year.

Watson also added to the finally-approved bill three House bills that are stalled in the lower chamber regarding open-government.

"This is a very good Public Information Act bill, one that closes significant holes blown in the Public Information Act and assures the public will have the information it deserves," Watson said.

When it came to the Senate, the bill dealt only with a new way for governmental agencies to expedite making information public to citizens.

Thursday's approval came after a circuitous route in the Senate. Watson first attempted to get the bill adopted on Tuesday, but was temporarily blocked because some of the proposed amendments had not been properly vetted in the Senate.

Watson then vetted those as separate bills in a public hearing in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, which approved them at a meeting earlier Thursday. Once that occurred, under Senate rules they could go onto the bill as amendments.

The Senate vote was 30-1, with Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, voting no.

The Senate-approved bill now goes back to the House for agreement on the Senate changes. Watson said he is optimistic the House will concur with the Senate amendments.
Does he think we're all fools? Does he even care what his fellow Americans think?

Those are a couple of the questions that immediately spring to mind in the wake of President Donald Trump's brazen dismissal of FBI Director James B. Comey. The rationale for sacking Comey - that he violated FBI protocol during his investigation last year into Hillary Clinton's emails, thereby undermining public trust in his agency - is ludicrous. Comey's decision to go public about the Clinton investigation, whether right or wrong, happened months ago. If Trump disapproved of the director's handling of the email matter, he could have sent him packing the day he was sworn in as president. Of course, what most of us remember is candidate Trump lauding Comey's courage and urging him to stay strong in the face of furious backlash from Clinton supporters.

What's obvious to all but the most blinkered Trump supporters is that Comey had to go because he was getting too close to something that involves the Trump campaign's ties to the Russian government. Did campaign cronies collude with the Russians in their nefarious efforts to influence the American presidential election? Did Trump know what Michael Flynn, his erstwhile national security adviser, was doing? And what about such Russian-loving campaign cohorts as Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Carter Page? Was the president himself part of a scheme to assist a foreign foe in its efforts to sabotage an American election? And is there some Russian-related secret that's potentially so damaging the Trump administration will go to any lengths to keep it hidden? Answers to those interlocking questions remain, like Russian nesting dolls, hidden from view. For now.

Comey isn't the first to discover, to his dismay, that these dolls are lethal; touch them, and you get burned. Acting Attorney General Sally Yates tried to warn the administration during its first week in office that Flynn was subject to blackmail because he was lying about his Russia connections. Trump fired her three weeks before he finally got around to firing Flynn. Preet Bharara, United States attorney for Manhattan, was in charge of investigating possible campaign collusion with the Russians that might have taken place at Trump Tower. Trump forced him out, after assuring him last fall he wanted him to stay on.

And now Comey is out, dispatched by a letter delivered to the Justice Department by Trump's personal bodyguard. (Comey wasn't there.) The dismissal came shortly after the director requested additional resources for the Russia investigation.

For the record, Comey has enraged both Republicans and Democrats - Clinton blames him for her loss to Trump - so a case could be made that it was time for a new start at the FBI under a new director. And, of course, the president is within his rights to fire the director, although never before in American history has a president under FBI investigation fired the man heading up the investigation. Whatever the theoretical justification for what Trump did, the suspicious timing obliterates any rationale.

The president's disregard for governmental norms underscores the need for an independent investigator to take over the Russia probe. It also requires GOP elected officials to put nation above party and treat with cold-eyed seriousness this president's willingness to abuse the powers of his office. U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, as well as Ohio Gov. John Kasich, have raised alarms, but they're among the lonely few, so far.

We would hope Republicans would join Democrats in opposing the appointment of a successor to Comey, until the Justice Department appoints a special prosecutor, one who can assure the American people that he or she is totally independent of the White House and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The attorney general, a man caught in a lie about his own ties to Russian officials, has recused himself from matters related to the Russia investigation, although his recusal didn't deter him from playing a central role in Comey's firing.

Lawmakers also must continue to insist that Trump release his tax returns, which are likely to offer insights into his Russian entanglements. "There are conflicts of interest coming out by the day," said U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, a tea-party Republican from Virginia who has urged the president to release his returns.

For Republicans reluctant to stand up for issues of patriotism and principle - and, so far, the reluctant ones include Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz - may we suggest a bit of bedtime reading: John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage," followed by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's "All the President's Men." (Yes, the current situation is that serious.)

As in 1974, history will record how today's lawmakers responded when a rogue president forced the nation into crisis. They need to ask themselves as they nod off to sleep at night whether the word "courage" will be affixed to their names when historians recount these tumultuous times.
A 17-year-old reportedly committed suicide in January while in custody at the Fort Bend County Jail.

Jail staff found the teen - charged with aggravated robbery involving a pellet gun and evading arrest - hanging in his cell, as reported by KPRC-TV.

The young man - who could not have gotten a tattoo without securing parental consent due to his age - had been held for almost a month before he died.

It wasn't an oversight that the teen was locked up in a jail that housed adults with guards used to dealing with adults in a facility that provided minimal rehabilitation resources.

A century-old law on the books in Texas provides that all 17-year-olds arrested in Texas, including juveniles who have committed misdemeanors, are automatically sent through the adult system, regardless of their alleged offense, their maturity level or their personal or criminal history, according to a legislative briefing report prepared by University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Texas is among only five states that treats 17-year-olds as adults in court. It's past time for the Legislature to update this antiquated law and to give teens in the criminal justice system a better opportunity to become productive adults.

In 1918 when this law was enacted, brain science was rudimentary. Since then, we've learned that adolescents' frontal lobes are still developing. This means that teens can have poor impulse control, but that they're also more receptive to rehabilitation than adults.

Research clearly shows that teenagers in the criminal justice system are more likely to move past delinquency and successfully transition to adulthood if they are served by a juvenile justice system. The vast majority of 17-year-old offenders are nonviolent. Fourteen percent are jailed for marijuana possession and 20.8 percent for theft of a motor vehicle, according to 2015 statistics. Often, these kids have not completed high school and 70 percent of them have mental illness.

Yet by sending them into the adult criminal system, they face a host of consequences. They're 34 percent more likely to be rearrested for a felony than youth who stay in the juvenile system. They lose job opportunities, can't obtain vocational licenses or educational loans. And tragically, they're 36 times more likely to commit suicide.

This session, the House did the right thing by voting to make 18 the age of adulthood in criminal justice. But state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat and chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, told Chronicle Austin bureau chief Mike Ward that the bill has no chance of passing the Senate. Whitmire, who in 2015 also iced the proposal, cited the need for more planning along with an estimated price tag of $50 million.

Cost is a concern, but the Justice Policy Institute released a report in March detailing how other states raised the age without significantly increasing juvenile justice system costs. Texas should be able to achieve similar results.

State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston and a co-sponsor of the bill, disputed Whitmire's position.

People should answer for their crimes regardless of their age, but 17-year-olds don't belong in prisons with adults. They deserve a shot at being productive citizens, something they're more likely to get in the juvenile system.

As a criminal justice system reform leader, Whitmire knows well that Texas has been at the forefront of criminal justice reform in other areas, notably with special courts that offer rehabilitative services and deferment of certain criminal charges. Why not add this effort to "raise the age" to the list of things Texas does well in criminal justice?
Panhandling as work

Regarding "Real change" (Page A16, Wednesday), this will sound odd but there is another thing overlooked in the panhandler problem for its participants. Panhandling is their work. It gives them something to do and a place to be. They have to plan how to get to their corner, how they are going to supply themselves, they have to strategize why one area is better than another, how much the traffic will bear for productive donations and when a market/corner has become saturated.

Also, they are their own boss, which is the environment most of them need and a major reason that makes them unemployable in the normal work world.

Sitting around all day with nothing to do is not very much fun. Ask any unemployable disabled person about waiting for a job. So in some sense they create their job.

Walt Lind, Nassau Bay

Rethink war strategy

Regarding "Trump aides back more GIs in Afghanistan" (Page A13, Wednesday), enough is enough. We should absolutely not send more troops to fight in our 15-year-old Afghanistan war. We should withdraw completely and let the Afghan people handle their own problems with the Taliban. We are considered the invaders; we are the enemy in Afghanistan. As long as we are there, the rebels will be fighting to get us out.

The same goes for Iraq. We should stay out of all civil wars. We should only help countries that have been invaded by outside forces like ISIS.

Our military spending is more than the next eight nations combined. We should cut back on defense spending and spend more on education.

Jimmy Dunne, Houston

Legislation all flat

Regarding "Brewers object to beer measure" (Page B1, Wednesday), the article on the pending brewery legislation makes you want to scratch your head. It looks like the distributors hold all the high cards regarding craft brewers here in Texas. It's time to change that. Are we going to encourage entrepreneurs, with their potential to grow business and employment, or are we going to protect distributors, who produce no value and just squeeze producers as well as consumers?

Paying 30 percent to distributors to take back their own beer is ridiculous on its face. Let's hope our legislators wake up and keep our entrepreneurial spirit here in Texas by rejecting the pending legislation.

George Eynon, Humble
In 2001, Texas lawmakers came up with an innovative way to improve air quality in Houston and other cities. The state would provide incentives to retool or replace heavy-duty vehicles and equipment to attain the goal of reducing pollution by getting rid of older, dirtier engines.

And it's worked. Since state lawmakers created the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, or TERP, the number of days with unhealthy air quality in the city each year has dropped from 79 to 42, according to the latest federal data. The improvement also has allowed business and industry to avoid more stringent and more expensive pollution controls to meet clean-air goals.

Despite its success, some lawmakers apparently have other ideas for the more than $1 billion earmarked for the program. Their position, however, misses the bottom line: Clean air is good for business and good for health.

This is precisely why the Environmental Defense Fund and Richardson Companies agree that lawmakers should keep their promise by appropriating every cent collected for this clean-air program for its intended purpose.

To date, Texas has raised $2.4 billion for the program, primarily through fees and surcharges on the purchase and lease of heavy-duty vehicles and equipment. Yet, the state has spent only $1.2 billion to reduce emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog. In the meantime, lawmakers are holding on to the unspent dollars to grow the state's coffers.

It's hard to understand why. Not only is it dishonest to apply these funds for anything but their stated purpose, but also, Houston and other cities still need to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's health-based targets for clean air. If a city fails to meet federal standards, its business and industry may face restrictions on expansion and find it harder to recruit employees.

These same economic- and health-related considerations led to the creation of TERP, which came about at the time Houston held the unwanted title as the nation's smog capital. The city is now in a period of accelerated growth and needs every available tool to be a healthy and vibrant place to live and work.

TERP is helping to improve Houston's air quality in a cost-effective way. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality estimates that it has cost less than $6,000 to remove a ton of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, or NOx, under the program.

Richardson Companies, for one, has scrapped more than 110 trucks and forklifts since 2005 and invested in cleaner equipment at Port Houston because of TERP. That is important because industrial activity and tailpipe emissions along the Houston Ship Channel can affect nearby communities, as well as contribute to dirty air in other parts of the region.

In all, TERP has helped the state reduce smog-forming pollution by some 172,000 tons through the replacement or upgrade of more than 17,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment. The program also has paid to reduce harmful pollution through an estimated 7,500 school buses, benefitting children through breathing cleaner air on their way to school.

So why is it that lawmakers are withholding money from TERP? It is not for lack of interest in the program by industry. The state received requests for three times the amount that was available during the last funding cycle. In effect, the shortsightedness of lawmakers prevented more clean-air projects from moving forward. Let's not divert funds from this important program until our work is done.

But there is still a chance to do the right thing.

Lawmakers can still allocate all money collected for TERP available for these clean-air projects. It is good for our health, and it is good for business.

Craft is a senior health scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund. Richardson is president of Richardson Companies.
Since my first session in the Texas Senate in 2011, I have seen anti-immigrant bills filed in every legislative cycle. For the most part, we've been successful in stopping them from being sent to the governor's desk.

The passage of SB4, a Texas-size "show me your papers" law, changes everything. It is the unfortunate but logical outcome of a Republican Party that has fully turned its back on the George W. Bush days, when it tried to appeal to Latinos.

SB4 does not make us safer. Numerous law enforcement leaders testified it would counter successful community-based strategies that have worked to keep crime rates down. We all support public safety, and policy decisions should be based on sound data and experience; with SB4, testimony and experience point to the contrary.

Other anti-immigrant bills moving through the legislative pipeline include:

the ongoing funding for "border security" to the tune of billions of dollars over the past few sessions, essentially turning the Texas Department of Public Safety into a state border patrol, with little accountability;

licensing federal detention centers run by for-profit prison corporations as "child care" facilities but giving them permission to not meet any minimum standards typically required of such facilities;

requiring state contractors to verify employees' citizenship status; and

prohibiting DREAMers from participating in work-study programs.

Other measures seem to emerge by the day.

This does not happen in a vacuum. Laws passed by the Republican majority to suppress the vote through voter ID and hyper-gerrymandering are among discriminatory measures found by six different federal courts to be unconstitutional. Nationally, the new president and his team are working hard to integrate local police into the "deportation force," while laying the groundwork for massive immigration incarceration. We all remember that now-President Trump announced his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants "rapists."

The canary in the coal mine was the unwarranted emphasis on "border security." Following the terrorist attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, the media and some elected officials unfairly connected unauthorized crossings on the southern border with threats to the United States.

This is simply false.

While we must maintain diligence at all entry points, especially air and sea ports, no serious terrorist plot in the U.S. has involved people crossing by land on the southern border.

Conservative talk show hosts and think tanks pushed this big lie and turned the border security fears into an constant attack ad against immigrants. Their electorate base ate it up, and Republican legislators ran with it.

In Texas, former Gov. Rick Perry morphed from a governor who signed the Texas DREAM Act in 2001 to one who falsely claimed there were bombs going off in El Paso in 2010. Others have amplified similar claims.

This lie conflated immigrants with both an existential and public safety crisis that simply does not exist but which, to this day, has become the most powerful driver of Texas primary voters. It has brought us to this anti-immigrant moment, which crystallized with the presidential campaign and subsequent administration, and now, with the Texas Legislature. If it does nothing else, the 85th Texas Legislature will have defined itself by the anti-immigrant bills it passes.

In Texas, for at least a generation, the Republican Party, whose candidates have held all statewide elected offices since 1994, has watched the changing demographics of the state. Republican leaders in Texas for years avoided overt attacks on immigrants that happened elsewhere, from California's virulent anti-immigrant Proposition 187 in the 1990s, to the Arizona debacle with its own "show-me-your-papers" bill, SB1070, in 2010.

Not only are immigrants an essential part of the cultural fabric of Texas, they fuel our state's economy. Both legal and unauthorized immigrants are critical to Texas' prosperity. In cities, suburbs and small towns from one end of Texas to the other, immigrants are working hard and contributing as researchers, entrepreneurs, farm hands, builders, cooks, roughnecks and so on. SB4 now stands as the Texas Legislature's response to their efforts. In the not too distant future, changing demographics and new voters will inevitably have the last word.

Rodriguez represents Texas Senate District 29, which includes El Paso and parts of West Texas, in the Texas Legislature.
A Houston man faces numerous charges following his arrest on Wednesday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Ronald R. Winole, 48, is charged with driving while revoked  first offense (misdemeanor), no proof of insurance, two Texas County warrants for possession of synthetic narcotics and four warrants for Texas County traffic violations (misdemeanors).

He was taken to the Texas County Jail.
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Ukraine and Turkey are preparing expansion of defense cooperation. The sides seek to establish cooperate in creation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), including unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), the press service of the Ukroboronprom State Concern has reported.

At the 13th International Defense Industry Fair IDEF 2017 held in Istanbul on May 9 through May 12 Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) signed a memorandum of cooperation to design and manufacture various types of UAV, including UCAV, for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The new agreements have been signed with participation of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov.

TAI is a Turkish technological center for designing, manufacturing, integration, modernization and life cycle support of integrated aerospace systems.

Antonov state enterprise is the leading Ukrainian developer and manufacturer of aircraft, the recognized world's leader in the niche of transport aircraft for wide purposes. The company cooperates with 76 countries. According to the government decision, Antonov has been part of Ukroboronprom state concern since April 2015.

Antonov is working on the creation of multifunctional operative and tactical unmanned aircraft system Horlytsia, which flight range is more than 1,000 km long. The delivery of new unmanned vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine could start in 2018 if the financing is provided.
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rting 1 October, employers will have to provide better personal accident insurance (PAI) coverage for their foreign domestic workers (FDWs) under revised rules by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).There are 239,700 FDWs in Singapore as of December 2016, according to the ministrys figures.The changes were made to ensure that all FDWs continue to be adequately compensated should they become permanently disabled or pass away during their employment in the city-state, the ministry announced on Sunday.Among other things, MOM has hiked the minimum sum assured from $40,000 to $60,000. This revision takes into account the increase in FDWs median wages over the years, since the last review of PAI coverage in 2008, said the ministry. It expects annual premiums to rise by $7 to $15.MOM will also specify that the period of PAI cover must be from the date the FDW first arrives in Singapore to the date the FDW returns to his or her country or, in the case where the person is changing employers, to the date the new work permit is issued.Although employers are responsible for the filing of claims with insurers for accidents covered under PAI, MOM will allow FDWs or their legal representatives to file claims directly with insurers. If an FDW or next of kin is unable to do so, a MOM-appointed representative can also be directed to act on their behalf.Insurers are also covered by the changes, MOM will require that PAI cover all sudden, unforeseen, and unexpected incidents that results in the death or permanent disability of the FDW.Today, different insurers provide different coverage for PAI, with some insurers taking a narrower definition of accidents and imposing more exclusions. As a result, some FDWs receive compensation for certain accidents, while others may not, even though the circumstances and injuries are the same, said MOM. Insurers will not be permitted to impose additional conditions, exceptions or exclusions except those specified by the Controller for Work Passes such as on pre-existing conditions and suicide.Employers will have to purchase PAI policies with the new requirements upon new application or renewal of FDW Work Permits from 1 October.Last year, the workplace fatality rate in Singapore remained at 1.9 per 100,000 employed persons while non-fatal injuries increased by 5.4%. Most workplace injuries involved crushing, fractures and dislocations. Amputations were the second most common injury, with 143 workers suffering from complete loss limb.
the Occupational Safety and Health Standards bill

Security of Tenure bills

the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers

Anti-Age Discrimination Law

Esguerra also discussed the Anti-Age Discrimination Law, which took effect on July last year. It does not pertain only to employees; it also pertains to applicants, he said.



The law has constitutional basis, according to Esguerra, as it relates to state policies outlined in the Constitution. He pointed out that the law put an end to some widespread aspects of job applications: Most of the common forms of job applications include date of birth  these were declared unlawful by this law.



He said another innovative provision is that the law covers publishers. They are not allowed to print, publish, or release in the internet any job notice or advertisement relating to preferences, limitations, specifications, and discrimination based on age.



The common practice of publishing in newspapers indicating age requirements is a prohibited act  and the publisher is included.



The law also affects companies redundancy policies, he said. Age should not be included in a companys criteria for choosing workers who will be let go.



However, there are some exceptions  such as when age is a bona fide occupational qualification that is reasonably necessary in the normal operation of a business.



Skills training & career development

Legislation has also been passed to help transition students towards full-fledged careers. The JobStart Philippines Act, for example, was signed into law June last year.



Basically, the law wants to have a collaboration between the private sector and the government, particular at the local government level, so that or youth can transition from their basic education to their actual employment, and in the process acquire the necessary skills, said Esguerra.



One incentive for employers is that the law gives them the opportunity to pay less compensation to these trainees, he added.



Missed opportunities?

According to research published in 2015 by the countrys central bank  the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)  a demographic window of opportunity is closing fast for the country. The window marks a time when a large percentage of Filipinos are part of the labour force.



Some 66.8% of the country's projected population of 141.7 million will be part of the 16-64 age bracket by the year 2040, figures from the National Statistical Coordination Board showed.



It should be emphasized though that demographic dividend is not automatic. The demographic transition simply creates a demographic window of opportunity that should be given the right kind of policy environment to produce a sustained period of economic growth, said Dennis Mapa, BSP Sterling Professor of Government and Official Statistics.



Without government aggressive efforts to reduce the countrys total fertility rate and policies geared towards creating more jobs, the window of opportunity from the demographic transition will close quickly without us even noticing it, he added.
Until last year, children were banned from the chambers and breastfeeding lawmakers were given a proxy vote. Waters was among the lead campaigners who pushed for change.

"If we want more young women in parliament, we must make the rules more family friendly to allow new mothers and new fathers to balance their parliamentary and parental duties, Walters said.



In New Zealand, employers have to give breastfeeding breaks and provide appropriate facilities  where reasonable and realistic  for women who want to breastfeed or express milk for their babies at work or during the working day.

The breaks are unpaid and in addition to rest and meal breaks, unless the employee and employer agree otherwise. If employers dont do this, the Employment Relations Authority can order them to comply or enforce a penalty.

While the Queensland senator has caused a stir  facing both praise and criticism from around the world  shes not the first politician to make a public stand in support of breastfeeding.

In 2016, Spanish MP Carolina Bescansa was both criticised and commended for taking her baby into parliament and breastfeeding him. In the same year, a politician in Iceland breastfed her one-month-old child while speaking at the national parliament.
When I think about developing reluctant learners, its not about labelling people as such but more about looking at them as a whole person, said Hunt.

Its about understanding that what engages us is unique to each of us and we probably all feel reluctant to learn at some point  for a number of different reasons.

Greer Williams, national L&D manager at KiwiRail, held the second session and provided a case study into leadership development at the transport firm.

Williams presentation will be followed by an informative panel on securing management buy-in for L&D programs, featuring senior figures from Tower Insurance, Vodafone NZ, Spectrum Care Trust and Farmers Trading Company.

Later this afternoon, Tony Roddan  rural fire training manager with the New Zealand Fire Service  will discuss how L&D professionals can achieve big results with a small budget.
Empowerment has always been at the core of our business and by looking after our employees were able to retain and attract amazing talent and give them the flexibility to perform at their best.

All employees will be entitled to take the leave as soon as they start work at Microsoft as the company has scrapped its previous six-month eligibility policy.

The tech firm also announced changes to its existing parental leave policy with primary caregiver leave increasing to from six weeks to 20 weeks and secondary caregiver leave increasing from two weeks to six weeks.

The policy applies to all parents  regardless of whether the child is theirs by birth, adoption or a foster relationship  and all those who take leave will receive 100 per cent of their salary.

Microsofts HR head Ebeny Kurz-Firth said employees are critical to the companys success and therefore so are their families.
Last week, Muhammad and Afraa Bilan, a Syrian couple who fled war-torn Damascus, welcomed the newest member of their family.

Born in Calgary, the baby boy weighed seven and a half pounds and came out with a head full of dark hair. And that mop seemed only appropriate, given his namesake  Justin Trudeau Adam Bilan.

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The name, of course, is in honour of Canada's prime minister, someone to whom the Bilan family is very thankful to after his refugee initiative welcomed over 40,000 Syrian refugees to Canada.

Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, arrives to speak during a roundtable discussion at the 2017 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, March 9, 2017.

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"We love this man, we appreciate him. He helped a lot of refugees. Hes the reason we are in Canada," Afraa Bilan told The Star.

The Bilan family, with their four-year-old daughter, Naya, and three-year-old son, Nael, arrived in Montreal in February of last year. They later moved to Calgary, the place where their baby Justin Trudeau will call home.

See a photo album of Justin Trudeau Adam Bilan, a baby born on Thursday to Syrian refugees living in Calgary https://t.co/zF7eGzoLXvpic.twitter.com/m6gbDklrjI  Maclean's Magazine (@macleans) May 7, 2017

But little Justin Trudeau Adam Bilan isn't the first baby to be named after Canada's leader  and he probably wont be the last. There were five other known babies before him, spread across the country.

The first family of Syrian refugees to pay tribute to Trudeau was the Al Shibli family of six who moved to Saint-Hyacinthe, in Quebec's Monteregie region. Their seventh child, a daughter, was born Justine Al Shibli.

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Justine in her mother's arms. (Photo: Supplied)

"Thank you so much, prime minister. We appreciate so much what you've done for us. You saved our lives. Every time we call our girl Justine, we'll remember that. She's so lucky to be able to grow up in a democratic country like Canada," mother Maysaa Al Nayef said through an interpreter as reported by HuffPost Quebec.

Justine is the only child in her family to have a Canadian first name.

When Syrian refugee mother Tarfa Ali Al Shheida was about to give birth in Windsor, Ont., she had a name picked out for both a boy and girl. If her newborn was to be a girl, her name would be Canada; a boy, Justin.

Justin Al Jaafar was the little boy that came into the Al Shheida's life.

Got to meet the cutest baby today! Syrian family names newest son after Justin Trudeau https://t.co/F2hPM7BaLC  Rima Hamadi (@RimaHamadi) March 8, 2017

"No matter what we say, or no matter how many kids we name after this country, it won't be enough for how our lives have changed," Al Jaafar told CBC. "We love Canada, it's our home, and we are so thankful."

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And in February, another baby Justin was born, to a family living in a North York, Ont. hotel room, this time to Hussam Eddin Alahmad and his family, who had only been in Canada for a month at the time of the birth.

 #Canada: Syrian refugee family (living in North York hotel) welcomes baby boy & named after Justin Trudeau. https://t.co/Bje2eQWKIspic.twitter.com/AtirRUZxqU  Onlinemagazin (@OnlineMagazin) February 13, 2017

"We find here humanity towards all people, they accept all cultures here," Alahmad, who noted it took his family five years to finally reach Canada, told CBC. "And we love Prime Minister Justin Trudeau."

It's an Arab tradition to name a child after a person with good character, Syrian refugee Ahmed Doso of Red Deer, Alta. told CBC. So when it came to naming their fifth son, it was a no-brainer that the family would name him Justin.

'He has a deep sense of humanity': Syrian refugee family names newborn son Justin after PM Trudeau  pic.twitter.com/0CPc0uMvyg  CBC Politics (@CBCPolitics) November 17, 2016

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"It's true the name Justin is Western and we are Eastern and Arabs but out of my admiration of Trudeau, I had no problem to name my son Justin  because I like this person. For me he is wonderful and compassionate, I hope all leaders whether Easterners or Westerners would be like him," Doso said.

Likely the most memorable tale came from 10-year-old viral sensation Abdel Kader Al Shaikh. He's the young Syrian refugee who looked absolutely exhausted and annoyed as he sat in the front row of Justin Trudeaus town hall meeting in Fredericton back in January.

The family, who was initially horrified by the incident, thinking they would be punished for it, went on to set the record straight. They explained Abdel wasn't fed up with Trudeau, but rather, with his two-year-old brother for crying during the prime minister's speech.

The real Justin Trudeau found the photo amusing, even commenting on it on Twitter.

I havent seen faces like these kids since I taught math class. Thanks New Brunswick! https://t.co/jS5ojwSCiM  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 17, 2017

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Once it was learned that Trudeau made light of the situation, the Al Shaikh family told the media it was their children's request that their next child would be named after the PM.

Days later, Justin Trudeau Al Shaikh was born.

Though naming a child after a president is a known tradition in the U.S., which started after the American revolution as a way to honour famous men, it's not as common in Canada. But it seems like our Prime Minister has started a serious name trend.

Besides all having babies named after the same man, all of these families can agree on the fact that their little bundle of Justin(e)s will grow up in a safe country with access to education and happiness  and those are rights that all children deserve.

Also on HuffPost

Trudeau Greets Syrian Refugees See Gallery
A New Zealand mom just gave birth to one of the biggest babies of 2017 so far!

The baby boy was born at Wellington Hospital via c-section on Monday, weighing a whopping 16 pounds, four ounces. According to the New Zealand Herald, the infant was so big that it took doctors three hours to administer an epidural to the mother because she couldnt bend over.

Now that their son is here, the anonymous parents say he is happy and healthy.

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This is the second child for the couple. Their first son was also a big baby, but he weighed 11 pounds, eight ounces in comparison.

While doctors predicted that the couples second child would weigh roughly 14 pounds at birth, the parents are still baffled by his large size. We are not that tall ourselves, so we are not sure where his size has come from  at the moment we are thinking he's probably just a big baby, they told Stuff.

So far, the couples baby boy is the biggest weve heard of in 2017 by a long shot. In January, Melbourne mom Natashia Corrigan gave birth naturally to a 13-pound boy and in April, California mom Jenna Reyes welcomed a son weighing 13.5 pounds.

The weight of an average newborn is about 7.5 pounds, so these big babies are certainly outstanding. But they are nothing compared to the infant who holds the Guinness World Record. In 1879, Canadian Giantess Anna Bates gave birth to a son in Ohio weighing an incredible 22 pounds. However, he sadly passed away 11 hours later.

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Also on HuffPost
The key risks of the Ukrainian banking sector are low operation efficiency of state-owned banks and low quality of their assets, according to the banking sector review published by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on its website.

"Largest state-owned banks require the radical change of their business models and designing long-term development strategies. The important step in this sphere should be amendments to legislation that would allow creating independent and professional supervisory boards and reshuffle managers of the banks if it is required," the NBU said.

The central bank said that along with retaining of macroeconomic stability in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2017, the upward trends of the previous periods strengthened in the banking system.

The NBU pointed out restoration of demand on banking services.

"First since the start of the crisis the hryvnia-pegged crediting of the public has stirred up. Not taking into account PrivatBank, which partially replaced retail credits in the P2P segment by the balance sheet crediting, growth was 2.8%," the NBU said.

In addition, deposit rates fell for 12 month deposits of individuals by 1.7 percentage points, to 15.7% per annum in hryvnias and by 1 percentage points, to 4.6% per annum in the U.S. dollars.

The driver for cutting hryvnia-pegged deposit rates was the interest policy of state-owned banks.

The central bank said that in January-April 2017 six banks were removed from the market, and the share of 20 largest banks in terms of net assets was 90.6%.
Eva Longoria has one solution to help the world move towards gender equality: get more Latinas into STEM.

In an essay for Refinery29, the 42-year-old actress reflected on the underrepresentation of Latina women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

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Only three per cent of Latina women are represented in STEM fields, she writes.

Eva Longoria at the FIFA Awards Ceremony.

Longoria identifies poverty as a factor for this, since you need money for education and 25 per cent of Latinas live below the poverty line, according to a U.S. Department of Education report.

But its not just about income. Longoria notes that the U.S. Department of Labour has estimated 1.1 million computing-related job openings by 2024, but without the proper education and qualifications, many Latinas wont be able to break into these fields.

More than half of these jobs may go unfilled due to the insufficient pool of qualified college graduates, Longoria warns. The job market is changing rapidly, and those in the workforce will need computing, engineering, and physics skills to be ready for the future world of work.

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As an advocate of gender equality, the Desperate Housewives star launched the Eva Longoria Foundation in 2012 to specifically help Latinas break out of poverty and find support through education.

Since 2013, my foundations STEM education programs have helped more than 1,600 young women develop technology skills, she explains in her essay. Lessons on coding, robotics, video game design, and 3D printing empower these girls to learn concepts that define our new job market.

In a 2014 interview with Los Angeles Magazine, Longoria revealed that Latina women in STEM fields experience both sexism and racism, which could explain the lack of women in these fields.

However, Longoria believes that with the right amount of encouragement and support, women can not only break into male-dominated fields, but also find success.

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When girls feel safe, comfortable, and encouraged by role models, they build confidence in their abilities and dive into technical math and computing projects, she writes in her essay.

A post shared by The Eva Longoria Foundation (@evalongoriafoundation) on Apr 26, 2017 at 2:23pm PDT





She also adds that all women, not just Latina girls, should be encouraged to break into STEM. When women have the education and skills that meet the needs of the modern job market, individuals, families, and our entire global community benefit, she notes. Their participation improves companies bottom lines, expands the qualified workforce, promotes equality, and drives innovation.

Longoria has always had an interest in education and STEM. In fact, despite becoming an actress, the 42-year-old continued her education, earning a masters degree in Chicano Studies at California State University. And to top that all off, her thesis was titled Success STEMS from Diversity: The Value of Latinas in STEM Careers.

Today is 50/50 Day! Join me for a live convo re #GettingTo5050 w/@tiffanyshlain at 1:45pm PT on FB Live here https://t.co/xPTGp7LWkDhttps://t.co/rTawhFx2Jd  Eva Longoria Baston (@EvaLongoria) May 10, 2017

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Longorias essay for Refinery29 was written in honour of 50/50 Day on May 10, which is a day dedicated to discussing how to make a more gender-balanced world.

To end her piece, the actress makes a powerful statement about fighting for equality: If we dont have a seat at the table, then the unique challenges women face will continue to be ignored.
Actress Monica Bellucci reopened the heated debate on the airbrushing of stars' photographs on Wednesday by declaring, "Thank heavens for retouching."

The Italian beauty, the oldest Bond girl ever at 50 in "Spectre," told AFP that she had learned to accept "seeing my face change" but she was not adverse to a little help from Photoshop.

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She said she was glad that magazines were airbrushing less than in the past and that the public was learning to love stars' little "imperfections."

Even so "I say thank heavens for retouching. It's airbrushing that saves us," she declared.

Monica Bellucci arrives at the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

The actress, now 52, said when she watched her latest film, Emir Kusturica's "On the Milky Road," she noticed that she had "lines around my eyes and everywhere. Ten years ago I didn't have them. I see how I have changed on screen.

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"That said, I look at myself with compassion," she added.

"I didn't say to myself, 'Oh my God, it's monstrous!' No, I think it is charming," said the mother of two.

"Being seen as a mature woman doesn't bother me. You have to be like that. Maybe in 10 years I will be monstrous and I might change my mind because I have too many wrinkles.

"But for now, I'm fine about it."

The former model, whose new book of interviews Rencontres Clandestines (Secret Meetings) is published Wednesday in France, also said people should not look down on women who have had cosmetic surgery.

- 'Do what's good for you' -

"When I see mature women who haven't been redone I don't say, 'She should get her face lifted.' I think to myself, 'She is very lovely like that.'

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"However, when you see someone who has had work and who is beautiful with it, I say to myself, 'She did the right thing,'" she added.

"You have to do what is good for you," said the actress, who will be master of ceremonies at the Cannes Film Festival later this month.

"Plastic surgery is there. If it makes you happy, why not do it?"

Bellucci said she felt "a big change was under way" with retouching and the way we see older women, which cheered her.

Feminists have long argued that airbrushing contributes to self-image problems, helping to set impossible standards women cannot live up to.

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Lea Seydoux, Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci attend the 'Spectre' Paris Premiere at Le Grand Rex on October 29, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images)

However, the practice has become widespread on social media even as celebrity magazines are regularly attacked for making stars look too perfect.

"They retouch photos because we have become accustomed to a kind of plasticated image," she said.

"But we should sense the skin, the little faults. We are getting more and more used to not looking as these little faults as imperfections."

"When I see mature women who haven't been redone I don't say, 'She should get her face lifted.' I think to myself, 'She is very lovely like that.'"

The Cannes Film Festival sparked an outcry last month for airbrushing the thighs of Claudia Cardinale in a vintage image of the veteran Italian actress it used for this year's poster.

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While the French media and some feminist groups poured scorn on the festival, Bellucci said: "The important thing was that Claudia Cardinale was happy with it."
For the last 16 years Afghanistan celebrates April 28th by honoring its Mujahidins, an Afghan term which somewhat translates to Warriors of Religion or Warriors of God, depending who you ask. The celebrations, a vigorously enforced public propaganda in the form of a national holiday, was made much more significant than usual this year with the return of Gulbudin Hekmatyar, the man responsible for the deaths of over 60 thousand innocent Afghan civilians.

During the 90's civil war, Hekmatyar nicknamed "the butcher of Kabul" by Afghans, unleashed a massive barrage of artillery and rockets on the capital while laying siege to it. Thousands either died because of the shelling or succumbed to famine.

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This past weekend, after 20 years of banishment, Hekmatyar reappeared in eastern Afghanistan in the province of Laghman. Early images and videos show a lineup of Afghan men in military uniform and turban kissing Hekmatyar's hands. Whether it is a sign of allegiance to the returned warlord or a sign of respect to the so-called Warrior of God, remains to be determined.

So why is this Canada's problem?

Well for starters, since 2001, from his hideout in Pakistan, Hekmatyar has guided his own legion of "wannabe" Warriors of God to the path to heaven, by sending them to Afghanistan to indiscriminately inflict maximum damage. Many of our fallen Canadians have likely been the victims of these heaven-bound passengers.

In early September 2016, the failing regime of Afghanistan signed a truce with Hekmatyar, granting him and his party the Hizb-i-Islami -- which ironically translates to Party of Islam -- full immunity, a Warrior of God`s welcome and financial compensation for "...his years of struggle for the peace and freedom of Afghanistan..."

Now that Hekmatyar is in Afghanistan he will be enjoying that wealth, fortified villas and around the clock military protection.

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Again, why is this Canada's problem?

Speaking to a packed room at the University of Ottawa, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), John F. Sopko, delivered the raw picture of the disappointing reality on the ground. Sopko was invited by the university's Centre for International Policy Studies in early April 2017 to share his agency's (SIGAR) 16 years of observations and lessons learned in Afghanistan.

In July 2016, the Trudeau government extended this country's financial aid to Afghanistan by another 150 million dollars per year until 2020. That is a little over half a billion dollars of Canadian tax payer's money to a country that has already received exponentially more funds than the U.S. Marshall Plan, which resuscitated Europe after World War II.

In their 2016 report, SIGAR unveiled an elaborate scheme nicknamed Ghost Soldiers in which scores of non-existent soldier names were listed on official Afghan government paper trails to collect higher funding. According to SIGAR, Afghanistan, a country the size of Texas, has more generals than the entire United States military, with over a thousand generals. Most of whom bought their stripes through ethnic or family patronage "...an insidious combination of poor leadership and corruption is the reason for the Afghan military's failure..."

Just a week ago, the Afghan minister of defense Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim, both resigned over a growing outcry because of their roles in the terror attacks on the country's 209th Shaheen Army corps mosque in the province of Mazar-e-Sharif where over 300 men have lost their lives. Both men have been conveniently and swiftly relocated to ambassadorial roles to Jordan and Kazakhstan, effectively avoiding any formal judicial inquiry or accountability.

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The moral of the story is that no amount of wealth in the universe will fix the incompetence of the Afghan regime. In their failure to defeat the enemy and maintain its territorial sovereignty -- it sought to mask its shortcomings by bribing them with foreign aid, land and honorary titles.

Canadians should make no mistake that their tax dollars has/is and will be paying for Hekmatyar's lavish retirement.

If our American neighbour's longest military engagement has taught anyone anything -- it is that until the Afghan regime and those in position of power in Afghanistan are not held accountable and meticulously monitored, not only will there not be any gains, but both the Afghan people and the international community will suffer great losses, Hekmatyar being one of those incomprehensible failures.
Much of the argument in favour of GM agriculture involves little more than misrepresentations and unscrupulous attacks on those who express concerns about the technology. These attacks are in part designed to whip up populist sentiment and denigrate critics so corporate interests can secure further control over agriculture.

They also serve to divert attention from the underlying issues pertaining to hunger and poverty and genuine solutions, as well as the self-interest of the pro-GMO lobby itself.

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The very foundation of the GMO agritech sector is based on a fraud. The sector and the wider transnational agribusiness cartel to which it belongs have also successfully captured for their own interests many international and national bodies and policies, including the WTO, various trade deals, governments institutions and regulators.

Global corporations like Monsanto are waging an ideological war against not only critics but the public, too. For instance, consider that the majority of the British public and the Canadian public have valid concerns about GM food and do not want them. However, the British government was found to have been secretly colluding with the industry and the Canadian government is attempting to soften up the public to try to get people to change their opinions.

Instead of serving the public interest by holding powerful corporations to account, officials seem more inclined to serve the interests of the sector.

It clearly has little to do with "choice," "democracy" or objective science.

Beneath the superficial facade of working in the interest of humanity, the sector is driven by a neoliberal fundamentalism which demands the entrenchment of capitalist agriculture via deregulation and the corporate control of seeds, land, fertilisers, water, pesticides and food processing.

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If anything matters to the corporate agribusiness/agritech industry, contrary to the public image it tries to convey, it clearly has little to do with "choice," "democracy" or objective science. It has more to do with undermining and debasing these concepts and displacing existing systems of production.

Critics are highlighting not only how the industry has subverted and debased science and has infiltrated key public institutions and regulatory bodies, but they are also showing how trade and aid is used to subjugate regions and the most productive components of global agriculture -- the small/peasant farmer -- to the needs of powerful commercial entities.

By doing this, critics stab hard at the heart such corporate interests and their neoliberal agenda.

The geopolitics of food and agriculture has played a significant role in creating food-deficit regions. For instance, African agriculture has been reshaped on behalf of agribusiness interests. The Gates Foundation is currently spearheading the ambitions of corporate America and the scramble for Africa by global agribusiness. And in India, there has been an ongoing attempt to do the same: a project that is now reaching a critical phase as the motives of the state acting on behalf of private (foreign) capital are laid bare and the devastating effects on health, environment and social conditions are clear for see.

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And embedded within the system is a certain mentality: an ideological commitment to corporate power.

The global system of a capitalism and the system of agriculture being promoted are propped up by the blood money of militarism (Ukraine and Iraq), "structural adjustment" and strings-attached loans (Africa) or slanted trade deals (India) whereby transnational agribusiness drives a global agenda to suit its interests and eradicate impediments to profit.

However, what really irks the corporate interests which fuel the current GMO/chemical-intensive industrialised model of agriculture is that critics are offering genuine alternatives and solutions. They advocate a shift towards more organic-based systems of agriculture, which includes providing support to small farms and an agroecology movement that is empowering to people politically, socially and economically.

The scaling up of agroecology can tackle hunger, malnutrition, environmental degradation and climate change.

This represents a challenge to all good neoliberal evangelists with a stake in corporate agriculture who rely on smears to attack those who advocate for such things.

To understand what agroecology involves, let us turn to Raj Patel:

"Modern farming turns fields into factories. Inorganic fertilizer adds nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous to the soil; pesticides kill anything that crawls; herbicides nuke anything green and unwanted--all to create an assembly line that spits out a single crop... Agro-ecology uses nature's far more complex systems to do the same thing more efficiently and without the chemistry set. Nitrogen-fixing beans are grown instead of inorganic fertilizer; flowers are used to attract beneficial insects to manage pests; weeds are crowded out with more intensive planting. The result is a sophisticated polyculture."

He adds that the scaling up of agroecology can tackle hunger, malnutrition, environmental degradation and climate change. By creating securely paid labour-intensive agricultural work, it can also address the interrelated links between labour offshoring by rich countries and the removal of rural populations elsewhere who end up in sweat shops to carry out the outsourced jobs: the two-pronged process of neoliberal globalisation that has devastated the economies of the US and UK and which is displacing existing indigenous food production systems and undermining the rural infrastructure in places like India to produce a reserve army of cheap labour.

When you are part of the problem and fuel and benefit from it, you will do your best to attack and denigrate anything or anyone that challenges your interests.
Between 1231 and 1259, the Mongol Empire invaded Korea nine times. Death and pillage followed the hooves of Mongol cavalry. During the fifth invasion, an army of Mongols arrived at a castle. Most of Korean nobles had either fled, or refused to fight. Only few brave warriors, untouchables, and slaves stood ground. The commander promised them freedom. He burned all of their slave documents. Promise of freedom gave them a courage to go outside the gate and fight against the world's strongest army. Unable to regroup after the surprise, the Mongols retreated.

Throughout history, people's desire to be freed from tyranny and enslavement has achieved the impossible. The 2016-17 Candlelight Revolution is no different. In a society dominated by a handful of elites and business conglomerates known as chaebol, Koreans faced numerous challenges against the inhumane, cruel status quo.

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There are many corrupt and ignorant elites in the world but South Korea has some of the worst. Numerous incidents of the Korean elites revealing their disdain for the ordinary people had occurred in past. A while back, a senior official from the Ministry of Education had compared the South Korean 99 per cent to "dogs and pigs."

The impeached president Park Geun-hye has clearly shown that she thinks the same about Korean people. No incident shows her lack of empathy better than the Sewol ferry disaster. While over 300 passengers, mostly teenagers, were drowning inside the sinking ship, her whereabouts during the first seven hours after the incident still remains in secret. Worse yet, she even compared labour and human rights activists to ISIS.

Even dogs and pigs know more of empathy for the sufferings of others.

Ordinary Koreans have proven to their leaders that they are not "dogs and pigs." Rather than letting Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil go unpunished, they went out to streets and demanded justice. With candles in their hands, and glowing courage in their hearts, millions of people stood at the square for almost half a year. Millions of candles symbolized people's desire to be freed from the inhumane elites. Many protesters also wore the yellow ribbon -- a symbol of solidarity with the families of Sewol victims demanding justice and truth.

The protesters were not out in the streets because they had plenty of time and sympathy to share. South Korea has the second highest working hours among OECD countries, next to Mexico. South Koreans are some of the unhappiest people among OECD countries. In other words, the majority of protesters were preoccupied with their own problems. But unlike Park's supporters, who accused the victims' families of being communist proxy of North Korea and organized food binge party to mock the families on hunger strike, they were able to put their priorities aside, and cry with the families. In this era of inhumanity, they have proven that humanity has yet perished.

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For the first time in decade, South Koreans voted for humanity, not for greed or nostalgia. Like millions of Candlelight protesters, Moon Jae-in is one of the few candidates who have remained on the side of humanity. As a student, he was jailed for protesting against Park Jung-hee's dictatorship. He later became a human rights lawyer and spent years fighting for workers, students and activists. While Park, and her supporters were busy mocking the families of Sewol victims, he wore the yellow ribbon and joined the hunger strike.

Moon's presidency has just begun. Yet there already has been a great shift. Like his predecessor and friend, Roh Moo-hyun, he calls for peaceful relations with North Korea. The impressive credentials of the appointees to key position in his government shows that he is willing to take great efforts in reforming various ministries that took part in Park's scandal. His first presidential order was to create a special committee for creating more and better employment for Koreans. He has also stressed on the importance of conducting a thorough investigation on Park's scandal and Sewol incident.

The French philosopher Albert Camus wrote: "A living man can be enslaved and reduced to the historic condition of an object. But if he dies in refusing to be enslaved, he reaffirms the existence of another kind of human nature which refuses to be classified as an object."

Not everyone has the courage to stand against the modern society that easily commodifies people as objects. The situation has worsen in recent years as greed and nostalgia has plagued the world. South Korea was no exception. But after a decade of greed and nostalgia, Koreans have come to understand that humanity matters more than anything. Therefore, they refused to continue living 'enslaved' under individuals like Park.

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It is still too early to be certain whether the people will remain vigil and Moon will be able to accomplish what he promised. But the regime change in South Korea carries a greater significance. For it may be the beginning of a fundamental shift in world politics -- from politics of greed and nostalgia to politics that puts humanity above all else.

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Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on Wednesday extended the state of emergency in the electricity market introduced three months ago for one more month.

"We need to expand [the state of emergency] as we are to make quick managerial decisions: unfortunately, we manage the system not as usual. We will pass this test, no matter whoever impede us," Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said at a government meeting on Thursday.

Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk said that the introduction of the state of emergency allowed saving 1.7 million tonnes of coal and boost its stocks at warehouses to 2.2 million tonnes, which equals to the stocks recorded in autumn 2016, before the start of the heating season.

Nasalyk said that thanks to the taken measures contribution of nuclear energy in electricity generation in Ukraine in April reached 62.5%, and the record was broken last Sunday  68% compared to 47% in May 2016.

As reported, emergency measures in the energy sector, stipulated in government resolution No. 103-r of February 15, came into effect on February 17 because of the blockade by activists with the support of a number of people's deputies of deliveries of goods from the ATO zone, in particular, anthracite coal, which is used by half of thermal power plants in the country.

During the period of emergency measures, Ukrenergo is obliged to determine the permissible level of reducing the reserve of power generating capacities, establish requirements for thermal power plants equipment, if necessary and in coordination with the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry to apply rolling blackouts.

Energomarket state-run enterprise is to draw up schedules for loading the power grid, taking into account the needs of Ukrenergo, provide for sending payments for electricity to its generators at the upper price in the system.

Energoatom is obliged to provide for partial unloading of some reactors of nuclear power plants (NPPs) on weekends and holidays if it is required.
ICYMI: and of course, you did miss it... almost everyone did. Bill S-208, An Act Respecting National Seal Products Day, was at the bottom of the order paper, not expected to reappear for months.

But once again the Liberal government has stealthily rammed a bill through the House of Commons, and Canada will now add May 20 to its list of national days. That's right, nestled amongst a calendar of dates devoted primarily to recognition of historical figures, the solemn remembrance of military battles and raising awareness for illnesses, Parliament has inaugurated a day glorifying the annual slaughter of seal pups.

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Although the purpose of National Seal Products Day is supposedly to celebrate the importance of the seal hunt for Canada's indigenous people and coastal communities, politicians have inexplicably chosen to focus on seal "products" rather than the people, culture and traditions that have been historically involved in seal hunting.

And if the "debate" that has accompanied this bill is any indication, National Seal Products Day is far more likely to be a day of falsehoods, finger-pointing and fear-mongering, albeit dressed up in a fur coat.

These atrocities will continue to happen for as long as the commercial seal slaughter exists.

Then there is the finger-pointing and fault-finding: the whining about the "unfair publicity" over the sealing industry's terrible image, and the complaints of the "unfairness" of countries that ban seal products.

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Spoiler alert: the commercial seal hunt has a terrible image because terrible things happen in the course of the annual slaughter. Seals sliced open while alive and conscious [warning: link contains graphic content]. Their skulls smashed with hakapiks and left to choke and suffocate in their own blood. Pups hooked in the face as they helplessly attempt to defend themselves.

This is not "misinformation." This is fact. These things have happened; I have seen them for myself. And I share the opinion of numerous veterinary experts that these atrocities will continue to happen for as long as the commercial seal slaughter exists.

Contrary to several MPs' grievances, the numerous countries that have banned seal products are not doing so to pass "judgement" on Canadian culture. They are banning seal products because (unlike most of the politicians responsible for Seal Products Day) they have viewed the video evidence from Canada's East Coast seal hunt, they have read the scientific reports and they have determined they do not want products from certain types of seal hunts in their marketplace. The World Trade Organization has ruled that they have the right to ban seal products, and it's time Canadian politicians stopped their whining about it.

And, finally, the fear. Alarmists like MP Robert Sopuk (CPC, Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa) are now so entirely predictable in their response that it doesn't matter what issue is being discussed. It's the classic slippery slope fallacy: anyone with a desire to improve conditions for non-human life on this planet is obviously part of some subversive, radical agenda to end all forms of animal use and resource extraction. His statements border on the ridiculous and should be easy enough for anyone with a modicum of critical thinking to dismiss... and yet this type of thinking persists in Parliament.

The world is changing and attitudes towards animals are changing with it.

It's enough to make a compassionate Canadian want to throw their hands up in despair. What do we do with a government that refuses to update Criminal Code legislation that allows bestiality, but will fast track a bill so that they can wear furry bow ties once a year?

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Canada is clearly out of step with the international community when it comes to animal protection. For those of us concerned with the conservation and welfare of all life on this planet, it is often frustrating, if not downright depressing. In times like these, it can be helpful (and indeed, necessary) to look elsewhere in the world to see the positive change that is happening for animals.

South of the border, a bipartisan bill to end the cruel practice of shark finning has been introduced in the the United States House of Representatives. A similar bill to end the import of shark fins, S-238, has yet to be debated in the Canadian Senate, but it too is likely to face a phalanx of falsehoods, finger-pointing and fear.

The world is changing and attitudes towards animals are changing with it. Canada is reactionary when it comes to animal issues, but we must not give up fighting for what is right and we must not let those who fear change win. Please continue to let your member of Parliament know that you want to see stronger protections for animals in Canada. Together we can make a difference -- for all the animals.

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Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Last week saw the election of the first batch of metro mayors. Areas with a new mayor include the major urban conurbations of Greater Manchester (where former Labour Health Secretary Andy Burnham was successful) and the West Midlands (where former John Lewis boss Andy Street was elected for the Conservatives).

In a political world dominated by Brexit, devolution will probably be the main enabler of public service reform for the foreseeable future. There is a lot resting on the imagination and determination of these new mayors. At Mutual Ventures, we talk a lot about public service entrepreneurship and any entrepreneur will tell you that experimentation (the process of trial and error) is critical to the development of new ideas. Will devolution and the creation of new mayors facilitate this?

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There are some good UK examples of innovation in public service, particularly in areas like children's services and health and social care where we are seeing some really interesting new ways of working. These often involve new more independent delivery models where unnecessary bureaucracy is removed and staff are empowered to use their professional judgement (check out Achieving for Children and PossAbilities as examples). At the very least this creates the opportunity to be more experimental and innovative - but is that enough?

In Canada, the government have committed to spending a fixed percentage of programme funds to experimenting with new approaches and measuring impact. They define experimentation as "testing new approaches to learn what works and what does not work using a rigorous method."

Surely, I hear you say, this is what every sensible government does day-in day-out? Not quite. Remembering that the proposition in Canada is that this experimental activity takes place during the running of a programme or a service. They are talking about actively supporting staff to continually experiment and are creating safe spaces for them to prototype new ideas. Prototyping is essentially trying out an idea on a micro scale first which will show up any fundamental issues which can be addressed before further prototyping and wider testing. Prototyping is very different to piloting, which we are more used to in the UK. The UK public sector pilots all the time. However, these are usually on a large scale, usually more normative (based on theory) than empirical (based on creating and collecting facts) and often end up taking as long as a full scale roll out would take anyway. By the time it's rolled out and any lessons are learned, the initially identified need has often completely changed. This is why public service professionals get nervous around talk of "innovation" and why we need to change mind-sets towards smaller scale prototyping.

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This approach would be natural in a business environment - but the lack of a profit motive means that other drivers are needed. Whilst devoting a fixed percentage of spend to innovation and experimentation, as they have done in Canada, certainly sets a very clear expectation and direction from the top down, it does feel a bit arbitrary. You could imagine a situation where departments who are short of their target end up frantically looking to classify activity as experimentation as the year end approaches!

It would be much better if we could adjust the culture in government (central and local) to encourage well-intentioned and insulated experimentation. This will be a challenge. A lot of excellent frontline professionals, working in areas such as children's social care, are noticeably uncomfortable when words like "experiment" are used alongside words they are more used to, such as "safety". This is why a big focus of the Canadian model is an expectation that departmental heads "foster work environments that are conducive to experimentation, innovation and intelligent risk taking".

The government is starting to edge towards this and is getting serious about gathering data on what works with the establishment of a series of "What works centres" across central government. But these on their own will not solve the problem.
A girl drinks water from the village handpump in Bhikampur, Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, India. WaterAid/Mansi Thapliyal

This week I will leave what has to be one of the best jobs in the world.

After nearly 12 incredible years as chief executive at WaterAid, I am retiring - though it was not an easy decision to step away from the energy and dedication of this wonderful organisation.

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It's sometimes hard to explain our passion for ensuring everyone, everywhere gets access to the basics we take for granted, that is clean water from the tap and decent flushing loos. How can a toilet be an inspiration, you may well ask? It certainly can. The alternative is children and their parents defecating in the open and getting sick as a result.

Every day that I have worked for WaterAid, I have been energised and motivated, hearing the stories of lives transformed by having clean drinking water nearby, good hygiene and a decent place in which men, women and children can go to the toilet safely and with dignity. We have seen children finish school and go on to contribute to their community, parents who have become better able to provide for and care for their children, and women empowered beyond their previous traditional roles to become leaders in their communities.

Beacons of light amid crises

The stories from the people we have met are beacons of light amid the terrible humanitarian crises which the world is presently facing, and in light of public questioning of the importance of overseas aid. It is so clear to me that as global citizens we all have an interest in investing in helping those less fortunate than ourselves to live decent lives, freed from poverty.

There is a huge task before us. Some 663 million people are still without access to clean water and nearly 2.4 billion are without a decent, private toilet.

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A few weeks ago, I visited a Dalit community in a rural area outside of Lucknow in India - some of the most marginalised people in the world, eking out a living with next to nothing. WaterAid and our local partner organisation had been talking to them about the tradition of open defecation - shared by more than half a billion people in India - which was contaminating their water and food, and making their children ill.

Despite already working long hours, the community's volunteer health committee decided to rise at 4 am each day, to encourage people to use the new communal latrines, rather than going into the bush. It took months, and the committee was at times deeply unpopular for their efforts, but eventually everyone did change their habits. By the time I visited, everyone was very proud and keen to tell us how their families were now healthier and that their children were no longer getting diarrhoea.

Realising dreams

Most inspiring for me were the girls who were so proud of their school's new water source and latrines. They dream of being teachers and IT workers - dreams which may now be realised, now that they can finish their education with fewer bouts of illness and a way to care for themselves at school during their periods.

In these rather uncertain times, it can be easy to lose sight of the huge progress that has been made in recent decades. As recently as 2000, 18% of the world's population did not have access to clean water; within 15 years this had dropped to less than 10%.

But huge change is required if the UN Global Goals on sustainable development to end extreme poverty by 2030, and to create a healthier, more sustainable world, are to be achieved.

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This requires concerted effort from everyone -- national governments, the private sector and international agencies and civil society organisations like WaterAid. We need to work together, collaborating and adopting innovative ways to address these 17 goals, which cover health, education, women's rights, the environment and of course Goal 6 to reach everyone, everywhere with water and sanitation.

Lightning progress

It took 58 years for humanity to advance from the first aeroplane in 1903 to the first space flight in 1961. The Internet grew from a first test message in 1971 to integral to everyday life in less than 30 years. Facebook took just 13 years to reach 1.9 billion people. Almost as many people in the world now have mobile phones (4.8 billion) as have toilets (4.9 billion).

When we are motivated and driven, progress can be lightning-fast. With determination and political will, the right systems and finances, innovation and dedication we can ensure a healthier, happier, more prosperous future for everyone on our planet, and we can do it in our lifetime.

This can be achieved. And no one should be left behind.
It is Mental Health Awareness Week, and I want to discuss how personal development through continuous efforts over months and years can improve mental health. No, I am not talking about psychotherapy, although everything I say here equally applies to psychotherapy. I am talking about Kung Fu.

A few weeks ago, Crystal and I, with many other students, joined the grading to our next level of Kung Fu training. Kung Fu grading is a stressful business, and it is difficult for everybody. But for Crystal, it should have been impossible. Or at least so it seemed, last year.

Because Crystal is featured in an episode of the 2016 BBC Programme The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs, dedicated to the excessive use of medications for pain in our society. At that time, Crystal was taking 30-40 painkiller pills a day: opiates, anti-inflammatory drugs, and drugs to counteract the side effects of the opiates. Her chronic pain was so bad that she would constantly be hunched over, or she would lie in bed on her back. Crystal's difficulties were primarily with physical pain, although depression and physical pain often cohabit and worsen each other.

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People who think that antidepressants are overprescribed and dangerous (they are not) should check out the real tragedy with opioid painkillers. Outcries for the US opioid painkillers epidemic have been resonating for years: nearly 20,000 US citizens died as a result of prescription opioid overdoses in 2014, and the death of the musician Prince has also been associated with an accidental overdose on an opioid painkiller. Concerns that opioid painkillers are prescribed excessively in the UK have recently been brought to the attention of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence.

In January 2016, Crystal stopped all medications over the course of two weeks, while starting to practise the slow, Suang Yang Tai Chi style of Kung Fu, and few months later started the more active, hard style White Crane Kung Fu. Today, she rarely takes painkillers, and has learned, in her own words, to "exercise through the pain rather than remaining still and turning to pills".

Crystal with our Chief Instructor, Dennis Ngo. Photo by Sharon Ngo.

Crystal's journey has made me reflect on the indissolubility of mental and physical health: on the bond between the mind, the brain and the body. Her experience demonstrates that you cannot address one dimension without addressing the others.

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Physical exercise has anti-pain and antidepressant effects, and the internet is full of personal accounts of how exercise helps with sadness and even with suicidal ideation. Experimental studies show that this might be due to the ability of physical exercise to dampen the activity of the immune system, and research from my group and others has shown that both pain and depression are associated with a hyperactive immune system, which participates to the development and maintenance of the symptoms.

But Kung Fu is more than just this physiological explanation. Kung Fu would be considered, in technical terms, a 'complex intervention', meaning that there are multiple 'active ingredients' that could help therapeutically, spanning biology, psychology, alternative medicine and spirituality.

So, how has Kung Fu helped me?

First of all, Kung Fu has taught me acceptance of physical pain. Pain is a normal part of learning, and an experienced instructor will be able to differentiate training pain from injury pain and to offer the correct programme of exercise for the individual student. And by learning to tolerate physical pain, I have also learned to tolerate emotional pain: surviving a hard session of training, or getting punched and kicked while sparring, has pushed my limits and made me find a stamina I never thought I had.

Clinical studies have shown that acceptance of physical and emotional pain is associated with less stress and better quality of life. For me, acceptance of pain has increased my self-esteem: it has taught me to stand tall, to walk straight, to hold my opponent's gaze. Not only in Kung Fu situations: I have become less tolerant of intimidation, and more able to take care of myself, even within my professional environment. If you think that a sparring competition triggers aggressiveness, you should come to a meeting of academics!

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Here I am, competing in hard style Kung Fu patterns. Photo by Ben Hallifax.

But, if you accept the principles of alternative medicine, Kung Fu also mobilises the same mental and physical spirituality that is accessed, in different ways, by yoga and meditation, both of which are beneficial for health. My instructor once said to me that focussing on breathing as part of Kung Fu training helps to clear negative thoughts. Meditation has a positive impact on mental health, and thus these comments on Kung Fu and breathing point to the enormous power of sustained personal development, whatever the theoretical framework.

In addition, Kung Fu is a martial art, and thus all the movements that we learn have the technical potential to be lethal. While I do not want to suggest for a moment that I am trained as an assassin, I have developed an understanding of the fragility of life. Action movies, with their lengthy fighting scenes, trick the viewers into thinking that it takes a lot of blows to take someone down. But Kung Fu teaches the truth: that you could be killed in an instant, by a single blow of a bare hand. Understanding the fragility of life has enhanced my compassion, acceptance, and gratitude. And compassion meditation is an effective psychological intervention for depression.

Of course, I do not think that Kung Fu (or yoga, or physical exercise) is the solution for every pain, for every patient, or for every occasion. And the concerns about over-medicalisation and over-prescribing should not distract us from the fact that, in general, most people cannot access painkillers or antidepressants, even when it is clinically appropriate.
Fake news. The phrase gets flung around so much. Simply put, fake news is a story which is factually incorrect. The vast majority of fake news is found on social media sites; actual media outlets in the UK voluntarily regulate themselves. Even if they didn't, it's much easier to bring a legal case against a person or company rather than a faceless social media account.

This means we mainly encounter fake news stories in our social feeds as attention grabbing headlines which cultivate an emotional reaction in us, whether that's anger, sadness, or amusement. Publishers of fake news stories do so for a range of reasons. They might do it simply to make money from advertising revenues generated by users clicking on their "click bait" headlines. On the other end of the spectrum, in the words of a report from Facebook's Security team two weeks ago, "we identified malicious actors on Facebook who, via inauthentic accounts, actively engaged across the political spectrum with the apparent intent of increasing tensions between supporters of these groups and fracturing their supportive base." i.e. some publishers of fake news do so to cause friction in our society. That last motive is particularly concerning for us in the UK as we head to a general election.

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It's easy to believe that we're immune to manipulation, but truth be told, us human beings are an emotional lot. Whether it's a toilet roll advert with a puppy that made you cry, or an advert that empowered you by saying a girl can grow up to be whatever she wants. Things with an emotional message tend to stick around in our subconscious and influence us. Take for example the slogan "take back control" from the UK's Vote Leave campaign vs. the Remain campaign's... I can't remember it, can you?

Back to fake news. It's an incredibly hard problem to solve because of the scale of the issue and the difficulty in drawing a line where opinion becomes fake news. It's something that all social platforms are battling with, although Facebook faces the most attention as it counts a quarter of the world's population as members.

Facebook's answer has been to allow users to flag stories they feel are fake to third party fact checkers. The third party checks it, and if they agree it is fake, Facebook displays a "disputed" label next to the story. People are also warned it is "disputed" when they try to share it.

It's better than nothing but it's not a fully formed solution for three reasons:

First of all, there are quite literally millions of pieces of content shared on Facebook every minute. Even if a tiny amount of this is fake news that's a lot of content to check. Right now these checks are being done by humans and there's a limit to the volume of content they can review.

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Secondly, if a story is deemed to be fake it is labelled as "disputed" rather than being removed from the site. Going back to my point about emotions, if I strongly believe that something is true, a disputed flag is not going to cause me to re-evaluate my views. Last year over 2 million people interacted with a fake story which claimed Obama banned the pledge of allegiance in American schools. If I already distrusted Obama, placing a "disputed" flag next to the story would not stop the story subconsciously influencing me.

Finally, trust in the media is falling. 24% of British people trust the media. In America only 14% of Republicans trust the press. Facebook is treading a fine line where they could very easily be perceived as part of the "crooked media" downplaying another "alternate fact".

So as emotional, easily swayed human beings we are the worst people at saving ourselves from being manipulated by fake news. It is worrying then that Facebook is asking its flawed, human users to spot and report fake stories. They recently took out ads in British newspapers with tips on how to detect fake news. This just doesn't make sense. Picture a world where unsafe cars were made and sold. Imagine if it was the responsibility of the person buying the car to inspect the entire engine to check it was roadworthy. Would we think this was acceptable?

The most important reason why it's not helpful to place the responsibility on the consumer is that many people within our society haven't been fortunate enough to have access to a good education. 16% of the UK's population is functionally illiterate. That means that they can read and process simple, familiar text but they have difficulty looking at a piece of text which has contradicting views, processing it and drawing their own conclusions.

Tabloid newspapers are written to be accessible to all readers, for example the Sun has a reading age of that of a 8 year old. Does Facebook really believe their checklist will help all Brits, including those who are most vulnerable to fake news stories? Their choice of newspapers to place these adverts (The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph) which have higher reading ages suggests not.

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It might be easy to think next month's election is all about 'Brexit', but politicians ignore the ticking time bomb in public health at their peril.

Health remains a pressing concern for most voters and while A&E performance and operation waiting time targets often dominate the debate on the NHS, a lack of leadership on improving the nation's health is at risk of crippling the NHS.

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Public health budgets face a 400million cut nationwide from 2015/16 to 2020/21, which is already impacting on patient services.

These cuts run counter to common sense: obesity rates across the country remain stubbornly high; nearly one in six adults are regular smokers and 7.8million adults binge on alcohol.

As alarming as these figures appear, politicians have been slow and weak to tackle these public health challenges. Promised strategic approaches have either failed to materialise or, are so diluted, that they will be insufficient.

The government's watered-down childhood obesity strategy, foreshadowing so much but delivering so little, appalled many health campaigners, as did the failure to recognise the need for a new alcohol strategy.

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Like Britain's major political parties, the BMA has published a manifesto - A vote for health. But instead of asking the public to vote for us, we're imploring politicians to take urgent action to improve the population's health and reverse cuts to public health budgets.

It may not be obvious to some in politics but one of the most effective ways to reduce long-term pressure on the NHS's frontline services is to plan for a healthier generation protected from preventable, lifestyle-related disease.

The BMA is calling on all political parties to work with health professionals to deliver a public health strategy focused on tackling the causes of ill health over a generation.

The next government must prioritise measures to tackle the impact of unhealthy food and drink, tobacco and alcohol on the public's health.

The next parliament must approve the sugary drinks tax which should encourage manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of their recipes.

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Doctors also support stronger restrictions to protect children and young people from the marketing and advertising of junk foods that is so pervasive in our society.

Cuts to public health budgets are a false economy, undermining a prevention-based approach and costing more in the long term - for the NHS, for our public funds, and for our health.

For example, many cases of type 2 diabetes are entirely preventable through public health approaches, yet, the number of people living with diabetes is increasing year on year in the UK. In 2010/11, the cost across the UK was estimated at 8.8 billion, a significant fraction of the NHS budget. If we do nothing, this will double in the next twenty years.

Industry is working for its shareholders' profits, not its shareholders' health. Too much power lies with those who sell sugar, alcohol and tobacco. It's up to MPs to work to reduce unhealthy ingredients like sugar, fat, salt and the overall calorific content of food.

A 'polluter pays' annual levy on tobacco companies could help fund stop-smoking services. The introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol set at no less than 50p per unit would begin to tackle alcohol problems.

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A series of papers on public health published by the BMA found that efforts to improve the nation's health are being undermined by an inconsistent approach, sometimes failing to use effective, evidence-based measures. In England, successive governments have further frustrated these efforts with their failure to deliver a long-term plan.
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Those with an interest in online safeguarding and recurring debates about social media moderation might have found an interesting anecdote hidden in the latest Facebook earnings call.

When asked about content moderation efforts, in light of recent incidences of troubling videos being broadcasted live on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg used the opportunity to discuss the company's approach to suicide prevention:

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"A lot of what we're trying to do here is not just about getting content off Facebook. Last week there was this case where someone was using Facebook Live to broadcast - or was thinking about suicide. And we saw that video and actually didn't take it down and helped get in touch with law enforcement who used that live video to communicate with that person and help save their life. So a lot of what we're trying to do is not just about taking the content down, but also about helping people when they're in need on the platform, and we take that very, very seriously."

As Zuckerberg implies, the instinctive approach for administrators dealing with disturbing content has tended to be to remove the content and line of communication immediately. This reduces the number of users exposed to the material, and minimises the risk of a PR crisis. However it doesn't necessarily help the individual concerned or those already exposed to the content. One of the reasons for this is purely technical. For professionals to be able to de-escalate an incident, they need a direct line of communication with the individual affected, and just as with emergency calls, keeping the affected individual communicating can often help them to be located by emergency services.

This shift away from instinctively shutting down content reflects a more thoughtful, measured approach to safeguarding -- one which I wrote about in a postgraduate public health thesis in 2015. Media depictions of the internet have often been marked by hysteria over outlier horror stories that were often as indicative of digital dangers as rare shark attacks are of the dangers of going for a swim. This isn't to say that there aren't dangers, but excessive fear doesn't put us in a good condition to make rational judgments about how to manage the opportunities and risks, let alone prepare for threats should they arise.

If we consider moderation to involve employing a finite set of resources, then, to date, internet administrators have tended to heavily favour forms of what can be termed 'negative moderation' (as in subtractive), which is to remove, block, and ban offensive content and users.

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Although it might seem intuitive that this prevents users from being exposed to troubling content, blocking content too liberally can just as easily push offensive content or conversations to the shadowy fringes of the internet where troubling behaviour can be normalised. Just as adolescents might discuss risky behaviours after school or in the playground that they were not allowed to discuss in class, the conversations can still take place -- just in far murkier settings. A good school will recognise this and allow some issues to be discussed in the classroom so that tutors can monitor conversations and offer forms of 'positive moderation' through factual information, supportive resources, and balanced perspective.

Mark Zuckerberg's anecdote, which he shared despite not being directly asked about suicide prevention, suggests both that Facebook take the issue very seriously, and that they will not be cowed by media sensationalism into taking a simplistic route of trying to block every potentially troubling piece of content irrespective of whether this approach helps or harms users. These are encouraging signs.

Perhaps the simplest example of positive moderation is with efforts by media organisations to provide relevant factfiles and helplines at the end of media content that features potentially upsetting themes (as recommended by Samaritans). In the case of social media and chat rooms, platforms can provide easily accessible links to authoritative content and resources, and also educate users about how to respond to content they find concerning or disagreeable. For example, the youth peer-support platform TalkLife is working to train volunteers to provide forms of peer-support and to signpost to resources.

Where content is deemed necessary for removal, rather than pretending it never existed, administrators can provide forms of follow-up support to those affected and pre-emptive educational material in the event of incidents reoccurring. These are difficult to do at scale, but they will become easier as platforms employ predictive algorithms and machine learning.
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All the pundits in Canada said the election was unwinnable. After a decade in office, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative party was widely expected to win the election. His party only lost a tiny 200,000 votes, but Justin Trudeau swept to power on the back of millions of voters who, many for the first time, voted strategically.

Overcoming the 'assumption' of a foregone conclusion was key to changing the outcome of the 2015 Canadian general election. One person who made this happen was Hisham Abdel-Rahman, an IT manager from Calgary, Alberta. Hisham had never before been involved in political campaigning, but wanted to make a difference. He ran a grassroots campaign to get people across the country to vote strategically. He worked with many other groups whose focus was getting out first time voters.

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By election day, the combination of giving people belief in the power of their vote and advice on how to vote added 2.7million voters to the election.

Stephen Harper, the sitting Prime Minister, didn't lose that many votes. What brought progressive parties sweeping into power was new, primarily young voters who joined the electorate. The vote among 18-24 year-olds increased by 18.3% vs the 2011 election, with women in this age group up by 20%.

We can do this in the UK.

Hisham is now advising Best for Britain on how to make a difference in the UK General Election on June 8th. Best for Britain wants to help elect a parliament that will hold the government to account and ensure we have a say on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. We know a majority of people don't want an extreme Brexit which will put our future at risk. Yet, people feel powerless to use their vote to change this. We are campaigning to stop this widespread feeling of powerlessness.

We all know that the Conservatives are predicted to win this election by a landslide, but that projection is based on some assumptions that can change.

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The first big assumption is on the turnout.

Theresa May's landslide prediction assumes that young people won't vote in larger numbers than they have in past. In the 2015 General Election only 43% of 18-24 year-olds voted whereas 78% of those over 65 voted.

If 100% of the eligible electorate registered and showed up at the ballot box, a landslide would be out of the question, and even the current size of the Tory majority might be in question. For instance, if only the working population voted, opinion polls suggest we'd have no Tory majority and a hung parliament.

The second big assumption is that people who live in "safe seats" but don't support the incumbent candidate have no reason to vote. Our analysis shows that there are seats across the country generally thought of as "safe" for one party or another that are actually hanging in the balance if people who have assumed there is no point in voting change their minds. For instance in Maidenhead, one of the safest Tory seats in the country, fewer than half of all eligible voters voted for the current MP, Theresa May.

There are majorities of people who believe the UK should have a close and constructive relationship with the EU in several "safe" constituencies held by pro-extreme Brexit candidates. While their MPs hold extreme views, local voters hold much more balanced views. We believe parliamentarians should put their constituents above their personal ideology. We'll be putting out more information on this as the election draws nearer so people can see for themselves how people in their area think.

The third big assumption is that people won't vote strategically, i.e. voting in such a way that a candidate who will support their views is more likely to win, rather than voting for the party they usually do or the leader they like best.

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What the 2015 UK General Election figures show is that in the majority of seats in the country, if everyone under the age of 45 registered and voted, the outcome would have been completely different. If you haven't done so already, you can register to vote now here.

Don't let other people decide this election for you. The most important decision on our future is yet to come, and we need a Parliament that will fight for what's best for Britain.
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'We don't have a passion for feminism here in the Middle East,' said one Lebanese man in Beirut. 'You in the West, you care about women's rights, but not us.'

Indeed, as I have moved around various parts of the Middle East over the years, it would appear as if feminism has not reached this very hot and conflict ladled region of the world.

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Earlier that day I was stuck in one of Beirut's traffic jams. The taxis in Beirut operate on a shared system and so the front seat was occupied by a young Lebanese man. He turned to start a conversation and began to complain about the country's corrupt politicians. I said, 'well perhaps there should be more women in politics.' He turned to look at me in shock and then repeated what I had said to the taxi driver, as if he couldn't believe what I had just said.

Later that evening I was back in the house where I was staying and a group of young Lebanese men had gathered. I told them what had happened in the taxi. They too expressed shock that I had dared to suggest that there should be more women in politics. I was even warned, I should not say such a thing again, I could get in trouble.

Get in trouble for even suggesting that more women should be in politics?

No, feminism has definitely not reached the Middle East.

In fact, I would argue, there are few parts of the world that women's rights have reached. There seems to be a global rejection and almost total apprehension to even the mere suggestion, that women should have rights. Throughout the world, women are not allowed to own property, to have rights to their children, to be able to work, to be paid equally to men, to be in politics or even have the right to walk down the street free of sexually degrading stares and comments.

Aside from this being offensive and insulting . . .

The key question is why?

What is the problem with feminism? What is the problem with women having rights?

Why are so many men offended, by even there mere suggestion, that a woman should be able to claim her rights to not be beaten, raped, sexually harassed or be able to participate in the public space?

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In a small refugee camp set amongst vineyards in Lebanon's Bekka valley, I was attempting to interview Syrian women refugees on their experiences of violence. As we settled into one of the small tents to speak with a group of women, a man came in.

He introduced himself as the leader of the camp, also a Syrian refugee, and sat down in front of us. Looking us directly in the eye, he told us that no woman in the camp would talk to us about violence. It came through as a warning.

The translator later explained that he most likely didn't want outsiders to know what was happening to women in the camp.

I later repeated this same story to a woman from the Danish Refugee Council in Beirut. Nodding her head, she too explained how they had tried to conduct empowerment activities with Syrian women in the camps however, it caused problems with the men. They were eventually told not to come back.

It appeared that these Syrian men did not want women knowing that they had rights, and certainly did not want women speaking out when those rights were being challenged.

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Why?

I attempted to interview another group of Syrian women in Gaziantep, Turkey. After one of the Turkish men in the room interrupted and declared that he could speak for the women, we decided to leave. As we went outside the male translator, a young Turkish man commented, 'I think that it is the first time anyone has asked those women about their rights.'

Why would that be the first time that anyone has asked these Syrian women about their rights?

At an IDP camp just outside of Erbil in Northern Iraq, I was interviewing young women with one of the Iraqi social workers in the camp. After we conducted a series of interviews with young women who recounted stories of sexual harassment, violence and intimidation from other men in the camp, we began to speak about our own experiences. Even though we were two women from extremely different parts of the world, we had extraordinarily similar experiences. We were fed up of the violence perpetrated against women and had both felt anger from men, just because we spoke out against this violence.

Why?

Why do these men think it is their right to stop women having the same rights that they claim for themselves?

Women categorically deserve the same rights as men do. Women should have the right to walk down the street free of harassment, to not be hit by their husbands and to not be blamed for being sexually objectified by men. Women and girls should have the right to education, to not be controlled by male members of their family and to have the same rights to sexual freedom, as men allow themselves.
"Maybe you're allergic to cheese?"

"Or bread?"

"Could you be pregnant??"

"Are you constipated?"

These are just a few of the diagnoses I had been receiving from my friends and family as I waddled around with my bloated stomach in discomfort. Thankfully I knew there was no chance of me being pregnant or I would have been seriously stressed out, but then again maybe I would have gotten it seen to quicker. I need to slap myself when I start thinking in hindsight and try my hardest to remember everything happens for a reason, even if the reason is impossible to find sometimes.

At the time I was studying for my Christmas exams. When I began to be too bloated to fit into my jeans, I knew it was not normal. I was adamant that I was not constipated and after four doctor visits I was finally referred to A&E. I got an X-ray and was once again diagnosed with severe constipation! The doctor sent me off with an intensive laxative regime for the weekend. My face was white as I continued to flush my insides out (unnecessarily). This absolutely drained me, on top of being drained from the tumour itself and in pain with all this excess weight I was carrying around, I was in agony! After the weekend I returned to A&E for some answers. This time it was completely different and I received an ultrasound and a CT scan. I was later admitted, being told that there was a large mass on my ovary secreting fluid - which explained the big belly! After a few days in hospital I was told this mass was a tumour and they weren't sure wether it was benign or malignant. I was referred to a more suitable hospital and let out for Christmas with stronger pain killers. It was the worst Christmas ever! I had never been in so much pain and discomfort - all I wanted to do was sleep so I wouldn't be in pain. I was due back to hospital three days after Christmas for a biopsy and to have the dreaded fluid removed. I couldn't eat or sleep and was in so much pain that I was admitted a day earlier. The doctor removed five litres of fluid from my stomach - I couldn't believe there would even be that much there!

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I was released with less fluid and some stitches in my belly, still in pain but not nearly as much as before. I was due to meet back with my gynecologist a week later to discuss the results. As the week went on I began to deteriorate, I then returned to my doctor to find out the worst news possible. The tumours had spread, they were now located in my diaphragm too. There were still no answers about the tumour on my ovary, but the doctor wanted me to be admitted back into hospital until I was diagnosed. He told me he would put me onto the best oncologist and I would be in good hands. I was still confused, I wasn't sure if I had cancer or not.

Although, looking back on it now I don't know how I didn't realise.

It hit me two days later, when the doctor visited me in my room. I sat with my mam and my aunty as he explained that they still weren't sure about what type of tumour it was. I then asked: "so do I have cancer??". He replied, "as much as I don't want to say it, yes you do".

I was devastated, my world was shook.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved the provision of $23 million financing by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Organic system (Mykolaiv region).

The decision was made at the Thursday government meeting.

According to a posting on the government's website, the sum will be sent to launch a new workshop to preserve tomatoes in Mykolaiv region.

Organic system farm is part of the largest Ukrainian vertically integrated tomato paste producer - Agrofusion Group  belonged to businessman Serhiy Sypko.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the World Bank Group in May 2016 approved the issue of $10 million to finance the working capital of Agrofusion Group.

Agrofusion Group was founded in 2007. The company in 2014 increased production of tomato paste to 52,780 tonnes, and in 2015, thanks to capital investments, expanded the capacity and reached a new maximum of 61,500 tonnes.

Agrofusion includes two tomato paste production plants with the processing capacity of about 500,000 tonnes of tomatoes per season, as well as farms in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, processing 20,000 hectares of irrigated land, and two greenhouse farms.
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I voted Remain. I am passionate about the EU, I work in research and believe me the pain is very real for me, my friends, and my colleagues. The Guardian reported today that Brexit has left voters in my area in 'Lib Dem-Labour Limbo' and aside from the alliterative appeal of the title I suspect it is true. 74% of people in Cambridge voted to Remain, making this city one of the key constituencies where the battle between Labour and the Lib Dems will be fought.

Personally, I will be voting Labour on the 8th June, and here's why.

Theresa May is many things; stupid is not one of them. She knows exactly what she is doing.

We are leaving the EU, as much as I hate that and all the implications of it; economic, social, domestic and international, there is now only one thing that I, as an individual can do about it; I can choose who will be negotiating on our behalf by voting in the upcoming general election.

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'But why Labour?! What about voting Lib Dem?' I hear you cry... 'They will stop Brexit! They will hold a second referendum! They will DO SOMETHING! And I as an individual MUST do something because I cannot sit idly by and allow my birthright and that of my children to be stripped from me! I cannot sit idly by while my friends and colleagues are denied residency, have their careers threatened and on top of that their personal safety put at risk!'

I empathise in entirety with that sentiment. But what you may not realise is that our Prime Minister is depending on it for a Tory victory.

The nation is in a state of uncertainty. Many of us are still in a state of shock and disbelief about Brexit. We are a population governed by fear, and fear is fantastic for those in power. Present fear is a greater motivator than future happiness. What Theresa May knows is this; there is one single glaringly obvious issue which has divided the nation. People are passionate about it and if she can harness that energy she can use it to her advantage and gain politically from BOTH sides. The general election is not being talked about in terms of what is best for Britain or for the people who call it home. It is largely being talked about in terms of who can stop Brexit vs who will honour the result of the referendum and guarantee it. Only today Laura Kuenssberg of the BBC pressed Corbyn to guarantee he would definitely take us out of the EU 'come hell or high water' and he refused to do so - emphasising instead that he would be seeking the best possible deal and settling for nothing less.

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Our Prime Minister knows full well that significant numbers of people will become swing voters and will base their vote solely on Brexit. Those who voted Leave will likely continue to support the Tories or Labour as they did before. Remember, there are rather a lot of them - they may not have won the referendum by very much, but win it they very much did. Conversely, many Remain voters are traditionally Conservative or Labour voters who are now opting to support the Lib Dems. As such, this election is very much in the hands of the Remainers, and they are being duped into handing May this election.

Why would our charming little Thatcherette want you to vote for the Lib Dems? Surely she wants you to vote Conservative? Why would she call a general election if she might not win?

Simple; The Lib Dems will absolutely not get a majority. What they will do is make it impossible for Labour to defeat the Tories, they have already ruled out a coalition with Labour - but not with the Conservatives, and that speaks volumes. Remember last time? Remember how many people voted Lib Dem because they were 'different' and had all those really tempting policies? Remember how the dog ate their homework and they forgot their p.e kit and had a note from home to say why they didn't actually have to do any of that once they got into parliament? Remember how what the Lib Dems did was enable the Tories to enact policies which were the opposite of what the Lib Dems had themselves promised in their own manifesto?

Do you really think that has changed? Do you really think a party who have shown quite clearly they prefer to be allied with the 'Right' over the 'Left' and who have stated in the past that they based their economic policy on Thatcher's will be good for this country? They are prepared to ally themselves with a Conservative party that is now so far to the Right that even our former Conservative Prime Minister John Major is warning the electorate not to trust them. The Liberal in Lib Dem does not mean socially liberal. They are economically liberal - free market worshippers who espouse the philosophy of competition and survival of the fittest. The Lib Dems are not a credible party in their own right; rather, they act as a catalyst for neo-liberal capitalism by facilitating Tory victories which would otherwise not be possible. We know where it will take us, we've been there before and the yellow colour of this particular road to parliament is more indicative of cowardice than a fun trip to Oz - notwithstanding obvious parallels to be drawn with Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Lion who lack a heart, a brain and courage respectively (IDS, Boris and Gove....? Just saying...). The Lib Dems are not stealing the broom from the wicked witch of the west they are merely borrowing it to do her housework.

Their website proudly states that they are 'fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united.' and that they believe in equality of opportunity. Well, I'm calling bullshit on that. If those really are their core values then why not rule out a coalition with the Conservatives whose record on the alleged priorities of the Lib Dems is appalling? Not rocket science is it?

Theresa May knows all this very well, she knows that large numbers of votes for the Lib Dems will mean that Labour cannot win, and that even if her party does not gain a big enough majority to win the general election outright, the Lib Dems (who you voted for to avoid voting Tory and to halt Brexit) will form a coalition with them and keep them in power, thus ensuring a 'hard Brexit'. May also knows that in a contest based purely on recent performance, reputation, and policy, it is far less likely that the Tories could remain in power, which is likely to be why she refuses to join a televised debate with Corbyn. So, she has made the very shrewd decision to act fast and capitalise on the current mood. Do you honestly think that the Lib Dems will be able to stop Brexit if they are in coalition with the Tories? Please.

May has set a trap. The bait is remaining in the EU. If you fall for it and take that bait.... Guess what? BOOM! An undisputable mandate for Brexit and May and all the consequences for our society which that entails. All the suffering we have become accustomed to but without the EU and those pesky human rights to get in the way. Hate zero hours contracts? Imagine how much more fun they will be without workers rights! I for one am really looking forward to the state of our nation with the Tories in charge and no EU protection. History suggests it will be a right barrel of laughs! I love Dickens but his work should be fictional reading material - not a lived experience in 2017.

Brexit is an exceptionally good cover for the Tories' record. It makes a great distraction from food banks, from hospitals so chronically underfunded they are failing and being gradually outsourced to private firms, from the fact that they have done absolutely bugger all to decrease the deficit and that austerity is an ideological choice NOT an economic necessity. It's a great distraction from Tory election fraud, from the high profile Tories who told proven lies to get people to vote Leave, and from the appalling treatment of the sick, the disabled, the elderly and those on low incomes (to name but a few) under this government. As long as people are focussing on Brexit they are not focussing on just how badly the Conservatives have run this country and how much worse off we all are. They are keeping the day to day rhetoric on how much better all our lives would be without those pesky immigrants stealing our jobs/benefits/picnic baskets/whatever....

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Labour are not promising to stop Brexit, because they are not offering up the impossible just to win your vote. Nor are they promising it will happen come what may, because, as Corbyn said today, he does not yet know what deal will be offered, so cannot guarantee he would accept it. Who do you really want in power after we leave the EU? Do you want May's Brexit or Corbyn's? The man might be comprised almost entirely of corduroy and compost but I for one would rather have him running this country in a fast approaching cold war than May, who is already cosying up to Trump of all people!! Trump! You know... him off the telly? The man who is possibly the single biggest joke to have ever gone wrong. It's all very funny until somebody loses an eye... or, you know, their liberty.
I'm proud to be a journalist. A free and independent press is one of the most vital institutions in any functioning democracy. It is our job to speak truth to power, hold leaders accountable, and relay to the electorate the stories that need to be told. Sometimes we get it wrong - we're only human - but I am confident that journalists throughout the country take our jobs, and our responsibilities, seriously.

This is why I'm so disheartened by the way Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are treating us this election. The Prime Minister is refusing to take spontaneous questions from journalists, instead relying on screened questions from pre-selected journalists handpicked by the Tory PR machine. Owen Bennett, the Deputy Political Editor of HuffPost UK, has pointed out that they're not even allowed follow-up questions.

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According to the Press Gazette, even the Daily Mail and Sun have pointed out how problematic is that the Prime Minister is stage-managing every appearance. It offers no chance for an organic, natural exchange - which means that the only information the public is getting from her is rehearsed soundbites that give no real insight into her policies or abilities.

Not to be outdone, Jeremy Corbyn took revenge on a journalist for printing, verbatim, what he had said in an interview. Yesterday, news broke that Buzzfeed would be denied access to the Labour leader following publication of an interview with Jim Waterson in which Corbyn said he would stay on as party leader should he lose the election. This was quite the scoop for Waterson, who naturally ran with the story. Buzzfeed even made it the headline, because of everything else in the story is fairly run-of-the mill.

It's actually a flattering portrait of Corbyn, in which he comes off as affable, intelligent, and compassionate. He talks about being moved by the bullying of Bex Fowler on EastEnders and encourages people to read things that challenge their worldview. Yet Corbyn took exception with the fact that Waterson had quoted him, apparently unaware that in an interview that's precisely what happens.

The problem here is Theresa May is saying too little and Jeremy Corbyn has said too much. One is so afraid of messing up she won't speak with reporters, and the other is upset that a reporter wrote exactly what he said. It's farcical, but it's also frustrating.

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I get that Theresa May is trying to play it extremely safe, and that many in the Corbyn camp feel the media is unfair to him. Both are understandable - May doesn't want a gaffe that could compromise her strong position in the polls and Corbyn has beaten dog syndrome after two years of relentless negative coverage. But in the end, none of this matters one iota when compared to the importance of a free and independent press able to question the country's leaders.

Journalists need access to politicians, especially the two most likely to become the next Prime Minister. We need to be able to ask the tough questions and report on the facts without fear of reprisal or punishment by the powers-that-be. It's disturbing to see the two main party leaders both treating the press with such contempt.

You need only look to America to see how quickly this can sour. Donald Trump vilifies the media almost daily, calling reputable news sources like CNN and the New York Times "fake news" because he doesn't like what they wrote about him - which is frequently simply quoting him word for word. Similarly, his Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, routinely ignores questions from journalists he deems hostile, and at times has even invited only select outlets to a press briefing. This isn't how democracies function. A free press isn't a privilege, but rather a democratic right.

So Theresa May needs to start answering questions like a grownup and Jeremy Corbyn needs to stop throwing a temper tantrum because a journalist dares to print exactly what he said. If May is too afraid of taking questions, and Corbyn too naive to pivot or stop talking, then how are either of them supposed to negotiate with the European Union? Trust me, Juncker and his colleagues are going to be a lot tougher than any journalist they're going to encounter on the campaign trail.

Journalists aren't the enemy here. We're just trying to do our job - one that is vital to British democracy. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn should start treating us like it.

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Jason Bean valued being able to become bowl eligible with Kansas
Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives Michael McCaul has said the U.S. Congress intends to review assistance to Ukraine in 2018.

"What's going in Ukraine impacts the entire world. If we don't stop Mr. Putin and Russian aggression against Ukraine, it will spread everywhere," McCaul said during a meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on Thursday. McCaul was accompanied by several other U.S. lawmakers.

McCaul said the U.S. has supported Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion and is ready to continue support, including material support and possibly the supply of lethal and non-lethal weapons.

"We stand ready to review the amount of budget funds allotted to the region in 2018," he said.

As earlier reported, on Wednesday a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The sides discussed strengthening cooperation in the defense sector and preserving sanctions against the Russian Federation for illegally annexing Ukraine and invading eastern Ukraine.
USDA forecasts grain exports from Ukraine in 2017/2018 MY at over 38 mln tonnes with yield of 61.8 mln tonnes

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts grain harvest in Ukraine in the 2017/2018 marketing year (MY, July-June) in the amount of 61.79 million tonnes, while exports could reach 38.31 million tonnes.

According to a report on the website of the U.S. agency, the forecast for the harvest of fodder grain is 36.79 million tonnes, of which maize is 28 million tonnes, barley is 7.4 million tonnes. The forecast for the wheat yield is 25 million tonnes.

USDA forecasts wheat exports by Ukraine in the 2017/2018 MY at the level of 14.5 million tonnes. Exports of feed grain, according to the forecast, will amount to 23.81 million tonnes, including 20 million tonnes of maize.

According to USDA forecasts, in the 2016/2017 MY Ukraine will be able to export 41.96 million tonnes of grain, including 19 million tonnes of corn, 17.3 million tonnes of wheat and 5.5 million tonnes of barley with a total grain crop of 66.1 million tonnes.

As reported, Ukraine since the beginning of the 2016/2017 MY and as of May 10, 2017 had exported 37.956 million tonnes of grain.
The Board of Selectmen approved moving forward with Ameresco to build a solar array on town-owned land.

Lanesborough Moving Forward With Solar Proposal On Town Land

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  The Selectmen are telling the town's solar consultants to continue discussion with Ameresco to develop a solar array off North Main Street.

Beacon Integrated Solutions has reviewed the responses to the request for proposal to develop such an array on town-owned land and recommended that Ameresco is chosen to use up to 13 acres of land for the photovoltaic array.

However, the Selectmen are giving the consultant approval to continue negotiating with the Ameresco regarding the amount of money the town will receive from the lease and personal property tax.

"There are a couple of tweaks to it we could make to increase the amount of money the town will get," Town Manager Paul Sieloff said.

The property is 19 acres abutting Prospect Street that the town purchased in 2007 for $225,000 with the intent to build a senior center. However, in the subsequent years, the federal funding eyed for Berkshire Housing to do so dried up and the town has been holding onto the property ever since. In 2013, the town's Energy Committee identified the spot as a prime location for an array because of its layout and proximity to power.

"The whole thing will be pretty much behind the assisted senior living," Selectman Robert Ericson, who heads the Energy Committee, said.

The plan now is to use about 13 of the 19 acres for the solar project. The rest could possibly be subdivided and sold off. It is the northern 13 acres eyed for the development with the land closest to Prospect Street being unused because of wetlands.

Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers said he's heard concerns from Prospect Street residents about the visibility of the array, but Ericson says that won't be an issue.

"From the Prospect side it will be screened by the existing woods," Ericson said.

The proposal so far brings less to the town in revenue than previously hoped. According to Beth Greenblatt, managing director of Beacon Integrated Solutions, the proposal would bring in about $25,000 a year to town coffers. Previously, town officials hoped for between $40,000 and $60,000 per year.

But Greenblatt noted in a report to the Selectmen that "several issues remain that will have an impact on the ultimate financial offer."

Nonetheless, engaging in those negotiations brings the town a step closer to developing that land. Since 2013, the town weighed its options and the solar market fluctuated. Finally in September 2016, the town issued a request for proposals that was due on April 4.

"Ameresco's proposal offers two financial options to construct roughly one megawatt of solar capacity. The first option includes a combined lease and personal property tax payment of $22,000 per year. The second option includes the combined sale of the energy benefits from the solar array plus the personal property tax payment totaling $25,000 per year," Greenblatt wrote.

Solar has become an active industry in the town recently. Eversource was just recently approved for a large 23-acre project north of the Prospect Street property. The Planning Board has crafted a new solar bylaw as well, which is currently in the approval process. Sieloff said if Ameresco's project is approved, the company would be required to comply with those bylaws.

In other business, the Selectmen approved a $100 per month fine on businesses that fail to renew their certificates after being notified three times. The board considered a $200 fine per month after the first notice but the Selectmen thought that was too steep of a price. Ultimately, they agreed to $100 per month after the third notice instead. Only incorporated businesses are exempt from operating without one and the certificates are good for four years.

In reviewing a list of business certificates, Chairman John Goerlach noticed a number of businesses operating out of areas which are not zoned for the type of business. He is asking that the town clerk do not issue certificates to businesses who are operating out of such locations.

The Selectmen also approved a questionnaire to be included in the tax bills for the Economic Development Committee. The committee had performed an analysis on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) on the town's economic development. Now it wants the townspeople to help direct its work moving forward.

"Now we are at the phase of decision making and we don't want to go at it alone," said Barbara Hassan.

The physical questionnaire will be coupled with an online one. The responses will help prioritize efforts as well as ask for input on if there are opportunities the group could have missed.
William Botto won the annual Presidential Achievement Award.

Mildred Elley Graduates 100th Class, 25th From Pittsfield Campus



William Brown sang 'I'm Moving On' to the audience at Barrington Stage. More photos from the graduation ceremony can be found here. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  When Logan Adams-Malone entered Mildred Elley, she made a pact with her daughter that the two would be the best they could be.

"I wanted to bring a genuine compassion for the sick and sympathy for those who are or have been going down the wrong road, who just need to smile if only for a second," Adams-Malone said.

"But, I gained so much more."

Her daughter was entering the 8th grade and the two made the pact to do the best they could. When Adams-Malone made the president's list, her daughter made high honors. When her daughter was student of the month, so was Adams-Malone.

"I was and will always be so proud of her but you have no idea how good it felt to have her be proud of me," Adams-Malone said.

Adams-Malone joined 115 others to receive certificates and high school diplomas from the local campus on Wednesday at Barrington Stage. The school is in its 100th year and its 25th with a campus in Pittsfield.

But for Adams-Malone, it isn't only about the medical office assistant certification she earned, it was much more.

"I'm walking away with a new found confidence and belief in myself and you all should be too," Adams-Malone said.

"Look at how far you've come and now you know the possibilities are endless. You are not only obtaining a certification or license in your chosen field but a newly refined person who is now 10 times more marketable than the first time you walked through this door."

Many of the students fought through an array of obstacles and life's curve balls. But, they persevered and even when they may have wanted to give up, they didn't. That is what the school honored on Wednesday.

"Despite all of the obstacles, despite all of the times when it would be too easy to just give up, you said no. You overcame those obstacles that were placed in front of you. You earned this honor today," President John J. McGrath told the students.

"Courage, passion, determination, and perhaps creativity are the true hallmarks of champions. You the graduates of Mildred Elley are the champions."

McGrath leaned on the wisdom of philosophers and political leaders of the past, as well as Rocky Balboa, to share some wisdom. It all had similar messages of perseverance.

"It's not how many times you get knocked down in life, it is how many times you get up," McGrath said.

The keynote speaker City Councilor Peter White knows what that is like. He shared his life story and the numerous curve balls he's contended with.

He started his story when he left high school and went to Springfield Technical School to study graphic design. But, he hated it and left the program. But his parents wouldn't let him stay at home if he wasn't in school so he enrolled in Berkshire Community College thinking about education.

Then he lost several "key people" in his life and he found it hard to continue to go. Then his father died of leukemia.

"I kept going because I knew was determined that I would finish," White said.

He found solace in friends and community at Berkshire Community College. Those friends got him into the student government association and White said he really wasn't much into the politics, but rather the social scene. He and a friend then had a class project that required the use of the library, which his friend, who was in a wheelchair, couldn't easily access.

"That was unacceptable and we were determined to change it," White told the graduates.



College President John McGrath told the students about the importance of perseverance. They wrote to the state's Department of Capital Asset Management asking for the funds to put in an elevator, even though college officials told them they had tried that multiple times before. White got a response back from DCAM asking for a meeting in Boston.

But, BCC didn't have a handicapped accessible van so his friend couldn't go.

The group said they wouldn't go either and college administrators feared that would blow the opportunity. But DCAM surprisingly came out to the college to meet with them. College officials said they'd prepare a formal presentation but the students said no, and the student in the wheelchair led a tour showing exactly how bad it was. DCAM later gave the college $250,000 for the elevator.

"We were told not to get our hopes up. And then advised to settle for a meeting in Boston. Then recommended to let professionals lead the way. None of which we did. We took less conventional options that to us seemed like better choices," White said.

White then started getting more into politics.

"I was on my way to a political aide position in Boston when 3-year-old godson came to live with me for a year, setting me on a different path and possibly redirecting a potential career in politics," White said. "While he lived with me I cut back on full-time political consulting and focused on getting a job that fit with picking him up and dropping him off at daycare. And, of course, a lot of playtimes."

But now, he's found his way back into politics but more importantly, he's found what he considers a "dream job" as an employment specialist with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission  a career he never imagined before.

"Always be ready for the curve balls that life throws at you and do not get discouraged when something doesn't work out for the first, or even the second or fourth times," White said.

Mildred Elley students are entering a change in their lives now, a change for the better. Campus President David Heckeler praised the students for the work they put in.

"Tonight's celebration is all about the changing of lives," Heckeler said.

In the future, McGrath told the students to keep in touch with the school's placement officers to make sure they have jobs in the fields they want.

"We are here as placement for the rest of your life because we want you to succeed," McGrath said.
The protesters were prepared to plead not guilty to criminal charges, only to be excused after the state motioned to convert the charges to civil offenses.

State Drops Criminal Charges But Pipeline Protesters Demand Trial

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.  Sixteen of the 24 protesters arrested fighting a natural gas pipeline being built on state forest land in Sandisfield showed up in court Thursday morning ready to proudly say they are not criminals.

The state agreed their actions didn't warrant criminal charges and entered a motion to convert those charges to civil citations. Those who were arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct then left the courtroom without an arraignment.

But the protesters say they were already treated like criminals through the arrests and being brought up on criminal charges in the first place. They want a trial on those original charges because they believe they are innocent.

"We believe we actually have a right to be on this land, it is public land. And we believe the certificate was given out illegally. The state just pulled a quick one on us and made a motion to convert the criminal charges into civil citations, which are basically parking tickets. This is obviously their fear of a trial," Vivienne Simon, one of those arrested said.

"We intend to push to have that trail and have our day in court to talk about the immorality and illegality of what is going on."

Kinder Morgan was given notice to proceed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in early April and the company began cutting trees for the $93 million natural gas pipeline expansion. The Massachusetts Loop will run a 36-inch diameter pipe nearly four miles near Sandisfield and through Otis State Forest and lands under state protection; the Connecticut Loop will run more than 8 miles of 24-inch diameter pipe from Agawam to East Granby, Conn.



A court ruling dating back a year gave the authority to FERC to override the state's protections.

Multiple groups filed appeals with FERC seeking to halt the project and the protestors say those appeals haven't been settled while the tree cutting is going on.

"We believe there is merit to our case and there is no actual need for this pipeline," said Jean Atwater-Williams, who was one of the founders of Sandisfield Residents Opposed to the Pipeline (STOP).

Atwater-Williams particularly contends the need for more natural gas, which is one of the major driving factors for issuing approval for such projects. She said the needs assessment was based on 2013 numbers and update projections show the demand has dropped significantly.

"The need for natural gas is way, way down," Atwater-Williams said.

Atwater-Williams is close to the pipeline's path and soon she is expecting Kinder Morgan to begin cutting trees on her property, just 270 feet away from her home. STOP has been trying to plead its case that the pipeline has not been needed since 2016, but they've heard silence from FERC.

"They have failed to answer anyone's concerns. They have failed to respond to our senators and our congressmen, which is unconscionable. They are simply ignoring the issues," Atwater-Williams said.

Further, FERC doesn't have a quorum so it can't even render a decision on the appeal.

"It is beyond unreasonable that they would think it is appropriate to issue a notice to proceed," said Susan Baxter, who owns land abutting the project. "We literally can do nothing but stand up for our rights at this point."

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey both immediately tried to get FERC to rescind the order to proceed to no avail.

"Nearly a year has lapsed since FERC granted the rehearing request, and no action has been taken to hear the concerns of the citizens of Sandisfield, effectively silencing them before the Commission and before the Courts," the senators wrote on April 19.

"For FERC to allow last week's issuance of a notice to proceed with construction when it lacks a quorum and, therefore, cannot act on the rehearing request, is profoundly troubling."

The senators felt the work being done down would do "irreparable harm" to the state forest. They said if FERC can't act on requests for a rehearing because it doesn't have a quorum, then staff should not have the authority to issue notices to proceed with those projects.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal later penned a similar letter. But the tree cutting began and protest groups, most notably the Sugar Shack Alliance, went to the state forest in Sandisfield to stop them.

On May 2, 18 of the demonstrators were arrested by state police for trespassing when groups of nine attempted to block the access road. On May 6, six more were arrested. Of the total 24 arrested, 16 were in Southern Berkshire District Court in Great Barrington on Thursday; the rest have later court dates.

Christopher Sabo of Ashfield was one of those arrested on May 6. He said the pipeline is destroying the environment and when the 31-year-old looks back on this year, he wants to know that he stood up for what he believes is right.

"I don't want to be complaisant in a system that values profit at the expense of a healthy, clean, and safe environment," Sabo said. "We're not going to submissive. We want a future on this planet."

The 16 who were supposed to be arraigned on Thursday are now due back in court on June 20. Simon is firm in her belief that the protesters are in the right and wants a trial on the criminal charges.

"We were caught off guard today. We came in here to plead not guilty because we believe that the actions that are going on are both immoral on the part of the fossil fuel industry and illegal because this FERC permission to proceed on the pipeline was done while the process of determining whether or not this is legal action went ahead," Simon said.
Cynthia Nixon, left, as Emily and Jennifer Ehle, as Lavinia, as the Dickinson sisters in 'A Quiet Passion.'

'A Quiet Passion': Rhyme and Reason

Digging into my trove of words rarely used to describe most movies, but certainly apt in the case of director Terence Davies' biopic of the American poet Emily Dickinson, "A Quiet Passion," I have located and here employ the term, highbrowed. Truth be told, though I spent much of my formative years at institutions of higher learning where one can stave off the inevitability of work and earn a degree or two by paying the tuition and showing up for class somewhat regularly, I estimate that I just barely learned enough to appreciate this masterpiece.



Continuing in my hifalutin assay of expressions pertinent to this highly intelligent work, note that I've never really liked referring to a film as diverting. Diverting from what? The mere idea conjures all sorts of beleaguering horrors that have caused me to duck into the local Bijou, like Quasimodo seeking sanctuary in Notre Dame. However and nonetheless, sitting in the theater and munching on the high ideals and civility that encompass the albeit often sad and gloomy life of this major American literary figure, I had indeed temporarily made an escape of sorts.



Outside, lousy drivers were screaming obscenities, crooked tycoons, oligarchs and politicians were teaming to feed their money addiction, and half our numbers couldn't care less about the wellbeing of their fellow countrymen. Their behavior all but abnegates the beauty of such higher contemplations. I am for the moment safe inside, a snob, unwilling to relinquish what the fuddy-duddy, patriotic grammar school teachers taught me about the Founding Fathers' dreams. It was about creating a society where truth and humane pursuits would be held in esteem, not scoffed.



Up on the screen, sweet Miss Dickinson, beset with the analogous troubles of her own time, understands only too well the nihilism, despair and loneliness that comes of humankind's inability/and or desire to best utilize the gift of democracy it has been bestowed. And, because she is a woman nearly a century before suffrage is enacted, and slavery is still very much the law of the land among her Southern neighbors, these and other grave political matters can't hide from her condemnation, wittily slipped into the poet's politely acerbic commentary.



Listening to Dickinson's observations as she interacts with relatives and friends on the way to becoming a dedicated poet, though hardly acknowledged in her own time, you wish you had a libretto to reflect on later. Culled from her correspondences and doubtlessly tweaked for effect by director-writer Davies, the steady stream of exquisitely delivered bon mots represents only a portion of the thespic excellence Cynthia Nixon exemplifies in her empathic, loving and cerebrally astute depiction of the literary lioness.


The Ukroboronprom State Concern has signed a memorandum to step up cooperation with the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries of the Defence Ministry of Turkey.

The press service of the concern reported on Wednesday that the document was signed at the 13th International Defense Industry Fair IDEF 2017 held in Istanbul on May 9 through May 12 with participation of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov and Undersecretary for Defence Industries of Turkey Ismail Demir.

The memorandum envisages cooperation in creation of new arms, including aircraft and earth-based systems for Armed Forces of Ukraine and Turkey, the press service said.

The Undersecretariat for Defence Industries of the Defence Ministry of Turkey is the key manager of budget funds in Turkish defense industry. It is in charge of provision of the Armed Forces of Turkey with all types of arms, vehicles and ammunition, the concern said.

At present, participants in Ukroboronprom, created by the president decree in December 2010, are over 130 enterprises of the Ukrainian defense industry, including Ukrspecexport and its subsidiaries.
ATO HQ reports on 37 shelling attacks on ATO positions by militants, one wounded serviceman in past 24 hours

Over the past day, the militants have fired on the Ukrainian positions in the ATO zone 37 times, one soldier has been wounded, the press centre of the ATO has reported.

"In some cases, when there was an immediate threat to the life and health of servicemen, the commanders decided to open fire adequately. Over the past day, one soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been injured," a message posted on the Facebook page of the staff on Thursday morning, says.

Attacks were registered in the Mariupol, Donetsk and Luhansk sectors, the Ukrainian military said.
Trump discusses further U.S. support for Kyiv with Klimkin at White House

U.S. President Donald Trump has discussed the situation in Ukraine with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin at a meeting at the White House, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington said on its Facebook account overnight into Thursday.

"President of the United States Donald Trump received Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin at the White House. The sides discussed further efforts to support Ukraine," the embassy said.

Prior to the meeting with Trump, Klimkin held talks with U.S. Vice President Michael Pence.

"The interlocutors discussed in detail a situation in Donbas. Pavlo Klimkin thanked for unwavering position of the U.S. Administration in support of Ukraines territorial integrity and in countering Russian aggression," the diplomatic mission said.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly also attended the meetings.
Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly views the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Vice President Michael Pence as a signal of support for the Ukrainian people.

"An extraordinary day among diplomat's weekdays. The White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Michael Pence during the visit of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is a clear signal of support for the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Diaspora of America," Chaly wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday morning.

As reported, Trump hosted Klimkin in the White House and discussed with him the situation in Donbas and further support of Kyiv by Washington. Before that, the foreign minister had met with Pence. Chaly also took part in the meetings.
Campaign starts in August to acquire quality learning equipment

Caltexs multi-awarded Fuel Your School (FYS) program is now set to help fund projects in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for high-need public high schools in Bicol region.

From July 1 to August 31, Caltex will donate one peso (P1) for every liter of fuel purchase in the 22 Caltex stations in Bicol. Chevron Philippines Inc. (CPI), marketer of the Caltex fuels and lubricants, aims to raise three million pesos (P3M) under this fuel-to-donate program.

Photo above show (L-R ) American Chamber Foundation (ACF) Director and Internal Auditor Roberts Sears; Southern Cross Distributors Inc., Chairman Jose Mari Delgado; CPI Country Manager Peter Morris; Department of Education (DepEd) Region V Asst. Regional Director Tolentino Aquino; and CPI Manager for Policy, Government and Public Affairs Atty. Raissa Bautista during the MOA signing.

Under the MOA, DepED will select Bicols highest need public high schools which can submit projects eligible for funding under the program while ACF will screen the projects and purchase the equipment for the qualified entries. SCDI, which is the pioneer Branded Marketer partner of Chevron and distributes Caltex fuels in the Bicol region, will help fund the program, as well as promote FYS. There will be 22 Caltex stations in Bicol that will participate in this program.

This year, high schools across the country will need more equipment as the first batch of grade 12 senior highs schoolers enter the governments K-12 education system.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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The crew who worked on the production of Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge (Dead Men Tell No Tales in the US) have detailed Johnny Depp's "train wreck" on-set behaviour.

While Jerry Bruckheimer - the producer of Disney's fifth Pirates instalment - defended the Jack Sparrow actor, unnamed sources have made claims about the actor's lateness and drinking habits which left crew and extras waiting for hours on the film's Gold Coast set.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Depp's behaviour saw a production staffer deployed outside the actor's trailer in an unmarked car to report back the exact moment he had resurfaced to directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg.

When he got up, hed turn on the light, and the moment the light went on theyd call the line producer, who would then call the directors: Hes up! Hes getting ready! a source told THR.

They even had a special code term, like The eagle has landed. Johnny had no idea this was going on.

Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Show all 14 1 /14 Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Bill Murray With only one Oscar nomination to his name (2003's Lost in Translation), Bill Murray is one oversight that - in many people's eyes - could easily throw the Academy Awards into disrepute. AFP/Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Samuel L. Jackson Considering he's one of the most bankable film stars in the world, it's a surprise that - with over 160 credits to his name - Samuel L. Jackson has only received a mere one nomination (Pulp Fiction in 1994). 2016 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Joaquin Phoenix With three previous nominations under his belt - for films including Gladiator and The Master - it was his performance as Johnny Cash in 2005 biopic Walk the Line that was expected to see him win an Oscar (he lost to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman's for Capote). 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Brad Pitt The ever-present fixture he remains in Hollywood today, you'd think Brad Pitt would have won an Oscar by now; while serving as producer of 2014 Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, he currently has zero acting wins to his name despite three nominations (Twelve Monkeys, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Moneyball). 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Tom Cruise Still one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, Tom Cruise seemed like a sure awards bet back in the Nineties with films Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia all earning him nominations - and yet, he never once emerged victorious. 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Richard Gere Would you believe us if we told you Richard Gere has never even been nominated? Well, it's true - and, quite honestly, shocks us quite a bit. Poor guy. Juan Naharro Gimenez Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Gary Oldman One of the film industry's finest character actors, Gary Oldman has been nominated just the once for playing George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. 2014 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Johnny Depp Despite his recent dip in quality, Johnny Depp has delivered several Oscar-worthy performances in the past. With a total of three nominations to his name - all for post-2000 releases including Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Neverland - it's more a wonder he didn't receive more recognition for standout films such as Ed Wood and Donnie Brasco in the Nineties. 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Harrison Ford Harrison Ford may now be the world's highest-grossing actor (sorry, Samuel) but still doesn't have the Academy Award to back up such a feat. In fact, he's now into his third decade of not receiving recognition from the Academy with his sole nomination arriving back in 1985 for Witness. Getty Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Edward Norton Edward Norton is just the kind of actor you'd assume would've scooped a statuette at some stage or another, but no - Norton just has three nominations to speak of; his first in 1996 (Primal Fear), his second in 1999 (American History X) and his third just last year (Best Picture winner, Birdman). AFP/Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't John Malkovich American actor John Malkovich was nominated once in 1984 (Places in the Heart) and again in 1993 (In the Line of Fire) but hasn't posed much of a threat since. 2013 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Annette Bening Poor Annette Bening, who has come close to victory four times (The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right) but is yet to clinch one. 2015 Getty Images Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Glenn Close ...well, it could be worse; she could be Glenn Close who has been on the shortlist six times for films including Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons and, most recently, Albert Nobbs. Actors you think have won Oscars but haven't Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter may have received a Best Actress nomination for Wings of a Dove (1997), but it was her Best Supporting Actress nomination for 2012's Best Picture winner The King's Speech that seemed a sure bet; Melissa Leo's role in The Fighter won that round. 2015 Getty Images

His lateness and alleged heavy drinking led to a reported spat between Bruckheimer and Depp's then-agent Tracey Jacobs who was fired in 2016.

In an interaction Bruckheimer claims never happened: [Jacobs] went over to Jerry and said, 'You've got to do something! You're the producer.' He said, 'You do something. You're the agent.'

The unnamed source continued: But when Johnny came on set, he was charming, nice. He's yin and yang.

Recommended The early Pirates of the Caribbean 5 verdict is in

Production chief Scott Bailey levelled that there were certainly days when our plans were challenged," but praised the actor's dedication to the Pirates series.

Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up

"No one should underestimate Johnny's passion and commitment to this character and franchise," Bailey said.

Bruckheimer continued: You've got to understand the kind of pressure Johnny was under in Australia. At times helicopters would follow him home. There would be so many media outside his gates that trucks were feeding them.

 Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge - Trailer

"There was so much stuff made up about him: that Johnny had a fight on set and had gone back to the States, which we both read about while we were in his trailer.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge is released in UK cinemas on 26 May
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

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DJ Robert Miles' cause of death has been revealed in an official statement after news broke that the iconic producer had passed away aged 47.

The Swiss-born Italian DJ, real name Robert Concina, was best known for his smash hit dance anthem 'Children', which reached No.1 in 12 countries upon its release in the Nineties.

In interviews he said that the song was inspired after his father showed him pictures of child victims of the war in Yugoslavia in 1994.

As the news of Miles' death broke it was only stated that he had suffered from an "unknown illness".

However a statement read out on Miles' radio station OpenLab said he had died from stage 4 metastatic cancer, the Daily Mail reports.

"Robert was more than just an artist, he was a pioneer, a creator, an inspiration, a son, a father, our friend," a spokesperson said.

"Robert passed away peacefully last night after a courageous battle with stage 4 metastatic cancer over the last 9 months.

"Throughout it he was strong, determined, incredibly brave and did everything he could to fight this horrendous disease."

Recommended Iconic trance producer DJ Robert Miles has died aged 47

Joe T Vannelli, a close friend of the producer, said: "The tragic news of the death of a very talented artist of our time makes me incredulous and upset.

Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up

"I remember the 1997 Brit Awards ceremony very well. Robert Miles won the Best International Newcomer award, which was introduced by Gary Barlow. Miles was the only Italian artist to win in BA history.

"I will miss the fights, brawls, criticism, judgements... but especially your talent in finding sounds and melodies unparalled."
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A photographer has captured the homes of Hong Kong residents which have been dubbed coffin homes and branded an insult to human dignity by the United Nations.

The country has been ranked the worlds least affordable housing market for seven years by the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey ranking it higher than Sydney, London and New York. Home prices have risen 370 per cent since a six year slump ended in 2003, reports Bloomberg.

According to the Associated Press, 200,000 of Hong Kongs 7.3 million residents leave in the subdivided units which can comprise of one 120 ft room.

In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong A general view of residential and commercial buildings in Yau Tsim Mong District which is a popular location for the 'subdivided units' in Hong Kong AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong A five year-old boy plays outside his tiny home, which is made of concrete and corrugated metal on the rooftop of an apartment block as he lives with his parents in an illegal rooftop dwelling AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong A resident walks outside his illegal rooftop dwelling, which is located next to a public housing estate, in the background AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Li Suet-wen and her son, 6, and daughter, 8, live in a 120-square foot room crammed with a bunk bed, small couch, fridge, washing machine and small table in Hong Kong. They're among an estimated 200,000 people in the former British colony living in 'subdivided units.' That's 18 percent more than four years ago and includes 35,500 children 15 and under, government figures show AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Hong Kong residents, who only gave their surname, Lam, top left, Wan, top right, and Kitty Au, pose at their 'coffin homes' in Hong Kong AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong A resident who only gave his surname Sin, 55, tidies up the bed in his 'coffin home' in Hong Kong AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Li Suet-wen and her son, 6, and daughter, 8, live in a 120-square foot room crammed with a bunk bed, small couch, fridge, washing machine and small table, in Hong Kong as she pays HK$4,500 ($580) a month in rent and utilities. That's nearly half the HK$10,000 ($1,290) she earns at a bakery decorating cakes. AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong An illegal rooftop hut is seen in Hong Kong AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Simon Wong, an unemployed man, watches TV in his 'coffin home' in Hong Kong AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, 'coffin homes' and other inadequate housing AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong A bus drives past a residential and commercial building where the 'coffin homes' are located in Hong Kong. As a new leader for the territory prepares to take office, housing unaffordability remains one of the Asian financial centers biggest social problems AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Cramped toilets and a sink for the residents of this particular 'coffin home' AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Residents who only gave their surname Yeung, left and Lui, in their "coffin home" AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Wong Tat-ming, 63, sits in his 'coffin home', which is next to a set of grimy toilets in Hong Kong as he pays HK$2,400 ($310) a month for a compartment measuring three feet by six feet AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong A resident who only gave his surname Yeung, takes a rest in his 'coffin home' in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong A resident who only gave his surname Lui, has dinner in his 'coffin home' in Hong Kong AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Cheung Chi-fong, 80, sleeps in his tiny 'coffin home' where he cannot stretch out his legs in Hong Kong AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Wong Tat-ming, 63, sits in his 'coffin home' which is crammed with all his meagre possessions, including a sleeping bag, small colour TV and electric fan. He and another elderly resident complain to a visiting social worker about bedbugs and cockroaches AP In pictures: The coffin homes of Hong Kong Tse Chu, a retired waiter, sleeps in his 'coffin home' in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, 'coffin homes' and other inadequate housing AP

Wong Tat-ming, 63, who is on benefits after sclerosis in his leg left him unable to drive a taxi, lives in a coffin home which he pays HK$2,400 a month (240). His possessions of a sleeping bag, small TV and electric fan are cramped into his three foot by six foot home. His bunk is next to toilets and a sink which are shared by up to 24 residents.

Its not cheap either, he said. Would you say its more expensive than living in a mansion?

The newly appointed chief executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam has vowed to fix the housing crisis in the financial district and in her victory speech pledged to assist Hong Kongers to attain home ownership and improve their living conditions.

The UN has previously branded some of the homes an insult to human dignity, the Daily Mail reports.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
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If your brunch didnt include avocado in some guise, did you even really brunch?

Smashed on sourdough, sliced between halloumi and poached eggs or even turned into a rose, avocado is one of the most popular brunch foods of the moment.

Our love for the fruit shows no sign of abating, but it turns out its causing a new casualty: avocado hand.

Due to the soaring popularity of avo, more and more people are accidentally cutting their hands when slicing open the fruit and endeavouring to remove the stone.

According to surgeons, A&E departments have seen increasing numbers of people with the injury.

Recommended Avocados just got a lot more expensive

Recently the health benefits of avocado have been advocated, with an increase in their popularity  and a consequent increase in related injuries, David Shewring, vice-president of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, told The Times.

And the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons is now calling for safety labels on the fruit, advising people on how to cut them safely.

Avocado hand injuries are much worse than just small cuts though, many people have caused themselves serious nerve and tendon injuries which require surgery and can leave you without full use of your hand.

Its a heavy price to pay for an Instagrammable brunch.

People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them, said Simon Eccles, secretary of the association and former president of the plastic surgery section of the Royal Society of Medicine.

We dont want to put people off the fruit but I think warning labels are an effective way of dealing with this. It needs to be recognisable. Perhaps we could have a cartoon picture of an avocado with a knife, and a big red cross going through it?

There are no figures for how widespread a problem avocado hand is, but given the fruits global appeal, its thought that the injury has affected people around the world.

Back in 2012, Meryl Streep was pictured with a bandaged hand after losing a fight with an avocado, and figures suggest that over 100 people a year give themselves avocado hand in New Zealand.

The problem may not be at endemic levels, but at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, Mr Eccles says he treats about four patients a week with avocado hand.

And at St Thomass hospital in London, staff have actually become accustomed to the post-brunch surge on Saturdays, the Times reports.

Often the injury occurs when the stone inside the avocado is softer than people expect, so they slice right through to their hand holding the fruit.

So how should you cut and de-stone an avocado safely?

Place the fruit flat on a surface, and with one hand on top, gently make incisions around the stone, Jeff Bland, executive chef at the Michelin-starred Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, advises.

To remove the stone, Shewring uses the following method: Wrap the avocado in a towel leaving the pip exposed. Carefully use the edge of a heavy sharp knife to chop into the summit of the soft pip, so that it is slightly buried. Holding the knife, so that the pip is stabilised, use a towel to twist the pip out.

It may be a middle class problem, but avocado hand is not something to be laughed at. Be safe next time you brunch at home.
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Fast food giant Burger King is offering free burgers to anyone with the surname Parrilla to make up for a lifetime of cruel jokes.

In Argentina, the surname Parilla, which translates as grill, has reportedly stigmatised a whole group of people who share the name and have been subjected to countless puns about meat.

Burger Kings latest campaign aims to make up for the bullying by offering those named Parilla free Whopper burgers for the rest of their lives.

Customers can take advantage of the offer at any of the chain's outlets across Argentina by showing their ID.

Lucina Cabrejas, the marketing director for Burger King Argentina told AdWeek: We are proud to belong to the Parrilla family for more than 60 years, and the best way to put it is by recognising for life those who bear that surname.

Customers took to Twitter to react to the news, with many saying they wished their name was Parilla.

One Twitter user said My brother wants to change his surname to get free burgers at Burger King.

Another one tweeted to her friend: @LanaParrilla Burger King is giving free burgers to anyone named Parrilla, you just have to show your ID. One reason for coming to Argentina!

Reactions to the fast food giants marketing stunts have not always been so positive.

Last month, its latest a US advert for its Whopper backfired after the iconic burgers Wikipedia page was manipulated to claim that the product contains cyanide and is "the worst hamburger product" the fast food chain has ever made.

Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits  with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats  at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands  think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo  have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week  thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch  a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties

It came after Burger King released a 15-second advert in the US which claimed there was not enough time to explain all the fresh ingredient in its Whopper sandwich.

Instead, an Burger King staff member asks Google to do the explaining for him, using the voice prompt: OK Google, what is the Whopper Burger? after which the ad ended, prompting the Google Home in viewers' living rooms to read out a description of the burger from Wikipedia.

But the marketing stunt backfired after somebody altered the first line of the Wikipedia entry to say that the burger contains cyanide and is cancer-causing.
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Struggling to seal deals in the United States as regulatory scrutiny tightens, Chinese companies looking to invest in promising technology are finding a warmer welcome for their cash in Israel.

Chinese firms have long hunted in the United States for deals to develop their technological know-how and open up new markets, but their quarry has become more elusive since late 2016 due to increased US protectionism and a tougher regulatory stance.

Last year, Chinese investment into Israel jumped more than tenfold to a record $16.5bn (12.8bn), with money flooding into the countrys buzzing internet, cyber-security and medical device startups. These investments surged in the third quarter just as the US regulatory crackdown began to bite, Thomson Reuters data shows.

Recommended A Brexit brain drain is already threatening the UK tech sector

In contrast, Chinese bidders scrapped a record $26.3bn worth of previously announced deals from the United States in 2016, the data shows.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Hong Kong conference last month, TCL Corp chairman Li Dongsheng told Reuters the review of one target company, which he declined to name, had been frozen following the appointment of President Donald Trump, who has championed a protectionist agenda.

Mr Dongshengs phones-to-fridges group is scouting in Israel instead.

Im flying to Israel in May where weve selected more than 10 potential targets, Mr Dongsheng said, adding the group was interested in technology companies dealing in smart manufacturing, new materials, big data and internet applications.

China Everbright Limited (CEL), the Hong Kong investment arm of state-owned China Everbright Group, is also looking to Israel, said Chen Shuang, CELs chief executive.

Our Israel-focused fund has already invested in four local firms there, and we plan to invest in another three to four within this year.

Hurdles

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which screens for national security risks, has become a major stumbling block for China-linked deals. China-backed Canyon Bridge Capital Partners has struggled with its $1.3bn takeover of Lattice Semiconductor after members of Congress raised security concerns.

The review has always been rigorous, but now it will be even more so (due to) a combination of increasingly strategic transactions from China and a new administration worried about certain Chinese actions, said Miriam Sapiro, a former deputy US Trade Representative who served as a CFIUS member during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

With Israel being a close US ally, however, Chinese investment in sensitive tech there could also raise eyebrows, sources familiar with the CFIUS process say.

Chinas international surge of state-driven investments in emerging technologies should put the United States and our allies on notice, said Representative Robert Pittenger, a Republican from North Carolina who said he was campaigning to improve information sharing on the issue with US allies.

Late last year, the United States blocked the takeover of German chip equipment maker Aixtron by Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund on security grounds.

Crowded Market

Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has touted Israel as a perfect partner for China in developing a range of life-changing technologies, it has not been all plain sailing for Chinese bidders.

The government has expressed concerns over the purchase of key financial assets such as insurers, fretting over pension cash. Fosun last year scrapped its plan to buy a controlling stake in Israeli insurer Phoenix Holdings, saying conditions for the $462m deal were not met.

Prior to 2016, Chinas few investments into Israel were largely outside the high-tech space, from ChemChinas acquisition of crop protection maker Adama to Bright Foods takeover of food company Tnuva.

That is now more than matched by deals in the tech startup space, from telecoms group Huaweis bid for cyber-security firm HexaTier, to venture capital investments by the likes of PingAn Ventures and China Broadband Capital into IronSource, a company that offers business development and distribution tools for mobile apps.

Tomer Bar-Zeev, chief executive of IronSource, said strategic Chinese investors are attractive because they offer Israeli firms a way in to the huge domestic Chinese market, which is otherwise difficult to crack.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Once we became a portfolio company of these Chinese investors, they helped with opening doors in China ... where the business community really relies on connections you build there.

For Chinese buyers, Israeli assets are not only more easily accessible than in the United States, they are also often cheaper, say lawyers and bankers.

Rising competition is, however, starting to push up prices, helping Israeli private high-tech companies raise an all-time high of $4.8bn last year, up 11 per cent from 2015, according to the Israel Venture Capital Research Centre and law firm ZAG.

Traditionally, many Israeli tech firms have sold out at an early stage to global giants like Cisco, IBM and Microsoft. But now startups like IronSource, one of Israels most valuable private tech firms, are using the sharp rise in private investment to pursue long-term growth.

We are not worried to take Chinese money over US money, said Bar-Zeev of IronSource. If you can deliver, there are endless opportunities.

Reuters
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A 26-year old student is reportedly suing UK pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) after claiming she received the wrong dosage of a medication that caused her skin to burn off.

Khaliah Shaw, a graduate student at Georgia College and State University in the US, was prescribed an anti-seizure medication lamotrigine, marketed as Lamictal in the US in 2014, according to a report by 11Alive, an NBC-affiliated TV station in Atlanta.

Within weeks of taking the drug, Ms Shaw claims blisters broke out over her body. She told the news outlet she was in excruciating pain and felt like she was on fire.

The ordeal led to her diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare skin disorder that usually occurs in reaction to a medication or an incorrect dosage.

Ms Shaw spent five weeks in a medically induced coma while her skin slowly peeled off. She told the news outlet that the syndrome left her skin scarred and she is slowly losing her vision, while her finger nails might never grow back.

Khalilah Shaw, receiving surgery after an allergic reaction to a GlaxoSmithKline product (Fox)

The syndrome has no cure and doctors told her she might relapse.

Theyre telling me this could happen again, and theyre telling me if it did happen again, that it would be worse, Ms Shaw told 11Alive.

Ms Shaw is now suing the drug manufacturer GSK for promoting the product without warning of the risks, reportedly demanding more than $3.45m (2.68m).

It is not the first time the drug company has been sued for alleged healthcare fraud.

In 2012, GSK agreed to pay $3bn and pleaded guilty to criminal charges of illegally marketing drugs and withholding safety data from US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Earlier this month, a US jury in Chicago ruled that GSK must pay $3m to a woman who sued the firm after her husband committed suicide while taking a generic version of the antidepressant Paxil. The drug company is appealing the decision.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

GSK was not immediately available to comment on the report.
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Hindus, vegetarians and vegans already voiced outraged after the new polymer 5 note was found to contain animal fat. Now drug users are complaining the thicker and stronger plastic notes have left them with cut noses after trying to snort cocaine.

The self-imposed injury is being referred to as getting Winstoned in reference to Winston Churchills image appearing on the plastic fivers, according to the Metro newspaper.

An anonymous cocaine user from Birmingham told the paper: I thought I was the only person to have had my nose cut by the new fiver. But when I told my friend how I was in agony he said I had been Winstoned and it was happening to everyone.

Recommended Bank of England announces notes will still contain animal fat

Everyone thought the new fivers were Gods gift to sniffing at the start because they roll up perfectly [...] Now I suppose now people are realising if something seems too good to be true then it usually is.

By snorting cocaine through banknotes, drug users are also increasing the risk of, and facilitating the transfer of, infection.

Talk to Frank, a national drug education service jointly established by the Department of Health and Home Office of the Government in 2003, warns on its website: Sharing straws, bank notes and needles may put you at risk of hepatitis B and C, and HIV infections. Snorting cocaine damages the lining of your nose and makes it open to infection.

Blood and mucus are easily transferred onto straws and notes and these can spread disease when you share snorting equipment.

The old paper fivers lost their legal tender status last week. Some retailers might still accept them at their own discretion. High street banks can also refuse to exchange notes after the cut-off date, although many said they will replace the notes brought into a branch by their own customers.

The Bank will continue to exchange the old 5 notes indefinitely, as it would for any other bank note which no longer has legal tender status.

The 2016 banknote beauty pageant Show all 6 1 /6 The 2016 banknote beauty pageant The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Scotland The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Australia The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of New Zealand The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Georgia The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Belarus The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Maldives

The new polymer banknotes, first issued in September last year fit in cash machines like paper ones, but are considerably more durable, cleaner and harder to counterfeit.

Certain religious groups and animal activists expressed outrage last year after the Bank revealed that the notes were made with tallow  a substance derived from fat and used in candles and soaps.

The Bank of England in February said that it will not withdraw the 5 notes from circulation, but added that it would consult with the public on how future banknotes should be made. It is now considering using palm oil for the production of its new 20 notes.
Vitaliy Hlukhoveria has been appointed to head Dnipropetrovsk regional police force, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Anton Gerashchenko has said.

"Introduction of the new head of the region's police force is taking place now. He is Vitaliy Andriyovych Hlukhoveria, who earlier headed the Interior Ministry's Dnipro Institute and knows well the situation in the region," Gerashchenko wrote on his Facebook page.

A volunteer from the Dnipro-1 Battalion, chief of Dnipro City's police force Volodymyr Bohonis, was appointed deputy, according to Gerashchenko, who said, "for the last three years he has risen from an ordinary volunteer to a high-ranking police official."

Events in Dnipro on May 9 were rife with law violations by police. The violations will be investigated by a special commission headed by Yevhen Koval, head of internal security for the National Police of Ukraine (NABU).

Gerashchenko said NABU head Serhiy Kniazev announced the dismissal of the Melitopol police chief for shenanigans similar to those in Dnipro which took place on May 9.

As earlier reported, after a preliminary review of the shenanigans in Dnipro Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said he signed an order to dismiss the head of Dnipropetrovsk regional police Ihor Repeshko and the head of Dnipro's police department Andriy Bidylo, as well as their deputies. The reason was their failure to ensure public safety.

Avakov said a special investigative group has been dispatched to Dnipro to further check on actions by hooligans on May 9.
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Multiple FBI insiders have claimed the real reason the bureaus former director James Comey was fired by Donald Trump was because of his refusal to end the investigation into links between Russia and the US leader's presidential campaign team.

The president claimed Mr Comey wasnt doing a good job and documents provided by the White House suggested he was fired for his poor handling of the bureaus investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server.

But speculation has mounted that the director was deposed because of his refusal to end his investigation into allegations that individuals involved with Mr Trump's presidential campaign had undisclosed links to the Kremlin and whether Russian hacking influenced the outcome of last years presidential election.

It subsequently emerged that he asked for more resources to fund the investigation, in the days leading up to his firing, although this was denied by the US Department of Justice.

Some commentators and newspapers, including The New York Times, have suggested the President disposed of Mr Comey in a frantic bid to prevent his own impeachment.

Former US attorney for the southern district of New York, Preet Bharara took to Twitter to make a similar claim.

As a matter of math, infinitely more evidence Comey fired for Russian investigation (some) than there is evidence Trump was wiretapped (zero), he wrote.

Mr Bharara, who was removed from his high profile position by Mr Trump in March, added: Everyone who cares about independence and the rule of law in America should be troubled by the timing and reasoning of Comey firing. Period.

The investigation into the alleged Russian links had been stepped up in recent weeks, with Mr Comey receiving daily instead of weekly updates on the investigation, according to bureau insiders speaking anonymously to the US media.

The Senates Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena this week for the Presidents former national security adviser Mike Flynn to produce documents relevant to the investigation, which is looking into the nature of his contacts with the Russians before he joined the White House team.

The retired General was forced to resign in February for failing to disclose the content of his talks with Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States, and then misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.

Mr Trump insisted the Russia probe wasnt a factor in his decision to sack Mr Comey.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer also insisted that the President acted on the clear recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Mr Comey, a New York born lawyer, reportedly refused to give Mr Trumps aides a preview of his testimony on the investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server before a Senate panel, which the President is said to have considered an act of insubordination.

Mr Trump, the Attorney General and his deputy had reportedly expected to be given a heads-up about what Mr Comey would say at the hearing which took place on 3 May.

The President said he had had concerns over Mr Comey for some time but it was the FBIs clarification that its former chief had mishandled the investigation into Ms Clinton that prompted the dismissal.

But Democrats and Republicans alike have said the dismissal is concerning and calls into question the independence of the FBI, with several congressman calling for the immediate appointment of an independent counsel to take over the Russian investigation.

Mr Trump has expressed repeated frustration into the enquiry into the alleged Russian ties, insisting it is based on fake news. Moscow has denied any official meddling in the US election and the Trump administration denied all allegations of collusion with Russia.

A former Trump adviser said that Mr Comeys testimony into the Clinton emails had reinforced in the Presidents mind that the FBI director was against him.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckerbee Sanders told reporters that Mr Trump had been considering firing Mr Comey since the day he was elected.

Mr Trump took to Twitter in his customary style to accuse the Democrats of hypocrisy.

(They) have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad.

He added: Comey lost the confidence of everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrats alike. When things calm down they will be thanking me!

Mr Comey has not given any interviews since his dismissal, but said in a farewell letter to his colleagues at the FBI: I have long believed that a president can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all. Im not going to spend any time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you wont either. It is done.

The President has the authority to fire the FBI director but it has only happened once before when Bill Clinton dismissed William sessions after an internal watchdog uncovered financial irregularities.

Amid the gathering storm of protest over the decision, Mr Trump yesterday welcomed Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, to the White House.

Mr Lavrov later shrugged off questions about the alleged links between the Trump team and his own governments officials, comparing the President favourably to his predecessor Barack Obama.

We discussed our bilateral relations which are not very encouraging. The reason is well known. Unfortunately the previous administration bent over backwards to undermine the solid foundation of those relations.

President Trump clearly states his interest to build businesslike pragmatic relations with Russia and to settle outstanding issues.
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Teenagers who smoke marijuana regularly achieve poorer grades at school and risk their chances of going to university, according to a major new scientific study.

A longitudinal study of more than 26,400 pupils in Canada found those who started using marijuana at least once a month were around half as likely to achieve high grades as they were before taking up the habit, and were ultimately less likely to pursue university ambitions.

Marijuana users were also four times more likely to skip classes and two-to-four times less likely to complete their homework and value getting good grades.

The findings, published in the Journal of School Health, echo those of numerous earlier studies warning of the drugs negative effects on attention span and memory, which can in turn cause students learning to suffer.

Evidence is mixed however, with one recent report from University College London suggesting higher achievers are twice as likely to smoke cannabis during their teenage years due to their curious minds.

For this latest study, researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada compared data from 26,475 grade 9-12 school pupils questioned on the highest level of education they would like and expect to achieve.

The results indicated that when students started smoking marijuana daily, their likelihood of reporting ambitions to pursue places at university  rather than stopping at high school level or sooner  was around 50 per cent lower than when the same students had never used the drug.

The findings support the importance of preventing and delaying the initiation of marijuana use among adolescents, said Scott Leatherdale, a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems and head of COMPASS, the largest longitudinal study of substance use among young people.

More youth today use marijuana than cigarettes, yet public health prevention efforts lag behind those of alcohol and tobacco.

A previous study by the same university suggests a very similar number of teenagers in Canada smoke cannabis as they do tobacco.

Where cannabis is and isn't legal Show all 10 1 /10 Where cannabis is and isn't legal Where cannabis is and isn't legal UK Having been reclassified in 2009 from a Class C to a Class B drug, cannabis is now the most used illegal drug within the United Kingdom. The UK is also, however, the only country where Sativex  a prescribed drug that helps to combat muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis and contains some ingredients that are also found in cannabis - is licensed as a treatment Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal North Korea Although many people believe the consumption of cannabis in North Korea to be legal, the official law regarding the drug has never been made entirely clear whilst under Kim Jong Uns regime. However, it is said that the North Korean leader himself has openly said that he does not consider cannabis to be a drug and his regime doesnt take any issue with the consumption or sale of the drug MARCEL VAN HOORN/AFP/Getty Images Where cannabis is and isn't legal Netherlands In the Netherlands smoking cannabis is legal, given that it is smoked within the designated smoking areas and you dont possess more than 5 grams for personal use. It is also legal to sell the substance, but only in specified coffee shops Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal USA Although in some states of America cannabis has now been legalised, prior to the legalisation, police in the U.S. could make a marijuana-related arrest every 42 seconds, according to US News and World Report. The country also used to spend around $3.6 billion a year enforcing marijuana law, the American Civil Liberties Union notes AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Where cannabis is and isn't legal Spain Despite cannabis being officially illegal in Spain, the European hotspot has recently started to be branded, the new Amsterdam. This is because across Spain there are over 700 Cannabis Clubs  these are considered legal venues to consume cannabis in because the consumption of the drug is in private, and not in public. These figures have risen dramatically in the last three years  in 2010 there were just 40 Cannabis Clubs in the whole of Spain. Recent figures also show that in Catalonia alone there are 165,000 registered members of cannabis clubs  this amounts to over 5 million euros (4 million) in revenue each month Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Uruguay In December 2013, the House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill legalizing and regulating the production and sale of the drug. But the president has since postponed the legalization of cannabis until to 2015 and when it is made legal, it will be the authorities who will grow the cannabis that can be sold legally. Buyers must be 18 or older, residents of Uruguay, and must register with the authorities Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Pakistan Despite the fact that laws prohibiting the sale and misuse of cannabis exist and is considered a habit only entertained by lower-income groups, it is very rarely enforced. The occasional use of cannabis in community gatherings is broadly tolerated as a centuries old custom. The open use of cannabis by Sufis and Hindus as a means to induce euphoria has never been challenged by the state. Further, large tracts of cannabis grow unchecked in the wild Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Portugal In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize the use of all drugs, and started treating drug users as sick people, instead of criminals. However, you can still be arrested or assigned mandatory rehab if you are caught several times in possession of drugs Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Puerto Rico Although the use of cannabis is currently illegal, it is said that Puerto Rico are in the process of decriminalising it RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images Where cannabis is and isn't legal China Cannabis is grown in the wild and has been used to treat conditions such as gout and malaria. But, officially the substance is illegal to consume, possess and sell Getty

Karen Patte, a post-doctoral fellow and lead author of the paper, added that researchers had found a reduction in the number of young people perceiving marijuana to be harmful.

Yet they have greater vulnerability to adverse consequences, she said.

We found that the more frequently students started using the drug, the greater their risk of poor school performance and engagement.

The study also looked at the effects of alcohol use on academic aspirations and expectations.

Unlike marijuana, students partaking in regular alcohol use tended to report goals to pursue post-secondary education.

Drinking has long been tied to university settings, which may make alcohol a more acceptable substance choice for students planning to attend university, said Mr Leatherdale.

Last month, the Canadian government unveiled plans to legalise recreational marijuana use.

If the Cannabis Act is passed, the nation would become the second in the world after Uruguay to regulate a legal marijuana market.

Mr Leatherdale said: All substances present risks to health and well-being. With marijuana legalisation on the horizon, its critical we understand these risks in order to promote successful transitions into adulthood for our youth.
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A family member of a victim of the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS plans to launch a landmark legal case amid allegations of a Government cover-up.

Theresa May has said she will consider setting up an independent panel to investigate the tainted blood scandal, which left thousands infected with hepatitis and HIV in the 1970s and 80s.

Now Jason Evans, whose father Jonathan died after he was infected with HIV while being treated for haemophilia, is suing the Government for negligence.

Mr Evans, 27, has said his legal claim, if successful, could set a precedent for others affected by the scandal  the subject of an episode of BBC Panorama to be broadcast tonight.

He is also calling for a public inquiry into documents, including medical records, that are said to be missing, leading to concerns they may have been destroyed at the time.

Some 5,000 people were infected with Hepatitis C and 1,200 with HIV during NHS treatment for haemophilia or blood transfusions.

While victims in England have received discretionary payments from the Government, no body or organisation has ever admitted liability or paid compensation over the affair.

The Prime Minister made her comments last autumn after being asked whether she would consider setting up an inquiry panel like that established to get to the bottom of the Hillsborough disaster by an MP who described the tragedy as the biggest in the history of the health service.

 Singer Rihanna and Prince Harry take part in HIV test

Mr Evans said he had decided to instruct lawyers to take a case against the Government and other bodies involved in the scandal alleging negligence and a breach of statutory duty.

Jonathan Evans died at the age of 31, when his son was four years old.

There are many of us who think that one of the reasons why you cant get hold of a lot of these documents was they cleaned them up because there was a sort of panic going around the world in the middle 80s, that these issues would reach court, Mr Evans told the BBC.

Recommended 400 NHS patients offered HIV test after doctor diagnosed with virus

David Owen, Minister of Health from 1974 to 1976, also claimed the Department of Health (DoH) had told him that his ministerial papers from the time had been destroyed.

However, the DoH said no documents had been destroyed maliciously and there was no evidence of missing or amended medical records.

This was an unprecedented tragedy, and we are continuing to work closely with those affected to make sure the right support is in place for them, said a spokesperson for the Department.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

We have more than doubled our annual spend on payments to people affected since 2015, committing an additional 125m, as well as providing an annual payment to all infected individuals. This is significantly more than any previous government has provided for those affected by this tragedy.

We will continue to listen and are currently consulting on new measures to extend the group of individuals who benefit from higher annual payments.

Panorama is on BBC One at 9pm.
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Scientists have found a whole new planet that looks like our Neptune and might answer some of the most fundamental questions of the planets.

The new discovery sits 430 light years from Earth and has clear skies and an atmosphere that's almost entirely made up of hydrogen and helium.

It is the same size as Neptune. But it is being referred to as warm, because it is much closer to its parent star.

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

And it might help shine a light on how solar systems first form, and how they go on to develop over time.

The planet has a primitive, watery atmosphere that suggests that it formed either near its star, or relatively late in the time of its solar system. That is vastly different from Neptune and Uranus, which were created early on in the edge of the disc of dust and gas that swirled around our own young sun.

Learning about those differences  and how the planet was formed  could help us understand how our own solar system came to be.

Recommended Astronomers might have found another planet in our solar system

Professor David Sing from the University of Exeter, whose team carried out a detailed study of the planet together with scientists from Nasa, said: This exciting new discovery shows that there is a lot more diversity in the atmospheres of these exoplanets than we have previously thought.

This warm Neptune is a much smaller planet than those we have been able to characterise in depth, so this new discovery about its atmosphere feels like a big breakthrough in our pursuit to learn more about how solar systems are formed, and how it compares to our own.

The scientists analysed data from Nasas Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to measure light filtering through the planets atmosphere as it passed in front of its host star.

The findings, published in the journal Science, provide enough detail to show that the planet, named HAT-P-26P, has skies relatively clear of clouds and a strong water signature.

Co-author Dr Hanna Wakeford, from Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said: Astronomers have just begun to investigate the atmospheres of these distant Neptune-mass planets, and almost right away, we found an example that goes against the trend in our solar system.

Additional reporting by Press Association
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A motorist who ploughed into a cyclist with her car after he challenged her for using a mobile phone while driving has been jailed for three years.

Justine Henshaw-Bryan rammed a Ford Fiesta into Damien Doughty as he cycled in north London, after he confronted her for using a mobile phone at the wheel.

Mr Doughty was knocked off his bike and into a tree as he cycled in Stoke Newington on 10 February last year.

He was left in intensive care, suffering a punctured lung, broken hand and liver injuries

The 25-year-old driver, from Hackney, was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving following a trial at Wood Green Crown Court.

Sentencing, Judge Gregory Perrins told Henshaw-Bryan her actions could have killed the victim, and that she must have been aware of the risk her dangerous driving presented to him.

"This was a calculated attempt to run him over and use your car as a weapon," he said.

"It would have been obvious that to do so would have carried significant risk of injury (to the cyclist)."

Justine Henshaw-Bryan has been jailed for three years (PA)

He added: "Those who are unable to control their temper while driving and feel that cyclists are fair game must be dealt with severely."

Judge Perrins jailed Henshaw-Bryan, who is due to give birth in November, for three years, and handed her a four-a-half-year driving disqualification and six penalty points.

Mr Doughty said: [I was] exceptionally scared. You can hear the engine revving really close to you.

I remember the car rear ending me, kind of letting out a scream and realising what was happening.

I crumbled into a heap on the floor, and I am in extreme amounts of pain.
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The Home Office reportedly ignored almost 1,600 offers from councils to take in asylum seeking children.

Hertfordshire said it had offered to support at least 100 more children, Essex had space for 95 more and Bradford had the capacity to take on 79.

A Freedom of Information requests submitted by Vice magazine showed that in total, councils had voluntarily offered to accept 1,572 more children than they were currently supporting.

The figures were revealed as the Home Office admitted that an administrative error led to 130 places for child refugees offered by local councils not being taken into consideration as part of the Dubs Amendment scheme.

Campaigners said this highlighted the chaotic system the Government had adopted in the safeguarding of unaccompanied minors.

The offers from councils were made in response to the creation of the National Transfer Scheme in July last year.

The scheme was designed to take unaccompanied children from areas such as Kent and Croydon, which were supporting disproportionately large numbers and relocate them to other areas of the country.

More than four out of five of the 80 per cent of councils that responded to Vices Freedom of Information requests said they had signed up to the scheme, and half said they had made a commitment to support the equivalent to 0.07 per cent of their total child population.

Fewer than one in five had declined to accept any children at all.

The Government has maintained that the scheme is voluntary, despite the fact that the Immigration Act 2016 gave it powers to make the scheme mandatory, which would enable the UK to help many more refugee children.

Recommended UK refused entry to 130 child refugees due to administrative mistake

Responding to the figures, Debbie Beadle, head of youth development at ECPAT, a leading childrens rights organisation in the UK campaigning against child trafficking, said the Governments dismissal of places offered was disappointing, warning that it would be driving vulnerable children into the hands of traffickers.

This is disappointing. These children are some of the most vulnerable in our society and theyre not being accommodated and supported appropriately, which is leaving them at risk of trafficking and exploitation, Ms Beadle told The Independent.

Were leaving them in very vulnerable positions. In the UK we have a Childrens Act which is meant to be in place to safeguard all children no matter what their status or where theyre from, and in this case were failing them.

Kids are being picked up by people with other ideas. It leads children into the hands of traffickers and other dangerous people who are going to abuse them. They dont see any hope the other way when they get a negative response.

Lord Dubs also told Vice: For some time we've been telling the Home Office that local authorities all the way from London to Scotland are willing to take more unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Asked why these offers had been ignored, he said: It beats me. We're talking about an important point of principle. We're not talking about vast numbers.

Bishop Jonathan Clark, chairman of Citizens UK Safe Passage programme, meanwhile said: This research reflects what we are hearing from Refugees Welcome groups across the UK: that many councils have space to take more child refugees.

"We call on the government to look again at its decision to close the 'Dubs scheme' and re-consult with councils on capacity so more children can in future benefit.

There has already been speculation about the Home Offices dismissal of council offers. Britains largest fostering and adoption charity, Tact Care, told The Independent last month that the UK had capacity to take in at least 1,300 more child refugees  10 times more than the 130 the Home Office had specified  but that it was adopting a chaotic system that was leaving places unaccounted for.

Andy Elvin, chief executive of the charity, said: The Home Office is spouting continuous lies. There is room for at least 1,300 children in the UK, but due to a chaotic system many places are going unaccounted for. They didnt have an organised process of asking local authorities how many places they could offer Dubs children."

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

The Government announced in early February that it was to close the Dubs scheme  intended to grant 3,000 vulnerable unaccompanied minors a safe passage to Britain  after accepting just 350, as well as ending an accelerated scheme to assess direct family ties through the Dublin regulation.

Following anger from human rights campaigners, the Home Office has since said it would reconsider cases of children normally resident in the Calais camp for family reunification, but this process is said to be very slow and does not apply to vulnerable minors without family in the UK, prompting a growing number to turn to illegal routes.

The number of underage refugees northern France is meanwhile steadily increasing, which charities and campaigners have warned is generating a new consumer base for smugglers and people traffickers in the region, as they coerce children into taking illegal routes involving large debts or exploitation.
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A former London oil and gas trader has been ordered to pay his estranged wife 453m in what could be the biggest award ever made in Britain by a divorce court judge.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave made the ruling on Thursday following a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

He concluded the woman should get a 41.5 per cent share of a fortune totalling just over 1bn.

The man is 61, came from the Caucasus, and had worked as a London oil and gas trader before building up a fortune in the Russian energy business. The woman comes from eastern Europe but has been a British citizen since 2000.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said the woman had been a housewife and mother to the couple's now grown-up sons, at their home in Surrey.

The man had argued he had made a special contribution to the generation of wealth.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert 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The judge concluded the man and woman had made equal contributions to the welfare of the family.

Following the ruling, in which no one involved was named, a specialist lawyer said it was an example of English judges' generosity to the financially weaker spouse.

This big-money divorce settlement represents yet another example of the English courts' unparalleled generosity towards the financially weaker spouse, said Rosie Schumm, who is based at law firm Forsters.

This generosity is rooted in the fundamental principle that breadwinners' and homemakers' respective contributions to a marriage are of equal importance. With this in mind, London remains to be seen as the divorce capital of the world. For high net worth international couples the financial consequences of divorcing in this jurisdiction are so significant.

Whether or not this settlement was indeed the biggest ever, as has been reported, is impossible to say. This is partly because an increasing number of high net worth couples electing for private divorce and arbitration where the proceedings and the details of the final settlement are kept entirely confidential.

Deborah Jeff, who is based at law firm Seddons, added: This was a long marriage of 20 years, meaning the starting point for a settlement is equal sharing of assets.

 Largest ever divorce settlement for 337m - London Live

"There has been a slight departure from equality in this case, most probably to reflect either what the husband had brought into the marriage or to recognise his exceptional contribution as an individual with a spark of genius.

However, that's a high hurdle to clear and the 'exceptional contribution' argument is rarely accepted.

Today's judgment reinforces that as ever, London remains the place to divorce for the less wealthy spouse, where their perhaps, non-financial contribution is rewarded with the biggest dividend.

In late 2014, Jamie Cooper-Hohn, wife of financier Sir Chris Hohn, was awarded more than 330m by a judge following a divorce court hearing.

Three years earlier, Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky featured in a multimillion pound divorce case. It was reported his former wife Galina Besharova had agreed to accept between 165m and 220m as part of a settlement.

Press Association
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Theresa May has dismissed comments from her predecessor David Cameron that she requires a strong majority at the general election in order to face down those intent on achieving an extreme Brexit.

In an interview on LBC radio, the Prime Minister listened back to a recording of Mr Cameron, saying he wanted his successor in Downing Street to win and win well as he campaigned for the Conservatives earlier on Thursday in Crewe and Nantwich.

But Mr Cameron added: This is one of the most defining elections I can remember where its so important that the Conservatives win and win well, so Theresa can negotiate that Brexit deal and stand up to the people who want an extreme Brexit, either here or in Brussels.

Recommended May refuses to rule out further disability benefits cuts

But it's important that the Labour Party dont do well because they put up a candidate for prime minister who is completely unsuited to do the job.

But when asked about the comments and whether the reality of why she called the election was to stand up to her own MPs and avert an extreme Brexit, Ms May replied: No. The reason I called the election was because I think we need the security and the stability for five years of greater certainty that will take us through Brexit and beyond.

David is absolutely right when he says how crucial this election is because it is about the leadership of this country for the next five years.

It is about ensuring we have got a strong negotiating hand. Every vote for me and my team will strengthen the UKs hand negotiating that Brexit.

Ukips Paul Nuttall seized on Mr Camerons comments, adding: The mask slips, Camerons comments are exactly what we thought all along. Ms May is a Remainer at heart and this election is all about ensuring that she has a majority of lobber fodder to force through a soft, meaningless Brexit against the wishes of the British people.

UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. 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Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. 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During the interview on LBC, Ms May also said that not having children has been very sad but that her Christian faith had helped her cope. In a rare glimpse into her personal life, the Prime Minister spoke of the impact the death of her father had on her when she was a newlywed.

She told LBC: Its been very sad, it just turned out not to be possible for us.

Of course, we are not the only couple that finds ourselves in that situation and when you do I suppose you just get on with life. Weve got nephews and nieces.
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Labour would scrap the controversial income threshold that separates families and stops thousands of British citizens bringing their foreign husbands and wives to the UK.

The leaked draft version of the partys manifesto says it does not believe that family life should be protected only for the wealthy and that it would replace the threshold with an obligation to survive without recourse to public funds.

Immigration rules currently require British citizens to earn more than 18,600 before their foreign partner can join them on a spouse visa. Critics say the policy discriminates against working class people on lower incomes.

Recommended Families being torn apart by migration rules that set an income

The income threshold is even higher for couples with children who are not British citizens, rising to 22,400 for a couple with a first child and then an additional 2,400 for each additional child.

The rule was introduced by the 2010 Coalition government when Theresa May was Home Secretary. It was introduced to reduce the burden on the taxpayer.

Britons have previously told The Independent that they have been forced to move abroad to be with their partners because of the new rule.

In February the Supreme Court upheld the Governments policy after a legal challenge against it. Seven judges agreeing that the minimum income requirement was acceptable in principle  though criticising the lack of safeguards for the welfare of children.

The leaked version of the partys draft manifesto says: We believe fair rules mean that a distinction should be made between family connections and migrant labour.

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

We do not believe family life should be protected only for the wealthy and so we propose to replace the income thresholds for family attachments with an obligation to survive without recourse to public funds.

Labour will replace the financial threshold test for family reunion.

Labour is finalising its manifesto at its so-called Clause V meeting this week, with its official publication due next week. The party says it does not comment on leaks.
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A Labour government would extend abortion rights enjoyed by women across England, Scotland and Wales to women in Northern Ireland.

According to a leaked draft version of the party's manifesto Jeremy Corbyn's party would "legislate to extend" the right to a "safe, legal abortion" to women in the province.

The 1967 Abortion Act was never applied to Northern Ireland and thousands of women a year are denied access to safe and legal terminations.

Recommended Court grants review into decision to prosecute woman for abortion

Women in NI only have access to terminations under a 1945 law that provides abortion if a woman's life is at risk or her health is at serious risk.

The rules are strict however, with foetal abnormalities, rape and incest not considered circumstances under which abortions can be legally performed.

Those who have abortions in other circumstances face life in prison under the law, with a number having been prosecuted in the last year.

It is common for those requiring the medical procedure to travel to Great Britain in order to secure a termination, but this is not always possible for those on lower incomes.

In November 2015 the Belfast High Court found that the abortion ban breached human rights but the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly voted against relaxing it.

The leaked draft of Labours manifesto reads: "Labour will continue to ensure a woman's right to choose a safe, legal abortion - and we will legislate to extend that right to women in Northern Ireland."

In common with all the GB parties Labour has no representation in Northern Ireland. Campaigners welcomed the pledge, however.

Cara Sanquest of the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign said: "We are very encouraged to see that the Labour Party has included in its draft manifesto a commitment to extend abortion rights to Northern Ireland. This is a clear indication that the Labour Party recognises the rights of women in Northern Ireland.

"Those living in other parts of the UK can access free and safe abortions on the NHS, under the 1967 Abortion Act.

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

"This right was never extended to Northern Ireland. We are aware that the manifesto is currently in draft. We urge the Labour Party to retain this vital pledge and provide more information. We'd also strongly encourage other parties to follow suit when publishing their manifestos."

The final manifesto is being decided at the party's so-called Clause V meeting at the Savoy Place conference centre on London today. The party says it doesn't comment on leaks.
The international human rights organization Amnesty International in Ukraine has called on investigators to conduct an effective and unbiased examination of the events of May 9 in a number of Ukrainian cities.

"Police actions during the events of May 9 in Kyiv, Dnipro and other cities raise a lot of questions, to which comprehensive answers should be provided as soon as possible. The report on the use of excessive force by the police against OUN representatives must be thoroughly investigated," a press release of the organization, distributed on Wednesday evening, says.

Director of Amnesty International in Ukraine Oksana Pokalchuk points out the inadmissibility of the use of force by the police in some situations.

"If there is a need for the use of force by the police to ensure the rule of law, a number of requirements must be met. Among other things, the use of force should be justified (otherwise this is arbitrary use of force), and the minimum necessary force must be applied to achieve the necessary goal. We are concerned about statements that these requirements have not been met," she said.

The organization says that the investigation must establish all the facts related to the clashes in different cities of Ukraine on May 9, provide appropriate qualifications and bring the perpetrators to justice.

As reported, in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine, on May 9, a number of actions in memory of those killed in the WWII were held. The actions were accompanied by clashes and the use of force by various groups of participants and the police.
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A Labour government would update legal protections for the trans community by rewriting the Equality Act and other laws to specifically protect gender identity.

According to a leaked version of the partys 2017 general election manifesto Jeremy Corbyns party would update the Act to change the existing protected characteristic of gender assignment to gender identity.

The party also says it would remove other outdated language from law such as the word transsexual  which is now considered an unhelpful term, but is still used by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Recommended The NHS is not treating transgender people equally with other

Labour also plans to bring the law on LGBT hate crimes into line with those of race and faith by making them aggravated offences in legislation. Racially or religiously aggravated offences currently carry tougher sentences than their non-aggravated counterparts.

Teachers and frontline health professionals would also be given "ongoing training to understand and meet the needs of LGBT patients and service users". In 2015 medical chiefs told MPs that the NHS was failing trans people and not treating them equally with other patients.

Mr Corbyns party is hoping to return Britains first trans MP at the general election; Sophie Cook, a 50-year-old equality campaigner will contest the seat of East Worthing and Shoreham.

Despite the law using outdated language, the EHRC has previously clarified that to be protected from gender reassignment discrimination, you do not need to have undergone any specific treatment or surgery to change from your birth sex to your preferred gender.

Labour' manifesto says: "Labour has a proud record championing the fight for GBLT equality. We abolished Section 28, equalised the age of consent, created civil partnerships, and it was only through Labour votes that equal marriage became law. However, there is still a long way to go issues such as education, equal access to public services, levels of LGBT hate crime, and mental and physical wellbeing.

"A Labour government will reform the Equality Act 2010 to ensure it protects trans people by changing the protected characteristic of gender assignment to gender identity and remove other outdated language such as transexual.

"Labour will bring the law on LGBT hate crimes into line with hate crimes based on race and faith, by making them aggravated offences.

It continues: "To tackle bullying of LGBT young people, Labour will ensure that all teachers receive initial and ongoing training on the issues.students face and how to address them. And we will ensure that the new guidance for relationships and sex education is LGBT inclusive.

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

"Likewise, we will ensure all frontline health and social care professionals receive ongoing training to understand and meet the needs of LGBT patients and service users.

"Labour will ensure that NHS England completes the trial programme to provide PrEP as quickly as possible, and fully roll out the treatment to high risk groups to help reduce HIV infection."

Labours manifesto is to be finalised at its Clause V meeting this week and is likely to be formally unveiled next week. The party says it does not comment on leaks, including of its election manifesto.
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Labour is set to scrap university tuition fees in a 10bn bid to energise the young voters Jeremy Corbyn needs to challenge Theresa May.

Mr Corbyn and other top party figures have given strong indications that abolishing fees will be pledged in the partys manifesto next week, with Labour insiders also signalling the move is afoot.

The bold announcement would save millions of young people up to 9,000 a year and mean they would avoid decades of crippling student debt.

The Labour leader knows he needs young people to turn out on 8 June if he is to stand a chance of clawing back the Tory poll lead, but questions remain over how Mr Corbyn would fund the expensive plan.

Universities are also fearful of a move that sees their current funding stream cut off, leaving them dependent of state funding to cover their costs in an increasingly competitive global market.

Polls have shown that Labour performs far better against the Tories among young people, but the potential advantage is nullified by lower levels of turnout the younger a voter is.

The Independent understands that party strategists hope scrapping the fees, which they said is a strong possibility, will be the big-bazooka policy needed to breakthrough and push young voters to the polls.

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

As Mr Corbyn promoted a broader 20bn plan to boost schools, colleges and adult learning on the campaign trail, he said on Wednesday he has some stuff in his pocket for higher education.

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner also hinted an announcement was coming as she told a BBC interviewer watch this space, after repeatedly being asked about it.

Footage also emerged of a speech in Mansfield given by shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, in which he said: We want to introduce a National Education Service free at the point of need throughout life.

And that means ending the cuts in the schools at primary and secondary level. It means free childcare. It means free school training when you need it throughout life.

And yes it means scrapping tuition fees once and for all so we dont burden our kids with debt for the future.

Scrapping tuition fees would mark a reversal of a landmark New Labour policy and give Mr Corbyn an electoral cudgel with which to hit the Liberal Democrats  whom many students have never forgiven for allowing the charges to rise to their current level while in coalition with the Tories.

A party insider said the measure is now a strong possibility, adding: But young people have to go out and register, they have to go out and vote. That has to be the message.

 John McDonnell wants to 'scrap tuition fees once and for all'

In Labours 2015 general election manifesto, the party pledged to cut tuition fees from 9,000 to 6,000 a year.

Mr Corbyn himself has already pledged to scrap the fees altogether while he was fighting the ensuing Labour leadership contest, arguing at the time that it would cost around 10bn to both abolish tuition charges and bring back maintenance grants.

The estimated cost is lower that the figure obtained from multiplying the number of undergraduates by 9,000 a year because the policy only applies to English students, while young people from households earning less than 25,000 a year are exempt.

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner has hinted tuition fees would be scrapped by Labour (Getty)

The 10bn cost is also corroborated by universities though they have warned that a failure to replace all funding in full from the public purse would damage student choice, the countrys skills base, social mobility and universities.

Labour is yet to set out how it could raise the money having already earmarked cash from a rise in corporation tax to 26 per cent, and also increases in capital gains tax.

Critics of the proposal to scrap tuition fees argue that the biggest winners would be middle and higher income families who currently pay the most under what is a means-tested scheme.
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The leak of Labours draft election manifesto, a few days before it was due to be formally launched, is a spectacular one. At first glance, it reinforces the image of a divided, shambolic and dysfunctional party.

Normally, suspicions would fall on Jeremy Corbyns enemies within  and there is no shortage of them. So it appears an act of sabotage and destabilisation.

Indeed, Corbynistas have already pointed the finger of blame at Labours headquarters, which has been odds with Corbyn since his election in 2015 and, according to his allies, never reconciled itself to his leadership. Matt Zarb-Cousin, Corbyns former spokesman, accused Labour HQ of continuing its "tradition of undermining the leadership.

But another theory is doing the rounds at Westminster: that the 46-page, 20,000-word, manifesto was leaked by Corbyns friends rather than his enemies. His office dismissed speculation that it was behind the leak as categorically and completely untrue.

Why would Team Corbyn destabilise itself? It appears a mad idea. Yet this team doesnt play by the traditional rules. It has been rolling out individual manifesto policies on most days since the snap election was called, sometimes successfully (free school meals), sometimes not (police numbers). Normally, parties spread the policy jam thinly to garner more headlines, while saving up some goodies for the launch of the entire manifesto.

However, it might have been tempting for Corbynistas to get the whole document out early: the late night leak gave the Conservatives and the hated mainstream media less time to dissect, analyse and attack Labours prospectus. The plans to renationalise rail and parts of the energy industry, bus companies and Royal Mail make Corbyn look radical. However, there is a danger that it will look to many voters like an uncosted wish list. It seems that John McDonnell, the shadow Chancellor, has a lot of work to do to make the programme fully-costed and credible before it is formally published.

Another possible motive for Corbynistas to leak the draft would be to bounce Labours manifesto meeting today into approving it without making changes. There are unresolved tensions over defence and immigration. Some shadow ministers want to tone down what they see as Corbyns pacifism. Some trade unions want tougher language on immigration. The leak might make it harder for Corbyns critics to change the draft written by Andrew Fisher, his head of policy.

Under Labours constitution, the manifesto is signed off by a Clause V meeting of more than 80 people  the Shadow Cabinet, the 35-member national executive committee and representatives of Labours policy forum, MPs and peers and the unions. Security was supposed to be tight. They were not due to get their copies of the draft until this morning, and shadow ministers had only been shown the sections covering their briefs rather than the whole thing.

Perhaps the biggest incentive for Corbynistas to leak the manifesto is that they could blame it on their internal opponents. Very few Labour figures expect to win on 8 June. Everyone in the party knows there would then be the mother of all blame games, especially if Labour suffers the crushing defeat suggested by the opinion polls.

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

Corbyns critics want him to own a Labour defeat, just as Labours centre-right wanted Michael Foot to own Labours last left-wing manifesto in 1983, dubbed the longest suicide note in history. Margaret Thatcher won a majority of 144.

 General Election polls and projections: May 11

Corbyns allies are already getting their excuses in. They blame the Parliamentary Labour Party and bitter Blairites for constant sniping at Corbyn and last years divisive leadership challenge. They blame the mainstream media for not giving Corbyn a fair hearing. Now, probably, they will blame his enemies for ruining his election campaign by leaking the manifesto. It will give the left another weapon in their battle to keep control of the party and keep Corbyn in his job.

Well probably never know who leaked the manifesto. The leak might not make too much difference in the real world, since the public will found out about Labours policies next week anyway. But, whoever was behind the leak, it underlines the impression of a bitterly divided party more interested in winning its internal struggle than winning over the voters.
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The Liberal Democrats will earmark 1bn in the partys manifesto to tackle the historic injustice faced by people with mental ill health in an effort to cut waiting times and reduce the number of suicides, the partys health spokesperson has announced.

It comes after Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, revealed last week his party, if elected, would inject 6bn into health and social care services by increasing income tax by a penny for every worker.

In an attempt to rescue the NHS and social care the party will ring-fence 1bn of this fund for mental health services with a particular concentration on improving waiting times for young people and pregnant women suffering from mental ill health.

Norman Lamb, the partys health spokesperson, said the Lib Dems are committed to ending the historic injustice against people with mental ill health in Britain. Under the Conservative Government, services have been stretched to breaking point at a time when the prevalence of mental ill health appears to be rising, he said.

He continued: Neither Labour nor the Conservatives have outlined how thy will fund mental health services. Weve made it clear that our priorities will be funded from our ambitious plan to inject 6bn a year into the NHS with an additional penny on income tax.

Recommended Two in three Britons report having experienced mental health problems

We will invest in improving waiting time standards for mental health care in the NHS, end the scandalous use of force against people with mental ill health and prioritise the national action to dramatically reduce the number of people who take their own lives.

The announcement comes after Ms May pledged an extra 10,000 staff to work in NHS mental services but failed to elaborate on how the positions will be funded. On my first day in Downing Street last July, I described shortfalls in mental health services as one of the burning injustices in our country, Ms May said.

It is abundantly clear to me that the discriminatory use of a law passed more than three decades ago is a key part of the reason for this.

So today I am pledging to rip up the 1983 Act and introduce in its place a new law which finally confronts the discrimination and unnecessary detention that takes place too often.
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Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said Saudi Arabia is simply defending itself by bombing Yemen in a campaign of air strikes that has been widely condemned by international observers.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Sir Michael said the Middle Eastern kingdom was fully entitled to defend itself from Houthi rebels who, he said, had spilled over the border.

He refused to criticise the country, saying it was an enormously important trading partner to the UK. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, is understood to be in favour of banning arms sales to repressive regimes.

Asked whether the Conservatives would consider stopping arms exports to the country, he said: Saudi Arabia is being attacked by Houthi rebels across its Southern border with Yemen. It's had its towns and villages shelled by the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia is fully entitled to defend itself and it's fully entitled to call on its friends in so doing."

When quizzed about the fact the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson himself said the country was puppeteering and playing Proxy wars, Sir Michael argued that Britain "gains" from the relationship with Saudi Arabia.

"Saudi Arabia is a key partner of ours  an enormously important trading partner, a commercial partner, but also a defence partner," he said.

"We share intelligence with Saudi Arabia about terrorism. We gain from that relationship. Every arms export application is very carefully looked at and judged by our criteria  some of the toughest in the world. But Saudi Arabia, equally, is entitled to defend itself."

Last month, Sir Michael told The Independent an arms company that sold missiles to the Gaddafi regime in Libya was a role model for the sort of business Britain will be seeking after Brexit.

In December, Sir Michael confirmed that British-made cluster bombs, manufactured before the UN's Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted in 2008, have been used by Saudi Arabian forces in the current Yemen conflict.

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 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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

Most developed countries, including the UK but with the key exception of the US, have banned cluster bombs on the basis that they present a disproportionate threat to civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, cluster bombs pose a threat post-conflict by leaving remnants, including submunitions that fail to explode upon impact becoming de facto landmines.

The Government is currently defending a High Court challenge by campaigners who say that it is breaking its own arms exporting licence criteria by continuing to sign off the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.

Britain is the second biggest arms exporter in the world, according to UK Trade and Investment. The Independent revealed last year that Britain has sold weapons to 22 of the 30 countries on its own human rights watchlist since 2010.
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Noam Chomsky has said he would vote for Jeremy Corbyn if he could.

The renowned US academic, famous for his radical views, blamed the media for the Labour leader's relative unpopularity.

He said Mr Corbyn would be doing better in the polls if it was not for the bitter treatment of the mainstream media.

Speaking to the Guardian, Mr Chomsky said If I were a voter in Britain, I would vote for him [Jeremy Corbyn].

If he had a fair treatment from the media  that would make a big difference, he said.

Mr Chomsky also admitted Mr Corbyn had not yet managed to rally support for its policy position.

There are various reasons for that  partly an extremely hostile media, partly his own personal style which I happen to like but perhaps that doesnt fit with the current mood of the electorate.

Hes quiet, reserved, serious, hes not a performer. The parliamentary Labour party has been strongly opposed to him. It has been an uphill battle, he said.

Mr Chomsky was visiting the UK to deliver a lecture at the University of Reading on the state of western discussing topics such as Brexit, US President Donald Trump and whether the human experiment is doomed.

It comes after the Labour draft election manifesto was leaked, which is likely to infuriate the Labour leader's inner circle.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA

The draft manifesto, which is due to be officially published next week before being finalised and distributed to voters, include the renationalisation of the railways and Royal Mail, an extra 6bn a year on the NHS, the phaseout of university tuition fees and to abolish the bedroom tax.

The eminent academic also compared Mr Corbyn to the Democratic candidate for the 2016 US election, Bernie Sanders, saying both had moved away from the elite, liberal consensus, which he described as pretty conservative.

Mr Chomsky said UK voters had turned to the Conservative since Tony Blair's new Labour movement because the Labour Party created no alternative but a mild version of Tory policies.

The radical thinker said the party had to reconstruct itself and that its future lay with the left-wing movement within the party.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight, Mr Chomsky said: "They [Labour] have a problem. I think Corbyn is a very decent person. I have followed his career for some years, he is evidently not inspiring the population.

"What happened to the Labour party through the neo-liberal years, it became, as many call it, Thatcherite, especially under Blair. It did not represent the working class.

"Labour is spilt between the constituency and the parliamentarian. It has internal problems it has to deal with but it also has the problem of demonstrating to the electorate that it does represent their interests."
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Nicola Sturgeon has castigated Theresa May for claiming the SNP was fined by the Electoral Commission while trying to deflect blame about the Conservatives own election expenses.

The Prime Minister was responding to news that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had decided not to prosecute Conservative candidates and officials who were alleged to have broken election spending rules.

The allegations related to claims that the Conservatives manipulated the official reporting of their election expenses.

They are alleged to have incorrectly claimed bills for activists hotel stays and the battle buses in individual target seats as national expenditure to get around tight rules covering local election spending.

In March, the Electoral Commission handed the party a record fine of 70,000 after they admitted under-declaring national spending, but they insist all local spending was properly declared.

Ms May said in a statement: Police time has been taken up by this issue.

Those who made these complaints will have to consider the basis on which they made those complaints.

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

If you look at the expenses issue, we have seen all the major parties and the Scottish nationalists being fined for mistakes made on national expenses.

We have paid our fines and I sincerely hope the other parties are paying theirs.

Both the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats were fined 20,000 last year for undeclared national spending.

But the Electoral Commission later confirmed it had never imposed any fine on the SNP for election expenses.

Ms Sturgeon tweeted that Ms May should apologise for this attempt to smear the SNP.

Unlike Tories, we abide by the rules and have never been fined by the Electoral Commission, she added.
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A teacher took her own life a day after it was alleged that she had an inappropriate physical relationship with a young student.

Gretchen Krohnfeldt had been suspended from her job at the school in Denver, Colorado.

The following day, the 47-year-old mother of three took her own life in front of police officers who were approaching her home to question her as part of an investigation, CBS News reports.

Ms Krohnfeldt was reportedly suspended after a fellow member of staff reported witnessing an inappropriate interaction between her and a former student at the Drake Middle School.

Police were informed and launched an immediate and ongoing investigation.

"On Monday, May 8th, a Jefferson County Sheriffs Office School Resource Officer was made aware of a possible inappropriate relationship between a female employee at Drake Middle School and a male student," Arvada police said in a statement.

A spokesman added that the boy is now attending an Arvada high school, but had been in a physical relationship with the teacher since middle school.

Local media report the pair had met at Ms Krohnfeldt's home, and that an employee saw an inappropriate interaction between Ms Krohnfeldt and the student months ago but only reported it to authorities earlier this week.

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

Students who attend middle school in the United States are usually between the ages of 12 and 14.

Ms Krohnfeldt's death is being investigated by a coroner.

In a letter to parents and students, Drake Middle School said grief counsellors were available to see both students and staff upset by Ms Krohnfeldt's death.

"Our hearts go out to her family at this painful time," the letter said, "and I know many will feel this loss deeply," it said.
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The Dakota Access pipeline leaked 84 gallons of oil in South Dakota early last month, which an American Indian tribe says bolsters its argument that the pipeline jeopardises its water supply and deserves further environmental review.

The April 4 spill was relatively small and was quickly cleaned up, and it didnt threaten any waterways. The states Department of Environment and Natural Resources posted a report in its websites searchable database, but it didnt take any other steps to announce it to the public, despite an ongoing lawsuit by four Sioux tribes seeking to shut down the pipeline.

Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist with the agency, said Wednesday that the state doesnt issue news releases on spills unless there is a threat to public health, a fishery or a drinking water system. He said there was no such threat with the Dakota Access leak, which happened nearly 100 miles east of the Missouri Rivers Lake Oahe reservoir, which is the tribes water supply.

We realize Dakota Access gets a lot of attention. We also try to treat all of our spills in a consistent manner, Walsh said. We treated this as we would treat any other 84-gallon oil spill.

The leak occurred at a rural pump station in the northeast of the state as crews worked to get the four-state pipeline fully operational, Walsh said. The oil was contained on site by a plastic liner and containment walls and quickly cleaned up. Some oil-contaminated gravel will be disposed of at an area landfill, he said.

Such incidents have happened with other pipelines in South Dakota, and the Dakota Access leak didnt come as a surprise, according to Walsh. The state is happy with the response of Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners and wont issue a fine, he said.

Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Show all 15 1 /15 Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota A person pours a pepper spray antidote into a protester's eyes during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People swim across a river to where the police officers are standing guard during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota A man holds up a ceremonial object while police officers look down from a hill during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota November Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Two people stand in the water of a river while police officers guard the shore during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota A man stands on a makeshift bridge over a river while police officers stand on the opposite shore during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Tonya Stands recovers after being pepper sprayed by police after swimming across a creek with other protesters hoping to build a new camp to block construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, near Cannon Ball, Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Dakota Access Pipeline protesters stand in the foreground and in the waist-deep water of the Cantapeta Creek, northeast of the Oceti Sakowin Camp, near Cannon Ball, N.D., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting dozens with pepper spray as they waded through waist-deep water in an attempt to reach property owned by the pipeline's developer. Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Dakota Access Pipeline protesters stand in the foreground and in the waist-deep water of the Cantapeta Creek, northeast of the Oceti Sakowin Camp, near Cannon Ball, N.D., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting dozens with pepper spray as they waded through waist-deep water in an attempt to reach property owned by the pipeline's developer. Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People who were tear gassed return to the shore during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People yell at police officers standing on the opposite shore of a river during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters

Size-wise, an 84-gallon release is pretty small relative to a lot of other things we work on, Walsh said. I would characterise it as a small operational spill that was cleaned up right away.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which was the initial plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the leak proves that the pipeline is a threat to its water and cultural sites.

These spills are going to be nonstop, tribal Chairman Dave Archambault said. With 1,200 miles of pipeline, spills are going to happen. Nobody listened to us. Nobody wants to listen, because theyre driven by money and greed.

Tribal attorney Jan Hasselman said the leak shows the need for more environmental study of the pipeline, which will move oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had planned additional study but scrapped the idea after President Donald Trump earlier this year pushed for completion of the pipeline that had been stalled by months of protests and lawsuits.

Energy Transfer Partners maintains that the pipeline is safe. Spokeswoman Vicki Granado issued a statement saying the spilled oil stayed in the containment area as designed.

No other spills have been reported along the pipeline in South Dakota, according to Walsh. A federal spill report database does not show any reports from Energy Transfer Partners or its subsidiary Dakota Access LLC in any of the other states through which the pipeline passes.

Granado didnt comment on whether there have been any other problems as crews get the pipeline ready to be fully operational by June 1.

The Indigenous Environmental Network, which helped organise large-scale protests against the pipeline in North Dakota last year and earlier this year, issued a statement saying the fact that this occurred before Dakota Access even becomes operational is all the more concerning.

AP
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Donald Trumps approval rating has reached a near record low as support from the US President's core base begins to falter.

Just 36 per cent of Americans approved of the Republican leader, while 58 per cent disapproved - a drop of two percentage points since April.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll showed waning support among the former real estate moguls previously loyal base.

White voters with no college degree largely approved of the President in April, with 57 per cent believing he was doing a good job. However, this figure has now plummeted to 47 per cent.

Male voters were also wavering in their support, with 48 per cent approving of the president, down from 53 per cent last month.

Voters also found the president to be increasingly dishonest, with 61 per cent believing he is not honest compared to 58 per cent in the last poll.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

The survey was conducted just a day before Mr Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been investigating allegations of Russian collusion in his presidential campaign.

In April, Mr Trump received the lowest approval rating of his presidency so far, at 35 per cent.
Illegal armed formations shelled the positions of the ATO forces 15 times from the beginning of Wednesday, April 10, according to the report of the ATO headquarters as of 18:00.

"In some cases, when there was an immediate threat to the life and health of servicemen, the commanders made a decision to return fire," the ATO headquarters press center said.
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Donald Trump has claimed absolute immunity after a Washington DC wine bar filed a lawsuit against him.

Cork Wine Bar sued the President after its owners claimed the opening of the Trump International Hotel in September 2016 created unfair competition, damaging their business.

The former property tycoon ceded control of his businesses, including his hotel empire, to his sons after his inauguration.

However, bar owners Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts said the hotel and its restaurants had an unfair advantage due to their ongoing and continued association with the President, and the expectation it will attract diplomats, lobbyists and politicians hoping to curry favour with him.

Mr Trumps lawyers said the President could not be forced to close the hotel and sought a full dismissal of the lawsuit on the grounds of absolute immunity.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad

The doctrine "ensures that the President can focus on carrying out the obligations of his Office without the distraction of virtually limitless litigation whose costs he would personally bear," lawyers said in a court filing. "That doctrine forecloses this lawsuit."

However the claimants argue the lawsuit is against Donald J Trump as an individual, and not the 45th US President.

The cloak of immunity does not attach to his private, personal financial dealings," the claimants lawyer said.

The lawsuit is one of many targeting Mr Trump's alleged failure to distance himself from his business empire while in office.

Barack Obamas former chief ethics counsel Norm Eisen said he would sue Mr Trump for allegedly violating the so-called domestic emoluments clause, which prohibits the President from receiving additional compensation besides his salary.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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At least three Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have alleged they were sexually harassed while working at Newark Liberty International Airport in New York.

The agents say fellow employees grabbed them, ground their genitals into them, and even duct-taped them to a so-called rape table in a private room.

"Im afraid for my life, my safety," CBP officer Diana Cifuentes told NBC 4. "This is terrorising.

Recommended Spirit Airlines flight cancellations spark airport brawls

Two other agents have joined Ms Cifuentes in filing a lawsuit over what they describe as years of sexual harassment. They claim that CBP officials did little to stop the harassment after it was reported.

"People are too scared to go anywhere because these guys are well connected," CBP officer Vito Degironimo said. "Our immediate supervisors are best friends with these officers.

Mr Degironimo described a bizarre hazing ritual in which fellow officers grabbed him, forced into a security camera monitoring room, and pinned onto a table. He described officers mounting him and riding [him] like a horse.

"Hazing wouldnt do this justice. This is complete assault, he said.

US sexual assault statistics Show all 8 1 /8 US sexual assault statistics US sexual assault statistics Graphiq US sexual assault statistics Graphiq US sexual assault statistics Graphiq US sexual assault statistics Graphiq US sexual assault statistics Graphiq US sexual assault statistics Graphiq US sexual assault statistics Graphiq US sexual assault statistics Graphiq

Fellow complainant Dan Arencibia said he witnessed the event, but was never a victim. He still remembers the Jackass theme that the alleged attackers played as a soundtrack to the abuse.

"Theyre monsters in a sense. They know that we cant do anything about this, he said.

Ms Cifuentes said she also avoided being put on the rape table, but that fellow officers wouldnt let her forget it. One officer allegedly chased her around the hallways, and one even went so far as to point a gun at her while she worked.

At one point a fellow officer told her: "You deserve to be put on the rape table.

The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security is investing the allegations, the US Customs and Border Protection office confirmed to The Independent.

We do not tolerate corruption or abuse within our ranks, and we cooperate fully with all criminal or administrative investigations of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, whether it occurs on or off duty, a CBP spokesperson said in a statement.

New Jersey Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman has said she may call for a congressional hearing on the issue.

Anybody who has created or supported or allowed this corrosive behavior to take place needs to face the consequences, Ms Watson Coleman said.

Newark Liberty International Airport did not respond to requests for comment.
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The US Republican Party is the most dangerous organisation in human history, Noam Chomsky has said.

The academic and author made the claim during an interview with the BBC.

Its an outrageous statement and when I said it, I said Look, this is a very outrageous statement. he said. But its true.

Asked by Newsnight host Evan Davis whether the party was really worse than an organisation like Isis, the author and academic replied: Is Isis dedicated to trying to destroy the prospects for organised human existence?

What does it mean to say not only are we not doing anything about climate change but were trying to accelerate the race to the precipice?

It doesnt matter whether they genuinely believe it or not if the consequence of that is lets use more fossil fuels, lets refuse to subsidise developing countries, lets eliminate regulations that reduce greenhouse gases. If thats the consequence, thats extremely dangerous.

The academic has previously claimed the Republicans are overwhelmingly committed to destroying human life on earth.

Asked about the consequences of Donald Trumps presidency, Mr Chomsky replied: The main damage hell do is to the world, and its already happening.

"The most significant aspect of the Trump election  and its not just Trump, its the whole Republican Party  is their departing from the rest of the world on climate change.

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

Its a crucial issue. Its an existential threat. Now we have this astonishing spectacle of the United States alone in the world, not only refusing to participate in efforts to deal with climate change but dedicated to undermining them.

Its not just Trump - every single Republican leader is the sameIn the Republican primaries, every single candidate either denied that climate change was happening or, when you get to the so-called moderates like Jeb Bush or [John] Kasich, they say well maybe its happening but we shouldnt do anything about it. Its 100 per cent refusal.

Explaining the popularity of Mr Trump to US voters, the academic said: The Democrats gave up on the working class 40 years ago. The working class is just not their constituency.

The Republicans claim to be but theyre basically their class enemy. However, they can appeal to people on the basis of non-economic claims about religion, white supremacyidentity politics.

White supremacy is very deeply rooted in the United States it ranks higher than even South Africa. Theres no doubt there was a racist motivation behind [Mr Trumps victory].
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A school bus driver has been hailed a "true hero" for saving 56 pupils shortly before her vehicle burst into flames.

Teresa Stroble heard two young pupils shouting about smoke and immediately pulled over into a car wash parking lot in Duncan, South Carolina.

Moments before it caught fire she then ushered the teens away from the vehicle. They were evacuated in less than a minute.

"I was driving and saw a large black cloud ahead of me," an eywitness told CBS News. "As I got closer I saw the bus on fire in the car wash parking lot. The heat was so intense I could feel it from inside my truck."

School superintendent Scott Turner told US news channel WSPA: "We are so proud of our bus driver. She did exactly what she was trained to do. She was calm. She kept the students calm. She made sure they were safe. They were her first priority. Shes our hero today."

All 56 children were off the bus in "under a minute", he added on Twitter.

The school district said in a statement on its Facebook page: "We are so thankful for the quick action of the Duncan Fire Department in putting the fire out, and all district administrators who responded and helped with what could have been a very tragic situation.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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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

"Teresa Stroble, a seven-year veteran driver and teacher assistant for our district, did exactly as she was trained and quickly and calmly evacuated all 56 students from the bus, and got them to a safe location. She is a true hero."

Officials from the South Carolina Department of Education were working with local fire officials to determine the cause of the blaze.

Duncan Fire Chief Barry Frost told WSPA they are looking in the passenger area of the bus where there is heater mounted under a seat.
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White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is said to be facing an uncertain future after his poor handling of Donald Trumps decision to fire FBI director James Comey.

Mr Spicer, whose press appearances have been plagued by multiple gaffes, has been temporarily dropped from running his daily press briefings and will be replaced by Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for the entirety of this week.

According to White House insiders, the general perception is Mr Spicer has been benched during a massively decisive week which has seen the White House subject to heavy scrutiny over the sacking of Mr Comey.

A White House official told CNN Ms Sanders performances, which have already garnered praise, would be closely monitored by those in the highest tiers of the administration. Another source said the big question is whether his time on the bench is temporary or permanent.

According to another White House official, Ms Sanders, who appears altogether more composed and polished than her boss so far, offered a significant contrast during her first briefing on Wednesday and Mr Spicers hiatus could not have come at a worse time for him.

Mr Spicer is carrying out Navy Reserve duty, where he has served as a commander for almost twenty years, during his time off from press duties. One source said: He has taken his Navy duties very seriously in all the time I've known him. So if he's on duty, he's on duty, and I wouldn't read more into that in itself.

But many argue Mr Spicer, the 30th White House press secretary, has been steadily losing his credibility since taking up the role. The 45-year-old has drawn criticism for how he handled the termination of Mr Comey  he hid near the bushes near the White House as reporters attempted to question him about it.

Nevertheless, a White House official has now taken issue with the exact details of Mr Spicer's whereabouts when he retreated to a nearby hedge. As such the initial Washington Post story, a colourful descriptive piece, has been amended to reflect that Mr Spicer was hiding "among" the bushes rather than "in the bushes".

(Washington Post (Washington Post)

Mr Spicer's blunder is by no means his first. Mr Spicers career has been beset with a series of gaffes which arguably began during his first press briefing when he contradicted available evidence and claimed President Trump drew the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe. Senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway later sought to justify his explanation as providing the media with alternative facts, while Mr Spicer himself was forced to apologise, saying he has been given bad information.

President Donald Trump life in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 President Donald Trump life in pictures President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump poses in a rocking chair once used by President John F. Kennedy at his New York City residence Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump with his new bride Marla Maples after their wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Celina Midelfart watch the match between Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer during U.S. Open. She was the date whom Donald Trump was with when he met his current wife Melania at a party in 1996 Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas serving as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, speaks to Donald Trump and Melania Knauss on the starting grid at the Daytona International Speedwa Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump talks with his former wife Ivana Trump during the men's final at the U.S. Open Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and his friend Melania Knauss pose for photographers as they arrive at the New York premiere of Star Wars Episode : 'The Phantom Menace,' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump talks with host Larry King. Trump told King that he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump answers questions as Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura looks on in Brooklyn Park. Trump said on Friday he 'very well might' make a run for president under the Reform Party banner but had not made a final decision Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump makes a face at a friend as he sits next to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso before the start of the 2003 Miss Universe pageant in Panama City Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Entrepreneur Donald Trump is greeted by a Marilyn Monroe character look-a-alike, as he arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood to attend the an open casting call for his NBC television network reality series 'The Apprentice.' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Simon Cowell present an Emmy during the 56th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Megan Mullally perform at the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump, poses with his children, son Donald Trump, Jr., and daughters Tiffany and Ivanka Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump told Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner on Tuesday she would be given a second chance after reported misbehavior Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as his wife Melania holds their son Barron in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. property mogul Donald Trump stands next to a bagpiper during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland Reuters

Mr Spicer, who once called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Joe in a briefing, also drew fierce criticism after he claimed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was guilty of worse acts than Adolf Hitler and Hitler, who gassed millions of Jews in the Holocaust, did not use chemical weapons. He also came under fire after he cited an uncorroborated Fox News report to allege British security services helped Barack Obama spy on Mr Trump when he was President-elect.

For this reason, there is speculation around whether Mr Spicer could find himself added to the list of high-ranking people Mr Trump has fired. This includes acting Attorney General Sally Yates, former National Security Adviser, Mike Flynn, and most recently Mr Comey.

His substitute, Ms Sanders, on the other hand, is starting from a clean slate. The 34-year-old was a senior advisor on Mr Trumps presidential campaign, working on communications centred towards gun rights supporters, military groups, faith leaders and other alliances. She joined the campaign after her father, the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee whose presidential campaign she had helped manage, pulled his hat out of the ring.
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A pair of schoolboys who allegedly shot a 14-year-old girl in the head because her Snapchat messages were annoying.

Colter Danny Peterson and Jayzen Decker, both 16, allegedly left Deserae Turner for dead in a ditch near Smithfield, Utah.

But the teenager survived and she was found by a search team who were looking for her after she was reported missing.

Peterson and Decker allegedly planned to slit her throat and let her bleed to death, according to charges filed against them.

But they eventually decided to shoot her in the head. Peterson, who was allegedly annoyed that Deserae kept messaging him on the Snapchat app, is alleged to have pulled the trigger, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

It is believed that one of the boys kept the shell casing from the incident, although it is unclear which one.

The pair will be tried as adults after Judge Angela Fonnesbeck at the First District Juvenile court in Salt Lake City ruled the pair had "planned and acted" out the shooting.

"She had no idea that was going to happen," Sheriff Deputy Brian Groves told a preliminary hearing. "(The teen) said it was the most merciful way."

After his arrest, Peterson said he had become annoyed with Turner for texting and contacting him through the messaging app Snapchat, the court heard.

Charged with attempted aggravated murder as adults, both Peterson and Decker could receive up to 15 years in jail.

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

Deserae does not remember the incident and has been left with paralysis and partial blindness.

At a news conference last month on the day she left a hospital, the teenager declined to talk about her injuries, but said she's happy to be alive and she was "tougher than a bullet."

Her mother said, before the shooting, that her summer goals would have been to "ride horses, practice karate. Now it's just to move her fingers."
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A US ambassador has said she is finding it "increasingly difficult" to explain her country's democracy to foreigners.

Dana Shell Smith said on Twitter that it was hard to wake up to news from America, which she suggested was becoming more and more difficult to justify abroad.

The ambassador to Qatar later clarified that she had simply meant defending the US political system "can be tough when partisan acrimony [is] so high", but, she added, she still believes there is "no greater country" than the United States.

Her comments coincide with a new poll, revealing support for Donald Trump to be at a record low

Ms Smith tweeted: "Increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home, knowing I will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions."

In two days her tweet was liked almost 7,000 times.

A day later, Ms Smith posted a follow-up that appeared to address accusations from American Twitter users that her comment was not patriotic or appropriate for a US ambassador.

She clarified: "Diplomats explain & defend our political system. Can be tough when partisan acrimony so high, but there is still no greater country. #USA"

Some Twitter users pointed out that, despite its flaws, the US is still far more democratic than Qatar, which is ruled by the unelected Al Thani dynasty.

In 2003, Qatar adopted a constitution that provided for the direct election of 30 of the 45 members of the Legislative Council, although the current council is composed entirely of members appointed by the Emir, who has final say on all matters.

However, Ms Smith may be finding it increasingly difficult to hold up the US as an example of a successful alternative; idiot, incompetent and liar are the words most commonly associated with President Trump in the minds of American voters, according to the recent poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University.

It found that just 36 per cent of American voters approve of the President, a near-record low for Presidential approval ratings.

A total of 56 percent of voters actively disapprove of Mr Trumps presidency, while 61 per cent thought he was dishonest.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The poll was conducted just before the firing of FBI director James Comey, so approval ratings may have dipped even lower in recent days.

The President fired Mr Comey, who was leading an investigation into alleged links between Donald Trump's team and Russia, on Wednesday.
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Betsy DeVos' commencement speech to students at a historically black university has been met with boos and interruptions, with many students turning their backs on Donald Trump's education secretary as she addressed the crowd at Bethune-Cookman Universtiy.

The scene was so raucous that it prompted school president Edison Jackson to say: If this behaviour continues, your degrees will be mailed to you.

The decision of Florida's Bethune-Cookman University to have Ms DeVos speak at their commencement originally led to protests on campus.

The students claimed Ms DeVos policies disproportionately hurt minority students in the US, especially in the black community.

Bethune-Cookman is part of a group of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that were established prior to the civil rights reforms of 1964 to help serve the African-American community.

Ms DeVos was supposed to speak for nearly one hour, but wrapped up in a third of the time.

She said: While we will undoubtedly disagree at times I hope we can do so respectfully. Let's choose to hear one another out. I want to reaffirm this administration's commitment to and support for HBCUs and the students they serve."

School choice seems to be the crux of the problem most students have with Ms DeVos.

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

Ms DeVos sparked controversy in February when she called HBCU's "pioneers" of school choice  seemingly unaware they were only established because black students were not allowed admission to colleges or universities in many states.

Fedrick Ingram, vice president of the Florida Education Association and a Bethune-Cookman alumnus told CNN the comment was blatantly ignorant. Ms DeVos later recanted her statement.

In terms of policy, Ms DeVos has advocated for subsidising costs to parents, especially those in urban areas, so they can choose private charter schools for their children instead of sending them to free, public schools.

Some see this as her ignoring the problems of the US public education system she is tasked with leading. Critics say she is also ignoring the fact that charter or religion-based schools may not provide an equal quality of education. They are often not subject to the same state standards as public schools and are only available to a limited number of students.

Ms DeVos has also worked to reduce consumer protections for those receiving student loans  approximately 71 per cent of American students at four-year universities have some sort of loans. African-American students are also disproportionately required to take out loans to access higher education.

Mr Jackson argued the school decided to invite Ms DeVos because the administration did not want students robbed of the opportunity to experience and interact with views that may be different from their own in order to prepare them for democratic citizenship.
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Republicans may hold the majority in both chambers of Congress today, but most Americans wish it were the other way around.

According to a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 54 per cent of Americans wish the Democratic Party had control of the House of Representatives. Only 38 per cent feel the same about the Republicans. In fact, more than 41 per cent of Americans feel the country would be better off if the Democrats had won in 2016.

Democratic leaders also win higher marks than their Republican counterparts: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi gets a 31 per cent favourablity rating, while Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan gets 24 per cent.

Recommended Resistance to Trump is beginning as Democrats unseat Republicans

That bodes well for a Democratic party still reeling from its unexpected presidential loss. Six months after the defeat, Democrats seem to have latched onto Donald Trumps lack of legislative success  and historic unpopularity ratings  to boost their midterm prospects.

When Mr Trumps 100 days came and went without a major legislative victory, the Democrats released a triumphant press release titled President Trump's 100 Days of Historic Broken Promises. Mr Trumps job approval rating is at a near-record low of 36 per cent, according to the poll.

Days later, when Mr Trump and Republican representatives celebrated the passage of their health care bill through the House, Democrats taunted them by signing Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye. Just 38 per cent of Americans approve of the health care bill.

In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters

To win back a majority in the House, Democrats need to flip 25 seats  the average number of seats lost by each presidents party in every midterm since World War II.

But experts say Democrats shouldnt be celebrating just yet: The party has notoriously low turnout for midterm elections  20 per cent lower than Republican voters. And recent special elections, in which Democrats hoped to win back several historically Republican seats, havent delivered the resounding victory theyd hoped.

At a session of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees university for potential candidates, consultant Dave Gold described the anti-Trump momentum as a wave.

"It's all about getting people out there on surfboards," Mr Gold told his students. "Otherwise, the wave might come and it crashes on the shore and nothing comes of it."
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Hawaiians have been told by civil rights campaigners not to travel to Texas because of a controversial immigration law.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the new law unfairly targets undocumented Mexican immigrants in the state.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed the law, referred to as Senate Bill 4, that allows police to check the immigration status of individuals during routine traffic stops in an effort to reduce illegal immigration.

The signing into law of the Texas bill follows Donald Trump's repeated promise to build a nearly 2,000 mile (3,218 km) wall along the US-Mexico border.

Lorella Praeli, ACLU director of immigration policy and campaigns, said the concern for Hawaiians was that many of them fit the racial profile that the police in Texas will use to enforce Trumps draconian deportation force.

Hawaii residents travelling to Texas need to be prepared for illegal harassment, said Mateo Caballero, legal director of ACLU Hawaii, in a statement.

Hawaii is the most diverse state in the US, with the majority of the population identifying as non-white on the latest census.

The new Texas law also prohibits local jurisdictions from passing any regulations that would exempt them from the state law.

Under the law, police officers refusing to assist federal officials in deportation efforts can be prosecuted.

In 2010, the ACLU issued a similar travel warning when Arizona passed it's own immigration law.

The Texas law goes into effect September 2017.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has not confirmed information that one of its agents was present at the site of Pavel Sheremet's murder. The statement following the airing of a documentary film, titled "Pavel's Murder," produced by the Ukrainian investigative news agency Slidstvo.Info.

"Ihor Andriyovych Ustymenko was fired from the SBU on April 29, 2014," SBU Spokeswoman Olena Hitlianska wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday evening. She added that Slidstvo.Info had not inquired about the circumstances of his dismissal with the SBU.

"If the journalists had asked us about Ustymenko before  not after  the airing of the documentary, we would have had something to tell them," she said.

Hitlianska said the criminal investigation into the murder of Sheremet is being handled by the National Police of Ukraine.

According to Slidsvto.Info, Ustymenko was identified on video footage near Sheremet's residence on the night before he was killed.
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A reporter was arrested and could face jail for asking Health Secretary Tom Price whether the new Trump healthcare bill will make it harder for domestic violence sufferers to obtain insurance.

Jeffry Young, a New York-based reporter from the non-profit Public News Service, was arrested by West Virginia police as he shadowed Mr Price and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, holding out a recorder as he persistently asked about claims that insurers could refuse to service abuse survivors or could charge them substantially more.

The claim that domestic violence sufferers could be shut out is based on the bills provision that allows states to abandon consumer protections which form part of Obamacare.

Republicans and some commentators have dismissed the suggestion that Trumpcare would treat victims of domestic violence and rape as though they have pre-existing conditions because the bill does not explicitly say so.

But under the controversial bill, which has passed through the House of Representatives and will proceed to the Senate, patients deemed at high risk of needing treatment can be charged far higher premiums for health insurance  and campaigners fear this could include those who have previously suffered domestic violence.

Before Obamacare, some insurance companies considered rape and domestic abuse pre-existing conditions, and critics of the American Healthcare Bill believe this could once again become the case.

Mr Young told the West Virginia Metro News: At some point, I think [they] decided I was too persistent in asking this question and trying to do my job, so they arrested me.

The reporter was later charged with willful disruption of a governmental process, and only released from a cell after someone from his news agency paid $5,000 (3,900) in police bail.

A police report states that the journalist was aggressively breaching the Secret Services agents and causing a disturbance in yelling out his questions.

The reporter could face up to six months in jail under state law, although he could escape with a $100 (78) fine if convicted.

At a press conference after his release, the reporter said: First time Ive ever been arrested for asking a question. First time Ive ever heard of anybody arrested for asking a question.

He said on Twitter: If yelling questions at an HHS secretary were a crime, four Presidents couldve imprisoned me. They didnt, because it isnt.

Mr Price is said to have commended West Virginia police for doing what they thought was appropriate when he spoke the next day in New Hampshire, according to health care news site STAT.

Donald Trump has been locked in a very public war with the media since before he was sworn into office, repeatedly attacking individual reporters and branding newspapers which run critical articles or which forensically probe his dealings as fake news.

In an extraordinary press conference, Mr Trump rounded on BuzzFeed for publishing an unverified dossier alleging the existence of a Russian sex blackmail tape said to compromise him, also savaging a CNN reporter for covering the story.

Several journalists were arrested and charged with felony rioting in Washington DC on inauguration day, with the charges eventually being dropped.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer then barred several outlets, including the BBC and The Guardian, from attending a press conference as part of an apparent attempt to control the media.

The President has repeatedly taken to Twitter to lambaste media he dislikes while praising organisations such as Breibart and Fox News, who have given him more favourable coverage.

Mt Trump has also occasionally suggested the US should toughen up its libel laws to make it easier to sue reporters who currently enjoy first amendment protection ensuring the right to free speech.
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The US Senate Intelligence Committee has issued a subpoena demanding documents related to Russia from President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, ramping up its investigation of Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

In a joint statement, Senators Richard Burr, the committee's Republican chairman, and Mark Warner, its top Democrat, said the committee had first requested the documents from Mr Flynn in a 28 April letter, but the retired lieutenant general had declined, through counsel, to cooperate with the committee's request.

It was the first subpoena announced by the committee in its investigation.



Mr Warner said on Tuesday that the committee has been receiving documents as it investigates allegations that Russia sought to influence the US election, something Moscow denies. But he told Reuters that some people were not complying so we were going to take next steps.

The Trump administration denies any collusion with Russia.

Mr Flynn has been a focus of investigations into Russia and the election. He was forced to resign in February as Mr Trump's National Security Adviser for failing to disclose the content of his talks with Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States, and then misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.

Mr Flynn's attorney Robert Kelner declined comment on the action. Mr Flynn had previously been in talks with the committee about agreeing to be interviewed as part of the investigation as long as he was granted immunity.

In March, Mr Kelner said in a statement that Flynn had a story to tell but no reasonable person would agree to be questioned by the committee without assurances against unfair prosecution.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

Former Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates testified at a high-profile hearing on Monday that she had warned the White House in January that Mr Flynn had been compromised and could have been vulnerable to blackmail by Russia.

The subpoena was announced a day after Mr Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading the bureau's investigation of Russia and the election. Mr Comey's firing prompted a storm of criticism from Democrats, who accused the president of seeking to stall the probe.

Some of Mr Trump's fellow Republicans, including Mr Burr, also expressed strong doubts about the timing of the President's actions.

Reuters
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Workers have removed a controversial Confederate symbol in New Orleans under the cover of darkness, but surrounded by throngs of enthusiastic  and also grieving demonstrators.

A statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was hoisted up overnight by workers wearing face masks and what appeared to be tactical vests, highlighting the fierce debate to remove four such statues that has brought death threats aimed at city officials and every crane rental company in southern Louisiana.

Just beyond the chain link fence and barricades installed by police to ensure that simmering tensions didnt break into a boil, supporters and opponents of removal shouted into the night. In a city known for its musical culture, supporters tapped out beats and chanted anti-white supremacy messages. Across the barrier, opponents chanted President Davis! President Davis! in reverence to the symbol some contend represents a cultural history, not one of racism.

These monuments have stood not as historic or educational markers of our legacy of slavery and segregation, but in celebration of it. I believe we must remember all of our history, but we need not revere it, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a statement.

To literally put the Confederacy on a pedestal in some of our most prominent public places is not only an inaccurate reflection of our past, it is an affront to our present, and a bad prescription for our future. We should not be afraid to confront and reconcile our past, he said.

The Monumental Task Committee, which wants to preserve Confederate monumnets, had a different take.

"Another historic monument was removed under the cover of darkness using amatuer, masked workers in armour, unmarked vehicles and equipment, and with a heavy law enforcement presence," the group said in a statement. "This time it was of Jefferson Davis, the former President of the Confederacy, but who was also a West Point graduate, a hero of the Mexican-American War, and the United States Secretary of War."

The Jefferson Davis statue was the second out of four monuments set to be removed after the New Orleans City Council endorsed a plan in 2015 to do so. That decision followed an outcry that had spread across the American South in response to the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting earlier that year in which a white man killed nine black churchgoers hoping to incite a race war. The removal dates for the other two monuments have not been disclosed.

In pictures: Charleston vigil Show all 6 1 /6 In pictures: Charleston vigil In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil Sunlight shines through a window and onto some of the thousands of people gathered for a city-sponsored prayer vigil for the nine victims of the Emanuel AME Church shooting GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil People attend a vigil at TD Arena for victims of the Charleston church shooting GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil A view of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil People attend a prayer vigil at the TD Aren GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil Family members of the nine victims of the Emanuel AME Church shooting sit on the first five rows during a prayer vigil at the College of Charleston TD Arena GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil NBA Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (C) joins thousands of people for a prayer vigil for the nine victims GETTY

Photos of the Charleston shooter, Dylann Roof, taken prior to the attack showed him posing with a handgun and a small confederate flag. When the Confederate flag was not lowered to half-mast on the South Carolina statehouse house grounds following the shooting  as had been done with the US flag and the state flag in mourning for the victims  those pictures sparked a contentious debate that led then-Governor Nikki Haley to make a strong appeal to legislators that resulted in the flag being removed from the statehouse grounds altogether.

Moral cowardice requires choice and action. It demands that its adherents repeatedly look away, that they favour the fanciful over the plain, myth over history, the dream over the real, Ta-Nehisi Coates, a prominent social, cultural, and political writer for the Atlantic wrote following the shooting. Take down the flag. Take it down now.

Demonstrators in New Orleans this week echoed those sentiments: "Take 'em down! Take 'em down!" they chanted.

The victory in South Carolina for proponents of removing Confederate symbols from public spaces, state emblems, colleges and historical sites preceded a wave of protest in the region, ultimately leading to decision to remove the statues in New Orleans.

The Jefferson Davis monument in New Orleans was removed in the middle of the night (AP)

The New Orleans Jefferson Davis monument was dedicated in 1911, just over a half century after the end of the American Civil war and roughly halfway through the era of Jim Crow laws that repressed African Americans in the South through institutionalised racial segregation and other forms of official prejudice.

Jefferson Davis was a US representative and senator from Mississippi who later led the Confederacy during the Civil War. A slave owner himself, memorials and monuments celebrating him in several states  including Texas, Virginia, Washington, and of course Louisiana  have come under fire in recent years.

The New Orleans monument that was taken down has been the subject of frequent vandalism in past years.

The monument was taken to an undisclosed location.
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Following President Donald Trumps abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey, many in Congress say there is now a need more than ever for a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged ties between the Kremlin and associates of Mr Trump.

According to official documents released by the White House, Mr Trump dismissed Mr Comey over his handling of an investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that if the administration truly had objections to the way Mr Comey handled the Clinton investigation, they would have had them the minute the president got into office in January.

But he didnt fire Director Comey then, Mr Schumer said. The question is: Why did it happen last night?

Mr Schumer added that if the American people are to have faith in the impartiality of the Russia probe, a special prosecutor must be appointed to get the investigation out of the hands of the FBI and far away from the heavy hand of this administration.

Even before Mr Trump fired Mr Comey, Democrats have repeatedly been calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor, often called an independent or special counsel. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters there is clearly at this point no evidence of a reason to appoint one, as you have a system that's working.

What is a special prosecutor, and who appoints one?

A special prosecutor is an individual appointed by the Justice Department to investigate a certain legal case. They are usually only used when the regular justice system seems to have been compromised by the case at issue.

In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Congress passed a statute that enabled the attorney general or Congress to request an independent counsel. But to protect the position from political meddling, a panel of three federal judges was in charge of appointing the independent counsel and oversaw the investigation.

Congress let the law expire in 1999, after it had been reauthorised multiple times and used in more than a dozen instances to initiate investigations, according to PBS Frontline. In the 1990s, the law was famously used to appoint lawyer Kenneth Starr to oversee inquiries into the Clinton administration.

In present day, according to the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, Congress cannot appoint a special prosecutor on its own, as the power to investigate and prosecute crimes rests entirely in the executive branch of government.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

Based on the US Code of Federal Regulations, the Attorney General  or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused  the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a special counsel if doing so is warranted; it would be in the public interest; and the case presents a conflict of interest for the Justice Department.

Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would appoint the special prosecutor.

Senator Schumer said on the Senate floor that Mr Rosenstein has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor right now.

He needs no congressional authorisation, Mr Schumer said. This would simply be a step that he could take as outlined in the Department of Justice guidelines and in a law passed after Watergate to get an independently-minded prosecutor who would be insulated from various pressures.

He added that a special prosecutor is not subject to day-to-day supervision by the Attorney General or anyone else at the Justice Department.

That means the special prosecutor would have much greater latitude in who he can subpoena, which questions they ask, how to conduct an investigation, Mr Schumer continued. The special prosecutor can only be removed for good cause, such as misconduct  not to quash the investigation. Third, there is built-in congressional oversight. Congress is notified whenever a special counsel is appointed, removed or finished with the investigation.

What kinds of people are appointed to a special counsel?

Regulations specify that a special counsel must be a lawyer from outside the US government.
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The Justice Department official whose recommendation has been cast as the main reason why President Donald Trump decided to fire FBI director James Comey, reportedly threatened to resign.

According to one report, Mr Trump had long questioned Mr Comeys loyalty and judgment, and was unhappy by what he viewed as the directors lack of action on leaks from within the federal government. Mr Trump officially decided to dismiss Mr Comey based on comments from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, according to documents released by the White House.

In a memo to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Mr Rosenstein said he could not defend Mr Comeys refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken in the way he handled an investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.

But the Washington Post said Mr Rosenstein was deeply upset about taking the blame for the president's decision and threatened to quit. ABC News also reported that Mr Rosenstein was on the verge of resigning, upset that the White House had pinned him as the reason for the Comey firing.

On Capitol Hill, Vice President Mike Pence said that when Mr Rosenstein brought the recommendation to the president that the director of the FBI should be removed, President Trump provided the kind of strong and decisive leadership the American people have come to be accustomed from him.

Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during a White House press briefing that Mr Trump had been contemplating firing Mr Comey for awhile.

Mr Comey, an Obama administration appointee, was also leading a probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and alleged links between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Democrats, as well as few Republicans, have criticised the abrupt firing, saying they are troubled by the reasoning and timing of Mr Comeys termination.

On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted that Democrats had repeatedly condemned Mr Comey in the past, even calling for his removal. He pointed out that current Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said last year that Mr Comeys handling of the email investigation appeared to be an appalling act, one that he said goes against their tradition of prosecutors at every level of government.

Its also clear what my Democratic colleagues think of the man who evaluated Mr Comeys professional conduct and concluded that the bureau needed a change in leadership, Mr Connell said. The Democratic leader just a few weeks ago praised Mr Rosenstein for his independence and said he had developed a reputation for integrity.

The Senate voted 94-6 to confirm Mr Rosenstein as deputy attorney general in April.

Mr McConnell said the Democrats are complaining about the removal of an FBI Director who they themselves criticised. That removal being done by a man, Rod Rosenstein, whom they repeatedly praised. Mr Rosenstein recommended Mr Comeys removal for many of the very reasons that they consistently complained about.
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Senate Republicans have failed in a vote to block an Obama administration rule limiting the acceptable amount of emissions from oil and natural gas drilling after three GOP Senators joined a united Democratic front to reject the effort.

The failure marks one the last chances for Senate Republicans to use the controversial Congressional Review Act to block Obama-era rules issued during the final months of the former president. It is also the first time that Senate Republicans rejected a resolution to pull back Obama regulations since President Donald Trump took the oath of office.

The rule in question was directed at the Bureau of Land Management and Republicans needed just 51 votes to eliminate it. There are 52 Republicans in the Senate.

While I am concerned that the BLM rule may be onerous, passage of the resolution would have prevented the federal government, under any administration, from issuing rule that is similar, according to the plain reading of the Congressional Review Act, Arizona Senator John McCain, who cast a surprise no vote, said.

He joined Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins in breaking from their party and saving the emissions rule.

The vote was a rare victory for environmentalists under the Trump White House. Democrats praised the denial of repeal.

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

This is a good, solid rule, and its a commonsense rule, and I think it prevents waste just like it was laid out to do, New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor. Were preventing waste, were doing job creation, and were acting on the part of public health.

The Obama rule requires oil and gas companies operation on federal or tribal lands to actively identify leaks and then fix them. The rule also puts a limit on the allowable amount of venting and flaring and tells producers to capture natural gas.
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Vermont lawmakers on Wednesday approved a measure to legalise recreational use of marijuana, which if not vetoed by the governor would make the state the ninth to legalise the drug and the first to do so by legislation rather than ballot initiative.

The U.S. state's House of Representatives voted 79-66 for the measure, which was attached to a bill increasing penalties for the possession and sale of the opioid drug fentanyl. The measure, which would take effect in July 2018 and allow adults 21 and over to buy and use the drug, was passed by the state Senate last week in a 20-9 vote.

A spokeswoman for Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, said he would need to consider the details of the legislation before deciding whether to sign, veto or let it pass into law without his signature.

Recommended Mexico approves legalising medical marijuana

On the issue of legalising marijuana, the Governor has said he is not philosophically opposed, but we must ensure certain public safety and health questions are answered, Scott spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley said in an e-mail.

The Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalisation group that had backed the measure for multiple years, applauded the vote,

Vermont lawmakers made history today, said Matt Simon, the group's New England political director. It's time for Vermont to move forward with a more sensible marijuana policy.

Opponents blasted passage of the measure and urged Scott to veto it.

This is about opening the doors to a new addictive industry being funded by Big Tobacco that will instal retail pot shops in Vermont neighbourhoods, said Kevin Sabel, president of anti-pot group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. We will continue to give a voice to parents, and public health and safety experts to encourage Governor Scott to choose people over profit and veto this harmful legislation.

Neighbouring Massachusetts and nearby Maine have also legalised the drug, doing so after statewide ballot initiatives showed that a majority of voters approved the idea. That was not an option in Vermont, where state law does not allow for ballot measures of that kind.

Lawmakers in nearby Rhode Island are contemplating a similar measure.

Approval of the legislation comes at a time that many public health advocates are focusing on the problems caused by rising rates of addition to opioid painkillers including heroin and fentanyl, which has been blamed for soaring numbers of overdose deaths.

Democrats control both houses of the Vermont legislature.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in February that federal anti-marijuana laws might be ramped up.

Reuters
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A five-member all male bench of the Supreme Court of India will hear the final arguments over the Islamic practice of instant divorce, where a man can divorce his wife by saying the word talaq three times.

The unique case will examine whether or not the practice is fundamental to Islam and therefore outside Indian law.

It comes following seven petitions from Muslim women and rights groups who have been campaigning to get the practice outlawed in the country.

The bench responsible for making the decision is made up of five men from five different religions: Chief Justice JS Khehar, who is Sikh, Justice Kurian Joseph, who is Christian, Justice Rohinton Nariman, who is Parsi, Justice Uday Lalit, who is Hindu, and Justice Abdul Nazeer, who is Muslim.

There have been arguments that the case itself is outside the remits of judicial review and that triple talaq is a subject of personal faith.

In India the state generally does not interfere in matters of personal dispute  a law which came into force in 1937.

If we come to a conclusion that triple talaq is part of (the) fundamental right to religion, we would not interfere, the The Times of India reported the apex court as saying.

We will also determine whether triple talaq is sacramental and whether it can be enforced as a fundamental right.

Syed Tanveer Nasreen, an activist and an academic from Kolkata, has been arguing that divorces should be settled in a court of law.

The case has been strengthened with reports of husbands divorcing their wives over the phone or through instant messaging apps.

It is a patriarchal practice which seeks to exploit the women in the name of religion. We have great faith in Khehar, who, we believe, will do justice and hold human rights above the sentiments of minorities, Mr Nasreen told First Post.

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. 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There are 155 million Muslims living in India and they are the largest minority group in the country. Marriages within the community are governed by the Muslim personal law, which is based on Sharia.

The talaq practice itself is banned in neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Although the practice of repeating the word talaq three times has been around for decades there is no mention of it in the Quran.

Islamic scholars have argued that divorces must be spread over a period of three months, allowing partners to take their time and ensure reconciliation is not feasible.

The Supreme Court has planned a six-day hearing, with three days for arguments challenging the triple talaq and three days defending it.

A judgement is expected in the coming weeks.
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North Korea has said it has the right to ruthlessly punish American citizens it has detained for allleged crimes against the government.

The East Asian nation announced over the weekend that it had detained a fourth American, bring to four the number of US citizens it is holding.

Citing North Koreas KCNA news agency, Reuters said the government had declared the crimes the Americans had been accused of would soon be announced.

North Korea, or properly the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), said it had detained Kim Hak Song, who worked for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, last Saturday. Officials in the Communist state said he had been held on suspicion of hostile acts.

A relevant institution of the DPRK detained American citizen Kim Hak Song on May 6 under a law of the DPRK on suspension of his hostile acts against it, KCNA said.

A third US citizen, Kim Sang Dok, who was associated with the same school, was detained in late April for alleged hostile acts, according to Norths official media.

 North Korean artist Song Byeok: from propaganda painter to political refugee

The US State Department said it was aware of the latest reported detention.

The security of US citizens is one of the departments highest priorities, said a spokesperson. When a US citizen is reported to be detained in North Korea, we work with the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang.

The reported detention comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula run high. Both sides have been engaging in sabre-rattling and Washington has said it is determined to halt North Koreas nuclear weapons program.

Experts said they believed the series of detentions may be an attempt at hostage diplomacy on the part of North Korea.

Kim Jong Un is using hostage diplomacy as a part of his military and defence strategy with focus on preventing the US from removing him from power as well as to prevent the US from taking military options against North Korea, An Chan Il, president of the World Institute for North Korea Studies and a former defector, told NBC News.

Koh Yu Hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said that taking hostages remained a valuable activity.

Although such hostage talks dont usually lead to negotiation over missile or nuclear weaponsthe added numbers can certainly hamper and limit options the US can take over North Korea, he said
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A British student studying in Paris has been told that getting a job with European Union (EU) institutions will be out of the question after Brexit.

Sara Roebuck, who is doing a double masters in European politics at Sciences Po Paris and the London School of Economics, recently attended a careers event in Brussels with her university class to discuss job prospects at institutions like the European Parliament or the European Commission.

Instead, advisers at the EU department that recruits public servants told the 24-year-old she would have to obtain French nationality in order to have any chance of following that career path.

She was told that while technically it would be possible for her to pursue a career in Brussels prior to the UK's departure from the 27 nation bloc, it would "not be worth the effort" because there would be "no future" for her as a British citizen post-Brexit even if she obtained her Masters.

"They told me that a career in the EU is out of the question for me unless I get French nationality," Ms Roebuck told The Independent.

"They said that although technically its not impossible, as we are currently still a member state and when I graduate in 2018 we still will be, in terms of my career its not worth the effort because there is no future for me in the EU as a British citizen, even with the qualifications Ill have.

So if I want a career in the EU I will 100 per cent have to move to France after graduation and obtain French nationality and go as a French citizen. They werent nasty about it or anything, they just said it how it is."

She added: This means that I would have to relocate to France after I graduate and work here for two years to get French nationality just in order to get European citizenship, which would allow me to further my career options. I think its absolute madness, given that I was born a European citizen and I now have that ripped away from me."

Ms Roebuck, who is the only British student on her course, said that while her mainly French and European classmates found the careers event positive and helpful, she was left feeling "separate and angry", adding that there was a general anti-British sentiment in both Brussels and Paris.

The only thing I'd be able to do would be to work in the department for exiting the EU potentially under Theresa May's leadership, and Id rather not do that," she said.

"There's a lot of anti-British sentiment I feel  not so direct, but subtle comments  both in Brussels in Paris. Im sad for the next generations whose opportunities to learn European languages and gain experience in France as I have will be so much more limited now.

"Particularly owing to the culture that will prevail in the UK in the next ten years, with the mentality of whats the point in learning French or German or Spanish if I cant go to Europe?'"

British graduates who are already working in EU institutions are said to be feeling uncertain about their future employment, and Ms Roebuck said that after finding out that her own prospects in Brussels were very low, she felt she was having to "change her life" in order to get around Brexit.

Having spoken informally to people UK graduates working in the EU institutions who are currently working in the parliament, no one really knows what is going to happen for them, but for future graduates like me its just completely out of the question," she said.

And equally, regarding my future, Im having to make serious lifestyle choices about where to live post-graduation to decide how valuable EU citizenship is to me professionally. Im literally having to change my life in order to get around Brexit  its madness."

She added: "When I was doing my undergraduate degree in the UK, the EU institutions were always talked about but I found getting information from the UK side always quite difficult. Yet as soon as I started at Sciences Po, which is one of the biggest political science schools in Paris, everyone talks about working for Europe and it's a really well-respected career path.

"So it was always hard starting my course with Brexit looming. That definitely held me back in a way that is different from my European friends."

Ms Roebuck is one of many young Britons living in Europe who are concerned about changes to their future employment prospects on the continent as a result of Brexit.

Luke Kindness, 24, who has been teaching English in Spain since last year, said he was concerned that his opportunities would become limited throughout Europe following Britains departure from the EU.

"I'm worried about employment prospects in the EU, because I think opportunities for Britons to do what I'm doing will become limited, not just in Spain but all of Europe, Mr Kindness told The Independent.

"I'd like to teach English in Germany or somewhere, but I don't know how easy that's going to be with Brexit. We dont know anything for sure yet, but I think it's a given.

"If Americans want to teach here then they have to apply for a visa and few other documents, and without a doubt that will happen for Brits too, and perhaps even stricter.

Lucy Robinson, who works as an SEO associate for a US digital media company in Berlin, told The Independent that as a result of Brexit she was having to consider her future options in far more restrictive terms.

The 24-year-old said: It's not something us who voted Remain and actually already live in Europe asked for and of course those who've been in Europe for over 15 years had no say at all. So it's rather frustrating to now have to suddenly worry about things like visas.

In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier listens at the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit reacts during a meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage wears socks with Union Jack flag at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member and MEP, addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcoming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier gestures during speeches at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) speaks with European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France Getty Images

The necessity to apply for a visa to live and work in European countries would I'm sure be a reason not to bother moving for many Britons. The Britons who voted to leave wouldn't want immigrants coming to the UK who couldn't speak English - why should EU countries want us?

Since the Brexit vote, a coalition group called British in Europe, made up of 11 citizen groups across Europe representing a membership of around 35.000 Britons, has been standing up for the rights of UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, aiming to ensure that their rights are fairly and equally represented in forthcoming Brexit discussions.

The coalition has recently urged Theresa May to renew the Conservatives pledge to give all British people living overseas the vote, stating in an open letter to the Prime Minister: There is consternation, and anger, at the failure by the government to honour its 2015 general election manifesto pledge to introduce votes for life.
Competent police investigators will review information presented in the documentary film, titled "Pavel's Murder," which was aired on Wednesday evening by Slidstvo.Info, Deputy Head of the National Police of Ukraine Kostiantyn Bushuyev has said.

"Information presented in the documentary will be studied within the framework of the pretrial investigation and will be evaluated according to procedures," he told the Kyiv-based NewsOne TV Channel on Thursday.

As earlier reported, on July 20, 2016 at around 8:00 a.m. in the center of Kyiv a car driven by journalist Pavel Sheremet exploded. Sheremet died of his wounds moments later. On February 8, 2017 investigators said they believe Sheremet was assassinated because of his activities as a journalist.

The documentary film reveals Ihor Ustymenko, a former employee of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) was near Sheremet's house for several hours on the night before a bomb was placed under the driver's seat of Sheremet's car.

Ustymenko in the documentary film refused to say concretely what he was doing near Sheremet's residence.

The National Police of Ukraine is in charge of the investigation into Sheremet's murder.
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A man who was convicted of deliberately removing his condom without his partners knowledge during sex, has had his rape conviction changed to defilement by a Swiss court.

The practice, known as stealthing, can transform a consensual act into a non-consensual one.

In what was thought to be the first case of its kind in Switzerland, an appeal court in Lausanne upheld the 12-month suspended sentence handed to the man, who has not been named, at an earlier hearing.

But they changed his original rape conviction, to one of defilement. The hearing was seen as test case for how the legal system can handle similar charges.

The man had met his victim on the Tinder dating platform and the pair agreed to have sex at the womans home, according to Swiss broadcaster SRF.

During intercourse, the woman refused the mans request to remove his condom, but she later discovered that he had done it anyway.

The woman filed charges against the man, fearing she might become pregnant or contract a disease, the broadcaster reported. But the defendant claimed he had not removed the condom on purpose and refused to submit himself to an HIV test.

Ath the first trial, the womans attorney Baptiste Viredaz submitted a study by the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law on the legal implications of the practice, which transforms consensual sex into a non-consensual act.

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Apart from unwanted pregnancies and STIs, survivors experienced nonconsensual condom removal as a clear violation of their bodily autonomy and the trust they had mistakenly placed in their sexual partner, study author Alexandra Brodsky, a legal fellow at the National Women's Law Centre, said.

The study found men named a range of motivations for stealthing including increased physical pleasures, a thrill for degradation and domination.

An online discussions suggest offenders and their defenders justify their actions as a natural male instinct and natural male right," the study found.

The UK signed the Istanbul Convention, which aims to prevent violence against women - including all non-consensual acts of a sexual nature. Earlier this year, Parliament passed a bill requiring the UK to ratify the convention.

It is believed stealthing would fall under that.
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Volunteers say they are lucky to be alive after the Libyan coastguard cut across their ship to prevent them rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean amid record deaths at sea.

A vessel operated by German charity Sea-Watch was about to distribute life jackets to hundreds of migrants on an overloaded wooden fishing boat in international waters when the heavily armed ship approached.

Owen Thurgate, who was in a speedboat with an interpreter talking to those on board, said he received a radio alarm call saying a warship was coming in fast.

When we looked over our shoulders a boat had just come around the bow of Sea-Watch and was heading towards us at high speed, he added.

The charity filmed the moment the military vessel, carrying a long-range gun, passed within feet of the ships bow.

Ruben Lampart, captain of the Sea-Watch II, said he had no idea why the Libyans made the very, very dangerous manoeuvre after failing to respond to radio contact.

A Libyan coastguard boat observing a rescue by MSF's Bourbon Argos ship in a separate incident on 4 November 2016 (Lizzie Dearden)

I couldnt avoid it, he said. They put their ship, my ship, the refugees, everybody in huge danger.

We are all just happy that we are still alivewhat happened is absolutely unacceptable.

Recommended Libya asks EU for ships armed with machine guns for refugee patrols

The Libyan coastguard was filmed forcing migrants from the fishing vessel on to their ship without life jackets  another decision aid workers claimed put lives at risk.

Sea-Watch received instruction from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome, which deployed it on the original rescue operation, saying that the Libyan coastguard was taking over on-scene command.

Ayoub Qassem, a spokesperson for the coastguard, said the incident occurred about 19 miles north of Libya's coast on Wednesday morning  outside the countrys territorial waters.

An international rescue organisation called Sea-Watch tried to hinder the work of our coastguard in a bid to take the migrants, claiming Libya is not safe for migrants, he said, adding that fire had been exchanged with people smugglers, without providing details.

Libyan officials said around 350 people on board the wooden boat were taken to a detention centre in Tripoli, although migrants told aid workers there were more than 500 people crammed on the deck and in the hold. At least five women needed immediate medical treatment.

The vessel had left the smuggling hub of Sabratha on Tuesday night, carrying asylum seekers from Morocco as well as other African nations and the Middle East.

Damage from bullets fired by the Libyan coastguard below the bridge on MSF ship the Bourbon Argos (Lizzie Dearden ) (Lizzie Dearden)

One 24-year-old Moroccan man said he had come to Libya five weeks earlier in order to try to reach Europe, while a 28-year-old Moroccan had been working in the war-torn nation for four years but was forced to flee the deteriorating situation.

A Syrian woman had travelled through six countries to reach Libya, paying $1,000 (780) in each and leaving two sons aged 12 and 13 behind in Jordan.

The Libyan coastguard, which has received offshore training from European nations including the UK, has previously been accused of shooting, beating and abusing migrants.

Recommended Aid workers recount Libyan coastguard attacks on refugee rescue boats

Officers opened fire on one aid agencys ship last year, leaving its hospital riddled with bullet holes, while a previous attempt to block a Sea-Watch rescue in October resulted in the death of up to 25 refugees, who drowned after a coastguard officer started beating migrants on a rubber dinghy.

Libyan authorities frequently forcibly return refugee boats to land from both territorial and international waters  a move humanitarian agencies say violate international laws against refoulement.

The fragile Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) has so far been unable to stem the ongoing civil war, seeing warring groups including two rival governments, tribes and Isis fight for territory.

Widespread lawlessness has allowed people smugglers to expand their lucrative trade, linking up with gangs who detain and extort migrants, ransoming them or forcing them into labour at slave markets and prostitution.

At least 20,000 migrants are believed to be held in irregular detention centres in the country, where survivors report torture, rape and starvation in dire conditions  sparking a probe by the International Criminal Court.

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

Moves by the EU to support detention centres as part of a package of support to bolster Libyan efforts against people smuggling and stem boat crossings in the Mediterranean Sea have been heavily criticised.

Italy signed a deal with the fragile Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli in February that also promised training and money to fight human traffickers - an agreement initially endorsed by EU states at a summit in Malta.

The EU is also considering a request for equipment including ships armed with machine guns for the Libyan coastguard, which is attempting to increase its operations.

More than 1,300 migrants have died on the treacherous route so far this year, with 45,000 rescued and taken to Italy, while 5,600 have crossed the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.

That route has slowed to a trickle since the controversial EU-Turkey deal came into force last March, seeing all asylum seekers arriving on Greek islands detained under threat of deportation.

But the prospect of implementing a similar agreement with Libya looks slim given the governments reduced capacity and human rights concerns raised by the UN.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said record deaths in the Mediterranean Sea and mass arrivals showed rescue operations were as crucial as ever.

Since the beginning of 2017, one person out of 35 has died on the sea journey from Libya to Italythis cannot continue, he said, calling for increased rescue efforts as well as work to address the root causes of migration.

This is a matter of life or death which appeals to our most basic sense of humanity and should not be called into question.

Update:

Jalal Othman, communications director for the GNA, told The Independent: The Libyan Coast Guard is doing brave, difficult and dangerous work to save lives and protect the national coastline.

"We are aware of this accusation from Sea-Watch and have reviewed the video.

"We will continue to fulfill our mission to keep the coast safe and secure, providing vital rescue missions in cooperation with our partners.
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Spain's opposition parties have voted to move the remains of fascist dictator Francisco Franco out of a state-funded mausoleum, in a non-binding parliamentary motion the government is likely to resist.

The motion, backed by parties on the left and centre, reflected growing pressure from campaign groups and politicians to turn the site into a broader memorial honouring those who died on both sides of Spain's 1936-1939 civil war.

It was passed by 198 votes to one, while 140 politicians abstained, including those from the conservative People's Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The PP has long opposed attempts to exhume Franco's body, saying this would only stir up painful memories more than four decades after his death and nearly 80 years after the end of the war.

The motion also called for tens of thousands of other bodies buried at the mausoleum just outside Madrid, known as the Valley of the Fallen, to be exhumed too.

Many of those interred there fought for the losing Republican side and were moved to the monument under Franco's dictatorship without their families' permission.

Scars of the Spanish Civil War Show all 10 1 /10 Scars of the Spanish Civil War Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain Sky is seen through the holes of the San Agustin church ceiling in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain Visitors walk past ruins in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain Tomas Ortin, 94, survivor of the Belchite battle, poses for a picture at the ruins of his former home in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain The sun sets over ruins in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain, Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain The moon rises behind the San Martin de Tours church in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain Visitors walk past the Cross for the Fallen in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain Ruins of a building are seen in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain Bullet holes and the remains of a street sign are seen on a building in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain A graffiti is seen on the entrance door of San Martin de Tours church in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters Scars of the Spanish Civil War Belchite, Spain A visitor looks at a monument where Spanish Civil war victims are buried, in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain Reuters

The 150m cross of the Valley of the Fallen monument, built by prisoners of war, towers over the Guadarrama Sierra, a mountain range west of Madrid.

Opened by Franco himself in 1959, the Valley houses a Catholic basilica set into a hillside, where the founder of Spain's fascist Falange party, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, is also interred. It has long been a site of pilgrimage for far-right groups in Spain.

The then-Socialist government approved a so-called "Law of Historical Memory" in 2007, aimed at giving greater recognition to victims on both sides of the war.

It has not always been easy to implement, however, in a country where many streets and squares still bear Franco's name, and the PP cut state funding for this initiative after it came to power in late 2011.

Tuesday's motion was spearheaded by the Socialist party, which called for Franco to be moved to a private burial site and for the Valley to be converted into an information centre.

The government has a democratic duty to understand that our historical memory belongs to all of us, and that the wounds of the past will only be cured with greater truth, Socialist MP Gregorio Camara told a parliamentary session earlier this week.

Reuters
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Western countries are ill-prepared for the aftermath of a nuclear war or catastrophic meltdown, an expert specialising in the impacts of fallout has warned.

It comes amid heightened tensions between the US and North Korea over the latters dogged pursuit of its nuclear and missile programmes, in defiance of UN sanctions and international pressure. Both Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have indicated support for expanding their nuclear arsenals.

With the recent ramping up of rhetoric between world powers, governments owe it to their citizens to be prepared for potential nuclear incidents, Dr Arik Eisenkraft, director of homeland defence projects at Pluristem Therapeutics, told The Independent.

The heightened tensions since Mr Trump took office have really highlighted the reality, how things are fragile, how things may change in a few days, he said.

People understand better that this will come as a surprise. If you are not prepared in advance, you won't have a good response. Once everyone is aware of the potential of this problem, you are already on the way to having a good solution.

The world is still learning lessons from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, he said. Chernobyl opened our eyes. For the first time, people all over the world understood that a single incident might influence their own countries even if they are far away and regardless if they themselves use nuclear energy.

The catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, killed at least 31 people, the majority from acute radiation syndrome, with potential long-term cancers still being investigated. "Everyone now understands the need to be prepared is shared by everyone," he said.

 Donald Trump says a Russia-US conflict would be a nuclear holocaust 'like no other'

Dr Eisenkraft, who previously worked with the Ministry of Defence in Israel, said governments are also becoming more aware of the danger terrorist attacks could pose to a nation's nuclear infrastructure.

He praised the British Government for putting a high priority on nuclear preparedness, saying it understands the consequences of "either a natural disaster like in Fukushima" or "human error like in Chernobyl."

But he warned countries must do more to prepare for the chaotic aftermath of a nuclear accident or war. One of the major issues for governments, he said, is understanding exactly what other countries are doing in response to a disaster.

Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Show all 12 1 /12 Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman stands near the grave of her brother, a "liquidator" or an emergency worker who fought the blaze at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, during a commemoration ceremony on the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster at the Mitino cemetery in Moscow Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Belarussian soldiers of an honor guard carry wreaths during a memorial service for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster in Minsk EPA Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman holds a portrait of her relative, a victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as she visits the memorial during a commemoration ceremony in Kiev Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lays flowers during a commemoration ceremony at a monument to "liquidators", emergency workers who fought the blaze at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman puts flowers to a monument to Chernobyl liquidators at Mitino Cemetery in Moscow AP Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Nataliya Khodemchyuk, 64, from Ukraine, a widow of Chernobyl liquidator Valery Khodemchyuk, sits at his grave at the Mitino Cemetery in Moscow AP Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman holds portrait of her relative, a victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as she visits the memorial during a commemoration ceremony in Kiev Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Ukrainians light candles and lay flowers at the memorial for 'liquidators' who died during cleaning up works after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, during a ceremony in Slavutich city EPA Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A rescue worker which served during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster visits a memorial during a commemoration ceremony in Kiev Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Women hold portraits of their lost husbands near a monument honoring people who were killed during cleanup efforts after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, during a memorial ceremony in Kiev EPA Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman lays flowers at the Chernobyl victims' memorial in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev Getty Images Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman holds a photograph of her husband who died following the clean-up operations for the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion, at the Chernobyl's victim monument in Ukraine's capital Kiev AP

"If you don't know that and the event is chaotic in nature, you can add more chaos to it," he said, adding that governments must prepare themselves and train for different scenarios.

"I think people are not aware enough of how complicated this probably will be. Just look at Fukushima.

"Japan is a country which invests a lot in safety and security, and they still weren't prepared for such a catastrophe. And other countries are not prepared in the same extent."

One of the biggest dangers in the aftermath of a nuclear emergency is acute radiation sickness, when exposure to very high levels of radiation result in severe and potentially lethal damage to the body.

High doses of radiation can destroy the bone marrow's ability to produce white blood cells, which are essential to fighting infection, oxygen-carrying red blood cells and platelets, which help the body form clots to stop bleeding.

"Once people are suffering from acute radiation syndrome, they are in danger of life threatening infections, anaemia and uncontrolled bleeding," Dr Eisenkraft said.

He described current treatments for acute radiation sickness, which include blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants, as "very complicated, very expensive."

"Just imagine dozens, or hundreds, or even thousands of casualties. This will be very difficult to perform even in western countries. So there is a real need for something simple that would be simple to deploy and to use."

That is where his research on stem cells taken from the placenta after birth comes in.

His team at Pluristem have developed a medical countermeasure to treat acute radiation sickness which, once injected, can prevent anaemia, infection and a potentially fatal decrease in platelets.

Initial pilot studies have proven promising and Dr Arik said the treatment "may well be the next generation countermeasure against acute radiation syndrome."
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They made the captive children, weak from hunger, fight over a single tomato. Then the Isis militants told them that in paradise they could eat to their hearts delight, but they could only get there by blowing themselves up.

The lesson was part of the indoctrination inflicted by the militants on boys from Iraq's Yazidi religious minority after the extremist group overran the community's towns and villages in northern Iraq. The group forced hundreds of boys, some as young as 7 or 8, into training to become fighters and suicide bombers, infusing them with its murderous ideology.

Now boys who escaped captivity are living in camps for the displaced along with what is left of their families.

"Even here I'm still very afraid," said 17-year-old Ahmed Ameen Koro, who spoke to The Associated Press in the sprawling Esyan Camp in northern Iraq, where he now lives with his mother, sister and a brother, the only surviving members of his family. "I can't sleep properly because I see them in my dreams."

The militants stormed into the Yazidi heartland in the summer of 2014, killing tens of thousands of people and kidnapping thousands of women and girls to be used as sex slaves. The Yazidi minority's ancient faith is considered heretical by the Islamic extremists.

US-backed Kurdish forces drove Isis out of Sinjar in November 2015, but few Yazidis have returned, and an estimated 3,500 remain in Isis captivity in Iraq and Syria, according to Human Rights Watch.

Ahmed's family tried to flee when the militants descended on their village, but Isis fighters captured him, his 13-year-old brother Amin and four cousins.

The boys were taken to the Isis-held town of Tal Afar, some 30 miles (50km) away, where they were kept in a boys' school along with dozens of other boys and teens. The adult men were taken away, leaving the women and girls.

"They chose and took the girls they liked," Ahmed recalled. "I remember the girls were crying, as well as the mothers. They were dragging these girls from the arms of their mothers."

"They were all very big bearded men, they looked like monsters," he said.

Ahmed was among some 200 Yazidi boys sent to a two-month training camp in Tal Afar. They studied the Quran and the militants' hard-line interpretation of Islam, and learned to shoot assault rifles and pistols. They watched videos on how to use a suicide belt, throw a grenade, or behead a person.

"They were telling us, 'You are not Yazidis anymore. You are one of us,"' Ahmed said.

Akram Rasho Khalaf was only 7 when his town was overrun by the militants. His family tried to flee, but the militants opened fire and Akram suffered shrapnel and bullet wounds to his abdomen and hand. He was taken by ambulance to Mosul, seized earlier that summer by Isis, where he underwent surgery. He never heard from his parents again.

Akram fidgeted as he talked about his captivity, saying he remembered being too hungry to be afraid.

Eventually, he was brought to Raqqa, Syria, the Isis group's self-declared capital. There the militants would throw balls at the children's heads. If anyone cried, he was beaten. Those who didn't cry were praised, and told they would one day be suicide bombers.

"They were saying they are our friends, but the kids were scared to death," Akram said in Kabarto Camp, where he now lives with his uncle, two siblings and other relatives.

"They were telling us, 'When you grow up, you will blow yourself up, God willing,"' he said.

Training included sliding on their bellies through barricades of burning tyres, jumping over obstacles and off roofs. Akram wasn't strong enough to handle a gun, so he was forced to be a servant.

Two years after Akram was taken captive, his uncle received a photo of his nephew dressed in black Islamic garb and an offer to smuggle him out of Raqqa for $10,500  an increasingly common practice.

The family borrowed the money from a relative in Germany, and eventually the boy was smuggled out. He was reunited with what remains of his family on 29 November  two years and three months after he was seized.

 Escaped Yazidi Isis sex slaves win Sakharov prize

Ahmed escaped sooner. On 4 May, 2015, nine months after their capture, Ahmed and his brother Amin sneaked away from the training camp in Tal Afar, hid in a mosque until nightfall, then fled with a small group of others on foot.

"We were very thirsty because we ran out of water," he said. "We were almost dying."

But fear kept them going, and after a nine-day, 55-mile (90km) trek they reached the Sinjar mountains, where Kurdish peshmerga forces rescued them.

Akram's uncle says his nephew suffers nightmares, anxiety, sleeplessness and bedwetting. The boy's 8-year-old brother and 5-year-old sister, rescued separately after ransom was paid, have similar problems.

"Sometimes they become very aggressive and they beat up other children or our children," he said.

Carl Gaede, an American clinical social worker and executive director of Tutapona, a US-based nonprofit specialising in war trauma, says these reactions are common among survivors.

"We've seen a number of the children acting out in violent ways and family members needing to hide the knives, hide dangerous items out of fear of how the children might use them," said Gaede, who works with survivors of Isis brutality.

Ahmed sees a counsellor, like many living in the camp, and fills his days now with school and running a small shop.

Asked about his dreams for the future, Ahmed answers immediately. "When I grow up I will take my revenge against Daesh, against those infidels."

AP
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Wave after wave of people continue to flee Mosul as the last gruelling stages of the fight to free the Iraqi city rage on.

While US-backed Iraqi troops have forced the last of Isis hardened fighters into a handful of neighbourhoods on the side of the city west of the Tigris River, the campaign stalled last week as attempts to open a new front on the narrow streets of the Old City from the south failed.

A new battle plan involving a northwest advance has seen swifter success, said Iraqi special forces Lieutenant General Sami al-Arathi in a statement on Thursday, after a week in which more than 11,000 people risked sniper and mortar fire as they poured out of the city.

 Children of Mosul describe life under Islamic State

[Isis] didn't have any real defences prepared there for this new thrust and its manpower was depleted [...] That has led to a quick advance and now the army and police have connected with the Counter Terrorism Forces in the centre, said Iraq analyst and author of Musings on Iraq blog Joel Wing to The Independent.

Together they are now pushing on the last section of Mosul. The city will probably be freed by the end of the month or early June at the latest.

Federal police chief Shakar Jadwat also confirmed that elite rapid response force units managed to make incursions in al-Ektesadiyn neighbourhood on Thursday - just a few hundred metres away from the Grand Mosque in which Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the creation of the Isis caliphate.

Mosul became the jewel in the militants crown after its forces blazed through Iraq from Syria in the summer of 2014, at one point laying claim to more than one third of the country.

A map released by the Iraqi military on Thursday May 11 claims government forces are now in control of 90 per cent of Mosul (Supplied)

Nearly three years after the citys 1.5 million citizens were first subject to Isis brutal rule, and eight months after Operation Inherent Resolve to drive the militants out was launched, the end of the jihadists control appears to be in sight.

A map released by the Iraqi military on Thursday which was not verified by US counterparts, showed that the security forces are now in control of 90 per cent of the city.

But for the estimated 350,000 people who remain trapped in West Mosul neighbourhoods, help cannot come too soon. The Independent spoke to civilians in Dibaga camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) who had managed to flee in recent weeks. They say that food had all but run out in several areas, sending the price of basic goods such as sugar soaring to 35,000 dinars (23) a kilogram.

According to AFP, residents of the last Isis-held areas have sent desperate WhatsApp messages to relatives in freed neighbourhoods saying that Isis is in some cases booby-trapping homes or welding doors shut in order to keep starving families from escaping.

Yusof, a 12-year-old who has been living in Dibaga since the campaign for West Mosul in March triggered a new exodus from the city, said he was worried for his friends who remain either trapped or unwilling to leave homes behind the front line.

When we played outside we would run away whenever someone from Isis appeared, he said. My family are here but I miss my friends. I dont know what has happened to them.

Several NGO sources The Independent spoke to on background said they feared that a siege-type situation could develop in the Old City, which would put enormous pressure on the already limited resources. Running water and electricity have been bombed out of use by coalition forces in daily raids which by most estimates have killed more than 1,000 civilians.

Militarily we have almost defeated Isis in Iraq, but it is not the end of the fight, said Falah Bakir, head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which neighbours Nineveh province where Mosul is located, and has sent thousands of peshmerga troops to aid the battle.

Members of Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Services (CTS) advance in western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on 11 May 2017 (AFP/Getty Images)

Baghdad, Irbil [Iraqs Kurdish capital] and Nineveh will have to coordinate how we defeat extremist ideology. We cannot allow organisations like this to reemerge, but to do that we need to address the root causes of the problem in Iraq and Syria.

Even when the city has finally been cleared of militants, it may remain dangerous; in the battle so far, Isis has managed to carry out rear guard attacks, retaking some neighbourhoods completely, or insurgents have cut their beards and donned civilian clothing, creating sleeper cells in government-controlled areas. Around 1,000 fighters are currently left in the city, the US military estimates.

Once the last piece of territory is taken the operation will switch to a police and intelligence effort hunting down [Isis] members and weeding those out that have melted back into the population, analyst Joel Wing said.
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Its Easter weekend and Im having a religious bank holiday like no other, en route to an ancient village in northern Iraq. After a couple of hours of driving through the mountains from Erbil (including an obligatory kebab stop), my boyfriend and I arrive in Lalish, a small village and temple complex in Shekhan Valley thats home to the holiest temple of the Yazidi faith.

At the entrance to the village, marked by a small barrier with two security guards, I slip off my shoes and feel the cool white stone under my feet. Its tradition to enter the village  a complex of temples  barefoot. It feels odd, at first, to be walking around an entire town shoeless, but the stone streets are smooth and clean, and within minutes it feels completely natural.

Lalish and its temples are about 4,000 years old. Its main temple was built by ancient Sumerian and other early Mesopotamian civilisations. In 1162 the temple became the tomb for Sheikh Adi Ibn Musafir, considered by Yazidis to be a peacock angel  one of seven holy beings to whom God entrusted the world after creation. This temple complex is the holiest place on earth for Yazidis: they believe Lalish is where Noahs Ark first hit dry land after the flood, and is therefore the birthplace of new civilisation. Partly because of this rebirth, theyre expected to make a pilgrimage to the site at least once in their lifetime to drink holy spring water.

Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith Show all 10 1 /10 Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith The temple complex at Lalish as seen from the hillside Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith Conical structures signify tombs throughout the village Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith In Lalish, travellers walk barefoot along stone streets and stairways Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith Visitors to Lalish pay their respects at the tomb of Sheikh Adi Ibn Musafir Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith Lush, green hills driving from Erbil to Lalish Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith Lalish is full of stone arches and hidden walkways Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith A fine arts teacher picnics with his students in Lalish a few days before Yazidi New Year Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith While visiting Lalish a group of students invited Rebecca to have cake as part of their early New Year's celebration Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith In the spring, Lalish is green and lush Rebecca Holland Inside Lalish, the holiest site for the Yazidi faith The main temple at Lalish is the holiest site for Yazidis Rebecca Holland

The drive here from Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, was worth the trip in itself. While Erbil is industrial, just outside the city, velvety green hills roll along the highway and mountains rise like a wall on the horizon. Lalish, nestled into the mountains up a small road guarded by local militia, would be easy to miss. It feels hidden, which makes sense: the Yazidi religion is known to be secretive.

While the faith combines aspects of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, it predates them by about 1,000 years. It also includes some elements of Zoroastrianism and some Sufism. Yazidis are ethnically Kurdish, living primarily in Ninevah, Iraq, but also in Turkey, Iran, Syria, Armenia, and Georgia, with some migrating to Europe. Because so much of Yazidism relies on oral tradition, specifics can change depending on which religious leader you speak to.

The religion is so misunderstood that its often equated to devil worship, which has led to violent persecution of its people. In 2014, ISIS insurgents captured Sinjar, a town in Iraq. Tens of thousands of Yazidis from Sinjar and nearby villages fled into the mountains, where many were trapped without food or water. Some were abducted or raped; 5,000 were killed. Many of those who fled sought refuge near Lalish.

Lalish is dotted with conical holy structures (Rebecca Holland)

Lalish today is a far cry from those horrific scenes. Walking up the main street, youre surrounded by small houses and conical temples that rise just above the hills  the cone shapes are meant to represent rays of the sun shining down on the earth. While we arent allowed into all the sacred places (there are many small shrines throughout the complex), visitors can enter the main site. Stepping into what feels like a domed marble cave, we find a tomb wrapped in satiny green fabric.

Its a sunny day and theres a distinct sense of cheer. Childrens laughter floats through the trees, families picnic on hilltops, and people stroll without urgency. Lalish is one of the most welcoming places Ive ever visited. Im told by people I encounter on the trip that this is in part because of Yazidis effort to be more open about the religion. They hope to promote understanding and eliminate talk of devil worship.

Were wandering along a grassy path above the town centre when a group of young girls approach us and ask for photos. We pose and smile while they take turns standing with us  were both pale and Im blonde  then run away giggling. A few minutes later, a man runs up  hes a fine arts teacher, and wants us to meet his students. We climb to a ledge where teenage girl sits in the shade of a tree with a giant chocolate cake and fizzy drinks.

While much of the world is celebrating Easter, Lalish is preparing to mark Red Wednesday, the Yazidi New Year. The festival  as well as the night before, called Carsama Sari Sali  celebrates the nature, fertility, and creation of the universe. This years celebration will be the largest since the genocide  although visitor numbers, as will soon be confirmed, wont reach pre-ISIS levels.

The girls and their families are from Bashiqa, a village about 20 miles from Mosul, but had to flee in 2014. Now they live in Shekan, 10 miles from Lalish, but they hope to return home soon.

Lush hills on the drive from Erbil (Rebecca Holland)

Ill admit Im surprised  this is not how I think of displaced people. In between gossiping and joking around, they take turns taking photos with us. Each one strides up, poses expertly, snaps a selfie and quickly uploads it to Snapchat. They wear Western clothes, have perfectly done hair and makeup, and would fit in easily in any international city. One girl gushes about her celebrity crush, Enrique Iglesias.

I LOVE him, she says, hands clasped over her heart, head tilted back. It would be easy to forget where we were  31 miles from Mosul and 10 miles from ISIS-ransacked villages  if, in the next sentence, she didnt excitedly tell us of her plans to return home this summer, once her town is safe again. The conversation is both eye-opening and surreal.

After at least 100 photos and some cake, we say our goodbyes and walk back to the car, but not before being offered tea by another man and taking time to marvel at more temples and soak up Lalishs tranquillity. Slipping our shoes back on, a security guard stops us. Photo?

Current FCO guidelines advise against all but essential travel to Kurdistan
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Fifteen-year-old Derrin Espinola was left trapped at Toronto Pearson airport overnight after Air Canada failed to provide him with accommodation.

Espinola was flying from Denver to Thunder Bay by himself on 1 May, with a stopover in Toronto. However, a delay at Denver meant he missed his connecting flight.

Appealing to the airline, Air Canada, for help, the teenager was told they could rebook him onto a flight to Thunder Bay at 6pm the following day  but there was no offer of food vouchers or accommodation for the night.

"I was trapped in the airport and there was nowhere I could go. I could not leave. I could not get a hotel, because I am a minor," Espinola told CBC News. "It was like being held prisoner.

"I was very hungry, very tired, very scared. I didn't know really what was going to happen to me."

Espinola said he visited several Air Canada desks, explaining that he was a minor and needed help, but none was forthcoming. He spent much of the night trying to stay awake for fear of being robbed.

Meanwhile his mother, Karin Patock, attempted to get her son help by spending hours on the phone to Air Canada. However, she said she was given a message "the airport is under construction and we cannot accommodate anyone right now, so call back later. She said: To me that is unacceptable."

Air Canada says on its website that, in the event of delays, "Youths travelling alone (ages 12 to 17) will be taken care of by our agents. We will also arrange for accommodations, meals and transportation if needed."

Espinola was booked onto a flight the following day (Getty Images)

Espinola, despite being a minor, was not offered these services. Patock said Air Canada rebooked him like any other person, into the next day with no thought of what's going to happen to him when he lands in Toronto in one of the biggest airports in Canada, all by himself."

The drama continued to unfold, as the flight Espinola was rebooked onto was cancelled  meaning he would have to stay another night at the airport until 3 May. However, his family intervened at this stage and paid for him to fly with another airline.

An Air Canada spokesperson said: "It has been a challenge with the ongoing runway construction at Toronto Pearson, which was also compounded by severe weather conditions last week in the Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa and surrounding areas, including recent adverse conditions in Thunder Bay." The airline has said it is looking into the incident and will be "reaching out to the family."

Patock has filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.
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In an unprecedented move, British Airways is offering free child places on six routes to and from Heathrow.

The promotion, which applies for flights from 1 June to 31 October, is primarily intended to fill planes on links where business travel dwindles in summer.

The UK destinations are Belfast City, Edinburgh, Inverness, Leeds/Bradford and Newcastle. Aberdeen, Glasgow and Manchester are notable absentees from the list.

In addition, Billund airport  adjacent to the original Danish Legoland  is included.

Up to two children can fly for free with each fare-paying adult. BA automatically seats children with adults at no charge.

A test booking made by The Independent found a hand-baggage only fare for an adult and two children from Heathrow to Billund on 15 August, returning a week later, for a total of 93 return  just 31 each, a historically low fare.

The corresponding fare on Ryanair from Stansted on those dates is 183, almost twice as much.

Adam Daniels, British Airways chief commercial officer, said: Saving every penny counts when it comes to family holidays so flying kids for free will make it cheaper to fly away for fun and see more of the UK and Europe this summer.

The offer also looks set to give UK tourism a boost by encouraging families to visit London, the North, Scotland and Northern Ireland for their holidays. The offer applies to one-way and return tickets, so families could fly from Heathrow to Inverness then travel overland to Edinburgh or Newcastle.

Under-16s do not pay Air Passenger Duty, which adds 13 to flights departing from UK airports.

If, as expected, the promotion proves popular, availability will soon be an issue. Blackout periods apply on some destinations.
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Rumours that the US Department for Homeland Security will ban electronic devices from the cabins of aircraft flying from Europe to America have intensified.

Writing in the Daily Beast, Clive Irving said that an announcement from Washington is expected on Thursday.

Recommended This is what the electronics ban means for you

But a DHS spokesperson told the Skift travel news service that plans to extend the electronics ban are not yet set: No final decisions have been made on expanding the restriction on large electronic devices in aircraft cabins; however, it is under consideration.

Such a ban would remove some of the inconsistencies in the present prohibition, which applies to flights from eight Middle East and North African countries, unless they stop somewhere else en route.

But it would have massive effects on airport operations in Europe, with extra security teams needed at each gate for US-bound flight to check cabin baggage.

A spokesperson for Heathrow, which would be far more affected than any other airport, told The Independent: We are aware of media reports speculating on changes which may impact some passengers, but at this time, no changes have been announced by the authorities and there is no impact at Heathrow.

The safety and security of our passengers and colleagues is our top priority and we work closely with the police and Government authorities to remain vigilant and to respond to any changes in the security situation.

Tourism figures in the US fear that such a move would diminish the appetite among European travellers for American vacations.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has held a working meeting in Kyiv on Thursday with foreign advisers from the United States under the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and heard their conclusions on the reforms in the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The meeting was devoted to summing up the preliminary results of joint work of foreign specialists and representatives of the Defense Ministry, as well as formulating proposals on further areas of cooperation, the official website of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.

Poltorak heard the conclusions of American experts on the current state and prospects of reforms in the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces and gave relevant instructions to the heads of the structural units of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces to improve cooperation in certain areas.
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After the price of a close encounter with mountain gorillas in Rwanda doubled overnight, adventure specialists are warning that business will shift across the border to Uganda.

A statement issued in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, said: The Rwanda Development Board today announced an increase in the price of Gorilla Permits from US$750 to US $1,500 for all visitors effective immediately.

Recommended This new programme allows you to track as well as meet gorillas

Clare Akamanzi, the board's chief executive, said: Gorilla trekking is a highly unique experience. We have raised the price of permits in order to ensure sustainability of conservation initiatives and enhance visitors experience."

Paul Goldstein, a leading adventure guide and wildlife photographer, said: I first saw the gorillas 25 years ago. it left an indelible impression and I still maintain it is one of the best encounters you can have in the world.

I adore Rwanda: a shining beacon of forgiveness and perhaps the safest country I have visited anywhere. Each visit has been a joy but I will not be seeing the gorillas there again. Whoever made this staggering decision needs to reconsider.

The price rise will not apply to existing permit holders, but is being levied on all new bookings.

Ms Akamanzi said: We also want to make sure that the communities living near the park area receive a bigger share of tourism revenues to fund development projects and empower them economically.

Previously the communities received $37.50 for each tourist. That has risen to $150. But Rwandan citizens, who previously paid only $36 for a permit, will now have to pay the $1,500 fee.

As with other species, human intervention has dramatically reduced the number of mountain gorillas. They were targeted by hunters in the early 20th century, but human encroachment on their territory has been more destructive. Today, fewer than 1,000 survive.

Families of gorillas have been habituated for tourism in Rwanda and neighbouring Uganda. A typical visit involves an arduous hike through tropical forest, and an encounter of one hour.

On Facebook, the Uganda Tourist Board responded to the price rise by saying: Remember; our gorilla tracking permits still go for $600, and this would guarantee you an experience like you have never had anywhere before.

A spokesperson for the Ugandan Wildlife Authority said Allowing global travellers the opportunity to fulfil lifelong dreams to see these animals is key to their conservation.

Mr Goldstein said: No doubt hundreds of primate operators are hastily re-arranging their itineraries to switch countries.

The Rwanda Development Board, which is committed to a high-end tourism strategy, has also launched an exclusive package for tourists who wish to book an entire family of gorillas. The price: $15,000.
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Egypts battered tourism industry has suffered another blow after Britains second-biggest holiday firm cancelled all holidays to Sharm el Sheikh for the next two seasons.

Thomas Cook first took holidaymakers to Egypt in 1859. In common with other tour operators, the firm has been practising so-called rolling cancellations to Sharm el Sheikh over the past 18 months: putting holidays and flights on sale in the hope that the UK flight ban will be lifted, then cancelling them well ahead of departure when it has remained in place.

The ban was brought in five days after a crash in October 2015: 224 people died when their Metrojet charter flight from Sharm el Sheikh to St Petersburg in Russia crashed in the Sinai desert. It is thought that a bomb was placed on board at the Egyptian airport.

The UK Government took the unprecedented step of banning British airlines from flying from the Red Sea airport until a team of security experts is satisfied with the standards in place.

Recommended Why you should consider Egypt for your next holiday

There is no warning against travel to Sharm el Sheikh itself, just to the airport.

The Foreign Office says: We will continue working with the Egyptian Authorities to enable regular flights between the UK and Sharm el Sheikh to resume.

We are also liaising with travel companies so that they are able to resume flights and holidays in Sharm el Sheikh as soon as appropriate security arrangements are in place.

But despite tens of millions of pounds being spent on improvements at Egyptian airports, the Government is still not content with the security measures.

Airlines from Belgium, Germany and Italy are flying regularly to and from the countrys main resort. But in a sign of the exasperation felt in the tourist industry, Thomas Cook has said it will stop selling holidays to Sharm el Sheikh indefinitely until the ban ends. The firm posted a statement saying: We have removed Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt from our Winter 2017/18 and Summer 2018 holiday and flight programmes.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to advise against travel to Sharm El Sheikh airport, and we have no plans to reintroduce a programme to Sharm until after that advice changes.

Thomas Cook has been offering holidays to Sharm since 1859 (Getty)

The five flights per week which we had scheduled this winter have now been cancelled.

Thomas Cook says 200 people have forward bookings to Sharm el Sheikh, with a further 50 on flight-only deals. We are contacting those customers who have booked with us to offer a refund or a destination change free of charge, says the firm.

A small glimmer of hope for Egypt is that the firm will launch two weekly flights to the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam from November this year.

Carol MacKenzie, Thomas Cooks head of customer welfare, said: Local people are friendly and welcoming, and the country offers some great value options for both winter and summer sun."

Flights on a range of airlines to Marsa Alam, as well as to Cairo, Hurghada and Luxor, have continued uninterrupted. The UK-bound legs of these flights, though, have been subject to extra security since March, with a ban on large electronic devices in the cabin.
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If you sat next to me on my commute to work the only thing that might seem odd is my blue hair, yet there is so much about me that might surprise you. Wherever I go, Im accompanied by around 13 different voices. You wont see me speaking out loud to them, but theyre there. These voices are such a part of my existence that I find it hard to imagine what its like for those of you who dont hear them. Whats it like to have such a quiet mind?

The voices I hear most often, named The Three, keep an ongoing commentary of my life which is punctuated by comments about how others will hurt me. Their level of knowledge about my life led me to believe, at first, that they were watching me through cameras. Now I recognise that they are there to, misguidedly, protect me from connecting with others.

Rather than take them at face value, I use them as a prompt to check in with myself and determine whether theres a reason I might feel anxious or unsafe. By replying to them, in my head, and thanking them for their concern Im able to remind myself that Im strong and have more power than they do.

Another voice, Blue, is young and playful. I began to hear her after slowly withdrawing from the medication doctors prescribed me to quieten the voices. At first, she was incredibly sad. After a lot of work, things have changed. She has a sense of curiosity and fun that I value. Its like travelling around with a three-year-old by your side. Ive learnt a toolbox of strategies to settle her down when shes upset, including watching YouTube videos of wombats. These are skills that serve me well as an aunt: my iPad is a treasure trove of youth-friendly gems.

Its not all plain sailing. I also hear an intimidating group of voices I call the Not Yets who talk about hurting me and tell me to hurt others. These kind of voices strike fear into the hearts of the general public; unsurprising, considering the stereotypical media depictions of mental illness and violence. I would never act on these commands, recognising that these voices also have a message for me to understand. However, learning to listen to them takes courage and is something Im still working on.

Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Show all 18 1 /18 Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health

I learnt this relational approach to living with voices through the Hearing Voices Movement. Prior to this I was completely overwhelmed by them, believing that I was at the centre of a conspiracy and watched by cameras 24/7. Despite the support of my family, I spent long periods of time in hospital and took zombie-inducing doses of medication. At my lowest ebb I tried to take my own life; the diagnosis of schizophrenia, and later schizoaffective disorder, seemed to symbolise a future with no hope of recovery.

When I started attending a Hearing Voices Group, however, the friendships I made were an antidote to the loneliness of living in a world others deemed as delusional, encouraging me to discover long-forgotten strengths and abilities. Most importantly, I began to understand my voices and beliefs as a meaningful response to trauma: the childhood abuse I had hidden from my parents, sisters and friends. I began to listen more metaphorically to the voices, as one might seek meaning in a bad dream.

My journey has instilled in me a passion for creating spaces where people in distress can feel heard, accepted and be supported to narrate their own story. I have worked to develop projects for children, young people and people in prison who hear voices at Mind in Camden. Now, as well as studying for an MSc by Research in Psychology, I work in the NHS as part of a new Open Dialogue Service in Kent.

 Lady Gaga opens up on mental health with Prince William

Being part of this team fills me with pride. We are breaking new ground, working with families and social networks from initial crisis to recovery. Its early days, but Im hearing how valued my dual role as practitioner and survivor is to those we work with. My peers and I are part of a new movement that blurs the lines between the so-called well and ill. Its a human response to a human issue.

You might think that Ive survived, or still suffer from, a severe mental illness. That is not my story, and its one of the biggest insults you could throw at me. As difficult as my experiences have been, calling them symptoms of an illness strips them of meaning and places the problem squarely inside of me  not in the things that have happened to me.

Those of us who end up in the mental health system have often been subject to abuse, bullying, poverty, discrimination, exclusion, racism and the effects of living in a world that can be contradictory and crazy-making. Rather than address these social causes of distress, labelling them as pathological allows the status quo to continue. Its an injustice we need to face.
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Not much has been very normal in US politics in the past 100 days or so. Each time that normal looks to be gaining ground, the other shoe drops. On Tuesday, President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the leading law enforcement official in the United States, and also the person in charge of investigating Trump teams connections to Russia. This has called into doubt the ability of the United States under a Trump Presidency to conduct an independent investigation of Russias cyber attacks on the United States, and, especially, of the Trump teams connection to this.

It is hardly unusual for a President to have a degree of reluctance when it comes to investigating his own behaviour, or the behaviour of his closest associates. Trumps retreat to Twitter, and his lack of decorum takes a normal state of reluctance to an entirely new level. It also is not uncommon for Congressional hearings to become bogged down in partisan politics. The recent success in passing the American Health Care Act through the House may have emboldened Republicans and strengthened their determination to work with rather than against the White House.

But the sanctity of Americas democracy hinges on the ability to ensure against the abuse of executive power and doing so will require holding the line on partisan politics. One option is for the Department of Justice to appoint an independent prosecutor, but since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any investigations related to Russias cyberattacks on the US elections, and Trumps role in this, this responsibility would fall to the Deputy Attorney General. Republicans have so far rejected Democrats demands for a Special Prosecutor. Given these politics, and the Presidents dismissal of existing allegations, renewed momentum seems unlikely to come from the Executive branch.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

This leaves Congress. Playing the short game will mean more of the same. Separate investigations before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees will proceed and partisan politics will continue to dampen the credibility, especially of the House investigation. In either case, FBI investigations will continue under the leadership of the new FBI Director though there is now a genuine concern that a new Director might undermine investigations by draining them of the necessary resources.

The next few weeks will test whether Congress can avoid short-termism and opt instead to play the long game. A committee that is designed to sideline rather than cement partisan politics will be critical to the success and therefore the legitimacy of investigations. This is a tall order, but it is certainly the best way to safeguard the norms that provide the glue for Americas democracy. Congress could choose to set up an independent commission (like the 9/11 commission), or a select committee. There have been calls for both. Senator McCain has called for a select committee. But unless more Republicans join this wave, either option is unlikely. Designed properly, an independent commission could have the advantage of removing subsequent investigations from the intense partisanship that has surrounded recent hearings.

Partisanship has become worse in recent years, but it has also limited earlier investigations on highly sensitive topics. When the Senate Intelligence Committee chaired by a Democrat from California, Dianne Feinstein, issued its report on investigations into the CIA torture program claiming that the Agency misled the public, the Republicans responded by issuing a minority report with near opposite findings and which stressed that the Agencys torture program had saved lives. Accounting for torture, at least in the US, ended there.

 Trump says Comey was fired for 'not doing a good job'

Some say the current fury over Trumps decision to fire the FBI Director is simply another instance of partisan politics fuelled by bad optics and Trumps temperamental nature (making any of a number of his actions susceptible to ethical challenge). In fact, Comey has made a lot of enemies on both sides of the aisle. His decision in October to announce a new investigation of Hilarys emails only days before the presidential elections cost him considerable support among Democrats.

But the timing of Trumps decision to fire Comey has come only several months later and, crucially, just a few weeks after Comey testified before Congress confirming that the FBI has been conducting investigations into the Trump teams links to Russia since last summer. It also comes as the FBI issued a series of subpoenas indicating the intent to press forward and speed up investigations.

Recommended Acting FBI Director refuses to comment on what Comey told Trump

That the White House, apparently, was surprised by this suggests a shocking degree of unchecked hubris. In his first 100 days, Trump relied on a range of tactics to deflect attention away from Congressional and FBI investigations of Russia. Some of these, especially his counter accusations that Obama wiretapped Trump Towers, worked less well than others. US airstrikes on Syria, and North Korea failed missile tests have dominated headlines, refocusing attention on the US role in the world. But if Trumps goal was to relegate the Russia investigations to the periphery of Washington politics, he has failed miserably. One can only wonder how he has miscalculated so badly.

Many have taken solace in the belief that democracy in the United States is strong enough to moderate even a Trump presidency. Already, the Economist Intelligence Unit has downgraded America to a flawed democracy. The ability of the United States to lead is also set to suffer yet another blow since the example set at home limits what is possible abroad. The legitimacy of future investigations into Russias cyber-attacks and the role of Trump and his team in this is essential. In the end, the outcome matters less  whether allegations of the current administrations misconduct prove to be primarily smoke and mirrors (if the cover up is really worse than the crime) is important, but it is of secondary importance.

Leslie Vinjamuri is an Associate Fellow of the US & Americas Programme at Chatham House and also Director of the Centre on Conflict, Rights and Justice at SOAS, University of London.
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A key plank in the Brexit argument has always been that the European Union cannot survive and that Britain is better off outside a doomed project.

Despite constant predictions from Eurosceptics that the Eurozone is on the brink of collapse, it continues. Even Greece has hung in there. There are genuine problems with the Eurozones fiscal straitjacket. And Italy is having serious problems adjusting to its lack of competitiveness vis a vis Germany (though this is similar to a problem which has existed within Italy, between North and South, since Italy was formed and Italy survives). The commitment to deep European integration remains.

Much has been made of the re-emergence in Europe of nationalism, identity politics and extremist parties in general. There are undoubtedly some ugly, divisive political parties and movements. But, in marked contrast to Britain and the USA, mainstream and outward-looking political forces have prevailed, so far: in Austria, the Netherlands and, crucially and decisively, in France. Germany remains a bastion of moderate and sensible politics despite the gamble Angela Merkel took over refugees.

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

These successes could prove temporary and President Macron in particular has much to do to keep the angry fringes at bay. But it is clear that the British "establishment", no less than the Eurosceptics, has seriously underestimated the determination of continental Europeans to keep the economic and political gains from over half a century of cooperation and peace. That determination will help to frame the approach to negotiations with the UK.

Meantime the UK electorate is coalescing around three distinct points of view. One is of the implacable Brexiteers, who currently have the wind behind them and feel vindicated by both the referendum and the adoption by the Conservatives of their hard-line, hard Brexit agenda. Ukip has now been assimilated into the Conservative Party, its voters and its values.

On the other side are the strong Remainers who are anxious about the future, and often angry that their sense of European identity has been taken away. Some feel cheated. Some feel helpless. Most want to retrieve the situation. They will want to express these feelings at the coming election.

The other group, and a decisive one, are those whose approach is largely pragmatic: "we are where we are","we just want a sensible outcome", "let us get on with it." The Conservatives' appeal for a "strong mandate" and "leave it to Theresa May" plays to this audience. This group is being seduced by the argument that it is the unreasonableness of the Europeans rather than the British which is the problem to a quick and painless divorce.

 General Election polls and projections: May 11

The crass, idiotic behaviour of Jean-Claude Juncker and his side-kick, Martin Selmayr, is almost calculated to appeal to those who see Britain as a victim of bureaucratic bully-boys and makes it more likely that the Conservatives will get their expected landslide victory.

The important question is what will happen when the Europeans with their newly invigorated sense of unity collide with a British government determined to give Johnny Foreigner a lesson.

The Conservatives now demanding a strong personal mandate in the general election make two arguments, both highly questionable. The first is that the obstructive Continentals will somehow be impressed by the size of the Conservative majority. To the extent that they can fathom the bizarre nature of Britains first-past-the-post system, there is no reason to believe that they are taking this election seriously as a measure of the Prime Ministers negotiating credibility. They see it as domestic power politics, pure and simple, and they are right.

The second point (usually argued privately rather than publicly) is that a large majority will make the Conservatives more inclined to compromise and moderation in negotiation. The opposite more likely to be the case. Ukip voters are swinging behind the Prime Minister to stop her "backsliding" and the new intake of Conservative MPs is, if anything, likely to be harder than the present lot.

Recommended A Brexit brain drain is already threatening the UK tech sector

The obvious point is that the negotiating room for manoeuvre has narrowed. This centres in particular on the issue of money: the "bar bill." Until that can be settled there can be no progress on the principles, let alone the details, of a trade deal. There is a big gap between the 100bn being demanded by the EU negotiators and the 30bn or so that the British have implicitly conceded. But it is difficult to see how the British can give much more without May being devoured by her hungry, now overwhelmingly Eurosceptic, party. All the signs are that she will give priority to party unity just as the Europeans will give priority to European Union unity.

If the talks fail at that hurdle we are in "crashing out" of the EU territory. Saner Eurosceptics are warning that "crashing out" is not a Plan B. It is a disaster scenario and mustnt be allowed to happen. But it is potentially more of a disaster for the UK than the rest of Europe and, in the current spirit of acrimony and suspicion, the Europeans may say "so be it."

Sir Vince Cable is a former Business Secretary and the Liberal Democrat candidate for Twickenham
The Prince of Wales is shown an EC 135 rescue helicopter by Vice Admiral Mark Mellett (left) as he visits The Irish Defence Forces/UN Training School at Curragh, in the Republic of Ireland.

The Prince of Wales has become the first member of the British royal family to visit the Curragh Camp army base since it was handed over to the Irish state in 1922.

He walked in the footsteps of his great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII, who underwent military training at the Curragh in 1861.

It is currently the main training centre for the Army and is home to 2,000 military personnel.

The prince met with a number of veterans who served in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis.

CPL Frank Noonan, who served in Sierra Leone for five months in 2015, said Charles was very interested in the operation.

"He asked about the mission and if we volunteered to go ourselves. He was very interested in our work there.

"We told him we volunteered to go out. It was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed being part of," added CPL Noonan.

Accompanied by Defence Minister Paul Kehoe TD and Irish Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, he took a tour of the United Nations Training School Ireland (UNTSI).

UNTSI is responsible for the training and education of all Irish Defence Forces personnel preparing to take part in Peace Support Operations globally.

The prince received a briefing from Col Jaisha Mahan about an ongoing humanitarian disaster training exercise.

A number of cross border agencies were taking part in the exercise which focused on their response should an aircraft crash into water during bad weather.

During his visit Charles also met with aircrew from the Air Corps Emergency Helicopter.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny will meet Michel Barnier when he visits Ireland this week

There is no reason why the European Union cannot have a "strong relationship" with the UK after it leaves the bloc, Michel Barnier said.

He expressed regret at Brexit, warning it would "come at a cost" to both Britain and the remaining 27 members of the EU and would bring consequences, but his objective was to reach a "fair deal" .

Protecting Irish interests as part of the Union would be an important part of the Brexit negotiations, with efforts to avoid a hard border and protect the peace process central to the talks, Europe's chief negotiator told Ireland's parliament.

He added: "If the conditions are right, a close partnership with the UK is in everybody's interest. And in Ireland's interest in particular."

He said he hoped to negotiate a "bold and ambitious but fair free trade agreement" but only once progress has been made on issues including the UK's bill for leaving the EU.

Mr Barnier was being given a privilege normally only afforded to visiting heads of state and prime ministers, and he joins luminaries such as Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton in addressing both houses of parliament.

In an apparent reference to the diplomatic row caused by the leaks following European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker's meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May, Mr Barnier called for "mutual respect" in the talks.

Mrs May has accused Brussels insiders of seeking to influence the outcome of the June 8 General Election.

Mr Barnier said: "If we put things in the right order, if we negotiate with mutual respect, without any kind of aggressivity... if we are open to finding solutions, there is no reason why a strong Europe cannot maintain a strong relationship with the UK."

Acknowledging the particular issues Brexit poses to Ireland, Mr Barnier said: "I want to reassure the Irish people: in this negotiation Ireland's interest will be the Union's interest.

"We are in this negotiation together and a united EU will be here for you."

He restated the EU's insistence that the issue of the UK-Ireland border, citizens' rights and "the financial settlement" must be the first priorities for talks.

"We first must make sufficient progress on these points before we start discussing the future of our relationship with the UK.

"The sooner this will happen, the better."

Mr Barnier said he wanted the relationship between the UK and EU to extend beyond trade, with co-operation on other cross-border issues.

He said: "We want these negotiations to succeed. I want us to reach a deal.

"The UK has been a member of the EU for 44 years. It should remain a close partner.

"We will need to negotiate a 'bold and ambitious' but fair free trade agreement.

"But we will need the same ambition for our research and innovation networks and for the fight against climate change.

"We need the same ambition in international co-operation and development."
Changes in the types of drugs being used were recorded, with a slight fall in treatment for the use of opiates such as heroin

There were almost 10,000 cases of drug users seeking help for their addictions in 2015.

Official figures from the Health Research Board (HRB) showed a drop in the number of new cases but an increase in the number of addicts returning from treatment, which it said indicated the "chronic, relapsing nature of addiction".

As new laws passed clearing the way for injecting rooms in Dublin, t he review found changes in the types of drugs being used with a slight fall in treatment for the use of opiates such as heroin which now account for half of all cases.

The HRB said the amount of cases of users being treated for problems associated with benzodiazepines had trebled since 2009.

In 2015 there were 873 cases where users reported sedatives or downers as their main problem drug.

But also that year, benzos, as they are often called, were reported as an additional problem drug in 2,258 cases and it had become the first most common additional drug.

Cannabis was the second most common drug among people treated, the HRB report said, and it was also the most common drug in new cases.

There was also a dramatic increase in problems associated with its use with the number of cases up by 72%, from 1,616 in 2009 to 2,786 in 2015.

The HRB report revealed that almost 10% of cases involved a homeless person.

Dr Suzi Lyons, senior researcher at the HRB, said: "The figures also show a decrease in the proportion of new cases, or people presenting for treatment for the first time.

"However, this means there has been an increase in the proportion of previously treated cases, or people returning for treatment, which is an indicator of the chronic, relapsing nature of addiction."

The figures were released as the government confirmed a one-fifth drop in the number of addiction counsellors working in the Health Service Executive since 2006.

Sinn Fein's Pat Buckley, a spokesman on mental health, said it was the equivalent to having 29 fewer people working with addicts despite a slight increase in staff in the last two years.

"If we continue to remove resources after a devastating decade of cuts to community and social services in deprived areas, we will only see the problem get worse," he said.

Some other key findings in the review included:

:: In the seven years from 2009 to 2015, 61,439 cases of problem drug use were treated, excluding alcohol.

:: In 2015 there were 9,892 cases - 38% were new cases.

:: Also that year, 3,511 cases involved people who left school before 16.

:: There was a drop in the number of new cases who reported ever injecting from 19.7% in 2009 to 14.5% in 2015.

:: Seven out of 10 treatment cases were men.

:: Some 2.9% of the cases treated were Travellers, yet the ethnic group makes up 0.7% of the population.

:: Almost two-thirds of those treated reported polydrug use.

:: Cocaine was the third most common drug reported, while reported problem use of novel psychoactive substances - or so-called head shop drugs - which peaked in 2010 at 2.5% of all cases treated, represented 0.9% of all cases treated in 2015.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin during his visit to Washington and meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Michael Pence has discussed with the U.S. side the possibility of involving the U.S. in settling the situation in Donbas, including in the Normandy format.

"The situation in Donbas and the implementation of the Minsk agreements were discussed, and the American side has a clear understanding of what the Russian aggression is and how threatening it is [...] The issue of involving the American side in settling the situation [in Donbas], including the Normandy format was discussed, the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Mariana Betsa said in a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

She also said that the American side once again clearly confirmed its unchanged position on supporting Ukraine in countering Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within recognized borders.

"This is a very important visit, which took place at such a high level," Betsa said.

As reported, Trump hosted Klimkin in the White House and discussed with him the situation in Donbas and further support of Kyiv by Washington. Before that, the foreign minister had met with U.S. Vice President Michael Pence.
Dublin Aerospace, the aircraft-maintenance group has pulled what would have ultimately been 40m investment in the UK after the Brexit vote is forging ahead with hiring 50 full-time staff at its Dublin Airport operation.

Founder, former Ryanair executive Conor McCarthy, said that the company has just offered full-time contracts to 25 people and an additional 25 full-time staff will be hired in October. That will bring the total full-time staff numbers at the company to about 290. It employs more than 400 during its peak winter period.

The Irish Independent has also learned that AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes, who was a founding shareholder in Dublin Aerospace, has sold his 20pc stake to Mr McCarthy. Mr McCarthy also helped Mr Fernandes launch AirAsia.

Mr Fernandes invested 2m in the firm in 2009 when Mr McCarthy bought most of the assets of the then SR Technics business here. Mr Fernandes's stake, and that of some other smaller shareholders, has now been acquired by Mr McCarthy, boosting his holding to 58pc.

Mr McCarthy said that the backers had secured a good return on their investment in the business, which last year made a profit of about 3m on revenues of roughly 43m - more or less unchanged on 2015.

Airbus maker EADS remains a shareholder in Dublin Aerospace, with a 21pc stake.

Mr McCarthy said Dublin Aerospace had been "very close" to pushing the button on a greenfield site in the UK last year that would have involved an initial investment of between 12m and 15m. It had lined up supports from the UK government, but June's Brexit vote prompted the company to suspend its plans.

"Brexit has caused us to take stock," he said. "One of our concerns if we were going to set up a facility in the UK would be that with our reliance on contract workers, would we be restricted in terms of their ability to come in and out of the UK to work.

"Our workforce swells in the winter and a lot of those are contract engineers and mechanics, for instance. We have marked seasonality, and we need that ability to be able to control our workforce. If you don't have flexible labour in our business, you're dead."

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He added that Dublin Aerospace may look again at establishing a UK operation, but he said the company needs clarity on what the post-Brexit environment will be like. "There's a big market in the UK for maintenance," he said. One of the company's biggest competitors, UK-based ATC Lasham, went out of business in 2015. Its clients included Ryanair, Easyjet and British Airways.

"We've a very busy facility in Dublin and we have to sweat it a lot in order for it to make sense, but that's no bad thing," said Mr McCarthy. "We've grown and we continue to grow in Dublin."

The company has more than 100 aerospace trainees working for it. He said that the Dublin operation is effectively booked up for maintenance for next winter - the earliest it has ever been almost fully pre-booked. He said customers have been competing with each other to get maintenance slots.

"We still have some capacity for sale, but we have the majority of work in the bag." Dublin Aerospace customers include airlines such as Aer Lingus, Easyjet, and British Airways, as well as lessors including SMBC and BBAM.

The company also bid on another business in Europe during the past 12 months, but Mr McCarthy said he wasn't prepared to overpay for it and did not win it.
Greater clarity is needed from the UK about how it sees its future relationship with the EU, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

Mr Kenny was speaking at a meeting of the European People's Party, to which Fine Gael is affiliated, in Druids Glen, Co Wicklow this morning.

The Taoiseach said it is in the State's interest that the Brexit process ends with the greatest possible relationship between Ireland and the UK, and the UK and EU.

"This is what Prime Minister [Theresa] May wants as well. But we do need to see greater clarity from the British government about how it expects this to be achieved," the Taoiseach said.

Mr Kenny said the EPP was meeting at a critical time for Ireland and the EU.

He said Brexit presents a challenge to the peace and prosperity of the island.
In a forward-funding deal which will be the first of its type in Ireland, developer Pat Crean's Marlet Property Group has instructed Savills to offer up to 1,800 apartments to the global investment market in a deal which is likely to have a value in excess of 500m. Later this month, a campaign will be launched seeking offers to forward purchase blocks of apartments which will be constructed on up to six prime Dublin sites. The sites are understood to form part of a portfolio of sites largely assembled by Crean and Greg Kavanagh during their time together at the helm of New Generation Homes.

While the two developers went their separate ways last October, Crean's Marlet Property Group retained control of a significant number of New Generation's assets and the financial backing of the company's funders, the international asset managers, M&G Investments.

The Marlet Property Group's offer to sell apartments to global investors is evidence of the new institutional market here for long term residential investment, and will be welcomed by the Government, which is desperate to see large scale construction of units for renting. Whilst forward funding of commercial schemes is long established, this will be the first time that large residential developments have been similarly offered. It also underlines a cultural shift to a permanent level of demand for long term rentals from both Irish people and tens of thousands of overseas employees of multinationals based here. In mature rental markets such as Germany, forward funding of apartments is common. This method of procurement has emerged in the UK in recent years.

Savills were not prepared to comment on the instruction but I understand that two of the sites involved are the Marlet Property Group's Mount Argus property and its St. Clare's scheme, both of which are in Harolds Cross, Dublin 6. Construction has already started on one block of apartments at Mount Argus, and that block will be included in the offer. Crean and M&G will be finalising shortly how many blocks they intend to build and offer in the deal. Up to four other sites could be included, all in prime locations inside the M50. All of the sites have planning permission and the process of appointing building contractors is ongoing. The total number of units likely to be offered for pre-sale is between 1,200 and 1,800 and the apartment blocks will be delivered on a phased basis between 2018 and 2020.

The blocks to be sold have all been designed for the long term rental market. The apartments are bigger than traditional units and the blocks will incorporate facilities for residents such as meeting rooms, storage areas, bicycle parking and gyms.

Crean and M&G could hardly have got their timing any better, with Daft.ie reporting this week that rents nationally are at an all time high, having increased by 13.4 pc over the last year. The main reason for that is that the supply of new properties is tiny and there is an all time low of approximately 3,000 properties available to rent in the country. With the economy and population growing fast, and most of the major overseas companies expanding employment numbers, the only likely outcome is that rents will rise even more.

The Government has been strangling the supply of new properties with penal VAT and levies and the ill-conceived Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) have, as predicted, succeeded in putting only upwards pressure on rents, by discouraging supply and penalising landlords.

Interestingly, the new apartments to be sold by the Marlet Property Group and its financial backers will not be affected by the Rent Pressure Zone regulations, at least for the first lettings, and the evidence is that the few new units coming to market are achieving strong premiums over controlled rents. In a report this week, Goodbody Stockbrokers pointed out that Irish Residential Properties (I-RES) Reit, which will complete 68 apartments at Beacon South Quarter this July, is quoting 1,925 per month for one-bed apartments and 2,570 per month for two-bed units, almost 60pc above the capped average in the area.

The agents are likely to offer the apartment blocks in one or more lots. One of the attractions of the offer is its unusually large scale, which will appeal to international pension funds, domestic institutions and multinational funds like Allianz and AIG, tempted by the opportunity to buy completed blocks in a red-hot market, with minimal vacancy rates and strong potential income growth.

The Government's decision to make sites owned by public bodies potentially available for development is a good one, if overdue. Another barrier to supply is the lack of bank lending and M&G's forward funding initiative may well be a template for unlocking sites.
Savills Ireland has launched a new venture to assist businesses in finding flexible, co-working and serviced office space across Ireland.

Workthere is a brokerage service and website listing platform (workthere.com) which offers a professional, easy and transparent way for providers to let their space and for occupiers to identify flexible working space.

The company will service the entire flexible work space market, and includes well-known brands such as Iconic Offices, Glandore and Pembroke Hall, as well as smaller providers and single-schemes.

Commenting on Workthere's arrival in Ireland, the service's UK founder, Cal Lee, said: "Ireland has witnessed considerable growth in the flexible work space sector. At the same time, demand for flexible work space continues to grow as more businesses, including start-ups, SMEs and larger corporate companies, are seeing the benefits of flexible work space over a more traditional lease."

Workthere's Irish service will be managed by Michael Healy, division director at Savills Ireland.
The producer behind the multi-million euro Kerrygold butter brand has warned they will defend it "with every fibre" after sales were halted in a US State.

Ornua's CEO Kevin Lane described the popular butter brand as one of its biggest assets recording worldwide sales of 900m last year, with 20pc growth in the US.

"We will defend with every fibre of our body anybody who tries to come in and do a knock off or tries to do a cheaper version or tries to damage the integrity of that brand. We'll take it to whatever court in the land we have to," said Mr Lane.

Ornua is currently involved in a legal action against a local company who had commenced selling butter under the Irishgold brand, which Ornua claim has infringed their trademark. Ornua recently were granted an injunction in the case.

Mr Lane said the court case was ongoing. "We have received one injunction so we won the first piece but it is still continuing," he said.

Separately, fans of the butter are suing the State of Wisconsin in the US over an old law that saw it banned. It fell foul of a decades-old law that butter must have either a Wisconsin or federal grade mark.

Ornua confirmed that while the ban remained in place that Ornua was engaging with authorities in Wisconsin and that they would be working hard with authorities to find a solution to this issue.

Ornua, the country's largest exporter of Irish dairy products, confirmed a 9pc rise in turnover to 1.75bn in 2016 as it released it's full year results for 2016, while operating profits were up 46pc at 26.6m.

Purchases of Irish dairy products rose 7pc, which outstripped the 4pc rise in Irish milk supply post-quota. The year also saw the opening of Ornua's 20m investment in a cheese plant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, producing products such as feta.

Mr Lane called the impending Brexit the "biggest challenge" for the sector. He emphasised the EU departure had highlighted an over-dependence on cheddar production targeted at the UK market.

"The single biggest cheddar market in the world is now under some type of threat," said Mr Lane. "We are going to look at what other cheese types that Ireland Inc could produce and Ornua could market. So while we'll stay focused on being a cheddar player there are new opportunities," he said, adding this may be on the food service side of the business.

"We've about 600m sales in Great Britain," he said, adding they need to "dial up" their investments in China, Saudi Arabia, Africa and Spain to ensure they are not as dependent on the UK market.

Mr Lane said attracting talent remained an issue along with many firms in the sector. It follows criticism last year after top level pay was revealed in the exporter for the first time.

Ornua reported total pay, bonuses and pensions amounted to 4.3m last year for their top nine executives, with 15 directors receiving 557,000.
Some 1,741 horses were euthanised by local Co. Councils in 2016, according to recent figures published by the Department of Agriculture.

The figures show that some 2,125 horses were seized by Co. Councils over the course of 2016 with 227 re-homed and 101 reclaimed by owners.

Dublin councils recorded the highest levels of seizures with South Dublin County Council, Fingal, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown and Dublin City Council seizing 649 between them and it put down 598 horses in 2016.

Limerick, Tipperary and Kildare also saw high levels of horse seizures in 2016, each recording over 120 seizures each last year.

Commenting on the figures a spokesperson for the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) said the charity is concerned about the large number of reports they are still receiving from the public about stray/abandoned horses in Dublin and Ireland.

It called on horse owners to comply with the legislation surrounding the ownership and grazing of horses.

Earlier this year Martina Kenny, co-founder of the charity, My Lovely Horse Rescue highlighted the issue and said the solution involved educating people.

In so many rescue cases involving horses, the Gardai dont actually know what they can or cannot do, Martina added.

In her presentation to TDs earlier this year Ms Kenny made a number of proposals, several of which she says might go some way towards alleviating the heavy burden on rescue centres, including My Lovely Horse, which caters for anything up to 100 horses and ponies on an ongoing basis.

Many of the legislations such as compulsory passports and microchipping are already in place but we really need to make sure that they are adhered to.

"We need to generate awareness amongst the Gardai and communities of the laws, even if it means talking to those in training in Templemore even before they graduate. Indiscriminate breeding is also a major problem in many areas. We know that when horses are impounded, the owners can get replacements straight away from unscrupulous breeders.

Ms Kenny proposed that Gardai be equipped with scanners so that they can check microchips randomly.

I also highlighted the fact that much of the anti-social behaviour that involves horse cruelty actually takes place at the weekends, when many of the officers have clocked off work. If some of our volunteers were given authorisation, we could continue to do our work seven days a week.

Rules are being broken on a daily basis. Just recently we had a case of a pony being swapped for a mobile phone. The pony was in a bad way and needed immediate attention of the vet. One eye was so badly damaged it had to be removed and the pony is now blind in the remaining eye.

Ms Kenny said that Clondalkin continues to be an area of concern.

There is a place known as the death field...it is a regular dumping ground and we often find carcasses scattered there. Gino Kenny has recently succeeded in creating the Clondalkin Equine Club which is expected to be up and running by the spring.

We are delighted that this is nearly off the ground, Mr Kenny said.

The project is being funded by the Department of Agriculture and the Dublin City Council and will have stabling for 20 horses on three acres. There will also be an education centre for young horse owners in the area, he added.
IT appears that the recent downturn in factory sheep prices has been reversed with factories anxious for spring lambs.

As Ramadan approaches the situation now appears to be that hogget prices are running from 5.10-5.15/kg, with spring lamb on 6.10-6.20/kg. Thats a 10-20c/kg turn around.

John Brooks of ICSA concurs, Prices are up 10-20c/kg across the board. There is pressure on numbers at present with even the UK expected to get tight.

His analysis is backed up by Bord Bia which reports that reduced supplies coming on stream in Britain.

John Lynskey of IFA was of a similar mind. Factories are anxious for spring lambs this week with a lot of customers having made the change over at prices of 6.00/kg to 20.5/21kg, he said.

While both farm leaders are keen to talk up the trade the men with the factory cheque books were yesterday not that inclined to open them officially any further than they had last week.

Indeed the price of cull ewes has eased back by 20c/kg at Dawn Ballyhaunis and Kepak Athleague to 2.50/kg although Kepak do offer an additional 5c/kg quality bonus. Kildare Chilling are back 10c/kg at 2.60+10 on last weeks price, as supplies of culls remains strong.

Moving to the main event, the price of hoggets and spring lamb, sheep plants this week remain rooted and unmoved quoting no more but equally not quoting any less than last week.

Top of the pile still for both hogget and spring lamb are Kildare Chilling with their official quotes of 4.95/kg+10c/kg bonus for hogget and 5.90+10 for spring lamb.

As the sun continues to shine the place for hoggets is in effect a tie between the two ICMs at 4.80+10 as against Kepaks 4.85+5c/kg bonus, while Dawn Ballyhaunis stood at 4.70+5.

Sheep numbers

Official quotes for spring lamb yesterday remained exactly as they were last week with Kildare leading the way on 5.90+10c/kg bonus followed closely by Kepak Athleague also on 5.90/kg but only offering a 5c/kg quality bonus.

Next up are Moyvalley with their all in price of 5.90 followed by the two ICMs on 5.70+10, with Dawn Ballyhaunis on a straight 5.70/kg.

While the farming community no doubt believe they are entitled to more, the reality is sheep numbers are up on a year ago.

Bord Bia say figures up to the end of April show 99,000 extra sheep or 13pc more have gone to factories than in the same period for 2016.

Marts Roundup

1 CARNEW

TRADE was reported as slightly improved on the previous week with strong demand from farmers, especially for ewe hoggets. At the factory/butcher end, spring lamb made from 108-118/hd with hoggets over 50kgs making from 112-118/hd. Lighter hoggets from 43-49kgs sold from 102-114/hd while store hoggets made from 77-101/hd. Ewe hoggets made from 115-140/hd with cull ewes making from 59-124/hd. Ewes with single lambs at foot made from 110-188/hd as doubles made from 175-255/hd.

2 BALTINGLASS

The trade for ewes with lambs at foot was described as very strong with their prices ranging from 125-210 per unit.

The reverse was the case in the cast ewe section with prices reported as easier by 3-4/hd at 55-97/hd.

Hoggets from 50-55kgs made from105-116/hd with lighter hoggets coming in at a top of 95/hd while ewe hoggets made up to 100/hd.

3 KILKENNY

Numbers yesterday were up on the previous week. Spring lamb saw prices range from 116-120/hd on weights from 46-62kgs with 43-45kgs making from 87-120/hd. Cull ewes sold from 81/hd for 78kgs up to 115/hd for 101kgs.

In the breeding section prices ranged from 170-235/hd for ewes with lambs at foot.

4 BALLINROBE

Numbers of sheep presented were slightly up at Ballinrobe last week with that increase coming mainly in the ewes and lambs section. The trade for store lambs continued solid with prices ranging from 75-98/hd. Hoggets sold up to 128/hd. In the breeding section 212 was the top of the market for a ewe with twins at foot.

5 NEW ROSS

Numbers were less in New Ross yesterday which helped raise spring lamb up by 3-4/hd to 116-124/hd for heavy lamb with lighter stock on 104-113/hd. Butchers hoggets sold from 112-118/hd with lighter factory type hoggets making from 106-111/hd. Among the cull ewes, heavy ewes made from 86-112/hd with lighter ewes making from 75-95/hd.

6 BALLYMOTE

The hogget trade remained steady with weights from 41-47kgs making from 100-107/hd with heavier lots in the 50-65kgs category selling from 113-117/hd. Spring lambs saw 48kgs make 116/hd, 49kgs-119/hd and 50kgs made 120/hd.
May 9 clashes in Dnipro must be thoroughly investigated  Poroshenko's rep in Verkhovna Rada

The reaction of the Ukrainian parliament to the events of May 9 in Dnipro, as a result of which veterans of the ATO suffered, should be tough, representative of the Ukrainian president in the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Lutsenko (Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction) has said.

"The reaction of the parliament must be tough and unambiguous. It is necessary to conduct a comprehensive investigation," Lutsenko said on the Channel 5 on Wednesday night.

According to her, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction will demand a comprehensive investigation.
Ireland is home to the world's fourth-biggest shadow banking sector, hosting around $2.2 trillion of financial assets held by funds, special-purpose companies and so-called securitisation structures.

Shadow banking refers to large-scale financial institutions and money managers other than traditional banks.

Growth in global bond, property and money market funds continues to swell the world's "shadow banking" sector, according to a report by the global Financial Stability Board.

The sector is responsible for providing an increasingly large share of global credit.

In Ireland it is concentrated in the IFSC, where funds ultimately owned and often controlled elsewhere are administered and managed, but, according to separate research by the Central Bank of Ireland, a significant level of Irish shadow banking reflects treasury management functions within multinational corporations based here.

The US, followed by the Cayman Island and then Japan have the greatest concentrations of shadow banking assets, according to the report - although Luxembourg, a major financial administration centre, is not included in the data.

In the eurozone, including Ireland, the funds industry is increasingly plugging gaps that were once monopolised by banks - including lending to property developers, car buyers and small firms.

Almost half of the shadow banking assets housed here in Ireland are held in investment funds administered here. A further 20pc is in special-purpose vehicles - legal structures used in securitisation - which is the bundling up of packaging of loans and bonds.

Significant volumes of assets are held by multinationals but that still leaves as much as 471bn that the FSB report counts as "other" shadow-banking assets not subject to regulatory reporting - making them difficult to track.

The Central Bank and Central Statistics Office (CSO) are looking to create a comprehensive register of all financial entities here, similar to the approach taken by the Bank of England.

Globally, the FSB, which coordinates financial regulation for the G20 group of the world's biggest economies, said its "narrow" measure of shadow banking activities that could pose a threat to stability, rose 3.2pc to $34.2 trillion in 2015, the latest year for which figures have been collated.

Some of the growth in the euroarea came as credit was reduced by shrinking banks after the crash. The total value of shadow banking assets is up from 60pc of the overall economic output of countries monitored in 2011, to 69pc in 2015, outpacing growth generally. In Ireland, however, it is a multiple of the size of the economy. (Additional reporting Reuters)
Under the plan, eligible borrowers who cannot pay their mortgage would stay in their home as renters. Stock image

David Hall's advocacy group for distressed mortgage holders has persuaded two UK pension funds to back its efforts to acquire private homes for people eligible for social housing, as well as purchase impaired loans from banks, in a move aimed at easing the distress caused by the State's debt and housing crisis.

Under the plan, eligible borrowers who cannot pay their mortgage would stay in their home as renters.

Hall, the head of the Irish Mortgage Holders' Organisation, said a new "product" designed to take over thousands of toxic mortgages from Irish lenders will be unveiled "within weeks".

While the initiative has been in gestation for years, and has attracted much publicity, Hall said the project's first phase is likely to centre on the acquisition of homes - not loan portfolios.

He claimed "multiple parties" had pledged financial support, including two large pension funds in the UK, along with Irish banks and non-bank lenders. Money would also flow from the Housing Finance Agency, Hall said, in what he described as a "unique" public private venture.

Hall added the soon-to-be launched "product" was aimed at all the banks operating in Ireland, although he declined to provide details on how the new undertaking will be structured.

But he said the negotations for the "social-purpose vehicle" had reached their final stages and stressed time was of the essence in helping the "massive amounts of people" affected by the debt and housing crisis.

The IMHO was recently linked to a deal that could see thousands of distressed borrowers' mortgages moved off AIB's balance sheet .

Hall declined to comment on that plan, if it comes to fruition it will follow almost a decade of campaigning by the IMHO founder.
"WeWork & Regus are both looking to set up several new business centres in Dublin."

Savills Ireland has launched Workthere, a new service to help growing businesses find flexible, co-working, and services office space across Ireland.

The brokerage service and website listing platform aims to offer a professional, easy, and transparent way for office providers to let their space and for occupiers to identify flexible working space that fits their individual needs.

The new venture from the global real estate company was launched in the UK in February this year and, following this success, the firm is now expanding the offer with Dublin representing Workthere's first presence outside of the UK. "Demand for flexible work space continues to grow as more businesses, including start-ups, SMEs and even larger corporate companies, are seeing the benefits of flexible work space over a more traditional lease," Cal Lee, head of Workthere said.

"Serviced office space is growing in popularity globally and this is particularly evident in Dublin.

"WeWork & Regus are both looking to set up several new business centres in Dublin. Iconic Offices are expanding their portfolio at a phenomenal rate and recently opened three centres," Michael Healy, division director at Savills Ireland said.
It's the question that divides the world's top technology minds: are we facing mass unemployment in 10 years because of artificial intelligence and smarter robots?

This week, Michael Dell weighed in and he is not a doomsayer on the issue. "The future will be technology plus humans rather than technology instead of humans," he told us at Dell EMC World, the company's annual conference. "I happen to have an optimistic view of the world where tech will enhance human possibility."

Dell is right. Automation - whether through robots or artificial intelligence - is being scripted as a destroyer of human endeavour. But there is very little evidence to suggest that this will be the case. Indeed, much of the more persuasive testimony goes the other way.

"Look around today and you'll agree that we really don't have the bad science fiction future that some people imagined before," said Dell. "What I see is a lot of great things that have come from technology. But again, I'm an optimist."

In Ireland, the advance of technology has coincided with an undeniable fall in unemployment rates.

For most of my young life, an era largely devoid of now-familiar opportunities and platforms, unemployment hovered at between 15pc and 20pc. Since the rise in technology and automation, unemployment has generally been below 10pc.

This could absolutely be a coincidence. But it's one with many spurs. Recent statistics from the European Commission said that when Irish small firms have access to broadband, they outsell and out-trade all other EU counterparts. They create jobs, not destroy them.

As for automation and robots, most evidence suggests that these actually go hand in hand with economies that are getting richer and where people end up with higher-paid jobs.

Is it really possible to imagine elevator operators now? Or telephone switchboard clerks? Or rooms full of typists? These, and dozens of other similar job categories, all employed thousands of people. They became redundant over a 25-year period because of computers or automation. But this did not result in a crisis for the labour market.

"Ah yes, but this time it will be different and much worse," is the response. What is usually meant by this is that this time it's white-collar jobs that are in the firing line. Several studies have concluded that large areas of banking, accounting, legal services and other nominally middle-class jobs (including journalism) may see computer replacements.

But if so, history suggests that the workforce will go on to pursue more profitable, more productive work instead.

It may be that in 15 years time we no longer have bus or taxi drivers. It may also be that clerical work - including that done by lawyers and accountants - will be done by machines and artificial intelligence systems.

And it's certainly the case that there may be much fewer journalists around because of internet distribution systems.

But does it follow that all those people who may find their current jobs replaced - me included - have no hope of ever doing anything else? Are we that pathetic? Do we have no other ideas of what to do or talents to pursue them with?

I don't think so. Machines will always continue to replace some human roles. But productive and profitable human work will never be an endangered activity.

You'd also have to wonder about the mindset of those who automatically reach for the gloomier mass-unemployment narrative. Is it simply pessimism or a fear of change?

I think it's a mixture of both - but in Ireland it is surely misplaced.

One reason is that people are far, far better educated than they once were.

The number of those finishing secondary school in Ireland, as in other countries, is now over 95pc. When I was a kid (eighties and nineties), it was probably less than 80pc. In my parents' time, it was lower again. I distinctly remember our secondary school offering the 'Group Cert' for people who weren't planning to go on beyond third or fourth year. It was a relatively mainstream option back then.

As for third level, Ireland is utterly transformed. The vast majority of Irish kids now go on to third-level education, something most of their grandparents could only dream of.

In short, we have a generation of people who are far more capable of adjusting to changed industrial practices than was the case before.

But even if we accept these arguments, there is a part of us that simply dislikes change. And when it comes to technology, there is always a portion of our brain that grumpily protests that technology has come on enough and it would surely be better if we could just freeze things now. "Why do we need self-driving cars or robots?" you'll hear many say.

Of all the arguments warning of automation, this is the dullest.

When mobile phones first entered the mainstream in Ireland in the 1990s, the most common reaction to them was 'why?'. The received wisdom was to dismiss them as yuppie toys only sought out by uncouth narcissists or exhibitionists. Certainly, most people I knew sneered at them, smugly predicting that they'd never buy one.

This same mindset arose again with the rise of online social platforms, such as Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter.

"Sure, why would I want to see what someone had for breakfast?"

But we all know what happens next: most try it see its value and take to it.

The same will happen with artificial intelligence and robots.

They are job enablers rather than job destroyers.
Michael Dell, seen here on stage with magician David Blaine, gets ready to pull off his next trick following Dells multi-billion dollar merger with EMC

Michael Dell still has a bit of a gra for Limerick.

"I remember that time well," he says when asked about the company's move into Ireland. "It was 1990. Buddy Griffin, what a guy."

Griffin was the Irishman who set up and ran what became one of the tech industry's model manufacturing plants. The Limerick facility's 'just in time' supply chain system went on to influence everyone from future Chinese electronics giants to Apple's Tim Cook in how to organise a manufacturing process efficiently and profitably.

Eventually the IT industry moved on and Dell changed the nature of its relationship with Ireland. However, Michael Dell still says that Ireland is one of the company's more important bases and that the corporation's recent $60bn mega-merger with EMC, which has traditionally has a large presence in Cork, has gone well.

"We have around 6,000 people there now," he says. "I love Ireland."

Dell's history here hasn't been plane sailing. In 2009, Limerick and the wider Midwest region was left reeling when the company cut 1,900 from its flagship European factory in Raheen, in the city.

The manufacturing facility employed 5,000 at its peak. Manufacturing is now gone, but Dell remains a major employer in Limerick.

Dell is reminiscing on this after a day addressing 13,000 delegates to his company's annual Dell EMC World.

The event this week has seen a raft of product launches, including the company's 14th generation of PowerEdge servers, new Flash memory systems and a new PC-as-a-service option for business customers.

It has also seen the combined Dell EMC group's most senior executives talk quite openly about the company's strategy and, to a limited extent, its continued plans for integrating the two huge tech companies into one seamless unit.

In Ireland, Dell EMC has large facilities in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. There have been questions as to whether the merged company would move facilities from Cork or Limerick to Dublin or vice versa.

One of the company's most senior global executives, the services and IT president Howard Elias, says that there are no immediate plans to do this.

"No, we're pretty much set," he says. "I mean, I think we're going to go through some consolidation over a period of time of sites and facilities. Built there's nothing earmarked at this point. There'll be a bit of movement. But the levels of investment there will be similar to, if not greater, over time to what they have been before."

Elias said that the legacy units of Dell and EMC continue to be integrated relatively smoothly.

"It has come together nicely," he says. "The teams are well aligned and it's all gone very well. There has been no change in the footprint. If anything I think we're going to get bigger."

As a mega-corporation, Dell EMC has its finger in a lot of IT infrastructure businesses. Storage, cloud, virtualisation and security are some of the areas it is focusing a lot of its energy on.

But one of the more universal questions it faces is where the company stands in relation to the future of the PC business among a gradual decline in PC sales across the industry.

Michael Dell still refers to desktops and laptops as "core" to Dell.

"What Dell Technologies does is far beyond just the PC," he says. "But the PC is still very important to our customers and to us. Don't forget that this is still a $170bn market. For us, the average selling price for PCs has been going up, not down. So too have the revenues. And our share in the PC business is going up as well for the last 17 quarters. And even though we're in the middle of the 18th quarter, I can tell you that yes, our share will rise again. So we've invested in innovation, in research and development. Clearly there's some market consolidation. But we're number one in revenue for PCs and number one for profits too. We're not number one in units sold, but the units that we sell are more valuable than those sold by the other guys."

Dell's relative candour in discussing his company's plans and strategies is partially derived from the confidence of not having to answer to anyone.

Since the company returned to private ownership in 2014, it has been able to focus on tactics that aren't second-guessed every three months by hedge-fund managers that own large blocks of shares in the firm.

Dell says that it's an "advantageous" position that lets him and other executives think about longer-term outcomes for its product lines rather than focusing on crowd-pleasing statements aimed purely for quarterly conference calls.

Currently, the company is launching new pay-as-you-go services aimed at businesses that find technology services too expensive. It has also announced new cloud services for its customers to streamline their cloud storage plans.

Dell says that IT infrastructure is proving to be too expensive for some companies and that customers have been asking for a pay-as-you-use system.

This strategy 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 industry's most profitable segments, with Amazon's 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.

Dell's new PC-as-a-service system will 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.

The new 14th-generation servers are designed to be embedded in storage and data centre appliances, hyper-converged appliances and racks, ready nodes, bundles and other Dell EMC systems.

"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.

"They'll 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 EMC's new generation servers are geared toward addressing many of these issues with intelligent management and automation capabilities."

Meanwhile, Dell says that 5G mobile networks will bring about new markets for computers in ways yet to be seen.

"There's something coming just around the corner which is this fifth generation mobile network," he says.

"This will connect hundreds of billions of devices together and create a new kind of distributed computing. That will be kind of amazing. That's going to create enormous amounts of data and not all of it will sit in one place. You'll have an even more distributed computing environment. So if you look across what we regard as client computing, the business is now different. But the PC is the parent of internet-of-things devices."

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 don't reach their potential," he said. "I've taken risks in my life and I needed to. So take risks."

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 I'm kind of the black sheep of the family."
JK Rowling has pleaded with Irish people to help a Dublin man with an unfortunate situation.

An NUI Maynooth student has pushed an urgent appeal to help him retrieve his laptop after it was discovered he mislaid it in a taxi.

He pleaded with friends on Facebook to help him get in touch with the taxi driver through a Facebook post on Wednesday night.

The message got a lot of traction and eventually caught the attention of Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

She re-tweeted his post on Thursday morning, describing it as "one of her worst nightmares" and asked people to help him out.

Jamal Sul, who is doing a PhD in therapies for multiple sclerosis, said his PhD notes were also left in the taxi.

It happened after the student had been celebrating his thesis corrections with friends in the city centre.

"I had an unfortunate event on Friday where I went out and celebrated my thesis corrections. I met up with two friends and got a taxi outside Iskanders between 3am-3.30am on the 6th May, which was Friday night into Saturday morning. I got into the taxi and headed towards Cherry Orchard but I fell asleep in the back, completely disorientated, and I hopped out and left my bag," he wrote on Facebook.

"My bag contains my laptop (Macbook Pro) and notes for my PhD. The laptop contains all my PhD files and is very precious to me. If anyone that knows me can share this in the hopes it might spread the word to find the taxi driver, it's all I can ask for. I have reported it to the Gardai but no luck.

"The taxi driver was really sound on the journey (or so I'm told, since I was asleep in the back), he was an older Irish man with yellowish grey hair driving a dark navy car. Please share to help a man and his PhD out."

Jamal acknowledged that it was a silly mistake but said he is overwhelmed at the level of support he's received from friends, strangers and famous authors.

"To be honest, I just wanted a few heads to be aware of it and taxi drivers to spread the word and then a day later it's been shared on Twitter... I don't even have Twitter," he told Independent.ie.

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"So obviously having a famous writer share my post was mental and it made me think how supportive people can be in an instant using social media.

"It's a f**king nightmare but I'm really surprised by the whole thing and overwhelmed at the level of support. Hopefully something comes of it."
Poroshenko to leave for Strasbourg on May 17 to sign final document on visa-free regime with EU

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will leave for Strasbourg on May 17 to sign a legislative act on granting a visa-free regime to Ukraine.

"In Strasbourg, on May 17 - as we agreed with our European friends - the relevant legislative act will be solemnly signed. This will probably be one of my most important visits during three years of my presidency," the president's statement on the occasion of approval of granting a visa-free regime to Ukraine by the EU council says.

The decision will be posted by the Official Journal of the European Union and will take effect in 20 days, Poroshenko said. "Roughly on June 11, 34 European countries will give the green light to holders of Ukrainian biometric passports paying short-term visa-free visits," he said, adding there would no longer be lines at embassies and visa centers, and "tiresome paperwork would be gone."

Visa-free travel is "a giant step towards Europe, human freedoms and independence of the Ukrainian state," Poroshenko said. He thanked everyone who had helped Ukraine agree on visa-free travel with the European Union, including politicians, civil society campaigning for the advancement towards Europe, Ukraine's friends in the European Union and, "most importantly, Ukrainian soldiers who are defending Ukraine and the entire continent in the east."

The Council of the European Union supported liberalization of visa requirements for Ukraine at a meeting on Thursday.
The actor Geoffrey Bayldon, famous for his portrayal of the scruffy magician Catweazle, has died at the age of 93. Pic: Getty

The much-loved British actor has died at 93.

BBC presenter Lizo Mzimba confirmed the news, tweeting: "Sad news. Actor Geoffrey Bayldon, best known for playing Catweazle and Worzel Gummidge's Crowman has passed away aged 93 his agency has says (sic).

The Leeds-born actor came to wider fame in the 1960s in movies such as To Sir With Love and the original Casino Royale, in which he played Q.

But it was his role as Crow Man in Worzel Gummidge and the scruffy magician in Catweazle which endeared him to children across Ireland and the UK.

Bayldon also played the Governor in the film version of Porridge.

Geoffrey was even approached by the BBC to play the first Doctor in Doctor Who - but turned them down in favour of Catweazle. He was asked a second time but said no again as he felt he was too old.

His most recent work before retirement was in 2007's New Tricks and in the 2010 series of My Family.
Viewers were unhappy with the ghost of Diana being shown on the new BBC show Credit: BBC

Viewers have hit out at the BBC and sympathised with the Prince William and Prince Harry after the new King Charles III show featured Diana's ghost.

Some have dubbed it "royal bullying", as the ghost of Princess Diana haunts King Charles as well as her sons in the controversial television show.

Others have said it is "melodramatic drivel" and that it doesn't show an accurate picture of the Royal household.

The controversial adaptation of Mike Bartletts play, which also includes the Queen's funeral, received favourable broadsheet reviews but was received with distaste by viewers.

One Twitter user said: "I never thought I would be offended by anything on TV, Charles III was offensive pile of Royal bullying and I hate bullies they're cowards".

Another fumed: "Didn't agree with King Charles III on BBC 2, speculating on the future and the royal family overstepped the mark."

And another wrote: "Five minutes in - King Charles III is in awful bad taste, with weak, childish and stodgy writing and acting of the poorest quality".

The television show is based on the play of the same name, which opens with the death of Elizabeth II, and Prince Charles's swift ascension to the throne.

Rather than follow in his mother's footsteps, Charles decides to use his power to intervene in government.

He refuses to sign a bill that has been voted through Parliament, causing a constitutional crisis that brings the country grinding to a halt.

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Former UK Conservative defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth told The Telegraph: "We have a sovereign who commands universal respect across the nation and the rest of the World. It is extraordinarily insensitive for an organisation which is so consumed with political correctness.

"It is pure indulgence by the BBC to run a play featuring the demise of the sovereign and ascribing to a popular member of the Royal member [the Duchess of Cambridge] base motives."

But John Whittingdale, David Cameron's Culture Secretary, has defended the show. "If the BBC has commissioned a production of a decent play how can one possibly object to that?" he asked. "High-quality drama is at the heart of public service broadcasting."

Regarding complaints from other politicians, Whittingdale said: "Some of my colleagues get hysterical about this kind of thing. I don't think the Queen is the least bit offended."

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
ALMOST two-thirds of the entire population now live in urban areas, new Census data shows.

Figures released from the Central Statistics Office also show that people are moving home less frequently, and that one-in-three residents who moved in the year to April 2016 went to Dublin.

And it also shows the increasing rate of urbanisation across the country, and the east/west divide.

There are now 41 towns with populations of 10,000 or more, with 27 in Leinster. Just five are in Connacht/Ulster.

All three of the biggest towns in the provinces outside Leinster  Ennis, Sligo and Letterkenny - experienced population declines over the five years.

And in Meath, 65pc of the population were born outside the county, the highest proportion in the country. Cork has the lowest rate, at 25pc, while people born in Donegal tend to remain  just 13pc of those born in the county were usually resident in another county.

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It also shows:

* Almost half the urban population, or 44pc, live in Dublin. Another 11pc live in Cork.

* The biggest change in urbanisation occurred in Sligo county, where 40pc of the population now live in the town compared with 37pc five years ago.

* Some 37pc of people live in rural areas, and the largest population increase was in Kildare, followed by Cork.

* Drogheda is the fastest growing town in the country, up 6pc to almost 41,000 over the last five years. The next biggest are Swords and Dundalk. Ennis is the largest in Munster, and Sligo is the biggest in Connacht and Letterkenny is top in Ulster.

The Population Distribution and Movements report, which is part of Census 2016, also shows that 70 people live in each square kilometre of the country, up from 67 in 2011.

In urban areas, its 2,008 per km2, and just 27 in rural areas.

Some 1.9 million, or 40pc of the population, live within 5km of the coastline. 40,000 live less than 100 metres.

But also shows that internal migration is falling, which could be due to the housing crisis with little options for those hoping to move.

The CSO says 263,551 usual residents (aged one year and over) moved in the year up to April 2016, down 3.5pc on the 2011 figure of 273,239.

Of these, 94,182 moved in Dublin, with 18,716 moving out of the county. The top destinations were Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. The number of households moving in the year up to April 2016 fell by 4pc to 110,204.

Almost half of those moving were aged 20 to 34 years, and 28 was the peak age for moving compared with 25 in 2011.
An airport worker, who was injured when a mini avalanche of snow and ice fell on his head from the curved roof of the new Terminal 2 seven years ago, has settled a 60,000 damages claim against the Dublin Airport Authority.

Barrister Liam Bell, counsel for the injured party William Watson, told Judge Mary OMalley Costello in the Circuit Civil Court today Thursday that the claim had been settled following talks between the legal teams.

Mr Bell, who appeared with Dermot McNamara Solicitors, said the case could be struck out with an order for the plaintiffs legal costs against the DAA. The amount of the financial settlement was not publicly disclosed in court.

Mr Watson, who is 57, of Kilcrea, Donabate, Co Dublin, claimed he had been working at the new terminal during the heavy snowfall of early December 2010.

He alleged that he had been hit by a sheet of snow and ice which fell from the roof of Terminal 2, which had then been only recently completed.

Dermot McNamara and Company, solicitors, who issued proceedings on his behalf had stated in a Civil Bill that Mr Watson had been hit on the head and body leaving him with neck and back pain.

It was claimed by Watsons legal team that the incident had been caused by the negligence, breach of contract and breach of duty to the plaintiff, stating DAA had failed to warn him of the danger of a large fall of snow from the roof.

Watson claimed the defendant had failed to cordon off the area where a fall of snow and ice was likely to occur and had not cleared large build-ups of snow on the roof of the terminal. He alleged he had not been provided with a safety helmet.

He alleged that he sustained trauma to his head and a soft tissue injury to his neck and shoulders. He had attended his doctor on December 6, 2010, six days after the accident and had complained of severe headache and pains to his neck and lower back.

He had been prescribed painkilling medication and referred for an MRI scan. When seen in July 2011 he was noted to be continuing to suffer pain from bad headaches and neck and lower back. It was the opinion of his doctor at that time that he was likely to continue to suffer pain for a further six months.

Judge OMalley Costello struck out the proceedings with an order for Watsons costs. The DAA had been represented by barrister Shane English, who appeared with David Martin of Gore Grimes Solicitors.
A bank employee who took more than 100,000 from customer accounts over a five-year period and spent it on hair designs, clothes and socialising was jailed for six months.

Niamh Thornton (36) pleaded guilty before Cork Circuit Criminal Court to a total of 187 counts of theft while she was working at the Bank of Ireland in Cork and Kerry.

Thornton, of Ahamore, Causeway, Co Kerry, was first charged before Cork District Court last year and came before the Circuit Criminal Court on a signed plea of guilty.

The charges were brought contrary to the Criminal Justice, Theft and Fraud Offences Act.

The amounts were fraudulently taken from the accounts of three Bank of Ireland customers.

Sums deducted from the various accounts ranged from 100 to 2,000.

The court heard that the withdrawals from the accounts took place over a five-year period between December 2008 and December 2013.

A bank colleague became concerned about irregularities over the accounts involved at the Macroom, Co Cork, branch.

They reported the matter to bank superiors and gardai were later contacted.

Thornton was suspended following an internal review. She made immediate admissions to detectives about what had happened and fully co-operated with the subsequent investigation.

Judge Sean O'Donnabhain was told that no bank customer was at a loss as a result of the incidents with the sums being repaid by the financial institution into the various accounts.

A total of 101,500 was involved in the various charges.

Thornton's family managed to raise 20,000 which was repaid to Bank of Ireland. She has since lost her job at the bank.

The court was told the money was spent on items such as her hair, clothing and on socialising.

She was suffering from personal problems at the time and also felt isolated working in Cork away from her native Kerry.

Judge O'Donnabhain said it was a very serious breach of trust by the bank clerk and warranted a custodial sentence. He also said he had to take into account that a substantial portion of the sum involved would most likely never be repaid.

Thornton was handed a three-year prison sentence with the final two-and-a-half years suspended.
The Kinahan cartel placed James 'Mago' Gately's partner under surveillance in the days before attempting to kill their prime target, gardai believe.

James Gately, who was shot outside a Topaz petrol station in Clonshaugh, North Dublin, around 1.35pm yesterday, had returned from his hideaway in Northern Ireland to visit his family in Coolock in the days before the near-fatal shooting.

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However, it is suspected he was being watched the entire time by a hired hit team.

The feared criminal was last night in a critical condition in hospital after being shot up to five times in the latest gun attack linked to the Hutch/Kinahan feud. But he is expected to survive.

Gately (30), who was saved by his bullet-proof vest, had visited the Topaz petrol station near the N32 on the Clonsaugh Road moments before the shooting occurred.

He had driven into the forecourt in his Northern registered car, went to the shop and returned to his car when he was targeted in the drive-by shooting.

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A 08-D black Lexus pulled up to Gately's vehicle and, without exiting his car the shooter fired multiple shots at Gately from a handgun.

The Hutch associate was hit up to five times including once in the neck. However, four shots were lodged into his bullet-proof vest, saving his life.

A nurse who came across the shooting tended to the casualty and managed to stem the flow from Gately's wound before emergency services arrived.

It has emerged that the country's latest gun victim's partner was placed under surveillance by members of the Kinahan cartel before the attempted murder.

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Before yesterday's shooting he had returned to the Coolock home he shares with his partner - who has no involvement in criminality. This property was being watched by cartel spotters in case 'Mago' Gately returned home.

This is despite armed garda checkpoints being rolled out on a regular basis near his home. He was treated at the scene, where he responded to paramedics, before being transferred to the Mater Hospital under armed garda escort.

A full medical report on Gately had not been completed by yesterday evening and investigating detectives have still not been able to interview him.

The lone gunmen fled in the black coloured Lexus while gardai also believe that a man on a motorbike nearby acted as a spotter.

Gately last month survived a credible threat on his life after armed gardai foiled a murder plot which was at an advanced stage.

However, despite being given security advice by gardai, the Kinahan gang had recently gathered detailed information on Gately's movements.

"He changed his car on an almost bi-weekly basis, but the cartel were aware of what vehicle he was driving and when he was returning to Dublin," a senior source said last night.

Gately was driving a wine-coloured Ford Mondeo with northern registration plates when he was shot. He had walked out of the busy filling station moments before being gunned down.

A handgun was used in the shooting. Gardai believe that the Lexus pulled up beside Gately as he got into his car.

The Lexus suspected of being used in the botched murder was later found burnt out in Ardee, Co Louth. Supt Finbarr Murphy of Ballymun garda station yesterday appealed for anyone who may have witnessed the shooting to contact gardai.

"It was busy (in the forecourt). It was lunch time and I say there would have been 60 to 70 people present when the attack occurred.

"We've spoken to people in the forecourt and in the shop and around the (Clayton) hotel. We're appealing for anyone in the area at the time or anyone with a dash-cam on their car, or anyone who witnessed bad driving from an 08-D black Lexus (to come forward)," Supt Murphy said.
The provocations stated in the city of Dnipro during the May 9 celebrations of the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II should be investigated and those responsible for them should be held to account, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.

"An assessment must be given to this provocation. As we know, the administration of the National Police and the Interior Ministry has made prompt personnel decisions, but it is just the beginning. We need to bring the investigation to a conclusion. We need to see that all those guilty will be brought to justice," Groysman said at a Ukrainian cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Groysman said he wanted the Interior Ministry to brief him on the matter sometime soon.

Fifteen people were taken to police stations in Dnipro on May 9 on suspicion of being involved in skirmishes during the Victory Day events.

Six policemen and eight participants in the action sought medical aid, the National Police branch for the Dnipropetrovsk region said on its website.

Police believe that clashes broke out between Socialist Party representatives and 'activists' during the procession because of the use of political symbols (flags). The district police department launched a criminal investigation on a count of hooliganism (Part 2 of Article 296 of Ukraine's Penal Code).

Following a preliminary inquiry into the incidents and provocations in Dnipro, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov signed decrees dismissing Dnipropetrovsk region police chief Ihor Repeshko, Dnipro city police department head Andriy Bidylo and his deputies in charge of public security.
Mr Justice Gilligan yesterday said that the matter was very serious. (Stock picture)

A judge wants gardai to investigate how 13 families living in the same property came to be paying rent to an unknown person.

The families face eviction in a week.

The High Court heard a man called "Brian" was taking up to 200 a week from families in the Fairview, Dublin, property.

But this man did not represent the owner nor a receiver appointed by a bank to take possession, the court was told.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said the matter should be investigated by the gardai because he fears that the families, which include 12 young children, living in eight units at the Annesley Bridge Road property, have been taken advantage of. Most of them are immigrants.

The judge re-affirmed orders sought by the receiver, Simon Coyle, requiring the families to give up vacant possession of the property by Wednesday.

Two of the residents said they have nowhere else to go.

The court heard that Mr Coyle was appointed receiver over the property by Bank of Ireland (BoI) in January 2015, but has been unable to take possession of the premises.

BoI appointed the receiver over a debt it claims it is owed by the property's owner, John Farrelly, otherwise known as John O'Farrelly, of Attractra Road, Cabra, Dublin.

Last November, Mr Coyle secured a High Court injunction preventing Mr Farrelly and all those occupying the premises from interfering with, trespassing on, dealing with or taking possession of the property.

As a result of an alleged breach of the injunction, the receiver returned to court seeking orders for the attachment and committal of Mr Farrelly and any other persons living there.

Mr Justice Gilligan yesterday said that the matter was "very serious".

Representing himself, Mr Farrelly denied he had breached the court orders. He said he went to the premises last week and told those living there that they had to leave.

Two men, Daniel Stoinan and Dumitru Vasile, told the court they are among the 13 families living at the property.

They said they were paying 180 to 200 per week in rent to the man called "Brian".

Declan Wade BL, for the receiver, said "Brian" did not act for his client and Mr Coyle "never got any rent" from people living at the property.

Mr Farrelly also said "Brian" was not collecting rent for him.

Mr Justice Gilligan said he was referring the matter to the Garda Commissioner for a fraud squad investigation.
A separated mother abducted her two young children to South-East Asia to be looked after by relations because she had no child-minder in Ireland, a court heard today.

In July 2016, a court order ruled that the mother must get written consent from the father, if she wished to take the children outside of Ireland, the Dublin District Family Court heard.

The mother, who works at a busy hospital, said she took the children abroad so her mother could look after them as she herself works.

She said she took the children to her mothers last month, and then returned to Ireland by herself. She said that after the previous court order, her husband moved back into their home for a time, so she thought the 2016 order was no longer in effect. He then left the family home again abruptly, she said.

During emotional testimony the mother said the father had no interest in the children and did not mind them.

Hes earning 3,000 a month without paying anything, she said. I do everything for the family. I pay everything.

Telling the court why she took the children to her mothers she said: I have no child-minder, I have no other option. I want the kids to be in a safe place.

The mother continued: Since he got an Irish passport hes behaving very badly. Many times he hurt me physically.

He doesnt like the kids at all and teaches them bad words  all the filthy words.

She told the court she would be happy to bring the children back to Ireland if the father promised to look after them.

I have no problem bringing [them] back if he minds the children, she said. I have no problem bringing them back. Im happy to bring them back. [But] is he going to mind the kids?

Mary Sankey, solicitor for the father, said this was a very serious matter as the children were abducted to the parents country of origin.

She said the mother had taken the children to South-East Asia on a prior occasion in 2014, before the court order ruled that she needed written consent of the father. On that occasion, the father travelled to collect the children but he was unwilling to do so this time, Ms Sankey said.

Ms Sankey said the father was worried because the children were living in very poor conditions, he claims.

According to the father, Ms Sankey said, the mother was a workaholic. Judge Bernadette Owens ordered the mother to produce the children to the Family Court on a date later this month.
The only temperance hotel in Dublins Temple Bar has given in to the demand of guests wanting an alcoholic nightcap and today won itself a licence to sell drinks.

Constance Cassidy SC, counsel for Grand Liqueurs Limited, told the Circuit Licensing Court there was a need for the hotel owners to provide drinks for guests to save them wandering around Temple Bar at night looking for a nightcap.

Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, asked Ms Cassidy, who appeared with barrister Niki Andrews, if she realised she was probably removing the only temperance hotel in County Dublin.

Ms Cassidy said that with the aid of economics maestro and hospitality, tourism and drinks expert Anthony Foley she was confident she could convince the court of the need for The Temple Bar Inn Hotel being granted a bar license.

Mr Foley, of the Dublin City University Business School, said there were clearly many more pubs than warranted by the local resident population when compared with the national average.

Temple Bar serves a national and international market of touristsand reasonable expectations of hotel facilities include the provision of a bar, Mr Foley said.

Ms Cassidy told the court the 129-bed hotel was based over the old ESB Offices in Fleet Street which now, on the ground floor, housed a Tesco store. The proposed bar would be sited in the basement of the building.

Mr Foley said there was a wide acceptance that Dublin hotel capacity was inadequate and needed to be increased to meet the demand from both international and other travel and domestic tourism to act as a bulwark against rising hotel prices.

He said tourists expected a full range of hospitality facilities as against the limited expectations from hostels and BandBs.

Overseas tourism has increased from 6.1 million in 2010 to 9.6 million last year, Mr Foley said. From December 2016 to February 2017 the total number of trips to Ireland increased by three per cent to 1,740,900.

Mr Foley said that was 51,200 more than in the same two-month period for the previous 12 months and the demand for hotel bed nights from overseas tourists increased by 64 per cent.

He said a recent Failte Ireland report had concluded that by 2020 an additional 5,500 hotel bedrooms would be needed to meet demand in Dublin alone, a required increase of just under 30 per cent.

Ms Cassidy, who appeared with Kelly Kennedy Solicitors, told Judge Groarke that the bar facility would be used in the main to provide services for guests and was not, as such, simply adding another pub for revellers in the Temple Bar area.

Judge Groarke granted the hotel a hotel and bar license. He was told that to accommodate the opening of the new bar a pub license relating to one of two pubs in Edenmore Shopping Centre, Raheny, Dublin, had been extinguished.
A young woman told her best friend that her ex-boyfriend was "very full on", was a "whackjob" and she was getting worried as he wouldn't leave her alone, a jury has heard.

Mum-of-one Sonia Blount always wanted to help people but her friend Susan Kelly told a jury that Eric Locke was "not someone you help, you just walk away".

There were also rumours at the pair's workplace that Mr Locke (35) was stalking her, and while she told him she wasn't aware of the rumours she said he kept looking at her and it was "freaking her out".

The Central Criminal Court also heard that Mr Locke asked if a friend could hack her Facebook account as he feared Sonia Blount was "ripping him off behind his back".

Mr Locke has admitted he caused the death of Sonia Blount at The Plaza Hotel in Tallaght on February 16, 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.

Expand Close Sonia Blount / Facebook

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The prosecution case is that the Dubliner assumed a false identity online in order to lure her to the hotel bedroom, where he strangled and suffocated her to death.

The jury has been told it will be asked to focus on the mental state of the accused at the time of the killing.

Susan Kelly told the court that she and Sonia had been friends since playschool.

Ms Kelly said Sonia was in an abusive relationship with the farther of her young son, who "controlled" what she did.

He went to Canada in 2013 and Sonia was "happy, getting back to herself".

Ms Kelly said Sonia went on a couple of dates with Mr Locke in December 2013 but it "wasn't a big serious relationship" as far as she was concerned.

On January 11, 2014, Ms Kelly said she had a number of missed calls from Sonia and when she rang her back she said she wasn't seeing Mr Locke again as he had become abusive.

She said Sonia told her he was "very fully on" and she did not want to get into another abusive relationship.

Expand Close The funeral cortage of Sonia Blount (inset) pictured leaving the Holy Rosary Church, Ballycragh / Facebook

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Whatsapp The funeral cortage of Sonia Blount (inset) pictured leaving the Holy Rosary Church, Ballycragh

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In the weeks afterwards, Ms Kelly said Sonia seemed a bit preoccupied, telling her Mr Locke wouldn't leave her alone, she wasn't sleeping and was "getting worried about the situation".

Ms Kelly said Sonia was due to go out with her on the evening before she died, but she cancelled saying she was tired and going to bed.

Ms Kelly said she didn't believe her as "Sonia would never let me down".

The jury was told Ms Kelly believed she was going to meet a man, and when she told Sonia she hoped it wasn't Eric, she replied "no, that would be a nightmare, not that whackjob from work".

Earlier, the jury heard that on the night she died Ms Blount had arranged to meet a stranger in a hotel bedroom for a one night stand.

Text messages read to the jury at the Central Criminal Court indicated she was "sick with nerves" about the liaison as she had never done it before.

She had spent the previous few days sexting with the fictitious "Shane Cully", who in reality was Mr Locke.

Expand Close Mother-of-one Sonia Blount (31), who died by asphyxiation and strangulation in the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght in February 2014 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Mother-of-one Sonia Blount (31), who died by asphyxiation and strangulation in the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght in February 2014

Garda Mark Shortt led the jury through the Facebook Messanger texts, which started as banter but became quite intimate and of a private nature.

The fake "Shane Cully" sent her pictures of an erect penis and told her the pair would be "f**k buddies".

She admitted in texts to him that she was sick with nerves as she had never done anything like that before.

The jury also heard further evidence of texts between Mr Locke and Ms Blount.

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On February 5, 2014, he had accused her of blocking him on Facebook and blanking him at work, saying "why can't you even look at me, it just hurts. I'm afraid we're not even going to be friends".

Ms Blount denied this, saying she had been talking to him earlier, though in a later text she revealed she was "afraid that talking to you will give you the wrong impression" and "I'm not blanking you, I'm just not as friendly as I was".

The next day, he text he'd heard a rumour in work he was stalking her. He said there was "no truth" to it, and it was a "horrible thing to say".

Ms Blount text she hadn't heard the rumours, though she added: "You keeping looking over at me though and it's freaking me out".

The pair continued to communicate until February 8, 2014 when the texts stopped.

Mr Locke subsequently text his sister Kim, asking if she would ask a mutual friend if he could hack Ms Blount's Facebook page as he had heard she was "ripping him off behind his back".

He said he "needed to know" so he could "stay away from her"

Kim Locke said he should stay away from Ms Blount and he "deserved much better".

In later texts, his sister told him that Ms Blount's account was private and it couldn't be hacked.

The trial continues.
Over the past number of months, and weeks, Leaving Cert students have been extremely busy with mocks, orals, practical and LCVP exams. Indeed, the CAO is likely to have been far from their mind. Now that this has all passed and the final exams inch ever closer, it is time for CAO applicants to dust off the CAO handbook and take another look at the CAO form and the courses for which we have applied. The CAO 'change of mind' period began on May 5 and remains open until July 1. During this time, all applicants may make any changes to the list of courses already submitted to the CAO.

Each year, about half of CAO applicants take this opportunity to amend their course choices, having given further consideration to their original list once the pressure of the February 1 deadline has passed. Many already have a clearer idea of where their priorities lie, while many others tend to enter changes after they have finished their exams in June. Of course, there are many thousands more who are happy with their choices and need to do nothing.

There are very few restrictions on what changes can be made. It is not possible for applicants to add restricted entry courses at this time, but it is possible to re-order courses, remove courses and add any courses which an applicant did not previously include in their CAO choices, once they are not restricted entry. Restricted entry courses are courses which require applicants to fulfil an entry requirement beyond CAO points or essential subjects and minimum grades. This may include an audition, a suitability test, an interview or portfolio.

There is no charge for applicants to make changes to their CAO during the change of mind period. The most convenient way to make changes is to use the 'my application' section on cao.ie. However, it is also possible to make changes through the postal application, if applicants prefer.

When approaching the 'change of mind', applicants could begin by reviewing the list of preferences they submitted before February 1. They should consider each course listed, and ask themselves "would I still be happy if I received a place on each of these courses?". If an applicant has a course listed for which they would not accept a place if one was offered, they should consider removing it from their choices.

Then, applicants should reconsider the order of preference in which they have listed courses, which should always be in genuine order of preference. Applicants should ask themselves "out of all of the courses in which I am interested, which do I want the most?". This is the course that should be listed in the first box. The answer to this question may have changed since January and that's okay.

Next, applicants should revisit their course research. They may discover more courses for which they would like to apply. These courses can be added to the list and, once again, should be inserted in genuine order of preference.

In addition, applicants should check the college alert lists available on cao.ie for new courses that have been released since the CAO handbook was published. These courses can also be added to the CAO list at this time.

Applicants may wish to enter changes for both their Level 8 preference list and Level 6/7 preference list, paying particular attention to any list they may have neglected when originally applying. It is important to use as many of the 20 course choices as possible as the CAO can only offer applicants a place on courses for which they have applied.

Aoife Walsh is a guidance counsellor at Malahide Community School, Co Dublin

Important dates

Tomorrow

Open Evening - Letterkenny Institute of Technology

May 12

Business Information Systems Taster Programme - University College Cork

May 16

Spring Open Day - University College Cork

Information Evening for Part-time and Postgrad - Waterford Institute of Technology

May 17

Enrolment Day - Ballsbridge College of Further Education

Dutch Universities of Applied Science (two days) - EUNICAS

(May 17, Cork Clayton Hotel, Cork City;

May 18

Dublin Red Cow Moran Hotel 6.30-9.30pm)

Open Day - Swinford Further Education Centre

Q I am concerned that I will not do as well in the Leaving Cert as I had expected. Is it too late to apply for a PLC course? When is the deadline for these courses?

A It is not too late to apply for a PLC course. These courses do not have an official closing date and colleges will continue to interview applicants and receive applications until all courses are full.

If you have not already applied for one, now is the perfect time to do so and, indeed, the earlier you can make this application the better. This is because, even though these courses do not have closing dates, many of the most popular courses are now full. However, there are still a large range of courses available all over the country and a number of colleges are actively advertising open days and interviews. It is likely that colleges holding interviews in May will not hold another round of interviews until August.

Colleges recruiting in the near future include Ballsbridge College of Further Education on May 17 and Monaghan Institute of Further Education on May 18.
A recent policy document from the Department of Education and Skills rehearses the wishful thinking about teaching foreign languages that has been in the public domain for decades. No area of the school curriculum stands in more need of clarity and nuance. It is appropriate to qualify the usefulness for business purposes of language learning and to affirm its educational value. It is far less important for English-speakers than others to learn different languages. As the Latin of today, English is the language of power of our times.

There must be many Irish people like me who have been frustrated by foreigners who insist on trying to use their attempts at English on us when we try to speak their language abroad.

This is not to deny that language competence can be important. There is everything to be said for teaching foreign languages to those who need to do business outside the Anglophone world. Mistakes made by advertisers selling goods and services abroad show that it is necessary to be aware of how expressions will be understood in new linguistic contexts. The name 'Roc' for an anti-ageing cream prompts a smile from Irish speakers because the word means 'wrinkle' in Irish. Trying to market the Nova car in the Spanish-speaking world was misguided, because no va means 'it doesn't go'. A famous gaffe was the attempt to translate 'Come alive with the Pepsi generation' into Chinese - it was represented as 'Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave'.

Yet this does not make a satisfactory case for teaching foreign languages in schools. Even if it were possible to determine in advance which language young people should learn, it would be wasteful of resources to teach a foreign language to all that may be of value only to a few.

Still, there are some sound educational reasons for teaching languages. Research draws attention to cognitive benefits of knowing other languages and to their role in keeping the mind active and in inhibiting the onset of dementia in later life.

Here, though, I wish to concentrate on language learning as a form of civic and social education. A language can communicate part of the peculiar psychological orientation of a speech community. For example, the common English terms 'challenge/challenging' are difficult to translate into French and German. This is due to the association of the expressions with American notions of life as a series of challenges to be met and overcome. Other cultures do not share this conception of life.

Cultural mind-set is embedded in all languages, including Irish. Like Arabic, Irish does not mark the distinction expressed in the forms tu/vous, du/sie and equivalent forms in other languages. Tu is used when addressing another individual, without regard for rank or degree of acquaintance. This reflects something of a characteristically Irish spirit of informality and sociability.

And, of course, all languages express something of the spirit of the speech community where they are used. Consider, for example, how difficult it would be to find single word equivalents in other languages for the terms chic, gemutlich, gezellig, hwyl, omerta, machismo, or chutzpah. In these French, German, Dutch, Welsh, Italian, Spanish and Yiddish/Hebrew words we find articulated something of the unique cultural psychology of the people who speak the language in question.

Teaching languages also has the potential to alert learners to gender bias in language. For example, there is bias in favour of the masculine gender in French. If one boy joins a class of 25 girls, masculine form is used when referring to the group. My concern to use gender-neutral language seems less widely shared among colleagues in France than among those in the English-speaking world. Uttering the actual unfamiliar sounds of another language is also a venture in outreach to others. It is humbling for native-speakers of English to attempt to communicate in another language. It alerts them to what it is like for those who are forced to use English, and, indeed, for those who because of disability have difficulty in communicating.

It is time, however, to cease the exaggeration about the necessity for us to know other languages to get by in a world that is dominated by English. But this should not obscure the enrichment benefits of foreign language education.

Dr Kevin Williams is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection, Dublin City University
It is a comic-book craze that has swept the world, and some Irish students love it so much they feel their passion prepares them to tackle the Leaving Cert exam in Japanese.

State exam chiefs report that "it is believed some candidates taking Ordinary Level Japanese are self-taught, [with] their interest in Japan stemming largely from anime and manga".

Anime, a Japanese animation, of which Pokemon is a well-known ambassador, and Japanese comic books, known as manga, are examples of the country's pop culture that have won fans everywhere.

Among third-level colleges in Ireland with anime and manga societies are Dublin City University, NUI Galway and Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.

The Chief Examiner's report on student performance in the language in last year's exams made the observation about "self-taught" students in relation to candidates sitting the Ordinary Level paper. However, while self-taught students may have displayed a certain 'can do' mentality, it wasn't enough to get them through the rigours of the exam.

"It is possible that some of these candidates are not aware of the Japanese literacy requirement even for Ordinary Level, explaining the failure rate at Ordinary Level," the report states.

The examiner also states a belief that some candidates take on Japanese after the Junior Cert, instead of another language, in order to fulfil the matriculation requirements for college entry.

The report notes the shortcomings in candidates who had failed to achieve a minimum D grade: "An analysis of the work of candidates who obtained an E grade, or lower, revealed that in some cases, entire questions were omitted or extremely short answers were given."

While Japanese is on the curriculum, it is taken by only about 300 students.

It is a fully timetabled subject in a small number of schools, while there has been an increase in the numbers taking it as an extracurricular subject in after-school classes provided by the Post-Primary Languages Initiative.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has issued reports on the performance of students in language subjects in last year's Leaving Cert, also covering French, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian.

They highlight evidence of rote learning by students preparing for oral exams, with some candidates getting bothered when they are expected to reply to a spontaneous question.

In a commentary on the French oral "document" option, the examiner states that "in many cases, candidates appeared to feel that all that was required was a series of learned-off paragraphs which they should be allowed to recite without interruption.

"They appeared frustrated when the examiner intervened with a question and persisted in attempting to recite their prepared material."

A similar issue was raised in the commentary on performance of students in the Spanish oral.

According to the examiner, while a large number of higher level candidates showed a level of confidence and fluency, "some candidates are still being taught in a 'rote learning' manner which prevents the natural flow of conversation".
There is a battle royale going on over control of schools, at both primary and post-primary level. Whether it is the divestment of some Catholic schools to other patrons to meet demand for greater diversity, or patronage contests for new schools being built to cater for rising enrolments, competition is fierce.

At primary level, the main contenders are Educate Together, the Irish-medium An Foras Patrunachta and, more recently, education and training boards (ETBs) with their community national schools. At second level, there is some variation in the names, but they are just as established.

How then, when a new post-primary was proposed for Lucan, Co Dublin, last year, did Scoil Sinead arrive at the bidding table, as if from nowhere, with 697 parental preferences, 39 times more than the 18 presented by a Catholic trust, CEIST? Parental support is key to deciding who gets patronage.

Scoil Sinead has a multi-denominational ethos, but the huge backing for it was not only about religion: its 697 name count was more than 10 times the number gathered by Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDETB), also a multi-denominational patron.

Scoil Sinead established only in May 2016 and, when it bid for the school, it was not fully recognised as a patron. In November, patronage was awarded to DDETB - but with Scoil Sinead as a trustee partner.

The new school, Griffeen Community College, which will be developed to cater for 1,000 pupils, will open its doors in September and is currently enrolling.

Then, a week ago, Scoil Sinead was awarded sole patronage of a new primary school in the Pelletstown/Ashtown area of north west Dublin, also opening in September.

In this case, its bid was backed by 52pc (68) of all valid parental preferences, compared with 24pc (32) for An Foras Patrunachta, 15pc (19) for City of Dublin ETB and 9pc (12) for Educate Together.

Who or what is Scoil Sinead Ltd, and how did it garner so much support under the noses of the educational establishment? At the core of the Scoil Sinead philosophy is inclusiveness of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and other special needs.

The education system has made considerable progress in recent years in meeting the needs of children with special needs. There are extra resources in the form of teachers and special needs assistants, while increasing numbers of schools now blend integration in the mainstream classroom with time-out, as necessary, in a special ASD unit, a space to which a child may retreat.

But Scoil Sinead's particular brand of inclusion has clearly struck a chord with parents.

It is named after Sinead, the 10-year-old daughter of Sherene Powell-Ikafor, a Jamaican primary teacher who came to Ireland on a student work placement in 2000, and her husband, Dr Ike Ikafor, an accident and emergency consultant in Temple Street Children's Hospital. The couple met in Ireland and have four children.

Sinead was diagnosed with autism at a young age and, when Powell-Ikafor had difficulty finding a pre-school that met her needs, she decided to open her own. By the time it was up and running, Sinead had already settled elsewhere.

Hope Montessori Autism Care Centre opened in Mountview, Dublin 15, with one child, in September 2011. There are now three Hope centres in Dublin - two in west Dublin, and one in Inchicore. Earlier this month, it opened one in Limerick, it opens in Cork in June, and a sixth is planned for Dublin 2 in 2018.

Powell-Okafor is CEO of Hope. She has a master's in psychology and a post-graduate qualification in Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA), a widely-recognised approach to dealing with children with autism. She is studying Irish at Marino Institute of Education, so that she can gain full Teaching Council recognition.

"How Scoil Sinead came about was we were thinking about where the kids would be going when they leave our setting," she says.

While they have a particular expertise in autism, Hope Montessori caters for all children, both those with special needs and others, and will bring the Hope philosophy into primary and post-primary education.

Hope's director of education, Jennifer Sheridan, who has a master's in ABA, is among the Scoil Sinead directors.

Their vision for Hope-inspired schools extends both to physical layout and cultural changes, for the good of all.

Powell-Ikafor says a child with special needs is often on the edge of a class to facilitate the special needs assistant (SNA). "If we get away from things like keeping these children at the back of the class, and try to be more inclusive, well that is a great step."

They plan a variation on the traditional model of autism and special needs units that are separate and, perhaps, far away from the mainstream classes and to have resource facilities attached to each classroom.

"(By) structuring the school appropriately, we aim to eliminate difficulties faced by students with autism, such as bullying, and to foster a culture of acceptance in all students," she says.

She recognises that children with autism have a very good support system in schools but asks, "why is it limited to them? Other children need support."

She also believes that proper teacher training can go a long way to minimising the need for additional supports.

Scoil Sinead will not segregate pupils for religion classes.

Hope is expanding, and so are the ambitions of Scoil Sinead. "We do see ourselves applying for more schools. We have a very good team," says Powell-Ikafor.
Residents fear that expensive parking at the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) will drive staff and visitors into nearby streets.

Locals have expressed major concerns about traffic arising from the development of the 300m facility, telling An Bord Pleanala that the local road network is ill-equipped to handle more traffic when the hospital opens, catering for 10,000 births and 100,000 out-patient visits a year.

Submissions state that the addition of 277 extra car spaces on the St Vincent's campus in Dublin 4 is "wholly inadequate", and that there is an over-reliance on the State providing extra public transport facilities at a future date.

One notes that it is "difficult for visitors to our home" to secure a parking space on Elm Park, "particularly during visiting hours on a Sunday", adding that parking charges in the hospital should be less than those in place on surrounding roads. Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council also said it was concerned about "overspill car parking".

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A submission by a resident on Herbert Avenue added: "The development of the maternity hospital should be contingent on Dublin City Council designating as residents-only parking on Herbert Avenue to avoid further parking pressure from the new hospital.

"The planning conditions should stipulate that parking should be provided at lower cost than that on surrounding roads so as to make the provision of parking within the site attractive."

An Bord Pleanala, which is due to decide the application by next September, received a total of 18 submissions.

Irish Water said it had no issues, while the National Transport Authority said the site was well served by public transport.

However, the Nutley Residents Association said there were "serious shortcomings" in relation to modelling the impact traffic and parking would have on the area, with the likely effects "very substantially under-estimated".

While residents supported the development, existing roads were at over-capacity during peak times and the hospital was contrary to good planning practice.

Others suggest that the hospital be built on RTE lands, and patients transferred by ambulance, while another states that satellite clinics be established in "core catchment areas" and "routine" procedures be conducted off-site. However, 17 medical experts at the NMH Holles Street, including master Rhona Mahony, have urged the board to grant permission.

The Department of Anaesthesia said the new facility would "revolutionise" maternity and gynaecological care nationally, and was a project of "vital" importance. Ms Mahony and eight colleagues said the hospital would ensure a "safe" service, and was the "optimal model of care", while the Department of Neonatology said the "women and infants of Ireland" deserved "the best possible care".
Rory is currently being treated in Temple Street Children's Hospital

The family of a young hurling star who is currently seriously ill in hospital has thanked the local community for its overwhelming support.

Rory Whelan (13), from Fethard-on-Sea in Co Wexford, is currently being treated in Temple Street Children's Hospital having been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) three weeks ago.

GBS is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.

Doctors initially thought he had a chest infection but his condition quickly deteriorated and he is now under heavy sedation as he receives treatment for the illness.

Rory is a member of the U-14 Wexford panel and is considered to be "outstandingly" talented.

His aunt, Ann Marie Bates, set up a Go Fund Me campaign to help raise money for his rehabilitation.

"His local school and the GAA club have also done other fundraisers, we're very thankful for the support," she told Independent.ie.

Speaking to the Wexford Echo earlier this week, Ms Bates said people in the community had been asking her to set up the Go Fund Me page so they could donate.

Rory, who is a sixth class student, became ill before the Easter bank holiday.

Up until then, he had been "running around and training" as normal.

He was admitted to Wexford General Hospital before being transferred to Temple Street.

His family are currently staying in Dublin and are hoping for his condition to improve in the coming weeks.

You can donate to Rory's cause at https://www.gofundme.com/rorys-road-to-recovery.
Since the beginning of the day in the anti-terrorist operation zone in Donbas, militants have fired 25 times at the strongholds of Ukrainian troops, as a result of which one Ukrainian soldier was killed and another three were injured, the press center of the ATO headquarters reported.

"The situation in the ATO area remains difficult, but controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Since the beginning of the day, the Russian-occupation troops have opened fire on the strongholds of Ukrainian defenders 25 times... Since the beginning of the day, one soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was killed, three more Ukrainian defenders have been wounded," reads the bulletin as of 18.00 on Thursday published on the page of the press center of the ATO headquarters on Facebook.
The suggestion that nurses should be offered chocolates and other incentives to have the flu vaccine has been met with outrage by members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

General secretary Liam Doran has described comments made by Dr Kevin Kelleher as "patronising, insulting and condescending".

Liam Doran said it was a perfect example of why Irish nurses and midwives walked away from the Irish health sector.

Mr Doran said that that kind of comment was "absolutely objectionable" and Mr Kelleher should respect nurses' opinions and not treat them like children.

"I would have expected more from Kevin," he told Today with Sean O'Rourke.

He accused Kevin Kelleher of trying to dictate nurses and said he should focus on "more serious" issues.

"They cant get study leave, they cant get access to education, they're the kind of things which have to be addressed but you dont succeed by dismissing peoples professionally held views in a way that compares them to children.

"I do not expect someone in that sort of position to be speaking in such a patronising way because people dont do what he wants them to do."

Dr Kevin Kelleher, Assistant Director of Health Protection said: "What works is you need to have leadership in the institutions ... and leadership from the nurses themselves.

"Incentives work, ranging from giving them chocolates, chocolates work very well," he told the Oireachtas health committee which was hearing from range of health experts on immunisation.

He added: "Draws for Ipads work very well in improving the uptake."

Dr Kelleher pointed to the need for leadership in health facilities to motivate staff to get the vaccine and there also needs to be "leadership from the nurses themselves."
The cost of trips to holiday hotspots Tenerife and Cyprus were among the destinations charged to the suicide bereavement charity Console, according to a HSE audit.

Over the course of two years, Console clocked up a foreign travel bill of 71,460.

The final audit into the scandal-hit charity, which was at the centre of revelations of lavish spending by founder Paul Kelly, was released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The destinations also included Rome, Australia and Dubai - although no details were provided of who travelled there or the reasons why.

Console told the auditors that "all expenditure on travel was for Console purposes".

The HSE auditor's comment that travel was excessive should be viewed in context and the "benefit" that the charity got from the trips, the Console response added.

The charity was liquidated with debts of at least 300,000 last summer after it after disclosures about Mr Kelly's lavish spending of funds.

An internal HSE audit which began in 2015 revealed lavish spending of charity funds on foreign travel, cars and designer clothes.

Mr Kelly, his wife Patricia and their son Tim benefited by almost 500,000 in salaries and cars between 2012 and 2014 when it had an income of 5m from public fund raising and generous HSE grants.

In an update, the liquidators at Friel Stafford said 58 counsellors who were on contract at the charity at the time said they rank as an unsecured creditor.

This means they would only be paid after payments to fixed charge holders, the cost of liquidation, preferential creditors and floating charge holders were taken care off.

"It is too early to determine what dividend, if any is payable to any class of creditor as the realisation of the company's assets is ongoing," said liquidator Tom Murray.

Around nine permanent employees received statutory redundancy from the Department of Social Protection.

He said Pieta House, the suicide support charity which is now operating the former Console helpline, offered contracts to many of the former counsellors.

A number of investigations are continuing into Console, including a criminal probe by the Office of Corporate Enforcement.

The UK charity regulator is also examining Console's operation in London.

No action has been take against any person involved in the former charity almost a year since the shock revelations.

Mr Kelly who lives in a gated home in Alexandra Manor, Clane, Co Kildare has since applied to draw social welfare.

Meanwhile, Benefacts, the public database of civil society organisations in Ireland has found that disclosure standards by charities in 2015 have fallen.

It said 23pc of all charities are opting to file abridged financial statements, which provide no information about the sources of their income.

The Charity Regulator, John Farrelly, is bringing in new regulations to force all charities to produce full accounts detailing how they spend their money.

He secured the agreement of Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to amend the Charities Act to make charities fully financially transparent.

The accounts will have to detail the level of funding, how it is spent and the salaries of its employees.

Over 320 charities have now adopted the SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice) system where they have voluntarily put forward detailed financial information.

Around 3,458 charities are companies.
Firefighters at the scene of a fire in West Dublin. Photo: Mark Ward

Firefighters at the scene of a fire in West Dublin. Photo: Mark Ward

Firefighters at the scene of a fire in West Dublin. Photo: Mark Ward

Firefighters at the scene of a fire in West Dublin. Photo: Mark Ward

New footage has emerged showing the damage caused by a massive fire at a Dublin apartment block which has left dozens of people homeless.

Drone footage captured by Dublin Fire Brigade shows an aerial view of the scene at the Verdemont Apartment on Snugborough Road, Blanchardstown, West Dublin.

A massive fire broke out at approximately 5.10pm yesterday.

The video shows the collapsed roof of the building as smoke billows out and some flames continue to smoulder.

A fire officer can be seen tackling the blaze from a turntable in the footage.

Locals living within the complex claimed that the cause of the fire was due to the flames of a resident's barbeque falling into his home on the fourth floor.

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The blaze quickly spread to the adjoining homes causing damage to the inside.

Reports have also suggested that the apartments on the bottom floor were damaged by water as the fire services extinguished the flames.

Dublin Fire Brigade are investigating if the fire was started by a barbecue.

Brycen Cluster and his roommate Taylor Thompson from Utah said that their home was one of those destroyed by the blaze.

We were living in the flat next door to the apartment that initially caught fire and heard a big bang and kids screaming outside.

We then walked to our window and saw the flames. We grabbed our shoes and managed to leave, but sadly didnt manage to take any of our possessions with us.

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The two 19 year olds who have been living in Ireland for two years added that a lot of sentimental items have been destroyed.

We dont know the extent of the damage yet, but just looking at our apartment from the outside its clear that not much will be saved.

We had a lot of family photos and personal things that are now gone.

Its still setting in to be honest, but I suppose its out of our control. At this stage and theres nothing you can do.

We have to just move on, he said.

Christina Farrell, a resident who lived near the affected apartment, said she helped alert her neighbours about the fire.

I was getting ready for the gym and when I came outside I saw a man on a balcony trying to put the fire out with a glass of water.

I then rang the fire brigade and they asked me what the situation was and how bad it was. They said just alert everyone and get them out

I went inside [the burning apartment] and started knocking on doors telling people to evacuate. By the time we got to the top floor there was so much smoke that it was hard to see so we had to get out of there.

Dublin Fire Brigade Tweeted photos showing flames and plumes of black smoke coming from the property.

DFB captioned the image: Were attending a large domestic fire in #Verdemont off the Snugborough Road.

6 pumps, Turntable Ladder and Command Support. #fire

Firefighters are attacking the #fire from a 100ft Turntable Ladder. We advise residents in the #Verdemont area to keep windows closed.

There is a water tanker to supplement supplies, a command support vehicle, plus ambulances and the AP car at the #Verdemont fire #fireEMS
A barbeque that fell over is believed by residents to have caused an apartment fire that left people running for their lives.

Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the scene at the Verdemont Apartment of the Snugborough Road in Blanchardstown in West Dublin at approximately 5.10pm on Wedensday.

Locals living within the complex have claimed that the cause of the fire was due to the flames of a residents barbeque falling into his home on the fourth floor.

The blaze quickly spread to the adjoining building causing detrimental damage to the inside.

We're attaending a large domestic fire in #Verdemont off the Snugborough Road. 6 pumps, Turntable Ladder and Command Support. #fire pic.twitter.com/biQFNDmXLX  Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) May 10, 2017

Reports have also suggested that the apartments on the bottom floor were damaged by water as the fire services extinguished the flames.

Brycen Cluster and his roommate Taylor Thompson from Utah said that their home was one of those destroyed by the blaze.

We were living in the flat next door to the apartment that initially caught fire and heard a big bang and kids screaming outside.

We then walked to our window and saw the flames. We grabbed our shoes and managed to leave, but sadly didnt manage to take any of our possessions with us.

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The two 19 year olds who have been living in Ireland for two years added that a lot of sentimental items have been destroyed.

We dont know the extent of the damage yet, but just looking at our apartment from the outside its clear that not much will be saved.

We had a lot of family photos and personal things that are now gone.

Its still setting in to be honest, but I suppose its out of our control. At this stage and theres nothing you can do.

We have to just move on, he said.

Christina Farrell, a resident who lived near the affected apartment, said she helped alert her neighbours about the fire.

I was getting ready for the gym and when I came outside I saw a man on a balcony trying to put the fire out with a glass of water.

I then rang the fire brigade and they asked me what the situation was and how bad it was. They said just alert everyone and get them out

I went inside [the burning apartment] and started knocking on doors telling people to evacuate. By the time we got to the top floor there was so much smoke that it was hard to see so we had to get out of there.

Dublin Fire Brigade Tweeted photos showing flames and plumes of black smoke coming from the property.

DFB captioned the image: Were attending a large domestic fire in #Verdemont off the Snugborough Road.

6 pumps, Turntable Ladder and Command Support. #fire

Firefighters are attacking the #fire from a 100ft Turntable Ladder. We advise residents in the #Verdemont area to keep windows closed.

There is a water tanker to supplement supplies, a command support vehicle, plus ambulances and the AP car at the #Verdemont fire #fireEMS

Motorists have been advised that diversions are in place.

A garda spokesman said in a statement: Gardai and other emergency services are currently at the scene of a major fire at the Verdemont apartment block, off the Snugborough Rd in Blanchardstown Dublin 15.

A number of significant traffic diversions are in place.

Residents have been offered alternative accommodation nearby tonight.
Running Man Update: Ramps Up Global Missions: Song Ji Hyo, Other Cast Members To Complete Russia, Mongolia Challenges

Avid "Running Man" fans in Russia and Mongolia may soon have the chance to see the said SBS show's cast members in person. Song Ji Hyo, Lee Kwang Soo, Haha, Yoo Jae Suk, Kim Jong Kook, Ji Suk Jin, Jun So Min and Yang Se Chan are set to embark on another set of global missions in the said countries.

Recent episodes of SBS' long-running variety program "Running Man" showed its cast members visiting interesting locations such as South Korea's Jeju, Taiwan, and Thailand. Part of the show's new format that was introduced when Jun So Min and Yang Se Chan joined the series, it appears that the production team is set to continue featuring the said worldwide challenges.

A representative from the SBS program told Korean news outlet Xports News that the "Running Man" staff added two new countries to the global mission's location list. Song Ji Hyo, Lee Kwang Soo, Haha, Yoo Jae Suk, Kim Jong Kook, Ji Suk Jin and the show's two new cast members will be divided into two teams with one group heading to Mongolia and the other to Russia.

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The "Running Man" cast and crew members are also looking at traveling to the said two countries either on May 14 or May 15, according to the said representative. However, the groupings between Song Ji Hyo and her fellow cast members is still unclear.

In other news, "Running Man" is under fire for featuring an inappropriate scene in one of its earlier episodes. Aired on April 2, the said episode showed Song Ji Hyo's castmate Haha grabbing a sensitive part of Choi Min Yong's body while the two were playing a game together. Despite the production team blurring out the part where Haha grabbed the actor's crotch, the Korea Communications Standards Commission included the SBS show on its list of programs to be reviewed for showing inappropriate content, All Kpop reported.

"Running Man" airs every Sunday on SBS. Watch a teaser clip for the show's next episode below:

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 2022 Korea Portal, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The director general of RTE told Communications Minister Denis Naughten that "RTE is in a truly critical place", at a recent meeting.

Dee Forbes highlighted to Mr Naughten "that the situation was much worse than the last time she met with the minister", during a meeting at Leinster House.

Ms Forbes stated RTE was in a critical place due to a number of factors, including the TV licence regime and impacts of external factors on its commercial income including Brexit.

According to the department's note of the meeting, made available in response to a Freedom of Information request, Ms Forbes said restructuring of the organisation was required but that no restructuring could take place without the land sale at Donnybrook.

RTE is hoping to make 75m from the sale of the 10-acre site. At the meeting, Ms Forbes made reference to the 14m disparity between the amount of licences that are distributed by the Department of Social Protection as part of the Household Benefit Package and the amount the department pays into the licence fee.

Ms Forbes told the minister there was never a more important time to have a national public service broadcaster, which could provide a voice and a platform for Ireland at home and abroad.

This week, Mr Naughten announced he would be putting out the task of collecting the TV licence monies to tender.

In a briefing document for the minister for the February meeting, it stated that the current cost of collecting the licence fee is 12m a year, or 5pc of the total licence revenues.

The brief stated that this "is expensive in comparison to other countries such as the UK where the cost of collecting the licence fee in 2014 was 2.7pc".

"It is considered that the costs of the agency role could be reduced substantially and the effectiveness of TV licence fee collection improved if the role of TV licence agent was put to tender," the brief added.

An Post currently collects the TV licence and the note stated that "in recognition of the important role of the post office network in rural areas, any tender would also contain a requirement that the network continues to be used as an outlet for the sale of TV licences".

"As recommended by the 2014 NewERA review, proceeds of the (Montrose) sale will not be used for current expenditure purposes but rather capital investment such as digital infrastructure and organisational restructuring," it said.

The brief stated that RTE has experienced cuts totalling 18m arising from the 2011 decision to cap Department of Social Protection contributions for 'free licences'; a further cut of 5m imposed in 2014; and the decision to use 9.245m of licence fee income to part-fund TG4.

It said that the 18m in cuts was partially rectified by a 2017 budget measure of restoring 6m in central funding to RTE.

The TV licence fee evasion levels rate are at 13.75pc and are regarded as high, according to the note.

It described the sale of the 10 acres at Montrose as "not a quick fix and needs to balance maximising possible receipts with retaining a credible broadcasting facility".

The brief pointed out that RTE is worth 550m to the economy, while its commercial funding has dropped 100m since 2009.

It said that in response to the cuts, licence evasion and drop in commercial funding, RTE has reduced its operating costs by 30pc, staff costs by 25pc and staff numbers by 21pc - or 500 - between 2008 and 2013.

The spend by RTE on independently produced commissions has fallen from more than 70m in 2008 to 40m in 2014.
Tourists being left stranded at Lisbon airport in Portugal after a fuel pump breakdown grounded flights Photo: PA

A fuel glitch at Lisbon Airport on Wednesday caused travel chaos as a number of flights were cancelled, with passengers being forced to sleep on the floor of the airport.

Two flights to Dublin Airport - one with British Airways and one with Aer Lingus - were both cancelled, while a Ryanair flight scheduled to fly at 10am was also delayed and a number of others cancelled.

A failure in the underground pumping system used to deliver fuel to airplanes was the root of the problem.

Passengers described the conditions as "animal-like", while those booked on an easyJet flight from Gatwick were forced to spend eleven hours stuck on a plane before departing at around 6am this morning.

Ella Sykes (27) from Leeds, said the scene in the terminal was "absolute carnage" when she and a friend arrived at the airport at 2pm for a 5.30pm Ryanair flight to Manchester after a short break in Lisbon.

Speaking to the Press Association on Thursday morning, she said: "We have been here all night.

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"It's 17 hours now and we still haven't had any information from Ryanair. We have given up on the queues. We've booked a flight from Faro tomorrow morning.

"We are exhausted and we've had to fork out for accommodation overnight as well. And I was meant to be at work this morning."

She added that they were "treated like animals".

Airport authorities could not confirm when operations would be fully restored.

#lisbonairport tonight... Managed to get our flight to Stansted but feel terrible 4 those who wait 7 hrs to have theirs cancelled! #ryanair pic.twitter.com/RN02q9hyCa  Verity_AM (@Verity_AM) May 11, 2017

NINE hours at #lisbonairport WHERE R U @Ryanair THREATEN LIKE ANIMALS #bbc#RTBF#lisbonairport#shameairport#humanrights pic.twitter.com/WyB2Unbzbc  Romane Rouffart (@RomaneRouffart) May 11, 2017

No planes allowed to land at #lisbonairport till 5am and they are keeping us on the plane! Disgrace #easyjet  julemandel (@julemandel) May 10, 2017

@rewindthefilth Due to a failure in the fuel supply system at Lisbon Airport, totally out of TAPs control, all flights are constrained.  TAP Portugal (@taportugal) May 10, 2017

In its last statement at 1am, it said the situation would be resolved "shortly" but delays will be widespread on Thursday.

Ryanair also issued a statement on the matter: "Due to a fuelling system outage at Lisbon Airport last night, we regret that we were forced to cancel a number of flights to/from Lisbon. All affected customers were provided with refreshment and accommodation vouchers, were contacted by email and SMS text message and advised of their options of a full refund, a free transfer onto the next available flight, or a free transfer onto an alternative flight route, in full compliance with EU261 legislation.

"Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this disruption, which was entirely beyond our control."
The victim of a targeted shooting in Clonshaugh, James 'Mago' Gately (30), warned gardai last year that the Kinahan/Hutch feud would end until cartel boss Daniel Kinahan was shot dead.

Father-of-two Gately is originally from Portland Row in Dublin's north inner city. However, he has been in hiding in Northern Ireland for several months.

He has been officially warned over a dozen times that his life is under threat and last month was named in court as a murder target.

Gately has around 30 previous criminal convictions, but mostly for traffic offences.

However the latest of these convictions was for dangerous driving relating to an incident in which Gately and his friend Patrick Hutch Jnr (25) were arrested by armed gardai investigating the Regency Hotel shooting.

Hutch was later charged with the murder of key Kinahan associate David Byrne (33) at the hotel as well as firearms offences and will face trial at the non-jury Special Criminal Court.

Gately is not facing charges in relation to the Regency Hotel attack on February, 5, last year. In November, 2012, he was arrested and then released without charge by detectives investigating the murder of Eamon 'The Don' Dunne.

He was also questioned about the murder of dad-of-five Ray Collins who was shot dead in Summerhill in Dublin's north inner city in November 2006, but he was also released without charge in that case.

Gately has been a close associate of the Hutch clan since he was a child and was photographed carrying the coffin of Gary Hutch.

In the aftermath of Gary Hutch's death, sources revealed that Gately refused to attend a number of cartel meetings as he was "disgusted and heartbroken" about what had happened to Gary Hutch.
Our resident GP Nina Byrnes answers your medical questions.

Q. I am 11-weeks pregnant and I am absolutely terrified that I may have caused irreparable damage to my baby. I am happy to be expecting, but it wasn't a planned baby. The thing is, I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was eight weeks pregnant and in the six weeks between conception and finding out, I had four very boozy weekends. I am talking at least a bottle of wine and about three or four cocktails each time. I would also have had a glass or two of wine three of the other nights in each of the six weeks.

There has been a lot in the media recently about foetal alcohol syndrome and I am terrified that I will have a baby with learning difficulties as a result. I am so worried that I'm not sure if I can continue with the pregnancy. Can you help?

A. Congratulations on your pregnancy. This is a very precious time. Up to one in two pregnancies are unplanned so you are not alone. It is great that you are looking forward to motherhood and your focus should be on your physical and mental health moving forwards.

You still have another 29 weeks to go and leading a healthy lifestyle in that time will reap huge benefits for you and your baby.

I can fully understand why you are concerned about drinking alcohol in the first eight weeks. There is no known safe limit of drinking in pregnancy and the official advice is to avoid alcohol during this time. The reasoning behind this is that we know that any alcohol does cross the placenta. A baby's exposure to alcohol can lead to foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

Babies born with FAS may be born prematurely. They may not grow as well as they should and can be underweight. In childhood they may be slower to have language skills and may have learning difficulties and difficulties with attention and memory. They may be more prone to hyperactivity. Those with FAS can have physical signs including a thin upper lip, small eyes or a flattened groove between upper lip and nose. FAS is most likely in those who have been drinking heavily in pregnancy.

It is unclear whether there is any safe level of alcohol in pregnancy. There have been conflicting studies. A Danish study done in 2012 suggested small amounts of alcohol didn't cause any damage. More recently a Finnish study contradicted this stating alcohol in the first few weeks could have an adverse effect. This study was however done on mice so any predictions in humans are estimated.

It wouldn't be ethical to undertake a randomized controlled study looking at alcohol use in pregnant mothers so any evidence we do have will always be observational in nature meaning there may be other factors, beyond the studies control, affecting results.

There is no point beating yourself up for what you did before you knew you were pregnant. Do talk to your obstetrician about your concerns but if you are an otherwise healthy person and you don't drink heavily on a regular basis it is very unlikely that those nights out did major harm. The important thing now is to focus on your wellbeing for the rest of your pregnancy.

Avoid alcohol moving forwards. Eat well including lots of healthy unprocessed foods that are rich in iron, folate, vitamin C and minerals. Ensure five portions of dairy a day and plenty of vitamin D to absorb it. Keep healthy snacks such as nuts to hand. Keep caffeine to a minimum and drink plenty water.

Get plenty of exercise. Being physically fit will help you through pregnancy labour and beyond. Don't smoke and don't let others smoke around you. This will harm your baby. Most importantly mind your mental health. Pregnancy and motherhood brings great joy but can also be a time of stress and anxiety. Don't let things get on top of you. If you feel overwhelmed talk to someone you trust. Be reassured, it is most likely you will welcome a healthy bouncing baby into the world.
The US Department of Homeland Security is considering banning laptops and other devices from the cabins of flights from Europe.

An announcement is expected today, Thursday, according to several reports.

In March, the Department of Homeland Security banned laptops and other large electronic devices such as tablets on US-bound flights from 10 airports in North Africa and the Middle East. The UK followed suit with a similar ban on several routes.

The ban was introduced due to intelligence indicating that terrorist groups targeting commercial aviation "are aggressively pursuing" ways to take down aircraft using bombs smuggled in consumer devices, according to the Department.

It is not known which (or how many) European countries an extended ban might apply to, but it would almost certainly affect both US and European carriers.

"We'll likely expand the restrictions," David Lapan, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, told The New York Times.

Homeland Security secretary John F. Kelly is expected to brief senators on security today, but there is no indication as to when a wider ban may commence.

The US has been stepping up vetting and aviation security measures in recent years - a trend that shows no sign of slowing down under the Trump administration.

Critics of the laptop and electronic device ban say placing hundreds of lithium batteries in luggage holds could present fire risks.

Mobile phones are not affected by the bans.
Pat Ward of Dublin Port and Jo Rzymowska, Celebrity Cruises, with Christina Kelly and her Irish wolfhound. Picture: Conor McCabe

A luxury cruise ship that is twice the length of Croke Park docked in Dublin Port yesterday.

The 2,850-passenger Solstice Class ship, a star liner of Celebrity Cruises, arrived in Dublin on its maiden voyage.

A troupe of Irish dancers welcomed passengers to Dublin as they disembarked on Ocean Pier 33.

Eclipse is just one of five Solstice Class ships operated by Celebrity, with premium features including a rooftop lawn with real grass, a high-end spa, a professional photo studio and an in-house glass blowing show performed for passengers.

Size

Because of its size, the ship was 'reversed' stern-first into Dublin Port.

Passengers were given the day to explore the city, which Celebrity Cruises CEO and president Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said was fast becoming a top destination for cruisers.

A record 130 ships are expected to bring 200,000 passengers and crew to the city in 2017, according to Dublin Port.

Celebrity Eclipse began its current, 10-day president's cruise from Southampton and will end its Western-European voyage in Iceland.
BEIJING, May 9, (ChinaMil) -- The Rocket Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA) recently conducted an operational test for its new-type missile weapons in waters of the Bohai Sea and achieved the expected results, said the Information Bureau of China's Ministry of National Defense(MND) on Tuesday.

China's MND Information Bureau was asked by the media on Tuesday to confirm whether the PLA Rocket Force had conducted a trial firing of missile recently.

The Information Bureau answered that, to improve the troops' capability of carrying out missions and efficiently deal with national security threats, the PLA Rocket Force recently conducted an operational test for its new-type missile weapons in waters of the Bohai Sea according to the annual training plan and achieved the expected results.
The armed robbers who attacked Kim Kardashian in Paris last year previously scrapped plans to target the reality star after discovering she was travelling with her husband Kanye West.

The mother-of-two was bound, gagged, and robbed at gunpoint last October when a group of masked men stormed her private hotel suite in the French capital and stole millions of dollars' worth of jewellery and electronics.

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Police officials have since charged 10 suspects in connection to the crime, and during their investigation, it was revealed the same gang had planned to pull off the robbery during one of Kim's earlier visits to Paris, but called off the raid when it became clear she wouldn't be alone.

Kim learned of the prior plans during her meeting with French prosecutors and a judge in New York in February, when she gave them her side of the story, and she later shared the information with her mother, Kris Jenner, in scenes filmed for their family reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

In a preview of this weekend's US episode, Kim talks her mum through the process of her testimony, which lasted eight hours.

"So they showed me pictures of all of them (robbers)...," she explains.

"I think it was really interesting to see the faces of everyone - just by their height and weight, I could tell who from this line-up was in the room with me (at the time of the heist). I was able to see who confessed... They were pretty honest and did tell most of the story exactly how it happened."

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She continues, "It's really interesting to see what their side of the story is. And to hear the background information of how they had been following me, and how they attempted to rob me the last time I was in Paris but my husband was with me."

Expand Close TV personalities Kim Kardashian West (L) and Kourtney Kardashian attend the premiere of Open Road Films' "The Promise" at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 12, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp TV personalities Kim Kardashian West (L) and Kourtney Kardashian attend the premiere of Open Road Films' "The Promise" at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 12, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Kim, 36, did not share exactly when her previous visit to Paris with Kanye had taken place in the teaser footage.

The revelation emerges after Kim admitted the terrifying ordeal had left her with trust issues which makes her constantly feel "on edge".

Video of the Day

During last weekend's episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, she said of the attack, "It definitely opened up my eyes to a whole different world that I can't erase - I can't go backwards. Life is always going to be different. Now I just have to be super aware of everything that I do and who I share it with."
Debris at the site of the accident in Bharatpur District, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of New Delhi, India (KK Productions via AP)

A building wall has collapsed on to guests at a wedding in western India, killing at least 24 people, officials said.

Hundreds of guests were having dinner or assembling on outdoor lawns when a strong dust storm blew into the area, forcing people on the lawns to go indoors.

Then the 80ft-long wall collapsed on to people inside the wedding hall, Bharatpur district magistrate NK Gupta told reporters.

Another 28 people were injured and taken to hospital, police officer Anil Tank told Press Trust of India. He said police had registered a case of culpable homicide against the building owner and were questioning him.

The district is in Rajasthan state nearly 125 miles south of New Delhi.

Building collapses are common in India, where high demand for housing and lax regulations have encouraged some builders to cut corners, use substandard materials or add unauthorised extra floors.

In 2013, a building being constructed illegally in Mumbai caved in, killing 74 people in the country's worst building collapse in decades.

AP
The leaked draft of Labours election manifesto includes commitments to nationalise or renationalise many British industries.

But what does that mean?

What is nationalisation?

Nationalisation is the transfer of a private business to state ownership or control. It is normally applied to the takeover of major branches of industry and companies rather than smaller businesses.

Which industries does Labour want to nationalise, according to the draft?

The draft includes nationalisation plans for the energy industry, the railway and bus networks and Royal Mail.

Would this mean the government would just take over running all of those industries?

Rail networks would be nationalised as each private franchise expires. Publicly owned bus companies would be set up. Royal Mail would return to public ownership (it was privatised fully in 2015) and a state owned rival company to the existing Big Six private energy firms would be created.

What do nationalisation supporters say?

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Unite boss Len McCluskey said the manifesto policies in general were really really exciting and described rail renationalisation as the most popular policy out there.

A YouGov poll in 2015 showed 58% of people supported re-nationalising rail, water supplies and other utilities.

Even though the railways are currently privately owned, the government still provides spends a large amount of money operating, maintaining, renewing and enhancing the railway  to the tune of 4.8 billion in 2015-2016.

What do its critics say?

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Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: Proposals to damage the UKs flexible labour market and competitive markets will threaten jobs and prosperity.

Critics of nationalisation say keeping businesses and industries privately owned leads to increased efficiency and less government subsidy.

Has nationalisation been done before?

Many industries were nationalised during the 20th century.

They include railways, coal mining, the electricity, gas, iron and steel and civil aviation industries, telecommunications, the Bank of England and healthcare, which led to the formation of the NHS.

All of this was done by the Attlee Labour government in the late 1940s.

Have any famous names been nationalised?

Rolls-Royce was nationalised in 1971 by the Conservative Heath government after problems in its aviation engine arm left it in administration and on the brink of total collapse.

Similarly the Northern Rock bank was nationalised in 2008 during the Financial Crisis. Travel firm Thomas Cook was in state hands between 1948 and 1972 because it was owned by a rail firm when that industry was nationalised after the Second World War.

Was all nationalisation post-war?

According to the National Archives in 1916, during the First World War, five breweries and more than 300 pubs and bars in what is now northern Cumbria and south-west Scotland were nationalised as part of the Carlisle Experiment, so the government could control and reduce drinking by workers at armament factories in the area, as part of a nationwide drive to boost war production.

So what happened?

Sell-offs have happened at various points but they sped up after Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979, promising widespread deregulation after the industrial turmoil of the 1970s.

Her government privatised British Telecom, British Aerospace, British Airways, British Gas and the British Steel Corporation among others.

Her successor John Major broke up British Rail and, most recently, the government sold its last shares in Royal Mail in 2015, having floated it it in 2013.
The boy found a gun at his home and shot himself

A four-year-old boy has died after shooting himself with a gun he found in his home.

Grandmother LaToya Glover said Garrion Glover Jr, of East Chicago, Indiana, "got hold of a gun and he shot himself".

She said everyone else in the house was asleep at the time of the shooting early on Thursday.

Coroners said the boy was pronounced dead in hospital at about 3am local time.

Cousin Kenny Trout said Garrion liked to play with toy guns and probably thought the weapon was a toy.

It was not immediately clear who owed the gun.

Mrs Glover added that the boy's father died in a homicide at the same apartment complex two years ago where many residents own guns for protection.

AP
Espen Barth Eide leaves the presidential palace after a meeting with Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia, Cyprus (AP)

Talks aimed at reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus are at risk of collapse because of a possible "international crisis", a UN envoy said amid tensions over oil and gas exploration off the island.

Espen Barth Eide said "we may be looking forward to rather dramatic times" and urged everyone involved in peace talks to work to reduce tensions.

He said Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades - a Greek Cypriot - and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have taken the peace process farther in two years of negotiations than any of their predecessors over decades of failed attempts.

"To see that go to waste because of an international crisis would be very sad for all of us," he told reporters after a meeting with Mr Anastasiades.

Earlier this week, Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said Turkey's "threats" to prevent oil and gas exploration off Cyprus could be designed to scuttle peace talks, while Mr Anastasiades criticised the UN envoy of bias.

On Thursday, Mr Anastasiades said Cyprus' hydrocarbons search "won't be affected by whichever threats".

"Nothing is changing the government's plans, which is exercising its sovereign rights inside its Exclusive Economic Zone," he told reporters.

Moving forward with drilling would be best for Greek and Turkish Cypriots to get the fastest benefit from any oil and gas discoveries, he said.

Cyprus was split into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Turkey recognises the Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and keeps more than 35,000 troops in the north.

The country opposes what it calls a unilateral Greek Cypriot search for hydrocarbons, saying it ignores the rights of Turkish Cypriots to the island's mineral wealth.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry warned in March that it would "take all necessary measures to protect its interests" in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as those of the Turkish Cypriots.

A Turkish ship is currently conducting seismic surveys off Cyprus's eastern coast.

French energy company Total is scheduled to drill an exploratory well off the southern coast in mid-July.

The Cyprus government has dispatched a letter to the UN chief detailing how Turkey's actions are undermining peace talks, said Mr Christodoulides.

AP
(Xinhua) 08:20, May 11, 2017

BRASILIA, May 10 -- Brazil's sweeping investigation into the Petrobras corruption ring, named Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash), reached new heights of media and public attention on Wednesday as former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was interrogated by judge Sergio Moro.

At 2 p.m. local time, Lula's interrogation began at the federal tribunal of Curitiba, capital of the state of Parana, with Moro seeking answers to charges of corruption and money laundering against the charismatic politician.

Upon arriving at the court, Lula received applause and cheers by a large number of supporters, which were kept back around 150 meters from the building.

Thousands of activists from Lula's Workers' Party (PT), the Central Workers' Union (CUT) and others had gathered to celebrate the former leader and denounce what they see as a conspiracy against him. Lula's successor and friend, former President Dilma Rousseff, was also on hand to lend her support.

A smaller group of protesters, who support Lula's appearance in court, also made their voices heard.

The interrogation saw Moro interviewing Lula for around three hours, before turning the witness over to federal prosecutors and then allowing the defense team to have their turn.

Earlier in the day, Brazil's Supreme Court rejected a petition by Lula's defense team to postpone his testimony.

His lawyers claimed they had not had enough time to review all the documentation related to the case and requested 90 days to analyze it. They stated they had received around 5,000 documents, with a total of around 100,000 pages, over the last couple of weeks.

Lula is accused of having received bribes worth 3.7 million reais (1.15 million U.S. dollars) from the OAS construction company, in the form of a three-floor apartment in Guaruja, a resort town on the coast of Sao Paulo.

Should he be found guilty and should the sentence then be upheld by a higher court, Lula would be automatically barred from standing for president in the 2018 election. Opinion polls constantly show him as the most favored candidate by the Brazilian electorate.

Also on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurelio de Mello said there was no current motive to detain Lula.

Speaking to the press during Lula's interrogation, Mello said the court case into Lula was not concluded but that, for the moment, "it is not necessary to halt the natural order of the judicial process."

He said that this order should be "investigate, prove guilt and carry out the sentence... What should be an exception, provisional prison...has become the norm."

Moro, the head judge for Lava Jato, has been criticized for maintaining various accused people in preventive prison for long periods.

There is no precise date for Moro to give his ruling on Lula's case but it is expected to take several weeks.
Emmanuel Macron will be France's youngest president when he takes power on Sunday (AP)

Former French prime minister Manuel Valls has been rejected by President-elect Emmanuel Macron's movement as it tries to reshape politics.

It is a tough blow for the once-popular Mr Valls, who cracked down on security as France was hit with extremist attacks and had been seen as potential presidential material himself.

He asked to run for parliament next month as part of Mr Macron's movement Republic on the Move, but party secretary Richard Ferrand said on Thursday that his request was denied.

That was because he has already served three parliamentary terms, one of the criteria for ruling out potential candidates as the party tries to put fresh faces in politics.

However, Mr Ferrand said the party would not present a candidate to run against Mr Valls in his constituency of Evry, south of Paris.

The announcement came as Republic on the Move revealed a list of 428 people running for parliament - half of them are women, and most have never held elected office.

Mr Ferrand told reporters that 95% of the candidates are not part of the outgoing National Assembly.

All 577 seats in the lower house of parliament are up for grabs in the elections.

Mr Ferrand said the average age of Mr Macron's candidates is 46, compared to 60 for the outgoing assembly.

The list includes a few unemployed people and students as well.

Mr Ferrand said the movement received more than 19,000 dossiers from people answering its call for candidates.

AP
A pregnant motorist who chased and ploughed into a cyclist, sending him flying into a tree, has been jailed for three years.

Justine Henshaw-Bryan rammed a Ford Fiesta into Damien Doughty on February 10 last year after he confronted her for using a mobile phone behind the wheel.

The 25-year-old of Lister Court, Yoakley Road, Hackney, was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving following a trial at Wood Green Crown Court.

Pregnant motorist jailed for driving into cyclist who tackled her on using phone Code 1

Sentencing, Judge Gregory Perrins told Henshaw-Bryan her actions could have killed the victim, and that she must have been aware of the risk her dangerous driving presented to him.

This was a calculated attempt to run him over and use your car as a weapon, he added. It would have been obvious that to do so would have carried significant risk of injury (to the cyclist). Those who are unable to control their temper while driving and feel that cyclists are fair game must be dealt with severely.

Judge Perrins jailed Henshaw-Bryan, who is due to give birth in November, for three years, and handed her a four-a-half-year driving disqualification and six penalty points.

The court heard how the pair nearly collided on Stoke Newington High Street in north London when Henshaw-Bryan pulled out in front of the cycle courier while using her device. Following the incident, the court heard how Mr Doughty was left with a number of injuries including a serious one to his liver, and spent two weeks in hospital, three days of which were in intensive care.
That certain je ne sais quoi: Brigitte Trogneux with her husband Emmanuel Macron on the red carpet

The newly-elected President of France claimed that misogyny and homophobia were to blame for assumptions that he could not be in love with his wife who is 24 years his senior.

Speaking to Le Parisien newspaper, Emmanuel Macron addressed speculations about his sexuality and what he described as "parallel lives" people had attached to him.

Mr Macron said that if his wife was younger than him, nobody would question the validity of their relationship.

"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."

Reports concerning his relationship, he claimed, were due to "misogyny" and people ascribing to "traditional, homogenous" views about society.

Expand Close Wife of Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Trogneux leaves the polling station of the the town hall after casting their vote in the second round of the French presidential elections on May 07 2017 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Wife of Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Trogneux leaves the polling station of the the town hall after casting their vote in the second round of the French presidential elections on May 07 2017

Mr Macron first met his wife, Brigitte Trogneux, when he was a 15-year-old drama student. They developed a closer relationship when they worked together to re-write a play.

The couple married in 2007, when he was almost 30 and she was 54. During the presidential campaign, Ms Macron has been a constant figure by his side.

A new biography of the politician revealed that the teenagers parents were shocked when they discovered he had started an affair with his married school teacher.

Mr Macron, who beat Front National candidate Marine Le Pen at the weekend with 66.1 per cent of the vote, also addressed rumours that he was gay.

He claimed there was rampant homophobia as people would accuse him of being a homosexual as if it was a "stain" or a "hidden disease".

Mr Macron said that people who peddled or accepted such rumours had "lost their sense of reality" and had a "big problem with homosexuality".

"There is a big problem with the presentation of society and [how they see] the place of women," he added.

The President said such rumours about him were also destabilising for those who were closest to him and he was "sad" that politics was not more "civilised".

( Independent News Service)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he hopes the United States will reverse its decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters perceived as terrorists by Ankara.

Mr Erdogan's remarks came a day after the US announced it would arm the fighters as a necessary step to recapture Isil's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

Mr Erdogan said the "fight against terrorism should not be led with another terror organisation" and that "we want to know that our allies will side with us and not with terror organisations".

The president said he would take up the issue during a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump on May 16.

Mr Erdogan said: "I hope that it [the US] will turn away from this wrong."

Turkey views the YPG as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist group by the US, Turkey and Europe.

"The US administration still has chances to consider Turkey's sensitivities on the PKK. If there is a decision otherwise, this will surely have consequences and will yield a negative result for the US as well," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

Mr Yildirim said he could not imagine the US having to choose between Turkey's strategic partnership and a terrorist organisation.

The US sees the YPG as a valuable partner in the fight against Isil militants in northern Syria, and says arming it is necessary to recapturing Raqqa, Isil's de facto capital in Syria and a hub for planning attacks against the West.

That argument holds little sway with Ankara, which fears advances by the YPG in northern Syria could inflame the PKK insurgency on Turkish soil.

While Turkey could impose limits on the use of the Incirlik base, that would hamper operations against Isil, which also menaces Turkey itself and has claimed responsibility for attacks including the bombing of Istanbul airport.

Turkey could also step up air strikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq. Turkish warplanes attacked Kurdish YPG fighters in northeastern Syria and Iraq's Sinjar region late last month.

Meanwhile, Air strikes killed at least 11 people, including four children, in a village north of Raqqa overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said warplanes, thought to belong to the US-led military coalition, hit al-Salihiya village.
Ruslan Sokolovsky and his mother Yelena Chingina in the court in Yekaterinburg, Russia (Alexei Bulatov/Komsomolskaya Pravda photo via AP)

A Russian blogger has been given a suspended sentence after being convicted of inciting religious hatred by playing Pokemon Go in a church.

Ruslan Sokolovsky posted a video on his blog last year showing him playing the smartphone game in a church built on the supposed spot where the last Russian tsar and his family were killed.

He has been in detention since October.

Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak found Sokolovsky guilty of inciting religious hatred and gave him a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence.

It is the same offence that sent two women from the Pussy Riot punk collective to prison for two years in 2012.

Sokolovsky's behaviour and his anti-religious videos manifested his "disrespect for society", Ms Shoponyak said in televised remarks, adding that he "intended to offend religious sentiments".

Ms Shoponyak pointed out that the 22-year-old video blogger was on trial not only for playing the game in the church but also for posting several videos that offended believers.

She listed "mockery of the immaculate conception", ''denial of the existence of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad" and "giving an offensive description of Patriarch Kirill", the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Sokolovsky thanked the media for raising the alarm about the trial, which has been widely described as a witch hunt: "I would probably have been sent to prison if it wasn't for the journalists' support."

Once an officially atheist state, Russia has made a stunning turnaround since the fall of the Soviet Union with the majority of Russians now identifying themselves as Orthodox Christians.

Although most Russians are not observant, the Kremlin has been eager to harness faith to promote its own agenda.

The guilty verdict for the Pussy Riot members emboldened radical religious activists who have been successful in their public campaigns to get theatre performances banned and exhibitions closed.

Last year, activists launched a drive to collect signatures to end state funding for abortion.

Sokolovsky's conviction caused outrage in Russia with many prominent figures describing it as a condemnation of atheism.

"I was born and grew up in the Soviet Union where 98% of citizens were atheists," opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Twitter on Thursday while the hearing was being webcast.

"And now I'm listening to a verdict where a man has been convicted for atheism."

AP
Chibok schoolgirls recently freed from extremist captivity are being cared for by the government in the capital Abuja (Sunday Alamba/AP)

Nigeria's government is negotiating "seriously" for the release of more than 110 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls still held by Boko Haram, and has said it is willing to exchange more detained members of the extremist group for them if needed.

Minister of women's affairs and social development Aisha Alhassan said: "We will not relent until all are back," as she addressed reporters in the capital Abuja.

The mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from a boarding school three years ago brought world attention to Boko Haram's deadly rampage in northern Nigeria. Thousands of people have been kidnapped or killed in the group's eight-year insurgency, with millions driven from their homes.

On Saturday, 82 of the Chibok schoolgirls were released. Nigeria's government exchanged them for five detained Boko Haram commanders.

Negotiations with the extremist group, mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government, also resulted in the October release of a first group of 21 Chibok girls.

Ms Alhassan said Nigeria's government has no regrets about exchanging Boko Haram commanders for the schoolgirls' release.

"We'll do it again if needed," she said in comments tweeted by Nigeria's government.

Families in Chibok are meeting with community leaders to identify the freed schoolgirls from photos.

The young women are joining those released earlier in government care in Abuja, where they are undergoing medical screening that will take a couple of weeks, Ms Alhassan said. Some must undergo surgery, she added.

The group of girls released in October were in "bad shape" and spent two months in medical care, the minister said.

Human rights groups have criticised the government for keeping them so long in the capital, far from their homes. Ms Alhassan said they travelled to Chibok for Christmas but upon their return to the capital said they were scared to go back to their community.

The girls said they wanted to go back to school so a nine-month reintegration programme was designed for them, the minister said. The newly released girls will join that programme.

AP
BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese central government has called for more efforts in helping college graduates get jobs or start businesses, according to statement issued after a national tele-conference on employment Wednesday.

Premier Li Keqiang's written instruction on employment was read out at the conference, which was attended by vice premiers Liu Yandong and Ma Kai.

The employment of college graduates matters to China's social stability, as a total of 7.95 million college students are expected to graduate in 2017, according to the Ministry of Education.

The central government asked local authorities and schools to encourage the students to work in the grassroots and seek jobs or start businesses in advanced manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, services and agriculture.

In terms of general employment, the central government stressed enhanced vocational training and other public services.

China has set employment targets of 11 million new urban jobs and a registered urban unemployment rate under 4.5 percent this year.
There was no immediate comment from Nicolas Maduro or Venezuela's government (AP)

A former political consultant has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of paying her 11 million US dollars (8.5 million) to cover the costs of the 2012 election campaign of Hugo Chavez, using money she says was provided illegally by Brazilian companies.

Monica Moura, a Brazilian who was running the Chavez campaign with her husband, made the accusation in plea bargain evidence that is part of Brazil's probe into a huge bribery scheme at the state oil company Petrobras.

She alleged most of the cash given to her by Mr Maduro came from major Brazilian construction companies Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez.

There was no immediate comment from Mr Maduro or Venezuela's government about the accusations, which were made public by Brazil's Supreme Court.

Ms Moura told Brazilian authorities that Mr Maduro gave her binders filled with cash at his office when he was Venezuela's foreign minister under Mr Chavez, his predecessor as president.

Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez spokesmen declined to comment on her evidence, but said the companies are co-operating with Brazilian investigators.

Odebrecht has admitted in a plea deal with US prosecutors that it paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes across Latin America for help in winning public works contracts.

Ms Moura is married to Joao Santana, Brazil's most acclaimed political campaigner.

No documentation for Ms Moura's allegations was presented with her evidence, but she said in one excerpt that she has evidence, including data on Swiss bank accounts allegedly used by the Brazilian companies to pay the money funnelled to her by Mr Maduro.

"Odebrecht paid about 7 million dollars in connection with the work delivered by Polis Caribe, and Andrade Gutierrez paid 2 million dollars through Swiss banks in an account named Shelbill, in connection with the value of the political project of the campaign" for Mr Chavez's re-election, she said.

In February, Ms Moura and her husband were sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for money laundering in a separate case tied to the Petrobras probe. They were released on bail as they wait for a decision on an appeal.

Ms Moura also made accusations against former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

She said shoe boxes filled with cash were used to pay for her services in his re-election campaign in 2006. She said her company was illegally paid with about 3.5 million dollars (2.7 million) at current exchange rates during Mr Silva's campaign.

Half of that amount was paid by Odebrecht, she said.

AP
This award was established in 2006 and recognizes the Top 20 volunteers in North Carolina. Award recipients are nominated at the county level and evaluated by a panel of community service leaders from across the state. Adkins is the first recipient of the Medallion Award for Volunteer Service from Iredell County.
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.
Summer vacation is right around the corner. While many people are looking to head to popular destinations like Florida or California, Hoosiers shouldnt neglect all the beauty and culture Indiana has to offer.

Check out our four picks for cool staycation destinations.

Chesterton, Indiana

The town of Chesterton is located in Westchester Township, Porter County, Indiana, and is about 50 miles southeast of Chicago, close to the southern shore of Lake Michigan and the sand hills known as the Indiana Dunes.

Drive time from Indianapolis: 2 hours, 30 minutes (via I-65 N)

Point of interest: Indiana Dunes State Park

Who said you needed to hop a flight to see the beach? The Indiana Dunes State Park is home to world class beaches along Lake Michigan and 70 miles of hiking and biking trails. Visitors can also enjoy fishing, bird watching (more than 350 species live nearby) and more.

Crown Point, Indiana

Crown Point, the county seat of Lake County, boasts a population of nearly 30,000 and is a town filled with things to do and experiences to enjoy.

Drive time from Indianapolis: 2 hours, 8 minutes (via I-65 N)

Point of interest: John Dillinger Museum

The museum, located inside the historic Lake County Courthouse, invites curious visitors to take an interactive journey through the world of Dillinger and his band of gangsters. Items of interest include the trousers he was wearing that the time of his death outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago, the wooden gun he used to escape from jail and his lucky rabbits foot.

Corydon, Indiana

Located in a part of the state affectionately known as Kentuckiana, Corydon is a city full of history and Hoosier culture. The former state capitol is known for its proximity to nature and sits on the Ohio River.

Drive time from Indianapolis: 2 hours, 5 minutes (via I-65 S)

Point of interest: Marengo Cave

According to current geologic theory, Marengo Cave began to form approximately one million years ago. Marengo Cave offers easy walking tours that will amaze adults and children alike. The Dripstone Trail tour is 1 mile, lasting 60 minutes. The Crystal Palace tour is one-third of a mile, lasting 40 minutes in duration. Both tours are guided and are offered year-round. The cave is considered one of the states top natural attractions.

Richmond, Indiana

Visiting Richmond is like taking a journey through our states past. Whether patronizing the Amish retailers or spending time at a former Underground Railroad station, history lovers and adventurers alike will enjoy this cool city.

Drive time from Indianapolis: 1 hour, 4 minutes (via I-70 E)

Point of interest: Antique Alley

Antique Alley in Wayne County, Indiana, is a must-do activity if searching for treasures from the past is your passion. Youll want to explore the antique shops along Antique Alley Trail #1 and Antique Alley Trail #2. From stained glass, china, vintage furniture and old-school kitchen gadgets, youre sure to find what youre looking for, and possibly something you never imagined.

(Sources: visitrichmond.org, marengocave.com, chestertonin.org)
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 12, 2017. U.S.(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, May 10 -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia, the White House said.

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington DC, Trump raised the possibility of broader cooperation on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, the White House said in a statement.

The meeting came amid tensions between the U.S. and Russia as the two countries hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of NATO.

Trump, who has expressed hopes of repairing relations with Moscow, said last month that the U.S. was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."

At Wednesday's meeting, Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, underscoring the need for Russia to "rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies."

After Trump ordered missile strikes on a Syria airbase last month in response to Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, the Russian government condemned the military action, calling Washington's move "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law."

On Ukraine, Trump expressed his Administration's commitment to remain engaged in resolving the conflict and stressed Russia's responsibility to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

The U.S., along with some European allies, has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia in response to what they called the annexation of Crimea and destabilizing activities in eastern Ukraine.

After the meeting, Lavrov told reporters that Trump confirmed his interest in building "mutually beneficial" relations with Russia.

Earlier in the day, Lavrov held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a range of issues, including Ukraine, Syria, and bilateral concerns.
Theres something about travel that changes your perspective. Being in an alien atmosphere with foreign tongues and customs forces you to rely on an often-underutilized part of yourself  a part that is more instinctual, open and exploratory. That is, if youre doing it right. Author Miriam Beard once said, Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.

For Zimbabwean native Patrick Simbarashe Chakauya, creator of Butsu Footwear, his diverse upbringing in concert with his vast travels have transformed his identity, spirituality and art.

Our sneakers have afrocentric influences, we are basically telling the African success story no one else has told, he said.

Butsu started as Chakauya sat at home in Zimbabwe, broke and looking for a way to fund his summertime wanderlust.

I needed to raise money for experiential travel. I believe that as an artist, you need to get out and explore the world in order to get the stimulus you need to make you a full artist. I always think every single art form is beautiful on its own, but once you combine it with the experiences you have, it makes it even deeper.

After coming up with a game plan, he reached out to friends in Italy who had connections to manufacturers. He was accepted into a program for budding designers, and things rapidly took off from there.

The kicks, which practically speak for themselves, are bright, bold and evocative  definitely not for wallflowers. It is the antithesis of the minimalist chic, monochromatic look seen on street corners, rooftops and other social habitats around the country.

The muse behind the shoes, according to the 22-year-old recent college grad, is a young man, African born and raised, who has left the continent to make a great life for himself. He is unique in his style choices, personally conscious and an expert conversationalist.

Growing up in Africa, Chakauya had an intimate look into the bustling world of fashion due to his mother, a womens clothing designer. His firsthand look into the industry as a youngster, which no doubt influenced his work today, included hanging around bustling factory spaces and seeing his mother design for beauty as well as practicality for her mature female clientele. At age 16, he was awarded a scholarship to complete his high school coursework as part of an International Baccalaureate program in Asia for three years, another markedly influential experience. There, he studied alongside students from more than 90 different countries. He spent time in many of the continents major metropolitan areas and completed service projects in rural areas as well, all the while soaking in all he could while also learning a valuable lesson in cultural awareness.

To be fair, from their part, many (Asians) have never seen a Black man before, he said. I used to go to the Great Wall of China, and thats a tourist attraction, but I would be an attraction, as well. People I did not know would stalk me and ask me to take family photos with them. People would want to twirl with your hair because theyve never seen hair like that before. Sometimes people would be scared. You would be sitting next to them on the train and they would get up and move because they were clearly afraid of you.

Unfortunately, his experiences are not unique. Much has been written about the Black experience in Asia as being, at times, very problematic. In a piece for National Geographic, travel writer Heather Greenwood Davis describes her familys month-long stay as one of the hardest visits theyve ever made. She shared examples of her husbands brown skin being pinched and her childrens hair being very closely photographed. She said the attention was amusing at first but became annoying very quickly. We couldnt concentrate on tours because of all the cameras pointed at us. We couldnt walk quickly due to the crowds swarming us. We were grumpy. What we looked like was ruining our chance to enjoy where we were.

Despite the uncouth interactions, Chakauya shared that his time in the East greatly informed his approach to design. I got a chance to experience the food, the culture, the people  all of those things play into my aesthetic. The name Butsu itself is a reflection of my experience in the East.

Butsu, a derivative of the word butsudan, means Buddhist altar or shrine in Japanese. In his own mother tongue, Shona, it simply means shoe. For him, Butsu serves a dual purpose. I see my body of work as a gift to the world, but at the same time Im honoring all the people that came before me by doing something of significance with my life, he said. It plays on the two things. Its my legacy.

The shrine, which has it roots in nearly every ancient belief system on the planet, is significant to Chakauya for other reasons, as well.

In Africa, the infamous exercise of colonization has nearly obliterated or ostracized many tribal and ancestral practices. Droves of natives have traded in their ancient teachings for lessons found among the pages of Bibles and Qurans. Some natives even refer to ancient faiths as forms of witchcraft and idolatry.

It was during his time in undergrad at Middlebury that the former architecture student decided to embrace that which had been labeled taboo through the help of a friend whose father is a Ghanaian spiritual leader.

Hes one of the first people that reached out to me like, dude, all these things youre practicing are not really authentic, and this is where our culture exists and who we really are. Chakauya, who at that time decided to drop Patrick and go simply as Simba (which means the power of God) shared that his Christian background made him apprehensive at first, but he believes his newfound convictions have made him more comfortable and self-assured.

On the Butsu website, he gives viewers a personal view into this part of his life, as his own personal shrine is featured on the sites the home screen.

Everywhere I go, I set up a shrine, he said, adding that he changes the water each day and keeps it looking beautiful in honor of those who came before. You nourish them the same way you need to be nourished. You ask for guidance, protection, good health and they answer in abundance. Its a sacred place, and youre the one who gives it all the power it has.

If youve lived in different countries throughout your youth, you dont really know where you belong. And as you move farther and farther away from home, (spirituality) is one of those things that grounds you in the Western world.

Chakauya shared that while he is internally cogent, his boots wont be staying put too much longer. The world traveler plans to explore much more in the future.

I want to go to as many places as humanly possible during my lifetime.

This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of Griots Republic.
The Black travel movement has garnered more attention in recent years thanks to social media. Take a look on Instagram using the hashtag #BlackTravel, and you are sure to see Black Americans exploring exotic locales. Many of those experiences can be found chronicled on a variety of travel sites. Here are 10 Black travel sites you should check out:

Black Travel Movement

Black Travel Movement is a community of friends and family who share an interest in cultivating new friendships and epic experiences through international travel. In June, Black Travel Movement will host Sail Noir: Black Yacht Week. In July, members will explore Greece.

blacktravelmovement.org

Travel Noire

Travel Noire, created by a Glamour magazine award-winning entrepreneur, is a great place to start for people looking to go abroad. The site is full of resources and tools put together by hand-selected curators from across the African diaspora.

travelnoire.com

Griots Republic

Griots is not your grandparents travel magazine. This online portal features editorials, essays and other offerings from Black travel writers. Griots Republic compiled photos and first-hand accounts from backpackers to luxury travelers in their 314 page, 7-pound anthology aptly titled #BlackTravel.

griotsrepublic.com

Black Girl Travel

For many women, girls night out is the most exciting part of the week. Black Girl Travel takes that excitement to a whole other level with girls-only trips to places like Dubai and Rome. Founded by entrepreneur Fleace Weaver, the online source offers one-of-a-kind travel experiences.

blackgirltravel.com

Pathfinders Travel Magazine for People of Color

Pathfinders, created with the affluent African-American traveler in mind, produces a print and digital version of their quarterly periodical full of vacation tips and in-depth stories about national and international destinations. For history buffs, Pathfinders offers a variety of tours focused on the national Black theater circuit, Afro-Cuban culture and Gullah coastal heritage.

pathfinderstravel.com

Up in the Air Life

UITAL is the perfect option for the traveler who wants to simply show up to the airport and go. Everything from flight, lodging, tours and activities is taken care of. The Black travel company is known for providing top-of-the-line, five-star accommodations.

upintheairlife.com

Bucket List Beasts

This travel community is not at all for the faint of heart. If youre adventurous and looking to shark dive, bungee jump or go whitewater rafting, Bucket List Beasts is the place for you. The travel company offers awesome trips and tons of helpful information on their site.

bucketlistbeasts.com

Tastemakers Africa

Venturing to the Motherland is an experience many Black people living in America dream of. Tastemakers Africa makes that dream a reality. Visitors to the site can book trips to places like Cape Verde, Kenya and Morocco, and peruse city guides curated by insiders living in Accra, Dakar, Lagos and more.

tastemakersafrica.com

Nomadness Travel Tribe

What started as one womans online account of her travels and life abroad as an expat has turned into an international community and web series co-produced by acclaimed creator Issa Rae. Those interested in joining the tribe must have at least one passport stamp. Today, the group boasts more than 100,000 stamps gathered collectively.

nomadnesstv.com

Soul of America

Though Soul of America largely offers resources for Black travelers exploring the U.S., the site provides Black Travel Guides to a number of European and Caribbean cities, as well.

soulofamerica.com
Its that time of year again. Images of smiling faces in caps and gowns abound as students advance from one level of learning to the next. Families and friends beam with pride and expectation of whats to come for their graduate, many believing the future to be boundless and the world to be theirs for the taking.

Delores Eldora Johnson, affectionately referred to as GG (short for great-grandma), is familiar with this experience. She and hundreds of other Ivy Tech students marched across the stage last weekend in their scholarly vestments, cheered on by the crowd. When GG crossed the stage, the crowd gave her a standing ovation. The 87-year-old, who has earned multiple degrees from both Ivy Tech and IUPUI, is the formers oldest graduate in recent history.

When asked how it all feels, she replied, You know what, I never really paid any attention to it, adding that it wasnt until Ivy Techs administration brought it to her attention that she understood the gravity of it all. For Johnson, the thrill comes from the liberty that learning has afforded her.

(Education) was freedom; believe me, it was freedom, she said.

For every mountain

Johnsons story began in Colorado. Born in Boulder, the self-described mountain child was removed from her mothers home at a young age, and she and her two younger siblings were put in the care of a family in Denver. While her two younger siblings were being adopted and enrolled in school, Johnson, who remained a foster child, asked when her time would come to be registered for school. Its time for you to grow up, she stated gruffly, mimicking her caretakers response. The 13-year-old then went to work as a domestic worker, cleaning homes, office buildings and log cabins.

In the office buildings, one task involved cleaning the metal spittoons on elevators where businessmen would discard chewing tobacco and snuff. Before tourist season, she and others in that line of work would have to climb up into the rafters of log cabins and clear debris, bird nests and spiders. At age 15, Johnson became pregnant with her first child. She had no understanding of her predicament, as sex education and prevention was not taught in those days. As was the custom, she married her childs father immediately. She reflects on that time as a rough period but expressed that even in those moments, attaining an education was still a primary desire. Going to libraries  Believe me, when I wasnt busy, I was in the library, she said. Books is what worked for me.

Some years after, Johnson moved to Indianapolis, where she continued domestic work. At one point, she was employed by Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Eiteljorg. He fired me because he said my food tasted earthy, she said with a laugh. Now the Eiteljorg Museum, thats the good thing about it. The earthy food.

When she left domestic work for good, Johnson went along Indiana Avenue looking for employment. She landed at the Indianapolis Recorder. I worked for the Recorder as a linotype operator. One of the things they would show me was the front page, and they made me study what makes a paper great, she said. Later, she took a job as a taxicab driver for Safety Cab Company, the only operation at that time that would hire Black drivers and transport Black riders. Following the threat of a boycott by Rev. Mozel Sanders, Red Cab, another local operation, began to hire Black workers, as well. Johnson excelled as one of Red Cabs top dispatchers before leaving to work as a florists apprentice. With the help of a government program to assist entrepreneurs in starting their own businesses, Johnson opened a flower shop, which she operated for nearly two decades.

My shop was very famous on The Avenue, she said. It was called Van and Charco, and many people thought it was named for me and my then-husband, but it was named for my children  Van, the and was for Andrea, Char for Charlese and Co for Coketo. It was around the corner from the Recorder.

In an interview with the Campus Insider, Johnson revealed that through these years, she developed an addiction to alcohol. On her birthday (July 5) in 1985, she took her last drink and admitted herself to Fairbanks hospital. An N.A. by the name of Rosie Hatchett offered to assist Johnson with her hospital fees. Every time I thought about taking a drink, I would just think what Rosie had done for me, she shared.

An artist and inspiration

On a recent early Monday morning, Johnson entered the Ivy Tech librarys temporary art gallery, smiling as shes known to do, stopping to hug each of her classmates. She moved about the room slowly, pointing out her various artistic creations, each holding a unique story. Self-portraits in a wrapped box on a shelf and several handcrafted scrolls hung from the ceiling tiles, colorful and full of numbers laid out using cuneiform. Some included the Fibonacci sequence. Scriptures and pictures bordered each, as well as quotes from philosophers like Aristotle and physicist Albert Einstein. Johnson says faith in God as creator and guide, as well as a zest for knowledge, inform her work and her life.

Though she had lived many lifetimes up until that point, overcoming much adversity, Johnson didnt pursue a formal education until she was 61. I had lied all of my life about having an education, she said. I didnt want people to know I didnt have an education. After my kids were all gone and I closed my flower shop, I thought, Im free and I can stop lying now. I can go ahead and get it.

Before, Johnson kept herself sharp by helping her children with their homework. Years later, she would have the opportunity to help other young people. What got me in college in the first place was Head Start, said Johnson. While in the grocery store she saw a flier advertising a program looking for senior citizens to come on board as preschool teachers assistants. She initially dismissed it but decided to give it a second glance. There was a population explosion and they were backlogged, and there was a lady teaching seniors at IUPUI who got the bright idea to get the grandmothers out of the rocking chairs with those switches and teach them how to teach so the children will be able to go to preschool. After that, Johnson earned the first of many college degrees. She now holds degrees in early childhood development, social human services and, as of last weekend, fine arts. While at Ivy Tech, she mentored many students, contributed to the scholarship fund and participated in several civic organizations.

Age has proved to be no barrier to Johnson as she plans to continue creating art and pursuing her education. Another IUPUI degree is on her to-do list. When asked what advice shed give to other senior citizens, Johnson had this to say: If you say to the children  Man or girl, if I had your opportunity, well, you do have their opportunity, she said.

Thats the thing Id like to prove, is that youre never too old to learn. Thats it.
A largely popular Christian denomination is the latest organization to fight back against scams targeting the faith community.

The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW), whose world headquarters is in Indianapolis, has taken action against a new wave of scams that have impacted some of its pastors and lay ministers.

Most of the scams involve thieves impersonating PAW pastors and convincing people to send them money, either over the phone or online.

Apparently, the incidents have happened often enough for PAW leaders to post scam warnings on the organizations internet pages and to make announcements during church gatherings.

In a statement, Bishop Charles Ellis III, the PAWs presiding bishop, warned there are reports of scams designed to exploit a fabricated situation.

Ellis went on, This serves as a reminder that were in a battle with a real enemy; so let us be sober and vigilant.

Ellis was referring to a series of online scams involving individuals claiming to be engaged in causes on behalf of the PAW, who then asked people for money to support those fake causes. After numerous reports of the scams, Ellis assures steps have been taken to keep the PAWs new website secure.

We will continue to do those things to keep everyone safe online while youre discovering all of whats happening within the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc., Ellis said.

In addition to the online challenges, the PAW has also overcome scams involving phone calls.

An alert has been issued about those scams from various PAW officials, including Bishop Charles Sims, diocesan (leader) of the Apostolic Bible Students Associations (ABSA), which is the fourth Episcopal District of the PAW and includes congregations in central Indiana.

Sims recounted how an ABSA pastor was contacted on the phone by a group of con artists, who said they were on their way to his city and stranded on the side of the highway with a disabled vehicle. They asked the pastor for a large sum of money.

To gain the pastors trust, one of the scammers even disguised his voice as Bishop Richard Young, a popular leader within the PAW and the organizations first assistant presiding bishop.

Needless to say, when the individual didnt show up after he received the money, our ABSA pastor put a call in to Bishop Young and found out that someone had disguised his voice as the bishop, Sims said.

With an estimated 2 million members around the world, the PAW is a Pentecostal Oneness organization that traces its origins to the legendary 1906 Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles. Among the PAWs early leaders were Bishop Garfield T. Haywood, an Indiana native who founded the historic Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Indianapolis in 1909 and served as the PAWs presiding bishop in the 1920s.

No one is sure exactly why the PAW is a frequent target of scammers. Sims noted that the scams are nothing new, and he is among pastors who believe the scams are spiritual attacks against a denomination dedicated to teaching authentic Christian principles.

This kind of thing has been happening throughout the PAW for several years, Sims said. Let us be watchful, for the days are evil.

In recent years, other denominations, faith-based groups and prominent ministers have found themselves cleaning up social media scams conducted in their name.

Scammers have set up bogus Facebook pages with the names of well-known ministers such as Jamal Bryant, Joel Osteen and Rick Warren in an effort to steal funds from their unsuspecting supporters.

Often, the scammers will ask for donations to support a fake cause, such as the construction of an inner-city school or a nonexistent orphanage in a third-world country.

Sometimes two sets of Facebook pages and websites can be found for faith organizations and individual pastors. Usually, the legitimate pages have information about upcoming events and access to recent sermons, while the bogus pages use typical inspirational posts to lure in supporters. Then they make requests for money as the number of followers on the page increases.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has stepped in to warn supporters about online scams related to the faith community.

When you do a search, you find that the charity doesnt exist and your pastor has another Facebook profile with 10 times the number of friends, stated Emily Patterson, a spokeswoman for the BBB.

Patterson said a good way online users can avoid scams is to search Facebook before sending a friend request to any public figure. That way, they can ensure they have the correct account. They may also search the organization or pastor online and check the BBBs Wise Giving Alliance.

Back at home in Indianapolis, PAW leaders have given their own advice to pastors and church members.

My advice is that you do not send any money to individuals you dont know, Sims said. Please make sure you pray about it and thoroughly check it out before you act.
Buddhism may have originated in India, but the religion is practised in many parts of the world. Buddha Purnima, or Vesakha day, is celebrated by Buddhists on different days in different countries. Here's a look at how Buddha's birthday was celebrated.

1. Buddhists carry candles as they pray during Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

reuters

2. Buddhist monks prostrate as they perform the "three steps one bow" ceremony at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery on the eve of Vesak Day in Singapore.

reuters

3. Buddhists carry candles while encircling a large Buddha statue during Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, at a temple in Nakhon Pathom province on the outskirts of Bangkok.

reuters

4. Novice nuns and buddhists carry candles as they pray during Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

reuters

5. A man fixes an image of a Buddha on top of a pandal, a temporary platform to be decorated with illuminated panels illustrating episodes from the life of Buddha, ahead of Vesak Day celebrations, during which Sri Lankan Buddhists commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

reuters

6. A girl offers prayers inside a Buddhist temple on the occasion of Buddha Purnima festival, also known as Vesak Day, in Agartala, India.

reuters

7. A devotee (unseen) sprinkles rice grains as part of the rituals on the idol of Buddha during the birth anniversary of Buddha, also known as Vesak Day, at Swayambhu in Kathmandu, Nepal.

reuters

8. Buddhists carry a Child Buddha statue on the shrine while celebrating the Vesak Day in Quan Su Pagoda, Hanoi, Vietnam.

reuters

9. People walk around a stupa, at the top of the Wat Saket, or Golden Mount, during the Buddhist Vesak celebration in Bangkok, Thailand.

reuters

10. Buddhists carry candles as they pray during Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

reuters

11. Hindu devotees take a holy dip in the Ganges river on the occasion of Buddha purnima festival in Allahabad, India.

Buddha Statue

12. A devotee prays in front of a Buddha statue during the birth anniversary of Buddha, also known as Vesak Day in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

reuters

13. A devotee offers butter lamps on the eve of the birth anniversary of Buddha, also known as Vesak Day, at Swayambhu in Kathmandu, Nepal.

reuters

14. A family takes a seflie as they visit the Shwedagon Pagoda during Kason Watering Festival celebrations, also know as Vesak Day, in Yangon, Myanmar.

reuters

15. Buddhists carry candles as they pray during Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

reuters

16. Buddhist monks perform the "three steps one bow" ceremony at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery on the eve of Vesak Day in Singapore.

reuters

17. A devotee offers prayer on the idol of Buddha during the birth anniversary of Buddha, also known as Vesak Day, at Swayambhu in Kathmandu, Nepal.

reuters

18. Buddhists carry candles while encircling a large Buddha statue during Vesak Day, an annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, at a temple in Nakhon Pathom province on the outskirts of Bangkok.

reuters
Indias home made fighter jet Tejas will make its Republic Day Parade flypast debut this year. Single engine fighters usually do not ensure safety  two engines are better than one.

But this year, a three-fighter formation will fly over Rajpath.

Indian Air Force

Heres what the Tejas fighter is all about.

1. The fighter has been designed by the ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) and is built by HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited).

Tejas.gov.in

3. A fourth generation fighter, it is equipped with a digital fly by wire system and features a full glass cockpit displays.

4. Tejas also features composite construction, which reduces weight and gives it better reliability.

Tejas.gov.in

5. It can carry a variety of weapons such as air-to-air missiles, unguided and guided bombs and also packs a canon.

6. The current Mk1 fighter entered squadron service with the 45 Sqn of the Indian Air Force in July last year.

Tejas.gov.in

7. An enhanced version  the Mk 1A with aerial refuelling, AESA radar and with ease of maintenance  is in the works.

8. An order for 83 of these Mk 1As has been placed for the Indian Air Force.

Tejas.gov.in

9. The Tejas will replace the Mig-21 once all types retire by the end of this decade.

10. India is also looking to export the fighter to friendly nations.
BCCL

The Kashmir Police held a recruitment drive today and received an overwhelming response from the valley youth. Nearly 3,000 young men and women turned up for the drive, said the local police. Read more

Here are more top stories of the day:

1) BJP Throws Out 87 Leaders And Party Workers For 'Anti-Party Activities' In Uttar Pradesh

AP

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, with Yogi Adityanath as its chief minister, has thrown out 87 party leaders and workers for six years for anti-party activities. UP general secretary Vidya Sagar Sonkar said the action was taken following a probe by the disciplinary committee of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Read more

2) India's Homegrown 14-Seat Passenger Plane 'Saras' To Fly Again, First Flight Expected In June

bccl

The re-engined and modified version of India's ambitious 14-seater Saras aircraft is gearing up for its first flight in June first week. Having received a thrust from the government under the regional connectivity policy, Bengaluru-based National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) has handed over the aircraft to Indian Air Force's (IAF) Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) for test flights. Read more

3) Muslim Group Comes Forward To Save Cows, Offers To Open Gau Niketan Across The Country

bccl/representational image

At its 84th national convention in Bareilly where participants from 22 states were present, leaders of All India Jamiatul Quresh said gau rakshaks were liars and that cows die as there is no one to take care of them. Read more





4) Tibet Launches First Clean-Up Campaign Across Mount Everest; Collects 4 Tonnes Of Trash In Just 5 Days

Pinterest

In a first, Tibet has launched a massive clean-up campaign across the high-altitude area of Mount Everest to remove the waste and debris left by hikers at campsites. The nine-day clean-up campaign by Tibet Autonomous Region across the world's highest mountain, also known as Mount Qomolangma in the local language, began on May 6. Read more

5) Kashmiri Youth Who Topped BSF Selection Wants Govt To Take Action Against Ummer Fayyaz's Killers

AFP

There seems to be a mixed reaction to the brutal killing of Army officer Ummer Fayyaz in Kashmir. While some people are scared for their lives, reportedly as many as 3000 Kashmiri youths have turned up for the recruitment exercise for Kashmiri Police. People in the valley are pretty much confident that the government and security forces will bring things to normal as early as possible. Read more
BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A top Chinese political advisor has called for ethnic solidarity and religious harmony during his visit to northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from Monday to Wednesday.

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, went to Guyuan City and Yinchuan City in Ningxia, home to many Chinese Muslims and people from the Hui ethnic minority group.

During his visit to a mosque in Yongning County, Yinchuan City, Yu said that the government should educate and guide believers to conduct their religious activities in accordance with the law and build harmonious relations.

Yu also visited rural areas, communities, schools and businesses, where he met families and students of both Han and Hui.

Yu encouraged Han and Hui people to help each other to boost ethnic harmony and accelerate economic and social development in the ethnic minority region.

He encouraged educational institutions where minority students study to provide better guidance on ethnic solidarity so that they can make better contributions to national unity.

Yu presided over a symposium on ethnic and religious work during the visit.
Two women have filed a complaint about their toilets missing, but read before you make any nebulous predictions.

Toilets have gone "missing" from a house in a Chhattisgarh village and a woman and her daughter want a bewildered police to trace them fast.

A local RTI activist claims that the toilets existed only on paper.

The women filed the written complaint with the police last week after they found out that the two toilets, proposed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, were shown in documents as already constructed for which the fund was also released.

Firstpost

Bela Bai Patel (70) and her daughter Chanda (45), residents of Amarpur village in Bilaspur, filed the complaint stating that their toilets were stolen, Pendra station house officer Ishaak Khalko said.

The women wanted their toilets to be traced and action taken against those involved in the "theft", he said, adding that an inquiry was underway.

As per preliminary information, Bela and Chanda, both widows belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, live in two different parts of their house in Amarpur. The duo had submitted their application to the village panchayat in 2015-16 for the construction of two toilets in their house, the SHO said.

ecoideaz

The applications of all the beneficiaries from the village were forwarded to the janpad panchayat at Pendra for approval following which the permission was granted, he said.

When the work did not start even after a year of the approval, as claimed by villagers, Bela and Chanda approached the janpad panchayat office last month to enquire about the status of the work. To their surprise, they were informed by the panchayat officials that the toilets have already been made.

The two women later filed a complaint with police. A local activist, Surendra Patel, sought information on the status of the toilets in Amarpur through an RTI query with Pendra janpad panchayat.

PTI

Patel said that as per the reply received last week, the work of construction of toilets in the houses of all the beneficiaries has been completed and money has also been paid for it. He alleged that the toilets were only built "on paper and not on the ground".

"There is a gross irregularity in the construction of toilets under the 'Clean India' mission in Amarpur village. Not only these two women, but several other beneficiaries are affected by the corruption," he alleged.

When contacted, Pendra janpad panchayat's chief executive officer K S Dhruva said he has received information (about the status of toilets in Amarpur) and it is being verified.

There's only so much that the government can snatch from the country, right? Just when we thought that there was enough to deplore, we hear that the authorities are now capable of developing something,whcih wasn't even there in the first place.
Are the ISIS fighters ordering painkillers from Indian medicine companies? At least this is what reports from Itali suggest. A shipload of painkillers, sent from India to be sold to Islamic State terrorists in Libya has been seized by the Italian police.

reuters/representational image

The seizure was made in the northern Italian city of Genoa after the police intercepted a huge drug shipment bound for Libya.

News agency PTI reported that 37 million tramadol pills, worth $75 million, were found packed into three containers at the port of Genoa, labelled as blankets and shampoo and set to be loaded on a freighter bound for Misrata and Tobruk in Libya.

reuters/representational image

"ISIS is making a fortune from this traffic, giving it to its fighters to make them feel no pain," the British newspaper quoted an Italian investigator as saying.

Tramadol is a synthetic opioid used in treating pain which is also used as a narcotic substance. The Another drug Captagon, known as the fighter drug  an amphetamine-containing substance used by jihadists in war zones to enhance battle performance.

reuters/representational image

Italian investigators traced the shipment to an Indian pharmaceuticals company, which allegedly sold the pills to a Dubai-based importer, which then shipped them from India to Sri Lanka where they disappeared from the freighter's documents.
A 35-year-old woman was killed and her husband injured in mortar shelling by Pakistani troops in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Thursday morning.

ANI

The victim has been identified as Akhtar Bi, a resident of Laam village in Nowshera sector. Her husband, Mohmmad Hanief, who was also injured in the shelling is being treated in a local hospital.

Also Read: Terrorists Abduct And Kill Army Officer Who Went To Attend A Wedding Function In Kashmir

"The Pakistani Army fired from small arms and automatic weapons from 10.40pm on Wednesday on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said.

ap/representational image

They also shelled forward posts and civilian areas using 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, he said.

Also Read: Martyr Lt. Ummer Fayaz Killed In Kashmir  Indian By Birth, Army Officer By Choice

"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said.

ani

The latest incident of ceasefire violation comes after the beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan's Border Action Team on May 1.

Under the cover of heavy mortar fire, the Pakistani special forces team sneaked 250 metres inside the Line of Control (LoC) into the KG sector of Poonch and beheaded the soldiers.

The home ministry has said that at least one incident of ceasefire violation by Pakistan took place daily along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 and 2016 in which 23 security personnel lost their lives.

AP/Representational image

As many as 1,142 terror incidents were reported in the state between 2012 and 2016 in which 236 security personnel and 90 civilians were killed, it said.
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By AN BAIJIE/MO JINGXI (China Daily) 08:47, May 11, 2017

President urges mutual trust and proper handling of disagreements

President Xi Jinping called for joint efforts to strengthen mutual political trust and properly handle disagreements in a congratulatory message on Wednesday to the newly elected president of the Republic of Korea.

Noting that he has always attached great importance to China-ROK relations, Xi wrote Moon Jae-in that the two countries should push forward the healthy and stable development of ties under the basis of mutual understanding and respect.

Moon, of the liberal Democratic Party, won the presidential election by a landslide on Tuesday to replace ousted president Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in December on charges of bribery and abuse of power.

Analysts said Moon is likely to seek to mend China-ROK relations damaged by the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system led by the United States.

In the message, Xi said the development of China-ROK relations has not only brought tangible benefits for the people of both countries, but also made positive contributions to regional peace and stability.

Xi pointed out that China and the ROK are important neighbors. Relations have been comprehensively developed in the 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, he said.

Xi said he would like to work with Moon to help China-ROK relations better benefit the two countries and their people.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news conference that China's stance on the deployment of THAAD is consistent. He called on the ROK to attach importance to China's concerns and handle the THAAD issue properly.

Moon said in his inaugural speech that he will sincerely negotiate with the US and China over the deployment of THAAD.

During his campaign, Moon argued for a parliamentary ratification and public consensus for the THAAD installation that can influence the country's society from diplomatic, security and economic perspectives.

Part of the US missile-interception system has been transported to the deployment site in the country's southeastern region, causing strong protests from anti-THAAD activists and residents.

Huang Youfu, a Korean studies professor at Minzu University of China in Beijing, said it's impossible for the ROK's new government to withdraw the deployment given the current situation of the Korean Peninsula.

But Moon is highly likely to take measures to improve the relations with China, and Beijing will welcome such moves, he said.

Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, said Moon faces challenges on the THAAD issue as he has to balance domestic public opinions while also coordinating the relations with both China and the US.

China and the ROK should create opportunities now to enhance strategic mutual trust and improve relations, he said.
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A Victory for Theresa May Will See Britain Dragged Further Towards War with Russia





By Colin Todhunter

May 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - British Prime Minister Theresa May has been warned by various political leaders in Britain not to rush to attack Syrian government forces if she wins the general election in June. The Guardian reported that she might hold a vote on military action this summer. If this is the case, it would imply that she wants to press ahead without UN backing.

May appears to want the support of parliament to have the freedom to join US in airstrikes against Syria in the event of another chemical attack. This is despite the fact there is no concrete evidence that Syrian forces carried out such a recent attack, just as there was no evidence to support similar claims in 2013 when David Cameron tried but failed to get parliamentary approval to bomb Syria.

Taking about the chemical attack that occurred on 4 April in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said :

We think it would be constructive for the UN Security Council to accept a resolution that would not only investigate the incident but the accusations against Damascus. We have different facts, we dont want to impose them but we stand for objective, impartial, honest investigation.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has cautioned May against unilateral military action in Syria:

We dont need unilateral action. We need to work through the UN but, above all, we need to bend ourselves totally to getting a political settlement in Syria.

As with Iraq in 2003, the clear danger is that evidence is being cooked up to fit a preconceived policy; in this case, the removal of Assad from power which was planned as far back as at least 2009: Syria is essentially a war for energy, capital and empire .

The demonisation of Putin and Russia

Since Russia intervened at the behest of the Syrian government, the Syrian conflict has swung away from the opposition (terrorist) groups which the US has been supporting to defeat Assad, an unspoken truth in the mainstream media (see  The Dirty War on Syria ). However, the US seems increasingly desperate to intensify its military intervention to bring its plan for Syria and the wider Middle East region to fruition. This does not just mean attacking Syrian government forces. It also involves putting pressure on Russia to step aside.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin was told by the UK ambassador to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft that he is on the wrong side of history because of his support for the barbaric Syrian leader Bashar Assad. Rycroft added that supporting the Assad regime would result in shame and humiliation for Russia.

Rycroft said the Security Council had been held to ransom by Russias shameless support for the Assad regime. He added that Russias credibility and reputation across the world have been poisoned by its toxic association with Assad.

It might appear to some that Rycroft resides in an alternative universe. Where is the credibility and reputation of the US given its destruction of Panama, Yugoslavia, Libya, Iraq and Syria (see  Five Invasion Plots, Three Continents, Identical Lies )? Where does its reputation lie when much of the world beyond the bubble Rycroft exists in recognises that the US has supported terror groups to destroy Syria?

Rycroft continued discussing Russia:

They have chosen to side with a murderous, barbaric criminal, rather than with their international peers. They have chosen the wrong side of history.

What he means by international peers is the often-used term international community which in turn means the US, NATO and its allies. This tirade against Russia and Assad is intended for the consumption of a Western public courtesy of the mainstream corporate media that peddles the narrative of the US and NATO being civilising forces in a barbaric world.

In response to Rycrofts statements, Russias UN representative, Vladimir Safronkov, responded :

Stop putting forward these unprofessional arguments and accusations against my country. These are not diplomatic. These are lies. Dont even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will work and nothing will be achieved. All Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy.

The anti-Russia rhetoric has been incessant in recent years. Following the US-instigated coup in Ukraine and with no hint of irony intended, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that NATO must be ready for Russian aggression in whatever form it takes. He added that Russia is a real and present danger.

Former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Admiral James Stavridis deems Russian aggression a greater threat than terrorism . He depicts Putin as someone capable of disregarding international law and seizing situations to his advantage. This from someone who represents a country that has flagrantly disregarded international law to carry out illegal wars, torture, drone assassinations and mass murder as and when it deems necessary .

Jim Comey, director of the FBI, recently branded Russia the greatest threat of any nation, while answering questions at a Senate hearing on Moscows alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Again, no proper evidence has been offered to support this allegation and Comey failed to providence any.

Lies for perpetual war

In the UK, over the last 18 months, we have also seen Jeremy Corbyn ridiculed and attacked relentlessly. Corbyn has been described by prominent figures in the Conservative government as a threat to security and as a threat to Britain. He has been demonised in a similar to Putin. Corbyn was always going to be a target for the Establishment because he swims against the Washington consensus of neoliberal capitalism, war and imperialism.

Following Corbyn being elected as leader of the Labour Party in Britain, Michael Fallon stated :

Labour are now a serious risk to our nations security, our economys security and your familys security.

If anything is a threat to Britain and the world, it is the underhand destabilisations and wars it participates in as it stands shoulder to shoulder with Washington and its agenda. Former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray has called the UK a danger to the world .

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Murray has stated:

Ive seen things from the inside and the UKs foreign interventions are almost always about resources. It is every bit as corrupt as others have indicated. It is not an academic construct, the system stinks.

As far as Iraq is concerned, Murray said that he knew for certain that key British officials were fully aware that there werent any weapons of mass destruction. He said that invading Iraq wasnt a mistake, it was a lie.

It was a lie just like the ongoing demonisation of Putin and Russia is based on a series of lies. We now have the situation in Syria where deception once again trumps reality as the US seeks to gain support for broadening its military campaign to balkanise Syria and redraw the map of the Middle East. Unfounded claims about Assad using chemical weapons are front page news and mirroring the lie of WMD in Iraq. Millions are dead in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan as the US and its allies play out a continuation of a modern-day Great Game .

The US thinks it and it alone has the right to act as it deems fit to protect its interests and to maintain global dominance. No other power will be allowed to rise to challenge the US .

The US has over a period of decades created a long list of bogeymen and bogus reasons to remove leaders and destroy sovereign states that have stood in the way of its geostrategic agenda. In terms of a massive military budget, worldwide military bases, illegal wars and destabilisations, it is not Russia but the US which poses the greater threat to humanity, that much is clear .

Trajectory towards nuclear war

This is a recipe for perpetual war. It is a recipe that is leading humanity towards nuclear conflict as the US seeks to destroy Russia as a functioning state or at least replace Putin with a compliant puppet. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has pressed ahead both in a technological sense and a strategic sense to the point where it believes it can win a nuclear war with preemptive strike against Russia .

Since when did Russia become an adversary, we might ask. The answer is when Washington decided to break prior agreements with Moscow and then encircle it with troops and missiles. Eric Zeusse writes:

The expectation and demand is clearly that Russia must allow itself to be surrounded by NATO, and to do this without complaint, and therefore also without taking military countermeasures, which NATO would call yet more aggression by Russia. Any defensive moves by Russia can thus be taken by the West to be unacceptable provocation and justification for a pre-emptive attack against Russia by NATO.

There are well over a million dead in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya as a result of direct military intervention or covert actions by the Western powers and their allies (the death count for Iraq alone between 1990 and 2012 could be 3.3 million as a result of Western economic sanctions and illegal wars). But the ultimate price for everyone  both rich and poor  will be a world war fought with nuclear weapons.

The machinations of empire alongside a crisis of capitalism and an increasing reliance on militarism in a futile to deal with it has placed the US (and the whole of humanity) on an accelerating trajectory towards conflict with Russia (and China) that it might find impossible to escape from.

Matthew Rycroft, Theresa May and Michael Fallon all read from the same script handed to them by the neoconservatives in Washington. As they play chicken with Russia and gamble with all our lives, it is they who are on the wrong side of history.

Unfortunately, there will be no one left to prove that once they have reduced us all to ashes.

Colin Todhunter, writing for print and digital media on development, globalisation, food, agriculture, geopolitics. 470 articles on site below, 210 on food and agriculture. www.colintodhunter.com
Impeach Trump for Right Reasons

By David Swanson

May 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The Constitution suddenly seems to have bestirred itself and declared itself, through its many Washington spokespeople, to be in crisis.

Im sorry, interjects the world, but what the hell took you so long?

We laid out the clear Constitutional violations of Trumps financial and business interests on the day he became president (in the real sense, not the media event months later when He finally became president by bombing enough people) at ImpeachDonaldTrumpNow.org .

Since the later hours of Day 1 back in January through the present instant, the clear and documented (when not openly bragged about) Constitutional offenses have been piling up.

As of a 2015 disclosure to the Federal Elections Commission, Trump owns stock in the maker of the missiles he sent into Syria, Raytheon, as well as numerous other weapons makers, Canadian tar sands, etc. Trump has continued, escalated, and threatened numerous illegal and immoral wars. That he may be personally profiting from them just adds to the supreme international crime, which of course already violates the U.N. Charter and the Kellogg-Briand Pact, supreme laws of the U.S. under the Constitution.

Trump has unconstitutionally discriminated against refugees, been stopped by the judiciary, and immediately done it again.

Trump has pushed policies that will aggravate climate change, a crime against humanity that can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court even against a non-member. On December 6, 2009, Trump signed a public letter to President Barack Obama urging action to protect the earth from climate change. If we fail to act now, the letter read, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet. Trump is knowingly endangering all human (and many non-human) residents of the United States, right along with the other 96% of humanity.

Trump openly sought to intimidate voters prior to his election, and fought the counting of ballots where they existed, was elected with a minority of votes, was elected with numerous votes uncounted and numerous voters blocked from voting by the partisan stripping of the rolls and by ID laws, following a nomination principally decided by dramatically biased media coverage. If none of that put the Constitution into crisis, why keep the rotting document around at all?

Pre-presidency but still available grounds for impeachment, Trump violated, according to the list in Alan Lichtmans book on Trump impeachment, the Fair Housing Act, New York charity law, tax laws, the Cuban embargo, casino regulations, the RICO statute, laws against employing undocumented immigrants, and of course laws against sexual assault. You dont have to have never been in Congress to spot a pattern of criminality here.

Of course there is one charge against Trump that has not been proven, risks confrontation with a nuclear armed government, and needlessly adds a xenophobic excuse to the dozens of solid reasons that last years U.S. election was illegitimate. So of course this is the one everybody wants to focus on: blaming Russia for exposing the Democratic Partys slanting of its own primary against its strongest candidate. Lets remember that the people who have most vigorously pursued this approach are the same people who nominated possibly the only candidate who could have lost to Donald Trump.

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Now we come to a charge of possible, conceivable, or an appearance of possible or conceivable obstruction of justice  and perhaps something or other at the base of the story around which justice was being sought. If we can remove Trump this way, by all means, proceed. And proceed with impeachment, not with a 2020 election campaign by some otherwise repulsive candidate who plans to win by virtue of not being Trump and somehow surviving four years of Trumpism.

But here are my concerns:

The coverup is not worse than the crime. Serious crimes are available as impeachment charges, and overlooking them effectively permits them going forward, along with any other crimes, as long as theres no coverup.

We have yet to see any actual evidence of any actual Russian influence on the U.S. election. Toying with hostility toward a nuclear government is more reckless than anything (else) Trump has done. Can you impeach and try Trump for obstructing an investigation into what all the corporate media refer to as if it were established fact, without actually focusing on whether there is any evidence, and without demonizing Russia?

If some lesser crimes are proven that involve Russia in some way, can you try them without advancing the notion that the fundamental crime is friendship with Russians?

Can you keep in perspective the hypocrisy that all of this telegraphs to the earth? Barack Obama recorded a campaign ad for a French candidate in last weeks election, while Samantha Power was busy accusing Vladimir Putin of trying to influence the French election. The U.S. has openly sought to influence dozens of elections, including Yeltsins (the Trump of Russia?), not to mention overthrowing dozens of governments  still being pursued in Syria. How does this look? Wouldnt it look better to at least add in a few articles of impeachment for the highest of crimes even if Russia isnt involved in them?

And, yes, I mean even crimes committed by Obama and Bush and others before them. Im not expecting consistency. While I supported impeachment for Bush and Obama as well as Trump, one cannot expect all Democrats to have gone that far in supporting the rule of law when Obama was drone master  although they may now ask Republicans to reach that higher standard of integrity. I understand that partisanship is strong poison. I just ask for at least the appearance of seriousness  even if only because going into a trial in the U.S. Senate with charges that are already proven makes a conviction far more likely.

The bigger concern, of tamping down the warmongering, of lowering the risk of nuclear conflict should be made to appeal to as many as can hear it.
Home In Search of an Empire without an Emperor: Dynamics Behind the Comey Firing By Sam Husseini May 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - In a very short amount of time, it's become something of cliche to talk of Trump's firing of Comey as the equivalent of Nixon's " Saturday Night Massacre, in which Nixon fired anyone at the Department of Justice unwilling to fire the Watergate independent prosecutor. If that does turn out to be an apt analogy, it's hardly surprising that this is happening in many respects. The crimes of Watergate came out of the Vietnam War, though this is poorly understood. The Watergate plumbers were originally set up to plug the leaks about the Vietnam War.



And so, with the rise of the imperial presidency, it was hardly surprising that someone like Nixon would use the mechanisms of Empire -- the capacity for secrecy, for surveillance and for violence -- for his own political purposes. Indeed, Hoover, atop the FBI, had been doing so for decades.



The late Watergate historian Stanley Kutler writes in his book Abuse of Power that Nixon railed to his aides about papers regarding the Vietnam War that he thought were at the then liberal Brookings Institution.



I want it implemented. God damn it, get in and get those files. Blow the safe and get it.



The documents Nixon apparently wanted to get hold of allegedly showed that Johnson curtailed the bombing of Vietnam in 1968 to boost the Democrats election prospects of winning the election that year.



A great irony now is that the establishment Democrats are going after Trump in a number of personal ways, but collude in others, and indeed stiffen up his use of violence. When Trump uses military violence in Yemen or Syria, he is lauded by presumed liberals like Van Jones and Fareed Zakaria as presidential.

Johnson was thought to curtail bombing for political gain. Trump now gains politically when he engages in bombing.

The U.S. establishment seems to want an Emperor who will go around the world spying on people and killing them as he sees fit, but want to make sure he abides by legal niceties in the U.S. The obsessiveness over secrecy and the intense principless partisanship give us a situation where the political factions spew allegations to the public that are at best difficult to discern, even if you follow politics full time, much less if you're trying to hold down a regular honest job. This leads to a political culture based on loving or hating various political figures, or just checking out of politics, which much of the political establishment may want for large sectors of the public. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter

The secrecy and the surveillance are sold to the public as necessary for their own protection, but the opposite is true. The little known Katharine Gun case highlights how the actual target of surveillance is frequently not "terrorism", but the threat of peace.



So, the Trump administration's ridiculous claims about the reasons for the Comey firing are fairly similar to the lying pretexts that U.S. officialdom used to justify the Iraq invasion. Empire is compatible with democracy only with a series of dehumanizing triple standards. It's fine there, just don't do it here.

After all, the main victims of the Iraq invasion were the Iraqi people, and they are off screen and the officials who inflicted horrors on them have all walked away nice and clear.

The mechanisms of Empire are tolerated, until someone like Trump seems to be using them for his own personal ends. In terms of Trump's own crimes, he is quite impeachable on the domestic emoluments clause , but the establishment Democrats seem quite uninterested in pursuing that.



They have focused on his apparent ties to Russia. There may well be something there, Trump is a corrupt figure and it's well within his capacities to engage in massive, if at times possibly buffoonish, coverup. But it is incredibly dangerous that the establishment Democrats seem intent on risking escalations with the other major nuclear power on the planet so they can beat Trump over the head.

Osama "Sam" Husseini ( @samhusseini ). He's a DC-based independent journalist. He also works as the communications director of the Institute for Public Accuracy . He's also founder of VotePact.org -- which helps break out of the two party bind. http://husseini.posthaven.com The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Click here to comment on our Facebook page
BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China Wednesday released an update on the cases of 40 corruption fugitives on the Interpol red list who have either voluntarily returned or been extradited to China, including two spared from prosecution.

As of Monday, 15 returnees had already been sentenced to terms of up to life in prison, according to a statement from the office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the central anti-corruption coordination group.

The cases of another nine fugitives have been accepted by courts, but no sentence has yet been given.

Another 13 cases are still under investigation or awaiting review, including the case of Yang Xiuzhu, the No. 1 most wanted on the red notice list, according to the office.

One case was withdrawn in late 2015 after prosecutors confirmed the death of the suspect, Gu Zhenfang, in Thailand.

Among the 15 fugitives already convicted is Li Huabo, a former local finance official in east China's Jiangxi Province, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in January.

Li's illicit gains worth 4.83 million yuan (700,000 U.S. dollars) were returned and 5.5 million Singapore dollars (4 million U.S. dollars) was confiscated.

Li, who fled the country in January 2011, remained in Singapore until he was repatriated in May 2015.

In a separate case, Fu Yaobo and Zhang Qingzhao were sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery and embezzlement in August last year.

Zhang Dawei was exempted from criminal prosecution in November 2016 because Zhang had confessed his crime and returned all his illegal gains voluntarily.

Two of the fugitives, Zhu Zhenyu and Zhang Liping, were spared prosecution because Zhu was an accessary to the crime and turned himself in voluntarily, while Zhang's offense involving falsifying value added tax invoices was minor.

The handling of these cases reflects China's policy for the fugitive hunt, namely offering leniency to those who voluntarily return to China while meting out harsh penalties for those who are brought to justice after being arrested, the statement said.

The Interpol red notice of 100 Chinese corruption fugitives was released in April 2015.

As a move to close a loophole in China's renewed anti-corruption drive, which in the past mainly targeted domestic corruption and left out those who have fled the country, China has launched operations such as "Sky Net" and "Fox Hunt" in recent years, focusing mainly on corruption fugitives and assets recovery overseas.
Donald Trump Is a Dictator in Training





His belligerence is making him a global laughingstock.



By Jim Hightower

May 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Comandante, Trump , El Jefe, the gringo strongman!

That's the image our current Commander-in-Chief seems to be cultivating. He has surrounded himself with generals, cavalierly threatens war with all "bad hombres," is drastically bulking up military spending, and imperiously slaps foreign leaders, whole ethnic groups and entire nations with demeaning tweets and public rants. Posing as Patton-on-the-Potomac, President Donald Trump is out to "Make America Feared Again."

How is that working out? Look south, to Mexico. Our bellicose president has repeatedly blasted Mexicans again and again as marauding thieves, murderers and rapists. Adding injury to insult, the smirking Trump pledged he would immediately seal off Mexico by building a 1,800-mile-long, 30-foot high wallwhich he described as "impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful." But the big man and his big wall are crumbling in the face of reality. Start with the cost: $21.6 billion! The congressional leaders of Trump's own party couldn't choke down a number that big, so the interim budget agreement they passed in April provided exactly zero dollars to start building his wall.

Then there's the reality of illegal entry into our country. First, two-thirds of undocumented people enter legally, zipping through customs with a valid visa. Then, when their visa expires, they just stay here. No wall will affect this big majority of immigrants; they would literally walk through or fly over Trump's massive monument to futility. Second, these days, most people crossing the Mexican border illegally are not Mexicans, but El Salvadorans, Hondurans, Guatemalans and other Central Americans, many of whom are children fleeing gangs that are routinely kidnapping, raping and murdering kids. Furthermore, the fastest growth in illegal immigration is not from Latinos, but people from Asian nations.

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As President Trump is finding out in his ill-fated war with Mexico, the problem that world powers have when they pick fights with seemingly powerless countries is that even small dogs have sharp teeth. His scheme for a wall is collapsing because some two-thirds of the U.S. public simply aren't buying that boondoggle and most people think it is just plain stupid. But Mexicans are the ones blunting Trump's other major attack on them; an attempt to slap a 20-percent border tax on Mexican products shipped into the U.S.

"Nobody knows more about trade than me," the Donald crowed during his presidential run. It turns out that Mexican farmers do know a lot more about corn than Trump does. They also know that a lot of U.S.-Mexico trade consists of corn.

Until NAFTA, Mexico was a corn exporter. But grain trading giants such as Cargill wrote provisions into NAFTA to rig the rules so they could grab Mexico's corn market. They drove hundreds of thousands of Mexican producers out of business, and Mexico, where corn originated, dependent on imports from the U.S.

But now, Mexicans are turning that imported corn into a political weapon against Trump's trade bluster. Rather than buy from the U.S., they're negotiating to import corn from Brazil, and even more significant, they're planning to invest in their own farmers to make Mexico self-sufficient again in this important crop.

Mexico's counter-offensive has caused apoplexy among congressional Republicans from the U.S. Corn Belt. About 75 percent of Iowa's corn goes to Mexico, and losing that market would devastate Iowa's economy.

So the little dog bit Trump on the rump, and the big dog has now backed away from his border-tax idea, having learned that even farmers know more about trade than he does. Far from making America feared, much less "great," Trump's foolish belligerence is making him a global laughingstock.
Home Criminal Nation: Obama and Trump Both Should Be Jailed for War Crimes By Glen Ford Trump thought last months attack on Syria had bought him immunity, or at least a respite, from the wrath of the War Party. May 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - It is as if the Gambino and Genovese crime families were arguing their turf disputes in the courts and the news media. The Democrats are screaming bloody murder over President Trumps firing of FBI director James Comey, whom Hillary Clinton still blames for her defeat at the polls and who the bipartisan War Party has never forgiven for Comeys earlier hesitancy to blame the Russians for the same offense. Now that Trump has cut Comey loose -- ostensibly for his handling of the Clinton emails scandal, according to three letters sent by Trump and his two top Justice Department officials  the Democrats have stepped up calls for a special prosecutor to continue the evidence-less crusade against the Kremlin. Its the Saturday Night Massacre all over again, cry the Democrats, harkening back to the weekend in 1973 when President Nixon fired Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. But this is not about the rule of law -- quite the opposite: its about continuing the momentum of the U.S. military offensive begun in 2011 under President Obama, a wholly illegal aggression that has destroyed Libya, killed half a million Syrians, delivered vast regions to the control of the two feuding factions of al-Qaida, and brought the world closer to nuclear annihilation than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis. This is not about the rule of law -- its about continuing the momentum of the U.S. military offensive begun in 2011 under President Obama. The War Party is determined to make the offensive permanent, to keep up the pressure on the ultimate targets, Russia and China, until they break or capitulate to U.S. domination of the world. The current, rabid anti-Russian hysteria adds another layer of fake news on top of the wholly fictional U.S. War on Terror scenario. But these mega-lies can no longer mask the great obscenity of the 21st century: that the U.S. is allied with al-Qaida, whose jihadists act as imperialisms foot soldiers in the Middle East. Donald Trump thought last months attack on Syria had bought him immunity, or at least a respite, from the wrath of the War Party, which was determined to burn him at the political stake -- not for his raging racism and hostility to civil liberties, but for his previously stated opposition to regime change and never-ending tensions with Russia. Trumps 59-missile salvo against a Syrian airbase was supposed to wipe the slate clean and forgive his heresies against the extralegal rights of the exceptional U.S. empire. But apparently, there is no statute of limitations on even the suggestion of peaceful coexistence with targeted states. The current, rabid anti-Russian hysteria adds another layer of fake news on top of the wholly fictional U.S. 'War on Terror' scenario. And now, in an almost laughable legalistic perversion, a group of lawyers from the Obama White House, of all places, is suing the Trump administration for failing to provide sufficient legal rationale for last months Tomahawk hit on Syria. The lawyers at United to Protect Democracy claim their insider knowledge of how the federal government works gives them unique insights on implementing and enforcing the norms that have constrained presidential power for decades  although they never constrained Obama from his own lurch towards apocalypse, in 2011. Indeed, these legal hit-men for empire acknowledge as much, admitting (or bragging?) that we defended past presidents against legitimate oversight and illegitimate attacks. The self-styled watchdog group does not list its board or members on its website, but their admission implicates them in Obamas legal defense of his regime change assault on Libya. The U.S.-NATO bombing campaign , which killed an estimated 50,000 people, destroyed the countrys infrastructure, resulted in the murder of its chief of state, empowered jihadist militias, and unleashed a torrent of arms across Africa and the Middle East, nevertheless did not violate the War Powers Act because U.S. operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve U.S. ground troops, wrote Obamas lawyers. When challenged by Congress, Obama maintained that the war on Libya was not a war at all, because no Americans were killed. This proxy war was never a secret and was always a clear violation of the United Nations Charter. Like synchronized dancers, the U.S. and its allies pivoted immediately to Syria, where they attempted to use much the same formula -- jihadists + arms + financing + CIA training + political protection at the UN -- to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government. This proxy war, which involved U.S. military and intelligence personnel on the ground from the very start, was never a secret and was always a clear violation of the United Nations Charter, which the U.S. is legally obligated to uphold. Nations are forbidden to use force against other nations except in self-defense or with the authorization of the UN Security Council. Unlike in Libya, the U.S. did not have the fig leaf of enforcing a UN-authorized no-fly zone in Syria. Yet, there was hardly a peep from any but a handful of Democrats, and therefore no need for Obamas in-house lawyers to defend their Chief against charges of aggressive war, the most serious of international crimes. In 2013, after Syria was falsely blamed for a chemical attack on civilians, Obama threatened to directly bomb Syrian forces. His lawyers were prepared to argue that an attack on Syria could be justified  like Bill Clintons bombing of Kosovo in 1999  on vague grounds of eliminating a threat to peace. But of course, the greatest threat to peace is aggressive war, of which the United States was already -- and chronically -- guilty. In the end, Obama decided to ask Congress for authorization to bomb, and then changed his mind when the Russians offered to broker destruction of Syrias chemical weapons stockpiles. But, like all U.S. presidents, and with no grounds under international law, Obama insisted that Commanders-in-Chief have the right to bomb other countries to defend U.S. national security based on their own judgment -- another legal nonsensicality. Obama maintained that the war on Libya was not a war at all, because no Americans were killed. So, the legal mercenaries of United to Protect Democracy , veterans of Obamas 2011 military offensive, have no problem with violating international law. Their beef with Trump appears to be that he did not provide sufficient legal rationale for his bombing Syria  which is different than actually obeying international law. Trumps people issued what are described as talking points to explain his actions against Syria. But former White House lawyer Justin Florence, the groups legal director, wrote that this is not enough: The U.S. government must publicly articulate its legal theory in order to uphold the international legal framework we have relied on for so many years as a constraint on other states. The UN Charter is clear on what constitutes aggression. Trump is an aggressor. So were Obama, and Bush (the UN Secretary General said so), and so was Clinton. Since the U.S. is a superpower and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the UN will never authorize the international community to punish the U.S. for its crimes. But, that does not absolve the U.S. of criminality -- and humanitys collective memory and conscience will never forgive the United States for the crushing of nations and the death of millions. The Democratic Party hacks with law degrees at United to Protect Democracy are concerned, not about peace, but that U.S. presidents go through the motions of rationalizing their imperial crimes. Say something that sounds good, they urge. Convince the American public that its OK for the U.S. to claim life and death powers over the rest of humanity. Make an effort, why dont ya? Humanitys collective memory and conscience will never forgive the United States for the crushing of nations and the death of millions. These watchdogs real problem with Trump is that he has not bothered to commission creative lawyers like themselves to provide lofty wordage to justify the indefensible. He has not taken care to skillfully market U.S. imperial aggression to its home population. This may not be impeachable, but it is embarrassing and unbefitting of an exceptional empire. Ajamu Baraka, the 2016 Green Party vice presidential candidate and an editor and columnist at Black Agenda Report, wrote in this issue of BAR: The absence of any real opposition to the reckless use of U.S. military force -- the attack on Syria, the macho demonstration bombing in Afghanistan, the provocations toward North Korea -- exposed once again the unanimity among the U.S. ruling class and the state on the use of military force as the main strategy to enforce its global interests. The American public does not think of itself as bloodthirsty, but it has a huge tolerance for the spilling of other peoples blood. Americans also have a peculiar sense of entitlement. Imperial privilege is this strange ability on the part of the U.S. public to shrug off the consequences experienced by people impacted by the direct and indirect result of U.S. militarism, Baraka writes. Obamas former lawyers at United to Protect Democracy understand that Americans demand only that politicians use pretty words to justify the barbarities committed in their name. If you stick with the formula, the template, and make Americans feel exceptional, then you can bomb the hell out of the rest of the world, at will. BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com. - Glen Ford's blog - No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Click here to comment on our Facebook page
FBI Cock-ups, Yet US Implodes With Trump Cover-up Hysteria and Russophobia

By Finian Cunningham

May 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - US President Donald Trump is being widely accused of a Nixonian cover-up after he took the drastic step of firing James Comey, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Comparisons are made by Washington politicians and pundits of disgraced former President Richard Nixon who sacked an independent investigator looking into the Watergate scandal back in 1973 in what became know as the Saturday Night Massacre.

Only, according to Trumps critics, this is much worse than Watergate. Thats because Nixon  who was later forced to resign from the presidency in 1974  was covering up criminal spying on American political rivals, while Trump is allegedly involved in a conspiracy with a foreign enemy state, Russia. Thats treasonous and a capital crime, in their view.

But hold it a moment. Richard Nixon was actually guilty of aiding a cover-up over a real case of burglary for political espionage on opponents. That burglary  by the Plumbers  involved intel operatives led by the infamous CIA agent Howard E Hunt and others who broke into the Democrat political headquarters at the Watergate hotel, with the purpose of conducting illicit surveillance for Nixons Republicans.

The fatal error in comparing that incident with the alleged collusion between Trumps election campaign and the Russian governments suspected hacking into his Democrat rival Hillary Clintons campaign is that there has never been any credible evidence presented to support the tenuous claims made against Trump. Its all bluster and insinuation that keeps running on and on, without any evidence seemingly ever presented.

The allegations of Trump-Russia collusion  in which it is claimed that the Kremlin conducted an influence campaign on American voters by releasing damaging private information about Clinton obtained from her campaign emails  have been continually leveled and amplified by US media without any substantiating proof.

James Comey, the former FBI chief, has been conducting an investigation into these allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian hackers for nearly six months  and yet there is still no sign of any definite conclusion coming forward. The same goes for similar probes that are being conducted by both chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives and Senate. The allegations against Trump keep hanging in the air, without any sign of conclusion. This is not due legal process. In other words, the whole Russian affair seems aimed at creating a constant political cloud over Trumps presidency in which the shadow of treasonous behavior is permitted to persist and to impede him politically.

Trumps bombshell letter this week terminating Comey as FBI director was said to be due to Comeys incompetence in handling the scandal surrounding Hillary Clintons abuse of government secrecy rules while she was Secretary of State (2009-2013) in the former Obama administration. It has been established that Clinton used her own private, un-secure, email system to transmit classified information  a serious felony that could result in a prison sentence.

The real scandal, it seems, is that Washingtons political establishment and large sections of the corporate US media are more intent on delving into flimsy, politicized allegations against Trump of a Russian conspiracy than in pursuing the much more substantive case involving Clinton.

James Comey has been central to maintaining that staggering anomaly, which in effect has grave implications of unlawful political partisanship. As head of the FBI he was supposed to be scrupulously independent from all matters of politics.

Of course, the timing can be made to look appalling bad for Trumps decision to sack Comey  if the Russian conspiracy theory is given the undue credibility that it has been afforded in the first place.

The New York Times published Wednesday on its front page the following headline: Trump Fires Comey Amid Russia Inquiry. Other media outlets were similarly drawing the same picture of Trump getting rid of the man who is investigating his alleged links to Russia. Democrat politicians in particular were frenzied with the same inference. Senator Chuck Schumer asked with dramatical effect: Were the investigators getting too close to the White House?

Then as if to add more fuel to the political firestorm, Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House on the same day, to discuss US-Russian relations, among other global issues. The meeting was touted as the most senior personal contact yet between President Trump and the Kremlin under Vladimir Putin.

If Trump were a Russian stooge as the conspiracy theory has it, then he would appear to be a most reckless one. Imagine, on the day when his domestic opponents are accusing him of cover-up by sacking the FBI boss, Trump turns around and gives the Kremlins top diplomat a full-honors greeting at the Oval Office.

Instead of being a brazen, stupid Russian stooge, Trumps conduct is more plausibly explained by the contention that the whole alleged Russian collusion scandal is simply baseless. And Trump is not indulging the nonsense. Trump this week again dismissed the never-ending Congressional hearings into the matter as a taxpayer-funded charade a total hoax.

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For all his failings and flaws, Trump is probably making the right call on this affair. It has abundant hallmarks of being nothing more than a politically driven witch-hunt, aimed at undermining his election to the presidency back in November. That victory shocked the US political establishment which had bet the farm on Hillary Clinton winning, due to her hawkish foreign policy and anti-Russian stance.

The Russian hacking narrative has since taken on a transcendent life of its own where repetition and assertion become self-generating facts. Russia has consistently rejected all allegations that it interfered in the US presidential election. Russias Sergey Lavrov last month  in the presence of his American counterpart Rex Tillerson while in Moscow  repeated the Kremlins disclosure that it has not received one iota of evidence from Washington regarding the hacking allegations.

The case against Trump appears to be largely based on a dubious report authored by a former British MI6 spy, who has since distanced himself from its salacious claims. Nevertheless, the Russian hacking claims keep being churned out unabated by Western media outlets. Earlier this week, the head of the US National Security Agency (NSA), Admiral Mike Rogers, claimed before a Senate committee that Russia had interfered in the recent French presidential elections in an attempt to undermine Emmanuel Macron in favor of Marine Le Pen. Rogers did not provide any verifiable details to substantiate his claims, but the mere utterance of the allegations seems sufficient to establish fact  and so the narrative of Russian hacking just keeps rolling and rolling.

Getting back to Comeys ignominious sacking by Trump. This is less about Trump assuming dictatorial powers and covering-up treason, as he is being charged with by his opponents, and much more about Comey being guilty of committing cock-up after cock-up.

Democrat opponents of Trump say that his termination of Comey is not credible. Thats because Trump formerly praised Comey over his investigation into Clintons email scandal. Thats true. Last year, 11 days before the US election on November 8, when Comey made a shock announcement that the FBI was re-opening a probe into Clintons alleged abuse of emails, Trump praised him as having guts.

Then on the eve of the election, Comey backtracked and said the case against Clinton was closed, as he had previously said it was back in July 2016. This was flip-flopping par excellence by the USs top crime investigator.

Also, the fact that Trump kept Comey on in the job when he assumed the presidency on January 20 is being cited by Democrats that Trump does not really have an issue with his tenure at the FBI. Comey was appointed to the job in 2013 by then President Obama. The ten-year FBI office is traditionally not revoked by incoming presidents. Trumps critics deduce that his sacking of Comey is thus motivated by Trumps desire to shut down the probe into alleged Russian connections.

But such logic does not take into account other major developments. As noted above, Comey has given himself a de facto license to run an open-ended probe into allegations of collusion between team Trump and Moscow, even though there is never any proof presented, only hearsay and the unaccountable reliance on classified information. In effect, Comey has politicized his power as the top law enforcer.

This is while Comey has singularly failed to go after Hillary Clinton and her much more substantiated misconduct. The last straw seems to have been Comey announcing to Congress last week that hundreds and thousands of Clintons government emails had been forwarded outside of classified protocol. Then this week, Comey suddenly revoked that testimony when he notified Congress he had erred; that the number of offending emails only amounted to a fraction of what he claimed last week.

What emerges is an FBI director who was bumbling, incompetent and personally responsible for a whole catalogue of cock-ups. Comey had singlehandedly undermined the FBI and turned it into a political weapon (nothing new here given the shenanigans under notorious predecessor Edgar J Hoover). Therefore, Trump is right to give Comey the sack.

What prevents the Washington political class and its corporate media hacks from seeing straight on the issue  and hence wasting inordinate time and resources  is that it is so besotted with its delusional propaganda about Russia as a malign enemy undermining American democracy. The people undermining American democracy are its fat-cat politicians sitting on Capitol Hill and their servile media, who instead of serving citizens are too busy wielding self-serving conspiracy theories demonizing Trump and Russia.

This is no Trump cover-up. Its a Comey cock-up. And he deserves the boot. Just like much of the self-serving incompetent Washington establishment.
A little boy has given many people the shock of their lives after declaring that he wants to be an armed robber when he grows up.

It was utter shock and disbelief that took over Asuogyaman in the Eastern Region of Ghana when a three-year-old KG pupil confidently disclosed to the District Chief Executive (DCE) and his delegation during a visit that he aspires to become an armed robber in future to enable him become rich.

The shocking answer was a response to a question the DCE, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, asked the children regarding what they aspire to become in future.

When asked if he understood what armed robbers do, the KP pupil remained silent for minutes forcing the DCE to issue a directive to the guidance and counseling unit of the Ghana Education Service to take the pupil through counseling and send their report to his office for further action.

The DCE stated that the assembly will make sure that the pupil gets the best of support needed throughout his education to ensure that he grows to become a responsible citizen in future.

The DCE and his entourage made up of officers from the district education office led by the district education director, Mavis Yirenkyi visited schools such as Akwamu West Anglican Primary, Akosombo Beasley, Akosombo VRA Roman Catholic School, VRA Presbyterian Primary School, Nuriya Islamic and Pupuni L/A Primary School.

Mr. Nyarko encouraged the pupils especially, the newly-admitted KG pupils to take their studies serious by being punctual and learning hard. He told the pupils that the only way for them to be rich is through education, adding that there is no short cut to success; therefore, they must not joke with their education.

He emphasized governments commitment to continuously invest heavily in education by making sure that facilities needed to enhance quality education are made available to them.
Photo taken on May 9, 2017 shows the "Golden Bridge on Silk Road" structure in Beijing Olympic Park in Beijing, capital of China.

The U.S. Pentagon has endorsed a plan, known as the Asia-Pacific Stability Initiative (APSI), to invest nearly $8 billion to bulk up the U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region over the next five years by upgrading military infrastructure, conducting additional exercises, and deploying more forces and ships, The Wall Street Journal reported on May 7. That comes in addition to the $54 billion in new military spending requested for next years federal budget.

The effort to bulk up the U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region is seen by backers of the plan as a way to signal U.S. commitment to the region. It was initially put forward by U.S. Senator John McCain, and the general concept of the plan is supported by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and head of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris.

Several U.S. senators have expressed their support for the creation of the APSI: Like you, we remain concerned with the eroding military balance, the senators said in a letter to Secretary Mattis penned in February. They called on Secretary Mattis to maintain U.S. leadership in the Asia-Pacific and said that the initiative will show both allies and adversaries that the U.S. remains committed to the region.

But rather than boost confidence in U.S. commitment, the initiative shows just how out-of-step the U.S. has become with the changing world order. Building an iron wall of military power to maintain dominance might reassure U.S. allies, such as Japan, but the effort goes squarely against the regions efforts to promote common development and win-win cooperation. In addition, Asia-Pacific-focused initiatives such as the APSI are likely to be seen as moves to contain China, increasing friction between the two major countries.

Rather than seek dominance in the region, the U.S. should follow in Chinas footsteps and seek integration. With the Belt and Road Initiative, China is playing a constructive role in the region, focusing tremendous efforts and resources on promoting an open and inclusive plan that will benefit not only China, but all countries of the world, regardless of their size, strength, or regime type. This stands in stark contrast to the Pentagon-backed plan.

The U.S. has a lot to gain by participating in the Belt and Road, an initiative that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi describes as the most important public good China has given to the world to date. The U.S. made a strategic mistake by shunning the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Why the U.S. would compound that mistake and add insult to injury by shunning efforts for more open and inclusive development, frankly, makes no sense. That is why it is important, as Beijing prepares to host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, that the U.S. embrace Chinas progress in regional integration and seize the opportunity to join the symphony of the Belt and Road Initiative, a plan that encourages all countries of the world to play a constructive role in the regions future.
A 90-year-old man has been sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for stealing 150,000 Naira.

Rasaki Raji allegedly collected the amount from his victim, Omolara Ajani on the pretense of getting her a half plot of land.

Raji, however, failed to provide the land or return the money to her.

Ajani reported the matter at the police station and Raji was arrested.

He was subsequently arraigned before a Magistrate Court sitting in Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State, on a two-count charge of obtaining and stealing.

The prosecutor, Oyebanji Oluseye, told the court that he offence contravened sections 419 and 390(9), Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria 2000.

In her ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Giwa Babalola, sentenced the accused to 6 months imprisonment with an option to pay a fine of 50,000.00 Naira.
Two men identified as Stephen Vagi, 31, and Tersoo Adoon, 28 were sentenced to to six months imprisonment each, for criminal conspiracy, inciting disturbances and causing grievous hurt by a Makurdi Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The Magistrate, Mohammed Ibrahim, handed down the sentence after the duo pleaded guilty to the allegations.

He, however, gave them a fine of N5,000 each.

Earlier, the Police prosecutor, Mr Omaye Ujata, had told the court that Mr Raymong Mbaboy, Special Adviser to Benue Governor on Community Development, had lodged a complaint at the Area Command, Gboko, in which he accused the duo of committing the offences.

The complaint was lodged by the government official and the case was transferred from Area Command Headquarters, Gboko, to Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Makurdi.

Mbaboy reported that he was at a thanksgiving mass at his village, Gando, in Gboko Local Government, when the accused, both residents of the same village, confronted him and demanded money.

He said that when he refused, they started causing confusion which resulted into a fight between rival political party supporters.

He further said that in the course of the fight, two people, identified as Aondokaa Atim and Aondofa Atim, were stabbed by the accused, using pieces of broken bottles, Ujata said.

The prosecutor further told the court that the accused, who were promptly arrested, later confessed to committing the crime during police investigation.

He said, however, that they had no previous crime records.

Ujata said that the offense contravened sections 97, 247 and 116 of the penal code laws of Benue State 2004.

Source: ( PM News )
Two months after criticizing the Big Brother Naija show, Delta state Governor Okowas aide was spotted chilling with the winner of the show, Efe Ejemba in Asaba. Ovie Success Ossai who blasted BBNaija in an interview, said its shameful to win prizes from amorous and indecent actions.

Ossai told NAIJ.com in Asaba that: Since BBNAIJA came into the scene after some years, it has influenced Nigerians very negatively most especially the Nigerian youths on immoral relationships.

He said considering the unholy displays and shows on BBNaija, Nigerians youths have been badly influenced, a development which he said has the tendency of affecting students and taking the precious time that could have invested into studying their books.

He said: If only there could be an educating version of BBNAIJA, if only they could house intelligent scholars, and make them compete for similar prizes, I wouldnt have condemned it. But the whole thing is touching the base nature of man and its actually not the best for our Nigerian audience.

Ovie, who is the youngest appointee in the Governors administration in Delta, said with the situation in the situation in the country at present, it may be difficult to produce great Nigerians as Okonjo Iweala, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and a host of other Nigerians who have made significant progress and contributions to national and international development.
Some of the representatives of the 82 released Chibok girls by Boko Haram were met by the Federal Government.

The 82 schoolgirls, who were abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, were freed over the weekend after long negotiations between the Federal Government and the terror sect, Boko Haram.

The Swiss Government and the International Committee of the Red Cross were also involved in the talks, which also featured a lawyer, Zanna Mustapha, and Senator Shehu Sani as negotiators.

Pictures of the released girls were sent to their representstives which would be handed over to the parents.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this during an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday.

Mohammed said the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, met with the representatives as the government believed this would be more convenient than asking all the parents to travel down to Abuja.

He said, Chibok is not one village; the girls are from several communities. You need time to contact the parents. The Minister of Women Affairs has met with members of the Chibok association and they have been given pictures and names of the girls and in the next few days, we will get feedback.

We dont want a situation where somebodys daughter, who is not there, will come all the way to Abuja only to be disappointed while the parents, whose daughters were actually rescued, would be left behind.

So, it will take a few days to coordinate these things.

Mohammed said the rescued girls were still undergoing several tests because they had been in captivity of three years and would need thorough examination.

A health official told one of our correspondents that the girls had undergone malaria, hepatitis and HIV tests.

The girls have been in captivity with terrorists for over three years; so, the standard tests they are being given are HIV and other related STDs, hepatitis, malaria and others.

They are the same tests that the previously rescued girls had all taken, the official added.
An imperial Buddhist painting from the early 15th century and a Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century BC) wine vessel called you will be on the block at the inaugural auction of Jung Hau Dian Tsang Auction in Macao on May 22 and 23.

The Buddhist painting, produced during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), boasts vivid colors and sophisticated depictions of the costumes of nine Buddhist figures that are arranged in three groups in the painting. It blends a distinctive style of presenting Buddhist motifs by the Han (206 BC-220) artists since the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and elements of Tibetan Buddhist art. It has been in a private collection in the United States for more than two decades.

Another highlight is a Shang archaic bronze wine vessel, you, which features patterns resembling an eagle and stands 18 centimeters tall. Few fine examples of similar shapes and patterns can be found at art museums in China.

The Macao auction house's first sale includes more than 600 antiques and works of art, such as classic Chinese paintings, Buddhist figures, ceramics and antique jade pieces.

Yi Suhao, chairman of Jung Hau Dian Tsang Auction, says Macao's cultural landscape has boomed since it was returned to the sovereignty of China in 1999. He says important domestic cultural institutions such as the Palace Museum have sent their collections and exhibitions on tour to Macao, intensifying exchanges between the mainland and Macao, adding that the past two years have also seen an emerging art auction market.
A young Nigerian man who just returned to the country from Italy, has left his friends and family in a mourning state following his unfortunate assassination.

An Italian-based Nigerian man identified simply as Johnny, has been reportedly shot dead shortly after returning to the country in Benin city, the Edo state capital.

According to multiple online reports, the young man was reportedly shot dead by unknown gunmen after being attacked at his residence.

More details regarding his gruesome murder and untimely death as well as whether the gunmen have been apprehended, were not ascertained as at the time of filing this report.

See more photos of the deceased and his car after being shot dead below;
Residents receive treatment at Kuzigun Village in Taxkorgan County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 11, 2017. A 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Taxkorgan County at 5:58 a.m. Thursday (2100 GMT Wednesday), said the China Earthquake Networks Center. (Xinhua/Li Xiaoling)

TAXKORGAN, Xinjiang, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Eight people have been confirmed dead and 23 others were injured after a 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Taxkorgan County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 5:58 a.m. Thursday.

So far, the quake has left lives of more than 12,000 people affected. A total of 9,200 people have been relocated to safe places.

The injured people have been sent to hospital for treatment. More than1,000 soldiers and police officers, and 1,500 civilians have rushed to the quake-stricken areas for rescue. Relief goods are already on th way, according to the quake emergency response headquarters.

Wang Fuyou, Communist Party chief of the county, said the quake followed by frequent aftershocks was felt strongly.

Cracks appeared on walls of houses in the county seat. Some people were buried after adobe houses near the epicenter collapsed, according to Wang.

The county government has sent personnel to search for the buried people in Quzgun Village, the worst-hit village in the quake with a population of 449, Wang said.

In Quzgun Village, 820 heads of livestock were injured or killed and 1,520 homes collapsed.

The power supply company of the county said the power supply network across the county including the quake-hit areas operates normally. The water supply and communication in the county seat also operates normally.

As of 10 a.m., the Xinjiang seismological bureau recorded 82 aftershocks following the quake.

The epicenter, with a depth of about 8.0 km, was monitored at 37.58 degrees north latitude and 75.25 degrees east longitude in the southeast part of the Pamir Plateau.

The average altitude within 5-km around the epicenter is 4,347 meters. The population within a radius of 20 km and 50 km from the epicenter is estimated at 580 and 6,200 respectively.

Taxkorgan, some 1,250 kilometers from Urumqi, capital of the region, borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

The area within a radius of about 200 kilometers from the epicenter has recorded 226 earthquakes above 3 magnitude over the past five years, including a 6.7-magnitude quake on Nov. 25, 2016 in Akto County.
Despite Herbalifes recent stock surge, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman told investors on a call Wednesday that the multi-level marketing companys fundamentals have been in decline since 2013.

Herbalife has been on a roll of late. Outgoing CEO Michael Johnson called out Ackman while speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference two weeks ago. Johnson  veering from his sponsored slot on Leading a Healthy Life  labeled Ackmans claims as fake news.

But an Obama-era Federal Trade Commission agreed with most of the short-sellers criticisms, and last summer reached a settlement with Herbalife forcing it to restructure its business. Yet shares have been soaring ever since Herbalifes first quarter earnings came out last week, which showed an 11 percent drop over the year-prior quarter. The stock is up 51 percent this year, after a smaller-than-expected earnings decline disclosed on May 4 sent the stock up 16 percent. As it hit $72, rumors abounded on Wall Street that Ackman  who remained silent in the face of Johnsons goading and the latest earnings report  was covering his big short.

Ackman, however, remains painfully short on a stock that isnt, and the saga continues.

In a by-the-numbers presentation on Herbalife on his quarterly conference call with investors in Pershing Square Holdings Wednesday, Ackman gave an uncharacteristically sober presentation on Herbalife to date. Its sizeable business in China is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. And, as Pershing Square senior counsel David Klafter pointed out, for the first time Herbalife acknowledged in SEC filings that Chinas anti-pyramiding laws posed risk.

But Ackmans big takeaway was that the companys financial trajectory looks crummy. Operating earnings have fallen 40 percent since he called the company a pyramid scheme in December of 2012 from a Manhattan stage. Ackman said North American sales fell 7 percent in the first quarter, China looks worse than reported sales suggested, while South Korea and Brazil also saw double-digit decreases. Overall, revenues have been in decline since 2013, when they topped out at $4.8 billion. The FTCs terms of settlement go into effect later this month in the U.S., which Ackman expects to further dampen sales.

Fundamentals are clearly deteriorating, Ackman argued. The company is doing a remarkable job of misleading the market about the business. Herbalife is also in the process of buying back stock with the proceeds of a recent loan refinancing, and its biggest investor, Carl Icahn, holds a 24 percent stake.

To make sure its not acting like a pyramid scheme, the FTC is forcing the company to clearly differentiate between distributors  those people who have signed up to sell products and recruit more sellers  and a new group of preferred members, who can buy discounted products for their own use. For distributers to get paid, 80 percent of the companys sales must be profitable retail transactions, which the settlement forces Herbalife to track.

In the meantime, Herbalife has a massive recruiting effort underway for preferred members. The company gave a 25 percent coupon if you signed on as a preferred customer, then added it back into earnings, according to Ackman. Just how much retail consumer demand exists for Herbalifes pricey protein powder remains a mystery. Pershing Square expects some clarity by the third quarter.
The CEO of Arthur J. Gallagher will leave the business at the end of his current contract, it has been announced.Andrew Godden, who has been CEO of the Australian operations of the international giant since 2010, will join BMS Group as CEO of Australia.BMS is the UK-headquartered arm of Minova Insurance and has been building its presence in Australia and the Asia Pacific region over recent years. The appointment of Godden is set to help spur growth for the firm.BMS has been building its reputation in Australia and the wider Asia Pacific and Im delighted that the entrepreneurial culture we have created has allowed us to attract an individual of Andrew Goddens calibre, Nick Cook, CEO of BMS, said.In 2003, Godden co-founded Specialist Broking Associates, which was acquired by AJG in 2010. Godden also took the reins of the international brokerage.BMS, which is both an insurance and reinsurance broker, has 12 global offices and is employee-owned.Godden will be based in Sydney and will report directly to Cook. His position will take effect upon the expiration of his contractual obligations to AJG.
Cover expected to pay out within three days of a claim
Cyclone Debbie, which lashed Australia and New Zealand in late March, has dragged down the first-quarter profits of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway group.Berkshire posted a 27% first-quarter profit, and reported a loss from its insurance underwriting, which partly caused the company's operating results to fall short of forecasts.The Omaha-based company reported that its income for the first quarter declined to US$4.06bn from US$5.59bn in the March quarter of 2016. Operating results dropped to US$3.56bn from US$3.74bn in the same quarter of the previous year, ShareCafe reported.The conglomerate saw its year-earlier profit of US$213m fall to a US$267m underwriting result, reflecting higher losses from the catastrophes in 2017, including Cyclone Debbie, and also due to high losses related to hurricanes and earthquakes in 2016.Berkshire said its insurance business suffered approximately US$52m of estimated losses in the quarter due to Cyclone Debbie, from its quota share deal with IAG , the report said.The first-quarter loss was also a reflection of the company's amortisation of deferred charges to its January agreement with American International Group Inc. to cover the many long-term risks of its property and casualty insurance portfolio, in exchange for US$10.2bn upfront payment.
A very, very small insurance operation that allows owners of small businesses to shop online for commercial vehicle, general liability, property, workers' compensation, and eventually professional liability insurance, continues to grow one year after it was founded.The Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unit, called biBERK or Business Insurance Berkshire Hathaway, was conceptualised by Ajit Jain, Berkshire's top insurance executive, said biBERK CEO Rakesh Gupta.The unit, previously called Cover Your Business until March, was set up to provide small business owners with a hassle-free way to bypass insurance agents, often generating quotes within five minutes of filling out short questionnaires, Reuters reported."Amazon.com can deliver something to you in four hours," said Gupta, who specialised in big data before joining BiBERK. "If people can buy paper towels on the internet, why not insurance?"The BiBERK boss said the unit has been attracting twice as many customers as a year ago  although sales data was kept confidential.Gupta said business insurance could follow the trajectory of auto insurance, where Berkshire's Geico unit, as well as rivals Progressive and USAA, won their share of the market by driving underwriting costs and premiums down, the report said."If that happens, we want to be at the forefront," he said.In workers' compensation, biBERK usually generates 60% of applicants with instant quotes, denies 20%, and refers the remainder to representatives.Improvements to the sign-up process now allow 50% of customers to buy insurance without the help of humans, a 10% rise from a year ago.Gupta said BiBERK sometimes holds what it calls hatchet meetings to assess risks and red flag issues that the questionnaires might not address.To cover biBERK in the event of the occasional mistake, its parent Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Co has US$118m of surplus capital, plus reinsurance from Berkshire's National Indemnity Co. unit, Reuters said.Gupta identified state regulatory burdens as one reason why insurers have been slow to adopt online technology, and expressed his hope that biBERK will attract younger, technology-savvy entrepreneurs."It's still very, very small," he told Reuters. "In the scheme of Berkshire, it's an interesting experiment."
The insurance industry has had its say on the Federal budget which could have varied impacts on insurance brokers.The Government announced an overhaul of the way financial disputes are dealt with, creating a one-stop-shop for external dispute resolution which could impact brokers.The new Australian Financial Complaints Authority would combine and replace the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Credits and Investments Ombudsman and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal in an attempt to reduce confusion for consumers, treasurer Scott Morrison announced. NIBA CEO Dallas Booth said that the changes may be unnecessary.Firstly we are not sure why there is a need for brokers to be involved in a change of this nature, we are not sure why there is the need to have wholesale change of EDR in the first place, Booth told Insurance Business.There have been some instances of confusion but Im sure those matters could have been easily resolved without wholesale change.Booth noted that the suggested increase in jurisdiction for the new body represents the more worrying side of the changes but NIBA welcomes the commitment from Government to consult on jurisdiction with relation to general insurance and sub-limits within general insurance which includes brokers.Much ink has been spilled over the need for more mitigation spending from the Federal government but the industry was left disappointed.The Government allocated just $26.1m in disaster resilience programs, well below the $200m a year recommendation by the Productivity Commission.The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) is disappointed the Budget does not address the urgent need for a significant increase in spending on nation-building mitigation infrastructure and resilience measures, Rob Whelan, CEO of the ICA said in response to the budget.Booth stressed that NIBA shares this disappointment.Government has to start taking this seriously, Booth said.We think they got the message out of Debbie which was yet another reminder of the importance of mitigation. It just has to be done.Elsewhere, the Government committed $7.9m to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to monitor insurance premium pricing in Far North Queensland.Whelan noted that this investment was a missed opportunity for further mitigation spending.The insurance industry will fully cooperate with the ACCC; however, the Federal Government has already spent tens of millions of dollars on numerous reports into insurance in northern Australia, which have concluded insurers are operating in a competitive market and are appropriately pricing risk, Whelan said.
International catastrophe insurance data firm PERILS has revealed its estimate for the losses from Cyclone Debbie.The independent, Zurich -based firm pegged its initial loss estimate at $1.12bn for the storm which tore through Queensland and flooded parts of northern New South Wales early this year.The firm found that the storm surge following the storm was moderate but exceptional rainfall led to flooding which saw the estimate rise.Darryl Pidcock, head of PERILS Asia-Pacific, said that the storm was the first event captured by the firm in Australia and underpins the need for disaster data in the country.Debbie clearly exceeds our property market loss reporting threshold of $500m and made a significant impact on the insurance and reinsurance industry, Pidcock said.PERILS, which launched in Australia last year, will give a further update on losses later this year.Last month, Swiss Re estimated that total insured market losses for wind, flood and storm surge damage was an estimated US$1.3bn.
Three U.S. senators issued a bipartisan bill on Tuesday, calling for the recognition of the long-neglected contributions of the more than 13,000 Chinese American veterans who served the U.S. during World War II.

The bill, jointly issued by senators Tammy Duckworth, Thad Cochran, and Mazie Hirono, aims to authorize the award of the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow  a Congressional Gold Medal  to the dedicated Chinese American veterans of World War II, according to a news release posted on Cochrans official website.

Despite facing outright discrimination, more than 13,000 brave Chinese Americans volunteered to risk their lives to protect their fellow Americans from our enemies during World War II. Their unwavering commitment to their country even after being initially turned away should be recognized, said Duckworth, an Illinois Senator of Chinese and Thai descent, according to the news release.

In spite of their service and sacrifices during WWII, Chinese American veterans are usually ignored by mainstream American society. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, over 13,000 Chinese Americans served during WWII. Census data estimates that there were only about 107,000 Chinese living in the U.S. at the time.

Echoing Duckworth, Cochran hoped the Congress would act favorably on the proposal to commemorate the service of the Chinese American veterans, saying that the group should be honored with a Congressional Gold Medal.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the nations highest civil award and is for persons who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipients field long after the achievement. Congressional Gold Medal legislation must be cosponsored by at least two-thirds of the Members of the House or two-thirds of the Members of the Senate to move forward.
It already involved a train accident, a tragic death, imprisonment, and Gregg Allman. And now the protracted legal battle between a film production company and an insurer has taken yet another turn.Production company Film Allman is fighting its insurer, New York Marine and General Insurance Company, over millions of dollars it says the insurer owes on coverage of Midnight Rider, a doomed biopic about rocker Gregg Allman.The production was scuttled in 2014 after the crew set up a shot on a railway bridge, only to have to flee when a train roared through. Sarah Jones, a 27-year-old camera operator, was killed in the incident.Joness death brought the production to a halt and eventually sent the director of the film to prison. Director Randall Miller was prosecuted for his role in the accident, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He eventually took a plea deal for criminal trespassing and involuntary manslaughter. And New York Marine, citing a criminal-acts exclusion in Film Allmans policy, refused to pay its claim.Miller was supposed to serve two years in prison, but was released in about half that time because of problems with the plea agreement, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And now the FBI is actively investigating whether Miller was wrongfully prosecuted and incarcerated, according to court documents filed by Film Allman.The production company has already accused New York Marine of trying to sabotage Midnight Rider, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Its also claiming that the insurer had conflicts, and actively planned to drive Miller into bankruptcy to avoid paying off the policy. Miller and the films producer also introduced evidence that the rail company had never officially withheld permission to use the tracks where the accident occurred.However, a federal judge ruled in December that New York Marine was right to exclude criminal acts under the films insurance policy, according to the Hollywood Reporter.In light of the FBI investigation, Film Allman is asking for reconsideration. According to court filings, the bureau is investigating probably civil rights violations and the possible wrongful prosecution of Mr. Miller. The production company called the FBI investigation the latest and possibly the most compelling reason that this Court should reconsider whether the criminal acts exclusion applies in this case.
Former CEO of AIG and majority shareholder Hank Greenberg had just lost in a courtroom battle against the US government over the terms of a federal bailout in 2008.The ruling follows after Greenberg had reached a settlement in another legal struggle with the government just three months ago in a case involving accounting fraud at AIG.On Thursday, an appeals court overturned a previous ruling that the government had done an illegitimate exaction after it had acquired 80% stake in AIG in exchange for a US$85 billion bailout, Financial Times reported.Greenberg argued that investors got the short end of the stick in the government bailout deal. According to him, the government imposed difficult terms and failed to properly compensate investors in the company.In 2011, Greenberg-controlled Starr International brought a legal case against the government, seeking US$40 billion in relief for itself and other shareholders. It was in 2015 that a judge ruled that the terms of the governments rescue were unjust; however the judge also refused to award damages after ruling that without the bailout, AIG would have entered bankruptcy and killed off shareholder interests.Starr appealed against the ruling, but the government also appealed in response.Eventually, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington on Tuesday found that Starr and other shareholders it represented lacked standing to pursue the legal claims. The court explained that the right to file a suit belonged solely to the company itself  a company that chose not to pursue legal action.
An army of six women will kick off Brightways expansion in four states as five female-helmed agencies open on May 15."Our agency owners are the face of our brand, so we're very selective in whom we choose to invest. With the backend support Brightway provides, they will become an excellent source for expert counsel and more choice as consumers look to protect their financial futures through proper insurance coverage," Brightway president Talman Howard said.Sys-Con Media reported that Jenny McKenzie, Allison Chaumont, Mylynn Kwok, Alicia Katz, Jacqueline Howard and Robin White-Twiggs will simultaneously start operations next Monday across California, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Florida.The California opening marks Brightways foray into the west coast with two agencies set to serve the market, the report also said. The firm is a privately held personal lines independent agency.The synchronous opening of the five agencies is a first in company history, the report also said, as Howard said that the company is enjoying unprecedented growth.Quoting the US Census Bureau, the report said that one in three businesses across the country is now owned by women. Brightway said that its women-owned agencies employ an average of four workers compared to the national average, where female-led enterprises have one worker.
The industry is under stress, traditional profit bases are dry, competition is fierce. Is the insurance world one trigger event away from a dive?Insurance Business spoke to two experienced brokers who shared some thoughts on the state of the industry  and what could be lurking around the corner.Wholesale broker Don Privett, executive vice president at Worldwide Facilities , said hes worked through three cycles and he senses we could be on the verge of another turning point.Recently youve been hearing things like, people need to get used to lower margins, but what I sense right now is, and what Ive sensed in other ones [cycles], is a sense of fear in the underwriters that they cant find profitable business and at the same time they have to write some premium, he explained. It usually ends up with a broadening of policy terms to be, quote, competitive.Ive been doing this for 42 years, so Ive seen three cycles. This will be the third, effectively. A cycle will be: business will be highly competitive; then there will be a correction. And the correction is often nothing that people will predict, but there are basically some fundamental underlying things that are going on that kick the swing around.In terms of the next dip, theres got to be a trigger, Privett said. Predicting that trigger, though, is the million dollar proposition.The first cycle Privett experienced was in the 1970s into the mid-80s, and that was when people were underpricing the [P&C] product significantly for market share, or whatever the reason was  And then there was a massive correction when there was a lot of defaults of insurance companies, particularly reinsurance companies. At the time of that dive there would have been about 100 reinsurers in the market, he said, whereas now there are just 13 or 14.Following that was a high degree of prosperity from the late-80s through the 90s, with the long decline until 2001 when we had 9/11, he said.I think of it like mass psychology  where everyone believed this was the way it was going to be and it was never going to change, he elaborated. And then you have 9/11 which was a significant event, but it was also at the bottom of a market cycle. So, pricing was too cheap and people werent making money.Now were 16 years later and, other than a couple of blips from some hurricanes, effectively weve been still going down on rates [again].The current merger frenzy taking place throughout the industry could potentially be a cause for wider concern, Privett said.There are financially-stressed companies out there, he explained. As you can see from the acquisitions that are going on, a lot of companies being purchased  [but] whats within those businesses and how clean those books of business are, is probably for the buyer beware, you know.Were at that point where the rates are bouncing on the bottom, and theres still an enormous amount of pressure to lower premiums, because cheap sells. Normally what happens is that anybody who is growing their market share at the bottom of the market would probably end up with a pretty severely depressed book of business with adverse results. So from an analysts point of view, probably whoever is growing the most right now is the one youve got to worry about.Mark Kunney, president of North American operations of Integro, a brokerage and specialty risk management firm, agreed the current acquisition trend could potentially create problems down the track.Insurers were buying up other firms to minimize the expenses across a wider base of premium  and have better offerings for their clients, Kunney said. But that carried its own risk.Eventually you get to a tipping point there, where you dont have enough competition in a segment, he noted. Thats not happened yet, but with enough  insurance and profit challenges that may be something to look on the horizon for.I dont know that there is so much pressure that the prices are going to skyrocket  I dont think that theres any changes in the market that are coming in the near future. But you pay attention to the macro trends and try to keep your eye on the horizon as to what could happen and what are the possible outcomes. Theres a lot of change afoot that will change the nature of the underlying risk, and also introduce new risks at the same time.
The abuse of the assignment of benefits (AOB) privilege in Florida may have finally boomeranged on the states residents.Due to the steep losses incurred by property insurers over the past several years, mainly from the proliferation of such abuses, the states insurance regulators approved rate hikes higher than those filed by companies.Two companies got notice that their filings were approved beyond the rate hike they proposed. Deerfield Beach-based Peoples Trust Insurance asked for a 14.5% hike but instead got approval for 16%; Tampa-based Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty was told to increase rates by 8% following its 3.3% proposal.The Florida Sun Sentinel reported that the two property insurers were advised of the rate increases following extensive consultation with the insurance departments actuaries, who determined that the higher rates were needed to cope with the rampant abuses on the states property insurance system.The state has an obligation to approve rates that are [financially] sound  which may be more or less than what a company requests, ShaRon James, the states insurance consumer advocate, told the Sun Sentinel. James was not involved in the rate hike approvals.Im not happy about this, Homeowners Choice CEO Paresh Patel told the Sun Sentinel Tuesday. I wish we didnt have to do it.Because those are statewide average increases, South Florida customers can expect even higher rates. Thats because most companies that do business here say tri-county customers on average submit more claims and report steeper losses. To address the higher risk, companies are allowed to charge more here, Sun Sentinel reporter Ron Hurtibise said in his report.
Travelers Claim University, founded in 2007, is working to change the way its claims professionals do business through the use of drones to assist in property inspection and claims analysis.

The nearly 200,000-square foot facility in Windsor, Conn., offers hands-on technical training and leadership development to more than 11,000 claims employees, and through its drone training courses, it has already trained nearly 150 drone operators. It expects to train several hundred more by the end of this summer.

We see the drones as really another technology tool in the quiver of our claim professionals, said Patrick Gee, senior vice president of auto, property and catastrophe claims at Travelers. Weve really changed the way we do work over the past few years.

The Claim University training facility contains automobiles and heavy-equipment such as cranes, backhoes and bulldozers, as well as two fully-furnished homes, building mechanical systems and a medical lab, according to Travelers website. These resources teach claims professionals how to efficiently identify damage and accurately estimate the cost of repairs, the website states.

We see the drones as really another technology tool in the quiver of our claim professionals

The drone training program was initially launched in the spring of 2015 in anticipation of the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) commercial drone regulations, which took effect in August 2016. The classes allow claims professionals to access hands-on training in which students learn how to operate drones, as well as take the FAA exam in order to become certified to fly drones.

Weve been really excited about the use of drones for many years, Gee said, adding that many insurance carriers are now also thinking about using drones to aid in property inspection associated with risk control, preloss or the claim process after a loss.

Indeed, Insurance Journal previously reported that Frankenmuth, Mich.-based Frankenmuth Insurance announced in May it has obtained licenses through the FAA to operate drones for use by claims and commercial lines loss control teams to aid in inspecting roofs and other areas of structures.

The carrier stated in a press release that select claims and loss control team members have completed FAA Remote Pilot Airman certification training to operate the drones in Michigan and Ohio, where they will be used initially, and plans are in development to expand usage in other Midwest and Southeast states where the carrier does business.

Additionally, BetterView, an insurance technology startup that captures and analyzes data from drones, stated in April that it has performed more than 6,000 roof top inspections for insurers since its inception two years ago, as previously reported by Insurance Journal. The San Francisco, Calif.-based company has software that streamlines the inspection process using a network of more than 4,000 drone operators.

While 2016 was a big year for testing drones, we have seen insurers allocate budget dollars in 2017 to move from concept to real production use, and in 2018 we expect to see a significant ramp up in the use of drones by insurers and reinsurers, David Lyman, BetterView co-founder and CEO, previously told Insurance Journal.

The benefits of drone usage in the claims process are two-fold, Gee explained. Drones can improve efficiency as well as safety.

Smartphones have apps with the geo-special tools we use to assess properties and measure things even before we go to the customer location, he said. When you add the drone technology, it really creates a much safer environment that dramatically expedites the claim process in terms of our ability to pay our customers more quickly and help them recover from losses as soon as possible.

This is because the use of drones can mitigate the need for a third-party to inspect roof damage. Instead, drones can survey roof damage in real-time, and photos or videos can be sent to claims professionals phones, tablets or other electronic devices to assist in the claims process.

Oftentimes when were doing a property inspection, we might encounter a very high or complex roof, Gee said. That might require us to bring in a vendor that has special rigging for that type of situation. In the case of a drone, we can use it, fly up and inspect that property without having to actually setup a second visit. We can take care of everything the first time which really expedites the claim process.

However, there are challenges for insurance carriers to keep in mind. One of the biggest challenges, Gee said, are the many rules relative to the FAA guidelines. The FAA website lists basic guidelines an operator must know for flying drones both for commercial or recreational use under the small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) rule.

For commercial purposes, the drone operator must be at least 16 years old, pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved knowledge testing center and be vetted by the Transportation Safety Administration. Additionally, the drone must be registered with the FAA and weigh less than 55 pounds.

From an exterior perspective, as were out inspecting losses, probably the biggest challenge is sometimes airports, Gee added. There are many airports around the U.S., and the FAA builds a buffer zone in and around those airports. Sometimes we cant use the drones if were too close to an airport.

Travelers expects the FAA to reduce restrictions around buffer zones for the use of drones to inspect individual properties at a very low altitude and anticipates the release of additional guidelines regarding the use of drones to fly over catastrophe areas in the future, which could provide additional benefits for the insurance industry, he said.

Right now, you cant fly over people. You really need to keep the drones in your visual line of sight, but that could possibly be relaxed in the future and provide even more capabilities for the industry, Gee explained. Well be able to use [drones] even more than we can today in the field.

Watch the interview with Insurance Journals Elizabeth Blosfield on Insurance Journal TV.

Topics Carriers Claims Aviation Property Training Development
Lawyers for Donald Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. president has absolute immunity from a lawsuit by owners of the Cork Wine Bar in Washington, D.C., who claim that his ownership of a nearby hotel constitutes unfair competition.

Trumps lawyers, in seeking a dismissal of the lawsuit by Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts, said the president cannot be forced to close or divest the Trump International Hotel, located in the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue, or else resign his office.

The doctrine of absolute immunity ensures that the President can focus on carrying out the obligations of his Office without the distraction of virtually limitless litigation whose costs he would personally bear, Trumps lawyers said in a court filing. That doctrine forecloses this lawsuit.

Alan Morrison, a lawyer for the plaintiffs who is also a George Washington University Law School associate dean and co-founder with Ralph Nader of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, said he is reviewing the filing.

The lawsuit is one of many targeting Trumps alleged failure to distance himself from his business empire while in office.

Trump has ceded day-to-day control over his businesses to his sons Eric and Donald Jr.

Gross and Pitts, who are married, said their wine bar has lost business because the Trump hotel and restaurants within it enjoy an unfair advantage.

They said this stems from their hotels association with the president and an expectation it will attract diplomats, lobbyists and politicians hoping to curry favor with him.

The Trump International Hotel opened in September, before Trump was elected. It is located roughly 0.7 mile southeast of the White House and 1.5 miles south of Cork.

The wine bar offers more than 50 wines by the glass, typically for $8 to $15, and said it has hosted events for White House officials, Congressional lawmakers, the World Bank and NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Sierra Club, among others.

In March, when the lawsuit was filed, a Trump Organization lawyer called it a publicity stunt.

Last month, the Trump Organization settled separate lawsuits with celebrity chefs Jose Andres and Geoffrey Zakarian, who had backed out of agreements to open restaurants in the Trump hotel.

The case is K&D LLC t/a Cork v Trump Old Post Office LLC et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No 17-00031.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Topics Lawsuits Claims
Switzerlands financial center is in the midst of a power shift.

The Alpine countrys less fashionable insurers, long overshadowed by glamorous private banks around Zurichs posh Paradeplatz and Lake Geneva, are on course to surpass banks as a bigger contributor to the Swiss economy for the first time since 1993.

Insurance will overtake financial services as a proportion of Switzerlands 650 billion Swiss franc ($649 billion) economy in 2018 based on the average growth rate of the past decade, according to Reuters calculations.

It underscores banks waning power in the aftermath of the financial crisis as well as the damaging impact of a global crackdown on tax evasion, which has eroded the importance of Switzerlands bank secrecy laws.

The swing could be temporary, according to Martin Eling, an insurance management professor at the University of St. Gallen.

In general the business models of banks are simply more volatile than insurers, said Eling. Depending on the development, it could be that banks catch up again in the next three to four years.

Switzerland is home to UBS and Credit Suisse as well as Zurich Insurance and Swiss Re , respectively two of Europes biggest banks and insurers.

The Swiss statistics office defines financial services as including areas like banking, trusts and financial leasing.

The number of banks and insurers in Switzerland shrank by around 20 percent between 2005 and 2015 but when it comes to staff sizes, banks remain clearly on top.

($1 = 1.0017 Swiss francs)

(Additional reporting by Paul Arnold; Editing by Mark Potter)

[Editors note: The trends described in the article are based on figures compiled by the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters SIF, which breaks down Switzerlands financial center into financial services (banking) and insurance services. The full April 2017 document can be obtained via the Swiss SIF website.]

Topics Trends
Missouri lawmakers have passed a bill to raise the standard for employees to sue for discrimination over workers compensation claims.

Senators voted 23-10 on May 8 to send the legislation to Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, who has said he wants to make the legal climate friendlier to businesses in the state.

The measure passed the House 101-46 last month.

Current law bans employers from discriminating against staffers for filing workers compensation claims.

The Missouri Supreme Court in 2014 ruled that a workers compensation claim must have been a contributing factor in the employees discrimination or firing. The legislation heading to Greitens desk would require that to have been the motivating factor.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Legislation Workers' Compensation Missouri
Angelo Galioto has joined insurance broker Lockton Companies as a senior vice president in its Minneapolis office. Lockton is the worlds largest privately held, independent insurance broker.

Galioto brings 20 years of experience in the risk management industry. He spent more than 15 years as senior vice president at Wells Fargo Insurance and spent four years as the commercial underwriting manager at The Hartford.

He specializes in working with clients who have complex professional, management, cyber and commercial liability needs.

Source: Lockton Companies
NANNING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Six primary school students who went for a swim in a river in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have not been heard from since Wednesday afternoon. Two of them have been found dead, four remain missing.

The students from Qingshuikou Township Central Primary School in Beiliu City went swimming after school.

Frogmen aided the search over night, and found the two deceased.

The search continues.

The city government has asked schools to warn students of the dangers of strong river currents.
An ongoing legal battle between two large national insurance brokerage firms over employee poaching is a byproduct of a hazard faced in the financial services industries where relationships and knowledge of business practices are premium assets, experts say.

A jury in Fresno, Calif. recently ruled against Aon Corp. in yet another poaching lawsuit that involves the U.K.-based brokerage and rival Alliant Insurance Services. That suit, in which Aon accused the defendants of an ongoing, premeditated raid on Aons officers, employees and clients dating back to 2011, is still ongoing on a number of counts.

Last month Aon filed a cross-complaint seeking injunctive relief and damages against Alliant, an executive who left the firm and other employees. According to that suit, the alleged raid led to the defection of roughly 75 executives and employees at Aons Fresno, Salinas and Walnut Creek offices.

A similar ongoing case between Aon and Alliant in set to be heard in Illinois, while a third such case in 2011 involving both firms was eventually settled, court documents show.

In all three cases, Aon has accused Alliant of poaching executives and employees, among other alleged transgressions.

Whats the beef between the two?

Its nothing personal. Its just business, according to Damian Cavaleri, a partner at Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney LLP in New York who has worked on several such cases

These types of liftouts happen quite often in the financial services industry, Cavaleri said. There is a substantial amount of litigation in that area.

Liftouts, another term for the more commonly used poaching, typically occur when a substantial investment exists in maintaining a client base despite the existence of a restrictive covenant between an employee and the firm, explained Cavaleri.

This chart from the law firm Beck Reed Riden LLP offers a state-by-state look at the legal status of non-compete agreements.

With a lawsuit, legal fees and an adverse decision at stake, why would one firm go after anothers executives and employees?

Its because these suits most often turn into negotiations, so the stakes may not be as high as they seem, Cavaleri said.

It doesnt surprise me one bit that where theres a business group that is profitable that a competitor wouldnt try and get business from them, Cavaleri said. At the end of the day, a lot of these things, depending on what kind of line the companies want to take, turn into business discussion.

No known data tracks whether there are more or fewer lawsuits between brokerages over these contracts, but several experts reached for this article believe there are more of them now and there may be more in the near future.

One reason may be technology. Cavaleri believes that technology email, proprietary software, and expansive and easily downloadable databases is giving employees more access to closely-held trade secrets, and that same technology also makes it easier for employees to take this information with them when they leave.

In fact, it has become a common practice that when an employee announces a departure from a firm, managers or executives will review that employees email correspondence in search of evidence such as a client list sent to a personal email address, according to Cavaleri.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are at the heart of a matter involving former Aon executive Michael Heffernan.

A lawsuit brought by Aon against Heffernan and Alliant last year charges that along with staging a raid in 2016 and allegedly taking more than two dozen Aon employees, Heffernan also took closely-held information on Aon clients.

The suit, filed Feb. 3, 2016, seeks injunctive relief and damages arising out of Heffernans alleged breaches of restrictive covenants contained in agreements between Heffernan and Aon, as well as statutory and common law duties, and Alliants alleged aiding and abetting of those breaches.

Attorneys for Heffernan did not respond to requests for comment. Aon and Alliant also declined opportunities for interviews.

The apparent increased frequency of these disputes in the brokerage world could also be explained by the growing popularity of covenants.

Phil Trem, senior vice president at MarshBerry & Co. Inc., a consulting and investment banking firm, said restrictive covenants are so common among insurance brokerages that firms that do not draw up such contracts could be considered outliers.

There are a very small minority of firms in the industry that dont have some restrictive form to protect their business, Trem said. Frankly, its not very good business practice. They need to protect their assets.

There are various forms of restrictive covenants. In a non-compete agreement, an employee who leaves cannot compete with the firm in any way. Another form is a non-solicit agreement, which prevents an employee from pursuing a firms accounts for typically a 12- or 24- month period. There are also non-accept agreements, in which an employee cannot accept business from a customer of the company being left.

What most firms have with their agents are non-solicit agreements, which say If you leave, you cant come after our accounts or you cant you cant come after our employees,' Trem said.

Non-compete agreements, usually between a firm and a shareholder, are less common, he said.

A non-compete is very restrictive, Trem added.

Tony Tatum, director of corporate mergers and acquisitions for the Insurance Office of America, said the prevalence of non-solicit agreements and the omnipresence of social media make for a potential quagmire.

He offered a scenario in which an employee who had signed a non-solicit leaves a firm.

So, if Ive got 400 followers on LinkedIn, and some of these are probably going to be my clients, if I update where Im working thats going to send out a blast to those 400 people, he said. Is that a solicitation?

Importance of Venue

Winning or losing such a case is largely dependent on what state a case is heard in, according to Kerry Fields, professor of clinical finance and business economics at the Marshall School of Business

University of Southern California.

Parties know the venue is critical. It compels a race to the courthouse, said Fields, who is also author of the book, Contemporary Employment Law. You want to appeal to a court that will apply the law that is the most favorable to you.

California law, for example, favors employees and renders non-competes unenforceable.

The California law is rooted in Business and Professions Code Section 16600, which states: Except as provided in this chapter, every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind is to that extent void.

That language voids non-competes, however it doesnt enable employees who are moving on from a firm to do as they wish, Fields said, adding that an employer can keep an employee in an employment contract from organizing a competing business, or stealing trade secrets.

The California courts do not want an employee to try and construe a trade secret agreement into a covenant not to compete, Fields said.

The case involving Heffernan is still in the early stages, but Aon won a battle in February when a judge ruled that the case will be heard in Illinois, rather than in California as Alliant wanted, because thats what Heffernan agreed to in a non-compete agreement he entered into while employed by Aon.

Taking the case out of California against Alliants wishes and placing it in Illinois was a small victory for Aon and a blow to Alliants defense, according to Fields The laws of more than 30 states enforce non-compete agreements and one of these states is Illinois, according to Fields.

According to the complaint filed by Aon in the Heffernan suit, at the time he resigned, Heffernan was executive vice president and regional managing director of Aons construction services group and was the head of Aons San Jose office.

The day of Heffernans resignation, according to the lawsuit, Alliant raided Aons officers, employees, and clients by orchestrating a mass exodus of Heffernan and 26 other Aon employees from Aons San Jose office.

Alliant appointed Heffernan executive vice president in its San Jose office the same day. According to the suit, prior to Jan. 26, 2016, Alliant did not have an office in San Jose, but following the exodus, Heffernan and most of the 26 employees joined the newly-created San Jose office

Also the complaint alleges that shortly before resigning from Aon, he downloaded a report from, AonWrap, the companys proprietary software and data management system, which Aon says includes confidential data files on wrap up insurance projects.

That contained data related to construction projects performed by over 8,000 companies, the complaint states.

The day he left Aon to join Alliant, Heffernan filed the pre-emptive action in California seeking a declaration that the restrictive covenants he signed with Aon were unenforceable under California law. The agreements with Aon included restricted stock unit agreements, according to the suit.

DTSA

In 2011, Alliant and Peter Arkley, another former Aon executive, allegedly led a prior raid on Aons clients and employees. Aon filed an action in a New York court seeking to enforce the restrictive covenants in Arkleys employment agreement, and Arkley and Alliant sought to dismiss the action on grounds of the prior action pending in California.

The New York court maintained the action in New York, finding, among other things, that the evident disfavor California law holds for restrictive covenants, supports the motion courts finding that the California action was a pre-emptive measure undertaken to gain a tactical advantage so as to negate the force and effect of the restrictive covenants, which the parties had freely agreed upon. The case was Aon Risk Services v. Cusack.

At some point, Cavaleri believes that defendants may begin to rely on the Defend Trade Secrets Act in these types of cases. The DTSA, passed into law last year, creates a federal civil cause of action for trade-secret misappropriation. The federal law under certain circumstances even enables a firm that has had trade secrets taken to obtain an order to have U.S. Marshals seize pilfered documents.

We actually had an experience with that last year because an individual took a client list and was non-responsive to any court orders, Cavaleri said.

He thinks more firms are catching on to the power and potential of this new law.

It is increasing in usage, Cavaleri said. I think people are still trying to feel it out to see how they can use it and see what it means.

Fields noted that Alliant is no stranger to the other side of the fence in lawsuits involving restrictive covenants.

Alliant should be aware of this because they sued to enforce one in 2008 against a guy named Gaddy, Fields said. They are no virgins. They were seeking to enforce it against somebody else.

He was referring to Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. v. Gaddy, heard in the Superior Court of San Joaquin County.

In 2004, Alliant purchased insurance brokerage Gaddy Ward & Company Insurance Brokers for $4.1 million, and under the deal G. Scott Gaddy, the firms majority shareholder, agreed to refrain from carrying on a business that provides any of Alliants business within the states 58 counties, court records show.

When Alliant discovered that Gaddy was contacting its clients, the firm obtained a preliminary injunction. An appeal by Gaddy argued the scope of the injunction was unlawful and that it should have been limited to the counties where Alliant has construction clients, the records show.

In that case the court rejected Gaddys arguments and affirmed the order granting the preliminary injunction.

Related:

Topics Lawsuits California Agencies New York Aon Illinois Alliant
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that American International Group Inc. plans to name Brian Duperreault, founder and CEO of Hamilton Insurance Group, as CEO, replacing Peter Hancock. The publication cited people familiar with the matter.

Duperreault, 70, has extensive insurance executive experience having led ACE Insurance (1994) and Marsh McLennan (2008). Prior to those positions, he worked at AIG under former CEO Hank Greenberg.

It was reported last month that Duperreault was under consideration.

Hamilton Insurance is currently in a small business insurance joint venture, Attune, with AIG and Two Sigma.

Current AIG CEO Hancock in March that he would step down after losing the support of investors including activist billionaire Carl Icahn.
A coastal Louisiana parish announced a $45 million settlement with BP over damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil spill.

Plaquemines Parish juts out into the Gulf of Mexico from Louisianas southeastern tip. Oil from the spill after the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion fouled sections of the parishs marshy coastline.

Its local government was one of the few that decided not to take part in a $20 billion settlement over economic and environmental damage between BP and state, federal and local governments. Plaquemines opted out of the settlement in 2015 without disclosing how much money it was to receive.

The Deepwater Horizon blast killed 11 workers and resulted in millions of gallons of oil spewing into the gulf for 87 days. Plaquemines Parish, a center of offshore oil and gas activity and businesses related to recreational fishing, was one of the hardest hit areas  affected by disruption of fisheries and a months-long moratorium on deep-water drilling that followed the spill.

Last year, BP announced it expects costs arising from the spill to total $61.6 billion  or about $44 billion after tax deductions. That includes response, cleanup, and various settlements and criminal and civil penalties.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Louisiana Energy Oil Gas
A Florida appeals court has rejected a trial courts finding that the process for determining workers compensation rates used by a rating organization and state insurance regulators violated the states Sunshine Law.

The decision means that a 14.5 percent workers comp rate increase that went into effect at the end of 2016 will remain in place.

The Florida First District Court of Appeal (1DCA) found Tuesday that the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) did not violate state Sunshine Laws in establishing the 14.5 percent rate increase last year, overturning a lower courts ruling on the matter.

The decision addressed an appeal by OIR and NCCI in the case of Fee v. National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI)/OIR (Office), that was filed in Leon County by James Fee, a Miami attorney who represents injured workers.

The plaintiff Fee contended that NCCIs actuary, NCCI staff, and OIR met the definition of a committee and their deliberations were subject to Floridas Sunshine Law. The trial court judge, Karen Gievers, agreed, finding that NCCI was in violation of Floridas Sunshine Laws by holding multiple, non-public, secret meetings internally and with OIR in establishing workers compensation rates. Gievers decision halted OIRs order increasing workers comp rates.

OIR and NCCI immediately appealed the trial courts ruling and requested that the appeals court expedite the process and allow the rate increase to go into effect. The appeals court agreed to both requests in mid-December.

NCCI and OIR denied Fees allegations, saying they followed the proper procedures for an open and transparent process when necessary, including an August 2016 public meeting that allowed testimony from stakeholders.

NCCI also argued that its single actuary who determined the rates, Jay Rosen, could not constitute a committee and therefore it was shielded from the Sunshine Laws public disclosure requirement.

In the 1DCAs May 9 opinion, justices stated that it was undisputed that NCCIs argument that no committee at NCCI has been charged with the responsibility for determining workers compensation insurance rates in over 25 years.

NCCI has instead enlisted a single actuary, Rosen, to evaluate and determine workers comp rates. The 1DCA disagreed with the plaintiffs argument that Rosen, his team, NCCI staff, and OIR who reviewed his work, met the definition of a committee under Floridas Sunshine Law. Therefore, the court said, none of the meetings were subject to the law.

The court also disagreed with Fees assertion that Rosen, in his individual capacity, acted in place of the rate-determination committee, saying this argument ignores the plain language of the statute and the ordinary meaning of the terms within it.

Ultimately, the court found that it comes down to the definition of the term committee under Florida law.

The statute applies only to meetings of a rating organization committee where workers compensation insurance rates are discussed and determined, the opinion states. A committee has been defined as a subordinate group, not a single person.

The court added that a multi-person concept of the term committee further finds support in well-established precedent construing the Sunshine Law, for which it cited the case Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Govt v. City of Sarasota. That case explained that Sunshine Law protections extend to formal and informal meetings only when two or more members of the same board or commission meet to deal with a matter on which action will be taken in the future.

Thus, under the plain and ordinary meaning of the terms committee and meet, Rosen, in his individual capacity, does not act or meet as the statutory rate-determination committee contemplated by [statute], the court wrote.

The appeals court further stated that the trial court was incorrect in finding that the NCCIs peer review team, meetings between Rosen and his staff, and the meetings between NCCI and OIR constituted committee meetings that would be subject to the Sunshine Law.

The Sunshine Law does not apply because none of the other participants, other than Rosen, had any authority to determine the workers compensation insurance rate to be proposed to OIR, the court wrote.

As to the plaintiffs assertion that NCCI had violated the Sunshine Law because OIR had delegated its authority over rate filings to NCCI therefore NCCI should be considered a government body and not a private entity, the court also disagreed.

It said NCCI didnt have authority to carry out an agency function required to be performed in the sunshine.

OIR approves and disapproves rate filings; it does not make rate filings. Conversely, NCCI and individual insurers have no authority to approve or disapprove rate filings; rather they are under a statutory mandate to file such proposals, the court wrote.

The appeals court also disagreed with the trial courts rulings that NCCI had violated the Florida Public Records Act by not providing the plaintiff (Fee) access to certain records.

It ultimately concluded that the trial court erred in declaring OIRs final order void and reinstated its Oct. 5, 2016 final order increasing workers comp rates by 14.5 percent.

OIR expressed satisfaction with the courts ruling, saying in a statement to Insurance Journal, Were aware of the ruling and pleased by the outcome.

Justin Parafinczuk, an attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., following the case, said he wasnt surprised by the ruling and doesnt expect any fallout from the decision given it was a unique and nuanced case. He added, however, he expects NCCI will make internal changes to its ratemaking process.

I would expect NCCI to change some of its rate setting protocols to avoid litigation over this issue in the future, Parafinczuk said.

1DCA Opinion in Fee v. National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI)/OIR

Topics Florida Workers' Compensation Talent
Heffernan Insurance Brokers has named Michelle Van Aken assistant vice president in the benefits department of the Menlo Park, Calif. office.

Van Aken brings has more than a decade of employee benefits experience ranging from open enrollment renewals and vendor management to benefits consulting and systems implementation.

She most recently worked as an employee benefits consultant at Filice Insurance.

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Irvine, and in Phoenix, Ariz.; Portland, Ore. and St. Louis, Mo.

Topics California Auto
A bill requiring Hawaii child care providers to obtain liability insurance has passed its final reading in the House.

The bill is awaiting Gov. David Iges signature to go into effect, Hawaii News Now reported. The bill would increase oversight and help families of kids hurt at day care, supporters said.

It would be known as the Wiley Muir Act in honor of a 4-month-old boy who died in 2014 at a Honolulu day care.

I think it fills an important gap in policy to protect both providers and the families they serve, said Cynthia King, Muirs mother. Ultimately, its a bill that allows parents to sue providers once an injury or death has already occurred. And the whole point is to try and prevent those things from happening.

The Department of Human Services stated there are roughly 390 registered child care homes and six licensed group child care facilities in Hawaii.

The agency supports the intent of the bill, but said the costs of obtaining liability insurance might reduce the number of day cares available and parents might pay more for services.

Im really hoping that in the future, lawmakers will recognize there are still really important steps to take to make day cares safer for our keiki (children), King said. Ultimately, this really is just one piece of a bigger picture to try and make licensed day cares safer for our kids.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Oklahoma
Altro stop per la Superlega greca, a distanza di circa due anni dalla sospensione indetta dal Primo ministro, Alexis Tsipras, a seguito degli scontri avvenuti nel febbraio 2015 durante i match Panathinaikos-Olympiakos Pireo e Larissa-Olympiakos Volou. La Federcalcio ha nuovamente interrotto le competizioni calcistiche locali a seguito dellincendio che ha gravemente danneggiato la casa del Presidente della Commissione arbitrale, Giorgios Bikas.

Ancora da chiarire le cause, ma la pista dolosa e la piu battuta. Alcuni giorni fa, lo stesso Bikas (che, come riportato da fonti locali, non era in casa al momento dellincendio) aveva denunciato le minacce ricevute da un altro arbitro nei pressi della propria abitazione, a opera di individui sconosciuti. A seguito di questo nuovo grave atto dintimidazione, la Federazione ha deciso per linterruzione delle attivita calcistiche di tutti i campionati greci, finche gli inquirenti non avranno concluso almeno la prima fase delle indagini su quanto accaduto.

Non ce dunque pace per il Campionato greco, ancora una volta al centro di fatti di cronaca che fanno da specchio alla situazione socio-politica che il Paese ha vissuto negli ultimi anni. Oltre alla sospensione avvenuta due anni fa, che ebbe come conseguenza la ripresa degli incontri a porte chiuse, nel settembre scorso i mancati accordi tra Lega, Federazione e i vari club sul tema della sicurezza avevano fatto slittare di alcuni giorni lavvio del campionato.
Top News - Investor Idea

Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) Facial and Body Recognition Patent Application Received a Notice of Allowance

San Diego, CA - November 9, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) with GBT Tokenize Corp. ("GBT/Tokenize") received a notice of allowance for its facial and body recognition non-provisional patent application.

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Breaking EV Stock News: Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) Enters into Agreement with Newgate Motor Group, one of Ireland's most Recognized Auto Groups, to Distribute the Mullen I-GOTM in Ireland and United Kingdom

BREA, Calif. - November 9, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle manufacturer, announces today that it has entered into an agreement to appoint Newgate Motor Group, one of Ireland's most recognized dealership groups, as marketing, sales, distribution and servicing agent for the Mullen I-GO in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

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Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) AI Driven Financial Technology Patent Application Received a Notice of Publication

San Diego, CA - November 3, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) received a notice of publication for its financial software patent application.

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Breaking AI Stock News: Intellagents, a FatBrain AI (OTCQB: LZGI) Company, Announces Hiring of Insurtech Industry Veteran as Chief Revenue Officer

NEW YORK, NY - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, announces the hiring of Euan King, an experienced and respected Insurtech industry leader as Chief Revenue Officer for insurance technology-focused subsidiary Intellagents.

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As Bitcoins price on Chinese trading platforms keeps hitting new highs, China is reportedly mulling new measures for Bitcoin trading and anti-money laundering. The new measures are expected to be published in June.

Bitcoins price on Chinese platforms has been on the rise since April. On May 10, it topped 10,000 RMB, up 5.8 percent in just 10 hours, setting a new all-time high after hitting 9,740 RMB the previous day.

Bitcoin trading in China has been very active, as most domestic trading platforms only recently started charging commission fees. The trade volume started to drop after the Central Bank ordered them to start charging trading commissions for fear that the platforms would become money laundering sites, news site Caixin reported.

Citing anonymous sources close to relevant authorities, Caixin claimed that the Peoples Bank of China is expected to issue two regulations on the management of Bitcoin trading platforms in June to prevent them from becoming money laundering sites, after recently inspecting the nations trading platforms.

Xiao Lei, a senior Bitcoin market analyst, told 21st Century Business Herald that the new measures may apply to foreign exchange and financing activities. Bitcoin traders may also be required register with their real names.

There needs to be a clear bottom line for the management of Bitcoin trading platforms and websites. A blacklist should also be set up. Activities such as trading or financing on margin and market manipulating measures such as commission-free trading must be banned, Zhou Xuedong, an operations and managing director with the Peoples Bank of China, said in an exclusive interview with Caixin in March.
Embarrassingly for the Regime, theses open secrets have not confined themselves to the Gulf state but spread like wildfire throughout the world. However, these divisions do not extend to any real change in the Regime; its merely political mudslinging in a grab for power.

At first, this election looked like an easy win for incumbent Hassan Rouhani, as all incumbent elections in the country have been, but rising poverty (despite the lifting of international sanctions), increased crackdowns on basic freedoms, and the highest rate of executions per capita in the world, means that the Iranian people are not happy with him or the Regime.

Mehdi Khalaji, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy, said: In tragedy when clerics are supposed to sympathise with ordinary people, they dont. This has widened the gap between people and the clerics.

Last Sunday, when Rouhani visited the site of a mine explosion that killed 42 people, he was met by a crowd of protesters who attacked his car. Although the crowd did not harm him (and did not significant damage to his car), this demonstrates how the public feels about him.

Other Candidates

The other candidates are in no way better.

Former President and Holocaust-denier- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a contender for a while until he was officially disqualified because he dared to go against the Supreme Leader and not because of numerous threats to Israel.

Ebrahim Raisi, a member of the 1988 Death Commissions which signed the death warrants of 30,000 political prisoners (mainly members of The Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK)), tried to blame a car bombing on the MEK.

Lets be clear, none of the candidates will bring change that will improve the lives of ordinary Iranians or lessen the negative impact that Irans support for terrorism and expansionist military plans have on the world.

The Iranian Regime is still (and will still be) headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He is the one who has the final say on state matters (both foreign and domestic) and ultimately who chooses the candidates for president.

The only difference is that the whole world is privy to the secrets of the mullahs now.

The real opposition

The Regime as a whole is remarkably unpopular within Iran, and the only true opposition (the MEK) is not allowed to run a candidate for election.

If we want change in Iran, we must support the Resistance and their leader Maryam Rajavi, who has a 10-point plan for a secular, democratic Iran.
Update 10pm: Up to 12 apartment blocks have been evacuated in north Dublin after a major fire at a complex in Blanchardstown.

A spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade said the blaze at the Verdemont apartments was now under control.

It is understood the fire started accidentally at about 5.30pm today.

Six units of the fire brigade, two turntable ladders and a water tanker were used to tackle the fire, and a drone was also deployed.

No injuries have been reported.

Earlier:

Gardai and other emergency services are at the scene of a major fire at the Verdemont apartment block, off the Snugborough Rd in Blanchardstown Dublin 15.

A number of significant traffic diversions are in place. Crews from the Dublin Fire Brigade are using six pumps, a turntable ladder and command support to tackle the blaze.

The scene is close to the Blanchardstown shopping centre. Locals are being advised to keep their windows shut.

Up to 100 residents were evacuated, including families with babies. Efforts are underway to accommodate those people tonight.
Government TD and Dail public accounts committee member Alan Farrell called for the move as he claimed the opposition focus on Garda commissioner Noirin OSullivan is a political witch-hunt against an innocent individual.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner as the Government continued to back Ms OSullivan and Fianna Fail privately discussed the possibility of a no-confidence motion in Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, Mr Farrell said the PAC does not have the expertise to fully examine the case.

He said the evidence it has been given, which will be discussed again at a meeting this morning, should now be handed over to the comptroller and auditor general as it is the official State body for examining public money concerns. The Fine Gael TD said a short C&AG investigation would allow the DPP to launch a criminal case as any findings would be specific and carry significantly more legal weight than what the PAC may find.

The C&AG should begin, in a prompt fashion, an investigation of all Garda college bank accounts, all transactions, all the players. The C&AG is in the first instance the body to properly examine this. Somebody needs to get in there and lift that veil, and if that finds laws have been broken, then the appropriate DPP involvement should happen, he said.

John Barrett, executive director of human resources and people development at An Garda Siochana, Templemore.

Mr Farrell made the comment as he claimed he does not believe Ms OSullivan is involved in covering up what happened and that the focus on her is a political witch-hunt. The view has been disputed by other PAC members, who last night said they want a July 19 meeting with Ms OSullivan brought forward to this month and for a series of meetings with all officials involved to be considered.

The views were expressed as the Garda college financial scandal and the future of Ms OSullivan is expected to again dominate Dail proceedings today as opposition parties continue to pressure the Government to remove the Garda commissioner.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, Housing Minister Simon Coveney and Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar all continued to back Ms OSullivan.

Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan.

Mr Kenny told the Dail I have faith in the commissioner to do her job, while at a separate event in Dublin Ms Fitzgerald repeated her support for Ms OSullivan.

I do have confidence in the Garda commissioner. She is implementing change. Its very difficult, she said.

Potential future Fine Gael leaders Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar and Housing Minister Simon Coveney also told RTE Radio Ms OSullivan has government support. Sinn Fein and Labour leaders Gerry Adams and Brendan Howlin said the Garda commissioner must be removed due to the latest whistleblower claims, while Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin asked Mr Kenny how his Government can continue to stand by Ms OSullivan.

Although Fianna Fail will not support a no-confidence motion in Ms OSullivan, it has sought a special debate with Ms Fitzgerald today and has privately discussed a potential no-confidence motion in the Justice Minister. Ms Fitzgerald came under further pressure last night as the Social Democrats outlined a series of Dail questions it raised with her since January in which she failed to give specific answers on the Garda college controversy.

The chair of the Governments review of the gardai, Kathleen OToole, has rejected claims she has a conflict of interest because she was part of the Garda inspectorate team which appointed Ms OSullivan.

I was a member of the selection panel, but do not believe that presents a conflict. I anticipate this will be a systemic review, not focused on particular individuals, the Seattle police chief told Irish media.

Timeline of events relating to financial irregularities at Templemore

2000-2003:

100,000 is transferred from the Garda College Sportsfield Ltd, part of the State-owned Garda College in Templemore, to the Garda Boat Club, a private club with membership mainly from serving and retired gardai and their families.

2006:

The then Garda commissioner Noel Conroy becomes accounting officer for the force, taking over from the secretary general of the Department of Justice, in line with the Garda Act 2005.

2006:

Garda Internal Audit Section (GIAS) begins but doesnt finish an audit of the Garda College. Incomplete report raises concerns about financial management.

2007:

GIAS gets a new head, Niall Kelly.

April 2008:

The Finance Directorate, headed by Michael Culhane, completes a report, the McGee Report, which identifies financial mismanagement at the college and recommends steps to address it. Then chief administrative officer (CAO), John Leamy, writes to then commissioner, Fachtna Murphy, saying the Garda Audit Committee must be informed of the McGee Report at its next meeting in June. This does not happen.

2008:

Niall Kelly discovers the 2006 report, and subsequently the later reports, and seeks to conduct a full audit of the college but is told the Finance Directorate are updating financial systems at the college and he needs to await the outcome of that.

August-December 2009:

Niall Kelly begins an audit but is told the Finance Directorate is working on a full report and he should await that. He suspends his audit.

March 2010:

College management, via then assistant commissioner Jack Nolan, respond to the McGee Report, rejecting most of the recommendations.

2009-2013:

125,000 in rent from lands bought by the State for the college for a development that did not take place and which is properly due to the OPW is instead funnelled into the college restaurant account from which money is withdrawn for gifts and entertainment. Numerous other irregular transactions take place involving a laundry account and bar account.

2010-2014:

The college is effectively closed because of the recruitment moratorium.

March 2, 2011:

Niall Kelly gives his annual report to the commissioner, then Martin Callinan, in which he raises concerns about the college and also about the fact that he has never seen any outcome of the work he was told was being carried out by the Finance Directorate.

March 4, 2011:

Niall Kelly receives a report from the Finance Directorate containing assurances that improved financial controls are now in place at the college. He also receives assurances from John Leamy and deputy commissioner Nacie Rice*. He deletes the above comments from the final version of his annual report.

March 2014:

Noirin OSullivan is appointed Interim Garda Commissioner.

October 2014:

John Barrett is appointed director of human resources and people development.

November 2014:

Noirin OSullivan is appointed Garda Commissioner.

June 2015:

John Barrett examines claims for overtime payments at the college and stumbles upon the 2008 Magee Report. He also finds reference to the responding 2010 report. His follow-up enquiries reveal millions of euro sitting in multiple bank accounts associated with the college, used ad hoc by college management, at times when the force was struggling with cutbacks.

July 2, 2015:

John Barrett raises his concerns internally and is asked to write a report for the Garda Audit Committees July meeting.

July 6, 2015:

John Barrett delivers his report, highlighting 21 key concerns, to then CAO, Cyril Dunne**. The Garda Audit Committee is not given the report.

July 2015:

John Barrett raises his concerns with the head of legal affairs, Ken Ruane.

July 24, 2015:

Ken Ruane writes to Ms OSullivan, advising her that the issues raised fall under Section 41 of the Garda Act 2005 which states that the commissioner shall inform the justice minister of matters of importance affecting the force.

July 27, 2015:

John Barrett meets with Ms OSullivan, Deputy Commissioner Donall OCualain, another deputy commissioner and Cyril Dunne at a reception in the college. He says the meeting lasts two and a half hours and that Ms OSullivan got a detailed account of the concerns. She says it was a five-minute briefing.

Nevertheless, she follows up by appointing Assistant Commissioner John ODriscoll to investigate if any of the matters constitute criminality, and she directs Cyril Dunne to set up a working group, to include Department of Justice representatives, to also examine the issues. Niall Kelly is not in the group.

September 30, 2015:

The Garda Audit Committee is given an oral briefing on the issues raised in John Barretts report by Cyril Dunne but are not given the report.

March 29, 2016:

Niall Kelly is requested to conduct an audit of the colleges accounts, financial structures and procedures. The request is made by Donall OCualain.

May 2016:

John Barrett is asked by the chair of the Garda Audit Committee, Michael Howard, for full details of what has been going on. He is shocked by what he hears.

June 2016:

Niall Kelly discovers the McGee Report.

July 2016:

John Barrett confides in an independent legal adviser, writing to him about his concerns.

September 2016:

John Barretts job spec is changed and matters concerning internal affairs and Garda professional standards are removed from his remit.

October 2016:

Niall Kelly produces a draft of his interim audit report. Ms OSullivan informs the Justice Minister.

February 2017:

Niall Kelly completes his interim audit report, highlighting serious financial breaches at the college but stressing he has more work to do.

March 2017:

Niall Kellys report is made public by the commissioner and referred to the Public Accounts Committee.

*Nacie Rice retired in 2013.

**Cyril Dunne left later that year. Joseph Nugent now holds the position of chief administrative officer.
Joe Plunkett said things could have ended tragically for his son, Joe, 13, were it not for the bravery of 14-year-old Clodagh Hayes.

Clodagh is a hero and deserves all the praise in the world. Shes a very brave girl. We are just so delighted she was there at the time and had the confidence to do what she did, said Mr Plunkett.

Clodagh, from Glanmire in Co Cork, a second-year student in Colaiste an Phiarsaigh, played down her heroics when Joe and his dad met her last night to thank her at the site of the daring rescue.

Clodaghs dad, Ray, said: She was a bit annoyed about the fuss that was being made. She said I did nothing. Shes very calm and easygoing but there is a steely determination to her.

The drama unfolded on the Marina around 7.15pm on Monday when Clodagh, who trains six mornings a week with Dolphin Swimming Club and who rows with Lee Rowing Club, turned up for rowing training.

Within minutes, Joe, who was with friends who were jumping into the river nearby, got into difficulty in the strong currents.

A passing cyclist threw a lifebuoy to him but it failed to reach him. Onlookers tried several times to throw a second lifebuoy to him as he was swept into the centre of the channel and downriver. Clodagh asked her dad if she could go in to save him.

I asked her to hold on a while to see if we could get the lifebuoy to him, said Mr Hayes.

But it became clear that he needed help. Shes quite a strong swimmer and Id have great confidence in her ability. It was nerve-wracking alright but I was confident that she would be able to do what she planned to do. So I gave her strict instructions to swim out with the lifebuoy and pass it to him, and that wed then help pull him back.

Clodagh grabbed the ring and swam out to Joe, who was close to exhaustion.

To be honest, I think he was on his last legs. I dont think he would have survived if she wasnt there, said Mr Hayes.

He grabbed the lifebuoy and Clodagh went around behind him, grabbed the lifebuoy and began swimming back as we held the rope and pulled them towards us.

Both reached the riverbank safely. Paramedics examined Joe at the scene. Clodagh was cold and had swallowed a lot of water but did not require medical attention.

Mr Plunkett rushed to the scene and said Clodagh had left by the time they had come to terms with what had happened.

Joe texted Clodagh later to say thanks but Mr Plunkett said they wanted to meet her face-to-face last night to say thank you. He said his son has recovered fully from his ordeal.

Her coach, Mick McCormack, praised Clodaghs cool-headed assessment of the emergency situation, and described her as a hero.

Mr Hayes said Clodagh was back in the pool at 5am on Tuesday for training.
Catherine OSullivan, of Ballyhampshire, Castlelyons, Fermoy, Co Cork, later admitted the 86-year-old had not kissed her. She pleaded guilty to a charge of demanding money with menaces. She demanded a total of 1,400 on October 5, 2015. She had no previous convictions and appealed against a three-month term imposed at the district court.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain said it was a particularly nasty crime and remanded her in custody for a week to consider the appeal at Cork Circuit Appeals Court.
Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated South Korea's newly-elected President Moon Jae-in in a phone conversation on Thursday.

President Xi said China and South Korea are important countries in the region, and bilateral relations have brought fruitful results and benefited people of both nations. The relationship has contributed to regional peace and development since the two countries established diplomatic ties 25 years ago, he added.

Xi also said China is willing to work with South Korea to strengthen political mutual trust, enhance negotiations and handle disputes.

President Moon said that South Korea puts a high value on the relationship between the two nations, and is willing to improve the bilateral relationship with China, as well as resume the Six-Party Talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon also expressed appreciation for the Belt and Road Initiative, and said he is looking forward to the prosperity the project will bring to countries including South Korea.

During the phone conversation, Xi also expressed condolences for the five South Korean children killed in Tuesday's bus accident in east China's Shandong Province, and asked Moon to convey his sympathy to the families of the victims.

Moon expressed appreciation for Xi's words, as well as the immediate measures and support in dealing with the accident taken by the Chinese government.

The two leaders agreed to keep in touch and both look forward to their first face-to-face meeting.
Other Codes  Digital Literatures in Context will focus on the various contexts for the production, dissemination and reception of digital literature in its different forms, as well as the cultural, national, geographical and institutional settings within which digital literary practice takes place.

The two-day international conference will feature presentations on topics such as, Twitter poetry, hyper-text fiction, storytelling through computer games, extended cinema and much more.

Participating speakers will feature several internationally renowned scholars and practitioners in the field including Sandy Baldwin (Rochester Institute of Technology, US), Maria Mencia (Kingston University, London), Jessica Pressman (San Diego State University, US) and Scott Rettberg (University of Bergen, Norway).

Speaking about the conference, Professor Sean Ryder, Director of Digital Cultures Initiative at NUI Galway, said: "This conference is the first major gathering in Ireland of international scholars and practitioners of digital literature.

"Irelands rich literary heritage has traditionally been based on the medium of print. But the future will see writers exploring more and more the creative capacities of digital technology. The Other Codes conference will help us think about what that future may be like."

Professor Daniel Carey, Director of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway, said: "No development in what we call literature has more lasting significance than the emergence of the digital. I look forward to the ways in which this conference will deepen our understanding of this phenomenon which will only grow in significance over time."

The main organiser of the conference, Dr Anne Karhio at NUI Galway, commented on the event: "There is an increasing need for authors, artists and scholars to employ not only the creative potential of the digital domain, but also to interrogate these technologies, and explore their wide implications on our place in the world. Literature native to new platforms can explore and interrogate them from within."

The conference starts today Thursday, 11 May and Friday12 May in the Hardiman Research Building.

The conference is funded by the Irish Research Council, the European Commission via Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and NUI Galway.

For full conference details visit: othercodes.wordpress.com/schedule/ and for registration visit: othercodes.wordpress.com/registration/ or email anne.karhio@nuigalway.ie.
On the second of their four-day visit to Ireland, the royal couple laid wreaths at a stone roll of honour for the 13 Police Service of Northern Ireland officers who have died in the line of duty since the organisation was founded in 2001, among them Constables Stephen Carroll and Ronan Kerr.

In a particularly poignant moment, seven-year-old Victoria Grieves, whose officer father Gary was killed in a road crash in 2010, presented a bouquet of flowers to the duchess.

PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said: This is a very special, but also sad day, for the families and PSNI as we remember those who have died.

The duchess of Cornwall meets children in Dromore Central Primary School in Dromore Village in Co Down. Picture: PA

After a brief visit to the Co Down town of Dromore where there was a carnival atmosphere as the prince and duchess took a stroll through the square, they headed across the border into the Republic to the Aras, where they signed a visitors book in the State reception room at a table specially commissioned for the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 2011.

Prince Charles and President Michael D Higgins then held a private meeting while the duchess had a tour of the surrounding lands.

Camilla joins Sabina Higgins on a walk around Aras an Uachtarain. Picture: Colin Keegan

After attending the ringing of the Peace Bell by students from counties Louth and Down, they also met with young people who have excelled in art, music, science, agriculture and advocacy.

Among those in attendance were Irish Olympic sailing medal winner Annalise Murphy and Irish rugby captain Niamh Briggs.

Charles views the Peace Bell in the grounds of Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin, during his visit. The bell was designed in 2008 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Picture: PA

Last night, the President and his wife Sabina hosted a private dinner for the royal couple.

Further highlights of the visit will include todays engagement at Kilkenny Castle, where they will hear some traditional music and watch a hurling demonstration by the 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 on Friday to commemorate those who died in the First World War and during the Easter Rising.

The prince will also meet Taoiseach Enda Kenny and he and the duchess will conclude their visit on Friday by attending a reception at the British ambassadors residence.
IT HAS been 70 years since the US Congress has heard testimony akin to Sally Yatess about the Kremlins influence on America. The former acting US attorney general testified this week.

Youd have to go back to March, 1947, when J Edgar Hoover charged that Moscow was burrowing into the pillars of the US government, and that the president, Harry Truman, was failing to take the threat seriously.

In secret, the FBI was pursuing cases of the utmost gravity: Spies had penetrated the US state department and the project to build the atomic bomb. In public, Hoover pledged unrelenting prosecution of subversives and asked Congress for public disclosure of the forces that threaten America.

Judging from Yatess testimony, the US justice department and the FBI determined, in January, that Moscow had a potential agent of influence inside the Oval Office: the national security adviser, retired lieutenant general, Michael T Flynn.

They had decided that Flynns conduct  his repeated lying, his deepening secrecy, his shady finances  were a threat to America. The national security adviser, essentially, could be blackmailed by the Russians, Yates testified.

It is hard to convey the level of alarm this would raise in the mind of the chief law enforcement officer of the United States  which Yates was, briefly, before the US President, Donald Trump, fired her at the end of January  or the fear it would instil at the FBI. Suppose your boss hired someone whom you suspected might be a made member of the mob.

Worse, if it could be worse, in the days before and after Trumps inauguration, Flynn was lying to his superiors about the nature of his dialogues with Moscows ambassador, and they either didnt know or didnt care about the nefariousness of his denials.

US vice-president, Mike Pence, among others, publicly repeated the lie  Flynns insistence that he had not discussed the stiff sanctions Washington slapped on Moscow for its malicious meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The US justice department and the FBI had rock-solid evidence to the contrary.

The Russian embassy in Washington is bugged by US intelligence, and it has been since Hoovers heyday. Flynn was on tape. Moreover, the Russians, therefore, knew he was lying up and down the chain of command. Thats kompromat  Russian for compromising information  and thats how hostile intelligence services twist arms.

At Yatess hearing, US senator, Amy Klobuchar, asked bluntly: If a high-ranking national security official is caught on tape with a foreign official, saying one thing in private and then caught in public saying another thing to the vice-president, is that material for blackmail?

Certainly, Yates said.

Yates had an increasingly urgent series of talks with the Trump White House counsel, Don McGahn, starting on January 26. During their second in-person meeting, he asked her: Why does it matter to [Department of Justice] if one White House official lies to another?

I suspect that question may haunt the Trump White House: National security, intelligence, and the power of government secrecy are all based on trust.

First, Yates explained to him, it mattered that Flynn lied to the vice-president and others, because, as a consequence, the American public had been misled. Then, she continued, every time this lie was repeated and the misrepresentations were getting more and more specific it increased the compromise and, to state the obvious, you dont want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.

To make matters worse, she told McGahn, General Flynn had been interviewed by the FBI three days earlier, presumably on the subjects of his secret diplomacy and his undisclosed payments from RT, the Russian propaganda outlet subsidised by the Kremlin.

Howd he do? McGahn asked. Yates declined to say. This could not have comforted the White House counsel. I was intending to let him know that Michael Flynn had a problem on a lot of levels, Yates testified. As she told the senators, lying to the FBI is punishable by up to five years in prison.

What continues to astonish is that Flynn served in apparent high repute at the White House for more than two weeks after all this. It took the Washington Posts reporting on Flynns dialogues with the Russian diplomat  and his bold lies about them  to force him out in February.

The only aspect more appalling is what the president of the United States had to say that week: General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it the fake media, in many cases. And I think it is really a sad thing that he was treated so badly.

The Yates hearing was a foretaste of what promises to be a summer of inquiry in Washington. The foundations of the USs free republic were attacked last year. Moscow tried to destabilise American democracy. It achieved that aim. Did Americans aid and abet it? Did their commander-in-chief condone it?

Tim Weiner is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. His books include Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.
WHEN I was 16, I wanted to be French. The French ate baguettes. They were tanned. They wore espadrilles.

France offered me the only escape route out of my south Dublin existence. I resolved to become fluent in the language: I found myself a French au pair job, for the summer of fifth year. I had no childcare experience. I just knew I wanted to speak French fluently, and, three months later, after a truly miserable summer, I did.

Until this week, I have always considered that French summer a waste of time. I quickly lost interest in France and French. Then, I began to detest the place. The navy jumpers. The beige trenchcoats. The conservatism and the conformism. Most of all, the secular thought police, with their intolerant edicts against Muslim girls veils and their all-in-one swimsuits.

I began to see the place as an ex-colonial power unable to cope with its diminished stature. I saw it as arrogant and nationalist and racist, and over.

Then, along came Emmanuel Macron. Unimaginably, he was holding up a mirror to France and saying, we have to change and he was also saying, We are the European Union. It was we who wanted it. For the first time in about three decades, I wanted to use my French and I sat down to watch all of the final Macron-Le Pen TV debate, two hours of brilliant verbal combat about the central issues facing Europe.

Both combatants were fantastic performers. Marine Le Pen would have been formidable as Frances first female president, but her gender never featured in the campaign, because right-wingers dont count as women, apparently.

But Macrons performance was spine-tingling, because he seemed to be telling the truth.

He unflinchingly faced the French with aspects of their colonial history, such as the war of memories waged by the horrors of the Algerian War. He seemed sincere when he said he would never insult a Muslim, because of his or her religion. But he appealed to French nationalism to strengthen allegiance to the EU: We built this Europe.

Le Pens patriotism began to sound hollow beside Macrons. Her solution to the challenges of globalisation  kick foreigners out, close the borders, and return to the mythic past  looked more and more ridiculous.

What was fascinating was how close her solutions were to those of state socialism, and the links between extreme right and extreme left have been explicit in this campaign, with Le Pen openly courting the followers of communist Jean-Luc Melenchon, and quoting his slogan: Degagez-les! or Kick them out! By contrast, Macrons solution does not adhere to the edicts of left and right which have made France  with an unemployment rate breaching 10%  the only major country in Europe whose economy is not in recovery.

Yes, Macron wants to free up trade: He wants lower costs for employers when they hire people and a lower corporation tax, of 25%, for instance. But he wants to balance that by protecting people with unemployment insurance if they give up their job and look for another, or if they are self-employed.

There is no point, he says, in attempting to preserve the jobs of the past in the face of the digital revolution; but people must be armed to find new jobs. To this end, he is promising a 15bn investment in youth training. By contrast, Le Pens calling card was guaranteed retirement at 60, if you had worked for 40 years, another point on which she and the communists agree. That measure would have cost 30bn.

Election promises are easy to make, to paraphrase Pat Rabbitte, but some of Macrons are inspiring. He wants to ban fracking. He will issue no new hydrocarbon exploration permits. He will decrease the nuclear energy component by one third. A million houses will be insulated, starting with the most modest. He will increase the price of carbon. He will ban unrecyclable plastic and brand appliances with their expected lifespan.

Children in deeply disadvantaged areas will be in classes of 12. Only four subjects in the final exam, the baccalaureate, will be examined, with the rest continuously assessed. There will be no mobile phones in schools. Volunteers will be encouraged to provide extra classes after school.

Macrons final pitch, his carte blanche in the debate, was to focus on disabled children, 20,000 of whom have no school provision. Many autistic children go abroad for treatment, and that identifies the failure of French social protection.

The autism spectrum was only diagnosed in France from 2004, because the vested interests in the health service would not let go of their sacred scriptures.

He will cut 60bn from the budget of his seriously indebted country. He may be the first major European politician to lay out with honesty a future for social democracy. He understands and accepts that globalisation is here to stay. He understands we need banks. He understands the possibilities of the euro and its implications for national economies.

Ooh la la! he announced when Madame Le Pen suggested a return to the franc. How would the French import with their devalued currency? How would they cope, when a large part of the value of their savings was wiped out?

I take the French for adults, he said, I dont lie to them. If this is so, Macrons inauguration on Sunday, as Frances 25th president, will mark a watershed in recent European history. If a parliament is elected that can carry out his reform agenda, then he might save Europe.

My love affair with France will be rekindled and I hope that our Irish republican tradition of by-passing the UK, and taking France for our model, might be rekindled. We, too, need to be taken for adults by our politicians, and that has not happened.

The Labour Party was nearly wiped out in Ireland because they promised Fairyland before the 2011 general election: A land in which the exigencies of globalisation could be ignored, while employment was maintained; in which the strictures of euro membership could be repudiated without consequence. Fine Gael sang along to some degree, then switched to moaning, the Troika done it. Fianna Fail did the right thing in containing a crisis largely caused by their own inability to grasp the implications of the single currency, but they now pretend they werent there.

Yes, we need, as Macron says, a re-engagement with Europe, through citizens assemblies and other means, to beat the virus of defiance. But, first, we need honesty.

We need to be treated like adults, so we can elect adults who make us strong members of a Europe that trades, that co-operates, that coheres, and which fiercely protects its weakest citizens.
According to a study issued by the McKinsey Global Institute in 2015, the world's economic center remained in the East like in the year 1000. The US replaced Europe as the center of the world's economy after WWII. But with the wheels of history turning into the 21st century, China has reinstated itself as the global economic center.

Upon mentioning the Belt and Road initiative, people will be naturally reminded of China's glorious history before 1735. But today's Belt and Road doesn't merely mean a change in global economic strength or a shift in the world's economic center, nor is it a simple duplicate of the ancient Silk Road.

The significance of the new Silk Road can be better embodied in the list of attendees for the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, which includes 28 heads of state and government as well as hundreds of high-level officials from 92 countries.

The Western media outlets are sensitive. They immediately noticed that many leaders of Western countries are absent from the list. But, they are also insensitive. They neglected the fact that most of the countries participating in the Belt and Road forum are those "discovered" by the West in its world exploration over the past 500 years or so.

The Age of Discovery that started over 500 years ago has expanded the influence of Western civilization and laid down standards and rules for today's modernization. The world history, written by Westerners, is filled with stories of how the West discovered the world. The countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including China, are all "discovered" by the West and the process of their discovery was always cruel and bloody.

China's rise represents the historical rise of the "being discovered" group, as reflected in the change of China's share in the world's GDP. In 1820, China's GDP accounted for 32.9 percent of the world's overall GDP. The figure sharply decreased to 2.3 percent in 1980, but it will rise to 18.9 percent by 2020, based on latest estimates.

Drastic changes have taken place in the global economic structure. During the period from 1980 to 2007, developed economies took a 59 percent share in the world's GDP in terms of purchasing power parity while the share of the developing and emerging economies was 41 percent.

The ratio is changing. The latest forecasts by the IMF show that by 2018, the share that developed economies and developing economies respectively hold in the world's GDP will be reversed.

Against such background, the Belt and Road initiative was envisioned. It's supposed to bring about the climax of the drastic changes in the global economy. In the next decade, it's expected that the annual trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road route will exceed $2.5 trillion, providing support for about 1 billion people in the emerging middle class across Asia, almost equivalent to the total population of all Western countries.

Different from the globalization that began in Europe 500 years ago, the Belt and Road initiative is by no means a one-way flow of wealth enabled by the exploitation of the empires. It aims to build up an active economic and trade corridor and an interconnectivity network in Asia, Europe and Africa via stimulating the potential of these regions, creating an unprecedented convergence effect.

Not only can countries along the route share the fruits of China's rise, but they can also provide the driving force for the development of other countries. China has also signed more than 130 bilateral and regional transport agreements with countries involved in the Belt and Road initiative. Statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce show that by the end of 2016, Chinese firms have established 77 industrial cooperation zones with 36 countries, the vast majority of which are developing countries and a few of which are even underdeveloped countries.

With the advancement of the Belt and Road, globalization will move forward in a more balanced way and the new Silk Road will lead us to rediscover the world.

The author is a senior editor with People's Daily, and currently a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @dinggangchina
Adelaide-based ASX-listed Internet of Things platform company Xped has acquired the Jemsoft Group of companies whose main entity is focused on artificial intelligence and computer vision.

Xped paid $200,000 in cash and 50 million of its shares as consideration for the purchase.

A statement said the main asset in the Jemsoft Group had a deep technology stack and had proven its ability in the market to deliver on large scale projects.

The Jemsoft Group also includes a partially-owned subsidiary Media Intelligence that makes use of such software to provide real-time and after-the-fact insights and measurements for brands and media owners alike.

MIC has a cornerstone research contract with Think TV Australia, which provides $500,000 per annum in licensing fees and is self-funded. Other high-profile projects are in development and will be disclosed shortly.

Xped is creating a new mobile-based IoT device control platform, something like a control panel for IoT devices. This would allow any consumer to connect, monitor and control devices and appliances found in our everyday environment.

The company's managing director, Martin Despain, was formerly Intels US-based general manager of its smart home division.

Xped has a deal with Shenzhen-based electronics manufacturer Lenze Technology that produces white-label products for brands around the world, including Disney and the Chinese online video platform iQiYi. Its software will be integrated in more than 200 million devices.

Another deal with San Diegos Solekai Systems will see Xped's technology integrated into that company's existing customer platforms such as media players, set-top boxes, and energy management systems.

Xped will obtain a 51% interest in Media Intelligence apart from ownership of Jemsoft, its Monocular API, and all of Jemsofts IP and trade secrets.

The statement said Jemsoft had delivered several AI-based projects in a number of industries, including hardware solutions, security, computer vision and machine learning solutions in many sectors, including the media sector.

Its clients include global conglomerates, SMEs, government organisations and various start-ups.
New research by Telstra and Neto shows that 35% of Australians will shift their online purchases to Amazon once the e-commerce giant arrives in the country.

But on the bright side, 65% of consumers will remain loyal to their favourite brands/stores albeit that these may have to cut online and store prices to compete with Amazon.

Does Amazons entry mean a race to the bottom on price and are Australian retailers under siege as Microsoft suggests in its whitepaper ?

Ryan Murtagh, chief executive, Neto E-Commerce Solutions, said, Efficient and nimble back-end infrastructure always translates into a better customer experience and more sustainable profits. Amazon doesnt need local warehousing, inventory, and customer support to sell to Australians. Theyre investing in these because they recognise the value of having local back-end infrastructure that can provide fast, flexible fulfilment to customers, further improving a value proposition thats already proven immensely successful the world over.

Australian retailers should invest in building up back-end capabilities that directly influence what they can offer customers if they want to gain a competitive edge, rather than giving in to price pressures and undermining their future profitability, he added.

Logistics options and inventory visibility stood out as influences on consumer experience, with the survey finding that 50% of Australian online shoppers expect to be able to return products via both physical stores or courier and postal services. These also feel retailers should be able to check stock availability across all channels while in-store  with 75% saying it significantly enhances their experience of the brand.

Brands can no longer expect to stand out by offering e-commerce capabilities: our research found that 52% of consumers now expect every retailer to offer their own online store. The real points of differentiation now come from how effectively they can manage inventory, logistics, and support services like fulfilment, delivery, after-care and returns across numerous channels, and the extent to which they can use these services to give consumers the choice and convenience that theyre after, said Murtagh.

Smart Australian retailers will be avoiding the hyperbole about price-wars and focusing on building out their cross-channel capabilities to support customers wherever they want to shop and receive their products, including Amazon itself. At Neto, were already preparing to launch our Amazon plugin that will add the marketplace to the range of payment, accounting, and last-mile services with which our platform is fully integrated, helping our customers manage cross-channel complexity with minimal fuss, he concluded.
The second meeting between Lavrov and Tillerson on April 12 (file photo/Xinhua)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Washington is the third high-level meeting between the US and Russian governments since President Donald Trump took office.

The first high-level meeting between US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Lavrov took place back in February. During the meeting, Lavrov said in reply to accusations the Kremlin meddled in the US election that Russia does not "interfere in the domestic matters" of any other countries. Even though bilateral relations were under stress after US sanctions against Moscow and the fragile Minsk peace deal on Ukraine, both top diplomats said their first talk was pragmatic and constructive.

However, two months later, the chemical weapon crisis in Syria again escalated tensions between the US and Russia. The US accused Damascus of using a chemical bomb, and fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase in response. Russia replied with strong words, saying it would stand by the Syrian government.

The crisis triggered the second meeting between Lavrov and Tillerson. On April 12, Tillerson met his counterpart and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, expressing willingness to narrow their differences.

Problems between the US and Russia cannot be solved quickly, but the door of communication between the two is being kept open.
Samsungs DeX allows a Galaxy S8/S8+ (and presumably a Note 8) to support many Android apps on a 16:9 screen and use a keyboard and mouse. It does this very well.

Reviewing DeX (Desktop Experience) is not as simple as reviewing say, a Windows 10 computer connected to an external screen. You must remember that DeX is a hardware dock for an Android device (presumably only Samsung devices) that allows you to connect a 16:9, 1920 x 1080p monitor, Ethernet connection (Wi-Fi is supported too), USB keyboard/mouse/dongle and USB-C power.

It is idiot proof  the first time you connect all the items together it will check for DeX software, update it, and access the screen  it is that easy.

Out of the box

All you get is the DeX dock and a quick start guide in 26 languages in a type font so small you need not read it.

You will have to use the Samsung adaptive fast charger that came with the phone (the black one, although other Samsung Adaptive fast chargers will work or even a standard 5V/2A charger  it just does not support fast charge).

Note that most USB cables are not long enough to make it from the charger plugged into a wall power socket to the dock  buy a longer USB-A to USB-C cable or have a power board nearby.

You will need an HMDI to HDMI cable and, of course, a monitor that supports it. To hear sounds that are transmitted over the HDMI cable, you will need to use speakers in the monitor (if it has them), or via the headphone jack on the monitor (if it has one) or you can use Bluetooth or 3.5mm audio from the phone.

You can connect a USB keyboard and mouse, or a Logitech USB receiver/dongle style of keyboard, or connect via Bluetooth as well. I tested all and each worked equally well.

Screen layout  multiple resizeable apps are great

The test used a Samsung 27, Quantum Dot monitor and it was perfect  crisp text and vivid colours. The choice of monitor is not critical, but it must at least support 1920 x 1080. I tried older HDMI Benq, Acer and ASUS monitors and text clarity suffered a little. It has something to do with the screen being optimised for PC or AV and once that was sorted in the screen set-ups, the text was more than acceptable.

It presents a menu bar along the bottom right of the screen that is more akin to the menu bar on the top of the handset allowing access to Android notifications. On the bottom left is a pop-up of apps installed on the S8.

Most will allow you to open and use a keyboard and mouse to navigate, click and execute. I could not find any that did not support a mouse and very few were not resizeable (that indicates poorly written apps that specify pixel width instead of percentage).

My only gripe here is that the Apps are listed alphabetically and cannot be rearranged as on the phone screen. To be useful, you need to drag a shortcut to the desktop or taskbar.

As you select an app, an icon appears in the lower left of taskbar and you can swap between these as you would ALT-Tab on a PC. Impressively, DeX allows for multiple resizeable windows to be open so you could have a Word document, email, images and many more etc., up to the memory space available and you can minimise these as well. I tried opening more than 20 apps at once with three on screen. There were no issues.

There was no lag, except when the phone rang it delayed a character.

Productivity

Microsoft has optimised Office 365 (licence needed) apps including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Skype and Outlook for Dex. These are the tablet version of those apps but they can be resized and use Windows keyboard shortcuts.

While you may be used to the comprehensive ribbon screen on a PC, this is tablet icon driven. After using it for a few hours I managed to find all the icon shortcuts I needed.

Adobe has announced it will bring Photoshop and Lightroom to DeX.

Saving

It defaults to the cloud  in Office 365 it is OneDrive personal and in others it is their cloud. The idea is that you can pick up seamlessly from other devices. But you can save to the S8 memory too.

Printing  network printers too

The next challenge was printing  something most Android smartphone users never really do. I have network connected HP and Canon printers and after selecting a photo from the gallery and pressing print it identified the printers, their IP addresses, asked to install HP Print or the Canon equivalent and printed.

One small snag was that tried to print from the manual paper feed (Tray 1) but that was solved by setting Tray 2 as default. In this regard, Continuum uses the Windows universal driver model out of the box, but once the appropriate print driver was installed DeX equals it.

USB  2.0

You can plug in a USB flash drive or SSD (tested to 1TB) and all the files are accessible. You can also plug in a powered hub if you need more USB slots.

Web surfing

Surfing the Web was a breeze with the Samsung Internet Browser (Mozilla based) offering multiple tabs (I opened more than 30 at one time) and speed was great (I was using Wi-Fi).

I was impressed that its browser presented full desktop experiences  not mobile sites. Early international tests have stated that some sites simply dont know what to do when they identify Samsung S8 as a mobile device. It does not support Flash content.

Chrome is not yet optimised and displayed mobile sites, but frequently locked up.

Email

The Samsung email client worked well offering similar functionality to the phone app. So too did contacts and calendar (I hook the Samsung app into Office 365 mail, not that it makes any difference).

Notifications

Everything you get on the phone will also show up on the screen  fleetingly in the bottom right corner and then in the pop-up notifications section.

Lock screen

At a predetermined time on no use, DeX locks the phone and monitor and it can be unlocked by iris, fingerprint or pin via the keyboard.

DeX versus Continuum

The basic difference between DeX and Microsoft Continuum is that former runs most, if not all well behaved, Android apps in resizeable windows whereas Continuum only runs Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps  well behaved Win32 apps in full screen. From that perspective, DeX eats Continuum.

Citrix, VMware, Amazon etc

I did not have the ability to test the new Citrix, VMWare and Amazon versions of the virtualised Windows 10 desktop and apps. I did see it on HPs x3 and I see no reason why these virtualised environments would behave any differently. It is cool to see a full Windows 10 desktop running off an Android handset  if you are into that kind of thing. I understand RDP support is avaialable as well.

After a few hours' use

A proper review takes time  usually over a week or more and this exploratory run was over a few hours. I am impressed but I need to remind myself that it is Android, not Windows 10, that you are using.

Still, it is very impressive and may be very useful for the right user. DeX shows a lot of promise and Samsungs volume of handsets may be the key to getting widespread adoption.

Its Microsoft Office support is brilliant  but I don't know the extent of other support for other apps.

In earlier articles, I mentioned that you can use Screencasting (Miracast) and a Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad, but that only provides the Samsung S8 screen (in portrait or landscape), and no keyboard shortcuts etc.

I also dont know why the S8 screen is blacked out  it may have been nice to see the phone screen at the same time or use it like a mouse. I suspect that is in order to avoid too much stress on the USB-C connector. Having said that the dock will accommodate the third-party cases I tried.

At $199 it is not a wallet breaker and even if you use it as a dock just to play media or movies or as a lightweight PC then that it is not bad value.

I think DeX is a game changer for pocket computing and I hope it encourages other to do the same.
Dark fibre connectivity and digital services provider Superloop has drawn former Vocus senior executive Dan Whitford to its management ranks to take up the position of general manager of strategic sales for the Asia Pacific region.

Whitford joins Superloop from telecommunications services provider Vocus where he was general manager of wholesale, managing 40 people across three different sales teams.

Superloop, founded by high-profile entrepreneur and company chief executive Bevan Slattery, has appointed Whitford to drive strategic capacity sales in the APAC region.

Whitfords appointment reunites him with Matt Hollis, group general manager, sales and marketing and executive director of Superloop, with whom he worked at Vocus Communications.

We are delighted to have Mr Whitford join the team, Dan has such a proven track record in the wholesale telecommunications space, and in particular major strategic deals, Hollis said.

Slattery said Whitfords appointment was further evidence of the Superloops commitment to build one of the most experienced sales leadership teams in the Asia Pacific telecommunications market.

Just last week Superloop announced the acquisition of subsea cable system company SubPartners in a deal which Slattery says increases capacity on its subsea cable network to meet growing customer demand.

SubPartners is part of the Indigo consortium along with Google, Telstra, Singtel, AARNet and indosat Ooredoo, which is constructing the Indigo West cable between Singapore and Perth and the Indigo Central cable linking Perth to Sydney.
Tenable Network Security has appointed Gordon Gakovic as its country manager for Australia and New Zealand.

"Gordon has a proven track record of developing and leading highly successful sales teams, which is exactly the kind of leadership we need as we look to build upon our significant growth in Australia and New Zealand," said APAC vice-president Gary Jackson.

"This, coupled with his experience serving the regional market, will be instrumental as Tenable continues to invest in and expand throughout Asia Pacific. With Gordon now onboard, we're well-positioned to accelerate our momentum and bring innovative security technology to customers throughout the region."

Gakovic has worked in the IT industry for more than 25 years, most recently as ANZ managing director at Software AG.

He previously held sales director roles at Oracle and IBM.

Gakovic holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in computing from Monash University.
Optus has snared former Telstra senior executive Stuart Bird to take over as head of its wholesale and satellite business.

Bird, who most recently held the position of executive director of home and business products for Telstra retail, has also worked as a senior executive with Vodafone.

He moves into the Opus role to replace Robert Parcel who retired at the end of April.

Bird will boost Optus executive leadership team and report directly to chief executive Allen Lew.

Optus has not announced a start date for Bird, but Nitesh Naidoo will act in the role until Bird formally joins the team.

Lew said Bird was joining Optus at an exciting time for the telecommunications sector.

His focus will be to deliver growth from our wholesale and satellite businesses by expanding Optus wholesale NBN offering, delivering a competitive suite of mobile products and services for our wholesale partners, and expanding our satellite customer base across Australasia."
Samsungs new Quantum Dot, 1080p, curved 27 monitor sets new standards for computer monitors in colour, depth, detail, and responsiveness. It will challenge your preconceptions about how good a monitor can be.

The imaginatively named C27FG70FQE is positioned as a gaming monitor, but dont let that influence your choice for other uses in videography, still and video editing, or just having the best technology bar none on your home or office desk.

This screen redefines the best consumer grade LED/LCD screen picture you have ever seen. In addition to the amazing Quantum Dot colour (125% sRGB), it has an ultra-high contrast VA screen (3000:1), 350cd/m2 brightness, 144Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync support, 1 millisecond response time, and a gently curved 19 screen.

Paul Sharpe, director, Enterprise and Small Medium Business, Samsung Electronics Australia, said: "By combining the stunning picture from our pioneering Quantum dot technology with the immersive effect of the curved screen, Samsungs CFG70 monitors help Australians take their passion for gaming to new heights.

"Designed specifically for modern gamers, these monitors provide a competitive edge, delivering a lightning fast response time, high refresh rate, and the supreme comfort that comes with ergonomic design, he added.

How does a non-gamer review a gaming monitor? Simple  by using it to watch e-sports like Dota 2 and StarCraft and testing it in office conditions against the excellent Samsung 27 C27F591FDE previously reviewed here and hailed then as the new standard in business monitors.

Out of the box

The monitor is quite heavy at 6.2kg and quite deep as the cantilever stand adds nearly 300mm in depth and 185mm in height. Overall dimensions are 621.2 x 550.6 x 386.4mm.

The circular base stand is an engineering marvel weighting 2.1kg although you can also wall mount it (comes with a 75 x 75 mm plate). It offers height adjustment to 140mm, tilt from -2 to +17, and swivel from -15 to +15. It has a cable management system that also allows you to store headphones on the back.

As is typical of gaming monitors it does not have speakers, but has a 3.5mm headphone/speaker jack taking its audio input from either of the two HDMI ports or the display port. Gone are legacy ports like DVI and D-Sub. It comes with an HDMI and DisplayPort Cable.

Set-up is easy  lay the panel face down on a table, attach the stand (with two screws in the base) plug it in, and go.

Many gaming monitors include flashy design, blinking lights and bright colours. There is a small circle at the back that Samsung calls Arena Lighting that can be set to a pulsating blue light or in time to the sound via the settings menu. The back-panel colour is allegedly Dark Blue Black Matt  lets just call it deep charcoal.

Panel  fast and furious

The display panel technology is VA (vertical alignment) LED/LCD. VA panels are known for their high native contrast ratio, robust colours, deep blacks, and gives the refresh speeds and response times needed for gaming.

The colour technology is Samsungs Quantum Dot (only seen in TVs so far) that uses different sized alloy nano-dots to generate red, green and blue (white comes from the backlight) at up to 125% of sRGB. QD is the best LED/LCD colour you can get.

What that means is that as far as computer monitors go, sRGB is ideally suited for home and office use especially where there is office like lighting, lots of reflection, and it has a white balance that means pure white does not look like a cool blue white.

What you need to know is that this monitor comes factory colour calibrated and beats every other consumer grade monitor you have ever seen. I make the distinction because there are high-level professional monitors for specific applications that may have ADOBE RGB (photo) or DCI-P3 (movie) calibration. If you have seen these you will think that their colours are off when in fact they are true  sRGB is the consumer, every day standard.

The colours are crisp and bright, but can appear a little over saturated although that is more an illusion as you are seeing colours you have never seen before on monitors. There are many adjustments you can make  I preferred the default sRGB scheme.

That curve

Whether a gimmick or not, Harvard experts have reported that fewer subjects reported eyestrain, difficulty focusing and blurred vision when viewing a curved monitor than with a flat one.

I cannot speak for gamers, but I suspect the gentle curve will give them a slight edge  even if they only think so.

For day use  and that sometimes means 24/7  I have swapped to 2 x 27 Samsung curved 27F591FDE office monitors and I can say that looking straight on at a distance of approx. 60cm I find the slight curve appealing. In calibration tests, the vertical and horizontal lines are not distorted.

Unlike the office version that has very narrow side/top bezels for dual or even quad monitor use, this has 1cm top/side bezel and a 2cm bottom bezel. It is not unpleasant, but it would limit multi-monitor use  I am told gamers dont do that anyway.

Menu  lots of customisation

Samsung has adopted a single 5-point joy-stick that covers the power (push in), volume (via the headphone jack) and selection of gaming and other custom modes like FPS, RTS, RPG, and AOS. Three modes can be saved to discrete buttons on the lower bezel.

It is comprehensive and allows for a high level of customisation from sRGB to cinema mode.

Specifications

27 diagonal, 1920 x 1080p, Quantum Dot, VA edge lit, 16:9, 19 curved panel, 178 viewing angle, Brightness: 350cd/m2, Contrast: 3000:1, factory calibrated and certified 125% sRGB, 1m/s MPRT, 144Hz, AND Free-sync

Inputs: 2 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort

Outputs: 3.5mm audio jack (headphone or speakers)

Modes: eye saving, flicker free, gaming modes and custom profiles, low input lag

Colour mode: Custom/High-Brightness/FPS/RTS/RPG/AOS/sRGB/Cinema

Arena lighting (rear)

Stand: tilt, swivel and height adjust, wall mountable

Dimensions/weight (with stand):

Conclusion

A few will look at a 27 monitor at a suggested price of $849.95 and respond, Tell them they are dreaming. And if their reference is to consumer grade, 1080p, flat panel monitors starting from around $200, then you can understand that.

But gaming and professional monitors cost a lot more for Freesync, 1ms response times, and high motion VA panels. A 27 gaming pedigree monitor from Acer Predator, AOC AGON, ASUS ROG, or LG Gaming costs between $700-900 so it is in the ballpark. It is even better value when you can find it for about $750 from reputable stores and online.

For my professional use, the aforementioned 27 C27F591FDE at under $500 will do. But put the two side-by-side and you begin to understand what hardcore gamers want  game profiles, G-Sync or FreeSync, low response times, crisp images, no blurring or smearing in action screens, no motion artefacts, and, not surprisingly, the best 1080p experience.
Centre Com, operated by director Raymond Xianke Huang, established 18 years ago, has 10 stores in Victoria and an online presence, as well as being an authorised Apple service centre and reseller. It sells products from most majors: HP, Intel, ASUS, Samsung and Lenovo, although the origin of these products is unknown.

Microsoft's investigators purchased two new computer systems from Centre Com, according to the vendor, which were found to have counterfeit Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) attached, with unauthorised copies of Windows 7 Professional installed.

Microsoft Australia legal counsel Clayton Noble said, Microsoft will continue to do business with Centre Com. Purchasing Microsoft products from unauthorised resellers compromises the integrity of software distribution channels, and is unfair to those Microsoft resellers who obey the law and purchase and resell only genuine and licensed Microsoft software products available from Microsofts authorised distributors.

Microsoft has had a run of successful convictions of late. Moonbox sold more than 3600 pirated keys for 17 different Microsoft products and settled for nearly $1 million and its four directors were permanently banned from representing themselves as lawful resellers of Microsoft software.

Last year Software Oz, PC-Tek, and Bytestech settled for $300,000, $25,000 and an undisclosed amount respectively. These were all for supplying pirate copies of Microsoft programs and for preloading Windows 10 and Office Professional Plus 2013 onto hard drives.

But one of the more significant breaches last year involved PC Case Gear obtaining 4000 Microsoft Certificates of Authenticity for Windows 7 that belonged to a Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher Program.
The US is reportedly looking at extending a ban on allowing laptops into the cabins of airlines to European countries and the UK.

A report in The Hill cited CBS News as reporting that the Trump administration was looking at the benefits and travel disruptions that could be caused if the ban, which is now in force for some Middle Eastern and African airports, was extended to the UK and Europe.

The ban on carrying anything larger than a mobile phone on one's person while flying came into force in March. The US move was promptly followed by the UK but the two countries banned a differing list of airlines, with the latter including some British carriers as well.

The Hill quoted a spokesperson of the US Transport Security Administration as saying: "We have not made any decisions on expanding the electronics ban; however, we are continuously assessing security directives based on intelligence and will make changes when necessary to keep travellers safe."

The airports hit by the US ban are: Queen Alia International Airport (Jordan), Cairo International Airport (Egypt), Ataturk International Airport (Turkey), King Abdul-Aziz International Airport (Saudi Arabia), King Khalid International Airport (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait International Airport, Mohammed V Airport (Morocco), Hamad International Airport (Qatar), Dubai International Airport (United Arab Emirates) and Abu Dhabi International Airport (United Arab Emirates).

The UK ban affects Middle Eastern carriers Royal Jordanian Airlines, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways , Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways. British carrier affected are British Airways, EasyJet, Jet2.com, Monarch, Thomas Cook, Thomson. And foreign carriers affected are Pegasus Airways, Atlas-Global Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Tunis Air and Saudia.

There have been suggestions that the US device ban has been driven by a desire to make American airlines, which have long complained about Middle Eastern competitors, competitive.
Global Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics software vendor, Yellowfin, has been identified as a Challenger in the Business Application Research Centers (BARC) 2016 Score Business Intelligence report.

Yellowfin is a mature, user-friendly BI platform that has evolved from a successful reporting and dashboard product to support an emerging style of BI characterized by governed data discovery and collaboration, said BARC Senior Analyst and report co-author, Larissa Seidler. Yellowfins strength lies in selling its software to OEM organizations, where its BI functionality is integrated into other vendors products and applications.

Yellowfin debuted as a Specialist in the inaugural 2015 BARC Score Business Intelligence report, increasing its Market Execution and Product Capabilities rankings to move into the Challengers region in BARCs 2016 Score Business Intelligence report.

The 2016 version of BARC Score Business Intelligence (Enterprise BI Platforms) report  the latest and second iteration of the annual study  ranks and evaluates the worlds foremost enterprise BI platforms across two main axis: Market Execution and Portfolio Capabilities. BARC awards technology vendors, that sufficiently meet report criteria, with a dot placement in one of five regions  from Entrants, to Specialists, Challengers, Market Leaders and Dominators.

The report described Yellowfins five core strengths as:

Innovative collaboration and storyboarding features

Ability to deliver Embedded BI into host applications

Ease of use for business users

Simple pricing model

Geo-visualization capabilities (location analytics)

Yellowfin CEO and Co-Founder, Glen Rabie, said that Yellowfins improved positioning in the latest version of BARCs Score Business Intelligence report validated the vendors approach to the BI market.

Yellowfins unique approach to Collaborative BI and user workflows enables business users and data analysts to effectively work together to produce and share the best insights, said Rabie. Then, businesses can make the best collective decisions possible. Additionally, Yellowfins industry leading governance capabilities empower IT to deliver trustworthy, enterprise-wide reporting and analytics.

This result follows Yellowfins strong performance in BARCs The BI Survey 16, the worlds largest annual survey of BI end-users. In that survey, Yellowfins BI solution ranked first within its Peer Groups for Innovation five years in a row; Collaboration four years in a row; and first for Ease-of-use for the third year running.

To learn more about Yellowfins performance in BARCs The BI Survey 16, follow this link: https://portal.yellowfin.bi/Download-BARC-The-BI-Survey-16-highlight-results-for-Yellowfin

The 2016 BARC Score Business Intelligence (Enterprise BI Platforms) awarded a dot placement to 21 vendors. The report also provided a summary list of 37 Other Vendors that did not sufficiently meet the inclusion criteria.

The Market Execution and Portfolio Capabilities axis in BARC Score Business Intelligence comprise multiple weighted criteria on which participating vendors are ranked. Market Execution criteria include Product Strategy, Customer Satisfaction, Sales Strategy, Financials, Ecosystem, Marketing Strategy, Organizational Strength, and Geographical Coverage. The overall Portfolio Capabilities score includes three areas of assessment, each comprising sub-criteria: Functionality (Reporting, Dashboards, Analysis, Data Mining, Planning, Self-Service BI and Data Discovery), Infrastructure (Systems Architecture and Administration, Performance, Access to Data Sources, Metadata and Semantics, Governance and Security, Information Delivery and Deployment Options), and Portfolio Evaluation (Portfolio Integration, Portfolio Maturity and Portfolio Lifecycle).
The YOW! events for software developers to be staged in Perth and Sydney in May promise a raft of interesting talks and discussions on the current and future direction in software development and delivery.

For the third year, YOW! West kicks off in Perth over two days from 2-3 May. The technical program features 26 speakers covering a breadth of topics, including invited international speakers Melinda Seckington, Josh Long, Bodil Stokke, Naresh Jain, and Ian Randall. Dr Anita Sengupta, Andy Clarke and James Stewart keynote the conference.

For the past decade Dr Sengupta has been developing spacecraft technologies that have enabled the exploration of Mars, asteroids, and deep space. She started her career working on the launch vehicles and communications satellites and was later responsible for the supersonic parachute system that was integral to the landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars.

Dr Sengupta is now leading the next generation of technologies for missions to explore the origins of the cosmos and search for habitable worlds outside of our solar system.

Andy Clarke - who recently relocated from the UK to Sydney - is one of the best-known web designers because of his design work and contributions to the global web design industry. Hes written books on website design and development including Transcending CSS and Hardboiled Web Design, and written and published numerous articles in web design publications.

James Stewart is past Deputy CTO with the UK Government. He was responsible for the technical architecture of the award winning GOV.UK, building the acclaimed team behind it, supporting the delivery of dozens of projects across government and transforming the UK Governments relationship with open source by coding in the open.

YOW! Australia Director of Developer Relations Kris Howard says the Perth event attracts leading software professionals that are serious about staying informed of the latest trends and using that knowledge to create innovative solutions.

There is a strong focus on learning new skills from experts and peers through case studies, talks and demonstrations as well as building networks and fostering connections within the local development community, she says.

YOW! West is followed closely by YOW! Lambda Jam in Sydney from 8-9 May.

The Sydney event  YOW! Lambda Jam takes place over two days  it is not your typical conference.

It has a focus on functional programming with a significant part of each day's program devoted to hands-on workshops.

Australian functional developer presentations will be complemented by international keynotes and invited speakers. The focus of the YOW! Lambda Jam program will be on learning new functional programming skills from experts as well as sharing experiences with peers.

International Speakers John Hughes and Conal Elliott will keynote the event. Invited speakers Edward Kmett and Bodil Stokke will also be part of the 21 Speakers presenting at YOW! Lambda Jam.

John Hughes has been a functional programming enthusiast for more than thirty years. He served on the Haskell design committee, co-chairing the committee for Haskell 98, and is the author of more than 75 papers, including Why Functional Programming Matters, one of the classics of the area. With Koen Claessen, he created QuickCheck, a property based testing tool for Haskell.

The second YOW! Lambda Jam keynote  Teaching New Tricks to Old Programs  will see Conal Elliott, a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, talking about his work and issues around the development industry.



Elliott invented the paradigm now known as functional reactive programming in the early 1990s and recently FRP has gone mainstream in RX, React and other languages.

He and then pioneered compilation techniques for high-performance, high-level embedded Domain-Specific Languages, with applications to including 2D and 3D computer graphics.

The latter work included the first compilation of Haskell programs to GPU code, while maintaining precise and simple semantics and powerful composability, as well a high degree of optimisation.
As an executive journalist on the Fin Review two decades or so ago, too much of my time was spent trashing PR handouts. Eventually head-hunted by a PR agency that wanted someone who could actually write, it took me a while to reach an equilibrium.

Balancing the needs of clients and journalists is key to the relationship  a concept that is easy to discuss yet often difficult to achieve.

Todays ICT writers are more time-poor than ever before. Fewer journos are writing and editing more copy. So we strive to give them what they need: clear, concise and relevant text devoid of adjectives or any hint of marketing hype.

On occasion we have been known to apologise to media people for issuing releases from a clients overseas HQ, which we are required to pitch unchanged. Who has the time or inclination to read a 200-word intro? In such cases, we email a short precis to grab their attention.

Occasionally we are obliged to ease certain clients carefully into the real world of media expectations. So why isnt the fascinating story about version 2.xyz of our software on national TV? Well

All this encompasses the value that good PR can bring to the media. Consider a ghastly alternative world in which PR does not exist! Pre Fin Review, I was press-ganged into becoming Business Editor of an NZ Sunday paper. New Zealand had about three decent PR agencies at the time, and starting from scratch without contacts I suffered in an acute information vacuum. What the hell to write!

In contrast, todays media receive an avalanche of material, good, bad and indifferent. PR acts as a filter between client and media, and the best agencies invest expertise and effort in ensuring that writers receive information they actually find useful.

Imagine what life on the newsdesk would be like without that filter. A constant deluge of calls and emails from managers, marketing, communications and sales people; a life of ceaseless, remorseless spam and jangling phones!

So in an ICT industry bursting with innovation and new ideas, being perceived as a reliable source of information is critically important in developing trust. A good agency will apply our principles of short, sharp copy-writing across the entire communications spectrum. Disciplined writing is just as effective for social media, lead generation, advertising, presentations, speeches and more.

In a world where native advertising is growing, people are switching off online ads by using ad-blockers, so content continues to grow in importance. A companys brand narrative simply isnt sufficient. A vendor and its agency need to work expertise and knowledge into all the messaging they produce, which calls for professional writing skills and editorial experience.

Thus outsourcing to an agency with a deep understanding of the evolving media landscape leaves a company free to focus on what they do best rather than keeping pace with publishing industry.

Good PR will leverage a clients existing information. White papers, product briefs, brochures, blogs and more offer a wealth of opportunity for sniffing out newsworthy items. In this way we garner feature material, or thought leadership as its called these days, that is proving useful to the ICT media.

Thus PR agencies are helping journalists to delve deeper into the mysteries of emerging technology such as object-defined storage, machine learning, SD-WANs, programmatic marketing, big data, business intelligence and predictive analytics.

Hey, after editing such information we figure that if we can understand a given aspect of technology, anyone can!

For more information at PR Deadlines click here, or email David Frost at davidf@prdeadlines.com.au
Kelun-Kazpharm, located in outskirt of Almaty, Kazakhstan, is a Sino-Kazakh pharmaceuticaljoint venture controlled by a Chinese private company. Since put into operation in July 2014, the venture has not only boosted Kazakhstans pharmaceutical industry, but also brought win-win prosperity to Central Asia at large.

As a production plant of Sichuan-based Kelun Pharmaceutical, ithas grown into the largest drug producer in the country and Central Asia as a whole.

Over the past two-plus years, the factory has developed more than 20 kinds of pharmaceuticals and attained an annual output of 30 million bottles of drugs, selling its products to domestic market and exporting to other Central Asian countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

A visit to the workshop gives a clear view of how the drugs were processed by a clean and automatic assembly line before they leave factory.

In the lab, technicians from both countries would exchange their ideas after inspecting the composition and quality of the products.

The factory strictly abides by the EU inspection standards and uses the worlds most advanced equipment and craft, according to Peng Bei, head of the equipment department. The company enjoys a good reputation in Kazakhstan, Peng added.

The factory has not only produced fine medicines for the locals, but also cultivated a large number of skilled talents that are expected to promote the countrys medicine industry. The factory now hasover 200 staff, a lot of whom have become professionals in craft inspection.

The plant has become a designated company providing internship for graduates in Almatys medicine schools and tumor research institutes. Every year, the factory will hire many graduates and send the best performers to study in China, said Zhang Chengqian, general manager of the factory.

In 2014, the factorys Infusion Key Generic Technology Research and Industrialization Demonstration project won support from Chinas Ministry of Science and Technology.

The pharmaceutical industry, a rising sector in Kazakhstan, gains a lot of support from local government, who gives equal treatment to products of the joint venture with its homemade pharmaceuticals.

Kelun, whose products are on the prior purchasing list of Kazakh government, has secured a long-term drug supply contract with the latter. It now makes up over 90 percent of local medical infusion market.

The development plan of the factory has been included in the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, a national develop strategy. The company has also been awarded many times by the Investment and Development Department of Kazakhstan.

Based on the achievements in sales and reputation, the company plans to double its production line and capacity in future, and extend its market to all members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, according to Zhang.

The Belt and Road initiative has opened more space for the development of private enterprises, he said.
Queensland tech company RedEye has sealed a strategic partnership with US water technologies organisation, WaterStart  a non-profit organisation aiming to bring innovative technologies to Nevadas water utilities to make the state a global water innovation and investment hub.

Under the partnership, the first projects to commence are with the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), as well as the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD) to integrate the RedEye cloud and mobile data management solution into the organisations engineering and operation systems.

RedEye co-founder and chief executive Wayne Gerard said the companys strategy was to be pulled, rather than push into new markets.

This partnership with WaterStart is an exciting step for RedEye. Were providing a solution to a problem that SNWA and LVVWD have been searching for globally for two and a half years. We look forward to scaling up our business in the US market following their adoption of our platform.

The RedEye platform is the first of its kind, its built specifically for large asset owners in industries like water, power, resources, healthcare and government. Were helping them transform their businesses, taking data out of their network folders and obsolete software and into the Cloud and onto mobile devices.

According to Gerard, by integrating RedEyeDMS into its operations, SNWA & LVVWD will remove the risk of people working off the wrong drawings, facilitate better collaboration with staff, contractors, partners and clients, reduce the cost and time associated with finding drawings, improve safety, compliance, governance and control, and reduce rework, project delays and project costs, ultimately saving ratepayers money.

Nathan Allen, executive director of WaterStart, said: RedEyes platform delivers a solution to a major pain point facing water utilities today. This strategic partnership will pull new innovations to the US and further develop Nevadas water technology cluster.
Kantar Worldpanel Comtechs latest OS marketshare stats have arrived, revealing gains for iOS in most markets except China and Japan, where iOS fell, with a big gain for Android in China but a big loss in the US.

Although Wall Streets expectations for iPhone sales were supposedly not met, Kantar reports good news for iOS in most markets, and especially so in the US, the UK and Australia.

The stats show that the greatest increase for iOS came in the UK with 40.4% of smartphone sales, an increase of 5.6%, and in the US, with 38.9% of smartphone sales, an increase of 5.2% year-over-year.

Lauren Guenveur, Kantars consumer insight director, said: The first quarter of 2017 produced the lowest iOS share in China since the second quarter of 2014 with 12.4% of smartphone sales. Android continued to make year-on-year gains with 87.2% of smartphone sales.

For iOS, this represents a 9.1 percentage point drop from the first quarter of 2016. At the same time, iPhone 7 remained the best-selling device in urban China with 3.8% of a market that has become increasingly fragmented.

Tamsin Timpson, Kantar Asias strategic insight director, said: As a percentage of Android sales, Huawei continued to dominate in urban China at 36%. Oppo, which took the Chinese market by storm in 2016, has become the second largest Android brand with 13% of sales. Samsung fell to sixth place behind local Chinese vendors Xiaomi, Meizu, and Vivo, at just 5% of sales.

Oppos strength is in its brick-and-mortar presence, which accounts for 86% of their smartphone sales. This contrasts with most other brands in the market who all make at least a third of their sales online, except for Vivo.

Timpson then went on to share Australia data, stating that: The latest smartphone purchase data for the 3 months to March 2017 shows Android share down marginally to 59.8% vs the same period a year ago, whilst iOS share has increased by almost 4% to 39.1%.

The iPhone 7 remains the top-selling model with a share of 14.4%, with the larger-screened 7 Plus accounting for a further 6.3% share.

Ninety-two percent of iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus buyers previously owned an Apple device, with 52% upgrading from an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, and that 'had a previous good experience' was their overriding reason for choosing either of the iPhone 7 models.

Timpson continued: Among the Android players, Samsung enjoys share growth in total smartphones from 34.4% in March 2016 to 35.1% in the 3 months to March 2017, with both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge continuing to perform well, commanding shares of 6.9% and 6.8% respectively.

Additionally, its 2017 version of the Galaxy A5 is attracting consumers for its high specs at a slightly more affordable price. Following a similar trend to EU5, Chinese brands continue to gain momentum, now making up 21.7% of Android sales or 13.3% of total smartphone sales in Australia, led primarily by Huawei (4.6%), Alcatel (2.2%), Oppo (2.2%) and ZTE (2.1%).

To date, this group of brands has more of a presence in the prepaid market, where 1 in 4 prepaid handset purchases are one of the emerging Chinese brands due to their strong skew towards sub-$200 and $200-$400 price points. However, as we see the major carriers expand their ranges of such brands and increase consumers awareness of them, we may well see more of a shift towards postpaid plans with Chinese handsets offered at prices stretching beyond the $400-$600 price tier.

So, what about Europe? Well, in the big 5 European markets (EU5) of the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, Kantar tells us that Android accounted for 76.3% of smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2017, nearly on par with a year earlier at 75.6%. iOS posted a 1.9 percentage point gain to reach 20.7 percent of smartphone sales. Dominic Sunnebo, Kantars European business unit director, said: Across EU5, Chinese brands have grown over the past year to account for 22 percent of smartphone sales. Huawei, the second largest Android brand across France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, has also started to make its presence known in Great Britain, where it has historically struggled. Huawei accounted for 6.3% of smartphone sales in the UK in the first quarter of 2017, an all-time high, making it the third-largest Android brand in that market behind Samsung and Sony. And in the US? Here, Kantar tells us that Android accounted for 59.2% of smartphone sales, compared to 63.4% a year earlier, while iOS captured 38.9% of sales, up year-on-year from 33.7%. Kantar noted the drop in Android share has been driven largely by lower sales of Samsung and Moto phones, the largest and third-largest Android-based brands in the market". Guenveur explained: While Chinese vendors are enjoying growth in places like EU5, Latin America, and India, the same cannot be said in the US, which remains dominated by Apple (39%), Samsung (30%), and LG (12%).

The first quarter 2017 decline in Samsung smartphone sales was likely due to buyers anticipating the 21 April release of the new Samsung Galaxy S8. We expect to have launch results for the S8 within the next 60 days. We should also learn if the S8 will overcome Samsungs troubles with the Note 7, and whether the S8 will push the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus out of the top-selling spot.
The volume of complaints about NBN issues is bound to grow by leaps and bounds before the situation gets better, Macquarie Telecom group executive Luke Clifton says.

Clifton (right, below) told iTWire that NBN Co was arrogant, dismissive and living in la-la land by being unwilling to recognise that the growing complaints were an issue, taking refuge instead by using statistics to argue that things were not as bad as they seemed.

Customer service at the NBN Co was the main reason for the level of complaints growing by 117.5% for the six months to the end of December 2016, compared to the corresponding period in 2015, he said.

Change has to be owned by the industry, not imposed as a new obligation, he said. Past approaches that set minimum standards for specific services  such as connection times  have not created a culture of caring about consumers, but rather been too often honoured in the breach .

The industry  and customers  have become accustomed to chronically high levels of complaints and unhappiness,

The trend to move customer service centres outside the country, to places like India and the Philippines, was the wrong option, Clifton said.

And he said the five big telcos  Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, TPG and Vocus  were also to blame because they also were lagging behind on customer service when it came to NBN-related issues.

"Banks are often said to be the worst when it comes to customer service. Well, our industry is far ahead of the banks by a factor of three or four when it comes to the volume of complaints, only nobody seems to know it," Clifton said.

Apart from the regular problems with NBN connections  slow speeds, inability to get a connection or high costs  Clifton said many customers in regional areas had faced downtime ranging from five hours to five days when switching.

While customers in urban areas had 18 months to switch (businesses get three years) from the time their premises are NBN-ready, this amount of time was not being allowed to those in the regions.

One approach to mitigate the problem might be to require companies with high numbers of complaints to publish rectification plans describing what they would do to improve their own businesses, he said.

The advantage  or the carrot  of this idea is that it does not tell companies how to run their own business, but the stick could be that companies have to publish and commit to the plans."

He said Macquarie had taken the opposite route by bringing its customer contact and care and network operations onshore over the last four years.

Clifton also recommended measuring and internally reporting customer satisfaction in real time, and publishing a live, 30-day rolling measure of customer satisfaction on one's public website so customers themselves could police a company's performance.

Both these measures had also been taken by Macquarie, he said, adding, "this programme has worked wonders in transforming our culture, but other telcos might come up with their own programs, that work for them."
ThousandEyes, a network intelligence company with the ability to monitor performance from hundreds of vantage points across the Internet, has insight into a variety of services across the globe, including public DNS service providers. In this article well dive into our results from testing 10 of the most popular public DNS resolvers, with the goal of helping you make informed conclusions about your choice of provider. We observed a wide range of performance across different services, both globally and from region to region.

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the internets system for converting alphabetic web addresses into numeric IP addresses. If a given services DNS records are unavailable, the service is effectively down and inaccessible to everyone. DNS can also have a substantial impact on page load time and web page performance. While its just the first step of many in the page load process (see the below image), any increase in DNS lookup time will directly increase load times. DNS lookup time, in turn, is directly affected by latency to the DNS server.

ThousandEyes

Why Use Public DNS?

By default, your device will use your companys or ISPs DNS servers. However, there are a number of reasons why users might change their DNS configuration to use public third-party DNS resolvers, including:

Performance and feature improvements: A public DNS service may be better in a number of different ways, including speed, reliability, caching, security, validity of results and features like parental control.

Circumvention of censorship or geoblocking: Using an alternative resolver can help get around DNS blocks due to government- or ISP-level restrictions.

When choosing services, keep in mind that public DNS providers represent a wide range of organizations with different motivations. Some are ISPs like Level 3, major DNS providers like OpenDNS, or large Internet companies like Google which provides DNS as an act of goodwill to the web community and may also benefit from gaining access to information about user web browsing habits. Others like OpenNIC, a nonprofit user-owned and controlled cooperative, aim to provide a decentralized alternative to other DNS services.

Methodology

To compare the performance of a wide range of popular public DNS providers, we set up latency tests to the primary IP address for each provider. Our tests send a request every hour from around 300 vantage points in almost 50 countries and 200 networks (autonomous systems). Each vantage point measures the latency between it and the nearest recursive resolver (using anycast) for each public DNS provider.

We tested 10 of the most popular public DNS providers: Comodo, DNS.WATCH, Dyn, FreeDNS, Google, Level 3, OpenDNS, OpenNIC, SafeDNS and Verisign. [Disclosure: Verisign is a ThousandEyes customer, as noted on their official website. ThousandEyes has assured Network World that this fact did not impact the findings provided in this piece.] Starting in March 2017 we collected data for 30 days, resulting in more than 200,000 data points for each of these providers.

Results: Google continues to outperform

Looking at latency to all of the providers averaged across all geographic regions, Google has the clear lead, with an overall mean latency of 33 ms.

ThousandEyes

If we look at mean latency over time, we see that there are few large fluctuations. This is a much more stable picture than the one we saw in our analysis from 2015, where fluctuations were both large and frequent. This is a good thinglatency to these public DNS services is much more stable and predictable than it was two years ago.

ThousandEyes

But from a different perspective, the picture of public DNS looks very much the same. The providers rankings and their levels of mean latency all look very similar to what they did in 2015, with the biggest exception being OpenNIC. From 2015, OpenNIC improved from last place at a mean latency of 159 ms to fifth place at 75 ms in 2017.

However, OpenNICs significant improvement is not due to any addition of public serversthe total number of public servers was 77 in 2015 and 78 at the time of writing. Instead, performance improved because OpenNIC introduced anycast IP addresses after our study in 2015. In 2015, we targeted a US server; this time, we tested to an anycast IP address. As a result, performance looks much better from a global perspective. The addition of anycast IPs can help with performance and convenience for a lot of users, who no longer need to guess at the closest or most performant public server for them to use.

On the other hand, OpenNIC is unique in that it is user-owned and controlled, so the set of available public DNS servers, as well as their performance, likely fluctuate more often than that of other public DNS services. As an example, our test to OpenNIC observed that latency from vantage points in Africa jumped from 35 ms to 180 ms on April 10, and never recovered.

ThousandEyes

Weve seen that Google leads on a global basis, but how does it do on a regional basis? The below table shows mean latency broken out by continent for each provider, and it remains clear that Google has the most consistently good performance from around the world. Google has the lowest latency in Europe, Latin America and Asia, and among the lowest in North America and Africa.

In addition, OpenDNS significantly improved its latency in Africa, from 102 ms in 2015 to 23 ms in 2017. This is likely largely due to its new Johannesburg data center, which opened in April 2015 after our 2015 measurements began.

ThousandEyes ThousandEyes

This trend isnt isolated to just Google. The frontrunners, including Google and OpenDNS, generally have consistently high performance from vantage points around the world; latency measurements to these providers have very low variance. In contrast, the providers with much lower performance (like FreeDNS) have much higher variation in measurements of latencysee the below box.

In a box and whiskers chart, the middle dot is the median, and the upper and lower dots are the maximum and minimum values, respectively. The line expands from the median value upward to the third quartile and downward to the first quartile, so the height of the line represents the middle 50% interval of all values.

ThousandEyes

Why Google leads the pack

Google is the clear leader in most regions around the world, and among the frontrunners everywhere. If you decide to use a public DNS service, your best bet from anywhere in the world is to use Googles 8.8.8.8. This finding has been true for some time now, based on our findings from 2015 and 2011.

So why has Google been so fast for so long? Google has maintained very low latencies because it has been able to serve queries from a huge number of locations around the world. Not only are DNS records served up from its roughly 20 data centers, but also via edge caches in its many global points of presence (POPs) and in ISP and access networks. So Google is able to serve up records from locations very close to the end user, resulting in very low latencies.

We can see this if we look at the hop-by-hop network path taken by traffic traveling from our monitoring points around the world to Googles primary IP address for its public DNS service, 8.8.8.8. Looking at the penultimate hops right before traffic enters Googles network, we see a range of different locations, indicating that our probes are accessing many different POPs around the world. In the vast majority of cases, those penultimate hops are located in the same city as the monitoring pointsGoogles many POPs around the world have ensured that it can serve DNS records from very close distances.

ThousandEyes

While Google will likely continue to lead the public DNS space due to the sheer number of POPs it can serve records from, monitoring and measuring performance to public DNS services can prove useful. The landscape of public DNS is constantly changing, as weve seen with the introduction of new data centers and the changing sets of available and high-performing servers and POPs.
An Israel-based provider of 3D printing technologies and nano-inks is now shipping a desktop machine to beta customers that can produce multi-layer circuit boards.

Nano Dimension's Dragonfly 2020 is a desktop 3D printer that can produce circuit board prototypes and small production runs, potentially reducing development time from weeks to hours, according to Amit Dror, co-founder and CEO of the startup.

The Dragonfly 2020 uses an inkjet-like material deposition method followed by a heat-based curing system to create the printed circuit boards (PCBs), and it has no limit to the number of layers beyond the mechanical height of the printer's z axis.

The printer works by first depositing a dielectric insulating material and a silver-based nano-ink for circuitry on top of it.

None of the nano-inks extruded by the 3D printer start at room temperature; before they are desposited on the print platform, they go through process called curing and sintering, which bakes the materials to get rid of solvents, then they are melted further before being extruded, Dror said.

A printed circuit board being removed from the Dragonfly 2020 3D printer. A printed circuit board being removed from the Dragonfly 2020 3D printer.

"The nano silver particles get melted at very low temperatures -- something like 100 and 200 degrees Celsius," he said. "Once they're sintered, the nano-ink becomes solid silver. It won't melt again until the temperature hits 900 Celsius."

"In fact, to our best knowledge, we're only company that can print two types of materials -- dielectric and conductive -- that can withstand high temperatures with high resolution," Dror added.

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The Nano Dimension Dragonfly 2020 can print conductive traces that are about 100 microns in width; the machine makes several passes to create the width required for one line.

When commercially available, the 3D printer will have cost around $200,000, Dror said.

Nano Dimension The Dragonfly 2020 extruding melted silver-based nano ink.

Nano Dimension, founded in 2012, first unveiled the Dragonfly 2020 at the SolidWorks World conference in January 2016. That same year, Nano Dimension was added to Gartner's "Cool Vendors in 3D Printing" report. In that report, Gartner stated the company's printed circuit boards (PCBs) technology "potentially enables scalable production of custom products. This puts Nano Dimension's PCB printer at the convergence of electrical, mechanical and software design and manufacturing."

Gartner added that the PCBs could "have unique signatures that make counterfeiting of the item with a custom 3D-printed PCB difficult if not impossible."

Nano Dimension A closeup of one of the flexible circuit boards printed by the Dragonfly 2020.

Nano Dimension, Dror said, is now working with 10 beta customers, including U.S. banks, a healthcare company, a defense contractor and electronics organizations. Dror was unable to name most of the companies due to confidentiality agreements.

The Global Printed Circuit Board (PCB) market, which was worth $63.5 billion in 2016, is expected to reach about $73.8 billion by 2021, increasing at a compound annual growth rate 3.1% over that time, according to BCC Research.

Typically, PCBs manufacturing is outsourced to third parties in Asia. Printing prototypes in-house not only protects a company's intellectual property, but it also allows developers to test ideas that might otherwise be too expensive, Dror said.

"It can take weeks to get back a prototype. Being able to create and change a design and get it up for testing within a few hours instead of few weeks is the advantage we offer our users," Dror said.

Nano Dimension is not the first company to produce a 3D printer for circuit boards.

In 2015, Voltera ran a highly successful Kickstarter campaign to fund its desktop circuit board 3D printer.

The Voltera V-One 3D printer, which dispenses conducting and insulating ink to create circuit-completed boards for prototyping, garnered nearly five times its $70,000 crowdsourcing goal. Next month, the company plans to begin shipping its 3D printers, which retail for $2,199.

Also in 2015, Harvard researchers announced the creation of a 3D printer that could extrude both thermoplastics and highly conductive silver inks that allow electronic products to be created on one process.

The printer, sold by Voxel8, had a base price of $8,999 and saw a limited production run; it is no longer available and the company is currently developing new, "more capable" platform, it said.

Terry Wohlers, president of 3D printing industry research firm Wohlers Associates, said he has not recently analyzed Nano Dimension's competition, but noted there aren't many rivals and the company "offers something interesting and special" limited to prototypes and small production runs.

In the distant future, Wohlers believes, industrial 3D printers will produce circuits and other electronics that conform to the shape of a device, as well as the plastic enclosure itself. Today, products are designed to accommodate conventional printed circuit boards.

Nano Dimension A circuit board printed to fit a cell phone's form.

"Over time, the market for 3D-printed circuit boards could become large, but many problems first need to be solved," Wohlers said. "One of them is the printing of multiple materials, another is speed, and a third is cost, especially for production quantities."
Bot-herding software called Persirai, which incorporates pieces of the Mirai botnet code, can commandeer significant chunks of a known 150,000 IP cameras that are vulnerable to Mirai and use them to fire off distributed denial-of-service attacks.

The Persirai botnet has attacked at least four targets, starting in a predictable pattern, according to researchers at Trend Micro.

Persirai takes advantage of a known vulnerability in the cameras to infect them, has them download malware from a command and control server, and then puts them to work either infecting other vulnerable cameras or launching DDoS attacks. Based on the researchers observation, once the victims IP Camera received C&C commands, which occurs every 24 hours at 12:00 p.m. UTC, the DDoS attacks start, the researchers say.

They say they have identified at least four victims of the DDoS attacks, but cant disclose who they are.

Once the malware has been downloaded, it runs in memory and deletes itself from the hard drive, Trend says, so if the devices reboot, they are rid of the infection. As a result, attackers are constantly searching for and reinfecting cameras.

More than 1,000 individual camera models made by multiple manufacturers are vulnerable to the attack, Trend says. At the time of the initial discovery, around the first and second week of April, about 150,000 cameras were in use by the botnets, the researchers say. However, the latest results show around 99,000 as of May 10. IoT search engine Shodan identifies about 120,000 cameras as vulnerable.

Here's a possible hint at who wrote Persirai, according to Trend: C&C servers we discovered were found to be using the .IR country code. This specific country code is managed by an Iranian research institute which restricts it to Iranians only. We also found some special Persian characters which the malware author used.

How Persirai gets into the cameras is spelled out by independent researcher Pierre Kim. The 'Cloud' protocol establishes clear-text UDP tunnels (in order to bypass NAT and firewalls) between an attacker and cameras by using only the serial number of the targeted camera. Then, the attacker can automatically bruteforce the credentials of cameras, he writes.

Kim says the vulnerability exists in 1,250 camera models that are all based on hardware OEMed to the various brands that sell them. So, cameras are sold under different names, brands and functions, Kim writes. The HTTP interface is different for each vendor but shares the same vulnerabilities. The OEM vendors used a custom version of GoAhead [embedded Web server] and added vulnerable code inside.

Alien Vault posts here that Persirai incorporates some Mirai code. This botnet borrows partial code such as port scanning module from the Mirai, but it is completely different from Mirai in terms of infect chain, C2 communication protocol, attack module and so on. Although the binary names have Mirai mentioned it is probably not wise to treat it just as a Mirai variant, Alien Vault says.

Kim has this recommendation: I advise to IMMEDIATELY DISCONNECT cameras to the Internet.

This story, "Another IoT botnet with pieces of Mirai embedded can do DDoS from 100k devices" was originally published by Network World .
You won't need to buy a rack of 400 servers if you have one high-powered Nvidia DGX-1 supercomputer with a Volta GPU sitting on your desktop.

The DGX-1 supercomputer -- which looks like a regular rack server -- gets most of its computing power from eight Tesla V100 GPUs.

The GPU, the first one based on the brand-new Volta architecture, was introduced at the company's GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California, on Wednesday.

"It comes out of the box, plug it in and go to work," said Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang during a keynote speech.

But the DGX-1 with Tesla V100 computer is expensive. At US$149,000, it's worth some people's life savings. But Huang encouraged people to order it, saying the box will ship in the third quarter.

The new supercomputer 40,960 CUDA cores, which Nvidia says equals the computing power of 800 CPUs. It replaces the previous DGX-1 based on the current Pascal architecture, which has the power of 250 two-socket servers, according to Nvidia.

Nvidia says the system delivers about 960 teraflops of half-precision -- 16-bit floating point -- performance, which means lower single-precision and double-precision performance. The numbers weren't available, but half-precision performance is considered valuable for machine-learning tasks.

Accompanying the GPUs are two 20-core Intel Xeon E5-2698 v4s running at clock speeds of 2.2GHz. The system has four 1.92TB SSDs and runs on Ubuntu Linux.

The system draws 3,200 watts of power, so don't keep it running all day long, or it'll run up your electricity bill.

Gamers shouldn't get excited about the machine. The DGX-1 with Tesla V100 is perhaps too expensive to be a huge gaming rig; it is instead designed more for machine learning.

GPUs already power machine-learning tasks in data centers, and the Nvidia supercomputer is an example of how GPUs are making applications like image recognition and natural language processing a reality.

Huang said CPUs do not provide enough power for computing, especially for artificial intelligence, which is where GPU fit in.

The Tesla V100 in the DGX-1 is five times faster than the current Pascal architecture, Huang said. It will have new technologies like NVLink 2.0, a new interconnect with bandwidth of up to 300Gbps (bits per second). The GPU has more than 21 billion transistors and 5,120 cores. It also has 900GBps (bytes per second) of HBM2 memory bandwidth.

Nvidia has also included a cube-like Tensor Core, which will work with the regular processing cores to improve deep learning. Nvidia focused on structuring cores to speed up matrix multiplications, which are the heart of effective deep-learning systems. The structure will help align low-level floating-point calculations, which should speed up deep learning.

Huang boasted the GPU offers 120 teraflops of deep-learning performance, though that'll be hard to verify. Standard benchmarking tools don't exist for machine- or deep-learning applications, though development is underway at companies like Google.

The supercomputer works with many high-performance computing and deep-learning frameworks like CUDA, Tensor, and Caffe2.

The graphics company also introduced the DGX Station, which is a smaller version of the new DGX-1. It looks more like a workstation and has four Tesla V100 GPUs, half that of the DGX-1. It is priced at $69,000 and will ship in the third quarter.

Nvidia didn't immediately say if the products will be shipped worldwide.
(Xinhua) 16:18, May 11, 2017

PYONGYANG, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Thursday it will bring to justice the "terror suspects" involved in what the country alleged was an assassination plot against its top leader Kim Jong Un.

"The Central Prosecutor's Office will ask for the handover of those criminals and prosecute them under the relevant laws of the country," Han Song Ryol, vice foreign minister of the DPRK, told foreign diplomats and reporters here.

"Korean-style anti-terror war" will be launched immediately and in a "consecutive and intensive way" against the United States and South Korea, whom Pyongyang has accused of sponsoring the murder, the official added without elaborating.

The DPRK said last week it had foiled an attempt by the United States and South Korean intelligence services to assassinate Kim with bio-chemical and radio-active substances during his public appearances in mass celebrations on April 15, the day when the DPRK marked the birth anniversary of its founder Kim Il Sung.

The DPRK's Ministry of State Security said in a statement that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) had infiltrated a terrorist group into the DPRK to carry out the assassination plan, which was hatched in nearly two years' time.

In response, Kim ordered a team to carry out the top secret arrest mission this year, according to the DPRK authorities.

It is not known how many people have been arrested in the case so far, but the DPRK has vowed to "hunt down to the last one of the suspects in every corner of the earth."

Pyongyang has arrested two American citizens recently for alleged "hostile activities" against the country. It is not known if the arrests were relevant to the case.
S.Korea's Moon calls on Japan's Abe to face up to history

Newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in (file photo)

SEOUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to face up to history during the first telephone conversation between the two leaders.

Senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan told a press conference Thursday that Moon held the phone conversation with Abe for about 25 minutes in the afternoon.

During the phone conversation, Moon said Japan should face up to history in order not to make historical issues become an obstacle to the two countries going toward the mature and cooperative relations.

The two countries, Moon said, should deal with the issues in earnest, according to the press secretary.

Moon said the majority of South Koreans did not accept the agreement on comfort women victims "emotionally," referring to the Dec. 28, 2015 agreement reached "finally and irreversibly" between the two nations.

The comfort women is a euphemism for women who was forced into sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The South Korean victims in their 80s and 90s and civic group activists protested against the agreement as Abe has yet to sincerely apologize and compensate for the wartime crime against humanity.

During the talks with Abe, Moon expressed his hope to wisely overcome the historical issues, including the comfort women issue, in developing the bilateral ties, urging Abe to inherit and respect past declarations made by former Japanese leaders that showed heartfelt apology and repent over Japan's wartime atrocities.

Regarding the comfort women issue, Abe anticipated to steadily implement the agreement as a base to build the future-oriented relations between the two countries, confirming his basic principle.

Separately from the historical issues, Moon said it would be necessary for South Korea and Japan to make efforts to tackle the issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear and missile programs.

The two leaders agreed to hold a summit meeting as early as possible.
By Mengjie (Xinhua) 19:05, May 11, 2017

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Trade volume between China and African countries surged 16.8 percent year on year in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 to 38.8 billion U.S. dollars as bilateral economic relations boomed, the commerce ministry said Thursday.

This was the first quarterly rebound in bilateral trade between China and Africa since 2015, with Chinese imports from Africa up 46 percent to 18.4 billion dollars, Sun Jiwen, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference.

Chinese exports to Africa declined 1 percent year on year to 20.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first three months of this year, compared with an 18 percent drop in the same period last year, he said.

Sun attributed the growth to the implementation of ten major China-Africa cooperation plans raised at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2015, which included interest-free loans and preferential policies.

In Q1, Chinese enterprises made more than 750 million U.S. dollars of non-financial direct investment to African countries, up 64 percent year on year, Sun said, adding that the two sides are expected to move towards a higher level of economic cooperation this year.

Bilateral trade between China and Africa stood at 149.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2016.
February 5, 2001 13:11: A SOUTH Norwood man who allegedly tried to blackmail a high street bank was arrested as he went up to pick up his payment.

Following a tip-off from staff at a Beckenham branch of Barclays Bank, 30 flying squad officers from Tower Bridge swooped on the 33-year-old man in Croydon.

Police said the man had walked into the bank just after 10am last Wednesday and passed a note to counter staff threatening to hack into the bank's computers unless they left 200,000 in a van at a pre-arranged address for him later that day. As soon as he left the branch, staff informed police prompting flying squad officers to leap into action and mastermind an operation to catch the computer-aided criminal.

At 5pm that afternoon as the would-be bank robber returned to pick up his cash from the van, parked in a quiet Croydon street, officers pounced.

He was arrested for demanding money with menaces and driven to Croydon police station for questioning.

Officers searched his South Norwood home. Materials, including a gun, were taken away.

Flying squad spokesman Detective Superintendent John Shatford said the man's capture should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of trying to commit a robbery like this.

A spokesman for Barclays Bank would not comment on the intelligence of the hacker but said the bank is very pleased the suspect has been arrested.
(Xinhua) 20:59, May 11, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Thursday that the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing is an important agenda in making sure his country can enjoy the fruit of the initiative.

The Belt and Road Initiative will increase economy through more comprehensive connectivity, said Najib, who will leave for Beijing on Friday to attend the forum held on Sunday and Monday.

In an article posted on his personal website, najibrazak.com, Najib highlighted the advantages of Malaysia by participating in the initiative, saying the strategic location of Malaysia has offered the country an advantage to play an important role in the initiative and that he believed "our people will receive benefits in terms of holistic connectivity as well as local economic growth."

Recalling his latest visit to China last November, Najib said his visit back then had successfully brought the bilateral relations closer.

In the signed article, Najib said the Digital Free Trade Zone project, which was initiated jointly by Najib and Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba group, in March, will become the first digital economic hub outside China and is expected to create 60,000 jobs.

"Our small and medium enterprises will have the opportunities with greater access to the foreign markets and hence increase business opportunities," he said.
Feds laud $83M to better Pell Bridge The congressional delegation of Rhode Island was in Jamestown to celebrate an $82.5 million grant to upgrade the bridge that connects Conanicut Island to Newport. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a...

Local author, illustrator collaborate on book A local woman has turned her digital cross-country teatimes with her granddaughter into a childrens book. Tuesday Tea, written by Debby Furness Saletin and illustrated by Maryann England, both of...

Local group asks for rental rules changes A group of residents is expected to present its recommendations on how to improve the ordinance that governs short-term rentals. Member Ron Ratcliffe said the item is scheduled to be...
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has been working closely with the Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan (the Ministry of Finance), the Financial Market Supervision Authority of Azerbaijan (FIMSA) and the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan to address issues relating to IBAs financial position and the sufficiency of its regulatory capital in accordance with the aims of the Presidential Decree dated 15 July 2015, the Ministry said May 11.



We note that in order to address the challenging financial position of IBA, the Supervisory Board of IBA has recently concluded, with the support of the Ministry of Finance and FIMSA, that further measures are urgently required in order to ensure the long-term liability of IBA.

To this end, IBA has commenced a process of voluntary restructuring in accordance with the applicable provisions of the law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on banks. On 4 May 2017, the Nasimi District Court issued an order commencing a process of voluntary restructuring on the basis of an application of IBA and a proposed restructuring plan. The process will lead to a meeting of all creditors affected by the restructuring plan. If approved by two-thirds of the affected creditors by value the plan will be accepted and become binding on all of them. The Ministry of Finance anticipates that approval of the restructuring plan will facilitate further government support for IBA in accordance with the 2015 Presidential Decree.

The restructuring plan contemplates a restructuring process to be effected through an exchange of IBAs senior and junior foreign currency obligations for direct sovereign obligations of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Pending the implementation of the planned restructuring process, and to ensure equal treatment of all affected creditors, IBA has suspended payments of principal and interest with respect to all obligations to be included in the operation (other than interest under trade finance facilities).

The Ministry of Finance is supportive of the efforts of IBA to restore its financial viability, and encourages IBAs creditors to support the proposed restructuring plan. Implementation of the restructuring plan will reduce the financial liabilities of the Bank and contribute to IBAs financial rehabilitation, thereby materially strengthening the banking sector of Azerbaijan and benefitting the economy of the country. The Ministry of Finance notes with approval that depositors in IBA will not be impacted by the proposed restructuring, and that the Banks normal services and operations will continue to be conducted during the forthcoming process.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening of a new bridge in Pirallahi settlement, Baku.

Chairman of Azeravtoyol OJSC Saleh Mammadov informed the head of state about the Pirallahi bridge and spur routes.

The new bridge is located on the 23rd km of Gala-Pirallahi highway. The bridge is 442 meters in length and 14 meters in width. The width of the lane is 12 meters.

The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the new bridge.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

Samad Vurgun Street has opened in Azerbaijans Pirallahi settlement after reconstruction.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony.

The head of state was informed that the length of the four-lane road there is 8 kilometers and its width was extended to 18 meters after reconstruction.

President Ilham Aliyev cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the road and drove a car.
SAN DIEGO -- Riddle me this: How can the so-called elite media be so self-absorbed and still have so little self-awareness?

Today's journalists too often make themselves the story. If a reporter gets arrested at a protest, he'll be on the Sunday shows doing what he is not supposed to be doing: expressing his opinion.

Yet these same journalists are incapable of seeing themselves in the harsh light in which most Americans see them.

Not good. The media are supposed to tell everyday Americans what's happening in the world and explain what it means to them. How can they do either if they haven't the foggiest idea what's going on and can no longer relate to their audience?

To top it off, the occupant of the White House has a knack for bringing out the worst in the Fourth Estate.

After President Trump skipped the recent White House Correspondents' Association dinner, one popular narrative was that Trump was wiping his feet on the First Amendment. But in their eagerness to be martyrs, journalists missed the real story: Trump's attempts to brush back the media are usually in self-defense.

The president was smart to skip the party. After all, he was probably going to be the pinata. With a roomful of journalists piling on, the goal would have been to insult and humiliate him to his face.

Trump instead sought refuge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he spoke to what he called "a much, much larger crowd and much better people."

As if to prove his point, Politico reporters Josh Dawsey and Ian Kullgren took a snooty shot at the simple farm folk who gathered to hear Trump, noting in their article how "the faint smell of cow dung" filled the air.

It's no secret that most of the media types in New York and Washington didn't vote for Trump. Many still claim that they don't understand why anyone would do such a thing. Some still chalk up Trump's victory to nefarious influences such as racism or fear of cultural change.

Don't they see that they're acting like sore losers who are now actively trying to ensure the failure of a president they never supported in the first place?

All of which is ironic, given that the nation's major media companies spent much of the last part of 2015 boosting Trump's campaign by giving him more than $1 billion of free air time and kneecapping his main Republican rivals -- Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush. In the end, the media bigwigs got the dream matchup they really wanted: Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. They cleaned up in terms of ad revenues and new subscriptions. Then the plan was to take out Trump, and elect Clinton. How did that work out, people?

When CNN President Jeff Zucker said during a recent interview for that blue-collar everyman broadcast, The New Yorker Radio Hour, that Fox News was "state-run TV," I thought he was kidding.

Where was this concern for journalistic objectivity during the eight years of the Obama administration, or during the 19 months that Clinton ran for president, when many CNN personalities -- including reporters and anchors who should play it straight -- defended President Obama and Clinton against GOP criticism more times than not.

Remember how so many of them were so quick to shrug off Obama's horrid record of deporting scores of illegal immigrants? Or the speed with which they concluded that Clinton did nothing wrong when she set up a private email server and then used it to transmit classified material?

Was that CNN acting as "state-run TV"?

Now that Trump is president, you can turn to just about any channel -- absent Fox News -- and hear reporters and anchors accusing Trump or other administration officials of outright lying or pursuing policies that will hurt people -- or, in the case of the GOP health care bill, actually kill them.

During Sunday's edition of ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," that bill was a main topic of conversation as five liberals -- Stephanopoulos, center-right Republican strategist Matthew Dowd, NPR correspondent Cokie Roberts, journalist Roland Martin, and former Obama administration Treasury Department official Steven Rattner -- all piled on the token conservative: GOP strategist Sara Fagen. And to think, liberals love to talk about fairness.

The media say they want to be transparent. Well, it worked. In the Trump era, most Americans can see right through them.

The Washington Post
President Trumps hasty firing Tuesday of FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election that could involve Trumps own campaign, rightly concerns many Americans  including U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem.

I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comeys termination, Burr, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee that is conducting its own probe of Russian involvement in the election, said in a press release Tuesday night. 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.

Burr, a Republican, described Comey as straightforward and forthcoming and said his dismissal is a loss for the Bureau and the nation.

Indeed.

The White House on Tuesday sent out a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein criticizing Comeys handling of the probe into Hillary Clintons email practices, as The Associated Press noted. Many Democrats had called for Comeys firing months ago. Trump could have fired him as soon as he took office in January. Instead, he praised him and waited until Tuesday to fire him, just as the Russia probe was heating up.

That timing raises questions about whether the firing was a diversion to take the nations eyes off the probe, or far worse, to delay the probe.

Today, many Americans are agreeing that one good thing may come of Comeys firing: an independent counsel to lead this probe of Russian involvement in the 2016 president election, including possible collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign.

This matter is too crucial to our democracy for anything less.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

The view from President Ilham Aliyevs fifth-floor office is spectacular, yet at the same time highlights the dangers facing Americas most trusted ally in the broader Middle East, wrote Rob Sobhani, director general of the Caspian Group Holdings, in his article published by the Washington Times.

The United States is lucky to have Mr. Aliyev in charge of this Muslim nation of 9 million, because the president of Azerbaijan does not play politics with energy exports, noted Sobhani.

This 56-year-old leader understands that if families in Ukraine do not get gas deliveries to their homes in the winter they may perish, or if Europes gas is cut off for a few days in the summer perishable goods across the continent will be destroyed. In short, within the broader Middle East, Azerbaijan has proven to be the most reliable partner for and anchor of Western energy security, says the article.

Beyond the offshore oil platforms one sees from President Aliyevs office is the project that needs Washingtons immediate and full support: TANAP, or the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline. Starting from the giant Shah Daniz gas field operated by British Petroleum, this project means the delivery of 355 billion cubic feet of natural gas to Europe by 2020. The geopolitical implications of TANAP are clear: Azerbaijan becomes a reliable long-term energy exporter to Europe, thus lessening the continents reliance on Russia and its unreliable leaders who have shown no hesitation in using gas exports as a political weapon to extract concessions from the West, says the article.

Religious tolerance is a fundamental aspect of Azerbaijanis life and runs very deep in the DNA of this secular nation, said the author, the fundamental human right of practicing ones faith freely is well established in Azerbaijan.

The United States can point to Azerbaijan as a model for other Muslim counties to emulate when it comes to protecting the fundamental human right of religious liberty, says the article.

A byproduct of Azerbaijans religiously tolerant society is cultural tourism. On the plane ride from Qatar to Azerbaijan, I asked my fellow passengers from the Persian Gulf States why they were choosing to visit Azerbaijan and not Lebanon, Istanbul or Dubai. The unanimous answer was that Azerbaijan in general, and the capital city Baku in particular, is safe (Istanbul has become dangerous), clean (garbage collection in Beirut is intermittent), tolerant (men and woman are free to intermingle) and cheap (Dubai is now far too expensive), noted Sobhani.

Immediately after the attacks of Sept. 11 on American soil, the former President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, invited American Ambassador Ross Wilson to his office and offered the full support of his country. That legacy of US-Azerbaijan cooperation to combat global terrorism is carried on by his son, Ilham Aliyev. Today, the American Air Force has unhindered flyover rights over Azerbaijans airspace, thus allowing the Pentagons Transportation Command to supply goods and services to American troops in a timely manner. A critical but lesser-known fact about this aspect of military cooperation between Washington and Baku is that when injured American servicemen in need of urgent lifesaving care need to be flown to an American military hospital, they are flown over Azerbaijans territory, says the article.

The president of Azerbaijan is determined to solve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means, noted the author, Mr. Aliyevs desire to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully is an opening for the Trump administration to work with Moscow and bring peace to the region that would benefit both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

President Trump should appreciate and support the fact that miles away, an American ally exists that deserves Americas praise, said Sobhani.

President Trump may want to show his appreciation by inviting President Aliyev to the White House, where they can both write a new chapter in Americas relations with one of its most reliable allies in the broader Middle East, added the author.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian Defense Ministers Zakir Hasanov, Fikri Isik, Levan Izoria intend to sign a memorandum on cooperation in a trilateral format, Georgian media reported citing the countrys defense ministry.

Izoria and Isik discussed this issue at a meeting at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) which is being held in Istanbul.

Following the meeting, Izoria said that a meeting of the defense ministers of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan will be held in Batumi in 10 days.

"We will discuss the trilateral cooperation format, he said. A memorandum, aimed at improving the quality of our military cooperation, will be signed."
JURIST Guest Columnist Mais Haddad, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, discusses laws in Arab countries that protect rapists and further oppress rape victims.

In the Arab world, women are under systematic discrimination socially, politically and economically. This discrimination is mirrored, deepened and embodied within the Arab countries legal systems. A quick study of these countries laws is enough to realize that male is the dominant gender and women fall at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Laws that deal with rape are one of many other examples on how women are treated as second class citizens. Even though rapes punishment found in the Arab states criminal codes can be up to life imprisonment and death penalty. However, the problem lies not in the punishment of rape, rather in the burden of proof and the provision that a rapist shall not be prosecuted if he marries the victim. Consequently, these laws are further oppressive on women to come to light and report such crimes. Victims also face pressure and fear from their families and societies as the norms are to shame and stigmatize the victim of rape.

Criminal Codes of Iraq, Syria [Arabic] [pdf], Lebanon [Arabic] [pdf], Libya [Arabic] [pdf], Kuwait [Arabic] [pdf], Bahrain [pdf], Algeria [Arabic] [pdf], Tunisia [Arabic] [pdf] and the Palestinian Territories provide that if the offender of rape lawfully marries the victim, any action becomes void and any investigation or other procedure is discontinued and, if a sentence has already been passed in respect of such action, then the sentence will be repealed. A unique case is Saudi Arabia where Islamic Law is applied and there is no codified Penal Code and no clear definition of rape. Also, the criminal codes of Sudan and Mauritania have no definition of rape as a crime at all. Further, even though, this provision has been removed from the Criminal Code of Egypt since 1999, however, in practice this custom is still widely applied away from the court system. Morocco revoked the law in 2014 after a 16 year old girl committed suicide when she was forced to marry her rapist. Recently, Jordan succeeded quashing the law in 2017. As Jordan took steps towards abolishing Article 308, Lebanese activists were hanging wedding dresses along Beiruts famous sea front, in protest against the Lebanese version of the law. Thus, Lebanon is on the same path with a lot of efforts and hope. Last month, Lebanons parliamentary committee for administration and justice announced a recommendation to repeal Article 522 of the countrys penal code, which allows for suspending the conviction of someone who has raped, kidnapped or committed statutory rape, if he marries the victim. The recommendation must now go through parliament, a process that could still take months.

The logic behind this law is to protect, though not the victim, rather the reputation of the victim in the society where she lives after her honor has been wounded. The honor of a woman is defined by her chastity, and when she is raped she is stigmatized and no longer marriageable. Hence, a marriage to her rapist is perceived as a solution to this problem and an exit from shame that is suitable to the society. This way her family needs not to feel dishonored or, in many cases, the need to seek vengeance-honor crime. Therefore, better than leaving girls shamed, unmarriageable and dishonored or to be killed by their families or relatives the law protects the girls by forcing attackers to marry them. As a result, such legal system legitimizes rape if it was followed by marriage, rewards the rapist and, in fact, allows him to continue his act. Also, the law ignores any redress for the victim, which should be the aim of the law at the first place. Further, it gets its legitimacy from the concept of shame, and prioritizes wrongful social customs over principles of protecting women and their right, as citizens and humans, to live safely with the protection of law and society.

Further judicial drawback to already troubling laws regarding rape is the burden of proof. For a rape conviction to actually be handed down, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Qatar and Mauritania laws mandate either a confession from the rapist or a witness account from four adult males. One must pause here and imagine the circumstances of which a woman is being raped and four adult male are witnessing this crime. In all cases, with neither of those things readily available, along with laws that make extramarital sex illegal, women reporting rape are likely to find themselves as the subject of criminal investigation and often, actually, sentenced. The result is the victims often dont report rape, fearing they will be tried for adultery. In the UAE in many cases, foreign women who are in a tourism vacation in Dubai, not knowing of these laws ended up being arrested after they went to the police to report they had been raped. In Saudi Arabia a victim known as Girl of Qatif was gang-raped by seven men. At her 2006 Trial, she was sentenced to 90 lashes for being alone in a car with a man to whom she was not married. The rape was not established in the trial and it could not be proved. There were no witnesses and the men had recanted confessions they made during interrogation, and the verdict cannot be appealed.

Accordingly, the burden of proof in rape cases before the court and the provision of solving the problem of rape by marring the victim to her rapist among many other violations of womens rights found in the Arab states legal systems, such as honor killing, child marriage and martial rape, reveal the level of cultural, social, political and legal failure these states have. A small success here and there of changing or revoking a certain articles and provisions is far away from what needs to be achieved. The amount of work to be done in order to revolutionize the way society and law perceives women and end the highest levels of female objectification are tremendous. Unfortunately, the Arab states do not seem to be on the right track at the first place. In fact, the recent unfortunate developments even show set back of what has been already little for women rights, especially with the ongoing instability and armed conflicts in the region and the clear rise of extremism over modernity.

Mais Haddad is an S.J.D candidate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She received her Masters Degree in international politics from City University London, and her LL.M. from Damascus University. She practiced law in Damascus for eight years and was active in human and women rights.

Suggested citation: Mais Haddad, Victims of Rape and Law: How the Arab World Laws protect the Rapist not the Victim, JURIST  Dateline, May. 9, 2017, http://jurist.org/dateline/2017/05/victims-of-rape-and-law-how-the-arab-world-laws-protect-the-rapist-not-the-victim.php

This article was prepared for publication by Yuxin Jiang, a Senior Editor for JURIST Commentary service. Please direct any questions or comments to her at commentary@jurist.org
JURIST Guest Columnist Greg Barns, Lecturer in Jurisprudence RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia) and Anna Talbot, Legal and Policy Adviser Australian Lawyers Alliance discuss the human rights of unwell asylum seekers at the refugee facility on Manus Island

On April 30th, the National Court of Papua New Guinea granted an urgent request for an injunction to prevent Lebanese asylum seeker Azzam el Cheikh from being forcibly deported by the Australian and PNG governments and returned to the homeland he fled in 2013. Mr. el Sheikh has suffered serious physical and mental mistreatment, and at least one doctor in Port Moresby has declared him unfit to travel.

Mr. el Cheikh and his case raises an important moral and legal issue  should Australia be party to forcibly deporting individuals who are demonstrably not fit to travel?

Mr. el Cheikh had resisted deportation on two previous occasions. According to Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian asylum seeker, Mr. el Cheikh suffered injuries and was placed in a filthy jail cell on Manus Island before being taken to Port Moresby last week. He was seriously hurt on his neck, back and hand and they put him in Lorengau police station. This man has been on a hunger strike in the past few days, Mr. Boochani told the media on April 4.

Sources who have spoken to us in the last fortnight said that on April 29 Mr. el Cheikh was declared medically unfit for travel. He has been denied pain killers and the conditions he endured at the Lorengau prison on Manus Island were horrific  he had no change of clothes, was denied a shower for about three weeks and his cell walls were smeared with feces.

To deport a person when they are physically and mentally exhausted and injured is cruel. Irrespective of whether or not the individual might face political persecution on return, it is morally reprehensible for a so-called civilized nation like Australia to force a person to travel when their health is fragile.

Unfortunately, Australia has a history when it comes to this form of cruelty. Back in 2007 a report from researchers at La Trobe University and the Hotham Mission in Melbourne found that in some cases the Australian government has pursued removal outcomes with a serious disregard for the health and wellbeing of removesIn particular, there has been a lack of concern for the welfare of asylum seekers who are facing removal despite suffering a serious illness.

Forcible deportation of asylum seekers is a decision made by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, without regard to the individuals circumstances. There is no provision in the Migration Act, or any departmental rules or protocols, that ensure an independent assessment of the individuals current health or access to care and basic necessities in the country to which he or she is being deported. This was not always the case. As Glenn Nicholls from Swinburne University and the author of a 2007 book on Australias deportation policy notes, the conservative government led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1958 introduced such a protection. The Immigration Minister in that government noted at the time; The deportation powers are formidable and capable of abuse. Therefore, it is the duty of the Department to inform the Minister as fully as it is reasonably possible about the facts, and related circumstances, of each case. Today the formidable powers remain, while this essential protection is gone.

Besides the moral issues at stake, there is also Australias obligation under international law to consider. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture (CAT) prohibit subjecting a person to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Refugee Convention and the CAT further prevent the deportation of a person if they would be in danger of being persecuted or subjected to torture in the country they are deported to.

Australia might argue that it is PNG, not Australia, that has obligations in relation to the asylum seekers Australia has sent to Manus Island. This is clearly false. The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recently found in no uncertain terms that Australia is liable for the safety of asylum seekers in PNG (and Nauru). Australia cannot evade its responsibilities by tricky manipulation of international borders or contractual terms. Australia is calling the shots and Australia must adhere to the most fundamental moral obligation to treat sick people with dignity. Instead, however, it has ordered the deportation of a seriously ill man with no concern for his health or Australias legal obligations toward him. In doing so, it is complicit in cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and likely breaching obligations under international law to ensure deportations do not give rise to a risk of persecution or torture.

Greg Barns represents asylum seekers in applications and appeals before the Federal Magistrates Court and the Federal Court and also practices in the areas of discrimination and occupational licensing and advises and appears for prisoners in Administrative Law cases. Anna Talbot joined the ALA in January, 2016 and manages day to day federal policy and advocacy activities. She previously engaged in advocacy for Amnesty International, including work with the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights.

Suggested citation: Greg Barns and Anna Talbot, Australias Forcible Deportations of Unwell Asylum Seekers: Legal Obligations, JURIST  Academic Commentary, May 11, 2017, http://jurist.org/forum/2017/05/Barns-Talbot-Australias-Forcible-Deportations.php
[JURIST] A Canadian Federal Court ruled on Wednesday that certain provisions of the Citizen Act [text] violate principles of fundamental justice under Canadas Bill of Rights [text]. Judge Jocelyne Gagne [official website], who ruled over eight cases involving the law, struck down provisions that prevented people from challenging their loss of Canadian status over alleged lies on residency or citizenship applications. Additionally, these provisions barred those who lost citizenship from reapplying for citizenship for ten years. These cases challenged [Canadian Press report] the laws intolerance of allowing those stripped of their residency or citizenship from having their case heard in front of an independent and impartial adjudicator. The final ruling stated that those stripped of their residency or citizenship status are entitled to a hearing before an administrative tribunal in which they have a right to defend themselves. This decision will prevent the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration [official website] from deciding to revoke someones citizenship on their own and without a trial.

The Citizenship Act has been under attack since the new, more liberal government has taken control. The act, also known as bill C-24, was passed in June of 2014, which made eligibility requirements for immigrants seeking citizenship stricter than in the past [CIC report]. The government has proposed various provisions to the Act to make it easier for those seeking citizenship in the country. These provisions would potentially abolish the requirements of: physical residence for 3 to 5 years prior to application, language requirements for those between the ages of 18-54, taking an oath of citizenship, among many others.
[JURIST] Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva [BBC profile] appeared in Court on Wednesday and gave a four-hour deposition on the graft charges he faces. In the deposition, da Silva< a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-corruption-lula-idUSKBN186239">criticized the charges [Reuters report] as illegitimate and a farce, claiming that the Brazilian media wants to get him dead or alive. Three years ago, da Silva was charged with receiving $1.1 million in improvements and expenses from a construction company for a beachfront apartment in exchange [JURIST report] for kickbacks from the state-run oil company Petrobras, which has become known as the Petrobas Oil Scandal [NYT report]. Prosecutors in the case allege that businesses paid a total of over $2 billion [JURIST report], which they then exploited by running up costs and delaying completion. Despite da Silvas repeated denial of any involvement, federal prosecutors say that da Silva allegedly funneled millions of dollars into the campaigns of those in the Workers Party. Da Silva has also been charged in four other corruption cases.

More than 100 individuals and 50 politicians have been arrested in connection to the Petrobras scandal, including the chief of staff under Brazils former President Jose Dirceu, former speaker of the house Eduardo Cunha [JURIST report], and the former president Fernando Collor de Mellon [Britannica profile]. In November of 2015, Brazils highest court ordered [JURIST report] the arrest of Andre Esteves, the chief executive of the countrys largest investment bank, and that of Delcidio do Amaral, a powerful senator of the countrys ruling party, both accused of bribery and corruption affiliated with Petrobras.
The International Court of Justice [official website] on Wenesday scheduled a public hearing [press release] to resolve a dispute over an Indian man accused of spying after receiving notice [press release] from Indian officials that a Pakistani military court has sentenced the man to death [JURIST report]. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, an Indian national and former member of the Indian Navy, has been in custody in Pakistan since March of 2016. Pakistani officials claim that Jadhav was detained in Balochistan province following his involvement in espionage and terrorist activities, while Indias request to the ICJ claims he was kidnapped in Iran. In their request, which asks the ICJ to stay Jadhavs execution until the matter is resolved [statement], India claims that Pakistan has violated numerous provisions of the Vienna Convention by failing to grant consular access to Jadhav, failing to inform him of his rights, and failing to inform Indian officials of his detention and charges until long after his arrest.

[India] states that Mr. Jadhav will be subjected to execution unless the Court indicates provisional measures directing the Government of Pakistan to take all measures necessary to ensure that he is not executed until th[e] Courts decision on the merits of the case. India points out that Mr. Jadhas execution would cause irreparable prejudice to the rights claimed by India.

The hearing is set for May 15.

The Pakistani military court that sentenced Jadhav to death is one of nine courts established in January of last year after Taliban militants attacked children in the Peshawar school massacre [BBC archive; JURIST report], killing 134 students and 19 adults. Military power was subsequently expanded, giving military courts jurisdiction to try civilians accused of terrorism despite the countrys civilian government. Critics argue that the new procedures defer too much power to the military. Allegations of torture and judicial abuse were widespread during the reign of previous Pakistani military courts. However, many Pakistanis support the military courts due to the crumbling civilian system. Pakistans use of the death penalty since December 2014 in both the civilian and military courts has faced widespread criticism. When the countrys six-year death penalty moratorium was lifted [JURIST report] that month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [official profile] said the death penalty would only be applied to terrorism-related cases. However, in March of last year the Pakistan Ministry of Interior lifted the countrys moratorium on the death penalty, permitting hangings for all prisoners [JURIST report] who have exhausted all possible appeals. The UN estimates that several hundred of the 8,000 inmates on Pakistans death row are minors [JURIST report].
Kosovos government lost a no confidence [press release, in Albanian] on Wednesday. In a 78-34 vote [Reuters report], the Kosovo Assembly [official website] adopted a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Isa Mustafas coalition government. Within hours of the vote, President Hashim Thaci dissolved the parliament. The outcome of the governments collapse will push an election, which was not due until next year, up to June 11, 2017. Opposition to Mustafas administration blamed the cabinet for not following through with pledges made during their campaign three years ago. The cabinet was also unable to secure a parliamentary majority to pass a boarder demarcation deal with Montenegro. Opposition to the coalition claimed that Kosovo would lose territory under the agreement. Completing the deal is the final obstacle before the European Union will lift its requirement of needing a visa to travel to Kosovo. The election will delay both the deal and relations with Serbia that will further progress for both countries in gaining membership to the European Union.

Kosovo split from Serbia in 1999 following a campaign of ethnic cleansing directed against Albanians by Serbian forces. Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and has been attempting to establish itself as a country since. Last month the EU appointed [JURIST report] 19 International judges to the Specialist Chambers, effectively beginning the creation of the court. The court will serve a vital need, as suspected war criminals continue to be prosecuted in the region. In March the Kosovo Specialist Chambers [official website] adopted Rules of Procedure and Evidence [JURIST report] which allowed it to begin functioning. In January Kosovo indicted [JURIST report] an ex-guerrilla for war crimes committed in connection with Serbian forces. Also in January a French Court of Appeals ordered the release of the ex-PM [JURIST report] of Kosovo, with orders to stay in the country, until it reviewed an extradition order from Serbia.
The US Senate [official site] on Tuesday rejected [vote summary] a measure that would rollback methane gas regulations. HJ Res 36 [text] was a joint measure which sought to provide Congressional disapproval of the final rule of the Bureau of Land Management relating to Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation [materials]. The rule controlled for the amount of methane that could be released during offshore drilling and when royalties were subjected during the process. The measure sought to overturn the ruling in order to support an increase in drilling. The House had passed the measure in February with 221-191 vote but in a 51-49 vote, the Senate rejected the measure to keep the protections in place.

Climate concerns continue to be an issue in local politics. Earthjustice, an environmental law advocacy group, filed a motion [JURIST report] in April on behalf of two other environmental groups asking a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban chlorpyrifos  a pesticide widely used for various fruits, vegetables, and wheat grown in the US. In March US President Donald Trump signed [Jurist report] an executive order reforming the previous administrations energy policies. In February the newly confirmed head of the EPA Scott Pruitt [ announced [JURIST report] that they would be rolling back some Obama era regulations.
Magistrate James Eremye Mawanda of the Nakawa Chief Magistrate Court [court website] on Wednesday released a jailed academic on bail after she had been arrested for criticizing Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni [BBC profile]. Stella Nyanzi, who teaches at a local college in Kampala, was arrested after criticizing the Ugandan leader over failing to deliver on a promise to provide female students with feminine hygiene products to help them to attend all their classes. Nyanzi was granted bail [Reuters report] after her health deteriorated. She was also ordered to turn over her passport will receive a psychiatric examination to determine if she is fit tostand trial.

Museveni has been in power in the country since becoming president in 1986. His time in charge has led to many rights groups criticizing the leader for a lack of democracy in the African nation. In March Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] called for an investigation [JURIST report] into the deaths of over 150 people in the country in what some believe to be an exercise of the leaders power. In 2016 it seemed as though as there was another attempt to eliminate vocal threats to power when the country jailed the main opposition [JURIST report] leader after an election in which Museveni won.
The Vermont Legislature [official website] on Wednesday voted to approve [materials] recreational use of marijuana. The bill was amended [text] by the house to permit the recreational use of marijuana in small quantities. The law would create a legal system to regulate the use and sale of the drug, but would still make possession over an ounce a criminal offense.

It is the intent of the General Assembly to eliminate all penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana and two mature and four immature marijuana plants for a person who is 21 years of age or older while retaining criminal penalties for possession, dispensing and sale of larger amounts of marijuana. This act also retains civil penalties for possession of marijuana by a person under 21 years of age, which are the same as for possession of alcohol by a person under 21 years of age.

The bill now awaits the Governors signature.

Legalization measures are becoming a global priority. The Mexican Chamber of Deputies approved [JURIST report] a bill in April allowing the use, production and distribution of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes. Also in April Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed Senate Bill 10 [JURIST report], legalizing the medicinal use of a marijuana extract, into law. An anonymous Canadian government official in March announced [JURIST report] the countrys intention to legalize recreational marijuana by July 2018. The lower house of the Dutch parliament in February voted [JURIST report] 77-72 to approve a bill [text, in Dutch] that would tolerate the cultivation of cannabis.
Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and Secretary General of Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World of the ISESCO Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, who recently visited a new campus of Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS), shares his thoughts and impressions upon a request from the BHOS Public Relations department. He said:

I am honoured to be your guest and visit the new campus of Baku immediately after its opening with participation of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev. At our meeting with Mr President, I congratulated him on the occasion of opening the modern premises of a higher educational institution in Baku, which is equipped up to the best international standards. Today I am very pleased to express my congratulations to all teachers, students and staff members of the Higher School on the opening of the new campus. Tour of this beautiful and magnificent building was an unforgettable experience and it left a lasting impression on me. Baku Higher Oil School is one of the best universities in the region, and I am sure that the BHOS new campus will become a centre of attraction for students, teachers and researchers from all over the world.

I would like to add that students, professors and staff members of the Higher School could be also justifiably proud of the successes attained by the Azerbaijan Republic in all spheres. Baku today attracts attention of the global community, and Azerbaijan has become an advanced country, which can serve as a model for the rest of the world. The rapid development, changes and achievements, which I have witnessed in Azerbaijan over the past ten years, have no precedent. What is happening in your country is an absolute miracle!

I wish all those studying and working at the Higher Oil School great and continued success. Let me assure you that both the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World will further develop their cooperation with the BHOS. I am confident that in the nearest future the Baku Higher Oil School will be not only a leading educational institution in the region; it will turn into a large international training, research and scientific centre serving as a forum of exchange of knowledge and expertise.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

A meeting of representatives of delegations, arriving in Baku to participate in competitions on artistic gymnastics as part of the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games, was held on May 11.

Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation Farid Gaibov welcomed the members of delegations and wished them success in competitions.

Gaibov noted that the competitions will continue for four days. Firstly, rhythmic gymnastics performances will be demonstrated on May 12, and the competitions on artistic gymnastics will start the next day.

Addressing the event, Technical Delegate of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) Liubov Andrianova noted that competitions on womens artistic gymnastics are included in the program of Islamic Solidarity Games for the first time, and this is a very pleasant step for the development of this type of sports.

FIG Technical Delegate on mens artistic gymnastics Mario Vukoja, for his part, noted that competitions will be interesting as athletes will perform a new element there.

The Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games, the opening ceremony of which will take place May 12, started May 8 and will last until May 22 in Azerbaijans capital.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Dallas, Texas, United States, 05/10/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

With digital marketing, its easy to miss the forest for the trees, which is why its important to step back every once and a while and simplify you law firms digital marketing efforts.

For starters, are your marketing efforts generating enough monthly leads? Are the leads youre generating relevant to your brand?

A 2016 report by Ascend2 titled 2016 State Of Lead Generation, (1) found that 41 percent of marketing decision makers considered Increasing the quantity of leads to be their most important goal, 50 percent said Acquiring new customers was most important, and 71 percent prioritized Improving quality of leads.

So clearly, leads are important. But how does your law firm go about generating them? Any marketer worth his salt knows the different variables needed to sell your brand on the Internet. These include, among many others:

Sound web design

Search engine optimization

Social media marketing

Content marketing

Local marketing

Mobile marketing

Where many small businesses go wrong is that they tend to make things complicated than they should be, and much of it has to do with not having enough information about each variable and strategy.

In this guide, we go back to the basics, to areas you should focus your digital marketing efforts on to ensure your campaign fires on all cylinders.

1. An Outstanding Website

Every lead generation strategy begins and ends with your law firms website, so it makes perfect sense to do everything you can to make this process happen as smoothly as possible.

Treating your website as the focal point of your digital marketing efforts sounds simple enough, but youd be surprised just how many businesses dont even have a great website, much less one thats optimized for mobile.

Mobile is fast becoming the first touch point between brands and customers, a trend that ignited the mobile-first design philosophy.

According to Ben Gremillion of UXPin (2), The mobile-first approach is a tenet of progressive enhancement. It is the ideology that mobile design, as the hardest, should be done first. Once the mobile design questions are answered, designing for other devices will be easier.

A mobile-first design makes your website leaner and faster, taking out extraneous elements to enhance ease of navigation, speed, and responsiveness.

Youre probably wondering: Why mobile? This brings us to our next point.

2. Mobile Users

Mobile is where your law firm is going to make the most money.

A decade ago, this statement would have generated skepticism, but the data now proves it true.

According to StatCounter (3), Internet usage by mobile and tablet devices exceeded desktop worldwide for the first time in October.

Mobile and tablet devices accounted for 51.3% of internet usage worldwide in October compared to 48.7% by desktop, the report adds.

In terms of SEO, a mobile-first design also gives your website better rankings, with Google prioritizing mobile-optimized sites, especially those made with the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) architecture. And because a mobile-optimized website is faster, it gets another boost in rankings due to Google treating page speed as a key ranking signal.

3. Killer Website Content

Content is king, is fast become a tired marketing platitude, but its not something you can deny either.

Todays consumers and Internet users are more discerning about where they go for information about their questions and concerns. When it comes to brands, they dont just look for a company that can sell them product X, they also want to be educated and build a relationship with them.

This is where a content strategy comes in. Content is what draws in your law firms target audience, educates them, nurtures them into becoming leads, and ultimately, converts them into customers/clients. It unifies your brand messaging, ensuring everything you say or write is aligned with your business goals.

Creating great content doesnt have to complicated. The first step is finding ways to answer your audiences questions, providing accurate and insightful answers to their most probably queries.

4. Be Social

More and more law firms are now getting into social media, which is certainly a good sign that they understand its importance. The only problem is that many of these firms simply use social media as a platform to broadcast promotional materials, thereby completely missing the point of social media as a platform.

Social media is where you get social. Your audience expects you to interact with them, so be sure to engage them by answering their questions, posting content that speaks to their pain points, and giving them more of what they like.

Social media listening is one of the best things you can do on your social media platforms, whether its Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. By talking to and listening to your users, you can find a wealth of information about what products/services they like and how best to reach out to them.

Conclusion

Digital marketing need not be complicated and expensive. If you focus on the basics first, your law firm can stand out from the crowd by becoming more appealing and trustworthy in the eyes of your potential customers. Focus on creating a great website, putting your mobile users first, creating great content, and being social on social media.

Need help with your law firms digital marketing campaign? Make sure you approach someone with marketing experience in the legal services industry.

Sources

http://ascend2.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Ascend2-2016-State-of-Lead-Generation-Survey-Summary-Report-160808.pdf

https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/a-hands-on-guide-to-mobile-first-design/

http://gs.statcounter.com/press/mobile-and-tablet-internet-usage-exceeds-desktop-for-first-time-worldwide

Social Media Tags:Law Firm Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing

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Philadelphia, 05/11/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

If you drive down any busy highway, youre guaranteed to see a large number of semi-trucks. While most semi operators obey the law, they also drive on the clock, and they suffer financial consequences if they dont make deliveries on schedule. With so much pressure to get it there faster, its no wonder that semi-truck drivers sometimes push and exceed speed limits, says Rand Spear Philadelphia truck accident lawyer.

Now, a proposed federal rule wants to change that. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) have come together to propose changes to the law that would require trucks weighing over 26,000 pounds to be outfitted with a device that would prevent them from driving over a certain speed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the trucking industry has been vocal in its opposition to the proposed rule. One popular trucking website that features an opinion from the executive director of the National Motorists Association Foundation that states: theres plenty of evidence that shows why devices that keep trucks from accelerating above a certain level for what is likely to be a short distance isnt a good idea.

Stats on Large Truck Crashes

However, proponents of the speed limiter rule say you need only look at the recent large truck crash statistics to find evidence to support the proposed rule.

Data gathered by the FMCSA reveals that excessive speed contributes to over 33 percent of all traffic accidents, with 23 percent of those involving large trucks. In 2014 alone, semi-trucks and buses were involved in more than 4,000 crashes.

Currently, federal regulators are considering three proposed maximum speed limits for the limiting technology: 60, 65, and 68 miles per hour.

Philadelphia Truck Accident Lawyer Discusses Semis and Excessive Speed

Philadelphia truck accident lawyer Rand Spear states, Theres no question that speed contributes to a lot of semi-truck accidents. If the proposed rule passes, truckers would be forced to drive at reduced speeds, which could in turn reduce the number of speed-related collisions on the nations highways.

However, opponents of the rule point out that slowing down semis could have unintended consequences, such as more traffic congestion, which could lead to an increase in accidents. They also claim that speed limiters could make other motorists frustrated, causing a spike in road rage incidents.

Have you been injured in a semi-truck accident caused by a truck driver who was driving too fast? Dont wait to speak to a personal injury lawyer about your case. Protect your rights by calling Philadelphia and New Jersey truck accident lawyer Rand Spear today at 877-GET-RAND.

source: http://randspear.com/2017/05/08/philadelphia-truck-accident-lawyer-new-regulations-reduce-truck-accidents/

Social Media Tags:Philadelphia Truck Accident Lawyer, Philadelphia Truck Accident, Regulations to Reduce Truck Accidents, Rand Spear Philadelphia truck accident lawyer, Stats on Large Truck Crashes, Semis and Excessive Speed

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Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

An official meeting has taken place between General Director of ISESCO, Chairman of Federation of the Universities of Islamic World Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, who visits Baku to participate in the Forum of 4th World Intercultural Dialogue and UNEC Rector, Professor Adalat Muradov.

Highlighting that our country makes significant contributions to the intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and the development of relations among the Muslim countries, the guest brought to attention the FUIW under ISESCO to be an effective platform that represents Islamic world among the universities.

Stressing that 2017 was announced the Year of Islamic Solidarity in our country, Muradov informed the guest about the innovations implemented in higher education in Azerbaijan, including UNEC. Muradov thanked the guest for support rendered in UNECs election a board member of the FUIW and expressed confidence for UNEC to participate in the activities of the FUIW more actively.

Broad exchange of views on the future cooperation between the FUIW and UNEC was made within the meeting.

UNEC is the brand of Azerbaijan State University of Economics. The brand of UNEC has been registered and patented by the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patent on January 21 2016.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

The volleyball competitions among women are underway as part of the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games.

In Group A, Turkish national volleyball team defeated the Tajik squad in all three sets (25:8, 25:6, 25:7).

Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan are the other two teams getting ready to compete in the same group.

The Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games, the opening ceremony of which will take place May 12, started May 8 and will last until May 22 in Azerbaijans capital.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

AccessBank has been recognized by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as the most active issuing bank in 2016 in Azerbaijan within Trade Facilitation Program (TFP), AccessBank said in a message May 11.

This nomination was awarded in Nicosia at the EBRDs annual meeting and business forum held on May 9, 2017.

"We are very proud to receive this honorable award from such reputable international institution as the EBRD, CEO of AccessBank Dr. Rolf Reichardt said. It proves once again that AccessBank successfully realizes own mission of supporting the local businesses, an important part of which is financing of foreign trade operations. As part of the further development of corporate banking, the Bank plans to expand its corporate product range and continue to increase the volume of trade finance transactions."

The EBRDs Trade Facilitation Program acts since 1999 and currently includes over 100 Issuing Banks in 28 countries with total volume of transactions exceeding  15 billion. EBRD is one of the strategic shareholders of AccessBank and owns 20% shares in the Banks authorized capital.

AccessBank was founded in 2002 by the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, EBRD, IFC, KfW, a German consulting company LFS Financial Systems and AccessHolding. Being one of the leading banks of Azerbaijan, AccessBank offers a full range of banking services.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is ready to support the formation and functioning of the Food Safety Agency in Azerbaijan, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia Vladimir Rakhmanin said in an interview with Trend.

I am pleased that the government of Azerbaijan has decided to create a Food Safety Agency  through a presidential decree based on the preparatory work of the Food Safety Commission  as of January 2018, he noted.

Rakhmanin pointed out that this is a critical and positive decision taken by the government to ensure efficient and effective food safety system in an area that lies at the core of FAOs mandate.

Establishment of this agency will yield improved food safety standards in the country and support the export capacity of Azerbaijan, he added.

FAO is ready to support the formation and functioning of the Food Safety Agency by strengthening national food control regulatory frameworks and enhancing Azerbaijans participation in the Codex Alimentarius Commission, said Rakhmanin.

Support can take the form of independent scientific advice to support the standard-setting work of Codex; enhancing food safety management along the food chain to prevent diseases and trade disruptions; and promoting food safety emergency preparedness to build resilient agrifood chains, he explained.

Rakhmanin noted that FAO also develops online platforms for global networking, databases for information sharing, and tools to support food safety management from which Azerbaijan can benefit.

On February 10, 2017, Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on additional measures to improve food safety system in the country.

In order to ensure the implementation of state control for all stages of food production in Azerbaijan, Food Safety Agency will be created, according to the decree.

A Food Security Commission was created under the chairmanship of Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov for ensuring the activity of the agency.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

Caspian Energy Georgia will represent interests of the Caspian European Club, Caspian American Club and Caspian Energy International Media Group in Georgia, said Telman Aliyev, deputy chairman and CEO of Caspian European Club and Caspian American Club.

According to him, this company is being created in line with the numerous requests of Georgian, Azerbaijani, Turkish and Kazakhstani companies which want to activate cooperation in Georgia.

Aliyev noted that the Caspian Energy Georgia will be engaged in arrangement of business forums, CEO lunches, trainings, seminars, round tables and annual Caspian Energy Forum in Tbilisi and Batumi. Besides, a ceremony of presentation of international prizes Caspian Energy Award, Caspian Business Award, Caspian CEO Award and Brand Award will be held once a year. In future it is planned to create a separate quarterly journal Caspian Energy which will be dedicated to the economic development and investment prospects of Georgia.

All member companies of the Caspian European Club Georgia and Caspian American Club Georgia will be able to attend for free all events held in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey under the aegis of Caspian European Club, Caspian American Club and Caspian Energy International Media Group, concluded Aliyev.
House Bill 15, dubbed the "Property Taxpayer Empowerment Act" and authored by state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, would reduce the maximum increase in taxes for a property from 8 percent to 4 percent.

The legislation would also require local governments to annually publish a "No New Taxes Rate"  which is the rate that would raise the same amount of money as the previous year  and restrict debt service taxes to debt that has been approved by voters.

While rates are often kept the same, climbing property values in Texas are rising, leading to higher tax bills for Texas property owners.

Other components of the bill include:

Creating a searchable statewide database that allows property owners to see how each jurisdictions proposed tax rates will directly affect their individual tax bill, along with detailed information about how they can make their voices heard in the local rate-setting process.

Removing the Estimate of Tax Due on appraisal notices.

Making a property tax rollback election automatic after a government taxing unit proposes a rate that exceeds the rollback rate, no longer requiring citizens to gather signatures to petition for a rollback election.

The Property Taxpayer Empowerment Act will give them the transparency and the tools they need to hold local officials accountable.

The Texas House has voted down a bill that would have put new accountability measures on police departments reporting when an officer kills a civilian.

The House voted 71-70 against a measure that would have required the state attorney general to investigate law enforcement agencies that failed to report officer-related deaths or injuries.

Law enforcement is already required to submit reports about officer-related deaths, but the new bill they would have imposed fines of $10,000 for failure to do so. Agencies could have been fined an additional $1,000 a day for failing to comply.

Data showed Texas police fatally shot 82 people in 2016.

The Texas House is up against another midnight deadline Thursday night to get bills and joint resolutions considered on second reading.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Kazakhstan has resumed the transportation of oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, Azerbaijans Energy Ministry told Trend on May 11.

According to the ministry, 90,000 tons of Kazakh oil was exported through Azerbaijan via the BTC pipeline in 2017.

Kazakhstan hasnt transported oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline since the second half of 2015.

Earlier, the ministrys press service told Trend that in 2016, export of Kazakh oil through Azerbaijan wasnt carried out via any of the existing routes  neither via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, nor via the Baku-Supsa pipeline and railway.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
KEARNEY  Jack McSweeney of Kearney has handed over the helm as fleet admiral of the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska.

For 13 years he has commanded the 500,000 or so other admirals, all commissioned by governors to their lofty posts in Nebraskas fictitious navy.

As the top-ranking admiral, among McSweeneys missions was defending Nebraskas shores from invaders and extending a welcome to U.S. Navy sailors who visited the state. Many of the visitors were crew members of the 560-foot nuclear submarine, USS Nebraska.

The sailors are curious about the admirals. I tell them our mission is to stand at the ready to protect our state against the crazy Iowans, said McSweeney, who patrolled the Missouri River with his first mate Janice Wiebusch as they cruised their motor yacht out of its berth at the Blair marina.

In 2004, McSweeney and Wiebusch piloted their boat from Wisconsin down the Mississippi River to St. Louis and then up the Missouri to Blair, which is upstream from Omaha.

Kearney banker Wayne McKinney read about the couples adventure and passed along the story to Gov. Mike Johanns, who commissioned Wiebusch and McSweeney admirals. Before that, the highest rank McSweeney had held was U.S. Army private first class in 1963.

I tell people there has never been anyone who had a field commission from private first class to fleet admiral, McSweeney chuckled.

Although the Nebraska Navy has humorous origins  a lieutenant governor created the Great Navy in 1930 so Nebraskas admirals would out-rank Kentuckys colonels  McSweeney said his experiences with the Nebraska Admirals Association have reinforced his appreciation for the men and women who serve and have served in the U.S. Military. About 200 members strong, the Admirals Association sponsors a number of noteworthy activities, McSweeney said.

One of the most rewarding things we did was delivering ornaments on Christmas to the Grand Island Veterans Home, he said. The Admirals Association delivered the ornaments at all four Nebraska veterans homes in Scottsbluff, Norfolk, Grand Island and Omaha.

The association also provides scholarships to students at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and appears in the parade at the Nebraska State Fair.

McSweeney said it was an honor each time sailors of the USS Nebraska visited the state and he and Wiebusch could be hosts for two of them in their home.

Sometimes the sailors surprised McSweeney, for example the time they awoke at 4 a.m. to find a sailor ironing his dress whites so he could appear in North Plattes NEBRASKAland Days parade later that day. A proud Irishman, McSweeney said he was happy to share a couple of shots of whiskey with his guests and, most times, so were they.

McSweeney succeeded Melvin Milsap of Broken Bow as fleet admiral in 2004. At the Admiral Associations April meeting this year, the group awarded a plaque in appreciation for McSweeneys leadership and elected Aaron Wyatt of Lincoln as the new fleet admiral.

McSweeney credits Gloria LeDroit of Kearney, another admiral, for her commitment to the association. If it werent for Gloria LeDroit, we wouldnt have an Admirals Association.

LeDroit had a hand in at least one of McSweeneys adventures as fleet admiral.

He said he and Wiebusch and LeDroit were invited to Missouri to commission a hydrofoil. According to McSweeney, the small racing boat had been a gift from Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev to U.S. President Richard Nixon.

We officially welcomed that city in Missouri into the Nebraska Admirals Association and commissioned the boat into our fleet, McSweeney said.

During his command, he said that only one Nebraska admiral let the rank get to his head. This one guy was just made an admiral and he wrote to ask how many stars he was authorized to wear on his collar.
A group of bankers from across the United States  including one from Northeast Nebraska  recently met with President Donald Trump to make the case for easing regulatory burdens on community banks.

Jeffrey Gerhart, president of the Bank of Newman Grove, was one of three Nebraska representatives to participate in a four-day summit in Washington, D.C., organized by the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Scott Heitkamp, chairman of the banking trade group, said rules that were crafted to rein in megabanks have choked off the ability for smaller, community banks to effectively do business in their local communities.

Trump has said his administration wants to reduce the regulatory burden facing smaller banks.

In addition to Gerhart, Nebraska was represented at the meeting with Trump by Mark Hesser, president of Pinnacle Bancorp, and Robert Fricke, president and chairman of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Ashland.

In addition to meeting with Trump, the bankers also met with Vice President Mike Pence and Linda McMahon, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

More than 1,000 community bankers participated in the summit that took place last week.

"The nation's community banks are dedicated to fostering local economic and job growth by serving the consumers and small businesses in their communities," said Heitkamp, who is president of ValueBank Texas in Corpus Christi, Texas. "Unfortunately, one-size-fits-all regulations are preventing community banks from lending and promoting prosperity at the local level.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

According to secondary sources, OPEC crude oil production decreased by 18,200 barrels per day from the previous month to average 31.73 million barrels per day in April, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report.

Crude oil production declined in the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Iraq and Iran, but increased in Angola and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has produced 9.954 million barrels of oil per day in April, or by 49,200 barrels per day more than in March, according to the data.

In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices.

Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from Jan. 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months.

OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @ Lyaman_Zeyn
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FILE - In this March 7, 2017, file photo, the first of the large Boeing 737 MAX 9 models, Boeing's newest commercial airplane, sits outside its production plant in Renton, Wash. Boeing stops test flights of its new 737 model because of a possible problem in engine discs. The company is working with engine maker CFM to investigate. The company said Wednesday, May 10, 2017, it was notified of a potential manufacturing-quality issue by CFM, which makes the engines that are going on the Boeing 737 Max. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, left, makes his way out of the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse during a break in deliberations, in Charleston, W. Va. Blankenship is finishing up his one-year federal prison sentence related to the deadliest U.S. mine explosion in four decades. According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website, Blankenship is set to be released Wednesday, May 10, 2017, from a halfway house in Phoenix. He must serve one year of supervised release. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 11

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistan and Belarus are discussing the prospects of economic cooperation as part of meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission being held in Minsk (on May 10-12), the Belarusian government said in a message May 11.

According to Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Anatoly Kalinin, the two countries intend to bring the trade turnover up to $500 million.

In 2016, trade turnover between Belarus and Turkmenistan exceeded $120 million, and together with services amounted to almost $300 million.

During the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, the parties discussed the supply of Stadler products  diesel trains, medical equipment, medicines, goods of industrial brands to Turkmenistan.

According to the deputy prime minister, the two sides discussed possible commodity-exchange operations acceptable for both countries.

The Turkmen side, having large deposits of potash fertilizers, has announced a tender for the construction of a plant... Our specialists will study the project, prepare proposals and make a relevant decision, which we will designate before the Turkmen side, noted Kalinin.

An agreement was reached on the development of cooperation in the field of road and rail communication. In particular, Belarus is interested in increasing the supply of railway cars to Turkmenistan.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 11

By Demir Azizov Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein discussed promising areas of cooperation at a meeting held May 10 in Tashkent city, Uzbekistan National News Agency (UzA) reported.

The Uzbek president noted the importance of development and strengthening of constructive and open dialogue between Uzbekistan and the UN, as well as the institutions of this authoritative universal international organization, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

He stressed that full protection of human rights is a priority of the ongoing deep structural reforms in Uzbekistan.

For his part, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein reaffirmed OHCHRs readiness for the development of long-term and systematic bilateral cooperation.
India has for the first time ever signed a contract to import LPG from Iran as it looks at additional sources of cooking fuel to meet rising domestic demand, The Economic Times reported.

State-owned oil firms will import one very large gas carrier (VLGC), or 44,000 tonnes, per month for an initial six-month period, industry sources said.

India imports almost a million tonnes of LPG every month to meet rising demand that has been further fuelled by the government drive to give free gas connections to poor women.

LPG consumption in 2016-17 rose 9.8 per cent to 21.55 million tonnes. Of this, 11 million tonnes came from imports.

India mainly imports LPG via term contracts from major Middle Eastern producers Saudi Aramco, Qatar's Tasweeq, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and Kuwait Petroleum Corp.

Sources said LPG imports will rise over the next three years to 16-17 million tonnes as the government pushes for making available cooking gas cylinders to the poor and wean them off polluting fuels.

The country is looking to import LPG from Bangladesh.

India had imported 8.8 million tonnes of LPG in 2015-16.

Imports last year made India the world's second-largest importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), behind China. It overtook Japan, which imported 10.6 million tonnes.

Last May, the government launched a programme to provide free cooking gas connection to poor women with a view to cut on use of firewood and polluting fuels like dried cow dung.

LPG demand is projected to grow by 9.7 per cent to 23.7 million tonnes in the current fiscal and is likely to touch 35 million tonnes by 2031-32.

A record 3.45 crore LPG connections were given during the fiscal ended March 31, 2017, including 2.2 crore free connections to poor women. This has taken the number of LPG consumers to 20.08 crore.

As many as 6 crore connections have been given in last three years, taking LPG to 72.84 per cent of the population.

The government is targeting giving out 3 crore connections including 1.5-2 crore under the free LPG connection scheme during the 2017-18 fiscal and another 4 crore in the following year. This would help take LPG coverage to 95.49 per cent of the population.
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Physicians and patients are fighting a growing hypocrisy in American medicine. Examples abound, such as criticism that doctors are overprescribing antibiotics and contributing to resistance, while insurance companies simultaneously incentivize their members to use telemedicine programs or urgent cares instead of visiting their primary care physician.

My own insurance company, Cigna, recently sent me a letter notifying me that I will have a reduced co-pay if I use their telemedicine program or preferred urgent care vendor, as opposed to an outpatient in-network doctor visit.

And while this type of short-sighted care may save the insurance company a few bucks up-front, it can only lead to fragmented care including an increase in unnecessary antibiotics. After all, how does one examine the ears or auscultate the lungs virtually? Better call in an antibiotic, just to be on the safe side.

Another example of hypocrisy in American medicine is the mandate that physicians who have trained for 11-plus years maintain board certification, a costly and burdensome program, to receive hospital privileges while nurses become Doctors of Nurse Practice through 100 percent online programs and become credentialed for independent practice in many states. Why even bother going to medical school and incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt when para-physician programs abound with far less requirements and regulations?

Even more hypocritical is the flawed concept that health insurance coverage equals health care. This is simply not true. I see it every day in my practice: patients have an insurance card, but when we search their companys website for a specialist on their panel we find that there are no providers in their network in a 200-mile radius.

And this isnt always for a lack of doctors wanting to be on the insurance panels. I have heard from several psychologists in my area that while they would like to accept patients with certain insurances, they are not able to get onto the insurance panel. They are told that the panel is full and that new providers arent needed, even while the waiting list for patients to be seen by doctors in-network is over a month long.

What about the hypocritical call from politicians to create a single-payer system? Well, we do have an example of a single-payer system in the United States  the VA, and unfortunately, its not working very well. At the Veterans Administration, there is a critical lack of health care providers that Senator Jon Tester attributed to a bureaucratic nightmare in recruiting and retaining physicians and other health care professionals. And despite a cash infusion of billions of dollars, the VA system is still in severe disrepair. So perhaps we had better clean up our VA system before we plan to sign up every American for the same government-paid treatment.

How about Medicare for all? Hillary Clinton said during the presidential debates that Medicare works pretty well. Except for the fact that physicians are leaving Medicare in droves thanks to the increase in regulation and red tape imposed on them by new and incomprehensible programs like MACRA and MIPS.

The bottom line is that it all boils down to the ultimate hypocrisy in American medicine: the lack of practicing physician leadership in government health care policies. This can be summed up by a quote from the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said that placing Dr. Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon, in charge of the Department of Health and Services (HHS) was akin to asking the fox to guard the henhouse. Maybe Schumer meant this in terms of Prices politics, but one must wonder why politicians seem to want anyone other than a physician leading health care policy.

For example, it has been nearly 25 years since a physician, Otis Bowen, who served under President George H. W. Bush, led the Department of HHS. Since then, HHS secretaries have included political science professor and future president of the University of Miami Donna Shalala, lawyer and former governor Tommy Thompson, former insurance company owner and politician Mike Leavitt, political lobbyist and former insurance commissioner Kathleen Sebelius, and most recently, political science graduate and former Walmart board executive Sylvia Burwell.

Looking at the directors of Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows a similar pattern. Since its creation in 1965, only three of its 14 directors have been physicians. Other directors have included lawyers, hospital executives, economists, and various types of administrators without any medical degree or clinical experience.

We charge our government leaders with the task of creating and managing policies to improve the lives of Americans. In health care, these policies then become the responsibility of physicians in every part of the country to follow. Yet without personal insight and experience in the clinical practice of medicine, politicians cannot even begin to understand the daily challenges that occur in our current health care system.

And yet this is what happens. Think tank members and political advisors with more letters behind their name than the average doctor but no real medical experience are making up the rules, with little to no understanding of the repercussions of the very policies that they are creating.

I came to this realization when I attended the AAFPs Congressional Conference in 2015 and listened to a physician comment to a panel of political advisors that complying with the government mandates of Meaningful Use was creating an undue burden on him and getting in the way of practicing medicine. I dont think the regulation gets in the way, was the response from one of the panelists, before turning to the next physician waiting in line to ask a question.

I couldnt believe my ears. A practicing physician is telling a policy-maker that their regulations are causing a problem in his ability to practice medicine, and the response is basically to say: No, its not. How do we even begin to fix our broken health care system when our politicians refuse to acknowledge the burden that physicians face?

I watched the doctor who had made this comment walk away from the microphone shaking his head. He will leave DC and go back to his practice in rural Tennessee, where he will try to work around the maelstrom of regulation and red tape to take care of his patients. Maybe he will come back to DC in the future and continue to try to influence health care politics for the better. Or maybe, like the 50 percent of practicing physicians today, he will quietly plot his exit from clinical practice, eventually leaving his patients without the care they so desperately need.

And that, my friends, is the hypocrisy of American medicine.

Rebekah Bernard is a family physician and the author of How to Be a Rock Star Doctor: The Complete Guide to Taking Back Control of Your Life and Your Profession. She can be reached at her self-titled site, Rebekah Bernard, MD.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

Trend:

Ukrainian state-owned aircraft company Antonov, which is a part of the SC UkrOboronProm, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Turkeys leading defense company ASELSAN Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (ASELSAN), says a message posted on the Ukrainian companys website.

The MoU was signed during the 13th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF-2017) in Turkeys Istanbul.

The purpose of the MoU is to pave the way to explore potential opportunities for business collaboration on complete avionics and integrated solutions for An148 aircraft family. The intended collaboration is primarily based on the An158 and An178 aircraft that could be strong candidates for regional jet and cargo aircraft. The parties have also agreed to study further opportunities targeting the global market.

The MoU was signed by Faik Eken, general manager of ASELSAN and Oleksandr A. Kotsiuba, president of Antonov company. To ensure that the cooperative work to be undertaken by the companies proceeds efficiently, the parties agreed to hold regular meetings. Besides the collaboration topics that have been defined in the agreement, the parties also agreed to study further opportunities to expand the cooperation between the companies.
The royal couple have now arrived in Thomastown, where they have engagements at the Design and Craft Council of Ireland Ceramic School and Grennan Craft Mill.

The pair visited each of the dedicated studios viewing students at work, demonstrating a wide variety of techniques and skills. They saw examples of floor and table loom pieces being woven, tufted rugs and tapestries, and the Duchess was presented with handwoven scarf made by the students in the class.

Prince Charles has a huge interest in crafts, having set up the Royal School of Drawing. He has also been a patron of ceramics and crafts industry. He was presented with piece of ceramics made by the students in the ceramics class.

During their visit, the Royal guests had an opportunity to see the excellent facilities that have been developed by KCETB over the past 30 years in the unique creative setting. The five floors of the old mill on the banks of the River Nore are home to studios where students learn and practise the crafts of ceramics, printmaking, woven textiles, art metalcraft, silversmithing and batik.

Speaking on the occasion of the Royal visit, the Chair of Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board, Councillor Peter Cleere, welcomed Their Royal Highnesses to Grennan Mill Craft School and paid tribute to Alexandra Meldrum Course Director and her team for their dedication to craft and design education.

Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board is very proud to welcome our distinguished guests to experience the unique teaching and learning environment that has been created in Grennan Mill Craft School over the past three decades," he said.

"Our teachers are designers, makers, artists and craftspeople who share their expertise with each new generation of students. Our students are motivated by the desire to learn new skills and to create beautiful objects. They come together as a community in this inspiring space that nurtures their creativity, and our graduates leave as skilled practitioners, ready to advance in their chosen creative medium. Their Royal Highnesses saw today how very special Grennan Mill Craft School is: we hope they enjoyed meeting the people who make it so special.
The Royal couple has arrived at animation studio Cartoon Saloon, having made the journey down High Street from Kilkenny Castle.

The streets of the city centre were lined with people to greet the royals on their way to the twice Oscar-nominated local studio. Crowds waved to the motor cavalcade, which was flanked by security, proceeded by a number of Garda motorcycles while helicopters circled overhead.

CEO of Cartoon Saloon Paul Young has said it is a great honour to welcome the couple.

"The Prince has an interest in art and animation and we will be showing him some digital watercolouring as well as a teaser from our upcoming feature film, The Breadwinner," he said.

The Duchess, HRH Camilla, has apparently already read The Breadwinner.

Meanwhile, her outfit has been admired by several commentators. According to Clarence House, she is wearing a Magee tweed suit which she received as a gift during a previous visit to Ireland, as well as a Claddagh brooch.
Twenty three people lost their lives and 28 others were injured after portion of a wedding hall collapsed in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district late Wednesday night, Times of India reported.

According to reports, relief and rescue work are in full swing. Several are said to be critically injured. The injured have been taken to a local hospital and are under medical supervision.

"The building collapsed due to duststorm and people were stuck in debris. Some locals intimated about the incident and a rescue team rushed to the spot," Alok Vashishth, the inspector general of police, told TOI.
Gold demand in India is witnessing a pick-up amid some renewed optimism, with strong expectations for the rest of the year, this according to a new report published by UBS.

India's gold demand recovery suggests healthy underlying appetite, Joni Teves, precious metals strategist at UBS, said in the Global Precious Metals report. The recovery does suggest that core demand remains intact and normalization in the local regulatory environment up ahead should pave the way for more stable off-take in the future.

Core gold demand is there and is expected to average around 700-900 metric tons in the medium to long term, according to the report.

Volumes still remain subdued as policy uncertainty dominates the overall sentiment, with the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) and import duties announcements expected shortly.

Uncertainty comes from varied expectations in regards to possible tax rate levels.

Some are of the view that the import tax is likely to be lowered from the current 10% level, such that even with the introduction of GST, the overall tax rate would not be too different from the current level of around 12% (10% import duty, 1% excise tax, 1% VAT). A potential combination would be a 7% import tax and gold being classified under the 5% GST bracket, Teves said.

But, others still think that the import duty will be kept at 10%, with a GST of 5% to be charged on top of it.

The variety of responses suggests that there is very little visibility on the matter and the government has likely made a point of not giving much indication ahead of the announcement, Teves explained.

Expectation of some normalization are very high, as policy uncertainty fades as soon as this summer, said the report.

Improved demand in gold has also coincided with better liquidity this year.

RBI [Reserve Bank of India] data shows that the value of currency in circulation has recovered after the sharp drop triggered by the demonetization. According to feedback from our contacts, seasonal demand in recent months has been strong  off-take related to the Akshaya Tritiya festival has apparently been quite strong, even relative to historical levels, Teves said.

Indias government has also been encouraging moving physical household gold holdings to other types of investments, including gold deposits (Gold Monetisation Scheme), gold bonds (Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme) and gold coins (India Gold Coin).

But, these initiatives have been slow to take-off, Teves said.

Gold imports by India reportedly rose more than four-fold in April, Bloomberg reported citing a source in the countrys finance ministry. Shipments are said to have increased to 98.3 metric tons last month from 22.2 tons recorded during the same month of the previous year. The demand was largely driven by jewelers restocking ahead of the wedding season.

Earlier this week, UBS also published another report, stating that growing demand from India and China are to support gold prices at $1,200 level. Further pressure [on gold prices] cannot be ruled out for now, but we expect bargain hunting to emerge and physical buying to strengthen should the market test $1200, paving the way for a recovery, the report said.
* March c/a surplus Y2.9 trln vs f'cast Y2.6 trln

* Trade surplus logs second month in the black

* Solid income from overseas investments supports c/a surplus

* Concerns about U.S. trade policy linger

(Adds analyst quote, primary income balance)

By Minami Funakoshi

TOKYO, May 11 (Reuters) - Japan's current account balance posted a stronger-than-expected surplus in March on solid income from overseas investments, maintaining a run of uninterrupted monthly surpluses that has continued for almost three years.

The surplus of 2.91 trillion yen ($25.45 billion) marked the 33rd straight month in the black, finance ministry data showed on Thursday, and beat the median forecast for a surplus of 2.643 trillion yen in a Reuters poll of economists.

Export-reliant Japan's persistent current account surpluses could elevate the thorny issue of trade imbalances with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, which has pledged to rework the United States' current agreements with its major trading partners.

"Usually, the current account balance shouldn't have that big of an impact, but you just never know with Trump," said Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

"It's hard to read what, if any, effect this might have on Trump's policies (with Japan)."

The trade surplus shrank in March to 865.5 billion yen, but logged the second straight month in the black.

Income from overseas investment, boosted by a pick-up in overseas economy, also helped support the current account surplus. The primary income balance in March stood at 2.2 trillion yen on increased profits from foreign direct investment.

Japan's trade and current account surpluses have taken on critical importance as Trump pursues an "America First" platform, via which he has pledged to shrink the U.S. trade deficit with big exporters such as Japan.

A strong current account surplus and a large trade surplus with the United States kept Japan on the U.S. Treasury's currency watchlist released last month. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that Washington could no longer sustain inflated trade deficits with its trading partners, according to a statement issued last week by the department.

However, Japan's finance minister has said he had no discussion on trade deficits when he spoke with Ross last week. Japan's economy has sustained a modest recovery that kicked off when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took power in late 2012 and launched his "Abenomics" package of aggressive monetary, fiscal stimulus measures and structural reforms.

A recent rebound in overseas demand has helped boost exports and output, pushing up business confidence to its highest in a year and a half.

Japan's March trade data showed exports rose at the fastest pace in more than two years as increased shipments of car parts and steel signalled that expanding overseas demand could help boost the country's notoriously slow economic growth. (Reporting by Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Eric Meijer and Sam Holmes)
* Thai prices expected to remain high for next one to three weeks

* Indian prices stable on weak demand, higher local paddy prices

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat

BANGKOK, May 11 (Reuters) - Buyers of Asian rice turned to Vietnam this week as prices remained firm in Thailand and India, traders said on Thursday.

Thai benchmark 5-percent broken rice edged up to $387-$392 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) Bangkok, from $380-$390 last week.

"Some ships are still loading," said a trader in Bangkok. Thai prices went up last week as exporters rushed to fill shipments amid a slow off-season harvest.

Prices are expected to remain high for the next one to three weeks, traders said.

Trade will likely stay subdued as rice-consuming countries in the Middle East prepare to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims around the world will be fasting.

Ramadan begins on May 26 and ends on June 24 this year.

Thailand's commerce ministry said on Thursday it will hold the second state auction of the year on May 24 for 1.82 million tonnes of rice.

Vietnam's 5-percent broken rice was quoted at $355-360 a tonne, FOB Saigon, up from $350-$352 last Thursday on more active trade.

"Thai prices increased further, so importers turned to Vietnamese rice," said a Ho Chi Minh-based trader.

Vietnam shipped an estimated 1.84 million tonnes of the grain between January and April, down 8.8 percent from the same period last year. Thailand and Vietnam are the world's second and third biggest rice exporters.

In India, the world's biggest rice exporter, prices of 5-percent broken parboiled rice were steady at $394-$399 a tonne this week as export demand remained weak amid a rally in local paddy prices.

"Overseas buyers are not ready to pay more than $390 and Indian exporters couldn't cut prices due to rising paddy prices," said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

"Buyers are shifting to other producers like Vietnam."

Local paddy prices are rising due to limited supplies and aggressive buying by state-run agencies, dealers said.

The Indian government buys rice from local farmers at a fixed price to supply subsidised food and meet any emergency needs such as a sudden spike in prices.

An appreciating rupee is also making it difficult for exporters to reduce prices, said another exporter based in Kakinada.

The rupee has risen more than 5 percent so far in 2017, trading near its highest level in 21 months. A stronger rupee trims returns of exporters.

India mainly exports non-basmati rice to African countries and premier basmati rice to the Middle East.

Bangladesh said this week it will import 600,000 tonnes of rice, parts of which will be from the world's top three exporters through government-to-government deals. (Additional reporting by My Pham in HANOI, Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI, Ruma Paul in DHAKA; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
TBILISI, May 11 (Reuters) - Bank of Georgia said on Thursday it had mandated JP Morgan and Renaissance Capital to arrange investor meetings ahead of a potential lari-denominated Eurobond issue.

Bank of Georgia is the largest bank in the former Soviet republic by assets, loans, client deposits and equity.

It said the meetings with investors were scheduled to start on May 15 and that the Eurobonds could have a maturity of 3-5 years.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Alexander Winning)
CAIRO, May 11 (Reuters) - Egypt expects the first crude oil shipment from Iraq under a bilateral agreement to arrive in mid-May, an Egyptian oil ministry official said on Thursday.

Under the agreement reached last month by Egypt and Iraq, Baghdad is to sell 12 million barrels of oil to Egypt for a year.

Iraq began last Thursday to load a tanker with 2 million barrels of crude oil for export to Egypt. In the meantime, Saudi Aramco has resumed supplying Egypt with about 700,000 tonnes of petroleum per month at the end of March after it stopped in October, the official said.

The resumption follows a statement in March by the Egyptian Petroleum Ministry, which said it expected Saudi Arabia to resume oil product shipments by the end of March or early April. Although officials from both sides have denied the existence of tensions between the two countries, they have been at odds on political issues such as Syria and the status of two islands in the Red Sea.

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Giles Elgood. Editing by Jane Merriman)
(Kitco News) - Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) has agreed to invest $109 million for 19.9% ownership of Continental Gold Inc. (TSX: CNL), supporting near-term development of the high-grade Buritica gold project in Colombia, the companies announced Thursday.

Newmont would purchase 37.38 million common shares of Continental in a non-brokered private placement at a price of C$4 per share. The investment also covers three other exploration assets in the district, Newmont said.

Continental also reported that RK Mine Finance Master Fund I Ltd., or Red Kite, has also agreed to purchase 8.59 million common shares at a price of C$4 each for a total investment of $25 million. This will give Red Kite a 4.6% stake in Continental.

The Buritica deposit consists of two major vein systems that remain open along strike and at depth, Newmont explained. Continental has declared proven and probable reserves of 3.7 million ounces of gold averaging more than eight grams per tonne. The project is permitted and construction of the underground mine and process plant is expected to begin in the second half of 2017, with commercial production targeted for early 2020, the companies said.

Were investing in a world-class asset and exploration prospects, in alignment with our goal to create long-term value for shareholders, said Gary Goldberg, president and chief executive officer of Newmont.

Ari Sussman, chief executive officer of Continental, said the company considered a number of alternatives before welcoming Newmont and Red Kite as investors. The company intends to apply the proceeds from Newmont toward the Buritica project, he added. A feasibility study estimated capital expenditures at $389 million.

We look forward to capitalizing on Newmonts experience to successfully kick off formal construction at the Buritica project later this year, Sussman said. With Newmont as a partner and the completion of this financing, Continental will be well-positioned to build Buritica and create significant value for our shareholders with first gold pour on track for early 2020.

Analysts with BMO Capital Markets said the move by Newmont makes sense after the worlds second-largest gold producer last year completed the sale of its stake in the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in Indonesia.

Following the disposition of Batu-Hijau, we see this as a smart way for NEM to add risk to the portfolio by adding a toe-hold investment in a high-quality project at what we estimate is a reasonable valuation, BMO said.

Continental Gold is an advanced-stage exploration and development company with a portfolio of 100%-owned gold projects in Colombia.
* Says no more suspensions on basis of unseen audits

* Govt taking softer stance on mining after Lopez's removal

* Philippines is world's top nickel ore supplier

By Manolo Serapio Jr

MANILA, May 11 (Reuters) - Extractive industries like mining should be promoted, not curbed, the Philippines' finance minister said on Thursday, promising investors there will be no more arbitrary suspensions of operations and more transparency in regulation.

President Rodrigo Duterte's government has been taking a less confrontational stance towards mining after the removal of an environment minister who ordered the closure of more than half the mines in the world's top nickel ore exporter to protect water resources.

Duterte this week replaced environmentalist Regina Lopez with former military chief Roy Cimatu, who said it was possible to balance mining and environmental protection. "We need to encourage and not suppress extractive industries," Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez told an industry forum.

"They are necessary to help our economy develop, to bring the revenues that government needs, and to create opportunities for the communities that host these industries."

Dominguez said while weak governance has led to environmental destruction, including massive deforestation over the years, "the solution is not to arbitrarily ban extractive industries."

"The solution is to improve governance so that we get the best of both worlds: ensuring the sustainability of our environment on one hand and creating wealth for our people from our natural endowments on the other."

Dominguez was head of a copper and zinc mine in central Philippines in 2006, after cyanide spills shut it for more than a year. He has said he had no mining interests since then.

Dominguez started a second review of the Philippines' mines after Lopez in February ordered the permanent closure of 22 of 41 mines and the suspension of four others for environmental breaches after a months-long audit that miners said they were unable to access.

"Never again should suspensions be meted out on the basis of unseen audits," Dominguez said.

Lopez was removed last week by a panel of lawmakers scrutinising Duterte's appointments who concluded that she wasn't fit for the job she had held for 10 months. Duterte, who had backed Lopez's mining crackdown and once declared that the country can survive without a mining industry, said on Wednesday the government cannot scrap an existing mining law, suggesting he is moderating his stance on mining. (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Richard Pullin)
(Adds details, quotes, details)

By Nailia Bagirova

BAKU, May 11 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's biggest lender, International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), struggling under the weight of bad loans, said on Thursday it had suspended payments on some of its liabilities and asked its creditors for help while it restructures.

The announcement was the most dramatic sign to date that an economic slowdown rumbling in energy producer Azerbaijan since prices for oil and gas slumped three years ago is now threatening the health of its banking sector.

Azerbaijan's finances appeared to have stabilised this year after the government cut budget spending, and oil prices strengthened, but economists had warned of a lingering risk from bad debt on the balance sheets of Azerbaijan's banks.

The state-controlled bank said in a statement that it had suspended payments of principal and interest on the liabilities that will be included in its restructuring, though it did not specify what they were.

It said it had missed a scheduled payment under a $100 million subordinated loan owed to Rubrika Finance Company Ltd., which is based in Dublin and operates as a debt issuing vehicle.

IBA said that it continued to conduct day-to-day business with its clients, including all transactions in relation to individual and corporate deposits.

It said it was implementing a restructuring plan, and had retained Lazard Freres, as financial advisers, and White & Case LLP, as legal advisers. It also said it planned to swap some of its liabilities for Azeri sovereign liabilities.

Samir Sharifov, Azerbaijan's finance minister, appealed to the holders of IBA's foreign currency obligations for help while the bank is restructured. He said he planned to meet IBA's investors in London on May 23.

"The Ministry of Finance has noted with concern the deteriorating financial and capital position of International Bank of Azerbaijan," Sharifov said in a statement.

"The Ministry of Finance hopes and expects that holders of IBA's foreign currency obligations will agree to support the proposed restructuring plan so as to facilitate the provision of additional support to IBA from the government."

Azerbaijan's government has already undertaken a rescue package for IBA. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in 2015 ordered the finance ministry and central bank to transfer bad and risky loans from IBA to a state-owned credit organisation, Aqrarkredit.

In December last year, the government took further action, injecting additional capital into IBA via a share issue, and thereby increasing its stake in the bank to 76.73 percent.

In a statement released on Thursday, Khalid Ahadov, IBA's chairman, said he was hopeful the bank would be financially viable, but said: "IBA is in a difficult financial position."

Dmitri Vasiliev, director of financial institutions at credit rating agency Fitch, said earlier this year IBA would need more government help while it tries to rebuild its loan book.

"We view IBA as failed institution right now," Vasiliev said.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Katya Golubkova)
The Herald reports:

Four-year-olds will attend some primary schools under wide-ranging reforms set to pass into law, alarming opposition parties and the primary teachers union. NZEI president Lynda Stuart said the change is a departure from the special New Zealand tradition of starting school once a child has blown out the candles on their 5th birthday cake. Our view was the status quo should remain, said Stuart, long-time May Road School principal. Having those opportunities to socialise and learn in those early childhood settings is really important. Labour, the Green Party and New Zealand First have also raised concerns, saying kids could get lost in a system theyre not ready for.

This is bullshit or much ado about nothing. It is meaningless opposition for the sake of it.

The change is minor. Rather than have your first day at school the day after your 5th birthday, schools can choose to have kids enter in a cohort at the beginning of each term.

This has obvious advantages. Can be quite terrifying entering school by yourself as the new kid. Entering with a group will help socialisation. Also easier for teachers.

The reference to four year olds is misleading. No kid enters school when they turn four. Some kids might start school at four years ten months. Starting two months earlier is a trivial difference.

Nicholas Jones Nicholas Jones is a New Zealand Herald political reporter.

Too young? Children to start school aged four

Four-year-olds will attend some primary schools under wide-ranging reforms set to pass into law, alarming opposition parties and the primary teachers union. NZEI president Lynda Stuart said the change is a departure from the special New Zealand tradition of starting school once a child has blown out the candles on their 5th birthday cake. Our view was the status quo should remain, said Stuart, long-time May Road School principal. Having those opportunities to socialise and learn in those early childhood settings is really important. Labour, the Green Party and New Zealand First have also raised concerns, saying kids could get lost in a system theyre not ready for. The Education (Update) Amendment bill is down to be read a final time this week and is a key plank of the biggest education reforms since 1989. New Zealands current system allows children to start on their 5th birthday, and requires consistent attendance only from the age of 6. For many schools that will remain the case. However, for school boards that opt to change to the new cohort option, students will start from the beginning of term closest to their 5th birthday  although parents wouldnt have to enrol their child until they turn 6, as is presently the case. The earliest children could start is up to eight weeks before they turn 5. A very minor change that will give schools flexibility. And that is what you want  schools and parents deciding for themselves what works best. Kaye said schools will be required to consult with their communities before introducing cohort entry. There is evidence that starting school in a group helped children settle and establish strong relationships. One of my few memories of that age is starting school and it is unsettling to be the one new kid in the class.

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The Herald reports:

Newly-appointed Food Safety Minister David Bennett has raised the possibility of a return to mandatory addition of folic acid to bread in New Zealand. Bennett last month attended a high-level ministerial forum in Australia, where new research was presented showing the health benefits of Australias mandatory folic acid regime, introduced in 2009.

I have no doubt there are health benefits from adding folic acid, but this should be a choice for consumers.

This is not like fluoridation, where water is delivered through one community supply to homes, so it is either fluoridated or not fluoridated.

This is about making it illegal for someone to produce bread without adding folic acid to it.

People who dont want fluoridated water can still get non fluoridated water. But if you make folic acid mandatory in bread, then no one can get bread without folic acid in it.

It is understood that New Zealand has also had a reduction in neural tube defects under the voluntary regime, but not to the same extent as Australia.

Surely the data for both should be public, so we can judge. But based on this assertion the voluntary scheme is proving beneficial.

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South Korea's new liberal President Moon Jae-in was sworn in on Wednesday and vowed to tackle immediately the difficult tasks of addressing North Korea's advancing nuclear ambitions and soothing tensions with the United States and China, Reuters reported.

Moon said in his first speech as president he would begin efforts to defuse security tensions on the Korean peninsula and negotiate with Washington and Beijing to ease a row over a U.S. missile defense system being deployed in the South.

In a congratulatory phone call U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with Moon to cooperate on the North Korean nuclear issue and invited him to visit Washington, the South Korean presidential office said.

The White House said the two agreed to continue to strengthen the alliance between their countries.

The South Korean statement said Trump said North Korea's nuclear problem was difficult, but one that could be resolved.

North Korea is believed to be preparing for a sixth nuclear test and is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States, presenting Trump with perhaps his most pressing security issue.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that Moon's advocacy of engagement with North Korea could undercut U.S. efforts to increase pressure through further isolation and sanctions.

The Trump administration has also been dismayed by Moon's questioning of deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea and expects some friction in ties, although U.S. officials say the new president may moderate his stances in office and the effect on the alliance will be limited.

In his first key appointments, Moon named two liberal veterans with ties to the 2000s "Sunshine Policy" of engagement with North Korea to the posts of prime minister and spy chief.

Suh Hoon, a career spy agency official who was instrumental in setting up two previous summits between the North and South, was named to head the National Intelligence Service.

Lee Nak-yon, a regional governor who was a political ally of two former presidents who held summits with North Korea in 2000 and 2007 was nominated as prime minister. His appointment requires parliamentary approval.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11

By Anakhanum Hidayatova - Trend:

The implementation of the Turkish Stream project will strengthen the Russia-Turkey relations and bring the positions of the two countries together, Cagatay Balci, analyst at Ankara-based Caucasus Strategic Research Centre (KAFKASSAM), told Trend May 11.

He added that such rapprochement between Russia and Turkey will become a message for Europe.

The project will strengthen Turkey's positions, Balci said, adding that strong Turkey is always beneficial for Azerbaijan.

"The project will reduce the capabilities of Iran, as a supplier, by creating competition in the consumer market," the expert added.

The expert said that both Turkish Stream and Southern Gas Corridor will be the key projects to the energy supply of Europe, which needs favorable gas prices.

Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement October 10, 2016 on implementation of the Turkish Stream project.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline(TAP) is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italys south.

TANAP, a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, is being currently constructed in Turkey.
One Belt, One Road trade route (Photo : Getty Images)

Experts are unsure how the One Belt, One Road project, also known as OBOR, will proceed as more problems open up, making the means to the end more complicated than theorized, according to a report by Channel News Asia.



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Frankly, I dont really know what the belt and the road are. The reason being that I think Beijing doesnt know either, Tom Miller from Gavekal Dragonomics, who authored a book about the project, said.



One of the reasons why people are unsure how OBOR will move forward is the late inclusion of the city of Hunchun in the list of cities included in the project.



Hunchun is sandwiched between China, Russia and North Korea--a strategic location that warrants automatic inclusion to the project.



However, Hunchun had to lobby hard to be included in the Silk Road project. It was only in 2016 when the city was finally included in the list Chinas cabinet released on cities included in OBOR.



Furthermore, issues with North Korea over its trade policies and nuclear arms program have caused sanctions to be placed against the country. This creates further complications for Hunchun businessmen, who want to ship goods to Russia via Rason, located near North Korea.



Hunchun is a hub for northeast Asia, so in theory it should play a big role in One Belt, One Road, but for now it hasnt been able to get its act together, said Wang Hai, general manager of Guanghai Import and Export Trading Company in Hunchun.



Other businessmen in Hunchun are wary of working with North Korea, and representatives of the city declined to comment on the citys relations with its neighbor.



But we can talk about Hunchuns trade with Russia, the citys clean air and successful tree-planting initiatives, said Hao Qiang, a Hunchun spokesperson.



Supporters of the project still hope that it will push through, especially with the upcoming OBOR summit. North Korea will send a delegation, and Russian president Vladimir Putin will also be in attendance.


Nancy Pelosi, former House Minority Leader and now Democratic Leader, led the bipartisan delegation to India. (Photo : Getty Images)

A bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Congress, led by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, flew to India on Tuesday, May 9, to meet with the Dalai Lama to discuss human rights, India Times reported.



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As we visit his Holiness the Dalai Lama, our bipartisan delegation comes in his spirit of faith and peace, said Pelosi.



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.



The group made their way to Dharamsala, a small Himalayan town where the Dalai Lama has established his headquarters. He introduced the hill town as his second home. My real home--other side, he told Pelosi.



Here the last 58 years I am the longest guest of Indian government. But, emotionally, some concern about deep inside Tibet, and also in China proper there are 400 million Buddhists.



Pelosi and her delegations visit risks angering China, who considers the Dalai Lama as a separatist. This might have negative results, with Trump planning to have China help restrain North Korea and its ongoing nuclear armament.



Its common for China to denounce countries, cities and organizations that host or meet with the Dalai Lama. Just recently, Beijing voiced its displeasure on New Delhi for hosting the Dalai Lama on his way to Arunachal Pradesh.



The U.S.s policy on human rights is also hanging on a loose thread. It is unclear how it will go about, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson downplayed the role of human rights in the countrys foreign policy.



It is unlikely that the Dalai Lama will get invited to the White House anytime soon. Although the Nobel peace laureate expressed his desire to meet Donald Trump after the U.S. elections last November, the White House still has its doors closed to the Dalai Lama.



Tillerson, in a speech last week, even stated that the U.S. might bow out from being one of the Dalai Lamas last friends from the West.


A 16-year-old Reno boy has been sentenced to a total of 110 years in prison for shooting and killing another 16-year-old Reno boy in December 2015. The Washoe County District Attorney's Office got a first-degree murder conviction and sentencing after having him certified as an adult.

Christian Scott was 15 years old at the time he shot and killed the teen during a robbery involving the theft of a Gucci belt. Scott was found guilty in March 2017 of 1st Degree Murder, Robbery, and Attempted Murder in Washoe County District Court following a 6-day jury trial.

During the penalty phase, the jury sentenced Scott to 50 years in prison, with parole eligible after a minimum of 20 years has been served. During a later penalty phase, Scott was sentenced on the remaining charges to a consecutive term of 60 additional years in prison. The combined sentence for all charges ensures Scott will serve a minimum of 33 years in prison before being eligible for parole. Scott will be imprisoned in the Nevada Department of Corrections juvenile facility until he turns 18 and transfers to an adult prison.

The shooting took place December 29, 2015, at Pat Baker Park. Detectives determined the shooting was related to a confrontation between Scott and two teens. Scott had robbed the victims at gunpoint and taken a belt the victims had intended to sell to him. Shortly after being robbed, the two victims were driving in the area when they again encountered Scott, who shot at the pair, hitting the driver in the head. The victim was taken to Renown Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. His name was not released. The second teen was not hurt.

During sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Amos Stege argued Scotts crime was an egregious and pre-planned act of violence.

In 2014, Nevada law regarding certification of juveniles who commit violent crimes changed. Before the change, juveniles charged with murder or attempted murder would have been automatically considered adult defendants. Now, adult certification for these charges must be specifically sought by the District Attorney, a decision which is based on the nature of the offense, the history of the offender and the considered safety of the community.

In addition to the removal of automatic adult certification, the 2015 legislature changed the penalties for juveniles convicted as adults and eliminated life without parole sentences. In Nevada, the maximum sentence that can be imposed on a juvenile is life with the possibility of parole in 20 years unless the conviction resulted from a murder where two or more deaths occurred.
One of China's problems is road congestion and loosely implemented traffic regulations. (Photo : Getty Images)

A school bus carrying kindergarteners crashed into a tunnel in eastern China and burned, Tuesday, May 10. Several South Korean and Chinese students died, along with their bus driver, according to an article by Channel News Asia.



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The students, aged 3 to 6, were from a South Korean international school located in Weihai, Shandong Province.



There are mixed reports about the exact number of South Korean and Chinese students who perished in the accident. According to the Weihai propaganda department, five of those who died were South Korean, while six were Chinese.



Meanwhile, reports from the South Korean consulate in Qingdao told AP that 10 of the students were South Korean, five of whom were dual Chinese nationals. The consular official also said that the students were aged 4 to 7.



Local authorities said that the school bus was on its way to Weihai Zhongshi South Korean International when it crashed in the Taojiakuang tunnel at approximately 9 a.m.



A video of the accident, which showed cars avoiding the bus engulfed in flames, was posted on Peoples Dailys official Twitter account. The video has yet to be verified, and the accident is currently under investigation.



In response to the accident, South Koreas acting president Hwang Kyo-Ahn has expressed sorrow, according to Channel News Asia. Hwang has also instructed South Koreas foreign ministry to assist with the investigation and keep the families of those affected updated on any new developments.



Road accidents are not uncommon in China. In 2015, over 180,000 traffic accidents that resulted in 58,000 deaths were recorded. Most people point at the loosely implemented traffic regulations in the country as the primary cause of such events.



Furthermore, buses traveling long distances tend to carry passengers beyond their limit. These vehicles are the most prone to high fatalities.


By Yoon Ja-young



New President Moon Jae-in began his term putting job creation as his first priority. The job market, however, is in worse shape than ever, showing tough challenges lie ahead.



According to Statistics Korea, the number of jobless people stood at 1.17 million in April, up 99,000 from a year earlier and the highest April figure ever. The 4.2 percent unemployment rate is also the highest since April 2004. The youth unemployment rate was also the highest ever for the month, recording 11.2 percent.



The number of jobs edged up, but their quality wasn't good. The number of employed people reached 26.58 million in April, up 424,000 from a year ago. However, jobs in the manufacturing sector and other industries deemed stable and relatively well-paying are decreasing. The manufacturing sector shed 62,000 jobs, continuing to decrease since last July amid ongoing corporate restructuring.



The number of the self-employed jumped by 105,000, rising for the ninth consecutive month. This, however, only reflects that those who were laid off are left with no other option than starting their own business.



"Though the number of the employed has increased, it lacks qualitative growth when considering the soaring number of the self-employed and rising youth unemployment. Downward pressures also remain such as external and internal uncertainties and corporate restructuring," an official at the finance ministry said.



Analysts note the Moon administration started off in the worst job market condition ever since the Kim Dae-jung administration, which began when the country was hit by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.



Amid the tough job market, President Moon's first order since his inauguration was to set up a presidential committee on job affairs.



His presidential pledges included creating 810,000 jobs in the public sector by hiring more civil servants as well as cutting working hours. This contrasts with former administrations which insisted the government should focus on helping the private sector create more jobs through deregulation and labor market reform.



"There will be an economic paradigm shift, from business-led economic growth to a people-focused one which is based on jobs and income," noted Kim Doo-un, an economist at Hana Financial Investment.



Analysts agree Korea's public sector has room for more jobs. The public sector takes only 7.6 percent of employment, which is only one third of the 21.3 percent average of OECD member countries.



They also note that cutting Korea's long working hours - 2,113 hours a year and far longer than the OECD average of 1,766 hours - will create more jobs.



However, economists note Moon's job policy has limitations.



"Previous administrations were relatively successful in job policies compared with other countries during the global financial crisis. The unemployment rate didn't soar as high as in other countries. However, it only succeeded in terms of quantity, not quality," said Park Jong-kyu, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Finance.



He pointed out wages have remained stagnant though the number of jobs increased. Only low-wage jobs were created, not decent jobs. He doubts whether it would be different with the new president.



"The new administration plans to create jobs in the public sector, but can we call them decent jobs? Of course they will be stable, but no government can create highly productive and well-paying jobs."



He added that the new president's chaebol reform plan may help create such jobs, though it is not regarded as a job policy.



"If chaebol reform leads to better business surroundings for small and medium-sized firms, they will have room to raise wages for workers," he said. "That might help improve the job market."




By Lee Hyo-sik



Volvo, Tongyang and other foreign-invested companies here paid huge dividends to their head offices abroad, but were stingy on corporate giving, according to the data released by CEO Score, Thursday.



The corporate information provider said that from 2015 to 2016, the top 44 foreign businesses here by sales sent 75.9 percent of their net profits to their headquarters in dividends.



They wired a combined 2.69 trillion won ($2.4 billion) out of the 3.55 trillion won net profits to their shareholders overseas. But 374 top Korean companies paid only 23.6 percent of their net profits as dividends to their stakeholders, CEO Score said.



In 2016, Volvo Korea sent a 110 billion won dividend to its head office in Sweden, 1.92 times more than its 57.3 billion won net profit. This means that the carmaker sent almost twice its annual profit to its headquarters.



The ratio, which refers to the percentage of net profit paid to shareholders in dividends, for Tongyang Insurance was 170.2 percent as it paid a 20.4 billion won dividend to Anbang Insurance and other foreign stakeholders. Anbang holds a 75.34 percent stake in Tongyang, which posted a 12 billion won net profit last year.



Toshiba Electronics Korea, Continental Automotive System, Adidas Korea, 3M Korea and BMW Korea all paid dividends larger than their net profits, according to CEO Score.



In stark contrast to their lavish dividend payments, the 44 non-Korean companies were reluctant to give back to local communities. They are found to have spent a combined 60.4 billion won on corporate giving, or mere 0.05 percent of their 115.8 trillion won sales.



FRL Korea, which operates the country's largest fast-fashion brand, Uniqlo, did not spend anything on corporate social giving, even though the company chalked up 1.18 trillion won in sales and an 82.8 billion won net profit from selling clothes to local consumers.



Nomura Financial Investment and Renault Samsung Motors were also found to have been stingy on implementing community improvement programs or giving money to charities.



But Apro Financial of Japan, the biggest private moneylender, was found to be the most generous in social giving as it spent 0.33 percent of its 2016 sales, or 2.8 billion won, followed by Philip Morris Korea with 0.25 percent, Yuhan Kimberly with 0.22 percent and S-Oil with 0.14 percent.



"We don't need to resort to nationalism but we need to check how much foreign enterprises here contribute to the Korean economy. That's why we looked into them in terms of dividends and social donations," CEO Score head Park Ju-geun said. "We found that some companies are doing this but quite a few are not. In other words, many foreign companies do not contribute to our economy that much."




By Park Hyong-ki



As the presidential election came to an end with Moon Jae-in's landslide win reducing uncertainty, politically driven stocks linked to candidates have fallen.



Some tech shares linked to the Moon government's policy promoting the Fourth Industrial Revolution are expected to see growth, analysts say.



Stocks such as DSR Wire, BMT and Wooridul Pharmaceutical, which had gained during Moon's campaign, are restabilizing, falling to levels before their exorbitant hype.



AhnLab, a vaccine software program maker, also nosedived more than 70 percent over the last month from its high of 14,900 won per share.



Financial regulators previously warned investors of these politically themed stocks that they have nothing to do with the presidential candidates.



BMT, which makes valves, filed a disclosure, saying, "We have no relations with the former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea Moon Jae-in."



Its shares had increased amid misinformation that the two were somehow connected as the company is based in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, where Moon owns a house.



Also, DSR Wire, a producer of wires and fiber ropes, saw its shares increase to above 10,000 won from around 7,000 won as its chief executive went to the same high school as Moon.



Wooridul shares rose to a 52-week high of 28,600 won, but are falling toward 12,000 won. This company also has nothing to do with Moon. In 2003, former President Roh Moo-hyun was treated at Wooridul's hospital.



AhnLab shares saw growth amid the rise of Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party as the potential leader and commander-in-chief of Korea who closely contended with Moon.



But Ahn said during televised debates, "I have not been involved in the company's management for more than 10 years."



Ahn has an 18.6 percent stake in the company and is its largest shareholder, according to its audit filing.



Tech shares such as Koh Young Technology, a semiconductor equipment maker, and Mobile Appliance, a software developer, are likely to rise as the new government seeks to implement policies promoting the Fourth Industrial Revolution.



"The market can expect to see the expansion of electric vehicles, the internet of things and artificial intelligence," said Kim Sang-pyo, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.




By Park Hyong-ki



The Korea Minting, Security Printing and ID Card Operating Corp. (KOMSCO) is seeking to become one of the global top five currency minting and security companies as it further expands its business through exports this year, the state-run currency manufacturer said Thursday.



It is looking to increase exports of banknote and security papers, and electronic passports and identification cards using its anti-forgery technology by 57 percent to 51.3 billion won this year from the previous year.



The company currently manufactures more than 600 different types of products including commemorative banknotes, medals, welfare cards and ID cards for civil servants.



It hopes to win a state award given to companies that achieve exports of more than $70 million, it added.



"We are expanding export destinations to countries in Central and East Asia, Europe and Africa," a KOMSCO official said, noting that it has exported its products to the Philippines, Italy and Switzerland.



In March this year, it closed a deal to produce and export electronic national identification cards to Kyrgyzstan for the first time in the company's history.



KOMSCO will supply some 3 million e-ID cards to Kyrgyzstan, which seeks to develop an e-government system.



It plans to deliver those cards by August this year, two months ahead of the country's presidential election in October, KOMSCO said.



Its Kyrgyzstan contract follows a deal to export 4,606 tons of banknotes to Indonesia, and inks to Canada and Switzerland.

Over the last three years, KOMSCO has achieved record sales through exports.



It posted 464.3 billion won in sales in 2016, up from 459.5 billion won in 2015. The company said it has been running its business without debt.



"We will seek to grow as a top-tier global minting and security company with our anti-forgery technology by actively tapping new markets overseas," KOMSCO CEO Kim Hwa-dong said in a press statement.



Established in 1951, KOMSCO has been the sole manufacturer of the Korean currency.




Institutes hope Moon will improve corporate governance



By Nam Hyun-woo



Global financial firms and rating agencies expressed their optimism on new President Moon Jae-in, anticipating that his administration will improve the country's corporate governance and clear up uncertainties.



Moody's said Moon's win removed political uncertainty involving the leadership vacuum in the wake of the removal from office of former President Park Geun-hye, expecting consistency in economic and fiscal policies.



"The conclusion of the impeachment process in mid-March was credit positive for the sovereign because it allowed the new president to come in and focus on formulating policies that address Korea's structural economic challenges amid growing domestic and external headwinds to growth," Moody's Senior Credit Officer Steffen Dyck said.



He said the administration will face challenges including structural reform of the labor markets and social security, corporate restructuring, chaebol reform and the country's snowballing household debt.



But the government will have ammunition to tackle them  "ample fiscal space" to support Asia's fourth largest economy.



"While there might be a shift in focus in some structural reform areas, we expect that fiscal policies will remain anchored and guided by the principles of limiting deficits to 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and keeping government debt below 45 percent of GDP," Dyck said.



According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea's central and municipal government debt reached 627 trillion won ($555 billion) last year, accounting for 38.3 percent of the country's GDP.



The average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members stood at 116.3 percent last year.



Goldman Sachs also expressed its positive opinion on Moon's election.



"We expect corporate governance will likely continue to improve along with broad-based support for the need for better governance as a sound business strategy," Goldman Sachs economist Kwon Goo-hoon said.



However, Kwon said changes in the Commercial Law could be limited to certain areas because all three progressive parties control only 56 percent of the National Assembly. Moon is Korea's first liberal head of state in 10 years.



He said the National Pension Service's (NPS) adoption of a stewardship code would be a more likely step toward improved corporate governance.



The stewardship code, or a set of guidelines for exercising shareholders' voting rights, was introduced in Korea last year aimed at encouraging major institutional investors, including the NPS.



Analysts say that if the NPS joins the stewardship code, more asset management companies will follow and improve the structure of corporate governance as well as create jobs.



Moon said last month that he would direct the NPS to adopt the stewardship code as soon as he takes office.



Franklin Templeton Investments also said that Koreans have voted for changes and Moon's bid to reform conglomerates will revalue Korean companies more positively.



"I think chaebol reform should result in better corporate governance and could lift the prices of many Korean companies, as the so-called Korean discount narrows," Templeton Emerging Markets Group Executive Chairman Mark Mobius said.



The Korea discount refers to the amount by which investors undervalue Korean stocks.



"With Moon's victory, we are hopeful for reform within the chaebol system," Mobius said. "A weakening of the chaebol system could give an opportunity for smaller companies to grow and prosper without being dependent on the chaebol. We look forward to exploring potential opportunities in Korea."




Hana, Samsung Fire CEOs graduated from same high school as Moon



By Nam Hyun-woo





Kim Jung-tae, Hana Financial Group Chairman Ahn Min-soo, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance CEO Kim Seok-dong, former Financial Services Commission Chairman Park Jong-bok, Standard Chartered Bank Korea President

Koreans are infamous for valuing networks from their school years, especially for their professional careers. In this sense, a few financial big names may be smiling after the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in this week.



Most notable fellow alumni of Moon in the finance industry include Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tae and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance CEO Ahn Min-soo, who went to the same high school  Kyungnam High School in Busan  along with Moon. Kim and Moon graduated from the school in 1971 while Ahn did so five years later.



Hana Financial Group outside director Yoon Sung-bock, former NH Nonghyup Financial Group Chairman Shin Dong-kyu and former BC Card CEO Seo Joon-hee also studied at the school.



Should Moon's school network expand further, former Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong and Standard Chartered Bank Korea President Park Jong-bok would be on the radar.



Kim graduated from Gyeongnam Middle School in Busan years later than did Moon. Kim is on the lips of observers as a candidate for key government jobs because of his credits in corporate restructuring while serving as the chief financial regulator from 2011 to 2013.



Park is one of Moon's fellow Kyung Hee University alumni. Others include Hanwha Life Insurance Vice President Yoon Byung-chul and Seoul Guarantee Insurance Executive Director Kim Sang-taek.



Some expect that Moon's presence will improve future job opportunities of the aforementioned figures. In the previous administrations, fellow alumni of presidents tended to work at crucial public or private posts.



However, others say that Moon might be different so that his fellow alumni might face "reverse discrimination."



"Moon is known to shun appointing or caring for figures in line with school connections," said an industry official asking not to be named. "The chances are that his fellow alumni would not be able to advance to significant jobs because Moon is expected to block them."



Reportedly, Moon neither attends alumni meetings nor takes extra care of his schoolmates.



Such an unconventional stance is seemingly reflected in Moon's appointments of his chief secretaries. On Thursday, Moon named two professors, who are not fellow alumni, as his top secretaries for civil and personnel affairs.



For civil affairs, he named Cho Kuk, a 52-year-old law professor from Seoul National University. Given the position has been occupied by senior prosecution officials, the appointment of Cho, who is outside of the prosecution, is interpreted as Moon's bid to reform the prosecution.



For personnel affairs, Moon named Cho Hyun-ock, a visiting professor at Ehwa Womans University. She is the first woman to take the job.



Moon's chief of staff Im Jong-seok said "She is expected to take a leading role in breaking the glass ceiling."
A hot air balloon in the Jeju sky / Yonhap



By Jung Min-ho

There is nothing quite like looking down at the natural landscape of Jeju Island from the sky.

The "dream ride" is no longer just a dream after Oreum Balloons, a hot air balloon operator, began the service earlier this month for the first time in Korea, following approval from the Jeju Regional Office of Aviation (JROA).

The balloon lifts off with passengers at Songdang-ri at sunrise. The journey offers gorgeous views of Jeju from 2,000 feet above the ground for about one hour.

After arriving at its destination, one of the 10 selected spots, the passengers and pilot uncork a bottle of champagne to enjoy the repose and take photos together.

Kim Jong-kook, the vice president of the Korea Balloon Association and a veteran pilot, is the company's CEO. He has been piloting balloons for 30 years in 30 different countries.





Kim Jong-kook, CEO of Oreum Balloons, takes a selfie with passengers on the ride. / Yonhap



"The landscape of Jeju is more beautiful than that of many other famous spots I have flown over," he said. "I want to make this experience one of the most interesting and successful services for tourists in Korea."

The cost for the ride is 396,000 won ($350), and group purchases (more than three people) can receive a 10 percent discount. The company offers the service only once a day, which requires reservations.

Kim came up with the business idea in 2015 and received funding of 25 million won ($22,000) from the Korea Tourism Organization. But the JROA rejected its operations three times because of safety issues before it finally gave the green light.

The JROA expressed concerns over wind generators and transmission towers in the areas where the balloon would fly. After changing its flying courses, he was given the opportunity to make a test flight, which was successful.

Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong welcomed the approval, too. On his Facebook page on April 24, he said he expects more innovative business ideas like this for Jeju.

Kim also plans to foster hot air balloon pilots while operating his business. He said he ultimately wants to establish an academy for aspiring pilots.
President Moon Jae-in Chinese leader Xi Jinping



By Park Si-soo



South Korea's newly elected President Moon Jae-in and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed Thursday that denuclearizing North Korea is a "common goal" for the two countries, Cheong Wa Dae said.

In their first phone conversation that lasted 40 minutes, the two leaders "agreed that denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is the two countries' common goal," presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told reporters.

The two agreed to hold a summit "in the near future," the spokesman said.

He said Xi had explained to Moon China's position on Korea's deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system. But he did not elaborate.
















By Kim Bo-eun

More statues symbolizing former sex slaves will be set up in Seoul by August amid growing tensions between Korea and Japan over the issue of comfort women mobilized for Japanese troops before and during World War II.

The move comes after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested a district office in Busan last month to relocate the statue in front of the Japanese Consulate there, after it became a source of friction with Tokyo.

In January, the Japanese government recalled its ambassador to Korea in protest of Seoul's "failure to remove the statue."

But more statues are set to be installed. Seoul's district offices of Dobong, Gangseo and Geumcheon are set to have them set up by Liberation Day on Aug. 15, marking Korea's 1945 liberation from Japanese occupation.

The statues are being set up to protest a deal reached between the two countries in December 2015, in which the Japanese government provided 1 billion yen to help the victims but did not acknowledge its legal responsibility for its wartime atrocity.












Former sex slave victim Ahn Jeom-soon, 90, holds the hand of a statue symbolizing women such as herself who were mobilized for the Japanese military before and during World War II, at the unveiling ceremony for the statue in the German municipality of Wiesen, Wednesday. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun

A statue symbolizing victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII was installed in Germany's municipality of Wiesent, Wednesday, marking International Women's Day.

While similar statues have been established in the United States, Canada, Australia and China, this is the first one to be set up in Europe  as a means to promote global awareness of comfort women.

Around 100 people gathered for the ceremony marking the statue's opening at Nepal-Himalaya Pavilion Park in Wiesent in the Resenburg District, including Ahn Jeom-soon, a 90-year-old victim from Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young pushed for the statue to be set up in the southwestern city of Freiburg, but obstruction from Japan prompted the change in location.

Last September, the committee for the statue was launched with members of women's, religious and civic groups. The committee raised funds for the statue and other activities promoting awareness.












Yulin Naval Base (Photo : Getty Images)

According to a Defense News report, the deployment of multiple missile launchers was seen in the satellite images of China's South Korea base. Observers believe that the launchers are for anti-ship ballistic missiles.



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The direction in which the launchers are facing leads us to believe these are shore-to-ship missiles, said Amit Gur, an analyst at ImageSat International (ISI) imagery.



The Peoples Liberation Armys Yulin Naval Base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea is a vital submarine base for the South Fleet and contains Chinas nuclear submarines. It also houses a sizeable collection of surface ships.



China has been boosting its defenses for this particular base, the tip of the spear for projecting Chinese power into the disputed South China Sea.



Two years ago, systems comparable to those shown in the latest satellite imagery were observed. They vanished a few months ago and have recently resurfaced. Satellite images taken on March 15 display empty platforms, but images from May 8 reveal supposed shore-to-ship missile launchers.



ISI is uncertain whether the assumed missile launchers, situated on the western side of the base, are the original systems or new weapons system.



According to ISI spokesman Gil Or, ISI spotted on the eastern side of the base infrastructure that wasnt there before and what looks like preparations for shore-to-ship missiles, just like on the western side.



Chinas anti-access, area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities may be fortified with the addition of new anti-missile systems.



The advancements in the defensive military outposts located in the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands have also increased Chinese presence in the South China Sea, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said.



The Trump administration is expected to object Chinas maritime claims, which are contested due to freedom-of-navigation operations. The Navy, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to freedom of navigation and said that it will perform the pertinent operations sometime soon.



What appears to be fortification on China's South Korea base will strengthen the presence of the country in the disputed South China Sea territory.


By Yi Whan-woo

The diplomatic row between Korea and Japan over "comfort women" may deepen in the years to come because no presidential candidate here respects a bilateral agreement signed in December 2015.

All five major presidential nominees  Moon Jae-in, Ahn Cheol-soo, Hong Joon-pyo, Yoo Seong-min and Sim Sang-jung  are pledging to either renegotiate or scrap the deal.

Their diplomatic principles are contrary to Japan's plan to ensure that the next Korean government will carry out the deal as promised by the outgoing conservative administration.

Analysts said Wednesday failing to narrow the gap may take Seoul-Tokyo relations to their lowest level. They said bilateral ties may become worse than before December 2015 when the two countries made the controversial agreement.

"At least one side may need to yield ground, and it is very unlikely to happen," said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy.

Shin Yul, a politics science professor at Myongji University echoed a view, saying "Korea must get ready for the worst."

He pointed out that even the two conservative candidates  South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong of the Liberty Party of Korea (LDP) and Rep. Yoo of the Bareun Party  are with their liberal rivals in protesting the December 2015 deal.

Hong said it would be "right to scrap the deal," adding, "It is a betrayal of the spirit of the country."












Korean-Americans want Moon to help nation regain stability

By Jane Han

DALLAS  As South Korea ends close to a decade of conservative rule and ushers in a new era after liberal President Moon Jae-in took office Wednesday, Koreans in the U.S. expressed high hopes for their mother country and a new generation of Korea-U.S. relations.

''Whether you voted for Moon or not, this is an exciting and crucial turning point for our country,'' said Kim Jin-tae, a 48-year-old software engineer in Los Angeles, who was one of more than 200,000 overseas Koreans  a record number  to cast ballots last month for the presidential election.

''Regardless of political affiliation, I think every Korean can agree that we need someone strong, firm and decisive to steer our country out of the current political, social and economic turbulence,'' he said.












By Yi Whan-woo

President Moon Jae-in is expected to push for dialogue with North Korea based on close consultations with the United States, analysts said Thursday.

They dismissed concerns that Moon's dialogue overture toward Pyongyang could be out of tune with Donald Trump's hard-line policy, saying Moon is unlikely to resume inter-Korean ties at the cost of hurting the alliance with Washington.

"Regarding inter-Korean relations, Moon will not attempt any contact with North Korea that can surprise the U.S," said Moon Chung-in, a Yonsei University professor who served as the chief architect of North Korea policy during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Moon was Roh's chief of staff.

The professor referred to Moon's inauguration speech, Wednesday, during which he said he will "fly to Washington right away if necessary."

Moon, who once said he will unhesitatingly visit North Korea before the U.S. if he was elected president, suggested going to Pyongyang when "conditions are set."

"The president hinted at resolving inter-Korean ties through cooperation with the U.S. by underscoring the Seoul-Washington alliance while refraining from mentioning North Korea," the professor said.

Pointing out the Trump administration did not rule out dialogue with North Korea in its strategy of "maximum pressure and engagement," the professor urged the government to "coordinate North Korea policy with the U.S."

"So that we can not only keep up with putting pressure on Pyongyang but also focus on engagement," he said.

He added that the two allies should divide their roles on North Korea  the U.S. playing "bad cop" and South Korea "good cop."

Other experts echoed a similar view, citing Moon had a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump first among world leaders, Wednesday.












President Moon Jae-in laughs with children at Daeyoung Elementary School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, southwestern Seoul, while on the campaign trail, March 22. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun

For many voters with children, education reform was one of the most important pledges they based their votes on. The election of President Moon Jae-in is drawing keen attention to his education pledges.

Status quo

Korea's education system is defined as a means to enter prestigious universities. This is because workplaces evaluate job applicants based on their alma maters. This makes it even tougher for young people to find jobs in the tight job market.

Parents put their children in private academies starting in elementary school, with hopes of them getting a head start and outperforming their peers, as competition to enter the top universities is sky-high. The costs of private education pose a huge burden.

Students have no time to discover and nurture their talents or explore careers, because they are so focused on their studies for the CSAT. They decide on their college majors based on their CSAT scores, oftentimes leading to mismatches and difficulties in finding jobs.

Abolishing rankings

As a means to address this deep-rooted problem, Moon said he will legislate a law which bans discrimination based on academic background. The law will abolish putting academic background on resumes. The bill has been submitted to the National Assembly.

At the same time, in the long run, Moon envisions integrating all state universities, including the nation's top school Seoul National University, as a means to eliminate school rankings.

In order to make this possible, he said he will draw up negotiating bodies comprised of representatives and members of state universities across the nation to create a network. The universities will co-recruit and provide graduates with diplomas from the entire network of schools. Students and faculty members will be able to earn credits and teach classes at all of the schools.

The system will collaborate with private universities in the long run.

Moon has also pledged to abolish hierarchy at the high school level. This will be done by turning foreign language, international and autonomous high schools, which are known as prestigious schools with their own curriculum, into regular schools that offer free education.

Expanding career exploration opportunities

Moon said he will improve and expand the program currently running at middle schools, which frees students from the regular curriculum for one semester and allows them to explore their career options.

At high schools, his plans on enabling students to select the classes they wish to take, as university students do. This will allow them to take classes based on their aptitudes, enabling them to prepare for their future careers.

All of these policies will be pushed forward by a newly established independent state education committee, instead of the education ministry. This will prevent education plans from being halted with a change in administration every five years.

Hopes

Parents, educators and civic activists are calling for the new President to take action.

"My hope is that the next President reforms the education system, so the younger generations do not experience difficulties in entering university and do not have limits to pursuing their studies," said Ryu Jae-hee, 78, after casting her vote.

"We hope the President will listen to the voices of those working in education, and communicate with them to gradually solve the issues at hand," the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations said in a statement.

"Discussions about getting ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution have been taking place. Cultivating creative students should be a key effort," said Song In-soo of World Without Worries about Shadow Education, a civic group aimed at tackling private education.

"But students are currently caught up in excessive competition on entrance exams. With the low birth rate, the number of children is decreasing, posing greater challenges. Abandoning this matter will result in grave implications for the nation."
By Jun Ji-hye

President Moo Jae-in faces a tough diplomatic challenge involving the controversial deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea.

Experts say the THAAD issue is one of the urgent matters that the new administration needs to resolve, given that the issue has become complicated due to U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt call on Seoul to pay $1 billion for the deployment as well as China's economic sanctions against Seoul in retaliation.

Domestically, arguments both for and against the deployment are ongoing as well, with residents living in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province  the site of the advanced missile defense system  still protesting against it.

Throughout his campaign, Moon showed a firm position calling on the THAAD issue to be discussed again by the new government. He said the new leader should be allowed to use the issue as a diplomatic card in dealing with relations with the U.S. and China as well as North Korea.

Criticizing the former President Park Geun-hye's rush to agree to the installation, Moon vowed to seek the National Assembly's approval.

After being sworn in, Moon continued to adhere to this, saying "I will enter into earnest negotiations with the U.S. and China to resolve the THAAD issue" during his inaugural address, Wednesday.












By Kim Se-jeong

Departing top prosecutor Kim Soo-nam

The nation's top prosecutor offered to resign Thursday, two days after the presidential election that brought victory to liberal candidate Moon Jae-in.

Offering his resignation, Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam said, "The investigation into former President Park Geun-hye is over. The presidential election has been completed without any problem. I believe I have done my job and that it's time for me to leave."

His departure is earlier than mandated  his term ends Dec. 1.

Kim's resignation will likely pave the way for President Moon to press for his much-touted reform of the prosecution.

Kim recalled his decision to arrest Park in his last remarks.












Geoje Mayor Kwon Min-ho visits merchants at Okpo Central Market on Mar. 2 after sales fell due to a depressed local economy. / Korea Times file



By Eom Da-sol

A flea market with foreign sellers will be held in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, on May 13.

"Geoje International Market" is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Okpo Central Market. Foreign residents who live near the venue will participate as sellers.

Visitors will be able to try dishes from about 10 countries, including an Italian pizza baked at the site by an Italian cook. Handmade accessories and baby clothes will be available while there will be information booths on education opportunities for foreigners in Korea. Visitors can also watch K-pop dance performances.

Okpo Central Market is the region's famous traditional market but there has been a decrease in visitors recently due to a depressed local economy heavily reliant on the ailing shipbuilding industry, according to News1 Korea.

Inviting foreign residents as sellers is part of the market's plan to invigorate sales. "There are relatively more foreign residents in Geoje than the neighboring cities," a market official said, adding that the international market will help attract customers.

"Okpo Central Market is too small to hold a wide promotion campaign," an official from the Korea Offshore and Shipbuilding Association said. "The market will do its best to search for new customers and sellers, starting with foreigners this time."

For more information, call 055-688-2855.
The "comfort women" statue in front of the former site of the Japanese Embassy. / Yonhap



By Lee Han-soo

A lawmaker submitted an amendment bill Wednesday to boost government support for "comfort women" statues built by civic groups.

The bill from Kim Hae-young, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), backs  on request  sculptures related to comfort women.

If the bill passes, civic groups will be able to request government support for a statue through the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. A panel will review the request and, once approved, the minister can make an official request to the local municipal government.
Cho Kuk

By Kim Rahn



Moon Jae-in, new president of Korea, named Seoul National University professor Cho Kuk, 52, as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

It is rare for the post, in charge of personnel vetting and law enforcement affairs, to be filled with a non-prosecutor; Cho's appointment is seen as strong will to reform the prosecution as he has long called for it.












North Korea urged South Korea's new government Thursday to end what it called confrontational policies, including joint military drills with the United States. / Yonhap





North Korea urged South Korea's new government Thursday to end what it called confrontational policies, including joint military drills with the United States.

Rodong Sinmun, the main newspaper at the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, made the call after liberal politician Moon Jae-in was sworn in as South Korea's new president on Wednesday.

"The two Koreas should respect each other and open a new chapter to move toward an improvement of their ties and inter-Korean unification," the newspaper said.

It said South Korea should end annual military exercises with the U.S. and prohibit Seoul activists from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

Moon is widely expected to seek engagement with North Korea to improve long-strained ties though Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs are limiting his leeway for reconciliatory policies.

While on the campaign trail, Moon vowed to seek a dual-track approach of pushing denuclearization and dialogue with Pyongyang.

The president said Wednesday that he could visit North Korea under the right conditions for talks over the North's nuclear and missile program.

North Korea's newspaper condemned the latest two-month military drills, repeating its long-standing claim that the move was war rehearsal for a northern invasion. The exercises which mobilized U.S. strategic assets ended in April.

It also demanded that South Korea stop anti-North Korea activists' leaflet campaigns.

North Korea is highly sensitive to the propaganda activities that aim to help ordinary North Koreans know the truth about its repressive regime.

The North also raised the need to ease military tension on the Korean Peninsula, calling for measures to reduce risks of conflict near the border and the contested western waters in the Yellow Sea.

"North and South Korea should seek dialogue and negotiations at various levels," the newspaper said. (Yonhap)
China Live News Broadcast (Photo : Getty Images)

In line with a new cyberspace law, Chinas Internet regulator issued an order to curb live news broadcasts of five leading Web portals in the country.



Advertisement

The order was issued on Monday by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC)Beijing Branch in an effort to control online content providers prior to the full implementation of a new cyberspace law. It will cover live content from newscasts with news anchors and live streaming hosts.



Authorities accused websites operated by Sina Corp., Tencent Holdings Ltd., NetEase Inc., iFeng and Phoenix Television of breaching the most recent version of Chinas 2005 News Information Service Regulations, forcing the portals to refurbish content.



The portals had failed to abide by the rule that took effect last week prohibiting the spreading of original news content on any website without affiliation with a news publication, such as newspaper or magazine, approved by the state.



The portals newscasts also violated the live streaming oversight rules. The rules, released by the CAC in November, state that all scripts made for live streaming news that can be accessed through apps and websites must be checked by an authorized news editor prior to broadcast.



Cyberspace authorities recently issued the extensive regulations, which will be fully implemented on June 1, to cover all online news content providers, including websites, apps, instant messaging apps, blogs, social media accounts and forums.



Starting June 1, all online content providers to Chinese-mainland Internet users will need to have a cyberspace administration permit to be allowed to post news or news commentaries.



As specified by the law, online content providers must be officially registered on the mainland and the position of chief editors must be filled by a citizen of the Peoples Republic of China.



The move on Tuesday is the second time in two months that the countrys Internet regulators have curbed news and commentary shows connected to major news portals.



A number of news-themed programs, including military and international affairs shows broadcast by iFeng, Tencent, Sina and Sohu Inc. were commanded to be removed from the Internet. According to authorities, the programs did not have required news publishing certificates.



The recent rules increased the CACs control over the online news industry. In August, the regulator ordered the hiring of round-the-clock monitor teams who will watch live video content and put out offensive material immediately.



The CACs supervision over online news content increases as the new cyberspace law curbs live news.


Moon Jae-in is sworn in as South Korea's 19th president during an inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly's Rotunda Hall on Wednesday. / Yonhap



This is an unofficial translation of President Moon Jae-in's inauguration speech.





My fellow Koreans:

I bow my head with deep appreciation for your gracious selection. As the 19th president of South Korea, I today take my first step toward the new South Korea. Right now, my shoulders are heavy with crucial responsibilities my fellow Koreans have bestowed upon me. My heart is burning with passion to make South Korea a nation never experienced before. My thoughts are now full of blueprints for the new world of unification and coexistence.



The new South Korea we are about to make is the country our ancestors have safeguarded despite adversity and hardship. It is also the country our young people have long aspired to make through sacrifice and devotion. To make such a country come true, I promise you with all my heart that, as I stand fearful and honest before history and people, I will do all that is required of the 19th president of South Korea.



I express appreciation as well as consolation to all the candidates who ran for the election. In this election, there is no winner or loser. We are all partners responsible for spearheading a new South Korea together. We should now put the fierce rivalry behind us and move forward with our hands joined.



My fellow Koreans, for the past few months we have been embroiled in an unprecedented political quagmire. Politics were out of control, but citizens were great. The people have opened South Korea's new way amid the incumbent president's impeachment and arrest. They saw the dangerous times, but they were not let down, turning them into an opportunity, and paving a new road. And today, they opened the new world. South Korea's greatness represents the people's greatness.



In this presidential election, our citizens wrote another page of history. The new president has been elected on the back of even support from across the country. From today, I will act as president for all the people. Those who did not support me are still my citizens and I will serve them as well.



I promise you with courage. The day of May 10, 2017, will be recorded in history as the day when the true national unity has begun.

Dear fellow Koreans:

During the recent hard times, people asked themselves, "Is this a nation worthy of being called a nation?" President Moon Jae-in will take his first step from that question. Starting today, I will be a president making South Korea a country worthy of being called a nation.



I will part with the time-old bad legacy. Before anything else, I will change this first.

My first duty will be to get rid of all authoritarian presidential legacies. As soon as preparation is complete, I will move out of Cheong Wa Dae and open a new era of the Gwanghwamun President. I will work closely with my aides. I will talk frequently with our citizens. And I will outline important messages through press conferences.



On my way home, I will drop by local markets and share honest words with citizens on the street. From time to time, I will hold discussions with the people in Gwanghwamun Square. I will share my authority as much as possible. Law-enforcing government agencies will be detached completely from politics. I will strengthen the role of the whistleblower to prevent any law enforcement agency from abusing power.

I will work with the people.

I will resolve the national security crisis as fast as possible.

I will not rest until peace is settled on the Korean Peninsula. I will fly to Washington, Beijing and Tokyo, if needed, and I will also go to Pyongyang, if conditions are met.



I will do everything in my power to bring peace to the peninsula.



I will strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance while seriously negotiating with the U.S. and China to resolve the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system issue.



Strong national security comes from strong national defense. I will work to strengthen our independent national defense capability.



I will come up with a proposal to resolve North Korea's nuclear threats and ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula through a Northeast Asia peace regime.



I will change the politics that are littered with division and conflict. Conflict between conservatives and progressives must end. As the president, I will communicate with them. The opposition party is a partner for running the government. I will meet the opposition parties regularly.



I will recruit nationwide. Appointing the right person for the right job on the basis of abilities will be my core manpower policy. Whether they support me or not, I will recruit talented people.



The economy and public welfare are now in difficulty worldwide. As I promised during my campaign, I will prioritize creating jobs. At the same time, I will put chaebol reform at the forefront. Under the Moon Jae-in administration, the "collusive link between politics and business" will completely disappear.



I will demolish ideological distrust between regions, social classes and generations and find ways to resolve irregular workers' problems. I will build a country without discrimination.



I say once again, under the Moon Jae-in government and the Democratic Party of Korea, everyone will have equal opportunities. The process will be fair, and the result will be righteous.



My fellow Koreans, this presidential election was held following the impeachment of the former president. The ill-fated history of incompetent presidents has continued until now. This unfortunate history must end with this election.



I will become a new role model for the president of South Korea. I will do my best to become a successful, incorrupt and proud president who moves in and out of office with clean hands.

I will be a president who on retirement, will return to my hometown as an ordinary citizen to share the joy of life with my neighbors. I want to be the president of whom our fellow Koreans are proud.



I will be an honest president who keeps promises. I will keep an eye on each and every promise I made during my presidential campaign.

A genuine political development will be possible only when the president takes initiatives in establishing trustworthy politics.

I will not dare to do something impossible. Instead, I will honestly apologize for any mistakes. I will not ignore public opinion. I will be the president of justice.



I will make a world without privilege. I will make a world where commonsense prevails. I will not turn my back on the problems of people around me. I will constantly look out to make sure there are no ostracized citizens.



I will be a president who wipes away citizens' tears. I promise to be a president who interacts with the citizens. I will make South Korea the strongest country, with power from the lowly and the modest. I will not be a president who reigns and rules over the citizens, but who communicates and interacts with them.



I will be a president of the new Gwanghwamun era and stay close to the citizens. I will remain as a warm and friendly president.



Dear citizens:

On May 10, 2017, South Korea restarts again. An epic journey to rebuild the nation as a real nation is about to begin. Please join me on this journey. I will devote my body and soul to the betterment of the nation. Thank you.
By Kim Hyo-jin





President Moon Jae-in plans to allow the prime minister to recommend candidates for Cabinet ministers, according to the presidential office, Thursday.



"He will have the new prime minister exert the right to recommend people for Cabinet members," Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan told reporters.



This indicates Moon intends to strengthen the role of the prime minister as he vowed to do during the election campaign.



Moon has called for curtailing presidential powers, claiming the current system gives too much to the president.



The Constitution states that a prime minister has the authority to suggest the appointment and dismissal of Cabinet members. But this has long been seen as a mere procedural.



Moon nominated South Jeolla Province Governor Lee Nak-yon as his first prime minister Wednesday.



Hwang Kyo-ahn resigned from the post the following day, leaving Yoo Il-ho, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, as acting prime minister until Lee's nomination is confirmed by the National Assembly.



In theory, Yoo could have the right to nominate Cabinet members until Lee is approved.



However, alluding to this Yoon noted that Yoo's position will be merely a stopgap measure, and his exercise of authority will be limited.



It could take a month or so to go through a parliamentary procedure including hearings for Lee's approval.



Mindful of a possibly prolonged procedure, Lee told reporters after his nomination, "If I suggest an appointment after the approval is complete, I'm worried the formation of the Cabinet could be delayed."




President Moon Jae-in strolls with newly appointed secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. They are, from left, Kwun Hyuk-ki, head of the press center at Cheong Wa Dae; Cho Kuk, senior secretary for civil affairs; Lee Joung-do, secretary for administrative affairs; Moon; Cho Hyun-ock, senior secretary for personnel affairs; Song In-bae, a Democratic Party of Korea official; Im Jong-seok, chief of staff; and Yoon Young-chan, senior secretary for public affairs. / Joint Press Corps



By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in has appointed Cho Kuk, 52, a well-known law professor at Seoul National University (SNU), as his first senior secretary for civil affairs, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday.

It is quite rare for a person without experience in law enforcement to assume the post in charge of personnel vetting and legal affairs. Cho's appointment is seen as an indication of Moon's strong desire to reform law enforcement bodies and make them politically neutral.

"Cho has strong belief in law, principles, human rights and democracy," Im Jong-seok, presidential chief of staff, told reporters.

Im said that in previous administrations, former prosecutors have usually taken the position and drawn criticism. One of the representative cases was former secretary Woo Byung-woo under the Park Geun-hye administration, who exercised absolute power with a wide range of duties from overseeing the law enforcement authorities to monitoring high-profile officials' corruption.

"The appointment of a legal expert, who has never been a prosecutor, shows Moon's strong push to have the law enforcement authorities independent from politics and to reform them," Im said. "Cho has advocated for minorities and participated in many social issues. We believe he will back up the human rights-centered state management philosophy of Moon, who was a human rights lawyer."

Cho himself also showed a firm stance about independence, saying the civil affairs secretary should not intervene in an investigation by the prosecution.

"The Korean prosecution has monopolized the right to investigate, indict and request arrest warrants, but it is doubtful whether it has used that almighty power sternly and properly," Cho said, adding the massive presidential scandal involving Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil would not have happened if the prosecution had used its power properly.

He reiterated Moon's pledge to set up a separate body to monitor high-ranking public officials' corruption.

Born in Busan, Cho majored in law at SNU and obtained a doctorate at U.C. Berkeley. He has taught law at his alma mater since 2001. He has never entered politics but openly supported Moon via speeches and campaigns.

Cho Hyun-ock, 61, a visiting professor at Ewha Womans University, was appointed as senior secretary for personnel affairs. Cho is de facto the first woman to take the position _ at the end of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Jeong Young-ae held the post for three months.

Her appointment is in line with Moon's pledge to pick more talented women with the aim of creating a balanced government. She studied political diplomacy at Ewha and obtained a doctorate at the University of Heidelberg; and was a presidential secretary under the Roh administration when Moon was the chief of staff. Cho then worked as the head of Seoul Metropolitan Government's women and family policy affairs office.

Yoon Young-chan, former vice president of Naver, was tapped for senior secretary for public affairs. The 53-year-old was a reporter at the Dong-A Ilbo before moving to Naver. He joined Moon's camp in March as chief of its social media campaign division.

Lee Joung-do, a former official from the finance ministry, was named secretary for administrative affairs. The position, which is tasked with managing Cheong Wa Dae expenditure and financial issues, used to be taken by the president's close aides. "The appointment of Lee, a career administrative official, shows Moon's decision to run the presidential office transparently according to principles," Im said.

Kwun Hyuk-ki, who was the vice spokesman for Moon during the campaign, was named head of the press center at Cheong Wa Dae. Hong Nam-ki, vice minister of science, ICT and future planning, was appointed head of the Office of Government Policy Coordination.
By Kim Se-jeong



Members of Ilbe, a website popular among those with ultra-conservative views, are rushing to delete their posts they made denigrating liberal President Moon Jae-in during the election campaign.



Since Tuesday, one of its members-only boards has been flooded with requests to the web managers to delete their old messages criticizing Moon.



"I don't want to be sued," one member wrote on the website that is operated anonymously.



The website's full name is Ilbe Storage. The website values the freedom of expression of its users and due to its far right political stance, messages defaming President Moon and other liberal politicians were common. Yet, it frequently comes under criticism for the behavior of its members  many are offensive, prejudiced and hostile to those with different ideas.



The delete requests continued on Thursday, two days after Moon's victory.



The sudden surge of requests reflects fears among the users over possible action by law enforcement.



In Korea, defamation is a crime punishable with a prison term or fine, and a police investigation of the users is possible if a criminal complaint is made.



In November 2013, then-first lady Lee Hui-ho asked prosecutors to investigate Ilbe users for defamation of her late husband Kim Dae-jung by spreading lies.



The website has had other troubles, with some happening recently.



When police were investigating a man for alleged sexual harassment of Yoo Dam, daughter of the Bareun Party's presidential candidate Yoo Seong-min, earlier this week, they considered searching Ilbe with suspicions the suspect was an Ilbe member who uploaded a photo of him with Yoo at a campaign event in Seoul.



President Moon and former President Kim are among many leaders and public figures the Ilbe members have explicitly attacked. Members also made rude and dirty jokes and parody music about former President Roh Moo-hyun.



Many also made jokes about the Gwangju Uprising of May 27, 1980. In November 2013, one Ilbe user was put on trial for defamation after belittling the victims of the military's deadly suppression of the pro-democratic uprising.



They are also known for their hatred of the Jeolla region, a stronghold of liberal politicians.



From time to time, they have gathered offline, and police have arrested some members for disrupting public order.












President raises history issue in phone talks with Abe





Chinese President Xi Jinping Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

By Kim Rahn

Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested holding an early summit in Beijing to South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.

The heads of the two countries had a 40-minute phone conversation to discuss various issues in Northeast Asia, including North Korea's nuclear program and the installation of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea.

This was the first time for a Chinese president to give a congratulatory call to a newly-elected South Korean president, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

The previous day, U.S. President Donald Trump also called Moon and proposed holding a summit. It is yet to be seen which of the two countries Moon will visit first  almost all his predecessors visited the U.S.

Moon and Xi agreed that denuclearization of North Korea was a common goal for the two countries, which requires efforts by all nations involved.

"The North's nuclear issue should be addressed comprehensively and gradually, and we should employ both pressure and sanctions and negotiations," Moon said. "The ultimate purpose of the sanctions is also to bring the North to the table for negotiations."

South Korea and China have been estranged in recent months over the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here as a deterrent against North Korea's ballistic missile attacks.












/ Yonhap



More than 80 percent of South Koreans expect new President Moon Jae-in to skillfully manage state affairs, a survey showed Thursday.

In the poll conducted Wednesday, 83.8 percent of respondents said they think the new president will be "very good" (35.3 percent) or "quite good" (48.5 percent) at running the government, the Korea Society Opinion Institute said.

The survey was conducted on 1,044 adults the day after Moon was elected to replace Park Geun-hye, the former president impeached over a corruption scandal.

Meanwhile, 10.2 percent of respondents said they don't expect Moon to do a good job, while six percent said they were unsure or did not respond.

The survey also showed that 30.4 percent chose "implementation of campaign pledges" as the top criterion by which they will judge the new government.

That was followed by "communication with the public" at 26.9 percent, "transparency of state administration" at 13.6 percent, "communication and cooperative rule with opposition parties" at 10.7 percent and "fairness of state administration" at 10.6 percent.

In Moon's early days in office, 59.2 percent said the president should prioritize reforming state affairs, while 38.1 percent cited tolerance and reconciliation.

For national unity, 49.2 percent said the most important task is to realize a righteous society that follows laws and principles. Other tasks include resolving the conflict between conservatives and liberals at 19.7 percent, followed by resolving inter-regional conflicts and discrimination at 15.1 percent and inter-party dialogue and compromise at 14.1 percent.

The survey had a margin of error of 3 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. (Yonhap)
This is the second in a series of suggestions and observations to and about new President Moon Jae-in.  ED.

By Oh Young-jin

Few Korean presidents have said no to their U.S. counterparts.

Roh Moo-hyun tried with little success.

Would the new president, Moon Jae-in, be different? Likely.

Moon we know is often taken in the context of Roh, his friend, partner and mentor.

Roh got elected thanks to anti-American sentiment after two girls were crushed to death by a U.S. military vehicle. Roh was a believer in Korea becoming an honest broker between the U.S. and China, and achieving unification on inter-Korean terms. Roh's plan didn't go well as Washington suspected his intentions, China was not strong enough and the North didn't take Seoul seriously.

Moon is picking up where Roh left off, although it is not necessarily turning the clock back.

He has a higher chance of deviating from the U.S. and getting his way than his former boss.

Roh was an adopted son by the party whose ticket he was on. He also went out to ally himself with a chaebol scion to strengthen his appeal. He earned disdain from the wealthy for his humble beginnings.

Moon got elected on his own merit. His Democratic Party of Korea, the largest party, is under his control and he won more than 40 percent of the votes cast in a five-way election, a lofty achievement.

The driving force for his election stems from the people power of the candlelit protests that helped to expel Park Geun-hye, the conservative former president. Moon's mandate, earned through this outpouring of popular support, may enable him to paint conservatives into a corner at an early stage of his presidency.

Besides, the two conservative parties, which split from the same party ahead of the election, are likely to have an internal dispute among themselves for some time, between the supporters of the disgraced Park and reformists.

Moon has a strong political infrastructure, much of it inherited from Roh.

He was bold enough to appoint a former student activist, who was jailed, as his chief of staff. Roh had to settle for a politico for the job.

Roh led a "palace coup" of sorts to separate him from his adopted party and created a new party with his supporters. Moon controls the largest party and is in a position to absorb the People's Party.

Besides, Roh cadres are now with Moon. They have had the experience of running the nation and they have been fully integrated with Moon, who lost to Park by a close margin in the previous election and has won this time on a comfortable margin.

In terms of personality, Moon may prove to be more a fundamental believer than Roh on liberal values. Roh proved to be a pragmatist when he pressed on with the free trade agreement with the United States, knowing his supporters would turn their backs on him.

In the memorable joint news conference after a summit with U.S. President Bush two months after his inauguration, Roh got tripped up in his speech. He called a halt in the translation, got excused and restarted his answer. Such is not expected from Moon, a better organizer. As Roh's chief of staff and in other capacities, he would speak in a measured and calm voice.

All this  strong popular support, experienced staff and his personality  could mean Moon would prove to be less pliable than even Roh, not to mention any of his other predecessors.

On the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, Moon will not likely be as acceptable as U.S. President Donald Trump would like. It could turn out to be an either/or situation because Moon as he said sees Trump's demand for payment doesn't make sense because it goes against the deal they already have. Trump may well have to pull out the THAAD battery that is already partially operational. Moon would stick to it.

Regarding the two countries' FTA, Moon may go a step ahead of Trump, who prefers to undo it, considering Moon's reservations about it.

The chance is that we may see the first Korean president who can truly say no to the U.S. Of course, Moon as we have known prior to becoming president may prove to be a flexible pragmatist we don't know about. We will soon find out, though.

Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.
By Kim Mi-kyoung





The international community is placing China under mounting pressure by calling for a more active role in controlling North Korea. Beijing is regarded as North Korea's only remaining ally as they avoid adding their voice of denouncement in the international arena. However, China's involvement in North Korean affairs is limited to a superficial level of engagement. Chinese officials are often quoted as expressing their frustration with the Kim regime, and recent polls show that majority of Chinese hold negative views towards North Korea.

The rationale behind the international pressure lies with geographical proximity, economic interdependence and a historical alliance. China shares its borders with 14 countries, and North Korea happens to be one of them, although its trade dependence on Pyongyang totaling $6.86 billion vis-a-vis other trading partners is relatively insignificant. Given North Korea's Juche ideology which indoctrinates the principles of chaju (independence), charip (national economy) and chawi (self-defense), its reliance on China is exaggerated. While the list of causes for mutual dependence seems sufficient, it is missing one crucial condition: trust.

The world wrongfully overestimates Beijing's ability to modify Pyongyang's behavior. Unless the agent for change and its recipient click in mutually meaningful chemistry, behavioral modification will not happen. Mutuality demands the crucial element of trustworthiness where Sino-North Korean relations are concerned. The Chinese government's detachment from North Korean affairs needs a heuristic analysis. Neither the perspective of normative appeal nor cost-and-benefit calculations will be helpful in explaining Sino-North Korea relations. In addition, we need to factor in the element of trust as an outcome of the psycho-historical process.

Unless the combined elements of norms, strategic calculations and trust are balanced and factored into our thoughts, China's thin engagement of "half-in and half-out" is hard to explain. Unless China has enough of a convincing motive it will not give in to international pressure. North Korea, on the other hand, will not change its isolationist Juche trajectory lest the shifts in the internal as well as the external environments persuade it to do so. North Korea is a category of its own.

Beijing's policy priorities in the domestic realm include dealing with rampant corruption, rising discontent, a rebellious Tibet, environmental degradation, "floating" migrant workers, the rising gap between the haves and have-nots, and uneven development between coastal areas and inlands. As for foreign policy agendas, its preoccupation lies with a multitude of on-going territorial disputes, energy diplomacy with African countries, rivalry vis-a-vis Japan in Asia and the U.S. in the world and the smooth launching of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). North Korea's supreme priority, on the other hand, lies with its survival in its own way.

Beijing's inertia to international pressure had to change substantially following Pyongyang's 5th nuclear test on September 6, 2016. The enhanced nuclear capability was translated into an excuse to install a terminal high altitude area defense (THAAD) capability in the southern part of the peninsula. Since THAAD cannot be effective in surveying North Korea given its technical attributes, the intention behind it is clearly to monitor China's nuclear development program thus providing a U.S. strategic advantage.

China reacted to this movement with speed and determination. It signed UNSCR 2270 adopted by the Security Council of the United Nations on March 2, 2016. That was to denounce North Korea's nuclear test and sanction its trade activities. As a result, North Korea was banned from exporting coal, iron ore and other materials. It also put a stop to the docking of North Korean vessels at some of its ports. It went on to penalize Hongxiang Industrial Co. located in Dandong along the Sino-DPRK border for having supplied sensitive material for North Korea's nuclear development program.

Is this a meaningful shift in China's stance toward North Korea? It seems unlikely. China will continue to maintain its thin engagement given Pyongyang's peripheral importance. It will alternate between keeping its distance while reacting to situational contingencies. North Korea will also stay on its usual Juche trajectory where China is kept at bay.





Mikyoung Kim is International Political Science Association (IPSA) Human Rights Section Chair. She can be reached at mkkim_33@hotmail.com.
President Moon's appointments show focus on change



Moon Jae-in was sworn in as president Wednesday in a low-key ceremony at the National Assembly and then announced his first key nominations.



During the inauguration ceremony, Moon said he will be a "president for everyone," underlining his focus on national unity and communication. President Moon's first day showed some promising signs that his governing style will be different from that of his predecessor.



Just one day after winning the election, he visited rival parties and declared them his partners in governance. Moon's decision to visit them shows his determination to improve relations between Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly, which were strained while Park Geun-hye was in office.



The most distinctive aspect of Moon's first day in office was that he announced several key nominations himself during a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae. It was refreshing to see a president confidently declaring his decisions for some key posts, including the prime minister, and explaining why he thinks they are the right choices for the job.



There had been keen attention on who would be Moon's first prime minister. His nomination of South Jeolla Province Governor Lee Nak-yon was met with positive responses from the media. Moon, who is a native of Busan in the southeastern Yeongnam region, had vowed to nominate a prime minister from the Honam region for national unity. Lee comes from Yeonggwang in South Jeolla Province.



As a governor of the one of the most underdeveloped provinces, Lee is aware of the importance of balanced national development by improving regional economies. His experiences as a journalist and lawmaker will also help him to be a prime minister who knows how to communicate effectively with various sectors. The National Assembly should swiftly confirm his nomination so that Lee can start to form his Cabinet.



Moon's other appointments showed his drive for reform. The National Intelligence Service director nominee Suh Hoon was chosen to spearhead the reform of the spy agency, which has been criticized for intervening in politics.



The president's choice of Im Jong-seok as presidential chief of staff signaled some sweeping changes at Cheong Wa Dae. The 51-year-old former student activist is expected to be a departure from the likes of Kim Ki-choon, who served as Park's chief of staff. The former prosecutor and justice minister, who was well over 70 when he was appointed in 2013, ruled over ministries as if he were king, intervening in personnel management and giving them unjust instructions, such as blacklisting anti-government figures by the culture ministry. Lee said he will serve his president in all earnest, but will not be afraid to tell him when he feels he is wrong.



For all of his term, Moon should remember to make all of his personnel decisions strictly based on competence, expertise and ability to bring about change.




















In Tuesday's presidential election, two conservative candidates barely won 30 percent of the 32 million votes cast. It was the most crushing defeat the country's conservative forces have suffered in presidential polls so far.



No doubt it was the result of voters' stern judgment on the unprecedented corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and her shadowy confidant Choi Soon-sil. This is evidenced from the fact that in the exit poll, nearly three-quarters of the respondents replied that the scandal affected their decision. It's no exaggeration to say that our conservative parties are in danger of falling apart.



Conservatism usually cherishes responsibility and devotion to communities, freedom and respect for market economy principles, and rule of law. But it's doubtful if any rightist party in Korea has honored these conservative values faithfully. Most people seem to remember that there have been only old conservative parties preoccupied with vested interests.



Following their defeats, the Liberty Korea Party and the smaller Bareun Party have pledged to reinvent themselves. But it's obvious that their future will be bleak if they fail to win the hearts and minds of the people in next year's local elections.



It is essential that the two conservative parties emerge from the shock of their election defeats as soon as possible and establish themselves as a viable deterrent to the liberal ruling camp. The fact that nearly 60 percent of voters didn't support President Moon Jae-in might provide a clue for them to rebuild their parties.



The future of the two rightwing parties, in particular, is not necessarily dark, considering that they could take back support from the conservative people who cast ballots for Moon this time but basically reject his liberal policies. Not surprisingly, there are still many Koreans who feel uneasy about his views on security and distribution-centric economic policies.



The two parties might push for their merger ahead of next year's local elections. This could be desirable, given the need for the emergence of a strong opposition party.



But what needs to be done before that is for our conservative political forces to search their souls sincerely and break with their wrong practices. Only then can they expect their political future to be bright.




For the Chinese, veteran actor Aamir Khan, "Uncle Khan," is the symbol of Indian films. (Photo : Getty Images)

After raking in 124 million yuan four days since its release, the Aamir Khan-starrer film "Dangal" is now China's highest-grossing Indian film, a report from China Plus said.



The movie dethroned the previous record holder, "PK," which garnered 110 million yuan. The project was also top-billed by the Bollywood superstar.



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Fondly called as "Uncle Khan" by the Chinese, the 52-year-old actor takes on the role of a father who taught wrestling to his two daughters.



"It's a true story of a man living in the north India, in a very small village, very conservative society, and how he does not discriminate between a girl child and a boy child," the article wrote, quoting the veteran box-office star.



According to Khan, the film's message is about gender discrimination in his country.



In "Dangal," one of Khan's daughters eventually became India's first female wrestler to bag a gold medal during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The other daughter ended up winning the second prize.



Apart from taking Chinese theaters by storm, Khan also sent various social media platforms abuzz. Thousands of Weibo users are talking about his new film, praising his top-notch acting chops.



"Just watched 'Dangal,' have to say I laughed and cried a lot, and of course was moved. Thank you for always being concerned about social events, rights for girls, medicine, education . . . [You have] enlightened me in many ways," a Chinese fan commented on Khan's Weibo account.



Meanwhile, movie watchers on the film review website Douban gave "Dangal" a 9.2 rating.



Khan is widely recognized in China for his role in the 2009 comedy hit "Three Idiots." In this film, his portrayal of the hardships and pressures faced by India's engineering students tugged at the heartstrings of many Chinese moviegoers, especially the millennials.



Some of his other notable works include "Taare Zameen Par" and "Ghajini."



The actor is also regarded as a symbol of Indian films in China.


By Lee Min-hyung



LG Electronics may have won a license to manufacture Google's flagship Android device, tentatively named the Pixel 3, in the second quarter of 2018, according to local reports.



This news comes after Google failed to impress with the launch of the Pixel and Pixel XL last year when it outsourced their manufacturing processes to Taiwanese maker HTC as it does not have its own production lines.



According to news reports here, which cited a memo from Yuanta Securities, Google named LG as its next partner to expand its hardware ecosystem, with the possibility of LG winning a contract to produce some Pixel 2 handsets slated to debut next year.



"Google's possible decision to join hands with LG is in line with the former's aggressive investment drive to turn its hardware business into the next key cash cow," a mobile industry source said.



"The reported decision for Google to scrap HTC is because there are no rivals in the smartphone industry that have better manufacturing competitiveness than Samsung and LG."



Samsung is not an option as Google's outsourcing partner, because the two are in a love-hate relationship over more than software and hardware partnerships.



"It is true the much-hyped first generation of Pixel floundered. Observers point their fingers at its failure to properly manage the manufacturing process. That's why Google goes all-out to steal experts from Samsung and LG," the anonymous source said.



"When it produced the Pixel last year, it may have thought billions of users of its services like the search engine and email would instantly snap up the handset. But most people turned a blind eye to it so Google seems to be working harder on its next handsets."



This is not the first time Google has teamed up with LG on hardware. In 2015, LG has manufactured Google's flagship reference series, the Nexus 5X.



LG Electronics refused to confirm the deal.



"We have no comments for products that have yet to be launched," an LG official said.




By Lee Hyo-sik



POSCO Energy has secured a $2.5 billion project to build a coal-fired electrical power plant in Vietnam as part of its efforts to find new business opportunities abroad.



The firm's envisioned 1,200 megawatt power plant is the second of its kind in the Southeast Asian nation, according to company officials. It is expected to facilitate the outfit's goal of becoming a leading electricity generator in the rapidly-growing region.



The private power firm affiliated with steelmaker POSCO said Thursday that it gained the license from the Vietnamese government to build and operate the coal-fired power plant in an industrial complex, 270 kilometers south of Hanoi. The company began operating its first plant in Vietnam in October 2015.



Under the deal, POSCO Energy will begin construction in 2022 after raising the necessary capital. When the plant is completed by 2026, the company will operate the facility for 25 years, supplying power to the Electricity of Vietnam Group to retrieve its investment.



"We are glad that the Vietnamese government chose us as an energy business partner. We were working really hard to win this project over the past two years," company CEO Yoon Dong-jun said.



"The envisioned facility will supply electricity to cement, steel, chemical and machinery companies that will be in the industrial complex in the Nghe An Province," Yoon said. "POSCO Energy will build the state-of-the-art, environment-friendly power plant that reduces pollutant emissions, using our latest technologies."



In Botswana, POSCO Energy is also building a 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant, which it will run for 30 years, beginning 2020.



Over the past few years, the company has been accelerating its entry into developing economies to offset its sluggish sales at home.



Its sales have been declining as the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) buys less electricity from private power firms that generate most of their power through burning liquefied natural gas (LNG). This is much more expensive to produce electricity with, than it is with nuclear or coal-fired power plants.



Given stable power demand in recent years, KEPCO has been refraining from purchasing electricity from LGN plants.



POSCO Energy's sales declined to 1.7 trillion won in 2016 from 2.6 trillion won in 2014, with its operating profit falling to 90 billion won from 119 billion won.




Tourists at the bridge linking North Korea and China (left) across the Yalu River.



Analysts say visit to Beijing will likely involve an appeal to ease off on sanctions



By Kristin Huang





North Korea is expected to press China to tone down its economic sanctions when its delegation attends an infrastructure and trade summit in Beijing on Sunday, observers said.

Talks between North Korean and Chinese officials on the sidelines of the "Belt and Road Initiative" forum would mainly focus on economic matters, but Beijing was likely to call on Pyongyang to stop its provocations in order for the sanctions to be relaxed, the analysts added.

China said on Tuesday that a North Korean delegation would attend the forum along with leaders from 28 other nations, surprising diplomatic observers.

Details about the North Korean delegation were not disclosed, but South Korean media reported that it would be led by Kim Yong-jae, the North's minister of external economic relations.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have increased recently, with Pyongyang threatening more nuclear and missile tests, which would embarrass Beijing.

"Now is about the time to put pressure on North Korea to force them to give up nuclear weapons," a South Korean diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Observers said nuclear and missile tests were unlikely to be the main agenda, but that the visit could improve relations between China and North Korea, who are embroiled in a war of words over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development and China's banning of coal imports from the North.

"The security situation in Northeast Asia is increasingly intense. The visit of North Korean officials brings a new opportunity to cool the tensions and pave the way for possible bilateral or multilateral talks," Zhang Tuosheng, a director at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, said. "China would not easily provide economic assistance to Pyongyang at the request of the North Korean delegation, and Beijing is likely to take this chance to ask North Korea to give up its nuclear development and missile launch plan."

Hwang Jae-ho, a regional security specialist at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, said that as the economic relations minister was not a member of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's inner circle, he was not expected to discuss sensitive issues with Chinese officials. But the visit would allow Kim Yong-jae to appeal to China to be less strict in enforcing sanctions, Hwang said.

Veerle Nouwens, an Asia analyst at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London, said the summit invitation was a goodwill gesture to get North Korea back into the international community.

"The forum could be an initiative by Beijing to encourage North Korea to rejoin the world. It has traditionally advocated economic aid in exchange for Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear and missile programmes," he said.
DF-26 missiles are driven through Beijing as part of a parade in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war against Japan.



Analysts say rare high-profile announcement of test' was a response to last month's deployment of US-built anti-missile system in South Korea



By Minnie Chan





Chinese rocket forces tested a new type of missile aimed at the country's waters west of the Korean peninsula, the defence ministry announced in a rare public statement.

The statement did not say what missile was tested or when the launch took place but the announcement was likely aimed at South Korea and the United States, observers said.

"The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force conducted a test of a new type of missile somewhere in Bohai [Sea] in recent days, and achieved desired results," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said the test was designed to boost the military's capacity to fight threats to national security.

Military analysts said the "rare high-profile announcement of the missile test" was a response to the deployment of the US-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea. The announcement comes after defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said last month that China would conduct live-fire drills and test new weapons to safeguard its security in response to the THAAD roll-out.

The US military began installing the system's first components in South Korea late last month after nuclear-armed North Korea launched four missiles which it said was part of training for a strike on US bases in Japan.







Hong Kong-based military analyst Liang Guoliang said the Chinese missile might have been launched from the mainland's northwest, probably in Xinjiang or Gansu provinces, with the warhead landing in the Bohai Sea.

"The missile might be launched from the northwest to the east by the Rocket Force, with a range of 2,000km or above. It was likely the advanced intermediate-range DF-26B, a modified version of the DF-26," Liang said.

"Given the landing area, the test is obviously aimed at THAAD in South Korea."

The DF-26B is the new generation of Dongfeng series missiles.

Zhou Chenming, from the Knowfar Institute for Strategic and Defence Studies, a Chinese think tank, said: "The test might involve variants of new missile types, including the DF-21, DF-26 and other types of Dongfeng series missiles."

Zhou said the Bohai Sea had been the landing site for all sea target missile tests for several years, but this time "was quite high profile" as the defence ministry announced it. "Missile tests near the East Sea could cause deterrence to some countries," Zhou said.

Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong said the test might also be aimed at Washington, which has sent two aircraft carrier strike groups to waters off the Korean Peninsula.

"The test missile might be a new modified DF-26A anti-ship missile launched from a marine weapons testing ground in southern Liaoning," Wong said.

The US the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to the Korean peninsula to conduct naval drills with the South Korean navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force last month. Another carrier, the Ronald Reagan, would join the carrier group late this month, according to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review.
Just recently, Kim Won Hae took the chance to talk about his previous working experience with Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik, as they worked together in "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon". In the interview, Kim Won Hae reveals that everything went pretty well with his relationship with Park Bo Young.

The actor says that he can't help but be awed with how Park Hyung Sik manages her level of professionalism. He also says that he initially wondered who Park Hyung Sik when he watched "Scandal Makers", a movie which stars Park Bo Young.

Kim Won Hae then adds that Park Bo Young reminds him of his daughter because her daughter was born premature and because of it, she has a small stature. The actor compares Park Bo Young to her daughter because the two resembles each other.

With this, one can clearly see that he treats Park Bo Young as like her own daughter too. On the other hand, Kim Won Hae says that the first time that he saw Park Hyung Sik was in "Nine: 9 Times Time Travel", a drama series.

According to Soompi, Kim Won Hae jokingly says that he was surprised to know that Park Hyung Sik was a Korean idol because he didn't know his name in the past. However, he says that Park Hyung Sik is now a very professional and respectable actor and that he loved working with him.

According to Korea Portal, Kim Won Hae even confirms that his daughter idolizes Park Hyung Sik, and are probably even in love with him. With all of these being said, their latest drama series, "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon", is surely composed of high-level and professional actors and actresses.

It's safe to say that this will be marked as one of the highest-grossing Korean drama series.
There is no doubt that Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook are two of the hottest Korean celebrities, apart from the fact that they are really the closest of friends. Because of this, their fans speculate that there is something romantically going on with the two of them.

Reports are now pointing to the possibility that Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook might really be dating each other. This is after Gong Yoo reveals a statement telling how special Lee Dong Wook is to him.

According to Korea Portal, Gong Yoo shows his sincere admiration to Lee Dong Wook during his recently held press conference together with the all the cast and staff of "Goblin". During the press conference, Gong Yoo states that he and Lee Dong Wook have been the best of friends for many years now.

The "Goblin" actor even says that he is very comfortable when it comes to working with Lee Dong Wook. He says that the reason behind this is that Lee Dong Wook is very considerate on a lot of things.

According to another report by Korea Portal, surprisingly, Gong Yoo even says that he already misses the presence of Lee Dong Wook. However, he also says that he misses the rest of the crew and staff of "Goblin" as well. According to another report by Korea Portal, it is because of these released statements that there is a possibility that they might really be dating each other.

This can somehow be compared to the bromance that Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum have, as Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook also show very close friendship and care to each other. For now, there is still no confirmation coming from the two that these might indeed be true. With this, it makes perfect sense to stop diving into conclusions, and just wait for further statement to come from them.
Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom during 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' Tokyo Press Conference - Photocall at Park Hyatt Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo : Getty Images/ Gil Studio)

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" is the fifth film in the "POTC" franchise, but is said to be different from its predecessors. According to co-director Joachim Ronning, they made a few changes to the film in order to give the sea-faring journey a fresh twist for the fans.



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"Pirates of the Caribbean 5" will introduce a younger version of Jack Sparrow, then under the tutelage of Armanda Salazar (Javier Bardem). Due to his own personal gain, Sparrow caused the death of Salzar and his crew. In the present time, a resurrected Salazar and his army of the undead vows to seek revenge against Sparrow and every existing pirate.



One of the prominent changes in the film is in the characters. "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" will introduce two new young characters, one of which is the son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, both of whom are said to be returning to the franchise after their absence in "Strangers Tides."



"I play a guy called Henry who is a soldier in the Royal Navy. At the beginning of the film, he is locked up by his own men for trying to warn them of an evil coming their way," Brenton Thwaites said of his character Henry Turner, via Just Jared.



Kaya Scodelario plays Carina Smyth, the only person who believes Henry and sets out to help him. They later realize that they are actually after the same treasure and work together to retrieve it.



Ronning told EW that "The Curse of the Black Pearl," the first film in the "Pirates" franchise is his favorite because it reminded him of the movies he grew up with. "It's scary, it's funny, and most of all it's a comedy, but with great heart," he told EW and added that these were elements he wanted to recreate in "Dead Men Tell No Tales."



One of the changes Ronning made in the fifth film are the roles of supporting characters. Instead of focusing the limelight on Sparrow only, he put more emphasis on the supporting characters that the audience can root for.



"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" premieres in theaters this May.


"13 Reasons Why" Season 2 is officially happening. (Photo : Getty Images/Pascal Le Segretain)

Netflix's "13 Reasons Why" continues to generate a massive buzz even over a month after its premiere in March. The series, which is based on the eponymous book by Jay Asher, initially saw a surge of positive reviews, until recently went backlash over the show's graphic content that became more and more resounding.



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In a recent appearance on "Ellen," stars Dylan Minnette and Katharine Langford talked about their hit Netflix show. "We don't know yet. We really don't," Minnette told Ellen DeGeneres about season renewal talks. "I feel like the world's going to know before we do if it happens. I'll be online and be like, 'Oh, there's a second season."



At the E! News WE Day 2017, executive producer Selena Gomez was asked about "13 Reasons Why" Season 2, to which she replied "Maybe." In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gomez said that while they still don't know what's beyond the show, they do know that there are so many stories beneath each of the characters.



Another reported hint at a season renewal for "13 Reasons Why" is the fact that the role of Reggie Mantle has been recasted for "Riverdale" Season 2, as actor Ross Butler is reportedly unavailable to film the role in the next season due to other commitments. Butler plays fan favorite Zach Dempsey on "13 Reasons Why," and many presume that his other projects pertain to "13 Reasons Why" Season 2.



Meanwhile, Minnette and Langford have responded to the recent backlash on "13 Reasons Why," particularly with some opinions saying it glamorizes suicide.



"I have tremendous respect for everyone's point of view," Minnette told The Los Angeles Times. "I wouldn't want to tell anyone that they have to watch it. I wouldn't want to tell anyone that it is panacea for everybody; no piece of film or television is."



In response to this backlash, Netflix also announced that it will add more content warnings at the beginning of the show and will also adjust the text settings of this warnings so that they become more prominent.






Prince Harry at the the Community Recording Studio at Russell Youth Centre on in Nottingham, United Kingdom and Meghan Markle at the P.S. Arts' The pARTy at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Richard Stonehouse & Alberto E. Rodriguez)

Prince Harry and "Suits" actress Meghan Markle's romance has been a real-life fairy tale so far. Despite coming from different countries and backgrounds, Harry and Meghan's relationship has grown strong and there rumors that they might get engaged soon. However, recent reports reveal that a royal wedding is not yet being planned for the couple.



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There are rumors that Prince Harry asked Queen Elizabeth's blessing to marry Meghan, and his grandmother reportedly gave his approval. A source claims that Prince Harry's older brother, Prince William, is going to be the best man and Prince George is going to be the ring-bearer. It has also been reported that the wedding will cost around $20 million.



Another incident also points to a potential Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wedding. According to Mirror, a royal staff meeting was held at the Buckingham Palace earlier this week, and there are speculations that the meeting is about the royal couple's wedding.



However, it has been confirmed that the meeting was to announce that Prince Phillip is going to step down from his duties. According to BBC, the Duke of Edinburgh will still attend scheduled engagements until August, but will no longer accept new invitations.



Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, "will continue to carry out a full program of official engagements."



Meanwhile, Meghan Markle is set to join Prince Harry attending Pippa Middleton's wedding to businessman James Matthews. A source told People that the "Suits" actress will not be attending the church ceremony, but will be joining the evening celebration.



A source explains that protocol prohibits unmarried and unengaged partners to attend the wedding ceremony, but allows them to join the evening celebration which tends to be less formal.



Lately, Meghan has been frequenting events together with her royal beau. She was in Caribbean with Prince Harry to attend the wedding his close friend Tom "Skippy" Inskip.



Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship was confirmed in November last year through a statement made by the Kensington Palace. The couple reportedly met through Harry's school friend's fashion designer wife.


Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh is open to negotiations with rival Saudi Arabia, two years into a deadly war between Saleh's Houthi rebel allies and the Saudi-backed government.

"We have no choice but dialogue," Saleh said at a meeting of his General People's Congress party in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday.

"We are ready to go to Riyadh, Khamis Mushit, Muscat or elsewhere to start dialogue and to reach an understanding," Saleh said, referring to cities in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Oman.

Saleh however reiterated his rejection of the government of internationally recognised President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and said Saudi Arabia would have to find "new leadership".

Members of Saleh's circle have been meeting unofficially with Saudi delegates for weeks in Berlin, a Yemeni government official told AFP Wednesday.

Saleh, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, has repeatedly said he was open to talks with Saudi Arabia.

But he ruled out mediation by UN special envoy Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed, who aims to resume stalled peace talks by the end of May, accusing him of bias.

Government spokesman Rajeh Badi told AFP Ould Sheikh Ahmed is currently in Riyadh for talks on the Yemeni crisis, which the UN estimates has killed more than 7,700 people in since March 2015.

While Saleh resigned under massive popular pressure in February 2012, he remains highly influential in Yemen. He was succeeded by Hadi, previously his vice-president.

Parts of the army remained loyal to Saleh after his resignation and he solidified his position as a crucial player in 2014 when he forged an alliance with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The Houthis currently control Yemen's capital, the northern region bordering Saudi Arabia and a string of key ports along the Red Sea coast.

The Hadi government is based in Aden, Yemen's second largest city. The president himself mainly resides in Saudi Arabia.

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A man from Honduras who is charged with raping and kidnapping a woman last month is now charged in federal court with illegally reentering the United States after being deported seven years ago.

A federal grand jury handed up an indictment against Luis Lopez-Lara, 25, on Thursday. He's one of two men charged in April with holding a woman with a mental disability against her will for three days and raping her at a trailer park between Springfield and Republic.

The indictment says Lopez-Lara entered the United States without permission after having been deported on Feb. 16, 2010. The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.

In cases where someone faces state and federal charges, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, a defendant typically is transferred into federal custody for prosecution on the federal charge. He would then be transferred back to state custody for prosecution on the state charges. If he's convicted, the state and federal sentences would be served consecutively, after which he would be subject to immigration proceedings and deported.

The first time someone illegally crosses the border, he is typically administratively deported without being criminally charged or imprisoned (since its a misdemeanor). If he repeats, he can be charged with the felony of illegal reentry. The maximum federal sentence for illegal reentry is two years in prison.

Background from a report on April 18, 2017:

An illegal immigrant and another man who live in the trailer park where a 22-year-old woman disappeared last Saturday are charged with kidnapping and raping her. The womans sister found her in the home of Luiz Lopez-Lara, 25, and Helmer Erazo, 23, on Monday afternoon.

Lopez-Lara and Erazo are charged with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, and first-degree sexual abuse. Lopez-Lara is being held without bond because prosecutors fear he would disappear if a bond is allowed. A judge set Erazo's bond at $150,000.

The men live in the Briarwood Mobile Home Park off Farm Road 156 near Missouri 413 (Sunshine Street) just west of south Springfield, where the woman lives with her sister.

According to the probable cause statements against the men, the victim has autism and the mental capacity of a 9-year-old child. She left a note when she disappeared but it was unintelligible.

More than 60 sheriff's deputies, state troopers, and Springfield and Republic police officers searched the home and the surrounding area. They used bloodhounds from the Ozarks Correctional Center near Fordland, the sheriff's department's Mounted Posse, a Highway Patrol helicopter crew, and dozens of citizen-volunteers, but didnt find the woman on Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning.

On Monday afternoon, the womans sister started walking through the mobile home park and showing her sisters picture to people. Thats when a man standing at his mailbox told her that her sister was in his home. The womans sister called the sheriffs department, which arrested three men, although only Lopez-Lara and Erazo were charged. Officers said Lara-Lopez fled to another nearby mobile home before he was found and arrested.

The 22-year-old woman told officers and trained interviewers at the Child Advocacy Center that shed been sexually assaulted and held against her will.

The woman said she ran away from her home because she was upset. As she was walking, according to the probable cause statement, she said some Mexicans were hitting on me, they were saying, Hey pretty girl, whistling at her, and asked her to drink alcoholic beverages with them at their residence. She described the males as the Mexican with the pony tail, the Mexican in the black shirt, and the Mexican in the green shirt., according to the detectives statement.

The woman later identified the man with the pony tail as Lopez-Lara. She identified the man in the black shirt as Erazo, and also identified the man in the green shirt. She said the men invited her into the home but the man in the green shirt "tried to warn her to be careful about going into the residence.

The woman described how Lopez-Lara removed her clothes and gave her different clothes. She also described how Lopez-Lara hit her and raped her, according to the probable cause statement.

She said she tried to say no and when she stood up he threw her back on the bed and it hurt her. She said this happened five different times. She said she told Lopez-Lara to get off of her and told her she was his and he owned her. (She) said Lopez-Lara hit her with his fist and also bit her lip after she pushed him away from kissing her. She said she was drunk because Lopez-Lara had gotten beer from a gas station and given her one, the probable cause statement says.

The woman said she hid in the closet but Erazo found her and choked her by grabbing her around her throat with both hands, lifting her from the floor to remove her from the closet. She said Erazo also bit her neck while she was naked, and wouldnt let her put her clothes back on.

The woman also said the men starved her.

She said they provided her with some Mexican food, but it was spicy and she did not like it. She said Lopez-Lara gave her a Kit Kat bar and a bag of chips she believed he got from a gas station. . . She said they gave her water, but she did not like it because it was not bottled, the statement says.

The woman said she was locked in the residence and, They kept me there. She said they threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

A physical exam found evidence that the woman had been raped, hit and bit.

Erazo told a detective that he had talked to a deputy who came to his home on Saturday and asked about a missing girl. Erazo said he believed the Deputy to be talking about a small girl, that was in the area. Erazo told the Deputy theres no small girl here, and did not mention (the woman) who was located in the mobile home, according to the probable cause statement.

Officers contacted U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and learned that Lopez-Lara is an undocumented resident who was living in the United States illegally, the detectives statement says.

Prosecutors filed five charges against Lopez-Lara: two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, and first-degree sexual abuse. One rape charge and one kidnapping charge, however, are in the alternative. That means Lopez-Lara will only face one or the other of each charge, depending on which ones fit the facts of the case, as determined by a judge or jury.

The in the alternative rape charge is dependent on finding the woman was incapable of consent because of a lack of mental capacity to authorize the sexual intercourse and this mental capacity was manifest or known the defendant. The in the alternative kidnapping charge is dependent on finding that the victim was incapacitated.

In both rape charges, the penalties are the same: life prison sentences (figured at 30 years in Missouri) and at least 85 percent of the sentence has to be served before a convict is eligible for parole. In both kidnapping charges, the penalties are the same: up to 15 years in prison, and at least 85 percent of the sentence has to be served before a convict is eligible for parole. The penalty for first-degree sexual abuse is a prison sentence up to 10 years.

I am thankful that the victim in this case was recovered safely. This investigation is ongoing and we will continue to work to bring justice to the victim in this case," said Sheriff Jim Arnott in a news release from the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

Arnott asked anyone with information about the missing woman's case to contact his office to talk to a detective.
Related Egyptian university investigates professor after dancing video goes viral

Egyptian university professor Mona Prince, who recently gained national attention after her personal Facebook images were leaked on social media, has announced that she is running for the 2018 presidential elections.

The English literature Professor at Suez Canal University posted a banner on her Facebook page saying "Mona Prince, Egypt's President 2018."

Prince mentioned in one post that through "science, art and freedom, the sun of our country will rise again," while in another post said sarcasticaslly that she will use her fun personality to "pamper" the Egyptian people.

Last month, Prince gained attention on social media platforms after a user grabbed images from her Facebook page and shared them on his own.

The posts contained a video of the professor dancing on the rooftop of her home, as well as some personal photos with her friends.

The professor said her behavior is a matter of personal freedom that harms no one, calling on the Egyptian community to consider discussing topics of more importance like health and education, instead of "a common citizen dancing at her home."

This is not the first time Prince has announced her intention to run for president. In 2012, she announced that she intended to run in that year's presidential election, but did not present any offiicial documents to the election committe.

The upcoming Egyptian presidential elections are scheduled for February and May 2018. No politician has officially announced their intention to run against sitting President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

On Friday, Hamdein Sabahi, former presidential candidate during the 2012 and 2014 elections and founder of the National Popular Movement, called for the formation of a national coalition to unify political support for one presidential candidate to run against El-Sisi.

Sabahis speech came shortly after the announcement that two Nasserist parties, the Popular Current and Karama, were merging into the Karama Movement, which he described as the cornerstone of a coalition to achieve the goals of the 25 January 2011 revolution.

The official due date for candidates to start presenting their official documents to run for president is March 2018.

Prince is one of a number of non-partisan citizens who announced on social media platforms their intention to run for president.

She said she will work with the country's youth to restore the identity of the Egyptian people and establish the pillars of the modern Egyptian nation.

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Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of...

An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE  Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at...
Egypt's President Abel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuro Kenyatta boosting bilateral relations and African development during a meeting on Wednesday in Cairo.

The Kenyan president stopped briefly in Cairo for the meeting with El-Sisi before heading to London.

The two African leaders met in February in Nairobi to discuss bolstering development projects between Nile Basin countries.

El-Sisi said he agreed with Kenyatta that development efforts should be undertaken in all Nile Basin countries to make the most out of this vital resource.

The two leaders agreed also on intensifying efforts to restore stability in East Africa and the Horn of Africa.

In November, Kenya's Vice President William Ruto visited Cairo to discuss with the Egyptian president strengthening cooperation in various fields between African countries in general and Nile Basin countries in particular.

Ruto announced at the time that Kenya has exempted Egyptians from obtaining travel visas in advance to visit the country.
This article appears in the May 12, 2017 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

EDITORIAL

The New Silk Road Opens

a New Perspective for Mankind

[Print version of this article]

May 5Its unfair to the German people: Strategically there is an epochal change for the better underway, yet the citizens of this country find themselves in the valley of the cluelessthanks to a de facto news embargo, imposed by the politicians and the media, which prevents the people from realizing the potential it holds for Germany.

Chinese President Xi Jinpings initiativethe New Silk Road, also called the Belt and Road Initiativehas developed an unprecedented dynamic since he proclaimed it a good three and a half years ago. More than a hundred countries and international organizations are now participating in the greatest infrastructure and development program in history, a program that has developed into the true motor of the world economy.

On May 14-15 in Beijing, a major conference, the Belt and Road Forum, will consolidate this project of the century, with the participation of 28 heads of state and government, more than 150 leading figures from international organizations, and 1,200 high-ranking representatives from 110 countries. This conference will make clear to the whole world that a fully new set of values has emerged in the world, in which a higher level of cooperation between nations, for the common interests of mankind, is superseding the geopolitical interests of individual countries or groups of countries.

Meanwhile, China has concluded 130 bilateral and regional transportation agreements, has initiated 356 international routes for passengers and freight, and has opened 4,200 direct flight connections with 43 countries. There are 39 rail routes currently in operation between China and Europe. A freight train leaves Chongqing every day en route to Europe. Six major transport and development corridors between Asia and Europe are under construction as well as an entirely new rail network in Eastern and Central Africa. And the maritime Silk Road for the 21st Century is also being built. This is only the beginning of an initiative that is open to the participation of every nation on the planet.

The world community is currently divided in two: One side grasps this idea, and the other is clinging to the old, obsolete ideas of geopolitics. That may be difficult for German citizens to understand, because the politicians and media conceal these crucial developments from them, and instead deliver an indigestible cocktail of fake news, commentary, and irrelevant distractions.

The May 3 address of American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to the State Department staff has great strategic significance in this connection. He not only affirmed President Trumps election promise that the United States will no longer conduct regime change interventions into other nations to impose its own so-called values, but he also stressed several times that the United States is working with China to define their relationship for the next 50 years, and that this represents an enormous opportunity.

Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai invited the United Statesin his speech to the International Finance and Infrastructure Cooperation Forum in New York City on April 24to join in the Silk Road initiative, the Belt and Road, which would open up great potential for American enterprise. Cui expressed his hope that the United States would seize the initiative and participate in the Belt and Road Forum on May 14-15 in Beijing. President Xi Jinping stressed, during his visit to Mar-a-Lago, Florida in early April, that there are thousands of reasons for the Chinese-American relationship to be a success, and not one for it to break down.

Chinas Global Times later made fun of a series of articles in the New York Times that totally missed the mark in interpreting the relationship between the U.S. and Chinese heads of state. It noted that in articles with titles such as Why Trumps Budding Bromance with Xi is Doomed and Trump Is a Chinese Agent, the New York Times could scarcely conceal its acid sarcasm, but that in the Global Times view it had long since been overtaken by the new era.

In fact, it appears that in the editorial offices of the mainstream media, the dress code does not permit the wearing of concave glasses to correct for myopia.

Embracing the Historic Opportunity

In contrast to similar backward-looking politicians in Germany, Japan has recognized the opportunity inherent in Japans cooperation with the Silk Road Initiative. Several high-ranking Japanese figures will participate in the May summit, for example, Toshihiro Nikai, the General Secretary of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who is known for his pro-China views and is number two in the party after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko; and the head of the Japanese Business Federation, Sadayuki Sakakibara. Japan News commented that Abe has committed himself to an improvement in relations with China through Nikais participation in the summit.

But even within Europe and in many European Union (EU) member states, the epochal significance of the Silk Road initiative is actually better understood than in Berlin. Czech President Milos Zeman will be the only EU head of state participating in the Beijing summit; former Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout commented that the New Silk Road project is a commercial and political high-speed train toward China, which represents an opportunity for the coming decades. Switzerland, which is not an EU member state, will be represented by its President, Doris Leuthard, just as all of Switzerland is preparing to become a hub for the Belt and Road. Five more EU countries are sending their prime ministers, among them Italys Paolo Gentiloni and Spains Mariano Rajoy. The remaining EU members either wont participate or are sending ministers, such as, for example, German Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries.

Unlike in Germany, representatives of Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Serbia, and Greece have expressed enthusiasm about the potential that the New Silk Road opens up for their countries. Spains ambassador to China, Manuel Valencia, praised the successful collaboration between Spanish infrastructure companies and Chinese companies in the widening of the Panama Canal, the fast train between Mecca and Medina (Saudi Arabia), and the construction of the largest refinery in Kuwait. He said the Canary Islands would be a peaceful aircraft carrier for enterprise and trade, and that Spain was predestined to be the link between Europe and Asia.

Portuguese Economics Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral proposed, at the first Sino-Portuguese Economic Forum, that Portugal fully align itself with the Belt and Road Initiative, whose strategy it fully shares. Portugal sees itself as a pivotal country that could be a bridge between Europe and Asia, as an entry point into Europe. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stressed that world politics and the world economy are at a point of profound change, and that Chinas role is not only important for its own future, but also decisive for the future of Europe, which could only profit from the Belt and Road initiative. The list of such declarations could be extended to include those of representatives of several other nations.

Then consider that, despite the U.S. bombing of the Syrian air force base, the relationship between Presidents Trump and Putin, and between Foreign Minister Lavrov and Secretary of State Tillerson, has again become one of cooperation. This is expressed, for example, in the agreement on de-escalation zones in Syria and the dispatch of a U.S. Deputy Secretary of State to the Syria negotiations in Astana, Kazakhstan. This makes clear that an opportunity for collaboration between the United States, Russia, and China is emerging, a collaboration which is obviously crucial for establishing world peace and resolving many flashpoints.

In contrast, Chancellor Merkels policy positions were very negativesuch as those she expressed in her Moscow visit with Putin in her appraisal of the Ukraine crisis, or her maintenance of sanctions, or the brutal austerity policy of the EU and her Finance Minister Schauble against Greece. The German government has a very reserved attitude toward the New Silk Roadan attitude in complete contrast to the interests of the economy and the well-being of the people. It is probably an expression of the fact that those in Berlin and Brussels do not want to break from the geopolitical outlook that dictates that the EU, as a regional superpower with global ambitions, must defend itself against China, Russia, and the United States.

In early May, Xinhua wrote that it would obviously not be easy for the West, which holds competition in high esteem, to understand the Chinese outlook, which is based on harmony and stability. It said that China is not seeking a global leading role through the Silk Road Initiative, but that the Initiative is in response to the 2008 financial crisis, from which the world economy is still struggling to recover. However, Xinhua pointed out, the Initiative is not an elite club for the western nations, but primarily serves the developing countries. It is a circle of friends, with representatives of more than a hundred nations, and the western nations should be more receptive to the Belt and Road.

To express the point less diplomatically: Nations that cling to geopolitics and close their minds to the new paradigm of win-win cooperation, risk appearing before history as an obstacle to the only strategic initiative that can offer the solution for the urgent problems of mankind, and which is poised on the brink of success.
PRESS RELEASE

Belt and Road Conference in Milan Previews Beijing Summit

May 10, 2017 (EIRNS)A conference on the Belt and Road Initiative took place today in Milan, in advance of the Beijing summit. It was organized by the foreign policy establishmentISPI, SACE (export credits), Italy-China Foundation, and Assolombarda (the Lombardy regions industrial association). Italian and Chinese representatives were among the speakers on the three panels"Italian Perspectives along the Silk Roads;" "New Actors and New Strategies;" and "New Business Opportunities." AIIB Vice-President Joachim von Amsberg gave the conclusions, via videoconference.

The meeting was announced in an article in the business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, under the headline "A New Era for the Silk Road," which puts the event in the perspective of the May 14-15 summit.

"Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who often visited China when he was Foreign Minister, will have a place of honor. The second day of the [Belt and Road] Forum will take place at Yanqi Lake, one-and-a-half hours outside of Beijing, inaugurated November 2014 for APEC. In this context, political meetings on the multilateral and bilateral level are scheduled. The Italian Prime Minister on May 16 will meet with Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping,"

wrote Il Sole.

Italy will discuss and present possible options for the BRI. One such option is the so-called "Port Way," five ports along the Adriatic Sea. ISPI head Giampiero Massolo is quoted saying that

"Without a role for the system of ports, interports, and land routes in Italy, the entire Belt and Road project is in danger of being incomplete at its terminal part and in one of its main objectives, i.e., connecting China and Europe in a much more efficient way than they are today."

(The Adriatic route is strongly criticized by those who are pushing the development of Southern Italy and the deep-sea ports in Calabria and Sicily, plus modernization of land routes. Those critics, who include some of our contacts, say Italys Mezzogiorno is being cut off from the development).

Il Sole, however, wrote that this is not the only option. Another one is participation in investments in Asia. There is the AIIB, but also the Silk Road Fund with $40 billion. The Silk Road Fund is already a shareholder in Pirelli and in the Italian Autostrade holding.
PRESS RELEASE

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Meets Press After Trump Meeting

May 10, 2017 (EIRNS)Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a press conference today, after his meeting with President Trump, before flying to Alaska for the meeting of the Arctic Council. He spoke in Russian, simultaneously translated into English. No written transcript is yet available. He emphasized over and over that the Obama Administration had brought the relationship to the point of severe crisis for no reason, while the Trump Administration is working toward solving the real problems in the world.

A paraphrase from the translation follows.

Lavrov said that the U.S. and Russia can and should contribute to a settlement in Syria. The U.S. and Russia agreed to work together in the Astana framework, and the Geneva format, which is supposed to resume meeting next week. He expressed his hope that "all [government and the opposition parties] will be constructive in the next Geneva meeting." He said that he, President Trump, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had discussed the Israeli, Afghanistan, and Minsk areas, and agreed to continue the bilateral relations.

Questioned how the relations between the United States and Russia had sunk to such a low level, Lavrov said,

"The previous Administration bent over backwards to undermine the solid foundation of our relations. Now we have to start from a very low level [of relations] between Russia and America."

Lavrov repeated,

"It is clear that the Obama Administration undertook pitiful dirty tricks against our diplomats and our properties. President Putin doesnt want to follow the lead of those trying to poison our relations to the point of no return."

Lavrov acknowledged that he and President Trump and Secretary Tillerson discussed irritants to the relationship, but Lavrov stated, President Trump is interested in "businesslike, pragmatic relations," as is President Putin. Lavrov posed the question on Russian interference in U.S. elections, "How can it be possible for Russia to control America from the outside?"

On Syria, Lavrov referenced the "de-escalation areas," an idea he credited Secretary Tillerson with bringing to Moscow, which is now being implemented. The United States is responsible for the de-escalation area in the south, for security compliance and humanitarian needs, because the Syrian-Jordanian-Israeli border region is a special area of interest for the United States. There will be Geneva talks on Syria in mid-May, Lavrov said we hope they are successful for all sides.

Lavrov said,

"Our dialogue as of now is free from ideology, which was difficult in the Obama administration. President Trump and Secretary Tillerson are businesslike people... willing to negotiate and come to an agreement."

Lavrov dismissed the idea that President Trump would consider it necessary to probe Russias role in U.S. politics.

"Theres no evidence. Thats it," Lavrov concluded.

Lavrov stated that Putin and Trump would meet on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in July, and meanwhile discussions would continue with Rex Tillerson.

In Afghanistan, Lavrov dismissed any notion Russia was supporting the Taliban, but said that any settlement would have to involve the Taliban. "Americans stayed there for many years, and did not settle any question."

Russia has no strategy in Syria, except working within the Astana framework, as we have all agreed.
Douglas Wigdor, the attorney representing 21 Fox News employees alleging they were subjected to racial discrimination and sexual harassment, asked that previous victims who received settlements from the company be freed from confidentiality agreements they signed.

Wigdor said he made the request Thursday during his meeting with the Office of Communications, the British regulatory body that is considering the fitness of Fox News parent 21st Century Fox to take control of European pay TV giant Sky. Fox already owns 39% of the company and has a $14.8-billion bid to take over the remaining stake.

I told Ofcom that the only way for them to get the full truth of what the Murdoch media has done to its victims, is for the company to remove the choke hold clauses that bind victims to silence, Wigdor said in a statement. These are Foxs hidden figures  talented, brave people who fought for their rights, but were threatened, bullied and permanently gagged. 21st Century Fox must let them speak to Ofcom.

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Wigdors request comes a day after 21st Century Fox revealed in a regulatory filing that it has paid $45 million to settle potential or pending lawsuits since the resignation of former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes.

Ailes left in July after he was sued for sexual harassment and retaliation by former anchor Gretchen Carlson. Fox News paid $20 million to settle the suit, but has been beleaguered by sexual harassment claims and lawsuits ever since.

The networks biggest prime-time star, Bill OReilly, was fired in April after it was revealed that he and Fox News had paid $13 million to settle claims by women who said they had been sexually harassed or verbally abused by the anchor.

Wendy Walsh, the Los Angeles radio host who was a regular guest on The OReilly Factor and who has accused OReilly of sexual harassment, met with OfCom on Monday. She has also asked, in an open letter to 21st Century Fox Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, that the women who settled harassment claims be allowed to speak publicly about them as a way to get the company past the scandal.

Unmuzzle the victims, Walsh said in the letter posted on her website. Give them back their voices.

21st Century Fox said it has addressed the harassment issue at Fox News and has worked to change the culture within the division, which is the most profitable within the company, noting the departure of OReilly and the replacement of its top executives.

The companys management has taken prompt and decisive action to address reports of sexual harassment and workplace issues at Fox News, a representative said in a statement. These actions have led to an overhaul of Fox News Channels leadership, management and reporting structure, and have driven fundamental changes to the channels on-air talent and prime-time programming lineup. The company has been focused on its long-held commitment to a diverse workplace that promotes racial and gender equality.

Fox cited the recent appointment of Suzanne Scott to the post of president of programming, along with the hiring of a new female chief financial officer, Amy Listerman.

This newly instituted leadership structure at Fox News brings it closer in line with the wider practices at 21CF, where women serve as the chair and CEOs of its Fox film studio as well as its Fox television studio and the Fox television network, Fox said in its statement.

Murdoch and his son Lachlan told investors Wednesday that the company remains confident it will get the necessary approvals to complete the Sky deal by years end.

stephen.battaglio@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio
Cedars-Sinai and Torrance Memorial hospitals plan to team up to share resources, collaborate on patient care and provide wider access to clinical trials.

Under the proposed partnership, announced this week, the two Los Angeles-area healthcare institutions would keep their separate boards of directors and operate independently under their respective chief executives, each keeping their own employees and making their own staffing decisions. They would, however, affiliate under a new parent organization with a new board of directors.

Cedars-Sinais president and CEO, Thomas Priselac, would also serve as president and CEO of the parent entity, named Cedars-Sinai Health System.

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Both institutions said the affiliation would increase resources and access to healthcare for the public. They also said that it would reduce costs, but that they dont expect it to lead to any layoffs or job reductions.

Established in 1902, Cedars-Sinai is the largest private, nonprofit hospital in the western United States. It has several branches  including the 886-bed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles Beverly Grove neighborhood and the 145-bed Marina del Rey Hospital  and vast research and teaching programs.

Torrance Memorial, founded in 1925, is also a nonprofit; it has a 470-bed medical center as well as several outpatient centers in the South Bay.

In recent years, they said, they have worked together on projects including a program to diagnose and treat stroke patients more quickly.

Although the partnership has been approved by the institutions boards of directors, it still needs regulatory approval  a process they expect to take six months.

makeda.easter@latimes.com

Twitter: @makedaeaster
The wooden box of the canopic jars and remains of an anthropoid sarcophagus were uncovered inside the newly discovered pyramid remains in Dahshur necropolis

The Egyptian archaeological mission from the Ministry of Antiquities uncovered the burial chamber of a 13th Dynasty Pyramid discovered last month at Dahshur archaeological site.

Adel Okasha, head of the mission and the general director of the Dahshur site, explained that after removing the stones that covered the burial chamber, the mission discovered a wooden box engraved with three lines of hieroglyphics.

These lines are rituals to protect the deceased and the name of its owner.

Sherif Abdel Moneim, assistant to the minister of antiquities, revealed that the box housed the four canopic jars of the deceased with their name engraved, that of the daughter of the 13th Dynasty King Emnikamaw, whose pyramid is located 600 metres away.

He said that the mission also discovered last month a relief with 10 lines of hieroglyphics bearing the cartouche of King Emenikamaw. Hence the box may belong to the Kings daughter, or one of his family. Inside the box, the mission found wrappings of the deceased's liver, intestines, stomach and lungs.

Remains of an anthropoid sarcophagus have been found but in a very bad state of conservation. Excavation works would continue to uncover more of the pyramid's secrets.

Khaled El-Enany, minister of antiquities, visited the site this morning to inspect the excavation works.

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Developer Five Point Holdings debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday in a nearly $300-million initial public stock offering that produced mixed results for the company behind several marquee California communities.

Shares of the Aliso Viejo firm rose as much as 11% from the initial price of $14 before closing up $1.04, or 7.4%, to $15.04 a share. Five Point ended the day with a market capitalization of about $3.3 billion.

However, the company developing Newhall Ranch in the Santa Clarita Valley, Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine and the Shipyard and Candlestick Point projects in San Francisco had hoped to price shares as high as $20 and raise more than $400 million.

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The company sold 21 million shares, raising $294 million. It could raise an additional $44 million, minus expenses, if underwriters exercise an option to sell 3.15 million more shares.

Miami-based home builder Lennar Corp., which had a 40.2% stake in Five Point following the IPO, also agreed separately to invest $100 million in the company.

Five Point, which was spun off from Lennar in 2009, is planning to use its cash hoard to help build its master planned communities amid a persistent housing shortage in the state, especially along coastal California.

To build out these master plans you need to lay out a lot in advance before there is any money coming in, said Gerd-Ulf Krueger, chief economist with Krueger Economics.

In the last two years, Five Point has lost money as it has worked to develop its communities and spent heavily on management, operations and other expenses.

The company bills itself as the largest developer of master-planned communities along the coast, an enviable but challenging position given the difficulty in building in the region.

Five Point noted that among its major risks for investors are environmental lawsuits and other challenges that have already delayed Newhall Ranch for years.

Stuart Miller, chief executive of Lennar, acknowledged that the pricing was lower than what the company had wanted.

We opened a little bit below the range, he said, during an interview on CNBC. But its not about where you start. Its about how you proceed and how you grow along the way.

Many economists and housing academics blame the lack of construction over the last several decades as the primary reason California home prices and rents have climbed much faster than the nation as a whole.

In its prospectus, Five Point pitched itself to investors partly on the historic level of under-building, relative to jobs and population growth.

The company noted that last year, San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties added 5.45 jobs for every new housing unit permitted, while Los Angeles County added 4.24 jobs for every housing unit. In Orange County, the jobs-to-permit rate was 3.66.

Home prices in San Francisco were up 6.4% in February compared with a year earlier, according to the widely followed Case-Shiller index. In Los Angeles and Orange counties, prices were up 5.1% and agents in the region say buyers are packing open houses, given the shortage of listings.

California is ground zero for supply constraint, Miller said during his CNBC interview. Demand continues to grow. The job market is strong, especially in these markets in California. Its a great time to be a residential builder.

Five Point, led by CEO Emile Haddad, serves as a master developer of communities and then sells lots to individual home builders, such as William Lyon Homes of Newport Beach or Floridas Lennar.

Upon completion, Five Points Great Park Neighborhoods is expected to have 9,500 homes and 4.9 million square feet of commercial space. Newhall Ranch will have 21,500 homes, and the companys two San Francisco projects will have 12,000 homes.

Five Point had previously attempted to go public, but put plans on hold last year amid volatility in the stock market.

The market wasnt open for IPOs [in 2016], Haddad said during an interview on CNBC. We waited until the market opened and here we are. We are very excited to be a public company now.

The company trades under the ticker symbol FPH.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter

UPDATES:

3:40 p.m.: This article was updated with the companys market capitalization, past losses and other details from its prospectus.

This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m.
Department of Homeland Security officials met with airline industry representatives Thursday to discuss the possibility of expanding a ban on laptop computers and other large electronic devices as carry-ons on planes flying to the U.S. from Europe.

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly ended the meeting with no decision to adopt an expansion but promised to continue to study the idea.

We are continually evaluating threats and if a determination is made that a change to our layers of seen and unseen aviation security measures should be made, as we have done in the past, we will work closely with our private sector and public sector partners to ultimately do what is best for the safety of the travelling public, the agency said in a statement.

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The potential move would expand restrictions imposed in March by the U.S. and Britain on electronic devices larger than a smartphone in passenger cabins of flights from eight Middle Eastern and African countries.

Earlier in the day, the European Union called for urgent meetings with U.S. officials to discuss any potential expansion.

We propose that meetings are held as a matter of urgency, both at political and technical level, to jointly assess the risk and review possible common measures, according to a letter written by Violeta Bulc, EU transport commissioner, and Dimitris Avramopoulos, commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship. The letter, seen by Reuters, was addressed to Kelly and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

The U.S. ban already in place requires passengers on international flights from 10 airports in the Middle East and Africa to put all laptop computers, electronic tablets and other devices larger than a smartphone into luggage checked into the cargo compartment.

Senior U.S. administration officials have declined to elaborate on any threats that may have prompted the ban, saying only that commercial airlines are still a target of terrorists who are trying to smuggle explosives in electronic devices.

CNN has reported that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies believe that the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations have developed new ways to plant explosives in electronic devices that could evade some common airport security screening methods.

CNN cited unnamed intelligence officials saying that terrorists would have a more difficult time detonating an explosive remotely and that placing laptops and other devices in the cargo bay might reduce damage even if a bomb were to explode.

But safety experts have raised questions about the potential for batteries in electronic devices to catch fire in the hold.

The current ban by the U.S. imposes the restrictions on flights from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Morocco. Los Angeles International Airport gets direct flights from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Discussion of expanding the ban to flights from Europe comes as the summer travel season approaches and at a time when the travel industry has reported strong demand for international travel.

Travel industry experts had previously worried that President Trumps proposal to temporarily ban travel from several Middle Eastern countries would send a message that the U.S. is not welcoming to foreign visitors.

Travel data so far has not shown a significant drop in international travel to the U.S., but industry officials remain worried.

Jonathan Grella, executive vice president for the U.S. Travel Assn., said travel industry officials want to protect travelers from terrorist threats but also want to be informed by government officials on why new security measures are imposed.

It is critical that the U.S. government clearly communicate the details of this new policy and the reasons why its needed, continually reassess it to ensure it remains relevant and effective, and actively seek protocols that neutralize threats while minimizing disruption for legitimate business and leisure travelers, he said in a statement released Thursday.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

Twitter: @hugomartin.

ALSO

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Flier beware: 5 things to know before you head to LAX this weekend (and Monday and Tuesday too)

UPDATES:

3:30 p.m.: This article was updated to show that no decision was made during the meeting to expand the electronics ban.

2:40 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from the European Union.

12:15 p.m.: This article was updated to include statements from the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Travel Assn. as well as previous expressions of concern from safety experts.

This article was originally published at 10:40 a.m.
State Farm is issuing $13.3 million in refunds to California consumers with homeowners and renters policies after the state Department of Insurance deemed its rates excessive.

About 250,000 people will receive on average refunds of about $55 for overcharges between Dec. 8 and Feb. 13, the department said Thursday.

The refunds stem from a bitter legal dispute centered on Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones decision to order State Farm to cut its rates as of Dec. 8.

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He has that authority under Californias landmark Proposition 103. But in a first, Jones ordered the cut to be applied retroactively to July 2015, a decision that would result in refunds topping $100 million.

State Farm sued, arguing that the mandated reductions were based on inaccurate calculations and that the insurance commissioner does not have authority to change rates retroactively.

In December, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal put the refunds on hold until the court challenge is decided, but ordered State Farm to cut current rates per Jones order.

State Farm had said the company worked to comply with that order, but couldnt cut rates until Feb. 13 because insurance renewal bills must be sent at least 45 days early.

The Department of Insurance threatened that the decision could cost State Farm more than $2.5 billion in fines and filed an order of noncompliance.

On Thursday, the department said State Farm asked the court to intervene and was rejected, resulting in the $13 million in refunds.

We have used all our legal remedies to make sure State Farms customers are not overcharged and to make sure that State Farm complies with the rate reduction order, Jones said in a statement. It is past time that State Farms ratepayers receive the rate reductions to which they are entitled.

Whether consumers will get refunds for rates charged prior to Dec. 8 is still being worked out in court.

We appreciate our customers patience as we work to resolve the matter, State Farm said in a statement. We will continue to comply with the orders of the court.

Times staff writer James Rufus Koren contributed to this report.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter
The Senate on Thursday signed off on President Trumps nominee to become the nations chief trade representative, ending more than four months of delays that the administration blamed for slowing its initiatives on trade, including efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

There was never much doubt that Robert Lighthizer, a seasoned trade lawyer and former White House trade negotiator and Senate staffer, would win confirmation to be the U.S. Trade Representative. And when the Senate finally got around to voting, he was approved 82 to 14, making him one of the most easily confirmed among Trumps picks but also the last of his Cabinet members to be seated.

The Trump administration had complained about the delay, which was partly related to Lighthizers past work as a private attorney representing a foreign country in a trade case.

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With Thursdays vote, Trumps trade-team leadership is in place. Lighthizer is expected to work closely with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Economist Peter Navarro also is serving as a trade and manufacturing policy advisor.

The question now is how quickly will the Trump administration act on revamping NAFTA and the rest of the presidents agenda on trade?

And how much will Lighthizer sway the balance of power in the White House, between the so-called economic nationalists on one side, like Navarro who has advocated protectionist policies, and the more traditional GOP free-traders on the other, led by Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs president who is Trumps director of the National Economic Council.

Theres definitely a new dynamic now, said Nate Olson, a trade specialist at the Stimson Center think tank. But it wont be an easy spot for Lighthizer, he added.

Hell have their backing as the statutory lead on trade negotiations, but hell also be the one in the hot seat as Congress demands a coherent policy and concrete progress, Olson said.

The U.S. trade representative has traditionally been the lead negotiator on trade deals. Although Navarro and Ross have made the rounds on Capitol Hill, the White House has yet to provide the required 90-day notice to Congress before the U.S. can begin renegotiations on NAFTA. Ross has said that delays in confirming Lighthizers appointment had not helped the process.

Lighthizer, who served as a deputy trade representative in the Reagan administration, said during the confirmation hearing that he agrees with Trumps America First policy.

During the hearing and in previous public comments, Lighthizer also has advocated stronger U.S. action to thwart unfair trade practices, particularly involving China.

If you look at the trade deficit as an indicator  not the only indicator but an indicator  China is a good part of our problem, Lighthizer said during the hearing in mid-March. I think we have to engage China and we have to talk to China, but we also have to think about some new remedies.

At the same time, trade experts who have worked with Lighthizer say that the 69-year-old is also a trade realist and that he would bring a more nuanced and technicians approach to seeking better trade outcomes than what could be expected from the fiery rhetoric and antagonistic positions often espoused by Trump.

Trump announced his pick of Lighthizer for the post Jan. 3, but the vote was delayed in good part because some lawmakers argued that separate congressional action was needed to provide a waiver for Lighthizer for his past work representing a foreign government in a case involving a trade dispute with the U.S. Congressional Democrats insisted that GOP leaders extend health benefits for miners in exchange for the waiver.

The miners benefits and waiver were both part of the omnibus spending bill that passed last week. But on Wednesday, two Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, sought to throw a last-minute wrench into the process, announcing that they would not support his nomination because of concerns about the nominees understanding of NAFTA and how renegotiations might hurt U.S. farm interests.

Lighthizer, however, received broad bipartisan support. The two senators from Ohio, Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican, issued a joint statement in support of Lighthizer after the vote.

I just talked with Bob and I know hes ready to get to work building a new trade policy that puts American workers first, Brown said. Portman added: Mr. Lighthizer is well-equipped for the task.

don.lee@latimes.com

Follow me at @dleelatimes
David Geffens Malibu compound has changed hands for $85 million, public records show. The most expensive sale previously recorded in the beach community took place four years ago for $74.5 million.

The Carbon Beach property has an East Coast vibe with exteriors sporting gray shingles and white trim. It is kept under close watch by security, as is that entire stretch of Pacific Coast Highway, known as Billionaires Beach for its wealthy homeowners, including Larry Ellison, Eli Broad and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The estate contains a main house, guesthouses and a pavilion screening room. An oceanfront swimming pool and spa, lawn and patios complete the grounds.

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For years, music and movie mogul Geffen, 74, fought the California Coastal Commission over keeping closed the public beach access way next to his compound.

The property sold to a limited liability company.

lauren.beale2@latimes.com

Twitter: @laurenebeale

MORE HOT PROPERTY:

Its bold, its beautiful and its sold in Glassell Park

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Fresh off its stock market debut, the much-hyped tech start-up quickly saw the euphoria, riches and huge expectations fade. Panicked investors fretted over the firms first earnings report, sending stock prices tumbling like never before.

Its the story of Snap Inc.  but also the history of Facebook.

The question now is whether the makers of Snapchat can produce a comeback as dramatic as Facebooks.

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After seeing the companys value slashed in half to $50 billion about three months after its 2012 stock market debut, Facebook proved the fears were overblown by doubling expected ad sales for its mobile app. Facebook rebounded, and now has a market capitalization of more than $430 billion.

So when Snap  a social media firm also founded by a self-confident college dropout with big ideas on how people communicate  sought to go public, investors couldnt help but imagine another meteoric rise.

That paid off for the Los Angeles company, which in March held the biggest initial public offering of a tech company since Facebook. But after issuing its first earnings report, the Los Angeles-based maker of Snapchat similarly finds itself in the hot seat.

Snap lost more than a fifth of its value Thursday as investors disappointed in the companys ad sales growth dumped $2.3-billion in shares.

Financial analysts hold mixed views on whether Snap, now valued at about $21 billion, can experience a Facebook-like rise to the upper tier of the technology world.

When Facebook shares cratered five years ago, the company had nearly 1 billion users and solid ad business outside of its mobile app.

By comparison, Snap has 166 million users on its messaging app, and new ones are coming in the door slower than any point in the last two years. Its ad business is nascent.

The risk for Snap is that it could end up more like Twitter Inc. after its 2013 stock debut. The microblogging service suffered a similar sell-off following its first earnings report; its shares currently trade at half their value when Twitter went public.

Its a tale of two cities, said Goodwater Capital managing partner Eric Kim. Its really about how the company will respond going forward  Facebook came out of it and increased its market cap fourfold; Twitter has not. So what does Snap learn from this initial debut? What lessons does it take with it?

The amount of time Snap has to straighten its course may depend on whether it can satisfy one of Wall Streets favorite measurements for success: user growth.

Snap, for its part, has said its success should be measured in revenue per user  ad income divided by the number of users  instead of user growth. Ahead of reporting its earnings, the company cautioned that it wasnt likely to pick up new users at the exceptional pace of the past and that growth would be lumpy, with quarterly variances depending on when new features are launched.

Such messaging didnt appear to ease doubts.

Another reason for concern is Snaps ad revenue performance. Ad sales often fall off early in the year across the media landscape, but many investors predicted Snap as a young company would be immune from the trend. They found out in the companys first quarterly earnings report Wednesday that Snap not only succumbed to the usual dip, but also that its $150 million in revenue represented a harder blow than those suffered by more established ad sellers.

Most social marketers already complain about Snapchats lack of user data and proper social measurement, said Jessie Liu, who follows online advertising for Forrester Research. Its one thing to say on the earnings call that they intend to do a better job of delivering metrics to prove ad effectiveness, but they have to execute and prove this to advertisers.

Its aggressive to expect the market to support a valuation that high without having a lot of strong underpinnings.  Michael Nathanson of the stock-research firm MoffettNathanson

Snap is trying to convince advertisers to buy novel types of commercials, including vertically-displayed, 10-second videos that users can skip in a millisecond and funny facial animations that users must like enough to spread to friends.

The big issue with advertising over the next decade or so, frankly, is going to be education, Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel told analysts Wednesday. Early adopters are seeing great results. And so weve just got to keep showing people how Snap can really work for them and drive [a return on investment].

But investors wanted to be wowed by Wednesdays earnings report, leaving them questioning whether Snap shares will generate enough demand to sustain a price attractive to job candidates, suitable to buy smaller companies and defensible against take-over offers.

Snap shares closed Thursday at $18.05, down 21.4% from their price before earnings were released Wednesday afternoon. The stock listed at $17, debuted at $24 and reached a peak of $27.09 the day after its IPO.

The price is sure to suffer another big decrease mid-summer when employees and other shareholders required to hold shares for a certain period become free to sell.

Several analysts at firms marketing Snap shares said investors shouldnt read too deeply into the companys stumbling at the starting gate.

Way too early, wrote Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital Markets. Mahaney maintained his estimate that shares should hit $31 next year.

Snap critics such as Richard Windsor of Edison Investment Research took the results as evidence of its case that Snap isnt worth close to its current price.

Management even had the temerity to laugh off the threat from its much larger and far more powerful rival, Facebook, which is successfully replicating Snaps innovations to great effect, Windsor said of Spiegels comments Wednesday brushing off Faceboook Inc.s copycat video-sharing technology.

Michael Nathanson of the stock-research firm MoffettNathanson said Snap has exposed investors to significant losses by going public earlier than it should have.

Given the immaturity of its revenue model, its just asking for a lot from the investment community, Nathanson said. Its aggressive to expect the market to support a valuation that high without having a lot of strong underpinnings.

Even analysts at Goldman Sachs, who hold a positive outlook on Snap, acknowledged Thursday that Snap remains the kind of risky bet that should be the target of venture capital firms as opposed to mutual funds and individuals.

Snaps stock could drop further until the company resets investor expectations about how fast and how big it will grow  a process that could take as long as five years, Spiegel told the Los Angeles Times in March. Connecting one-third of the planet as Facebook has done may never be possible for Snap.

If investors can accept that possibility then they will have to decide the value of a niche service that could prove better at advertising to millennials and Generation Z behind them than anyone else.

You have a large number of very engaged [consumers] dealing in the most immersive form of video the world has ever known, said Alex Collmer, chief executive of Snapchat ad technology partner VidMob. People are focusing on things that are more temporary and missing that sort of macro picture.

VidMobs software has helped hundreds of companies repeatedly develop video ads for distribution on Snapchat. And Collmer said once companies see that the process can take as little as two days, theyre hooked.

Still, Snap, just like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many other online services, must get thousands more companies to see the value in their ad offerings compared with those of TV, newspapers and other legacy media.

What Snap is going through is no different than what everyone else is going through, Collmer said, except that it might be more exposed as a new, vastly hyped entrant on the market.

Times staff writer Tracey Lien contributed to this report.

paresh.dave@latimes.com / PGP

david.pierson@latimes.com

Twitter: @peard33

Twitter: @dhpierson

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Every documentary has its challenges. Inadequate budgets. Complicated filming locations. Seemingly voluble sources who clam up the minute they get in front of a camera.

But when filmmakers Richard Dewey and Timothy Marrinan set out to make their debut feature documentary about the life and work of the Los Angeles artist Chris Burden, they didnt know that they would also be contending with his death. In the final months of his life, Burden was quietly battling malignant melanoma, a struggle he lost in the spring of 2015, when he passed away at age 69.

We had no idea that wed be capturing the end of his life when we started the project, Dewey says.

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During his life, Burden was known for treacherous performances  in 1971, he had a marksman shoot him in the arm as a work of art  and for producing grand public sculptures, such as the street lamp installation, Urban Light, that greets visitors to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Dewey and Marrinan say that observing Burden produce some of his elaborate installations prepared them to complete their own labor of love. After more than half a dozen years of work, their documentary, Burden, opened last week in New York and debuts in Los Angeles Friday at the Nuart Theatre. (It is also available for streaming on iTunes and Amazon.)

There was a ton to learn from Chris, says Dewey.

You have to have patience, Marrinan says. You have to let things develop. You have to work out the small details.

Burden is a compact 90 minutes that tracks the artist from his years as a student at UC Irvine, where he was part of the universitys first crop of MFA students, through his most iconic  and iconoclastic  performances: Trans-fixed, from 1974, in which he had himself nailed to a Volkswagen Beetle in a position of crucifixion; the infamous TV Hijack, from 1972, in which he held a curator at knifepoint on a local television program; and, of course, Shoot.

The film opens with one of the art videos Burden paid to air on local television stations late at night in the 70s as a form of humorous self-promotion, and it closes with another work, one that provides the documentary with an emotional coda.

This consists of footage of the artists last completed sculpture: Ode to Santos Dumont, a small, fully functional dirigible that went on view at LACMA just five days after his death. The work was a floating, mechanical tribute to the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, who flew a dirigible around the Eiffel Tower in 1901.

[That piece] incorporated a lot of things that Chris liked to think about: history, revising history, aviation and engineering, Dewey says. Here in the U.S., we say the Wright Brothers invented aviation. But Chris is saying, Wait, theres a Brazilian guy who had a role in aviation history. It shows that the art works on a lot of different levels.

These sorts of myriad layers, present in so much of Burdens work, are what inspired Dewey and Marrinen, longtime friends united by an interest in film, to make a documentary about the artist.

Marrinan, who hails from England, first stumbled into Burdens art while at Harvard University, when he saw photos of early performances in a book. The images, he says, were unforgettable.

Dewey, whos from Pennsylvania, became familiar with Burden after Urban Light was installed at LACMA in 2008. Reading a profile of the artist, he was surprised to learn that this beloved work of public sculpture had been made by an artist whod had a key role in the avant-garde performance art scene of the 70s.

You had a person who did these wild performances, but you also have this person who did these heartwarming civic sculptures, he says. And my question was, how did he get from A to B?

Theres the experience of looking at the documentation and then theres the experience of what it was like to be in the room and pull the trigger.  Timothy Marrinan, filmmaker, Burden

They began to answer that question with a magazine article. (In addition to film, Dewey has a background in journalism.) In 2008, the pair, both living in Los Angeles, teamed to write a profile of Burden for the New York-based Whitewall magazine. (Since then, they have both relocated: Dewey to New York, Marrinan to London.)

During that interview, they learned that the artist was about to stage one of his Beam Drop pieces in Antwerp, Belgium. For those works  first executed in Lewiston, N.Y., in 1984  Burden would drop steel I-beams from a crane into a pool of concrete. Once the concrete hardens, it freezes the beams in a random arrangement, like an action painting produced on an industrial, 3-D scale.

Intrigued, Marrinan and Dewey followed Burden to Antwerp to make a 10-minute short about Beam Drop in 2009.

It was a very low-budget affair, Marrinan says. We drove over to Antwerp from London with a kit in the car and just started shooting with a friend of ours. We got to know Chris in that setting.

That led to the idea of embarking on a full-scale documentary.

I was interested in the total commitment to his art, Dewey says. Putting his body on the line, putting himself in these uncomfortable situations, and in the later years, doing these pieces that took years and years to come about. Urban Light wasnt a commission from LACMA; he just started buying [street lamps]. He had hundreds of them. And it ultimately coalesced into this piece that becomes an L.A. landmark.

What we wanted to do was show his art, then dig deeper, Marrinan explains. To show the context in which his art was made and the ideas that he was grappling with so that people could come to their own conclusions. People do have a very divergent range of opinions about Chris life and career.

And they wanted to do it in a way that would speak to a general audience.

There are a hundred different ways to tell Chris story, Dewey says. But we wanted to tell it in a way that was accessible to people who arent in the art world. We try to think in those respects.

In 2010, the pair traveled to Burdens Topanga Canyon compound and proposed the idea of a feature documentary. Burden agreed right away and provided the filmmakers with access to his personal archives  which included photographs, video and audio.

Some of his archives were cassette tapes and reel-to-reel tapes, and we had some of it digitized for the first time, says Marrinan. Some of it, I dont think has been seen.

The filmmakers also spent a good deal of time interviewing collaborators, friends, colleagues and experts.

We wanted to get the vivid firsthand testimony of what it was like to be there, Marrinan says.

And do they ever. This includes interviews with Burdens first wife Barbara Burden, who assisted in many of the early performances, as well as Bruce Dunlap, the artist and marksman who famously shot Burden in the arm.

The performances exist in two realms, Marrinan says. Theres the experience of looking at the documentation and then theres the experience of what it was like to be in the room and pull the trigger.

Also on the lineup is Phyllis Lutjeans, the curator who survived the episode at knifepoint on cable TV.

I was really terrified, Lutjeans recalls in the film. What went through my mind was, Has he lost it? ... But I knew then and I know now that he was going to shift art history.

He had an eclectic set of interests, and a lot of his art is a combination of pulling from those disparate interests.  Richard Dewey, filmmaker, Burden

Dewey and Marrinan say that part of their task was to get beyond Burdens sensational public persona to show the profound thinking that went into some of his work. The artist thought deeply about the nature of objects and art  and how the boundaries of each might be prodded and poked and, perhaps, blown to smithereens.

Seeded throughout the film are scenes from an interview that Regis Philbin conducted with Burden in the mid-1970s.

I think you get the sense at the start of that interview that Regis is, like, Oh, here is this crazy guy, says Marrinan. But Chris answers the questions really genuinely  and by the end I think he turns [Philbin] around. He is genuine about what he is doing. Its not just for shock value.

He had an eclectic set of interests, and a lot of his art is a combination of pulling from those disparate interests, says Dewey. That was interesting to see  how wide-ranging his knowledge was, from aviation to trains in the transportation space to the history of civic art in Rome and Paris. And he was really willing to go with his instincts and let things develop over a lot of time.

The documentary captures difficult moments too. In continuously trying to outdo himself on the performance front, the artist could often alienate those who were close to him.

Burden covers his transition back to sculpture, which like his performance work, played with elements of force and aggression: the Beam Drop pieces, the impossible towers made out of Erector set parts and the 1987 installation devoted to chronicling all of the submarines employed in the U.S. Navys fleet (a wry take on the history of U.S. militarism).

During filming, Dewey and Marrinan happened upon the completion and installation of one of Burdens more popular Los Angeles works: the frenetic Metropolis II, a three-dimensional cityscape clogged with highways and filled with speeding toy cars (currently on long-term view at LACMA).

Burden filmmakers Timothy Marrinan, left, and Richard Dewey, stand next to Chris Burdens Metropolis II at LACMA. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Dewey says that he is grateful for what they were able to capture before Burdens death.

After his passing, as the filmmakers worked to complete the film, we had to dig deeper for archival materials. Marrinan says.

In some ways, he adds, an unexpected limitation like that can benefit a project. When we did get hold of some of the early footage of him, it was so great to see him talk about those projects at the time that they were happening. The ideas were so present to him.

People move in and out of your life, Dewey says. To have him move into your life at that period? Its a remarkable experience.

You have an unusual relationship making a documentary with someone, adds Marrinan. You have this imposed distance, you are behind the camera. ... But when youre not filming them, youre talking about them, thinking about them, thinking about the structure, going over the interviews youve shot. You feel so close to your subject.

The film, its the culmination of a whole process for us, and a really great experience. Its a shame that Chris couldnt see it.

Burden

Not Rated

Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Playing: Nuart Theatre, West Los Angeles

Streaming: iTunes, Amazon

Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter 

carolina.miranda@latimes.com

@cmonstah

ALSO:

Review: Chris Burdens Ode to Santos Dumont inspires wonder, delight

Chris Burdens architectural intelligence

Chris Burden dies at 69: artists light sculpture at LACMA is symbol of L.A.

Review: Obit is a lesson in how to bring the dead to vivid life
A Star Is Born: Morgan Freeman turns 80 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) I like to play characters who are the absolute opposite of me. I think the farther you get from yourself, the more fun you have because the real you is hidden away. Those are the kind of parts where you can become totally empty and let the character fill you up. Thats what I look for -- a role that gives me a chance to be someone completely different.  Morgan Freeman, 1993 FROM THE ARCHIVES: No Sweat: Morgan Freeman Slides Into the Directors Chair Facebook

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Chloe Grace Moretz addresses body-shaming controversy over Snow White movie By Josh Rottenberg (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Actress Chloe Grace Moretz has long been known as a strong voice when it comes to issues of feminism, whether its over-sexualization of female characters or equal pay for women. Now shes speaking out against the marketing campaign behind one of her own projects. Moretz went on social media Wednesday to address criticism that marketing for the animated film Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs  an updated tweak on the Snow White story, with Moretz as the voice of the classic fairy-tale character  engages in body-shaming. I have now fully reviewed the [marketing] for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasnt approved by me or my team, the actress wrote. According to the website of the South Korean animation studio behind the film, its story centers on a Princess who doesnt fit into the celebrity world of Princesses  or their dress size. When she puts on a pair of magical red shoes, she instantly becomes skinnier. The films synopsis promises an empowering message in which Snow White learns not only to accept herself, but to celebrate who she is, inside and out. But the films trailer and other marketing materials have been blasted as fat-shaming. Plus-size model Tess Holliday took to Twitter to criticize a billboard for the film that appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, where Red Shoes was seeking distribution, that suggested that the less svelte Snow White was no longer beautiful. How did this get approved by an entire marketing team? Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly? @ChloeGMoretz pic.twitter.com/PVhgwluGTM  Tess Holliday  (@Tess_Holliday) May 30, 2017 Hearing the complaints about the films tone-deaf marketing, Moretz agreed  and told her more than 3 million followers so in a pair of tweets. I have now fully reviewed the mkting for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasn't approved by me or my team  Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Pls know I have let the producers of the film know. I lent my voice to a beautiful script that I hope you will all see in its entirety https://t.co/IOIXYZTc3g  Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Even as she apologized, she promised that the marketing doesnt represent the complete picture and the films ultimate message is a far more positive one than initial impressions may suggest. The actual story is powerful for young women and resonated with me. I am sorry for the offense that was beyond my creative control https://t.co/HZP2ydPCAX  Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Facebook

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Singing tween ventriloquist from Americas Got Talent is the cure for what ails you By Christie DZurilla Had enough outrage? Heres the cure for what ails you, courtesy of Americas Got Talent. Take a deep breath, exhale slowly and witness one Darci Lynne Farmer, a 12-year-old singing ventriloquist from Oklahoma City, who on Tuesday night got the Golden Buzzer from AGT judge Mel B for a performance that exuded unadulterated joy. Armed with bunny-puppet pal Petunia on lead vocals, Darci Lynne delivered a surprising version of Summertime for her audition. She ended up earning a ticket straight to the competitions live shows. You made my heart melt, said Mel B, who Darci Lynne later dubbed the best Spice Girl. I believe that that rabbit is a real separate person, judge Howie Mandel said. I love you. I believe youre gonna go far. You just changed your life tonight, young lady. https://t.co/VZmgRXv4PZ  Darci Lynne (@ItsDarciLynne) May 31, 2017 Facebook

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John Legend makes case to take canceled drama Underground elsewhere By Nardine Saad (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) John Legend is making a case for the recently canceled TV drama Underground to be picked up by other content providers. The Oscar-winning musician, who is an executive producer and played abolitionist Frederick Douglass on the Underground Railroad-centered show, rallied fans to give it a second life when cable broadcaster WGN America announced Tuesday it would be canceling the series after two seasons. The network has been scaling down its investment in original programming as part of a deal that its parent company, Tribune Media, made with conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. Sinclairs purchase of Tribune gives it control of more than 200 local TV stations and WGN America. The shift was not lost on Legend, who fired off a series of tweets to promote the content brought forth by Underground and its creators, Misha Green and Joe Pokaski. WGN America has been bought and is going a different direction strategically. We will find a new home for Underground! he tweeted, adding, Content wins. Were not reliant on a particular network to make great content. Were so proud of our show and the audience that supported! Legend, who has made no secret about his liberal politics, cautioned fans to be wary of Sinclair and claimed that theyre trying to make local stations mini Fox Newses that lean even further to the right. He completed his plea by asking followers to feel free to drop some hints to the network/streaming services you want to pick up #Underground. Show them who will be watching! View Instagram post Despite Underground being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season, Peter Kern, president and CEO of Tribune Media, said in a statement. It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination and freedom. Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces Underground, is said to be trying to find it a new home. See The Times roster of new, returning and canceled series here. Facebook

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Liam Gallagher plays new music at Manchester benefit show By August Brown In the wake of the terrorist attack outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, scores of artists joined forces to raise money for the victims. Among them was Liam Gallagher, the former singer and frontman for the citys most beloved rock band, Oasis. Gallagher played a benefit show for the bombing victims on Tuesday at the O2 Ritz Manchester. At the show, his first as a solo artist, he played several new songs, including the single Wall of Glass, which you can watch above. It was a preview of his forthcoming solo LP, As You Were. (Previously, Gallagher fronted the post-Oasis rock band Beady Eye.) For Oasis fans, he played several classic tracks, including Be Here Now with Oasis guitarist Paul Bonehead Arthurs and an a cappella take on Live Forever. Facebook

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CNN fires Kathy Griffin from New Years Eve show over controversial Trump picture By Christie DZurilla (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) Kathy Griffin is out of a job at CNN. The cable network on Wednesday terminated its agreement with the comic, who for years has co-hosted its New Years Eve program with Anderson Cooper, after a photo of Griffin holding a bloody, severed head in the likeness of President Trump went viral on social media. The image, taken by photographer Tyler Shields, elicited strong criticism from liberals and conservatives alike. Griffin apologized for the gory image in a 30-second video posted online Tuesday night. I beg for your forgiveness, Griffin said in the video. I went too far. Trump denounced the image Wednesday, calling it Sick! and saying Griffin should be ashamed. CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program.  CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 31, 2017 Facebook

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Lebanon officially bans Wonder Woman from theaters By Josh Rottenberg If you live in Lebanon, Wonder Woman wont be coming to a theater near you anytime soon. On Wednesday, the country officially banned the superhero film just hours before it was set to arrive in theaters. The ban followed an effort by a group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel, which urged the Lebanese governments Ministry of Economy and Trade to block the film because its star, Gal Gadot, is Israeli. News of the ban, which had been the subject of speculation since Monday, was announced on social media by Lebanons Grand Cinemas and Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel. Lebanon has had a contentious relationship with the state of Israel for decades and has an official law on the books that encourages boycotts of products from its neighbor to the south. Israeli citizens and anyone whose passport shows theyve traveled to Israel are prohibited from entering Lebanon. Earlier films featuring Gadot, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Furious 7, have successfully screened in theaters in Lebanon, however. Batman v Superman, which introduced Gadots Wonder Woman, was the third biggest hit at the box office in Lebanon last year. And, as has been pointed out, Wonder Woman was, in fact, made by three companies based in America and two based in China, so calling it an Israeli product is debatable. But, on its Facebook page, the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel complained that Gadot had served two years in the Israeli Defense Forces (national military service is mandatory for Israeli citizens over 18) and boasted about the army training her for Hollywood. Wonder Woman lands in American theaters on Friday and, fueled by overwhelmingly positive reviews, is expected to perform strongly. Read our recent profile of director Patty Jenkins, in which she explains why the world needs Wonder Woman, right here. Facebook

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If President Trumps got the whole world in his hands, Trevor Noah says were in trouble By Robert Lloyd Having caught fire too late Tuesday for late-night TV, and with several hosts extending their Memorial Day weekend, the #covfefe hashtag would have to wait at least until Wednesday for its monologue moment. There were, however, some late-night-related tweets reacting to Twitter addict @realdonaldtrumps since-deleted mistyping of what is assumed to be the word covering or coverage. What makes me saddest, wrote Jimmy Kimmel, is that I know Ill never write anything funnier than #covfefe. The account for CBS Late Late Show poked some fun at Trumps gaffe, too. who do you want to see on the next covfefe karaoke  The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) May 31, 2017 Meanwhile, Trevor Noah and Comedy Centrals The Daily Show were back after a week off, above, catching up with President Trumps whole first trip abroad. International Hand Stuff was the name of the segment, which framed the excursion in terms of the presidents mitts. There were references to Trump touching the glowing white orb and Jerusalems Western Wall (they build one wall 2,000 years ago, Noah said in his Trump voice, zero Mexicans in their whole country); the question of whether First Lady Melania Trump swatted away her husbands hand on the tarmac in Tel Aviv (leave it to Fox News not to recognize what rejection from a woman looks like); and Trumps power handshake from new French President Emmanuel Macron (the first time that President Trump was on the receiving end of an unwelcome hand grab). The last manual metaphor was given to the German chancellor, who, after her visit with the American president, said, We Europeans must take our fate into our own hands. Yeah, said Noah, clearly Angela Merkel got one look at Trump and was like, All right, our fate is in our own hands, because his clearly ruin everything they touch. Jimmy Kimmel also looked at Trumps trip abroad, which he described, with probable irony, as spreading joy and optimism all over the world. Titled Drunk Donald Trump: Sicily, the segment replayed a portion of Trumps speech at half-speed. The effect is uncanny. Later, sitting outside on some steps -- urine-stained steps, apparently -- Kimmel asked a series of kids, who really do say the darnedest things, about the state of the union. If we measure a late-night host solely by an ability to engage with children in a way thats friendly, direct, deadpan and mostly honest, Kimmel is in a league with David Letterman, nearly. How did he think Donald Trump was doing, Kimmel asked one boy. Not really well, the child replied. My sister told me that Donald Trump is against another state. Which state? Is it  Nebraska? Yeah, Nebraska. A lot of people are happy that he is bombing Nebraska, said Kimmel. (I did say mostly honest.) Do you think it was a good idea? No, replied the boy, cause they have, like, better bombs. I think theyre going to be OK, though, I really do, the host said. Once football season starts, theyre usually pretty solid. Facebook

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Kathy Griffin apologized for that bloody severed-head stunt. But few are forgiving her By Nardine Saad (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) First Lady Melania Trump is the latest detractor of Kathy Griffins bloody depiction of the presidents decapitation. As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing, FLOTUS said in a statement to NBC News. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it. Griffins photographs and video by photographer Tyler Shields showed the comic straight-faced, holding up a blood-splattered severed head that appeared to be Trumps. The president denounced Griffins stunt, saying that she should be ashamed of herself and that the piece greatly disturbed his 11-year-old son, Barron. Griffins apology wasnt accepted by some on Twitter either, which spewed a variety of reactions, including several right-wing jabs that Griffin had been radicalized by Islamic State, the terror group that frequently beheads its victims. Several also sympathized with the presidents family, citing TMZs story about Barron believing that something horrible had happened to his father when he saw the images on the news. CNN subsequently fired Griffin from her co-hosting duties for its New Years Eve broadcast, and she has also been dropped as a spokesperson for Squatty Potty. Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was delighted by the bathroom footstool makers response but criticized CNN for not immediately doing the same. So Squatty Potty pulls the plug on Kathy Griffin, but CNN still evaluating and weighing their options, the presidents eldest son tweeted. Insane whats going on there!!! He then added, Apologies for my last tweet. I didnt mean to group Squatty Potty with CNN. Obviously one of them has moral/ethical standards. Griffins CNN compatriot, Anderson Cooper, who co-hosts the giggle-filled New Years Eve show for the cable news channel, did not come to his pals defense. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate, Cooper tweeted. CNN host Jake Tapper also said on the air that he thought the beheading imagery by Griffin about the president was disgusting and inappropriate. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.  Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 31, 2017 For those asking, I said on air that I thought the beheading imagery by Griffin about the president was disgusting and inappropriate.  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 30, 2017 Meanwhile, others believed that Griffins apology was a step in the right direction. Kathy Griffin did the right thing by apologizing. That sort of behavior, that sort of message, isn't acceptable in any setting.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 31, 2017 I think she did the right thing asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that this was a horrible mistake, so I think she can, Minnesota Democrat and former Saturday Night Live writer Sen. Al Franken told CNN on Wednesday. Kathys a friend and shes a terrific comedian, but this had no business being in our public discourse..., Franken said. And I talked to her. She has apologized  a real, fulsome apology. Shes actually begged for forgiveness, and I believe in forgiveness. Still, there was more snark to be had. Kathy Griffin's stupid photo was gross & offensive. She should lose her leadership role in the DNC and no longer be a candidate for office.  Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 31, 2017 Update, 10:55 a.m.: Story added news that CNN has fired Griffin from its New Years Eve broadcast. Facebook

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Melania Trump questions Kathy Griffins mental health after inflammatory photo shoot By James Reed President Trump and Melania Trump (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.  Melania Trump, responding to Kathy Griffins controversial stunt involving a severed head in the likeness of President Trump Read More Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Clint Eastwood turns 87 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) If you want to be in for the long haul, you just have to trust your judgment about the material. ... If you go whoring for the money, the audiences will figure you out. They know when youre being a jerk, when youre just trying to get them in a room and show them a movie you dont even care about.  Clint Eastwood, 1993 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Clint, closing in on El Dorado Facebook

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This Is Us not moving to Thursdays, after all By Yvonne Villarreal Consider it a flash-forward flashback: Poised to help NBC reclaim its Must See TV glory on Thursday nights, This Is Us is now staying put in its Tuesday time slot before the switch even happened. The breakout drama from last season will keep hold of the 9 p.m. hour on Tuesdays where it performed mightily in its debut season, the network announced Tuesday. Itll retain its lead-in, The Voice. The move means some rejiggering for Thursdays. The revival of Will & Grace, which was slated to open the night, will now kick off the 9 p.m. hour. It will be surrounded by comedies Superstore, The Good Place and Great News to create a two-hour comedy block. Chicago Fire will take up the 10 p.m. hour instead of Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders. That drama will keep its This Is Us lead-in by moving to Tuesdays. Heres NBCs revised schedule: Tuesdays 8 p.m.  The Voice 9 p.m.  This Is Us 10 p.m.  Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders Thursdays 8 p.m.  Superstore 8:30 p.m.  The Good Place 9 p.m.  Will & Grace 9:30 p.m.  Great News 10 p.m.  Chicago Fire Facebook

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Erin Moran died of cancer, autopsy report confirms By Christie DZurilla Erin Moran is shown in 1992. (Wally Fong / Associated Press ) The coroner reportedly says Happy Days actress Erin Moran died of complications from cancer and cancer alone. Thats in line with what her husband said in an open letter written shortly after her death on April 22 at age 56. Tests showed no illegal narcotics were involved in her death, according to an autopsy report obtained by TMZ on Tuesday from the coroners office in Harrison County, Ind. Moran struggled with substance abuse earlier in her life, and media assumptions about her cause of death were amplified by a comment from Scott Baio during an early morning radio interview April 24. When Baio learned his former costar had been battling cancer, he fell all over himself trying to set the record straight. I was asked ONLY about Erins troubled past due to drug & alcohol abuse. I was still upset and said I felt that living that kind of a lifestyle will catch up with you and nothing good would come of it, he said on Facebook. THIS WAS BEFORE THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS ANNOUNCED STATING STAGE 4 CANCER. One of the former child stars brothers, Tony Moran, told the Sun on May 30: My first thoughts were she must have had a heart attack caused by years of substance abuse. She has always battled demons and in recent years things have gone from bad to worse. In reality, as described by her husband, Moran had discovered last December that she had squamous cell carcinoma of the throat. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, by April she could no longer speak, eat or drink. She had a feeding tube. Baio posted the open letter from Steve Fleischmann, Morans husband of nearly 24 years, on his own Facebook page April 25. It got so bad so fast, Fleischmann said. The coroner told me it was really really bad. It had spread to her spleen, she had alot of fluid in her lungs and part of her brain was infected, Fleischmann wrote. The coroner said even if she was in the hospital being pumped full of antibiotics she still would not of made it. He said it was the best that she was with me and went in her sleep. Facebook

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WGN America cancels Underground, but will it really be the end? By Yvonne Villarreal  A chat with Aisha Hinds and Jurnee Smollett-Bell, the badass women from Underground. WGN America has canceled slavery-era-set drama Underground. The fate of the series, which centered around the Underground Railroad, seemed doomed given how the network has been scaling back its investment in original programming. Until now, the drama, from creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, had stood as the lone original scripted series on the network following the recent cancellation of Outsiders. The shift away from original programming comes after Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., the conservative-leaning Baltimore-based company, announced it had agreed to buy Tribune Media in a deal that would give it control of more than 200 local TV stations and WGN America. As WGN America evolves and broadens the scope and scale of its portfolio of series, we recently announced that resources will be reallocated to a new strategy to increase our relevance within the rapidly changing television landscape, Peter Kern, president and CEO of Tribune Media, said in a statement. Despite Underground being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season. Kern added: It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination and freedom. Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces Underground, is said to be trying to find it a new home. When Underground stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aisha Hinds stopped by the Los Angeles Times video studio last week, both seemed hopeful that Undergrounds story wasnt over. We havent heard anything yet on the status of Season 3, said Hinds, who joined Season 2 portraying Underground Railroad icon Harriet Tubman. But I do know there is quite a bit more of this story to tell. And I know that we have engaged viewers waiting to see the story. If WGN is not our home, well find a home. Facebook

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Lebanon might ban new Wonder Woman because of stars Israeli heritage By Libby Hill A new foe has arisen to oppose Wonder Woman at the box office: Lebanon. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Lebanon is seeking to ban Warner Bros.'s new Wonder Woman movie because lead actress Gal Gadot is an Israeli. On Monday, Lebanons National News Agency reported that the Ministry of Economy and Trade was adopting measures necessary to ban the film from screening. Relations between Israel and Lebanon have been strained since Israels independence in 1948, with Lebanon still abiding by the Arab League boycott of Israel adopted in 1945. Lebanon does not recognize the State of Israel and does not accept Israeli passports or passports indicating a person has entered Israel. But is Wonder Woman an Israeli product? The film is produced by five production companies DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Tencent Pictures and Wanda Pictures  three companies based in the United States and two in China. Gadot, however, is proud of her heritage. She served two years in the Israel Defense Force as required by the countrys conscription requirements and has posted in the past in support of IDF during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict. The ban of the film would have to move quickly, as screenings are scheduled to begin in Beirut on Wednesday. But such action would require approval from a six-member committee from the Ministry of Economy, a process that had yet to begin, according to the Associated Press. Wonder Woman debuts in U.S. theaters Friday. 4:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information from Lebanons National News Agency. Facebook

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Olivia Newton-John has a new cancer diagnosis; her June shows are postponed By Christie DZurilla (Esteban Felix / Associated Press) Olivia-Newton John has reluctantly postponed her June concert dates after learning that the back pain shes been waylaid by recently is caused by breast cancer that has metastasized to her sacrum. I decided on my direction of therapies after consultation with my doctors and natural therapists and the medical team at my Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, the 68-year-old singer said Tuesday in a statement on social media. Those therapies include a short course of photon radiation therapy in addition to natural wellness therapies, the statement said. Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, at which time she underwent chemotherapy after a modified radical mastectomy with reconstruction. Her treatment also included acupuncture, which she said helped her with nausea, as well as yoga, meditation and massage. Three weeks ago, Newton-John postponed her May shows, with her team citing a bad issue with Olivias sciatica. Now, her June shows in the U.S. and Canada have been put off. Ticket-holders are being directed to venues for refunds, and any rescheduled dates will be posted on Newton-Johns official website. Olivia ... is confident she will be back later in the year, better than ever, to celebrate her shows, the Tuesday statement said. Facebook

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After Cannes delay, Victoria & Abdul trailer debuts By Amy Kaufman One week after Focus Features scrapped plans to unveil the trailer for Victoria & Abdul during the Cannes Film Festival, a preview of the upcoming British drama has debuted online. Set in 1887, the film stars Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and follows the monarch as she strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Muslim Indian (Ali Fazal) who has traveled to the U.K. to deliver a ceremonial coin to her majesty. Focus, which is owned by Universal Pictures, was set to debut the trailer last Wednesday but postponed the release after the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, on May 22. A source told The Times the decision was made in part because a big piece of marketing right after the attack could seem insensitive. Directed by Stephen Frears, Victoria & Abdul is set for release at the start of awards season in September. The trailer centers on the real-life relationship that blossomed between the two, with Abdul going from servant to teacher while informing the queen about everything from the Koran to the joys of Indian mangoes. Facebook

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Ready for Alanis Morissettes Jagged Little Pill as a musical? Its happening By August Brown (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Alanis Morissettes angsty, groundbreaking 1995 album, Jagged Little Pill, always seemed like it had enough melodrama to make it into a theatrical production. Now its coming to a stage in Massachusetts. The new production of Jagged Little Pill, helmed by Juno writer Diablo Cody and director Diane Paulus, will debut at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge next May. The musical will feature songs from the LP  famed for its unsparing look at relationships  along with other music from Morissettes catalog and Pill producer Glen Ballard. This team that has come together for this Jagged Little Pill musical is my musical theater dream come true, Morissette said in a statement. The chemistry between all of us is crackling and I feel honored to be diving into these songs again, surrounded by all of this searing talent. Facebook

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Reunited Brady Bunch kids fondly remember Florence Henderson on Today By Nardine Saad It was a very Brady reunion on Tuesday. The Brady Bunch kids Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter), Mike Lookinland (Bobby) and Susan Olsen (Cindy) came together on NBCs Today show to reflect on the iconic family sitcom and pay tribute to its late matriarch, Florence Henderson, nearly 50 years after the show debuted in 1969. The syndicated series about a blended family of six children and their housekeeper has permeated the pop culture zeitgeist with its unmistakable style and earworm theme song. With numerous parodies and attempted reboots in its wake, the comedy has endured because of its wholesome values, the cast members said. What you have on The Brady Bunch is something youre not going to see these days, which is a family where the parents and the kids respect each other today the formula is get the parents out of the show for the kids shows, said Olsen, a.ka. the youngest one in curls. You know how you dont grow old for yourself until you see yourself in a photo? Somehow you just dont see it, Knight explained. Its as though the show keeps us young in everyones mind, but were really this old. Added Williams: Everyone always refers to us as kids. No matter how we mature, were still the kids. After acknowledging that they would always be best known for The Brady Bunch, the actors said, they realized early on that they would never be able to walk away from the series at different stages of their careers. For Williams it was when a teenage girl asked him to sign an autograph for her mother and for Lookinland it was when he realized that his fans now had grandchildren. Knight said the show was always going to be in the room before me and it was always going to be in the room after me. Olsen, who claimed that she had written some off-color lyrics attached to the theme song, added that you spend a little while trying to run away from it, but you cant. Its like having a hunchback. You cant disguise it, so you might as well dress it up. As for their TV mom, Henderson, who died in 2016, the kids remembered her fondly. Everyone she met felt better about themselves and about the world around them after having spent a moment with Florence, Knight said. She was a mentor, a friend. We learned from her, added Williams. We learned how to interact with the public. She was so gracious with her fans, and we all learned how to do that graciously. Mostly she loved to make people laugh. You probably know that if youve been in her space. Facebook

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Prince William talks about taboo of mental illness and death of Diana in new interview By Libby Hill As the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales approaches, her son Prince William has opened up to British GQ about the loss. I would like to have had her advice, William told the magazine. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up. It makes me sad that she wont, that they will never know her. The prince was just 15 when his mother was killed in a high-speed car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, and he and younger brother Harry were left to deal with their grief under great public scrutiny. While Prince William has of late found the words to speak publicly about his mother, the journey to that place has not always been easy. It has taken me almost 20 years to get to that stage, William said. I still find it difficult now because at the time it was so raw. And also it is not like most peoples grief, because everyone else knows about it, everyone knows the story, everyone knows her. View Instagram post It may have taken years, but William and Harry have found a way to honor their mother in a fashion that she would likely greatly appreciate: charitable work. Known as the Peoples Princess, Diana was a tireless advocate for those in need and worked to destigmatize AIDS in the 1980s, to fight the use of landmines and to better the lives of the underprivileged. In the last year, William and his brother, alongside Williams wife, Kate, have expanded their involvement in Heads Together, a mental health campaign led by the Royal Foundation, which aims to start a productive conversation about the reality of mental illness. Smashing the taboo is our biggest aim. We cannot go anywhere much until that is done. People cant access services till they feel less ashamed, so we must tackle the taboo, the stigma, William said. The Heads Together campaign has sparked several headlines for the royal family in recent months. In April, Prince Harry admitted that the death of his mother left him very close to a complete breakdown for which he finally sought professional help three years ago. The experience that Ive had is once you start talking about [mental health], you suddenly realized, actually, youre part of a big club ... and everybodys gagging to talk about it, Harry said during the Mad World podcast with Bryony Gordon. The GQ interview is not the only conversation that Prince William has had recently about mental health, either. He participated in a highly publicized FaceTime chat with Lady Gaga on the matter. In the interview, Prince William acknowledged that his public persona might suggest otherwise, but privately, he is impassioned about the issue. I cannot understand how families, even behind closed doors, still find it so hard to talk about it. I am shocked we are so worried about saying anything about the true feelings we have, the prince said. Prince Williams full interview with British GQ is available in its July issue, on newsstands June 1. Facebook

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Ariana Grandes mom has a message for Manchester bombing victims By Christie DZurilla Joan Grande, left, and Ariana Grande in September 2015. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images) Days after daughter Ariana Grande issued a statement about last weeks post-concert bombing in Manchester, England, mom Joan Grande posted her own thoughts about the incident that left 22 dead and scores more injured. I join my daughter in extending my help & services to all those affected by the diabolical act of terror which occurred in Manchester! she wrote on Twitter as a Memorial Day message that also thanked U.S. servicemen and women. My heart goes out to all the victims: those who lost their lives, those injured, those recovering & all survivors of that night, along with the families and friends whose grief knows no bounds. The elder Grande was still in her front-row seat at the show, about to go see her daughter backstage, when the suicide bomb went off, TMZ reported. Mama Grande took about 10 kids who were seated around her to safety backstage, the website said. Ariana Grande similarly offered her assistance to those in need on Friday in a statement declaring her intention to return to the incredibly brave city of Manchester for a benefit concert. We will never be able to understand why events like this take place because it is not in our nature, which is why we shouldnt recoil, the Bang Bang singer said. We will not quit or operate in fear. We wont let this divide us. We wont let hate win. #MemorialDay pic.twitter.com/oUDmB7VD6x  Joan Grande (@joangrande) May 29, 2017 Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Annette Bening turns 59 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) "[W]hen they teach you to act, they teach you about objectives. You have a need -- a kind of emotional imbalance -- its not neurotic, but you want something. I try to consciously beef up that motivation in order to intensify what Im doing. You get an image in your head of what you want and then you find a way of expressing that.  Annette Bening, 1991 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Regarding Annette Facebook

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Swedens The Square wins Palme dOr and Sofia Coppola wins best director at Cannes By Los Angeles Times Swedish director Ruben Ostlund reacts on stage after he was awarded with the Palme dOr for the film The Square during the closing ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) Ruben Ostlunds The Square, a ferocious drama of conscience, according to Times critic Justin Chang, about how a single lapse in judgment can cause a mans entire life to unravel, won the Cannes top prize, the Palme dOr on Sunday. The Grand Prix award went to Robin Campillos 120 Beats per Minute. Sofia Coppola won best director for her film The Beguiled, which stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell. Kidman also won the festivals 70th anniversary prize. Joaquin Phoenix won best actor for Lynne Ramsays You Were Never Really Here and Diane Kruger won best actress award for Faith Akins In the Fade. More coverage to come. Meanwhile... Here is what Justin Chang wrote about Ostlunds The Square, and Steven Zeitchiks interview with the director, who talked about the element of surprise in his movies: I really like scenes that when they end where you dont know 100% where to put them. It starts funny or it starts sad and then it becomes something else. When you get that shift, you know youve succeeded. Read More Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Kylie Minogue turns 49 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Axel Koester / For The Times) I have this following  mainly young girls. This album had to appeal to those fans. If the singing was too R&B, they wouldnt like it, I guess. These producers think pop music is candy music. Theyre saying: Here, kids, have a piece of candy.  Kylie Minogue, 1988 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Fame, fortune, but no respect Facebook

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Gregg Allman, pioneer of Southern rock, dies at 69 By Nardine Saad Gregg Allman performs with the Allman Brothers Band in 1979. (George Rose / Los Angeles Times) Gregg Allman, the gravel-voiced singer who helped lift the Allman Brothers Band to prominence with a hard-churning brand of soulful rock that became part of the soundtrack of the 1960s and 70s and set the coordinates for a musical genre known as Southern rock, died Saturday at the age of 69. According to a statement posted on his official website, Allman, who had canceled concerts and entire tours in recent years as he battled a variety of health issues, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Ga. Read More Facebook

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70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The art of the yacht deal, from Steven Spielberg to Steve Bannon By Steven Zeitchik  Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Zeitchik, with Chang behind the camera, recalls the time he wound Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Zeitchik, with Chang behind the camera, recalls the time he wound up on a yacht with a future member of the Trump administration. Facebook

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70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The time Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette was booed By Justin Chang Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Chang, with Zeitchik behind the camera, recalls the year Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette played in competition and was booed by certain members of the media audience.  Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Chang, with Zeitchik behind the camera, recalls the year Sofia Cop That same year, when the film debuted in theaters, Times critic Kenneth Turan looked back on the boos at Cannes and concluded the reaction wasnt just about the filmmaking. Here is the essay he wrote on Oct. 13, 2006: -------------------- WHO OWNS HISTORY? And, more to the point, who owns Marie Antoinette? Though theyre not usually phrased that way, those questions have swirled around Sofia Coppolas quietly exuberant new film about the doomed young French queen (only 18 when she ascended the throne, 37 when she was executed) since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year to some scattered  and widely misunderstood  boos. For the displeasure came not, as might be expected, from the French critics -- whod already seen the film and whose generally positive notices were already on record in Le Film Francais, the French trade paper -- but from political types who had an ax to grind about the films portrait of the woman in question. Read More Facebook

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Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor split after 17 years of marriage By Christie DZurilla (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor have split up after 18 years together, 17 of them as husband and wife. With tremendous love and respect for each other, and the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate, they said Friday in a joint statement. Our priority will continue to be raising our children as devoted parents and the closest of friends. We kindly ask that the media respect our privacy at this time. The Zoolander director and the Brady Bunch Movie actress met in L.A. in 1999, while he was developing a pilot in which she was going to star. They started dating that April and by November were engaged. They got married in May 2000. Stiller, 51, who proposed to Taylor while he was doing Meet the Parents, told Parade in 2013 that art imitated life when he was about to pop the question. I asked her father for permission before I did it, he said. It was like Meet the Parents in real life, because Christines father is an intimidating guy who owns a security company; were good friends now, but at the time I was in the basement rec room saying, I really would like to marry your daughter... Why the basement? " He was trying to find a place to sort of secretly ask my dad if it was OK to ask my hand in marriage, Taylor told New York magazine in 2008. The Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story costars have two kids together, daughter Emma, 15, and son Quinlan, 11. Facebook

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70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The home away from home for luminaries By Kenneth Turan  Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and Steven Zeitchik are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Turan, with Chang behind the camera, brings us to the historic Hot Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and Steven Zeitchik are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Turan, with Chang behind the camera, brings us to the historic Hotel Splendid, which over the last 146 years has been a home away from home for luminaries ranging from the French composer Jacques Offenbach to the late critic Roger Ebert. Facebook

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L.A. music fixture Rodney Bingenheimer will leave KROQ next month By Mikael Wood Rodney Bingenheimer, the veteran radio DJ and rock-scene insider familiar to several generations of Los Angeles music fans, is ending his long-running show on L.A.'s KROQ-FM (106.7) after more than 40 years. Rodney on the ROQ will air for the final time on June 4 at midnight, Bingenheimer, 69, wrote on Facebook Thursday. It has been an amazing run, and I will be thanking all of you when I say goodbye to KROQ next week, he said in the post. I am planning on some special callers and special music as I say a proper goodbye. In a statement to The Times, KROQ program director Kevin Weatherly called Bingenheimer one of the most influential voices on the radio and said he and his staff will forever be grateful for the indelible mark that Rodney on the ROQ has left on this station, our listeners and the alt-rock music scene. Bingenheimer launched his show on the influential modern-rock station in 1976, four years after he opened Rodneys English Disco, a nightclub on Sunset Boulevard popular among the decades glam acts. On the radio, Bingenheimer quickly became known for championing new artists including the Sex Pistols and Blondie; he continued playing music by up-and-coming talent over the years, throwing his considerable enthusiasm behind the likes of Oasis and Coldplay. In his Facebook post, Bingenheimer  the subject of a 2003 documentary called Mayor of the Sunset Strip  didnt say why he was leaving KROQ. But he noted that hes not retiring from music. As this chapter closes, he wrote, I will be opening another chapter of my rock life soon. Heres his full statement on Facebook: Facebook

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Ariana Grande to hold benefit concert in incredibly brave city of Manchester By Christie DZurilla (Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images) Ariana Grande on Friday announced her intention to return to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with fans and play a benefit concert to assist victims of the suicide bomb attack launched after her show in the British city earlier this week. I have been thinking of my fans, and of you all, non stop over the past week. The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud than youll ever know, the 23-year-old singer said in a statement on social media. The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that youve shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened Monday. YOU are the opposite. Grande gave no details about when she would return other than to say theyd be coming as soon as things were confirmed. The statement was her first since a brief tweet after the bombing saying she was broken and so so sorry. That day, Grande and her mother left Britain for Florida. She acknowledged her own reaction to the incident in saying she was sorry for the pain and fear you must be feeling and the trauma that you, too, must be feeling. She also talked about not wanting to go the rest of the year without being out there for her fans; at this point, her tour has been suspended only until June 5. There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better, she said to the victims of the attack and their loved ones. However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I can possibly give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way. Those who were most tragically affected, Grande said, will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life. View Instagram post Facebook

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Equality, not feminism, is the watchword at Wonder Woman premiere By Sonaiya Kelley Victoria Ikerd from San Diego, left, and Sylvia Vale from Culver City strike their best Wonder Woman pose. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The stars of Warner Bros. Wonder Woman took to the red carpet outside Hollywoods Pantages Theatre Thursday night to celebrate the films premiere with a unified message. It just wasnt the message some people might expect. I think the world needs all types of superheroes, director Patty Jenkins said when asked why we need Wonder Woman. What a beautiful message right now because were in a dark place, and thats the only way were going to get to the other side, if everyone becomes a hero. (Warner Bros. canceled the films London premiere after Mondays attack in Manchester.) Despite the obvious girl power on display, many of the films stars and creators shied away from identifying it as a feminist film, hoping not to isolate the male fans in attendance. SEE PHOTOS FROM THE WONDER WOMAN PREMIERE  I think that the film just takes a great character and tells a great story about how that character came to be, Charles Roven, the films producer, told the Los Angeles Times. Obviously the character wouldnt be who she is if she wasnt a woman, but shes a very specific woman, Roven added. Theres no other superhero character in the DC Universe who embraced their legacy and knew what they wanted to be and became [it]. And thats completely inspirational to everyone, not just women. Read More Facebook

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Bella Thorne and Scott Disick together in Cannes? Legit nothing By Christie DZurilla (Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images, left; Lars Niki / Getty Images) In whats been called a battle of strategic hookups between exes Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick, Bella Thorne has put up a white flag and flown away. Disick, 34, and Thorne, 19, were seen Monday at LAX on their way to the Cannes Film Festival, where  surprise!  Kardashian, 38, was already hanging out and getting handsy with Younes Bendjima, a 24-year-old boxer-turned-model. According to E! News, the latter twosome is for real but keeping it light. The Kardashian ex and the actress from The DUFF? Perhaps not so much. Thorne and Disick raised eyebrows Wednesday with a high-profile cuddle-fest by a pool in Cannes. Alas, by Thursday, word has it via TMZ, Thorne wasnt comfortable with her party-boy travel partner when he got his drink on: After tweeting Thursday that Yo this #cannes fancy life isnt for me, she told one person that she had been doing Legit nothing trolololo with Scott and another, Hahahah Im not talking to scott or anyone else. Scott is partially using Bella and a few other girls as a crutch to make Kourtney upset and feel jealous, a Keeping Up With the Kardashians"-related source told People on Thursday, sounding like a description of an upcoming episode of the show. They are both playing this game with each other and at the moment neither one of them are backing down. Around 3 a.m. Friday, Cannes time, Disick was paying attention to another lady, putting this pic of his and Kardashians 4-year-old daughter, Penelope, up on Facebook: Um, hashtag #supersad? Bye Cannes you were boring Thorne said Friday on Snapchat, posting video from the seat of what appeared to be a private plane. Kardashian, Bendjima and half-sis Kendall Jenner left Cannes on Friday as well. Yo this #cannes fancy life isn't for me  BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) May 25, 2017 @bellathorne bells, what were you doing with Scott?  chrystal (@justintheslayer) May 25, 2017 Legit nothing trolololo https://t.co/t9eW4B17oI  BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) May 26, 2017 Facebook

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Netflix cancels London premieres of Orange Is the New Black and GLOW By Libby Hill The fatal terrorist incident at an Ariana Grande concert Monday in Manchester, England, continues to resonate throughout the entertainment industry. Netflix canceled its plans for a London premiere for Season 5 of Orange Is the New Black and the pilot for GLOW, the latest series from Orange creator Jenji Kohan. Following the terrible events in Manchester on Monday night, we have decided to cancel our special screening of Orange Is the New Black and GLOW on Tuesday [May 30], a Netflix spokesperson told The Times on Friday. Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this tragedy. According to those knowledgeable about the decision, the streaming services choice to forgo its screenings comes from internal discussions only, not from any pressure from local authorities. This is just the latest cancellation in the wake of Mondays tragedy, which took the lives of 22 individuals, including victims as young as 8 years old. On Wednesday, Warner Bros. scuttled plans for a London Wonder Woman premiere, originally scheduled for May 31. Similarly, Universal Pictures announced Thursday that it had canceled its London premiere for The Mummy originally slated for June 1. Facebook

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Oasis Liam Gallagher schedules Manchester benefit show By Mikael Wood (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher will play a hometown concert next week in Manchester, England, to benefit the families of Mondays bombing at the Manchester Arena. Its outrageous, the singer told the Manchester Evening News regarding the terrorist attack that killed 22 people following a concert by Ariana Grande. There are kids and people dying all over the world. And for what? He went on to say, I want to try and help pick people up. People like me, doing what we do, its our duty to give people a good time. The show, scheduled for Tuesday night at the O2 Ritz, will serve as Gallaghers first solo gig and comes ahead of the release of his debut solo single, Wall of Glass, from an album expected in October. Facebook

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Body-slamming? Late-night hosts remind us that Donald Trump once did that on TV By Yvonne Villarreal Lest America forget the nations history of political candidates with body-slamming tendencies, the late-night circuit offered a refresher course Thursday night. Playing catchup to Wednesdays news that Greg Gianforte, the billionaire Republican candidate in Montanas special congressional election, had allegedly body-slammed a Guardian reporter after the journalist asked him about the Republican healthcare bill, TV hosts weighed in on the matter. Think about that, Late Night host Seth Meyers said. The GOP healthcare plan is so bad, Republicans would rather body-slam reporters than answer a question about it. His response to the question, Meyers continued, was to give the reporter a preexisting condition. Late Show host Stephen Colbert expressed faux skepticism about Gianfortes ability to move past the incident and win the election. That happened the night before the election, Colbert said. I just dont know how anyone could vote for a candidate who body-slams people. Cue a clip of Donald Trump performing such a move in 2007 when he appeared on WrestleMania 23" and tackled WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the ground before shaving his head. I forgot, Colbert said after playing the clip. Nothing matters. During his A Closer Look segment, Meyers also played the Trump clip. That was a thing, a real thing that happened. and we still said Yeah, he should be president. For the record: Gianforte won Montanas special election Thursday. Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Stevie Nicks turns 69 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) I think if people like to dress like a gypsy and they get a little inspiration from me to do it, then its great. Its definitely something everyone should try at least once in their lives. Dress like a gypsy!  Stevie Nicks, 1997 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Airy Godmother Facebook

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For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, see how fans packed L.A. theaters in 1977 By Los Angeles Times Staff When the original Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, only about 40 theaters across the country initially screened the movie. In Los Angeles, fans packed showings in ways theater managers and moviegoers had never seen. For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, we revisit this story examining the earliest stages of the Star Wars phenomenon. The Times originally published this story on June 4, 1977. Read More Facebook

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George Lucas predicted Star Wars Disney future in 1977 interview with The Times By L.A. Times staff Happy 40th anniversary, Star Wars! Before the first-ever Star Wars premiered on screens across America on May 25, 1977, Los Angeles Times writer Paul Rosenfield sat down with the creator of a galaxy far, far away. Then 33, George Lucas was just a few days shy from the release of his space opera, prophetically claiming that Star Wars was the movie he thinks Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive. Who knew decades later that the droids and the mouse would reside in the same castle? This story was originally published on June 5, 1977, and titled, Lucas: Film-Maker With the Force. (Also from our archives, read The Times original Star Wars review here.) I think of this as a movie Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive ... I call it space opera. Thats a genre thats been around a long time, in the books of Burroughs and Heinlein, but never really done on film.  George Lucas in 1977 Read More Facebook

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Guns N Roses is playing Los Angeles again By Mikael Wood Guns N Roses will play two hometown concerts this fall, the reunited Los Angeles hard-rock band announced Thursday, one Nov. 24 at Staples Center and another Nov. 25 at the Forum. The dates are part of a new extension of GNRs Not in This Lifetime Tour, which launched in April 2016 with a show at the Troubadour that marked the first time in decades that frontman Axl Rose had performed in public with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. The tour went on to hit Coachella and Dodger Stadium. Opening acts for the L.A. shows werent announced, but GNR revealed that country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson will warm up crowds at stadium shows in August in Denver; Little Rock, Ark.; and Miami. Other acts with opening slots on the tour include ZZ Top, Deftones and Royal Blood. Tickets for the newly scheduled concerts go on sale June 3. Facebook

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Claire Foy shoots down Lisbeth Salander rumors: I dont know about any of this By Glenn Whipp Claire Foy (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times) Claire Foys sister called her last week, none too pleased that her sibling hadnt told her that shed be playing Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spiders Web, the long-delayed follow-up to the 2011 David Fincher film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. My sisters like, Oh, what are you doing? and I was like, Im not doing anything! I dont t know about any of this! Foy told The Times Wednesday in an interview before an Emmy season promotional event for the actress Netflix series, The Crown. Its really weird, Foy added. Ive never experienced that before where theres a rumor about a possible job like this. Its very surreal. News broke last week that Foy was either in talks, eyeing or had been all but cast to play Lisbeth in the reboot of the Stieg Larsson book series. So is Foy, who plays Queen Elizabeth on The Crown, even in the running? No. Im not even in the same arena, Foy said. I cant even contemplate doing anything at all, to be honest, at this present time. The 33-year-old British actress just finished shooting Season 2 of The Crown last week. The ambitious series requires a nine-month commitment, meaning that Foy hasnt had much down time the last two years. She also has a 2-year-old daughter with her husband, actor Stephen Campbell Moore. So you can understand why, when asked about her immediate future, she emphatically states: Good God, no. I have got no plans to do anything. Those sentiments would seem to preclude her from The Girl in the Spiders Web, which is scheduled to begin filming in September to make an Oct. 15, 2018, release date. Then again, when asked what kind of role shed like to do after playing the reserved Elizabeth, a woman nicknamed Shirley Temple, Foy replied: I think I need to play somebody who expresses themselves and is able to communicate on a more open level, something really different. Like the avenging anti-heroine Lisbeth? Well ... Foy answered, with a hint of a smile. Well just have to wait and see. Facebook

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Sony taps Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct Spider-Man spinoff Silver & Black By Libby Hill (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Sony continues to get its superhero ducks in a row, with Deadline reporting Thursday that the studio had tapped Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct Silver & Black, a film centered around comic book characters Silver Sable and Black Cat. Prince-Bythewood also will rewrite the script for the film, originally written by Christopher Yost, screenwriter of Thor: The Dark World. Silver Sable and Black Cat are characters that originated in correlation to Spider-Man and have served as both allies and antagonists to the web-slinging superhero over the years. Silver & Black is the latest Spidey-related endeavor for Sony, with Spider-Man: Homecoming, starring Tom Holland, premiering July 7, and Venom, starring Tom Hardy as the sometimes villain, sometimes anti-hero, hitting theaters Oct. 5, 2018. The film will not be Prince-Bythewoods first dalliance with superheroes. She directed the pilot for Freeforms upcoming series Marvels Cloak & Dagger, about two teenagers learning to deal with both superpowers and love. Prince-Bythewood is an experienced director of critically acclaimed films including Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights, and she is well-versed in the world of television, where Foxs Shots Fired, the show she created and produced with husband Reggie Rock Bythewood, just concluded its first season. The director becomes the latest woman tapped to helm a superhero film, with Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman debuting in theaters June 2. Facebook

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Happy puking: Baywatch is the summer blockbuster critics love to hate By Christie DZurilla  Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Priyanka Chopra star in Baywatch. Whats more fun than seeing the new Baywatch movie? Having movie reviewers see it for you! Los Angeles Times critic Jen Yamato was in the Enjoy It for What It Is camp, describing the film thusly: "[I]t not only owns its dumbness but hurtles itself all the way back around through a flurry of genitalia jokes and F-bombs to splash unapologetically in an R-rated surf of winking postmodernism, led by the charismatic Dwayne Johnson, Hollywoods most unsinkable movie star. But although not everyone hates it  64% of audiences dug it, according to Rotten Tomatoes  a lot of reviewers put the bouncing-beach-bodies flick firmly in its place, damning it, and then damning it with faint praise. That said, here are a few snacks, both bad and (relatively) good, from the Baywatch snark buffet. Over at the Chicago Tribune, they took the Yeah, and ...? approach to the review. The Bad: The movies comic instincts... are consistently coarse and frequently scrotal. The Good: The bodies on screen are pretty, which I seem to remember was a selling point of the 1989-2001 TV series. As we said, yeah, and ...? The Roger Ebert website perhaps cut closest to the bone, pulling few punches. The Bad: "[T]his is another one of those raunchy comedies thats barely a movie, that looks like it was edited by dumping a bunch of footage into whatever movie-cutting software theyre using and hitting randomize. The Good: "[T]he movie has a pervading air of crass amiability about it  its almost like a two-hour end-credits gag reel. (Nevertheless, it contains an end credits gag reel.) Now could you tell us what you really think?: Rolling Stone painted a vivid picture of the Baywatch experience. The Bad: Think of yourself sitting down for a big two-hour wallow in instant stupid with a vat of popcorn, slathered in fake butter and possibly a mound of melted M&Ms on top. It feels great chugging it down, then your stomach hurts, your head aches and you puke the whole thing up so you can forget about it in the morning. Thats Baywatch in a nutshell. Happy puking. The Good: Of the recent spate of moldy TV material morphing into movies, with 21 Jump Street on top and CHIPs bringing up the rear, Baywatch barely escapes the basement. One reason it does: The Rock. Helpful! Turns out if you liked 21 Jump Street and CHiPs, this flick is for you! The New York Times loosened up its necktie for this one. The Bad: The digital effects  fire and water, mostly  are lackluster, and the whole thing has a crummy, overcast, second-rate-theme-park look to it. The Good: Like its source material, Baywatch is sleazy and wholesome, silly and earnest, dumb as a box of sand and slyly self-aware. Its soft-serve ice cream. Crinkle-cut fries. A hot car and a skin rash. Tacky and phony and nasty and also kind of fun. Tacky? Phony? Nasty? We didnt know it was a date movie. The Washington Post, of course, just couldnt leave politics out of it. The Bad: Its no shock that the women in Baywatch dont have much to do beyond look good. ... Maybe dodging bad lines was a relief for the actresses. Its not like the screenplay, by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, gives performers a lot to work with. The Good: If, indeed, Dwayne the Rock Johnson ditches Hollywood to become our next commander in chief, Baywatch may be singled out as the low point of his pre-political career. Well, at least Johnson has that out of the way. The Tampa Bay Times went deadpan. The Bad: Imagining Johnson and genetically gifted co-stars in swimsuits is all it took to pitch Baywatch. Director Seth Gordon and six writers didnt come up with much beyond that. The Good: What Baywatch has in its favor is Dwayne Johnson fireman-carrying a dead weight comedy to safety. We think thats a compliment. Maybe. Variety noted the films nods to current market and societal trends. The Bad: Baywatch ... is a stupidly entertaining trash folly, the kind that could only be made today: an obscenity-and-insult-laced, aggressively competent adaptation of a 25-year-old TV show that manages to repackage every aspect of the series except, perhaps, the reason it was popular in the first place. The Good: They wear their butt-hugging red bathing suits with dignity and pride, which makes this a highly sexually responsible Baywatch. The reviewer at the New York Post appeared to be familiar with the TV series global success. The Bad: Even the action scenes need CPR, often undermined by effects so chintzy, you wonder if the money intended for them was instead eaten up by the productions seven-figure waxing budget. The Good: On the bright side, itll probably do killer business in Germany. Wait, were they just dissing the Hoff? Finally, one need go no further than the AV Club to understand Rotten Tomatoes 19% positive critics rating. The Bad: "[N]obody not even the filmmakers cares about Baywatch all that much. Yet the jokes on them: In spoofing something so forgettable, theyve made something even less memorable. The Good: Nobody cares about Baywatch. Nuff said. Facebook

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Seth Meyers says Trumps cruel budget cuts would harm the presidents supporters most By Chris Barton After a number of weeks filled with late-breaking developments on the Trump administrations apparent ties to Russia, Wednesday night was a chance for late-night hosts to sort of catch their breath and essentially choose their own adventure. Jimmy Kimmel focused on the seemingly less-than-happy photos of the pope with President Trump that circulated on Wednesday, while Stephen Colbert took a brief swipe at the $2-trillion double-counting error in Trumps budget. Seth Meyers, however, took advantage of his shows A Closer Look segment to make time for all of the above. After addressing the photo of the stone-faced pope with Trump, Meyers recapped the latest developments in the investigations into whether, among other things, the president engaged in obstruction of justice by firing FBI Director James Comey. But then Meyers took on the administrations proposed federal budget, which could cause harm to many. While noting the budget amounts to a wish list that Congress will battle over, Meyers said the proposals harshness was not to be discounted. What someone wishes for tells you a lot about that person, Meyers said before recounting the many cuts the budget proposes to Social Security and Medicaid. The show then rolled a number of clips in which Trump the candidate promised not to do just that. This budget lays bare just how much of a fraud Trumps campaign was, Meyers added, noting how hard many of these cuts to the social safety net would hit Trump supporters. He then squared off the pointed words of Trump the candidate versus his actions as president to underscore his point. Maybe its better those two never meet, Meyers said. I think they would hate each other. Watch the clip above. Facebook

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Universal Pictures cancels London premiere of The Mummy in wake of Manchester bombing By Libby Hill  Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis and Sofia Boutella star in The Mummy. The specter of Mondays terrorist attack in Manchester, England, continues to loom large. Universal Pictures announced Thursday morning the cancellation of next weeks London premiere of The Mummy, the second such development this week. All of us at Universal have been devastated by the terror attack in Manchester and continue to stand with the community and country as it recovers, the statement from the studio read. Out of respect to those affected by this tragedy we have decided not to move forward with the London premiere for The Mummy scheduled to take place next week. The film, starring Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe, serves as the launch of Universal Pictures Dark Universe, an extended universe that will see the reboot of several classic monsters from the Universal vault, including the Invisible Man and Frankensteins Monster. Cancellation of the June 1 London premiere for The Mummy comes just a day after Warner Bros. nixed its May 31 Wonder Woman London premiere. Ariana Grande, whose concert was targeted in the Manchester attack that killed 22 people, similarly suspended her tour through June 5 on Wednesday. A statement from the artists representatives said the suspension comes until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost. Facebook

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Al Gore on the French Riviera: Why he was reluctant to make An Inconvenient Sequel By Kenneth Turan Former Vice President Al Gore arrives on the red carpet for the screening of The Killing of a Sacred Deer at the Cannes Film Festival. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) It has not been a very good year for those concerned with climate change. The U.S. is considering leaving the landmark Paris climate pact, a hostile appointee leads the Environmental Protection Agency, and right-wing websites chortle, Trumps Latest Move Will Make Al Gore Fry. But is Al Gore himself despondent or depressed about it all? Not in the slightest. Ive been inoculated in the year 2000, he says, combining a burst of genial good humor with a reference to his presidential election loss to George W. Bush. I now have a resistance to being disheartened, the antibodies are still thriving in my bloodstream. As we all learn, one of the hidden secrets of the human condition is we learn the most from our most painful experiences. Former Vice President Al Gore at the Carlton hotel for the Cannes Film Festival, which is screening his documentary An Inconvenient Sequel. (Stephanie Cornfield / For The Times) To spend time with Al Gore is to meet a man enough at ease with himself to dress as if for a Senate hearing in white shirt, suit and tie even though hes in the south of France; a warm, engaged, surprisingly funny individual whose innate courtesy has him personally hang a reporters sports coat on a nearby hotel room hanger. Yes, he does tend to stay on message when he talks (how could he not) and he likes to draw graphs in the air with his hands (Im going to get a little geeky for a moment, he apologizes with a smile, Im sorry, its a failing). But he combines this with good-humored self-awareness and a fiercely committed intelligence. If you think Im earnest now, you should have seen me earlier, he says. You cant change who you are. At times Ive tried, but Im old enough to stop worrying. Gore is in Cannes to promote the worldwide release of an impassioned and involving new documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel. Due in U.S. theaters on July 28, it brings us up to speed on where the battle against climate change stands more than a decade after the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Im here for a lot of to-ing and fro-ing is how Gore puts it. I think Ive done 75 seven-minute interviews  Japan, Russia, Brazil, everywhere. The day before yesterday I was live on [the French cable channel] Canal Plus when the interpreter talking in my earpiece was evacuated from his building because of a bomb scare. The questioner was going a mile a minute in French, but because of those 75 seven-minute interviews, I picked up enough key words to fight my way through it. Gore has been concerned with climate change since he took a class with pioneering global warming theorist Roger Revelle as a college student in the 1960s. Not only did Gore never imagine when I was a young man that this would become an all-consuming body of work for me, he also never anticipated that the work would involve the movies. More than that, he was frankly dubious about both of his films. Read More Facebook

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Ellen DeGeneres says shes in for a Netflix stand-up comedy special By Christie DZurilla Ellen DeGeneres is working on a new comedy special  for the first time in a very long time  and this time shes working with Netflix. Looks like its been 15 years since you did a stand-up special. ... How about one for Netflix? the streaming service asked her Wednesday on Twitter. Minutes later, DeGeneres replied, Let me think about it. Ok Im in. Heres how in she is: Im writing it now, I cant wait, DeGeneres said in a statement confirming the upcoming gig. Ill keep you posted when and where Im gonna shoot my Netflix special. Im excited to do it; Im excited for you to see it. Previously, HBO was home for DeGeneres comedy specials: her One Night Stand in 1992, Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning in 2000 and Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now. The second and third shows notched two Emmy nominations each. In March, the former sitcom star announced shed be returning to prime time with Ellens Game of Games, which shes hosting for six episodes on NBC. No air dates have been set. Its going to be like a combination of American Ninja Warrior, RuPauls Drag Race and a water park, DeGeneres said in a statement. OK, its nothing like that, but you should still watch. Looks like it's been 15 years since you did a stand-up special, @TheEllenShow. How about one for Netflix?  Netflix US (@netflix) May 24, 2017 Let me think about it. Ok I'm in. https://t.co/kUAdHyXAjS  Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 24, 2017 UPDATES 2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation from Netflix and a statement from DeGeneres. Facebook

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Chris Cornells body has been cremated, report says; funeral set for Friday By Christie DZurilla Chris Cornell in 1991. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The body of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who died last week in Detroit, was reportedly cremated Tuesday in Hollywood, and a funeral is planned for later this week. Widow Vicky Cornell, brother Peter Boyle and friends Linda Ramone and singer J.D. King were at Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the cremation, sources familiar with the service told TMZ. Cornells body was flown to Los Angeles from Detroit on Sunday, family attorney Kirk Pasich told Rolling Stone on Monday, and a private funeral will be held Friday. Pasich told Variety on Sunday that public memorials will be held when its decided. The short time between the end of Soundgardens May 17 show and 52-year-old Cornells death was chronicled in a police report obtained by the Detroit News. He and the band walked offstage around 11:15 p.m. May 17. Fifteen minutes later Cornell was in his hotel room, the report said, where bodyguard Martin Kirsten (who used to work for and date Heidi Klum) helped him fix his computer and gave him two Ativan. At 11:35 p.m. Cornell was talking to his wife, Vicky, who said Friday through her attorney that she had been concerned because her husband was slurring his words and told her he might have taken a few too many anxiety pills. She called Kirsten at 12:15 a.m. Thursday and asked him to check on the singer, the report said; the bodyguard kicked in the hotel room door, then the locked bathroom door, and found Cornell. At his final show, Cornell seemed high and was out of character from note 1, lead sound engineer Ted Keedick told TMZ in an interview published Wednesday. He said the Soundgarden frontman did not appear depressed. However, Keedick said: Id never heard his voice that way before. He was having serious control problems. One concert-goer told the Detroit News last week that as far as she could tell, Cornells final show was honestly great. Nothing seemed off. Tuesday at Detroits Fox Theatre, the site of that last performance, Norah Jones played a tribute to Cornell: an acoustic version of Black Hole Sun. Facebook

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Ariana Grande suspends tour through June 5 By Christie DZurilla Ariana Grandes tour has been suspended through June 5, her management team said Wednesday. That includes the cancellation of concerts planned for Thursday and Friday at Londons O2 Arena. Twenty-two people died and at least 59 were injured in a suicide attack Monday night outside Manchester Arena, where Grande had just concluded a stop on her Dangerous Woman Tour. We ask at this time that we all continue to support the city of Manchester and all those families affected by this cowardice and senseless act of violence, the singers reps said in a statement. Our way of life has once again been threatened but we will overcome this together. The dates that have been put on hold until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost, the statement said, are: London, May 25-26

Antwerp, Belgium, May 28

Lodz, Poland, May 31-June 1

Frankfurt, Germany, June 3

Zurich, Switzerland, June 5 The next tour stop after that is a June 7 concert in Paris. Speculation that the tour would be put on hold has been rife since the day after the bomb went off  actually, immediately afterward and before the number of casualties was known, many on social media were already worried that shows would be axed  but the situation had been in limbo until now. An exhausted"-looking Grande returned home Tuesday to Florida, where she and her mother were met at the airport by Mac Miller, who hugged and kissed his girlfriend in an emotional reunion. Facebook

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Warner Bros. cancels London Wonder Woman premiere following Manchester attack By Josh Rottenberg In the wake of Mondays deadly terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Warner Bros. has announced it is canceling a planned premiere in London next week for its superhero film Wonder Woman. Our thoughts are with those affected by the recent tragedy in the UK, the studio said in a statement. In light of the current situation, we will not be proceeding with our plans for the premiere and junket activities in London. Starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins, the highly anticipated film  which is set in Europe during World War I  will hold its U.S. premiere on Thursday in Los Angeles. It arrives in theaters June 2. The studio faced a similar situation last year when its European premiere of Batman v. Superman was scheduled to be held in London just hours after terrorist attacks struck Brussels, killing 32 people and injuring many others. In that case, the studio said in a statement that it had decided to go ahead with the event rather than yield to terror. But as Britain mourns the 22 people killed in the Manchester bombing, with scores more wounded, and with the countrys security threat level raised to its highest, signaling the possibility of another imminent attack, Warner Bros. clearly determined that the circumstances called for a different course of action. Facebook

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New Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer shows off Spideys tricked-out, Iron Man-style super-suit By Josh Rottenberg Spider-Man has a few new tricks up his spandex sleeve, with the latest trailer for Sonys upcoming franchise reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming offering a deeper look at Spideys newfangled, tech-enhanced super-suit. Courtesy of billionaire inventor/playboy Tony Stark, the suit is embedded with Iron Man-style technology. A Jarvis-like computer assistant informs Peter Parker (Tom Holland) of the 576 possible web shooter combinations he has at his command. A parachute can also be deployed out of the back of the suit when needed, and the chest piece can detach and turn into a drone. For those who prefer their Spidey old-school, though, the trailer also promises a return to Parkers teenage roots  though with a decidedly cockier spin than the shy, alienated high school nerd weve often seen depicted in the comics and onscreen. Hollands Parker is clearly feeling his superhero oats, boasting to Stark of taking down a petty bike thief and raring for bigger challenges, Spanish quiz or no Spanish quiz. (Cue Michael Keatons villainous Vulture.) Informed by his best friend Ned that Stark has installed a training-wheels protocol on his super-suit to disable some of its abilities, Parker gripes, Im sick of Mr. Stark treating me like a kid. But you are a kid, Ned reminds him. Yeah, Parker says, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands! Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7. Watch the trailer below. Facebook

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Performers move U.K. concerts after Manchester bombing, but for some, the show goes on By Christie DZurilla Floral tributes in Manchesters St. Anns Square on May 24, 2017. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images) Manchester Arena has postponed concerts by Take That, an English pop group from the city that was to play there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But its working to see that a KISS show proceeds next week. Unfortunately, due to the tragic events that unfolded on Monday night, it is not possible for the concerts to take place, the arena said in a statement. These have now been postponed and more information will follow. In another statement, the arena cited the ongoing police investigation. Take That had previously postponed a show at another location, saying Tuesday on its website, Out of respect to all of the people and their families that were affected by the horrific incident last night at the Manchester Arena, we have decided to postpone our show tonight in Liverpool. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. KISS is scheduled to play Manchester Arena on Tuesday, and the venue said it is working on that show with promoters and police. pic.twitter.com/HkR9ilSTSt  Manchester Arena (@ManchesterArena) May 23, 2017 As far as the Ariana Grande concerts set for Londons O2 arena on Thursday and Friday, as of Wednesday morning no decision had been made. Were still in contact with the tour promoters regarding a final decision, the O2 team said on Twitter Wednesday morning. As yet the tour is not officially postponed or canceled, despite media reports. Katy Perry, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Imagine Dragons, Shawn Mendes and the Chainsmokers will all go ahead with performances this Saturday and Sunday in Hull, England, at BBC Radio 1s Big Weekend, according to TMZ. Hull is about two hours from Manchester. Blondie postponed a Tuesday-night show at the Round Chapel in London, saying in a series of tweets the day of the show that the move was out of respect for the victims of the terrible attack at the Manchester Arena, and noting that plans to reschedule the show were in the works. The Afghan Whigs have moved their Friday show to the O2 Ritz Manchester from Manchester Cathedral, which, as of Wednesday morning, was still cordoned off by police. The Ritz said Tuesday that it would stay silent on social media for two days in sympathy with those who lost their lives or were injured, physically or mentally, but that it would have news Thursday about any rescheduled shows. Other acts that had been scheduled to perform in the Manchester area but not in the arena in coming days, including Colour of Noise, Damien Dempsey, Shriekback and the Cranberries, canceled their shows for reasons unrelated to the suicide attack. Most announced those plans well before Monday. Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Bob Dylan turns 76 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) When people think of me, they are not necessarily going to buy the latest record anyway. They may buy a record from years ago. Besides, I dont think interviews sell records.  Bob Dylan, 1985 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Bob Dylan -- Still A-Changin Facebook

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Late-night TV hosts, U2 plead for love after Manchester bombing By Robert Lloyd After the news, late-night talk shows are televisions most topical forum. We turn there for the satirical distance and perspective that might allow us to process the day and get to sleep  for laughs when laughter is appropriate, but also for a thoughtful response when events go beyond ordinary human folly to the terrible and unthinkable. Mondays suicide bombing after an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, was on the minds of some late-night hosts Tuesday night. Theres really nothing you can say that can approach the shock and the grief of the victims and their families, said Stephen Colbert on Late Show, asking his audience to go online to hear what his CBS colleague James Corden, who follows him on The Late Late Show, had to say the night before. All we can add here, said Colbert, is that following acts of senseless violence like this, its all the more important not to be controlled by fear, but instead to be reminded by the action of people of Manchester who rushed to the aid of their friends and strangers alike. It is just more proof that evil cannot succeed as long as good people are willing to love each other. On NBCs Late Night, host Seth Meyers had similar thoughts. At its best, being at a concert is an incredible collective experience, he said. Its a chance through a shared love of music to connect with, to sing with and to dance with people you dont know.... And so this comes down to the way we treat strangers, and while some cowards chose to treat strangers with hate, from everything I read, Manchester was filled with people last night who provided aid and comfort to help victims who were total strangers to them. He ended with a plea for all of us to not need a tragedy to remind us of the importance of treating those we do not know with love instead of hate. The Irish band U2, in Los Angeles to perform concerts of their own, were among Jimmy Kimmels guests on ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live. Kimmel brought up Manchester. I imagine that is something you guys have been thinking about, he said. They hate music, they hate women, they even hate little girls  they hate everything that we love, lead singer Bono replied. The worst of humanity was on view in Manchester last night  but so was the best, as people took perfect strangers into their houses and queued up for blood banks. Manchester has an undefeatable spirit, I can assure you. Kimmel wondered how growing up in Northern Ireland in an era of political and sectarian violence had affected their music. It was so commonplace for a number of years, answered the Edge, the bands guitarist, that it just became a constant background to life. And occasionally something particularly awful would happen and it would really affect you  but that was almost the worst of it. You got to the place where [it was] just ongoing every week, every month. Punk rock helped, added Bono. It made us suspicious of partisanship, it made us up suspicious of sectarian ideas. Facebook

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Elisabeth Moss and BBC America join forces for Typhoid Mary limited series By Libby Hill (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) The Handmaids Tale star Elisabeth Moss is wasting no time in lining up new projects. BBC America announced Tuesday its partnership with Moss and Annapurna Television in developing Fever, a limited series focused on the tale of Typhoid Mary. The series will adapt the novel of the same name, written by Mary Beth Keane and set in early 20th century New York, where Mary Mallon is unknowingly transmitting typhus to those around her. She was an immigrant in turn-of-the-century New York, a time of huge change and progress in America, Moss said of the character in a statement released by the network. She was incredibly unique, stubborn, ambitious and in fierce denial of any wrongdoing until her death where she lived out her days imprisoned on an island just off of the Bronx in N.Y. She is incredibly complicated, something I seem to enjoy playing, said Moss. Moss will star in the series and serve as executive producer alongside director Phil Morrison (Enlightened, Junebug) and writer Robin Veith (The Expanse, True Blood). Annapurnas Sue Naegle and Megan Ellison will also serve as executive producers. Facebook

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Universal Music Group CEO on Manchester attack: A level of evil beyond comprehension By Christie DZurilla Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, in November 2016. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) Lucian Grainge of Universal Music Group sent a company-wide memo Tuesday, calling it a day of remembrance of victims of the suicide attack in Manchester, England, and acknowledging that emotions were raw. "[W]e grieve for all of those lost there, offering our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones, said the chief executive of UMG, parent company of Ariana Grandes recording label Republic, in a note obtained by Variety. Twenty-two people, one only 8 years old, were killed Monday night and at least 59 were hurt when a bomb exploded as Grandes concert at the Manchester Arena was ending. This hits home for us as a music company, Grainge said, because so many of us, myself included, spend so much time out seeing our artists perform, let alone attending concerts as fans. Thats why weve chosen music as our career  or rather music has chosen us. No UMG employees, including Grande and her crew, were injured in the blast, he confirmed, and help from human resources and security was offered to those with questions or concerns. That said, Grainge continued, the fact that such an unspeakable act can be committed at a place where innocent people  including so many young people  come together peacefully to enjoy music reflects a level of evil beyond comprehension. READ MORE: Suspected Manchester suicide bomber identified as U.K. son of Libyan immigrants>> Facebook

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Ariana Grande returns home to Florida after Manchester attack By Christie DZurilla People attending a vigil for Mondays suicide-attack victims brought flowers to St. Ann Square in Manchester, England, on Tuesday. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images) Ariana Grande reportedly returned home to Florida on Tuesday after the bombing outside her Manchester, England, concert that left 22 dead and at least 59 injured. As they exited a private plane, Grande, her mom and her dog were met on the tarmac in Boca Raton, E! News said, by family members and rapper Mac Miller, whom the 23-year-old has been dating since last summer. Miller gave Grande a long hug and a kiss, a source told E! It was a very emotional reunion and they stood talking for a minute before getting into the car, t
Nowadays, closing-credit scrolls on Hollywood movies can run upward of 10 minutes, with every executive, caterer and cashier who came within shouting distance of the production name-checked. It wasnt this way back in the Golden Age, or even during the heady rush of the New Hollywood era. And as Daniel Raims captivating documentary Harold and Lillian makes clear, the legions of uncredited craftspeople and sources of inspiration included key contributors to some of the American movie industrys most enduring creations.

The delightful duo at the center of Raims film are storyboard artist Harold Michelson and researcher Lillian Michelson, whose 60-year marriage began in 1947 and ended with Harolds death at age 87. Subtitled A Hollywood Love Story, the doc chronicles not just their mutual adoration and respect, but also Hollywoods love for them, and the joy they derived from their work. Their personal story is no less fascinating than their experiences working on hundreds of movies, together and separately  among them Spartacus, The Birds, Full Metal Jacket and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

You might want to check your auteur theory at the door; there have been few more potent examples of the below-the-line group effort that movie-making entails. That image from The Graduate of Dustin Hoffman, framed by Anne Bancrofts seductively angled leg? Harold Michelson dreamed it up, along with hundreds of other visual ideas that served as blueprints for art directors, production designers, cinematographers and editors as well as directors. Frame-by-frame comparisons between finished films and Michelsons storyboards provide powerful evidence of those sketches significance.

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Raim, who previously profiled production designer Robert Boyle (North by Northwest), a contemporary of Harolds, organizes his new and archival material with a casual flow that echoes the down-to-earth warmth of his two terrifically witty subjects. While he puts no particular stylistic stamp on the proceedings, Raim takes a savvy creative leap by commissioning storyboards from animator Patrick Mate, one of the movie-biz colleagues interviewed for the film. Mates spirited drawings, which recall Harolds charcoal-and-ink renderings, augment a lovely selection of home movies and old photographs to illustrate the Michelsons recollections, especially the new interviews with Lillian, which form the films narrative backbone.

It was soon after his service in World War II that Harold, a gifted artist, took a chance on Hollywood. From struggling apprentice illustrator he became an in-demand storyboard artist and eventually an art director and production designer, twice nominated for an Academy Award. Lillian took a chance on him, following him out to the coast from Miami to elope, determined to show his disapproving family that a poor orphan could build a good life with their nice Jewish boy. Having grown up in tough circumstances that she declines to detail, the elegant Lillian, who retired in 2010, has a scrappers resilience.

Her doggedness proved essential to her work as a film researcher on Hollywood lots, as filmmakers Danny DeVito, Mel Brooks and Francis Ford Coppola attest. The Goldwyn library that she began working in as a volunteer and which now bears her name (and resides at the Art Directors Guild, after numerous moves around town) was, in the words of production designer Rick Carter, an alchemists lab for artistic inspiration. It also employed an unconventional filing system; David Lynch gets a shout-out for the care he took to return books to their proper shelves. But Lillians quest for information stretched beyond the librarys walls: She picked the brains of everyone from retired drug lords (for Scarface) to old ladies on Fairfax (Fiddler on the Roof).

Through it all, Lillian and Harold were true partners, supporting each others work in the fullest sense while raising three sons, one of them autistic. (Her characterization of the painfully benighted approach to the condition in the 50s is as damning as it is succinct.) On the evidence of Raims film, they did indeed build a good life together, weathering challenges and setbacks over six decades, with Harolds whimsical and sometimes saucy cards and letters charting the passing years.

If they were unsung in the public eye, they were legendary within the business; their fans at DreamWorks named the king and queen in Shrek 2 after them. With Harold and Lillian, Raim gives these perfectly matched behind-the-scenes stars the spotlight theyve long deserved.

-------------

Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; Laemmle Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Laemmle Town Center 5, Encino

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calendar@latimes.com

@LATimesMovies
The stillness of suburban life is deafening in Perth, Australia, circa 1987  even more so as teenaged Vicki (Ashleigh Cummings) finds herself duped, drugged and chained to the bed of a serial-killing couple in Hounds of Love, Australian writer-director Ben Youngs harrowing debut thriller.

On these sleepy streets, evocatively drained of color by cinematographer Michael McDermott, John and Evelyn White (Stephen Curry and Emma Booth) stalk nubile high school girls under their neighbors noses, luring their prey with kindly smiles and seemingly innocent offers of rides, drugs and drink.

Modeled after real-life murderers David and Catherine Birnie, who in the 1980s hunted young women in western Australia in similar fashion, their methods are simple: They entice victims back to their modest home, turn on a little Nights in White Satin, roofie them, terrorize them and much, much worse.

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Its not just psychosexual games that the married murderers are playing at, her own sadistic impulses blossoming under his volatile and abusive control. As Hounds of Love opens, director Young shows John discreetly dispatching their most recent houseguest before burying the body in the woods. Evelyn, meanwhile, hangs the laundry and, perhaps, occasionally dreams of flying away from their supremely twisted brand of dysfunctional domestic bliss.

Even as teen girls go missing, no one in their quiet town is any the wiser to the evils transpiring behind the walls of these wolves in sheeps clothing.

Enter Vicki. After a rebellious row with her mother, whom she blames for divorcing her surgeon dad, she braves the night to sneak out to a party and finds herself in the Whites headlights.

Accepting a ride from the friendly couple, she realizes too late that shes let herself become ensnared by her newfound hosts. Imprisoned in their guest bedroom, no one can hear her screams; she quickly realizes that she must use her wiles and exploit the cracks in her captors relationship if shes ever going to escape.

Youngs vision of quiet middle-class mayhem, drawn from the three-handed struggle between young Vicki and her tormentors, is bold and unflinching. It drips with the verisimilitude of late 1980s suburbia, hinting at toxically masculine aggression that hangs in the everyday air even outside the confines of the Whites walls.

But this film is not for viewers with weak stomachs, and it makes for a frankly punishing way to spend 108 minutes as the dread ratchets to an unrelenting pitch that never eases up and verges on nausea-inducing for the easily triggered.

Nerves will fray as Hounds of Love threatens to crank the sadistic nightmare to 11, and while Young restrains himself from veering into torture-porn territory, emotional manipulations, knives to throats and vulnerable female bodies are still the films currency.

What makes the torment worth enduring is the trio of ferocious performances at its center, bare and ugly and unvarnished. (Slow-motion scenes driving through suburban utopia, pulling back to reveal the Whites predatory point of view as they cruise the streets for fresh meat, are striking highlights of McDermotts lensing.)

Cummings imparts Vicki with resourcefulness despite spending much of her screen time bruised, bound and gagged. Curry, a comedian in real life, oozes a dangerous, desperate menace as Hounds of Love gives unsettling intimacy to the couples home life and the mind games John uses to keep Evelyn emotionally captive and under his thumb, both witness and accomplice to his crimes.

Its Booths fearless portrayal of Evelyns instability and trauma, however, warped by years of manipulation and her own sense of loss, that emerges as the films most riveting anchor. Young takes a stab at wrapping up his tale on a multistranded note of female empowerment that doesnt quite land, but the message stands. After putting his heroine through the ringer, its the least he can do.

-------------

Hounds of Love

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills

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jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato

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Libya's coastguard on Wednesday intercepted a wooden boat packed with more than 350 migrants after duelling with a German rescue ship and coming under fire from traffickers, the navy said.

The migrants, who were bound for Italy, were picked up off the western city of Sabratha, said navy spokesman Ayoub Qassem.

The German non-governmental organisation "Sea-Watch tried to disrupt the coastguard operation... inside Libyan waters and wanted to take the migrants, on the pretext that Libya wasn't safe," Qassem told AFP.

Sea-Watch posted a video on Twitter of what it said was a Libyan coastguard vessel narrowly cutting across the bow of its ship.

"This EU-funded Libyan patrol vessel almost crashed (into) our civil rescue ship," read the caption.

Qassem also said the coastguard had come under fire from people traffickers, without reporting any casualties.

The migrants were taken to a naval base in Tripoli, where an AFP photographer said most of them appeared to be from Morocco and Bangladesh.

According to international organisations, between 800,000 and one million people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, are currently in Libya hoping to make the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.

Between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants are being held in Libyan detention centres after entering the country illegally, an immigration official said on Tuesday.

The North African country has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Smugglers have stepped up their lucrative business in the chaos which has engulfed Libya since its 2011 revolution.

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There are some first-rate performances in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, most of them delivered by computer-generated animals. Eagles swoop down from the sky to fend off hostile armed guards. Venomous snakes swell to Kraken-esque dimensions. Giant elephants stomp into battle and knock down bridges with wrecking balls, which is a pretty good metaphor for director Guy Ritchies nothing-sacred approach to Arthurian myth.

Somehow hectic and lumbering, diverting and dispiriting all at once, this mud-toned medieval pulp largely cleaves to the spirit of Ritchies Sherlock Holmes series, reducing a fabled figure of British lore to two hours of tough-guy swagger and head-pounding digital thwackery. This is not your fathers King Arthur, one of the films producers notes in the press materials, to which I would only add that sometimes father knows best.

The movies, of course, would seem to have already exhausted the sheer range of dramatic possibilities where the once and future king is concerned, from the tragic romanticism of Camelot (1967) and the lushly enveloping fantasy of Excalibur (1981) to the dour, unsentimental realism of King Arthur (2004). I know I said dramatic possibilities, but it would be personally disingenuous of me to pretend that Ive seen a greater Arthurian movie than Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

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Ritchies woefully coconut-free version is more or less what we have come to expect from Hollywood circa 2017 A.D., where every legend can be recast as a superhero and every superhero needs an origin story. This one, as imagined by screenwriters Ritchie, Jody Harold and Lionel Wigram, mostly takes place at a grimly revisionist Camelot where bright colors appear to have been outlawed, Merlin is mentioned but never seen, and Guinevere and Lancelot are at least one putative sequel away.

 Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law star in Guy Ritchies King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

When the good King Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana) is betrayed and overthrown by his power-hungry brother Vortigern (Jude Law), Uthers young son, Arthur, is forced to make like Moses and flee downriver. He winds up in the ancient Roman city of Londinium, where he is raised by prostitutes and becomes a wily street hustler with little memory of his royal roots and no knowledge that he will grow up to be played by a massively ripped Charlie Hunnam.

But theres no escaping destiny, and after a few fateful encounters with some Viking mercenaries, a skilled archer named Goosefat Bill (Aidan Gillen) and, inevitably, a sword named Excalibur, our reluctant hero finds himself face-to-face with his evil uncle Vortigern. Fearing the prophecy that he will be usurped by the born king, Vortigern sets out to destroy Arthur and all that he holds dear.

Big mistake, obviously. But then, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is nothing if not a paean to obviousness, no matter how many jittery narrative and stylistic fillips Ritchie employs in an attempt to ward off inertia. He is as fond as ever of slowing down and speeding up his action scenes  a gimmicky device that serves only to dilute the movies visceral impact, already rendered negligible by a bloodless PG-13 rating. He also likes to cram the frame with secondary characters with memorable names like Bedivere, Wet Stick and Back Lack, none of whom leaves an especially memorable impression.

The directors rambunctious style does allow for a few flashes of narrative invention. In one scene, the recounting of a simple chain of events becomes a dementedly intricate he-said, he-said comic routine  the kind of fast-talking sequence that might stir fond memories of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, those peak Ritchie romps from the 90s.

The actors too are fine if uninspired. Hunnam, coming off his career-best work in The Lost City of Z, submits gamely enough to this storys clunkier heroics. Its a pleasure to see Gillen, if for no other reason than to remind us that a new season of Game of Thrones is just around the corner. Astrid Berges-Frisbey is suitably bewitching as a benevolent sorceress known as the Mage; she happens to be the only woman in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword who advances the plot by doing something other than getting stabbed to death, so cheers to her.

Finally, there is Law, who, after two rounds of Dr. Watson duty in Ritchies Sherlock Holmes movies, seems to be relishing a flamboyantly villainous change of pace. His Vortigern glowers sadistically and has an odd habit of fondling cylindrical objects, whether its the base of a hot, dripping candle or the hilt of his weapon. Its probably no coincidence that he plots to consolidate his reign by erecting a massive, flaming tower of power, though frankly, if I were the Dark Lord Sauron, Id call and demand my eye back.

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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

MPAA rating: PG-13, for sequences of violence and action, some suggestive content and brief strong language

Running time: 2 hours, 6 minutes

Playing: In general release

 Charlie Hunnam comes to San Diego Comic-Con International to talk about King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

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justin.chang@latimes.com

@JustinCChang

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At the age of 81, Eleanor Coppola makes her narrative feature directorial debut with Paris Can Wait, a winsome tale of a road trip through the French countryside starring Diane Lane. Coppola, who previously directed shorts and documentaries, including Hearts of Darkness, about the making of Apocalypse Now, took inspiration from her own impromptu road trip from Cannes to Paris with a French associate while her husband Francis Ford Coppola traveled for work. The result is a film worth savoring; a celebration of food, wine and stopping to smell the roses.

Lane stars as Anne, the wife of an all-business film producer, Michael (Alec Baldwin). When an ear infection prevents her from flying to Budapest with him, she catches a ride with Jacques (French actor-director Arnaud Viard), an exceedingly charming Frenchman, a happy-go-lucky gourmand and raconteur who always takes the long way.

Anne doesnt know this when she hops into his vintage Peugeot, thinking shell be in her Paris apartment by nightfall. But she discovers it along the way, as their trip stretches from several hours into two days, stopping to consume the best that their route has to offer  from fine wines to foraged dandelion greens.

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Paris Can Wait falls into that category of films that delights in depicting the European lifestyle through rose-colored glasses (rose goggles, if you will). The landscape and lifestyle are idyllic  all ancient Roman aqueducts and cathedrals and unique wines and lavish culinary delights. Even the simple things feel extravagant and the annoyances have silver linings. An episode of car trouble becomes a decadent roadside picnic in a scene that serves as the keystone of the films thesis: Why worry when you can feast first? Paris can wait, after all.

Theres an element of fantasy that pervades Paris Can Wait, but its a delicious fantasy, one that feels like easing into a warm bath. Theres always a sense too that this magical world is fleeting as the miles tick by. The refreshing element is that the story resists normative fantasies of sex or romance  in Paris Can Wait, Coppola focuses on the relationship to the self. The fantasy is in the time Anne spends reconnecting to her passions and drive, after many years of pouring energy into others.

Coppolas camera is trained on Anne as she experiences the world around her, snapping photos of the details she notices. Its important to note how Coppola deftly shifts the focus to the woman behind the great man and asks who she is, how she understands the world, what she cares about. Its fully her story and a rare perspective in film.

Paris Can Wait isnt just a celebration of food and wine, or taking the time to enjoy the ride, its also about the fateful connections we can make with other people, unlikely soul mates who enter your life for the briefest moments and leave lasting impressions. For Anne, Jacques purpose at this moment in her life isnt just to help her slow down and look around, its to remind her shes a special, creative individual, autonomous of her husband or children, with a point of view worth sharing. Thats the real lesson that one takes from the charming, soulful and wise Paris Can Wait. Its quite the cinematic treat.

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Paris Can Wait

Rated: PG for thematic elements, smoking and some language.

Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes

Playing: Landmark, West L.A.; Arclight Hollywood

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calendar@latimes.com

@LATimesMovies
The Wall, a story of two American soldiers facing off against an unseen Iraqi adversary, is a men-at-war story more interesting than you might imagine. But not interesting enough.

Bringing to mind Steven Spielbergs debut feature Duel and similar hidden antagonist fare, The Wall benefits from the work of director Doug Liman. His varied filmography (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the underappreciated Edge of Tomorrow) reveals him as a restless cinematic intelligence who likes to do different twists on genre material.

Shot in 14 days, with the high desert north of Los Angeles substituting for the Middle East, The Walls contained space drama, based on a Black List script by Dwain Worrell, certainly tries hard to hold and sustain our interest. But the connections necessary to make that happen just arent there.

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The year is 2007, the Iraq war is dragging on and on, and the two American snipers who are the focus of the story are clearly impatient and ready for things in country to be over and done with.

Lying in deep camouflage in a remote location are bulky Staff Sgt. Shane Matthews (John Cena) and his spotter Sgt. Allen Ize Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), looking through scopes and not happy with what theyre seeing.

In front of them, were told, are eight corpses killed right where they stood near a crumbling wall, all taken out within a 30-second span before they could so much as make a move to take cover.

Matthews thinks its the work of four or five hajis, but Isaac wonders if it was the work of one man, a superb professional, a super sniper if you will.

But though the spotter worries, presciently as it turns out, that somethings not right, Matthews, inescapably the more restless of the two, declares, whoever it is theyre gone, and goes down to investigate.

Of course, the big guy is wrong (thered be no movie if he wasnt), and sooner than you can say Annie Oakley, Matthews is wounded by a lone sniper and Isaacs, who instinctively runs down to help, finds himself also shot and pinned behind that wall. And so the cat-and-mouse games begin.

Though neither of the Americans has any idea where the well-camouflaged shooter is, they are determined to find him and get a shot at him before he takes them out. So part of The Wall concerns the Americans physical movements, which are sometimes hard to follow, as they jockey for position.

The unseen sniper, who at one point makes radio contact with the Americans, has other things on his agenda. As voiced by Laith Nakli, he is into mind games as well as mayhem, claiming, I just want to have a conversation with you, while searching for an advantage, probing for psychological weakness in these increasingly frantic Americans.

On paper all this sounds involving, especially when you add in the scripts broader goal of functioning as a parable about the futility of war in general and the quagmire nature of American involvement in Iraq specifically.

Admirable as all this is, The Wall cant make things work the way they should. Worrells first produced script checks off all the military lingo boxes but never manages to sound convincing. The actors, hampered perhaps by being authentically covered in dirt and grime, do not make the required emotional connections. And the kind of tension you would expect is never completely present. The Wall remains a worthy exercise, but its unable to go beyond that.

------------------------------------------

The Wall

MPAA rating: R, for language throughout and some war violence.

Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Playing: In general release.

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kenneth.turan@latimes.com

@KennethTuran

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If only television treated all its teenage girls with the same respect Anne with an E affords its whip-smart, scrappy protagonist.

The eight-part Netflix series, which debuts Friday, re-imagines the red-headed Canadian orphan from Lucy Maud Montgomerys 1908 novel, Anne of Green Gables, as a temperamental, outspoken and stubborn 13 year-old.

And in this series, as with the book, those are admirable traits.

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That has rarely been the case when Montgomerys Anne has been brought to life on screen. Even worthy adaptations such as the 1985 Canadian miniseries or a recent PBS production found the need to temper Annes moxie with a little too much sweetness, and make up for her edge with a redemptive dose of humility.

Though it is a period drama, Anne with an E also challenges that formula from its title onward. This girl, played wonderfully by the charismatic Amybeth McNulty, is different.

Written by Breaking Bads Moira Walley-Beckett and made as a collaboration between Netflix and the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, the skinny, freckled orphan of Anne with an E is a mixed bag of anger and dreaminess, dramatic poetry musings and unromantic pragmatism. Add the e to my name, she insists. Ann is too plain.

As in the book, shes delivered from the orphan asylum to the farm of Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, older adult siblings played by R.H. Thomson and Geraldine James. They asked to adopt a farm hand, but theres been a mistake. They specifically requested a boy. And so Annes emotional quest to win their hearts  and a permanent home  begins.

In Anne with an E, however, the orphan whos come to symbolize escapism and the wild depths of the creative mind, has a dark backstory.

Flashbacks to an abusive former foster home and the cruel treatment of the eccentric Anne by the other orphans at the asylum explain why she prefers imagining better than remembering.

Those glimpses into darkness also make it easier to believe moments that might otherwise sound like self-conscious attempts to shoehorn 21st century feminism into a story that takes place more than a century ago.

Anne has learned to fight for herself, a skill not often afforded to many teenage girls on the big or small screen unless theyre in cheerleading uniforms, plotting each others demise in the quad (13 Reasons Why, Mean Girls, every episode of Glee).

When the stoic Marilla explains to the newly arrived orphan that there has been a mistake and they must send her back, Anne doesnt take it sitting down.

Why couldnt I be me, she grills Marilla. Im as strong as a boy and I prefer to be outdoors instead of cooped up in a kitchen. I dont understand the conundrum.  It doesnt make sense when girls can do anything a boy can do, and more. Do you consider yourself to be delicate and incapable, because I certainly dont?

Her longing to become part of the family is challenged by her own pride  she wont admit shes wrong when shes absolutely right!  and the fact that Marilla is equally stubborn. The kind and quiet Matthew helps the two connect.

Annes story unfolds against the lush backdrop of Prince Edward Island: green meadows, budding white cherry trees, sparkling seascapes and dramatic cliff edges. The surroundings add beauty to a story that is, at times, intentionally bleak, and the stunning landscape is a constant source of inspiration for Anne.

Wouldnt it be lovely to be a blossom?, says a disheveled, tomboy-ish Anne dreamily to the prim, no-nonsense Marilla.

Yesterday you wanted to be a seagull, replies Marilla, almost cracking an amused smile.

Its hard to resist such high-flying fancy in such a feisty little package.

Anne with an E

Where: Netflix

When: Any time, Friday

Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)

lorraine.ali@latimes.com

@lorraineali
Moncler has teamed with Parisian-born artist Jean-Philippe Delhomme to create a series of three postcard-inspired prints. Inspired by famous international seaside destinations including Venice Beach, Saint-Tropez and Capri, the prints, donned in bright colors, such as yellow, blue and red, decorate some of the key pieces of the brands mens and womens spring lineups.

The range includes four T-shirt styles, a hooded raincoat, a pair of mens swim shorts and a shopping bag. Priced from 230 euros, or $250 at current exchange rate, for swimwear, to 995 euros, or $1,083, for the raincoat, the pieces are now available at Moncler flagships, as well as at the brands online shop.

Rendered with digital printing technique, the illustrations give the fabrics a 3-D feel fusing technological research with craftsmanship. The range echoes beach lifestyle yet incorporates urban feel, reflecting the spirit of the brands spring collection.

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During his career, Delhomme developed several collaborations with fashion brands and publications, including GQ France and Vogue Japan. In the early Nineties, his advertising campaign for the Barneys New York department store was such a huge success that it appeared on billboards across the United States.

Last Thursday, Moncler released its results for the first quarter of the year. In the period ended March 31, revenues climbed 16 percent to 276.2 million euros, or $292.7 million, compared with 237.3 million euros, or $261 million, in the first quarter of 2016.

Sales outside of Italy grew 18 percent to 237 million euros, or $251.2 million.

In Italy, revenues rose 7 percent to 39.1 million euros, or $41.4 million, accounting for 14.2 percent of the total, lifted by both distribution channels.

In 2017, Moncler plans to open 15 shops-in-shops and half of them are expected to stand in North America.

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Dior and Maria Grazia Chiuri got to have their cake and eat it, too, so to speak. While the main event, the cruise 2018 runway show, takes place in a high desert nature preserve in the mountains and valleys of Calabasas, Calif., the night-before welcome dinner was all about the California beach vibe.

Dior commandeered popular waterfront seafood restaurant Gladstones, transforming it into the Dior Surf Club for the evening, when a handful of actresses such as Freida Pinto, Juno Temple, Jaime King and Kiernan Shipka joined in on the preshow festivities that were arranged for traveling press and staffers.

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Billowing gray and white Dior flags greeted the crowd as they alighted from their chauffeured SUVs and the already nautical-themed restaurant had its normal props replaced with personalized ones, from the gray-and-white life preservers to the ping-pong tables to the mini bottles of cold-pressed juice. The hunky bartending staff donned Dior Surf Club T-shirts and poured Ruinart Champagne instead of California wines.

Its just a hang, said Shipka, a longtime Dior loyalist at just 17 years old. You know, its chill, its casual. Im a chill lady. The Mad Men actress is in a more relaxed state, between projects and taking one college course.

I never miss a Dior event, they always do something fun. I wore a Dior dress to a Vanity Fair Young Hollywood party. That was my first Dior moment. I think I was 14, she recalled.

I went to the cruise show last year in London. Very elaborate. I love that L.A. is getting some love. It feels cool to go a Dior show in my own city. I never thought that would happen; Ive only been to Calabasas once for a prom so I had a very high school Calabasas experience, not a Dior cruise Calabasas experience, she added.

Pinto, who has also been to her fair share of international runway shows and is based in Los Angeles, said of the event, Im thinking, no jet lag. Amazing. Thats what Im thinking. And Im so happy theyre coming here. I love the fact that theyre going out of the box and doing something different and really using all of L.A. Ive been to Calabasas, but Ive never been to where the show is.

Indeed, most people know Calabasas as the sheltered, rustic suburb thats the home of the Kardashian-Jenner clan and celebrities like Jennifer Lopez. Theres nothing like a little driving adventure to coax most Angelenos out of their comfort zone.

Never one to stay in the fashion safe zone, one of Hollywoods biggest fashion enthusiasts, Jaime King, went all out for the casual, open seating dinner, donning a navy blue look from the fall collection. Its one of my favorite colors in the whole world, she said. Touching her leather beret, which completed the runway look, she said, Oh, you know me. If the designer does it, I have to wear it exactly as the designer does it. Not a lot of people do that, but the designers work so hard on these clothes and I feel like theyre meant to be appreciated. At least, I appreciate them that way.

Shipka, though she took a more sporty turn in a belted black velvet jacket from the pre-fall collection, also touched on the functionality of her outfit. It has a hood that I have not used yet. But its going to get chilly tonight, so TBD on that.

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Guess pick for its latest swimwear capsule and campaign was a no-brainer. The Los Angeles denim firm partnered with Natasha Oakley and Devin Brugman, the cofounders of the A Bikini a Day blog and designers behind Monday Swimwear, on a swimwear campaign and capsule. The two were on hand in Los Angeles Tuesday for poolside festivities in honor of the collection at the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood.

We are really, really proud and excited about this Guess collaboration, Brugman said. This is by far the biggest collaboration weve done yet and we really wanted to do something that was different than anything wed really see in recent years with Guess and bringing it back to iconic, vintage Guess.

The first meeting with cofounder, executive chairman and chief creative officer Paul Marciano had the three perusing through the Guess archives and drawing inspiration from photos of Anna Nicole Smith and Claudia Schiffer amid all the gingham and daisy prints.

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Aside from drawing inspiration from Guess, the two were also focused on making sure the line was designed around comfort, something they keep top of mind with their own line, Oakley said.

We were lucky to be involved in the design process, Oakley said. The collaboration started because we truly believe that Guess and their branding and their messaging is so in line with ours. We just thought it was such an appropriate and amazing partnership.Their campaigns are just absolutely stunning. Usually, all the shoots we do [for the blog] are so natural. This pin-up, vintage style  no ones seen us like that before.

The collection totals a dozen pieces in a mix of one piece and bikini tops and bottoms retailing from $39 to $79. The collection has already been slowly rolling out to stores in Europe and the U.S. with a full rollout to additional stores and the Guess web site by May 16.

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Prive Eyewear wants to shake up the eyewear category online with its brand of $29.95 sunglasses  and its enlisted Amazon and a handful of celebrities to help.

The well-heeled start-up wants to undercut the under $100 business model thats dominated eyewear online since Warby Parker hit the scene in 2010 by offering hundreds of styles that cost less than a third of that price. On May 15, Prive Eyewears digital flagship at Privegoods.com will begin to pre-sell 115 stockkeeping units, or skus, of its $29.95 sunglasses, which have names such as The Warrior, The Escobar or The Godfather. Exclusive launch partner Amazon will launch the brand on its homepage at Amazon.com June 2.

Founder David Schottenstein has tapped a handful of celebrity partners to help spread the word via their respective social media channels and participate in the design and marketing of product. Jamie Foxx, Hailee Steinfeld, Ashley Benson and Jeremy Piven are all partners in the venture, as well as celebrity stylists Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn, who have joined Prive as co-creative directors. Schottenstein declined to say how much of a stake each has in the company but confirmed they all have equity.

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Schottenstein is not shy about his feelings on the current state of the eyewear sector.

If you look at the sunglass market and the way its set up, its probably one of the only items people spend $300 to $500 on that they lose with incredible frequency. Its almost like a commodityand the margins are just absurd, Schottenstein said, adding that he still thinks even $100 is too much for a pair of sunglasses.

He recounted a story Foxx told him about wearing a pair of sunglasses and getting blown up with compliments  and Foxx bought them at a Chevron gas station for $12. This  and the fact that the eyewear category online still has not seen enough disruption for Schottensteins liking  became the impetus for starting the company.

I knew that if I searched hard enough I could find a factory that manufactures [quality] eyewear.And I knew that I could charge less than $30. Its ambitious, but if you know the industry, as far as what the costs are [its doable], Schottenstein said, adding that all Prives eyewear is assembled by hand in a factory in China.

The model might sound similar to any number of brands that launch with an e-commerce store, but theres one key difference: The direct-to-consumer players that came before Prive avoided wholesale partnerships because their entire businesses were predicated on cutting out the middle man. For those players, working with a retailer would reduce already lower than industry average margins to nearly nonexistent. Instead of eventually opening freestanding stores  as most of these firms have done  Prive is linking up with the e-tail powerhouse Amazon right off the bat to build scale. Amazon does not have a stake in the venture.

Schottenstein  whose family started DSW and whose cousin Jay is head of American Eagle Outfitters  isnt worried about the pressure on margins the tie-up will cause. The visibility, brand awareness and sheer number of sales that will take place as a result of selling through Amazon outweigh the hit Prive will take on profits.

We probably have the smallest margin in the sunglasses business with what were charging, but the fact is I dont care. I dont need to make a ton of money on each pair. I want to sell a ton of sunglasses, said Schottenstein, who set up his own investment fund after earlier launching several other Internet ventures, including mens custom clothiers Astor & Black. Because the price point is so aggressive, the market size that were so accessible to is significantly bigger than a lot of these other companies.

In other words, what Prive lacks in margin it will make up for in volume.

And Amazon is confident about the formula, too, so much so that the brand will appear on the retailers homepage the day of launch.

Theyre choosing a path to reach customers directly through their own site and Amazon  and thats becoming more of a trend as they disrupt some of the older, traditional business models, Kyle Walker, category leader for Amazon Exclusives, told WWD on Wednesday. He added that of the hundreds of brands the program has launched over the past two years, Prive is the first one exclusively dedicated to eyewear.

Their brand has a vision to disrupt the eyeglass space. Its a quality product at a very modest price point, which is appealing to us. It gives us the ability to bring it to the Amazon customer, who we know will get a great deal, Walker said. From a dollar perspective, Amazon has very high hopes that Prive will be one of the platforms more successful launches of the year.

Walker was unable to disclose a percentage but maintained that apparel and accessories represent a significant portion of the top brands that Amazon Exclusives has launched since the program was introduced in March 2015. He pointed to Beta Brand, Tower Paddle Boards expanding its collection to include apparel and accessories and Scottevest, a line of tech savvy apparel, as notable launches for Amazon Exclusives, which is comprised almost entirely of direct-to-consumer e-commerce businesses.

Prive Eyewears price point puts it directly in competition with another mega-sized retailer: Wal-Mart, which has in the last few months become increasingly aggressive about expanding its own e-commerce, especially in fashion. Amazon could be feeling a little bit of pressure as a result. Most notably, Wal-Mart purchased Amazon competitor Jet for $3.3 billion last year, but March saw the acquisition of ModCloth followed by Moosejaw in February and then the unveiling of internal investment arm Store No. 8. The new fund will focus on building online retail businesses, and although the sale has yet to be finalized, its rumored that a $300 million acquisition for direct to consumer menswear brand Bonobos is in the works.

We also consider brands our customers as well  its why we built Amazon Exclusives.The idea was to help emerging brand owners[and] drive marketing and visibility on Amazon and help them take advantage of seller programs to reach customers worldwide, Walker said.

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USC names retired aerospace executive Wanda Austin as acting president, announces Nikias departure By Harriet Ryan USC appointed a retired aerospace executive as interim president and laid out a detailed plan for selecting a permanent leader Tuesday, ending speculation about whether outgoing President C.L. Max Nikias might remain in the post. Nikias, embattled over his administrations handling of a campus gynecologist accused of sexually abusing patients, relinquished his duties after a meeting of USCs board. The trustees tapped one of their own, Wanda Austin, an alumna and former president of the Aerospace Corp., to temporarily run the university. The trustees also approved the formation of a search committee and the hiring of firm Isaacson, Miller to coordinate the selection of a successor. A second search company, Heidrick & Struggles, will also advise trustees. Read More Facebook

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Ex-student sues elite Brentwood School after teacher is charged with sexually abusing him By Richard Winton A former student sued the elite Brentwood School on Monday in the wake of a female teacher being charged with repeatedly having sex with the minor, alleging that other faculty members encouraged the unlawful behavior and failed to report it to authorities. The lawsuit accuses the private school, whose students include the children of many of Hollywoods elite and L.A.s powerful, of acting negligently and allowing Aimee Palmitessa to abuse and batter the teenager sexually. The suit alleges that the student was abused in summer 2017 after one of the schools counselors offered words of encouragement to the then-17-year-old, identified in the suit as only John Doe, to engage in an illegal relationship with the teacher. Read More Facebook

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Civil jury vindicates fired Montebello school executives in whistleblower case By Howard Blume The Montebello school district is in dire straits  at risk of insolvency and under apparent criminal investigation. An outside audit in July found some teachers earning more than $200,000 a year, as well as improper raises, excess paid vacation time and inappropriate overtime, sick leave and car allowances. Fixing the district and pinpointing blame could take time. Read More Facebook

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L.A. schools fall short on safety measures, new report warns By Howard Blume After the mass shooting at Floridas Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, Los Angeles school officials reassured parents that much had been done to keep local schools safe. California had tougher gun laws, after all, and the school district paid close attention to students mental health. But a new report issued Monday by a panel convened to take a close look offers some cause for concern, flagging inconsistent campus safety measures, thinly spread mental health staff and inadequate coordination between the school district and other public agencies. With the stakes this high, we must strive to do better, said L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer, who assembled the panel. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school district says more are graduating, but rate may not show it By Howard Blume The L.A. Unified School District has hopes of continuing its winning streak this year with another record graduation rate, but the official numbers may not show it. A senior district administrator warned the board Tuesday that graduation rates were likely to decline 2% to 3% across the state, even though L.A. Unified is likely doing better than ever in producing graduates, he said. The issue is that the state will now count high school students who transfer to adult school as dropouts, said Oscar Lafarga, who heads the districts office of data and accountability. Previously, schools treated these students as though they had simply enrolled in another high school, he said. Read More Facebook

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Betsy DeVos to California: Not so fast on that federal education plan By Joy Resmovits In April, Californias top education officials breathed a sigh of relief. After months of debate and back-and-forth with Betsy DeVos staff, they had finalized a plan to satisfy a major education law that aims to make sure all students get a decent education. The state focused on aligning its plan to fulfill the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act with Californias Local Control Funding Formula, which gives extra money to districts to help students who come from low-income families, are in the foster system or are English learners. But this week, DeVos team said not so fast. Jason Botel, the U.S. Department of Educations principal deputy assistant secretary, sent California education officials a letter asking for more information in such areas as measuring student progress, graduation rates and English learners. In an unsigned statement, the California Department of Education declared itself surprised and disappointed because officials thought  after a meeting with federal officials in Washington  that they were on the right track to get approval. Now the Every Student Succeeds Act plan will be up for discussion once again at the July meeting of the State Board of Education. The U.S. Department of Education has already approved most state plans. Every Student Succeeds is the Obama administrations 2015 replacement for the No Child Left Behind Act. Facebook

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L.A. school board sets a new goal: prepare every grad to be eligible to apply for Cal State or UC By Sonali Kohli Last month, Los Angeles school board president proposed a spate of highly ambitious mandates aimed at ensuring that every district graduate be eligible to apply to one of the states public four-year universities by 2023. By the time the L.A. Unified school board unanimously approved the resolution Tuesday, the original language had been watered down. The goal is no longer that in five years 100% of students meet the long list of benchmarks, which include not just college eligibility for graduates but first-grade reading proficiency and English fluency by sixth grade for all students who enter the district in kindergarten or first grade speaking another language. The original college-readiness goal, for example, called for 100% of all high school students to be eligible to apply to one of the states four-year universities. Now the goal seems to offer more wiggle room: Prepare all high school graduates to be eligible to apply to a California four-year university. Read More Facebook

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We have been hurt. More women say they were mistreated by USC gynecologist By Richard Winton USC student Anika Narayanan says she vividly recalls her first appointment with Dr. George Tyndall at the campus health center, alleging that he made several explicit comments during an examination she felt was inappropriate and invasive. When she came back for a second visit in 2016 after a nonconsensual sexual encounter, he allegedly chastised her, she said in a civil lawsuit and at a press conference Tuesday. He asked me if I had forgotten to use a condom again,  said Narayanan, 21. At one point, she said, Tyndall asked if I did a lot of doggy style,  she said. Read More Facebook

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L.A. Unified gives inspector general brief contract extension By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school board on Tuesday extended the contract of Ken Bramlett, its inspector general, by three months, though his job is far from secure and questions remain about the future direction of his watchdog office. Board members also unanimously promoted Vivian Ekchian, who had been the runner-up for the superintendents job, to deputy superintendent  the districts No. 2 position. Both moves had elements of peacemaking between different factions on the board. Read More Facebook

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USCs handling of complaints about campus gynecologist is being investigated by federal government By Harriet Ryan The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into how the University of Southern California handled misconduct complaints against a campus gynecologist, the latest fallout in a scandal that has prompted the resignation of USCs president, two law enforcement investigations and dozens of lawsuits. In revealing the inquiry by the departments Office of Civil Rights, officials rebuked USC for what they alleged was improper withholding of information about Dr. George Tyndall during a previous federal investigation. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has been criticized for taking a less vigorous approach to examining sexual misconduct than predecessors, called for a systemic examination of USC and urged administrators to fully cooperate. Read More Facebook

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Judge to sentence woman and her boyfriend for the murder of an 8-year-old that led to L.A. child welfare reforms By Marisa Gerber A woman and her boyfriend are expected to be sentenced Thursday for the torture and murder of an 8-year-old boy whose killing in 2013 provoked public outrage, prompted sweeping reform of Los Angeles Countys child welfare system, and led to unprecedented criminal charges against social workers who handled the childs case. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 34, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the death of her son, Gabriel. A jury decided last year that her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, 37, should be executed. When paramedics arrived at the boys Palmdale home in May 2013, Gabriel had slipped out of consciousness. He had a fractured skull, broken ribs, burned skin, missing teeth and BB pellets embedded in his groin. A paramedic would later testify that every inch of the boys small body had been abused. Read More Facebook

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L.A. Unifieds spending out of step with similar school systems, task force says By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school district is out of step with similar school systems, spending more on teachers pay and health benefits and less on activities that could enhance student learning, according to a new report by an outside task force. The L.A. Unified School District Advisory Task Force did not make specific recommendations, but instead posed a series of questions it said the district needs to answer to make sure its funding is aimed at providing a full opportunity for all students to succeed. What were trying to say is: Lets put the data on the table. Lets look at the truth. Lets be transparent and here are the numbers, said task force member Renata Simril. This is not to say that  we should cut teachers salaries. Read More Facebook

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Top USC medical school official feared dean was doing drugs and alerted administration, he testifies By Paul Pringle A former vice dean of USCs Keck School of Medicine testified Tuesday that he feared the schools then-dean, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, could be doing drugs and expressed concerns about his general well-being to the universitys No. 2 administrator before Puliafito abruptly left his job in 2016. Dr. Henri Fords testimony at a hearing of the state Medical Board marks the first suggestion that any USC administrator had suspicions about Puliafitos possible drug use before he stepped down. A Times investigation in 2017 found Puliafito led a secret second life of using illegal drugs with a circle of young criminals and addicts. Puliafito testified about his behavior at the hearing Tuesday, saying he took drugs with one young woman on a weekly basis. Ford said that he decided to alert USC Provost Michael Quick after receiving reports in early 2016 that Puliafito was partying in hotels with people of questionable reputation, and that he came to worry about his mental stability. Read More Facebook

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Why L.A. Unified may face financial crisis even with a giant surplus this year By Jessica Calefati With more than half a billion dollars socked away for next school year, the Los Angeles Unified School District hardly seems just two years from financial ruin. Its a scenario that is especially tough to swallow if youre a low-wage worker seeking a raise or a teacher who wants smaller classes. But budget documents show that todays $548-million surplus cannot be sustained  and that even basic services face steep, seemingly unavoidable cuts because of massive problems barreling the districts way. Theres a disconnect between the rosy short-term picture and what we know is coming, said board member Kelly Gonez. Read More Facebook

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We have failed: Top USC officials try to reassure students amid gynecologist scandal By Joy Resmovits Top administrators at USC are reaching out to students in the wake of misconduct allegations against the universitys longtime gynecologist, acknowledging failings and vowing reforms as they try to address growing outrage over the revelations. Several USC deans have sent out messages trying to reassure students and faculty that the university is committed to changing. We have failed, wrote Jack H. Knott, dean of USCs Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a May 24 letter. What happened is antithetical to everything we know is right. Read More Facebook

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Rick Caruso is named chair of USCs trustees, vows swift investigation of gynecologist scandal By Thomas Curwen The University of Southern Californias board of trustees has elected mall magnate Rick Caruso to be the new chair of the board, giving fresh leadership as the university navigates a widening scandal involving a longtime campus gynecologist. The move marks the latest effort by USC to address the case, which has sparked a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and dozens of civil lawsuits. More than 400 people have contacted a hotline that the university established for patients to make reports about their experience with Dr. George Tyndall. In his first act as chairman, Caruso announced that the white-shoe L.A. law firm OMelveny & Myers would conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the gynecologists conduct and reporting failures at the clinic. He set an ambitious timeline for the review, pledging it would conclude before students return for the fall semester. Read More Facebook

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UC Berkeley students persistence helps win more liberal rules for in-state tuition By Teresa Watanabe Ifechukwu Okeke thought shed be a shoo-in for in-state tuition when she was admitted to UC Berkeley for fall 2016. She had moved to the United States from Nigeria in 2012 to go to Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. By the time she got her acceptance to transfer to UC to study molecular and cell biology, she had lived in California four years. She had a California drivers license, bank account and rental records as proof. UC Berkeley, however, ruled she was a nonresident  which meant she would have to pay nearly $27,000 more. Read More Facebook

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State medical board calls former County-USC doctor a sexual predator, suspends his license By Matt Hamilton A UCLA cardiologist has been temporarily stripped of his medical license after state regulators described him as a sexual predator who assaulted three female colleagues when he was working and training at L.A. County-USC Medical Center. Read More Facebook

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Global California 2030 aims to get more students learning more languages By Joy Resmovits Tom Torlakson (Andrew Seng / Associated Press) Outgoing state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday announced a new statewide effort to encourage students to learn more languages. Called Global California 2030, its goal is to help more students become fluent in multiple tongues. Torlakson said that by 2030, he wants half of the states 6.2 million K-12 students to participate in classes or programs that lead to proficiency in two or more languages. By 2040, he wants three out of four students to be proficient enough to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy. Torlakson announced the initiative at Cahuenga Elementary School, which offers a dual-language immersion program in English and Korean. Californias public school students speak more than 60 languages at home, and 40% come to school with knowledge of a language other than English. Torlakson called his plan a call to action that invites parents, legislators, educators and community members to pool resources to expand language offerings in schools and get more bilingual teachers trained. He said the state already is working with Mexico and Spain to expand a teacher-exchange program. Fluency, the plan argues, can help students succeed economically  and language acquisition can help their overall critical thinking. The initiative builds on Proposition 58, a ballot initiative passed in 2016 that undid an earlier requirement that English learners be taught in English-immersion classes unless their parents signed waivers. Torlakson recently visited Mexico and met with that countrys education secretary. They later signed a pact to increase collaboration, particularly in language education. This [Global California 2030] is great follow-through on Toms part and very important, Patricia Gandara, a UCLA education professor who hosted the Mexico meeting, said in an email. It hands over a plan to move forward in an area in which California has a unique advantage, but must seize the opportunity. Facebook

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Jury convicts man of murder in 2015 slaying of UCLA student found inside her burning apartment By Marisa Gerber A jury on Tuesday convicted a man in the 2015 slaying of a UCLA student found dead inside her burning apartment  a gruesome stabbing case that led to a fierce rebuke of the police response amid concerns that the killing could have been prevented. The panel deliberated for about six hours before finding Alberto Medina, 24, guilty of murder, arson, burglary and animal cruelty. On Sept. 21, 2015, firefighters found the charred body of Andrea DelVesco inside her apartment after responding to the complex a block from campus. The 21-year-old student  an Austin, Texas, native known to her sorority sisters as a fearless giver who befriended others with ease  was stabbed at least 19 times, authorities said. Read More Facebook

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LAPD begins sweeping criminal probe of former USC gynecologist while urging patients to come forward By Adam Elmahrek The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USCs longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university. LAPD detectives also made an appeal for other patients who feel mistreated to come forward, noting that thousands of students were examined by Dr. George Tyndall during his nearly 30-year career at USC. More than 410 people have contacted a university hotline about the physician since The Times revealed the allegations this month. Tyndalls behavior and practices appear to go beyond the norms of the medical profession and gynecological examinations, said Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala. We sincerely realize that victims may have difficulty recounting such details to investigators. We are empathetic and ready to listen. Read More Facebook

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At L.A.'s only school for the deaf, parents want leaders who speak the same language By Anna M. Phillips Ever since her son was 6 months old, Juliet Hidalgo has been bringing him to the Marlton School, a low-slung building in Baldwin Hills that for generations has been a second home for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Los Angeles. Marlton staff taught Hidalgos brother and sister, both of whom are deaf. The school was where her deaf son learned to make the signs for milk and food. Hidalgo had planned to enroll her daughter, taking advantage of a popular program that allows hearing children to learn American Sign Language alongside their deaf siblings. But after more than a decade of involvement, she and other family members are considering withdrawing their children. They are not alone. Read More Facebook

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Fueled by unlimited donations, independent groups play their biggest role yet in a California primary for governor By Ryan Menezes An unprecedented amount of money from wealthy donors, unions and corporations is flowing into the California governors race, giving independent groups  unrestricted by contribution limits  a greater say in picking the states chief executive than ever before. The groups have already spent more than $26 million through Thursday, the most ever spent by noncandidate committees in a gubernatorial primary, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance reports. California elections have always been expensive, and the future is even more expensive, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former state Republican leader. The stakes are very real. Read More Facebook

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2 hurt in Indiana middle school shooting; suspect in custody, authorities say By Associated Press Authorities say two victims in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis school are being taken to a hospital and the lone suspect is in custody. Bryant Orem, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office, said in a news release that the victims in Friday mornings attack at Noblesville West Middle School are being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and their families have been notified. He says no other information is available about the victims. Orem said the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No additional information about the suspect was made public. Read More Facebook

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For new L.A. schools chief Austin Beutner, some key unions are giving no honeymoon period By Howard Blume In the less than two weeks since Austin Beutner took charge of Los Angeles schools, unions representing teachers and administrators have staged a job action and a protest. Theyve made it clear that they will not give the new superintendent the traditional honeymoon period, and they are bashing him for his wealth and lack of experience running either a school or a school district. Beutner is a billionaire investment banker with zero qualifications, local teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl told members in a phone alert urging them to participate in a Thursday afternoon rally in Grand Park. The board is saying that billionaires who made their money blowing institutions up and making money off it know best  not the education professionals who have dedicated our careers to working with students. Read More Facebook

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Pressure grows on Board of Trustees amid USC gynecologist scandal By Paul Pringle USCs large and powerful Board of Trustees is coming under growing pressure to provide a stronger hand as the university faces a crisis over misconduct allegations against the campus longtime gynecologist that has prompted calls for President C.L. Max Nikias to step down. Allegations that Dr. George Tyndall mistreated students during his nearly 30 years at USC have roiled the campus, with about 300 people coming forward to make reports to the university and the Los Angeles Police Department launching a criminal investigation. USC is already beginning to face what is expected to be costly litigation by women who say they were victimized by the physician. So far, the trustees to whom Nikias reports have expressed sympathy for the women who have come forward and launched an independent investigation while also publicly backing the president. Read More Facebook

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UC regents approve leaner budget for Janet Napolitano By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents on Thursday unanimously approved a leaner, more transparent budget for President Janet Napolitano, moving to address political criticism over the systems central office operations. The $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 reflects spending cuts of 2%, including reductions in staffing, travel and such systemwide programs as public service law fellowships, carbon neutrality and food security. Napolitano shifted $30 million to campuses for housing needs and $10 million to UC Riverside to support its five-year-old medical school. She also permanently redirected $8.5 million annually to help enroll more California students, as required by the state. Read More Facebook

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USCs Academic Senate calls on university president to resign after a series of scandals By Matt Hamilton The body that represents USCs faculty called on President C.L. Max Nikias to resign Wednesday in the wake of relevations that the universitys longtime gynecologist faced years of accusations of misconduct by students and colleagues at the campus health clinic. The Academic Senate took the vote late Wednesday afternoon after a fiery town hall meeting attended by more than 100 faculty members, many of whom voiced outrage over Nikias and the Board of Trustees leadership. The vote came a day after the trustees executive committee stood firmly behind Nikias, saying it has full confidence in his leadership, ethics and values. At the town hall meeting, Senate President Paul Rosenbloom said he did not think Nikias or Provost Michael Quick committed wrongdoing but that the university president deserved criticism for a lack of transparency. Read More Facebook

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Californias public universities on the way to getting a big longed-for boost in funding By Teresa Watanabe The University of California and California State University systems are poised to get major funding boosts that will help them enroll thousands of additional state students and eliminate the need for tuition increases in the coming school year. A key Assembly budget panel on Wednesday approved $117.5 million in new funds for the UC. A Senate panel approved a similar sum last week. The same committees recently approved even more funding for the Cal State system. Read More Facebook

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UC regents to scrutinize Janet Napolitanos office budget in a step toward stronger oversight By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents this week plan to scrutinize the budget of President Janet Napolitano, whose office came under political fire last year for questionable spending and murky accounting. Regents will vote on the proposed $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 during their two-day meeting, which starts Wednesday, at UC San Francisco. They also will discuss state funding, financial aid, online education and transfer student policies. Board Chairman George Kieffer said regents are stepping up to exert stronger oversight of the presidents office after a blistering state audit last year found financial problems including an unreported $175 million budget reserve. Read More Facebook

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State legislative panels approve major funding boost for Cal State By Teresa Watanabe After months of intensive lobbying, Cal State University has convinced two key legislative panels to approve funding to enroll nearly 11,000 more students, hire more faculty and expand housing aid to those without shelter this fall. An Assembly budget panel on Tuesday approved $215.7 million more for Cal State, adding to Gov. Jerry Browns proposed $92.1 million general fund increase. A Senate budget panel approved a similar increase last week. The extra funding  which went beyond Cal States own request to the Legislature of $171 million  is still subject to final budget negotiations with Brown. But the actions by the Senate and Assembly panels amount to a demand from Democrats that the governor hike higher education spending. Cal State University is the workhorse undergraduate university serving hundreds of thousands of Californians, said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who heads the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance. We need more graduates for the California workforce and higher education is the ticket to the middle class. Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White hailed the actions, but said it was too soon to celebrate. The CSU has a singular focus on helping students earn high-quality degrees sooner, and the entire university community has rallied to reinforce that message to our states lawmakers, he said in a statement. The actions taken thus far by the Assembly and Senate are promising and show that our message is being received, but there is still work to be done. Funding for the University of California was not taken up Tuesday as originally scheduled. McCarty would not comment on sticking points but said he was confident that a resolution would be reached this week. Were looking to provide resources above whats in the governors budget, but negotiations are ongoing, he said in an interview. State per-student funding is not what it once was, leaving both Cal State and the UC in a tough financial squeeze. Both systems raised tuition last year after a six-year freeze on higher costs. For this year, Cal State had asked for funding to enroll an additional 3,621 students, but both the Senate and Assembly panels approved three times that amount. Cal State, the largest public university system in the nation, turned away 32,000 eligible students last year because its campuses werent able to accommodate them. The panels asked that at least $50 million of the extra funding be used to hire more tenure-track faculty to help boost graduation rates. The Assembly panel also approved one-time funding of $5 million to ease hunger on campuses and $14 million for rapid rehousing pilot projects at three campuses, offering needy students rental support and short-term case management. Other items approved include $5 million to support the CSU Long Beach Shark Labs research on sharks and beach safety and $2 million for equal employment opportunity practices. This post has been updated to include comments from Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White. Facebook

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Faculty members call for USC president to step down: He has lost the moral authority to lead By Matt Hamilton Two hundred USC professors on Tuesday demanded the resignation of university President C. L. Max Nikias, saying he had lost the moral authority to lead in the wake of revelations that a campus gynecologist was kept on staff for decades despite repeated complaints of misconduct. Read More Facebook

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Gun battle, negotiations lasted 15 minutes before Texas school shooter was apprehended, sheriff says By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Minutes after a school shooter opened fire in an art class last week, killing 10 people and wounding 13, including a local police officer, fellow officers returned fire in a protracted gun battle before isolating the suspect, the local sheriff said Monday. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset praised first responders as well as Santa Fe Police Officer John Barnes, who was working as a resource officer at the school the day of the shooting. Their actions, he said, prevented the attack from spreading to other classrooms and potentially claiming additional victims. As officials continue to probe last Fridays shooting at Santa Fe High School, students are worried about returning to the scene of the attack when classes resume next week. Read More Facebook

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6 women sue USC, alleging they were victimized by campus gynecologist By Richard Winton Six women filed civil lawsuits Monday alleging that a longtime gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually victimized them under the pretext of medical care and that USC failed to address complaints from clinic staff about the doctors behavior. One woman alleged Dr. George Tyndall forced his entire ungloved hand into her vagina during an appointment in 2003 while making vulgar remarks about her genitalia, according to one of the lawsuits. Another woman alleged that Tyndall groped her breasts in a 2008 visit and that later he falsely told her she likely had AIDS. A third woman accused the doctor of grazing his ungloved fingers over her nude body and leering at her during a purported skin exam, the lawsuit states. The wave of litigation comes as USC continues to grapple with the scandal, which legal experts said could prove costly to the university as scores of former patients come forward about their experiences with the gynecologist. Read More Facebook

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Fatalities reported in Texas high school shooting; suspect arrested, officials say By Associated Press Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following a shooting at a local high school Friday morning. Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it wouldnt immediately release further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson said a suspect has been arrested and secured. Read More Facebook

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This student followed the new L.A. schools chief on his first-day tour Melissa Barales-Lopez, a senior at Garfield High School followed Supt. Austin Beutner on his first day on the job, as he toured a variety of programs around the Los Angeles Unified School District. Heres what she took from the experience. LAUSD students and staff alike are looking for a personal champion, someone who will address and improve the difficulties afflicting their education.  What LAUSD students need is someone whos willing to listen and learn, someone who can understand the current issues affecting their schools and act to efficiently amend them, someone who can unlock the full potential of LAUSD students and enable them to reach their goals. During the entirety of his first day, superintendent Austin Beutner did indeed demonstrate a willingness to learn. Posing questions to teachers and students, Beutner engaged with the student communities he encountered to gain a better comprehension of the minutiae and nuances that distinguish each school inside an overwhelmingly large district. From inquiries about Grand View Boulevard Elementary Schools dual language program to questions regarding the services of LAUSDs after-school program, Beyond the Bell, Beutner revealed he has a lot to learn about the system. But, Beutner also showcased a willingness to tackle challenges head-on on his first day. Read More Facebook

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USC let a gynecologist continue treating students despite years of misconduct allegations By Matt Hamilton For nearly 30 years, the University of Southern Californias student health clinic had one full-time gynecologist: Dr. George Tyndall. Tall and garrulous with distinctive jet black hair, he treated tens of thousands of female students, many of them teenagers seeing a gynecologist for the first time. Few who lay down on Tyndalls exam table at the Engemann Student Health Center knew that he had been accused repeatedly of misconduct toward young patients. The complaints began in the 1990s, when co-workers alleged he was improperly photographing students genitals. In the years that followed, patients and nursing staff accused him again and again of creepy behavior, including touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies. Read More Facebook

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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

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On his first day as L.A. schools chief, Beutner plans a day of visits across the district By Howard Blume L.A. Unifieds new superintendent, Austin Beutner, will kick off his first day of work on Tuesday with a choreographed tour of the nations second-largest school district, from the San Fernando Valley to Carson. His day is scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m. at a school bus depot and end more than 12 hours later at a parent meeting at Garfield High School. Along the way, Beutner is expected to be joined by school district administrators, L.A. Unified board members and the vice president of the union that represents school bus drivers. Though he will be covering a lot of ground, Beutners tour has him skipping Tuesdays school board meeting, when board members are expected to discuss labor negotiations in closed session. Read More Facebook

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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

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Why a handful of rich charter school supporters are spending millions to elect Antonio Villaraigosa as governor By Ryan Menezes California voters have seen a barrage of sunny television ads in recent weeks touting former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosas record on finances, crime and education, aired by Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018. But the group is, in fact, largely funded by a handful of wealthy charter-school supporters. Together they have spent more than $13 million in less than a month to boost Villaraigosas chances in the June 5 primary  at a time when his fundraising and poll numbers are lagging. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, jump-started the group with a $7-million check, by far the largest donation to support any candidate in the election. Their efforts are part of a broader proxy war among Democrats between teachers unions  longtime stalwarts of the party  and those who argue that the groups have failed low-income and minority schoolchildren. Read More Facebook

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Talking schools with L.A. Unifieds new superintendent By Anna M. Phillips Austin Beutner, who officially starts Tuesday as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is taking on a famously difficult job at a particularly difficult time. The school board is divided and did not back him unanimously. The nations second-largest school district has deep-seated problems, including declining enrollment, lagging academic achievement and rising pension and healthcare costs that eat away at its budget. The 58-year-old former investment banker and former L.A. Times publisher has years of experience in the financial world but none as an educator. Earlier this week, he sat down with the Times education team to discuss the challenges facing the district, which has about 60,000 employees and 500,000 students in traditional public schools. He did not talk about his plans  saying repeatedly, stay tuned  but he spoke in broad terms about his mindset in approaching the tough decisions ahead. Read More Facebook

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Suspect detained, authorities search campus after reports of armed man at Palmdale high school By James Queally One person has been detained after a report of an armed man at a Palmdale high school sparked a massive law enforcement response Friday morning. The suspect was spotted at 7:05 a.m. on the campus of Highland High School in Palmdale, according to Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. The person was detained in a nearby parking lot, according to Nishida, who did not know whether that person was an adult or juvenile. Deputies at the scene are clearing the school methodically, and students will be transported home via school buses once the campus is deemed safe, Nishida said. Read More Facebook

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The education of Bertha Perez: How a UC Merced custodians disenchantment led to a political awakening By Robin Abcarian Its the third day of a three-day strike, and UC Merced custodian Bertha Perez is taking a break from a picket line at the universitys unremarkable entrance, an intersection with stop lights. Photos from other UC campuses this week have shown big crowds of striking service workers  members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees  marching and chanting pro-labor slogans as they try to force the University of California back to the negotiating table. But here, at UC Merced, whose handful of big buildings rise from a flat expanse of farmland, the picket line is tiny, maybe two dozen workers and a few students. Its not a big-city-style show of force. Then again, a union sympathizer is banging relentlessly on a snare drum, so its noisier than youd expect. Read More Facebook

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Ref Rodriguez resigns from teacher credentialing commission By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez appears during a court appearance. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez has resigned from the states Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which oversees the integrity and quality of Californias teachers. Rodriguez faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. Separately, his former employer, a charter school organization, has accused him of improperly authorizing checks to a nonprofit under his control. Rodriguez has denied wrongdoing. Rodriguezs resignation from the state body was effective May 4, days after he cast a crucial vote as part of a narrow majority that voted to authorize contract negotiations with Austin Beutner to become superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District. Beutners first official day on the job is Tuesday. Rodriguez remains in his $125,000-a-year position on the Los Angeles Board of Education. The mission of the state body is to ensure integrity, relevance, and high quality in the preparation, certification, and discipline of Californias teachers. Critics had questioned Rodriguezs continued service on the commission, given that teachers can be suspended from work if they face criminal charges. They also can lose their jobs for lapses in personal behavior, such as excessive drinking, with the potential to affect their performance. Police in Pasadena arrested Rodriguez on a Friday afternoon in March for public drunkenness. He was not charged in the incident and has apologized. The state commission reviews teacher discipline cases and can take action to remove a teachers credential to work in a California classroom. The commission has 15 members. Rodriguezs departure was disclosed in a one-sentence announcement on the agencys website. Facebook

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School board members request for restraining order against blogger is rejected By Priscella Vega An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a school board members petition for a permanent restraining order against a Huntington Beach blogger. Attorney Jeffrey W. Shields filed the petition on behalf of Ocean View School District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 46, who alleged in court documents that Charles Keeler Johnson, 56, has threatened her on social media and at school board meetings, causing her to fear for my own safety and for that of my immediate family members. Johnson, who goes by Chuck and publishes HBSledgehammer.com, said the trustee tried to stifle his freedom of speech. He also contended that Clayton-Tarvin took his blog posts and Facebook comments too seriously and out of context, saying anyone who is afraid of metaphors has serious issues. Read More Facebook

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Deal with workers averts one-day strike that could have shut down L.A. schools By Howard Blume Los Angeles school district and union officials announced a contract agreement Tuesday night that averted a one-day strike planned for next week. The pact, which runs through June 2020, removes one labor problem from the desk of incoming Supt. Austin Beutner  whose first day on the job would have coincided with the strike. Plenty of other challenges remain. Read More Facebook

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UC labor strike expands with show of support from more unions By Teresa Watanabe Fong Chuu is a registered nurse who has assisted with countless liver transplants, kidney surgeries and gastric bypasses during 34 years at UCLA. Working with her are scrub technicians who sterilize equipment, hand medical instruments to the surgeon and dress patient wounds. They are a team, Chuu says, which is why she walked off her job Tuesday in support of those technicians and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The 25,000 member AFSCME local, the University of Californias largest employee union, launched a three-day strike Monday. Read More Facebook

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We are humans too: Voices of UCLAs striking custodians, hospital aides and imaging technicians By Joy Resmovits Demonstrators parade in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) This week, thousands of UC employees are staging a three-day strike for better pay and working conditions. On Monday, more than 20,000 custodians, cooks, lab technicians, nurse aides and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 walked off their jobs. By Tuesday, two more unions joined in sympathy strikes. The union and UC reached a bargaining impasse last year. The university has said it wont meet the workers demands. The strikers said they wanted better pay, more equity in the allocation of work, stable healthcare premiums and an end to the universitys use of contract workers. These are their stories. Read More Facebook

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Massive UC workers strike disrupts dining, classes and medical services By Joy Resmovits A massive labor strike across the University of California on Monday forced medical centers to reschedule more than 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments and appointments, and campuses to cancel some classes and limit dining services. More than 20,000 members of UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, walked off their jobs on the first day of a three-day strike. They include custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Two altercations involving protesters and people driving near the rallies were reported at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. At UCLA, police took a man into custody Monday after he drove his vehicle into a crowd, hitting three staff members. They were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, said Lt. Kevin Kilgore of the UCLA Police Department. Read More Facebook

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Sen. Kamala Harris to skip UC Berkeley commencement in support of striking workers By Teresa Watanabe California Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled plans to deliver UC Berkeleys commencement address this weekend in support of UC workers who are on strike over wages and health benefits. Due to the ongoing labor dispute, Sen. Harris regretfully cannot attend and speak at this years commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley, said a statement from Harris office issued Monday. She wishes the graduates and their families a joyous commencement weekend and success for the future. They are bright young leaders and our country is counting on them. UCs largest employee union, the 25,000-member American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees Local 3299, launched a three-day strike Monday and had earlier called for a speakers boycott. The union and university reached a bargaining impasse last year and subsequent mediation efforts have failed to produce an agreement. The union is asking for a multiyear contract with a 6% annual pay increase while the university is offering 3% annual increases over four years. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ will deliver the keynote address instead, the university announced. About 5,800 students are expected to participate in the ceremony Saturday. Facebook

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School mural depicting Trumps bloody, severed head sparks controversy By Gary Warth A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody, severed head of President Trump on a spear sparked a controversy that prompted officials to cover it and issue a response distancing themselves from the work. The statement also said the artist will alter the painting. We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our schools philosophy of non-violence, read the statement from MAAC Community Charter School director Tommy Ramirez. We have been in communication with the artist  who has agreed to modify the artwork  to better align with the schools philosophy. Read More Facebook

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New blackface incident at Cal Poly prompts calls for state investigation By Kim Christensen Cal Poly San Luis Obispo officials have asked the state attorney generals office to investigate after a new photo of a white student in blackface surfaced on a fraternity groups private Snapchat. I am outraged, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a video address Friday to the campus. These vile and absolutely unacceptable acts cannot continue. We must not allow these acts to define us as an institution. Armstrong said the latest photo was intended to imitate an incident last month in which a white member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was photographed at a party wearing blackface. Read More Facebook

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More than 50,000 UC workers set to strike this week but campuses will remain open By Teresa Watanabe More than 50,000 workers across the University of California are set to strike this week, causing potential disruptions to surgery schedules, food preparation and campus maintenance. The systems 10 campuses and five medical centers are to remain open, with classes scheduled as planned. UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, plans to begin a three-day strike Monday involving 25,000 workers, including custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Read More Facebook

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New L.A. schools chief Beutner pledges to listen, learn and take action By Howard Blume New Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner proved Wednesday that hes a quick learner even without an education background. Like countless public officials before him, he appeared at an important event  his first speech and news conference  with a photogenic background of students. His message  that he would put those students first  seemed heartfelt if hardly original. Nor was it a huge surprise that he pledged to push cooperatively but unflinchingly to improve the districts academic performance and stabilize its finances. As an introduction, Beutner, a former investment banker who made a fortune on Wall Street, offered little flash, but that was partly the point. Read More Facebook

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In a school lockdown, one student takes stock of the stressful scene At the beginning of lunch one day late last month, Duarte High School, Northview Middle School, and California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley were advised by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department to go into lockdown mode due to police activity in the immediate area. Phalaen Chang, a junior at the California School of the Arts, wrote a series of notes on her iPhone while she sat in a room with her classmates. By the time the lockdown ended an hour later, she wrote, she knew which of her friends would hold open the door for others, be the ones calming others down, be the ones barricading the doors. She knew that all of them have the potential to be such strong people. Read More Facebook

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Tale as old as time: L.A. Unified superintendent pick follows a historical pattern of outside-the-box choices By Joy Resmovits L.A. Unified has long gone back and forth between picking insiders and outsiders to run the nations second largest school district. The choice of Austin Beutner, announced Tuesday, places the district squarely back in the outsider camp  months after a consummate insider, Supt. Michelle King, announced that she had cancer and would not return to the job. Check out this timeline of former L.A. superintendents to see how the school board members have changed their minds, sometimes favoring leaders who come from the world of education and sometimes executives from elsewhere, recruited to shock the system into change. At one point, the district hired someone from the military  retired Navy Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, who served as superintendent from 2006-2008. In hiring Brewer, board members had opted for a non-educator  largely because they sought a fresh thinker, unwedded to the bureaucracy, unafraid to make bold, even unorthodox moves, reads a 2008 Times story. Facebook

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Austin Beutner named superintendent of Los Angeles schools By Howard Blume Austin Beutner, a philanthropist and former investment banker, on Tuesday was named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second-largest school system. His selection was the biggest move yet by a Los Angeles school board majority elected with major support from charter school advocates. The decision came after lengthy public testimony, most of it in support of the other remaining finalist, interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian, who is well known within the school system. Beutner, 58, has no background leading a school or school district. Less than 2 years ago, a school board with a very different balance of power named Michelle King, a former teacher who rose through the district throughout her career, to L.A. Unifieds top job. Read More Facebook

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Hearing delay gives both sides more time in Ref Rodriguezs potential trial By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez and his attorneys will have more time to prepare their defense against charges of political money laundering, a judge ruled Monday. The preliminary hearing in the case had been scheduled to begin May 9, but that date will now be pushed back to July 23 per the ruling from L.A. Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil. Rodriguez, 46, faces three felony charges of conspiracy, perjury and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school board poised to name Beutner as superintendent By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is poised to select philanthropist and former investment banker Austin Beutner to be the next superintendent of the nations second-largest school system. Barring a last-minute development, the only mystery is whether Beutner emerges with four or five votes from the boards seven members. Terms of his contract already have been under discussion, according to sources close to the process who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak. The selection of Beutner, 58, who has no experience managing a school or a school district, would be a signal that the board majority that took control nearly a year ago wants to rely on business management skills instead of insider educational expertise. Read More Facebook

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Teacher walkouts in Arizona and Colorado continue national debate on money for schools By Michael Livingston Following the lead of teachers who walked off the job in other states in recent weeks, thousands of teachers and their supporters took to the streets in Arizona and Colorado for the second day in a row to demand better pay and more funding for education. Read More Facebook

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Three decades before the #MeToo movement, UC San Diego led the way against sexual assault By Teresa Watanabe When Nancy Wahlig first started her fight against sexual assault, one company was marketing a capsule for women to stash in their bras and then smash to release a vile odor. Because of the very nature of society, the only person who can prevent rape is the woman herself, read a 1981 advertisement for the Repulse rape deterrent. Ideas about how to prevent sexual violence have come a long way since then, and Wahlig has helped lead that evolution on college campuses. In 1988, she started UC San Diegos Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC), the first stand-alone program at the University of California. Today, she remains the systems most senior specialist. Read More Facebook

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Andres Alonso withdraws from consideration for L.A. schools job By Howard Blume Andres Alonso, believed to be one of three remaining finalists to lead the Los Angeles school system, has withdrawn from consideration. The remaining known candidates in the confidential search are former investment banker Austin Beutner and interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian. Alonso, 60, announced his decision on Twitter on Thursday night, saying he had notified the L.A. Unified School District on Monday. The exit of Alonso, the former Baltimore schools chief, seems to solidify the front-runner status of Beutner, who also was a former L.A. Times publisher and a Los Angeles deputy mayor. He held each of those positions for about a year. Read More Facebook

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Heres why the apparent increase in autism spectrum disorders may be good for U.S. children By Karen Kaplan The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among American children continues to rise, new government data suggest. And that may be a good thing. Among 11 sites across the U.S. where records of 8-year-olds are scrutinized in detail, 1 in 59 kids was deemed to have ASD in 2014. Thats up from 1 in 68 in 2012. Normally, health officials would prefer to see less of a disease, not more of it. But in this case, the higher number is probably a sign that more children of color who are on the autism spectrum are being recognized as such and getting services to help them, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More Facebook

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UC shelves tuition increase for now, in hopes of getting more state funding By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents will not vote on a tuition increase next month, shelving the plan for now in hopes that state lawmakers will come through with more funding. Raising tuition is always a last resort and one we take very seriously, UC President Janet Napolitano said Thursday in a statement. We will continue to advocate with our students who are doing a tremendous job of educating legislators about the necessity of adequately funding the university to ensure UC remains a world-class institution and engine of economic growth for our state. Last week, Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White said the 23-campus system no longer would consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year. But unlike Cal State, UC officials have not taken a tuition increase off the table entirely. Read More Facebook

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A chemical spill, unchecked eyewash stations, poor training: Audit details Cal States lax lab safety By Joy Resmovits In May 2016, two bottles tumbled off a poorly supported shelf and broke, leading to a chemical spill in a Sacramento State University lab. The liquid got onto one students legs and soaked anothers feet. Five employees cleaned up the mess, even though no one knew for sure what it was and whether it was dangerous. They called fellow employee Kim Harrington, their union representative, to let her know what happened. Read More Facebook

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After blackface incident, minority students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo say they dont feel welcome By Hailey Branson-Potts Aaliyah Ramos was walking through the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus last year when a prospective student approached her. Ramos was the only black person, the young woman said, that she and her mother had seen that day. They asked about the quality of education and the diversity of the student body. Ramos, a mechanical engineering student, didnt want to sugarcoat the truth: Cal Poly long has been predominantly white. But she told the young woman  who also was black  that she didnt want to discourage her from applying, because that wouldnt help with diversity at a school where only 0.7% of students are African American  the lowest percentage of any university in the California State system. Read More Facebook

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El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills wins the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon By Carlos Lozano El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills has won the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon, officials said. The winner was announced early Saturday at a ceremony in Frisco, Texas. More than 600 students from the U.S., Canada, China and the United Kingdom gathered there over the last three days to compete in the 37th annual U.S. Academic Decathlon. Congratulations to El Camino Real Charter High School for another impressive victory, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Your academic stamina and competitive spirit to win is remarkable. The entire L.A. Unified family is so proud of you. Read More Facebook

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Anticipation mounts as L.A. school board meets over superintendent selection By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is reconvening in closed session Friday at noon as anticipation mounts about the choice of the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. The presumed front-runner is former investment banker and philanthropist Austin Beutner, but interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian and former Baltimore Supt. Andres Alonso also are in the running. Most district insiders appear to be rooting for Ekchian, who has spent her entire career in education within the school system. After her 10 years as a teacher, her roles have included head of human resources, chief labor negotiator and regional administrator for campuses in the west San Fernando Valley. Shes managed the district since September, when then-Supt. Michelle King went on medical leave and chose Ekchian to fill in for her. King, who is battling cancer, never returned and announced her retirement in January. Numerous influential civic leaders have urged  and pressured  the board to select Beutner. Also lending their weight have been advocates for charter schools, which are independently operated, growing in number and competing for students with district-operated campuses. Four of the seven board members  enough to control the outcome  were elected with major financial support from charter supporters. Beutner has two ongoing connections with the L.A. Unified School District. The first is his leadership of an outside task force that is making recommendations on how to improve the school system. The second is his charity, Vision to Learn, which supplies glasses to low-income students. The charity and the school system are in a dispute at the moment over who is responsible for delays in providing services to students as part of a $6 million contract, half of which is paid for by L.A. Unified. Unlike Ekchian and Buetner, Alonso, who currently teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has no deep-seated local constituency, but the prospect of his selection has generated some excitement. While in Baltimore, Alonso was recognized for pushing for progress at low-performing schools, and for being willing to take strong action. While in Baltimore, he also weathered a test-score cheating scandal and occasionally rocky relations with the teachers union. But by the time he resigned, after six years, he and union leaders seemed to be working together without rancor. Leaders of some community groups have split from the pro-Beutner camp. They worry that Beutners approach to confronting the districts financial problems could shut out their voices or involve severe economic cutbacks that would undermine programs that are helping students. Some prefer Ekchian; some Alonso. Theyve been reluctant to speak out publicly because theyll have to work with whoever is selected, but they have tried to get the ear of board members. On Friday morning, one leader of a community group decided to come out in favor of Alonso. L.A. Unified has the opportunity to bring in an instructional leader of color with a history of success, said Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, which works on behalf of low-income students and families in South Los Angeles. If we have a shot at that, we should go for it  because its in the best interests of our kids and of our community. Retana said his statement was not meant to criticize Beutner or Ekchian but to alert board members that there also is community support for Alonso. Facebook

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Cal State leader shelves proposed tuition hike: Its the right thing to do, but its not without risk By Joy Resmovits Cal State, the nations largest public university system, will no longer consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year, Chancellor Timothy P. White announced Friday. The decision is a bet that Sacramento will come through in the end. If Cal State loses that bet, it could mean cuts to campus programs. White said in an interview that Californias economy is strong enough that families should not be shouldering the burden of higher college costs. Read More Facebook

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L.A. students to participate in national walkout activities on Friday By Joy Resmovits Students are taking to the streets again Friday to protest gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Starting at 10 a.m., students at many schools will spend 13 seconds honoring the 13 people  12 students and one teacher  killed on that day in Littleton, Colo. After that, theyll participate in a host of different activities. Within L.A. Unified, one school is having an open-mic event for students to talk about school violence, and lawmakers are visiting campuses to hear students thoughts. According to a central hub for organizing the protests  written by the students of Ridgefield High School in Connecticut  the walkouts are intended to drive the political change necessary to curb school violence. The day is also a time for students to interact on an elevated platform they have never had before, the site states. It is a day of discourse and thoughtful sharing. Bringing together communities and students to get a national discussion rolling. Organizers have suggested using the event to convey the importance of curbing gun violence to legislators. They are encouraging students to push legislation that would ban assault weapons and tighten up rules around who can buy guns and how. Over 2,500 schools nationwide are expected to participate. In L.A., some students  at campuses including Eagle Rock High School, the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Bravo Medical Magnet  plan to walk out. Students from various schools expect to join area marches, including those in Santa Monica and Huntington Park. Other schools are hosting career days and voter registration drives. At 1 p.m., students plan to start a rally in front of L.A. Unified headquarters. For the record: An earlier version of this article stated that 12 teachers and one student were killed in the Columbine shooting. The opposite is true: twelve students and one teacher died. Facebook

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Stabbing of popular student devastates South El Monte High School; teen friend suspected in slaying By Sonali Kohli When administrators at South El Monte High School called Jeremy Sanchezs parents to say he never showed up for class Wednesday, his father began to worry. It was unusual for the 17-year-old junior to miss school, so his father filed a missing persons report and assembled two of Jeremys close friends to look for the popular student-athlete. Their search took them to a scenic stretch of the San Gabriel River Trail, where one of the friends  a 16-year-old boy  made a tragic discovery. Among the bushes in the riverbed near Thienes Avenue and Parkway Drive was Jeremys body, punctured with stab wounds, according to Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Read More Facebook

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Racist fliers spark outrage at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo By Alene Tchekmedyian Soon after Neal MacDougall arrived on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus Tuesday, the professor noticed university police standing outside a restroom near his office. A racial slur against African Americans had been scrawled in red marker on a stall wall. Later, he discovered a series of racist fliers pinned up next to his door. Someone had also slashed posters hed hung outside his office supporting students in the country illegally. The discovery was the latest controversy on the prestigious campus  which the president said is less than 55% white  that MacDougall said demonstrates a culture of racism at the university. Last week, photographs emerged of white fraternity members, including one in blackface, flashing gang signs. Read More Facebook

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The superintendent waiting game, paying for L.A.'s College Promise, Princetons slave history: Whats new in education By Joy Resmovits Acting LAUSD superintendent Vivian Ekchian is a finalist for the permanent job. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) In and around Los Angeles: The L.A. Unified school board spent 10 hours interviewing and discussing candidates for superintendent. When they adjourned after 10 p.m., they said they would reconvene on Friday. Who is paying for Mayor Eric Garcettis much-touted College Promise, a program that promises two years of community college for LAUSD grads? In California: The Legislature is considering a proposal that would boost K-12 education funding for black students. When the cost of living is taken into account, California has the highest rate of child poverty. Nationwide: The families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are suing Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never occurred. Princeton will name two spaces  an arch and a garden  after slaves who lived or worked on the campus. Facebook

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L.A. school board meets privately with finalists and debates choice for school district leader By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education adjourned late Tuesday after spending more than 10 hours interviewing candidates and trying to reach a decision on who would be the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. When the meeting finally recessed at 10:11 p.m., a spokesman announced only that the school board would reconvene Friday at noon. Going into the days meetings, there were apparently four finalists, according to sources who could not be named because they were unauthorized to speak. Read More Facebook

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Two Sandy Hook families sue Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never happened By David Altimari Families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School have filed lawsuits in Texas against controversial radio host Alex Jones for continually claiming the massacre never happened. Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah Pozner died in the massacre, filed separate lawsuits late Monday in Travis County, Texas. The lawsuits allege that Jones defamed the parents by constantly calling them crisis actors and insisting the shooting was a false flag operation; they also claim Jones accusations have led to death threats against the Sandy Hook families by Jones followers. Read More Facebook

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Beutner emerges as a top pick for L.A. schools superintendent amid last-minute jockeying By Howard Blume Austin Beutner has emerged as a leading contender to run the Los Angeles school district, with backers saying he is smart enough and tough enough to confront its financial and academic struggles. Though he does not have a background in education, the former investment banker has in the last year examined some of the districts intractable problems, serving as co-chair of an outside task force with the support of then-Supt. Michelle King. Sources inside and outside the school district said Beutner appears to have more support on the seven-member board than other finalists, and his name could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. Read More Facebook

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Challenge at Chicago school construction site: Watch for 38,000 unmarked graves By Nereida Moreno A 15-year effort to build a school in Chicagos Dunning neighborhood is underway with an unusual complication: Construction workers are taking careful steps to avoid disturbing human remains that may lie beneath the soil. The $70-million school is to be built on the grounds of a former Cook County Poor House, where an estimated 38,000 people were buried in unmarked graves. Among the dead are residents who were too poor to afford funeral costs, unclaimed bodies and patients from the countys insane asylum. There can be and there have been bodies found all over the place, said Barry Fleig, a genealogist and cemetery researcher who began investigating the site in 1989. Its a spooky, scary place. Read More Facebook

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Oklahoma teacher walkout winds down despite lawmakers failure to meet demands By Washington Post Oklahomas largest teachers union has announced an end to a walkout that has drawn thousands of educators out of classrooms and to the state Capitol demanding greater investment in the states schools, which have endured the nations steepest funding cuts. The announcement Thursday from the Oklahoma Education Assn. does not necessarily end the protests at the Capitol, as teachers not affiliated with the union vowed to stay longer. Instead of a walkout, the union and school districts across the state have said they plan to send delegations of teachers to Oklahoma City to keep the pressure on lawmakers. Teachers and their supporters have also promised to push education issues to the forefront of November elections, when the state chooses a new governor. As school districts begin to reopen, the protests may lose steam. The Legislature is not in session Friday, and observers are waiting to see what happens Monday, when lawmakers return. Read More Facebook

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Most Californians are worried about school shooting threats and oppose arming teachers, survey finds By Joy Resmovits Hamilton High School student Aiyana Dabriel holds a sign during a March 14 walkout in support of the Parkland shooting victims. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Most Californians are worried that a school shooting like the one that occurred in Parkland, Fla., in February could shed blood closer to home, a new survey found. Some 73% percent of adults and 82% of public school parents said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about school shootings. The Public Policy Institute of California surveyed 1,704 adults in the state by phone just after the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence. Latino and black respondents were significantly more likely to be concerned about school violence than white or Asian respondents, the institute found. Two-thirds of adults and public school parents said they opposed letting more educators carry weapons in school. The response differed across party lines, with 86% of Democrats and 69% of independents voicing their opposition, while 60% percent of Republicans said they would support a measure to arm educators. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.2% in either direction, also asked Californians about school funding, educational issues in the governors race and the impact of immigration enforcement on students. You can find the full results here. Facebook

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Californias largest virtual charter school network agrees to contract with its teachers By Anna M. Phillips Nearly four years after teachers at Californias largest online charter school voted to unionize, they have reached a deal to increase pay and create job protections, according to a spokesman for the California Teachers Assn. The contract, which is still tentative and subject to ratification, is a victory for the teachers union. Although charter schools are publicly funded, most are privately managed and their employees arent protected by labor contracts. Under the terms of the contract  the result of years of negotiation and legal wrangling  approximately 500 teachers working for California Virtual Academies will no longer be at-will employees who can be dismissed for almost any reason. Their average salary will rise to just over $45,000, according to union estimates, a figure that remains far below the norm for traditional public school teachers. Still, it is an improvement over the previous average of $38,000. The accord also places a limit on the number of students each teacher is responsible for monitoring in online homeroom classes. Were very satisfied with the gains we made, said teacher Brianna Carroll, president of California Virtual Educators United. I think were going to see some extraordinary changes in our schools. According to Carroll, teachers at California Virtual Academies  better known as CAVA  had grown frustrated with the organizations foot-dragging and were making preparations to go on strike when CAVAs leadership agreed to the deal. CAVA and K12, the Virginia-based for-profit company linked to its schools, did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday asking for comment. The network currently operates nine virtual charter schools across California. In 2016, the charter network agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle claims of false advertising, misleading parents and inadequate instruction. The state attorney generals office had also accused K12 of controlling the charters for its own financial benefit. Neither CAVA nor K12 admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement. A year later, the state imposed a $2-million fine on CAVA after an audit found that it had misspent public funds. The network disputed the findings. Facebook

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School board approves a new formula for funding high-need schools By Sonali Kohli L.A. schools will soon get more money if they are located in neighborhoods with such problems as high levels of gun violence and asthma. The Los Angeles Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a new formula to determine how to dole out some funding to schools, based not only on the characteristics of the student populations but on the traumas that affect the communities around campuses. The new formula will be applied to $25 million in funding next fiscal year and about $263 million annually in future years  a small part of the districts $7.5 billion annual budget. Read More Facebook

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Protesters demand Ref Rodriguez resignation outside school board meeting By Sonali Kohli Students, parents, teachers and UTLA marching outside the board meeting chanting "Ref resign" pic.twitter.com/W0LRWZSIXY  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 A few dozen parents, students and teachers marched outside the Los Angeles Unified School Board meeting Tuesday, some calling for board member Ref Rodriguez to resign the week after news broke that he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena bar and restaurant. Rodriguez was not cited or charged in that incident, but was held for more than five and a half hours before being released. The school board member faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. He is accused of getting more than two dozen people people to donate to his campaign for his school board seat with the understanding that he would reimburse them. He stepped down from his post as school board president after he was charged last fall, but he did not give up his seat on the board. He has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of conspiracy, perjury, and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May. He cant give his full focus to our students, said Rebecca LaFond, a Highland Park parent whose three children marched with her as she chanted, Ref resign. One daughter marched in front of her, using a drum stick to hit the bottom of a gallon-size empty water jug. Our kids deserve someone who has the utmost ethical standards representing them, LaFond said. The protests continued into the board meeting, where some addressed Rodriguez directly, calling on him to step down during public comment portions of the meeting. Rodriguez, through his chief of staff, declined to comment. Some parents outside the board meeting did not know about the charges against Rodriguez but came out to protest the possibility of sharing their school campuses with charter schools. Protesters also oppose colocation  not all of the parents are here to ask Ref Rodriguez to step down pic.twitter.com/1Co8zQ9zSi  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 Cynthia Martinez said her son, who goes to Christopher Dena Elementary School in Boyle Heights, has been bullied in the past by students from a charter school sharing the campus. She said she didnt know who Rodriguez was. Some parents and teachers are worried about losing computer labs, robotics rooms and fitness centers if they are required to share their campus with charter schools, said Ilse Escobar, a parent community organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles. The issues of Rodriguez and colocation are related, Escobar said. Rodriguez is part of a majority on the school board elected with financial backing from charter school supporters, and many parents, she said, feel that the school board is compromised if he is a part of it. Staff reporter Howard Blume contributed to this post. Facebook

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Delaine Eastin tries to gain momentum in the California governors race, one voter at a time By Seema Mehta Delaine Eastin was a sophomore in high school when a drama teacher urged her to try out for a part in The Man Who Came to Dinner. She hesitated until he told her: This is a metaphor for your whole life. If you never try out, you will never get the part. Eastin auditioned and won the role. Decades later, the advice sticks with the former state schools chief, this time in her unlikely run for governor. Despite calls for more women in leadership roles in state politics following sexual misconduct allegations in Sacramento, Eastin has been largely overlooked in the race, lagging far behind her Democratic rivals in fundraising and the polls. Read More Facebook

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Arizona high court rejects in-state tuition for DACA recipients By Associated Press Young immigrants granted deferred deportation status under a program started by President Obama are not eligible for lower in-state college tuition, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday. The unanimous ruling will affect at least 2,000 students attending the states largest community college district and hundreds more at other colleges and the states three public universities. The Maricopa County Community Colleges District and state universities said they would begin raising tuition immediately for the coming school year. Read More Facebook

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New York high school students injured when bus strikes overpass By Associated Press A charter bus carrying teenagers returning from a spring break trip Sunday night struck a bridge overpass on Long Island, seriously injuring six passengers and mangling the entire length of the top of the bus. The crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview, according to New York State Police. One of the six injured passengers had very serious injuries, said State Police Maj. David Candelaria. Thirty-seven other passengers suffered minor injuries. Read More Facebook

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Some good news for California in national student test scores By Joy Resmovits Every two years, the nations fourth- and eighth-graders are tested in math and reading  and newly released results from last years tests give California at least a little reason to be pleased. The 2017 results  out Monday night  were mostly flat nationwide compared with 2015, though the average score in eighth-grade reading went up. But while that improvement largely came from the increased scores of the highest-performing students, California eighth-graders showed some reading progress from the lowest levels to the highest. Read More Facebook

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Under state control, Inglewood school districts financial picture worsened By Anna M. Phillips When Eugenio Villa agreed to return to the Inglewood schools for a second tour last summer, he knew the district remained one of Californias most troubled. Inglewood Unified had been nearly insolvent when it was taken over by the state Department of Education in 2012. Six years later, its enrollment was still declining. Its school buildings were tired  some edging into decrepitude. Its test scores and graduation rates were still below the state average. And the public was out of patience. Still, Villa, who had signed back on as the districts chief business official, was shocked at what he found when he arrived in June 2017. Two years earlier, he had left the school system on what he thought was firm ground. Read More Facebook

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Charter school group drops two lawsuits against L.A. Unified By Howard Blume A charter schools advocacy group last week announced that it would end two long-running lawsuits in which it was seeking more classroom space and construction money from the Los Angeles school district. The decision, the California Charter Schools Assn. said, reflects better relations between charter schools and the L.A. Unified School District. But the move also suggests that the litigation, which already contributed to significant gains for area charters, was unlikely to produce much more. It takes time, money and effort to litigate, said Ricardo Soto, general counsel for the charter group. Maybe its better to see if we can find the time and opportunity for collaboration. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school board member Ref Rodriguez is arrested on suspicion of public intoxication By Richard Winton Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez was arrested recently on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena restaurant, the latest trouble for an elected official who faces political money-laundering charges. Pasadena police took Rodriguez into custody on March 16, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. Officers arrested Rodriguez at about 4:30 p.m. at the Yard House restaurant and bar at the Paseo Mall and held him in jail for more than five-and-a-half hours. Rodriguez was ultimately released without being cited or charged, Derderian told The Times. Other details about the arrest were not available, she said. Read More Facebook

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Kentucky teachers rally at Capitol over state budget By Associated Press Thousands of Kentucky teachers filled the streets near the state Capitol in Frankfort on a cold, overcast Monday to rally for education funding. Teachers and other school employees gathered outside the Kentucky Education Assn. a couple of blocks from the Capitol chanting, Stop the war on public education and holding or posting signs that say, Weve Had Enough. Were madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today, said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal. Read More Facebook

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Higher Council for Media Regulation head Makram Mohamed Ahmed also proposed liquidating many of the activities of loss-making state-owned press organisations

Osama Heikal, head of parliament's Culture, Media and Antiquities Committee, told reporters that discussions of the long-awaited new press and media law will begin next week.

"We held our first meeting Monday and it was devoted to reviewing proposed amendments to the draft law. We intend to take enough time to thoroughly study all suggested changes to the draft," said Heikal.

Heikal said there was a consensus among MPs that they should coordinate with the Press Syndicate and the newly formed National Press Organisation (NPO) in an attempt to ensure the new law, when ratified, does away with custodial sentences for publication offences.

Heikal said the committee opposed jailing journalists "on the grounds that this violates Egypt's 2014 constitution."

"We are very keen the new general press law conforms to the constitution, which states in Article 71 that journalists convicted of publication offences cannot be imprisoned," said Heikal.

In a memorandum submitted to Egypt's parliament this week, head of the newly-formed Higher Council for Media Regulation (HCMR) Makram Mohamed Ahmed said a number of measures aimed at reforming the financial and administrative conditions of state-owned press organisations should be soon taken.

Topping the list of these measures, Ahmed proposed converting loss-making print publications into electronic editions.

"State-owned press organisations shouldn't tolerate loss-making publications anymore and the best and easiest way is to transfer them to electronic editions," said Ahmed.

Ahmed also proposed that state-owned  or national  press organisations liquidate many of their loss-making activities. "If these activities continued to be a financial burden, these press organisations should move quickly to liquidate them," Ahmed said.

Ahmed argued that many national press organisations have been involved in many loss-making activities in recent years and that they have to rid themselves of these activities as soon as possible.

Ahmed also proposed amendments of a new press and media law that was prepared by media experts from both the government and the Press Syndicate.

Ahmed agreed with Heikal that the law should not impose prison sentences on journalists in violation of the constitution.

"The draft law also states that state-owned press organisations must act as independent institutions rather than government media mouthpieces, in line with Article 72 of the constitution that states that the job of the state-owned press is to reflect the full range of national views," said Ahmed.

Ahmed revealed that the NPO proposed that a new section by the name of "Disciplining of Journalists and Media People" be added to the draft.

"The addition will entrust the disciplining of journalists and media workers guilty of publication offences or the violating of codes of ethics to the Press Syndicate or the Syndicate of Media Workers."

Ahmed revealed that the three heads of three newly created three media regulatory bodies  the Higher Council for Media Regulation (HCMR), the NPO and the National Media Organisation (NMO)  had agreed they should consult with each other in their official capacity ahead of the selection of new board chairmen or new editors-in-chief of national press organisations and the Radio and Television Union (RTU).

"What this means is that the head of any of the three media bodies will be unable to take a unilateral decision in selecting new board chairmen or chief editors and that this should be codified in the new law," said Ahmed. "We need to coordinate with each other rather than work in isolation from each other if we are going to succeed in our goal of reforming the Egyptian press and media."

Ahmed said NPO had proposed Article 46 of the new press and media law be changed. "The NPO's proposed amendment states that each newspaper or magazine should have an editorial board and that this board should be headed by an editor-in-chief and seven chief editor deputies as members."

The NPO has also proposed Article 76 be amended to allow journalists to retire at 65 rather than 60.

"The NPO's proposals will apply to journalists who have been members of the Press Syndicate for at least 20 years, have not faced disciplinary measures during the last three years or taken long stretches of unpaid holidays," said Ahmed. "In addition, those who stay until 65 will not be allowed to hold senior positions such as board chair or editor-in-chief."

The NPO also wants Article 77 to be changed to expand the general assembly of national press organisations to 15 members  five journalists, five managers and five workers  rather than the 12 stipulated in the government draft.

It would also like to see the boards of national press organisations expanded to 13 rather than 11 members.

On the criteria to select editors-in-chief of daily newspapers, Ahmed said the NPO was suggesting candidates have a minimum 15 years' experience of reporting and editing during which they did not take extended unpaid leave.

Editors-in-chief of weekly, monthly or quarterly newspapers and magazines will be required to have a minimum of eight years of experience.

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Patricia Rucker started tearing up, and the room fell silent.

Ive been a member of this board for six years, she said Wednesday at a meeting of the California State Board of Education. But Ive been an African American woman for far longer.

The charged moment came during a presentation of a draft plan called The California Way on how the state plans to satisfy the relatively loose requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the Obama-era replacement for the earlier No Child Left Behind Act.

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Where No Child used a stringent system to reward and punish schools for their performance on test scores, ESSA, as its known, gives states much more leeway in deciding how to hold schools and districts accountable for their students progress.

With the Trump administration in office  and an Education secretary who insists that states and school districts do much of the decision-making  states will get even more freedom than they had expected. Trump in March signed a bill that trashed Obamas ESSA rules.

Both Rucker and fellow board member Feliza Ortiz-Licon suggested that if the state failed to make firm commitments to progress anyway, some students would continue to be shortchanged.

The performance gap between students of different races, said Ortiz-Licon, is a California problem, not a question of complying with federal policy. These are California students that are not performing in California schools, and it happens to be the same students over and over again, she said.

She and Rucker took the board to task for talking around the achievement gap, which they view as the central problem in Californias schools. Rucker said she sees students who look like her constantly failing, and suggested that the boards discussion focused on schools that serve the privileged.

Theres nothing wrong with public education if you happen to live in an affluent community. Were having the wrong conversation, she said, as several people observing the meeting applauded.

The state board wrote in the introduction to its draft plan that Trump has provided maximum flexibility for the state to create its own policies for managing about $2.6 billion in federal money. The plan, the board wrote, has been written to meet, not exceed, federal requirements.

Mike Kirst, the boards president, said the draft is intentionally thin because any language would require entering into a contract with the federal government. There are things we can do  that we dont have to sign a contract with the federal government about, he said.

Like Rucker and Ortiz-Licon, some advocates complained that the draft does not propose doing much to promote equity.

California really needs to step up and demonstrate that the state is going to be that civil rights backstop and its going to be embedded in this plan, said Samantha Tran, senior managing director of education policy for Children Now, a group that lobbies and organizes activists on behalf of childrens rights.

At bare minimum, ESSA requires that states identify the lowest performing 5% of their high-poverty schools, as well as high schools with persistently low graduation rates, and help them improve.

But the draft is vague on interventions and largely relies on measures in the California School Dashboard  the new school ratings tool  to set goals for school performance. The online system gives schools colors, ranging from red (worst) to blue (best) in various categories, including suspensions, graduation and English and math test scores. It takes in both current status and progress.

A Times analysis found that the dashboard grades schools on a generous curve. Tran said its ratings lack nuance.

I dont understand the theory of change here and how its supposed to get schools back on track, said Carrie Hahnel, deputy director of research and policy at the Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based advocacy group focused on educational equity. I expect there would be a plan for action in at least the most egregious cases of failure.

According to Deputy Supt. Keric Ashley, the state could use one of several methods to identify the schools. It could either weight the different measurement categories equally, or it could give more emphasis to specific categories, or it could cull through the schools whose ratings are all red in one area, then another, until the poorest performing 5% are determined.

Implicit in the drafts starting point  that it doesnt need to strictly comply with ESSAs requirements or exceed them  is the premise that federal funding for education is so proportionally small that its not always worth the trouble. But Rucker and Ortiz-Licon both argued that federal money matters more in the states neediest schools.

The board voted in the end to move the plan forward with a few revisions. An updated version is expected to be released for public comment on May 22.

Joy.Resmovits@LATimes.com

@Joy_Resmovits
Californias State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to shutter two Los Angeles charter schools run by a nonprofit that is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education and the inspector general for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Some parents and teachers at the schools cried through their testimony at an emotional hearing, which ended with the board declining to renew the charter petitions for the Celerity Dyad Charter School in South Los Angeles and the Celerity Troika Charter School in Eagle Rock. Explaining their vote, board members said they had lost confidence in the Celerity Educational Group, the organization that manages the schools, and expressed growing concerns about its governance structure and finances, as well as the potential for conflicts of interest.

This seems to be a very troubling failure on the part of the adults who manage these organizations, rather than on the adults in the classrooms, said board member Ilene Straus.

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The boards vote comes at a time when charter school advocates are determined to increase the number of such schools in L.A., and it highlights the growing difficulty of regulating them. The states teachers union, which has fought against the growth in charter schools, has argued that all control over which charter schools are approved or rejected should rest with local school districts, rather than county or state boards.

With more charter schools than any other district in the country, L.A. Unified is considered one of the main battlegrounds for charter advocates and opponents.

The state boards vote Thursday was a stunning departure from its thinking last fall, when it approved two new charter schools operated by the Celerity group. At the time, most board members brushed aside questions about the groups operations and did not dwell on the fact that it was under investigation by L.A. Unifieds inspector general. They endorsed Celeritys expansion, citing its academic record and comparatively high test scores.

Since then, the boards opinion of Celerity has changed dramatically.

In late January, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and other agencies raided Celeritys offices, as well as the headquarters of a related nonprofit, Celerity Global Development, and the home of its founder, Vielka McFarlane.

The focus of the federal investigation is unclear  the search warrants remain under seal  and no one at Celerity has been charged with a crime related to the nonprofits operations.

In response to the raid, Celeritys attorney, Maurice Suh, said the organization and its leaders were free of wrongdoing and would cooperate with the investigations.

On Thursday, Suh accused L.A. Unified of being the driving force behind the federal investigation, and he openly worried that the district might try to close Celeritys remaining schools.

Well do, in essence, what is necessary to keep our schools running, Suh told the board. Plain and simple. Were here to tell you were happy to change.

In its review of the groups financial records, The Times documented years of questionable spending by Celeritys leaders as well as potential conflicts of interest. Financial records show that, in her former role as chief executive of Celerity Educational Group, McFarlane paid for lavish meals and hotel stays with a credit card belonging to her charter schools, which receive the bulk of their funding from the state. She also created a complex web of nonprofit corporations and for-profit businesses, including an information technology company and a real estate holding company, that did business with her schools.

Celeritys leaders have said in response that many of McFarlanes purchases were paid for by Celerity Educational Groups parent organization, Celerity Global Development, which McFarlane currently runs. In a newsletter posted online, the group conceded that some of these transactions were personal expenses mistakenly put on the school credit card, which Ms. McFarlane paid back. It offered no evidence of repayment and did not say how much McFarlane reimbursed her schools.

In 2013, McFarlane earned $471,842, about 35% more than Michelle King, the superintendent of the Los Angeles school district, makes today, a fact that appeared to rankle some state board members.

One has to oversee less than 4,000 students, the other has to oversee about 500,000. Thats not apples to apples, said board member Feliza Ortiz-Licon. That alone shows me the lens thats being used to look at this.

The Celerity group runs seven charter schools in Southern California  six in L.A. and one in Compton.

Hours after the vote, a Celerity spokesman released a written statement saying the group was disappointed with the state boards decision. Celeritys other charter schools are not affected by todays decision and we will continue to work hard to serve all our families, it read.

In recent weeks, Celerity has been put on notice that other organizations are concerned about its behavior.

The Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges, commonly known by its acronym WASC, an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, has warned Celerity that its schools are in danger of losing their accreditation.

After donating $400,000 to help Celerity open its two new schools, the Walton Family Foundation recently asked the group to return any unspent money. The foundation declined to give its reasoning for the unusual request.

With the boards vote, Celerity has exhausted its appeals for Dyad and Troika, both of which had their renewal petitions rejected by L.A. Unifieds board. The Los Angeles County Board of Education declined even to consider extending the life of the two schools for another five-year term.

About 1,400 students in kindergarten through eighth grade attend Dyad and Troika and will have to find new schools by the fall, according to state officials.

Some may wind up attending the two new schools, Celerity Rolas and Celerity Himalia, that the state board authorized last fall. Both schools are expected to open next year.

anna.phillips@latimes.com

Twitter: @annamphillips

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UPDATES:

4:15 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional information about the Celerity group and the state boards vote as well as comments from some board members.

8:00 p.m.: This article was updated to include a statement from a Celerity spokesman.

This article was originally published at 3:15 p.m.
If the Los Angeles school board elections were a movie, then the nominee for best supporting actor might go to an individual who so far has received little attention: Reed Hastings.

Based on documents reviewed by The Times, the co-founder of Netflix has contributed close to $5 million since last September to California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates, a major conduit of funds for school board candidates backed by charter school supporters. His most recent contribution was $1 million on Tuesday.

Another recent contributor is a familiar name in education politics. Eli Broad put in $400,000 last Friday, on top of $50,000 he gave in November.

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Teachers unions and their allies, including other labor groups, also are spending big, matching the pro-charter side nearly dollar for dollar in one of the races.

The major outside player on that side is the American Federation of Teachers, a national union headed by Randi Weingarten. It has reported contributions of about $1.2 million so far.

If charter backers prevail, they could win their first pro-charter majority on the school board of the nations second-largest school system.

Charter supporters are backing Kelly Gonez for the soon-to-be-open seat in District 6 in the east San Fernando Valley. Outside spending on behalf of Gonez totaled about $2.55 million through Thursday, according to records filed with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.

United Teachers Los Angeles is supporting Imelda Padilla, who has benefited from $2.28 million in outside spending, in the race.

In District 4, stretching from the Westside to the west Valley, charter advocates are behind Nick Melvoin, who is challenging union-backed, two-term incumbent Steve Zimmer, the school boards president.

Outside spending for Melvoin has surpassed $4.65 million; for Zimmer, $2.29 million.

The money is coming in at astonishing levels, with the outside spending reported for Melvoin and Gonez combined rising by more than $800,000 from Wednesday to Thursday.

Both charter-backed candidates have raised more money for their own campaigns than their opponents have.

Charters are privately operated public schools that are exempt from some rules that govern traditional campuses. Most are nonunion.

CCSA Advocates can use donations for any political purpose, but the L.A. school board race  the most expensive in the nation  has been its primary recent project.

Besides having money, Hastings is a desirable donor for the charter side in left-leaning California. Hes been a regular and reliable contributor to Democratic causes and candidates. Thats a valuable attribute given the states anti-Trump political climate  because the Trump administration has made increasing the number of charter schools a central goal.

Like Trumps Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Hastings is an ardent, longtime advocate for charters and a major donor to charter causes. (California Gov. Jerry Brown also strongly supports charters, though not as a big-money contributor.)

The teachers union casts donors such as Hastings in the role of outside billionaire trying to buy a local election. Hastings has insisted he simply wants to support meaningful steps to improve public education.

The outsider tag also applies to some other donors; some are notably associated with conservative or anti-union politics, or both.

Major CCSA Advocates donors since last September include:

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan: $1 million. (Riordan gave another million to a second, allied campaign to defeat Zimmer.)

Conservative GAP co-founder Doris Fisher: $1.05 million

Wal-Mart heir Jim Walton: $500,000

Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs (whose late husband, Apple founder Steve Jobs, was assertively anti-union): $250,000

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg: $200,000

Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton: $200,000

The charter group files a formal spending and donor report twice a year, but some donations come to light sooner because of disclosure rules in particular elections. The same rules capture most of the union spending, most of which is from teachers unions.

United Teachers Los Angeles ended 2016 with about $366,000 in a political action committee established to support its candidates, according to public filings.The union also had $286,000 in a fund for issues messages. That latter fund has been tapped to put out flyers with messages such as, Thank Steve Zimmer for student recovery day.

Issues advertising cannot refer to an election or an election date. Nor can it urge voters to vote a certain way. But theres a clear political benefit for the union-backed candidates.

UTLA collects an average of $9.50 a month from the 22% of its 32,000 members who have agreed to contribute, totaling about $67,000 a month from January onward, said union political director Oraiu Amoni. This money is split about 60-40 between candidate and issues messages.

And last week, union members voted to borrow $500,000 from their strike fund for such messages. Past debts to the strike fund will not be paid off until 2020, according to Amoni.

UTLA also is spending a smaller but undisclosed amount as part of a We Are Public Schools media campaign, which includes billboards with positive messages about public schools. Some feature pictures of Zimmer or Padilla.

Besides the American Federation of Teachers, other unions have kicked in for those candidates  notably the National Education Assn. with $700,000 and the California Teachers Assn. with $250,000.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

howard.blume@latimes.com

@howardblume

Editors note: The Times education coverage is supplemented by grants from a number of foundations, including the Broad Foundation. Under terms of the grants, The Times retains complete control over editorial content.

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UPDATES:

May 11, 2017, 5:45 p.m.: This article was updated to reflect the spending totals through Thursday, May 11.

This article was originally published on Wednesday, May 10.
Los Angeles school officials pulled back this week from a plan to quickly install a one-stop online student enrollment system in the nations second-largest school system.

The apparent problem was that Supt. Michelle King didnt have a solid majority on the Board of Education to approve the purchase of the necessary technology. As a result, officials quietly removed a vote on the $24-million budget item from the agenda of the Tuesday board meeting at the last minute.

The effort to match families with academic programs and draw in new enrollment has become a major early initiative of King, who took office about 15 months ago. She would like some features of the enrollment system ready by the fall. That timeline is now in doubt.

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A unified enrollment system would allow parents to research all education options for their children at one online location and then fill out a single application form. Getting to that point would take several years, although some elements, including a search tool to find descriptions of schools and programs, could have been ready in several months.

Members of the Board of Education signaled some discomfort with the plan last week, when senior staff presented the concept at a board committee meeting. Some board members may not go along if charter schools are included; others might balk if charters are excluded.

Charters are privately operated and exempt from some rules that govern traditional campuses. They also are growing in numbers and enrollment, which exacerbates financial strains on the L.A. Unified School District. For King and other backers, unified enrollment is one way to try to win students back and otherwise increase enrollment.

Last week, however, staff members working on the project could not cite an example of a district in which unified enrollment had brought students back from charter schools. They said its difficult to find a district to compare with L.A. Unified, the nations second largest. L.A. Unified has more charter schools and more charter students than any other system, although charter students still account for only about 16% of district enrollment.

For now, charters are not part of the unified enrollment proposal.

Board members last week also expressed concerns about the potential for another technology fiasco, as happened in recent years with an iPads-for-all plan and a student records system.

howard.blume@latimes.com

@howardblume
A former Yuba County sheriffs narcotics investigator was convicted this week of smuggling 220 pounds of marijuana as part of a cross-country drug ring, according to the U.S. attorneys office.

Jurors in Harrisburg, Pa., delivered the guilty verdict Wednesday in the two-day drug-trafficking and money-laundering trial of Christopher Mark Heath, who was working for the sheriffs office when he was arrested in 2015, according to the U.S. attorneys office. He has since resigned.

Federal authorities accused Heath and his co-conspirators of a scheme that allowed hundreds of pounds of marijuana to be shipped from California to Florida and Pennsylvania.

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Heath and his co-conspirators started growing marijuana in Oroville in September 2014, according to U.S. District Court documents. From there, they worked with connections at a U.S. Postal Service office in Oroville to ship the cannabis across the country without law enforcement interference, according to court documents.

The marijuana packages were sent to post office boxes that had been rented as well as to a home in Hanover, Pa.

Heath and his co-conspirators had also rented post office boxes in Bangor, Calif., where the money to purchase more marijuana was sent as well as proceeds from drug sales, according to federal authorities.

Federal officials believe about $500,000 in drug proceeds was shipped to Oroville.

The drug operation continued for more than a year until Heath and his co-conspirators finally got caught in December 2015.

Over two days in December, Heath and two men drove in separate vehicles from California to deliver marijuana to a customer in York County in Pennsylvania, federal authorities said. Carrying a loaded Glock pistol and his deputy sheriffs badge, Heath hauled 165 packages of cannabis in his Ford F-250 truck, according to court documents.

When Heath and his co-conspirators arrived in Pennsylvania to deliver the packages, federal authorities said, they were met by members of a law enforcement drug task force and arrested.

Heath is facing additional firearm charges in Butte County, federal authorities said.

He faces at least 40 years in prison for his drug convictions.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA
Its spring in Los Angeles, and bear sightings have begun.

Typically, videos and reports of bears frolicking in pools or lumbering through backyards begin to surface in mid-March, and gather steam through the beginning of May, said California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan. This year, however, heavy rains have hampered the treks of the black bears who reside in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Around Halloween, bears will find a warm place to settle for a few months. Its not cold enough in Los Angeles to hibernate, but the animals practice something called denning, in which they take long naps and surface every few weeks to amble about and eat, Hughan said.

Its also during this time that mothers give birth to their cubs and toss their 2-year-olds out to find their own homes. Those teen bears are the ones mostly seen in the springtime in residential neighborhoods, Hughan said.

They are dispersing and trying to find their own places  to hang out and live for the rest of their lives, he said. Theres not a lot of places to go that dont have houses or the 210 Freeway.

Bears versus dogs

Black bears also are pretty easily scared away by noise, such as the loud barking of dogs.

Thats exactly what happened in Bradbury on Tuesday, when a bear took a dip in the pool then wandered into the backyard, where a small dog chased it away.

(Thats not actually a photo above of a bear in California; it appears to be taken from photographer Joel Sartores Instagram, and is a photo of a Syrian brown bear at the Budapest Zoo.)

Its not surprising that a dog scared off a bear, Hughan said, adding that black bears are practically afraid of their own shadow. The 2-year-olds roaming through neighborhoods weigh 150 to 200 pounds, while a large adult bear can reach 300 pounds, he said.

No one in California has ever been killed by a black bear, Hughan said. Still, bears are dangerous and have sharp claws and teeth, and they will attack threatened.

In La Verne, a bear attacked and killed a dog in the 5400 block of Edgewood Drive on Wednesday, prompting police to remind residents of best practices when it comes to the large animals.

Police responded to a suspicious noise report at the house around 3:30 a.m. and found a large 12-year-old collie on the garage floor, according to a La Verne Police Department news release. Animal hospital staff found the injuries to be consistent with a bear attack and were unable to save the dog.

Typical teenagers

Bears, it turns out, are pretty cliche Californians: They want to nap through the rainy season and love avocados, Hughan said.

A guide for people living in bear country Make your home unattractive to bears: Keep your yard clean

Put trash cans out the morning of collection day, not the night before

Pick fruit off trees, and collect fallen fruit quickly

Dont put food or water out any animals, and keep pet food inside

Make sure your kids know theres a plan If you see a bear If the bear is outside, slowly back away, go inside and lock the door

Make loud noises, like banging pots and pans

If the bear is inside, find somewhere safe, then call 911

Dont block an exit the bear could use to leave the house

A common misconception is that bears come near houses because they want food, Hughan said. Theres plenty of food where they live, especially because of the rains. Theyre really just exploring and [getting] themselves in trouble like teenagers do.

Bears do have a sense of smell thats much better than a humans, though, and our trash is their feast, he said. So a dirty barbecue grill, a bin full of garbage or ripe fruit hanging off a tree  especially fatty avocados  will draw them in.
An 80-year-old man was in surgery Wednesday night after he was shot in Hyde Park, prompting a search for a gunman police say was in a Maserati.

The shooting occurred shortly before 8:30 p.m. near the Van Ness Recreation Center, located on 2nd Avenue near Slauson Avenue, according to Officer Sal Ramirez, an LAPD spokesman.

The man was taken to a hospital, where Ramirez said he was undergoing surgery. The extent of his wounds and the circumstances leading up to the shooting were not immediately clear.

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Ramirez said the suspected gunman fled in a white Maserati with tinted windows and black rims.

kate.mather@latimes.com

@katemather

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West Hollywood City Councilman John Duran had his deputy, Ian Owens, listed in his cellphone contacts as the hot Greek and considered him a close friend.

They went to Disneyland together. They posed for selfies, discussed their sex lives, told bawdy jokes and  the politician testified this week  showed each other photos of men they were dating.

A few times, Duran said, Owens would say to his boss, Ha, ha, ha, Duran, keep this up, and Im going to sue you for sexual harassment. But, Duran said, it was clear [Owens] was joking because Owens would continue to share his own risque images and tales.

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Owens later did accuse Duran of sexual harassment.

Durans relationship with Owens has been a major focus in the wrongful termination case of another council deputy, Michelle Rex, who says the city retaliated against her and fired her because she supported Owens claims of mistreatment. Duran, who was reelected for a fifth term in March, took the witness stand Wednesday in a downtown Los Angeles civil courtroom.

The councilmans colorful description of his relationship with Owens  which included photos of the two in revealing Halloween costumes  elicited chuckles from some of the jurors.

Rex, a former aide to Councilman John DAmico, was employed as part of a controversial system in which each part-time council member had a highly paid, full-time deputy. The council voted to eliminate the deputy system in June 2015 after a headline-grabbing scandal involving Duran and Owens.

Duran hired Owens after they met on Grindr  a dating app for gay and bisexual men  and became sexually intimate, according to Duran.

Owens was a controversial presence at City Hall. He was suspended, with pay, from his job in January 2015 amid allegations that he had placed a listening device in the office of Councilman John Heilmans deputy, Fran Solomon, whom he suspected of illegally soliciting campaign contributions for her boss on city time.

After his suspension, Owens sued the city and Duran, claiming sexual harassment and wrongful termination. They later settled for $500,000.

Rex was interviewed as part of an investigation into the conduct at City Hall and verified Owens claims, according to her attorneys. Rex said she witnessed Duran making sexually charged comments toward Owens and had shown her pictures of naked men, according to her lawsuit.

Rex alleges that the deputy program was eliminated  and she was put out of work  as retaliation for her standing up for her friend, Owens.

On the witness stand, Duran, who publicly called Owens and Rex two of the most detested employees at City Hall, described Owens as a problematic employee who regularly fought with his colleagues.

Duran said Owens was angry at Solomon for taking up a collection for a gift for a pregnant colleague that he didnt want to contribute to, citing union rules. When Owens told Duran in December 2014 that he was convinced Solomon was engaging in illegal fundraising activities from City Hall, Duran thought it was just Ians latest scheme about getting back at his colleagues and was related to the gift collection, he said.

Owens said he was a whistle-blower and that Duran ignored his claims because he had spurned his boss sexual advances.

City Manager Paul Arevalo approached Duran numerous times about Owens and suggested he be fired, Duran testified. Arevalo and Duran spoke to Owens about his behavior and gave him critical performance reviews, Duran said.

Still, Duran said, he kept his deputy because he was protective of him and felt responsible for having hired a friend, which he later admitted at a council meeting was a bad decision. He said Owens and Rex never mentioned sexual harassment until after Owens was suspended.

Rex, who had previously worked as Durans city council campaign manager and as an unpaid consultant for Durans unsuccessful 2014 run for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, reapplied for a job at City Hall after the deputy program was eliminated but was not hired, according to her attorneys.

Duran said Rex and Owens had long been scheming to get Arevalo fired and Heilman out of office. When Owens was placed on leave for allegedly spying on Solomons phone calls, Duran said, they flipped the story to be about Duran.

Ive never had an employee complain about me, ever, in 16 years, Duran said.

Testimony in the trial is expected to continue through next week.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson
City Council President Herb Wesson convened a group of community activists this week for what he billed as the first of many meetings devoted to finding ways of reforming the Los Angeles Police Department.

But Tuesday nights two-hour session provided a platform for community activists to rally opponents against Charter Amendment C, a proposal on Tuesdays ballot to rework LAPD disciplinary practices. Participants tried, without success, to persuade Wesson and his colleagues to drop their support for the measure, calling it a bad bill.

The community wants me to ask you  will you join the people  and we want your response  in encouraging folks to vote no on Charter Amendment C? said Melina Abdullah, an organizer with the activist group Black Lives Matter, seated before lawmakers.

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As she and Wesson began talking over each other, Abdullah pressed again: Im asking politely, can you answer the question?

The confrontation, which played out in front of an audience mostly opposed to Charter Amendment C, was unusual by City Hall standards. At committee meetings, those who are invited to sit at the councils front table to give their expertise usually speak in deferential ways.

Abdullah and her allies, by contrast, repeatedly informed members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Police Reform that community groups were cut out of the deliberations that led up to the announcement of a ballot measure. One panelist accused city lawmakers of failing to do their homework before sending the proposal to voters.

Wesson, who played a major role in shepherding Charter Amendment C onto the ballot, declined to answer Abdullah directly, saying he did not want to run afoul of rules barring public officials from using government resources to engage in election activity.

Instead, Wesson offered what he called a diplomatic statement on Charter Amendment C: I am not of the mind to change action that Ive done prior to the 16th  the date of next weeks election.

Wessons answer to The Times on Wednesday was more straightforward. In an email, a spokeswoman said that he definitely supports the ballot proposal. In campaign mailers promoting Charter Amendment C, Wesson has called the ballot measure critical to improving community and police relations.

Wesson had described this weeks committee meeting as the inauguration of a dialogue between city lawmakers and residents about the police. For the first meeting, he invited to the table some of L.A.s most vocal organizations on policing issues.

Those groups  which include the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the South L.A.-based Community Coalition  contend that Charter Amendment C would result in less strict punishment for misbehaving officers. Opponents portray the measure as the product of a backroom deal between the citys elected officials and the LAPDs powerful police union.

Charter Amendment C would allow LAPD disciplinary panels, known as Boards of Rights, to be composed entirely of civilians. Under the current system, the panels are made up of two high-ranking officers and one civilian.

Union leaders say Charter Amendment C would address officer complaints that the disciplinary system is unfair because two of the three members on each board report to Police Chief Charlie Beck, who recommends punishment in those misconduct cases. Supporters have also said they believe the measure will bring more civilian participation to the LAPD.

Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell, in an interview last week, disputed the idea that the measure is a backroom deal, saying voters will have the final say.

While Wesson worked to avoid explicitly mentioning Charter Amendment C at Tuesdays hearing, Councilman Paul Koretz expressed no such qualms.

Koretz told the audience that he supported Charter Amendment C and expects voters will approve it. But the councilman also voiced concern with the findings of a city report that civilians who serve on LAPD disciplinary panels have been consistently more lenient toward officers when compared with their sworn counterparts.

I supported this [ballot measure] expecting it to be a positive. And then we find out that civilians actually, in this process, were more favorable to the officers than other officers, said Koretz, whose recent reelection bid was bolstered by more than $56,000 from the police union. Thats not necessarily anybodys intent on the council.

Koretz asked the activist panel for ways of selecting civilians who are tougher on officers. Pete White, executive director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, responded by saying council members should have posed such questions before putting the plan on the ballot in January.

Melanie Ochoa, staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, told Koretz that the citys report on the leniency by civilians at the LAPD came out weeks before the council placed Charter Amendment C on the ballot. Opponents raised the issue as they tried, without success, to persuade council members not to put the measure up to a public election, she said.

The record was before you when you voted, she told the committee.

Supporters of Charter Amendment C dispute the idea that all-civilian panels would be more lenient, saying that over the six years studied by the city, civilians rarely reached a conclusion different from their sworn counterparts.

We feel the claim that civilians are more lenient is just not supported by the data, Dustin DeRollo, a union spokesman, said in a recent interview. Were talking about a very small number of cases.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidZahniser

kate.mather@latimes.com

Twitter: @katemather
Prosecutors announced Wednesday that no criminal charges will be filed against two Los Angeles police officers who shot and killed a woman in 2015  marking a familiar coda in a controversial slaying that drew a rebuke from a civilian police oversight panel.

The decision not to hold the officers criminally liable in the death of Norma Guzman came after prosecutors reviewed evidence, including video of the shooting captured on the officers body cameras.

In a memorandum made public Wednesday, prosecutors laid out the facts of the case and concluded that Los Angeles Police officers Samuel Briggs and Antonio McNeely had reason to fear for their lives and acted in lawful self-defense and defense of others.

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According to the document, on the morning of Sept. 27, 2015, a man called 911 to report a woman wielding a knife and screaming outside a barbershop on South San Pedro Street in downtown L.A. When the officers arrived at the scene and spotted Guzman, Briggs told McNeely that she looked crazy, adding an expletive. A moment later he said: Oh, shes got a knife!

The report said that Guzman quickly approached the officers while holding a knife in her right hand, gesticulating with her left hand and yelling something unintelligible. Briggs then yelled, Drop the knife! six times, the report said, but Guzman kept approaching them. The officers shot her three times and Guzman died at a hospital soon after.

Guzman, 37, reportedly had a history of mental health problems and had methamphetamine and THC in her blood at the time of the shooting, according to prosecutors.

A man working at the barbershop the day of the shooting said he heard officers yell, Stop! Stop! before he heard gunshots and another witness said he heard police yelling at Guzman to drop the knife. After the officers shot her, the witness said, he saw one of the officers handcuff Guzman and recover a long, silver-looking thing  a serrated 7-inch blade, according to the report.

A female witness insisted that Guzman didnt have a weapon at the time of the slaying, and surveillance video captured on a nearby security camera, which was released last year by an attorney for Guzmans family, is too blurry to decipher whether Guzman was holding anything.

But prosecutors argue that the body-camera footage shows clearly that Guzman was armed with a knife. Their memorandum includes an image from the video recorded on Briggs body camera, which appears to show Guzmans hand pointed downward and holding a long object.

Neither prosecutors nor law enforcement have released the body-camera video in the case. Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey previously told The Times that she has concerns about releasing video before her office decides whether to file charges. Once a decision is made, she said, it should be left to the agency involved whether to release video. The Los Angeles Police Commission, a civilian oversight panel that monitors the police force, is in the process of collecting feedback from the public to help shape a policy that will dictate when the department releases video.

Arnoldo Casillas, who is representing Guzmans mother, didnt respond to requests for comment Wednesday, but had previously called on prosecutors to charge the officers and questioned why they hadnt first turned to less-lethal devices, such as Tasers, before shooting Guzman. The victims mother, Gloria Gonzalez, spoke to reporters last year, crying as she recalled the first time she watched footage of her daughter crumpling to the ground.

I couldnt believe what was happening, she said in Spanish. I couldnt believe they had done this to her.

Local activists gathered to demand charges in the killing of Guzman  one of 21 people killed by on-duty LAPD officers in 2015  and her death helped fuel a nationwide rallying cry for law enforcement to be held criminally liable in high-profile shootings. It is extremely rare for police officers to be charged in on-duty shootings  it hasnt happened in L.A. County in more than 15 years.

In September, the Police Commission broke ranks with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and faulted one of the two officers who shot Guzman for his tactics and for his use of deadly force. In a written report to the commission last year, Beck said he believed that both officers who shot Guzman had acted within the departments use-of-force policy. But Beck criticized one of them  whose name was redacted in the report  for not carrying a Taser, which violated a policy implemented by department brass days earlier.

Still, Beck wrote, the officers tactics didnt substantially deviate from department training.

marisa.gerber@latimes.com

For more news from the Los Angeles County courts, follow me on Twitter: @marisagerber

Times staff writer Kate Mather contributed to this report.

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Egypt's Forensic Authority started Wednesday conducting an autopsy on Magdalena Zuk, a 27-year-old Polish tourist who died earlier this month in the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The autopsy is attended by Polish investigators upon the request of Warsaw, amid some Polish media reports that Zuk was a victim of rape and murder. Egyptian sources denied this claim, saying that Magdalena committed suicide in hospital due to her unstable mental state.

A statement by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that its consular service remains committed to "cooperate closely and fully" with the investigation led by the Egypt's Prosecutors Office.

"We hereby announce that the Polish Embassy in Cairo is closely following the proceedings in the case of the death of Polish national Magdalena Z," said the statement published by the Polish foreign ministry.

"We emphasise that it is the responsibility of the Egyptian authorities to clarify the circumstances of the death. For its part, the Polish side seeks full access to information about the inquiry, including medical records, which will help ascertain what caused the death of the Polish citizen," the statement added.

A far right Polish blog called Storrmfront initially suggested that Magdalena was raped or abused during her stay in the country.

CCTV footage from a private hospital in Marsa Alam aired by Polands public TVP broadcaster showed the woman acting erratically and kicking at several men identified as hospital staff.

Another video broadcast by Polsat 2 channel showed the woman lying unconscious in front of her hotel room in a brace position.

Several reports also suggested that she was suffering from psychological disorders.

The statement added that the Polish Prosecutors Office will request Egyptian authorities hand over medical documentation regarding the deceased woman and undertake several additional activities, such as the hearing of witnesses.
Stan Lockhart had seen enthusiasm for the Boy Scouts of Americas Varsity and Venturing programs diminish over the years  not just as president of the largest Scout organization in the world, but also at home as the Mormon father of a teenage boy in Provo, Utah.

His son loved Cub Scouts and enjoyed Boy Scouts, up until he was about 14. Then he changed. He wanted to do more baseball and golf, attend basketball clinics sponsored by the Utah Jazz. Scouting just wasnt making the cut for his time. Or his attention.

Lockhart, himself an Eagle Scout, offered him a deal: Become an Eagle Scout and get a drivers license upon turning 16.

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He worked liked mad to get it, Lockhart said.

Lockhart said this experience was common.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints saw this trend as well and announced Thursday it was extracting itself from the Boy Scouts of Americas Varsity and Venturing programs beginning in 2018. It would instead siphon teenagers into a Mormon-designed program offering a wider array of social, physical and spiritual activities.

The church will maintain its relationship with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts between the ages of 8 and 13, but its announcement presents another challenge for an organization that has seen its membership numbers sagging for more than a decade, with 3.2 million members in 2003 compared with 2.36 million in 2015.

Some drop in membership has been attributed to the Boy Scouts resistance to, and then embrace of, gay youth and Scout leaders. But some boys have left Scouting simply because other interests beckon.

Lockhart heads the Utah National Parks Council, the largest Boy Scouts of America organization in the world with 90,000 members. He has seen teenagers lose interest in Scouting as they became eligible for the Varsity and Venturing Scouting programs. His son left the group after getting that drivers license.

The decision, according to church officials, was unrelated to the Boy Scouts decision two years ago to allow gay and transgender people lead troops or its recent consideration of admitting girls.

This decision is not an indictment of Boy Scouts, church spokesman Douglas Andersen said. There are a lot things competing for a teenagers attention. And that means needing to be more effective in the programs we offer.

There are approximately 185,000 Mormon boys between 14 and 18 registered with the Boy Scouts in the United States and Canada, Andersen said. He said participation in the Varsity and Venturing Scouting programs is less  and most likely significantly less  than that number.

The Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts have been intertwined for decades, dating back to the nonprofit organizations beginnings about a century ago.

Although thousands of youth and leaders who participate in Venturing crews nationwide embrace and support the program, we recognize that not all programs are a perfect fit for all partners, read a statement by the Boy Scouts. The BSA values our ongoing partnership with the LDS Church in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts programming and look forward to our continued efforts to extend the benefits of Scouting to as many youth and families as possible.

Both the church and Boy Scouts said theyre committed to each other through the Cub Scouts and a letter from the First Presidency, the churchs governing body, said those boys who want to continue on and achieve Eagle Scout status should be encouraged to accomplish that goal.

But sometimes the relationship showed signs of strain.

The Boy Scouts began in 2012 allowing openly gay members to join and in 2015 permitted gay adults to lead troops. In 2017, it began accepting members who were transgender. Prior to this, the Boy Scouts had been under a barrage of criticism for its closed policies to those groups.

The Mormon Church teaches that engaging in a homosexual relationship is in opposition to the faiths teaching, and it had been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage. But it got assurances from the Boy Scouts that it would not have to compromise its positions despite the new policy the group adopted.

Mormon officials and those involved with the Boy Scouts said if Thursdays decision to end church affiliation with the Varsity and Venturing programs was related to those issues, the church could have chosen to do this sooner.

A statement on the Mormon Churchs website said the move was strictly about youth engagement, not sexual identity.

The BSA has always allowed the church to operate its programs in ways that are consistent with our standards and beliefs, and they have been very supportive, the statement read. This change is to address the needs of young men ages 14 to 18. The Church is always evaluating what is best for our youth and families, and will continue to do so.

Jim Key, a spokesman for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, said he was skeptical of the churchs assertions.

Its hard to believe that todays decision is rooted in anything but homophobia, since it was just two years ago that the church announced it would reevaluate its long-term relationship with the Boy Scouts of America after the organization ended its ban on openly gay adult leaders, Key said. Its very disappointing that the bigotry of church leaders will prevent older boys from the benefits of Scouting.

The Venturing program was officially created in 1998 and focused on a variety of activities for boys older than 14. The website says teens are encouraged to try rappelling a cliff, designing a robot or kayaking. The Varsity program centers more on sports, including soccer, swimming and camping.

Michael Clara, who led Boy Scouts in his ward in Salt Lake City, said that the structure of the programs required high levels of adult involvement, and as interest diminished among teens, age groups got lumped together to do similar activities.

He said that led to disenchantment for both the teens and adults.

A 14-year-old isnt the same as an 18-year-old, he said. But we found as the participation circles got smaller, they were all being grouped together. It just didnt work that well.

david.montero@latimes.com

Staff writer Hailey Branson-Potts contributed to this report.

ALSO

Here is how the Boy Scouts has evolved on social issues over the years

Boy Scouts to allow transgender children who identify as boys to enroll

Its not just women and minorities. Donald Trump has a Mormon problem  and heres how it could cost him

UPDATES:

3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Stan Lockhart and with additional background on the Boy Scouts.

9 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 7:10 a.m.
The White House sought to portray President Trumps firing of FBI Director James B. Comey as an act of decisiveness Wednesday, as administration allies fought back against calls for a special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian meddling in last years election.

Although the ouster came suddenly and took even the White House staff by surprise, officials who described the timeline of events said it marked the culmination of a long-running erosion of confidence between the FBI chief and the president.

He wasnt doing a good job. Very simply, Trump said in the Oval Office, where he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

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Officials acknowledged, however, that Trump was surprised by the intense reaction to Comeys dismissal.

Tuesday, in the immediate aftermath, White House aides circulated previous statements from Democrats who had criticized Comeys handling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons use of email. They appeared to hope that past Democratic unhappiness with Comey would shield Trump from criticism.

That proved a false hope.

Asked Wednesday whether Trump had anticipated the fierce Democratic response, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded, How could he have?

The Democratic barrage began Wednesday morning with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York, who asked all Democratic senators to be in their seats when the chamber convened.

Schumer called for an all-senators briefing with the attorney general and deputy attorney general  separately  so lawmakers could question their rationale and timing for recommending the firing.

The question is, why did it happen last night? Schumer said. Were those investigations getting too close to home for the president?

We need to get to the bottom of this. Nothing less is at stake than the American peoples faith in our criminal justice system and the integrity of the executive branch, he said.

Later in the day, at a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the panel, said she was incredulous about the FBI chiefs dismissal.

At a minimum, the decision to fire Comey raises questions about the appropriateness and timing of firing the person in charge of an investigation that could  I wont say would, but could  implicate the administration, Feinstein said.

To have this happen, and happen now, is beyond surprising, she said, as she called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to oversee the Russia investigation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, however, declined to criticize Trump and rejected calls for an independent investigation into Russias actions and any links to the Trump campaign.

Our Democratic colleagues [are] complaining about the removal of the FBI director that they themselves repeatedly criticized, McConnell said.

An independent investigatory commission, which some Democrats have called for, would only impede the Senate Intelligence Committees current inquiry, he said.

At the White House, officials said that the final decision to fire Comey came together quickly on Monday.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions was at the White House for a regular weekly lunch with White House Counsel Donald McGahn. Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein joined them.

When Trump heard the two were there, he invited them into the Oval Office and said he wanted to talk about Comey, whose conduct he had been angry about for days.

Trumps frustration over the FBI investigation of contacts between his associates and Russian agents had flared dramatically last week, as Comey was set to make a routine appearance before a congressional panel.

The president wrote on Twitter that Comey had been the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton, Trumps 2016 rival, because he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!

When Comey testified, Trump bristled at his remarks, according to a White House official familiar with the presidents thinking, especially Comeys comment that he was mildly nauseous about the possibility that he had influenced the outcome of the election.

The presidents anger did not abate over a long weekend at his resort in Bedminster, N.J., and when he met with Sessions and Rosenstein, he remained incensed.

White House officials said that Rosenstein had independently decided to undertake a review of Comeys status when he was confirmed to the No. 2 position at the Justice Department two weeks ago. To ignore the case he laid out would be malpractice, one White House spokesman said.

But Rosensteins concerns about Comey were very different than Trumps. He thought Comey had mishandled the investigation into Clintons emails last year, largely in ways that were unfair to her.

He objected to Comeys initial news conference last July as well as his decision in October to reveal that the FBI had reopened its examination of the emails.

Both Trump and Sessions had praised Comey for his actions in October. But now, they seized on Rosensteins concerns as a justification for what Trump wanted to do  fire the FBI chief.

Trump told Rosenstein to write up his concerns, Sanders told reporters. Rosenstein did so the next day, and within hours, Trump had ordered the dismissal.

Trump had lost confidence in Comey  and in fact had been considering dismissing Comey from the day he was elected, Sanders said.

Most importantly, the rank-and-file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director, she said.

That was at least partially contradicted by a former FBI supervisor with more than two decades in the bureau, who said the reaction among FBI agents was one of shock.

Probably for as much the way in which it was handled, the former agent said, speaking on condition of anonymity to characterize discussions hes had with former colleagues still on the job.

It was public humiliation of the guy that was wrong; they shouldnt have done that, the former agent said. Hes a nice, charming, considerate guy; most employees like him for his people skills, but his judgment was seriously skewed, the former agent said.

The reaction to Comeys firing was mixed inside the bureau, said Frank Scafidi, a 20-year veteran who ran the FBIs public affairs and congressional relations offices before retiring in 2004.

Weve got two camps, Scafidi said, a division that goes back to splits within the bureau that emerged when Bill Clinton was president.

There was such a visceral dislike for Hillary Clinton going back to when her husband was president, he said. Many of the agents who worked in the bureaus large New York field office liked Trump, he added.

Trump met Wednesday with the FBIs interim director, Andrew McCabe, as part of what the White House said was an initial effort to restore morale at the agency.

The president would be willing to personally visit with employees at their hulking downtown headquarters, Sanders said.

Whether a Trump visit would help or hinder the mood of rank-and-file bureau officials isnt clear.

Rosenstein and Sessions, meantime, were considering five candidates to serve as interim director until Trump nominates a full-time replacement, a Justice Department spokesman said.

One of the candidates is McCabe. According to the Justice Department, the others are:

* William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

* Adam Lee, FBI special agent in charge of the Richmond office.

* Michael Anderson, FBI special agent in charge of the Chicago office.

* Paul Abbate, executive assistant director for the FBIs Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

Times staff writer Brian Bennett contributed to this report.

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Normally the deputy attorney general has a low public profile, but even before he played a role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey , Rod J. Rosenstein knew his job would be different.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in March after news reports revealed he had failed to tell his Senate confirmation hearing about his meetings last year with Russias ambassador to the U.S.

Rosenstein, a veteran prosecutor who had been serving as the U.S. attorney for Maryland, was confirmed as the No. 2 by the Senate the following month.

That put him in charge of the investigation into whether current or former aides to President Trump coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign.

What is Rosensteins role in the Russia probe?

It will fall to Rosenstein to decide whether to file criminal charges against any of Trumps aides, to drop the case entirely or to hand it off to an independent prosecutor.

At his Senate confirmation hearing March 7, Rosenstein refused to say whether he would be willing to bring in a special counsel, saying he wouldnt make judgments in advance.

But he said he had no reason to doubt the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russian authorities sought to influence the presidential race. He also said he believed the Justice Department could handle the most politically complicated cases without fear of compromise.

Feinstein: Rosenstein's memo on Comey reads like a 'hastily assembled' political document 

What was his role in the Comey firing?

Rosenstein laid out the case for Comey to be removed in a three-page memo that the White House released Tuesday.

In firing Comey, Trump had said he acted on Rosensteins recommendation.

In a memorandum to Sessions, Rosenstein harshly criticized Comey for actions going back to last July, when he held a news conference to announce that the FBI would not seek charges against presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the email investigation but denounced her conduct.

That was a serious misjudgment, Rosenstein wrote, adding, "The goal of a federal criminal investigation is not to announce our thoughts at a press conference."

He went on to say that Comey had made the problems worse with his decision to disclose in late October  11 days before the election  that the FBI had reopened its investigation of Clinton after finding State Department emails on a computer belonging to former Rep. Anthony Weiner , the estranged husband of Clinton's aide Huma Abedin .

Reports have since come out that Rosenstein threatened to resign over the way the Comey dismissal was attributed in part to the memo.

Read his letter here.

What else does Rosenstein do?

As Sessions top deputy, Rosenstein is responsible for using Justice Department resources to step up enforcement of immigration laws, a Trump administration priority.

Sessions already has instructed all U.S. attorneys offices to be more aggressive about filing criminal charges against people who cross the border illegally, and he has threatened to cut off department grants to so-called sanctuary cities unless they cooperate with immigration agents.

[Sessions] picked someone who grew up in the department and knows how cases are decided, and should be decided.  Jamie Gorelick, deputy attorney general from 1994-1997

How did he become deputy attorney general?

The Senate voted overwhelmingly last month to confirm Rod J. Rosenstein as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.

Rosenstein, 52, won unusual bipartisan support on the strength of his crime-fighting efforts as the U.S. attorney for Maryland for the last 12 years. He was confirmed as deputy attorney general by a vote of 94 to 6.

Where did he get his start?

Rosenstein has spent 27 years at Justice, getting an early job as a senior aide to a deputy attorney general. As a U.S. attorney, he supervised a broad range of criminal prosecution.

He first was nominated to the post by President George W. Bush. President Obama kept him on after the Senate did not move on Bushs previous nomination of Rosenstein for a seat on a federal appeals court.

In the 1990s, Rosenstein worked on the independent counsel investigation of President Clinton and Hillary Clinton for their investments in a failed real estate company known as Whitewater.

Rosenstein was involved in separate questioning of both Clintons, who never were charged with a crime. More than a dozen others were charged and convicted, including the governor of Arkansas.

Jamie Gorelick, who served as deputy attorney general from 1994 to 1997 under the Clinton administration, praised Rosenstein at a recent ethics conference.

She said the department would remain in experienced hands. Sessions picked someone who grew up in the department and knows how cases are decided, and should be decided, she said.
The FBI investigation into whether any of President Trumps campaign aides coordinated with Russian intelligence last year appeared on uncertain ground Wednesday as the Justice Department scrambled to find an interim replacement for FBI Director James B. Comey and the White House fended off accusations that Comey was fired to cripple the expanding inquiry.

Democratic senators and congressional aides say Comey was sacked without warning days after he asked Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, for more money and personnel for the counterintelligence investigation into alleged Russian meddling  an apparent sign that the nine-month-old inquiry was gaining traction.

Comey briefed some members of Congress after his meeting with Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Russia investigation. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recused himself from the matter after news reports revealed he had failed to disclose at his Senate confirmation hearing that hed had meetings with a Russian diplomat.

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One Democratic congressional aide said Comey had asked Rosenstein for a significant increase in resources. A Justice Department spokesman confirmed the May 1 meeting but denied that Comey sought additional staff or money.

The conflicting accounts emerged amid reports that a federal grand jury in northern Virginia has issued subpoenas to associates of Michael Flynn for records relating to Flynns business dealings with Russia, a development first reported by CNN.

Flynn, a retired three-star Army general, was forced to resign as Trumps national security advisor in February after it was discovered that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russian officials.

Flynn faced another legal problem on Wednesday.

Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), the vice chairman, said the panel had issued a subpoena to Flynn to provide documents relevant to the committees investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election.

The committee requested the documents last month but Flynn declined through his lawyer to cooperate, Burr and Warner said in a statement.

The criminal grand jury and the Senate subpoenas put more pressure on the White House, which already is facing three separate but overlapping investigations in the Republican-controlled Congress.

The Senate and House intelligence committees have held hearings into Russias role in the election, and a Senate Judiciary subcommittee is focusing on Trump associates business ties with Russian officials.

Trump has retained a Washington law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, and instructed it to send a certified letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) who chairs the Judiciary subcommittee, stating that he has no connections to Russia, according to White House spokesman Sean Spicer.

The FBI has interviewed Flynn and at least one other former Trump associate. Carter Page, whom Trump identified last summer as a foreign policy consultant to his campaign, said in an email to The Times on Wednesday that FBI agents interviewed him in March.

Page, who helps run a New York investment fund and consulting firm specializing in the Russian and Central Asian oil and gas industry, said he agreed to be questioned by the FBI without a lawyer present since [hed] never done anything in Russia which is remotely close to being wrong or illegal.

He said FBI agents asked him about an intelligence assessment released by the Obama administration, which concluded that senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, wanted to undermine the U.S. democratic process, hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and help Trumps campaign.

They were upset that I didnt buy the Obama Administrations politically-motivated fake intel report, Page said.

The FBI opened its Russia investigation last July after learning that Page had business ties to officials in Putins government. The Washington Post has reported that the FBI obtained a classified warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor Pages communications out of concern he was meeting with known Russian intelligence agents.

The three congressional committees conducting Russia inquiries have promised to avoid interfering in the FBI counterintelligence investigation, but in the short term they may pose a bigger political threat to the White House. Thats because at least some of their work is public and early hearings have revealed a series of explosive details.

In March, for example, Comey first confirmed the existence of the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, a disclosure that reportedly infuriated Trump.

In testimony last week, Comey went further and said the Russia investigation was being supervised by career prosecutors in the national security division of the Justice Department and the Eastern District of Virginia.

Comey wouldnt answer whether the White House was cooperating with the inquiry.

The president has repeatedly and angrily denied that his campaign colluded with Russian intelligence agencies, and in his letter firing Comey on Tuesday, he went out of his way to say that Comey had assured him on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation.

The White House has refused to say when Comey gave those assurances or under what circumstances.

The questions may come up again Thursday when Andrew McCabe, the FBI deputy director who rose to acting director after Comeys ouster, testifies to the Senate Intelligence Committee at an open hearing on global threats. The committee has invited Comey to testify next Tuesday in a closed hearing.

The Justice Department rushed Wednesday to name an interim FBI director, and a spokesman said McCabe and four other candidates were being considered. The choice could be announced as early as Thursday.

McCabe has a powerful foe. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday he did not think McCabe should run the FBI even for the short term because of a Justice Department inspector generals inquiry into whether McCabe should have avoided involvement in his wifes political campaign in Virginia last year.

The four others under consideration for interim director are William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Adam Lee, who heads the FBIs office in Richmond, Va.; Michael Anderson, who heads the FBIs office in Chicago; and Paul Abbate, an assistant director for the FBIs cyber-response branch.

The White House is separately looking at candidates Trump could nominate for a full 10-year term as FBI director, putting his own stamp on the nations premier law enforcement agency.

While Democrats warned that Comeys abrupt ouster augured White House interference of an ongoing national security investigation, a retired FBI agent said Comeys dismissal wouldnt stop the Russia inquiry, at least in the short term.

Directors typically are briefed on the progress of investigations but dont meddle in the weeds, said the former agent, who asked not to be identified when discussing Comeys firing.

You have to remember there are six people between a case agent and a director, she said. The agents who might be investigating ties to Russia and Trump  theyre still investigating. Nothing changed in their life today.

david.cloud@latimes.com

Twitter: @davidcloudLAT

joseph.tanfani@latimes.com

Twitter: @JTanfani

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Dylann Roof, the 23-year-old white supremacist who fatally shot nine members of a Charleston, S.C., Bible study class in 2015, told the judge presiding over his death penalty trial last year that he would rather die than be labeled autistic.

Hundreds of pages of psychiatric evaluations and court transcripts unsealed Wednesday show Roofs intense anxiety that his court-appointed defense attorneys would present evidence of the developmental disability or a mental illness in a bid to spare his life.

If they say I have autism, its like they are trying to discredit me, Roof told U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel in a November pretrial hearing that was closed to the public. It discredits the reason why I did the crime.

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Your lawyers are trying to help you, Mr. Roof, Gergel told him. They are trying to marshal a defense for you.

I get that, Roof replied. But the problem is  if the price is that people think Im autistic, then its not worth it. It discredits the reason why I did the crime.

In December, Roof was found guilty of all 33 counts in the June 17, 2015, massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, including committing a hate crime against black victims, obstructing the exercise of religion and using a firearm to commit murder. He was sentenced to death in January.

On Wednesday, Gergel, who presided over the trial, rejected Roofs first appeal. The defense had argued that his case should not have been tried in federal court because the massacre took place within South Carolina and Roof did not travel out of state.

In a 31-page ruling, Gergel rejected that argument, pointing out that Roof had used the Internet to research the church and a GPS device to find it, and that his bullets, magazines and a firearm were made outside the state.

Gergel also unsealed documents that illustrate Roofs mind-set and the extent of the rift that opened up between Roof and his attorneys as they worked to develop a defense.

In a November hearing, an attorney for Roof requested an evaluation of his competency to stand trial, arguing that his client suffered from crippling anxiety or a somatic delusion.

Roof had a bowl haircut because he believed his forehead was too large. He feared he would have blushing attacks in the courtroom. He wanted to be tried in federal court because there were no TV cameras.

He is a geyser of autistic symptoms. It was masked for us by the fact that he is verbally adept.  David Bruck, attorney

He just told us his entire life is one timeline of embarrassment, said the attorney, David Bruck. He did not want the television camera trained on his face and his forehead for the public and the world to see. He could not tolerate the anxiety and distress that that causes. He is on a different planet from the rest of us.

At another November hearing, Bruck likened his client to a precocious 10-year-old child.

He is a geyser of autistic symptoms, he said. It was masked for us by the fact that he is verbally adept.

Roofs sense of reality was so distorted, Bruck told the judge, that he did not believe he would be executed even if a jury imposed the death penalty.

He firmly believes that there will be a white nationalist takeover of the United States within roughly six, seven, eight years, and when that happens, he will be pardoned, Bruck told the judge. He also believes it probable, although not certain, that he will be given a high position, such as the governorship of South Carolina.

Bruck argued that Roof had a paranoid belief system that was hindering his defense. In a letter to prosecutors, Roof had complained that his defense attorneys had used scare tactics, manipulation and outright lies to further their agenda of using a mental health defense.

The letter, Bruck told Gergel, led him to believe his client was forming an alliance in his own mind with the prosecution.

If he is incapable of cooperating with counsel, if the decisions that he is making are affected by delusions, by fixed false beliefs, if they are the product of mental illness  the mere fact that he has figured out how to sabotage his defense doesnt mean that hes competent, Bruck argued. It is an illustration of why it is so terrible to try an incompetent defendant.

Roof, however, told Gergel he believed his attorneys were mistaking his personality traits for autism  which is marked by social inability, communication problems and repetitive behaviors or obsessive interests  and acting disingenuously in trying to present him as autistic. I dont want them to say that because its not true.

Could you explain that to me, being labeled autistic is worse than death? Gergel asked Roof.

Because once youve got that label, there is no point in living anyway, Roof replied.

I dont really think they believe I have autism, Roof said. I think they are just taking whatever they can and using whatever they can, you see what Im saying? Because they dont have anything else to use.

The evidence prosecutors presented against Roof was overwhelming. Roof confessed in a taped FBI interview. Two survivors identified him as the shooter. Closed-circuit television video showed him exiting the church basement with the murder weapon in his hand.

You dont feel sorry for people that you dont identify with.  Dylann Roof

Dr. James Ballenger, a clinical psychiatrist, wrote in a January competency evaluation report that Roof felt he only had two options  death and life in prison  and that both were equally bad.

The only thing that is important to him is to protect his reputation, he wrote.

According to Ballenger, Roof said his attorneys were ideologues about the death penalty whose most important priority deviated from his interests.

While they accuse him of being self-destructive by not devoting all his efforts to opposing the death penalty, he feels they are self-destructive, the psychiatrist wrote. What they want to do would destroy the only thing that matters to him at this point, i.e. his reputation.

If he were ever out of prison, Roof told Ballenger, he would try to kill Bruck, his lead attorney.

Ballenger, who met with Roof at a detention center twice to perform court-ordered evaluations, said Roof rejected his attorneys ideas that he is autistic and does not understand social cues as ludicrous.

Roof likened his situation to being like a Palestinian in an Israeli jail after killing nine people, Ballenger wrote. He said the Palestinian would not be upset or have any regret, because he would have successfully done what he tried to do.

Roof also pushed back against the idea that his racist beliefs were paranoid, arguing that it is undeniable that the white race would become extinct. He stated that we are in fact already or soon will be the minority, Ballenger wrote.

When asked whether he felt anxious about facing the loved ones of the people he killed, Roof said he could appreciate and understand what they felt, but he didnt care, Ballenger wrote.

You dont feel sorry for people that you dont identify with, Roof told the psychiatrist.

Yet, Ballenger ultimately found Roof competent to stand trial.

Defendant is fully capable of cooperating and assisting his attorneys but is choosing not to for rational and intelligent reasons where he disagrees with his attorneys, the psychiatrist wrote.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.

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UPDATES:

10:15 a.m.: This article was updated with additional statements from Dylann Roof.

This article was originally published at 3 a.m.
Congressional Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on a bill to make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire its employees, part of an accountability effort touted by President Trump.

The deal announced early Thursday could smooth the way for final passage on an issue that had been largely stalled since the 2014 wait-time scandal at the Phoenix VA medical center. As many as 40 veterans died while waiting months for appointments as VA employees created secret waiting lists and other false data to cover up delays.

The deal on Capitol Hill followed a fresh warning from the VAs inspector general of continuing patient safety problems at another facility, the VA medical center in Washington, D.C. After uncovering serious problems there last month, the IGs rapid response team visited the facility again on Wednesday and found at least two new instances in which patients were placed at unnecessary risk, according to a letter the inspector general sent to the VA,

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In one case, inspectors found that a patient prepped for vascular surgery in an operating room, under anesthesia, had to have their surgery postponed at the last minute because the surgeon did not have a particular sterile instrument necessary to perform the surgery. The team also found surgical instruments that had color stains of unknown origin in sterile packs, according to the IGs letter. The inspector general again urged the department to take immediate action to correct problems.

The new accountability measure, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), softens portions of a bill that had passed the House in March, which Democrats criticized as unfairly harsh on workers. Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, the top Democrat and the Republican chair, respectively, on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, worked to make modifications that in part would give VA employees added time to appeal disciplinary actions.

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe, sponsor of the House measure, said he would support the revisions.

To fully reform the VA and provide our nations veterans with the quality care they were promised and deserve, we must ensure the department can efficiently dismiss employees who are not able or willing to do their jobs, Rubio told the Associated Press.

It comes after Trump last month signed an executive order to create a VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, with an aim of identifying barriers that make it difficult for the VA to fire or reassign bad managers or employees. VA Secretary David Shulkin had urged the Senate to act quickly to pass legislation.

The GOP-controlled House previously approved an accountability bill mostly along party lines. Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) urged the House to embrace alternate language from a bipartisan bill by Isakson from last year that added due process protections for workers.

The Senate bill to be introduced Thursday adopts several portions of that previous Isakson bill, including a longer appeal process than provided in the House bill  180 days vs. 45 days, though workers would not be paid during that appeal. VA executives would be held to a tougher standard than rank-and-file employees for discipline. The Senate bill also codifies into law the VA accountability office created under Trumps order, but with changes to give the head of the office more independent authority and require the office to submit regular updates to Congress.

Conservative groups praised the bill.

These new measures will disincentivize bad behavior within the VA and further protect those who bravely expose wrongdoing, said Dan Caldwell, policy director of Concerned Veterans for America, pointing to a toxic culture at the department.

The agreement comes in a week in which Senate Democrats are standing apart from Trump on a separate issue affecting veterans  the GOP bill passed by the House to repeal and replace the nations healthcare law. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) warned that the House measure would strip away explicit protections to ensure that as many as 8 million veterans who are eligible for VA care but opt to use private insurance would still receive tax credits.

Many veterans use a private insurer if they feel a VA facility is too far away, or if they dont qualify for fuller VA coverage because they have higher incomes or ailments unrelated to their time in service, said Duckworth, a combat veteran who lost her legs and partial use of her right arm during the Iraq war. A group of GOP senators is working to craft their own health bill.

Trumpcare threatens to rip healthcare out of their hands, Duckworth said at a news briefing this week. The question left is what will Senate Republicans do?

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Donald Trump poses a dilemma for Latino leaders. As a candidate, his statements sowed fear, distrust and acrimony in our community. Now that he is president, many feel he should be denounced and obstructed at every turn, along with anyone perceived to be collaborating with him.

Recently, the Los Angeles Times published a six-part editorial on the Trump presidency. Reading through that series, one might ask: How could any Latino vote for Trump? Yet a significant percentage did exactly that.

The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce did not support Trump during his campaign, but now that he is in the White House, my organization believes that for the sake of the work we do, we must have a seat at the table, we must continue to engage the White House and advocate for our community.

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The USHCC works diligently to promote the economic interests of 4.2 million Latino-owned businesses in the United States. We provide scholarships and training to educate local leaders and entrepreneurs. We also connect small businesses with the large corporations that provide them with the contracts  and opportunities  to grow. The needs of these businesses remain the same, regardless of who is in the White House.

The Latino community is not monolithic or homogeneous, and a diversity of opinions and vigorous debate are natural and healthy.

So we at the USHCC had a choice: Work with the current administration to promote the economic well-being of our constituency, or cut off communication and stand in protest on the outside, letting the entrepreneurial Latino community struggle without doing all we could to help.

Despite our disagreements with the president, it was an easy choice to make. We refuse to stand on the sidelines and let others dictate the terms for Latino businesses.

Some have labeled our decision a betrayal, but we believe such divisiveness does real damage to the Latino community by promoting disunity.

These are challenging times, and yet Latinos can tell many success stories. We believe our members are Americas business future. We are the most entrepreneurial group in the nation. Latinos start new businesses at three times the rate of the general populace. We should be united in promoting our needs and accomplishments in Washington.

A few weeks ago, the USHCC secured a meeting at the White House among four prominent Latina entrepreneurs and Trump. This was an important win for our group  discussing the concerns of business ownership directly with the president of the United States. The women got a chance to make their voices heard and their needs clear, and the president got a chance to see our communitys true face.

Trumps speeches and social media postings have prompted many to label him anti-Latino, and yet we discovered that he, members of his Cabinet, and members of his family have been nothing but supportive. Dont forget, Trump was elected in part because he is a businessman and entrepreneur who understands the challenges faced by small businesses, including Latino business owners. We believe this is why he is receptive to our concerns and our agenda.

The Latino community is not monolithic or homogeneous, and a diversity of opinions and vigorous debate are natural and healthy. But those who sow dissent have a choice: Promote new ideas and real solutions for the issues that affect us directly, or stir controversy to gain a few more Internet clicks. The attacks appear to be made without thought to the broader consequences. I ask those who wish to throw stones: What are you doing to make things better? What have you done to improve the lives of fellow Latinos and fellow Americans?

For the moment, we cant change whos in the White House, but we can support each other as we struggle to create opportunities for our membership, for all Latinos and the nation.

Javier Palomarez is president and chief executive of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, headquartered in Washington. He is a member of the presidents National Diversity Coalition.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook.

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To the editor: Aaron Renn is correct that federal funds should go mainly toward maintaining existing rail transit lines instead of building new ones. He is wrong, however, to say that the rail network in Los Angeles County should not be expanded. (The U.S. doesnt need new rail. We need to fix the transit lines we already have, Opinion, May 8)

I disagree with his assessment that urban rail works best only in cities with large central business districts. Los Angeles has some of the greatest density in the nation served by light rail and subway networks. These lines service single-family home neighborhoods such as Pasadena, West L.A., Crenshaw, Hollywood and other communities.

The Los Angeles region comprises numerous business centers, not just a single major downtown area. I live near the business district around LAX and take buses and trains to the business districts of Santa Monica, downtown Los Angeles, Wilshire and El Segundo.

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Matthew Hetz, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Renn notes that The Times places the cost of Los Angeles rail projects at $9 billion.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority conceals many costs of major capital projects in general overhead rather than charging costs to specific projects. Thanks to this and other nonstandard accounting practices, it is difficult to determine exactly what Metro has spent on rail, but a meaningful estimate is possible.

Accounting for hidden costs, expressing past costs in current-year dollars, and accounting for current-year operating costs, debt service and capital replacement, Metros cumulative rail costs are more than $25 billion for all lines operating and currently in construction.

James E. Moore II, Los Angeles

The writer is director of USCs transportation engineering program.

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Sen. Kamala Harris says she hasnt considered running for president By Phil Willon U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Despite swirling speculation, Californias U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris said shes not giving any consideration to running for president in 2020. Harris was appearing at the annual Code Conference hosted by the tech news site Recode in Rancho Palos Verdes on Wednesday night when site co-founder Kara Swisher asked if she had eyes on the White House. Im not giving that any consideration. Ive got to stay focused, said Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in November after serving as Californias attorney general. After she won the seat vacated by former Sen. Barbara Boxer, Harris quickly gained a reputation as a potential presidential candidate in 2020. Harris took questions from Swisher alongside Laurene Powell Jobs, a philanthropist and the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Though she brushed off the presidential rumors, Harris urged Democrats to try harder to make convincing arguments on issues such as climate change instead of just criticizing those who disagree with them. She told the audience at the posh Terranea Resort where the conference is being held that it would be a mistake to dismiss the concerns of Americans who supported Trump in the November election. She said the issues that concern them  good jobs and the future of their families  are the concerns of all working-class Americans. There is a healthy number of people in our country who are feeling displaced, rightly, Harris said. I think we have to deal with that. Still, Harris dished out plenty of jabs at the Trump administration. She criticized Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions for resuscitating the war on drugs and told him to leave Grandmas medical marijuana alone. Harris also criticized the Trump administrations more hard-line immigration policies, and said she was concerned about allegations of collusion between Trumps campaign and the Russian government. These are serious times. These are not issues we can just sit around with a glass of Chardonnay debating and philosophizing about, Harris said. The decisions that are being made right now are impacting real human beings. Watch the entire interview: Facebook

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Trump wouldnt release his tax returns, so lawmakers move to make it mandatory for Californias primary By John Myers (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Legislation to require presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns in order to gain a spot on Californias presidential primary ballot won passage in the state Senate on Wednesday, but only after a tense debate that largely centered on President Trump. Senate Bill 149 was approved on a strict party-line vote, 27-13. The bill now moves to the state Assembly, and was one of the last bills debated during a marathon session at the state Capitol to consider bills before a Friday deadline for action. The bill would require presidential candidates to file copies of their income tax returns with state elections officials for the five most recent taxable years. Failure to do so would mean their name wouldnt appear on Californias presidential primary ballot. The legislation was introduced in December, in the wake of Trumps refusal to disclose his tax returns during the 2016 campaign. The president has continued to reject calls for the information. Hes shaping international policy which could enrich himself, and the American public has no way to know, state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said of Trump during Wednesday nights floor debate. This legislation will help make transparency great again. Republicans denounced the bill as another in a long line of efforts by Democrats in the Legislature to lash out at the election of Trump and the defeat of Hillary Clinton. I get it that some people hate Trump, state Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) said. Weve got to move ahead. Weve got to get over it. Tensions flared after Anderson tried to amend the bill on the floor  first, to require statewide and legislative candidates to also release their tax returns, and then to require a birth certificate from candidates who want access to the states primary ballot. Both were rejected by Democrats. A legislative analysis of SB 149 said some legal scholars believe the plan, which would be the first of its kind in the nation, would pass muster with the U.S. Constitution. Nonetheless, the analysis concluded that it would probably be challenged in court if signed into law. Facebook

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California Senate moves forward with bill that would overhaul Los Angeles County MTA By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) proposed to revamp the Los Angeles County MTA. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would expand and reshape the agency that oversees mass transit in Los Angeles County. Opponents of the measure include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the city and county of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. The bill by Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) was sent to the Assembly for consideration after squeaking by with a 22-11 vote in the Senate. The measure would expand the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board from 12 to 15 members. It would also reduce the number of county supervisors on the board from five to two, remove the appointment of two public members and increase Los Angeles City Council member appointments by the mayor from two to five. This will allow for proportional and fair representation, Mendoza told his colleagues, adding that the board currently is made up of haves and have-nots fighting to get their share. Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) opposed the measure because he said he saw it as Sacramento meddling in local policymaking. But Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Palmdale) supported SB 268. Too much power is concentrated in too few people, he said of the current board. Facebook

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Single-payer healthcare is popular with Californians  unless it raises their taxes By John Myers (Rich Pedoncelli / Associated Press) Almost two of every three Californians in a new statewide poll said they like the idea of a single-payer, government healthcare system, but far fewer support the idea if it includes a tax increase. The poll released Wednesday night by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 65% of adults surveyed support the creation of a single-payer state healthcare program to cover all of the states residents, and 56% of likely voters approved of the idea. Opinion was sharply divided between Democrats (75% support) and Republicans (66% oppose) who were surveyed. The single-payer proposal under consideration in the state Capitol, Senate Bill 562, assumes at least $50 billion in new taxes to fund the healthcare system. Asked about taxes, support drops to 42% of the adults surveyed and 43% of likely voters. While a majority of Democrats in the PPIC poll continued to support the idea if it means more taxes, support drops substantially among unaffiliated independent voters. The state Senate is expected to consider the single-payer bill before the end of the week. A legislative analysis put the estimated total cost of a new healthcare system that covers all Californians at $400 billion, while an analysis released on Wednesday by supporters provided a $331-billion estimate. The pending legislation by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) does not identify what taxes would be raised but makes the enactment of the plan contingent on a full funding proposal. Facebook

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Knowingly exposing others to HIV should no longer be a felony, state Senate says By Patrick McGreevy The Senate voted to no longer make it a felony for HIV-positive people to donate blood or semen without telling the blood bank they are infected. ( (Toby Talbot / Associated Press)) The state Senate on Wednesday voted to no longer make it a felony for someone infected with HIV to knowingly expose others to the disease by having unprotected sex without telling his or her partner about the infection. The crime would be downgraded to a misdemeanor, and the bill would also apply to people who donate blood or semen without telling the blood or semen bank that they have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, or have tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the precursor to AIDS. The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, was introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who said it is unfair to make HIV/AIDS the only communicable disease given such harsh treatment by prosecutors. These laws are irrational and discriminatory, Wiener told the Senate, adding that the current felony status is creating an incentive not to be tested, because if you dont know your status you cant be guilty of a felony. The measure was widely opposed by Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of San Diego. If you intentionally transmit something that is fundamentally life-threatening to the victim, you should be charged and go to jail, he said. Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Murrieta) said, My friends, its not a gay issue. Its a public health issue. We shouldnt allow someone to play Russian roulette with other peoples lives. Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a physician, voted for the bill and argued that it undermines public health to imprison those with HIV under the current law. Facebook

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Hillary Clinton: I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win By Seema Mehta Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that she has no plans to run for office again, but she plans to remain involved in civic life, particularly helping the Democrats efforts to regain control of the House in 2018. Im not going anywhere, Clinton said at the annual Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes. I have a big stake in what happens in this country. I am very unbowed and unbroken about what happened because I dont want it to happen to anybody else. I dont want it to happen to the values and the institutions I care about in America. And I think were at a really pivotal point, she said. And therefore Im going to keep writing and keep talking and keep supporting people who are on the front lines of the resistance. The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee said she woke up on election day expecting to win. Clinton told the gathering that she was responsible for every decision the campaign made, though she did not believe they caused her surprise loss. She attributed that to several things, including alleged Russian interference in the election and weaponizing stolen information and fake news. She also pointed a finger at the Democrats for falling behind the GOP in using technology and data to target voters, the media for covering her e-mail controversy like it was Pearl Harbor, misogyny and the high expectations many had for her candidacy. I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win, she said, adding that she always expected the race to be close. Trump responded on Twitter, saying that Clinton still refused to accept that she lost because she was a terrible candidate. Crooked Hillary Clinton now blames everybody but herself, refuses to say she was a terrible candidate. Hits Facebook & even Dems & DNC.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017 Clinton, who has increasingly jabbed President Trump, including at last weeks commencement address at Wellesley College, blasted his reported plan to pull out of the Paris climate accord as really stupid because of the economic implications. She described his personality as impulsive and reactive. And she joked about his peculiar overnight tweet about constant negative press covfefe, saying she thought it was a hidden message to the Russians to laughter from the audience. Going forward, Clinton said that she believes that it was realistic for Democrats to retake the House in 2018, notably by focusing on Republican congressional districts she won  including seven in California. She sounded less optimistic about the Senate. Updated at 6:06 p.m.: This post was updated to add President Trumps response to Clintons remarks. This post was first published at 5:41 p.m. Facebook

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California lawmakers take aim again at establishing statewide rules for drones By Jazmine Ulloa A state senator from Santa Barbara is taking another shot at establishing statewide regulations for the use of drones after the budding industry thwarted her efforts to pass similar legislation last year. Senate Bill 347, introduced by Democratic Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, would limit disruptive drone use near private property and prohibit the weaponization and reckless operation of the unmanned aerial vehicles. It also would require pilots to obtain insurance and to license, register and mark the aircrafts per federal regulations. The bill moved out of the Senate on Wednesday with a 26-13 vote. It heads to the Assembly for consideration. Speaking on the Senate floor, Jackson urged support for what she called comprehensive drone legislation, saying California needs common-sense rules that provide certainty for everyone and keep the public safe. Washington is not going to be acting on this issue very soon, she said, citing a federal appeals court decision that this month found the Federal Aviation Administration doesnt have the authority to regulate the use of drones by hobbyists. Debate has raged in recent years over just where federal authority begins and ends. And Jacksons attempts at drone legislation last year were blocked amid opposition from lobbyists who argued against creating a patchwork of laws that varied by state. Under Jacksons new proposal, violations would be punishable by a fine of up to $250 or a misdemeanor, and the California Department of Transportation would be tasked with developing liability insurance requirements. It has the support of the California State Assn. of Counties, the League of California Cities and the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Assn, but it once again faces tough industry opposition. Facebook

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School districts would be prohibited from shaming students whose parents havent paid for school lunches By Patrick McGreevy Students eat lunch at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Los Angeles. (Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times) Students whose parents have not kept their school lunch bills current would no longer go through shaming that includes marking their hand so they cannot be served, under legislation approved Wednesday by the state Senate. The measure by Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) would require school districts to ensure that any student whose parent has unpaid school meal fees is not treated differently, or delayed or denied a nutritiously adequate meal. Hertzberg introduced the legislation after hearing of school districts taking lunch trays from students whose accounts were not current and throwing the food in the trash, embarrassing the students in front of their friends. No more shaming, Herzberg told his colleagues. Dont visit the failures of the parents on their kids. The measure passed on a 39-0 vote and was sent to the Assembly for consideration. Facebook

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Emilio Huerta, undaunted by 2016 loss, is back to challenge Rep. David Valadao By Sarah D. Wire (Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times) Bakersfield lawyer Emilio Huerta came more than 13 percentage points short of winning Californias 21st Congressional District seat in 2016, but he plans to try again in 2018. Huerta, 59, blames his loss to Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) on inexperience and a rash of negative ads at the end of the campaign. We learned a lot in the last campaign. As a first-time candidate there was certainly a lot to learn and I think we did a good job, Huerta said Wednesday. The son of labor icon Dolores Huerta, he has worked for the United Farm Workers union  which his mother co-founded  throughout the Central Valley district. Huerta said Valadaos vote for the Republican healthcare plan shows hes ignoring Valley residents needs because it would end the expansion of the MediCal program, which many of the districts residents use for healthcare. Its going to be a pretty significant issue, he said. He is the first Democrat to announce a bid for the seat. Democrats are heartened by the fact that, while Valadao won the seat with 56.74% of the vote, the district has continued to trend Democratic in voter registration and chose Hillary Clinton for president with 54.72% of the vote. That tells me that there were die-hard Democrats, committed Democrats that vote, Democrats that were not convinced that my campaign should be supported and I think a lot of that has to do with me being a first-time candidate, Huerta said. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made the seat a target for 2018. The majority-Latino district includes parts of Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown and Democrats say Trump is going backwards if he pulls out of Paris climate pact By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown warned Wednesday that a decision by President Trump to withdraw the United States from a 2015 global climate change agreement could be tragic, and vowed to keep Californias ambitious efforts in place and on track. Here we are, in 2017, going backwards, Brown said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. It cannot stand, its not right and California will do everything it can to not only stay the course, but to build more support  in other states, in other provinces, in other countries. The governor also criticized efforts to the president to dismantle climate change initiatives launched by former President Barack Obama. Trump is going against science. Hes going against reality, the governor said. We cant stand by and give aid and comfort to that. News that the president had either made the decision to pull the country out of the Paris Accord on climate change or was on the verge of doing so drew swift condemnation from California leaders. Brown and other top lawmakers attended the talks in late 2015 that resulted in the international agreement, and insisted on Wednesday that it would not hurt the states own efforts to sharply curtail greenhouse gas emissions. As with so many other matters, from human rights to healthcare, the Trump administration has continued to surrender our nations longstanding role as a global leader, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said. Others pointed out that a decision to remove the United States from the agreement would leave it in rare company among other nations. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that such a decision by Trump would be more than just dumb + destructive. Brown, who leaves Friday for a weeklong visit to China to encourage more climate-change cooperation, predicted any decision to step away would suggest the countrys priorities arent clear. It sends a very muddled message, the governor said during an interview in his state Capitol office. Is the message [that] we like dirty cars and gas guzzlers? And were going to have a coal future? That cant happen. And Brown again suggested that Californias experience on the issue offers a road map for others. If we want to retain and enhance manufacturing, we have to do what California is doing, in clean energy and clean technology, he said. Thats the future of jobs, the future of sustainability. And we better get on board. And California will be right there with the best of them. Facebook

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This Orange County congressmans immigration town hall turned chaotic and led to three arrests By Sarah D. Wire The majority of calls into Rep. Lou Correas Orange County congressional office are about immigration worries and what the Trump administrations enforcement policies mean for Correas many Latino constituents. Theres a lot of fear in my district, he said. So the freshman Democrat has held seven town halls, all focused on immigration and explaining immigrants rights. Theyve been peaceful, with representatives from groups such as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and the Mexican Consulate invited to help Correa answer questions. But as the crowd of about 100 people gathered at Santa Anas Delhi Center on Tuesday evening, Correa knew this time would be different. We had some people there, probably a dozen of them, that immediately had signs that were not complimentary to yours truly, he said. Two women arguing about immigration issues had already gotten into an altercation outside the town hall. They were cited for assault and battery, and barred by police from going inside. Correa told the crowd inside he would give a short presentation about immigration policy coming out of Washington and then have a question-and-answer session. About a dozen people were having none of it. Some of the most tense moments came when Correa started talking about green card holders who served in the U.S. military and have since been deported. Maam, Im trying to be courteous here, he said as a woman kept speaking over him. As soon as I started speaking, it became very clear they were not going to let me speak, Correa said Wednesday. They just got louder and louder. Video of the town hall posted on social media shows people in the crowd yelling Americans first and Illegals have no rights. Correa repeatedly asks them to let him speak. Are you guys going to cooperate, or am I going to have to ask you to leave? he said. About 15 minutes in, as some in the crowd continued to shout and their attention turned to berating a group of counter-protesters, Correa declared the meeting over. A handful of people circled around Correa as he tried to leave, yelling Shame, shame and You guys all want welfare. One womans voice can be heard repeatedly yelling Coward! Police emptied the room amid chants of USA. The crowd streamed into the parking lot, where confrontations quickly started between supporters of President Trump and others who appeared to be focused on Native American rights. Videos posted on social media show men shouting at one another, their faces so close their noses are practically touching. Police officers kept trying to separate the groups. (Warning: The video below includes language that some readers might find offensive.) Santa Ana Police Department spokesman Anthony Bertagna said a man struck a Trump supporter on the head with a pole bearing an anti-fascism flag. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Bertagna said. The man was brought to police headquarters, and a group of about 10 people followed along to protest, he said. Shortly after, the town hall peacefully resumed in a different room with a much smaller crowd, Correa said. Several California members of Congress have held similar immigration-specific town halls or workshops in the last few months as questions swirl about changes to federal immigration policies and enforcement. The purpose of the town halls is to let people know how to follow the law, let them know their legal rights and responsibilities, Correa said. Protesters have characterized it as teaching people who are in the country illegally how to avoid deportation and get federal benefits. Facebook

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California plan for 100% renewable energy by 2045 clears key hurdle By Liam Dillon California will receive all of its power from renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, by 2045 under legislation that passed the state Senate on Wednesday. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) touted his bill, Senate Bill 100, as the most ambitious program in the world. Clean energy is the future, De Leon said. SB 100 ensures that California leads into the future. The measure would also speed up the states goal of reaching 50% renewable energy, changing the deadline from 2030 to 2026. SB 100 passed over objections from Republican senators. Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) criticized the measure as government getting ahead of technological capacity. What if we cant make that mandate that were putting into law today? Stone said. What its going to do is drive up electricity bills for our businesses. De Leons bill now moves to the Assembly. Facebook

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A new proposal on Californias cap-and-trade program emerges as vote is delayed By Chris Megerian Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced), left. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A coalition of business-friendly Democrats is detailing their own ideas for cap and trade, a centerpiece of Californias fight against global warming, the latest bid in a crowded field of efforts to extend the program. Cap and trade requires polluting companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions, and lawmakers have been considering a push from Gov. Jerry Brown to extend the program beyond 2020. The new plan would force the program to sunset in 2025, earlier than previous proposals from other lawmakers. It would also direct revenue from the program toward improving air quality and helping agricultural and trucking companies lower their emissions by replacing aging equipment. The plan is also aimed at keeping costs down for industries regulated by cap and trade, allowing them to support green projects known as offsets instead of reducing their own emissions. California must continue to lead the world by implementing a strong climate policy that ensures both a healthy environment for future Californians and growth in all sectors of our economy, Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) said in a statement. The pro-business Democrats plan is the fourth such effort announced by various factions within the states ruling Democratic Party this year with two others emerging from the Assembly and one from the Senate. The plans offer varying degrees of changes to the existing program, either to prioritize pollution reductions in disadvantaged communities or eliminate offsets. Republican lawmakers also have said they want to be part of the cap-and-trade debate. Brown has pushed for a two-thirds supermajority vote of the Legislature to extend the program by the state budget deadline next month. But Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said at a Wednesday news conference that that wasnt going to happen. Cap-and-trade is a very complex issue, De Leon said. Its very arcane. We want to make sure we get it right. De Leon said he hoped for a deal by the end of the year. Read More Facebook

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Senate fails to back bill to delay the Aliso Canyon reopening, but lawmaker will try again Facebook

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California state Senate advances bill to ban smoking and use of e-cigarettes in government housing By Patrick McGreevy Californians would no longer be able to use tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, in public housing and within 25 of those buildings under a measure approved Tuesday by the state Assembly. Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) said the measure builds on a smoking ban approved last year for federal public housing projects by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to applying the smoking ban to state housing, expansion to include e-cigarettes makes sure the law cover new technology in tobacco use. The bill takes effect by July 30, 2018. Wood said tobacco-related diseases cost taxpayers significant funds each year. This bill will save money but will more importantly save lives, Wood told his colleagues before the vote. The measure is opposed by the Western Center on Law and Poverty, which worries it will lead to more evictions. Facebook

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Californians would not be able to buy more than one rifle a month under bill approved by state senators By Patrick McGreevy Terry McGuire, owner of Get Loaded in Grand Terrace, shows a customer a Cobalt Kinetics BAMF rifle about a week after the 2015 shooting rampage in nearby San Bernardino. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) Californians would be prohibited from buying more than one firearm in any 30-day period under a measure approved Tuesday by the Senate to reduce straw purchasing and circumvention of gun laws. California already bars people from buying more than one handgun a month. The bill by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) expands the limit to also cover long guns, including rifles and shotguns. The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, seeks to address concerns that some people buy large quantities of guns and then sell them on the underground market to criminals and others not eligible to own guns. There is no need or reason why a person would need to purchase more than one gun a month, Portantino said during the floor debate. Republicans, including Jeff Stone of Murrieta, opposed the legislation. This is yet another example of the government trying to infringe on the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, Stone said. Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Chico) said he has seen no proof that past gun-control measures approved by the state have made the state safer. Its more of the same that will not decrease violent crime, Nielsen said. Facebook

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California state senators want to stop the public from smoking at California beaches and parks By Patrick McGreevy Californians would be barred from smoking or using electronic cigarettes in state parks and at beaches under a bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate. Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Concord) said his bill would address the health problems caused by smoking but also the harm done to the environment by discarded cigarette butts and the fire danger posed by the practice. Cigarette butts contain more than 150 toxic chemicals and although small in size, have a huge negative impact on the environment and the animals that live in them, Glazer told his colleagues. A legislative analysis said the bill does not address the concerns raised by Gov. Jerry Brown when he vetoed a similar bill last year. The veto message read, in part, The complete prohibition in all parks and beaches is too broad. A more measured  and less punitive  approach might be warranted. Facebook

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School day wouldnt begin before 8:30 a.m. in California under bill that clears the state Senate By John Myers (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) California teenagers wouldnt be required to start their school day before 8:30 am under a bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate. The legislation by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) would not fully take effect until 2020, and sparked a lively floor debate over the science on the sleep patterns of middle and high school students, and whether they simply need to go to bed earlier. I expect this would only dispose them to stay up later, said state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber). Another Republican lawmaker, Sen. Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), said students need to learn what its like in the workforce. Job preparation is what schooling is all about, Fuller said. Unless youre a musician or someone who works nights, you probably did not start in the later morning. Opponents also said the later start time could affect collective bargaining agreements with teachers and other school employees. Supporters, however, pointed to a recommendation for later start times from the American Academy of Pediatrics. A University of Minnesota study linked school start times to sleep deprivation and the rate of car crashes among teenage drivers. The morning sleep time is the most valuable for student health, said Portantino. Their test scores go up, their attendance goes up, their graduation rates go up. The bill would allow rural school districts to obtain a waiver if they couldnt make the change. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) ended the debate with a simple request of the senators on behalf of teenage students. "Lets just let them sleep in a little bit, he said with a smile. Facebook

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More transparency proposed for prescription drug price increases under bill passed by California Senate By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), shown speaking in March, won Senate approval Tuesday on a bill that would require more transparency on drug prices. (Melanie Mason / Los Angeles Times) Alarmed by skyrocketing prices for some prescription drugs, the California Senate on Tuesday approved a measure aimed at increasing pressure to hold down costs to consumers by requiring more public reporting of price hikes. The lawmakers approved a bill that would require drug manufacturers to notify health plans and state purchasers such as the prison department of increases in the wholesale cost of drugs in writing at least 90 days before the new costs were to take effect. The measure also requires that health plans and insurers notify state regulators of pricing information for the most costly drugs. Were not saying that they cant raise the price. Were just saying notify us, Hernandez said during the floor debate. And if [the price] goes up a significant amount, we should be able to question why. The measure passed by a 26-10 vote with some Republicans, including Sen. Ted Gaines of El Dorado Hills, opposed. Gaines said the pharmaceutical industrys pricing of drugs helps it pay for development of new medications. It funds their research, Gaines said during the debate. The measure next goes to the Assembly, where a similar bill last year failed to win passage. Hernandez said more opponents are talking to him this year about possible compromises, although the bill is opposed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Hernandez said the bill is needed, adding that current regulations allow pharmaceutical companies to reap obscene profits at the expense of the entire healthcare system. Facebook

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California Senate advances bill to make pot use in cars an infraction By Patrick McGreevy San Bruno police officers stop cars at a DUI checkpoint. State officials are proposing to make it an infraction to use marijuana in motor vehicles. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Just months after state voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana, the state Senate on Tuesday voted to prohibit its use in automobiles because of concerns over drugged driving. A bill by Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) makes it an infraction for drivers and passengers to use marijuana in motor vehicles. Stiffer penalties already exist for motorists found to be driving while impaired by drugs. California voters legalized recreational use of marijuana in November although the state does not plan to begin issuing licenses for its legal sale until January. In Washington state, which previously legalized pot, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the number of drivers who had recently used marijuana before fatal accidents doubled from 2013 to 2014, Hill told his colleagues. Washington serves as an eye-opening case study for what other states may experience with road safety after legalizing the drug, Hill told his colleagues before the unanimous vote to approve the measure and send it to the Assembly for consideration. Facebook

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California lawmakers want to give parents at smaller companies 12 weeks of protected family leave By Jazmine Ulloa State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara). (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California lawmakers are once again seeking to expand the states paid family leave program to smaller businesses after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure last year. SB 63, authored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), on Tuesday moved out of the state Senate with a 25-13 vote. It now heads to the Assembly for consideration. The legislation, a priority bill for the California Legislative Womens Caucus, would allow parents at companies with 20 to 49 employees to take 12 weeks of leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child  without fear of losing their jobs. Under the current state law, only workers at businesses with 50 or more workers can take advantage of program. On the Senate floor Tuesday, the debate on the issue echoed that of last year. Republican lawmakers argued the bill would kill jobs and hurt small businesses already struggling in California. Those in favor argued progressive family leave policies attracted a strong and healthy workforce. Jackson said her bill would impact only 6.3% of California companies, while helping 16% of its workforce, a population of 2.7 million residents across the state. With so many women in the workforce than ever before, and with so many struggling, two-income families, this is a critical moment in time, she said. Facebook

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Kimberly Ellis files formal challenge over result of state Democratic Party chairperson election By Seema Mehta (Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) The candidate who narrowly lost the race to be the next leader of the California Democratic Party on Tuesday filed a formal challenge of the election result. Kimberly Ellis campaign, which was already in the process of reviewing the ballots cast during the state partys convention two weekends ago, said they were filing the challenge to meet a requirement in the party bylaws that such an action must be taken within seven days of the contested act. Our review process is ongoing. Its critical that all formal processes outlined by the CDPs bylaws are followed at this time so that there can be no concern about raising issues in the manner prescribed by our party, said Hilary Crosby, immediate past controller for the state party and an Ellis supporter. Ellis campaign said challenges were also being filed in races for a vice chair, secretary and multiple regional directors. Chris Masami Myers, state party executive director, acknowledged receiving the challenges and said in a statement that they would be reviewed in accordance with the standard practices described in the bylaws. The partys compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former Chairman John Burtons tenure, will review the evidence and take oral or written testimony before issuing a ruling in mid- to late June. The state party chair race was the most heated and contentious. Longtime party leader Eric Bauman entered the race with advantages, but Ellis made the contest competitive. In the election, held this month at the state party convention in Sacramento, Bauman beat Ellis by just over 60 votes. But amid allegations levied by her supporters of ballot-box stuffing and ripped-up ballots, she refused to concede the race. Her campaign has been reviewing individual ballots for a week. Bauman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Updated at 4:57 p.m.: This post was updated to add additional information about how the review will be conducted. Updated at 3:35 p.m.: This post was updated to add a comment from a state party official. This post was originally published at 2:37 p.m. Facebook

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Darrell Issa gets on his office roof to take a picture of protesters. A mild hubbub ensues By Sarah D. Wire Yes, this is really @DarrellIssa on the roof of his district office building. Too afraid to come speak with assembled constituents below. pic.twitter.com/wCYRjO8Ev8  Mike Levin (@MikeLevinCA) May 30, 2017 It began when one of Rep. Darrell Issas 2018 opponents, Mike Levin, posted an image on Twitter, saying the Vista congressman was hiding on his office roof from hundreds of protesters on the street below. The photo of Issa standing on the roof ricocheted around Twitter, with many comparing it to a scene from the popular television show The Office, and left-leaning media outlets quickly publishing headlines like Darrell Issa Appears to Flee to Building Roof to Avoid Protesters. Like most things, what happened at Issas office appears to have been a bit more nuanced. Issa soon tweeted that he had spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic!. Multiple images, including one from Levins account and from Issas account, show the congressman on the street with protesters. Spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic! pic.twitter.com/K2CFdenOIj  Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) May 30, 2017 I just received an unprompted call from @DarrellIssa who said he tried, unsuccessfully to speak with protesters outside his district office.  Joshua Stewart (@jptstewart) May 30, 2017 .@DarrellIssa said the protesters wouldnt' speak with him, so he went up to the roof and took pictures.  Joshua Stewart (@jptstewart) May 30, 2017 The protests occur weekly outside Issas Vista district office, and the congressman has come out to speak with the group at least twice since President Trumps inauguration. Issa narrowly won reelection in 2016 over a novice opponent, and Democrats are targeting his seat in 2018. Issas staff said he tried to speak with all the protesters using their sound system, but was rebuffed. Rally organizer Ellen Montanari said she decided not to hand over the protesters microphone so Issa could take questions from the crowd because he refused to shake her hand before the protest began. He refused to do that, and he said, Step away, you are a protester. And I said I am a constituent,  Montanari said. She said he also made disparaging remarks about the protesters and the signs they carry. Issas spokesman, Calvin Moore, said Montanari cant simultaneously organize people to stand outside our office with Where is Darrell? signs and feign outrage how he wont answer her questions  and then deny him the ability to answer his constituents questions, he said. Facebook

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State Senate Democrats pass bills designed to protect against Trumps possible changes Facebook

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Rep. Adam Schiff says alleged Russian meddling in election was an effort to destroy American democracy By Seema Mehta U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, left, discusses Russias threat to liberal democracies around the world at discussion discussion hosted by Erwin Chemerinsky at UCI. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday that the alleged Russian meddling in last years presidential election was about far more than favoring one candidate over another. He said it was an effort to undermine the foundation of American democracy in order to prop up an authoritarian regime in Moscow. Now if you look at this as just a one-off intervention, you might be inclined to dismiss the greater significance of it, or if you listen to the president, you might be inclined to dismiss this as simply efforts to relitigate a lost election, Schiff told several hundred people at UC Irvine. But the significance is really far greater. Quite separate and apart from the desire of the Russians to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton was a more fundamental objective, and that was really to tear down at our democracy. Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating allegations of Russian intervention in the presidential election, including the leaking of hacked Democratic emails and contacts between Trump associates and Russians. Trump has declared the investigation the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history on Twitter. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the former chairman of the committee, recently told hundreds of Republicans at a fundraiser that the investigation is about nothing more than Democrats trying to justify Clintons loss. Nunes stepped down from his position after allegations arose that he mishandled classified information. Schiff said Russian President Vladimir Putin would have reasons for wanting to see Clinton fail and Trump succeed  he believed that the CIA and Clinton were secretly behind mass demonstrations in Russia in 2011, and because Trumps positions on issues such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were more favorable to Russia than Clintons. But Schiff argued the larger point was sowing discord in the U.S., so Putin could argue that American democracy is no better than his government. Talk of rigged elections and surveillance, questioning the independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press  as Trump has done  boost Putins message, Schiff said. And the efforts are not limited to the United States, he added, pointing to allegations that the Russians made an effort to interfere in Frances recent election. The reality is there is new ideological struggle. Its not communism versus capitalism anymore. It is authoritarian versus democracy, he said. This is the broader challenge we are facing. Schiff also warned that there is no way to prevent Russian cyber-spying and that future attempts to interfere with American elections will only be more sophisticated, so voters must be educated. One of the most important conclusions the intelligence agencies have reached is the Russians will do this again, he said. The only real defense is to inoculate ourselves, to educate ourselves about what the Russians have done, why they are doing [it and] what they may do in the future and somehow we have to develop a consensus regardless of which party it helps and which party it hurts  that we will reject it. Facebook

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Rep. Devin Nunes: Democrats are using Russia investigation to justify Clintons loss By Sarah D. Wire (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA) House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told hundreds of local Republicans at a recent private fundraiser that congressional investigations into Russias interference in the 2016 election are about Democrats trying to justify Hillary Clintons loss. The Democrats dont want an investigation on Russia. They want an independent commission. Why do they want an independent commission? Because they want to continue the narrative that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are best friends, and thats the reason that he won, because Hillary Clinton would have never lost on her own; it had to be someone elses fault, Nunes told Republicans the day after he stepped away from leading the House investigation. His remarks were recorded on video and provided to The Times. Read More Facebook

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Californias embattled tax board would lose power over staff and funding under lawmakers plan By John Myers Following months of accusations about mistakes and improper use of power by its elected members, the state Board of Equalization could lose substantial power and gain an independent overseer under legislation introduced in the state Assembly. The bill by Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) would shift much of the power over staff and spending authority away from the independent tax board and create a new inspector general to watch over its actions. What were trying to do is make sure that the reform is transparent, Ridley-Thomas said. Thats what I think the moment demands. The plan, introduced as an amended bill just before the Memorial Day holiday, comes in the wake of audits alleging the tax agency made multimillion dollar miscalculations on revenue allocations and that some of its elected members improperly used staff members who were supposed to be focused on tax collection. Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown called the situation a mess and in April asked for an investigation by the state Department of Justice. Four members of the Board of Equalization are directly elected by voters. The fifth, state Controller Betty Yee, serves in an ex officio capacity. The Assembly bill would transfer significant staff decisions to the agencys executive director and would require the Board of Equalizations members to have their operations funded in detailed line items included in the state budget. It would also create an inspector general office and would require the boards members to disclose all ex parte communications with those seeking action by the agency. I think that these issues can be addressed if we keep them in the sunlight, said Ridley-Thomas. Facebook

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New advertising campaign targets lawmakers over votes for climate change policies By Chris Megerian A coalition of California businesses launched a new advertising campaign on Saturday to pressure lawmakers against enacting tighter policies on climate change and air pollution. The campaign includes online videos and television advertising that warn of higher costs for business and residents. It arrives as Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers are debating whether to extend the cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases, and how restrictive the system should be. The first lawmaker being targeted is Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova), accusing him of allowing unelected state employees to raise hidden taxes on gasoline and electricity because he voted last year for a tougher target to reduce emissions by 2030. Other lawmakers could face similar advertisements. Were locked, loaded and ready to go statewide, said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, which is funding the campaign through an advocacy group called Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy. The roundtable represents the states largest corporations, including oil refineries and manufacturers who have been critical of climate policies. A dollar figure was not disclosed for the advertising campaign, which will represent a balancing act for the roundtable. It supports the cap-and-trade program as an alternative to more restrictive regulations, but it opposes some of the current proposals to extend it. One measure would tie the program to air quality, targeting a wider range of pollutants than just greenhouse gases, and another would make it function more like a tax and charge higher prices for emission permits. Were at a tipping point here, Lapsley said. We need to get this information out into the public in order to try and create balanced policies. Although polls show broad support for fighting global warming in California, concerns about higher costs for constituents could be influential with some lawmakers who recently passed legislation to raise gas taxes to fund road repairs. Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) is facing a recall campaign over his vote. Nonpartisan legislative analysts have said cap and trade could boost the price of gasoline by 24 cents to 73 cents by 2030. Environmentalists have said its inaccurate to tie any single policy to fluctuations in gas prices. Facebook

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California Politics Podcast: The debate among Democrats didnt end at their convention By John Myers The official gathering of California Democrats lasted only three days, but the lingering debate and simmering tensions could keep going well into next years elections. On this weeks California Politics Podcast episode, we look back at the line in the sand drawn at last weeks California Democratic Party convention by some of the partys most passionate progressive activists -- including the blunt speech delivered by an influential labor union leader last weekend. We also discuss big new developments this week on the topic that energized those Democratic activists: a single-payer healthcare system for California. On Monday, a fiscal analysis put a large price tag on legislation to enact that sweeping healthcare change. Im joined this week by Times staff writer Melanie Mason. Facebook

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California lawmakers quietly refuse to stop unlimited cash flowing from political parties to their campaigns By John Myers (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) An ambitious effort to close a widely used loophole that allows large donations from political parties to be funneled into California races was rejected on Friday. The bill by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) would have made political party money donated to statewide and legislative candidates subject to the same contribution limits as individuals. Under the language of a voter-approved initiative, Proposition 34, money from political parties is exempt from those existing limits. Its a money-laundering scheme that has completely duped voters, Levine said last fall when he first promised to introduce the bill. The proposal was quietly killed, without a formal vote, by the Assembly Appropriations Committee during its biannual session to act on bills placed on the so-called suspense file due to their estimated costs. Committee staff estimated that Levines AB 1234 would have six-figure costs both for enforcement and for placing the issue before voters in 2018. Facebook

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Veteran Democratic operative criticizes Kimberly Ellis for refusing to concede party chair race By Seema Mehta Supporters of Kimberly Ellis make signs, refusing to accept her loss to Eric Bauman for the California Democratic chair post. (Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Veteran Democratic operative Bob Mulholland slammed infighting among California Democrats, and urged Kimberly Ellis, who came up short in a nasty party chair election, to work to unify the party. I  and others did not understand some of your supporters  attacks on those of us who have spent decades or years building the Democrats in California as the most successful political Party in the country, he wrote in an open letter to Ellis on Thursday. He sent the email in the aftermath of the partys rancorous convention last weekend that featured a bitter leadership battle between Ellis, a favorite of newer members including the backers of Bernie Sanders failed presidential bid, and longtime party leader Eric Bauman. After Bauman was declared the winner by a razor-thin margin of just over 60 votes, Ellis refused to concede and demanded an audit of the vote as some of her backers floated rumors of ballot-box stuffing and discarded ballots. Ellis demurred when asked about Mulhollands scathing letter. While our review continues, we are refraining from making any statement that might cause further division, Ellis said. If we hope to truly unify this party, it will require patience by all. Officials with the Ellis campaign have been reviewing ballots this week. A spokesman said they had looked at about two-thirds by the end of Friday and hope to be done by the middle of next week. Joe Macaluso, Ellis strategist, declined to discuss the results and said her team needed to review additional documentation beyond the ballots. Were trying to stay true to our process and not release anything, but were in it, he said. Its an extensive process. Mulholland argued in his public letter that the convention should have showcased the partys message, not intraparty spats. Our annual Conventions should take care of internal business (Platforms, election of Officers, Resolutions, etc.), but more importantly a communication to voters, especially moderate Democrats and Independents about their concerns and issues, Mulholland wrote. If such busy people had a minute to read some news about our Convention, they saw Democrats yelling and arguing about ballots being stuffed, sounding like a Trump event. This Convention failed them. Mulholland listed the partys successes in the state, including Democrats lopsided voter registration edge, its nearly three-decade record of supporting Democratic presidential candidates, its election of female senators since 1992 and its hold of every statewide office, supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature and nearly three-quarters of the congressional delegation. Over the last 29 years, thats a [1.000] batting record, he wrote. Mulholland called on Ellis to hold a news conference with Bauman once she is satisfied with her audit of the vote. Then, he wrote, lets move on. Facebook

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California lawmakers block proposals meant to make it easier to track and report hate crimes By Jazmine Ulloa Graffiti mars the steeple on the Greater Holy Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Compton in January. Cases of vandalism make up close to one-third of reported hate crimes, according to a new report. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) California lawmakers Friday stalled measures meant to help report and track hate crimes across the state, proposals filed amid a wave of incidents reported after the 2016 presidential election. The state Assembly Appropriations Committee shelved bills that would have created new hate-crime reporting requirements for police and a hotline under the attorney generals office for victims wishing to report an attack. Of those bills, a proposal filed by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) initially sought to develop a state government database with the names of felons convicted of hate crimes related to race, religion and sexual orientation. That proposal was amended to instead require every law enforcement agency to forward a summary of a reported hate crime, upon conclusion of an investigation, to the human relations commission within its jurisdiction. But a committee analysis found it could cost the state more than $150,000 to help agencies redact personal information from their records. The committee also shut down bills that would have required police to update policies to address hate crimes and include a checkbox on the front pages of reports that would prominently provide an option to indicate whether a crime was bias-related. Local law enforcement officials have reported a recent rise in reported hate crime incidents. Existing state laws require local and state law enforcement officials to compile hate crime information. California jurisdictions reported a 10.4% statewide increase in those incidents last year. Facebook

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Here were the top six moments from last nights L.A. congressional race debate By Christine Mai-Duc Robert Lee Ahn, left, and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez sparred in a debate Thursday night ahead of the runoff for the 34th Congressional District seat. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) Attorney Robert Lee Ahn and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez sparred Thursday night at the first and only debate in the runoff race for the 34th Congressional District seat. The candidates, both Democrats, offered little in the way of policy differences. Both agreed President Trump has racist tendencies, that keeping the Affordable Care Act is a top priority, and that they would fight to protect immigrants rights. Ahn came out swinging, repeatedly calling Gomez an insider whos sponsored by special interests, while Gomez pointed to his work supporting progressive policies in the Legislature and endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. Here are the top six exchanges: The numbers problem: Gomez again criticized Ahn for a response he gave in an L.A. Times questionnaire that suggested he would negotiate with Republicans to protect parts of Obamacare. Gomez said Democrats need to take a hard line and that Ahn was too soft on support for Medicaid. In case you havent noticed, we have a numbers problem in Congress, Ahn shot back. Until were able to take back the House, were going to have to talk to the other side.

Gomez again criticized Ahn for a response he gave in an L.A. Times questionnaire that suggested he would negotiate with Republicans to protect parts of Obamacare. Gomez said Democrats need to take a hard line and that Ahn was too soft on support for Medicaid. In case you havent noticed, we have a numbers problem in Congress, Ahn shot back. Until were able to take back the House, were going to have to talk to the other side. Gomez fact-checks Ahns name-check: Ahn made the case that voters should send an attorney to Congress to help in the legal battles against the Trump presidency. I will join fellow attorneys and Congress members Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff in the fight, Ahn said to the crowd. Gomez, who spent much of the evening bringing up his legislative experience and vast array of endorsements, responded: I hate to mention it, but, you know, Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu have endorsed me.

Ahn made the case that voters should send an attorney to Congress to help in the legal battles against the Trump presidency. I will join fellow attorneys and Congress members Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff in the fight, Ahn said to the crowd. Gomez, who spent much of the evening bringing up his legislative experience and vast array of endorsements, responded: I hate to mention it, but, you know, Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu have endorsed me. Getting more personal: In discussions about immigration and healthcare, Gomez and Ahn delved a little deeper into their backgrounds. Gomez talked about his young nephew who feared that his mother, a permanent resident, might be deported after Trump was elected. Ahn told the story of how his parents came to the United States with $700 each and cobbled together enough money to open a hamburger stand, eventually building their piece of the American Dream.

In discussions about immigration and healthcare, Gomez and Ahn delved a little deeper into their backgrounds. Gomez talked about his young nephew who feared that his mother, a permanent resident, might be deported after Trump was elected. Ahn told the story of how his parents came to the United States with $700 each and cobbled together enough money to open a hamburger stand, eventually building their piece of the American Dream. Ahn on the attack: Ahn repeatedly criticized Gomez for taking money from corporate interests. Special interests, big pharma, big bankers. ... Its all payback time [for Gomez donors] on Day One, Ahn said. On Day One, I owe the people of the 34th District and thats it. Ahn pitched himself as an outsider who understands the district and whose small-business experience will help him relate to the problems facing everyday residents.

Ahn repeatedly criticized Gomez for taking money from corporate interests. Special interests, big pharma, big bankers. ... Its all payback time [for Gomez donors] on Day One, Ahn said. On Day One, I owe the people of the 34th District and thats it. Ahn pitched himself as an outsider who understands the district and whose small-business experience will help him relate to the problems facing everyday residents. A litmus test: Gomez fought back against the idea that hes a corporate Democrat, primarily by pointing to several endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. If I was so establishment, I dont think Our Revolution ... would actually endorse me, Gomez said of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group. If you want a litmus test, thats a litmus test if youre a progressive ... if youre actually able to take on the status quo.

Gomez fought back against the idea that hes a corporate Democrat, primarily by pointing to several endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. If I was so establishment, I dont think Our Revolution ... would actually endorse me, Gomez said of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group. If you want a litmus test, thats a litmus test if youre a progressive ... if youre actually able to take on the status quo. Gomez gets skewered on gas tax: As part of his argument that he has fought for the little guy, Ahn expressed outrage that Californias gas taxes will increase July 1, saying theres nothing progressive about the gas tax hike Gomez voted for. We already paid 38 cents per gallon. Where is that money going? Ahn said, echoing a line many legislative Republicans have used. Sacramento politicians, this is what they do, they take our money and they spend it and theres no accountability. Gomez responded by saying public safety was at stake and that fixing roads was the responsible thing to do. If you missed it, you can watch the entire thing here. The election is set for June 6. Facebook

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Rob Reiner, Hollywood bigwigs and Netflix co-founder team up to give Villaraigosas campaign a major cash boost By Seema Mehta (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Hollywood heavyweights are set to host a major fundraiser for Antonio Villaraigosas gubernatorial campaign on June 15, ensuring an infusion of large contributions shortly before a key fundraising deadline. Donors are being asked to contribute up to $29,200 to attend a summer reception at the home of media executive Peter Chernin and his wife Megan, the site of a celebrity-studded fundraiser for President Obama in 2013. Co-hosts include Paramount Pictures chief Jim Gianopulos, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, video game honcho Robert Kotick, comedian George Lopez, Sony chief Michael Lynton, NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer, producer Rob Reiner, super-agent Rick Rosen, producer Orly Adelson, former U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos, former White House decorator Michael Smith and attorney Michael Tuchin. Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, entered the governors race in November. Through the end of 2016, he raised $2.7 million, a respectable haul in a short time period when Democratic donors were reeling from the presidential election and distracted by the holidays. But his fundraising lags behind that of his top rivals, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang. So political observers will be scrutinizing his next financial disclosure report, which will cover the first six months of 2017. The fundraiser occurs 15 days before the fundraising period closes on June 30. Read More Facebook

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A delay on cap-and-trade vote would be a victory for Donald Trump, Gov. Jerry Browns office says By Chris Megerian (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Despite hesitance and resistance from state lawmakers, Gov. Jerry Brown is refusing to budge from his goal of reaching a deal next month to extend Californias cap-and-trade program. The latest tug-of-war on the issue came this week in an email exchange circulated among Capitol staff members and advocates working on climate change policies. Kip Lipper, an environmental advisor for Senate leadership, wrote in a Thursday email that there were no plans to take up a cap and trade reauthorization bill anytime soon. Echoing concerns that have percolated among lawmakers, Lipper said senators were gas tax weary about the possibility of another difficult vote after deciding to raise gas taxes to pay for road repairs earlier this year. The cap-and-trade program, which is a cornerstone of Californias fight against global warming, requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions and could boost the price of gasoline. With votes hard to come by, Lipper wrote, the issue should not be rushed. Camille Wagner, Browns legislative secretary, responded on Friday saying there was no reason to delay. Weve all been meeting for months on this issue, she wrote. We know the areas of agreement and disagreement  now is the time to work through those. She added that NOTHING is more important than getting a deal as soon as possible. This is not a time for retreat or a time to give aid and comfort to Donald Trump by undermining a pillar of Californias bold program to arrest climate change, Wagner wrote. If Californias Cap and Trade falls because we fail to act, climate denial wins. Brown had already faced resistance to his push to reach a deal on cap and trade in June, when the state budget is due. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) previously said we dont have to extend it this year. The disagreement over the timeline for reaching a deal is only one of the disputes surrounding cap and trade. Assembly leaders have raised the possibility of pushing legislation with only a majority vote, an idea the governors office rejected. Brown wants a two-thirds vote to insulate cap and trade from legal challenges. There are also varied ideas about how the program should function in the future. Assembly legislation would modify cap and trade so it also targets local pollution, rather than just greenhouse gases. Senate legislation would make the program function more like a carbon tax. Facebook

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The effort to make tampons tax free in California has been delayed until 2018 By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Legislation to eliminate California sales taxes on the purchase of tampons was delayed Friday by the Assemblys fiscal committee until 2018, a blow to advocates who say the tax is an unfair burden on low-income women and families. The delay imposed on AB 9 is the second setback this month for efforts to eliminate taxes on products for women and children. A separate bill that included a tax-free provision for diapers was killed in a legislative committee on May 8. The bill that was held back on Friday, written by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), would have excluded tampons, sanitary napkins and other menstrual products from sales taxes. A legislative committee analysis estimated the proposal would reduce state general fund revenues by $10.5 million a year. Dozens of other bills with a cost to state government were killed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, while AB 9 was instead reclassified as a two-year bill, meaning it is eligible to be heard again in the second year of the legislative session. Gov. Jerry Brown last year rejected a similar measure that sought to make tampons tax-free, writing in his veto message that tax breaks are the same as new spending  they both cost the general fund money. Facebook

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Outside money spills into L.A. congressional race as election day nears By Christine Mai-Duc Spending by outside groups hoping to influence Los Angeles congressional race is picking up, with less than two weeks to go before the runoff for the 34th Congressional District. Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez and attorney Robert Lee Ahn, both Democrats, are competing to fill the former seat of Xavier Becerra in the June 6 election. Becerra stepped down months ago to become the states attorney general. Spending separate from the candidates campaigns is reaching into the six-figure range, with most of the outside money going to support Gomez, the heavy favorite of establishment Democrats. One group funded primarily by an Ahn donor, Citizens for a Better Government, has spent $40,264 on data, printing and postage for mailers, and $8,000 on treasury services to support Ahns bid. The Latino Victory Fund, which has endorsed Gomez, recently spent $29,640 on direct mail and $30,000 on phone banking and voter canvassing for the candidate. Billboard company Outfront Media LLC has spent $1,973 on billboards for him. Also backing Gomez is a group called Middle Class Values PAC. The group spent $19,653 on mailers supporting Gomez despite not having reported receiving any major contributions so far this year. The groups biggest donors last year were a handful of Nevada casino owners and developers, but most of that money appears to have been spent on Democrats running for Congress in Pennsylvania and Nevada. Outside spending in the 34th Congressional District race has been dwarfed by candidate spending. As of March 31, Gomez had spent $446,455 and Ahn had dropped about $767,315 on his run. New campaign finance figures from both candidates are due at midnight Friday. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Browns budget team drops its hotly debated plans to redefine the states spending limit By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) With questions mounting about the legal justification for omitting some $22 billion in expenses from Californias long-standing spending cap, Gov. Jerry Browns administration dropped the plan Thursday while promising to work on the issue again later this year. Browns advisors told the Assembly Budget Committee that this could include some changes in state law to clarify the rules surrounding whats known as the Gann limit, a cap on state spending growth imposed by voters in 1979. The cap has rarely come into play in state budgeting in recent years, as it was loosened by a subsequent ballot measure in 1990. The governors administration said it continues to worry about how the law interacts with other mandates related to school funding. School financing has changed significantly since the limit was first established in 1979, said H.D. Palmer, Browns budget spokesman. Because of that, we continue to believe we need statutory clarifications related to these school funding changes. Legislative analysts warned lawmakers in April that the governor may have been overestimating how much room for spending was left under the cap, a dispute that continued for weeks while lawmakers began drafting plans for formal budget negotiations next month. Earlier this week, state senators again raised concerns about the complex estimates used to determine how much spending the Gann law would allow in the budget year that begins July 1. And they provided an analysis by the Legislatures lawyers that suggested Browns proposal could be unconstitutional. The spending limit is enforced over two fiscal years, which means Brown and lawmakers have time to reconcile different estimates. But absent changes similar to those advocated by the governor, a portion of future tax revenues would have to be split between schools and rebates to taxpayers. Facebook

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California Senate, Assembly advance their own plans on how to spend tobacco tax revenue By Melanie Mason (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Perhaps the biggest budget skirmish that remains unsolved this year is how California should spend revenue from the tobacco tax voters approved last fall. Gov. Jerry Brown wants to put that money to expand overall spending on Medi-Cal, which provides subsidized healthcare for the poor. But the some of initiatives backers, namely doctor and dental groups, have cried foul, arguing that money is meant to go to increasing payments for providers. Now, the Senate and Assembly are weighing in. In plans approved in their respective budget committees this week, both houses stray from Browns proposal to put the money toward general Medi-Cal costs and lay out their own ideas on how to divvy up the revenue. But while both houses reject Browns approach, there are key differences between their proposals. Most significantly, the Assembly would allocate all $1.1 billion in projected tax revenue in the next budget year. The Senate, meanwhile, would spend just under $350 million next year, gradually ramping up spending to $1.1 billion by fiscal year 2020-21. Both houses also would increase provider payments, but in different ways. The Assembly would put around $857 million toward once-yearly incentive payments to physicians and dentists that would be tied to their Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal caseloads. The Senate proposed putting $150 million next year to physician rate increases that would be targeted for those working in high-need areas and specialties. That number would increase in successive years, topping out at $700 million by 2020. The Senate also would put $130 million toward higher rates for dentists. The California Medical Assn., which has been pushing for higher reimbursement rates, praised both houses for including the higher rates, but group spokeswoman Joanne Adams noted that the current Legislature cannot tie the hands of a future governor or Legislature, indicating a preference toward the Assembly approach. Each house would allocate $50 million for reimbursement rates for family planning providers, a priority of Planned Parenthood. And both houses put money toward expanding Medi-Cal to cover young adults up to age 26 who are in the country illegally. The proposal builds on Californias policy of making children without legal status younger than 19 eligible for Medi-Cal, which went into effect last year. Anthony Wright, of the advocacy group Health Access, noted that by expanding coverage for those up to age 26, it would align with Obamacares policy of letting children stay on their parents health insurance until that age. This is a concrete and tangible way to show we are actually taking steps forward in expanding coverage, Wright said. The Brown administration estimates that around 130,000 people would be eligible for Medi-Cal under such a proposal, and such an expansion would cost the state just under $230 million. The Senate proposal would put around $63 million toward that expansion in the upcoming budget year and around $85 million in subsequent years. The Assembly would put $54 million toward the plan. The Brown administration did not take a position on the Medi-Cal expansion proposal, but H.D. Palmer, spokesman for Browns Department of Finance, noted that the Senate was using higher revenue projections than Browns plan, which allows legislators to propose more funding. Palmer said the administration was sticking with its original proposal to use tobacco tax dollars for general Medi-Cal spending. The budgets proposal for Prop. 56 will provide increased funding for healthcare programs and services in a way thats consistent with the measure that voters approved last fall, Palmer said. ------------ FOR THE RECORD May 25, 2017, 4:58 p.m.: A previous version of this article reported that both houses were using higher revenue projections than Gov. Browns budget proposal. The Senate is using higher projections; the Assembly is using the same estimates as the Brown administration. Facebook

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California chief justice says she stands by her decision to speak out against Trumps immigration actions By Jazmine Ulloa California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Thursday said she stands by her position that courthouses should be areas where immigration arrests should not occur. Cantil-Sakauye, a former prosecutor who rose through the judicial ranks as an appointee of Republican governors, drew national attention in March after she blasted the federal governments expanded immigration actions, among which she said included stalking immigrants at courthouses. Speaking at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon on Thursday, she said the Supreme Court chambers fielded an outpouring of calls and letters after her comments. Some were profane and angry, from residents living outside the state. Others came from supporters. At Sac Press Club luncheon, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye said she fielded lots of anger, support after courthouse enforcement remarks. pic.twitter.com/6OBrZOfI45  Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) May 25, 2017 Many said that as a judge, she should not wade into politics. U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly admonished her in a letter, spurring California state leaders to respond in defense of state policies. On Thursday, Cantil-Sakauye stood by her decision to denounce the actions, saying, If I couldnt speak out as chief justice, I dont know who could. Courthouses in California have numerous programs to encourage people to come forward and ask questions, seek services and mediate issues, Cantil-Sakauye said. If we have a segment [of the population] that is afraid to come, then we are looking at no access to justice, [and] potentially public safety issues, which is antithetical to what the justice system exists for, she said. To me, it is a safe zone, and I ask that courthouses be placed on par with school districts and hospitals and churches. Facebook

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Rep. Darrell Issa says the federal employee insurance program should be expanded to all Americans By Sarah D. Wire Though it wasnt included in the House Republicans healthcare bill, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) still believes Americans should have access to the same insurance plans federal employees pick from, and hes hoping the Senate will embrace the idea. In a letter Thursday, Issa asked the Senate Health Care Working Group to consider opening the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program to more, or all, Americans. Its a national insurance idea thats persisted since the program began in 1960, and a proposal Issa has pitched before. The program allows more than 8 million current and retired federal employees across the country to shop among hundreds of health insurance plans and then apply their employer contribution to whatever plan they choose. Private insurance companies have pulled out of several state insurance marketplaces, where people whose employers dont offer insurance can purchase insurance using a federal subsidy. That leaves people with fewer health insurance choices, a common complaint cited by Republicans as a reason to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Its choice. If the government can maximize choice to you and then subsidize where appropriate based on need, then weve met the two bases for government involvement, Issa said. Issa voted for the American Health Care Act, the GOP bill to roll back much of Obamacare that passed May 4 without Democratic support, but he stresses that he did so just to keep momentum. One of the reasons I voted for this in the House was to keep the process alive so we could do reform, Issa said. Leveraging business models that work is the goal that somebody like me wants to do. Find out what works and invest in it, find out what doesnt work and fix it or abandon it. On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office said the bill as passed by the House would cause 23 million fewer people to have health insurance by 2026. The budget office, which Congress relies on to analyze the complex legislation, projected that many additional consumers would see skimpier health coverage and higher deductibles. The Senate has essentially said it will write its own version of the bill. Issas letter to his Senate colleagues also urges members to protect people with preexisting conditions, safeguard coverage for people with mental illnesses and protect people near retirement age from a spike in their premiums. Theres still more to be done. This bill is going to be about compromise, and a down payment on change, Issa said. Facebook

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Senate President Kevin de Leon is busy raising campaign funds  but for what office? By Phil Willon Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) stirred up speculation about a possible run for governor or U.S. Senate when he released a slickly produced video just before the California Democratic Partys convention last weekend, but he has remained coy about his future political plans. That doesnt mean he isnt padding his campaign war chest, though. De Leon has two fundraisers lined up in Los Angeles in June, presumably for his 2018 campaign for California lieutenant governor. The question is whether De Leon actually will run for lieutenant governor. In the past, he has said he hasnt made a decision. He has also given his supporters the go-ahead to endorse state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), a longtime political ally, in the race. De Leons campaign account for lieutenant governor had $1.7 million in the bank at the end of last year. He raised close to a half-million this year, according to state political financial disclosure reports. The first fundraiser in June is being hosted by veteran Hollywood executive Peter Guber and his wife, Tara, in Bel Air on June 8, with suggested contributions ranging from $500 to $2,500. The second is in late June at the Palm in Los Angeles. The fundraiser is hosted by Craig Darian, CEO of the Occidental Entertainment Group, and his wife, Kimberly, as well as Albert Sweet, the founder of the company. The suggested donations are the same as for the earlier fundraiser. De Leon made history in 2014 when he was selected by his colleagues as the first Latino to lead the California Senate. The tenure has been marked by significant action on climate change, immigration and gun control. Facebook

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Volkswagens clean car plan falls short in low-income neighborhoods, California regulators say By Chris Megerian (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press) State regulators have asked Volkswagen to revise its plan to invest in zero emission technology in California, a victory for critics who said the automaker wasnt doing enough in disadvantaged communities. The investment plan, which will total $800 million over 10 years, is part of Volkswagens obligation under a multi-billion settlement for evading pollution rules. California, which is struggling to get enough zero emission vehicles on the road to meet its goals, is eager to move forward, wrote Air Resources Board Executive Officer Richard Corey in a Wednesday letter to Electrify America, a Volkswagen subsidiary. However, Corey wrote, we need more information on how the company will meet its target of spending 35% of its investment in disadvantaged communities, a target set by state regulators in hopes of broadening the adoption of electric vehicles. Corey also asked Electrify America to consider supporting hydrogen fueling stations, rather than just electric chargers. Once the company submits an updated version of its plan, state regulators will consider whether to approve it. Electrify America said it is reviewing the letter. Dean Florez, a member of the Air Resources Board, said the original investment plan had significant holes and included no real investment in disadvantaged communities. He praised the decision to request revisions and said the board should hold VWs feet to the fire. This story has been updated with additional comments. Facebook

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Lawmakers scrap effort to make it easier to pass local transportation taxes By John Myers An effort to boost the chances of local ballot measures raising taxes for transportation needs was quietly killed Thursday in the state Capitol. The proposal, which would have ultimately required changing the California Constitution through a statewide vote, was in response to the high hurdle set decades ago for local taxes earmarked for specific projects. Those kinds of taxes in cities and counties require two-thirds of the vote. The constitutional amendment by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would have lowered the vote threshold to 55% of ballots cast for any transportation proposal. Wiener argued the long list of local transportation projects lacking funds wont completely be erased by the $52-billion transportation plan signed into law last month. And he pointed specifically to examples like a transportation tax plan in the Bay Area last year that garnered 62% of the vote  still slightly shy of the two-thirds mandate. While the effort can be brought back before lawmakers adjourn the current session in the summer of 2018, Thursdays action represented a major setback for transportation groups and labor unions that supported it. The measure was opposed by business and anti-tax advocates. Wiener said he intends to re-introduce the measure in the coming weeks. We must improve and expand transportation throughout our state, which has suffered from decades of underfunding, he said in a written statement. Update 1:29 p.m. This story was modified with additional information regarding constitutional amendments and the legislative process. Update 4:10 p.m. This story was updated with comment from Sen. Wiener. Facebook

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Sex offenders will not be banned without exception from school grounds after state bill is shelved By Jazmine Ulloa State Sen. Connie M. Leyva, right. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The state Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday shelved a bill that would have banned all registered sex offenders from school campuses without exception. Senate Bill 26 by Sen. Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) would have made it a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to enter any school building or grounds without lawful business. State laws keep registered sex offenders from living near schools. But those who have not been convicted of having sex with a minor under age 16 can visit or volunteer with groups or organizations that work with children if they give proper notice, and are granted permission. They cannot work directly with children. The committee advanced another bill by Leyva that would extend benefits under the Safe at Home initiative to former victims of forced prostitution or labor. Senate Bill 597, introduced with Secretary of State Alex Padilla, passed with a unanimous 7-0 vote. Read More Facebook

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Measure to help California students refinance private loans is shelved By Melanie Mason State Treasurer John Chiang, a candidate for governor, is behind a new effort to help people with student debt refinance their loans. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A measure to help Californians saddled with student debt refinance their student loans was shelved in a key fiscal committee on Thursday. The measure by state Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica) was touted as a way for the state to coax private lenders to offer more favorable interest. The proposal would have carried a $25-million price tag. We will continue to push for sensible solutions to the student loan crisis that provide real relief to the millions of Californians saddled with too much debt, Allen said in a statement. State Treasurer John Chiang, a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, had championed the bill, SB 674, as a way to try to get [Californians] out of debt as quickly as possible. College graduation is supposed to be synonymous with opportunity and prosperity and not a detour into a modern-day debtors prison, Chiang said in a statement. Although I am disappointed SB 674 will not be moving forward, I will continue to use my position as the states banker to invest in Californias young people and its future with innovative solutions that will make it more financially feasible to obtain a higher education, he added. 3:58 p.m.: This article was updated to add comments from Sen. Benjamin Allen and Treasurer John Chiang. This article was originally published at 11:17 a.m. Read More Facebook

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Where bills go to die: Lawmakers begin clearing the suspense file with hundreds of measures in limbo By John Myers (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) From a sales tax exemption on tampons to healthcare rules and marijuana regulation, a massive stack of proposed laws faces a major deadline Friday morning at the state Capitol. To survive, they must clear whats known as the suspense file -- the place where bills that would cost taxpayers money are held in legislative limbo. By law, bills with a fiscal impact must be sent to the floor of the Assembly and Senate by the close of business on Friday. That means its decision time for more than 800 pieces of legislation. The Senates fiscal committee will decide the fate of bills on Thursday; the Assembly will do so on Friday. Bills are generally sent to the suspense file if their projected cost to the state is $150,000 or more. The procedural move was widely used during Californias deficit years as a way for lawmakers to weigh the pros and cons of proposals in light of limited resources. But government watchdog groups have long pointed out that the clearing of the suspense file ends up hiding some of the legislative sausage-making from public view. Thats because bills that dont clear Fridays hurdle are essentially killed without a recorded vote. And neither chamber offers any explanation for why those bills were killed. Decisions on the fate of the suspense file are made in private, hours or days before the public hearing. In the Assembly, the appropriations committee chairperson will simply tell the public that a decision has been made to hold the bill. In the Senate committee, killed legislation wont even be mentioned during Thursdays hearing. That means that no one will know for sure whether a bill is really killed because of its price tag or its politics. Facebook

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Formal apology sought after U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters was cut off during state convention speech By Jazmine Ulloa (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) In my 20 years as a Democratic Party leader, I have never experienced such the type of behavior as I did at the Sacramento Convention hall on Saturday evening.  Darren Parker, longtime chairman of the African American Caucus The California Democratic Party African American Caucus is asking the state party for a formal apology to U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters and its members for what it called disrespect by a private subcontractor at its weekend state convention. Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat known for her comments on President Trump, had been speaking at a caucus meeting during the event Saturday night when the sound to her microphone was cut off. SEE THE VIDEO OF WATERS SPEECH> Read More Facebook

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California sees a rebound in cap-and-trade auction, bolstering key climate change program By Chris Megerian (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) State regulators announced strong results from Californias cap-and-trade program on Wednesday, spurring analysts and supporters to say the system remains solid despite questions about its political future. The program requires oil refineries, food processors, power plants and other facilities to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly all of the permits offered by the state in its latest auction were purchased, generating an estimated $500 million in revenue. Thats a shift from other recent auctions, where most of the permits went unsold, reducing revenue that state leaders have counted on for 
The Egyptian armed forces sent a C-130 military transport plane with food and medical supplies to Somalia on Thursday upon the directive of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, state news agency MENA reported.

Over half of the African country's population is facing a crisis due to an immense wave of drought. Life-threatening child malnutrition rates are rising to alarming levels in Somalia, the international aid group Save the Children said Thursday.

The drought has left 6.2 million people -- more than half of the population of Somalia -- in need of immediate lifesaving assistance.

A further 8.3 million in Kenya and Ethiopia are also in need of urgent help,said Hassan Saadi Noor, Save the Children's Somalia country director. Noor said he fears seeing "children dying in significant numbers."

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Even six months after Donald Trump won the White House, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi doesnt want to talk about election night, preferring to fast-forward to what happened the next day.

That Wednesday morning was hard for Democrats. Many were so disheartened by Trumps defeat of Hillary Clinton that they stayed up all night crying. Pelosi knew what to expect.

Usually after an election when you dont win, its very silent. Nobody calls, Pelosi recalled during an interview in her bright yellow office steps from the House floor.

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To her surprise, the phone started ringing. And it didnt stop.

We were overwhelmed, inundated by people saying, This is urgent. What can we do to help? she said.

People just showing up, she continued, pointing to the spontaneous protests in the following weeks at airports, the Supreme Court and town hall meetings. And the minute they showed up, they saw their power. And they continued to show up.

The 77-year-old party leader, who had mused privately about retiring if Clinton had won, quickly reverted to the role she first mastered as a stay-at-home mom more than 30 years ago organizing Democrats from the kitchen table of her San Francisco home.

Rather than step aside for a new generation of young leaders, as many have nudged Pelosi to do, the first woman to ever lead a major party in Congress  and hold the speakers gavel  returned to work to marshal the opposition to President Trump.

In fact, she sees her current role as minority leader under a Republican president in some ways as more influential than when she served as House speaker under a Democratic president.

You get a Democratic president and youre the speaker, nobody cares what you have to say unless youre disagreeing with the president, Pelosi said. You get a Republican president  boom  they care what you think, how youre going to negotiate this or that. Youre the voice of the opposition.

Pelosi is no stranger to the bruising street battles of politics. Despite her image as the wealthy grand dame of the liberal left and a fundraising powerhouse, she is also a brawler who relishes being on the winning side of a good fight.

The Italian daughter of a Baltimore mayor, she is now an irrepressible Californian  heaven on Earth, as she calls the Golden State, the source of all good ideas.

Helping herself to the bowl of Ghirardelli chocolate squares on her conference table, Pelosi noted that she rose through the ranks in the House and knows the grass roots down to the last blade.

Those fighter instincts now sense an opportunity for Democrats to make gains on retaking the House majority they lost in 2010 as Republicans cope with the sagging appeal of Trumps brand and backlash from an unpopular House vote to gut the Affordable Care Act.

Even traditional Republican strongholds, such as the congressional seat to be filled next month in a suburban Atlanta special election, are suddenly in play.

Republicans shouldnt even have to do this, Pelosi said dismissively, lifting the empty chocolate wrapper with the tip of her pinky finger to demonstrate how easy the Georgia race should be for the GOP. And now theyre sweating it out.

But the challenge for Pelosi is whether she will ride this new wave of grass-roots activism back into the speakership, or get swallowed by it, as Republican former Speaker John A. Boehner did when a new generation of tea party conservatives forced him into early retirement in 2015.

Pelosi has been at it longer than most, leading Democrats for nearly 15 years, more than any other House Democrat except legendary Texan Sam Rayburn, who has an office building named after him across from the Capitol.

Shes been around politics long enough to know people dont have to agree with you, but they have to be engaged.  John Lawrence, Pelosis former chief of staff

So far, she seems to be having an easier time holding Democrats in line to fight Trump than her Republican counterparts did confronting then-President Obama.

Last month Democrats leveraged their minority status to cut an unexpectedly good deal with Republicans on spending, brushing off Trumps insistence on money for a border wall with Mexico and locking out other GOP priorities.

And she held Democrats firmly against the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act  not a single Democrat joined Republicans in passing the bill last week, which advanced with only a two-vote margin.

Democrats taunted Republicans after the Obamacare vote, singing, Hey, hey, hey! Goodbye! an outburst on the House floor that was widely panned as inappropriate. Pelosi, though, set the tone in a speech before the vote, warning ominously that Republicans would glow in the dark with their votes tattooed on [their] foreheads. Campaigns immediately launched against Republicans in left-leaning districts who supported the bill.

But the same Washington savvy and longevity that has made Pelosi such a threat to Republicans also makes her vulnerable to the highly energized, but largely decentralized, grass-roots resistance movement that emerged in opposition to Trump.

Just as Trump supporters were drawn to an outsider, many of these increasingly progressive Democrats  some backed Sen. Bernie Sanders over Clinton in the primary are calling for new faces and approaches, frustrated by what they see as entrenched party leaders. Some wanted Democrats to fight harder to stop the healthcare vote, holding up passage of the spending bill as leverage.

Nancy Pelosi is out of step with Democratic voters, esp. in SF, tweeted Stephen Jaffe, a Sanders supporter who is launching an uphill primary challenge against Pelosi in her home district. His website proclaims, We are all socialists.

And as usual, Pelosi is also the target of familiar attacks from Republicans, who have long used the San Francisco liberal as a symbol of everything they see as wrong with the left. Pelosis name and image have popped up in campaign ads for the spring special elections in Kansas, Georgia and Montana, with more planned as Republicans try to retain their majority in 2018.

Shes still a Democratic bogeyman, so to speak, and I dont think thats going away any time soon, said Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Pelosi dismisses such criticism even as she embraces the spirit of the new resistance.

Youre telling me Im not liberal? Im from San Francisco, she says with a laugh, incredulous. But I respect it so much  and I actually thrive on it  and I like the idea that theyre relentless, persistent and dissatisfied, because thats what a democracy is about. Its not a necessarily orderly kind of predictable thing.

Supporters warn its best not to bet against Pelosi, noting that the last time she was in this role, in 2005 as the minority leader under a Republican president, she engineered the takeover to become House speaker.

Shes been around politics long enough to know people dont have to agree with you, but they have to be engaged, said John Lawrence, her former chief of staff, who spent 40 years on Capitol Hill and now is a visiting professor at the University of Californias annex in Washington.

Many Democrats see todays political landscape as reminiscent of 2005, when President Bush saw his popularity tumble amid the ongoing conflict in Iraq and his proposal to privatize Social Security.

Democrats hope the recent GOP effort to repeal Obamacare will bring a similar backlash against Republicans.

House Republicans now hold 23 seats in districts that Clinton won in 2016, and 10 more that she narrowly lost, putting those seats within reach for Democratic challengers. Pelosi needs to turn 24 seats and hold on to what Democrats have now to win back the speakership.

Asked whether she is having fun in her new role, Pelosi said, We all take satisfaction in our work.

Is it fun? she added, mulling over the question. No, its fun to be in the majority. Now youre talking fun. Now youre talking a good time.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

@LisaMascaro

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President Trump ordered a voter fraud investigation Thursday, thrusting back into the spotlight an issue that few other Republican leaders want to tackle as he tries to divert attention from the controversy over his firing of FBI Director James B. Comey.

The order adds a new chapter to an issue that has confounded many political observers. Without any evidence, Trump, in tweets and public statements for months after his campaign ended, charged massive voter fraud to explain rival Hillary Clintons winning the popular vote, inexplicably casting doubt on an election that he won in the electoral college.



For the record: This article initially referred to Hillary Clinton having a majority of the popular vote. Clinton won the popular vote, but had a plurality, not a majority.

Trump had signaled in January he would sign an order setting up an inquiry on fraud, but it has been delayed repeatedly, as aides have uncomfortably answered questions about its purpose amid widespread evidence that voter fraud is a minor problem in elections.

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Like many of Trumps executive orders, the text of Thursdays missive falls far short of the dramatic rhetoric Trump once used to describe its mission  a major investigation. It establishes a 15-member Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, led by Vice President Mike Pence, which will be solely advisory and submit a report to Trump when its work is complete. It does not mention the 2016 election explicitly, though that will presumably will be part of its scope.

The commission will examine fraud in voting and voter registration, vulnerabilities in the system and laws that undermine Americans confidence in their votes. Voting rights activists and Democrats worry that it could lay the groundwork for implementing more restrictive voting laws that could suppress turnout.

The order exemplifies how Trump  who has been weighing in publicly on current events for decades as a private citizen  now can mobilize the power of the federal government, with a pen stroke, to address an unsubstantiated claim  in this case, that millions voted fraudulently in the presidential election.

Evidence for fraud has been thin

Most voting specialists and researchers say Trumps repeated assertion is unfounded and even dangerous to the credibility of the democratic voting system. Voting rights advocates and Democrats nonetheless worry that Trumps investigation could spark proposals for national laws making it harder to vote.

The evidence for fraud has been thin, said Michael P. McDonald, an elections specialist in the University of Floridas political science department. Its a rhetorical point that Republicans have been using to advocate for restrictive voting laws.

Lawmakers also could target provisions of the 1993 Motor Voter Act that require states to help voters register when they apply for drivers licenses or public assistance.

The vice chairman of the commission, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, has championed laws in his state and a handful of others intended to require proof of citizenship to register, which have been fought in courts by opponents who say they are intended to depress turnout. Kobachs appointment alarmed many voting rights groups.

In addition to Pence and Kobach, the White House named five other panel members, all current or former election officials, including two Democrats and one Republican formerly appointed to a position in the Obama administration.

One was Bill Gardner of New Hampshire, the longest-serving secretary of state in the country.

When over half the people think theres voter fraud in the polls, I think itd be helpful to know why they do, said Gardner, who has held his post since 1976.

Trump at one point claimed to a group of senators that thousands of Massachusetts voters had crossed into New Hampshire in buses to vote illegally, an assertion that was roundly dismissed by Republican leaders in the state as well as Democrats.

People would notice, I think, a bus, said William Galvin, a Democrat who is secretary of state in Massachusetts.

Galvin called Trumps commission ridiculous and said Pences role as chairman was an inherent conflict of interest, given that he ran on the ballot with Trump.

Even Trumps Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill have been reluctant to join him.

Weve moved on, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 Republican on Capitol Hill, said in Trumps first days in office.

We had an election; it was a decisive outcome. We have a new president, a new Congress, and I view the election as history and were ready to roll up our sleeves and go to work for the American people.

Trumps accusations

Trump spent weeks tweeting unfounded accusations of widespread voter fraud after his electoral victory in November, as it became clear that Hillary Clinton had won the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots.

I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally, he tweeted Nov. 27.

In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Others in his party dismissed the claim, and Trumps own lawyers, while fighting recount efforts in Michigan, argued that all available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.

But Trump would not let up, believing his legitimacy as president was at stake. He repeated his grievances in a private White House meeting with congressional leaders just days after his inauguration.

That prompted reporters to ask his aides why he was not ordering a federal investigation, given the stakes of his claim. Trump essentially called their bluff, tweeting that he would order a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD in January, using all capital letters to underscore his defiance in the face of criticism.

Take a look whats registering, Trump said during an address to Republican members in Philadelphia in his first week as president. We are going to protect the integrity of the ballot box, and we are going to defend the votes of the American citizens. So important.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and other Republican lawmakers sat passively during that part of the speech that was otherwise greeted with cheers in several sections.

The Pew study

To back his claim, Trump has pointed to a 2012 Pew study that argued for the need to upgrade the voter registration system. The reports author recently reiterated its conclusion that voter rolls are susceptible to errors and fraud but not that any widespread fraud had occurred.

Trump has been conflating two issues, frequently pointing out accurately that voter rolls are rife with dead voters and people who have moved to other jurisdictions or states and re-registered.

Yet registering in two states does not mean people have voted twice. Several news organizations reported that Trumps closest advisor, Stephen K. Bannon, had been registered in both Florida and New York until the oversight was reported and he dropped his Florida registration. Trumps daughter Tiffany was registered in New York and Philadelphia.

Legitimately, yes, we do have an issue with what is called dead wood, where people persist on the voter file after they move from one state to another, McDonald said.

Its not illegal to remain registered in two states. But it does cause confusion and opens the possibility of fraud, prompting election supervisors to try harder to clean up their roles in recent years, using databases to identify people who may not belong on them. But the law requires officials to wait two missed election cycles and make an attempt to contact voters before dropping them, to ensure people are not unfairly disenfranchised.

Election experts say a bipartisan commission, if it looked at access as well as fraud, could help clean up issues like that on the national level. But given the genesis of Trumps order, they are dubious, even though Trumps commission has Democratic members.

Richard L. Hasen, a voting law expert at UC Irvines law school, said he instead expected the Trump Department of Justice to change positions 180 degrees from President Obamas, which generally opposed state voting laws that require photo identification at the voting booth. The Obama administration had sided with a challenge to a Texas voter identification law that courts ruled was discriminatory.

After the 2013 election, Obama established his own election commission with a mandate to identify best practices in election administration and to make recommendations to improve the voting experience.

Obama named as co-chairmen the men who served as campaign attorneys for him and Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in 2012. In 2014, they released their recommendations, including expanding online voter registration, increasing early voting, making it easier for military personnel deployed overseas to vote, and upgrading decades-old election equipment in many states.

Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli in Washington contributed to this report.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

ALSO: Trump orders moves on border wall and sanctuary cities and is considering a refugee ban

Anti-immigration groups are pushing Trump to stick to campaign pledge to deport Dreamers

Analysis: Trump versus California: The feud turns from rhetorical to real

UPDATES:

3:35 p.m.: The story was updated with new details.

12:55 p.m. The story was updated with issuance of the order and details on its content.

The story was originally published at 7:25 a.m.
When Stanford University energy economist Danny Cullenward looks at Californias policies on climate change, he sees a potential time bomb.

The state wants to slash greenhouse gas emissions so deeply in the coming years that oil refineries and other industries could face skyrocketing costs to comply with regulations, driving up gasoline prices until the system loses political support. If that happens, an effort touted as an international model for fighting global warming could collapse.

Not everyone agrees with Cullenwards assessment, but it reflects how experts, officials and lawmakers are starting to reckon with the states steep ambitions and the understanding that its current policies may no longer be adequate. Although California has been gliding toward its initial goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, it must cut an additional 40% by 2030 under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year.

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Its going to take bold proposals to get us to where we need to be, said Cullenward, who has helped shape legislation in the Capitol.

Getting the details right means the difference between California burnishing its role as an incubator for innovation or proving itself to be a canary in the coal mine, and lawmakers are sorting through a flood of ideas this year. One proposal would accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and eventually phase out all fossil fuels for generating electricity. Some advocates want a regional power grid to share clean energy across state lines. Everyone is looking for ways to turn climate policies into jobs in their local communities.

Weve already decided as a state and as a Legislature that we want to dramatically reduce pollution and move forward toward a clean energy future, Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said. That debate is over. Now were deciding how to get there.

Those conversations, however, could prove just as contentious as previous debates, expose divisions among environmentalists and force lawmakers to make difficult decisions about squeezing a state with the worlds sixth-largest economy into a dramatically smaller emissions footprint.

Everything is a huge question mark, said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, which represents the states largest corporations.

Front and center is the haggling over extending the cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Permits can also be traded on a secondary market. Its the only system of its kind in the country, and it faces steep legal challenges that can only be fully resolved with new legislation to keep it operating.

Brown wants to settle the issue next month, and theres wide consensus around keeping the program in some form. Oil companies that once launched an expensive ballot campaign to block it are now negotiating its extension  albeit on terms that are friendlier to their industry  and even some Republicans are on board with the idea.

But there are still disagreements over how to move forward, some of which were highlighted with the recent release of a proposal Cullenward worked on with one of his Stanford colleagues, environmental law professor Michael Wara.

The legislation, SB 775, which was written by Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) and backed by De Leon, would create a higher minimum price for emission permits and increase it annually to provide a steeper incentive for companies to clean up their operations.

There would also be a firm ceiling on how high prices could climb to guard against sticker shock as permits become more valuable while the state ratchets down emissions to meet its 2030 goal.

The legislation would make another significant change. Instead of sending cap-and-trade revenue only to projects intended to reduce emissions, such as subsidies for electric cars or affordable housing near mass transit, a chunk of the money would be distributed to Californians  much like a tax rebate.

Although its not yet clear how the rebates would function, the proposal is an acknowledgement that costs for gasoline and electricity are likely to rise, and lawmakers want to help insulate voters from the effects. The states transition toward low-emission technology could prove expensive over time, requiring the purchase of millions of electric vehicles and shuttering natural gas operations in favor of new solar plants.

This is a massive infrastructure replacement program for California, said Snuller Price, senior partner at E3, an energy efficiency consulting firm that has worked with state regulators. Were swapping out all of our things.

Wara said California needs different policies to set a new target.

Its a totally different animal. We need to acknowledge that, he said. Its going to a level of [emissions] reductions that no one has ever achieved.

The idea has been embraced by some policy wonks  state of the art, one writer proclaimed  but others see peril in this approach. No longer would companies be able to finance offsets  green projects intended to lower emissions anywhere in the country  to meet their obligations under the program, cutting the flow of cash from California industries to environmental efforts nationwide.

The legislation also includes a modification to the program that some environmental advocates fear would make it harder to ensure the state meets its goals. Under the new proposal, the state would sell an unlimited number of permits if prices reach the ceiling, rather than restricting how many are available as the program does now.

That adjustment would make cap and trade function more like a tax, said Nathaniel Keohane, vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, which is critical of the proposal and doesnt see the same threat of price spikes.

Its a fundamental, philosophical thing, he said.

Senate leader Kevin de Leon launches his push to phase out the use of fossil fuels for generating electricity at a solar farm in Davis on May 2. (Chris Megerian / Los Angeles Times)

De Leon wants to accelerate the process of reducing emissions from generating electricity. He launched new legislation, SB 100, to require the state to use renewable sources such as wind and solar for 60% of its power by 2030, up from the current target of 50%. By 2045, the use of fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas to generate electricity would no longer be allowed.

Its a big climb  about 20% of the states electricity came from renewable sources in 2015, the latest figures available. The proposal has been embraced by labor groups who see jobs in building new infrastructure, but some are skeptical.

Brent Newell, legal director at the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, doesnt want to see incentives for producing bio-gas from cow manure at industrial-scale dairies, which are a source of air and water pollution.

Although the legislation is pointing the compass in the right direction, he said, thats not clean energy.

Reaching the point where fossil fuels arent used to keep the lights on will require new approaches to Californias electricity grid. Renewable sources can be difficult to manage because its impossible to control when the sun shines or the wind blows. The challenge is finding ways to soak up electricity when theres too much, such as charging batteries or pumping water into reservoirs, and then releasing it when needed.

Another approach involves integrating Californias grid with other states, providing a wider market for excess solar energy thats produced here on sunny days and allowing more wind energy to flow in from turbines elsewhere in the region.

Theres a huge amount of efficiency to be gained, said Don Furman, who directs the Fix the Grid campaign.

The idea would require California to share control of the electricity grid with other states, which unnerves some lawmakers and advocates. Unions also fear changes that would make building energy projects more attractive outside of California.

Debates over these issues are drawing the most attention in the Capitol, but other proposals are bubbling up as well, a sign that many lawmakers want to get involved in the issue.

One measure would make it easier for low-income Californians to access solar power. Another would create a system for tracking electricity consumption to help pinpoint areas for more efficiency.

A lot of small steps create big momentum, said Lauren Navarro, a senior policy manager at the Environmental Defense Fund. These are pieces of what it takes to get to a clean-energy economy.

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian

ALSO

Trump is creating a void on climate change. Can California persuade other states to help fill it?

The fight against climate change in California gains an unlikely ally: Republicans

Updates on California politics
Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday presented a slightly sunnier view of Californias economy than he offered just four months ago, but nonetheless delivered one of his vintage sermons on the evils of overspending when outlining a new state spending plan.

And this time, the man who once trained to be a Jesuit priest singled out the states Republican members of the House for their unanimous vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act  a move that alone would result in California losing $18.6 billion in federal funds a decade from now.

They werent sent to Congress just to take orders from that crowd, or from Donald Trump, Brown said. I think they made a mistake, and theyre going to have to do penance for it.

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The $183.4-billion spending plan, revised from his first version in January, does not assume any actual loss of federal dollars, given that Congress remains divided over a number of issues on how to rework the Obamacare law. Nor does it offer any assurances that the state has a plan B should it come to pass. Brown has insisted that detailed plans must emerge in Washington before the state changes course.

What the new spending outline does do, though, is offer a handful of concessions to lawmakers, local governments and advocacy groups that had criticized Browns earlier budget proposal as too meager. The governor abandoned his call to delay expansion of full-day preschool and higher payments for child care providers. He also agreed to expand dental benefits for low-income adults, and reversed a decision to fully transfer a new healthcare delivery system to county governments.

Counties had been particularly vocal about Browns winter healthcare proposal, which would have cut annual state spending by $600 million on a program that seeks to streamline the use of medical and in-home support services by seniors and disabled citizens. Instead, the state will gradually reduce its subsidy over a four-year period.

We think well be able to avoid significant cuts to vital county services as a result of the infusion of cash, said Matt Cate, executive director of the California State Assn. of Counties.

The updated spending plan also, at first blush, offers good news for K-12 education. Under the long-standing constitutional guarantee, schools are generally promised more money when tax revenues rise. The governor proposes $1.4 billion more in general fund spending than he did in January. He also has dropped his effort to use future education dollars to pay current obligations, a complicated plan strongly opposed by education advocates.

But Browns new budget seeks to trim future school spending. We wouldnt be growing as fast as the rest of the budget under this plan, said Kevin Gordon, a longtime education lobbyist.

The new budget is likely to raise eyebrows, too, at the University of California, where Brown proposes tying $50 million in funding to recent promises on accepting more transfer students as well as recommendations made in the recent audit of UC President Janet Napolitanos office operations.

Political Road Map: California has $55 billion in tax breaks on the books, many here to stay 

That the governor can offer more money to a variety of programs is a sign that he and his advisors now believe their original economic projections were too conservative. In fact, completely missing from the governors question-and-answer session with reporters on Thursday was one of his most dire warnings in the first budget: a projected deficit of $1.6 billion.

Only later did his budget director, Michael Cohen, confirm that the new projected shortfall  absent any action to prevent it  would be only $400 million in the coming fiscal year. The change is driven by substantially higher estimates of personal income tax collections in the coming budget year, offset by weaker-than-assumed tax receipts for a time period that stretches back the summer of 2015. State budget writers generally use a three-year view of revenue collections to craft, and revise, Californias spending plan.

While the governor backed down on some of his preferred spending constraints, he held fast on others. Perhaps most contentious of those is Browns broad interpretation of the rules governing last years tobacco tax increase, Proposition 56.

Advocates believe that revenue from the new $2-per-pack tax is supposed to go to increasing access to Medi-Cal, the states healthcare program for the poor, and raising the low reimbursement rates paid to Medi-Cal providers. The governor, on the other hand, is calling for that money to be used to maintain existing program levels.

I think the voters voted in good faith, thinking that the money would be there, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said in an interview with The Times Sacramento bureau this week.

While the majority of the new spending plan represented tweaks or modifications of existing ideas, Brown introduced one notable and unique idea on Thursday when it comes to the states daunting obligation to pay for public employee pensions. In essence, the state would tap an internal government fund to make a one-time $6-billion payment to the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).

The money would effectively double the total size of the states contribution to the pension fund next year, and budget writers believe it could slightly ease the states obligation in future years to make rapidly rising annual payments for retirement promises made to government workers. The money would be a loan from the internal fund, and the debt would be paid back in part with money set aside in Californias newly expanded rainy-day fund.

Even with the proposals outlined Thursday, Brown insisted the states financial future remains unclear. And he offered a particularly sharp critique of the president and Republicans in Congress for changes that could send shockwaves westward.

The governor, standing beside a poster board emblazoned with the word Trumpcare and projecting multibillion-dollar healthcare cuts to California, also took aim at the wisdom of the presidents tax cut ideas.

We dont want a Trump tax program that exacerbates the growing disparity, and income gap, that is undermining American society, he said.

Times staff writer Melanie Mason contributed to this report

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: Does the state spend more money on schools or prisons?

Browns state budget dominance starts with a firm grip on revenue predictions

Updates on California politics and state government
Boy Scouts: Top leaders didnt call Trump to praise speech as the president said By Associated Press The Boy Scouts denied Wednesday that the head of the youth organization called President Donald Trump to praise his recent politically aggressive speech to its national jamboree. Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Wednesday, I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. Politico published the transcript of the interview. We are unaware of any such call, the Boy Scouts responded in a statement. It specified that neither of the organizations two top leaders  President Randall Stephenson and Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh  had placed such a call. The White House had no immediate response to the Boy Scouts denial. Surbaugh apologized last week to members of the scouting community who were offended by the political rhetoric in Trumps July 24 speech in West Virginia. Other U.S. presidents have delivered nonpolitical speeches at past jamborees. To the dismay of many parents and former scouts, Trump promoted his political agenda and derided his rivals, inducing some of the scouts in attendance to boo at the mention of former President Obama. I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree, Surbaugh said. That was never our intent. Surbaugh noted that every sitting president since 1937 has been invited to visit the jamboree. Stephenson told the Associated Press two days after the speech that Boy Scout leaders anticipated Trump would spark controversy with politically tinged remarks, yet felt obliged to invite him out of respect for his office. Hoping to minimize friction, the Boy Scouts issued guidelines to adult staff members for how the audience should react to the speech. Any type of political chanting was specifically discouraged. Stephenson, who did not attend Trumps speech, said the guidance wasnt followed impeccably. Facebook

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Mayor of London again calls on Trump to cancel state visit By Christina Boyle (AFP/Getty Images) The mayor of London has reiterated his calls for President Trumps state visit to Britain to be canceled in the wake of the citys terrorist incident, saying his policies go against everything we stand for. The war of words between the two leaders intensified further Monday evening after Trump criticized Mayor Sadiq Khans response to the London Bridge terrorist attack in two tweets, and the mayor said Trump should not be welcomed in the capital. Since Saturday Ive been working with the police, with the emergency services, with the government and others to deal with the horrific attack on Saturday, Khan said Monday evening. I just havent got the time to deal with tweets from Donald Trump. But when pressed on whether he thinks a state visit for later this year should go ahead as planned, Khan was unequivocal. My position remains the same. I dont think we should be rolling out the carpet to the president of the United States in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for, Khan told Channel 4 news. When you have a special relationship, it is no different to when you have a close mate: You stand with them in times of adversity, but you call them out when theyre wrong. And there are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong. Trump initially criticized Khan hours after the London attack posting on Twitter: At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is no reason to be alarmed! Khans office soon pointed out that the president had, in fact, misquoted Khan, who actually said that Londoners should not be alarmed by the increased armed police presence on the streets. Trump took to Twitter again on Monday to slam the London mayor once more. Pathetic excuse by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who had to think fast on his no reason to be alarmed statement. MSM [Mainstream media] is working hard to sell it! the president wrote. This is not the first time Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital city, has called for Trumps state visit to be banned. He previously branded Trumps policies on immigration and proposed travel ban on people entering the U.S. from predominantly Muslim countries cruel. An online government petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn also gathered more than 1.8 million votes. The visit was first announced during Prime Minister Theresa Mays trip to Washington, where she became the first foreign leader to meet the newly-inaugurated president. State visits are personal invites from the British monarch and involve a significant amount of pomp and ceremony, and usually a state banquet. Facebook

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He helped bring down President Nixon. He thinks President Trump is even worse. By Mark Z. Barabak (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) John Dean is a connoisseur of coverups, a savant of scandal, so he can more than imagine what its like inside the Trump White House right now. Its a nightmare, he said, presiding in a high-backed leather wing chair off the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Not just for those in the headlines  political strategist Steve Bannon, jack-of-many-duties Jared Kushner  but for their unsung assistants and secretaries as well. They dont know what their jeopardy is. They dont know what theyre looking at. They dont know if theyre a part of a conspiracy that might unfold. They dont know whether to hire lawyers or not, how theyre going to pay for them if they do, Dean said in a crisp law-counsel cadence. Its an unpleasant place. Dean was a central figure in Watergate, the 1970s political scandal against which all others are measured, serving at the tender age of 32 as President Nixons White House attorney. In that capacity Dean worked to thwart investigators after the clumsy break-in at Democratic Party headquarters, then flipped and helped sink Nixon by revealing the presidents involvement in the coverup. Read More Facebook

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Two decades ago, Washington state Republicans repealed and replaced a healthcare overhaul there. It didnt end well By Noam N. Levey Republicans in the state of Washington didnt wait long in the spring of 1995 to fulfill their pledge to roll back a sweeping law expanding health coverage in the state. Coming off historic electoral gains, the GOP legislators scrapped much of the law while pledging to make health insurance affordable and to free state residents from onerous government mandates. It didnt work out that way: The repeal left the states insurance market in shambles, sent premiums skyrocketing and drove health insurers from the state. It took nearly five years to repair the damage. Two decades later, the ill-fated experiment, largely relegated to academic journals, offers a caution to lawmakers at the national level as Republicans in the U.S. Senate race to write a bill to repeal and replace the federal Affordable Care Act. Its much easier to break something, said Pam MacEwan, who led a Washington state commission charged with implementing the law in the mid-1990s and now oversees the state insurance market there. Its more difficult to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  And thats when people get hurt. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office echoed that warning last week, when it concluded that the healthcare bill passed by the House last month would destabilize insurance markets in a sixth of the country and nearly double the number of people without health insurance over the next decade. Read More Facebook

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Companies accelerate hiring, adding a robust 253,000 net new jobs, ADP says By Jim Puzzanghera A now hiring sign is seen in Baton Rouge, La., on May 5. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Companies accelerated their hiring last month, adding a robust 253,000 net new jobs in a sign the labor market remains healthy and the economy is strengthening after a weak winter. The private-sector job creation figures reported Thursday by payroll firm Automatic Data Processing far exceeded analyst expectations and was well above the downwardly revised 174,000 net new positions added in April. Job growth is rip-roaring, declared Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Analytics, which assists ADP in preparing its report. Read More Facebook

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All jokes aside, Trumps covfefe tweet sparks questions too By Brian Bennett President Trump sparked a global kerfuffle over covfefe with his bizarrely truncated tweet just minutes into Wednesday, spawning countless jokes across Twitter but also more serious questions for which the White House gave no answers. Press Secretary Sean Spicer, during an unusually short 11-minute briefing in which he insisted he not be on camera, declined to give any explanation for Trumps tweet posted just after midnight. Nor would he translate what the president was trying to say in the garbled message that broke off midsentence. But Spicer told reporters that the public should not be concerned that the president sent what the questioner called somewhat of an incoherent tweet. The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant, Spicer said. Read More Facebook

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Biden launches new PAC, keeping the 2020 door open By David Lauter (Steven Senne / Associated Press) Former Vice President Joe Biden is launching a new political action committee, a platform that will allow him to provide help to favored candidates and, inevitably, boost speculation about a possible run for the Democratic nomination in 2020. The organization, which Biden is calling American Possibilities, will be staffed by a former top political aide to the vice president, Greg Schultz, who is also a veteran of President Obamas reelection campaign. The PAC will allow Biden to raise money that he can use to travel the country, contribute to candidates in governors races this year and congressional and state races in 2018 and generally do the sorts of things that aspiring politicians do to keep their names in the headlines. All that cant help but nurture questions about whether Biden, 74, will try yet again to attain the office he first started running for in 1987. In public appearances, which have taken him to electorally important states, and interviews since the 2016 election, Biden has been sharply critical of the Trump administration, but has also pointed to flaws in his own party. In one interview, he pointed to a bit of elitism thats crept in to the partys approach to working-class voters. At the same time, he has given carefully ambiguous answers when asked about his plans. At a conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, he responded to the question about a presidential run by saying: Could I? Yes. Would I? Probably not. In the announcement for the new group, Biden said that the negativity, the pettiness, the small-mindedness of our politics drives me crazy. Its not who we are. Its time for big dreams and American possibilities, he said. Facebook

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U.S., regions foreign ministers debate Venezuela By Tracy Wilkinson (AFP / Getty Images) The United States and foreign ministers from across the hemisphere met in Washington on Wednesday to attempt to force Venezuelas leftist government and its angry opposition into talks. Hunger and violence have pushed Venezuela to the brink of humanitarian disaster, diplomats say. But Wednesdays meeting of the Organization of American States faced unlikely prospects for success: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro does not trust the organization and has said his nation will withdraw its membership. Some OAS nations, including several U.S. allies in the Caribbean, have criticized the regional bodys efforts as intervention promoted by Washington. But U.S. officials are hoping the sheer weight of the crisis will unite the region to put pressure on Venezuela. Theres more and more concern about what were seeing, and so more and more countries have gotten over their reluctance to question or go against the wishes of the Venezuelan government, a senior State Department official said in a briefing for reporters. Its really hard to stand by and do nothing in the face of the kinds of institutional steps weve seen in Venezuela, and the increasing humanitarian suffering, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, in keeping with frequent administration practice. Although the OAS periodically brings its members foreign ministers together, this is the first time a meeting has been convened to deal with a single topic, U.S. officials said. At the conclusion of Wednesdays session, diplomats said they had discussed two resolutions. One, promoted by Caribbean nations, called on Venezuela to reconsider withdrawing from the OAS. A second more pointed resolution authored by the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Panama and Peru urged the Maduro administration not to go ahead with a constituent assembly that would rewrite the Venezuelan constitution. Many fear it would dissolve the few democratic institutions that remain and favor the ruling Socialist Party. Separately, the Venezuela opposition, emboldened by a string of increasingly massive street demonstrations, sharply criticized Wall Street for extending what it called a lifeline to the Maduro government. At issue is the purchase by Goldman Sachs of Venezuelan government bonds for a reported $865 million, a major discount for paper originally worth $2.8 billion. Goldman Sachs confirmed the purchase of the bonds, issued in 2014 by the state oil company PDVSA, after it was reported in the Wall Street Journal. We are invested in PDVSA bonds because, like many in the asset management industry, we believe the situation in the country must improve over time, Goldman said in a statement. The firm added that it made the purchase through a secondary dealer to avoid direct interaction with the Venezuelan government. That distinction meant nothing to the Venezuelan opposition, which accused Goldman of making a buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people. The Trump administration previously has targeted the Maduro government, slapping economic sanctions on its vice president and pro-Maduro Supreme Court justices. Facebook

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Former FBI director spoke with new special counsel and is cleared to testify before Senate panel By Joseph Tanfani The special counsel investigating possible links between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign has cleared former FBI Director James Comey to testify before a congressional committee about his contacts with President Trump, according to an associate close to Comey. Comey met with Robert S. Mueller III, whom the Justice Department appointed on May 17 to investigate any Russian ties to the Trump campaign, and Mueller said he had no problems with Comeys testifying, the associate said. Trump abruptly fired Comey as head of the FBI on May 9. The president later said in an interview on NBC News that he was concerned about the FBI investigation into what he called the Russia thing. Comey reportedly wrote internal memos after his meetings with Trump. In one, he wrote that the president had requested he ease up on the FBI probe of Michael Flynn, who served as Trumps national security advisor until he was ousted in February for lying about his contacts with Russian officials. The Senate Intelligence Committee announced on May 19 that Comey had agreed to testify after the Memorial Day holiday. The hearing has not been scheduled. The FBI separately declined a request from the House Oversight Committee to turn over Comeys memos. The bureau said it would need to consult with Mueller before making any decisions. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the committee chairman, said in response that he would not push the matter. The focus of the committees investigation is the independence of the FBI and the events leading to Comeys firing, he wrote. In a separate development, a senior Justice Department lawyer with experience in complex financial fraud investigations has agreed to join Muellers investigation. Andrew Weissman has led the fraud section at Justice, where he oversaw probes into corporate wrongdoing at Volkswagen and Takata. Weissman also is a veteran of the FBI. Weissman is the highest-ranking Justice Department official to join the special counsel office being set up a few blocks from the main Justice building in downtown Washington. Mueller also hired two colleagues from the WilmerHale law firm, where he worked, and brought on a former Justice Department spokesman, Peter Carr, to handle media inquiries. Facebook

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Analysis: In President Trumps wake, divisions mark both Democratic and Republican parties By Cathleen Decker Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez address a crowd at the California party convention in May. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Six months after President Trump breached long-standing political boundaries to win the White House, the nations major political parties still muddle in his wake. On the sun-swept lawn of the Hotel del Coronado two weeks ago, national Republican leaders sipped cocktails and listened to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, one of the partys brightest lights in the most populous state, praise a brand of moderate Republicanism that looks nothing like the versions coming out of Washington  either the populism of the president or the more orthodox conservatism of congressional leaders. A week later, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez talked in a Sacramento interview of the remarkably constructive debate underway in his party, characterizing its divisions as largely in the past. Within hours, he and other party leaders were booed as they welcomed delegates to a state convention that would be filled with persistent internal warfare on healthcare and other issues. No political party is immune to disagreement; indeed the path to power often relies on combustible ideological diversity. But Democrats and Republicans alike seem particularly adrift and quarrelsome these days. Read More Facebook

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Trump preparing to pull U.S. from Paris climate accord, amid last-minute lobbying By Evan Halper President Trump hasnt made a final decision on whether the U.S. will quit the Paris Accord on climate change, but White House officials indicated Wednesday that he was headed in that direction, setting off a worldwide reaction. A flurry of leaks, counter-leaks and public statements thrust back into the spotlight a decision that has been agonized and untidy even by the standards of a White House known for internal drama. Wednesday morning, when officials told some news organizations that Trump had settled on pulling out of the climate agreement, seemingly everyone in the world jumped in to try to influence or spin his decision, from the Chinese government to the coal industry to the state of California. That offered a foretaste of the reaction Trump likely will receive if he does follow through on his vow to pull the United States out of the 195-nation pact, which President Obama hailed in 2015 as one of his major achievements. Other nations have swiftly moved to take over the leadership role on climate that the United States would be abandoning. Some states have followed suit, promising they would break with Washington to work with other countries in their efforts to contain global warming. During Trumps recent overseas trip, U.S. allies warned him that Americas broader diplomatic influence would be undercut if the administration gave up its seat at the climate negotiating table. All the public lobbying on Wednesday moved Trump to weigh in himself. He knocked down reports that he had decided to withdraw with a tweet announcing that he was still making up his mind. The mixed messages coming out of the White House left open the possibility that the original news reports reflected the views of officials who were aiming to steer the final outcome by presenting withdrawal as a done deal. Trumps schedule for the day includes meetings with advisors hoping to talk him into staying in the agreement, at least to some extent. If Trump does withdraw the U.S. fully from the Paris pact, scientists warn it will be a tremendous setback to the worldwide effort to contain temperatures from rising an average of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The consequences for the United States would extend beyond global warming. It will be a very big deal all over the world, said Todd Stern, the lead U.S. climate negotiator during the Obama administration. There will be consequential blowback with respect to our diplomatic position across the board. UPDATES 9:27 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with staff reporting and additional details. 6:23 a.m.: This post was updated with Trumps tweet. 6:04 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with additional details. Facebook

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U.S. Supreme Court makes it harder to sue police for barging into homes By David Savage The U.S. Supreme Court made it harder to sue police for barging into a home and provoking a shooting, setting aside a $4-million verdict against two Los Angeles County deputies on Tuesday. The money was awarded to a homeless couple who were startled and then shot when the two sheriffs deputies entered the shack where they were sleeping. The unanimous ruling rejected the so-called provocation rule that some lower courts have used. Under that rule, police can be sued for violating a victims constitutional rights against unreasonable searches if they provoked a confrontation that resulted in violence. Read More Facebook

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Trump lashes out at Germany over NATO spending and trade after Merkel questions the U.S. commitment to its allies By Brian Bennett (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump took aim at German trade practices and defense spending Tuesday following pointed criticism from Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany may not be able to rely on its allies. We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change, Trump wrote in a tweet. Last week, White House spokespeople had denied that Trump criticized German trade practices after the German newspaper Der Spiegel quoted him as having done so. Trump unsettled Merkel and other allies during the recent NATO summit when, during his remarks, he did not mention the central commitment members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization make to defend each other. We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2017 Trumps policy toward climate change is another point of contention with many European countries. Trump promised during the election to tear up the landmark Paris climate accord. Merkel said the conversation with the U.S. on climate change last week during the G-7 meetings in Sicily, which followed the NATO summit, was extremely difficult. During a campaign speech in Munich on Sunday, Merkel said Germany must rethink how much it can rely on its allies. The era in which we could rely completely on others is gone, at least partially, Merkel said. I have experienced that over the last several days. In a 2014 meeting, NATO defense ministers agreed that each state would move toward a goal of raising military spending to 2% of its annual economic output by the year 2024. German defense spending is below that goal. The U.S. trade deficit with Germany shrank to $65 billion in 2016 from $75 billion the year before. Facebook

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Consumers spend at fastest pace in four months in a sign of spring economic rebound By Jim Puzzanghera (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Americans ratcheted up their spending in April at the fastest pace in four months, in a sign the economy has rebounded this spring after a lackluster winter. The new data also could help push Federal Reserve officials to hike a key interest rate again when they meet in two weeks. Personal consumption expenditures increased 0.4% in April, up from 0.3% the previous month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Americans had more money to spend, with personal incomes also rising 0.4%  twice the pace of growth in March. Read More Facebook

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White House communications director Michael Dubke resigns By Associated Press White House Communications Director Mike Dubke listens as a reporter asks a question during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on April 20. (Shawn Thew / EPA) White House communications director Michael Dubke has resigned. Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor, told The Associated Press that Dubke handed in his resignation before President Donald Trump left for his international trip earlier this month. In an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said Dubke made very clear that he would see through the presidents international trip, and come to work every day and work hard even through that trip because there was much to do here back at the White House. Dubke issued a statement Tuesday morning: It has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration. It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side-by-side, day-by-day with the staff of the communications and press departments. A Republican consultant, Dubke joined the White House team in February after campaign aide Jason Miller  Trumps original choice for communications director  withdrew from consideration. Dubke founded Crossroads Media, a GOP firm that specializes in political advertising. -- 6:03 a.m.: Updated with Dubkes statement Facebook

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Should Jared Kushner keep his security clearance? Adam Schiff isnt sure By Laura King The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), says hes not sure that President Trumps son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, should retain his security clearance. The California Democrat, who has been a sharp critic of Trump, also said in an interview aired Sunday that national security advisor H.R. McMaster, a highly respected military officer, had been tarnished by his association with the White House. Schiffs comments, on ABCs This Week, came amid growing questions about Kushners contacts with Russian officials before Trump took office. Trump has denounced the latest round of news reports, saying that some of them could be based on fabricated sources. Top Trump aides, including John F. Kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security, pushed back Sunday against the suggestion that there was anything untoward about establishing back channel communications with the Russians during the presidential transition. Schiff said he regretted that McMaster had done so as well, saying he believed the White House used the solid reputations of people like him to back up dubious actions. Sadly, I think this is an administration that takes in people with good credibility and chews them out and spits out their credibility at the same time, said Schiff, who acknowledged that what McMaster said about back channel communications was true in the abstract. I think anyone within the Trump orbit is at risk of being used, he said. Kelly, in separate talk-show appearances on Sunday, said there was nothing untoward about an incoming administration establishing communications with a foreign power in order to lay the groundwork for better relations. Schiff declined to discuss the substance of the allegations regarding Kushners contact with Russian officials during the transition and whether Kushner had been forthcoming about them, but said enough questions had been raised that his access to top-secret intelligence should be scrutinized. I think we need to get to the bottom of these allegations, Schiff said. But I do think there ought to be a review of his security clearance to find out whether he was truthful, whether he was candid. If not, then theres no way he can maintain that kind of a clearance. Schiff was also critical of continuing involvement in aspects of the Russia probe by fellow Californian Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who stepped aside from the probe earlier this year after the House Ethics Committee began investigating whether he had improperly revealed classified information. Nunes remains involved in decision-making about the issuance of subpoenas, Schiff said, adding: I dont think that he should, given that he has stepped aside or recused himself. The committee is investigating Russian entanglements by figures in Trumps circle, including fired national security advisor Michael Flynn, who has been the target of multiple subpoenas. Facebook

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Trump still wide open on climate change, Pentagon chief says By Laura King With President Trump set to make a decision this week about whether the U.S. should remain part of the landmark Paris climate accord, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Trump remains wide open on the issue. During a visit to Europe that ended Saturday, Trump dismayed European allies by refusing to commit to remaining in the 2015 accord during talks with European Union officials in Brussels and at the Group of Seven gathering in Sicily. The president said in a tweet that he will make a decision this week. Mattis, who was present at some of the Brussels talks, said that Trump is still making up his mind, and that he has been inquisitive about other leaders opinions. The president was open  he was curious about why others were in the position they were in, his counterparts in other nations, the Defense secretary said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS Face the Nation. And Im quite certain the president is wide open on this issue as he takes in the pros and cons of that accord. During his European trip, Trump met privately at the Vatican with Pope Francis, who presented him with a copy of his papal encyclical on environment and climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with Trump in Brussels, also said he had pressed the issue with the U.S. president, though the White House did not mention that appeal in a summary of their meeting. Facebook

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Homeland Security secretary defends Jared Kushner, blasts Manchester intelligence leaks By Laura King There is nothing inherently wrong with an incoming presidential administration establishing back channel communications with a foreign power such as Russia, Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly said Sunday. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Kelly was asked about reports by the Washington Post and other outlets that President Trumps son-in-law and close advisor, Jared Kushner, sought to set up secret lines of communication with Russian officials prior to Trump being sworn in. The retired general did not confirm the reports, but said the principle of establishing secretive contacts during a presidential transition doesnt bother me and is a legitimate means of building relationships. I think that any channel of communication, back or otherwise, with a country like Russia is a good thing, he said. Kelly did not address a central element of the reports  that Kushner discussed the possibility of using Russian communications channels from a Russia diplomatic outpost to shield from U.S. intelligence surveillance whatever discussions Trump transition officials wanted to have with Moscow. The FBI, a special counsel and multiple congressional committees are probing Russian interference in the presidential campaign and whether the Trump camp colluded in it. The U.S. intelligence community says Russian cyberattacks were meant to boost Trump and harm his opponent, Hillary Clinton. In a separate interview on NBCs Meet the Press, Kelly defended the integrity of Kushner, whose involvement in communications with Russia has brought the investigation closer to Trump personally than has previous scrutiny of others in his campaign circle or the White House. Calling Kushner a great guy, a decent guy, the Homeland Security secretary said the presidents son-in-laws No. 1 interest, really, is the nation. Also in the NBC interview, Kelly excoriated intelligence leaks in the wake of last weeks deadly bombing in Manchester, England. British officials including Prime Minister Theresa May were angered by disclosures about details of the investigation, including the release of the dead attackers name and detailed photos from the bomb scene that were published by the New York Times. Several outlets cited unnamed U.S. officials as the source of the information including the bombers identity. The Times did not say how it obtained the photos. Britain routinely shares intelligence with close allies like the United States with the expectation that it will be kept confidential. Kelly said that failing to keep such secrets could seriously damage intelligence-sharing arrangements with other nations. I believe when you leak the kind of information that seems to be routinely leaked - high, high level of classification I think its darn close to treason, Kelly said. It is not clear what level of classification, if any, the information about the British investigation would have had. Trump himself, who recently caused controversy when he passed sensitive intelligence on Islamic State to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed the location of U.S. nuclear submarines with the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has denounced the Manchester leaks and vowed to track down the source or sources. Facebook

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In tweets, Trump says stories based on White House leaks are fabricated By Laura King President Trump is back  and tweeting. In a Sunday morning series of posts on Twitter, the president repeated his denunciations of the fake media, celebrated the Republican victory in a Montana special election and declared his overseas trip a success. Trump returned to the White House late Saturday after a swing through the Middle East and Europe, the first foreign trip of his presidency. During it, he tweeted only sparingly. While Trump was away, controversy continued to swirl around his White House, with media reports focusing on son-in-law Jared Kushners role in Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials. The GOP healthcare plan and Trumps budget also came under withering scrutiny during the presidents absence. In Sundays tweets, Trump said cascading leaks from within his administration were in fact fabricated lies by news organizations based on sources that did not exist. One tweet was corrected to fix the spelling of exist. It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2017 Trump also complained that the special congressional election in Montana, called to fill the seat vacated when Ryan Zinke became his Interior secretary, was such a big deal to Dems & Fake News until the Republican won. The V was poorly covered, he said, referring to the Republican victory. The victory by Republican candidate Greg Gianforte received extensive coverage. It was widely expected, given Montanas significant Republican edge, but made more suspenseful on the eve of the election when Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault for an incident in which he struck a reporter who had asked him a question. The president received mixed reviews for his inaugural overseas venture. He was praised by some for his outreach to Sunni Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, but continued his administrations practice of making no public criticism of serious human rights violations. In Europe, he rattled allies by declining to explicitly endorse the NATO alliances bedrock common defense pledge or pledge to adhere to the Paris climate accord. Whatever the commentary surrounding the trip, Trump counted it a success. Hard work but big results, he wrote. Facebook

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Trumps international trip underscored what America First looks like on the world stage By Michael Memoli Donald Trump made no secret during the presidential campaign of his disdain for Americas trading partners, his skepticism of longtime alliances and his eagerness to refocus U.S. foreign policy on the single-minded pursuit of American security. That was the largely the president the world got as Trump made his way through the Middle East and Western Europe over the last nine days, Trumps first foreign trip may have produced memorable, and at time cringe-inducing, images of the new president, whether grasping a glowing orb in Saudi Arabia or shoving the prime minister of Montenegro at a NATO meeting in Brussels. But perhaps most profoundly, the trip underscored what America First, as Trump has branded his governing philosophy, looks like on the world stage. Read More Facebook

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Trump says hell decide on Paris climate deal next week By Associated Press Seven wealthy democracies ended their summit Saturday in Italy without unanimous agreement on climate change, as the Trump administration plans to take more time to say whether the U.S. is going to remain in the Paris accord on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The other six nations in the Group of Seven agreed to stick with their commitment to implement the 2015 Paris deal that aims to slow down global warming. The final G-7 statement, issued after two days of talks in the seaside town of Taormina, said the U.S. is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics. Trump tweeted he would decide his stance on the Paris agreement next week. The announcement on the final day of the U.S. presidents first international trip comes after he declined to commit to staying in the sweeping climate deal, resisting intense international pressure from his peers at the summit. I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2017 Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who chaired the meeting, said the other six wont change our position on climate change one millimeter. The U.S. hasnt decided yet. I hope they decide in the right way. Gentiloni said climate was not a minor point and that he hoped the United States would decide soon and well because the Paris accords need the contribution of the United States. French President Emmanuel Macron also chimed in on the climate issue, praising Trumps capacity to listen. Macron said he told Trump it is indispensable for the reputation of the United States and the interest of the Americans themselves that the United States remain committed to the Paris climate agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was more downbeat, calling the G-7 climate talks very unsatisfactory. Facebook

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Everyones a winner! Or what to take away from that special congressional race in Montana By Mark Z. Barabak Republicans were celebrating Friday, and relieved, and it was easy to see why: The party hung on to Montanas sole congressional seat even though its candidate faced a freshly lodged criminal charge for physically assaulting a reporter on election eve. Though they fell short in yet another special election  Greg Gianforte won handily, 50% to 44%  Democrats also found reason to be pleased: Their candidate, flawed as he was, continued a pattern of polling better than might be expected  over-performing, to use the political parlance, and that could hold future promise. Its possible, as elections analyst Nathan Gonzales put it, to lose and still have momentum. Read More Facebook

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In commencement address, Hillary Clinton remembers fallout from Nixon, makes subtle jab at President Trump By Kurtis Lee Hillary Clinton delivers the commencement address at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., on Friday. (Josh Reynolds / Associated Press) Hillary Clinton delivered a subtle dig at President Trump on Friday, offering some parallels between his presidency and that of former President Nixon. While delivering a commencement address at her alma mater, Wellesley College, a private womens liberal arts school in Massachusetts, Clinton, without naming Trump, recalled how many young people in the 1970s reacted to Nixons reelection and later battles with the Justice Department. We were furious about the past presidential election of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with his impeachment for obstruction of justice, she said, pausing to note she was referring to Nixon. Actually, Nixon was not impeached, though many in Congress, including members of his own party, called for it. Clinton said Nixons resignation came after he fired the person heading the investigation into him at the Department of Justice. In 1973, Nixon ordered Justice Department officials to fire a special prosecutor who was looking into taped conversations recorded in the Oval Office as part of the Watergate investigation. A year later, in August 1974, Nixon resigned. Some political observers  mostly Democrats -- have compared Trumps recent firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, who was overseeing an investigation of possible collusion between Russians and Trumps campaign, to Nixons actions. Last week, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) called for Trump to be impeached. Clinton, who has made few public appearances since Trump defeated her in last years presidential election, also assailed the Republicans new budget proposal. She called the budget, which proposes cuts to education and Medicaid, an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us  the youngest, the oldest, the poorest and hard-working people who need a little help to gain or hang on to a decent, middle-class life. In a statement, the Republican National Committee said Clinton was lashing out after her election loss. Clinton graduated from Wellesley in 1969 and last delivered a commencement address at the school in 1992. Facebook

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At G-7 Summit, a day of clarification for the White House By Michael A. Memoli (Sean Gallup / Getty Images) As President Trump met with leaders of the worlds leading economies here Friday within miles of an active volcano, the White House was working to ease a pair of diplomatic eruptions. Trump was due to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in this coastal Sicilian resort town, amid tensions between their countries, longtime allies, following leaks to U.S. media outlets involving Britains investigation of the Manchester terrorist bombing. Separately, a top White House adviser partially confirmed reports that Trump had said Germany is very bad during Thursdays NATO meetings in Brussels, but clarified that the president was referring only to German trade policies. Trump said, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel, See the millions of cars they are selling to the U.S.? Terrible. We will stop this. Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, acknowledged that Trump made the remark but added that the president doesnt have a problem with Germany. He said his dad is from Germany. He said I dont have a problem with Germany, I have a problem with German trade, Cohn said. Press access to the G-7 meetings has been extremely limited, though the surrounding setting has produced abundant compelling visuals. Editorial press access extremely limited for G7 meetings. But man, pretty pictures & good times for Taormina Chamber of Commerce (via AP) pic.twitter.com/WT2EdKrwJ5  Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) May 26, 2017 Trump tweeted that he expected to spend the day focused on economic growth, terrorism and security. The summit, and Trumps eight-day inaugural foreign trip, ends Saturday. Other allies here were likely to press Trump on another issue: climate change, specifically whether Trump will carry out his campaign promise to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate deal. Trump was hoping to better understand the European position, Cohn said. White House officials have said the president will make a decision once he is back in the United States. He knows that in the U.S. theres very strong opinions on both sides but he also knows that Paris has important meaning to many of the European leaders. And he wants to clearly hear what the European leaders have to say, Cohn said. Facebook

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As Trump wavers over Paris climate accord, European leaders give him an earful By Evan Halper Mining operation near Grevenbroich, Germany. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press) With President Trump balking on his vow to shred the Obama-negotiated Paris agreement on climate change, the last place the pacts staunch opponents wanted to see the president is where he will be this weekend  meeting other world leaders unanimous in their warnings that withdrawal from the accord would seriously damage Americas economy and world stature. Trump has repeatedly delayed fulfilling his campaign pledge to move against the agreement. The longer the White House deliberates over Paris, the more Trump seems to be searching for a face-saving excuse to walk back his previous position. The White House indecision over the climate accord  which has the support of every nation except Syria and Nicaragua  reflects a deeply divided worldview in a Trump inner circle now packed with establishment Republicans. The issue also presents yet another policy reckoning for Trump. On the campaign trail, he vowed to strike blows against the existing world order. But on the Paris agreement, as on other matters, he is finding that political backup for such pledges can fade quickly when the moves lack robust support from major U.S. companies or majority voting blocs. Read More Facebook

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Overcoming assault charge, Republican Greg Gianforte wins Montana congressional seat By Mark Z. Barabak Republican Greg Gianforte overcame a last-minute assault charge to win Montanas special congressional election Thursday, keeping its lone House seat in GOP hands and dealing Democrats a setback in their bid to gain a red-state toehold ahead of the 2018 midterm election. Gianforte, 56, a wealthy businessman who ran unsuccessfully for governor in November, had long been the front-runner against Democrat Rob Quist, a professional bluegrass musician making his first run for public office. With more than 90% of the votes counted, Gianforte was holding a healthy lead with just over 50% support. Appearing at an exuberant victory rally in Bozeman, the congressman-elect hushed the crowd and apologized to the reporter with whom he tangled on election eve, reversing his campaigns initial assertion that the journalist was to blame. Read More Facebook

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FBI investigating Kushner meetings, report says; House leader seeks more Comey documents By Associated Press (Andrew Harrer / Getty Images) The chairman of the House Oversight Committee asked the FBI on Thursday to turn over more documents about former FBI Director James B. Comeys interactions with the White House and Justice Department, including materials dating back nearly four years to the Obama administration. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that the FBI is investigating meetings that President Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had in December with Russian officials. The FBI and the Oversight Committee  as well as several other congressional panels  are looking into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible connections between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump fired Comey on May 9 amid questions about the FBIs investigation, which is now being led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director. Kushner, a key White House advisor, had meetings late last year with Russias ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. The Post story cited anonymous people familiar with the investigation, who said the FBI investigation does not mean that Kushner is suspected of a crime. Kushners attorney, Jamie Gorelick, released a statement saying: Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry. Earlier Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe that he wants records of Comeys contacts with the White House and Justice Department dating to September 2013, when Comey was sworn in as FBI director under President Obama. In a letter to McCabe, Chaffetz said he is seeking to review Comeys memos and other written materials so he can better understand Comeys communications with the White House and attorney generals office. Facebook

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Banks want higher debit-card swipe fees, but an effort to allow them has crumbled By Jim Puzzanghera Banks had hoped Congress would let them charge merchants higher fees to process debit card purchases, but an effort to allow that has crumbled  a victory for retailers and, possibly, shoppers who might have had to shoulder those costs. In the latest chapter of a long-running fight, a repeal of federal limits on so-called swipe fees no longer will be part of a House financial regulation bill, said the legislations author, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he decided to strip the provision from the bill because many lawmakers are balking at removing the limits. Read More Facebook

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Appeals court rules against Trump travel ban By David Lauter A federal appeals court has ruled against President Trumps travel ban, upholding a nationwide injunction barring the administration from enforcing the executive order. The ruling is the latest legal setback for Trump on the travel issue and, like several previous court rulings, the outcome rested heavily on his own words. Trumps order restricting travel from six majority-Muslim countries speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination, Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in his ruling. Read the 4th Circuits decision to uphold the block on Trumps travel ban The 10-3 ruling included numerous citations to campaign statements in which Trump called for a ban on Muslims immigrating to the United States. The plaintiffs who have challenged the travel order have argued that it is a disguised version of the Muslim ban that he called for during the campaign. Trumps statements provide direct, specific evidence of what motivated both EO-1 and EO-2, the court said, referring to ther first and second versions of the travel order: President Trumps desire to exclude Muslims from the United States. The 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Va., is one of two appeals courts that have recently heard arguments on the travel ban. A similar case is pending before the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco. Read More Facebook

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Obama, in Berlin with Merkel, says world cant hide behind a wall By Erik Kirschbaum Hours before German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Brussels to meet with President Trump and other NATO heads of state, she rekindled an old acquaintance with Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama. About 70,000 people packed an avenue by Berlins landmark Brandenburg Gate on Thursday to hear the two leaders speak, with cheers and chants of Barack, Barack! breaking out when the former president took the stage. Without mentioning Trump by name, Obama spoke of the need for universal healthcare and a nuanced approach to immigration in response to security threats. This is a new world we live in  we cant isolate ourselves, the former president declared, with Merkel looking on. We cant hide behind a wall. Obama spoke of this weeks deadly bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, England, saying leaders had to find ways to balance security fears and fundamental rights. One of the biggest challenges is how do you protect your country and your citizens from the kinds of things that we just saw in Manchester, he said. And how do you do it in a way that is consistent with your values and your ideals? Making his first European speech since his presidential term ended, Obama told the crowd he had spent the last four months trying to catch up with my sleep and devoting more time to his family. Im very proud of the work I did as president, he said to more cheers, adding that he considered healthcare reform a signature achievement. Republicans are now in the midst of trying to dismantle his Affordable Care Act. My hope was to get 100% of people healthcare, he said. We didnt quite achieve that, but we were able to get 20 million people healthcare who didnt have it before. Obamas speech was not timed to coincide with Trumps first visit to Europe as president, aides said. The invitation was extended before Trumps trip to Brussels  the fourth leg on multi-stop tour  was scheduled. Facebook

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Macron says he pressed Trump on climate accord By Catherine Stupp French President Emmanuel Macron, who met President Trump for the first time on Thursday, said he urged the U.S. leader to respect the Paris climate accord. The White House, however, did not mention the issue in its readout on Trumps working lunch in Brussels with the newly elected French president. Macron told reporters as he headed into the meeting that climate change would be one of the issues he raised, along with concerns about terrorism and the economy. Afterward, at a news conference, the French president said that in his talk with Trump, he reiterated the importance of the landmark climate accord. No hasty decision on this subject should be taken by the U.S., Macron said. Our collective responsibility is to make sure this commitment remains a global commitment. Referring to the agreement, he added: Its one of a kind. In its readout, the White House said Trump urged Macron to meet NATO commitments on French defense spending and help ensure that the alliance is focused on counter-terrorism. It also said the two leaders talked about the importance of defeating Islamic State and other vital issues. Facebook

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Trump lawyers ask Supreme Court to reject 2nd Amendment claim by men who lost gun rights over nonviolent crimes By David Savage President Trump speaks at an NRA event in Atlanta in April. ( Scott Olson / Getty Images) Trump administration lawyers are urging the Supreme Court to reject a 2nd Amendment claim that would restore the right to own a gun for two Pennsylvania men who were convicted more than 20 years ago of nonviolent crimes. The case of Sessions vs. Binderup puts the new administration in a potentially awkward spot, considering President Trumps repeated assurances during the campaign that he would protect gun ownership rights under the 2nd Amendment. But the Justice Department under Trump has embraced the same position in this case that was adopted under President Obama: to defend strict enforcement of a long-standing federal law that bars convicted criminals from ever owning a gun, even when their crimes did not involve violence. Read More Facebook

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Former Sen. Joe Lieberman withdraws from FBI director search By Associated Press (AFP/Getty Images) Former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has withdrawn his name from consideration for the role of FBI director. Lieberman interviewed last week with President Trump, who publicly identified him as a leading candidate. But in a letter sent to the White House, Lieberman says hes pulling out. He says he wants to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, given Trumps hiring of one of Liebermans law partners to represent him in the investigation of ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. The White House declined to comment. Several other people interviewed for the job have also withdrawn from consideration. Trump fired former FBI Director James B. Comey earlier this month. Facebook

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At NATO celebration, Trump tells allies to spend more on defense By Michael A. Memoli (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump used his first NATO meeting to rebuke member nations who fail to meet the trans-Atlantic alliances defense spending target, saying American taxpayers unfairly are left to pick up the slack. Speaking at dedication ceremonies for NATOs new headquarters, Trump noted that the defense budgets of 23 of the 28 members dont meet a target equal to 2% of each respective nations economic output, while the United States has spent more on defense in eight years than the other 27 combined. Many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years, he said. We have to make up for the many years lost. By his scolding, Trump was directly delivering to NATO allies the criticism that was a staple of his nationalist campaign for president. But his lecture came at an event intended to be celebratory, showcasing unity and resolve for the nearly 70-year-old alliance: the dedication of its shining, glass-enclosed new headquarters in Belgiums capital. The ceremony also was meant to call attention to the fact that the only time NATO has invoked its collective defense agreement was on behalf of the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Trump stood beside a section of wrenched steel from the downed World Trade Center Towers, a relic NATO calls the Article V artifact, to signify that post-9/11 invocation of the NATO charters article holding that an attack on any one member would be considered an attack on all. Speaking to reporters before the president arrived, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged that the alliance had a long way to go to meet its goals. But its much better than it was just two years ago, he said. The reality is that when we decrease defense spending when tensions are going down, as we did after the end of the Cold War, we have to be able to increase defense spending when tensions are going up. And now we see that tensions are going up. Facebook

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Watch: Trump lectures NATO leaders on defense spending By L.A. Times staff  As NATO leaders looked on, President Trump told NATO members that they must finally contribute their fair share of defense payments. President Trump lectured members of the NATO alliance on Thursday, urging them to pay their fair share on defense. As NATO leaders looked on during a ceremony at the alliances new headquarters, Trump said that member nations must finally contribute their fair share and meet their obligations. The president has been urging NATO leaders to live up to a 2011 decision to increase spending on defense to 2% of GDP by 2024. Trump said 23 of the 28 member nations are not paying what they should and that the situation is not fair to the people of the United States. Facebook

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President Trump promises to review Manchester investigation leaks after anger from Britain By Noah Bierman Trying to head off a diplomatic rift with Britain, President Trump on Thursday issued a statement promising a complete review of possible intelligence leaks related to this weeks deadly terrorist attack at a Manchester concert. Some British officials have suggested that U.S. officials are leaking sensitive information to American media outlets about the investigation into the attack. The New York Times posted forensic photographs collected from the scene of the Manchester concert bombing, which upset British officials. Whether the photographs were provided by U.S. officials or came from some other source is not publicly known. Trump avoided questions earlier Thursday about the possible leaks. His statement came just before he was set to address NATO at its new headquarters in a speech considered pivotal to his first trip abroad as president. British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to confront Trump over the issue when they meet later in the day. May told reporters as she entered the NATO gathering that she would make clear to Trump that intelligence shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. We have a special relationship with the USA. Its our deepest defense and security partnership that we have, she said. Of course that partnership is built on trust, and part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently, and I will be making clear to President Trump today that intelligence shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. In his statement, Trump said that the alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling. These leaks have been going on for a long time, and my Administration will get to the bottom of this. The leaks of sensitive information pose a grave threat to our national security. The statement continued with a promise to request the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to

launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the

culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Trump also reiterated said there is no relationship we cherish more than the special relationship between the two countries. Separate leaks within his own administration and related to investigations of his campaign ties to Russia have also been a source of anger to Trump. Facebook

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Montanas congressional election: that assault charge, the Trump factor, and why is it on a weird day (Thursday)? By Mark Z. Barabak Its election day in Montana after a wild 24 hours, with voters deciding who will fill the House seat vacated when Republican Ryan Zinke left to head the Interior Department under President Trump. The contest Thursday has drawn nationwide attention and an extraordinary amount of money  and that was before the GOP front-runner was accused of attacking a national political reporter. The events have turned the contest into one of the strangest in memory. Read More Facebook

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Trump ignores questions about intelligence sharing ahead of NATO meeting By Michael A. Memoli (Peter Dejoing / Associated Press) President Trump refused to answer questions Thursday about concerns among key allies on intelligence sharing with the United States, just as he prepares to join many of them here to inaugurate the new NATO headquarters. During a brief photo opportunity at his first meeting with Emmanuel Macron, Frances newly elected president, Trump for a second time remained silent as a reporter asked about a potential breakdown in the U.S.-United Kingdom intelligence-sharing relationship. British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to press Trump on the issue when they meet later Thursday, after the New York Times posted forensic photographs collected from the scene of the Manchester concert bombing. The acting U.S. ambassador to Britain told the BBC that the leaks were deeply distressing. Speaking to reporters at the site of a NATO leaders meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also deflected questions about whether the incident has led him to reevaluate his nations intelligence-sharing arrangements. We will continue to work with all our allies to keep Canadians and all citizens around the world safe, he said. Ahead of a working lunch with Macron, Trump said terrorism was at the top of the agenda, while also offering his congratulations to the 39-year-old for his tremendous victory. All over the world, theyre talking about it, he said. In addition to terrorism and the economy, Macron said he planned to discuss climate change and energy. His nation hosted the climate summit that produced the agreement under which countries pledged to reduce their carbon emissions, of which the Trump administration is considering dropping out. Trump also ignored a question about whether former national security advisor Michael Flynn should cooperate with the investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has no news conference scheduled with reporters for the entirety of his eight-day foreign trip, which ends Saturday. Facebook

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Trump visits European Union headquarters; EU leaders cite some differences By Catherine Stupp Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said Thursday that differences remain between the Trump administration and the European Union on Russia, energy and trade. I am not 100 percent sure that we can say today that we have a common opinion about Russia, Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who is sometimes called the other Donald, said after a meeting with President Trump at EU headquarters. Tusk added that while some issues remain open, like climate and trade, the leaders agreed first and foremost on the need to combat terrorism. EU officials were skeptical in advance of Trumps visit. Their concerns were driven in part by the U.S. leaders positive stance on Britains vote last year to leave the bloc. Trump at the time called it a great idea. However, he has since spoken of the importance of European unity. European officials are also concerned that the Trump administration might withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming, and turn away from trade arrangements with the EU. Trumps visit to Brussels marked the fourth leg of his first overseas trip. Before heading into the talks with Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, he spoke enthusiastically about his earlier stops in Saudi Arabia and at the Vatican. His ceremonial welcome last week in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Trump told the European officials, was beyond anything anyones seen. The Saudis staged elaborate festivities including a traditional sword dance. And the president called his private encounter with Pope Francis on Wednesday very impressive. The president and the pontiff met privately for half an hour, and Francis presented Trump with gifts including a copy of a papal encyclical on climate change. The pope was terrific, Trump said. After the visit to the EUs sprawling new headquarters, Trump headed to a luncheon with the newly elected French president, Emmanuel Macron. The two men were meeting for the first time. During the French presidential campaign, Trump had praised Macrons far-right opponent Marine Le Pen for her tough positions on immigration and borders, but he had stopped short of endorsing her. Facebook

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Manchester attack makes terrorism the focus of Trumps NATO meeting By Michael A. Memoli (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images) The deadly suicide bombing in Britain and threats of more attacks thrust counter-terrorism to the top of President Trumps agenda for talks with NATO leaders here on Thursday, buttressing his bid to enlist the alliance he had called obsolete to join the fight against Islamic State. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, anticipating the alliance meetings, told reporters flying with the president to Brussels from Rome, where Trump met Pope Francis earlier Wednesday, that Mondays attack in Britain is going to strengthen the resolve in this fight against terrorism. Tillerson stopped short of predicting that NATO would agree to formally join the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but said it would be a really important step if the alliance did so. The attack, which killed 22 people at a pop concert and was said to be the work of a 22-year-old British man whose family is from Libya, also figured in Trumps brief meeting with the pope at the Vatican. Read More Facebook

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Analysis says 23 million more people would be uninsured by 2026 under GOP healthcare bill By Noam N. Levey (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) An analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finds that the Republican healthcare bill that passed the House earlier this month would nearly double the number of Americans without health insurance over the next decade. The report likely will complicate Republican efforts to get the controversial bill through the Senate. Read More Facebook

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By throwing Americas lot in with Sunni Arabs, does Trump miss opportunities with Iran? By Tracy Wilkinson On his first official trip to the Middle East, President Trump has resoundingly thrown Americas lot in with Sunni Arab states and cast Shiite Iran as a global pariah, even as Iranians reelected a president who has offered to work with the West. During his two days in Riyadh, Trumps full-throated support for the autocratic monarchies in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, as well as his fierce denunciation of Iran, allowed him to claim an historic new coalition of interests. In the next two days, in Jerusalem, he doubled down and argued that Israel and the Arabs should join forces against Iran and along the way, resolve Israels conflict with Palestinians in a grand bargain that has eluded diplomats for decades. But as he departed for Rome on Tuesday, Trump had little to show beyond lofty rhetoric, symbolic visits and a shower of flattery from kings, potentates and a prime minister. Read More Facebook

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Fed officials appear ready for another interest rate hike and are considering how to reduce assets By Jim Puzzanghera Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen (Michael Dwyer / Associated Press) Most Federal Reserve monetary policymakers indicated they were ready for another small interest rate hike -- perhaps as soon as next month -- if economic data strengthened as expected following a weak winter, according to an account released Wednesday of their most recent meeting. Fed officials also considered a plan to start reducing the $4.5 trillion in Treasury and mortgage securities and other assets the central bank has purchased since 2008 in an attempt to stimulate the economy. The plan, which they said likely would begin later this year, would involve slowly allowing some of the maturing securities to be cashed in instead of reinvesting the money in new securities, the meeting minutes showed. The goal would be to avoid roiling financial markets and causing interest rates to jump. Read More Facebook

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So whats with the president and Melania Trump holding, or not holding, hands? By Tom Kington First Lady Melania Trump does not say much in public, but her actions seemed to speak louder than words  or at least sent tongues wagging  when she appeared to rebuff the presidents proffered hand as the couple descended from their plane in Rome late Tuesday. As President Trump looked to take her hand on the steps of Air Force One, Melania Trump quickly moved it out of reach, raising it to her head to adjust her hair. That made for two such episodes in two days. She had appeared to brush Trumps hand away at the airport in Tel Aviv during the previous stop in the presidents foreign tour. Video of that scene, often accompanied by snarky commentary, quickly went viral. Compare that to Melania Trumps positively hands-on visit on Wednesday to a Rome childrens hospital, Bambino Gesu, following the couples visit with Pope Francis. After praying to a statue of the Madonna at the entrance to the hospital, the Catholic first lady smiled cheerfully and chatted to children, posing for selfies and providing a very happy, maternal presence, according to one onlooker. Great visiting you! Stay strong and positive! Much love, Melania Trump, she wrote in the visitors book. Staff at the hospital said Melania Trump had been buoyed by her meeting with Pope Francis, and further proof came when photos emerged of the Trumps quick visit to the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday. As the president and first lady stood together to admire Michelangelos 16th century fresco, the Last Judgment, they held hands. Facebook

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House Intelligence Committee will subpoena Michael Flynn, Schiff says By Sarah D. Wire The House Intelligence Committee is preparing to issue subpoenas to President Trumps former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, according to the committees ranking Democrat, following the lead of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said the House subpoenas will be designed to maximize our chance of getting the information we need for the committees investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. I think we need to use whatever compulsory [processes] necessary to get the information that he possesses, Schiff said. Earlier this week, Flynns lawyers said he would refuse separate Senate subpoenas for any records about his former business dealings with Russia, citing his constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. The Senate committee then issued separate subpoenas to two of Flynns businesses, which the panel said were not entitled to 5th Amendment protections. A federal grand jury in Virginia also has issued subpoenas regarding Flynns business dealings with Turkey and Russia, and the newly appointed special counsel investigating the Russia matter, Robert Mueller III, is expected to focus on Flynns role as well. Given the criminal investigations, Schiff said the House panel is highly unlikely to grant Flynns earlier request, through his lawyers, for immunity in exchange for his testimony. He said the panel would need more information about what Flynn would say and whether the testimony would be truthful. It also would need to ensure that granting immunity wouldnt affect the special counsels ongoing investigation, he said. Thats not somthinge I think we would entertain until far later, if at all, said Schiff, a former prosecutor. Certainly count me as very skeptical that we would get to that point. Trump forced Flynn to resign as national security advisor in February after news accounts revealed Flynn had misled White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his contacts with Russian officials. Schiff spoke to reporters at a breakfast Wednesday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Facebook

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Watch live: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies on Trumps budget Follow live coverage from Times education reporter Joy Resmovits: Facebook

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Israel acknowledges pinpoint change needed after Trump intelligence disclosure By Joshua Mitnick After a week of silence, Israel publicly acknowledged for the first time, though in oblique terms, that it was the source of sensitive intelligence that President Trump shared with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week in a White House meeting. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israels army radio on Wednesday that Israeli officials had carried out an internal pinpoint correction after discussing and reviewing the episode. Lieberman did not elaborate, and declined to confirm or deny whether Trumps remarks had endangered an agent of Israel. But he said his government considered the matter resolved. Everything that needed to be clarified with the friends in the U.S. was done, he said. All of the conclusions we had to draw  it was all done. The Israeli defense ministers comments came the day after Trump wrapped up a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank. When word of Trumps disclosure to Lavrov emerged in U.S. news reports last week, the defense minister and other Israeli leaders confined themselves to expressing public confidence in the two countries intelligence cooperation. Israel did not comment more directly, presumably to avoid embarrassing the U.S. president just before his visit. But Trump himself mentioned the controversy anyway, in an awkward on-camera moment during the trip. With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu biting his lip alongside, Trump volunteered to reporters being hustled out of a news appearance: Just so you know, I never mentioned the word or name Israel. Never mentioned it during the conversation. News reports, however, had not said the president mentioned Israel in connection with the intelligence, only that the specificity of his remarks to Lavrov would in all likelihood have allowed the Russians to determine the source. The White House at first denied Trumps disclosure to Lavrov had occurred as reported, but then the president himself tweeted about it, saying he had the right to share information as he deemed fit. Facebook

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Trump calls meeting with Pope Francis an honor By Michael A. Memoli "A very great honor," Trump says to the pope when they began their meeting in the pope's private study pic.twitter.com/NGsbsahAyT  Carol Lee (@carolelee) May 24, 2017 President Trump held a half-hour private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, declaring it a great honor despite their past public dissension. The unconventional Republican and the first Jesuit pontiff made for an unlikely pair in the Vaticans Apostolic Palace, where Catholic leaders have presided or centuries and American presidents have come or decades. Francis was silent as the two sat across one another at the popes wooden desk to begin the audience at approximately 8:30 a.m. local time. Exactly a half-hour later, the ringing of a bell signified the end of the private encounter. For the White House, the Vatican stop caps a tour through key sites of the worlds three major religions, following stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, designed to promote tolerance and a united approach to terrorism. When you put it all together, youre really showing that this problem of radical extremism is one of the great problems of our time, a senior Trump aide told reporters Tuesday en route from Israel to Rome, briefing anonymously as is common White House practice. By putting everybody together you can really build a coalition and show that its not a Muslim problem, its not a Jewish problem, its not a Catholic problem, its not a Christian problem, it really is a world problem. In an exchange of gifts after their private meeting, Francis offered the president a medal by a Roman artist of an olive, a symbol of peace. We can use peace, Trump responded. Where Trumps and Francis interests may align on peace and combating terrorism, they disagree sharply on issues like immigration and poverty. Like Trump, the Argentine pope has shown a predilection for unscripted comments that have shaken the staid Vatican bureaucracy, as when he criticized candidate Trumps proposed stricter immigration policies including a border wall as not Christian. Trump fired back, calling the popes remarks disgraceful. Any animosity was not apparent Wednesday, as a meeting between Francis and a larger U.S. delegation ended. Thank you. I wont forget what you said, Trump said. Facebook

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Proposed budget would deeply cut State Department and its programs By Tracy Wilkinson (AFP / Getty Images) The State Department leadership voiced support for President Trumps proposed budget, which would impose deep cuts on spending for diplomacy and foreign aid, but critics vowed to fight to restore the funds in Congress. In a statement, the department said the presidents $37.6-billion request for it and for the U.S. Agency for International Development would support a leaner, more efficient government in line with Trumps America first mantra. If approved by Congress, that would represent a reduction of roughly 30% from the current fiscal year. Nongovernmental agencies that receive State Department support to carry out humanitarian and other work around the globe expressed deep alarm. The State Department statement said its new priorities would include efforts to counter terrorism, support Israel, promote border security and battle transnational crime and the spread of infectious diseases. The statement makes no mention of women-empowerment programs or efforts to fight climate change, issues that rose to prominence under the Obama administration. The proposed budget would allow the United States to remain engaged in the United Nations, but officials would seek a more fair distribution of the funding burden, the statement said. And it would eliminate direct funding for quasi- and non-governmental organizations that serve niche missions. The American Jewish World Service, which fights poverty all over the world through 450 local organizations, said much of its work would be jeopardized. At a time when poverty, human rights abuses, famines and conflicts are wreaking havoc globally, said the groups president, Robert Bank, the United States must not abdicate its long bipartisan tradition of providing development assistance and diplomatic support to the most vulnerable people around the world. Mercy Corps, a U.S.-based development and advocacy organization that works in 40 countries, said gutting development programs was short-sighted and absolutely shameful and could put millions of lives at risk. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called the budget cruel and mean-spirited and said it would force the United States to abandon our global role as a champion for freedom, democracy and the rule of law. If President Trump thinks the United States can shrink into a defensive crouch without long-term repercussions, hes sorely mistaken, Engel said. Facebook

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Sessions first proposed budget: A crackdown on immigration and violent crime By Joseph Tanfani Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) In the first budget proposal under President Trump and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department is seeking hundreds of millions in new funding to pay for an immigration crackdown on the border and a surge in resources to fight violent crime. Like the Department of Homeland Security budget, which includes billions for expanded immigration detention, more border agents and technology to catch those crossing the border illegally, the Justice Department budget is a reflection of the new get-tough policies promised by Sessions. The budget asks for another 300 federal prosecutors  230 to focus on violent criminals and gangs, and another 70 to concentrate on filing criminal charges on those crossing the border illegally. The shift in the spending priorities are in line with other policy changes ordered by Sessions, including a renewed focus on seeking stiff mandatory minimum sentences for drugs and other crimes. The $27.7-billion budget seeks 450 new attorneys and support workers for the immigration courts, which are now clogged with a backlog of 560,000 cases. There would also be another $50 million for increased immigration detention, plus 40 new U.S. marshal jobs to help take care of the expected increase in immigrants heading to federal court. With Trumps immigration initiatives tied up in federal court, the budget seeks another 15 lawyers to handle that litigation, plus 12 more to help handle property acquisition needed for Trumps promised Southwestern border wall. Violent-crime enforcement would get another $198 million, with the largest amount, $70 million, going toward setting up more anti-violence and gang task forces. Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein said more resources are needed because of what he called an alarming increase in the rates of murder and other violent crimes. The department is also asking for another $40 million for more drug enforcement to combat the opioid epidemic, which he said is spreading havoc throughout the United States. Sessions new policies should lead to an increase in prison population, so the budget contains funding to fully open a new supermax prison in Thomson, Ill., with room for 1,500 to 2,000 inmates. The department also wants to put more resources behind the FBIs efforts to counter cyber attacks and to figure out ways around encryption technology, along with another 50 agents to counter foreign intelligence and threats from homegrown terrorists. Facebook

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Economists say Trumps budget proposal doesnt add up By Don Lee President Trumps inaugural budget proposal claims to eliminate the nations deficit in 10 years, thanks largely to faster economic growth that it projects will come from the presidents sweeping tax cuts. Never mind the overly optimistic projections on economic growth. Or that Trumps tax overhaul has not happened yet. Even allowing for both, economists say Trumps budget still does not add up. The administration is counting on generating $2.1 trillion in additional revenue over 10 years from better economic growth. But Trumps budget proposal leaves out the cost, or the revenue lost, from the massive tax cuts. In other words, the economic gains that the administration has said it would use to pay for tax reform is apparently also being counted on to pay for deficit reduction. Some people call that double-counting. You cant use the same money twice, said Marc Goldwein, a senior vice president for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that advocates keeping government budgets under control. Lawrence Summers, former Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration and top economic advisor to President Obama, called it an elementary but egregious accounting error. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said the proposal did not necessarily mean there was an outright omission or a double-counting. Its possible that the administration is looking for such strong economic growth to drive significantly extra revenue from payroll taxes, he said, or it could be that Trump officials were using different base lines from which they were drawing their results. But on the face of it, he said, the budget and tax-plan numbers dont seem to match. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that Trumps plan to cut corporate and individual taxes would cost the federal government about $5.5 trillion over 10 years, adding more than $6 trillion to the national debt. Details of Trumps tax overhaul, however, are still being developed, and its possible that the administration is assuming a revenue-neutral tax plan  although experts say big tax cuts never pay for themselves. On Tuesday, Mick Mulvaney, Trumps budget chief, did not provide a direct answer or explanation to questions about double-counting. Instead, he told reporters that you have to make assumptions about a budget. He went on to say that one of the assumptions that was not made was to take into account the uncollected taxes every year, which he said amounted to $486 billion last year. And we dont assume an additional penny of that being closed as part of our tax reform, said Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Of the 3% annual economic growth assumption, Mulvaney responded that the Obama administration in its first couple of years had based its budget on growth of 4.5%. In fact, Obamas first budget proposal as president, in May 2009, assumed economic growth of between 4% and 4.6% for the budget years 2011 to 2013. Since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009, the U.S. economy has been growing on average about 2% a year, and the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve and most private economists see the economy advancing at about 2% annually over the next 10 years. Alice Rivlin, a former Fed vice chair and director of the Office of Management and Budget under Clinton, said its true that the Obama administrations growth assumptions proved too optimistic. But she noted that those projections were not unreasonable for that time and period in the economic cycle. Then, there was greater potential for growth with unemployment high and many more people than today available for work. Today, the economy is nearing its eighth year of expansion, and the jobless rate is 4.4%, at or near full employment. With the aging of baby boomers, labor force growth slowing, and lackluster productivity gains, economists see the current moderate growth persisting for the foreseeable future. This has been a very long period of growth and were at the high end already, Rivlin said. If we are so lucky to have continuous, steady growth, its not likely to be at 3% or 4% or 5%. Facebook

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Who wins and who loses in Trumps budget The White House Office of Management and Budget sent Congress the presidents inaugural budget today, projecting spending and revenues over the next 10 years. The fiscal package, which include a partial skinny budget from March, reflects President Trumps priorities for the nation, but lawmakers are sure to reject many of the deep cuts in domestic and foreign affairs programs. The departments of State, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Education and Housing, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, are the biggest losers. The winners are the Pentagon and Homeland Security programs. Even with the increases in defense spending and large tax cuts, the administration projects that economic growth spurred by tax cuts will erase annual deficits by 2027. Take a look at some of the numbers released today. Read More Facebook

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What that Montana special congressional race will  and wont  tell us about Trump and his political problems By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Rob Quist is a quintessential cowboy who doesnt seem to relish campaigning in Montanas special congressional election. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) On Thursday, the political world will eagerly look to Montana and a closely fought congressional race for the latest test of Democratic strength and Republican resilience in the turbulent age of Trump. The major candidates and outside groups have sunk more than $8 million into the contest, a huge sum in a state where $250,000 pays for a robust week of television advertising. But for all that money and all the outside interest, the election will turn less on national trends than circumstances close to home: on the personalities and histories of the main contestants, their different campaign styles and, perhaps most of all, on who is regarded as the more authentic Montanan. Read More Facebook

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Terrorist attack in England has conservative media focused on safety of allies By Kurtis Lee (Dave Thompson/Getty images ) Its a sight witnessed all too often: an explosion, screams, people sprinting to safety. Late Monday night, this was the scene at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, after a man with possible ties to Islamic State militants set off a suicide bomb, killing 22 people and, once again, setting in motion a global discourse on how to fight terrorism. President Trump, while visiting Bethlehem, said the attack was committed by evil losers in life. Throughout the campaign and early in his presidency, Trump has said defeating the Islamic State is a top priority. (He reiterated that point in a speech Sunday in Saudi Arabia, urging Muslim leaders to plot their own course in combating terrorism.) In recent months, with attacks in Berlin, Paris and London, conservative media have questioned the safety of Europe and warned that the United States could face similar attacks. With the latest attack, some on the right are again homing in on the safety of our allies. Here are some of todays headlines: 2017 has seen a terror attack attempted in Europe every nine days (Breitbart) The attack in Manchester blankets the home page of the right-wing website. Europe has indeed been the location of high-profile attacks this year. In Paris last month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Champs-Elysees in which a man fired an automatic weapon, killing a police officer. And in March, a man plowed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, near the British Parliament in London, and then fatally stabbed a police officer. In all, four people were killed and dozens injured in what police called a terrorist attack. The Breitbart piece is an analysis of different terrorist attacks attempted and carried out in Europe since January. Attacks and attempted attacks have taken place in Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Germany, on average every nine days, the piece says. Pences message of civility and open debate lost on those who most needed to hear it (Weekly Standard) The debate over free speech on colleges campuses continues. In recent months, conservative speakers have canceled speeches on college campuses in the face of anticipated protests. And others, who have opted to speak, have faced vocal backlash. On Sunday, as Vice President Mike Pence began to address students at the University of Notre Dame commencement, several dozen stood and walked out of the ceremony. In his speech, Pence talked about civility and open debate, and this piece argues that the m
An Egyptian delegation has arrived at Libya's Benina Airport to participate in the Al-Ahram Cultural Festival, which is set to kick off in Benghazi on Thursday .

The Egyptian delegation, headed by former foreign minister and head of the foreign affairs committee in parliament Mohamed El-Orabi, praised the Al-Ahram Foundation for choosing to inaugurate its first ever cultural festival in the Arab world in Benghazi, which shows a desire to boost communication and friendship between the countries. The delegation includes several editor in chiefs of Al-Ahram publications.

The festival is set to include a book exhibition of 3,000 recent editions in Egypt, Libya and the Arab world. It will also include several seminars on challenges facing the region, combating terrorism, amending the religious discourse and the role of art in countering extremist ideologies. The plane carrying the delegation was the first to land in the city's airport in three years since deadly clashes broke out between rival militias and the Libyan National Army (LNA). The airport is planned to be officially reopened after renovation on 16 May.

Libyan officials from the foreign and interior ministries received the Egyptian delegation, which arrived on a Libya-based Afriqiyah Airways flight. The LNA, led by eastern-based general Khalifa Haftar, has been fighting for three years to retake Benghazi from Islamist militias.

The army has announced that it managed to capture most of the city's strategic areas. Egypt has been a key mediator between rival Libyan factions, working to resolve the ongoing crisis in the country. Last December, Egyptian officials and representatives from multiple Libyan factions issued a declaration of principles and five proposed amendments to the Skhirat Agreement -- brokered by the UN in 2015 to establish a unity government -- at a meeting in Cairo.

The conference concluded by underscoring four main principles to be respected in Libya's transition: the preservation of a united Libyan territory, support for national institutions, non-interference by foreign bodies, and the maintenance of a civil state.

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For far too long, we humans have suffered from an olfactory inferiority complex.

Weve been led to believe that our sense of smell is sadly deficient compared with our mammalian cousins such as rodents and dogs.

What does the world smell like to a bloodhound, we might wonder. What scents  glorious or gross  can a twitchy little mouse nose detect that are passing right by us?

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You can stop wondering because it turns out that our sense of smell is not so bad after all.

In fact, there is no evidence that our sniffing abilities are any worse than those of other mammals, according to a study published Thursday in Science.

Absolutely none.

The title of the study says it all: Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth.

This paper sweeps away a few centuries of insecurity about our capacity to smell, said Leslie Vosshall, who studies olfaction at Rockefeller University in New York City.

Vosshall, who was not involved in the research, added: This work is important both for the field and as a cautionary tale for scientists to question everything  and for all of us to take some time to smell the roses.

The paper was written by John McGann, a sensory neuroscientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. McGann has spent most of his career studying the olfactory system in mice, but recently he decided to see whether he could translate some of the work he was doing with rodents into humans.

In one of the first experiments, he wanted to test how people learn to distinguish between two similar odors.

But there was a hitch: Finding two odors that the human subjects couldnt tell apart already proved more challenging than McGann and his students expected.

Even when they used two odors that mice consistently struggle to differentiate, humans had no trouble figuring out that they were not the same. This suggested that at least in some cases, our olfactory abilities trump those of mice.

Id always kind of known that the human sense of smell was better than most people give it credit for, but it was striking to us how good it was, McGann said.

And so his curiosity was piqued: Where did the idea that people have shoddy sniffers originate? And what proof was there that it was true?

To find out, he launched an investigation that led him to 150-year-old medical texts, the early work of Sigmund Freud as well as some contemporary scientific studies.

McGann traced the idea that humans are bad smellers back to Paul Broca, a prominent 19th-century neurosurgeon and anthropologist from France.

Brocas work on comparative neurobiology led him to believe that our ability to exercise free will came at the expense of being able to smell as well as other animals.

He came to this conclusion in part by observing that the region of the brain he identified with rational thought  the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex  is relatively enlarged in humans compared to other mammals. He also noted that the two areas of the brain that process smells  known as the olfactory bulbs  are relatively smaller in humans than in other mammals.

In 1879, Broca divided animals into two groups. Most were classified as osmatics, or those that use smell as their principal sense. Those that didnt were non-osmatics.

Broca put humans in the non-osmatic category  but not because we cant smell well. Rather, it was because he believed we are able to choose whether to respond to smelly stimuli.

In 1890, another researcher named William Turner subdivided Brocas non-osmatic group into two additional categories  species that cant smell at all (like whales and dolphins) and those he deemed feeble smellers (humans and apes).

But at the time, McGann emphasized, Turner had no evidence that humans were actually any worse at smelling than species in the osmatic group.

It didnt matter. By then, the idea that humans are deficient in the olfactory department had begun to stick.

In 1924, American neurologist C.J. Herrick wrote that the olfactory organs of humans are greatly reduced, almost vestigal.

Herrick also claimed that we could not even begin to imagine what the world must smell like to other animals. The enormously larger apparatus of most other mammals gives them powers far beyond our comprehension, he wrote.

British surgeon Sir Victor Negus piled on in 1958, writing: The human mind is an inadequate agent with which to study olfaction for the reason that in Man the sense of smell is relatively feeble and not of great significance.

Even Freud jumped on the bandwagon. He claimed that smell is usually atrophied in humans and that people who took pleasure in scents were more animalistic, and therefore more likely to suffer from sexual disorders.

To be fair, there is some biological evidence that might, at first glance, bolster the argument that our sense of smell doesnt stack up.

For example, our olfactory bulbs take up much less total brain space than they do in mice. These smelling centers comprise 0.01% of the human brain by volume, compared to 2% of the mouse brain.

But that argument is not entirely convincing, McGann wrote. Because our brains are much larger than mouse brains, the human olfactory bulb is more than four times larger than its murine counterpart.

Another justification for our poor smelling ability came more recently in the form of genetic analysis. Scientists have determined that humans have approximately 400 genes activated by odors, compared with about 1,000 in mice. This finding was immediately used to confirm the comparatively limited olfactory ability in primates, McGann wrote, although no actual sensory testing was performed.

Meanwhile, a few recent studies have started to make the case that the human sense of smell is actually very robust.

In 2014, Vosshalls lab revealed that humans could distinguish 1 trillion distinct smells. Before that, the prevailing wisdom held that humans were capable of smelling only 10,000 odors. That idea had first been floated by an influential study in 1927 by chemical engineer Ernest C. Crocker and never tested.

Other studies have shown that humans are capable of tracking scent trails outdoors, similar to dogs. Theyve also found that humans can be more sensitive to some smells than rats and monkeys, and worse at detecting other smells.

Indeed, McGann noted that if you count the number of neurons in the olfactory bulbs in a variety of animals, youll find that human males have the least, then mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, human females, macaques, monkeys and finally, rats.

Overall, McGann concluded that our sense of smell is excellent and that humans with intact olfactory systems can detect virtually all volatile chemicals larger than an atom or two.

In fact, he said, scientists are working to identify the few odorants we cant smell.

So hopefully all this will make you feel better about your nose  though it may not inspire much confidence in sensory science.

How could so many scientists have shrugged and went along with it, even though there was no actual testing? McGann said. Thats what really bothers me.

deborah.netburn@latimes.com

Do you love science? I do! Follow me @DeborahNetburn and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.
A politician quoted in a national news story recently said he was wracking his brain to recall something.

A few days later, a different national news publication reported that a senator had honed in on a person involved in an investigation.

A few weeks earlier, a major international news outlet reported on an elected official whod planned to forego taking a salary.

Language experts will tell you that English is not in decline. Changes over time look like problems only in the short term. A long-term view proves that gradual changes in word use are just part of the natural evolution of the language.

But those language experts are linguists and scholars. Theyre not editors. They track usage trends, not editing standards.

I, on the other hand, am an editor. As such, I can report that Im starting to see a slide. That first typo was in the venerable Atlantic magazine. The second was in The Hill. And the third, well, I forget (sorry). It was a news outlet of similar stature.

Though my data collection and analysis are far from scientific, anecdotally, the picture isnt pretty. So as I watch my only marketable skills get devalued on the open market, heres the rundown on these three editing errors, plus a few more that crop up.

The words to wrack ones brain would go unnoticed by most readers. But its exactly the kind of word-choice issue that makes us copy editors feel worthwhile.

So the article sent me running to my reference guides, eager to confirm whether the rule Id long ago committed to memory had in fact been properly committed.

It had.

Heres how Merriam-Websters defines the verb wrack: to utterly ruin; wreck.

Its possible to do that to ones brain, I suppose. But a quick check of rack puts that possibility in perspective: to torture on the rack; to cause to suffer torture, pain, anguish, or ruin; to stretch or strain violently.

If thats not enough to convince you that the writer wanted rack instead of wrack, usage guides and editing stylebooks dont mess around on the subject: To wrack is to severely or completely destroy: a storm-wracked ship, advises the Chicago Manual of Style. To rack is to torture by means of stretching with an instrument  rack the prisoner until he confesses  or to stretch beyond capacity  to rack ones brain.

To hone in on something is common wording. In fact, a liberal reading of a few good dictionaries justifies it. But for copy editing purposes, hone in on just wont do.

The original term, to home in on something conjures the idea of a homing pigeon. You set your course for a target and head straight to it.

As for to forego a salary  Im not sure Ive ever seen this word used correctly. To do without something, you forgo it. Theres no E in that one.

The spelling with an E is also a word. Heres Websters New World College Dictionary: forego: to go before in place, time or degree; precede. I should point out that Websters also allows it as a synonym of forgo. But, come on.

This reminds me of the term people use when someone does a magic trick or pulls off a clever con: slight of hand. Thats wrong (even my Microsoft Word spell-checker knows that). Those writers actually wanted the word sleight, which means cunning or craft used in deceiving; skill or dexterity.

Along these same lines, you wreak havoc, you dont reek it. You reign supreme even as you rein in spending. And you get a sneak peek, not peak (and if I gauged you wrong on that last one, I dont want to know about it).

JUNE CASAGRANDE is the author of The Best Punctuation Book, Period. She can be reached at JuneTCN@aol.com.
The luxury watch connoisseur opened a rectangular green leather box and slipped one of the worlds most-recognized timepieces onto his fingers.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch, introduced in 1963 and designed to meet the demands of professional race car drivers, was made famous by actor Paul Newman  who reportedly wore his all the time  and is among the most desired and talked about vintage timepieces on the market.

It means something more than telling time. Its a symbol of achievement, Paul Altieri said of the Swiss luxury watchmaker. And the older ones always keep me excited.

Altieri is founder and CEO of Huntington Beach-based Bobs Watches, the worlds largest online specialty retailer of pre-owned and vintage Rolexes.

If scarcity increases desirability, Altieri knows collectors are quick to hunt for pieces that differ from the standard catalog.

But not all consumers, he learned, were receiving a fair price for their used watches online, and the true market value needed to be disclosed.

Paul Altieri is the founder and CEO of Huntington Beach-based Bobs Watches. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

Too often he learned dealers would sell a $5,000 watch for $8,000 after buying it for $2,000. Online commerce sites, such as eBay, were plagued with fake timepieces or watches altered with aftermarket parts.

Altieri thought both figures, including both the buy and sell numbers, should be listed for each watch.

Such transparency has set him apart from other pre-owned online watch sellers.

Altieris Kelley Blue Book-style model online garnered trust from watch enthusiasts around the world, and the business expects to do $24 million in sales this year.

Altieri, who founded the company nearly a decade ago, relaunched Bobs Watches after buying the domain name from a retired North Carolina dealer.

He, his wife, chief operating officer Carol Altieri, and a team of 21 employees operate in a 5,000-square-foot space in a nondescript Goldenwest Street shopping center that neighbors 405 Tropical Fish and Platos Closet.

There, certified watchmakers quote, service and identify every Rolex within a transaction. Marketing and commerce specialists build an online presence for the site, as Bobs consistently pops up as one of the top results on search engines. Sales representatives are responsible for customer service. Others load product pictures online.

Defined as at least 30 years old, vintage Rolexes generally appreciate.

The Swiss manufacturer founded in 1905 produces more than 2,000 watches a day, doing $4 billion in annual sales.

Its a company that is known for many firsts. Rolex was the first to offer a wristwatch that would automatically change the date and day on the dial. The first to market a watch case waterproof up to 100 meters. The first to display two time zones at once. The first to earn chronometer certification.

Its also a brand thats become iconic through cinematography.

Several Rolex watches at Bobs Watches in Huntington Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

In 1962, when Sean Connery made his debut as James Bond in Dr. No, he wore a Big Crown Submariner as he held actress Ursula Andress.

Roger Moore, who played Bond in 1973s Live and Let Die, sported a Submariner 5513; Steve McQueen, a Submariner 5512 in 1980s The Hunter.

Bobs Watches also carries timepieces by Patek Philippe, Omega and Cartier, but Altieri said Rolex drives the resale market.

Altieri, who has 300 Rolexes in his personal collection, said the brick-and-mortar location is near the Los Angeles-Orange county line since several buyers and sellers from around the world fly into Los Angeles International Airport or drive down from L.A.

A man who flew in from Mexico City brought in a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph 6240 valued at $200,000.

Another seller brought in a 1958 James Bond Big Crown Rolex Submariner 6538. The bezel insert is faded lightly but is in excellent condition, as is the pearl at the 12 oclock. Its valued at $500,000, but wouldve fetched $1 million without slight cracks on the dial.

Mens watches arent just for men, Carol Altieri said.

Women are buying mens Rolexes, as many prefer the bold designs over the delicate, bright or feminine designs marketed to women, she said.

Since Rolex appreciates, the staff is finding shoppers interested in gifting watches for high school graduations and other rites of passage.

It can be an emotional moment for those selling watches. Altieri has witnessed customers finding it difficult to release a piece of sentimentality. He always offers to let the seller keep the watch, but most dont.

People know that its going to a home and that someone else is going to enjoy it, Altieri said. Its like buying history.

Bobs Watches is at 15176 Goldenwest St., Huntington Beach. For more information, call (800) 494-3708 or visit bobswatches.com.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
All-female Irish musical ensemble Celtic Woman will return to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on May 26 with a new album and live show, Voices of Angels.

Vocalists Mairead Carlin, Susan McFadden, Eabha McMahon and violinist Tara McNeill will celebrate the groups 12 years of success with their latest album, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard World Chart.

Voices features arrangements recorded with the Orchestra of Ireland and spotlights a variety of the groups original songs, new covers and rearranged versions of previous Celtic Woman songs.

The 11th studio album, with tracks like Mo Ghile Mear, Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears and A Time for Us, was released in November 2016 and kicked off a start of a new world tour that would reach more than 90 U.S. cities.

The group has sold more than 10 million albums and three million tickets worldwide.

The Irish language is dying, and Celtic Woman is this modern way of bringing it to the mainstream, said Carlin, calling from a North American tour stop in Tulsa, Okla. We feel its our duty to keep it alive. Our heritage has a rich history of storytelling, and its important for us to keep up that legacy.

Carlin, 28, who made her debut in Celtic Woman in 2013, has performed for the president of Ireland, toured the U.K. and Ireland with American Pie musician Don McLean, and made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra.

She said the three fellow musicians have become sisters to her.

McFadden starred in the West End production of Grease and premiered in the U.K. production of Legally Blonde: the Musical as Elle Woods; McMahon became the youngest member to join Anuna, the original Riverdance choir; and McNeill, the groups newest member, is the first multi-instrumentalist to join Celtic Woman as she brings her harp and voice to the group.

Being a Celtic Woman and singing these songs  its a very spiritual experience for me, Carlin said. The lyrics are very touching, and we enjoy continuing to find these melodies from our ancestry and share them with audiences.

Celtic Woman Voices of Angels tour is at 7:30 p.m. May 26 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.Tickets start at $49. For more information, call (714) 556-2787 or visit scfta.org.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
UFC Gym is opening a new facility in Huntington Beach on Saturday.

The 24-hour, 42,000-square-foot facility at 17091 Beach Blvd. is the second-largest UFC Gym in the world.

Portola redesigns Costa Mesa coffeehouse

Portola Coffee Roasters has redesigned its flagship location on Hyland Avenue in Costa Mesas OC Mix.

In addition to new granite countertops, tiling, colors and textures, the coffeehouse is using updated technology, according to a news release.

Newport businessman honored

Nate Fikse, a financial advisor and field director at Northwestern Mutual in Newport Beach, recently received a community service award from Northwesterns foundation.

Fikse serves on the board of Boys Town California, a nonprofit that helps at-risk children. He received a $15,000 grant for the group from Northwestern.

Ive seen troubled kids able to step down from drug abuse and other behavioral issues to find success through programs at Boys Town California, Fikse said in a statement. Im constantly inspired by the work of this organization and look forward to seeing the difference this grant will make in countless lives.

Hiring Fair coming to fairgrounds

The sixth annual Hiring Fair is scheduled for May 19 at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

The event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., will feature more than 150 businesses conducting interviews and taking resumes.

For more information, visit hiringfair.org.
A neighborhood across from the revitalized Lido Marina Village and under-construction Lido House Hotel in Newport Beach could get its own parking permits.

Residents of what city staff calls the Finley Tract  so named for Finley Avenue, one of the neighborhoods main access roads  tell the city that their streets have become attractive free parking for Lido Marina Village employees.

The 164-home, triangle-shaped tract is just west of Newport Boulevard, bound on its other two sides by the Rialto and Rivo Alto channels.

Before granting residents parking permits, the city must first confirm supply and demand and gather feedback through a study and a neighborhood survey, then receive City Council approval. This process could take about six to eight months.

The council gave its initial support Tuesday by directing staff to initiate the process.

Permit programs are subject to state scrutiny.

Deputy Community Development Director Brenda Wisneski said the California Coastal Commission typically denies permit parking in coastal towns on the basis that it limits public access to the beach and other coastal resources.

The neighborhood has no direct beach access, but its public street ends are considered harbor access points, and Wisneski said city staff anticipates that the Coastal Commission would appeal the citys potential final approval.

This means that the city will have to clearly show that the permit program will not affect non-residents ability to find adequate public parking elsewhere in the area.

In the meantime, the city will increase parking patrol, evaluate the striping in alleys to fit in more residential parking, and consider adjusting the time limits on metered parking spaces in nearby public lots.

Wisneski said Lido Marina Village ownership is also piloting a free employee parking program in the developments garage starting next week.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD
By the time this column appears in print it will be Mothers Day, and I will have received one of the greatest gifts a mom could receive.

My younger son will have graduated from college the day before.

I am now the mother of two college graduates, a distinction I welcome with equal measures of pride and nostalgia. As excited as I am over my sons achievement, I cant help yearning for a time that Ill never get back. Such is the life of a parent.

Now that I have reached this milestone, I offer not so much my wisdom  I have precious little of that  and not exactly advice either.

Lets call these observations. Since its Mothers Day, and Im in a giving mood, I share these tidbits in the hope that they might be of use to parents who have yet to send their kids off to college.

 College students lose stuff. The more valuable an item, the greater the likelihood that it will go missing. Laptops, cell phones, that expensive jacket you just bought, these are all susceptible to Ive looked everywhere but I cant find it; I let someone borrow it and they lost it; I put it down for a minute and then it was gone, and Someone sat on it and it broke.

My sons roommate was cleaning their apartment last fall and mistakenly threw my sons wallet down the garbage shoot. An hour-long Dumpster dive did not turn up the missing wallet, which contained the drivers license that my son needed to board a flight home two days later. I had to overnight his passport to him, and he spent the day after Thanksgiving at the DMV.

Im not sure theres a lesson to be had. Just be warned that something like this will probably happen to your kids too. Patience will be required.

 You kids will get lost, both literally and figuratively. They might not be able to find their classroom on the first day, or theyll look up from their phone and realize they have no idea where they are. Someone invariably doesnt make it back to the bus on big group outings. Or they get on the wrong bus. Or they fall asleep somewhere and no one can find them.

Yes, cell phones can help them find their way  assuming they havent misplaced the devices (see above), or their battery hasnt died, or the friends theyre supposed to be with dont fail to answer their phones.

College students also sometimes find themselves feeling lost in their new environment. They might struggle academically, or worry about fitting in, or realize they dont like their major. There are a thousand ways, large and small, that they might lose their way.

The best advice someone gave me before my older son started college was that every time a student encounters a problem a parents response should be, So what are you going to do about it? Most kids eventually find their way.

 They know more than we think they do. A British survey recently found that one in five people dont know how to boil an egg or change a light bulb, a finding that feeds our current obsession over whether todays youth are being taught enough practical skills.

I think we need to relax a bit and not freak out if we fail to send our kids off to college without them knowing how to build a brick wall (my husbands go-to example of a real-world skill). My sons taught themselves how to boil eggs and change light bulbs. Should they ever need to build a brick wall, I have no doubt theyre capable of learning how to do that too. Either that or theyll program a robot to do it for them.

Not only do my sons know more then I tend to give them credit for, but they now know a lot more than I do about certain subjects. Parents of college students must get used to the idea that their kids just might surpass them in certain departments. Thats a good thing  why else did we send them to college if not to learn?

This brings me to what I consider my most important observation:

 Theyll change. Often we parents have a hard time catching up with with where our kids are developmentally. We tend to think of them not so much as they are now, but as they were when they were younger. Then we treat them that way.

But when kids go to college they often change and change fast. Many are living on their own for the first time, and their maturity skyrockets. Some kids who were shy in high school come out of their shells; some who didnt take their studies seriously when they were younger kick into a higher gear academically. And vice versa.

As parents, we need to get to know our college student children all over again. We must appreciate them as the young adults they have become, not the little munchkins that we used to pick up whenever they fell. Those kids are gone, and we have to accept that.

And if you forget, expect your suddenly grown-up child to remind you with a pointed, Mom, Im not a kid anymore.

But dont worry: theyll still need you when their wallets end up in the trash.

Happy Mothers Day.

PATRICE APODACA is a former Newport-Mesa public school parent and former Los Angeles Times staff writer. She lives in Newport Beach.
The Glendale Police Department presented the flags on April 24 at the 16th annual Armenian Genocide commemoration at the Alex Theatre.

State Sen. Anthony Portantino said hes proud to chair the California, Armenia, and Artsakh mutual trade, art, and cultural exchange. Portantino learned Armenian at Glendale Community College after visiting Armenia last June. Mayor Paula Devine and Portantino greeted the audience in Armenian. Ara Najarian and Portantino read Armenian poetry. Robert Avetisyan reminded us that Armenians survived to fight for justice.

Rachel Melikian

Glendale

In Glendale, were used to dealing with bad drivers

In his article on the proposed bill to allow not obeying traffic laws, Brian Crosby expresses his fear that, if enacted, it will result in chaos and confusion.

My observation is that, if enacted, the law will indeed result in added problems for most Californians, but will cause no discernible changes in Glendale, since few seem to obey the traffic laws and signs anyway.

So, even though I consider this bill (AB-1103) a harebrained idea, having lived in Glendale for decades, I do not fear it.

Theodore Polychronis

Glendale

Many mothers need development-assistance programs

Mothers Day is when we celebrate the efforts of moms everywhere to deliver on the promise they make to us when were born: to nurture and protect us so we can reach our full potential.

But no matter how hard some moms try, they dont have the know-how or resources to ensure their babies get the nutrition they need to grow and develop properly.

President Trumps budget proposes a hefty cut to development-assistance programs that help moms deliver on their promises to children. Im calling on our senators and representative to speak to leadership in the Senate and House about protecting effective development-assistance programs, particularly nutrition programs. What better gift to ask for this Mothers Day?

Bryna Schreier

Burbank
As a bill to push high school start times to 8:30 a.m. or later moves through the state Legislature, La Canada Unified officials are giving parents one more chance to weigh in on the matter at a May 22 board workshop.

Members of the La Canada school board originally planned to vote in their regular meeting Tuesday on whether to pass a resolution supporting Senate Bill 328, which would require all middle and high schools in California to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

Introduced by State Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) in February, the bill was inspired by research suggesting adolescents  whose brains require more sleep than those of adults and small children  experience less depression, fewer discipline problems and decreased academic challenges when theyre well-rested.

Data collected from a survey conducted among La Canada High School students in grades 7 through 12 indicated Spartan sleep levels were, on average, lower than the eight to 10 hours recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. First period classes at the high school currently begin at 7:45 a.m.

Further, the Challenge Success program created by Stanford University and being employed at LCHS to redefine success by focusing on student health and wellness recommends later school start times, LCUSD Supt. Wendy Sinnette said Tuesday.

Challenge Success advocating for this has prompted us to consider the merits of Senator Portantinos Senate Bill 328, Sinnette told board members. This is controversial  I think theres definitely merits to the senate bill. But, we have different groups we subscribe to whove come back against this resolutionbecause they feel it takes away local control.

Board members discussed the merits of LCUSD potentially pushing back the high school day as soon as the 2017-18 school year, but expressed reluctance supporting SB-328 without hearing more directly from parents and district stakeholders.

Outreach and messaging is extremely important, board Vice President Kaitzer Puglia said. I dont have an issue with a late start. (But) I want a discussion and more information to be able to make an informed decision.

The May 22 board workshop will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the districts Governing Board Room, 4490 Cornishon Ave., in La Canada . At that time, school board members will have the option of voting on the resolution or waiting until their June meeting to decide.

High school suspensions down from last year

School board members were pleased to learn, in an annual discipline review delivered by LCHS Assistant Principal Mary Hazlett, that the number of suspensions in 2016-17 had decreased significantly from the previous school year.

Meanwhile, alternatives to having a student offender miss school days  including in-school suspensions and family counseling sessions  seem more successful in diminishing bad behavior on campus, Hazlett reported.

The goals of the consequences are always to provide learning and growth experiences for the students, as well as to provide for the safety and security of all of the students on the campus, Hazlett said.

So far this school year, there have been 26 total suspensions, including out-of-school and in-school suspensions, amounting to 67 days total. Last year, there were 34 suspensions amounting to 90 days.

Its great youve been able to reduce things so significantly, with the out-of-school suspensions, board President Dan Jeffries told Hazlett.

In other business

Also on Tuesday, school board members:

Recognized the achievement of La Canada High School students who, under World Languages teacher Marian Price, earned gold-, silver- and bronze-medal scores in the 2017 National Spanish Examinations. This years exam, offered by the American Assn. of Teachers of Spanish and Portugese, was taken by 157,000 students in grades 6 through 12.

Celebrated a $10,000 grant awarded by the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. LCUSD Director of Technology Jamie Lewsadder said the district will apply the award to its music programs, and potentially seek out other grant opportunities made available by the Pasadena nonprofit next year.

Approved a $111,714 wireless network upgrade and expansion that would replace the districts current wireless access points and add new access points at Palm Crest Elementary and La Canada High School to meet increased usage demands. Lewsadder said the work, paid for by developer fees and federal funds, would begin this summer and take up to three weeks.

Received a progress report on the districts kindergarten and transitional kindergarten (TK) program, delivered by the districts task force. The presentation reflected on instructional best practices and community input on topics such as homework and the home-to-school connection, as ascertained by a parent/guardian survey.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
The project is expected to cover one quarter of Egypt's gas needs

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi attended on Wednesday the inauguration of production at the West Nile Delta (WND) Project, the largest gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.

The project is expected to cover one quarter of Egypt's gas needs upon the completion of all phases. Gas extraction from the West Delta fields is being carried out in cooperation with British Petroleum (BP) and Germany's DEA group.

The project involves the development of gas and condensate fields located within West Mediterranean Deepwater concessions approximately 75 kilometres off the coast of Alexandria.

The president, who gave the first signal via video conference to start production at the field, expressed appreciation for the Egyptian people and everyone who worked to accomplish the first phase of the giant project before its scheduled deadline.

El-Sisi also urged participant companies in the project to accomplish the second phase in 2018. The CEOs of BP and DEA said they were honoured to participate in the project, describing it as a turning point in Egypt's history of gas production.

In March 2015, the two European companies inked the final agreement of the project with the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, General Petroleum Corporation and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, investing $12 billion for the first phase. The project is planned to develop 5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas and 55 million barrels (mmbbl) of condensate reserves in its first phase.

Peak production is expected to reach 1.2 billion cubic feet a day (bcf/d) of gas, which is equivalent to approximately 25% of Egypt's current gas production.

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In the state of California, 17-year-olds are prohibited from doing many things  marrying without parental consent, using tobacco, joining the military and buying or selling property  but should they be allowed to vote?

Last week, La Canada Flintridges Youth Council was asked to discuss an assembly constitutional amendment that seeks to lower Californias voting age from 18 to 17.

Authored by Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley), ACA-10 would allow 17-year-olds to vote in all public elections, including federal elections for president and Congress. Supporters maintain younger voters would be more engaged in the electoral process than their 18-year-old counterparts, mainly because of their participation in senior-year government and history classes.

The proposal could also help reverse a decline in turnout among voters ages 18 to 24. In Californias 2014 general, only 8.2% of the states 3.5 million eligible youth actually voted, according to the California Civic Engagement Project, conducted by UC Davis Center for Regional Change.

On Wednesday, Low testified before the state Assembly Elections Committee on behalf of the proposal.

We need bold, new ideas to reinvigorate the participation in our democracy, said Low, citing low voter turnout in past statewide elections, particularly among voters ages 18 to 24. An engaged electorate is crucial for a healthy democracy. A lower voting age can instill a lifelong sense of learning in adulthood, leading to greater civic participation.

In a meeting of the La Canada Flintridge Youth Council Friday, some panelists expressed skepticism that adding 17-year-olds to the voter pool would positively impact civic engagement.

Council member Kelly Steele, a 17-year-old La Canada High School junior, recognized high school seniors might be more motivated, with support from teachers and parents, to vote than those who are 18.

But without a coordinated education and outreach effort to get young voters generally more engaged in the process, she said, lowering the voting age by one year wouldnt likely be a meaningful solution.

This is only going to be a Band-Aid solution for low voter turnout unless people are more educated about the elections, unless people know more of whats going on, Steele said.

St. Francis High School senior Christopher Hidalgo, 18, expressed concern younger voters might have even less knowledge about important issues than current voters. But fellow council member Lauren Risha, a 17-year-old Flintridge Sacred Heart junior, said a lower voting age might inspire students and schools to more actively participate in elections.

I think some schools would see this as a good thing and maybe have debates about candidates or issues and encourage voting, she said. And maybe (students) would be more involved in learning about it if they knew that they could participate in civic life.

Some panelists said they didnt see what harm passing ACA-10 would bring. But 17-year-old Flintridge Preparatory School senior Nathan Gi said that in state politics, time spent passing a bill that wouldnt make a positive effect would be a waste.

Ive had the opportunity to see what its like for a bill to get passed at the State Capitol  it is tough, Gi said. [A proposal] shouldnt be no-harm, no-foul. It should be something with good intentions.

The council made no recommendation to support or oppose ACA-10, instead submitting their viewpoints to City Manager Mark Alexander and Mayor Mike Davitt for consideration.

It is now up to Davitt to decide whether the City Council will discuss the matter in a future meeting, or return it to the Youth Council for a formal recommendation. If ACA-10 passes the state Assembly and Senate, it could come before voters in 2018.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
For the last three years, guitarist Joe Bonamassa has led sold-out blues and rock concerts in a perfect venue: a cruise ship. Fans pack the decks for intimate one-of-a-kind concerts on board the ships. And Bonamassas not alone. Each year metal bands gather for a Monsters of Rock Cruise, and oldies performers reunite for the 80s Cruise.

Bonamassa next year will host the Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea IV, a cruise aboard the Norwegian Jade in 2018 that sails from Miami to Montego Bay, Jamaica. The trip is a fundraiser that supports music education programs, and the lineup always impresses.

Featured artists so far (more get added closer to the date) include L.A.-based band Los Lobos, JJ Grey & Mofro, Ana Popovic, North Mississippi Allstars, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, the James Hunter Six and many more. Bonamassa will be performing with Black Country Communion, bringing together Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian.

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The four-day festival includes nonstop concerts and music aboard the ship carrying 2,100 die-hard fans. Three prior sold-out festivals raised a combined $181,000 in donations for Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, an organization that funds scholarships and music programs for students and teachers across the country.

Prices start at $1,099 per person, based on double occupancy, plus $275 for port fees and taxes. The cruise sails Feb. 26 to March 2. Info: Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea IV, (877) 379-9170, or email bluesalive@sixthman.net.

The Monsters of Rock Cruise 2018 will sail the Caribbean with bands such as Tesla, Queensryche, Thunder, Lita Ford, Great White, British Lion featuring Steve Harris of Iron Maiden and others. Expect to rock out and attend Q&As hosted by radio personalities, too.

The five-day cruise sails Feb. 11 to 16 from Miami aboard Royal Caribbeans Navigator of the Seas. Cabins start at $1,199 per person, based on double occupancy, excluding fees and taxes. It will stop at Falmouth, Jamaica, and the private isle of Labadee. Info: Monsters of Rock Cruise 2018, (855) 505-6672, or email reservations@monstersofrockcruise.com

Rick Springfield performs last year at the iHeart80s Party held at the Forum in Inglewood. (John Salangsang / Invision / Associated Press)

Still missing the 1980s? Heres a chance for a musical flashback on the third 80s Cruise hosted by Rick Springfield and featuring Loverboy, Mike and the Mechanics, Billy Ocean, Berlin with Terri Nunn, Thomas Dolby and others.

The cruise sails from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on March 17 to 24 aboard the Celebrity Summit. It will stop at Nassau, Bahamas, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and the private CocoCay isle. Prices start at $2,600 per person, based on double occupancy, including port fees and taxes. Info: The 80s Cruise, (844) 384-8080

travel@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimestravel

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The Obama administration will send military, intelligence and law enforcement advisors to Nigeria to help the beleaguered government find and rescue more than 270 teenage girls who were abducted by the Boko Haram terrorist group last month, the White House said Tuesday.

The team will share U.S. intelligence and provide investigative help, not military force, in the search for the students, who were kidnapped April 14 from a rural high school in Nigerias Muslim-dominated northeast.

The deployment will mark the first public American assistance in a case that has sparked international outrage. The U.S. announcement came after the leader of Boko Haram vowed in a video to sell the girls as slaves, and after gunmen reportedly took at least eight more girls from another village overnight.

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President Obama spoke out on the abductions for the first time Tuesday, calling them heartbreaking and outrageous.

Youve got one of the worst regional or local terrorist organizations in Boko Haram in Nigeria, he told ABC News. Obama said the Islamist group had been killing people ruthlessly for many years now and that the mass abduction of the students might help mobilize the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organization.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the United States was not considering providing military resources at this point to help battle Boko Haram, which the State Department listed last year as a terrorist organization.

The Times reported in March, however, that U.S. troops were helping the Nigerian army establish a special operations command to combat the group. U.S. and French air forces fly unarmed Reaper surveillance drones over northern Nigeria, from Niamey in neighboring Niger, to collect intelligence. The U.S. also has stepped up efforts in North Africa against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and in East Africa, against the Shabab.

The abduction has embarrassed oil-rich Nigeria, which will host the World Economic Forum on Africa in the capital, Abuja, beginning Wednesday. President Goodluck Jonathan, who has faced angry protests over the governments inability to find the girls, requested help Sunday from the U.S., Britain, France and China.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry told reporters at the State Department that he had spoken with Jonathan on Tuesday and that the Nigerian leader had accepted the American offer.

Kerry said the U.S. Embassy in Abuja was prepared to form a coordination cell that could provide expertise on intelligence, investigations and hostage negotiations, and to help facilitate information-sharing and victim assistance.

We remain deeply concerned about the welfare of these young girls, and we want to provide whatever assistance is possible in order to help for their safe return to their families, Kerry said.

On Capitol Hill, all 20 women in the Senate signed a letter asking Obama to pressure the United Nations Security Council to acknowledge Boko Harams ties to Al Qaeda and to ask the U.N. to consider international sanctions. The group has already been cut off from U.S. financial institutions.

These girls were captured and kidnapped 22 days ago, and time is of the essence, Carney said. Appropriate action must be taken to locate and to free these young women before they are trafficked or killed.

Boko Harams shadowy leader, Abubakar Shekau, has a $7-million U.S. bounty on his head. He said in a video that surfaced Monday that God had commanded him to sell women in the market, adding that girls should marry, not go to school.

An April report by the International Crisis Group think tank said Boko Haram has grown more ruthless, violent and destructive since Shekau became leader in 2009. The groups fighters are dispersed in northeastern Nigeria and in nearby Cameroon and Niger.

The sect opposes secular education and Western culture and says Nigerian schools are turning young people away from Islam. Its name translates from the Hausa language as Western education is a sin, and the group is bitterly opposed to democracy.

The group, modeled on Afghanistans extremist Taliban movement, mounted an insurgency in northern Nigeria in the early 2000s, targeting symbols of government authority such as military barracks, police stations and politicians.

But it switched to civilian targets in recent years, leaving the countrys north in military lockdown. The group is blamed for attacking churches, a bus station, school dormitories and villages. In February, gunmen believed to be linked to Boko Haram killed dozens of students at a school in Yobe state, slitting the throats of some and locking others in dormitories that were then set ablaze.

Despite staging major assaults that left hundreds dead in two towns, Boko Haram gained widespread international notice only after last months mass abduction of the schoolgirls.

Fear of further attacks has led to the shuttering of schools in the region. The abducted girls had gathered from many district schools so they could take exams, but the gunmen easily overpowered two security guards, forced the girls onto trucks and drove them into the forest.

In November, Human Rights Watch accused Boko Haram of abducting scores of women and girls, some as young as 12, to traffic them as sex slaves or to force them to become combatants.

Witnesses described Boko Haram laying siege to towns, villages and highways; looting and burning houses, shops and vehicles; and executing and decapitating people, the report said. The militants particularly targeted members of civilian vigilante groups that have sprung up in response.

Shekau took over as leader after Boko Harams founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed while in Nigerian police custody in 2009.

Described as a religious zealot of few words, Shekau occasionally releases video statements that appear designed to terrorize the countrys fearful northern population.

I enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill, the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams, he said in a video released in 2012 after an assault on the city of Kano left at least 180 people dead, many of them military men and their families.

Parsons reported from Washington and Dixon from Johannesburg, South Africa.
In a country where speed is sacred and being late a sin, the specter of ever-worsening traffic jams in Germanys most populous state has emerged as a major campaign issue ahead of a key regional election Sunday.

The infuriating congestion on freeways where BMWs, Mercedes and Porsches could legally roar along at more than 100 mph might cost the North Rhine-Westphalias liberal governor, Hannelore Kraft, her job.

The traffic mess is definitely the biggest problem in the state at the moment, said Anna-Lena Zeckai, 32, a fashion consultant in Cologne whose once daily 35-minute commute from Siegburg has turned into an hour-long ordeal. Its quite possible that Kraft is going to lose because of traffic.

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Whatever happens to Kraft, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, in Sundays vote is considered by many observers as an important indicator of what may occur in the national election in September.

The Social Democrats national leader, Martin Schulz, former president of the European Parliament, has been seen as a serious challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel of the center-right Christian Democratic Union. A Kraft loss could help boost Merkel, who became chancellor in 2005 and is seeking a fourth term.

Kraft, who became governor in 2010 and had been popular, is fighting for her political life in the industrial northwestern state that is ordinarily a bastion for Social Democrats. The party has ruled the state 46 of the last 51 years thanks to the considerable clout of local labor unions and the myriad working-class voters.

Nearly 18 million people live in the state, home to four of the countrys nine largest cities, including Cologne and Duesseldorf, as well as 10 million cars. The number of cars has jumped by more than 1 million since 2011, though the population has remained steady, and the number of construction sites has risen dramatically.

Local residents say Krafts standing locally has taken a beating largely because of the Verkehrsstaus, or traffic jams, that are clogging the Autobahns, many of which have no speed limit at all, that crisscross her state.

When theyre stuck in a traffic jam, most Germans are not rationally thinking to themselves, Oh well, everyone around me got caught up in bad traffic, too, but their first thought is, Why the hell didnt the lousy government do a better job and build a better four-lane freeway here? said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University.

Jaeger said traffic exasperation could cost the Social Democrats dearly Sunday.

Because taxes are so high in Germany, people expect the government to take care of just about everything for them  including making sure there the traffic keeps moving, he said.

The election campaigns in Germanys 16 states are usually centered on issues such as local schools, crime or day-care problems.

An opinion poll by the Forsa polling institute published Thursday found that 42% of respondents in North Rhine-Westphalia said the traffic problem was one of the main reasons quality of life in the state had deteriorated in the last 10 years. The poll also found that 55% of respondents expected the new state government to improve the traffic situation.

The governor is responsible for all poor planning and lack of coordination on highway construction sites that is a main reason for the problems, said Christoph Schachtner, 54, a managing director of a major footwear retail operation who needs 80 minutes for what used to be a 45-mile commute in 45 minutes from Cologne to Duisburg.

Its the governors job to make sure people can get to work, and in a state dependent on people being mobile, you need an efficient transport network, while ours isnt working as it should because of misguided policies, Schachtner said.

A German motorist association went to the trouble of tallying the total number of recorded traffic jams in the last year  218,000, an increase of 20% from 2015. Thats an average of about 600 notable jams in the state every day in 2016. The total mileage of traffic backed up in North Rhine-Westphalia last year stretched to 242,500 miles, or more than double the 100,625 miles recorded in 2012.

The local leader of the Christian Democrats, Armin Laschet, blamed Kraft, and Merkel told a rally in Muenster: If you could add up those 242,500 miles of traffic jams in NRW last year, it would be as long as a traffic jam stretching all the way to the moon and beyond. The average distance between the Earth and moon is about 238,857 miles.

Karsten Kubow, a student who commutes each day from Dortmund to Cologne, said it takes him about 2 1/2 hours to get to classes, which is more than twice as long as it would normally take if there were no traffic delays.

If traffic is bad and youre late, most people arent going to show much understanding. They expect you to adjust and plan better, and leave even earlier, Kubow said. It feels like Im always getting stuck in traffic. It feels like many of the construction sites just never get finished and new ones are popping up all the time.

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent.
They marched by the tens of thousands, Argentines who were outraged that the nations Supreme Court had agreed to release a former police investigator convicted of kidnapping and torturing at least 30 people during the countrys brutally repressive dictatorship from 1976 to 1983.

Analia Argento was among them, wearing the white headscarf that is associated with the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who have marched for decades to ensure that their loved ones  who were disappeared by the government  would never be forgotten. For Argento, the inspiration was her late uncle, Alberto Comment, a bus driver who vanished in 1978.

The high court had ruled in the case of Luis Muino, citing a rarely applied measure called the 2 for 1 law. It allows in some cases for prisoners days in incarceration to count double toward the time they are sentenced to serve, potentially cutting a prison term substantially.

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Thousands of demonstrators raise white headscarves that the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo wear to symbolize the diapers once used by their disappeared children, as they march in Buenos Aires on May 10, 2017. (Eitan Abramovich / AFP/Getty Images)

Muino was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to 13 years. But the Supreme Courts decision means much of that time will be reduced because of the preventive detention time he spent in jail before his conviction.

Marchers such as Argento feared that the decision could set a precedent and lead to the early release of others convicted of crimes against humanity in Argentinas so- called dirty war, in which between 10,000 and 30,000 people are believed to have been tortured, killed or disappeared.

The decision was clearly a backward step in the defense of human rights and in the judgment of the people who were responsible for the killing and disappearance of thousands of people, Argento, 47, said Wednesday, adding that she has only dim memories of her uncle.

Later on Wednesday, in an emergency session of congress, lawmakers reacted to the public outrage by approving a bill that ensures that the 2 for 1 provision cannot be applied to defendants found guilty of crimes against humanity.

That law voted by Congress was an overwhelming gesture backing up judges who have condemned the oppressors, Argento said.

The march recalled the daily protests that have been held for decades by the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, for whom white headscarves became a symbol of demands that the government account for the dictatorships victims and bring their killers to justice.

Fortunately, the whole society has acted firmly, Estela de Carlotto, president of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, told reporters during the march Wednesday.

Argentos family for decades has been demanding to no avail the government account for Comments disappearance in Villa Adelina, a town in Buenos Aires province, in October 1978.

Although Comment was not active politically or in his union, his family has theorized that he was seized because he complained of having to work too many hours driving a bus for his private transit company. His niece said it was common for business owners to falsely denounce troublesome employees as labor agitators so that paramilitary forces would disappear them.

Muino was part of a shock troop, consisting mainly of former police officers, who allegedly detained and tortured mainly political dissidents, labor leaders and government critics. He was convicted of terrorizing workers and patients of the Posadas Hospital located in the west of Buenos Aires, the capital. Of the 30 hospital workers there who were kidnapped, 11 disappeared.

The 2 for 1 law has become a political hot potato, with former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her supporters accusing conservative President Mauricio Macri of indirect responsibility for the ruling. The judges are totally aligned with the executive, Fernandez said in Brussels, where she is visiting.

Macri denies supporting the application of the 2 for 1 law. On Thursday, during an appearance in the wine-region city of Mendoza, he hailed the congress action Wednesday night and said he has always been opposed to any tool of impunity, especially when applied to crimes of humanity.

As for Argento, a writer who has written two books about the dirty war, the march showed that there is a social consensus in Argentinan society for not tolerating taking steps back in condemning those responsible for the horrific crimes of the past.

The military dictatorship and the horrific crimes committed by those acting in its stead continue to be a political issue in Argentina, with the Macri and Fernandez factions accusing each other of complacency in bringing criminals to justice.

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Special correspondent DAlessandro reported from Buenos Aires and Kraul from Bogota, Colombia.
She led a search for the disappeared in her home state of Tamaulipas, among the most violent in Mexico, after her daughter was kidnapped in 2012.

Her strenuous efforts in the face of official inaction helped nudge authorities in the embattled Gulf state along the Texas border to discover the partial remains of her daughter and arrest those allegedly involved in her death.

She sought protection from Mexican authorities this year after a prison break that she feared may have resulted in the escape of suspects in her daughters killing.

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Now, Miriam Elizabeth Rodriguez has joined the growing roster of activists, journalists, clergy and others slain in a wave of killings in Mexico.

On Thursday, authorities confirmed that armed assailants opened fire late Wednesday on Rodriguezs home in the city of San Fernando, fatally wounding the activist. She died on the way to the hospital.

She was killed on Mexicos Mothers Day, a major holiday in Mexico.

Mothers of missing people in the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Tamaulipas protest in Monterrey, Mexico, on May 10, 2017. (Julio Aguilar / AFP/Getty Images)

May 10 has also become a symbolically charged day when the mothers and other relatives of Mexicos legions of missing publicly demand that authorities act on the cases of their vanished loved ones.

Protests to clarify the cases of Mexicos estimated 30,000 or so disappeared  many abducted during the countrys more than decade-long war on drugs  took place throughout Mexico on Wednesday, the same day that Rodriguez was slain.

Rodriguez was part of a growing national movement of mothers and others who have sought out clandestine graves where their missing kin are believed to be buried. Some have taken picks and shovels to unearth remains from the secret graves.

Many contend that corrupt Mexican police and politicians acting in league with organized crime were implicated in the disappearances of their kin.

The killing of Rodriguez drew expressions of outrage from domestic and international activists, including from Amnesty International and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The violent murder of Miriam Rodriguez should be investigated in [an] independent, impartial and exhaustive manner, said Erika Guevera Rosas, Amnesty Internationals Americas chief. Steps should be taken to defend those who seek their [missing] loved ones.

Federal and state authorities vowed to find her killers.

I express my energetic condemnation for the cowardly murder of the activist Miriam Rodriguez, Tamaulipas Gov. Francisco Javier Cabeza de Vaca said in a Twitter message. The government of Tamaulipas will not permit that the death of Miriam Rordiguez will become one more statistic.

Following her death, her activists colleagues charged that Rodriguez had requested police protection following the escape in March of inmates possibly linked to her daughters murder from a prison in Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas state.

She herself expressed on various occasions in meetings with authorities that she was concerned that the kidnappers of her daughter had escaped ... and that this put her life at risk, a fellow Tamaulipas activist, Guillermo Gutierrez, said in a radio interview. We hope that with this lamentable event the state government put aside their authoritarianism and arrogance and punish the officials who should have given protection to our partner Miriam.

But Luis Alberto Rodriguez Juarez, a state government spokesman in Tamaulipas, said officials had provided additional protection to Rodriguez in her home, with patrols passing by her home three times a day.

But the effort clearly did not deter her killers. Tamaulipas, which borders Texas Rio Grande Valley, is home turf for a number of criminal groups, including the ultra- violent Zetas cartel. The Zetas were implicated in the so-called San Fernando massacre, the mass murder in 2010 of 72 migrants  mostly U.S.-bound Central Americans  in the municipality of San Fernando, where Rodriguez was killed.

Heavily armed criminal organizations control drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and other illicit enterprises throughout Mexico.

Cecilia Sanchez of the Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

twitter: @mcdneville

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Hamas, the Islamic militant group which controls Gaza, said on Thursday it arrested the person responsible for the mysterious March assassination of one of its top commanders and that the suspect had acted on orders from Israel.

Gaza had been on edge for weeks amid a manhunt for the killer of Mazen Faqha, a leading figure in Hamas military wing who was shot to death outside of his Gaza City home with a weapon that used a silencer.

Speaking at a press conference outside of Faqhas home, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh did not reveal the identity of the suspect, but said the person had provided a complete confession to Hamas security services that they had carried out orders of the Israeli security services. He called the confession a breakthrough.

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In April, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told an Israeli newspaper that the Faqha was killed by someone from Hamas.

Haniyeh, who was named Hamas new top leader last week, said Gazas interior ministry would release further details of the arrest and confession later.

He said we will hand out a just ruling towards the killer and everyone who had a hand in this crime and we will continue until the enemy understands that our blood is precious.

Just one month ago, Hamas executed by hanging three Palestinians convicted of treason and alleged collaboration with Israel, prompting protests from Palestinian and international human rights groups.

The executions were unconnected to Faqhas killing, but they were carried out amid a crackdown inside Gaza that included the shuttering of a border crossing with Israel and a ban on Gaza fisherman from taking their boats out to sea. Hamas also instituted a week long clemency program to encourage Gazans working with Israel to come forward.

Text goes here.

Mitnick is a special correspondent.

@joshmitnick
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
The cleric described Christians as unbelievers while explaining a Quranic verse during an episode of his television show

A Cairo misdemeanor court has set 24 June to start the trial of a prominent Islamic cleric and television presenter on charges of contempt of religion, after he described Christians as non-believers on an episode of his television show.

The lawsuit filed against Salem Abdel-Geliel by lawyer Naguib Gibrail initially charged that Abdel-Geliels comments displayed contempt of religion, threatened national unity, disrupted public peace and incited the killing of Christians.

Abdel-Geliel, a former deputy minister for proselytisation at the Ministry of Religious Endowments, has presented a daily religious programme, Muslims Ask, on Mehwar satellite channel since early 2016.

Hassan Rateb, the head of Mehwar, said on Wednesday that the clerics contract with the station would be cancelled. The channel also apologised to all Christian brothers in an official statement.

Abdel-Geliel, who is been known for his mainstream religious views, described Christians as "unbelievers" and their beliefs as "corrupted" during his explanation of a Quranic verse on an episode of his programme earlier this week.

He said later in a statement that the description unbeliever was applied to Christians in the Quran in a specific context, but he apologised if he had offended Christians feelings.

He also stressed that describing Christians as such doesnt carry any sort of incitement to violence against Christians or followers of any other religion, as such violence is forbidden in Islam.

Abdel-Geliel also said that he fully understood the channel's decision to end his contract.

Egypt's Ministry of Endowments had said that Abdel-Geliel would be banned from giving sermons at ministry-affiliated mosques until he issued an apology.

Defendants charged with contempt of religion are normally Christians, or others holding minority religious views, charged with insulting Islam.

But this is not the first time in recent years that an Islamic religious figure has been tried on charges of contempt of Christianity.

Controversial preacher Abu Islam, who burnt a copy of the Bible in front of the American embassy in Cairo during Salafi protests in September 2012, was sentenced in June 2013 to 11 years in jail and a EGP3,000 fine over the incident after he was found guilty of insulting Christianity.

The sentence was reduced to three years following a series of appeals.

Al-Azhar University head replaced

After a similar controversy, Egypt's grand imam, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, last week appointed Mohamed Hussein El-Mahrsawy, the dean of the Arabic language faculty at Al-Azhar Univeristy, as acting president of the university.

The appointment came following the resignation of previous president Ahmed Hosni, who had caused controversy due to his attacks against well-known independent religious commentator Islam El-Beheiry.

Hosni resigned after he was criticised for describing El-Beheiry, who is known for controversial interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence and calls for "renewal of religious discourse," as an apostate.

Hosni later issued an apology, saying the opinions he expressed about El-Beheiry were personal and did not represent the official positions of Al-Azhar, stressing he believes no Muslim can be considered an apostate unless he renounces Islam.



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Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has approved the appointment of political science professor and former diplomat Mostafa El-Feki as the new director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

He will replace Ismail Serag El-Din, who has held the position since the library's inauguration in 2002.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a national venue for arts and culture.

El-Feki is a political science professor who served as the president of the British University in Egypt from 2005 to 2008.

Before that, he taught at the American University in Cairo.

He worked as secretary for information to former president Hosni Mubarak from 1985 to 1992.

El-Feki was the head of the foreign relations committee in the Shura Council in the 1990s, and was a member of the Supreme Council for Policies of Mubarak's ruling party and now dissolved National Democratic Party in the early 2000s.

He is a frequent op-ed contributor to Al-Ahram daily newspaper and London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, as well as Al-Masry Al-Youm.

El-Feki has also authored several books, including The Absent Vision: Revival of Arab Nationalist Thought.

He held several diplomatic posts, including acting as Egypt's envoy to Austria in the 1990s and Egypt's representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency, also in the 1990s.

He has received several orders of merit from several European states, as well as Egypt's State Merit Prize in Social Sciences.

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May 11, 2017, 11:58am ET

Mazda targets 10 percent take rate for CX-5 diesel

Mazda is hopeful buyers will spring for the CX-5 diesel.

Despite diesel's recent woes in the United States market, Mazda is hopeful that about 10 percent of U.S. buyers will opt for the technology in the company's latest CX-5 crossover.

The CX-5 is currently offered in the United States exclusively with a 2.5L gas engine, but Mazda will add a 2.2L diesel engine this fall. The diesel engine destined for the CX-5, which will be branded Skyactiv-D, is currently undergoing certification by the EPA. Mazda expects approval of the oil burner in "the coming months.

Once it does arrive, Mazda expects about a 10 percent take rate for the diesel. Mazda sold about 112,000 CX-5s in the U.S. last year, so that means Mazda is targeting roughly 11,200 CX-5 diesel sale annually.

The diesel engine will initially be limited to high-end versions of the CX-5, but Mazda North American Operations President and CEO Masahiro Moro told Automotive News that the technology could eventually trickle down to other trim levels. "Starting from high and expanding, I think, is the right way, he said.

Although 11,200 units isn't a huge amount in a booming SUV market, Mazda might struggle to achieve that goal. Volkswagen's diesel scandal has tarnished diesel's image in the U.S., and the technology has historically struggled outside of the pickup truck segment. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is probably the biggest diesel success when it comes to utility vehicles, and even it never topped an 8 percent take rate.

Mazda has not announced technical details on the CX-5 diesel but will do so later this year.
May 11, 2017, 2:56pm ET

VW 3.0L diesel settlement receives final approval

Judge Breyer approves VW and Bosch settlement agreements, bringing total cost to $25 billion.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted final approval Thursday of Volkswagen's settlement proposal addressing its 3.0L V6 diesel vehicles engineered to evade U.S. emissions regulations.

Volkswagen will pay more than $1 billion to to fix or buy back almost 80,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles equipped with the V6 TDI.

However, this is contingent upon Volkswagen providing a fix that satisfies the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB). If the company is unable to furnish a satisfactory fix, the total could climb as high as $4 billion.

Bosch, the company responsible for supplying the engine control units (ECUs) featuring the illegal software, also agreed to pay more than $325 million for its role in the scandal but admitted no wrongdoing, Reuters reports.

Owners of V6 TDI models covered under the agreement will have the option to either have their cars bought back or repaired. Those who choose the repair (assuming one is approved) will also be eligible for compensation of $7,000 or more, depending on the model.

Between the settlement offers, government fines and other payouts, Volkswagen's total Dieselgate outlay in the United States alone now tops $25 billion.
Bethlehem Township police asked Wednesday for the public's help in tracking down the perpetrators of an $1,800 retail theft.

Police circulated photos showing the pair at Bed Bath and Beyond in the Southmont Center off Freemansburg Avenue, where they allegedly stole three $600 iRobot Roomba vacuums about 7:30 p.m. April 25.

They left in a newer white sedan, police said.

The theft occurred April 25, 2017, and the pair left in a newer white sedan, police said. (Courtesy photos | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Investigators ask anyone who can identify them to contact Patrolwoman Gretchen Kraemer at gkraemer@bethlehemtwp.com or 610-419-0830.

Tipsters may remain anonymous by texting "TIP BETHLEHEMTWP" followed by a message to 888777, or by visiting local.nixle.com/tip/township-of-bethlehem/.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A former Bethlehem woman admitted Thursday she kept heroin and drug needles all over her home within reach of her two toddlers.

Police said Jessica Baker had heroin inside a kitchen cabinet near the floor Feb. 23, easily within reach of her children. They were ages 2 and 3 at the time.

The 31-year-old mother had marijuana on top of her refrigerator, a reachable dresser drawer full of hypodermic needles, two more needles on top of a laundry basket and spoons with heroin residue all over her house.

She had thousands of baggies with residue, any one of which could have enough heroin in it to pose a danger to the children.

When she was arrested at her home in the 900 block of Argus Street, she bent down to hug one of the children and police saw her try to slip a package of heroin into one of the kitchen cabinets.

Baker pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of children. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, although state guidelines recommend anywhere between six to 16 months for each charge.

She also pleaded guilty to retail theft for stealing a package of KY Duration spray and some Blu-ray discs from Walmart in Bethlehem Township on Dec. 18, 2016. Guidelines call for probation to a month in prison for that charge.

Baker will be sentenced June 23 by Northampton County Judge Michael Koury. Her attorney, Rory Driscole, recommended she receive a mental health evaluation.

Baker told the judge she will live in New Jersey when she is released from prison.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
The Sinai Tribes Union has vowed to avenge its members who were killed by the militant group

The Islamic State militant group claimed it killed 15 tribesmen in North Sinai on Wednesday, in the latest episode of clashes between the militants and local tribes.

In a statement published on Thursday through its affiliated online Amaq agency, the IS group claimed that its affiliates in North Sinai ambushed a group of what it described as pro-Egyptian army tribesmen at a checkpoint west of the El-Perth area in the governorate, killing 15 of them.

The group stated that it killed Salem Abu Lafy, a leading figure in the El-Tarabin tribe, one of Sinai's largest clans, during the ambush.

On Wednesday the Sinai Tribes Union, a coalition of local tribes opposed to the IS group, confirmed in a statement on their official Facebook page the death of Abu Lafy during fighting with militants, without disclosing specifics.

The union vowed to avenge his death and the death of other members killed by the militant group.

The union also warned that the tribes, especially the El-Tarabin, would punish those who support the IS militant group, harbour the militants, or withhold information about the group from the tribes or the authorities.

On Wednesday, the AP said unnamed security sources had confirmed 10 tribesmen were killed in the clashes.

In late April, the El-Tarabin, Sawarka and Rumeilat tribes publicly declared they would cleanse North Sinai of the militant group, in cooperation with the Egyptian armed forces.

Egypts army and police forces have been battling a militant Islamist insurgency in North Sinai centered in the cities of Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid for several years, with hundreds killed on both sides.

The IS group has also killed Sinai residents, who it described as collaborators with the Egyptian authorities.

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Monet Paisley Mathis was dangerously intoxicated when she bashed the butt of a gun into the head of her friend.

Her blood-alcohol content was 0.47, the second-highest BAC ever in the 29-year career of Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden.

"That's nearly dead," McFadden said Thursday, later adding, "This kind of behavior is not easily explained and it certainly isn't appropriate. You were close to comatose."

McFadden sentenced the 26-year-old Forks Township woman to four to 23 months in county prison for recklessly endangering Michael Gornto. She's days away from being eligible for parole, which outraged Gornto, who said Mathis nearly killed him. Police said Gornto exaggerated the severity of the attack.

Mathis moved in with Gornto after she was evicted from her Forks Township apartment due to her alcohol abuse, according to Assistant District Attorney Edward Penetar. Gornto was her neighbor in the complex on George Street.

They started drinking at 6 a.m. on Jan. 21, 2017, and fought 16 hours later when a heavily inebriated Mathis wet Gronto's bed, Penetar said. He woke her up because he wanted to clean the sheets before his girlfriend got home.

"So this was a menage a trois?" McFadden asked.

"I didn't ask for the details," answered defense attorney Syzane Arifaj.

Arifaj said Mathis doesn't remember much of what happened, but Gornto said Mathis left him with permanent brain damage.

"I have a photograph where you can see the pistol is jammed into my skull," Gornto said.

He said Mathis should have been charged with attempted homicide because she threatened to kill him. He asked for a two-year prison sentence, the maximum allowed by law for reckless endangerment.

Penetar said Gornto fell down stairs and injured his head in 2015. It's unclear whether his symptoms stem from that fall or from the pistol whipping, Penetar said. Police said Gornto's assessment of the attack has changed over time.

Mathis had to be carried out of the home after the incident. She was hospitalized and wasn't coherent enough to be arraigned until 12 hours after the incident, Penetar said.

Gornto said he suffers from amnesia and needed speech therapy after the attack. He showed up in court wearing a sling, claiming Mathis tore a tendon in his shoulder during the attack. He also said he wore knee braces at one point but doesn't need them now.

Penetar said the arresting officer saw Gornto walking outside with no knee braces or arm sling and seemed to be in good health.

Gornto said there was blood everywhere after the pistol whipping. He said Mathis saw it pouring out of his head.

"That made her even more angry so she scrubbed my head so hard I lost consciousness," Gornto said.

He said she held a gun to his head and told him to beg for his life.

"I do not feel her punishment fits the crime," Gornto said. "I honestly thought she was going to kill me."

Mathis doesn't dispute that she grabbed a gun and hit Gornto. She told Arifaj that Gornto typically had guns lying out in the open in his apartment.

Mathis has no criminal record. She has worked as a nurse's aide and lost custody of her two children due to alcohol abuse. She completed inpatient rehab but relapsed at the time of the attack, Arifaj said.

McFadden ordered her to re-enter inpatient treatment pending an alcohol abuse evaluation. She ordered her to complete anger management classes and perform 20 hours of community service when she's paroled.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Firefighters battled a blaze that displaced 15 people from multiple houses in the 1100 block of Pine Street in Easton on Thursday.

Fire crews were called about 11 a.m. and the blaze had spread to four residences within about 20 minutes.

A column of thick smoke rose over Easton's West Ward and was visible for miles.

Fire Chief John Bast said no one was hurt and it was too early to determine a cause.

The blaze struck a set of two half-double homes in the tightly-packed neighborhood. Affected homes included 1130, 1132, 1134 and 1136 Pine St. All four were declared uninhabitable, the fire chief said.

The American Red Cross of Eastern Pennsylvania said it was providing emergency assistance with lodging, food and clothing for six adults and nine children displaced by the fire, spokesman Dave Skutnik said.

Marie Sanders, who with husband Barry has rented at 1136 Pine St. for two years, said the blaze started at 1130-1132 Pine St. and quickly spread.

"People were yelling 'Call 911' -- that the back of the house was on fire," she said. "I tried to get my neighbor's attention. By that time the fire was already spreading."

Mary Anne Kain, who lives at 1134 Pine St., said she was a friend's home when she received a call about the fire. Her fiance was in the home searching for their pet cats Baby Boy and Baby Girl.

"He couldn't find them," she said tearfully at the scene. "I guess they're dead."

Lorrain Everett lives at 1130 Pine St. and wasn't home when the fire started. She said she raced back there after getting getting a call about the blaze.

She has lived there for about a year and wasn't able to get closer than about a half-block away.

"My house," she said, is all she could think on her way there.

As firefighters worked and the flames died down, neighbors chipped in to help the fire victims. They brought food and water and helped victims with their pets, said Joe Cervenka, director of the Easton Emergency Squad.

Neighbors, the Salvation Army and the Supreme Mart at 13th and Northampton streets provided water. Wawa provided food.

Besides the Easton Fire Department, assisting were firefighters from Palmer Township, Wilson Borough, Nancy Run and Bethlehem Township.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
By Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com

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The City of Easton singled out 16 properties for a blight designation this year. The message to property owners: either clean them up or sell them. The city got the attention of six out of the 16 them. The owners pulled permits to get permission to start repair work, sparing them from blight certification, which is the next step of the blight process. The properties are listed below.

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350 West Nesquehoning Street

Property owner U.S. Bank National Association sold this home April 30 to Wells Fargo bank for $10. A buyer notification inspection was performed, according to the city code department. The inspection is required when properties change hands so the new owner knows about repairs required by the city.

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137 S. 14th Street

Owner Ran Tao pulled permits for building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing work on this property in April.

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1034 Washington St.

David Brown and Jessica Martin sold this property to Universal Relevance LLC on April 4 for $75,100. Building permits were pulled for construction in February.

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1324 Spruce St.

Kevin and Karon Ostrander bought this property from the federal housing department on April 7 for $25,500. A building permit was pulled in April.

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1403 Washington St.

1403 Washington St. LLC bought this property in October 2016 for $134,250 from Alba Blaseotto. Building, electrical and plumbing permits were pulled in November and the home is almost ready for occupancy, according to the city codes department.

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1043 Lehigh St.

William Rodriguez bought this property for $37,919 on April 10 from Deutsche Bank. Electrical and building permits were pulled in April for work on the property.

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1032 W. Berwick St.

This property and the next nine properties went from being blight designated to blight certified by the city planning commission at its meeting May 3. Unlike the next nine properties, this property recently changed hands. It was sold May 2 to H&G Realty Investments of Palmer Township for $35,000, perhaps indicating that the new owner intends to fix it up.

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316 Elder St. (owned by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank)

Once a property is blight-certified, the city has the authority to condemn it. But thats not a popular choice since a condemned property can only be acquired for a public use. And, the city would have to pay fair market value to the owner.

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1109 Lehigh St. (owned by James Samuels of Newtown, Pa.)

Developers can acquire blighted properties through a county upset sale. Properties with three or more years of unpaid taxes typically end up on this list. Buyers must agree to pay the back taxes.

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1218 Ferry St. (owned by Frank Pugliese of Easton)

If the property isnt sold at an upset sale, it can be re-listed for a judicial sale, when the tax liens are wiped out. Speculators are usually more willing to buy them at that point.

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130 N. Third St. (owned by AHB Realty of Bedminster, N.J.)

The city runs into trouble when speculators buy properties at a judicial sale without inspecting them and quickly realize they dont have the resources to fix them. So they wind up staying on the blight list.

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130 S. 12th St. (owned by Peter Tomino of Easton)

The key is finding the right developer or homeowner whos serious about fixing up the property. Thats what happened to six out of the 16 blight-designated properties this year.

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1411 Lehigh St. (owned by Wilmington Savings Fund Society)

City planning director Tina Roseberry has said she plans to move neighborhood by neighborhood throughout the city looking for new properties to add to the blight list. She started this year with a small section of the West Ward.

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352 W. Nesquehoning St. (owned by Antonio Liotti of Easton)

Habitat for Humanity is interested in rehabbing a few properties on Nesquehoning Street on the South Side of Easton, including this property.

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358 W. Nesquehoning St. (owned by Carolyn Shellenberger of Palmer Twp.)

There are eight criteria to land a property on a blight list: its a public nuisance, an unattractive nuisance, its unfit for human habitation or a fire hazard, utilities are disconnected, it has a lack of site maintenance, unpaid taxes or it hasnt been rehabilitated in at least a year.

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373 W. Nesquehoning St. (Juan Jose Cruz of Bethlehem)

This property was blight-certified six years ago and remains on the previous blight list.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
UPDATE: Freedom grad killed in crash recalled as 'exceptional' friend

The Northampton County Coroner's Office has identified two people killed late Wednesday in a collision along Route 248 in Upper Nazareth Township.

Jonathan Morales Lopez, 19, of 4000 block Scherman Boulevard, in Bethlehem Township has been identified as the driver of an Acura while 70-year-old Brenda Zellner of the first block of South Penn Dixie Road in Upper Nazareth Township was a passenger in the Jeep.

Morales Lopez was a Freedom High School graduate and oldest of four siblings. Police said he worked for Tuscana Pizza along Route 248.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene and died from injuries sustained in the crash, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said Thursday morning.

David Zellner, 71, Brenda's husband who was driving the Jeep, remains in critical condition at St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill, said Upper Nazareth Police Chief William Cope.

No one was home at the Zellner residence -- less than a mile from the crash scene -- Thursday morning. Nina Micek, the couple's next-door neighbor, recalled Brenda as a warm soul, saying she would help feed her chickens and dogs.

Brenda never got annoyed if the animals wandered onto her property, Micek said. She was the type of neighbor who would always give a friendly waive if she saw you and greet everyone with a smiling, "Hello," she said.

"She was so friendly and so very sweet about it," said Micek, who's lived along South Penn Dixie Road for about 17 years. She said the couple was living next door when her family moved in.

"It's just so sad," Micek said about the crash.

Cope said the accident around 9 p.m. occurred just east of a curve on a downslope between Michael's School Road and Penn Allen Road. The vehicles were coming in different directions, Cope said, but it wasn't immediately clear if the crash was head-on.

The road is heavily traveled but Michaels School Road is a dead-end, so there aren't a lot of crashes caused by the intersection, Cope said. The accident occurred along a wooded stretch of roadway.

The crash remains under investigation by Upper Nazareth Township police. Cope said a reconstruction team is trying to determine what led to the accident.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: 'Center of it all': Family remembers mom killed in crash



Three of Jonathan Morales Lopez's classmates in his drama class at Freedom High School spoke little to no English when the semester started.

One of the students had been in the United States for less than three months, theater teacher Jennifer Wescoe recalled.

Jonathan Morales Lopez in his yearbook photo (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Without anyone asking, Morales Lopez took it upon himself to act as translator for the students.

"He was always happy to do it," Wescoe said Thursday afternoon. "He did a great service in class in addition to growing as a student and a performer. He had exceptional people skills."

Thursday, the Freedom family was reeling from the news that Morales Lopez,19, of the 4000 block of Scherman Boulevard in Bethlehem Township, was killed late Wednesday in a two-vehicle crash on Route 248 in Upper Nazareth Township.

A passenger in the other vehicle, Brenda Zellner, 70, of the first block of South Penn Dixie Road in Upper Nazareth, also died. Her husband David Zellner, 71, who was driving, remains in critical condition, police said.

Morales Lopez graduated from Freedom last year, but still had lots of friends in the school, where his sister is currently a student. He was the eldest of four siblings and Wescoe said he was devoted to his family.

After meeting Morales Lopez in sixth grade, Freedom senior Patricia Paulino said he became her best friend. They were drawn together by their desire to help others, she said.

"Everyone that met him always had a positive thought about him," Paulino said. "He left this world early but he will always have a place in my heart."

He could light up the room with one smile, Paulino said.

Lopez always stood out in class because of his bright personality, which shone through even if he might have been goofing off, Wescoe said.

"He always owned up for any mistake that he made and I always admired him for that," she said.

Wescoe last saw Lopez at the Freedom prom a week ago, she said. He had come to see Paulino all dressed up, and Wescoe ran into him leaving.

"That's the kind of friend he was: exceptional," Wesoce said.

Morales Lopez told his former teacher that he'd spent the year working -- police say he worked at Tuscana Pizza on Route 248 -- and deciding his next step. He always worked very hard at work outside of school, Wescoe said.

He planned to attend Northampton Community College in the fall, he told Wescoe.

"He really seemed he was in a very good place," Wescoe said.

Morales Lopez may not be able to watch her graduate from Freedom next month as she did for him, but Paulino said she knows that he will be watching her from above.

The crash remained under investigation Thursday afternoon by the Upper Nazareth Township police. A reconstruction team was working to figure out what led to the accident.

The wreck occurred around 9 p.m. on a rural stretch of Route 248 outside Bath, just east of a curve on a downgrade between Michael's School Road and Penn Allen Road.

The vehicles were coming in different directions, Upper Nazareth police Chief William Cope said, but it wasn't immediately clear if the crash was head-on.

While Route 248 is heavily traveled, Michael's School Road is a dead-end, so there aren't many crashes at the intersection, Cope said.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Using an executive order, President Donald Trump is establishing a special commission to investigate voter fraud, which he said was widespread in the 2016 presidential election.

The commission is expected to look at irregularities that affect federal elections, including fraudulent and duplicate registrations, illegal voting and vote suppression. It will be overseen by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Earlier this year Trump claimed that between 3 million to 5 million undocumented persons cast ballots in the presidential election, all of them for Hillary Clinton. His assertion that fraud is widespread is contested by many election officials, as well as a 2006 study undertaken by the George W. Bush administration, which found little evidence of fraud.

Some Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, who represents the Lehigh Valley, said the voter fraud investigation likely will be a distraction to other issues that require study and action.

What do you think? Is a voter fraud investigation needed? Will it expose widespread abuse? Have a say in our informal poll, and feel free to elaborate in the comment section.
UK travel company Thomas Cook has removed Sharm El-Sheikh from their upcoming winter 2017-2018 and summer 2018 holiday and flight programmes, saying they will not reinstate them until the UK governments advice not to travel to Sharm airport is lifted.

"The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to advise against travel to Sharm El-Sheikh airport, and we have no plans to reintroduce a programme to Sharm until after that advice changes," an update published on the companys website on Sunday read.

In the update, the company said that the five weekly flights scheduled for the winter 2017/2018 period have been cancelled, adding that they were currently contacting customers who had booked the flights or packages and will be offering them a refund.

The British government warns citizens against any travel to Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport.

Following a deadly plane crash in Sinai in October 2015, which killed all those aboard the Russian passenger jet which had taken off from the citys airport, a number of countries suspended their direct flights to the airport.

Most of those countries, including Belgium, Germany, Poland and Turkey, have since lifted their bans and resumed flights. Flights between Russia and Egypt remain suspended.

Since the suspension, Thomas Cook has continued to put up for sale flights and holiday packages to Sharm at a future date, only to subsequently cancel them as the governments advice remained unchanged.

On Sunday, the travel operator said it would not begin selling flights and holidays to the resort again until the advice was changed.

The operator is however going to offer two weekly flights to the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam from November.

Last week, a source at the tourism ministry told Ahram Online that Britons came in third in the list of tourists visiting Egypt in the first three months of 2017 at 74,000 visitors, a 16 percent rise compared to the same period last year.

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The President of Ireland will be the guest of honour in Abbeyleix later this month as the town rolls out the 'green' carpet to celebrate Abbeyleix Bog.

Predident Michael D Higgins will be in the Laois town as part of National Biodiversity Week which includes events all across the country from May 19th - 28th.

The visit marks the past and ongoing work on the bog, but also the recent news that the porject is in the top ten conservation success stories in Ireland.

Abbeyleix bog covers an area of 500 acres that is thriving with life from all its flora and fauna. From colourful orchids to beautiful butterflies and so much more.

As part of celebrating its 10th anniversary, the National Biodiversity Data Centre has chosen various top 10 lists.

One is their top 10 conservation success stories in Ireland. The Abbeyleix Bog Project features on this list.

Abbeyleix Bog is a wonderful example of local community-led conservation.

There are other excellant examples of peatland conservation projects, but the community-led aspect of the Abbeyleix Bog Project sets it apart, said the top ten assesment.

In 2000 the raised bog on the outskirts of Abbeyleix was destined for peat harvesting until a group of local people banded together to fight for it to be saved, conserved and to be used as an amenity for the local community and visitors.

The campaign succeeded and, in 2010, the bog was handed over to a local group on a 50-year lease agreement.

Today it has been restored and is managed for conservation, and there is an active progamme of engagement where visitors are welcomed onto the site to enjoy.

Work is constantly ongoing especially during the summer not only to conserve it, but to crucially create something that can be enjoyed.

A lot of labour has gone into rhododendron clearance while the building of a boardwalk has been another big project.

At the start of May work was completed connecting the bog bridge with the boardwalk platform. The loop walk, from the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel and back, measures 3.6 km.

Examples of activites include most recently a bog box inspection.

There will a butterfly walk organised by the National Biodiversity Data Centre on June 18. Some 19 of the country's 34 butterfly species inhabit the bog.

The project has won a number of local and national awards and will be part of the Abbeyleix entry to the European Entente Florale entry this year.

All of these achievements prove that the group is not just conserving for the sake of it, but doing so in line with its mission. Our mission is to restore Abbeyleix Bog so to make it available as a resource for the public to enjoy and look out for the wildlife that lives within it, says the project's mission statement. The visit by President Michael D Higgins takes place on Thursday, May 25 from 3-7pm. It is hosted by the Community Wetlands Forum.
The Annual Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards, held in The Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny this week saw four Kildare winners amongst the ten award recipients.

Punchestown Racecourse picked up the Racecourse Award, chosen by the Irish Stablestaff Association, based on a quality programme survey with the purpose of setting quality standards for stable staff at all racecourses throughout Ireland. Punchestown won 2,500 to spend on upgrading facilities which will benefit stable employees.

Owen Smyth, Head Stallion Man at Kildangan Stud was announced as the Irish Racing Excellence Award winner  taking the top honour at the Godolphin sponsored event. He also won the Leads by Example Award. Owen received 5,000, a specially-commissioned trophy and 3,000 to be shared among his colleagues for winning the Leads By Example Award. He also won an additional 5,000, the overall winners trophy and his colleagues in Kildangan will share an extra 5,000 for winning The Irish Racing Excellence Award.

Catherine McAvinney, Practice Manager at Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital who is from Maddenstown on the Curragh, won the Administration Award. Catherine has been working at Anglesey Lodge for 37 years and, in that time, has seen the business evolve from two vets to a staff of 26. Catherine received 5,000, a trophy and 3,000 to be shared among the employees at Anglesey Lodge.

The Travelling Head Person Award went to Patrick Whacker OBrien from Dermot Welds training establishment on the Curragh. Patrick is from the Curragh Camp in Kildare and has been working for Dermot Weld for 20 years. He received 5,000, a trophy and 3,000 to be shared among the Rosewell House team.

Sarah McCrory, Head Girl at Ted Walshs won the Newcomer Award. Originally from Dunboyne in County Meath, Sarah joined the team at Ted Walshs in 2014 and despite not coming from a horse background, her affinity for, and natural talent with horses and her love of racing was enough to see her through to win this popular award category. Sarah received a cash prize of 2,500, a trophy plus a five-day educational tour to Dubai with flights and accommodation included.
Ballinamore's Colm Costello is Ireland's longest patient in ICU after 270 days in a coma.



The 28-year-old who suffered a rare auto-immune neurological disorder in August 2016, has four different antibodies attacking his body which has never been encountered by medics around the world.

Colm's father Paul told the paper his son is undergoing a new treatment which is offering his family and friends much hope.



Colm has received five out of eight treatments as part of an experimental procedure to clear the antibodies from his system. Paul said it is a slow progress but it needs to build up in the system.

Colm is in uncharted waters and the medical team in St Vincent's are partnered with Oxford University and other medical teams around the world to seek a solution to Colm's rare issue.

While doctors have encountered two antibodies attacking a system, they have never before dealt with four.



Paul sends out weekly texts to family members and friends, some of which are published on Facebook, he said they never thought they would be up to day 270. He says the number is on the screen by Colm's bed.

Paul understands Colm is the longest patient in ICU in Ireland and he will be there for the foreseeable future.



After the eight treatments are completed fluid will be taken from Colm's spine and sent to Oxford for analysis.

Colm is a fighter Paul explains and the doctors are hopeful of an improvement soon. He said his son's organs are all 100% and his body is functioning properly.



Paul said the family have been overwhelmed by the support locally and the substantial amount of money raised at the fundraiser in February this year.

He said the fund is for Colm's recovery and rehabilitation it is his fund only, we don't even know how much was raised. A Committee was set up to look after the fund.



Parents Paul and Mary spend every weekend in St Vincent's Hospital and they control the amount of people who visit. Colm is in isolation in ICU.

The family were delighted with the turn out at a special healing mass in Aughnasheelin on May 1. The mass celebrated the 10th anniversary of Colm's liver transplant, prayed for the lady who gave Colm her liver and it was also a healing mass for Colm's current state.

Paul said he hopes the next update on Colm's progress is more positive or he might give you the update himself.

Costello family say thanks

Paul, Mary Liam and Emma Costello would like to thank everybody for their kindness and support during Colm's illness since August last.

We are extremely thankful to the committee that organised the benefit night on February 4, those who donated items for auction, those who helped out in any way and to the huge crowd who attended and gave their support on the night.

To the Connemara Pony Breeders Society members who attended a big Thank you. Colm is a very proud member of this society and would be very moved by their support and kindness. To the Aughawillan Drama Troupe who donated a night to the fund we offer our thanks.

To everyone who attended Colm's very special healing mass in Aughnasheelin on May 1, to Fr Sean Mawn and Fr Johnny Cusack whom have been a great support to our family over the last nine months, to the beautiful choir on the night, to the hall committee who provided refreshments to all we offer our heartfelt gratitude .

We thank everyone for praying so hard for Colm's recovery, those who send enrolments and mass bouquets. To the fantastic team of doctors and nurses in St Vincent's ICU Elm Park who have taken great care of Colm over the last nine months words can not express how thankful we are for your professional care, kindness and support.

Please continue to keep our beloved Colm in your thoughts and prayers.

- From the Costello & Dolan families
Egypts prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek on Thursday referred a judge to criminal court for killing a student in Cairo earlier this month, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The appeal court judge was accused of killing 23-year-old Momen Saad Agha, a German University in Cairo student who was completing his compulsory military service, during an altercation in the Nasr City district.

According to news reports the judge shot the victim when Agha attempted to stop him from assaulting his fiancee, who the judge had accused of being a thief.



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Kate Hoey must be feeling threatened by her local Lib Dem candidate George Turner. As one of the most prominent advocates of Brexit in a heavily Remain voting constituency, (not to mention having to campaign on Jeremy Corbyns manifesto), her jacket is, shall we say, on a shoogly peg.

The other day, she tweeted a photo of an event at a school in her constituency. If you look in the back row, you will see Sarah Olney. Next to Sarah Olney is a pair of legs without a head. They belong to George Turner who has been airbrushed out.

Wonderful protest by children in North Lambeth to call on politicians to sign the #CleanAirPledge. Fully support pic.twitter.com/uWCgxPli2Y  Kate Hoey (@KateHoeyMP) May 8, 2017

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, George Turner said:

I saw Kate tweeted and I thought it was a bit strange as I remembered standing on stage next to Sarah Olney. I was thinking: Did I move? But all the time Kate spoke I was stood next to Sarah. On the photo my head and torso were deleted  in a slightly Stalinist way.

Kate Hoeys excuse was that George was wearing a rosette and she didnt want that on her personal Twitter. Thats the sign of someone feeling the heat.

* Newshound in training. I'm sweet and full of mischief, just like my stories.
Liberal Democrats have stated that 1 billion of the partys additional health funding would be spent tackling the historic injustice faced by people with mental ill health.

Last weekend, we unveiled a Five Point NHS and Care Recovery Plan to increase funding for health and social care services, including a penny on income tax to provide a 6 billion funding boost.

Today we are saying that 1 billion of this extra money would be ring-fenced as dedicated funding for mental health services.

This would help to deliver on 12 key priorities, including improving waiting time standards for mental health care on the NHS and providing support for pregnant women and young people suffering from mental health problems.

We would also set out to end the inappropriate use of force against people with mental ill health, end out of area placements for mental health patients and prioritise national action to reduce the number of suicides.

Norman Lamb said:
The country needs to save as much money as it can. Anything we can save will help the government to balance the books.

A small but wasteful activity is the requirement for Acts of Parliament to receive Royal Assent. Many people may believe that a Bill becomes law when it is passed by both Houses of Parliament. But it is a requirement for every Bill to go before the Queen and receive her approval.

Royal Assent is usually granted a few weeks after the Bill is passed by Parliament. It is presented to the Queen in an elaborate ceremony; her Assent is conveyed back to Parliament by Black Rod at the prorogation.

In theory, Royal Assent is a veto. The Queen can refuse to give Assent just as the President of the USA can veto a Bill passed by both Houses of Congress. But, in reality, Royal Assent is a formality.

Today, if a British monarch even suggested they might block Parliaments will by withholding Royal Assent there would be Parliamentary and public outrage. This has been the political reality for centuries. Royal Assent has not been refused since 1708 when Queen Anne refused Assent for a Bill about the militia in Scotland. George IV threatened to refuse Assent for Catholic emancipation (a great Gladstonian cause) but backed down in the face of Parliaments clear will. George V took legal advice on withholding Assent from the Ireland Bill in 1911 but quickly and publicly announced he would not do so. He could see that a monarch thwarting Parliaments will would destroy the monarchys legitimacy in the eyes of most people.

When Parliament legislates on issues of conscience a monarch can be put in an awkward position. In modern times Belgium lost a king who abdicated rather than sign Assent to a Bill that conflicted with his religious beliefs. The monarch is the one person who cannot have a free vote.

The times is long overdue to scrap the requirement for Royal Assent and let a Bill becomes an Act when it is passed by Parliament. It would save money by eliminating unnecessary ceremony and whatever civil service and Parliamentary time is taken up by facilitating Royal Assent. The cost of Royal Assent is unpublished. You would not think it is much, but state activity you expect to be cheap always seems to cost a fortune. It might be hundreds of thousands, it might be tens of thousands. Even if it was 1, it is 1 we should save and put into health, education, defence or anywhere it can do more good.

* Antony Hook was a Liberal Democrat MEP for South East England (2019) and has practised as a barrister since 2003. He is currently Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Kent County Council.
When you consult books about Liberal and Liberal Democrat party history about the birth of our Internationalism, European Federalism and our thesis that stand-alone nationstates (and narrow nationalism) become more and more obsolete, you discover a surprising fact.

According to Michael Steeds chapter Liberal Tradition in Don MacIvers bundle The Liberal Democrats (from 1996), it was in the comprehensive policy survey The Liberal Way of 1934, that we stated that in future, narrow nationalist parties everywhere would face parties, the Liberals firmly among them, supporting the growing, factual interdependence as best policy basis. Philip Kerr, marquis of Lothian, said (1935): the only final remedy for war is a federation of nations. But personal guilt about having himself written the War Damages clause in the Versailles Treaty made Kerr become an advocate of appeasement to Germany, a Liberal dissident, until the Munich Agreement.

Both Chris Cooks history of the Liberals in 1900-76, and Robert Ingham & Duncan Bracks authoritative bundle Peace Reform & Liberation (PRL; 2001) tell that this interdependence makes collectivism better policy-idea was formulated in a phase of disintegration of the Liberal party (the split about the 1931 National Government; desertions to the National Liberals and Labour; loss of seats).

Sir Archibald Sinclair, who became party leader after the heavy 1935 election defeat, put our internationalism to immediate use, insisting on collective security and collective deal-making (as opposed to selective powernation deals like Munich), Reynolds & Hunter write in their chapter about 1929-55 in PRL (p. 222). Instead of Appeasement, Sinclair insisted on collective resistance to expansionist dictatorships, while Tory dissident Churchill pointed to Germanys rearmament.

Steed (in MacIver, Lib Dems, p. 56) says that the Liberals support for Federalism in Europe (Federal Union from 1938/9; European movement from 48), and Clement Davies early support for the federally structured ECSC of Robert Schuman, all derive directly from the Liberal Way stance. And from there it is a small step to the full-blown support for (and wanting to join in) the EEC by Grimond, Thorpe and later leaders.

Sinclair is the man who combined Liberal international collectivism with pleas for restoring a strong defense (saying other states should do the same, while joining the collective). The Sudeten crisis and Munich were roundly condemned by Sinclair (joined by Churchill); instead of asking the Benelux countries to join in (where the Social Liberal Dutch VDB was also pleading rearmament), Chamberlain only brought wavering France to Munich, where they amputated the also excluded democracy Czechoslovakia.

Both the thinking of The Liberal Way, and the pleas by both Sinclairs Liberals and the Dutch VDB for rearmament from 1935 onward are a precedent for the thinking of LibDems and D66 in these days. The 2009 and 2014 Euro-election victories by D66 in a Netherlands turning Eurosceptic shows that it may be an uphill struggle, but distinctiveness wins.

* Dr. Bernard Aris is a historian, a D66 parliamentary researcher and a LibDem supporting member.
Since his election as leader in 2015, Tim Farron has been one of the strongest voices arguing that we should offer sanctuary to those fleeing the appalling, brutal war in Syria. He has made several visits to places like Calais and Lesvos to talk to refugees.

On his agenda today is a visit to a refugee charity in Gloucestershire where he will announce an ambitious manifesto commitment for refugees.

The manifesto sets out a plan to take 50,000 refugees over five years from Syria in the next parliament, as well as reopening the Dubs programme for unaccompanied asylum seeking children stranded in Europe, and working with international partners to create safe and legal routes.

Under Theresa May, the Conservatives have u-turned on two previous pledges, one to take more refugees from Syria and another to help abandoned child refugees.

Tim will say:

This is about the sort of country we are. The Britain I love is an open, tolerant, united country with a generous spirit and compassion for those in need. I love my country  and I hate it when my government makes me feel ashamed. Faced with suffering and trauma on a scale not seen since the Second World War, Theresa May has wilfully chosen to tear up her promises to help some of the most vulnerable children and people in the world. In the last two years I have visited refugees in Calais, Lesbos and Macedonia. Ive looked these refugees in the eye and seen their suffering. By committing to taking 10,000 Syrian refugees a year and reopening Dubs we can do our part to ease that suffering. And thats why Im proud that I lead a party that welcomes refugees and accepts its responsibilities. Its the decent thing to do. Its the right thing to do. And its the patriotic thing to do.

And the party have produced an accompanying video to illustrate the point:
Denmark's Jewish community has filed a complaint over an imam accused of calling for the murder of Jews in a case sparking political opprobrium, it emerged Thursday.

Imam Mundhir Abdallah preaches in the working class Copenhagen suburb of Norrebro at the Masjid Al-Faruq mosque, which media have previously linked to radical Islam.

He stands accused of citing a hadith or koranic narrative on March 31 calling for Muslims to rise up against Jews.

"Judgement Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them," begins Abdallah's address in footage on YouTube, according to a transcript of the original Arabic provided by US organisation the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, the head of the Jewish community in Denmark, urged police to open an investigation into a possible case of incitement to racial hatred.

"We fear that weak and easily-influenced persons could interpret this kind of preaching as an appeal to visit acts of violence or terror on Jews," Asmussen told the Politiken daily.

Minister of immigration and integration, Inger Stojberg, described the imam's address as "horrible, anti-democratic and abominable".

Neither the imam nor the Jewish community responded to AFP requests for comment.

According to broadcaster DR, Omar al-Hussein, who was behind a series of shootings in Copenhagen in February 2015 which left two people dead, had visited the mosque the day before going on the rampage.

The Dane of Palestinian origin had sworn allegiance to Islamic State group and shot and killed one person at a cultural centre hosting a conference on freedom of expression, before killing a Jewish man outside a synagogue. Police later shot him dead after he fired on them in a third incident.

Earlier this month Denmark published a list of six foreigners accused of preaching hatred -- five of them Muslim preachers and one Evangelical, banning them for at least two years.

The list includes two Saudis, a Canadian, a Syrian, and two Americans, including pastor Terry Jones who burned copies of the Koran in 2011.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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The UN said Thursday another peacekeeper has been found dead in the Central African Republic, bringing to five the toll from an attack this week, the deadliest so far against the mission in the unstable, violence-plagued nation.

Suspected anti-Balaka Christian militias attacked the UN convoy of the MINUSCA force on Monday in the southeast of the country near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The Moroccan peacekeeper who had been reported missing has now been found dead," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

A Cambodian soldier serving in the MINUSCA mission was killed during an exchange of gunfire and ten other peacekeepers were wounded.

The bodies of three other Cambodian peacekeepers were found on Tuesday.

UN officials said the bodies of the four peacekeepers were badly mutilated, to the point of making identification difficult.

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix will travel to the capital Bangui later in the day to attend a memorial on Friday for the five soldiers and to meet with the country's leaders.

He will express "strong support for the UN peacekeeping mission" that was set up in 2014 to help stabilize the country, Dujarric said.

MINUSCA's 10,000 troops and 2,000 police were deployed following bloody sectarian fighting that erupted after the 2013 overthrow of leader Francois Bozize.

Among Africa's poorest countries, the Central African Republic descended into bloodshed pitting the anti-Balaka fighters against the mainly Muslim Seleka coalition.

In recent days fighting has erupted between anti-Balaka militias and the UPC faction of the ex-Seleka rebels leaving around 37 people dead and many wounded, including civilians, at Alindao in the centre of

the country, sources told AFP, including the Centrafrican Red Cross which added that 3,000 people were displaced.

"We don't have an official toll for Alindao but we deeply regret to see the presence of child soldiers in the region, including in the ranks of the UPC. The situation in the region is worrying," said Herve Verhoosel, a MINUSCA spokesman.

The Moroccan royal armed forces separately said in a statement from Rabat that the body of the Moroccan peacekeeper had been returned, and that another wounded soldier remained in serious condition.

The ambush of the UN convoy took place on the Rafai-Bangassou axis, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) southeast of the city of Bria.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council have strongly condemned the attack and called for those responsible to face justice.

Meanwhile, the military mission of the European Union said the first battalion of 650 Centrafrican soldiers which trained by the mission was presented to authorities in Bangui on Thursday.

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Chinese auto sales fell in April by the steepest in almost two years, the automakers' association said on Thursday, as a tax increase on small-engine cars from the beginning of the year discouraged buyers.

Vehicle sales in China, the world's largest auto market, fell 2.2 percent to 2.1 million in April, compared to a 4 percent rise in March, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers'(CAAM) showed. The drop was the sharpest since sales fell 5 percent in August 2015, data showed.

In the first four months of the year, sales grew 4 percent, slower than the 5 percent increase forecast by the CAAM for all of 2017.

"Demand was weak and this caused stock piles in April," said Chen Shihua, a CAAM spokesman.

The purchase tax for cars with engines of 1.6 liter capacity or below climbed to 7.5 percent this year from 5 percent in 2016 after the government stepped in to stimulate slumping sales. The tax will rise to the normal 10 percent rate next year.

Industry executives and analysts had warned that the tax would hurt sales in early 2017.

China targets sales of 35 million vehicles A YEAR by 2025 and new energy vehicles to make up at least one-fifths of that total.

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British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson said petroleum giant British Petroleum (BP) is investing $13 billion over five years to make Egypt the new energy superpower, through investments worth more than Cairo's three-year $12 billion loan deal with the IMF.

In a press release, the UK Embassy in Cairo said Casson attended the inauguration of BP's first two gas fields in the West Nile Delta Project, which was inaugurated Wednesday by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the company's chief executive Bob Dudley.

The project involves the development of gas and condensate fields located in western Mediterranean deepwater concessions approximately 75 kilometres off the coast of Alexandria. BP has announced the start of production of natural gas from the Torres and Libra fields, ahead of schedule by eight months and under budget, according to the press release.

In November, BP said it had plans to invest $13 billion in Egypt before 2020. According to the embassy, total production by the two projects is expected to reach about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day, hitting peak production in 2019. This would equate to about 30 percent of Egypt's current natural gas production.

"The new gas today from Egypt's giant new field shows Britain supports Egypt with more investments than other countries do, with nearly 50 percent of all investment flows. BP is investing $13 billion in five years to make Egypt the new energy superpower.

That's more from one British company than the entire IMF loan," Casson said. He highlighted the size of overall British investments in Egypt, reiterating that UK companies have invested $43 billion in Egypt, making it the number one foreign investor in the country with almost half of all investment since 2011.

"British investment gives Egypt exactly the fuel it needs. Not adding to Egypt's debt. Not dollars flowing out of Egypt for imports. British investment means foreign currency in the bank for Egypt, jobs for Egyptians and a world class energy supply for Egypt," Casson said.

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These images show the man's ruptured eardrums. The image on the left shows the man's right eardrum, and the image on the right shows his left eardrum.

Celebratory fireworks at a wedding led to the rupturing of both of a mans eardrums, according to a brief report of the man's case.

The 30-year-old man went to the emergency room in Switzerland after an explosion from the fireworks accidentally went off close to where he was standing, according to the report, published today (May 10) in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The eardrum, which is also called the tympanic membrane, is a thin membrane inside the ear canal. When sound waves hit the eardrum, it vibrates. However, very loud noises, which produce very large sound waves, can cause the eardrum to tear, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Eardrum ruptures are not uncommon, said Dr. Patrick Dubach, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Solothurn Hospital in Switzerland who treated the man. Dubach said he sees a ruptured eardrum about once every two months, but in most cases, fireworks are not the cause. A more common source of the injury is when a person inserts a Q-tip too far into his or her ear, Dubach said. [Here's a Giant List of the Strangest Medical Cases We've Covered]

When the man arrived at the hospital, he was experiencing hearing loss and a ringing in his ears, a problem known as tinnitus, according to the report. The doctors tested the man's hearing and found that he had experienced mild "conductive" hearing loss and moderate "sensorineural" hearing loss, according to the report.

Conductive hearing loss occurs when the structures of the ear, including the eardrum, are damaged, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). In the man's case, his conductive hearing loss was due to the rupturing of his eardrums, Dubach told Live Science.

Sensorineural hearing loss, on the other hand, refers to hearing loss caused by damage to either the tiny cells, called hair cells, found within in the inner ear or to the nerves that are related to hearing, the HLAA says. Acoustic trauma, or very loud noise, is one of the things that can damage the cells of the inner ear, Dubach said.

In addition to hearing loss, ruptured eardrums can lead to other problems, Dubach said. For example, a ruptured eardrum can open the ear up to bacterial infections, Dubach said. This is because the eardrum doesn't only play a role in hearing; it also acts as a barrier to keep bacteria out.

It's possible for cysts, called cholesteatomas, to form in the ear of someone with a ruptured eardrum, too, Dubach said. These cysts provide a friendly breeding ground for bacteria and contain proteins that can damage the bones in the ear, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Ruptured eardrums can also lead to vertigo and balance problems, Dubach added.

In most cases, a ruptured eardrum will heal in a few weeks on its own, according the Mayo Clinic. But sometimes, a short medical procedure or surgery is needed, the Mayo Clinic says.

In the man's case, the doctors repaired his eardrums using a procedure called patching, according to the report. During the procedure, doctors seal the hole in the eardrum with a small patch, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Three months later, the man's eardrums had healed, and his hearing had returned to the normal, the doctors wrote.

Originally published on Live Science.
Orca whales have claimed the life of another great white shark by eating its liver and leaving it for dead, making it the fourth such gristly death in less than two months.

During a four-day period in early May, researchers reported finding the bodies of three great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) that had washed ashore along South Africa's Western Cape province. All of these sharks were mysteriously missing their livers, necropsies (animal autopsies) showed.

Now, a fourth dead, liverless shark has washed ashore, according to a post today (June 26) on the Marine Dynamics blog, a site hosted by a shark cage diving company. The newly discovered 13-foot-long (4 meters) male shark was missing its liver, testes and stomach, according to the blog post. [See Photos of the Shark Necropsies]

No one saw the sharks' last moments, but their injuries indicate that orcas, also known as killer whales (Orcinus orca), were the culprits, the researchers said.

Researchers performed a necropsy on all three sharks. (Image credit: Marine Dynamics)

"This is the fourth documented deceased white shark since May that we can connect to Orca predation" Alison Towner, a white-shark biologist for the Dyer Island Conservation Trust in South Africa, wrote on the Marine Dynamics blog. "We don't really know how long the sharks will stay away from the area as a result of predation pressure."

Although orcas aren't known to regularly hunt great white sharks, "it's not unprecedented," said Andrew Nosal, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Saint Katherine College in San Marcos, California, and a visiting assistant researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. (Nosal was not involved in the recent shark analyses.)

Scientists know that both orcas and great whites live off the western coast of South Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. Although Nosal wasn't aware of orca-on-shark attacks in that area, he had heard of instances in which orcas have hunted the sharks in other locations, such as off the coast of southern Australia and near the Farallon Islands, a wildlife refuge off the coast of San Francisco, he said.

In addition, orcas are known to hunt and eat the livers of the broadnose sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus) off the coast of California, said Chris Lowe, director of The Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, who wasn't involved with the South African analyses.

Not much is known about orca predation on great white sharks, Nosal said. But any marine biologist can tell you that other marine mammals prey on the livers and internal organs of smaller sharks, he said.

For instance, sea lions routinely hunt leopard sharks off the coast of California. In grisly detail, Nosal described how sea lions grab onto leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata), and then twist and turn the shark until they can bite just under its gills.

"It's almost like a sweet spot," Nosal told Live Science. "Once they have a good grip just under the gills, they thrash the shark above the water with such force that the shark is actually eviscerated. All of the internal organs come out of that one opening that the sea lion made."

Then, the sea lion gobbles up the internal organs and leaves the rest of the carcass, which will either sink to the seafloor or wash ashore, Nosal said.

A sea lion thrashes a leopard shark by Catalina Island, located off the coast of Los Angeles. Notice how the sea lion has a firm grip just below the shark's gills. (Image credit: J.J. Newman)

Sharks have enormous livers, he noted. Livers are filled with fats that give the shark buoyancy. "Bony fishes have a swim bladder that they can fill with gases, and those gases provide buoyancy for the fish," Nosal said. "Sharks do not have a swim bladder. Instead, they have a very large liver." [Aahhhhh! 5 Scary Shark Myths Busted]

In addition to being filled with fat, shark livers are "very energy- and nutrient-rich," Nosal said. It's unclear why orcas would go after the sharks' livers, but Nosal said he imagines "they have a high metabolism, and they have a lot of nutrient needs, and so those fats might really help them out."

Still, it's impossible to pin the sharks' deaths squarely on the orcas without more evidence, such as video footage or a first-person account, he said.

One commenter on the Marine Dynamics blog wondered whether the sharks could have died from boat strikes, but Nosal dismissed that idea.

"These sharks are certainly common at the surface, and so a boat strike is possible," Nosal said. "However, because three sharks washed up around the same time, three boat strikes are unlikely."

Moreover, when sea lions attack leopard sharks, "we often see these sorts of 'cluster predations,' where the sea lion will eviscerate several sharks around the same time," he said. "So again, all the evidence is consistent with orca predation."

Editor's note: This story was originally published on May 11, 2017, and updated to include information about the fourth dead shark.

Original article on Live Science.
In Kim Stanley Robinson's new novel, "New York 2140" (Orbit, 2017), Manhattan lies partially submerged after a 50-foot (15 meters) rise in sea level.

The story follows a cast of characters inhabiting one apartment building (more or less) as they commute by sky-bridge or canal, search for buried treasure, try to hack the global financial system, airlift endangered polar bears from one pole to the other, grapple with a building-buyout conspiracy  just a typical sampling of activities one might encounter in a post-apocalyptic world that kept on going. But the world is on the brink of change again, and it's humanity's choice whether it's for better or for worse.

Space.com talked with Robinson about how he developed his vision of a drowned New York, his thoughts on climate change and what role fiction has to play in determining what humans do next. [New NASA Model Maps Sea Level Rise Like Never Before (Video)]

Space.com: How did this story first begin to develop?

Kim Stanley Robinson: The way it came about is I did want to write a book about global finances that exist now, and how we might seize it, take it over and make it work for people. When I described that project to my editor, he said, "Well, could you maybe put it in the drowned New York that you portrayed briefly in [the] novel '2312'?"

When he gave me that idea, I thought that's perfect, because global finance has a center in New York, and then all the jokes about being underwater financially could be fitted physically to the situation. The book is making the case that climate change is basically a financial disaster, or has been caused by bad economics rather than bad technology or pure number of people. It was a great suggestion, and I just ran with it.

We are in an economic-slash-political system that is actually causing the problem, and so it's very hard to make it into a solution for the problem. And that's the story I wanted to tell.

Space.com: How did you flesh out what the future drowned New York would look like?

Robinson: First, I got a USGS [U.S. Geological Survey] topo[graphical] map of the area that included the contour intervals for elevation as well as the streets and bridges and everything. I marked the 50-foot contour interval all around the map and transferred that new coastline to a tourist map. And then I visited New York City a couple of times during the writing of the book, and I wandered the city from the Cloisters out to Coney Island, and various places where people don't go as tourists, to try to see what the new sea level situation would be like. That and a lot of reading was the bulk of my research.

Space.com: How did you research the science of what would happen to those buildings in flooded conditions?

Robinson: There was some really fun reading to be done there. There are these books ["The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper" and "The Works: Anatomy of a City" by Kate Ascher (Penguin Press, 2011 and 2007)]. They go into the infrastructural details. And I also read a lot about Venice, because Venice is the obvious model for a drowned city  how they deal with their high tides, their "acqua alta," and how do they cope with the corrosive power of saltwater, and how do they do sewage and electrical lights.

And I have to admit  I had to do a little bit of science fictional hand waving, in that they have some techs in this future world  120 years on, materials science has given them what they call a kind of diamond spray, and also graphenated composites. Right now, these are both more ideas than realities, but they're not far off. Both of those would be incredibly useful materials to have if you were coping with a drowned New York.

I figured that the land that wasn't drowned on Manhattan, New York being New York, would become more valuable than ever, and that they would build new skyscrapers up at the north end of the island, where there aren't any now. And with graphenated composites, you can begin to get away from steel and concrete, and the strength of steel and concrete in combination is a limiting factor on how high skyscrapers can go and still hold our weight.  When they talk about space elevators, they're usually talking about graphenated compounds, and talking about strengths that are like 10 times our strongest materials we have right now. Space elevators might still be impossible for orbital reasons, but tall skyscrapers would be easy, so to speak.

Space.com: And those materials are crucial to the floating, tethered city blocks that one character proposes, as well. Do you think that kind of structure could actually exist?

Robinson: The interesting thing is that since I've finished the book, people have sent me articles that apparently Singapore is contemplating doing this very thing, because Singapore is another city that is at sea level, and they have a problem. And they have begun to think about floating islands that are tethered as their solution.

People are not going to want to abandon the coastal cities, but the coastal cities are going to get flooded. The big ones that have some infrastructure, it's what I named my first chapter: "The Tyranny of Sunk Costs." You put so much money into these cities that you don't want to just walk and move uphill. There will be a desire to salvage what you can of them. There, you get the intertidal [the region that is under and above water based on the tides] and all these various fixes for continuing to occupy what would be [flooded]. There are going to be a lot of Venices  that's what it comes down to. [The 20 Cities Most Vulnerable to Flooding]

Space.com: Is the world equipped to deal with that kind of change?

Robinson: I think it would be different depending on what part of the world you're talking about. The better your infrastructure and your capital supplies are, and the better government that you have, the more likely you will be able to be resilient and to work on fixes.

Kim Stanley Robinson wrote "New York 2140" to explore what would happen to the city after 50-foot sea level rise. (Image credit: SFXFuture Publishing, Ltd.)

My book describes a time that is about 40 years after the last rise in sea level, and everybody's extremely nervous in my book wondering if more sea rise might happen. But in any case, it's been stable for a while. But when there is rapid sea level rise, if there is a pulse of released ice from Antarctica, then it's going to be a refugee disaster and an ecological disaster. The superfund sites will proliferate. It will be a poisoned coastline for a long time.

I don't want to suggest that it won't be a gigantic disaster, because it will. But what I do want to suggest is that after the disaster, people are going to be coping. They will not give up. They won't sit on the ground and weep and throw ashes on their heads and say, "Oh, woe is us. Our ancestors were idiots." They will cope. So the coping is an interesting story to try to tell. It's a science fiction story. It's a combination of technical and political and all the other elements of the human story. It will be an interesting moment in history, and the main thing that I tried to say in this novel is that in the coping process, there's going to be some positives, there's going to be some comedy.

Space.com: Is there any way that expansion into the solar system, for instance, could forestall the need for climate change reform?

Robinson: No. The timing is all wrong, and also the solar system is made of the wrong materials. The stuff that's out there is [made of] the most common elements on Earth, and the rare elements that might be valuable are so diffuse that mining doesn't work, and the stuff that's easy to bring back, we already have tons of. I do believe that space science is an Earth science and that the stuff that we do out in the solar system is really useful for understanding better how to manage the Earth's biosphere. And also, space is possibly good at power generation, clean power and even maybe some manufacturing  I'm thinking the moon here, because that's what I'm writing right now  where you might be able to put off-planet some of the dirtiest industries, and that would take a burden off the Earth's necessity for cleaning up pollutants that we create.

Space.com: Can this kind of fictional portrayal help people avert sea level rise? Or is it more an exercise to see how humans would survive?

Robinson: Maybe both at once. There was an academic debate for a while, and I think it was mostly in academia, between mitigation and adaptation. And I'm always in favor of mitigation. We should be fighting to minimize the climate change that we're creating.

There's a danger in writing about climate change in positive ways. There's a danger of suggesting that it won't be so bad, it'll be OK, let's not worry about it now, let's not try too hard now. I had to walk a very fine line, because I wanted to remind everyone that in fact it will be a disaster, but that after that, it's not going to be the end of the world. I did want to strike against the idea of apocalyptic thinking. There's a strand of thinking that says, well, after the world's destroyed, things will come to an end, and so we might as well not even worry about it now. There will still be people around. In other words, there was a really delicate balance I had to keep walking in this book, and I hope that I have.

This interview was edited for length.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
World Chess champion Garry Kasparov barely acknowledges the handshake from Dr. C.J. Tan head of the IBM Deep Blue computer team which defeated Kasparov in the six-game series that ended on May 11, 1997.

It took just 19 moves. Today marks the 20th anniversary of an epic chess match between IBM's computer Deep Blue and world chess champion Garry Kasparov. On May 11, 1997, the undefeated Kasparov faced off against the chess-playing machine in the sixth and final game of a hotly contested match. After only 19 moves, Deep Blue claimed victory over the chess champ, marking a key milestone in the burgeoning world of artificial intelligence.

"I lost my fighting spirit," Kasparov said as he resigned the final game, reported The New York Times.

It was the first time a chess champion was bested by a machine in a traditional chess match, and it was a stunning demonstration of the computing power of machines over the human brain. In the best-of-five match, Kasparov won the first game, Deep Blue won the second, and then the subsequent three matches ended in draws, setting the stage for the sixth and final game.

After the fifth game, Kasparov said he had not been in the mood for playing, and when asked to elaborate on his outlook, he said: "I'm a human being. When I see something that is well beyond my understanding, I'm afraid," he said, according to the Times.

Original article on Live Science.
Archaeologists have reached the burial chamber of the 3,800-year-old pyramid discovering the remains of a poorly preserved sarcophagus and a wooden box inscribed with three lines of hieroglyphs.

Inside a 3,800-year-old pyramid at the site of Dahshur in Egypt, archaeologists have discovered a burial chamber that may have held the mummy of a princess named Hatshepset. A wooden box inscribed with hieroglyphs was also found within the chamber.

The discoveries provide clues that may help archaeologists determine why a pharaoh named Ameny Qemau has two pyramids at Dahshur.

The wooden box is inscribed with "Hatshepset," which likely does not refer to the pharaoh Hatshepsut but rather someone else with a similar name, the researchers said. Last month, another inscription, written on an alabaster block, was also found in the pyramid. That inscription bears the name of pharaoh Ameny Qemau (also spelled Qemaw), who ruled Egypt for a brief period around 1790 B.C. It's the second pyramid that has an inscription bearing the name Ameny Qemau that is known from Dahshur. The other Ameny Qemau pyramid was discovered in 1957 and is located nearly 2,000 feet (about 600 meters) away from the recently discovered pyramid.

People at the time would have used the newly discovered wooden box to hold canopic jars, which would have stored the inner organs of a mummy, officials with the Egyptian antiquities ministry said in a statement. The jars are now gone, and the archaeologists found only a few mummy wrappings inside the box, the ministry said. The ministry also noted that the box has three lines of hieroglyphic inscriptions that may refer to a daughter of Ameny Qemau. [In Photos: See Another Egyptian Pyramid That Predates Giza]

This wooden box was discovered inside the burial chamber of a 3,800-year-old pyramid and is inscribed with hieroglyphs that may mention the name of the daughter of pharaoh Ameny Qemau. The box once held the remains of jars containing the internal organs of a mummy. (Image credit: Courtesy of Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities)

Live Science showed a photo of the inscriptions to James Allen, an Egyptology professor at Brown University, and he deciphered them. "It's a box for canopic jars. The inscriptions are typical for such boxes in the Second Intermediate Period [which lasted from about 1640 B.C. to 1540 B.C.] and belong on the side [of the box] facing east," Allen wrote in an email. The top line reads, "Neith, extend your arms over the Duamutef who is in you," according to Allen.

"Duamutef is the god associated with the canopic jar for the stomach," while "Neith is the goddess charged with protecting it [the jar]," Allen noted.

To the left of the top inscription, there is another inscription that runs vertically down the box. It reads, "Venerated with Neith, Kings daughter Hatshepset," Allen said. To the right of the top inscription there is another inscription that runs vertically down the box that reads "Venerated with Duamutef, King's daughter Hatshepset," Allen said, adding that, "I presume Hatshepset was a daughter of Ameny Qemau," and that she was buried in her father's pyramid.

The name Hatshepset "is similar to that of the later royal wife Hatshepsut, who served as co-pharaoh with Thutmose III," Allen said. The royal wife Hatshepsut reigned around 3,500 years ago, about three centuries after Ameny Qemau's reign.

Aidan Dodson, a research fellow at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, also examined a photo of the wooden box for Live Science. Dodson co-authored a 1998 paper on the artifacts from the Ameny Qemau pyramid discovered in 1957. "The canopic box definitely belongs to a king's daughter, but I'm having difficulty reading the name. It gives no indication of her parentage," he said. "The pyramid is not of a type appropriate to a princess. It must therefore have been built for a king, but then usurped for her burial."

The "presence of the Ameny Qemau text suggests that he may have usurped the pyramid built for his predecessor for the interment of one of his daughters, as there is no reason why he should have built two pyramids of his own."

A team with the Egyptian antiquities ministry is excavating the pyramid. In addition to the wooden box, the researchers announced that they had discovered the remains of a poorly preserved sarcophagus in the burial chamber. Excavations are ongoing, and new discoveries possibly await, the ministry said.

Original article on Live Science.
When the IBM computer Deep Blue beat the world's greatest chess player, Garry Kasparov, in the last game of a six-game match on May 11, 1997, the world was astonished. This was the first time any human chess champion had been taken down by a machine.

That win for artificial intelligence was historic, not only for proving that computers can outperform the greatest minds in certain challenges, but also for showing the limitations and shortcomings of these intelligent hunks of metal, experts say.

Deep Blue also highlighted that, if scientists are going to build intelligent machines that think, they have to decide what "intelligent" and "think" mean. [Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures]

Computers have their limits

During the multigame match that lasted days at the Equitable Center in Midtown Manhattan, Deep Blue beat Kasparov two games to one, and three games were a draw. The machine approached chess by looking ahead many moves and going through possible combinations  a strategy known as a "decision tree" (think of each decision describing a branch of a tree). Deep Blue "pruned" some of these decisions to reduce the number of "branches" and speed the calculations, and was still able to "think" through some 200 million moves every second.

Despite those incredible computations, however, machines still fall short in other areas.

"Good as they are, [computers] are quite poor at other kinds of decision making," said Murray Campbell, a research scientist at IBM Research. "Some doubted that a computer would ever play as well as a top human.

"The more interesting thing we showed was that there's more than one way to look at a complex problem," Campbell told Live Science. "You can look at it the human way, using experience and intuition, or in a more computer-like way." Those methods complement each other, he said.

Although Deep Blue's win proved that humans could build a machine that's a great chess player, it underscored the complexity and difficulty of building a computer that could handle a board game. IBM scientists spent years constructing Deep Blue, and all it could do was play chess, Campbell said. Building a machine that can tackle different tasks, or that can learn how to do new ones, has proved more difficult, he added.

Learning machines

At the time Deep Blue was built, the field of machine learning hadn't progressed as far as it has now, and much of the computing power wasn't available yet, Campbell said. IBM's next intelligent machine, named Watson, for example, works very differently from Deep Blue, operating more like a search engine. Watson proved that it could understand and respond to humans by defeating longtime "Jeopardy!" champions in 2011.

Machine learning systems that have been developed in the past two decades also make use of huge amounts of data that simply didn't exist in 1997, when the internet was still in its infancy. And programming has advanced as well.

The artificially intelligent computer program called AlphaGo, for example, which beat the world's champion player of the board game Go, also works differently from Deep Blue. AlphaGo played many board games against itself and used those patterns to learn optimal strategies. The learning happened via neural networks, or programs that operate much like the neurons in a human brain. The hardware to make them wasn't practical in the 1990s, when Deep Blue was built, Campbell said.

Thomas Haigh, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who has written extensively on the history of computing, said Deep Blue's hardware was a showcase for IBM's engineering at the time; the machine combined several custom-made chips with others that were higher-end versions of the PowerPC processors used in personal computers of the day. [History of A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Infographic)]

What is intelligence?

Deep Blue also demonstrated that a computer's intelligence might not have much to do with human intelligence.

"[Deep Blue] is a departure from the classic AI symbolic tradition of trying to replicate the functioning of human intelligence and understanding by having a machine that can do general-purpose reasoning," Haigh said, hence the effort to make a better chess-playing machine.

But that strategy was based more on computer builders' idea of what was smart than on what intelligence actually might be. "Back in the 1950s, chess was seen as something that smart humans were good at," Haigh said. "As mathematicians and programmers tended to be particularly good at chess, they viewed it as a good test of whether a machine could show intelligence."

That changed by the 1970s. "It was clear that the techniques that were making computer programs into increasingly strong chess players did not have anything to do with general intelligence," Haigh said. "So instead of thinking that computers were smart because they play chess well, we decided that playing chess well wasn't a test of intelligence after all."

The changes in how scientists define intelligence also show the complexity of certain kinds of AI tasks, Campbell said. Deep Blue might have been one of the most advanced computers at the time, but it was built to play chess, and only that. Even now, computers struggle with "common sense"  the kind of contextual information that humans generally don't think about, because it's obvious.

"Everyone above a certain age knows how the world works," Campbell said. Machines don't. Computers have also struggled with certain kinds of pattern-recognition tasks that humans find easy, Campbell added. "Many of the advances in the last five years have been in perceptual problems," such as face and pattern recognition, he said.

Another thing Campbell noted computers can't do is explain themselves. A human can describe her thought processes, and how she learned something. Computers can't really do that yet. "AIs and machine learning systems are a bit of a black box," he said.

Haigh noted that even Watson, in its "Jeopardy!" win, did not "think" like a person. "[Watson] used later generations of processors to implement a statistical brute force approach (rather than a knowledge-based logic approach) to Jeopardy!," he wrote in an email to Live Science. "It again worked nothing like a human champion, but demonstrated that being a quiz champion also has nothing to do with intelligence," in the way most people think of it.

Even so, "as computers come to do more and more things better than us, we'll either be left with a very specific definition of intelligence or maybe have to admit that computers actually are intelligent, but in a different way from us," Haigh said.

What's next in AI?

Because humans and computers "think" so differently, it will be a long time before a computer makes a medical diagnosis, for example, all by itself, or handles a problem like designing residences for people as they age and want to remain in their homes, Campbell said. Deep Blue showed the capabilities of a computer geared to a certain task, but to date, nobody has made a generalized machine learning system that works as well as a purpose-built computer.

For example, computers can be very good at crunching lots of data and finding patterns that humans would miss. They can then make that information available to humans to make decisions. "A complementary system is better than a human or machine," Campbell said.

It's also probably time to tackle different problems, he said. Board games like chess or Go allow players to know everything about their opponent's position; this is called a complete information game. Real-world problems are not like that. "A lesson we should have learned by now There's not that much more that we can learn from board games." (In 2017, the artificially intelligent computer program called Libratus beat the best human poker players in a 20-day No-Limit Texas Hold 'em tournament, which is considered a game of incomplete information.)

As for Deep Blue's fate, the computer was dismantled after the historic match with Kasparov; components of it are on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., and the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Original article on Live Science.
As you read this, take a whiff. What smells do you detect? How do these smells affect how you feel?

It's rare that people consciously take in the smells around them, but a new review argues that the human sense of smell is more powerful than it's usually given credit for, and that it plays a bigger role in human health and behavior than many medical experts realize.

"The fact is the sense of smell is just as good in humans as in other mammals, like rodents and dogs," John McGann, a neuroscientist at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in New Jersey and the author of the new review, said in a statement.

People often think of dogs and rats as the superior sniffers in the animal kingdom, but humans also have an extremely keen sense of smel l , McGann argued in the review, which was published today (May 11) in the journal Science. In fact, humans can discriminate among 1 trillion different odors, McGann wrote, far more than a commonly cited claim that people can detect only about 10,000 different smells. [10 Things That Make Humans Special]

By overlooking humans' keen smelling abilities, medicine may be missing a key component of human health, McGann said. Smell influences human behavior, from stirring up memories to attracting sexual partners to influencing mood to shaping taste, he said. It's no coincidence that the French word for smell, "sentir," also means to feel; emotion and smell are often intricately linked.

A "gross oversimplification"

When considering the senses, there's a reason smell is often shunted to third place behind sight and hearing, McGann wrote.

It started in the 19th century, when Paul Broca, a French brain surgeon and anthropologist, observed that humans have proportionately smaller olfactory, or smell-related, organs compared with other animals, according to the review. Broca also noted that people don't exhibit odor-driven behavior to the same degree that other mammals do.

This led Broca to hypothesize in his 1879 writings that smell had taken a backseat role to the other senses in humans in exchange for free will. Years later, Sigmund Freud piggybacked on the idea that human smell is inferior to other senses, suggesting that the sense of smell could not dominate a rational person, according to the review.

McGann called these conclusions a "gross oversimplification," but they were then further supported by later research. For example, studies from the 20th century found that rats and mice have genes for about 1,000 different kinds of receptors that are activated by odors, compared with about 400 such receptors in humans.

Smell and the brain

It's true that humans have relatively smaller olfactory organs and fewer odor-detecting genes compared with other animals. However, the power of the human brain more than makes up for this.

"The truth is that 400 different receptors still offer a tremendous range. There are very few odors that humans can't smell despite having practically fewer receptors than rats, mice and dogs," McGann told Live Science. Part of the reason humans can detect so many odors is thanks to their "much more complicated and powerful brain that's interpreting that information."

When a person smells something, odor molecules bind to receptors in the nose. These receptors send information about the molecules to the human olfactory bulb in the brain, which then sends signals to other areas of the brain to help identify scents. [Tip of the Tongue: The 7 (Other) Flavors Humans May Taste]

This is different from the way smell works in dogs, McGann said. Dogs have a "pump" in their noses that's designed to take in chemicals in liquid form (say, on the side of a fire hydrant) for identification, he said. Because the smelling mechanisms are so different, it's hard to compare humans to dogs, McGann said.

Smell and medicine

Many studies have linked the humans sense of smell to certain medical conditions.

Dr. Dolores Malaspina, a psychiatrist at New York University Langone Medical Center, agreed that smell can play an important role in medicine. Malaspina was not involved in the new review.

Malaspina has long used smell to help diagnose certain diseases, and her research has connected the human sense of smell with both schizophrenia and depression.

"Smell among schizophrenia patients is often either distorted or decreased," she told Live Science.

Malaspina has also shown that a loss of smell can lead to depression. This may be linked to how odors trigger the growth of neurons, she said. [10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain]

"There's evidence that these stimulations of the brain by odors may drive the making of new brain cells," she said.

Loss of smell has been linked to other health problems as well. A 2016 study showed that a loss of the ability to detect scents was associated with early signs of Alzheimer's disease. And sobering research from 2014 found that a loss of smell may predict death within five years.

As people age, many gradually lose their sense of smell. Research has shown that 75 percent of people lose at least part of their sense of smell by age 80.

It's all the more reason, McGann said, to appreciate the power of human smell and its role in human health.

"When you lose your sense of smell, it's actually a big deal. It influences your ability to take pleasure in food and daily life," McGann said. "There's a significant impact of losing your sense of smell that's not yet fully understood."

Originally published on Live Science.
BALTIMORE  Scientists and engineers are 3D printing all types of objects these days, including eyes: A group of eye specialists and eye-care providers from the Netherlands has used 3D-printing technology to create artificial eye structures, called conformers, in a small study of five children.

The technique could help children with conditions called microphthalmia and anophthalmia, in which they are born with underdeveloped or missing eyes, respectively, the research team says. These conditions, which can occur in one or both eyes, affect more than 10 percent of blind children worldwide and as many as 30 in 100,000 children, according to previous studies.

Although the sculpted eyes don't enable the child to see, they do provide critical support of the eye socket so that the child's face can have a natural, proportional look, the researchers said today (May 11) here at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the world's largest gathering of eye and vision researchers.

"If there's no eye present, there's not enough adequate stimulus for the bone [around the eye socket] to grow," Maayke Kuijten, a postdoctoral fellow at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam who conducted a study on five children fitted with the conformers, said at ARVO. [The 10 Weirdest Things Created by 3D Printing]

Because children with these conditions may have malformed eye sockets, the face and the areas around the eyes cannot expand to their natural contour, Kuijten said. The advantage of 3D-printed eye conformers is that they can be replaced often with slightly larger sizes by the parent at home as the child grows, or as frequently as weekly when the child is a few months old, she said.

"Symmetry of the face is our end goal," Kuijten told Live Science.

Traditionally, a child or adult who is missing an eye would be fitted with a device called an ocular prosthesis. (This was commonly called a "glass eye" because it was originally made with glass, but it is now mostly made of a medical-grade plastic acrylic.) These ocular prostheses are made by ocularists, professionals who are trained in both the fabrication and fitting of the prostheses.

The ocular prosthesis can be nearly spherical, like the eyeball, or cup-like, to fit over an existing, malformed and nonfunctioning eye. A conformer is often used for temporary support, such as after the accidental loss of an eye, to maintain the eye socket for several months until a more permanent prosthesis can be fitted.

But making and fitting an ocular prosthesis, or even a conformer, is a laborious process, Kuijten said. The ocularist typically must visually gauge the size of the socket, create an orb based on educated guesswork and polish it until it fits perfectly. It is as much artwork as it is medical care.

For infants with microphthalmia or anophthalmia, time is critical because their rapidly growing heads need the stimulation of a full-size eyeball for the frame of the eye socket to expand accordingly. Without such stimulation, that section of the skull can cave inward.

3D-printed conformers help address this challenge because they can be printed quickly, cheaply and in a range of sizes varying by less than a millimeter in diameter, Kuijten said.

To test the utility of 3D-printed conformers, Kuijten's team looked at patients being treated by Dr. Dyonne Hartong, an oculoplastic surgeon at the VU University Medical Center who is currently treating about 50 patients with microphthalmia or anophthalmia. Hartong was the senior investigator on the study.

As part of the standard care of children with these eye conditions in the Netherlands, they have several ultrasounds of their head taken during their first 3 months of age, followed by an MRI scan when they're about 3 months old. (MRIs require anesthesia because babies cannot be instructed not to move during the scans. But administering anesthesia to newborns under 3 months is considered too dangerous.)

Using data from these scans, the researchers determined the extent of the eye malformation and the size of the eye socket. The doctors also injected a soft gel into the affected eye socket to create a crude mold of its shape.

Based on these measurements and data on natural growth development, Kuijten devised an eye-growth chart for these children for their next 10 years of development. Then, her group used a 3D printer to create customized conformers in a vast array of sizes matching the prediction of the growth charts. [7 Cool Uses of 3D Printing in Medicine]

The conformers don't look like eyes. In fact, the original batch of eyes were green, with no pupils colored in. But they are convenient enough for parents to fit into their baby's eye socket after they're trained by ocularists on how to do so. Kuijten said the treatment is noninvasive and not painful for the child.

Early evaluation has shown that socket volumes of the treated eyes doubled, on average, over the treatment time of about a year, thus indicating that significant socket expansion occurred, the researchers said. The study on these children is ongoing.

"This is certainly a novel approach with several advantages," said Dr. Irene Gottlob, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Leicester Ulverscroft Eye Unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary who was not involved in the study. "This is a good example of individualized treatment, or 'precision medicine.' It is also a good example of how 3D printing can be used in medicine."

"However, so far, only five patients have been treated, and we need to see the results of a larger group," Gottlob added.

Gottlob said she was encouraged by the researchers' plan to improve mathematical models to better predict eye-socket growth and development. She also noted that better refinement of ultrasound scans could help bring the method to younger infants, before they reach the age when they can safely undergo an MRI scan.

"I think this is a very promising  method, but experience with more patients and further development will improve this even further," Gottlob told Live Science.

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
Mexico has surpassed Iraq and Afghanistan to become the world's second-most deadly conflict zone after Syria, according to a study of wars around the globe.

The number of fatalities from the expanding war among Mexico's criminal cartels grew to 23,000 in 2016, compared with 17,000 in Afghanistan and 16,000 in Iraq, according to the annual Armed Conflict Survey by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

That level of bloodshed was all the more surprising, because "Mexico is a conflict marked by the absence of artillery, tanks or combat aviation," IISS director general John Chipman said in remarks at the survey's launch in London on Tuesday. Virtually all of those deaths were caused by small arms.

The largest number of fatalities occurred in Mexican states that have become "key battlegrounds for control between competing, increasingly fragmented cartels," he said, with violence flaring as gangs try to clear areas of rivals so they can monopolize drug trafficking routes.

The Middle East in general and Syria in particular remained the most lethal regions on earth, with the nearly six-year-old-Syrian conflict claiming a further 50,000 lives. That brings the total number of deaths during the civil and proxy war to an estimated 290,000, almost three times the number killed in Bosnia, in the early 1990s.

Sub-Saharan Africa was a relative bright spot, with the number of deaths in war falling by more than a third since last year. Overall, the number of people killed in armed conflicts around the world fell slightly last year to 157,000, from 167,000 in 2015. Yet the figure remains high compared with the previous decade and the number of civilians displaced by war continued to rise, according to the survey.

Chipman and the report's authors were downbeat about the prospects for reducing these levels of violence on several counts.

One is that conflicts are becoming more urban, with siege warfare increasingly common, according to the survey. That's especially true in Syria, where that approach proved brutally effective for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo.

A second reason is that as new conflicts emerge, old ones tend not to get resolved but rather subside into a "simmering" state, capable of boiling over again at any moment. Chipman cited Turkey's more than three-decade-old battle with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which exploded again last year into an urbanized insurgency that killed 3,000 people. That was the highest annual death count from the conflict since 1997, and a dramatic increase from near peace of recent years. The low-level war in Eastern Ukraine also looks like falling into this "simmering" category, Chipman warned.

A further cause for concern is that even though the Islamic State terrorist organization lost a quarter of its territory and a higher proportion of its fighters last year, the toll on civilians is likely to increase as the group returns to more traditional insurgent tactics, rather than try to hold territory as a conventional army, according to the IISS.

Finally the main tool available for the international community to try to reduce bloodshed -- the $8 billion-a-year United Nations peace-keeping forces -- are increasingly overstretched and ineffectual, said Mats Berdal, of King's College London.

Peacekeeping has become overly ambitious, focused on preventing civilian casualties and peacemaking since the genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica in the 1990s, rather than just policing ceasefires and political settlements, according to Berdal. The U.N. is also by its nature too politically riven to carry out effective military operations, he said.

"There are real limits to how you can make a U.N. peacekeeping force effective," said Berdal, citing the varied and often poor quality of troops, as well as the U.N.'s lack of real disciplinary control over them. He recommended the number and ambition of blue helmet missions should be scaled back, and that the UN refocus on the diplomacy of securing political settlements.
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A Pacifica bookkeeper faces a sentence of 27 months in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $400,000 from a San Francisco delicatessen owner, prosecutors said.

Krisinda Messer, who worked as a bookkeeper for several delis in San Francisco from 2007 to 2011, admitted to writing 130 fraudulent checks totaling close to $437,000.

On Wednesday, she pleaded guilty to bank-fraud charges in U.S. District Court in San Francisco and was ordered by Judge Charles R. Breyer to return to court Oct. 17 for sentencing.

The plea is negotiated based on the facts of the case, said Douglas Horngrad, Messers attorney. I feel very badly for Ms. Messer. I think shes in a very difficult situation and its very sad.

The plea deal also ensures that Messer wont have to pay the maximum fine for bank fraud of $1 million or serve a maximum of 30 years in prison.

The counterfeit checks were made payable to her fathers company, American Backflow Co., despite there being no business relationship between the company and her employer, according to the Department of Justice.

Messer admitted that she forged the signature of the delicatessen owner for whom she worked on most of the checks. The name of the delicatessen owner was not disclosed.

To hide the fraud from her employer, prosecutors said Messer created a fake company account in order to produce the checks without it appearing in the books of her fathers company.

Messer also admitted failing to report the ill-gotten income on her tax returns from 2008 to 2011, prosecutors said.

She was indicted in May 2015 on 12 counts of bank fraud. Under the agreement reached with federal prosecutors, Messer pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. The other 11 charges, including identity theft, were dismissed, officials said.

Messer was released on $50,000 bond.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
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SACRAMENTO  Gov. Jerry Brown, responding to a scathing audit of the University of California headquarters, withheld $50 million from the university in his revised budget plan Thursday, saying the money would be released only when UC makes progress in fixing the financial problems identified in the audit and meets other conditions set by his office.

Brown revealed his disappointment in UC President Janet Napolitanos office in the pages of the latest version of his budget proposal for Californias 2017-18 fiscal year, which he presented during a news conference at the Capitol.

The governor was asked if he still had confidence that Napolitano is the right person to lead UC in the wake of the April 25 report by state Auditor Elaine Howle and his decision to hold back the $50 million.

Most people think shes doing a good job, Brown said, adding that the regents were among her supporters. He added, I think salaries are way too high, and said that UC employees earn far more than other state employees, including the states finance department workers. I put the $50 million (aside) in there to hold their feet to the fire when it comes to trimming costs.

Browns budget includes nearly $3.7 billion for UC, $4.3 million more than the state allocated this year.

The UC president oversees an office with nearly 1,700 employees and a $686 million budget funded largely by contributions from the 10 UC campuses. State lawmakers requested the audit last summer to determine whether the money was well spent and whether services provided to the campuses were necessary.

The main findings of Howles audit were that the presidents office had squirreled away $175 million in secret reserves  including $32 million that could have been spent on students  that Howle said should have been disclosed to the public and the regents. Howle found that the presidents staff also earned more than their counterparts in state government, and relied on tangled budgeting practices that obscured expenditures.

Howle made 33 recommendations she said were required to repair the problems.

We fully intend to meet the requirements for the release of these funds, said Napolitanos spokeswoman, Dianne Klein.

To collect the $50 million in state funds, UC would have to make progress by May 1, 2018, on the auditors recommendations and on cost-containment strategies  such as adding more transfer students  that Brown said UC was too slow in implementing:

We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to cost containment, Klein said.

Also Thursday, the UC regents authorized Regents Chairwoman Monica Lozano to hire an independent consultant to investigate the state auditors claim that Napolitanos staff interfered with campus responses to a confidential audit survey.

Documents obtained by The Chronicle show that surveys were changed at the direction of Napolitanos staff.

Howle  and the state lawmakers who held a hearing May 2 on the audit  expressed particular alarm at evidence that Napolitanos staff meddled with the campus surveys to ensure they offered a rosier, less accurate picture of her offices services. In one particular survey from UC Santa Cruz, Napolitanos Deputy Chief of Staff Bernie Jones had administrators delete their complaints about the presidents division of Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services.

On Thursday, at a special regents meeting held to authorize the hiring of the consultant, Napolitano reiterated her testimony at the audit hearing that her office should have handled the matter differently.

Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, chairman of the Assembly higher education committee, on Thursday praised the governors recommendation to withhold the money from UC.

One of the only ways the Legislature and the governor have the power to influence the (autonomous) university is through the power of the purse string, Medina said. We need to get the attention of UC and show were serious about the audit outcomes  and that they need to change.

Medina added that he is concerned that the regents themselves will select the independent consultant.

The consultants report would be due before the regents mid-July meeting.

Nanette Asimov and John Wildermuth are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com and jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com

Online: To see all Chronicle stories on the UC audit, visit: www.sfchronicle.com/uc_audit/
That day in the summer of 1967, Richard Goldstein walked into the New York Times offices in midtown Manhattan wearing a purple cape. He was 22, a hippie and a freelancer. And he was about to deliver a scathing review of the most important album of the year, perhaps the most important album in rock history.

Goldstein had been thrilled when Sy Peck, a veteran Times editor who wore a tie, handed him the Beatles' new record, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Growing up in the gritty Bronx, Goldstein identified with the lads from working-class Liverpool. Those red-hot early Beatles sides were a natural link to the driving rock of the 1950s. And the Fab Four were true artists. Approaching "Pepper," they had branched out into the baroque pop of "Eleanor Rigby" and psychedelic tape loops of "Tomorrow Never Knows." They had quit touring so they could concentrate on the studio. "Sgt. Pepper" would be their masterpiece.

Goldstein rushed home to the Upper West Side apartment he shared with his wife, Judith. He slipped the vinyl onto his turntable. He took his customary listening position, head back on the rug with a floor speaker aimed on each ear. He turned up the volume as the chugging guitar of the album's opener kicked in. That's when the trouble started.

Goldstein hated "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

"Busy, hip and cluttered," he called the record in a review that ran in the Times on June 18, 1967.

He blasted the Beatles for "a surprising shoddiness in composition" and declared the album, ultimately, "fraudulent."

"Sgt. Pepper" was an immediate hit, No. 1 on the Billboard charts for months. It also was critically acclaimed, eventually topping Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. This month, the Beatles' eighth studio album will get the anniversary treatment with a six-disc box set that includes dozens of demos and alternative mixes of songs now considered part of the pop canon, including "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and the group's greatest pocket symphony, "A Day in the Life."

But at least one person still remembers Goldstein's slashing review: Paul McCartney.

A few months ago, McCartney, in an interview with The Washington Post, was asked about dealing with criticism during his post-Beatles career. In answering, he referenced Goldstein's take.

"What I do with that, as distressing as it is, I try to rationalize what's going on," McCartney said of being panned in the 1980s. "Well, wait a minute, the music critic of the New York Times hated 'Sgt. Pepper.' And we had to sit through that."

---

You may not have heard of Richard Goldstein, but at one time, he was almost famous. He interviewed a paranoid Brian Wilson in the Beach Boys leader's smoke-filled living room, sadly watched Jim Morrison slur through an aborted recording session and shared an awkward kiss with Janis Joplin.

He was the original rock critic as misfit. Actually, he was the original rock critic.

Back in 1966, when Goldstein began writing for the Village Voice, there was no Rolling Stone, no Spin, no full-time music critic at the Times.

So it made perfect sense for Peck to assign "Sgt. Pepper" to this 22-year-old freelancer.

"Richard Goldstein invented rock criticism," says Robert Christgau, the Village Voice writer who became friendly with him in those days. "He was the first rock critic. I mean, it turns out Paul Williams was publishing his zine (Crawdaddy) and there were other things happening, but without question, he was the most visible."

He may have looked confident enough to let his freak flag fly, but Goldstein was also driven by a deep sense that he didn't quite fit in.

As an overweight kid growing up in the projects, he would walk down the streets of the Bronx with a transistor to his ear, blasting Little Richard. Later, he had his cape to codify his outsider status. He was a hippie in Straightville, a kid from the projects in uptown Manhattan. In photos from that time, he looks happy-go-lucky. He was anything but.

"One of the most deeply tortured people I knew," remembers Judith Hibbard-Mipaas, who married Goldstein in 1967 and, despite their eventual split, remains friends with him. "He has a very Eastern European, Slavic face, and it's very round, and very, very dark eyes. Plus, he was short and people would yell at him. And this is even in Manhattan. On the one hand, you were forced to flaunt this long hair and hippie clothes and satin lace. But on the other hand, he was being challenged: 'You don't look like a guy. You don't look macho.'"

Goldstein agrees. "You know, I just saw 'The Hairy Ape' by Eugene O'Neill, and the line that keeps recurring in this lumpenproletariat protagonist in the play is 'I don't belong,'" he says. "When he goes to Fifth Avenue, he keeps saying, 'I don't belong here.' That's what I felt like in Manhattan."

There was one place where, even if he still didn't feel at ease, Goldstein could at least rub elbows with other angst-ridden eccentrics. The music world was filled with brash, talented, insecure, confused and doomed figures. He felt duty-bound to define what they did as art. His approach was both egalitarian and egomaniacal. He believed his reviews were speaking directly to his musical heroes, offering them direction, but he also wanted to be viewed as less an authority, more a fan.

"America's single greatest contribution to the world has been her Pop (music, cinema, painting, even merchandising)," he wrote in the forward to his 1969 anthology, "The Poetry of Rock." "It is with this sense of America, as clown-guru to the world, that I offer the premise of rock poetry. I am aware that certain aspects of pop walk a delicate line between camp and revelation. But I set out to edit this book as a participant, not an authority. So, I welcome your derision - and your heads."

By "Sgt. Pepper," things were changing, and no more so than in the Beatles camp.

The days of the mischievous mop tops slapsticking their way through the streets were over. Screaming girls weren't just a drag - they kept the Beatles from hearing their instruments at gigs. So on Aug. 29, 1966, the Beatles played their final concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In November, they headed back into the studio.

"John came into the control room and said, 'You know, we're never going to perform live again,'" recalls Geoff Emerick, the famed engineer who worked with producer George Martin on "Sgt. Pepper." "'We're going to create something that's never been heard before, a new kind of record with new sounds.'"

The record they delivered did that and more, from the tamboura opening on "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and George Harrison's Hindustani-inspired "Within You Without You" to the largely improvised, orchestral crescendo in "A Day in the Life." It was a concept record, with the songs presented as the work of the mysterious, satin-uniformed Lonely Hearts Club Band. When "Pepper" came out, Time magazine declared it "a historic departure in the progress of music - any music," while the London Times called the release "a decisive moment in the history of Western civilization."

The critics also took on Goldstein. The Village Voice, his own paper, ran a retort from another critic. Pete Johnson, the rock critic at the Los Angeles Times, remembers also being annoyed.

"No question the guy could write, but I thought it was bad-tempered grandstanding," he says today.

Emerick recently read the review again. He has a theory as to what led Goldstein to attack "Pepper."

"There was nothing to compare it to," Emerick says. "I know that was the feeling when we'd finished it. It was a piece of art, and he was challenged and he wanted to win."

---

This may be as a good a time as any to offer Richard Goldstein's confession. It isn't anything he has tried to hide, and, in fact, he mentioned it briefly in his 2015 memoir, "Another Little Piece of My Heart." But the revelation may be startling to Beatles fans, who have devoted their lives to interpreting every lyric, recording flourish and photograph presented by their band.

The stereo Goldstein used for his review was broken.

Repeat. The guy who slammed "Sgt. Pepper" in the New York Times had a busted speaker.

Christgau has never heard that.

"That's f---ed up," he says. "You don't review a record on a stereo that isn't working, certainly not a record of that consequence."

Giles Martin, son of producer George and the man overseeing the new "Pepper" reissue, first questions whether Goldstein was making that up as an excuse for his review. The original stereo mix of "Pepper" was quite lopsided.

"You'd know if your stereo was broken," Martin says. " 'Lovely Rita' has bass and vocals on one side, all the band's on the left-hand speaker. On 'A Little Help From My Friends," you'd have no bass. And I think Ringo's in the center but the band's on one side, the backing vocals."

Fair enough. This is where the critic speaks up. He's not defensive. He doesn't raise his voice. He just doesn't agree.

"So, yeah, I f---ed up, but these people who will now say, 'Oh, you know why that guy gave a bad review in the New York Times? He didn't have a left speaker.' OK. That's their problem, though. Because they're wrong."

He is 72, with a thin beard and easy laugh, and lives with his husband, Tony Ward, in a 14th-floor apartment in Greenwich Village. He stopped writing about music in the late '60s, but he never left journalism. For decades, Goldstein covered the arts and gender identity issues at the Village Voice, where he eventually served as executive editor. These days, he teaches "Pepper" in a course on the '60s at his alma mater, Hunter College. Now comfortable in his own skin, Goldstein can explain why he feels he rejected "Pepper" all those years ago. The broken stereo, he says, had nothing to do with it.

The rejection boils down to two reasons. He didn't understand "Pepper" musically when it was released, and he found his turmoil over his sexuality - he wouldn't come out until the 1970s - didn't allow him to embrace the attitude of the record, which he says defied the aggressive, masculine approach of so much rock.

"I remember being sort of horrified by the album," he says, "being determined with that sort of narcissistic frenzy that young men can have. To, you know, shake them up and force them to actually make rock 'n' roll again. Like they would be listening. That the Times was all powerful and therefore they would say oh we've made a mistake, we're going to go back to singing 'Long Tall Sally' or 'now I'll never dance with another.' I wasn't really interested in the prophetic aspect of 'Sgt. Pepper.' I was interested in the violation of the rules and I didn't like it, and that's what I look back on with a lot of reflection."

---

On a recent weekday, Goldstein agreed to revisit his review in the most direct terms.

He would listen to the record with the speakers adjusted to provide the full mix, and also with the left channel turned off to try to re-create what he experienced on his broken system.

Goldstein doesn't have a turntable anymore, so The Post had a Crosley turntable sent to his apartment. We provided the 2009 reissue of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" on vinyl.

The listening session began with "Getting Better" because it's one of the most rock-driven on "Sgt. Pepper" and also a song ignored in Goldstein's review. With the left speaker disconnected, the jagged guitar can be heard but McCartney's bass - which drives the song - is gone.

"True, it's different," Goldstein says. "This is not a song I would have paid a lot of attention to, and maybe this is why."

Other moments lead to confusion. "When I'm Sixty-Four," with one speaker out, completely loses McCartney's lead vocal and becomes an instrumental. But Goldstein clearly knew the vocal when he wrote his review, which makes him wonder whether the speaker on his system wasn't completely blown, just damaged.

He listens to "Within You Without You." Back then, he dismissed Harrison's lyrics as "dismal and dull." Today, he considers the song one of his favorites on "Sgt. Pepper."

When it's over, Goldstein agrees that the broken stereo changed his listening experience. But he's not sorry. He says that even the best system wouldn't have changed his review back in 1967.

Goldstein laughs and relates another take from the '60s:

"I was the first critic to review the Doors' first album. And I gave it a rave review. I said great album. One bad cut on this album - 'Light My Fire.' What can I say? If you're not embarrassed by your youth, what good are you?"

---

Video: In 1967, Richard Goldstein wrote a scathing review about the Beatles' eighth studio album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," in the New York Times. Fifty years later, he gives it another listen with The Post's Geoff Edgers. (Video: Erin Patrick O'Connor/Photo: Jesse Dittmar/The Washington Post)

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Friday night, actor, pop-culture icon and the former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger will address graduates at the University of Houston commencement ceremony at TDECU Stadium.

The last big Hollywood name to address UH grads was Matthew McConaughey in 2015 who shared some great insight on the future ahead for students and families alike.

PREVIOUS: Arnold Schwarzenegger declines $40,000 fee for UH commencement speech

Schwarzenegger, who will also appear at J.J. Watts celebrity softball game on Saturday evening, will speak for 25 minutes at the graduation.

His speech will no doubt be packed full of stirring motivational lines to propel the graduates into a bright future. During the commencement speeches that Schwarzenegger has previously given he leaned on simple platitudes like trusting yourself, working hard, breaking rules and ignoring naysayers.

But should The Arnold instead just speak in quotes from his long and varied film career? As McConaughey says, itd be a lot cooler if he did.

Click through the gallery above to see what film quotes we think that Schwarzenegger he should drop into his UH commencement speech.

Story continues below...

Back in March Schwarzenegger made headlines for turning down the $40,000 speaking fee that one of his representatives had asked for. He wasn't aware that a fee was arranged by his representatives to deliver this commencement address. He has never asked for a speaking fee to speak to students.

REST IN PEACE: Univ. of Houston students to throw funeral for beloved squirrel

The university paid McConaughey $135,000 to deliver his speech, the first time UH held a university-wide graduation ceremony. McConaughey donated $130,000 of the fee to his Just Keep Livin Foundation.

The man who played The Terminator will stay in a king-sized room at a first-class hotel and will receive round-trip ground limousine and first-class round-trip airfare on UH's dime, though. He will also receive an honorary degree at the event.
A man was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill a bank employee because funds for a check he recently deposited were not going to be available to pay for his bills, according to Laredo police.

Armando Salazar, 22, was arrested and charged with terroristic threat Tuesday.
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Laredo police are warning the community about a scam on Craigslist.

We have recently received several reports, about five, made by victims who stated that they attempted to purchase a tractor truck from ads on Craigslist. The apparent seller gives the name Carlos Maya, an LPD news release states.

One person was allegedly defrauded of $9,000, said Investigator Joe E. Baeza, LPD spokesman.

Carlos Maya claims to work for a company named Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in Dallas. However, authorities have determined that the person does not work there.

READ MORE: Mami Chulas owner arrested after allegedly hiring 16-year-old girl to dance in bikini

Richie Bros. have also received various calls asking for a Carlos Maya, police said.

His modus operandi includes asking for money to be deposited into a bank account or asking for money to be wired through Western Union or MoneyGram.

LPD detectives have also notified Craigslist of several postings in which Carlos Maya was the contact person for the sale of a tractor.
On June 10, Pasadena City Council hopefuls Daniel Vela and Felipe Villareal will go a second round in a runoff to represent Pasadena's District A, with both vowing to press for badly needed improvements in their north-side community.

Following the May 6 election, Vela and Villareal were separated by 20 votes in the majority Latino district, perhaps indicating a close race in the runoff. With 184 votes, Vela snared 37.47 percent of ballots, compared to Villareal with 164 votes, or 33.40 percent, and a third candidate Keith Nielson, with 143 votes at 29.12 percent.

While Vela, a Republican, and Villareal, a Democrat, are partisan opponents, they voice similar concerns on several key issues affecting District A. The district's incumbent, Ornaldo Ybarra, is stepping down because of term limits.

Both count infrastructure and road improvements as essential to business development in the district, which starts north of Southmore and stretches along Texas 225 from Red Bluff Road to Pasadena Boulevard.

Both spoke of a perceived divide between the northern and the generally more affluent southern parts of the city.

"My job as a councilman is to represent all of Pasadena - you make decisions for all of the city, but we need to do something to revitalize the north side of Pasadena," said Vela, who cited the former Pasadena Town Square Mall as an example of a declining retail sore spot on the north side. "(Texas 225) is one of the main thoroughfares and we hardly have any business here."

Issues such as road improvement needs on Red Bluff Road and Richey Street and clogged storm drains need to be addressed, Vela said.

A native of Mexico who moved to Pasadena in 1971, Vela said that past city administrations created a north-south divide and that status quo perpetuated it.

"People are saying 'north and south,' but I'm interested in all of Pasadena," he said.

Road improvements and revitalization of the northern side of town are also priorities for Villarreal.

"We haven't had anything done on this side of town," he said. "I'm not against development in the south, but people are paying taxes over here in the north and there hasn't been any development at all."

Villareal, 43, grew up in Houston but has lived in District A for 20 years.

"It's two different cities," he said. "In my neighborhood, where my kids go to school (at Richey Elementary School), the streets adjacent to the school are horrible."

Vela, who has served in law enforcement for more than 20 years and is a retired Pasadena firefighter, counts his 24-year experience working in operations in the petrochemical industry as a bonus when addressing the environmental impact on residents living within the corridor of plants along Texas 225 and beyond his district.

"I know about the chemical plants along (Texas 225), and I know the environmental laws involved in dealing with these plants," he said. "You have to know what goes in those plants and what comes out of those plants and make the citizens aware of it. It's not just (an issue for) the north end because a leak can travel miles."

This is Villareal's first run for public office, while Vela has sought several city positions over the years, including mayor. That, said Villarreal, is one significant difference between the two and a factor that could work in his favor.

"I don't know how invested or how dedicated he (Vela) is to fixing the actual city or if it's just about holding a political office," he said. "I'm not a politician, this is my first time running for office but I'm running because of the issues."

The runoff will conclude an election season that has featured a term-limited mayor, a voting rights lawsuit that resulted in U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal ruling that the city had intentionally violated the rights of Latino voters by using a redistricting voting system that thwarted their say in who represented them.

Both Vela and Villareal believe mayor Johnny Isbell's appeal challenging Rosenthal's ruling is a waste of the city's resources.

"The courts decided that Isbell was wrong and I'm glad the judge made that ruling, but let's get past that and start working on the north side," he said.

"That money could be used over here (on the north)," Villareal said. "As many needs that we have and they're spending money on that? I don't understand it. It's a complete waste."

As they move toward the runoff, Vela and Villareal both say they will be in the community knocking on doors and trying to connect with residents.

"That's the plan, and hopefully people come out and vote," Villareal said.

For information voting locations and dates for the runoff, go to www.harrisvotes.com
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WASHINGTON - Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe vowed Thursday that he would tell the Senate Intelligence Committee if the White House tried to interfere with the bureau's probe of possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election - though he asserted that there had "been no effort to impede our investigation to date."

McCabe made the assertions at a public hearing with top U.S. intelligence officials before the Senate Intelligence Committee - a hearing that has taken on new significance since Trump suddenly removed James Comey from the FBI's top post. He also said he would not provide updates to President Trump or anyone else in the White House about the status of the probe, nor had anyone yet asked.

As the hearing continued, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top committee officials from each party, suddenly stepped out. Around the same time, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was spotted on Capitol Hill.

Rosenstein drafted the memo that Trump used as a rationale to fire Comey.

McCabe appeared in place of Comey, and Warner, the committee vice chair, asked him at the outset if he would commit to informing the committee if the White House tried to meddle in the Russia investigation.

"I absolutely do," McCabe responded.

McCabe would go on to make several assertions that might irk Trump. He forcefully defended his former boss - who Trump had said was not doing a good job - declaring that working with Comey was "the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life." He said that his view was widely shared in the agency.

"The vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey," McCabe said.

McCabe also rebutted White House officials' attempts to minimize the Russia probe - declaring it a "highly significant investigation" that had not and would not be deterred.

"Simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution," he said in response to a question from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

McCabe declined to comment on Trump's assertion that Comey, while FBI director, had told him three times that he was not under investigation.

Trump had made the claim in his letter firing Comey as a sort of bizarre aside - as the rationale for removing the FBI director was purportedly not in relation to any probe that might touch the president but instead because of Comey's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

"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," Trump wrote.

Burr, the committee's chair, asked McCabe: "Did you ever hear Director Comey tell the president that he was not the subject of an investigation?"

"Sir, I can't comment on any conversations the director may have had with the president," McCabe responded.

McCabe's testimony comes as Justice Department officials are considering candidates to possibly replace him. They interviewed four people Wednesday and are expected to make a decision soon.

McCabe, who had been the No. 2 man in the bureau before his boss's ouster, was joined by virtually every other top official whose job it is to detect and prevent Russian spy operations. The others on the witness list are CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, like the FBI, is probing Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and its chairs announced Wednesday that they had issued a subpoena to former national security adviser Michael Flynn for documents related to that probe.

Flynn resigned from the Trump White House after public reporting on potentially illegal contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, which acting attorney general Sally Yates warned might make him susceptible to blackmail. He also has faced scrutiny for payments he received from Russian-backed entities, including the RT television network.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Pompeo sparred over a series of questions about whether Pompeo was aware of Yates's concerns. Pompeo first challenged Wyden to define how his question was relevant to the published subject of the hearing - worldwide threats - before arguing that he had "no firsthand information with respect to the warning" that Yates delivered to White House counsel Don McGahn, as "she didn't make that warning to me."

The bureau's probe, the only one that could produce criminal charges, is separate from the committee's, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle feared that it might be upended now that Comey is gone. McCabe said he did not believe that would happen, and that the bureau was the right agency to continue the investigation.

"Do you need somebody to take this away from you and somebody else to do it?" Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., asked.

"No, sir," McCabe responded.

McCabe did not definitively resolve a dispute over whether Comey asked Rosenstein for more resources for the Russia investigation last week, though he asserted that the bureau had "resourced that investigation adequately." Democrats have said that Comey informed lawmakers of such a request, but the Justice Department has denied that one was made.

For his part, McCabe said he was "not aware of that request, and it's not consistent with my understanding of how we request additional resources."

On Thursday, senior Appropriations committee Democrats Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire sent a letter to Rosenstein asking for specifics.

"We stand ready to assist should the FBI require additional funding to comprehensively conduct this crucial investigation or to meet any of its core missions," they wrote in the letter. But Leahy and Shaheen said they were "surprised" to learn from media reports about Comey's request.

"The American people have a right to know, for the sake of our national security and sovereignty, whether and to what extent Russia interfered in the 2016 Presidential election," they wrote. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) should dedicate the needed personnel and resources to the investigation without hesitation."

As the deputy director of the FBI, McCabe would have been intimately involved in the Russia investigation even before Comey's firing. He was notably at the center of a February incident in which the White House reportedly enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates' ties to Russia.

CNN reported at the time that the FBI had refused administration requests to knock down media reports on the subject, and the administration fired back that McCabe had pulled aside Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to tell him a New York Times story was "B.S."

McCabe was also at the center of a controversy in the Clinton email investigation - the case that administration officials have pointed to as Trump's basis for firing Comey. The Justice Department inspector general is investigating whether McCabe should have been recused from the case because his wife ran for a Virginia Senate seat and took money from the political action committee of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat and Clinton ally.

The FBI asserted at the time that McCabe had checked with ethics officials and followed agency protocols. He also was not yet deputy director when his wife was first recruited to run.
Berlin's City Hostel appears at first glance to be a simple, cheap option for staying in the German capital. It's not far from iconic landmarks such as the Brandenburg Gate, and while online reviews complain of dodgy WiFi and broken windows, the hostel offers "good value for your money," as one traveler recently remarked. A bed in a mixed six-person dorm costs only about $20.

Visitors may have wondered about the high fence outside of their accommodations - or the gigantic North Korean flag next to the building - but probably didn't worry too much about it.

But what they almost certainly didn't know is that their stay at City Hostel indirectly benefited the regime of Kim Jong Un, making unsuspecting tourists into involuntary financiers of a notorious totalitarian state. The property is owned by the Kim regime, which received it as a gift from the communist government of the former East Germany. North Korea does not operate the business itself, but it receives tens of thousands of dollars every year in rent from both the hostel and a conference center there.

That may soon change. The current German government is not amused by the lucrative North Korean real estate business. On Wednesday, it announced plans to shut down the hostel and the conference center. Britain and Germany have recently cracked down on several other companies associated with the North Korean regime, reacting to mounting concerns over an escalation of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

"The constant threatening gestures by the North Korean government are worrying us. We will increase the pressure to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table," said Markus Ederer, the state secretary of Germany's Federal Foreign Office.

"It is particularly important that we dry out the sources of funding for the nuclear weapons program," said Ederer, drawing a direct connection between revenue from the Berlin youth hostel and North Korea's efforts to advance its nuclear weapons capabilities.

The German government's decision was first reported by Munich's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Wednesday. It follows a U.N. resolution passed last November and ratified by the EU earlier this year, which states that members should ban North Korea from using diplomatic real estate as a revenue source.

Both the hostel owner and the North Korean embassy in Berlin have been notified by authorities that the rental agreement violates international law, but a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry declined to say when exactly the hostel will have to shut down.

The North Korean embassy, which is located in the former diplomatic district of East Berlin, was mostly built in the early 1970s. Parts of the embassy were vacated as relations between Germany and North Korea soured following Germany's reunification in 1990. Years later, in the early 2000s, a low-budget hostel and a conference center were opened in what used to be the embassy's main building, turning the property into a revenue source for the regime in Pyongyang.

In 2014, a journalist from German newspaper Die Welt attempted to verify rumors that the hostel was still connected through a tunnel to the fenced-off embassy compound, but found no evidence. Despite the media coverage at the time, the hostel's rental agreement sparked little outrage, even as other North Korean business practices in Europe came under growing scrutiny.

With Wednesday's announcement, German authorities are trying to shut down what is believed to be North Korea's last official revenue source in the country. But for now, according to booking websites, the hostel is sold out on many nights over the coming months - international intrigue and WiFi included.
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Of all the instant reactions on President Donald Trump's decision to fire his FBI director, few seemed as blunt as Jeffrey Toobin's.

The CNN legal analyst and longtime New Yorker staff writer didn't mince words when he was asked to provide some context on the sacking of James Comey, the top official leading the probe into possible ties to the Russian government by members of the Trump campaign.

"It's a grotesque abuse of power by the president of the United States," Toobin told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

His colleague at the New Yorker, John Cassidy, wrote that Trump had "acted like a despot" and mounted a "terrifying attack on the American system of government" in an article headlined "Donald Trump's firing of James Comey is an attack on American Democracy."

"It amounts to a premeditated and terrifying attack on the American system of government" and possibly "will usher in a constitutional crisis."

The national security blog Lawfare called it a "nightmare scenario."

It was "a horrifying breach of every expectation we have of the relationship between the White House and federal law enforcement," wrote the generally cerebral Ben Wittes and Susan Hennessey.

".The immediate concern is to ensure that the integrity of the Russia investigation, and all associated investigations, is preserved. We have not previously called for a special prosecutor, believing that [Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein was a person of integrity who should be given a chance to make a call on that question. His performance today, however, requires that he now step aside."

And David Frum, an editor at the Atlantic and a former George W. Bush speechwriter, asked: "Who can sincerely believe that President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey for any reason other than to thwart an investigation of serious crimes?"

If anything, the remarks seemed to signal that, with the firing of Comey, even Trump's more moderate critics had given up any semblance of restraint.

"This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies," said Toobin, "that when there is an investigation that reaches near the president of the United States or the leader of a non-democracy, they fire the people who are in charge of the investigation."

Toobin went on to say that "if anyone thinks that a new FBI director is going to come in and the agency will just take over and continue their investigation as if this had never happened, that's not how it works. They will put in a stooge who will shut down this investigation." He specifically mentioned New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Administration officials said Tuesday that Comey was fired because he had publicly discussed the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state. The move violated Justice Department principles and procedures for handling investigations and had damaged the FBI's credibility, officials said.

Toobin dismissed the administration's explanation for Comey's dismissal as "a lie."

"It is not possibly true," he said. "They wanted to fire him now, when he is investigating the White House. I mean, sometimes the most obvious explanation is the correct one."

CNN tends to give their paid commentators considerable leeway to opine about the day's news. But for Toobin, a former federal prosecutor who has written about some of the biggest court cases of the past 20 years, the remarks carried an unusual degree of certitude.

They also appeared to channel much of the anger and anxiety - particularly from the left - over Comey's firing and the progress of the FBI's investigation of Russian meddling in the election. At one point, Toobin even used a phrase that has become something of a mantra for critics of the Trump administration: "This is not normal."

Twitter took notice. The commentary went viral almost instantly, becoming a Twitter "moment" before the end of the night. "I think @JeffreyToobin was all of us tonight," MSNBC analyst Joy-Ann Reid wrote.

Not everyone was so impressed. The right-leaning website NewBusters criticized Toobin as "over the top," saying "all of his pontificating was mere speculation."

Conservative syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer of The Washington Post was incredulous about Comey's dismissal as well. "To fire him summarily with no warning because of something that happened in July is almost inexplicable," he said in an interview with Fox News.

In his interview with Blitzer, Toobin offered his historical perspective on Trump's decision. Like many others, he compared the situation to President Richard Nixon's dismissal of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor who was leading the investigation of the Watergate scandal.

When Nixon ordered Cox fired in October 1973, Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned in protest, refusing to carry out the directive. Cox was eventually fired by Robert Bork, the solicitor general, and Nixon went on to abolish the special prosecutor's office entirely. The events became known as the "Saturday Night Massacre," widely viewed as one of the most sordid moments in White House history.

"That firing led indirectly but certainly to the resignation of President Nixon, and this is very much in this tradition," Toobin said, while acknowledging that firing an FBI director is well within a president's powers. "This is not normal. This is not politics as usual."

Toobin tweeted: May 9, 2017. The Tuesday Night Massacre.

Toobin's assessment of the Saturday Night Massacre is shared by Ken Gormley, author of a 1997 biography of Cox, who described the decision to sack the special prosecutor as miscalculation that doomed Nixon's presidency.

"The Saturday night massacre," Gormley wrote, "was the single event in his long and controversial political life from which Richard M. Nixon, president of the most powerful nation in the world, would never recover."
Eddie N. Williams, the longtime president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank that has been a major engine of research and policy analysis geared toward African-American elected officials, died May 8 at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. He was 84.

The cause was complications from pneumonia, said his wife, Jearline Williams.

Williams came to the Joint Center in 1972 after earlier work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as a State Department protocol officer and as public affairs vice president at the University of Chicago. During his 32 years at the center, he built it into what is often called Washington's leading African-American political think tank.

"While many civil rights leaders are charismatic individuals, Eddie leveraged experts, data, solutions, and relationships to build a critical African-American institution," Spencer Overton, the Joint Center's current president, said in an email to The Washington Post. "He influenced generations of African-American elected officials, scholars, and journalists."

The Joint Center for Political Studies, as it was originally known, was founded in 1970 by, among others, Louis Martin, an adviser to three presidents, and noted psychologist Kenneth Clark. The goal was to provide assistance to newly elected black officeholders in the wake of the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

"In a real sense, the Joint Center for Political Studies became a shepherd for many of these newly elected black officials," Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., said in a short film about the center's history. "They didn't have role models. . . They needed someone to show them the ropes."

The Joint Center defined its mission not so much as advocacy but as one of basic research and practical education within the political system. The low-key Williams was content to stand by quietly as well-known political figures, academics and civil rights leaders transformed his center's ideas into public causes.

"I told the recruitment committee that if they were looking for a charismatic leader to run another black organization, that wasn't me," Williams told The Washington Post in 1997. "But if they were looking for a leader that would build an organization with some sustainability and impact, I would consider that a challenge."

Over the years, the Joint Center has sponsored research by such well-known scholars such as John Hope Franklin, Mary Frances Berry, Ronald Walters, David Garrow and William Julius Wilson. Its onetime staff members and researchers now populate the upper reaches of politics, academic life and journalism throughout the country.

Among the issues addressed by the Joint Center have been voting rights, health care, economic issues, education and the effect of gun laws on black communities.

"The Joint Center isn't a household name," Williams told The Post in 1997, "but our contribution to the cause is producing information that will help make a difference in people's lives."

The Joint Center has helped develop the intellectual framework behind many issues championed by the Congressional Black Caucus, but it has never been officially aligned with a particular political party. Support for the center's efforts came from such diverse sources as the Ford Foundation, members of the Coors brewing dynasty, labor unions, the Tobacco Institute and the national committees of the Democratic and Republican parties.

In 1990, the center's 20th-anniversary dinner was attended by Republican President George H.W. Bush and by Democrat L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia's first elected African-American governor.

"I don't think you can be totally out of sync with black leadership," Williams said in 1995. "But you can say, 'Let us not get locked into democratic liberal ideology to the point that problems cannot be solved.' "

Eddie Nathan Williams was born Aug. 18, 1932, in Memphis. After the death of his father, a jazz pianist, he was raised by his mother, a hotel housekeeper.

Williams majored in journalism at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, from which he graduated in 1956. He served in the Army and worked at black newspapers in Memphis and Atlanta before becoming joining the office of Rep. James Roosevelt, D-Calif., - the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt - in 1959.

Later, Williams worked on the staff of Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, D-Minn., and for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He worked for the State Department from 1961 to 1968 as one of the first African-American protocol officers. He left a vice presidency at the University of Chicago to take over the leadership of the Joint Center.

In 1988, Williams received a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation.

His marriage to Sally Smart ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 35 years, the former Jearline Franklin of Washington; a son from his first marriage, Larry Williams of Columbia, Md.; a stepson, Terence Reddick of Washington; and two grandchildren. A daughter from his first marriage, Traci Lynne Williams, died in 2009.

From its inception, the Joint Center published an annual survey - the only one of its kind - tabulating the number of African-American elected officials across the country. There were fewer than 500 in 1965, when the Voting Rights Act was passed. Five years later, there were 1,469.

"That signature work, vintage work, collecting the names of black elected officials, doing surveys," Williams said in 1997, "is what I hope my legacy will be."

By the time he stepped down as president of the Joint Center in 2004, more than 10,000 African-Americans held elective office.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price defended police who arrested a reporter at West Virginia's state capitol, saying they "did what they felt was appropriate."

When asked if he felt the reporter, Public News Service journalist Dan Heyman, had been too aggressive and whether it was appropriate to arrest him, Price said it was "not my decision to make," according to the Associated Press. He gave the statements during a meeting on the opioid crisis in Concord, N.H., on Wednesday.

"That gentleman was not in a press conference," Price said, according to STAT.

A day earlier, Price and Kellyanne Conway, special counsel to the president, had been walking through a hallway in the West Virginia state capitol when veteran reporter Heyman began following alongside him, holding up his phone to Price while attempting to ask him a question.

Heyman repeatedly asked the secretary whether domestic violence would be considered a preexisting condition under the Republican bill to overhaul the nation's health care system, he said.

"Do you think that's right or not, secretary?" Heyman asked, according to an audio recording Heyman provided to The Washington Post. "You refuse to answer? Tell me no comment."

A male voice is heard telling Heyman, "Do not get close to her. Back up."

Moments later, an officer in the capitol pulled Heyman aside, handcuffed him and arrested him. Heyman was jailed on the charge of willful disruption of state government processes and was released later on $5,000 bail.

Authorities said while Secret Service agents were providing security in the capitol for Price and Conway, Heyman was "aggressively breaching" the agents to the point where they were "forced to remove him a couple of times from the area," according to a criminal complaint.

Heyman "was causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price," the complaint stated.

But Heyman said he was simply fulfilling his role as a journalist and feels that his arrest sets a "terrible example" for members of the press seeking answers to questions.

"This is my job, this is what I'm supposed to do," Heyman said in a news conference Tuesday after being released from jail. "I think it's a question that deserves to be answered. I think it's my job to ask questions and I think it's my job to try to get answers."

Price and Conway were visiting Charleston, W.Va., Tuesday, to hear about efforts to fight opioid addiction in a state that has the nation's highest drug overdose death rate. They met privately with state and local policymakers and members of several groups, including officials of an addiction treatment center and an addiction hotline, according to the Associated Press.

Before Heyman's arrest, no police officer told him he was in the wrong place, Heyman said. He was wearing a press pass as well as a shirt with a Public News Service logo on the front, and identified himself to police as a reporter, he said.

Heyman is heard on the recording saying, "you want to beat me up and end up on the news tonight?" A male officer tells him, "calm down, relax."

"You know those people are there for a reason," the officer says on the recording.

"Yeah, well what do you think I'm there for?" Heyman responds. "So the Capitol of the state of West Virginia is no longer a public space?" he says later.

ACLU National tweeted: It does not. In West Virginia and the rest of America, First Amendment rights are not confined to a press conference.

---

At the news conference, Heyman's lawyer called the arrest a "highly unusual case" and said he has never had a client arrested for "talking too loud." The lawyer, Tim DiPiero, described Heyman as a mild-mannered, reputable journalist and called the arrest "bizarre" and "way over the top."

Heyman has worked as a reporter for about 30 years, and his stories have appeared in the New York Times, NPR and other national news outlets, he said. Since 2009, he has worked as a West Virginia-based producer and reporter for Public News Service, which provides content to media outlets while also publishing its own stories.

Lark Corbeil, chief executive and founder of Public News Service, said Heyman's arrest took the organization "very much by surprise."

"From what we can understand, he did nothing out of the ordinary," Corbeil said in an interview with The Washington Post. "He was doing what any journalist would normally do, calling out a question and trying to get an answer."

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia said in a statement that Heyman's arrest constituted "a blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press." It called the charges against Heyman "outrageous" and demanded they be dropped immediately.

"This is a dangerous time in our country," the statement read. "Freedom of the press is being eroded every day."

"Today was a dark day for democracy," the ACLU of West Virginia added. "But the rule of law will prevail. The First Amendment will prevail."

Heyman said he has been reporting on health care issues for many years, calling it "well-trodden ground" in his coverage. As a veteran journalist, he is used to criticism, he said, but he has never heard of a reporter being arrested for asking a question. Heyman said he thinks the public relies on journalists aggressively "pursuing the truth."

"If they don't like the stories I write, that's fine," Heyman said. "They can criticize me all they want."

"But just saying that I shouldn't be able to do my job is a bit ridiculous," he added.
The U.K.'s opposition Labour Party sought to make the best of leaked proposals for its election manifesto, which showed plans to renationalize railways, the postal service and energy companies.

Party leader Jeremy Corbyn pulled out of a campaign event on Thursday morning after a draft document purporting to contain the entirety of his manifesto dominated the media. The pledges, which are being finalized at a meeting of party officials in London, include an extra 6 billion pounds ($7.8 billion) in annual funding for the health service.

Those who released the draft "have done us a favor," Ian Lavery, Labour's campaign coordinator, told reporters in London at the poster launch where he replaced Corbyn as lead speaker. "What I've seen this morning is that people are very excited" about Labour's "visionary policies that will renew Britain."

Corbyn was too busy with "internal matters" to attend, he said. Corbyn's office declined to comment on the contents of the leak.

With less than a month to go before the June 8 election, Labour is lagging Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives by about 20 points. The party has been criticized for failing to provide a viable opposition to May, both over Brexit and the economy. Local elections last week suggest May is on course to significantly increase her majority in the House of Commons.

Other measures cited in the draft document include totally abolishing university tuition fees and ordering the construction of 100,000 new state-funded rental homes a year, while a new Ministry of Labour would boost workers' rights.

The launch of the manifesto is usually a key moment for any party leadership as it gives a clear opportunity to spell out the program for government, galvanize activists and gain momentum in the campaign.

When the final document is released, it will inevitably be measures against the earlier version that entered the public domain. Conservatives immediately began to pick it apart.

"The commitments in this dossier will rack up tens of billions of extra borrowing for our families and will put Brexit negotiations at risk," according to a statement from the Conservative party. "Jobs will be lost, families will be hit and our economic security damaged for a generation if Jeremy Corbyn and the coalition of chaos are ever let anywhere near the keys to Downing Street."
Removing abandoned boats from state waters would become easier, gaining approval to use poisons to control feral hogs would become harder, mandatory annual safety inspection of most boat and utility trailers would end and current or former members of the military or law enforcement would be exempt from hunter education requirements under terms of bills edging close to adoption by the Texas Legislature.

With less than three weeks remaining in the Legislature's biennial 140-day session, those are among the relative handful of proposals with the potential to affect outdoors recreation and the natural resources on which they depend that have beaten procedural deadlines and stand at least a reasonable chance of passage before the session's May 29 close.

A bill that would streamline the legal procedures required to remove abandoned boats littering Texas waters is just a vote away from passage.

RELATED GALLERY: The ins and outs of feral hog hunting in Texas

Scores of vessels have been abandoned on Texas waterways, creating environmental and navigational hazards. The Texas General Land Office, which has jurisdiction over state-owned coastal waters, has a program that works to identify owners of the derelict vessels and remove them. But current law limits GLO's ability to immediately remove hazardous abandoned boats, barges or other vessels.

HB 1625, co-authored by Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-League City and Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, would make it easier for the Texas GLO to remove derelict vessels from state waters by modifying the rules governing the legal notices and hearings required before the vessel can be removed. The bill has passed the Texas House, had a Senate committee earlier this week recommended its passage and awaits scheduling for a vote by the Senate where Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, is sponsoring the proposal.

Another proposal close

Another bipartisan proposal is tied to Texas' persistent problems with feral hogs appears poised for passage.

HB 3451, authored by Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton, and co-sponsored by 120 other state representatives, would prohibit the Texas Department of Agriculture from registering, approving for use or allowing the use of a lethal pesticide for feral hog control unless a study conducted by a state agency or institution of higher education recommended it be used.

The proposal came in the wake of controversy created when Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller earlier this year announced emergency regulations governing use of the first toxin federally approved for use in controlling feral hogs. Texas holds as many as 3 million feral hogs, an invasive species annually causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to agriculture and private property as well as significant damage to native wildlife.

Concerns about secondary or collateral effects of the toxin, which uses warfarin as its active ingredient, on non-target species and humans exposed to hogs that had consumed the poison, triggered a storm of opposition to the use of the poison. A court order voided the emergency rules, and the company manufacturing the pig poison recently withdrew its request for registration of the product in Texas.

HB 3451 easily passed the House by a margin of 131 to 11 and earlier this week was heard in a Senate committee, where the proposal it is sponsored by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin. A decision by the Senate's Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs Committee on whether to forward it to the full Senate for a vote is pending.

Legislation that would exempt most boat trailer, utility trailers and many travel trailers from annual safety inspections has passed the Senate and awaits a hearing in the House. That legislation, SB 1001 by Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, would exempt trailers with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 7,500 pounds from annual safety inspections.

Texas has long required annual safety inspections of trailers with a GVWR of more than 4,500 pounds. But the requirement was seldom, if ever, enforced, and most trailer owners were not aware of the requirement. That changed with a law passed by the 2015 Texas Legislature that required proof of safety inspection before a vehicle could be registered or renew annual registration.

The 2015 law was aimed at motor vehicles but covered all vehicles, including trailers. Many boat and utility trailers and most travel trailers have a GVWR of more than 4,500 pounds. Enforcement of the requirement drew significant blow-back from trailer owners who had either ignored the inspection requirement or were not aware of it.

The Senate passed SB 1001 this past week. The bill has been sent to the House, where it awaits a hearing by the Transportation Committee.

A bill that would carve a huge exemption in the state's hunter education requirement for persons with military or law enforcement experience has passed the House and was sent to the Senate.

Texas law requires any person born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, to successfully complete a state-approved Hunter Education Training Course to legally hunt in the state. The course includes instruction in hunting skills, ethics, regulations and safe use of firearms.

HB 2009, co-authored by Reps. Greg Bonnen and Dennis Bonnen, would exempt all active-duty members and veterans of the U.S. military and all qualified active or retired peace officers, from that requirement. The Texas House passed the bill Tuesday and it has been sent to the Senate, where it was referred to the Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs Committee.

The Texas Senate will also determine the fate of a bill that would require most Texas boaters to use the emergency engine cutoff switch on their boats.

Cutoff bill to committee

This past Saturday, the Texas House passed HB 1988, authored by Rep, Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio. Larson's legislation would require persons operating a motorboat 26 feet long or less to make certain the emergency engine cutoff switch on their vessel is operational and have that switch engaged when the engine is running and the boat is underway. Texas currently requires only persons operating personal watercraft to engage their vessel's emergency engine cutoff switch.

An emergency engine cutoff switch, commonly called a "kill switch," is usually a switch tied into the to the electric system of the boat motor and connected to the boat operator by a lanyard. In instances where a boat operator is thrown from the helm, the lanyard is pulled, instantly killing the engine. This prevents serious, even fatal, injuries caused when the operators or passenger are thrown from a boat and struck by the still-running vessel or the spinning propeller.

The Texas House passed HB 1988 by a vote of 126 to 18. As of Wednesday evening, the bill was awaiting referral to a Senate committee.
Last week, North Korea made a fairly sensational allegation: that in 2014, the CIA and South Korea's National Intelligence Service conspired to assassinate Kim Jong Un with a biochemical weapon.

In vivid detail, the North Korean Ministry of State Security described how U.S. and South Korean officials "ideologically corrupted and bribed" a North Korean citizen working in Russia. The plan was as follows: The alleged agent would return home to North Korea, wait for a public event, then use some kind of poisonous substance on top regime officials. Pyongyang suggested that South Korean agents provided satellite communication equipment and money to this alleged would-be killer. The United States, according to this account, provided a biochemical substance - a delayed-action radioactive or "nano poisonous" gas.

North Korea did not offer any evidence or specifics on how the alleged plot was foiled. The suspect was identified only by his last name - Kim, which is a fairly common last name on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean officials called the claim "groundless." The CIA declined to comment, as is customary.

But North Korea isn't letting it go. Last week, it said the United States and South Korea should "execute" those involved in the purported plot. On Thursday, it demanded that the United States and South Korea hand over the "terror suspects."

"The Central Prosecutor's Office will ask for the handover of those criminals and prosecute them under the relevant laws," North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Han Song Ryol told foreign diplomats and reporters in Pyongyang, according to China's Xinhua News Agency.

No details were included about who the suspects are and how many are on the run.

Without this information, it's hard to evaluate Pyongyang's allegations - or even take them very seriously. But it's worth noting that North Korea has a long history of its own ripped-from-a-bad-movie assassination plots. Or, as The Associated Press put it, "In the paranoid universe of North Korea, the feverish accusations it makes against its sworn enemies bear a creepy resemblance to its own misdeeds."

There was, for example, the 1968 attempt to kill South Korea's president. North Korea sent a 31-person commando team over the border to execute a siege on the leader's residence. The team was discovered by some teenage brothers and never completed the mission.

In 1997, a member of Kim Jong Un's extended family who defected was fatally shot on a South Korean street by assailants from the North. In 2009, Pyongyang allegedly paid about $40,000 to have dissident Hwang Jang-yop, secretary of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party until he defected in 1997, killed. The attempt was unsuccessful. In 2011, a defector to South Korea suspected of being a North Korean secret agent was arrested on suspicion of attempting to assassinate Park Sang-hak, an outspoken critic of the Pyongyang regime. South Korean authorities said the suspected agent had set up a meeting with Park in a subway station in Seoul and planned to kill him with a poison pen.
Retired Master Sgt. Wilburn K. Ross, an Army machine-gunner who received the Medal of Honor for single-handedly fighting back eight German counterattacks during a World War II battle in France, died May 9 in Washington state. He was 94.

His death was announced by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The cause was not disclosed.

Sgt. Ross - then a private - served in the Army's storied 3rd Infantry Division during World War II and saw combat in Morocco and Italy, where he was wounded by shrapnel in 1943. A year later, his unit had pushed on to eastern France, where it encountered elite German alpine troops in the Vosges Mountains.

On Oct. 30, 1944, Ross' company took heavy casualties from German forces, losing 55 of its 88 men. About 11:30 a.m., Ross moved to a forward position, 10 yards beyond his company's riflemen, and set up his light machine gun.

He was an open target for German marksmen and artillery fire, yet he held steady for five hours, carrying on what was virtually a one-man battle.

"His position seemed to be on fire," a U.S. officer who witnessed the battle said afterward, "because of the explosions all around him."

Wave after wave of German soldiers attacked Ross' position, yet he managed to repel successive counterattacks with well-aimed machine-gun fire.

At one point, he grabbed a rifle from a wounded soldier nearby and aimed it toward approaching enemy troops. The rifle was struck by a German bullet, rendering the gun useless, but Ross was not hurt.

"I throwed that thing down," Ross told the website Militaryvaloan.com in 2013, "and I had that machine gun pouring."

When his machine gun temporarily ran out of ammunition, Ross refused to abandon his post.

"He merely shook his head," William Wardell, a lieutenant in the unit, said in 1945.

With the few surviving U.S. riflemen reduced to fixing their bayonets for hand-to-hand combat, German troops crawled as close as four yards to Ross' machine-gun nest.

They were to toss grenades into his emplacement when he received a fresh supply of ammunition.

"He opened up as they swarmed him, firing short bursts," Wardell said. "In less than a minute I saw 50 Germans fall dead or wounded around his machine gun. When the enemy turned and ran, corpses were piled high around the gun."

Ross "broke the assault single-handedly, and forced the Germans to withdraw," according to his citation for the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for valor.

He killed or wounded at least 58 German soldiers and "saved the remnants of his company from destruction."

He stayed by his gun through the night and next day, prepared for a possible return by enemy forces. After 36 hours, it was clear that the Germans had abandoned the field.

Ross emerged from the battle unscathed.

"I was a lucky guy all the way through," he said in 2011, "because they got awful close to me."

In April 1945, Ross and four other members of the 3rd Division were awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at a stadium in Nuremberg, Germany, where Adolf Hitler had conducted prewar rallies.

Wilburn Kirby Ross was born May 12, 1922, in Strunk, Kentucky, a rural hamlet near the Tennessee border. He grew up on a farm and learned to hunt and fish as a boy. He practiced his marksmanship by placing a match in a tree and lighting it with a shot from his .22-caliber rifle.

He worked as a coal miner before moving to Virginia to be a shipyard welder early in World War II. He was drafted in 1942.

After the war, he worked for the Kentucky highway authority for a year or two before reenlisting in the Army. In 1950, after only nine days on the battlefield in the Korean War, Ross was severely wounded in his legs by machine-gun fire. He remained in the Army until 1964.

He settled in DuPont, Washington, where he worked in a pickle factory and drove a van for a veterans hospital. He often attended veterans events and was one of 12 Medal of Honor recipients featured on postage stamps released in 2013.

His wife of more than 60 years, the former Monica Belford, died in 2011. They had six children. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.

Ross had few trappings of his wartime heroism, except for a commemorative Medal of Honor license plate that other motorists occasionally noticed in traffic.

"Sometimes people salute me," he said.
A federal judge in Houston has denied a request by Harris County officials to delay the start date of a court order that eliminates cash bail for poor people arrested on low-level charges who can't afford to post bail.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal denied the county's motion to stay her order, leading to an expedited appeal by the county expected to be filed Friday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

RULING: Harris County bail system unconstitutional, federal judge rules

Rosenthal's order is set to go into effect on Monday. County officials are already planning to begin releasing inmates even as their lawyers fight to stop the order.

The judge ruled that the county's bail practices are unconstitutional, forcing poor people to stay in jail when people with money can walk free while awaiting trial on misdemeanors, allowing them to go on with the lives and jobs.

"We obviously are gratified that the judge has agreed .... that no stay of her April 28 order should be granted, and that Harris County should stop violating the Constitution on Monday," said Neal Manne, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit.

According to testimony at a lengthy injunction hearing earlier this year, many defendants opt to plead guilty rather than wait for their day in court on a minor offense.

ADJUSTING: Harris Co. sheriff is ready to move on new bail requirements with judge's 'clarification'

Rosenthal weighed the request for a stay based on who faced the "greater harm" if she granted it: The 15 Criminal Court at Law judges and five hearing officers who asked for the delay or the inmates being held on bail rates they couldn't pay.

She explained in her order Thursday that the misdemeanor defendants stuck in jail while awaiting trial would suffer greater harm than the county in implementing a new bail system.

She explained she found "that overwhelming credible evidence established that Harris County has a policy of routinely and systematically detaining indigent misdemeanor defendants before trial on secured money bail that the defendants clearly cannot pay because of their indigence, without procedural protections."

The county and top officials were sued in federal court last year by two civil rights groups - Texas Fair Defense Project and Civil Rights Corps - and 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 filed on behalf of two other people were merged into the case in August.
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In Washington, a memorial honors police officers slain in the line of duty. In the state capital of Austin, another recognizes Texas peace officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Houston Police Officer Memorial serves the same purpose at a site along Buffalo Bayou.

But in Harris County - where a Precinct 3 deputy constable lost his life last month, and where 60 other deputy sheriffs and constables have been killed over the last 125 years - there was no place for families, colleagues and the public to honor fallen law enforcement officers.

That changed Wednesday, when hundreds of law enforcement officers, public officials and others from across Harris County gathered at a new memorial adjacent to Crime Stoppers of Houston's headquarters.

"The peace officers of Harris County did not have a proper memorial," said Franco Valobra, a founding member of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Foundation, which supports local law enforcement and spent four years getting the memorial designed and built at the request of former Sheriff Adrian Garcia. "There has to be a place where we honor the sacrifice. There has to be a place where family can go and mourn with dignity and with the proper importance  And there has to be a place to be a reminder to the rest of the citizens of Harris County, that it's tough to be a peace officer in these times, but we understand it and we're grateful."

Said one deputy: "It's long overdue."

The dedication came during the county's annual remembrance of its fallen officers. A torch flared from amid a large red seven-pointed star, ringed by carved blocks of polished black granite, where the names of the fallen had been engraved.

The first name: Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Carl F. Court, who was shot and killed while on patrol in Chaneyville in 1895. Since his death, 60 other deputy constables and deputy sheriffs have died in the line of duty. The most recent was Precinct 3 Assistant Chief Deputy Clint Greenwood, who was ambushed and killed moments after he arrived at work in Baytown last month.

Another officer killed on the job this year was Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Terry Faughtenbery, who died of a heart attack while on duty.

"It serves as a lasting legacy for those who lost their lives in duty and service in their community," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said of the memorial. "It shows, though their life may have ended, their impact continues on."

Rania Mankarious, executive director of Crime Stoppers, said the memorial provides a reminder of the duty that peace officers carry out every day and the sacrifices they and their families make.

"We are watching," she told a crowd of several hundred. "When tragedy strikes, we mourn  But when you get back up, determined to move forward, we are inspired and determined to get back up with you."

Among the dignitaries in attendance were Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

During the ceremony, the county's top lawmen read the names of those who had died, offering yellow roses to the peace officers' relatives. Two helicopters made a fly-by, and a mixed crew of rifle-bearing deputies fired off a three-volley salute.

Among the mourners was Mike Gonzales, uncle of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Jessie Valdez III. Shortly after the dedication, he found his nephew's name, fourth from the top of one of the granite blocks ringing the memorial.

Valdez died in 2014 while responding to a call when an impaired driver hit his cruiser head-on.

The pain of his nephew's death hasn't gone away, he said. But the memorial gave him, relatives and family members of other fallen deputies some measure of solace.

"We can all share the pain," he said. "There's a lot of pain."
Most of the 33 members of a ring arrested in January and accused of dealing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine in San Antonio are pleading guilty, including a handful scheduled to appear in federal court today.

Court records show more than 20 of the 33 defendants have pleaded guilty or have signed plea deals intending to do. Many of those targeted in the investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and San Antonio police are members or associates of the Tango Blast gang.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 1,378 people, 76 of them in South Texas, as part of a gang roundup between March and early May.

ICEs Homeland Security Investigations division, which investigates a range of federal crimes, regularly conducts such roundups targeting gang members and associates. This was the largest to date, according to ICE. Only four of those arrested in the San Antonio area of responsibility, which includes Austin, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley, were immigrants. One was charged with illegally re-entering the country.
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A jury handed a 65-year prison term Wednesday to Daniel Jeremy Torres for killing an Army veteran at a bus stop in 2015.

Jurors who convicted Torres, 21, of murder Tuesday deliberated almost four hours on the sentence.

In January, his brother also was convicted of murder in the case, which stemmed from an attempt to rob Jesse Lee Richards, 28, as he waited for a bus Dec. 20, 2015, at Porter Street and South New Braunfels Avenue on the East Side.

Richards was shot in the chest. Torres younger brother, David Anthony Zuniga, 18, testified that Torres fired the shot.

Each man testified that the two planned to rob Richards to get quick money to give to a third brother to pay rent. During his trial, Zuniga said he took the rap for Torres because he was afraid for himself and their mother.

Zuniga is serving a life sentence for his role in the crime. Arguing for a life sentence for Torres, prosecutor Josh Somers told jurors they had an opportunity to protect us.

There are bad men, evil men who hurt people, and Daniel Torres is one of those men, Somers said as he pointed to Torres. This man murdered someone who would have died to protect him.

As he described the grandson he raised, Gary Richards, 76, choked up on the witness stand. He said Jesse Richards suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving three tours of duty in Iraq, lived in a halfway house in San Antonio and was trying to turn his life around when he was killed.

He told the jury he and his wife took Richards in when he was about 2 because his mother couldnt handle him. As pictures were shown of Richards as a child named Jesse Hickman, through his teen years and in the Army, Gary Richards cried when he recalled that his grandson, as an adult, changed his name to Jesse Richards to honor the only father he ever knew.

Torres attorney, Ron D. Ross, told the jury to consider the degree of responsibility that Torres had in the incident. Zuniga confessed to police on video to planning the robbery and being the shooter, he pointed out.

It doesnt make any difference how many times he (Zuniga) tells you Daniel was the shooter, Ross said. It doesnt matter. The evidence does.

Ross disputed the testimony of the third brother, Juan Torres, that he saw the shooting from where the men lived on Porter Street.

Even if you were on the front step, you couldnt see it, Ross said.

Torres showed no reaction when visiting Judge Laura Parker sentenced him. He also was fined $10,000 and will have to serve 30 years before he will be eligible for parole.

ezavala@express-news.net

Twitter: @elizabeth2863
A San Antonio man who was freed from life in prison by President Barack Obama pleaded guilty Thursday to another drug charge he received after crashing his car while fleeing from officers.

Robert M. Gill, 68, whose life sentence for cocaine and heroin distribution conspiracy was commuted by Obama in 2015, was profiled last year in the San Antonio Express-News about his readjustment to life on the outside.

Behind bars from the time of his arrest in 1990, Gill earned a legal education inside prison libraries and successfully petitioned Obama for a second chance after his court appeals were exhausted.

In February, back in San Antonio, he picked up a backpack with a kilo of cocaine at a supermarket parking lot on the West Side from a confidential source working with Homeland Security Investigations. Gill sped away from Bexar County sheriffs deputies who tried to pull him over, crashing into another car at Callaghan and Bandera roads, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bettina Richardson.

Gill tried again to get away, but agents vehicles disabled his car, she said.

He told agents that he was going to sell (the cocaine) to make $26,000, Richardson told U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.

Gill pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. Five hundred grams is a little more than 1 pound.

He had been one of about 1,700 federal inmates whose sentences Obama commuted as part of a broader campaign to release nonviolent offenders serving long prison terms that dated to a frenzied period in the nations war on drugs. In the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of offenders were punished under mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for federal drug crimes that now carry shorter sentences.

Obama wrote in a signed notification that he granted Gills application because you have demonstrated the potential to turn your life around.  Now it is up to you to make the most of this opportunity.

In interviews last year, Gill said he maintained hope even as his three co-defendants died behind bars.

I believed there were people in government with rational minds who sooner or later would realize that the sentence wasnt fair, Gill said then. Yes, you have the thought that youre going to die in prison  thats a human reaction. But theres always the possibility that theyll acknowledge the injustice.

After his release in 2015, he began working as a paralegal for local criminal defense law firm LaHood & Calfas, and he appeared to make the most of it. A Vietnam veteran who succumbed to drugs, he said he sought to reform himself. He brought several clients to the practice through contacts he made while living at Crosspoint, a halfway house, attorney Neil Calfas, who hired him, told the paper last year.

His employer was unaware of his illegal activity in February, Calfas said.

The judge set sentencing for Aug. 16. Gill faces five years to 40 years in prison, and also faces up to two years in prison in a revocation case stemming from his prior drug case.
After receiving multiple reports in recent months of a particular type of bank-related crime, San Marcos police are warning the public about the "growing" trend.

The technique is known as bank jugging, which officials describe as a thief who sits in a parking lot and watches customers as they go in and out of a bank or credit union.
AUSTIN  With a looming deadline to pass House bills on an initial vote, lawmakers spent two hours debating and then approving a measure that would require certain health care facilities to report abortion complications.

The bill, authored by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, passed on a 94-52 vote  marking a victory for discouraged anti-abortion advocates who have called on House lawmakers to pass their priority legislation for the session. The reporting requirements bill, House Bill 2962, was a high priority for anti-abortion groups. A similar bill was passed by the Senate last week.

Capriglione said the bill would "provide a more accurate picture of abortion complications in Texas" by including reporting requirements for facilities that have emergency care. He said the bill would shift the requirement from a regulatory requirement to a statutory requirement.

"The data we're getting is not right," Capriglione said.

Texas already requires abortion providers to submit an abortion complication report to the Department of State Health services, but proponents of the bill say the requirement does not apply to hospitals or emergency rooms.

"This procedure is a very serious procedure," Capriglione said on the floor with a group of Republican supporters around him. "It's something a lot of people have concerns about in general."

Lawmakers also approved an amendment to Capriglione's bill from Rep. Matt Shaefer, R-Tyler, that requires complication reports to be made electronically and include the physician's name. The report would also include the patient's birth date, race, marital status and county.

Foes of the amendment argued that physicians names could be released.

"I think you're putting people's live at stake by offering this amendment," Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, said. The amendment was adopted 91-50.

A number of lawmakers have been vocal about moving anti-abortion measures through the House. At a press conference on May 2, Schaefer said House Republicans are the only ones to blame if pro-life bills like Perry's legislation don't make it to the governor's desk this session.

"The Texas House has not prioritized pro-life bills," he said. "If pro-life bills don't hit the House floor, we have no one to blame but the Republicans in the Texas House. The Senate has done their job."

House lawmakers have more controversial anti-abortion bills further down on the calendar, including one that would ban the exchange of fetal tissue, but it's unlikely the chamber could make it to the bill by the House's midnight deadline.

The fetal tissue measure, House Bill 200, comes after a years-long battle between the state and Planned Parenthood clinics on the procurement of fetal tissue. The Center for Medical Progress released undercover videos in 2015 showing Planned Parenthood's Houston office discussing the procurement of fetal tissue. A Harris County grand jury cleared the Houston clinic of any wrongdoing last February, and instead, indicted the two undercover videographers. The Harris County District Attorney's office later dismissed the charges.

But the state used the videos as part of its reason to kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid in December 2016. Federal Judge Sam Sparks temporarily halted the state's plan to withhold Medicaid funds earlier this year. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton promised to appeal the decision.

House Bill 200 would also ban so-called partial-birth abortions  defined in the bill as an act that kills a partially delivered fetus. The late-term procedure already is prohibited under federal law.

As House lawmakers prepared to debate the measures, a Guttmacher Institute study released Tuesday that found that Texas and Kansas lead the nation in having anti-abortion measures the group says are not grounded in science.

The pro-abortion rights group's study pointed to laws like Texas' mandatory 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, and information in the state's controversial "Women's Right to Know" booklet given to women seeking an abortion. The booklet includes information that links abortions to breast cancer, a claim that's been widely debunked by scientists and the National Cancer Institute.

The state's most notable law was 2013's House Bill 2, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in a 5-3 vote last year  but not before clinics around the state were forced to close. Then-Gov. Rick Perry signed the law that required facilities performing abortions to meet hospital-like standards.
Independent Alliance TD Kevin Boxer Moran has brushed aside cynicism from those who believe his latest social media admissions are just another example of political one-upmanship.

The Longford Westmeath TD attracted much attention over the weekend with images of him helping out with renovation works at Ballymahons Bridgeways Family Resource Centre.

Decked out in a wooly hat and tracksuit bottoms, it was a much changed Mr Moran who could be seen kitted out and seemingly ready for some serious manual labour in front of the watching online world.

Another productive day today at the Bridgeways Frc Ballymahon, read a post on the former Taxi drivers Facebook page on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the hot weather a huge work load got done.

Big thanks to Brendan Callinan, Gerry Kelly and Mick Dunican for all their help. Greatly appreciated.

They were remarks which were given the thumbs up from the south Longford based family and community centre who responded in kind on Monday morning.

Another productive weekend here with the centre renovations. Fair play to these lads! We are so appreciative of the help. Unbelievable!!

Very soon these two rooms will be ready for groups. Thanks again Boxer and his amazing crew, came the reply.

Despite those plaudits there was plenty of vitriol too with some hinting that the episode represented another case of political opportunism.

The best paid painter in Ireland, was the whimsical remark made by one Facebook user on Sunday.

Mr Moran, himself, was unmoved as he delivered a staunch defence of his decision to lend a hand to the project.

He said he made the move after being approached by the Centre's Grace Kearney.

"She came into me basically at her wits end looking to see if I could help out in any way so that they could do up the centre and then go in search of funding," he said.

"I then asked a few lads who I know work alongside the Tidy Towns in Athlone, guys that are carpenters, electricians and that's what happened.

"I make no apologies for doing that. Someone came into me looking for a bit of help that's all. We are not looking for a medal and after all isn't that what I am there for?"

Mr Moran also played down talk his expected elevation to Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works had been delayed.

The Athlone based TD had been expected to assume that role from fellow Independent Sean Canney in order to coincide with the first anniversary of the present Government being ushered in.

However, Mr Moran rubbished speculation of a hold up, describing the speculation as "baloney".
A number of people who became embroiled in a row at Great Water Street in Longford town last year were convicted and fined 250 following a hearing into the matter at last weeks sitting of Longford District Court.

Lanka Dudov, 63 Great Water Street, Longford; Stefan Gina, Ardrum Court, Townspark, Longford; Gabriel Gina, 12 Cuber House, Great Water Street, Longford; Eva Pompova, 19 Mills Oaks, Drumlish, Co Longford and Zdenek Burian, 17 Hibernian Court, Longford, appeared before Judge Seamus Hughes charged with engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting words or behaviour at Townspark, Longford on March 12, 2016.

They were also further charged with failing to comply with the orders of An Garda Siochana on the same date.

Outlining the evidence to the court, Garda Barry Clarke said that on the date in question, gardai at Longford Garda Station received a call from a member of the public who indicated to them that there was a large gathering of males and females at Longfords Great Water Street.

The court heard it was just after 5pm when the call was received and Garda Clarke and Sergeant Derek Duggan subsequently made their way to the area.

We made our way to the area and we saw a number of males and females in Townspark, close to Tesco, continued Garda Clarke.

Six or eight people then came over to me and they were shouting; they had enough English to tell me what was going on and they explained what was happening.

They told me what happened and as a result I asked them all to leave the area.

The court was then told that the matter centered around a woman in the Czech community in Longford town who had an affair with a fellow Czech national.

They said that one of the partys wives had an affair with a gentleman who lived upstairs in an apartment in Great Water Street, continued Garda Clarke.

Because of this allegation a row broke out; there was young children and elderly people in the vicinity at the time of the incident - they were out shopping and looking at all this going on around them.

The man in the furniture shop on Great Water Street - Pat Lynch - told me that two tables and a chair that were outside his premises had been destroyed as a result of the row and 300 worth of damage had been caused.

The court was then told that there was no CCTV in the area and as a result of that, gardai had no evidence of the incident.

I later spoke to the man in the apartment and he said he knew of no reason why the incident occurred in the first instance, Garda Clarke added.

He told me recently that the matter had been resolved and there has been no further incidences since.

In mitigation, the defendants solicitor Fiona Baxter said that one of her clients had gone to Pat Lynchs store on February 13 last and paid for the damage that had been caused.

These people were trying to tell Garda Clarke about the threats they had been subject to by the man in the apartment, she continued, before pointing out that he was known to Judge Hughes and to the local gardai.

All these individuals are related and issues erupted because a female in the family left her husband and four children for the man in the apartment.

This man then engaged in a campaign of terror against my clients.

The court went on to hear that the man threw stones at the defendants as they passed him on the street and spit at them on a regular basis.

Threats were made when children were being brought to school and the 15-year-old son of the woman who had the affair ended up terrified of this man, added Ms Baxter.

All these people live in close proximity to each other and their lives became a living hell.

The man and the lady in question have since separated but the fact of the matter is that on the date in question, these people were subject to serious threats of violence.

They do accept, however, that they should not have taken the law into their own hands and have all been living in Ireland for the last 10 years.

Following his deliberations on the matter, Judge Hughes said that it was unacceptable for people to take the law into their own hands in this country.

He subsequently convicted all defendants and fined them accordingly in respect of the matter before him.
Local News, Business & Finance, Travel & Local Attractions, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 11 2017

Amtrak has let Penn Station fall apart under its watch--and the testimony from Amtrak executives today gave New Yorkers no reason to believe that the unacceptable state of the station will improve. - Senator Todd ...

New York, NY - May 1, 2017 - Senator Todd Kaminsky issued the following statement after attending the New York State Assemblys Standing Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions public hearing.

Amtrak has let Penn Station fall apart under its watch--and the testimony from Amtrak executives today gave New Yorkers no reason to believe that the unacceptable state of the station will improve, said Senator Todd Kaminsky. Today, Amtrak essentially admitted that there is a safety and infrastructure debacle at Penn Station and that it could not effectively deal with the crisis. Amtrak also unveiled a troubling plan to outsource management of the concourse to a private partner and that it would make further track closures. Amtrak claimed to include the LIRR in its new private partnership--but with little detail and no commitment that LIRR riders would truly be represented.

On April 28, Senator Kaminsky sent a letter (attached) to Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Senator Michael Ranzenhofer requesting that the two hold joint emergency hearings about Penn Station. In response, todays NYS Assembly hearing addressed the impact of Amtraks New York Penn Station Infrastructure Renewal Program on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), and New York commuters.

Kaminsky called again for the State Senate to hold hearings on Penn Station.

It is shameful that the State Senate hasnt held hearings on Penn Station, Kaminsky said. What are they waiting for? The daily delays, overcrowding and horrid conditions are the norm at Penn. I again call on my colleagues to hold these hearings, on Long Island, and during the evening in order to hear from the many frustrated commuters who just want to get home to their families on time every night.

Senator Kaminsky is hosting a Rally for a Sane Commute (flyer attached), on Saturday, May 13, at 10AM at the Rockville Centre LIRR station. The event will be held rain or shine.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 11 2017

Demonstration planned for Thursday, May 11 to express anger at TrumpCare vote.

Seaford, NY - May 11, 2017  Advocates from throughout Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan will descend upon Congressman Peter Kings Long Island Home on Thursday evening at 6pm to share their anger and frustration at the House of Representatives vote to pass TrumpCare last week.

Congressman Peter King, who represents New Yorks 2nd Congressional district covering portions of Nassau and Suffolk County, voted in favor of TrumpCare last week, a bill that will take away health coverage for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions including diagnoses as wide and varied as pregnancy, diabetes, HIV, and depression.

We are outraged. The list of pre-existing conditions includes gender dysphoria and any history of sexual assault or domestic violence. This means skyrocketing rates for a community of people who need care the most, said Juli Grey-Owens, Executive Director of the Long Island Transgender Advocacy Coalition (LITAC).

We want to make it very clear that we are incredibly angry about this vote, which could have potentially fatal consequences for millions of Americans. Over 70,000 people are expected to lose coverage in Congressman Kings district alone, said Ken Robinson, Long Island resident and Vice President of Housing for Housing Works, Inc., an organization that has been fighting for affordable healthcare throughout the nation in anticipation of the gutting of Obama Care.
Local News, Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 11 2017

Charlene Jackson Thompson represented Brooks 8th Senate District at the Annual Women of Distinction awards ceremony in Albany.

Albany, NY - May 1, 2017 - Last night, State Senator John E. Brooks honored Last night, State Senator John E. Brooks honored Baldwin resident, Charlene Jackson Thompson, as his 2017 New York State Senate Woman of Distinction.

Thompson represented Brooks 8th Senate District at the Annual Women of Distinction awards ceremony in Albany. She was recognized along with more than 60 other honorees from across New York State.

Brooks said, There are remarkable women in our midst whose lives, work and accomplishments contribute to making our communities better, our families stronger, and serve as a special example to others. Charlene Jackson Thompson has dedicated her career to social and economic justice and bringing a voice to underserved communities and an active member of the South Shore community. She is beyond deserving of this recognition and I am proud to honor her vast achievements.

Upon receiving the recognition at the State Capitol, Ms. Thompson said, I am very grateful to receive this honor for my commitment to strengthening our communities. Thank you Senator Brooks for recognizing these efforts. I look forward to continuing this work with you and other dedicated community partners.

Ms. Thompson is the founder of Thompson Economic Development Services, LLC, a firm that provides comprehensive consulting to public, private and nonprofit organizations, municipalities and developers that are promoting economic and community development projects. She serves as a member of the Nassau County Bar Association Board of Directors, and is Chair of the Minority/Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) Committee for the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, where she advocates for increased government contracting opportunities on behalf of minority, women and economically disadvantaged business owners.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 11 2017

Ellen - a community leader, entrepreneur, and mom - accepted the award at a Senate ceremony in Albany.

Albany, NY - May 11, 2017  Today, Senator Todd Kaminsky was proud to honor Today, Senator Todd Kaminsky was proud to honor Rockville Centre resident Ellen White as one of the 2017 NYS Senates Women of Distinction for her work using art to support children with developmental disabilities. She has helped write and produce South Side High School's annual Centre Stage play, and co-founded BackYard Players & Friends - an inclusive arts based program designed to enhance the social and interpersonal skills for teens and young adults.

"I was proud to nominate Ellen - who has been an amazing resource for children with developmental disabilities - as a 2017 Woman of Distinction, said Senator Todd Kaminsky. Through projects such as the Centre Stage Program, BackYard Players & Friends, or many others she leads, Ellen has used art to create vibrant and all-inclusive communities that support those with developmental disabilities. Her passion for helping others is obvious to anyone who meets her, and she sets an inspirational example we should all follow.

What a great honor to have been selected by Senator Todd Kaminsky as a Woman of Distinction for 2017, said Ellen White.  It was very humbling to sit in an audience of such accomplished women on the 150th anniversary of the Suffrage movement. To walk through the hallways of the Capital and sit in on the Senate while current legislation was being passed, it was especially moving when Senator Kaminsky stood on the Senate floor and spoke passionately about passing a bill to protect our Police Officers and First Responders. My husband Chris is a retired Lieutenant with the NYPD and my sons Timothy and Ryan currently serve as NYPD officers. It was wonderful to be in there when the Bill passed as it had such personal meaning to me and my family.

Ellen accepted the award during a ceremony in Albany yesterday evening. The NYS Senate Women of Distinction program was created to recognize New York women who exemplify personal excellence, courage, selflessness, integrity and perseverance.

BackYard Players & Friends offers community enrichment programs in a loving and supportive environment. This year, the organizations was honored at the Rockville Centre St. Patricks Day Parade.

Ellen Whites biography is below.

As a community leader, entrepreneur, and mom, Ellen White has been an amazing resource for children with developmental disabilities on the South Shore. With dedication, compassion and humor, Ellen has created inclusive and fun communities for all, and is a role model to many.

Ellen is the creative force behind South Side High School's successful Centre Stage Program. Centre Stage pairs special-education and general-education students to perform an entertaining show each year. Since its founding, Ellen has helped write, direct and produce the all-inclusive play, which has grown to a cast of over 100 students who perform for almost 2,000 people, becoming a popular collaborative community.

It was through Ellen's experience with Centre Stage that BackYard Players & Friends (BYP & Friends) was born. As students graduate, many experience a decline in their social interactions and community involvement. So she co-founded BYP & Friends - an inclusive arts based program designed to enhance the social and interpersonal skills for teens and young adults - with her sisters Joan Kelly and Christine Daly. Offering community enrichment programs in a loving and supportive environment is at the core of BYP & Friends.

Ellen is currently building an outdoor creative playspace called "Mary's BackYard," pulling together different community groups to design and build this beautiful, interactive space that will include elements of music, art, science, literature and theatre. The goal of "Mary's BackYard" is to create positive and meaningful experiences for the community at large, as inclusion inspires people to work together and learn from each other.

Ellens credentials dont end with wildly popular arts programs. Ellen, whose sons all played lacrosse, has also served as President of Rockville Centre Lacrosse and founded the girls lacrosse program.
Suffolk DA: Suspects In Knifepoint Robberies To Be Arraigned Today In Riverhead

Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 11 2017

Shane Cashmore, Paul Drab, 26, and Juliana Pantaleone, 31, are charged with robbing a Huntington Station ice cream store.

Above are the mug shots of (L to R) Julianna Pantaleone, Paul Drab, and Shane Cashmore.

Riverhead, NY - May 11, 2017  A 30 year old man arrested for a series of knifepoint robberies on Long Island will be arraigned today (5/11) with two codefendants in A 30 year old man arrested for a series of knifepoint robberies on Long Island will be arraigned today (5/11) with two codefendants in Riverhead , Suffolk County District Attorney Spota said.

Shane Cashmore, Paul Drab, 26, and Juliana Pantaleone, 31, were charged with robbery in the first degree after a robbery of a Huntington Station ice cream store on New York Avenue on May 1.

Cashmore said he robbed the stores because of his addiction to heroin.

The trio are also suspects in multiple knifepoint robberies that have occurred in both Nassau and Suffolk counties since February.

The trio will appear before Judge Timothy Mazzei (second floor of the courthouse). The court calendar starts at 9:30 am.
US-backed forces have liberated the city of Tabqah, the Tabqah Dam and an airfield from the Islamic State, according to Central Command (CENTCOM) and Combined Joint Task Force  Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR).

The operations were completed yesterday (May 10) with the surrender of Islamic State fighters in the area.

The Syrian Arab Coalition (SAC) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were responsible for the bulk of the fighting.

This is yet another victory by the SAC and the SDF, our most committed and capable ground force partners in the fight against ISIS who remain hard at work erasing ISIS from the battlefield, liberating their own people and lands, CJTF-OIR spokesman Col. John Dorrian said in a statement.

The battle for Tabqah is a key part of the US strategy for taking the Islamic States capital in Raqqa, which is less than 30 miles away. Kurdish and other Arab fighters are pressuring Raqqa from multiple sides in anticipation of a coming assault on the city.

The offensive on Tabqah began on Mar. 22 with a surprise aerial infiltration behind enemy lines to the south of Lake Assad, according to CENTCOM.

The US military credits the multi-ethnic SDF with increasing pressure on the Islamic State from each flank, thereby accelerating the pace of the fight, clearing the final neighborhoods of the city, and isolating Tabqah Dam before the jihadists were finally forced to surrender.

Approximately 70 ISIS fighters conceded to the SDFs terms, which included the dismantling of IEDs surrounding the dam, the surrender of all ISIS heavy weapons, and the forced withdrawal of all remaining fighters from Tabqah City, CENTCOMs statement reads.

Senior Islamic State leaders and foreign fighters relocated to Tabqah

Over the course of the past year, the so-called caliphate had moved key leaders, foreign fighters and operatives responsible for planning attacks abroad to Tabqah. The US military says the Islamic State had used the city as a a key coordination hub to plan local operations and external attacks against the West since 2013. Additional foreign fighters and external attack planning operatives were moved to the area after the Islamic State suffered losses in northern Syria. The group was hoping to keep these jihadists safe from the coalitions airstrikes, but a number of them were hunted down.

CJTF-OIR announced late last year that Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti, a former member of the Islamic States War Committee, was killed in an airstrike near Tabqah Dam on Dec. 26.

Kuwaiti had been involved in the groups retaking of Palmyra from Bashar al Assads forces before being reassigned to Tabqah to try to improve the Islamic States defenses against the SDF. Kuwaiti was involved in the use of suicide vehicles, IEDs and chemical weapons against the SDF. CJTF-OIR assessed that his death would degrade the organizations defense of Raqqa, as well as the jihadists ability to launch external operations against the West.

The Islamic States Rumiyah (Rome) magazine reported earlier this year that one of the groups chief propagandists, Ahmad Abousamra (also known as Abu Sulayman al Shami), was killed in an airstrike near Tabqah in January.

Abousamra, a US citizen who was long wanted by the FBI, rose through the Islamic States media ranks to become the chief editor of Dabiq, an English-language online magazine that frequently called for attacks in the West. Rumiyah is the successor publication to Dabiq. Abousamra was also a key player in the Islamic States rivalry with al Qaeda. [See FDDs Long War Journal report: How a US citizen became a key player in the Islamic States rivalry with al Qaeda.]

Another senior Islamic State figure, Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili (also known as Abu Omar al Shishani), oversaw an Islamic State prison in Tabqah for a time. The facility may have held foreign hostages, according to the US Treasury Department.

Batirashvili served as one of Abu Bakr al Baghdadis most senior military commanders. In mid-2013, he was appointed the head of the so-called caliphates forces in northern Syria, including Raqqa province. He oversaw the forces that battled Bashar al Assads regime for control of the Tabqah military airbase in 2014. Batirashvili was killed south of Mosul, Iraq last July.

Possible humanitarian disaster averted

On Mar. 27, just days after the surprise assault on Tabqah, the Islamic States Amaq News Agency released an alarming statement. It was titled, Maintenance Teams Still Unable to Bring Necessary Tools and Equipment to Tabqah Dam Despite Risk of Collapse. Amaq alleged that the dam was completely out of service due to airstrikes and water levels are continuing to rise due to flood gates being closed, which could lead to the dams collapse at any moment. Amaq also published photos depicting the damage supposedly done to the dams control room by coalition bombings.

The dam didnt collapse, and Amaq may have been exaggerating.

But CENTCOM says the capture of the dam prevented a potential humanitarian disaster and ensured local citizens will continue to receive the dams basic services. CENTCOM adds that the SDF accepted the Islamic States surrender of the city to protect innocent civilians and to protect the Tabqah dam infrastructure which hundreds of thousands of Syrians rely on for water, agriculture, and electricity.

Partner forces make up main ground force

US military officials are trumpeting the fall of Tabqah as further evidence of the efficacy of Americas battlefield partners.

The SDFs success against ISIS demonstrates the power of working by, with and through local partner forces fighting ISIS, among their own people, in their own territory, Col. Dorrian, the CJTF-OIR spokesman, said. The SDF, fighting to liberate their own people and lands, have freed more than 8,000 square kilometers of Syria from ISIS since November.

But Americas choice of allies has not been without controversy.

The Kurdish YPG (or Peoples Defense Units) is part of the American-backed SDF. The YPG and its female brigade, the YPJ (or Womens Protection Units), are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US government. Turkey objects to the partnership, as the PKK is opposed to the Turkish government. US officials argue that the YPG is distinct from the PKK. But that line is not at all clear. Even Col. Dorrian slipped up earlier this month by referring to the PKK, when he meant the YPG. The US has downplayed this complication because the YPG has long been on the frontline in the battle against the Islamic States jihadists.

The YPG advertised its role in the battle for Tabqah on its official website and social media. Some of the video clips and pictures show the YPJs female fighters patrolling streets, a YPG flag being raised in the area, and residents celebrating the jihadists expulsion.

The Islamic State captured the Taqbah military airbase from forces loyal to Bashar al Assad in Aug. 2014. The fall of the airbase consolidated the groups grip on the province of Raqqa. The third edition of Abousamras Dabiq magazine, released in Sept. 2014, celebrated the major conquest. Dabiq bragged that with the fall of the airbase, Raqqa had become the first wilayah to be completely rid of the Nusayri army  a derogatory reference to Assads forces. One graphic image showed Assads soldiers being shot in the head from behind. Another photo showed the corpse of an Assad regime officer who had allegedly boasted on television of false victories.

The Syrian regime and Russia bombed Islamic State fighters in the area as recently as last year. In June 2016, Amaq released a video purporting to show Russias use of cluster bombs during airstrikes on Tabqah city. Amaq also claimed that Assads fighters had suffered casualties south of Tabqah at the Thawrah oilfield.

But ultimately it wasnt the Syrian regime, which suffers from manpower shortages, or its Russian ally that ejected the Islamic State from the area. That was left to American-backed forces.

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Madagascar. Fernand Cello, Investigative radio reporter arrested

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns combative radio journalist Fernand Cellos arrest on seven outrageous charges, requests his immediate release and calls on the Madagascan authorities to stop persecuting him.

Fernand Cello, whose real name is Avimana Fernand was arrested on the evening of 6 May as he left a private clinic in the capital, Antananarivo, where he had been receiving treatment during the previous few days. The individuals who carried out the arrest identified themselves as gendarmes.

An investigative reporter for Radio Jupiter, a radio station based in the northern city Ilakaka, Cello is well-known for having exposed the existence of an illegal sapphire mine in Ilakaka and had only recently emerged from four months in hiding. The charges brought against him include defamation, spreading false news, inciting hatred and endangering state security. It is not known to what specific alleged actions by Cello they refer.

An additional charge of stealing chequebooks has been filed against him by Maherlla, a privately-owned power company based in Ilakaka that was accused by Cello in August 2016 of cheating its clients.

 We condemn the use of such methods by the Madagascan authorities, who would rather harass an investigative journalist than confront the conflicts of interest and corruption that are eating away at the nation, RSF said. The long list of accusations brought against Fernand Cello shows that their aim to put a stop to his investigative reporting altogether because he has been hitting the target. We call for his release and the withdrawal of all the charges .

Cello went into hiding in December 2016 after getting death threats and after the army raided Radio Jupiter and confiscated its transmitter. Shortly before the raid, Cello had  in broadcasts and in posts on social networks  accused Gondwana, a mining company owned by government allies, of operating an illegal sapphire mine.



Radio Jupiter was previously silenced in August 2016 when the local power company Maherlla turned off its power suppler after Cello accused it on the air of colluding with Ilakakas mayor to cheat consumers.

On 21 April, the ministry of mining finally ordered Gondwana to suspend operations for contravening the mining code. It was this decision that persuaded Cello to come out of hiding.

Madagascar is ranked 57th out of 180 countries in RSFs 2017 World Press Freedom Index.



Clea Kahn-Sriber

Head of the Africa Desk

Reporters Without Borders

Press release10.05.2017
The PRC Trade Mark Office (TMO) has had a long-standing policy prohibiting class 35 service mark coverage for "retail services" and similar descriptions. This policy has been directly and indirectly challenged through recent changes in the Nice Classification, judicial decisions and comments by many Chinese legal scholars. But for the time being, the policy remains largely intact.

That said, there are strategies available to maximise protection for retail services in China that need to be considered given the high levels of piracy and infringement in the country.

Nice Classification changes

Since 1992 (the 6th edition Classification), the services description closest to "retail services" has been "sales promotion for others". The TMO placed this description into a similarity subgroup the heading for which was "sales (contract) agency", but is now "sales promotion for others" (subgroup 3503).

In 2006 (9th edition Classification) a new description skirting retail services was added: "presentation of goods on communication media, for retail purposes". The TMO accepted this with effect from January 1 2007 and placed it in the similarity subgroup for "advertising" (subgroup 3501), an item that the TMO deems prima facie dissimilar to "sales promotion for others" (subgroup 3503). Clearly, advertising is only one aspect of retail services, not sufficiently broad enough effectively to provide coverage for retail services.

In 2013 (10th edition Classification, 2013 version) a new description was added: "retail or wholesale services for pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations and medical supplies", which the TMO adopted with effect from January 1 2014. At last, retail services of some kind were registrable in China  but only for these narrow industry fields. A new similarity subgroup was created (subgroup 3509), into which this description was placed.

However, the majority of retail businesses are not focused on preparations and medical supplies in the pharmaceutical, veterinary or sanitary products industries, so the inclusion of this item in the Classification has not had a significant impact on the TMO's policy or practice in regard to retail services coverage for businesses.

As far as the TMO is concerned, this is the extent to which retail or retail-like services can be covered.

Judicial decisions

Although there are not many influential cases that have been decided in respect of retail services-related issues, PRC courts have dealt with this mainly in the context of whether (1) a party engaged in such services could be found to have infringed a registration for a similar mark that covered "sales promotion for others", and (2) use evidence of actual provision of retail services could be effective evidence to defend against a non-use cancellation. Some courts support the idea that the description "retail services" is roughly equivalent to "sales promotion for others", while others have rejected the concept.

In a 2016 case, the Beijing High People's Court (BHPC) ruled that use of marks in conjunction with the operation of retail shops (for example store signage, contracts and commercial invoices) does not constitute "sales promotion for others" such that a registration covering that item of services could survive a non-use cancellation.

Drawing from the 8th edition Classification's Explanatory Note for class 35, the BPHC's decision concluded that the services in class 35 include mainly services rendered by persons or organisations principally with the object of: (1) help in the working or management of a commercial undertaking, or (2) help in the management of the business affairs or commercial functions of an industrial or commercial enterprise; and that class 35 does not include, in particular: the activity of an enterprise the primary function of which is the sale of goods, that is of a so-called commercial enterprise. The mark at issue in that case was registered back when the 8th edition Classification was in effect.

However, an important change was made to the Explanatory Note when the 9th edition came into effect on January 1 2007 (which has remained through to the present): the exclusion of commercial enterprise activity was removed. The Supreme People's Court picked up on this in a 2007 case (Fengyang Industrial v Xinjiang Pacific Department Stores) involving a Taiwanese-owned chain of department stores operating in mainland China, indicating that it could be inferred from the removal of that exclusionary language that retail services were intended to be included within class 35.

With the split between various courts, the issue of whether class 35 should cover retail services awaits ultimate resolution. One of the BHPC judges responsible for the 2016 decision has written separately to express support for legislative reform aimed at granting protection to retailers by allowing registration of retail service marks in class 35, a sentiment that is echoed by many legal scholars in China.

Madrid practice

The TMO will typically reject applications to extend international registrations to China that contain retail service descriptions.

However, the TMO has accepted the following description which clearly comes closer to covering retail services than is permitted under the TMO's own index of "standard" descriptions: "The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods (excluding the transport thereof), enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods."

This is not a standard Nice description, but one the TMO has accepted.

The language itself is taken from the Class 35 Explanatory Note. Notably, that Note includes the following additional language that, if included in an international registration extended to China, would very likely result in rejection by the TMO: "such services may be provided by retail stores, wholesale outlets, through mail order catalogues or by means of electronic media, for example, through web sites or television shopping programmes" (emphasis added).

While this truncated description stops short of covering retail services per se, it could still provide a stronger basis for attacking in a Chinese court pirates using a mark for retail services.

SIPS Hong Kong

Lockhart Road No 3

Wanchai, Hong Kong

China

mail@sips.asia

Tel: +852 2866 6400

Fax: +852 2866 6408
Guess what day today is! No, its not just Thursday  its the day of the weekly roundup of enthralling events in Singapore! Get excited, folks, were barging into your calendars with the most happening festivities going on this month. Weve picked out everything you could ever ask for, from festivals that will interest the zealous tree huggers to activities that will intrigue the movie aficionados.

Engage your senses at The Filipino Invasion at Phat Cat Laundry, where tantalising cocktails and sick beats await! For those home cooks who are eager to jump onto the bandwagon of sustainable eating, The Social Market welcomes you into their delightful haven of fresh local produce and premium goods, alongside fun and educational workshops. And, of course, how could we not mention the upcoming Mothers Day? Your mom is in for a treat with the spectacular line-up of Mothers Day specials in Singapore this very weekend!

Ready to dive into ocean of events? Jump up to our gallery above!

Lim Han

Read More:

Mothers Deserve Best: 10 Great ways to spend Mothers Day

Mothers Day: Gifts for mothers of every age!

Mothers Day Treats: 10 Stunning lip-smacking cakes to lavish upon your mom
Last week, the House passed the American Health Care Act to repeal Obamacare and start a health care reform process to return power to the states, drive down costs, and offer options to American families.

Lets review the current state of health insurance.

Across the country, costs have sky rocketed and choices have decreased.

In Iowa, 94 out of 99 counties will be left with literally zero insurance options on the Obamacare exchanges, when insurers pull out as they have announced. Its the same situation for 16 counties in Tennessee.

In Arizona, the Obama Administration reported premiums increased 145 percent in Phoenix and 116 percent across the state in 2017.

Dont think it can happen here? Recently, Aetna announced they are pulling out of Virginia individual markets. Aetna said they  could still lose more than $200 million in its individual market products this year. That's on top of the nearly $700 million it's lost in the three years after the exchanges opened in 2014.

CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield requested a 35 percent increase in Virginia customer rates.

M ore than 40 percent of Healthcare.gov (Obamacare) counties have only one insurer option.

In the words of Majority Leader McCarthy, you know what doesnt cover preexisting conditions? A health care system that doesnt have coverage. No options means no coverage.

Democrats blame Republicans. But there is no way Donald Trump and the Republicans are responsible for these results.

In Bristol in 2008, Obama claimed typical families would save $2,500 a year in health care. Now, Nancy Pelosi and others who claimed or defended that promise, along with If you like your plan, you can keep your plan, are whipping up hysteria over hypothetical, alarming stories about the Republican health care plan.

The Democrats claims werent true then and they arent true now.

Ive heard stories from Ninth District residents who struggle to pay increased premiums and are still faced with deductibles they cant afford, forcing them to sell off assets.

Democrats claim the disabled wont receive care and preexisting conditions wont be covered.

That is just not true.

The idea that a rape victim, asthmatic, or child born with a severe health issue will be uninsured is blatantly false.

Democrats claims are so outrageous, even the Washington Post fact check gave 4/4 Pinocchios to one of the Democrats accusations. Thats a whopper.

Democrats also claim Republicans didnt allow time to read the bill. We didnt put a 2,000 page bill on the floor like Obamacare. I pointed out on the House floor, our base bill was 130 pages, available to read since March. The MacArthur Amendment was around 8 pages, the McSally Bill was less than 1  page, and the Upton amendment, offered the day before the vote, was only 2 pages. As I said, they could have read the text during the time it was being debated. But it appeared to me, the Democrats were more interested in scaring the American public than understanding the bill.

Morgan Griffith is the representative for Virginias 9th district in the U.S. House
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mary ellen at school committee meeeting.jpg

Mary Ellen Glove, a career educator with over 40 years as a teacher and guidance counselor, is running for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee, the panel she led when it was formed over 20 years ago. Here, Glover, bottom right in the striped vest, addresses the School Committee at a meeting in April 2017. (WILBRAHAM PUBLIC ACCESS / SCREENSHOT)

HAMPDEN -- Many people in this close-knit community of 5,100 already know Mary Ellen Glover, a longtime resident, lifelong educator, and outspoken critic of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District's plan to merge its two middle schools into one -- an issue that has divided some residents of the district into warring camps.

Glover, who lives off Chapin Road in Hampden, now hopes to join the very governing body that she has criticized for the past couple of years, hoping to strengthen Hampden's diminished voice in the two-town district, she said.

Glover said she is running as an unenrolled candidate and also as the Republican caucus candidate to fill one of Hampden's two seats on the seven-member regional school board.

"I am running for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee because, after consistently and regularly attending their meetings, I realized that new ideas, an inquisitive mind, a positive and energetic work ethic, and the willingness to question the direction in which the (regional district) is going are essential if we are to reach our full potential as a district," Glover said in a statement to The Republican / MassLive.com.

The seat is being vacated by veteran School Committee member Lisa Morace, who grew up in Wilbraham, lives in Hampden, and currently serves as chairwoman of the committee. When Morace decided not to seek re-election to the board, which is composed of two Hampden residents and five Wilbraham residents, it set the stage for a two-way race to fill her seat for a three-year term.

As a result, Glover and rival candidate George Semanie Jr., a Republican and native of Hampden, will face off in the town's annual election on Monday, May 15. Voting is from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hampden Town House, 625 Main St. Despite Semanie's party affiliation, he was not the local GOP-backed candidate to run for the seat.

Mary Ellen Glover

Glover said a major reason she's running for the school board is the contentious middle school issue. "The welfare of the district is in the balance," she said. "The issues surrounding the 'merge' question is just one example of the lack of respect afforded to Hampden by the (regional school district)."

Despite Hampden voters' overwhelming rejection of a proposal to merge Hampden middle school students with Wilbraham middle school students in Wilbraham, the School Committee and district officials are intent on implementing their will, according to Glover.

As evidence, she said, they have allowed Hampden students to transfer to Wilbraham even though a majority of Hampden residents voted against amending the regional agreement to allow such an action. District officials have said the agreement permits transfers for students who meet the criteria for transferring to another school in the district.

"It is of the utmost importance that the School Committee take (Hampden's) vote as an opportunity to pause and reflect, developing new ways to recognize the value Hampden residents place on their schools and how central those schools are to their identity," Glover said.

"The best way forward may, perhaps, be to strive to highlight and value

these differences and resist the temptation to try to merge into one," she said. "There are numerous areas of concern within the schools themselves, but we must start all discussions with mutual respect -- for administrators, teachers, students, and especially parents and taxpayers."

School Committee members must demonstrate this respect "through open and

honest dialogue, regular communication, pre-meeting preparation, and the utilization of problem-solving skills that value differences as an opportunity for growth," Glover said.

School Committee members should also recognize that "being elected does not place us in a position of superiority, but one of service," she said. "When we dismiss others out of hand and devalue their ideas, we minimize our options and develop a hierarchy that is neither helpful nor productive."

If elected, Glover would not simply "rubber stamp" administration initiatives, she said, touting her critical thinking and analytical skills, her long career in education, and her extensive training in group dynamics. These and other skills make her "uniquely suited to be a member of this committee," she said.

Glover was the first chairperson of the fully regionalized Hampden-Wilbraham

Regional School District, which was born in December 1993. That's when residents of Hampden and Wilbraham voted decisively to expand the district to include all grades. Prior to that, Hampden and Wilbraham students were only regionalized for their high school years, or grades nine through 12.

By July 1994, Hampden and Wilbraham's local school districts were dissolved for absorption into a new K-12 regional district featuring just one school board, not three, as had previously been the case -- one board for each town and one regional panel for grades 9-12. It was a momentous occasion, according to School Committee officials who served during this major transition.

And leading the charge was Glover, who had been the boss of both the Hampden School Committee and the 9-12 regional board before being tapped to head the new seven-member panel that still exists today. Fast forward some two decades, and it's these past leadership experiences and Glover's strong background in education that make her a good fit for today's School Committee, she said.

Glover graduated from the College of Our Lady of the Elms in 1966, with a Bachelor of Science in sociology and an emphasis on elementary education. In 1970, she earned a Master of Science from Springfield College, where she studied guidance and psychological services, with an emphasis on secondary education. And in 1992, she earned a Master of Education from Cambridge College, once again focusing on secondary education.

She began her 44-year career as an educator in 1966, first working as an elementary school teacher, then serving as a guidance counselor at Stafford High School in Stafford Springs, Connecticut.

While working in the Nutmeg State, Glover received many honors, including the Connecticut School Counselor Association's Counselor of the Year Award and the Comprehensive School Guidance and Counseling Program's outstanding counselor award.

Glover was also named a "Connecticut Treasure" by then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who left office in January 2011, for her "outstanding contributions to education."

Glover retired in 2010, remaining active in district educational issues and regularly attending School Comittee meetings.

"As the parent of two adult children who have benefited from the strong educational foundation they received in our schools, I am dismayed that this opportunity is slowly slipping away from other children," she said. "I am also convinced that we can do better."

Glover's not one to "glamorize the past," she said, but she's also not one to embrace jumping on "every new trend" in education. "It is essential, as a district, that we emphasize, measure, and monitor educational achievement," she said.

As far as Glover is concerned, Hampden's voice in the school district has been diminished, if not muted, in recent years. Glover wants to help the town regain its strong voice on the School Committee, she said, not merely parrot what the district's majority town thinks is best for its minority partner.

"For far too long, the residents of Hampden have felt ignored and devalued," Glover said. "It is time, as a community, that we reassert ourselves and become true partners in the educational process. We may be the smaller town, but we should be valued."


The greatest concern for parents of college students is whether their children will find a job when they graduate, but Korea generated only some 50,000 decent jobs last year, a Chosun Ilbo study finds. If graduates do not find decent employment, it means they will continue to be financially dependent on their parents, and that could eat into their retirement savings. Every year, universities and colleges turn out some 530,000 graduates, but the number of all jobs the private and public sector create stands at no more than 300,000-400,000 a year, condemning at least 100,000 graduates to unemployment.



The number of decent jobs created by businesses has remained much the same for several years because firms are reluctant to invest and hire college graduates who demand relatively high salaries. Decent jobs are defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) as productive work under conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity, in which rights are protected and adequate remuneration and social coverage are provided.



Decent jobs should be regular full-time jobs and usually offer income 20 percent higher than average, says Ha Sang-woo, a researcher with the Korea Employers Federation. Considering that new graduates here can earn W21.8 million (US21,800) a year on average, decent jobs in general are those that pay more than W26 million a year. The Chosun Ilbo conducted a survey using this standard of the 500 largest companies, state-run corporations and financial institutions here and found that no more than 50,000 decent jobs were generated last year. In other words, only one out of every 10 college graduates gets a decent job, and competition is truly fierce.



The survey did not include would-be teachers, doctors, nurses, pharmacists or other professionals whose employment is virtually guaranteed right after graduation or those who passed exams to be lawyers, accountants, and tax accountants. But even when they are included, the number of decent jobs would rise to a mere 65,000, experts say.



Another worrying trend is that those who study overseas then rush back to their home country. The days when they enjoyed better treatment than their competitor who studied at home are gone. The number of jobseekers who studied abroad has skyrocketed, and their scarcity value has plummeted apace. Some 200,000 Koreans studied abroad last year, 52,000 of them in the U.S. and 13,000 in China, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development says. In the U.S., there are 47,000 Korean undergraduates and 24,000 postgraduates. Some 90 percent of them come back to Korea after unsuccessful attempts to find jobs overseas.



After Sept. 11, 2002, U.S. companies have dramatically reduced the number of new foreign recruits, says Shin Gil-jong, who graduated from Virginia State University. Its almost impossible for Korean students in the U.S. to land a job there. Attending a U.S. university costs W30-70 million a year, and Korean students there have to spend W150-280 million to earn their college degree over four years. Despite the outlay, most return to Korea, where they contribute to the glut of jobseekers competing for decent positions.



(englishnews@chosun.com )





Copyright  Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
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Montana isnt too bad of a place for working moms, according to a WalletHub study.

In the study, Montana ranks 12th best in the U.S. for working moms.

The state also ranks high for professional opportunities, 8th best in the U.S.

By Emily Nantz, KULR

Full Story: http://www.kulr8.com/story/35387420/montana-ranks-12th-overall-as-a-good-state-for-working-moms
Bozeman School Board trustees asked the 2017 Legislature for property tax relief. They got the opposite.

In the next two years, Bozeman taxpayers will see their school property taxes increase by $1.4 million, under a law that helped legislators balance the state budget while telling voters they didnt raise taxes  at least, not permanently.

By Gail Schontzler Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/education/state-tax-shift-to-cost-bozeman-taxpayers-million/article_b30cdedf-7259-5057-b550-bea229312e8a.html
The students of BCC School, Pailles took part in PSAC examination this year for the second time. The school got 100 percent success rate this year as well just like its first batch in 2019. 75% of our students got aggregate 4. Others also got very good results. Our students got their expected colleges as well.

It was not the work of one year only. The work started in 2013 as from pre-primary section. Many years of hard work of the students, teachers, management team, parents, prayers of the well wishers and by the grace of God the school has got this success today.

BCC is an activity based English and French medium school which prepares the kids for the current world by organising many activities. It provides milk and fruits to every child, organizes monthly medical checkup, offers provision for accident at school, organises monthly educational outings, provides educational CD/DVD etc. The school charges lowest school fee of its grade so that even middle class can afford the school.

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Korea has a new first lady in Moon Jae-in's wife Kim Jung-sook after over four years without a first consort because the previous president, Park Geun-hye, was single.

Kim was born in Seoul in 1954 and studied singing at Kyunghee University, the same alma mater as her later husband. They married in 1981.

She was active on her husband's behalf during the campaign, often drumming up support in separate venues from Moon, and traveling to the liberal stronghold of South Jeolla Province once a week since last autumn.

The couple have a son and a daughter. Moon has admitted that he is not the talkative and expressive type when it comes to his family life. His son, Jun-yong (35), majored in design at Konkuk University and received a master's degree from Parsons School of Design in New York. He currently works as a freelance designer.

Moon Jun-yong played an active role in supporting his father in the previous presidential election but stayed out of the spotlight this time amid allegations that his father wrangled him a cushy job at the Korea Employment Information Service. He married in 2014.

Moon's daughter Da-hye (34) quit work after having a child in 2010 and has been a housewife since then. She also kept out of the spotlight during this campaign but made a video that was shown at rally in Gwanghwamun Plaza on the eve of election.

Moon has remained mostly tight-lipped about his family, and aides say he would prefer to keep them out of the glare of publicity.


Festival Director Thierry Fremaux had said he believed Netflix would arrange some kind of cinema release for the two films in competition  The Meyerowitz Stories and Okja  both highly anticipated, with stars that include Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Stiller and Tilda Swinton.

The 2017 festival, which begins next week, has Netflix films in its competition for the first time, a decision that angered the French movie theater sector as the company said the films will only be streamed to subscribers and not shown in cinemas.

Netflix, the U.S. video-on-demand company, will not be allowed to compete at the Cannes Film Festival after this year unless it changes its policy and gives its movies a cinema release, organizers said Wednesday.

But the festival said Wednesday that no such deal had been reached, and while the two films would be allowed to remain in competition this year, thereafter no film would be accepted that is not guaranteed distribution in French movie theaters.

"The Festival is pleased to welcome a new operator which has decided to invest in cinema," the festival said on its website in response to rumors that the Netflix films would be excluded at the last minute from Cannes 2017.

"[Cannes] wants to reiterate its support to the traditional mode of exhibition of cinema in France and in the world," it continued, adding that from next year its rules would explicitly state any film entered for competition would have to "commit itself to being distributed in French movie theaters."

In France, which proudly defends its culture and language against the global dominance of the United States, the decision is a victory for the traditional cinema distribution sector.

Since its launch in France, according to French movie magazine Premiere, Netflix has "declared war on movie theaters." Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings made a brief but defiant comment on his Facebook page: "The establishment closing ranks against us. See Okja on Netflix June 28th. Amazing film that theatre chains want to block us from entering into Cannes film festival competition."

Another U.S. streaming service, Amazon, also has a film in competition, Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck, but has not been subject to the same opposition as it does screen its films at cinemas as well as online.

The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 17 to May 28.
Asked during a trip to Lithuania about the Russian missile deployment, Mattis told a news conference: "Any kind of buildup like that is simply destabilizing."

Russia has also deployed Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, its enclave on the Baltic Sea. It said the deployment was part of routine drills, but U.S. officials worry that it may represent a permanent upgrade to Kaliningrad's missile capability.

The drills could see Russian troops on the border with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

U.S. allies are jittery ahead of war games by Russia and Belarus in September that could involve up to 100,000 troops and include nuclear weapons training -- the biggest such exercise since 2013.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday criticized what he called a destabilizing Russian military build-up near Baltic states and officials suggested the United States could deploy Patriot missiles in the region for NATO exercises in the summer.

The United States is ruling out any direct response to the Russian drills or the potential missile deployment. But at the same time, U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, raised the possibility that a Patriot missile battery could be deployed briefly to the Baltic region during upcoming NATO exercises in July that focus on air defense, known as Tobruk Legacy.

One of the officials said Patriots had not been previously deployed to the Baltics, although they had been in Poland. The officials stressed the Patriots, if deployed, would be withdrawn when the drills were concluded. That would likely happen before the Russian drills began, they said.

Mattis declined to comment directly on the possible Patriot deployment when asked by reporters after talks in Vilnius. "The specific systems that we bring are those that we determine necessary," Mattis said, saying that NATO capabilities in the region were purely defensive.

It was Mattis first trip to the Baltic states, who fear a repeat of Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. The Baltic states are concerned about their lack of air defenses and are weighing upgrades in their military hardware.

Asked about any future Patriot deployment, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite, standing next to Mattis, said: "We need all necessary means for defence and for deterrence, and that's what we'll decide together."

The scale of this year's Russian Zapad exercises, which date from Soviet times when they were first used to test new weapon systems, is one of NATO's most pressing concerns. Diplomats say the war games are no simple military drill.

Estonian Defense Minister Margus Tsahkna told Reuters last month NATO governments had intelligence suggesting Moscow may leave Russian soldiers in Belarus once the Zapad 2017 exercises are over, also pointing to public data of Russian railway traffic to Belarus.

Moscow denies any plans to threaten NATO and says it is the U.S.-led alliance that is risking stability in eastern Europe. The Kremlin has not said how many troops will take part in Zapad 2017.
President Moon Jae-in was sworn into office in a brief ceremony at the National Assembly at noon Wednesday. Unlike previous presidents, Moon had to forgo the 60-day transition period between administrations and a big public inauguration because his predecessor Park Geun-hye was ousted over a corruption scandal.

Moon was read his oath of office to National Assembly Chairman Chung Sye-kyun. He vowed to focus on communicating with the people and promised to consult opposition parties in matters of national security.

He also touched on the issue of too much power being concentrated in the president under the current Constitution, which is widely blamed for tempting every president so far into corruption.

"The powers of the president will be shared as much as possible, and organs of power will be made completely independent from politics," he said.

Moon officially assumed his powers at 8:09 a.m. Wednesday after the head of the National Election Commission announced his election win. As the supreme commander of the armed forces he was briefed over the phone by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lee Sun-jin. Just five hours later he arrived at Cheong Wa Dae and announced his nominee for prime minister.

The hectic schedule is unprecedented and was the result of packing into a single day what previous presidents were given two months to do.


Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday morning sent a message through his Foreign Ministry to congratulate new President Moon Jae-in on his election victory.

He proposed an early summit with Moon, saying he would like to meet the new Korean president as soon as possible to "exchange candid views on matters of mutual concern."

The red-hot issue in the Japanese media that day was whether Moon will honor a controversial deal his predecessor struck over the victims of wartime sex slavery. Moon during his campaign pledged to seek renegotiations.

In a press briefing, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stressed the need for Seoul and Tokyo to comply with the agreement, adding that the international community and the U.S. also value the agreement.

He pledged to push for talks with Seoul to remove a statue honoring the victims outside the Japanese Consulate General in Busan and highlighted Korea's commitment to removing such statues from the immediate vicinity of Japanese mission under the deal.

He also said trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo is vital to solving the North Korean nuclear issue.


Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to new President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday and called message for an improvement in bilateral relations, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Ties have been strained over Seoul's decision to let the U.S. station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery here and an unofficial Chinese boycott in retaliation.

Xi said the two countries have been "important neighbors" since they established diplomatic ties 25 years ago, adding, "I would like to work with you to ensure the development of Sino-South Korean ties better benefits the two countries and peoples."

Chinese media reported Moon's inaugural address as breaking news, quoting him as saying he wants to consult with the U.S. and China about the THAAD issue.

"Sour economic relations between China and South Korea are in neither country's interest and would more worryingly put the prosperity of the global economy at risk, as both countries are integral to a stable global economy," the official Global Times wrote. "In a sign that the situation might change for the better, Moon has criticized THAAD in the run up to the election."

The daily said the key to solving problems in relations lies in Moon's hands.
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A medicine skin patch, costing as little as 39p, could greatly improve the chances of someone surviving a stroke, according to researchers funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The researchers are testing a plaster-like patch which is applied to a patient's shoulder or back and administers a drug whilst a patient is travelling to hospital.

The researchers believe that the patch can improve outcomes for people who have had a stroke if the medicine is administered quickly.

The patch can be applied by paramedics in an ambulance before the patient arrives at A&E, saving vital time.

A stroke is usually caused by an artery clot or burst blood vessel in the brain and causes permanent disability in around a quarter of patients.

The drug in the patch, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), helps lower blood pressure and opens up blood vessels, which can help reduce the damage caused in the immediate minutes and hours following a stroke.

The researchers say that the ability to start treating patients within an hour could revolutionise stroke care and lead to the technique being adopted worldwide.

Early trials have shown promise and now the BHF has funded researchers from the University of Nottingham to work with seven ambulance services to trial the patch on stroke patients and will chart their recovery over 12 months.

There are more than 100,000 strokes each year2, costing the UK'S healthcare system an estimated 2 billion. It's one of the leading causes of death in the UK, killing around 40,000 people every year3.

BHF researcher, Professor Philip Bath from University of Nottingham, said: "We believe that by improving blood flow in the brain in stroke patients we can dramatically improve their survival chances and recovery.

"This patch enables us to do this within minutes and early trials have been very promising."

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Current treatment for stroke is fairly limited and patients are dying or suffering life-changing disabilities as a result.

"This trial uses a simple patch that can be applied rapidly by paramedics as soon as they reach the patient.

"If successful, this could revolutionise treatment for stroke patients across the UK and potentially globally and could be a huge step forward in the advancement of stroke treatment which currently lags behind heart attack treatment."
Technology that can detect the length of small DNA structures in cancer cells could hold the key to predicting the outcome of patients with two different types of blood cancer. The test, used in conjunction with current methods, may help doctors make better choices about the most appropriate and effective treatment option for individual patients.

Researchers from Cardiff University's School of Medicine showed that measuring sections of DNA called telomeres is a highly accurate indicator of how disease will progress in patients with the bone marrow cancer myeloma and pre-leukaemia myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) - a bone marrow disorder often leading to life threatening bone marrow failure and even acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Results from two studies, which were funded by the charities Bloodwise and Cancer Research UK, are published in new papers in the British Journal of Haematology.

The Cardiff team analysed samples from 134 myeloma patients, 80 MDS patients and 95 AML patients to see whether telomere length influences survival in these blood cancers.

Telomeres are protective stretches of DNA that cap the end of chromosomes, and act like plastic tips on shoelaces preventing chromosome ends from fraying and sticking to each other. Every time a cell divides the telomeres gradually shorten and eventually leave the chromosome ends exposed, triggering large-scale DNA damage that accelerates cancer progression and drug resistance.

After extracting chromosomes from the patients' cancer cells, the researchers measured telomere length in each sample using a technology they had previously developed called Single Telomere Length Analysis (STELA). Telomere length was then checked against patients' medical records to analyse its impact on disease progression and survival.

Currently, patients with myeloma are assessed at diagnosis as 'good', 'standard' and 'high' risk, based on age, overall health and levels of specific proteins in the blood and certain chromosomal abnormalities. The risk categories are used to provide guidance on the intensity of treatment needed for each patient and also indicate survival times. Patients with MDS have a similar assessment, based on chromosomal changes and through an analysis of blood cells in the bone marrow.

The researchers found that while the current system was generally a good indicator of survival times, telomere length had a significant independent impact on survival.

Myeloma patients who had a 'good' or 'standard' risk score under the current system, but had short telomeres, had the same average survival times as patients in the 'high risk' group who had long, functional telomeres. A total of 55% of patients who had long telomeres in the 'good' or 'standard' risk groups lived for over 16 years, compared to just 21% of patients in these risk groups who had short telomeres.

Most of the patients with MDS in this study were judged to be 'low risk' under standard assessment, and had only received treatment to control their symptoms. In common with patients with myeloma, the researchers found that differing rates of telomere erosion had a clear impact on survival. Only 7% of MDS patients with short telomeres survived for more than eight years compared with 46% of patients with long telomeres.

Professor Duncan Baird, who led the research at Cardiff University's School of Medicine with Professors Chris Fegan and Chris Pepper, said: "We really need to improve the way we predict how an individual patient's myeloma or MDS will behave, as these conditions can vary widely in outcome. Our research provides strong evidence that shortening of telomeres plays a vital role in the progression of these blood cancers and that a significant number of patients should be receiving different levels of treatment. The next step is to assess telomere length in larger studies to establish how it can be integrated into existing assessments that predict patient outcome."

The researchers found that while patients with AML had significantly shorter telomeres than patients with MDS, whether telomeres where shorter or longer than the functioning threshold did not appear to lead to any significant differences in survival times.

Dr Alasdair Rankin, Director of Research at Bloodwise, said: "Measuring telomere length could have great potential in helping doctors better predict the risk of disease progression for individual patients. This could both help patients dealing with the uncertainty of how their blood cancer will progress, and help doctors better tailor the right treatments for individual patients based on their individual predictive progression risk."

Articles: Telomere length is an independent prognostic marker in MDS but not in de novo AML , Professor Chris Fegan et al., British Journal of Haematology, doi: 10.1111/bjh.14666, published online 9 May 2017.
As United States policymakers debate how to devote money and resources to the Zika virus outbreak, understanding the potential economic impact of the virus in the US is key. Now, using a new computational model described in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, researchers have calculated that Zika, depending on the rate at which it infected people in at-risk states, could result in total costs ranging from $183 million to over $1.2 billion.

Since 2015, a strain of Zika virus originating in Brazil has been spreading internationally, with cases now confirmed in more than 40 countries, including the US. Six states - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas - are at greatest risk of local Zika emergence. Zika can lead to a range of symptoms including fever, muscle pain, and headaches that have repercussions on medical costs and productivity. In addition, the virus has been linked to more serious Guillain-Barre Syndrome and severe birth defects.

In the new work, Bruce Lee of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Alison Galvani of Yale School of Public Health, and colleagues developed a computational model of the economic burden of Zika in the six most at-risk states under a range of hypothetical scenarios. They were able to calculate economic costs to the country under different infection rates, and determine what infection rates would be needed to reach certain cost thresholds.

Across the six states, they calculated that an attack rate of 0.01% would cost society $183.4 million, including both direct medical costs and lost productivity. An attack rate of 0.025% would cost $198.6 million, 0.1% would cost $274.6 million, 1% would cost $1.2 billion, and 2% would exceed $2 billion. For comparison, the attack rate of Zika in French Polynesia and that of chikungunya - a similar virus - in Puerto Rico have both exceeded 10%. The numbers reported in this new study did not include any potential impact on tourism or travel, any impact beyond the six most at-risk states, nor lost productivity and medical costs associated with fear of Zika or infected family and friends.

"As we aimed to be conservative in our estimations, our model in many ways may underestimate the economic burden of Zika," the researchers say. "Our analyses indicate that the health and economic burden of even low attack rates of Zika in the Continental US would be both substantial and enduring."

Article: The potential economic burden of Zika in the continental United States, Lee BY, Alfaro-Murillo JA, Parpia AS, Asti L, Wedlock PT, Hotez PJ, et al., PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005531, published 27 April 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 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."

The study received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.


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President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in a phone conversation Wednesday vowed to meet as early as possible to discuss North Korea and other pending issues.

Trump congratulated Moon on his election victory and promised to invite him to Washington.

"The South Korea-U.S. alliance is more important than at any other time given the growing uncertainties over the security situation of the Korean Peninsula," Moon was quoted as saying in their 30-minute phone call.

The White House said Trump and Moon "agreed to continue to strengthen the alliance and to deepen the enduring friendship between our two countries."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer also read a statement on Moon's election win. "We congratulate President-elect Moon Jae-in and join the people of South Korea in celebrating their peaceful, democratic transition of power," Spicer told reporters.

Conservative U.S. media voiced fears of potential friction between the two allies in dealing with a belligerent North Korea following almost a decade of conservative rule in South Korea that led to a hard-line approach toward the North.

Moon has pledged to build bridges with the North, which some U.S. media already dubbed "Moonshine policy" in allusion to the "sunshine policy" of President Kim Dae-jung.

The Washington Post said the election showed that democracy is still alive in the South but warned of "a new and potentially difficult chapter in relations with Washington."

The Wall Street Journal also warned of potential "friction." But a WSJ op-ed by Michael Breen said Moon's approach is likely to be more realistic than the "sunshine policy."


We got an exclusive early look at the newest trailer of Netflixs original full feature-length satire 'War Machine' and it puts Brad Pitt in a very sticky situation where he is in the middle of a political scandal all while managing a war in Afghanistan.

 Netflix

Brad Pitt's character, U.S. General Glen McMahon is trying to win the war in the troubled region of Afghanistan; however, he keeps finding himself in a hilarious yet tragic situation which leads to one thing: the war machine cannot be stopped.

In the preview, Pitt says We cannot help them and kill them at the same time! It just aint humanly possible,. You can also see him making a fool of himself at a black-tie dinner when he calls out one of the guests for kicking out the only Afghan in the room off his goddamn table.

Um, boss, Im pretty sure the Afghan ambassador here is from Afghanistan, Anthony Michael Hall awkwardly replies.

 Netflix

In a film that is a reflection of our time, writer-director David Michod (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. Generals roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody  raising the spectre of just where the line between them lies today. He is an anti-establishment, pro-soldier military man in a situation that is an exploration in the form of an absurdist war story of a born leaders ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the storys core is Brad Pitts sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command coalition forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by his own hubris and a journalists no-holds-barred expose. War Machine addresses the debt we owe to soldiers to question the purposes to which they are being directed.

 Netflix

The Netflix original film is inspired by the book The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of Americas War in Afghanistan by the late journalist Michael Hastings. Joining Pitt in War Machine is a highly decorated cast including Emory Cohen, RJ Cyler, Topher Grace, Anthony Michael Hall, Anthony Hayes, John Magaro, Scoot McNairy, Will Poulter, Alan Ruck, Lakeith Stanfield, Josh Stewart, Meg Tilly, Tilda Swinton and Sir Ben Kingsley. War Machine, will be released globally on Netflix on May 26, 2017.

You can watch the trailer below:
Tuesday morning, eagerly awaiting Justin Biebers arrival in India, a bunch of fans were waiting outside the Mumbai Airport. Then, sometime in the afternoon, there was a lot of commotion at the airport exit, which could only mean one thing - the arrival of a celebrity. The commotion occurred at exit number 8, which is generally used by the rich and famous who fly private.

Only problem - it wasnt Justin Bieber. It was actually Akshay Kumar returning home from New Delhi, where he had a meeting with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. But, apparently the fans werent that disappointed, since everybody loves Akshay!

 Twitter

 Twitter

Akshay was in the capital to meet PM Modi to brief him about his new film, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, the theme of which reflects the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

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

As far as Justin Bieber is concerned, he landed quite a while later. The reason behind this confusion over his arrival was because Justin decided extend his stay in Dubai - his stop before Mumbai - since he liked it so much. Reportedly, some Beliebers even camped outside the airport for three days waiting for him, since no one was actually sure when he would be coming. He finally landed at 1:30 am, in a questionable attire, and was still greeted by a bunch of fans.
Weve all faced rejection from either a girl or an employer and most times, we cant deal with it in a healthy or appropriate way. Jason Yuan, a design student from Northwestern University was rejected for an internship with Apple that he always wanted and he did the most unthinkable thing we could imagine.

It wasnt like Yuan was flat-out rejected by Apple as he actually made it through the first round of interviews with the Cupertino giant. The Apple headhunters rejected Yuan with a heartfelt letter and stated they were looking to hire candidates with more potential for growth and who are susceptible to training.

Yuan, however, took the criticism with a very positive attitude and decided to show Apple what he was truly capable of. It took him three months to redesign Apple Music and explains in his blog post, this was an opportunity to really dig [his] teeth into UX research and design, an excuse to spend way too much time on Sketch and Principle.

He even introduced a new way for users to discover music. He calls it My Sampler and it essentially runs as a music discovery tool for the Tinder generation.

My Sampler is a new experience made to bridge the gap between Hoarders and Nomads, replacing the current New Music Mix. It was born out of the understanding that users who are picky about what goes into their library would also be more reluctant to sit through an entire playlist full of new music. A better experience would be presenting snippets  or samples  of curations that gives the user just enough information to decide whether or not to add it into their library and weekly playlist. he said in his blog post.

The Sampler sounds like a great tool, at least in my opinion, to discover new music. Essentially, his concept will present a series of artist pictures with a little snippet of their music. You can either swipe right, if you dig the artists tunes or simply reject them by swiping left.

He also brought a few profound design changes which make Apple Music look even easier to use and more beautiful to look at.

OLD:

 Apple

Concept with redesign

 Jason Yuan

Watch

Apple may have announced that Apple Music is going to expand into video streaming, earlier this year, but Jason has already beaten them to the punch by integrating it to the app, in terms of design language.

 Jason Yuan

Yuan adds in his blog post that, There will eventually be enough content to justify a dedicated tab, but for now I based my design decisions on leaked information as well as Apple Musics existing visual language.

 Jason Yuan

You can read the full purpose behind the redesign here (https://medium.com/startup-grind/i-got-rejected-by-apple-music-so-i-redesigned-it-b7e2e4dc64bf). Yuans full story is told with a lot of detail and we hope Apple takes notice of his work because he certainly doesn't seem like a person who lacks motivation.
Moon also appointed former lawmaker Im Jong-seok (51) as his chief of staff and Ju Young-hoon (61), a former official at the Presidential Security Service, to head the security team.

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday tapped South Jeolla Province Governor Lee Nak-yon as prime minister and career spy Suh Hoon as head of the National Intelligence Service.

In his first press conference since his election win, Moon reiterated his pledge not to pick a prime minister from his own home province of South Gyeongsang in an effort to break the regional power struggles endemic in Korean politics.

Lee (65) has a law degree from the prestigious Seoul National University and worked as a journalist for the Donga Ilbo until he went into politics, where he has been a lawmaker for four consecutive terms.

He is not part of Moon's faction in the Minjoo Party and has good relations with lawmakers across the aisle.

Suh (63) hails from Seoul and worked at the NIS for 28 years until retiring in 2008. He played a key role in arranging former President Kim Dae-jung's 2000 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and also in ex-president Roh Moo-hyun's inter-Korean summit in 2007.

Im, the new chief of staff, is a former lawmaker who worked on Moon's campaign. Ju was a bodyguard for Roh and his wife Kwon Yang-sook.
President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday met with the heads of the four opposition parties. He had lunch with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who had been acting president, and discussed what steps to take in the process of transferring power. He also called rival candidates Hong Joon-pyo, Ahn Cheol-soo, Yoo Seung-min and Sim Sang-jung.

In his inaugural address after a brief swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly, Moon said, "From now on, I will become a president for all the people. Those who did not support me are also people of the country. I'll serve them."

He also vowed to root out the authoritarian presidential culture, curb presidential powers and ensure that powerful government agencies like the National Intelligence Service become totally independent from politics in order to make Korea a fairer and more transparent country.

Moon promised to form a government under the principle of "grand unity" and added, "Politics should show unity to the people, not conflict and schisms." He vowed to hold regular meetings with opposition parties and brief them on matters of national security.

Past presidents have made similar pledges only to change their mind shortly afterward. Nasty clashes with opposition parties on prickly issues usually prompted previous presidents to hunker down and shift into defensive mode.

If the patterns are repeated, the country's future remains bleak, but what Moon showed on his first day in office provided some hope that things can change after all. Perhaps most importantly, the president named a candidate for prime minister who is likely to be welcomed by opposition parties.

The public yearns for unity and wants the president to bridge the deep rifts that have formed in politics and society. Moon faces the urgent task of launching his government as quickly as possible with the ruling party outnumbered by the opposition. What the president has shown on his first day on the job looked like realism rather than dogged insistence on his ways.

The biggest concern for Koreans is national security. Moon is aware of this and vowed to put the top priority on strengthening the U.S.-Korea alliance, agreeing to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump as soon as possible.

He promised to hold frank discussions with Washington and Beijing over the controversial deployment of a U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery here but did not mention any plans to seek National Assembly ratification of the deployment. He also said he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but only "if conditions are met."

Presidential candidates can make emotionally charged pledges during campaigning to woo voters, but they must become realists once in office, especially in matters involving national security. Moon showed on his first day in office that he can do that.

"The history of troubled presidents continues to repeat itself. With this election, this unfortunate history must come to an end. I will become a model president for Korea," Moon said in his inauguration speech. That model is a leader who does not abuse his power but seeks consensus and understanding.

"Today, May 10, 2017, will be recorded in history as the date of the beginning of genuine national integration," Moon said. It is devoutly to be hoped that he will remember these words every time things do not go his way or he is tempted to give in to anger and frustration.


Alternate Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos met today with the Slovenian State Secretary for European Affairs, Sanja Stiglic.



During the meeting, which took place in a very warm atmosphere, a coincidence of views was ascertained on issues of European and bilateral interest. More specifically, they discussed issues bearing on the future of Europe, including the social dimension, economic convergence and Brexit. On the migration issue, both sides noted the need for a common European solution based on full solidarity.



Ms. Stiglic will represent Slovenia at the EUSAIR-AII Ministerial Meeting taking place on 11 and 12 May in Ioannina.




BAD AXE  Being identified as one of the best schools in the state is a pretty big deal.

But being recognized as one of the greatest in the county  now thats a huge accomplishment.

Bad Axe High School was recently recognized as one of the best high schools in America for 2017, according to a news release by the U.S. News & World Report.

Bad Axe received a bronze rating, which was given to nearly 6,000 public schools out of more than 22,000 schools across the country.

This recognition, along with our elementary school designated as a reward school by the Michigan Department of Education earlier this year, validates for our staff the work that we do in prepping our students for further education and career pathways, said Bad Axe Superintendent Greg Newland. This is the work of our entire staff to design and implement curriculum to meet the needs of our students as well as forming a strong partnership with students and their family for the support that is need for success.

In the state of Michigan, Bad Axe was ranked No. 109, and it was the highest ranked high school in Huron County.

The rankings are based on school data that measures how students performed on state assessments, at-risk students performing better than state averages, graduating rates meet, or exceeding, national standards and student preparedness for college-level coursework.

The school currently has 442 students enrolled and has a graduation rate of 94 percent. High school students test results were above the state average for English and math.

An honor such as this continues to make us very proud to be Hatchets, stated high school principal Kurt Dennis. We have great students, parents, community members and a kindergarten through 12th grade staff that continues to set high standards and support student success in achieving these goals.

With the support of our school board and community, we have continued to offer numerous programs that many have discontinued, he added. We offer new ones that allow students at every level to continually challenge themselves in preparing for life after high school.
PIGEON  The CEA of Cross Lutheran School, Pigeon, will host an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast to support Cross Lutheran School.

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 14.

The menu consists of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, cheesy potatoes, cinnamon rolls, yogurt, applesauce and beverages. Adults are $8. Children 12 and younger are $4 and children under five are free.

The school is located at 200 Ruppert St. in Pigeon. This is a Thrivent Financial sponsored event.
SANDUSKY  Michigan Senate Majority Floor Leader Mike Kowall and Sen. Phil Pavlov recently announced they are sponsoring a formal Vietnam veteran lapel pinning ceremony on Saturday, May 27, in commemoration of the 50-year anniversary of the war.

The "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans" ceremony in Sandusky will be part of the "Moving Wall Vietnam Veterans Memorial" event hosted by the students of Sandusky Community Schools over Memorial Day weekend under the direction of Sandusky High School teacher George Lasecki.

Kowall, R-White Lake, and Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township, are hosting the lapel pinning to give long-overdue recognition to Vietnam War era veterans and their families. The lawmakers encourage all interested residents and veterans to join them in paying tribute to the men and women who were too often forgotten when they returned home.

Kowall said the lapel pinning, made possible in part by the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 27, on the front lawn of the Sanilac County Courthouse, 60 W. Sanilac Road, in Sandusky. RSVP to the Sanilac County Department of Veterans Affairs at 810-648-0212 or by email at director@sanilaccountyva.org or clerk@sanilaccountyva.org.

Kowall and Pavlov will provide a Vietnam War Commemorative Lapel Pin to U.S. veterans who served on active duty at any time from Nov. 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975, regardless of location. The symbolism attached to the lapel pin is significant, Kowall said.

"The Commemoration honors all Vietnam veterans, whether they served in-country, in-theater, or were stationed elsewhere during the Vietnam War period," he said. "All were called to serve and the overwhelming majority of these veterans served honorably and admirably."

The Moving Wall is a half-size replica of the Washington D.C. Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It has been touring the country from April to November since 1984. Sandusky students are bringing the Moving Wall to Sanilac County to honor and respect those who made the ultimate sacrifice through remembrance and education. Find out more about the students' efforts at www.facebook.com/TheMovingWallSanduskyMichigan2017.

"The Moving Wall accompanied with the pinning ceremony helps add closure to the trauma of the Vietnam War," Kowall said.

The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration was authorized by Congress and established under the secretary of defense, and then formally launched in 2012. It was designed to thank and honor Vietnam veterans and their families in hometown America, in light of the 50th anniversary of the war. Recognition is given to these heroes when commemorative partners, such as Kowall, hold events for the veterans and their families.

"Michigan's Vietnam veterans, whether drafted or enlisted, served our country with honor.

Tragically, too many returned home with little thanks for their service and not much help transitioning to civilian life," Kowall said. "This ceremony is a way to recognize veterans of the Vietnam War era and their families for their service and sacrifice on behalf of a grateful nation and the Michigan Legislature."

Pavlov agreed.

"Vietnam veterans and their families deserve the utmost respect and honor," Pavlov said. "It is a great privilege to present them with these Commemorative Lapel Pins as a token of our gratefulness for their sacrifice to our nation."

Kowall has held numerous events, in both Lansing and throughout the state. The ceremonies are held in a variety of locations, including Veterans of Foreign Wars/American Legion posts, veteran memorial parks and banquet halls. Kowall often partners with the senator of the district where the event is being held.

"It is always a moving time for me when I am able to present the lapel pins and personally thank each veteran for their service," Kowall said.

Information regarding the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration can be found at www.vietnamwar50th.com.
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...
VAERNES GARRISON, Norway -- When Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, arrived here in January, they weren't just beginning a brand-new rotational deployment. They were also the first Marine Corps infantry unit to deploy with suppressors on every individual service weapon.

And three months into using suppressed weapons in every exercise and live-fire training event, Marines who spoke with Military.com say they never want to go back.

In November, Military.com broke the news that the Corps was embarking on a proof-of-concept effort to silence every weapon in an infantry battalion, from M4 service rifles to .50 caliber machine guns.

In an interview at the time, 2nd Marine Division commanding officer Maj. Gen. John Love said the suppressors, also called silencers, were already changing the way Marines operated in early testing and evaluation.

"It used to be a squad would be dispersed out over maybe 100 yards, so the squad leader couldn't really communicate with the members at the far end because of all the noise of the weapons," he said. "Now they can actually just communicate, and be able to command and control, and effectively direct those fires."

Troops with Marine Corps Rotational Force-Europe agree.

They've used suppressed M4s and M27 infantry automatic rifles in Arctic cold-weather training environments and most recently at a joint live-fire attack event in Romania. During that event, three platoons from Bravo Company operated alongside one from the battalion's Weapons Company that didn't have suppressed rifles. The difference was marked, said Capt. Mark Edgar, commanding officer of Bravo Company.

"It took us back to remembering what it was like not to be suppressed, when you see people trying to communicate," Edgar said. "For guys in charge of other Marines, being able to talk is a big way that we fight. The suppressed weapons have helped that a lot."

For Staff Sgt. Troy Hauck, a platoon sergeant with Bravo Company's Weapons Platoon, not having to worry about ear protection when firing his rifle is a nice bonus. But a potentially bigger boon is the element of surprise that comes with a suppressed weapon.

"Just doing some of the training attacks that we've done on this deployment has been good," he said. "I'm on one side of the hill and [part of the company is] on the other side of the hill, and I can't hear them firing their weapons. It's pretty nice, real stealthy."

There are a few practical hassles that come with using the Marine Corps-issued SureFire suppressors.

They get very hot when used, and can burn skin and clothing if not handled with care. They must be cleaned properly in order to stay effective. They add a pound or so of weight to the rifle, and the current model occasionally comes loose from the rifle muzzle, said Staff Sgt. Nelson Acevedo, platoon sergeant for Bravo's 3rd Platoon.

Nonetheless, he said, the advantages of using the suppressors are clear. While the individual suppressors might add weight to the rifles, their use allows team leaders to stop carrying radios and extra radio batteries, making them ultimately lighter.

"Normally, going into a deliberate attack or something like that, we would want to have it be feasible and optimal to have team leaders equipped with radios, just because normally from the firing, it's going to negate the ability to laterally communicate by your mouth," he said. "With the suppressors now, there's no need for that, because they can communicate."

Acevedo also said he has noticed that getting rid of the radios has allowed the Marines to focus on the action in front of them, helping them to avoid "tunnel vision."

"If they can make the suppressor overall just a little lighter, that would be good," he said. "But overall, I'd say we're about at a 75-percent solution."

Whether that solution will be implemented for the full Marine Corps is up to the commandant and other senior service brass. Edgar said the unit has been providing feedback on using the suppressors since it began its predeployment workup in October, routing reports and insights through the 1/2 battalion gunner, or weapons officer.

Two other companies have been issued suppressors as the evaluation phase continues: Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which deployed aboard the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in March; and Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, which deployed to Japan as part of the unit deployment program in February.

The 2nd Marine Division gunner, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Christian Wade, said in November that he was still working to equip the Marines' M249 light machine gun and M240G medium machine gun with suppressors, with plans to silence the .50 caliber heavy machine gun last.

Wade estimated equipping an infantry battalion with suppressors would cost about $700,000, a price tag that might give decision-makers pause.

Asked about the status of evaluation at the end of March, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller told Military.com he is worried about both cost and weight when evaluating the possibility of issuing suppressors to infantrymen.

"The cost to kit out an infantry Marine used to be a couple thousand bucks; now it's like $7,500. I've got to store this stuff, they've got to carry this stuff. I'm trying to make the load lighter, not heavier," he said. "But it's a tool ... every action has a side-effect, but we'll work through all that."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck
Meanwhile, staff of the corporation told the Crime Branch that the letter pad issued in the name of the mayor was fake.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sought Thursday to ease Turkish concerns over the White House decision to arm a Syrian Kurdish group viewed as terrorists by Ankara.

Mattis met in London with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on the sidelines of a security conference on Somalia a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the U.S. of siding with terrorists by giving small arms, ammunition, mortars and shoulder-fired weapons to the Syrian-Kurdish YPG, or People's Protection Units.

In the half-hour meeting, Mattis "reiterated U.S. commitment to protecting our NATO ally" and "both leaders affirmed their support for peace and stability in both Iraq and Syria," Pentagon chief spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Yildirim echoed Erdogan in charging that the U.S. is favoring a terrorist group over a NATO ally. The U.S. decision to arm the YPG "will surely have consequences and will yield a negative result for the U.S. as well," Yildirim said.

Also on Wednesday, the White House announced that Erdogan would arrive in Washington next Tuesday for talks with President Donald Trump.

"The two leaders will discuss how to further strengthen our bilateral relationship and deepen our cooperation to confront terrorism in all its forms," the White House said in a statement.

Erdogan has shown no signs of backing away from his demand that the U.S. break ties with the YPG, which is viewed in Turkey as linked to the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party. Turkey, the European Union and the U.S. have all branded the PKK a terrorist organization for its decades-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

On Wednesday, two Turkish soldiers were killed and 11 others were wounded during a clash with the outlawed PKK in the eastern province of Agri, Turkey's Dogan news agency reported.

In Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan, referring to the YPG, said the "fight against terrorism should not be led by another terror organization." The YPG has joined with another militia group called the Syrian Arab Coalition under the banner of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to battle ISIS.

The YPG has been in the lead as the SDF presses on Raqqa, the so-called capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in northeastern Syria, but Erdogan said, "We want to know that our allies will side with us and not with terror organizations."

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that Trump had authorized the arming and equipping of "Kurdish elements" of the SDF "to ensure a clear victory" in Raqqa.

In an analysis, Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that the decision to arm the YPG came after a high-level Turkish military delegation argued against it in Washington on May 5.

Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, Intelligence Organization Chief Hakan Fidan, and Chief Foreign Policy Adviser Ibrahim Kalin made the case against arming the YPG.

The Turkish delegation met with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford; Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser; and Under Secretary of State Tom Shannon, Aliriza said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Fans of Ann Arbor restaurants, bars and food trucks can now vote for the city as part of Midwest Living's Best Foodie Town regional contest.

Ann Arbor was selected to participate in the contest as Michigan's top foodie destination. From big-name chefs with European flair to small food trucks offering ethnic touches, the city of trees is also a city of innovative culinary artists.

The description of Ann Arbor on Midwest Living's contest page calls out a few restaurants by names, including Zingerman's Delicatessen and Mani Osteria and Bar.

"You can't talk Ann Arbor food without acknowledging the Zingerman's empire. What started as a beloved deli has expanded to include multiple restaurants, a working farm and specialty retail shops," the contest description said.

"But the University of Michigan's hometown offers a slew of other choices, too. Italian bistro Mani Osteria and Bar tastefully nods to the college scene by serving affordable wood-fired pizzas in a sleek space. Young Albanian entrepreneur Sava Lelcaj has opened three restaurants since 2009, including the tapas spot Aventura and Babo, a specialty foods market with fast-casual eats.

Ann Arbor has also attracted big-name chefs, such as Chef Takashi of Iron Chef fame, to the city to launch concepts."

Ann Arbor has some contest competition, with at least one city from every state in the region eligible for votes.

Those wanting to show their support for Michigan's fourth-largest city can vote once every 24 hours on the Midwest Living website. The contest runs through May 31 and the foodie town with the most votes will be featured in the September/October issue of Midwest Living.

"We're proud, but not surprised, that Ann Arbor has been nominated for Midwest Living's Best Foodie Town," said Mary Kerr, president and CEO of the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "With the world-class dining scene we enjoy, the impressive culinary talent here, and city-wide commitment to quality customer service, Ann Arbor is undoubtedly the top culinary tourism destination in the Midwest."

Consumer website Niche ranked Ann Arbor as the best city to live in the United States in an April survey. The Ann Arbor News created a list of all the reasons why it was not surprising the city is No. 1.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on May 11, 2017, inter alia, has recommended a Final Dividend of Rs. 1.80 per share on the Equity Share Capital of the Company, subject to approval by the Members in the Companys Annual General Meeting scheduled for August 10, 2017.Source : BSE
Yogesh Mehta, Associate Vice President-PCG Advisory Equities at Motilal Oswal Securities told CNBC-Tv18, "We are looking at Bajaj Finance on the buy side. The stock has run up yesterday and today it seems to be in a bullish momentum. We are looking at Rs 1,360 as first target and keeping a stop loss of Rs 1,310 because stock is trading at 10-20 days above moving average, so the bullish sentiment can create further rally."

"The other stock is Britannia Industries, a strong momentum yesterday, Rs 3,640 was the previous high which it crossed yesterday and closed at Rs 3,710-3,711 level. This momentum can continue and we are looking at Rs 3,760-3,770 as a price target, keeping a stop loss of Rs 3,680," he said.

"In the auto sector, Ashok Leyland has strong support between Rs 82-83 level and keeping a stop loss of Rs 83 one can initiate long position today and the target could be in the range of Rs 88-90."
Mitessh Thakkar of miteshthacker.com told CNBC-TV18, "I have a buy on Bharat Electronics (BEL). I think that is making a fresh high and giving a good breakout. So, buy with a stop loss below Rs 183 and look for Rs 194 kind of target."

Ashok Leyland appears to have reversed the down trend. Possibly it will play catch up as well. So, buy with a stop loss of Rs 84 and look for Rs 91 kind of target," he said.
CA Rudramurthy BV, Research Head at Vachana Investments told CNBC-Tv18, "Last week if you have observed, Canara Bank was available at Rs 310-320 which has now moved up. Even if you look at Bharat Financial, these are great to buy when they are on dips. Bharat Financial for me even at current level of Rs 795 looks very attractive. Dont look at the next Rs 50-100 move, I wont be surprised if I see in next one or two months Bharat Financial touching even Rs 1,000. So, these are great stocks to buy and own."

"Similarly if I see, a lot of banking stocks, real estate stocks, Indiabulls Real Estate was available at Rs 100 when people were thinking it was expensive. Today at Rs 160 and when you see market at all-time highs everyone wants to buy this stock but it is in ban. So, people have to understand the market psychology very well and buy when you have great opportunities to own these type of stocks," he said.
Auto_car_cars_vehicle

Isuzu Motors India is looking at exporting vehicles to around 15-20 countries as part of its plans to make India as a hub of its global manufacturing operations.

The company, which has invested Rs 3,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh to set up a manufacturing facility, has already started exporting vehicles to Nepal.

"We have already started exports to Nepal.Besides, we are currently reviewing plans to export to around 15-20 countries. Focus would be on right hand drive markets," Isuzu Motors India Deputy Managing Director Hitoshi Kono told PTI.

He, however, did not share timeframe for start of overseas shipments to these destinations, stating the plan is at a discussion stage. The company currently has an installed capacity of 50,000 units per annum at its manufacturing facility at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh which can be scaled up to 1.2 lakh units with very small investment, Kono said.

The company sells D-Max V-Cross and variants of D-Max pick-ups for the commercial segment. It today also launched a seven seater SUV mu-X in the country. The company currently rolls out over 350 units a month from the plant and is planning to gradually ramp up the manufacturing activity. "We are not in a hurry to expand our presence here.

We want to first establish after sales services in the country so that we can offer quality service to customers," Kono said. Isuzu currently has 28 dealerships across the country. The company, which is looking at enhancing localisation in its product range, has established a local supplier base of around 100 entities.

"We are working towards having 70 per cent localisation in our product range here. For this we are working with suppliers here. With quality at par with other global locations we are also sourcing components from here to other sites," Kono said.
After the MET department predicted a normal monsoon this year, the fertilser stocks have been buzzing in trade. Moreover, the Pan India rollout of the Direct Benefit Transfer too will kick off at the start of June this year.

To discuss what is going right for the sector and the economy, CNBC-TV18 spoke to Anand Mohan Tiwari, MD of GSFC and Satish Chander, Director General of Fertiliser Association of India.

According to Chander, the DBT in short to medium-term will be a big challenge for the industry because under this the payment of subsidy is shifted to purchase by the farmers and they purchase only four months in a year. Farmer buys the fertilizer only when his fields are ready and he can put them, he never buys and stocks them, said Chander.

Fertiliser sector is fully controlled by the government -higher sales, cost of production is determined by GoI, said Chander.

Therefore the payment of the industry will shrink from 12 months to 4 months, once DBT is fully operational. This could have a direct bearing on Urea Policy where the cost of production and interest cost will go up, he said. All these issues have been brought to the notice of the government, said Chander.

Tiwari said DBT could create a level playing field. It is a step in right direction.

Chander said there is nothing which has changed for the industry for the stock prices to rally. GST and DBT are in fact challenges, which can adversely impact the companies in the short to medium term.

Below is the transcript of Satish Chander's interview.

Latha: What is going right for the fertiliser sector, is it largely on prospects of good monsoon and fertiliser offtake or is there some development on the direct benefit transfer and trying to provide subsidies to the farmers more efficiently?

Chander: As far as good monsoon is concerned it is good for the farmers and availability of fertiliser is assured, there is absolutely no issue.

To understand the other issue, one has to clearly know that the fertiliser sector is fully controlled by the government of India. If you look at the fertiliser sector and divide it into two parts urea and P&K fertilisers, urea MRP is fixed. So, everything is in control of the government. Higher sale etc or cost of production is all determined by the government of India.

Having said that let us keep the subsidy apart and look at GST which you mentioned as DBT. Now as far as the DBT is concerned in the short to medium term this is going to be a big challenge for the industry because today we have paid the subsidy for all the 12 months. Subsidy is paid once the fertiliser reach the dealer network - 90-95 percent of the subsidy is paid. Under DBT the payment of subsidy is being shifted to purchase by the farmers. Purchase by the farmers are only 4 months in a year. He buys the fertiliser only when his fields are ready and he can put the fertiliser, he doesn't buy and stock them.

So, the payment of the industry will shrink from 12 months to 4 months, once this is fully made operational. So, it has a direct bearing on the urea policy where the cost of production is fixed, interest costs will go up. These issues have been flagged with the government of India. So, this is going to be very challenging.

Sonia: The other point that you were making was, what the impact of GST could be on the fertiliser sector. What is the tax rate currently? Once the new rate comes in what would it be and what would the overall impact be you think?

Chander: There are couple of issues as far as GST is concerned. Fertiliser sector is a low tax sector. Our input taxes are only 1-2 percent, output taxes are 4-6 percent. On average we are totally taxed between 4-6 percent.

In GST there are two issues, one whether subsidy should be part of the tax or it should be kept out. That issue is more or less settled that GST will be applicable on the farmer's price. Second issue is what is the level of input taxes? If input taxes are not at the same level as the output taxes and GST for fertiliser we are reasonably sure though this is yet to be finalised, we will be taxed around 5 percent in the lowest slab.

If input taxes are say at 12 or 18 percent then we will pay more taxes during the production dispatch before the farmers buy. Actually we are supposed to pay 5 percent. So, this will lead us to a situation where we will have to recover lot of money from the government under GST.

So, the two challenges, one subsidy payments, second DBT shift to the farmers and third again we have to recover huge money from the government under the GST scheme. These are the issues which we have flagged with the government and we are in touch with them because under any scenario either inverted duty structure or subsidy not being part of it, both will lead to refund of input taxes which are going to be substantial. A rough estimate is about Rs 6000 crore per annum.

There is nothing which has substantially changed, our subsidy outstanding remains more than Rs 30000 crore. Last year our budget was Rs 70000 crore, we got a banking arrangement, so we can say Rs 80000 crore. This year that Rs 10000 crore will go. This year our budget effectively is Rs 60000 crore, outstanding is Rs 30000 crore. There is nothing which has changed. DBT and GST are challenges which can adversely impact the companies in the short to medium term.
The thermal power sector has been seeing some stress due to competition from solar power and because of solar tariffs coming down to as low as Rs 2.20 to Rs 2.16. Adding to their woes is Uttar Pradesh (UP) government calling off the PPA bids that they had earlier floated for 3000 MegaWatt (MW) of power.

Discussing the issue Ashok Khurana, Director-General, Association of Power Producers told CNBC-TV18 the news was on expected lines because there is a lack of demand.

The power sector is going through transformational changes, renewable energy is coming in, which is good for consumers. However, as this transformation takes place, each segment of the power generation will find its own place in due course. Thermal power will always remain the mainstay of the Indian power sector because renewables are intermittent and variable, he said.

According to him, the two myths that are prevailing are the surplus coal ability and power availability.

The fault lies with the policy and regulations, which are much behind the curve to take all these changing elements into power metrics and design the power market, he said.

Although the demand for power in the last three years hasnt picked up, the fact that economy is picking up, there is ease of doing business, coming up of smart cities, steel demand picking  all this does show that demand will return.

However, affordability of power is also important. According to him, long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) are a thing of the past, so the power generators, the distributors and the bankers as well have to adjust to short and medium-term PPAs.

The government and regulators have to form a think tank to think 10-years ahead, and how to absorb the changing elements in the power market, so that all types of power generators can sustain, he said.
In what experts term as 'pathbreaking', the strategic partnership model in defence may soon see the light of the day. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday met up with industry bigwigs to prepare a strategic partnership model draft.

In the initial stage, companies will go through a two-stage selection process. In this, six companies will get selected in each of the four segments - helicopter, single engine fighter aircraft, submarine and armored fighting vehicles, sources told CNBC-TV18.

Simultaneously, two foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will also be selected.

Following this, a domestic company will be chosen as the strategic partner and will get assured orders for that particular platform, reports CNBC-TV18's Rituparna Bhuyan.

Sources further said that stringent financial criterias have been proposed for companies to qualify for selection. Companies need to meet requirements such as Rs 4,000 crore turnover, capital assets of at least Rs 2,000 crore in the past three years plus maximum debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.

The model is expected to get cabinet nod as early as this month.

RS Bhatia, President & CEO  Defence, Kalyani Group said the move is nothing short of 'pathbreaking' for the industry.

In the initial stages, close to Rs 1 lakh crore contracts could be awarded, experts believe.
The government has carried out a series of reforms to increase the participation of mid-sized EPC players in the tendering process of construction contracts, Ind-Ra said.

The Union government is working on a policy wherein you will have to pay toll per kilometre travelled, according to a report in Mint.

The existing open toll policy involves a fixed amount to be paid based on the length of the stretch under one project, typically 60-km. All travellers on toll roads currently pay the same fee irrespective of whether their destination is a few metres after the toll booth or if they cover the whole stretch.

But a closed toll policy being explored by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry will let commuters pay only for the distance travelled on highways where there is no access from all sides and expressways.

This policy will be first implemented on the new Eastern Peripheral Expressway covering Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that aims to reduce traffic in Delhi, a senior government official was quoted as saying.

Transport minister Nitin Gadkari had hinted at such a policy at a summit last week.

Toll rates are currently revised every year. The report added that the government already has a policy on how much to charge per kilometre and the fee will be calculated based on where the vehicle entered on the toll road and where it exited.

There is no clarification yet on how tabs will be kept on vehicles to check if they have overshot the distance mentioned when paying the toll.
New Delhi: NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant addresses at press conference for the launch of the schemes Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi-dhan Vyapari Yojana to encourage digital payments, in New Delhi on Thursday. PTI Photo by Vijay Kumar Joshi (PTI12_15_2016_000217B) *** Local Caption ***

A joint working group of the Uttar Pradesh administration and Niti Aayog will transform the state which lags behind in many areas despite huge growth potential, the government think-tank's CEO Amitabh Kant said today.

A joint working group comprising top functionaries of Niti Aayog and Uttar Pradesh government was formed yesterday to prepare a road-map in next 15 days for the state's overall development.

"Uttar Pradesh has been lagging behind in several areas but there is a huge potential to transform the state.

"We will work with them (state government) to focus on outcomes of the joint working group," National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here.

The focus will be on all the areas, including health, education, infrastructure and tourism, for overall development of the state, Kant added.

He said it was important for India's progress that Uttar Pradesh also develops as it is a huge state with huge potential.

Speaking on governance, learnings and global experience at the FICCI event, he said most of the recommendations by the Aayog on strategic divestment of sick public sector units (PSUs) have been approved by the union cabinet.

Recently, the government think-tank recommended closure of several more sick central public sector entities to address the issue of mounting losses incurred by them.
The government will come out with policy directive on quality of modules by the end of this month and will eventually cover the entire solar value chain, including wafers and poly silicon, over the next two years, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said here.

Goyal, who is leading a high-level business delegation on a two-day visit to Vienna, was addressing India-Austria Business Forum, organised by industry body FICCI in collaboration with the Embassy of India in Vienna and Austrian Economic Chambers.

"India needs to put entire solar value chain under quality direction. The government will have a policy directive in place on quality of modules by end of May, followed by solar cells in next 6-7 months and on wafers and poly silicon in the next two years," Goyal, the Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Minister said.

Given that Austria is well known for innovations, Goyal said that this experience of discovery can be put to good use in India through scale and cost competitiveness.

He also spoke of the trinity of financial inclusion, unique identification and digital penetration that can translate into businesses being able to function smoothly and scale up efficiently.

He said both the nations can leverage each other's strengths to benefit both economies and India can offer better pricing for Austrian products and provide low-cost manufacturing base.

Goyal underlined that affordability is a paramount imperative to be able to change India's energy mix.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new dimension to renewable energy and that his vision of scaling up rapidly is giving good returns in more ways than one -- a case in point being the latest solar tariff of 4 cents.

Solar power tariff dropped to a record low of Rs 2.62 per unit in the auction conducted for Bhadla Solar Park yesterday.

He indicated that India can engage with Austria the way it has done with Finland. Goyal said that within six months of his visit to Finland in November 2016 there have been multiple exchanges between the two countries.

Pankaj Patel, President, FICCI and also the Chairman and MD of Zydus Cadila, said Austrias experience in bringing renewable energy to mainstream and successfully addressing the challenges of integrating solar and wind energy with grid offers unique learning opportunities for Indian entities.

Likewise, Indias renewable energy target of 175 GW and the scope of smart grid provide enormous opportunities for Austrian entities towards adapting their solutions to Indias energy landscape and partnering with India towards evolving better energy technology and economic solutions, he said.

The companies present on the occasion were Edelweiss, The Lalit, Modi Enterprises, Hindustan Power Projects Private Ltd, Indosolar, Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA), PTC India, Sindicatum, Secure Meters Ltd. Torrent Power, Welspun Energy and UJAAS Energy.
A technician is pictured inside a desalter plant of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, September 30, 2016. Picture taken September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Amit Dave - RTSS6X9

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ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, is targeting over 14 per cent jump in output to 14.37 million tonne (MT) in the current fiscal, with its fields in Russia contributing half of the total.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an industry event, OVL Managing Director Narendra K Verma said OVL had in 2016-17 produced 12.57 MT crude oil and equivalent natural gas from its assets abroad.

OVL output was 8.92 MT oil and oil equivalent gas in the previous 2015-16 fiscal.

"In the current year we are targeting 14.37 million tons oil equivalent production," he said.

OVL Director (Finance) Vivekanand said half of the current year's production would come from Russia's Vankor oilfield in which the company last year acquired 26 per cent stake.

OVL bought the stake in two tranches. First, it acquired 15 per cent in May 2016 for USD 1.268 billion, and then another 11 per cent in October 2016 for USD 930 million.

It received its 15 per cent share of oil from Vankor for the almost 11 months but 11 per cent share was only for a part of year as the deal.

This fiscal, it will get full 26 per cent share.

OVL's share of oil from Vankor will be 7.3 MT.

Vivekanand said the company has started getting dues from Venezuela, with almost USD 80 million being paid over the last 3-4 months.

Venezuela owed OVL around USD 530 million in unpaid dividends and has this year started to clear that in instalments.

"We got about USD 80 million but also had to invest USD 40 million back. So net we have got USD 40 million," he said.

OVL had in April 2008 acquired 40 per cent stake in San Cristobal oil project in Venezuela. Corporacion Venezolana del Petroleo (CVP), a unit of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), owns the remaining stake.

With an investment of USD 408.35 million, OVL's share of crude oil production from the 160.18 km acreage in the Orinoco Heavy Oil belt was 0.645 MT in 2014-15.

OVL received USD 56.224 million as dividend on profit made by CVP in 2008 but dividends from 2009 totalling to about USD 530 million remained unpaid due to cash flow difficulties being faced by PDVSA/CVP.

OVL has 37 projects in 17 countries. Of these, 14 assets in 10 countries are producing and four in a similar number of countries are under development.
State Bank of India (SBI)

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The country's largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI) will now charge for withdrawals at branches and ATMs beyond the four free transactions. This will be applicable to basic savings banks deposit account (BSBDA) holders.

BSBDA is a zero balance savings account that takes care of your simple banking needs with free ATM card, monthly statement, and cheque book. It was started by the Reserve Bank of India to promote financial inclusion.

Such accounts were earlier opened as no-frills accounts and modifications were made in 2012 to call them BSBDA.

Four free transactions for other banks:

If a customer withdraws cash from a branch, a charge of Rs 50 will be levied beyond four free transactions. For withdrawal at other bank ATMs, charges will be Rs 20 beyond free withdrawal limit.

At SBI ATMs, customers will be charged Rs 10. All the charges are excluding service tax, according to a notification on SBIs website.

All Normal Saving Bank accounts will continue to get 8 free ATM transactions (5 SBI ATMs + 3 other bank ATMs) in Metros and 10 free transactions in Non Metro (SBI ATM + 5 Other Bank ATMs) free apart from the bank transaction, SBI said.

While in 2012, the RBI has said that for BSBDA account holders, banks should offer the ATM debit cards free of charge and no annual fee should be levied on such cards, SBI said that only a RuPay debit card will be offered free of cost under this account category.

We are charging for the new facilities and hence we need to earn something on this. We are the only bank to give a cash out facility through a wallet. SO for unique features we have to charge something, said Rajnish Kumar, Managing Director at State Bank of India.

In March, after SBI introduced penalties on customers for non-maintenance of minimum balance in savings and salary accounts, SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said, we have lot of burden such as we have 11 crore financial inclusion or Jan Dhan accounts. To manage such a large number of Jan Dhan accounts, we need some charges. We have considered many factors and after analysing carefully, we have taken this step.

Cheque book charges for BSBDA

SBI will also charge Rs 30, Rs 75 and Rs 150 for cheque books with 10-leaf, 25 and 50-leaf respectively.

In 2012, RBI said that if the bank charges for the cheque book, the account no more remains a BSBDA.

SBI Buddy Wallet

The public sector bank will also charge transactions on its State Bank Buddy wallet at Rs 25 per transaction.

Cash withdrawal through Business Correspondent (BC) up to Rs 2000 in multiples of Rs 100 will be charged Rs 2.50 percent of the transaction value with a minimum of Rs 6.

Cash deposit through BC up to Rs 10,000 will be charged between Rs 2 and 8 at 0.25 percent of total transaction value.

Soiled notes

SBI has also allowed free exchange of up to 20 pieces of soiled or imperfect notes and up to Rs 5,000 worth of such notes.

Beyond 20 pieces, the bank will charge Rs 2 and soiled notes worth above Rs 5000 will be charged Rs 2 or Rs 5 per Rs 1000, whichever is higher.

IMPS fund transfer

IMPS fund transfer through internet banking/ mobile banking /UPI/USSD will be charged at Rs 5 up to Rs 1 lakh. IMPS transactions from Rs 1 lakh  Rs 2 lakh will be charged at Rs 15 and above Rs 2 lakh will cost Rs 25.

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is an instant interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones.
SpiceJet, the low-cost airline is the only listed entity to bet on the regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet said as of now there is no reason to believe why the regional flights will not do well.

The Government in March started its Regional Air Connectivity Scheme (RCS) by awarding 128 regional routes to five airlines  Alliance Air, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha, Air Odisha and Air Deccan.

As proposed by the government, under this scheme at least half the seats on every flight will be available for a fare of Rs 2500 per seat per hour of flying.

In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan, Singh said the airline has three-year exclusivity on some of the RCS routes, for example, Delhi-Kanpur, Delhi-Jalandar, and all these routes are expected to profitable from day one.

It is a new scheme and a small part of SpiceJets overall flights, said Singh, adding that there were limitations on the routes they could bid for in the first round. However, going forward they would bid for other routes too, he said.

Talking about the great potential of this scheme for aviation in India, he said today we have 75 airports operational and with this scheme, another 45 will be operational.

The airline for the past two years have aircrafts that have been significantly cheaper to lease and maintain than earlier, so the average cost of the lease has come down and will go down further in the next one-year, said Singh.

The airline is working on low-cost long-haul flights at sustainable profit margins, said Singh adding that the underlying demand is extremely strong at a certain price.

Speaking of the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, he said there is need to bring them down because the prices are unsustainable in India. To us it is unsustainable that ATF prices are going to be 50-60 percent higher than most countries around the world, adding that the country cannot have the most expensive ATF price and expect civil aviation sector to prosper.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Q: Let me start by asking you about the big bet, you are the only large listed entity to bet on the regional connectivity scheme (RCS). Interglobe Aviation has very recently after its result said that they will look at getting into the regional space as well, in fact they have put in an order with ATR. How soon can we see the RCS starting to have an impact as far as your earnings are concerned?

A: We will start to fly the RCS routes in June of this year. That will be one route but progressively we will roll them out. You will see that all the routes are functional by about September. So, numbers for that will only come in post that really.

Q: The question mark in the mind of investors, analysts, and the market is that with a price cap of Rs 2,500 are you likely to make any money because it will depend on volumes, it will depend on traffic. Are these likely to be profitable for you?

A: This is a very small part of Spicejets business. We will expand it in time, but at this time it is a small part of Spicejets business. I think one of the most important part of RCS is that the routes that we are flying to, there is a three-year exclusivity on these routes that Spicejet has. Half the seats are not under any fare cap and we believe that there is great potential in these routes.

For example, Spicejet will be flying from Delhi to Kanpur, that will be a route that Spicejet will have on an exclusive basis now for three years. Kanpur is the industrial hub of UP, there is not a single flight into Kanpur. Spicejet will be flying from Delhi to Jalandhar, the Adampur Airport. Again, very prosperous area without any flight at all. We think that there is no reason why flights like this are not going to do well. We expect that those flights will be profitable from day one.

Q: You believe that they will be profitable from day one?

A: Absolutely.

Q: You have obviously worked in some calculations. If you are saying that all the regional routes will be operations by September, give me a sense of what you expect, for instance, in the next financial year from purely the regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

A: I do not want to give any guidance on that because it is a new scheme, we have got to test it out and as I said, it is still a small part of SpiceJet's business. We are looking at 10-12 flights where the total universe of flights that SpiceJet has today is about 370 every day. So it is a very small part, but it will grow.

As the next round of bidding happens, we will bid for some more. There was a limitation on the number of routes that we could have bid for in the first round and we bid for the number of routes we were allowed to and we will bid again. Now, of course, in some of the cases, government has to get the airports in order, there is a lot of groundwork which is still to be done, but I think there is great potential in the scheme.

Just think that with all the constraints on airport infrastructure, today we have 75 airports which are operational. In one shot, with the RCS scheme, you have suddenly made another 45 airports operational. Now with the next round there will be another few airports which will become operational. It is great for aviation in India.

Q: You were talking about the RCS scheme and IndiGo has now expressed its desire to also get into this. They hope to launch operations by the end of the year, orders being given to ATR. How do you see that? And the fact that they have decided to use this under a separate vertical, I would also imagine that is largely this is the first time that they are bringing on a different aircraft as well. But what do you make of that strategy?

A: It is very good for regional connectivity that the largest airline decides to get into this space. It was something that is worth doing. We feel, at SpiceJet it is worth doing. So, it should be good for IndiGo. It is of course, a different animal to operate a regional aircraft is very different from operating a narrow body plane and there are challenges. But I am sure that an airline with that size and with that experience will do that well.

Q: Given the fact that you are bullish about the growth in the aviation market, both for the main line services as well as for the RCS services, what are the kind of fleet guidance that you can give us because if I look at what IndiGo is saying, it has raised its fleet guidance to about 170 versus 154 for FY18. What can we expect from SpiceJet?

A: As you know, we have placed an order for 155 firm and 50 options. These are narrow body planes which will start to deliver in August, 2018. We are trying to prepone some deliveries, but at this time, this is August, 2018. Till that time, we will be taking some aircraft on lease. We have already taken three aircraft on lease for this season and we will keep adding planes as and when we feel that there is a need and that we get the aircraft at a cost which is sustainable for us. So it is tough to give a guidance because we need to see what is available in the market and at what cost because at SpiceJet, one of the core principles has been that we need to reduce our operating cost.

Q: How much room is there to further bring down operating costs? You have been able to do that quite successfully, but how much do you believe you can squeeze that further?

A: We think there will be a significant reduction in costs as new aircrafts start to come in.

Q: That is 2018?

A: That is 2018 onwards. Till then, we are looking at leasing aircraft which are far lower cost than the average cost of lease that we have today. This has been the principle fort SpiceJet for the last two years. What we have done is that we have progressively taken aircrafts which are significantly cheaper to lease, significantly cheaper to maintain than the aircraft that we had previous to this. Therefore the average cost of lease has come down for SpiceJet and in the next one year, we expect to bring it down further.

Q: You have decided to already bid for the RCS routes and that is something that you will start in June, but what about the low cost long-haul plans that you have been working on? When do we expect a decision to be taken on whether you are going to go down that route or not and what will it mean for you?

A: We feel that fundamentally India is a massive market, people want to travel to different corners of the world. Currently, we are dependent on foreign carriers pretty much to take people from India to other parts of the world. We think that there is conceptually at least, there seems to be a great opportunity. If you are able to bring down the cost of that seat, for example, when you fly from Delhi to London, if you can bring down the cost of the seat and you can sell that seat at a lower price. (Interrupted)

Q: What is a lower price? You look at the papers today, British Airways is saying Rs 45,000-50,000 or so on and so forth.

A: We do not know what that lower price is, but it is tough to say what is that low. But, just imagine if somebody was able to do this in Rs 25,000-30,000 return to London, I would think that many Indians would like to go.

Q: How realistic is this?

A: I do not know. We are working on it, we are trying to see if we can bring down the cost to a level where we can sustain our profit margins because SpiceJet is not going to do anything unless we are able to sustain profit margins. If we feel that we can profitably, at a lower fare, run a service to two different parts of the world, we will certainly explore it.

Q: What does the business plan tell you today? Will you be able to do this and when will you finally take a call on whether you will be able to do this profitably?

A: We are studying it and we are contacting aircraft manufacturers. We are trying to see what cost we are going to get the plane for and what the engineering cost is going to be and so on. So, we are working on it, but you have to negotiate those numbers and if you can get them to a level, certainly, it is something that we feel will be worth looking at, but it will never ever be done at the cost of profitability.

Q: Since we are talking about profitability and we are talking about costs, one of the big concerns is what is happening to aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices. On the IndiGo concall, you saw Rakesh Jhunjhunwala ask questions to the IndiGo management about why government was not bringing down ATF prices. I know that you have been of course, pushing this case very hard that the government needs to bring down prices of ATFs. But my last conversation with the minister of state for civil aviation, he seemed to suggest that that is unlikely to happen. So, where do you go from here then as far as ATF prices are concerned?

A: We need to bring down ATF prices. To us it is unsustainable that ATF prices in India are going to be 50-60 percent higher than most countries around the world. We cannot have the most expensive ATF and expect the civil aviation sector to prosper.

So, we have been working with government, we have some ideas that we have given to them so it is basically two-pronged. One, you go to state governments and you say to them that look, if you reduce the sales tax or you bring it to near zero, you will see an explosion of flights into your state. That helps improve connectivity to your state, that helps improve the business environment, that helps improve tourism and so it is a good thing. Many states have accepted that proposition and actually brought down the sales tax. The second is to go to the central government and to say to them that look, you must include ATF as part of GST.

Now, they have actually done this for all that is used for ships. So, for fuel which is being used for ships, that is actually included in the GST. So, if you can do the same thing with the ATF then what will happen is it will allow us to set-off our taxes and therefore, it will bring down the cost of ATF and that will give a huge fillip.

Q: But is there any reason for you to be hopeful? So far, we have not heard anything that gives us confidence that the government is agreeable or open to your suggestion.

A: To be honest with you, nobody realised that actually shipping fuel was actually included in GST and when we said this to members of the government, they said they were surprised to hear that and they feel that it is worth looking at and we all need to collectively push. It may not happen right at the outset as GST is introduced, but certainly this is something that is worth discussing with government because if you look at the total amount that they are collecting by way of taxes on ATF, the total amount is just Rs 3,000 crore.

Now if you were to do away with these taxes, the increment will be huge. We have done some calculations, we have shown to them what impact this will have and in fact, the government will end up making money, not losing money.

Q: Since we are talking about the operating environment, what is the sense that you get in terms of passenger traffic? I was just looking at a report from ICRA and they believe that passenger growth is likely to come down to between 13 and 15 percent versus about 22 percent last year. What is your own sense and also as far as yields are concerned, how much pressure do you anticipate to be there as far as yields?

A: Firstly, the underlying demand is extremely strong. We put a flight in there, within a few days, the flight was up. The underlying demand is certainly there. Obviously that underlying demand is there at a certain price. If you take out the price and it becomes too high then obviously there is an impact on the demand.

So, the problem really today is the capacity, in the sense that airport capacity at Delhi and Mumbai is extremely challenged, it has run out. And while we are talking of small towns and of course, a lot of the growth is going to happen in small towns, in the first instance the small towns need to be connected to the larger towns. So you need to connect small airports with the Delhis and the Mumbais. Because the capacity there is limited, airlines are not being able to put too many flights into these stations and therefore there is a bit of drop in the growth.

But as you start to create capacity, as more capacity comes on stream with RCS and other steps that the government is taking, the underlying demand will remain strong and if you are not able to put as many flights as you want to, you will see actually that the yields will go up.

Q: But do you believe that given that the situation where we are seeing significant amount of aggressive discounting, that is going to continue?

A: The aggressive discounting really was a consequence in part at least of demonetisation.
A boy plays with a tyre in front of electric pylons installed at a power house in Kolkata February 21, 2013. India's Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram will present one of the most highly anticipated budgets of recent years, a blueprint for austerity that forms the centrepiece of India's efforts to stave off a ratings downgrade. Investors will watch closely to see whether he will fulfil his promise of fiscal prudence. Picture taken February 21, 2013. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri (INDIA - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY POLITICS) - RTR3EDNJ

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Shares of Ashoka Buildcon advanced 4.6 percent intraday Thursday as it has received Letter of Intent worth Rs 282.73 crore.

The company has received Letters of Intent (LoI) from Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL), for execution of urban electrification works for Ranchi and Medininagar towns in the state of Jharkhand and electric supply area covering 12 towns in the State of Jharkahand under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS).

IPDS is the flagship program of Government of India, Ministry of Power and funded by Power Finance Corporation.

The aggregate value of the work is Rs 282.73 crore.

At 10:56 hrs Ashoka Buildcon was quoting at Rs 213.95, up Rs 6.10, or 2.93 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
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Motilal Oswal's research report on Manpasand Beverages

Post QIP of INR5b, Manpasand Beverages (MANB) plan to double capacity from 177,500cpd to 377,500cpd is largely on track. The company has already finalized land for three work-in-progress plants at Vadodara, Varanasi and Sri City (South). Each of these plants is expected to contribute capacity of 50,000 cases per day (cpd).

Outlook

Thus, we expect a robust revenue and PAT CAGR of 45% and 52%, respectively, over FY16-19E. We value the stock at a P/E of 27x FY19E EPS, with a target price of INR 841 (20% upside). Reiterate Buy.

For all recommendations, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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crude_300_64552660

Achiievers Equities' commodity report on Crudeoil

Crudeoil trading range for the day is 2938-3168.

Crude oil gains as investors cheered the latest report from the EIA showing U.S. crude inventories fell more than expected.

Support also seen after reports Saudi Arabia would cut supplies to the region as OPEC battles against rising U.S. output.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister Khalid al-Falih said that he expected the output deal to be extended to the end of the year or possibly longer.

BUY CRUDEOIL MAY 2017 @ 3040 SL 3000 TGT 3085-3120.MCX.

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Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Copper cooking pots still in use today, some dating back to King George IV, sit on racks in the kitchens at Buckingham Palace in London March 25, 2011. Staff at Buckingham Palace have lifted the lid on preparations for Prince William's wedding next month, giving an insight into what guests can expect and the amount of work they have put in to make the event a success. REUTERS/Nick Ansell/POOL (BRITAIN - Tags: ROYALS ENTERTAINMENT POLITICS FOOD) - RTR2KJGP

Angel Commodities' report on Copper

LME Copper prices fell by 0.2 percent on Wednesday as Chinese consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.2 percent year on year in April, well below the government's annual target of around 3 percent set for 2017. Besides, Producer price index (PPI) rose 6.4 percent year on year in April, down from 7.6 percent in March, in the first monthon-month decline since July last year.

Outlook

LME Copper prices are currently trading higher by 0.4 percent at $5520/t. Prices are expected to trade lower today as string of disappointing data releases from China this week will hurt demand. Besides, high inventories at both LME and Shanghai warehouses still fuel supply glut concerns. Also, investors will cautiously await G7 Meetings later this week. We expect MCX copper prices to trade lower today.

For all commodities report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Riding high on the growing demand for high-end marble flooring in luxury residential and commercial space, imported marble company, Stonex India is eyeing to double its revenues to Rs 500 crore in the next two years.

It is also planning to launch 10 stores in the next two years to cater to all the five regions of India, including north, south, east, west and central, for selling its products.

"There is a huge demand for imported marble especially in the luxury residential, commercial and office space segments. We hope to double our revenues to nearly Rs 500 crore over the next two years," Stonex Director Gaurav Agarwal told PTI here today.

The company imports the natural stones largely from European countries and processes them at Kishangarh in Rajasthan.

Stonex currently supplies its products from Krishnagarh and its distribution outlet in Delhi. "But now we want to have our own stores which will cater to the growing demand across the five regions," he said.

The company is planning to open 10 stores in the next two years.

"In the first phase, we plan to open stores in locations like Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Indore, Guwahati and Mumbai. We have also identified locations like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi or Coimbatore, Bhubaneshwar for the second phase of this plan," Agarwal said.

He said the company is also eyeing a 10 percent share in the imported marble market in India, which is around Rs 5,000 crore, and is expected to grow to nearly Rs 25,000 crore in the next 10 years.

"With a revenue target of Rs 500 crore, we hope to achieve a market share of nearly 10 per cent in the next two years," Agarwal added.
By Satish Gupta of astrostocktips.in

Todays planetary position: Moon will be transiting in Libra, Jupiter in Virgo, Lord Rahu in Leo. Lord Saturn in Sagittarius. Mercury & Sun in Aries. Venus in Pisces. Mars in Taurus. Ketu in Aquarius. Pluto in Sagittarius. Neptune in Aquarius & Uranus in Pisces.

Rahu kal time: -13:30-15:00

Following sectors will be receiving astrological support:

Cement: UltraTech Cement, Dalmia Bharat, ACC, India Cements, OCL, HeidelbergCement India, etc.

Timing is most crucial element in investing or trading. This timing can be known through financial astrology. Astrology is only science which can predict future correctly & guide us about sectors which have to outperform.

Every year with commencement of new Samvat (Hindu New Year), astrologically, based on planetary position, certain new sectors start getting strong astrological support & start outperforming, while some others sectors which were performing earlier start underperforming. Some sectors/stocks remain laggards. Stocks of astrological supported sectors outperform resulting in exorbitant gains irrespective of market behaviour, either bull market or bear market.

Predicting bullish sectors of next Samvat 2074

Every year we release sectors of new Samvat in the month of March/April when new Samvat starts. But this year, we shall prepone release of next Samvat sectors, which are going to get strong astrological support & stocks from those sector outperform markets. Purpose of releasing sectors of next Samvat earlier is that investors & traders should get maximum advantage of down trend of markets by good timing.

We firmly believe that these special astrological positions present very unique opportunities to investors and traders both. This opportunity, if utilised properly, can safeguard your existing portfolio and simultaneously optimise your future investments and trading also. Successful investing and trading is all about good timing only.

Needless to mention our innumerable past predictions, where most stocks from the SECTORS of SAMVAT gave exorbitant returns & certain stocks appreciated by over 500 percent.

During current Samavat 2073 among other sectors  dyes/chemical/sugar sector received strong astrological support & outperformed and gave exorbitant return. Many stocks from dyes/ chemical sector appreciated by over 500 percent.

Sectors which get very strong astrological support are not normally affected by downfall in the market.

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
TCS_ravi_shankar_prasad

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Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today inaugurated a Business Process Service (BPS) centre here set up by IT major, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The BPS centre at Patlipurta, first of its kind in Bihar, has 1000 seats and will provide employment to 3000 local youths.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Electronics and Information Technology minister said that it was historic day for Bihar as India's largest IT company, TCS, has has set its foot in the state with its maiden BPS centre becoming operational at Patliputra.

"It is my dream to take BPS centres to small places to spread the Digital India programme throughout the country," Prasad said.

He said that his ministry has alloted 46,000 BPS seats throughout the country, including 4600 in Bihar, to leverage IT industry's growth for creating employment opportunities for India's talented boys and girls and drive inclusive growth.

Beaming with satisfaction at the TCS setting up the first-ever BPS centre in Patna, his hometown, Prasad said : "The dream of Digital India is being realised...it will give hope to local boys and girls about a bright and better future."

The BPS centre at Patna will also help in expansion of IT profile of the country by taking such services to countryside, he said.

Batting for the Centre's Digital India programme, the Union Minister said that the country is saving Rs 50,000 crore annually by linking payment to beneficiaries under 84 schemes through Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts.

Earlier, this money was being pocketed by the middlemen, he said.

Reiterating his commitment to bring more IT infrastructure to Bihar, Prasad lamented that the state government was not providing land for the purpose.

"There should be no politics in development works," the Union Minister said chastising the Grand Alliance government.

"The state government should be more pro-active in providing various facilities for investors to join the Centre's vision of a 'changing India for a better India and inclusive India.'

The TCS CEO-cum-MD Rajesh Gopinathan, in his brief inaugural speech, said that the BPS centre at Patna was a small beginning in the direction of providing IT infrastructure and jobs to the youths of this region.

"This project will build talent base to play seed capital to boost digital economic in the region," he said.
Senior Air India officers recently received a WhatsApp message from their boss: Carry your own bags!

As the government tries to put an end to VIP culture, the national carrier is doing away with the practice of having porters carry the hand baggage of its staff, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

In line with the PMs drive towards simplicity in public life let us to begin with shun the use of porters for carrying our hand baggage that our own hands should rightfully carry, read the message from Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani.

Baggage handling is looked after by AISATS, a private joint venture between Air India and SATS Limited. Some staff are tasked with assisting VIPs and airline staff and these porters carry luggage from the entry gate to the boarding point.

An Air India official was quoted as saying most airline staff used to avail of this service. Henceforth, however, only MPs and unwell staff can ask for their bags to be carried. Lohani, too, will carry his own bags.

The directive comes weeks after the government banned the long-standing and much abused practice of sporting red beacons atop VVIP vehicles. Top officials including the Prime Minister, President and Vice President are also not allowed to use the beacon, with PM Narendra Modi saying "every Indian is a VIP".

Correction: An earlier version of this story implied that AISATS employees are clubbed with Air India staff. The error is regretted.
Justice CS Karnan remains out of the police's grasp as multiple reports suggest that the countrys first sitting High Court judge to be sentenced for contempt has fled the country. Justice Karnan was said to be in Chennai till Wednesday morning.

Even as police forces expand their search, Karnan is believed to be seeking a review of the six-month imprisonment awarded by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. A Kolkata police team had unsuccessfully attempted to arrest the Calcutta High Court Judge on Wednesday.

Some media reports quoting various sources place Justice Karnan in France and Andhra Pradesh among other locations.

A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar held Justice Karnan guilty of contempt of grievous nature and sentenced him six months of imprisonment on Tuesday.

Police forces are on a vigil as he is a sitting judge and reportedly havent yet sought permission to track his phone. The bench said Justice Karnan has to be viewed as an ordinary citizen of the country and cannot be treated like a sitting judge in this case.

The apex 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 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 top court on Tuesday also barred the media from publishing the contents of orders passed by Justice Karnan.

On May 4, he 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".
Kapil_mishra

Hundreds of AAP workers today demonstrated outside the Election Commission headquarters here demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)- equipped EVMs be used in future elections.

The protesters, including AAP MLAs and newly appointed Delhi convener Gopal Rai, alleged that the manipulation of electronic voting machines was killing democracy.

"EVM manipulation is a real possibility and should be looked into immediately," said R K Gupta, an AAP worker who had come from Dwarka in southwest Delhi to the poll panel's central Delhi headquarters.

"This is how BJP won polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Even the division along caste lines could not have helped them with such a huge victory," added Pragati, another worker, who had come from Mundka near the city's western border.

Asked to elaborate, most protesters cited AAP legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj's live demo on EVM manipulation in the Delhi Assembly.

Apart from demanding that VVPAT-equipped EVMs be used, the party plans to approach the Election Commission with the request that votes registered in EVMs and paper trails of 25 per cent randomly chosen booths be tallied.

VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense paper slips which help voters confirm that their vote has indeed gone to the candidate of their choice.

Participating in a discussion on the issue during a day- long special session of the Delhi Assembly earlier this week, Bhardwaj claimed that a voting machine could 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.
India is celebrating its National Technology day today to mark the historic feat of test-firing its very first nuclear-capable missile back in 1998.

The nuclear tests that took place on May 11, 1998 saw late President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam leading the Indian team of scientists to successfully test-fire the Shakti-1 nuclear missile at Rajasthans Pokhran test range.

Apart from the nuclear tests being conducted, Indias first indigenous aircraft  the Hansa 3  also took flight in the state of Bengaluru. Designed by National Aerospace Laboratory, India, the light, two-seater aircraft was aimed to serve pilot training, surveillance, aerial photography and other such purposes.

DRDO added to the days importance by successfully completing the test-fire sessions of Indias Surface-to-Air Trishul missile.

The missile was then introduced to the Indian Army and Airforce and came as a part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme of India.

With all these technological advancements being completed on the same day, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced May 11 as the National technology Day.

On this occasion, a post on Prime Minister Narendra Modis website shows how Technology has always acted as a means to empowerment for people.

In a series of tweets, PM Narendra Modi speaks of Technology as a means to transform our potential in various sectors.

Read more: http://www.news18.com/news/tech/national-technology-day-of-india-why-it-is-celebrated-on-may-11-1398453.html
In an attempt to bring all pension products under the purview of a single regulator, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has sought a final word on the matter with the government.

In an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol, Hemant Contractor, Chairman of PFRDA said that they are hopeful of the government deciding on a single-source regulator.

Currently, the National Pension System alone is regulated by the PFRDA. However, pension products sold by insurance companies are overseen by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) while those sold by MFs come under SEBI's watch.

PFRDA, which was established with the intent of selling pure-play pension products, has for long lobbied for the exclusive right to be the watchdog.

PFRDA's dealings with the government come in the wake of the slow progress shown by the express committee set up in August last year by the Union finance Ministry in resolving the issue.

While neither the size nor the names of the committee members have been made public, sources said that about two whole-time members from IRDAI and Sebi apart from members of the Department of Financial Services looking after this portfolio have been made a part of the committee.

The committee's inaction is seen as a reason behind PFRDA initiating talks with the government. "We have not reached a conclusion yet. We have raised it [issue of a single regulator] again with the government and I think that they will do something," said Contractor.

In earlier discussions with the Finance Ministry, PFRDA had suggested that they be allowed to regulate all pension products that exist in the Indian market. Further, they wanted the word 'pension' to be attached to only those products that were approved and regulated by them.

At present, pension products having retirement benefits as well as annuity are sold by life insurance companies. These are required to be filed with IRDAI for approval prior to sale.

This is the not, however, the first time that regulation of a financial product has led to a tug of war between opposing parties. There was a tussle between IRDAI and Sebi in 2010 over who will regulate the Unit Linked Insurance Products (Ulips) since their funds also invested in equity markets regulated by Sebi. Finally, the government brought the curtains down on the two-month long tussle by issuing an ordinance that Ulips will be governed by IRDAI.

In the past, several government-appointed committees have favoured one regulator for the entire financial market, which will ensure not only stability but also reduce any overlap in regulation of products as well.

In 2013, a government-appointed panel, the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge BN Srikrishna, had proposed a unified regulator for markets, insurance, commodities and pensions. However, the regulatory bodies have not been very open to this idea.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke to Moon Jae-in, who has taken over as President of South Korea, and invited him to visit India soon.

"Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in of Korea. Wished him every success & invited him to visit India soon. 'Together we succeed'," Modi tweeted.

Yesterday, the prime minister had tweeted congratulatory messages to Moon in English and Korean languages.

He had said that he looked forward to working with Moon to further strengthen the strategic partnership.
Even as IT companies are looking to scale up hiring in the US as immigration laws are tightened under the Trump administration; the local government wants to ensure it does not happen at the cost of Indian employees.

In a first, the Telangana government has decided to intervene on reports of IT giant Cognizant laying off its employees and met with the company's management today to ensure that there no hit to its Hyderabad plans, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

Government seeks an amicable solution to reports of Cognizant laying off 6000 employees. However, the company indicated that they had performed a performance appraisal and that this was a normal procedure.

This was the cause of concern and so the IT body in the state asked the government to intervene. So, representatives of Labour ministry, IT officials attended the meeting.

Cognizant has plans for Rs 500 crore investment in the state and they already have 18000 employees in Hyderabad. They are looking to set up an 11-acre campus in coming months and plan to hire 8000 workers.

Sources say they plan to arrive at an amicable solution.
Answer: Nissan.

Nissan Motor Co forecast on Thursday a 7.7 percent fall in operating profit this year as the Japanese automaker expects higher raw materials costs and the yen's strength to weigh on its bottomline.

Nissan expects operating profit to come in at 685.0 billion yen ($6.00 billion) in the year to March, lower than an average estimate of 778.4 billion yen from 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and down from a 742.2 billion yen profit posted in the year just ended.

Nissan's forecast is based on a projection that the yen will average 108.0 yen to the US dollar in the year through March, compared with 108.3 yen in the year just ended.
By CNBCTV18.COM

Microsoft operates in more than 190 countries, and Nadella said the ability to compete in so many places is vital to the company's "overall long-term growth." But you can't just set up shop and give nothing back -- you have to "create local opportunity."

Microsoft is successful around the world in large part because it gives back to local communities and creates lots of businesses there, CEO Satya Nadella told financial analysts on Wednesday.

Microsoft operates in more than 190 countries, and Nadella said the ability to compete in so many places is vital to the company's "overall long-term growth." But you can't just set up shop and give nothing back -- you have to "create local opportunity."

This is especially true in the current age, as politicians and citizens in many countries are turning against the decades-long trend of globalization.

"Every head of state only cares about one thing: it's about their country first," said Nadella. "In the U.S. it's about America first, and in Britain it's about Britain first."

When talking to these heads of state, a company must to be able to show them what you've done for their countries "in terms of local taxes, in terms of local small business productivity, local large business competitiveness, their educational outcomes, their entrepreneurial work, that's what matters," he said.

"Any company that just collects rent internationally," Nadella added, "will be in trouble."

Microsoft booked more revenue from outside the United States than from within it in each of its last two fiscal years. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016, it generated $44.7 billion in international sales, versus $40.6 billion domestically.
The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana.
"I wasn't for the sale of it in the beginning, we voted against it, and raised our voices and made the calls. It's like anything else, I'm tired of everything going up: heating oil, fuel, food, and now the sewer," said voter Lowell Delp.
Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
Area residents, as well as a slew of local officials, attended the May 6

Celebration of Immigration community event, organized by Live Oak High Schools Student Voices group.

Held at San Martin/Gwinn Environmental Science Academy (100 North Street in San Martin), the free event was put together by LOHS students in an effort to show their solidarity and support for the immigrant population in the area.

The group worked in partnership with Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network, whose keynote speaker Sandra Cruz spoke on issues facing undocumented immigrants.

Food trucks, community providers, games, face painting and more were all part of the student-led event.

City of Morgan Hill Councilmembers Rene Spring and Rich Constantine as well as Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Steve Betando, School Board Trustee Teresa Murillo and Police Chief David Swing were among attendees to the weekend event.

Live Oak Student Voices is a student group created out of a nationally publicized incident at LOHS on Cinco de Mayo in 2009.

With tensions across the nation at an all time high, students, teachers and staff members have begun to see an impact on the school climate. Once again, Live Oak Student Voices want to be at the forefront of bringing people back together, according to MHUSD staff. Hoping to make a broad impact in South County, they decided to embrace this opportunity to create a community-wide celebration focused on the strength that diversity brings to our South County community.

The Live Oak Student Voices also meets weekly with school site administration to share the needs and concerns of students.
The developmental center that bears his name is a testament to his lifes work treating those with developmental disabilities.

Dr. J. Iverson Riddle, 86, died Tuesday afternoon but the legacy he leaves behind in his work will long benefit the center and its residents. He was the founding director of Western Carolina Center but his work and impact on the center and its residents was such that state legislators renamed it the J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center in 2007, the year after he retired.

Martin Sohovich and Riddle got to know each other through their wives toward the end of Riddles retirement from the center.

Sohovich said when the center was renamed , the state had to spend money to change signs and other things. He said Riddle used to joke, saying I just should have changed my name to Western Carolina Center.

While some people love retirement, Riddle hated it and considered it a mistake he had made, Sohovich said.

Calling Riddle a famous storyteller, Sohovich said Riddle used to sit on Sohovichs porch, smoking his pipe and regaling him with stories, mostly about his work.

Sohovich said Riddle really cared about the residents at the center, as well as the employees. Riddle used the word joy a lot, Sohovich said, and tried to make sure the residents had joy in their lives, no matter the type or severity of their disabilities.

Sohovich said Riddle was proud of the artists whose talents were discovered at the center, including Brooks Yeoman and Harold Crowell. Both have gone on to become successful artists and have had showings across the country and world. Riddle created a fine arts program at the center.

Riddle told The News Herald in 2013 during the centers 50th anniversary celebration, No one thought people with serious mental handicaps could ever have any talent. But what we have found is with a little learning and direction, they are phenomenal artists.

In fact, Riddle put together 41 programs that were the first of their kind of any center for the developmentally disabled, according to a News Herald story on the 50th anniversary.

Riddle was named the head of school, which was then Western Carolina School, on Aug. 2, 1962. The school opened Dec. 16, 1963.

A native of Morganton, Riddle graduated from medical school at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He also served as a lieutenant commander of the U.S. Navy. It was during his time in the military that he started working on Western Carolina School, even meeting with architects during trips home to Morganton on leave.

Seth Hunt, the former CEO of Broughton Hospital, said he came to know Riddle in the early 1990s when Hunt was a mental health facility director in Wilson. Their relationship grew after Hunt was appointed CEO of the mental hospital in Morganton.

I was so saddened to have learned of Iverson's passing, Hunt said. Iverson was very much a visionary and progressive professional, both as a psychiatrist and a director of a large facility serving those with very special needs. Many of his client-centered initiatives were replicated nationwide, most especially those that monitored and protected the human and day-to-day living rights of those for whom he was charged with caring.

Iverson was well-known, nationwide, for his innovation of programs for client-centered self expression in the arts, crafts and progressive normalization of living skills for very special people with needs. He has done many good things benefitting and touching so very many lives. He was a good man whom I shall miss.

Besides his work, Iverson also loved old cars and motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons.

A memorial celebration of Riddle's life will be held at the J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center, 300 Enola Road, Morganton, on Wednesday, May 17 at 2 p.m. in the center's gymnasium. The family will receive friends from 5-8 p.m. Friday, May 12 at Sossoman Funeral Home, 1011 S. Sterling St.

Sharon McBrayer is a staff writer and can be reached at smcbrayer@morganton.com or at 828-432-8946.
The following mug shots are taken from the top bond amounts from the week of April 23-29:

 Mark Anthony Setzer, 42, of 2263 Liberty Church Road, in Hickory, was charged with one felony count each of trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking heroin, maintaining a dwelling, vehicle or place for drugs or controlled substances and possession of a weapon by a felon. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a total of $130,000 in secured bonds.

 Justin Todd Davis, 32, of 700 Salem Road, in Morganton, was charged with six counts of misdemeanor failure to appear or comply and two counts of misdemeanor probation violation. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a total of $129,000 in secured bonds.

 Kenneth Wayne Setzer, 46, of 2263 Liberty Church St., in Hickory, was charged with one felony count each of trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking drugs by possession and maintaining a dwelling, vehicle or place for drugs or controlled substances. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $100,000 secured bond.

 Sharon Elizabeth Wright, 50, of 116 Murphy Court, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor probation violation and failure to appear or comply. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a total of $80,000 in secured bonds. Her trial date was set for June 5.

 Tony Otis Earls, 44, of 3414 Icard Dairy Barn Road, in Connelly Springs, was charged with nine counts of misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was served at the Burke-Catawba jail where he was being held on previous charges. He was issued a total of $60,000 in secured bonds for these charges.

 Mikayla Ann Saul, 16, of 236 Victorian Lane, in Granite Falls, was charged with one felony count each of first-degree statutory rape and firs-degree statutory sexual offense. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $25,000 secured bond.

 Jordane Aries Jackson, 29, of 179 18th St. N.W., in Hickory, was charged with felony possession of cocaine. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $20,000 secured bond.

 Edward Michael Cale, 30, of 2350 U.S. Highway 70, in Connelly Springs, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor probation violation. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a total of $20,000 in secured bonds. His trial date was set for May 9.

 Robert Tracy McCombs, 49, of 220 Cherry Laurel Drive, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor failure to appear or comply and one misdemeanor count of probation violation. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a total of $15,500 in secured bond. His trial date was set for June 5.

 James Allen Clark, 42, of 2300 Liberty Church St., in Hickory, was charged with misdemeanor probation violation. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $15,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for June 5.

 Terry Joseph Brown, 35, of 2302 Crestview St., in Valdese, was charged with two counts each of felony larceny by trick and possession of stolen goods and one misdemeanor count of failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a total of $12,000 in secured bonds
When Nick Hunter and Dan Hutzelman founded River City Mortgage in 2008, they wanted the Cincinnati-based firm to be a different kind of mortgage business  one that focused on exceptional customer service from expert originators.We wanted full control of our business model, and to be able to make sure there werent other branches dragging us down, Hunter said. We founded River City on the basis that we want to hire people who are knowledgeable, who have a background in finance.Hunter and Hutzelman also set River City up as both a lender and a broker.Weve got our lenders license, but we kept our brokers license for a reason  so we can offer a plethora of options, he said. We want to be able to be a one-stop shop when somebody wants a mortgage.From the beginning, Hunter and Hutzelman insisted on a high level of expertise and drive in their LOs. To that end, Hunter said, all River City loan officers have a background in finance and a college degree.For me personally, Ive always enjoyed real estate as well as finances. Thats what drew me into the mortgage business initially, Hunter said. Dan and I, from very early on, were very competitive with ourselves. And if youre not that way, you cant really just coast through it. Having that drive and determination each and every month keeps us getting up in the morning  and we want people who feel the same way.River City originators financial expertise allows them to educate customers as well as help them into a mortgage, Hunter said. For instance, he said, customers with high credit card debt were often unaware they could use a refi loan to help consolidate that debt and start paying it down.What drives us is being able to educate people financially and help them to start attacking that debt, which is now all one payment, one loan, he said. With a refinance, if were not saving them money, were not closing the loan. Were calling them 60 days after, a year after, and theyre telling us how we changed their life  thats very satisfying from my perspective.River City also stresses a high level of personal interaction with customers, Hunter said.The automated part of the industry has gotten so big that people tend to forget that a handshake goes a long way. Were always available for our customers, he said. A high degree of customer service and that in-person touch set us apart from the rest of the industry. I think thats why we have such a high closing ratio.River City is licensed in 14 states and the District of Columbia, so a lot of its business could conceivably be done with the originator and the customer never meeting face to face. But Hunter said River City LOs will often catch a plane specifically to sit down with customers and educate them on their options.By us traveling out there and sitting down with them, they can see that we know what were doing. We build a level of trust off the bat, he said. I know theres a big expense to that. At the same time, the average loan officer is probably closing three to four deals in a month  where ours are doing 20 because of the high volume of people that were meeting with.The company also focuses on underserved markets  customers who may have been turned down in the past.A lot of them could easily qualify now, but theyre scared, Hunter said. We enjoy helping people. I love being able to lower payments, or be able to explain something in a different light.We focus a lot of our efforts on trying to help veterans, he added. Its kind of an underserved market, so we partner with lenders like Carrington who offer VA loans for people who might not have been able to qualify elsewhere.While Hunter recognizes the need to embrace technology, its the focus on in-person service that he feels sets River City apart.Were technology driven as well, but a lot of larger companies are apt to go completely technology-based, he said. Our philosophy is to try to meet with as many people in person as possible  to provide a different level of customer service.
Much has changed in the year since Midland Colleges Petroleum Professional Development Center last hosted its Environmental Regulatory Seminar.

Those changes  in administration and in both the legislative and regulatory atmosphere  will be a topic at the PPDCs seminar Thursday at the Scharbauer Student Center Carrasco Room at Midland College.

Curtis Helms Jr., director of the PPDC, said that topic will kick off the annual event.

Susan Ginsberg with the Independent Petroleum Association of America will speak on the Trump administration and regulatory and legislative changes and challenges and the opportunity for the industry to push for regulations that will encourage the production of oil and natural gas, he said. Im interested to see what she has to say.

Water issues will be the subject of several presentations at the seminar. Kevin Kluge, director, conservation and innovative water technology with the Texas Water Development Board, will discuss water planning efforts, both near-term and long-term, and brackish water. Richard Brantley and Joe Petersen with University Lands will speak on evaluating water strategies for oil and gas development on university lands. And Midland attorney John A. Jad Davis will conclude the day with a presentation on oilfield water and water issues.

Luncheon speakers Michael J. Neese and Topher Small with Pioneer Water Management will focus on parent company Pioneer Natural Resources partnership with the city of Odessa that takes Odessa wastewater for use in Pioneers oilfield operations.

Pioneer did just sign a similar arrangement with the city of Midland, but the focus will be on Odessa because its already operating, and theyre already processing 150,000 barrels of water a day, said Helms. I will be asking for an update on Midland.

The lesser prairie chicken will be the subject of two talks. Clay Nichols of the Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Sean Kyle of the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies will offer updates on the bird and conservation plans designed to protect it.

Grant Chambless of the Railroad Commission will speak on oil and gas waste stream management and permitting options, and Bo Vizcaino, also with the agency, will address oil and gas regulations and clean-up operations.

Other regulatory agencies and industry associations participating in the event include the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the State of New Mexicos Oil Conservation Division and New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

Another talk Im excited about is Bill Wren with the McDonald Observatory, talking about lighting practices in the oil and gas industry and consequences for safety, costs and the nighttime sky, said Helms. Hes worked with Apache and Pioneer to change lighting orientation to protect the nighttime sky (for the observatory) while still preserving safety around drilling sites.

Helms said when he first heard Wren speak on the subject, he was skeptical because he thought efforts to keep skies dark for the observatory would hurt the industry.

But I was glad to hear that wasnt the case, that he was also concerned about keeping oil field operations safe.

Approximately 53 people have already registered for the event, Helms said.

Last year we had 89 and Ill be excited if we can match that this time. Times are still tough and events like this just arent drawing attendance like they once did.
We are collating signatures to petition ...
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Former FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to some of his FBI friends and colleagues after being fired this week by President Donald Trump.

The letter was Comeys final word after the shocking news of him being let go.

"I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all. I'm not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won't either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply," Comey stated in his letter.

Democratic U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee shared his thoughts on the letter on Twitter.

Others have chosen more harsh words to talk about this situation. The majority of Republicans have remained either neutral or supportive of the president's decision.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has been quoted as saying he has questions.

While the majority of Democrats have called for an independent investigation, like U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, who stated on Twitter:

Trump responded to the backlash overnight by tweeting a video that highlights all the times Democrats have criticized Comey, saying they should be ashamed. There are at least a dozen clips in the video.

The Democrats should be ashamed. This is a disgrace!#DrainTheSwamp pic.twitter.com/UfbKEECm2V  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2017

A New York Times list shows where each lawmaker stands on the firing.
AUSTIN -- A bill to ensure that day care facilities can keep epinephrine auto-injectors on site received unanimous approval in the Senate Wednesday. The measure, SB 1101 by Plano Sen. Van Taylor, would let day care administrators get prescriptions to keep the life-saving drug, often known by its trade name EpiPen, on hand in case of emergencies. Even if there aren't any known cases of potentially fatal food allergies among a day care population, many cases don't appear until there is a life threatening reaction to an allergen, said Taylor. "The symptoms of anaphylactic shock can set in within seconds and if left untreated these symptoms can manifest themselves into unconsciousness and even death," said Taylor. "Many children never know they have that allergy until it's literally too late." The bill would permit doctors to write a prescription for the auto-injectors in the name of the day care rather than a specific person. Facilities would be responsible for training employees in the signs and symptoms of anaphylactic shock as well as use and disposal of the injectors.

Also Wednesday the Senate approved a bill that would add photo identification to the front of Lone Star cards. These cards are used to provide federal and state food and cash assistance to needy individuals, and work just like a debit card. SB 1443 author Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe said that with so much money being spent on these programs, Texas must do what it can to reduce waste and abuse. "Increasing accountability through fraud prevention measures is a good policy and it serves all that are relying on the use of this card and these programs," he said. "These measures will ensure that benefits go to intended recipients and tax payer dollars are used for their intended purpose." The bill would also require Lone Star cards to feature the number of a fraud hotline that can be used to report suspected fraud. The new photo requirements would not apply to people over the age of 65, under the age of 19 or people who are blind, disabled or the victims of domestic abuse.
Costly education project debacle causes loss in public confidence

VietNamNet Bridge - Many educational projects capitalized at trillions of dong have failed, but negative consequences have affected generations of students.









Many educational projects capitalized at trillions of dong have failed, but negative consequences have affected generations of students.



The new general education programming became a hot topic of discussion on education forums after MOET opened the draft frame curriculum for public opinion some days ago.Many parents have expressed their concern that the new general education programming would once again fail like many other multi-trillion dong reform programs. If so, big money will be lost, while an entire generation of students will be spoiled.Vietnamese students were once the victims of the majoring-based classifying program initiated in 1993. Under the program, high-school students were classified into three groups. A-group were students majoring in natural sciences, while B-group comprised students majoring in technology and C-group social sciences.

In 1998, the program was eliminated when the Education Law was ratified by the National Assembly.



In 2003, the classifying program was re-activated, but with only two majoring groups, A & C. It was expected that 60 percent of students would choose A group and 40 percent C group. However, in fact, 90 percent of students chose A and only 10 percent chose C.



As the pilot program failed, MOET submitted another trial classifying program, under which there were two groups only for 10th and 11th graders, and four groups for 12th graders.



However, when the classification was put into large-scale application, three groups appeared, A, C and D, or the basic group.



Saying that MOETs policies were as changeable as the weather, analysts said that MOET did not have firm argument when laying down the policies, but it did this by feeling.



In a report in August 2013, Dao Trong Thi, who was then chair of the NAs Committee for Culture, Education, the Youth and Children, commented that the plan on classifying high school students did not succeed.



About 84 percent of students follow the D group, while only 14 percent follow the A group and 2 percent C group.



In HCMC, according to Nguyen Van Ngai, deputy director of the city education department, 90 percent of students chose to study basic subjects, and only a few the A group and almost no student chose C group.



Tran Trung Kien, former headmaster of Mac Dinh Chi High School, commented that in principle, MOET should have consulted with students and parents before creating the policies. However, MOET did not do this, but made the decision. As a result, the policies were not appreciated by students.



Do Ngoc Thong, deputy director of the MOETs Secondary Education Department, admitted that the program on classifying students was too rigid, and that the three groups did not satisfy students aspirations.





RELATED NEWS

Vietnamese people flock to higher education programmes

Parents oppose new educational model





Chi Mai
In a bizarre quirk of timing, a top market research company capped off six weeks of highly publicized incidents involving unruly behavior by airline passengers and employees with a report that says passenger satisfaction with North American airlines is at an all-time high.

The seemingly contradictory nature of the report raises questions about whats really going on between airlines and passengers.

Its impossible to think about airline customer satisfaction without replaying the recent images of a passenger being dragged from a seat, but our data shows that, as a whole, the airline industry has been making marked improvements in customer satisfaction across a variety of metrics, from ticket cost to flight crew, Michael Taylor at JD Power, said in a statement released with the companys 2017 North America Airline Satisfaction Study on Wednesday.

While isolated, incidents during the past six weeks have inflamed public anger:

 an altercation over a stroller at San Francisco International on April 21 between an American Airlines flight attendant and a woman traveling with two young children;

 a California family being thrown off a Delta plane on April 23 for refusing to give up a paid seat on a full flight;

 an incident Thursday in which a Bay Area flier traveling from New Orleans to San Francisco said he had his ticket canceled by a United worker after the passenger began filming a heated dispute over baggage;

 a fight that erupted Sunday on a just-landed Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas to Hollywood Burbank Airport;

 and brawling at Fort Lauderdales airport on Monday between police and Spirit Airlines customers frustrated by labor-related cancellations.

As with the bloodied man being dragged off a United flight, all the incidents were caught on camera  which was less likely even five years ago.

Taylor says the industry has significant room for improvement. Airlines still rank among the bottom tier of most service industries tracked by JD Power, far lower than North American rental car companies or hotels, he said.

Neither the report nor the publics growing reaction to the events was particularly surprising, said Brian Sumers, airline business reporter for Skift, a news site covering the travel industry.

The study didnt really surprise me. In a lot of ways, airline travel has gotten much better in the past five or so years, said Sumers. He cited increased access to Wi-Fi, friendlier flight attendants, more on-time flights and fewer canceled flights. Its actually a pretty good time to fly.

But given the sheer volume of inflammatory incidents involving an industry that Americans love to hate, the recent public outrage is predictable, he said.

In the last six weeks, flying has been a disaster in the United States. I do think that were in a little bit of a cycle and that these things are building off of each other.

Any time that theres a disturbance on an airplane or at the gate or in the airport lobby, somebody takes out an iPhone and films it, and thats normal, but it seems to get everybody pretty excited and things that might have just fallen away in the past and nobody would have known are now on video and have this tendency to go viral.

It probably doesnt help that, in general, passengers are more tense.

A situation that might not bother somebody walking down the street or in a shopping mall, say somebody bumps elbows  you can sort of let that go on the ground.

But for whatever reason, you get on an airplane, people are anxious, theyre stressed, theyre worried, they want to know if theres room to put up their bags, and they have much shorter fuses on an airplane.

The satisfaction report attributed lower costs, fewer problems, satisfaction with crews as reasons for the rating, citing that the average North American airfare fell 8.5 percent in 2016 to $349. Improved on-time performance, fewer lost bags, historically low bump rates and high scores for flight crews also contribute to the overall increase in airline customer satisfaction, the report stated.

The relationship between passengers and airlines at the moment involves at least three issues that overlap but that dont necessarily affect one another: the study that measures satisfaction; periods of public outrage based on a series of isolated events; and incidents involving unruly passengers, which are on the rise, according to the International Air Transport Association.

In 2015, the most recent year in which there are records, there were 10,854 cases involving unruly passengers, one incident for every 1,205 flights, according to the International Air Transport Association, a trade group that represents 265 airlines which carry 83 percent of total air traffic. By comparison, there were 49,084 incidents total from 2007 to 2015, one for every 1,613 flights.

The majority of reports are Level 1 incidents which are verbal in nature, whereas 11 percent of reports relate to level 2 incidents, which involve physical aggression to others or damage to the aircraft. Not surprisingly, intoxication involving drugs or alcohol accounted for 23 percent of all cases.

The numbers are definitely rising, said Perry Flint, a spokesman for the group.

We have not tried to figure out why theyre rising. What were really focused on is the regulatory global level enabling changing international agreements that give teeth to enforcement, said Flint. We just want it to stop.

Taylor of JD Power told The Chronicle its important to differentiate between the satisfaction study, which is based on real customers and their recent experience, and the image and reputation of the airline, which the company also tracks.

The image is going to be impacted by other perceptions, he said, including posted videos showing issues or altercations related to an airline. In the end, the satisfaction study is probably more important to airlines, he said.

If they meet or exceed expectations, then the passenger is going to be satisfied, and the concerns that they have over seeing a video might fade over time.

Spud Hilton is the editor of San Francisco Chronicles Travel. Email: shilton@sfchronicle.com. Twitter and Instagram: @SpudHilton
Memorial Hermann Health System signed a joint venture with Emerus, a Woodlands-based healthcare provider with microhospitals nationwide, according to the Houston Business Journal.

RELATED: Memorial Hermann to pay $2.4M after sharing patient name in press release

Memorial Hermann provided cash to the joint venture and Emerus included its two Houston-area facilities, in Tomball and Sugar Land, in the deal. Emerus will be hired to manage the facilities in addition to any new facilities Emerus builds in the Houston area.

Mike Kohler, currently Emerus' regional CEO for the greater Houston area, will be CEO for the joint venture, which is expected to close this summer, a Memorial Hermann spokesperson said in a statement.

The cash amount paid by Memorial Hermann was not disclosed, but according to David Bradshaw, the healthcare giant's executive vice president and chief strategy officer, the deal gives Memorial Hermann a slight majority share in equity.
Students at Yellowstone Academy earned $7,500 during the school's first time participating in Lemonade Day, an event designed to teach kids about running a business.

With support from more than 40 Cadence Bank mentors, every grade from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade operated a lemonade stand on Friday, May 5. Half of all profits will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Star of Hope, Shriner's Hospital and other non-profit organizations selected by each class, according to a news release.
Pivoting away from South Texas, Anadarko Petroleum is selling 111,000 acres of land in the Eagle Ford for $625 million to WildHorse Resource Development.

Houston-based WildHorse bought the acreage from the Houston-based Anadarko and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., which was an investment partner, WildHorse announced Thursday.

The land had daily production in the first quarter of 2017 of 17,600 barrels of oil or oil equivalent, half of which was oil.

With a total of 385,000 net acres, we have built a premier contiguous acreage base making us the second largest operator in the entire Eagle Ford trend, Jay Graham, WildHorses CEO and chairman, said in a news release.

The land is located in Burleson, Brazos, Lee, Milam, Robertson and Washington counties.

Anadarko will get $556 million in cash, while Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. will receive 6.3 million shares of WildHorse valued at $69 million.

To fund the purchase, global asset manager The Carlyle Group will purchase $435 million of Series A stock from WildHorse, with the remainder funded under the companys revolving credit facility.

Anadarko announced in January that it was selling 318,000 acres in Dimmit, Webb, La Salle and Maverick counties to Houstons Sanchez Energy Corp. and Blackstone Group for $2.3 billion.

Anadarko said at the time that it would focus the funds in West Texas Delaware Basin, a part of the Permian Basin oil field, Colorado and deep-water projects in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil exploration and production companies have been shifting their focus to the prolific Permian oil field where land is selling for as much as $60,000 an acre.

rdruzin@express-news.net

@druz_journo
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The City Council will vote next week on a tax plan for the Massachusetts owner of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, which plans to develop a 200-acre, $150 million distribution center on 1,200 acres near Mission Espada.

TJX Companies Inc., which owns the retail chains, wants to open the warehouse in July 2019. It would be the companys sixth warehouse in the nation, serving the southern areas of the U.S.

The project, which would create about 1,000 jobs over five years, was first reported by the Express-News on April 24. The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation released details of the agreement Thursday.

The 1.5 million-square-foot distribution site will be bounded by Loop 410 on the north, Goeth Road on the south, the San Antonio River on the east and U.S. 281 on the west. The lands seller is Redus Texas Land, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.

Under the agreement, the city would promise not to annex the property for 15 years, guaranteeing lower property taxes. TJX would coordinate with Workforce Solutions Alamo, SA Works and Goodwill Industries to target hiring from high-unemployment areas of San Antonio.

The company also would agree to provide health and retirement savings benefits for eligible, full-time employees. The company has informed the city it will pay a minimum of $10 an hour to workers and that 26 percent of workers will earn at least the citys living-wage level of $11.83 per hour.

Some management positions will pay more than $50,000 a year, said Jeannette Garcia, a marketing specialist in the citys Economic Development Department.

Under the agreement, TJX would donate 15 to 20 acres to Southside Independent School District for a new school and also would donate more than 3 miles of property to the city for a bike-and-pedestrian trail route known as the Espada Trail Connection.

The route will connect 13 miles on the Medina River Greenway to 14 miles along the San Antonio River, creating a seamless trail of about 31 total miles.

TJX also would work with local organizations to preserve about 300 acres of flood plain that would buffer any future development south of Mission Espada, one of the World Heritage Site missions.

On April 6, Southside Independent School District approved a tax exemption for the company.

TJX, a global, Fortune 100 company, has chosen to significantly invest in South San Antonio through partnerships that promote balanced growth and availability of employment opportunities in the city, while protecting our Missions and connecting our greenbelt and creekway system, Mayor Ivy Taylor said in a prepared statement.

TJX operates more than 3,600 stores worldwide under six retail brand names.

The Fortune 100 company reported sales of $30.94 billion in 2016.

dhendricks@express-news.net
A long-running San Antonio tradition returns to the River Walk on Friday night. Beer Week kicks off Saturday with a free bash at Main Plaza. Sunday is Mom's day; maybe she'd like to see Frankie Valli (or treat her to one of San Antonio's best brunches).

Click through the slideshow for details on these events and more, including a concert so good that two of our music writers recommended it.
Battalion is San Antonio's hottest new place for Italian, thanks to the food and design of chef Stefan Bowers and restaurateur Andrew Goodman.

One of the best dishes at Battalion is Three Cheese Beef & Pork "Meatballs." On Friday, Bowers and Goodman will share the recipe for those meatballs during a live cooking demonstration from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen in New York City broadcast via Facebook Live.
It appears the Giants will be closer to whole than expected when they open a four-game home series against the Reds on Thursday night.

The Giants already said they planned to activate shortstop Brandon Crawford (groin strain) from the 10-day disabled list after playing in two rehab games for Double-A Richmond, Va. Now, it sounds like center fielder Denard Span (sternoclavicular sprain) could be activated after two rehab games at Class A San Jose.

Span was expected to play three games in San Jose.

Span had two hits for the little Giants on Wednesday night, though after rehabbing Dodgers starter Rich Hill pitched five shutout innings for Rancho Cucamonga.

It will be interesting to see whether manager Bruce Bochy maintains Joe Panik at leadoff or returns Span to his ordinary spot.

The Giants have sent reliever Reyes Moronta back to Richmond after a one-day stint in the majors. They will have to make another 25-man move to clear a spot for Span. They would have to designate for assignment any of the extra outfielders (Justin Ruggiano, Gorkys Hernandez, Michael Morse) but could option infielder Kelby Tomlinson.

Crawford has not played in the majors since he injured the groin in an April 25 home game against the Dodgers, the night before he started what was to be a three-day bereavement leave.

Span injured his shoulder area while crashing into the wall at Coors Field as he caught a Charlie Blackmon drive April 22.

Ty Blach faces Bronson Arroyo in Thursdays series opener, as the Giants again try to win consecutive games for the second time in 2017. Blach allowed 10 runs (eight earned) in three innings in his last start Saturday during the Giants lost weekend in Cincinnati.

Here are the lineups:

REDS (vs. LHP Ty Blach)

Hamilton CF

Cozart SS

Votto 1B

Duvall LF

Suarez 3B

Schebler RF

Peraza 2B

Mesoraco C

Arroyo P

GIANTS (vs. RHP Bronson Arroyo)

Span CF

Belt 1B

Pence RF

Crawford SS

Arroyo 3B

Panik 2B

Nunez LF

Hundley C

Blach P

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman
Two bills in the Texas legislature that would forbid dog owners from restraining their dogs with heavy chains and establish new rules concerning their care has local lawmakers, dog lovers and advocacy groups squaring off for, well, quite a dog fight.

Under one of the bills -- House Bill 1156 -- which has a long list of sponsors, including Rep. Sarah Davis, who represents Houston and parts of Harris County -- it would be a Class C misdemeanor to restrain a dog outside with a heavy chain. The bill would also mandate the maximum length of a leash, or restraint, while also requiring the dog have a clean and sturdy shelter, shade, water and set other requirements.

Anyone convicted of violating the proposed law could be fined up to $500. For a second offense, an offending dog owner could get up to six months in jail.

A companion bill -- SB 1090 -- which also regulates restraints, collars and other matters involving dog care, passed the Senate in a 28-3 vote last month.

Making sure their pets are out of the heat during the summer, kept warm in the winter and have plenty of food and water to drink is, of course, paramount to dog lovers.

Both bills have the support of a nonprofit called the Texas Humane Legislation Network, with the group claiming that many dogs die of strangulation, heat stroke and the inability to get to food, water, or shelter while being chained up.

"We're really just trying to fix an existing ten-year-old state statute," Laura Donahue, executive director of the group said.

Noting "fearmongering" over the bills she blames two national organizations from outside of Texas for fueling what she terms unreasonable fears about the proposed rules by distorting their intent

Donahue says her group wants lawmakers to make sure dogs aren't burdened by heavy chains, which some dogs will chew on, causing them to break their teeth in a desperate attempt to escape. Donahue has firsthand experience with such desperation, having adopted a pit bull she says had broken teeth from chewing on chains.

"There are so many of these dogs across the state," she said.

House Bill 1156 would also require dogs have adequate shelter and have access to "potable" drinking water.

"A majority of Texans agree that dogs should have access to water," Donahue said.

Hard for lovers of "man's best friend" to argue with, right?

Well, not so fast.

Rep. Cecil Bell Jr., who represents parts of Montgomery and Waller counties, and is also a dog owner, has his hackles up over the wording of the bills.

Bell, the owner of a Yorkshire Terrier he has at his home and another dog at his ranch, is opposing the bills because though he says they are "well intentioned" he also says they're an "egregious overreach."

Bell says they add new statutory offenses and remove local control, including the ability of local authorities to issue a 24-hour warning.

"They created a problem that every single Texan would be in violation," Bell said.

He argues there are a number of problems with HB 1156, including what he says would be making it against the law for a dog owner to leash a dog up against a post momentarily while going in to get a Starbucks coffee, or restraining a dog before going running to help a neighbor who had passed out.

Even a dog drinking water out of a creek, according to Bell, could get its owner into legal hot water.

He also notes the bill takes away the ability of local police to give a dog owner a 24-hour "right to cure" where the dog owner can come in compliance with the law

And that's just one of the many points where Donahue and Bell vehemently disagree.

"Twenty-four hours is life and death for an animal," Donahue argues, pointing out that not having water or proper shelter in the Texas heat can be quickly fatal for a dog.

Donahue also argues that discretion by law enforcement officials is inherent in all laws.

In arguing on behalf of dogs across Texas, Donahue points to the wide support from lawmakers, a broad coalition of animal shelter, advocacy groups and law enforcement agencies backing the legislation.

She also offers up a letter from Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonazalez in support of the legislation.

But Bell argues that while sheriffs, constables and other local law enforcement agencies support responsible dog ownership, many question the expansion of statutory law under the bills.

In any case, there's expected to be plenty of growling and barking over the bills in the state Capitol over the next few weeks. HB 1156 -- with its broad list of sponsors -- remains with a House committee, while SB 1090, after passing the Senate, is awaiting a House committee hearing.
WASHINGTON - Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe and other top U.S. intelligence officials are scheduled to testify before a congressional committee in a public hearing Thursday that has taken on new significance since President Trump suddenly removed James B. Comey as the leader of the FBI.

McCabe is certain to face questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday on the status of the bureau and its high-profile probe into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

As of Wednesday evening, Justice Department officials said they anticipated McCabe would testify - although they had just that day interviewed candidates to possibly replace him and expected to make a decision soon.

McCabe, who had been the No. 2 man in the bureau before his boss's ouster, will be joined by virtually every other top official whose job it is to detect and prevent Russian spy operations. The others on the witness list are CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, like the FBI, is probing Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and on Wednesday its chairs announced they had issued a subpoena to national security adviser Michael Flynn for documents related to that probe.

Flynn resigned from the Trump White House after public reporting on potentially illegal contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, which acting attorney general Sally Yates warned might make him susceptible to blackmail. He also has faced scrutiny for payments he received from Russian-backed entities, including the RT television network.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle fear that the bureau's probe - which, unlike the committee's, could produce criminal charges - may be upended now that Comey is gone, and they probably will press McCabe for a status update.

It is unlikely that he will reveal many substantive details. Much of the information is probably classified, and Justice Department policies prevent officials from discussing ongoing criminal probes. But legislators probably will press him on how the bureau can maintain the probe's integrity and independence, and whether he thinks that a special counsel is necessary.

He also will probably be asked to resolve a dispute over whether Comey asked Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein for more resources for the Russia investigation last week. Democrats have said Comey informed lawmakers of such a request, but the Justice Department has denied that one was made.

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., the committee's vice chairman, has said that Comey's firing made it clear that, a special counsel was necessary, as it was the "only way the American people will be able to trust the results of any [Justice Department] investigation."

Even Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the committee's chairman, said Comey's firing would "be harmful" to the committee and probably delay the completion of its probe, particularly in the effort to de-conflict its work with the bureau's.

"The timing of this and the reasoning for it doesn't make sense to me," Burr said of Comey's firing.

As the deputy director of the FBI, McCabe would have been intimately involved in the Russia investigation even before Comey's firing. He was notably at the center of a February incident in which the White House reportedly enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates' ties to Russia.

CNN reported at the time that the FBI had refused administration requests to knock down media reports on the subject, and the administration fired back that McCabe had pulled aside Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to tell him a New York Times story was "B.S."

McCabe was also at the center of a controversy in the Clinton email investigation - the case that administration officials have pointed to as Trump's basis for firing Comey. The Justice Department inspector general is investigating whether McCabe should have been recused from the case because his wife ran for a Virginia Senate seat and took money from the political action committee of Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Clinton ally.

The FBI asserted at the time that McCabe had checked with ethics officials and followed agency protocols. He also was not yet deputy director when his wife was first recruited to run.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
A bill that critics dismiss as a measure that would place Texas in the position of ignoring federal laws and court rulings, but that a Magnolia state lawmaker argues would actually establish a "mechanism" to reinforce the sovereignty of Texas, is moving a step closer to being debated by the Texas House of Representatives.

The Texas Sovereignty Act, HB 2338, authored by state Rep. Cecil Bell Jr., would have a committee review the constitutionality of federal laws, agency regulations, executive orders, court rulings, and other federal directives. Under the bill, if the committee determines a federal action is unconstitutional it would authorize the Texas attorney general to mount a legal defense on behalf of the state.

Reached by cell phone during a debate on the floor of the House, Bell told The Courier his bill would provide a "very deliberate process to enforce the Constitution."

He cited rules issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Obamacare regulations, property issues, gay marriage rulings and other matters that go as far back to 1805 for the motivation behind his proposed bill.

"You would have a platform where the the state could determine if it was (a federal action) constitutional or not," he said.

"Simply says we won't spend our money and our resources in the pursuit of that (unconstitutional) effort."

The Associated Press reported last month that that one key target of the bill could be the legalization of gay marriage. In 2015, Bell introduced a bill prohibiting Texas from enforcing court orders sanctioning gay marriage -- a pre-emptive strike against the landmark Supreme Court decision later that year. The bill died on the last day to pass House legislation, but only after effective stalling tactics by Democrats.

As for Bell's Texas Sovereignty Act, after being approved and voted out of committee in a 5-2 vote this week, the bill is now waiting to be scheduled for debate by the full Texas House of Representatives. But Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat who represents portions of Arlington and Tarrant County, dismisses the legislation as "not a serious bill." He says it has little chance of making it to the House floor.

"It proposes a structure for state nullification of federal laws which is clearly unconstitutional," Turner said.

With less than three weeks remaining in the Legislature's session, the bill would have to pass procedural deadlines to stand a chance of passage before the session's May 29 close.

Bell, a Republican who represents a district that runs across a swath of territory from outside of Conroe and across Montgomery and Waller counties, says he will bring the measure up again if the bill doesn't advance during this session.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
President Moon Jae-in told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that he's aware of Beijing's concerns over a U.S. missile shield installed on South Korean territory and will work to resolve the problem.

In their first phone conversation since his election victory this week, Moon told Xi that it may become easier to settle differences over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system if North Korea stops its provocations, Yoon Young-chan, Moon's senior secretary for public relations, said Thursday. The South Korean leader said he plans to send a special envoy to China to discuss Thaad and North Korea.

Moon also asked Xi to address the "restraints and restrictions" on South Korean companies doing business in China because they're experiencing "difficulties" over the deployment, according to Yoon.

The 40-minute conversation was the first in eight months between the heads of the two nations as relations suffered after Moon's predecessor allowed the U.S. to install Thaad. Moon also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, with the two agreeing to cooperate closely on the North Korea issue.

U.S. President Donald Trump has sought the help of China, South Korea and Japan in pressuring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to halt testing of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The impeachment and ouster of Park Geun-hye left a vacuum in South Korea's leadership at a time when tensions on the peninsula rose to the highest in years.

Moon has long said the next South Korean government should review the Thaad deployment and decide to allow it only after seeking China's understanding. In his inaugural address, he promised to "negotiate sincerely" with the U.S. and China to resolve the issue. He also wants China to play a greater role to convince Kim to give up his quest to develop a nuclear weapon that can reach the American mainland.

Moon said Pyongyang's nuclear issue should be addressed "comprehensively and gradually," not only with pressure but also through talks, because current international sanctions are also aimed at guiding Kim's regime to return to dialogue, Yoon said.

South Korea says it needs Thaad to defend itself from North Korea, but China believes its radars threaten regional security. China retaliated against the decision to allow the system by suspending Korean retail giant Lotte Mart's stores in its territory, banning package tours and imposing stricter rules for sales of Korean cosmetics products.

In his conversation with Abe, Moon pointed out that most South Koreans don't accept an agreement Japan made with the Park administration in December 2015 to compensate women who were forced to work in military brothels during World War II. Still, Moon stressed that the matter shouldn't remain a sticking point for the two nations to pursue "future-oriented relations," Yoon said in a separate briefing.

"We should overcome the issue in a wise way, while making efforts to address the North's nuclear issue and advance bilateral relations separately," Moon was quoted as saying.

Abe said it was important to fulfill the terms of the agreement, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda told reporters in Tokyo. At the time, the deal was supposed to be an "irreversible" solution to the so-called comfort women issue that has dogged relations between the countries for decades.

Abe and Moon agreed to meet soon, and Xi invited the South Korean leader to Beijing.

- With assistance from Maiko Takahashi and Isabel Reynolds
FAIRFIELD  Town Republicans picked a small business owner and child safety advocate who vowed to fight for local control and balance childrens and taxpayers needs to fill an empty Republican seat on the Board of Education.

The Republican Town Committee voted Monday night to recommend Nick Aysseh for the open seat, vacated when Republican Anthony Calabrese resigned from the board in late April following his permanent appointment as Fairfields parks and recreation director.

Its the love for my kids, the town, and also being able to be a part of providing a fabulous school system at a reasonable cost, Aysseh said in an interview after the May 8 vote, and trying to help be part of the solution of making things more efficient.

In the interview, Aysseh listed his first priorities as getting up to speed with the details of ongoing board issues, starting to find and address waste and inefficiencies and standing up to Hartford on racial imbalance law.

I believe strongly in standing for local control, Aysseh said during his remarks to the RTC before the vote. For every policy in place, government bodies ought to remove two, he said, positioning himself in line with the conservative tenet of small government.

People should decide whats best for their communities, Aysseh continued, not the government. He targeted racial imbalance law as an example of overbearing influence and promised to work with Fairfields state representatives and senator to push for independence from the outdated law in the interest of the McKinley School and larger communities.

The State Board of Education has mandated Fairfields school board comply, righting a state-deemed racial imbalance between McKinleys minority population and the significantly lower district average. McKinley parents have expressed worries it would dilute the international quality that makes the school special, and local officials have argued McKinleys diversity isnt creating the isolated, negative situation for students that the law aimed to prevent at its onset in 1969.

Aysseh also called for a more sustainable educational spending model. Explaining he is a small business owner  he founded Coastal Canine Pet Care Services in Fairfield  he said he understands the needs of taxpayers and aims to keep Fairfield affordable.

State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-28, nominated Aysseh for the seat, with a second from Board of Education member Trisha Pytko. The 38-year-old moved to Fairfield in 2007 and now lives on Ruane Street with his wife and two children, whom he intends to send to Fairfield Public Schools. A current member of the Holland Hill Building Committee, Aysseh took a deep interest in town education after losing a bid for a Representative Town Meeting seat and has been planning to run for school board since late 2015.

I have young children, Im a homeowner in town, a taxpayer and a parent, he said during the interview. When I purchased my home in town, I wanted to get involved and give back. In 2015 when I ran for the RTM and lost, I started getting involved and following education and quickly found that it was a passion and I had such an interest for it.

Aysseh stepped away from the day-to-day operations of his decade-old pet care company last year to work for Yale New Haven Hospitals child safety department, following 13 years volunteering as a child safety advocate. Aysseh is also a real estate broker. He attended schools and previously lived in New Canaan.

Aysseh beat out Suzanne Miska, a longtime member of PTAs and frequent school board meeting attendee, and Hugh Dolan, a former firefighter, to garner the RTCs pick, by a ballot vote of elected members of the RTC and ex-officio voting members. Both Miska and Dolan cited lengthy histories in town. Dolan vowed to reign in educational spending, and Miska said she would represent families using the public education systems interests and those of taxpayers.

The Board of Selectmen, who next meet May 17, pick the replacement  who must be a Republican that would serve until the November election  and are expected to confirm the RTCs selection.

The member whose departure created the current vacancy, Calabrese, was appointed parks and recreation director effective April 17, after he served as the departments interim director for several months. Calabrese, 35 and a longtime employee of the towns recreation department, issued his resignation that week. Three school board members had walked out of a meeting the week before, claiming Calabrese was already ineligible to serve.

The town charter specifies elected or appointed town officers are not eligible for elected town office. The three board members that staged the walk-out claimed he was already effectively chosen, while the town attorney and first selectman explained paperwork for Calabreses appointment was yet to be finalized and cited that as the moment his appointment would be official.

Five Board of Education seats, including the one Aysseh is set to fill, are up for re-election in the fall.

lweiss@hearstmediact.com; @LauraEWeiss16
Beirut

With the Trump administration's decision to supply Syria's Kurdish fighters with heavier weapons, U.S. troops inside Syria are in the crossfire between Turkey, a powerful NATO ally, and the Kurdish fighters that Ankara deems as terrorists.

In only a few months under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has almost doubled the number of troops in northern Syria, taking a highly visible role that also risks a backlash from militants such as the Islamic State group and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, and even pro-Turkey Syrian fighters angered by the U.S. move to arm the Kurds.

Tuesday's decision to arm the Kurds is a public rebuff to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a week before he meets Trump in Washington. For months, Erdogan has been trying to convince the U.S. to cut off its support for the Kurds and partner instead with Turkey-backed fighters to liberate the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqqa.

The dispute could ignite more fighting between Turkey and the Kurds as they gear up for a major operation to retake the city, with U.S. troops smack in the middle.

The growing U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war stands in sharp contrast to the caution adopted by former President Barack Obama and has alarmed officials in Damascus and its backers in Tehran.

Last month, Trump gave orders to fire 59 Tomahawk missiles at an air base in central Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces. It was the first time the U.S. has attacked Syrian forces in the six-year civil war.

Although U.S. officials have said repeatedly since then that the war against the Islamic State group in Syria remains the priority, that strike  coupled with the buildup of forces in the north  has raised speculation of longer-term U.S. ambitions in Syria and concerns about a more permanent project.

Under Trump, the Pentagon has made quiet, incremental additions to troop levels in Syria, adding hundreds of Marines to provide artillery support and sending more advisers to work with Kurdish units ahead of the fight for Raqqa. The official limit on U.S. troops has remained at 503 since shortly before Obama left office, but U.S. commanders this year have added hundreds of troops, including a Marine artillery unit, on what they call a temporary basis, raising the total to 900.

These have taken on a more visible role, often aimed at keeping Turkey and the Kurds from battling each other and focused instead on the fight against IS.

On April 30, U.S. forces accompanied by Kurdish People's Protection Units began patrols along the Turkey-Syria border, acting as a buffer after Turkish airstrikes in the area killed 20 Kurdish fighters. Spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, Col. John Dorrian, said U.S. troops were 6 miles from the strikes and put American forces at risk.

Images of U.S. troops in armored personnel carriers with American flags and maneuvering down rural roads in northern Syria spread quickly on social media, triggering alarm in a region where there are political sensitivities about the footprint of U.S. troops and fears about occupation forces.
Thousands of San Antonio students will celebrate years of reading, writing and test-taking when they become college graduates.

Many will go on to work long, fruitful careers, and along the way, some will earn national recognition. With some colleges' histories dating back at least a century, it's not surprising that several famous faces have come from the Alamo City.
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Houston is showing off why its nickname is Space City.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope recently arrived in Houston to undergo tests at the Johnson Space Center.

The 6.8 ton orbiting observatory is the spiritual and scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that launched 27 years ago.

Scientists will perform a lengthy 100-day test to see if the telescope can withstand the freezing temperatures found 1 million miles out in space, the telescope's final destination where it will snap images and gather data on the origins of the universe.

HYBRID JET: NASA has an ambitious $43 million plan to make electric planes a reality

Story continues below...

Intriguingly, the cryogenic test will be performed in the same vacuum chambers where the Apollo spacecraft were tested.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful telescope to ever be constructed, taking more than 20 years and $8.8 billion to complete. The telescope is named after James E. Webb, NASA's second administrator and the man responsible for leading the Apollo space missions that landed the first humans on the moon.

REPORT: NASA spent $200 million on spacesuits that aren't ready yet

When it finally launches in 2018, the telescope is expected to carry out its mission for 5 to 10 years, where it will teach scientists more about the Big Bang, determine how galaxies evolve, and investigate the potential for life in other solar systems.

Click through above to see more images of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
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The City Council will likely vote Thursday to allocate $150,000 to help fund legal and education services for immigrants who could face new scrutiny under state and federal laws.

Several council members spoke in favor of the proposal Wednesday during a meeting where they were briefed on the status of the citys annual budget, including Councilman Rey Saldana, who is in Los Angeles but joined the meeting through video-conferencing technology.

Saldana said representatives of local nonprofits that work with immigrants say theres been a significant spike in requests for help. The emergency funding  pushed by Saldana  would, among other things, help education efforts on immigrant rights and offer legal representation in deportation cases.

In an interview, Saldana said the citys aid sends a message.

While recent federal and state leaders have demonized immigrants and attacked vulnerable families, we refuse to turn our backs on the most vulnerable, the councilman said. By supporting nonprofits that support our immigrant and refugee community, the city is sending a message of hope to a community in fear.

City officials are expected to craft a Request for Proposals that would outline the potential scope of work for several nonprofit groups that offer assistance in the field. The city is also seeking a matching grant from the VERA Institute of Justice, a New York-based agency that combats the most pressing injustices of our day.

Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran offered her support to the proposal, noting that San Antonio needs to care for its community  all the residents of San Antonio. She said the council is poised to move forward.

We have words, she said. But then there are actions.

Councilmen Joe Krier and Mike Gallagher, who are serving their final days on the council, didnt oppose the measure but warned that the city needs to proceed cautiously.

The devils in the details any time youre talking about spending , Krier said, reminding his colleagues about the concerns his North Side constituents had over their tax dollars paying for non-job-related legal matters for police officers and firefighters. (As part of their contracts with the city, the public-safety unions receive tax dollars for a legal fund that cops and firefighters can tap into for everything from real estate deals to divorces. Its been negotiated out of the police contract, but funding wont end until the city and fire union agree to a new contract that also removes funding for legal services.)

Besides helping families stay intact when dealing with immigration law, funding would also allow local agencies working with immigrant populations to hire more lawyers who hold education outreach sessions. The funding could also help local schools with outreach to parents who are worried about their immigration status harming their families.

Immigrants have sought more help from these groups, such as RAICES, American Gateways and Catholic Charities Refugee & Immigration Services, after the November presidential election and the Texas Legislatures anti-sanctuary cities bill, Saldana said.

Meanwhile, the citys mid-year budget overview was positive. Revenues are about $2.9 million higher than estimated while theres been $5.3 million in departmental savings, Assistant City Manager Maria Villagomez said.

But theres significant concern about the impact of federal cuts if President Donald Trumps budget blueprint is enacted. It would result in a loss of about $18 million in annual funding for the Community Development Block Grant, the HOME Investment Partnership Program and the Community Services Block Grants. It would also impact the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, better known as WIC, by about $400,000.

It would also reduce the citys workforce administering those funds by 76 positions, according to city documents.

jbaugh@express-news.net
Police are asking for the public's help in locating a missing 34-year-old woman who suffers from a medical condition that requires medication.

Crystal Ana Lopez was last seen on April 26 in the 17000 block of Henderson Pass. Police believe she may be with her Maltese dog.
AUSTIN  As legislative negotiators seek agreement on how to pay for the state budget, chambers of commerce from Texas largest metropolitan areas are speaking up in favor of using a modest amount of the rainy day fund.

As business organizations, we understand the importance of managing debt and investing for future growth. Modest use of the ESF (economic stabilization fund) for limited purposes is good financial policy, said the letter from the Metro 8 group to Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and members of the conference committee negotiating differences in the House and Senate budget proposals.

The Metro 8 group comprises the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Greater Houston Partnership, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Regional Chamber, El Paso Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. Their letter was dated May 5.

Using the rainy day fund  its formal name is the economic stabilization fund  is the Houses preferred method to bridge a $2.5 billion gap between the revenue that is available and what lawmakers want to spend on state programs in the next two-year budget period.

The fund is expected to have $12 billion at the end of the next budget cycle if its not tapped.

Patrick, who presides over the Senate, has said he and the senators are determined not to tap the rainy day fund for ongoing expenses despite a tight budget picture.

The Senate instead wants to slightly delay the transfer of up to $2.5 billion thats constitutionally dedicated to transportation in the coming budget. The delay would push the expense into the next fiscal cycle, which senators say would free up $2.5 billion for general spending in the 2018-19 budget.

Abbott has said he believes the budget can be balanced without looting the rainy day fund. He hasnt said whether there is an amount that could be spent from the fund that he wouldnt consider to be looting.

pfikac@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac
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AUSTIN  The Texas Senate on Thursday approved legislation designed to force local jails to ramp up mental-health supervision and training to prevent suicides like one in Waller County two years ago that made national headlines.

While the original bill had proposed sweeping changes in criminal justice arrest and detention procedures, the final version of the Sandra Bland Act only mandates additional mental health training for jailers, mental-health de-escalation training for law enforcement officers and improved supervision in jails of suicidal and mentally unstable prisoners.

The bill requires jails to ramp up around-the-clock monitoring of prisoners and to install sensors or cameras to ensure "timely in-person checks of cells" containing at-risk prisoners. The sensors and cameras would be paid for through a gubernatorial grant program, only required when funding to pay for them is available.

Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat and author of the measure, conceded that the more sweeping provisions had to be dropped to get it to the Senate for a vote. But he said the approved measure is a step forward and is designed prevent future tragedies.

"When you deny someone their liberty, you have the responsibility to take care of them," Whitmire said, noting that 16 jail inmates have committed suicide in Texas this year.

"These people who go to jail, many for very minor offenses, are our constituents. This legislation is a preventive measure . . . a mental-health awareness and prevention bill that I think will go a long way to prevent future tragedies."

A similar measure by Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, died earlier in a House committee because of the opposition from police groups, who carry considerable political clout at the state Capitol.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, called it perhaps the most significant mental-health bill of the legislative session, echoing sentiments of other senators.

The bill is named after the 28-year-old black woman from Illinois who was arrested after a traffic stop for a minor violation escalated into a heated exchange with a state trooper in July 2015. Days later she was found hanged in the Waller County jail, a death that was ruled a suicide. The Waller County jail was cited at the time for not complying with state standards regarding staff training and observations. The state trooper was later fired and indicted on a perjury charge.

Bland's death made national headlines and sparked protests, coming at a time when the use of police force against African-Americans was drawing more attention. It resulted in changes in jail procedures regarding suicidal inmates and a statewide campaign by criminal-justice and mental-health advocates to improve mental-health supervision and training in local jails to prevent suicides.

Cannon Lambert, who helped Bland's mother settle with Waller County and the Texas Department of Public Safety for $1.9 million in a federal wrongful death lawsuit, said Bland's family members have been crossing the country, giving speeches and reminding people about her legacy in hopes that other families won't have to endure what they did.

Lambert said Bland's mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, and her sisters were encouraged to see Bland's name being used to improve the conditions for people jailed in Texas, and they were hopeful that state representatives would agree with the Senate on the benefits that could come from the reforms.

"The family is extremely happy with the idea that Sandy can help other people because they can't get her back," he said. "To the extent that Sandy has shed light on what otherwise was demanding attention, at least we can say that she is still being heard. ... The reality is when the government steps in and takes complete control, it has to exercise that control with compassion and precision."

With Coleman's House bill stalled since April, Whitmire for weeks had tried unsuccessfully to get the original Senate bill out of his committee. Only after it was significantly modified was it approved last week and sent to the full Senate for a vote.

He had been working since then to have the necessary votes to bring it to a vote, and Republicans had wavered on whether they would support it.

Thursday's vote was 31-0.

The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

Gabrielle Banks contributed to this report.
Texas lawmakers should be commended for rejecting a proposal by President Trump for more toll roads in the state. But they shouldn't break out the champagne either. This issue simply highlights their chronic inability to finance enough highway construction to meet the state's growing needs.

For now, taxpayers will have to settle for victories where they can find them, and the rejection of toll roads was one positive step.

As Republican State Rep. Jonathan Stickland put it, "It's not a conservative or a liberal issue. (Our) constituents do not like the idea of us partnering with foreign companies and giving control over our roads to them."

He's right, and lawmakers should stop dreaming of the something-for-nothing copout: Letting someone else build roads in Texas and then charging motorists for the right to use them.

The latest twist on this theme was President Trump's plan to invest $1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure with the help of public-private partnerships, including toll roads.

Toll roads may have a place in Texas, as alternative routes to existing highways where motorists can freely decide to pay a little more for the convenience of a faster ride. But that's it. Toll roads are a supplement to a strong highway system, not a substitute for it.

Unfortunately, for years legislators have refused to bite this bullet in the name of keeping Texas a low-tax state.

The Legislature routinely approves enough money for some maintenance and a few new roads, but nothing near the demand produced by our growing state economy. The result in more congestion and potholes, and every year the problem grows worse.

This session lawmakers may even scrap the vehicle inspection program, which would mean $150 million less revenue, much of it for our roads and highways.

Instead of promising further tax cuts in a session with a budget shortfall, legislators should man up and find the money to build and maintain the highways Texas needs. If nothing else, undoing previous tax cuts would restore some balance to the system.

As always, you get what you pay for. Somehow, some way, Texas needs more for its highways.

-----------------------------------

This is our opinion; what is yours? Email us a letter to the editor at opinions@beaumontenterprise.com Make sure to include your name, mailing address and phone number so we can contact you to verify the letter, but only your name and city of residence will be published. You can also mail letters to The Enterprise, P.O. Box 3071, Beaumont, TX, 77704. The limit on letters is 200 words.
WILTON  A higher percentage of Wilton private wells were found to contain unsafe levels of uranium when compared to the overall Connecticut state average, a new study found.

That is according to a recently released report from the U.S. Geological Survey which found that water from private wells across the state  including those in Wilton, Weston and Stamford  contain levels of arsenic and uranium that exceed the safety threshold set by the EPA.

For the study, the state Department of Public Health, assisted by local health officials, collected and analyzed water samples from 674 private wells in Connecticut and found 7 percent of the samples tested positive for arsenic or uranium at levels higher than the maximum contaminant levels of 10 micrograms per liter for arsenic and 30 micrograms per liter for uranium.

Offending wells were found throughout the state, said Brian Toal, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health, which means everyone should be careful.

Every well is at risk, so every well should be tested, he said.

The study specifically looked at a higher number of samples taken from Stamford, Weston and Wilton.

More Information About wells Here are some facts about private wells in Connecticut, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's report. There are 322,600 private wells in Connecticut Those wells serve roughly 823,000 people, or 23 percent of the state's population The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant levels enforceable for drinking-water supplies are 10 micrograms per liter for arsenic and 30 micrograms per liter for uranium. About 1 in 15 (7 percent) of water samples from 674 private wells contained either arsenic or uranium at concentrations that exceeded these maximum contaminant levels. The well with the highest arsenic concentration - 470 micrograms per liter - was in Oxford and the well with the highest uranium concentration - 766 micrograms per liter - was in Brookfield. See More Collapse

In Wilton, 2.5 percent of the 80 wells tested high for arsenic. Another 7.5 percent showed unsafe levels of uranium, almost double the average of 3.9 percent of private wells that tested similarly throughout of state.

This is especially concerning since somewhere between 80 and 85 percent of the town relies on private well water, according to Barry Bogle, director of Wiltons Health Department.

Any amount of uranium is of concern, so we want to try and get a message out to our residents, Bogle said.

The samples were taken between 2013 and 2015, and the study was similar to ones done elsewhere in New England, including New Hampshire and Massachusetts, said Joseph Ayotte, chief of the Groundwater Quality Studies Section of the U.S. Geological Surveys New England Water Science Center.

So far, public health workers have found no clear cut patterns as to which wells will contain contamination in Wilton.

Well need a larger sample size to see if there is a specific location or area in town that has higher than normal uranium or arsenic levels, Bogle said.

With that in mind, Bogle and the Health Department are working to expand the survey with the testing of more wells. Bogle hopes to conclude the study by November, saying once we complete that, well have a better picture of whats going on in our town.

Health risks

Arsenic and uranium carry potentially serious health risks. Arsenic exposure can increase the risk of certain cancers. It also may be a risk factor for a developing fetus and can affect child intellectual function. Naturally occurring uranium can have adverse effects on the kidneys, but does not have high levels of radioactivity and is not considered a significant cancer risk.

The study found wells in areas with certain kinds of bedrock were more likely to have high concentrations of the substances.

Toal said testing for uranium and arsenic is not part of routine testing of homes with new or existing wells. Residents who want the testing need to go to a private laboratory, where it can be done for $100 or less.

The study results are not necessarily cause for concern, said Toal and Ayotte, but they should inspire residents to make their wells are safe. Ayotte said the good news about the report is the percent of samples with high levels of arsenic and uranium were relatively small, particularly compared to other areas of New England, where 20 to 30 percent of samples had high levels of contaminants.

Toal, meanwhile, pointed out 7 percent of samples testing positive for high levels of arsenic and uranium means 93 percent were OK, he said. But you cant know if youre in the 7 percent unless your well is tested."

In Connecticut, it is up to property owners to have their private wells tested. Testing for uranium and arsenic is not part of routine testing of homes with new or existing wells.

Residents who want the testing need to go to a private laboratory, where it can be done for $100 or less. They can then opt to share those results with their local health department.

Bogle pointed out that if residents are unsure about their options, they can contact the local Health Department for guidance.

ptomlinson@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1046; Twitter: @Tomlinson_PE
THE 44-year-old daughter says she cant sleep as she keeps thinking about why someone would rap_e an old woman like her mother. She said on...
COLUMBUS, Ohio  The Kroger Co.s convenience store division has unveiled its newest small format store, Fresh Eats MKT, and will celebrate its grand opening on Friday, May 19.

Fresh Eats MKT is a fresh, new way to shop, said Jeff Parker, president of Krogers convenience store division, which includes the companys small format stores. We look forward to serving customers and offering fresh products, friendly service and convenient shopping in a way weve never done before.

Fresh Eats MKT features made-to-order foodservice from its Fresh Eats Kitchen and includes mobile/online ordering and indoor/outdoor seating.

The small format store also offers a larger assortment of fresh products than area convenience stores, including fresh produce, meat, bakery and dairy as well as a wide selection of wine, beer and bulk nuts, mixes and candy. A drive-thru Kroger pharmacy, Starbucks, two Coke Freestyle machines and fuel pumps round out the offering.

Parker added that while the convenience store, pharmacy and fuel markets are very competitive in Columbus, the launch of this new banner fills an important need.

Krogers c-stores and small format division employs more than 10,000 associates who serve customers in 784 convenience stores in 18 states under six local banner names: Fresh Eats MKT, Kwik Shop, Loaf N Jug, Quik Stop, Tom Thumb, and Turkey Hill Minit Markets.
MealConnect helps save food that might have gone to waste, then directs the rescued food to pantries and meal programs that serve people in need.

CHICAGO For Earth Day 2017, Feeding America announced the launch of MealConnect, an innovative technology platform that makes food donation as simple as a click. The new and free platform was developed to help reduce food waste, benefit the environment and put more food on the tables of families and individuals facing hunger in America.

Feeding America is already the largest food rescue and domestic hunger-relief organization, helping to provide food to 46 million people in need each year. Feeding America is also the leading food recovery partner across the food industry, currently rescuing 2.8 billion pounds of good food from going to waste and providing it to families in need. Through MealConnect, the organization is poised to play an even bigger role in reducing food waste.

MealConnect helps to save food that previously might have gone to waste, such as a small load of meat from a local butcher or a box of tomatoes from a farmers market. The platform then directs that rescued food immediately to Feeding America food banks food pantries and meal programs that serve people in need. MealConnect allows food businesses of all sizes, from local mom-and-pop restaurants to large chain grocery retailers, to post surplus food on the MealConnect platform. An algorithm determines the best-suited local pantry or food program to quickly pick up and distribute the donation.

MealConnect is available to donors from any smartphone, tablet or computer to make an immediate impact in the communities where they operate. MealConnect is free for all users and all donations are tax-deductible. The technology leverages the Feeding America network of 200 food banks and 60,000 pantries and feeding programs across the country. In addition, Feeding America maintains stringent food-safety standards to ensure that all food distributed is safe for consumption.

This new technology enhancement has been made possible with a $1 million grant from General Mills. This funding also will help support efforts to scale MealConnect to communities nationwide.

We are extremely grateful to General Mills for their incredible support of this major initiative. This donation is not only beneficial to our environment but also helps meet the needs of hardworking families throughout the country, Feeding America CEO Diana Aviv said.

For nearly 40 years, weve partnered with Feeding America to help rescue more food to help families facing hunger, said Shawn OGrady, group president of convenience & foodservice, and senior vice president of global revenue development at General Mills. We are encouraged that the new MealConnect technology will help food retailers and foodservice operators nationwide donate food safely and efficiently. OGrady has served on the Feeding America board of directors since 2013.

Starbucks, which announced a partnership with Feeding America in 2016, will use MealConnect to help achieve its goal to rescue 100% of unsold food from its U.S. company-operated stores.

In 2016, we pledged to bring the excess food in our stores, that otherwise would have been thrown away, to families in need, said Jane Maly, program manager at Starbucks. By using MealConnect, were able to track our donations in real time, allowing for more streamlined reporting by store and food bank.

ReFED, a collaboration of business, nonprofit, foundation and government leaders committed to reducing food waste in the United States, indicates that 72 billion pounds of good, safe food is wasted every year in the United States. MealConnect aims to close that gap to reduce food waste and end hunger.

Working with valued companies, including General Mills, Walmart and Starbucks, Feeding America has been able to distribute more than four billion pounds of food annually to people facing hunger, Aviv said. Now, MealConnect will allow us to supplement these great national efforts with donations captured from regional and local donors who may not have a consistent donation stream.

MealConnect was initially funded and designed with support from Google.org with additional funding from the Walmart Foundation.

By connecting more donors with the Feeding America network of food banks, food pantries and meal programs, MealConnect will prevent more food waste, benefit the environment and help end the hunger crisis for millions of people in America.

For more information on MealConnect, visit MealConnect.org.
By Raul Ilargi Meijer, editor of Automatic Earth. Originally published at Automatic Earth

You might have thought, and hoped, that recent events, such as the election of Trump as president of the US, or Brexit, or the rise of Marine Le Pen and other non-establishment forces in Europe, would, as a matter of -natural- course, have led to increased conversation and discussion between parties, entities, whose divisions were material in sparking these events.

But the opposite has happened, and continues to happen at an ever faster and fiercer pace. Various sides of various divides become ever more deaf to what other sides have to say. What still poses as conversation turns into blame games and shouting matches replete with innuendo, fake news and insinuations.

The mainstream media even find they are to an extent redeemed by this -at least financially-. Formerly last-gasp news sources, suffering from the advent of the interwebs, like the New York Times, CNN, HuffPo and WaPo, as well as Fox, Breitbart on the other side, and many others, have seen their reader- and viewerships expand over the past year as they turned into increasingly impenetrable echo chambers.

They may be losing a lot of potential attention -and revenues- from one side of the -former- debate, but that is more than made up for by rising attention from their faithful flocks. The public feel they need to have an opinion on political matters, and the media are more than willing to define, construct and phrase that opinion for them, to first confirm what people already think, and then raise it a notch or two, or three, or ten.

It works like a charm, and their finance people are looking at the numbers saying: whatever it is you guys do, keep on doing it and add some more, because were selling like hotcakes. Still, at least some of the writers must be wondering what exactly it is theyre doing, wondering how to define journalism in this day and age.

All this represents a giant loss, one that not a single democracy can arguably tolerate for long, even if few of us seem to care. In democracies, its essential that people who do not agree, talk to each other, and do so all the time. The end of that conversation spells the end of democracy.

If anything in the future is revealed about a possible -political- connection between Trump and Russia, it will be gravely tainted by the fact that so much opinion posing as news, and so much news that was not real news, has been published about that possible connection already over the past year and change, without any evidence. The WaPos and HuffPos of the world will not even be vindicated by such a potential revelation anymore, because they lowered their journalistic levels to match those of the National Enquirer.

But even writing down something as neutral as that last paragraph is prone to lead to demonization from all kinds of sources. The Russian hack story has embedded itself so profoundly in certain corners of American and European society that it can no longer be denied or even questioned without being interpreted as suspect, if not an outright admission of guilt. All you need to know is there once was PropOrNot and its list of alleged 200 Russian propaganda sites.

It doesnt matter how often Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov and spokeswoman Maria Zakharova ask for proof of the accusations, because for a large and influential segment of western mainstream media that is a phase that has long since been passed. There is such an all-encompassing conviction that Russia hacked and otherwise influenced western elections that no proof is deemed necessary.

Or rather, the idea has taken on such a life of its own that things are taken to have been proven that never were. News, just like advertizing, has to a large extent become based on the concept of relentless repetition. Say something often enough and people will believe it, certainly when it confirms what they were looking to have confirmed to begin with. If the echo chambers fit enough lost souls, before you know it nobody asks for proof anymore.

Its not about whether Trump is or has ever been guilty of anything hes accused of, its that the insinuating narratives about that have long been written and repeated ad nauseam. Its about whether the witch hunt exemplified by PropOrNot makes objective news gathering impossible. And the only possible response to that question must be affirmative. If only because you cant tell one type of news from the other anymore.

The MSM have focused on getting Hillary elected, and they failed miserably. So did she, of course, it wasnt just them. A failure they attempt to hide from view behind a veil of never-ending anti-Russian stories that even now they still cant prove. Which is where the FBI comes in. Sure, some of it may yet prove to be true, but even if that is so, thats in the future, not today.

Does Trump deserve being resisted? It certainly looks that way much of the time. But he should be resisted with facts, not innuendo of yellow paper quality. That destroys the media, and the media are needed to maintain a democracy. That is both their task and their responsibility. They exist to inform people, but have instead turned into opinion-fabricating machines. Both because that expresses the opinions of their ownership, and because its commercially more attractive.

Take a step back and oversee the picture, and youll find that Trump is not the biggest threat to American democracy, the media are. They have a job but they stopped doing it. They have turned to smearing, something neither the NYT nor the WaPo should ever have stooped to, but did.

Democracy is not primarily under threat from what one party does, or the other, or a third one, it is under threat because parties have withdrawn themselves into their respective echo chambers from which no dialogue with other parties is possible, or even tolerated.

None of this is to say that there will be no revelations about some ties between some Russian entities or persons and some Trump-related ones. Such ties are entirely possible, and certainly on the business front. Whether that has had any influence on the American presidential election is a whole other story though. And jumping to conclusions because it serves your political purposes is, to put it mildly, not helping.

The problem is that so much has been said and printed on the topic that was unsubstantiated, that if actual ties are proven, that news will be blurred by what was insinuated before. You made your bed, guys.

A lot of sources today talk about how Trump was reportedly frustrated with the constant focus on the alleged Russia ties, but assuming those allegations are not true, and remember nothing has been proven after a year of echo-chambering, isnt it at least a little understandable that he would be?

Comey was already compromised from 10 different angles, and many wanted him gone, though not necessarily at the same time. The same Democrats, and their media, who now scream murder because he was fired, fell over themselves clamoring for his resignation for months. That does not constitute an opinion, its the opposite of one: you cant change your view of someone as important as the FBI director every day and twice on Sundays without losing credibility.

And yes, many Republicans played similar games. Its the kind of game that has become acceptable in the Washington swamp and the media that report on it. And many of them also protest yesterdays decision. Ostensibly, it all has to do not with the fact that Comey was fired, but with the timing. Which in turn would be linked to the fact that the FBI is investigating Trump.

But whats the logic there? That firing Comey would halt that investigation? Why would that be true? Why would a replacement director do that? Dont FBI agents count for anything? And isnt the present investigation itself supposed to be proof that there is proof and/or strong suspicion of that alleged link between Russia and the Trump election victory? Wouldnt those agents revolt if a new director threw that away with the bathwater?

Since we still run on innocent until proven guilty, perhaps its a thought to hold back a little, but given what weve seen since, say, early 2016, that doesnt look like an option anymore. The trenches have been dug.

These are troubled times, but the trouble is not necessarily where you might think it is. America has an undeniable political crisis, and a severe one, but thats not the only crisis.
Yves here. I would love to be proven wrong, but the arbitration proposal outlined below eems very sensible and therefore is almost certain not not happen. If any UK or Continental-based readers think otherwise, it would be instructive to get your reading of the politics.

Based on my reading of the Brexit-cheerleading press, May and her allies have been harping on the idea that she is the reincarnation of Maggie Thatcher, if such a thing were possible, the steely woman who can and will stare now those nefarious Europeans. They also keep depicting the UK as having the upper hand on a whole host of issue where it doesnt, such as: The Europeans wouldnt dare interfere with the operation of a successful financial center like London! Or how about: The German automakers will restrain Merkel when theyve already said they are backing her Brexit stance.

By contrast, the Europeans are resigned to the fact that Brexit will impose economic costs on them, but even more on the UK, and a disorderly Brexit imposes even higher relative costs on the UK. So the clock is their trump card. The UK officials seem to think that the implicit EU stance, that they are willing to stonewall if the UK is unreasonable (and for procedural reasons, they already call the shots on certain shape of the table issues despite UK whinging) is a bluff, that the EU would never dare allow a disorderly Brexit to happen. In fact, given that any extension of the 24 month Brexit timetable would require unanimous approval of all 27 member states, it would seem very unlikely that the UK would get relief absent a significant concession.

The evidence that the EU is being hardnosed and willing to risk a disorderly Brexit comes in them putting the highly divisive issue of the Brexit settlement so early in the negotiations. Virtually every guide to negotiations recommends starting with easy issues first so as to build a successful working relationship with the other side and create some wins. By making the exit tab the second item to be addressed, the EU negotiators are seeking to maximize cohesion on their side and put the UK in its place.

So the EU would not be the party to suggest negotiations. And given the repeated touting of May as some sort of master negotiator when she wont be negotiating, the UK would not push for arbitration either. It would be so contrary to the messaging strategy to date as to be seen as an admission of weakness.

That does not mean that both sides might not eventually resort to arbitration, but it would occur only after a deadlock and cooling off. The 24 month Brexit timetable doesnt seem to allow for that.

By Andre Sapir, a University Professor at the Universite libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Research Fellow of the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research. Originally published at Bruegel

The Brexit negotiations have not begun well. Instead of focusing on what really matters, the two sides (the European institutions and the UK Government) are publicly exchanging blows. Last week the Financial Times reported that Donald Tusk, the European Council president, has called for a ceasefire in the war of words over Brexit, saying that the negotiations are difficult enough as they are. If we start arguing before they even begin they will become impossible.

What really matters in the Brexit negotiation is the future relationship between the EU and the UK, and what it implies for citizens and business. There are roughly 3 million EU citizens living in the UK and about 1 million UK citizens living in the EU, who are anxiously waiting to know their status and rights after Brexit. There are also thousands of companies producing in the UK and trading with the EU27 or producing in the EU27 and trading with the UK, which are eagerly waiting to know what sort of trade and investment deal will be agreed.

What matters much less, but seems to be one of the main sources of the current tension between the two sides, is the UKs Brexit bill. The EU and the UK will have to agree on a financial settlement of assets and liabilities linked to the UKs EU membership at some point before the country leaves the EU.

Agreeing on the scale of the UKs divorce bill will not be easy. One reason is that estimates of the bill vary a great deal depending on various assumptions. According to my Bruegel colleague Zsolt Darvas and his co-authors the upfront gross payment that Britain will have to make upon exit could range between 54bn and 109bn. This would translate into a net payment ranging between 25bn and 65bn once the UK receives its share of EU spending, assets and repaid EU loans.

The difficulty in finding an agreement on the Brexit bill should not come as a surprise. Any divorce procedure involving money is complicated for the simple reason that it is a zero sum game: if one sides gets more the other gets less. This is why such procedures typically end up in front of a judge or an arbitrator. And the same should apply to the EU-UK divorce.

Asking a judge or an arbitrator to resolve the size of the Brexit bill would free negotiators from a thorny issue and allow them to concentrate their political capital on what really matters to citizens and business: the future EU-UK relationship. And its not just a question of political capital. Time is also of the essence. Michel Barnier, the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, has rightly underlined that getting a deal done and ratified within the two-year deadline imposed by Article 50 means that negotiations need to be concluded by autumn next year.

Who should the judge or arbitrator be? Viewed from Brussels, the obvious choice would be the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, but this would clearly be unacceptable to London where the ECJ is viewed as partial.

A more suitable choice would be the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, and its role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states.

But probably the best choice of all would be the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which is also located in The Hague but is independent from the ICJ. The PCA was established in 1899 to facilitate arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution between states. It is not a court in the traditional sense, but a permanent framework for arbitral tribunals constituted to resolve specific disputes. Currently, the PCA has 121 Contracting Parties including all EU27 states and the United Kingdom.

Arbitration typically involves three or five arbitrators. In the case of three (five) arbitrators, each party appoints one (two) arbitrator(s). The two (four) appointed arbitrators then choose the third (fifth) arbitrator who acts as the presiding arbitrator of the tribunal.

The PCA is no stranger to disputes between EU member states. For instance, in 2003 the PCA handled the Iron Rhine Arbitration between Belgium and the Netherlands. The case description on the PCAs website indicates that:

The Iron Rhine is a railway linking the port of Antwerp in Belgium to the Rhine basin in Germany via the Netherlands. Its origins lie in the 1839 Treaty of Separation (1839 Treaty) which conferred certain transit rights on Belgium. Following World War II, parts of the Iron Rhine gradually fell into disuse and during the 1990s the Netherlands took legal steps to designate nature reserves that lay across its route. The Parties disagreed as to the allocation of costs and risks for works necessary for the long-term use of the railway. In particular, the Parties disagreed on the interpretation of Belgiums right of transit under the 1839 Treaty in light of subsequent developments, including environmental protection measures and the requirements of European law.

A second example concerns a case in 2001, when the PCA was asked to handle a dispute between Ireland and the United Kingdom concerning the OSPAR Convention. According to the PCAs website:

This matter concerned a dispute between Ireland and the United Kingdom in connection with the commissioning of the mixed oxide nuclear fuel reprocessing plant (MOX Plant) in the United Kingdom on the coast of the Irish Sea in 1996 Ireland objected to the commissioning of the MOX Plant and requested access to [certain] informationunder Article 9 of the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic signed at Oslo and Paris (OSPAR Convention). The United Kingdom denied that the information fell within the ambit of Article 9 of the OSPAR Convention.

The PCA has even handled a dispute between the European Union and one of its member states in the 2013 Atlanto-Scandian Herring Arbitration between Denmark (acting on behalf of the Faroe Islands) and the European Union. The case description on the PCAs website indicates that:

The Kingdom of Denmark in respect of the Faroe Islands instituted arbitral proceedings against the European Union under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention). The dispute concerned the interpretation and application of Article 63(1) of the Convention in relation to the shared stock of Atlanto-Scandian herring.

Obviously it can be argued that none of these cases concerned EU membership and more generally that the PCA, contrary to the ECJ, has no experience in handling disputes that concern EU membership. But this virginity should be viewed as a plus in handling the Brexit financial settlement case, since it concerns leaving the EU rather than EU membership per se, and since the departing state would not accept the involvement of the ECJ.

Finally, one may legitimately ask why the two parties should be willing to forego their efforts to find a political settlement and turn instead to arbitration. The answer is that it would save them the type of acrimony that has been building up recently and which is sure to increase as time goes on  given the zero-sum nature of the exercise. The two parties should recognise this and seek arbitration as soon as possible. They would then be able to concentrate their efforts on finding a political solution to the future EU-UK relationship and remove uncertainty about the rights and obligations of citizens and business in the EU27 and in the UK after Brexit. This would be a win-win situation for the two sides compared to the alternative of no deal at the time of Brexit.
By Justin Mikulka and Steve Horn. Originally published at DeSmog Blog

In 2015, a federal rail agency authorized the Alaska Railroad Corporation to ship its first batch of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail in Alaska, but granted this permission behind closed doors, according to documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and provided to DeSmog.

The documents, a series of letters and legal memoranda obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), show that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) may have violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by permitting the shipping of LNG, a highly combustible and flammable material, via rail without any public notification or comment period. The agency granted the Alaska Railroad Corporation a legal exemption under 49 C.F.R.  174.63(a).

That federal statute mandates that a carrier may not transport a bulk packaging  containing a hazardous material in container-on-flatcar (COFC) or trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC) service  unless approved for transportation by the FRA.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR), a rail industry lobbying group, has since petitioned the FRA for the ability to ship LNG tankers by rail (as opposed to containers or trailers on flatcars), filing the request on January 17, according to documents on file at Regulations.gov.

AAR petitions for rulemaking to authorize the transportation of methane, refrigerated liquid (LNG), by rail in  tank cars, reads the AAR petition. LNG should be authorized for rail transportation because it is a safe method of transporting this commodity, LNG shippers have indicated a desire to use rail to transport it, and because railroads potentially will need to transport LNG for their own use as a locomotive fuel.

In its petition, AAR  whose members include nearly all of the major rail companies  says that natural gas companies want to explore transporting LNG by rail in various regions around North America.

Notwithstanding the requirement for a special approval, customers have expressed interest in shipping LNG by rail from Pennsylvania to New England, and between the U.S. and Mexico, wrote AAR. Authorizing transportation of LNGby rail likely would stimulate more interest.

As previously reported by DeSmog, much of the natural gas currently obtained via hydraulic fracturing (fracking) currently has no delivery mechanism, due to lack of both pipeline capacity and current legal authority to ship it on freight train tank cars. Alaska, home of the first operational LNG-by-rail market, currently is seeing a nascent push for fracking.

On February 9, the FRA acknowledged in a letter that it is currently reviewing AARs petition, although it refers to the petition being filed January 13, not 17. Robert Fronczak, an AAR executive and author of the petition to FRA, did not respond to a request for comment.



Credit: U.S. Federal Railroad Administration

By Rail: Alaska Timeline

The current push to transport LNG by train in Alaska appears to begin with a November 14, 2014 letter written by Alaska Railroads Chief Operating Officer, Doug Engebretson, to the FRA. In the letter, the State of Alaska-owned company declared its desire to ship LNG by rail due in part to the states inadequate road system compared to its rail network.

The Alaska Railroad serves the State of Alaska with approximately 611 miles of track and siding that extend from the southern port town of Seward, Alaska, to the northern terminus at Fairbanks, Alaska, wrote Engebretson in the letter.

Also unlike most locations in the Lower 48, the road system in Alaska is, at best, limited. In the 663,267 square-mile area of the state, there are only 4 limited roads on the interstate highway system, for a total of only 1,081 miles, Engebretson continued. Thus, the Alaska Railroad serves as a major transportation link among the more populated areas of the state, the only transportation provider for some remote areas, and a critical source of freight and other goods for areas that are not served by roads at all.



Credit: U.S. Federal Railroad Administration

On February 6, 2015, Engebretson wrote a follow-up 17-page legal memorandum to the FRA seeking legal authority to ship LNG on Alaska Railroads trains. In its legal petition, the company asked for permission to allow two LNG-loaded trains, each 30 to 70 cars in length, on the rails per week.

Later that year, FRAs Associate Administrator of Railroad Safety, Robert Lauby, responded to Engebretson in an October 9, 2015 letter, authorizing the shipment of LNG on two freight trains per week. Lauby also laid out a list of 11 conditions to follow, which included allowing the company to conduct safety inspections and report them to FRA, instead of having the federal agency directly involved in inspections.

[Alaska Railroad] must perform a minimum of one track geometry car inspection annually (at least every 365 calendar days [and it] must report the results of this inspection to FRA within 30 days of completing the inspection, wrote Lauby. [The company] must perform at least four internal rail flaw inspections annually, with no more than 95 calendar days between each inspection [and] must report the results of this inspection to FRA within 30 days of completing each inspection.

The original FRA permit allowed Alaska Railroad to ship LNG by rail for two years, with the permit expiring in October 2017. But a month later, Lauby wrote a November 2, 2015 follow-up to Engebretson, now granting Alaska Railroad the ability to ship three LNG trains per week until December 2020. The documents do not make clear what prompted FRAto take such an action.

During that same period, according to lobbying disclosure forms, Alaska Railroad began lobbying the FRA. The company hired C.J. Zanes, former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-AK), and Katherine Scontras, former staffer for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), to undertake this effort.



Credit: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

Alaska Railroad, led by Scontras and Zane, has continued to lobby in support of LNG by rail ever since the third quarter of 2015. The companys first batch of LNG officially hit Alaskas tracks in September 2016, which has led to concerns from environmental groups.

A derailment or natural-gas explosion would devastate Alaskas communities and wildlife. Our salmon and herring runs and impacted wildlife have never fully recovered from the Exxon Valdez spill, and that was almost 30 years ago, Dune Lankard, Alaska representative for CBD, said at the time in a press release. Alaskans deserve more than to be guinea pigs for the LNG industry.

>NEPA Violation?

What is apparent from the documents obtained by CBD is that neither the public nor any other stakeholder besides Alaska Railroad appears to have been consulted on the proposed approval to move LNG by rail.

And that, in turn, may have been a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, according to critics. Another question raised by project opponents is why NEPA does not appear to have been applied at all.

Normally, major infrastructure project proposals trigger a governmental review process under NEPA, which allows citizens, environmental groups, industry groups, and other interested parties to weigh in on the proposal either in comments, through public hearings, or sometimes both.

After all, as Alaska Railroads legal petition pointed out, along the 611-mile-long trip between Seward and Fairbanks, LNG-loaded trains would pass through Anchorage, Alaska, which has a population of over 300,000 people and is the most populous city in the state.

The NEPA process culminates with a federal agency producing either an environmental assessment or a more detailed environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed project, which recommends either approving or rejecting it.

NEPA, then, was apparently not in play for the LNG-by-rail authorization in Alaska, though the reasoning for this is not clear at this time. However, this national environmental law likely will take effect if AARs petition for rule-making process proceeds, which seeks a regulatory system allowing LNG shipments by rail tank cars on a national scale.

NEPA requires environmental analysis for all federal actions (involving approval of specific projects) with the potential to significantly affect the quality of the environment, Steve Jones, a CBD media specialist, told DeSmog.

FRAs approval of Alaska Railroads transportation of hazardous materials should constitute a major federal action subject to NEPA. In addition, the transportation of hazardous materials most likely constitutes an action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.

I would say authorizing the transport of LNG by [Alaska Railroad] is a major federal action [as defined under NEPA] with potentially significant environmental effects that is subject to NEPA and FRA should have done an environmental assessment to determine whether a full-blown EIS was necessary, Pat Parenteau, a law professor at Vermont Law School and former Director of Vermont Law Schools Environmental Law Center, told DeSmog.

I am not aware of any exemption from NEPA requirements for this type of authorization. If the FRA is claiming such an exemption, I would like to see what it is based upon.

At this point, however, neither CBD nor any other group can file a NEPA lawsuit against the FRA for Alaska Railroads LNG-by-rail permit. The statute of limitations expired 60 days after FRAs unpublicized November 2, 2015 letter to Alaska Railroad.

Need To Raise Hell

When reached for comment, FRA pointed DeSmog to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). A PHMSA official told DeSmog there is no timeline for when it will decide whether to grant AARs petition to allow LNG-by-rail tank car shipments permanently and outside of Alaska. Alaska Railroad officials did not respond to a request for comment.

As if outdated rail cars carrying volatile crude oil didnt pose enough of a danger to the tens of millions of Americans who live and work  near our countrys rail lines, the railroad industry is now quietly seeking permission to transport explosive LNG through our communities, Ross Hammond, U.S. campaigns director for Stand.earth, told DeSmog. First responders, public officials, and communities along the rail lines will need to raise hell if theres any hope of stopping this.
Sound over silicon: Computing's wave of the future (Nanowerk News) As computer parts grow tinier -- billions of transistors are now packed onto silicon chips the size of a fingernail -- silicon's performance shrinks too, and the material can overheat.

Engineers are in a race to perfect quantum computers, which store, transmit and process information in fundamentally different ways than their digital cousins and have exponentially greater computing capability.



Pierre Deymier Pierre Deymier Pierre Deymier, a University of Arizona professor of materials science and engineering, has received a $900,000 grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, matched by the UA, for a total of $1.8 million to build a type of quantum computing analogue that might perform as well as existing quantum computers and overcomes problems that plague current quantum computing prototypes.



He is a pioneer in the field of phononics, in which scientists and engineers manipulate phonons, quasi-particles that transmit sound and heat waves in unconventional ways to provide new forms of energy.



With his collaborators on the project, professor Pierre Lucas and researcher Keith Runge in the UA Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Deymier will build a prototype phonon-based computer.

"Phonon-based computing has the power to change the world as we know it," said Deymier, the department's head, "not just for making more powerful computers, but for artificial intelligence, cryptography and analysis of big data. For example, a phononic computer could rapidly map a person's entire genome for developing more targeted medical therapies."

Quantum Leap in Computing Power

In binary digital, or regular, computing, information is stored on transistors in "bits" that can be in one of two states: 1 or 0, akin to on or off.

In quantum computing, a quantum bit, or qubit, can be in both states at the same time -- a so-called "superposition" of states. Multiple qubits can also be "entangled" to form a whole that cannot be separated into its parts. Operating on the information stored in one qubit is equivalent to operating on the information stored in all of the entangled qubits.

This is what gives quantum computing so much greater mathematical prowess and may represent the wave of the future in information processing.

Few functioning quantum computers currently exist. Those that do, like the D-Wave, can make calculations millions of times faster than classical computers.

But they have problems, in part because qubits are extremely sensitive to environmental conditions like heat. To overcome this drawback, researchers must cool the qubits to cryogenic temperatures. The D-Wave takes up an entire room for cooling it to temperatures approaching absolute zero on the Kelvin scale.

Introducing the Phi-Bit

Deymier believes that phonons, in units he has named "phase-bits" or "phi-bits," are the answer.

He has shown that information can be stored as phi-bits in a superposition state, like qubits, and that multiple phi-bits can be assembled so they cannot be separated -- analogous to qubit entanglement. And phi-bits are less sensitive than qubits to external conditions.

"I can make phi-bits at room temperature in my lab," he said.

Deymier has been working with Tech Launch Arizona, the UA's commercialization arm, to apply for multiple patents surrounding a number of phi-bit inventions, including the quantum computer itself. "We're excited to work with Pierre Deymier on more patent applications as the Keck Foundation-funded research progresses," said Bob Sleeper, TLA licensing manager for the College of Engineering.

The potential of phi-bits to transform computing capability and manage big data appears limitless, Deymier said.

"Let's suppose you have a million phi-bits, with each one having both a 0 and a 1 in conventional computing bits. That means the amount of information you can process is 2 to the power of 1 million -- which may be more than the number of atoms in the universe!"
The Central Statistics Office today (Thursday) publishes the second in the series of 11 thematic reports from Census 2016  Profile 2: Population Distribution and Movements.

 Of a total population of 159,553 in Tipperary in April 2016, 41.5% (66,244 persons) lived in urban areas, with 58.5% (93,309 persons) living in rural areas.

 Nationally, 62.7% lived in urban areas and 37.3% in rural areas.

 Clonmel, with 17,062 persons, was the largest town in the county. The fastest growing town in percentage terms was Newport, which experienced 10.5% population growth between 2011 and 2016.

 Nationally, Drogheda remained the largest town, with 40,956 residents, while Saggart was the fastest growing town, seeing its population increase by 46.1% between 2011 and 2016.

 Of the 7,117 usual Tipperary residents who moved in the year to April 2016, most (4,895) moved elsewhere within the county.

 Only 447 of the 2,697 Tipperary households who moved in the year preceding the census bought their new home with a mortgage or loan, while 1,830 rented their accommodation.

 Nationally, 263,551 usual residents moved in the year to April 2016.

This report is accompanied by a set of detailed population by area tables, published on the CSO website, which provide the population for every settlement in Ireland for 2016 and 2011.

Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician, commented: Profile 2 provides information on the distribution of the population, changes in urban and rural populations, population density and internal migration. This is the second of our thematic census releases and sheds further light on how the population has changed over the past five years.

Profile 2 is now available on the Central Statistics Office website at www.cso.ie/en/census.
(Natural News) With each passing year, our world becomes dependent on technology and software. Thanks to software, modern cars, trucks, and even tractors have become safer, easier to handle, and more fuel efficient. While that might convince every farmer to update their hardware, an increasing number of farmers are deciding to stick with their old mechanical, non-computerized equipment. This trend may be because they want something to call their own.

While it might be hard to believe, farmers who buy a modern tractor driven by John Deere software dont actually own their tractor. Well, at least not in the way they think ownership works. John Deere  the worlds largest agricultural machinery maker  said that those who purchase a tractor receive an implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.

Modern tractors run computer code that the purchaser doesnt really own. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a United States 1998 copyright law, the manufacturer holds the programming rights that makes it run, stripping customers of the right to open, tweak, tinker, or repair their property because they dont have access to the diagnostic software.

Since the law isnt reserved to tractors alone, your car, cellphone, tablet, or coffee maker might not be completely yours by law either, so tinkering with the code of these appliances could violate the copyright.

Farmers are not allowed to fix their own tractor. Has the world gone mad?

In 2015, the DMCA caused a lot of commotion, especially among car owners who like to tinker with their car. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers  a lobbying group that represents many carmakers including BMW, Ford, and General Motors  spoke out against an exemption in the law that would allow owners to work on their own cars. Luckily, the exemption was upheld, but not for farm equipment.

John Deere has even taken it a step further by redefining tractor ownership through a license agreement for equipment with this embedded software. The agreement farmers are required to sign forbids nearly all repairs and modifications to farm equipment. Furthermore, it prevents farmers from suing Deere for crop loss, lost profits, loss of goodwill, or loss of use of equipment arising from the software.

Since product makers dont like people repairing their own stuff, some have placed digital locks on the software. Breaking that lock to fix the device or tractor could be seen as a violation of the law, turning tinkerers into pirates. (RELATED: Find more unbelievable, twisted news at Twisted.news.)

The bad part is, my sense is, these companies are just locking up this technology and increasing the sort of monopoly pricing structure that just doesnt work for us, said Brian Talley, a farmer on Californias central coast. We are used to operating independently, and thats one of the great things about being a farmer. And in this particular space, they are really taking that away from us, he added

U.S. farmers are hacking their tractors with Ukrainian firmware

Because John Deere, among other manufacturers, has made it impossible to repair farm equipment, an increasing number of American farmers are hacking their tractor with invite-only, paid firmware. Speaking to Motherboard Vice, Danny Kluthe, a hog farmer in Nebraska, explained that farmers usually do not have the time to wait for a dealership employee to show up when equipment breaks down.

Kevin Kenney, a farmer and right-to-repair advocate in Nebraska, added that a farmer who bought a tractor should be able to do whatever he wants with it. Including making repairs or taking it to an independent dealer for spare parts.

Deere charges $230, plus $130 an hour for a technician to drive out and plug a connector into their USB port to authorize the part, Kevin noted.

Because even simple repairs are made impossible by the embedded software added to every Deere tractor, many farmers have started hacking their machines with custom Ukrainian software bought on the black market.

What have we come to when we cant even repair our own machines without facing some kind of consequences?

Sources:

Wired.com

TheGarage.Jalopnik.com

MotherBoard.Vice.com

Deere.comPDF
(Natural News) New estimates from Johns Hopkins have suggested that the cost of the so-called Zika virus this year will amount to at least $183 million  and thats if its a mild season. The researchers say that if its a more severe outbreak, it could cost up to a staggering $1.2 billion.

While most people who have the Zika virus experience little to no side effects, the mainstream media continues to purport that when pregnant women get the mosquito-born virus, it can have perilous effects on their unborn children. Microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome are among some of the more concerning problems, but the Zika viruss association with these issues are rather questionable. These doubts are what have led many people, such as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, to believe that the Zika virus scare is nothing more than a cover-up. As Adams explained last winter, A group of doctors from South America are now saying the brain deformations the world is witnessing are caused by the mass fumigation of low-income Brazilian people with a chemical larvicide, not by mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.

As the Brazilian doctors revealed, the areas in Brazil hit hardest by birth defects like microcephaly also just so happened to be areas where a toxic larvacide known as pyriproxyfen had been applied to the water supply for the last 18 months. So while the Brazilian Ministry of Health was quick to place the blame on the Zika virus, there is reason to believe that the virus isnt whats causing the tidal wave of birth defects  the pesticide is.

In addition to what the doctors from Brazil have revealed, a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has also cast doubts on the validity of the belief that Zika causes microcephaly. The researchers examined 12,000 pregnant Colombian women who were thought to have the Zika virus. None of the babies carried by the women who participated in the study exhibited signs of microcephaly.

It is estimated that roughly 60,000 women in Colombia have contracted the Zika virus. As Science Daily explains, The expected microcephaly rate for countries with no reported infections of 2-in-10,000 births gives exactly four cases. The study also notes that until April 28 there has been a total of about 50 microcephaly cases in Colombia, of which only four have been connected with Zika. The four cases are expected for the coincidence of Zika and microcephaly in the same pregnancies even if Zika is not the cause.

In other words, it is very possible that none of the microcephaly cases diagnosed in Colombia are related to the Zika virus. The incidence of microcephaly in Colombia is dramatically lower than whats been observed in Brazil  a country with over 1500 confirmed cases. If the Zika virus was truly the problem, wouldnt more Colombian newborns be affected?

This finding underscores the fact that the larvacide being added to the water supply in Brazil is likely whats behind the rising number of birth defects. Physicians groups in Brazil and Argentina, the Swedish Toxicology Sciences Research Center, and the New England Complex Systems Institute  which conducted the Colombian study  are both calling for a deeper review of pyriproxyfens safety.

Given that pyriproxyfens primary route of action is not to kill, but rather maim forming larvae via malformations, it seems logical that if exposed frequently enough, the same thing would happen to a developing fetus. Pyriproxyfen is a growth inhibitor that interferes with the process of mosquito larvae transforming into pupae and adults  resulting in abnormalities that lead to disability or death. Is it really that hard to connect the dots? The Zika virus outbreak is a scam  and a costly one at that. Who knows what other toxins will use a virus as a scapegoat.

Sources:

BaltimoreSun.com

NaturalNews.com

ScienceDaily.com
(Natural News) A recent study published in the journal Current Biology revealed that peoples brain waves exhibit remarkably similar patterns when they belong in a group that was more engaged with each other and the world around them. As part of the study, a team of researchers from the New York University and the Max Planck Institute of Empirical Aesthetics used portable electroencephalogram technology to simultaneously monitor and record brain activity from an entire class of high school students. The experts kept track of the students brain activity as they went through their usual classroom routine over the course of a semester. The students were asked how they liked each other and their teacher. The participants were also asked how much they liked group activities in general.

Researchers at the University of Florida then used novel analyses to determine the extent of brain synchrony among students. The scientists also measured how the level of synchrony differed with class engagement and social dynamics. We found that students brainwaves were more in sync with each other when they were more engaged during class. Brain-to-brain synchrony also reflected how much students liked the teacher and how much they liked each other. Brain synchrony was also affected by face-to-face social interaction and students personalities. We think that all these effects can be explained by shared attention mechanisms during dynamic group interactions, co-lead author Suzanne Dikker reported in ScienceDaily.com. Dikker currently serves as a Research Scientist at New York Universitys psychology department and Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

According to the research team, a well-known phenomenon called neural entrainment may play a role in the level of brain synchrony among the students. Your brainwaves ride on top of the sound waves or light patterns in the outside world, and the more you pay attention to these temporal patterns, the more your brain locks to those patterns. So, if you and the person next to you are more engaged, your brainwaves will be more similar because they are locking onto the same information, Dikker explains.

Engagement plays a role in brain synchrony

The research team identified a positive correlation between the students overall course rating and their brain synchrony with each other as a group. According to the experts, the students were more likely to give the course a favorable score when their brain waves are in-sync with the rest of the participants in the classroom. The study also found that the students were more likely to give their teacher a favorable rating if their brain waves were in-sync with each other.

The research team also assessed whether brain-to-brain synchrony reflected how the students liked each other. According to the experts, students who reported being close to each other showed better brain synchrony during class. However, this only happened when the students were able to interact with each other personally before the start of the class. This suggests that having a face-to-face interaction is essential in brain synchrony, the researchers said. The study revealed that students who considered group activities as important displayed greater brain synchrony with their classmates. The findings may have significant implications for social science and education as the study examined how the brain reacts in a reality-based setting and not in a well-controlled laboratory environment, said researcher Mingzhou Ding, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida. (Related: Follow more news about the mysteries of the brain at Brain.news.)

According to the researchers, brain synchrony may influence synchronized behavior during human interaction. The results suggest that social dynamics is a key factor in brain synchrony, even in seemingly simple activities such as listening to a lecture or watching the same video, the researchers said. (Related: New Research In Mind-Body Medicine Shows That Social Interaction Accelerates Healing).

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.com

Reliawire.com

LiveScience.com
NASA's Cassini spacecraft is currently completing a total of 22 dives between Saturn and its rings to finish its Grand Finale mission. Along the way, it had also gathered new vital data about the planet's moons including Titan.

While preparing for another dive, Cassini spotted "bands of bright lights" across Titan. The bright lights are actually methane clouds visible from afar. The spacecraft captured the stunning image last May 7, 2017.

According to NASA, the bands of bright lights composed of methane clouds were accidentally photographed while Cassini performed a distant, non-target flyby. The Cassini spacecraft passed by Titan, one of Saturn's most popular moons, at a distance of 303,000 miles (488,000 kilometers) above the surface.

Cassini has no more targeted flybys to Titan; however, it will continue to hover and pass by Titan and other moons. While doing it, Cassini will continue its observations and data gathering until it plunges to its death in September this year.

The images captured by Cassini not only show the band of bright lights of methane clouds but the dark regions on top of the Titan's hydrocarbon lakes and seas as well. NASA posted two versions of the image showing softer and stronger enhancement to highlight the features of the moon.
Look beneath the surface of Australia's Coober Pedy town, because there's a secret world buried underneath - literally. In this vibrant yet barren desert landscape, the people live in underground spaces carved in dusty caves where miners used to look for precious opals.

According to a report from Smithsonian, Coober Pedy is the Opal Capital of the World providing an estimated 70 percent of the world's opal production. Mining for opals has become the town's main industry with precious minerals being discovered like the recently found opalized pearls that date from over 65 million years ago. The lust for such rich finds left its mark on the surreal expanse, which is now marred with thousands of holes, TIME reported.

Half of Coober Pedy's population now live in dugouts inspired by the town's mining culture. It's a complete subterranean community including an underground museum and even intricately designed churches like the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The otherworldly atmosphere now attracts a steady stream of tourists who are eager to experience the bizarre subterranean peace.

"People come here to see things differently," Robert Coro, managing director of the Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, explained. Certain sections of the hotel are buried, which is common in the town. "It's that kind of adventure mentality that attracts people here in the first place."

But the inhabitants didn't move underground for the kitsch. Instead, the townfolk moved into the hillside holes to escape the desert's intolerable heat - or even the chilly winter nights. In these underground dwellings, the temperature is a 75 degrees all year round.

"To an outsider the place looks really amazing and weird," photograher Antoine Bruy told TIME. "But when you go there actually it's just their daily life. It's very common to have a dugout, to live underground."
A 26-year old woman from Georgia courageously shared how her whole life turned upside down due to an alleged medical error that almost took her life.

Khaliah Monique Shaw, a graduate of Georgia College & State University, detailed her suffering after being given a higher dosage of the prescription medication Lamictal. Just a few days after her doctor up her dosage, Khaliah felt ill and developed blisters inside her mouth.

Days later, the blisters spread inside her eyes, mouth, inside of her palms, and on the bottom of her feet. Khaliah was rushed to the emergency room of Oconee Medical Center in Milledgeville. The doctors have no idea what was happening to Khaliah and decided to isolate her just in case she was carrying an infectious disease.

"I was in excruciating pain. It felt like I was on fire," Khalifah said in a report from 11Alive. "It essentially causes your body to burn from the inside out and you pretty much just melt."

Khaliah was transferred to the Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) in Macon, where she was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a rare and serious skin disorder that usually occurs as a result of a reaction to a medication or incorrect dosage.

After being transferred once again to Grady Hospital's Burn Center in Atlanta, Khaliah's condition continues to worsen. Because more than 30 percent of her body was affected by SJS, the doctors upgraded her diagnosis to Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. Khaliah was put into a coma for five weeks. She lost 85 to 90 percent of her skin. She also lost her hair and fingernails. The damage done by the SJS/TEN was most apparent on her face, neck, back and chest.

At present, Khaliah is slowly losing her vision. Her sweat glands and fingernails will never grow back again. Additionally, Khaliah now continues to live with a high chance of having a relapse that could be worse than what she experienced before.
A new study from Kansas State University revealed that astronauts who spent a long-time in space may experience a decrease in their cardiovascular function resulting to a lower exercise capacity.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, showed that prolonged space travel can decrease the ability of the heart and small blood vessels to transport oxygen to active muscles. Due to this, astronauts spending extended-time in microgravity could experience 30 to 50 percent reduction in their exercise capacity.

"It is a dramatic decrease," said Carl Ade, a kinesiologist at Kansas State University and lead author of the study, as per Gizmodo. When your cardiovascular function decreases, your aerobic exercise capacity goes down. You can't perform physically challenging activities anymore."

For the study, the researchers analyzed the data of nine male and female astronauts who spent around six months aboard the International Space Station. Before being sent to space missions, NASA performs various health measures to the astronauts to assess their physical fitness. These measures, which include cardiac output, oxygen uptake and hemoglobin concentration and saturation, determine how effective the person's heart and blood vessels in transporting oxygen to the muscles' mitochondria.

While aboard the ISS, the astronauts undergo moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercise on bicycle or treadmill for four to six days a week. On the other hand, NASA prescribed upper- and lower- body resistance exercise for six days per week.

A few days after returning the Earth, the astronauts were asked to repeat their aerobic exercise and resistance training. By comparing the two data sets, one from before space flight and the other after returning the Earth, the researchers observed a 30 to 50 percent decrease in astronauts' maximal oxygen uptake.

Maximum oxygen uptake is the standard measure of cardiorespiratory health. It is the maximum rate of oxygen consumed during exercise.

The astronauts' level of fitness was able to return above 97 percent of their previous levels 90 days after returning back to Earth. This shows that prolonged exposure to microgravity could have permanently affect cardiorespiratory health.
A San Francisco man was fighting for his life Wednesday night after being randomly attacked during a trip to Atlanta.

Police said Mark Calub was leaving a nightclub Saturday with two friends when a group of men approached and started beating them. The suspects were captured on surveillance video.

Calub was found bleeding from his head, and his parents immediately flew to Atlanta to be with their son. Back in San Francisco, his friends were in disbelief.

"We're all in shock; we're all beside ourselves," one friend said.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help Calub and his family. It had raised just over $2,300 of a $50,000 goal as of late Wednesday night.
A tense police standoff in New Jersey's capital city ended peacefully just after 5 p.m. Thursday.

After nearly 35 hours, 35-year-old Tyleeb Reese walked out of the Trenton home where he had been holed up since Wednesday morning with his hands up and surrendered to police.

The standoff lasted nearly 35 hours as authorities negotiated with the suspected gunman who opened fire on U.S. Marshals serving a warrant, killing a bystander and injuring three officers.

Throughout the day Thursday, officers on a bullhorn could be heard pleading with 35-year-old Tyleeb Reese to leave the Trenton home.

A hostage negotiator used a bullhorn to try to compromise with Reese, promising that if he came out "with your hands up in the air...I give you my word that you will walk away from here."



The incident began around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday when the U.S. Marshals Service Joint Regional Fugitive Task Force attempted to serve a warrant at a home on Centre Street, Trenton Police Lt. Stephen Varn said. Police say Reese allegedly fired at the marshals from inside the home and they retreated. Several law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and surrounded the house.

The family of a man killed during a Trenton standoff is speaking out. The standoff lasted for over 24 hours, keeping residents outside of their homes as officials negotiated with the man inside.

A bystander, 56-year-old Robert Powell Jr., of Lamberton Street in Trenton, was shot and killed outside the home.

Cellphone video obtained by NBC10 shows several armed officers braced against parked cars with their guns pointed at a nearby building. A bystander is then seen crawling on the ground to safety when several shots are fired. At least one bullet appears to have struck the man. Footage shows two officers drag the man's body to safety and then another gun shot is heard before the video ends.

NBC10 obtained video of a shooting during a standoff in Trenton, New Jersey. WARNING: While the video has been edited, it may be disturbing for some viewers.

Police have not confirmed if the bystander who was killed is the man in the cellphone video.

Three Mercer County Sheriff's officers were injured, police said. Officials said they were struck by projectiles and were taken to the hospital where they were all treated and released.

A barricade situation in Trenton that began Wednesday morning continued into the early evening. Police say a bystander was killed and three officers suffered minor injuries during the ordeal. Officials provided an update on the standoff shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Families in the area were evacuated from their homes while others received a reverse 911 call urging them to remain inside. Police say a 7-year-old boy was alone in a home across from the barricaded house. Officers were able to get him out safely and reunited with his mother.

Boy who spent whole day inside home across street from Trenton standoff - now safe with mom. pic.twitter.com/y1Is2SGjaC  Cydney Long (@CydneyLongNBC10) May 10, 2017

One resident told NBC10 she is a close friend of Reese, a father of two.



"We talked to him a few times on the phone," Tamara Reaves said. "I asked him just to come out."

Reaves said the suspect is well-known and liked in the community.

A bystander was killed while three officers were injured during a shooting and barricade situation in Trenton, New Jersey. NBC10 obtained cellphone video of the shooting. NBC10s Brandon Hudson has the latest on the standoff which has lasted for more than 16 hours.

"It's almost a suicide attempt to me, and I love him very much," she said. "He wants somebody to take him out. He doesn't have the courage to kill himself. We want it to end in a good way, not the cops getting hurt or him getting hurt."
Residents were asked to stay indoors for much of the day Thursday as police searched for a 51-year-old Massachusetts man in connection with a homicide that occurred earlier in the morning.

A woman was fatally shot in the head in a residence on Stevens Street in Lowell around 7:30 a.m., according to investigators.

The suspect, Ross Elliott, fled the scene and remains on the loose. Police said he is believed to be armed and dangerous, and he should not be approached. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans. Anyone who sees him or knows of his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or contact Lowell police at 978-937-3200 or state police at 781-897-6600 immediately.

Residents of the area were asked to shelter in place, but that order was lifted shortly before 11 p.m.

Police announced just before 8 p.m. that a resident ran into Elliott on Barton Avenue while authorities were searching for him. He allegedly showed a gun and ran away.

"Mr. Elliott produced a handgun, pointed it at the resident, and then fled on foot," said Lowell Police Superintendent William Taylor. "Elliott was last seen heading on Pine Street, on foot, armed with a handgun."



The victim, a woman in her 40s, was treated at the shooting scene and taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Authorities have not identified the victim, but they said she and Elliott knew each other and had previously been in a "domestic relationship," according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

The victim was shot in a common area of her apartment building in front of other family members, including her young daughter. The child was not hurt.

"It's horrible. It's absolutely horrible. No child should see something like that," neighbor Lynne Manning said.

One neighbor said he saw a woman being taken away in a black car, while another said he saw an older woman transported by ambulance with what appeared to be a bad cut on her forehead.



According to court documents, Elliott has been arrested several times, including in February 2005, when he was charged with armed assault to murder after he allegedly held a 5-inch knife to his girlfriend's neck. He was also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in December of 2005.

On Thursday morning, police officers and SWAT team members were on Stevens and Gorham streets. Aerial footage from NBC Boston's Sky Ranger helicopter showed at least a dozen police vehicles gathered at the two locations. A Gorham Street residence believed to be connected to Elliott has been secured, the district attorney's office said.

"The investigation is proceeding very quickly," Lowell police Chief William Taylor said.



Around 3:30 p.m., police appeared to be focusing their search on the area of Academy Drive, about a mile and a half from the scene of the murder. Multiple cruisers were in the area and a state police helicopter was flying low overhead.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Lowell police said they were searching Highland Street, specifically the Pine Street/Stevens Street/Cupple Square area. Residents are being asked to stay indoors and report any suspicious activity to police.

The investigation is active and ongoing and is being conducted by the district attorney's office, Lowell police and state police.
A new way of fighting the opiod crisis could put a lifesaving drug in the hands of bystanders in one Massachusetts city.

Lock boxes filled with Narcan have already been tested in Central Square in Cambridge and those behind the idea say the results so far, are promising.

The innovative approach was developed by engineers with the support of the Cambridge Police Department and by research doctors at Brigham and Womens Hospital. Officials say with time of the essence, the boxes could make all the difference by turning bystanders into heroes.

Opiates act quickly with the new synthetics on the market they work within seconds, said Dr. Scott Goldberg, who is leading the study.

The lock boxes would be used when someone calls 911 to report an overdose. The dispatcher would then give the person directions to the closest box and a four digit code to open it. The bystander would then be given directions on how to administer the drug that comes in a nasal spray.

Deputy Superintendent Jack Albert of the Cambridge Police Department says they have responded to nearly 300 calls for overdoses over the last year. Twenty nine of those calls have turned out fatal.

While all of the officers carry Narcan, Albert says having bystanders administer it first could save time and make a difference.

If theyre administering narcan before we get there, then were getting them to the hospital that much sooner, Albert said.

More than 50 bystanders stopped to administer the drug during the first experiment in Central Square. The test was the first step in what will be a long process of prototypes and pilots before they hope a proposal will lead to a roll out.
Students, faculty and staff members from the states colleges and universities protested today over budget cuts in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system and went to the Board of Regents meeting to make their opposition known.

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities President Mark Ojakian has said a tuition hike and budget cuts are both needed to deal with a big budget shortfall: $38 million next year, $55 million for the following year and $70 million the year after that.

Faculty, staff and students plan protested in a call for action and answers because they are unhappy about proposals, including one to consolidate community colleges to one centrally managed college with campuses statewide.

"What we really want is a board and a president that's going to fight for us, fight for the system as opposed to just considering it," John O'Connor, a CCSU professor, said.

"The faculty have expertise," Elena Tapia, an Eastern Professor & Connecticut State University AAUP president, said. "We should be involved from the very beginning on something that's going so drastically affect our lives."

Ojakian said the consolidation would save the system $28 million.

He also plans to consolidate administrative personnel to save $13 million.

"When we're looking to cut another billion dollars out of the budget, I think they are forgetting that the legislature could cut us by another $50 or $60 million and then they could direct us to close colleges," Ojakian said. "I am trying to do everything I can (to) keep campus locations open."

Faculty members said they are outraged over the plans presented.

Ojakian said faculty members will be included in the planning teams that will help to develop a final plan.
Former Connecticut Governor and Senator Lowell Weicker said the first four months of the Trump presidency has been, a disaster.

Weicker said that talks of firing an FBI director investigating the president rising to the level of the Watergate scandal is premature.

NBC Connecticut sat down with the former three term Republican Senator and one term Independent governor at his home in Old Lyme.

Weicker said his time on the commission that investigated and found evidence of wrongdoing was a journey toward his eventual decision that President Richard Nixon had not only committed crimes, but worked even harder to cover them up.

I started out on the Watergate very much believing in Nixons innocence, it was only after fact after fact after fact rolled in that I came to the conclusion that this was a bad man, Weicker said in his study. Im not quite there with Trump yet.

President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday and defended the move Wednesday, telling reporters, "Because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply.

Comey, according to NBC News, had asked for more money and staff for his agencys investigation into Donald Trumps campaign and its ties to Russia.

Weicker said he can see why the episode frustrated the president.

No chief executive wants to have people rummaging around in his backyard and that is going on and I suppose the problem with Trump is that its been going on for quite a while, since the moment he stepped into office, so I imagine hes quite sensitive to the whole Russian connection, but that being said, we dont have an answer to the Russian connection, the former governor said.

Weicker said a special prosecutor is needed to look into the matter, separate from Congress and the White House, and said only that prosecutor could inform the American people of whether there was anything improper between Trump, his associates, and Russia.

Until we have more explicit reason for the firing of Comey, were all sort of doing a guessing a game.
A 15-year-old boy is dead and a 21-year-old man is seriously injured following an officer-involved shooting in Bridgeport Tuesday evening, according to state police.

Bridgeport police initiated a pursuit after spotting a stolen vehicle outside Walgreens Tuesday evening, according to state police. During the chase, the stolen vehicle hit several cars along Fairfield Avenue and the pursuit ended with a shooting on Fairfield Avenue, near Park Avenue, just after 5 p.m.

Bridgeport Officer James Boulay opened fire when the stolen vehicle accelerated in reverse and hit an officer, according to state police.

The driver of the vehicle, 15-year-old Jayson Negron, was killed and a passenger, identified as 21-year-old Julian Fyffe, of Bridgeport, was shot in the shoulder.

Two Bridgeport police officers also sustained minor injuries, according to Connecticut State Police.

Boulay has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Following the incident, the Bridgeport Police Department contacted the State's Attorney's office and state police to conduct a full and independent investigation into the shooting.

The Bridgeport police chief has also ordered an internal adminstrative review of the incident

"While I have a zero-tolerance policy for police officer malfeasance and misconduct, I continue to stand strongly behind the good and brave men and women of the Bridgeport Police Department," Perez said. "Whenever there is a serious injury or loss of life we are all as a community deeply saddened."

Fyffes mother, Edris Lomax, said her son told her police blocked the car in and pulled guns on them and her son and the other suspect were trying to get out of the car to surrender when they were shot.

The door just wouldnt open. He was trying. Then theyre still yelling, Get out the car, put your hands up and he was like, What do you want me to do, put my hands up or get out of the car? Lomax said.

Lomax said her son did not know the car was stolen and had never been in trouble before. She also said she thought Bridgeport police were wrong in the way they handled the situation.

Im seeking justice for my son because this shouldnt have happened. There were other ways yall could have did, yall could have stopped them. You had them trapped already in the car. What was the point of them being shot?, Lomax asked.

A crowd gathered at the scene Tuesday night to protest the actions of the officer who opened fire. A second vigil is scheduled for Wednesday night.

At a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Joseph Ganim called the incident a tragedy and pledged transparency and communication during the investigation. He said the tragedy affected all of Bridgeport.

Its a big city. Its Connecticuts biggest city, but its a close community, Ganim said.

Ganim and Chief Armando Perez addressed concerns that the deceased suspects body remained uncovered for some time while Bridgeport police waited for the Waterbury States Attorneys office, state police and the medical examiner to take over the scene.

Perez said the officer fired his gun because he feared for his life after he alleges Negron backed the car into him and almost pinned him underneath.

We are depending on the states attorney and state police to provide an open and transparent investigation to resolve this matter, Perez said.



Ganim and Perez both said they would work to streamline the process so something similar does not happen again.

Community advocates and faith leaders called for transparency and cooperation between officials and the community and asked that people put aside any animosity toward law enforcement. Advocates asked the community to channel their anger into something productive rather than taking it out on police and called for a focus on community-based policing going forward.

A rally started at 6 p.m. Wednesday where hundreds of people gathered with candles and balloons they released. They prayed together and said they wanted an explanation for the teen's death.

You talk to me because thats a child! A woman who said she is Negon's aunt exclaimed. "I don't get it!"

We have questions. We need answers. Yes," people chanted.

Gov. Dannel Malloy released the following statement:

When the use of force by law enforcement officers results in the loss of life, justice is best served when the incident is reviewed by objective and independent entities. That is why in 2015, I signed a bill into law aimed at increasing accountability and transparency by expanding the reporting and investigation requirements in such instances. It is appropriate that Office of the States Attorney and the Connecticut State Police have assumed their respective responsibilities in the review of the shooting that occurred last night in Bridgeport. The State of Connecticut is committed to ensuring an open and independent investigation to determine the facts of this case. With that said, a young man lost his life last night and I am deeply saddened by this reality. I am sensitive to the concerns of all those impacted by this incident and ask for patience from members of the community as the independent reviews are being conducted.

Detectives from the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime unit are investigating at the request of the Chief States Attorneys Office, which is standard for a police-involved shooting.

Officials said during the news conference that the officer who fire his gun has been with the police department for a year.

Anyone with information is asked to contact state police by texting TIP711 and any information to 274637. Tips will remain confidential.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story said the teen was 16 years old but police have sent out a correction on the boy's age.
A handful of state troopers could be let go by July, the Connecticut state police union said fooling a meeting with state officials on Thursday.

People dedicate their lives and are willing to give their lives to the state. You shouldnt be laying off state troopers," Andrew Matthews, president of the police union, said.



The currently proposal would layoff five state troopers by July 1 and the union agreement requires six weeks of notice.

This year there are 252 fewer state troopers on the road than there were in 2009.

State lawmakers warn more layoffs may be unavoidable without wide-scale union concessions.

If it came to the layoff of thousands of state employees, in many ways it would disable key functions of state government, so Im certainly hoping it doesnt come to that," Sen. Martin Looney, president pro-team, said.



Connecticut State Police said they are willing to work with the administration to find other savings that does not include losing officers.

Sources in the governor's administration told NBC Connecticut there are fewer police officers needed than in decades before because crime is so low, but state police disagree.

A spokesman for Office of Policy and Management (OPM) told NBC Connecticut the agency will not comment on legal proceedings.

Chris McClure with OPM said, We respect the ongoing legal process.

The meeting comes a day after Gov. Dannel Malloy submitted a budget proposal to the legislature, which includes draining the states $235.6 million rainy day fund and making millions of dollars in cuts.
State police are now investigating allegations of misconduct at the Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital.

The investigation comes after 27 employees of Whiting Forensic Division were placed on leave amid allegations of patient abuse.

According to sources, the evidence includes surveillance video from inside the maximum security portion of the psychiatric hospital.

Sources said not all of the 27 people placed on leave are accused of committing the abuse and some might have been mandated reporters that failed to act, sources said.

State police said their investigation comes at the request of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and is in consultation with the CT States Attorneys Office.

Police said the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is cooperating fully with the investigation.

The state said it is prepared to take action against these employees if the accusations are confirmed, including termination.
The driver of a yellow sedan with fake paper license plates led Fort Worth police on a chase all the way to Dallas before eventually surrendering in University Park.



The chase began in Fort Worth sometime after noon Thursday and quickly headed east on Interstate 20 through Arlington and into Grand Prairie.

The driver continued on into southeastern Dallas County before turning north on Interstate 45.



Weaving through highway traffic in downtown, the driver then took U.S. Highway 75 to Haskell Avenue where she exited and headed back toward downtown on crowded city streets.



The driver worked her way over to the southern entrance of the Dallas North Tollway and headed north. She exited Lemmon Avenue and appeared to hit spike strips deployed by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department who had joined the chase as they passed through the southern part of the county.

The driver eventually slowed to a stop in University Park where, near Easton Road and Normandy, she exited the vehicle and surrendered to police without further incident.

Fort Worth Police Department

Late Thursday night, Fort Worth Police released this photo of the driver. Her name is Ester Rashida Renee. She's now facing several charges including evading arrest. Renee also had several active warrants for theft.



Fort Worth police initially told NBC 5 the driver may be in a stolen vehicle but later confirmed that she was driving a vehicle with fake paper tags.



The southbound lanes of Interstate 35W in North Fort Worth will be closed at Golden Triangle Boulevard for several hours due to a fiery multi-vehicle crash involving an overturned tractor-trailer.
A promising new deal in the Dallas Police and Fire Pension crisis is the result of negotiations with state senators in Austin the past two days, according to participants in the talks.

Pension uncertainty coupled with low Dallas public safety pay is blamed a flood of police officers leaving or retiring. The police force of less than 3,000 is the smallest force in years, and police response to calls has slowed.

"We believe that a resolution is close at hand," said Dallas City Councilman Erik Wilson, who is also a member of the Police and Fire Pension Board.

Dallas City Councilman Adam McGough is one of the new faces from Dallas City Hall to enter the pension negotiation with Texas senators this week after the Texas House unanimously approved a version of the deal a week ago with provisions that Dallas leaders strongly opposed.

"And I believe that this was a situation where everybody got something out of this," said McGough.

Mayor Mike Rawlings complained House Bill 3158 was too costly for taxpayers who also demand solutions to other Dallas problems like crumbling city streets. The mayor insisted the city should also get the majority of appointees to the pension board to improve oversight. In the current arrangement, eight of 12 trustees are employees or retirees who control their own benefits. The remaining four are Dallas City Council members.

"The best part about the negotiation is that everybody's involved," McGough said. "We had all the parties that have interest in this and it was an opportunity to lay everything out on the table."

Since the measure moved to the Senate, people involved in the talks said the new version of the bill reduces cost to taxpayers and gives the city six appointees on an 11-member pension board.

The Dallas City Council was scheduled to approve a resolution supporting the new version Wednesday, but Wilson made a motion to postpone the city vote indefinitely.

"We're optimistic progress is being made and we did not want to jump in front of the legislation," Wilson said. "As we always said, this was going to be a sacrifice from all. I think we're at a point where we're close to everyone agreeing to it. I think it's a win-win for everyone."

Thomas Glover, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, is not sold on the deal.

"We need the full council's attention and we need the citizens to know what our concerns are," he said.

Glover insists governance of the fund should be split evenly. And he strongly opposes that "clawback" on Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) savings money already promised to plan members in the past is in the bill.

"I don't think that you're going to do your best in recruiting if people think you're going to break your promise," Glover said. "If we don't have a decent pension and we don't have good pay, the best people that would be here in the police and fire department are going elsewhere."

The fund heading toward insolvency within 10 years is blamed on deception about the true financial picture by past pension managers. Overly generous past benefits could not be supported by overvalued investments the fund held. Much of that situation has been reformed, but the fund is still billions short of future obligations.

All versions of the deal also include reduced benefits and higher employee contributions along with more money from the city.

Any new plan approved by the Texas Senate must be reconsidered by the Texas House, but McGough said he expects the House to accept Senate changes if employee and retiree groups also agree.

"What they said from the beginning was, 'Dallas, you come up with an option. You come up with an agreement and we'll honor that.' And I believe that's what's going to happen," McGough said.

The deal must pass before the current session of the Texas Legislature ends May 29.
There's not much you can learn about Peter Tsanacas just by looking at his Amazon account. That did not stop one woman from trying. She allegedly succeeded with the help of an Amazon employee.

That has set up a legal battle between Tsanacas and one of the nation's largest retailers.

"It's crazy," Tsanacas said. "I don't know anybody in any big corporation like that that would be willing to risk their job for something like that."

Tsanacas has filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com and Chris Leath, an employee he accuses of accessing and distributing his private and confidential information to a woman Tsanacas whom was dating.

"She ended up giving my information to one of her girlfriends. Her girlfriend was dating someone from Amazon. He took my phone number and ran it through their system and was able to pull up a bunch of personal info about me. My home address, previous home addresses, purchase history, email address, phone numbers," Tsanacas said.

Tsanacas has a screen-shot of the message Leath allegedly sent to the woman that shows Tsanacas's Amazon account. He said it's proof.

"In one of the most incredible breaches of public trust to be committed by a company, Amazon is apparently one the worst offenders when it permitted a high-level executive to disseminate plaintiff's high confidential information," the lawsuit reads.

Leath was fired a month after Tsanacas' lawyers complained to Amazon.

Tsanacas's lawyer said they are considering bringing criminal charges and will report any violations by Amazon to federal regulatory agencies.

The lawsuit claims the ordeal has caused Tsanacas so much anguish that he couldn't work regularly for a time, but instead of letting the issue die he wants to fight Amazon in court. He believes it's the right thing to do.

"We have to ensure that this never happens again," he said. "What happened to me should not happen to the millions of customers that shop on Amazon on a daily basis."

Amazon declined to comment, but the company did confirm that Leath was fired.
After meeting with Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson Thursday afternoon, attorneys representing the family of slain teen Jordan Edwards said the DA is committed to justice and securing a conviction against fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver.



Edwards, 15, was shot and killed by Oliver as he and two other teens drove away from a party nearly two weeks ago. Oliver was fired and the Dallas County District Attorneys Office filed a murder charge against him. He's since been released after posting $300,000 bond.



Edwards' family left the DA's office Thursday without giving a public statement, but their attorneys, along with advocates for several civil rights groups, spoke on their behalf.



"We want to see a genuine effort, with all resources available, to prosecute not only the officer that has been named, Roy Oliver, but every officer involved in wrongdoing, in the cover up, and the harassment of Jordan Edwards' brothers  and the injustice on that evening," said Lee Merritt, an attorney representing the family.



During the meeting Thursday, Edwards' parents were expected to review the assistant district attorneys assigned to the case and discuss the possibility of bringing in a special independent prosecutor.



"It's very difficult, as you all know, in the United States, let alone in the great state of Texas, to see a police officer charged, let alone convicted," Merritt said. "We plan to see it through to the end. We're not going to accept half-measures, we're not going to accept excuses or politicking."



The Dallas County District Attorney has vowed to act in fairness and seek justice.



We believe a lot has been done in this case, said Johnson. Moving forward, we are vigorously aggressive. Right now were not going to get into any evidence about this case. We are preparing it to be presented before the grand jury."

Additionally, Brittany Dunn, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County DA, told The Associated Press the U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting.

She said she doesn't know the scope or focus of the probe.

The DOJ didn't return calls to the AP or NBC 5 about the probe.



Daryl Washington, an attorney representing the family in a civil case, said the family didn't file a civil case for monetary gain but rather to ensure there is transparency in the investigation and accountability with regard to how the teens were treated after the shooting.


A man on Texas death row for nearly 25 years for the abduction, rape and slaying of a 20-year-old Houston bank teller is getting his sentence reduced to life in prison after state attorneys have agreed with the inmate's lawyers that he's mentally impaired and ineligible for execution under U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

The Texas Attorney General's office and attorneys for 44-year-old condemned prisoner Robert James Campbell told a federal judge Wednesday evidence supports a finding that Campbell is intellectually disabled.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg says because a life sentence without parole was not an option when Campbell was charged in 1991 with the slaying of Alejandra Rendon, his new sentence includes parole eligibility. She says her office will protest at parole reviews to ensure he's never released.
The Trump administration has offered some nothing to see here spin in response to the presidents firing of FBI Director James Comey. But President Donald Trump and White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders have twisted some facts to fit that narrative:

Sanders wrongly claimed that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Clapper said he was not aware of any evidence, but added that he was not privy to the FBIs ongoing investigation.

Trump misleadingly tweeted that Sen. Chuck Schumer stated recently that he had no confidence in Comey. But those comments from Schumer came before the election  not recently.

Trump said that Comey told him on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation. We dont know what Comey told Trump, but we do know that Comey said the FBI is investigating whether there was any coordination between the [Trump] campaign and Russias efforts to influence the election.

It has been quite a start to the week for the Trump administration. On May 8, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates told a Senate subcommittee that she provided early warnings to the Trump administration that its national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had provided deceptive information about his conversations with a Russian official. Yates and Clapper talked about how that could have made Flynn, who was later fired, vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians.

Then, the following day, the president made the surprise announcement that he had fired the head of the agency that is investigating possible links between Trump campaign associates and Russias attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

What Clapper Knew, and Didnt Know

On MSNBCs Morning Joe program, Sanders said the investigations by the FBI and congressional committees have gone for almost an entire year, and that Clapper and others have all come to the same conclusion, that theres no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

Her comment mirrors Trumps tweet two days earlier in which the president claimed the former director of national intelligence said there is no evidence of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.

Thats not what Clapper said.

Trumps tweet came in response to an exchange that Clapper had with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham during a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing on May 8.

Graham asked Clapper about a statement he made in a March 5 interview on NBCs Meet the Press that there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials included in an intelligence report that Clappers office released on Jan. 6. Heres what Clapper told host Chuck Todd:

Clapper, March 5: We did not include any evidence in our report, and I say, our, thats N.S.A., F.B.I. and C.I.A., 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. Todd: I understand that. But does it exist? Clapper: Not to my knowledge.

Graham asked if that was still accurate.

It is, Clapper said.

But saying that one is not aware of evidence of collusion, or that no evidence of collusion was included in the report, is not the same thing as saying there is no evidence of it.

In the Meet the Press interview, Clapper went on to say at the time, we had no evidence of such collusion. But he added, This could have unfolded or become available in the time since I left the government.

At the May 8 hearing, Clapper said he wasnt even aware of the FBI investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives until March 20. He then explained why he would not have known that when he was the director of national intelligence.

Clapper, May 8: When the intelligence community obtains information suggesting that a U.S. person is acting on behalf of a foreign power, the standard procedure is to share that information with the lead investigatory body, which of course is the FBI. The bureau then decides whether to look into that information and handles any ensuing investigation if there is one. Given its sensitivity, even the existence of a counterintelligence investigations closely held, including at the highest levels. During my tenure as DNI, it was my practice to defer to the FBI director, both Director Mueller and then subsequently Director Comey, on whether, when and to what extent they would inform me about such investigations. This stems from the unique position of the FBI, which straddles both intelligence and law enforcement. And as a consequence, I was not aware of the counterintelligence investigation Director Comey first referred to during his testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee for Intelligence on the 20th of March, and that comports with my public statements.

To be sure, as part of its investigation into Russias efforts to influence the 2016 presidential race, the FBI is investigating whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. As Clapper referenced, Comey made that perfectly clear in a House intelligence committee hearing on March 20. (More on that later.)

Schumer on Comey

After firing Comey, Trump took to Twitter to chastise Democrats who criticized the move, particularly those  such as Sen. Chuck Schumer  who have criticized Comey in the past.

When the president called Schumer to tell him about the firing, Schumer said he told Trump, you are making a big mistake. In a press conference after the phone call, Schumer called the firing troubling and speculated that perhaps the FBI investigation was getting too close to home for the president.

A few hours later, Trump fired back with a tweet suggesting Schumer was being hypocritical, given that he stated recently that he did not have any confidence in Comey.

Actually, Schumers quote about Comey was not all that recent.

The White House released a link to an article about Schumer saying  on Nov. 2, 2016  that he had lost confidence in Comey. That was before the election. Specifically, Schumer was upset that Comey announced the reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clintons emails just two weeks before the election. Although Schumer criticized Comey, he stopped short of calling for his ouster.

We couldnt find any more recent quotes in which Schumer spoke directly to Comeys performance. But on NBCs Meet the Press on March 5, Schumer provided supportive words for the FBI generally and its ability to conduct its investigation into the Trump campaign without political interference.

Schumer, March 5: The FBI is the premiere investigative agency here in our government. And I believe that they will do their job and get to the bottom of this without political interference.

That wasnt a specific vote of confidence for Comey, but Comey was head of the agency at the time.

More important, Schumers comment about lacking confidence in Comey was made more than six months ago, and before the election.

In his press conference on May 9, Schumer said, The first question [about the firing of Comey] the administration has to answer is, Why now? 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 didnt fire him then. Why did it happen today?

In his letter firing Comey, Trump said he relied on the recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Sessions deputy, Rod Rosenstein. Rosensteins memo primarily cites Comeys handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton emails. Specifically, Rosenstein took issue with Comeys decision to hold a press conference on July 5, 2016, to publicly announce that he would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton and her aides.

After that press conference, Trump blasted Comey and the crooked FBI for not prosecuting Clinton, but he frequently quoted the critical comments that Comey made about Clinton at his July 5, 2016, press conference. For example, a Trump campaign document on Hillarys Lies contained five quotes from Comeys press conference.

After Comey announced he had reopened the investigation two weeks before the election, Trump praised the FBI director. At an Oct. 31 campaign rally, he said Comey had a lot of guts, and at an Oct. 29 rally he said he had respect for Comeys decision.

In an April 12 interview on Fox News, Trump was asked why he didnt fire Comey as soon as he became president. Trump criticized Comey for saving Clinton from prosecution, but added, I have confidence in him. Well see what happens. Its going to be interesting.

At a May 10 press briefing, Sanders was asked when Trump lost confidence in Comey. She told reporters that one of the big catalysts came when Comey testified at a May 3 congressional hearing.

I think one of the big catalysts that we saw was, last week, on Wednesday, Director Comey made a pretty startling revelation that he had essentially taken a stick of dynamite and thrown it into the Department of Justice by going around the chain of command when he decided to take steps without talking to the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General when holding a press conference and telling them that he would not let them know what he was going to say, she said, and that is simply not allowed.

It is not accurate to describe Comeys unilateral decision to hold a press conference last year as a startling revelation. Its old news.

In fact, Comey said at his July 5, 2016, press conference that he did not coordinate it with the Department of Justice. At the time, the department was headed by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who came under criticism for an impromptu meeting with Bill Clinton a few days earlier on the tarmac of an airport in Arizona.

I have not coordinated or reviewed this statement in any way with the Department of Justice or any other part of the government, Comey said at the start of last years press conference. They do not know what I am about to say.

Comeys decision to disclose his recommendation without first consulting with the Department of Justice was part of what the New York Times described as a day of political high drama.

New York Times, July 5, 2016: White House officials said Mr. Obama also did not know about Mr. Comeys plans ahead of time. The F.B.I. director said he did not coordinate the statement with the Justice Department or any other agency. They do not know what I am about to say, he declared.

Comey on FBIs Russia Probe

In his dismissal letter to Comey, Trump said that the FBI director told him on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation.

Trump, May 9: 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.

We asked the White House when these three occasions took place and exactly what Comey told Trump. We asked, too, for an explanation of what Trump means when he said he is not under investigation.

We received no response to our questions, but at her press briefing, Sanders declined to answer. Im not going to get into the specifics of their conversations, but I can tell you that Director Comey relayed that information to the president, she said.

It would be important to know exactly what Comey told Trump. Its not clear to us what Trump meant when he said, I am not under investigation. We asked the White House, for example, if Comey told Trump that he was not the subject or target of an investigation, which has specific legal meaning in the U.S. criminal code.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Manual:

A target is a person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime and who, in the judgment of the prosecutor, is a putative defendant. An officer or employee of an organization which is a target is not automatically considered a target even if such officers or employees conduct contributed to the commission of the crime by the target organization. The same lack of automatic target status holds true for organizations which employ, or employed, an officer or employee who is a target.

A subject of an investigation is a person whose conduct is within the scope of the grand jurys investigation.

There is no evidence that the president is a target or a subject. But there is an active, ongoing investigation of his campaign, as Comey confirmed at a March 20 hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He declined to say, however, whose conduct we are examining, citing the ongoing investigation.

Heres what Comey said in his opening remarks:

Comey, March 20: As you know, our practice is not to confirm the existence of ongoing investigations, especially those investigations that involve classified matters, but in unusual circumstances where it is in the public interest, it may be appropriate to do so as Justice Department policies recognize. This is one of those circumstances. I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, 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 Russias efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed. Because it is an open, ongoing investigation and is classified, I cannot say more about what we are doing and whose conduct we are examining. At the request of congressional leaders, we have taken the extraordinary step in coordination with the Department of Justice of briefing this Congress leaders, including the leaders of this committee, in a classified setting in detail about the investigation, but I cant go into those details here. I know that is extremely frustrating to some folks. I hope you and the American people can understand. The FBI is very careful in how we handle information about our cases and about the people we are investigating.

During questioning, Democratic Rep. Jim Himes asked Comey if the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign was still in its early stages. Comey characterized the length of the investigation, which at that point was less than a year, as a fairly short period of time.

Its hard to say because I dont know how much longer it will take, Comey said. But weve been doing this  this investigation began in late July, so for counterintelligence investigation thats a fairly short period of time.

Again, we dont know what Comey told the president, but there is still an ongoing investigation. We will update this article if we do get more information from the White House or Comey.

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan non-profit organization that will hold candidates and key figures accountable during the 2016 presidential campaign. FactCheck.org will check facts of speeches, advertisements and more for NBC.
Happy Mother's Day: You've filled a card with sweet sentiments; now, you'll want to treat your mommy to something a little special. Numerous restaurants around Southern California are brunching it, including Fuego in Long Beach, Hotel Casa del Mar, Baldoria, The Independence, The Church Key, and Mr. C Beverly Hills (and maybe even your local go-to; just call and ask). Unusual brunch spots that come with a little post-brunch strolling? The Huntington in San Marino, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, and Skypark at Santa's Village. May 14 is also the final day for The Flower Fields in Carlsbad.

6th Annual West Coast BBQ Classic: Perhaps, now that it is the middle of May, you're pondering giving the ol' grill a serious scrubbing. Here's inspiration: Several mega skillful pitmasters'll call upon the Queen Mary on Saturday, May 13 to break out the best cuts of savory meats, and the top-notch sauces and rubs, too. There shall be five tastings, too, included with the General Value Pack ticket. Plus, new this year? Dessert and bacon categories.

'Extreme Mammals' Opens: When a new Natural History Museum of LA exhibition has a "Odd Features. Unusual Creatures" sub-header, you know you're in for a info-rich treat. Spy some of the most "bizarre, amazing, and extraordinary" mammals, extinct and here today, at this large-scale show. It opens on Sunday, May 14, and gallops with mammalian-like grace right through to Sept. 10.

"Anne of Green Gables" Party: Fans'll gather at Chevalier's Books on Larchmont Boulevard to celebrate the timeless story from author Lucy Maud Montgomery, and the new Netflix series (that debuts on May 12). The bookstore gathering date? That's on the afternoon of Saturday, May 13, from 2 to 5 p.m. Other independent bookstores across the country will also be honoring the plucky heroine, with spots in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and La Jolla hosting parties.

"Them!" at Union Station: If you dig an over-the-top big bug movie, the kind of B flicks synonymous with the 1950s, and you'd like to see one of those big bugs arrive in LA, looking for mayhem, you're in luck: The classic "Them!" will screen, for free, at the landmark train station on Friday night, May 12. It's part of the ongoing sci-fi film series, which includes movies that use Los Angeles as a surreal setting.
In just a few years, well-mannered self-driving robotaxis will share the roads with reckless, law-breaking human drivers. The prospect is causing migraines for the people developing the robotaxis.

A self-driving car would be programmed to drive at the speed limit. Humans routinely exceed it by 10 to 15 mph (16 to 24 kph)  just try entering the New Jersey Turnpike at normal speed. Self-driving cars wouldn't dare cross a double yellow line; humans do it all the time. And then there are those odd local traffic customs to which humans quickly adapt.

In Los Angeles and other places, for instance, there's the "California Stop," where drivers roll through stop signs if no traffic is crossing. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, courteous drivers practice the "Pittsburgh Left," where it's customary to let one oncoming car turn left in front of them when a traffic light turns green. The same thing happens in Boston. During rush hours near Ann Arbor, Michigan, drivers regularly cross a double-yellow line to queue up for a left-turn onto a freeway.

"There's an endless list of these cases where we as humans know the context, we know when to bend the rules and when to break the rules," said Raj Rajkumar, a computer engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who leads the school's autonomous car research.

Although autonomous cars are likely to carry passengers or cargo in limited areas during the next three to five years, experts say it will take many years before robotaxis can coexist with human-piloted vehicles on most side streets, boulevards and freeways. That's because programmers have to figure out human behavior and local traffic idiosyncrasies. And teaching a car to use that knowledge will require massive amounts of data and big computing power that is prohibitively expensive at the moment.

"Driverless cars are very rule-based, and they don't understand social graces," said Missy Cummings, director of Duke University's Humans and Autonomy Lab.

Driving customs and road conditions are dramatically different across the globe, with narrow, congested lanes in European cities, and anarchy in Beijing's giant traffic jams. In India's capital, New Delhi, luxury cars share poorly marked and congested lanes with bicycles, scooters, trucks, and even an occasional cow or elephant.

Then there is the problem of aggressive humans who make dangerous moves such as cutting cars off on freeways or turning left in front of oncoming traffic. In India, for example, even when lanes are marked, drivers swing from lane to lane without hesitation.

Already there have been isolated cases of human drivers pulling into the path of cars such as Teslas, knowing they will stop because they're equipped with automatic emergency braking.

"It's hard to program in human stupidity or someone who really tries to game the technology," says John Hanson, spokesman for Toyota's autonomous car unit.

Kathy Winter, vice president of automated driving solutions for Intel, is optimistic that the cars will be able to see and think like humans before 2030.

Cars with sensors for driver-assist systems already are gathering data about road signs, lane lines and human driver behavior. Winter hopes auto and tech companies developing autonomous systems and cars will contribute this information to a giant database.

Artificial intelligence developed by Intel and other companies eventually could access the data and make quick decisions similar to humans, Winter says.

Programmers are optimistic that someday the cars will be able to handle even Beijing's traffic. But the cost could be high, and it might be a decade or more before Chinese regulators deem self-driving cars reliable enough for widespread public use, said John Zeng of LMC Automotive Consulting.

Intel's Winter expects fully autonomous cars to collect, process and analyze four terabytes of data in 1  hours of driving, which is the average amount a person spends in a car each day. That's equal to storing over 1.2 million photos or 2,000 hours of movies. Such computing power now costs over $100,000 per vehicle, Zeng said. But that cost could fall as more cars are built.

Someday autonomous cars will have common sense programmed in so they will cross a double-yellow line when warranted or to speed up and find a gap to enter a freeway. Carnegie Mellon has taught its cars to handle the "Pittsburgh Left" by waiting a full second or longer for an intersection to clear before proceeding at a green light. Sensors also track crossing traffic and can figure out if a driver is going to stop for a sign or red light. Eventually there will be vehicle-to-vehicle communication to avoid crashes.

Still, some skeptics say computerized cars will never be able to think exactly like humans.

"You'll never be able to make up a person's ability to perceive what's the right move at the time, I don't think," said New Jersey State Police Sgt. Ed Long, who works in the traffic and public safety office.

Allen G. Breed, Joe McDonald, Nirmala George and Michael Liedtke contributed to this report.
When you need a place to eat you might search Yelp for that perfect dining experience. Not sure about that movie tonight? Rotten Tomatoes has all the reviews. Want to know where to go for some pot? There's an app for that, too. Weedmaps, an online service that helps providers and users locate marijuana dispensaries.

Weedmaps is the premiere service for medical marijuana patients to find rate and review medical marijuana products, said Weedmaps Vice President Warren Applebaum.

Weedmaps advertises as the most comprehensive marijuana directory and discovery service on the planet and the crowd sourcing company is lighting up with advertising in South Florida.

Dr. Kendrick Heywood is a physician certified in compassionate use by the state of Florida. His practice Vior Life located in Coral Gables has seen a surge of patients since Florida approved the usage of medicinal marijuana.

In my office alone in the first month we had like 120 patients just call. I'm seeing around 30-50 patients a week about medical marijuana, said Dr. Heywood.

Dr. Heywood says Florida is still new to the marijuana business, making it hard for patients in need to navigate through a complicated system. He says Weedmaps helps.

It acts like a network, a directory. It tells you where the dispensaries in the area are. Like one in Homestead, by the airport. It'll also show u delivery pickup spots, said Dr. Heywood.

Weedmaps is user friendly, helping patient find dispensaries, delivery services, doctors and deals. Hit the map icon to the right for a birds eye view of whats available near your location.

Weedmaps is going to give you all the information in the industry in as few clicks as possible, said Applebaum.

Weedmaps said it has 40 billboards in Miami and 55 taxi tops. The company started advertising in February.
President Trump, who stunned many by firing FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, won't sack his press-battling press secretary, Sean Spicer, The Washington Post recently reported. The Trumpian reason: TV ratings.

"Everyone tunes in" for Spicer's daytime briefings Trump said, according the paper's unnamed source.

Spicer's also poised to drive nighttime viewing habits this weekend as Melissa McCarthy hosts "Saturday Night Live" for the first time since kicking off her recurring surprise appearances as Trump's flack in early February.

Her hosting stint comes as we've reached the odd point where Washington press briefings and "Live From New York" comedy appear to have forged a symbiotic ratings relationship.

Six days after McCarthys first turn as Spicer, The New York Times reported his briefings boosted cable news ratings by about 10 percent and outpaced some soap operas. The next day, McCarthys second round as Spicer helped SNL reap its most-watched installment in six years.

Chalk it up to a by-product of a business-as-unusual presidency rooted in an obsession with television. Perhaps that shouldn't be surprising in a country steered by a chief executive who rose to the national stage largely through Reality TV, fueled by a publicity-at-any-price ethos valuing exposure over content.



Reports suggest Trump frequently watches the tube, including plenty of Fox News. After being elected, he found time to taunt his "Celebrity Apprentice" successor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, over low ratings, and slammed "SNL" over Alec Baldwin's unflattering portrayal of him. Really bad television! Trump tweeted five days before taking office.

But the President was wrong about "SNL," which is logging its highest season viewership numbers since the Clinton Administration. McCarthy's transformation of Spicer's podium into a mobile, literal bully pulpit, is a breakout hit on TV and online: Her initial Spicer jaunt has drawn 27 million hits on YouTube alone.



In three outings as a gum-chugging Spicer, she's earned a spot in the SNL hall of fame of political mimicry, alongside Chevy Chase's iconic physical klutz imitation of Gerald Ford and Tina Fey's verbal klutz take on Sarah Palin.

McCarthy hosting performance this weekend also will make some modest history, landing her in the so-called "Five-Timers Club" with the likes of Baldwin, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Justin Timberlake and others whose return "SNL" appearances arrive amid high expectations.

Trump, a two-time SNL host, might hold the highest office in the country, but he likely won't get a "Five-Timers" smoking jacket. He turned down an opportunity to appear on the show this season, Baldwin told Ellen DeGeneres last week.

Maybe the President doesn't want to give SNL, which is likely to tackle the Comey firing this weekend, a ratings bump. The country might be split on whether the President is qualified to lead, but its undeniable that Donald Trump knows like few others what makes viewers to tune in.

Hester is Director of News Products and Projects at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.
What to Know LIRR, NJ Transit and Amtrak trains faced major delays Wednesday evening due to switch problems at Penn Station

There was no westbound LIRR service and eastbound service was limited; NJ Transit and Amtrak were facing delays of a 1/2 hour or more

This is just the latest headache it what has been weeks of delays, service changes and cancellations at Penn, the nation's busiest station

Signal problems led to NJ Transit, LIRR and Amtrak delays at Penn Station, and crowds of commuters swelled so much that police had to block off some of the entrances to the busy station during Wednesday's evening rush.

Police reopened the station's closed entrances at 6:30 p.m., but delays continued on the region's major transit lines hours after agencies warned riders to steel themselves for another nightmarish commute.

Officers blocked access to the station at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue at the height of rush hour because of "severe overcrowding" at the lower level of the station. Photos on social media showed officers, some with bullhorns, fending off angry commuters and closing gates as crowds crunched together, some refusing to budge.

"All the money we pay," one defeated commuter said, shaking his head as police told him and others to find another way home.

One of the officers tried to lighten the mood, yelling to a crowd: "You've been staring at me for hours  I wouldn't want to stare at me for hours."

Commuters told stories of missing appointments and school events, but many said waiting in cramped conditions had become a part of commuting in a region plagued by high ridership and outdated infrastructure.

"Living in New York City you tend to prepare for this, and know what's coming," one man said.

But that didn't quell the growing frustration many riders felt.

"It's a problem every day," one woman said. "It's not really fair."

Police blocked off access to some of the entrances to Penn Station because of crowding amid delays on LIRR, NJ Transit and Amtrak. Checkey Beckford reports.

Shortly before heaps of workers headed home, NJ Transit warned of hour-long delays as crews worked to correct the signal problems, which had limited the number of usable tracks on the eastern end of Penn. LIRR said its commuters would face similar delays.

There was no westbound LIRR service into Penn and eastbound service was limited to four branches  Ronkonkoma, Babylon, Port Jefferson and Port Washington  because of the signal problems.

This NYPD officer did his best communicating with crowds of commuters Wednesday as police blocked an entrance outside Penn Station amid delays.

Amtrak announced that its trains were also facing delays of at least a 1/2 hour. Boards showed that many trains traveling along the busy Northeast Corridor were on "Stand By."



Much of the service had returned by 7:30 p.m., but platforms were packed and lingering delays trickled on into the evening.

Rush-hour problems this week were just the latest in what has seemed to commuters like an incessant string of rail problems:

 On March 24 an Amtrak train derailed and bumped into an NJ Transit train.

 On April 3 a second derailment closed more than a third of New York Penn Station's tracks for four days.

 On April 14 a train got stuck in a tunnel for nearly three hours, leading to systemwide delays for travelers.

 On April 21 an Amtrak switch problem near Newark caused widespread delays.
What to Know Joey Comunale, 26, was stabbed to death at a luxury apartment building in Manhattan, likely the night of Nov. 12 or early Nov. 13

Authorities recovered Comunale's remains Nov. 16; a criminal complaint says he was stabbed more than a dozen times and burned

An attorney for one of the men arrested in his death says charges against his client should be dropped

Two men are finally facing murder charges in the death of a Hofstra graduate from Connecticut who'd attended a party at a Manhattan luxury apartment building.

James Rackover, of Manhattan, and Lawrence Dilione, of Jersey City, New Jersey appeared in court on Wednesday after being indicted for the murder of 26-year-old Joseph Comunale.

Prosecutors say Comunale, of Stamford, was stabbed more than a dozen times in a luxury Manhattan apartment building owned by Rackover after partying with the suspects. His body was found buried in a shallow grave in New Jersey on Nov. 16. Authorities say Rackover and Dilione put him there.



Both deny any wrongdoing. The pair had earlier pleaded not guilty to concealment of a human body, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

A third person, 26-year-old Max Gemma, of Oceanport, New Jersey, has pleaded not guilty to charges of hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Rackover and Dilione were held without bail Wednesday. Gemma was out on bail. They will return to court on June 6.
People living in the popular waterfront neighborhoods of serviced by New York City's ferry service are about to get a reprieve from the new boats' horn blasts.

With ferries running 17 hours a day, and boats pulling into stops every 20 to 30 minutes, residents living in areas along the East River ferry route started complaining about the loud and frequent horn noises after the new ferry service launched May 1, according to Hornblower, the operator of the ferry.

"The only thing I hear is the ferry," said neighbor Morgan Alexander, who lives on the 26th floor of a Williamsburg building facing the river. "Usually people ask, 'What is that?' And I have to tell them it's the ferry."

A non-scientific decibel reader app registered an 80 to 85 range when a boat horn sounded at the ferry stop there Wednesday, similar to a motorcycle or subway train going by. A level of 100 would be like a firecracker, and 140 is a jet taking off.

Water vessels are required by the U.S. Coast Guard to sound their horns whenever they're reversing, according to a spokeswoman for the city's Economic Development Corporation.

Hornblower, the operator of NYC Ferry, is "now working on a solution that would both appease waterfront residents and ensure ferry operations are compliant," said the EDC spokeswoman.

Over the next three to four weeks, the horns will sound softer tones and be repositioned from front-facing to rear-facing, Hornblower says. And when the rest of the boats roll out for the new NYC Ferry routes launching in the summer, horns will be adjusted.

Twenty new boats were commissioned for the NYC Ferry fleet.

The Rockaway and East River routes were the first two routes of the long-awaited NYC Ferry to go into service. One has stops in Rockaway, Sunset Park and Wall Street. The other has stops at 34th Street, Hunters Point South, Greenpoint, North and South Willamsburg, Dumbo, Governers Island and Wall Street.

The South Brooklyn and Astoria routes launch in June and August, and the entire NYC Ferry system will fully launch in 2018.

Meanwhile Wednesday, Mayor de Blasio spoke at Hudson River Park touting what he calls the early success of NYC Ferry, saying 49,000 people have taken it so far.

"There are so many reasons to turn back to the water because its beautiful, because in so many ways it is a cleaner and safer way to get around, because its a nicer way to get around but also it creates opportunity," he said.
A server containing the medical records of 7,000 patients at Bronx Lebanon Hospital has been hacked, officials say.

Hospital officials say someone hacked a server hosted by a company called iHealth, based in Louisville, Kentucky.

The files contained private information from patients over the last three years, including surgical records, chronic illnesses and even a rape report.

Bronx resident Willette Jackson was one of the people whose medical records was accessed. She said she didn't know she was affected until she was approached by News 4.

"They ain't tell me nothing -- I wonder why?" she said.

News 4 was able to see details of how one patient was prepped and draped for surgery. Another file showed a patient's history of chronic depression, asthma and hepatitis B.

And even more shocking -- abuse records.

"Patient was physically abused by [redacted]. She was raped by her [redacted]," the file read.

iHealth says the security breach has been contained and it's conducting an internal review. It said it's also "engaging a leading IT security firm to investigate the matter."
The twin toddlers who became a viral sensation when they were "ticketed" by NYPD officers while taking their toy car for a spin last month are now cruising all over the Big Apple in a new ride to hang with their buddies in blue.

Weeks after 2-year-old twins, Aaron and Evan, were pulled over by a police cruiser while operating their pint-sized Range Rover in Washington Heights, the boys are hitting the streets in their brand-new set of custom wheels.

On Tuesday night, the tots pulled up to Trump Tower in their own tiny NYPD cruiser complete with a bumper sticker reading "Twin Squad."

The boys got a warm welcome from the NYPD officers stationed there, and Secret Service agents even came out to give them their own agency badges, their father tells News 4.

Then they headed to Times Square, where they were instantly recognized by tourists, according to their father.

"The boys loved the attention and waved back at everyone," their dad said.

Videos posted to Instagram show the boys also meeting cops there. They seemed equally delighted to see the toddlers in the miniature NYPD cruiser.

The toddlers became a viral sensation when their dad posted videos of their hilarious exchange with officers in Washington Heights in April. In one video, a police cruiser pulls over with lights flashing, and the twins' dad can be heard saying "Uh oh" as the officers approach. One of the officers asks for the kids' license, and the boys fumble with the glove box. The cop then hands them a ticket.

In the next video, one of the boys hands the ticket back. He gives an officer a high-five, while his brother rests his head on the steering wheel.

"We're stopping traffic over here on St. Nicholas (Avenue)," their dad says on the video. "Only in New York."

[NATL] Celebrity Baby Boom: Christian Slater u0026 Wife Welcome Daughter
President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey based on advice from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has raised questions about whether Sessions violated his own recusal from the Russia investigation, which Comey was leading.

As NBC News reported, legal experts say the answer depends on the scope of Sessions' recusal and the true reasoning for Comey's dismissal. The White House has insisted Comey was fired for his mishandling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.

One legal ethics expert from New York says the scope of his recusal is very broad, and Sessions therefore flatly violated it.

However, a former federal prosecutor drew attention to the fact that Sessions chose to recuse himself and was not instructed to do so by the Justice Department. Therefore, the expert said, Sessions is allowed to change his mind if he wants.
A Main Line Quaker school fired two teachers for inviting a Palestinian advocate to address students.

Friends' Central School on City Avenue in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, confirmed to NBC10's Brandon Hudson that teachers Ariel Eure and Layla Helwa didn't have their contracts renewed. The two were previously suspended and the firing was announced in a letter sent to the school community.

"The decision not to renew these teachers contracts was the result of a deliberate and thoughtful Quaker decision-making process, the details of which will remain confidential," Head of School Craig Sellers said in a statement.

"Academic excellence, attention to individual students, opportunities for leadership, and Quaker values have and will continue to be hallmarks of a Friends Central education. Our graduates translate the education they receive here to success in their top choice colleges, in professions that are as varied as our students' interests, and in community life."

The teachers were put on administrative leave in February. The two supervised the school's Peace and Equality in Palestine club.

The kerfuffle involved Swarthmore College Peace & Conflict Studies assistant professor Sa'ed Atshan. Parents complained about Atshan's involvement in a movement that advocates punitive measures against Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian territories. School leaders canceled his speech.

Bryn Mawr-based attorney Mark Schwartz said the school offered Eure and Helwa $5,000 each in severance if they dropped a civil rights lawsuit and signed a confidentiality agreement. Schwartz said his clients won't take the deal.

"My clients have a lot more integrity than the current administration of Friends' Central," Schwartz said.

Schwartz called Sellers' actions in this and other employment disputes "hardly Quakerly." [[238427591, C]]

He hopes to continue with actions filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In a letter, Sellers said that he and the school board would take into consideration a series of recommendations offered by a task force formed in the wake of the speaker controversy. Among the recommendations were a Tuesday event with the the Dialogue Institute of Temple University and an upcoming screening, open to parents, of the film, "Wrestling Jerusalem," about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The task force also suggested re-inviting Atshan speak and Sellers re-extended the invitation Friday -- after taking a pause "to allow our community time to create more comprehensive and well-articulated programming around the Arab/Israeli conflict," Sellers said.

"Now that our community has developed a framework and a set of criteria for programs and speakers addressing contentious, complicated issues, I believe it is an appropriate moment to re-extend the Schools invitation to Dr. Atshan. In my invitation, I will ask him to share his personal experiences and path to peace education, all within the framework of the task forces recommendations. This invitation is part of an arc of skill building, learning, and listening which will continue with additional visitors who have experienced the Arab/Israeli conflict and other conflicts around the world in equally personal, yet different ways."

The school said they have yet to secure a date where Atshan would talk with students.

"Embracing the challenge of dialogue around contentious issues is central to the Mission and Vision of Friends Central School, " Sellers said. "The resulting skill building, learning, and listening will enhance the intellectual caliber of our classrooms and our community as a whole."
A suburban Philadelphia high school senior posed as a teenage female to get more than 100 fellow teens to send him nude photos of themselves, officials said Thursday.

Monsignor Bonner Catholic High School student Derrick Jones targeted boys  some in middle school  by leading them to believe they were communicating with a girl named Haley through various social media channels, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan and Darby Township Police Chief Regina Price.

Jones, an 18-year-old from Glenolden, used platforms such as Instagram, Kik, WeChat and Snapchat, was found when investigators tracked his IP address. Even after he spoke to authorities, he continued to target victims, officials said.

Investigators said Jones targeted 136 people  about 60 of whom are identified as local males. Once he had the nude photos, Jones posted them from fake accounts in hopes to extort more photos from the victims; he sent graphic images to one of the victims own family to shame him, officials said.

Haley is a real girl who had her identity stolen by Jones, investigators said.

A judge on Thursday arraigned Jones on dozens of counts, including child pornography and harassment. Jones posted $5,000 bail. He couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

Jones faces expulsion from school, Whelan said.

"This information is deeply disturbing to all of us," The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. "Our immediate concern is for those who were or may have been victimized. Our understanding is that Delaware County Detectives have been in contact with individuals they have reason to believe could be a victim in this matter.

If anyone has information that needs to be shared with law enforcement regarding this matter or wishes to make a report, they are urged to contact Detective Sergeant Kenneth Bellis of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division at (610) 891-4717."
In April, U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees arrested a teenager on a Sunday morning at the checkpoint along Interstate 8 in Pine Valley.

Agents said the teenager was driving a Nissan Armada with 46 bundles of methamphetamine hidden inside. The seizure was worth $150,000 on the street.

Arrests like this one are an indication of what many local officials are calling a "crisis" - not only in the San Diego region but in the western U.S.

According to the Methamphetamine Strike Force 2016 Report Card, meth-related drug overdose deaths in San Diego County rose 18.7 percent in 2015 to 311.

Of those deaths, more than half were over the age of 45. In 2015, 310 people died of meth use according to county statistics. Fifty-seven percent of those deaths were among people ages 45 to 64.

Emergency-room discharges for meth which were 3,773 in 2011 jumped to more than 10,000 in 2014.

The statistics were shared Thursday by the Methamphetamine Strike Force, composed of approximately 70 local, state and federal organizations and agencies.

Deputy U.S. Attorney Mark Conover called the resurgence of meth in the region a "crisis."



"Were intercepting shipments as large as 150 pounds of pure meth, Conover said Thursday. What were confiscating is getting more pure, and the shipments are growing in terms of size and frequency.



I dont think people realize the severity of the problem, he said.

Part of the problem can be found in so-called super labs south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The chemical components used to manufacture meth are imported from suppliers in China. Once the product is created, it's shipped north across the border to be sold and distributed.

Check back for updates on this developing story.


Camp Pendleton authorities have issued a 48-hour shark warning for the Church surf break near San Onofre State Beach, the same location of a recent shark attack.

A trauma surgeon with Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla gives an update on the recovery of Leeanne Ericson, a woman attacked by a shark at San Onofre State Beach last weekend.

The shark was displaying aggressive behavior on Wednesday, officials said.

A surfer in the water reported an aggressive shark swimming toward him. The surfer kicked the shark out of the way, lifeguards said, but the surfer had a full profile view of the shark.

"The lifeguard was notified by a surfer of this encounter and since safety is a top priority for patrons and personnel, alike, the warning was issued and will continue to be communicated," a Camp Pendleton spokesperson said.

Around 4 p.m. Wednesday, a surfer told NBC 7, he was in the water when a Sheriff's helicopter hovering above announced that they were observing two, nearly 12-foot-long sharks swimming about 100 feet off the coast.



Those heading to the beach are asked to take caution and listen to warnings from local authorities, as well as pay attention to signs posted in the area.

The Church surf break is where a San Diego woman was critically wounded in a recent shark attack on April 29. The shark attack took place at San Onofre State Beach, located off Interstate 5 at Basilone Road, about 3 miles south of San Clemente, California, and 58 miles north of downtown San Diego.

The doctors treating Leeanne Ericson, a woman attacked by a shark at San Onofre State Beach last weekend, are expected to give updates on her condition and recovery on Friday. NBC 7s Gaby Rodriguez reports.

According to authorities, Ericson was camping with her boyfriend when the couple decided to go in the water on the evening of April 29. Ericson swam while her boyfriend surfed next to her at a well-known spot at the beach.

The victims mother, Christine McKnerney-Leidle, said the couple saw a seal in the water and Ericsons boyfriend turned to swim out to a wave. Just then, Ericson disappeared from the waters surface.

Leeanne Ericson was in a medically induced coma Sunday night at Scripps Memorial Hospital, her mother Christine McKnerney Leidle said. She and Ericsons step-father spoke with NBC 7 about the moments after their daughter survived a shark attack on San Onofre State Beach.

The woman was attacked by a shark approximately 10 feet in length who ripped through the back of Ericsons leg, tearing out all the muscle from her knee to her hip. The shark just missed the victims major arteries, McKnerney-Leidle said on Facebook.

[[421167363,C]]

As Ericson was dragged into the water, her lungs filled with foam and debris. She was airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla just before 6:30 p.m.

Ericson survived the shark attack, but her road to a full recovery will be painful and lengthy.

Doctors are now starting the process of reconstructing the victims leg.

Last year, there were an estimated 59 shark attacks across the U.S., according to data collected by scientists at the University of Florida.
Flying to Europe this summer just got easier, with two European airlines now offering non-stop flights directly from Germany and Switzerland to San Diego.

Last week, Condor Airlines just started direct flights from Frankfurt, Germany to San Diego. Next month, Edelweiss Airlines will also begin non-stop flights between Zurich, Switzerland and San Diego.

Until now, there was only one non-stop flight available from San Diego to Europe through British Airlines, that went straight to London.

Travelers will enjoy smoother travel experiences, and these new flights may also bring a big boost to the local economy.

"The value of a traveler who is coming overseas can be $4,000 in terms of their per trip spending, and that's compared to a U.S. traveler which is maybe $500," said Kerri Kapich, Chief Operating Officer for the San Diego Tourism Authority.

German travelers are some of the most popular visitors who come to San Diego. The European country is considered San Diego's second largest overseas market for tourism.

Starting in June, Edelweiss Airlines will have non-stop flights from Zurich, Switzerland to San Diego. Along with a tourism boost, this flight will help the local economy to develop new business connections.

"Switzerland is a great community for San Diego. There is a lot of business and commerce that goes back and forth with our biotech industry," said Kapich.

With these direct flights, San Diego's international reach has clearly expanded.

They [Europeans] have been to Los Angeles; they have been to San Francisco. But San Diego is a bit of a newer place for them and when you think of a great beach city like a Miami  San Diego is really that for the West coast, explained Kapich.

Both airlines will offer their direct flights twice a week. Condor Airlines will also offer flights three times a week to San Diego during July and August.

It's a dream come true for San Diegans searching for a more efficient, convenient trip abroad, without any hectic flight exchanges.
A U.S. serviceman who was missing in action for nearly 50 years after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, a day after his widow's memorial service.

Marine Corps Reserve 1st Lt. William C. Ryan Jr. was buried with full honors, just a day before the 48th anniversary of when his plane went down. A huge crowd followed his casket.

A Marine killed during the Vietnam War was finally laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. His remains were found after 48 years missing. News4s Kristin Wright reports.

The day after Ryan's family learned his remains finally had been found, they learned his widow, Judith Azzara, had cancer. The former Fairfax County principal died April 11. She was buried Tuesday, a day before her husband's burial.

"I did her eulogy yesterday. We had her funeral yesterday in Reston, at St. John Neumann, and today, my dad," Azzara and Ryan's son, Mike Ryan, said Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery. He was just a day from his first birthday when his father was killed.

Ryan, a 25-year-old from Hoboken, New Jersey, was on a combat mission over Laos on May 11, 1969, when his F-4B was hit by enemy fire.

The pilot lost control and called several times for Ryan, who was the radar intercept officer, but he received no response, the Department of Defense's POW/MIA Accounting Agency said.

The pilot ejected, and the plane crashed. The pilot was rescued. But "the location of the crash site precluded a search-and-recovery effort" for Ryan.

He was declared dead that day.

From January 1990 to May 2012, teams from the U.S., Laos and Vietnam interviewed witnesses to the crash, gathering information on Ryan's whereabouts.

From May 2012 to January 2016, teams made six trips to excavate the site of the crash. They found possible human remains. In February 2016, the remains were sent to a lab for testing.

Scientists used dental records, including isotope analysis, to try to figure out whose remains they had found. They were Ryan's.

"They excavated the site seven times and finally found him and brought him home," Mike Ryan said.

The Department of Defense announced to the public on May 4 that Ryan's remains had been found.

The day after the family heard the news they had awaited for so long, they learned Azzara was sick.

"She was diagnosed with colon cancer that had already metastasized to her liver, so we lost her within weeks," Mike Ryan said.

NBC Washington

He thanked everyone who paid their respects to his father.

"For him to be memorialized this way and honored this way here by the Marines, by Arlington National Cemetery, it was amazing," Mike Ryan said.



There are 1,611 American servicemen and civilians still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense says.
A 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the murder of a teenager at a Germantown, Maryland, home and the killing of a man at a gas station in Suitland, police say.

Furl John Williams was arrested and charged on Tuesday with the May 3 murder of 27-year-old Wayne Pope.

Pope was at a gas station in the 4700 block of Silver Hill Road in Suitland when Williams allegedly approached him with a gun. The two men got into a struggle and Prince George's County police say Williams shot Pope and stole his car.

On Thursday, May 4, Montgomery County police arrested Williams for another murder.

Police said Williams and another suspect, 23-year-old Eric Lee, robbed two people at gunpoint in the 12800 block of Kitchen House Way in Germantown, on Saturday, April 29. The robbery victims ran to a nearby house, where police say Williams shot four people.

Amaru Amir Santos Johnson, 19, succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital, police said. The three remaining victims, a man and two women, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

After the shooting, Montgomery County detectives found a vehicle that had been stolen during an armed carjacking in Prince George's County. Williams' fingerprints were found inside the vehicle, police said.

Williams has been charged with first-degree murder and home invasion. He is currently being held without bond.
FBI agents are still reeling from Director James Comey's unceremonious dismissal, their surprise at the manner of his ouster coupled with questions about who will next lead the bureau.

Many agents working in field offices across the country learned Tuesday about their director's firing in much the same way he did: from news reports that flashed on television screens and buzzed on phones.

They privately described a day afterward spent processing the news, swapping praise about their former boss, and grappling with angst that Comey wasn't given a chance to notify employees. Many saw him as a strong and supportive leader even if some believed he at times set the bureau on the wrong path. And many did not want to see him go, especially in the midst of the bureau's investigation into whether President Donald Trump's campaign had ties to Russia's meddling in the election.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that "countless" FBI employees had lost faith in Comey's leadership. But the president of the FBI Agents Association, Thomas O'Connor, said he was known to be responsive to their concerns, and he called the firing a "gut punch."

As part of the backup for the firing, the White House released a memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that blasted Comey's handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails, namely his announcement that Clinton should not be charged before reopening the investigation days before voters went to the polls. That placed FBI agents in an uncomfortable position of having their historically apolitical work thrust into the center of a national election.

Retired FBI assistant director Ron Hosko said some agents believed Comey went too far.

"There are those voices inside, but I think he still enjoyed broad support and great respect by the workforce," Hosko said.

In New York, where Comey once headed the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, agents were told stories about the former director, including how he used to call agents' cell phones to congratulate them after finishing big cases, said a current official. Most current employees spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of restrictions about interactions with the media.

Across the FBI's field offices, Comey was known for a plainspoken speaking style, peppering prepared remarks with avuncular advice, life lessons and humor. His casual demeanor  he'd regularly appear without a suit coat at freewheeling meetings with reporters, dabbled with Twitter and joked often about the toll the job had taken on his imposing height  served for many agents as a welcome change from the bureau's historically buttoned-up culture.

At speaking appearances, he'd urge young agents to relish their lives outside the FBI, demanding that they take time to tend to their families  and to sleep. He'd say how he strove to be sensitive to the feelings of subordinates, aware that cross words or a bored look during a conversation could "hurt them in ways that would last."

A farewell letter from Comey that circulated among friends and colleagues said he does not plan to dwell on the decision to fire him or on "the way it was executed."

He said in the letter that though he'll be fine, he will miss the FBI and its mission "deeply." Comey said that "in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence."

He also said "it's very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing."

The letter was posted online by CNN Wednesday night. People who had seen the note confirmed to NBC News and The Associated Press that the online version was authentic.

Andrew Arena, a former special agent in charge, said current FBI employees he spoke with as news of Comey's ouster spread worried about the future of the bureau.

"Where are we going, and what's our direction, and are we going to be politicized?" Arena said. "Uncertainty is not a good thing."

As Justice Department leaders interviewed four candidates for the role of interim FBI director, some were anxious about whom Trump would select as Comey's permanent replacement. Jack Eckenrode, a former special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia division, said the administration "will be hard-pressed to find someone who possesses his unique combination of personal qualities as well as his respect for the rule of law."

Associated Press writers Jake Pearson, Denise Lavoie, Michael Balsamo, Amy Forliti and Michael Melia contributed to this report.
A Canadian-American took her time becoming a U.S. citizen, but finally made it official Wednesday - more than 56 years after moving to Vermont.

"I love America; always have, since the first day I came here," beamed Germaine LaRoche of Williamstown. "It makes me want to cry and I'm very excited."

LaRoche, 81, moved to central Vermont in 1961 from Canada, speaking no English.

But she's a quick learner.

LaRoche said she took English language and job skills classes and got a position with the Central Vermont Council on Aging, where she'd work for 30 years.

The idea of becoming a citizen was always left on the back burner, LaRoche told necn.

"I worked two or three jobs; brought up three children by myself," LaRoche recalled. "I didn't have time to fill out [citizenship] paperwork or take the time off to go do it."

Now was the time to take the leap, she finally decided, figuring permanent citizenship status would make it easier crossing the border after visits to Canada.

"After all these years of being here, she's finally a U.S. citizen," LaRoche's daughter, Gisele Chouinard said after hugging and kissing her mom. "Perfect--it's a big day!"

LaRoche was one of 62 people originally from 29 countries at a ceremony at the Neshobe School in Brandon Wednesday who took the oath of allegiance to the United States.

"We're in it together, working together to make the United States of America a better, stronger, more democratic country," Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, told the crowd.

The very patient Canadian-American said now that she has her long-awaited citizenship, she's already looking forward to voting in the November 2018 election.

"I'm elated," Germaine LaRoche said, smiling.

The senior citizen said she still spends time with the Council on Aging, as a community companion who visits and assists other seniors in central Vermont.
In parts of Maine, caterpillars that can cause rashes and respiratory problems are spreading, and scientists are calling it an "extreme outbreak" along the mid-coast.

Browntail moths are invasive pests that have poisonous hairs. They can be found on Cape Cod and Maines mid-coast, but signs are that they are spreading further to Downeast Maine.

"The population really picked up in 2016, and its gotten even larger," said Maine Department of Forestry Entomologist Charlene Donahue. "Were really seeing an extreme outbreak now."

In the spring, the caterpillars emerge from nests in trees, feed on foliage, and shed their skin several times before entering the cocoon.

They pose the greatest threat around June, when their hairs become airborne.

"Just being outside in a Browntail moth infested area can cause a problem," said Donahue, "even if you dont touch them, or even see them."

The rash can be treated with a spray or ointment available at pharmacies.

Scientists recommend pruning trees in the early spring to remove nests, and killing them by putting them in a bucket of soapy water. In the summer, people should limit their exposure by wearing long sleeves and long pants, and limiting activities like mowing when the weather is dry.

"Theres no silver bullet for Browntail moths, you just have to mitigate the effects where you live," said Jeremy Cluchey, a Bowdoinham resident who has been trying to remove the nests on his property for years.

He and his 2-year-old daughter have both gotten rashes.

"Weve seen it get progressively worse, each year," he said.
One year after a deadly stabbing rampage at a mall in Taunton, Massachusetts, a man who sacrificed his life has received a posthumous award.

George A. Heath received the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Medal on Wednesday from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker for his bravery at the incident at the Silver City Galleria on May 10, 2016.

Some people in a moment of crisis terror, fear, chaos and all the rest simple stand above us all, said Baker, who presented the award to Heath's wife, Rosemary.

Heath was dining at a Bertucci's restaurant at the mall when Arthur DaRosa, who had fatally stabbed an 80-year-old woman at her home earlier that night, walked in and stabbed a waitress. Heath grabbed DaRosa and was stabbed in the head before another restaurant patron, off-duty Plymouth County Deputy Sheriff James Creed, fatally shot DaRosa.

Heath is now one of only 20 people to be awarded the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Medal.

I think in the past year, weve been able to take a tragedy, and turn it into a positive, said Rosemary Heath.

At Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical high school, where Heath taught visual arts, his former students held a memorial service, near a cherry blossom tree they planted a year ago to honor his memory.

Whenever we look outside, we know he is here with us, said senior Andrea Smith.

No one knew they would still be learning lessons about life and benefiting, even after his death. Through the George Heath Superhero Scholarship Fund, the senior class will be the first to see the funds after they graduate.

"Ill tell you, hes here everyday when you walk into this room you can feel the energy he left, said administrator Guy Shepherd.

Heaths wife said George was all about giving to others and she wants to make sure his legacy and generosity inspires others to do the same.

Open a door, buy coffee for the person behind you. Just do something, think of the people effected that night, and do it in their honor, said Rosemary Heath.
A Massachusetts man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly stole a police cruiser during an early-morning chase through several towns.

"We were dealing with the unknown and that's always tough for police officers," Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch said.

Daniel Egan, 36, of Plymouth, sped through a stop sign at Indian Head and Liberty streets in Hanson around 1 a.m. Thursday, police said.

He refused to pull over for officers and led them on a chase across town lines.

Egan, who was driving a 2010 Chevy Malibu, hit a police cruiser and tried to force it off the road, according to police.

Tire deflation devices were deployed and forced the vehicle to stop on Route 58 in Halifax.

Police said Egan then ran into a wooded area and managed to escape police custody. While police were searching the woods, he got into a cruiser and drove away.

Tire deflation devices were used once again to disable the cruiser on Route 58. The cruiser was stopped at the Plympton/Carver line in front of Tractor Supply around 1:15 a.m.

Egan refused to come out of the vehicle which led to a standoff that lasted approximately 20 minutes.

Police used bean bag rounds to shoot out the window. Egan eventually exited the vehicle and refused commands to surrender. A K9 from the Plymouth County Sheriffs Office was used to subdue him.

After being taken into police custody, he was transported to the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital for treatment of a dog bite to his hand.

"The officers involved with this, their professionalism, their patience and restraint is to be commended," Chief Miksch said.

Egan is being charged with operating to endanger, failure to stop for a police officer, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, assault and battery, larceny of a motor vehicle, and numerous other motor vehicle violations.

It's unclear when he will be arraigned. Bail has not yet been set.
A 22-year-old man was shot in the chest in a drug deal gone wrong, according to police in Massachusetts.

Taunton police say it happened early Thursday morning near an apartment complex on County Street.

Three males and a female were inside of one vehicle, when a second vehicle pulled in and shots were fired, police said. The second vehicle then allegedly drove off as the people inside the first car, including 22-year-old Purvis Cole who had been shot, fled into nearby woods.

Police say a little while later, Cole was found the woods behind the apartment complex with 19-year-old Cortney Silveira, and he was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was uncooperative with investigators and started a fight with his family. He checked himself out of the hospital against the advice of medical professionals.

A 16-year-old boy who allegedly had five ounces of marijuana and a mask also left the woods at the scene. He told investigators he was Cole's brother and claimed to know nothing about the shooting.

Another 28-year-old man from Taunton, Ozair Gomes, was arrested for resisting arrest, disturbing the peace and possession with intent to distribute.

Police say they do not have any information regarding the second vehicle involved in the shooting or who the shooter may be.

The investigation is ongoing.
Vermonts governor is expected to receive a piece of legislation any day now that will have him deciding whether recreational marijuana should be legalized in his state.

Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, has not definitively said how hell come down on the issue, so opponents and supporters of legal pot are turning up the pressure.

Its what the people of Vermont want, Laura Subin of the Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana said about legislation that passed the Vermont House Wednesday.

We would ask him to veto the legislation, countered Hinesburg Police Chief Frank Koss, referencing Gov. Scott.

Wednesday, a bill passed the Vermont House that would allow people 21 and up to possess as much as an ounce of marijuana, starting in July 2018.

They could also have a handful of pot plants at home for personal use.

Additionally, the bill would create a commission to study possible retail sales of the drug, down the line. Those sales would be regulated and taxed through state-licensed facilities, as Massachusetts and Maine plan to handle it.

Ill take a look at the bill, Gov. Scott said Wednesday, shortly after the House vote. I havent looked at it in detail.

In the past, Scott has said he wants to see greater emphasis both in his state and around New England on roadway safety. As marijuana legalization inches forward elsewhere in New England, Scott has called for regional discussions on impairment standards and enforcement.

Supporters and opponents of legalized marijuana told necn Thursday they have launched robust campaigns to attempt to influence the governors decision on pot, including email blasts to calls to his office.

We cannot keep our heads in the sand, Subin said, noting an estimated 80,000 Vermont residents enjoy cannabis and would like to see the legislation enacted. Given the long legacy of harm thats been done in the name of marijuana prohibition, its an appropriate reform; its a reform that Vermont is certainly more than ready for.

On the other side of the debate, the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police has now warned two administrations in Montpelier of potential challenges marijuana legalization could pose to enforcing driving rules.

That is a tremendous risk, Chief Jennifer Morrison of the Colchester Police Department said of her concerns over potentially impaired drivers. It is a very murky area when we start getting into trying to quantify the amount of THC that qualifies as impairment.

After Gov. Scott formally receives the marijuana legalization bill, hell have five full days to decide whether to veto it or to allow it to become law.
A community group at the University of New Hampshire is calling for change after a wild Cinco de Mayo celebration at the Durham campus. The group says students who celebrate with sombreros, fake mustaches and ponchos are appropriating Mexican culture.

Representatives from a Facebook group called All Eyes on UNH refused to be identified and wouldnt talk on camera, but told NBC Boston over the phone, Its time for students to understand that Americans celebrating Cinco de Mayo in this way is not only culturally insensitive.

In a video posted by a UNH sophomore, a poncho-wearing man is confronted about his attire.

Youre perpetuating the stereotype that Mexicans drink and wear ponchos for a living, the woman in the video explains. Thats what youre doing.

A screenshot of a UNH student making a joke about deportation is also being shared on the All Eyes on UNH Facebook page.

That is taking it too far, said UNH freshman Milana Evsten.

To that extent it is not OK, especially with all stuff going on politically, said UNH sophomore Nicole Grabe.

While many students say the video has given them a new perspective, others still believe that Cinco de Mayo celebrations on a college campus are harmless.

I think they were simply trying to have a good time, said UNH senior Chris Bohlig.

I think people really need to lighten up, said one of Bohligs friends, Michael Benevento.

We are really diluting the issue of racism and thats not going to solve anything, said another student, Forrest Chap.

The All Eyes on UNH group is demanding a statement from the UNH Administration condemning Fridays activities.

A UNH spokesperson told NBC Boston, We are not going to comment on an anonymous document that we havent formally received.
Bishop Graham is publishing daily prayers on social media for the current COP27 climate conference, and is asking all to join.

Bishop Graham is publishing daily prayers on social media for the current COP27 climate conference, and is asking all to join.

Discovering the Orange in your life The vibrant colours of autumn have been inspiring regular contributor Jane Walters to focus on the positive. Read more

YMCA annual celebration set to inspire YMCA Norfolk is set to hold its much anticipated 2022 annual celebration and awards ceremony on November 17, after almost 3 years since the last event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

Hub manager vacancy at community shop Earlham Community Shop Community Interest Company is looking to appoint a manager for this new venture being developed in the heart of NR5 Norwich. Read more

Abbey Days brings Christmas Magic to Wymondham Visitors to Wymondham Abbeys Christmas fair will be able to treat their children to a magic show and fun baking workshop while they browse more than 60 stalls. Read more

Salvation Armys new Christmas Appeal in Norfolk The Salvation Army has launched their new Christmas appeal across Norfolk which, this year, has evolved from the much-loved Toys and Tins appeal. Read more

Are we storing up treasures on earth? Rising prices affect us all, and Anna Heydon urges us to spare a thought for those who will be struggling with the cost of living this winter. Read more

Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more

Covid leaf memorial at Norwich church St Peter Mancroft Church Norwich Presents The Leaves of the Trees an installation by sculptor Peter Walker which provides a memorial for those who died of Covid-19 Read more

Community Chaplaincy Norfolk begins a new chapter Community Chaplaincy Norfolk (CCN) celebrated the beginning of a new chapter this week, as the new chair of trustees Chris Tomlinson led his first annual meeting. Read more

Lowestoft Christians launch on-line bible helps app The Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth branch of Good News for Everyone (GNFE), formerly the Gideons, have introduced a new mobile phone app called On-line Bible Helps. Read more

Addicts' rehabilitation centre plan for Drayton Hall Christian addiction charity Teen Challenge London is planning to turn Drayton Hall near Norwich into its headquarters and a rehabilitation centre for men, after it was gifted the freehold of the hall by its owner, the Lind Trust. Read more

The power of positive protest Philip Young encourages us to take a stand for what we believe, and has just written to Therese Coffey regarding climate change and the forthcoming COP 27. He explains why we should be prepared to protest. Read more

Norwich church celebrates with cribs and trees Rosebery Road Methodist Church in Norwich will be holding its annual Cribs and Trees Festival in December. Read more

Transforming Norwich lunch offers ministry tips Ex-Brighton vicar, Rev Phil Moon, will offer tips on how to keep going in ministry to the Transforming Norwich leaders lunch on Wednesday November 16. Read more

Quiet Waters in Bungay offers healing retreat Quiet Waters Christian Retreat in Bungay is holding a gentle day retreat exploring healing in the Kingdom of God. Read more

Norfolk ministry coaching duo are guest speakers Former church leaders and now freelance ministry coaches, Jonathan and Paige Squirrell, are the guest speakers at the next dinner of Norwich FGB on Monday, November 21. Read more

Bringing light to Halloween Anna Price encourages Christians to engage positively with Halloween rather than hide away, on what many see as the darkest night of the year. Read more


Douze points for praising God

Mark Fairweather-Tall finds that music, whilst sometimes causing controversy, will often arouse passion, and believes we should harness this passion as we use music to praise and worship God.

Will you be tuning in? Last year over 200 million people world-wide watched the Eurovision song contest, around 7 million of whom were in the UK. For some, Eurovision Finals night is a national institution and not to be missed TV. Terry Wogans famous commentaries of years gone by have helped to set the tone for the evening  dont take the competition too seriously and enjoy the absurdity of some of what might take place. During the coming days, we may hear people uttering the phrase nil-pwa to emphasise something they are particularly unimpressed by.



Over the 62 years of the competition there have been a number of controversies. The perceived political nature of the voting where some countries seem to automatically give top marks to their nearest neighbours has, for some, undermined the nature of the competition.



But there are other controversies that stand out as well: In 1969, Spain, the UK, France and Netherlands all received the same number of votes. With no protocol in place for such a situation, all four countries were declared winners. The following year, a number of countries withdrew because the procedure was seen as farcical.



A few years earlier in 1963 there was a tight race between Denmark and Switzerland. When Norway voted, the spokesperson did not use the correct procedure for announcing the results. Their votes were disallowed and then collected later in the programme. Norway then changed their vote to allow Denmark to win. Their previous voting would have led to Switzerland winning and questions remain to this day about the fairness of the incident.



More recent controversies include political issues such as Georgia not being allowed to sing their chosen entry We Dont Wanna Put In in 2009. This was widely seen to be a swipe at Vladimir Putin as Georgia had been in a war with Russia the previous year. In 2005 Lebanon was thrown out of the contest after they wouldnt guarantee broadcasting the Israeli entry. Yes, Eurovision can be controversial.



Music has long played an important part in church life and particularly corporate worship. Today there is a regular flow of new songs from sources such as Hillsong, Bethel Music, Jesus Culture, Rend Collective and so on.



Over the years sung worship in the church has caused a lot of controversy too. I was intrigued looking back in some minutes from a church in the 1800s to read about the orchestra of the church going on strike for Sunday services! They were protesting at the introduction of the new-fangled pipe organ that was spoiling true worship.



Two letters of complaint about new songs have been published. One stated that it sounded like a sentimental love ballad another complained, the tune was unsingable and the new harmonies were quite distorting. The first was complaining about the hymn Just as I am in 1863, the second, What a friend I have in Jesus in 1890.



Many a church leader will have faced questions or complaints about music being too loud or too quiet, too traditional or too modern, the quality of the lyrics, the singability of the music and so on and so on. Why can music and by extension, sung worship in church, be so controversial?



This is too big a subject to do justice to in this article, but let me add one thought to the debate. Is it the impact that sung worship has on us the reason why it is controversial? CS Lewis, in his book Reflections on the Psalms, argues that passion for someone or something overflows into praise: The world rings with praise  lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game. He goes on to say: I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. (Reflections on the Psalms, pp93 & 95)



Perhaps sung worship arouses passion because it is a vehicle through which our delight in God can be completed. If the sung worship hinders our ability to do this then we feel frustrated because it affects our ability to complete our delight in God. If this is so it can help us understand the passion in others whom we might disagree with, as well as helping us understand why we are reacting in a particular way.



This may enable us to engage in a fresh perspective, namely that music is a vehicle to offer praise and not the object of praise itself. We need to grow in our ability to express our joy in the Lord in corporate worship regardless of preference in style, genre and personality displayed by those leading.



I will almost certainly not be watching Eurovision this weekend, but I do expect to be at church on Sunday participating in sung worship. The music is a vehicle for me to praise God. And my aim will be to direct praises to God, so whether the music is modern or traditional, too loud or quiet for my taste, played skilfully or otherwise, containing words I like or dont, my joy in Him will be made complete as I share in worshipping God alongside others. For me, this is an event not to be missed! It is worth a full 12 points!



The Eurovision image is courtesy of Vugar Ibadov on https://commons.wikimedia.org
Newbury firefighter who saved child's life awarded Roll of Honour

A NATIONAL water safety charity has awarded a Newbury firefighter its highest accolade after he saved the life of a two-year-old girl while on a family holiday earlier this year.

Oliver Parker was awarded the Roll of Honour by the Swimming Teachers Association (STA), a charity dedicated to the teaching of swimming and water safety.

As reported in the Newbury Weekly News in April, Mr Parker, 33, was on holiday in Dubai with his pregnant wife and two young daughters when he spotted a two-year-old girl named Erin unconscious in the pool.

Thanks to Mr Parkers quick thinking and actions he began CPR and after three minutes Erins eyes opened and she took a deep breath.

The young girl from Finland made a full recovery and spent the last few days of her holiday playing as if nothing had happened.

Mr Parker said: At the time, in that split second it was like everyone around the pool froze in time, in shock.

Im not sure if it was my fire service training or the fact of being a dad that made me react so quickly, but it did bring home to me that knowing what to do in an emergency and actually doing it are two totally different things.

He added: I was amazed by how quickly a person can react to CPR and the immediate positive effects.

It will be a day I will never forget, and I was so pleased to see Erin when she returned from hospital playing as normal.

Mr Parker also revealed that his actions have inspired friends and family to seek out first aid training and learn CPR.

Mr Parker said: Ive been really surprised with the response to this story and Im very proud to be recognised by STA with a Roll of Honour.

If by sharing this story, which can truly happen to anyone, and showing the importance of CPR training and the immediate positive effects it can have on saving of a life, then great, there have been two positive outcomes.

It is only the eighth time in 17 years that the Roll of Honour has been awarded by STA.

STA president Richard Timms presented the award on Saturday, and said: Faced with a terrifying, split-second situation like this, especially with a child, panic can set in for even the bravest.

But thankfully Oliver didnt panic, and his quick thinking and actions that day saved this young girls life.

Oliver is fully-deserving of this honour.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: India Grid Trust, an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), is planning to raise Rs 2,250 crore through the IPO to be launched on May, 17.

Sponsored by billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Sterlite Power Grid Ventures Ltd, IndiGrids offer comes with the price band of Rs 98-100 per share, with 60 per cent of the offer set aside for institutional investors. The bids can be made for a minimum of 10,205 units and in multiples of 5,103 units thereafter.

This is the countrys second InvIT IPO after IRB Infrastructure and the first in the power space. Of the Rs 2,250 crore to be raised, the company will use nearly Rs 1,600 crore to repay project loans, complying with Sebi norms. InvITs, like mutual funds, enable individuals to pool investments in the infrastructure sector, earn a return on the income, offer investors regular yields and are considered a liquid way to invest in infrastructure projects.

According to Pratik Agarwal, CEO, IndiGrid, the proposed investments will be made in two SPVs, which the trust currently holds namely  Bhopal Dhule Transmission Company Ltd and Jabalpur Transmission Company Ltd. Together, they have eight power transmission lines and two substations.

He added that the sponsor  Sterlite Power  will transfer three inter-state power transmission projects over the next two years.

SPGV owns 10 inter-state power transmission projects with a total network of 29 power transmission lines of about 6,767 km and seven sub-stations with 12,630 MVA transformation capacity.

Morgan Stanley India Company Pvt Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd and Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd are the lead managers for the issue.

MUMBAI: India Grid Trust, an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), is planning to raise Rs 2,250 crore through the IPO to be launched on May, 17. Sponsored by billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Sterlite Power Grid Ventures Ltd, IndiGrids offer comes with the price band of Rs 98-100 per share, with 60 per cent of the offer set aside for institutional investors. The bids can be made for a minimum of 10,205 units and in multiples of 5,103 units thereafter. This is the countrys second InvIT IPO after IRB Infrastructure and the first in the power space. Of the Rs 2,250 crore to be raised, the company will use nearly Rs 1,600 crore to repay project loans, complying with Sebi norms. InvITs, like mutual funds, enable individuals to pool investments in the infrastructure sector, earn a return on the income, offer investors regular yields and are considered a liquid way to invest in infrastructure projects. According to Pratik Agarwal, CEO, IndiGrid, the proposed investments will be made in two SPVs, which the trust currently holds namely  Bhopal Dhule Transmission Company Ltd and Jabalpur Transmission Company Ltd. Together, they have eight power transmission lines and two substations. He added that the sponsor  Sterlite Power  will transfer three inter-state power transmission projects over the next two years. SPGV owns 10 inter-state power transmission projects with a total network of 29 power transmission lines of about 6,767 km and seven sub-stations with 12,630 MVA transformation capacity. Morgan Stanley India Company Pvt Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd and Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd are the lead managers for the issue.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Banking and financial services firm Nelito Systems Ltd has chalked out plans to expand its global footprint, besides setting up an ambitious revenue target of Rs 200 crore in next two years. The move comes after Nelito, the Tata Group firm, sold stake to Japanese IT services firm DTS Corporation.

Following the acquisition, Nelito and DTS are now eyeing the US market, particularly, the banking and financial services firms, large Japanese originated companies with presence in the US and south east Asian and African markets.

We are focusing on the US and Singapore markets to become a prominent service provider with our financial technology products and services to the global BFS industry, said Punit Jain, CEO, Nelito Systems Ltd.

One of the key strategic objectives of DTS with this investment is to expand its global business, particularly in the US and SE Asian countries, said Minoru Takeuchi of DTS.

It may be noted that DTS Corporation acquired 44.5 per cent stake in Nelito Systems, where the two subsidiaries of Tata Power  Nelco and Af-Taab Investment Company Ltd and Sunnynook Ltd (AG Capital)  offered 9.95 per cent, 12.30 per cent, and 22.25 per cent stakes, respectively, from their equity holding in Nelito Systems to DTS.

MUMBAI: Banking and financial services firm Nelito Systems Ltd has chalked out plans to expand its global footprint, besides setting up an ambitious revenue target of Rs 200 crore in next two years. The move comes after Nelito, the Tata Group firm, sold stake to Japanese IT services firm DTS Corporation. Following the acquisition, Nelito and DTS are now eyeing the US market, particularly, the banking and financial services firms, large Japanese originated companies with presence in the US and south east Asian and African markets. We are focusing on the US and Singapore markets to become a prominent service provider with our financial technology products and services to the global BFS industry, said Punit Jain, CEO, Nelito Systems Ltd. One of the key strategic objectives of DTS with this investment is to expand its global business, particularly in the US and SE Asian countries, said Minoru Takeuchi of DTS. It may be noted that DTS Corporation acquired 44.5 per cent stake in Nelito Systems, where the two subsidiaries of Tata Power  Nelco and Af-Taab Investment Company Ltd and Sunnynook Ltd (AG Capital)  offered 9.95 per cent, 12.30 per cent, and 22.25 per cent stakes, respectively, from their equity holding in Nelito Systems to DTS.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of AAP workers today demonstrated outside the Election Commission headquarters here demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) equipped EVMs be used in future elections.

The protesters, including AAP MLAs and newly appointed Delhi convener Gopal Rai, alleged that the manipulation of electronic voting machines was killing democracy.

"EVM manipulation is a real possibility and should be looked into immediately," said R K Gupta, an AAP worker who had come from Dwarka in southwest Delhi to the poll panel's central Delhi headquarters.

"This is how BJP won polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Even the division along caste lines could not have helped them with such a huge victory," added Pragati, another worker, who had come from Mundka near the city's western border.

Asked to elaborate, most protesters cited AAP legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj's live demo on EVM manipulation in the Delhi Assembly.

Apart from demanding that VVPAT-equipped EVMs be used, the party plans to approach the Election Commission with the request that votes registered in EVMs and paper trails of 25 per cent randomly chosen booths be tallied.

VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense paper slips which help voters confirm that their vote has indeed gone to the candidate of their choice.

Participating in a discussion on the issue during a daylong special session of the Delhi Assembly earlier this week, Bhardwaj claimed that a voting machine could 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.

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of AAP workers today demonstrated outside the Election Commission headquarters here demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) equipped EVMs be used in future elections. The protesters, including AAP MLAs and newly appointed Delhi convener Gopal Rai, alleged that the manipulation of electronic voting machines was killing democracy. "EVM manipulation is a real possibility and should be looked into immediately," said R K Gupta, an AAP worker who had come from Dwarka in southwest Delhi to the poll panel's central Delhi headquarters. "This is how BJP won polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Even the division along caste lines could not have helped them with such a huge victory," added Pragati, another worker, who had come from Mundka near the city's western border. Asked to elaborate, most protesters cited AAP legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj's live demo on EVM manipulation in the Delhi Assembly. Apart from demanding that VVPAT-equipped EVMs be used, the party plans to approach the Election Commission with the request that votes registered in EVMs and paper trails of 25 per cent randomly chosen booths be tallied. VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense paper slips which help voters confirm that their vote has indeed gone to the candidate of their choice. Participating in a discussion on the issue during a daylong special session of the Delhi Assembly earlier this week, Bhardwaj claimed that a voting machine could 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.
VV Balakrishna By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The state government has finally decided to come to the rescue of 64 students from South Sudan, who have been unable to get their scholarships from the war-torn country in the last six months. But not before a long battle on administrative bottlenecks and red-tapism.



Three months ago, an NGO had approached a senior IAS officer in Telangana Secretariat with a request to help 64 Sudanese students of an engineering college in Ibrahimpatnam on the city outskirts.

Though, the subject was not the responsibility of the IAS officer, he approached the General Administration Department (GAD) to provide some financial assistance to Sudan students about three months ago.



When, the file was circulated, the GAD officials wanted the officer to get the permission from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Then, the officer contacted another official concerned and requested him to send the proposal to MEA.The MEA took almost six weeks time.

However, the MEA remained ambivalent about the issue and didnt guarantee help. Sources said that the MEA had expressed doubts over the fate of diplomatic relations between India and Sudan.



Finally, the MEA informed the State that it would not provide any financial assistance and wanted the State to take a decision on it, sources added. Later, the officer who pursued the matter again approached the GAD, which also stated that it would not provide aid to the students.



Later, the officer spoke to NRI Affairs Minister KT Rama Rao and finally the State government decided to aid the 64 Sudan students in question, from Chief Ministers Relief Fund (CMRF).Accordingly, each of the 64 Sudan students will get a monthly allowance of `5,000 for next six months, as temporary relief.



The State will soon organise a meeting and NRI Affairs Minister will disburse the first instalment to the students. It took me more than three months for providing the help, the officer, who initiated the process on the request of an NGO said.

Civil-war hit students

The students were devastated due to the civil war in South Sudan. The State government has agreed to garnt solatium based on humanitarian grounds. The civil war in Sudan divided the country into three zones and the students in Hyderabad lost contact with their parents.

HYDERABAD: The state government has finally decided to come to the rescue of 64 students from South Sudan, who have been unable to get their scholarships from the war-torn country in the last six months. But not before a long battle on administrative bottlenecks and red-tapism. Three months ago, an NGO had approached a senior IAS officer in Telangana Secretariat with a request to help 64 Sudanese students of an engineering college in Ibrahimpatnam on the city outskirts. Though, the subject was not the responsibility of the IAS officer, he approached the General Administration Department (GAD) to provide some financial assistance to Sudan students about three months ago. When, the file was circulated, the GAD officials wanted the officer to get the permission from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Then, the officer contacted another official concerned and requested him to send the proposal to MEA.The MEA took almost six weeks time. However, the MEA remained ambivalent about the issue and didnt guarantee help. Sources said that the MEA had expressed doubts over the fate of diplomatic relations between India and Sudan. Finally, the MEA informed the State that it would not provide any financial assistance and wanted the State to take a decision on it, sources added. Later, the officer who pursued the matter again approached the GAD, which also stated that it would not provide aid to the students. Later, the officer spoke to NRI Affairs Minister KT Rama Rao and finally the State government decided to aid the 64 Sudan students in question, from Chief Ministers Relief Fund (CMRF).Accordingly, each of the 64 Sudan students will get a monthly allowance of `5,000 for next six months, as temporary relief. The State will soon organise a meeting and NRI Affairs Minister will disburse the first instalment to the students. It took me more than three months for providing the help, the officer, who initiated the process on the request of an NGO said. Civil-war hit students The students were devastated due to the civil war in South Sudan. The State government has agreed to garnt solatium based on humanitarian grounds. The civil war in Sudan divided the country into three zones and the students in Hyderabad lost contact with their parents.
Arunkumar Sekhar By

Express News Service

Mankind has been in search for answers about the presence of extraterrestrial life for quite some time now, and the film industry, ever one to participate in such lofty quests, has done its bit too. One of the most groundbreaking films in the sci-fi genre was Ridley Scotts Alien released in 1979, the brainchild of writers Dan OBannon and Ronald Shusett.

The origins

The original Alien was a sci-fi horror story in which an extraterrestrial creature invades and kills the members of a spaceship. The film not only catapulted Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver into celebrity status, it also led to the genre dominating the film landscape of the 80s.

Ridley Scott (second from right)

on the sets of Alien (1979)

From Terminator to Alien

Following the success of The Terminator, director James Cameron became Foxs choice to direct the sequel. Drawing inspiration from the Vietnam War, Cameron wrote and directed the franchises most successful film to date, Aliens (1986).

The film was nominated for seven Academy awards and won two: Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects (the latter award was also bagged by the first film).

Sigourney Weaver received her first ever Academy Award nomination for this sequel, which was a huge boost to the still nascent sci-fi genre, and this continued her on a journey that would earn her the moniker Sci-Fi Queen

Luck of the franchise

Continuing the trend of directors of this franchise going on to become some of the greatest directors of all-time, Aliens 3 (1992) marked the directorial debut of David Fincher. Weaver reprised her role of Ellen Ripley for the third and final time. The film, however, released to mixed reviews, and did not do well in America. Yet, it was an unexpected hit across borders, and got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

More setbacks

Just like the Alien creature in the films that evolves through a four-step process of egg, facehugger, chestbuster to its final xenomorph form, Alien:Resurrection, the fourth film in series, was expected to help the franchise evolve. Written by a certain Joss Whedon, who would go on to be called the father of television sci-fi, the film was a dud, but garnered appreciation from the creator of the Alien creature, the surrealist painter HR Giger.

Blast from the past

Prometheus, released in 2012, takes place thirty years prior to the events of the first film. This prequel explored mankinds first encounter with the xenomorphs.

The title was inspired by the Greek mythological character, Prometheus, who stole the fire from Zeus and gave life to mankind. While the film was not successful, it did, indeed, bring a lot of attention back to the franchise, with Micheal Fassbenders role as the android David receiving much praise.

And now...

Fassbender reprises his role, and doubles up as another android, Walter, in the latest film. The presence of Katherine Waterston, who plays a terraforming expert in the upcoming film, harks back to the first and second films, which are set on a terraforming colony.

The film is expected to take the story forward from Prometheus. Scott has promised at least two more films before he ties in to the 1979 film. With this Fridays release, we do believe that that is one covenant he wont break.

Mankind has been in search for answers about the presence of extraterrestrial life for quite some time now, and the film industry, ever one to participate in such lofty quests, has done its bit too. One of the most groundbreaking films in the sci-fi genre was Ridley Scotts Alien released in 1979, the brainchild of writers Dan OBannon and Ronald Shusett. The origins The original Alien was a sci-fi horror story in which an extraterrestrial creature invades and kills the members of a spaceship. The film not only catapulted Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver into celebrity status, it also led to the genre dominating the film landscape of the 80s. Ridley Scott (second from right) on the sets of Alien (1979)From Terminator to Alien Following the success of The Terminator, director James Cameron became Foxs choice to direct the sequel. Drawing inspiration from the Vietnam War, Cameron wrote and directed the franchises most successful film to date, Aliens (1986). The film was nominated for seven Academy awards and won two: Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects (the latter award was also bagged by the first film). Sigourney Weaver received her first ever Academy Award nomination for this sequel, which was a huge boost to the still nascent sci-fi genre, and this continued her on a journey that would earn her the moniker Sci-Fi Queen Luck of the franchise Continuing the trend of directors of this franchise going on to become some of the greatest directors of all-time, Aliens 3 (1992) marked the directorial debut of David Fincher. Weaver reprised her role of Ellen Ripley for the third and final time. The film, however, released to mixed reviews, and did not do well in America. Yet, it was an unexpected hit across borders, and got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. More setbacks Just like the Alien creature in the films that evolves through a four-step process of egg, facehugger, chestbuster to its final xenomorph form, Alien:Resurrection, the fourth film in series, was expected to help the franchise evolve. Written by a certain Joss Whedon, who would go on to be called the father of television sci-fi, the film was a dud, but garnered appreciation from the creator of the Alien creature, the surrealist painter HR Giger. Blast from the past Prometheus, released in 2012, takes place thirty years prior to the events of the first film. This prequel explored mankinds first encounter with the xenomorphs. The title was inspired by the Greek mythological character, Prometheus, who stole the fire from Zeus and gave life to mankind. While the film was not successful, it did, indeed, bring a lot of attention back to the franchise, with Micheal Fassbenders role as the android David receiving much praise. And now... Fassbender reprises his role, and doubles up as another android, Walter, in the latest film. The presence of Katherine Waterston, who plays a terraforming expert in the upcoming film, harks back to the first and second films, which are set on a terraforming colony. The film is expected to take the story forward from Prometheus. Scott has promised at least two more films before he ties in to the 1979 film. With this Fridays release, we do believe that that is one covenant he wont break.
Pradip R Sagar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A day after brutal killing of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, the Army has issued an advisory to nearly 30 officers hailing from the restive parts of Jammu and Kashmir as a precautionary step. The personnel were asked to report to the nearest police or army post whenever they visit their native place so that security can be provided in case of any emergency.

Apart from officers, there are nearly 3,000 soldiers who hail from South Kashmir and adjoining districts, now witnessing turmoil.

Fayaz, newly commissioned into the Army was off duty and was visiting his native place to attend wedding ceremony of his cousin when he was abducted and later killed by terrorists.

The 22-year-old officer had not informed the nearby Armys company operating base(COB)or post while on leave, officials said here on Thursday adding the post was located about a km away from the place of incident.

According to a senior army official, concerned over officers and men not informing the nearest post about their presence, the Army headquarters on Thursday issued the directive, officials said adding nearly 30 officers serving in the Army, IAF and Navy hail from South Kashmir and valley now witness to turmoil.

All serving personnel from these areas were directed to follow the standard operating procedure while on leave and visiting their native places in these districts. Whenever on leave, the soldiers report to nearest COB of the Army or Central Reserve Police Force or the local police. The visiting personnel share their mobile number with the post besides informing them about the length of their stay. In case of any trouble, they are advised to give a missed call and the post responds immediately to provide all help, they said.

However, the personnel many a times do not inform the post and prefer to remain lie low during the entire period of stay, officials said.

Besides officers and men serving in the Services, many policemen and those serving in the central para-military forces also hail from this region, they added.

The state police had issued a similar advisory last year when South Kashmir saw mass scale protests for more than four months following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July. In the wake of Lt. Fayazs murder, the state administration was also likely to again issue the directive, sources said.

NEW DELHI: A day after brutal killing of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, the Army has issued an advisory to nearly 30 officers hailing from the restive parts of Jammu and Kashmir as a precautionary step. The personnel were asked to report to the nearest police or army post whenever they visit their native place so that security can be provided in case of any emergency. Apart from officers, there are nearly 3,000 soldiers who hail from South Kashmir and adjoining districts, now witnessing turmoil. Fayaz, newly commissioned into the Army was off duty and was visiting his native place to attend wedding ceremony of his cousin when he was abducted and later killed by terrorists. The 22-year-old officer had not informed the nearby Armys company operating base(COB)or post while on leave, officials said here on Thursday adding the post was located about a km away from the place of incident. According to a senior army official, concerned over officers and men not informing the nearest post about their presence, the Army headquarters on Thursday issued the directive, officials said adding nearly 30 officers serving in the Army, IAF and Navy hail from South Kashmir and valley now witness to turmoil. All serving personnel from these areas were directed to follow the standard operating procedure while on leave and visiting their native places in these districts. Whenever on leave, the soldiers report to nearest COB of the Army or Central Reserve Police Force or the local police. The visiting personnel share their mobile number with the post besides informing them about the length of their stay. In case of any trouble, they are advised to give a missed call and the post responds immediately to provide all help, they said. However, the personnel many a times do not inform the post and prefer to remain lie low during the entire period of stay, officials said. Besides officers and men serving in the Services, many policemen and those serving in the central para-military forces also hail from this region, they added. The state police had issued a similar advisory last year when South Kashmir saw mass scale protests for more than four months following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July. In the wake of Lt. Fayazs murder, the state administration was also likely to again issue the directive, sources said.
Vikram Sharma By

Express News Service

Just like the young Indian Army officer Lt. Ummer Fayyaz who was abducted and shot dead by terrorists in Shopian in South Kashmir, Nabeel Ahmed Wani defied and upset many of his own people when he joined the Border Security Force after topping the recruitment exam last year around the time the Kashmir Valley was on the boil following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

But since Ummer Fayyaz's abduction and killing  his bullet-riddled body found 30 km from his village in Shopian -- Nabeel Ahmed Wani is now worried about what lies in store for him and his family and all those from the state who have joined the forces.

''Im not scared for myself. But I am scared for my mother who lives alone in my village (Latti, some 100 km from Udhampur). Im scared for all Kashmiris who have joined the forces. I have no expectations from the government of J&K as they have done nothing for their own people in the past so many years. But I want the Centre to take up some strong measures to ensure the safety of Kashmiris serving in the Indian Army or the central paramilitary forces. Otherwise, no one will join the forces in future, says the 26-year-old officer, now an assistant commandant Border Security Force (BSF).

The stone pelters are in a better position than us. There is no one to target them or their families,'' he adds.

Speaking exclusively to New Indian Express on the telephone from the BSF Training Academy in Tekanpur near Gwalior, Nabeel Wani said that he has asked for an appointment with the BSFs director-general in the next couple of days to share his concerns.

Like Lt Fayyaz, I too will be visiting my village in July for the wedding of my cousin. Latti too is terrorist-affected. I am now worried, not for myself, but for my family and all those Kashmiris who are serving in the Army or paramilitary forces. We Kashmiris join the forces despite a lot of opposition, which takes a lot of courage. Now, with this trend of killing Kashmiris serving as soldiers, a sword hangs on us and we can no more move freely. This is a very disturbing trend,'' Nabil Wani said.

The young officer said the circumstances leading to the slaying of Fayyaz are distrubing.

"Im 200 per cent sure that it could be one of Lt Fayyaz's relatives who passed on information to the terrorists. The same thing can happen to me or my family. I am sorry to say it but if the Centre does not take any concrete steps to ensure our security, we may not be able to serve without have to worry about the security of our families, Wani said.

Asked what can be done to improve security for families of Kashmiri service personnel, Wani said that centre can have defence enclaves where the families can stay. It can also allow them to carry personal weapons when travelling.

''When I topped the exam and joined the BSF last year, senior officials offered to provide security for my family. But I refused then. Now, I don't think I can refuse it any more. It is shameful that the movements of an Army lieutenant on leave (Faiyyaz) were tracked. He was abducted from a wedding and killed, said Wani.

The officer warned that if the Centre does not act now, Kashmiris will hesitate to join the forces. We join the forces for the love of the nation, he said.

Wani, whose sister Nida Rafiq is a civil engineering student in Chandigarh and aspires to join the combat units of the Indian Army (if she does join the Army, she will be the first woman from J&K to join the Army), says that mere condemnation by political leaders is not enough.

'I want my sister to join the Army without any fear of her family being attacked. So should be the case with all those Kashmiris who aspire to join the forces and serve our nation.''

After Sukma (where 25 CRPF jawans were recently killed by the Maoists) and after Fayyaz's murder, I watched politicians condemning it. But we don't want that. We want concrete measures on the ground. There is no risk for soldiers from other parts of the country. But here, the situation has become worse, post Fayyaz's killing. I can see what is in store for Kashmiris like myself. I was so disturbed after Fayyaz's murder that I was unable to concentrate on my training and immediately spoke to my mother and sister, Wani said.

The young cadet said that after Fayyaz's murder, there is every possibility of people boycotting his family back home.

Anything can happen now. I don't want to be a cry baby but I feel that if this continues then it is better to be a stone pelter. No one targets their families. After I joined the BSF, there were thousands of Kashmiris who sent me messages and said that they want to follow in my footsteps. I don't know what will happen to them now.''

Wani will complete his training in June and will return home and then leave for Meghalaya where he is posted.

Just like the young Indian Army officer Lt. Ummer Fayyaz who was abducted and shot dead by terrorists in Shopian in South Kashmir, Nabeel Ahmed Wani defied and upset many of his own people when he joined the Border Security Force after topping the recruitment exam last year around the time the Kashmir Valley was on the boil following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. But since Ummer Fayyaz's abduction and killing  his bullet-riddled body found 30 km from his village in Shopian -- Nabeel Ahmed Wani is now worried about what lies in store for him and his family and all those from the state who have joined the forces. ''Im not scared for myself. But I am scared for my mother who lives alone in my village (Latti, some 100 km from Udhampur). Im scared for all Kashmiris who have joined the forces. I have no expectations from the government of J&K as they have done nothing for their own people in the past so many years. But I want the Centre to take up some strong measures to ensure the safety of Kashmiris serving in the Indian Army or the central paramilitary forces. Otherwise, no one will join the forces in future, says the 26-year-old officer, now an assistant commandant Border Security Force (BSF). The stone pelters are in a better position than us. There is no one to target them or their families,'' he adds. Speaking exclusively to New Indian Express on the telephone from the BSF Training Academy in Tekanpur near Gwalior, Nabeel Wani said that he has asked for an appointment with the BSFs director-general in the next couple of days to share his concerns. Like Lt Fayyaz, I too will be visiting my village in July for the wedding of my cousin. Latti too is terrorist-affected. I am now worried, not for myself, but for my family and all those Kashmiris who are serving in the Army or paramilitary forces. We Kashmiris join the forces despite a lot of opposition, which takes a lot of courage. Now, with this trend of killing Kashmiris serving as soldiers, a sword hangs on us and we can no more move freely. This is a very disturbing trend,'' Nabil Wani said. The young officer said the circumstances leading to the slaying of Fayyaz are distrubing. "Im 200 per cent sure that it could be one of Lt Fayyaz's relatives who passed on information to the terrorists. The same thing can happen to me or my family. I am sorry to say it but if the Centre does not take any concrete steps to ensure our security, we may not be able to serve without have to worry about the security of our families, Wani said. Asked what can be done to improve security for families of Kashmiri service personnel, Wani said that centre can have defence enclaves where the families can stay. It can also allow them to carry personal weapons when travelling. ''When I topped the exam and joined the BSF last year, senior officials offered to provide security for my family. But I refused then. Now, I don't think I can refuse it any more. It is shameful that the movements of an Army lieutenant on leave (Faiyyaz) were tracked. He was abducted from a wedding and killed, said Wani. The officer warned that if the Centre does not act now, Kashmiris will hesitate to join the forces. We join the forces for the love of the nation, he said. Wani, whose sister Nida Rafiq is a civil engineering student in Chandigarh and aspires to join the combat units of the Indian Army (if she does join the Army, she will be the first woman from J&K to join the Army), says that mere condemnation by political leaders is not enough. 'I want my sister to join the Army without any fear of her family being attacked. So should be the case with all those Kashmiris who aspire to join the forces and serve our nation.'' After Sukma (where 25 CRPF jawans were recently killed by the Maoists) and after Fayyaz's murder, I watched politicians condemning it. But we don't want that. We want concrete measures on the ground. There is no risk for soldiers from other parts of the country. But here, the situation has become worse, post Fayyaz's killing. I can see what is in store for Kashmiris like myself. I was so disturbed after Fayyaz's murder that I was unable to concentrate on my training and immediately spoke to my mother and sister, Wani said. The young cadet said that after Fayyaz's murder, there is every possibility of people boycotting his family back home. Anything can happen now. I don't want to be a cry baby but I feel that if this continues then it is better to be a stone pelter. No one targets their families. After I joined the BSF, there were thousands of Kashmiris who sent me messages and said that they want to follow in my footsteps. I don't know what will happen to them now.'' Wani will complete his training in June and will return home and then leave for Meghalaya where he is posted.
By PTI

AHMEDABAD: The husband of Bilkis Bano, a 2002 Gujarat riots victim, today demanded compensation from the state government.

The Bombay High Court last week upheld conviction of 12 persons in the case related to gang-rape of Bilkis and murder of her family members while quashing acquittal of seven others.

"We will wait for the government to pay us compensation before approaching the court," her husband Yakub told reporters here at an event organised by the civil society members to felicitate the special public prosecutor in the case, R K Shah.

Bilkis said she and her family faced much hardship during their fifteen-year-long fight for justice, but received no support from the government despite repeated appeals.

"We have faced many difficulties during these fifteen years. We frequently changed house, while also being worried about the education of our children. Gujarat government has not given us any support, nor have we received support from any government official," Bilkis said, while thanking advocate Shah and others who supported her.

"I am thankful to all those who supported us. I am happy about the High Court verdict. I have full faith in our country's judicial system. Policemen and other officials were also sentenced, and I am very happy about that," she said.

When asked if they are thinking of going back to their village in Dahod district, Yakub said they would like to return, but would face hostility there.

"The convicts and their relatives live there. Our family is destroyed....I do not want to go back in this situation," he said.

He wants their five children to get education so that they could become lawyers and help victims like them, he said.

Advocate Shah said the case was unusual, and Bilkis's deposition before the court was a crucial piece of evidence.

"This was an unusual, complex case where police filed a report saying the accused could not be traced. Only because the CBI investigated it, we could have them prosecuted," he said.

"The incident took place at a deserted place with no eye-witnesses. Bilkis saw her relatives getting murdered. Her account before the court was vital. She was cross-examined for 22 days by three learned lawyers. We examined 73 witnesses, but Bilkis's deposition was the most important. No other witness' account was valued (as much).

"Whoever the victim is, she should get justice. For a successful court case, we need a skilled prosecutor and a sensitive judge," he added.

Gagan Sethi of NGO Janvikas, which helped Bilkis in her legal fight, said they never doubted the judicial system but there should be better prosecutors, lawyers and judges at the district-level courts.

"Police may be wrong at times, but they are not a state unto themselves. Our district-level courts still do not have good prosecutors, lawyers or judges," he said.

On March 3, 2002, as the post-Godhra violence raged in Gujarat, Bilkis's family was attacked at Randhikpur village in Dahod district as they were trying to escape rioters.

Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang-raped, while seven members of her family were killed.

AHMEDABAD: The husband of Bilkis Bano, a 2002 Gujarat riots victim, today demanded compensation from the state government. The Bombay High Court last week upheld conviction of 12 persons in the case related to gang-rape of Bilkis and murder of her family members while quashing acquittal of seven others. "We will wait for the government to pay us compensation before approaching the court," her husband Yakub told reporters here at an event organised by the civil society members to felicitate the special public prosecutor in the case, R K Shah. Bilkis said she and her family faced much hardship during their fifteen-year-long fight for justice, but received no support from the government despite repeated appeals. "We have faced many difficulties during these fifteen years. We frequently changed house, while also being worried about the education of our children. Gujarat government has not given us any support, nor have we received support from any government official," Bilkis said, while thanking advocate Shah and others who supported her. "I am thankful to all those who supported us. I am happy about the High Court verdict. I have full faith in our country's judicial system. Policemen and other officials were also sentenced, and I am very happy about that," she said. When asked if they are thinking of going back to their village in Dahod district, Yakub said they would like to return, but would face hostility there. "The convicts and their relatives live there. Our family is destroyed....I do not want to go back in this situation," he said. He wants their five children to get education so that they could become lawyers and help victims like them, he said. Advocate Shah said the case was unusual, and Bilkis's deposition before the court was a crucial piece of evidence. "This was an unusual, complex case where police filed a report saying the accused could not be traced. Only because the CBI investigated it, we could have them prosecuted," he said. "The incident took place at a deserted place with no eye-witnesses. Bilkis saw her relatives getting murdered. Her account before the court was vital. She was cross-examined for 22 days by three learned lawyers. We examined 73 witnesses, but Bilkis's deposition was the most important. No other witness' account was valued (as much). "Whoever the victim is, she should get justice. For a successful court case, we need a skilled prosecutor and a sensitive judge," he added. Gagan Sethi of NGO Janvikas, which helped Bilkis in her legal fight, said they never doubted the judicial system but there should be better prosecutors, lawyers and judges at the district-level courts. "Police may be wrong at times, but they are not a state unto themselves. Our district-level courts still do not have good prosecutors, lawyers or judges," he said. On March 3, 2002, as the post-Godhra violence raged in Gujarat, Bilkis's family was attacked at Randhikpur village in Dahod district as they were trying to escape rioters. Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang-raped, while seven members of her family were killed.
By PTI

RAJOURI: A 35-year-old woman was today killed and her husband injured in mortar shelling by Pakistani troops in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

The shelling hit a village in Laam belt of Nowshera sector, killing Akhtar Bi and injuring her husband Mohmmad Hanief (40).

"The Pakistani Army fired from small arms and automatic weapons from 10:40 last night on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said.

They also shelled forward posts and civilian areas using 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, he said.

"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said.

There have been six ceasefire violations in April Month.

The latest incident of ceasefire violation comes after the beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan's Border Action Team on May 1.

Under the cover of heavy mortar fire, the Pakistani special forces team sneaked 250 metres across the Line of Control (LoC) into the KG sector of Poonch and beheaded the soldiers.

The Home Ministry has said that at least one incident of ceasefire violation by Pakistan took place daily along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 and 2016 in which 23 security personnel lost their lives.

As many as 1,142 terror incidents were reported in the state between 2012 and 2016 in which 236 security personnel and 90 civilians were killed, it said.

According to the reply, Pakistan breached the truce along the Line of Control 449 times in 2016 as compared to 405 violations in 2015. 23 security personnel were killed in the two-year period.

RAJOURI: A 35-year-old woman was today killed and her husband injured in mortar shelling by Pakistani troops in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. The shelling hit a village in Laam belt of Nowshera sector, killing Akhtar Bi and injuring her husband Mohmmad Hanief (40). "The Pakistani Army fired from small arms and automatic weapons from 10:40 last night on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said. They also shelled forward posts and civilian areas using 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, he said. "The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said. There have been six ceasefire violations in April Month. The latest incident of ceasefire violation comes after the beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan's Border Action Team on May 1. Under the cover of heavy mortar fire, the Pakistani special forces team sneaked 250 metres across the Line of Control (LoC) into the KG sector of Poonch and beheaded the soldiers. The Home Ministry has said that at least one incident of ceasefire violation by Pakistan took place daily along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 and 2016 in which 23 security personnel lost their lives. As many as 1,142 terror incidents were reported in the state between 2012 and 2016 in which 236 security personnel and 90 civilians were killed, it said. According to the reply, Pakistan breached the truce along the Line of Control 449 times in 2016 as compared to 405 violations in 2015. 23 security personnel were killed in the two-year period.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: India's top audit body has pulled up Air India for not recovering crores of rupees owed to the national carrier for special flights used by the president, vice-president and the prime minister.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has asked the Government and Air India Limited (AIL) to make more efforts to recover the money spent on VVIP chartered flights.

In its latest report, released in March this year, CAG noted that that the total unpaid dues as on March 31, 2016, stood at Rs 513.27 crore. Of this, Rs 472.09 crore were spent on the operation of VVIP flights and Rs 41.18 crore for the External Affairs Ministry.

A Right to Information (RTI) application by activist Lokesh Batra disclosed that on March 31, 2017, Air India had dues worth Rs 451.74 for the use of chartered flights by the president, vice president and prime minister, besides special missions.

"AIL earmarked three B747-400 aircraft for the sole purpose of operating special extra section flights for VVIP operation," the CAG report said.

The carrier was rapped for taking six months to raise invoices for VVIP travels and special missions despite the revenue constraints it faced.

Air India had told CAG on February 02, 2016, that the delay was on account of information that had to be gathered from various stations. It said in view of the audit observations, efforts were being made to speed up the process.

"Though with continuous efforts, AIL was able to recover 50 per cent of the old dues... the total unpaid dues as on March 31, 2016, were Rs 513.27 crore," it said.

The government audit body said considering the significant quantum of the pending dues and in the context of government support to AIL for a turnaround, "more efforts need to be made" for an early reimbursement both AIL and the government.

The Turnaround Plan and Financial Restructuring Plan of Air India was approved by the Government in April 2012.

"Government had committed to infuse equity of Rs 42,182 crore from 2011-12 to 2031-32," CAG noted.

NEW DELHI: India's top audit body has pulled up Air India for not recovering crores of rupees owed to the national carrier for special flights used by the president, vice-president and the prime minister. The Comptroller and Auditor General has asked the Government and Air India Limited (AIL) to make more efforts to recover the money spent on VVIP chartered flights. In its latest report, released in March this year, CAG noted that that the total unpaid dues as on March 31, 2016, stood at Rs 513.27 crore. Of this, Rs 472.09 crore were spent on the operation of VVIP flights and Rs 41.18 crore for the External Affairs Ministry. A Right to Information (RTI) application by activist Lokesh Batra disclosed that on March 31, 2017, Air India had dues worth Rs 451.74 for the use of chartered flights by the president, vice president and prime minister, besides special missions. "AIL earmarked three B747-400 aircraft for the sole purpose of operating special extra section flights for VVIP operation," the CAG report said. The carrier was rapped for taking six months to raise invoices for VVIP travels and special missions despite the revenue constraints it faced. Air India had told CAG on February 02, 2016, that the delay was on account of information that had to be gathered from various stations. It said in view of the audit observations, efforts were being made to speed up the process. "Though with continuous efforts, AIL was able to recover 50 per cent of the old dues... the total unpaid dues as on March 31, 2016, were Rs 513.27 crore," it said. The government audit body said considering the significant quantum of the pending dues and in the context of government support to AIL for a turnaround, "more efforts need to be made" for an early reimbursement both AIL and the government. The Turnaround Plan and Financial Restructuring Plan of Air India was approved by the Government in April 2012. "Government had committed to infuse equity of Rs 42,182 crore from 2011-12 to 2031-32," CAG noted.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today embarked on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka during which he will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, and address the Indian-origin Tamil community.

"This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," he said in a

Facebook post prior to his departure.

"During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," Modi wrote. He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism," he said.

The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries. "This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.

He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony. He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said.

"I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today embarked on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka during which he will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, and address the Indian-origin Tamil community. "This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," he said in a Facebook post prior to his departure. "During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," Modi wrote. He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. "My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism," he said. The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries. "This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said. He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony. He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said. "I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today commenced its historic hearing on a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of triple talaq and nikah halala among Muslims, saying it would first determine whether the practice is fundamental to Islam.

A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, however, made it clear that the issue of polygamy among the Muslims may not be deliberated upon as it is not connected with the triple talaq issue.

"We will deal with the issue as to whether triple talaq is sacramental and whether it can be enforced as a Fundamental Right," the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, said while framing the issue to be deliberated upon.

The apex court also said if it came to the conclusion that triple talaq is fundamental to religion, then it will not go into the question of its constitutional validity.

The bench said it will also deal with the aspect of whether triple talaq formed part of the enforceable Fundamental Right to practice religion under the Constitution.

Senior advocate Amit Singh Chadha, appearing for Saira Bano, one of the petitioners in the case, initiated the arguments against the practice of triple talaq among Muslims and said this practice was not fundamental to Islam and hence can be done away with.

He also referred to the practices in the neighbouring Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to buttress his plea that triple talaq is un-Islamic.

The bench intervened and said it would like to peruse the prevalent laws in various Islamic countries on the issue.

Another senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, said in case of divorces being granted through extra-judicial mechanism, there should be a "judicial oversight" to deal with the consequences.

Former Union Minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid, who is assisting the court in his personal capacity, termed triple talaq as a "non-issue" saying it is not considered complete without conciliation efforts between the husband and the wife.

He said there was no adjudication to determine the validity of the grounds of talaq.

When the bench asked whether reconciliation after the pronouncement of triple talaq in one go is codified, Khurshid replied in the negative.

Another former Union Minister and counsel for All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Kapil Sibal, concurred with Khurshid and said "it's a non-issse, as no prudent Muslim would wake up one fine morning and say talaq, talaq and talaq".

The bench continued with the hearing in the post-lunch session.

The pleas before the apex court have also challenged the constitutional validity of other practices like 'nikah halala' and polygamy among the Muslims.

The bench is also taking up the main matter on its own as a petition titled "Muslim Women's quest for equality".

The apex court had on its own taken cognisance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands.

The hearing assumes significance as the apex court has decided to hear the case during the summer vacation and is likely to sit on Saturdays and Sundays to expeditiously decide the contentious and sensitive issues arising in the matter.

It holds importance as the Allahabad High Court, in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.

The High Court had given its verdict while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq.

The apex court had on March 30 said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are "very important" and involve "sentiments".

Influential Muslim organisations like the AIMPLB have opposed the court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining that these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and hence not justiciable.

The Muslim women, who have filed the petitions, have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message. 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, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then returning to him.

Earlier, the apex court, while referring to the matter to a larger bench, had observed that "sentiments" were involved in it and a five-judge constitution bench would adjudicate the issue which needed a detailed hearing.

The court had said it would decide the issues pertaining to the legal aspects of the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims, but would not deal with the question whether divorce under Muslim law needs to be supervised by courts as it fell under the legislative domain.

The Centre had on October 7 last opposed in the Supreme Court the practice of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims and favoured a relook on the grounds like gender equality and secularism.

AIMPLB had on March 27 told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of the judiciary.

The Board had also said the validity of the Mohammedan Law, founded essentially in the Holy Quran and sources based on it, cannot be tested on particular provisions of the Constitution.

It had said there was a need for "judicial restraint" before going into the constitutional interpretation of these issues unless such an exercise becomes unavoidable.

The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, had referred to the constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today commenced its historic hearing on a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of triple talaq and nikah halala among Muslims, saying it would first determine whether the practice is fundamental to Islam. A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, however, made it clear that the issue of polygamy among the Muslims may not be deliberated upon as it is not connected with the triple talaq issue. "We will deal with the issue as to whether triple talaq is sacramental and whether it can be enforced as a Fundamental Right," the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, said while framing the issue to be deliberated upon. The apex court also said if it came to the conclusion that triple talaq is fundamental to religion, then it will not go into the question of its constitutional validity. The bench said it will also deal with the aspect of whether triple talaq formed part of the enforceable Fundamental Right to practice religion under the Constitution. Senior advocate Amit Singh Chadha, appearing for Saira Bano, one of the petitioners in the case, initiated the arguments against the practice of triple talaq among Muslims and said this practice was not fundamental to Islam and hence can be done away with. He also referred to the practices in the neighbouring Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to buttress his plea that triple talaq is un-Islamic. The bench intervened and said it would like to peruse the prevalent laws in various Islamic countries on the issue. Another senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, said in case of divorces being granted through extra-judicial mechanism, there should be a "judicial oversight" to deal with the consequences. Former Union Minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid, who is assisting the court in his personal capacity, termed triple talaq as a "non-issue" saying it is not considered complete without conciliation efforts between the husband and the wife. He said there was no adjudication to determine the validity of the grounds of talaq. When the bench asked whether reconciliation after the pronouncement of triple talaq in one go is codified, Khurshid replied in the negative. Another former Union Minister and counsel for All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Kapil Sibal, concurred with Khurshid and said "it's a non-issse, as no prudent Muslim would wake up one fine morning and say talaq, talaq and talaq". The bench continued with the hearing in the post-lunch session. The pleas before the apex court have also challenged the constitutional validity of other practices like 'nikah halala' and polygamy among the Muslims. The bench is also taking up the main matter on its own as a petition titled "Muslim Women's quest for equality". The apex court had on its own taken cognisance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands. The hearing assumes significance as the apex court has decided to hear the case during the summer vacation and is likely to sit on Saturdays and Sundays to expeditiously decide the contentious and sensitive issues arising in the matter. It holds importance as the Allahabad High Court, in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law. The High Court had given its verdict while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq. The apex court had on March 30 said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are "very important" and involve "sentiments". Influential Muslim organisations like the AIMPLB have opposed the court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining that these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and hence not justiciable. The Muslim women, who have filed the petitions, have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message. 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, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then returning to him. Earlier, the apex court, while referring to the matter to a larger bench, had observed that "sentiments" were involved in it and a five-judge constitution bench would adjudicate the issue which needed a detailed hearing. The court had said it would decide the issues pertaining to the legal aspects of the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims, but would not deal with the question whether divorce under Muslim law needs to be supervised by courts as it fell under the legislative domain. The Centre had on October 7 last opposed in the Supreme Court the practice of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims and favoured a relook on the grounds like gender equality and secularism. AIMPLB had on March 27 told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of the judiciary. The Board had also said the validity of the Mohammedan Law, founded essentially in the Holy Quran and sources based on it, cannot be tested on particular provisions of the Constitution. It had said there was a need for "judicial restraint" before going into the constitutional interpretation of these issues unless such an exercise becomes unavoidable. The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, had referred to the constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.
Aishik Chanda By

Express News Service

KALIMPONG: While the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has accused Trinamool Congress of dividing the hill people of Bengal by creating 17 ethnic development boards, the ruling party in the State is banking on ethnic and social divisions to increase their presence in the upcoming municipal elections in four towns of the Bengal hills.

Accordingly, a public holiday on Buddha Jayanti for the first time on Wednesday came as a big surprise for the Buddhist community of Kalimpong district. While West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has reiterated it as in line with the governments policy towards care for minorities, the timing of the holiday just before the elections has raised questions over the governments motives.

This is definitely a welcome move but we dont know whether there are any political motives behind declaration of a State holiday on Buddha Jayanti, local trader Deepak Tamang said.

Besides posters and flags of TMC candidates, banners of CM Mamata Banerjees brainchild All India Minority Organisation have sprung up in several parts of Kalimpong town.

The hills of Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts of West Bengal are multi-ethnic and multi-religious in nature, with sprinkles of every major eastern Himalayan community  from indigenous Lepchas to Tibetan Muslims  calling the region their home.

While GJM has always presented the Gorkhaland movement as one unified movement for statehood of the hill people, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the movement left out substantial ethnic minorities, including the indigenous Lepchas.

After creating the Lepcha Development Board, the West Bengal government has added 16 more development boards for each minority community, the latest being Muslims and Gurungs, to which GJM chief and Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) chief Bimal Gurung belongs.

However, GJM has denounced these ethnic boards as a violation of the GTA agreement.

Whether the ethnic development boards are helping in development of various ethnicities is a matter of debate, the ruling party definitely has gone an extra mile to woo the minorities of the region.

While we Tibetan Muslims have largely remained apolitical, minorities can definitely be benefitted if schemes are implemented for them in the hills, trader Ibrahim Shukoor said.



KALIMPONG: While the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has accused Trinamool Congress of dividing the hill people of Bengal by creating 17 ethnic development boards, the ruling party in the State is banking on ethnic and social divisions to increase their presence in the upcoming municipal elections in four towns of the Bengal hills. Accordingly, a public holiday on Buddha Jayanti for the first time on Wednesday came as a big surprise for the Buddhist community of Kalimpong district. While West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has reiterated it as in line with the governments policy towards care for minorities, the timing of the holiday just before the elections has raised questions over the governments motives. This is definitely a welcome move but we dont know whether there are any political motives behind declaration of a State holiday on Buddha Jayanti, local trader Deepak Tamang said. Besides posters and flags of TMC candidates, banners of CM Mamata Banerjees brainchild All India Minority Organisation have sprung up in several parts of Kalimpong town. The hills of Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts of West Bengal are multi-ethnic and multi-religious in nature, with sprinkles of every major eastern Himalayan community  from indigenous Lepchas to Tibetan Muslims  calling the region their home. While GJM has always presented the Gorkhaland movement as one unified movement for statehood of the hill people, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the movement left out substantial ethnic minorities, including the indigenous Lepchas. After creating the Lepcha Development Board, the West Bengal government has added 16 more development boards for each minority community, the latest being Muslims and Gurungs, to which GJM chief and Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) chief Bimal Gurung belongs. However, GJM has denounced these ethnic boards as a violation of the GTA agreement. Whether the ethnic development boards are helping in development of various ethnicities is a matter of debate, the ruling party definitely has gone an extra mile to woo the minorities of the region. While we Tibetan Muslims have largely remained apolitical, minorities can definitely be benefitted if schemes are implemented for them in the hills, trader Ibrahim Shukoor said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A special tribunal today upheld the Centre's decision to ban Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), saying there were sufficient reasons, including posing a threat to India's security, to declare it an unlawful association.

The tribunal, headed by Justice Sangeeta Dhingra of the Delhi High Court, found that Naik has failed to participate in the legal proceedings before it and was "absconding and untraceable".

The Tribunal on February 23 had ordered in-camera hearing in view of the confidential material being scrutinised by it.

Upholding the Centre's November 17, 2016 notification banning IRF for five years, the tribunal said there were sufficient reasons and cause to declare IRF an unlawful association.

"The entire material placed on record shows that the IRF was involved in activities which not only incite and encourage the youth to under take the unlawful activities with and intent to threaten the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of India.

"It also cause disaffection against India, which leaves no doubt that the ingredients of section... of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967 are met and there is every reason to conclude that the IRF be declared as an unlawful association," it said.

On March 16, the Delhi High Court had also held that the Centre's decision to ban the IRF was taken to safeguard national security. It had dismissed IRF's plea challenging the ban.

IRF had moved the tribunal against the November 17, 2016 notification of the of the Ministry of Home Affairs imposing an immediate ban on the organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. However, since the tribunal declined to hear the matter before February 6, the foundation had moved the Delhi High Court challenging the immediate ban.

The Judicial Tribunal, was set up to look into the ban on controversial preacher Naik's NGO. Concurring with the finding of the Centre, the tribunal noted in its 115-page order that no explanation was given on Naik's behalf during the hearing.

It also noted that Naik has failed to give clarification that the speeches had been made in his individual capacity and not on behalf of IRF.

"Even though IRF is not accused but there is material which shows that Naik was the founder of IRF and empowered to assign any work on behalf of IRF to others associated with IRF," it said.

NEW DELHI: A special tribunal today upheld the Centre's decision to ban Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), saying there were sufficient reasons, including posing a threat to India's security, to declare it an unlawful association. The tribunal, headed by Justice Sangeeta Dhingra of the Delhi High Court, found that Naik has failed to participate in the legal proceedings before it and was "absconding and untraceable". The Tribunal on February 23 had ordered in-camera hearing in view of the confidential material being scrutinised by it. Upholding the Centre's November 17, 2016 notification banning IRF for five years, the tribunal said there were sufficient reasons and cause to declare IRF an unlawful association. "The entire material placed on record shows that the IRF was involved in activities which not only incite and encourage the youth to under take the unlawful activities with and intent to threaten the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of India. "It also cause disaffection against India, which leaves no doubt that the ingredients of section... of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967 are met and there is every reason to conclude that the IRF be declared as an unlawful association," it said. On March 16, the Delhi High Court had also held that the Centre's decision to ban the IRF was taken to safeguard national security. It had dismissed IRF's plea challenging the ban. IRF had moved the tribunal against the November 17, 2016 notification of the of the Ministry of Home Affairs imposing an immediate ban on the organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. However, since the tribunal declined to hear the matter before February 6, the foundation had moved the Delhi High Court challenging the immediate ban. The Judicial Tribunal, was set up to look into the ban on controversial preacher Naik's NGO. Concurring with the finding of the Centre, the tribunal noted in its 115-page order that no explanation was given on Naik's behalf during the hearing. It also noted that Naik has failed to give clarification that the speeches had been made in his individual capacity and not on behalf of IRF. "Even though IRF is not accused but there is material which shows that Naik was the founder of IRF and empowered to assign any work on behalf of IRF to others associated with IRF," it said.
Indias gift to the region, GSAT-9, better known as the South Asia Communication Satellite took to the skies from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota Friday evening. This gives seven of the eight SAARC countriesIndia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldivesa platform which helps in natural resources mapping, telecommunications, telemedicine, education, weather forecasting and disaster warning, among other things. It also gives each country gets at least one transponder for telecasting local programming. The project, seen as PM Narendra Modis initiative and part of the countrys Neighbourhood First policy, was first mooted by him during the 2014 SAARC summit.

But altruistic reasons aside, India has other strategic motives behind the launch. For one, it helps reinforce Indias image as a regional power, and the only SAARC member capable of launching satellites. It is also aimed at countering increasing Chinese influence not just in the region, but in space as well. Both nations are jockeying for a position as a space power, and China already launched satellites for Sri Lanka, and of course its all-weather ally, Pakistan, which stayed out of the Indian project, ostensibly for security reasons.

Later, however, Islamabad changed its narrative. Dismissing speculation over espionage concerns as unfounded, a foreign ministry spokesman said Islamabad was keen to participate in the project. However, as India was not willing to develop the project on a collaborative basis, it was not possible for Pakistan to support it under the umbrella of SAARC. In February, ISRO set a record by launching 104 satellites from a single rocket. Then theres Mangalayan, Asias first successful Mars orbiter, which at $74 million cost less than the $100 million spent to make the space thriller Gravity. With ISRO officials boasting that they can launch a satellite at less than half the price quoted by other nations, India seems well on its way to conquer the final frontier.

Indias gift to the region, GSAT-9, better known as the South Asia Communication Satellite took to the skies from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota Friday evening. This gives seven of the eight SAARC countriesIndia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldivesa platform which helps in natural resources mapping, telecommunications, telemedicine, education, weather forecasting and disaster warning, among other things. It also gives each country gets at least one transponder for telecasting local programming. The project, seen as PM Narendra Modis initiative and part of the countrys Neighbourhood First policy, was first mooted by him during the 2014 SAARC summit. But altruistic reasons aside, India has other strategic motives behind the launch. For one, it helps reinforce Indias image as a regional power, and the only SAARC member capable of launching satellites. It is also aimed at countering increasing Chinese influence not just in the region, but in space as well. Both nations are jockeying for a position as a space power, and China already launched satellites for Sri Lanka, and of course its all-weather ally, Pakistan, which stayed out of the Indian project, ostensibly for security reasons. Later, however, Islamabad changed its narrative. Dismissing speculation over espionage concerns as unfounded, a foreign ministry spokesman said Islamabad was keen to participate in the project. However, as India was not willing to develop the project on a collaborative basis, it was not possible for Pakistan to support it under the umbrella of SAARC. In February, ISRO set a record by launching 104 satellites from a single rocket. Then theres Mangalayan, Asias first successful Mars orbiter, which at $74 million cost less than the $100 million spent to make the space thriller Gravity. With ISRO officials boasting that they can launch a satellite at less than half the price quoted by other nations, India seems well on its way to conquer the final frontier.
Ajay Kanth By

Express News Service

KOZHIKODE: Following inputs about Islamic State (IS) agents sending a large shipment of psychotropic drugs from an Indian port for their Libyan counterparts through a Dubai-based entrepreneur, consignment details from Kerala are under the scanner of the Intelligence and the Customs.

The agencies are yet to get specific details of the shipment intercepted by Italian customs at Genoa Port. They suspect one of the ports in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu could have been used to send the consignment to Sri Lanka from where it was routed to Libya. Agencies have the details of the businessman who booked the shipment. It is alleged the drugs were supplied by a manufacturer in India.

Senior enforcement officers said the verification was part of a nation-wide check on the ports to get further details of the consignment. We have started to verify the details, an Intelligence officer told Express. There is a strong possibility the drugs might have been shipped from either Mangaluru, Kochi or Thoothukudi. We can have a confirmation only after a detailed verification of the records.

When Express contacted Customs Chief Commissioner Pullela Nageswara Rao, he did not confirm anything about the development. Reports came out on Monday about Italian customs intercepting a huge shipment containing 37.5 tonnes of tramadol, a synthetic opioid used to treat pain. It is widely used as a narcotic across the West Asia. Reports say the drugs were stored in three freight containers under the label of shampoo and synthetic fabrics.

The agencies suspect one of the ports in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu could have been used to send the consignment to Sri Lanka from where it was routed to Libya.

KOZHIKODE: Following inputs about Islamic State (IS) agents sending a large shipment of psychotropic drugs from an Indian port for their Libyan counterparts through a Dubai-based entrepreneur, consignment details from Kerala are under the scanner of the Intelligence and the Customs. The agencies are yet to get specific details of the shipment intercepted by Italian customs at Genoa Port. They suspect one of the ports in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu could have been used to send the consignment to Sri Lanka from where it was routed to Libya. Agencies have the details of the businessman who booked the shipment. It is alleged the drugs were supplied by a manufacturer in India. Senior enforcement officers said the verification was part of a nation-wide check on the ports to get further details of the consignment. We have started to verify the details, an Intelligence officer told Express. There is a strong possibility the drugs might have been shipped from either Mangaluru, Kochi or Thoothukudi. We can have a confirmation only after a detailed verification of the records. When Express contacted Customs Chief Commissioner Pullela Nageswara Rao, he did not confirm anything about the development. Reports came out on Monday about Italian customs intercepting a huge shipment containing 37.5 tonnes of tramadol, a synthetic opioid used to treat pain. It is widely used as a narcotic across the West Asia. Reports say the drugs were stored in three freight containers under the label of shampoo and synthetic fabrics. The agencies suspect one of the ports in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu could have been used to send the consignment to Sri Lanka from where it was routed to Libya.
Baibhav Mishra By

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The 16-year-old Bangladeshi boy, who allegedly masterminded the escape of 11 minors from Ruchika shelter home in the City, was apprehended from Choudwar on Wednesday.

The boy, a resident of Gopalganj district in Bangladesh, was produced before Cuttack Child Welfare Committee which recorded his statement and shifted him to the Servants of India Society.



This was the third time the Bangladeshi boy escaped from a shelter home since his rescue from the railway station here in 2015. On each occasion, he had facilitated the escape of other inmates from the premises. Earlier, he had fled from rescue centres Biswa Jivan in the City and Asha Kiran at Jatni along with six minor boys.

Sources said though the Khurda district Child Welfare Committee has written to Department of Women and Child Welfare to send back the boy to his home country on multiple occasions, the latter is yet to initiate necessary proceedings for deportation.



The minor has been a trouble for the rescue centres which have sheltered him and he also instigates other inmates to break the discipline of the unit, a member of the CWC said. The CWC is likely to approach the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh through the Resident Commissioner, Odisha to take appropriate action in this matter, said sources.

The minor had reportedly escaped from Ruchika Open Shelter here at Samantrapur along with 11 others on May 2. Two days later, one of the escapees was traced by Bhubaneswar Childline at the City railway station who informed that 10 other inmates have left for Jharsuguda on a train.



Six out of the 11 escapees have been rescued from different places of the State so far. Two were apprehended from Banki in Cuttack district, two from Bhubaneswar railway station, one from Cuttack and the Bangladeshi minor from Choudwar, CWC member Benudhar Senapati said.



Police said the boys made elaborate plans to escape. The bathroom had two skylights just above windows. Using the rails of the windows, they climbed through the ventilators, an investigating officer said.



The matter was first reported at Lingaraj police station and referred to DCP Satyabrata Bhoi who initiated a probe by alerting the police of neighbouring districts.

BHUBANESWAR: The 16-year-old Bangladeshi boy, who allegedly masterminded the escape of 11 minors from Ruchika shelter home in the City, was apprehended from Choudwar on Wednesday. The boy, a resident of Gopalganj district in Bangladesh, was produced before Cuttack Child Welfare Committee which recorded his statement and shifted him to the Servants of India Society. This was the third time the Bangladeshi boy escaped from a shelter home since his rescue from the railway station here in 2015. On each occasion, he had facilitated the escape of other inmates from the premises. Earlier, he had fled from rescue centres Biswa Jivan in the City and Asha Kiran at Jatni along with six minor boys. Sources said though the Khurda district Child Welfare Committee has written to Department of Women and Child Welfare to send back the boy to his home country on multiple occasions, the latter is yet to initiate necessary proceedings for deportation. The minor has been a trouble for the rescue centres which have sheltered him and he also instigates other inmates to break the discipline of the unit, a member of the CWC said. The CWC is likely to approach the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh through the Resident Commissioner, Odisha to take appropriate action in this matter, said sources. The minor had reportedly escaped from Ruchika Open Shelter here at Samantrapur along with 11 others on May 2. Two days later, one of the escapees was traced by Bhubaneswar Childline at the City railway station who informed that 10 other inmates have left for Jharsuguda on a train. Six out of the 11 escapees have been rescued from different places of the State so far. Two were apprehended from Banki in Cuttack district, two from Bhubaneswar railway station, one from Cuttack and the Bangladeshi minor from Choudwar, CWC member Benudhar Senapati said. Police said the boys made elaborate plans to escape. The bathroom had two skylights just above windows. Using the rails of the windows, they climbed through the ventilators, an investigating officer said. The matter was first reported at Lingaraj police station and referred to DCP Satyabrata Bhoi who initiated a probe by alerting the police of neighbouring districts.
By AFP

CASCAIS: Carlos Gil is a "payer-off of promises," at least that is the way the Roman Catholic refers to himself. But he is more commonly known as a "rent-a-pilgrim".

The 52-year-old Portuguese national takes on pilgrimages by proxy -- in the name of others -- especially Catholics unable because of sickness to undertake the journey or too busy or lazy for the week-long spiritual walk to the central Portuguese town of Fatima.

He can be hired for 2,500 euros ($2,700).

Gil is one of the nearly one million Catholics who will descend at the weekend upon the town where three child shepherds reported visions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago.

Two of the children will be declared saints on May 13 during a visit by Pope Francis.

But Gil almost certainly will be the only pilgrim to make the trip on foot and invoice his walk.

"It's not about making money but being in the service of others," he told AFP in an interview at his home before setting off. "It's a deal we strike with God".

The 2,500-euro price is a fixed rate -- the lighting of a candle costs an additional 25 euros, while asking him to recite the rosary is another 250 euros.

The rate also goes up if the client wants Gil to shuffle the last 400 metres (quarter of a mile) on his knees, from the shrine's public square to the chapel where the visions are said to have taken place in 1917.

A pilgrimage, made for oneself or others, can be for various reasons: to fulfil a promise to God, as a request for healing, a baby or professional success, to give thanks when a request has been granted or to atone for sins.

"For me, it's a passion. I am Catholic, but if I had been born in Saudi Arabia, I would be Muslim and would make pilgrimages to Mecca," Gil said.

Staff in hand, backpack on his shoulders, Gil leaves his small white villa near the coastal town of Cascais, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital Lisbon.

It is 7:30 am and raining but Gil wants to make it in enough time to see the pontiff, after seeing Pope Benedict XVI in Fatima in 2010.

Gil's sister Maria Jose, 50, will walk with him.

- 'Crazy idea' -

By taking small country lanes far removed from the main roads, Gil will arrive at the shrine six days later, the day before the papal visit. He will have walked 200 kilometres, spending nights in private homes or underneath the stars.

"I make no physical preparations before the pilgrimage," said Gil, a father of two grown sons, sporting a salt and pepper beard, who admits to being "lazy".

"It's spiritual. We are in a state of grace".

Gil believes there are very few Catholics, if any at all, offering the same services in his home country, but he has attracted imitators in Germany where "rent-a-pilgrims" advertise services online.

He said the "crazy idea" came to him one day in 2001, to "revive this ancient tradition from the Middle Ages" where rich noblemen lacking time or in poor physical condition hired pilgrims by proxy.

The practice remains largely secret as the Catholic Church does not condone paying people to act as a proxy pilgrim. It is much more common for the annual hajj, however.

According to the Church's Message of Fatima movement, over 40,000 pilgrims are expected to make the walk to the sanctuary and to see the pope.

With the visit by Francis, "a charismatic pope close to the people," the requests for pilgrimages by proxy "came earlier than usual," Gil said.

- 'It's a scam' -

He said he makes "two or three pilgrimages a year" and "each is always for one person".

Clients, all Portuguese-speaking, contact him through his site peregrino.org. Once terms have been agreed upon, the client wires him the amount and he takes off.

Upon completion, Gil sends a certificate with official stamps from each stop along the route.

Once the owner of a small computer company, Gil now has business cards listing his occupation as a "payer-off of promises" and real estate agent.

"My colleagues know what I do, they laugh about it a lot, a real estate agent who wants to become a saint," he said.

His parents had intended him for the priesthood, but his family's hurried departure from Angola, a former Portuguese colony, during the country's fight for independence in 1975 extinguished those plans.

Gil's current occupation, however, has attracted "violent criticism" on social media. "People are sometimes very aggressive. They don't know me," he said.

He has also drawn the ire of Rodrigo Cerqueira, president of the Association for Friends of Walks of Fatima, who said that being a "payer-off of promises, it's a disgrace. They take advantage of people".

"Given their prices, it's a scam," Cerqueira told AFP.

Gil declined to say much about who this year's pilgrimage is for, only that it is a woman who contacted him through the popular WhatsApp messaging service.

"On principle, I never ask them about their reasons to avoid passing judgment," he said.

CASCAIS: Carlos Gil is a "payer-off of promises," at least that is the way the Roman Catholic refers to himself. But he is more commonly known as a "rent-a-pilgrim". The 52-year-old Portuguese national takes on pilgrimages by proxy -- in the name of others -- especially Catholics unable because of sickness to undertake the journey or too busy or lazy for the week-long spiritual walk to the central Portuguese town of Fatima. He can be hired for 2,500 euros ($2,700). Gil is one of the nearly one million Catholics who will descend at the weekend upon the town where three child shepherds reported visions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago. Two of the children will be declared saints on May 13 during a visit by Pope Francis. But Gil almost certainly will be the only pilgrim to make the trip on foot and invoice his walk. "It's not about making money but being in the service of others," he told AFP in an interview at his home before setting off. "It's a deal we strike with God". The 2,500-euro price is a fixed rate -- the lighting of a candle costs an additional 25 euros, while asking him to recite the rosary is another 250 euros. The rate also goes up if the client wants Gil to shuffle the last 400 metres (quarter of a mile) on his knees, from the shrine's public square to the chapel where the visions are said to have taken place in 1917. A pilgrimage, made for oneself or others, can be for various reasons: to fulfil a promise to God, as a request for healing, a baby or professional success, to give thanks when a request has been granted or to atone for sins. "For me, it's a passion. I am Catholic, but if I had been born in Saudi Arabia, I would be Muslim and would make pilgrimages to Mecca," Gil said. Staff in hand, backpack on his shoulders, Gil leaves his small white villa near the coastal town of Cascais, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital Lisbon. It is 7:30 am and raining but Gil wants to make it in enough time to see the pontiff, after seeing Pope Benedict XVI in Fatima in 2010. Gil's sister Maria Jose, 50, will walk with him. - 'Crazy idea' - By taking small country lanes far removed from the main roads, Gil will arrive at the shrine six days later, the day before the papal visit. He will have walked 200 kilometres, spending nights in private homes or underneath the stars. "I make no physical preparations before the pilgrimage," said Gil, a father of two grown sons, sporting a salt and pepper beard, who admits to being "lazy". "It's spiritual. We are in a state of grace". Gil believes there are very few Catholics, if any at all, offering the same services in his home country, but he has attracted imitators in Germany where "rent-a-pilgrims" advertise services online. He said the "crazy idea" came to him one day in 2001, to "revive this ancient tradition from the Middle Ages" where rich noblemen lacking time or in poor physical condition hired pilgrims by proxy. The practice remains largely secret as the Catholic Church does not condone paying people to act as a proxy pilgrim. It is much more common for the annual hajj, however. According to the Church's Message of Fatima movement, over 40,000 pilgrims are expected to make the walk to the sanctuary and to see the pope. With the visit by Francis, "a charismatic pope close to the people," the requests for pilgrimages by proxy "came earlier than usual," Gil said. - 'It's a scam' - He said he makes "two or three pilgrimages a year" and "each is always for one person". Clients, all Portuguese-speaking, contact him through his site peregrino.org. Once terms have been agreed upon, the client wires him the amount and he takes off. Upon completion, Gil sends a certificate with official stamps from each stop along the route. Once the owner of a small computer company, Gil now has business cards listing his occupation as a "payer-off of promises" and real estate agent. "My colleagues know what I do, they laugh about it a lot, a real estate agent who wants to become a saint," he said. His parents had intended him for the priesthood, but his family's hurried departure from Angola, a former Portuguese colony, during the country's fight for independence in 1975 extinguished those plans. Gil's current occupation, however, has attracted "violent criticism" on social media. "People are sometimes very aggressive. They don't know me," he said. He has also drawn the ire of Rodrigo Cerqueira, president of the Association for Friends of Walks of Fatima, who said that being a "payer-off of promises, it's a disgrace. They take advantage of people". "Given their prices, it's a scam," Cerqueira told AFP. Gil declined to say much about who this year's pilgrimage is for, only that it is a woman who contacted him through the popular WhatsApp messaging service. "On principle, I never ask them about their reasons to avoid passing judgment," he said.
By AFP

CURITIBA: Brazil's leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the corruption trial threatening to end his storied career a "farce" during almost five hours of testimony Wednesday.

Arguably the country's most popular and controversial politician, Lula is accused of receiving a seaside apartment as a kickback from the OAS construction company.

If found guilty, he could be barred from running for office and even jailed, destroying his hopes of coming back to power in the 2018 presidential elections.

The closed hearing put Lula, 71, face-to-face with Judge Sergio Moro, a hero to many Brazilians for his relentless pursuit of senators, millionaires and other powerful figures in a graft probe called "Car Wash."

Lula, whose 2003-2010 rule made him loved by the left and equally loathed on the right, would be by far Moro's biggest scalp.

However, the fiery orator -- who grew up in severe poverty before becoming a metal workers' union leader, co-founder of the Workers' Party and leftist icon -- was defiant.

"I consider this trial illegitimate and the accusation a farce," he told Moro at the hearing in the southern city of Curitiba, video released afterward showed.

He said prosecutors were accusing him "based on allegations in the press."

As soon as he got out of court, Lula went to a campaign style rally with several thousand supporters who had bused into Curitiba earlier.

"I thought after... there would at least be a document that the apartment was mine," he told them. "I want to be judged on proof."

Lula reiterated his plans to seek a third term next year.

"I am preparing to return as a candidate," he said. "I want to show that the elite is not competent to fix this country but that the steel worker... will manage."

The Lula faithful, many clad in Workers' Party red, responded deliriously, cheering "Lula, warrior of the Brazilian people," and letting off fireworks.

"He still has this incredible charisma, this connection," said lawyer William Bioneck, 30, who was in the crowd.

A much smaller group of opponents also gathered, raising an inflatable caricature of Lula dressed in prison garb.

- Embezzlement, bribery -

Brazil's media portrayed the court session as a showdown between two of the most powerful men in Brazil.

Moro, 44, has become a national figure for his role leading the "Car Wash" probe, which revealed massive kickbacks to politicians in return for inflated contracts with state oil company Petrobras, much of it during Lula's presidency.

Lula faces a total of five corruption trials.

In Wednesday's case, Lula is alleged to have taken a bribe from OAS -- one of the main Petrobras contractors -- in the form of a seaside apartment at a posh resort near Sao Paulo.

But seated at a table with lawyers and prosecutors, Lula denied everything.

"I never asked for and I never received the apartment," he said.

Prosecutors have previously painted Lula as a kingpin over the wider Petrobras corruption scheme.

However, in the video of the hearing Moro went out of his way to reassure Lula that he would "be treated with maximum respect, as any defendant, but also equally considering the office that he had held previously."

He also stressed that Lula did not face imminent arrest.

Hashtags trending on Twitter reflected the bitter divide over the ex-president's legal problems, including #LulaEuConfio (I trust in Lula) and #MoroOrgulhoBrasileiro (Moro, pride of Brazil).

President Michel Temer, a hugely unpopular figure who took over when Lula's successor Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from the presidency last year, appealed for calm.

"We need to calm down the country. The country can't be in this permanent state of conflict, with Brazilian against Brazilian," he said.

CURITIBA: Brazil's leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the corruption trial threatening to end his storied career a "farce" during almost five hours of testimony Wednesday. Arguably the country's most popular and controversial politician, Lula is accused of receiving a seaside apartment as a kickback from the OAS construction company. If found guilty, he could be barred from running for office and even jailed, destroying his hopes of coming back to power in the 2018 presidential elections. The closed hearing put Lula, 71, face-to-face with Judge Sergio Moro, a hero to many Brazilians for his relentless pursuit of senators, millionaires and other powerful figures in a graft probe called "Car Wash." Lula, whose 2003-2010 rule made him loved by the left and equally loathed on the right, would be by far Moro's biggest scalp. However, the fiery orator -- who grew up in severe poverty before becoming a metal workers' union leader, co-founder of the Workers' Party and leftist icon -- was defiant. "I consider this trial illegitimate and the accusation a farce," he told Moro at the hearing in the southern city of Curitiba, video released afterward showed. He said prosecutors were accusing him "based on allegations in the press." As soon as he got out of court, Lula went to a campaign style rally with several thousand supporters who had bused into Curitiba earlier. "I thought after... there would at least be a document that the apartment was mine," he told them. "I want to be judged on proof." Lula reiterated his plans to seek a third term next year. "I am preparing to return as a candidate," he said. "I want to show that the elite is not competent to fix this country but that the steel worker... will manage." The Lula faithful, many clad in Workers' Party red, responded deliriously, cheering "Lula, warrior of the Brazilian people," and letting off fireworks. "He still has this incredible charisma, this connection," said lawyer William Bioneck, 30, who was in the crowd. A much smaller group of opponents also gathered, raising an inflatable caricature of Lula dressed in prison garb. - Embezzlement, bribery - Brazil's media portrayed the court session as a showdown between two of the most powerful men in Brazil. Moro, 44, has become a national figure for his role leading the "Car Wash" probe, which revealed massive kickbacks to politicians in return for inflated contracts with state oil company Petrobras, much of it during Lula's presidency. Lula faces a total of five corruption trials. In Wednesday's case, Lula is alleged to have taken a bribe from OAS -- one of the main Petrobras contractors -- in the form of a seaside apartment at a posh resort near Sao Paulo. But seated at a table with lawyers and prosecutors, Lula denied everything. "I never asked for and I never received the apartment," he said. Prosecutors have previously painted Lula as a kingpin over the wider Petrobras corruption scheme. However, in the video of the hearing Moro went out of his way to reassure Lula that he would "be treated with maximum respect, as any defendant, but also equally considering the office that he had held previously." He also stressed that Lula did not face imminent arrest. Hashtags trending on Twitter reflected the bitter divide over the ex-president's legal problems, including #LulaEuConfio (I trust in Lula) and #MoroOrgulhoBrasileiro (Moro, pride of Brazil). President Michel Temer, a hugely unpopular figure who took over when Lula's successor Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from the presidency last year, appealed for calm. "We need to calm down the country. The country can't be in this permanent state of conflict, with Brazilian against Brazilian," he said.
By AFP

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Thursday it was too early to speak of a thaw in ties with Washington, a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US President Donald Trump.

"It's too early to draw this conclusion," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

But he added: "Of course the fact that a dialogue is taking place is very positive."

Peskov said both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to be at the G20 summit in Germany in July, which "could serve as a good occasion" for them to meet.

Wednesday's meeting came as Trump was embroiled in a political firestorm over the investigations into allegations his US presidential election campaign had colluded with Russia.

Lavrov met both Trump and US counterpart Rex Tillerson in Washington, saying the US president was seeking "mutually beneficial" and "pragmatic" relations with Moscow.

"The goal of both president Trump and president Putin is to have concrete results which will be tangible and which will allow (us) to alleviate problems, including on the international agenda," he told reporters.

Tillerson also travelled to Moscow last month for talks with Lavrov.

Tillerson, who also had a closed-door meeting with Putin during his visit, deplored the "low level of trust" between the two powers, whose relations have sunk to a post-Cold War low over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

"The world's two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship," the US secretary of state said.

In a shock move on Tuesday, Trump sacked FBI chief James Comey, the man overseeing federal investigations into suspected Kremlin interference in the 2016 US vote.

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Thursday it was too early to speak of a thaw in ties with Washington, a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US President Donald Trump. "It's too early to draw this conclusion," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. But he added: "Of course the fact that a dialogue is taking place is very positive." Peskov said both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to be at the G20 summit in Germany in July, which "could serve as a good occasion" for them to meet. Wednesday's meeting came as Trump was embroiled in a political firestorm over the investigations into allegations his US presidential election campaign had colluded with Russia. Lavrov met both Trump and US counterpart Rex Tillerson in Washington, saying the US president was seeking "mutually beneficial" and "pragmatic" relations with Moscow. "The goal of both president Trump and president Putin is to have concrete results which will be tangible and which will allow (us) to alleviate problems, including on the international agenda," he told reporters. Tillerson also travelled to Moscow last month for talks with Lavrov. Tillerson, who also had a closed-door meeting with Putin during his visit, deplored the "low level of trust" between the two powers, whose relations have sunk to a post-Cold War low over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. "The world's two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship," the US secretary of state said. In a shock move on Tuesday, Trump sacked FBI chief James Comey, the man overseeing federal investigations into suspected Kremlin interference in the 2016 US vote.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Sri Lanka as a Chief Guest of the 14th Vesak Day (Buddha Jayanti) celebrations has not been lost on China that has sought docking facility for their submarine, but the request has been turned down by the Island country.

Prime Minister Modi arrived on Thursday evening to Colombo where the first pit stop he made was at the 19th century Gangaramaya temple at the famous Beira Lake. Besides balancing the majority Sinhalese Buddhist communitys sentiments, Modis visit seeks to emphasise on India being the land where Buddhism was founded and then propagated to other countries.

Interestingly, the Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror carried a report that China has requested to dock one of its submarines in the port city of Colombo. However, it has not been granted considering Indias concerns.

PM Modis last visit to Sri Lanka was significant as it was first Indian prime ministerial visit to the Tamil-dominated Jaffna region that was once the stronghold of the Tamil Rebels. This visit will have a significant element of Buddhism diplomacy. On May 12, PM Modi will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians at the international conference organised as part of the 14th UN Vesak Day celebrations. Vesak Day commemorates birth, enlighten and death of Buddha.

My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka- the shared heritage of Buddhism, Modi has said before leaving for Sri Lanka. During his visit he will also be paying obeisance at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

India has been playing Chinese checkers as Beijing very deftly has been staking claim to Buddhist heritage and also promoting Gandhara Trails in Pakistan. Delhi has been mindful of augmenting its religious soft power and has been highlighting its Buddhist linkages with Mongolia, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. In fact, India played a key role in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia, where it had sent a revered Buddhist spiritual guru as Ambassador who helped in training young monks there. New Delhi has also taken cognisance of the revival of Buddhism in South East Asian country of Vietnam and has been training Buddhist monks and scholars there. Buddhist Tourism circuits are also planned in conjugation with Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

NEW DELHI: The significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Sri Lanka as a Chief Guest of the 14th Vesak Day (Buddha Jayanti) celebrations has not been lost on China that has sought docking facility for their submarine, but the request has been turned down by the Island country. Prime Minister Modi arrived on Thursday evening to Colombo where the first pit stop he made was at the 19th century Gangaramaya temple at the famous Beira Lake. Besides balancing the majority Sinhalese Buddhist communitys sentiments, Modis visit seeks to emphasise on India being the land where Buddhism was founded and then propagated to other countries. Interestingly, the Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror carried a report that China has requested to dock one of its submarines in the port city of Colombo. However, it has not been granted considering Indias concerns. PM Modis last visit to Sri Lanka was significant as it was first Indian prime ministerial visit to the Tamil-dominated Jaffna region that was once the stronghold of the Tamil Rebels. This visit will have a significant element of Buddhism diplomacy. On May 12, PM Modi will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians at the international conference organised as part of the 14th UN Vesak Day celebrations. Vesak Day commemorates birth, enlighten and death of Buddha. My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka- the shared heritage of Buddhism, Modi has said before leaving for Sri Lanka. During his visit he will also be paying obeisance at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. India has been playing Chinese checkers as Beijing very deftly has been staking claim to Buddhist heritage and also promoting Gandhara Trails in Pakistan. Delhi has been mindful of augmenting its religious soft power and has been highlighting its Buddhist linkages with Mongolia, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. In fact, India played a key role in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia, where it had sent a revered Buddhist spiritual guru as Ambassador who helped in training young monks there. New Delhi has also taken cognisance of the revival of Buddhism in South East Asian country of Vietnam and has been training Buddhist monks and scholars there. Buddhist Tourism circuits are also planned in conjugation with Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
By AFP

MANILA: More than 24,000 people fled their homes as the Philippine military used airstrikes and artillery against Muslim extremists who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, authorities said Thursday.

Almost a week of attacks on members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the strife-torn southern island of Mindanao has displaced residents of six towns, said Jofelle Delicana, spokeswoman for the civil defence office.

About 24,300 villagers were forced to take refuge in schools, makeshift tents or with relatives after the military launched their assault on May 5, she told AFP.

Local army spokesman Captain Arvin Encinas said that reports from civilians and intelligence sources indicate that as many as 31 BIFF guerrillas have been killed including the group's leader, Commander Ismael Abubakar, also known as "Bungos", as well as two of his aides.

"We believe they are among the dead considering our information that they were there in the location hit by airstrikes," he told AFP.

He said however that no bodies had been recovered and that the death toll could not be verified.

Seven soldiers have been slightly wounded in the fighting, he added.

"We used all available air assets and artillery assets and armour," the captain said, declining to give details.

Six Indonesians from the Islamic State group who were training the BIFF in bomb-making were part of the remnants of the group that is being surrounded by the army, he added.

"Our assessment is they have less space to move while we are conducting our airstrikes because all our available troops have been deployed," Encinas said.

The group of almost 100 BIFF were targeted after they were involved in the planting of make-shift bombs and a number of murders in recent months.

The BIFF split from main Muslim rebel group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2008 after the MILF opened a peace process with the government.

Since then, its leaders have been seen in videos pledging allegiance to the IS movement that has taken control of vast swathes of the Middle East.

Encinas said Bungos had been trying to forge closer connections with IS so he could get more overseas assistance.

While the Philippines is largely Catholic, the southern third is home to a sizable Muslim minority and extremist groups and guerrillas like the BIFF who are fighting for a separate Islamic state.

MANILA: More than 24,000 people fled their homes as the Philippine military used airstrikes and artillery against Muslim extremists who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, authorities said Thursday. Almost a week of attacks on members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the strife-torn southern island of Mindanao has displaced residents of six towns, said Jofelle Delicana, spokeswoman for the civil defence office. About 24,300 villagers were forced to take refuge in schools, makeshift tents or with relatives after the military launched their assault on May 5, she told AFP. Local army spokesman Captain Arvin Encinas said that reports from civilians and intelligence sources indicate that as many as 31 BIFF guerrillas have been killed including the group's leader, Commander Ismael Abubakar, also known as "Bungos", as well as two of his aides. "We believe they are among the dead considering our information that they were there in the location hit by airstrikes," he told AFP. He said however that no bodies had been recovered and that the death toll could not be verified. Seven soldiers have been slightly wounded in the fighting, he added. "We used all available air assets and artillery assets and armour," the captain said, declining to give details. Six Indonesians from the Islamic State group who were training the BIFF in bomb-making were part of the remnants of the group that is being surrounded by the army, he added. "Our assessment is they have less space to move while we are conducting our airstrikes because all our available troops have been deployed," Encinas said. The group of almost 100 BIFF were targeted after they were involved in the planting of make-shift bombs and a number of murders in recent months. The BIFF split from main Muslim rebel group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2008 after the MILF opened a peace process with the government. Since then, its leaders have been seen in videos pledging allegiance to the IS movement that has taken control of vast swathes of the Middle East. Encinas said Bungos had been trying to forge closer connections with IS so he could get more overseas assistance. While the Philippines is largely Catholic, the southern third is home to a sizable Muslim minority and extremist groups and guerrillas like the BIFF who are fighting for a separate Islamic state.
By AFP

GAZA CITY: Hamas has arrested the suspected murderer of one of its key military commanders in Gaza, the Palestinian Islamist movement's leader said Thursday, while maintaining Israel was behind the March assassination.

The killing of Mazen Faqha in the heart of Hamas-controlled Gaza shocked the militant movement and raised fears of a fresh conflict with Israel.

"We announce that the killer and criminal that carried out the orders of the officers of the Zionist security services is in the hands of the (Hamas) security services," Ismail Haniya told journalists in Gaza City, referring to Israel.

"He has confessed to the crime."

No details were provided on the suspect's identity, though Hamas has previously suggested Palestinian collaborators had worked with Israel on the assassination.

"Punishment will be carried out against the murderer," Haniya added.

Hamas recently executed three men it accused of collaboration with Israel.

Faqha was shot dead on March 24 near his house in Gaza City.

He had been in charge of forming cells for the movement's military wing in the occupied West Bank.

Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, immediately blamed its arch-enemy Israel, with which it has fought three wars since 2008.

Israel never confirmed or denied involvement in the killing.

Haniya's press conference was held outside Faqha's house in Gaza City and attended by his widow and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's Gaza chief.

A Hamas source said on condition of anonymity that the suspect had "participated in the morning in a reconstruction of the crime", after numerous security forces were seen in front of Faqha's home earlier in the day.

Offer to collaborators

Immediately afterward, Hamas authorities closed the only passenger crossing into Israel, while exit by sea was also banned, effectively sealing off the enclave.

Rights groups slammed the closure as collective punishment for Gazas two million residents, with those in need of medical treatment among those prevented from leaving.

The restrictions were later lifted.

On April 5, Hamas offered Israeli "collaborators" a week to turn themselves in in exchange for clemency.

A day later, it hanged three people they accused of being collaborators in cases not related to Faqhas death.

Faqha was one of more than 1,000 Palestinians released from Israeli jails in an exchange deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.

According to Hamas, he formed cells for their military wing in the West Bank cities of Tubas, also where he was born, and Jenin.

It says he played an important role in major assaults, including a suicide attack in the Israeli settlement neighbourhood of Gilo in east Jerusalem in 2002 that killed 19 people.

They were part of a wave of suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis during the second intifada, or uprising, between 2000 and 2005.

Israel sentenced him to nine life sentences plus 50 years, but he was released in the 2011 deal for Shalit, an Israeli soldier Hamas had detained for five years.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade, while Egypt's crossing with the enclave has also remained largely closed in recent years.

GAZA CITY: Hamas has arrested the suspected murderer of one of its key military commanders in Gaza, the Palestinian Islamist movement's leader said Thursday, while maintaining Israel was behind the March assassination. The killing of Mazen Faqha in the heart of Hamas-controlled Gaza shocked the militant movement and raised fears of a fresh conflict with Israel. "We announce that the killer and criminal that carried out the orders of the officers of the Zionist security services is in the hands of the (Hamas) security services," Ismail Haniya told journalists in Gaza City, referring to Israel. "He has confessed to the crime." No details were provided on the suspect's identity, though Hamas has previously suggested Palestinian collaborators had worked with Israel on the assassination. "Punishment will be carried out against the murderer," Haniya added. Hamas recently executed three men it accused of collaboration with Israel. Faqha was shot dead on March 24 near his house in Gaza City. He had been in charge of forming cells for the movement's military wing in the occupied West Bank. Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, immediately blamed its arch-enemy Israel, with which it has fought three wars since 2008. Israel never confirmed or denied involvement in the killing. Haniya's press conference was held outside Faqha's house in Gaza City and attended by his widow and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's Gaza chief. A Hamas source said on condition of anonymity that the suspect had "participated in the morning in a reconstruction of the crime", after numerous security forces were seen in front of Faqha's home earlier in the day. Offer to collaborators Immediately afterward, Hamas authorities closed the only passenger crossing into Israel, while exit by sea was also banned, effectively sealing off the enclave. Rights groups slammed the closure as collective punishment for Gazas two million residents, with those in need of medical treatment among those prevented from leaving. The restrictions were later lifted. On April 5, Hamas offered Israeli "collaborators" a week to turn themselves in in exchange for clemency. A day later, it hanged three people they accused of being collaborators in cases not related to Faqhas death. Faqha was one of more than 1,000 Palestinians released from Israeli jails in an exchange deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. According to Hamas, he formed cells for their military wing in the West Bank cities of Tubas, also where he was born, and Jenin. It says he played an important role in major assaults, including a suicide attack in the Israeli settlement neighbourhood of Gilo in east Jerusalem in 2002 that killed 19 people. They were part of a wave of suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis during the second intifada, or uprising, between 2000 and 2005. Israel sentenced him to nine life sentences plus 50 years, but he was released in the 2011 deal for Shalit, an Israeli soldier Hamas had detained for five years. The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade, while Egypt's crossing with the enclave has also remained largely closed in recent years.
By Associated Press

DAKAR, SENEGAL: Nigeria's government is negotiating "seriously" for the release of more than 110 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls still held by Boko Haram and will exchange more detained members of the extremist group for them if needed, an official said Thursday.

"We will not relent until all are back," the minister of women's affairs and social development, Aisha Alhassan, told reporters in the capital, Abuja.

The mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from a boarding school three years ago brought world attention to Boko Haram's deadly rampage in northern Nigeria. Thousands have been kidnapped or killed in the group's eight-year insurgency, with millions driven from their homes.

On Saturday, 82 of the Chibok schoolgirls were released. Nigeria's government exchanged them for five detained Boko Haram commanders, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to reporters on the matter. Negotiations with the extremist group, mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government, also resulted in the October release of a first group of 21 Chibok girls.

Alhassan said Nigeria's government had no regrets about exchanging Boko Haram commanders for the schoolgirls' release.

"We'll do it again if needed," she said in comments tweeted by Nigeria's government.

Families in Chibok were meeting with community leaders to identify the newly freed schoolgirls from photos to determine if they will travel to the capital to meet them.

The young women were joining those released earlier in government care in Abuja, where they were undergoing medical screening that will take a couple of weeks, Alhassan said. Some must undergo surgery, she said.

The government has been caring for 24 previously released girls and four babies, Alhassan said. A small number of the schoolgirls managed to escape on their own.

The group of girls released in October were in "bad shape" and spent two months in medical care, the minister said.

Human rights groups have criticized the government for keeping them so long in the capital, far from their homes. Alhassan said they traveled to Chibok for Christmas but upon their return to the capital said they were scared to go back to their community.

The girls said they wanted to go back to school so a nine-month reintegration program was designed for them, the minister said. The newly released girls will join the program.

The parents of the freed Chibok schoolgirls "are free to visit them at any time. We will never prevent them from seeing their daughters," Alhassan said.

Some of the girls who escaped shortly after the mass kidnapping said some classmates had died from illness, and others were radicalized and didn't want to come home. Human rights advocates have said they fear some of the girls have been used by Boko Haram to carry out suicide bombings.

DAKAR, SENEGAL: Nigeria's government is negotiating "seriously" for the release of more than 110 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls still held by Boko Haram and will exchange more detained members of the extremist group for them if needed, an official said Thursday. "We will not relent until all are back," the minister of women's affairs and social development, Aisha Alhassan, told reporters in the capital, Abuja. The mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from a boarding school three years ago brought world attention to Boko Haram's deadly rampage in northern Nigeria. Thousands have been kidnapped or killed in the group's eight-year insurgency, with millions driven from their homes. On Saturday, 82 of the Chibok schoolgirls were released. Nigeria's government exchanged them for five detained Boko Haram commanders, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to reporters on the matter. Negotiations with the extremist group, mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government, also resulted in the October release of a first group of 21 Chibok girls. Alhassan said Nigeria's government had no regrets about exchanging Boko Haram commanders for the schoolgirls' release. "We'll do it again if needed," she said in comments tweeted by Nigeria's government. Families in Chibok were meeting with community leaders to identify the newly freed schoolgirls from photos to determine if they will travel to the capital to meet them. The young women were joining those released earlier in government care in Abuja, where they were undergoing medical screening that will take a couple of weeks, Alhassan said. Some must undergo surgery, she said. The government has been caring for 24 previously released girls and four babies, Alhassan said. A small number of the schoolgirls managed to escape on their own. The group of girls released in October were in "bad shape" and spent two months in medical care, the minister said. Human rights groups have criticized the government for keeping them so long in the capital, far from their homes. Alhassan said they traveled to Chibok for Christmas but upon their return to the capital said they were scared to go back to their community. The girls said they wanted to go back to school so a nine-month reintegration program was designed for them, the minister said. The newly released girls will join the program. The parents of the freed Chibok schoolgirls "are free to visit them at any time. We will never prevent them from seeing their daughters," Alhassan said. Some of the girls who escaped shortly after the mass kidnapping said some classmates had died from illness, and others were radicalized and didn't want to come home. Human rights advocates have said they fear some of the girls have been used by Boko Haram to carry out suicide bombings.
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...
Who will be the new District 11 senator? Votes are in.
Robert Bush has multiple sclerosis (MS), which sapped his ability to walk five years ago. Joseph McGlynn suffered a stroke that seriously impaired his left side, also five years ago.

Using technology designed by Case Western Reserve University and the Advanced Platform Technology and Functional Electrical Stimulation centers at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the two men got their feet back under them.

Two studies, published in the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, show that functional electrical stimulation (FES) significantly helped McGlynn and Bush to effectively walk at the medical center.

"I went in there and I could barely take two steps," said Bush, 42, who researchers believe is the world's first MS patient to "test-drive" an implanted FES system. The proof-of-feasibility test lasted 90 days. "At the end," said Bush, of Columbus, Ohio, "I was walking down the hallway. To me, it was monumental." A video of him walking with and without the system can be found at: https:/ / youtu. be/ 17JYaKkdRYs.

McGlynn, 69, of North Royalton, Ohio, could walk with a cane, but not easily. With the technology switched on, he covered far more ground and his pace was twice as fast during his 30-week study.

"It's helped with balance and confidence," said McGlynn, who used to tread a lot of stairs maintaining equipment at a steel plant. "I'm confident now that I can walk without stumbling and falling." A video of him walking with and without aid of the system can be found here: https:/ / youtu. be/ 3CYq-FSFQLM.

Nathan Makowski, an investigator at the Cleveland FES Center, created by Case Western Reserve and the Cleveland VA, said that FES technology has been used primarily for therapy in stroke patients in the past. "This, though, is a more long-term assistive system," he said.

Addressing needs

The researchers hope these studies will lay the foundation for implanted systems that restore some independence to people with MS or who have suffered a stroke.

Their numbers are substantial. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates that more than 2.3 million people have the disease worldwide. Surveys have found that 93 percent suffer gait impairment within 10 years of diagnosis and 13 percent report they are unable to walk twice a week. Other research has found that 6 million to 7 million people live with stroke nationally and nearly 30 percent require assistance to walk.

"In both cases, there is a disconnect between the brain and muscles," said Stephen Selkirk, MD, a neurologist at the VA's Spinal Cord Injury Division and assistant professor of neurology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. "This system replaces the lost connection."

The system includes implanted electrodes that tie into nerves that control muscles collectively, called hip and knee flexors and ankle dorsoflexors. In healthy people, the muscles work in seamless coordination each step they take.

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When Bush or McGlynn walks, he pushes a button on an external controller, which sends signals to a pulse generator, which then sends electrical pulses to the electrodes. The pulses stimulate the nerves, which in turn stimulate the muscles in both of Bush's legs and McGlynn's left leg.

"Both guys were taking steps the first time we turned the systems on," said Ron Triolo, a professor of orthopaedics and biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve and executive director of the Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center. "When Robert Bush took a step, it wasn't' pretty, but we saw the potential."

In each patient, "the pulses are sent in a pattern that is close to how normal muscles work," said Rudi Kobetic, a principal investigator at the Stokes Cleveland VA and APT Center. "We try to time the pattern to stimulation so that it's integrated with their ability. Similar to regular physical therapy, we can see results."

Significant improvement

Both men gained strength and endurance through repeated use of the systems and fine-tuning by the researchers.

Bush went from the two steps to consistently walking more than 30 yards during the trial. In that time, he used a walker to help maintain his balance.

"When they turned it on the first time, I was surprised how well it worked," said Bush, who had to give up his construction career due to the disease. "I lifted my knee like I was high-stepping. Once we got it fine-tuned and I got walking, I thought it was amazing. I still think it's amazing."

McGlynn's gait became noticeably more symmetrical and energetic, the researchers said. His gait without the system was about 19 yards per minute; with the system, 47 yards per minute. Training with the system improved McGlynn's speed when it was turned off to 23 yards per minute, indicating therapeutic benefit.

"Distance is a challenge," he said. Initially, he could walk 83 yards but improved to 1,550 yards--nearly a mile--at the faster gait. "I work up a good sweat and that makes me feel good," he said.

Due to his improvements, the research team is developing a system that McGlynn can use at home and outside.

"I'll be able to walk for exercise and hopefully be able to walk into church and into a restaurant," McGlynn said.

When Bush's trial ended, surgeons removed his implanted electrodes. The researchers are seeking funding to fit him with a permanent FES system in a clinical trial.

In the meantime, Bush is now back to using a wheelchair but working to maintain his strength and flexibility, repeatedly standing and sitting while holding onto a rail or standing for long periods of time. "I'm keeping things ready for when they get the green light," he said.
Bacteria in the gut microbiome drive the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), clusters of dilated, thin-walled blood vessels in the brain that can cause stroke and seizures, according to new research published this week in Nature by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Led by Mark Kahn, MD, a professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, the team's research suggests that altering the microbiome in CCM patients may be an effective therapy for this cerebrovascular disease.

CCM disease, which occurs in about one in 100 to 200 people, can present in two forms. One is sporadic, accounting for 80 percent of cases, and is most frequent in older individuals. The remaining 20 percent are familial, inherited cases.

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In 2016, the Kahn lab discovered the molecular mechanism in endothelial cells that underlies the formation of CCMs. In the current Nature study, the team discovered that this molecular pathway is activated by TLR4, a receptor for the bacterial molecule lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Activation of TLR4 on brain endothelial cells by LPS vastly accelerated CCM formation. Conversely, if TLR4 was removed from endothelial cells genetically, or if the mice were treated with drugs that block TLR4 function, CCM formation is prevented.

Since TLR4 primarily responds to LPS from Gram-negative bacteria, Alan Tang, an MD-PhD student in the Kahn lab, proposed that bacteria from the animal's gut microbiome may drive CCM formation. To test this theory, he examined CCM formation in mice that were housed under germ-free conditions (in collaboration with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia through the PennCHOP Microbiome Program Core Facility) or treated with antibiotics to reduce the number of bacteria living in the gut. In both cases, CCM formation was dramatically reduced, demonstrating a key role for bacteria in the pathology of CCM disease.

The team next sought evidence that bacterial LPS-TLR4 signaling might also support CCM formation in human patients. They worked with researchers at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) who have studied several hundred patients who carry an identical mutation in one CCM gene but display a widely variable disease course.

"Some of these patients experience severe stroke by the age of two and others have no symptoms over their lifetime," Kahn said. "What makes the disease outcome so variable?"

Working with the team from UNM and UCSF, they discovered that genetic variations that raise the amount of TLR4 that is produced are associated with higher numbers of CCM lesions, suggesting that the key role for LPS-TLR4 signaling identified in mice is also present in humans.

These studies identify an unexpected, direct link between the microbiome and a common cerebrovascular disease. "This suggests that treatments designed to block TLR4 signaling or alter the microbiome may be used to treat this disease," Kahn said.
insights from industry Dr. Jorg Taubel CEO, Richmond Pharmacology

An interview with Dr. Jorg Taubel, CEO, Richmond Pharmacology, conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab)

Can you please give a brief introduction to Richmond Pharmacologys new research facility in London Bridge? What was the vision behind this opening?

Richmond Pharmacology is a clinical trials company, weve been running clinical trials since 2001, predominately for the pharmaceutical industry.

This is the fourth facility we've opened and the new site has been used for this type of work for more than 30 years. It's in an ideal location embedded in the University and teaching hospital campus.

The location means we can access key opinion leaders and academic research staff. Also, we have the additional comfort of being nearby a hospital in case we need them for advice.

As this is our fourth unit, we have put a lot of thought and experience into it, and I believe it's our best. We completely removed the old facilities in the building and designed all the floors from scratch.

(Left to right) Sarah Haywood , Dr Jorg Taubel, Cllr Kath Whittam, Professor John Camm and MP Neil Coyle in attendance at Richmond Pharmacologys London Bridge Opening Event

How important is the central London location?

The central locations is very important to us, there are two aspects which drove us to this site.

Firstly, we run a lot of clinical trials with patients, and these trials tend to run over a long period of time, ranging from six months to two years. During this time, the patients will have to make frequent visits to our facilities, therefore a location that is central with railway stations nearby is very important.

The second aspect is that even in today's digital age, I am a great believer of meeting face to face. Being surrounded by world leading academics here in central London, many of whom we collaborate with our clinical trials, I can easily arrange for face to face meetings. It can be done in a much more informal way than in the past, when we had to travel relatively far.

With all of this, I think we should see quite an improvement in the way that we work.

Dr Jorg Taubel and Baroness Walmsley discuss Richmond Pharmacologys future plans.

What collaborations do Richmond Pharmacology hope to develop with teaching hospitals?

The company was founded out of St. George's University in Tooting. As a public private partnership, this allowed us to generate income for the university to fund academic research, research fellows and so forth.

We pursue the same business model today, allowing us to generate income, which is largely coming from the pharmaceutical industry by carrying out clinical trials for them, whilst still being able to carry out a lot of academic research.

Now, with more opportunity to engage with academics around us, here in central London, I hope to build on this model.

An example of a successful collaboration that Richmond Pharmacology was a part of is the ENDEAVOUR clinical trial in 2014. This was a clinical trial in a rare disease, transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), where we worked with an American sponsor, Alnylam. We also worked with a national amyloidosis centre, based at the Royal Free Hospital, in the UK.

It is typical for key opinion leaders to have far more patients than capacity to run the clinical trial. This meant in the partnership they would recruit the patients for the study and support us with expert advice in conducting the trial whilst we provided first rate clinical trial facilities and had sufficient capacity to become the largest center worldwide and the first center to recruit patients globally for this disease.

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We made up 10% of this trial, which ran internationally in the United States, across Europe, etc. This is an of example of the type of collaborations we seek and are a part of.

Which areas will the new facility be specializing in?

The new facility will be a phase I specialist, and specialize in the running of clinical trials. In terms of branching out into therapeutic areas, we first find a key opinion leader or clinician who would be willing to participate and we then get the best possible team together. We have a key opinion leader with expert medical knowledge and we provide the clinical trial facility.

The new unit has been operational since 25th March with on-going patient feedback excellent.

What impact do you think the London-base will have on patient recruitment?

I think it will have a positive impact, as we often recruit nationwide, often patients like to come to London and therefore being central is a distinct advantage. For example, being in a location which has ample hotels, plenty of tourist attractions, makes it a pleasant experience for patients visiting, and that adds to everything else we've always had.

Do you think the facility will help the UKs efforts to grow as a global hub for life sciences?

Definitely. The Medicines of Healthcare Regulatory Agency or MHRA is scientifically driven and offer sponsors from all over the world, scientific advice meeting in advance of formal applications, and this is greatly appreciated by the pharmaceutical industry worldwide. Our consultancy work often introduces companies from abroad to this opportunity.

We already have quite a lot of attraction, and again, if you take the ENDEAVOUR example I've outlined earlier, that of course provides academic and other research organisations a good opportunity to make significant contributions to global clinical trials.

Despite the United Kingdom not being a big country, with only about 60 million people, relative to our size, I think we make a much bigger contribution.

What do you think the future holds for clinical trial research in the UK?

The Prime Minister has made a clear statement that life science is important and I have some faith that we will end up with a healthy and forward going life science sector.

What is Richmond Pharmacologys vision for the future?

Over the years we've recognized that in order to have high quality standards in clinical trials and ensure the safety of participants, we need comprehensive regulation surrounding clinical trials.

As a consequence, the process of running trials has become slower and more expensive, and were looking at ways to create opportunities within that framework so that we have the high-quality standards and the safety procedures derived from the regulations, whilst simultaneously becoming more nimble in what we do so we can compensate for this.

The MHRA have allowed us to create adaptive study protocols, which deviates from the conventional model, in that they focus on a framework. They set out what we do in this clinical trial, setting boundaries, outlining what the worst case may be rather than describe in rigid detail every step. For example, the highest dose, the highest number of patients involved, the longest duration of their participation, but not the detail below that threshold.

We put a lot of emphasis on the way in which the trial is controlled, for example, how we look at the interim data and how we make decisions in steering the trial. This allow us to sheer the trial in accordance with the data that emerges during the trial making changes within our roaming space. That saves a lot of time, and it also allows us to remove from these trials any aspects or measurements which turn out to not be very useful, and redirect the funding towards more relevant tests. Consequently, we can work within a budget and create a lot of data. That is something which we're very passionate about, and I think that the future will work this way a lot more. We've seen that our competition is also starting to adopt this approach because it is the most logical.

As I sit here today, (25TH March) Richmond Pharmacology has just been given the full MHRA accreditation for our new facility, which means following inspection, our facilities have been deemed satisfactory and we're ready to get started.

Where can readers find more information?

http://www.richmondpharmacology.com/

About Dr. Jorg Taubel, MD FFPM (CEO)

Dr Jorg Taubel is a medical practitioner and CEO of Richmond Pharmacology which he co-founded in 2001. He has worked in clinical pharmacology for 24 years and during that time he has conducted more than 400 early phase studies in patients and healthy volunteers; usually in the capacity of Principal Investigator since 1995. His experience ranges from first time in man (FTIM) to proof of concept (POC) studies. He has extensive experience in cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, ethnic bridging studies.

His work currently focusses on providing expert advice in cardiac safety assessments and ethnic comparison studies. Dr Taubel is an honorary fellow at St George's University and author of over 50 publications in scientific journals. He is currently researching the role of hyperglycaemia in relation to sudden cardiac death in Type I diabetic patients. He presented his research at numerous international meetings and workshops in Europe, US and Japan.

Dr Taubel is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom and the Institute of Directors (IOD). He is a Regent in the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Angewandte Humanpharmakologie (AGAH). He is a member of the (British) Association for Human Pharmacology in the Pharmaceutical Industry (AHPPI) and the Royal Society of Medicine. His international memberships include the Japanese Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (JSCPT), the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP).

He is currently representing CCRA in the MHRA stakeholder discussions reviewing the MHRA Phase 1 Accreditation Scheme for clinical trials units in the UK. Since 1999 he has been involved in the design, programming and implementation of a pan-European research volunteer registry, designed to prevent study participants from oversubscribing to clinical studies.

He teaches on the AGAH course in Basic Pharmacology in Germany and an internal training program for junior doctors working at Richmond Pharmacology enrolled in Higher Medical Training in Pharmaceutical Medicine. He is actively participating in discussions to set up a pan-European training scheme for principal investigators jointly with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine currently involving societies in the UK, France, Belgium and Germany. He is an appraiser in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine.
The first year of elementary school markedly boosts a child's attentiveness, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

The study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, shows that children who transition earlier to a formal school environment learn to be more focused and less impulsive than their peers at play-based preschools. The findings are published today in the online issue of the journal Psychological Science.

"These results demonstrate for the first time how environmental context shapes the development of brain mechanisms in 5-year-olds transitioning into school," said study co-author Silvia Bunge, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience.

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Researchers hypothesized that a controlled educational setting in which young children must learn to sit still, follow directions and avoid distractions would boost certain cognitive skills, such as staying on task. The experiment, conducted in Germany where preschool is referred to as "kindergarten," proved their theory.

"Our results indicate that the structured learning environment of school has a positive effect on the development of behavioral control," said study lead author Garvin Brod, a researcher at the German Institute for International Educational Research.

For the study, researchers used computerized tests and brain imaging to track the cognitive performance of 62 children aged 5. In comparing the results of tests conducted at the beginning and end of a school and preschool year, the study found that the children who had gone to school showed greater improvement than their preschool peers at maintaining focus and following rules.

Moreover, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of their brains during an attention control task showed the schoolgoers to have a more active right parietal cortex, which supports attentiveness, among other cognitive skills.

While the findings reveal new information in the ongoing debate over the developmentally appropriate age to start school, the researchers are not necessarily advocating for early school start ages.

"Those results should not be taken to mean that the elementary school setting is necessarily better for young children's development than play-based early schooling," Bunge said, citing research that shows children do well in hands-on, interactive learning environments.

Moreover, there is enormous developmental variation across children of the same age, she said.
Research published online in The FASEB Journal shows that the improper methylation of a protein called "Septin2," which regulates the structure of cilia, was associated with an increased risk of having a neural tube defect (NTD) and confirms that cilia are important factors in determining susceptibility of NTDs.

"NTDs are devastating birth defects that compromise multiple aspects of a child's development," said Richard H. Finnell, Ph.D., DABMGG, a researcher involved in the work at the Department of Pediatrics, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas). "Preventative methods, while remarkably effective, are not perfect. Efforts must be taken to understand leading developmental pathways that are amenable to modifications that offer hope for correcting the deficits secondary to failure of the neural tube to close properly during early embryogenesis."

Finnell and colleagues used genetically modified mice in which a gene involved in folic acid transport, called "slc19a1," was conditionally inactivated. The deactivated gene allowed the scientists to analyze whether the folic acid transport mechanism functions properly in certain cells of the developing embryo. They found that embryos without a functional slc19a1 gene had neural tube defects. The scientists then used pharmacological methods in these mice to reveal the methylation defects of the cilia protein.

"Despite their impressive name, primary cilia are sometimes not accorded the high stature they should have in both embryonic development and in adult organs," said Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "The same might be said of the field of protein methylation. This work brings the two together in a most interesting case."
Cancer Research UK-funded scientists are to examine whether identifying patterns in medication given to patients before they develop cancer could improve early diagnosis.

Looking for patterns in prescriptions and other data could help guide GP referrals, especially in patients with non-specific symptoms that don't obviously indicate cancer.

Only about half of those with the most common cancers have "red-flag" symptoms. And this is even lower in cancers with poor survival rates such as pancreatic, stomach, ovarian and brain cancer.

This research is being led by Health Data Insight which has received funding through Cancer Research UK's Pioneer Awards scheme. Together with Public Health England and the NHS Business Services Authority they have created an anonymous dataset of nearly all the primary care prescription data - approximately 80 million medications being prescribed each month.

The researchers will then link this information to data in the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service to look for trends in medications given to patients before they were diagnosed with cancer.

For example, small studies from Denmark have found that many lung cancer patients had a history of being given prescriptions for antibiotics.

The data may also shed light on rarer cancers like brain tumors which are particularly hard to recognise. A GP will see a child with a brain tumour probably only once in their professional lifetime. But they will see around two children a week with symptoms of a brain tumor, such as visual problems, headache, or problems with gait. The work from this study could help identify which patients to refer for an MRI.

Dr Jem Rashbass, medical director at Health Data Insight, said: "We want to develop a tool that helps GPs diagnose cancer earlier in the hope of saving more lives. It can be very difficult for GPs to know which patients to refer for further tests.

"Large studies like this are only possible because anonymous data on large numbers of cancer patients is available for research through the NHS. Our idea is to use this unparalleled information on prescription data and other information to better identify patients for referrals or follow-up."

Dr Iain Foulkes, director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, said: "Cancer survival in the UK lags behind other countries in Europe, in part because people are diagnosed later when the disease is more advanced and harder to treat.

"Dr Jem Rashbass is collecting a wealth of data which he can then mine for new ways to diagnose cancer earlier. This is a potentially powerful study that could transform the way cancer is detected and is made possible because of the unique strengths of the UK health system."
A natural mechanism by which our cells kill the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (TB) has been discovered by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, which could help in the battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The findings, published in Cell Host & Microbe, could enable scientists to develop treatments for TB - one of the world's biggest health challenges - without the use of antibiotics, meaning that even antibiotic-resistant strains could be eliminated. The research was done in collaboration with scientists at the University of Oslo, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Germany and the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences in the Netherlands.

"We are trying to better understand how our cells kill the bacteria with the idea of boosting people's natural defenses in conjunction with conventional therapies to overcome TB," says Maximiliano Gutierrez, Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, who led the study.

Immune cells called macrophages recognize and engulf Mycobacterium tuberculosis - the bacterium responsible for TB - securing it within tight-fitting internal compartments known as phagosomes.

But before enzymes and toxic products can enter the phagosome to kill the bacterium, M. tuberculosis often escapes by puncturing holes in the phagosome membrane and leaking into the cell. In doing so, M. tuberculosis kills the cell and then feeds on its nutrients.

By imaging the infection of cells with TB bacteria in real time, the team uncovered an innate mechanism that prevents M. tuberculosis from damaging phagosomes: the phagosomes are enlarged so that the bacterium can't easily reach and puncture holes in the membrane. This gives the cell enough time for bacteria-killing weapons to enter before the bacterium has a chance to escape.

"We have known for a while that tight and spacious phagosomes exist, but it is only now becoming clear why there are two types," says Laura Schnettger, the first author of the paper and former PhD student in Maximiliano's lab at the Crick.

By tagging different components in the macrophage with fluorescent markers, the team were able to see the enlarging of M. tuberculosis-containing phagosomes in real time under the microscope. They observed that M. tuberculosis failed to escape from these enlarged membrane sacs and that antibacterial components were delivered more efficiently.

The team discovered that when macrophages are set to work engulfing M. tuberculosis, a protein known as Rab20 delivers additional membrane material to M. tuberculosis-containing phagosomes to enlarge them.

"If you think of a cell as a city with lots of different types of transport then Rab proteins are the master regulators of public transport. They tell components in a cell where to go," explains Maximiliano. "Rab20 directs more membrane to the phagosome, enlarging it and preventing the bacteria from getting out."

The team also analyzed the typical coughed-up material from human patients with active TB. They found that these patients had more Rab20 in their body than people without TB, supporting the idea that Rab20 is important in fighting the TB infection.

"A very high proportion of people that are likely exposed to M. tuberculosis, are able to clear the infection without developing full-blown TB," says Maximiliano. "It is possible that the body's natural mechanism to enlarge phagosomes plays a part in this."

"The capture and escape of M. tuberculosis in cells is a highly dynamic process, so the only way you can understand what is going on is to image cells in real time at very high resolution. We are one of the few labs in the world that can perform long-term live cell imaging at sub cellular resolution with the safety infrastructure required to work with a life-threatening bacterium."
Using gene sequencing tools, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of British Columbia have found a set of genetic mutations in samples from 24 women with benign endometriosis, a painful disorder marked by the growth of uterine tissue outside of the womb. The findings, described in the May 11 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, may eventually help scientists develop molecular tests to distinguish between aggressive and clinically "indolent," or non-aggressive, types of endometriosis.

"Our discovery of these mutations is a first step in developing a genetics-based system for classifying endometriosis so that clinicians can sort out which forms of the disorder may need more aggressive treatment and which may not," says Ie-Ming Shih, M.D., Ph.D., the Richard W. TeLinde Distinguished Professor in the Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Endometriosis occurs when tissue lining the uterus forms and grows outside of the organ, most often into the abdomen. The disease occurs in up to 10 percent of women before menopause and half of those with abdominal pain and infertility problems. In the 1920s, Johns Hopkins graduate and trained gynecologist John Sampson first coined the term "endometriosis" and proposed the idea that endometriosis resulted when normal endometrial tissue spilled out through the fallopian tubes into the abdominal cavity during menstruation.

The new study, Shih says, challenges that view. The presence of the unusual set of mutations they found in their tissue samples, he says, suggests that while the origins of endometriosis are rooted in normal endometrial cells, acquired mutations changed their fate.

For reasons the researchers say are not yet clear, the mutations they identified have some links to genetic mutations found in some forms of cancer. They emphasize that although abnormal tissue growth in endometriosis often spreads throughout the abdominal cavity, the tissue rarely becomes cancerous except in a few cases when ovaries are involved.

For the study, Shih and his colleagues sequenced -; or figured out the genetic alphabet -; a part of the genome known as the exome, which contains all of the genes that can be expressed and make proteins. Specifically, they sequenced the exome of both normal tissue and endometriosis tissue removed during laparoscopic biopsies on 24 women, some with more than one abnormal endometrial growth. All had deep infiltrating endometriosis, the type that typically causes pain and infertility.

Seven of the 24 women were from Japan; the rest were patients at Lenox Hill Hospital-Northwell Health in New York City. The use of samples from Japanese women was selected because endometriosis before menopause occurs more often in Asian women (1318 percent) than in Caucasian women (6-10 percent), Shih says.

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The scientists looked for mutations, or abnormal changes in the DNA, and filtered out normal variations in genes that commonly occur among humans. Of the 24 women, 19 had one or more mutations in their endometriosis tissue that were not present in their normal tissue.

The type and number of mutations varied per endometriosis lesion and between each of the women. The most common mutations, occurring in five of the women, occurred in genes including ARID1A, PIK3CA, KRAS and PPP2R1A, all known for controlling cell growth, cell invasion and DNA damage repair.

Mutations in these genes have been associated with one of the deadliest types of ovarian cancer, called clear cell carcinoma. Nickolas Papadopoulos, Ph.D., professor of oncology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, led the team that completed the first sequencing of the clear cell ovarian cancer genome in 2010.

"We were surprised to find cancer-linked genes in these benign endometriosis samples because these lesions do not typically become cancer," says Papadopoulos, whose Ludwig Center laboratories performed the sequencing. "We don't yet understand why these mutations occur in these tissues, but one possibility is that they could be giving the cells an advantage for growth and spread."

In an additional group of endometriosis samples biopsied from 15 women at the University of British Columbia, the scientists looked specifically for mutations in the KRAS gene, whose expression signals proteins that spur cell growth and replication. They found KRAS mutations in five of the 15 patients.

The scientists make clear that their sequencing studies may have missed mutations in some of the samples. Their data do not at this point reveal the aggressiveness of the lesions.

However, Shih says, he and his team are working on additional studies to determine if the mutations correlate with patients' outcomes. He says a molecular test that sorts lesions as more or less aggressive has the potential to help doctors and patients decide how to treat and monitor the progression and control of the disease. "We may also be able to develop new treatments for endometriosis that use agents that block a gene-related pathway specific to a person's disease," says Shih.

Women with endometriosis are typically prescribed anti-hormonal treatments that block estrogen to shrink lesions. When the disease occurs in the ovaries and forms a large cyst, which increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer, the lesion is usually surgically removed.
Priyanka Chopra is in the USA again, and this time she's there to promote her upcoming Hollywood debut film Baywatch. The Quantico star started the promotions of the film from Jimmy Kimmel Live! and answered questions around her famous Met Gala outfit and more.A frequent guest on Jimmy Kimmel's show, Priyanka, walked in as the host discussed the recent firing of FBI director by US President Donald Trump. Kimmel jokingly asked if Alex Parish (Priyanka's character in Quantico) would take up the job, to which Priyanka quipped, "Alex might but Priyanka can't."Moving on to her recent Met-Gala outfit, Kimmel asked Priyanka about her Ralph Lauren's trench-coat dress and the 20-ft train that followed. He also questioned if she's actually 'dating' her red carpet date, Nick Jones. However, Priyanka smartly denied the rumours and said that her choice was professional as both she and Jonas were wearing the same designer and sharing the same table too.She also spoke at length about how the idea of fitting a mini dress under the long train came to her as a 'nightmare' and revealed that it's only because of the comfortable mini, that she could party until 5 AM at Rihanna's house. Coming to her Hollywood debut, Priyanka told Kimmel how Baywatch was the first impression of America, Indians got in the early 90s.She further revealed that the original Baywatch series' stars David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson are also present in the movie.Packed with a lot of laughs and witty quips, this episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! is a treat for all Priyanka fans.Baywatch, starring Dwyane Johnsson and Zac Efron will see our desi girl donning the role of a sassy villain Victoria. The film is all set for a worldwide release on May 25.
Kolkata: A junior warrant officer of the Indian Air Force has gone missing after he walked out of the Command Hospital in Alipore area in Kolkata on the 4th of May.



Six days have passed since then but there is no trace of Jorhat native Brajesh Kumar Shukla.



His son Tarun Shukla is now in Kolkata to search for him and has filed a missing persons complaint.



I have been looking around at various spots in the city including government hospitals and railway stations. I went to Howrah station to find out whether he had bought a ticket for some destination, he said.



The IAF Police and Kolkata Police are investigating the case.



Brajesh was admitted to Command Hospital on the 2nd of May for a routine cataract operation. His family was not with him at the time of the operation but they say he spoke to them on the phone.



He was to join his wife Rekha Shukla and two sons at Nagpur on 5th May after being discharged from the hospital. Rekha was to join him at Jorhat where he was stationed. Doctors at the Command Hospital had declared him fit to join service again.



He was last seen on the 4th at 5pm by a ward boy before walking out of the hospital, leaving his mobile phone on the hospital bed. CCTV footage of the hospital shows him walking out alone.



Defence Spokesperson, Kolkata Region, SS Birdi said, The hospital discharged him in absentia, that is the procedure. They then notified the Alipore Police station which then informed the Indian Air Force.



His sons Tarun and Arun have reached out on social media, hoping to find some clues regarding his whereabouts.


At a time when the credibility of the electronic voting machines is one of the most hotly debated topics of the country, the Election Commission has come forward to restore the credibility of the machines.



Not only have they called for an all-party meeting and hinted at a possible hackathon, the Commission has also released the story of these EVMs in India.



Here is all that you want to know about this ever so debated machines.



Where are the EVMs made?



EVMs and VVPATs are manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (PSU under Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (PSU under the Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India). The software of EVMs is developed in-house by a selected group of Engineers in BEL and ECIL independently from each other.



This select software development group of few engineers design and develop the source code. After completion of software development, testing and evaluation of the software is carried out by another independent testing group in the PSUs as per the software requirements specifications (SRS). This ensures that the software has been written as per the requirements laid down for its intended use only.



The original source code for the EVM is stored by PSUs under controlled conditions at all times and is not accessible to anyone outside the software development group of PSUs. There are three kinds of machines M1, M2 and M3.



In M1 and M2 EVMs machine code compiled from source programme code was given to the micro controller manufacturer for writing in ONE TIME PROGRAMMABLE (OTP) micro controllers. From this machine code, the exact original source code cannot be read. For such OTP microcontrollers, the code once programmed cannot be modified and cannot be read by any means.



Now technological advancements permit writing of machine code into the chips at PSU premises, hence in M3 (post 2013) EVMs, the program is burnt into the chip at PSU premises itself. Due to absence of requisite facilities to produce microcontrollers in India, these are procured from manufacturers abroad.



Up on receipt of machine code, the micro controller manufacturer verifies against any modifications during transit and programs this code in the micro controller in the OTP area and initially provides engineering samples of programmed chip to PSUs for evaluation.



These samples are then assembled into the EVM, evaluated and verified for authenticity of code and functionality at great length. Bulk production clearance by PSU is given to micro controller manufacturer only after successful completion of this verification.



EVM Tracking Software (ETS)



The Election Commission has introduced ETS as a modern inventory management system where the identity and physical presence of all EVMS/VVPATs is tracked on real time basis by the Election Commission of India and any movement of these machines ordered by ECI has to mandatorily be through this system



Comparison to the electoral processes in other countries:



The marriage between technology and election management goes back to at least 1892, when the first lever voting machine was used in New York after using the paper ballot for a long time. In the 1960s, punch-card machines were introduced in the USA, and the first EVM was introduced there in 1975. Electronic Voting has moved quite ahead since then.



Netherlands



Electronic Voting machine was used in The Netherlands in between 1990-2007. The voting machines were manufactured by a private Dutch-company called NEDAP (Nederlandse Apparaten Fabriek NV). In 2006, the government ordered an independent testing of the voting machines.



Two independent commissions, The Voting Machines Decision-making Commission and the Election Process Advisory Commission (EPAC) were also established on December 19, 2006 and January 18, 2007, respectively, to review the security and reliability features of NEDAP machines. Following the observations of the two Commissions, the use of NEDAP machines and electronic voting was discontinued in 2007 on the following grounds:



The Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations (MOIKR) of The Netherlands lacked adequate technical knowledge vis-a-vis the NEDAP machines, leading officials to depend on external actors for the conduct of elections.



Technology vendors became part of the decision making process and the ministry was not in a position to exercise effective oversight.



The Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research (Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek, TNO) certified and tested these machines following outdated standards which were not immune to modern IT and security threats. Moreover, the certification and testing reports were not made public depriving independent experts to verify the analysis.



The legal framework, particularly the necessary security requirements, was inadequate to deal with the specificities of the electronic voting process.



Germany



In Germany, the e-voting machines manufactured by NEDAP were used in between 20052009 before it came under criticism and finally discontinued. The Bundesverfassungsgericht (the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany) ordered the discontinuation of the use of NEDAP machines in 2009 because of the following reasons:



The use of Nedap electronic voting machines violated the principle of the public nature of elections (Article 38 in conjunction with Article 20.1 and 20.2 of the Basic Law) that requires that all essential steps in the elections are subject to public examinability unless other constitutional interests justify an exception.



It also observed that it must be possible for the citizen to check the essential steps in the election act and in the ascertainment of the results reliably and without special expert knowledge.



Ireland



NEDAP machines were used in Ireland in between 20022004. The use of these machines was questioned following which two independent commissions were set up. The two Commissions on the Secrecy, Accuracy and Testing of the Chosen Electronic Voting System, concluded the NEDAP machines could not be used in elections in Ireland on the following grounds:



*Inadequate technological safeguards



*Insecure transfer of data by the use of CDs



*Absence of a comprehensive independent end-to-end testing, verification and *certification by a single accredited body. Inconsistencies in physical security of machines across constituencies



*Absence of a clear policy guideline via-a-vis storage, transport, set-up, use and disposal of voting equipment



*Absence of comprehensive electronic register to record the identity, location and movement of the electronic voting devices.



United States of America



In 2000, after the dispute on the voting method in the USA presidential elections, the voting method was reviewed. Accordingly, Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Systems (like the widely used AccuVote TS developed by Premier Election Solutions, commonly called Diebold) were introduced. DRE Systems uses one of three basic interfaces (pushbutton, touchscreen or dial) through which voters record their votes directly into computer memory. The voters choices are stored in DREs via a memory cartridge, diskette or smart cardSome DREs can be equipped with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) printers... Currently, in the USA, the Direct Recording Machines are used in 27 states, among which paper audit trails are used in 15 states. The other voting methods include: Optical Scan Paper Ballot Systems, Ballot Marking Devices, and the Punch Card Ballot.



How are Indian EVMS different?



Indian EVMs are truly unique compared to the e-voting machines used in other parts of the world for the following reasons:



*ECI-EVMs are stand-alone non-networked machines



The ECI-EVMs are manufactured in two PSUs namely ECIL and BEL, unlike machines used in other countries, which were manufactured entirely by private entities. Hence there is no chance of involvement of vested interest of private players or technology vendors in decision making or production of the ECI-EVMs.



*ECI-EVMs have been time and again successfully verified and certified by an independent Technical Experts Committee after an end-to-end testing process. STQC under Ministry of Information and Technology, an accredited third party entity, conducts standardization and certification of ECI EVMs produced by manufacturers, unlike the machines used in Netherlands.



*Every EVM has a unique number attached to it, which is recorded in the Election Commissions database through EVM Tracking Software. This number of the EVM can always be cross-checked against the database.



*The software used in these EVMs is One Time Programmable (OTP), which cant be re-written after manufacture.



( Source: Status Paper on EVMs released by Election Commission)
Srinagar: Clashes broke out on Thursday between student protesters and security forces in Anantnag and Baramulla districts of Kashmir.



Dozens of students from a government higher secondary school in Dooru area of Anantnag district demonstrated against the alleged high-handedness of security forces during students' protests last month in Pulwama district, a police official said.



Some of the students started hurling stones at security forces deployed there compelling them to use force in an attempt to chase the protesters away.



The clashes were still going on till last reports came in but no one was reported to be injured so far, the official said.



Similar clashes took place in Sopore town in Baramulla district as students from a local government higher secondary school staged a protest, he said.



Additional police force has been rushed to both the spots to bring the situation under control and restore order, the official said.



The students were protesting against the alleged High handedness of security forces against students of Degree College Pulwama on April 15 and the subsequent protests thereafter across Kashmir.



They also demanded the release of the students arrested by the police during these protests over the past one month.



A police raid on government degree college Pulwama had triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17 and these have been going on intermittently since then, prompting authorities to suspend classes in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month.



A number of students were also arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
While one source said Justice Karnan might have left India, the other said he is still in the country.

Chennai/Kolkata/Delhi: Police teams from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have not been able to reach Justice CS Karnan, Indias first sitting High Court judge to be sentenced for contempt, who was said to be in Chennai till Wednesday morning.Sources said Justice Karnan wanted to seek the intervention of the President to order his bail on medical grounds.Even as cops scrambled to locate him, Karnan reportedly sought review of six-month imprisonment ordered by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.Meanwhile, a team of Kolkata Police was in Chennai looking for Karnan, and the sources suspect he may have left Chennai.The first source said there was a good chance that Karnan may have flown to France, where his son reportedly works.Police are very wary of the whole episode since Karnan is a sitting judge. They dont want to get embroiled in any controversy, a source told News18.According to police sources, the judge was last tracked to Andhra Pradesh, where he reportedly handed his phone over to a close aide. Tracking his phone, officially, also requires certain pre-requisite permissions, which is why the probing officers have not taken that step.A Kolkata team, headed by DGP (home guard) Raj Kanojia, was coordinating with a police team from Chennai and Andhra Pradesh.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 on Tuesday.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.
Kolkata: The ED has issued summons to Narada news CEO Mathew Samuel in connection with its money laundering probe in a 'sting' operation where a number of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, including MPs and ministers, were allegedly seen taking money on camera.



Officials said Samuel has been asked to present himself or send an authorised representative before the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case on May 18 at its office here in the Salt Lake area.



He has also been asked to bring along or send his personal financial documents, those of the news channel and Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the last three assessment years during deposition, they said.



Samuel is not an accused in the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and the ED wants to quiz him to get information about the sting and circumstances in which it was done.



Samuel has been quizzed by the CBI in this case earlier. CBI too is probing the case separately on charges of alleged corruption.



The agency had registered a criminal compliant in this case last month under the provisions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act (PMLA) after studying the CBI FIR. It will probe the 'proceeds of crime' generated in this case.



While the CBI's criminal FIR had been registered against 12 TMC leaders and an IPS officer, the Enforcement Directorate's FIR, called Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), has been booked against 14 entities that includes a category of unknown persons apart from the 13 in the CBI compliant, they said.



The sting operation pertains to the secret filming of the TMC leaders and the IPS officer while they allegedly accepted money from the representatives of a fictitious company for extending favours to it.



The TMC leaders against whom the CBI has registered theFIR, now also booked by the ED, include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy, Lok Sabha MPs--Saugata Roy, Aparupa Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.



West Bengal ministers including Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Environment Minister Sovan Chatterjee, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee have also been named in the FIR.



Former Minister Madan Mitra, MLA Iqbal Ahmed and IPS officer Saiyaad Mustafa Hussain Mirza have also been made accused in the case. Mirza, who was then posted as the Superintendent of Police of Burdwan, was too purportedly seen accepting money on camera.



The Calcutta High Court had ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry in the matter and had later asked it to file an FIR to probe the incident. The FIR was registered under section 120 (b) of IPC related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with bribery and criminal misconduct.



The sting operation was supposed to be published in a magazine where Samuel, the man behind it, was then working. However, the tapes were later run on Naradanews.com.
New Delhi: An Indian woman who was allegedly sexually abused and forced into marriage at gunpoint will be sent back as soon as the legal issues in the case are resolved, advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said.



Aziz said the real problem in her case was the legal issue and not the travel documents. "The problem is not related to her travel documents, but stems from legal issues," Aziz said. "She will be sent back to India as soon as the legal problems are resolved."



Indias External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay in New Delhi said the woman was in the High Commission, she was fine and as happy as she could be in the current situation. He also reiterated that she was staying in the mission out of her own will after she sought shelter there.



Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria had on Tuesday said that the Foreign Office and Indian authorities were in touch over the issue and the woman would be allowed to go back once her legal issues are settled.



He said the Indian High Commission has 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 that the woman 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 a legal marriage, she can file a case for Khula (a kind of divorce right exercised by Muslim woman) and her marriage would be dissolved by the court," he said.



PRI reported that the woman had on May 8 filed a plea with a court in Islamabad against her husband, 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.



The woman, who was brought to the court under strict security, also alleged in her statement that she was subjected to violence and sexual abuse by her husband, 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 the womans husband 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 the woman if she was marrying by free will and she responded in affirmative.



(With PTI inputs)




Islamabad: The Pakistan Army has withdrawn a controversial tweet which had rattled the Nawaz Sharif government over a media leak about an alleged rift between the two power centres in the country.



The army, which enjoys considerable influence over policy decisions in Pakistan, had in an April 29 tweet "rejected" a notification by the Sharif government stating that he had sacked his top aide and Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi.



Fatemi was dismissed for his alleged role in leaking details of a high-level meeting during which the civilian leadership reportedly confronted the army over their alleged reluctance to combat militancy in Pakistan, PTI reported.



The episode later came to be known as "Dawn Leaks", after the name of the daily that reported it.



On Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, said that the "tweet on April 29, 2017 was not aimed at any government office or person".



"Recommendations, as contained in Para 18 of the Inquiry Committee Report, duly approved by the prime minister, have been implemented, which has settled the Dawn leaks issue," it said.



"Accordingly, ISPR's said Twitter post stands withdrawn and has become infructuous. Pakistan Army reiterates its firm commitment and continued resolve to uphold the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and support the democratic process."



The withdrawal of the April 29 tweet by the army could mean the two power centres have arrived at a settlement on the issue, that had also led to action being taken against Rao Tehsin Ali, the principal information officer of the Ministry of Information, PTI said.



Earlier, the army had demanded the full implementation of recommendations by a committee which investigated the news story published last October.



Following the ISPR statement, a document issued by Pakistan's Ministry of Interior said: "Since action on orders of the prime minister has already been completed by the respective ministries and divisions, the issue of Dawn Leads [sic] stands settled."



The latest disagreements between the civilian and military leaderships dates back to October 6 when the Dawn newspaper in a front-page report claimed that the civilian authorities have warned the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) spy agency to act against militants or face international isolation.



The rift was a grim reminder of 1999 when then army chief Pervez Musharraf had ousted the government of Sharif.



(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his visit to Sri Lanka beginning today is a sign of "strong relationship" between the two countries and brings to the fore the shared heritage of Buddhism.



During his two-day visit, he will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, inaugurate a hospital built with Indian assistance and address the Indian-origin Tamil community, besides attending some other programmes.



"This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," he said in a Facebook post, hours before travelling to Sri Lanka.



"During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," Modi wrote.



He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. "My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka - the shared heritage of Buddhism," he said.



The Prime Minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.



"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he said.



He said his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.



He will be meeting with Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and other eminent dignitaries, he said. "I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community," Modi said.
The case hearing gains more significance now as the Allahabad High Court on May 9 held that the practice of triple talaq is unconstitutional and this case will also be used by the petitioners.

The apex court had earlier stated that it was an urgent matter and will now hear the matter at a stretch from May 11 to May 19, including weekends.

The case will also witness submissions by amicus curiae and senior advocate Salman Khurshid who will be assisting the bench on the key constitutional questions.

It had also recently issued a code of conduct to regularise divorces among Muslims according to the teachings of Islam.

The Supreme Court will on Thursday start hearing a set of petitions challenging the practice of triple talaq, 'nikah halala' and polygamy under the Muslim personal law.The five-judge Constitution bench which will hear the case comprises four minority judges - Chief Justice JS Khehar (Sikh), Justice Kurian Joseph (Christian), Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman (Parsi), Justice Abdul Nazeer (Muslim) and Justice UU Lalit.The Allahabad HC has held that the human rights of women and of girls are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. It also stated that all citizens, including Muslim women, have fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.This entire case had its genesis in Shayara Banos plea in the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution stating that her fundamental rights stand violated with such a practice. It was after this that other petitions and intervening applications were tagged along.When the court had asked the parties to reply with questions which the court should ponder upon during the hearings, the Centre had submitted four key questions:1. Whether the impugned practices of talaq-e-biddat, nikaah halala and polygamy are protected under Article 25(1) of the Constitution of India?2. Whether Article 25(1) is subject to part III of the Constitution and in particular Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India?3. Whether personal law is a law under Article 13 of the Constitution?4. Whether the impugned practices of talaq-e-biddat, nikaah halala and polygamy are compatible with Indias obligations under international treaties and covenants to which India is a signatory?However, on March 27, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board had submitted to the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary. AIMPLB had also contested that there was a need to exercise judicial restraint before delving into the constitutional interpretation of Muslim personal law issues.The other group, Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, has also started a campaign just a few days before the SC hearing trying to disseminate information among fellow Muslims to teach them the correct procedure of divorce in Islam.But the group had maintained that if a verbal triple talaq is given even in a fit of anger, it will be completely justified and "cannot be nullified".As the bench also gears up to determine certain key constitutional questions, AIMPLB has also written to the Law Commission on May 4 stating that Muslims were satisfied with Islamic law and it did not want any change.It remains to be seen, that after the famed Shah Bano case on April 23, 1985, where the Supreme Court for the first time ventured into the territory of Muslim Personal Law, will it again interpret the law for the Muslims to protect rights of women, or will the personal laws of religious communities be considered sacrosanct.The hearing is going to have far-reaching impact not only for Muslim women but also for personal laws and individual rights in general.
The Supreme Court has commenced hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq and nikah halala among Muslims. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, began hearing on seven petitions, including five separate writ petitions filed by Muslim women. The bench comprises four minority judges  CJI Khehar (Sikh), Justice Kurian Joseph (Christian), Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman (Parsi), Justice Abdul Nazeer (Muslim) and Justice UU Lalit.

Stay tuned for updates:

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
So to explore the question of triple talaq, one must understand that in Islam, everything is followed as per Sunnah (deeds of the prophet).

It is only after all these four steps have failed that a husband pronounces the first talaq. The husband has to compulsorily wait for a wife's iddah to complete before pronouncing another talaq.

If the differences still persist, then the third talaq is pronounced, after which the relations between the husband and the wife are severed.

This practice is known as the Nikah Halala, and many Muslim women have condemned this practice as barbaric and it assumes more importance, in case the talaq is given as Talaq-e-Biddah.

But something which needs to be broadly observed is that in both the cases, its only a request or a husband's wish to draw up a contract to give the wife an option to divorce him, thereby, putting the husbands first, and somehow lacking in achieving gender equality in this regard.

After a year of anticipation and a flurry of petitions, the Supreme Court began hearing the case on Thursday which could open the possibility of reforming the Muslim personal laws governing divorce, polygamy and re-marriage.Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, which is one of the primary respondents in the case, had recently told News18 that there can be no interference in the Muslim personal law even if there were more than 5 crore supporting the plea of reformation. Not only this, they had claimed that there were various ways to give divorce in Islam but a triple talaq will not be invalid even if given in a fit of anger.On the other hand, till Wednesday evening groups of Muslim women protested against the inhuman practice of triple talaq. As the debate on whether the practice should be abolished in totality and whether it is sanctioned by Quran or not heats up, News18 tries to find out what the practice is all about and what the Muslim holy book says.Before understanding what triple talaq is, we must understand what a nikah (marriage) stands for in Islam. Nikah is essentially a contract laid down in a Nikahnama drawn between the husband and the wife. This contract can have conditions and has a compulsory consideration (Meher) to be paid at the time of the marriage. This consideration is paid by the man to the wife, and can be at time waived off by the woman as per her own will. So the basic difference between a Hindu Marriage and a Muslim Marriage is that for Hindus, marriage is a divine sacrament whereas for Muslims, it is a contract drawn between the husband and the wife.Hence, most Muslim women bodies opposing triple talaq want the Muslim bodies to adopt Talaq-e-Sunnah (divorce as per the Prophets sayings and Quranic dictation) and discard Talaq-e-Biddah (divorce as per a later formed mode of divorce which propagates instant divorce).According to the Prophets sayings, giving talaq to a wife in a fit of rage or anger is strictly prohibited. The Quran advises the husband to settle the differences through a mutual conversation as the first step. This step is known as the Faizu Hunna. If the differences continue between the husband and the wife, the parties should refrain from any conjugal acts till they settle their dispute. This step of physical separation, known as the Wahjuru Hunna, is prescribed so that the couple reunites.However, even if this second step fails, it is recommended that the husband must attempt to talk to the wife, make peace with her and talk about the gravity of the situation. This third step is known as the Wazribu Hunna. However, Quran advises that even if the third step fails, the fourth step of arbitration must be followed. In this step, a member from each of the spouses family is present and the parties try to make amends in the strained relationship.Not more than two talaqs can be pronounced during the course of iddah. Iddahs are considered to be three menstruation courses. During these three monthly cycles, a man cannot give his third talaq. This had been envisaged so that the couple sorts out their differences in this period. Quran prescribes that if a woman has attained the age of menopause, then the period of iddah is three months, whereas if a woman is pregnant, then the period of iddah would be till the child is born or the termination of pregnancy.Hence, the women groups who are claiming to revive this practice are only vouching for the fact that they get the maximum time to sort out their differences which is often not possible in an instant talaq.This instant talaq is essentially Talaq-e-Biddah. Biddah means innovation and essentially all Muslims are advised against introducing biddahs in their religion. This practice of talaq was first promoted by Caliph Umar, and is staunchly opposed by all the petitioners who have approached the Supreme Court for a reform in the case of triple talaq. However, the Muslim Personal Law Board has not still spoken up on the issue and claims that this can be sorted out internally.Dr Asma Zehra, an executive member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, was questioned about this during a recent press conference and said, We have left it for our Ulema (scholars) to decide what is best for us. However, this answer is far from the truth, as something which is not mentioned in the Quran or is a part of the Sunnah can never be justified as a lawful act by a Muslim.No. After the third talaq, a woman is supposed to marry another man, consummate the relationship, and only after following the original procedure of Talaq-e-Sunnah, will she be able to marry the former husband again.Women have often described it as a barbaric practice and there are demands to abolish it.There are broadly two methods under which a wife can claim divorce. One is Talaq-e-Tafweez and the other is Talaq-e-Khula. Under Tafweez, the husband may delegate his power to give talaq to his wife or any third party. This right has to be in the form of a contract with conditions like if a man marries again then there can be a divorce, etc. But a contract will not be without conditions or be absolute.The second one is Khula. This is a divorce which is at the request of the wife. In this case, the woman has to make an offer of divorce to the man. The man must accept the offer with consideration, which often means the woman, has to give back the Meher taken during marriage. After these two steps, a Khula is granted. The woman often approaches a Qazi court as well to demand a Khula. There needs to be an execution of a Khulanama.Lets begin with our neighbour Pakistan. Pakistan in 1961 had passed the The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance. According to this law, if a man wishes to divorce his wife, he will pronounce talaq and approach the Chairman of the Union Council which is appointed by the state, and give him a written notice and forward the same to his wife. Within 30 days of the receipt of the notice, the Chairman will set up an Arbitration Council which shall consist of himself, a representative of each of the spouse, and the board would try to bring reconciliation. If any individual tries to bypass this legislation then they will be punished with simple imprisonment for a year or a fine which may extend to Rs 5,000 or both.Another example is Morocco, which has a majority population of Muslims. They have the Moroccan Family Code (Moudawana) passed in 2004. The code aims at putting both husband and wife on the equal footing, thereby prohibiting the man from pronouncing divorce unilaterally except when the procedure is being supervised by someone.The code also attempts to bring arbitration and conciliation between the parties concerned. The code further states that if a man chooses to still divorce a wife, then a divorce can only be granted only if the husband pays off all the due rights held by the wife and the children. Like Morocco, Algeria, Indonesia, Iran and Tunisia have similar legislations which do not recognise a divorce given by a husband unilaterally, and compel the parties to resort to a court of law.
: The five judge constitutional bench, which started hearing the triple talaq case on Thursday, refused to entertain any submissions with regard to polygamy and stated that "polygamy was not a part of the issue of triple talaq".Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar, who was heading the five judge bench stated that the bench was "limiting itself to the question of triple talaq and the consequential question of Nikah Halala", but was not considering the domain of polygamy.Interestingly, there was almost no defence from the counsels when the bench decided not to hear anything on polygamy.Justice Kurian Joseph said, "Polygamy is not a part of triple talaq, and hence we are not looking into it. We are only limiting ourselves to triple talaq and Nikah Halala is only consequential to the practice of unilateral divorce."Justice Joseph continued that "inheritance and polygamy were not a part of the triple talaq issue." However, advocate Indira Jaising requested the court to form an "order of address" when the court declined to decide on polygamy.The issue of polygamy had garnered a lot of heat in the run up to the apex court hearing with hundreds of Muslim women complaining of the fact that they were given talaq, and immediately after that the man married another woman. There were also cases where men had married another woman even before pronouncing talaq.All India Muslim Personal Law Board had, however, earlier stated that polygamy was "a non-issue among Muslims as the rate of polygamy among other religions was far higher than Muslims".However, Muslim groups who had been demanding to abolish triple talaq till yesterday also wanted the court to strike down polygamy. Dr Syed Tanveer of Joint Action Committee from West Bengal told News18 that polygamy must be abolished by the court."There can be no practice which is against the constitution, basic human rights and violates gender justice. Hence, polygamy has to be struck down," said Dr Tanveer.Even Noorjehan Safia Niaz, founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, told News18 that their public interest litigation had polygamy as a part of it and may be now there needs to be a fresh petition demanding the abolishment of polygamy at a later date to make SC ponder over it."We are okay with the SC deciding not to interfere in polygamy at the moment, but this issue will be brought up by our organization later on... maybe through a petition," said Niaz.Polygamy in Islam has been allowed for a man and he can marry up to four wives according to the Sunni school of thought. But this is not without conditions, as Islam states that a man can only marry again if the previous wife explicitly consents to it and the husband has the means to maintain equality among all the wives. However, this practice has been abused by the community members and has led to a massive outrage among the Muslim women who often suffer in silence.
New Delhi: A woman was killed and her husband injured when Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir early on Thursday.



A mortar shell hit a village in Laam belt of Nowshera sector, killing Akhtar Bi (35) and injuring her husband Mohmmad Hanief (40).



"The Pakistani Army has been firing small arms and automatic weapons since 10:40 last night on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Nowshera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman told PTI. They also shelled forward posts and civilian areas using 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, he said.



"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said.



The Rajouri district administration has directed closure of schools in villages adjoining Line of Control in Nowshera subdivision in the wake of ceasefire violation.



Pakistan has been resorting to unprovoked firing along the border amid tensions over the death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistan military court. On May 1, Pakistans Border Action Team had infiltrated 250 meters into the Indian side and killed and mutilated two Indian soldiers in Krishna Ghati sector while the Pakistan Army provided cove fire from across the border.







In reply to an RTI query, the Union Home Ministry has said that the Pakistan Army violated ceasefire daily in 2015 and 2016. At least one incident of ceasefire violation by Pakistan has been reported daily along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 and 2016 with 23 security personnel being killed in the two years, the reply said.



Pakistan violated ceasefire across the Line of Control 449 times in 2016, as compared to 405 violations in 2015, the Home Ministry said.



(With PTI inputs)
Supermodel Gigi Hadid will continue as global brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger Womenswear and co-design the TommyXGigi collaborative collections for Fall 2017 and Spring 2018.



Hadid will continue as the global brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger womenswear, including apparel, footwear, watches and accessories, said a statement from the brand.



"Gigi (Hadid) is a force in the fashion industry and the ultimate Tommy Girl," Hilfiger said.



"Her positive, down-to-earth energy, and cool, effortless style continue to captivate her audiences around the world. I have loved designing the TommyXGigi collections with her and I look forward to continuing our partnership for another year," added the designer.



Following the TommyXGigi collection launch each season, Hadid travelled to cities around the world, including Berlin, Dubai, Tokyo, Shanghai, Amsterdam, London, Milan and Paris, to meet fans and present her collections personally.



She was also set to visit India but later postponed her tour.


Karanvir Bohra, who's elated after winning the Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Award, has another reason to rejoice. His wife Teejay is visiting the country for the first time after the birth of their twins Miko and Nonu. The actor, who is currently occupied with Naagin, decided to make the kids meet the close ones in his life.Shweta Tiwari, known for her performance in shows like Kasautii Zindagii Kay, visited the actor's house along with her newborn son Reyansh. And it was indeed a moment of joy for the actors as their kids spent a good amount of time together.Bohra shared an adorable picture from the meeting and wrote, "Mama @shweta.tiwari with all her kids, including me @bombaysunshine was so happy as mama got books for #Miko n #Nonu and like good girls they started reading immediately. While #reyansh was being smothered by me. I realised, I need to buckle up, coz by the time they are 5, they would have completed more books than me."Bohra even took the kids to the sets of Naagin where actress Mouni Roy played with them in between her takes. Teejay, later shared a picture on her Instagram account, and explained how she felt about the kids bonding with them.Looks like the twins' first visit to India is turning out quite well!
Every once in a while, an eminent personality delivers a speech and gets the fans applauding and cheering. But sometimes, in the middle of these ordinary speeches, emerges a superstar, who knows just the right words to stir your emotions.Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who became the first ever Indian actor to deliver a TED Talk, spoke at length about fame, love, humanity, the perils of social media and what the future holds for the mankind. The entire video of his talk in Vancouver has now been released on TEDs official YouTube channel.In the 17-minute-long talk, Khan traced the arc of his life and reflected on his youth, growing up days in New Delhi, losing both his parents in his twenties and then his journey of following his dreams to become a Bollywood actor.Khan, in his usual witty style, drew interesting parallels between his personal self and humanity, and said that over the years, he has observed both going through the same evolution.He recalled how in early 20s, the loss of his parents made him the anchor of his family. "I put my father's body in the car and started driving. After a while, my mother, who was sitting next to me, asked me 'when did you learn to drive?' And I said, 'Just now'," an emotional Khan said.He specifically pointed out the perils of social media and its unwavering effect on people and bared it all about his decision of joining Twitter in his late 40s. Everything I said took a new meaning. Everything I did, good, bad, ugly, was there for the world to comment upon and judge, he said.Without any qualms, the actor also cited a personal incident wherein his youngest child AbRam was reported to be his elder son Aryans illegitimate child, to illustrate the power of social media.Khan concluded the talk on a positive note and urged the audience to go back to the only emotion that mankind knew in its origin - love. He maintained that amid all the technological and scientific advancements and no matter how far one goes in life, humanity will truly evolve only if it goes back to its root and to the purest emotion of love."I want humanity to be an ageing movie star - a self-obsessed lover. Completely and apologetically in love with itself," he said.Watch the full talk here.
Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishras hunger strike for details of party leaders foreign visits has entered Day 2. The former Delhi water minister, who has accused CM and party chief Arvind Kejriwal of corruption, has promised more revelations and announcements today. The party, however, is not taking focus off the EVM tampering row, with minister Gopal Rai leading a protest outside the Election Commission office.

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Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday told the Allahabad high court that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath could not be tried for the 2007 Gorakhpur riots.



The decision for this was taken by the chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar on May 3 on the grounds that the audio clips that were sent for forensic investigation earlier were doctored.



The high court has expressed its displeasure over the governments move and has given the petitioner 10 days to file an application of amendment so that the refusal for sanction of permission for prosecution could be challenged. The HC has set July 7 as the next date of hearing.



The case against Yogi Adityanath, who was the then BJP parliamentarian from Gorakhpur, was filed in 2008 by Parwez Parwaz. The chief minister has been accused of making a provocative speech in front of a railway station on January 27, 2007.



The plea said that his speech had led to the riots in Gorakhpur that year. Yogi was made an accused and was jailed. Later on, the case went to the criminal investigation department of the UP police for further probe, which asked for prosecution sanction in 2015.



However, Samajwadi Party, which was in power at that time, did not sanction prosecution against the controversial leader.
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday clarified the man, who attacked sacked Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra, has no link with it and is actually working for the youth wing of the BJP.



"Ankit Bhardwaj is working for the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM)", the AAP said.



The BJYM, however, denied having any link with Bharadwaj.



Police said Bharadwaj was sitting on the hunger strike and suddenly stood up when doctors came for Mishra's medical check-up. They also maintained that no attack has taken place.



"He was sitting there. When Mishra's medical check-up was underway, he stood up and shouted, 'Why are you doing this?' He has been whisked and further investigation is underway," said a senior police officer.



Ruckus ensued at the protest site where Bhardwaj, jumped on Mishra before police officials and his aides caught hold of him. Bhardwaj, while being whisked away by the police, told reporters that he attacked Mishra because "he has betrayed the party".



"Nobody has sent me here, I have come on my own. I am an AAP worker," Bhardwaj claimed.









Mishra, who was sacked from Delhi cabinet and primary membership of the AAP, did not comment on whether Bhardwaj is a volunteer of the party, as claimed by him.



However, he said the man had threatened to kill him.



"The guy came running, put his hands on my neck and said he would kill me. My aides caught hold of him and the police came and whisked him away," said Mishra.



Mishra had recently made a startling allegation that he witnessed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal accepting Rs 2 crore in a dodgy transaction.



Mishra had on Tuesday alleged getting threat calls and launched a hunger strike this morning, demanding that AAP leaders disclose the details of funding for their foreign tours.



He claimed that the details of the foreign trips by AAP leaders would "reveal a lot" about alleged corruption by them.
Chup chup baithe ho, zaroor koi baat hai, he said at a press conference, invoking the song from the 1949 film Bari Behen. I have never seen him this silent. He has a lot to hide.

Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra on Thursday questioned the silence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on allegations of corruption in the alleged Rs 400 water tanker scam.Earlier on Thursday, Mishra visited the Anti-Corruption Branch and recorded his statement in the alleged multi-crore scam.Mishra has alleged that the investigation into the tanker scam was repeatedly delayed and influenced by Kejriwal and "his two men".Last year in August, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was examined by the ACB officials in connection with her alleged involvement in the tanker scam and was also handed over a set of 18 written questions.Till some time ago, Mishra had been accusing the BJP of shielding Dikshit in the case and later he alleged that the AAP government tried to shield her.The Kejriwal-led AAP government had in June 2015 constituted a fact-finding committee to go into alleged irregularities in procuring some 385 stainless steel water tankers by the DJB.The Delhi government in June 2016 sent a report of the fact-finding committee to the then Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung following which an FIR was registered in case.Mishra has also accused Kejriwal of taking Rs 2 crore illegal cash from Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain at his official residence. He also said that Jain admitted to fixing a land deal worth Rs 50 crore in favour of the party national conveners brother-in-law. The party has dismissed the allegations as baseless, while the CMs wife slammed Mishra for dragging the name of her brother-in-law who passed away last week.(With PTI inputs)
The middle chapters of the narrative, spanning 2013-2015 are well too known. Soon its blemishes became evident. AAPs leaders proved no different from others. The party too justified the way others did when it circumvented morality.

This is not the first instance of a movement which caught people's imagination failing to become a success story after transiting to being a political party.

The second category of political parties that were once movements are those that have either a sectarian past, like AASU, or those that were non-ideological, single-agenda movements  like AAP which was driven by the anti-corruption sentiment.

Clearly, it is up to the leadership to pave the party's future ensuring that while it doesn't get stuck to its past, the core value of its USP should not be abandoned. Kejriwal failed by hastening the local to national transition.

Consider an imaginary situation: Arvind Kejriwal, very much resembling the nutty scientist from a hit sci-fi comedy film (you will soon know which one) who develops havoc-causing electronic machines, returns home with a morose look on his face. The wifey looks up with concern, the question remaining unvoiced.Honey, Kejriwal whispers in reply, I shrunk the party.A moments pause and she realises what he means. After all, she too watches television even if she's not on it.But dear, she begins, you never had a party. It was a movement. So go back and revive it...It's too late, he says. The party has become my albatross.Both turn quietEverybody in India with no interest in the Congress partys longevity accuse its leaders of being power-hungry for not accepting Mahatma Gandhis suggestion after Independence  disband the party and establish a new outfit. The Mahatmas logic was uncomplicated: the Indian National Congress was formed to liberate the country not to govern it. His advice was rejected and the result? The Congress became the System.India Against Corruption was formed to fight corruption and campaign for probity in public life. Like the Congress, it was an umbrella organisation. Everyone from left-of-centre activists to centrists and right-wingers were part of the bandwagon. Much against the wishes of the 21st century's avatar of Jaya Prakash Narayan, Anna Hazare, several important functionaries decided to harvest the movement politically. The IAC metamorphosed into Aam Aadmi Party. It got the symbolism to the T. The name and the symbol projected the idea of alternates.When the party was accused of wrongdoings, like appointing parliamentary secretaries, leaders cited instances of other parties having done the same. They were silent when reminded that they pledged to act differently, not become a replica of those they wished to replace.It didn't take long for people to realise that the crusader had reverted to being street fighter. Or rather, he never graduated for even a short while. The conclusion of people began to be displayed in elections. Soon Kejriwal and his loyalists began imploding. Today a big question mark hangs over the party's future.In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the All Assam Students Union launched a hugely successful movement against foreign settlers. The agitation resulted in widespread social conflict, brutal killings and paralysed state machinery. At the end of the violent chapter, the leaders forced the State on its knees and an accord, one of the many that Rajiv Gandhi signed after becoming prime minister, was agreed upon.The AASU became a political party (AGP), contested and swept the assembly elections held in the wake of the Assam Agreement. From being supremo of AASU, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta became chief minister. Similarities between his fairytale rise and Kejriwals emergence abound. Sadly for the latter, Part II of Mahantas story too appears to be heading for an encore. This raises an important question  are political parties that evolve from social and political movements doomed to fail?Globally, there are two kinds of parties that have emerged from movements. The first category of these, Congress like, are those that had their genesis in national movements. Most important among these include the African National Congress and similar organisations in other colonised nations. Most often, because of goodwill stemming from its past role in nation-building, these parties stayed in power in the initial years. Like the Congress which weathered several challenges from 1967, till its unprecedented rout in 2014, the ANC too is now facing public frustration and severe challenge to its dominance.There have also been instances, especially in Latin America, of indigenous peoples' movements evolving into viable political parties in the 1990s in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Similar movements in Argentina and Peru, however, failed.There is a long tradition of indigenous tribal movements in India and many evolved into political parties, especially in Jharkhand. But once these were co-opted, they were alienated from people and lost power. Whether this too is the future of left-wing insurgency, especially in Chhattisgarh, is a matter of debate.It is not always that political parties which grew out of movements or agitations have failed. Take the case of Telugu Desam, launched by NT Rama Rao to protest Indira Gandhis snub to regional pride by changing four chief ministers in two years and two months. The reason why the party has survived for almost three and a half decades and even after the founder was dumped by his son-in-law, N Chandrababu Naidu, is because it has evolved into an umbrella regional party appealing to every section of Andhra society. In contrast, efforts like Hardik Patels Akhil Bharatiya Patel Navnirman Sena, has little future because its support is highly restrictive.He became chief minister knowing the limited powers of the state government. Attempts to hide failure to perform and deliver on his promises by spinning a yarn of conspiracy against his government, has not been bought by the people. AAP and Kejriwal will have to win back support of Delhiites before looking at other horizons. But before that he has to fortify his party against further desertions.Otherwise, both party and movement will become history much to the BJPs delight.The author is a Delhi-based writer and journalist. He authored 'Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times', and 'Sikhs: The Untold Agony of 1984.' He is @NilanjanUdwin on Twitter. Views are personal.
Since the beginning of the year, almost one in two European destinations has reported a double-digit increase in tourist arrivals, according to a report from the European Travel Commission. Iceland leads the way as a perfect example of this performance, with arrivals up 54% during the first months of 2017.



New air routes to Iceland helped the country boost its popularity in the first months of the year. A significant increase in arrivals from Russia (+157%) has largely contributed to this success. Moreover, the expected recovery of the ruble is likely to further promote travel from Russia to the Old Continent. Arrivals from Russia were also strong in Cyprus (+122%) and Turkey (+88%), helping the latter limit the impact of its downward trend to -8% since the beginning of the year.



Americans are also expected to head to Europe this year, with the report predicting healthy arrivals growth for 2017. Travelers from the US are likely to be drawn to Europe by a strong US dollar compared to European currencies.



Other European countries seeing strong increases in tourist arrivals include Cyprus (+26%), Portugal (+25%) and Malta (+23%). Current geopolitical situations and security concerns inevitably influence visitor numbers, with countries unaffected by such concerns proving particularly appealing to tourists. Two-figure growth was, for example, seen in Bulgaria (+19%), Finland (+18%), and Estonia (+13%).
: President Donald Trump blasted ousted FBI chief James Comey as a "showboat" and "grandstander" on Thursday even as the agency's acting leader contradicted the president's account that the agency had been in turmoil before he fired Comey.In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe promised to tell the panel of any White House meddling into the agency's probe of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. McCabe also declined to say whether he ever heard Comey tell Trump that the president was not a target of the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.McCabe testified in place of Comey, who Trump abruptly dismissed as FBI director on Tuesday in an action that has roiled Washington. Democrats have accused the Republican president of trying to foil the FBI's probe into Moscow's actions and many have called for a special prosecutor to look into the Russia matter."He's a showboat. He's a grandstander. The FBI has been in turmoil," Trump told NBC News in his first interview since firing Comey. "I was going to fire Comey. My decision," Trump said. "I was going to fire regardless of recommendation."McCabe's testimony contradicted Trump's appraisal of turmoil at the FBI under Comey."I can tell you also that Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day," McCabe testified."I can tell you that I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for his considerable abilities and his integrity," McCabe added. "And it has been the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life to work with him."Republican Committee Chairman Richard Burr asked McCabe whether he ever heard Comey tell Trump the president was not the subject of investigation. McCabe sidestepped the question, saying he could not comment on an ongoing investigation.In this May 4, 2017, file photo, US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, aboard the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. (In his letter firing Comey on Tuesday, 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."McCabe said it was not typical practice to tell a person they are not a target of an investigation."It is my opinion and belief that the FBI will continue to pursue this investigation vigorously and completely," McCabe said, adding that he saw no "crisis of confidence within the leadership of the FBI."US intelligence agencies concluded in a January report that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to disrupt the election that included hacking into Democratic Party emails and leaking them, with the aim of helping Republican Trump.Leaders of the U.S. intelligence agencies, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA chief Mike Pompeo, testifying on Thursday said they agreed with that finding. Moscow has denied any such interference and the Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia.Thursday's hearing was scheduled to address global security threats, but there were frequent questions about Comey and the FBI's Russia probe. Several congressional panels are also investigating Russia's role in the election.The Senate intelligence committee's top Democrat, Mark Warner, said in light of Comey's firing, "It is important to restate the critical importance of protecting the independence and integrity of federal law enforcement.""And while it's clear to me now more than ever that an independent special counsel must be appointed, make no mistake our committee will get to the bottom of what happened during the 2016 presidential election," Warner said, although he said he was not happy with the pace of the committee's probe."The timing of this firing is wrong to anyone with a semblance of ethics," added Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe arrives to testify before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 11, 2017. (Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley called on the FBI to publicly confirm whether or not it is probing Trump.In a statement, Grassley said that Comey had previously briefed him and the panel's top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and that the lawmakers "heard nothing that contradicted the president's statement."McCabe said he has met with Trump this week but that the Russia investigation did not come up, adding that he also has not spoken about the probe with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday the Russia probe was one of the smallest things the FBI is dealing with, but McCabe testified, "We consider it to be a highly significant investigation." McCabe added that Comey's firing did not force a curtailment of the probe and said the agency has adequate resources to pursue it.A congressional source said on Wednesday Comey, days before being fired, told lawmakers he had sought more resources for the agency's Russia probe.The Trump administration has said Comey's firing was unrelated to the Russia investigation.Former Republican congressman Mike Rogers is being considered as a candidate to replace Comey, a senior White House official said.Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who played an instrumental role in the firing, ventured to Capitol Hill to speak with members of the Senate panel. Asked about media reports that Rosenstein this week had threatened to quit, Burr said that issue was not brought up.
Washington: Fired FBI Director James Comey has been invited by a powerful Congressional committee to testify before lawmakers at a closed session on Tuesday.



Comey is likely to face questions from the committee about the Russia probe and the timing of his removal. Comey was earlier scheduled to testify before the committee on Thursday for a hearing on worldwide threats along with other top intelligence officials.



The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has invited Comey to testify before it, according to media reports. Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe would now take his place.



The news of the invitation to Comey comes two days after his abrupt sacking by US President Donald Trump. His sacking triggered a political firestorm with an angry opposition calling for an appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged Russian influence in last year's general elections.



The president's move came days after Comey testified in Capitol Hill about the FBI's investigation into Russia's meddling into the US elections and a possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.



In recent days, Comey again came under fire for his handling of the investigation into Clinton's private email server. Many Democrats believe that his announcement that he was re-opening the probe 11 days before the November 8 election cost Clinton the presidency.



Comey had courted controversy during the 2016 presidential polls when he revealed a renewed investigation into Hillary Clinton's email use, which the Democrats claimed had hurt her chances of becoming the president.
Islamabad: The Taliban could not have returned to Afghanistan "without help from within Pakistan", the Afghan envoy here said and urged Islamabad to join hands with India to bring peace to his war-torn country.



Omar Zakhilwal said that peace would prevail in Afghanistan if Pakistan and India joined hands, and lauded

both the countries for their efforts in trying to keep the peace in 2002, the Dawn newspaper reported.



The Afghan envoy to Pakistan raised questions on the efforts for peace in the region, saying although there were a number of processes in place for keeping peace, "there is a question mark on how effective these measures are."



He held Pakistan responsible for the Taliban's return to Afghanistan, saying, "The Taliban could not have returned to Afghanistan without help from within Pakistan."



He said this in his address at an international conference in Afghanistan yesterday, days after a cross-border attack near the Chaman border point. Ten Pakistani civilians were killed and more than 40 people, including women and children, were injured in a firing by Afghan forces on Pakistani census workers and the troops escorting them at border villages in Balochistan on May 5. The Pakistani army had claimed that it has killed over 50 Afghan soldiers in the retaliatory attack.



Zakhilwal said: "Taliban have the hidden support of some countries, while there are also questions about the peace keeping efforts from Russia."



He also said that "help from Iran and Saudi Arabia will go a long way."



Speaking about the new terror threats faced by Afghanistan, he said that the Islamic State (IS) terror group, a rising threat in the region, is currently engaged in an ongoing tussle with the Afghan Taliban for regional dominance.
A statue of Buddha at Borobudur temple during celebrations for Vesak Day in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the Borobudur temple annually, which makes it the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. (Image: Getty Images)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello has sold his financial holdings in a construction company interested in building President Donald Trump's wall along the Mexican border and that has worked with Dominion Energy, a Perriello punching bag, on energy projects in Virginia.

Perriello's investment in FLUOR Corp, revealed last month on the former congressman's mandatory conflict-of-interest disclosure, cut against his campaign message of populist reform, standing up to Trump and fighting corporate power.

At the time, Perriello's campaign said he wasn't aware of the investment. The campaign confirmed the stock was sold on April 18 but declined to comment on the reasons behind the decision.

Perriello's financial disclosure showed he had equities valued somewhere between $5,000 and $50,000 in the Texas-based engineering and construction firm. The company, a major federal contractor, had expressed early interest in the still-uncertain wall project, though it's not clear how strongly it is pursuing the work.

Fluor also helped Dominion build the $1 billion Brunswick Power Station, a massive power plant in Brunswick County that could ultimately be fueled by natural gas from the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a project Perriello has adamantly opposed as a candidate. Fluor is building Dominion's natural-gas-fired Greensville County Power Station, a $1.3 billion project also connected to the pending pipeline.

Fluor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the Democratic primary for governor, Perriello has highlighted his opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline projects as a key difference between his upstart candidacy and that of Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam. Taking a more establishment-friendly line on the pipelines, Northam has said they should be guided by sound science that protects the environment while arguing a governor has no authority over the federally approved projects.

Perriello also has vowed to forgo political donations from Dominion and other state-regulated utilities, making his holdings in a company doing business with Dominion even more problematic.

More than 50 Democratic candidates running for the Virginia House of Delegates have made a similar pledge this year to refuse Dominion money. The pledge was circulated by Activate Virginia, a progressive group that has also pressured Perriello and Northam to dump some of their financial investments.

In a letter sent to the campaigns early this week in collaboration with anti-pipeline group Preserve Floyd, Activate Virginia urged Perriello to divest from Fluor and asked Northam to part with stock he holds in Dominion, also valued somewhere between $5,000 and $50,000.

"Although we understand that choosing to divest could present political and financial difficulties for the gubernatorial candidates, we again hope they decide to take this historic step," the group, led by Yorktown-based activist Josh Stanfield, wrote in the letter.

The Northam campaign declined to comment.

A Charlottesville native, Perriello represented the central 5th Congressional District for one term before losing the seat in 2010. Before running for governor, he was serving as a U.S. State Department envoy to Africa.

Northam, a pediatric neurologist from the Eastern Shore, served in the Virginia Senate for six years before he was elected lieutenant governor in 2013.

Democratic voters will choose their nominee for governor in a primary June 13.
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.
DC's Batman spotlight is expanding to his sidekicks more and more

Members of Batman's family will seemingly play huge roles in the DCU in 2023
The Sabga Legacy

Peeling iron fretwork and painted shut jalousies harken back to a time when craftsmanship was valued.

The craftsmen themselves, more often than not, were black labourers who lived in barrack yards to the east of the city and moved through the streets on their way to work, along with stevedores, street traders and hired help for the wealthy. Some were able to access the limited education available and find employment as clerks in businesses and the lower ranks of the public service. Higher administrative positions went to the coloured scion of old plantation families. Beyond St James, the Indian presence had barely penetrated the capital.

Business owners were the white British and French creole elite. Everyone had a place and knew it.

It was here that a young Syrian immigrant would attempt to make his mark. Given the accolades and homage paid to Dr Anthony N Sabga since his death last week, he more than succeeded.

From a cramped 12 by 20-foot haberdashery on 73 Queen Street, to a conglomerate of over 70 companies with interests across the Caribbean and Latin America, in more ways than one, Sabga ushered in a new kind, and a new way of doing business in TT.

For many Trinbagonians, the Sabga name and by extension, the Syrian community, is big business.

This is perhaps Sabgas most important legacy, this shift away from the economic dominance of Scottish trading interests such as Geddes Grant and Alstons, to what was this small and relatively powerless immigrant community.

Gerry Besson, historian and publisher, said that Sabgas almost intuitive ability to read the times was a critical attribute to his success.

No less important was his ability to also ride the wave of them.

The first wave, said Besson, came in the early 1900s, when Syrians and Lebanese began arriving in TT. Cocoa was still profitable and the money trickled down through the society. It was this prosperity that allowed the first of the immigrants to set up as traders.

Among them was Sabgas father, who ran N S Sabga. Anthony found himself having to take over the business at 14, when his father returned to Syria. It was this business that would provide the seed capital for him to go off on his own eventually in his early 20s.

This was right after World War II and the country was experiencing another period of prosperity. Sugar cane was still profitable and oil production was steadily increasing.

Raymond Ramcharitar, historian and columnist, who collaborated with Sabga on his autobiography, A Will and A Way, recounted that Sabga, on the advice of a salesman named Richard Brathwaite, became an importer. He travelled to Europe and earned several contracts to distribute brands in TT.

Here again was the Sabga intuition at work. He sensed that people would be hungry to spend on items that made them seem more modern.

Ramcharitar said he took refrigerators around the country on the back of a Volkswagen truck and left them in the homes of those who ordinarily would not have been able to afford such luxuries.

When he came to collect them some time later, the householders were sold on the idea of owning it.

Apart from this innovative marketing method, Sabga was one of the first pioneers of hire-purchase as a business model on a mass scale in TT. According to Besson, Sabga had grown up on Nelson Street among blacks and knew them.

Based on his interactions, he was one of the first to give them credit to purchase items at his Standard stores, where few were doing it at the time, always confident that they would repay.

He was again ahead of the curve in the 1960s when then prime minister Eric Williams called for diversification of the economy away from export of primary goods to export of manufactured items. While several of his compatriots continued to sell cloth, Sabga started Ansa Industries, and through the next decade and a half entered light manufacturing, the garment and construction industries, agriculture and food processing.

Along the way though, he engendered the resentment of the white creole business community, who watched as he entered areas previously marked off as their exclusive enclaves.

The recessionary 1980s, though, would cement the shift as one of the largest and oldest of the white concerns, McEnearny Alstons was threatened with closure.

Ramcharitar said while many business interests were folding and leaving TT, Sabga stayed. Ramcharitar credits his purchase of the McEnearny Alstons group for reducing potential negative effects of its closure on the economy.

Could you imagine what would have happened if the economy had lost those 3,000 jobs as represented by McEnearny Alstons? The country would have taken much longer to recover, said Ramcharitar.

He kept those 21 companies going, factories running. If you are talking legacy, then to me, these would be the preservation of Ansa McAl, the growing of it, the acquisition of trans-national businesses and the establishment of the Ansa Merchant Bank. Ramcharitar also counted the establishment of the Ansa Psychological Research Centre and funding for the Anthony N Sabga School for Entrepreneurship and the Guardian Media School of Journalism as key achievements of the business magnate.

But Besson and Ramcharitar both recognise the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence as Sabgas seminal achievement.

Ramcharitar said the award scheme created a network of scientists, artistes and entrepreneurs, all smart and talented people, who now know each other and can act as catalysts for Caribbean development.

It shines a light on bright, young people, said Besson, giving them the funding to develop opportunities that they could not before.

And this Besson said, is perhaps where the true genius of the man who is now gone lay, the fact that he came full circle.

Sabga, a poor Syrian immigrant, he said, understood his time and the country, created wealth and opportunities for himself, grew and learned from them, and then gave back to the community.
FM delivering value in uncertain times

On average, only 30% of the total amount spent on a building goes towards its actual construction. Seventy cents of every dollar spent over the life of a building, is channelled towards its maintenance and operations.

Facilities management includes concepts such as life cycle costs, sustainable practices, and routine preventative maintenance  all of which we need to incorporate when we do business.

This year, the TT Chamber will host its 6th Caribbean Facilities Management Conference and Expo on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain. The theme of this years Conference is In Praise of FM  Delivering Value in Uncertain Times. As usual, a wide cross-section of professionals from both the private and public sectors are expected to attend.

Our keynote speaker this year is Thomas Tom L Mitchell Jr  a Certified Facility Manager from the US. Tom is also a trained On-Scene Commander and Base Fire Marshal.

He comes highly qualified and keen on advancing organizational performance by providing solutions that increase individual competency, business sustainability, and organizational longevity. The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning is also scheduled to address participants at the conferences opening ceremony, while a cadre of local experts will deliver tracks throughout the day.

We will be presenting value-packed content thats tailored to suit our region and designed to provide participants with immediate applicable strategies to add value to existing businesses and create new opportunities.

Topics will focus on: Sustainability, the importance of FM during economic downturns, customer service, Designing for productivity, and FM&M in education  among others.

FM&M is an industry that touches the lives of everyone in the country, directly and indirectly. Theres a clear correlation between well-maintained buildings and occupant health, wellness, and safety. If nothing else, Occupational Safety and Health legislation in TT is designed to ensure that employees are healthier, safer, and more productive, through proper maintenance of facilities and equipment within those facilities. FM encourages us to reach for a world where sustainability, efficiency, and sound environmental practices are the rule and not the exception.

Locally, we have been slow to accept the value of proper Facilities Management and Maintenance. As global practices evolve, our own perspective will have to change from short term, to one that takes the longer view.

For further information or to register for the 6th Caribbean Facilities Management Conference & Expo, call our offices at 637 6966.
Gross National Happiness

I read a feature in this publication, on an organisation in Trinidad and Tobago whose primary objective is to promote happiness. This organisation hosts a number of pay it forward initiatives including, the distribution of free breakfast, etc, with the only remit being that you do something positive for someone else. The lines for the giveaway gestures are usually extremely long; one wonders just how many of those in the receiving lines, actually pay it forward with some attendant act of kindness .

Happiness is serious business, and the ethos has become less synonymous with the work environment. In fact, despite the numerous metrics that have been presented to demonstrate a clear correlation between the creation of a happy and supportive work environment, and an increased work output, this happy work environment still eludes much of the workforce .

Alternately, though in small number, you will find the workplace, where every effort is placed in creating a happy work environment, however, the employees production rate and levels of enthusiasm are anything but reflective of the efforts being made .

Bhutan, a tiny and remote Kingdom in the Himalayas, believes that the pursuit of happiness for its citizenry is its main goal. The Bhutanese Government became so serious about its citizenrys happiness that they enshrined this goal in their countrys constitution. Accordingly, the Government rejected the use of GDP has the sole measurement of the countrys progress, and instead developed, and championed a new approach to the measurement of progress, called Gross National Happiness, which includes the measurement of the spiritual, physical, social and environmental health of its citizens and natural environment .

[Source, Islam today] .

The concept of Gross National Happiness, according to the description provided by this Kingdom, presents the citizen as the nucleus of development. The audacity of this tiny Kingdom, to recognize and appreciate that true development begins and ends with the citizenry, their development, their holistic approach to life and living, and further, to the recognition that the Nation succeeds, when its citizens flourish. Such a concept can easily be replicated within the business environment  how many of our organizations, can attest to the tangible connect between their PBT [Profit before tax], and their employees happiness index? If one were to align this concept to Trinidad and Tobago, and to measure the happiness index of its people, I would be completely interested to note the result. This is why organizations like ReTHINK, based in Trinidad, is so important to be integrated into our landscape. It forces us to re-think the way we do business, as well as questioning, what is the nucleus that drives our development  are people our priority? Forward thinking organisations have begun to recognise that the most important resource is the human element, and have invested in social support programmes such as Employee Assistance Programme initiatives. However, even with the employment of EAP Services, how many actually utilise these services and all they have to offer? Or do they employ the most basic package of counselling and support only when need be? The Governments of Dubai, India and Ecuador have also recognized the development of the happiness index should be in alignment with other national metrics, and as such, have also developed and instituted Ministries of Happiness in their respective countries. The objective of these Ministries has been articulated as developed to align and drive Government policy to create social good and satisfaction. In the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Happiness is based on a Government that has extended its focus on developing the skills of its people in addition to the provision of goods and services .

The business of happiness has also become globally recognized by the United Nations with the identification of World Happiness Day, which is commemorated on March 20 .
OPEC action not cutting it

In large measure the view is that there will be some recovery in energy-sector GDP, government revenues from the energy sector, and foreign exchange earnings as the new gas fields come on stream later this year. The improvements are based on the hope of new production and more favourable prices. Let us review what has been happening with the international price of oil to determine how our hopes, policy designs and policy actions will be affected.

The current price of WTI crude oil as of May 5, 2017 is US$46.22 per barrel. What has happened in the market resulting in such a perverse result for us?

Perhaps we can start by indicating that the international oil market is all about supply and not demand at present. Several issues are affecting supply. The first is that US shale production is winning the fight with OPEC. The hope that OPEC cuts will lead to a firming up of oil prices has not occurred. Shale producers have demonstrated that their production is more responsive at much lower prices, signalling an improvement in efficiency.

We have seen incremental increases in shale production below US$50 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration has stated that US oil production has risen by 840,000 barrels a day since last October to 9.3m barrels, with output up by 28,000 barrels a day in the final week of April - the highest level in almost two years. The US Energy Department expects production to hit 9.7m barrels a day in 2018  breaking the record set in 1970. This is new for the market. The assumption that such a phenomenon was not possible has proven to be a bad one. This surge in production in the US, driven by drillers flocking to American shale basins at a time of subdued global demand, has sent the oil price tumbling.

Secondly, within OPEC there has been little allowance for countries such as Libya, demonstrating that the cuts have ben woefully inadequate. Libya resumed production from its largest field last week, adding more than 200,000 barrels a day to its production.

While OPEC has implemented the curbs, a rebound in U.S. shale output and stubbornly-high stockpiles show the worlds three-year crude glut isnt shifting. Where is all this coming from? Figures from industry experts Baker Hughes show the number of oil rigs operating in the US has more than doubled in the last year, rising by 450 to 870. The rig count in Canada has also risen, by 48 to 85, but it is down by 42 to 943 in the rest of the world. Clearly North America has taken and pursued a different strategy. The geopolitical objectives are certainly different from oil producers such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, whose objectives are stabilising oil prices between US$50- US$60.

OPEC is already showing near-perfect compliance in delivering its pledged 1.2 million barrel-a-day production cut and an extension looks likely. Care has to be exercised since the risk of a higher cut is that it could trigger too strong an increase in prices and support US shale producers. This will be counterproductive to their objectives of forming prices at some higher level.

If OPEC changes strategy, Saudi Arabia would lose face. You cant say you want lower inventories, and after a few months of cutting production just give up.

The World Bank does not see grounds for concerns or the need for a revision of its oil price outlook in view of the recent decline. Only time will tell if they are right. The date of the formal OPEC meeting on May 25 in Vienna is obviously the key date to watch in respect of oil prices. The decisions taken in Vienna could have implications for whether the price of oil settles higher. This is very important for us here since changing oil price is one of two variables that can affect energy sector revenues for the government. If OPEC extends it production cuts and increases it, we need to take a look at the market response and whether inventories start to fall. It does not help that Chinas demand for oil is also falling as its economy slows. For us here maybe it is time we start preparing an alternative strategy that is not so heavily dependent on oil leading our recovery.
Navigating workplace politics

Goals, values, work styles and personalities vary widely. As we advance in our careers, we must all interact with workmates and deal with conflicts, disagreements or differing goals but we dont need to participate in the negative practices that inspire the term office politics.

Sometimes office culture can feel like a game of gossip, rumours, drama and fight to the death power struggles.

We call this office politics. Following these tips can help you deal with office politics without joining in, running away or pretending these practices dont exist.

Everyone is not your friend

Trust is earned. Distrust is also earned. As a general rule, avoid sharing sensitive information about yourself but practice being respectful and pleasant to everyone. Take time to get to know the people you work with before developing expectations of them based on friendship. You can maintain a friendly and positive acquaintance with workmates who you dont know well or who arent your personal friends.

Make friends

While everyone may not be a friend, having friends at work matters more than many may think. A study of more than 5 million workers over 35, conducted by the Gallup Organization, showed that 56% of the people who say they have a best friend at work are engaged, productive, and successful while only 8% of the ones who dont are. Friends can not only make your work life more enjoyable but they can also help you advance your career.According to the Harvard Business Review, The number one way people find new jobs is referrals by friends.

Keep a positive perspective

Choosing to view situations in a positive light can help keep you from assuming the worst about the actions of your coworkers or situations at work. Your positive perspective will show in your actions and how you deal with situations. You wont be defensive or attacking because you will see the humanity in your coworkers and wait for situations to unfold.Coworkers have bad days or may be fearful, distracted, hurt or angry about personal matters. Their actions or attitude may have nothing to do with you.

Stay focused

Your primary purpose at work is to work. So, do it well and keep that as your priority. Staying focused and doing good work can mean being a team player and working well with others; continuously learning and improving your skills; taking the initiative to offer to do tasks or proposing ideas or methods that can improve your work product or help your team or department.

Be authentic

Who you know matters but who knows you matters more. Office politics can sometimes encourage a culture of flattery and falseness as people try to get noticed by those who have more power. While recognition matters, attention seeking is not your priority. Many people can spot a fake flatterer from miles away and it can work against you to gain the reputation of being a kiss up, even if you are not a bad worker. Instead let your work product speak for itself and stay authentic in your relationships with your peers, subordinates and supervisors. Very often opportunities to connect will come as a result of work youve done and the good things people have said about you as theyve worked with you. Being authentic is not only easy on your lips, its also more rewarding.

Be assertive

Being aggressive or passiveaggressive can be unprofessional. If a matter needs to be addressed, do so respectfully with the relevant person or persons, not with the office gossip mill. Stay objective and focused on the issue. A calm and firm response shows that you are serious but are willing to resolve the matter.

Be accepting

Everyone will not agree with you or do things the way you prefer. Accept their choice without being forceful with your position. Keeping an open mind, being tolerant and accepting differences can make you more likeable and an easier person to work with.

Employers and clients generally prefer people who are easy to work with.

Work smart, fight smart

Sometimes the little battles can cost you the war so fight wisely. Every comment, mean look or attempt to one-up doesnt require a war. Your time is valuable so dont get distracted by pettiness. Its a sign of strength to let things go and walk away from a fuss if you know the facts are on your side. Every fight can do some damage so avoid battling unless its absolutely necessary.

Walk away

Some office environments can be extremely toxic, especially when office politics get out of hand. If you have exhausted this list and still find the situation intolerable, it may be time for you to gather a record of your skills and accomplishments, tap into the support of your friends and walk away from that company to a place that better suits you.

Good Luck,

AFETT

AFETT is a not-for-profit organization formed in 2002 with the goal of bringing together professional women and engaging in networking opportunities, professional training and business ideas. ASK AFETT is a column meant to address issues and concerns of professionals seeking advice to assist in progressing in their careers. Todays response was written by AFETT member, Debbie Estwick, design/ brand strategist and educator.

Learn more about AFETT at www.afett.com, search for AFETT Events on Facebook, follow us @AFETTEXECS on Twitter or contact us at 354-7130.

Email us your career-related questions at admin.afett@gmail.com.

https://hbr.org/2010/07/whyfriends- matter-at-work-and.html
Ma Pau gifts elderly home

Ma Pau members club has over 30 years of history in the Woodbrook community.

The clubs staff volunteered their time to visit the home, brought roses, Mothers Day gifts and spent time with residents.

During the recent fire that gutted Ma Pau, Dees Nursing Home was also affected and was evacuated with the help of Ma Pau staff. Employees recalled how their hearts went out to the elderly on that day and they were glad to continue the relationship.
There Was No Red Wave,

'That's for Darn Sure'
The good news is Allison Plusquellic chose to walk home, rather than drive, after a night of drinking in Lower Burrell, Pa., on Friday. The bad news, according to police, is the home she reachedand fell asleep inwasnt her own. Police say that after first failing to climb into the window of one home (where she left her purse), the 36-year-old woman managed to open and climb through a window at a second home about a mile away, per the Tribune-Review. Police say she was attempting to walk to a relative's house. Noticing the open window the next morning, 88-year-old homeowner Audrey Graff called police.

Graff says she initially found no evidence of a break-in. An hour later, however, she went upstairs and saw "somebody under the covers" in a bedroom, per WPXI. "Petrified," she says she then ran to her nephew's house, losing a shoe along the way. When police arrived and removed the woman, who was still asleep when they got there, "she said, 'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,'" Graff says. "I said, 'You nearly gave me a heart attack.'" Plusquellic, charged with burglary and two counts of breaking into a structure, later told a detective, "I must have been sleepwalking," police say. (Read more weird crimes stories.)
Is America ready for President The Rock? In a fairly delightful profile of Dwayne Johnson in GQ, the wrestler-turned-movie star talks about his possible future in politics. It started with an opinion piece in the Washington Post last year that stated Johnson could be an actual presidential candidate. At the time, Johnson called the idea "fun to read." But now he says he's been giving it some serious thought. "I think that it's a real possibility," the superstar says. And he's already got the endorsement of Michael Moore. "It would scare anybody that would hurt us," Moore tells Variety. "Think about how safe we would be if the Rock was president." Since the Rock leans Republican, Democrats may have little choice but to recruit John Cenawho's spoken out against discrimination and President Trump's Muslim banto run against him, Deadspin reports. (Read more Dwayne The Rock Johnson stories.)
The Senate Intelligence Committee stepped up its investigation of alleged Russian meddling in last year's election Wednesday and subpoenaed former national security adviser Michael Flynn. A Senate historian tells NBC News that this is the first time the Intelligence Committee has used its subpoena power since the congressional investigation of the 9/11 attacks. Committee leaders Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, and Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, say the committee asked Flynn for documents they believe are relevant to the investigation of alleged Russian links. A day earlier, Burr described a subpoena as the "most severe" of the options on the table.

The committee issued the legal order after Flynn's attorneys said they wouldn't cooperate with the investigation unless he was granted immunity from prosecution, sources tell Politico. Burr and Warner say Flynn was asked to voluntarily turn over the documents April 28 but declined. Former Trump adviser Carter Page has also been asked to provide documents. The subpoena was issued a day after Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, a move that Burr said makes the committee's work "a little bit more difficult," but not impossible, the Washington Post reports. "The timing of this and the reasoning for it doesnt make any sense to me," Burr said of Comey's firing. (Read more Michael Flynn stories.)
The Guantanamo detainee known as the CIA's "guinea pig" for its post-9/11 interrogation program is going to testify on his brutal treatment for the first time later this month, his lawyer says. Abu Zubaydah, an alleged al-Qaeda member who was captured in Pakistan in 2002 but has never been charged, plans to tell a Guantanamo war court pre-trial hearing about what his lawyer calls "the unspeakable torture of an innocent man," the Guardian reports. Before he ended up at Guantanamo, Zubaydah, a Saudi Arabia-born Palestinian, was held at a CIA "black site" in Thailand, where he underwent "enhanced interrogation" that included dozens of waterboardings. He lost an eye while in US custody.

Zubaydah has been called to testify May 19 about the treatment of 9/11 defendant Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who claims to have been tortured at Guantanamo's Camp 7. Mark Denbeaux, Zubaydah's chief civilian lawyer, says it will take a trial for the full extent of his client's torture to be revealed. "My endless goal is to force the US to bring charges against him so that he can be tried and the truths will become obvious," Denbeaux tells the Guardian. He accuses the CIA of lying about Zubaydah's importance to justify torturing him. (During the interrogations, CIA agents sought assurances that if Zubaydah survived, he would be "in isolation and incommunicado for the remainder of his life.")
A Mexican citizen accused of severely injuring a 6-year-old boy in a DUI crash in California Saturday night had already been deported from the US no fewer than 15 times, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The boy, Lennox Lake, was hospitalized with a major head injury after the crash, which happened just a block away from his home in San Diego, the BBC reports. He had been on his way home from a trip to Disneyland with his parents. Police say Constantino Banda-Acosta, 38, was drunk, speeding, and ran a stop sign before his pickup truck slammed into the family's vehicle. He did not stop at the scene, but was arrested when Border Patrol agents spotted his damaged vehicle.

ICE says Banda-Acosta, has been returned to Mexico 15 times since 2002, most recently in January this year, KTLA reports. Police say his criminal history includes domestic violence allegations. Lennox has undergone two surgeries and will be in the hospital for at least another 10 days, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help his family. The boy's grandmother, Cheryl Lake, was astonished by the number of times Banda-Acosta has been deported, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. "There are not enough words to describe the huge impact his actions have had," she says. ICE says it will deport the man again after his latest criminal case is settled. (A new Texas law punishes "sanctuary cities.")
Fast-food gourmands rejoiced with Carter Wilkerson when he recently broke the Twitter retweet record and earned himself a year's worth of chicken nuggets from Wendy's. Also excited, apparently, was United Airlines, which had been closely following Carter's story on its own since tweeting last month that if Carter got to 18 million retweets, it would fly him to any Wendy's in the world, as long as it was in a city it serviced. Even though Carter didn't come near the 18 million mark (he's at 3.57 million), United decided to honor him anyway, as Wendy's had, and tweeted at him Wednesday to "decide where in the world you'd like to visit." But as Mashable reports, the airline's very public PR attempt backfired, in a very public way, mainly because Twitter has a long memory.

It hadn't forgotten about United's other recent headlines, including a debacle involving leggings, a dead rabbit, David Dao being dragged off a plane, and, just this week, a woman who says United staff forced her to pee in a cup (United takes some issue with her remarks, per the Washington Post). The tweets responding to United's gesture referenced those other incidents, with one warning Carter not to wear leggings on his flight, while another noted the offer was a "trap" to "reaccomodate" [sic] Carter (a reference to the airline's response to the Dao fiasco). Two commenters even dragged another company with its own recent PR flub into the mix: "You should invite him and Dr. Dao together, to a @wendy's outing," said one, met by the response: "They can share a Pepsi together." (Delta has had its own problems.)
A Russian blogger was convicted Thursday of inciting religious hatred for playing Pokemon Go in a church and given a 3.5-year suspended sentence. Ruslan Sokolovsky's offense is the same one that sent two women from Pussy Riot to prison in 2012. Sokolovsky posted a video on his blog last year showing him playing the smartphone game in a church built on the supposed spot where the last Russian czar and his family were killed. He has been in detention since October. Sokolovsky's behavior and his anti-religious videos manifested his "disrespect for society," said Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak, who added that Sokolovsky "intended to offend religious sentiments," the AP reports. Once an officially atheist state, Russia has made a stunning turnaround since the fall of the Soviet Union, with the majority of Russians now identifying as Orthodox Christians.

Shoponyak said the 22-year-old video blogger was also on trial for posting videos that offended believers, listing "mockery of the Immaculate Conception," ''denial of the existence of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad," and "giving an offensive description of Patriarch Kirill," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Although most Russians aren't observant, the Kremlin has been eager to harness faith to promote its own agenda. Many prominent figures expressed outrage. "I was born and grew up in the Soviet Union, where 98% of citizens were atheists," opposition leader Alexey Navalny tweeted. "And now I'm listening to a verdict where a man has been convicted for atheism." After the verdict, Sokolovsky thanked the media for raising the alarm on the trial: "I would probably have been sent to prison if it wasn't for the journalists' support." (Read more Pokemon Go stories.)
Eighty-four gallons of oil may not be a huge amount, but that amount leaking out of the Dakota Access pipeline in April isn't reassuring those who've long protested it. Per NBC News, the leak was caused by mechanical failure of a surge pump at a pump station in Tulare, SD. The spill was reportedly contained by gravel in a containment area; the gravel was carted off to be properly disposed of, officials say. CNNMoney notes that the "relatively small" leak on April 4 was initially reported only on the state's Department of Environment and Natural Resources website, until the AP picked up the story Wednesday. Per NBC, companies aren't obligated to call in pipeline leaks to the feds unless it's more than five barrels, or around 210 gallons, as long as they take care of the mess ASAP.

"These kinds of spills do occur," says a rep for the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust. Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council Chair Dave Archambault II agrees, noting in a statement that "this is what we have said all along: oil pipelines leak and spill." He adds the pipeline hasn't even started handling its full load, expected to be 470,000 barrels of oil a day between North Dakota and Illinois. The Sioux, who continue to wage legal war against the pipeline, are afraid their main water supply, the Missouri River, will be tainted. An environmental scientist with the state agency, however, says there was never any risk to the tribe's water supplyor any public health riskbecause the leak happened almost 100 miles from the tribe's drinking-water reservoir. Energy Transfer Partners, which owns the pipeline, issued a statement that simply said the spill "stayed in the containment area as designed." (Read more Dakota Access Pipeline stories.)
Arkansas State Police say a sheriff's deputy was fatally shot and two other people were found dead in rural Arkansas on Thursday. Police say authorities are negotiating with a suspect who is holed up in a home, the AP reports. The state police say Lt. Kevin C. Mainhart, of the Yell County Sheriff's Office, was en route to a disturbance call Thursday morning when he pulled over a vehicle. State police spokesman Bill Sadler says the deputy was fatally shot during the traffic stop.

Sadler says once officers arrived at the location of the initial disturbance call, they found two more people dead. Sadler says authorities believe the traffic stop and the disturbance call are connected. He says the suspected shooter is now in a home in rural Arkansas and that officers are trying to coax him into surrendering. (Read more Arkansas stories.)
It appears President Trump is no fan of Stephen Colbert, telling Time there's "nothing funny" about the late-night host, a "no-talent guy" who says "filthy" things. The Guardian reports the president is likely still steamed about an insult-filled Late Show monologue last week that drew a lot of attention. "It only builds up my base. It only helps me, people like him," Trump says in his interview with Time. Meanwhile, he takes credit for Colbert's success, claiming CBS was "going to take him off television" until Colbert turned his ratings around by going after Trump. Since the election, The Late Show has become the most-watched late-night show, beating Jimmy Fallon by more than 400,000 nightly viewers.

Vanity Fair has a quick fact check of Trump's anti-Colbert rant, pointing out CBS has said the rumor it was going to can Colbert was untrue and also that it's unlikely, as Trump claimed, that children are watching The Late Show at 11:30pm. During the interview, Trump also wrongly bragged that his appearance on The Late Show gave Colbert his highest ratings ever. Trump's episode was actually 2 million viewers short of The Late Show's top episode. For his part, Colbert tells the Hollywood Reporter he'd gladly trade his ratings for a "better president." Trump also had harsh words for other members of the media during his Time interview, calling Don Lemon "perhaps the dumbest person in broadcasting" and Chris Cuomo "a chained lunatic." (Read more Stephen Colbert stories.)
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New Delhi:

Have you ever heard of a health check up for just Rupee 1?

Wll, Mumbai's one of its kind 'one-rupee clinic' will provide you with this unbelievable service. The city's first cost-effective clinic was inaugurated at Ghatkopar railway station on Wednesday.

Dr Rahul Ghule and his elder brother Dr Amol Ghule are to be credited for the inception of this incredible project.

Speaking about the initiative, and the first day of the clinic, Dr Rahul Ghule, said, "The main objective of the clinic is to give primary medical treatment to commuters and accident victims. On the first day, there were over 65 patients who visited the clinic for general check ups like blood pressure, diabetes and joint pain. A majority of the visitors were senior citizens. Every clinic will have a team of over four MBBS doctors. We wanted to make an affordable health service platform for the public. Specialist MD doctors will be visiting the clinics for around four hours daily."

Read more: Pakistan summons Indian high commissioner for not issuing medical visas

The clinic will be funded by the siblings. Speaking about the foundation of the project, Dr Ghule said, "My mother met with an accident and was admitted to the hospital for six months. She has been paralysed. The incident made us realise that us we need to create a platform to save people's life. With the help of these clinics, we want to save lives by providing immediate medical treatment."

Four other city-based railway stations  Dadar, Kurla, Mulund and Wadala Road  will have clinics set up by May 15.

Starting off with the five clinics as a pilot project, 19 clinics will be set up by August along the same lines at different central and harbour line stations in the city with an aim to provide medical treatment to the public and accident victims at railway stations.
New Delhi:

Randhir Kapoor has quashed that the reports of nephew Ranbir Kapoor's wedding and said that the 'Barfi' actor's has got enough time to get married. The veteran actor asserted that Ranbir is having the great time in his life and his relationship status shall not be anyone's concern.



Randhir's statement came after there were reports about Ranbir and his mom Neetu Kapoor going to London for the bride hunt. It has been reported that the Kapoor family has been keen for Ranbir to get hitched soon and move ahead with his life post his break-up with Katrina Kaif.



But contrary to the reports, Randhir cleared the air and stated, Ranbir is having a terrific time with all the success and the money hes got, and age being in his favour too. Why does he have to get married and spoil it all so soon? Shaadi ke liye bahut time hai abhi usko (Hes got enough time in hand to get married). Let him have a nice time right now, says Randhir, when asked if the Kapoor family often talks about Ranbirs marriage, adding that, Anyway, how is his relationship status anybodys concern or business?

Also Read | Throwback Thursday: When Ranbir Kapoor REVEALED the reason behind his break-up with Deepika Padukone

The senior Kapoor even lauded Ranbir for his success in Bollywood and averred that he is really proud of his nephew's achievement.



At times, I envy him because I was nowhere at his agewith the kind of success and moolah that hes got. Hes doing very well and Im so proud. Little ups and downs and high and low tides are there in everyones career. This happens and its a passing phase, so thats completely alright, Randhir was quoted as saying.



On the work front, Ranbir Kapoor is busy with Sanjay Dutt's upcoming biopic where in he will be portraying the Khalnayak actor. The movie which is being helmed by Rajkumar Hirani also stars Manisha Koirala, Paresha Rawal, Anushka Sharma and Vicky Kaushal in key roles.



The movie is slated to release in December this year.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

In a gruesome incident, twenty-five people, including four children, were killed and 28 injured when a wall of a marriage hall collapsed in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. The incident took place after a thunderstorm and rain hit the area.

The district magistrate informed that the incident took place due to heavy storm and rain. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje condoled the deaths and ordered necessary instructions to officers concerned for proper treatment of the injured.

The police officials informed that a marriage ceremony was going on in the hall when the mishap occurred.

22 killed,28 injured after wall of a wedding hall collapsed in Rajasthan's Bharatpur last night.DM says it happened due to thunderstorm,rain pic.twitter.com/AAiDQqjCx8  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

Inspector General of Police Alok Vashishtha told that people took shelter under a shed attached with a wall which collapsed suddenly, leaving 22 dead.

He said people got trapped as entire structure of the wall and the shed collapsed in fraction of seconds. Superintendent of Police Anil Tank said the deceased included 11 men, seven women and four children.

#LatestVisuals 25 people lost their lives after wall of a wedding hall collapsed in Rajasthan's Bharatpur last night. pic.twitter.com/EiP04JeXZO  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

He said the wall was nearly 90-feet long and 12-13 feet in height.

Several food stalls were set up adjoining the wall. A tin shed was also attached to a portion of the wall.

The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals immediately and treatment was administered. One injured has been referred for SMS Hospital in Jaipur, he said.

Also Read: Delta Air Line cancels 150 more flights due to heavy thunderstorms and lack of crews

The weather suddenly changed and heavy winds started blowing tonight which led to the incident at Sewar Road.

The bodies have been shifted to a mortuary and postmortem will be conducted tomorrow, police sources said. (With PTI Inputs)

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New Delhi :

The Aam Aadmi Party leaders and workers on Thursday staged protest outside Election Commission over issue of alleged manipulation of EVMs. The protesters were demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)- equipped EVMs be used in future elections.

Senior party leader Gopal Rai led the protest with hundreds of supporters amid heavy deployment of police personnel in the vicinity of the Election Commission.

The protesters alleged that the manipulation of electronic voting machines was killing democracy.

EVM manipulation is a real possibility and should be looked into immediately, said R K Gupta, an AAP worker who had come from Dwarka in southwest Delhi to the poll panels central Delhi headquarters.

This is how BJP won polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Even the division along caste lines could not have helped them with such a huge victory, added Pragati, another worker, who had come from Mundka near the citys western border.

Also Read: Election Commission rejects AAPs EVM tampering demonstrations, says look-alike gadget is not its machine

Asked to elaborate, most protesters cited AAP legislator Saurabh Bhardwajs live demo on EVM manipulation in the Delhi Assembly.

Apart from demanding that VVPAT-equipped EVMs be used, the party plans to approach the Election Commission with the request that votes registered in EVMs and paper trails of 25 per cent randomly chosen booths be tallied.

VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense paper slips which help voters confirm that their vote has indeed gone to the candidate of their choice.

Also Read | Delhi Assembly Special Session: Give me EVM, it takes only 90 seconds to change motherboard, says Arvind Kejriwal

Participating in a discussion on the issue during a day-long special session of the Delhi Assembly earlier this week, Bhardwaj claimed that a voting machine could be manipulated by simply feeding it with a secret code. (With PTI Inputs)

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New Delhi:

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said West Bengal is the "only state" which can fight the increasing intolerance and save the country from divisive politics of BJP.

She said that under her rule West Bengal can not be silenced by threat and intimidation by the BJP.

The tactics of threat and intimidation cannot silence me. Other states like Bihar, Maharashtra may be silent but Bengal will not stop its fight and protest, whatever be the situation. Only West Bengal can fight against this communal politics and intolerance and save the country, she said while speaking at a meeting in Kolkata on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.

In a veiled reference to 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat, she said, Butchers are born in slaughter houses, not the philosophers.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjee mocks BJP's West Bengal plans, says TMC cannot be browbeaten

I am in politics but it does not give me the right to dictate what others will eat or not. This is not the real religion. Religion does not teach us to do politics over it or kill people. Religion means faith, peace, love and brotherhood, she said.

She also attacked back on the state BJP for calling her a eunuch.

I have been even called a eunuch. I want justice. This is a shame. I may be a very bad person, but I still have the right to lead a respectable life. I want justice from the people, she added.

(With PTI Inputs)

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New Delhi:

Ahead of the Election Commissions all party meet, The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Thursday demanded that an all-party committee be formed under the umbrella of EC and be given access to its electronic voting machines (EVM).

Aam Aadmi Party claims that EVM machines used in recent elections can be hacked and protested outside the Election Commission over the issue.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, who had hacked an EVM replica on the floor of the Delhi Assembly on May 9, told a press conference that the question was no longer if EVMs could be manipulated, but whether the recent polls could have been rigged.

The AAP fared poorly in the polls, which were largely won by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

We will request the EC to form a committee and put representatives of all political parties and even the EC on it. Our expert team will show the committee how voting machines were rigged, Bhardwaj said.

Also Read: AAP stages protest outside EC, demands VVPAT equipped EVMS for future polls

He said any party could name five booths where they suspected EVMs had been tampered with.

We will demand that the machines that were used be provided to us, he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of AAP workers came out to the streets, demanding that paper trail-equipped EVMs or voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) be used in future elections.

At Fridays EC meet, AAP will be represented by Bhardwaj, who claims expertise in the area in his capacity as an engineer, and two technical experts.

The Commission should allow technical inspection of its EVMs by the expert panels of various political parties to see if the EVMs can be hacked or not. Polls should be held only on VVPAT-enabled machines so that paper trail guarantees the integrity of the electoral process, he wrote.

The VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense a paper slip which helps voters confirm that their vote has indeed gone to the candidate of their choice.

(With PTI Inputs)

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London:

In a shocking development, the Italian Police has seized 37 million units of painkillers worth USD 75 million that were made by an Indian company and was bound for the Islamic State terrorists, reports said on Thursday. As many as 37.5 million pills of a synthetic opioid-like drug called tramadol were sent from India and were to be sold to the ISIS terrorists in Libya, media reports have said.

According to reports, the Libya-bound cargo was sent from India and the painkillers were meant to be sold to the dreaded ISIS terrorists in order to provide them greater resilience.

The pills were packed in three containers that were recovered at the port of Genoa. Surprisingly, the packets were labelled as blankets and shampoo and were to be loaded on a freighter bound for Misrata and Tobruk in Libya, news agency PTI quoted The Times as saying.



"ISIS is making a fortune from this traffic, giving it to its fighters to make them feel no pain," the British newspaper quoted an Italian investigator as saying.



According to the Italian Police, the consignment was sent from India and there would have been two purposes of its use  to help finance terrorism and for use by the Islamic State fighters as a stimulant and to increase resistance to physical stress, the BBC reported.



It is said that the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram feeds child soldiers dates stuffed with tramadol and then send them on missions. It is well known fact that ISIS feeds its fighters Captagon which blocks hunger, fear and fatigue.

ALSO READ | Top Malaysian Islamic State operative Muhammad Wanndy killed in Syria

The tramadol shipment reportedly belonged to an Indian pharmaceuticals company, which allegedly sold the tablets for USD 250,000 to a Dubai-based importer, which then shipped them from India to Sri Lanka. From there, they disappeared from the freighter's documents, the report said. Reports said that the tramadol pills sell for two dollars each in Libya.

Last year, a container carrying 26 million tramadol tablets, originally from India and allegedly destined for a Libyan company with ties to ISIS were seized by police at the Greek port of Piraeus.

ALSO READ | Islamic State-linked hackers release kill list of 8,700 people from US, UK

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New Delhi:

The Jammu and Kashmir government Thursday shut schools along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district after unprovoked ceasefire violation and shelling in residential areas from Pakistani forces.

SDM of Nowshera tehsil issued an order to close all the schools near the Line of Control after shelling from the Pakistani side of the border.

"All schools close to the LoC were shut in Nowshera tehsil of Rajouri district as a precautionary measure today following the death of a woman and injuries to her husband in shelling by the Pakistan Army", PTI quoted a senior police officer as saying.

Related Read: Ceasefire violations: India's Deputy High Commissioner summoned by Pak govt

A woman was killed while her husband received serious injuries after Pakistani forces, in a ceasefire violation opened fire along LoC in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district.

The shelling has affected five-six hamlets along the LoC including Sheri Makeri, Namakdali and Khamba since last night.

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New Delhi:

Pakistan has once again violated the ceasefire on Thursday morning in Jammu and Kashmirs Nowshera sector in Rajouri district.



One woman has been killed while her husband sustained serious injuries. According to ANI, Pakistan has used 120 mm mortars. The firing is still underway in the region.

Rajouri (J&K): Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Nowshera sector continues, using 120 mm mortars. One woman dead and one injured. pic.twitter.com/1TubmaNaMN  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

ALSO READ: J-K: Army foils infiltration bid along LoC in Baramulla

On Wednesday, a bullet-ridden body of an army lieutenant Umar Fayaz was found in Shopian district's Herman area in South Kashmir. Fayaz was abducted by terrorists on Tuesday following which he was shot dead and his body was disposed.

Not only this, few days ago two jawans of the Indian army were mutilated by Pakistan in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

ALSO READ: Army assures family of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz to punish perpetrators of crime

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

Rebel Aam Aadmi Party leader Kapil Mishra on Thursday reached at ACB office and recorded his statement in the water tanker scam.

Earlier in the day, he had said that he would provide more details in the alleged scam. He said he would divulge more details to the ACB. Mishra, who was attacked by an alleged AAP worker on Wednesday, said that the attacker was a memebre of mohalla clinic.

While addressing the media persons on the second day of his Satyagraha, Mishra alleged that AAP leaders did not answer his questions and they remained silent over funding of their foreign trips.

Will go to ACB at 12 noon today, and divulge more details in the Water Tanker scam: Kapil Mishra pic.twitter.com/13OM6gcNc2  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

He said, I had sought details of funding of their foreign trips. Mishra said AAP leader Sanjay Singh had visited Russia and the latter must provide the details of the trip.

I will continue to sit on hunger strike till details of international travel expenses of five AAP leaders are shared: Kapil Mishra pic.twitter.com/011ika2mk4  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

The former Delhi water minister also wrote a letter to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal informing the latter about the attack that took place on him on Wedensday.

Sacked Delhi minister Kapil mishra had started an indefinite hunger strike, demanding that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) divulge details of foreigntours undertaken by five leaders of the party which, in turn,accused him of following a script penned by the BJP.

Mishra, who was removed as a minister and expelled fromthe party, shot off a letter to Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, asking how the leaders had made these tripsdespite the party's "fund crisis".

AAP crisis: Kapil Mishra files 3 complaints against Kejriwal in CBI office, says will go to Election Commission next

Mishra, who kicked up a storm when he said he'd seenKejriwal "accept Rs 2 crore in cash" from PWD MinisterSatyendra Jain, had yesterday submitted three complaints tothe CBI about AAP leaders indulging in graft and otherirregularities.

The Karawal Nagar MLA said he would drink only water aspart of his "Satyagraha" till the tour details were madepublic. He sat on the dharna at his official residence, with aphotograph of Mahatma Gandhi in the backdrop.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reached Sri Lanka to start his two-day state visit to island country.

PM Modi's visit to the neighbouring country is described to be a 'religious' one but the media reports do suggest that Indian Prime Minister has not gone there for 'visiting temples' only and China has got the message from Srilanka on a very strategic demand in the Indian subcontinent region.

The island nation has rejected China's request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month, Reuters quoted government officials as saying.

In 2014, Sri Lanka had allowed Chinese submarines to harbor in its waters, a move that triggered strong opposition from India.

India has always considered Sri Lanka as a part of its influence area and was worried by increasing Chinese influence.

Apart from giving a strong message to China who was cosying up with Lanka lately, Modi is also supposed to hold meetings with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. During his meetings, he will push for the implementation of the MoUs signed by the two sides during his Lankan counterparts India visit.

Also Read: Pokhran nuclear test 19th anniversary: PM Modi hails Vajpayee's courage, greets people on National Technology Day

1. A 50 MW solar power plant in Sampur, near Trincomlaee for which Sri Lanka is to issue a letter of intent by mid-May 2017.

2. Road and railway projects in Trincomalee, Mannar and Jaffna.

3. An LNG terminal/floating Storage Regasification Unit in Colombo, and other associated projects such as CNG outlets, for all of which Sri Lanka will issue a letter of intent by mid-May 2017;

4. A 500 MW LNG fired power plant, for which the Sri Lankan government will issue a letter of intent to India by end May 2017.

5. Joint development of the Upper Tank Farm containing 84 tanks in an area of 800 acres by Lanka IOC and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation for which the two will set up a joint venture by the end July 2017 and make business development plans by September 2017.

6. A port, petroleum refinery and other industries in Trincomalee for which both governments will set up a joint working group by end June 2017.

The visit which was undermined by describing as a religious visit is much more than that and serving another purpose PM Modi will also meet Indian-origin Tamils living in the island nation.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

On the pretext of being given lucrative jobs in Brunei, nearly 20 nurses have alleged that they were duped of lakhs of rupees, police said.

They said the nurses were charged Rs 2.5 lakh each for the promised jobs in Brunei.

The Crime Branch has launched a probe in the matter. In August last year, a nurse, working at a reputed hospital in Gurgaon, met three men who claimed that they work as placement agents.

She later on took three of her co-workers to meet the three men at a Green Park guest house. The nurses were asked to pay Rs 2.5 lakh each for the formalities.

Read more: Corporate India battles rising cyber crime amid low defence mechanism to counter threats: EY report

The accused took Rs 10 lakh in total from them and then got their medical tests done. They were asked to pay Rs 5,000 each for the tests, police said.

In October, they brought 18 more nurses to meet the accused and they were also made to undergo the same formalities, police said.

Four of the nurses were sent to Brunei from the Cochin Airport. However, when they reached at the airport in Brunei, they found that there was no one to receive them, they added.

When they reached the hospital, they were told that there were no vacancies there.

The nurses tried to contact the placement agents but their phones were switched off, police said.

Somehow, the nurses returned to India and made efforts to contact the accused but they remained incommunicado.

Read more: Pakistan summons Indian high commissioner for not issuing medical visas

Following this, they filed a complaint with the Crime Branch.

Police have begun investigating the matter and it is suspected that more nurses might have been duped in a similar manner, police said.

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New Delhi :

The Supreme Court on Thursday made clear that it will not hear polygamy issue in the triple talaq case. The Apex Court began hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of 'triple talaq' and 'nikah halala'.

The court said that the arguments on Triple Talaq will continue for six days and allotted two day to each party to submit their arguments while single day is allotted to both parties to reply questions of either side.

The Apex Court said that it would examine whether the practice of triple talaq among Muslims is fundamental to their religion, but it may not deliberate upon the issue of polygamy as it began hearing petitions challenging the practice.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said it would look into the aspect whether triple talaq is part of an enforceable fundamental right to practice religion by Muslims.

The bench also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, however, said the issue of polygamy among Muslims may not be deliberated upon by it as this aspect is unrelated to triple talaq.

The bench, made up of judges from different religious communitiesSikh, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslimis hearing seven petitions, including five separate writ petitions filed by Muslim women challenging the practice of triple talaq prevalent in the community. The petitions claim that triple talaq is unconstitutional.

The apex court made it clear that each side will get two days each for canvassing their arguments on the two questions formulated by the bench and one day will be given for the rebuttal.

It also made it clear that it would stop any counsel who repeats the arguments. Each side can argue whatever they want but there should not be any repetition. They will only focus on the validity of triple talaq, the bench said.

The apex court had on its own taken cognizance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands.

The top court will examine the issue to give an authoritative pronouncement on the constitutional and legal validity of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy practices among Muslims.

The hearing holds importance as the Allahabad High Court in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.

The High Court verdict had come while dismissing a petition filed by one Aaqil Jamil whose wife had filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he had tortured her for dowry and when his demands were not met, he gave her triple talaq.

The copy of High Court verdict was made available only Tuesday.

The apex court had on March 30 said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are very important and involve sentiments and a constitution bench would hear the petitions from May 11.

Influential Muslim organisations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have opposed courts adjudication of these matters, maintaining these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and were not justiciable.

Also Read | BJP wants to keep this communal pot boiling: Asaduddin Owaisi on triple talaq

The Muslim women who have filed the petitions have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message.

On other hand, 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, observing the separation period called Iddat and then coming back to him again.

The apex court while referring to the matter to a larger bench had observed that sentiments were involved in the matter pending before it and a five-judge constitution bench would adjudicate the issue, which required a detailed hearing.

The apex court had earlier said it would decide issues pertaining to the legal aspects of the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims, but would not deal with the question whether divorce under Muslim law needs to be supervised by courts as it fell under the legislative domain.

The Centre had on October 7 last 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.

On March 27, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary.

Also Read | Triple talaq is not religious issue, has no sanction in Shariat: Naidu

The Board had also said the validity of the Mohammedan Law, founded essentially in the Holy Quran and sources based on it, cannot be tested on the particular provisions of the Constitution.

It had said there was a need for judicial restraint before going into constitutional interpretation of these unless such an exercise becomes unavoidable.

The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, had referred to constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.

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New Delhi:

Twitter is buzzing with news alerts from India and rest of the world. Here are the latest updates from the micro-blogging site in one scroll:

#10:28 PM

Assam: Fake Indian currency worth Rs 1,20,000 and fake Myanmar currency worth Rs 22,00,000 seized by Police in Silchar. One person arrested - ANI

#9:57 PM

SriLanka rejects request of China for its submarine to dock at Colombo next week after similar visit in 2014 triggered protest from India - PTI

#9:54 PM

V Nagaraj alias Bomb Naga was arrested by Bengaluru police from Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, his two sons also arrested - ANI

#9:53 PM

Younis Khan to coach Afghan cricket team post retirement - ANI



#9:47 PM

Bengaluru: Former corporator V Nagaraj arrested,was absconding since raid on his office/residence led to recovery of 14.8 crore old currency - ANI

#9:26 PM

EVM mein beimaani ki sambhaavna bohot hai. Machine bandh ho aur pehle jaise thappa maar ke vote karte the vo ho: Mulayam Singh Yadav - ANI

#9:12 PM

NIA writes to Interpol and CBI for issuing a red corner notice against Zakir Naik :NIA Sources (file pic) - ANI

#9:06 PM

Shahjahanpur: VHP member RK Awasthi filed a complaint against Google and its director for a 2015 search result 'insulting PM Modi' - ANI

#8:34 PM

India win two bronze medals on second day of Asian Wrestling Championship 2017 at Delhi - PTI

#8:26 PM

Yogurt consumption may prevent osteoporosis risk: study - PTI



#8:25 PM

Delhi: 10-year old boy dead after being run over by a mini bus on Palam-Dabri road; driver absconding - ANI

#8:24 PM

ChandaKochhar ICICI Bank chief, receives Woodrow Wilson Award - ANI



#8:24 PM

IPL betting racket busted in UP's Kanpur, 3 arrested. 2 of them held from the 5-star hotel where the cricket teams were staying: Police - PTI

#8:21 PM

Election campaigning ends for Nepal local body polls - PTI



#8:21 PM

NITI Aayog to partner UP for holistic development, focus on doubling farmers income,livelihood opportunities, enterprise etc: NITI Aayog - ANI

#8:19 PM

CBSE asks schools affiliated to it to set up Aadhaar enrolment centres - PTI



#8:11 PM

BJP mounts attack on Mayawati after Naseemuddin spills beans - ANI

#7:55 PM

I was injured while training and had to discontinue Powerlifting. I won many championships, I want the govt should give me a job- Santosh - ANI

#7:53 PM

Haryana:Powerlifting national champion,who got injured during training, forced to work at her father's tea shop&work as a bouncer,in Sonipat - ANI

#7:48 PM

Gujarat: Border Security Force apprehended a Pakistani fishing boat with six fishermen from Sir Creek in Kutch - ANI

#7:45 PM

Odisha: A tiger in Bhubaneshwar's Nandankanan Zoo named Baahubali on public demand - ANI

#7:35 PM

Asian Wrestling Championships: India's Anil Kumar wins bronze by defeating Uzbekistan's Muhammadali Shamsiddinov by 7-6 (Greco-Roman 85kg) - ANI

#7:22 PM

I gave Naseemuddin Siddiqui responsibility for western UP in elections but ppl came & told me that he is a very big blackmailer: Mayawati - ANI

#7:17 PM

GEAC, the nodal regulator for GMcrops, gives its nod to commercial use of GMmustard in recommendation to environment ministry - PTI

#7:16 PM

Will start 'Campaign for Education' frm 15 Oct in 100 districts to spread awareness abt education & provide'Teacher-Tiffin-Toilet':MA Naqvi - ANI

#7:15 PM

PM Narendra Modi in Sri Lanka to re-emphasise traditional Buddhist connect - PTI



#7:04 PM

Ready to play in India despite security threats, insists PCB - ANI

#7:02 PM

Colombo: PM Narendra Modi prays at Gangaramaya Temple - ANI

#6:57 PM

Father of an IPS officer shot dead allegedly by his youngest son, believed to be suffering from Schizophrenia, in Ghaziabad: Police - PTI

#6:54 PM

PM Modi at Gangaramaya Temple with Srilankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, Sri Lanka - ANI

#6:50 PM

FIR filed against tech giant Google in UP's Shahjahanpur under IT Act for an alleged derogatory search result in 2015 involving PM Modi - PTI



#6:49 PM

PM Modi visits Gangaramaya Temple along with Srilankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, Sri Lanka - ANI

#6:48 PM

Himachal Pradesh: Three people killed after a van rolled down a hill after losing control in Jubbal of Shimla district - ANI

#6:43 PM

It was a conversation between me and my party workers,even then if I hurts sentiments of farmers I apologize for it: Raosaheb Danve - ANI

#6:39 PM

I was born in family of farmers I know their pain,cannot even think of using foul language against them:Raosaheb Danve,BJP Maharashtra Chief - ANI

#6:38 PM

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launches NHAI's first Masala Bond in UK - PTI



#6:05 PM

Colombo: PM Narendra Modi arrives in Sri Lanka on a two-day visit, recieved by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe - ANI

#5:58 PM

Both accused were produced before the a Delhi court and sent to six days of police custody - ANI

#5:55 PM

CBI arrested director of a pvt company frm Delhi & another person in a case relating to alleged fraud of approx Rs24.64 crore in Canara Bank - ANI

#5:53 PM

The Modi govt created atmosphere of trust among minorities without appeasement: Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - PTI



#5:51 PM

Air India Charters Ltd, the holding company of the group's international budget airline operations, renamed as AirIndia Express Ltd - PTI



#5:49 PM

BJP's UP unit expells 87 party workers for 6 years for allegedly carrying out anti-party activities - PTI



#5:47 PM

PM Narendra Modi arrives in Sri Lanka on a two-day visit - ANI

#5:34 PM

Kapil Dev poses with his wax statue at the soon to be opened Madame Tussauds wax museum, in Delhi - ANI

#5:30 PM

Actor Rohit Roy says he is likely to team up with junior bachchan for a romantic film to be backed by filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali - PTI



#5:30 PM

Justice Karnan is in Chennai, he is entitled to all constitutional and legal remedies: Counsel Mathews J Nedumpara - ANI

#5:20 PM

Threat and intimidation cannot silence me: WB Chief Minister - PTI



#5:19 PM

Recently launched a website 'Bharat Ke Veer' for the families of martyrs. The response to the website has been encouraging: HM Rajnath Singh - ANI

#5:18 PM

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched a mobile app for Central Armed Police Forces - ANI

#5:17 PM

Bengaluru: BJP worker Mohammad Hussain who was attacked on May 4 has succumbed to his injuries.Police had arrested 4 people in the case - ANI

#5:16 PM

Central Armed Police Forces personnel has digital option to share his grievances. I am now only a click away from our security forces: HM - ANI

#5:00 PM

Kapil Dev's wax figure unveiled for Madame Tussauds in Delhi - PTI

#5:00 PM

Hv got some names but its not confirmed,will question players whose names we hv got:A Kulheri, SSP, Kanpur on reports of betting in #IPL10 - ANI

#4:54 PM

Counsel Mathews J Nedumpara's authorization letter signed by Justice Karnan & his 'vakalatnama' which he presented in SC - ANI

#4:28 PM

Sab raaz khol doonga toh duniya mein bhuchaal aa jayega,lekin saare khulaase abhi nahi karoonga: Naseemuddin Siddiqui - ANI

#4:26 PM

SC asked Counsel Nethumpara where is proof that you are lawyer of Karnan.Nethumpara told Court that I hv 'wakalatnama'&authorisation letter - ANI

#4:20 PM

Baad mein unho ne aur jaatiyon ko bhi bura bhala kaha. Kanshiram ji ka bhi apmaan kiya: Naseemuddin Siddiqui - ANI

#4:17 PM

Uttar Pradesh: Three bookies arrested with Rs 40 lakhs from Landmark Hotel in Kanpur in late night hours, police investigation underway #IPL - ANI

#4:16 PM

Mathew Nethumpara was the lawyer appearing for Justice Karnan in Supreme Court - ANI

#4:14 PM

Uttar Pradesh: Three bookies arrested with Rs 40 lakhs from Landmark Hotel in Kanpur in late night hours, police investigation underway #IPL - ANI



#4:13 PM

Me and my son have been expelled from the party based on false allegations: Naseemuddin Siddiqui, former senior BSP leader - ANI

#4:12 PM

Mayawati ji ne mujhe bula kar poocha ki Musalmano ne BSP ko vote kyun nahi diya? Unhone kaha gaddar hain: Naseemuddin Siddiqui,ex-BSP leader - ANI

#4:09 PM

Justice Karnan sought relief from the Supreme Court in the contempt of court matter - ANI

#4:08 PM

Justice Karnan approaches SC, bench headed by CJI Jagdish Singh Khehar says we will consider your(Karnan) prayer - ANI

#4:00 PM

India conveyed cross border firing was initiated by Pak troops to give cover to terrorists& Indian troops responded in self defence: Sources - ANI

#3:58 PM

ED summons Narada channel's Mathew Samuel on May 18 in Narada sting operation case - ANI

#3:57 PM

Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh summoned by Pakistan foreign office over alleged ceasefire violations - ANI

#3:45 PM

Indian Foreign Services officer Vinay Mohan Kwatra appointed as the next ambassador of India to France - ANI

#3:44 PM

Govt school damaged in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Nowshera sector, J&K (earlier visuals) - ANI

#3:38 PM

Allahabad HC exempts UP CM from personal appearance and grants permission to ratify the writ petition. Next hearing on July 7 - ANI

#3:37 PM

UP Advocate General tells Allahabad HC that UP Principal Secy denied permission to try CM Yogi Adityanath in 2007 Gorakhpur riots case - ANI

#3:33 PM

Haas F1 Team signs 19-yr-old Indian racer as development driver - ANI

#3:32 PM

Kapil Sibal appearing for AIMPLB told SC- #tripletalaq is matter under AIMPLB,centre makes rules,but in my opinion SC shouldn't interfere - ANI

#3:29 PM

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to argue on the matter before Supreme Court from 15 May. #TripleTalaq - ANI

#3:23 PM

Centre told SC that it opposes #TripleTalaq & wants to fight for equality of women&gender justice; #TripleTalaq is agnst gender equality - ANI

#3:20 PM

Rating agencies have maintained Indias BBB-rating, notwithstanding clear improvements in our economic fundamentals: CEA Arvind Subramanian - ANI

#3:12 PM

Rating agencies have been inconsistent in their treatment of China and India: Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian - ANI

#3:06 PM

Sab religions ko mil kar shanti banakar rakhna chahiye,na ki talwaar lekar darana.Sharam ki baat hai ki main iss dharti par paida hui:WB CM - ANI

#2:49 PM

India, France ties will continue to strengthen: President #PranabMukherjee to France's new President-elect @EmmanuelMacron. - PTI

#2:43 PM

#CEA Arvind Subramanian slams global #ratingagencies for not upgrading India despite clear improvements in economic fundamentals. - PTI

#2:42 PM

Ppl frm sports want to play, but govt policies come before everything else,shouldn't even question it: Kapil Dev on sporting ties with Pak - ANI

#2:36 PM

Multinationals need to create local opportunities: Microsoft's India-born chief #SatyaNadella. - PTI

#2:34 PM

Clashes break out between students and security forces in Anantnag, Baramulla districts of #Kashmir: Police. - PTI

#2:33 PM

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs for Sri Lanka on a 2-day visit,will join International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo- ANI

#2:15 PM

Senior bureaucrats #HarinderRao & #AnilKGupta appointed as General Manager (GM) of Eastern and Western Railway zone respectively. - PTI

#2:01 PM

#IncomeTax department launches a new e-facility to link a person's #Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN). - PTI

#1:45 PM

#ACB records sacked Delhi minister #KapilMishra's statement over his allegations that CM @ArvindKejriwal had influenced probe in #TankerScam - PTI

#1:43 PM

Emirates airline posts 82.5 pct drop in 2016-17 profit - AFP

#1:36 PM

Draft of election #manifesto yet to be formally approved & launched by Britain's #LabourParty leaked. - PTI

#1:33 PM

#Railways will commence this week the final location survey for providing rail connectivity for #CharDham. - PTI

#1:31 PM

EU sharply cuts Greece growth forecast amid bailout row - AFP

#2:08 PM

Delhi: United States Congressional Delegation met Prime Minister Narendra Modi; PM exchanged views on the bilateral partnership - ANI

#1:48 PM

Petitioner couldn't state the convention as per which Navjot Sidhu could not work on TV shows being state cabinet min:Punjab AG Atul Nanda - ANI

#1:41 PM

Haas F1 Team signs India's Arjun Maini as a development driver. - ANI

#1:28 PM

#China launches 1st clean-up campaign across #MtEverest region. - PTI

#1:25 PM

Uttar Pradesh: Three bookies arrested with Rs 40 lakhs from Landmark Hotel in Kanpur in late night hours, police investigation underway IPL. - ANI

#1:14 PM

Naxal arrested from Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, accused in cases of attempt to murder, abduction - ANI

#1:13 PM

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi meets J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar - ANI

#1:04 PM

Fire broke out at Kino cottage bungalow in Mumbai's Andheri (west), now doused. No casualties reported. - ANI

#1:03 PM

5 members of a family blow themselves up in #Bangladesh. - PTI

#1:01 PM

#Indian population originated from 3 separate waves of migration from Africa, Iran and Central Asia over a period of 50,000 years: Study. - PTI

#1:01 PM

#US police probing 32-year old #Sikh man's murder as possible hate crime. - PTI

#12:57 PM

2 Pak soldiers injured in retaliatory firing from Indian side after ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Nowshera sector (J&K): Army sources - ANI

#12:54 PM

Condition of Sonia Gandhi,admitted for food poisoning, is stable. Progressing well&may be discharged in a day or two: Sir Ganga Ram Hospital - ANI

#12:51 PM

Just spoke to President Moon Jae-in of Korea. Wished him every success & invited him to visit India soon, says PM Narendra Modi - ANI

#12:44 PM

ED summons Narada news CEO Mathew Samuels in its money laundering probe case. - PTI

#12:40 PM

#NGT raps #DDA for casting aspersions on findings of expert committee on damage caused to #YamunaFloodplains due to AOL event. - PTI

#12:12 PM

Bihar: Notorious gangster Bablu Dubey killed in West Champaran's Bettiah court where he was brought to be produced in a case. - ANI

#12:08 PM

Punjab Special Task Force's Ludhiana wing seized heroin worth Rs 12.5 crores from Indo-Pak Border in Ferozepur, one arrested. - ANI

#11:03 AM

China, South Korea leaders, Xi and Moon, agree denuclearising N.Korea 'common goal': Seoul - AFP

#11:02 AM

Supreme Court makes it clear that it is not going to hear polygamy issue in the triple talaq case. - ANI

#11:00 AM

PM announces ex gratia of Rs 2 lakhs for the next of kin of those killed in Bharatpur (Raj) incident, Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured. - ANI

#10:58 AM

SC says that it will keep matter limited to the issue, Whether #tripletalaq and halala are fundamental to the religion or not - ANI

#10:38 AM

Uttar Pradesh: IPS Sanjiv Tyagi's father shot dead in Ghaziabad's Kavi Nagar - ANI

#10:32 AM

MP CM announces Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of deceased persons in Jabalpur accident,50,000 for seriously injured & 25000 for the injured - ANI

#9:53 AM

Punjab: Fire breaks out at a factory in Ludhiana's Vijay Nagar. 3 fire tenders at spot - ANI

#9:51 AM

Just like how Hindu Marriage Act exists,there should be a Muslim Marriage law too: Shaista Amber, President AIMWPLB on Triple Talaq hearing - ANI

#9:48 AM

We are confident that verdict will be as per Constitution: AIMPLB's Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali on today's hearing on #TripleTalaq - ANI

#9:26 AM

Eight people were killed and 11 others injured after a 5.4- magnitude #earthquake rocked China's western Xinjiang region. - PTI

#9:26 AM

Sensex up by 72.31 points, currently at 30,320.48. Nifty at 9,435.65 - ANI

#9:23 AM

On #Pokhran nuclear test anniversary, @narendramodi hails #Vajpayee's courage. - PTI

#9:20 AM

Will go to ACB at noon today and divulge more details in the Water Tanker scam: Kapil Mishra - ANI

#9:19 AM

Prime Minister Modi calls his visit to #SriLanka a sign of "strong relationship" between two countries. - PTI

#9:12 AM

Delhi Police Special Cell arrests Richhpal, a notorious illegal arms manufacturer and supplier carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh - ANI

#8:58 AM

Encounter between BSF personnel and naxals underway in Chhattisgarh's Pankhajur - ANI

#8:36 AM

Uttarakhand: Human skeletons, grave-like structures found during construction work for building a new Inter State Bus Terminal in Haldwani. - ANI

#8:11 AM

MP: Severe water crisis in Chhatarpur district, locals of Buxwaha say nobody is ready to marry men in the area due to the prevailing crisis - ANI

#8:00 AM

11 dead, 15 injured after a car overturned in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur in early morning hours. - ANI

#7:46 AM

An elephant got killed after getting hit by a train in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, yesterday. - ANI

#7:37 AM

Two persons were killed and seven others injured after a car fell down into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda, last night. - ANI

#7:33 AM

Protest outside White House calls for special prosecutor to investigate allegations Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia - AFP

#7:31 AM

Rajouri (J&K): Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Nowshera sector continues, using 120 mm mortars. One woman dead and one injured. - ANI

#7:22 AM

During the two-day Sri Lanka visit, PM Modi will visit Seema Malaka at Gangaramayya temple. Will interact with Indian-origin Tamil community - ANI

#7:19 AM

PM Modi to begin 2-day Sri Lanka visit,will join International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo with President Sirisena & PM Wickremesinghe - ANI

#7:13 AM

Woman killed, husband injured in #PakShelling along LoC in #Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's #Rajouri district: Police. - ANI

#7:05 AM

22 killed,28 injured after wall of a wedding hall collapsed in Rajasthan's Bharatpur last night.DM says it happened due to thunderstorm,rain

#6:56 AM

Supreme Court to begin hearing over a batch of pleas by Muslim women rejecting their religious convention of practicing triple talaq. - ANI

#6:29 AM

Rajouri(J&K): Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Nowshera sector, one woman dead and one injured,firing still going on- ANI

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The militants who abducted and killed the Kashmiri army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz have been identified and they all belong to banned terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen.

The bullet-riddled body of 22-year-old Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz from Kashmir was found in Harmen area of Shopian Wednesday morning, hours after he was abducted by militants from Batpura village.

We have identified six militants who were involved in the killing of Fayaz. The militants are from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen, PTI quoted a source as saying.

Security forces are carrying out searches in various areas to grab the identified militants, the source said.

Fayaz had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of his maternal uncle at Batapura, about 74 km's from here, from where he was abducted by the militants at around 10 pm on Tuesday. His bullet-riddled body was found yesterday morning.

Also Read: Army assures family of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz to punish perpetrators of crime

On his first leave since joining the Army, he had reached Batapura from Akhnoor in Jammu region where he was posted with 2 Rajputana Rifles.

Hailing from Kulgam district, Fayaz was commissioned in the Army in December last year. The Army has vowed, to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror to justice.

The Army had Wednesday vowed to punish the killers of Fayaz and said the incident marks a watershed moment in Kashmir Valley as people there will decisively turn the tide against terrorism.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Thursday met Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar. The Union home secretary discussed the present crisis in Valley.

The union home secretary will also take stock of ground situation in the Valley. He will also meet Governor NN Vohra. The meeting comes on the close heels of killing of an army officer Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz who was killed by the militants in Shopian.

The Valley has witnessed more than 200 incidents of fresh violence in which eight people have lost their lives.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi meets J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar pic.twitter.com/kkp6aXLrM4  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

Even, the Election Commission had cancelled the May 25 Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll in view of the"scary" situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

State government officials had informed the EC that thesituation in South Kashmir "is not good, the overall situationis scary and not very conducive (to the holding of polls),"the EC had said in a 10-page order issued late last night.

Also Read: Govt to form all-women battalion in J-K to tame stone pelters

The three-member commission cited various rules of theRepresentation of the People Act and the Constitution whilerescinding its earlier order for holding polls to the LokSabha seat which fell vacant last July after Mehbooba Muftitook over as the chief minister of the state.

The bye-election to the Anantnag seat will be held whenthe situation becomes conducive to a free, fair and peacefulelection, it had said.

Also Read | CM Mehbooba Mufti on Kashmir issue: PM has intention of holding talks, but dialogue can't happen amid stone pelting, bullet firing

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Nassau:

Bahamas selected Hubert Minnis as its next prime minister in general elections that saw incumbent Perry Christie concede defeat.

"My fellow Bahamians, the people have spoken", Minnis, a physician, said in a victory rally before thousands of supporters. "We have been given a mandate for change".

Christie, leader of Progressive Liberal Party, conceded defeat in a statement in which he said he had made a congratulatory telephone call to Minnis wishing the leader of the Free National Movement success.

"I understand as perhaps few others the challenges that await Dr Minnis, and I wish him only success on behalf of our nation. He has my full support for a smooth transition", he said.

Minnis will be sworn in as prime minister on Thursday by Governor General Marguerite Pindling.

Christie, who was finishing his second non-consecutive term as prime minister, was dogged by scandals and double-digit unemployment.

Read more: Moon Jae-in begins term as South Korea President after landslide victory

The long-delayed opening of a $4.2 billion mega-resort called Baha Mar, and last month's spectacular failure of the Fyre music festival -- which stranded party goers who paid as much as USD 100,000 to attend -- were factors in the vote.

Minnis campaigned on a platform of change, seeking to implement term limits on the prime minister and promote "Bahamian ownership in the economy", according to his website.

"I support the FNM 100 percent, because I feel Christie was not doing a good job in the five years we gave him", Nassau resident Jmeail Dames said of the prime minister's current term.

Christie, 73, prompted condemnation earlier this year when he denied corruption accusations by raising his middle finger to reporters.

His education minister, Jerome Fitzgerald, is also embroiled in controversy over a shady multimillion-dollar business allegedly seeking contracts from the Baha Mar resort, which is controlled by Chinese investors.

Under construction for almost a decade with Chinese financing and construction workers, Baha Mar was taken over by a Chinese conglomerate in 2016 after its original developer tried to file for bankruptcy in the United States.

The island archipelago, which gained independence from Britain in 1973, heavily depends on tourism and foreign investment in resorts and other attractions.

Read more: US President Donald Trump fires FBI director James Comey

More than 180,000 people are registered to cast their ballots for the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. Voting took place without incident.

However, a polling station on the main island New Providence opened late following concerns about ballots, and some of those waiting left without voting.

International observers the Caribbean Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States and the United States were invited to monitor the election.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New York:

California police have started investigating the murder of a 32-year old Sikh man as a possible hate crime. Jagjeet Singh had refused to sell cigarettes to a man who did not have proper ID.



Singh, who was a clerk at the Hatch Food and Gas convenience store in Californias Modesto city, had come to the US only 18 months ago from Punjab. Singh was stabbed to death last week after he apparently refused to sell cigarettes to his attacker as he did not have proper ID.



Heather Graves, a Modesto Police Department spokeswoman, told NBC News that Singh and one of the suspects had had a confrontation inside the store.



We have a couple of different witnesses giving some information but thats still under investigation, she said.



Asked whether the stabbing may have been a hate crime, Graves said, That is a possibility and we are investigating that possibility as well.

ALSO READ: Hate crime: Sushma Swaraj speaks to Indian envoy Navtej S Sarna over killing of Sikh man in US



Police have released a surveillance picture of the man who got into an argument with Singh over the sale of cigarettes. The man left the business parking lot in a dark coloured vehicle and then returned with a second suspect who stabbed the victim.



The preliminary findings suggest that Singh was securing the business after closing when he was approached by the suspect. The suspect, described as a Hispanic male stabbed Singh and then fled from the scene, according to a statement from the Modesto Police Department.



Singh was the fourth Indian-origin victim of an alleged crime in the US in the last one week alone. Ramesh Kumar, 32, was found?dead of gunshot wounds in the passenger seat of a car parked in a rest area 90 miles of Detroit.



Indian-origin Naren Prabhu, a Silicon Valley technology executive and his wife, were shot at their home in San Jose by their daughter?s ex-boyfriend who was eventually shot dead in a standoff with the police. Mirza Tatlic, 24, fatally shot the couple in an apparent revenge attack.

ALSO READ: Hate crime: Indian-origin man stabbed to death in US over cigarettes

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
ACLU warns illegals to avoid Texas because Gov. Abbott decided to enforce immigration law, unlike other states

The far-Left American Civil Liberties Union has a warning for potential illegal border crossers from Mexico: Maybe you should find somewhere other than Texas to try to violate U.S. immigration laws.

Why? Well, because the state of Texas has no problems enforcing its own immigration-related laws, as well as the federal governments laws prohibiting unlawful entry.

As reported by Fast Company, the ACLU has issued a travel alert to all, actually, advising them to avoid the Lone Star State following the passage of SB4, a new piece of legislation that empowers law enforcement officers to look into a persons immigration status during routine traffic stops.

As usual, because the Left has a playbook for everything, the ACLU is claiming that the new law will create widespread racial profiling, baseless scrutiny, and illegal arrests of citizens and non-citizens alike.

Ponder this: The ACLU, by even making this claim, says loud and clear that it has no faith in Texas law enforcement officers to uphold their oaths of office and do their jobs as they have sworn to do. Thats one. (RELATED: The Dirty Little Secret About Border Walls And Secure Fences: They WORK)

For another thing, the loony Left always makes blanket accusations when it attacks  in this case, the oft-used accusation of racism. How enforcing laws as written becomes racist is never explained by these fools; they just drop the allegation and off they go. Talk about baseless.

Whats really odd here is that this travel advisory applies to American citizens as well  as if they have anything to worry about when it comes to their legal status. Citizens, by their very nature, are not in the country illegally, and they ought not to mind answering a police officers question about such. To get around the expected charges of racism, police departments should adopt a policy whereby officers ask everyone they stop what their citizenship status is.

We plan to fight this racist and wrongheaded law in the courts and in the streets, Terri Burke, executive director of the Texas ACLU chapter, threatened. Until we defeat it, everyone traveling in or to Texas needs to be aware of whats in store for them. The Lone Star State will become a show me your papers state, where every interaction with law enforcement can become citizenship interrogation and potentially an illegal arrest.

Uh, well, illegal arrest is a poser, especially in the context of this warning. How, pray tell, will American citizens be caught up in illegal arrests as they apply to local cops inquiring about immigration status? And theres this: Maybe Texas cops wouldnt have to ask for that status if the state didnt have such a problem with illegal immigration in the first place.

On that note, its getting a lot quieter along the U.S.-Mexico border  thanks to efforts by the state of Texas and the federal government to actually enforce immigration laws as written.

As reported by the Washington Times, crossings have plummeted 76 percent since Trump took office and, via policy, changed the entire paradigm at the border:

Illegal immigration across the southwestern border is down a stunning 76 percent since President Trump was elected, with the flow of children and families dropping even faster as analysts say the administrations commitment to enforcing the law has changed the reality along the border.

Overall apprehensions by the Border Patrol dropped to just 11,129 in April, according to numbers released Tuesday, marking the lowest monthly total for any month in decades.

A lot of the discussion about changes in our enforcement policy and the way we are going about doing business, we believe that has deterred people, Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan told the Times. When you get here, it is likely you are going to get caught. You are going to be returned to your country. (RELATED: Trump administration ramping up crackdown on illegal immigrants, to include VISA overstays and criminals)

Frankly, this is astounding. But really, it should not surprise anyone. When you commit to enforcing the law, this is the result.

Also, this puts the lie to President Obamas claims that his administration was also enforcing immigration law; were that the case, there would not have been record numbers of crossers during his tenure.

One other thing to mention here. The ACLUs travel warning is also, in its own way, helping to reduce the number of illegal border crossings. So maybe DHS should send them a thank-you note.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

WashingtonTimes.com

FastCompany.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

Submit a correction >>
NEW FAIRFIELD Two members of the Inlands and Wetlands Conservation Commission have announced that they will run for first selectman and selectman this November, citing the selectmens proposal to use herbicides in Candlewood Lake as one reason they are running.

Pat Del Monaco, chairman of the commission, will run for first selectman against incumbent Susan Chapman, who is completing her second full term. Del Monaco will run with Khris Hall, a member of the commission,who is seeking Selectman Kim Hansons seat on the board.

The running mates, who have been endorsed by the New Fairfield Democratic Town Committee, said they decided to run after noticing what they call a lack of responsiveness in the current board.

As I would sit and watch what was going on, I kind of came to the conclusion that I could do things better, said Hall, who covers local government meetings for her online news blog, newfairfield-news.com. I felt the Board of Selectmen did not value the input of residents, and I think thats a very important element in a town-meeting style of government.

Del Monaco said this lack of responsiveness is most visible in how the board has dealt with another one of her and Halls main issues, protecting Candlewood Lake.

The towns plan to put herbicides into the lake has received pushback from residents and the Candlewood Lake Authority since its January introduction. As the 15-year chairman of the wetlands commission, Del Monaco has fought the proposal at a March 2 forum and sent a letter voicing her opposition to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Although town meetings are poorly attended, she said, residents who do speak out arent heard.

The lake is a prime example, she said. There are many residents who are very unhappy about the idea of herbicides being applied to the lake, and that seems to be falling on deaf ears.

Del Monaco and Hall worry using the herbicide Diquat will harm the Candlewood Lake Authoritys grass-carp program, but said they mostly disagree with the selectmens failure to engage with other towns, the lake authority and the residents to resolve the watermilfoil and blue-green algae problems.

The candidates said they hope to improve conditions for small businesses so downtown shopping area vacancies can be filled. Del Monaco said high rents are a problem.

Im very discouraged by the fact that small businesses are leaving town, she said. I would like to meet with the small-business owners and other stakeholders to see if anything the town could do.

Del Monaco is a chemical engineer who got involved in the community after leaving her job as a department director with Unilever US. In addition to the conservation commission, she has served as co-president of two parent-teacher organizations and on the Rebel Music Boosters.

Hall started her career as an environmental lawyer, worked at IBM for 31 years and then as a reporter for several news outlets.

Were just getting going, Hall said. We think its going to be tough race, but were looking forward to it.
Birks is first jeweller to offer customers diamonds from the Stornoway Renard Mine

MONTREAL, May 11, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Birks today proudly unveiled the first 200 diamonds from Quebec's Renard diamond mine, owned by Stornoway Diamond Corporation. Located 250 km north of the Cree community of Mistissini and 350 km north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of north-central Quebec, the Renard mine is Quebec's first diamond mining operation.

Birks had already made a commitment to offer exclusively Canadian diamonds for its engagement rings. In 2010, Birks was the first jeweller to feature diamonds from the Victor mine in Ontario. Birks guarantees the traceability of each Canadian diamond, from the mine where it originated to the finished product, thereby guaranteeing a 100% ethical diamond.

Quebec's first diamonds will be publicly unveiled at an event attended by members of the business community, customers and journalists at the Birks store on Phillips Square in Montreal. The diamonds will be on display at the store for before travelling to other Birks locations (including Laval, Ste-Foy and Ottawa) over the next few weeks. The selection presented is a fine sample of Stornoway's production, with diamonds ranging from 0.18 carats to a magnificent 10.01 carat stone. The stones can be purchased individually as loose diamonds, or mounted into a ring, pendant or earrings, according to the customer's wishes.

"We're very proud to unveil the first certified diamonds from a mine in Quebec. Established in Montreal in 1879, Birks is a resolutely Quebec and Canadian brand. With this year being Montreal's 375th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, we are delighted to unveil these exceptional diamonds, which come directly from Stornoway's Renard mine in Quebec. They are an outstanding example of the quality of our natural resources. As a Canadian leader in the jewellery market, we are convinced they will appeal to our customers, who are increasingly interested in knowing the provenance and traceability of precious stones," said Jean-Christophe Bedos, President and CEO of Birks Group Inc.

"Stornoway and its partners are pleased to see the first certified Quebec diamonds offered to customers of the legendary Birks store. Mined in Quebec, they are the culmination of many years of hard work and numerous partnerships with local communities of Mistissini, Chibougamau and Chapais, national, international and Quebec-based institutions. We are grateful to Birks for its commitment and could not be more pleased to see Birks creations featuring Renard diamonds," added Matt Manson, president and CEO of Stornoway Diamond Corporation.

Each stone, displayed and available for purchase in the store, comes with a Birks Quebec diamond certificate of authenticity and a unique serial number to confirm its provenance and traceability. Each stone will be micro-engraved with the maple leaf and the fleur de lys, symbols of Canada and Quebec respectively, visible only with a 10x magnifying glass.

With these new diamonds, Birks will expand its offering of Canadian stones, in keeping with its commitment to its customers.

ABOUT BIRKS

Birks Group is a leading operator of luxury jewelry stores in Canada and southeastern United States. The Company operates 26 stores under the Birks brand in most major metropolitan markets in Canada, 17 stores in Florida and Georgia under the Mayors brand, one store under the Rolex brand name and two retail locations in Calgary and Vancouver under the Brinkhaus brand. Birks was founded in 1879 and developed over the years into Canada's premier retailer and designer of fine jewelry, timepieces and gifts. Please visit www.birks.com.

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @maisonbirks

ABOUT THE RENARD DIAMOND MINE

The Renard Diamond Mine is Quebec's first producing diamond mine and Canada's sixth. It is located approximately 250 km north of the Cree community of Mistissini and 350 km north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of north-central Quebec. Construction on the project commenced on July 10, 2014, and commercial production was declared on January 1, 2017. Average annual diamond production is forecast at 1.8 million carats per annum over the first 10 years of mining. Readers are referred to the technical report dated January 11, 2016, in respect of the September 2015 Mineral Resource estimate, and the technical report dated March 30, 2016, in respect of the March 2016 Updated Mine Plan and Mineral Reserve Estimate for further details and assumptions relating to the project.

ABOUT STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION

Stornoway is a leading Canadian diamond exploration and development company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY and headquartered in Montreal. Our flagship asset is the 100% owned Renard Diamond Project, Quebec's first diamond mine. Stornoway is a growth-oriented company with a world-class asset, in one of the world's best mining jurisdictions, in one of the world's great mining businesses.

SOURCE Birks Group Inc.

For further information: and interview requests: Amelie Forcier, [email protected], 514.843.2307

Related Links

http://www.birks.com


Calgarians and visitors alike to create lasting memories of the 150th anniversary of Confederation

CALGARY, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, on behalf of the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, today unveiled a three-dimensional Canada 150 sign in Calgary to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Another 18 signs will be installed in provincial and territorial capitals and a number of iconic tourist destinations, creating vibrant gathering spaces across the country for Canadians and tourists alike to celebrate this special moment in Canada's history.

The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), which is responsible for the project, will be installing the rest of the signs in the next few weeks. They will all be in place by June 21, 2017, just in time for celebrations across the country. The structures feature the word Canada and the number 150 in red.

Quotes

"I invite all Canadians to experience these pieces of public art in their own communities. Bring friends and family to take part in the many festivities during this exceptional anniversary year!"

The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"These Canada 150 signs are a wonderful opportunity to create lasting memories of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration. As Canadians check out these amazing signs in cities across Canada, it's a great opportunity to keep exploring and learn something new about our country."

The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Quick Facts

The 3D Canada 150 signs will be installed in the following communities: Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Regina, Winnipeg, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Iqaluit, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John's. They will be on display until at least the end of 2017.

All signs will be installed by the beginning of the Celebrate Canada period, which starts on June 21.

Canadians and tourists are invited to take pictures at these sites and share them on social media using the hashtag #3DCanada150.

The majority of the 3D Canada 150 signs will measure 1.82 m (6 feet) by 10.97 m (36 feet), and weigh 2722 kg (6,000 lbs.). These signs will be illuminated with different colours at night.

Smaller 3D Canada 150 signs, measuring 0.91 m (3 feet) by 3.05 m (10 feet), will be installed in the territorial capitals as well as the Brewster Gondola Summit in Banff.

Associated Links

Canada 150 http://canada.pch.gc.ca/canada150

SOURCE Canadian Heritage

For further information: For more information (media only), please contact: Pierre-Olivier Herbert, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, 819-997-7788; Media Relations, Canadian Heritage, 819-994-9101, 1-866-569-6155; [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.pch.gc.ca


QUEBEC, May 11, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust ("Cominar" or the "REIT") (TSX: CUF.UN) announced today its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2017.

Highlights for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2017

Cominar completed its capital optimization program

Decreased debt ratio to 52.0%

"During the quarter ended March 31, 2017, we completed our capital optimization program by selling $93 million of properties. This amount was used to reduce our debt ratio to 52.0%", said Gilles Hamel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cominar.

"Our in-place occupancy rate has been impacted over the last 24 months in the retail segment by the bankruptcy of several retailers, including Target, and in the office segment by the federal government's policy of consolidating and reducing their space requirements in the Ottawa area", stated Michel Dallaire, Chief Executive Officer. "During this period, our leasing teams have done excellent work in re-leasing the space left vacant. As a result of these efforts, 1.7 million square feet of vacant space has been leased, but the clients are not yet in occupancy, paying rent. The incremental rent that we will receive in the coming quarters from these clients allows us to confirm the sustainability of our distribution at current levels", added Mr. Dallaire.

PRESENTATION OF RESULTS

For the quarter ended March 31, 2017, operating revenues were $214.0 million compared to $221.4 million for the corresponding period of 2016.

Net operating income(1) was $105.9 million compared to $113.7 million for the corresponding period of 2016.

Net income for the first quarter of 2017 was $59.7 million compared to $68.1 million for the corresponding period of 2016.

Recurring funds from operations(1) for the first quarter of 2017 were $61.0 million, while they were $69.3 million for the corresponding period of 2016. Fully diluted recurring funds from operations per unit(1) amounted to $0.33 for this period.

Recurring adjusted funds from operations(1) for the first quarter of 2017 were $52.5 million compared to $61.0 million for the corresponding period of 2016. Fully diluted per unit, they amounted to $0.29 for this period.

Cash flows provided by operating activities amounted to $35.8 million, down 7.5% compared to the corresponding period of 2016.

Recurring adjusted cash flows from operations(1) for the first quarter of 2017 were $53.3 million, compared to $61.5 million for the corresponding period of 2016. Fully diluted per unit, they amounted to $0.29 for this period.

For the first quarter of 2017, operating revenues, net operating income, recurring funds from operations, recurring adjusted funds from operations as well as recurring adjusted cash flows from operations decreased compared to the corresponding period of 2016, due mainly to the dispositions of properties completed in 2016 and 2017.

FINANCIAL SITUATION

As at March 31, 2017, Cominar's debt ratio decreased to 52.0%, down from 52.4% as at December 31, 2016. At the end of the first quarter of 2017, total assets reached $8.3 billion, the unsecured revolving credit facility utilized was $199.5 million, and cash available amounted to $500.5 million.

DISPOSITIONS

During the quarter ended March 31, 2017, Cominar completed the sale of 10 income properties for total net proceeds of $93.0 million. This amount contributed to reduce our debt ratio to 52.0%.

LEASING ACTIVITY

During the first three months of 2017, our leasing efforts allowed us to renew 36.7% of the total leasable area expiring during fiscal 2017. This situation resulted from a more aggressive leasing policy that allowed Cominar to sign new leases for 1.8 million square feet and to renew 3.0 million square feet, together representing 58.4% of the spaces maturing in 2017.

Growth in the average net rent of renewed leases was 0.8% for the first quarter of 2017.

Occupancy rate was 92.3% as at March 31, 2017, compared to 92.4% as at December 31, 2016.

SUBSEQUENT EVENT

On April 19, 2017, Cominar completed the sale of a retail property located in the Quebec area for a total of $0.9 million.

(1) Non-IFRS financial measure. See the reconciliation to closest IFRS measure.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

For the periods ended March 31 2017 2016 % 

($000) ($000)









Operating revenues 213,956 221,424 (3.4) Operating expenses (108,073) (107,754) 0.3 Net operating income (1) 105,883 113,670 (6.9) Finance charges (42,298) (42,210) 0.2 Trust administrative expenses (4,484) (3,997) 12.7 Share of joint ventures' net income 831 711 16.9 Income taxes (219) (93) 135.5 Net income 59,713 68,081 (12.3)

(1) Non-IFRS financial measure.

NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

Net operating income, funds from operations (FFO), adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) and adjusted cash flows from operations (ACFO) are not measures recognized by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. Such measures may differ from similar computations as reported by similar entities and, accordingly, may not be comparable to similar measures reported by such other entities.



FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS (FFO) AND ADJUSTED FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS (AFFO)

The following table presents a reconciliation of net income, as determined in accordance with IFRS, and recurring funds from operations and recurring adjusted funds from operations:

For the quarters ended March 31

2017 2016



($000) ($000)







Net income

59,713 68,081 + Deferred income taxes

219 93 + Initial and re-leasing salary costs

874 661 + Capitalizable interest on properties under development  joint ventures

202 442 Recurring funds from operations(1)(2)

61,008 69,277







- Provision for leasing costs

(6,251) (5,625) - Recognition of leases on a straight-line basis(1)

(727) (1,200) - Capital expenditures  maintenance of rental income generating capacity

(1,557) (1,418)







Recurring adjusted funds from operations(1)(2)

52,473 61,034

(1) Including Cominar's proportionate share in joint ventures. (2) Non-IFRS financial measure.

ADJUSTED CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATIONS (ACFO)

The following table presents a reconciliation between the cash flows provided by operating activities as per the condensed interim consolidated financial statements and the recurring adjusted cash flows from operations:







For the quarters ended March 31 2017 2016

($000) ($000)





Cash flows provided by operating activities as per the condensed interim consolidated financial statements 35,753 38,632 + Adjustments  investments in joint ventures(1) 542 617 - Provision for leasing costs (6,251) (5,625) + Initial and re-leasing salary costs 874 661 + Changes in non-cash working capital items 23,056 27,205 - Capital expenditures  maintenance of rental income generating capacity (1,557) (1,418) - Amortization of deferred financing costs and others (733) (785) + Amortization of fair value adjustments on assumed mortgages payable 1,420 1,804 + Capitalizable interest on properties under development  joint ventures 202 442 Recurring adjusted cash flows from operations(4) 53,306 61,533 Payout ratio(2) 126.7% 102.1% Cash flows payout ratio(2)(3) 94.7% 102.1%





(1) Including Cominar's proportionate share in joint ventures. (2) Fully diluted. (3) The cash flows payout ratio corresponds to the cash distribution per unit divided by the fully diluted recurring adjusted cash flows from operations per unit. (4) Non-IFRS financial measure

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Cominar's condensed interim consolidated financial statements and interim management's discussion and analysis for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, will be filed with SEDAR at www.sedar.com and will be available on Cominar's website at www.cominar.com.

CONFERENCE CALL ON MAY 11, 2017

On Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 11 a.m. (ET), Cominar's management will hold a conference call to present the results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. Anyone who is interested may take part in this call by dialing 1 888 390-0546. A presentation regarding these results will be available before the conference call on the REIT's website at www.cominar.com, under the Conference Call header. In addition, a taped rebroadcast of the conference call will be available from Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 2 p.m. to Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 11:59 p.m., by dialing 1 888 390-0541 followed by this code: 869839#.

PROFILE AS AT MAY 11, 2017

Cominar is the third largest diversified real estate investment trust in Canada and currently remains the largest commercial property owner in the Province of Quebec. The REIT owns a real estate portfolio of 529 properties in three different market segments, that is, office properties, retail properties and industrial and mixed-use properties. Cominar's portfolio totals 44.1 million square feet spread out across Quebec, Ontario, the Atlantic Provinces and Western Canada. Cominar's objectives are to pay growing cash distributions to unitholders and to maximize unitholder value through proactive management and the expansion of its portfolio.

Cominar offers unitholders the opportunity to participate in its Unitholder Distribution Reinvestment Plan, which allows them to receive their monthly cash distributions as additional Cominar units. Participants will be entitled to receive an additional distribution equal to 3% of the distributions reinvested, which will be reinvested in additional units. For more information and to obtain a participation form, please visit Cominar's website at www.cominar.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to Cominar and its operations, strategy, financial performance and financial condition. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The actual results and performance of Cominar discussed herein could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, competition, changes in government regulation and the factors described under "Risk Factors" in Cominar's Annual Information Form. The cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to Cominar and persons acting on its behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Cominar does not assume any obligation to update the aforementioned forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

SOURCE COMINAR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST

For further information: Michel Dallaire, Eng., Chief Executive Officer, Gilles Hamel, CPA, CA, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Tel: 418 681-8151, [email protected], [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.cominar.com


Expands region's technology ecosystem to bring on more data-driven businesses

WATERLOO, ON, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Today Communitech officially launched the Communitech Data Hub with founding partners CIBC, City of Waterloo and Quantum Valley Investments. Located in Uptown Waterloo, the hub at 14 Erb Street West is the region's new home for the data-driven tech community.

Formerly a police station, the newly renovated 19,000+ square foot facility offers a collaborative space for a mix of tech and data-driven clients and enterprise partners. This work environment is available to startups and scale-ups , features several data-specific special interest zones and is home to Canada's Open Data Exchange (ODX) a federal government initiative that helps enterprises and startups generate new commercial applications using open data sets.

"There's this notion data is the new gold, and more and more we've seen a rise in local tech companies specializing in open data, artificial intelligence, connected vehicles, cyber security and smart cities," said Iain Klugman, CEO, Communitech. "In true Communitech style, the new data hub supports and connects these companies in the region while also welcoming new partners in the space."

CIBC, the data hub's official founding bank partner, is introducing its new Data Studio at Communitech. A team of full time data scientists paired with local co-op students will tap into the thriving startup environment and work with key partners to explore new capabilities.

"Being part of a collaborative ecosystem at Communitech means we can identify new ways to harness the power of data to deliver leading insight, advice and solutions for our clients," says Jose Ribau, Chief Data Officer, CIBC. "It's exciting to be part of this innovative partnership that will enable established companies and start-ups to grow and use data to its full potential."

"We are very pleased to welcome Communitech back to Waterloo. The data hub in our community is vibrant and Communitech further strengthens it. The work and synergies generated by these smart and innovative organizations is exciting and we look forward to years of success and creativity," said Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky.

"We believe that the unique historic character of the 14 Erb property and its location at the heart of vibrant Uptown Waterloo, make it the perfect site from which Communitech can create new business opportunities in the Waterloo Region," said Ophelia Lazaridis of Quantum Valley Investments. "We congratulate them on this very worthwhile endeavor and wish them great success moving forward."

About Communitech

Communitech is a private-public innovation centre in Waterloo Region that supports a community ecosystem of more than 1,000 tech companiesfrom startups to rapidly growing mid-size companies and large global players. A member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, which is funded by the Ontario Government, Communitech helps tech companies start, grow and succeed.

For more information or to apply for space in the Communitech Data Hub, please email [email protected].

About CIBC Data Studio

CIBC Data Studio is the bank's new analytics innovation hub situated in the technology ecosystem of Communitech in Waterloo, Ontario. Co-located with other data-driven organizations, CIBC Data Studio opened its doors to co-enable exploration of new capabilities, and enhance discovery in emerging technologies and smart cities. Thriving in a startup environment to deliver a new horizon of innovation for clients, the initiative facilitates CIBC's collaboration with the country's top tech talent and future leaders. For more information visit cibcdatastudio.com.

SOURCE CIBC

For further information: For media inquiries, please contact: Samantha Clark, Communitech, [email protected] or 519-221-3466; Olga Petrycki, CIBC, [email protected] or 416-306-9760

Related Links

http://www.cibc.com


TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945

WATERLOO, ON, May 10, 2017 /CNW/ - Manulife has made a $25,000 donation to the Canadian Red Cross' Spring Floods Appeal, which is being used to provide assistance and aid for those impacted by flooding across Canada. The company will also match employee donations up to $10,000.

Parts of Canada have been inundated with record-breaking rainfalls and mass flooding this spring. From B.C. to parts of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, residents of many Canadian communities find themselves in distressing circumstances with significant damage to their homes, properties and livelihoods.

"These floods have had a devastating impact on many communities across the country," said Marianne Harrison, President & CEO, Manulife Canada. "We are glad to help our fellow Canadians during this difficult time."

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. We operate as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2016, we had approximately 35,000 employees, 70,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving more than 22 million customers. As of March 31, 2017, we had $1 trillion (US$754 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made almost $26.3 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation

For further information: Brooke Tucker-Reid, Manulife, 647-528-9601, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.manulife.com


Minister launches an ambitious 20-point plan to strengthen Canada's tourism sector

CALGARY, May 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada is competing to be a top destination in the global tourism sector. Making sure that more international tourists choose Canada will mean more jobs for Canadian youth and a boost for small businesses in every region of the country.

The past year was a record one for Canadian tourism, and with Canada's New Tourism Vision ,the Government of Canada has a clear plan to build on this success, continue growing the tourism sector and create jobs for many years to come. This was the message delivered by the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism, during her unveiling of Canada's New Tourism Vision in a keynote luncheon speech at Rendez-vous Canada.

The New Tourism Vision commits to taking action on 20 priority issues. Specifically, the plan will invest in stronger and more sustained marketing, address issues related to travelling to and within the country, and support Canadian tourism businesses and operators as they work to upgrade their offerings with new, innovative products and services.

Minister Chagger also launched a website to showcase Canada's New Tourism Vision, providing Canadian tourism businesses and operators with up-to-date information on Canadian tourism. This action supports three of the vision's commitments:

Increasing the number of international tourists to Canada by 30 percent by 2021.

by 30 percent by 2021. Doubling the number of Chinese visitors by the same year.

Positioning Canada to compete for a top 10 destination ranking by 2025.

Quotes

"It is so great to be back here at Rendez-vous Canada and to see the record number of people in attendance. I always enjoy meeting with so many hard-working people who welcome visitors to our country and help grow tourism from coast to coast to coast. Tourism is vital for many middle-class jobs in communities across the country, supporting 200,000 businesses and 1.7 million jobs. Through our government's New Tourism Vision, we have a clear plan to build on this success and showcase our beautiful landscapes, incredible experiences and unique culture to the world."

 The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

"This is great news! These are exciting times for the tourism industry, and our shareholders' support is crucial to our continued success together."

 David Goldstein, President and CEO, Destination Canada

"Every year, Rendez-vous Canada demonstrates to the world the strength, diversity and opportunity of our industry. This year's record participation shows the world that Canada's tourism industry is ready for more visitors, strong growth and more jobs. Having the Government of Canada as a partner to support growth is imperative to ensure long-term sustainable growth. Our special thanks go out to Minister Chagger for her leadership and support. Canada's New Tourism Vision will help raise Canada's profile abroad while advancing work across government and meaningful action here at home. The Vision's measurable goals will provide clear targets to work towardtogetherfor growing our industry and the Canadian economy."

 Charlotte Bell, President and CEO, Tourism Industry Association of Canada

Quick facts

Rendez-vous Canada is Canada's premier international tourism marketplace led by Destination Canada and co-managed by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada .

is premier international tourism marketplace led by Destination Canada and co-managed by the Tourism Industry Association of . Rendez-vous Canada is held in a different Canadian city every year. This year's edition, which is taking place in Calgary , will be bringing together a record 1,800 international buyers and Canadian sellers to showcase and promote Canadian tourism products and services to foreign markets.

is held in a different Canadian city every year. This year's edition, which is taking place in , will be bringing together a record 1,800 international buyers and Canadian sellers to showcase and promote Canadian tourism products and services to foreign markets. Canada's tourism industry supports 1.7 million jobs across the country.

tourism industry supports 1.7 million jobs across the country. Budget 2017 announced important investments in Canada's tourism sector:

tourism sector: Making permanent the $37.5 million per year in temporary funding previously provided to Destination Canada.

per year in temporary funding previously provided to Destination Canada.

Providing $8.6 million to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to support the development of Canada's unique and authentic Indigenous tourism industry.

to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to support the development of unique and authentic Indigenous tourism industry.

Providing $13.6 million over five years, and $2.7 million annually thereafter, to Statistics Canada to broaden tourism data collection.

Associated links

Follow Minister Chagger on social media.

Twitter: @MinofSBT

Instagram: minofsbt

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

For further information: Jonathan Dignan, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Small Business and Tourism, 343-291-2700; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/home


MONTREAL, May 10, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal is pleased to announce that Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, will be coming to Montreal to deliver a keynote speech on June 6th as part of the Chamber's Bell International Leaders series.

"It is an honour to welcome such a special guest to the Chamber as Montreal celebrates its 375th anniversary," stated Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. "At a time when the world is seeking more certainty and stability, and as globalization is forcing us to rethink our existing economic and democratic models, we are proud to host someone who has devoted his actions to human rights, free trade agreements, diplomacy, and economic development. He has demonstrated that harmonious relations between nations are a powerful pathway to reinforcing peace, trade, and the development of new markets."

"President Obama is among those who are making history and inspiring youth throughout the world. He keeps us moving forward towards a more equal society based on freedom, hope, and optimism," said Michel Leblanc.

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama made history when he was elected 44th President of the United States. He took office as America was facing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. President Obama's leadership and optimism helped rescue the economy, revitalize the American auto industry, reform the health care system to cover another twenty million Americans, and put the country on a firm course to a clean energy futureall while overseeing the longest stretch of job creation in American history.

"I want to thank Bell for being with us since the creation of the International Leaders series. With their support, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal has built a reputation for receiving great and inspiring speakers such as President Obama," concluded Michel Leblanc.

Over the years, the Chamber has welcomed a number of prestigious speakers in its International Leaders series, such as President Nicolas Sarkozy, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Prime Minister Manuel Valls, President Bill Clinton, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, President Mikhail Gorbachev, Senator Arnold Schwarzenegger, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and President George W. Bush.

This Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal event is organized with the support of Bell, in association with evenko.

More information about the event, as well as registration details, will be available shortly on the Chamber's website at ccmm.ca.

About the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM)

With a network of over 7,000 members, the CCMM is active on two fronts: being the voice of the Montreal business community, and delivering specialized services to businesses and their representatives. With its finger on the pulse of current events, it acts on issues that are decisive for the prosperity of the city's businesses. With the support of its Acclr experts, the CCMM's goal is to accelerate the creation and growth of businesses of all sizes, at home and around the world.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/chambremontreal

Twitter: @chambremontreal

Follow the discussion: #ccmm

SOURCE Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

For further information: Guillaume Berube, Advisor, Media Relations, Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4042, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.ccmm.qc.ca


Gut-selective treatment now funded publicly for Quebecers with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

OAKVILLE, ON, May 10, 2017 /CNW/ - Takeda Canada Inc. is pleased to announce that Quebec's public drug plan has agreed to fund ENTYVIO (vedolizumab), the first and only gut-selective biologic therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

ENTYVIO has been added to the Regie de l'assurance maladie du Quebec (RAMQ) Liste des medicaments for adults with moderate or severe ulcerative colitis (UC) regardless of whether they were previously on biologic treatment. For people living with Crohn's disease (CD), ENTYVIO is available after failure on all funded anti-TNF therapies or for those contraindicated to receive or unable to tolerate anti-TNF therapies.

"This is good news for Quebecers living with IBD because it gives patients access to a new treatment option. ENTYVIO has a unique gut-selective mode of action which directly targets the disease, leaving less potential for side effects," said Dr. Edmond-Jean Bernard, a gastroenterologist at the CHUM-Hotel-Dieu in Montreal. "We have seen positive results in patients using this new treatment option and are very pleased we will now be able to use it with patients covered under the public drug plan."

In addition to Quebec, ENTYVIO is now available through public drug plans in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Yukon, subject to certain varying criteria in different jurisdictions. The listings follow the successful conclusion of negotiations between Takeda Canada Inc. and the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA), the body set up by all the provinces and territories to jointly negotiate terms of public drug plan listings with pharmaceutical companies.1 ENTYVIO is already covered by almost all private insurers in Quebec, but many Quebecers with IBD rely on the public provincial plan for their treatments.

"Canadians living with Crohn's and/or colitis need access to drugs and treatments that could alleviate their symptoms and help them achieve remission which has a huge impact on quality of life," said Mina Mawani, President and CEO, Crohn's and Colitis Canada. "This news is very encouraging and we are pleased that patients in Quebec will have access to ENTYVIO through their public drug plan."

ENTYVIO is Takeda Canada's innovative biologic treatment to treat the two most common types of IBD, CD and UC.2 ENTYVIO was the 2016 winner of the prestigious Prix Galien Canada - Innovative Product Award, recognizing its unique mode of action and ability to offer an efficacious gut-selective treatment option for patients living with moderate to severe UC or CD.3

Patients who are prescribed ENTYVIO are fully supported with information, reimbursement assistance and convenient infusion clinics through Takeda's patient support program YOURVANTAGE.

"We are very pleased that Quebec has recognized the need for additional IBD treatment options and has added ENTYVIO to the treatments covered by its public drug plan," said Chatrick Paul, General Manager of Takeda Canada. "ENTYVIO has been enthusiastically received by physicians and patients since it was first approved in Canada in 2015 and we know it is anxiously awaited by those who depend on public drug plans."

About inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

The two most common forms of IBD are ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD).4 Approximately 233,000 Canadians are living with UC and CD. More than 10,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, typically in patients in their 20s, though it can be diagnosed at any age, including in children.5 IBD has been labelled Canada's "national disease" due to Canada having among the highest rates in the world.6 UC causes the tissue of the large intestine (including the colon and rectum) to become inflamed, form sores and bleed easily. Along with symptoms of abdominal pain, cramping, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, UC can cause severe complications including intestinal bleeding and bowel obstructions. CD may involve inflammation in different parts of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract in different people; however, it most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine (the ileum) where it joins the beginning of the colon.7 Sometimes a portion of the bowel needs to be surgically removed to bring patients relief.8 The exact cause of IBD is not entirely understood, though it is believed to result from an interaction between genes and the body's immune system, with environmental factors possibly playing a role.9

About ENTYVIO

ENTYVIO is the first and only gut-selective biologic therapy with no known systemic immunosuppressive effects10 and works by targeting the gut, directly reaching inflammation that causes symptoms of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.11 ENTYVIO is approved by Health Canada for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis who have had an inadequate response, loss of response to, or were intolerant to either conventional therapy or infliximab, a TNF antagonist.12 ENTYVIO is also indicated for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease who have had an inadequate response with, lost response to, or were intolerant to immunomodulators or a tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) antagonist; or have had an inadequate response, intolerance, or demonstrated dependence on corticosteroids.13

Canadian researchers played a pivotal role in the treatment's early discovery and development. Researcher Dr. Andrew Lazarovits of London, Ontario, developed a first potential molecule for this type of therapy while working in Boston but passed away in 1999 at age 44.14 His work was taken up by others, resulting in the development of vedolizumab and eventually international clinical trials financed by Takeda which were led by Dr. Feagan in London, Ontario. The treatment was first used on an ulcerative colitis patient at University Hospital in London15 and Dr. Feagan was the lead author of the publication of the trial results in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2013.16

Takeda's Commitment to Gastroenterology

More than 70 million people worldwide are impacted by gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, which can be complex, debilitating and life-changing.17 Takeda is driven to improving the lives of patients with GI diseases through innovative medicines, dedicated patient disease management support and the evolution of the healthcare environment. Takeda is leading in gastroenterology through the delivery of innovative medicines in areas associated with high unmet needs, such as inflammatory bowel disease, GI acid-related diseases and GI motility disorders. Our GI research & development team is also exploring solutions in celiac disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), as well as scientific advancements through microbiome therapies. With more than 25 years of experience in this area, our broad approach to treating many diseases that impact the GI system and our global network of collaborators, Takeda aims to advance how patients manage their disease.

About Takeda

Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to strive towards better health for people worldwide through leading innovation in medicine. Additional information about Takeda is available at takeda.com.

Takeda Canada, located in Oakville, Ontario, is the Canadian sales and marketing organization of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Takeda Canada is transforming to become an agile specialty pharmaceutical company, focusing on gastroenterology and oncology, while continuing to meet a number of important primary care needs. Additional information about Takeda Canada is available at takedacanada.com.

ENTYVIO is a registered trademark of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and used under licence by Takeda Canada Inc.

YOURVANTAGE is a trademark of Takeda Canada Inc.

________________________ 1 Benefits Canada, How the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance works; accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.benefitscanada.com/benefits/health-benefits/how-the-pan-canadian-pharmaceutical-alliance-works-81307 2 Crohn's and Colitis Canada, Newly Diagnosed; accessed April 25, 2017, at: http://www.crohnsandcolitis.ca/Living-with-Crohn-s-Colitis/Diagnostic-recent 3 Prix Galien Canada, 2016 Laureates; accessed March 13, 2017 at: http://eng.prix-galien-canada.com/2016-laureates.html 4 Crohn's and Colitis Canada, Newly Diagnosed; accessed April 25, 2017, at: http://www.crohnsandcolitis.ca/Living-with-Crohn-s-Colitis/Diagnostic-recent 5 Crohn's and Colitis Canada, The Impact of IBD Report, Who is affected; accessed April 25, 2017, at: http://crohnsandcolitis.ca/About-Us/Resources-Publications/Impact-of-IBD-Report 6 Media Planet, Digestive Wellness Supplement, Tackling the burden of ulcerative colitis, March 2015, accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.personalhealthnews.ca/prevention-and-treatment/tackling-the-burden-of-ulcerative-colitis 7 Crohn's and Colitis Canada, The impact of inflammatory bowel disease in Canada, 2012 final report, page 17, accessed April 25, 2017, at: http://crohnsandcolitis.ca/About-Us/Resources-Publications/Impact-of-IBD-Report 8 Crohn's and Colitis Canada, The impact of inflammatory bowel disease in Canada, 2012 final report, page 20 and 22, accessed April 25, 2017, at: http://crohnsandcolitis.ca/About-Us/Resources-Publications/Impact-of-IBD-Report 9 Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, The Facts about Inflammatory Bowel Disease, page 5, accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.ccfa.org/assets/pdfs/updatedibdfactbook.pdf 10 Feagan BG et al, Vedolizumab as Induction and Maintenance Therapy for Ulcerative Colitis, N Engl J Med 2013; 369:699-710, August 22, 2013, page 700, accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1215734 11 Takeda Canada Inc., ENTYVIO (vedolizumab) Product Monograph, November 11, 2016, p. 3. 12 Takeda Canada Inc., ENTYVIO (vedolizumab) Product Monograph, November 11, 2016, p. 3., and Health Canada Notice of Compliance information. Available at: https://health-products.canada.ca/noc-ac/info.do?lang=en&no=16576 Accessed May 4, 2017. 13 Takeda Canada Inc., ENTYVIO (vedolizumab) Product Monograph, November 11, 2016, p. 3., and Health Canada Notice of Compliance information. Available at: https://health-products.canada.ca/noc-ac/info.do?lang=en&no=17908 Accessed May 4, 2017. 14 Feagan BG et al, Treatment of Active Crohn's Disease With MLN0002, a Humanized Antibody to the 47 Integrin, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2008; 6:12, 13701377 accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.cghjournal.org/article/S1542-3565%2808%2900617-4/abstract and Sher J, Approval being sought for new treatment for Crohn's and colitis, The London Free Press, Aug. 21, 2013, accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.lfpress.com/2013/08/21/approval-being-sought-for-new-treatment-for-crohns-and-colitis 15 Sher J, Approval being sought for new treatment for Crohn's and colitis, The London Free Press, Aug. 21, 2013, accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.lfpress.com/2013/08/21/approval-being-sought-for-new-treatment-for-crohns-and-colitis 16 Feagan BG et al, Vedolizumab as Induction and Maintenance Therapy for Ulcerative Colitis, N Engl J Med 2013; 369:699-710, August 22, 2013, accessed March 13, 2017, at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1215734 17 Digestive Health. University of Miami Hospital. http://umiamihospital.com/service-lines/digestive-health. Accessed April 24, 2017.

SOURCE Takeda Canada Inc.

For further information: Media contact: Natacha Raphael, Corporate Communications, Takeda Canada Inc., Tel: 905-465-4149, [email protected]
NVIDIA today launched Volta  the worlds most powerful GPU computing architecture, created to drive the next wave of advancement in artificial intelligence and high performance computing.

The company also announced its first Volta-based processor, the NVIDIA Tesla V100 data center GPU, which brings extraordinary speed and scalability for AI inferencing and training, as well as for accelerating HPC and graphics workloads.

Artificial intelligence is driving the greatest technology advances in human history, said Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive officer of NVIDIA, who unveiled Volta at his GTC keynote. It will automate intelligence and spur a wave of social progress unmatched since the industrial revolution.

Deep learning, a groundbreaking AI approach that creates computer software that learns, has insatiable demand for processing power. Thousands of NVIDIA engineers spent over three years crafting Volta to help meet this need, enabling the industry to realize AIs life-changing potential, he said.



The NVIDIA Tesla V100 data center GPU brings extraordinary speed and scalability for AI inferencing and training, as well as for accelerating HPC and graphics workloads.

Volta, NVIDIAs seventh-generation GPU architecture, is built with 21 billion transistors and delivers the equivalent performance of 100 CPUs for deep learning.

It provides a 5x improvement over Pascal, the current-generation NVIDIA GPU architecture, in peak teraflops, and 15x over the Maxwell architecture, launched two years ago. This performance surpasses by 4x the improvements that Moores law would have predicted.

Demand for accelerating AI has never been greater. Developers, data scientists and researchers increasingly rely on neural networks to power their next advances in fighting cancer, making transportation safer with self-driving vehicles, providing new intelligent customer experiences and more.

Data centers need to deliver exponentially greater processing power as these networks become more complex. And they need to efficiently scale to support the rapid adoption of highly accurate AI-based services, such as natural language virtual assistants, and personalized search and recommendation systems.

Volta will become the new standard for high performance computing. It offers a platform for HPC systems to excel at both computational science and data science for discovering insights. By pairing CUDA cores and the new Volta Tensor Core within a unified architecture, a single server with Tesla V100 GPUs can replace hundreds of commodity CPUs for traditional HPC.

Breakthrough Technologies

The Tesla V100 GPU leapfrogs previous generations of NVIDIA GPUs with groundbreaking technologies that enable it to shatter the 100 teraflops barrier of deep learning performance. They include:

Tensor Cores designed to speed AI workloads. Equipped with 640 Tensor Cores, V100 delivers 120 teraflops of deep learning performance, equivalent to the performance of 100 CPUs.

New GPU architecture with over 21 billion transistors. It pairs CUDA cores and Tensor Cores within a unified architecture, providing the performance of an AI supercomputer in a single GPU.

NVLink provides the next generation of high-speed interconnect linking GPUs, and GPUs to CPUs, with up to 2x the throughput of the prior generation NVLink.

900 GB/sec HBM2 DRAM, developed in collaboration with Samsung, achieves 50 percent more memory bandwidth than previous generation GPUs, essential to support the extraordinary computing throughput of Volta.

Volta-optimized software, including CUDA, cuDNN and TensorRT software, which leading frameworks and applications can easily tap into to accelerate AI and research.
Following alleged noticeable discrepancies in the finances of the Ekiti State under immediate past Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, the State House of Assembly , has ordered Governor Ayodele Fayose to set up Judicial or Administrative Panel to probe his predecessor.The Assembly said the step became imperative sequel to Fayemis refusal to appear before the House to shed light on the alleged diversion of N852 billion Universal Basic Education Boards fund during his time.Relying on Section 129 0f the 1999 constitution, the Assembly had on March 22, 2016 and 7th February, 2017 ordered Fayemi to appear before it and clear his name over the foregoing allegation and many other misappropriation allegedly perpetrated during his time.Fayemi, however refused to appear and the former governor later approached the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti and slammed N500 million libel suit on the Assembly , citing alleged defamation of character to justify his action.The House as its plenary on Thursday , presided over by the Speaker, Hon Kola Oluwawole, berated Fayemi for treating the Assembly with contempt, saying this was not expected of him as a former Governor of Ekiti State.After exhaustive deliberation, where Hons Samuel Omotoso, Abiola Jeje, and Ekundayo Akinleye had contributed on the need to compel the Executive to compose the panel to probe Fayemi, the Majority Leader, Hon Tunji Akinyele moved the motion for the adoption of the motion and it was seconded by Hon Jeje.Before putting the motion to a voice vote, the Speaker said: Dr John Kayode Fayemi has slighted this house by his conduct by refusing to honour our invitation. This Assembly duly invited him to come and explain how he managed the finances of this state , particularly the SUBEN fund and other projects.The House had summoned him three times, but he disobeyed the regulation of this house. So, the State government should as a matter of urgency set up a judicial or administrative panel of inquiry to look into the finances of this State under Fayemis government, he said.The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon Omotoso slammed the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris and other security agencies over their lukewarm dispositions to arrest Fayemi despite the valid warrant of arrest issued by the Assembly against him.The IGP Cant claim that Governor Fayemi is at large. He has been attending the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting and nobody evencalled him for questioning or thought of arresting him. That was unfortunate.Let me at this time call on the Acting President , Prof Yemi Osinbajo that Fayemi has no moral standing to be a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , having breached the1999 constitution by his refusal to honour us. If we fail to act now, then the country will be operating a banana republic where there re no rules, he said.Honourables Jeje and Akinleye , in their submissions said the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola to live up to expectation in composing the judicial panel to unravel the mystery behind the states finances under the immediate past administration.
A Senate panel issued a subpoena for documents from White House national security advisor Michael Flynn Wednesday, taking the sprawling investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia to a new level.The Senate Intelligence Committee said it made the formal demand after Flynn rejected its request two weeks ago for information on his contacts with Russian officials and businessmen.The new order is for Flynns documents relevant to the Committees investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election.Flynn, who was fired from his White House position after lying about December phone calls he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, is under investigation in Congress, the FBI and the Pentagon over his dealings with Russians dating back to late 2005. In an email, his lawyer Robert Kelner said they had no comment at this time on the subpoena.In March, Kelner requested immunity for Flynn to testify in Congress, saying the media was filled with unfounded allegations, outrageous claims of treason, and vicious innuendo directed against him.No reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch-hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution, he said.But so far the committees say they want to interview more witnesses and collect more documents.A former US military intelligence chief, retired lieutenant general Flynn was generously paid to attend a gala of Russias RT television in December 2015, where he sat with President Vladimir Putin, raising suspicions about his ties with Moscow.His ouster on February 13 after less than four weeks as national security advisor came after he was shown to have lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his sensitive talks with Kislyak.On Monday, the former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, told lawmakers that she had warned the presidents top legal advisor on January 26 that Flynns deception on those calls left him open to blackmail.We believed that General Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians, she said.And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security advisor essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.
By ignoring the content of President Muhammadu Buharis letter intimating it that the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, would be co-coordinating the affairs of government in his absence and subsequently declaring the number two citizen as Acting President, the Senate has saved the country from a major constitutional crisis, lawyers say.In deference to Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Buhari had in his correspondence to the upper chamber of the National Assembly last Sunday informed the chamber that he was heading for another medical vacation in London, the United Kingdom.Essentially, the constitutional provision under reference only recognises an acting president. So, the action of the presidency created tension in the polity and further fuelled the insinuation that a cabal was hell-bent on preventing Osinbajo from effectively holding forte for his principal.Stakeholders note that the federal lawmakers saved the nation from a repeat of the late President Umaru Musa YarAdua saga where politicians were falling over themselves to call the shot at the topmost echelon of government. However, the Federal Government has described the uproar as a needless controversy. It said the arguments over the content of the presidents correspondence were just a distraction, urging Nigerians not to allow themselves to be swayed.Fielding questions over the status of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, told State House correspondents it is a needless controversy. It is just a distraction. The sentence opened with in compliance with Section 145(1). Any other word used is not relevant.The latest letter makes it four of such since his inauguration on May 29, 2015. In a January 2017 correspondence to the Senate on this same health issue, Buhari had stated that his deputy was to perform the functions of his office, but the language changed this time raising the suspicion that a clique in Aso Rock may have perfected a plan to hijack the reins of power in his absence.The views of some legal practitioners were sought on the development. A Port Harcourt-based Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Beluolisa Nwofor, admitted that a major constitutional crisis was averted. He recalled the YarAdua incident where former President Goodluck Jonathan was fought by a powerful cabal bent on thwarting his ascension following almost a similar scenario. He noted that the development threw the entire nation into an avoidable chaos.His words: It is not a good thing to try to circumvent the constitution. The law is very clear on that. In the absence of the president, the vice president acts. You cannot say it is a coordinating president because those words are not in the constitution. You cannot import things that are not there. So, the Senate acted very highly.Another senior lawyer, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) described the decision of the chamber as unassailable. He said: The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on this issue. There is no provision for coordinator in our constitution but what we have therein is Vice President, Acting President and President. Therefore, the position of the Senate on the issue is unassailable. Stating that the lawmakers stance was in order, an Abuja lawyer, Abubakar Sani, contended that the presidents letter could not override the constitution because it is supreme.The controversy is unnecessary. The language used by President Buhari in the letter is irrelevant. The provisions of Section 145(1) of the Constitution will govern and they are very clear about the designation and functions of the vice president. In the circumstance, he becomes the acting president, he added.Corroborating his colleagues, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN) said the wordings of the letter were irrelevant. He noted that the law actually holds sway. The letter, Ayorinde stated, was just information that under the section in question, someone is at home to work in his place. He noted that it could have only be a serious controversy if the president had not cited the provision in his correspondence.Former secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Emeka Odogbolu, in the same vein commended the Senate and argued that there was no issue since the presidents letter referred to section 145.He said: The implication of that section leaves the Senate with no other conclusion than to arrive at the conclusion it got to yesterday. And that section does not describe the form of the letter but says once a letter is transmitted, talking about the presidents inability to act, the vice becomes the acting president. It is not within the powers of the president to do otherwise. Once he invokes section 145, the inescapable conclusion is that the vice president becomes the acting president, irrespective of whatever the content of his letter is. So, the Senate did what is right and the presidency has no choice over it. The senates action is very commendable!To former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), the argument about the wordings of the letter was a distraction by politicians.The nomenclature used by the president to describe his deputy does not matter. What matters to the average long-suffering Nigerian is good governance. Will the Acting President create jobs, provide water, roads, electricity, food, etc? This is what is important, he stated. Another legal practitioner, Mr. Olu Daramola (SAN), said by referring specifically to the section, the clear intention of Buhari was that the vice president assumes office as acting president.Therefore, the word coordinator has not in any way whittled down the power of the vice president to exercise the powers of the president, he noted. But Lagos lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, held that the letter was not in line with constitutional provisions.He argued: The constitutionally created office of acting president has been circumscribed by the president, maintaining that the Senate lacked the power to pronounce Osinbajo as acting president without a resolution of both chambers of the National Assembly.According to him, the implication of the correspondence is that the occupant cannot make appointments or sack while the president is away. He cannot discipline any erring minister and his powers are limited in policy decisions as a coordinator of government, Adegboruwa added.
Nigerian scientists have unveiled how to develop and transfer technology in the country even as they called for the integration of African Traditional Medicine (ATM) or Traditional Medicine Practice (TMP) into Primary Health Care (PHC) services and curricula of schools from nursery to university levelThe scientists at an inaugural workshop organized by Ofure (Pax) Integral Research and Development Initiative (OFIRDI), formerly known as Africa Centre for Integral Research and Development (ACIRD) tagged Pax Africana identified the challenges of technology development and transfer in Nigeria.These they said include: Low funding of research and development activities in Nigeria; General apathy for made-in-Nigerians goods/technologies and high tastes of Nigerians for foreign goods including foreign technologies; Low level of awareness creation on the part of the research institutions; lack of technical and financial capacities by the research institutes to further develop the research findings into acceptable products in the market; and inadequate Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures and low level of development of available ones for information dissemination. The theme of the workshop is Integral Research in Health, Education, Social Innovation and Law: Lessons From The Pax Herbals Project In Ewu. The scientists include: Director of Pax Africana/Pax Herbal Clinics, Rev Fr Anselm Adodo; Director General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) Lagos, Prof. Gloria Elemo; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bioresources Development Group (BDG), Prof Maurice Iwu; former Chairman, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Council, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi; Consultant physician at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja, Dr. Clara Dawodu; Director General of the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Sam Oghene-Etatuvie; and former Head, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Ibadan, Prof. David T. Okpako.The scientists, however, recommended the way forward in developing technology in Nigeria. They said government should enact a policy to make it compulsory for government to purchase made-in-Nigeria goods especially MSMEs products; ban importation of some items that are produced by the local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to protect the local industries; and legislate the use, by MSMEs, of appropriate technologies developed locally and specify sanctions for defaulters.The scientists also want launch the compendium in all the 774 local government areas in Nigeria with active involvement of the organised private sector; government institutions, news media (both private and government) including radio, television and print media.Elemo said the Institute offers technology transfer training in over 25 different technologies on weekly basis. She said the objective is to transfer technologies and projects that could be commercialised to entrepreneurs and investors in general. Elemo said FIIRO pioneered the research work on the upgrading of local technologies on the production of cassava-based foods in Nigeria. The FIIRO DG said Nigeria could save N126 billion yearly from the importation of wheat flour if it is made mandatory that 20 per cent of cassava flour is added to bread and other confectioneries produced and marketed. Elemo also decried a situation where the country spends less than 0.01 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research and development (R&D). She said the success of a nations economy therefore depends on the productivity and extent of its R&D endeavours.Omoseyindemi said the Alma Ata declaration in 1978 specifically said that mobilization of traditional healing system is the only way to make health for all a reality; therefore, it must be integrated with PHC.The trained physician and Traditional Medicine Practitioner (TMP) said collaboration with health workers, TMPs and community leaders is one of the ways to improve health and move the PHC forward in communities. He said a mutual referral system could promote good collaboration and benefit the TMPs, the supporting agency and the community.Omoseyindemi said there is need for to reorganize and redirect the PHC for lasting improvement in health care at the community level by properly integrating the indigenous herbal and healing practices into the PHC in line with the National Health Act of 2014. If we wish to make African herbal medicine a practical component of Primary Health Care in Nigeria or to incorporate African medicine in the curricula of colleges of medicine and pharmacy, in my view, the programme must be rooted on the basic principles of traditional African medicine, an outline of which I have attempted in this presentation.Okpako said: If we wish to make African herbal medicine a practical component of Primary Health Care in Nigeria or to incorporate African medicine in the curricula of colleges of medicine and pharmacy, in my view, the programme must be rooted on the basic principles of traditional African medicine, an outline of which I have attempted in this presentation.Iwu said: We dont have the knowledge of management of science. Research institutes should be product-driven place. How can we talk of technological development when the universities are starved of funds? We dont have a patent office but a patent registry. A patent office will employ chemists, biologists and other scientists. Adodo said OFIRDI is about research, both process-wise and also substantively, that leads to social, if not also technological, innovation in Africa, drawing from all corners of the globe, while remaining grounded in African soils. He said integral research-to-innovation model was designed to bridge the divide between academic research and pragmatic social innovation, invariably set within a particular societal context.Dawodu called for incorporation of ATM in curricula of schools even as she has developed various models to achieve that. Oghene-Etatuvie said: Our practice deals more with the traditional practice area. We are not interested in isolation and characterisation of the active substance. We want to do it the way of traditional practice. To facilitate this, we do a lot of training for the practitioners, but our trainings have been limited these days, due to inadequate funding.Our research focuses on malaria prevention, focusing on herbs with scientifically-proven anti-plasmodium agents, while promoting herbal extracts with insecticide-treated nets for the management of malaria.Government is interested in local production of herbal products; but the challenge is how to make raw materials available. Many practitioners go into the bush to source for these materials.
Lekki Free Trade Zone Investment Rises to $15 Billion

The Lagos State Government has disclosed that the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), Africas fastest growing economic zone, had attracted $15 billion from domestic and foreign investors in the last eleven years of its existence.In 2016 alone, the state government disclosed that the largest manufacturing conglomerate in West Africa, Dangote Group and other companies invested over $6 billion in LFTZ. Of the $6 billion, it said Dangote alone invested $4 billion.The Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Mr. Rotimi Ogunleye gave the update at a recent news conference he addressed alongside his information counterpart, Mr. Steve Ayorinde and the ministrys Permanent Secretary, Mr. Lekan Akodu, among others.Currently, the zone is under the management of Lekki Free Zone Development Company (LFZDC), a joint venture partnership established in May 2006 pursuant to the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Act (NEPZA).The LFZDC comprises a consortium of Chinese Companies by the name China-Africa Lekki Investment Ltd (CALIL) with 60 per cent stakes and Lekki Worldwide Investments Limited (LWIL) owned by the Lagos State Government holding 40 per cent stakes.At the recent conference, Ogunleye said the zone, which was established by the administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had already attracted 116 domestic and foreign investors, 16 of which had started operating.The commissioner said LFTZ had attracted highest investment in Nigeria, noting that the zone alone had attracted $15 billion; attributing it to the creative approach the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode adopted to attract domestic and foreign investments.Aside, the commissioner said 116 investors have registered to operate within the zone. Of the 116 investors registered to operate in the zone, 16 have already commenced operation excluding Dangote Group with a plan to invest $11 billion in the zone.This is the where the economic transformation of the West Africa region, including Nigeria is done daily. I can assure you that the zone has become the preferred destination for investors. While some factories are currently under construction, 100 investors have also signified their intention to register and situate their business within the zone.Before the end of the 2017 fiscal year, Ogunleye disclosed that the state government and investors will inject $64 million counterpart funding into LFTZ to fast-track development within the zone.Apart from $15 billion investment the zone had attracted, the commissioner said N740 million had been paid to host communities and families as compensation, citing the communities that benefited to include Yegunda and Abomiti.He explained that the communities within the arm of the zone where Lekki-Epe International Airport zone would be sited, saying the government compensated the communities in fulfillment of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the host communities.At a recent different session, the Special Adviser on Central Business District (CBD), Mr. Agboola Dabiri said there were 60 abandoned buildings belonging to the federal government on Lagos CBD, which he said, had been converted to criminal hideouts.He said most abandoned buildings had been converted to criminal hideouts where hoodlums perpetrate their nefarious activities. Some of the abandoned buildings harboured as many as 100 hoodlums. Some of them were located at Tinubu Square and Marina.Dabiri, however, said the state government would do something about the abandoned buildings in order to dislodge criminals occupying them as their abode. One of the biggest challenges on Lagos Island is over-population.He ascribed the challenge to the states thriving economy, noting that Lagos State is the only thriving State in Nigeria where people sell their goods around 5.00 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m., they are gone. The crowd there is too much. We are talking about human traffic.Managing human traffic is not easy. When you have large number of people coming to the CBD, it comes with waste challenges. On the Island CBD, about N3 billion exchange hands on a daily basis in terms of transactions, the special adviser said.He, however, said all illegal structures and shanties in and around Idumota pedestrian bridge had been completely demolished, thus providing an opportunity for the people to make use of it for the first time since over 15 years of abandonment.
The proposed investments in community-based modular refinery projects across oil-bearing states of the Niger Delta will become a pipedream unless government reviews its model to accommodate divergent interests among youths in the region, according to stakeholders of the region.Apart from the sudden reawakening of the old debate  on whether it is the beneficiary states or their oil-bearing communities that should manage the extant 13 per cent derivation fund  elders and youths in the area yesterday expressed misgivings about a refinery programme that lacks active indigenous participation and governments readiness for 100 per cent funding.But the presidency yesterday said the community-based refinery project is a genuine effort to provide alternative to illegal refining in the Niger Delta. Mr. Laolu Akande, the spokesman of the Acting President, said Minster of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, already has details of the programme. He said government would continue to engage oil communities to resolve all issues in executing the projects. According to Akande, the community-based modular refinery programme has always been discussed at the ministerial committee level. The project will be private-sector driven , he assured.Divergent opinions coming from elders and youths, from a region government expects to host the all-important projects, portend continued unrest, militancy, economic sabotage and environmental hazards caused by illegal refining by impoverished youths. Indeed, there is the absolute need to ensure that host communities in the Niger Delta buy into the project and that they do this as a collective responsibility, says Moritz Abazie, who runs Strides Energy and Maritime Ltd, a Port Harcourt-based oil and gas services firm. Any thing short of a collective agreement on the way forward will render the community-based modular refinery programme of government a pipedream and worsen our economic woes,  he said.Mr. Francis Ewherido, an Urhobo indigene of the Niger Delta who runs the Titan Insurance Brokers, agrees that the project could change the fortunes of the region but warns against hijack by a ew individuals. The equity arrangement should be such that will benefit the majority of the people, he said.A modular refinery is made up of smaller and mobile parts that are more easily fabricated and more quickly transported to site. They come in different sizes with varying capacities normally lower than conventional refineries.The official plan was evolved to curb the menace of dangerous and unauthorised artisanal refining after Acting President Yemi Osinbajo toured the restive Niger Delta communities on the behest of President Muhammadu Buhari. Sequel to that visit, the Buhari administration approved that new licences be issued for community-modular refineries to keep the illegal activities of artisanal refiners in check. The arrangement allows a 40-per cent equity for oil-bearing communities while the Federal Government augments the effort through a 60-percent investment through its agencies, including the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), among others.Even as elders and youths from the region yesterday re-iterated their support for the programme they told The Guardian that they were not willing to play a less than important role in the project and should therefore be allowed to determine 100 per cent of the investments.Opinions on this differ: Dr. Wellington Okirika, the first executive chairman of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) said the programme should provide ample opportunity for government to engage repentant militants trained abroad on oil and gas-related operations, an opinion reechoed by Comrade Sheriff Mulabe, who chairs the Kokodiagbene Community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri, Delta State. Wellington suggests that government, in executing the modular refinery projects, should borrow a leaf from previous efforts that were aborted by governments failure to create the requisite incentives for investors. He said DESOPADEC under his leadership many years ago keyed into a Federal Government (modular refinery) programme in trying to industrialise the degraded environment of the oil communities for which the officials had reasons to visit Ventech Engineering, the worlds number one manufacturer of modular refinery components in the United States, among others. While admitting that the current conditions set by government are friendly to investors, he explained that the exorbitant licence and other guidelines at the time scared them away.Wellington also noted that it would be difficult for communities to provide the 40 per cent equity needed to participate in the projects and suggested that half of the proceeds from the 13 per cent derivation fund allocated to states should be reserved for oil-bearing communities to attain the requirement. How can oil communities in Niger Delta get 40 per cent of $250 million needed to set up a 20,000 barrels-per-day modular refinery? he queried. The 13 percent derivation fund is under the Exclusive Legislative List, and all that President Buhari needs to do is to issue another presidential directive that 40 per cent of the fund be paid to communities as contribution for the refinery project, Wellington concluded.But Austin Ojameruaye, president of the Uhrobo Progressive Union (UPU), Youth Wing in Lagos, thinks the Federal Government should address the 40 per cent equity option by taking what he referred to as the Eleme Petrochemical Company option by providing 100 per cent of the funding and allowing the communities net out the loans over the years during profit sharing.Ijaw youths also expressed support for the project but noted that government should ensure that the target beneficiary should not be left out in the process of executing it. Since the modular refinery idea is targeted at special people, efforts must be made to identify them and key them in, Mr. Eric Omare, the president-general of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), told The Guardian on Tuesday.He said policy hijack by politicians marred similar projects in the past. There has been policy hijack in recent years; we do not want politicians to hijack the modular refinery project. Secondly, instead of looking for investors, government should allow the locals to get the investors. The Gbaramatu people, for instance, had done this without the Federal Governments intervention. Government should be interested in regulation only. The percentage of equity should be determined by the communities, not the Federal Government. Omares position was re-emphasised by Mulabe, the chairman of the Gbaramatu Kingdom and Johnson Biboye, who commands the Iduwini Volunteer Force (IVF).Biboye believes that government has not succeeded with its Amnesty Programme and that a similar tendency could truncate the proposed modular refinery projects for Niger Delta communities.Out of my 350 boys, only three were carried along by the Amnesty Office. They need to reach out to all the boys  not the elders, he said. The problem is with the youths. The elders are only benefitting themselves and their families. Government should come down to the youths.Mulabe said the refinery project has once availed government of an opportunity to effectively engage ex-militants who were trained abroad. It will also create an opportunity for local refiners who government (wrongly) calls illegal refiners. Let this not be political modular refinery project but genuine project by government, Mulabe said.We are aware that over 30 licences were issued to various investors in 2011 and they will expire in June (next month). Any licence issued without the support of the community is political because it is the community that will provide land for the projects. Again, the modular refineries must be sited close to the source of crude.
Women must struggle for political power says Governor Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has advised women to struggle for power, rather than expect that men will bequeath power to them on a platter of gold.This is as Former First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan declared that Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has worked hard to empower Rivers women.Also, Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike described her husband as a women-friendly governor who is implementing policies and programmes to uplift women.They spoke at the Womens Day of the Rivers Golden Jubilee Celebration in Port Harcourt on Thursday.Governor Wike said that nobody is stopping women from excelling in the political arena, pointing out that women must work for their political emancipation.He said: "When it comes to power, you have to struggle for it. If you are prepared for politics, you must equipment yourself ".The governor urged women not to beg for positions. He said they should set up structures that would help them get political mileage.He, however, assured Rivers women that he will continue to work for their development and growth in all spheres of life.The governor announced that his administration will construct a women development centre with all facilities to empower Women.Former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan said Rivers women will remain grateful to Governor Wike for giving them political and professional leverage.She said that the governors choice of female deputy governor and the appointment of the first female Chief Judge and President of Customary Court of Appeal ensured that Rivers women took their pride of place in politics.Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike said the Womens Day is set aside to honour women for their contributions to the creation and growth of the state.While saying that efforts to empower Women must be strengthened, Justice Nyesom-Wike noted that women have attained positions of responsibility, not envisaged before.In her guest lecture, Wife of Former President of Nigeria, Professor Uche Nnamdi Azikiwe said violence can only be reduced across the world when women assume leadership.In her paper titled: "Status of Women and politics in Nigeria ",,Prof Azikiwe said the political marginalisation being suffered by women are man-made.She urged women to unite and play significant roles in their respective communities. She called for urgent steps to address the dwindling fortunes of women in Nigerian politics.Chairman of the Rivers Golden Jubilee Committee, Chief Ferdinand Alabrabra lauded Rivers women for their roles in the development of the state.The Womens Day of the Rivers Golden Jubilee Celebration witnessed Special Songs by New Rivers Vision Women Team, cuisine, art and craft competition, traditional dances and traditional fashion parade.Highpoint of the event was the special recognition and presentation of gifts to Former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Wife of the Former President, Professor Uche Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ms Ankio Briggs, Deputy Governor Ipalibo Harry Banigo, Mrs Hannah Aguma and other women by the Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike.Simeon Nwakaudu,Special Assistant to the Rivers Governor,Electronic Media.11th May, 2017
Security is tight in and around Katsina metropolis following the arrival of the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, for a one-day working visit to the state.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that joint security personnel have been posted to various strategic places in the state capital, Katsina, including the Emirs palace.A combined team of armed soldiers and mobile police has been posted to the Emirs palace, Government House and the State Secretariat where the Acting President is expected to visit.Some of the security personnel were seen patrolling major streets of Katsina metropolis, while others were stationed at selected roundabouts in the ancient city.Armed soldiers and policemen were also seen at the Umaru Musa Yaradua International Airport where the Acting Presidents aircraft had landed.NAN reports that the one-day is for the Acting President to launch the Pilot Edition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic for viable enterprises in the state.The event is organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) under the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industries.The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, who welcomed Osinbajo, has urged the Federal Government to extend the Kaduna-Kano rail line to Katsina to boost economic and industrial activities in the state.Kabir made the call on Thursday when the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, paid him a courtesy visit in his palace.The Emir said at present, the railway line terminates in Kano, but I am calling on the Federal Government to extend it to Katsina.Extension of the rail line will assist in boosting socio-economic activities in Katsina State.The monarch also said that Katsina State had always been peaceful and the people were hospitable, stressing that the railway line would be accepted by the entire people of the state.He stressed the need for peaceful coexistence among people, irrespective of their religious and ethnic affiliations.The Emir also urged the Federal Government to upgrade the Umaru Musa Yaradua International Airport in Katsina.He said an upgrade would also assist in enhancing economic activities in the state.Responding, the Acting President assured the Emir that the Federal Government would look into the requests.According to him, the Federal Government will look into the request of the extension of railway line to Katsina.He explained that plans were already on the way to upgrade six airports in the country to international standard.Osinbajo commended the Emir for making Katsina State one of the most peaceful states in the federation, noting that the peace enjoyed in the state could not be achieved without the efforts of the traditional rulers and leaders.He stressed the importance of peace without which no meaningful development could be attained.Osinbajo was in Katsina State for a one-day working visit.The one-day event was the launch of a Pilot Edition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic for viable enterprises in the state.The event was organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), under the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industries.
Tensions have resurfaced between Turkey and Israel, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticising the racist and discriminatory treatment of Palestinians.Israel responded by summoning the Turkish ambassador and condemning Ankaras human rights record.Erdogan, Turkeys president, denounced Israeli practices during an address in Istanbul on Monday night, describing the blockade of Gaza as having no place in humanity.He urged Muslims to visit the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem as a means of supporting the Palestinian cause and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.Erdogan also condemned a Knesset (Israeli parliament) bill to muffle the azan, the Muslim call to prayer, in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.If you have faith in your religion, why are you afraid of the azan? he said. We will not allow the azan to be stopped in al-Quds [the Arabic name for Jerusalem].The Israeli foreign ministry responded with an apparent reference to Ankaras crackdown on dissidents after a coup attempt last July.The Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, during a meeting with the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in Jerusalem, said in response to Erdogans remarks: 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, since 1850. Even under the Ottoman empire, there was a Jewish majority in Jerusalem.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.The fresh diplomatic crisis comes as both regional powers face impassioned critiques from the international community over alleged human rights abuses.Israel has had to contend with the fallout of a hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners demanding better conditions in jail, while Turkey has been accused of growing authoritarianism after voters narrowly approved a set of constitutional amendments last month that grant Erdogan sweeping new powers.It was the first flare-up since the two former allies reconciled last June, formally ending six years of estrangement since the Mavi Marmara incident, when Israeli commandos raided a flotilla aiming to break the siege of Gaza and killed nine Turkish civilians.Under the reconciliation deal, Ankara and Israel normalised diplomatic relations and appointed new ambassadors, with Israel pledging to pay $20m (15.5m) in compensation to the Mavi Marmara victims families and allowing Turkey to carry out humanitarian projects in Gaza.Turkey promised to block legal action against Israeli soldiers involved in the raid and limit the activities of militant group Hamas in the country.But relations had remained cool, with both countries focused on the crisis in neighbouring Syria and preoccupied by domestic matters.Largely free of immediate concerns at home after the narrow referendum victory and purge of dissidents in the civil service, police, army, media and universities, Erdogan has raised the spectre of a break with the EU by publicly saying he would sign into law a bill to reinstate the death penalty if it were to pass parliament, a measure popular with nationalists.His frequent sparring with Israel has in the past increased his popularity in the Arab world, crafting an image of a defender of oppressed Muslims, which has resonated with conservative supporters in Turkey.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Abiodun Owonikoko has said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) haS no eviden...

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Abiodun Owonikoko has said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) haS no evidence linking his client Mr Rickey Tarfa (SAN) to alleged bribery of two judges.Tarfa is being prosecuted by the anti-graft agency of two charges of offering gratification to a public official and perverting the course of justice.According to the EFCC, Tarfa allegedly bribed Justice Mohammed Yinusa and Justice H.A Ngajiwa to pervert the course of justice.Tarfa claims to be innocent of the charges.Owonikoko, made the assertion on Thursday while cross-examining Mr Danladi Daniel, a detective with the EFCC.The EFCC has no evidence directly linking Rickey Tarfas chambers to the bank accounts of the judges.Our findings revealed that the alleged UBA bank account which belonged to Justice Mohammed Yinusa, belonged to someone who bears the same name, one Mr Mohammed Auwal Yinusa, he said.Owonikoko presented to the court an affidavit sworn by Justice Yinusas namesake claiming ownership of the said account.Explaining the alleged illegal communication that the SAN had with the judges, Owonikoko noted that the Tarfa, had prior personal relationships with Justice Ngajiwa and Justice Yinusa.Justice Yinusa was one year junior to Rickey Tarfa when he was studying law at the university of Maiduguri from 1982-1986 and they are friends.Justice Ngajiwa worked at the chambers of Rickey Tarfa for over 17 years.Ever since Ngajiwa became a judge, Rickey Tarfa has never had a case before him.Before Ngajiwa became a judge, he had over 300 cases he was handling at the Rickey Tarfa chambers some of which are still pending in court, he said.Owonikoko also accused the EFCC of not concluding their investigations before charging the SAN to courtJustice Yinusas statement to the EFCC was given on Oct. 17, 2016, which is seven months after he was charged in February 2016.The call logs from MTN which allegedly showed the communications between the defendant and the judges were obtained on Feb. 11, which is six days after the defendant was charged.The defendants phones were retrieved by deceit by the operatives of the EFCC, they told Tarfas driver that his boss was requesting for his phones and when he brought the phones, they were seized.The phones did not become an exhibit of the EFCC until Feb. 9, after the defendant was charged, Owonikoko claimed.Owonikoko noted that the EFCC did not profile Tarfa during the course of their investigation.You did not try during the course of your investigation to profile Rickey Tarfa and his law firm.His law firm is the biggest law firm in Nigeria, employing over 100 lawyers with branches in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Yola.He currently has two retired judges working as consultants for his chambers, he said.Responding to Owonikokos accusations, Daniel said The defendant signed a consent of analysis form for his phone, it is not true that the phones became exhibits after Feb. 9, 2017.We have documents linking one Esther Agu, a staff of Rickey Tarfas chambers to Justice Yinusa, though, we dont have documents showing that the defendant directly made any payment to the judge.I am not aware that ever since Justice Ngajiwa became a judge, the defendant has not had a case before him, Daniel said.Earlier, during proceedings, Daniel during his evidence-in-chief, revealed details of text message as well as voice communications between Tarfa and the judges.On Jan.2, 2014, there were three text messages between the defendant and a member of his staff stating that they were in court for a case to be assigned before Justice Yinusa.There are biometrics captured by MTN communications of the defendant and Justice Yinusa the voice communications were from Tarfas MTN, number- 08034600777 and Justice Yinusas MTN number-08035967291, he said.The detective read aloud details of the voice communications including late night calls between the SAN and the judge.Esther Agu, a staff of the defendant, made a payment of N2.5million into the bank account of Justice Yinusa.Based on the account records, the payments were made on May 15, 2015.The payments were made when there were three EFCC cases in which Tarfa was the counsel for the opposing parties before Justice Yinusa.The communications started sometime in February 2015 and ended sometime in September 2015 after judgments were delivered in those cases.There were some text messages between Justice Ngajiwa and the defendant on Oct. 16, 2014, in which Justice Ngajiwa sent his Guaranty Trust Bank details to the defendant.The defendant also sent another person a text message on that day to pay $5, 000 into the bank account of the judge, Daniel said.Justice Aishat Opesanwo adjourned the case to July 7 for the continuation of trial.
Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari, treats him like his son.





Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari, treats him like his son.



According to his media aide, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo made the remark at the palace of the emir of Katsina, His Royal Highness Alhaji Abdulmumin Usman. Osinbajo is currently in Katsina state.

"I feel very much at home in Katsina. Moreso because this is the State of the President who has taken me as a brother; in fact the President has taken me as a son in the way he treats me," said Osinbajo.

"The amount of responsibilities President Buhari has given me shows he seriously believes we can live together as brothers"

"I pray the Lord will preserve our President to continue to lead as the nation has voted him to do. He seriously believes in Nigeria unity"

His tweets:





Ag President Osinbajo arrives Katsina for a visit now being received by Emir saying "here you are home, welcome to the most peaceful state."  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

2. Emir of KT in welcoming Ag President calls for harmony of faith & ethnic groups adding that in Katsina "We all sit together, side by side  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

3. Ag President attending Katsina State version of nationwide MSMEs Clinics. With him are Ministers of State Aviation & Industry &FIRS Chair  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

4. Ag President in responds "I feel very much @ home in KT. Moreso because this is the State of the President who has taken me as a brother"  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

5. Ag President Osinbajo continues: " in fact the President has taken me as a son in the way he treats me"  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

6. "The amount of responsibilities President Buhari has given me shows he seriously believes we can live together as brothers"-Ag President  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

7. "I pray the Lord will preserve our President to continue to lead as the nation has voted him to do. He seriously believes in Ngr unity"  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

8. Ag President Osinbajo in last two hours' been moving round stalls @ KT State Secretariat interacting with local producers @ MSME clinic  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

9. After going round, Ag President says "it's incredible how much talents we have here. I believe very strongly we can do great things."  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017

10. "One of the things President says consistently is that we must grow what we eat, we don't have to depend on import," -the Ag President  Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) May 11, 2017
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday said the controversy that trailed President Muhammadu Buharis lette...

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday said the controversy that trailed President Muhammadu Buharis letter to the National Assembly was a needless distraction.The President in his letter to the Senate had said that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will coordinate governance in his absence in line with Section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).Because the letter didnt expressly state that Osinbajo will be the Acting President, it sparked controversies among Nigerians including the lawmakers.The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had declared during Tuesdays plenary session that the mere mention of Section 145 (1) in the letter was sufficient enough to make the Vice President act as President in the absent of the President.Mohammed, who spoke on the issue at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, said the controversy was needless.He said, It was a needless controversy, it was just a distraction. The operating sentence is that in compliance of Section 145(1), any other word used is not relevant.The Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, said the FEC also approved proposal for the establishment of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations.He said: Trade is something that is quite pervasive, we get involved in a lot of negotiations and a lot of MOUs assigned on trade. What we found was this was happening in various ministries agencies and departments with insufficient coordination and therefore consequently it had unintended consequences and cost for us.There are several examples of these things that had happened so the cabinet decided that it is wise to establish a coordinating central office for trade negotiations. The Nigerians Office for Trade Negotiations which will be headed by a chief negotiator of ambassadorial rank that will then work with both the economic management team and the cabinet.
Nigerian-born British actor, David Oyelowo is set to star in Oyelowo to star in racism movie Arc of Justice, a race movie based on a true story about an African-American doctor in 1925.Oyewole is playing Ossian Sweet, African American Doctor who was tried for murder in Detroit in 1925.The Movie directed by award-winning Brazilian director and producer, Jose Padilha is based on Kevin Boyles 2004 non-fiction book Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age.It tells the true story of a racial incident that put Dr Ossian Sweet on the stand for murder for simply defending his newly bought property against a mob of white rioters.His defense was funded by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), and led by legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow.According to the Hollywood Reporter, American film writers and directors Max Borenstein and Rodney Barnes wrote the script for the project, which is being financed by The Mark Gordon Company.Oyelowo had in 2014 played his globally acclaimed highest-profile role to date as Martin Luther King Jr. in the American biographical drama film Selma.The film was based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, championed by the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.Born on April 1,1976, in Oxford, England to Nigerian parents, Oyelowo began his stage career in 1999 when he was offered a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing roles in Ben Jonsons Volpone.In a major landmark for colour-blind casting, Oyelowo was the first black actor to play an English king in a major production of Shakespeare.He played King Henry VI in the Royal Shakespeare Companys 2001 productions of Shakespeares trilogy of plays about the king as a part of its season This England: The Histories.Since coming to limelight, he had played many supporting and lead roles in internationally acclaimed films, including the iconic A United Kingdom in 2016.In 2015, he starred in Captive where he also served as producer under his Yoruba Saxon Productions banner.For his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Oyelowo in 2014 received the Critics Choice Award for Best Actor and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.He has also received his first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture  Drama.In 2014 also, for his performance in the award-winning film Nightingale, he won the Critics Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries, among others.Oyelowo was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.He starred in the HBO original film Nightingale (2014).
The family of ex-Ondo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, the late Deji Falae, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to hold ...

The family of ex-Ondo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, the late Deji Falae, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to hold that Associated Aviation Nigeria Ltd and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) caused his death through negligence.The deceased, a commissioner, was a passenger on board Flight 361, which crashed on October 3, 2013 while taking the remains of former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Agagu to Akure, the Ondo State capital.The late Falaes wife, Ese and three teenage children are claiming damages from the defendants for alleged negligence.They are claiming $100,000 as general damages and N219,906,250, which they said the deceased would have earned in 15 years as a lawyer, commissioner and owner of a construction firm.The plaintiffs sought, in the alternative, N108,527,750, 160,740 and $19,000 as special damages for alleged breaches of the defendants duties under the Civil Aviation Act 2006, Fatal Accident Act 1846 and Fatal Accident Law of Lagos State.They asked for N5million as cost of filing the suit and legal fees, and 10 per cent interest on the post-judgment sum.The family claims Associated Aviation, which operated the chartered aircraft, breached Section 74 of the Civil Aviation Act 2006 by failing to procure a legally binding insurance policy covering its liabilities, including compensation for damages that may be sustained by third parties.It urged the court to hold that the company breached statutory duties imposed by Section 55 of the Act when its aircraft crashed just outside the aerodrome and caused the deceaseds death, about 9:32 a.m., a minute after take-off.The first defendant flew its Flight 361 in such a manner as to cause danger to the occupiers of the aircraft and indeed caused the death of the deceased.The only inference that can be drawn from the circumstances of this incident is that the first defendant was negligent and/or lax in carrying out its duties to the occupiers of the flight, the plaintiff said.According to the family, the NCAA failed in its duties to ensure that the aircraft was safe to fly.By virtue of Section 31 (f) of the Civil Aviation Act 2006, the second defendant has a statutory duty to ensure efficiency and regularity of air navigation and the safety of aircraft, persons and property carried in the aircraft and for preventing it from endangering persons and property, it said.But the defendants are praying the court to dismiss the suit.NCAA said the aircraft was airworthy as at the time of the crash, with a valid certificate of air worthiness.The investigation conducted by the Accident Investigation Bureau did not indict the second defendant (NCAA), it said.It added that the aircraft was insured at the time of the crash.The aircraft was used for charter and while on ground, required routine maintenance was carried out, NCAA said.Justice Hadiza Shagari adjourned till July 10 for adoption of addresses.
A group, Concerned OmOduwa Progressive Youth Assembly (COPYA), has urged former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, to ceasefire on issues pertaining to President Muhammadu Buharis health, even as it decried his recent call on Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to take over government from Buhari.The group gave this position on Thursday at a press conference addressed by its President-General, Kola Salawu, declaring that Fani-Kayode in making that call had taken the proverbial sacrifice past the indicated road junction.The former minister had made his call in reaction to a letter transmitted by President Buhari to the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives asking that Osinbajo should coordinate the government affairs in his absence as he took permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.Salawu, who spoke in company of other members of the group, including Mr Bola Ajayi, Mr Nojeem Kuye, among others, insisted that such call was nothing short of pitching the Yoruba in government, led by Acting President Osinbajo, against other ethnic groups in the country.He (Fani-Kayode) is running a campaign of calumny against the President and we think this is in the hope that he can drive a wedge between President Buhari and the Yoruba in his cabinet so that they can be shoved aside.This is likely FFKs own way of ensuring he is regarded as a Yoruba voice after having turned the Federal Government against leaders in the region.Femi Fani-Kayode has, however, taken the proverbial sacrifice past the indicated road junction in his recent call on the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to take over government from President Muhammadu Buhari.This is not who the Yoruba is. The Yoruba man will never engage in the kind of treachery that FFK and his supporters are contemplating. We count President Buhari fortunate in this regard that he did not populate his cabinet with traitors, which means FFK or anyone with such intention would never find a willing person to do what they have in mind, which is someone to backstab the President. It is not who we are, he said.He warned that Fani-Kayode and his ilks were distracting Osinbajo from performing his duties as assigned to him by President Buhari, saying the call was clearly to cast him (Osinbajo) as a desperate person.FFK has backup vocalists in this demented call that has no place in the constitution. It is nothing short of a ploy to pitch the Yoruba in government, led by Vice President Osinbajo, against other ethnic groups in the country.We are, therefore, warning that FFK and his likes are distracting the Vice President who assiduously goes about his duties as assigned to him by his boss, President Buhari. The recent issues raised by FFK in his incoherent response to a constitutional issue as regards President Buharis letter, as transmitted to the National Assembly, is clearly to cast the Vice President, who is now the Acting President, as a desperate person, Salawu said.The group leader explained that the essence of sending warning to the former minister was to make peace among Yorubas and not to attack his personality, maintaining that no Yoruba man would engage in the kind of treachery that the former minister and his supporters were contemplating.We count President Buhari fortunate in this regard that he did not populate his cabinet with traitors, which means FFK or anyone with such intention would never find a willing person to do what they have in mind, which is someone to backstab the president. It is not who we are. This by no means imply that the poison constituted by FFKshould not be neutralized. It is important that the South-West see him for who he is, the COPYA leader said.Salawu, while speaking further, appealed to the Acting President, Prof Osinbajo, not to be carried away by the ethnic drums being beaten by Fani- Kayode and his ilks, saying such characters are alone in their endeavor.We, therefore, use this opportunity to appeal to our father, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, not to be carried away by the ethnic drums being beaten by FFK and his likes knowing well that such characters are alone in this endeavor.The Acting President must not heed the call for war being chorused by this rubble and must not allow himself to be dragged into dirty politics at the detriment of his spiritual and professional calling as an accomplished Nigerian before venturing into politics, Salawu said.
At least, eight people have been killed in a fresh attack against several villages in two local government areas of Benue State at the early hours of Thursday.Daily Trust gathered that six people were killed in Mbakuur council ward of Logo local government area while the other two which brought the number of the victims to eight fell to the bullets of the gunmen suspected to be herders at neighbouring Mbaya council ward in Buruku LGA.This is the second attack on Logo people in less than five days as 10 dead bodies had already been recovered from the area in the Sunday mayhem unleashed on the rural inhabitants.A similar attack by the same suspects left five persons dead at Buruku villages in March, this year, sequel to which Governor Samuel Ortom at that time directed herders to quit the community.The Logo council security secretary, Tor JIji Aluur, confirmed to our correspondent in Makurdi that the fresh attack on the Mbakuur ward was carried out by the suspected herders about 3:00am on Thursday.He said six dead bodies had been recovered at the time of this report.Also, paramount ruler of Ichongo in Logo council, Chief Peter Iorhuna, corroborated the reports on the fresh attack on his domain.On his part, the State Coordinator of Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), Garus Gololo, said he was aware of the fresh trouble in the aforementioned areas.He told our reporter that he was on his way to meet with members of his association over the matter at the time of sending this report just as he appealed to villagers to be calm.The Police however, was yet to confirm the incident at press time as both the State Commissioner, Bashir Makama and the Command spokesman, Moses Joel Yamu were out of the state on official assignment to Abuja.
Former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has revealed plans to join music industry in promoting Nigerian music globally.OBJ as he is fondly called said he would like to be the main distributor of music.This may not be unconnected to his campaign for the patronage of indigenous and home made products.In a video chat with popular producer, Alex Ozone while on an Ethiopian plane from Addis Ababa to Lagos, Obasanjo said he would like to be part the industry that has now taken Africa by the storm.The former President further said he was committed to #Team Street industry after Producer Alex Ozone introduced some artistes to him onboard Ethiopia air from Adis Ababa.Obasanjo in the video shared via Facebook, said: Well, you have shown me the artist, manager and producer.What job is left , I want to be part of you.He was also seen with Nigerian artist, Skales who disclosed on his Instagram page @youngskales that Obasanjo has been initiated into the industry.
Management of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has said that operatives from the Nigeria Police, the Economic and Finan...

Management of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has said that operatives from the Nigeria Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related offences Commission, ICPC, will monitor the examination centres in the forthcoming Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UMTE.





Also to mount surveillance at the 624 centres nationwide on Saturday are operatives from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, the Department of State Services, DSS and special security forces to ensure a smooth exercise.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede who disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, said each test centre will have a supervisor, a technical officer, a verification officer, three proctors as well as security agents.





He further stated that, Each state will be superintended over by a head of a tertiary institution (Vice-Chancellor, Rector or Provost) who coordinates the supervisors under his or her jurisdiction.

 Stating that the UTME will not be business as usual, Oloyede declared, it is certainly not going to be business as usual in the conduct of the Boards examination and other processes.





In line with this resolution, the Board had secured through diligent prosecution, the conviction of two Nigerians who forged the Boards results and came around for verification. At the moment, we have lodged complaints against a number of Computer-Based Test, CBT, centre owners for one infraction or the other and a number of them were arrested, cautioned, while others are to be prosecuted so as to serve as a deterrent to others.'





The JAMB Registrar warned candidates not to fall for the ploy of fraudsters who he said were out to defraud them, noting that there was a case at the Federal Government Science Technical College, Orozo, at the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, where somebody was sending bulk messages to candidates to come and reprint their slips claiming to be from JAMB.
Kano State House of Assembly has launched an investigation against the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi ll, over alleged abuse of of...

Kano State House of Assembly has launched an investigation against the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi ll, over alleged abuse of office and improper conduct.The emirate council is already being investigated by the state anti-corruption agency over allegation of financial fraud running into billions of naira.The House yesterday constituted an 8-man committee to investigate eight offences allegedly committed by the emir.The committee was constituted following a motion by Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmad Gama, Nassarawa Constituency.The 8-man committee was headed by a member representing (Warawa), Alhaji Labaran Abdul.The allegations are: Accusing the state governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the state legislators of mismanaging state resources while on an official visit to China.*Making remarks in Kaduna on the proposed Kano light rail project which had tarnished his (Gama) image, the government and the assembly as well.*Allegation by the emir that the state governor and his entourage wasted one month in China seeking for loan to construct the light rail in the state.On this Gama said First of all, we did not spend one month in China. We only spent four days and our mission was to find out the capability of the company to handle the rail project but not to secure any loan as alleged by the emir.He added that the emirs allegation had caused serious embarrassment to him (the lawmaker), the state government and the House of Assembly within and outside the state.* Intentionally attacking President Muhammadu Buhari whenever he got an opportunity to speak at a public gathering. He said this had contravened the culture of traditional institution.*Embezzlement of funds belonging to the emirate council.*Tarnishing the image of the emirate by assigning his daughter to represent him at a public function, introducing strange religious issues and involvement in politics.*Downgrading the honour of the Kano emirate council by assigning his daughter to represent him at a function organised by the #BringBackourGirls# group in Abuja, saying it was against the emirates tradition.On this he said: There are many responsible members of Kano emirate council members that can represent the emir at the event instead of his daughter. This is the first time we are witnessing this kind of representation in the history of Kano emirate council.The mode of dressing of the Emirs daughter at the event was an embarrassment not only to the emirate council but the entire people of Kano, he lamented.Gama, therefore, appealed to the house to investigate the activities of the emirate council with a view to correcting things.It would also be recalled that the Kano state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission is currently investigating Kano emirate council over alleged embezzlement of over N6bn in three years.Daily Trust gathered that, three officials of the emirate council were expected to appear before the commission today (Thursday) to answer some questions as a continuation of the ongoing investigation which the commission commenced last month.However, the Chairman of Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Agency, Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado told Daily Trust that Kano state House of Assembly did not notify the commission on its decision to launch investigation into the activities of the emirate council.He said, The commission has suspended its investigation pending the outcome of the Assemblys. This is because according to the section 16 of the commissions law, we are prevented from investigating any matter that is before the State Assembly, Executive and or court of law.And the law of the commission is a product of Kano State House of Assembly. So, as a mark of respect, we have suspended our investigation into the embezzlement of over N6bn by the Kano State Emirate Council pending the outcome of the House ofAssemblys investigation.He said if the House investigation was only focused on the administrative aspect, the commission could have gone ahead with its ongoing investigation.But he added that since it borders on allegation of financial fraud, the commission could not go concurrently with the assembly investigating the same issue.When contacted for comment, Walin Kano, Alhaji Mahe Bashir Wali, said the emirate had not yet received any invitation letter from the State House of Assembly in respect of the probe.I only heard about the development on television, but we did not receive any invitation letter from the house in that respect, he said.The probe is coming at a time when five northern governors - Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna, Kashim Shettima of Borno, Aminu Masari of Katsina and Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger were said to have brokered a truce at a peace meeting in Kaduna penultimate Friday between Governor Ganduje and the Emir.
Moon Jae-In was sworn in on Wednesday as South Koreas new president, just a day after his landslide election victory.

Moon Jae-In was sworn in on Wednesday as South Koreas new president, just a day after his landslide election victory.He immediately declared his willingness to visit Pyongyang amid high tensions with the nuclear-armed North. Left-leaning Moon Jae-In, a former human rights lawyer, backs engagement with North Korea in the quest for peace  in contrast to the threatening rhetoric from the Trump administration in recent weeks. If needed I will fly to Washington immediately, Moon said in an inauguration speech after taking the oath of office in front of lawmakers at Seouls National Assembly building. I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right circumstances.Moon will have a difficult diplomatic path to tread in his approach to the North, which dreams of a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States, and has vast artillery forces trained on Seoul. At the same time the South is embroiled in disputes with China over a US missile defence system, and former colonial occupier Japan over wartime history.He named former journalist Lee Nak-Yon, a four-term lawmaker, as prime minister  a largely coordinating role  and appointed a new head of the National Intelligence Service, Suh Hoon, who played a key role in preparing the past two inter-Korea summits of 2000 and 2007.Domestically, Moon begins his term facing multiple challenges, including the aftermath of the huge corruption scandal that saw his conservative predecessor Park Geun-Hye impeached and swept him to power, but leaves the country bitterly divided. Ahead of the swearing-in, Moon met leading lawmakers of Parks Liberty Korea party  which has repeatedly accused him of being a Pyongyang sympathiser  to beg for their cooperation.I will be a president to all people, he said in his speech, promising to serve even those who did not support me and remain at eye-level with the people.After the low-key ceremony he was driven through the streets of the capital to the Blue House, standing in the back of his limousine and waving to supporters. Moon took 41.1 percent of the vote in Tuesdays election, far ahead of Hong Joon-Pyo of Parks Liberty Korea party, on 24.0 percent, and centrist Ahn Cheol-Soo on 21.4 percent. The 64-year-old isbespectacled, reserved and mild-mannered, although some critics describe him as bland, indecisive and uninspiring.I liked the no-frills inauguration event and his down-to-earth style, said Lee Jeong-Mi, a Seoul office worker who watched him pass by. He really looks like a true peoples president.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has passed a vote of no confidence on its Chairman Comrade Abdullahi Adeka over his anti  union activities.Spokesperson of the union Yusulf Iya who disclosed this to journalists on Friday after the unions State Executive Council meeting, said the decision was a collective decision of the SEC.He explained that, since leadership of the Adeka-led EXCOS came on board two years ago, it has not been able to get government to implement any of its resolutions.He added that, the new Chairman of the union is Comrade Bala Umaru of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).Similarly, the Organised Labour in the State has declared an indefinite strike in the state as a result of governments refusal to implement several agreements reached with the union.The Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC) Comrade Danladi Sabo Namo who disclosed this to newsmen, said the strike will take effect from Friday, May 12, if the government fails to listen to the voice of reasoning and retrace its footsteps.Since Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura came on board in 2011, we have to receive any annual increment or promotion. Our salaries are been frequently owed , he said.Responding to his removal, the former Chairman of the Union, Abdullahi Adeka said the strike action will not hold as negotiation with government is still ongoing.
The Federal Government is making efforts to address the challenges confronting the operations of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has pledged.Osinbajo made the pledge on Thursday in Abuja at a two-day national security summit.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit was organised by the office of the Inspector-General of Police in conjunction with Leadership group and the Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria.The theme of the summit is: Forging Partnership for Effective Strategies to Curb the Menace of Kidnapping, Recurring Farmers-Herders Clashes and Criminality in Nigeria.The acting President, who was the special guest of honour, was represented at the occasion by the Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau.Osinbajo said: I want to assure the NPF of my administrations support in carrying out institutional reforms and restructuring geared towards reviving the police in line with global best practices.We are keenly aware of the enormity of the task at hand, ranging from manpower shortage as a result of recruitment and training challenges and inadequate operational tools.It is paramount to note that efforts are already advanced to tackle these challenges with the recruitment of 10,000 policemen to address manpower challenges as well as improved budgetary allocation.He called on the organised private sector to intensify efforts in complementing government efforts to invest in the security sector.He expressed confidence that the ideas generated at the summit would assist in surmounting the security challenges facing the country.The acting president noted that any serious government would pay attention to issues of security.He said that security, anti-corruption and the commitment to provide good governance, formed the cardinal programmes of the incumbent administration.He said that security challenges facing the country had reduced as a result of the commitment of the administration to address them.READ: Woman remanded in Kirikiri prison for assaulting lawyerThis administration has also entered into bilateral and multilateral collaboration with other nations and international organisations to improve on the nations security challenges, he said.He said that the police had re-established civil authority in liberated areas in the North-East.Speaking in his capacity as Minister of Interior, Dambazau said the ministry would build capacity of security agencies to tackle security challenges.He said that farmers/herdsmen clashes involved regional dimension as the sub-region recognised free movement of persons and goods.Dambazau urged state governors to domesticate the Criminal Justice Act to fast-track cases in the courts and as well decongest the prisons.
Two Nigerians have been shot dead in South Africa, the association of Nigerians living in that country  The Nigeria Union in South Afric...

Two Nigerians have been shot dead in South Africa, the association of Nigerians living in that country  The Nigeria Union in South Africa  said yesterday.According to the organisation, the Nigerians both of them from Anambra State, were killed in the Western Cape Province.Chairman of the Unions chapter in the province Mr. Mike Ibitoye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Cape Town that the Nigerians were shot by unidentified assailants.Giving the account of how they were killed, Ibitoye said: Mr Ernest Ughakwesili, 42, a native of Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, was shot in a night club by gunmen at Strand Area of Cape Town on Sunday.The assailants escaped after the shooting and the victim died before being rushed to the hospitalThe second victim, Chimezie Oranusi, 26, from Oba town in Anambra State, was shot with a friend in a car at Delst area of Cape Town.The friend is a South African and is still in the hospital receiving treatment.The incidents have been reported to the police and the national secretariat of the union, he said.The chairman said that the motive behind the shootings had not been ascertained, adding that the police had commenced investigation.The Secretary of the union, Mr Adetola Olubajo, said the national secretariat had received the report of the killings.We have received report about the killing of two Nigerians in Cape Town, Western Cape Province of South Africa.The union`s chapter in the province is handling the matter while the national body has reported the incident to the Nigerian Mission in South Africa.We urge Nigerians in South Africa to remain law abiding. We also appeal to the Federal Government to continue to protect the welfare of our people here, he said.
HAMILTON -- A 34-year-old woman died Wednesday from injuries she sustained in a crash last week in Atlantic County, authorities said.

Laura Day, of Mays Landing, lost control of a 1991 Chevrolet Corsica while passing another car on Old Egg Harbor Road just after 10 a.m. Friday, Hamilton police said. Day's car slid off the road and crashed into a utility pole, police said.

Day was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City. A 3-year-old passenger was also hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening.

The child was properly buckled in a car seat and Day was wearing a seatbelt.

Police are still investigating the crash.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
One of New York City's best-known delicatessen's is coming to New Jersey -- kind of.

Katz's Deli plans to open a 30,000-square-foot distribution center in Hackensack to handle its growing mail order business, according to WSJ.com.

The 129-year-old Lower East Side institution has been delivering food by mail to spots around the United States since the 1990s, but now plans to go global.

Katz's expects to begin shipping to Mexico and Canada by the end of the year and will accept orders from other countries sometime in 2018, the report said.

It currently takes 10,000 to 12,000 domestic orders per year.

Katz's also plans to expand into Brooklyn, N.Y. with a small shop in a food market opening in June. The company is also considering opening up restaurants in Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
WILLINGBORO -- For a brief moment Wednesday evening, Joyce Hoff was the last person in a long, winding line leading to the door of the John F. Kennedy Center here.

She was hoping to be one of about 300 people to get into a town hall meeting with her congressman, U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-Burlington/Camden. MacArthur gained a national profile over the last month after helping to fashion a compromise in the House of Representatives that was tolerable to conservative members unwilling to sign on to President Donald Trump's campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. MacArthur's provision would allow states to opt out of covering preexisting medical conditions, a core component of Obamacare.

Several hundred protesters gathered in front of the meeting hall before the event. It was a festive atmosphere, with people playing banjos, guitars and drums and featured a large inflated caricature of Trump as a chicken, complete with his signature coiffure. There was also a die-in demonstration with a dozen or more protesters laying on the driveway in front of the center holding tombstones with messages like "Died to young, no insurance," and "GOP death plan."

Protesters also chanted "Pro-life that's a lie, you don't care if people die!"

Hoff said she voted for MacArthur and was a supporter of his until he supported the repeal of the ACA. Hoff, 62, said now, for the first time in her life, she's driven to political action.

"I'm very upset about the healthcare, preexisting conditions," said Hoff, an office manager from the Marlton section of Evesham. "Everyone has preexisting conditions. I've had breast cancer, that's preexisting condition, a thyroid condition. I thought he was doing the right thing when he voted against this bill in January and then he switched."

Hoff said she thought MacArthur was a "stand-up guy until he put us all at risk."

Her political stance has created a fissure in her family. She said her brother worked on MacArthur's reelection campaign and is still a supporter.

She wasn't in the only household at odds over the congressman.

John Larrier, 19, sat alone at a picnic table about 50 feet from the center of a protest involving dozens of people in front of the Kennedy Center just after the doors closed and the last person was admitted to the town hall. He held an American flag on a four-foot pole erect on the table. He said he just wanted to make the point that "In the end, we're all Americans."

Larrier described himself as "a conservative." He said he had a strong love of the military and admitted it was "kind of weird" to be a young, black conservative.

He traveled from Maplewood, Essex county to the protest outside the event with his mother, India Hayes Larrier, 55.

"I'm more Fox News and she's more CNN," he said.

His mother was carrying a bullhorn and helping to lead the protest nearby. She is an organizer with N.J. Citizen Action, a social-action advocacy group.

She said she respects her son's political opinions but thinks he still has a lot to learn.

"He's 19," she said. "Everything he's ever had has been taken care of his whole life. He doesn't necessarily understand some of these issues."

Sisters Evelyn and Patricia Adams were trying to squeeze in as the last two participants at the event. Evelyn, 64, from Willingboro and Pat, 60, from Westampton, said they were united in their position about MacArthur.

"He needed to give Trump a win," Pat said. "That's what it was all about."

Just before 6:30 p.m. Evelyn walked past John Larrier at the picnic table. She said her sister was the last one in the door.

"They said they only had one more space," she said. "I told her to go."

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
apf-getty images.JPG

The U.S. Capitol building before sunrise in Washington, DC.

(AFP/Getty Images)

It's been a sad couple of weeks for consumers.

Sad!

Your elected officials are taking steps that will gut protections for everyday Americans.

We know many of you favor smaller government, less regulation and freeing the hands of companies to make profit.

But recent moves in the House of Representatives defy common sense for consumers.

How can anyone support action that will put consumers at a disadvantage against large corporations, those with unethical lending practices and sometimes, plain trickery.

The attack on your protections is coming from several different directions.

Here's what's on the line:

1. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The CFPB was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis with a mandate to "protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices and take action against companies that break the law."

CFPB has gotten $12 billion in restitution for consumers who were wronged in just five years.

Sounds like a win for everyone except the bad guys.

But the House Financial Services Committee decided otherwise.

It approved the Financial CHOICE Act, which stands for Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs.

The bill basically takes away most of the CFPB's authority and enforcement powers and gives "hope" and "opportunity" to disreputable banks that have been on the run.

The CHOICE Act would neuter the CFPB by eliminating its ability to fine law-breaking companies. It would no longer be able to order companies to provide refunds to wronged consumers.

"It's not enough to shackle the bureau," said Lisa Donner, executive director of the non-partisan consumer advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform. "They also stab it and behead it."

The bill would also change how the agency is funded. Right now, CFPB gets its funding through the Federal Reserve, but under the CHOICE Act, it would become part of Congress' appropriations process. That means politics will come into play when it's time to decide funding. And that means pressure from lobbyists could impact the decisions made by legislators who get contributions from companies targeted by CFPB.

Donner said the bill includes some very specific items CFPB could no longer regulate, including payday lenders and car title lenders.

Big banks, too, would no longer be CFPB's responsibility.

"It's the end of the supervision that caught Wells Fargo systematically opening fraudulent accounts for consumers," Donner said.

Those who support knee-capping the CFPB have argued it has too much power.

Too much power to protect consumers by making sure financial companies follow the rules? Sheesh.

The bill next moves to a vote in the full House, and with passage, on to the Senate.

2. The fiduciary rule

Anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a financial advisor.

There's been nothing stopping unethical advisors from trying to sell clients inappropriate investments that earned the biggest commissions for the advisor.

A Department of Labor (DOL) rule, known as the fiduciary rule, was set to change that.

It would require investment advisors to put the interests of their clients before their own interests. The move would save investors more than $17 billion a year, DOL said.

Those who oppose the rule, which came to be after years of debate, hearings and compromise, have been trying to kill it.

The most recent assaults came shortly after President Donald Trump took office when the rule's effective date was delayed. Now part of the rule is scheduled to be enacted in June and the rest early next year.

But those who oppose the rule are still trying to kill it. Eliminating the rule was attached to the most recent budget, but that didn't work, so now, it's part of the CHOICE Act.

3. The Regulatory Accountability Act

The Trump administration has promised to cut back on regulations.

The Regulatory Accountability Act, passed in the House in January, makes it harder for agencies to create new ones.

Donner calls it a "stealth attack," saying that while it's not so bad in name, the innards are terrible.

"It would essentially make it impossible for the regulatory agencies to write rules to protect the public interest, and that's true in banking protections from payday lenders, debt collectors, banks opening fake accounts," Donner said. "It would also make it impossible for the regulators to write rules that seek to prevent another financial crisis."

It would impact everything from workplace safety to clean air and water to financial protections and safe toys for our kids.

The bill offers a series of new steps for rule-making, and it also gives companies and industries more influence and methods to fight rules they wouldn't like.

"They have lobbyists, they spend money on campaigns, they give money to academics and experts to write papers," Donner said. "The playing field is already tilted their way and it's an uphill battle to make sure the public interest is represented."

Donner said while supporters of the act say overregulation is a burden and too costly for business, they're not acknowledging the cost of not regulating business, such as the 2008 financial crisis.

"The rest of us still haven't recovered, and that was a cost of a failure to regulate," she said.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

As a consumer, if you want to protect your rights -- and reduce the chance you'll ever need to ask Bamboozled for help with a consumer problem -- you need to make yourself heard.

Start by calling your senators to tell them what you think of the legislation. Find out how your representative voted. Call them, too. You can find that information here.

And if you want to get more involved, contact the many consumer advocacy groups who are against the bills to see how you can help. You can find more on that here.

Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com.

Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.com's weekly e-newsletter.
BRIDGETON -- A man was sentenced 20 years in state prison for drug possession and keeping pit bulls which were used for dog fighting, officials said Wednesday.

David Silcott has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, authorities say. (Cumberland County Correctional Facility)

Some of the dogs found when authorities raided the Bridgeton-area home of David Silcott, 36, were suffering from "numerous wounds" and one had to be put down, according to Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae.

Silcott had been found guilty by a Superior Court jury in November of second-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, two counts of third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance, fourth-degree possession of a police scanner as well as one count of fighting/baiting animals.

According to Webb-McRae, Superior Court Judge Robert G. Malestein said during Monday's sentencing that Silcott was eligible for a mandatory extended prison term on the possession with intent to distribute charge based on a prior drug distribution conviction.

Malestein sentenced Silcott to 15 years and he must serve seven years before being eligible for parole. On the dog fighting conviction, Silcott was sentenced to five years and because that was deemed a separate crime form the drug offenses, he received five years that must be served consecutive to the drug sentence.

Authorities raided Silcott's home on Dec. 20, 2013. New Jersey State Police found a number of drugs and drug paraphernalia, Webb-McRae said. Also discovered at the home were a number of pit bulls "in deplorable conditions and suffering from numerous wounds," the prosecutor said.

A joint investigation by the SPCA, state police and Cumberland County authorities determined that the wounds -- along with dog-related items found on the property -- were an indication the animals had been used for fighting and baiting.

One of the dogs was so badly injured it had to be euthanized, the prosecutor said.

Senior Assistant Cumberland County Prosecutor Elizabeth Vogelsong represented the state. Silcott was represented by attorney Brian Muhlbaier.

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
China is becoming increasingly attractive to British visitors, with travel bookings from the United Kingdom for visits to the Chinese mainland up by 40 percent in the first four months of this year.

British tourists taste a welcome drink offered by a local girl in a Miao village in Guizhou province last year.

According to data from the travel brokerage firm Tourico Holidays, the UK, the United States and South Korea are still the strongest source markets for visits to China.

The company also found that emerging markets, such as India, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil, were helping to diversify demand.

Hillary Wang, regional director of product development in North Asia for Tourico, said: "Regional political turmoil, such as the nuclear one on the Korean Peninsula, makes the inbound China market more unpredictable- as (South Korea) was the number-one inbound source country for China last year - but, so far, Chinese travel business remains very strong."

Tourico is also predicting that business will double in 2017, because both the larger markets and the emerging markets will continue to visit China in growing numbers.

Wendy Wu Tours, a UK-based travel agency that specializes in tours of Asia, said it has seen an 18 percent year-on-year increase in China-bound travels this year.

Ben Briggs, the company's head of marketing, said: "We have found that interest in traveling to China has significantly increased in the past few years and this has continued in 2017. China has a wealth of bucket-list sights, such as the Terracotta Warriors in Shaanxi province, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City in Beijing, so it is no surprise that it is an increasingly appealing destination to visit."We found that the blockbuster movie The Great Wall, released earlier this year, also helped to showcase the beauty of China to a wider audience and we saw an increase in interest from customers around the release period." Figures from the China National Tourism Administration indicated that 579,600 visitors arrived into China from the UK in 2015 and 179,700 stated it was for sightseeing or leisure purposes.

The administration noted that, in 2016, Western visitors went up by 9 percent, with Beijing being one of the most popular cities for overseas tourists. Meanwhile, Chinese tourists remain major travelers and outbound hotel bookings grew by 70 percent in the first 17 weeks of this year.

Wang of Tourico Holidays said: "Our local Chinese supplier partners and distribution clients are both experiencing a strong demand in 2017 and we've ensured that a dedicated support team is in place to help them push their businesses to the next level."

According to the official UK tourism body VisitBritain, Chinese tourists spend longer and travel more widely in Britain than other international visitors. They also spend an average of 2,174 pounds ($2,812) during each visit. In 2015, visits from China increased 46 percent to almost 270,000 year0on-year, with Chinese visitors spending 586 million pounds.
Liu Xiaoming, the veteran Chinese diplomat who is ambassador to the United Kingdom, told China Daily in an exclusive interview he was "deeply impressed" by the strong support shown by many British friends for the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative  a blueprint initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom Liu Xiaoming receives an exclusive interview with China Daily. [Photo/China Daily]

"The UK was the first major Western power to join as a full member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the second contributor after China to inject capital into the AIIB special fund. These moves speak to Britain's entrepreneurship, of daring to take the lead, and Britain's farsightedness and truly global vision.

"They also reflect the vigorous momentum of the win-win cooperation between China and Great Britain," he said.

The initiative is a modern version of the ancient Silk Road that linked China and Europe at the time of Marco Polo, the Italian explorer and trader who exploited the route in the 13th and early 14th centuries.

Xi's proposal consists of land and maritime links connecting China with the rest of Eurasia and beyond.

The AIIB is a central part of the plan.

"I believe that, with the concerted efforts of China and the UK, our cooperation on the Belt and Road will go a long way and deliver more benefits to the people of our two nations," Liu said.

UK Chancellor Philip Hammond will attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum in Beijing as a personal envoy of Prime Minister Theresa May, who has told the Chinese authorities she strongly supports the initiative.

"This provides a valuable opportunity for China-UK cooperation on the Belt and Road," he said. "At present, China and Britain are working together to advance projects in the field of nuclear power, high-speed railways, infrastructure etc."

The ambassador said he believes the forum, which is set for Sunday and Monday, will facilitate stronger synergy between respective development strategies, "which will help unleash the potential in bilateral investment, trade and forecast, and give rise to tangible outcomes of China-UK cooperation on the Belt and Road".

Liu dismissed suggestions that the UK will miss out because it is not directly on the proposed route from China.

"Not long ago, China Railway Express made the return trip between Yiwu and London. This was the very first time China-UK trade was completely connected by land transportation. It also means China Railway Express has completed its last mile' and has extended the Belt and Road to the very Western point. This is a landmark event," Liu said.

One apparent tangible by-product of the Belt and Road Initiative is a plan by a Chinese developer to construct 15,000 affordable homes in the Dagenham area of East London, not far from the arrival point of the China Railway Express service.

The ambassador stressed that Britain's role in the Belt and Road plan is not limited by geography.

"For example, the UK has an advanced and international financial sector, and mature professional service industries in law and consulting. These are what countries along the Belt and Road routes need for setting up financial service platforms and improving legal systems.

"The UK also has prestigious think tanks and education institutions, and world-class R&D and innovation capabilities. These are all intellectual resources to support the Belt and Road projects," he said.

Addressing the broader issue of China-UK relations, the ambassador, who moved to the UK in 2010, said relations could not be swayed by a single incident.

"Last year, Britain voted to leave the European Union and the government went through a reshuffle. But developing positive ties with China remains the consensus of all British political parties," he said. "Next month, there will be a general election in the UK. Whatever the result will be, I believe the China-UK relationship in the golden era' will continue to deepen. In a world of uncertainties, the sound bilateral relationship between our two countries will always be a certainty."

Contact the reporters at liwensha@chinadaily.com.cn and chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com
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 
Five members of a Christian rock band on their way to perform at a concert in Council Bluffs were injured in a rollover accident on Thursday morning on westbound Interstate 80 between Walnut and Avoca in Pottawattamie County.

The crash happened around 8:45 a.m. according to the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office.

Four of the five musicians  members of the Ammunition Band family ministry  were taken by emergency crews to Myrtue Hospital in Harlan with non-life-threatening injuries, said Dept. Nick Amdor.

Three of the band members had been released from the hospital by mid-afternoon Thursday.

The group was traveling in a large motor home that was pulling a trailer carrying their instruments, Amdor said. They were traveling to Council Bluffs for a performance, he said. The band is based in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.

He said the driver somehow got into a situation that caused him to over-correct, causing the trailers rear wheels to lose traction and, eventually, the motor home to roll twice.

Two people seemed to have more serious injuries, but they were able to get out of the motor home under their own power, Amdor said. Instruments were scattered along the highway from the accident, he added. There were no other vehicles involved in the accident.

One westbound lane of I-80 was able to remain open, Amdor said. The Iowa State Patrol is investigating the crash.

A statement from the band appeared on the groups Facebook page around 3 p.m. It stated:

As many of you may have already heard, the band was involved in a horrible accident this morning in Harlan, Iowa on their way to a concert in Council Bluffs for tomorrow night. Four band members were injured and taken by ambulance to Myrtue Hospital in Harlan, Iowa. Three band members have been released with minor injuries. We ask for your prayers and continued support for the whole ANY family.
Titan Hill fifth-graders paid it forward Wednesday afternoon by giving homemade pillowcases to residents at Northcrest Living Center in Council Bluffs.

A group of 25 students decorated white pillowcases after being awarded a $250 Project Jack grant from the Iowa Association of Realtors.

The group operates 17 local governing board across the state, including one in southwest Iowa.

Project Jack gives Iowa fifth-graders the chance to pay it forward with a grant the class can use in any way they choose. The initiative was created two years ago after Jack Lindaman, a 6-year-old living in the Quad Cities area, passed away from spinal muscular atrophy.

He was a real sweet-natured kid and all about paying it forward, said Mark Hanwright, president of Southwest Iowas Association of Realtors. Once the association caught wind of it, they decided to sponsor it to make it a statewide initiative.

Titan Hill substitute teacher Amy Graeve said she and the students involved in the project worked together on applying for the grant.

We got together and decided what we wanted to do, Graeve said. We talked about different places in the community and we landed on the nursing home.

For the project, students decorated two pillowcases each and included a corresponding letter to give to each resident.

Its a random group of fifth-grade girls from Titan Hill that wanted to help out with the community and make a positive impact in the community, Graeve said. Its important this group of girls learn the importance of giving back.

Student Makenzie Stephens decorated one her pillowcases with blue clouds and a purple butterfly for resident Beaulah Liffick.

Its real good, Liffick said looking at the pillowcase. Its pretty.

Stephens spent about five minutes with Liffick talking about the pillowcase sharing her ideas behind her drawings.

I liked how I colored the pillowcase and she thought it had pretty colors, Stephens said. We got to have a conversation with each other too.

Center Activity Coordinator Pam Coffman said students sharing activities with residents can actually cheer up the residents.

Intergenerational activities are well received by residents, Coffman said. It brightens their day and for residents who dont engage in a lot of activity really respond well to students.

Other southwest Iowa school districts that received grants include: Council Bluffs, Riverside, Sidney, East Mills, Glenwood and Underwood. A total of 27 grants were awarded to schools in southwest Iowa.

These are good lessons for kids to learn at a young age and our community can always use volunteers, Hanwright said. Its nice to foster that mind-set early and its neat to have these little minds come up with the ideas.
OMAHA  West Corp., a pioneer of the telemarketing industry and employer of 1,200 in the area, said it would be purchased by a private-equity firm, taking the Omaha-based company off the public stock exchange and putting into question at least some of its future operations.

A spokesman for the company told The Omaha World-Herald on Tuesday evening that the purchase, by New York-based Apollo Global Management, shouldnt affect the day-to-day operations of the company in Omaha or its employee count.

Even though private-equity firms often shake up firms they buy  sometimes selling units, slashing employees or moving headquarters offices, the spokesman said none of that is in the cards at the moment for West.

Dave Pleiss, the spokesman, said employees really shouldnt see any impact at all.

Right now, everything is going to be in place just as it is today, so we dont expect really any changes, he said.

The company last fall said it would undergo a so-called strategic review, oftentimes Wall Street speak for selling all or part of a company. Since then, it had offered no updates on the progress of the review, only to say that it was ongoing.

As part of the review, the company said its executives and their hired advisers would look for ways to maximize long-term shareholder value, West Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Barker said at the time.

He said investors hadnt been valuing the company accurately. Its stock price was weighed down, he said, by differing valuations for disparate parts of the firm.

Some Wall Street analysts have pointed out potential for strong growth in a company division that helps administer employee wellness programs and another that sends out safety and other alerts to parents of schoolchildren. Those units are weighed down, some analysts say, by a challenged telephone conference-call business that is fending off online and other competitors.

Its unclear what Apollos plans for West are  whether it will split apart lines of business, sell off others or continue operating the company as is.

Apollo, like most private-equity companies, is known for buying firms, making changes and then selling the companies, or shepherding them back to the public markets, for a quick profit. Among its current and previous stakes: Norwegian Cruise Lines, ADT home security and the Hostess Bakery.

In a statement, an Apollo senior partner spoke only in general terms, saying: We look forward to working with Wests talented and dedicated team to continue the strong heritage of providing the highest level of service and care to its customers.

Apollo said it would purchase outstanding shares of West for $23.50 a share each in cash; the stock on Tuesday closed at $24.11 a share on the New York Stock Exchange, before the news of the sale was released.

The proposed transaction, which is expected to close later in the year, has a value of about $5.1 billion, including Wests debt that Apollo will assume.

Barker, Wests chief executive, said in a statement to employees given to The World-Herald that the Apollo purchase would be the best way to maximize value for our stockholders and ensure the company has the resources needed to continue to grow.

West ranked No. 869 on Fortune magazines list of the 1,000 largest companies. The company started in Omaha in the 1980s as a telephone call center operator.

West sold the call center business to California-based Alorica in 2015 for $275 million, cutting its local employment by more than half, from 3,300 before the sale. Alorica still operates the call centers locally.

West first offered stock to the public in 2013 at $20 a share, opening itself to constant, quarter-by-quarter scrutiny from investors. As a private company, it wont have to face such scrutiny once the Apollo sale closes.
Wesley Correa-Carmenaty has been named as the sole suspect in the official report on the death of Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridge.

Burbridge was killed in the line of duty on May 1 during a jailbreak by Correa-Carmenaty, police said.

Correa-Carmenaty, 24, is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of robbery, escape from custody, kidnapping, intimidation with a dangerous weapon and control of a firearm by a felon.

Correa-Carmenaty appeared in court Wednesday morning with armed sheriffs deputies standing at his sides. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, his hands shackled while clad in an orange jumpsuit.

According to the report, Correa-Carmenaty was being transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail from the Pottawattamie County Courthouse after being sentenced to 45 years for attempted murder, voluntary manslaughter and robbery in connection with the death of Anthony Walker in March 2016.

Correa-Carmenaty was handcuffed and shackled in the sheriffs office van alongside a separate, female prisoner who has not been identified by investigators.

During the ride between the courthouse and jail, Correa-Carmenaty allegedly told the female prisoner that he was going to be getting out and they should hang out afterward. During this time, Correa-Carmenaty was able to defeat the locking mechanisms for his handcuffs and leg shackles, the report states. The report does not state how he was able to defeat the locks.

At 10:55 a.m., the van entered the sally port where prisoners are loaded and unloaded at the jail. Deputy Patrick Morgan and Burbridge got out of the van and went to the rear doors and opened them.

Morgan removed the female prisoner from the van and began to walk with her to the jail intake door.

Burbridge stayed by the van and waited for Correa-Carmenaty to get out. When Correa-Carmenaty got out, he attacked Burbridge, who suffered numerous lacerations to the head, neck and arms during the attack.

Correa-Carmenaty ran to the drivers door of the van and got inside the front seat area.

Burbridge ran to the front passenger side of the van and got in while Morgan ran back around to the drivers side door and tried to assist in apprehending Correa-Carmenaty.

In the struggle, Correa-Carmenaty took one of the deputys guns  the report does not say which one  and shot Burbridge in the head. Burbridge fell to the ground and was declared dead around noon at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

Correa-Carmenaty then shot Morgan in the abdomen, and he also fell to the ground. Correa-Carmenaty allegedly took possession of both of the deputies firearms after shooting the men.

Correa-Carmenaty took the keys from Morgans belt, along with a magazine of ammunition, then got in the van and rammed through the closed garage door to escape.

After ramming the door, Correa-Carmenaty is accused of driving to the intersection of Big Lake Road and N. 16th Street. There, police said Jerry Brittain and a passenger of his were driving west on Big Lake Road.

Brittain was driving a GMC truck and was slowing for the red light when he saw the white prison van behind him. Brittain told authorities he saw Correa-Carmenaty get out of the van and approach his drivers side door.

Brittain, who is a correctional officer for a Nebraska agency, said it looked like Correa-Carmenaty was an inmate, so Brittain shifted into gear and tried to flee from Correa-Carmenaty, telling his passenger, I think were getting robbed!

Correa-Carmenaty allegedly shot through the window, shooting Brittain in the neck, police said. Brittain drove into a ditch north of the intersection as Correa-Carmenaty went back to the jail van and drove west on Nash Boulevard.

Brittains passenger, Kelsey Bridges, told police Brittain was shot and grabbed his neck as they went into the ditch, covered in glass from the shot out window.

Brittain was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and has since been released from the hospital.

Correa-Carmenaty told officers in an interview later that day his intent was to carjack the truck.

The suspect was next seen near 25th Street and Avenue I. There, Amy Kanger was at a stop sign when she saw the jail van pass her form behind, then stop in front of her.

Correa-Carmenaty got out of the van, pointed a gun at her and told Kanger to get out of her car.

Kanger got out of her car.

However, as she was walking away, Correa-Carmenaty yelled to her to come back, telling her he did not know how to drive a manual transmission and she would have to drive for him.

Kanger got back in the car as Correa-Carmenaty sat in the passenger seat, pointing the gun at Kanger as she drove.

Kanger drove to 35th Street and Avenue A and saw an unmarked State Patrol car. Kanger told police she thought about jumping out of the car but Correa-Carmenaty kept the gun on her, telling her to drive more.

Kanger drove into Omaha on I-480, eventually being forced out of the car by Correa-Carmenaty at a liquor store near the 5800 block of North 30th Street. Correa-Carmenaty then drove away and Kanger called for help.

Correa-Carmenaty was eventually caught after a car chase with Omaha authorities near Cuming Street and I-480 at about 11:30 a.m.

Correa-Carmenaty is being taken back to the Woodbury County Jail where he will be held without bond.
Fred Hubbell, a longtime Des Moines businessman, announced the formation of an exploratory campaign in a possible run for the Iowa governors position. If he officially throws his hat into the ring, it would be the first run for public office for Hubbell, 66.

Hes one of a growing number of Democrats who have either officially announced their candidacy or are considering a run.

According to the Iowa Democratic Party, Andy McGuire, the partys former chair, has officially announced her candidacy, along with State Sen. Nate Bolton of Des Moines. So has Rich Leopold, the former head of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Des Moines lawyer Jon Neiderbach, according to the IDP.

State Rep. Todd Prichard of Charles City has opened a committee to explore a candidacy, and John Norris, a long-time aide to former Gov. Tom Vilsack, has also expressed an interest, the IDP said.

Linda Nelson, chair of the Pottawattamie County Democrats, believes the growing number of party candidates is an indication that Iowans are not happy with the Republican-led Legislature and the governors office.

We know we have a real opportunity to elect a Democratic governor, Nelson said.

Local Democratic lawmaker Charlie McConkey added, It ought to be a good race.

Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will likely become governor after Gov. Terry Branstad is confirmed as ambassador to China, and she is expected to run for a full term in 2018. Local GOP lawmaker Mary Ann Hanusa said she has heard that Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett is considering a run for the GOP nomination, but she hasnt heard of any official announcements from other Republicans.

Thats not to say there are not those privately considering a run, but Im not aware of it at the moment, Hanusa said. No matter who wins the nomination of either party, I think its going to be a competitive race.
Earlier this week, we considered calling for the ousting of FBI Director James Comey.

Trust in the FBI has deteriorated rapidly. We cringed hearing that Comey was only mildly nauseous at the idea his actions regarding the investigation of Hillary Clinton affected the election.

His reasons for discussing the investigation of Clinton, while concealing the investigation into the Trump campaigns ties to Russia, seem lacking. Beyond that, simply looking into potential evidence isnt re-opening a case  especially when that evidence turns out to just be more of the same.

Breaking the protocol of not discussing an active investigation  especially at the end of a contentious election  was weighty, and trust is not easily restored.

On Tuesday morning, ProPublica reported that Comey misled Congress when he characterized the FBIs decision to reopen the investigation into Clinton.

The FBI clarified Tuesday that a Clinton aide only forwarded a small number of emails, not hundreds or thousands, an=d that only two contained classified information, which was determined to be classified after the fact  the emails were not marked as such.

Had President Donald Trump cited those reports, or simply the general lack of confidence in the FBI, we would find ourselves applauding the decision to show Comey the door.

That doesnt appear to be the presidents reason for firing him, though.

The president wrote, in the second of a four paragraph letter to Comey, While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgement of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.

Bringing up the specter of investigations underway in Congress and by the FBI into the connections between the Trump campaign and Russia seems alarmingly out of place in the context of firing a high-ranking national security and law enforcement official.

The AP summed it up thusly: Tuesdays abrupt firing throws into question the future of the investigation into the Trump campaigns possible connections to Russia and immediately raised suspicions of an underhanded effort to stymie a probe that has shadowed the administration from the outset.

The AP notes Trump has called the investigations a hoax. Hes called outlets reporting on it a hoax. Those watching MSNBC or reading left-leaning, partisan outlets would be forgiven to reacting to the way the Russia story is discussed as being full of conspiracy theories and hyperbole.

Yet, the reality is there are real questions that havent been satisfactorily answered.

The hiring and firing of former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn raises questions. The hinky way the congressional investigations have played out raises questions. The hacking and release of documents from the Clinton campaign raises questions.

The American public deserves to have confidence restored in the government.

Trump may well be proven right that Republicans and Democrats will appreciate that Comey is no longer in charge of the FBI. But if the president wants to bring back the spirit and prestige of the FBI, as he tweeted, he must allow the probe into Russian ties to proceed.

Furthermore, an independent prosecutor must be appointed. Someone who, if fired by the Trump administration, would invite truly fair comparisons to Watergate. Someone who wont be swayed by partisan rhetoric. Someone who is committed to disclosing the inquirys findings.

An independent investigation by law enforcement is undeniably needed, and it must be done right.

Beyond that, when the time comes, the administration has to go beyond the norm to insure that the next FBI director is not a political hack. The nations top cop has to be beyond reproach.

Falling short  either on the investigation or replacing Comey  will corrode trust in Washington even further. Frankly, we dont have enough trust left in the government to risk such a loss.
The following editorial was published in the Quad City Times on May 3:

Gov. Terry Branstad did his homework before his confirmation hearing in front of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations. And, along the way, the future ambassador to China made a few welcome statements that fly in the face of the Trumpian nationalism.

I see this as the biggest challenge Ive ever had, Branstad told the committee, when asked about growing tensions with North Korea. I want to do whatever I can to find a solution that will benefit the entire human race.

Such a pledge would be boilerplate in most times. But, within the context of the White Houses stated nationalism, Branstads commitment to all of humanity  regardless of national affiliation  suddenly takes on real meaning. Clearly, Branstad is considering the human costs for the 20 million in and around cities such as Seoul, South Korea, should things blow up in the region.

Its a welcome, if brief, return to normalcy.

China is, after all, the only power with any real economic or political sway over Pyongyang. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, accused the Chinese government of offering head fakes over the years because the Communist power has no interest in sharing a border with a unified, democratic Korean state. All the while, North Koreas nuclear program continued to blossom, threatening millions in Seoul and Tokyo.

Branstad was all but assured the post. His hearing went smoothly. Senators from both parties lauded his grasp of the issues and preemptively congratulated him.

Branstad pledged, under questioning, to press Chinese officials on human rights violations, clandestine opiate operations and trade irregularities.

Branstads close friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping wont mean much once hes pushing for U.S. economic and political interests.

Despite your relationship with President Xi ... theyre tough negotiators, said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

His will be a Herculean task that no previous friendship can soften.

And it comes amid increased saber rattlings on both sides of the Pacific. North Korea has for years touted its nuclear ambitions. The Trump administration, though, has adopted a substantially more aggressive posture than those before it. Averting a second Korean War requires Chinas cooperation.

We need their help, Branstad said of Beijing. I dont think they want war over this either. They dont want a bunch of refugees flooding in.

Every American should be rooting for Branstads success. Iowas long-time governor is striding confidently into a minefield thats unmatched anywhere on the planet.

Democrats on Foreign Relations rightly reminded Branstad his coming oath is to the U.S. Constitution, not the White House. Branstad could find himself caught between those two allegiances due to President Trumps financial interests in China.

Branstad impressed. He confidently touched on all the bullet points, from Chinese aggression in the South China Sea to its notorious human rights record. He pledged to annually visit every Chinese province, the Full Branstad, and to welcome and defend political dissidents from persecution.

Plainly, Branstad said all the right things. In so doing, he touted global interests, which extend to the entire species. And he looked to mean it, too.

Hopefully, political realities dont undermine his mission.
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The Colwick-based firm, which was until now backed by investor Ares Capital Corporation, has been taken over by Hunter Douglas, an internationally-renowned window covering business.

With a turnover of 185m, Hillarys employs 1,350 people over three sites  two in Nottinghamshire, also including Glaisdale Parkway, in Bilborough, and one in Washington, Tyne & Wear.

CEO John Risman said: "We provide outstanding products and unsurpassed service that, together, deliver great value to our customers.

"This opportunity allows us to accelerate our plans for growth and provide an even more compelling customer experience for all of our customers.

"We are delighted that Hunter Douglas has bought in to our portfolio of strong brands and our team.

"We are excited to be working with such a dynamic company with its expertise across all aspects of the window furnishing business.

"This makes it ideally placed to support Hillarys' growth strategy and expansion in the coming years."

David and Marko Sonnenberg, co-presidents and CEOs of Hunter Douglas, added in a joint statement: "We are delighted to have Hillarys join the Hunter Douglas family of companies, adding a strong brand and value offer, as well as an exceptional management team."

Established in 1971, Hillarys has grown to become a market leader in blinds, curtains, shutters and awnings, while it recently added carpets and flooring to its product portfolio.

(Image: Google Streetview)

The business sells goods through the company's in-home sales and installation service, direct sales to the trade through the Arena and Custom West brands, and retail sales through its e-commerce brand Web-Blinds.

Its staff includes a network of more than 1,000 self-employed advisors who provide an in-home service, selling and installing core and specialist products.

Hillarys' parent company Bellotto Holdings was listed 23 in the Post's list of Nottinghamshire's Top 200 Companies 2016 , which was based on a 152m turnover in the year to September 2015.

Last month, the Post reported how the firm wanted to expand its headquarters in a 6m project that would create new jobs.

Following the Hunter Douglas deal, there will be no changes to Hillarys' senior management team and the business will continue to trade as a standalone entity from its Colwick Industrial Estate headquarters.

The Hunter Douglas Group has its head office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and a management office in Lucerne, Switzerland.

It is comprised of 130 companies with 50 manufacturing and 80 assembly operations in more than 100 countries.

The company employs about 21,000 people and had sales of $2.82 billion (2.2 billion) in 2016.

Professional services firm KPMG's Midlands team supported Hillarys on the deal.

Richard Peberdy, partner and head of KPMG's deal advisory practice in the Midlands, said: "This transaction reflects demand from international buyers for high-quality, strategic assets that provide future growth and synergy opportunities.

"The deal also demonstrates that the Midlands has high quality businesses with proven resilience."

PwC's corporate finance team has provided lead mergers and acquisition advice to the Hillarys shareholders.

Deals partner Neil Sutton said: "It was great to support John and the management team on a successful sale which will position the business for continued growth.

"Hillarys is a great success story of a UK business which has gone from strength to strength. This is an exciting time for the business following the investment by Hunter Douglas and and we wish them every success."
Pat Rohling of Valley Center, Kansas, will be the featured speaker for the Monday and Tuesday Christian Womens Club.

Rohling, A Girl Called Peaches, will talk about her nickname, her divorce and her second marriage, which left her a widow. Peaches adds some humor about her nickname.

She is the mother of two, grandmother of five, a former hairdresser and retired postal worker.

After 5 Connection

After 5 Ladies will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday at the Parkview Community Church, 1802 N. Jeffers St. The cost is $7, which includes a full meal. Special music will be provided by Judy Block of Gothenburg.

Reservations are required by Friday and can be made by calling Donna Beardsley at 308-532-5252 or Kathy Gove at 308-530-4655 or emailing govegang25@gmail.com. Cancellations are essential and should be phoned in by 10 a.m. on Monday to Kathy.

Tuesday brunch

The Tuesday Brunch Ladies will meet at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday at the First Christian Church, 220 N. Vine St. Use the back door. The cost is $5, which includes brunch. The featured speaker will be Harold Grandy of Grandys Greenhouse. Special music will be provided by Linda Logsdon.

Reservations are required and can be made by calling Konnie Wemple at 308-532-4268, Darlene Small at 308-532-2971 or Bev Larsen at 308-539-0719 no later than Sunday. Cancellations are needed by 9 a.m. on Monday to Darlene or Konnie.
This is a copy of a request I have sent to all Nebraska state senators requesting the passage of the medical marijuana bill, LB 622. Please contact your state senators and back the medical marijuana bill.

Dear Senators,

I want to share my viewpoint concerning LB 622 and would like to thank you for your service to your district and your state.

As a combat disabled marine retiree, I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, nerve pain, depression and 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, you may go through years of different medications before the right dose is found like I did.

I have heard the senators who dont back medical marijuana talk of unknowns. Well, this is what we do know: Opioid overdose killed 33,000 in 2015; half those numbers are from heroin. Opioids do cause dependency. There have been no marijuana overdose deaths and there is a slight chance of dependency. (All of this information is from the Centers for Disease Control.)

In fact, award-winning former U.S. surgeon general nominee Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, 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 only where legal; do not transport across state lines.

Please show your compassion to your disabled veterans and support LB 622.
He has seen first-hand how the Gold Coast reacts to a team that goes deep in September and former Titans great Ashley Harrison believes the current playing group have the potential to again capture the imagination by pushing for a premiership.



Match Draw Widget

[2017] Telstra Premiership - Round 10: Storm vs Titans

The Titans have won their past two games against the Sharks and Knights yet need to go up another gear when they face the Storm in a blockbuster double-header at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

Expectations prior to the Telstra Premiership kicking off this year were that the Titans would improve on their eighth-place finish from last year and despite currently sitting in 12th position Harrison has no doubt that a fully fit playing group can go on a run in their 10th year of the NRL.

To celebrate the club's 10th year a 'Team of the Decade' will be unveiled at the club's Round 14 clash against the Warriors with Harrison nominated alongside Greg Bird, Ben Ridge, Luke O'Dwyer and Luke Swain as 'Lock Forward of the Decade'.

Joining the club in their second year in 2008, Harrison was a member of the team that qualified for the Preliminary Final in 2010 and believes that if the current squad can gather some winning momentum that the city will get behind them as they did seven years ago.

"It was a really memorable week and we had the town behind us and I think this group of players can get there again," Harrison told NRL.com.

"There's no question about that and that's all it will take to get the town behind the team again. Once you get the support of this place I'm sure it will stick.

"It showed [against Newcastle] that once we get some troops back they've got the talent to be able to win games and win them quite comfortably.

"I'm interested to see the next five or six weeks. If they can replicate what they did on the weekend they're back in the mix and once you're there it breeds confidence heading into the back end.

"If these boys can win the next couple of games everyone will start turning up to games again and make a bit of noise and see what happens from there."

Reluctant to put a timeline on the club's first premiership, Titans CEO Graham Annesley can certainly see the club's premiership window being prised open in the immediate future, the mere thought of a grand final appearance sending "shivers down my spine".

"There's no doubt that this city would go nuts if we were to appear in an NRL Grand Final," Annesley said.

"I don't dwell on it, I don't think about it but it would be magnificent for the city.

"It took Parramatta almost 40 years [to win a premiership], it took the Sharks 50 years; I don't have any doubt that it's not going to take anywhere near that for the Titans to win a premiership.

"This club has got premierships within its reach and I'm not talking about the long-term future. I think that those things are very achievable in the coming seasons. I'm very optimistic about the club's prospects both on and off the field."

Such confidence is news to the ears of current co-captain Ryan James who was a 19-year-old with four NRL games to his name when the Titans were bounced out a week shy of the grand final by the Roosters in 2010.

Gold Coast born and bred, James is desperate to rekindle the outpouring of support from local footy fans that manifested itself in the 2010 season and to a lesser extent last year.

"I've got a great love for the Gold Coast. I grew up in Tweed Heads and I just want to see the Titans get back to where it was," James told NRL.com.

"We've had a lot of great players in the past and I really think that this roster we can really build on and hopefully a couple of the boys look at extending and re-signing.

"The club's looking in great stead for the next couple of years."
As hundreds of eyes focussed in on him from the grandstand, with hands pounding against bare flesh and tears filling his eyes, Issac Luke finally knew he was home.

There had been countless hakas before, but this one, carried out by a large group of family and friends in the aftermath of the Warriors' Round 11 loss to the Canberra Raiders in New Plymouth last year, had a different level of meaning for Luke.

These were his people, in his homeland of Taranaki, conveying their respect for him in the most meaningful way possible according to Maori culture, with Luke adding to the moving scene by performing a haka of his own in response.

"I was feeling a bit of everything during that haka, I was proud, emotional it has a huge cultural significance," Luke told NRL.com ahead of the annual Indigenous Round this week.

"That's why this round is special for us Maori people as well as the Indigenous Australians. We saw other cultures proudly represented last weekend [in the Representative Round] and now it's our turn.

"To be able to represent your culture most weekends is great, but this round will be huge."

After 12 years away from New Zealand, Luke returned at the end of 2015 and immediately began efforts to reconnect with his culture.

It started with enrolling in a course to improve his te reo Maori (native language), and has included learning more about his ancestors and what it means to be Maori.

"I left home for Australia when I was 16 and got the chance to come back a couple of years ago, and this is the first time it's been on my radar and to be able to get back to it is special," Luke said.

"I did lose touch with my culture while I was away. When I was growing up, everywhere I was, on maraes (meeting grounds), at funerals and that stuff, you sort of were around it all the time, but being over in Australia I had to find mates who were from New Zealand if I wanted to speak Maori.

"The opportunity to come home and reconnect with New Zealand and my culture definitely featured on my mind.

"I have been going to a language school since last February and getting back to my culture and learning everything that I kind of knew before I left New Zealand.

"My little sister speaks fluent Maori, and now when she says something I actually understand her which is good."

As players throughout the NRL Telstra Premiership celebrate Indigenous culture this week, Luke will be one of several doing so from a New Zealand point of view.

The Warriors will also gift a hei matau (greenstone carving) to the Penrith Panthers when they meet this Saturday at Pepper Stadium as part of their celebration of the Indigenous Round.

A proud descendant of the Ngaruahine Iwi (tribe) in New Zealand's North Island, Luke's increased awareness of his culture has seen him grow off the field according to Warriors welfare and education manager Jerry Seuseu.

"He's really got into quite a bit of stuff since he got back, he is becoming a bit of a leader not only on the field, but a leader in the community as well," Seuseu told NRL.com.

"For him that is part of the journey, it's about more than coming home and playing for the Warriors, it's reconnecting with who he is and the community he wants to serve."

Luke has also become involved in helping to raise awareness of respiratory disease, something which affects the Maori population more than any other ethnicity in New Zealand.

"Respiratory illness is something that is very close to me and my family. My father has suffered from asthma for most of his life, and for me growing up and hearing the nasty coughing and the struggle to breathe is something that will always haunt me," Luke said.

"I figured out that my kids also have asthma so I took the role on board, and while my kids don't suffer from it now as such, they have it and it's probably going to be around for their lives.

"As an ambassador, I want to raise awareness of asthma and respiratory conditions. With my profile I can help people deal with it."

With all 16 NRL clubs sporting special Indigenous Round jerseys this weekend, the Warriors will wear their 2017 away jersey which features a koru in its design, symbolising growth.
MICHIGAN CITY  Police identified the suspect who is still at large following the shooting of a 17-year-old employee Wednesday night outside a Burger King restaurant.

Deiondrai Thompkins, 20, who should be considered armed and dangerous, according to a Michigan City Police news release.

The warrant for the Michigan City resident is for one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated battery and two counts of criminal recklessness, according to the release.

Michigan City police were called to the Burger King at 3956 Franklin St. about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a gunshot victim.

Officers located the 17-year-old, who had been shot in the leg, police said.

The boy was taken to Franciscan St. Anthony Health hospital in Michigan City and later released, police said.

An officer from the Trail Creek Police Department, deputies from the LaPorte County Sheriffs Office, and detectives from the Michigan City Police Department, the LaPorte County Drug Unit and the Fugitive Apprehension Street Team assisted with the investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Kay Pliske at 219-874-3221, ext. 1077, or kpliske@emichigancity.com.
PORTER  Add the very northern section of Ind. 49 to the list of area highways to avoid for a while as a result of construction.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is closing the section of the highway between U.S. 20 and U.S. 12 for up to 10 days beginning 6 a.m. Monday.

The reason for the closure is to remove a 1,000-foot section of the roadway where green and white liquid has been oozing up, according to Doug Moats, media relations director for the Northwest District of INDOT.

The leachate is a mixture of water and slag coming from the sub base of the roadway, he said. The sub base will be replaced with gravel and asphalt.

The work will focus primarily on the northbound lanes of Ind. 49, Moats said.

Motorists are going to have to take detours to get between U.S. 20 and U.S. 12 in the area, or to access the Indiana Dunes State Park located at the north end of Ind. 49.

The section of roadway in question was closed temporarily last summer due to the leachate.

Porter Deputy Fire Chief Jay Craig had said the green liquid was flowing from the roadway and giving off a strong sulfur smell.

The town's fire chief and a police officer had difficulty breathing at the site last year and were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated and released, Craig said.

Craig estimated about 120 gallons of the green liquid was being contained last summer at the site and being collected by vacuum trucks.
Police say 100

cellphones found

in prison worker's car

PENDLETON, Ind.  Authorities say an employee at a central Indiana prison was arrested after more than 100 cellphones were found concealed in his car.

Indiana State Police say the phones were discovered inside the car at the Pendleton Correctional Facility. Police say 23-year-old correctional officer Taylor Hardesty of Indianapolis had dropped the car off at the prison to have the brakes repaired.

State police say Hardesty was arrested Tuesday at a friend's home on felony charges of trafficking with an inmate and bribery.

Hardesty was being Madison County Jail under $20,000 bond. Records didn't list a defense attorney who could comment on his behalf.
The owner of a Brooklyn construction company has been charged with manslaughter, nearly two years after a deadly accident at one of his sites.

Michael Weiss is facing 14 total charges connected to the wall collapse at his site in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

It killed 18-year-old Fernando Vanegas, a Queens resident who came to the city from Ecuador.

Officials say Weiss had been hiring immigrant workers without safety certifications.

They also say he put their lives in danger after going through with the excavation even after the Department of Buildings prohibited it.

"This builder made a calculated decision to ignore industry-wide safety regulations and protocols," said acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. "We cannot allow the robust housing market and development market in our city to come at the cost of worker's safeties and their lives."

Weiss faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted.

He is due back in court in August.

In a statement, his lawyer says Weiss did nothing wrong.
In reading passages from a new book of letters between historian Wayne Flynt and author Harper Lee, Flynt played the role of himself while Mary Ann Dell played Lee.

The two took the stage at the Hotel at Auburn University

and Dixon Conference Center on Wednesday to read from Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship with Harper Lee. After a brief introduction, Flynt and Dell read aloud portions of the letters included in the book that was released last week.

Though sparse at first, letters between the author of To Kill a Mockingbird and historian Flynt grew more frequent over time as their late-life friendship developed over nearly 25 years.

Flynt, a professor emeritus in Auburn Universitys history department and author of 13 books, chose to limit his own words about Lee on Wednesday and decided to let Nelle Harper Lee speak for herself.

The first letter was addressed to Flynt, who hadalong with his wife Dorothydeveloped a friendship with Lees sister Louise Conner. Flynt had written an op-ed column about the three Lee sisters that was published across Alabama, and Lee wrote to thank him.

To learn that a man of your gifts, by faith in onenovel (To Kill a Mockingbird), chose to make his life in Alabama makes the author humble indeed. I can only say thank you for honoring the state with your presence. Thank you for the most kind article. Thank you for the generosity that prompted it, Lee said in the 1992 letter.

It continued, pointing out one small error Flynt had made. Lee jested that his mistake that Lee was older than Conner, when she was actually the youngest of the siblings, made Louise chortle with delight.

It was years before the two would exchange handwritten notes again, but in the late 2000s they became more friendly. In March 2006, Flynt signed a letter, Your friend and not acquaintance, Wayne. In July 2006, Lee finished a letter with, No other news. I just love you. Your boring friend, Nelle.

Flynt ended the readings overviewing conspiracies surrounding the publication of Lees Go Set a Watchman, published in 2015, that Lee was incapable of giving informed consent of the publication of the book.

After listening to the letters toward the end of her life, I will let you make your own conclusion, Flynt said. The reason I wrote this book, despite the fact that I told her I would never write about her in her lifetimeit is because I thought it was high time for Nelle Harper Lee to tell her own story.

The program ended with an announcement that Auburn University established the Wayne Flynt Endowed Graduate Student Research Award in Alabama History and Culture. The annual award will be first given next year to students writing on the history and culture of Alabama.

Most importantly, it will keep the legacy of Wayne Flynt within our midst, said Mark Wilson, director of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities.


GOP Should Back Away From Trump in 2024 Wed., Jul. 6, 2022 Trump has allegedly told his inner circle hes considering officially announcing his second run for the White House as early as this month. Heres why it would be a bad idea for the GOP to get behind him.


Disrupting the Airline Industry, an 'Electric' Perspective Fri., Oct. 14, 2022 While a technological advance like the worlds first all-electric commuter aircraft is a guaranteed media draw, the real opportunity comes in shaping the narrative around the company that developed the aircraft, and equally as important, the impact of a novel technology on society.
The Public Relations Global Network has reached the 50-member mark for the first time with the addition of S&A Communications and asoluto. These firms signed on during PRGNs recent bi-annual meeting in Dallas where Christina Rytter, managing director and founder of Copenhagen, Denmark-based Scandinavian Communications, was elected network president.

Christina Rytter

S&A Communications, started in 1982, is an integrated marketing agency based in North Carolina offering public relations, marketing, digital, creative, photography, event planning and custom-publishing services. Leadership includes Chuck Norman, APR, owner and principal; Bill Zadeits, owner and principal; and Ron Smith, APR, founder and owner.

Vienna, Austria-based asoluto is one of the countrys biggest PR and communications organizations. Formed in 2011 by the merger of two long-established firms, the agency combines traditional PR with integrated digital services such as social media campaigns and web development. asoluto is led by managing partners Robert Bauer, Brigitte Muhlbauer, Andreas Freitag, Beatrice Verdino and Martin Verdino. Client experience includes AEG, Roche, paysafecard and QuintilesIMS.

New PRGN.com

A complete redesign of the networks website now allows businesses worldwide to more easily research and find the outside counsel that best fits their needs.

The new, search friendly PRGN.com gives prospective clients one-stop access to a curated suite of PR services. Also, it serves as a common conversation point for member agencies to interact with each other and build business together, Rytter said.

The website also offers new resources for PR pros searching for tools and templates to guide them as well as the first-ever international job search banks for the PR profession.

For those on the outside, the website is a new resource that anyone can use, including those hunting for a job in one of our 50 markets, Rytter explained.

PRGN is planning a celebration for its 25th anniversary later this year.

Independent agencies interested in joining the network can visit the member recruitment section of the PRGN website.
A Portarlington man, who damaged a car with a UK reg after mistakenly believing it belonged to a UK man hed just had an altercation with, has been convicted and fined after paying compensation.

Gordon Boggan (41), Carriglea, Portarlington, was convicted of the offence back in March.

Inspector Jer Glavin gave evidence that on October 9 last year, at The Thatch Pub, Killenard, the accused caused 2,916.70 damage to a vehicle in the car park.

He was in an abusive state on the night and was offensive to other patrons of the pub, said Insp Glavin.

The accused had 13 previous convictions.

Defence, Mr Barry Fitzgerald said that his client got into an altercation with two men and blows were exchanged.

He was ejected from the pub and took umbrage, "and vented his fury on the windscreen" of a car he perceived to belong to one of his aggressors.

"He got himself in a dispute with the car?" wondered Judge Alan Mitchell.

Mr Fitzgerald replied that Boggan had a dispute with a UK national on the night and he attacked the car because it had a UK registration.

This was the wrong car, however.

"Has he got his little bag with his toothbrush with him?" asked Judge Mitchell, alluding to the possibility of sending the accused to prison. "I could take the view that he took it out on a foreign reg car."

Mr Fitzgerald said the accused had written a letter of apology to the injured party.

He said if given four weeks, the accused could have compensation.

The matter was put back to May 4, for compensation to be paid, and for a probation report with the accused to be assessed for community service.

When the case returned to Portlaoise District Court last week, the accused paid over 3,000 compensation.

In that event, Judge Catherine Staines convicted and fined him 100.
The latest Census 2016 results released by the Central Statistics Office have revealed that Banagher is the fastest growing town in Offaly. It experienced a 6.5% population growth between 2011 and 2016.

The Central Statistics Office today published the second in the series of eleven reports from Census 2016 focusing on population distribution and movement.

Tullamore, with 14,607 resident remains the largest town in the county, while nationally Drogheda held its place as the most populated town with 40,956 people living in the Co. Louth town.

Saggart in Dublin was the fastest growing town in the country, and it saw its population jump a massive 46.1% between 2011 and 2016.

This latest report is accompanied by a set of detailed population by area tables, published on the CSO website, which provide the population for every settlement in Ireland for 2016 and 2011. You can view these reports on www.cso.ie.

Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician, commented: This profile provides information on the distribution of the population, changes in urban and rural populations, population density and internal migration. This is the second of our thematic census releases and sheds further light on how the population has changed over the past five years."

Urban and rural share of population

Of a total population of 77,961 in Offaly in April 2016, 43% (33,421 people) lived in urban areas, with 57% (44,540 persons) living in rural areas.

Nationally, 62.7% lived in urban areas and 37.3% in rural areas.

On the move

Of the 3,397 usual Offaly residents who moved up to April 2016 since the last Census, most (2,312) moved elsewhere within the county. Only 251 of the 1,309 who moved in the year preceding the census bought their new home with a mortgage or loan, while 858 rented their accommodation. Nationally, 263,551 usual residents moved in the year to April 2016.

The next thematic report from the CSO is expected in the coming months.
Agricultural News

Tiete Lycklama of Broken Bow Recognized as a Significant Woman in Agriculture for Oklahoma

As part of a continuing series of stories on Significant Women in Oklahoma Agriculture, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry and Oklahoma State University are recognizing and honoring the impact of countless women across all 77 counties of the state, from all aspects and areas of the agricultural industry. The honorees were nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of 14 industry professionals. This week Tiete Lycklama of Broken Bow is featured this week as a Significant Woman in Oklahoma Agriculture.







Storms have been known to beat down a crop, yet not destroy it.





Tiete Lycklama of Broken Bow, a lifelong partner of agriculture, has faced some heart-wrenching storms through her 65 years of life.





Lycklama, a native of the Netherlands, was only 12 years old only when the first tragedy struck.





Not long after returning home from Sunday evening church service in the nearby village of Lollum, Jan Van Der Meulen turned in for the night. The 40-year-old dairy farmer planned to milk the next morning and bale hay later on in the day.





However, during the night, Jan passed away, suffering a heart attack.





"He was a Godly man. I looked up on him. After Daddy passed away, that changed my childhood," Tiete said, one of five children. "I was one of the oldest, I needed to be my Mom's right hand."





Lycklama's story is a combination of not only contributions to agriculture, but of faith and perseverance.





Never quit





Thirty five years ago this year, Tiete, husband Tsjerk, and their three children, daughters Teatske and Nynke and son Steve, came to the United States with a small amount of money to back their dream of operating their own business on a rundown dairy farm in east Texas. There were struggles along the way, such as making payments following horrible crops, but their dream progressed. They established a successful dairy in Mount Vernon, Texas and then moved to and began a dairy in Mount Pleasant, Texas. Later, they moved to Valliant, Okla. where they operated a beef cattle and row-crop farm. The next move was to Arizona where the Lycklamas had a cattle ranch and irrigated Alfalfa hay fields. In 2006 the family sold that ranch and moved to back to Oklahoma. Today, Tiete and Tsjerk operate LTF Tree Farm, more than 3,500 acres of intensively managed loblolly pine. They also have a cattle operation, T & T Cattle, on their ranch in southeastern Oklahoma's McCurtain County.





"Tiete has worn many hats in many different roles to have successful ag businesses in different regions, leaving family and friends in Holland," son-in-law Daniel Lewia said. "Her never-quit attitude and desire to make the right decisions on their land has helped them to become successful ag producers."





Plus, Tiete is active in helping others.





For example, she has been "very supportive" of Log A Load for Kids, an annual campaign which began when loggers and others in the forest products community donated the value of a load of logs to their local Children's Miracle Network hospital.





"She has also contributed to the Forest Heritage Center in Broken Bow, both financially and by participating in events over the past decade," Lewia said.





However, just as there were storms in her childhood and challenges in her early adulthood, there has been adversity more recently.





Five years ago, the unthinkable storm pounded their lives on Sunday in late February. Son Steve, 32 years old at the time, and Tiete's grandsons Devin, 8, and Dalton, 6, were boating on the Little River near Idabel. Tiete said they struck an object in the water. The boat tipped. On that day, all three drowned.





"Life hasn't been easy and I know a lot of people go through a lot," Tiete said, "but God has been faithful and we thank God that we're going to see them again."





Exploring opportunities





Both in life and agriculture, opportunity has been a key word for the Lycklamas.





In the Netherlands, Tsjerk had a dairy with his brother, "a big farm." However, there was no room for expansion. So, the decision was made to move to Texas and start a dairy.





"The little that we had was from when the home sold," she said. "That was almost nothing when you are buying a little dairy that was so run down. We bought the cows too, but they were not in good health. The man we bought it from was a nice man. We bought the dairy for real little money with real little payments. It was a start and the people, the neighbors were wonderful, always helping. He (Tsjerk) built it up and then when we went to Mount Pleasant we had 400 cows or more."





Later, they moved to Valliant and ranched there and raised some crops.





When they moved to Arizona, they had Alfalfa hay, selling to different dairies in New Mexico. Then it was back to Oklahoma where they have remained.





"Ag has created opportunities for Tiete," Lewia, their son-in-law, said. "Opportunities to work hard and reap the rewards of that hard work, and to teach her family the value of hard work and determination. Opportunities to learn about new ag options besides dairy farming. They had to learn about their new ventures and how to best run those businesses. She has also done a wonderful job of educating her family and others about what ag really means to everyone."





Tiete, also an acclaimed watercolor and oil artist, stays very busy. She was asked what the next opportunity in her life might bring.





"I want my grandchildren to go on with and enjoy it," said Tiete, who has five grandchildren, all boys. "I've really prayed that one or two of the boys can take it over some day, but then again, we need to say every day, 'God, what is your will?'"





That approach helps her weather the days of blue skies as well as those of storms that may beat you down, but not destroy you.







Source - Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry













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Top Agricultural News
After a mayoral election that exposed some bitter feelings, Mayor Jean Stothert got on the phone Wednesday to begin mending fences.

Among others, Stothert said she had reached out to her chief critics: fire union president Steve LeClair and Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning.

Both said theyre open to working with Stothert again.

As for the next four years, Stothert said Omahans will see some new faces at City Hall. But the priorities in the Mayors Office will remain the same: public safety, the budget, economic development and customer service.

She said the last few months of the competitive race against former State Sen. Heath Mello also put a spotlight on Omahans frustration about aging streets and growing questions about a proposal to build a streetcar line.

Stothert defeated Mello 53 percent to 46 percent Tuesday night.

She returned to City Hall on Wednesday and was greeted by balloons, flowers and a round of applause.

But now, she said, its time to get back to work.

We will continue today like we have been the last four years, Stothert said.

In the next few months shell work on crafting the 2018 budget as well as another annexation package.

Next year, several contracts with labor unions will be up for renegotiation.

And Stothert said two department heads have told her they plan to retire: Planning Director James Thele and Human Resources Director Mikki Frost.

Shell hire for those positions, as well as a new deputy chief of staff for development to serve as a point person for large developments.

Stothert said shes already reached out to those who opposed her in the election and others she needs to work with in the next four years, including LeClair.

The fire union donated thousands of dollars to Mellos campaign and spent thousands more running its own anti-Stothert commercials.

They alleged that Stothert has stretched the Police Department too thin and response times have suffered; Stothert noted that the city hired 56 new officers during her first term and response times improved for the highest-priority calls.

Wednesday, LeClair said in a statement: Campaigns often discuss important, yet sensitive, issues. Regardless of who sits in Omahas highest office, our goal will always be to protect our members and provide the highest level of emergency services to the people of Omaha. It is our hope that the Mayor can put our differences aside so we can continue working toward this goal for the next four years, and beyond.

Stothert also said she asked her chief of staff Marty Bilek, a longtime deputy sheriff, to set up a meeting with Dunning, the sheriff.

Dunning was one of Stotherts most vocal critics during the campaign, saying she has a my way or the highway approach.

Dunning said Wednesday that hes open to mending fences with Stothert. And the sheriff, who had previously said he blocked the mayors phone number, said he unblocked it months ago.

Im open to any conversation, he said.

She also reached out to City Council members. There are two new council members, Vinny Palermo in South Omaha and Brinker Harding in west Omaha and Elkhorn.

Harding attended Stotherts victory party Tuesday night, and she said she spoke to Palermo afterward.

She said she also reached out to other council members.

Council President Ben Gray said Stothert has already congratulated him for his re-election and said she wants to discuss north Omaha issues with him soon.

She reached out, Gray said. She sure has, and thats a good thing.

Stothert and all seven council members will be sworn in June 5. Gray said hes interested in seeking the council president office again.

Stothert said she had also spoken to John Wells, president of the police union, which remained neutral in the race.

Other major projects on Stotherts agenda:

 She wants to move forward with a study on a potential streetcar line, a topic that was frequently debated during the campaign. After the study is completed, she said, there will be more answers to citizens questions about the proposal.

 Stothert is part of a committee of civic leaders who are creating a plan for the riverfront area. She said that group is moving forward.

 Developer Tetrad is working on the former Civic Auditorium site, and Stothert wants the downtown library to be a part of the plans.

 The city will sign a new contract for its trash pickup. The current contract expires in 2020.

 Stothert has already promised to increase Police Department staffing to 900 by 2019 and build a fifth police precinct that year.

 And finally, both Stothert and Gray said theyd like to see the city continue its push to fund workforce development programs.

Theres a lot to do, she said.
DES MOINES (AP)  Iowa businessman and Democrat Fred Hubbell said hes considering a run for governor in 2018.

Hubbell has launched an exploratory campaign, which allows him to travel the state and raise money.

The 66-year-old has never been elected to public office. He formerly led Equitable Life Insurance Co. of Iowa, which was formed by his family.

The Hubbell name has deep roots in Iowa, with multiple business ventures including real estate.

The Democratic field for governor includes former party Chairwoman Andy McGuire, State Rep. Todd Prichard, State Sen. Nate Boulton, Polk County Conservation Director Rich Leopold and party activist Jon Neiderbach.

Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
32,000 girls converted to Islam and sold as ISIS slaves: This is The Kerala Story

37 million painkillers from India sold to ISIS fighters in Libya say reports

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi, May 11: The Italian police on Wednesday had seized a shipload of tramadol, a drug, which they claimed to be sold to the Islamic States in Libya from India, said media reports.

Worth $ 75 million, 37 million tramadols were found packed in three containers near the port of Genoa which was labelled as blankets and shampoo were loaded on a freighter bound for Misrata and Tobruk in Libya.

An Italian investigator quoted saying " Islamic States is making the most use of this traffic, giving it to its fighters to make them feel no pain." Tramadol is like opioid-like drug used a pain reducer.

The BBC reported the Italian Police saying that the consignment had come from India might be of two purposes. One is to help finance Islamic State terrorism and secondary for use by jihadist fighters as a stimulant and to increase the resistance of physical stress.

It is believed that Boko Haram, a Nigerian terror group is said to feed the young fighters dates with stuffed with tramadol before sending them on a mission.

Similarly, Islamic States are known for feeding Captagon to its soldiers, an amphetamine that blocks fear, hunger and fatigue.

According to Italian investigators, the tramadol drugs shipment were traced to be from Indian pharmaceuticals company, who is believed to had sold it for $ 250,000 to a Dubai-based importer. The drugs were then shipped from India to Sri Lanka where they vanished from the freighter's documents.

They added that tramadol pills would be sold for two dollars in Libya.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 12:52 [IST]
Kejriwal confident Delhi would choose AAP over BJP in MCD polls this time

AAP crisis in Punjab: Some MLAs are ready to join us, says Congress

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

Chandigarh, May 11: The Congress on Wednesday said that it is in touch with some Aam Aadmi Party MLAs who are looking to shift loyalties, a media report said.

A top source in the Congress had said some AAP MLAs had approached Congress and added that the party already had a near two-third majority with 77 MLAs, asserting that there won't be any advantage if inducted.

The BJP had also claimed that a few AAP leaders are in touch with them as well.

In the latest development in Punjab AAP, starting with Sukhpal Khaira quit the state chief post after he overlooked by the AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

On Wednesday, the former Punjab AAP chief Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi quit the party and had accused the current party state chief Bhagwant Mann as 'drunkard'.

Khaira, Ghuggi and a few others objected to elect Bhagwant Mann as the state president but the AAP high command took the call and appointed him and also elected Aman Arora, the first-time MLA as deputy president.

With this flock in Punjab, AAP is having a tough time in Delhi. The AAP on Thursday protested in front of Election Commission over Electronic Voting Machine tampering.

On the other hand, ousted AAP leader Kapil Mishra had hinted on visiting the Anti-Corruption Bureau in the evening to submit more proofs on Kejriwal.

It is to mention that Kapil Mishra who was suspended as cabinet minister took to media and levelled corruption charges against Kejriwal. He had added that Kejriwal had accepted Rs 2 crore from AAP Satyendra Jain in water tanker scam.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 12:46 [IST]
IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list

AAP workers protest outside Election Commission in Delhi

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

New Delhi, May 11: Hundreds of AAP workers on Thursday reached Election Commission headquarters, demanding VVPAT equipped EVMs be used in future elections.

The protesters including AAP MLAs and newly appointed Delhi convener Gopal Rai came down heavily on the BJP government and alleged that manipulation of electronic voting machines was a great danger to democracy.

AAP leaders were seen raising slogans, EVM mei gadbadi karke vote chori band karo. EVM mei gandbad karke Loktantra ki hatya band karo.

They demanded that VVPAT be introduced in all future elections. EC must assure that the tally of the EVM matches with that of the paper trail.

Taking on EC's claim that machine used to demontrate was dummy, the AAP has now demanded that the EC to give them their EVM to demonstrate how it can be hacked.

AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj, in the Delhi State Legislature, on Tuesday demonstrated that EVMs can be tampered with by making changes in secret codes.

He further said that he has done engineering and had 10 years of experience in the field. He said he knows how embedded systems and softwares function.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 18:18 [IST]
Ahead of EVM hacking challenge, EC to meet 55 parties tomorrow

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, May 11: Amid a raging debate over the reliability of EVMs, the Election Commission will meet representatives of 55 political parties on Friday to put forth its stand on the issue.

The Commission has convened the meeting of seven national and 48 state parties to discuss the reliability of EVMs after 16 parties urged it to revert to the ballot paper system claiming faith of people in the machines has eroded.

The Commission is also likely to brief the parties about its planned EVM hacking challenge. Days before the proposed meet, the Aam Admi Party had staged a demonstration on hacking a 'voting machine' in the Delhi Assembly. The party had used an EMV prototype to make the demonstration.

The EC had trashed AAP's claim saying the 'machine is a look-alike and not the ECI-EVM'. The date of the proposed challenge would be decided after the all-party meeting. Some parties have demanded they be allowed access to the machines used in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Disqualifying candidates named in a charge sheet for bribing voters, making electoral graft a non-bailable offence and easing of rules to order counting of votes through paper trail are some of the other issues Election Commission will discuss with political parties tomorrow.

"The Election Commission has convened a meeting with all recognised national and state political parties on May 12 in New Delhi to discuss issue related to EVM and VVPAT. "In addition to the EVM/VVPAT, the agenda will also cover making bribery in elections a cognisable offence, disqualification on framing of charges for the offences of bribery in elections and suggestions in VVPAT recount Rules," it had said in a statement last week.

PTI
AOL vs NGT: DDA says Yamuna floodplains restoration may take 10 years

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The National Green Tribunal on Thursday said trhat the Delhi Development Authority would be responsible for restoring biodiversity on the Yamuna floodplains as it was the DDA that allowed Art of Living to hold the three-day World Culture Festival.

Earlier, both the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Water Resources told the NGT that they were "not responsible" for the damage to the floodplains, and that they should not be the ones to pay the fine. The ministries clearly pinned the blame on DDA for granting permission.

When NGT asked DDA about the time needed to restore the Yamuna floodplain, the DDA said, "We have no expertise, it may take upto 10 years."

AOL's Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had in April said his foundation had obtained all necessary permissions to hold the event. He said the event could have been stopped from being held if Yamuna was so 'fragile'.

The Art of Living founder had said that the Centre, Delhi government and the National Green Tribunal should be held responsible for allowing his foundation to organise the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains in March 2016.

Fuming over Ravi Shanker's remark, the NGT on April 20 said, "Do you have no sense of responsibility? Do you think you have the liberty to say whatever you want?"

The NGT had levied a fine, but the AOL shot back saying that if at all a fine has to be levied then it should be on the NGT, Centre and Delhi government.

During the hearing, lawyer Sanjay Parikh, representing petitioner Manoj Misra, 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.

The court, however, did not consider this and directed the AOL and other parties in the case to file their responses and objections on the expert panel's findings within two weeks after taking the report on record.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 15:14 [IST]
BJP MLA who reduced IPS officer to tears protests against his own government

India

oi-Anusha

A BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's hometown protested against his own government. Days after he made it to headlines for publicly chiding an IPS officer and reducing her to tears, BJP MLA Dr Radha Ram Mohan Aggarwal sat in a protest demanding the closure of liquor shops in his constituency. Considering that Dr Aggarwal is close to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, his protest against his own government came as an embarrassment.

The BJP MLA sat on a day-long protest on Wednesday warning the government that he will continue his protests if liquor shops near schools, religious places and residential areas were not shut down. "Liquor shops are mushrooming near schools and religious places in gross violation of the Supreme Court orders. People of Gorakhpur have identified these shops, and when they protest for their closure but police use force on innocent pregnant women and children. I will submit a list of these illegal shops to the state government through the district administration," the MLA said.

The BJP MLA was in the news for a public rift with IPS officer Charu Nigam who took to social media later to highlight the arrogance of the ruling party MLA. Dr Aggarwal has tried to justify his actions and accused the IPS officer of lathi-charge on women and children who were protesting against the opening of a liquor shop in Chiluataal area in Gorakhpur. He accused the woman officer of assaulting a pregnant woman.

While the opposition deemed his protest an eyewash to escape from criticisms he received after the IPS officer went public, he maintained that his fight was against illegal liquor shops.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 9:27 [IST]
BJP would face little challenge in electing next President of India

India

oi-Dr. Sandeep Shastri

As the state assembly election results in Uttar Pradesh came trickling in, it was not just clear that the BJP would come to power in the largest state of India, it was also evident that the ruling party would have little difficulty in getting their chosen candidate elected as the President of India. Given the advantage that the BJP has in terms of numbers, it would face little challenge in garnering the numbers it additionally needs to be able to ensure the victory of its candidate.

This would be the second occasion that the BJP would be the key player in the choice of the nation's President. In 2002, Prime Minister Vajpayee sprung a surprise by nominating APJ Abdul Kalam as the NDA nominee for the Presidency. That time around, the space for political maneuvering available to the BJP was severely limited given the compulsions of alliance politics. The party and its leadership may have well wanted a hardcore supporter of the party to reside in Rashtrapati Bhavan but had to reconcile themselves to choosing someone distant from party politics. The calculated move to nominate Dr Kalam, benefitted the party in other tactical ways. This time around, it is clearly evident that the BJP would not like to miss out on an opportunity to have as the First citizen of India, an individual who represents the core philosophy of the party on the one hand and would provide the right political ambience for the ruling party in crucial next five years.

Given the style of functioning of the present leadership of the BJP, it is evident that the name would be revealed only when one gets close to the final date of nomination. It would clearly be an individual who has the full faith and confidence of that leadership. Given the experience of the last three years on the way Chief Ministers have been selected, it is clear that names doing the rounds at the moment are mere speculation by the media. Presidential hopefuls must be hoping for limited media visibility as such publicity often runs counter to the actual nomination!

Many names are in circulation. Early in the discussion, BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani's name was mentioned. It was even reported in the media that the Prime Minister spoke of the BJP Patriarch's nomination as a Guru Dakshina. All such talk soon died down and the Supreme Court stand on the Babri Masjd demolition case as come as a persuasive reason to side step his name, Two women political leaders from the BJP have also been frequently mentioned. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu are considered to be in the list of probable's. The Foreign Minster has done a commendable job in the last three years but her health may not permit her to maintain the rigorous schedule that is expected and Presidency may be the logical step forward. In the case of the Jharkhand Governor, being a Tribal, coming from the rank and file of the party and having being involved in its frontal organizations, she is being projected as the most suitable choice. In the days ahead many more names are likely to surface.

Speculation is also rife that rife that the leadership could sprig a surprise by choosing a public figure who is distant from party politics, possibly an Amitabh Bachchan or eve a Rajnikanth!

As the date for the nominations approaches, it will be increasingly clear that the decision makers in the ruling party would prefer someone who has been part of active party politics, for three specific reasons. Firstly, the BJP would not like to lose out on an opportunity to have as the First citizen someone who is identified to be close to the party and has the support of its frontal organizations. Secondly, given the style of politics and making of choices by the current leadership, it would be someone in whom the current leadership, especially the Prime Minister, has unquestioning faith and trust. The nominee will be someone who is not merely a party loyalist but someone the Prime Minister implicitly trusts. Lastly, given the importance of the next five years for both the Prime Minister and the party, the Presidential nominee would be someone that the leadership feels comfortable working with and as mentioned earlier provide the right political ambience at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Given the fact that the Prime Minister is elected to the Lok Sabha from the North, the new President could well be from South India from among the senior loyalists in the party and the Cabinet. The Vice President's post could then go to a leader from the Hindi heartland.

(Dr Sandeep Shastri is a leading political scientist)
TVs, movie tickets among 23 goods and services that will be cheaper from today

Cap on movie tickets not applicable for weekend says Karnataka high court

India

oi-Anusha

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered a stay capping movie tickets prices at Rs 200 on weekends and holidays. The court while hearing a petition filed by the Multiplex association of India said that the cap of Rs 200 will not be applicable on weekends and public holidays for now. The cap, however, will remain effective during weekdays.

The Karnataka High Court while staying the cap on tickets gave the state government four weeks to file its reply on the petition. An association of multiplex owners had approached the high court seeking a stay on ticket pricing. The association had first urged the government to withdraw its order capping movie tickets at Rs 200.

The government had passed orders to cap movie tickets at Rs 200 across all theatres for movies including multiplexes for all languages. The state government had also made it compulsory for multiplexes to screen Kannada movies in at least one screen during prime time. The cap, however, was not applicable to IMAX, Gold class and 4DX screens.

Multiple owners had criticised the government for the cap deeming it a burden for them. Many held that the government had no right to impose a cap on ticket prices according to the Cinema regulation act. The order was challenged on the same basis.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, May 12, 2017, 0:08 [IST]
Congress demands judicial probe into Saharanpur violence

India

oi-Anusha

The Congress party has sought a judicial probe into caste clashes in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur. A delegation of Congress leaders will meet Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the issue. The Samajwadi party has already urged for a probe into the incidents of violence that Saharanpur has seen since May 5.

Two senior police officers SP of Saharanpur City, Sanjay Singh and SP Rural Area Rafiq Ahmad have been suspended so far and at least 30 people arrested in connections with Tuesday's violence. Fresh violence was witnessed as recently when police refused to allow a Dalit Mahapanchayat. Close to 600 policemen continue to keep guard as an eerie calm descends.

On Friday protests broke out after one Thakur man was killed and at least 25 Dalit homes were torched in Shabbirpur. Protests broke out after Dalits objected to loud music being played by the Thakurs during a procession that was being held in honour of Maharana Pratap.

Dalits alleged that the police refused to give them permission to hold a meeting to seek compensation while permission was given to the Thakurs to wield swords and take part in a procession. The 'objection' to the procession soon broke into a war of words and within no time, stones, bottles were thrown at each other. The village witnessed arson and violence and a probe has been sought into the same.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 10:56 [IST]
Expelled from BSP, Naseemudin Siddiqui hits back at Mayawati

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

A day after being expelled from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Naseemuddin Siddiqui has hit out at Mayawati, blaming her 'wrong policies' for series of electoral defeats in Uttar Pradesh.

The BSP could manage to win just 19 out of 403 seats in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections while in 2014 Lok Sabha elections the party failed to even open its account.

Siddiqui said Mayawati's remarks had upset Muslims which became a major factor for BSPs loss in polls. Muslim voters are considered to be major vote bank for both SP and BSP.

According to reports, BSP had accused Naseemuddin and his son Afzal of indulging in 'anti-party' activities. BSP General Secretary SC Mishra said that Naseemuddin took money from people in return for work which led to party's poor show in polls.

Naseemuddin said that charges levelled against him applied even to Mayawati.

"I can prove those with evidence," he reportedly said.

Mayawati has undertaken a major organisational reshuffle follwing its defeat in UP assembly polls. Among other changes, she has launched her brother Anand Kumar in active politics making him the party's vice-president.

In April, the Bahujan Samaj Party had removed Naseemuddin Siddiqui as the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and appointed as the co-coordinator of Madhya Pradesh.

Siddiqui, the Muslim face of the party, was in-charge of UP and had been given the charge of Lucknow zone.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 11:49 [IST]
In pictures, grandeur of Terminal 2 of Kempegowda International Airport which PM Modi will inaugurate

Congress can never give stable govt to Himachal; it is guarantee of instability, corruption, scam: PM Modi

FIR against Google over search result on Narendra Modi

India

pti-PTI

Shahjahanpur (UP), May 11: An FIR has been lodged against Google under the IT Act for an alleged derogatory search result in 2015 involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Superintendent of Police (City) Kamal Kishore said the FIR was registered under various sections of the IT Act on a complaint of lawyer Nand Kishore.

When contacted, a Google spokesperson said, "We have not received any notice of this complaint and are unable to comment."

In the complaint lodged, Kishore said that while surfing national news on Google, he had come across a list that mentioned Modi in a derogatory manner. He said it caused hurt to him and others.

PTI
In a first, Google joins hands with Bengaluru cops to ease traffic jams

Former corporator V Nagaraj arrested from TN

India

oi-Madhuri

Former corporator V Nagaraj was on Thursday arrested by the Bengaluru police from Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. He was absconding since raid on his office/residence led to recovery of 14.8 crore old currency.

Bengaluru: Former corporator V Nagaraj arrested,was absconding since raid on his office/residence led to recovery of 14.8 crore old currency pic.twitter.com/dsCCOt0WXE  ANI (@ANI_news) May 11, 2017

He had also released two video CDs to the media, in which he had made several serious allegations against top police officers.

A police team, led by ACP Ravikumar had gathered information about Nagaraja's hideout and arrested him. According to sources, Nagaraj and his sons were also arrested and will be brought back to Bengaluru by Thursday night and will be produced before a magistrate.

Earlier on May 6, the Bengaluru police had arrested two associates of former corporator and rowdy sheeter V. Nagaraj. The accusedwere identified as Sujith, 28, and Srihari, 26, a bouncer.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 22:24 [IST]
May 2014 - Nov 2016: PM Narendra Modi went on 44 foreign visits

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has visited 44 countries till November 2016. These details were released by the Prime Minister's Office. The details about the expenses incurred on chartered flights used by Modi state that most of them were bilateral trips.

Narendra Modi made 56 foreign visits as Prime Minister

The details available suggest that he travelled to the United States four times and toured twice the countries of Japan, Nepal, Singapore, France, China, Uzbekistan, Russia and Afghanistan. He has also covered all continents except Antarctica.

The maximum expenses incurred were on the chartered flights PM Modi took to visit France, Germany and Canada - over Rs 31 crore. The trip lasted nine days from April 9 -17, 2015.

PM Modi to have packed schedule of foreign tours from next month

His central Asia tour included visits to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the span of nine days. Similarly, the PM's African tour came in July 2016 when he travelled to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. The prime minister has visited all his SAARC neighbours as well. He has travelled to Nepal twice, once as a state visit and the other to attend the SAARC summit. He has even touched down in Pakistan once in December, 2015 while he was en route home from Afghanistan. His visit to Lahore coincided with the birthday of Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The expenses on the foreign tours of PM Modi are met out of the budget head - "Cabinet Ministers - Maintenance of PM's aircraft - Other charges" under Demand no, 47. While he used chartered flights on most trips, visits to neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh were done aboard the Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) of the Indian Air Force.

Here is a short list:

Bhutan,June 2014 - Rs 2.45 crore

Brazil, July 2014 - Rs 20.35 crore

Myanmar, Australia and Fiji, November 2014 - Rs 22.58 crore

China, Mongolia and South Korea, April 2015 - Rs 15.15 crore

Ireland and USA, September 2015 - Rs 18.46 crore

Belgium, USA and Saudi Arabia - April 2016, Rs 15.85 crore

Vietnam and China - September 2016, Rs 9.53 crore

(The full list is available on the website of the PMO)

OneIndia News
Just 20 minutes to go

The IB report was concrete and clearly suggested that Pakistan would hang Jadhav soon. The government took the information very seriously and dashed Salve off to The Hague. There was 20 minutes for the registry of the International Court of Justice to close. Salve gave a quick and intense briefing of the case. Sources say that Salve was extremely convincing and managed to put-forth India's case very convincingly.

Execution stayed

The ICJ was convinced with the argument. It felt that the matter needed to be heard at length. Both sides needed to be heard and if the hanging took place it would amount to travesty of justice. The ICJ felt that the relief for an interim stay on the execution of Jadhav had to be granted. The stay was granted, following which the registry wrote to Pakistan conveying to them about the decision.

Case to come up on Monday

While granting the interim stay on the execution, the ICJ noted that India's application would be formally adjudicated on Monday. Pakistan too has said that it would put-forth its case before the ICJ. India on the other hand would tell the court that Pakistan has flouted the Vienna Convention while denying consular access to Jadhav. India has made 17 such requests to Pakistan and all have been rejected.

Pak PM in a huddle

Following the ICJ order, Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif met with the army chief to discuss the next course of action. The meeting between Sharif and army chief, General Qamar Bajwa was also attended by ISI Director General, Lt Gen. Naveed Mukthar.

The meeting is considered to be significant considering the relations between the civilian government and the army has been sour. Geo New while quoting sources said that the PM was briefed about the order.

The Jadhav case

India said that Jadhav was held on the Iran-Pakistan border. He was fraudulently tried for espionage and was also denied a counsel. India has been seeking consular access, but has been denied permission, the ICJ was told. India began by saying that the arrest in the first place was a dubious one. India has maintained that he was a Navy officer turned businessman. He was on a business visit, when Pakistan picked him up.
Power cut in Chennai on November 8: These areas will be affected

Morbi Bridge is not the only Incident - Quality of Bridges, roads and Highways in BJPs government!

Is Rajinikanth joining politics? Rumours rife after Thalaiva agrees to meet fans

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Chennai, May 11: The fans of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth have been eagerly waiting to meet their 'idol' for the last eight years. Finally, their wait is over. Yes, reports say after an eight year gap, Rajinikanth will meet his fans for four days in Chennai next week starting from May 15.

The actor will meet his die-hard fans in "batches", between May 15 and 19, sources close to him said.

The 66-year-old Kabali star will not hold any discussions with the fans, but will only pose for photographs with them, the sources said. As Rajinikanth has agreed to meet his fans, rumour mill has been in overdrive suggesting that the veteran actor might be joining politics soon.

Every time, Rajinikanth makes a public appearance, reports start flooding that the actor might take a plunge in politics--a step every Rajini fan and all political parties want him to take.

His fans have often asked their 'Thalaivar' (leader) to take the political plunge, even as he has been wooed by many political parties on account of his mass appeal.

Invitations have been sent to respective fan clubs to attend the various sessions allotted to them between May 15 and 19.

The actor was slated to hold a similar meeting last month, but had postponed it on a request made by them for individual photographs for which more number of group interactions was required.

The last such meeting with fans was in 2009, post his Sivaji success.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 7:36 [IST]
Is the Modi-RSS combine the perfect couple?

India

oi-Prabhpreet

By Prabhpreet

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi being seen as the leader to take India to the next level of development and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, with its grass roots support and ever growing network of shakhas, seem to have stumbled upon the perfect combination to ensure not only a political rise but ensuring a footing in the country's political sphere that will last for the foreseeable future.

A Chinese scholar, Mao Keji, who specialises in Sino-India relations also seems to think so. He has pointed to the bonhomie between the prime minister and the RSS, saying that Modi's focus on development rather than on policies such as increasing reservation, which the group is highly opposed to, has solidified not only their relationship but also the support they enjoy among the rising middle and upper class of India.

Such an analysis does raise a very legitimate point and would be unfair to ignore. Though the reason the Chinese scholar has focused on holds true, the real reason of the relation between the two has something more basic at its core which has provided the impetus for both parties to come together. It is a situation where neither of the two would be where they are today without the other.

Modi brought legitimacy to the RSS

The RSS, which describes itself as a cultural organisation, has been involved in controversies since its inception. These include the role of its leaders in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, spreading of communal tensions through the part it played in acts such as the Babri Masjid demolition in the state of Uttar Pradesh among others, some of which have seen it banned thrice in independent India.

Though its stand on controversial issues till date and the role it has played in movements might give it a hardcore following in the country. It was only after the formation of the BJP, which has its roots in the organisation, that it first got a visible presence in national politics in 1990's. But for all its efforts it was unable to ascertain its foothold during the BJP's first full tenure at the centre during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government from 1999 to 2004.

It was the rise of the BJP under the leadership of Modi that the RSS finally found what it had been searching for since spreading its roots through India; Legitimacy.

As the BJP came to power under Modi's leadership with a thumping majority, it was considered as much a victory of the leader as it was for the RSS. It was seen as a sign of the acceptance of the organisation into the mainstream of the country's narrative and the role it would play in deciding the policies of the country. Such an involvement can be seen from the presence of RSS representatives on debates on news channels no matter what the issue.

Though it has always had a following of committed workers given its sometimes controversial stance on various issues like reservation brought in by the Mandal commission or the Babri masjid. It was the acceptance and the normalisation of its existence, among the general public that may not agree with its extreme views on issues such as religion, or what role it played in the independence movement for example, that it had hoped for. And this what Modi's victory seems to have brought it.

Further, the organisation has realised that the changes it wants to bring to the country in terms of what is taught in schools, or the push for glorifying the Hindu way of life, can only be achieved with backing of the government. An example of this can be seen in the changes the RSS has successfully pushed through in terms of syllabus changes in BJP ruled states.

Modi of 2014 would not exist without the RSS

The fact that the prime minister started his journey in politics from the bottom ranks of the RSS is no secret. He was part of the organisation in his home state of Gujarat and eventually rose up the ranks to become a pracharak, a regional organiser, and then going on to play a role in the BJP which the RSS assigns its senior pracharaks as a conduit between them.

Then climbing up the ladder to become the BJP's chief minister in the state of Gujarat and finally becoming the prime minster of India. While still in the RSS, Modi did not always see eye to eye with other leaders of the organisation. In particular due to his political ambitions and refusal to play by the strict rules of the RSS where a leader taking centre stage instead of a strict adherence to the organisation's way of working and focusing on it.

Barring such instances, the importance of the RSS in an attempt to first becoming the chief minister and later the leader of the country was never lost on the leader. As achieving a majority on its own without the active role through the movement of the organisational machinery would not have been possible. And it was this support that he tapped into for a push to gain a majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The backing of the RSS and its hardcore followers were essential to gain the numbers that the BJP did, as Modi's pitch on development through his 'Gujarat model,' without the backing of the core base of the RSS that not only voted for him, but also helped spread the pitch of development that he was making through the vast voter mobilisation exercise that the organisation is famous for.

And such a realisation of the importance of the RSS by him can be seen from certain appointments that the government has made, not only in different institutions but also as heads of ministries and states, which could be considered in line with the thinking of the RSS.

Where do they go from here?

Though so far the couple has had a relationship that has been mutually beneficial, things can very suddenly change as circumstances do. And this could take place very quickly if the reasons that helped them get together become the cause of difference.

The advantage of having different sets of following and bringing them together for the elections was the high point, and the same reasons can also lead to clashes as the demands of both sections can also be contradictory to each other. Such a situation can lead to issues developing which can only be solved by one side backing down, a quality that both the prime minister and the RSS are not well known for.

While it was clear that before the Lok Sabha election it was Modi who needed the RSS more, now with the growing stature of Modi as the country's leader which can be seen from the election results following 2014, the balance of power seems to be tilting towards the prime minister.

Modi's ever growing appeal among the people, from rural to the urban voter, and his having to take certain decisions based on real political consideration even if they are contrary to RSS's liking, the equation between the two does not seem to be what it once was. Steps such as labour reforms that are considered essential towards Modi's development push, and fissures between the BJP and its allies like the Shiv Sena have not gone down well with the RSS.

But with the rise in the support of the prime minister and his second win in 2019 almost guaranteed, barring an exceptional sequence of events which cause an upheval in the present political reality, if the arrangement turns sour, which side would come out stronger is not very hard to imagine.

For the time being though, things seem to be in a position where both sides seem to be benefiting equally with the relationship and lessons learnt from it have been kept in mind in order to keep the smaller fissures from creating a permanent divide between them.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 17:13 [IST]
Justice Karnan may be in Nepal says legal aide

India

oi-Anusha

Police teams of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are unable to locate Culcutta high court judge C S Karnan. An aide of justice Karnan has been telling the media that the man is 'out of the country'. He may be in Nepal or Bangladesh and his legal team is planning on reaching out to the President of India, the legal aide said.

Speaking to OneIndia Justice C S Karnan's advocate in Chennai Peter Ramesh said that an anticipatory bail petition would be moved on his behalf. "There are many documents that may require his signatures. We will move an anticipatory bail petition before he surrenders. We also intend to take up the matter at the highest possible authority," he said.

West Bengal police who landed in Chennai to take Justice Karnan into custody made futile attempts to trace him. The team sought Chennai police's help to arrest him but Justice Karnan had vacated the government guest house. Sources indicated that he left to Srikalahasti and the police teams left to Andhra Pradesh. Despite coordination with the local police Justice Karnan remained untraceable. Despite an order by the Supreme Court to arrest him immediately, the police have not been able to comply.

When asked if Justice Karnan was out of Tamil Nadu, a close aide claimed that he was out of the country. The statement comes on a day when his representatives filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking recall of arrest order against him.

Justice CS Karnan has been sentenced to six months in prison by the apex court that held him guilty of contempt.

Oneindia news
IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list

'Kapil Mishra's attacker not linked to BJYM, likely to be AAP activist'

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha on Thursday flatly refused that Ankit Bharadwaj, the man who slapped sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra, has any association with their group. The BJYM said that Bharadwaj could be an AAP activist who may have carried out the attack on Mishra for his allegations.

Mishra was attacked on Wednesday evening while on a hunger strike at his residence in Delhi's Civil Lines. Ankit Bharadwaj walked up to Mishra and slapped him several times before he was stopped by the former minister's supporters.

While Mishra hinted that Bharadwaj was an AAP supporter, the AAP pinned the blame on BJP's youth wing BJYM.

"He is part of the Bharatiya Yuva Morcha...We don't support violence of any kind," AAP leader Sanjay singh told media on Wednesday.

BJYM, in a statement issued, refuted the allegations and said, "this could be an act by an AAP Activist who vouch for cheap publicity".

It said AAP workers are riled by the fact that Mishra levelled serious allegations against Kejriwal and Satyendra Jain.

Post the incident, Kapil Mishra refused to blame anyone but maintained that he would not relent.

"I am on a hunger strike and this attacker jumped on me. I am on a war on corruption. Let them attack but I will not relent," Kapil Mishra told the media after the attack.

Mishra was sacked as a minister and from the primary membership of the party after he accused Kejrwal of accepting bribes and being involved in a land scam.

Mishra has approached the Anti-Corruption bureau as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking probe against Kejriwal. Kapil Mishra announced that he would go on an indefinite hunger strike until Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers made details of their foreign trips public.

OneIndia News
On way to meet kin of teenager killed in Jharkhand, BJPs Kapil Mishra 'detained' at Ranchi airport

Kapil Mishra vows to continue hunger strike, set to visit ACB

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Sacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra, who stirred a controversy by making corruption allegations against Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday vowed to continue his hunger strike till the AAP makes details of foreign travels by some of its leaders public.

Mishra had earlier asked Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal to divulge details of expenses incurred for various foreign trips by party leaders - Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khetan, Satyendar Jain, Raghav Chadha and Durgesh Pathak.

"I will continue to sit on hunger strike till details of international travel expenses of five AAP leaders are shared," Mishra, who is on a hunger strike since Wednesday at his residence in Delhi's Civil Lines, said.

Mishra said he would go to Anti-Corruption Branch at 12 noon on Thursday and give out details of the Rs 400-crore water tanker scam in the Delhi Jal Board.

In August last year, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit was reportedly examined by the ACB in connection with her alleged involvement in the scam.

['Kapil Mishra's attacker not linked to BJYM, likely to be AAP activist']

Mishra had been accusing BJP of protecting Sheila Dikshit. But on Monday, he alleged that the AAP government was trying to protect her.

Mishra had on Monday reportedly submitted evidence to the ACB allegeing that Kejriwal-led government had influenced and delayed the probe into the scam.

In June 2015, AAP government had set up a fact-finding committee to look into alleged irregularities in procuring around 385 stainless steel water tankers by the DJB during Dikshit's tenure.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 10:36 [IST]
The brave Indian

The brave Indian soldier was abducted by terrorists and killed before his body was discarded. The scene at his home as described by many was obviously heart-rendering. The father, Fayaz Ahmed could not hold back his tears. The mother would not speak and continued to stare into blank space. Their 22 year old boy was gone while making the supreme sacrifice for India.

Few Kashmiris still consider themselves Indian

Lt Fayaz's story tells us one thing and that there are still many Kashmiris who feel proud to be Indian. There is still a family living in a lane at Kashmir which is proud to be Indian. The irony is that, the lanes that lead up to the house of this brave martyr are covered with paintings of the Pakistan flag and graffiti calling for Azadi or Freedom from India.

Stone pelters

There were reports of stone pelting as the body of the Indian soldier was being taken before it could be finally laid to rest. However former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in tweet posted that these reports were wrong.

He always wanted peace

His family members Lt Fayaz wanted peace. He was fed up with the violence and thought by joining the Army he could do his bit to ensure that peace returns to his home state. He was never scared and would roam around freely even after joining the Army.

Let down by his own people

It was a bunch of locals who decided to let down the 22 year old soldier. They revealed his details to the terrorists and also told them he was off duty. The terrorists then abducted and killed him. There was no threat to his life, his family members said. It is clear that the terrorists of Pakistan are trying to send a strong message to the youth of Kashmir that they would meet with the same fate if they joined the Indian Army.
Bihar's Gopalganj by-poll to see a tough fight between BJP and RJD

Liquor should not reach Bihar: Nitish Kumar

India

oi-PTI

Patna, May 11: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday held a high level meeting in Patna to review various aspects for strict implementation of complete prohibition of liquor in the state.

The state government had enforced a complete prohibition on April 5, 2016.

All administrative officials participated in the review meeting through video conferencing.

Kumar reviewed the progress on the recovery of liquor in towns and cities, arrest of liquor mafias, seizure, subsequent auction of their vehicles, houses and other properties, an official release said.

Kumar asked the officials to ensure that liquor should never reach Bihar. He also asked them to make sure that liquor should never be available in the state, the release said.

Giving necessary directions to the DMs and SPs, the chief minister asked them to take action against the liquor mafias.

The general mood is in favour of prohibition in Bihar and it is evident from the fact that four crore people were part of world record human chain, the chief minister said.

"Merely a handful of people are engaged in the illegal liquor business while few people are trying to vitiate the system." he said.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 9:44 [IST]
Meeting of CMs of coastal states in Mumbai on June 16

Special Marine police for India: Just see how well equipped terrorist groups are at sea

Maharashtra: Fadnavis calls for industrial growth along coast

India

pti-PTI

Mumbai, May 11: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday stressed the need for industrial development along the coast and asked the state Maritime Board to cooperate with providing infrastructure facilities.

Fadnavis was speaking at the 72nd review meeting of the Maritime Board at the Mantralaya (state secretariat) here. "Industrial development along the coast should be given a boost. New industries should be encouraged and infrastructure facilities should be created," Fadnavis said.

A presentation on various projects undertaken by the Maritime Board was made during the meeting. Fadnavis reviewed the progress of Wadhwan port, Vijaydurg port and other ports, and water transport work in Mumbai, Thane and ongoing works of the Sagarmala project.

Fadnavis also approved the detailed project report (DPR) for creating a jetty at Thane creek, water front for marine training institutes.

PTI
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

Modi leaves for 2-day Sri Lanka visit

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, May 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka where he will be the chief guest at the International Vesak Day celebrations.

PM @narendramodi emplanes for Sri Lanka, where he will join a wide range of programmes including the International Vesak Day celebrations. pic.twitter.com/YTy50eo3o7  PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 11, 2017

Modi will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

The visit follows the invitation of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.

This is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day. The theme of the event is Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace.

As part of the celebrations, Modi will participate in a lamp lighting ceremony at the Gangaramaya temple in Colombo, one of the most important temples in Sri Lanka.

Modi will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic -- a tooth of Lord Buddha.

In Pallekelle, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India's grant assistance.

Modi will also open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.

Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, the visit is expected to give renewed momentum in India-Sri Lanka ties.

Last month, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited India.

IANS
Mulayam flays 'weak and coward' Defence Minister

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Lucknow, May 11: Samajwadi Party founder and patron Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday called Defence Minister Arun Jaitley "weak and coward" and said it is for this reason that the defence personnel are being killed on the Line of Control and elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Agra to attend a private event, when the former Defence Minister was asked by journalists to comment on the recent attacks on armymen and para-military troopers, he said a nation whose "Defence Minister is weak and coward can never take on enemies.

"I have one question for the union government and the minister concerned: why are you not able to muster courage to show the enemy their place," Yadav said.

He claimed that during his stint as the Defence Minister in the H.D. Deve Gowda government, he had ordered army to cross into Pakistan and teach the enemy a lesson.

Yadav also said that he had then also ordered the army to take on the enemy forces from Arunachal Pradesh to Pathankot.

The Yadav chieftain said that the Defence Minister should show courage and allow the defence forces to take on the enemy and respond in a befitting manner.

IANS
National Technology Day: PM Narendra Modi hails Vajapayee's courage for Pokhran test

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

On the National Technology Day Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed former PM Atal Bihari Vajapayee's courage for conducting nuclear tests in Pokhran 19 years ago. PM Modi tweeted, Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day.'

In a post referred to his earlier speech put up on his website PM Modi recalled the stellar contributions made by India's scientists in the Pokhran tests. "The world is well aware of the Pokhran tests. Under Atal ji's leadership, successful tests were carried out and the entire world was witness to India's might. The scientists made the nation proud, " says PM Modi.

Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2017

Further Modi says, "After the first series of tests the world community placed sanctions on India. On 13th May 1998, Atal ji again called for tests, thus showing that he was made of a different mettle. If we had had a weak PM, he or she would have got scared on the same day. But Atal ji was different. He did not get scared."

Pokhran is a city and a municipality located in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. It is a remote location in the Thar Desert region and served as the test site for India's first underground nuclear weapon detonation.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 12:32 [IST]
Electoral College: Here is how the next President of India will be elected

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The BJP is almost set to win the Presidential elections. Looking at the manner in which several parties have been coming forward to extend their support, it appears that the BJP will be able to elect its candidate as the next President of India. The BJP has almost finalised Jharkhand Governor, Draupadi Murmu as its candidate. The opposition on the other hand is considering the candidature of former West Bengal Governor, Gopal Krishna Gandhi.

This week both the YSR Congress, AIADMK and the TRS have said that it would support the BJP's candidate for President. The President is elected by the electoral college. The college comprises 4,120 legislators, 776 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, and 4,120 MLAs. The total vote value stands at 1,098,882.

Each MLA's vote carries a value proportionate to the population of the state as per 1971 Census.

No. State/UT MLAs Population Vote value Total vote value 1 Andhra Pradesh 175 43,502,708 248 43400 2 Arunachal Pradesh 60 467,511 8 480 3 Assam 126 14,625,152 116 14,616 4 Bihar 243 42,126,236 173 42,039 5 Chhattisgarh 90 11,637,494 129 11,610 6 Delhi 70 4,065,698 58 4,060 7 Goa 40 795,120 20 800 8 Gujarat 182 26,697,475 147 26,754 9 Haryana 90 10,036,808 112 10,080 10 Himachal Pradesh 68 3,460,434 51 3468 11 Jammu and Kashmir 87 6,300,000 72 6,264 12 Jharkhand 81 14,227,133 176 14,256 13 Karnataka 224 29,299,014 131 29,344 14 Kerala 140 21,347,375 152 21,280 15 Madhya Pradesh 230 30,016,625 131 30,130 16 Maharashtra 288 50,412,235 175 50,400 17 Manipur 60 1,072,753 18 1,080 18 Meghalaya 60 1,011,699 17 1,020 19 Mizoram 40 332,390 8 320 20 Nagaland 60 516,499 9 540 21 Odisha 147 21,944,615 149 21,903 22 Puducherry 30 471,707 16 480 23 Punjab 117 13,551,060 116 13,572 24 Rajasthan 200 25,765,806 129 25,800 25 Sikkim 32 209,843 7 224 26 Tamil Nadu 234 41,199,168 176 41,184 27 Telangana 119 43,502,708 148 17612 28 Tripura 60 1,556,342 26 1,560 29 Uttar Pradesh 403 83,849,905 208 83,824 30 Uttarakhand 70 4,491,239 64 4,480 31 West Bengal 294 44,312,011 151 44,394 Total 4,120 549,302,055 549,474

What the BJP needs?

The BJP and its allies have a vote value of 5.32 lakh in the electoral college. This is short by 17,500 of the half way mark. If the BJP gets the support of the BJD and the AIADMK, then the vote value would go up to 6,28,195. The vote value of 5,49,442 is enough to elect the President in the electoral college. The electoral college comprises 4,896 legislators. This includes the 776 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and 4,120 MLAs. The nominated members and the MLCs are not eligible to vote.

The vote value of each LS and RS member is 708. The vote value of the MLA depends on the population of the state. The vote value of an MLA is equivalent to the population of the state divided by the number of elected legislators divided, yet again, by 1,000. In UP the vote value of an MLA is the highest. It is at 209. The lowest vote value is from Sikkim at 7.

Parliament Seats Vote Value Total vote value Lok Sabha 543 708 384,444 Rajya Sabha 233 708 164,964 Total 776 708 549,408

Combined Total voters Total vote value Members of Legislative Assemblies (elected) 4120 549474 Members of Parliament (elected) 776 549408 Total 4896 1,098,882

Currently the BJP and its allies have a vote value of 5,31,954. The BJP would need 17,488 and it would depend on the BJD and AIADMK for the same. The vote value of 134 AIADMK MLAs is 23,584. The vote value of 50 AIADMK MPs is 35,400. The BJD MLAs have a vote value of 17,433 while its 28 MLAs have a vote value of 19,824.

OneIndia News
Zakir Naik wants Indian Muslims to migrate to Kerala, a state he mastered in radicalising

UAPA Tribunal seeks stand of Zakir Naik's IRF in proceedings concerning unlawful association status

Centric to Islamic radicalisation in India, Zakir Naiks IRF banned for 5 years

The crimes of Zakir Naik: Extolling every Muslim to be a terrorist, paid Rs 50k per Islamic conversion

Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence

NIA writes to Interpol, CBI regarding red corner notice to Zakir Naik

India

oi-Madhuri

The National Investigation Agency on Thursday has written to the Interpol and the Central Bureau of Investigation for issuing a red corner notice against Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.

Naik, who is facing probes for provocative speeches, inciting violence, spreading hatred, funding terrorists and money laundering, is believed to be hiding in Saudi Arabia.

NIA had filed a case against Naik, his NGO IRF and his close aides in November last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the IPC.

On April 13, the warrant was issued after Naik failed to present himself before the Enforcement Directorate.

Naik had fled from India after some attackers in July 1, 2016 Dhaka attack claimed that they were inspired by him.

OneIndia News
Twitter down as several users report login issues on website

Talented, driven and great potential: President Putin is all praise for India and Indians

Russia not reliable for energy or security, US warns India

PM Modi invites S Korean Prez Moon Jae-in to visit India

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, May 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with new South Korean President Moon Jae-in over phone and invited him to visit India.

"Just spoke with my friend President Moon Jae-in. Wished him every success and invited him to visit India soon. 'Together we succeed'," Modi tweeted.

Moon was sworn is as South Korea's new President on Wednesday after his victory in Tuesday's presidential election.

Moon succeeded Park Geun-hye, who was removed by a Constitutional Court on March 10, over a series of corruption allegations.

Left-leaning former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election by a landslide on Tuesday, sweeping to power on a yearning for change after a tumultuous scandal.

The ballot was called to choose a new president 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.

Conservative Hong Joon-Pyo, who dubs Moon a pro- Pyongyang leftist was far behind on 23.3 per cent, with centrist Ahn Cheol-Soo third on 21.8.

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 South into political turmoil and bitter division, but Moon promised healing, telling the crowd: "I will be president for all South Koreans."

The graft scandal plunged the South into political turmoil and bitter division, but Moon promised healing, telling the crowd: "I will be president for all South Koreans." On the square, freelancer Koh Eun-Byul, 28, told AFP, "I am so happy because now there is hope for some meaningful change." National elections are public holidays in South Korea and preliminary figures showed a turnout of 77.2 per cent the highest for 20 years in a presidential poll. With 40 per cent of the vote counted, results showed Moon with a slightly smaller share than the poll forecast, but not enough to matter.

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.

IANS

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 13:49 [IST]
PU results 2017 Karnataka: Girls outperform boys, pass per centage at 52.38

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Bengaluru, May 11: The overall pass percentage in the second year PU examinations 2017 was at 52.38 per cent. Girls scored better than boys this year too. The pass per centage among the girls was 60.28 per cent while the boys scored at 44.74 per cent.

There has been a dip in the pass percentage by 5 per cent when compared to last year. The pass percentage recorded last year was at 57.20. Pass percentage of urban colleges is better with 52.88 per cent when compared to 50.72 per cent in rural colleges.

As many as 3,55,697 of the total 6,84,490 students who appeared in the exam, held between March 9 and 27, have passed.

Udupi stands first in the state, followed by Dakshina Kannada, Uttar Kannada and Kodagu districts. Bidar district stands last.

The results are available at karresults.nic.in The candidates have time till 24 May to apply for revaluation and recounting of marks with a prescribed fee.

Result Stats

Overall pass percentage : 52. 38%

Girls success rate: 60.28%

Boys success rate: 44.74%

Streams pass percentage

Science: 60.71%

Arts: 35.05%

Commerce: 60.09%

District March 2017 Result March 2016 Result Percentage Rank Percentage Rank Udupi 90.01 1 90.35 2 Dakshina Kanadaanada 89.92 2 90.48 1 Uttara Kannada

71.99 3 76.44

4

Kodagu 70.83 4 79.35

3 Chikamagalore 68.03 5 67.34

8 Shimoga 68.00 6 69.28 7 Bengaluru North

67.17 7 70.83

6 Bengaluru South

66.63 8 70.88

5 Chamaraja Nagar

65.34 9 64.86

13 Bagalkot 63.11 10 65.91

10 Hassan

59.88 11 65.47

12 Bengaluru Rural

59.64 12 66.38

9 Chikkaballapur

59.63 13 63.74 14 Mysuru 59.03

14 65.53 11 Kolar

57.87 15 61.76

17 Koppala

56.84

16 54.36

26 Mandya

56.43 17 56.52

24 Dharwada

55.73 18 62.86

15 Davanagere 55.17 19 58.01 21 Bellary 55.13 20 59.09 20 Haveri 54.95 21 60.54 18 Tumkur

54.76 22 56.63 23 Gadag

53.11 23 49.28

29 Ramnagara

51.55 24 56.36

25 Chitradurga 47.31 25 47.55

30 Raichur

46.98 26 49.61

28 Kalaburgi

44.94 27 57.05 22 Belagavi

44.25 28 62.05 16 Vijayapura

43.00 29 60.39

19 Yadgiri

42.07 30 44.16 31 Bidar

42.05 31 52.07

27

OneIndia News
Six heart attacks, 12-hour operation, 'Miracle baby' survives all

India

oi-Prabhpreet

By Prabhpreet

Vidisha, a four-month-old baby, is being termed as a 'miracle baby' by those who know her story. The girl who has been in hospital for the last couple of months as she suffered six heart attacks after undergoing a 12-hour surgery for a major heart defect is finally ready to go home.

Ready to be discharged in a couple of days, her fight has not only been against her medical condition but also financial. But the baby seems to have fought off all challenges thrown at her.

Her parents who could barely manage Rs 25,000 for the Rs 5-lakh bill, saw donors of the hospital step-up and clear the dues.

Born to Vishaka and Vinod Waghmare, residents of Kalyan, Mumbai, she suffered with a heart defect called transposition of the great arteries, in which connections to the big arteries called aorta and pulmonary artery are switched.

"When she was 45 days old, Vidisha vomited after I fed her and fell unconscious. We shook her awake, but she again became unconscious," said Vishaka, the girl's mother. They rushed the baby to a local nursing home, but were advised to take her to B J Wadia Hospital.

"Basically, her heart's anatomy was opposite of a normal heart," said Dr Biswa Panda, paediatric cardiac surgeon at the hospital where she was operated on and is being treated.

But as the surgery was able to improve her heart function, her weak lungs did not. Dr Panda said that surgeries for the correction for the transportation of the great arteries should be done immediately after birth, otherwise like in Vidisha's case the poorly formed lungs get used to a certain pattern and are unable to to adjust to the sudden correction of the heart.

This led to the oxygen concentration in her blood to routinely drop to a third of the normal level while carbon dioxide would increase upto three times.

She spent 51 days in the ICU after the surgery and suffered cardiac arrest six times due to this imbalance and once needed her heart to resuscitated for 15 minutes, according to the doctor. The hospital used a high-frequency oscillatory ventilator for her lungs to stabilize. And now after such a long fight she is finally stable and can leave the hospital.

Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of B J Wadia Hospital, said, "We toiled for three years to get a cardiac surgery department to help underprivileged children with heart disease. It feels good that our objective is being met."

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 13:10 [IST]
Tamil Nadu CM goes the extra mile to please centre, wants 'success stories' of schemes

India

oi-Anusha

The Tamil Nadu government in a never before exercise is asking its district level officials to report success stories of central government schemes.

Incidentally, the success stories of all schemes that the Tamil Nadu government wants to document have been introduced, promoted by the Narendra Modi government. Some of the schemes that Edappadi Palanisamy government wants to highlight are flagship schemes of the Prime Minister.

In a directive sent to district headquarters by the publicity department, officials have been asked to document the success of central government scheme to mark achievements of the BJP government in the centre over the last three years. District level officials have been asked to document success stories and benefits reaped from about 17 central government schemes including the latest real estate bill.

Central schemes like Pradhan Mantri Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Swachch Bharath, Smart city mission etc seventeen in total will be looked into and their success stories documented. Officials have been asked to send reports of the success stories to headquarters by courtiers or mails.

The exercise is being looked at as another attempt by the Edappadi Palanisamy to woo the centre. It may be recalled that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had asked his cabinet colleague not to criticise the centre government in public. During a cabinet meet, the Chief Minister appealed to his ministers to exercise restraint while talking about the central government.

OneIndia News
Tharoor hails government's approach to ICJ on Jadhav

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi, May 11: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday congratulated the government for approaching the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav, even as his party has expressed caution over the move.

"Congratulations to our government for deciding to pursue international action on Kulbhushan Jadhav. It was the best way," said Tharoor on his official Twitter account.

On Wednesday, the Congress said that approaching the ICJ on the issue of Jadhav might expose India to the 'risk' of Pakistan raising issues internationally and stressed that issues must be solved bilaterally. The ICJ has asked Pakistan to put on hold the death sentence on Jadhav.

Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said on Wednesday, "Does it ever give Pakistan the right to question, and if that is what they are looking for to internationalise this issue, then India has to be careful about this."

"The best resolution between India and Pakistan can be discussed at bilateral level all the times irrespective of however intransigent and badly behaved Pakistan is," said Kumar.

He also asked if the government has thought through all the ramifications of its move on approaching the ICJ.

On May 10, It was a major victory for India as the International Court of Justice at The Hague stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. The ICJ has written to Pakistan to put on hold the execution of Jadhav, the retired Indian Navy officer who was convicted of espionage by a military court in Pakistan.

Read the full application filed by India before the ICJ

The Republic of India institutes proceedings against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and requests the Court to indicate provisional measures THE HAGUE, 9 May 2017. On 8 May 2017, the Republic of India instituted proceedings against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, accusing the latter of 'egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations' (hereinafter the 'Vienna 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 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.

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. 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".

OneIndia News
UP: Notice issued to Rajiv Gandhi Trust in Rae Bareli

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Lucknow, May 11: The district administration has issued a notice to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for using 10,000 square feet land in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli that belongs to the state, an official said on Thursday.

The Trust is giving vocational training to a group of local women on that land. They said that the land had been earmarked for various activities of the state government like community health centres, schools and other community facilities.

The illegal use by the Trust came to light during a recent review of such plots. Officials said that a notice has been sent to the local office bearers of the Trust and they were awaiting a response.

"If we are not satisfied with the response, a final notice will be sent and after that action will be taken to vacate the land," an official added.

The land was earmarked in 1982 for vocational training for women by the then District Magistrate but while the Trust started work on the land under the Rajiv Gandhi Women Development Project, there has been no transfer of land thereafter.

The Trust does not have any papers to show their possession of the land.

Rae Bareli is the parliamentary constituency of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the district Congress leaders say the land was given to Thakur Das Trust in 1984.

Since the land was lying vacant, a project to provide provisional training to hundreds of women was started, the Trust officials said. They also said there has been no misuse of the land in any form.

They said that a legal team of the Trust was studying the notice and would respond soon.

IANS
Fashion and fitness influencer Anjali Kapoor gets nostalgic while sharing her memories of yoga

Some countries want to patent Yoga, but it belongs to India: RSS chief

Why Baba Ramdev feels yoga is suitable for gentle India, war for Pak

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, May 11: On Wednesday, yoga guru Baba Ramdev said for a peaceful and progressive country like India, practice of yoga is most suitable. Ramdev slammed neighbouring Pakistan and said that the country which is mostly unstable practices 'war'.

"Yog (or yoga) for gentlemen and war for the evil go side by side. Only after following this, a peaceful and prosperous country can be created. So, war is necessary for Pakistan," said Ramdev.

Of late, diplomatic relationship between both India and Pakistan is experiencing a new low because of the latter's continuous violation of ceasefire agreement in the border state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Recently, Pakistan attackers killed and beheaded two Indian soldiers in the Poonch sector. Moreover, India is also fighting hard to save Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who is currently facing death penalty in Pakistan.

Ramdev also suggested that in order to make the country corruption-free, practice of yoga is the best solution.

"Whether it is about the Aam Aadmi Party or any other political party, the question is how the virtue is and morality will be prevented from declining. How the corruption and corrupt practices will be abolished? The only method to prevent this is yoga and meditation. We know about number of civilisation, but this 21st Century would be of yog and meditation," he said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 6:32 [IST]
Why Lt Fayaz's parents concealed he was in Indian Army

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

There was talk in Kashmir that the martyred soldier Lt Ummer Fayaz was a doctor. In fact his parents were afraid to make it public that their son had joined the National Defence Academy. They lied to the villagers that their son had gone to Mumbai to do his MMBS.

However as fate would have it, some of the villagers got wind of this and informed the Hizbul Mujahideen about the same. He was kidnapped and then brutally killed by the terrorists.

Informed sources also say that all the terrorists were locals of the same place where Lt Fayaz hailed from. There is a good chance that they knew him since his childhood and finally decided to kill him.

Meanwhile investigations have show terrorists belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen may have killed young Kashmiri army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz and an INSAS rifle snatched from cops could have been used in the crime, the Jammu and Kashmir.

A senior police official also said today that Fayaz's body did not bear any torture marks while adding that the post-mortem report is awaited.

Police have found two empty cartridges of an INSAS rifle at the place where Fayaz was shot dead by the militants in Shopian. There were two incidents of weapon-snatching in south Kashmir recently. The doctors and police officers who examined the body did not find any torture marks.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 19:47 [IST]
8 killed after 5.5 magnitude quake jolts China

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Beijing, May 11: A 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted northwest China on Thursday killing eight persons, the US Geological Survey said.

Frequent aftershocks were felt, locals said. At least 11 others were injured after the quake hit Xinjiang 5.58 am, Xinhua new agency reported.

Search and rescue operations are underway.

The epicentre was in the southeast part of the Pamir Plateau at a depth of about 8.0 km.

The remote and sparsely populated area where the quake occurred is close to the borders of Tajikistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It is believed that it is the third earthquake in 2017 after February 8 and March 27.

On March 27, An earthquake of 5.1 magnitude had jolted Yangbi County in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The quake struck at 7:55 am, China Earthquake Networks Centre had said. The epicentre of the quake was at a depth of about 12 kilometres, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

On February 8, Five people were injured and some old houses were damaged after an earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale hit Ludian county in China's southwestern Yunnan province, China Earthquake Networks Centre had said. The quake hit Ludian at 7:11 pm at a depth of 10 km, according to CENC.

On July 9, 2015, Four people were confirmed dead and 48 others injured in the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Following this, the local administration has issued a level-II emergency response to the quake. The quake rocked Pishan County at 9:07 am with its epicentre monitored at a depth of 10 kms, the CENC said.

Li Hua, a worker at a state-owned farm in Pishan, told Xinhua that he felt the strong quake at his home on the fourth floor and it lasted about a minute. "I'm feeling dizzy," he said.

Shortly after the quake, several minor quakes measuring between 3.0 and 4.6 magnitude rocked the area, according to the CENC. Located in the southernmost part of Xinjiang, Pishan is about 1,800 kilometres away from the regional capital of Urumqi and covers 39,700 square kilometres. With a population of 258,000, the county is mainly inhabited by Uygur Muslims and other ethnic minorities.

On April 3, 2014, China rushed thousands of soldiers, police and firefighters as well as eight planes to its southwestern Yunnan province, which was devastated by a strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake that killed nearly 400 people.

The death toll from earthquake said to be the most powerful to hit the quake-vulnerable province in the past 14 years stood at 398 with some people still missing. The strong shallow quake has affected about 1.08 million others in Zhaotong City and Qujing City with about 1,801 injured. The quake prompted an emergency evacuation of about 230,000 people, said the Yunnan Civil Affairs Department.

IANS
In pictures, grandeur of Terminal 2 of Kempegowda International Airport which PM Modi will inaugurate

Congress can never give stable govt to Himachal; it is guarantee of instability, corruption, scam: PM Modi

PM Modi to meet Indian-origin Tamil people during his 2-day SL visit

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Colombo, May 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting neighbouring Sri Lanka on Thursday. During his two-day visit to the island nation, PM Modi will have a meeting with the Indian-origin Tamil community.

The PM's visit holds great importance as Sri Lanka is lately cosying up with China, something which does not serve India's interest in the sub-continent.

PM Modi is visiting the country primarily to attend the biggest Buddhist festival 'Vesak Day' as its chief guest, but his schedule includes a visit to Kandy and interaction with a group of Tamil people in the upcountry region, seen as an effort to reach out to the community.

In the upcountry region, PM Modi will dedicate a hospital built with financial assistance of Rs 150 crore by India. It will be his second visit to Sri Lanka since becoming the prime minister.

India has been pressing Sri Lanka for devolution of power to the Tamils as part of the reconciliation process. Briefing reporters on PM Modi's visit, Joint Secretary (Indian Ocean Region) in the External Affairs Ministry, Sanjay Panda said no structured talks have been scheduled, but PM Modi will be interacting with the Sri Lankan leaders.

"We do not envisage any formal talks but he will be interacting with the leaders and review the relationship in its entirety. Nothing is specifically earmarked for discussion during the current visit," he said.

On the Tamil issue, Panda said India is working closely with the Sri Lankan government over it and expressed hope that Colombo will fulfil the commitments made regarding devolution of power within next two years.

Asked about the proposed Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement, Panda said there have been "headways" on it and hoped to finalise the pact by end of the current year.

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.

In Kandy, the Prime Minister will visit the famous Dalada Maligawa which is a Buddhist temple.

The upcountry area in Sri Lanka is dominated by Tamil plantation workers who have strong bonding with Tamil Nadu and Panda said there have been lot of expectations from them to receive Modi.

Asked about the vexed fishermen issue, Panda said India was looking at getting into the root of the problem and find a permanent solution to the issue. He said Tamil Nadu government has already finalised a Rs 1,500 crore package for the fishermen of the state.

"We are looking for a permanent solution," Panda said.

Tamil Nadu's opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has requested PM Modi to talk on fisherman issue during his visit.

"Our PM Modi is visiting Sri Lanka. Our leader Stalin has requested, rather demanded, the PM to use this visit and talk about the issues which are plaguing both the countries. Tamil Nadu fishermen have been repeatedly being shot at, killed, and boats being seized. Our leaders want permanent solution on this issue and hence, we request the PM to end this problem," DMK leader Sarvanan told ANI.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 8:07 [IST]
China snubbed: Sri Lanka refuses permission to dock submarine

International

pti-PTI

Colombo, May 11: Sri Lanka refused permission for a Chinese submarine to dock at Colombo next week after a similar visit in 2014 angered regional super-power India, a top defence official said on Thursday.

Chinese authorities had sought clearance for a port call at Colombo where a Chinese state-owned company operates a mega container terminal, the official said asking not to be named. "They have asked for permission, but we have said no," the official told. "It is a very sensitive matter." He did not elaborate.

The rejection came as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Sri Lanka as chief guest of Vesak, the island's main Buddhist celebration making the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha.

The request for the Chinese submarine visit was for next week, after Modi's departure on Friday evening, official sources said. There was no immediate comment from the Chinese embassy in Colombo, but two submarine calls at the Colombo harbour in 2014 had reportedly angered India which considered it as undermining their security.

New Delhi traditionally regards its smaller neighbour as being within its sphere of influence. New Delhi is said to have been worried about Beijing's growing influence on Colombo under the former regime of strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse.

Sri Lanka's new President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in January 2015 promising to loosen ties with China after a decade of hefty funding by Beijing under his predecessor. However, analysts have noted that Beijing's influence was on the rise again as Colombo struggles to find alternative sources of much needed foreign capital.

PTI
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AN agreement was signed yesterday between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Kina Bank to support increased trade in Papua New Guinea.

The deal will enable ADBs Trade Finance Program (TFP) to provide a credit guarantee facility that can support up to $4 million (K13million) of trade annually.

The agreement was signed by Christine Engstrom, ADBs director for the Private Sector Financial Institutions Division, and Syd Yates, Kina Groups chief executive officer, on the sidelines of the 50th Annual Meeting of ADBs Board of Governors in Yokohama, Japan.

We are delighted to be partnering with Kina Bank to support increased trade in PNG, said Ms Engstrom.

With ADBs backing, Kina will be able to grow its trade finance operations and increase financial support to local importing and exporting businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

Kina is the first bank in PNG that TFP is partnering with, and the third bank in the Pacific to join the program.

TFP has operated since 2004 across Asia. In 2015, the Government of Australia provided financial assistance for its expansion to the Pacific.

We are very excited about joining ADBs Trade Finance Program, said Mr Yates.

Joining the program enables Kina to leverage the AAA international rating of ADB to add value to our clients international trading activity.

It also demonstrates ADBs comfort with Kinas strong framework for managing the risks pertinent to international transactions.

TFP, backed by ADBs AAA credit rating, provides guarantees and loans to over 200 partner banks to support trade, enabling more companies throughout Asia to engage in import and export activities.

Since 2009, TFP has supported more than 9,200 small and medium-sized businesses across developing Asia  through over 13,000 transactions valued at over $25.5 billion (K83.3bn) in sectors ranging from commodities and capital goods, to medical supplies and consumer goods.
The Global ETF/ETP industry had 6,835 ETFs/ETPs, with 12,892 listings, assets of US$4.002 trillion, from 313 providers listed on 68 exchanges in 56 countries at the end of April 2017.

"Investors continued to favour equities over fixed income and commodities as equity markets performed positively in April. The S&P 500 was up 1%, international equity markets outside the US and emerging markets were both up 2% in April. Investors were captivated by a closely-fought first round of the French elections during April," according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner and a founder of ETFGI.

ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered record net inflows of US$37.94 Bn in April marking the 39th consecutive month of net inflows. Year to date, a record US$235.21 Bn in net new assets have been gathered. At this point last year there were net inflows of US$81.01 Bn.

In April, equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$27.75 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$10.78 Bn, while commodity ETFs/ETPs experienced net outflows of US$1.28 Bn.

YTD through end of April 2017, ETFs/ETPs have seen net inflows of US$235.21 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with US$167.42 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$49.97 Bn, and commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$7.59 Bn.

iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in April with US$23.94 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$10.29 Bn and Schwab ETFs with US$2.53 Bn net inflows. YTD, iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows with US$89.30 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$53.10 Bn and Nomura AM with US$10.23 Bn net inflows.
Global Surgical Mesh Market 2017 - Boston Scientific Corporation Company, Molnlycke Healthcare, Atrium, Tepha, Medtronic, Ethicon Inc Company

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In this report, the global Surgical Mesh market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Download Sample Report @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Surgical Mesh in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Surgical Mesh market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingBoston Scientific Corporation CompanyMolnlycke HealthcareEthicon Inc CompanyC.R. BardAtriumTephaMedtronicLifeCell CorporationB.Braun Melsungen AGOn the basis of product,Non-absorbable Surgical MeshAbsorbable Surgical MeshOn 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 Surgical Mesh for each application, includingHernia Repair 4Traumatic or Surgical WoundsGet Full Report With TOC @Table of ContentsGlobal Surgical Mesh Market Research Report 20171 Surgical Mesh Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Surgical Mesh1.2 Surgical Mesh Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Surgical Mesh Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Surgical Mesh Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Non-absorbable Surgical Mesh1.2.4 Absorbable Surgical Mesh1.3 Global Surgical Mesh Segment by Application1.3.1 Surgical Mesh Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hernia Repair1.3.3 Traumatic or Surgical Wounds1.4 Global Surgical Mesh Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Surgical Mesh 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 Surgical Mesh (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Surgical Mesh Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Surgical Mesh Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Fior 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.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Growth of Central African Republic Telecom Industry : Overview, Size and Share 2017

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ALBANY, NY, May 10, 2017 : ResearchMoz presents professional and in-depth study of "Central African Republic: Expansion of 2G/3G Coverage, Rising Mobile Data Adoption and Improvement in Broadband Connectivity to Fuel Telecom Growth"."Central African Republic: Expansion of 2G/3G Coverage, Rising Mobile Data Adoption and Improvement in Broadband Connectivity to Fuel Telecom Growth", a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Central African Republic today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband and mobile sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @The telecom services revenue in Central African Republic is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.3% during 2016-2021, driven mainly by the mobile segment, as operators increase their focus on expanding 2G/3G network coverage and on improving quality of service to foster mobile services penetration of the population and mobile data services adoption.Going forward, operators should continue to focus on network investments and upgrades, particularly expanding 3G networks, in order to seize opportunities arising from growth in the mobile data segment. Operators mobile network expansion and the governments ICT infrastructure development plans will present significant opportunities for vendors and investors.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Central African Republic compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in Central African Republic.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Central African Republics telecommunications market.Scope- The overall telecom service revenue in Central African Republic is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.3% during 2016-2021. Mobile revenue will account for 92.9% of total telecom revenue in 2021; mobile data will constitute the fastest-expanding segment, growing at a CAGR of 25.2% over the 2016-2021 forecast period.- 2G will remain the most used mobile technology through 2021. However, its share of the overall mobile subscriber base will decline over the forecast period to reach 82.6% by 2021, owing to rising adoption of 3G services.- The top two mobile operators, Orange CAR and Telecel CAR, accounted for 75.4% of total service revenue in 2016. Orange CAR will continue to maintain its leadership position in the mobile market through 2021. Operators will continue their focus on 2G/3G network expansion and upgrades, offering segmented bundles and rolling out VAS such as mobile money services to drive future growth.Make an Enquiry of this report @Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Central African Republics telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Central African Republics mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Central African Republics telecommunications market.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Central African Republic.ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Global Solvent Dyes Market 2017 Industry Trends, Growth Rate With CAGR Analysis 2022

Solvent Dyes

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The survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global Solvent Dyes market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global Solvent Dyes 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 Solvent Dyes 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 Solvent Dyes 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 Solvent Dyes 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 Solvent Dyes 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
Research of Baby Food Market in Sweden Industry : Share, Trends and Application 2017

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ALBANY, NY, May 10, 2017 : "The Baby Food Market in Sweden 2017", is an analytical report by GlobalData which provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the Swedish market.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Sweden baby food market has continued to be more buoyant than most European markets - a result of the upward trend in the number of births, as well as a relatively favorable economic climate, demand for premium products, and high levels of female employment. Unusually, cereals and wet meals account for the vast majority of sales in Sweden. Milks account for only 14.5% of total value. The popularity of vlling, a traditional, milk-based gruel, alongside high levels of breastfeeding, has held back the development of the infant formula sector. Rise in baby food consumption, is anticipated largely as a result of the increasing number of live births and strong growth in milks, and to a slightly lesser extent in meals. Per capita consumption will increase only marginally.What else does this report offer?- Consumption data based upon a unique combination of industry research, fieldwork, market sizing work and our in-house expertise to offer extensive data about the trends and dynamics affecting the industry.- Detailed profile of the companies operating and new companies considering entry in the industry along with their key focus product sectors.- Market profile of the various product sectors with the key features & developments, segmentation, per capita trends and the various manufacturers & brands.- Overview of baby food retailing with a mention of the major retailers in the country along with the distribution channel.- Future projections considering various trends which are likely to affect the industry.Scope- Up to 2010 the number of live births increased annually, although 2011 saw a sharp drop of 3.3%. However, since then, the numbers have once again begun to climb, with a particularly strong increase in 2016.- The baby food market has continued to be more buoyant than most European markets. Since 2010 sales have risen by 23.4% in 2016.- Unusually, cereals and wet meals account for the vast majority of sales in Sweden, taking 85% of retail value and 92% of market volume. Milks account for only 14.5% of value and 7.2% of volume sales.- Sweden produces a significant proportion of its own baby food with Hero having a plant in Gtene. Exports have risen significantly in terms of volume since 2012 and in 2015 stood at tons, worth million.- The market is effectively a duopoly shared by Semper (Hero) and Nestl Sverige. Both companies are long-established in what is itself the longest-established commercial baby food market in the world.- Baby food is a mainstream grocery market, with only specialized baby milks and a limited number of other products being sold exclusively through pharmacies. Within the grocery sector, larger chains have been increasing their share of sales.- Baby food consumption is anticipated to rise by 15.5% between 2016 and 2022. Growth will be largely as a result of the increasing number of live births predicted by the Swedish Statistical Office and strong growth in milks, and to a slightly lesser extent in meals.Make an Enquiry of this report @Reasons to buy- Evaluate important changes in consumer behavior and identify profitable markets and areas for product innovation.- Analyse current and forecast behavior trends in each category to identify the best opportunities to exploit.- Detailed understanding of consumption by individual product categories in order to align your sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market.- Investigates which categories are performing the best and how this is changing market dynamics.ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Life Insurance in the US : Market Demands, Insights, Research and Forecast 2017

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ALBANY, NY, May 10, 2017 : Timetrics 'Life Insurance in the US, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the US life insurance segment, and a comparison of the US insurance industry with its regional counterparts.It provides key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20112015) and forecast period (20152020).The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the US economy and demographics, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.SummaryTimetrics 'Life Insurance in the US, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the US life insurance segment, including:An overview of the US life insurance segmentThe US life insurance segments growth prospects by categoryA comprehensive overview of the US economy and demographicsA comparison of the US life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsThe various distribution channels in the US life insurance segmentDetails of the competitive landscape in the life insurance segment in the USDetails of regulatory policy applicable to the US insurance industryScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the life insurance segment in the US:It provides historical values for the US life insurance segment for the reports 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period.It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the US life insurance segment, and market forecasts to 2020.It provides a comparison of the US life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsIt analyzes the various distribution channels for life insurance products in the US.It profiles the top life insurance companies in the US and outlines the key regulations affecting them.Reasons To BuyMake strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the US life insurance segment, and each category within it.Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the US life insurance segment.Assess the competitive dynamics in the life insurance segment.Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.Gain insights into key regulations governing the US insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.Make an Enquiry of this report @Key HighlightsThe life segment accounted for 34.6% of the industry's gross written premium in 2015.Individual life insurance remained the largest category during the review period, accounting for 60.3% of the life gross written premium in 2015.The US life segment is highly competitive and fragmented, with the 10 leading insurers accounting for 47.7% of gross written premium in 2015.Bancassurance and brokers registered respective review-period CAGRs of 1.3% and 1.1% .ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
2017-2022 Online Recruitment Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications

Online Recruitment

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Online Recruitmentwiseguyreports.com adds Online Recruitment market -market demand, growth, opportunities, manufacturers, analysis of top key players and forecast to 2022 to its research database.Get Sample Report @Covered In This Report:This report studies the Online Recruitment market status and outlook of global and United States, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global and United States market, and splits the Online Recruitment market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Online Recruitment 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 Online Recruitment. United States plays an important role 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.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share (%) and growth Rate (%) of Online Recruitment in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificSouth AmericaMiddle East and AfricaThe major players in global and United States Online Recruitment market, including LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, Monster, SEEK, Naukri, StepStone, Dice Holdings, Glassdoor, SimplyHired, TopUSAJobs, Indeed, Idealist, US.Job.The On the basis of product, the Online Recruitment market is primarily split intoRecruitment Services for IndividualRecruitment Services for EnterpriseOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversSecretarial/ClericalAccounting/ FinancialComputingTechnical/EngineeringProfessional/ManagerialOthersMake An Enquiry Before Buying This Report@2017-2022 Online Recruitment Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications1 Methodology and Data Source1.1 Methodology/Research Approach1.1.1 Research Programs/Design1.1.2 Market Size Estimation1.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation1.2 Data Source2.1.1 Secondary Sources2.1.2 Primary Sources1.3 Disclaimer2 Online Recruitment Market Overview2.1 Online Recruitment Product Overview2.2 Online Recruitment Market Segment by Type2.2.1 Recruitment Services for Individual2.2.2 Recruitment Services for Enterprise2.2.3 Others2.3 Global Online Recruitment Product Segment by Type2.3.1 Global Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and Growth (%) by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.3.2 Global Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.3 Global Online Recruitment Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.4 Global Online Recruitment POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)2.4 United States Online Recruitment Product Segment by Type2.4.1 United States Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and Growth by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.4.2 United States Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.3 United States Online Recruitment Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.4 United States Online Recruitment POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)3 Online Recruitment Application/End Users3.1 Online Recruitment Segment by Application/End Users3.1.1 Secretarial/Clerical3.1.2 Accounting/ Financial3.1.3 Computing3.1.4 Technical/Engineering3.1.5 Professional/Managerial3.2 Global Online Recruitment Product Segment by Application3.2.1 Global Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and CGAR (%) by Applications (2012, 2016 and 2022)3.2.2 Global Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Applications (2012-2017)3.3 United States Online Recruitment Product Segment by Application3.3.1 United States Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and CGAR (%) by Applications (2012, 2016 and 2022)3.3.2 United States Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Applications (2012-2017)4 Online Recruitment Market Status and Outlook by Regions4.1 Global Market Status and Outlook by Regions4.1.1 Global Online Recruitment Market Size and CAGR by Regions (2012, 2016 and 2022)4.1.2 North America4.1.3 Asia-Pacific4.1.4 Europe4.1.5 South America4.1.6 Middle East and Africa4.1.7 United States4.2 Global Online Recruitment Sales and Revenue by Regions4.2.1 Global Online Recruitment Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)4.2.2 Global Online Recruitment Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)4.2.3 Global Online Recruitment Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)4.2.4 North America Online Recruitment Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)4.2.5 Europe Online Recruitment Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)4.2.6 Asia-Pacific Online Recruitment Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)4.2.7 South America Online Recruitment Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4.2.8 Middle East and Africa Online Recruitment Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)4.2.9 United States Online Recruitment Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), POnline Recruitment (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (2012-2017)Continued...Buy Now @Contact Us:Norah TrentPartner Relations & Marketing ManagerSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (Us)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (Uk)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Sales Market Analysis: Global Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017

Global Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017

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This report studies the Car Floor Mats 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 Car Floor Mats market by product type and applications/end industries.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Car Floor Mats in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaIndiaThe major players in global Car Floor Mats market include3MMannHuskyYumaHSYTaizhou yusen auto accessories Co., LtdCHAOJIEMGT InternationalSawhney AgenciesMad MatterOregon Rubber MatHeatTrakFROGUMBonarLGSMZhejiang Renown Auto Accessories Group CO.,LtdOn the basis of product, the Car Floor Mats market is primarily split intoCarpet Car MatsRubber Car MatsPlastic Car Floor MatsOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversPassenger Car (PC)Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV)Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV)Ask a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Car Floor Mats Market Overview2 Global Car Floor Mats Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Car Floor Mats Capacity, Production, Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)4 Global Car Floor Mats Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Car Floor Mats Production (), Revenue (Million USD), Price Trend by Types6 Global Car Floor Mats Market Analysis by Applications7 Global Car Floor Mats Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Car Floor Mats Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Car Floor Mats Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionRelated Reports:Global Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017Europe Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017China Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017India Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017Japan Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017USA Car Floor Mats Market Research Report 2017Korea Car Floor Mats 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: Global Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017

Global Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017

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This report studies the Furniture Handles 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 Furniture Handles market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Furniture Handles 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 Furniture Handles.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 Furniture Handles market include Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth, HNI Corporation, Okamura Corporation, KI, Teknion, Knoll, Kinnarps Holding, Kimball Office, Kokuyo, ITOKI.Ask a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Furniture Handles Market Overview2 Global Furniture Handles Market Competition by Manufacturers/Brand3 Global Furniture Handles Sales (K Pieces), Revenue (Million USD) by Regions (2012-2017)4 Global Furniture Handles Sales, Revenue, Price Trend by Types5 Global Furniture Handles Market Analysis by Applications6 Global Furniture Handles Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7 Furniture Handles Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 Global Furniture Handles Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 Methodology and Data SourceRelated Reports:Global Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017Europe Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017China Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017India Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017Japan Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017USA Furniture Handles Market Research Report 2017Korea Furniture Handles 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
Menthol Market 2022: by Key Manufacturers Agson Global, Symrise AG, Nantong Menthol Factory

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https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-menthol-market

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This New Version Global Menthol Market Research Report is a deep market research report in this Market Size Forecasters. Report focused on global and regional market, major manufacturers, as well as the segment market details on different classifications and applications. First, this report analyzed the basic scope of this industry like definition, specification, industry policy and news.In this report, the global Menthol 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 Menthol in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, IndiaRequest a sample copy of Menthol Market Research Report @Global Menthol market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including Agson Global, Symrise AG, Nantong Menthol Factory, Takasago, Tienyuan Chem, Arora Aromatics, Fengle PerfumeOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Natural, SyntheticalOn 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 Menthol for each application, including Oral Hygiene, Pharmaceuticals, Tobacco, Confectionaries, OthersThe listed pricing for this Menthol Market report starts at $ 2900. Request Discount for Menthol Market Research Report @Table of Contents in Menthol Market Research ReportMenthol Market OverviewGlobal Menthol Market Competition by ManufacturersGlobal Menthol Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)Global Menthol Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)Global Menthol Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeGlobal Menthol Market Analysis by ApplicationGlobal Menthol Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Menthol Market Report @Related Reports: -Global and Chinese Sail Fabric Industry, 2017 Market Research ReportGlobal and Chinese Sail Fabric Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Sail Fabric industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Sail Fabric manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:NEWS:
Power Electronics Market share, Applications, Segmentations & Forecast by 2024

Global Market Insights, Inc.

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The regional Analysis Asia Pacific in the power electronics is expected to witness immense growth owing to the rise in electric vehicles, which use power electronic devices for energy. Moreover, the power electronics market growth in the region is accredited to the increase in power transmission, use of renewable energy and growing use of power electronics across the industrial sector. Technological developments in electronics, inverters, and UPS is boosting the regional power electronics market growth, says that global power electronics market share is expected to grow due to the growing inclination of consumers towards energy harvesting technologies. Increasing demand for energy efficient portable battery powered devices and the rising emphasis on renewable power sources will further propel the industry growth.Rising demand for high power density in various applications is a major driver in the power electronics market. This demand is attributed by the various benefits offered by them such as less driving factor and simplified circuits which helps them to run at high power ranges. Design of compact power electronics are the best choice to use in high power density products.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Usage of these devices in power systems helps in providing high flexibility, reliability and security which in turn helps ensure effective and continuous delivery of power. These devices play an important role in the adaptation of advanced networks and enhancement of power infrastructure instead of the current electrical grids. Growing demand for network reliability, increasing incorporation of power electronics in electrical grids, judicious use of energy and emphasis on reduction of biological pollution from the government are anticipated to propel the power electronics market growth over the forecast period.Growing implementation of these devices in renewable energy solutions is generating several growth opportunities to the power electronics market. Need for generation of electricity by using renewable energy sources is mounting speedily. It is anticipated that energy usage will rise during the forecast period thereby leading to a surge in the industry demand. Renewable sources are used in inverters for solar panels, in grid converters and in wind turbine converters. They are used for switching speed and power efficiency.The power electronics market based on materials can be classified into silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN) and sapphire. The major application of the solution would be in electric vehicles by using GaN semiconductor to replace electronics based on silicon, which are used as battery chargers and inverters. GaN semiconductors convert the battery power to help drive the electric cars. Silicon based electronic devices are used to restrain the power which limits the power handling capacity of the car.The GaN semiconductors are cost affordable, easy to drive and improve the output power of electric cars, making them energy efficient and lighter. Owing to these factors, the demand for GaN based semiconductors devices is increasing thus indirectly boosting the power electronics market. Presently, the U.S. is a leading consumer for electric cars. This is owing to strict emission rules made by the government in the region.Make an inquiry for buying this report @Power electronics market based on devices is classified into BJT, IGBT, MOSFET, power diode and thyristor. The IGBT devices dominate the industry and are likely to continue the trend over the forecast period. These devices are widely used across the industry due to the features such as enhanced efficiency, faster switching, minimal power loss and ease of usage at high voltages. In addition, increased requirement for power electronics devices is likely to offer several opportunities to the players operating in the power electronics market.The key players in the power electronics market include ABB, Azzurro Semiconductors AG Cree Incorporated, Fairchild Infineon, Infineon Technologies, Microsemi, Mitsubishi, NTT Advanced Technology Corporation, Renesas Electronics, Rockwell Automation, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Toshiba Corporation. Industry players are investing in R&D to develop the devices, which run on high power density levels. For the manufacturers, R&D is an important factor as advanced innovations can help the manufactures gain competitive advantages over other players. The power electronics market participants are focussing on frequent mergers and acquisitions. For instance, In July 2016, Infineon Technologies has announced the acquisition of a division of Cree Incorporated. It will help the company to develop compound semiconductor thus supporting the high growth in renewables, cellular infrastructure and electro-mobility.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.Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Home Security Solution Market Present Scenario and Growth Prospects from 2017 to 2024

Global Market Insights, Inc.

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Global Home Security Solution Market increase in mobile monitoring devices, attractive protection plans, growth in the usage of smartphones & tablets, and rising customer awareness will boost the home security solution market size. Furthermore, an increase in the competition among distributors and providers to deliver numerous services due to the demand for home security appliances will have positive implications for the industry.Home Security Solution Market size is anticipated to witness growth opportunities over the forecast timeline owing to the increasing crime rates and immoral practices in residential areas. Effective and modernized security systems, such as remote monitoring services, are increasing the consumer interest in the residential security solutions, propelling the market.Technological advancements in the home security solution market have developed gradually over the years. Various features, such as sensors, alarms, smart locks, motion sensing, cameras, night vision, wireless technology, and internet connections, are available in the market making it possible for residential or homeowners to utilize them. The growing demand for wireless technology and its ease of installation have offered many opportunities for the home security solution market growth globally.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Video surveillance technology is one trending factor of the home security solution market as videos gathered from the surveillance can now be shared or transferred to computers and mobile devices, making them accessible anywhere and anytime. Motion sensor lights help in lighting a doorway when an intruder is present. An increase in demand for these products will provide an opportunity for the market to grow. Furthermore, the solution providers and distributors need to work on the incorporation of advanced and technological approaches to retain old customers and acquire new ones.Residential home security solution market is booming owing to the growing trend towards high-security efficiency due to customer awareness. The integration of ICT and data usage is helping in achieving the trend. The incorporation of home security cloud-based wireless solutions is predicted to surge over the forecast timeframe. This is due to the ability of cloud-based solutions to deliver services such as personalization, interactivity, and multi-screen usage. It is anticipated that the dynamic forces aimed at home security solution market are slowly shifting towards hi-tech from mechanical activities as users are seeking improved & advanced operational efficiencies and want cost-effective solutions.Irrespective of the various advantages offered by home security solutions, the high installation cost of solutions and lack of security awareness would confine the growth of the industry. Rising awareness among users and augmented implementation of new solutions for home security systems would progressively result in the cost reduction of home security solution, positively driving home security solution market.Advanced solutions and technologies involve problems such as connectivity problems, compatibility issues, electrical interference, and software malfunctions. Wide inventive ideas are taken into consideration by industry players to overcome the problems and deliver a high operative solution in the home security solution market.The home security solution market by-products can be divided into biometric locks, keypad locks, magnetic/electric card locks, wireless, locks, sensors, cameras, and panic buttons/alarms. Advanced sensor developments for the recognition of intruders & unauthorized people and biometrics and card based access control will have a huge effect on the home security solution market. Biometrics security solutions have various applications such as facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, and iris recognition. Biometrics is gaining admiration and demand in home security solutions market due to its remote scanning feature, in which the door locks can be controlled from a distance.Wireless door locks scan an operators fingerprint to enable access while fingerprint door locks offer its operators a keyless door unlocking system. This home security solution market will have a huge demand in the residential sector due to its features such as advanced and personalized security. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), a wireless solution applies radio frequency & electromagnetic fields and is used in physical time pursuing applications, which are gaining approval in the home security solution market.The home security solution market by solution types can be divided into access control & management, fire protection systems, intercom, intruder alarm, motion sensor lights, medical alert, and video surveillance. The industry by home type can be divided into apartments, condominiums, and independent homes. Integrated home security systems will witness a considerable market growth due to the growing awareness about elderly people requiring medical assistance, monitoring children, and detection of hazardous conditions such as gas leaks and fires.Make an inquiry for buying this report @North America is anticipated to hold a significant market share in the home security solution market due to the presence of many companies, which are providing these solutions. In the U.S., it is expected that some 15 million and more U.S. homes will invest and install in new home security solutions in the coming years. The growing list of smart home solution services and providers in the U.S. is using home security to introduce the automation services for homes. In the U.S. market, home security solution market is exhibiting a considerable growth due to an increase in the fire & smoke injuries & deaths.The Asia Pacific industry is characterized by the usage of Internet Protocol (IP). The industry in Japan is one of the major growth areas for IP camera surveillance systems. These solutions are being adopted by nursing homes, retail chain stores, homeowners, small factories, and warehouses.Major players in the home security solution market industry include Allegion PLC, Alarm.com, ASSA ABLOY, Bosch Security Systems, Control4 Corporation, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited, Honeywell International, Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Solutions, Nortek Security & Control LLC, Tyco, and UTC Fire & Security.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:
NFC POS Terminal Market Pit Falls, Present Scenario and Growth Prospects from 2017 to 2024

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NFC POS terminal market is witnessing an increase in the penetration of NFC POS terminals in the transportation sector for ticketing transactions. The inclination of customers towards the use NFC-enabled smart cards in automated fare collections is likely to boost the NFC POS terminal market growth. The NFC technology helps in achieving the short-range communication between electronic devices thus having a high compatibility with fare collection platforms. In comparison to its alternatives, NFC technology provides a high degree of customer satisfaction and experience as it is fast and helps in fast-tracking connections thereby escalating the demand for NFC POS terminal market.NFC POS Terminal Market size is anticipated to witness growth opportunities over the forecast timeframe. Growing usage of NFC-enabled smartphones and emergence of mobile wallet services would be major drivers for the industry growth. Technological substitutions for ticketing in transportation, such as NFC-based mobile ticketing and contactless smart cards, are further driving the growth of NFC POS terminal market.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @An increase in the penetration of NFC-based mobile handsets is one of the prime reasons contributing to the NFC POS terminal market growth. Growing usage of NFC-enabled smartphones is likely to boost the use of NFC POS terminals for payments and digital exchange in transportation, retail, and healthcare industries. Usage of NFC payment infrastructure and popularity of NFC as a preferred payment mode for customers globally are pushing the NFC POS terminal market.Value added services in POS terminals, such loyalty cards and coupons, will ensure customers a seamless experience thus driving the NFC POS terminal market. The availability of NFC technology and its incorporation into smartphones and POS terminals will help in achieving the benefit of access control and ticketing. Modernized POS terminals can calculate the best ticketing fare based on travel length, discounts, and prior journeys thus resulting in many benefits for customers as well as transport authorities.An increase in the adoption of electronic payment systems in emerging countries fuel NFC POS terminal market. However, markets in developed countries are saturated due to the prior installations of NFC POS terminals. The use of NFC payment solutions and its growing popularity as an ideal payment mode by customers globally are driving the NFC POS market. The pay by phone trend by NFC compatible phones is pushing the adoption of NFC handsets among consumers thus speedily driving the roll-out of NFC POS terminals in various market sectors such as vending and parking.A trend boosting the NFC POS terminal market is the adoption of contactless payment cards known as smart cards, which are embedded with chips and are encrypted with data. The data stored on these cards can be read by EMV-enabled POS terminals. In these devices, the transaction takes place with the help of NFC technology, which is also present in smartphones and smartwatches. The contactless cards when placed near the POS systems can accept payments within seconds thus making it easy for customers to make payments using NFC technology and thereby propelling the NFC POS terminal market.Card issuing banks in many countries have gradually started to issue contactless cards in high numbers. There are a reasonable number of customers, who possess a contactless card and can use them, which makes it clear that NFC has a significant role in mobile wallet services thus propelling the NFC POS terminal market.Ease of using NFC POS terminals with the existing infrastructure is preventing the further need of investments. The high cost of these solutions is expected to pose a challenge and thus hinder the growth of the NFC POS terminal market. While the installed NFC POS terminals are growing rapidly over the timeframe, the contactless technology has not been activated or is instantiable in many cases.The upgrading of the magnetic stripe to EMV is due to the legal shift. The expansion of NFC POS terminal market is an indication that retailers are looking to provide convenience to customers. Payments using smartphones are slowly getting acceptance from customers and retailers due to the mobile payments solutions such as Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. The capabilities of NFC POS terminals are not only affecting the financial ecosystem but also other important business aspects, such as marketing and customer services, making NFC POS terminal an attractive market.Make an inquiry for buying this report @North America and Europe NFC POS terminal markets were introduced with Apple Pay in 2015. It was launched by Apple to make it possible to pay for goods and services by tapping ones iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch to a card reader. This could be possible if the customer was banking with a bank, which supports Apple Pay thus escalating the NFC POS terminal market demands. Furthermore, Android Pay and Samsung Pay were introduced in these regions. In the UK, the Transport for London (TFL) introduced the pay for travel using contactless cards, driving the NFC POS terminal market. North America market is expected to dominate the market.In the U.S. NFC POS terminal market., some retailers had been cautious to adopt NFC POS payments in the beginning due to the lack of understanding of the added value, hardware, training expense, and security concerns. These issues were overcome as the merchants addressed and solved them thus opening doors to great benefits such as branding, loyalty, and data collection.Asia Pacific NFC POS terminal market is expected to witness a high growth during the forecast period. This can be due to the increasing adoption of smart devices across these regions. Apple Pay is supported in some countries such as Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand in the Asia Pacific region. China and India are expected to favorably impact the market owing to the large software base and its distribution in retail stores & automotive sector. High market growth in the region is due to the reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and increase in Small and Medium Business (SMBs).Key market players dominating the NFC POS terminal market include Cybernet, Inc. Equinox Payments, First Data Corp., Heartland Payment Systems, Paz Technology Ltd., Ingenico SA, NEC Technology, SZZT Electronics Co., Ltd., and VeriFone Systems.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:
Floor Grinding Machine Market: Global Industry Trend Analysis 2012 to 2017 and Forecast 2017 - 2025

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Global Floor Grinding Machine: Market Overview:Grinding is the way toward removing metal by the utilization of abrasives which are bonded to form a rotating wheel. At the point when the moving rough particles contact the workpiece, they act as tiny cutting tools. The floor grinding machine is utilized for roughing and finishing flat, cylindrical, and cone shaped surfaces; completing inward cylinders or bores; framing and sharpening tools, catching or expelling rough projections from castings and stampings; cleaning, polishing and buffing surfaces. Floor grinding is used for the removal of adhesives, imperfections, rain damage, coatings. Machines that granulate concrete floors are made to deal with a much more anxiety and will have more power to drive the unit as concrete has a substantially higher sliding friction than marble or granite which is likewise worked wet, along these lines with less friction. Some sorts of marble will spark when it is ground dry, making profound damage to the marble surface. Concrete grinding and polishing have recently become famous in industrial settings, because of the quantity of favorable circumstances and benefits that it brings. Floor grinding machine smoothens the down rough concrete surfaces to uncover a smooth and shiny surface. Essentially, an overwhelming obligation granulating machine is utilized on the surface of the concrete slab, to polish it and make it look significantly more attractive. The floor grinding machines are made in a simple and robust but yet stylish and functional design.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Floor Grinding Machine: Market Dynamics:Mainly industrial purpose drives the global demand of floor grinding machine market. The floor looks attractive, increases the durability of the floor, environment-friendly and saving a lot of money are the factors that further leads to a rising in demand of floor grinding machine. Simple design, robust construction, single speed, high quality, functional and price competitive are the factors that also propel the growth of floor grinding machine market. Rising industry in Asia-Pacific regions leads to a growth of floor grinding machine market. Owing to the wide range of its application in industry fuel the demand for floor grinding machine market. Floor grinding machine act as an essential device to organizations dynamic over the value chain and to the new entrants by empowering them to underwrite the opportunities and create business procedures.Global Floor Grinding Machine: Segmentation:Based on applications, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into: Grinding and Polishing, Concrete, Marbles, Limestone, Cement plate, Wood-parquet floor coatings, Removal, Grease, Machine Oil, Paintings, Cleaning, Floor coatings, Removal of mud, Treacle and other loose dirt , Buffing and stripping. Based on floor type, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into: Marble, Concrete, Granite, Limestone, Others. Based on end-use, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into:Industrial, Commercial. Based on the regions, the global floor grinding machine market is segmented into: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, The Middle East and Africa .Global Floor Grinding Machine: Regional Outlook:The global floor grinding machine market is segmented into seven geographic key regions includes North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Japan, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan and The Middle East and Africa. The developing economies such as Asia-Pacific region lead to a growth of floor grinding machine near future owing to the development of industries is followed by North America, Japan. The demand for global floor grinding machine is expected to rise in the near future.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Global Floor Grinding Machine: Key Players:The few prominent key players of global floor grinding machine are: Husqvarna AB, HTC Group, Blastrac, Klindex, Shanghai Tuomei, Xingyi Polishing, Scanmaskin Sverige AB, Superabrasive, Linax, Terrco, ASL Machines, Substrate Technology, Shanghai Qing, Roll Gmbh, Bartell Global, Weijie Environmental.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:
Metered Dose Squeeze Dispenser Market Latest Trends, Demand and Analysis 2026

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Packaging has engrave itself as a major solution in order to protect and preserve the product from any type of harm such as contamination, leakage, damage, etc. during the transportation, consumption and storing. In order to protect the product, manufacturers are required and consumers are willing to adopt a packaging solution that possesses the feature of preserving and protecting. Moreover, the precise amount of required dosage is considered as an important aspect for the user, therefore the product requires a packaging solution that dispenses required quantity product. The metered dose squeeze dispenser is a type of solution that dispense exact or required quantity product. The key reason towards the design of the metered dose squeeze dispenser is that the liquid can be dispensed in any direction, from vertical to completely horizontal, while retaining an accurate dose. It consist of non-flexible trap chamber which is used to predetermined volume and a one way valve system that permits only a required dose of fluid to flow from the bottle. Moreover, these metered dose squeeze dispenser a suitable for any liquid where accurate metered dispensing is required or beneficial.Global Metered Dose Squeeze Dispenser Market: Market SegmentationThe global metered dose squeeze dispenser market is segmented on the basis of end user, such as cosmetics industry, pharmaceutical industry and food industry. The pharmaceutical industry is expected to be the largest contributor in the global metered dose squeeze dispenser market due to the heavy requirement of the exact dosage solution.Request For Report Sample:Global Metered Dose Squeeze Dispenser Market: Market DynamicsOne of the significant factors towards the growth of the global metered dose squeeze dispenser market is the requirement of exact dosage subjected to pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. Moreover, convenient feature of easy to carry is expected to be another reason towards the growth of the global metered dose squeeze dispenser market. Another prominent cause towards the growth of the global metered dose squeeze dispenser market is the rising consumer spending towards more efficient and effective product due to increased disposable income. In addition to this, the growth of retail industry in terms of hypermarket/supermarket is also expected to drive the growth of global metered dose squeeze dispenser market. However, the restraining factor towards the growth of the global metered dose squeeze dispenser market is the wide availability and consumer inclination towards a conventional form of squeeze dispensing solution. Another obstructing factor towards the growth of the global metered dose squeeze dispenser market is the high packaging cost, which hinder the manufacturers to spend on packaging and consumers to purchase the product in less quantity with high price. Moreover, the stringent regulation towards the use of plastic is expected to hamper the growth of metered dose squeeze dispenser market. These metered dose squeeze dispensers are one way dosing bottle which is an environmental concern due to waste disposal issue. Furthermore, the toxic waste from the manufacturing units of metered dose squeeze dispenser is not only affecting the environment, but also the household those are residing around these units.Global Metered Dose Squeeze Dispenser Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the global metered dose squeeze dispenser market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Middle East & Africa (MEA). The global metered dose squeeze dispenser market is expected to witness a healthy CAGR over the forecast period of 2016-2026. Asia Pacific is expected to witness an improvement in the metered dose squeeze dispenser market in terms of sales, due to the extensive evolution of the retail sector and the steady shift towards an innovative and useful packaging solution from traditional form of dosing packaging in the growing economies such as India & China. Apart from this, North America is expected to be the largest consumer of metered dose squeeze dispenser due to the rise in the disposable income and increase consumer spending towards more effective products.Request For TOC:Global Metered Dose Squeeze Dispenser Market: Major PlayerOne of the major players identified across the globe is DeJonge Associates, Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2027

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Global vertical flat pouch packaging machine market: OverviewVertical Flat pouches are popular among all ages. Whether it is coffee, toiletries, sugar, or food supplements, everything can be packaged in convenient, small, and easily portioned flat pouches. Vertical flat pouch packaging machine is widely used in the manufacturing of the pharmaceutical and food industry. Vertical flat pouch packaging machine delivers the best performance each step of floor space with modular flexibility as well as high production speed at a low operating cost. This machine is designed with high technology to meet future industrial requirements and stands out with its supreme flexibility enabling manufacturers to adjust fast and economically to product changes and production volumes as per market needs.Browse Market Research Report @Vertical flat pouch packaging machine is helpful in adjusting pouches sizes and provide proper dosing and top sealing quality which reduces product waste and loss in the packaging process and has a positive impact on manufacturer business. In the pharmaceutical industry, vertical flat pouch packaging machine contributes hermetically tight packaging for patient safety with its long sealing at long temperature. Vertical flat pouch packaging machine is designed with the new advanced monitoring system which provides real-time information about the machine which makes it possible to specify upcoming errors and reduce downtime along with increase machine availability.Global Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market: DynamicsThe major driving factors for the growth of the Global Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market are increasing health consciousness among consumers and increasing pharmaceutical and cosmetics production. The macroeconomic factors are driving the Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market such as growing economy, rising disposable income, and rapid rate of urbanization in emerging countries such as China, Brazil, Mexico, India. Other key driving factors of Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market include processed food industry, growing packaging industries across the globe. The key restraining factors of global Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market are a high cost of packaging. The key trend of global vertical flat pouch packaging machine is technological advancement such as designed with the real time information system.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Global Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market: SegmentationGlobal Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market can be segmented based on end-use industry type, model type, and region typeGlobal Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market can be segmented based on end-use industry type as follow:-Healthcare & PharmaceuticalFood & BeveragesCosmeticsChemicalHardwareAgriculturepepperGlobal vertical flat pouch packaging machine market can be segmented based on model type as follow:-SimplexDuplexQuadruplexGlobal Vertical flat pouch packaging machine market: Segmentation OverviewGlobal vertical flat pouch packaging machine segmentation is done based on end-use industry includes healthcare & pharmaceutical, food & beverages, cosmetics, chemical, pepper, hardware & agriculture. Among aforementioned end-use industry, food & beverages and pharmaceutical is estimated to witness a high growth rate over the forecasted period across the globe. Another segmentation of global vertical flat pouch packaging machine is done by model types such as simplex, duplex, and quadruplex. Among above-mentioned model type, quadruplex and duplex are predicted to have a positive growth rate over the forecasted period across the globe.Global vertical flat pouch packaging machine market: Regional OutlookBased on the geographies, the global vertical flat pouch packaging machine market is segmented into seven regions including Latin America, North America, Japan, Middle East & Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific except Japan. Among the regions, Western Europe is estimated to be the largest manufacturer based global vertical flat pouch packaging machine market followed by North America. Germany is estimated to be largest consumer based countries over the forecast year for vertical flat pouch packaging machine market across the globe.Few prominent players of global vertical flat pouch packaging market as follows:-Viking Masek Global Packaging TechnologiesRobert Bosch GmbHMatrix Packaging Machinery, LLCMESPACK SLSN Maschinenbau GmbHVELTEKO s.r.o.HASSIA-REDATRON GmbHHDG Verpackungsmaschinen GmbHSTATEC BINDER GmbHUniversal Pack S.r.l.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Vertical Stick Pack Packaging Machine Market - Segmentation, Market Players, Trends 2026

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Rising in demand for ready-to-eat, convenience, processed food owing to increasingly busy schedule, and changing the lifestyle of consumers has a further surge in need for on-the-go packaging with convenience features such as portability, opening, and easy disposability. Therefore, various prominent companies are offering products in stick packs to minimize their overall production and distribution cost which indicates that the portable, convenient stick packs are gaining momentum in the market. To capitalize stick packs sale, vertical stick pack packaging machine is becoming increasingly popular owing to its convenience and dosing accuracy. Vertical stick pack packages are replacing sachets, as they consume approximately 40% less foil compared to rectangular sachet, and tends to run at higher production capacity than sachet making the machine. Vertical stick pack packaging machine provides minimal raw material consumption, space saving, safe and fast packaging process with reproducible sealing, and convincing packaging system.Obtain Report Details @Vertical Stick Pack Packaging Machine Market: Drivers and RestraintsExpanding demand for convenient packaging solutions, changing consumers lifestyle along with busy schedule have led to surging of the demand for packaged foods, and growing consumers desire for single serve, convenient, and on-the-go packaging are the primary factor driving the growth of the global vertical stick pack packaging machine market. Moreover, to cater the growing demand for packaged food companies are developing innovative packaging solutions that help in maintaining freshness, enhance product safety, and shelf life of the products are some of the prominent factors fueling the growth of vertical stick pack packaging machine market over the forecast period. However, food contamination, rising environmental concern, rising packaging standards may limit the growth of the vertical stick pack packaging machine market during the forecast period.Vertical Stick Pack Packaging Machine Market: SegmentationThe vertical stick pack packaging machine market, has been classified by product type, material type, packaging type, application and end user.Based on product type, the vertical stick pack packaging machine market is segmented into the following:GranulesPowdersLiquidFor more information on this report, fill the form @Based on the material type, the vertical stick pack packaging machine market is segmented into the following:PaperPolyethylenePolyesterWoodAluminumBiaxially Oriented Polypropylene Films (BOPP)OthersBased on packaging type, the vertical stick pack packaging machine market is segmented into the following:SachetsCartonsBagsCasesBased on the application, the vertical stick pack packaging machine market is segmented into the following:CosmeticsApparelChemicalsBeveragesFoodsOthersBased on the end user, the vertical stick pack packaging machine market is segmented into the following:Food & BeveragesPersonal Care ProductsPharmaceuticalsHome CareNutraceuticalsOthersVertical Stick Pack Packaging Machine Market: OverviewVertical stick pack packaging machine market revenue is expected to grow at a rapid growth rate, over the forecast period. The market is anticipated to perform well soon owing to rising demand for on-the-go packaging, expanding production capacity, and growing demand for customized machine for a particular application. Additionally, vertical stick pack packaging offers a convenience feature includes reliability, easy open, portability, and single hand are the factors that can propel the market revenue growth of vertical stick pack packaging machine in the near future. Based on the end user, food & beverages segment is projected to lead the global vertical stick pack packaging machine market over the forecast period attributed to expanding demand for portable food products, along with growing demand for on-the-go meals and processed foods, and stick pack packaging aids in minimizing the product display space and cost. Moreover, vertical stick pack packaging machine delivers high value to customers regarding expanded capabilities, enable customers to minimum investment, and startup cost coupled with little risk related to flexible packaging solutions.Vertical Stick Pack Packaging Machine Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on the geographic region, vertical stick pack packaging machine market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Western Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the vertical stick pack packaging machine market followed by Europe, and Japan is owing to advanced technology, high consumption of packaged food, the presence of key players in these regions. The market in Asia-Pacific is projected to have the fastest growth due to a surge in the demand for retail ready packaging as well as multipack cartons, and growing demand for ready-to-eat food are some of the factors which are anticipated to rise the growth of vertical stick pack packaging machine market throughout the forecast period.Vertical Stick Pack Packaging Machine Market: Key PlayersSome of the prominent players in the vertical stick pack packaging machine market are Viking Masek Global Packaging Technologies, Blazek Packaging Machines, Turpack Company, Clearpack Group, Inever S.L., Matrix Packaging Machinery, LLC, Mespack SL, T.H.E.M. (Technical Help in Engineering and Marketing), and others.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market Industry Trends and Developments 2016 - 2026

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Methacrylic acid is an organic compound largely used as a precursor in the production of esters. Glacial methacrylic acid is a refined grade of methacrylic acid and comprises of monomethyl ether of hydroquinone (as inhibitor). Glacial methacrylic acid is available in the form of clear as well as colourless liquid. It is used as an intermediate in the production of methacrylic acid esters, which is further used in the production of wide range of plastic products. Glacial methacrylic acid is also used in the production of polymers and also as an additive in specialty esters. They exhibit properties such as clarity and good weatherability. Glacial methacrylic acid polymerizes very easily, and is used in the production of copolymers and homopolymers. When glacial methacrylic acid is incorporated into copolymers, it reduces the hardness by lowering the softening temperature. The global glacial methacrylic acid market is expected to increase at a moderate CAGR over the forecast period.Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market DynamicsGrowing paints and coatings industry is expected to be the major driver for the growth of glacial methacrylic acid market. Glacial methacrylic acid offers wide range of advantages as it can be easily polymerized, which makes it best suitable for use in production of polymer based products. The growing polymer industry is also expected to fuel the demand for glacial methacrylic acid over the forecast period. Manufacturers of glacial methacrylic acid are expected to push for marginal improvements in the near future. The higher cost charged for this product is considered to be a major challenge that may hold back the easy growth of the global glacial methacrylic acid market. In addition to this, the less storage span of glacial methacrylic acid is also expected to be a factor hampering the expansion of this market. Many manufacturers of glacial methacrylic acid are investing in research and development of this product, so as to make it multifunctional. This would bring in new opportunities for the market participants in terms of revenue over the forecast period.Request For Report Sample:Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market: SegmentationVarious outlooks are to be considered in order to understand the glacial methacrylic acid market segmentation. Some of the examples of such breakdown include, segmentation of global glacial methacrylic acid market on the basis of application, and end use industry.The global glacial methacrylic acid market is segmented on the basis of application as follows;PolymersIon exchangeSurface coatingsFlocculantsSoil improversAdhesivesTextile formulationsOthersThe global glacial methacrylic acid market segmentation on the basis of end use industry is as follows;Paints and coatingsTextileLeatherPaper manufactureOthersGlacial Methacrylic Acid Market: Regional OutlookEurope is expected to be the dominant region in the global glacial methacrylic acid market throughout the forecast period. Europe is the major region which exports glacial methacrylic acid to rest of the world. North America would also contribute a major share in the global glacial methacrylic acid market over the forecast period. The growing paints and coatings industry is expected to propel the demand for glacial methacrylic acid in this region. Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit a higher growth rate in the global glacial methacrylic acid market over the forecast period. Middle East and Africa and Latin America are also expected to witness higher growth rates in the global glacial methacrylic acid market over the forecast period.Request For TOC:Glacial Methacrylic Acid Market: Market ParticipantsThe competition landscape for global glacial methacrylic acid market is marked by the presence of many organised players as well as small players. Examples of some of the major players identified in the value chain of global glacial methacrylic acid market are, The Dow Chemical Company, Opes International Ltd., Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., Evonik Industries AG, BASF SE, Zhejiang Union Chemicals Industry Co.,Ltd, Cadence Chemical, among other prominent participants.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:
Roofing Chemicals Market Key Growth Factor, Industry Analysis 2026

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Roofing chemicals refer to a variegated range of chemicals which are used to enhance the performance of roof coatings. These chemicals imparts high reflectivity properties to rooftops thus enabling the maintenance of lower temperatures in the house. This in turn helps significantly in reducing the energy consumption required to keep the temperature low, and thus, helps in reducing carbon emissions. The advent of cool roof technology companies which includes roof designing, coating and chemicals, has led roofing chemicals to gain increasing awareness over last few years. Most companies in the roofing chemicals industry are relying on increased product innovations and are introducing products which not only offers high solar reflectance index, but also adds significantly to the life of roof, and caters high elasticity, reliable adhesion and dirt resistance. The global roofing chemicals market is anticipated to expand with a moderate CAGR over the forecast period of 2016-2026Global Roofing Chemicals Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe prime factor driving demand for roofing chemicals is the need for sustainable living standards, which incorporates reduction of carbon footprint of houses, as roofing chemicals helps primarily to reduce in-house temperatures, thus requiring less energy to cool the house, in turn reducing carbon emissions. Moreover, the need to increase longevity of the construction is further fuelling the demand for roofing chemicals, as they inherently helps in overheating and thus extends roof life. This coupled with a rapid increase in construction activity across all developing nations, particularly, in Asia are together translating into rising demand for roofing chemicals. Along with, increasing awareness about the benefits of roofing chemical is another integral factor imparting growth numbers to the global roofing chemicals market. Increase in the presence of bituminous roofing due to its more durability and usage in warehouses and factories is also driving more demand for asphalt bituminous roofing chemicals. Moreover, added features of asphalt roofing such as protection against fire, wind and hail is also adding more demand for asphalt based roofing chemicals.Request For Report Sample:However, even now installing a rooftop featured with roofing coating and chemicals to protect from high temperature comes costly, and is the major restraint, restricting the growth in global roofing chemicals market.Global Roofing Chemicals Market: SegmentationOn the basis of Product type,AcrylicAsphaltElastomerEpoxy ResinStyreneOthersOn the basis of application area,MembraneBituminousElastomericMetalPlasticGlobal Roofing Chemicals Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global roofing Chemicals market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is the leading market considering demand for roofing chemicals, amid stringent regulations regarding energy conversation in the US and Canada. Moreover, rising construction activities in Asia Pacific, particularly in China and India, is letting the APEJ region to expand the fastest in terms of demand for roofing chemicals. Due to high inclination of most European governments towards low energy consumption per capita, ha led demand for roofing chemicals in Western Europe to scale high.Request For TOC:Global Roofing Chemicals Market: Key PlayersThe Dow Chemical CompanySika AGGAF Materials CorporationAkzo Nobel N.VExcel CoatingsBASF SESaint-Gobain S.A3M CompanyABOUT 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 Naval Radar Systems Market 2016-2020 - Features Key Companies ( Finmeccanica SpA, Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon Co., Thales Group )

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=711540

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=711540

http://www.researchmoz.us/global-naval-radar-systems-market-2016-2020-report.html

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Albany, NY, May 11, 2017: The components of a radar include transmitters, duplexers, receivers, radar antennae, and indicators. It is used in detecting aircraft, spacecraft, ships, guided missiles, weather formations, motor vehicles, and terrain. It emits radio waves to track and determine the velocity, range, and angle of other objects. A radar system can transmit microwaves simultaneously in all directions and thus, determines the properties of flying objects within their range.The global naval radar systems market to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global naval radar systems market during 2016-2020. It considers the revenue generated from the sales of naval radar equipment annually to calculate the market size.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Naval Radar Systems Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- Finmeccanica SpA- Lockheed Martin Corp.- Northrop Grumman Corp.- Raytheon Co.- Thales GroupOther prominent vendors- Airbus Defense and Space- BAE Systems- General Dynamics- Israel Aerospace Industries- Saab GroupMarket driver- Growing demand for radars in unmanned systems- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Radar jamming and deception- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Increase in use of passive radars- For a full, detailed list, view our reportEnquiry at:Key questions answered in this report- What 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?Browse more details at:ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:
North America Instant Camera Market Analysis, Market Size, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And Forecasts, 2022

Instant Camera

http://www.globalinforeports.com/request-sample/243697

http://www.globalinforeports.com/report/north-america-instant-camera-market-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022

http://www.globalinforeports.com/check-discount/243697

http://www.globalinforeports.com/send-an-enquiry/243697

Instant cameras use packs of film emulsion that include all the chemical developers and substrates needed to print a photographic image within minutes of pressing the shutter button. Each film pack includes the negative to capture the image and the positive paper needed to produce the finished print.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Instant Camera in North America market, especially in United States, Canada and Mexico. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers:FujifilmPolaroidLomographische AGMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers:United StatesCanadaMexicoMarket Segment by Type, covers:Retractable lenses instant cameraNon-retractable lenses instant cameraMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into:Private UseCommercial UseBrowse full report with Table of Content @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the North America Instant Camera market.Chapter 1, to describe Instant Camera 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 Instant Camera, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the North America market by countries, covering United States, Canada and Mexico, with sales, revenue and market share of Instant Camera, for each country, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the segment market in United States, Canada and Mexico, by manufacturers, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and market share by manufacturers, types and applications;Chapter 10, Instant Camera market forecast, by countries, type and application, with sales, price and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 11, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 12, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 13, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 14 and 15, to describe Instant Camera Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data sourceCheck for discount @Some points from TOC:-Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Instant Camera Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Retractable lenses instant camera1.2.2 Non-retractable lenses instant camera1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Private Use1.3.2 Commercial Use1.4 Market Analysis by Countries1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Mexico Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Canada 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 Fujifilm2.1.1 Profile2.1.2 Instant Camera Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Fujifilm Instant Camera Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.1.4 Business Overview2.1.5 Fujifilm News2.2 Polaroid2.2.1 Profile2.2.2 Instant Camera Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Polaroid Instant Camera Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2.4 Business Overview2.2.5 Polaroid News2.3 Lomographische AG2.3.1 Profile2.3.2 Instant Camera Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 2Enquiry Before Buying @About Us:GIR Market Research is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. GIR Market Research is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:John+1-888-376-9998 (US)Email- sales@globalinforeports.com
Multicore Cables Market: Global Industry Trend Analysis 2012 to 2017 and Forecast 2017 - 2025

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/15745

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/15745

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Global Multicore Cables: Market Overview:Multicore cable is a generic name for electrical cable. Multicore cables have many cores which are made of copper wire. The multicore cable is bundled together with a single wire and performs different functions includes power, data transmission and AV elements inside a single cable sheath. For instance, four main core wires is not a multicore cables, but a cable comprising with four coaxial cables in a single sheath is a multicore cables. The multicore cables are versatile and used for an industrial and commercial purpose. The multicore cables provide analog and digital signals. The multicore cables are fire proof, reliable, durable, resistant to chemicals, functional efficient is optimum and gives high performance. The multicore cables are heavily featured with cable jacketing to protect the cable from damage and helps in negate the effect of electromagnetic interference. Moreover, it contributes to reducing the overall weight of the cable. Nowadays, multicore optical fiber cables are used mostly because of sending data from one place to other and data can be transferred faster with minimum interference and best audio signal transmission.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Multicore Cables: Market Dynamics:The demand for multicore cable is driven by its varied uses in automotive and construction industry. The multicore cables are easy to handle and use and highly flexible and installed quickly. The multicore cables are used for different radio and electrical purposes and help to transmit data from one point to another. Increase in demand for multicore cables, owing to high investment in infrastructure leads to drive the multicore market in the near future. Moreover, the chances of loss in data are very less and move current faster. Further, multicore cables. Further, the rise in the development of infrastructure in developing regions such Asia Pacific leads to increase demand for multicore cables. However the continuous developments and up gradation of the manufacturing company of multicore cable to extend the life which can be a restraint to multicore cable market.Global Multicore Cables: Segmentation:Based on types, global multicore cable market is segmented into: Solid Cables, Standard Cables, Flexible Cables, Flat Cables, Parallel twin Cables. Based on application, global multicore cable market is segmented into: Transferring electrical signals, Alarm system, Mobile electrical equipment, Pumps and motors, Household appliances, Washing Machine, Refrigerator, Kitchen equipment, Offices, Supplying power, Internal wiring of appliances, Professional video cameras, Aircraft, Medical Equipments , Based on end-use, global multicore cables market is segmented into: Industrial, Telecom, Energy, Automotive, Construction, Commercial. Based on region, global multicore cables market is segmented into: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, The Middle East and Africa.Global Multicore Cables: Regional Outlook:The global multicore cables market is segmented into seven regions includes North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan, and Asia Pacific excluding Japan, and The Middle East and Africa. Among all regions, Asia Pacific region is contributing majorly to the growth of multicore cables market followed by Latin America. Moreover, Asia Pacific excluding Japan is the dominating market for multicore cables as the infrastructure is increasing in developing countries like China and India. Japan is also contributing the multicore cable market. North America has a significant market share in the global multicore market owing to its boom in the automotive market. The Middle East and Africa is at emerging stage in the multicore cable market and is expected to increase in CAGR in the anticipated period.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Global Multicore Cables Market Players:The prominent players of the global multicore cables are: Relemac Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Centurion Power Cables Pvt. Ltd., Bhuwal Cables Limited, KCL Cable Limited, Cabcon Technologies Pvt Ltd, Hitex Plus, Gem Cables, Doha Cables, Bambach wires and cables.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Wool Insulation Material Market Research Report Forecast 2017-2021

Wool Insulation Material Market

http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/global-wool-insulation-material-market-research-report-2017-119591

https://goo.gl/kQnPUZ

The report, titled Global Wool Insulation Material Market 2017 is a methodical research study based on the Wool Insulation Material market, analyzing the competitive framework of the industry in the world. Using efficient analytical tools such as SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis, the report provides a comprehensive assessment of the Wool Insulation Material market.The report estimates the market size in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$) produced, whereas, the key segments and the geographical subdivision of the Wool Insulation Material market are also analyzed in detail. The market drivers, limitations, and growth prospects of each segment are discussed in this report and, based on that, analysts have determined the future of the market for Wool Insulation Material in the global arena.Get full report with TOC @The report covers each aspect of the market for Wool Insulation Material in globally, starting from the basic information about the market and advancing to the various criteria on the basis of which the market is classified. The major applications of the Wool Insulation Material market are also discussed in the report.The report studies the Wool Insulation Material market by evaluating the market chain, prevalent policies, and regulations as well as the manufacturers, their manufacturing chain, cost structures, and contribution in the industry. The regional markets for the global Wool Insulation Material market are examined by analyzing the pricing of products in the region compared to the profit generated. The production capacity, demand and supply, logistics, and the historical performance of the market in the given region is also evaluated in this market report.Get Free sample report @The report is arranged to provide an overview of the Wool Insulation Material market by product, company and geography. Forecasts are broken down by geographic region or by country. The worldwide market is analyzed and data provided for each disease sub-segment.The report determines the leading players in the global market. The company profiles of the major participants operating in the global Wool Insulation Material market have been reviewed in this study.Market Research Store 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 UsJoel 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. 1-855-465-4651Email: sales@marketresearchstore.com
Europe Foodservice Disposables Distribution Systems Market Will Cross US$ 2,225.2 Mn by 2022

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/10807

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/europe-foodservice-disposables-distribution-systems-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Key players in Europe foodservice disposables distribution system market that are covered in the report include Dispo International, EFG Foodservice, First Pack, Go-Pak Group, ITP Imports Ltd. (Discount Wholesale), Mashers, MBS Wholesale Ltd, Party & Paper Solutions Ltd., Pattersons UK, and Sustainable Disposables Trading BV (SD Trading).According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research, titled Europe Market Study on Foodservice Disposables Distribution Systems: Impelled By Increasing Number of On the Go Consumers, Coupled With Rapid Growth of the Quick Service Restaurants, Over the Forecast Period 2016 - 2022, the europe foodservice disposables distribution systems market is estimated to be valued at US$ 1,590.9 Mn by the end of 2015 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.9% over 2016 - 2022 in terms of value, to reach a market value of US$ 2,225.2 Mn by 2022.The Europe (U.K. Spain, France & Switzerland) foodservice disposables distribution systems market is driven by increasing adoption of the on the go lifestyle and increasing initiatives taken by the various food disposables manufacturers to introduce food disposables with creative designs. Moreover, collaboration of various distributors with manufacturers that offer foodservice disposable products is another key factor expected to drive market growth of the food service disposables market in the region over the forecast period.On the basis of type, the Europe foodservice disposables distribution market has been segmented into tableware disposables, finger food disposables, and durable plastic glasses. The tableware disposables segment dominated the market with a revenue share of 85.8% in 2015 and is projected to maintain its dominance through 2022. Increasing number of cafes and takeaway formats is supporting the segment growth in the foodservice disposable distribution system market. The tableware disposable segment is further sub-segmented into plates, bowls & tubs, cutlery, trays and containers, and cups and mugs. The plate segment accounted for the significant share in 2014 and is estimated to be valued at US$ 732.2 Mn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 5.5% over 2016 - 2022.On the basis of end use, the market is segmented into hotel & other accommodation facilities, restaurants, cafe and bistros, bars & pubs, clubs, institutions, and foodservice providers/caterers. The restaurants segment is estimated to account for the highest value share by 2015 end and expected to remain the most dominant segment over the forecast period. The restaurants segment was valued at US$ 341.5 Mn in 2014 and is estimated to be valued at US$ 526.8 Mn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 5.6% over 2016 - 2022.A sample of this report is available upon request @In terms of distribution channel, the market has been segmented into wholesalers, hypermarket/supermarkets, cash & carry, logistic providers, distributors, and online. The cash & carry segment is projected to exhibit the highest growth over 20162022. The cash & carry segment was valued at US$ 326.3 Mn in 2014 and is estimated to be valued at US$ 494.9 Mn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 5.3% over 20162022.Request to view table of content @The report provides in-depth information about the various trends driving each segment and provides analysis and insights about the foodservice disposables distribution system market in specific countries.The U.K. market accounted for the significant volume share of 42.6% of the Europe foodservice disposables market in 2014.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:
Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) Market Outlook 2017- Varian (USA), Perkin-Elmer (USA), Trixell S.A.S. (France)

https://goo.gl/xsd1UN

http://marketreports.biz/report/global-flat-panel-detector-fpds-market-outlook-20172022-market/

http://marketreports.biz/

This report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) from 2011-2016, and provides extensive market forecasts (2016-2021) by region/country and subsectors. It covers the volumes, prices, historical growth and future perspectives in the Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Flat Panel Detector (FPDs), 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.Request for sample @Major players in the global Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) market :-Varian (USA),Perkin-Elmer (USA),Trixell S.A.S. (France),Vieworks (Korea),Canon (Japan),Toshiba (Japan),Konica Minolta (Japan),Hamamatsu (Japan),iRay Technology (China),Jiangsu CareRay Medical Systems (China) etc.This report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) from 2012-2017 and provides extensive market forecasts 2017-2022 by region/country and sub sectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Flat Panel Detector (FPDs), and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies.Global Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) Market Outlook 2017-2022, has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) 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.Access complete report with TOC @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 Flat Panel Detector (FPDs) industry has been provided.About UsMarketReports.biz offers elevating market research worldwide. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different fields. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank Valadez155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Toll Free: +1-855-918-5551 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +17739042683Web:Email: sales@marketreports.biz
Global Slimming Tea Market 2016 Industry, Analysis, Research, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast to 2021

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=685921&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-slimming-tea-industry-2016-market-research-report.htm

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The Global Slimming Tea Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Slimming Tea industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Slimming Tea market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Slimming Tea 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 of Slimming Tea1.1 Definition and Specifications of Slimming Tea1.1.1 Definition of Slimming Tea1.1.2 Specifications of Slimming Tea1.2 Classification of Slimming Tea1.3 Applications of Slimming Tea1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Slimming Tea1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Slimming Tea1.5.1 Industry Overview of Slimming Tea1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Slimming Tea1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Slimming Tea1.7 Industry News Analysis of Slimming TeaBrowse Complete Report with TOC @2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Slimming Tea2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Slimming Tea2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Slimming Tea2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Slimming Tea2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Slimming Tea2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Slimming Tea2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Slimming Tea3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Slimming Tea3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Slimming Tea Major Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Slimming Tea Major Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Slimming Tea Major Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Slimming Tea Major Manufacturers in 20154 Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Slimming Tea by Regions, Types and Manufacturers4.1 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Slimming Tea by Regions 2011-20164.2 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Slimming Tea 2011-20164.3 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Slimming Tea by Types 2011-20164.4 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Slimming Tea by Manufacturers 2011-20165 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Slimming Tea by Regions, Types and Manufacturers5.1 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Slimming Tea by Regions 2011-20165.2 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Slimming Tea by Types 2011-20165.3 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Slimming Tea by Manufacturers 2011-20166 Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis of Slimming Tea by Regions, Types and Applications6.1 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Slimming Tea by Regions 2011-20166.2 Global and Major Regions Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Growth Rate of Slimming Tea 2011-20166.3 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Slimming Tea by Types 2011-20166.4 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Slimming Tea by Applications 2011-20166.5 Sale Price of Slimming Tea by Regions 2011-20166.6 Sale Price of Slimming Tea by Types 2011-20166.7 Sale Price of Slimming Tea by Applications 2011-20166.8 Market Share Analysis of Slimming Tea by Different Sale Price Levels7 Supply, Import, Export and Consumption Analysis of Slimming Tea7.1 Supply, Consumption and Gap of Slimming Tea 2011-20167.2 Global Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Slimming Tea 2011-20167.3 USA Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Slimming Tea 2011-20167.4 EU Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Slimming Tea 2011-20167.5 China Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Slimming Tea 2011-20167.6 Japan Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Slimming Tea 2011-2016QYReseachReports.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
Offshore Wind Turbines - Market Evolving Industry Trends 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/offshore-wind-turbines-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=8785

With consistently increasing population across the World and rapid urbanization, the demand for energy is incrementing continuously. However, natural resources are limited. In this scenario, the need to develop alternate source of energy, especially those that are environment-friendly, is escalating. The kinetic energy possessed by offshore wind can be converted into electrical power using offshore wind turbines, which generally consists three propeller like blades that rotate around the rotor owing to wind energy. The electrical energy produced can be stored and used at appropriate destination. Investments are pouring in to develop this alternative source of energy and in turn, the demand in the global offshore wind turbines market is expected to expand at a healthy growth rate during the forecast period of 2016 to 2024.Browse Market Research Report @:This report on the global offshore wind turbines energy market has been prepared in order to represent the current scenario of the market and also provides estimation of the future, depending on an in-depth analysis of all the factors that may influence the demand in the near future. The report targets stakeholders of this market such as wind turbines component suppliers, wind farm developers and investors, raw material suppliers, and government agencies, and aspires to serve as a credible business document. Several leading vendors in this market have also been profiled in the report in order to highlight the nature of competitive landscape and recent developments.Based on foundation type, the global offshore wind turbines market has been segmented into tripod, mono pile, jacket, and floating. Application-wise, the market has been categorized into shallow water, deep water, and transient water. Capacity-wise, the market for offshore wind turbines has been bifurcated into up to 1MW, 1-3 MW, 3-5 MW, and 5 MW and above. Geographically, the report studies the opportunities available for stakeholders of this market in the regions of North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa.Global Offshore Wind Turbines Market: Trends and OpportunitiesApart from escalating demand for alternate and clean energy, technological advancements and mechanical innovations in wind turbines have significantly improved the efficiency as well as the production capacity, which is driving the demand in the offshore wind turbines market. In addition to that, several governments across the world are offering incentives for the adoptability and investments in this field. On the other hand, high cost associated with offshore wind turbines before the set-up initiate profitable production is challenging the market from achieving its true potential in several cost-effective countries.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @:Global Offshore Wind Turbines Market: Regional OutlookEurope and North America are two most lucrative regions for the participants in the global offshore wind turbines market. The U.S. dominates the North American demand as 53% of the nations population lives in coastal areas wherein land-based renewable energy is often costly and demands are high. In Europe, grid connected offshore wind turbines depend on fixed foundations, and there already are several mono pile foundations. Germany, Netherlands, and Denmark signed trilateral agreement in 2016 to develop North Sea Wind Power Hub on the Dogger Island. China dominates Asia Pacific demand while Taiwan is also emerging as a highly profitable country in the region, owing to government initiatives.Companies mentioned in the research reportSiemens Wind Power, Enercon GmbH, Gamesa Corporacion Technologica S.A., Guodian United Power Technology Company Ltd, Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Nordex S.E., Suzlon Group, GE Wind Energy, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technologies Co. Ltd., and Upwind Solutions Inc. are some of the leading companies functional in the global offshore wind turbines market.Global Offshore Wind Turbines Market: by Foundation TypeMono PileJacketTripodFloating & OthersGlobal Offshore Wind Turbines Market: by ApplicationShallow WaterTransient WaterDeep WaterGlobal Offshore Wind Turbines Market: by CapacityUpto 1 MW1-3 MW3-5 MW5 MW and AboveAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207
Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Market by Form (Sheets, Rods & Tubes), End-Use Industry (Aerospace, Defense, & Shipping, Healthcare & Medical, Mechanical Equipment), Region - Global Forecast to 2021

https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/shop/ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene-market-by-form-sheets-rods-tubes-end-use-industry-aerospace-defense-shipping-healthcare-medical-mechanical-equipment-region-global-forecast

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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.Market Research Report Store(MRRS) adds "Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Market by Form (Sheets, Rods & Tubes), End-Use Industry (Aerospace, Defense, & Shipping, Healthcare & Medical, Mechanical Equipment), Region - Global Forecast to 2021" new study, published in May 2017. It is a professional and in-depth study.E-mail for Report Sample @ fiona@marketresearchreportstore.comSummaryThe 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.Sheets segment to register the highest growth in the UHMW PE marketSheets 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.Get Full report@Healthcare & medical segment to register the highest growth in the UHMW PE marketUHMW 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 periodThe 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%E-mail for Report Sample @ fiona@marketresearchreportstore.comMajor 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.About Market Research Report StoreSince the establishment, Market Research Report Store has determined to take the online market research reports platform to the next level. With our passion and profession, we are designed to be the best among the bests.Market Research Report Store is one of the most fast-growing and professional online platforms for industry reports, market reports, and professional surveys. Our collection covers more than 100 global markets. We have cooperated with leading publishers and consultant companies to offer the best market intelligence products to our clients with instant access to our database.Contact :FionaSales DirectorTel: +00-1-626-3463946 - U.SE-mail: fiona@marketresearchreportstore.comWeb:Our Corporate Headquarters Address:MARKET RESEARCH REPORT STORE, INC.17890 Castleton StreetSuite 218 City of IndustryCA 91748 US.
Life Insurance In Spain, Key Trends And Opportunities To 2020

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Timetrics 'Life Insurance in Spain, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Spanish life insurance segment, and a comparison of the Spanish insurance industry with its regional counterparts.It provides key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20112015) and forecast period (20152020).The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Spanish economy and demographics, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :SummaryTimetrics 'Life Insurance in Spain, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Spanish life insurance segment, including:An overview of the Spanish life insurance segmentThe Spanish life insurance segments growth prospects by categoryA comprehensive overview of the Spanish economy and demographicsA comparison of the Spanish life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsThe various distribution channels in the Spanish life insurance segmentDetails of the competitive landscape in the life insurance segment in SpainDetails of regulatory policy applicable to the Spanish insurance industryScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the life insurance segment in Spain:It provides historical values for the Spanish life insurance segment for the reports 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period.It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Spanish life insurance segment, and market forecasts to 2020.It provides a comparison of the Spanish life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsIt analyzes the various distribution channels for life insurance products in Spain.It profiles the top life insurance companies in Spain and outlines the key regulations affecting them.Reasons To BuyMake strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Spanish life insurance segment, and each category within it.Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Spanish life insurance segment.Assess the competitive dynamics in the life insurance segment.Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.Gain insights into key regulations governing the Spanish insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.Key HighlightsThe Spanish public pension system consists of two different programs: non-contributory (Beveridgean), and contributory (Bismarckian).The life segment is better developed than the non-life and personal accident and health segments, and posted a penetration rate of 2.4% in 2015.The life segment recorded a review-period growth in investment income, primarily due to a strong investment portfolio and a mix of equities and bonds.The countrys weak economic conditions affected the sale of life products particularly endowment, individual life and group superannuation causing a decline in the written premium.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
TrendSights Analysis: Informed Shopping - Meeting The Needs Of Informed And Critical Consumers

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"TrendSights Analysis: Informed Shopping - Meeting the needs of informed and critical consumers" examines the ways that information and informed shopping influences shopping habits and product choice. It look at what informed shopping means as a consumer trend, why it is important, who the relevant consumers are, how FMCG brands can best capitalize on the trend, and the future outlook of the trend.The availability of information through novel technologies has raised consumer awareness about the social impact of shopping decisions. In a circular process, consumer awareness drives the creation of new platforms and increasingly granular sources of information. Consumers now have instant access to comparisons of price, product quality, and brand ethics. This changes how consumers shop and how they perceive brands and products.Scope- Information coming from online reviews, social media, and other online sources combined with the accessibility of information on mobile devices is reshaping consumer shopping habits.- 79% of consumers check prices online before making a purchase.- 56% of consumers use price comparison websites to compare different prices at supermarkets.- 55% of consumers are more likely to trust blogger/user reviews over brand claims.- 45% of consumers are willing to boycott a brand whose values do not reflect their own.Download Sample Copy Of This Report :Reasons to buy- Understand which audiences are most affected by the Informed Shopping trend.- Compare the presence of this trend in each industry across the FMCG space, and learn what the key opportunities are.- See the steps that major brands are taking to meet the needs of informed shoppers.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Philippines Solar PV Power - Market Analysis And Forecast Till 2030

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The Future of the Philippines Solar PV Market Economy, Power Outlook, Capacity, Consumption, Levelized Cost of Energy, Investment Opportunities, Regulations and Company Profiles and Forecasts to 2030 published by Techsila.SynopsisThe report provides detailed analysis on the Philippines bv Solar PV sector. The report examines the overall economy of the country, estimates the power consumption, and analyzes the different power technologies and also forecasts their growth for next fifteen years.This report offers detailed analysis of Philippines Solar PV market with capacity forecasts covering the next fifteen years. This report will also analyze factors that influence demand for the industry, key market trends, and challenges faced by industry participants. In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following Philippines Solar PV market size and drivers: detailed analysis of the Philippines Solar PV market during 2014-2030, including highlights of the demand drivers and growth stimulators for the market. It also provides a snapshot of the countrys economy and power outlook.The report highlights installed capacity trends from 2001 to 2030 in Philippines solar PV market. The research provides data related to investments and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for solar PV in Philippines during 20132030.Request To Get Sample Copy Of This Report :The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants. The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by team of industry experts.The report analyzes the power market scenario in Philippines (includes thermal, hydro and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030.The research provide details economy and renewable power market outlook in the country (includes wind, small hydro, biopower and solar PV) and provides forecasts up to 2030.Reasons To BuyUnderstand the industry dynamics, growth trends and key challenges to assist in decision makingIdentify business opportunity across the value-chain with information on product prices, and opportunity analysisBenchmark various industry participants present and identify performers, laggards and emerging playersUse the data and analysis to develop business plan, formulate strategies, analyze companies and benchmark countries for investmentLeverage the data and insights to save time on your research project while doing so economically. This will help you in spending time in adding additional valuesMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
North America Biopsy Devices Market Key players - C. R. Bard Inc, Becton Dickinson and Co, Cook

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"The Report North America Biopsy Devices Market Outlook to 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"GlobalDatas new report, "North America Biopsy Devices Market Outlook to 2023", provides key market data on the North America Biopsy Devices market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, volume (in units) and and average prices (USD) within market segments - Biopsy Guns & Needles, Biopsy Core Needles & Devices, Biopsy Fine Aspiration Needles & Devices, Biopsy Disposable Vacuum-Assisted Needle Devices, Biopsy Forceps and Biopsy Punches.The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for each of these market segments, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants. Based on the availability of data for the particular market and country, information related to pipeline products, news and deals is available in the report.Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.View Report @Scope- Market size and company share data for Biopsy Devices market segments - Biopsy Guns & Needles, Biopsy Core Needles & Devices, Biopsy Fine Aspiration Needles & Devices, Biopsy Disposable Vacuum-Assisted Needle Devices, Biopsy Forceps and Biopsy Punches.- Annualized market revenues (USD million) and volume (units) data for each of the market segments. Data is provided from 2009 to 2016 and forecast to 2023.- 2016 company shares and distribution shares data for each of the market segments.- Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the North America Biopsy Devices market.- Key players covered include C. R. Bard Inc, Becton Dickinson and Co, Cook Group Inc and Others.Get Sample Copy Of this Report @Reasons to buy- Develop business strategies by identifying the key market segments poised for strong growth in the future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.- Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the market.- Develop investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Power Rental Services Market Posed To Reach At CAGR of 3.32% Over 2017-2021 Increase in use of gas generators for rental power

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Power rental services are the additional services which a vendor provides to the client, apart from making a generator and other accessories available for rent. These services enhance the customer satisfaction and reduce the downtime and operational costs incurred due to poor maintenance/planning. The market encompasses services, such as pre-inspection, remote monitoring, fuel management, equipment testing, and contingency planning. Power rental equipment provides essential support to businesses and consumers during power outages. Diesel and gas generators are common forms of this equipment. In addition, power rental generators are being used as base load or as a standby application, depending on the industry needs.Technavios analysts forecast the global power rental services market to grow at a CAGR of 3.32% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global power rental services 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.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Power Rental 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 vendorsAggrekoAPR EnergyAtlas CopcoUnited RentalsOther prominent vendorsBPC Power RentalsCumminsDoosan Portable PowerEnergystGenerac Power SystemsHerc RentalsHIMOINSAJ C Bamford ExcavatorsKohlerMultiquipPR POWERSunbelt RentalsWacker NeusonMarket driverIncreasing power purchase agreements (PPAs).For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeRise in distributed energy and microgrids to improve grid flexibility.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncrease in use of gas generators for rental power.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?You can request one free hour of our analysts time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
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North America Gynecological Devices Market Outlook to 2023 : MarketResearchReports.biz

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http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1068094

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"The Report North America Gynecological Devices Market Outlook to 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"GlobalDatas new report, "North America Gynecological Devices Market Outlook to 2023", provides key market data on the North America Gynecological Devices market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, volume (in units) and and average prices (USD) within market segments - Female Sterilization Devices, Endometrial Ablation Devices, Uterine Fibroid Ablation Devices and Uterine Fibroid Embolization Agents.The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for each of these market segments, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants. Based on the availability of data for the particular market and country, information related to pipeline products, news and deals is available in the report.Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.View Report @Scope- Market size and company share data for Gynecological Devices market segments - Female Sterilization Devices, Endometrial Ablation Devices, Uterine Fibroid Ablation Devices and Uterine Fibroid Embolization Agents.- Annualized market revenues (USD million) and volume (units) data for each of the market segments. Data is provided from 2009 to 2016 and forecast to 2023.- 2016 company shares and distribution shares data for each of the market segments.- Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the North America Gynecological Devices market.- Key players covered include Hologic Inc, CooperSurgical Inc, Ethicon Inc and Others.Get Sample Copy Of this Report @Reasons to buy- Develop business strategies by identifying the key market segments poised for strong growth in the future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.- Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the market.- Develop investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Puerto Rico: Gigabit Island Plan and LTE/LTE-A Expansion to Support Fixed Internet and Mobile Data Growth

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"The Report Puerto Rico: Gigabit Island Plan and LTE/LTE-A Expansion to Support Fixed Internet and Mobile Data Growth provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Summary"Puerto Rico: Gigabit Island Plan and LTE/LTE-A Expansion to Support Fixed Internet and Mobile Data Growth" a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Puerto Rico today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile and pay-TV sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.In 2016, Puerto Rico generated total telecom and pay-TV services revenue of $2.0bn (equivalent to 3.0% of nominal GDP), an increase of 0.2% since 2015, primarily due to growth in mobile data and fixed Internet. Puerto Rico is the ninth-largest market in the Latin American region, and the second largest within Central America and Caribbean, just behind Guatemala.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Puerto Rico compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in Puerto Rico.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed/pay-TV and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Puerto Rico's telecommunications and pay-TV markets.View Report @Scope- GlobalData expects overall service revenue to grow at a CAGR of 0.9% during 2016-2021. Growth will be driven by the data segment, in particular mobile data revenue, as a result of increasing adoption of LTE/LTE-A services and availability of data-centric packages. The fixed/mobile revenue split will be dominated by the mobile segment through 2016-2021, driven by rising mobile broadband adoption.- Competition in the Puerto Rican telecom market has intensified in recent years in the wake of several mergers and acquisitions. Going forward, competition is set to intensify further with the recently announced merger of Sprints operations in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands with Open Mobile in February 2017. The merged entity is expected to be a strong contender in the mobile market with enhanced network capacity and spectrum assets.- The broadband penetration in Puerto Rico is one of the highest in the region, just behind Uruguay and Argentina, owing to the islands high degree of urbanization as well as strong concentration of its population. The rise in investment by operators and the government to develop fixed infrastructure under the Gigabit Island Plan will support broadband growth in Puerto Rico.Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Puerto Rico's telecommunications and pay-TV markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Puerto Rico's mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP, broadband and pay-TV markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Puerto Rico's telecommunications and pay-TV markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Puerto Rico.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
International Wholesale Carriers - New Business Models & Growth Drivers In The Digital Transformation Era

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Latest research report on "International Wholesale Carriers - New Business Models & Growth Drivers In The Digital Transformation Era""International Wholesale Carriers - New Business Models & Growth Drivers in the Digital Transformation Era", a thematic research report by GlobalData, examines the changing dynamics, the new growth drivers and business models of the global international wholesale industry. It lays out, for international carriers, the critical considerations and strategic options for taking the journey to the wholesaler of the future, from the business model drivers to the necessary portolio evolution requirements.Data and insights are derived through a mix of secondary research, qualitative primary research and GlobalDatas industry databases and expert analysis.The report is structured as follows -- Market Context: Winds of Change in the Global Telecoms Industry. This section provides an analysis of the current and future dynamics shaping the telecom industry, from data traffic explosion to IoT, cloud and virtualized networks.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :- The Evolving Global Wholesale Market. Here we examine the impact of the changing telecom industry dynamics on the global wholesale market, in terms of revenues, margins, traffic and growth drivers. We also look at the evolving nature of demand for wholesale services.- Positioning for a Wholesale Future: An Assessment of Strategic Options. This section defines the different wholesale carrier strategic groups - based on their portfolio breadth, network depth and business purpose - then assesses and lays down the different strategic options - in terms of business models and strategic actions- available to each group to position itself successfully for a wholesale future.- The Changing Nature of Wholesale Service Portfolios. Along with the strategic positioning options detailed in section 3, here, we give an overview of how wholesale portfolios should evolve and expand to meet the new demand dynamics coming from traditional and new customers.- Case studies: Telco approaches to digital transformation. We continue with a review of the strategies, positioning and product portfolio of a number of carriers that have started their journey to the wholesaler of the future, along with others that urgently need to.- Key findings and recommendations. We conclude the report with a set of key findings and recommendations on the international wholesale industrys evolving dynamics, new growth drivers and business models, and we also provide strategic recommendations for international carriers to position themselves for growth.Scope- The global telecoms industry is in a state of transition, retail telco providers are seeing their models disrupted by a series of systemic threats and new digital opportunities. These winds of change are impacting global wholesale providers, as traffic fundamentals and traditional economics get upended and as the nature of the wholesale demand changes. Global wholesalers need to evolve towards new business models and service portfolio in order to unlock the new wholesale growth drivers in the digital transformation era.- Traditional wholesale voice traffic margins have been in persistent decline over the past three years, this has put substantial pressure on carriers to accelerate their rollout of new services. The explosion of data traffic, by contrast, is breathing new life into the wholesale business. Network services and managed services segments have become strategically vital to the outlook of many players.- Wholesale providers face sustained demand from traditional customers whose requirements are rising in complexity (e.g. pay-as-you go billing, dynamic bandwidth allocation). There is also the emergence of new demand channels from retail providers of various stripes (Cloud providers, MVNOs, OTTs, MNCs).- As they seek to transform, the strategic options available to wholesale providers are a function of each individual players strategic position in the wholesale market, the depth of their product portfolio, the reach and depth of their network - and most critically, their overall business purpose.- Depending on the wholesale carrier group, the strategic options may include actions such as portfolio expansion, M&As, reducing exposure to voice, targeted investments, units combination, new pricing structures. These are thoroughly detailed in the report.Reasons to buy- The report examines the changing dynamics, the new growth drivers and business models of the global international wholesale industry.- The report provides valuable insights and recommendations for international carriers on the critical considerations and strategic options for taking the journey to the wholesaler of the future and position for growth.- The reports case studies provide real examples of market approaches, postitionning, product portfolios and strategies being employed by a number of carriers that have started their journey to the wholesaler of the future, along with others that urgently need to.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
The Current and Future Market Trends in South Africa Smokeless Tobacco Market, 2017

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"The Report Smokeless Tobacco in South Africa, 2017 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz""Smokeless Tobacco in South Africa, 2017", is an analytical report by GlobalData that provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the South African market. The report offers market size and structure of the overall and per capita consumption based upon a unique combination of industry research, fieldwork, market sizing analysis, and our in-house expertise.The South African smokeless tobacco market is relatively well developed compared with both neighboring African markets and many European countries. The popularity of dry snuff is growing, and use has more than trebled over the past two decades. Although the tobacco market remains dominated by manufactured cigarettes, sales of these have been in decline since the early 1990s due to a combination of rising prices and increasing health awareness.View Report @Scope- Snuff dominates the smokeless tobacco market in South Africa.- There is a marginal market for chewing tobacco and a relatively new product for the market, namely Swedish snus.- The use of smokeless tobacco products has increased rapidly since the early 1990s.- Snus is typically preferred by white users with black adults accounting for the majority of snuff users.- Smokeless tobacco volumes are forecast to rise by 2025. Snuff will continue to dominate sales.Get Sample Copy Of this Report @Reasons to buy- Get a detailed understanding of consumption to align your sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market.- Identify the areas of growth and opportunities, which will aid effective marketing planning.- The differing growth rates in regional product sales drive fundamental shifts in the market.- This report provides detailed, authoritative data on these changes - prime intelligence for marketers.- Understand the market dynamics and essential data to benchmark your position and to identify where to compete in the future.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Utilise Analysis of UK Retail Parks Market Analysis, Forecast, Trends And Growth 2017

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"The Report UK Retail Parks 2017 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz""UK Retail Parks 2017", report offers comprehensive insight and analysis of the UK channel, the major players, the main trends, and consumer attitudes. The retail parks market will outgrow total offline growth over the five years to 2022, rising 13.8%. The increase in space, including new retail park openings and the extension of current parks, will drive growth, as will the changing tenant mix, which will attract new retail park shoppers.The tenant mix in retail parks is shifting, with a growing focus on fashion and food, moving away from traditional bulky home-related products, broadening the appeal of retail parks.Slowed growth in real wages and house prices will mean fewer consumers will move house, impacting footfall to homewares and big ticket retailers.It provides in-depth analysis of the following -- The key issues- Strategies for success- What people buy- Where people shop- Who people shop with- Why people shopGet Sample Copy Of This Report @Scope- Product availability and a broad range of options will drive sales growth. 60.8% of consumers would visit retail parks more frequently if there was a wider choice of product, so one-store or one-sector mission shoppers must be encouraged to browse across stores leisurely.- 74% of consumers that collected an online order from a retailer at a retail park made an additional purchase when instore. These shoppers must be encouraged to stay instore and browse via exciting and engaging store experiences, while tactically locating collection points will provide opportunities for upselling and allow the retailer to control the customer journey.View Report @Reasons to buy- Utilise our five year forecasts to 2022 for the retail parks market and sector penetration to understand the main areas of growth in the sector.- Identify the key players in the retail parks market using our in-depth analysis of how and why certain sectors are performing in the market to gain strategic insight into this retail format.- Recognise which consumers are shopping at retail parks, those which are shopping there most frequently as well as the shopper profile of consumers visiting individual sectors in retail parks.- Utilise analysis of shoppers motivations and browsing/purchasing behaviour to enable a better understanding of the market moving forward.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Botswana: Competition To Stiffen In The Mobile Market As Operators Focus On Affordable Data Bundles And VAS To Drive Revenue

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Botswana: Competition to Stiffen in the Mobile Market as Operators Focus on Affordable Data Bundles and VAS to Drive RevenueSummary"Botswana: Competition to Stiffen in the Mobile Market as Operators Focus on Affordable Data Bundles and VAS to Drive Revenue", a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Botswana today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband and mobile sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.The telecom services revenue in Botswana will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 0.02% (3.3% in local currency terms) during 2016-2021, due to currency depreciation and the impact of mobile and fixed voice revenue decline. Planned expansion of 3G/4G services and the subsequent rise in consumption of high-bandwidth content over mobile devices will drive mobile data revenue in the coming years. Along with mobile data, fixed Internet services will be a key growth driver for the market, expanding at a CAGR of 7.5% over 2016-2021.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :Over the next five years, operators should continue to focus on network investments and upgrades and tap into opportunities arising from growth in the mobile data segment. Expansion of 3G/4G networks and supporting the governments national broadband strategy will also present significant opportunities for both vendors and investors.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Botswana compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in Botswana.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Botswanas telecommunications market.Scope- The overall telecom services revenue in Botswana will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 0.02% (3.3% in local currency terms) during 2016-2021. The fixed/mobile revenue split will be dominated by the mobile segment through the 2016-2021 period and will account for 84.9% of overall service revenue by 2021.- Mobile data revenue will continue to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2016-2021, driven by the rise in 3G/4G and smartphone adoption and the increase in mobile data usage.- 2G continues to be the most used technology, accounting for 55.4% of total mobile subscriptions in 2016 but is losing share to 3G and 4G technologies, which will altogether represent 68.7% of the subscriptions by 2021. Being in its early stages of adoption, 4G is expected to record the fastest CAGR , at 71.5%, over the 2016-2021 period, to reach 433,000 subscriptions by 2021.- Mascom and BTC (the merged brand for BTCL and beMobile) accounted for 71.7% of total service revenue in 2016. Mascom will continue to maintain its leadership position in the telecom market through 2021. Both operators will seek to improve coverage and quality of their wireless networks in order to strengthen their position in the marketplace.Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Botswanas telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Botswanas mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Botswanas telecommunications market.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Botswana.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
The Cards And Payments Industry In Taiwan - Emerging Trends And Opportunities To 2021

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Recent research report on "The Cards and Payments Industry in Taiwan - Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2021SummaryGlobalDatas "The Cards and Payments Industry in Taiwan - Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2021", report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Taiwanese cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including credit transfers, direct debits, payment cards, checks and cash transactions during the review period (2012-2016).The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry, and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (2017-2021). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including the market shares of issuers and schemes.The report brings together GlobalDatas research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers details of regulatory policy and recent changes in the regulatory structure.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :The report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Taiwanese cards and payments industry, including -- Current and forecast values for each market in the Taiwanese cards and payments industry, including debit and credit cards.- Detailed insights into payment instruments including credit transfers, direct debits, cash transactions, checks and payment cards. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.- E-commerce market analysis.- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Taiwanese cards and payments industry.- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit and credit cards.- Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.- The competitive landscape in the Taiwanese cards and payments industry.Key Highlights- As part of government initiatives to promote electronic payments, the National Credit Card Center (NCCC) worked with Metropolitan Taxi Corp. to launch an app for hailing a taxi and making in-app payments in October 2015. Within three months of the launch, 2,000 taxis were providing an in-app payment service in Taiwan.- The Taiwan Financial Services Commission (TFSC) established a fintech office and a dedicated fintech development fund of US$31 million (TWD1 billion) in 2015. It legalized third-party payment platforms by amending the Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions, allowing third-party payment companies to open virtual accounts to store funds and allow transfers between e-payment accounts. These initiatives are expected to support growth in electronic payments in Taiwan.- Rising smartphone use for payments and banks increased focus on cashless payments have led to a proliferation of mobile payments based on near-field communications (NFC). In 2014, the Taiwan Mobile Payment Company (TwMP) launched the T Wallet, based on host card emulation (HCE) technology, in partnership with 27 banks and financial institutions in Taiwan. The wallet allows users to store credit card details in the app to enable NFC or contactless in-store payments using smartphones. Global NFC mobile payment system Apple Pay plans to launch its services in Taiwan over the course of 2017.Scope- This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Taiwanese cards and payments industry.- It provides current values for the Taiwanese cards and payments industry for 2016, and forecast figures to 2021.- It details the different demographic, economic, infrastructural and business drivers affecting the Taiwanese cards and payments industry.- It outlines the current regulatory framework in the industry.- It details marketing strategies used by various banks and other institutions.Reasons to buy- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Taiwanese cards and payments industry and each market within it.- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Taiwanese cards and payments industry.- Assess the competitive dynamics in the Taiwanese cards and payments industry.- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Taiwan.- Gain insights into key regulations governing the Taiwanese cards and payments industry.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Natural Flavours Market Dynamics, Segments and Supply Demand 2015-2025

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http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-598

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The market for natural flavours has grown tremendously over the past couple of years due to increase awareness of health coupled with emerging middle class across the globe. Flavours are used in food and beverages in order to enhance the taste and quality of the products. Thousands of natural volatile compounds make up the flavours and aromas of the food products that we eat in our day to day life. The definition of natural flavour under the Code of Federal Regulations is: the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavouring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavouring rather than nutritional. The market is buoyant for the coming years especially in Europe for the natural and clean label flavours.Natural Flavours Market: Drivers and RestraintsGrowing consumer interest in natural ingredients coupled with the strong command of retailers in the supply chain has made natural flavours easily and widely available in the market for consumers and are the major driving forces of the market globally. However, rising cost of raw materials and the issues of sustainability and stability of natural flavours over synthetic flavours are major restraining factor of the natural flavour market. Trends of the natural flavour market includes demands for clean-label products categories such as confectionery and soft drinks and growth in R&D for stability of natural flavour.Request Report Sample@Natural Flavours Market: SegmentationNatural flavour market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. On the basis of product type the market can be segmented into natural extract, aroma chemical, essential oils and other natural flavour. Furthermore, on the basis of application natural flavour market can be segmented into beverages, dairy product, confectionary, oral products, tobacco and others. Beverages was the largest segment in natural flavour market followed by dairy products in 2014. Lastly, on the basis of region the market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa.Natural Flavours Market: Region-Wise OutlookIn 2014, North America holds the largest market of natural flavours followed by Europe. However, Asia Pacific and Latin America are key emerging region in natural flavours market and are expected to marginally take a lead in the global natural flavours market by 2025 over developed regions.Request For TOC@Natural Flavours Market: Key PlayersSome of the global key players in the natural flavour market are Givaudan, Firmenich, Takasago International Corporation, Symrise AG, Sensient Technologies Corporation, Kerry Group PLC, Frutarom Industries Ltd. to name a few. Givaudan, a Switzerland based company holds the maxium market share in the global natural flavour market. Big multinational companies in the natural flavour market focus on the acquisition activity in order to expand within the growth areas of natural flavour market. Major Companies such as Givaudan currently marking its footprint by increasing number of production sites, creative centres, an increased marketing and sales force and also opening new offices in Africa and Asia to cater the local demandABOUT 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:
Global Car Rental Market 2017 - 2021: Avis Budget, Carzonrent, Enterprise Holding, Europcar, Hertz

Global Car Rental Market

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http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-car-rental-market-2016-production-sales-supply.html

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The Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 is the cornerstone of the global development aspects and prospects, as the development of specific concept requires various technologically supported ideas, theories, methodologies. The Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 report explains the in-depth summary of current innovations, parameter, specifications, and creation. The Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 also delivers a full abstract of the economic ups and downs in terms of demand rate and fulfillment ratios.Request For Download Sample Report:The car rental Market comprise of a large number of reputed organizations, firms, vendors, manufacturer and we deliver an in-detail summary of the overall key players who hold major count in terms of revenue, sales, demand, through their reliable services, products, and post-sale processes. The Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 report provides a thorough analysis of the prominent driving factors that are identified based on the end user demands, variable market 2017 - 2022 changes, restraining elements and regulatory compliance.The Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 research report also provides in-detail forecast predictions based on the current business trends and analytical techniques. car rental Segments are broadly segmented based on the constant updates in the development parameters, quality parameters, reliability parameters, end user demands, and applications.Browse Full Report With Toc:The slight change in the product profile leads to major modification in the product prototype, production methods and development platforms, these overall factors that are related to production are very well explained in the global Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 research report.The performance and characteristic of the Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 are evaluated based on the quantitative and qualitative method to provide a clear picture of the current and future forecast trend. Global car rental Market 2017 - 2021 report is well-crafted with graphs, diagrams, and realistic figures which indicate the status of the specific car rental Market on the global and regional platform.Request For Inquiry for Buying:MRS Research Group [http://www.mrsresearchgroup.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. MRS Research Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,
FMI Releases New Report on the Flavored Milk Market 2015-2025

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Overview:Flavored milk is a dairy drink produced with milk, sugar, colorings, and additional flavor and sweetener. It offers some vital nutrients such as calcium, potassium, protein, phosphorus, vitamins A, D and B12, niacin and riboflavin. The flavored milk is generally available in different flavors such as strawberry, chocolate and vanilla flavors in fat free and low fat ranges.The Global Flavored Milk industry is at nascent stage as the consumption is still low as compared to other drinks such as carbonated soft drinks. Upbeat consumer perceptions about the various health benefits of milk are creating prospects for flavored drinks consumption across the World. This will escalate the overall flavored milk market globally.Global Flavored Milk Market Segmentation:Global Flavored Milk industry can be divided on the basis of types of ingredients such as calcium propionate, hydrocolloids, natural colors, natural flavors, food and beverage enzymes, food and beverage emulsifiers, food and beverage texturants, food phosphates, high intensity sweeteners, food and beverage preservatives, flavourant, food and beverage stabilizers and systems, food and beverage colorants, food and beverage sugar and its substitutes, and fruit concentrates. The industry can also be segmented on the basis of products such as high pressure processing and sodium reducing agents. Global Flavored Milk Market can also be segregated by types of packaging such as paper-based (cartons), plastic, glass, metal, and others.Request Report Sample@Global Flavored Milk Region-wise Outlook:Geographically, the Global Flavored Milk industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Presently, China captured the highest market share in the overall revenue of Global Flavored Milk market, followed by the U.S. and India holding second and third position respectively. In Asia, rising demand for flavored milk over the past few years were highly propelled by China, Indonesia, and India. In the next few years, the demand for flavored milk is anticipated to incline globally especially in Latin America and some regions of Asia.Global Flavored Milk Market Growth Drivers:Rising health consciousness and aspiration for nutritious and healthy food, changing lifestyle along with the change in consumers taste and preferences especially in developing countries are strengthening the growth of Global Flavored Milk industry. Besides this, consumers unscheduled eating habits due to busy working schedule are also fostering the demand for flavored milk in different parts of the world.Request For TOC@Global Flavored Milk Market: Major Players:Some of the key players identified across the value chain in the Global Flavored Milk market includes Danone (France) and Kraft Foods Group (U.S.A.). These two companies have captured the major chunk in the Global Flavored Milk Industry. Besides this, there are other major players dominating in this industry such as Yili Industrial Group Company Limited (China), China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited, (Amul) Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (India), Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Limited (India).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:
Hydraulic Fracturing Market - Evolving Industry Trends 2017 - 2025

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https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1301

https://www.tmrresearch.com/hydraulic-fracturing-market

Global Hydraulic Fracturing Market: OverviewMillions of gallons of water, chemicals, and sand are pushed underground to take apart rocks and release gases, in a process known as hydraulic fracturing. While the hydraulic process is often confused with the process of drilling, hydraulic fracturing is actually used after a hole has been drilled. The process is widely used all over the globe, particularly in the Middle East.Major oil and gas producers have been feeling the pinch of declining conventional reserves. However, with the assistance of hydraulic fracturing techniques, hydrocarbon extraction from unconventional reserves has become tad easier.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Hydraulic Fracturing Market: Key TrendsThe world is going through a crisis in terms of depleting conventional reserves and hydraulic fracturing is a silver lining for those who are directly or indirectly dependent on these reserves. The demand for hydraulic fracturing is high as a shift in preference can be witnessed for unconventional reserves including shale, tight gas, tight oil, and coal bed methane, which is in turn fuelling the market. Also, rapid infrastructure development and industrialization are supplementing the demand for hydraulic fracturing.Although hydraulic fracturing is being given a lot of importance in various countries, the market has had to face the music on account of several adverse effects such as noise and visual impact, seismic events, and land surface disturbances. In addition, expensive operational costs involved in development of shale gas is presenting a tough challenge to hydraulic fracturing companies.Request TOC of the Report @Global Hydraulic Fracturing Market: Market PotentialThe demand for energy is never going to subside. There is an urgent need for innovative ideas and new technologies that will reduce development and management costs and increase efficiency and effectiveness. The economic advantage achieved will further help drilling, exploration, expansion, and fracturing activities in new territories.Saudi Arabian Oil Company, also called Saudi Aramco, has been relentlessly working on the stimulation and fracturing of wells and has been expanding and improving continuously in the areas of fracture design, use of novel materials, and field implementation. It recently introduced the use of local sand as proppants combined with the channel fracturing technique.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Seawater-based fracturing fluids is another commendable technology being developed and adopted in Saudi Arabia, which will help save valuable fresh water. The few field applications and laboratory experiments have shown constancy at high pressures and temperatures, compatibility with fracturing additives and formation fluids, and resilience against scale formation. This technology will go a long way in serving the environment tremendously through the use of seawater and will help make fresh water available and affordable in remote areas.Global Hydraulic Fracturing Market: Regional OutlookThe U.S. market for hydraulic fracturing is prospering due to growing exploration and production of unconventional resources such as tight oil and shale gas, coupled with available resources such as advanced technology and skilled manpower.Due to surplus availability of unconventional resources, Chinas hydraulic fracturing market is expected to grow during the forecast period. Whereas in Europe, increasing investigation related to the development of available hydrocarbon reserves is likely to favor the business growth.Escalating investments in oil and gas projects are giving impetus to the market in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco is planning to invest US$334 billion to support infrastructure project, service facilities, and in the exploration and production phase of unconventional resources.Global Hydraulic Fracturing Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global hydraulic fracturing market is highly consolidated despite the presence of a large number of players operating across the value chain. Some of the prominent participants in this industry are FTS International, Cudd Energy Services, Patterson UTI Tacrom Services, Trican Well Services, Baker Hughes Incorporated, Trican Well Services Ltd, Weatherford International, Haliburton, Calfrac Well Services, Schlumberger Limited., ConocoPhilips, Franklin, United Oilfield Services, and Superior Energy Services.In 2016, Oklahomas Seventy Seven Energy entered into a merger agreement with Patterson UTI to expand its fracturing business with 201 high specific rigs.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 Slip Ring Industry 2017 - Trends and Opportunities

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ReportsWeb.com added Global Slip Ring Market Research Report 2017 to its vast collection of research Database. The report is spread across 126 pages and supported by 30 company leaders.The Global Slip Ring Market Research Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Slip Ring Market. This report studies Slip Ring in Global market, especially North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covering top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering Moog, Schleifring, Cobham, STEMMANN, MERSEN, GAT, Morgan, Cavotec SA, LTN, Pandect Precision, Mercotac, DSTI, BGB, Molex, UEA, Michigan, Rotac, Electro-Miniatures, Conductix-Wampfler, NSD Corporation, Alpha Slip Rings, Globetech Inc, Moflon, JINPAT Electronics, Foxtac Electric, SenRing Electronics, SenRing Electronics, Jarch and TrueSci Fine Works.Request a Sample copy of this research @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Slip Ring in these regions, from 2017 to 2022 (forecast), like North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. Firstly, Slip Ring Market Split by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into Small Capsules, Mid-Sized Capsules, Enclosed Power Thru-Bore and Enclosed Signal Thru-Bore. Split by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Slip Ring in each application, can be divided into Defense & Aerospace, Industrial & Commercial, Radar, Test Equipment and Other.View more details about this report @Few points from Table of Contents1 Slip Ring Market Overview2 Global Slip Ring Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Slip Ring Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Slip Ring Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Slip Ring Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 United States Slip Ring Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 EU Slip Ring Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Slip Ring Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Slip Ring Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 South Korea Slip Ring Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Slip Ring Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Slip Ring Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Slip Ring Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Slip Ring Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Slip Ring Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Slip Ring Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Slip Ring Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Slip Ring Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Slip Ring Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Slip Ring Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Moog7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Slip Ring Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Small Capsules7.1.2.2 Mid-Sized Capsules7.1.3 Moog Slip Ring Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Schleifring7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Slip Ring Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Small Capsules7.2.2.2 Mid-Sized Capsules7.2.3 Schleifring Slip Ring Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Cobham7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Slip Ring Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Small Capsules7.3.2.2 Mid-Sized Capsules7.3.3 Cobham Slip Ring Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Slip Ring Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Slip Ring Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionBuy a copy of complete 126 pages report @ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. 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Flight Tracking Control System Market 2017 Global Trend and 2021 Industry Analysis Report

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OrbisResearch.com offers research report on " Global Flight Tracking Control System Market Research Report and Forecast to 2017-2021".The report provides information on Products, Services, Trends, Top Companies, Verticals, Countries, Material, Application, and Geography globally. This report will help the viewer in Better Decision Making.Flight Tracking Control System Report by Material, Application, and Geography  Global Forecast to 2021 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).The report firstly introduced the Flight Tracking Control System basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Request a sample of Global Flight Tracking Control System Market Research Report @The report includes six parts, dealing with: Basic information The Asia Flight Tracking Control System Market The North American Flight Tracking Control System Market The European Flight Tracking Control System Market Market entry and investment feasibility The report conclusionBrowse the full Global Flight Tracking Control System Industry Research Report @Some of the points from table of content:Part I Flight Tracking Control System Industry OverviewChapter One Flight Tracking Control System Industry Overview1.1 Flight Tracking Control System Definition1.2 Flight Tracking Control System Classification Analysis1.2.1 Flight Tracking Control System Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Flight Tracking Control System Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Flight Tracking Control System Application Analysis1.3.1 Flight Tracking Control System Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Flight Tracking Control System Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Flight Tracking Control System Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Flight Tracking Control System Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Flight Tracking Control System Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Flight Tracking Control System Product Market Development Overview1.6 Flight Tracking Control System Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 Flight Tracking Control System Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Flight Tracking Control System Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Flight Tracking Control System Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Flight Tracking Control System Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 Flight Tracking Control System Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two Flight Tracking Control System Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisPart II Asia Flight Tracking Control System Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia Flight Tracking Control System Market Analysis3.1 Asia Flight Tracking Control System Product Development History3.2 Asia Flight Tracking Control System Competitive Landscape Analysis3.3 Asia Flight Tracking Control System Market Development TrendChapter Four 2012-2017 Asia Flight Tracking Control System Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast4.1 2012-2017 Flight Tracking Control System Capacity Production Overview4.2 2012-2017 Flight Tracking Control System Production Market Share Analysis4.3 2012-2017 Flight Tracking Control System Demand Overview4.4 2012-2017 Flight Tracking Control System Supply Demand and Shortage4.5 2012-2017 Flight Tracking Control System Import Export Consumption4.6 2012-2017 Flight Tracking Control System Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginThe Report Contains: 167 Pages.Make an enquire of this 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.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+ :
Ultrasound Devices Market Analysis 2016-2023: Key Findings, Regional Analysis, Key Players Profiles and Future Prospects

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Market Research Future published a Half-Cooked Research Report (HCRR) on Global Ultrasound Devices Market. The Global Ultrasound Devices Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% during the period 2017 to 2023.Market Overview:Ultrasound devices use ultrasonic waves of high frequency for real time and noninvasive imaging of internal organs or removal of a tissue. The underlying mechanism of action is that different tissues reflect varying degrees of sound and these differences are recorded and displayed as an image. Therapeutic ultrasound devices use the heating or vibrating effects of ultrasound for stimulating, or removal of a tissue.Ultrasound devices provide real-time, low costs images without the use of harmful ionizing radiation. The excellent safety profile of ultrasound devices are a major factor driving their market. Drawbacks of ultrasound include their low penetration of bones and their poor imaging of structures behind bone.Product development remains the most successful strategy for the ultrasound device market. The technological developments include Development of 3D & 4D imaging enabling detailed evaluation of fetal anatomy and morphology not possible by 2D imaging thereby increasing the detection rate of fetal defects like cleft lip, heart defects etc. Doppler ultrasound allows estimation of blood flow through the blood vessels and helps diagnose many conditions, including blood clots and blocked blood vessels, valves defects and congenital heart disease etc. Development of portable ultrasound devices is also driving the market as the point of care applications of ultrasound such as ambulatory care is growing Development of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for the ablation of tissues such as cancer etc.Other market driving factor are rise in the incidence of diseases such as cancer, rising demand for noninvasive and safe therapy, and innovative applications of ultrasound such as the latest experimental development of ultrasound device for cleaning the teeth.Sample Copy of Report @Global Ultrasound Devices Market:The global ultrasound devices market has been evaluated as a growing market and it is expected that the market will touch high growth figures in future. The global Ultrasound Devices market is expected to grow with CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period. The market for ultrasound favors companies with strong research skills and innovation.Key Players:The major participants of this market are: Siemens AG, Koninklijke Philips N.V., General Electric Company,), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, Shimadzu Corporation, Mindray Medical International Ltd., and Analogic Corporation and others.Access the market data and market information presented through more than 25 market data tables and 25 figures spread over 84 numbers of pages of the project report Global Ultrasound Devices Market - Forecast to 2023Regional Analysis:Depending on geographic region, ultrasound devices market is segmented into four key regions: America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Globally, America is the largest market for Ultrasound Devices as there is a consistent technological advancement which has helped in early diagnosis of the osteoporosis which has projected high growth of ultrasound devices market in this region. Europe is the second-largest market for ultrasound devices. Asia pacific region is expected to be fastest growing region in ultrasound devices market due to increasing investments in the healthcare sector and increasing acceptance of these devices by the healthcare providers.Access Report Details @Market Segmentation:Global ultrasound devices market has been segmented on the basis of applications, which comprises diagnostic and therapeutic. On the basis of clinical application; market is segmented into radiology, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiac and others. On the basis of product; market is segmented into cart based and portable. On the basis of end user; market is segmented into hospitals/clinics and ambulatory.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.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Biomedical Refrigerators and Freezers Market Industry Supply Chain Relationship, Development Trends and Key Companies Profile

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Biomedical refrigerators and freezers are used in biotechnology and medicine. These systems are specially designed for efficient storage of frozen or fresh blood samples, enzymes used in research, DNA, RNA, and various life-saving vaccines. Several research laboratories, blood banks, hospitals, clinics, educational institutes, and diagnostic centers deploy these refrigerators and freezers that provide optimum storage conditions.The increasing number of blood banks on a global scale is likely to aid the expansion of the global biomedical refrigerators and freezers market. The need for greater storage capacities has arisen as more blood donations are received each year. According to a fact sheet updated in July 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 112.5 million blood donations were collected globally.Global Market: Key TrendsIncreasing research and development activities across several sectors such as healthcare have been propelling the growth of the market. The rising demand for personalized medicine, organ transplants, blood transfusions, vaccines, and cellular therapies have led to a greater demand for biomedical refrigerators and freezers. On the contrary, the highly competitive nature of the market wherein several local players are offering products at competitive prices, along with the rising adoption of refurbished equipment, might slacken the growth of the market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Growing demand for eco-friendly, greener equipment across the globe has been one of the major trends that is likely to contribute towards market expansion. The rising concerns about greenhouse emissions, increasing pollution levels, and the consequent hazards posed to human health have led to the development of new, environment-friendly refrigerators and freezers.Global Market: Market PotentialA number of market players appear to be intent on pocketing more profits through acquisitions and mergers. Strategic collaborations and partnerships have also been adopted by several companies with a view to gain a strong foothold in the global market for biomedical refrigerators and freezers.Request TOC of the Report @In October 2016, Standex International Corporation acquired Horizon Scientific, Inc., a South Carolina-based company that supplies refrigerators and freezers to pharmaceutical and biomedical entities. The acquisition will enable greater penetration of Standex into the scientific sector, bringing in significant profits. Horizon Scientific, Inc. in turn will benefit from faster growth prospects through the expansion of its manufacturing and engineering capacities.Product development has also been a major concern among the leading market players. For instance, Thermo Fisher Scientific offers diverse refrigerators and freezers for pharmaceutical industry, research in chromatography, laboratory purposes, and blood bank storages among several other uses, designed as per the requirements of that particular sector. Explosion-proof refrigerators and freezers for flammable materials are also engineered by this firm.Global Market: Regional OutlookBased on geography, the global biomedical refrigerators and freezers market can be segmented into Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, and North America. North America appears to be the leading regional segment, with the U.S. being the major contributor. The growth of this regional market can be attributed to the upsurge in the incidence of infectious and chronic diseases, coupled with beneficial government policies. Latin America has been witnessing rising demand for biomedical refrigerators and freezers owing to a substantial increase in the number of plasma freezer installations and blood bank refrigerators in the research domain. Asia Pacific is also slated for considerable growth.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global market for biomedical refrigerators and freezers appears to be consolidated in terms of competition, as a handful of market players cater to the rising demand for these products.Some of the major companies operating in the global market for biomedical refrigerators and freezers market are Panasonic Healthcare, Aegis Scientific, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Eppendorf, Helmer Scientific, Leibherr Group, Terumo Corporation, Philipp Kirsch, and Haier Biomedical.In 2015, Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd., Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Inc., and Eppendorf AG emerged at the fore, accounting for a major portion of the share.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
Asia-Pacific Aqua feed Market Trends and Forecast

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According to the report "Asia-Pacific Aqua feed Market ", published by Market Data Forecast, the global market is projected to reach USD 48.83 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 12.50% from 2016 to 2021.Aqua feed is a mixture of raw materials, additives and other supplements, originated from either natural or synthetic sources.Aqua feed additives comprises of amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, probiotics, antibiotics, flavours and colorants are the most common additives mixed together in order to form fish feed. Fish production in the world is especially from both Aquaculture and Capture. The dwindling natural sources and other reasons has decreased the dependence on Captured Fisheries. Majority of fish production is used for human consumption directly and a minor portion is used for feed purposes.Free sample of the report is available atThe main factors in the Aqua feed market includes development in global fish consumption, expansion in mass production of fish, growing consumer understanding regarding the protein content in the fish food, and limited availability of marine feed resources. Globally inclining population is also assisting the growth of the fish market, eventually increasing the demand for Aqua feed.Avail discount atProduct Segmentation:1) Based on End Use: Fish Carp Salmon Tilapia Catfish Others Mollusks Oyster Mussel Others Crustaceans Shrimp Crab Others2) Based on Additives: Vitamins Minerals Antioxidants Amino Acids Enzymes Acidifiers Binders3) Country Segmentation: China India Japan South Korea AustraliaEnquire more about the report at The major companies operating in the Asia pacific Aqua feed market are Cargill, Inc., Nutreco N.V., Alltech Inc., AllerAqua A/S, Beneo GmbH, Bio mar A/S, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited, and Coppens International B.V.Buy nowScope of the Aqua Feed Market Study: Regional and country-level analysis and forecasts of the study market; providing Insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions that are still untapped Segment-level analysis in terms of technology, component, and type along with market size forecasts and estimations to detect key areas of industry growth in detail Identification of key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) in the market and their impact on shifting market dynamics Study of the effect of exogenous and endogenous factors that affect the global market; which includes broadly demographic, economics, and political, among other macro-environmental factors presented in an extensive PESTLE Analysis Study the micro environment factors that determine the overall profitability of an Industry, using Porters five forces analysis for analysing the level of competition and business strategy development A comprehensive list of key market players along with their product portfolio, current strategic interests, key financial information, legal issues, SWOT analysis and analyst overview to study and sustain the market environment Competitive landscape analysis listing out the mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies An executive summary, abridging the entire report in such a way that decision-making personnel can rapidly become acquainted with background information, concise analysis and main conclusions Expertly devised analyst overview along with Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the marketCheckout other related studies in the Animal Feed Segment:Silage Inoculant MarketCompound Feed Market:Feed Additives Market:Feed Carotenoid Market:Feed Premix market:About Us:Market Data Forecast is a firm working in the area of market research and business intelligence. With rich experience in research across various business domains, we cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. Our analyst team comprises expert professionals in market research, who with their collective knowledge and skillset dedicatedly serve clients from various industries and regions.Contact:Abhishek ShuklaManager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.comVisit MarketDataForecast Blog @View latest Press Releases of MDF @
Global Enterprise Telephony Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Enterprise Telephony Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Telephony refers to the transmission of voice, fax and other information by using electronic means. Telephony equipment includes landline telephones, fax machines, computers, handheld devices such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets and others. In enterprise telephony, communication is accomplished over the intercom systems, internet protocol (IP) and others. Currently, with increasing sizes and areas of businesses across the world, communication amongst the colleagues becomes a crucial issue for the organizations. Enterprise telephony communication is used to provide a smooth flow of communication and a socialized environment among the colleagues in an organization. Telephony is used by various enterprises such as banks, financial institutions, manufacturing sector, education organizations and others to enhance the communication among the people for smooth workflow. Enterprise telephony facilitates real-time communication which enables the employees to make quick decisions.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Government and healthcare sectors are the major consumers of the enterprise telephony solutions. In government sector, enterprise telephony is used to provide a common platform for communication between various departments in the government offices. In healthcare sector, efficient enterprise telephony plays an important role as it helps to make quick decisions. Furthermore, enterprise telephony is also used in educational institutes, transportation, banks, and other organizations as it helps to reduce costs of communication within the organization. Banks and financial institutions implement enterprise telephony to facilitate communication of their employees among various departments and branch offices. In education sector, enterprise telephony is used to establish communication in the organizations such as colleges, universities and other institutions. Moreover, it enhances the productivity of the organization due to reduced efforts for communication.The enterprise telephony market can be segmented on the basis of technology, end-user and geographic regions. The enterprise telephony market can be further sub-segmented based on technology as IP private branch exchange (PBX), PBX, key telephone system (KTS) and wireless private branch exchange (WPBX). IP PBX is a system that is used for instant messaging, audio and video communication through the IP networks. PBX is telephone exchange system that provides communication between large numbers of telephones in the organization. A KTS is equipped with several keys to directly select incoming and outgoing lines using the intercom without any special operator. WPBX is a telephones system that uses cordless phones for communication. The end-users of the enterprise telephony market include banks, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector, retail industry, government organizations and others. Furthermore, the market can be geographically segmented based on regions as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW).Rising urge for adoption of unified communication solutions is one of the most important factors driving the growth of enterprise telephony market. Additionally, increasing investment of the organizations such as hotels in enterprise telephony is another factor driving the market. Sectors such as BFSI, transportation, information technology (IT), retail and other business services are expected to pose significant demand for enterprise telephony in near future. Additionally, small and medium size businesses (SMB) are increasingly shifting towards enterprise telephony for enhancement of communication in their organizations. Moreover, introduction of advanced technology for communication such as voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is expected to significantly contribute to the growth of enterprise telephony market. However, intense competition and improper standards for the solutions are major factor hampering the market growth. Security of data and network infrastructure is another challenge faced by the vendors in the enterprise telephony market.Some of the key players in enterprise telephony market include Cisco Systems Inc., NEC Corporation, Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft Corporation, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and others.This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include- North America- Asia Pacific- Europe- Rest of the WorldThis report provides comprehensive analysis of- Market growth drivers- Factors limiting market growth- Current market trends- Market structure- Market projections for upcoming yearsThis report is a complete study of current trends in the market, industry growth drivers, and restraints. It provides market projections for the coming years. It includes analysis of recent developments in technology, Porters five force model analysis and detailed profiles of top industry players. The report also includes a review of micro and macro factors essential for the existing market players and new entrants along with detailed value chain analysis.Reasons for Buying this Report- This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics- It provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth- It provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow- It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future- It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors- It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segments- It provides distinctive graphics and exemplified SWOT analysis of major market segmentsMake 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 Probiotics Market To Grow At A CAGR Of 7.01% During The Period 2017-2021

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Probiotics Market 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Probiotics are microorganisms that, on consumption, exert a positive effect on the health of human beings and animals. These products have been gaining interest among many since the 1990s. Lately, probiotics are also being referred by doctors worldwide to combat issues like digestive problems, bowel irregularities, and weak immune system. The most common type of microbes used at a commercial level for the introduction of products and applications in the market are lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Bifidobacterium.Technavios analysts forecast the global probiotics market to grow at a CAGR of 7.01% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global probiotics 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:AmericasAPACEMEATo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Probiotics 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 vendorsChr.HansenDanoneNestlPROBIYakultOther prominent vendorsAttune FoodsBifodanBioCare CopenhagenDaflornDeerland EnzymesLallemandWinclove ProbioticsMarket driverIncreasing investments in R&D.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeLack of awareness in developing countries.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreasing application of probiotics in other sectors.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 @
Global Stent Grafts Industry Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2017

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Stent Grafts Industry 2017 Market Research Report" to its huge collection of research reports.Global Stent Grafts Industry 2017 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the stent grafts market. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2012 through 2022. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. The global market for stent grafts is expected to reach about 4380.13 million USD by 2022 from 2588.74 million USD in 2016, registering a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.16% during the analysis period, 2017-2022.The report provides a basic overview of the stent grafts industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.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 stent grafts industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.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.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @This report studies Stent grafts in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan and Other region, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringMedtronicCook MedicalGoreEndologixBardTerumoBolton MedicalJotecMicroPortLombard MedicalLifeTech ScientificMerit MedicalMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Stent grafts in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOtherSplit by Product Types, with production, revenue, price, and market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoAAA Stent GraftsTAA Stent GraftsSplit by applications, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Stent Grafts in each application, can be divided intoPeripheral Stent GraftsAortic Stent GraftsOtherMake 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 @
Mobile Phone Insurance Ecosystem Market Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts Research Report 2016 - 2030

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "The Mobile Phone Insurance Ecosystem: 2016 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts" to its huge collection of research reports.Given the increasing prevalence of expensive household goods, cars and consumer electronics, insurance has become an unavoidable and often necessary cost in modern life. Mobile phones, and smartphones in particular are no exception to this trend.Most major wireless carriers, insurance specialists, device OEMs, retailers and even banks now offer insurance plans that cover theft, loss, malfunctions and damage of mobile phones. Many policies now also integrate enhanced technical support and additional protection features such as data backup facilities, allowing users to securely backup their phone data online.SNS Research estimates that the global mobile phone insurance market is expected to account for nearly $20 Billion in revenue by the end of 2016. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 12% over the next four years, eventually accounting for over $30 Billion in revenue by the end of 2020.The "Mobile Phone Insurance Ecosystem: 2016  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts" report presents an in-depth assessment of the mobile phone insurance ecosystem including market drivers, challenges, opportunities, value chain, future roadmap, case studies, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. The report also presents market size forecasts from 2016 through to 2030. The forecasts are segmented for 5 regional and 25 country level markets.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Key Findings:The report has the following key findings:- SNS Research estimates that the global mobile phone insurance market is expected to account for nearly $20 Billion in revenue by the end of 2016.- The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 12% over the next four years, eventually accounting for over $30 Billion in revenue by the end of 2020.- In an effort to boost the uptake of mobile phone insurance, wireless carriers and insurance providers have extensively enhanced their insurance offerings with the addition of location tracking, data protection/recovery features and integrated technical support.- The success of mobile phone insurance plans has driven several wireless carriers, such as NTT DoCoMo and Orange, to invest in the sales of other insurance products through mobile phones and their retail outlets.- New insurance models are also beginning to emerge, such as London-based So-Sures social insurance for mobile phones, which allows customers to get up to 80% of their money back, if they and their friends dont claim.- Device OEMs are beginning to invest in tailored plans to suit the specific requirements of certain regional markets. A good example is Xiaomis Mi Protect plan in India, which covers accidental and liquid damage, for as little as $7 per year.Topics Covered:The report covers the following topics:- Mobile phone insurance ecosystem- Market drivers and barriers- Insurance policy structure, distribution channels and key trends- Case studies of mobile phone insurance initiatives- Industry roadmap and value chain- Profiles and strategies of over 40 leading ecosystem players- Strategic recommendations for ecosystem players- Market analysis and forecasts from 2016 till 2030Forecast Segmentation:Topics Covered:The report covers the following topics:Market forecasts are provided for the following regional and country level submarkets:Regional Segmentation- Asia Pacific- Europe- Latin & Central America- Middle East & Africa- North AmericaCountry Level Segmentation- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, UK & USAKey Questions Answered:The report provides answers to the following key questions:- How big is the mobile phone insurance opportunity?- What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?- How is the ecosystem evolving by region?- What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?- Which countries will see the highest percentage of growth?- Who are the key market players and what are their strategies?- What risks are typically covered in mobile phone insurance offerings?- How can insurance plans help wireless carriers in reducing churn?- What strategies should wireless carriers, device OEMs and insurance providers adopt to remain competitive?Countries covered:ArgentinaAustraliaBrazilCanadaChinaColombiaFranceGermanyHong KongIndiaIsraelItalyJapanMexicoNetherlandsPolandRussiaSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainTaiwanUKUSAList of Companies Mentioned:The following companies and organizations have been reviewed, discussed or mentioned in the report:- A Wireless- AIG (American International Group)- Allianz Insurance- Allianz SE Group- America Movil- AmTrust International Underwriters- Aon- Appalachian Wireless- Apple- Assurant- Asurion- AT&T- AT&T Mobility- Aviva- AXA- Barclays- Best Buy- Bouygues Telecom- Brightstar Corporation- BT Group- Cellebrite- Chubb- CWS (Connected World Services Distributions)- Diamond Wireless- Dixons Carphone- DT (Deutsche Telekom)- EE- eSecuritel- Fonesure- Fortegra- Geek Squad- GoCare- Groupama- Hollard Group- HSBC- Inhance Technology- iQmetrix- Liberty Mutual Insurance Group- Lifestyle Services Group- Lookout- Markerstudy- Microsoft- Mobi PCS- Mobile Rhino (Stuckey & Company)- MTN- NIA (New India Assurance)- Nippon Life Insurance- Nokia- NQ Mobile- NTT DoCoMo- Optus- Orange- Pier Insurance Managed Services- ProtectCELL- Safeware- Salt Mobile- Samsung Electronics- SFR- Singtel Group- SoftBank Corporation- So-Sure- Spark New Zealand- SPB- Sprint Corporation- SquareTrade- Sun Corporation- Supercover Insurance- Swisscom- Telefonica Group- Telefonica Insurance- Telstra- T-Mobile USA- Tokio Marine- Verizon Communications- Verizon Wireless- V-Key Solutions- Vodacom- Vodafone GroupMake 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 @
Identity & Access Management (IAM) Market Players: Amazon Web Services, F5 Networks, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, CA Technologies, ForgeRock

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/identity-access-management-market-2635

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/virtual-desktop-market-2639

Market HighlightsGlobal Identity & Access Management Market has seen tremendous opportunities in the future. High advancement in the field of technology and high adoption of automation in the business process is expected to drive the market of Identity & Access Management.In the past few years, the world has seen revolutionary technologies which has changed the whole process of data management. Companies are replacing their current technology infrastructure with new, more efficient products. IAM helps to organize the electronic identities more efficiency and gives the optimum control. Growing size of the organization, product expansion and geographical expansion are some of the key factors for the wide adoption of the IAM.Also, growing the market of IOT, automation and cyber security around the world is also helping the market of Identity & Access Management to grow.For the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the market of IAM into deployment, organization size and verticals. On the basis of deployment, the market has been segmented as on cloud and on premise. On cloud, the market has been further segmented as public cloud, private cloud and hybrid cloud. On the basis of the organization size, the market has been segments as SMEs and large enterprises.The Global IAM market is expected to grow at USD ~24 billion by the end of year 2022 with the ~16% of compound annual growth rate.Request a Sample Report @Market Research Future Analysis:Market Research Future analysis shows that the market of IAM will grow with exponential growth during the forecast period. Automation in the IAM framework is attracting global attention and major companies such as Dell, Microsoft, Oracle among others have already added this in their product portfolio. In the coming years, it is expected that small organizations will also start adopting the IAM with much faster pace which they are currently adopting. Growing cloud market is one of the key driver for the adoption of IAM as most of the companies are upgrading their current infrastructure and adopting for cloud based services.Intended Audience- IAM Service providers- Software development companies- Security service providers- Market research companies- Security software providers- GovernmentKey Players: F5 Networks (U.S.) Amazon Web Services (U.S.) HP (U.S.) IBM (U.S.) Microsoft Inc. (U.S.) Oracle Corporation (U.S.) Siemens AG (Germany) Dell Inc. (U.S.) CA Technologies (U.S.) ForgeRock Inc. (U.S.)Access Report Details @List of TablesTable 1 Global Identity & Access Management Market, By DeploymentTable 2 Global Identity & Access Management Market, By Organization SizeTable 3 Global Identity & Access Management Market, By VerticalsTable 4 Global Identity & Access Management Market, By RegionsTable 5 North America Identity & Access Management Market, By CountryTable 6 North America Identity & Access Management Market, By DeploymentTable 7 North America Identity & Access Management Market, By Organization SizeTable 8 North America Identity & Access Management Market, By VerticalsTable 9 Europe Identity & Access Management Market, By CountryTable 10 Europe Identity & Access Management Market, By DeploymentTable 11 Europe Identity & Access Management Market, By Organization SizeTable 12 Europe Identity & Access Management Market, By VerticalsTable 13 Asia-Pacific Identity & Access Management Market, By CountryTable 14 Asia-Pacific Identity & Access Management Market, By DeploymentTable 15 Asia-Pacific Identity & Access Management Market, By Organization SizeTable 16 Asia-Pacific Identity & Access Management Market, By VerticalsTable 17 Rest of The World Identity & Access Management Market, By DeploymentTable 18 Rest of The World Identity & Access Management Market, By Organization SizeTable 19 Rest of The World Identity & Access Management Market, By VerticalsRelated ReportThe global Virtual Desktop market is expected to grow at USD ~5 Billion by 2022, at ~9% of CAGR between 2016 and 2022About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FuturePune, Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
New Survey on Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Industry Trend, Growth, Size, Share and Forecast 2016 - 2030

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2016 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts" to its huge collection of research reports.Due to the bandwidth limitations of their traditional voice-centric LMR (Land Mobile Radio) networks, public safety agencies are keen to leverage commercial cellular network technology to support their growing broadband application needs. Considering its thriving ecosystem, spectrum flexibility and performance metrics, LTE has emerged as the leading candidate for public safety mobile broadband networks. In addition, with the recent approval of the MCPTT (Mission Critical Push to Talk) voice standard as part of 3GPP Release 13, LTE has also become an attractive substitute for providing LMR-like voice services.The Qatar Ministry of Interior made headlines when it deployed a private 800 MHz LTE network in 2012. Since then, numerous public safety LTE networks have sprung up across the globe, including the UAE, China, Laos, Turkey and Kenya. Several early adopter LTE deployments are also operational in the United States, as part of the planned FirstNet nationwide public safety broadband network. While most initial public safety LTE investments are limited to small-scale networks, nationwide rollouts in the United States and South Korea are expected to trigger significant large-scale investments throughout the globe.The European market is largely dominated by MVNO arrangements, such as the UK Home Offices ESN (Emergency Services Network) program that will use EEs commercial LTE network to deliver prioritized mission critical voice and data services for the UKs public safety agencies. As part of the program, EE is enhancing its existing network with additional sites, satellite backhaul and a dedicated mobile core for first responders, among other investments.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Driven by the thriving ecosystem, SNS Research estimates that annual investments on public safety LTE infrastructure will reach $600 Million by the end of 2016. The market, which includes base stations (eNBs), mobile core and transport networking gear, is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 33% over the next four years. By 2020, these infrastructure investments will be complemented by over 4.4 Million LTE device shipments, including smartphones, rugged handheld terminals and vehicular routers.The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2016  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of the global public safety LTE market, besides touching upon the wider LMR and mobile broadband industries. In addition to covering the business case, challenges, technology, spectrum allocation, industry roadmap, value chain, deployment case studies, vendor products, strategies, standardization initiatives and applications ecosystem for public safety LTE, the report also presents comprehensive forecasts for mobile broadband, LMR and public safety LTE subscriptions from 2016 till 2030. Also covered are public safety LTE service revenues, over both private and commercial networks. In addition, the report presents revenue forecasts for public safety LTE infrastructure, devices, integration services and management solutions.The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report, as well as a list and associated details of over 90 global public safety LTE network commitments (as of Q22016).Key Findings:The report has the following key findings:- SNS Research estimates that annual investments on public safety LTE infrastructure will reach $600 Million by the end of 2016. The market, which includes base stations (eNBs), mobile core and transport networking gear, is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 33% over the next four years.- By 2020, these infrastructure investments will be complemented by over 4.4 Million LTE device shipments, including smartphones, rugged handheld terminals and vehicular routers.- Following the Qatar Ministry of Interiors private 800 MHz LTE network deployment in 2012, multiple private LTE rollouts are underway by security forces throughout the oil rich GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, including the Abu Dhabi and Dubai police forces.- Driven by nationwide public safety LTE network rollouts in the United States and South Korea, the North America and Asia Pacific regions will account for nearly 70% of all public safety LTE investments over the next four years.- Almost all major LMR industry players are leveraging partnerships with established LTE infrastructure OEMs such as Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Samsung, to offer end-to-end LTE solutions.- Consolidation efforts are continuing to take place throughout the industry, particularly among the largest LTE infrastructure OEMs and public safety system integrators.Topics Covered:The report covers the following topics:- Business case for public safety LTE and mobile broadband services, including key benefits and challenges- Technology, economics, trends, commercial commitments and deployment case studies- List of public safety LTE engagements worldwide- Public safety LTE infrastructure, devices and applications- Industry roadmap, value chain and standardization initiatives- Spectrum allocation, deployment models and funding strategies- Profiles and strategies of over 260 ecosystem players including public safety system integrators and LTE infrastructure/device OEMs- TCO analysis of private and commercial public safety LTE deployments- Military and tactical LTE deployments- Public safety LTE base station (eNB) form factor analysis- Exclusive interview transcripts from 5 key ecosystem players: Ericsson, Airbus Defence and Space, Sepura, Aricent and Parallel Wireless- Strategic recommendations for vendors, system integrators, public safety agencies and mobile operators- Market analysis and forecasts from 2016 till 2030Forecast Segmentation:Market forecasts are provided for each of the following submarkets and their subcategories:Public Safety LTE Infrastructure- Submarkets- RAN (Radio Access Network)- EPC (Evolved Packet Core) and Policy- Mobile Backhaul and Transport- RAN Base Station (eNB) Mobility Categories- Fixed Base Stations- Transportable Base Stations- RAN Base Station (eNB) Cell Size Categories- Macrocells- Small Cells- Transportable RAN Base Station (eNB) Form Factor Categories- NIB (Network-in-a-Box)- VNS (Vehicle Network System)- SOW (System-on-Wheels)- Airborne PlatformPublic Safety LTE Management & Integration Solutions- Submarkets- Network Integration & Testing- Device Management & User Services- Managed Services, Operations & Maintenance- CybersecurityPublic Safety LTE Devices- Submarkets- Private LTE- Commercial LTE- Form Factor Categories- Smartphones & Handportable Terminals- Vehicle Mount Routers & Terminals- Tablets & Notebook PCs- USB Dongles & OthersPublic Safety LTE Subscriptions & Service Revenue- Submarkets- Private LTE- Commercial LTEPublic Safety User Subscriptions over Private Mobile Broadband- Submarkets- Private LTE- Private WiMAXPublic Safety User Subscriptions over Commercial Mobile Broadband- Submarkets- 3G- WiMAX- LTE- 5G & BeyondLMR Subscriptions- Submarkets- Analog- DMR- dPMR, NXDN & PDT- P25- TETRA- Tetrapol- OthersLMR Data SubscriptionsSubmarketsP25 - Phase 1P25 - Phase 2TETRATEDSTetrapolOthersPublic Safety LTE Applications- Submarkets- Video Applications- zGIS, AVLS and Mapping- Mobile VPN Access & Security- CAD (Computer Aided Dispatching)- Remote Database Access- Telemetry and Remote Diagnostics- Bulk Multimedia/Data Transfers- PTT & Voice over LTE- Situational Awareness ApplicationsRegional Segmentation- Asia Pacific- Eastern Europe- Latin & Central America- Middle East & Africa- North America- Western EuropeKey Questions Answered:The report provides answers to the following key questions:- How big is the public safety LTE opportunity?- What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?- How is the ecosystem evolving by segment and region?- What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?- Which regions and submarkets will see the highest percentage of growth?- How does standardization impact the adoption of LTE for public safety applications?- When will MCPTT and proximity services see large scale proliferation?- What is the status of private LTE rollouts and public safety MVNO offerings across the globe?- What opportunities exist for commercial mobile operators and MVNOs in the public safety LTE market?- Is there a market for 400 MHz LTE networks?- What are the prospects of tactical, vehicle-mounted and airborne LTE eNB platforms?- How can public safety agencies leverage unused spectrum resources to fund private LTE networks?- What strategies should system integrators and vendors adopt to remain competitive?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast & Vaccine Brands Analysis | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast (30 Countries Market & Vaccinated Population Data) By (Pediatrics & Adult) & Vaccine Brands Analysis" to its huge collection of research reports.Global Influenza Vaccine Market is worth more than US$ 5 Billion. Globally Pediatrics Influenza Vaccinated Population was more than 150 Thousand, but still this figure was significantly less than the Adult Influenza Vaccinated Population. As per our research Pediatrics Influenza Vaccinated population will decline in future and Adult Influenza Vaccinated Population will increase in forecast period.United States has the highest market share in Influenza Vaccine Market. United States Influenza Vaccine Market Share was almost 4 times more than China and Japan Influenza Vaccine Market Share. United States & China together captures close to 60 percent in Pediatrics Influenza Vaccine Market Share. Whereas, in adult vaccination segments, United States and Japan will share more than 50 percent market share by 2022.Global Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast (30 Countries Market & Vaccinated Population Data) By (Pediatrics & Adult) & Vaccine Brands Analysis is the 8th report by Renub Research on Influenza Vaccine Market. This is a 383 page report with 386 Figures and 7 Tables provides data of 30 countries globally on Influenza Vaccine Market. The report provides data on Pediatrics and Adult Influenza Vaccinated Population Numbers and Market. All 30 Countries have been extensively studied from 2 major points, which has been further sub-divided into 2 more points:To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @1. Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast (2011  2022)a. Pediatrics Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecastb. Adult Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast2. Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast (2011  2022)a. Pediatrics Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecastb. Adult Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast30 Countries Influenza Vaccine Market covered in the report are as follows- United States- Netherlands- Denmark- Estonia- Finland- Germany- France- Hungary- Iceland- Ireland- Italy- Latvia- Lithuania- Luxembourg- Malta- Norway- Poland- Portugal- Romania- Slovakia- Slovenia- Spain- Sweden- United Kingdom- China- India- Brazil- Japan- Australia- New ZealandThis report offers the best viewpoint on the leading five influenza vaccine brands- Vaxigrip/Fluzone- Fluarix/ Flulaval- FluMist/Fluenz- Afluria/Fluvax and Fluvirin/Flucelvax- AnfluScope of Study- Influenza Vaccine Market has been divided into two segments Pediatrics Influenza Vaccine Market and Adult Influenza Vaccine Market.- Influenza Vaccine Market share & Forecast, Pediatrics Influenza Vaccine Market share & Forecast and Adult Influenza Vaccine Market share & Forecast.- Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast has been divided into two segments Pediatrics Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast and Adult Influenza Vaccinated Population & Forecast.- Influenza Vaccine Brand Sales and ForecastThis report is a combination of 6 reports- Europe Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast (23 Countries Market & Vaccinated Population Data) By (Pediatrics & Adult) & Vaccine Brands Analysis- Influenza Vaccine Market in Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain (South Europe) By (Child & Adult) Forecast- Influenza Vaccine Market & Forecast in (West Europe) Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and United Kingdom By (Child & Adult)- Nordics Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Market Forecast in (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway & Sweden) By (Child & Adult) Vaccination- Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Market in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (East Europe) By (Infant & Adult) Forecast- Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Market in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia (Baltic Countries) By (Child & Adult) ForecastMake 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 Virtual Desktop Market Worth USD 5 Billion by year 2022

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/virtual-desktop-market-2639

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/identity-access-management-market-2635

Market HighlightsWith the fast advancement in technology, virtual desktop in another revolution in the market of monitor. In Virtual Desktop Market, cloud-based virtualization services is the key driver. In this growing technology with an increase of demands of efficient and smart tools, virtual desktop minimizes many unnecessary costs of hiring star employees who are sitting far away. Industries and business have realized the numerous benefits remote working offers.The virtual desktop market is developing rigorously to overcome some of existing issues the industries face such as telecommunicating, support workplace mobility, streamline workplace communication, and enhance data security. The study indicates a need for cloud service implementation by the industries or by buying those services from the companies providing it. The restrains of the Virtual Desktop is the storage of a particular data of single user can be cost prohibitive. The VDI can also complicate software licensing and its distribution. VDI s reliance on network connectivity can come up with another challenge. As users cannot access their virtual desktop without network and weak connection can hinder the desktop performance.The virtual desktop market is growing rapidly over 9% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD ~5 billion by the end of forecast period.Virtual Desktop Market Players: Citrix Inc. (U.S) Dell, Inc. (U.S) Microsoft Corp. (U.S) Red Hat Inc.(U.S) VMware, Inc. (U.S) HP , Inc.( U.S) NComputing Co.Ltd ( U.S) IBM Corp.(U.S) Google, Inc.(U.S) Mokafive (U.S)Request a Sample Report @Virtual Desktop Market SegmentationThe virtual desktop market has been segmented on the basis of product type, virtual desktop infrastructure and Desktop  as- a  Service (DaaS). The VDI has been there for a long time and traditionally was the only way to operate the virtual desktop. Since VDIs is centrally located and all the data storage has to be managed by the IT team. Whereas with DaaS all of the hardware operation is maintained by the provider and the user dont have to worry about rackspace, hardware breakdown or maintenance.Market Research Analysis:Market Research Future Analysis shows that new adoptions of cloud computing, DaaS, SaaS and traditional VDI technology. It has been observed that developments in virtual desktop monitor has helped the business and industries overcome some of the existing issues. To differentiate between the traditional and upcoming technology advancement in the virtual desktop market and the emerging of many startups, providing cloud based VDI services.Regional analysis for virtual desktop market is studied in different geographic regions as Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. The study reveals that North America would evolve as a leader in virtual desktop market. The study indicates large investments by multinational companies and startup emerging as cloud based service providers in the VDI market. The increasing adoption of the BYOD supports the growth of VDI market in the European region which estimates it to be one of the prominent players in the future. In the Asia  Pacific market, China has the largest market followed by India, is fourth leading country in VDI market.Access Report Details @List of FiguresFigure 1 Research Network SolutionFigure 2 Virtual Desktop Market: By Product Type (%)Figure 3 Virtual Desktop Market: By Deployment (%)Figure 4 Virtual Desktop Market: By Vertical (%)Figure 5 Virtual Desktop Market: By RegionFigure 6 North America Virtual Desktop Market, By Product Type (%)Figure 7 North America Virtual Desktop Market, By Deployment (%)Figure 8 North America Virtual Desktop Market, By Vertical (%)Figure 9 Europe Virtual Desktop Market, By Product Type (%)Figure 10 Europe Virtual Desktop Market, By Deployment (%)Figure 11 Europe Virtual Desktop Market, By Vertical (%)Figure 12 Asia-Pacific Virtual Desktop Market, By Product Type (%)Figure 13 Asia-Pacific Virtual Desktop Market, By Deployment (%)Figure 14 Asia-Pacific Virtual Desktop Market, By Vertical (%)Figure 15 Row Virtual Desktop Market, By Product Type (%)Figure 16 Row Virtual Desktop Market, By Deployment (%)Figure 17 Row Virtual Desktop Market, By Vertical (%)Related ReportThe Global IAM market is expected to grow at USD ~24 billion by the end of year 2022 with the ~16% of compound annual growth rateAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FuturePune, Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Researchmoz: Global Proton Therapy Market & Forecast (12 Countries Market Data), Patients Treated at Proton Therapy Centers, Reimbursement Policies

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Proton Therapy Market & Forecast (12 Countries Market Data), Patients Treated at Proton Therapy Centers, Reimbursement Policies" to its huge collection of research reports.Global Proton Therapy Market potential is more than US$ 50 Billion in 2016. The proton therapy market is expected to grow with double digit CAGR in future. United States dominates the Proton Therapy Market globally, but it is losing its proton therapy market share year on year. Japan has the second highest proton therapy market share worldwide, but its proton therapy market is increasing year on year.Europe proton therapy market possesses a potential of more than US$ 10 Billion. In the case of Europe, France used to have the biggest proton therapy market share for the year 2009. But by the end of year 2012, Germany dethroned France from its peak place and took its spot. However as per our research United Kingdom proton therapy market will remove Germany proton therapy market form top position in future. Russia will be the one country which will be interesting to watch as it will increase its market share thrice in a span of 4 years.Asia proton therapy market is forecasted to grow with 18 percent CAGR. Proton therapy market is dominated by Japan, but China proton therapy market share is rising rapidly. Korea is also increasing its proton therapy market year on year.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Globally close to 60 proton therapy centers were operational in 2016 and slightly less than 50 proton therapy centers is likely come in near future. Rising cancer incidence worldwide is the major key driver to boost proton therapy market.-Global Proton Therapy Market & Forecast (12 Countries Market Data), Patients Treated at Proton Therapy Centers, Reimbursement Policies is the 14th report published by Renub Research on Proton Therapy Market. This 238 page report with 137 figures and 74 Tables provides 12 Countries: Proton Therapy Market, Proton Therapy Patient Numbers, Number of Patients treated at Proton Therapy Centers, List of Proton Therapy Centers in Operational phase, Under-Construction phase, Planning phase, Technology being used at these Proton Therapy Centers, Launch year of each Proton Therapy Centers, Reimbursement Policies. The report also studies the Proton Therapy Sales & Forecast of three companies IBA, Varian Medical Systems & Elekta. The market has been defined in the report by two ways a) Actual Market b) Potential Market.Actual Market is the current market which is already presentPotential Market is the market which can be accomplished; but it has yet not been accomplished due to demand and supply gap. At present proton therapy centers availability is less than its demand.Key Questions Answered in the Report?- What is the Proton Therapy Market Globally and its growth potential in Future?- What is the Number of patients treated by Proton Beam Therapy worldwide?- What is the procedure of medical coverage or reimbursement policies for Proton Therapy across the world?- What is the Proton Therapy Market in United States and Forecast?- What is the Number of Proton Therapy Patients in United States and Forecast- What is the Proton Therapy Market size in Asia (Japan, China and South Korea) and its growth potential in future?- What is the Number of Proton Therapy treated patients in Asia (Japan, China and South Korea)?- What is the Proton Therapy Market in Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom) and Forecast?- What is the Number of Proton Therapy Patients in Europe (France, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, & Switzerland) and Forecast?- What Type of Technology is being used at each Proton Therapy Centers of each country?- What is the Number of Patients treated in each Proton Therapy Centers year wise?- What is the name and number of Operational Proton Therapy Centers, Under Construction Proton Therapy Centers and Planning Stage Proton Therapy Centers in each country?Key Companies Proton Therapy Sales & Forecast- IBA  Sales Analysis & Forecast (2010  2021)- Varian Medical Systems  Sales Analysis & Forecast (2010  2021)- Elekta  Sales Analysis & Forecast (2010  2021)This Market Research Report is a combination of 12 Reports- United States Proton Therapy Market- United Kingdom Proton Therapy Market- Switzerland Proton Therapy Market- Russia Proton Therapy Market- Germany Proton Therapy Market- France Proton Therapy Market- Italy Proton Therapy Market- Sweden Proton Therapy Market- Poland Proton Therapy Market- Japan Proton Therapy Market- Korea Proton Therapy Market- China Proton Therapy MarketMake 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 @
Wealth in the UK: HNW Investors 2017 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Wealth in the UK: HNW Investors 2017" to its huge collection of research reports."Wealth in the UK: HNW Investors 2017", analyzes the investing preferences and portfolio allocation of UK HNW investors. The report is based on our proprietary Global Wealth Managers Survey.London is a major wealth capital with competitive financial services, fintech, and property industries. HNW individuals from around the world reside in the UK, particularly London, for its attractive lifestyle and business opportunities. The majority of UK HNW investors are over the age of 50, with males accounting for the majority. Equity and bond investments constitute the greatest proportions of UK HNW portfolios, mirroring the regional average. UK wealth managers experience strong demand for financial products and services, with pension planning in particularly high demand.Specifically the report -- Profiles the average UK HNW investor in terms of their demographics and analyzes the expat opportunity in the UK.- Analyzes which wealth management mandates are preferred among UK HNW investors and how the demand will develop going forward.- Examines the allocation of UK HNW investors portfolios into different asset classes and how the allocation is expected to develop in the future.- Analyzes the product and service demand among UK HNW investors.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Scope- Inherited wealth dominates among UK HNWs, but taken together the largest share has been sourced from family business ownership and first-generation entrepreneurship.- The vast majority of UK HNW investors prefer their wealth to be managed professionally, with 79.5% placed in discretionary mandates.- Asset allocation is heavily weighted towards equities and bonds. Wealth managers anticipate reduced demand for bond investments and greater interest in non-traditional asset classes.- Pension and financial planning services show the strongest demand, and this is not expected to change in the near future. Demand for inheritance planning will remain stable.Reasons to buy- Develop and enhance your client targeting strategies using our data on HNW profiles and sources of wealth.- Give your marketing strategies the edge required and capture new clients using insights from our data on HNW investors drivers for seeking investment advice vs self-directing.- Tailor your investment product portfolio to match current and future demand for different asset classes among HNW individuals.- Develop your service proposition to match the product and service demand expressed by UK HNW investors and react proactively to the forecasted changes in demand.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 Microarray Market Size, Analytical Research and Foresight to 2027

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North America Microarray market is growing slowly post 2016 with the CAGR 0f 4% as the market is hampered due to the errors in the process and limitations in the use of tissue microarrays.Market HighlightsThe North America microarray market has been evaluated as slowly growing market and expected to continue in the similar way in the near future. A microarray is a multiplex lab-on-a-chip. It is a 2D array on a solid substrate, usually a glass slide or silicon thin-film cell, that assays large amounts of biological material using high-throughput screening miniaturized, multiplexed and parallel processing and detection methods. Globally the Microarray Market is dominated by DNA microarrays. The protein microarray is currently the fastest growing market. The use of peptide and carbohydrate microarrays is expanding. Tissue and cell microarrays are in their infancy stage and are developing slowly because of many complications in the process development. Microarray is one of the methods which was used for the diagnostic purpose in cancer research. But commonly used types like DNA microarray, antibody array have not been proven to be effective methods in case of the disease like cancer. So in order to deal with the limitations of other types, tissue microarray was developed. Tissue microarray is an effective diagnostic tool for cancer diagnosis. The more and more research is going on to make the tissue microarray more accurate and efficient. As the prevalence of cancer is spreading, the growth in the tissue microarray method is expected in the future.North America Microarray Market Players: ABCAM Asterand Bioscience IHC World LLC Novus Biologicals LLC (Acquired By BIO-TECHNE) Origene Technologies Inc Pantomics, Inc Protein Biotechnologies Inc US Biomax, Inc. US Bioupton Int Vitrovivo Biotech, LLCRequest a Sample Report @On the other hand, as the technique is in its infancy stage, lots of mistakes and errors occur. The readings are not accurate many times. As the results are not reliable, it creates a hindrance in the growth of the tissue microarray method. Besides this, tissue microarrays are not recommended for certain types of studies. In certain tumors such as glioblastoma, there is such marked heterogeneity within tumors that this feature may not be adequately captured in tissue microarray studies. In addition, microarrays are also not very useful to study rare or focal events, such as number of immune cells in tumors. These are some of the factors that cause hindrance to the growth of the Tissue microarray market.Regional Analysis:North America tissue microarray market is segmented into two countries: United States, and Canada. U.S. is the largest market for tissue microarray. The U.S market for tissue microarray is expected to reach at USD 364.2 million by the end of the forecasted period. Canada is the second-largest market for tissue microarray which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.4%.Key Finding- The North America microarray market is expected to reach $1,635.4 billion by 2027.- Paraffin tissue sections (FFPE) hold the largest share of 54.6% of the North America Tissue Microarray market.- S. holds the largest market share of North America Tissue Microarray market and is anticipated to reach $364.2 million by the end of 2027.- Immunohistochemistry segment holds the largest market share of 47.5% in 2015.Access Report Details @Segmentation:North America Microarray market has been segmented on the basis of types which comprises of protein microarray, tissue microarray, and cellular microarray. On the basis of product, North America Tissue microarray market is segmented into paraffin tissue sections (FFPE), frozen tissue sections, and others. On the basis of applications, tissue microarray market is segmented into immunohistochemistry, in-situ hybridization, and others.Intended Audience- Contract Research Organizations (CROs)- Research and Development (R&D) Companies- Government Research Laboratories- Independent Research Laboratories- Government and Independent Regulatory Authorities- Academic Institutes and UniversitiesRelated ReportThe global market for clinical data analytics is expected to reach USD 11,853.6 million by the end of the forecasted period and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.90%.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FuturePune, Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
North and South America Renewable Energy Policy Handbook 2017 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "North and South America Renewable Energy Policy Handbook 2017" to its huge collection of research reports."North and South America Renewable Energy Policy Handbook 2017 is among the latest country specific policy reports from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialist that offers comprehensive information on major policies governing renewable energy market in the country.The report provides the current and future renewable energy targets and plans along with the present policy framework, giving a fair idea of overall growth potential of the renewable energy industry. The report also provides major technology specific policies and incentives provided in the country.The report is built using data and information sourced from industry associations, government websites and statutory bodies. The information is also sourced through other secondary research sources such as industry and trade magazines.Scope- The report covers policy measures and incentives used by the North and South American countries to promote renewable energy.- The report details promotional measures in the North and South American countries both for the overall renewable energy industry and for specific renewable energy technologies that have potential in the countries.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Reasons to buyThe report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner. It will allow you to -- Develop business strategies with the help of specific insights about policy decisions being taken for different renewable energy sources.- Identify opportunities and challenges in exploiting various renewable technologies.- Compare the level of support provided to different renewable energy technologies in the North and South American countries.- Be ahead of competition by keeping yourself abreast of all the latest policy changes.Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 62 Executive Summary 83 Introduction 103.1 Renewable Energy Policy 103.2 Globaldata Report Guidance 104 Renewable Energy Policy, Argentina 114.1 Overview 114.2 Law on Promotion of Renewable Sources of Energy for Electricity Production: 26190 124.3 Law on Promotion of Renewable Sources of Energy for Electricity Production: 27,191 124.4 Renewable Energy Generation Program 144.5 Financial Incentives and Policy Support for Solar 144.6 Financial Incentives and Policy Support for Wind 144.7 National Strategic Plan for Wind Energy 154.8 Biodiesel Competitiveness Plan 164.9 The Biofuel Law 164.10 National Bioenergy Program 174.11 Energy Efficiency Project 174.12 Energy Efficiency Policies for Appliances 184.13 National Program for Rational and Efficient Use of Energy 185 Renewable Energy Policy, Brazil 205.1 Overview 205.2 Renewable Energy Auctions 215.3 Alternative Energy Auction LFA-2010 and Reserve Energy Auction LER-2010 235.4 Brazil National Climate Change Plan 235.5 Luz para Todos Electrification Program 245.6 International Action Program, Brazils Hydropower Program 255.7 Incentives for Small Hydropower Facilities, Law 9648 255.8 Wind Turbine Component Tax Exemption (Executive Decree 656) 265.9 Inova Energia Program 265.10 Solar Power Auctions 265.11 National Biodiesel Program 265.12 Net Metering for Distributed Generation 275.13 Distributed Generation Regulation and Tax Incentives 275.14 Energy Expansion Plan 2010-2019 285.15 National Alcohol Program 295.16 Federal and State Taxes on Ethanol 295.17 Social Fuel Stamp Auction System 305.18 Ethanol Blending Mandate 305.19 Ethanol Export Tax Credit - Special Regime of Reinstatement of Tax Amounts for Exporting Companies - Reintegra 315.20 Spending on Biofuels 315.21 National Energy Efficiency Policy 335.22 Regulated Investments in Energy Efficiency 335.23 The Energy Efficiency Law 335.24 Solar Water Heating Legislation 346 Renewable Energy Policy, Canada 356.1 Overview 356.2 Provincial Incentives 366.3 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Prince Edward Island 376.4 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Manitoba 386.5 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Saskatchewan 386.6 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Northwest Territories 396.7 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Alberta 396.8 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, British Columbia 456.9 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Nova Scotia 476.10 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Quebec 526.11 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, Ontario 556.12 Funding to Promote Biofuels Industry 656.13 Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance 666.14 Industrial Electricity Incentive Program 666.15 SaveONenergy Conservation Programs 676.16 Program of Energy Research and Development 676.17 Clean Energy Innovation Program 67Make 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 Preparation Market by Manufacturers, Types, Regions and Applications 2017 - 2025

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Global Blood Preparation Market: OverviewBlood components preparation involves the centrifugation of one unit of whole blood. Developed in 1960, the process is carried out by a specialized equipment known as a refrigerated centrifuge. Whole blood, which is a mixture of cellular elements, crystalloids, and colloids of varying relative density, size, and sediment rate can be separated by the application of centrifugal force.According to the World Health Organization, every year almost 108 million units of donated blood is collected across the world. The whole blood needs to be separated into components that can be used for a different indication.Global Blood Preparation Market: Key TrendsThe rising demand for blood transfusion in the casualty department of hospitals is steering the growth of the global market for blood preparation. The increasing number of blood disorders and the increasing need for blood during surgical procedures and casualties to make up for blood loss are bolstering the growth of this market. According to the statistics of Center for Disease Prevention and Control, in the U.S., almost 1-2 per 1,000 individuals suffer from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) each year. To address this, the National Institutes of Health and other accredited bodies are running programs in order to raise awareness about the complications that these conditions can lead to.Request Sample Copy of the Report @However, the growth of the blood preparation market is impeded due to a single major restraint. Blood transfusion involves a high risk of transmission of diseases such as HIV, viral hemorrhagic fever, and Hepatitis B, thereby limiting its use for serious cases. Nevertheless, the development of newer high-speed technology for separating blood components will extend opportunities to this market.Global Blood Preparation Market: Market PotentialWith the development of high-speed technology for separating blood components, the blood preparation market is expected to reach new heights. Companies are engaged in the development of advanced instruments for the easy preparation of blood components. For example, Compomat G4 introduced by Fresenius Kabi can separate large volumes of blood at enhanced speed. Moreover, the rising demand for source plasma and the demand for specific blood constituents such as packed red blood cells will further present growth opportunities to this market.Request TOC of the Report @The use of digital technology is another trend coming to the fore in blood preparation practices. In a recent industry development, BloodCenter of Wisconsin has introduced the utilization of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) for maintaining blood utilization and inventory records.Global Blood Preparation Market: Regional OverviewThe global market for blood preparation can be broadly segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. North America is a significant regional market due to an ultra-modern healthcare infrastructure and use of hi-technology for treatment purposes. In the U.S., the entire process of blood transfusion right from collection to preparation to storage is controlled by the FDA. Various other federal agencies are striving for health insurance portability standards to come into effect for favorable reimbursements for blood components.However, Asia Pacific is expected to display robust growth in the blood preparation market in the near future. Several governments, especially in China and India are extending support for technological advancements for blood preparation processes. The continual growth of the healthcare sector in Australia and Japan will also support the growth of the Asia Pacific market for blood preparation.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Blood Preparation Market: Competitive AnalysisSome of the leading players in the global market for blood preparation include Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Bristol-Myers, Shandong East Chemical, GlaxoSmithKline, Leo Pharma, Sanofi-Aventis, and Baxter Healthcare.Major players in this marker are investing heavily in research and development for the development of newer, effective, and cost-efficient drugs for several blood-related disorders. These companies are engaged in introducing new technologies and hiring expert personnel for the development of newer pipeline drugs to cater to the needs of the ever-increasing patient population.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
China: 4G and Fiber Network Expansion Coupled with 5G Investments to Support Telecom Growth | Researchmoz

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "China: 4G and Fiber Network Expansion Coupled with 5G Investments to Support Telecom Growth" to its huge collection of research reports."China: 4G and Fiber Network Expansion Coupled with 5G Investments to Support Telecom Growth", is a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in China today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, and mobile, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.Telecom services revenue in China is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during 2016-2021, primarily driven by growth in mobile data and fixed Internet revenue. Mobile data will be the largest revenue-contributing segment until 2021. Fixed VoIP will be the fastest-growing segment in the telecom market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 31.7% during 2016-2021. Going forward, operators look to expand 4G and invest in 5G network trials and fiber-optic network deployments to improve and extend Internet connectivity in the country, which will provide significant opportunities for vendors and investors.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in China compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in China.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in China's telecommunications markets.Scope- The overall telecom service revenue in China will grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during 2016-2021, mainly driven by growth in the mobile data and fixed Internet segment.- Mobile revenue will account for 60.5% of the total telecom revenue in 2021, with mobile data accounting for 65.8% of mobile revenue in 2021.- 4G will be the most adopted mobile technology through 2021. Moreover, its share of the overall mobile subscriber base will continue to increase over the 2016-2021 forecast period, owing to rising adoption of 4G services over the coming years.- The top three operators, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, accounted for 89.2% share of overall service revenue in 2016. We expect competition to intensify further as operators focus on 4G expansion, fiber deployment and commercializing 5G to further increase their market share.- Operators will continue to focus on investments in 4G network expansion and launch of 5G services, fiber deployments to increase connectivity and on catering to the rising data demand.Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Chinas telecommunications markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Chinas mobile communications, fixed telephony, broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Chinas telecommunications markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in China.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 @
Bahraini Takaful Insurance Industry Trend, Growth, Market Attractiveness and Future Prospects 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Market Attractiveness and Future Prospects of the Bahraini Takaful Insurance Industry 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Timetrics 'Market Attractiveness and Future Prospects of the Bahraini Takaful Insurance Industry 2020' report provides detailed analysis of the trends in the Bahraini takaful insurance industry.It provides values of a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) such as gross written premium, direct written premium, earned premium, claims, incurred loss, loss ratio, combined ratio, commissions and expenses, assets and investments during the review period (20112015) and forecast period (20152020).The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @SummaryTimetrics 'Market Attractiveness and Future Prospects of the Bahraini Takaful Insurance Industry 2020' report provides in-depth industry analysis, information and insights into the takaful insurance industry in Bahrain, including:The Bahraini takaful insurance industrys growth prospects by insurance segment and categoryThe current trends in the Bahraini takaful insurance industryScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the takaful insurance industry in Bahrain:It provides historical values for the Bahraini takaful insurance industry for the reports 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period.It offers a detailed analysis of the key segments and categories in the Bahraini takaful insurance industry, with forecasts to 2020.It covers an exhaustive list of parameters, including written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, combined ratio, total assets and total investment income.Reasons To BuyMake strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast industry data related to the Bahraini takaful insurance industry and each segment within it.Understand the demand-side dynamics, key trends and growth opportunities in the Bahraini takaful insurance industry.Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key segments.Key HighlightsIn 2016, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) launched a compensation fund for motor accident victims.In 2015, a revised solvency framework for takaful and retakaful insurance, introduced in 2014, was implemented by the CBB. It aimed to quicken the growth of takaful business in Bahrain, and protect the interests of all stakeholders.In 2015, the CBB and the Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA) documented a standard policy for compulsory third-party motor insurance and claims settlements.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 @
The Asia-Pacific feed additives market is evolving at a significant rate due to the surge in the livestock population

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Asia-Pacific Feed Additives Market" research report, published by Market Data Forecast delineates that the market is growing with a CAGR of 5.10 % to reach USD 9.06 billion by 2021Feed additives are mainly used in nutrition of animals to lift quality and properties of animal to augment features like overall gut health/digestive performance, palatability preservation, and others. They have also gained reputation as they are further general health of animal, in turn improving quantity and quality of meat producedFree sample for the report is available atThe report also presents detailed analysis of multitude of factors affecting the diagnostic imaging market bearing either positive or negative outcomes. Some of those factors are increase in meat consumption industrialization of the livestock industry the threat of diseases in livestock Increasing cost of raw materialsFor granular level understanding the Feed Additives Market is segmented based on type and application, each being provided with Market Size Estimations and Y-o-Y Forecasts. Based on Type Market is segmented as Antibiotics, Antioxidants, Amino Acids, Enzymes, Vitamins, Mycotoxin Detoxifiers, Prebiotics, Acidifiers, Probiotics, Feed Pigments, Feed Binders, Flavours and Sweeteners, Feed Minerals. Based on Livestock market is segmented as poultry, cattle, swine, and aquatic animals.With India and China being the major economies which have unexplored customer base covered in the study the report also focuses on other regions like Japan, Australia, South Korea and Rest of Asia-Pacific.Some of the key players that operate in the Asia-Pacific Feed Additives market include BASF SE, Inc., Novozymes A/S, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, Evonik Industries AG, Adisseo France SAS, Alltech, Cargill, Inc., Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited, Nutreco N.V.Enquire more about the report atThe Asia- Pacific Feed Additives market report offers wide-range of scope: Regional and country-level analysis that provides an individual perspective of Asia-Pacific region and the aforementioned countries Know more about key areas of industry growth via detailedSegment-level analysis on basis of type, Livestock along with market size forecasts and y-o-y estimations Detailed explanation of major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) that affect the market and impact the ever-shifting market dynamics Strategic Analyses containingPESTLE and Porters Five Forces Analyseswhich are obtained by studying the macro & micro environmental factors that affect the market demographics Comprehensive listing of key market players along with Company overview, product portfolios, financials (subjected to availability), SWOT analysis and analyst overview Competitive landscape analysis listing out the mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies Market Outlook - Investment opportunitiesdevised by stand in experts to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the marketFor more reports related to the Animal Feed Market:Feed additives Market:Compound feed Market:Eubiotics Market:Feed amino acids Market:Feed enzymes Market:About Market Data Forecast:Market Data Forecast is a firm working in the area of market research and business intelligence. With rich experience in research across various business domains, they cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. From all-encompassing umbrella markets to extremely specific niche markets covering all the major regions across the globe as part of the research scope, their research services offer one of a kind specialities with competitive pricing options. For more info kindly visit,Contact:Abhishek ShuklaManager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.comVisit MarketDataForecast Blog @View latest Press Releases of MDF @
FPSO Market Will Generate New Growth Opportunities by 2025

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Global FPSO Market : SnapshotA floating production, storage, and offloading unit is considered as a vessel that is being used widely by a large number of gas and offshore oil industries. These vessels are used for the purpose of manufacturing and processing of hydrocarbons and further for the storage of oil. The use of FPSO vessels helps in storing oil and transporting it through a pipeline, which saves time as well as resources of the oil and gas companies. As a result, the global FPSO market is anticipated to witness a robust growth in the next few years.A significant rise in the number of exploration activities across the globe is one of the vital factors projected to fuel the growth of the global FPSO market in the next few years. The rising focus of key players on research and development activities and new product development are predicted to generate promising opportunities in the coming years. In addition, the rising number of oil and gas exploration sites in order to cater the rising demand from consumers are projected to accelerate the growth of the global FPSO market in the near future.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Among the key regions, the developed economies, including Europe and North America are expected to experience a steady growth in the next few years. At present, the global FPSO market is growing at a rapid pace and is likely to witness a high level of competition in the coming years. The increasing number of mergers and acquisition is expected to enhance the competitive scenario of the FPSO market in the near future, encouraging the expansion of product portfolio. As a result, the overall market is likely to supplement the development of the market in the near future.Global FPSO Market: OverviewA floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit could be a newly constructed vessel or converted oil tanker which is equipped with oil and gas processing and production facilities. An FPSO is able to carry out all the activities for which the term stands for. It is a commodious vessel which resembles the shape of a ship and finds extensive usage in extracting raw hydrocarbons from sea beds. With processing facilities provided onboard, it can also transport processed oil and gas to desired onshore locations using a shuttle tanker.Request TOC of the Report @With more number of countries producing their own FPSOs and higher sales achieved by manufacturers, the world FPSO market is anticipated to rack up a staggering amount of revenue until the end of the forecast period.Global FPSO Market: Key TrendsThe substantial degree of growth witnessed in the FPSO market is predicted to be augmented by the soaring demand for enhanced productivity and controlled capital spending. With a view to achieve this, companies are looking to convert tank vessels into FPSOs. The very nature of FPSO to be able to operate at any depth, relocate to any location, and offer high return on investment is deemed to be a strong reason for its incrementing demand.The redeployed FPSO market is prognosticated to rise above freshly converted or newly built vessels with the capability to minimize project execution timeline. Suitable for operation in medium and small offshore fields, converted FPSO poses a lesser capital cost compared to new built products.The rising exploration activities in ultra-deep offshore fields led by maturing onshore oil and gas reserves are expected to provide an aggressive boost to the global FPSO market. More opportunities are envisaged to take birth as the need to counter difficult conditions in ultra-deep and deep sea reserves surges the demand for integrated compact systems.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global FPSO Market: Market PotentialIran is all set to install its first ever FPSO named FPSO Cyrus near South Pars in the Persian Gulf. The vessel is expected to employ pipelines to draw hydrocarbons from subsea wells. On an average, the Iranian FPSO holds the capacity to extract 30,000 barrels per day in the first production phase, which could be increased to a whopping 55,000 to 60,000 barrels per day in the second production phase.On similar lines, Keppel Offshore & Marine will be delivering its first FPSO unit named John Agyekum Kufuor to Yinson Production (West Africa) Pte. Ltd. in 2017. The vessel will be engaged by ENI Ghana Exploration & Production Limited for oil and gas processing at the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) positioned in Offshore Ghana. The unit is studied to boast a 58,000 barrels per day processing capacity and 1.7 million barrel storage capacity. With an approximate 15,000 ton topside weight, it has the potential to be moored in a standard 1,000 meter water depth.Global FPSO Market: Regional OutlookWith ample of support furnished by the government of Brazil, the country is predicted to stand out as a chief FPSO market in the South America region. The prominence of the Brazilian market could also be accredited to the elevating number of oil and gas activities. The oil field discoveries in deep water and latest offshore exploration and production developments of East Africa and South America are envisaged to help the regions register growth at a significant rate.However, regions such as Europe and North America of the FPSO market are foretold to grow at a stagnant rate but secure a valuable share on account of their mature oil and gas reserves.In order to curb its dependence on imports of energy resources, China is forecasted to offer profit-making opportunities for vendors in the FPSO market. Besides this, the development of offloading technologies, production advancement, surging area of ultra-deep and deep sea reserves, and maturing shallow water and inland oil and gas fields are envisioned to help China take precedence in the global market.Global FPSO Market: Competitive LandscapeWith mergers and acquisitions and fast building of product portfolio, key players in the international FPSO market are foreseen to take charge of a leading share. Some of the tough competitors in the global market are Sembcorp Marine Ltd., COSCO Shipyard Group Co. Ltd., PetroleoBrasileiro S.A., MODEC, Inc., TOTAL S.A., SBM Offshore N.V., and Samsung Heavy Industries Ltd.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Sales, Price, Revenue, Consumption and Market Share by 2021

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Distance Measuring Optical Sensor is an optical sensor to use laser or LED light to quickly and precisely measure distances on a wide range of materials, even at large ranges.Download PDF Sample of Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Market Report@Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Distance Measuring Optical Sensors in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Company 1 Company 2 Company 3 Company 4 Company 5 Company 6 Company 7 Company 8 Company 9 Company 10Browse Full Report with TOC:Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) Latin America, Middle and AfricaPlace Purchase Order for this Report@Market Segment by Type, covers Laser type LED typeMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Construction Logistics Hazards measurement OthersThere are 13 Chapters to deeply display the global Distance Measuring Optical Sensors market.Chapter 1, to describe Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Distance Measuring Optical Sensors , with sales, revenue, and price of Distance Measuring Optical Sensors , in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Distance Measuring Optical Sensors , for each region, from 2011 to 2016;Chapter 5, 6, 7 and 8, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 9 and 10, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2011 to 2016;Chapter 11, Distance Measuring Optical Sensors market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2016 to 2021;Chapter 12 and 13, to describe Distance Measuring Optical Sensors sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, appendix and data source.Table of Contents1 Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles3 Global Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Market Competition, by Manufacturer4 Global Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Market Analysis by Regions5 North America Distance Measuring Optical Sensors by Countries6 Europe Distance Measuring Optical Sensors by Countries7 Asia-Pacific Distance Measuring Optical Sensors by Countries8 Latin America, Middle and Africa Distance Measuring Optical Sensors by Countries9 Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Market Segment by Type10 Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Market Segment by Application11 Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Market Forecast (2016-2021)12 Sales Channel, Distributors, Traders and Dealers13 AppendixList of Tables:List of Tables and FiguresFigure Distance Measuring Optical Sensors PictureFigure Global Sales Market Share of Distance Measuring Optical Sensors by Types in 2015Table Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Types for Major ManufacturersFigure Laser type PictureFigure LED type PictureFigure PictureTable Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Sales Market Share by Applications in 2015Table Company 1 Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and CompetitorsTable Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Type and ApplicationsTable Company 1 Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Sales, Price, Revenue and Market Share (2015-2016)Table Company 2 Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and CompetitorsTable Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Type and ApplicationsTable Company 2 Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Sales, Price, Revenue and Market Share (2015-2016)Table Company 3 Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and CompetitorsTable Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Type and ApplicationsTable Company 3 Distance Measuring Optical Sensors Sales, Price, Revenue and Market Share (2015-2016)Table Company 4 Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and CompetitorsOrbis Research is a single point aid for all your Market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customised reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required Market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.comFor More PRs Visit @
Kaolin Market : Research, Set to Grow According to Forecast 2017 - 2025

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Global Kaolin Market: OverviewAlso known as China clay, kaolin is used at a sweeping rate in a variety of industrial applications, including paper, fiberglass, rubber, and ceramic. Much of the demand for kaolin can be accredited to its value added features which have attracted end-users from a host of different sectors. The surging business growth of the global kaolin market is prophesied to be complemented by the amplifying demand for tire manufacturing in the automotive parts sector along with construction materials.Global Kaolin Market: Key TrendsThe recent trend in the polymer and plastic industry favoring light weight instead of steel and metal products is prognosticated to set the tone for the world kaolin market. The quality of plastic can be fairly improved on the parameters of strength, durability, and electrical performance with the application of kaolin. Other industries such as adhesives, paints, and ceramics are at the mercy of kaolin in a gamut of applications, owing to its non-abrasive texture, chemical inertness, and grander opacity.Request Sample Copy of the Report @With almost half of the total kaolin consumption accounted by the paper industry, the declining usage of paper as a result of digitalization is expected to affect the global kaolin market. However, kaolin industry vendors can find bankable opportunities in other sectors such as construction which augments the usage of ceramics in the residential domain besides mortar and concrete.Global Kaolin Market: Market PotentialIn an article published after the victory of Chief Rotimi Akeredolu as the governor of the Ondo State in Nigeria, it was reminded of kaolin as a lucrative mineral resource that the state is blessed with. Nigeria is not one of the richest economies in the world while Ondo is under a dire need to address its urgent and complex issues. However, with precious minerals such as kaolin along with upmarket forest products and dominant oil and crop production, the Africa region is expected to find new hopes. Players in the global kaolin market can cash in on this opportunity to penetrate the untapped African markets and spread their prominence across the continent.Opportunities in the world kaolin market is not limited to only penetration. With companies such as Altech Chemicals looking to take charge as a ruling provider of 99.99% high purity alumina (HPA), industry players can give weightage to their presence in the kaolin market. In a recent press release, Altech is preparing to engage its proposed HPA plant for processing raw kaolin which is mined and shipped from its totally owned kaolin deposit in Western Australia.Request TOC of the Report @Global Kaolin Market: Regional OutlookWith the construction industry in emerging nations such as Japan, China, and India on the rise, the kaolin market in Asia Pacific is projected to scale up its focus toward a commanding growth between 2017 and 2025. The swelling industry size of the Asia Pacific region could also be attributed to maturing end-user sectors such as automotive and consumer lifestyle dynamics bettering at a telling rate.Announcing its supremacy in the international metakaolin market in 2015, North America is predicted to gain an upper hand in the midst of an optimistic growth environment post the economic turbulence in 2008. In respect of their superlative characteristics, graceful elegance, and easy installation, ceramic tiles are foreseen to strike a considerable growth for the kaolin market as the consumer focus loses sight of wood floors.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Kaolin Market: Competitive LandscapeTop companies in the worldwide kaolin market could take to strategic positioning of their processing divisions and vital acquisitions and mergers to see themselves strong in the run. Such strategic moves are envisioned to also help vendors gain a competent share in the global market. Some of the key contributors in the market are I-Minerals Inc., Daleco Resources Corporation, Imerys SA, BASF SE, and Kaolin AD.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
Polyol Esters Market Trends, Analysis, Application & Type Forecast By 2017 - 2025

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Polyol esters are a form of esters formed by the esterification of fatty acids. The term polyol esters is an acronym for neopentyl polyol esters, which are obtained by the reaction of monobasic acids such as HNO3 and HCl along with polyhedric alcohols which have neopentyl structure. Polyol esters are named after the alcohol which is utilized as its starting material. Polyol esters are known to be highly stable compounds due to their chemical structure. Their high thermal stability enables these compounds to be employed in applications which involve high temperatures.Polyol esters possess more ester groups as compared to diesters, increasing their viscosity, which makes them suitable to be utilized in lubricants. Their increased viscosity coupled with superior thermal stability make them a perfect substitute for various diesters, specifically in the field of lubricants. Various forms of polyol esters are available, as various acids can be reacted to obtain polyol esters having different length of fatty acid chains. Common types of polyol esters include trimethylolpropanes (TMPs), pentaerythritols (PEs), neopentyl glycols (NPGs), and di-pentaerythritols (DiPEs).Obtain Report Details @Polyol Esters Market: Market TrendsPolyol esters are employed extensively in jet engine lubricants. Polyol esters are being utilized in this field for the last 40 years. No other compound has been used as its substitute since it would affect the lubricity, and this is likely to eventually hamper the working of the component. Polyol esters are employed along with Polyalphaolefin (PAO) Synthetic Oils in passenger car motor oils. Polyol esters are utilized as synthetic refrigeration lubricants in industries. Other applications of polyol esters include fire resistant transformer, high temperature grease, textile lubricants, and fire resistant hydraulic fluids.Superior qualities of polyol esters such as thermal stability, high lubricity, and better viscosity makes them a sought-after compound. Rise in population in developing countries and their demand for better transport facilities and automotive sector are key factors driving the expansion of the market of polyol esters. Furthermore, the simultaneous expansion of the automotive industry is anticipated to increase the demand for polyol esters as lubricants in the near future, which is projected to boost the expansion of the market in the near future. However, higher price tag of polyol esters as compared to other diesters may prove to be a major restraint for the market of polyol esters in the near future.For more information on this report, fill the form @Polyol Esters Market: Region-wise OutlookAsia Pacific is a prominent and rapidly expanding market for polyol esters. The major reason for the development of the polyol esters market in Asia Pacific is due to increase in domestic usage in the automotive as well as industrial sector. The market in Europe is developed since the utilization of synthetic lubricants has increased over the last few years, making it a potential market during the forecast period. The scope for expansion of the market in North America is considered to be high due to its demand in industries and the automotive sector.The expansion of the market in Middle East & Africa is considerable due to the expansion of the automotive sector in the region. Expansion of the polyol esters market in Latin America is slow as compared to other regions due to presence of limited industries and manufacturing units which are likely to require lubricants.Polyol Esters Market: Key PlayersKey players operating in the global market for polyol esters include INOLEX, Purinova Sp. z oo, Ultrachem Inc., Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P., Vantage Performance Materials, KLK OLEO, Dow Chemical Company, Huntsman Corporation, Chemtura Corporation., and Shell Chemicals Ltd.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a 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:
Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market to Witness Exponential Growth by 2025

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Global Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market: OverviewThe global market for medical nonwoven disposables is expected to exhibit a healthy growth rate in the coming years. The growing awareness among patients regarding the advantages and preventive measures from different type of infections is likely to boost the demand for medical nonwoven disposables across the globe. Moreover, the increasing healthcare expenditure is predicted to contribute significantly towards the development of the market in the coming years.Global Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market: Key TrendsThe increasing prevalence of hospital acquired infections and the tremendous rise in geriatric populations are the major factors anticipated to encourage the growth of the global medical nonwoven disposables market. In addition, the rising prevalence of incontinence and the rising focus on technological advancements in this field are estimated to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the coming years.Request Sample Copy of the Report @On the flip side, the easy availability of alternatives is expected to restrict the growth of the global medical nonwoven disposables market in the next few years. Nonetheless, the rising awareness concerning incontinence products have resulted in the acceptance of such products is predicted to supplement the growth of the market in the near future.Global Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market: Market PotentialAccording to World Health Organization (WHO), the average prevalence rate of hospital acquired infections in the U.S. and Europe is growing at a significant rate. As a result, the medical nonwoven disposable products are being used extensively for their ability in order to prevent bacterial contamination among patients.Request TOC of the Report @The leading players in the global medical nonwoven disposables market are focusing on innovating and introducing safe, new, and value added products. Moreover, the introduction of premium quality, non-woven medical apparels and hospital clothing with latest fabric technology is predicted to provide safety and a high level comfort to the patients. This is estimated to generate promising and lucrative growth opportunities for players in the near future.Global Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market: Regional OutlookFrom a geographical perspective, North America is anticipated to account for a key share of the global medical nonwoven disposables market in the next few years. A large number of population make use of disposable adult incontinence products in the U.S. is one of the major factors is anticipated to contribute significantly towards the growth of the North America in the next few years.Furthermore, Asia Pacific is projected to witness a healthy growth in the next few years. The increasing geriatric population, especially in China and Japan is a key factor estimated to accelerate the growth of the market in the near future. In addition, the growing awareness among consumers and the rising number of hospital acquired infections are projected to accelerate the growth of the medical nonwoven disposables market in Asia Pacific throughout the forecast period.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global market for medical nonwoven disposables is extremely competitive and fragmented in nature, owing to the presence of a large number of players operating in it. In order to create a brand name and expand their market presence, the prominent players are focusing on innovations and new product development. Moreover, the increasing number of collaborations is expected to encourage the growth of the overall market in the near future.Some of the prominent players operating in the medical nonwoven disposables across the globe are Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, Polymer Group, Inc., First Quality Enterprises, Inc., Domtar Corporation, Covidien, and Mediline Industries, Inc. As per the research study, several new players are anticipated to enter the market, which will strengthen the competitive scenario in the next few years.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
Build-in Straw Pouch Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Global Build-in Straw Pouch Market: OverviewBuild-in straw pouch is a new technique for production for stand up pouches. Build-in straw pouch style of packaging presentation is light in weight and flexible in nature. Squeeze means to manage to get or through a narrow space and straw is a thin hollow tube of plastic for sucking drink from the pouch. There is a great demand for innovation in packaging has led the manufacturers to enter with an innovative product. The market is mainly driven by increased demand for ready-made fruit juice and soft drink and demand for convenient packaging from the consumer side. The Build-in straw pouch packaging is expected to register at impressive CAGR during the forecast period. The rising ready-made fruit juice, synthetic milk, and other beverage have led the global build-in straw pouch market to expand at substantial growth.Browse Market Research Report @Global Build-in Straw Pouch Market: DynamicsThe availability of a wide range of innovative packaging solutions is likely to have a significant influence on the demand for overwrap packaging market during the forecast period. Packaging industry witnessed large scale technology adoption in terms of films, equipment and packaging methods. Change in demand along with the rising per capita disposable income in the developing region has fueled the consumption across a broad range of products, with subsequent growth in demand for the global build-in straw pouch packaging of these goods. There are a large number of local and international vendors are present in the packaging world which heats up the innovation in product designing and presentation. The vendors are coming with plastic and laminated pouches prepared with a high barrier coating technology to upturn its shelf life and minimize the risk of saturation and now new technique in build straw pouch which is easy to form and easy to operate. With the technological innovations in the market, there is increasing demand for convenient packaging format. The global demand for Build-in straw pouch packaging is expected to witness remarkable growth rate in the near future.Global Build-in Straw Pouch Market: SegmentationThe Build-in Straw Pouch can be segmented on the basis of material type, application and region. On the basis of material type market can be segmented on plastic, paper and foil material. On the basis of application market is segmented into alcoholic product, dairy product, fruit juice, soft drinks, and other beverages. Among all material type plastic is gaining preference over other because plastic is light in weight, compatible lower in cost and are available in various design. The development of plastic packaging solution will be key driver for the growth of overall build-in straw pouch packaging market. The increasing demand for alcoholic beverage has pushed vendors to focus on shelf-life packaging that is easy to store, easy to transport and is convenient to unpack. On the basis of region build-in straw pouch market is segmented, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Global Build-in Straw Pouch Market: Regional OverviewNorth America build-in straw pouch packaging market is expected to register strong growth in near future while the market is expected to be a slowdown in its largest market of Europe. Europe market is focusing on the innovative packaging so that product become more appealing to consumers. The launch of easy open convenient Build-in straw pouch in Europe is expected to create demand for new packaging product which can add volume sale in this region. Build-in straw pouch packaging market in Asia Pacific region is expected to show nominal growth during the forecast period. Middle East and Africa is expected to witness nominal growth in the Build-in straw pouch packaging market in near future year future GlobalBuild-in Straw Pouch Market: Key PlayersThe main player of Build-in Straw Pouch in market are Glonroy Inc. Amcor limited , Ardagh group, Ball corporation, Crown Holdings, Rexam Owens-Illinois.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Digital Signage Market Trends, Technology, Application and Forecast Global Market to Grow at 6% of CAGR by 2022

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Market HighlightsThe study reveals that digital signage is trending in North America region. The digital signage market is driven by the innovation and advancements in digital technologies. An evolution of new and innovative product such as home monitoring system and others is boosting the Digital Signage market.The study indicates that the rise in demand for infrastructure of in-store digital signage for making brand value is a key driver for digital signage market. The study reveals that the lack of technical expertise and high initial cost and lack of standardization results as a limitation to the digital signage market.The Digital Signage Market is growing rapidly over 6% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD ~26.3 billion by the end of forecast period.Digital Signage Market SegmentationThe digital signage market has been segmented on the basis of product type, technology type, component type, application type and region. Looking through the product type segment it has been observed that kiosk has shown a substantial increase in digital signage market and holds the largest market share. The study indicates that considering the component segment the software segment is expected to show a positive growth in the digital signage market.Request to Receive a Sample Copy @Key Players:The prominent players in the digital signage market are: Cisco System Inc. (U.S.) Hewlett-Packard Company (U.S.) Samsung Corporation (South Korea) NEC Display Solutions Ltd (South Korea) Bright Sign LLC (U.S.) Panasonic Corporation (Japan) 3M Co.(U.S.) LG Display Co. Ltd. (South Korea) Ad flow Networks (Canada) Omnivex Corporation (Canada)Access Report Details @Market Research Analysis:On geographic basis, digital signage 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 digital signage market. North America is expected to grow with a high rate as well as hold the largest market share in the digital signage market. In the North America region due to higher focus towards advertisements and due to the advancements in digital technologies. The study shows that European region has a positive growth in the digital signage market. The developing economies in Asia-Pacific regions like China, Japan and others are showing high adoption in the digital signage 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
Head-Up Display Market to Reach USD 11 Billion Revenue by 2022 at a CAGR of 24%

Head-Up Display Market

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Market HighlightsRegional analysis for head-up display market is studied in different geographic regions such as North- America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. North America is expected to be leading player due to increasing demand of premium/luxury cars which have value added features for these cars. Europe is estimated to acquire second largest market share due to increasing need of information paired with safety concerns in automotive industry.The Head-Up Display Market is growing rapidly over 24% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD ~11 billion by the end of forecast period.Key Players:The prominent players in the head-up display market are: Penny AB (Sweden) Hudway (U.S.) Robert Bosch GMBH (Germany) Yazaki Corporation (Japan) Denso Corporation (Japan) Esterline Technologies Corporation (U.S.) Micro Vision Inc. (U.S.) Saab Automobile AB (Sweden) Visteon Corporation (U.S.) Honeywell Aerospace (U.S.) BAE Systems Inc. (U.K.) Continental AG (Germany) Nippon Seiki Co. Ltd (Japan)Request to Receive a Sample Copy @Head-Up Display Market Segmentation:The head-up display market is segmented on the basis of type, component and application. The application segment consists of automotive industry, military and civil aviation sector. By application segment, there is increasing demand for head-up displays in automotive, military and civil aviation sector. Head-up displays are provided for all vehicle classes from small vehicles to luxury classes. These displays allow users to stay focused on the information provided on the display screen and reduces the chances of distraction. These displays are also used for fighter jets where the military pilots get detailed information about the distance, speed, and range.Access Report Details @Market Research Analysis:Head-up displays provide sharp and clear image as they project images directly into the users eye. As head-up display requires time to get installed in cars or motor vehicles, head-up display apps can be downloaded which are free of cost as compared to installing head-up display units in cars or motor vehicles. The increasing passenger traffic in cars due to increase in disposable income of consumers has led to increase in demand of head-up display units in automotive industry.Regional analysis for head-up display market is studied in different geographic regions as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the world. North America market is identified as fastest growing market due to increasing demand in implementation of head-up display technology in two-wheeler helmets and on-board features. Asia-Pacific market is gradually increasing due to increasing demand of mid-size cars in China. India is driven by advanced equipped vehicles with head-up display units which has increased the demand for vehicle sales.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
Smart card Global Market, By Product & Data Validation, 2016 Analysis and Forecast 2022

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According to Publisher, the Global Smart Card Market is estimated to be $7.4 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $13.1 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2015 to 2022. Factors such as growing demand for secure & reliable payments, technology advancement, rising number of mobile phone subscribers and increasing penetration of mobile phones in emerging economies are driving the market growth. However, price pressures and technological challenges are inhibiting the growth of Smart card market.For more information about this report:Retail and BFSI industry segments are the fastest growing segments of smart card market. Asia Pacific is anticipated to retain its leading position and is analyzed to be the fastest growing market during the forecast period. From application side, telecom sector mainly 3G dominates the smart card use, while from growth perspective transportation sector remains the most dynamic sector. Payment chip-card market shows an apparent swing towards contactless and converging applications. Contactless payment can be performed with smart cards and with mobile devices. In meticulous, the demand for Dual Interface (DIF) payment cards is growing.The key players in the global smart card market are Siemens IT solutions and services, Sony corp, Datacard corp, Renesas Electronics, Arm Holdings PLC, Atmel Corporation, Diebold Corporation, Fujitsu Ltd., Gemalto NV, Giesecke & Devrient GMBH, Infineon Technologies AG, Ingenico SA, Inside Contactless S.A, MORPHO (SAGEM ORGA), Oberthur Technologies Group, Samsung Electronics, Stmicroelectronics N.V., Thales SA, Verifone System INC, Watchdata System CO., LTD, American Express Company, Atos SE, NXP Semiconductors NV, Texas Instruments, Inc. and CPI Card Group Inc.,Components Covered:- Microcontroller Cards- Memory CardsApplications Covered:- Healthcare- Transportation- Telecommunication- Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)- Retail- Government ID- Pay TV- Other ApplicationsRequest Sample Copy atTypes Covered:- Contact Smart Card- Contactless Smart Card- Hybrid Smart Card- Dual-interface Smart Card- Other TypesRegions Covered:- North AmericaUSCanadaMexico- EuropeGermanyFranceItalyUKSpainRest of Europe- Asia PacificJapanChinaIndiaAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia Pacific- Rest of the WorldMiddle EastBrazilArgentinaSouth AfricaEgyptCompany Profiling10.1 Siemens IT solutions and services10.2 Sony corp10.3 Datacard corp10.4 Renesas Electronics10.5 Arm Holdings PLC10.6 Atmel Corporation10.7 Diebold Corporation10.8 Fujitsu Ltd.10.9 Gemalto NV10.10 Giesecke & Devrient GMBH10.11 Infineon Technologies AG10.12 Ingenico SA10.13 Inside Contactless S.A10.14 MORPHO (SAGEM ORGA)10.15 Oberthur Technologies Group10.16 Samsung Electronics10.17 Stmicroelectronics N.V.10.18 Thales SA10.19 Verifone System INC10.20 Watchdata System CO., LTD10.21 American Express Company10.22 Atos SE10.23 NXP Semiconductors NV10.24 Texas Instruments, Inc.10.25 CPI Card Group Inc.,Inquire before Buying atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Iron Methionine Sales Market Report 2017: Abbott Nutrition, Bacteria, Chengdu Sunwe, Adirondack

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Iron Methionine is one of nine essential amino acids in humans (provided by food), Iron Methionine is required for growth and tissue repair. A sulphur-containing amino acid, Iron Methionine improves the tone and pliability of skin, hair, and strengthens nails.The Global Iron Methionine Industry 2017 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Iron Methionine market. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2016 through 2021.Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. The global market for Iron Methionine is expected to reach about 1547.67 K Tonnes by 2021 from 1123.36 K Tonnes in 2016, registering a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.62% during the analysis period, 2016-2021.For Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit:The report provides a basic overview of the Iron Methionine industry including definition, classification, application and industry chain structure.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. What s more, the Iron Methionine industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.This report studies Iron Methionine focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringEvonikAdisseo (Bluestar)NOVUSSumitomo ChemicalCJ Cheiljedang CorpCheck Discount @To Know More About This Report, Click Here:Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Iron Methionine 11.1 Definition and Specifications of Iron Methionine 11.1.1 Definition of Iron Methionine 11.1.2 Specifications of Iron Methionine 11.2 Classification of Iron Methionine 21.2.1 Solid Iron Methionine 21.2.2 Liquid Iron Methionine 41.3 Applications of Iron Methionine 51.3.1 Feed Additive 61.3.2 Pharmaceutical 71.3.3 Food Supplement 81.4 Industry Chain Structure of Iron Methionine 91.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Iron Methionine 91.5.1 Industry Overview of Iron Methionine 91.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Iron Methionine 101.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Iron Methionine 111.7 Industry News Analysis of Iron Methionine 112 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Iron Methionine 132.1 Raw Material Suppliers Analysis of Iron Methionine 132.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Iron Methionine 152.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Iron Methionine 152.4 Other Costs Analysis of Iron Methionine 182.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Iron Methionine 20Enquiry Before Buying @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-Follow Us:LinkedIn | Twitter| Facebook
Safety Window Films Market - Industry Outlook, Size,Share, Growth Prospects, Key Opportunities, Trends and Forecasts, 2017-2021

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Safety Window Films is a thin film or laminate that can be installed to the interior of glass surfaces in automobiles, boats, homes and buildings. It is usually made from polyester due to its clarity, tensile strength, dimensional stability; and ability to accept a variety of surface-applied or embedded treatments.Safety Window Films is a thin sheet of window coating to deliver a range of high-value benefits, which can be installed on interior glass surfaces or exterior glass surfaces in residential & commercial buildings, automobiles, boats and marine applications.Safety Window Films comes in a range of shades from visually clear to darker shades of grey and bronze, the durability and performance of these products are determined by the quality and type of component used. Safety Window Films provides many benefits, from energy savings to UV protection.For Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit:Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Safety Window Films in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversEastman3MSolar Gard-Saint GobainMadicoJohnsonHanita CoatingHaverkampSekisui`S-Lec`AmericaGarware`SunControlWintechTo Know More About This Report, Click Here:Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Safety Window Films Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Solar Control Film1.2.2 Safety / Security Film1.2.3 Decorative Film1.2.4 Spectrally Selective Film1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Commercial1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Automotive1.3.4 Others1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)Enquiry Before Buying @4 China Safety Window Films (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Safety Window Films Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Safety Window Films Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Safety Window Films Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Safety Window Films Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 Europe Safety Window Films (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Safety Window Films Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Safety Window Films Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Safety Window Films Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Safety Window Films Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Players5.3 Europe Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Japan Safety Window Films (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Japan Safety Window Films Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Japan Safety Window Films Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Japan Safety Window Films Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Japan Safety Window Films Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Japan Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Players6.3 Japan Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.4 Japan Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Application7 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films Sales and Value (2012-2017)7.1.1 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)7.1.2 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)7.1.3 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)7.2 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Players7.3 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Type7.4 Southeast Asia Safety Window Films Sales Volume and Market Share by Application8 India Safety Window Films (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8.1 India Safety Window Films Sales and Value (2012-2017)8.1.1 India Safety Window Films Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)8.1.2 India Safety Window Films Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)8.1.3 India Safety Window Films Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)Check Discount:About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-Follow Us:LinkedIn | Twitter| Facebook
Asia-Pacific Point-of-care Diagnostic market set to record cumulative growth of 10.28% during forecast period

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http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/head-and-neck-cancer-diagnostics-market-49/

In the report published by Market Data Forecast named Asia-Pacific Point-Of-Care Diagnostics Market, the market is estimated at $3.01 billion in 2016 and poised to grow $4.92 billion by 2021 at a CAGR of 10.28% in the forecast period.Point-of-care diagnostics encourages a fast, convenient, and cost-efficient way to diagnose diseases at healthcare centers and hospitals. Clinics and other healthcare departments, in order to provide fast and accurate diagnostic results, are relying on point of care tests consequently influencing industrial growth. The success of a potential shift from curative medicine, to predictive, personalized, and preemptive medicine could rely on the development of portable diagnostic and monitoring devices for point-of-care testing.Many advanced techniques and point-f care products are being developed to provide efficient diagnostic results, but in developing and poor countries like in Africa, demand for the cost-effective procedure is much more. In developing regions, Point-of-care diagnosis tests are crucial to counterbalance lack of adequate laboratory capacity.The report also presents detailed analysis of various drivers driving the point-of-care diagnostics market as well as constraints of the market that binds it. Some of those factors are Increasing population. Demand for cost effective diagnostics procedures. Increasing collaboration between providers.For Full Report refer toFor granular understanding Point-of-care diagnostics market is differentiated on basis of product, mode of delivery and end-user. Each sub segment is accompanied with Market Size Estimations and Y-o-Y Forecasts as well.The Asia-Pacific point-of-care diagnostics market is segmented based on products, end-users and mode of delivery. Products have been segmented into Infectious Diseases, Cardiac Markers, Oncology Markers, OTC Diagnostic Tests, drug abuse, Blood Gas Testing, Fertility Testing, Urinalysis, Coagulation, Hematology, Glucose Monitoring, Ambulatory Chemistry, Decentralized Clinical Chemistry and others. By End-Users, the market has been further segmented as clinics, hospitals, home healthcare, ambulatory care settings, laboratories and others. Finally on the basis of delivery, the market has been segmented further into OTC and prescription modes of delivery.Free Sample for report:Geographically, market is segmented into India, China, Australia, South Korea and Japan. China leads the market for point-of-care diagnostics in this regionThe report contains in-depth profiling with recent developments to sustain and strengthen their position on market. Some of the major players in this market are Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Danaher Corporation, Roche Diagnostics Limited, BioMerieux, Siemens Healthcare, Beckman Coulter, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Johnson & Johnson, Alere Inc., and PTS Diagnostics. Danaher made huge investments in China in order to fuel their R&D and increase their market share in Asia.Customization option available at:The Asia-Pacific Point-of-care diagnostics market report offers wide-range of scope: Regional and country-level analysis that provides an individual perspective of Asia-Pacific region and the aforementioned countries Know more about key areas of industry growth via detailed Segment-level analysis on basis of product, mode of delivery and end-user along with market size forecasts and y-o-y estimations Detailed explanation of major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) that affect the market and impact the ever-shifting market dynamics Strategic Analyses containing PESTLE and Porters Five Forces Analyses which are obtained by studying the macro & micro environmental factors that affect the market demographics Comprehensive listing of key market players along with Company overview, product portfolios, financials (subjected to availability), SWOT analysis and analyst overview Competitive landscape analysis listing out the mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies Market Outlook - Investment opportunities devised by stand in experts to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the market.Enquire about the report:Check out other related studies in the Diagnostics Segment:Acute Ischemic Stroke Diagnosis and Treatment Market:Autoimmune Diagnostics Market by Test type:Diagnostic Imaging Market by Type:Genetic Testing Market by Type:Head and Neck Cancer Diagnostics Market:About usMarket Data Forecast is a firm working in the areas of market research and business intelligence. We have rich experience in research across major industry segments like Healthcare, Agriculture, Food & Beverages etc. and we cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. Our research services contribute to key business areas like business process improvement, key decision making and developing appropriate corporate strategy. We are truly committed to our clients and other stakeholders for providing customized research services of the highest quality all the while being an organization thats trusted for its integrity, respected for its accountability, and admired for its excellence, by both clients and competitors alike.Contact:Abhishek ShuklaManager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.com
Competitive Analysis Of Global Luxury Goods Market By Type And By Geography From 2014 - 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Competitive Analysis Of Global Luxury Goods Market By Type And By Geography From 2014 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.The luxury goods market has been witnessing major growth due to the addition of new high net-worth customers.. A major transformation has happened with regard to lifestyle of wealthy young and affluent customers, who are extremely brand-conscious these days. Companies are forming various strategies to cater to customers in the most effective manner. Development of mobile applications, websites, and campaigns on social networking sites are some initiatives companies are adopting in order to attract new customers and engage old ones. The global luxury goods market is characterized by large number of mergers and acquisitions, thus making it highly consolidated in the near future. Different segments adopt unique strategies to develop their product lines. Some companies are focusing on distribution, while others are producing unique high-priced products in the form of limited editions.This study offers a competitive analysis of the global luxury goods market by type and by geography. The report also contains further segmentation by type across major geographies. In addition, it provides current and forecast market size by revenue for major luxury products for the period 20142020. The report discusses current and future trends for major regions and countries in a precise manner. Furthermore, the report also presents the current market size of each country in major regions and their respective projected market size in 2020. Major players in the global luxury goods market include LVMH Group, Kering S.A., Rolex S.A., LOreal Group, Tiffany & Co., Coty, Inc., The Swatch Group Ltd., Prada S.p.A, Compagnie Financiere Richemont S.A., Hermes International SCA, Graff Diamonds, Burberry Group plc, Revlon, Inc., and Avon Products, Inc.The global luxury goods market is expected to grow moderately over the forecast period. However, the market in Rest of the World (RoW) and Asia Pacific (APAC) is likely to grow at a healthy CAGR, owing to major lifestyle changes among consumers in these regions. In addition, consumers in these regions are well-informed about the various fashion trends around the world. Therefore, the market in RoW and APAC regions are poised to grow briskly between 2014 and 2020. The market has been segmented by product type into luxury watches & jewelry, apparels and leather goods, luxury personal care & cosmetics, wines/champagne and spirits, fragrances, and others.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report includes major drivers of the luxury goods market in the present scenario. Additionally, restraints and opportunities for the same are discussed in detail. The market overview comprises value chain analysis, which describes various stages where companies can add value and strengthen their positions in the market. Furthermore, the report analyzes macro economic factors influencing and inhibiting growth of the global luxury goods market. Porters Five Forces analysis offers insights on market competition throughout its value chain. The market attractiveness analysis highlights key investing areas in this industry.Extensive secondary research and primary interviews has been performed to capture only genuine information for analysis in this report.The global luxury goods market here refers to the market by type and by geography, and is categorized into the following segments:Global luxury goods market by typeThe different types covered under this research study are defined as follows:Luxury Watches & JewelryApparels and Leather GoodsLuxury Personal Care & CosmeticsWines/Champagne and SpiritsFragrancesOthers (tableware, luxury pens)In addition, the report provides a cross-sectional analysis of all the above segments with respect to the following geographical markets:North AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldIn-depth research and high-level analysis will enable market vendors and research and development agencies to make informed decisions about the global luxury goods market, formulate growth strategies, and gain competitive advantage. This study serves to assist manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and retailers in this market and industry to formulate and develop their strategies.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 @
Anticoagulants In Global Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts From 2017 - 2021

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Anticoagulants In Global Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts From 2017 - 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.The report entitled Global Anticoagulants Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2017-2021) provides an in-depth analysis of the global anticoagulants market with description of market size and growth. The analysis include market share by treatment, by segment, and by products.The report also provides analysis of injectable and oral anticoagulants available in the market. Details of Lovenox, Arixtra, Xarelto, Eliquis, Pradaxa and Savaysa has been provided in the report in terms of their global sales.A brief analysis of the US anticoagulants market has also been provided in terms of value and sales of top four oral anticoagulant drugs in the region.Furthermore, the report also assesses the key opportunities available in the market and outline the market dynamics that are and will be accountable for growth of the industry. Growth of the global anticoagulants market has also been forecasted for the period 2017-2021, taking into consideration previous growth outlines, growth drivers and the existing and forthcoming trends.Bayer, BMS/Pfizer, Boehringher Ingelheim and Daiichi Sankyo are some of the key players operating in the global anticoagulants market, whose company profiling has been done in the report. This segment summarizes business overview, financial overview and the business strategies of the companies.Company CoverageBayer GroupBMS/PfizerBoehringher IngelheimDaiichi SankyoTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Country CoverageThe USExecutive SummaryAnticoagulants which are also known as blood thinners are drugs that are prescribed to prevent blood from clotting or stop existing clots from getting larger. The drugs prevent harmful clots forming in heart, veins or arteries. Formation of clots in the blood can lead to heart attack or stroke. These drugs are used to treat strokes, myocardial infarctions, pulmonary embolisms, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT)- all potentially life-threatening conditions. Anticoagulants work by interrupting the process involved in the formation of blood clots.The most commonly prescribed anticoagulant is Warfarin. Newer types of anticoagulants are also available and are becoming increasingly common. These include rivaroxaban (Xarelto), dabigatran (Pradaxa), apixaban (Eliquis), and edoxaban (Savaysa/Lixiana). Warfarin and the newer alternatives are taken as tablets or capsules. There's also an anticoagulant called heparin that can be given by injection.The global anticoagulants market has increased over the years and is expected to grow in the next four years i.e. 2017-2021, particularly due to development of novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs). The global anticoagulants market is supported by various growth drivers such as growing aging population, rising prevalence of coagulant disorders, increasing demand for NOACs, rising awareness about anticoagulants, etc. Yet, the market faces some challenges which are obstructing the growth of the market. Some of the challenges are stringent regulations from regulatory bodies, high cost of oral anticoagulants, major side-effects associated with the drugs, etc.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 @
South Korea Medical Tourism Market Growth 2017-2020

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MarketReports.Biz, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "South Korea Medical Tourism Market" across the South Korea.South Korea Medical Tourism Market is likely to reach nearly USD 2 Billion by the year end of 2022 growing at a CAGR of around 15% from 2017 to 2022.Get sample report @Market growth can be attributed to factors such as technologically advanced treatments and medical procedures, pioneer in plastic/cosmetic surgery and dentistry, excellent medical practitioners & medical facilities, affordable medical costs and strong government support and initiatives.Chinese medical tourists play a significant role in contributing revenue to the South Korea economy. China contributed more than 35% share in 2016. China is likely to maintain dominance in South Korea Medical Tourism revenue share by the year end of 2022. United States spot at second position in the revenue share with XX% share. Other countries such as Japan, Russia, Kazakhstan and UAE emerge as the largest revenue generators in the South Korea Medical Tourism Market.The research report titled "South Korea Medical Tourism Market Insights, Opportunity, Analysis, Market Shares & Forecast 2017  2022 provides detailed information on the South Korea Medical Tourism Market. This report analyzes market data and provides a better understanding of medical tourists flow and revenue to South Korea. Market outlook in value terms for the forecasted period for South Korea Medical Tourism Market has been detailed in the report. Key industry news and medical procedures cost comparision are analyzed with details. This report also entails a detailed description of growth drivers and inhibitors of the South Korea Medical Tourism Market.Browse full report with TOC @Key Topics Covered in the Report South Korea Medical Tourism Market Environment & Trend (2009  2022) South Korea Medical Tourism Market Share & Forecast (2009  2022) South Korea Medical Tourism Market  Countrywise Analysis Medical Procedures  Cost Comparison Analysis Industry News from South Korea Medical Tourism Key Drivers and Inhibitors of the South Korea Medical Tourism MarketSouth Korea Medical Tourism Market  12 Countries Covered1) United States2) China3) Japan4) Russia5) Mongolia6) Vietnam7) Philippines8) Kazakhstan9) Saudi Arabia10) Uzbekistan11) Indonesia12) United Arab EmiratesAbout UsMarketReports.biz offers elevating market research worldwide. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different fields. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank Valadez155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Toll Free: +1-855-918-5551 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +17739042683Web:Email: sales@marketreports.biz
Therapeutic Applications Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells - Advances, Products & Technologies

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Therapeutic Applications Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells - Advances, Products & Technologies" to its huge collection of research reports.This global strategic report is produced for:Management of stem cell companiesManagement of regenerative therapy companiesStem cell industry investorsIt is designed to increase your efficiency and effectiveness in:Commercializing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) products, technologies, and therapiesMaking intelligent investment decisionsLaunching high-demand productsSelling effectively to your client baseIncreasing revenue from MSC products and servicesTaking market share from your competitionMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types, including osteoblasts, chondrocytes, myocytes, adipocytes, beta-pancreatic islets cells, and potentially, neuronal cells. MSCs are of intense therapeutic interest because they represent a population of cells with the potential to treat a wide range of acute and degenerative diseases.MSCs are advantageous over other stem cells types for a variety of reasons: they avoid the ethical issues that surround embryonic stem cell research, and repeated studies have found MSCs to be immuno-privileged, which make them an advantageous cell type for allogenic transplantation. MSCs reduce both the risks of rejection and complications of transplantation. Recently, there have been advances in the use of autologous mesenchymal stem cells to regenerate human tissues, including cartilage, meniscus, tendons, bone fractures, and more.This global strategic report explores recent advances in MSC research applications, research priorities by market segment, and the competitive environment for MSC research products. It also identifies trend and growth patterns within the MSC industry. Because it is important for pharmaceutical companies interested to understand underlying forces affecting the MSC market, this report also presents a range of topics that apply to these companies, including how advances in MSC research can reveal potential new drug targets, improve methods of drug delivery, and provide personalized treatment strategies.Make an Enquiry of this report @Clinical Progress with MSCsAs mentioned, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have inspired a lot of activity over the past ten years as a novel therapeutic model for a wide range of diseases. Presently, MSCs-based clinical trials are being conducted for twelve types of disease conditions, with many completed trials showing their safety and efficacy.The clinical utility of MSCs are mostly attributed to their four key biological properties, which are their potential to:Migrate to sites of inflammation caused by tissue injury when injected intravenouslyTo get differentiated into different cell typesTo release different bioactive molecules having the potential of stimulating recovery of injured cells and preventing inflammationTo accomplish immunomodulatory functionsCurrently, there are 128 clinical trials involving MSCs are in progress in different parts of the world, including China, the European Union, the United States, the Middle East, and South Korea. Among these trials, 45 (35%) are exploiting MSCs for various disease indications. Currently, four major clinical trials using MSCs have reached Phase III. Stempeutics Researchs product candidate Stempeucel is being evaluated in two centers for treating critical leg ischemia. Prochymal is the product candidate from Osiris Therapeutics and it is being used for treating graft vs. host disease (GvHD). The company is also testing Prochymal for treating Crohns disease in another Phase III trial. The Australian company Mesoblast is testing an off-the-shelf mesenchymal precursor product candidate for treating patients with hematological malignancies.Report ObjectivesThe purpose of this report is to describe the current status of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) research, the ongoing clinical trials involving MSCs, late stage MSCs clinical trials, and the possible uses of MSCs in cell therapy. As MSC cell therapy is an integrated component of other cell therapies and regenerative medicines (RM), the report also gives a brief overview of the RM industry and overall cell therapy (CT) industry.Thus, the main objectives are to consider the following:Current status of global regenerative medicine (RM) industry in the utilization of stem cells in general and MSCs in particular.Current status of global cell therapy (CT) industry, the application of cell therapy in various disease indications, and the total number of clinical trials involving the different types of stem cells.Current status of MSCs in clinical trials, the dominance of MSCs in the ongoing clinical trials involving stem cells, the various applications of MSCs in different disease indications, and the number of clinical trials involving MSCs for different disease types.The number of companies involved in the development of MSCs, the clinical trials sponsored by major companies, and their sustained search for MSCs-based cell therapy products.Key questions answered in this global strategic report are:How many companies are currently supporting the RM industry?What is the current regional breakdown of RM industry?How many RM products have been approved?What are the types of diseases are currently being pursued by RM companies?What are the major financial events, partnerships and acquisitions in RM sector?How do the large pharma companies perceive the value and long-term prospects of RM and CT?To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Bile Duct Cancer Market: Rising Support to Medical Research to Enable Steady Progress

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Bile duct cancer, called cholangiocarcinoma, is caused mainly by long-term liver inflammation, exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, and biliary stones and other abnormalities in the bile duct. Due to the close link between the bile duct and the digestive tract, key symptoms of bile duct cancer include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, abrupt weight loss, and jaundice.By treatment type, the global bile duct cancer market is segmented into chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Surgical treatment of bile duct cancer may comprise removal of the bile duct and removal of some of the liver. In extreme cases, a complete liver transplant may be needed. The chemotherapy segment of the global bile duct cancer market can be further segmented into gemcitabine, oxaliplatin, capecitabine, and cisplatin, while combined drug treatment can take any form, based on the needs of the individual patient. The rising work in the chemotherapy sector to find more effective cancer therapeutics and the increasing interest in targeted research aimed at finding more efficacious remedies against particular cancers is likely to be a prime driver for the global bile duct cancer market in the coming years.Read Report -The increasing expenditure on medical research and development of new technologies is another key driver for the global bile duct cancer market. Governments of several countries have encouraged medical research due to the economic benefits of the entry of multinational companies as well as the ease of providing medical advances to the local population. However, the clinical trials scenario regarding bile duct cancer is affected adversely by the long approval times required for new product development.Geographically, the global bile duct cancer market is dominated by North America due to the steady availability of reimbursement facilities, the rising incidence of bile duct cancer, and the pioneering oncology research being conducted in the region.The report also provides a thorough understanding of the global bile duct cancer markets competitive landscape by profiling the leading players operating in the market. The key companies examined in the report include Bayer AG, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., Sanofi, ConMed Corporation, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.Inquire for a Sample copy of Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.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.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Octreotide Acetate Market 2017 : Critical Care, Neiss Labs, Novartis, Sandostatin, Aituo

Octreotide Acetate Market

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A market study based on the "Octreotide Acetate Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Octreotide Acetate Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Octreotide Acetate industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Octreotide Acetate market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Research Report,1. Samarth Pharma2. Critical Care3. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries4. Neiss Labs5. Novartis6. Unique Chemicals7. Sandostatin8. Xinyhuanshun9. Aituo10. Shengtian11. YipubishanThe report studies the industry for Octreotide Acetate across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Octreotide Acetate market & dynamics of demand and supply of Octreotide Acetate into consideration. The 'Octreotide Acetate' research study covers each and every aspect of the Octreotide Acetate market globally, which starts from the definition of the Octreotide Acetate industry and develops towards Octreotide Acetate market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Octreotide Acetate market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Octreotide Acetate market. The geographical segmentation of the Octreotide Acetate industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Octreotide Acetate is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Octreotide Acetate market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Octreotide Acetate market worldwide.Enquire Here :Global Octreotide Acetate Market: Regional Segment Analysis1. North America (USA, Mexico and Canada)2. Europe (UK, Russia, Italy, Germany and France)3. Asia-Pacific (India, China, Japan, Korea and South-east Asia)4. South America, Middle East5. AfricaThe global Octreotide Acetate market 2017 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Octreotide Acetate production volume, data regarding demand and Octreotide Acetate 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 Octreotide Acetate across the globe.About Us:Business Worldwide 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.Contact US:Business Worldwide, United States
Smart Bullets Market: Land Segment to Report Higher Demand for Smart Bullet

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Global Smart Bullets Market: SnapshotThe global smart bullet market is heavily influenced by the increase in the defense budget across the world. The swiftly advancing economies, such as China, India, France, the U.S., and U.K. are increasingly integrating smart bullets in their military organizations, which is reflecting positively on this market. With technological advancements, these bullets are likely to witness a substantial rise in their demand in several countries, such as the U.S., China, and India over the next few years.The global market is likely to proliferate significantly in the near future. Expanding at a CAGR of 15.20% between 2017 and 2025, the opportunity in this market is estimated to increase from US$270.4 mn in 2016 to a value of US$955.4 mn by the end of 2025.Browse Report:North America to Maintain Dominance in Global Smart Bullets MarketOn the basis of the geography, the worldwide market for smart bullets has been categorized into North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe. North America, closely followed by Europe, led the global market in 2016 with a share of more than 42%. This regional market is projected to retain its dominance in the near future, thanks to the increase in the defense budget and the rising demand for weapons. Technological advancements are also expected to stimulate the uptake of these bullets in this region over the forthcoming years. Europe is another important market for smart bullets. It is driven by the augmenting demand for smart weapons in the U.K, Germany, France, and Russia. The U.K. has emerged as the leading domestic market for smart bullets in Europe.Among other regional markets, Asia Pacific, is likely to report a higher growth rate between 2017 and 2025. Several economies in this region, such as India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China are anticipated to present promising opportunities for the growth of this market in the years to come, thanks to the ongoing research activities for the development of highly advanced smart weapons. Apart from this, the rising demand for weapons and frequent terror attacks are also anticipated to drive the Asia Pacific market for smart bullets in the next few years. China has surfaced as the key domestic market for smart bullets in Asia Pacific and is projected to remain so in the near future.Make an inquiry atLand Segment to Report Higher Demand for Smart BulletSmart bullets find significant usage in airborne, land, and naval weapons. The land segment emerged as the leading end user for smart bullets in 2016 with a share of 43.6%. Researchers anticipate the scenario to remain so over the forthcoming years, thanks to the increasing investments in the military and defense sector for the development of smart weapons in developing economies. Over the next few years, the presence of war-like situations in various countries, such as Turkey, Ukraine, Lebanon, China, India, France, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, is likely to increase the overall demand for smart bullets, reflecting positively on this market.The airborne segment is also projected to report a significant rise in the demand for smart bullets in the near future, owing to the high investments in remote sensing and sensors for defense from the Brazilian army.Lockheed Martin Corp., The Raytheon Co., Thales Group, BAE Systems Plc, General Dynamics Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Harris Corp., Boeing Co., Taser International Inc., and Textron Defense Systems are some of the key players in the global smart bullets market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
With increasing prevalence of cancer, Multiplexed Diagnostics Market will grows at a CAGR of 20% till 2024

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A handful of players dominated the otherwise fragmented global multiplexed diagnostics market in 2015. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Abbott Laboratories, and Agilent Technologies were the leaders of this market for 2015, with a collective share of 59.5% in terms of value. The market is defined by the presence of these few leaders and then the presence of a large number of small-scale and medium-scale enterprises that hold minor shares. The leaders of the global multiplexed diagnostics market in 2015 all showed a diverse product portfolio, the possession of advanced tech, and a wide area of regional presence.This 194 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the multiplexed diagnostics market. Browse through 24 data tables and 75 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:In a research report recently published by Transparency Market Research, the global multiplexed diagnostics market is expected to witness a high degree of competition over the coming years. This fact is primarily concluded from the high volume of smaller players in the market that are eyed by the fewer, larger ones in terms of partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions. Although the volume of smaller players in the global multiplexed diagnostics market currently is very high, the scope for new entrants is much lower than expected, due to the need for acquiring patented technologies and the establishment of sizeable manufacturing facilities, both of which can eat up a large contingent of a companys capital, leaving very little to spend on building feasible distribution networks. The global multiplexed diagnostics market is expected to be valued a little over US$6.0 bn by the end of 2016. After showing a consistently optimistic CAGR of 20.3% on its revenue from 2016 to 2024, the market is expected to reach US$26.36 bn by the end of 2024.Equipment Automation in Full Swing, Drives Demand for Multiplexed DiagnosticsTech automation using multiplexed diagnostics has so far been a blessing for scientists trying to generate a larger volume of sample results at lower costs. This forms the primary driver for the global multiplexed diagnostics market today. Players in the market are involved in multiple aspects of the healthcare industry in a similar manner. For instance, the automation of PCR amplification can be done using multiplexed diagnostic technologies, and can help users lower the rate of user-intervention required and the cuts down the overall hands-on efforts needed to get the program to execute. At the same time, this equipment automation can also allow a higher throughput, save time in processing and considerably reduce manual labor required, consequently cutting down the chances for errors, states a TMR analyst.The global multiplexed diagnostics market also finds a significant growth rate from the high priority funding that the field of genomics is currently receiving. The research community for multiplexed diagnostics has been able to avail this funding storm.Multiplexed Diagnostics Assay a Costly Affair for ManyRequest a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving multiplexed diagnostics market during 2016  2024:Multiplexed diagnostics is still a new concept for the healthcare industry and as with many nascent stage markets, solutions and products from it can be unaffordable for several small-scale and medium-scale clients. Multiplexed diagnostics assay tests are relatively very expensive when compared to single-plex assays tests, especially in terms of the initial investment required for the equipment.Despite its high costs, players in the global multiplexed diagnostics market can expect a booming demand in research and development efforts on the current applications for multiplexed diagnostics, thus providing them with ample opportunities over the coming years, adds the analyst.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Multiplexed Diagnostics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024.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:
Global Loquat Wine Market 2017-2022 Chengdu Hong Yi Orchardz Wine, Fuqing Qingqingcao Loquat Wine Brewery

Loquat Wine Market

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http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-loquat-wine-market-2016-production-sales-supply.html

The latest report Loquat Wine Market by QY Research added to it's database and brings to light the comprehensive study and factual information of global market. The report also provides the global market segmentation based on applications, end-users, technology, and geography. The Loquat Wine research report offers a comprehensive assessment of the Loquat Wine market and consists of historical data, scope, significant approaches and statistical data of the global market. Besides these, it also includes anticipated facts that are assessed with the aid of an appropriate set of postulations and techniques.The report focuses on regional as well as global market, its key players, along with market segments including detailed study on various divisions and its applications. The report provides comprehensive information on each and every segment covered of the Loquat Wine market.Request for FREE SAMPLE Report @The report includes rigorous data, in-depth analysis in two ways, namely, quantitative and qualitative, industry professionals inputs and data given by the industry members and industry analysts involved in the complete value cycle. The report features thorough study of important market and their current trends, coupled with respective market segments. Information about the numerous factors and their influence on the global market and its segments is also mentioned in the Loquat Wine report.The study report evaluates the range of factors of the Loquat Wine industry, such as definition, demands, share, analysis, supply, sales, size, specification, forecast trends, production, classification, industry policy, news, and application. The global Loquat Wine market report will provide significant and reliable information on the market clearly in structured format. The report will offers you a key manufacturer of the products, applications, DROS and others.The Loquat Wine report covers the precisely studied and evaluated data of the global market players and their scope in the market using a number of analytical tools. The analytical tools such as investment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the key global market playersgrowth in the Loquat Wine industry.Browse Complete report With TOC available @Moreover, the report assessed key market features, including price, revenue, capacity utilization rate, growth rate, capacity, production, gross, supply, consumption, cost, market share, demand, import, gross margin, export, and much more.The Loquat Wine report is a useful documentation that aids distributors, manufacturers, suppliers, customers, investors & individuals who are interested in this market.Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market.Important changes in market dynamics.Market segmentation up to the second or third level.Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume.MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com
Growing Demand, Opportunities and Challenges for ICT Vendors in the Mobile Health Wearable Market Research Report

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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Opportunities and Challenges for ICT Vendors in the Mobile Health Wearable Market " to it's Large Report database.Thanks to growing demand for chronic disease monitoring, long-term care, and self-management of health, the business potential of mobile health wearables has surged in recent years. ICT Vendors have attempted to tap into the mobile health market with their hardware and software solutions, and cloud computing technologies; however, no large-scale medical applications have been carried out thus far. This report analyzes opportunities and challenges faced by ICT vendors when developing mobile health wearables and looks into leading international vendors' developments with an aim to provide insights for the future.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Table of Contents1. Introduction of Mobile Health Wearables1.1 Definition of Mobile Health and Emergence of Wearables1.2 Types of Mobile Health Wearables2. Development of Mobile Health Wearables2.1 Mobile Health Wearables on Market2.2 Health Wearables Developed by ICT Vendors: Apple Watch and HealthKit2.3 Health Wearables Developed by Medical Device Company: MedtronicRead All ICT Market Research Reports @3.Gaps in Mobile Health Wearable Value Chain3.1 Development of IC and Equipment Vendors in the ICT Industry3.1.1 IC Vendors3.1.2 Equipment Vendors3.2 ICT Vendors' Development of Medical Software and Systems3.3 Regulations for Medical Software and Systems3.4 ICT Vendors' Development of Medical Cloud Platforms4.ConclusionAppendixGlossary of TermsList of CompaniesList of TableTable 1 Key Features of Different Types of Mobile Health WearablesTable 2 Wearable Components Developed by Semiconductor VendorsTable 3 Wearables Developed by Consumer Electronics BrandsTable 4 Common Medical Software and SystemsTable 5 Developments of Medical Software and System VendorsTable 6 US FDA's Mobile Medical App ClassificationTable 7 Opportunities and Challenges for Different Types of Taiwanese VendorsAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at:
Global USB Car Chargers Market Analysis by Manufacturers, Types and Applications, Forecast to 2022

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Global USB Car Chargers Market 2017 report spread across 116 pages gives Market Segment Analysis by Key Manufacturers, Countries, Types and Applications. USB Car Chargers is type charger with special contact plug for mobile device, when the users travel in a vehicle.Complete report is available atScope of the Report:This report focuses on the Global USB Car Chargers 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: Anker, IO Gear, PowerAdd, Ventev, Insignia (Best Buy), Belkin, Unu Electronics, Huntkey, Radio Shack, Lumsing, Aukey, Jasco, Incipio, Amazon Basics, ScosheMarket 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: 1 Port, 2 Ports, 3 Ports, Other TypesMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Passenger Car, Commercial VehiclesRequest for discount atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global USB Car Chargers market.Chapter 1 to describe USB Car Chargers Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2 to analyze the top manufacturers of USB Car Chargers, with sales, revenue, and price of USB Car Chargers, 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 USB Car Chargers, 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 USB Car Chargers market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15 to describe USB Car Chargers 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
Baby Scale Industry Predictions for 2016 - 2024

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Baby Scales are commonly used to determine the weight of infants and toddlers. Weight of a baby is an indication of the growth, it should be within the standards and hence, it is important to check the weight gain during the growth process and also ensure that it follows a regular trend. A sudden increase or decrease in the weight points out an anomaly. These baby scales replace the traditional methods of weighing. They are designed in a manner that they are equipped with secure baby trays or seats that allows for comfort to the baby and convenient readings to the physicians or nurses working with the infants or newborns. The baby scales are useful as they offer reliable height and weight measurement for assessment of growth and nutrition. With the advancement in technology, various shapes and sizes of scales are available that could weigh with better accuracy and precision. Baby scales vary in their make, capacities, design etc, however, an ideal baby scale need to precise, easy to use, highly portable, durable and of low cost. It should be made up of material that provides stability and support during the weighing process. Baby scales have been customized in a way that they could be programmed to measure and record the data.Obtain Report Details:Global baby scale market has been segmented by product type, type of material, end user, and geography. In term of product type, the market has been categorized into Digital balances and Electronic Balances. The digital balances can further categorized as Beam balances and spring balances. The beam balances are more preferred than the spring balances owing to its better holding capacity and design. The Electronic baby scales provide an accurate measurement and is also often accompanied with self-calibration capability. Based on the type of material used for baby scale, the market is segmented into Plastic, steel and others like glass. The Plastic type such as polystyrene baby scales are more prevalent and considered by majority of people owing to its enhanced safety and other features associated. End users for the Baby scale market consist of hospitals, neo-natal care centers, clinics and home-care settings.Geographically, the Baby Scale market has been segmented into five regional markets, namely, North America (United States and Canada), Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, etc.), Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Japan, India, etc.), Latin America (Mexico, Brazil etc.) and Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa etc.). Asia pacific region with high birth incidences is expected to register a higher growth. North America and Europe regions is anticipated to lead the market due to the advancement in technology. Latin America and the Middle East and Africa are expected to record robust growth during the forecast period 2016-2024 due to growing health care industry.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:The baby scales market is an uprising market with addition of new technologies and features in the product that better serves the intended purpose. For example, the Withings Smart Baby scale by Withings SA, was awarded with CES Innovations Award in the year 2012 for its ability to connect with Wi-fi the weight measurements of the infants and toddlers. In addition to this, there are other factors that affect the growth of the Baby scales market such as rising awareness amongst parents and technological advancements such as development of Baby scales that could communicate through a wireless network. The convenience of having a baby scale at home-care settings avoids the frequent visit to the doctor. The market is also experiencing certain restraints, such as, the lack of guidelines and information about which type of baby scales to be used.Key players:The major players operating in the neuroendovascular coil market include DETECTO Scale Company, seca, Zhejiang Conqueror Weighing Apparatus Co.,Ltd, DUCK image, Salter Housewares, Sunbeam Products, Inc, Binatone Global, Withings SA., TanitaThe 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:
Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market - Global Trends, Market Share, Industry Size, Growth, Opportunities, and Market Forecast to 2017

Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market

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A new and latest research report proposed by QYResearch Groups renders a market summary of the Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market industry. This widespread analysis comprises of market potentials and challenges, scope of product, sales volume, market revenue, estimates and rate of growth. The report also digs into all the major market players across the globe.Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating market competition by top manufacturersBASF, Henry, Dow Corning, MAPEI Group, Saint-Gobain, Sika Group, Pazkar, Polycoat Products, Jotun A/S, Progressive Painting, Nippon Paints, Sherwin Williams, Clariant Chemicals, Beijing Oriental Yuhong, Keshun, HIS Paints(Beijing), Hebei Jizhong, Tianjin Huayi, Beijing Langkun, Guangzhou Minghuang, Beijing Jingrun, Dongying Zhengyu, Tianjin Chenguang Chemical PaintRequest for sample of Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market research report @The report highlights crucial dynamics and in-depth analysis of the market segment with concentrating on factual data, present industry activities, growth opportunities, new product inventions, and market forecast for the anticipated frame of time along with leading market players, market study based on several regions, and extensive product. The Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market report assists in determining the projection in this meticulous industry by rendering precise potential demand prognoses. These prognoses will aid the market players to take vital decisions and take hold of the untapped regions and new entrants.This research report incorporates the current market size of this industry. It also distinguishes and assesses complex value chains across the globe such as primary factors, market growth restrains, and propelling strategies. This latest market report examines the Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market by several segments such as regions, applications, companies, and for the proposed time frame. The report gives a complete insight of this industry consisting the qualitative and quantitative analysis provided for this market industry along with prime development trends, competitive analysis, and vital factors that are predominant in the Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market.Detailed TOC and Charts & Tables of Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Research Report available @Market Scope:Various aspects are considered in this all-inclusive market research report and it inspects the global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market industry from an all axis perspective. It gives in-depth information on the future viewpoint, key developments, market dynamics and growth, latest trends in the market, and potential investment segment.The report furnishes: An in-depth widespread market analysis of the global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Analysis of global market trends, forecasts for 2022, and predictions of CAGRs through proposed time frame. Thorough analysis of applications Mentioning of market players with their complete profile description Researches the vital market trends and novel developments technologically in the Polyurethane Waterproof Coating MarketGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Polyurethane Waterproof Coating in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoFeiJiaoYou Polyurethane Waterproof CoatingOne-Component Polyurethane Waterproof CoatingAcrylate Waterproof CoatingMarket share and growth rate of Polyurethane Waterproof Coating for each application, includingBathroomBasementReservoirOtherCheck for Discount @Some points from TOC:-Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Research Report 20171 Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Polyurethane Waterproof Coating1.2 Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 FeiJiaoYou Polyurethane Waterproof Coating1.2.4 One-Component Polyurethane Waterproof Coating1.2.5 Acrylate Waterproof Coating1.3 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Segment by Application1.3.1 Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Bathroom1.3.3 Basement1.3.4 Reservoir1.3.5 Other1.4 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating 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 Polyurethane Waterproof Coating (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Polyurethane Waterproof Coating Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionEnquiry before Buying @Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-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
Manuka Honey Market Size by Type, Application, Element and by Region - Global Trends & Forecast to 2022

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Manuka Honey Market report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Manuka Honey from 2011-2017, and provides extensive market forecasts (2017-2022) by region/country and subsectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Induction Stove market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Induction Stove, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants.Manuka honey, produced in Australia and New Zealand by bees that pollinate the Manuka bush, is one of the most unique and beneficial forms of honey in the world. The honey is commonly sold as an alternative medicine. There are many Manuka honey uses that range from healing sore throats and digestive illnesses, to curing Staph infections and gingivitis.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Manuka Honey in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Request a sample copy of Global Manuka Honey Market Research Report @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers  Comvita, Manuka Health, Arataki Honey, Watson & Son, Streamland, Pure Honey New Zealand, Ora HoneyGlobal Manuka Honey Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)The listed pricing for this Global Manuka Honey Market report starts at $ 3480. Request Discount for Global Manuka Honey Market Research Report @Market Segment by Type, covers  UMF 5+, UMF 10+, UMF 15+, UMF 20+Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into  Digestion and inflammation treatment, Wound-care & skincare products, OthersBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Global Manuka Honey Market Report @Related Reports: -EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Honeysuckle Extract Market Report 2017In this report, the EMEA Honeysuckle Extract 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.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
Driving Factors for Argan Oil Market

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Global Argan Oil Market: OverviewWith growing demand for non-timber forest products (NTFP), there has been increased inclination of local conservatives to preserve such plants, of which argan oil has gained significant traction. Furthermore, consumer inclination towards herbal and botanical ingredients in different products ranging from cosmetic, food to medical products is likely to fuel the argan oil market growth. This is further leading to commercialisation of argan oil across the globe. As a food ingredient, argan oil acts as energy booster with consumers suffering from vitamin deficiency, heart problems, and low metabolism. Similarly, cosmetic producers are using argan oil in beauty products for moisturizing and anti-aging effects. Argan oil exhibits properties such as anti-oxidants, fatty acids, and the linoleic acids, which help in fighting issues such as fine lines, inflammation, acne, scars, and stretch marks. Furthermore, pharmacological and savoury properties of argan oil are contributing towards increased demand for argan oil across the globe. Increasing adoption of argan oil in cosmetic and culinary application have led companies to develop formulations using argan oil. This has also led to growing contribution from domestic, international and nongovernmental organisations associated with argan oil primarily in Morocco.Browse Market Research Report @Global Argan Oil Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe argan oil market is fuelled by increasing demand for natural-based ingredients, especially in cosmetic and hair care products. Furthermore, increasing customer awareness about argan oils benefits is anticipated to fuel argan oil market growth in the forthcoming years. Mass merchandising and global penetration strategy coupled with the online availability of product are key strategies adopted by companies in the argan oil market. Other growth stimulating factors of argan oil market include improvement in the extraction process of argan oil, increased production capacity, and climate change. Furthermore, growing demand for enhanced nutrients and vitamins among consumers in products ranging from food and beverages to personal care products is anticipated to stimulate the argan oil market growth in the near future. However, agricultural exploitation, non-availability on retail stores, and high prices of argan oil as compared to other available oils are restricting the overall argan oil market growth. Although, high-price of argan oil restricts its adoption among consumers, improvements in argan oil extraction and improved production capacity by the argan oil manufacturers is anticipated to offer sustainable growth to the argan oil market during the forecast period.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Global Argan Oil Market: SegmentationOn the basis of source, argan oil market is segmented into:-NaturalOrganicOn the basis of applications, argan oil market is segmented into:-MedicalFoodCosmeticsOn the basis of sales channel, argan oil market is segmented into:-Hypermarket/super marketFranchise outletsMedical shopsOnlineGlobal Argan Oil Market: Region wise OutlookThe global argan oil market is divided into seven regions, namely Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), North America, Western Europe, Japan, Eastern Europe, and Middle East and Africa (MEA). As compared to other regions Middle East and Africa dominated the argan oil production. Increased customer awareness regarding natural ingredients especially in countries such as India, Brazil and China is expected to fuel the argan oil market growth in the forthcoming years. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a potential area for global as well as regional players investing in the argan oil market. This is further supported by extensive research and development coupled with growing application of argan oil in medical and food industry.Global Argan oil Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the argan oil market includes:Nadifi ArganArgan Liquid GoldJosie Maran CosmeticsArgan DivaBiopurEssence Of ArganSaadia Organics andZinegloARGANisme Cosmetics S.A.R.LOLVEA MoroccoAbout 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:
Milk Coagulating Enzyme Market Spicing Up due to Increasing Demand in the Processed & Packaged Food & Dairy Products

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Milk Coagulating Enzyme: Market OverviewAn enzyme is a protein, high molecular weight compounds formed by the chains of an amino acid linked together by peptide bonds. These proteins act as a catalyst causing reactions when added. Each enzyme reacts and provide different reactions such as enzymes for cheese production, bio-protective enzymes for enhancement of flavor, texture, safety and shelf life of the dairy products and thus are specific. There are various sources of the enzymes depending on its applications and the product. Milk coagulating enzymes are the enzymes added for the productions of cheese, yogurt and other dairy products. There are three stages of coagulation, in the primary stage, the enzyme called rennet are used for casein processing. In the second stage, calcium is required, as the process of aggregation of casein particles takes place. As a result, it forms a gel. In last and the third stage, gel network is developed which gets cut depending on the desired texture of the cheese. It gets affected by the external factors like temperature, heat, light. The optimum temperature for the coagulation is around 30 to 32CObtain Report Details @Milk Coagulating Enzyme: Market DynamicsThere are various driving factors that trigger the milk coagulating enzyme market as there is increasing demand in the processed and packaged food and dairy products, necessity for the waste reduction resulting into food safety. Along with it, rising awareness for nutrient-rich products, high penetration of marketing channels in rural and urban areas, availability of enhanced dairy products with the range of flavors facilitate the milk coagulating market to have a significant market growth. Coupled with these factors, drivers like advanced and high technological machinery, inter-relationship of urbanization and changing consumer preferences also contribute to the growth of the market.The factors like inconsistent regulatory processes, high research and development costs, temperature dependent product life, government interventions and regulatory policies affect the growth of the milk coagulating enzyme market.For more information on this report, fill the form @Milk Coagulating Enzyme: SegmentationBased on the sources, enzymes are segmented asAnimalMicrobialPlantBased on enzyme type, market is segmented intoRennetProteasesLipasesLactaseCatalaseMilk Coagulating Enzyme: Segment OverviewMilk coagulating enzymes are segmented on its sources. It is sourced from animals, plant, and microbial. Based on the types of enzymes, the market is segmented into rennet, protease, lipase, lactase, and catalase. Rennet, an enzyme formed by the mixture of animal and microbial sources, is the traditional type of the enzyme used in the first stage of the coagulation process. It is a mixture of chymosin and pepsin, also known as the calfs fourth stomach lining. Proteases are used for the second stage of the process for the acceleration of ripening of cheese. It also modifies the functional properties of milk and reduces those properties which can prove to be allergic to the infants. Lipase is responsible for the characteristic flavors of the cheese as it breaks down the milk fats. Lipase is used for cheese ripening to enhance the flavor and texture of the cheese. Lactase is an enzyme that cuts lactose into sugars, galactose, and glucose. It is used in Ice cream for its sweeter taste. Catalase, obtained from microbial sources or bovine liver converts hydrogen peroxide to water and molecular oxygen.Milk Coagulating Enzyme: Regional OverviewMilk and milk products are in demand all around the world with different product category preferences. Considering different policies for the dairy products which depends upon religious, cultural and other demographic factors, the milk coagulation enzyme market has a vast regional expansion. The milk coagulating enzyme has its presence in the North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa.Milk Coagulating Enzyme: Market PlayersSome of the market players areChr. Hansen Holding A/S,Biocatalysts Limited,Amano Enzyme Inc.,Shenzhen Leveking Bio-Engineering Co. Ltd.,Jiangsu Boli Bioproducts Co. Ltd.,Sunson Industry Group Company Limited,Royal DSM N.V.,Enmex SA DE CV,Advanced Enzymes Technologies Limited,Amway, BASF,DuPont Danisco,DSM,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:
Overview of Kiosk Market in Global Industry : Demands, Insights, Research and Forecast 2017-2024

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ALBANY, NY, May 11, 2017 : A kiosk is an electronic device that provides information which is basically interactive in nature. Modern consumers demand more interactive features and the liberty while purchasing a commodity. Hence, a major section of the retail companies are contemplating incorporating kiosks in their businesses.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @This research report on the kiosk market provides detailed analysis of the kiosk devices and helps understanding the driving forces behind the popularity of kiosk in the market. It also provides analysis of major sub-segments of the global kiosk market for the next nine years. This report includes extensive analysis of industry drivers, restraints, market trends, and market structure. The market study provides comprehensive assessment of stakeholder strategies and imperatives for succeeding in the business. The report has segregated the market based on type, end-use, and geography.Other important points covered in the research study include:Definitions, estimates, and forecast (revenue) of the kiosk market for the period from 2016 to 2024Analysis of the global market and respective sub-segmentsRecent developments of major players and strategies followed by themProfiles of major market participants to help better understand their contribution in the marketThe research report provides a comprehensive assessment of stakeholder strategies, and the imperatives for succeeding in kiosk market. The report includes competitive analysis of various market segments based on type and end-use for kiosks, and in-depth cross-sectional analysis across different geographical segments of the kiosk market. The report segregates the kiosk market based on different geographies into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-east and Africa and Latin America.For detailed understanding of the kiosk market, all these segments have also been estimated in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) for the geographies mentioned above. The market research study analyzes the kiosk market worldwide, and provides historical revenue estimates in terms for the years 2015 and 2014, along with the market forecast for the period 2016 to 2024. Market forecasts have been analyzed considering the impact of various economic, political, social, legal, operational and technological factors influencing market growthThe kiosk market is segmented as follows.Kiosk MarketBy TypeVendingSelf-Service KiosksATM (Automated Teller Machine)Locker KioskCharging KioskOthers (Web Payphone, Gaming)Make an Enquiry of this report @By End-useRetailerTransport (Airport/Railway/Bus) OperatorBanks, AdvertisersPetrol StationCommercial Complex (Education, Hospital)GovernmentBy GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East and AfricaLatin AmericaResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Forage Feed Market-Cattle Livestock Segment to Display Significant Revenue Contribution to Market in Future

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Global Forage Feed Market: SnapshotThe forage feed market has been displaying significant growth over the past couple of years. This is due to surging meat consumption globally, expansion of farm animal production, and increasing practices of administering forage feed to animals for their nutritional content.Obtain Report Details @The cultivation of forage crops has environmental benefits as well. It contributes to food crop production by conserving soil, protects the environment from pollution, and helps revegetate degraded land. Forage feed is also used for their protein content in medical and pharmaceutical products.Almost 26% of the worlds land and 70% of worlds agricultural land is covered by grasslands, as per statistics from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. This provides livelihood to millions of people for livestock rearing for milk, meat, wool, hides, eggs, and animal power. Forage crops are broadly classified as temporary meadows, permanent meadows, annual crops, and crops. Permanent meadows involve land to be used for five years or more. They mainly grow perennial legumes and grasses. Temporary meadows involve the land to be used for a period of fewer than five years for growing forage. Annual crops are high-yield grains such as wheat, maize, and sorghum.For more information on this report, fill the form @However, the high cost factor of forage feed is leading consumers to lookout for cheaper substitutes. For example, in the U.S., in 2013, the consumption of distillers grains was registered to be much higher over forage feed due to its economical cost factor. Furthermore, lack of funding for forage research is also restraining the markets growth. Nevertheless, with surging product innovations, the forage feed market is expected to be benefitted.The global forage feed market was valued at US$85.06 bn in 2013. Expanding at a CAGR of 11.4% between 2013 and 2019, the market is forecast to be worth US$162.87 bn by the end of 2019.Rising Disposable Incomes Secure Asia Pacifics Lead Position in MarketAmongst all regional markets, Asia Pacific held a share of more than 30% in the global market in 2013. The region is anticipated to retain its dominant position over the coming years. The growth of the Asia Pacific forage feed market is driven by growing population, rising disposable income leading to increasing buy of livestock products, and progressive urbanization in the region.Europe holds almost 30% share in the global forage feed market. North America and Rest of the World regions account for remaining share of the overall market.Cattle Livestock Segment to Display Significant Revenue Contribution to Market in FutureIn terms of product type, the market can be classified as stored forage, fresh storage, and others. In 2013, stored forage dominated accounting for 41.51% of the overall market. Stored forage is harvested as hay and stored and packed in plastic bags.On the basis of livestock, in 2013, the forage feed market was dominated by poultry accounting for 33.1% of the overall market. The segment was closely trailed by pork/swine that held almost 29% of the market in the same year. Cattle currently accounts for a lower market share, however, the segment is expected to display robust growth in the coming years due to the increasing cattle production for milk, transportation, beef, and leather.Some of the leading players in the global forage feed market are Triple Crown Nutrition Inc., Cargill Incorporated, Semican Inc., J. Grennan and Sons, Standlee Hay Company Inc., Baileys Horse Feeds, and The Pure Feed Company Limited, ADM Allinace Nutrition Inc., BASF SE, Chaffhaye Inc., Brett Young Seeds, and NWF Agriculture 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:
Market Insight : Content Delivery Network Market Globally Grow at a CAGR of 29.66% by Revenue During the Forecast Period 2017-2021

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ALBANY, NY, May 11, 2017 : CDN is a large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers across the Internet. CDN aims to make contents easily available to end-users with a high performance of websites. CDNs serve a large fraction of the Internet content, which includes web objects like text, graphics, URLs, scripts, and downloadable objects such as media files, software, and documents. It is also used for e-commerce, portals, live streaming media, on-demand streaming media, and social networks. For instance, a website can be hosted in the US, but some of the heavy files can be hosted elsewhere so that the main server serving the content is not slowed down. In addition, these files may be hosted on a different country or even continent as well, so the visitors from those regions experience faster site loading times.Technavios analysts forecast the global content delivery network market to grow at a CAGR of 29.66% during the period 2017-2021.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global content delivery network 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:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Content Delivery Network 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 vendorsAkamai TechnologiesCDNetworksCloudFlareLevel 3 CommunicationLimelightMaxCDNOther prominent vendorsAbacastAcceliaAlcatel-LucentAmazon Web ServicesAT&TBharti AirtelBitTorrentBroadmediaBT GroupCacheFlyCisco SystemsConvivaDeutsche TelekomEdgeCast NetworksHighwinds Network GroupInternap Network ServicesInterroute CommunicationsNTT CommunicationsPacNet ServicesReliance GlobalcomSingapore TelecommunicationsTata CommunicationsTelecom Italia SparkleTelstraMarket driverHigh server availability.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeHigh price of CDN solutions.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMake an Enquiry of this report @Market trendIncreasing development of content delivery clouds.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?ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Medical Aesthetics Market Analysis Report and Opportunities Upto 2022

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The new research report on Medical Aesthetics Market offered by DecisionDatabases.com provides Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015-2022.The report on global medical aesthetics 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).Get FREE Sample Report Copy @The increasing adoption of minimally invasive and noninvasive procedures and increasing population count of aging population are the major factors pushing the market uphill. But strict safety norms for aesthetic proceedings 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 2015-2022. The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the worldwide market with company profiles of key players such as Allergan PLC, Alma Lasers Ltd., Cynosure Inc., Galderma S.A., Johnson & Johnson, Lumenis Ltd., Merz Aesthetics Inc., Photomedex Inc., Solta Medical Inc., Syneron Medical Ltd. and Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. Geographically, this market has been segmented into regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. 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.Medical Aesthetics Market Analysis By Product5.Medical Aesthetics Market Analysis By End-User6.Medical Aesthetics Market Analysis By Geography7.Competitive Landscape Of The Medical Aesthetics Companies8.Company Profiles Of The Medical Aesthetics IndustryPurchase Complete Global Medical Aesthetics Market Research Report At:About-Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.About the company:3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Rigid Packaging Market: Top Players, Segments, Trends, Opportunities by 2021

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The top five players operating in the global rigid packaging market are Tetra Pak, ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co KG, Ball Corporation, Reynolds Group, and Crown Holdings. The collective share of these players stood at 12.46% in 2014. These players are expected to shift their focus towards product innovation to stand out in the highly fragmented market. Diversification of product portfolio and improving regional reach will also prove to be a crucial move for the companies in gaining a bigger share in the global rigid packaging market.The research report by Transparency Market Research states that the global rigid packaging market is expected to be worth US$750.57 bn in 2021, rising from US$549.71 bn in 2014. The market is expected to witness an expansion rate of 4.5% between 2015 and 2021. Out of the various applications of rigid packaging materials, they are mainly used for packing food and beverages as they help in improve the shelf life of packaged food items. Thus, the increased uptake of rigid packaging in food and beverages will drive this application segment at a CAGR of 4.3% between 2015 and 2021.Browse Report:Geographically, Asia Pacific holds a strong foothold in the global market as the region is experiencing a push from emerging economies of India and China. The growing food and beverage industry along with other factors will drive this regional market at a CAGR of 3.9% between 2015 and 2021.Demand for Ready-to-Eat Meals Boost Demand for Rigid Packaging MaterialsThe exponentially rising demand for ready-to-eat preserved food items has been the primary growth driver for the global rigid packaging market. The growing consumption of such kind of food items, especially due to a rise in urbanization and changing lifestyles, has also propelled the demand for rigid packaging in recent times. Food and beverage manufacturing companies are opting for high-quality rigid packaging to improve the safety of the packed items and for maintaining the quality of food. The growing awareness amongst consumers about well-packed food items instead of loosely packed goods to prevent contamination and diseases is also expected to boost the demand for rigid packaging materials.Make an inquiry atThe growth of the pharmaceutical industry due to the high incidence of diseases and increasing expenditure on healthcare has also bolstered the demand for rigid packaging materials. These materials are preferred in the pharmaceutical industry due to their features such as low cost, barrier properties, transparency, compatibility with other materials, and durability. They also play a key role in the preservation of medicine as they are highly resistant to flame and do not easily absorb water.The rising consumption of convenience food items such as snacks and quick bites in developing countries has also propelled the global rigid packaging market to a large scale. The need to provide consumers safe and healthy meals has also become a key factor driving the global rigid packaging market in recent times.Stringent Food Packaging Norms Hinder GrowthStringent safety standards pertaining to food packaging have posed a considerable restraint to the global market. Furthermore, the tough check on packaging technology is also hampering the uptake of rigid packaging. Governments across the globe have been implementing strict rules to restrict the carbon footprint of rigid packaging manufacturing companies and waste disposal methods used by these companies.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Enterprise WLAN Market Analysis, Size, Application Analysis, Business Strategies and Forecasts 2016 TO 2025 |The Insight Partners

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The Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Industry by Components, Software Solutions, Services and End-users report provides a detailed overview of the major factors impacting the global Industry with the Industry share analysis and revenues of various sub segments.The exponential rise in mobile and portable devices has increased the demands for wireless connections to the internet inside an office. Whether it is office or home, wireless connections to the devices have become an integral part of lives of individuals. In the business environments, wireless LAN is needed to access internet through smartphones, tablets or laptops by individuals. The complex wiring inside an enterprise and additional costs of laying down cables is avoided thus making Enterprise grade WLAN much more effective in the business circles.Get Complete Report @The report aims to provide an overview of Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Industry along with detailed segmentation of Industry by component, software solutions, services, end-users and five major geographical regions. Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Industry is expected to witness aggressive growth during the forecast period due to sudden spike in the use of smart and portable devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets by individuals.The objectives of Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Industry Report is as follows: To provide overview of the Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Industry To analyze and forecast the Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Industry on the basis of component, software solutions, services, end-users To provide Industry size and forecast till 2025 for overall Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Industry 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 Industry dynamics effecting the Industry during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend To provide exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions To profiles key Worldwide Enterprise WLAN players influencing the Industry along with their SWOT analysis and Industry strategiesRequest Sample Copy @Segmentations Covered in the Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Market Access points : WLAN Controllers, Wireless Hotspot Gateways Software Solutions : Network Management, Network Intrusion and Prevention Solution, Network Performance and Application Solution Services : Network Planning and Design, Network Installation, Network Support Geographical Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), South America (SAM)Some of the leading players in Worldwide Enterprise WLAN Market Report Aruba Networks Alcatel-Lucent Cisco Systems, Inc Ericsson Motorola Solutions Brocade Communication Systems Hewlett-Packard Enterprises Netgear Solutions Zebra Technology Solutions Aerohive Networks.Access Full Report @Reason to buy 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 Worldwide Enterprise WLAN market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long term strategies Get reliable information about the strategies manufacturers in this Industry use to drive revenue Gain insights into the competitive landscape, to strengthen Industry 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 Industry 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 competitionInquire about discount on this 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.comAbout 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.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Research Report 2017

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Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Industry 2017 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2017-2020.The research report on global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market offers an in-depth analysis, presenting insights into the key growth factors, which are estimated to encourage growth of the global market. In addition, the research study throws light on the drivers, barriers, latest opportunities, current trends, and the technological developments in the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market have been presented in the scope of the research report. The research study further includes business policies and strategies of the leading players operating in the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market, highlighting the regulatory ecosystem, future projections, and the limitations in the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market.To Get Free Sample Copy of Report visit @The research report, as a whole, offers answers to various important questions concerning the development and challenges within the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market. Some of them are given below:What are the key factors supplementing the growth of the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market?Which key factors are likely to curb the development of the overall Orthopedic Braces & Support System market?Which product segment is projected to lead the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market in the near future?Which technology and application segments are expected to encourage market growth?Which geographical segment is anticipated to witness progressive growth in the coming years?What is outlook of the competitive scenario of the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market?What is the estimated size and share of the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market in the next few years?Furthermore, the research report throws light on the leading players operating in the Orthopedic Braces & Support System market across the globe. A list of all these leading players have been included in the scope of the research report in order to offer a strong understanding of the global Orthopedic Braces & Support System market. The key marketing tactics and advertising activities have been highlighted in the research report.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsGlobal Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Research Report 20171 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Orthopedic Braces & Support System1.2 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Orthopedic Braces & Support System by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.3 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Segment by Application1.3.1 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Orthopedic Braces & Support System (2012-2022)2 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2017)2.2 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2017)2.3 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2017)2.4 Manufacturers Orthopedic Braces & Support System Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)4.1 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Consumption by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Orthopedic Braces & Support System Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Orthopedic Braces & Support SystemFigure Global Production Market Share of Orthopedic Braces & Support System by Type in 2015Figure Product Picture of Type ITable Major Manufacturers of Type IFigure Product Picture of Type IITable Major Manufacturers of Type IITable Orthopedic Braces & Support System Consumption Market Share by Application in 2015Figure Application 1 ExamplesFigure Application 2 ExamplesFigure North America Orthopedic Braces & Support System Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Orthopedic Braces & Support System Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Orthopedic Braces & Support System Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Industry New developments, Landscape Analysis and Forecast to 2025

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The Global Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Industry report categories the global Industry by Deployment Model, Service, End-user Verticals and Geography report provides a detailed overview of the major factors impacting the global Industry with the Industry share analysis and revenues of various sub segments.A segment of cloud computing, Global Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), offers array of physical computing resources that include network connections, servers, bandwidth and load balancers, which are provided virtually by the cloud service providers (CSPs). IaaS vendors offer computers, physical or virtual machines and other resources. IaaS refers to online services utilized by enterprises such as physical computing resources, data-partitioning, location, security, backup and scaling. Growing demand for recovery in disaster situation and rising demand for hybrid cloud solutions as a service across the globe is the noticeable factor boosting the adoption of IaaS globally. However, higher data security, and privacy issues are anticipated to hinder the global IaaS Industry. Industries and companies are increasingly adopting IaaS system solutions owing to the rising volume of financial and business data information and other critical data in various verticals. The need for decreasing the operational cost and IT administration, in order to emphasize further on their core business operations, is the primary factor driving the global IaaS Industry, especially within small & medium enterprises (SMEs).Get Complete Report @IaaS provides a competitive cloud computing platform to the enterprises by enabling shared pool of storage and computing applications for end-users on on-demand basis. Moreover, the technological developments have led to growing mobility, bring your own device (BYOD), and similar digitalization trends in several fields. Flexibility, ease in deployment, and scalability of services with economic benefits are the factors boosting the global IaaS Industry.In addition, increasing penetration of hybrid cloud is further expected to drive the global IaaS Industry, owing to the introduction of a number of businesses that require solutions which are more economic, ensure flexibility, protect data from disaster and suit the need for their IT requirements based on cloud. Thus, the IT & telecom end-user vertical is anticipated to show healthy growth in the global IaaS Industry.Request Sample Copy @Managed hosting, DRaaS, and STaaS solutions offer enterprises with economical computing and storage capabilities. IaaS Industry in North America is expected to continue steady growth during the forecast period owing to early acceptance and adoption of IaaS cloud based technology in small and medium businesses (SMBs). The growth in Europe Industry can largely be attributed to the demand from developed IT Industry, where enterprises are investing heavily on services and software. In Middle East and Africa (MEA), the Industry is expected to grow owing to the demand to strengthen the information and communications technology (ICT) capabilities from industry sectors such as construction, oil & gas, healthcare, telecommunications, and public institutions. Furthermore, in the South America (SAM) region, the increasing usage of online applications, social websites, and smart phones along with the growing private sector demand are seen as driving factors for the growth of IaaS Industry. Asia Pacific (APAC) IaaS Industry is anticipated to grow at a brisk rate, owing to the increasing number of SMEs.Segmentations Covered in the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Market Services : Compute as a Service (CaaS) , Storage as a Service (STaaS), Application Hosting as a Service, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Data Center as a Service (DCaaS) End-user Verticals : Large Enterprises, Small & Medium Enterprises/Businesses, Public Sector, BFSI Geographical Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), South America (SAM)Some of the leading players in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Market Report Mindtree Pvt. Ltd. Amazon Web Services, Inc. IBM Corporation Cisco Systems, Inc. Savvis Google Inc. VMware, Inc. Microsoft Corporation Rackspace Inc. Fujitsu Ltd. Computer Sciences Corp Profitbricks Inc.Access Full Report @Reason to buy 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 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Industry, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long term strategies Get reliable information about the strategies manufacturers in this Industry use to drive revenue Gain insights into the competitive landscape, to strengthen Industry 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 Industries Scrutinize in-depth global Industry trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the Industry, 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 competitionInquire about discount on this 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.comAbout 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.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Molecular Diagnostics Market is Expected to Exceed US$ 10 Billion by 2021

Molecular Diagnostics Market

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New York, May 11: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Molecular Diagnostics Market by Application, Technology (PCR, Microarray, DNA Sequencing), End User (Hospital, Laboratories), Product (Instruments, Reagent, Software) - Forecast to 2023The molecular diagnostics market is expected to exceed more than US$ 10 Billion by 2021 growing at around 9% CAGR during the forecast period.Browse Full Report:Molecular diagnostics is a technique used to analyse, diagnose, monitor and treat disease. Using molecular diagnostics process it identify a disease by examining different molecules such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), protein and in tissue. Molecular diagnostics are primarily used for healthcare diagnosis and also used for research purpose. Molecular diagnostics provide more accurate results and they are playing a vital role in health care system.The main driving factors for molecular diagnostics market are increased awareness and usage of personalized medicine. The companion diagnostics will grow eventually with growth of personalized medicine which in turn will drive the molecular diagnostics products and services market. It contains high prevalence rate of infectious diseases and various types of cancer. The new biomarkers are developed using molecular techniques which are applied in molecular diagnostics. It increases the growth in proteomics and genomics research. The molecular diagnostics market has some restraints such as it require new tools which contain complex platforms which require skilled and experienced workers. Because of mandatory training and complex regulatory framework gives delay approvals of new molecular diagnostic tests.The molecular diagnostics market is segmented by product, by technology, by application and by end user analysis. Under the product and service segmentation it contains instruments, reagents and services & software. It uses different technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), isothermal nucleic acid amplification technology (INAAT), hybridization, DNA sequencing and next-generation sequencing, microarrays, mass pectrometry, flow cytometry, and electrophoresis. Molecular diagnostics techniques are used in different application such as infectious diseases, oncology, genetics, blood screening, microbiology, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, and DNA fingerprinting. The end user of molecular diagnostics are reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, blood banks, local public health laboratories, home health agencies, nursing homes, point-of-care settings, and self-testing. The molecular diagnostics market is geographic segmentation covers various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Each geography market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries.This report provides:1) An overview of the global market for molecular diagnostics and related technologies.2) Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014 and 2015, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2023.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for molecular diagnostics.4) Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications.5) Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for various types of molecular diagnostics with the reasons given for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Roche Diagnostics (U.S.), QIAGEN N.V. (Netherlands), Hologic Inc. (U.S.), Grifols (Spain), Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Siemens Healthcare (Germany), Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), Beckman Coulter Inc. (U.S.), bioMerieux SA (France), and Cepheid Inc. (U.S.). Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The Molecular diagnostics Market has been segmented as below:By Product and service Segment AnalysisInstrumentsReagentsServices & SoftwareBy Technology AnalysisPolymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology (INAAT)HybridizationDNA Sequencing and Next-generation SequencingMicroarraysOthers (Mass Spectrometry, Flow Cytometry, and Electrophoresis)By End-user AnalysisReference LaboratoriesHospital LaboratoriesOthers (Blood Banks, Local Public Health Laboratories, Home Health Agencies, Nursing Homes, Point-of-care Settings, and Self-testing)By Application AnalysisInfectious DiseasesOncologyGeneticsBlood ScreeningMicrobiologyOthers (Cardiovascular Diseases, Neurological Diseases, and DNA Fingerprinting)By Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldReasons to buy this Report:1) Obtain the most up to date information available on all active and planned molecular diagnostics industry globally.2) Identify growth segments and opportunities in the industry.3) Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong historic and forecast of molecular diagnostics industry and unit capacity data.4) Assess your competitors refining portfolio and its evolution.About MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Worldwide Floor Paint Market Trends Global Industry Analysis, Top Manufacturers, Share, Trends, Segmentation, Opportunities & Forecasts up to 2022

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Global Floor Paint 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.This Floor Paint 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, Floor Paint market report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K L), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Floor Paint for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering: United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, India.Request a Sample Copy of Global Floor Paint Market Research Report @Global Floor Paint market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Floor Paint sales volume, Price (USD/L), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including such as AkzoNobel, Jotun, Hempel, Nippon Paint, PPG Industries, Kansai, Chugoku Marine Paint, Sherwin-Williams, BASF, Axalta, Diamond Paints, SACAL, Carpoly, Henkel, RPM, KCC, Sika, 3M, DAW, Huarun.On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K L), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/L), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into - Epoxy, Polyurethane, Acrylic, Other.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 Floor Paint for each application, including are Primer & Topcoat.Enquiry Discount for Global Floor Paint Market Research Report @Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Floor Paint Sales Market Report 2017Floor Paint Market OverviewGlobal Floor Paint Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and ApplicationUnited States Floor Paint (Volume, Value and Sales Price)China Floor Paint (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Europe Floor Paint (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Japan Floor Paint (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Southeast Asia Floor Paint (Volume, Value and Sales Price)India Floor Paint (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Global Floor Paint Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales DataFloor Paint Manufacturing Cost AnalysisIndustrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersMarketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersMarket Effect Factors AnalysisGlobal Floor Paint Market Forecast (2017-2022)Research Findings and ConclusionFor more information about Global Floor Paint Market Report @Related Reports: -Global Thermoplastic Elastomers Market 2017-2021Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) possess both elastomeric and thermoplastic characteristics. They are produced from thermoplastics and elastomers and can be segregated based on their constituent materials. TPE can be remolded, reshaped, and recycled. Therefore, they are extensively used to replace conventional materials, such as polyvinylchloride (PVC), natural rubber, nitrile rubber (NBR), and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) in major industries, including automotive, construction and infrastructure, consumer electronics and appliances, healthcare, packaging, and footwear industries globally.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
Baby Diapers Market: Declining Infant Mortality Rates and Strengthening Economies to Give Baby Diaper Sales in East Africa a Fillip

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The market for baby diapers in East Africa has gained substantial traction in the past few years owing to a notable decline in infant mortality rate, rise in disposable incomes, and increased awareness regarding the need to maintain hygiene to ensure the healthy growth of infants. A vast surge in the regions urban and educated population and efforts undertaken by government and non-government organizations to increase awareness about personal hygiene across rural parts of the region have equally contributed to the development of the market in the past few years.Transparency Market Research estimates that the East Africa baby diapers market will expand at a healthy CAGR of 3.6% from 2016 through 2024. Rising at this pace, the market will rise from a valuation of US$155.7 mn in 2015 to US$218.7 mn by 2024. Volume-wise, the market will exhibit a 3.2% CAGR over the period.View Report:Baby Diaper Market in Kenya Emerges Leading Contributor in Terms of RevenueKenya, estimated by the World Bank to be the fastest growing economy in East Africa, is presently the largest market in the East Africa baby diapers market, in terms of both volume-wise consumption and revenues. The baby diapers market in the country accounted for a 42.7% share in the overall markets revenues in 2015. Volume-wise, the country accounted for over 40% of the East Africa baby diapers market in the same year. Large population base, a notable reduction in child mortality rates, stable growth of economy in the past few years, and rising disposable incomes are the key factors driving the baby diapers market in the country. Over the period between 2016 and 2024 as well, the country is expected to retain its dominance in the East Africa baby diapers market.Tanzania is the second largest revenue contributor to the East Africa baby diapers market, accounting for over 24% share in the market in 2015, and is expected to expand at a healthy pace over the forecasting horizon as well. Uganda is the third largest country for the baby diapers market in East Africa. All the three countries are expected to maintain their positions in the overall market through 2024.Make an inquiry atDisposable Diapers are Leading Product Type but Cotton Diapers Present Sizeable OpportunityOf the key product varieties available in the East Africa baby diapers market, the segment of disposable diapers is presently the most popular and leading revenue generator. The segment held a share of over 80% in the East Africa baby diapers markets revenues in 2015. Volume-wise, the segment fared even better, accounting for over 91% share in the market in the same year. Disposable diapers are expected to remain the dominant product segment in the East Africa baby diapers market over the next few years as well. However, their popularity is witnessing a notable decline owing to concerns about adverse long-term health effects and short-term skin rashes with their continuous use.These concerns are also stimulating the increased demand for cotton diapers, the product varieties that contain no harmful chemicals and are considered safer than most varieties of disposable diapers. The demand for cotton diapers is also surging in East Africa owing to the rising awareness about environment safety the need to switch to biodegradable products. The segment of cotton diapers is expected to expand at a high CAGR of 5.8% over the period between 2016 and 2024, rising from a valuation of US$13.5 mn in 2015 to US$23.0 mn by 2024.Some of the leading vendors operating in the East Africa baby diapers market are Unicharm Corporation, Procter and Gamble, Indevco Group, Johnson and Johnson, SCA Hygiene, Interconsumer Products Ltd., and Mega Soft (Fujian) Hygiene Products Co. LtdAbout 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:
World Aerogel Market Research Report 2021(Covering USA, EU, China, South East Asia, India, Japan and etc)

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ICRWorlds Aerogel market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.Check complete report @Global Aerogel Market: Product Segment AnalysisInorganic AerogelOrganic AerogelGlobal Aerogel Market: Application Segment AnalysisDensity and porousThermal conductivityOpticsAcousticsMechanicsElectricsAvail more information from Sample Brochure of report @Global Aerogel Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaThe Players mentioned in our reportAspen AerogelCabotAerogel TechnologiesEnersensActive AerogelsAlisonNano High-TechInsulgel High-TechGuizhou AerospaceJIOS Aerogel CorporationOrder a copy of ReportAbout us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand  Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Sales ManagerMayur S.2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington,Delaware,19808United Statespr@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market - Industry Analysis- Size, Share, Trends, Demand, Overview, Forecast to 2022

Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market

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A new and latest research report proposed by QY Research Groups renders a market summary of the Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market industry. This widespread analysis comprises of market potentials and challenges, scope of product, sales volume, market revenue, estimates and rate of growth. The report also digs into all the major market players across the globe.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Chemical industry segment has a crucial role in accomplishing daily requirements of the common man. It is one of the most former industries which attributes substantially to not just economic but industrial growth as well. Nearly, each and every industry segment such as oil and gas, retail, manufacturing, agriculture and many others, depends heavily on the chemical industry. In the recent years, the global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market industry has experienced an astonishing change structure-wise such as enhancements in technology, increasing raw material costs, manufacturing base been channeled to Asian countries, novel promising growth markets, etc.The report highlights crucial dynamics and in-depth analysis of the market segment with concentrating on factual data, present industry activities, growth opportunities, new product inventions, and market forecast for the anticipated frame of time along with leading market players, market study based on several regions, and extensive product. The Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market report assists in determining the projection in this meticulous industry by rendering precise potential demand prognoses. These prognoses will aid the market players to take vital decisions and take hold of the untapped regions and new entrants.Browse full report with Table of Content @This research report incorporates the current market size of this industry. It also distinguishes and assesses complex value chains across the globe such as primary factors, market growth restrains, and propelling strategies. This latest market report examines the Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market by several segments such as regions, applications, companies, and for the proposed time frame. The report gives a complete insight of this industry consisting the qualitative and quantitative analysis provided for this market industry along with prime development trends, competitive analysis, and vital factors that are predominant in the Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market.Market Scope:Various aspects are considered in this all-inclusive market research report and it inspects the global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market industry from an all axis perspective. It gives in-depth information on the future viewpoint, key developments, market dynamics and growth, latest trends in the market, and potential investment segment.The report furnishes: An in-depth widespread market analysis of the global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market Analysis of global market trends, forecasts for 2022, and predictions of CAGRs through proposed time frame. Thorough analysis of applications Mentioning of market players with their complete profile description Researches the vital market trends and novel developmentstechnologically in the Microfiber Synthetic Leather MarketThis report focuses on top manufacturers in global market:Toray, Kuraray, Asahi Kasei, Ecsaine, Clarino, Daewon, Jeongsan International, FILWEL, SISA, NPC, Duksung, Tongda Island, Huafon Group, Double Elephant, Hexin Group, Zhejiang Key, Huanghe Micro Fibre, Wanhua Micro Fiber, Meisheng Group, Xinlong Tech, Sanling Micro Fiber,The research report comprises of markets comprehensive analysis geographically on several important regions such as:1. Europe (UK, Germany, Italy, France and Russia)2. North America (Mexico, USA, and Canada)3. Asia-Pacific (India, China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia)4. Africa, South America, and the Middle EastThe leading industry players across the globe are explored in detail in this report. It demonstrates product overview, company summary, and manufacturing cost, capacity, and market shares for most of the participants. The report portrays the complete overview of Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market across the world including its cost/profit, demand/supply, import/export, capacity, production value, etc. The research report also prognosticates trends in the development of this industrys market. It cloaks current market analysis dynamically, downstream requirements as well as the upstream raw materials. Lastly, the report also segregates vital market figures which represent the market condition of Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market manufacturers. The report can function as an assistive reference point for helping individuals as well as businesses from this segment.Ask for Discount @Some points from TOC:-Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market Research Report 20171 Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Microfiber Synthetic Leather1.2 Microfiber Synthetic Leather Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Ordinary Microfiber Synthetic Leather1.2.4 Special Microfiber Synthetic Leather1.3 Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Segment by Application1.3.1 Microfiber Synthetic Leather Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Textile Industry1.3.3 Plastic Industry1.3.4 Chemical Industry1.3.5 Other1.4 Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather 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 Microfiber Synthetic Leather (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Microfiber Synthetic Leather Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Enquiry Before Buying @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:John+1-888-236-2744Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-
Global Contactless Smart Card Market is Expected to Record an exponential CAGR by 2027

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Global Contactless Smart Card Market Information, By Type (Proximity Card, CPU/MPU Card), By Application (BFSI, Government, Transportation, Healthcare, Defense), By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, RoW) - Forecast 2016-2027Key playersThe key players in the market of contactless smart card market are- ASK (France), Gemalto NV (Netherlands), Giesecke & Devrient (Germany), Morpho (France), Oberthur Technologies (France), Watch data System (Singapore), Advanced Card Systems (China), Card Logix (U.S.), Data Card Corporation (U.S.) Data Card Corporation (Germany) among others.Study Objective of Contactless Smart Card Market To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Contactless Smart Card Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Contactless Smart Card market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, by application and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Contactless Smart Card Market.Get Sample Report @Market Synopsis of Contactless Smart Card MarketMarket ScenarioContactless smart card is a type of smartcard which are embedded with the integrated circuits and encrypted to keep the data safe and secure. Integrated circuits process the data and communicate with via radio frequencies. Technological advancement and identity duplication are some major factors which are driving the market.Market SegmentationSegmentation by type: Proximity Card & CPU/MPU cardsSegmentation by Application: BFSI, government, transportation, healthcare, defense among others.Industry News In June 2016, Oberthur Technologies announced the collaboration with Axis Bank to provide Indias first Contactless Smart Card. In April 2016, Gemalto NV announced the collaboration with Bank of Saudi Arabia for deployment of contactless EMV payment cardsRegional AnalysisThe main reason behind this is the increase in number of forgery cases and duplicate identity cases. The factor which is giving the boost to contactless smart card market is smart card market.Get Browse Report @The reports also covers brief analysis of Geographical Region includes:Americas North America US CanadaEurope Western Europe Germany France Italy Spain U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia PacificAsia China India Japan South Korea Rest of AsiaPacificThe Middle East& AfricaThe report for Global Contactless Smart Card Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Ring Main Unit Market to Observe Strong Development 2.65 billion and 8.4% CAGR by 2022

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Ring main unit (RMU) is used in a secondary distribution system. It is basically used for an uninterrupted power supply. It is used for medium voltage distribution in compact substations, small buildings, residential housing complex etc. Increase in demand of electricity across the globe, is the primary driving factor of ring main unit market. Additionally, rising demand for renewable energy is also fueling the demand of ring main unit (RMU). However, the cost of ring main units being higher than conventional switchgears is the restraining factor that may hamper the growth of global ring main unit market.The global ring main unit market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2017 to 2023, to reach the market size of USD 2.65 billion by 2023.Make an Enquiry @Key Players ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Schneider Electric SE (France), Eaton Corporation, PLC (Ireland), Siemens AG (Germany), General Electric Company (U.S.), Lucy Electric Limited (U.K.), L&T (India), Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan), SwitchGear Company (Belgium) EPE Switchgear (M) Sdn.Bhd. (Malaysia).Study Objectives of Global Ring Main Unit Market To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next five years of various segments and sub-segments of the global ring main unit market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the global ring main unit market based on various tools such as Price Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis, Porters Five Forces Analysis To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market segmented, by types, by installation, by applications, and by regions To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the ring main unit marketRegional Analysis of Global Ring Main Unit MarketAsia-Pacific dominates the global ring main unit market followed by Europe. Rapid expansions in industrialization as well as the growing renewable sector in this region, increase the demand of ring main unit market. This region is expected to grow at the fastest pace during the forecast period. Europe is another important market and is expected to contribute significantly during the forecast period mainly due to upgrading the existing infrastructure.Product Analysis Product matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional Information Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic Analysis Geographical analysis across 15 countriesAccess Report Details @Company Information Profiling of 10 key market players In-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report title Competitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesThe report for Global Ring Main Unit Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.ContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global Ring Main Unit Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023 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
Global Heart Transplant market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 11.2%

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Market Synopsis of Global Heart transplant Market:Market Scenario:In a heart transplant, a surgery is performed to remove a person's diseased heart and replace it with a healthy heart from a deceased donor. Mostly it is done on patients who have end-stage heart failure. Heart transplantation has emerged as a viable therapeutic strategy for some patients with end-stage heart disease by offering them extended survival and improved quality of life.The global market for heart transplant is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~11.2%.Request a Sample Report @Segments:Global heart transplant market has been segmented On the basis of type which comprises ofventricular assist devices, total artificial hearts and others. On the basis of end user; market is segmented into hospital, cardiac institute and others.Key Players for Global Heart Transplant Market:Some of the key players in this market are: SynCardia Systems, LLC, HeartWare, Apaxis Medical, Inc., Calon Cardio, Optum Inc., Thoratec Corporation.Intended Audience Biomedical devices manufacturers Biomedical devices suppliers Government Research Laboratory Private Research Laboratory Research and Development (R&D) Companies Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Medical Research LaboratoriesBrowse Report Details @Study Objectives Global Heart Transplant Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 7 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global heart transplant market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the 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
Global Standard Pallet Market Research Report 2017 : Wood Pallet, Plastic Pallet, (Logistics Industry, Manufacturing Industry, Retail Industry)

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In this report, the global Standard Pallet 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 Standard Pallet in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Standard Pallet market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingMenashaRehrig PacificEuro Pool SystemFaber HalbertsmaKamps PalletsMillwoodPalletOneINKA PalettenBuckhornCABKA GroupOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoWood PalletPlastic PalletOthersOn 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 Standard Pallet for each application, includingLogistics IndustryManufacturing IndustryRetail IndustryOthersGet The Sample Copy of This report :Table of ContentsGlobal Standard Pallet Market Research Report 20171 Standard Pallet Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Standard Pallet1.2 Standard Pallet Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Standard Pallet Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Standard Pallet Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Wood Pallet1.2.4 Plastic Pallet1.2.5 Others1.3 Global Standard Pallet Segment by Application1.3.1 Standard Pallet Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Logistics Industry1.3.3 Manufacturing Industry1.3.4 Retail Industry1.3.5 Others1.4 Global Standard Pallet Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Standard Pallet 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 Standard Pallet (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Standard Pallet Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Standard Pallet Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Standard Pallet Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Standard Pallet Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Standard Pallet Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Standard Pallet Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Standard Pallet Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Standard Pallet Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Standard Pallet Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Standard Pallet Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Standard Pallet Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Standard Pallet Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Standard Pallet Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Standard Pallet Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Standard Pallet Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Standard Pallet Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Standard Pallet Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Standard Pallet Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Standard Pallet Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Standard Pallet Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Standard Pallet Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Standard Pallet Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Standard Pallet Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Standard Pallet Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Standard Pallet Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Standard Pallet Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Standard Pallet Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Standard Pallet Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Standard Pallet Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Standard Pallet Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Standard Pallet Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Standard Pallet Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Europe Plastic Pallet Market Size, Shares, Forecast Report 2016 : Food Industry, Medical Industry, Chemical Industry, Manufacturing Industry

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This report studies sales (consumption) of Plastic Pallet in Europe market, especially in Germany, UK, France, Russia, Italy, Benelux and Spain, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringShangHai Pallet Plastic Industry Co., Ltd.Shanghai Lika Plastic Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Guangzhou Plastic Industrial Corporation LtdShandong Liyang Plastic Molding Co.,LtdXinding PlasticZheJiang Primacy Plastic Industry Co., LtdShanghai Qinghao Plastic Pallet Manufacture Co., Ltd.Snyder IndustriesChunghsin Industry Group Co., Ltd.Changzhou Linhui Plastic products Co., LtdMarket Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Plastic Pallet 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 intoExport palletsWarehouse use palletsCustom Plastic PalletsDownload Sample Copy of This report :Split by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Plastic Pallet in each application, can be divided intoFood IndustryMedical IndustryChemical IndustryManufacturing IndustryOthersTable of ContentsEurope Plastic Pallet Market Report 20161 Plastic Pallet Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Plastic Pallet1.2 Classification of Plastic Pallet1.2.1 Export pallets1.2.2 Warehouse use pallets1.2.3 Custom Plastic Pallets1.3 Application of Plastic Pallet1.3.1 Food Industry1.3.2 Medical Industry1.3.3 Chemical Industry1.3.4 Manufacturing Industry1.3.5 Others1.4 Plastic Pallet Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Plastic Pallet (2011-2021)1.5.1 Europe Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Europe Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Europe Plastic Pallet by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Plastic Pallet Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Plastic Pallet Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Plastic Pallet (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Europe Plastic Pallet Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Europe Plastic Pallet (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.3.2 Europe Plastic Pallet Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.4 Europe Plastic Pallet (Volume) by Application3 Germany Plastic Pallet (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 Germany Plastic Pallet Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 Germany Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 Germany Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 Germany Plastic Pallet Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 Germany Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 Germany Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 Germany Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Application4 France Plastic Pallet (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 France Plastic Pallet Sales and Value (2011-2016)4.1.1 France Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.2 France Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.4 France Plastic Pallet Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)4.2 France Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 France Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 France Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Application5 UK Plastic Pallet (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 UK Plastic Pallet Sales and Value (2011-2016)5.1.1 UK Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.2 UK Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.5 UK Plastic Pallet Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)5.2 UK Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 UK Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 UK Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Application6 Russia Plastic Pallet (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Russia Plastic Pallet Sales and Value (2011-2016)6.1.1 Russia Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.2 Russia Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.6 Russia Plastic Pallet Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)6.2 Russia Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers6.3 Russia Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type6.4 Russia Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Application7 Italy Plastic Pallet (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 Italy Plastic Pallet Sales and Value (2011-2016)7.1.1 Italy Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.2 Italy Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.7 Italy Plastic Pallet Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)7.2 Italy Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers7.3 Italy Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type7.4 Italy Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Application8 Spain Plastic Pallet (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8.1 Spain Plastic Pallet Sales and Value (2011-2016)8.1.1 Spain Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.2 Spain Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.8 Spain Plastic Pallet Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)8.2 Spain Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers8.3 Spain Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type8.4 Spain Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Application9 Benelux Plastic Pallet (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9.1 Benelux Plastic Pallet Sales and Value (2011-2016)9.1.1 Benelux Plastic Pallet Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)9.1.2 Benelux Plastic Pallet Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)9.1.9 Benelux Plastic Pallet Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)9.2 Benelux Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers9.3 Benelux Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by Type9.4 Benelux Plastic Pallet Sales and Market Share by ApplicationMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
TrendSights Analysis: Personalization - Providing A Superior And More Unique Fit For Specific Consumer Segments

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Latest research report on "TrendSights Analysis: Personalization - Providing a superior and more unique fit for specific consumer segments"Summary"TrendSights Analysis: Personalization", is part of GlobalData's TrendSights series and explores how brands can provide a superior and more unique fit for specific consumer segments.Personalization is an essential attribute to consider for brands seeking to target today's individualistic consumers. More specialized and differentiated products are being introduced in order to optimally cater for different age, gender, and ethnic groups, as well as the lifestyle benefits sought by more demanding consumers.Get The Sample Copy of This Report :Scope- 43% of consumers globally have a more favorable perception of products featuring claims personalized to their needs.- Personalization benefits rank among the top 10 factors that would encourage consumers to buy luxury/premium products.- Brands should consider updating traditional personalization approaches, such as by demographic, through combining lifestyle cues alongside conventional segmentation.Reasons to buy- Gain insight into the different routes through by which products can align with the Personalization trend, including examples of best-in-class innovation.- Compare the presence of this trend in each industry across the FMCG space, and learn what the key opportunities are.- Identify the innovation implications of personalization for your sector.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Life Insurance In Spain, Market Share, Growth, Key Trends And Opportunities To 2020

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Timetrics 'Life Insurance in Spain, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Spanish life insurance segment, and a comparison of the Spanish insurance industry with its regional counterparts.It provides key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20112015) and forecast period (20152020).The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Spanish economy and demographics, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.Get The Sample Copy of This report :SummaryTimetrics 'Life Insurance in Spain, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Spanish life insurance segment, including:An overview of the Spanish life insurance segmentThe Spanish life insurance segments growth prospects by categoryA comprehensive overview of the Spanish economy and demographicsA comparison of the Spanish life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsThe various distribution channels in the Spanish life insurance segmentDetails of the competitive landscape in the life insurance segment in SpainDetails of regulatory policy applicable to the Spanish insurance industryScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the life insurance segment in Spain:It provides historical values for the Spanish life insurance segment for the reports 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period.It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Spanish life insurance segment, and market forecasts to 2020.It provides a comparison of the Spanish life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsIt analyzes the various distribution channels for life insurance products in Spain.It profiles the top life insurance companies in Spain and outlines the key regulations affecting them.Reasons To BuyMake strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Spanish life insurance segment, and each category within it.Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Spanish life insurance segment.Assess the competitive dynamics in the life insurance segment.Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.Gain insights into key regulations governing the Spanish insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.Key HighlightsThe Spanish public pension system consists of two different programs: non-contributory (Beveridgean), and contributory (Bismarckian).The life segment is better developed than the non-life and personal accident and health segments, and posted a penetration rate of 2.4% in 2015.The life segment recorded a review-period growth in investment income, primarily due to a strong investment portfolio and a mix of equities and bonds.The countrys weak economic conditions affected the sale of life products particularly endowment, individual life and group superannuation causing a decline in the written premium.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Custom Primer Generation Service Market Research Report: Key Trends and Forecast Research Report 2024

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Primer is a small strand of DNA or RNA used in DNA synthesis as a preliminary point. The size of primers is generally not more than 30 nucleotides and these exactly match the end and beginning of the DNA section to be amplified. The primers adhere at the beginning and endpoint of DNA template, where DNA polymerase muddles and initiates the production of the new DNA strand.The temperature, at which half of DNA molecule types form a stable double helix and remaining half are detached to solitary strand molecule, is called melting temperature of primer, generally between about 55 C and 65 C. Melting temperature is required to increase the length of primer and the temperature is decreased to stop or limit the length. Primers that are too small would adhere at numerous places on a lengthy DNA template, and results in non-specific copies. The primer sequence should be unique in nature to avoid the possibility of mishybridization to a similar sequence nearby. The ideal primer should not adhere to other primer and to themselves strongly, as internal loop could hamper the annealing with the template DNA. Custom primers are widely used for sequencing libraries.The custom primer generation service market has been segmented based on type of service, application, and end-user. In terms of type of service, the market has been categorized into primer design service and primer synthesis or sequencing. The one-stop custom qPCR primer design service is designed to save money, time, and efforts by avoiding failure or complication in qPCR experiments. For a successful qPCR, a pair of good designed primers is one of the main requirements. The primer sequencing services segment comprises two types: tube sequencing and plate sequencing. Plate sequencing are of two types: short sequencing plates and ready to load plates.View Report-In terms of application, the custom primer generation service market has been segmented into research, therapeutics, and diagnostics. The research segment has been categorized into PCR, qPCR, DNA sequencing, gene synthesis, and other research applications. The therapeutics segment has been sub-segmented into DNA/antisense oligos, RNA, nucleic acid aptamers, and immunotherapy. Increasing applications of custom primers in library preparations, nucleic acid array-based technologies, genomics, next-generation sequencing (NGS), nucleic acid-base detections, diagnostics, cell cultures, human identity testing, therapeutics, cloning, and synthetic biology and genetic engineering are likely to propel the custom prime generation service market.In terms of end-user, the custom primer generation service market has been segmented into academic research institutes, diagnostic laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and others. The diagnostics segment is expected to expand at a high CAGR owing to rising adoption of novel technologies and services in the segment. The academic research institutes segment is expected to witness strong growth during the forecast period due to rising research activities globally.In terms of region, the custom primer generation service market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is projected to account for the major share of the global custom primer generation service market owing to increasing awareness about the applications of synthetic genes in the region. Additionally, increasing funding from public and private sector organizations for research is anticipated to boost the custom primer generation service market. Asia Pacific is the most progressive region for the custom primer generation service market due to product availability and research and development funding in the region.Major factors boosting the growth of this market include rising demand for synthesized primer generation, increasing R&D expenses by pharmaceutical companies, and growing government participation in development of genomics.Major players in the custom primer generation service market are Merck KGaA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Agilent Technologies, Inc., Eurofins Genomics, Bioautomation Corporation, General Electric Company, Integrated DNA Technologies, and Eurogentec S.A. Increasing competition among key players in the custom primer generation services market is likely to fuel the growth of the market during forecast period.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Custom Primer Generation Service Market during 2016- 2024About 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:
Advent of WiDi Technology to Open Growth Avenues for Hybrid Device Manufacturers

Hybrid Device Market, Global Hybrid Device Market, Size, Share, Trends, Segmentation

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The growing need for enhanced enterprise mobility has influenced the demand for hybrid devices significantly across the world. The growing demand for devices with increased battery life has also increased the adoption of hybrid devices at a rapid pace. Fast navigation with the help of a stylus or a touchscreen and convenient capturing and storage of personalized information are some of the prime benefits offered by these devices. The rising awareness regarding these advantages has increased their usage in business-related tasks, leading to a swift surge in their demand.The opportunity in the global market for hybrid devices is anticipated to rise at a CAGR of 20.80% during the period from 2015 to 2022, increasing its valuation from US$5.1 bn in 2014 to US$31.8 bn by the end of 2022.Obtain Report Details @Based on end users, the global market for hybrid devices is segmented into personal use, educational institutes, healthcare, retail, telecom and IT, and other end users such as banking, transportation, and government sectors. In 2014, the personal use segment led the overall demand for these devices and contributed a total of US$1.6 bn in terms of revenue.Analysts predict the personal use segment to remain the key consumer of these devices; the telecom and IT industry, however, is likely to exhibit promising growth potential over the forthcoming years. The demand for hybrid devices is likely to expand at the fastest CAGR of 25.6% during the period from 2015 to 2022 in the telecom and IT industry.The rising adoption of enterprise mobility and hybrid devices across this industry is expected to influence the growth of the overall hybrid device market significantly in the near future. Additionally, in terms of shipment volume, this segment is projected to register the highest growth in the market over the next few years.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Hybrid Device Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@The global market for hybrid devices stretches across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Rest of the World. North America has been the key consumer of these devices over the last few years, thanks to the early adoption of technology in this region.In 2014, North America generated a revenue of US$1.6 bn, accounting for a share of more than 32% in the overall market. The region is expected to remain dominant in the coming years due to the launch of Windows 10, the slowdown in the sales of tablets, and the increasing replacement of older PCs with new hybrid laptops and PCs.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:
John Kroger

Former Oregon Attorney General John Kroger filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and two subsidiaries over defective Motrin pills in 2011.

(The Oregonian/OregonLive/2010 file)

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay more than $400,000 to the state in a lawsuit over hundreds of bottles of flawed Motrin capsules sold in Oregon.

John Kroger, Oregon's attorney general in 2011, sued the conglomerate and a pair of subsidiaries then, saying they exposed consumers to defective supplies of the pain reliever and violated the state's unlawful trade practices act.

The recent settlement, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says the defendants are to pay the state $406,100, excluding lawyer fees.

It doesn't imply the defendants wrongdoing. The case was closed Wednesday.

The suit says Johnson & Johnson learned at the end of 2008 that its Motrin caplets didn't properly dissolve and were thus ineffective pain relievers. But the company didn't file an official recall to alert customers. Instead, it hired a contractor to scour stores across the nation and purchase the defective Motrin.

The company eventually launched a formal recall. But that was more than a year after discovering the faulty batch and while under pressure from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A trial judge initially dismissed the case in 2012, but the Oregon Court of Appeals sent it back to trial court in 2015.

 Staff and wire reports
PPS SIGN.jpg

(Stephanie Yao Long/Oregonian)

Portland Public Schools' chief information officer has resigned, adding to the deluge of vacancies at the highest levels of Oregon's largest school district.

Josh Klein has overseen information and technology for the district since 2013 and earns a salary of $139,000. He previously held the chief information officer position the Oregon Department of Education. His departure was first reported by KGW.

This past year saw resignations from the district's longtime superintendent, chief operating officer, general counsel, chief equity officer, two of its three assistant superintendents, chief of human resources and chief of staff.

Filling the high-ranking posts hasn't been easy. Most are filled on an interim basis, some by district employees whose jobs are in turn vacant.

The vast void in leadership follows a lead scandal that upended the district last summer and sounded the alarm on an issue auditors had been raising for years: a lack of accountability in the culture.

Consultant Anna Richter Taylor, tapped to help with communications in the wake of the lead scandal, stayed longer than planned and assumed the role of interim communications chief at $15,000 a month after the district's attempt to hire a new director of communications didn't pan out. That department has seen stability recently with the hire of Harry Esteve as director of strategic communications and outreach and Dave Northfield as director of media relations.

Efforts to hire a top lawyer fell through when the district's choice backed out after Portland Public Schools claimed to be blindsided by a flaw in his background. He had been prosecuted for violating the public records law in Florida while acting as top lawyer for a school district there. The district then hired a search firm to help fill the job. That contract was signed in January and nothing has changed.

The months-long search for a permanent superintendent collapsed last week after board members soured on their top choice, putting the school board in the position of having to reboot its search. He had been the lone finalist.

Even the temporary leaders of the district are going to start changing. Interim Superintendent Bob McKean's contract is up at the end of July and he has said he will not stay on, putting Deputy Chief Executive Officer Yousef Awwad in charge. Interim Chief Operating Officer Courtney Wilton's last day is May 26. Wilton joined the district in a temporary capacity in the wake of the scandal. He has shepherded the district through the process of cataloging the many hazards in its aging schools and also worked to instill safer practices and a culture of identifying and admitting past mistakes.

Under McKean's budget plan, Wilton's job will be eliminated and fall to Jerry Vincent, chief of school modernization. That move would put a host of departments  including facilities and asset management, nutrition services, security services, student transportation, enrollment and transfer  all on the shoulders of the person also tasked with implementing the massive construction projects under 2012 bond and the 2017 bond, should it pass.

 Bethany Barnes

Got a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Bethany: bbarnes@oregonian.com
1comey.JPG

FBI Director James Comey is sworn in during a hearing before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee July 7, 2016 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

By Hugh Hewitt

Special To The Washington Post

Long ago and far away, when I was a young special assistant first to Attorney General William French Smith and then to Attorney General Edwin Meese, the young staff would automatically stand up whenever William Webster, then head of the FBI, walked into a room. At Friday morning round-table briefings in the attorney general's massive conference room, when Webster spoke, everyone leaned in. He had the bearing, the competence and the character of the nation's top and trusted cop.

Last summer an old D.C. hand took me to one of those Beltway places of lore for lunch and a cigar and talked candidly about how shocked he was at then-FBI Director James B. Comey's decision to publicly discuss the Hillary Clinton email investigation and to walk the public through a hundred details of the case and then conclude she should not be prosecuted. Agree or disagree with that decision, he said, it's not what the FBI does. Ever. Agents present facts to prosecutors. They may nudge or even push in one direction or the other, but they don't decide. My interlocutor, a former assistant U.S. attorney and then-senior official in numerous positions and companies, was not so much outraged by Comey's actions at the time as puzzled, perhaps even shocked.

Apparently, new Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein shared exactly that view and expressed it succinctly in his three-page memo to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Confidence in the FBI would not come back until a new director was in place, and that, of course, requires that Comey be fired. Not a decision to be taken lightly, Rosenstein argued, but one he recommended that Sessions make. Sessions reviewed the recommendation, concurred and forwarded a joint recommendation to the president, who agreed.

Anyone who thinks this is connected to a cover-up of "Russian collusion" has to believe that both Rosenstein and Sessions would participate in such a corrupt scheme. I don't. It is, in fact, absurd to think that. Reread the Rosenstein memo - a few times. There's the story. Comey was wrong in July, wrong in subsequent statements, wrong as recently as last week and refused to admit error. The story is a straight-line one, and it's about Rosenstein.

In fact, just last week Comey said this in response to a question from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., about whether Rosenstein should appoint a special prosecutor in the Russian investigations: "That's a judgment he'll have to make. He is, as I hoped I was as deputy attorney general, a very independent-minded, career-oriented person, but it'd be premature for me to comment on that."

That's Comey on Rosenstein. Last week. Under oath.

Which doesn't mean that questions about the investigation of Russia's attack on our election are any less serious or the need for a thorough inquiry into charges of collusion between Russia and anyone in the many circles of President Trump is any less pressing. It just means that the FBI has to be led by someone like Webster to assure that both sides of deeply divided D.C. accept the results of all facets of the investigation.

Moreover, at last week's hearing Comey told Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., that there are 2,000 investigations into would-be "violent extremists" - half home-grown and in the "lone wolf" category, the other half in contact with foreign organizations (of whom about 300 are immigrants to the United States). That's a massive threat. The FBI is the chief bulwark against it as well as against all cybercrime from abroad (government-sponsored and private criminal activity) and organized crime at home. The director simply cannot lack the confidence of the deputy attorney general or the attorney general.

So whom to turn to? Most definitely someone in the Webster mold, which means a current or former federal judge of stellar reputation for both character and competence, and perhaps with some charisma that could prove useful in rallying the FBI and the Justice Department. Someone like J. Michael Luttig, former 4th Circuit judge and now-general counsel for Boeing; U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, who has handled scores of terrorism cases; or Stephen Larson, one of my law partners, a former federal judge and formerhead of the organized-crime division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for California's Central District. There are, in fact, plenty of superb candidates in the mold of these three that must bring stature and independence to the job.

But first we have to endure a few days of over-the-top takes from the always overwrought mainstream media. This isn't the "Saturday Night Massacre." There are no tapes, no subpoenas for presidential documents, no resignations from the Justice Department, but instead recommendations from the Justice Department. It's four months into an administration, not four years. In short, the overwrought media has toppled into hysteria again.
Basic Rights Oregon holds rally celebrating marriage equlity

Supporters of marriage equality held a rally at the Terry Shrunk Plaza in Portland, June 26, 2015, celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court's decision making gay marriage legal throughout the country.

(Kristyna Wentz-Graff/2015)

By Nancy Haque and Amy Herzfeld-Copple

When Governor Ted Kulongoski signed Senate Bill 2 on May 9, 2007, Oregon was one of 10 states that banned discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on someone's sexual orientation and gender identity.

A decade later, marriage equality is the law of the land, yet in 35 states you can still get married one day and fired from your job the next. A gay man in Idaho could be fired from his job for sending an email to his colleagues about his wedding. A married lesbian couple in Montana can legally be denied an apartment because of their sexual orientation. And a transgender woman can legally be denied service at any restaurant in 31 states.

This is not true in Oregon. The landmark 2007 Oregon Equality Act put a dent in discrimination, although it has been tested countless times during the last decade. And it's being challenged right now in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Nearly four years ago, Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer decided that they wanted to marry after more than a decade together. Their decision was motivated by their need to provide greater legal protections for the two special needs children they were adopting. As they planned their wedding they contacted the same local bakery, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, hired by Rachel's mom for her wedding. The bakery owners told Rachel they "didn't do same-sex weddings."

Sweet Cakes was in clear violation of the Oregon Equality Act's public accommodation provision, and Oregon values. Oregonians decided a long time ago discrimination is wrong. The "religious freedom" movement is determined to carve out exemptions in the law, which is why it is funding numerous cases like Sweet Cakes across the country. The Sweet Cakes case is currently being reviewed by the Oregon Court of Appeals and a decision is expected in June, which is LGBTQ Pride Month.

On January 20, this movement received a boost when Donald Trump and Mike Pence were inaugurated. As Indiana's Governor, Vice President Pence proved to be one of the most anti-LGBTQ leaders in the nation, best known for signing SB 101, giving employers, businesses and health care providers the right to legally refuse a job or service to any LGBTQ person based on their "deeply held" religious beliefs. Now he is championing religious exemptions from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Share your opinion

Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

The movement also has a champion on the U.S. Supreme Court with Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch's confirmation. When he was on the Tenth Circuit, Gorsuch issued an opinion in support of the Hobby Lobby company, exempting them from contraception coverage required in the Affordable CARE Act.

Our 2007 Oregon Equality Act remains incredibly relevant today and is the foundation for our continued work. We envision an Oregon where transgender people no longer face steep barriers to employment and health care. An Oregon where people of color have the same opportunities as their white peers. An Oregon where LGBTQ youth are safe and supported, and LGBTQ Oregonians everywhere can live openly, free from the sting of discrimination.

Nancy Haque and Amy Herzfeld-Copple are co-executive directors of Basic Rights Oregon
Headline

The author argues that the Oregon Health Authorities' rates for care organizations are "all over the map. For example, he writes, the rate established for a 19- to 44-year-old in Baker City is nearly double the rate set for that same age group living in Grants Pass

(Benjamin Brink/2011)

By Joe Henery

As a consultant to independent physicians and health care providers in Oregon, I pay close attention to how insurance rates, premiums and reimbursements are set. Unrealistic reimbursements can lead to restricted access for Medicaid recipients and can have additional impacts on quality and service. That's why Senate Bill 233, which calls for the Oregon Health Authority to make public its rate-setting process for the coordinated care organizations that serve the state's Medicaid recipients, is so important.

Long before the Affordable Care Act, Oregon was a leader in developing innovative partnerships that provide more access to quality health care in Oregon. At the same time, the Oregon Health Plan reduced overall costs for taxpayers. More recently, Oregon received waivers from the federal government to continue Oregon's unique model of coordinated care organizations to drive down healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes for those covered by the Oregon Health Plan.

Once a year the health authority is charged with establishing a budget for each coordinated care organization to manage the health of the Medicaid population. Since 2015, rates for Medicaid members have varied dramatically between age groups and individual care organizations. The rates are all over the map. For example, the rate established for a 19- to 44-year-old living in Baker City is nearly double the rate set for that same person living in Grants Pass. Even within the same community, such as Portland, rates for care organizations vary considerably. Why such a difference? Only the Oregon Health Authority knows. Currently, providers, elected officials, the care organizations and ultimately, taxpayers just have to accept it and trust there is a reasonable and fair reason.

Prior to 2012, the health authority made public its key cost data and methodologies in a comprehensive book that care organizations and other stakeholders could use to examine costs and refine services to Medicaid recipients in Oregon. Today, the health authority refuses to publically reveal certain data on which they make budget decisions based on claims that the information is proprietary or a trade secret. Key information is almost completely blacked out in public documents, rendering it useless.

Share your opinion

Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

When government agencies start using terms like "proprietary information," citizens have cause for concern. As Oregon Sen. Lee Beyer stated in a recent Senate Committee on Health Care hearing on SB233, "We've spent a lot of time in the legislature talking about the need to have open transparency... From my perspective, government agencies don't have proprietary information." SB233 opens the door to transparency to make clear how and why rate decisions are made.

Coordinated care organizations across the state are working with the Oregon Health Authority to meet the state's goals and to deliver on the promise of better access, greater quality and reduced costs. This is what the taxpayers asked for. Surely, Oregonians and the care organizations that serve our state's Medicaid recipients can ask for transparency in return.

Joe Henery is president of Henery & Associates, an independent physician association and physician business consulting firm based in Oregon.
22639818-mmmain.jpg

John Thorton Jenkins fell down the east slope of the Hogsback in the upper reaches of the mountain late Sunday morning. Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian

People quickly arrived to help after John Thorton Jenkins tumbled 600 feet down a Mount Hood slope Sunday morning.

One of the first things the 32-year-old Jenkins said, according to witnesses, was, "I should have had my ice ax in my hand."

Before his fall, rescuers believe Jenkins was walking with the aid of trekking poles, which are similar to ski poles. While it is unclear what caused the Mukilteo resident's fall, climbing authorities say an ice ax  and the ability to use it  is an essential tool for travel on glaciated peaks.

Jenkins was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon after an Oregon Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter brought him to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. The Clackamas County Medical Examiner's Office had not provided a cause of death Wednesday, according to the county sheriff's office.

Rescuers, however, during interviews Wednesday said the fall on the icy slope injured Jenkins' chest, lower back and torso, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"I've been doing this for 30 years," said Rocky Henderson, a team leader with Portland Mountain Rescue, who was with Jenkins until he was loaded onto the helicopter. "This is my first experience of having a person in my care expire."

The Saturday night before their climb, Jenkins and girlfriend Shawna Lamoree camped in a tent at about 9,100 feet elevation near the climbing route, Henderson and others said.

Experienced climbers use that lofty overnight perch to acclimatize to high altitude and to get an early start on the ascent  particularly at this time of the year, when the 11,250-foot-tall peak is teeming with people trying to reach the summit.

While the time of Jenkins' fall -- before 11:30 a.m. -- is typically when most climbers are descending Mount Hood at this time of year for safety reasons, rescuers said they were not certain if he was going up or coming down the mountain.

When he fell, Jenkins was about 650 feet below the summit, on the Hogsback  the spiny formation that is the main southern conduit to the top. The location of the fall also was about 100 feet above the Bergschrund, Henderson said, a crevasse that often opens in spring.

Jenkins tumbled off the east side of the Hogsback and came to rest in Devil's Kitchen, an area next to a towering face, or headwall, of the same name.

Conditions at the time were good, said Steve Rollins, rescue leader with Portland Mountain Rescue, who also was at the scene. Mid-morning snowpack at the elevation had not yet turned sloppy, as it often does.

However, the slopes off the Hogsback were icy, Rollins said.

"In hard ice condition like that," he said, "Climbers need to be using an ice ax and be ready to do a self arrest," a maneuver to stop or slow an uncontrolled fall.

An emergency department physician from Tacoma, an emergency medical technician and two people skilled in wilderness first aid were among the first people to come to Jenkins' aid. Henderson arrived in the first 30 minutes and stayed with Jenkins.

Early on, Jenkins was able to speak with caregivers but gradually showed difficulty breathing, Henderson said.

Shortly before the helicopter arrived about 3 p.m., Jenkins had lost consciousness. The doctor attempted to create an artificial airway. Henderson and the doctor, who declined through a third party to be interviewed, performed cardio pulmonary resuscitation. Medical technicians aboard the helicopter also attempted to revive Jenkins en route to the hospital, Henderson said.

Jenkins' Facebook page is full of photos showing the Prairie Village, Kansas, native on steep mountain faces in the Cascades, sometimes secured with intricate rope configurations and often wearing a helmet.

Lamoree's Facebook page features a photo, posted Tuesday, of Jenkins heading uphill on what appears to be the Hogsback.

It shows Jenkins wearing spiked gripping devices, called crampons, strapped to his boots, and his pack exterior includes the halves of a snowboard that can be assembled for back-country travel.

Lamoree, who could not be reached Wednesday, wrote, "I can not reconcile how our perfect, relaxing, beautiful weekend in the mountains ended with John gone. I can not believe he is not here next to me right now, planning our next adventure."

--Allan Brettman

503-294-5900

@allanbrettman
gavel.jpg

(The Oregonian/File)

PENDLETON  A former Oregon Youth Authority employee accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl he supervised in juvenile prison has pleaded not guilty to charges of official misconduct and custodial sexual misconduct.

The East Oregonian reports Oregon State Police began investigating Gary Cross last year when the Youth Authority reported a possible relationship between the 38-year-old man and a former inmate at Oak Creek, a correctional facility for young women in Albany.

An affidavit says the teen had been pulled from Cross's work crew after she said she wore makeup to "look good for Gary." The Youth Authority began its investigation when Cross's wife told one of her husband's co-workers he was having an affair with a teen.

The Youth Authority paroled the girl last August to a Corvallis halfway house. Authorities say she ran away and was later spotted with Cross outside a Pendleton hotel.

-- The Associated Press
A man accused of pushing his girlfriend off a cliff along the Eagle Creek trail in the Columbia Gorge pleaded guilty this week to criminally negligent homicide and coercion, concluding an 8-year-old case marked by arguments over a $1 million insurance policy, a secret indictment and a bungled investigation.

State prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Steven P. Nichols this week in a plea deal. Nichols, 42, was placed on three years of probation with credit for the year and seven months he already served in jail awaiting trial.

Rhonda Casto, 23, of Portland, the mother of the couple's then-infant daughter, died when she fell during a hike with Nichols on March 16, 2009.

Nichols' lawyer, Mike Arnold, had aggressively challenged the murder case, successfully pointing out flaws  from the destruction of evidence by an investigator to an unconstitutional three-hour police interview of Nichols after Nichols was arrested on a warrant in 2015.

The initial lead detective destroyed evidence on his computer, including crime scene and autopsy photos and trailhead fee envelopes from potential witnesses before he retired, court records indicated.

A Hood River County judge later suppressed Nichols' statements to San Mateo County sheriff's detectives in California who arrested Nichols at San Francisco International Airport in 2015. When asked about his girlfriend's death, Nichols had said under the questioning that "it's not something I want to talk about,'' but detectives continued to ask him questions for about three hours.

The state appealed and the Oregon Supreme Court two months ago upheld the suppression of Nichols' statements, finding the police interview should have ended once he protested.

"We concluded that the defendant unequivocally expressed an intent to invoke his right against self-compelled incrimination, which a reasonable officer would have understood as an invocation of that right,'' the Supreme Court ruling said.

Casto fell 100 feet to her death about a mile from the trailhead along a narrow section featuring wire cables and pipe handrails for safety. Nichols was a suspect in the death from the beginning.

He called 911 at 6:09 p.m. to report that Casto had slipped as they were hiking. He said it took him an hour to scramble down to her body and that he began "mouth to mouth" resuscitation, then lay on top of her for 45 minutes until he got cold. He didn't explain why.

Several months before her death, Nichols had increased Casto's life insurance policy to $1 million, records show. He had tried to collect it after her death and eventually agreed to split it with Casto's mother and with the estate of the child he had with Casto.

Casto's mother, Julia Simmons, now faces a federal charge herself, accused of embezzling Social Security funds that she wasn't entitled to, according to court documents.

As an investigation into the death proceeded, Nichols continued to live in the Bend area for several years before he traveled to China for about a year and a half with his daughter. In 2014, Hood River County prosecutors obtained a secret indictment against Nichols as he was still in China. He was arrested when he returned to the country at the San Francisco airport.

The dismissal of the murder charge and guilty pleas to two other felony charges followed settlement negotiations between Hood River County Deputy District Attorney Carrie Rasmussen and Arnold.

Nichols pleaded guilty to coercing Casto to go on the hike and unlawfully and with criminal negligence causing her death.

To prove murder, prosecutors would have had to show Nichols intentionally caused Casto's death.

"There was no evidence. There was innuendo. There was speculation and conjecture,'' Arnold said.

The couple's daughter, now 8 years old, remains in state custody.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
Salem Car Crash.jpg

Oregon State Police report that a Western Oregon University student, 22-year-old Brandon Lin of Portland, died from injuries sustained in a car crash in Salem Tuesday.

(Photo by Oregon State Police)

A Western Oregon University student has died from injuries sustained in a car crash on Interstate 5 in Salem Tuesday, Oregon State Police report.

Brandon Lin of Portland, 22, was one of two passengers in a 2006 Honda Accord that crashed into a tree on the highway's northbound lane near milepost 256 at approximately 5 p.m. He was in a back seat.

The driver, 18-year-old Laurie Son of Beaverton, reportedly ran into a tow truck and lost control of the car after attempting to change to the right-most lane from the middle lane of the interstate.

Lin died of injuries from the crash in surgery, police report.

The driver of the tow truck, Andrew Hillman, was not injured. Jeremy Danh, 22, was the front passenger and sustained minor injuries. Son also received minor injuries.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
22620062-mmmain.jpg

(Oregonian file photo)

The health services administrator for the Oregon Department of Corrections abruptly resigned last Friday amid an internal investigation into the hiring of the agencys top doctor.

Joe DaFoe, former administrator for health services in state prisons, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Wednesday that he offered the job of chief medical director to Dr. Christopher DiGiulio in April while the position was still posted on an online job site.

According to the agency, DiGiulio got the offer on April 17. The posting was set to close April 21. An employee pointed out the discrepancy in dates, prompting officials to rescind the offer and open an investigation into what happened, DaFoe said.

In a memo to staff, Corrections Department Director Colette Peters said a step was missed during the hiring process. She noted that DiGiulio, who has worked for the department since 2008, would remain deputy medical director.

The medical director is the highest-paid position in the prison system. Dr. Steven Shelton, who had served in the post since 1992, retired March 31. At retirement, his salary was $233,028.

In announcing DaFoes resignation, Peters told agency employees that Deputy Director Brian Belleque would conduct a thorough review of the health services unit, which provides medical care to the states roughly 14,700 inmates housed at 14 facilities.

The medical director reports to health services administrator. The administrator oversees the 575 employees who provide medical, psychiatric and dental services to inmates.

DaFoe called the hiring of DiGiulio before the closing date an unfortunate situation. He said the agency received only one other application.

He said his decision to resign wasnt due to the ongoing internal investigation but the lack of professionalism by corrections officials who decided to investigate not just the hiring process, but also DaFoe.

Department of Corrections conducts many internal investigations due to a variety of reasons and it is important to conduct these investigations with an unbiased approach that maintains fairness and respect for those involved, DaFoe said.

The agency in general is inconsistent in how it hires staff, he said.

You can ask four different (human resources) staff and they would tell you four different things, he said. I thought I was following my previous process, which was my own because there was no other process. I had no idea I was under investigation. I am not sure why they would target me when they knew it was a process that broke down.

Department spokeswoman Betty Bernt confirmed that DaFoe is the subject of an internal investigation. He was placed on paid administrative leave Friday.

Obviously we are looking at every aspect of it and he is part of that, she said.

DaFoe said he also felt the prison official who interviewed him as part of the investigation was disrespectful. DaFoe said Brandon Kelly, superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, carried out the interview.

The best way I can describe it was ready, aim, fire approach, he said. I felt like I was guilty.

He said the agencys handling of the situation prompted him to quit the $143,256-a-year job.

Sometimes, he said, you have to reflect and say, This isnt where I should be.

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
A meeting Wednesday exposed divides  many of them along urban and rural lines  among Oregon lawmakers crafting a transportation package.

Some Republicans balked at a proposed statewide tax on workers to fund public transit improvements, while a Democrat dismissed the gas tax as an outdated method of raising infrastructure revenue.

The discussion came two days after legislators released an $8.2 billion proposal to ease congestion and improve roads, bridges and public transportation over the next decade.

Though lawmakers have been working on the plan for over a year, their discussions have yet to be distilled into a bill. With only two months left in the legislative session, state lawyers have less and less time to write this bill, which lawmakers say will likely be about 400 pages long.

"We don't have a lot of time," warned Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield, co-chair of the joint transportation committee.

The purpose of Wednesday's meeting was to tackle some of the proposal's broad strokes and come to an agreement on the content of the bill, which they can vote up or down.

The most notable disagreements arose around three topics: the scope of the proposal, the size of the gas tax and funding for public transit.

Project scope

The most basic question before the joint transportation committee on Wednesday was this: Should the plan include funding for a decade's worth of projects, or just a couple of years? Put another way, should it be a multi-billion-dollar package, or just a few hundred million dollars?

Many of the members said they prefer the long-term approach called for in Monday's proposal because it enables local jurisdictions to plan for projects years in advance and protects the state from gaps in funding. But Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, said a big, expensive package could be too risky.

That is because it contains a bevy of unpopular taxes. The current proposal includes a new payroll tax, new sales taxes on bikes and cars, increased gas taxes and increased title and registration fees. Higher taxes are usually unpopular with voters, and are therefore more likely to be referred to the ballot, where voters can reject them. If the tax revenue disappears from the proposal, so do the projects.

Girod said he prefers taking smaller bites of the apple  tackling transportation funding each year, rather than every several.

"If we just do a little bit each year, it's not going to be one giant vote," he said. "If you think of all things that are in this package, and you ask yourself, if it goes to the ballot, are they going to vote for it? And I think the overwhelming answer is, 'Hell no.'"

Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, has said transportation committee members have been working to appease interest groups representing drivers, car dealers and truckers to ensure that portions of the proposal do not land on the ballot.

The gas tax

The current proposal calls for a statewide gas tax increase of 14 cents per gallon over 10 years, with a 6-cent hike the first year. Those in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties would see a larger increase to pay for traffic-reducing highway improvements.

But Girod said a 6-cent increase in one year would be a hard pill for Oregonians to swallow.

"Anything over 4 cents is toast at the ballot," he said.

Instead, he said he would rather see a 3-cent increase each year for four years or even two years, at which point it would expire. At that point, lawmakers could decide whether to extend the tax hike, he said.

Beyer noted that this approach would likely garner the same amount of money for the state over time.

Rep. John Lively, D-Springfield, questioned the proposal to raise gas taxes, a revenue stream that has decreased as more Oregonians turn to more efficient cars. He said he's glad the plan includes tiered title and registration fees that require fuel-efficient vehicles to pay more.

"My preference would be to move more directly to a user-pay system," he said. "If this is the only way we start moving there, then I'm supportive of that. But I still personally think, given the size of this package, and if we're looking out 10 years or 20 years, we ought to talk about where we move to a road user fee and get off of the gas tax."

Public transit

The current proposal would levy a 0.1 percent payroll tax on all Oregon workers to pay for public transit improvements  including increased bus frequency on nights and weekends  throughout the state. This would shrink Oregonians' paychecks by $20 per year for those making minimum wage. Those making a $50,000 salary would pay about $50 per year.

Beyer said those on the transportation committee have heard requests for improved public transportation systems from residents and businesses throughout the state.

"This wasn't just a metro issue," he said.

Requests came from Medford, Hermiston, the coast and Bend, where increasing housing costs have pushed residents farther out from the city's center and their jobs, he said.

Girod spoke up again. "I love being the bad guy," he joked.

"I represent a district where Lebanon is my biggest city," he said. "The vast majority of my district do not live in (a metro area). So to ask somebody out in the country to pay 0.1 percent ... to try to justify it to those people  the first thing they're going to say is, 'This is Portland money.'"

When Girod suggested that only residents living in a transit area pay the payroll tax, Beyer noted that the state has nearly 150 transit areas.

One of the last people to speak during Wednesday's meeting, Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, said he agreed with much of what Girod said.

"I start looking at my district, and this is getting to be a pretty big stretch for the rural portions of the state," he said. "I know if I go into Irrigon or Lexington or Umatilla  small little towns  this is starting to become challenging."

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum
In this July 13, 2016 file photo, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum poses for a photo at her office in Portland, Ore.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has joined 19 other state attorneys general criticizing the Justice Department's role in firing FBI Director James Comey.

The states' top legal officers wrote to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy U.S. Attorney General, saying the Tuesday canning of Comey betrayed the public's trust. A memo from Rosenstein was used in part to justify firing Comey.

An "independent special counsel" should be appointed to continue an FBI investigation into potential collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russians, said the attorneys general, all Democrats.

They urged Rosenstein to consider "damage to our democratic system" and "attempts by the administration to derail and delegitimize the investigation."

Comey's ousting drew parallels to the 1973 Saturday Night Massacre, when Nixon ordered Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox fired, and Nixon's attorney general resigned in protest and his deputy was fired.

President Donald Trump has said Comey told him he is not under investigation. Trump campaign officials are the subject of an active investigation, according to news reports.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman
Local civil rights groups, in a letter sent Wednesday to Mayor Ted Wheeler, criticized Portland police's tactics during last week's May Day protest, saying the response was "confusing, swift and by all accounts, escalated a predominately peaceful march."

The letter, written by the ACLU of Oregon, the National Lawyers Guild and Lawyers for Good Government, called police response to the protesters "adversarial" and said it "jeopardize(ed) the safety and civil rights of Portland residents." Based on accounts from legal observers and march organizers, the groups said the police, not the protesters, caused the demonstration to become violent.

"It is clear very little property destruction or violence occurred before PPB canceled the march permit," the letter said.

This contrasts sharply with Portland police's account. Ninety minutes into the May 1 march, police declared it was a riot after they said some in the crowd threw rocks, full soda cans, road flares and smoke bombs at officers. Anarchists also threw at least one Molotov cocktail, a police spokesman said in an email.

Officers used flash-bang grenades after they declared the march illegal. Demonstrators lit a fire in the middle of a downtown street and vandalized downtown buildings and a police car.

Police eventually arrested 25 people. Most were released the next day as prosecutors wait to file charges until police finish investigating.

Organizers said the march was peaceful, with the exception of a small group of people in the back. Many organizers witnessed no violence from demonstrators and were confused and scared by a police response they called abrupt and violent.

The letter echoed many of organizers' complaints. It said police actions created tension before the march began by confiscating signs with sticks, then intimidated demonstrators after they started marching by lining both sides of the sidewalks. Then, the letter said, police suddenly announced the march's permit had been revoked and, a few minutes later, anyone in the street would be arrested.

Police said last week that violence forced them to revoke the march's permit.

"This one got unruly pretty quick,'' Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman said May 2. "We were afraid we couldn't protect the permitted marchers so the incident commander made the decision to shut it down. And, the only way we could do that was with our loudspeaker system.''

Michael Cox, a Wheeler spokesman, on Wednesday called the violence at the march "unfortunate."

"It is unfortunate that a day dedicated to honoring the contributions of workers and immigrants was co-opted by people whose objective was violence and property damage, and it's disappointing that this pattern of events has become the norm," Cox said in a text. "As a community, we have to continue to respect the right to free assembly while rejecting violence and vandalism."

Read the entire letter below.

This browser does not support inline PDFs. Please download the PDF to view it: Download PDF

 Samantha Matsumoto

smatsumoto@oregonian.com

503-294-4001; @SMatsumoto55
markohatfieldcourthousedavekillen.jpg

Chad Cameron Camp, who has spent 11 months in custody, is expected to be released next week to six months home detention, including at least three months of out-patient alcohol and opiate drug treatment. The split-sentence was part of a negotiated plea deal and accepted by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland. (Dave Killen|Staff)

A man who groped a 13-year-old girl aboard a flight to Portland is expected to be released from jail next week and placed on home detention for six months while he participates in an outpatient treatment program for severe opiate addiction and alcohol abuse.

The treatment program is part of a negotiated 14-month split sentence for Chad Cameron Camp. He received credit for the 11 months already in custody since his June 15 arrest and is expected to spend at least three months in treatment.

Camp, 27, will begin the treatment Mondat at Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Beaverton. He'll attend three-hour sessions three days a week.

If he doesn't comply with the treatment program, he will serve the full year and two months behind bars.

He also must register as a sex offender for 15 years.

"I truly am sorry for what took place. There's no ... no apology that will make up for what has happened, what I have done. I'm willing to take full responsibility,'' Camp told U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman during his sentencing in federal court Thursday. "I truly am sorry and given the chance, I will do whatever it takes to stay clean and sober.''

Chad Cameron Camp

On Jan. 19, Camp pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit abusive sexual contact of a minor and indecent sexual proposal of a minor.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Edmonds said Camp abused a girl who was flying alone "in frightening circumstances on an aircraft, where she had no avenue to leave and where she, due to her relatively smaller physical stature, was overcome by the defendant who persisted in intimidating her and then touched her several times in intimate areas of her body.''

Camp, who is from the Gresham area, had downed four to five mixed drinks before boarding the American Airlines plane in Dallas. He was headed back to Oregon after having just finished a residential treatment program for alcohol dependency in Florida, Edmonds has said.

Camp told a psychologist that he remembers little after drinking. Once on the flight, he said he sat next to a young girl.

"I invaded her space, touching her in her thigh and her groin area. I had inappropriate conversations with her. My words were fairly considered to be indecent sexual exposure,'' Camp said when he entered a guilty plea.

Under the initial negotiated split sentence, Camp was expected to serve seven months in custody, followed by seven months in inpatient treatment.

But no inpatient treatment program in Oregon would accept Camp because he's now a registered sex offender, Edmonds said.

Camp's defense lawyer Stephen Houze called it unfortunate that a residential treatment program was unwilling to take a registered sex offender. Houze said it's not because the programs are concerned he'll abuse another patient at the treatment program, but because others in treatment may have been victims of sexual abuse and his past wouldn't be conducive to a therapeutic community.

Camp's mother, sister and fiancee attended the sentencing hearing. They're committed to supporting Camp and ensuring he succeeds and overcomes his addictions, Houze said.

The teenage victim didn't attend court but her lawyer did.

"We have nothing but complete empathy and concern for her welfare,'' Houze told the judge.

He characterized Camp's actions on the plane as "outrageous and unacceptable behavior.''

"It is completely inexcusable behavior and he's prepared to take the consequences,'' Houze said.

The 11 months in jail is the longest amount of time Camp has been in custody. It's also the longest period that he's been completely clean and sober, his lawyer said.

Camp will be on five years of supervised release. During the supervision, he was ordered to have no alcohol, marijuana or any controlled substances. He also must undergo up to 12 drug and alcohol urinalysis tests a month, a sex offense assessment and polygraph testing.

The girl's family has filed a $10 million lawsuit against American Airlines, saying the flight crew allowed the abuse to last for 30 minutes without intervention and didn't move Camp or offer the girl the opportunity to move despite about half of the plane's seats being empty.

The girl and her family have moved out of state, largely because of the traumatic experience, said their lawyer, Brent Goodfellow. They understand that Camp faced the high end of the sentencing guidelines, with the 14-month split sentence, but no punishment would ease the pain she's endured, he said.

"This has forever changed this family,'' Goodfellow said.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
A jury awarded no money Wednesday to the mother of a 23-year-old woman who killed herself, finding that the woman was more responsible for her death than the Portland psychiatrist and social worker who knew she had a gun.

The 12-person jury deliberated for several hours before returning the verdict in a rare lawsuit accusing mental health providers of failing to stop a patient from dying by suicide. The suits are unusual, in part, because its exceptionally difficult to prove that anyone other than the person who died is at fault, legal experts say.

The eight-day trial chronicled the end of Jacqueline Mahoneys life and the aftermath for her family and the two people who treated her.

Mahoney was born in Japan, moved to the United States as a small child and graduated as valedictorian of her class at Arts & Communication Magnet High School in Beaverton. She won a scholarship to Northwestern University but suffered her first manic episode during her freshman year.

Mahoney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and shot herself five years later, in February 2014.

Although we lost the battle, this was fought, not only for my daughter Jackie Mahoney, but for all those who are living with mental illness, her mother, Kazuko Gardner, said in a statement after the trial. It is my hope that Jackies story will shed more light on the reality and failures of our mental healthcare system.

Dr. Marvin Fickle, the psychiatrist at Oregon Health & Science University who treated Mahoney, declined comment as he left the Multnomah County courthouse. OHSU spokeswoman Tamara Hargens-Bradley later said Fickle and OHSU extend our sincere condolences to Jacquelines family.

Jennifer Shay, the social worker in private practice, was in tears as she walked out of the courtroom and also declined comment. But her attorney, Katie Eichner, said, This was a very tragic case and my client is grateful for the jurys verdict.

Gardner had sought $1.5 million during the Multnomah County Circuit Court trial, contending Fickle and Shay should have taken the gun away from her daughter and could have involuntarily hospitalized her or told her family that she had a plan and the means to kill herself.

Rodney Norton, a defense attorney for Fickle and OHSU, told jurors that Fickle couldn't force Mahoney to go to the hospital because she had convinced him she didnt want to kill herself anymore.

Fickle couldnt violate Mahoneys right to patient privacy by telling her parents about the gun, Norton said.

She has the legal right to say, Im 24 years old in a month ... you keep my medical secrets secret, Norton said.

Eichner said Mahoney was the only one responsible.

Ms. Mahoney chose to stop fighting, Eichner said. She also decided to keep control of whether she lived or died. ...To be in that kind of pain and to have those kinds of thoughts is extremely tragic, but it nevertheless remains a choice.

Jason Kafoury, an attorney for Mahoneys mother, said Mahoney could have been saved. He said placing blame on the patient is an outdated notion. He argued that today, mental illness is recognized as a disease that can be treated with medicine and therapy -- and mental-health specialists should be held liable when they fall short.

Kafoury contended that the need to inform Mahoneys family of the grave danger she was in overrode any duties Fickle and Shay had to protect her medical privacy. He also said Mahoney had signed a form giving Shay permission to tell her family.

How to get help

If you have suicidal thoughts, you should talk to someone you trust, counselors say. Or call a 24-hour hotline:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Multnomah County: 503-988-4888 or 1-800-716-9769

Clackamas County: 503-655-8585

Washington County: 503-291-9111

Clark County: 360-696-9560 or 1-800-686-8137

In early 2014, Mahoney had a boyfriend, a job as a waitress and a dream to move to Los Angeles to become a screenwriter. She was living with her mother and stepfather and receiving treatment and counseling from Fickle and Shay.

She was struggling with her medications and had stopped taking them, she told them, according to trial testimony. Three weeks before she killed herself, she spoke with Shay and an on-call OHSU psychiatrist because Fickle was on vacation in Mexico. Chart notes say she told them she had a plan to check into a hotel and end her life.

The next day, she bought the 9mm Glock from a gun store just west of the Raleigh Hill Fred Meyer. At her next meeting with Shay -- about two weeks before her death -- she told Shay she bought the gun. Kafoury argued that the nearly $600 purchase -- on Mahoneys waitress wages -- should have set off alarm bells.

But when Shay asked Mahoney about why she bought the gun, Mahoney said she didnt know and that maybe it would be fun to target shoot, according to Shays therapy notes.

In closing arguments, Kafoury criticized Shay for not taking the gun when she learned Mahoney had it in her parked car, Kafoury said.

Both Fickle and Shay indicated in depositions or during testimony that guns are commonplace, saying that 40 percent of their patients have them.

Fickle testified that he returned from vacation about a week before Mahoneys death and learned from the on-call psychiatrists notes that Mahoney had a plan to check into a hotel and kill herself.

Mahoneys mother testified that her daughter was desperate to meet with Fickle -- and had been waiting by the phone for him to call her while he was on vacation.

Fickle met with Mahoney three days later, writing in his chart notes that Mahoney agreed she would give the gun to her mother. He also advised her to try a new drug at a new clinic and to come back and see him in six weeks.

Four days later, Mahoney checked herself into the Embassy Suites hotel next to the Washington Square shopping mall and shot herself.

After several hours of deliberations, jurors unanimously decided that Mahoney was 58 percent at fault for her death.

They also decided Shay was 25 percent at fault and Fickle was 17 percent. Because the jury found Mahoney was more than 50 percent at fault, Shay, Fickle and OHSU wont pay a judgment.

-- Aimee Green
surveillance.jpg

TriMet surveillance images released of Jared Weston Walter, a 30-year-old registered sex offender, on a bus on May 1, 2017. Walter, who has been convicted of cutting and masturbating in women's hair aboard TriMet buses, was reported to have recently continued the criminal activity, police say. (TriMet)

Update, 11:32 p.m.: Police arrested Jared Weston Walter on Wednesday night after several people reported seeing him around Southeast 82nd Avenue and Holgate Boulevard.

"Alert community members" chased Walter, and officers found him shortly before 8 p.m. in the 4300 block of 89th Avenue, Portland police said in a news release.

Walter was arrested on suspicion of harassment and interfering with public transportation, according to police. He's being held in the Multnomah County Detention Center on $8,000 bail, according to jail records.

He's scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, police said.

***

TriMet is offering a reward for information about a man  known as the TriMet Barber  who's suspected of cutting a woman's hair on a bus and leaving the area, police said.

Jared Weston Walter

Jared Weston Walter, the man suspected in the incident, is a registered sex offender who's been jailed in the past for cutting and masturbating in women's hair while on TriMet buses. The transportation agency is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest and conviction, Portland police said in a news release Wednesday.

Police previously released May 1 surveillance images of Walter boarding a bus, but they didn't specify where he was seen. They think he's in the metro area.

TriMet wants to ban Walter from buses and trains for over six months, which is the current maximum exclusion time. Police said he targets women of all ages, and prosecutors say he has kept stalking women despite repeated jail sentences.

"We are exploring a long-term ban that will keep this individual off TriMet vehicles and property once he is caught," Harry Saporta, TriMet executive director of Safety and security, said in a statement. "We, along with Transit Police, are dedicated to assuring a safe system for all of our riders."

Police ask anyone who sees Walter to call 911. Anyone who has non-emergency tips should contact transit officers via phone at 503-962-7566 or via email at CrimeTips@portlandoregon.gov.

 Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report
Warning: Graphic language

Updated: May 11, 2:46 p.m.

A Portland liquidation store has removed Confederate flag rugs and hopes to apologize to a woman who filmed employees of the store intimidating her after she asked about the rugs.

On Wednesday morning, according to Heather Franklin, 33, she dropped one of her children off at school and took another, as well as a child she was babysitting, to Everyday Deals Extreme on Southeast 146th Avenue. Franklin said she goes to the store, which is a discount liquidator that carries a variety of different products, as often as twice a week, and she was shocked when she noticed a Confederate flag rug on display.

Even more surprising was the reaction of several store employees when she asked them about the rugs. Franklin said Wednesday over the phone that she began filming the store's employees after they dismissed her concerns about the rug.

"Don't care about having hate flags on your wall?" Franklin says in the video.

"How's that a hate symbol?" asks one man in a blue shirt.

"Read your history," he adds as he walks away.

Rug display at Everyday Deals Extreme.

As Franklin was filming the store and walking out with what she said was on toddler on her back and one holding her hand, another man in a red shirt who later identified himself as an employee, flips her off and says, "Bye bitch. Get your kids out of here."

Then, the man in the blue shirt reappears, now filming Franklin. "Look at this liberal," he says.

"Yeah look at this liberal whiny bitch here," the man in the red shirt responds.

"Hillary supporter? Bernie supporter?" he asks. "Which one did you vote for that lost. Is that why you're in a bad mood?"

In a second video, the two men and Franklin yell at each other across the parking lot. Franklin said the men were approaching her in the parking lot.

"I felt like they were going to come and physically hurt me," Franklin said later.

In the video, Franklin becomes visibly distressed and the two men mock her for crying.

Confederate flag rug at Everyday Deals Extreme.

Andrew Toolson, the CEO of Everyday Deals, said over the phone Wednesday that he does not condone the behavior of his employees or the Confederate flag rugs.

Toolson said the inventory of Everyday Deals is in constant flux.

"We receive thousands of different products," Toolson said, including a load of a 150 rugs this week.

"On that load were a few of these rugs with symbol of Confederate flag," he said.

Toolson said the rugs had been taken down, adding, "We've contacted the rug supplier and said please don't send us those."

Toolson said that since the videos went up on Wednesday morning, he has received calls from across the country.

"I was sick to my stomach when I saw that video," he told us. He said that he considers his company to be "as far from a racist organization" as it can be.

"I've talked to those employees," he said. "They've handled it very poorly."

Toolson told KGW on Thursday that the employees involved in the incident are on indefinite leave. He said that he had reached out to Franklin and hopes to apologize.

Meanwhile, the store that stocked the Confederate flag rug has removed it, apologized & put the employees involved on indefinite leave. pic.twitter.com/3WOJS3PLE1  Maggie Vespa KGW (@Maggie_Vespa) May 11, 2017

"I just want everyone to know that's not who we are and what represent here at all," he said.

Franklin, however, remains concerned. She said the men in the parking lot were taking pictures of her license plate and that she has seen employees sharing her video and mocking her on social media.

When asked if she would ever shop there again, Franklin responded, "Never," adding, "It seems that store is full of terrible people."

A protest organized by Direction Action Alliance is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday in front of the store.

"When a mother and her children are harassed and intimidated in our neighborhood, it will not just be business as usual," the Facebook event page reads.

As of 4:55 p.m. Wednesday, 23 plan on going while another 70 say they're interested.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker
traffic rain2 copy.JPG

We're back to rainy, wet streets for the rest of the week.

(The Oregonian/file photo)

Daily traffic

A check of the traffic cams showed several pre-7 a.m. slides, stalls and spin outs on the ramp from Interstate 5 northbound to Oregon 217 northbound where fresh rainfall could be the cause of some slick conditions. Check your speed approaching the ramp and note the warning signs recommend 35 mph on the ramp.

Other freeways and roads could be slick too. Take your time and leave plenty of stopping distance.

GLENN JACKSON BRIDGE 8:55 a.m.; Crash involving a charter bus I-205 southbound mid-span of the Glenn Jackson Bridge. Left lane partially blocked. Expect responders to take the lane when they arrive.



***

NORTHEAST PORTLAND 7:55 a.m.; Crash involving a bicyclist on Northeast 31st Avenue and Glisan Street.

***

EAST VANCOUVER 7:44 a.m.; Crash moved to the left shoulder I-205 southbound near 18th Street. Slow moving through the area back to SR 500.



***

VANCOUVER 7:20 a.m.; Crash in the right merge lane I-5 southbound near Mill Plain Boulevard exit.



Update 7:32 a.m.; Quickly cleared.

***

OREGON CITY 7:17 a.m.; Crash on OR 99E northbound into Oregon City prior to the rail road tunnel. Traffic is backed up to before Canemah Road.



Update 8 a.m.; Cleared.

***

Road work slows traffic on both directions of Northeast 18th Street in Vancouver from 112th to 107th avenues 6 a.m.-6 p.m. through Friday, May 12. Drivers will be made to alternate through a single-lane intermittently.

Heads up in Gresham: Police officials will conduct a pedestrian safety detail 2-4 p.m. Friday, May 12 at the intersection of Southeast Stark Street and 194th Avenue. Motorists must stop and yield to pedestrians who are waiting to cross the street.

Check back throughout the morning for the latest commuting updates and follow us on Twitter: @trafficportland
Gregory Bryant

Intel named veteran executive Gregory Bryant head of its largest business group Thursday, promoting him to run the division that oversees PCs and some mobile technologies.

Bryant works in Hillsboro, Intel's largest site, and will remain there in his new role. He takes over for Navin Shenoy, promoted last week to run Intel's data center group after Intel Vice President Diane Bryant went on leave.

Gregory Bryant (no relation to Diane Bryant, or to Intel Chairman Andy Bryant) joined Intel as an engineer in 1992. He had previously been general manager of Intel's business in Asia and was most recently head of strategy and product development for Intel's connected home group.

Computer chips for PCs provide a majority of Intel's sales, but Intel now classifies them with mobile devices - a tiny piece of Intel's business - in a division called the "Client Computing Group." The client group provided 54 percent of Intel's revenue last quarter.

The PC industry has been in decline for several years as demand for PCs ebbs. Last year, Intel eliminated 15,000 jobs across the company to position itself to chase growing markets including data centers, memory technologies, self-driving cars and connected devices known as the Internet of Things.

Update: This article has been updated with additional information from Intel, which says Bryant will remain in Oregon with his new role.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699
Puppet_name.jpg

"We have to go where the talent is and we have to move fast," Puppet chief executive Sanjay Mirchandani said. The company employs 530 in downtown Portland.

(Oregonian photo)

Portland technology company Puppet said Thursday it will open offices in Seattle and Singapore, boosting its research capability and reach into Asia as it expands its product portfolio.

"We have to go where the talent is and we have to move fast," Puppet chief executive Sanjay Mirchandani said. "Everybody knows Seattle is the mecca for cloud talent."

Puppet's software helps companies manage data centers, enabling them to track how their software is performing and quickly spot and address problems. The Seattle area is home to two of the largest cloud hosting companies, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's Azure. It's also home to Puppet's best-known rival, Chef.

Currently, nearly all of Puppet's engineering is at its headquarters in downtown Portland. As Puppet's technology increases its focus on large data hosting companies, though, Mirchandani said it makes sense to have some engineers close to those businesses.

The Seattle office will employ about two dozen, he said, and Mirchandani said it won't impinge on growth at Puppet's headquarters in Portland, where most of the company's 530 employees work.

"I can tell you, Seattle is not going to be our headquarters," he said.

Privately held Puppet is Portland's biggest homegrown technology company, and it has a growing international profile.

Before joining Puppet last year, Mirchandani was a vice president at VMware and ran that company's Asia-Pacific business from an office in Singapore. He said Puppet already has a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, and the new office in Singapore will help it make inroads in the rest of the region.

Also Thursday, Puppet introduced two new products. One, called Lumogon, gives Puppet's clients more insight into "containers" running within a larger computer system. The other, Puppet Cloud Discovery, helps manage cloud networks hosted by large data center companies like Amazon Web Services.

The new tools prepare Puppet's clients for shifts in cloud computing technology, Mirchandani said.

"What we do is enable that journey for them," he said. We've always said we make our customers future proof."

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699
Andrew McCabe

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe listens on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 11, 2017, while testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on major threats facing the U.S. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

(Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON -- On the spot as the FBI's new acting director, Andrew McCabe assured senators Thursday he will alert them to any effort to interfere with the investigation into Russia's election meddling and possible ties with Donald Trump's campaign.

McCabe also has agreed to refrain from updating the White House about the investigation.



President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday has led Democrats and others to raise concerns about the future of the investigation.



But McCabe, speaking publicly for the first time since his former boss' ouster, said there has been "no effort to impede our investigation." Watch live stream video here.

McCabe contradicted the White House claim that fired director James Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file members of the bureau.

The White House used that assertion to justify Comey's firing. But McCabe says the claim is not accurate. He says Comey "enjoyed broad support" within the agency and that he holds Comey in the "absolute highest regard."



He says it was the "greatest privilege" of his career to serve under him.



Days before he was fired, Comey requested more resources to pursue his investigation, U.S. officials have said, fueling concerns that Trump was trying to undermine a probe that could threaten his presidency.



It was unclear whether word of the Comey request, put to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, ever made its way to Trump. But the revelation intensified the pressure on the White House from both political parties to explain the motives behind Comey's stunning ouster.



Trump is the first president since Richard Nixon to fire a law enforcement official overseeing an investigation with ties to the White House. Democrats quickly accused Trump of using Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as a pretext and called for a special prosecutor into the Russia probe. Republican leaders brushed off the idea as unnecessary.



Defending the firing, White House officials said Trump's confidence in Comey had been eroding for months. They suggested Trump was persuaded to take the step by Justice Department officials and a scathing memo, written by Rosenstein, criticizing the director's role in the Clinton investigation.



"Frankly, he'd been considering letting Director Comey go since the day he was elected," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, a sharply different explanation from the day before, when officials put the emphasis on new Justice complaints about Comey.



Trump's action left the fate of the Russia probe deeply uncertain. The investigation has shadowed Trump from the outset of his presidency, though he's denied any ties to Russia or knowledge of campaign coordination with Moscow.



Trump, in a letter to Comey dated Tuesday, contended that the director had told him "three times" that he was not personally under investigation. The White House refused Wednesday to provide any evidence or greater detail. Former FBI agents said such a statement by the director would be all but unthinkable. McCabe told senators he could not comment on conversations between Comey and the president.



Sanders, speaking Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America," said, "I have heard that directly from him (Trump), that that information was relayed directly to him from Director Comey." On NBC's "Today," Sanders said she would defer to the president himself for any additional details.



Outraged Democrats called for an independent investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia's election interference, and a handful of prominent Republican senators left open that possibility. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, with the support of the White House, brushed aside those calls, saying a new investigation would only "impede the current work being done."



The Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday subpoenaed former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn for documents related to its investigation into Russia's election meddling. Flynn's Russia ties are also being scrutinized by the FBI.



Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe was scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee at an annual hearing on worldwide threats.



The White House appeared caught off guard by the intense response to Comey's firing, given that the FBI director had become a pariah among Democrats for his role in the Clinton investigation. In defending the decision, officials leaned heavily on a memo from Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, criticizing Comey's handling of the Clinton investigation.



But Rosenstein's own role in Comey's firing became increasingly murky Wednesday.



Three U.S. officials said Comey recently asked Rosenstein for more manpower to help with the Russia investigation. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said that while he couldn't be certain the request triggered Comey's dismissal, he said he believed the FBI "was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives and this was an effort to slow down the investigation."



Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores denied that Comey had asked Rosenstein for more resources for the Russia investigation.



Trump advisers said the president met with Rosenstein, as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, on Monday after learning that they were at the White House for other meetings. One official said Trump asked Rosenstein and Sessions for their views on Comey, then asked the deputy attorney general to synthesize his thoughts in a memo.



The president fired Comey the following day. The White House informed Comey by sending him an email with several documents, including Rosenstein's memo.



It's unclear whether Rosenstein was aware his report would be used to justify the director's ouster.



White House and other U.S. officials insisted on anonymity to disclose private conversations.



A farewell letter from Comey that circulated among friends and colleagues said he does not plan to dwell on the decision to fire him or on "the way it was executed."



Trump is only the second president to fire an FBI director, underscoring the highly unusual nature of his decision. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.



The White House said the Justice Department was interviewing candidates to serve as interim FBI director while Trump weighs a permanent replacement. Sanders said the White House would "encourage" the next FBI chief to complete the Russia investigation.



"Nobody wants this to be finished and completed more than us," she said.

-- The Associated Press
BX154_5E5D_9.JPG

Sen. Jeff Merkley

(AP)

Senator Jeff Merkley gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Thursday about President Donald Trump's firing of James Comey as FBI director. He called into question the integrity of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, insisting that their official explanations for backing Comey's removal were a "cover story."

The junior U.S. senator from Oregon demanded that an independent prosecutor be appointed to find out whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian hackers who sought to sow chaos in the 2016 U.S. election. He said the real reason Trump fired Comey was because the FBI's investigation into the matter was escalating.

"To call the times we find ourselves in right now 'interesting' would be certainly an understatement," Merkley said. "The fact is we find ourselves in our country at a moment that is profoundly testing the rule of law here in America, profoundly testing the strength of our democratic institutions."

Merkley, a Democrat who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign last year, said President Trump is "engaged in a pattern of removing individuals from office who are executing their responsibilities under the law," citing Trump's firing of former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, former New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Comey.

He mentioned worrisome "bits and pieces" of information coming out about conversations between various Trump campaign advisers and Russian officials in 2016.

"The president insists there's no there there, but we have seen a pattern of conversations that we don't fully understand," the senator said. "Was there coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians to interfere with the U.S. election? ... We don't know."

The White House insists that Comey was fired because of his grandstanding and other missteps last year in his handling of the FBI's investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Merkley picked apart that explanation, which was laid out in letters this week from Attorney General Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and President Trump.

"I don't think there is a single American," Merkley said, "not a single member of this body of 100 senators, who believes for a moment, not for a micro-second, that the reasoning in this memo from the deputy AG, and the letter from the AG to the president, and the president's letter to James Comey, that the arguments made here were the basis for his firing."

"The accurate story," he said, was that Trump fired Comey because the FBI director wouldn't support the president's baseless claim that President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower last year and, most of all, because he wouldn't back off on the FBI's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump team and the Russians.

"What we have here is a president determining he wanted to derail [the Russia] investigation, and he went to the AG and the deputy AG to say, 'Help me do this, help me derail this investigation, give me a cover story I can sell to the American public.'"

Merkley pointed out that conspiring with a foreign power to undermine a U.S. election "is a treasonous act" and that every patriotic American should want to get to the bottom of these allegations.

"Where is your integrity?" he asked Sessions and Rosenstein about their willingness, in Merkley's view, to provide the president with a "false story."

"How is this not obstruction of justice?" he asked.

"Lady Justice is all about getting the facts," the senator concluded, adding: "We need to have that special prosecutor."

Watch Merkley's speech below.

-- Douglas Perry
If you love Oregon's open beaches, you have former Gov. Tom McCall to thank. Back in 1967, he declared that our coastal sands belonged to the people and couldn't be privately owned.

That prompted historic legislation that placed the dry sand up to the vegetation line in public ownership. (The wet sand below high tide had already been claimed as a public right of way back in 1913, when then-Gov. Oswald West made it a travel corridor for horses and autos.)

On Saturday, exactly 50 years after McCall visited Cannon Beach to draw his literal line-in-the-sand over open beaches, his son will help kick off the 50th anniversary celebration of the landmark bill at the site of the 1967 visit. Thomas "Tad" McCall will be joined by other state dignitaries for a daylong commemoration that will include sandcastle demonstrations, an art project unveiling, beach volleyball, and a beach bonfire on the beach.

For a full list of activities related to the Beach Bill's anniversary, visit the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce.

-- Grant Butler

503-221-8566; @grantbutler
Updated at 3:25 p.m.

Colt Lyerla pleaded not guilty Thursday to a second-degree escape charge, a week after police say he fled Washington County community corrections custody and was later found overdosing on drugs.

Lyerla, a former Oregon Ducks tight end, is next scheduled to appear in Washington County Circuit Court on June 5. County officials said the 24-year-old went through a first-floor dorm window at the Washington County Community Corrections Center in Hillsboro on May 4.

He was found Friday morning by police and paramedics at a Hillsboro home about two miles away after someone called 911 reporting a man was overdosing on drugs there. The man, later determined to be Lyerla, was conscious when emergency responders arrived, and he tried to run away but was caught soon after, police said.

Lyerla was taken to a hospital for treatment then booked into the Washington County Jail.

Lyerla was sentenced April 19 in Washington County to six months in jail for first- and second-degree forgery after admitting to paying for items with counterfeit $50 bills. Judge Suzanne Upton ordered the remainder of Lyerla's sentence commuted if he completing a substance abuse treatment program, court records show.

Lyerla's criminal history also includes a 2013 conviction in Lane County for cocaine possession.

The Washington County Community Corrections Center is a minimum-security residential facility across the street from the county jail designed to provide work-release and other programs such as substance abuse treatment and employment counseling for low-level offenders.

The center takes in more than 2,000 people a year, including people ordered to serve the balance of a sentence that started in jail.

Steve Berger, the county's community corrections department director, said last week that Lyerla would not be allowed back to the center.

Rebecca Woolington of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith from the Centre for Global Migrations will discuss her major research project 'Africa to Aotearoa: A Genetic Ancestry Study of New Zealanders'.

All living humans can trace their ancestry back to a shared common maternal ancestor who lived in Africa some 150,000 years ago, often referred to as the Mitochondrial Eve. Beginning around 60,000 years ago, a small group of people left Africa and began to disperse across the globe. Aotearoa was the last landmass settled by humans, just 750 years ago. For the last few years I have been involved in a deep ancestry study of New Zealanders, using mitochondrial DNA obtained from over 2000 volunteers from across the country. In this talk I will present the results of our research and the implications for understanding both our evolutionary past and our future as New Zealanders.

Date Monday, 15 May 2017 Time 1:00pm - 2:00pm Audience Public,All University Event Category Research Events Event Type Seminar

Campus Dunedin Location Burns 6, Arts (Burns) Building, Albany Street, University of Otago, Dunedin

Cost Free

Contact Name Centre for Global Migrations

Contact Phone

Contact Email global.migrations@otago.ac.nz Website http://www.otago.ac.nz/global-migrations

Save this event
Friday 12 May 2017 9:06am



Ms Jeannine Stairmand

Living with multiple health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, is a challenge for increasing numbers of New Zealanders. New research led by the University of Otago, Wellington, has identified issues and improvements needed in the health care system to help patients with multimorbidity (multiple health conditions), their supporters and health care providers.

The views of people living with multmorbidity were reported in a study published in this weeks New Zealand Medical Journal, and funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

The researchers talked with 61 people about what it is like to live with multimorbidity. Living with multimorbidity is both disruptive and challenging for many people in their 'normal' lives, however many learn to manage and cope with help, says one of the researchers Jeannine Stairmand from the University of Otago, Wellington.

As one man told the researchers its a bad look with the walking stick in one hand and a chainsaw in the other, but I still get work done.

Patients often described feeling overwhelmed by having numerous health services to access, different health professionals to see and multiple medications to take. The complexity of multimorbidity does not fit naturally within a healthcare system that is siloed by single diseases. This research suggests that changes are needed to the way in which healthcare is organised and delivered in order to meet the complex needs of multi-morbid patients.

The study found that people with multimorbidity require more help to manage the many medications they are prescribed and their resulting side effects.

Some people who were on multiple medications had to cut down or leave work as the medications would make them fall asleep, says Ms Stairmand.

People really value simple things like good communication, having enough time to discuss their issues with a regular doctor. We found that respectful care was hugely important and made a big difference, she says.

Nearly all participants spoke of needing care and support from family and friends to manage their health.

Maori and migrant participants expressed the need for holistic and culturally competent health services. This could be achieved through an increased focus on cultural competence in healthcare training, including immersion at an early stage, and an increased indigenous workforce. A significant increase in Maori medical graduates from the University of Otago bodes well.

For further information, contact:

Ms Jeannine Stairmand

Cancer and Chronic Conditions Research Group

Department of Public Health

University of Otago, Wellington

Tel: (04) 385 5541 extn 5793

Email: Jeannine.stairmand@otago.ac.nz

Or Associate Professor Louise Signal

Department of Public Health

University of Otago, Wellington

Email: louise.signal@otago.ac.nz
Pat Devereaux has been presented with the prestigious RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors highly successful agents who have earned more than $3 million in commissions and have completed seven years of service with the company.

Less than 6 percent of all active agents in the RE/MAX network have achieved this award since its inception.
Thursday, May 11

Join friends at 8 p.m. in the Founders Room of Midland Center for the Arts for a night of PG-13 comedy featuring nationally-touring comedian Russ Williamson, named Best of the Midwest at Gildas LaughFest. Opening the show is comedian Mike Moses. $10 cover charge includes complimentary snacks. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Midland County Historical Societys Fireside Chat topic The End of World War II will be presented from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Doan History Center. Floyd Andrick will moderate as World War II veterans join to share memories of the end of the war on May 7, 1945. The public is encouraged to share memories as well. Admission is free; light refreshments will be served.

May 11-14, 18-21

Bay City Players will present My Fair Lady at the theater, 1214 Columbus Ave., Bay City. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and at 3 p.m. Sunday. www.baycityplayers.com 989-893-5555.

Friday, May 12

The Michigan Jazz Trail Big Band is scheduled in concert at 7 p.m. at State Theatre, Bay City. Big Band songs from the 1940s will be featured. The show will benefit The Bay County Historical Society. Tickets, statetheatrebaycity.com or 989-892-2660.

May 12-14, 18-21

Center Stage Theatre presents Assassins in the main auditorium of the Midland Center for the Arts. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, this musical journey bends the rules of time and space, taking people on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream. www.mfcta.org

Saturday, May 13

Matrix:Midland presents BODYTRAFFIC, an internationally acclaimed contemporary repertory dance company known for presenting distinctive choreographic voices, at 7:30 p.m. in the Midland Center for the Arts. Tickets.

The moms are back with an all new diva review, Moms: Weve Still Got It! Revue, set for 3 to 5 p.m. at Creative 360 in Midland. The event is filled with song, dance and a bit of parental humor. Cost is $15 prepay and $18 at the door. For info, www.becreative360.org

Delta College will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its Planetarium & Learning Center in downtown Bay City with a free public open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors of all ages can enjoy Dome360 mini-shows, hands on activities, solar observing, presentations by Dr. Slime. The day will culminate in a premiere of the new feature Show ECLIPSE: The Sun Revealed at 3:30 p.m. to anticipate the historic total solar eclipse coming to the United States this August.

Sunday, May 14

Midland Concert Band, with guest artist Jens Lindemann, trumpet virtuoso, is scheduled in concert at 3 p.m. at Midland Center for the Arts. The concert will feature scholarship winners and outstanding 7th graders. Tickets available at the door. In addition, a master class with Lindemann is scheduled for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 15, at Bullock Creek High School. Free event; no instrument is needed. midlandconcertband.com

Tuesday, May 16

Ukulele guru Johnny Hunt will perform a diverse group of songs in concert from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Creative 360 in Midland. Graduates from Creative 360s first ukulele class will join in for a few songs. Light refreshments. Cost is $10. Register at www.becreative360.org

Thursday, May 18

The Midland County Historical Societys May Heritage Series program, Ernest Hemingway: Michigan and WWI Influences is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Doan History Center, 3417 W. Main St., Midland. This presentation focuses on the impact The Great War had on Hemingway and how it would influence his subsequent life and writings. Presented by Mike Federspiel, adjunct professor of history at Central Michigan University. Tickets are $5; free for MCHS members and are available through the MCFTA Ticket Office, online at www.mcfta.org, and at the door, as space allows. Refreshments will be served after the program.

May 18-21

The 57th Annual National Morel Mushroom Festival will take place in Boyne City at Lake Charlevoix. Forage the woods in search of the rare morel mushrooms. A guided practice hunt is one of the activities on May 19. There will also be a carnival with rides and games for the kids, mushroom seminars and the Taste of Morels where visitors can sample the best mushroom recipes from area restaurants. bcmorelfestival.com

May 19-20

The Clare County Arts Council has scheduled its third annual Quilt Show for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 19, and for 10 a.m. o 4 p.m. May 20 at the newly renovated Clare Depot, 201 W. 4th St., Clare. Admission. Information, 989-289-8235.

May 19-21

Matrix:Cinema presents Sing Street, a film about a boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s who escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes. (Ireland 2016, 106 minutes, in English, Rated PG-13) The film will be screened at the Midland Center for the Arts. Tickets are $7.

Saturday, May 20

Midland County Historical Society presents Honoring Our Veterans: Victorian Funeral & Cemetery Tour at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. in the Doan History Center. Discover personal information and conversations while meeting some of Midlands military veterans graveside at the Midland Cemetery; Civil War through WWII. At the Bradley Home learn more about Victorian funerary customs and practices while attending a Victorian funeral, and learn more of the significant contributions of our communitys veterans. Travel to the Midland Cemetery for guided tours featuring actors portraying area veterans. Each session lasts about 2 hours. Tickets, www.mcfta.org

The fifth annual Crawfish Boil is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. at Memorial Presbyterian Church on the Reardon Street lawn. The community event features music and inflatables, and food, including crawfish, jambalaya, cornbread, red potatoes, beignets and coffee. Donations will be accepted.

A Tribute to the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, starring international countertenor opera star Terry Barber, is scheduled for 3 and 7 p.m. at State Theatre in Bay City.

Barber, whos considered one of the best countertenors in the world, is a former member of the two-time Grammy Award winning group Chanticleer and sings in 14 different languages. Tickets, 989-892-2660

Thursday, May 25

First United Methodist Church, 315 W. Larkin St., invites the community to an inspiring evening of story and song with JJ Heller at the church, 315 W. Larkin St., in Midland. The concert, free of charge, is the 2017 John and Hazel Currie Memorial Concert. Special guest will be Matt Moore. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with the concert at 7 p.m. For more information, call 835-6797.

Sunday, May 28

The 2017 annual United by Sacrifice concert in Coleman will feature Eddie Money, with guests The Sinclairs, Jedi Mind Trip and The Rock Show. The concert is a benefit for the Coleman Veterans Memorial. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the gate (general admission lawn seating). Gates open at 11:30 a.m., with the first band at noon. Rib cook-off, beer tent and food vendors are scheduled. Event rain or shine. www.colemanveteransmemorial.org

Monday, May 29

The annual Memorial Day parade in Coleman is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The parade will line up at the Railway Family Center parking lot, and will travel down Washington across Marsh to Adams then to 6th Street, onto Main, down Railway and back to Railway Family Center. Immediately afterward, a memorial service will take place at the Coleman Veterans Memorial. A pancake breakfast is set for 7:30 to about 10 a.m. at the Coleman VFW building on Railway Street.

June 15-18

Peanut Gallery presents Dorothy in Wonderland at the Midland Center for the Arts. The show is directed by Bill Heeschen, with music direction by Heather DeGroot and choreography by Laurene Franjione. The show is performed by youth in grades 4th through 6th. Shows are June 15-17 at 7:30 p.m., and June 17-18 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $14 for adults and $10 for students and are available by calling the MCFTA Ticket Office at 800-523-7649 or at mcfta.org
The Delta College Board of Trustees on Tuesday evening unanimously approved a $7.50 tuition hike and other fee increases in the midst of a six-year enrollment decline that is posing serious budget challenges for the institution.

In-district students enrolled in the 2017-2018 academic year will now pay $107 per credit hour, up from $99.50. Out-of-district students saw their tuition increase $13 to $183, while the rate for out-of-state/international students jumps $24 per credit hour to $344. The vast majority of Delta students, however, will pay the new $107 rate because 87 percent reside in the colleges primary service district of Bay, Saginaw and Midland counties.

We cant continue to provide small class sizes and instruction by primarily full-time instructors by being the lowest in tuition, said Deb Lutz, vice president of finance. The traits we market and have long been noted for are costly.

Chairman Robert Emrich said the increase of 7.54 percent is the single largest in his 25-year tenure as a trustee.

We probably would have raised tuition more in other years if not for government restraints, he said.

Lutz provided trustees with an overview of Deltas preliminary budget plan prior to the tuition vote. She said the colleges budget cabinet conducts extensive analysis of Deltas tuition and fee structure and compares it to other Michigan community colleges.

The budget cabinet, citing Deltas below state average tuition rate, recommended raising in-district tuition by $9.50 to reflect and support quality, Lutz said.

Both the president (Jean Goodnow) and I thought that was way too large of an increase at one time, she said.

By way of comparison, Mott Community College charges $130 per credit hour, Kirtland $109 and Mid-Michigan $108, rates Lutz expects to climb this year.

Were about $9.64 cents below the state average for tuition at community colleges, Goodnow said.

In addition to the tuition and fee increases, Delta is continuing its trend of spending reductions ($1.5 million this year) to balance a budget Lutz calls structurally imbalanced.

The drop in enrollment is driving our financial situation, she said. We have to be proactive, not reactive, in adjusting the budget. We must right-size the institution to adjust to these enrollment swings.

No programs and services were cut as part of the budget-balancing plan trustees are expected to vote on during their June meeting.

I hope everyone in this room understands the serious challenges we face, Emrich said. They are not insurmountable. Itll take tenacity, innovative thinking and collective commitment, but it can be done.

Bay County Trustee Michael Rowley said at first glance its hard to look at this kind of percentage increase in tuition, but with numbers you have to dig deeper. One of the things I look at is that 60 percent of our students receive Pell Grants. Thats a lot of money to leave on the table.

Were at a point where this tuition increase is something we just have to do, said Diane Middleton, Bay County trustee. Deb Lutz and her staff along with the rest of the Budget Cabinet have had very thorough discussions on this issue. I support this wholeheartedly.

Delta expects to generate about $1.7 million in new revenue from the Board-approved tuition and fee hikes, helping to offset declining enrollment that is costing the community college over $1 million a year.

We believe enrollment will continue to decline because of population declines, Lutz said. We need to right-size to match the decline in enrollment.

Exacerbating the financial situation is stagnating property tax revenues, Deltas largest source of revenue.
To the editor:

U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar pledged his support for protecting those with pre-existing conditions. Sadly, his words are hollow when examined against his actions. Rep. Moolenaar supported the GOP AHCA bill removing pre-existing conditions and essential benefit protections that treat those with preexisting conditions and chronic illnesses. That wasnt enough for Moolenaar, however. The poor and disabled who rely on Medicaid are especially punished by changing Medicaid funding in this anti-life bill.

The GOP successfully dismantled pre-existing conditions and essential benefit protections of Americans. If this bill passes the Senate, people with pre-existing conditions will be priced out of the market in those states accepting a waiver, produce costly subpar insurance plans, and lifetime spending caps will resume. The newborn requiring time in the neonatal intensive care unit will reach their lifetime cap in no time and be relegated to an unaffordable high risk pool for health insurance.

Employers will be able to remove essential benefits from their insurance plans. Essential benefits affected are:

 Ambulatory patient services

 Emergency services

 Hospitalization

 Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care (before and after birth)

 Mental health and substance disorder treatment

 Prescriptions

 Rehabilitation, devices to help those with disabilities and injuries function better

 Labs

 Preventative and wellness services and chronic disease treatment

 Pediatric services, including dental and vision

Rep. Moolenaar and his staff enjoy available taxpayer subsidies averaging 72 percent of the cost of their premiums. Instead of improving the Affordable Care Act, Moolenaar made it worse for his constituents. Remember this in 2018 in the voting booth.

LORI FRANSON

Midland




Jordan Casteel, via Dumbo Open Studios

DUMBO Open Studios is this weekend, May 13 & 14, 1 to 6 p.m. daily. Participating artists include Sharon Butler, Jordan Casteel, Peter Drake, Tom Fruin, Jerry Kearns and many more. The complete rundown (+ map) is HERE. For the first time, they've also aligned with open studios at Smack Mellon, Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program and Triangle Arts Association.





Anish Kapoor, Descension, 2014. Photo by James Irving, Public Art Fund NY

While you're over there, be sure to check out Anish Kapoor's "Descension," now on view in Brooklyn Bridge Park (Pier 1) until September 10. The London-based artist installed a mesmerizing whirlpool of water that is 26-feet in diameter. It's part of the NYC Public Art Fund's 40th Anniversary season. No swimming!





RECESS hosts their annual "Beg Borrow Or Steal" benefit on Tuesday, May 16, 6:30 p.m., at Pioneer Works (159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn). The event includes a game designed by Zach Gage that assigns each guest a unique work of art when they arrive, but then allows them to buy "steal" and "defend" cards to protect or swap their work. Chances with Wolves DJ the afterparty from 9:30 until midnight.





Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art (26 Wooster Street) host a book-launch party for "Queer Threads" (AMMO)  inspired by the museum's 2014 "remixed fiber crafts" exhibition  on May 11, 6 to 8 p.m. JD Sampson is spinning and there's a silent auction of limited-edition artist totes. Also check out the museum's current show, "Expanded Visions: Fifty Years of Collecting" with over 250 works.









artBOOM and SHIM present a group show (and more) this weekend, May 13 and 14, at ArtHelix Gallery (289 Meserole Street, Brooklyn). Look for works by Kate Hush, Brent Owens, Natalie Baxter, Cela Luz etc.  plus there's live music, chalk drawing, yoga, food and an artisan fair, all for only $5.





Still from "Swim," 1977

Shoot the Lobster (138 Eldridge Street) has several Super 8 films by Pooh Kaye in an exhibition called "Object Actions: 1975 - 1980" opening May 12, 6 to 8 p.m., and on view to June 18. The short films capture the artist performing movements suggested by their titles (ie: "Swim" and "Climb") and, according to the show's organizer Josephine Graf, "encapsulate key tenets of dance and performance art of the time."





Vivian Maier, Howard Greenberg Gallery

Howard Greenberg Gallery (41 East 57th Street) has a 5-day-only show of photos by Vivian Maier from May 16 to 20. Though she left behind over 100,000 negatives, Maier's "street photography" has only recently come to light. The exhibition is in conjunction with international fashion house AKRIS, whose creative director Albert Kriemler was inspired by her work when designing their new collection.





The Brandt Foundation Art Study Center (941 North Street, Greenwich, Connecticut) opens "Animal Farm," a group exhibition curated by Sadie Laska, on Sunday, May 14, and on view until September. Look for works from over 30 artists including 80s pop icons like Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf; plus Alex Bag, Rita Ackermann, Joyce Pensato (who also has a solo show up now at Petzel Gallery), The Bread and Puppet Theater, The Honey Badgers and, for the opening, a live musical performance by Lonnie Holley and LOBOTOMAXXX.





The Cooper Union (7 East 7th Street) hosts "Drawing Lines: The Black American Experience," a series of talks about black identity, on May 11,12 & 13. Georgia Congressman John Lewis discusses the need for civic engagement at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday; Juliana "Jewels" Smith, the creator and writer of the comic series "(H)afrocentric," talks at 6:30 p.m. on Friday; and William Villalongo and Mark Thomas Gibson discuss their traveling exhibition "Black Pulp!" at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. All these events are FREE and open to the public.





Daniel Buren

Bortolami Gallery is moving to 39 Walker Street and launching their new space with a show by Daniel Buren opening May 12 and up until June 24. The exhibition, "To Align: works in situ 2017," is the French conceptual artist's fourth with the gallery, and he will completely transform the new space with colored filters and new "in situ" works.

Grace Exhibition Space (840 Broadway, Brooklyn) hosts a one-day-only performance work called "Heartbreak Hotel" on Friday, May 12, 7 to 12 p.m. There's a video/installation by Miles Pflanz and "simultaneous durational pieces" by Angeli, Camila Caneque, David Ian Bellows/Griess, Sigrid Lauren and Whitney Mallett. There is a suggested donation of $5 to $15.

Splash image "Battle of Levittown," by Peter Drake via Dumbo Open Studios


Patna: Students with allegiance to Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Patna on Friday took out a protest rally against Nitish government after the supporters of a Janata Dal  U MLC threatened to kill a journalist in Nalanda district for reporting a negative story on the legislator.

As reported, just days after senior journalist Rajdev Ranjan was gunned down by criminals in Siwan, four men walked into the office of Rajesh Singh, the Nalanda bureau chief of a Hindi newspaper, and threatened to kill him if he did not apologize to JD-U MLC Heera Prasad Bind and issue a retraction for a story published a couple of days ago during the Panchayat election in which the MLC and his goons were accused of trying to intimidate the voters.

"Apparently you haven't learnt any lesson from the Siwan killing. If you did not beg for mercy and issue a retraction, you will meet the same fate as the Siwan journalist (Rajdev Ranjan)," the four men told Singh at his office on Thursday morning.

Police confirmed an FIR lodged by Singh with the Laheri police station against four unidentified men for verbally abusing and threatening him with dire consequences.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashish Kumar said an investigation had been initiated and guilty would soon be brought to justice.

JD-U spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan also said that the government would deal with the MLC with strong hand if he was found guilty as accused.
Europeans see huge potential in Iran's energy market

05/11/17

By Mahnaz Abdi, Tehran Times; photos by Islamic Republic News Agency

TEHRAN- European exhibitors participating in the 22nd International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition of Iran (Iran Oil Show 2017) believe that there is huge potential for business in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemical sectors.









The exhibition, which was held at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds from May 6 to 9, hosted some 2500 domestic companies and 1500 foreign participants from 37 countries including Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Australia, the U.S. and Canada.



To find out the viewpoints of European companies willing to do business in Iran, the Tehran Times conducted interviews with a number of European participants of the exhibition which is among the most significant oil and gas events in the world in terms of the number of exhibitors and its diversity.

'High potential, possibilities for growth'

Edwin Chen, head of global projects division in Buhlmann Group, a German premium distributor specializing in steel pipes and tubes, pipe-fittings and accessories with global operations, said that there is high potential and possibilities for growth in the Iranian market, "There are many resources and we're really seeing thing are moving forward ."



He said that it was his first time of participation in Iran Oil Show, but his company has visited the exhibition several times.

Asked about his evaluation of the exhibition, the German participant said: "It is interesting and I would really say that it's a very big concentration for everyone related to oil industry. We really do see different sectors which come from the end users to the beginning of the supply chain and this is not really common in other parts of the world. So normally we don't have this full package in defined sectors."



When it came to the concerns for business activity in Iran, he said: "Of course, the political situation for Europeans is a very sensitive topic, because we would like to have a long-term business, however due to the political situation it would definitely affect financial state of having correspondence with our Iranian customers and it will result in some kind of uncertainty."



Describing Iranian market, another first-time German participant, Raphael G.D. Murswieck, the business development manager in Oil Dynamics GmbH, a company providing turnkey pumping solutions, said: "There is huge potential, nice people, and nice to be here and provide our solutions."



About the downside of business in Iran, he said: "Maybe the currency issues, for the payments, but in general I don't see many downsides."

'Huge number of opportunities'

Markus Gumplmayr, from the Austrian Chamber of Commerce Headquarters in Vienna, who was the organizer of Austrian pavilion in the exhibition, described the Iranian market in this way: "There is a very young generation, very interested people in innovations, huge number of opportunities in Iran and from this point of view I think it's a very attractive market for everybody."

"There is long historical tie between Iran and Austria and we'll be happy to support Iranians with the high quality products", he underlined.



"We have been here (in the oil show) several times and this is the second time after the sanctions that we are here and we plan to grow and to develop the Austrian pavilion and to enlarge the group in the next year", the Austrian participant stated.



"If I want to evaluate and compare [this edition of the event with the previous editions], I say that people are more open-minded, there are more people interested in talks, business to business talks are interesting, and I hope the contact between Iran and Austria will also be developed in positive way, not only in business bust also in politics", he commented.



"We have 14 companies here in the pavilion and three more individual exhibitors which next time will come to join us", he said and put the number of participants from his country in the previous edition of the event at 10 while they are planning to increase the figure to 20 in the next edition.

'Competitive, progressing market'

G.L. Rangnekar, a director in Italy's VRV, one of the leading global companies in design and manufacture of pressure equipment for petrochemical, refining, energy and fertilizer industries, said: "It's like the [Iranian] market is very competitive, it's progressing. We see Iranian market is a good progressive market and we are committed to this market."

"We have strong presence in Iran. It is the third time we are participating, last two years we were here and we see Iranian market is a good potential business for our group companies", he noted.



Briefing upon their activity in Iran, he said: "There are a lot of petrochemical projects coming up; we see good collaborative ties with the local companies. It's a big market for us."



When speaking about advantages of Iran for their business, the director said: "There are always good potential, good people, technical skills available; people are very open, they know the subject, they are very focused in what they require."



Although he went on to say: "Oil price is always a cause of concern, how market will move, there are many challenges in global scenario, how to overcome those challenges is a maker of debate, but we are always optimistic and I think this market go for sure positively."

'Number of French participants doubled in 2 years'

Agnes Hagyak, the oil and gas project manager in Business France, a big agency in charge of promoting France abroad, who was the organizer of French pavilion in the exhibit, said: "We organized the French pavilion for the third year, so we began in 2015 with a small pavilion with 15 companies, we had 30 participants last year and 35 ones this year."



"We have more companies, many visitors are also coming without exhibiting, so there is the interest of working in Iran and now we wait to see how thing will go", she added.



"After the sanctions are closed we have more companies. In the French pavilion, we have 35 companies, but there are many French companies outside that work already with their Iranian partners, so they don't need us to come in the Iranian market, because they have already partners", she explained.
Updated July 3, 2017 to reflect a Tweet by Microsofts Joe Belfiore (via Supersite Windows) confirming that some eagerly anticipated Windows 10 features will come out sometime after the Fall Creators Update. Specifically, Timeline and the cloud-powered clipboard will not ship with the Fall Creators Update.

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is coming soon to right some wrongs. Revealed Thursday at the companys Build conference in Seattle, the next major version of the operating system fills in some of the missing pieces we lamented in Marchs Creators Update, and it makes it easier to work across multiple Windows devices.

As the name suggests, Microsoft will ship the OS upgrade late this year. Company executives declined to commit to a specific date, though Microsoft said recently that it will ship Windows upgrades in March and September. As a footnote, Microsoft also revealed that 300 million people use Windows 10 daily, a different usage metric to consider next to the 500 million Windows 10 devices the company revealed previously.

Microsoft initially seemed to say it would build the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update around four key features:

Timeline, which allows you to capture everything you were doing at a given moment in time on a PC

Pick up where you left off, which allows you to take your work on Windows 10 to the related app on iOS and Android

Cloud-powered Clipboard, which allows you to take clips from a Windows 10 device and access it on another associated Windows 10 device.

OneDrive Files on Demand, which apparently (and finally) bridges the OneDrive gap, making those files visible and accessible via Windows 10s file system. .

On July 3, however, a Tweet from Microsofts Joe Belfiore (via Supersite Windows) confirmed that Timeline and the Cloud-powered Clipboard would not be ready in time for the Fall Creators Update. Instead, Belfiore said theyd show up in a subsequent build.

Microsoft will also announce Story Remix, an app designed to automatically combine photos and videos together with a soundtrack, theme, and cinematic transitions, the company said. Finally, Microsoft will add SuSE Linux and Fedora Linux as part of the Windows Linux subsystem, available via the Windows Store. All the new features will be presented with a subtle interface change known as the Fluent Design System, previously called Project Neon.

What this means to you: If theres a theme to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, its connection rather than creation. Microsoft executives say this update is about making other devices great, even if those devices are not Windows. A users Windows experience will move from device to device, using Microsofts mobile apps for Android and iOS. This apparently even includes Windows 10 Mobile (which appeared in part of the keynote presentation), though Microsoft has no further plans to discuss the platform at Build. (Ditto for the magical, mobile Capture 3D app.)

Stephen Lawson The Microsoft and Windows 10 logos are seen on the companys booth at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 24, 2016.

Microsoft will reveal more details about the new features during the keynote, but we can make some educated guesses.

With Timeline, you can jump back in time into files, apps and sites, using a visual timeline to help you navigate. Timeline was described as an expansion of Task View, but it sounds like much more.

With pick up where you left off, if youre in, say, Word on your desktop, you should be able to pick up your (Android or iOS) phone and immediately continue editing. Microsoft has also previously promised a scenario where Edge webpages would become instantly available on other devices.

Its unclear how useful Clipboard will be, though it sounds like it has potential as a quick-and-dirty file transfer protocol from one device to another. Uploading a file to OneDrive and then downloading it again can be an unnecessary hassle. With Clipboard, you can take a photo, map link, paragraph, even an animated GIF and then paste it on the other devicewhether it be a phone or your PC.

Microsoft Windows 10s Fall Creators Update will include OneDrive Files on Demand, which will makeOneDrive files accessible on any device as if they were local files. This demonstration shows the same file available on a Surface Book and a Windows Phone.

OneDrive Files on Demand, meanwhile, will eliminate the gap between files stored on your PC and files stored on OneDrive. The so-called online files from OneDrive will show up in the Windows file picker, alongside apps that are stored locally. If youre connected, clicking them will automatically download and open them, just like a local file. If you want, you can assign a file to be stored locally. You can also save entire folders on Android and iOS for offline access. Microsofts Joe Belfiore demonstrated the feature by creating a file on a Surface Book, then showing how it could be accessed immediately on the persons Windows phone.

Microsoft executives added that Windows will try to download some files proactively behind the scenes. Intelligence built into the OS will guess which files you might want to access nextphotos in proximity to another youre editing, for example.

Microsoft Users can collaborate on the same image in Windows 10s Story Remix app.

Story Remix, meanwhile, sounds like what Google already does with its Google Photos Assistant, stitching together photos into a slideshow, sometimes combining them with video. Microsoft, however, appears to want to one-up Photos by allowing users to add 3D objects and Windows Ink to the collection.

If youre expecting Microsofts new Project Neon or Fluent Design to be a grand remaking of the Windows interface, youll be disappointedMicrosofts words, not ours. Microsoft executives described it as a more gradual journey over time.

Mark Hachman / IDG Notice how the background peeps through the Start Menu: Fluent Designs influence.

You can already see some very basic elements of Fluent Design in both the Windows 10 Creators Update as well as the more recent builds: the Aero-like transparency effects in the Start Menu, for instance. Look for similar transparencies in other apps over time.

According to Microsoft, though, utility, not aesthetics, will rule the Fall Creators Update. Expect the operating system to evolve as Microsoft continues to roll out Windows Insider builds until the eventual launch.
Intel has told a court that MGT Capital Investments has gone ahead with the announcement of the John McAfee Privacy Phone, even though the company that proposes to change its name to John McAfee Global Technologies has previously said that it did not plan to launch products and services under the McAfee mark.

The chipmaker claims it acquired the mark when it bought McAfee Inc. in 2011, and has used and promoted it for security products, services, and publications for consumers and businesses. Security expert John McAfee has stated that he did not sign away rights to his personal name.

Intel spun off last month its security business as a separate company, called McAfee, in which it now owns 49 percent of the equity, with the balance owned by investment firm TPG. The federal court had earlier refused John McAfee and MGT Capital a preliminary injunction until the resolution of the dispute on Intels transfer of marks and related assets containing the word McAfee as part of the spin-out.

MGT Capital, which has John McAfee as CEO and executive chairman of the board, has indicated its interest in diversifying into the security market.

It announced last month a privacy phone that will be as hack proof as humanly possible, with features such as a bank of switches on the back cover that will allow the user to physically disconnect the battery, the antennas for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and geolocation, the camera and microphone, and would also not allow the phone to connect to a Stingray or any other IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) catcher device.

The phone will be available in August, MGT said. The company has referred to the phone largely as the Privacy Phone. But in a sentence lower down in the statement on its website it refers to the John McAfee privacy phone, which appears to have raised Intels concerns about the naming of the phone. John McAfee also referred to The John McAfee Privacy Phone, by MGT, in a tweet last month.

In a submission to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, lawyers for Intel and McAfee have also objected to MGT asking for the depositions of McAfees CEO, Christopher Young, and Intels CEO, Brian Krzanich, even though Plaintiffs can point to no relevant, unique information that these chief executives possess. The companies have also complained that MGT and John McAfee have not produced required documents for discovery.

The plaintiffs, MGT and John McAfee, have produced almost no documents and are refusing to answer even the most basic interrogatories, according to a letter to the court, asking for a conference in connection with a motion for a protective order to prevent the harassing depositions of the chief executives and another motion to compel MGT and John McAfee to complete their document production and provide substantive responses to interrogatories about their name change and planned products and services.

In June last year, Intel sent a letter to MGT warning it of legal action if it changed its name to one that includes the MCAFEE trademark or otherwise use the MCAFEE name as a trademark. John McAfee does not have the right to use the McAfee name for security related goods and services, Intel added.

John McAfee has said he had entered in 1991 into an agreement with McAfee Associates, a predecessor to McAfee Inc., to transfer certain assets to it in exchange for stock and a promissory note. But the entrepreneur submitted to the court that at no point in the agreement had he assigned the rights to his personal name through an assignment of trademark or otherwise, or agreed to restrict his right to do business using his own name.

A recent settlement conference between the two sides failed.
One of my biggest disappointments, in life, has been when I dropped out of law school. I had, in 2011, enrolled as a law student at GIMPA, to pursue LLB, with the aim of becoming a lawyer, to use the courts to force irresponsible fathers to become responsible. But I had to suspend the course, due to circumstances beyond me.



Anyway, last week I heard the Chief Justice spoke about the proliferation of law schools in the country. She warned that the situation is a threat to the countrys democracy.



Madam, if a weak quality of tertiary education is a threat of any kind, then, I dare say, the end has come. Who is a lawyer? Is a lawyer not the person who represents both the innocent and criminal persons, and try to convince the judge that their clients are innocent? Is he not an advocate who speaks big and long grammar, with the opportunity to correct mistakes through appeals?



Who is a Medical Doctor? Do you get the shift? Have you encountered a doctor who is WhatsApping alongside attending to a patient in a consulting room? Or a team of Doctors and Nurses at a caesarean section in a theatre, all of them holding their phones, some on WhatsApp, others on Facebook, with the baby halfway on arrival, do you understand me?



Recently I went to see a doctor, after returning from a trip, to check my blood flow, the cause of my usual obsession with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). If you have not been checking on this illness, please do so now! It can result in Pulmonary Embolism, and this can kill you in hours; you may Google to read more on it.



Anyway, I did a few more tests, and I was given a prescription to buy some medicine, to take care of some minor findings that had nothing to do with sexual weaknesses.



Simpa Panyin, you will not believe, that amongst the prescription given, was something that looked closer to Viagra! When I asked the doctor, what does Viagra got to do with me? Then he said, oh, sorry. Thereafter he changed the prescription...



The Ghana Medical and Dental Council might need to do some urgent work to save lives; there are too many misdiagnoses and prescriptive mistakes that have proven fatal. My cousins son recently died in a hospital, because a nurse gave him a wrong injection, just like that!



But in the absence of anything immediate, could you please ask Simpa Panyin to announce to everyone, that we should all take personal responsibility to check the medicines we are given, whether they are correct prescription, whether the Pharmacist has not given us the wrong one, and whether it is not too close to the expiry date?



There is an urgent need for us, consumers of medical services, to ask questions, and to demand answers, from doctors, nurses, pharmacists. We have urgent need to check our prescriptions and medications before we take them. My personal attitude is that if I have not read the literature of the medicine I am being given, or if I have not read the indications and the expiry date, I will not take them, it does not matter who is giving such a medicine to me.



The transposition, and the juxtaposition of medicines and drips, are becoming one too many, and I dont want to blame these only on Facebook, or WhatsApp, I will like also to blame the general weakening professional attitudes in this country.



At one point, I sat in front of a doctor for an hour, and he took me through many of the ills of the current state of the medical profession; he received as many calls as possible, some bordering on below-the-belt conversations, including issues of romance, issues of Barcelona, Chelsea, and why Mourinho should have been sacked from Manchester United.



In between those calls, were, WhatsApp messages that he had to check, and respond, Facebook pictures he had to scroll through, and the dropping of his earpiece that needed to be fixed back up. There was one doctor instance, where, he the Doctor, actually had a tablet, watching movies right on his table, in the consulting room, while attending to me. As he asked me questions, and while I gave my answers, he shuttled his eyes between writing in my folder, and watching his movies.



As I watched him rip through the medical profession, and as I took the decision to seek a second opinion, regardless of the diagnoses this doctor would give me, I thought to myself what our illiterate women will receive in the hands of such a doctor.



No wonder my late brothers wife, who is diabetic and a heart patient, always come home with polythene bags full of pain killers; I have had the cause to challenge doctors prescriptions, on her behalf, and in a number of cases, the challenge I had mounted had resulted in some changes in her prescriptions.



I dont know where the problem of the lack of ethical and professional consciousness in our health care delivery system is coming from. Right from the government posture, to the person who draws the blood, we dont seem to recognise that it is human lives that are at stake.



A professional nurse who does not know how to perform CPR, is that one too a professional nurse? Right at Awoshie, one early morning, right in the presence of a nurse and a few others, a man was strike with heart attack.



The nurse stood there, like many others, attempting to take videos of the dying victim, when she could have administered a CPR to save a life. Unlike some stories that I have heard, of situations where medical staff off-duty are able to use CPR to save lives. This one, the nurse did not even attempt, or did not appear to know what CPR could have done to save a life.



The nurse joined the social media photographers to take photos of the dying man, and when eventually a taxi came to pick the victim away, I did not need anyone to tell me, I knew that the man was gone.



So the real threat to our democracy is not necessarily the proliferation of law schools. The real threat is the dying that we are all waiting to die, the midwife who is delivering a woman of her baby while on the phone, the laboratory technician who is performing a blood test while on Facebook, the nurse who is taking your blood pressure levels while group-chatting, these are the real threats.



I am an advocate of freeing the educational space, to allow private persons establish several law schools, including professional law schools. I will like to see several medical schools in Ghana, including private ones. I will like to see several more private persons establishing Teacher training schools, Journalism schools, Nurses training schools, and many more professional colleges.



What we need, in addition, is a strong non partisan independent professional regulator who conducts service accreditation, and re-accreditation. It must never be automatic that once a medical practitioner has completed his degree, then he/she is practising forever. If Pilots and flight attendants were to have this one-forever accreditation, there would have been several plane crashes in a day.



The training and the re-training of pilots, and flight attendants, the certification and the continuous certification of the flight crew, the rigorous six-monthly training that every single pilot will have to go through to ensure the safe flying of his plane, and to ensure that all pilots have the continuous qualification to keep flying, that is the kind of certification processes needed in our medical profession.



And here I am not talking about the program related courses that these doctors and nurses attend. I am talking about doing it in the manner that is done for the pilots. At the end of every six months, the pilot is supposed to surrender his license, and he is required to justify his re-licensing, before he is allowed to fly again; this is what our doctors need, this is what our nurses need, to save lives.

Source: James Kofi Annan/ [email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Francis Xavier Sosu, lawyer for Cecilia Awuni, a student of the Gushegu Midwifery Training School in the Northern Region who was sacked from sitting for a paper at the school for being pregnant, has hinted that his client will sue the school and the Ministry of Health.



On Wednesday, 10 May, the Principal at the training school prevented Mrs Awuni from continuing with her examination because she was four months pregnant.



According to the husband of the victim, the Principal, Ms Rukaya Alhassan, refused to allow his wife to write the examination despite numerous pleas by him on the phone to that effect and irrespective of assurances by the student that she was fit for the exams.



However, the Nursing and Midwifery Council condemned the action of the Principal indicating that nothing in its statutes prevents a pregnant woman from sitting for a paper.



Even though the lawyer for Mrs Awuni welcomed the news that his client would be allowed to write the exams to complete her programme, he indicated that he will still pursue justice in court for her client because the practice of sacking pregnant students has been going on for a long time and must be stopped.



We will head to court to settle the matter once and for all, Mr Sosu stated.



According to him, the school has an old policy to sack pregnant students and that is why they continue to do so and if the principals are not punished or made to face the full rigours of the law, they will continue to do so.



He explained that the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has ruled that denying such students will violate their rights, yet schools continue the practice.



The issue is getting various institutions to respect the fundamental rights of women and its not really about the compensation we are seeking. This kind of discrimination against women in this day and age is completely unacceptable and if we dont make a very strong case against it, we will be going nowhere, he told Joy FM on Thursday, May 11 2017.

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.

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Incarcerated gay man Dr. Ali Gabass appears to have found himself a new job while he serves his time in prison at Nsawam.



Dr. Gabass is imparting his knowledge in the sciences to his fellow inmates at the Nsawam Prisons by teaching JHS and SHS students.



The medical doctor was spotted last Friday at the newly built JHS block at the Nsawam Prison busily teaching inmates who have enrolled in the prisons school, as the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood and other officials of the judiciary visited the prison for the Justice for all program.



He intimated to Starr News that he feels fulfilled in his newly found love in teaching and sharing knowledge with fellow inmates.



The prison education program was introduced in 2007, and got underway in 2008 under the sponsorship of the United Nations Development Programme and the Presidential Initiative on Distance Learning.



The first batch of 12 Junior High School candidates wrote their BECE exams in April, 2010. Literacy program for inmates is high on the agenda of the service. Non-formal education for inmates also began at Ankaful in 2007, with training of facilitators and materials provided by the Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education. The prison service is targeting the introduction of a comprehensive educational Programme for all Prison inmates in the whole of the country.



Background to Dr. Gabasss Story



Dr. Gabass was jailed after it was established that he had a homosexual relationship with a minor.



According to the facts of the case involving Dr Gabass, the victim in question was a student residing at Kasoa, while Ali-Gabass is a medical practitioner at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital.



In September 2013, the victim encountered Ali-Gabass on Facebook and they became friends. They exchanged ideas online and communicated by phone for a while until October 2013 when Ali-Gabass arranged and met the victim at the Kasoa New Market area where he forcibly had anal sex with the boy in his car.



The prosecution said about 7 p.m. on December 28, 2013, the two met again at the same venue where Ali-Gabass had anal sex with the victim, after which he offered him a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone and GH20. After the second sexual act, it said the victim became ill and Ali-Gabass allegedly prescribed paracetamol tablets for him. According to the prosecution, the act was repeated at the same venue in February 2014. It said in March and April 2014, Dr Ali-Gabass lured the victim to his house at Alajo in Accra where he had another bout of anal sex with him.



The judge said a lot of things pointed to the guilt of the accused person, observing that it was ironical that the accused person, who claimed he was a mentor of the victim, never met the parents of the boy at Kasoa, an area which was close to their meeting point, but took the victim to meet his (Ali-Gabasss) mother at Alajo in Accra.



That aside, a mobile phone he bought for the victim, the numerous meetings under cover of darkness with the boy at Kasoa in a tainted-glass vehicle, with the victim giving detailed description of their sexual escapades, as well as various sums of money he gave out for medical care for the victim, all pointed to the fact that the accused, indeed, had anal sex with the boy, the judge contended.



Making reference to a judicial comment by Mr Justice Jones Dotse, a Supreme Court judge, Mrs Agyeman Budu said: There is no doubt that as a nation, apart from narcotics, which is a menace, armed robbery, rape and defilement cases are on the increase. It, therefore, leaves no one in doubt that there is the need for a conserted effort to remove and destroy this dangerous canker of rape and defilement from our society.



The moral decadence into which the country has sunk makes it imperative for all and sundry, especially the law enforcement agencies like the courts, to be at the vanguard of this crusade.



Mrs Agyeman Budu said contrary to an attempt by the defence team to show that the school files and medical reports which were used by the prosecution to establish the age of the victim were not adequate, there was enough evidence to prove that the victim was below 16 years at the time the incident happened.









Source: starr FM









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Sexotherapist Dr Larry Boateng has asserted that more than half (65 per cent) of married women in Ghana seek sexual pleasure outside marriage.



He made the revelation during a discussion on successful marriage on Class FMs Executive Breakfast Show.



The family counsellor told host Moro Awudu on Thursday, May 11, that times have changed and by the time couples settle down the women may have been exposed to different kinds of men with different sexual experiences and if the husbands do not live up to such standards, the wives tend to seek pleasure elsewhere.



He stated that research has proven that cheating wives are very common in Ghana now, adding: Do you know why? They [the husbands] are not performing.



Dr Boateng further explained that financial challenges have contributed to husbands, often the providers in the family, spending so much time working to earn enough income for the family at the expense of quality time with their spouses.



The man will leave the house by 5:30am and go to work, get back by 10pm or 11pm very tired. He will provide all the necessities of the family, give money and everything. But I am telling you that if you are not able to fire your wife somebody will fire her for you, he emphasised.



He identified sex as a major challenge in marriage and encouraged couples to learn how to satisfy each other in bed.



If the woman demands it in the night, do it, but if not you can adopt the dawn one. You have gone out you come back, shower and sleep. At dawn, around 3am or 4am, you will wake up very energetic and strong and that is when you can also do the work, he admonished.

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.

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The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Otiko Afisa Djaba has rendered an apology to President Akufo-Addo but the National Women Organizer for main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Hajia Zenab Mahama said the Gender Ministers apology to the President is not enough.



According to her, the Minister should have also apologized to all women in the country since she heads a ministry that deals with women.



The Gender Minister on Tuesday was reported to have apologized to the President over some comments she made publicly about her party northern regional chairman Daniel Bugri Naabu, after she heeded calls from some party bigwigs.



This was after the NPP regional Chairman led some women to violently disrupt a meeting being held by Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba.



Mr Naabu stormed the meeting and scuttled it in protest to Ms Djabas failure to have informed the regional executives of the party about the meeting, which resulted in the two leading figures exchanging unpleasant words.



However, the National Women Organizer of NDC said the apology by the Gender minister should have included all women as well. She noted that her counterpart should have exercised a little restraint and not go overboard to say the things she said.



She is a mother to women now and not every provocation she should respond to, no matter what she should have remembered that she is representing all women in this country so I think she should also apologize to them.



Hajia Zenab Mahama also reminded the minister that not everything that people will say that she should react to, adding that in the face of provocation; she should control her temper.



Meanwhile, the NDC National Women Organizer disagreed with calls that the Gender minister be removed from post, saying she should rather be cautioned since this is her first time.



She also called on the clergy to bring the northern regional chairman of the ruling NPP to order.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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NPP Northern regional chairman Bugri Naabu and Gender, Children and Social Protection minister Otiko Djaba have been 'severely reprimanded' at an NPP National Council meeting held Wednesday night.



The President's two darlings were directed to submit a wrritten apology after they engaged in a public spat and political muscle- flexing.



A public relations nightmare had engulfed the party after a discordant relationship between the president's two darlings played out last Saturday.



The NPP Northern Regional minister disrupted a meeting organised by Otiko Djaba which he says was without his knowledge. The two later engaged in name calling complete with defamatory allegations. The President has reportedly met the two separately and privately over the matter and the National Council meeting was to resolve the matter.



An NPP Council meeting ended with its elders tight-lipped over the decision reached on a public spat between the Gender minister Otiko Djaba and an NPP regional chairman Bugri Naabu.



'Just wait tomorrow morning' the ag. General Secretary John Boadu earlier made in a parting comment to the media after 11:30pm.The press statement which came in Thursday morning stated:



"The meeting expressed strong disapproval and regret against the actions and utterances of the minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Northern Regional Chairman".



"Even though the two apologized profusely, the meeting severely reprimanded them and bonded them to be of good behaviour. They were also asked to put their apologies into written statements".



The party's first Council meeting for 2017 began after 7pm and spanned more than four hours.



Senior party figures trickled into the Alisa Hotel in Accra fortified with military personnel and the police. A handful of party elders had turned up by 7pm fuelling speculations among journalists, the meeting may be called off.



But soon, movers and shakers in the party descended into the venue, exchanged quick pleasantries and entered the hotel for what turned out to be a 'half night'.



Foreign minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Lands and Natural Resources minister John Peter Amewu, COCOBOD Chair Hackman Owusu Agyeman, NPP National executives and a host of government ministers attended the meeting.

The President, Nana Akufo-Addo, flew in from Kumasi in the Ashanti region where he had gone to formally open the Kumasi City Mall.



His arrival kickstarted the meeting.



The meeting was to discuss proposals for amendments to the NPP constitution, determine the party's relationship with the government and also discuss the headline impasse between two top party officials - Otiko Djaba and NPP Northern regional chairman Bugri Naabu.



The latter agenda was the big deal for journalists who had camped there for a parallel 'half night'.



Otiko Djaba was seen speaking briefly to the General Secretary before vanishing inside the Alisa Hotel.



The meeting ended with a stern caution to keep discussions and resolutions out of the media pending a formal communication from the party.



But the General Secretary hinted the decisions taken would have far-reaching impact on the government.

Source: myjoyonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Kennedy Agyapong, member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central has warned the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba asking her to keep mute and stop exchanging words with the Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daniel Bugri Naabu.



Otiko has been in the media following her altercations with Bugri Naabu on Friday, May 5, 2017 after the NPP National Womens Organizer met the women organizers in the Northern 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.



However, Bugri Naabu denied the allegations and accused her of plotting to kill the late NPPs Upper East regional chairman, Adams Mahama.



Kennedy Agyapong speaking on Adom TV,said Otiko Djaba shouldnt have responded to Bugri Naabu and should not be seen conducting herself in such an undignified manner.



He stressed [Otiko Djaba] could be sacked but Bugri Naabu cannot be sacked by the President.



He continued Otiko must take her time, and she shouldnt have even replied Bugri Naabu because she can be fired by the president anytime, he cant fire Bugri Naabu unless the Northerners go to vote against him, Kennedy Agyapong.



The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, has meanwhile been petitioned to investigate Mr. Rockson Bukari, the Upper East Regional Minister and Otiko Afisa Djaba over allegations that they had a hand in the Adams Mahama.

Source: abusuafmonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has cautioned members of the party to learn to be of good behavior as the party would no longer tolerate indiscipline among its members.



The NPP organizer speaking on Adom FMs Morning Show, Dwaso Nsem Thursday cautioned members of the ruling party not to emulate the indiscipline exhibited by two leading members of the party  Otiko Afisa Djaba and Daniel Bugri Naabu  who traded insults and accusations on media airwaves.



John Boadu was apologizing for the gross indiscipline by the two which was a subject of serious discussion and condemnation during the partys National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting that took place yesterday.



He further apologized to the people of Ghana for the embarrassment caused by the two and pleaded with all Ghanaians to forgive the party.



Watch a video of John Boadu in the interview below:







Source: adomonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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NPP Deputy Communications Director, Yaw Adomako Baafi has waded into discussions regarding the recent bad blood between the Gender Minister, Otiko Djaba and the Northern Regional Chairman of the party, Bugri Naabu.



The two leaders have been exchanging words and leveling various allegations against each other.



The behaviour of the two NPP leaders has since had a negative toll on the ruling NPP with some members of the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lambasting the government for harboring such characters.



Commenting on the issue on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', Mr. Adomako Baafi advised the two leaders of the party to act "governmental" and conduct themselves well. "It should be issued-based. It should be integrative".



He asked the Gender Minister and Bugri Naabu to be measured in their conduct, particularly now that the party has pardoned them.



He however took a swipe at them for their hasty trading of words and quoted a scripture which suggests that people who do things impetuously like Otiko Djaba and Bugri Naabu displayed, even a "fool" is wiser than such people.



According to him, though the party has accepted their apology; however the fact that they have also admitted they spoke "by heart" is irresponsible on their part.



He noted that if they had both exercised patience, they wouldn't have committed what they term as a "slip of tongue" by pointing accusing fingers at each other and ridiculing themselves in public, and then rendering an apology afterwards.



"...when you're talking as a political Communicator or politician, you should know that whatever you say; you're setting an agenda and you're creating a brand name for your party..." he stated, stressing the agenda being set by the Gender Minister and the party's Regional Chairman has shifted focus from the good works and developmental projects by the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo.



"We've created a negative agenda for ourselves. Another thing is that character is like cumulative record. Today, something happens and then tommorrow a similar thing also happens. Then, we will not be able to create a rift between us and others," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.



Mr. Adomako Baafi expressing disappointment in the leaders, wondering how a "whole Regional Chairman" and a Minister would run themselves through the mud.



"History is replete with politicians and leaders that just one sentence, one phrase, one word has shattered an ambition" he stated and advised both the ruling NPP and opposition NDC members to weigh their actions before they undertake it.



To him, before any leader or politician does something; he or she must first ask "what are the implications? What are consequences?"



The NPP Deputy Communications Director left both ruling and opposition parties with a quote from the bible, saying "those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity (Proverbs 21:23)".

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.

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The bloke who was so bloody mad about same-sex marriage he thought the best way to protest it was to wait behind a curtain for two hours then smash a pie into Qantas CEO Alan Joyces face has been charged with common assault, damage and trespass.

.@Qantas CEO Alan Joyce had a cream pie smashed into his face at a business breakfast in the city this morning #7News @7NewsPerth pic.twitter.com/YfOiVcrdnZ  7 News Perth (@7NewsPerth) May 9, 2017

Tony Overheu, who inexplicably believed that a good way to make same-sex marriage opponents seem rational and sane was to lie in wait for several hours while clutching a lemon meringue pie so he could smoosh it into the face of an airline CEO, confirmed yesterday that his wife is furious. Now hes got criminal charges too.

Overheu is a devout Christian who believes that Qantas corporate support for marriage equality is social engineering  a stupid belief which was made even more stupid by the fact he tried to spread it via smashing a pie into someones face.

Western Australian Police did not name Overheu in their statement, but they did say that they has laid charges against a 67-year-old man after an incident in East Perth on Tuesday, 9 May 2017.

The man attended a hotel located on Adelaide Terrace at around 8:15am, police say in the media release.

It is alleged he struck a man who was speaking at a conference in the face with a pie.

Look, hes not named, but I reckon thats him.

Let that be a warning to shithead homophobes who reckon assault is a great way to spread their message.

Source: The Australian.

Photo: 7 News.
Today, 25 NSW parliamentarians voted no on a long overdue bill that would have seen abortion decriminalised in the state, a move which Greens NSW MP Mehreen Faruqi, who introduced the bill, said was completely out of step with modern medical practice, community expectations and laws in almost all other states.

It would have seen doctors who objected to abortion to be required to refer patients onto a doctor who would, and would have seen 150-metre safe access zones established around abortion clinics.

Instead, abortion remains in the Crimes Act, meaning women can only seek one if their mental or physical health is deemed to be jeopardised by a pregnancy. The bill was voted down by a margin of 14-25 votes.

Dr Faruqi expressed particular concern for rural and regional women after the failure of her bill, who she said are the most impacted by abortion being in the Crimes Act, which keeps it scarce, expensive and privatised.

Here are the NSW politicians who voted no to this bill:



Lou Amato (Liberal)



Niall Blair (Nationals)



Robert Borsak (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers)



Best known for: shooting elephants and bragging about it.

Robert Brown (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers)



David Clarke (Liberal)

Rick Colless (Nationals)







Catherine Cusack (Liberal)





Greg Donnelly (Labor)



Best known for: hijacking a parliamentary debate about International Womens Day to spew bizarre claims about Lady Gaga causing young boys to start thinking that women and young girls are fair game and that they can go to a party on the weekend, get loaded up with grog and that its their right to ask a young girl for a head job or for anal sex or to push a young woman up against a wall and have sex. Fuckin what.



Scott Farlow (Liberal Party)





Ben Franklin (Nationals)





Duncan Gay (Nationals)



Best known for: telling a young female MP, back when he was the NSW Roads Minister, that building a road was not like buying a handbag.



Trevor Khan (Nationals)





Scot MacDonald (Liberal)





Natasha Maclaren-Jones (Liberal)





Shayne Mallard (Liberal)





Taylor Martin (Liberal)



Best known for: allegedly calling a colleague a Nazi during a meeting, and telling a fellow party member to fuck off back to Sydney.



Sarah Mitchell (Nats)





Paul Green (Christian Democratic Party)





Don Harwin (Liberal)





Shaoquett Moselmane (Labor)





Reverend Fred Nile (Christian Democratic Party)



Best known for: being a consistently cooked cunt who has too big a profile for his small-minded, homophobic bullshit.



Greg Pearce (Liberal)



Best known for: being sacked by former NSW premier Barry OFarrell for failing to disclose a perceived conflict of interest.



Peter Phelps (Liberal)



Best known for: plagiarising speeches and comparing sex acts among students to the State Governments healthy canteen strategy.



Bronnie Taylor (Nats)





Ernest Wong (Labor)

Best known for: being the key link between NSW and federal Labor politicians and a small clique of wealthy Chinese-Australian businessmen.

SICK ONE GUYS. REAL GOOD JOB YOU DID HERE.

Photo: Mehreen Faruqi.
Bill Shorten made a very bad ad.

The Labor party ad, which was revealed earlier in the week, featured Shorten standing in front of a cast of all-white extras and weirdly attacking foreign skilled workers, asserting that a Labor Government would prioritise jobs for Australians first. The implication there being that Australia = all-white.

Beyond that, the ad was revealed to have been intended solely for regional Queensland, aka One Nation heartland.

Dragged by every conceivable outlet  even by leading members of his own party  Shorten attempted to pull a sorry. Im sorry. Im trying to remove it by insisting he hadnt actually seen the final cut of the ad before it was pushed out to the public.

On The Weekly last night, the blessed Adam Briggs took the ad to task, offering his own fixed-up version of the ad that puts First Australians First when it comes to the job of pretending to have other jobs.

Its a bloody ripper, folks.

Now that right there is a message we can all firmly get behind.

Briggs as the fake tradie. Give him multiple Logies immediately.

Source: The Weekly/YouTube.
Out of all the tenuous themes that bars and restaurants run with (looking at you, George Constanza bar in Fitzroy), Biggie Smalls feels like less of a stretch given the rapper did love a good food metaphor.

Not sure how The Notorious B.I.G would feel about Collingwoods Biggie Smalls Kebabs (who decided to stick away from puns, I guess) or Big Poppas in Sydney, but Im cool to declare that these Biggie SMores take the crown.

The back of the club, eatin smores, my crews behind me

Next week, on Sunday 21 May  what would have been Biggies 45th birthday, had he not been killed in a drive-by in 1997  Sydneys Love Crepe are going all out in an attempt to break the internet with gelato ice-cream Biggie Smores, because why the hell not.

Novelty bling not mandatory.

Just like how theres only one B.I.G., owner and life-long Biggie fan Mike Kondilis is sticking to one flavour: a marshmallow gelato smore with biscuit crumbs, Nutella fudge and toasted marshmallow served on a doughnut sourced from Pioki Bakery.

Its a lot to swallow, which feels appropriate for a man named B.I.G. Mike says the flavours are based off Biggies favourite foods, but theres definitely a bit of creative licence here.

Who would have know Life After Death would mean doughnut gelato smores? Either way, you were sold at the pun, lets be honest. And these look real sweet in a I need a food nap now from two bites way.

Regular ice-cream cones avail too, if you dont want to get messy.

Biggie tunez will be blasting all day at Love Crepe, even long after these SMores sell out  which, given novelty value alone, shouldnt be too long. Theyre open from 10am at 104 Miller St, Pyrmont: look for the line made of foodies and 90s rap fans.

And if youre looking to turn Biggies bday into a big bash, on Saturday night Big Poppas will play all B.I.G all-night and serve up a grand ol Biggie-shaped birthday cake on the strike of midnight. But youll still have to head to Melbs for your 3am rapper-themed kebab.

Image: Love Crepe
Metropolitan Barber Academy

Standing behind a customer, left to right are students, Andre McManus and Jacqui Jenkins; instructor, Bryant Mathes and student, Dawn Richardson.

(Photo provided.)

Bryant Mathes hopes to help his students at the Metropolitan Barber Academy in East Pennsboro Township go from students to barbers to business people.

Mathes graduated from the Metropolitan Barber Academy at Kline Plaza in Harrisburg in the 90s. The school closed in 2000, and Mathes and a partner reopened the school in 2012, first on 29th Street in Harrisburg and later at Kline Plaza in Harrisburg.

"It was always my dream to have my own barber school," said Mathes.

In November, Mathes acquired the school from his partner. Mathes closed his Summerdale-area barber shop, Making it Happen Barber Parlor at 207 Valley Road in East Pennsboro Township and relocated the school to that location earlier this year. The school also includes a barber shop that is open to the public.

The school includes 10 students and could enroll as many as 40-50. Full-time students can complete the program in nine to 12 months and need to complete 1,250 hours of study. The school has three instructors. There is a scholarship program and the school is hoping to be able to offer financial aid in the future.

Anyone age 16 years of age or older with an eighth grade education is eligible to enroll in a licensed barber school in Pennsylvania, Mathes said. Although he says that the educational requirements for his school will change if the school is able to receive financial aid. Students range of all ages at the school. New students are able to enroll every six to seven weeks.

The school has intermediate, junior and senior level classes. Some of the classes include shaving, haircutting, hairstyling, professional ethics and barbershop demeanor, science, hair coloring, sterilization and sanitation. Students are not only preparing for a career but, are also preparing to pass a state test in order to receive a state license, Mathes said. In addition to the barber program, there is also a 695-hour crossover program for licensed cosmetologists that are looking to obtain a license to become a barber in Pennsylvania.

Mathes says that a student who enrolls at the school will become a well-rounded barber.

"We have a diverse way of teaching," he said.

The school also includes a clinic floor which is a barbershop that is open to the public so that the students can not only learn to be a barber but, earn hours towards their educational requirements. All haircuts are $9. The shop offers everything from temp fades to crew cuts to mohawks, and other traditional haircuts, and eyebrow arching, shaving, and facial services are also available.

Mathes says the school's motto is "From student to barber to businessman," and Mathes plans to eventually open a barber shop in the area for some of his graduates to work at and eventually own. Mathes has been a barber for 26 years and enjoys helping his students become barbers.

"I love my craft and what I do," he said.
Campaign cash is continuing to pour into incumbent Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse's war chest.

Papenfuse already had amassed more than $100,000 for this year's race, but he got an additional $51,000 on Monday from the Harrisburg Capital PAC.

The PAC previously donated $22,000 to Papenfuse.

Papenfuse said he planned to use the additional money to buy air-time for his television commercial.

Since the primary election is less than one week away, candidates must report all donations more than $500 to the Dauphin County Elections office within 24-hours. Additional donations still can be accepted through primary day, May 16.

The large donation to Papenfuse was one of several new campaign finance filings this week by three mayoral candidates. The other two candidates did not file any campaign finance forms because they raised less than $250.

PAPENFUSE

The PAC throwing its weight behind Papenfuse also supported him in 2013 for his first run at the mayor's office.

The top contributor to the PAC this year was the law firm of Saul Ewing, which donated $9,000.

Other contributors who donated $5,000 each include:

Alex Hartzler, of WCI Partners,

William Alexander, of Harristown Development Corp. and Pennsylvania National Mutual Insurance,

William Lehr, vice chairman of WITF,

Robert Grubic, president of the engineering firm Herbert, Rowland and Grubic

Ronald Drnevich, vice president of Capital Blue Cross,

Michael Leader, president of Country Meadows Associates in Hershey

Other contributors include:

Josh Kesler, owner of the Millworks ($2,000,) Penn National Insurance PAC ($2,500,) Scott Pitroski, of Web Marketing Holdings, an advertising and marketing firm ($2,000,) Joshua Gray of Web Marketing Holdings ($2,000,) Erica Bryce, president of Bi Solutions ($2,500,) Morton Spector, former chairman of the Harrisburg Public School Foundation ($3,000,) Richard Abrams, of Consolidated Scrap Resources ($2,500,) and Mayur Patel, owner of Laughner Patel Developers ($1,000.)

Former City Council President Gloria Martin-Roberts also got some late donations this week. She received $2,000 from James L. Murphy, who listed an address in Philadelphia. The former Pennsylvania State Police officer used to work in the area.

She also received a donation of $500 from former Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski, who recently completed a diversion program related to theft charges at the Democratic National Convention Center.

The additional money adds to the $10,000 in overall campaign cash she collected last year and this year.

JENKINS

Former Police Officer Jennie Jenkins had to refile some paperwork this week to correct an error on her initial forms.

Her initial forms listed an in-kind donation of about $2,7000 from David Smith Printing, which was reported in PennLive on May 6 as her second-largest in-kind donation.

Three days later, a campaign volunteer named Paulette Beverly filed a letter and amended form with the elections office that said the in-kind donation of signs should have been attributed to Central Penn Directional Drilling, at 3701 Derry Street.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Ronald Drnevich.
WILLIAMSPORT - Male inmates exposing themselves in front of female corrections officers is a problem that's increasing nationwide in high security federal prisons, the warden of the Allenwood complex says.

Leonard Oddo made the comment Thursday following the sentencing in U.S. Middle District Court of Glenveret Green who in December had pleaded guilty to an indecent exposure charge.

He admitted masturbating while alone with a female guard in a confined space at the Allenwood Federal Penitentiary on March 9, 2016.

"I think you are a very dangerous person," Judge Matthew W. Brann said after sentencing Green to an additional 21 months in prison and fining him $200.

The judge expressed concern about Green being in the presence of women.

Green is serving a 19-year sentence for sexually assaulting a female jogger in a District of Columbia park in April 2015. He must register as a sex offender and, when he gets out of jail, he will be on supervised release the rest of his life.

In that case Green grabbed the woman from behind, punched her in the face, pulled her behind a trash container and sexually assaulted her.

He expressed regret for what he did to the Allenwood guard and said he knows he needs treatment.

At his request, Brann recommended the Bureau of Prisons place him in a Florence, Col., facility where treatment is available.

The female guard described how Green exposed himself in a "sally port" area in which inmates must pass through a metal detector when entering or exiting a housing unit.

He continued to stroke himself and when he ignored her orders to stop, she radioed for assistance, she said.

"I was disgusted, confused, shocked," she testified. Nothing like that had ever happened to her in such close proximity, she said.

The guard described the effect the incident has had on her work and family life, adding she has undergone counseling.

What Green did is becoming commonplace, said Michal FiggsGanter, attorney adviser for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and a special assistant U.S. attorney.

Since the Allenwood incident, Green has been disciplined for twice masturbating in front of a female guard at the Canaan penitentiary in northeastern Pennsylvania where he was transferred, he said.

Female corrections officers are entitled to a safe work environment, FiggsGanter said in arguing for a two-year sentence.

The Bureau of Prisons has zero tolerance for sexual abuse of staff members and is fully committed to holding inmates accountable for their actions, spokeswoman Tovia Knight said.
PENN TOWNSHIP - When a Hanover-area teen went missing in March, her disappearance drew plenty of attention in this town near the Maryland border.

Madison Krumrine.

The family put up a Facebook page, which clashed a bit at one point with local police conducting the investigation.

Sixteen-year-old Madison Krumrine was soon found by U.S. Marshals, and 23-year-old Richard J. Hood Jr., of Mechanicsville, Maryland, was charged with her disappearance.

But the story of just what happened when the West Manheim Township teen disappeared, and Hood's side of the story, will have to wait for another day.

Hood waived his right to a preliminary hearing today before Magisterial District Judge James Miner.

Hood is set for arraignment in York County Court on June 16 on charges of concealment of the whereabouts of a child and corruption of minors.

Hood's attorney, Steve Rice, did not want to talk about just what happened at this point since negotiations for a possible plea agreement are already underway. A partial agreement has been reached, Rice pointed out, in which prosecutors agreed to a probationary sentence for Hood.

"When you can people out of prison, that's always a plus," Rice said.

Prosecutors also agreed to handle the case locally rather than turn it over to federal authorities.

According to charging documents filed by the West Manheim Township Police Department, the incident occurred like this:

On March 24, Madison's father, Keith Krumrine, told police his daughter was missing and had not been seen since the evening before.

They found a note in her room, stating, "I'm running away - I'm sorry - I'll be OK."

She had run away two months prior in January, but was quickly found by police. In that first instance, she was in contact over the Internet with Hood, telling him that she was 18 years old. They were going to meet at the girl's grandmother's home in Westminster, Maryland, but she did not show up, and Hood left when he learned she was 16.

The girl's father then called him and told him to stay away from her, reiterating her age.

Then on March 3, Hood met the girl at a Maryland motel.

And after her most recent disappearance on March 24, investigators began the process of trying to locate her by pinging her cellphone, which was found in her bedroom drawer. The father called Hood, but he denied knowing where she was. The police even searched his home and did not find her.

Investigators contacted him again the following day, and he again denied knowing where she was, but admitted that they had been in telephone contact.

Then on March 28, police requested that the U.S. Marshal's search Hood's home again. The marshals found Madison's Bible during the first search, and on a second search, they found her hiding under a pile of clothes.

She had cut and dyed her hair.

In an interview with the FBI, Hood admitted that before the disappearance, he purchased to two pre-paid phones and hid one near her home so they could communicate with one another. They had also sent coded messages planning the disappearance.

When Madison was interviewed by the York County Children's Advocacy Center, she told them she voluntarily left with Hood, adding there was no sexual activity between them and she was not harmed.

Police say though she had left voluntarily, she is still a minor, and they say Hood assisted her in running away and helped hide her from her family and the police.
Update: Probation sentence in works for man charged with hiding missing teen.

PENN TOWNSHIP - The 23-year-old Maryland man police say concealed the whereabouts of a Hanover-area 16-year-old girl waived his charges to York County Court today.

Madison Krumrine.

Richard J. Hood Jr. is facing charges of concealment of the whereabouts of a child and corruption of minors after West Manheim Township Police say Madison Krumrine had been staying with him while the girl's family and police were searching for the runaway.

The girl's disappearance kicked off a social-media storm and made headlines around the region.

Police say though she was with him voluntarily, he assisted a minor in running away and hiding from the police.

Check with PennLive.com soon for more.
prison cell art

A state appeals court has refused to overturn the 21 1/2- to 46-year prison sentence of a man convicted of raping heroin-addicted prostitutes.

A man convicted of raping two heroin-addicted prostitutes, and who posed as a cop during one of the attacks, can keep serving his 21 1/2- to 46-year prison sentence, a state appeals court panel has decided.



During one of the rapes, Anthony Garcia told the victim that "women like her deserved it" as he held a gun against her head, Senior Judge John L. Musmanno noted in the Superior Court opinion issued this week denying the Philadelphia man's appeal.



Garcia raped the other woman after telling her he was a city police officer, investigators said. He flashed a permit he had to carry a concealed pistol when he made that claim, police said. Such permits sport a Philadelphia Police Department emblem.



Musmanno rejected Garcia's argument that there wasn't sufficient evidence to convict him on charges including rape, indecent assault, aggravated indecent assault, sexual assault, making terroristic threats, kidnapping and impersonating a public servant.



The attacks occurred in May and June 2013 in the city's Kensington section. Each woman claimed Garcia approached her for oral sex, then raped her in his car. Both victims were working as prostitutes to support their heroin habits.



When the victim of the June assault refused to have intercourse with him, Garcia flashed his carry permit, told her he was a cop and promised to take her to jail if she didn't have sex with him. Both victims picked Garcia out of a photo lineup. Garcia's DNA was found in their rape kits.



Musmanno discounted Garcia's claims that the women willingly had sex with him. Prosecutors didn't violate his rights by trying both rape cases together, either, the state judge found.



Also, Musmanno rejected Garcia's contention that his prison term is unjustifiably severe because the county judge who imposed it demonstrated "bias and ill will" by characterizing him as "a threat to all women."
Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller has joined an emerging trend with her prosecution of eight Penn State students on manslaughter and aggravated assault charges in the February hazing death of Timothy Piazza.

It appears criminal prosecutors are getting more aggressive and reaching for more serious charges in the most egregious cases of misconduct at fraternities or other organizations.

You don't have to leave Pennsylvania to see it.

In 2015, Monroe County prosecutors brought third-degree murder charges against five Baruch College students after a grand jury investigation into a hazing death during a 2013 fraternity retreat in the Poconos.

The Baruch cases could be resolved through plea agreements as early as next week.

"I think it's certainly part of a trend for high-profile incidents, especially after Florida A&M," said Brandon Chamberlin, a New York attorney who wrote about the ineffectiveness of hazing laws nationally for an Emory University law review article in 2014.

Chamberlin's reference is to the 2011 death of Florida A&M marching band member Robert Champion, who died after a beating that police called hazing-related.

There, six participants in the ritual known as "Crossing the C" - in which Champion was hit, kicked and punched as he walked a gauntlet on a parked charter bus - were convicted of manslaughter charges.

Three received prison terms ranging from 51 weeks in county jail to 77 months in state prison.

David LaBahn, president of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, attributes the shift to a confluence of new factors, not the least of which is the prevalence of social media and other technologies as common modes of communications between millennials.

Fraternity-based hazing cases, historically, have been hampered by the "bonds of brotherhood" that would often keep members from cooperating with law enforcement, prosecutors complained.

"It's an extremely hard crime to prove because the secrecy of the fraternity, and the brotherhood (felt between the members) is extremely hard to break," Parks Miller said in discussing her office's track record with hazing cases last week.

"Even people who've been hazed often don't want to admit it, because they value these friendships."

That reluctance to talk has been neutralized to a great degree now by electronic fingerprints left by cell phones, text messages and emails, as well as, in the Penn State case, the availability of surveillance camera footage at the Beta Theta Pi house that kept a 12-hour watch on the brothers' care, or lack of it, for Piazza after he took his alcohol-fueled fall on Feb. 2.

Secondly, the attention given to a number of high-profile cases in recent years seems to have sent hazing on the same progression that domestic violence and drunk driving cases have taken in past generations.

"It's no longer the days of 'Boys will be boys,'" explained LaBahn. "I don't believe we're in that place anymore. I think there is much more acceptance that hazing is unlawful behavior."

That is being noticed.

Gary Bogenberger, whose son David died in a 2012 hazing incident at Northern Illinois University, applauds the shift.

"As a grieving father, you want punishment," Bogenberger, of Osprey, Fla., said Thursday. "You want this to follow them the rest of their lives... so they will be denied certain jobs or privileges."

(22 NIU students pleaded guilty to reckless conduct and hazing charges in David Bogenberger's case. All were sentenced to fines and probation.)

But Bogenberger is also pragmatic enough to say he doesn't see stiffer sentences as having any long-term deterrent effect on campus behavior because of the ever-revolving nature of the college student body.

There will always be, he noted, that next crop of "21-year-old kids who think they're Superman" and not vulnerable to the risks that plague mere mortals. "Their capes are flying in the wind... and they just don't get it."

The hazing death toll has, by one researcher's count, reached 158 since 1970.

So for real - and thus far, elusive - systemic change, he and others look to the universities and Greek letter organizations themselves.

That, of course, is no easy task in itself.

There are those, like Bogenberger, who are convinced fraternities are little more than "breeding grounds for uncontrolled and uncontrollable behavior" that have passed the point of contributing to the collegiate experience.

Others, like the North American Interfraternity Conference, a lobbying arm for some 69 national Greek-letter groups, say they are hubs for leadership development, stronger alumni ties and student-led community service.

As a result, some fraternity representatives encourage the kind of prosecutions seen this week, hoping it will push the institutions toward even stronger anti-hazing protocols.

But not, they say, bans.

As Chamberlin, the hazing researcher put it, having a university-sanctioned Greek system in place at any school actually gives university leaders leverage to act against harmful behaviors.

Run them out, and schools now run the risk of unsanctioned secret societies that really aren't answerable to any code of conduct.

Penn State, for the time being, is trying to chart a new path that allows its fraternities and sororities to stay, but only to the degree that they comply with a tougher set of rules governing alcohol, including:

No more than 10 events with alcohol per semester; only beer and wine at those events; no kegs; and no service to anyone underage or by anyone who doesn't have a state responsible server certification.

That is to be coupled with intensified monitoring and, university officials say, swift and sure punishment for rule-breakers.

2017-18 looks to be the proving ground.

"I'll tell you this... We're not going to give up until we either solve the problem, or we shut down every house that's out there," Penn State President Eric Barron stated in an interview on NBC's "Today" show Wednesday morning.

In the meantime, Pennsylvania prosecutors will see if juries of their peers want to get tougher than ever before against the worst that the fraternity system has to offer.

Hank Nuwer, a Franklin College professor who has studied and written about hazing since 1975, said he believes the PSU case - bolstered by the Beta surveillance camera tapes - will be hard to replicate elsewhere.

But he believes its results will still be watched carefully by prosecutors across the nation, both to see whether jurors are ready to convict college kids on felony charges, and whether fraternity corporations can be held accountable. In the Centre County case, Beta Theta Pi itself is charged with manslaughter.

Defense attorneys for the Beta brothers have hinted at a vigorous battle against the most serious counts, based on the premise that the students not only meant no harm to Piazza, but were incapable of foreseeing the harm that was to come.

LaBahn, whose association provides training and technical assistance to prosecutors across the country, said he believes Parks Miller had no choice but to go with the charges she did.

"I think that they are doing the right thing in calling it what it is," he said. "It's a killing."
Tyler Sparks never thought shed live in Nebraska.

But the former Kansas resident has found a home and a ministry in Fremont.

Sparks is the pastor to children and families at Fremont Nazarene Church. Her responsibilities include teaching children on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

She recruits and manages volunteer teams, chooses and writes curriculum. She also tries to attend the childrens sporting events and school activities and take them to dinner to build relationships. She leads chapel services on Wednesday mornings for approximately 45 children who attend the churchs daycare center.

Its a busy ministry, but one to which Sparks said shes knows shes called and enjoys. She also likes the community and is looking ahead to the future.

Sparks is a 2012 graduate of Spring Hill High School. Shes a 2016 graduate of MidAmerican Nazarene University, where she earned a bachelors degree in children, youth and family ministry.

While still in college, Sparks served as childrens pastor for New Beginnings Church of the Nazarene in Lee Summit, Mo., for three years. What began as an internship became part-time employment.

After working at the Missouri church, Sparks served as a para professional in the Spring Hill School District.

I was doing that while waiting to figure out what I was going to be doing in ministry, she said.

One of her friends, whos from Nebraska, joked about her moving to this state.

You talk to God about it and well see what happens, Sparks said. So the next day, Friday, I spent time fasting and praying and asking the Lord what my future was going to look like  and Saturday I got a text from Pastor Aaron (Horton) asking if Id be interested in talking with them about the position at this church.

Pretty immediately, I had a feeling this was what I was supposed to be doing.

Sparks noted something else.

Id had a few job opportunities that seemed perfect, but nothing felt right and gave me peace  until this job, she said.

After a couple of telephone conversations, Sparks came to Fremont and interviewed for the job. She accepted the job in October 2016 and moved to Fremont a month later.

Between 50 and 60 children from birth through fifth grade attend Kids Church on Sunday mornings. About 30 in that age range attend Wednesday night services. For the midweek services, the church expands on the Sunday lessons with creative activities and games.

Sparks has enjoyed the prayer stations through which children learn different ways to pray.

We can use different mediums such as building something or writing a prayer or drawing a prayer, spending time being still and listening to worship music. Its been really cool to see how the kids have responded to that, she said.

There have been other highlights.

On Easter, we baptized 16 kids and I got to lead them through a baptism class, she said. It was really cool to see them grasp an understanding of baptism and to see where theyre at in their relationship with the Lord, she said.

Sparks appreciates her job.

This is my first, full-time ministry position so Ive enjoyed having this be my full focus and not splitting it between school and other jobs, she said. I enjoy the kids  the relationships that have been built in the past six months.

She enjoys the pastoral team at the church.

I work with a really great team, she said. I love the trajectory of where were headed as a church and the way the kids are really understanding the story of God. I want to see that relationship with the Lord continue to get deeper for the children.

Shes already seeing good things. She cites the time when a student asked what it meant to have a relationship with God.

I told her it is whenever we have a friendship with him and spend time getting to know him through reading the Bible and praying, but also when we allow him to talk to us, when we ask Jesus to be our best friend, she said.

Sparks added that God talks through the Bible, prayer and other people.

Four months later, that student chose to be baptized.

The fact that she understood what she was doing and she was ready to make a commitment and just trusted the Lord with her life, it definitely encouraged me and affirmed the call that the Lord has on my life to be in Fremont, Sparks said.

Sparks appreciates her new home.

I love how the community is really working together to make Fremont a better place, to make sure people have the resources that they need and I love that our church is participating in those things, she said.
State police in Dauphin County are investigating a vandalism incident at a church cemetery in Gratz.

The incident happened sometime between May 6 and May 8 at Simeon United Lutheran Church cemetery on the first block of North Center Street in Gratz. The actor or actors broke into a storage shed on cemetery grounds and caused damage to the property inside.

State police said the actors poured grease into the gas tanks of two New Holland riding lawn mowers, also slashing the mower's tires. A pry bar was used to pierce one of the mower's engines as well. Police said the actors also used motor oil and spray paint to deface the interior of the shed.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked contact state police at 717-362-8700.
The 2017 primary in Lancaster looks to be different from previous elections as a batch of young, diverse candidates takes up the challenge to change the city.

In the past few municipal elections, participation has been relatively tepid by the time the primary ballot has been finalized. The requisite amount of candidates competed for open city council positions, but there had also been little competition to challenge those selected by the respective parties.

This year appears to be different, as the 2017 primary boasts 11 city council candidates for four open seats, as well as six candidates for four open school board seats. There are five candidates for mayor, including three Democrats, one Republican and one independent.

Norman Bristol Colon would be Lancaster's first Hispanic mayor. Kevin Ressler would be Lancaster's first black mayor. Danene Sorace or Cindy Stewart would be Lancaster's second female mayor. Tony Dastra would be the city's youngest mayor.

Beyond that there are a slew of minority candidates for city council, district judge, treasurer, and school board.

The reason for the diversity in the races? Lancaster, though small, represents much of the diversity in the county. The city with a population just under 60,000 according to 2016 U.S. Census Bureau data, is composed of 41.3 percent of Hispanics 16.3 percent black or African American people and 3 percent Asian.

Of the 5,142 businesses in the city, 1.672 are owned by women and 1,430 are owned by minorities, according to 2012 data.

Such data compared to Lancaster County and its population of nearly 540,000 shows the concentration of diversity in Lancaster inside the four square miles or nearly 100 miles of city streets. Only about 10.1 percent of the county's population is Hispanic or Latino, with significantly lower representation for blacks or African Americans 4.9 percent and Asians 2.3 percent.

In terms of business, 47,876 firms exist in Lancaster County with 14,101 being owned by women and 3,569 owned by minorities.

Diane Topakian, chairwoman of the Lancaster City Democrats, said the party is always working to support diverse candidates. Topakian said Lancaster's city council and school board have traditionally been fairly diverse, but the mayor's office typically has been different.

Topakian expressed excitement for the possibility of a city executive representing an underrepresented group. Though the city Democrats endorsed Danene Sorace, Topakian boasted that Bristol Colon and Ressler were viewed as highly qualified candidates who would represent the party well in terms of firsts.

As a member of the League of Women Voters, Topakian noted that not enough women are in elected offices. Even progressive Lancaster has only had one female mayor, said said. While Topakian she isn't sure whether having a woman as mayor would have an impact on the city in overt ways, she pointed to data and studies showing that women approach problems differently than men.

"We're critically aware of what this city looks like and want to play our part to make sure our elected municipal leaders reflect what the city looks like," Topakian said.

Sorace has been adamant in committing to espousing the values she and Topakian share. Her campaign has been steadfast in pledging to engage the community and educate people on how the city's government works, so that more diverse people get involved.

Many of the candidates on the Democratic side, including white progressive voices, point to President Donald Trump's election as an impetus for running this year. Even mayoral candidate Cindy Stewart, a Republican who said she did not vote for Trump, has said she will work to reflect Lancaster's values and its diverse people.

Paul Culbreth and Frank Cabanas, both campaigning for city council on the Republican side, add to the diversity of the push for office. Culbreth is black and Cabanas is Hispanic.

Culbreth, who previously campaigned for a state House seat, said he pushes for social justice and is about equality for all of the city's residents. Recently at a city council forum, Culbreth said he was tired of being treated like a second-class citizen in a third-class city, in making his case for a more representative city government.

Cabanas aims to reach out to Lancastrians, to address the need for community policing and grassroots development that engage individuals in the community.

Marquis Lupton, 33, is one of the young minority candidates running for city council, even though he knew he likely wouldn't be endorsed by the Democratic party, citing his lack of experience.

Instead, Lupton said, he is looking to continue his interest in politics. He noted the inspiration he felt when attending Barack Obama's inauguration and said he wanted to leave a positive example for his children to get involved and fight for the rights of the people in a society where some look to minimize the influence of minorities.

"I'm here to help, I'm here to be the face of change and I'm here to bring the focus back to the constituents," Lupton said.

At his campaign announcement, Ismail Smith-Wade-El noted his own status as an African-American man with Latino, Asian and immigrant friends, in saying past and coming months would be rough for him and his friends:

"You are one of us and we will never turn you away," Smith-Wade-El said. "Let that be the truth that drives us forward."

Smith-Wade-El, who is a research associate for the mayor's commission on poverty, said the city's success doesn't have to wait for greatness, which can be found in the people and the conversations that happen when everyone is included.

Willie Shell, a city council candidate, is aiming to be a champion for the southeast and southwest quadrants of the city. Those communities have a higher concentration of black and Hispanic residents and lower incomes. He said he has worked in the community for more than 40 years and doesn't think city leaders have prioritized minorities interests, hence his campaign.

Shell also expressed skepticism that the underserved southern parts of the city would see any change with a new mayor and administration that could "continue the status quo," he said.

Shell's ultimate goal as if elected to council: "To make sure the city moves forward inclusively, so that all parts of the city are included equally."

Ressler, a self-described community advocate, said part of the reason he is running is to bridge the rift between the minority communities and city government. As a founder of Black Lives Matter 717 and Lancaster Action Now Coalition, Ressler has worked to push for action that helps benefit people who represent diversity and in fighting the Trump administration. Ressler stresses that no one loses because of diversity and that minorities and underrepresented groups are fighting against being marginalized.

Jodie Richardson, a candidate for district judge and a longtime Millersville University employee, said she isn't a political person but saw a need to represent the community as an African-American woman who was born in Lancaster and lived in its Seventh Ward her whole life.

"I can tell you I'm pleased what what I see," Richardson said of the diversity in the races. "In my 46 years, I can't say I've seen anything like this."

Richardson added that she feels a tremendous responsibility to give back to the community that raised her. Additionally, she wants be a role model for those who will come after her. Richardson said she contemplated a run for district judge before, but decided she wasn't ready.

What is encouraging, Richardson said, is the amount of young people who have followed the calling to act and setting a positive example for young kids.

"Youths matter," Richardson said. "Their input and perspective really brings a lot to the table."

Outgoing Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said he isn't seeing much difference between now and the past 12 years in terms of actual representation on city council, although there have been two Latinos and two African-Americans on city council for the past 12 years, including a former city council president. What is different is the need for outreach, Gray said.

The 73-year-old mayor said he is pleased to see younger people jumping into the political fray, but he cautioned against making broad generalities and judgments in assessing the future of the city.

"At one time, we had to go recruit people," Gray said. "We didn't have to do that this time. A lot of people came forward. It's a sign of success. People want to get involved. Even those who are critical."

Though many candidates were outspoken and candid in talking about the role their ethnicity, gender or age played in deciding to run for public office, some addressed the issues with a more collective voice.

Norman Bristol Colon pointed to his campaign slogan of "One Lancaster," noting the need to empower minorities, but speaking somewhat tentatively, as if to avoid raising fears of a cultural takeover.

Janet Diaz, a city council candidate, took a similar approach, addressing a need to help Lancaster's poorest and most disenfranchised residents, rather than specifically pointing to race head on. Still, race plays an important role in the candidates' campaigns. Like Bristol Colon, Diaz was endorsed by the Latino Democratic Caucus of Lancaster County. Diaz was an organizer for a panel to inspire women leaders, the way she had been inspired to run for office.

Both Bristol Colon and Diaz serve as examples for the collective community seeing the need for elected Latino officials. Former Lancaster City Councilman Pedro Soto, the first Puerto Rican elected to the city council, attended Bristol Colon's announcement. Also at the event were Bethlehem City Councilwoman Olga Negron, Fountain Hill Mayor Jose Rosado and Harrisburg police Capt. Gabriel Olivera, supporting the man who could become the first Latino mayor.

Diaz's campaign is run by Lebanon City Councilman Cornell Wilson, who also chairs the Latino Caucus of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. Wilson said he was supporting his friend and the first time candidate, but his work in promoting Latino political activity cannot be ignored.

Salome Johnson, a committee member for the Democratic Latino Caucus and regional director of the party's African American Caucus, said she is happy to see the diversity in Lancaster and the hopes the representation will augment the community voice.

"Ever since Jan. 20, 2017, it's becoming more evident that the minority communitites of this country have to step up to the plate, as everyone should," Johnson said.

Johnson cited historical data showing there is lower minority turnout in elections in emphasizing the need for pushing diversity and engaging the people. She said she isn't as concerned with how people vote, but with whether they vote.

"We must get people to understand that everything in their daily lives -- taxes, ordinances, books their kids read in school -- are all involved in the body politic," Johnson said. "You must be involved, because it impacts your quality of life on a daily basis. There are lot of people who don't understand that."

Johnson noted the traditional power of the black vote as well as the growing number of Latino voters in saying it is important for minorities to get involved and to participate.

"It can't always be about the majority," Johnson said.
Brawly Taylor ventured down the path less traveled on his way to graduating from Archbishop Bergan High School.

Taylor, who will graduate with 22 of his senior classmates Saturday afternoon inside of St. Patricks Catholic Church, spent his freshman year of high school as a Bergan Knight before transferring to Elkhorn South High School his sophomore and junior years.

His passion for medicine, however, led him back to Bergan in fall 2016 when he decided he wanted to pursue acceptance into the Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP), a program not offered to students encompassing Omaha and Lincoln school districts. Elkhorn South, Taylor said, didnt offer RHOP either.

RHOP is a cooperative agreement between Chadron State College and Wayne State College and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC); with the programs purpose revolving around recruiting and educating high school students from rural Nebraska who will return to practice medicine in rural areas of the state.

Recipients of the RHOP scholarship have their bachelors degree paid for if they maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher, and all participants in the RHOP Program receive early acceptance into UNMC if they score within a certain percentile on the MCAT examination.

Taylor applied for admittance the first semester of his senior year, was interviewed in December and soon after learned he was accepted into the RHOP Program.

The program wasnt available through (Elkhorn) South, and Ive always wanted to become a doctor, Taylor said during a Wednesday interview with the Tribune. I figured, why not make this sacrifice and really take the opportunity to set up my future.

While it certainly isnt the easiest situation making a move to a new school during a persons senior year of high school, Taylor said it was a pretty smooth transition. His brother, Rider Taylor, was a Bergan High graduate in 2015.

Because of this, Taylor said he was pretty well-kept in the Bergan loop. He was also aware that other Bergan students have been admitted into the RHOP Program. Just last year, Blake Walker, a friend of Taylors and a 2016 Bergan graduate, was admitted into Chadron States RHOP program, the same program Taylor will immerse himself into next fall.

It was either Wayne State or Chadron State, Taylor said of his college decision. I like the outdoors out there a lot more (Chadron), the landscape and everything  just being outside.

Of Walkers impact, Taylor said, Hes part of RHOP, hes out at Chadron and he is a good family friend of ours. Truly, he was the one who talked to me about doing RHOP between the summer of my junior and senior year, and thats when I was like, wow this is something I really might want to do.

Bergan Principal Dan Koenig said that guidance counselor Doug Moore has played a big part in helping students through not only the RHOP application process, but the scholarship process in general.

Mr. Moore does a great job of setting kids up in that aspect and making sure they complete that process, Koenig said. I dont know if he is the Scholarship Whisperer or what, but he is always meeting with our kids about their future and maximizing their potential at the next level.

Not only is Bergan about maximizing potential after high school, the school is all about maximizing talent while students are still enrolled.

With an Open Campus policy for qualifying seniors, students have the chance to take college credits, leave for lunch and any of their open periods. Koenig said that half of this years graduating seniors took an on-campus English course at Midland University.

Taylor completed 18 college credit hours this year, setting him ahead of the curve when he moves to Chadron.

They learn to manage their time and get to Point A and Point B, Koenig said of the Open Campus policy.   And both Fremont High and Bergan have a great opportunity with a two-year college and four-year University just minutes away.

While his high school schedule may have been a little more rigorous than most students, Taylor said he knows its worth it.

I know that if I just work hard now that eventually I will reap all the rewards, he said.

Koenig added, He is a very high-achieving senior, a kid who is going to do really well in life.
Local clerks report slightly down percentages in voter turnout

Nearly 75,000 people in five Northern Michigan counties had their ballots counted, according to clerks' unofficial election results.
U.S. postpones meeting to decide on participation in Paris climate pact - White House





WASHINGTON

Petroleumworld 05 10 2017

A meeting of Trump administration advisers that had been scheduled for Tuesday to decide whether to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts, a White House official said.

Key advisers to President Donald Trump and cabinet officials were due to convene at the White House to resolve an internal debate over whether Trump should keep his campaign promise to pull the United States out of the Paris agreement, according to senior administration officials and several people briefed on the meeting.

The White House official did not say when the meeting would be rescheduled.

The meeting was meant to lay the groundwork for a formal proposal to Trump, who has promised to announce a decision before a Group of Seven summit at the end of May.

Ahead of Tuesday's originally planned meeting, business groups and some lawmakers called on the White House to remain in the Paris agreement, while some conservative policy groups urged the advisers to recommend a withdrawal.

Meanwhile, representatives of nearly 200 countries that are party to the Paris agreement are meeting in Bonn this week to discuss technical aspects of implementing the accord.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host the biennial Arctic Council meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, later this week.







Story by Dion Rabouin; Reporting by Dion Rabouin; Additional reporting by Nigel Stephenson in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski from Reuters .



reuters.com May 09, 2017
HK broker BANDS eyes China crude, iron ore potential





HONG KONG

Petroleumworld 05 10 2017

Hong Kong broker BANDS Financial is eyeing opportunities in iron ore and crude oil markets even as the outlook for base metals appears subdued for the rest of 2017, its senior executives said.

China's central bank has cautiously shifted to a tightening policy bias in recent months, while Beijing has announced a string of measures to curb financial system risk which has soured sentiment towards metals this year, Managing Director John Browning said.

"For the next two quarters, growth is not a requirement. Financial stability is a requirement as we go towards the party conference," Browning told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the LMEWeek conference, referring to the 19th Party Congress expected in the autumn.

Zinc and copper, which closed out 2016 with the best performance in half a decade and extended their run into mid February have both erased the year's gains.

Still, the futures brokerage, which specialises in cross-border arbitrage, sees opportunities outside the metals space if China opens its crude oil and iron ore contracts to international investors as anticipated later this year.

Foreign investors are currently not able to directly invest in China's commodity futures contracts.

"There has been a lot of growth of business in China out of Dalian and elsewhere .. and the West hasn't caught up with it," said Jeremy Goldwyn, who heads the broker's Asian business development.

"(Western investors) are not going to directly connect to the Chinese exchanges. The likelihood is that there's going to be a conduit. There's a natural opportunity for companies like ourselves."

BANDS Financial has been expanding its footprint into Singapore's iron ore in preparation, given the huge liquidity in Dalian Commodity Exchange's (DCE) iron ore contract.

"We see the same signs (of liquidity) in the global market for iron ore contracts at SGX, so we want to tap into this," said Managing Director Tiger Shi.

The recent launch of commodities derivatives in China such as the Dalian exchange's launch of soymeal options in March, could yield more arbitrage opportunities, Goldwyn said.







Story by Melanie Burton ; Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Richard Pullin from Reuters .



reuters.com May 09, 2017
Shell's Nigeria Forcados oil pipeline on test to restart





LONDON

Petroleumworld 05 10 2017

Shell is testing Nigeria's Trans Forcados crude export pipeline for a potential restart with the Astro Perseus tanker expected to load the first cargo by the weekend, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

The pipeline has been mostly shut down since it was bombed by militants in February 2016. After repairs, exports briefly resumed in October until a fresh attack forced another shutdown in early November.

A spokeswoman for Shell declined to comment.

Before the attacks, the Forcados stream accounted for 200,000-240,000 barrels per day (bpd). No loading programme is expected to be issued until the pipeline is fully tested.







Reporting by Libby George and Julia Payne; editing by Jason Neely from Reuters .



reuters.com May 09, 2017
Eni to build a 150,000 crude oil refinery in Nigeria -oil minister





ABUJA

Petroleumworld 05 10 2017

Italian oil company Eni plans to build a crude refinery in Nigeria with capacity of 150,000 barrels a day through its Agip subsidiary, the country's oil minister said on Tuesday.

Nigeria has been seeking investment in the sector to reduce reliance on imported oil products that consume a large portion of the nation's scarce foreign currency reserves. After years o neglect its existing, ageing refineries produce hardly any fuel.

"We reached an agreement that Agip will build a brand new refinery of 150,000 barrel capacity, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu told reporters after meeting Eni executives in Abuja.

A memorandum of understanding is being prepared, he added.

ENI executives declined to talk to reporters at the event, but in January the company said that it would "intensify" oil and gas exploration in Nigeria and help to revamp the Port Harcourt oil refinery.







Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by David Goodman from Reuters .



reuters.com May 09, 2017
Lebanon political climate no risk to oil, gas licensing round - minister





BEIRUT

Petroleumworld 05 10 2017

Lebanese authorities said on Tuesday they will press ahead with the country's first oil and gas licensing round regardless of uncertainty over a twice-postponed general election.

"I am sure and certain that all the political parties are determined and are committed to make this licensing round succeed," Minister of Energy and Water Cesar Abou Khalil told Reuters.

"We have a government that is fully functional and homogenous ... We are pretty sure that the agenda and roadmap for the licensing round will be respected."

Lebanon's tender process for offshore exploration and production stalled in 2013 because political deadlock left the country with no president for 2-1/2 years and squabbling between parties prevented the passage of necessary laws.

But late last year, a president and prime minister were chosen. A newly formed government restarted the tender process in January by passing two important hydrocarbon decrees and holding a pre-qualification round in April.

Uncertainty reared its head again when President Michel Aoun suspended parliament for a month in mid-April, temporarily blocking plans to extend the assembly's term with no popular vote for a third time since 2013 to try to push for electoral law reforms and to hold a parliamentary election.

But oil and gas will no longer be subject to political deadlock, the chairman of the board of directors of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, Wissam Chbat, told the third Lebanon International Oil and Gas Summit in Beirut.

"We are decoupled from the political track, there has been a lot of consensus from all political parties towards achieving a successful bid round. Everyone is putting his effort towards achieving that," Chbat said.

The delay in development has come at a cost, Chbat told Reuters, as oil and gas prices have fallen significantly and east Mediterranean neighbours such as Egypt, Cyprus and Israel have been developing their sectors.

"In 2013 we had better dynamics for the industry, better prices for oil and gas and better conditions," Chbat said.

The Lebanese government has estimated with a probability of 50 percent it has 96 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves and 865 million barrels of oil offshore, but the true size of the reserves cannot be known until exploration begins.

"There is much more than the local market needs and a big portion of it would be for export," Chbat said.

Chbat said 60 targets had been identified as potential reservoirs.

Lebanon could pass a taxation law needed for the hydrocarbon sector this month, Chbat said.





Story by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Dale Hudson from Reuters .



reuters.com May 09, 2017
U.S. crude oil inventories report on Wednesday show drop sharply as imports decline -EIA





NEW YORK

Petroleumworld 05 11 2017

U.S. crude stockpiles posted their biggest one-week drawdown since December last week as imports dropped sharply, while inventories of refined products also fell, helping boost oil prices that have been weighed down by concerns about oversupply.

Crude inventories fell 5.2 million barrels in the week to May 5, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, compared with expectations for a decrease of 1.8 million barrels. At 522.5 million barrels, crude stocks were the lowest since February.

U.S. crude imports fell last week by 799,000 barrels per day, the biggest weekly drop since mid February, to just 6.9 million bpd, the first time they have been below 7 million bpd since early March.

Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures fell 438,000 barrels, EIA said.

Crude futures rose on the data after enduring weeks of pressure over worries that a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to reduce supply was not having the desired effect.

By 11:12 a.m. (1512 GMT), U.S. crude futures were up $1.30, or 2.8 percent, at $47.18 a barrel, and Brent crude rose 2.5 percent, or $1.25, to $49.98 a barrel.

However, U.S. production rose, and refining runs declined, giving analysts pause about the market's sharp rise.

"The headline crude oil drawdown number is certainly supportive, but it could be something a shooting star. The refinery utilization rate has come down quite a bit, after topping out a couple of weeks ago," said John Kilduff, partner with energy hedge fund Again Capital in New York.

Refinery crude runs fell 418,000 bpd and utilization rates dropped by 1.8 percentage points to 91.5 percent of overall capacity, after hitting a record 94.1 percent three weeks earlier, EIA data showed.

Gasoline stocks fell 150,000 barrels, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 538,000-barrel drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, dropped 1.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.0 million-barrel draw, the EIA data showed.

Notably, U.S. crude production continued to climb, rising to 9.31 million bpd, from 9.29 million bpd the week earlier.

"Growing oil output in the U.S., which reached its highest level since August 2015, will remain a thorny issue for price bulls," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics in London.







Story by David Gaffen; Additional reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Marguerita Choy from Reuters .



reuters.com May 10, 2017
Petrobras and Exxon in strategic partnership talks

Bloomberg/Dado Galdieri



Petrobras offshore oil platform in Guanabara Bay. Brazil company says in statement no talks are ongoing. Potential outcome could go beyond bidding for offshore blocks

RIO DE JANEIRO

Petroleumworld 05 11 2017

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Petrobras have held talks on a strategic partnership that could involve multiple assets in Brazil and overseas in different segments of the industry, similar to the $2.2 billion deal signed with Total SA in December, said people familiar with the conversations.

Such a deal could give Exxon access to oil fields and infrastructure in Brazil while state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA could gain from Exxon's expertise in production, refining and distribution, the people said. The company clarified in a statement Tuesday that there is no ongoing negotiation aiming at a strategic alliance with Exxon.

Petrobras stresses, however, that it's constantly in touch with companies in the oil and gas sector to evaluate opportunities and share experience, the company said in the statement.

International oil companies are taking a closer look after Brazil eased nationalist regulations and opened the market to more competition. Carla Lacerda, Exxon's country chief, said earlier this month that the U.S.-based oil giant sees great opportunities in Brazil. Last week, Petrobras Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente met in Houston with both Lacerda and BP Plc's head of Latin America, Felipe Arbelaez, the people said, asking not to be named because the discussions were private.

Arbelaez confirmed that he and Parente had talked in a number of meetings. He said that with the policy changes being undertaken by Brazil's government, all companies are reviewing their Brazil strategy.

Lauren Kerr, an Exxon spokeswoman, declined to comment. As a matter of practice we don't comment on rumors or speculation, she said.

In December, France-based Total agreed to buy stakes in Brazilian oil fields and energy infrastructure in a $2.2 billion deal that is expanding its presence in Latin America's largest economy.

Total's Deal

That agreement included stakes in the Iara and Lapa offshore prospects, and gives Petrobras the option to buy into a field in the Gulf of Mexico, the Rio de Janeiro-based company said at the time. Total also acquired 50 percent of two thermoelectric plants in the Bahia area and the right to use a regasification unit in the city. It may study more purchases from Petrobras, Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said when the deal was announced.

Other European oil producers have also moved to grab a share of the deep-water discoveries that are driving Brazil's production growth. Statoil ASA bought Petrobras's stake in the Carcara find last year in a $2.5 billion deal, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc expanded in the pre-salt region through its acquisition of BG Group Ltd.

In recent months Michel Temer's government has removed Petrobras' exclusivity to operate in the pre-salt, and eased buy-in-Brazil requirements for platforms and equipment. Only one pre-salt field, the giant Libra discovery, has been auctioned in this decade, and under terms that guaranteed Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as it is formally known, control of operations.

While single wells in the pre-salt region can produce more than 40,000 barrels a day, among the most productive in the world, Exxon previously had a rare case of exploration failure in at a concession it abandoned in 2012.

"We are here to say we are going to try again," Lacerda said at an event in Houston last week. " Exxon Mobil sees great opportunities in Brazil."






U.S. gasoline supliers to Mexico face organize fuel thefts and illegal pipeline taps

AFP/Jose Castanares



Soldiers stand in front of the flames generated by a fire in a clandestine fuel valve May 7. Mexican fuel importers weigh risk after thefts trigger bloodbath, the shootout between soldiers and fuel thieves leaves 11 dead.

MEXICO CITY

Petroleumworld 05 11 2017

Foreign companies looking to supply gasoline to Mexico are taking a hard look at planned investments after a series of fuel thefts escalated into a bloodbath last week in the state of Puebla.

A gun battle May 3 between soldiers and huachicoleros, the local nickname for fuel thieves, left 11 people dead and many more injured and triggered protests in Puebla, where pipelines are often tapped to steal gasoline. Companies looking to import fuel into Mexico from the U.S. like Howard Energy Partners , and BioUrja Trading LLC , are concerned about the uptick of the problem.

It's part of a worrisome trend that investors will take a look at and price into the offers that they make and the amount of investment that they decide to put into Mexico, John Padilla, managing director of energy-consulting firm IPD Latin America, said by phone from Bogota.

Mexican fuel thefts have escalated in the past year, as the government abolished subsidies. The policy known as gasolinazo, or fuel-price slam, pushed up pump prices by as much as 20 percent in early 2017 and led to riots and blockades at some fuel terminals. Petroleos Mexicanos has covered the cost associated with the thefts, but it's unclear whether the state oil company will try to pass them on to private importers in the future.

Fuel theft is a significant concern for many companies going into Mexico and we don't know that the government is doing anything in order to help alleviate that risk, Rajan Vig, BioUrja's head of Origination for Mexico, said by phone from Houston. BioUrja is seeking to import fuel into Mexico and is in talks with the government and banks to address the fuel-theft issue, but we need the government to be on our side, he said.

Illegal taps surged last year, resulting in losses of 2.2 billion of liters, or approximately 581.2 million gallons of fuel, a 24 percent increase from 2015. Disabling fuel pipeline taps cost Pemex around $220 million in the past six years, an amount that has risen more than 10-fold over the period, Mexican newspaper Milenio reported Monday, citing Pemex data.

It's a very large concern of ours, Mike Howard, chief executive officer of Howard Energy, which is building a refined-product pipeline complex in northern Mexico, said by phone from San Antonio. We've looked at all kinds of security measures including drones, above-ground cameras, everything that you can imagine to protect the product.

The company is also investing in advanced leak-detection technology and considering burying its pipelines deeper in some locations. Huachicoleros typically dig up Pemex pipelines with a shovel because they are buried close to the surface.

It's an ongoing conversation that we're having with our customers and with stakeholders in Mexico, Howard said.

One of the murkier issues for the burgeoning private-fuel-import sector is who will cover the cost of product stolen from pipelines or terminals leased by Pemex. Tesoro Corp. , which operates seven refineries in the U.S., won the first auction for capacity on Pemex's pipelines and storage facilities on May 2. Commodity traders such as Trafigura Beheer BV and Koch Supply & Trading LP have applied for fuel-import permits.

Gasoline robberies are a loss that Pemex just seems to absorb, and you can't really expect the private sector to do that, Robert Campbell, head of oil products research at industry consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. said by phone from New York. Mexico's justice system does not exactly inspire confidence. These are the sort of issues that really need to be worked out.

Pemex is reinforcing its efforts to combat fuel theft, including tracking down black markets where the fuel is sold and increasing surveillance on its pipelines, Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya, Pemex's chief executive officer said in a May 4 interview with Bloomberg. Gonzalez Anaya went to Colombia last year to learn new approaches to fight the crime from Ecopetrol SA , Colombia's state oil producer that has grappled with frequent guerrilla attacks on its pipeline system.

We are working on different fronts, Gonzalez Anaya said. It involves a lot of people, a lot of agencies. There's not a silver bullet for this problem.






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.
James Vivenzio wept when he read about the death of Pennsylvania State University fraternity pledge Tim Piazza.

He also was appalled.

"This was completely preventable," said Vivenzio, 23, of Great Falls, Va., who sued Penn State in 2015 over his own hazing by a fraternity. "I provided Penn State with clear evidence of hazing, especially with alcohol, and they did absolutely nothing with the information I gave them."

Penn State has disputed Vivenzio's claim that the university ignored his report of hazing for more than a year. After he reported the allegations to State College police, the university revoked recognition of the fraternity, Kappa Delta Rho, for three years, citing hazing, underage drinking, and sexual harassment involving nude photos of women.

Vivenzio said in his lawsuit that as a Kappa Delta Rho pledge in 2012, he was force-fed buckets of liquor mixed with urine, vomit, and hot sauce; made to guzzle hard alcohol until he vomited; burned on the chest with a cigarette; and beaten by a fraternity member after he failed to participate in a ritual.

He said there were times when he thought he or someone else might die.

"The biggest thing I remember telling Penn State is, this isn't a small issue of people drinking a little too much and throwing up," he said. "It's life or death."

Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, N.J., drank large quantities of alcohol during a Feb. 2 pledge night party at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity as part of a ritual called "the Gauntlet" and fell down a flight of stairs. Fraternity members did not call for emergency help until nearly 12 hours later. Piazza died the following day, having suffered a non-recoverable brain injury, ruptured spleen, and collapsed lung.

Eighteen fraternity members were charged last week with offenses that included involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, hazing, reckless endangerment, furnishing alcohol to minors, and tampering with evidence.

"I felt it was finally a step in the right direction," Vivenzio said, "to hold people accountable for the atrocities that happen behind closed doors."

Penn State permanently banned Beta Theta Pi after the sophomore engineering major's death.

Beta Theta Pi is far from the only fraternity that has run afoul of the rules. Penn State's Interfraternity Council oversees 45 fraternities. Since 2015, there have been "170 chapter conduct cases," university spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.

Discipline of fraternity chapters is managed by the student-run council, which is advised by the school's Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. More than 40 percent of the 170 violations cited by the IFC were for things such as unregistered socials, use of glass bottles, no wristbands, and lack of signage for exits or other areas in the fraternity house, Powers said. The remaining citations run the gamut from serving minors, noise violations and multiple points of alcohol distribution to a lack of event monitors and two hazing violations, she said.

Vivenzio's attorney, Aaron Freiwald, said that Penn State should do more and that Piazza's death had renewed conversation about a university's role. The grand jury presentment harshly criticized Penn State's Greek culture, he said.

"The Penn State Greek community nurtured an environment so permissive of excessive drinking and hazing," the presentment said, "that it emboldened its members to repeatedly act with reckless disregard to human life."

Penn State issued new rules for Greek organizations after Piazza died, including reducing the number and size of allowable parties, and deferring recruitment to second semester of freshman year.

"It is important to understand that fraternities at Penn State are independent from the university," Powers said. "These groups are private organizations on private property, and self-governed."

Vivenzio's lawsuit against Kappa Delta Rho and Penn State is ongoing.

The suit claims that the university failed to act on his reports of abuse, including his account of private Facebook pages fraternity members allegedly used to post revealing photos of females who may have been unaware they were being photographed.

He reported the Facebook pages to State College police, who did not charge anyone.

In response to the suit, Penn State said neither Vivenzio nor his family was willing to file a complaint, provide documentation, speak with State College police at that time, or take part in the formal disciplinary process when he first told the school about hazing and drinking violations. The school says that he did not report the Facebook pages to university officials, and that state police told the school after Vivenzio reported it to them.

Freiwald has disputed that account.

University spokeswoman Lisa M. Powers said Thursday of Vivenzio's lawsuit, "A judge has already dismissed this case, but allowed one claim to be refiled. We are hopeful that the claim will be dismissed again, as it largely duplicates Mr. Vivenzio's prior claims."

Vivenzio, who pledged the fraternity first semester of freshman year, said his first indication of a problem was a ritual known as "lineups," in which pledges were ordered to the basement, often in the middle of the night, and made to drink large quantities of alcohol while doing sit-ups and push-ups.

His studies suffered. He took a year off and got treatment for alcohol and post-traumatic stress because of the hazing, Freiwald said. He returned to the school in fall 2014, but left before the semester ended and was hospitalized in early 2015 because of stress from the hazing, his lawyer said.

Vivenzio now works as a server in a restaurant.



"I have signed up for classes," he said. "It's just been very difficult getting back into everything."
Yes, the title of Snatched is a double entendre, and yes, it tells you most of what you need to know about the movie's aspirations.

They are to provide a showcase for Amy Schumer's Trainwreck persona, which again makes the case that, on screen, liberated women should be free to be as uninhibited as men  when Schumer does an exceedingly thorough hand-towel washup in the ladies' room, or breaks wind, women break ground.

Trainwreck was a rom com, Snatched a female buddy comedy pitched to Mother's Day (you might want to stick with FTD). Schumer plays a young woman in disarray (she loses job and boyfriend in the first five minutes), and so must find someone to accompany her on a trip to Ecuador.

Enter mom, Goldie Hawn, and you have the promise of a clash of intergenerational female titans  the fizzy, flower-power girl of the '60s and '70s, and the bawdy, fearless Schumer.

This leads to a moment that knocks the movie off its feet for a moment -- Schumer's visiting home, finding an old scrapbook, leafing through photos of premarriage mother to see a fun-loving free spirit, captured in Polaroids from long-ago travels.

This serves the plot  daughter needs to persuade mom to recover that lost part of herself and go to Ecuador. But it also wallops viewers of a certain age  vintage Hawn photos remind us of the days when she overthrew the male domain of movies armed with nothing more than long lashes and a laugh. I don't remember Walter Matthau in Cactus Flower (her Oscar win nearly 50 years ago), but I remember Hawn.

That light still shines in Snatched, when given a chance. The first half of the movie allows Hawn to back-and-forth with Schumer in scenes that show a mother's passive-aggressive doting, a daughter who both needs it and resents it. There's more comedy in Hawn overapplying suntan lotion to Schumer than in most of the rest of the film.

Then they're kidnapped, and Snatched becomes an action comedy that showcases Schumer's knack for physical shtick, and affirms what comedy has become in the modern era -- Schumer loses control of her bowels, coughs up a tapeworm, and we are left to wonder if this is really an emancipated step up from playing mistress to Matthau.

Most of the second-half laughs come from ancillary sources. Christopher Meloni has a funny cameo as a jungle adventurer who is not what he seems. Scene-stealer Ike Barinholtz plays Schumer's nerd-agoraphobe brother, who must leave the house to assist in the rescue of his mother and sister. And Bashir Salahuddin is amusing in an escalating cameo as an officious State Department bureaucrat.

Throw in Wanda Sykes with cargo shorts and fanny pack, and you've got a movie that runs a merciful, and mostly painless, 90 minutes. Two of those are Schumer and Hawn in an out-of-character prologue, thanking the audience for paying to see the movie in theaters. It's thoughtful, but Hawn must be wondering when  and why -- outreach became part of the gig.
I'm a little rusty on my Camelot mythology, but I'm pretty sure there is no reputable version of the King Arthur story with a character named Kung Fu George.

He's alive and well, though, in Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which departs radically from traditional versions of the story and, instead, offers something that hopes to catch the attention and perhaps the imagination of today's youth demo.

Ritchie has been getting a lot of grief for this, but while his movie doesn't really work, he hasn't committed sacrilege  Monty Python and the Holy Grail showed that audiences were ready to laugh at the forests-and-fog fustiness of classic versions, and Antoine Fuqua had no lock with his straight-faced King Arthur.

Ritchie gets rid of all that. What's so shocking about his version is how urban it is. The prologue sends Arthur down the Thames as a swaddled infant, like Moses, where he ends up in Londinium, a thriving and cosmopolitan metropolis where Arthur has an Oliver Twisty childhood, then grows up to run a smuggling ring and a brothel  Dickens meets Game of Thrones (there's a role for Aidan Gillen, too).

Ritchie may be onto something here  instead of dragging a modern audience into the past, he takes the past and drags it into the present. His multiethnic gang, with their facial hair, tattoos, and Celtic jewelry and garb, looks like the sort of blokes you might meet in a contemporary London pub.

He gives his characters contemporary dialogue and attitudes, mixes action with fantasy elements like the aforementioned Game of Thrones, and uses modern editing/storytelling tricks  when Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) describes a plan to attack a rival, the plotting is interlaced with sequences showing the attack itself, as you might see in an Ocean's Eleven heist movie.

Hunnam is hunky and stolid in the lead, while the rest of the cast has been instructed to have fun. Jude Law, the villain, is the only dude in the cast without facial hair  surely out of fear he would twirl his mustache. He plays Vortigern, who has usurped the throne from Arthur's dad (Eric Bana) and rules over the kingdom via the fiat of sorcery  his deal with the underworld allows him to hold on to power as long as he's willing to kill someone he loves.

His black-magic coconspirators inform him that his brother's son is alive somewhere in the kingdom. So Vortigern requires all young men of the target age to take the only test that can identify the throne's rightful heir  this one thing still intact from the legend: You must draw the sword Excalibur from the stone. A conscripted Arthur does just that, and against his will (he's a natural rebel and reluctant king) becomes the rallying point for factions that wish to overthrow the tyrant who has led the kingdom to ruin.

A conventional telling would invoke massed armies and massive battles, but Ritchie sticks to his vision here. Arthur has a crew, a small and feisty band of outcasts (including Kung Fu George), hustlers, and magicians  members of a banished race of people (Astrid Berges Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou) with supernatural gifts. They scheme to infiltrate Vortigern's castle and take him down.

Here, Ritchie's strategy completely betrays him. In a sop to video-game consumers, he turns Vortigern into a digital avatar, a fire-breathing horned monster, and also just another boring, insubstantial CGI entity, the kind movies are usually better off without. Certainly, this one would be.
Anyone looking for a unique take on the May 1 vandalism by anarchists trying to stop gentrification in North Philadelphia might turn to the blog Philly Anti-Capitalist.

"Lots of people said they went harder than they ever had," an anonymous poster wrote there a few days after the incident. "At least four large condos both finished and unfinished were smashed up so bad that it felt like a competition to get a swing in. People described feeling terrified and thrilled."

The thrill apparently came as a masked group of 40 to 50 raced up the 1500 block of North Second Street, shattering windows, damaging cars, and spray painting new construction -- in all, more than $100,000 in damage.

Philly Anti-Capitalist posts from time to time similar accounts  some anonymous -- of anarchist and antifascist activities in the area. (Most are recaps of mainstream protests, not purported insider accounts of organized vandalism.) The blog is one of a small constellation of online spaces for anarchists in Philadelphia, and the account published last week  which offered no proof its author had been in North Philly that night  is one of the few public responses that have emerged from the local anarchist community since the incident.

Online, supporters of the two charged in the vandalism -- Geoffrey Suchocki, 45, and Patricia Monahan, 28, who allegedly targeted high-end cars and new construction  have raised bail money and offered solidarity.

"This person has put so much work into their community, and it is time for us to rally together and support them," the description for the bail fund-raiser read.

They've analyzed the efficacy of the "demo," as the post on Philly Anti-Capitalist put it.

"Organizers regret not having distributed a legal support number that had been set up in advance of the demo," the anonymous poster wrote. "Due to technological and communication failures, as well as unforeseen circumstances, two intended targets were not hit." The poster wrote of "neighbors quick to snitch," including one who tackled someone in the group and then released this person after another one "intimidated them with a hammer."

The blog's publisher didn't respond to a request for comment. Neither did the Philadelphia Anti-Repression Fund, which raised nearly $3,000 in bail money for Suchocki and Monahan. (That's not unusual: "Don't talk to media or pigs," read the event description for one anarchist-organized May Day protest.)

At the Wooden Shoe bookstore, a fixture on South Street run by an anarchist collective, volunteer Carl Craft said from behind the counter that he hadn't heard much discussion of the incident in Northern Liberties. But he said gentrification and displacement have long been targets of protest in the anarchist movement.

"It's not unique to Philadelphia," he said, adding that he spoke for himself and not the collective. "And there's the issue of how to respond to it  my personal opinion is that if there's neighborhood opposition [to development], then those are the people who should lead the response." Suchocki is from Doylestown and Monahan from Rhawnhurst.

Police are still investigating the incident, Inspector Dennis Wilson said this week. The incident was similar to vandalism on South Street on the day of President Trump's inauguration, he said, but it's unclear whether they're connected.

Police photographed the two at protests earlier that day in Center City, he said, but it's also unclear whether Suchocki and Monahan belong to an organized group. Anarchist groups don't often come into contact with the department, he said: "It's here and there. They'll join these larger protests sometimes, and that's what they did" on May Day.

Some anarchists worry that acts of vandalism will alienate the public, an anonymous author wrote in an "anarchist response to the attacks in Philly," provided to the Inquirer and Daily News by writers at Anathema Magazine, a local anarchist publication. (The piece was later published on It's Going Down, a national anarchist news site.) But others believe it's the only way to stop "the violence of everyday life in the U.S.," the author wrote.

"In Philadelphia, we're more used to seeing anarchists doing support work or lobbying for reforms than attacking institutions or businesses they believe shouldn't exist," the author wrote. "While attending community meetings with developers and politicians has accomplished nothing, and forming nonviolent community organizations against gentrification has done very little to stop it, vandalism has successfully demoralized and deterred development in many areas of the city."

The incident on May Day isn't "above critique," the author wrote. "But to condemn them and those involved  in the name of hypothetical concerns about public opinion puts you on the side of defending and replicating a violent social order."
Ballot proposals and millages STATE PROPOSALS Proposal 22-1: A proposal to amend the state constitution to require annual public financial disclosure reports by legislators...

Kiwanis welcomes Rohde as new member On Oct. 25, Cathy Rohde was welcomed to the Manistique Area Kiwanis Club by Darrell Dixson. New members are welcome...

Third Trunk or Treat on Oct. 31 MANISTIQUE  The First United Methodist Church will hold their Third Annual Trunk or Treat event on Oct. 31. The...
Two officers were "seriously assaulted" Monday in an altercation with a man they were trying to release from the Florence, OR, 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, reports the Oregonian.

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.

The Oregon State Police Criminal Division is helping investigate the incident.
Photo: Seneca County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

A Seneca County, OH, sheriff's deputy was shot in the shoulder during a domestic violence incident Tuesday south of Tiffin, reports WTVG.

Seneca County Sheriff William Eckelberry said Deputy Luke Cantu was struck in the shoulder by at least one bullet. The sheriff said the bullet went through and through. He added the deputy is in stable condition.

Another man, Johnny Reino, 25, was stabbed. His condition was unknown.

The shooter, Scott Bloomfield, 34, was shot and killed by authorities on the scene Tuesday afternoon.

According to a release from the Tiffin Police Department, the incident started around 1:30 Tuesday afternoon with a 911 call for a man with a gun attempting to take his ex-girlfriend from her car.

Then authorities said Bloomfield barged into a home threatening to shoot the woman's son. The suspect eventually stabbed the woman's son, Reino, according to the release from Tiffin Police.

Once officers and sheriff's deputies arrived at the home there was an exchange of gunfire between Bloomfield and law enforcement.

Bloomfield was struck in an unknown location by at least one bullet, says an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation representative.

Both Deputy Cantu and Reino were taken by air ambulance to Mercy St. Vincent's Medical Center in Toledo.
Lt. Kevin Mainhart of the Yell County (AR) Sheriff's Office was killed Thursday at a traffic stop. Mainhart retired as a captain from the West Memphis Police Department. (Photo: West Memphis Fire Department)

Arkansas State Police confirm three people, including a Yell County Sheriff's Deputy, were killed Thursday by a suspect. The suspecti s in custody after being in a standoff with the state police Thursday afternoon.

The fallen deputy has been identified as Lt. Kevin Mainhart, who is a retired captain with the West Memphis Police and now serving the Yell County Sheriff's Department, KATV reports.

ASP Spokesman Bill Sadler said at approximately 7:18 Thursday morning, a deputy was responding to a domestic disturbance call at a home on Gum Springs Road when he initiated a traffic stop at State Highway 27 and Slo Fork Road. Sadler said the deputy stopped the vehicle because he had possible information on a suspect vehicle connected to the disturbance call.

During the course of the traffic stop, Sadler said the deputy was fatally wounded. A civilian passerby notified law enforcement. The deputy was later pronounced dead at a Dardanelle hospital.

Two people were found dead at the home on Gum Springs Road. Their names have not been released. The suspected shooter has been identified as James Michael Bowden, 32.
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New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker laid out just how critical it is for both parties to get behind an independent investigation into Russias inference  and possible collusion with Donald Trumps campaign  in the 2016 presidential election, calling this a Paul Revere moment in U.S. history.

The Russians are attacking our country, Booker told Chris Hayes on Wednesday night. What they are doing right now is trying to use cyber attacks on this country, and we need to know what happened.

Video:

Cory Booker nails it again, calling this a Paul Revere moment in American history, demanding independent investigation into Russia attack pic.twitter.com/PkCEO8CpSN  Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) May 11, 2017

Booker said:

This is what I call a Paul Revere moment. We have the Russians are coming. In fact, the Russians are here. Its not like the British armada. The Russians are attacking our country and they will come again.  Its not a kinetic attack. Were not seeing bombing happening here, but you have to understand were seeing this in eastern Europe, we saw it in France. What the Russians are trying to do is attack, undermine, through cyber means, the sanctity of a democracy, which is the electoral process. Western democracy  our democracy  relies upon fair elections, free and fair elections. And so the Russians, who cant beat us tank for tank, they cant beat us warship for warship, what they are doing right now is trying to use cyber attacks on this country, and we need to know what happened.

The New Jersey senator and Democrats, in general, are smart to take politics out of this discussion and stress the importance of putting country before party. They may be Democrats opposed to Trumps dangerous agenda, but the Russia investigation goes well beyond the realm of politics.

At the end of the day, there is nothing partisan about wanting to get to the bottom of, as Booker said, an attack on American democracy by the Russians  with the possible help of Trumps presidential campaign.

If GOP leaders in Congress dont step up and put country first, they arent just revealing themselves as partisan hacks, but theyre also undermining American democracy by ignoring an attack on the U.S. by a foreign government.

And, if Republicans dont follow the lead of lawmakers like Cory Booker and recognize that this isnt about political gamesmanship, theyll soon realize that there is no such thing as partisan politics without a free and fair democracy.
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Just as its becoming increasingly clear that Donald Trumps White House is engaged in a widespread cover-up of the administrations troubling and scandalous ties to Russia, the Senate Intelligence Committee has issued a subpoena to Michael Flynn for Russia-related documents he has refused to hand over.

BREAKING: Senate committee subpoenas Michael Flynn for documents regarding his interactions with Russian officials https://t.co/KBJuwlq7A0 pic.twitter.com/Hqyct4bE03  CNN (@CNN) May 10, 2017

In a joint, bipartisan statement, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and GOP Sen. Richard Burr said that the subpoena is being issued because Flynn is refusing to cooperate and hand over the records on his own accord.

Full statement from Sens. Warner and Burr:

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced that Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today issued a subpoena for former National Security Advisor Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. The subpoena requests documents relevant to the Committees investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election. The Committee first requested these documents in an April 28, 2017 letter to Lieutenant General Flynn, but he declined, through counsel, to cooperate with the Committees request.

The bipartisan move by the Senate Intelligence Committee to force Flynn to hand over all records  phone calls, emails, and other meetings  related to Russia suggests that they are unfazed by Trumps power play to fire now-former FBI Director James Comey.

This comes at the worst possible time for Trump, as the Comey fiasco suggests he wants to throw the investigation off track  or end it altogether by hand-picking an FBI director who will do his bidding.

But the presidents removal of Comey from his position has completely backfired. Instead of bullying key players in the Russia investigation into backing off the scandal or throwing it off track, he has emboldened leaders of both parties to take it more seriously.

The move by the Senate Intelligence Committee to kick their investigation up a notch is the first in what will likely be many more steps to hold this administrations feet to the fire as they continue to obstruct this process and cover up a major scandal.
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The Trump White House sent out an official timeline of the Comey firing Wednesday evening, to clarify the timeline of the Presidents decision. However, the timeline left out the moment that now fired FBI Director James Comey asked for more resources for his accelerated Russia Trump investigation.

PoliticusUSA was sent an official timeline of events that led to President Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey via the White House pool. It was sent at the request of the White House to clarify the timing, but it raises more questions than it answers.

The timeline says President Trump lost confidence in Comey, was inclined to remove him last Wednesday after watching his testimony, then met with his AG and Deputy AG and they discussed reasons for firing Comey. Both men provided written recommendations to the president the next day, May 9th.

Nowhere in this timeline is the request from the Director for more resources for the Trump investigation.

Coincidentally, Comey reportedly asked for more resources for the Trump Russia investigation last week. A source close to the now-former FBI director told CNN that there are two reasons Comey was fired:

1). Comey never provided the President with any assurance of personal loyalty.

2). The fact that the FBIs investigation into possible Trump team collusion with Russia in the 2016 election was accelerating.

Its possible that CNNs source got it wrong. But its hard to buy that Trump suddenly got disturbed by Comeys treatment of Clintons emails, when what was hanging over Trumps head was Comeys investigation into Trumps possible collusion with Russia.

However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensteins letter cited Comeys July handling of Clintons emails, and his inappropriate announcement of new emails to review just days before the election. So that didnt wash, because Trump blew a kiss to Comey in public on January 22, long after the Clinton email debacle but also because Trump has not, since he began running for office, stood up for a value or principle that didnt benefit him directly and then turn around and take the opposite position when the former no longer helped him.

The problem for the White House is Trumps firing raises the spectre that he might have acted deliberately in order to obstruct justice. In fact, its hard to get around this elephant in the room. Trump would have been better off letting Comey do his thing. This is that moment when the old adage its the cover up comes into play.

The President met behind closed doors this afternoon with acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, but no readout of the meeting was provided to the white House pooler.
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A new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll shows that by nearly a 2 to 1 margin Americans believe that Trump fired Comey over Russia and not for any other reason.

Heres the poll:

A majority of Americans (54%) believe that Trumps firing of Comey was not appropriate. What is fascinating about the poll is that Trump cant get a majority of Republicans to believe his reason for firing Comey. Just 43% of Republicans believe that Comey was fired due to the way he handled Hillary Clintons emails. Twenty-two percent of Republicans believe that Comey was fired due to the Russia investigation. By a two to one margin, Independents believe that Comey was fired for the Russian investigation 47%-21%. Sixty-seven percent of Democrats believe that Comey was fired due to the Russia investigation, but these numbers demonstrate severe weakness for Trump on Russia.

Trump appears to handed Democrats a gift when he fired James Comey. The President managed to take the one course of action that would make him look guilty. Comeys firing brought the Russia scandal back to the front of the American political discussion. Democrats can and should run on a promise of an independent investigation into Trump if they regain partial or full control of Congress.

Democrats already had healthcare, and Trump to run on next year. Now, they have the Russia scandal and a majority electorate that thinks that Trump is lying to them.

The Democrats already had momentum, but Trump is helping to create a political tsunami for Democrats in 2018.
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What does a lawmaker do when a journalist asks a question they dont like? In American, it used to be the question would be ignored or reframed, and the journalist would persist in getting an answer to the original question. Its a dance that can, at times be frustrating for both partners, but a dance that is crucial to the America we know and most of us love. Never would asking a question result in a journalists arrest  no matter how many times the journalist would ask it and no matter how many times the lawmaker would dodge it.

That can no longer be said about Trumps America now that a journalist was arrested in West Virginia for asking HHS Secretary a question about Trumpcare the Secretary didnt like.

Dan Heyman just wanted to know if HHS Secretary Tom Price (and WH spin madam Kellyanne Conway) believed being a victim of domestic violence should count as a pre-existing condition under Trumpcare? When they didnt answer, Heyman persisted  as was the norm of the dance between journalists and government officials.

As Samantha Schmidt reports, Heyman, who works for Public News Service, continued following the Trump administration officials down a hallway at the state Capitol building in West Virginia, continuing to ask them questions

.

Do you think thats right or not, secretary? Heyman asked, according to a recording an audio recording Heyman provided to The Washington Post. You refuse to answer? Tell me no comment.

A male voice is heard telling Heyman, Do not get close to her. Back up.

Then, the police arrested him. And, according to Schmidts report, HHS Secretary Price defended the arrest because the Heyman asked questions in a hallway instead of at a press conference.

Had James OKeefe or another propagandist for the Republican Party been asking that or any question, are we to believe that Price would have defended an arrest because the question was asked in a hallway instead of at a press conference?

Never mind, as WaPos Jenna Johnson suggested in a tweet, that first amendment rights are not limited to press conferences.

Price: That gentleman was not in a press conference." Wait, does WV have a law forbidding asking questions outside of a press conference? https://t.co/wAZspwqToa  Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) May 10, 2017

According to the criminal complaint, Heyman was charged with willfull disruption of state government processes. If convicted for the crime of asking government officials questions they dont like as they walk down a hall way, one can face jail time and a fine of $100 or more.

Heyman had a first amendment right to ask questions, and persist in asking them in the time, place and manner he asked them.

This is not normal and should not be normalized by those who call hacking email accounts then altering the emails before distributing them on the internet, journalism.

This is America, not the homeland of Donald Trumps favorite dictator. It means we ask questions and it means we persist in asking those questions. The presss job is to inform the public, and frankly at times like this, to give voice to the many people, whose problems and concerns Trump doesnt care about.

The presss job is to persist in asking questions, be it about the content or intent of policy or about the Administrations relationship with hostile foreign powers who interfere in our elections. Unlike Russia Today and Putins other propaganda outlets, it is not the presss job to make Trump look good, or dutifully type his desired message to the little people.
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) accused Trump of obstructing justice by firing James Comey to interfere with the Russia investigation.

Video:

During an interview on MSNBC, Sen. Van Hollen said, The issue here is they keep changing their story. And they keep changing the story because they dont want people to know which is the obvious truth. I mean, the president kind of said it. He wanted to fire him. He said it was because he wasnt doing his job, but we know that not what the president thought. He didnt think that after the election, right? He praised Comey for doing a good job with the Clinton emails, and so, he fired him obviously as an attempt to interfere in this investigation into collusion with the Russians, and they keep changing the story, and it keeps getting shot down again, and again, and again.

Interference with an investigation is the literal definition of obstruction of justice. When Sen. Van Hollen accused Trump of interfering in the Russia investigation, he was also accusing the president of committing a crime by obstructing the FBI investigation into the Trump campaigns potential collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 election.

The Comey firing has taken a quick turn towards criminality. When a US Senator is suggesting that the President Of The United States committed a crime when he fired the FBI director, things are going downhill fast for the White House.

The next stop for Trump and cronies could be criminal court if Democrats will back all or part of Congress in 2018.
Clemson City Council will welcome a fresh face and new perspective after the Nov. 8 election, while Pickens County elected its first female Democratic council member. Read moreClemson council incumbents keep seats, welcome new face
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
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.
KASSON  A centennial celebration of the famed sightings of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, will be Saturday at the Andy and Natalie Price Farm in Kasson.

On May 13, 1917, three shepherd children described seeing an apparition that told them to love one another and to pray for peace.

May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima, the famed sightings of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. The story describes how the apparition appeared in front of three shepherd children, and shared a message with the children to "love one another" and to "pray for peace."

"The message to the children was a message for the world," said Maria Schultz, parish coordinator at St. Mary of the Lake Church in Lake City. "Jesus came as a man to show us how to live, and heaven is our destiny."

The Portuguese children were told that prayer would lead to the end of World War I and that a miracle would happen on Oct. 13 that same year.

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What's happening?

It will be an all-day celebration at Andy and Natalie Price's farm at 23274 670th St. in Kasson. Events include:

12:45 p.m.: Opening remarks by The Rev. Thien Nguyen.

1 p.m.: Comments from The Rev. Monsignor Thomas Cook.

2 p.m.: Comments from Mother Assumpta Long.

3 p.m.: Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

3 p.m.: Adoration and confessions.

4 p.m.: Procession and Holy Rosary.

5 p.m.: Holy Mass with the Most Rev. Bernard Harrington

6 p.m.: Closing remarks.

Schultz said the hope was to bring honor to the iconic figure.

"It's about helping people learn more about the message of Our Lady of Fatima and being excited about how God loves each and every one of us," she said. " He wants us to be in heaven with him, and it's an excellent opportunity for people to be invited and to hear the message."
GRAND MEADOW  To say Bob Lamp did it all would be an understatement. To say he did it all for Grand Meadow would be fairly accurate.

Robert "Bob" Lamp, who died May 2 after battling Parkinson's disease and diabetes, loved his small town, and he showed it nearly every day.

Of course, he also loved fishing and trapping, said Greg Lamp, his son. Particularly, he loved eating what he caught.

"Catch and release was difficult for my dad," Greg said, adding with a laugh it practically brought a tear to his dad's eye to let a good fish go. Greg and his brother often would put their fish back so Bob could keep his catch.

The one catch he remembered most fondly  not the many pike and other lake fish caught in 50 years of trips to Canada  was the 119-pound halibut he landed on a trip to Alaska. "He said landing that fish was the hardest thing he had ever done," said Jeanne (Champine) Lamp, his wife of 63 years.

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Considering the challenges Bob took on through the years, that must have been some fish.

After graduating from Grand Meadow High School in 1951 and attending the Gale Institute in Minneapolis, Bob worked as a depot agent on the famous Milwaukee Road line in various cities before making his way back to Grand Meadow. However, it was a part-time job as village clerk that led him down a path suited to someone with his caring, determined compassion.

When the village voted to guarantee the bond to build a nursing home in 1963  one of the early examples of elder-care facilities in Minnesota  they asked Bob to oversee construction and later run the facility "until they could find someone" more permanent. Who they found was Bob, and the facility  in fact, all nursing homes in Minnesota  were better off for it.

"It was very much a learning experience, and one he took on with gusto," Jeanne said. "He actually wrote up a book of nursing home procedures that was borrowed and copied by many other area nursing home administrators. One of them returned it with a $100 bill tucked in as a thank you."

Gene Gustason, a friend of more than 30 years and a fellow nursing home administrator, said Bob knew all his residents by name, even one  he discovered  was Gustason's own great-great-aunt.

"I didn't know I had a great aunt in there until he told me," Gustason said.

Running the nursing home like a family business  especially in economic times when finding employees could be hard  Gustason said Jeanne and the kids all pitched in from time to time.

It was that sense of community that made him a well-loved figure in Grand Meadow.

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"We used to go down to the diner, and people would stop by and talk," Gustason said. "He was always talking to people throughout the community."

That commitment to the town is something Greg noticed early in life. At age 10, he was downtown when the fire siren went off one day. Greg remembered seeing his dad, a big man, come jogging out of the nursing home and down the street to the fire hall. "He dropped everything when that siren went off," Greg said. "That's the dedication he had to the community. I don't remember what the fire was that day, but I know he took off in an instant."

Whether it was the firefighters, the ambulance, the Lion's Club or the Grand Meadow Gun Club, Greg said his dad always was helping out and often leading the way. Most importantly, he said, Bob did it quietly, just doing what needed to be done to help the community, teaching kids gun safety and making Grand Meadow a better place.

That Greg and his siblings got that message is no accident, Jeanne said. "(It's) the same thing that we tried to instill in our kids  that you need to earn your place in this world."
Health challenges across the state have prompted the Minnesota Department of Health to request a funding increase of $5 million to address what Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger called "emergency funding for disease response."

That request was formally made Wednesday, and Ehlinger said it has the support of Gov. Mark Dayton.

The biggest issues are the ongoing measles outbreak and increases in syphilis and tuberculosis, according to Ehlinger. State and local health agencies have spent nearly $3 million on just those issues in 2017.

"Minnesotans rightly expect a rapid and effective response to these threats, but current state funds lack the flexibility needed to deal with emergency disease threats," Ehlinger said. "We cannot continue diverting funding and resources away from other vital public health services to respond to disease outbreaks and threats.

"Significant threats to public health are becoming more frequent and more costly. In recent months, state and local health officials have had to respond to a series of infectious disease outbreaks including multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, hundreds of new cases of syphilis, and now, the largest measles outbreak the state has faced in nearly 30 years. These outbreaks come on the heels of extensive public health efforts in 2016 for the Zika virus response and in 2014-15 for Ebola preparedness."

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Minnesota's measles outbreak has created headlines across the country because of its effect on the Somali community, which has shown an increasing resistance to vaccinating children. According to state data, vaccination has fallen from about 90 percent to 42 percent in the Somali community during the last decade as fears have been stoked about alleged links to autism.

MDH reports spending more than $200,000 on this issue in recent weeks, and Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center, Olmsted County Public Health and the Somali Health Advisory Council also have directed resources toward the measles issue as a precaution . A public meeting tentatively has been scheduled for May 23 to discuss this with state and local health officials.

According to a recent report from MDH, Minnesota also has experienced a variety of increases in sexually transmitted diseases. Syphilis numbers are among the most serious, showing a 29 percent increase between 2015 and 2016. Of particular note is gay men comprising 77 percent of all male cases in 2016.

Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota reports a 367 percent increase in syphilis testing in 2016. Planned Parenthood said it performed more than 130,000 STD tests for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HPV last year, including 12 percent for men.

Rochester's state representatives were supportive of Dr. Ehlinger's funding request, though Democrat Tina Liebling was more enthusiastic than Republican Nels Pierson.

"This is a really serious issue, and we need to get our arms around it," Liebling said. "To have children getting sick with preventable diseases that can be life threatening is really unacceptable. We need to do our best to make sure that doesn't happen."

Pierson said he is open to the department's funding request but would like to make sure it doesn't overlap with federal dollars available for this work.

"It's something I'd have to look a little bit further into," Pierson said. "With what has been going on, that seems like a reasonable request."
ST. PAUL  Budget work at the Capitol slowed Wednesday after a Rochester senator needed to rush home to be with her dying father.

Republican Sen. Carla Nelson said she returned to Rochester to be with her ailing father, Norman Huse.

Nelson's absence meant planned votes on budget bills had to be delayed. Republicans have a one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate of 34 to 33. With Nelson gone, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said there were simply not enough votes to pass the GOP budget bills.

But Gazelka said senators understand the tough situation that Nelson is in.

"We want to recognize that her being near her dad right now is really important, and we'll figure it out around that," Gazelka said.

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On Tuesday, Republican legislative leaders announced they were moving ahead with plans to pass their own budget bills. They cited frustration with the slow pace of negotiations with the governor. That evening, five budget bills were sent to Gov. Mark Dayton's desk. Another five budget bills still need to win approval in both chambers before heading to the governor.

Dayton has vowed to veto all of the Republican budget bills and said he was disappointed to see Republicans back away from negotiations. He warned the move would make it more difficult to reach a budget deal before the session ends on May 22.

It is unclear when Nelson will return to the Capitol. In the meantime, the budget work remains on hold.

In an interview with the Pioneer Press, Dayton said he sent his sympathies to Nelson and had no intention of taking advantage of the budget vote delay.

"My heart goes out to Sen. Nelson. Nobody wants to take advantage of that tragedy," Dayton said.

In a tweet, Nelson offered her thanks for the support she has received so far.

"Thank you for the many prayers & much love sent to me & my family," she tweeted.
Olmsted County election officials are urging lawmakers to reject an elections bill advancing in the Minnesota Senate that they say would be costly and create hundreds of hours of additional work.

"It is going to add more tasks for us when we're already at max capacity," said Olmsted County Elections Administrator Pam Fuller.

The concern centers around language in the bill to create a provisional balloting system in the state. That change would affect people whose names are flagged in the state's voter registration database for some reason. Minnesota law prohibits individuals who are serving a felony sentence, living in the state illegally or determined legally incompetent by the courts from voting.

Under the current system, individuals flagged for those reasons could swear an oath before an election official that they are not violating the law and be allowed to vote  a process known as self-certification. The Senate bill would no longer allow that. Instead, individuals would be allowed to cast a provisional ballot that would be set aside in a separate pile. After the election, workers would review each of those ballots to determine whether or not they should be counted. Voters would be notified within 10 weeks after the election if their ballot was rejected.

Added costs and complications

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Fuller estimates that based on the 2016 election, provisional balloting would create an additional 882 hours of work for elections staff and cost Olmsted County at least $44,000. She also worries it would create inconsistency. She said the Senate bill only flags people who are already registered to vote and requires them to cast a provisional ballot. Meanwhile, someone else who may not legally be allowed to cast a ballot can register to vote on Election Day and cast a regular ballot.

"It would be confusing to election judges. There is so much that they have to know for that one day. This is just going to be one more thing that we throw at them," Fuller said.

The provisional ballot language is part of a Senate elections bill authored by Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake. Kiffmeyer formerly served as Minnesota Secretary of State. The bill is poised for a vote on the Senate floor. The House's elections bill does not include the provisional ballot language.

A way to protect election's integrity?

Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron, sponsored bills to establish a provisional ballot system in Minnesota. Federal law requires states to have a provisional ballot system but a few states  including Minnesota  are exempted because they have same-day voting. Currently, 46 states have provisional balloting.

"Over 97 percent of the U.S. population live where they have the option of a provisional ballot, which says anyone can come into a polling location and vote," Quam said.

He added that provisional ballot system would also help ensure that the ballots of people who shouldn't be voting aren't being counted.

"It maintains the integrity of our electoral system so if there's a concern or a doubt, then (the ballot) is not commingled or already counted before you look at it," he said.

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Democrats oppose provisional balloting

The bill likely faces an uphill climb at the Capitol. In the past, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton has only been willing to sign election bills that have strong bipartisan support. Democrats have been united in their option to the provisional ballot language, warning it could disenfranchise eligible voters.

DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon is also strongly opposed to the measure. In an interview, Simon said the bill would essentially create a "maybe pile" of ballots. He also worries that the bill could lead to poll challengers questioning a voter's right to cast a ballot, requiring them to vote provisionally instead.

"In a state like Minnesota where we do have same-day voter registration, the risk is provisional voting can be used not as a shield by the voter but as a sword by some activist or someone else who seeks to disqualify a voter," Simon said. "And that's why I think it's possible troubling in Minnesota."
No sooner did we take a look at the alleged racial incidents at St. Olaf and the related rituals than the latest such incident  the one that gave rise to all the action  was revealed as another hate crime hoax committed by the black student in the middle of the matter. The college continues to investigate similar reported incidents that have occurred on campus since last fall.

The College Fixs Nathan Rubbelke has an excellent story on todays developments here. The Star Tribunes Paul Walsh and Jennifer Brooks report the story here. I want to add five notes.

1. This latest incident giving rise to the hysteria on campus fits a pattern. The college nevertheless canceled classes and appeased the mob in advance of a resolution of the matter.

2. Leading with this latest incident, the Star Tribune also jumped in to support the mob at St. Olaf with the customary brain-dead editorial. Here it is, for the record:

One student found a piece of paper with a racial slur on his car windshield. Another discovered a note that read Go back to Africa tucked into her backpack. And a third received this vile message on her car: Glad you are leaving soon. One less [N-word] this school has to deal with  You have spoken up too much  Shut up or I will shut you up. A rash of those kinds of racist incidents this school year prompted an estimated 500 St. Olaf College students to rightly say Enough! In demonstrations over the past several days, students rallied against racism and hate at the Northfield, Minn., campus. One black student who had received one of the notes told the crowd that he no longer felt safe or welcome at the school. The only thing I could think was  what can I do to stop this from happening to the next person? said junior Don Williams. After a day of listening to painful stories, passionate speeches and hours of talks between students and the administration, St. Olaf President David R. Anderson signed off on some student demands, including creating an autonomous task force to examine the issues. The demands reflect a whole set of concerns that students have about their experience at the college and the environment it provides. Lets get them named, lets talk about how they can be addressed, Anderson said. Lets find a way to move forward together. White students outnumber minorities 4-1 at St. Olaf, which has a total enrollment of about 3,000, according to the schools website. St. Olaf is not alone in dealing with racism  its just the most recent Minnesota college to address the issue. In November, a racial epithet was scrawled on a sidewalk at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. And late last year, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education said in its 2016 annual report that it received 198 complaints related to racial harassment at colleges and universities across the country. Wherever hate speech occurs, fair-minded people must speak up. Whether directed at a Jewish center, a Muslim mosque or students of color, the best way for communities to respond is to stand together in solidarity. Like the hundreds of St. Olaf students who did the right thing, all Minnesotans should call out racism and discrimination, take collective action against bias and let the haters know they will not be tolerated.

Not to put too fine a point on it, the editors of the Star Tribune, who presume to instruct us on a daily basis in the way we live now, are fools.

3. The alleged hate speech now revealed as a hoax was something other than it appeared, but the students pressing their demands on St. Olaf themselves showed genuine bigotry when they collectively demanded the removal of Christian Zionist Arne Christenson from a college advisory board. Christensons crime is of course his faith along with his support of the right of the worlds only Jewish state to exist. We await the day when the powers that be at St. Olaf and the editors of the Star Tribune will sit up, take notice and call out the bigots for what they are. Their names are appended to the document posted online here.

4. I contacted St. Olaf President David Anderson by email this morning to ask what he had agreed to with the students appearing at the conclave on May 1 when classes were canceled. President Anderson promptly responded: I agreed to pen a response to the demands made by a group of students by May 20 and to appoint a task force to give them further consideration. I appreciate his taking the time to respond to my question on what must have been a busy day for him.

5. President Anderson wisely gave himself a few days to respond to the demands. Pending further developments he should now tell the students to take their demands and shove them.
Associated Press news stories on controversial topics are generally adapted from Democratic National Committee press releases, but when the AP really wants to cut loose it labels its stories AP Analysis. This one, by Julie Pace, is headlined: AP Analysis: Trump thrusts US presidency into perilous area. Not just Trumps presidency, but US presidency, to reinforce the Democrats absurd claim that Trumps firing of the inept James Comey somehow represents a constitutional crisis.

With his shocking dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, Donald Trump is propelling the presidency into rarely traversed territory.

Why was it so shocking? The Democrats have been demanding it for months.

His surprise announcement Tuesday flouts decades of presidential deference to the nations top law enforcement agency and its independence. It earns Trump the dubious distinction of being the first president since Richard Nixon to fire the official overseeing an investigation involving the commander in chief.

This is deeply dishonest. Note that the AP doesnt say that Trump is the first president since Nixon to fire an FBI Director. Nixon didnt fire an FBI Director. The last president to fire an FBI Director, on far weaker grounds than Trumps, was Bill Clinton.

Why the talk about Nixon? The word went out today from the DNC that Trumps firing of Comey was Nixonianyou see that claim everywhere in the Democratic Party mediaand Julie Pace is following her partys lead.

And note the APs weaselly claim that Comey was overseeing an investigation involving the commander in chief. Trump was not a target of Comeys investigation, which involved the president only in the sense that it related to members of his campaign team and, in at least one case, his administration.

And it cements a clear pattern of a man willing to challenge  in dramatic fashion  the institutions created to hold the president accountable.

Another false, overheated assertion. Trump didnt challenge any institutions, he fired an officer of the federal government who served at his pleasure. The AP needs to get a grip.

Pace goes on to quote seven politicians and scholars, every single one of whom criticizes Comeys firing, often in hysterical terms. That isnt balanced reporting, that is analysis.

This next paragraph is outrageous:

Trump attained his White House goal after a decades-long career in business during which he was accountable to few people other than himself. Thus, he has chafed at the constitutionally mandated constraints on the presidency. Within days of taking the oath of office, he suddenly fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates  a career Justice Department official  after she refused to defend the White Houses controversial travel and immigration ban.

Sally Yates, an Obama appointee, is a perfect representative of the corrupt swamp that the Department of Justice became under Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch. Yates viciously politicized the department, going after political opponents and other targets of convenience with reckless abandon. She was fired for insubordination because, as an Obama holdover, she defied a direct order from her superior. By doing so, she demanded to be fired. That wasnt heroism, it was politically-inspired grandstanding. The idea that firing Sally Yates somehow shows that the president chafes at constitutionally mandated constraints on the presidency is either ignorant or malevolent. Most likely both.

Pace accuses Trump of hypocrisy, but never mentions the Democrats howls for Comeys scalp that are collected by Lifezette.

At the time, Trump praised Comey for having guts and doing the right thing, statements that complicate his assertion that now, seven months later, Comeys decisions warranted firing.

The rest of the APs analysis is all about Nixon. My guess is that few readers will get to the end. If they do, they will find nonsense like this:

This is Nixonian, said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. Jimmy Gurule, a former assistant attorney general who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, said Trumps decision threatens our democracy and undermines the integrity of the FBI investigation. Gurule is now a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. Nixons decision had a ripple effect throughout his administration, with the attorney general and deputy attorney general resigning rather than carry out the presidents orders. There was no such response from Trumps White House aides and other top administration officials. We havent had a voice from within the Trump administration denounce this yet, said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University. I think at this moment the question is, will leading Republicans step out of the box and become profiles of courage?

Any Republican can become a profile in courage by siding with Democrats and selling out a Republican president. I am trying to remember the last time a Democrat became a profile in courage by siding with Republicans.

The APs analysis is all wishful thinking. The Democrats would love to see a constitutional crisis, but all they are going to get is a new (and undoubtedly better) FBI Director. Meanwhile, to say that the Democrats Trump-bashing has reached a point of diminishing returns is an understatement.
Canada urged to purchase attack helicopters

Any thoughts here?More so on replacing the CH-146 than anything else,cheersA Senate report is recommending Canada acquire attack helicopters as part of a program to replace its fleet of Bell CH-146 Griffon helicopters.The recommendation was one of 30 issued by the Standing Committee on National Security and Defence May 8 in a report intended to address what the chair, Conservative Senator Daniel Lang, called urgent capability gaps.The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has been analyzing options for either the midlife upgrade or complete replacement of its fleet of 95 CH-146 utility transport tactical helicopters. While various possibilities had been raised in briefings to industry and in interviews with media, attack helicopters were never mentioned as part of any plan.Committee members, however, argued for more effective protection for the Boeing CH-147F Chinook medium- to heavy-lift helicopters, and for soldiers during combat search-and-rescue. It recommended the government prioritize the replacement of 55 Griffons with a military helicopter  the Griffon is a modified variant of the Bell 412 civilian helicopter that struggled in certain conditions during operations in Afghanistan  and add 24 attack helicopters.- See more at: https://www.verticalmag.com/news/can....Pico5cqz.dpuf A Senate report is recommending Canada acquire attack helicopters as part of a program to replace its fleet of Bell CH-146 Griffon helicopters.The recommendation was one of 30 issued by the Standing Committee on National Security and Defence May 8 in a report intended to address what the chair, Conservative Senator Daniel Lang, called urgent capability gaps.The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has been analyzing options for either the midlife upgrade or complete replacement of its fleet of 95 CH-146 utility transport tactical helicopters. While various possibilities had been raised in briefings to industry and in interviews with media, attack helicopters were never mentioned as part of any plan.Committee members, however, argued for more effective protection for the Boeing CH-147F Chinook medium- to heavy-lift helicopters, and for soldiers during combat search-and-rescue. It recommended the government prioritize the replacement of 55 Griffons with a military helicopter  the Griffon is a modified variant of the Bell 412 civilian helicopter that struggled in certain conditions during operations in Afghanistan  and add 24 attack helicopters.- See more at: https://www.verticalmag.com/news/can....Pico5cqz.dpuf
The new Executive Council members of the Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria, MOPPAN, are trying to come to terms with the daunting nature of the many challenges facing the association they were last week elected to lead for the next two years.

This is in spite of the fact that, even before the election that took place at Royal Tropicana Hotel, Kano, most of the problems bedevilling Kannywood as an industry were visible to almost all the stakeholders.

When the association zoned its presidency to Kaduna State, two popular producers, Yakubu Lere and Abdullahi Maikano Usman, immediately indicated interest. Mr. Maikano is the Chairman of Iman Ventures and Communications Nig. Ltd while Mr. Lere is Chairman of Lerawa Films Production.

They eventually slugged it out with Al-amim Ciroma, a popular Kaduna film director, actor and former editor of LEADERSHIP Hausa, for the position. Mr. Ciroma is now a director of the Abuja-based Hausa weekly newspaper.

Mr. Maikano emerged winner with 57 votes, ahead of Mr. Lere who polled 14 votes. Mr. Ciroma got 13 votes. The electorate was constituted by five representatives of each of the northern state chapters of MOPPAN. The association is comprised by the different guilds of Kannywood producers, directors, actors, editors and scriptwriters.

PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA learnt that, even as they celebrated their election, the new executive members were troubled by the monumental problems of MOPPAN.

As at the time of the election last weekend, its purse was virtually empty. A source told PREMIUM TIMES Hausa that the association had been evicted from its rented office along Zoo Road in Kano.

But even more worrisome is the disunity in the association, exacerbated by the suspicion of government interference in the election.

MOPPAN came into being as a counterpoise to the Arewa Film Makers Association championed by Hamisu Lamido Iyan Tama of Iyan Tama Multi Media Company, an A-Class producer and actor.

Abdulkarim Mohammed was the first, followed by Sani Muazu and Umar Faruq Jibrin, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, as well as Chairman of Kwality Film Production. Mr. Jibrin was also Commissioner of Information during the second tenure of Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano.

A few hours before the elections last week in Kano, there was a rumour that the Kaduna State Government had sent a delegation to monitor the event. PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA confirmed the presence of some officials of the state at Royal Tropicana Hotel, venue of the elections about 20 hours before the exercise commenced.

It was not surprising therefore that both Messrs. Lere and Ciroma were bitter over their defeat in the presidential election. An associate of Mr. Ciroma railed to PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA that some voters were allegedly induced financially to change their minds a few hours before the election. But Mr. Ciroma gamely congratulated Mr. Maikano after the election and promised to work with him.

The two defeated presidential candidates may have been victims of political circumstances. Whereas Mr. Lere is an open antagonist of the Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Mr. Ciroma was at the forefront of a war of words with the Kano State government when a popular musician, Sadiq Zazzabi, was arrested for allegedly violating the states censor law.

Another factor that probably affected Mr. Ciroma was his vehement stance against the suspension of Rahma Sadau from Kannywood by the Kano chapter of MOPPAN. PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA learnt that some of the voters decided against voting for Mr. Ciroma because his presidency might influence the lifting of Ms. Sadaus suspension.

Many participants were also not happy that Katsina State did not win a single position in the new exco. When PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA interviewed the newly sworn-in MOPPAN President, Mr. Maikano, he pointed out that it was an election and not selection. But he said he was not happy, as a person, that no contestant from Katsina sSate won any of the 12 positions.

Let me tell you what happened when an official of Kaduna Youth Development called three of the contestants, including me. They told us that they wanted us to assure them that this election will not bring crisis in Kaduna. You know, there was a primary election in Kaduna before, which was later rejected.

.

He believed that he won the election because of his immense contributions to the development of Hausa films in the north.

Mr. Maikano, however, promised to carry all Kannywood stakeholders along.

I belong to everybody and I dont have a single enemy. Let us come together and work for the benefit and for the purpose of taking Hausa film industry to a greater height.

The new MOPPAN president is the producer of Samira, Zumudi, Jinin Masoya, Dare Daya, Imani, Mutum Sai Allah etc. He is also the scriptwriter of the series, Gatanan Ku and Rayuwa.

When PREMUIM TIMES HAUSA asked Mr. Maikano about the state of the purse of the association, he said the handover was not yet formulated. On the issue of the associations headquarters, he said it was resolved immediately after their inauguration in Kano

The newly elected leadership of MOPPAN include:

President: Abdullahi Maikano Vice President 1: Salisu Muazu President Vice 2: Nasiru B. Muhammad Vice President 3: Adamu Jahun Secretary General: Ahmed Alkanawy Assistant Secretary: Abdullahi Dan Asabe Treasurer: Nura Hussaini PRO: Maikudi Cashman Financial Secretary: Bello Achida Organising Secretary: Ahmed Hashim Auditor 1: Haruna Goodwill Auditor 2: Tijjani Faraga.

Read the Hausa version here: Zaben MOPPAN: Maikano ya doke Lere, Ciroma

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The popular Nigerian musician, Innocent Idibia aka 2face, has finally replied his ex-band mate Blackfaces allegations with a letter from his lawyers asking Blackface to apologise for all the defamatory remarks he has ever made about him.

2faces lawyers, Seun Omotoba&Co, signed the letter.

In the letter dated May 5, 2face asked Blackface, real names Ahmedu Augustine, to tender a general unreserved apology for all the statements made and published by Blackface in the past about him.

The letter also states that Blackface has a weeks grace to apologise else he faces legal actions. 2faces lawyers also asked Blackface to desist from making any further defamatory remarks.

2faces response follows Blackfaces recent interview with PREMIUM TIMES published on April 23, wherein he alleged that the latter infringed on his copyright by releasing the song Let Somebody Love You. Blackface also alleged that he has not been compensated for writing African Queen.

Blackface vowed to sue 2face in the exclusive interview which he granted PREMIUM TIMES.

2face sang my song (Let Somebody Love You) and featured an American artiste, Bridget Kelly. His manager published it without my permission. Till today they havent deemed it fit to tell the world that they tried to assassinate my character in the media but that couldnt be justice and they know. So, the court is our only option as they keep avoiding meetings thinking that with time it will all fade off. But, they know not what tomorrow holds and neither do I.

Efforts by PREMIUM TIMES to reach Blackface and 2face for their reactions proved abortive as they both did not answer their calls or respond to text messages.

The renewed beef between the dancehall veteran and 2face began on January 25, 2016 when Blackface in a series tweets lashed out at 2face and his manager accusing them of stealing his intellectual property. He threatened to take them to court.

Not long after, 2face responded to him describing the statements by Blackface as unfortunate.

Blackface is best known as co-writer of African Queen with 2face, a song made famous by the latter after it appeared on his debut solo album Face 2 Face in 2004 to become an international hit.

Blackface was a founding member of the Nigerian band Plantashun Boiz that he formed in 2000 with 2face and musician Chibuzor Oji (better known as Faze).

Blackface and 2face met in 1996 when they were studying at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) in Enugu. Faze joined them later.

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Hope seems to be rising for Nigeria and other oil producers as oil prices rose more than 3 per cent on Wednesday, bolstered by the biggest one-week drop in U.S. inventories so far in 2017.

The development came after Iraq and Algeria joined Saudi Arabia in supporting an extension to OPEC supply cuts.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude inventories fell 5.2 million barrels last week, much more than the 1.8 million-barrel drop analysts had predicted.

Gasoline and distillate stocks also fell, supporting a market that has sold off in recent weeks due to persistently high U.S. inventories.

Production rose, however, and gasoline demand over the last four weeks was 2.5 per cent lower than at the same time period a year ago.

Global benchmark Brent crude, according to Reuters news agency, settled up $1.49 a barrel, or 3 per cent, to $50.22 a barrel.

U.S. light crude oil, on the other hand, ended up $1.45 higher at $47.33 a barrel.

U.S. crude oil production is now solidly above 9.3 million barrels per day with more to come, and refined product, especially for gasoline, is oddly weak, John Kilduff, partner at hedge fund Again Capital in New York, told Reuters.

It is difficult to see how the days gains last.

Global oil prices surged after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, agreed in November with some other producing countries to curb supply.

But prices, however, slumped in recent weeks due to rising U.S. production, which undermined the OPEC-led efforts to reduce a global crude glut.

On Monday, Saudi Arabias oil minister Khalid al-Falih said he expected the output deal to be extended to the end of the year or possibly longer.

Nigeria, which along with Libya is exempt from OPEC cuts, is also expected to see a jump in output soon.

The oil producers will meet on May 25 in Vienna to discuss possibility of extension.

Ibe Kachikwu, Nigerias oil minister, had earlier hinted that he expected an extension in the cut.

I expect we (Nigeria) will get OPEC exemption but one year from now will it be renewed? I am not too sure, he said.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, on Wednesday warned that it would henceforth prosecute investors using false identity for share subscription.

The Director General of the Commission, Mounir Gwarzo, stated this at the 2017 first quarter post Capital Market Committee, CMC, media briefing, in Lagos.

With regard to the use of non-existent identity in making multiple subscription of shares, we know that multiple application for share subscription is illegal, Mr. Gwarzo said.

You cannot apply more than once, but we have noticed that a lot of people have applied with different names. We have also noticed that some people have applied with names that do not even belong to them, which is also illegal.

We have, therefore, resolved that investors who joggled their names for the purpose of multiple subscription should be given a forbearance period of six months within which they can lay claims to both their shares and accruing dividends subject to establishment of their identity and a verification process by the SEC, failing which such shares and accruing dividends shall be transferred to the NCDMF.

We also resolved that shares and accruing dividends of non-existent shareholders should be forfeited and transferred to the NCDMF, and going forward, any person who engages in such act shall be prosecuted, he noted.

Mr. Gwarzo also said that the commission has set aside N5 billion as seed capital for the take-off of the proposed Nigerian Capital Market Development Fund, NCMDF.

According to the SEC boss, after the setting aside of the take-off capital, the NCDF will be launched at the second quarter CMC meeting, with the inauguration of the Board expected to take place in August 2017.

Mr. Gwarzo said membership of the fund would have representation from SEC, trade groups, shareholders association, and self-regulatory organisations, CROs.

He explained that further funding of NCMDF would come from monies that would be forfeited by investors that had at one time or the other subscribed for shares with false identity, adding that henceforth, any investor that subscribes for shares with non-existent identity would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

On full dematerialisation, the SEC boss noted that all shares in the market including those belonging to investors that have never had Central Securities and Clearing System, CSCS, accounts have been migrated to the CSCS, but domiciled with the registrars. He added that shares of investors that have multiple accounts with different stockbroking firms are warehoused with the registrars.

Consequently, he said that 7.7 million accounts have so far been migrated to the CSCS account, while the volume of such migrated shares came to 187 billion units.

So, there is need for the migration to be done to increase market liquidity, the SEC boss noted.

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The Managing Director of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim, has urged the public to ignore rumours of financial distress in some banks.

A statement by the NDIC said that rumours were being circulated via text messages and social media to de-market those banks and destabilise depositors confidence in the banking system.

The statement, signed by its spokesman, Hadi Birchi, said that the NDIC boss made the call when the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) paid him a courtesy in Abuja.

He said the NDIC had over the years played critical role in ensuring that Nigerian banks were safe and sound through effective supervision and assistance to deserving financial institutions.

Mr. Ibrahim said the NDIC had continued to closely monitor the challenges facing the industry in order to further safeguard depositors interest in the banking system.

He listed challenges affecting the banking industry to include poor corporate governance, insider loans and non-performing loans.

He said with NDICs strict supervision and regulation of the banking industry in collaboration with CBN, depositors should have full confidence in the safety and security of their funds in licensed banks.

Mr. Ibrahim said the NDIC in collaboration with other parties were proposing the establishment of a Centre for Financial and Economics Studies at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru.

According to the NDIC boss, the centre would train participants in essential areas of financial and economic management.

Earlier, Bola Balogun, Chairman, AANI Abuja Chapter, commended the NDIC for its supervisory role, describing it as an invaluable anchor for the security and stability of the nations financial system.

Mr. Balogun also lauded NDICs efforts toward protection of depositors funds and consumer protection activities. (NAN).

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Officials say a 395-strong Chinese peacekeeping force is set to begin missions in Mali on behalf of the United Nations before the end of May.

The troops will be sent to the West African country in two batches, where they will stay for one year.

The troops include military engineers, security personnel and medical staff.

This is the fifth Chinese peacekeeping force to be sent to Mali.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that in the past four years, the UN said that 118 peacekeepers have been killed, making the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) the world bodys deadliest ongoing peace operation.

In 2012, Islamist radicals linked to al-Qaeda hijacked an uprising by ethnic Tuareg people and went on to seize cities across northern Mali, holding on for nearly a year until they were forced out by a French military intervention.

About 11,000 UN troops arrived in 2013, they were meant to protect a fledgling peace deal and train the Malian army.

Islamist extremists regrouped across the region.

It did not take long before the militants started targeting peacekeepers, whom they dubbed Crusader occupation forces.

(Xinhua/NAN)

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An American journalist was arrested Tuesday in West Virginia, U.S. for asking a government official question, the Washington Post has reported.

Dan Heyman, said to be a veteran reporter with the Public News Service, was reportedly pulled aside by a security officer, handcuffed and arrested for persistently asking the Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price, whether domestic violence would be considered a preexisting condition under the Republican bill to overhaul the nations healthcare system.

Mr. Heyman, according to the report, was detained on the charge of willful disruption of state government processes and was released later on $5,000 bail.

The paper said that Mr. Heyman had followed Mr. Price along a hallway in the state capitol and was holding up his phone to the secretary.

It quoted the journalist as saying that he was persistent with his question even when the secretary refused to answer him.

The authorities, in their complaint against Mr. Heyman, said the journalist was obstructing Secret Service agents who were providing security for Mr. Price, and that he was also causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Mr. Price and Kellyanne Conway, a counselor to President Donald Trump.

Mr. Price and Ms. Conway were in Charleston, West Virginia, for a government assignment.

Mr. Heyman responded to his arrest by saying that he was simply fulfilling his role as a journalist, adding that his arrest sets a terrible example for members of the press seeking answers to questions, the paper reported.

The journalist said he wore a press pass and had properly identified himself to the police before he was arrested.

A civil rights group in West Virginia has described the journalists arrest as a blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press. It called on the authorities to immediately drop the charges against the journalist.

This is a dangerous time in our country. Freedom of the press is being eroded every day, the group was quoted to have said in its statement.

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A new petrol import scheme put in place by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is enmeshed in controversy as marketers accuse the management of the state oil firm of nepotism and of favouring indigenous oil firms that have godfathers in the Buhari administration.

Some marketers involved in the recently introduced Direct-SaleDirect-Purchase, DSDP, crude oil swap arrangement by the NNPC say the scheme is worse in terms of transparency than the crude oil swap arrangement that obtained during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The marketers accuse the NNPC management of preferential treatment for allegedly approving a discriminatory price regime for different indigenous oil marketing firms participating in the scheme.

The DSDP scheme was introduced in March 2016 by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, after he jettisoned the controversial crude-for-products arrangement, popularly called crude oil swap, by the previous administration as a strategy to cater for the countrys domestic need for petroleum products.

Mr. Kachikwu had said the new arrangement would entrench transparency in the crude oil-for-product transaction by the NNPC in line with global best practices, to give the country full value for its crude.

Under the scheme, the minister said, an open bidding process would ensure the crude-for-product exchange was conducted in a transparent manner to reduce the gaps inherent in the offshore processing arrangement, OPA involved in the swap deal of the Jonathan administration.

But some of the participating companies, among those awarded contracts early this year by the NNPC for the purchase and sale of Nigerian crude oil for 2017/2018, have accused the NNPC of giving preferential treatment to three indigenous oil firms in the allocation of crude oil.

Out of about 39 companies that emerged winners of the contracts announced in January 2017 were 18 Nigerian companies, pre-qualified to lift and trade on 32,000 barrels per day.

The companies include Oando, Sahara Energy, MRS Oil & Gas, AA Rano, Bono, Masters Energy, Eterna Oil and Gas, Cassiva Energy, Hyde Energy and Brittania U.

Others were North-West Petroleum, Optima Energy, AMG Petroenergy, Arkiren Oil and Gas Limited, Shoreline Limited, Entourage Oil, Setana Energy and Prudent Energy.

The DSDP involves these firms bidding for the NNPCs daily allocation of 445,000 barrels of crude oil originally meant for local refining. The bid winners (expected to be firms who offered to pay the highest price) receive the crude to export and refine the crude and then bring back petrol to Nigeria.

Nobody seems to understand the criteria NNPC is using to allocate crude oil to Oando, Sahara Energy and MRS Oil & Gas at prices lower than every other bidder, one of the aggrieved marketers, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, said on Monday.

The marketer, who requested not to be named to avoid being victimized, said most other companies were surprised the three oil marketing firms were awarded the contract despite quoting lower prices in their respective bids.

The DSDP contracts appear to be as corrupt as the infamous swap deals under the former administration. Even the discarded swap arrangement was more consistent in giving the same price to each supplier.

For the first time, NNPC is departing from what has always obtained in such swaps for 40 years, by giving different prices to different companies for the same deliveries and the same work, the marketer lamented.

But, the Group Executive Director, Crude Oil Marketing Department of NNPC, Melee Kyari, told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone chat on Wednesday in Abuja that those criticizing the corporation got the whole concept of the DSDP wrong.

Mr. Kyari said apart from the bids each of the companies was expected to submit, the NNPC decided to impose additional obligations on the marketers who were willing to support governments effort to rehabilitate and maintain its dilapidated infrastructures.

The DSDP scheme is a volume business, Mr. Kyari explained. To get supply security, the NNPC went beyond the prices the individual companies offered in their bids, by putting different obligations on them.

We asked some of them: Can you lend us (NNPC) money to repair our refineries and other infrastructures in the oil industry? Some of them made offers of between $200 million and $300 million.

Besides, Mr. Kyari said, considering that in the last 25 years the country was unable to develop its trading business, which traders in Europe took advantage of, the NNPC also decided to request some of the companies interested in the business to grow their in-country capacities.

After all these additional responsibilities, the NNPC then asked the companies to give their best prices, which every bidding company did without NNPCs prompting.

Those who see the different prices others got are now asking for their prices to be reviewed without knowing the additional responsibilities given to them. I see it as nothing but greed, because they want to have everything, Mr. Kyari said.

The NNPC spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, also defended the programme.

The crude allocation is based purely on whatever prices the marketers offered in their bids. After an independent assessment, if such prices meet the price threshold set by the NNPC as the best bargain, it would be approved for them, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, will address journalists on Thursday with the DSDP and its inherent controversy expected to be one of the major topics to be discussed.

An industry source however told PREMIUM TIMES the NNPC authorities modified the DSPD scheme Mr. Kachikwu introduced without recourse to him as minister in charge of the countrys oil and gas sector.

I can tell you the minister is in the dark regarding the games the NNPC management is playing with their favourite marketers, one source said. I dont know what he plans to say.

Mr. Kachikwu did not answer or return calls on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Former Gov. Gabriel Suswam of Benue could not be formally charged with N9 billion fraud at Federal High Court, Abuja on Thursday due to his absence on grounds of ill health.

Mr. Suswam and two others are facing fresh 32-count charge bordering on fraud and diversion of funds.

When the matter was called, counsel to Mr. Suswam, Chinelo Ogbozor, told the court that her client was not in court owing to the fact that he was only recently released from detention.

According to Mrs. Ogbozor, the detention which lasted over 70 days took a toll on Mr. Suswams health.

The court will recall that the first defendant (Suswam), against his doctors orders after his release from the Department of State Services (DSS), custody, was in court on Wednesday.

He met with his lawyers on his release and explained that while in detention, he was unable to keep up with his medical check up and his medication for a hypertensive medical heart condition.

Having stayed in detention for over 70 days, he proceeded to see his doctors who after the due examination, advised that he be placed on bed rest.

She further told the court that she had a medical report supporting her submission and showed a copy of the report to the judge saying she had equally shown the report to the prosecution.

The counsel added that out of respect to the court, Mr. Suswam was brought to court on Wednesday to attend his civil trial which he discontinued, but permission to bring him on Thursday was refused by his doctor.

She pleaded with the court for an adjournment to enable her client get well in order to adequately prepare an appropriate plea for each of the 32 counts he was facing in the fresh charges levelled against him.

F.R Onoja, counsel to the second defendant in the matter, supported the application for adjournment and also urged the court to grant same.

Mr. Onoja said he was aware that Mr. Suswams health suffered grievously while he was in SSS custody, adding that the rigours of an arraignment, considering the many counts, would be too much for his heart to bear.

This is because after the arraignment, there will be the issue of bail and so I urge the court to grant the adjournment as I am sure he will be in court on next adjournment to attend his trial.

The prosecuting counsel, Aminu Alilu, urged the court to invoke Section 131 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and issue a warrant of arrest on Suswam to compel him to attend his trial.

Mr. Alilu said: Since he was in court on Wednesday out of respect to the court, why did he not extend the same respect to Thursday to come and take his plea?

In view of that, the court should invoke Section 131 of ACJA which empowers the judge to issue a warrant of arrest of the first defendant.

Mr. Halilu also questioned the authenticity of the medical report produced by Mr. Suswams counsel, saying that being from a private hospital, the doctor should have attached an affidavit to it.

Since the report is from a private hospital, there ought to be an affidavit by the doctor who signed it attesting to the fact that he suffers from the conditions stated in the report.

He, however, did not oppose the application for an adjournment.

The judge, Gabriel Kolawale, ruled that an arrest warrant was premature at this stage, as it may attract unnecessary media attention and politicise the trial.

Mr. Kolawale also said that he accepted the medical report produced by Mr. Suswams counsel.

He said he accepted the report because he was not aware of anywhere where it was stated that for a report from a private hospital to be accepted, it must have an affidavit attached to it.

The further said that the two defendants who were in court should continue to enjoy the administrative bail already granted them.

He adjourned the matter until June 19 for arraignment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the Federal Government had filed a fresh suit against Mr. Suswam and two others over diversion of N9.79 billion.

Part of the diverted funds was said to be for police reform and Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

Those charged alongside Suswam in the 32-count fresh charge are Omadachi Oklobia, his former Commissioner for Finance and Janet Aluga, former Accountant, Benue Government House.

In the fresh 32-count charge, the trio allegedly cornered the said funds between 2012 and 2015 while Mr. Suswam was the governor of the state.

They are also accused of conspiracy, conversion of property derived directly from corruption; collaboration to conceal property derived from corruption; obtaining by false pretence and accepting cash payments, exceeding the amount authorised by law.

The offences are said to be contrary to, and punishable under various provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011, and the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act.(NAN)

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As the 2016 budget closes, the Federal Ministry of Finance says N1.2 trillion capital releases have been made in line with governments increased focus on capital expenditure.

The Director of Information, Salisu Dambatta, in a statement on Thursday, said power, construction and housing sectors got the largest share of the releases made in 2016.

He said the Federal Government s ability to cash-back capital releases of N1.2 trillion was a reflection of its commitment to infrastructure development

The following releases were made: Power, Works and Housing received the largest allocation of N307.4 billion.

This is followed by Defence and Security, N171.9 billion and Transport and Aviation, N143.12 billion.

Other sectors were Agriculture and Water Resources; and Education and Health, it stated.

Mr. Dambatta said the sectors accounted for 62 per cent of total capital released as the priority sectors to stimulate economic activities and job creation.

He said that the capital releases excluded the capital element in releases to statutory agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Judiciary.

He said that the government was making effort to attract private capital to compliment government spending in the key areas.

It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had presented a 2016 budget proposal of N6.07 trillion.

Nigerias 2016 Budget was based on a crude oil benchmark price of 38 dollars per barrel and a production estimate of 2.2 million barrels per day for 2016.

Capital Expenditure was estimated to be N1.8 trillion while non debt recurrent expenditure was N2.65 trillion.

(NAN)

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The Nigeria Union in South Africa said on Wednesday that two Nigerians were shot dead in Western Cape Province of that country.

Mike Ibitoye, the Chairman of the Union`s chapter in the province, told the News Agency of Nigeria on telephone from Cape Town, South Africa, that the Nigerians were shot by unidentified assailants.

Mr Ernest Ughakwesili, 42, native of Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, was shot in a night club by gunmen at Strand Area of Cape Town on Sunday.

The assailants escaped after the shooting and the victim died before being rushed to the hospital, he said.

Mr. Ibitoye also said the second victim, Chimezie Oranusi, 26, from Oba town in Anambra State, was shot with a friend in a car at Delst area of Cape Town.

The friend is a South African and is still in the hospital receiving treatment.

The incidents have been reported to the police and the national secretariat of the union, he said.

The chairman said that the motive behind the shootings had not been ascertained, adding that the police had commenced investigation.

The Secretary of the union, Adetola Olubajo, said the national secretariat had received the report of the killings.

We have received report about the killing of two Nigerians in Cape Town, Western Cape Province of South Africa.

The union`s chapter in the province is handling the matter while the national body has reported the incident to the Nigerian Mission in South Africa.

We urge Nigerians in South Africa to remain law abiding. We also appeal to the Federal Government to continue to protect the welfare of our people here, he said.

(NAN)

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The federal government has suspended the embattled vice chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Olusola Oyewole, who is currently facing a criminal charge in court.

The suspension order was conveyed in a May 8 letter signed by the acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Hussaini Adamu.

The letter, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, directed Mr. Oyewole to hand over the affairs of the institution to the most senior staff.

Sequel to your arraignment before an Ogun State High Court on criminal charges, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday 24th November 2016, I am directed to convey the Honourable Ministers approval to place you on suspension from office with immediate effect pending the determination of the court case against you in accordance with extant rules, the letter reads.

You are therefore, directed to hand over the affairs of your office to the most senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, in the University.

The EFCC charged Mr. Oyewole alongside the former pro chancellor of the school, Adeseye Ogunewe, the bursar, Moses Ilesanmi, to court for alleged abuse of office and misappropriation of funds.

They were investigated after whistleblowers tipped off the anti-graft agency and accused the trio of suspicious dealings totaling N800 million.

The case is before Justice O.C Majekodunmi of the state high court.

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The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has declared full support for Yemi Osinbajo as Nigerias Acting President.

The forum also also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his steadfast respect for the constitution in transferring power to Mr. Osinbajo when it became necessary for him to travel to seek for medical treatment.

The Deputy leader of the Forum, Paul Unongo, made the commendation while addressing a news conference shortly after a meeting in Kano on Thursday.

The Forum expresses its full support and encouragement behind Acting President Osinbajo and urges him to exercise responsibility, as he did in the past, with commitment, sensitivity and respect for the Constitution.

We urge him to ignore mischief which seeks to pitch him against the President or the Nigerian people whose mandates they both exercise, Mr. Unongo said.

He called on all persons with responsibility to cooperate fully with the Acting President to sustain a united, focused and committed administration to achieve the desired results.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday travelled to the UK for medical treatment ensuring he transmitted power to his vice president via letters to the National Assembly.

The Northern Elders Forum also commended President Buhari for securing the northern part of the country from the clutches of Boko Haram.

Mr. Unongo said the president deserved to be commended for tackling the Boko Haram insurgency especially in the North-East.

Buhari has confronted the issue that has been disturbing us by tackling the insurgency which had caused a lot of havoc in the region especially the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, he said.

He also commended the sterling contributions of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, for providing the necessary leadership to stabilise the polity.

We expect that the war against corruption will not suffer a setback, and current investigations and activities will not be stalled due to the absence of President Buhari.

Like millions of Nigerians, the Northern Elders Forum prays for the return to full health of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Unongo added.

The forum also advised northern state governors to complete all abandoned projects they inherited from their predecessors for the benefit of the people.

I want to use this opportunity to advice our governors in the North to borrow a leaf from the governor of Kano State who is ready to complete projects abandoned over 20 years ago.

We are impressed by the style of Kano State governor.

While most of the governors are eager to start their own projects, Ganduje completed projects abandoned by late Abubakar Rimi, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

He has shown maturity and this is what we feel should be done.

If you as governor meet an uncompleted project, complete it if it will improve the living standard of your people, he said.

Mr. Unongo stressed the need for governors in the region to ensure prudent management of public funds to provide their respective states with necessary infrastructure.

He commended the Borno State government for its effort to improve the living conditions of the people especially those affected by the activities of insurgents.

We are going round the states to see what is going on. We went to Borno, Yobe and Adamawa and we are happy the security situation in those states has improved, Mr. Unongo said.

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The U.S. Mission to Nigeria has invited 101 young Nigerians to the U.S. to participate in the 2017 Mandela Washington Fellowship program.

The 101 Nigerians are to join their 899 colleagues from 48 other sub-Saharan countries for the fellowship program.

The Embassy in Abuja said the Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship programme of President Obamas Young African Leaders Initiative, and a key part of the U.S. commitment to invest in the future of Africa.

Through this initiative, 40 U.S. universities will host 1,000 young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa for institutes focused on public management, business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, and for the second year, a specialized institute on energy.

Speaking at the pre-Departure Orientation Agenda in Abuja on Tuesday evening, the U.S. Counselor for Public Affairs, Aruna Amirthanayagam, said numerous Nigerians applied for the fellowship after due process selection.

More than 22,000 Nigerians applied to participate in the 2017 Mandela Washington Fellowship program. After the review by our partner NGO, after a reading by members of the Mission Nigeria community, after an interview in either Abuja, Lagos, Jos, Kaduna, Benin, Port Harcourt, or Calabar, youre here. And your experience in the United States begins in just 39 days, Mr. Aruna told the selected participants.

He said that Nigerians along with 899 colleagues from 48 other sub-Saharan countries, will have the opportunity to engage students, professors, and professionals on the campuses of 40 universities, colleges, and institutions across the United States, from the University of San Diego in California to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and many places in between.

A participant, Chioma Okereke, an analyst for FBNQuest, described the program as a huge opportunity and a great responsibility.

its a huge honor and responsibility placed on me. It reminds that there is so much that is needed to be done.

Someone is taking me there for free and is expecting me to come out and make a huge impact in the society. My greatest fear is that we dont have the capacity to be as developed as we want in Africa.

Africa is the youngest continent in the world. In Nigeria, 60 per cent of our population are youth and most of these youth are unskilled. Most employers feel the youth are not qualified enough to be employed.

So you see that opportunities are very scarce to develop oneself. If our youth are not prepared and they make up the population of the nation that means we are not getting there. For me this network is a great opportunity for capacity building, it reminds of the work I need to do for the people around my network. The program will groom me as a leader. the selection process was very fair. I thank God am among.

Nobody recommended me, I went there with passion and I was able to pass across my message.

Another participant, Adebayo Adegbembo, a programmer for Genix Games, said he will use the knowledge he will acquire from the program to engage other Nigerians in the areas of leadership, goals,and capacity building.

As a leader, I work with young people across all ages. The knowledge I will acquire their will help me build on what I already have. One of the interesting part of the program is that they have a regional network of over 100,000 people.

The idea is to give back to the people when I come back by holding mentorship sections, sharing what I have learnt across the network online and engaging in physical programmes that will be insightful.

In 2010, President Obama launched YALI as a vehicle to support an emerging generation of African leaders.

In 2014, the program was expanded to include 500 young African leaders from sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2016, 1,000 young Africans participated in the fellowship.

Since its inception, 186 young Nigerians have participated in the fellowship, and over 45,000 young professionals in Nigeria have joined the YALI network.

In 2016, 100 young Nigerians participated in the fellowship.

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The Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has warned civil society organizations not registered with the agency but operate shelters for human trafficking victims to shut down or face prosecution.

Julie Okah-Donli, while addressing journalists in Lagos, Wednesday, said the agency has discovered that everyone is now interested in the setting up of an organization to fight human trafficking.

Many of such organizations were at a time found to be questionable, hence the agency encouraged all civil society organizations fighting human trafficking to come under an umbrella for proper checks, said Mrs. Okah-Donli.

The result was the formation of the Network of CSOs against Trafficking in Persons, Child Labour and Abuse (NACTAL) which registers members and regulates their activities.

Despite this, we have just received intelligence that a number of organizations unknown to us and NACTAL are keeping shelters for rescued human trafficking victims, and missing persons and also using them to seek funds at home and abroad.

The problem is that we do not know how genuine these organizations are; we do not know their intentions and therefore, cannot allow them to keep operating in Nigeria.

I have directed an investigation of this intelligence and where we find them to be true such illegal shelters will be shut down and the owners prosecuted.

Mrs. Okah-Donli, a lawyer, was appointed head of NAPTIP last month, and in her inaugural press briefing with journalists in Abuja two weeks ago, she said the agency would introduce a name and shame as well as a whistleblowing policy to improve the agencys work.

Speaking to journalists in Lagos, she said they are still fine-tuning the policies and would roll out a final position in one month.

The NAPTIP boss also said the agency would, as part of its strategy, begin to assign its high-profile cases to law firms as well as organize trainings for lawyers and judges.

We have made modest achievements since inception in 2003: We have received a total of 4,755 cases, rescued and supported no fewer than 10,685 victims and secured 323 convictions, said Mrs. Okah-Donli.

However, the trend of deportation of Nigerians from different parts of the world especially in Africa in recent times is frightening and we must change this trend by providing an environment attractive to keep our people gainfully at home.

According to Mrs. Okah-Donli, between February and April this year, at least 1,134 Nigerians have been deported from various parts of the world back to Nigeria for offences including human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, non-possession of valid travel documents.

Out of that number, 905 were deported from Libya in five batches; 115 from Italy in four batches; 41 from Mali; 26 from Burkina Faso; 14 from Ghana; 22 from Dubai; one from Cameron; eight from Cote dIvoire; and two from Togo.

As if that was not enough, on Thursday this week, we are expecting another batch of 250 persons from Libya and another 250 from the same Libya next week, Mrs. Okah-Donli said.

This number does not include the over 5,000, mainly victims of human trafficking in Mali awaiting evacuation back home. This is not good for us as a people and we seek the cooperation of all including government at all levels to halt this.

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Nigerias former vice president, Alex Ekwueme, has expressed delight over the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr. Ekwueme said that IPOBs agitation was for equity and justice for all people of Nigeria, particularly the Igbo.

The former vice president made the remarks, Wednesday, when the IPOB leader visited him in his Enugu residence.

PUNCH reports that Mr. Ekwueme assured the IPOB leader that he would always give him the needed counsel in his Biafra agitation.

I will make my best counsel available to him in his very onerous task of leading an organisation that is committed to bringing justice and equity among people, especially for our people, Mr. Ekwueme said.

Mr. Ekweme added that it was a pleasure to host Mr. Kanu after his release from detention.

I thank God that you are free and able to move around, he said.

Mr. Kanu told Mr. Ekwueme that he was at his residence to seek his wise counsel, saying that he had learnt one or two things from the former vice president that he never read in history text books in his life.

Mr. Kanu explained that he also came to brief the elder statesman of the activities of IPOB, and his reasons for championing the agitation for Biafra.

The IPOB leader described the former vice president as invaluable to the Biafran struggle.

Mr. Kanu promised to abide by any advice given to him by the elder statesman.

I am humbled and delighted to be here and also to bring you up to speed as to what we have been doing, what motivated me, and what motivated the IPOB to do what we have been doing, he said.

It (IPOB) is, more or less, today, an expression, a political expression to the yearnings and aspirations of the society  thats what we are trying to do.

The sum total of the struggle by the IPOB, which I am leading, is to ensure that there is dignity of life.

And for us to fulfill that very mandate, we must be diligent, we must be focused, and we must be sincere. So, I have come here to brief my father as to why we do what we do, and to get his blessings.

Anything he tells me is what we are going to do, in so far as it advances our political cause as a people.

Mr. Kanu was released from Kuje prison last month following an order by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

He head been in custody for two years following allegations of treasonable felony by the federal government.

Mr. Kanu was granted bail on health grounds under stringent conditions which include producing a Jew Rabbi as surety.

However, the charges of criminal conspiracy and leading an illegal movement have not been lifted and the next hearing will hold in July.

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The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has said that the Nigeria Police Force requires additional 155,000 personnel to adequately provide security for the country.

Mr. Idris, who said this at a two-day National Security Summit in Abuja on Thursday, said to achieve this, the force needs to recruit 31,000 cadets annually for five years.

The theme of the summit is: Forging Partnership for Effective Strategies to Curb the Menace of Kidnapping, Recurring Farmers-Herders Clashes and Criminality in Nigeria.

To attain the UN ratio requirement of one police officer to 400 citizens of a country, the Nigeria Police Force needs to recruit 155,000 to police Nigerian population of approximately 182 million,he said.

Mr. Idris said the police had not conducted recruitment into its rank and file cadre since 2011 until 2016 when the recruitment of 10,000 applicants was approved by the Federal Government.

He said this development had left a huge gap in the manpower need of the force due to retirements, deaths and resignations.

The police boss said the proposal had been forwarded to the Federal Government for consideration.

He added that inadequate funding, shortfall in power and training and retraining of personnel had been some of the challenges confronting the force.

Over the years, the Nigeria Police Force saddled with the responsibility of policing the country, has been grappling with fundamental challenges which tend to impede its performance, he said.

The inspector-general said the issue of funding of police had been critical to all past police panels, adding that it had yet to be critically addressed.

He said the Nigeria Police Force Reform Trust Fund bill before the National Assembly since 2008 had yet to be passed.

Mr. Idris called on members of the National Assembly to expeditiously pass the bill to address the challenge of funding for the police.

We solicit the support and understanding of the National Assembly to give an accelerated hearing to this bill to adequately position the police for better funding and performance, he said.

He said the bill would further provide a legal framework that would outline the counterpart funding arrangement between the three tiers of government.

Mr. Idris noted that when passed, the police would be funded through a first line charge on the federation account quarterly.

He said that in spite of paucity of fund, the force in collaboration with other security agencies had been able to stabilse the polity.

(NAN)

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The Nigerian government has again requested the protection of witnesses in the trial of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

Mr. Dasuki is facing trial by the State Security Service for alleged illegal possession of firearms among other offenses.

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, venue of the trial, had in February 2016 dismissed a similar application for lacking in merit while the case was presided by Justice Adeniyi Ademola.

During the opening of session, prosecution counsel, Oladipo Opeseyi, said his client would like to reiterate his previous appeal for the protection of witnesses in Mr. Dasukis trial.

Mr. Opeseyi said his application for the protection of witnesses is based on Section 232 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

He said Section 232, sub-section 3 (b) allows for a witness to be protected with the use of a screen or a mask.

He added that the witnesses intended to be produced in court are security operatives who are still in active service, where they worked under the supervision of the defendant not long ago.

Mr. Opeseyi further argued that Mr. Dasuki has earned a reputation in the society capable of making him have such strong followership. Therefore, according to the prosecution counsel, Even without his knowing something could come the way of the witnesses.

Reacting to the submissions made by the prosecution, the defence counsel, Ahmed Raji, said the sub-section (4) of the Section 232 cited by the prosecution indicated the circumstances that could result in the screening of witnesses.

He said according to Section 232 (4) of the ACJA, a witness would only be required to be masked, if the allegations revolve around provisions of Section 231 of the same Act; where the alleged offense deals with economic and financial crimes, trafficking in persons, as well as offenses relating to terrorism.

He added that the application had previously been treated by the same court presided over by another judge.

A well-deserved ruling was given, so the current application is an abuse of court process. What my learned silk is asking the court to do is to sit on appeal on the decision of this court, when the court of appeal is just a few meters away, said Mr. Raji.

The defence counsel added that the application made by the prosecution is predicated upon a previous application that had been withdrawn, thus the fresh application should be regarded as a dead one.

He stated further that after the ruling in February 2016 where the application for protection of witnesses was quashed, the prosecution returned to court with a similar application, which has not been withdrawn. Mr. Raji, therefore, contended that the presentation of another application, when a similar application has not been withdrawn by the party approaching the court with the current application, is a gross abuse of court process.

Mr. Raji further argued that his client does not in any way constitute a threat to witnesses.

The witness has been in detention for such a long time nothing has happened to anyone. These are mare speculations.

Responding however, Mr. Opeseyi said the fresh application seeking protection of witnesses is different from the previous application which was dismissed last year.

Mr. Opeseyi said the current application is seeking the court to issue an order for the witnesses to be protected by giving their evidences behind protective screens. He argued that the law favours granting his request.

My Lord subsection 3 (b) is key in this application. The section deals with alleged offences, relating to economic and financial crimes. One of the charge deals with that my Lord, said Mr. Opeseyi.

He then informed the court of his clients resolve to withdraw the previous application still pending on the protection of witnesses.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed adjourned the case till June 15 for ruling.

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The wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, on Wednesday pledged her support in the resettlement of the recently rescued Chibok school girls.

She also advised them to forget the past and acquire skills to be self-reliant.

Mrs. Buhari made these remarks during her meeting with the 82 freed Chibok school girls in Abuja. She was accompanied by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and the Minister of Womens Affairs, Jummai Alhassan.

Also at the meeting were the wife of the Vice-President, Dolapo Osinbajo, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Hajo Sani, and some wives of state governors.

Mrs. Buhari urged the girls to also focus on their education as soon as they were reintegrated into the society.

When you were away, we cried and prayed with your parents for your safe return, she said.

It gladdens my heart that after years of hoping, crying and praying, 82 of our Chibok daughters are out of captivity. I am still hopeful that the rest of the abducted girls will also return safe and sound, she said.

Mrs. Buhari, who prayed for the safe return of the remaining girls, assured them that their future would be bright and presented gifts to them.

The wife of the president expressed gratitude to relevant agencies involved in the release of the girls.

On her part, the wife of the Vice-President, Dolapo Osinbajo, expressed her happiness for the safe return of the girls.

Mrs. Alhassan, the Womens Affairs minister, said that the girls would be reintegrated back to the society after they had undergone psycho-therapy.

She also said that the government made provision for skill acquisition for the girls to enable them earn a decent living.

The minister thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his serious commitment towards the recovery of the girls.

Mr. Mohammed said: What is paramount to us is the release of the remaining girls.

The minister also assured the girls that in a matter of days, they would be reunited with their families.

We will take care of you physically and psychologically, he said.

Responding on behalf of her colleagues, Rhoda Chibok, thanked the federal government for ensuring their safe return and appealed for the rescue of all Nigerians held in captivity by the insurgents.

(NAN)

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The Gombe State Agricultural Development Project, ADP, says that the tomato pest, Tuta Absoluta, has seriously affected tomato harvests in three of the states 11 local government areas.

Tuta absoluta, a destructive tomato pest, ravaged many tomato farms across Nigeria in 2016 causing an astronomical increase in the market price of tomato.

Abba Dreba, the Pest Control Officer of the Gombe ADP, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Gombe on Wednesday that the affected local governments were Akko, Kwami and Yamltu-Deba.

The tomato pest started ravaging tomato farms since last year but the ADP was not aware of this until this year; this is because tomato farmers in the affected local government areas were ignorant of the pest.

However, when we received the report, we went round the entire local governments of Gombe and discovered that only Akko, Kwami and Yamltu-Deba local government areas were affected.

The entire tomato farms in the three areas were devastated. This is a very serious problem because the pest is resistant to all the available chemicals and insecticides in the market, he said.

According to him, once the pest affects a tomato farm, it will damage everything in the farm within a week or two.

Mr. Dreba called on the state government to initiate proactive measures to ensure that tomato planted in this rainy season would not be affected by the pest.

If proactive measures are not taken, tomato farmers will divert their attention to other crops because Tuta Absoluta is very devastating, he said.

Also speaking with NAN, Sunday Lah, Director, Gombe ADP Agric Extension Services, advised farmers to wait for the rainy season to be well-established before engaging in crop planting.

He said this was the only way to ensure that their efforts would not turn out to be a worthless venture.

Besides, Mr. Lah said that the ADP was trying to procure seeds from reputable institutions for farmers in the state.

Most at times, a farmer goes to the open market to buy seeds without knowing the source, he said.

(NAN)

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Progress made by the Kaduna State government in making Kaduna a business destination of choice has gained the recognition of Nigerias leading business daily, BusinessDay newspaper.

The paper has awarded Kaduna State the Governance and Competitiveness Award, which declares Kaduna State to be No 1 in the federation in terms of ease of doing business.

Using the World Bank criteria of assessing the ease of registering a new business, obtaining business licencing, favourable tax regime, ease of obtaining land and title documents among other things, Business Day also considered the number of businesses that the state attracted in selecting Kaduna State for the award.

Anthony Osae-Brown, Editor and Director of the paper, who led a team of some management staff of BusinessDay, formally announced the award to Governor Nasir El-Rufai in his office in Kaduna on Wednesday.

Mr. Osae-Brown said the Governance and Competitiveness Award for 2017 is given to Kaduna state after examining data from the public sector and other spheres. He stressed that in the past two years, a number of high profile investments have come into Kaduna state which demonstrated that the measures taken by the government in making Kaduna a choice destination for business are bearing fruit.

Commending the government for running Kaduna State with the swiftness, rigour and discipline, Mr. Osae-Brown noted that such a disposition encourages investors about the seriousness of the administration. He observed that the establishment of KADIPA as a state investment promotion agency is one manifestation of this seriousness.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who received the team from BusinessDay, urged the paper to use its medium to promote the investments that can spur much-needed economic growth and job creation across Nigeria.

Mr. El-Rufai said credit for the award should go the team at the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency, KADIPA, whose board is chaired by Deputy Governor Barnabas Bala.

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Security is tight in and around Katsina metropolis following the arrival of the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for a one-day working visit to the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that joint security personnel have been posted to various strategic places in the state capital, Katsina.

A combined team of armed soldiers and mobile police has been posted to the Emirs palace, Government House and the State Secretariat where the Acting President is expected to visit.

Some of the security personnel were seen patrolling major streets of Katsina metropolis, while others were stationed at selected roundabouts in the ancient city.

Armed soldiers and police officers were also seen at the Umaru Musa Yaradua International Airport where the Acting Presidents aircraft had landed.

NAN reports that the one-day event is the launching ceremony of a Pilot Edition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic for viable enterprises in the state.

The event is organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) under the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industries.

(NAN)

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The Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Alhassan Rirum, has said that the investigation of the Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, by the House was not connected to a similar exercise being undertaken by an agency of the executive arm of the state government.

The Kano Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission had earlier last week announced that it had opened inquiry into alleged misappropriations of funds of the Kano Emirate Council, initially reported to run into about N6 billion, from the time Mr. Sanusi became the emir in 2014.

But according to the speaker on Thursday, the investigation by the legislators centres on the emir and was strictly informed by a motion raised by a member representing Nassarawa state constituency, Ibrahim Gama.

Mr. Gama had on Wednesday leveled eight charges against the monarch and urged the house to quickly carry out an investigation.

The allegations include defamation of character, breach of oath of office/oath of allegiance, abuse of office privileges and protocol, and political and religious interference.

The other charges were alleged unguided utterances, misappropriation of public funds, misrepresentation at public gatherings and undue criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari/APC-led government.

The motion was seconded by the member representing Kano Municipal constituency, Babba DanAgundi, and unanimously adopted by the House. The House then constituted a seven-member committee to carry out the investigation.

Members of the investigative committee include the legislator representing Ajingi constituency, Abdul Madari, as chairman, member representing Kano Municipal, Babba DanAgundi, as vice chairman and; member representing Kiru constituency, Kabiru Dachi.

Others are members representing Dambatta constituency, Sani Maidaji; Garko constituency, Abba Garko; and two officials from the legal department of the Assembly.

In a related development, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Kano Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission has summoned a top member of the Kano Emirate Council, Abdullahi Ibrahim, as part of its investigations into the financial activities of the traditional institution.

A source close to the council told our correspondent that the commission asked Mr. Ibrahim, who holds the traditional title of Makaman Kano, to appear before it on Thursday. Mr. Ibrahim is also the palace councillor and one of the kingmakers of the emirate.

The source, who did not consent to being identified, said Mr. Ibrahim was directed to appear before the commision alongside two other palace officials.

The commission is looking into the management of the finances of the emirate.

Officials of the commission on Wednesday declined to speak on record with PREMIUM TIMES on the reason why the council officials were asked to appear.

But a source reiterated that Mr Sanusi was not the focus of its investigation. He said the inquiry was into financial management by the emirate council as an institution.

The commission is investigating alleged misappropriations of funds of the emirate council initially reported to run into about N6 billion from the time Mr. Sanusi became the emir in 2014.

Following the allegations, the emirate council had clarified its finances.

Before the appointment of Muhammadu Sunusi ii, the Council has the sum of N2,875,163,431.17 in fixed accounts in various banks, out of which N981,784,503.79 was withdrawn and used during the late Emir Ado Bayero on February 7, 2014 for the payment of his Royal City Project, leaving behind a balance of N1,893,378,927.38 in the various banks, Mahe Bashir Wali, who is in charge of the finances of the council, had said.

The sum of N1,893,378,927.38 was the exact amount inherited by Emir Muhammadu Sunusi ii, against the alleged claim of N6 billion, Mr. Wali stated.

He said out of that amount, N152,627,723.00 was paid to a company, Dabo Gate, for supply of furniture to the palace.

You should know that after the demise of Emir Bayero, all his belongings, including the furniture, were removed and distributed to his heirs in accordance with Islamic injunction.

He added that the council spent N4,314,476,542.94 between June 8, 2014 and April 11, 2017 as against the alleged N6 billion.

This is because the Council operates mainly on budget as approved every year by the Council and all these while no expenditure was ever made outside the budgetary provision.

Mr. Wali further denied that the council bought two Rolls Royce Executive cars for the emir, adding, the two Rolls Royce cars were donated to him by his friends, they were not purchased by him.

Similarly, he debunked allegation that the emir spent N9,071,000.00 as air ticket fares, stating that the figure in respect of that line of expenditure was N13,722.000.00.

Out of that,h the Council raised payment vouchers of N6,993,203.00 and N5,560,235.00 to Western Union, being the cost of air tickets for the Emirs entourage alone, excluding himself because he used to pay for his tickets.

The sum of N9,071,000.00 was the money the Council spent on chartered flights twice for His Highness on a trip to Sokoto to pay traditional homage to the Sultan and to Benin for his installation as Chancellor of University of Benin.

He further explained that N108 million was paid to the heirs of the late Emir Bayero in respects of personal cars belonging to him and inherited by Emir Sunusi ii.

Mr. Wali said the N15,458,660 alleged to have been travelling expenses was for construction and renovation of Fadancin Dare wing of the palace.

Let me also clarify that two bullet proof vehicles were purchased at N142,800,000.00 on the advise and approval of the state government vide SSG letter No SSG/D/A/36/TI/109 of 17th September 2014.

He said the approval was informed by an attack on the late Emir Bayero on his way home from the Murtala Mohammed mosque.

Similarly, N154.873,00.00 was paid for the purchase and replacement of vehicles that were destroyed when Emir Bayero was attacked by Boko Haram.

Also the Emirate Council said it paid N37,054,192.06 to a mobile telecoms firm for roaming charges incurred on a local number the Emir uses and had long been identified with.

Mr. Wali said his clarifications were in response to publications by some online and other media and not to join isssues with the state government or anti-corruption commission

The commission had insisted that its investigation was continuing, stressing that it was not targeted at anybody.

In another development, the BBC on Monday apologized to the emir for mentioning in its reports that he was under investigation for alleged squandering of Council funds.

Until the latest intervention by the State house of Assembly, the relationship between the emirate council and the state government widely considered to be frozy was thought to have thawed following the participation of Mr. Sunusi in a Government House event in Kano last week.

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Discordant tunes have continued to greet last months demolition of a house of a top politician in the Kaduna State capital.

A cross section of residents of the state have accused the state government of victimisation over the demolition. But the authorities said the structure was pulled down because it was being built without official permit.

Officials of the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KASUPDA, on April 5 pulled down the four-bedroom duplex still under construction at 11 Yakubu Avenue in Kaduna, the state capital.

The house belonged to the North-West National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Inuwa AbdulKadir, who is known to have a history of political disagreement with Governor Nasir El-Rufai, in spite of the two men being members of the same political party.

KASUPDA has insisted that the house was built without official permit, but skeptical residents pointed out that other private structures surrounding it on the street were left intact.

Pictures of the demolition have since gone viral on the internet.

PREMIUM TIMES spoke with some neighbours of the victim and other residents of the state.

Ado Sani, a politician who said he had to travel all the way from Zaria to confirm the demolition, said he was shocked by the action of the state government.

I am an APC member and I could not believe it when I was told that the state government did this to our regional leader. I said I had to come and see it myself.

I believe that whatever reason the state government will claim to have, singling one house out on a street and demolishing it speaks volume.

Inuwa AbdulKadir is party man and a party chieftain, whatever fees that is required from him to pay he would have paid. I do not buy this idea of demolishing peoples homes for some flimsy excuses, Mr. Ado said.

A neighbour who did not want his name mentioned for fear of victimization said, Whatever dialogue cannot solve, fight will never bring any good answer.

These two people should have sat down and iron things out instead. Demolishing a very big investment like this is not good and should never be embraced.

Maryam Hassan, a human rights activist in Kaduna and a resident in the neighbourhood of the demolished house, said I will only agree with the government if some kind of development is coming up on that street and it has to affect some houses there.

The government will have to pay compensation to house owners before such demolition takes place. But in this case, singling out one residence among many casts suspicion on the governments action and that is not acceptable.

Everybody is now afraid of El-Rufai, because he can pick on anybody anytime, another resident in the area said.

This is pure act of wickedness. El-Rufai is power drunk. He feels nobody does anything better than him. Nothing is going on in Kaduna. He started feeding school children and stopped. He demolished peoples houses in Zaria, he did nothing about it. He has been building drainages in Kaduna town for the past one year, but for many months it has stopped. We pray that he will also stop demolishing peoples houses and just work.

While many residents said they were not happy with the action of the state government, some however applauded the government for the achievements recorded in the state so far.

I want Kaduna to be rebuilt and El-Rufai is on the right track. We shall keep giving him that support.

The only problem I have with him is this demolition. No single place demolished in Kaduna has been re-built since this governor took power. I beg him to just continue the good work and stay off demolition until those that were demolished are used for other things, said a resident.

Mr. Abdulkadir, owner of the demolished house, told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview that the governor had sometimes back threatened to take such action against him.

The APC chieftain said the governor had made the threat in the presence of six other governors from the North West.

I am not surprised by his action, it is a political vendetta. But I will not make further comment because the case is already in court.

Also a senator and persistent critic of the governor, Shehu Sani, during a visit to Mr. Abdulkadir said his house was demolished because of his support for the senator.

I feel responsible for what happened to you because, if you have done the bidding or turned yourself to a stooge of those who want you to subvert the rule of law, your house wouldnt have been demolished.

As far as Im concerned, the action taken against you (Abdulkadir) is political and I also believe that your house was demolished because of your firm resolve in seeing that the party is run according to its constitution and the laws to which it was established, the senator said.

Mr. Abdulkadirs house was still under construction when it was pulled down by the state government.

According to the security man at the house, (Mai gadi) the house was about 95 per cent completed.

The house was 95 per cent completed before the people from government came to demolish it. Hundreds of people have been coming to look at it since it was demolished, said the security man.

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Italian multinational oil and gas company, ENI, has absolved itself of wrongdoing in a 2010 oil spill in Ikebiri community in Bayelsa State which the inhabitants claimed destroyed their livelihoods.

The community had dragged the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, ENIs Nigerian subsidiary, to an Italian court demanding a clean up of their environment as well as a 2 million compensation.

But responding to a PREMIUM TIMES enquiry on Wednesday, ENI said NAOC had always operated responsibly in Nigerian territory.

In relation to the oil spill that would have affected the Ikebiri community in 2010, NAOC opened up a constructive dialogue with the community and moved quickly to reclaim the affected sites and initiate remediation works, the company said in a statement.

The NAOC operates in the Niger Delta under a joint venture agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (60%), NAOC (20%), and Oando (20%).

On April 5, 2010, an oil pipeline operated by NAOC burst about 250 metres from a creek north of Ikebiri community, causing irreparable damage to sources of livelihoods  destroyed aquatic life, dug-out fishing ponds, farmlands, according to the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria.

It took six days for NAOC to agree to a joint inspection visit where it was concluded that equipment failure caused the spill, Godwin Ojo, ERA/FoENs Executive Director, had said at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday.

NAOC operates seven wells and eight pipelines with several flow lines in the area of Ikebiri.

You will be shocked to know that after that visit, the leak was closed but the surrounding polluted area of bush was set ablaze in a state of the art technology often deployed by Agip and without the consent of the local community. No other clean up has taken place since.

Mr. Ojo said immediately after the 2010 oil spill, the Ikebiri community engaged in discussions with NAOC and ENI for emergency relief materials and compensation.

An initial payment of N2 million was made to the community for relief materials, Mr. Ojo said.

However, to date, the community has received no compensation for damages as a result of the spill. An initial offer of N4.5 million was rejected by the community as compensation as insufficient, and ENI have since discontinued discussions with the community regarding compensation.

While it did not elaborate on the controversial compensation offered the Ikebiri community, ENI said its Nigerian arm fully cooperated with the Department of Petroleum Resources and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency in the aftermath of the spill.

Both bodies conducted a detailed inspection of the remediation carried out by NAOC at the affected sites and were satisfied that the completed work was fully compliant with Nigerian regulations, the company stated.

However, some members of the Ikebiri community had already initiated judicial proceedings at the Nigerian court and NAOC, as the holder of the activities, is providing all the necessary clarifications to settle the dispute.

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The General Manager of Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation, OGBC, Tunde Awolana, has submitted a letter of voluntary retirement to the state government.

The letter was tendered a few hours after workers at the station commenced a strike over the managements failure to pay about N148,260,000 entitlements of workers.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the workers commenced their indefinite strike on Wednesday morning, locking the entrance to the radio station. The workers stormed the station as early as 4.30 a.m. armed with chain and padlock, which they used to lock up the door leading to the studio and other offices.

The workers were led by their leaders, Abiodun Ogundipe (Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ), and Ayo Aina (Chairman, Radio Television and Theater Arts Workers Union, RATTAWU).

However, the government in a statement issued by Head of Service, Abayomi Sobande, announced Mr. Awolanas retirement on Wednesday and said it had been accepted.

The statement also directed the most senior management staff of the station to immediately take over its administration until further directive.

The Head of Service, thereafter, visited the station to hold meeting with management staff and leaders of the striking workers, a meeting that ended in a stalemate.

In a related development, the General Manager of the sister station, Ogun State Television, Dele Bolujoko, also tendered his retirement letter effective Wednesday, the head of service said.

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To decongest prisons nationwide, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Thursday canvassed the decentralisation of the nations prisons system.

Mr. Akeredolu gave the advice during a courtesy visit by the Comptroller of Prisons in the state, Suanu Kelani, to the Governors Office in Akure.

He said state governments in other parts of the world also build and maintain prison structures other than that of the federal government.

There are state and federal prisons, so why dont we decentralise it? There is nothing wrong with the state government building the structures.

It wont continue to work this way with only the Federal Government building and managing prisons.

No wonder some prisons are closing down; the point is not congestion, the problem is expansion and as long as we leave it as a federal concern, it will always be a problem, the governor said.

He said federal prison facilities were being used for so many years without maintenance, adding that crime rate was also on the increase.

Mr. Akeredolu assured the prison service of assistance in the provision of ambulance and finding solution to the numerous persons awaiting trial.

Earlier, Mr. Kelani had pledged the commands cooperation with the state government in criminal justice administration as well as security.

The command remains accessible to you, particularly in the area of agriculture and entrepreneurship.

We are willing to supply a reasonable level of manpower from the pool of our convicted males who have few months to discharge.

This will undoubtedly reduce costs in terms of overhead and on the other hand, symbiotically expose the inmates to new farming techniques and boost their earning scheme policy.

It will also assist in their reintegration and entrepreneurial component, Mr. Kelani said.

He, however, listed the challenges confronting the command to include lack of suitable office accommodation as well as vehicles.

It is on record that Ondo State Command maintains five prisons with a high number of persons awaiting trial.

Most times, court duties become difficult due to lack of operational vehicles and ambulances when inmates are sick and require being taken to hospitals outside the premises.

Also, drugs and other medications for the treatment of inmates and staff when infirm and the re-establishment of the survey plan for Owo Prison pose a serious challenge to the command, Mr. Kelani said.

(NAN)

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The conflict between the Ekiti State House of Assembly and former governor Kayode Fayemi further deepened on Thursday as the lawmakers resolved to direct the incumbent governor, Ayo Fayose, to institute a panel to probe his predecessor over allegations of diversion of N852 million Universal Basic Education, UBE, funds.

The assembly had earlier accused Mr. Fayemi of fraud perpetrated during his tenure as governor, but he maintained his innocence, saying the house was out to smear his image.

Mr. Fayemi, the current Minister of Solid Minerals, was also summoned by the house to appear before it to answer questions regarding the alleged diverted funds, but he refused to honour the summons.

Instead, he approached the courts, demanding N500 million against the assembly for alleged damage done to his image and person.

The assembly said its resolution on Thursday became necessary following Mr. Fayemis refusal to appear before it to explain what he knew about the alleged diverted funds.

The assembly also said it relied on Section 129 of the 1999 constitution, when on March 22, 2016 and February 7, 2017, it ordered Mr. Fayemi to appear before it and clear his name over the allegations.

The Speaker of the assembly, Kola Oluwawole, while leading proceedings, berated Mr. Fayemi for treating the lawmakers with contempt, saying this was not expected of him as a former governor of Ekiti State.

Dr John Kayode Fayemi has slighted this house by his conduct by refusing to honour our invitation, he said.

This assembly duly invited him to come and explain how he managed the finances of this state, particularly the SUBEB fund and other projects.

The House had summoned him three times, but he disobeyed the regulation of this house. So, the state government should as a matter of urgency set up a judicial or administrative panel of inquiry to look into the finances of this state under Fayemis government.

The lawmakers also slammed the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and other security agencies over their refusal to execute the warrant of arrest issued on Mr. Fayemi.

The IGP cant claim that Governor Fayemi is at large. He has been attending the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting and nobody even called him for questioning or thought of arresting him. That was unfortunate, said Mr. Omotoso, the Chairman, House Committee on Information.

Let me at this time call on the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo that Fayemi has no moral standing to be a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having breached the1999 constitution by his refusal to honour us. If we fail to act now, then the country will be operating a banana republic where there are no rules.

In his reaction, Mr. Fayemi described the action of the house as amounting to legislative rascality.

Speaking in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Yinka Oyebode, the minister said the lawmakers were ill-advised and reckless considering the fact that the two lawsuits regarding the said probe were still pending in the courts.

Simply put, the lawmakers attempt to institute a judicial panel or administrative panel, while the two cases involving the House of Assembly, its leadership and a top official of the present administration (In an Abuja High Court and Ado Ekiti Federal High Court) are yet to be determined is subjudice, the statement said.

And, sadly, this is just a reflection of their poor knowledge of the law.

The lawmakers are advised to study the constitution properly and understand their roles as well as the limit of their powers, as this desperate attempt to implicate the immediate past administration is nothing but another wild goose chase.

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A bullion van belonging to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Thursday rammed into the convoy of the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The governors media aide, Juwon Soyinka, who made this known to journalists said the incident occurred around Ibafo when Mr. Amosun was traveling to Lagos for an official assignment.

He said the CBN vehicle, part of a convoy, damaged an escort vehicle in the governors convoy, adding that the banks driver was driving dangerously. He said the driver attempted to overtake the governors convoy without regards for the safety of other road users.

Mr. Soyinka added that, sensing danger, the governors escort commander used a public address system mounted on his vehicle to warn the Central Bank vehicle to desist from such reckless driving.

Not only was the governors escort commander ignored, the CBN convoy drivers went ahead to crush his vehicle and subsequently went after other vehicles in the governors convoy, including the governors official car.

He said the CBN convoy were later brought to a halt by the security team attached to the governor.

This is lawlessness and the height of impunity.  If this could happen to a governor within his territory, you can imagine what they would do to our citizens who are simply going about their legitimate business, Mr. Amosun was quoted as saying.

We will not allow such senseless and reckless behavior in Ogun State, he added.

Mr. Soyinka said this was not the first time the governor would have cause to personally caution reckless CBN convoy drivers in the state.

On several occasions, the Ogun State Governor had to personally turn back reckless CBN bullion van drivers who often drive against traffic, with impunity, on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, he said.

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ATLANTIC CITY  Nearly 1,400 students walked across the stage at Boardwalk Hall on Friday as part of Stockton University's spring graduation.

As students walked across the stage their names appeared on two 30-foot television monitors.

Huge Stockton banners hung in Boardwalk Hall on Thursday as event staff and college personnel ran through a program they are committed to completing in less than three hours.

Weve got it down to about 3.5 to 4 seconds per name, said Craig Stambaugh, Stockton associate dean of students.

The move to the city, announced last year by Stockton President Harvey Kesselman, reflects two goals. First was to find a location large enough to allow the college to have one, not two graduation ceremonies. The second goal was to demonstrate the colleges commitment to the still-struggling resort and promote its own satellite campus under construction a few blocks away.

There are signs that others are taking the colleges lead.

The Hard Rock Cafe will send a tram car to Boardwalk Hall Friday afternoon to transport families from the Stockton University graduation to their post-commencement lunch.

We have gotten a lot of reservations, and we talked to Stockton about the timing so we can prepare, said Hard Rock sales and marketing manager Becky Woods. Were excited to be part of this with Stockton.

Each student received six tickets and could request two more, making for an audience that should comfortably fit into the hall, which seats about 10,500.

Brian Jackson, chief operating officer for the Atlantic City campus, contacted some area restaurants and hotels for discounts but said they want to see how this first event goes before making future plans.

We do want this to have an economic impact on the city, he said. But this year, we are just testing the waters to see what works.

Stockton posted information about discounted hotel rooms and meal specials on its website.

Several hotels offered specially discounted rooms for Thursday, though none was sold out. Since most students are from South Jersey, and almost all live in the state, a hotel stay wasnt a necessity. Room rates for Thursday ranged from $69 to $89, and some offered a slightly higher rate for Friday night.

Anik Rabbeni at the Marriott Courtyard said they did book a couple rooms, and while the discounted deadline has expired, they will still honor the rate.

It wasnt a big success, but people can still book rooms, Rabbeni said.

The Hard Rock Cafe is offering a free meal to graduates with the purchase of two adult entrees. Mortons The Steakhouse at Resorts is offering a special three-course menu for $63.99. Jackson said he knows one family that booked a room at Mortons for after graduation.

LandShark Bar and Grill and Margaritaville are offering Stockton graduates $5 off a $25 purchase. Other restaurants, including Breadsticks Cafe and Grill, Capriccio, Eastwind Chinese and Gallaghers Steakhouse are offering 15 percent discounts to families that show their graduation ticket stub.

The good thing is were done early, so it wont interfere with typical Friday night customers, Jackson said.

John Smith, assistant to the provost at Stockton, has been coordinating the ceremony since September and is excited about the use of the famous Boardwalk Hall organ, and the color-coded tents that will be installed on the Boardwalk where students can meet for photos with classmates.

I hear we are expecting at least one marriage proposal, he said.

Smith said this year is also a trial run for next year, when there are expected to be about 1,800 graduates because there will be no December graduation ceremony.

Its going to be very big, he said.
ATLANTIC CITY  While Miss America herself gets to travel across the country, fulfilling the duties of the crown, the Miss America Organization has planted new roots, moving the national headquarters to Boardwalk Hall.

Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields, alongside Mayor Don Guardian, Boardwalk Hall General Manager Jim Wynkoop, CRDA Executive Director Chris Howard and Sam Haskell and Josh Randell of The Miss America Organization, cut a ceremonial ribbon and explained the significance of the Miss America offices being right in the heart of Boardwalk Hall.

Were all excited to call Boardwalk Hall home, said Josh Randle, chief operations officer for the Miss America Organization.

Its certainly going to make it a lot easier during the competition to not have to load everything up and schlep it over here.

In 2013, The Miss America Organization moved back to Atlantic City after eight years of the competition being held in Las Vegas.

The organizations offices were previously in the Claridge Hotel.

In October, the CRDA approved a lease agreement with the Miss America Organization for the 1,800-square-foot space, formerly occupied by the Atlantic City Alliance.

This building was already their home, said CRDA Executive Director Chris Howard.

Atlantic City is the birthplace of the Miss America competition. Given that history, it seems only fitting that today were here to welcome the Miss America Organizations National Offices to our historic venue.

Shields, calling Atlantic City her Miss America home, explained the connection she has with the building, where she spent two weeks performing and competing, leading up to the moment she was crowned.

Every time I come to Atlantic City and to Boardwalk Hall, it is a very emotional and nostalgic moment for me, said Shields.

Though Shields only has four months left in her reign and may not return to Atlantic City until the competition gets underway in September, she will stay connected to the home office.

One of my tour managers gave me a necklace, and it reads the latitude and longitude of Boardwalk Hall, so I get to carry this place with me.
Crews cut holes in the Tamaroas hull Wednesday in preparation for its sinking 26 nautical miles southeast of Cape May.

In a nearby viewing boat, Howard Cohen pointed out the room where he spent a lot of time in the early 1970s.

Cohen, 66, of Galloway Township, worked the radio. He sent and decoded top-secret messages in Morse code aboard the 205-foot U.S. Coast Guard vessel, which later gained fame for rescues, including a 1991 incident that inspired the book and film The Perfect Storm.

The Tamaroa, which also served the Navy under the name Zuni during World War II, was sunk Wednesday afternoon to become part of an artificial reef.

About 15 veterans who served on the Tamaroa boarded a Cape May-based party boat along with members of the media to view the sinking. For some, it was an emotional event.

I told my kids and wife, (its) the end of a chapter in my life, Cohen said. Its not just the Tamaroa. Its everything of that time period.

We had a lot of good times on the boat, said Bob Klaman, 63, of Cape May, who served on the Tamaroa in 1977 and 1978. To see her go down, there was a lot of history.

Near the planned deployment site, crews cut holes into the side of the 74-year-old vessel, which had been stripped of interior paneling and insulation. A hose was used to pump water into the ship.

At first, the Tamaroa dipped slowly, but once the water crashed onto the deck, the cutter began to sink quickly. It went lopsided and plunged into the 135-foot deep ocean, with the tip of the bow going in last.

It went down perfectly, said Peter Clarke, artificial reef coordinator for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The decommissioned Coast Guard ship joined other military vessels, including a 563-foot retired Navy destroyer, on the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Reef. Clarke said fish will begin to explore the structure within days, while mussels and soft coral start to inhabit the ship in the coming months.

Artificial reefs attract concentrations of wildlife, which, in turn, draw fishermen and divers to the area.

New Jerseys coast really doesnt have any natural habitats or structures, unlike New England north of us, Clarke said.

Funding for the states artificial reef program was restored last year following a five-year hiatus due to concern commercial fishermen were impeding recreational anglers on the reefs. Clarke said about eight vessels have been deployed since the funding was restored.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the lead agency in the deployment, contributed about 75 percent of the funding for the Tamaroa project, while the New Jersey DEP pitched in 25 percent.

Larry Eckerton, who said he was coming on the party boat to say goodbye to an old friend, would have rather seen the Tamaroa turned into a museum. But making it into a habitat for sea life isnt a bad option, he said.

Putting her to good use as a reef, said Eckerton, 62, of Slatington, Pennsylvania, who served on the vessel from 1975 to 1978. I think shell be around for a generation.

I want to fish her, Klaman added.

The Tamaroas most famous rescue came in 1991, when the ship rescued three boaters and four out of five crew members from a downed New York Air National Guard Helicopter during a powerful storm.

The events inspired the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, which was later made into a movie of the same name starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

Decades earlier, the ship served as a Navy tug during World War II, participating in the Battle of Iwo Jima. It then served the Coast Guard for nearly five decades before being decommissioned in 1994.

Didnt go too fast but it was a powerhouse, Cohen said.

A round of applause filtered around the party boat in the moments after the Tamaroa sunk beneath the surface.

It was an honor to serve on something historic like that, said Klaman, who remembered battling 40-foot waves on the ship off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

We had a lot of fun memories, Cohen said. But we worked hard.
ATLANTIC CITY  Positive economic factors, including declining unemployment and rising wages, could lead to a better tourism season this year and set the table for a banner 2018, when Hard Rock Casino and Hotel Atlantic City and Stocktons Gateway Project open.

This is the first time in a decade that I can say that casino revenues and employment are both up, said Joe Kelly, president of the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, during the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton Universitys ninth annual Jersey Shorecast tourism panel.

Industry experts on the panel, held at the Carnegie Center, discussed the outlook for the upcoming season.

Im a little more conservative on 2017. We expect growth, and we should be growing. Im optimistic about 2017, but Im bullish about 2018, Kelly said.

In summer 2018, Hard Rock is expected to open its new property at the site of the former Trump Taj Mahal. Hard Rock International and investors Joe Jingoli and Jack Morris plan to spend nearly $400 million renovating and rebranding the property.

In fall 2018, Stockton plans to open its 675,000-square-foot, $220 million Stockton Gateway Project  the new headquarters for South Jersey Gas and a campus for Stockton University that includes an academic building, housing for more than 500 students and a parking garage.

You are going to add a thousand college students to the marketplace, Kelly said of Gateway. I think in the theme of diversifying, the Gateway is a game-changer.

In 2016, the states tourism industry generated $41.8 billion in revenue, and the counties along the coast were responsible for half of that, said Rummy Pandit, executive director of the Levenson Institute.

Unemployment is down, incomes are going up, gasoline prices are holding, most of the conditions are set to see tourism dollars increase, said Michael Busler, professor of finance at Stockton University.

Retailers always start asking me around this time of year if they should be more cautious or a little more aggressive with inventory, Busler said. Last year, I said I would lean more toward the aggressive side. This year, I feel even more confident.

After years of decline, the resort might be starting to turn the corner, Busler said.

I think finally Atlantic City has hit bottom and is starting to go back up, Busler said. We had a lot of private investment come into the city, but to lure more investment, the citys financial issues have to be resolved.

Despite the Taj Mahal closing in October and the loss of more than 2,000 hotel rooms, hotel tax revenue in Atlantic County was up about 2 percent, said Brian Tyrrell, associated professor of hospitality and tourism management studies at Stockton University.

I expect the same type of growth this year, Tyrrell said.

Cape May County is already off to a strong tourism start, said Diane Wieland, director of the Cape May County Department of Tourism.

Reservations are up, and Cape May is telling me they have 95 percent occupancy for July and August already, Wieland said.
New Jersey officials asked a federal commission this week to consider an alternative set of flounder measures, just weeks before the opening of the fluke season.

Recreational fishing advocates and state leaders have been fighting for months to halt an approved plan to reduce this years summer flounder catch by about 34 percent in New Jersey.

On Wednesday, at a federal regulatory meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, the New Jersey delegation introduced a proposal that would limit fishermen to three fish at 18 inches in the Atlantic Ocean and three fish at 17 inches in the Delaware Bay for a 104-day season.

New Jerseys representatives on the federal commission believe its preferable to regulations approved in February, which set limits at three fish at 19 inches in the ocean and three at 18 in the bay for a 128-day season.

The February plan would represent a 23 percent cut in the flounder harvest from last year, according to testimony by state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin at a meeting Thursday.

Federal experts say significant cuts are needed to curb a decline in the flounder population, which has been experiencing overfishing since 2008, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The February plan will have a devastating impact on the state of New Jersey, Martin said. This is why we have worked hard to come up with an alternative.

Martin said a recent study by Montclair State University indicated the initial regulations would cost the states economy as much as $750 million.

New Jerseys proposed alternative will have to be reviewed by a pair of federal bodies. Those meetings could occur as early as next week.

If the proposal is accepted, opening day for flounder would be May 25 in New Jersey. With the original plan, the season would start May 21.

I can live with it, Brook Koeneke, owner and operator of the Duke o Fluke party boat in Somers Point, said of the proposal.

I dont like the idea of the opening day being so close to Memorial Day weekend, he added. It compresses two events into one.

Fred Uhlman, manager of No Bones Bait & Tackle in Wildwood, said the alternative is the lesser of two evils. He said hes frustrated with the regulatory process as a whole.

Theyre weaning us down, he said. Theyre slowly killing the industry.

Last year, fishermen could keep up to five fish at 18 inches in the ocean and four at 17 inches in the Delaware Bay.

Part of the states proposal is an information campaign to decrease the fishing mortality rate for fluke that are caught and released. Officials said the initiative would feature brochures and short videos explaining the proper way to handle a hooked flounder.

Martin said the state believes this program could reduce the death rate by at least 2 percent, which would bring the proposals total harvest reduction to 30 percent.

Its unclear what could happen if the federal commission rejects New Jerseys proposal.

On Thursday, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission passed a motion that would deem the state out of compliance with federal regulations if no action is taken by May 21. The commission would send a letter to NOAA Fisheries, which could then move to impose restrictions on flounder fishing in New Jersey.

We still have some steps to go through, but were hopeful that New Jerseys economically vital recreational fishing industry will be saved this summer, while we continue to work with ASFMC and NOAA to protect our fluke stock, Martin said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
OCEAN CITY  Does everyone deserve a second chance? Or was the writing on the wall in the case of Alesia Watson, executive director of the Ocean City Housing Authority?

Thats what board members and residents are grappling with this week after Watson, who had several previous theft convictions, pleaded guilty Monday in Camden federal court to embezzling thousands of dollars in federal funds.

Watsons attorney, John Zarych, said his clients charge amounts to a misdemeanor and nothing more.(tncms-asset)800f3a1f-08b7-5d8f-b25d-80af1b41bd95(/tncms-asset)

It had nothing to do with her functioning as an executive director or her dedication to the residents, Zarych said.

He said she has been dedicated to the housing authorities she has worked for and the people who lived in the communities.

She turned things around very dramatically, Zarych said, referencing past Press of Atlantic City articles. People who work and serve on authorities can go through many executive directors before they find someone like her, who will totally dedicate themselves day and night and on weekends to the authority and to the residents they serve.(tncms-asset)9a1dfbb1-be6b-503e-8959-0c5c111271d0(/tncms-asset)

Ocean City Housing Authority Board Chairman Bob Barr said he was angry Watson chose not to disclose the federal investigation that appeared to have lasted for several months. Watsons plea agreement was reached in January.

Its a shame. Alesia knew she was under investigation for quite some time and chose not to tell anyone. That was her choice. How do you not let anyone know? Barr said.

Zarych would not say the exact date he was retained by Watson.

News of Watsons charges sent shock waves through the housing authoritys neighborhoods, Pecks Beach Village and Bay View Village.

While some residents at Pecks Beach were surprised, others said they saw it coming.(tncms-asset)328aed40-8769-56df-b091-81d25c2ce245(/tncms-asset)

I knew it, said Octavia Jones, who has lived in Pecks Beach with her children for three years and said she never got along with Watson. I felt like it was always us against her.

Jones said she hopes to recover money she said she was overcharged for rent when she wasnt working.

Leanna Sem, a resident for almost 10 years, said she believes in giving people second chances, but questioned putting Watson in such a powerful position.

To me, none of us is perfect, Sem said, adding Watson seemed to do good for Pecks Beach Village, making several improvements.(tncms-asset)8de9ba10-3d44-5b6d-84ba-c816a78674ca(/tncms-asset)

In addition to landscaping, Watson put together an annual community day in memory of former resident Maliha Chowdhury, who committed suicide in 2014 at age 17.

Resident Carole Diestler said Watson was working in the office Monday morning before she appeared in Camden federal court later that day to enter a guilty plea.

We were shocked, Diestler said. We had a feeling something was wrong.

She said Watson was always friendly to her. They waved to each other when Diestler would come into the office.

When Watson was hired in 2013, board members knew about at least one criminal conviction, former board chairman Ed Price said. He said board members agreed to give her a second chance, as the background check only turned up one offense they considered minor.(tncms-asset)aebb82d8-0cd5-559f-8af2-30102271a291(/tncms-asset)

We actually had a consultant help us with the selection, Price said Wednesday. He rated her the highest of all of our candidates.

He said all board members were informed about the conviction prior to the vote to hire Watson, which was unanimous.

Now, four years later, board members will meet Tuesday to vote to terminate Watsons contract  a shared services agreement with Brick Township  and vote on an interim replacement.

Barr said one previous conviction could be overlooked, but Watsons other previous charges should have been considered when she was hired.

As far as Im concerned, nobody with that background should have been hired. It was a mistake and its not one well make again, he said.

Barr said Watson violated the public trust.

She violated the trust of the residents. She violated the trust of the city, and thats just inexcusable, he said. Its callous to take from the most vulnerable of the population.
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Several years ago, the Jersey Shore was at the forefront of an unfortunate trend. Powerful personal lasers had become available, cheap enough to sell at boardwalk shops, and people thoughtlessly started pointing them at passing aircraft.

No question its cool to put a laser dot on a distant object. Also no question its unsafe and illegal to temporarily blind and possibly harm pilots by pointing them at an aircraft. Instead of a dot, a laser spreads over distance and diffuses through the glass to flash intense light throughout the cockpit, possibly even damaging a pilots retina.

In the summer of 2010, after seven of 10 incidents of lasers pointed at airliners landing at Atlantic City International Airport were tracked to the Ocean City Boardwalk, the city responded by banning laser sales and possession. North Wildwood followed suit a couple of years later.

The incidents prompted local legislators to propose and get passed a statewide ban on the sale of laser pointers of more than 1 milliwatt of power. Gov. Christie vetoed the ban, saying it far exceeded the federal limit of 5 milliwatts and would have interfered with lawful laser pointers used in business.

Apparently, coverage of the incidents and bans was enough to spread the word that pointing lasers at aircraft is dangerous and illegal, as incidents in the area greatly diminished.

In 2012, the U.S. made it a federal crime to aim a laser at an aircraft, punishable by up to five years imprisonment and fines up to $250,000. The law isnt an idle threat.

In January, a Kansas City man was sentenced to three years in prison without parole for aiming a laser at a police helicopter. Last year, a California man got 15 months for doing the same.

Yet there are still about 7,000 reports of lasers aimed at aircraft each year. In January, a military transport plane landing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix Lakehurst in Burlington County was targeted by a laser operator.

About half the states have enacted their own laws to facilitate the apprehension of those misusing lasers. The FBI urges anyone with information about someone pointing a laser at an aircraft to call the local FBI office or dial 911.

Given that the vast majority of offenders think theyre playing with a toy and have no idea of the harm theyre causing, we think an education campaign and warning labels would be effective. Require a warning about the five years in prison and $250,000 fine on every laser for sale (on the packaging or on a handout to the buyer).

New Jersey lawmakers could show the way and their U.S. counterparts could follow. No pointing needed.
A new survey launched on International Women's Day revealed insights on women in the events industry. The survey aimed at establishing where the international events industry stands in terms of equality, career opportunities and work-life balance.

On International Women's Day, 8 March 2017, the German events industry magazines tw tagungswirtschaft and the m + a report launched a survey in conjunction with the IMEX Group asking "Women in the Events Industry  equal partners or assistants?" The survey was carried out in both German and English.

The extremely high-level of participation in the survey exceeded all expectations. Within three weeks, 3,059 women opened the link to the survey, of whom almost one third (909) gave answers to the questions: 578 responded in German, 331 in English. 628 were from Europe, of whom 473 were from Germany, 35 from Austria, 28 from Great Britain, 19 from Belgium, 11 from Italy and 62 from other European countries; 150 respondents live in North America, ten in Asia, seven in Africa, two in South America and one in Australia. This high response rate suggests that the survey addressed an important topic at the right time.

The results were highly revealing and striking: in particular that 66 percent of women in the events sector love being part of the industry. However, only three out of ten women said they felt equal in terms of salary and six in ten women do not believe they have the same career prospects as their male counterparts.

Further survey results can be found in the IMEX issue of the tw tagungswirtschaft 2/2017 here and will be presented at IMEX in Frankfurt 2017 on Wednesday 17 May at 1100 at the Research Pod on the Inspiration Hub.

Women's networking at the first Pink Hour @IMEX

All women in the events industry are cordially invited to the first Pink Hour @ IMEX on Wednesday, 17 May, 2017, at 1600 hours at the tw-stand G180. IMEX Group CEO Carina Bauer and tw editor-in-chief Kerstin Wunsch will be present and are looking forward to exchanging ideas with anyone who comes along. Everyone who wears a fun pink accessory will be particularly welcome.

Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, is very pleased with the level of participation and comments: "We were very impressed by the great feedback from many of our partners before the survey opened as well as the actual level of response. This suggests that we have asked about the right subject at the right time. The results give a clear picture of the current state of the industry - and we will now continue to monitor this topic in future. We are delighted to be able to give a voice to all women in the global events industry."

Kerstin Wunsch, editor-in-chief of tw tagungswirtschaft, confirms: "The high level of participation is very pleasing, and wed like to thank all the women who took part for their contributions. We see the response to our survey as a brief to pursue the topic together - especially as the survey reveals that there is a great deal of work to be done in achieving equal treatment in the workplace."
Malaysias Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) announces the appointment of Amelia Roziman as its first Chief Operating Officer.

Roziman, the former General Manager of Marketing and Sales, will now oversee the development of SCBs strategies, ensure execution of operational policies, as well as foster employee alignment with the Bureaus goals.

I am honored to be given this opportunity to lead SCB. We have an extraordinarily talented team who advocates tirelessly for Business Events in Sarawak. Aside from driving the Bureaus operational excellence, I look forward to creating equal opportunities of growth, as well as to empower and groom the next generation of leaders in our sector, said the Chief Operating Officer.
LAKEWOOD, Colorado, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Terumo BCT, a global leader in blood component, therapeutic apheresis and cellular technologies, announced today the implementation of the Mirasol Pathogen Reduction Technology (PRT) System for Whole Blood (WB) in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana. The Mirasol PRT system for WB will be used in conjunction with a hemovigilance program to better protect blood transfusion recipients in vulnerable patient populations, including pediatric, maternity and oncology patients. The program is a joint effort between Terumo Corporation and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

In Ghana, as in many low- and middle-income nations, blood safety is a critical public health concern. Unlike in high-income nations, patients often receive transfusion of whole blood, rather than blood components; there is not enough blood available to meet the needs of patients; the blood that is available is more likely to be contaminated with pathogens such as viruses, parasites and bacteria1-4; and the majority of transfusions are given to pediatric and maternity patient populations. The Mirasol PRT system for WB was designed to reduce the pathogen load in whole blood and has been shown in clinical trials to be effective against malaria.5

"Both the Mirasol PRT system for WB and a hemovigilance program are important components of the collaboration for our continued drive towards improving blood safety in Ghana," said Justina Ansah, MD, CEO of the National Blood Service of Ghana (NBSG). "I'm excited to see the direct results of this collaboration, which we hope will help to further reduce the risk associated with blood transfusions in Ghana."

Terumo BCT, a Terumo Corporation company, worked closely with the NBSG on initiatives for blood safety to complete the African Investigation of the Mirasol System (AIMS) clinical study at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. The study demonstrated a significant reduction in malaria transmissions through blood transfusion using whole blood treated with the Mirasol PRT system. As a result, the Mirasol PRT system for WB was CE marked in September 2015 and was approved for use by the Ghana FDA in August 2016.

JICA and Terumo Corporation also have a history of success. "In 2013, JICA and Terumo successfully collaborated to broaden transradial intervention (TRI) in Latin America," said Takashi Baba, director of the Private Sector Partnership Division, JICA. "We believe this transfusion program, based on Japanese technology, will help Ghana address some key transfusion challenges such as malaria, which we do not face in Japan."

The Mirasol PRT system for WB uses a combination of riboflavin (vitamin B2) and ultraviolet light to reduce the risk of exposure to pathogens and to inactivate white blood cells in whole blood for transfusion.

"We're proud of this collaborative global effort to directly address the safety of the blood supply in Ghana," said David Perez, president and CEO of Terumo BCT. "We look forward to working with the blood center staff to implement Mirasol PRT as part of their daily efforts to help ensure patients in need have access to safer transfusions."

About Mirasol PRT System Global Use

Healthcare professionals in more than 70 centers across 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East, South America, Central America and Asia are currently using the Mirasol PRT system. As part of an effort to seek U.S. FDA approval for Mirasol-treated blood products, Terumo BCT is initiating clinical trials identified as MIPLATE and PRAISE to support these submissions.

About Terumo BCT

Terumo BCT, a global leader in blood component, therapeutic apheresis and cellular technologies, is the only company with the unique combination of apheresis collections, manual and automated whole blood processing, and pathogen reduction technologies. We believe in the potential of blood to do even more for patients than it does today. This belief inspires our innovation and strengthens our collaboration with customers.

About JICA

JICA, an independent administrative corporation established under the International Cooperation Organization Act, is dedicated to enhancing the economy and society. JICA partners with companies and organizations throughout the world to advance understanding through research and address health issues with equipment, goods and emergency aid. Those working with JICA to support this initiative include the Ghana Ministry of Health, NBSG, Korle-bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Terumo Corporation and Terumo BCT.

1Adjei AA, Kuma GK, Tettey Y, et al. Bacterial contamination of blood components in three major blood transfusion centers, Accra, Ghana. Jpn J Infect Dis. 2009;62(4):265-269.

2Freimanis G, Sedegah M, Owusu-Ofori S, Kumar S, Allain J-P. Investigating the prevalence of transfusion transmission of Plasmodium within a hyperendemic blood donation system. Transfusion. 2013;53(7):1429-1441.

3Nkruma B, Owusu M, Frempong HO, Averu P. Hepatitis B and C viral infections among blood donors from rural Ghana. Ghana Med J;2011:45(3):97-100.

4Ampofo W, Nii-Trebi N, Ansah J, et al. Prevalence of blood-borne infectious diseases in blood donors in Ghana. J Clin Microbiol. 2002;40(9):3523-3525.

5MamaYe. Fact Sheet on Ghana's Blood Services: 2015. www.mamaye.org/sites/default/files/u436/Ghana%20blood%20factsheet_2015.pdf. Updated June 2015. Accessed May 2, 2017.

Media Contact

Karen Hackstaff

Director, Strategic Marketing and Communications

Phone: +1.720.480.7649

press@terumobct.com

Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/371619/Terumo_BCT___Logo.jpg

Related Links

http://terumobct.com



SOURCE Terumo BCT
VISTA, California, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The digital pathology industry just took another step forward, with the FDA clearance of a whole slide imaging (WSI) system (Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution) for review of digital surgical pathology slides. Leica Biosystems congratulates both the FDA and the Digital Pathology Association (DPA) on this positive outcome from their ongoing collaboration.

A founding member of the DPA, Leica Biosystems pioneered the field of Digital Pathology. It was the first company to market commercial digital pathology solutions. In the U.S., Leica Biosystems has clearance from the FDA for Aperio eIHC, an in vitro diagnostic solution to aid pathologists in the interpretation of ER, PR, and HER2 breast IHC.

"Leica Biosystems is dedicated to providing the highest quality solutions for healthcare professionals," stated Jerome Clavel, Vice President and General Manager, Leica Biosystems Pathology Imaging. "In addition to its existing FDA clearance for Aperio eIHC, Leica Biosystems is committed to pursuing clinical solutions across its portfolio. Obtaining regulatory clearances has always been one of our central objectives. A multi-site validation study is currently underway in the U.S. This is one of our very highest business priorities."



"A key goal of Leeds' strategic partnership with Leica Biosystems is to accelerate adoption by demonstrating the value and return on investment of an integrated digital pathology workflow," stated Dr. Darren Treanor, Consultant Pathologist, head of the Leeds Digital Pathology Group and Guest Professor at Linkoping, Sweden. "However, regulatory clearances are a critical condition for widespread adoption of digital pathology in patient care. We are pleased to see the digital pathology industry continuing to work towards regulatory acceptance."

IntelliSite is a trademark of Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips).

The clinical use claims described for Primary Diagnosis have not been cleared or approved by the U.S. FDA for

Leica Biosystems products. Any future capabilities will require FDA clearance before diagnostic use.

Aperio eIHC system is indicated for use as an aid in the management, prognosis, and prediction of therapy outcomes in breast cancer, as an accessory to Dako ER, PR, and HercepTest HER2.

About Leica Biosystems

Leica Biosystems (LeicaBiosystems.com) is a global leader in workflow solutions and automation, integrating each step in the workflow. As the only company to own the workflow from biopsy to diagnosis, we are uniquely positioned to break down the barriers between each of these steps. Our mission of "Advancing Cancer Diagnostics, Improving Lives" is at the heart of our corporate culture. Our easy-to-use and consistently reliable offerings help improve workflow efficiency and diagnostic confidence. The company is represented in over 100 countries and is headquartered in Nussloch, Germany.

Media Contact(s): Kristin O'Neill, Manager, Global Brand Marketing, LBS-GlobalMarketing@leicabiosystems.com , +1-847-821-3537

SOURCE Leica Biosystems
MONTREAL, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Montreal is back on top as the city having hosted the most international conventions in all of North America, according to the Country and City 2016 rankings released by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). Montreal finished ahead of destinations like Toronto, Vancouver New York, Chicago and Washington with 76 events held at the Palais des congres de Montreal, the universities and the city's hotels. These events attracted nearly 37,000 business travelers and delegates to the city  21% more than the runner-up destination. The last time Montreal finished atop the North American rankings was 2013.

Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/510830/Palais_des_congr_s_de_Montr_al_Montr_al_tops_2016_North_American.jpg

"The excellent work performed by the Palais des congres and its Ambassadors, by Tourisme Montreal and all the tourism and institutional partners, is generating remarkable results, including a top spot in international rankings like the ICCA's," indicated Raymond Larivee, President and CEO of the Palais des congres de Montreal.

"It's easy to do business in Montreal. There's a synergy among the city partners, the quality of the services offered by local experts is outstanding, as is the opportunity to interact with influencers from various industry sectors, not to mention the increase in number of flights, which makes the city even more accessible. I would like to point out the excellent of everyone involved," said Yves Lalumiere, President and CEO of Tourisme Montreal.

"I salute the collective effort that continues to nurture Montreal's international standing. Business tourism is of capital importance for the city's hospitality community," declared Eve Pare, President and CEO of the Hotels Association of Greater Montreal.

Satisfied attendees

Furthermore, once conventions are confirmed, Montreal and the Palais have an outstanding track record of meeting the needs and requirements of convention organizers and delegates. In fact, in a poll conducted by the Ipsos research firm for Tourisme Montreal, 95% of leisure and business tourists responded they were satisfied with their experience during their stay in Montreal in 2016. Also, 97% of business tourists would recommend Montreal to work colleagues and business contacts. "We provide an infrastructure that meets the needs of major international associations, and we are proud of our role in nurturing Montreal's reputation as a premier destination," said Chrystine Loriaux, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Palais des congres.

About Tourisme Montreal

Tourisme Montreal is responsible for providing leadership with regard to the concerted hospitality and promotion efforts aimed at positioning Montreal in leisure and business travel markets. It is also responsible for developing Montreal's tourism product in accordance with changing market conditions. For more information, visit www.mtl.org.

About the Palais des congres de Montreal

Recipient of the highest quality standards certification in the industry and shortlisted for the World's Best Congress Centre award (AIPC), the Palais des congres de Montreal attracts and hosts conventions, exhibitions, conferences, meetings and other events. It generates major tourism revenues and intellectual wealth for Montreal and Quebec, while also contributing to the international reputation of Montreal, the top host city in the Americas for international events. www.congresmtl.com.





For further information, Source: Chrystine Loriaux, Fellow Adm.A., B.A.A., Director, Marketing and Communications, Palais des congres de Montreal, Phone: 514 871-3104; For information: Amelie Asselin, Advisor, Communications and Public Affairs, Palais des congres de Montreal, amelie.asselin@congresmtl.com, Phone: 514 871-5897; Andree-Anne Pelletier, Manager  Corporate Public Relations, Tourisme Montreal, 514 844-3344/514 248-7844, aapelletier@mtl.org

Related Links

http://www.congresmtl.com



SOURCE Palais des congres de Montreal
OXFORD, England, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

An ambitious collaboration between Brainomix, an emerging British business, and Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world's largest drug companies, is poised to expedite and improve treatment of stroke, the second biggest killer disease in Europe.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/510869/Brainomix_Logo.jpg )

The Brainomix team, based in Oxford, has pioneered the rapid digital analysis of scans of patients admitted to hospital with stroke. With the potential to save vital time for stroke victims, the e-ASPECTS software acts as a standardised and rapid second-opinion tool that assists physicians on site to choose an appropriate treatment based on the magnitude and nature of the brain damage.

Stroke is the biggest cause of disability and a primary cause of death, in Europe killing 650,000 people every year. The highest risk of stroke is in people over 65, but the chances of brain damage double each decade after the age of 55. Many deaths arising from stroke are preventable, and disability can be reduced if medical intervention is timely. Currently, few hospitals in Europe have specialist stroke centers, and even fewer hospitals have the specialist skills necessary to assess scans that can rapidly reveal the extent of damage caused by stroke to a patient and determine the best course of treatment in a very time-sensitive environment.

The Brainomix software has been selected by Boehringer Ingelheim as part of a break-through pan-European collaboration called the Angels Initiative, a unique healthcare initiative launched by the European Stroke Organisation and Boehringer Ingelheim, which aims to improve acute stroke care in Europe by building a community of over 1,500 stroke centers. This collaboration brings together two areas of medical expertise in a battle to limit disability and death caused by stroke.

"We share a common vision to improve early diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients globally," said Dr Georg van Husen, Senior Vice President, Therapeutic Area CardioMetabolism, Boehringer Ingelheim. "Imaging is a vital part of stroke diagnosis and treatment decision-making. We are very pleased to collaborate with Brainomix to make the validated e-ASPECTS software available as part of the Angels Initiative."

As part of the Angels Initiative, Brainomix is offering six-months' free use of its e-ASPECTS software to hospitals enrolled in the program. Hospitals in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain have already signed up to take advantage of the Brainomix offer. The e-ASPECTS software is already assisting stroke centres in many countries including the UK, Austria, Brazil, Finland, Germany and Sweden. e-ASPECTS uses artificial intelligence to automatically apply the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) method that clinicians use to assess damage to the brain on plain CT scans.

Brainomix CEO and co-founder, Dr Michalis Papadakis said, "We are honoured to be part of this initiative and to partner with two of the most prominent organisations in our field. Working to improve care across the board is of vital importance. We are excited that hospitals are enthusiastic about implementing e-ASPECTS as a tool to improve the efficiency of stroke treatments in countries that are now developing stroke centers."

Brainomix co-founder Alastair Buchan, Professor of Stroke Medicine at the University of Oxford, and inventor of the ASPECTS score, explained, "The ASPECTS method has proven to be very effective in making stroke treatment decisions The e-ASPECTS software will provide vital decision making support for hospitals in the Angels Initiative, thereby helping to ensure the right treatment is given to the right patients."

Interested hospitals and clinicians can obtain more information and become part of the Angels Initiative at

https://angels-initiative.com/

Notes to Editor

About Brainomix

Brainomix Limited, a medical diagnostics software company, was founded in 2010 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford and is dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with neurological and cerebrovascular disorders. Brainomix is currently focusing on acute stroke. By developing and equipping physicians with world-class medical imaging software, Brainomix aims to help them in making life-saving treatment decisions by supporting the selection of the right treatment for the right stroke patient.

https://www.brainomix.com

e-ASPECTS

Brainomix flagship product, e-ASPECTS, is a clinical decision-making support software for use with acute stroke patients. This innovative technology automatically implements the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) clinical scoring methodology, to assist clinicians in the timely identification of patients eligible for life-saving treatment.

https://www.brainomix.com/e-aspects

Learn more about the ASPECTS clinical scoring methodology

http://www.aspectsinstroke.com

SOURCE Brainomix
WILLISTON, N.D., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The 7th annual Bakken Oil Product & Service Show (BOPSS), produced by DAWA Solutions Group, will be held October 4 & 5, 2017 at the Raymond Family Community Center in Williston, North Dakota.

BOPSS Logo

The Bakken Oil Product & Service Show is the only oil and gas trade show and conference located in Williston, North Dakota in the heart of the activity. The event has been expanded to create even more value for exhibitors and attendees alike and now includes the trade show, conference sessions, complimentary lunches, BOPSS Social open to all, door prizes and more.

Conference Sessions  New this Year!

New this year are the educational conference sessions featuring cutting edge research, valuable techniques and accomplishments and the latest strategies to enrich the educational experience for show participants. The sessions feature two distinct areas of focus: Technical Presentations & Panel Discussions and the Product Showcase. Available both days to all attendees and exhibitors.

Technical Presentations & Panel Discussions

Learn about new technologies and techniques through presentations from area experts. By offering interactive discussions of key topics we will enrich participants and attendees 2017 BOPSS experience.

Product Showcase

The showcase will feature in-depth presentations and demonstrations of new and innovative products and services selected from our trade show exhibitors.

Product Showcase Submission Information

Do you have an innovative new product or service you'd like to share? As a 2017 Exhibitor, take this exclusive opportunity to share your company's new or unique product or service. If you want to submit your product or service for consideration to participate in this year's Product Showcase - visit our webpage for more information. We have limited space available so be sure to register and submit your new and innovative products and services for consideration to be one of the exclusive participants in the 2017 Product Showcase.

BOPSS Social

This year, the BOPSS Social is now open to everyone! Enjoy great people, good food, and a cold beer during our networking event Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Do More Business in the Bakken

The Bakken Oil Product and Service Show draws a variety of people who work and make decisions day-to-day in the Williston Basin including:

 Drilling and Production Superintendents and Foreman

 Rig Hands

 Frac Crews

 Petroleum Engineers and Production Optimization Engineers

 HSE Professionals

 Chemical Program Managers

 Truck Drivers and Lease Operators

Information and Registration:

Are you ready to exhibit in the new and improved event for a new and improved industry  the Bakken is Back! Visit www.BakkenOilShow.com for more information and online registration.

About DAWA Solutions Group, LLC.

The Bakken Oil Product & Service Show is produced by DAWA Solutions Group, LLC. DAWA Solutions Group is a business consulting firm helping people do business better. We are a team of passionate professionals that excel at strategic planning, project management, application development and creative graphic design. Your business is an adventure and we apply our skills through a number of services to guide and assist you through your journey to business success.

Contact

Bakken Oil Product & Service Show

c/o DAWA Solutions Group

PO Box 936

Williston, ND 58802

701-577-1100

[email protected]

www.BakkenOilShow.com

Erica MacDiarmid

SOURCE DAWA Solutions Group
NAPERVILLE, Ill., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aasonn, a leader in transforming SAP HR systems, announced a strategic global partnership with OpenSesame, the world's largest library of on-demand elearning content to offer new opportunities to SAP SuccessFactors customers focused on using learning to deliver increased employee satisfaction and greater productivity.

"We are excited to partner with OpenSesame to conquer the challenges impeding corporate learning today. Together we will be able to uniquely enable SAP SuccessFactors customers to accelerate deployment of learning tailored to their business needs," remarked Bill Carroll, CEO at Aasonn.

Aasonn, the longest standing SAP SuccessFactors partner with over 2,000 customers, will immediately begin to offer OpenSesame's curated elearning offering and its Open Content Network (OCN) partnership with SAP SuccessFactors. Aasonn and OpenSesame will offer a value package of learning services helping their customers improve the connection of corporate learning to business growth and success.

"OpenSesame has grown tremendously over the past few years by focusing on our customers' needs for a broad variety of curated elearning courses. Teaming up with Aasonn will enable our mutual customers to integrate learning into all of their HR processes," said Don Spear, CEO at OpenSesame.

Find out more about Aasonn, OpenSesame and this exciting partnership at the Aasonn booth (#581) at the 2017 SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference May 16  18 in Orlando FL.

About Aasonn:

Aasonn provides cloud based human capital management and benefits services HR organizations can utilize to impact workforce competitive advantage and business performance. Aasonn's offerings comprise unmatched experience and best practice expertise with cloud-based implementation; full-service HR Operations with on-shore call centers, innovative self-service technologies for an enhanced employee experience, post implementation support and actionable insights to optimize your workforce.

Aasonn is the industry leader in the transformation of SAP HR systems, processes and employee experience. For more information about Aasonn, visit www.aasonn.com or call (888) 718-1562.

About OpenSesame:

With a library of 20,000+ elearning courses from the world's leading publishers, OpenSesame helps midmarket and enterprise companies transform their elearning experience with the world's broadest, deepest and freshest catalog of business training courses..

For more information about OpenSesame, visit www.OpenSesame.com or call (503) 808-1268.

For more information,

Press Only:

Christina Nahal

Marketing Director

[email protected]

SOURCE Aasonn

Related Links

http://www.aasonn.com


MELBOURNE, Australia, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Air China, the official carrier of the People's Republic of China, today announced that a direct service between Melbourne and Shenzhen will commence on 20 June, 2017.

The service CA767/768 will operate three times per week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

Currently, Air China operates 3 times weekly service from Melbourne to Beijing and 4 times weekly service between Melbourne and Shanghai.

The new direct route will be operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 30 lie-flat bed business class seats and 207 economy class seats with a generous seat pitch of 32".

Shenzhen, the fourth biggest city in China, is one of the country's main economic centres. In 2012, Shenzhen was listed by UK-based "The Economist" news magazine at Number 2 "the Most Competitive Cities in the Globe". Next to Hong Kong, Shenzhen has the largest advanced manufacturing base in China and it is the headquarters to a number of technology giants.

Air China is the only carrier flying from Australia to provide this direct service, from Shenzhen passengers can connect to over 60 cities in China, Japan & Europe. Air China is the only carrier to provide direct services from Melbourne to three out of four of the Top cities in China.

Air China has been continuing to make investment in the Australia - China aviation market over past three decades. We are committed to a long-term contribution in the community by providing premium service to both business class travelers and the leisure market.

About Air China

Air China, a member of Star Alliance - the world's largest airline network, is the only national flag carrier of People's Republic of China.

By March 2017, Air China had a fleet of 590 passenger aircraft and freighters of mainly Boeing and Airbus families (including those of the carriers which Air China has a majority stake in). It operates 395 routes, including 102 international routes, 14 regional routes and 279 domestic routes. It serves 180 cities in 39 countries and regions, including 64 international cities, 3 regional cities and 113 domestic cities. Every week, Air China offers over 1.66 million seats on over 8500 flights per week. Utilizing its extensive route network and its hub in Beijing, especially after its admission to the Star Alliance, Air China can fly passengers to 1,330 airports in 190 countries.

For more information, visit: www.airchina.com.au

SOURCE Air China

Related Links

HTTP://www.airchina.com/


Exponent Private Equity has acquired three leading sightseeing attraction pass companies: Boston-based Smart Destinations, parent company of Go City Card; UK-based Leisure Pass Group; and The New York Pass. Ted Stimpson, CEO of Smart Destinations, is the Global CEO of the combined Leisure Pass Group (LPG).

The three entities will operate as independent subsidiaries of a newly formed parent company, which will retain the Leisure Pass Group brand name and become the largest tourism attraction pass provider in the world. The new Leisure Pass Group will operate in more than 30 destinations across the US, Europe, and the Middle East, and is projected to deliver over 12 million attraction visits worldwide.

The sightseeing and attractions industry is big business, with a total global economic impact in excess of $300 billion, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). Attraction passes  which allow travelers to access a variety of attractions and tours with a single purchase and at significant savings versus buying tickets individually (as much as 55% depending upon the pass selected)  comprise a growing segment of this industry. Leisure Pass Groups attraction passes can be conveniently downloaded to a mobile app, and allows customers to present their passes right on their smart phones for access at each location. The passes are available for purchase online, through a variety of third-party resellers, and can also be acquired by travel agents with commission from Viator, Hotelbeds, GTA-Travel, and Tourico Holidays.

According to Mr. Stimpson, This merger provides Leisure Pass Group with an amazing opportunity to leverage the collective power of three market leading attraction pass providers and aggressively pursue growth in existing markets as well as many new markets around the world. Leisure travel shows no evidence of slowing down, and as long as consumers have the desire to get out there and experience the various theme parks, tours, and attractions, we want to be able to provide them with a cost-effective way to explore and save.

To demonstrate the continued growth of this market, Mr. Stimpson adds that LPG in North America has seen eight consecutive quarters of 30+% YOY growth and doubled the number of sold passes in the last two years.
WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a statement to the US Congress and Department of Transportation, in the wake of shocking internet videos of airline passenger abuse and chaos, FlyersRights.org, the largest airline passenger organization, has conveyed a list of "essential air travel reforms."

Paul Hudson, President and longtime Public Member of the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, noted, "In the past month about 1 billion people have viewed on video the shockingly violent removal of Dr. Dao from a United Airlines flight on April 9th for refusal to give up his seat, followed by removal of a mother with two babies after an apparent assault and battery by an American Airlines flight attendant, followed by Delta Airlines removals of a passenger for using the restroom during a long tarmac delay and then a family of four with a one and two year old over the use of a paid for seat with a child seat threatened with arrest, jail and removal of their children so their seat could be used by a standby passenger. And now on Monday Spirit Airlines passengers mutinied at Fort Lauderdale Airport after the airline repeatedly canceled about 300 flights blaming weather when the real reason was lack of pilots."

It is obvious that airline passenger mistreatment is not isolated and will not be solved by relying airline promises or voluntary policies.

The same plea to Congress was made in 2000 after a publicized tarmac confinement incident in Detroit by Northwest Airlines involving 4,800 passengers, but was found to be totally ineffective after it was discovered in 2008 that at least 150,000 passengers per year were be held against their will on the tarmac for up to 12 hours to prevent "passenger migration". This abusive airline practice was only ended by the DOT promulgated Three Hour Rule effective in 2010.

Accordingly, in addition to the comprehensive reform proposals contained in the Flyersrights.org Airline Passengers Bill of Rights 2.0 available on the Flyersrights.org web site www.flyersrights.org FlyersRights.org believes the following measures are essential to prevent hundreds if not thousands of incidents of unjust, unnecessary removal or bumping of passengers by airlines and to mitigate the effects of increasing frequent mass flight cancelations.

Suspend overselling of seats and require airlines to justify need for this exception to normal contract law, in contemplation of repeal of the oversales rule.



End involuntary bumping especially when passengers have boarded aircraft.



Repeal or modify Patriot Act provision that makes ignoring or disobeying flight crew instruction a federal felony (inference with flight crew) punishable by 20 years in prison, now used to threaten, eject and have passengers arrested for minor non terrorism related matters (prior to 2001 generally punished by FAA fines or under state criminal laws)



Modify or eliminate rules that allow airlines to charge high change fees or forfeiture of paid ticket reservations for name corrections or substitutions



Basic Due Process for Passengers.





Mandatory written notices and warnings to passenger with their rights, remedies (Yellow Card solution) and obligations prior to removal or bumping, with right of notice of infraction and opportunity for immediate appeal to Captain,



Require Captain to sign form finding Passenger ejection necessary for safety or security of flight and certifying that Passenger has been provided with written notice of rights and remedies,



Plain Language statement of passenger rights and remedies in Contract of Carriage and in seat pockets including complaint form and claim procedures to airline, DOT, and passenger assistance organizations, with mail addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and fax numbers, plus flight delay and baggage compensation rights under US and international law, plus posters in airports with contact information for detailed rights and remedies.



Require that airlines offer cash or check for bumping compensation, not vouchers or and prohibit airlines from requiring passengers sign a liability waiver as a condition of receiving compensation.



Reinstate the reciprocity rule so that when passengers are excessively delayed they by an airline they can use their ticket on a competing airline flight with available seats.



Stiff penalties for lying to passengers about the reasons for delays and cancelations.

SOURCE FlyersRights.org

Related Links

http://www.flyersrights.org


"Alaska Airlines continues to meet the needs of valued Seattle guests with new service to the Circle City," said John Kirby, vice president of capacity planning at Alaska Airlines. "We're pleased to add Indianapolis to our growing list of nonstop destinations from our hometown of Seattle, now at 89 nonstop destinations served  more than twice as many as any other airline."

Summary of new service:

Start Date City pair Departs Arrives Frequency Aircraft May 11 Seattle-Indianapolis 9:55 a.m. 5:19 p.m. Daily B737 May 11 Indianapolis-Seattle 6:20 p.m. 8:16 p.m. Daily B737

Flight times based on local time zones.

"The Indianapolis community is excited to welcome Alaska Airlines and their nonstop connections to the West Coast," said Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority. "Travelers know that Indy is the racing capital of the world, but it's also a destination with a nationally recognized food scene and a cultural trail that connects the best restaurants, craft distilleries, and boutique hotels via a walkable and bike-friendly route."

With these new routes, Alaska and Virgin America operate more than 30 daily flights to 10 Midwest cities including: Chicago; Detroit; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Oklahoma City; Omaha, Nebraska; St. Louis and Wichita, Kansas. New Virgin America service between San Francisco and Indianapolis will begin on Sept. 26.

To purchase tickets, visit www.alaskaair.com or call 1-800-ALASKAAIR (800-252-7522 for Hearing & Speech Impaired (TTY): Dial 711 for Relay Services).

Editor's note: High-definition, broadcast quality footage of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America is available for download at https://ascorpcomm.sharefile.com/d-sadfdde4d49545f4a.

Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional partners, flies 40 million guests 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 , guests can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 900 destinations worldwide. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in North America" in the J.D. Power North America Satisfaction Study for 10 consecutive years from 2008 to 2017. Alaska Mileage Plan ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Airline Loyalty Rewards Programs" in the J.D. Power 2016 Airline Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report for the last three consecutive years. Learn more about Alaska's award-winning service and unmatched reliability at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).

SOURCE Alaska Airlines

Related Links

http://www.alaskaair.com


COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IDG's CIO recently ranked Alliance Data's card services business (www.knowmoresellmore.com), a premier provider of private label, co-brand and business credit programs, among the 2017 CIO 100. The 30th annual award program recognizes organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology (IT).

"Technology innovation and business value have always been at the heart of our CIO 100 awards, which honor the IT organizations thriving on the front lines of the digital revolution," said Maryfran Johnson, editor-in-chief, CIO Events. "This year's winning companies are outstanding examples of how IT leadership, business collaboration and customer engagement are shaping the future."

Alliance Data's card services business received this honor for its proprietary Frictionless Mobile Credit capability. This first-of-its-kind credit card acquisition capability allows shoppers to apply for a store-branded credit card in a matter of seconds from the privacy and security of their mobile device anywhere in their shopping journey. Frictionless Mobile Credit reduces application time by more than 25 percent and the application abandonment rate by more than 95 percent.

"Frictionless Mobile Credit requires a simple text and a few keystrokes, and shoppers are on their way to applying for credit. Through Alliance Data's patent-pending process, a credit application is automatically populated using information from our vast data resources," explained Mike Rosello, chief information officer of Alliance Data's card services business. "This fast, simple, and customer-friendly innovation benefits customers and retailers by adding convenience and saving time. And, because customers know their credit limit earlier in the shopping process, it has been shown to significantly increase first-time purchases."

"We're especially proud of this achievement, as the development of this capability represents the broad customer-focused thinking of our combined marketing and IT teams as part of our ongoing commitment to delivering innovative digital and mobile capabilities that put the customer experience first, building deeper brand loyalty and meaningful value for brand partners," added Jami Dewolf, chief marketing officer of Alliance Data's card services business.

Recipients of this year's CIO 100 Award were selected through a three-step process. First, companies completed an online application form detailing their innovative IT and business initiatives. Next, a team of external judges (many of them former CIOs) reviewed the applications in depth, looking for leading-edge IT practices and measurable results. Finally, CIO editors reviewed the judges' evaluations and selected the final 100.

Alliance Data's card services business will accept the award at the CIO 100 Symposium and Awards Ceremony on August 16 at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

About CIO:

CIO from IDG is the premier content and community resource for information technology executives and leaders thriving and prospering in this fast-paced era of IT transformation in the enterprise. The award-winning CIO portfolio--CIO.com, CIO executive programs, CIO Strategic Marketing Services, CIO Forum on LinkedIn, CIO Executive Council and CIO primary researchprovides business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT's role in achieving business goals. Additionally, CIO provides opportunities for IT solution providers to reach this executive IT audience. The CIO Executive Council is a professional organization of CIOs created to serve as an unbiased and trusted peer advisory group. CIO is published by IDG Enterprise, a subsidiary of IDG. Company information is available at http://www.idgenterprise.com/.

Follow CIO on Twitter: @CIOonline #CIO100 #CIOHOF

Follow IDG Enterprise on Twitter: @IDGEnterprise

Follow CIO on LinkedIn

Follow CIO on Facebook

About Alliance Data's card services business

Alliance Data's card services business is a leading provider of tailored marketing and loyalty solutions, delivered through branded credit programs that drive more profitable relationships between our brand partners and their cardmembers. We offer private label, co-brand, and commercial products to many of the world's most recognizable brands across a multitude of channels.

We uphold our Know more. Sell more. promise by leveraging unmatched customer insights, advanced analytics, and broad-reaching innovative capabilities. It's how we deliver increased sales to our partners, build enduring loyalty to their brands, and provide more value to our cardmembers. Alliance Data's card services business is a proud part of the Alliance Data enterprise. To learn more, visit www.KnowMoreSellMore.com or follow us on Twitter @Know_SellMore.

SOURCE Alliance Data Card Services

Related Links

http://www.alliancedataretail.com


"It is a great honor for Allied Universal to be named as a Best Large Employer by Forbes magazine," said Steve Jones, Allied Universal CEO. "Our employees are the heart and soul of our company and we are proud that Allied Universal has been cited as a great place to work for our 150,000 employees."

Forbes partnered with Statista to conduct an independent, anonymous survey of America's companies with more than 5,000 employees, who were anonymously polled in online panels to elicit candid responses. "America's Top 500 Best Employers of 2017" were selected based on an independent survey from a vast sample of 30,000 American employees working for large or midsize firms and/or institutions. Survey respondents were asked to rank a variety of criteria such as how likely they were to recommend their organization to friends or family, and other work-related conditions.

The Best Employers list will appear in Forbes magazine's May 16th issue. View the list digitally at Forbes.com.

About Allied Universal

Allied Universal, a leading facility services company and the largest security force in North America with over 150,000 employees, provides unparalleled security services and solutions. With headquarters in Santa Ana, Calif., and Conshohocken, Pa., Allied Universal combines people and technology to deliver evolving, tailored solutions that allow our clients to focus on their core business. An unrelenting focus on clients' success creates partnerships rooted in quality and value, and is supported by experience gained from being in business for over 50 years. Through our people and leading services, systems and solutionsAllied Universal is there for you. For more information, please visit www.AUS.com.

SOURCE Allied Universal

Related Links

http://www.universalpro.com


"Changing the world happens one step at a time, through acts of leadership and courage," said Ambassador Young. "It is the work of generations, with progress made possible by those who pass on the lessons learned from both successes and setbacks, and most importantly, the necessary knowledge that positive change is indeed possible."

The Chairman's Award will be presented to former Vice President Joseph Biden. The honor is given to an individual whose lifelong leadership has demonstrated excellence in areas that reflect Ambassador Young's life's work as Pastor (Community Engagement), Activist (Civil Rights and Civic Participation), U.N. Ambassador (International Humanitarian Initiatives) and Congressman and Mayor of Atlanta (Public Policy and Advocacy).

"I value an award based upon the organization giving the award," Biden said. "This is one of the most consequential awards I've ever been given."

The theme of the 2017 Andrew J. Young International Leadership Awards and 85th Birthday Tribute is "Lead Young," highlighting the Foundation's commitment to supporting and developing emerging leaders and their ideas.

The 2017 Andrew J. Young International Leadership Award recipients are:

Linda Sarsour , Tamika Mallory , Carmen Perez , and Bob Bland , National Co-Chairs of the Women's March on Washington for inspiring and organizing a worldwide outpouring of positive civic engagement;

, , , and , National Co-Chairs of the Women's March on for inspiring and organizing a worldwide outpouring of positive civic engagement; Ron Clark , for creating a transformational school that models teaching excellence and nurtures future leaders, and opens its doors to share those strategies with thousands of other educators;

, for creating a transformational school that models teaching excellence and nurtures future leaders, and opens its doors to share those strategies with thousands of other educators; Activist, commentator, and Dream Corps founder Van Jones , for promoting human rights and police accountability and helping young people fill jobs, not jails;

, for promoting human rights and police accountability and helping young people fill jobs, not jails; Singer, songwriter, rapper and producer Akon, whose Akon Lighting Africa project is using small-scale solar energy systems and street lights to bring transformational change to communities in Africa whose development has been harmed by lack of electricity; and

whose development has been harmed by lack of electricity; and Former Vice President Joe Biden , whose lifetime of public service was recognized by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"These award recipients exemplify a personal commitment to helping fellow humankind and achieving progress in global communities," Ambassador Young said.

Anthony Anderson, star of ABC's "Black-ish," will host the gala evening, which will include tribute performances from Usher, Jill Scott, Wyclef Jean, Estelle, gospel artist Anthony Brown and more. The event will be streamed on Facebook Live to an international audience and filmed for television broadcast at a later date.

The event is sponsored by Delta Airlines, Forbes Africa, Cox Enterprises, The Coca-Cola Company, and V-103 FM Atlanta.

The event is open to the public. Tickets are available at AJYLead.com and Ticketmaster.com.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Foundation's current programs to preserve civil and human rights and help support and sustain future initiatives.

For additional information and updates, please visit www.ajylead.com. Follow us @AJYLead on Twitter, @AJYLead Instagram or http://www.facebook.com/ajylead/. Join the conversation using #AJYLead.

About the Andrew J. Young Foundation

The Andrew J. Young Foundation develops programs and strategic partnerships that address the basic human needs of international communities. The Foundation also invests in the development of the next generation of leaders by facilitating connections between individuals, young and old, who are committed to solution-oriented action on global challenges that face this and future generations.

SOURCE Andrew J. Young Foundation

Related Links

http://www.ajylead.com


SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Telecom Council is proud to announce this year's Innovation Showcase Class of 2017.

The Telecom Council

In support of Telecom Council's ongoing mission of discovering and promoting innovative communications companies, our annual Innovation Showcase matches high-potential, early-stage communications start-ups with strategic-fitting telcos, vendors, investors and potential partners. Telecom Council members reviewed applications across dozens of technologies and 15 countries to select the Class of 2017. Only the top 20 companies who exceeded the judging member's expectations of innovation, momentum, viability and management were selected. Telecom Council Innovation Showcase Class of 2017.

All Star Networks

Anuta Networks

Cirrent

Cloud Worldwide Services

Collision Communications

DataHoliks

Datazoom Inc.

Entrevi Solutions

Kodacloud

Mark/Space Inc.

LocaleIQ

Prenav

PureLiFi

Scriptr.io

Simulty

SiteSee

Skyroam

SnappyData Inc.

Teragence

Ubiro

Congratulations to the Innovation Showcase Class of 2017. More details on each member of the Class of 2017 are available on our website.

The Innovation Showcase Class of 2017 will be featured at Telecom Council Carrier Connections Summit (TC3), an exclusive 2-day summit for innovation executives from global telcos and communication vendors, investors and start-ups. The 10th Annual TC3 Summit, held November 1st and 2nd in Silicon Valley, brings 60 global carriers to Silicon Valley to find innovation, meet start-ups, and share their technology roadmaps with the wider innovation ecosystem. To register or learn more about TC3 Summit, click here.

The Telecom Council: The Telecom Council of Silicon Valley is Where Telecom Meets Innovation. We connect the companies who are building communication networks, with the people and ideas that are creating them  by putting those companies, research, ideas, capital, and human expertise from across the globe together in the same room. Last year, The Telecom Council connected over 2,000 executives from 750 telecom companies and 60 fixed and wireless carriers across 40 meeting topics. By joining, speaking, sponsoring, or simply participating in a meeting, there are many ways telecom companies of any size can leverage the Telecom Council network. For more information and to join our invitation list, visit: www.telecomcouncil.com.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Liz Kerton at 408-834-7933 or email at [email protected].

SOURCE The Telecom Council
In recent years, Massachusetts has increased its high school graduation rate from just below 80 percent to 86 percent  one of the highest in the nation. However, 20 percent (one in five students) in Massachusetts are identified as FLNE, and the high school graduation rate for this growing subgroup is just above 70 percent.

I Came Here to Learn examines student-level data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) and draws on interviews of Massachusetts FLNE students to uncover stories of resilience, motivation, and persistence as those students pursue their American dream.

The research is a component of the GradNation State Activation Initiative, a three-year partnership between America's Promise and Pearson to increase high school graduation rates by encouraging statewide innovation and collaboration and sharing successful models. ESE, one of three State Activation grantees across the nation, chose to focus its effort on supporting a coalition of 10 Massachusetts urban school districts to improve graduation rates for FLNE students.

"As the number of FLNE students in public schools increases, I Came Here to Learn tells us that FLNE youth, like all youth, will succeed in school and life when they have access to trusting relationships with peers and adults and the right support they need in school, in their homes, and throughout their communities," said Dr. Jonathan Zaff, executive director, Center for Promise. "But what we also see are indications that we, as a society, are not holding up our end of the bargain. Too many FLNE youth continue to struggle, even after becoming English proficient."

"When we ask young people what it is they need to succeed, they've consistently shown a heightened awareness of the opportunities and barriers before them," added Dr. Shannon Varga, postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Promise, and co-author of the report. "I Came Here to Learn examines the complex personal, social, and structural barriers to learning English that FLNE students report having to navigate daily and highlights which supports help them persist."

There are 123 native languages other than English spoken in school districts across Massachusetts. While Massachusetts has engaged in considerable work to improve educational outcomes for FLNE students, the challenges these young people and their families face go beyond academic English acquisition. Sustainable, long-term solutions will require a more comprehensive approach  one involving ESE, families, students, communities and other key stakeholders.

"FLNE students bring to the classroom a unique identity and drive to succeed," said Shilpi Niyogi, Pearson's Senior Vice President for North America Corporate Affairs and Global Media. "This fresh research adds to the evidence that with the right supports and a positive school climate, FLNE students can achieve their dreams and ambitions in school, work and life."

Key Findings. Through statistical analysis of statewide student-level data, provided by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, for more than 13,000 FLNE students, as well as group interviews with Latinx youth in five cities throughout MassachusettsBrockton, Chelsea, Revere, Somerville, and Worcesterseveral findings emerged. Some are highlighted below.

FLNE does not equal low performing. There are FLNE students who are not currently English Learners (ELs) who have higher graduation rates than native English speaking students across MA (92 percent vs 88 percent). There are also high performing ELs who have grad rates higher than the statewide average for ELs (70 percent vs 63.9).

There are FLNE students who are not currently English Learners (ELs) who have higher graduation rates than native English speaking students across MA (92 percent vs 88 percent). There are also high performing ELs who have grad rates higher than the statewide average for ELs (70 percent vs 63.9). FLNE students new to Massachusetts and those qualifying for free and reduced price lunch need more support . Research shows FLNE students who qualify for free and reduced lunch have the lowest four-year graduation rates. Conversely, these students also have the largest increases in graduation rates when given more time to graduate.

. Research shows FLNE students who qualify for free and reduced lunch have the lowest four-year graduation rates. Conversely, these students also have the largest increases in graduation rates when given more time to graduate. Competing priorities with school (including work or caring for family) are specific hardships that many FLNE students face while balancing multiple language and cultural expectations.

with school (including work or caring for family) are specific hardships that many FLNE students face while balancing multiple language and cultural expectations. Family separation through immigration impacts many FLNE students emotionally, academically, and economically.

through immigration impacts many FLNE students emotionally, academically, and economically. A school's climate directly impacts students' will to graduate. However, supportive relationships with caring adults and peers often encourage youth to persist.

Implications. The Center for Promise research team went straight to the source and asked FLNE young people what improvements they would make to programs, policies, and practices to help other students learn English and persist in school through graduation. Presented here are some of those recommendations, based on their responses and experiences: 1) Create additional opportunities for connection with peers and adults for increased school engagement and performance; 2) Engage young people in the design of educational programs that serve FLNE students; 3) Support the student by supporting the family with greater efforts to foster family engagement; and 4) Provide more flexible programs for older youth to enable students to also earn money to contribute to the household.

The Road to 90. America's Promise Alliance is a leader of the GradNation campaign to raise high school graduation rates to 90 percent by the Class of 2020. According to the latest Building a Grad Nation report, released last week, in 33 states English Learners graduated at rates less than 70 percent, and in six of those states  Arizona, Nevada, New York, Maryland, Virginia and Hawaii  less than 50 percent of ELs graduated on time.

"Equity gaps remain a clear challenge for raising high school graduation rates among English Learners in Massachusetts and several other states," said John Gomperts, president & CEO, America's Promise Alliance. "The country must intensify its efforts with this key subgroup if we are to reach the goal of 90 percent on-time graduation. Now, more than ever, engaging in more state specific partnerships  like our work with Pearson and the GradNation State Activation initiative  is one way to focus our efforts to get more young people across the graduation stage."

Authors & Sponsor. I Came Here to Learn was co-authored by Shannon Varga, Max Margolius, Catalina Tang Yan, Marissa Cole and Jonathan Zaff with the Center for Promise. As part of the three-year collaboration with America's Promise Alliance through the GradNation State Activation initiative, Pearson is the sole sponsor for this study and its dissemination. The initiative invests in three key strategies: encouraging statewide innovation and collaboration, sharing knowledge and replicating what works, and developing successful models all states can replicate. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is one of three State Activation grantees across the nation.

Full Report, Videos & Other Resources. To read the full report, executive summary, access youth videos and other resources, visit: http://gradnation.org/i-came-here-to-learn.

**FLNE is an umbrella term that includes English Learners, youth who have reached English proficiency, and other non-native English speakers who have never been enrolled in a formal EL program.

About the Center for Promise

The Center for Promise is the applied research institute for America's Promise Alliance, housed at the Boston University School of Education and dedicated to understanding what young people need to thrive and how to create the conditions of success for all young people. www.AmericasPromise.org/program/center-promise.

About America's Promise Alliance

America's Promise Alliance leads the nation's largest network dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth. As its signature effort, the GradNation campaign mobilizes Americans to increase the on-time high school graduation rate to 90 percent by the Class of 2020 and prepare young people for postsecondary enrollment and the 21st century workforce. www.AmericasPromise.org

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.

John Gomperts

http://www.profnetconnect.com/johng

Jonathan Zaff

http://www.profnetconnect.com/jonz

Contact: Daria Hall, 1-202-6570621

SOURCE America's Promise Alliance

Related Links

http://www.americaspromise.org


SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Edmunds, the leading car shopping and information platform, today announced a new Amazon Alexa Skill for voice-enabled access to Edmunds' expert automotive content. The new skill extends the wealth of Edmunds data beyond a computer or mobile device, creating a comprehensive source for automotive information in the Alexa Skills store and making it easier and more intuitive than ever to research and shop for the perfect car or keep tabs on a current vehicle.

"The freedom to simply ask questions to find relevant information about a vehicle is an invaluable asset, both in the short term when shopping for cars and on an ongoing basis once purchased," said Phil Potloff, Edmunds chief digital officer. "We love how tapping into the power and convenience of natural language with Alexa brings Edmunds content to life for our users and underscores our commitment to innovation that brings increased value for shoppers and owners."

Using Alexa, Amazon's cloud-based voice service, Edmunds' new Alexa Skill provides both high-level overviews and in-depth reviews of specific vehicles, including safety, driving and powertrain information. Alexa also answers questions about a wide variety of vehicle specifications, including miles per gallon, cargo space, horsepower, basic warranty information, etc. Curious if a new SUV will fit in the garage or have enough room for the whole family? Just ask Alexa for the exact dimensions or seating capacity.

Going beyond the research phase, the Edmunds Alexa Skill provides the MSRP for any vehicle and gives information on local inventory and current lease deals for shoppers ready to buy. Alexa also makes it easy for car owners to keep track of their current vehicle, including recall information and maintenance schedules. Car owners can ask Alexa what their car is worth and immediately learn the real-time Edmunds True Market Value for their car, or ask when their next oil change is due.

Edmunds' Alexa Skill will work with any Alexa-enabled device including Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets for multiple touchpoints throughout the home. The English-only skill is free and available now. To enable, go to the "skills" section of the Alexa app, search for Edmunds and click "enable," or simply say, "Alexa, enable Edmunds" to any Alexa-enabled device.

For more information regarding the Edmunds Alexa Skill, including a list of supported requests and intents, please visit https://www.edmunds.com/alexa/.

About Edmunds

Edmunds is the leading car information and shopping platform, helping millions of visitors each month find their perfect car. With products like Edmunds Your Price, Your Lease and Used+, shoppers can buy smarter with instant, upfront prices for cars and trucks currently for sale at more than 13,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Edmunds' in-house team of unbiased car shopping experts provide industry-leading vehicle reviews and shopping tips, as well as welcome all car shopping questions to the free Shopper Advice line at 1-855-782-4711, via email at [email protected], via text at ED411 and on Twitter and Facebook. The company is regarded as one of America's best workplaces by Fortune and Great Places to Work. Edmunds is based in Santa Monica, California, and has a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Michigan.

Contact:

Leah Polk

Edmunds Public Relations

Edmunds.com

Media Hotline: 310-309-4900

[email protected]

SOURCE Edmunds

Related Links

http://www.edmunds.com


The growth in membership coincides with the introduction of traditional "tapping" ceremonies when eligible students are "tapped" or invited to join Beta Gamma Sigma. The ceremonies are carried out by Martin Markowitz, senior associate dean of Rutgers Business School-New Brunswick and Helen Pensavalle and Michelle Tomitz of the undergraduate student services staff.

"Becoming the Beta Gamma Sigma Gold Chapter brings recognition to our students and our program excellence," Markowitz said. "The students in our chapter not only demonstrate superior academic skills but also exhibit enthusiasm to help others."

Beta Gamma Sigma is open to students whose academic performance puts them in the top 10 percent of their class. Membership in the honor society is considered the highest recognition business students anywhere in the world can receive for their academic achievements.

"This is a huge accomplishment for the New Brunswick chapter," Pensavalle said. "It is a reflection of the hard work, devotion and determination put forth by the BGS student board members and all involved."

"In the past few years, we find that students are working harder to make the top 10 percent so they can be invited to join. It's a win-win situation," she said. "Our students continue to amaze me. No matter how high you raise the bar, they don't give up, they just reach higher."

The Gold Chapter Award reflects the strong membership at Rutgers Business School as well as the community service events performed by students in the chapter. Pensavalle said students perform two community service events a year. In 2016, the chapter held a fund-raiser on Rutgers Day to benefit The Make-a-Wish Foundation for children with life-threatening illnesses.

"We have worked to create a scholarly identity among our members by providing ceremonial, community service, social, and school-wide support activities in which our BGS members could participate," Markowitz said. "We are very proud of our students' accomplishments."

In addition to being recognized as the top chapter in the world by Beta Gamma Sigma, Rutgers Business School will receive a $1,500 scholarship to be awarded to one chapter member.

SOURCE Rutgers Business School

Related Links

http://www.business.rutgers.edu


DENVER, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Birner Dental Management Services, Inc. (OTCQX: BDMS), business services provider of PERFECT TEETH dental practices, announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. For the quarter ended March 31, 2017, revenue decreased $771,000, or 4.7%, to $15.7 million compared to $16.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016. The Company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation expense ("Adjusted EBITDA") decreased $227,000, or 22.7%, to $777,000. Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 increased $125,000 to $(225,000) compared to $(100,000) for the quarter ended March 31, 2016. Loss per share increased to $(0.12) for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 compared to $(0.05) for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Despite challenging comparisons of the quarter ended March 31, 2017 to the same quarter in 2016, the Company believes there are meaningful signs of progress. As previously reported, the Company believes much of the decline in revenue and Adjusted EBITDA has been driven by a decrease in the number of dentists in the network. The dentist count was 112 at March 31, 2016 and had declined to 98 at December 31, 2016. As a result of management's actions, the Company believes this trend is beginning to reverse as evidenced by the Company's increasing its dentist count to 102 at March 31, 2017. Furthermore, dentist productivity, as measured by daily revenue per practicing dentist, increased 8.3% in the first quarter of 2017 as compared to the first quarter of 2016. In addition, patient flow continues to be strong with new patient visits up 8.2% in the quarter ended March 31, 2017 versus the same quarter in 2016. As dentist count increases, management believes operating results will improve through increased revenue and Adjusted EBITDA.

During the quarter ended March 31, 2017, the Company had capital expenditures of $156,000 and decreased total bank debt outstanding by approximately $655,000. The Company was in compliance with its first quarter 2017 bank credit facility covenants, including the EBITDA covenant as a result of $104,000 of expenses related to the strategic assessment that commenced in the second quarter of 2016 and was discontinued in the first quarter of 2017, which the bank permitted the Company to add back to EBITDA.

The Company also announced that it has reached an agreement in principle, pending receipt of signatures, with a group of shareholders regarding a mutual settlement agreement to end a potential proxy contest related to the Company's upcoming annual meeting of shareholders. Under the terms of the pending settlement agreement, the Company will nominate John M. Climaco and Gregory G. Fulton for election to its board of directors at the 2017 annual meeting, along with incumbent director Brooks G. O'Neil. "The board and management team believe this settlement serves the best interests of the Company, its shareholders and employees," said Fred Birner, the Company's Chairman and CEO. "We welcome these new nominees to our board. We look forward to putting this matter behind us and to getting back to the business of growing the Company and building shareholder value." As part of the pending settlement agreement, the shareholder group has agreed to withdraw its proposals for the annual meeting and to vote in favor of the above slate of director nominees at the 2017 annual meeting. In addition, the shareholder group agrees to a standstill that generally extends until the later of the 2018 annual meeting of shareholders and the date neither Mr. Climaco nor Mr. Fulton serves on the board, except that the shareholder group may propose nominees for director for the 2018 annual meeting in accordance with the Company's bylaws.

Birner Dental Management Services, Inc. acquires, develops, and manages geographically dense dental practice networks in select markets in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. As of March 31, 2017, the Company managed 68 dental offices, of which 35 were acquired and 33 were de novo developments. The Company operates its dental offices under the PERFECT TEETH name.

The Company previously announced it would conduct a conference call to review results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. MT. In addition to current operating results, the teleconference may include discussion of management's expectations of future financial and operating results. To participate in this conference call, dial in to 1-888-471-3820 and refer to Confirmation Code 5570786 approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled time. If you are unable to join the conference call on May 11, 2017, the rebroadcast number is 1-888-203-1112 with the pass code of 5570786. This rebroadcast will be available through May 25, 2017.

Non-GAAP Disclosures

This press release includes a non-GAAP financial measure with respect to Adjusted EBITDA. Please see below for more information regarding Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the matters discussed herein may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. These include statements regarding the Company's prospects and performance in future periods, including improvement in operating results and dentist hiring, the amount of bank debt, compliance with debt covenants, performance of de novo offices, the payment or nonpayment of dividends, dentist count, dentist turnover and recruitment, dentist productivity, new patient visits and patient flow and the impact of certain shareholder matters. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These and other risks and uncertainties are set forth in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

For Further Information Contact:

Birner Dental Management Services, Inc.

Dennis Genty

Chief Financial Officer

(303) 691-0680

BIRNER DENTAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)



Quarters Ended





March 31,





2016

2017

REVENUE:









Dental practice revenue $ 15,366,543

$ 14,618,704



Capitation revenue 1,064,690

1,041,976





16,431,233

15,660,680













DIRECT EXPENSES:









Clinical salaries and benefits 9,870,950

9,466,299



Dental supplies 725,273

628,406



Laboratory fees 871,615

881,141



Occupancy 1,566,805

1,550,259



Advertising and marketing 158,870

169,904



Depreciation and amortization 1,020,091

964,802



General and administrative 1,403,210

1,263,626





15,616,814

14,924,437















Contribution from dental offices 814,419

736,243













CORPORATE EXPENSES:









General and administrative 876,906 (1) 959,458 (1)

Depreciation and amortization 62,799

46,084













OPERATING LOSS (125,286)

(269,299)



Interest expense, net 39,322

72,423













LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAXES (164,608)

(341,722)



Income tax benefit (64,198)

(116,663)













NET LOSS $ (100,410)

$ (225,059)















Net loss per share of Common Stock - Basic $ (0.05)

$ (0.12)















Net loss per share of Common Stock - Diluted $ (0.05)

$ (0.12)















Weighted average number of shares of Common Stock and dilutive securities:









Basic 1,860,482

1,860,261















Diluted 1,860,482

1,860,261















(1) Corporate expenses - general and administrative includes $46,707 and $35,236 of stock-based compensation expense pursuant to ASC Topic 718 for the quarters ended March 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

BIRNER DENTAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)



December 31,

March 31, ASSETS 2016

2017 CURRENT ASSETS:







Cash $ 157,923

$ 208,670

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of approximately $410,000 and $410,000, respectively 3,212,190

3,849,498

Note receivable 34,195

34,195

Prepaid expenses and other assets 759,749

735,400











Total current assets 4,164,057

4,827,763









PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, net 7,279,436

6,636,109









OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS:







Intangible assets, net 6,721,084

6,509,476

Deferred charges and other assets 155,741

163,991

Note receivable 31,051

23,358











Total assets $ 18,351,369

$ 18,160,697









LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY















CURRENT LIABILITIES:







Accounts payable $ 2,723,473

$ 2,861,371

Accrued expenses 925,776

1,074,744

Accrued payroll and related expenses 2,164,758

2,652,495

Income taxes payable -

122,042

Current maturities of long-term debt 2,500,000

3,284,195











Total current liabilities 8,314,007

9,994,847









LONG-TERM LIABILITIES:







Deferred tax liability, net 1,174,416

935,712

Long-term debt 7,351,006

5,912,112

Other long-term obligations 1,081,655

1,077,564











Total liabilities 17,921,084

17,920,235









SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY:







Preferred Stock, no par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding -

-

Common Stock, no par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized; 1,860,261 and 1,860,261 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 1,615,001

1,650,237

Accumulated deficit (1,184,716)

(1,409,775)











Total shareholders' equity 430,285

240,462











Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 18,351,369

$ 18,160,697

Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is not a U.S. generally accepted accounting principle ("GAAP") measure of performance or liquidity. However, the Company believes that it may be useful to an investor in evaluating the Company's ability to meet future debt service, capital expenditures and working capital requirements, and the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA for this purpose. Investors should not consider Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for operating income, cash flows from operating activities or any other measure for determining the Company's operating performance or liquidity that is calculated in accordance with GAAP. In addition, because Adjusted EBITDA is not calculated in accordance with GAAP, it may not necessarily be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss can be made by adding depreciation and amortization expense - offices, depreciation and amortization expense  Corporate, stock-based compensation expense, interest expense, net and income tax benefit to net loss as in the table below.









Quarters







Ended March 31,







2016

2017 RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDA:







Net loss ($100,410)

($225,059)

Add back:









Depreciation and amortization - Offices 1,020,091

964,802



Depreciation and amortization - Corporate 62,799

46,084



Stock-based compensation expense 46,707

35,236



Interest expense, net 39,323

72,423



Income tax benefit (64,198)

(116,663)









Adjusted EBITDA $1,004,312

$776,823















SOURCE Birner Dental Management Services, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.bdms-perfectteeth.com




11-10 03:40
NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg today announced the Global Business Forum, a gathering in New York of global business and government leaders to discuss plans for growth and opportunity around the world. The one-day event will occur in New York City on Wednesday, September 20th, 2017, in partnership with the Alibaba Group; Dangote Industries Limited; EXOR, the holding company controlled by the Agnelli family; and MiSK, the philanthropic foundation of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

The Global Business Forum will convene heads of state, government ministers, CEOs and NGOs in constructive conversations on global business, serving as a platform for business and government across large and emerging economies that are expected to work together to inspire and support economic prosperity. Attendees are expected to represent every region in the world and all major global economies.

"This is a critical moment for the world's economy. Recent events around the world have challenged the principles that have governed commerce for the past several decades. In transitional times like these, I believe business and government must work together to solve the issues affecting us all," said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and 108th Mayor of New York City.

Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, added: "Global trade has lifted hundreds of millions of people around the world out of poverty, but there's more that we can do. Alibaba is proud to partner with Bloomberg, Dangote Industries Limited, EXOR, and MiSK to help make globalization more inclusive, enabling young people, small businesses, and developing countries around the world to share in its benefits."

Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, stated: "As leaders across global business, it's critical that we come together to determine the future of the world's economic order and create an environment that reflects the new realities of globalization. We started this conversation at last year's U.S.-Africa Business Forum, and look forward to broadening the dialogue with Bloomberg, Alibaba Group, EXOR, and MiSK."

John Elkann, Chairman and CEO of EXOR, said: "These times of extraordinary political, cultural and technological change are also highly disruptive and unsettling for many. As long-term owners of major global businesses we at EXOR are optimistic about man's capacity to innovate to improve society for all. But this requires great clarity of vision and resolve. So we enthusiastically support the Global Business Forum that gathers leaders from many walks of life, from all around the world to identify smart, practical solutions to the great challenges of our time."

Bader Al Asaker, Secretary-General of the MiSK Foundation, said: "MiSK is a leading not-for-profit that develops practical programmes to empower our citizens to become active participants in the Saudi and wider global economy. We also work with global partners across the NGO, corporate and governmental sectors to help facilitate important forums such as these. Co-hosting this conference in New York will serve to strengthen global collaboration and the exchange of ideas on how to navigate the manifold challenges and opportunities in the rapidly changing global economy. We hope all participants will draw benefits from the event."

Topics for exploration include trade, the future of globalization and the emergence of new economic leadership on the global stage, the drivers of and threats to global growth, the role of business in a fragmented global economy, and minimizing global disruption from automation.

The event will occur at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Additional details about the program and participants will be announced at a future date.

SOURCE Bloomberg

Related Links

http://www.bloomberg.com


NASHUA, N.H., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadband Technology Report (http://www.btreport.net/index.html) is excited to announce the opening of the twelfth annual Diamond Technology Reviews program (https://diamondtechreviews.secure-platform.com/a/organizations/main/home). New this year, rather than merely rating each entry, BTR's panel of independent judges will determine finalists and winners in 16 categories (CPE, Wi-Fi Solutions, Cabling and Accessories, Active Network Hardware, FTTH/Optical Access Platforms, Video Distribution Solutions, Video Processing Solutions, CCAP Systems, SDN/NFV/Cloud, Optical Transport/Carrier Ethernet, Content Discovery, Back Office, Video Content Security, Monitoring & Analysis, Field Test Instruments, Network-Level Test Instruments). Winners will be announced October 18 at a reception during the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, CO.

Entries for the 2017 Diamond Technology Reviews are currently being accepted. The early-bird deadline for submissions is June 12. The final deadline is June 16.

"The Diamond Technology Reviews has always recognized innovation in technology for cable operator networks," said BTR Editorial Director, Stephen Hardy. "Our new format enables us to highlight advances in a wider variety of areas, as well as rewarding those companies whose work likely will have the greatest impact on our audience."

Submitted products must be new since last year's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo or have received a major upgrade since that time. Products introduced before or at last year's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo that have not been upgraded significantly in the past year are not eligible for submission.

The 2016 Reviews recognized the work of nearly 30 industry leaders, whose entries received a score of at least 3.5 Diamonds on a scale of 1 to 5 from the DTR panel of judges (https://diamondtechreviews.secure-platform.com/a/page/prevhonorees). This year, entries that receive a score of at least 3.5 Diamonds will attain Finalist status in their respective categories. The highest scoring product in each category will be declared that category's Winner at the reception October 18.

The judging panel will consist of executives from cable operators, well-known industry consultants, and other thought leaders within the cable community. The names of the 2017 panel members will not be released prior to the review process in the interest of maintaining the full independent integrity of the ranking process.

About Broadband Technology Report

Broadband Technology Report (BTR), is the cable and telecom industry's premier source for product and technology news, and is the most successful and fastest growing online outlet for product information and deployments; reviews and rankings; technology expertise; and buyer/seller facilitation. BTR's portfolio includes online, print and video assets, all designed to help network operators build, upgrade and maintain high-performance communications networks. BTR, backed by more than 70 years of combined industry experience, delivers its email, online, print and video production services to decision makers at MSOs, Independent Operators and Service Providers. If you are interested in subscribing, consult btreport.net/subscribe.html.

About PennWell

PennWell Corporation is a privately held and highly diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, water and wastewater treatment, waste management, electronics, cabling and broadband, optoelectronics, fiber-optics, aerospace and avionics, LEDs and lighting, fire and emergency services, public safety, and dental. PennWell publishes over 130 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; London, England; Houston, Texas; San Diego, California; Fairlawn, New Jersey; Moscow, Russia; and Hong Kong, China. For additional information about PennWell Corporation, visit www.pennwell.com.

Contact: Joni Montemagno

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 603.891.9110

SOURCE PennWell Corporation

Related Links

http://www.pennwell.com


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, May 25, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. at the Sofitel Hotel, 45 West 44th Street, New York, New York. The record date for determining shareholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual General Meeting and at any subsequent adjournments or postponements of the meeting was March 30, 2017.

For those unable to attend in person, the slide presentation given by Soren Schroder, Bunge's Chief Executive Officer, will be available at or prior to 10:00 a.m. on May 25, 2017 on the company's website, www.bunge.com.

About Bunge Limited

Bunge Limited (www.bunge.com, NYSE: BG) is a leading global agribusiness and food company operating in over 40 countries with approximately 32,000 employees. Bunge buys, sells, stores and transports oilseeds and grains to serve customers worldwide; processes oilseeds to make protein meal for animal feed and edible oil products for commercial customers and consumers; produces sugar and ethanol from sugarcane; mills wheat, corn and rice to make ingredients used by food companies; and sells fertilizer in South America. Founded in 1818, the company is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations and projections about our future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. We have tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words including "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "continue" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. The following important factors, among others, could affect our business and financial performance: industry conditions, including fluctuations in supply, demand and prices for agricultural commodities and other raw materials and products used in our business; fluctuations in energy and freight costs and competitive developments in our industries; the effects of weather conditions and the outbreak of crop and animal disease on our business; global and regional agricultural, economic, financial and commodities market, political, social and health conditions; the outcome of pending regulatory and legal proceedings; our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic alliances; our ability to achieve the efficiencies, savings and other benefits anticipated from our cost reduction, margin improvement and other business optimization initiatives; changes in government policies, laws and regulations affecting our business, including agricultural and trade policies, tax regulations and biofuels legislation; and other factors affecting our business generally. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and except as otherwise required by federal securities law, we do not have any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Bunge Limited

Related Links

http://www.bunge.com


KIEV, Ukraine, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

International Energy Group Burisma addressed a procurement seminar on Ukraine at the 48th international oil & gas conference and exhibition at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) held in Houston, Texas.

Ten members of the Burisma team attended the conference.

The OTC 2017 featured a special procurement seminar on Ukraine organized by the U.S. Commercial Service in Ukraine, with support from Burisma Group. The event brought together representatives of Ukrainian and foreign oil & gas producers, embassies, NGOs and industry experts to address Ukraine's gas market future, business challenges and opportunities. Among key speakers at the seminar were the Senior Commercial Officer of the U.S. Commercial Service in Ukraine Jim Lindley, the Senior Oil and Gas Sector Specialist Myroslava Myrtsalo, the CEO of Ukrgazvydobuvannia Oleg Prokhorenko and the Advisor to the Board of Directors at Burisma Group Vadym Pozharskyi.

In his address entitled 'Private gas production as a key to ensuring national energy security and independence', Vadym Pozharskyi, Advisor to the Board of the Burisma Group, focused on the need to boost Ukraine's domestic gas production. He talked about new ways to increase gas output, the importance of cooperation with the public sector and Burisma's state-of-the-art technology and oil and gas services.

"Based on our 2017 corporate program, we will be investing circa UAH 3 billion in exploration and production. We are proud to produce billions of cubic meters of gas and contribute billions of hryvnias to the state budget of Ukraine. The huge advantage of the OTC for Ukraine is that it offers latest technologies allowing us to ramp up Ukraine's domestic gas production," Vadym Pozharskyi explained.

The address also discussed how Ukraine offers an attractive investment environment and growth opportunities to oil and gas and service companies. It also recognised the effort and progress the country has made.

In May, Burisma Group will be introducing the largest drilling rig in Ukraine. Vadym Pozharskyi extended an invitation to all participants of the OTC 2017 seminar on Ukraine to attend the event.

For more detailed information please contact our press-centre: [email protected]

About the OTC

Founded in 1969, the OTC is one of the key oil and gas industry events focused on offshore exploration, drilling and production. The NRG Park hosted over 2,300 companies from 100 countries that brought their projects and technologies. This year, the tradeshow attracted a record number of attendees - over 90,000 traders, managers, businessmen, engineers and scientists. The OTC is ranked among 200 largest tradeshows held annually in the United States and is among 10 largest gatherings in terms of attendance.

About Burisma

Burisma Group is an independent oil and gas company operating in Ukraine. Since its launch in 2002, the Company has rapidly become one of the largest independent gas producers in the country. Burisma has been engaged in oil and gas exploration and production for more than 10 years. The core business is located in Ukraine, where the Group is the largest independent natural gas producer. Burisma is a market leader with annualized natural gas production circa 1,1 BCM and over 30% market share. Burisma is seeking for opportunities to expand its portfolio to other countries. Burisma has a state-of-the-art equipment and many years of experience to provide best services for oil and gas companies around the world.

#EnergySecurityUkraine

For more information, please visit http://burisma.com/en/

SOURCE Burisma
BALTIMORE, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Business Network For Offshore Wind, the leader in building the U.S. offshore wind supply chain, commends the Maryland Public Service Commission for awarding financing for two offshore wind projects. The Maryland Public Service Commission's (MD PSC) approval and financing of US Wind and Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC's combined 368 MW projects solidify offshore wind as a US industry.

Maryland has more than 800 businesses working in and around Baltimore's ports many of which have potential to provide support for scaling the U.S. offshore wind industry. With the approval of these offshore wind projects and the conditions set forth by the MD PSC on the developers to invest millions of dollars in port infrastructure and steel fabrication, these businesses can start to gain offshore wind experience and a strong market position in other US offshore wind projects. In addition, the economic impact of these projects will be dispersed from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore.

"Maryland no longer stands at the doorstep of ushering in this new industry; it has stepped over the threshold. The award of these projects is the launching point for great economic growth for Maryland: its businesses, and its citizens. Maryland continues to lead--achieving the first commercial scale offshore wind projects in the United States, as well as reaping the environmental benefits of this large- scale, clean, renewable energy", said Liz Burdock, Executive Director of the Business Network For Offshore Wind.

Offshore wind was first introduced to Marylanders in 2008. Legislative bills were written and presented to the Maryland legislators for three years commencing in 2010. The Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act was passed in 2013 and promptly signed into law before the present developers was even considering the lease opportunities. Many, many people, from within state agencies, legislators, businesses, foundations, environment groups, academics, religious groups, health centers and citizens have all contributed to make this a historic day.

SOURCE Business Network For Offshore Wind

Related Links

http://www.bizmdosw.org/


SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Supreme Court has rebuffed an assault by Mercury Casualty Co., State Farm, Allstate, Farmers and other insurance companies on Proposition 103, the landmark insurance reform law that has saved California consumers over $100 billion since voters passed it in 1988. The Court let stand a lower court ruling that upheld a $16 million reduction in the homeowners rates charged by Mercury.

Proposition 103 requires insurance companies to open their books and justify their rates before they go into effect. Regulations bar insurance companies from charging excessive rates and passing through unjustified expenses to policyholders. And the law allows consumers to challenge applications for excessive rates.

In 2009, Consumer Watchdog challenged a request by Mercury that it raise its homeowners rates by 8%. Consumer Watchdog discovered that Mercury was trying to sneak into its rate increase nearly a million dollars' worth of political contributions and lobbying expenses. The company also wanted to make its policyholders pay for non-insurance related advertising expenses. After years of legal maneuvering by Mercury, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones in 2013 ordered Mercury to lower its overall homeowner's rates by 5.4%.

Mercury and other insurers then sued in Sacramento Superior Court, arguing that they should be free to charge whatever their executives say they need and that the rules violated their constitutional rights to a fair profit and freedom of speech.

The high court order, issued late Wednesday afternoon, let stand a lengthy decision by the Court of Appeal in Sacramento last February that rejected the insurance industry's arguments as "hocus pocus" and "smoke and mirrors  nothing more."

Consumer advocates hailed the Supreme Court's action but noted that the Mercury lawsuit is merely the latest in a coordinated industry strategy targeting Proposition 103 in the judicial branch. Last November, State Farm filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court, challenging an order that it lower its homeowner, condo, and renters insurance rates by 7% - a savings of about $78.6 million per year for State Farm's 1.7 million customers  and pay an estimated $100 million plus interest in refunds for past overcharges. State Farm is raising arguments similar to those rejected by the Court of Appeal decision in the Mercury case. A hearing on State Farm's lawsuit is expected later this year.

And in another case currently before the Court of Appeal in Orange County, Mercury is seeking to evade a $27 million fine for overcharging its customers.

"By refusing to hear their appeal, the California Supreme Court has left intact more than $16 million in rate reductions for Mercury policyholders. But more importantly, the courts are safeguarding the voters' decision to create a system of rate regulation that is the strongest in the nation and that has saved California motorists alone over $100 billion since the measure passed  approximately $8,000 for every family in California," said Pamela Pressley, Consumer Watchdog's lead attorney in the case.

"The California insurance industry is inundating the courts with a continuous barrage of frivolous lawsuits trying to win from the judicial branch what the companies lost at the ballot box nearly three decades ago when they spent $63 million trying to defeat Prop 103," said Harvey Rosenfield, the author of Proposition 103.

Consumer Watchdog is a non-profit, non-partisan citizen organization. The organization has saved California consumers $3.3 billion over the last fifteen years by challenging excessive and unfair auto, home, business and medical malpractice rates.

Read about the February 10, 2017 Court of Appeal decision rejecting the insurance industry's challenge to the Proposition 103 regulations.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/newsrelease/court-appeal-rejects-insurance-industry-challenge-prop-103-insurance-rate-protections

Read Consumer Watchdog's brief urging the Supreme Court not to review the Court of Appeal decision.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/resources/2017-04-10_5_cwd_combined_answer_to_petitions_for_review.pdf

Read about State Farm's lawsuit in San Diego to avoid $256 million in refunds and rate savings for consumers.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/newsrelease/state-farm-sues-avoid-256-million-refunds-and-rate-savings-consumers

Read about the CFA report on Proposition 103 and link to it here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/blog/100-billion-win

Read more about Proposition 103 here.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/focusarea/prop-103-california-insurance-reform

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Related Links

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org


WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Adileen Sii, 18, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., has been named the Central Region Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for her leadership in the fight against tobacco. Adileen was honored Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Adileen has advocated for inclusion of e-cigarettes in Wisconsin's smoke-free law and testified before the Wisconsin Legislature to support funding for the state's tobacco prevention program. She also met with members of Congress to support U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation of all tobacco products. A senior at Lincoln High School, Adileen will attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall.

"We are thrilled to honor Adileen as our Central Region Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like Adileen are standing up to the tobacco industry, inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free and encouraging elected officials to take action. They are helping create the first tobacco-free generation."

Over 400 public health, business, civic and political leaders attended the Youth Advocates of the Year awards ceremony to recognize Adileen and other youth advocates from across the country. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 6 million people worldwide each year.

In Wisconsin, tobacco use claims 7,900 lives and costs over $2.6 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 8.1 percent of Wisconsin's high school students smoke and 13.3 percent use e-cigarettes.

Additional information about the youth award winners and tobacco's toll can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nicolas Suarez, 17, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., has been named the South Region Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for his leadership in the fight against tobacco. Nicolas was honored Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Nicolas is active with Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) and works to educate his peers about the harmful consequences of tobacco use. Nicolas also advocates in Port St. Lucie for policies to reduce tobacco use. Last November, he worked with the City Council to raise visibility for the Great American Smokeout, a day that encourages smokers to quit. A senior at Lincoln Park Academy, Nicolas will attend Boston University this fall.

"We are thrilled to honor Nicolas as our South Region Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like Nicolas are standing up to the tobacco industry, inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free and encouraging elected officials to take action. They are helping create the first tobacco-free generation."

Over 400 public health, business, civic and political leaders attended the Youth Advocates of the Year awards ceremony to recognize Nicolas and other youth advocates from across the country. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 6 million people worldwide each year.

In Florida, tobacco use claims over 32,000 lives and costs $8.6 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 5.2 percent of Florida's high school students smoke and 18 percent use e-cigarettes.

Additional information about the youth award winners, gala and tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tyra Nicolay, 17, of Shiprock, N.M., has been named the West Region Youth Advocate of the Year for the second consecutive year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tyra was honored for her leadership in the fight against tobacco Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Tyra used e-cigarettes as a high school freshman, lured by candy flavors and unaware of potential health effects. After learning about nicotine addiction and how e-cigarettes are marketed to entice kids, Tyra joined youth advocacy group Evolvement New Mexico and became an advocate against all tobacco use. In December, Tyra shared her story nationally when she introduced then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy at the release of the first Surgeon General's report on e-cigarettes and youth. Tyra also works to reduce tobacco use in the Navajo Nation, partnering with council members to increase the price of tobacco products and raise the tobacco sale age to 21. A senior at Navajo Preparatory School, Tyra will attend Stanford University this fall.

"We are thrilled to again honor Tyra as our West Region Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like Tyra are standing up to the tobacco industry, inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free and encouraging elected officials to take action. They are helping create the first tobacco-free generation."

Over 400 public health, business, civic and political leaders attended the Youth Advocates of the Year awards ceremony to recognize Tyra and other youth advocates from across the country. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 6 million people worldwide each year.

In New Mexico, tobacco use claims 2,600 lives and costs $844 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 11.4 percent of New Mexico's high school students smoke and 24 percent use e-cigarettes.

Additional information about the youth award winners and the toll of tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


DENVER, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CareerToolKit.com is now offering a free career assessment test. Consisting of 53 easy to answer questions, the test helps users uncover their interests based on skills, traits, values and more. The career assessment test is available on the homepage of www.CareerToolKit.com.

Founded in Spring 2016, CareerToolKit.com started with one goal in mind: to help people begin life's next big adventure by finding the right job for them. The business gives insight into a wide range of different careers and jobs so users can learn about high-paying jobs in an industry that they are actually interested in. "No one wants to jump through all the hoops to get a certain job only to find out it's not what they actually like," says Founder Lisa Parmley. "That's where the career assessment could help someone from following the wrong career path."

The career assessment test was developed by analyzing about 300 careers and sorting them into 26 different categories. The categories are divided by aspects such as transportation, writing, art, and more. From there, common characteristics of each industry were examined and made into questions.

At the end of the test assessment, users will be brought to a results page that ranks all the industries based on the answers given. From this page, users can go to the industry pages that they ranked highest in and read more about the different jobs in that industry. This information includes information like career profiles, which give an in-depth look into a specific career opportunity.

"I really like the assessment. I'm having it added to my web page. I like the way the assessment is structured. It was helpful to find out what fields I would be most compatible with based on my answers. It was actually quite accurate for me." Desna Toliver, Assistant Director at Career Services Central Georgia Technical College

CareerToolKit.com is taking a unique approach to helping users find the right path for their life by pointing them in the direction of certain industries as opposed to a specific career. "We don't want to tell you that you should take this specific career and therefore limit yourself to other possibilities and opportunities," says Founder Lisa Parmley. "We want to point you in the right direction and then give you all the tools and information you need to make an informed decision based on what you want."





Media Contact:

Lisa Parmley

303-549-2194

[email protected]

SOURCE CareerToolkit.com

Related Links

http://www.CareerToolKit.com


CL Global join hands with Chinese education practitioners in attending this key annual conference

BOSTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2017 China Education Symposium Annual Conference was held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts from April 29 to 30, 2017. CL Global joined a delegation of education practitioners from China's top universities who participated in the conference, where they actively promoted the exploration into and the sharing of international educational resources and joined in discussions focused on trending educational topics, in a move to drive the development of China's World-class Universities and First-class Disciplines program, a government initiative to elevate the quality of education at China's universities and colleges.

At its seventh year, the China Education Symposium chose as this year's theme Opportunity and Innovation  Exploring the Growing Diversity of China's Educational Practices. More than 50 leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers from around the world gathered together to share their knowledge and expertise. Participants joined in six panel discussions: Education System Reform, Education Technology and Big Data, STEAM Education, Rural Education, Education Reform, and Early Childhood Education. The more than 300 guests and participants in this year's event also included professors and students from Harvard, MIT and other top US universities as well as academics and education practitioners from China.

CL Global was invited to jointly explore and drive the future development of the Chinese education sector

CL Global has been committed to promoting the exchange of quality education and research resources between China and Europe as well as between China and the U.S. This year, as a China Education Symposium partner, the company invited a number of education practitioners from China's top universities to attend the symposium, and coordinated the communication and dialog between the invited guests and several of the US's leading educational institutions, among them, Harvard University and Boston University. During the two day period, CL Global led a series of campus visits and hosted several project communications events as part of gaining an in-depth knowledge of the educational resources in the United States, understanding the relative merits of leading US-based universities and colleges as well as promoting further exchanges and dialogs, in a move to develop and drive the adoption of a set of best practices for Chinese education.

CL Global drives the development of global learning

CL Global is an international education platform providing educational services worldwide, including courses on global academic best practices, as well as provision of overseas on-the-scene learning experiences, international teaching research and a cloud terminal data management platform, to more than 100 universities and educational institutions around the world.

At the China Education Symposium 2017, education practitioners discussed and exchanged their research results with the goal of expanding the scope of future research while promoting the continuation of collaboration on ideas and communication between educators from China and other countries, laying a good foundation for further academic exchanges and cooperation. These efforts fully demonstrated CL Global's determination in driving the development of China's World-class Universities and First-class Disciplines program by connecting with the world's higher education resources.

SOURCE CL Global
-- Company to Hold Conference Call on May 30 at 8:00 a.m. E.T. --

BEIJING, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China New Borun Corporation (NYSE: BORN) ("Borun" or the "Company"), a leading producer and distributor of corn-based edible alcohol in China, today announced that it plans to release its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, after the market closes on May 29, 2017.

Borun's management will hold a corresponding earnings conference call and live webcast at 8:00 a.m. E.T. on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 (9:00 p.m. Beijing time on Tuesday, May 30, 2017) to discuss the results and highlights from the first quarter 2017 and answer questions from investors. A webcast of the call will be available at http://ir.chinanewborun.com. Listeners may access the call by dialing:

United States Toll Free: 1-866-519-4004 US Toll/International: 1-845-675-0437 Hong Kong Toll Free: 800-906-601 Hong Kong Toll: 852-3018-6771 China Toll: 800-819-0121 China Toll (Mobile): 400-620-8038 Conference ID: 21993671

A replay of the webcast will be accessible through June 7, 2017 on http://ir.chinanewborun.com or by dialing:

United States toll free: 1-855-452-5696 International: 61-2-8199-0299 Passcode 21993671

About China New Borun Corporation

China New Borun Corporation (NYSE: BORN) is a leading producer and distributor of corn-based edible alcohol

sold as an ingredient to producers of baijiu, a popular grain-based alcoholic beverage in China. The Company also produces DDGS Feed, liquid carbon dioxide and crude corn oil as by-products of edible alcohol production, and chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) that is widely used in chemical industries. China New Borun is based in Shouguang, Shandong Province. Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.chinanewborun.com and in documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

Contact Information

Asia Bridge Capital Limited

Wendy Sun

Phone: +86-10-8556-9033 (China)

+1-888-870-0798 (U.S.)

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE China New Borun Corporation

Related Links

http://www.chinanewborun.com


SHANGHAI, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China Rapid Finance Limited ("China Rapid Finance") (NYSE:XRF) today announced that the underwriters of its previously announced initial public offering have exercised in full the option to purchase an additional 1,500,000 American depositary shares ("ADSs") from China Rapid Finance to cover over-allotments.

Each ADS represents one Class A ordinary share of China Rapid Finance and was sold at the initial public offering price of US$6.00 per ADS. Including the underwriters' full exercise of the over-allotment option, China Rapid Finance's offering size is a total of approximately US$69.0 million in the initial public offering.

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Jefferies LLC acted as joint bookrunners for the offering.

A registration statement relating to the securities being sold in this offering was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 27, 2017. This offering is being made only by means of a written prospectus forming part of the effective registration statement. A copy of the final prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained, when available, by contacting the prospectus department at Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc at Room 214, 2nd Floor, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY, 10014, by telephone at 1-917-606-8487 or by emailing [email protected]; Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC at One Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010, United States, attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at 1-800-221-1037 or by emailing [email protected]; or Jefferies LLC at 520 Madison Ave., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at 1-877-547-6340 or by emailing [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About China Rapid Finance

China Rapid Finance operates one of China's largest consumer lending marketplaces in terms of total number of loans, having facilitated approximately 15 million loans to approximately 2 million borrowers at significantly lower borrowing costs than many of its competitors.

Investor Relations:

China Rapid Finance Limited

Sean Zhang

Tel: +1 (646) 308-1635

Email: [email protected]

ICR, Inc.

Xueli Song

Tel: +1 (646) 308-1635

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE China Rapid Finance
Churches, organizations and individuals interested in hosting the Harvest America outreach in their community can find more information at www.HarvestAmerica.com/host-the-simulcast . Last year, the Harvest America event simulcast was hosted in 2,000 churches and 5,000 homes. The actual process for hosting is free, simple, and meaningful, and allows people across the country to be part of the largest event of its kind anywhere. A complete list of Harvest America 2017 satellite sites is available at www.HarvestAmerica.com/find-an-event .

"Participating in the Harvest America outreach over the past few years has made a difference in our church and community as we've seen lives transformed by the message of the Gospel presented by Greg Laurie," said Pastor Bob Grenier of Calvary Chapel Visalia in Visalia, Calif. "Hosting Harvest America is as easy as opening up your church or inviting friends into your homethe two hours you spend taking part in this excellent outreach could impact lives for eternity."

Harvest America 2017 will feature a message from pastor, author, and evangelist Greg Laurie and music from top name artists including NEEDTOBREATHE, MercyMe, Trip Lee, and Phil Wickham. With a trademark ability to present a clear gospel message in a culturally relevant format, drawing on the latest in current events, contemporary Christian music, and technology, Greg Laurie has been called the "evangelist of the future" by Billy Graham. Laurie's talks encompass topics that appeal to people of any age and answer questions like: Why am I here? Is God real? What happens when I die?

Harvest America 2017 will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.HarvestAmerica.com, and "behind the scenes" updates about Harvest America 2017 will be posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (or search #HarvestAmerica). Additionally, this year Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) will broadcast Harvest America live for the first time on its global family of networks which spans 174 countries and has a potential reach of 1 billion people.

Founded in 1990 by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside and Irvine, Calif., and Maui, Hawaii, Harvest Crusade events have been attended by more than 7.6 million people worldwide, both in-person and via live Internet broadcasts. In 2012, a new nationwide simulcast called Harvest America was born, expanding the reach of the gospel even further. The 2016 Harvest America event, held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, was live streamed to more than 7,200 remote host locations and drew a combined 357,000 participants, making it the largest one-day live evangelistic event in American history.

For more information about Harvest America, call 1-800-278-7233 or go to www.harvestamerica.com.

SOURCE Harvest America

Related Links

http://www.HarvestAmerica.com


SAN DIEGO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Family-owned Colepepper Services, a San Diego-based BBB A-rated plumbing, heating and cooling company, has earned the home service industry's coveted Angie's List Super Service Award, reflecting an exemplary year of customer service to members of the local services marketplace and consumer review site in 2016.

Every year, Angie's List gives the SSA to the top A-rated companies in their category, within their market. While Angie's List may give the award, customer and member reviews are what determine the winners. These submissions let Angie's List know which companies provide excellent service, and a company must have a minimum number of reviews to qualify.

"Winning this award is a reflection of our team's hard work and commitment to serving our customers every day," said Mitch Kenney, co-owner of Colepepper Services. "Being recognized for our efforts is a great achievement and we're committed to continuing this excellent service for our customers!"

Service company ratings are updated daily on Angie's List as new, verified consumer reviews are submitted. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in areas ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality.

"Companies that can meet higher demands without missing a beat in their exemplary performance standards truly do stand apart from their peers," said Angie's List Founder Angie Hicks. "Only a fraction of the plumbing companies in the San Diego were able to do it.

For more than 21 years, Angie's List restricted access to its verified reviews to consumers who paid membership fees. When the company removed that barrier, some companies worried that the new, non-paying members would not be as engaged as members of the past. Experience has shown, however, that these newly added members are just as engaged  across all age groups  as prior members. Also, because the company continues to adhere to its review verification process, there has been no degradation of review quality.

Colepepper Services offers free estimates and emergency services, 24/7. To find out more, visit www.colepepperservices.com or call 1-619-838-1322.

About Angie's List

Angie's List helps facilitate happy transactions between more than 4.5 million consumers nationwide and its collection of highly rated service providers in more than 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. Built on a foundation of more than 10 million verified reviews of local service, Angie's List connects consumers directly to its online marketplace of services from member-reviewed providers, and offers unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals.

About Colepepper Services

Colepepper Services, rated A by the Better Business Bureau, is a third generation family-owned and operated plumbing, heating and cooling business serving San Diego and surrounding areas. Backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee, Colepepper offers plumbing, drain and sewer repair, toilet repair, water filtration, and gas leak detection. Colepepper Services has been awarded Best Plumbers in San Diego by Expertise, the Super Service Award by Angie's List, and Top Rated Elite Service Provider for HomeAdvisor. For more information, call 619-838-1322 or visit http://www.colepepperplumbing.com/.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

President, Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE Colepepper Services

Related Links

http://www.colepepperservices.com


"I am very pleased to be in Georgia today to celebrate the opening of this new plant, its state-of-the art manufacturing capability and world-class team that is committed to work in partnership with our automotive customers," said Paul Warton, President of Constellium's Automotive Structures & Industry business unit. "Being closer to our customers' assembly plants will allow us to better serve automakers in their mission to make vehicles lighter and safer and to respond to the industry's growing demand for aluminium structural parts."

"On behalf of Constellium, I would like to extend our gratitude to the State of Georgia, Bartow County, our local partners and employees for their strong support in establishing the White, Georgia, plant," commented Eric Krepps, Vice President and General Manager of Constellium Automotive Structures North America. "We are honored to be part of your community."

Aluminium is a material of choice in the automotive industry to reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel economy and lower emissions, and increase safety. Our advanced solutions help automakers achieve these goals across the globe.

About Constellium

Constellium (NYSE and Euronext Paris: CSTM) is a global sector leader that develops innovative, value added aluminium products for a broad scope of markets and applications, including aerospace, automotive and packaging. Constellium generated 4.7 billion of revenue in 2016.

www.constellium.com

Forward Looking Statement

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release may contain "forward looking statements" with respect to our business, results of operations and financial condition, and our expectations or beliefs concerning future events and conditions. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as, but not limited to, "believes," "expects," "may," "should," "approximately," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "targets," likely," "will," "would," "could" and similar expressions (or the negative of these terminologies or expressions). All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Many risks and uncertainties are inherent in our industry and markets. Others are more specific to our business and operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of Constellium and Wise Metals to achieve expected synergies and the timing thereof; Constellium's increased levels of indebtedness, which could limit Constellium's operating flexibility and opportunities; the potential failure to retain key employees, the loss of customers, suppliers and other business relationships slower or lower than expected growth in the North American market for Body-in-White aluminium rolled products, and other risk factors set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and as described from time to time in subsequent reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The occurrence of the events described and the achievement of the expected results depend on many events, some or all of which are not predictable or within our control. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE Constellium

Related Links

http://www.constellium.com


JACKSON, Mich., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers Energy has been named Michigan's best employer in a new ranking from Forbes magazine of the best places in America to work.

Consumers Energy ranked 62nd overall in Forbes's list of America's 500 best employers, a comprehensive list of companies from all industries across the nation. The publication's third annual ranking is based on anonymous surveys of almost 30,000 American workers who were asked questions that included how likely they were to recommend their employer to friends or family.

"Employees who are satisfied in their work are the bedrock of our company's triple bottom line commitment to people, planet and profits," said Patti Poppe, Consumers Energy's president and chief executive officer. "We are gratified that our own employees recommend Consumers Energy as a place that's great to work, and are proud to have a workplace culture that supports rewarding careers and world-class service to our customers."

Consumers Energy has undertaken various efforts to create a strong, vibrant workplace. The company supports resource groups for employees of different backgrounds and last year was recognized as a silver level Veteran-Friendly Employer by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.

"We have worked hard in recent years to listen to our employees and use their ideas to make our company stronger," said Cathy Hendrian, Consumers Energy's senior vice president of human resources. "We measure our performance in terms of employees' benefits, productivity and morale against our peers and against employers outside our industry to make sure we're attracting and retaining the best and brightest people to serve our state."

In addition, Consumers Energy and employees supported a successful effort in the company's hometown of Jackson to develop a citywide non-discrimination ordinance. The Jackson City Council approved the legislation in February.

Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

For more information about Consumers Energy, go to www.ConsumersEnergy.com.

Media toolkit

READ THE STORY: Read Forbes magazine's story about America's best employers and see its complete rankings: www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2017/05/09/americas-best-employers-2017

Check out Consumers Energy on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consumersenergymichigan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/consumersenergy

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/consumersenergy

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/consumersenergy

SOURCE Consumers Energy

Related Links

http://www.consumersenergy.com


NORTH CANTON, Ohio, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE: DBD), a global leader in enabling connected commerce across the financial and retail industries, announced today that Andy W. Mattes, president and chief executive officer, will participate in the 45th Annual J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference at The Westin Copley Place in Boston, Mass. Mattes will discuss the company's "Connected Commerce" strategy and its transformational DN2020 program. He will also be available to meet with institutional investors.

His presentation will begin at 11:20 a.m. ET on Monday, May 22, 2017. A live audio webcast of the event can be accessed on Diebold Nixdorf's investor relations website, http://investors.dieboldnixdorf.com/. A replay of the broadcast will also be available on this site.

About Diebold Nixdorf

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD), is a world leader in enabling connected commerce for millions of consumers each day across the financial and retail industries. Its software-defined solutions bridge the physical and digital worlds of cash and consumer transactions conveniently, securely and efficiently. As an innovation partner for nearly all of the world's top 100 financial institutions and a majority of the top 25 global retailers, Diebold Nixdorf delivers unparalleled services and technology that are essential to evolve in an 'always on' and changing consumer landscape.

Diebold Nixdorf has a presence in more than 130 countries with approximately 24,000 employees worldwide. The organization maintains corporate offices in North Canton, Ohio, USA and Paderborn, Germany. Visit www.DieboldNixdorf.com for more information.

SOURCE Diebold Nixdorf

Related Links

http://www.DieboldNixdorf.com


HOUSTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DNAtrix, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing oncolytic viruses for cancer, today announced a podium presentation on the use of DNAtrix's oncolytic myxoma virus for treatment-resistant cancer at the upcoming 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) in Washington, DC.

Grant McFadden, PhD, Director of the Biodesign Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy at Arizona State University, will present his pre-clinical results showing that ex vivo treatment of stem cells with myxoma virus prior to transplantation efficiently eliminates residual chemotherapy-resistant myeloma cells that remain in the transplant recipient.

Myxoma virus is an oncolytic poxvirus with the ability to selectively kill cancer cells without infecting or perturbing normal cells. More importantly, it can exploit T-cells and other white blood cells as virus "carriers," which can be systemically delivered to target and destroy tumors.

"This report by Dr. McFadden represents years of research to uncover the remarkable cancer-targeting properties of this virus," said Frank Tufaro, PhD, CEO of DNAtrix. "It appears that myxoma virus could be especially effective in combination with T-cell-based therapies, such as CAR-T therapy and stem cell transplantation."

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Title: The Next Steps for Oncolytic Viral Therapies

Session: 305 - Designing the Next Generation of Viral Vectors

Presenter: Grant McFadden, PhD

Date: May 12, 2017, 9:10 - 9:45 am

About DNAtrix

DNAtrix is a privately held, clinical stage, biotechnology company developing virus-driven immunotherapies for cancer. DNAtrix's lead product, DNX-2401, is a conditionally replicative oncolytic adenovirus being evaluated in clinical trials for recurrent glioblastoma, a brain cancer for which there is neither a cure nor adequate treatment. The company is backed by Morningside Ventures and Mercury Fund, and has been awarded a grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). For more information, please visit the company website at www.dnatrix.com.

Contact

DNAtrix

Imran Alibhai, Ph.D.

S.V.P. Business Development

[email protected]

SOURCE DNAtrix

Related Links

http://www.dnatrix.com


YPSILANTI, Mich., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Clinical Research Administration graduate program at Eastern Michigan University has been ranked number one in the nation by a prominent website  The Healthcare Management Degree Guide  that rates health care degrees from various disciplines. Eastern was listed at the top of 25 other American Universities, and was the only program ranked from the state of Michigan.

Professor Stephen Sonstein, program director of the Clinical Research Administration Program at Eastern, says there is an estimated shortage of 10,000 qualified clinical research professionals in the world.

"The EMU program in Clinical Research Administration was one of the first academic programs developed in this discipline and is well known and highly regarded globally," Sonstein said. "Since 1996, our graduates have been employed both locally, throughout the U.S. and around the world."

The Healthcare Management Degree Guide said in its description that "Eastern Michigan University's accredited MS in clinical research might be one of the best programs for working adults who already have an established career in a research facility."

"EMU expects  and then builds on  a certain level of prior education and relevant work experience," the guide noted. "By assuming this baseline of industry knowledge, EMU is able to offer an accelerated program; students can complete all required courses (including the capstone research thesis) in as little as 24 months with part-time enrollment."

The ranking of the program, located in EMU's College of Health and Human Services, was based on information gathered in part from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Consortium of Academic Programs in Clinical Research.

"We then ranked the schools based on expertise and involvement in the field, career training and curricular relevance, accessibility to students, and application of knowledge," said Amanda Ginder, head of online relations for the guide.

Ginder said that Healthcare Management Degree Programs knows that many private companies  as well as government agencies, like the FDA  need clinical researchers and managers to act as watchdogs for the new medicines, treatments, and diagnostic products that are hitting the market every day.

"Graduating with a master's degree in research and clinical research management can position you for any number of financially rewarding career paths, she said.

See the Healthcare Management Degree Guide website for a list of top programs, including Eastern's No. 1 ranking.

SOURCE Eastern Michigan University

Related Links

http://www.emich.edu


WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Edison Electric Institute (EEI) President Tom Kuhn today issued the following statement on President Trump's executive order on cybersecurity.



"EEI and its member companies appreciate President Trump making cybersecurity for critical infrastructure a top priority, and we look forward to working with the Administration to ensure that industry and government continue to work closely together to protect the energy grid. Improving grid security, reliability, and resilience is a top priority for EEI and its member companies. Our security strategies constantly evolve and are closely coordinated with the federal government through a partnership called the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC). From electric company CEOs to energy grid operators, we work closely to share threat information and partner with all levels of government to mitigate, and respond to, national-level incidents or threats to electric-sector critical infrastructure.

"EEI's member companies understand that reliable electricity and a secure energy grid are essential to the nation's economy and our way of life. By working together through the ESCC, industry and government greatly enhance our nation's ability to defend and protect against cyber and physical security threats. We value this partnership and appreciate President Trump's support for improving the security posture of the electric power industry and, by extension, the nation."

EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. In addition to our U.S. members, EEI has more than 60 international electric companies as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.

SOURCE Edison Electric Institute

Related Links

http://www.eei.org


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The following is being released by KentCom LLC:

WHAT? Elizabeth Holtzman, who served on the House Judiciary Committee and voted to impeach Nixon, and who wrote the Special Prosecutor statute in the wake of Watergate, is available for comment on the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and where the Trump Administration and Congress go from here. She appeared yesterday on NPR and will appear tonight on CNN. She is uniquely qualified to draw the similarities and differences between the Comey situation and Watergate, to analyze how it has compromised President Trump, Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, and to map out specifically how and why a special prosecutor to investigate the Administration's Russia ties will get appointed.

WHO? The Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman is a former U.S. representative from New York. She won national attention for her role on the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate and authored the 1978 Special Prosecutor statute in its wake. She was subsequently elected district attorney of Kings County (Brooklyn) and served as New York City Comptroller. A Harvard Law School graduate and practicing attorney, she is an expert on the legal issues surrounding impeachment and the author of several books including The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens.

WHEN & WHERE? Holtzman is available for comment and in-person or phone interviews starting now. She is based in New York City. To arrange an interview, or for further information, please contact Stephen Kent, [email protected], 914-589-5988.

SOURCE KentCom LLC
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle today announced that Emerson, a global technology and engineering solutions company, has adopted Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud to gain an in-depth view into its global employee base. The full Oracle HCM Cloud suite implementation for Emerson includes: Core HR, Payroll, Performance Management, Goal Management, Career Development, Talent Review & Succession Management and Workforce Compensation. The data analytics delivered by Oracle HCM Cloud will enable Emerson to support the complexities of a varied and shifting workforce as it transforms its business model from traditional manufacturing to a value-added, solutions provider.

To better assess and manage changes across its global workforce, Emerson needed a single global human resources solution that could align common global HR processes, support local compliance needs across 100 countries and engage its workforce. By seamlessly integrating Oracle HCM Cloud with its existing deployments of Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud, Emerson can leverage powerful data analytics to identify and address HR trends and issues, such as recruitment and turnover.

"At Emerson, we pride ourselves in delivering the latest technologies to improve the processes and performance of our industrial, commercial and residential customers. In that same vein, we also aim to empower our employees by giving them easy access to the latest innovations," said Jim Rhodes, vice president of human resources information systems at Emerson. "With Oracle HCM Cloud, we will be able to proactively support employees worldwide with truly integrated solutions for everything from performance and payroll to recruiting and employee records."

Emerson's previous on-premises solution was unable to provide a complete view of its employee base and required technical specialists to manage and maintain the system. With Oracle HCM Cloud, Emerson expects to drive efficiencies across its global business by taking advantage of in-house digital deployment services to provide unified, timely and accurate reports. Oracle HCM Cloud also delivers high-level data security features relevant for the management of sensitive employee information.

"When organizations are able to quickly and easily gain actionable insights into their global employee base they can improve both the employee and customer experience," said Gretchen Alarcon, group vice president, HCM Product Strategy at Oracle. "Oracle HCM Cloud will enable Emerson to uncover valuable business insights that will ultimately help its transition to a value-added manufacturer."

Emerson plans on implementing the Oracle HCM Cloud in a three-phase approach and will work with an Oracle implementation partner and Oracle Customer Support for trusted, secure and comprehensive support throughout the implementation process.

Additional Information

To learn more about Oracle HCM Cloud, follow @OracleHCM on Twitter or Facebook, or read the Modern HR in the Cloud blog

About Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and residential markets. Our Emerson Automation Solutions business helps process, hybrid, and discrete manufacturers maximize production, protect personnel and the environment while optimizing their energy and operating costs. Our Emerson Commercial and Residential Solutions business helps ensure human comfort and health, protect food quality and safety, advance energy efficiency, and create sustainable infrastructure. For more information visit Emerson.com.

About Oracle

The Oracle Cloud delivers hundreds of SaaS applications and enterprise-class PaaS and IaaS services to customers in more than 195 countries while processing 55 billion transactions a day. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), please visit us at http://cloud.oracle.com.

Trademarks

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor

The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation.

SOURCE Oracle

Related Links

http://www.oracle.com


LAKEWOOD, CO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE MKT: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company"), a leading producer of uranium in the United States, is pleased to provide the following update on the uranium and copper resource evaluation at the Company's Canyon Mine, which is a high-grade, low-cost mine being developed by the Company in northern Arizona. The Company is also pleased to announce that it has substantially completed the production shaft, the core drilling program to delineate the deposit, and additional capital development at the mine, including approximately 300 feet of lateral development on the 1,400 foot level. At this time, major capital development activities and associated expenditures have been significantly reduced.

The Company's resource evaluation program is continuing to identify areas of high-grade uranium mineralization at the Canyon Mine, which the Company expects will result in a larger recoverable uranium resource than what is currently described in the existing technical report for the Canyon Mine, prepared in accordance with National Instrument NI 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The Company is also continuing to evaluate additional zones of high-grade copper mineralization that reside both inside and outside the areas of potentially recoverable uranium mineralization. The additional uranium the Company is identifying has the potential to significantly lower the production costs of this nearly developed mine to a level that is in-line with the lowest-cost, 'tier one' conventional uranium mines operating in the world today. If the copper can be economically recovered as a byproduct of uranium recovery, production costs will drop even further.

Chemical assay analysis of the core samples generated from the underground drilling program is ongoing at the Company's laboratory at the White Mesa Mill. To date, approximately 95% of the core samples have been sampled and analyzed. This news release provides additional data for core that has been sampled and analyzed since the Company released its FY-2016 financial results on March 10, 2017.

The Company intends to utilize the data developed from the underground drilling program to prepare a new NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Canyon Mine, which the Company expects to release in the 3rd Quarter of 2017. The Company expects to describe an expanded uranium resource estimate and, as more fully described below, a new copper resource estimate. In addition to expanding the size of the uranium resources, the Company also expects to upgrade a significant portion of the existing mineral resources from the inferred category to the measured and indicated categories.

The Company is also making progress toward determining whether copper can be economically recovered at the Company's White Mesa Mill. Through bench-scale testing, the Company has been able to place a significant percentage of the copper into solution. The Company is now determining whether the copper can be removed from solution and converted into a marketable copper product. If positive testing results continue, the Company also expects to include a copper resource estimate in the new NI 43-101 technical report in the 3rd Quarter of 2017.

The table below summarizes the 10 best previously unreported uranium intercepts ranked by uranium grade times intercept length. The associated copper results are also shown.





















Hole

ID From To Intercept

Length

(ft.) Uranium

Avg. Grade

(%U 3 O 8 ) Uranium

GT

(Grade x

Thickness) Copper

Average

Grade

(%Cu) Azimuth

(deg.) Dip

(deg.) Depth (ft. below

surface) 26 86.0 134.0 48.0 2.88% 138.1 2.31% 180 -32 1,340 43 16.0 136.0 120.0 0.81% 97.1 11.95% 260 -41 1,306 40 12.0 112.0 100.0 0.91% 90.8 9.44% 240 -21 1,292 64 64.0 142.0 78.0 1.11% 86.8 9.47% 300 +47 1,400 67 142.0 190.0 48.0 1.78% 85.3 11.22% 285 +19 1,400 32 120.0 192.0 72.0 0.99% 71.3 10.08% 220 -41 1,386 69 144.0 208.0 64.0 1.08% 69.4 14.51% 285 +40 1,400 38 8.0 154.0 146.0 0.47% 69.2 6.22% 241 -40 1,311 37 165.5 196.0 30.5 1.54% 47.1 10.35% 240 -50 1,411 33 100.0 128.0 28.0 1.66% 46.4 14.85% 222 -31 1,344

The information presented represents the assay results from 205 samples that were taken from split NQ size core ranging from 2 to 4-feet in length. The intercepts were constructed using a nominal cutoff grade of 0.30% U 3 O 8 or 4.00% Cu. In general, the breccia pipe mineralized zone where the samples were collected is orientated vertically, varies in diameter from 140 to 190 feet, begins approximately 1,200-feet below the surface, and is open at depth. Assay analysis was performed at Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill Laboratory ("WMM") near Blanding, Utah. U 3 O 8 is analyzed using spectrophotometry, and copper is analyzed using ICP-OES. A QA/QC program has been implemented for the Canyon core drilling campaign. The QA/QC program includes: fine duplicates (2 per 100 samples are split and both samples are analyzed by the WMM lab and compared); coarse duplicates (2 per 100 samples are split and both samples are analyzed by the WMM lab and compared); standards and blanks (8 per 100 samples are certified standards or blanks and the WMM lab results are compared to the certified values, and 3 different sample standards and 2 different sample blanks are used in the program); and 3rd party laboratory analysis (a split of 4 per 100 samples are sent to Inter-Mountain Labs, Inc. (IML) in Sheridan, Wyoming for independent uranium and copper testing; the IML results are then compared to the WMM lab results; to date 99 IML results have been received and confirmed to be consistent with WMM lab results, and 30 are in process).

The Company is currently finishing sampling and analysis of the remaining core, preparing a new resource estimate, and completing final mine planning. The timing of the Company's plans to mine and process mineralized materials from the Canyon Mine will be based on continued positive results of this additional evaluation work, along with market conditions.

Stephen P. Antony, President and CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "We are pleased to announce more excellent uranium results at our Canyon Mine, that average 1.09% U 3 O 8 and 9.61% Cu over 734-feet. We continue to see extraordinary uranium and copper results that, we believe, will increase the size of the recoverable resources, thereby reducing our mining cost. Further, Energy Fuels' cost-efficient Canyon Mine is at an advanced stage. It is fully-permitted, all surface development is in place, we have substantially completed the production shaft, and our White Mesa Mill is ready to produce uranium from the Canyon Mine. As a result, we have significantly reduced capital expenditures, and when mining resumes, only limited additional capital development will be required. The mine is expected to be low cost, as we believe it has forward costs that are in-line with the lowest cost, 'tier one' conventional uranium mines operating globally today. The economics have the potential to improve further, as we make progress toward determining the monetization of copper. We look forward to completing our evaluation and releasing a new resource estimate for the Canyon Mine later this year."

About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading integrated US-based uranium mining company, supplying U 3 O 8 to major nuclear utilities. Energy Fuels holds three of America's key uranium production centers, the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch Processing Facility in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today and has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year. The Nichols Ranch Processing Facility is an ISR production center with a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year. Alta Mesa is an ISR production center currently on care and maintenance. Energy Fuels also has the largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolio in the U.S. among producers, and uranium mining projects located in a number of Western U.S. states, including one producing ISR project, mines on standby, and mineral properties in various stages of permitting and development. The Company also produces vanadium as a co-product of its uranium production from certain of its mines on the Colorado Plateau, as market conditions warrant. The Company's common shares are listed on the NYSE MKT under the trading symbol "UUUU", and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "EFR".

Stephen P. Antony, P.E., President & CEO of Energy Fuels, is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release, including sampling, analytical, and test data underlying such disclosure.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to: the Company being a leading producer of uranium in the U.S.; the drilling results to date and any conclusions which may be drawn therefrom; the potential that the mineralization and/or tonnage may be expanded beyond what is described in the existing NI 43-101 technical report; any expectation that copper recovery may be economically feasible; any expectation that any additional licensing or permitting for copper recovery at the White Mesa Mill will be obtained in a timely manner; any potential improvement that any copper recovery may have on the economics of the mine; the mine being a low-cost uranium mine; the expected future drilling, development and production activities; the factors which the Company believes makes the Canyon deposit unique; the expected timing for issuing a new technical report under NI 43-101; expected development and other expenditures that may be required when mining resumes; and any other statements regarding Energy Fuels' future expectations, beliefs, goals or prospects; constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions) should be considered forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Energy Fuels' ability to control or predict. A number of important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking statements, including without limitation factors relating to: the Company being a leading producer of uranium in the U.S.; the drilling results to date and any conclusions which may be drawn therefrom; the potential that the mineralization and/or tonnage may be expanded beyond what is described in the existing NI 43-101 technical report; any expectation that copper recovery may be economically feasible; any expectation that any additional licensing or permitting for copper recovery at the White Mesa Mill will be obtained in a timely manner; any potential improvement that any copper recovery may have on the economics of the mine; the mine being a low-cost uranium mine; the expected future drilling, development and production activities; the factors which the Company believes makes the Canyon deposit unique; the expected timing for issuing a new technical report under NI 43-101; expected development and other expenditures that may be required when mining resumes; and other risk factors as described in Energy Fuels' most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly financial reports. Energy Fuels assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in Energy Fuels' filings with the various securities commissions which are available online at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations, beliefs and plans of the management of Energy Fuels relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Readers are also cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, that speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.

Related Links

http://www.energyfuels.com


ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Twelve thematic conferences will be held in summer during the forum. They will become a global venue for discussion of 2 emission reduction, implementation of energy efficient technologies and making sustainable energy universally accessible.

Representatives of international organizations, the scientific community as well as non-government organizations and businesses will take part in the event.

In general, the business agenda of Astana EXPO 2017 is expected to be very rich. It will include the Ministerial Conference "Meeting the Challenge of Sustainable Energy", the World Conference on Tourism and Future Energy: Unlocking Low-Carbon Growth Opportunities (UNWTO).

The Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana chaired by the Republic of Kazakhstan will become a significant event in the lead-up to the opening ceremony of EXPO 2017.

Besides, the 14th Eurasian Media Forum, the 11th KAZENERGY Eurasian forum and a lot of thematic conferences will be held during EXPO 2017 with participation of world-renowned scientists, Nobel Laureates and other energy experts.

Heads of states, managers of major global and Kazakhstani companies, including Shell, Samsung, NCOC, JSC "Samruk-Energy", sponsors of the exhibition, as well as representatives of international organizations such as the UN, UNESCO, UNICEF, IRENA, World Bank, OPEC and others are expected to attend EXPO 2017.

Based on the results of EXPO 2017, countries participating in it will sign the Manifesto of Values and Principles following the example of the Kyoto Protocol. The concept of this document, which will become the intellectual legacy of the exhibition, is currently being developed.

Therefore, EXPO 2017 should mark a turning point in development of green energy at the world level.

About Astana EXPO 2017

The Astana EXPO-2017 International Specialized Exhibition is dedicated to Future Energy. It is an educational and recreational event that will take place between 10 June and 10 September 2017 in Astana. The exhibition will last 93 days and will be one of the most spectacular cultural venues of 2017.

As part of Astana EXPO 2017, global policy documents will be drafted to promote an energy-efficient lifestyle and wide use of renewable energy sources.

National company "Astana EXPO-2017"

For more information, please contact: Natalia Kostikova [email protected] +7(903)209-35-00

SOURCE National company Astana EXPO-2017
WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council offered praise for a new policy statement issued by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that reestablishes the "Department's commitment to safeguarding every American's First Amendment rights, particularly the right to free speech and the right to free religious exercise." The secretary goes further to say that "each and every USDA employee" is expected to uphold these freedoms and "doing so is not optional, and it is not discretionary." The statement pledges to foster a "climate of mutual respect and tolerance."

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"I commend Secretary Perdue for his commitment to safeguard not just our food quality but also the First Amendment freedoms of every American.

"Under the last administration, the commitment to religious freedom was sorely lacking, and often undermined by regulations and guidelines across much of the government, including the USDA. Sadly, those Obama era policies continue to be used by some in the federal bureaucracy to censor and threaten people like the Vander Boon family who own a Michigan meat packing facility. Eighteen months ago, the USDA threatened to shut the family's business down, displacing 45 employees, if they place religious material concerning marriage in the breakroom of the business.

"However, last Thursday, President Trump took the first step to provide relief for people like the Vander Boons when he signed an executive order defending religious liberty. This order made the important clarification of current laws that religious freedoms extend to the public square, not just one's place of worship. The order is now beginning to make its way through the Department of Agriculture and all the federal government agencies.

"Family Research Council will work with the administration to ensure the practical effect of this policy protects the First Freedoms of Americans like Don Vander Boon. In light of Secretary Perdue's policy statement reestablishing respect for free speech and religious freedom, I am very optimistic that the Vander Boon's complaint against the USDA will be resolved in a positive manner that fully respects the First Amendment.

"It is refreshing to have a president and administration that recognizes and understands the dangers of the anti-faith policies of the previous administration and are therefore committed to undo those policies and restoring true religious freedom. No American -- Christian or otherwise -- should have to choose between their careers and their faith," concluded Perkins.

Video: Tony Perkins interviews Don Vander Boon

https://www.facebook.com/familyresearchcouncil/videos/10155232007122442/

Secretary Perdue policy statement:

https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/5817-Policy-Statement.pdf

Alliance Defending Freedom's backgrounder on the case:

https://adflegal.org/detailspages/blog-details/allianceedge/2017/02/21/what-s-the-beef-family-meatpacking-business-threatened-with-closure-for-religious-beliefs

SOURCE Family Research Council

Related Links

http://www.frc.org


LIMASSOL, Cyprus, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FBME Bank has been placed under further sanctions from international courts as part of a long list of problems caused by money laundering.

Most recently, the Federal Bank of the Middle East appealed against allegations of money laundering. A report from the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) called FBME a "primary money laundering concern", and this led to the central bank seizing control of FBME Bank's management in July 2014.

In April 2017, a U.S. court ruled in favor of FinCEN. This verdict made it possible for FBME Bank to be barred from the U.S. financial system. The 21st of April 2017, the Supreme Court in Bermuda ordered the Winding Up of the company 'Saab Financial (Bermuda) Limited', affiliated with FBME Bank, and appointed a provisional liquidator. The 5th of May 2017, the central bank in Tanzania, BoT, revoked the main banking license of FBME Bank Tanzania and appointed the local Deposit Insurance Board as the liquidator, the first steps for ultimate fund recovery of all accounts in Cyprus and Tanzania.

Legal Floris LLC represents clients of FBME Bank in Cyprus and Tanzania, and Saab Financial (Bermuda) Limited. The firm understands that there were customers with legitimate intentions and, unfortunately also with shady motives. Many clients were simply caught in a bad position, where others were attempting to conduct money laundering schemes. Legal Floris LLC is dedicated to helping those clients with good intentions and are now awaiting the next step in retrieving their funds.

The team at Legal Floris LLC works with FBME Bank clients to retrieve funds, fully compliant with common reporting standards and the automatic exchange of information.

For customers with accounts at FBME Bank in Cyprus, the first step is to claim their funds under the deposit protection scheme, as long as this is possible. A claim under this DGS reveals weaknesses for individual customers that can be adjusted and simplifies further fund recovery. Customers with accounts in Tanzania that were managed from Cyprus need a court order that determines the geographic location of their account. Customers of FBME Bank that invested in private placement programs via Saab Financial (Bermuda) Limited are encouraged to contact us at short notice to avoid missing out on the opportunity to claim their funds.

Currently, Legal Floris LLC represents more than 1.300 customers of Saab Financial (Bermuda) Limited and FBME Bank in Cyprus and Tanzania.

Now that FBME Bank is under liquidation, Legal Floris LLC foresees more clients stepping forward seeking funds that have been placed under restriction and offers their experience in recovery procedures for customers of the bank looking for assistance.

More information is available here: http://www.legalfloris.com/bot-revokes-license-of-fbme-bank-tanzania/

About Legal Floris LLC

Legal Floris LLC specializes in representation for consumers caught in the crosshairs of bank failures and investment fraud, including Ponzi and pyramid schemes, insider trading and losses, and more.

Contact

Floris Alexander

Legal Floris LLC

Phone: +357 96 343 680

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.legalfloris.com

SOURCE Legal Floris LLC

Related Links

http://www.legalfloris.com


TORONTO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - DH Corporation ("D+H") (TSX: DH), a leading provider of technology solutions to financial institutions globally, today announced that, effective May 10, 2017, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) have terminated the Consent Order entered into with two of D+H's subsidiaries, specifically Fundtech Corporation and BServ, Inc. ("Fundtech"), which D+H acquired as part of the acquisition of Fundtech in early 2015.

The Consent Order was issued in December 2013, in relation to Fundtech's U.S. Payments, Cash Management, Financial Messaging and Merchant Services businesses. Since the acquisition of Fundtech in April 2015, D+H has made investments and improved practices in risk management in those businesses in order to meet the requirements of the Consent Order.

"Appropriate risk management practices, consistent with what our clients and regulators expect, have been a hallmark of how D+H has run its businesses. When we acquired Fundtech we were committed to raising their standards and practices too. We are pleased that the FDIC and OCC have terminated the Consent Order. This reflects D+H's ongoing commitment to strong risk management practices across all of our businesses and to meeting regulatory expectations," said Gerrard Schmid, Chief Executive Officer at D+H.

About D+H

D+H (TSX: DH) is a leading financial technology provider that the world's financial institutions rely on every day to help them grow and succeed. Our global payments, lending and financial solutions are trusted by nearly 8,000 banks, specialty lenders, community banks, credit unions, governments and corporations. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, D+H has more than 5,500 employees worldwide who are passionate about partnering with clients to create forward-thinking solutions that fit their needs. With annual revenues in excess of $1.6 billion, D+H is recognized as one of the world's top FinTech companies on IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings and American Banker's FinTech Forward rankings. For more information, visit dh.com.

SOURCE DH Corporation

Related Links

www.dh.com


COVINGTON, La., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The first of 11 Aspen Dental-branded practices in Louisiana is scheduled to open in Covington on Thurs., May 18. Appointments are now available online or by calling the office.

Located in Suite 200 at 70383 Highway 21, the dental office is led by Dr. Chedly Schatzie Vincent, who received her Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Vincent and her team will provide dental services ranging from dentures and preventive care to general dentistry and restoration.

As part of Aspen Dental's Healthy Mouth Movement community giving initiative, the Covington office will provide free dental care to veterans on June 24. The practice is one of the more than 400 Aspen Dental offices nationwide that will open their doors to serve veterans in their local communities. Interested veterans should call 844-ASPEN-HMM to find a participating Aspen Dental office and schedule an appointment in advance. Advance appointments are required.

As Aspen Dental teams work to break down the barriers to dental care among underserved populations in Louisiana, 10 additional Aspen Dental practices are scheduled to open in 2017  making access to dental care easier for residents in the Bayou State. The 11 new Aspen Dental practices are located in 10 different parishes, eight of which have dental health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) as designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

According to a study conducted by Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management, the 11 office openings in Louisiana will contribute more than $14 million in positive economic impact through job creation and capital investment.

Aspen Dental offices offer patient-friendly programs and services that make it easier for thousands of people every day to get the dental care they need, including:

Personalized treatment and friendly service. Each patient receives a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plan designed by the dentist with long-term oral and overall health in mind. Available services include hygiene, treatment of periodontal (gum) disease, extractions, fillings, oral surgery, whitening, and crown and bridge work.

Each patient receives a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plan designed by the dentist with long-term oral and overall health in mind. Available services include hygiene, treatment of periodontal (gum) disease, extractions, fillings, oral surgery, whitening, and crown and bridge work. Affordable dental care. Aspen Dental practices are committed to keeping prices low so that patients can get the care they need. The practice works with all insurance providers and handles the paperwork, saving patients time and hassle, and offers free new-patient exams and X-rays for patients without dental insurance. And since no one likes an unexpected bill, the practice offers a clear, detailed estimate on the cost of treatment to give patients peace of mind.

Aspen Dental practices are committed to keeping prices low so that patients can get the care they need. The practice works with all insurance providers and handles the paperwork, saving patients time and hassle, and offers free new-patient exams and X-rays for patients without dental insurance. And since no one likes an unexpected bill, the practice offers a clear, detailed estimate on the cost of treatment to give patients peace of mind. On-site denture labs and Denture Money Back Guarantee - Every Aspen Dental practice is equipped with an on-site denture laboratory, which means quick turnaround for new and replacement dentures, denture repairs, relines or adjustments. Patients choose Aspen Dental for the seven styles of full and partial dentures and have the comfort of knowing that the supportive dentists and staff will go above and beyond to ensure proper fit and comfort of their custom-crafted dentures. If patients are dissatisfied with their dentures for any reason  the practice will refund the cost of the dentures when patients return them within 90 days.

Every Aspen Dental practice is equipped with an on-site denture laboratory, which means quick turnaround for new and replacement dentures, denture repairs, relines or adjustments. Patients choose Aspen Dental for the seven styles of full and partial dentures and have the comfort of knowing that the supportive dentists and staff will go above and beyond to ensure proper fit and comfort of their custom-crafted dentures. If patients are dissatisfied with their dentures for any reason  the practice will refund the cost of the dentures when patients return them within 90 days. Convenient hours and location. The office will be open extended hours, including evenings and select Saturdays. Walk-in and emergency patients are welcome.

To make an appointment at the Covington office, patients can call (985) 590-6287 or 800-ASPEN DENTAL (800-277-3633), or visit www.aspendental.com.

About Aspen Dental Offices

Dentists and staff at Aspen Dental practices are all about making sure patients have easy access to quality, affordable oral health care. With more than 600 offices in 36 states, Aspen Dental-branded practices offer patients a safe, welcoming and judgment-free environment to get the full range of dental care they need along with the convenience and speed of onsite denture labs. That's why the Aspen Dental network of independent dental care providers is one of the largest and fastest growing in the U.S. and saw more than 1.5 million patients in 2016. To find out more about how Aspen Dental practices make it simply easier for each of their patients to get the healthy mouth they deserve, go to AspenDental.com.

About Aspen Dental Management Inc.

Aspen Dental Management Inc. (ADMI) is a dental support organization that provides non-clinical business support services to independently owned and operated dental practices in 36 states. This can include services and recommendations related to finding the right location, leasing, equipment, accounting and marketing. This model leaves independent, licensed practitioners free to concentrate on patient care.

To learn more about Aspen Dental practices and services, preview the Aspen Dental patient experience, get answers to general treatment questions, find a location, and schedule appointments, visit www.aspendental.com. To learn more about careers at ADMI and Aspen Dental practices, visit http://aspendentaljobs.com.

SOURCE Aspen Dental

Related Links

http://www.aspendental.com


FRANKFURT, Germany, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Positive performance helped by timing of Easter holidays - Fraport's Group airports also report rising traffic

In April 2017, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed some 5.4 million passengers, representing an increase of 10.0 percent. Thus, for first time since December 2011, monthly traffic achieved double-digit growth at FRA again. In addition, the previous record of April 2015 was exceeded by around 367,000 passengers. Growth was helped by the timing of the Easter holidays in April this year, which boosted travel particularly to leisure destinations in Southern Europe and North Africa. FRA's cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) grew by 1.9 percent to 185,340 metric tons in the reporting month. This increase, however, was tempered by the production slowdown during the Easter period, thus remaining below average compared to growth rates achieved in the year to date. Aircraft movements climbed by 1.5 percent to 39,580 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) slightly expanded by 0.4 percent to almost 2.5 million metric tons, thus posting a new April record.

Fraport AG's international portfolio reported positive performance across all Group airports in April 2017. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in the capital of Slovenia recorded a 31.5 percent surge in traffic to 132,239 passengers. Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru welcomed about 1.6 million passengers in April 2017, an increase of 13.5 percent. The Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, combined, registerd an increase of 35.9 percent to 78,165 passengers. Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey served almost 1.5 million passengers, representing an increase of 17.7 percent. Traffic at Hanover Airport (HAJ) in northern Germany advanced by 11.9 percent to 464,474 passengers. Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, also performed well, serving some 1.1 million passengers - up 27.6 percent. At Xi'an Airport (XIY) in China, traffic increased by 14.0 percent to about 3.4 million passengers. Fraport's international portfolio now comprises 14 Greek airports, which were taken over and consolidated into the Group during the course of the April 2017 reporting month. Regular reporting of traffic development for the 14 Greek airports will commence with the publication of the May 2017 traffic figures.

Print-quality photos of Fraport AG and Frankfurt Airport are available for free downloading via the photo library located in our Press Center on the Fraport Web site. For TV news and information broadcasting purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading.

If you wish to meet a member of our press team when at Frankfurt Airport, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our contact details are available here.

FRAPORT TRAFFIC FIGURES April 2017 Fraport Group Airports1 April 2017 Fraport Passengers Cargo* Movements Fully-consolidated airports share (%) Month DELTA % Month DELTA % Month DELTA % FRA Frankfurt Germany 100.00 5,428,203 10.0 182,699 2.5 39,580 1.5 LJU Ljubljana Slovenia 100.00 132,239 31.5 879 3.3 2,661 2.3 LIM Lima Peru2 70.01 1,562,986 13.5 20,588 -0.5 14,750 5.0 Fraport Twin Star 60.00 78,165 35.9 1,042 -29.0 855 2.9 BOJ Burgas Bulgaria 60.00 20,031 -1.1 1,033 -28.4 276 -11.5 VAR Varna Bulgaria 60.00 58,134 56.1 9 -64.7 579 11.6 Fraport Group Airports1 Year to date (YTD) 2017 Passengers Cargo Movements Fully-consolidated airports YTD DELTA % YTD DELTA % YTD DELTA % FRA Frankfurt Germany 18,552,654 3.9 710,650 5.3 144,110 -0.5 LJU Ljubljana Slovenia 420,594 21.6 3,602 10.3 9,860 9.3 LIM Lima Peru2 6,388,932 9.1 81,433 -0.5 59,209 4.6 Fraport Twin Star 204,198 17.0 4,543 -1.6 2,655 0.4 BOJ Burgas Bulgaria 52,452 -4.2 4,418 -3.4 873 -14.2 VAR Varna Bulgaria 151,746 26.7 125 > 100.0 1,782 9.5 Fraport Group Airports1 April 2017 Fraport Fully-consolidated airports share (%) FRA Frankfurt Germany 100.00 LJU Ljubljana Slovenia 100.00 LIM Lima Peru2 70.01 Fraport Twin Star 60.00 BOJ Burgas Bulgaria 60.00 VAR Varna Bulgaria 60.00 Fraport Regional Airports of Greece A+B 73.40 Fraport Regional Airports of Greece A 73.40 SKG Kerkyra (Corfu) Greece 73.40 PVK Chania (Crete) Greece 73.40 KVA Kefalonia Greece 73.40 CHQ Kavala Greece 73.40 CFU Aktion/Preveza Greece 73.40 EFL Thessaloniki Greece 73.40 ZTH Zakynthos Greece 73.40 Fraport Regional Airports of Greece B 73.40 JMK Mykonos Greece 73.40 JSI Skiathos Greece 73.40 JTR Santorini (Thira) Greece 73.40 KGS Kos Grecce 73.40 MJT Mytilene (Lesvos) Greece 73.40 RHO Rhodes Greece 73.40 SMI Samos Greece 73.40 At equity consolidated airports2 AYT Antalya Turkey 51.00 1,456,458 17.7 n.a. n.a. 10,127 16.2 HAJ Hanover Germany 30.00 464,474 11.9 1,174 -44.8 6,044 -7.1 LED St. Petersburg Russia 25.00 1,147,043 27.6 n.a. n.a. 11,526 16.7 XIY Xi'an China 24.50 3,397,192 14.0 20,694 11.8 26,112 12.3 At equity consolidated airports2 AYT Antalya Turkey 3,571,796 -0.5 n.a. n.a. 25,886 1.4 HAJ Hanover Germany 1,444,132 1.5 6,496 -4.7 21,688 -3.5 LED St. Petersburg Russia 4,046,083 25.9 n.a. n.a. 42,387 17.6 XIY Xi'an China 13,233,090 14.3 78,291 6.9 101,612 10.3 Frankfurt Airport3 April 2017 Month DELTA % YTD 2017 DELTA % Passengers 5,428,562 10.0 18,553,804 3.9 Cargo (freight & mail) 185,340 1.9 721,104 4.8 Aircraft movements 39,580 1.5 144,110 -0.5 MTOW (in metric tons)4 2,489,932 0.4 9,175,204 -1.8 PAX/PAX-flight5 146.1 7.7 138.4 4.4 Seat load factor (%) 80.2 76.4 Punctuality rate (%) 78.8 80.0 Frankfurt Airport PAX share DELTA %6 PAX share DELTA %6 Regional Split Month YTD Continental 62.9 10.1 60.8 4.4 Germany 11.2 2.1 11.8 3.0 Europe (excl. Germany) 51.7 12.0 49.0 4.7 Western Europe 43.5 12.9 41.0 4.9 Eastern Europe 8.2 7.5 8.0 3.6 Intercontinental 37.1 10.0 39.2 3.2 Africa 4.5 26.3 4.6 9.8 Middle East 5.7 8.7 6.4 4.8 North America 12.2 9.0 11.9 1.1 Central & South America 3.7 3.5 4.5 1.7 Far East 11.0 8.2 11.9 2.6 Australia 0.0 n.a. 0.0 n.a.



Information

Fraports international portfolio now comprises 14 Greek airports, which were taken over and consolidated into the Group during the course of the April 2017 reporting month. Regular reporting of traffic development for the 14 Greek airports will commence with the publication of the May 2017 traffic figures.

Definitions:

1. According to ACI definition: Passengers: commercial traffic only (arr+dep+transit counted once), Cargo: commercial and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep excluding transit, in metric tons), Movements: commerical and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep);

2. Preliminary figures;

3. According to Fraport definition: Passengers: commercial and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep+transit counted once, incl. general aviation), Cargo: commercial and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep+transit counted once, in metric tons), Movements: commerical and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep);

4. Inbound traffic only;

5. Scheduled and charter traffic;

6. absolute change vs. previous year in %; * Freight and mail

Fraport AG

Torben Beckmann

Telephone: +49-69-690-70553

Deputy Head of Press Office

E-mail: [email protected]



Spokesperson for Business & Finance

Internet: http://www.fraport.com

60547 Frankfurt, Germany

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport



For further information about Fraport AG please click here.

SOURCE Fraport AG
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 25,000 gallons of truck fuel is projected to be saved annually as part of a $300,000 Duke Energy project to fund electrification at a North Carolina truck stop.

Big Boy's Truck Stop, in the Johnston County town of Kenly, will soon have 24 truck electrification stations where drivers can pay to plug in and avoid idling engines. This will be an economical way to provide electricity and hot or cold air during overnight stays. Additionally, four plugs will provide standby power for refrigerated cargo to avoid the need to run diesel compressors.

"The economic and environmental aspects of the projects are terrific. It allows drivers to use technology to lower their own carbon footprint in the course of their daily work that benefits our environment," said Melisa Johns, Duke Energy's vice president, business development.

On an annual basis, the project should reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 500 tons and reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 2 tons.

IdleAir, located in Knoxville, Tenn., will install and maintain the stations. They are expected to complete installation before this summer.

"This is a common sense feature that helps truckers get a cleaner, quieter night's sleep, while saving them money and sparing the community from significant emissions," said Mark Miller, president of Convoy Solutions, provider of IdleAir.

Each year, more than 2 billion gallons of diesel are wasted by overnight idling, according to a study from Argonne National Labs. Idling is the industry standard method of providing overnight comfort to the more than 1 million drivers who sleep in their trucks each night.

The family-owned Big Boy's Truck Stop is located at 595 Bagley Road, Kenly, N.C. -- off I-95, exit 105.

"We're eager to attract new drivers, and give all guests an alternative to idling," said owner Walter Powell Jr. "This will help us be better neighbors in our community, which means a lot to our business."

The Duke Energy program was part of a 2015 settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy is a Fortune 125 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.

The Duke Energy News Center serves as a multimedia resource for journalists and features news releases, helpful links, photos and videos. Hosted by Duke Energy, illumination is an online destination for stories about people, innovations, and community and environmental topics. It also offers glimpses into the past and insights into the future of energy.

Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

About Convoy Solutions d/b/a IdleAir

Based in East Tennessee, Convoy Solutions LLC, the proud provider of IdleAir, is a privately held company that provides a menu of choices  both services and products - for America's hard-working long-haul truck drivers. These solutions are alternatives to idling engines during rest periods that have both positive economic and environmental impacts to users, companies and the world we live in.

The IdleAir product and service allows truck drivers to turn off their diesel engines and APU's and still enjoy heating, cooling, standard electric inside and outside the cab, Satellite TV, Internet, and many of the comforts of home  all while saving money and getting better sleep without the noise, vibration, and exhaust fumes from idling.

Follow IdleAir on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.

Duke Energy media contact: Randy Wheeless

Office: 704.382.8379

24-Hour: 800.559.3853

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @DE_RandyW

IdleAir media contact: Mark Miller

Office: 865.232.1706

24-Hour: 877.738.7024

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Duke Energy

Related Links

http://www.duke-energy.com


LONDON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest report by Persistence Market Research titled 'LED Lighting Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2017-2025' consists of four main parts. The first part is dedicated to explaining the market definitions, market segmentation and acronyms used in the report. In this section of the report, the key definitions in the global LED lighting market are provided, along with an explanation of how Persistence Market Research has segmented the target market. In the subsequent sections of this part of the report, research methodology used to arrive at the indicated market numbers has been clearly indicated. In the second part of the report, the major factors enabling and impacting growth of the global LED lighting market as well as the growth of the parent industry is briefly elaborated. This section of the report includes key growth drivers and the impact of these drivers on the global LED lighting market. Major challenges confronting the global LED lighting market and the impact of these challenges on the market is also mentioned in the report. At the end of the second part, trends, opportunities and recent developments in the global LED lighting market have been included.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4895306/



The third part of the report consists of the key analysis and insights into the global LED lighting market and comprise the bulk of the report. This part consists of information regarding the market size and CAGR  historic, current estimated and forecast  for the next eight years. Y-o-Y growth rate comparison of various segments and sub segments of the global LED lighting market are also presented in this section of the report. In addition, absolute dollar opportunity analysis of each segment of the global LED lighting market is also presented. In the fourth and last part of the report, a competition landscape is included, which presents a dashboard view of the competitive benchmarking, based on relative positioning of the competitors in the global LED lighting market. Besides this valuable information, product offerings of the major competitors operating in the global LED lighting market is also highlighted in this section. The company profiles covers the overview, financials, recent developments, SWOT analysis and a brief business strategy of the main players in the global LED lighting market.



Another distinctive feature of this report is the inclusion of the current scenario of the global LED lighting market that tracks the various phases the market has covered or is yet to cover and the evolution of the global LED lighting market based on phases such as the introductory phase, growth phase, maturity phase and the decline phase. In addition, a detailed product lifecycle stage write up is also given that discusses the various characteristics of the global LED lighting market, which comprise sales perspective, price, product adoption, competitors and also information on manufacturer profit margins. Also, there is one more distinctive feature in the report pertaining to the global LED lighting market value chain analysis. In this part of the report, various stages in LED lighting manufacturing have been elaborated  upstream stage, midstream stage and downstream stage. The value chain analysis has all the manufacturing components broken down minutely and cross reductions across various stages in the value chain are also given.



Research Methodology



Persistence Market Research has used multiple resources of information and analysis to estimate the market revenue of the global LED lighting market. In order to give the market value projections till 2025 end, Persistence Market Research analysts have first explored LED lighting solutions by product type, services, end user and application. After this, the analysts have done primary and secondary research to arrive at the stated market figures. The secondary research consists of qualitative data gathering through various articles, journals, blogs, industry association data, company websites and other secondary sources. In primary research, discussions with industry experts were carried out. In the data analysis phase, adoption of LED lighting solutions across various industries was considered, along with value chain analysis. A study of the trends in the parent market and end user industry was also carried out and a forecast was developed. This was verified and validated using the triangulation method. Based on this, market insights were derived on which key findings and recommendations of this report are based.



Market Segmentation



By Product Type



LED Bulbs

Bare LED Tubes

LED Fixtures

LED Downlights

Others



By Services



Consulting Services

Installation Services

Maintenance & Support Services



By End User



Residential

Commercial

Industrial



By Application



Outdoor

Indoor

Backlighting

Automotive

Others



By Region



North America

Latin America

Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC)

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4895306/



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Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

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NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global silver mine production in 2016 recorded its first decline since 2002, largely the result of lower by-product output from the lead/zinc and gold sectors. Coupled with less silver scrap supply to the market, which posted its lowest level since 1996, as well as a contraction in producer hedging, total silver supply decreased by 32.6 million ounces (Moz) in 2016. Moreover, new highs were recorded for silver's use in the photovoltaic and ethylene oxide sectors, both growing and significant industrial applications for silver. These findings, and other key components of the silver market, are discussed in World Silver Survey 2017, released today by the Silver Institute and produced on its behalf by the GFMS Team at Thomson Reuters (GFMS).

Silver Supply

Global silver mine production declined by 0.6 percent in 2016 to a total of 885.8 Moz. A large proportion of the drop was attributable to the lead/zinc and gold sectors, where production dipped by a combined 15.9 Moz. On a regional basis, Mexico registered the largest drop in production last year, followed by Australia and Argentina, yet those losses were partially offset by gains in Central and South America and Asia. Even so, Mexico was again the world's largest silver producing country, followed by Peru, China, Chile and Russia.

Primary silver mine production grew by 1 percent to realize 30 percent of total silver mine output last year. Lead/zinc mines contributed 35 percent of 2016 by-product output, followed by copper mines at 23 percent and gold mining at 12 percent.

Silver scrap supply fell to 139.7 Moz in 2016, a level not seen since 1996, despite higher silver prices. The contraction was largely driven by lower Asian flows, due in part to lower industrial fabrication volumes. Scrap supply from the industrialized world was also muted, as partial jumps in flows from the United Kingdom and Europe in general, offset falls in North America and Japan.

In other areas of silver supply, GFMS reports that again government sales of silver were essentially non-existent last year, while in 2016, delta-adjusted silver hedging by producers contracted by

World Silver Supply & Demand (million ounces) (totals may not add due to rounding)





2015

2016 Supply









Mine Production

890.8

885.8

Net Government Sales

-

-

Scrap

141.1

139.7

Net Hedging Supply

7.8

-18.4 Total Supply

1,039.7

1,007.1 Demand









Jewelry

228.3

207.0

Coins & Bars

290.7

206.8

Silverware

62.9

52.1

Industrial Fabrication

569.6

561.9

... of which Electrical & Electronics

245.9

233.6

... of which Brazing Alloys & Solders

61.5

55.4

... of which Photography

46.6

45.2

... of which Photovoltaic

57.2

76.6

... of which Ethylene Oxide

10.2

10.2

... of which Other Industrial

148.4

141.0 Physical Demand

1,151.5

1,027.8











Physical Surplus/Deficit

-111.8

-20.7 ETP Inventory Build

-17.7

47.0 Exchange Inventory Build

12.6

79.8 Net Balance

-106.7

-147.5











Silver Price, $ per oz.

15.68

17.14

Silver Price and Investment

The annual average silver price posted an impressive 9.3 percent increase in 2016, its first rise since 2011. Assisting the price was last year's supply and demand scenario, which led to another annual silver market deficit, the largest in three years and the third largest on record, reaching 147.5 Moz. The average price last year, at US$17.14, registered 28 percent higher than 2007, when the silver price averaged US$13.38.

Identifiable investment, which consists of physical bar investment, coins & medals purchases, and additions or drawdowns to exchange traded products (ETP) holdings, retreated 7 percent from the level achieved in 2015 to 253.8 Moz last year. To put this in a broader context, this level of investment was still 23 percent higher than the average over the decade preceding 2015.

Holdings in global ETPs increased robustly by 47 Moz last year, posting an all-time high in October.

Silver coin and medals fabrication fell by 9 percent in 2016, from its record high in 2015, to 123.2 Moz. Even so, coin and medal fabrication was still at its second highest level this century. Silver bar investment fell by 46 percent, mainly the result of lackluster demand in India due to a combination of higher prices, destocking and government measures on unaccounted wealth. Notably, increases in bar demand occurred in Germany and the United Kingdom.

Silver Fabrication Demand

Total physical demand fell by 11 percent in 2016 to 1,027.8 Moz, pulled lower by weaker offtake for jewelry, silverware and retail investment. Industrial applications, the largest component of physical silver demand, accounted for 55 percent of total physical silver demand last year, and were marginally lower by just 1 percent, reaching 561.9 Moz. The United States experienced another healthy rise in this sector, the second in succession, jumping 9 percent over 2015 volumes, while Japan posted a 6 percent rise in silver industrial fabrication. Elsewhere demand was dragged lower by softer economic conditions with declines in China, Africa, South America and Europe.

Silver demand for photovoltaic applications posted a noteworthy 34 percent rise to reach 76.6 Moz. This growth was the strongest since 2010 and driven by a 49 percent increase in global solar panel installations. Silver's use in the ethylene oxide industry grew at the margin, yet it was a record performance for the sector supported by a 6 percent rise in global capacity.

Silver jewelry fabrication declined 9 percent to 207 Moz from the record level of 228.3 Moz set in 2015. The loss was led by China and India, where jewelry offtake was materially weaker due to higher silver prices and a build-up of stocks. Demand was stronger however in Indonesia, Vietnam, and the United States, which had a 12 percent increase in jewelry fabrication, reaching 16.1 Moz last year. Globally, silverware declined by 17 percent to 52.1 Moz with higher silver prices accounting for the bulk of the fall.

Silver's use in electrical and electronic applications, as well as its use in brazing alloys, fell last year, victims of a still sluggish global economy. Photographic demand fell by just 3 percent in 2016 to 45.2 Moz, representing the lowest percentage decline since 2004, potentially indicating that the bulk of structural change in the photography market is over and that current fabrication volumes may be largely sustainable.

About the World Silver Survey and the Silver Institute

The Silver Institute has published this annual report on the global silver market since 1990, to bring reliable supply and demand statistics to market participants and the public. The 27th edition of the Silver Institute's World Silver Survey was independently researched and compiled by the GFMS team at Thomson Reuters. World Silver Survey 2017 was sponsored by 19 companies and organizations from North and South America, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1971, the Silver Institute is an international industry association. Its members include leading silver producers, refiners, manufacturers and dealers of silver investment products.

SOURCE The Silver Institute
ALBANY, New York, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The global market for smart bullets demonstrates a consolidated structure, finds a research report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). The top six players, namely, Lockheed Martin Corp., BAE Systems, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman Corp., and General Dynamics Corp. together held more than 60% of this market in 2016. As these leading players are focusing on product innovation and technological advancements in the current offerings to boost their market share, the competition within this market is likely to strengthen further in the near future, states the reserch study.

As per TMR's estimations, the global smart bullets market, which stood at US$270.4 mn in 2015, is anticipated to expand at a healthy CAGR of 15.20% during the period from 2017 to 2025 and reach US$955.4 mn by the end of the forecast period. The land segment has emerged as the key end user of smart bullets and is expected to remain so over the next few years.

Larger Defense Budget to Ensure North America's Dominance

The report also presents a geographical analysis of the worldwide market for smart bullets. As per the report, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe are the key geographical segments of this market. North America led the global market with a share of more than 42% in 2016 and is anticipated to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. The increasing defense budget and the growing demand for weapons are likely to boost this regional market over the next few years.

Apart from this, the presence of a large number of leading smart bullets manufacturers, such as Lockheed Martin Corp., The Raytheon Co., General Dynamics Corp., and Northrop Grumman Corp. is also anticipated to boost the North America market for smart bullets. The U.S. is likely to surface as the key domestic market in this region, notes the study.

Make an inquiry @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=23873

Technological Innovation in Smart Bullets to Fuel Demand

"The technological innovations in the weapons sector is the key factor behind the growth of the market for smart bullets, says an analyst at TMR. The technological advances, such as the altering of the bullet's route according to the target, set through laser beam is also expected to boost this market substantially. Teledyne Scientific & Imaging (TSI) and Lockheed Martin had been awarded with a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop 0.50 caliber smart bullets to have better accuracy to hit the target.

In February 2016, the U.S. DARPA awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Corporation's fire and missiles segment to design and develop medium-caliber smart bullets, which, upon completion, will help the navy to fight off attacks from missiles, fast attack boats, and aircrafts. All these developments are likely to propel the worldwide market for smart bullets over the forecast period. On the other hand, the lack of awareness among consumers and the high manufacturing costs of these bullets may hamper the growth of this market in the years to come, states the research study.

Browse Press Release: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/smart-bullets-market.htm

The study presented here is based on a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), titled "Smart Bullets Market (Product Types - Guided Smart Bullet and Self-guided Smart Bullet; End User - Airborne, Land, and Naval) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025."

The segments covered in the global Smart bullets market are as follows:

By Product Type

Guided Smart Bullets

Self-guided Smart Bullets

By End User

Airborne

Land

Naval

By Geography

North America U.S. Canada Mexico

Europe U.K. Russia France Germany Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific India China Japan Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East and Africa Saudi Arabia Rest of Middle East and Africa

and Latin America Brazil Rest of Latin America



Top Most Research Reports by TMR:

Sports Gun Market : http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sports-gun-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sports-gun-market.html Commercial Aviation Crew Management System Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/commercial-aviation-crew-management-system-market.html

About Us

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The company's exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

TMR's data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.



US Office Contact:

Transparency Market Research

90 State Street, Suite 700

Albany, NY 12207

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Email: [email protected]



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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
PALO ALTO, California and TEL AVIV, Israel, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Gong.io , the #1 conversation intelligence platform for B2B sales, today announced the launch of Real-Time Conversation Intelligence[TM] (RTCI) for B2B sales teams, a first in its category.

The company, recently recognized as a pioneer in its field, with Gartner naming Gong.io a Cool Vendor in CRM Sales, is announcing the launch of real-time conversation intelligence on its popular platform. This provides sales reps with a competitive edge by alerting them and assisting them in real time with a variety of pain points related to a sales opportunity - customer objections, competitive comparisons, pricing sensitivity, and a host of other potential deal breakers.

Gong uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze unstructured data to help B2B sales teams win more deals by recognizing effective patterns from tens of thousands of hours of spoken sales conversations.

"Thousands of sales professionals and their managers, who use Gong, will now receive real-time assistance to help them win more deals," said Amit Bendov, Gong.io CEO. "Until now, conversational intelligence was the domain of only the largest enterprises with the biggest pocketbooks. We're democratizing the sales conversation intelligence field by bringing it to the individual sales reps. There is a wealth of knowledge within each sales organization and within our conversation intelligence platform, which can now empower sales teams to have better sales conversations, shorten sales cycles, and drive more business."

Gong is a Marquee sponsor of the upcoming Sales Machine conference for next generation sales leaders (June 14, NYC), where it will demonstrate its latest conversation intelligence platform. Qualified sales leaders can book a private demo and enjoy a free trial of Gong by visiting http://www.gong.io

About Gong

Gong is the #1 conversation intelligence platform for B2B sales. It helps sales teams improve their calls and demos and gives sales leaders insights into how well calls are being conducted. Gong records, transcribes, and analyzes sales calls using AI, helping the sales organization understand what works, and what doesn't. Visit gong.io for more information.



Media Contact

Leron Kornreich

[email protected]

+44-415-937-1724

SOURCE Gong.io
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Good Start Genetics, a leading family genomics company, today announced the expansion of VeriYou, the Company's physician-ordered, genetic counseling-supported, at-home carrier screening tests, to now include screening for 19 inherited genetic disorders more prevalent in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. The National Jewish Genetic Consortium and medical guidelines recommend screening for these disorders among those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Good Start Genetics is the first company to bring clinical-grade, physician-ordered and affordable carrier screening tests into the home, accompanied by access to board-certified genetic counselors. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), nearly one in five people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent are carriers of a Jewish genetic disorder.

"We are committed to broadening access and removing barriers to best-in-class testing for mass clinical markets," said Jeffrey Luber, Good Start's president and CEO. "Healthcare is rapidly changing in a way that enables new delivery models in reproductive health that broaden access and affordability for millions. Central to our commitment to responsible testing, is our inclusion of physician ordering and world-class genetic counseling with every test, and at price points not previously seen in the market."

In November 2016, the Company announced its partnership with Amazon as the first genetic testing company with a direct relationship with the online retailer. In addition to the flagship VeriYou CF/SMA test, which offers testing for cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy, the newest addition, the VeriYou AJ/SMA test, offering testing for the spinal muscular atrophy and the 17 most prevalent genetic disorders in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, will also be available for purchase on Amazon.com or direct at Veriyou.com. The VeriYou AJ/SMA test includes screening for cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy, the two most common inherited genetic disorders in the U.S., and the 17 additional genetic disorders most common in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, including, Bloom's syndrome, Canavan disease, dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase deficiency, familial dysautonomia, familial hyperinsulinism, Fanconi anemia (group C), Gaucher disease, glycogen storage disease type 1a, Joubert syndrome 2, maple syrup urine disease type 1A/1B, mucolipidosis type IV, Nemaline myopathy, Niemann-Pick disease type A/B, Tay-Sachs disease, Usher syndrome type III, Usher syndrome type IF, Walker-Warburg syndrome.

About Good Start Genetics:

Good Start Genetics is dedicated to women's health and helping grow healthy families through its best-in-class genetics offerings. Using advanced clinical sequencing, proprietary methods and information tailored to the individual, the Company's suite of offerings arms clinicians and patients with insightful and actionable information to promote successful pregnancies and help build healthy families. The Company's product portfolio, including GeneVu, EmbryVu and VeriYou, encompasses a multifaceted approach to genetic testing, featuring solutions for both preimplantation and carrier screening, while offering comprehensive and flexible testing options helping a wider range of couples find their paths to pregnancy at significantly lower costs. Good Start Genetics complements these offerings with world class customer care and genetic counseling to help families stay well-informed and be better prepared for tomorrow. For more information, please visit www.goodstartgenetics.com or join us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Good Start Genetics
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand Rapids Ophthalmology ("GRO"), a leading comprehensive eye care provider offering ophthalmology, optometry, and retail optical services in West Michigan, announced today the appointment of Bill Hughson as Chief Executive Officer. Hughson will work closely with the senior leadership team and doctors to accelerate GRO's regional expansion, while continuing to deliver personalized and high-quality patient care.

Dr. David Barrett, an ophthalmologist at GRO, said, "One of the reasons we were so thrilled to join Great Lakes Management Services Organization ("Great Lakes MSO") was the access we'd have to great talent. Under Bill's leadership, we'll build upon our strong market position, pursue additional growth opportunities, and partner with more outstanding doctors to deliver the best possible patient care."

Prior to GRO, Hughson was President and CEO of IntegraMed Fertility, the largest fertility network in North America with 28 practices and 175 reproductive endocrinologists. There, he gained firsthand experience in working effectively with individual practices to combine a commitment to clinical excellence with a focus on patient experience, resulting in consistent delivery of double-digit growth rates. Hughson has also held leadership positions with DeVry Education Group, a leading global provider of educational services, and DaVita, a Fortune 500 provider of dialysis and related services. Hughson is currently a member of the board of directors at IntegraMed Fertility and GRO.

"Last year, we served more patients than ever before, thanks to GRO's excellent team and strong reputation for providing great care. As we move into our 36th year, Bill's experience will take GRO to its next phase of growth so we can continue to support our doctors with the additional resources, new technologies, and exceptional staff they need to be successful as more patients demand more services," said Dr. Phil Vanderlugt, an optometrist at GRO.

"It's clear that GRO's longevity, the quality of its doctors and staff, and its recent partnership with Great Lakes MSO have uniquely positioned GRO to rapidly and strategically grow, and provide the best patient care to individuals and families throughout West Michigan," said Hughson. "I look forward to working with the GRO team as we begin our next chapter."

In February, GRO joined Great Lakes MSO, a practice management services organization formed by Sterling Partners, to further its growth through Great Lakes' resources, management team, and capital. If you are interested in learning more about a partnership with Great Lakes MSO, contact Dan Hosler at [email protected].

About Grand Rapids Ophthalmology

Grand Rapids Ophthalmology provides experienced professionals including 11 ophthalmologists and 18 optometrists at locations throughout West Michigan to offer convenient and easy access to professional care. GRO's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality, state-of-the-art eye care, products, and services with the highest ethical standards and with unrivaled service to patients. GRO further strives to provide its patients, staff, and doctors with an outstanding work environment. For more information, visit: www.seeitclear.com.

About Sterling Partners

Sterling Partners is a private equity firm with a distinct point of view on how to build great companies. Founded in 1983, Sterling is guided by its stated purpose, INSPIRED GROWTH, which describes Sterling's approach to investing in differentiated businesses and growing them in inspired ways. Sterling focuses on investing growth capital in middle-market companies in the healthcare services and business services industries. Sterling provides valuable support to the management teams of the companies in which the firm invests through a deep and dedicated team of professionals, including a strong network of outside directors and advisors. The people at Sterling believe in ideas and ideals, in people and in partnerships that drive long-term success. For more information, visit: www.sterlingpartners.com.

CONTACT: Taylor Trovillion, 1-312-329-3983, [email protected]

SOURCE Grand Rapids Ophthalmology

Related Links

http://www.seeitclear.com


NEWTON, Massachusetts, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Greg Matula of H.C. Starck, was honored for his achievements in the international heat treatment industry and awarded the distinguished "Member of the Heat Treatment Forum Hall of Excellence" on April 26 at the 2017 Heat Treatment Forum & Expo in Wroclaw, Poland.

"H.C. Starck is delighted to have one of our employees receive such a prestigious award. Our participation in the Heat Treatment Forum & Expo is an indication of our commitment to service Poland and Eastern European markets," said Andreas Mader, President and CEO of the Fabricated Products Division. "As a global player in key markets such as aerospace, energy and medical, we offer our knowledge, technical and engineering expertise to assist our customers with their vacuum furnace needs using our superior performance metals - molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum. These refractory materials increase heating efficiency, eliminate product contamination, reduce cost of clean technology, help to optimize operating performance and prolong the furnace's service-life thus giving our customers a competitive edge in the marketplace."

H.C. Starck exhibited at the Heat Treatment Forum displaying its fabricated furnace products and capabilities for heat treating, including thermal modeling with CFD simulations and FEA calculations. During the technical sessions, Greg Matula discussed the "Advantage of Refractory Metals for Heat Treatment Devices" with an emphasis on H.C. Starck's core materials - molybdenum, niobium, tantalum, tungsten and their alloys molybdenum-lanthana (MoLa), titanium-zirconium-molybdenum (TZM), molybdenum-tungsten (MoW) and molybdenum hafnium carbide (MHC).

Full version of the press release is available at http://www.hcstarck.com/press

Contact

H.C. Starck press office, represented by:

PRpetuum GmbH

Hohenzollernstrasse 27

80801 Munich, Germany

Phone: +49(0)89-2444-76-50

[email protected]



SOURCE H.C. Starck GmbH
FORT WORTH, Texas, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Higginbotham announced today that it purchased a portion of the Hilb Group of Texas, LLC's operations in San Antonio, Texas. The transaction adds eight insurance and customer service professionals with a book of commercial and personal property/casualty insurance and employee benefit accounts to Higginbotham's existing 24-person office in San Antonio.

The group's colleagues have worked together since 2011 when the insurance agency that brought them together was established. That agency was acquired by the Hilb Group in 2015.

Higginbotham is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and ranked by revenue as the largest Texas-based independent insurance broker. It entered San Antonio in 2014 and has expanded into 22 other Texas and Oklahoma markets through a growth initiative whereby the firm acquires groups that demonstrate a common vision and increase its footprint, service capacity and product depth.

"Higginbotham's growth model works to the advantage of clients," said Drew Apperson, managing director for Higginbotham in San Antonio. "Partners that join Higginbotham can offer the clients they bring a single source solution for insurance because of the additional resources that become available to them. On our part, adding partners further strengthens our solution because they supplement our expertise and ability to serve more clients, fueling our growth."

The group will merge with Higginbotham's residing office at 1826 North Loop 1604 W in June 2017. The accounts acquired by Higginbotham will continue being serviced by the group under Apperson's leadership.

About Higginbotham

Higginbotham is a single source for insurance and financial services that brokers business insurance, employee benefits, retirement plans, executive benefits, life insurance and home/auto insurance from more than 250 regional and national carriers. It supplements coverage with in-house risk management and benefit plan administration services. The firm was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, with 25 additional offices statewide serving domestic and international customers. Higginbotham ranks by revenue as the nation's 31st largest independent insurance brokerage firm, making it the largest Texas-based broker (Business Insurance, July 2016). Visit www.higginbotham.net for more information.

SOURCE Higginbotham

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Honda Advises Owners of Vehicles Affected by Takata Airbag Inflator Recalls in Hawaii to Seek Repair Immediately

- Certain unrepaired 2001-2003 Honda and Acura models at high risk and should only be driven to a dealer for immediate repair

- Repairs are free at authorized dealers

- Replacement parts from non-Takata suppliers available for all affected Honda and Acura models

- Hawaii is an area of particular danger due to high heat and humidity
BOISE, Idaho, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE: IDA) will host its 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, May 18, at 10 a.m. Mountain Time at the Idaho Power Company headquarters, 1221 W. Idaho St. in Boise, Idaho. IDACORP, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Darrel Anderson will discuss 2016 performance of IDACORP, Inc. and its primary subsidiary, Idaho Power Company, and discuss initiatives for 2017 and beyond.

IDACORP, Inc. mailed formal notice of this meeting to shareholders who were holders of record on the record date, March 28, 2017. Attendance at the live on-site meeting is limited to IDACORP, Inc. shareholders who satisfy all the requirements set forth in the proxy statement for the Annual Meeting delivered or made available to shareholders of record.

The meeting also will be webcast at idacorpinc.com, available to both shareholders and non-shareholders. Webcast login information will be posted on the IDACORP, Inc. website the morning of the meeting. Presentation slides will be available on the website before the meeting begins. Following the meeting, all Annual Meeting webcast materials will be available on the company's website for a period of 12 months.

About IDACORP, Inc.

IDACORP, Inc., Boise, Idaho-based and formed in 1998, is a holding company comprised of Idaho Power Company, a regulated electric utility; IDACORP Financial, a holder of affordable housing projects and other real estate investments; and Ida-West Energy, an operator of small hydroelectric generation projects that satisfy the requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. Idaho Power began operations in 1916 and employs approximately 2,000 people to serve a 24,000 square-mile service area in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. With 17 low-cost hydroelectric projects as the core of its generation portfolio, Idaho Power's more than 535,000 residential, business and agricultural customers pay some of the nation's lowest prices for electricity. To learn more about IDACORP or Idaho Power, visit idacorpinc.com or idahopower.com.

SOURCE IDACORP, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.idacorpinc.com


WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Dairy Foods Association released the following statement by Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO, regarding the confirmation of Robert Lighthizer as U.S. Trade Representative:

"IDFA and our dairy foods company members congratulate Ambassador Robert Lighthizer on his confirmation as U.S. Trade Representative.

"We are committed to working with the Ambassador and other Trump Administration officials to develop and implement an effective U.S. trade policy that increases exports and allows greater market access for U.S. dairy products.

"Canada has a long history of not honoring its trade agreements regarding U.S. dairy imports. We appreciate this administration's efforts to address these problems and to obtain fair market access for U.S. dairy exports to Canada. We welcome the experience and expertise that the Ambassador now brings to these important discussions with the Canadian government.

"As an industry, we support the administration's call to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement. Without this trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, the United States would stand to lose billions of dollars annually in dairy exports and tens of thousands of farming and manufacturing jobs in communities across the country. U.S. dairy exports to Mexico alone now account for one quarter of total dairy exports, providing about 30,000 American jobs.

"We look forward to meeting with the Ambassador and continuing discussion on these and other trade issues."

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers with a membership of nearly 525 companies within a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's nearly 200 dairy processing members operate more than 600 manufacturing facilities and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.

SOURCE International Dairy Foods Association

Related Links

http://www.idfa.org/


PLACERVILLE, CA, May 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - iMD Companies, Inc. (OTC: ICBU) Board of Directors announced today that the company has received an offer from a public company to buyout iMD Meds and all other Hydroponics, CBD products including their Hemp Energy Protein Bars. The company is currently negotiating the terms of the agreement and plans to announce the finalization of the deal. The company is looking to streamline its efforts and focus solely on being a mining company. The company feels more comfortable in registering with the SEC as a Mining company and feels the registration will be clearer for auditors and regulators.

The company completed its acquisition of Krishna Minerals back in October 2016. Krishna Minerals is a producing mine in India with over 600 acres of mining claims, which are producing manganese and Iron ore metals. Krishna Minerals has major contracts with the Chinese government to supply manganese and Iron ore to China. Krishna Minerals has received several new contracts and recently received a 66-million-dollar contract for 100,000 Metric Tons of Magnesia Chrome Powder. Because of this increased demand in mining contracts, the company feels it should focus all its efforts into mining. The company is also planning a name change to better reflect a mining company.

Richard Wilson CEO of ICBU stated, "We are excited about this buyout offer to acquire all of our Hydroponics and CBD related products including our Hemp protein bars. We feel this offer will bring substantial assets into the company. When the buyout is completed it will give IMD Companies Inc., the opportunity to focus all its efforts on mining."

About iMD Companies, Inc.

To purchase iMD health products please visit: www.nutraprobar.com & www.imdmeds.com

IMD Companies, Inc., www.imdcompaniesinc.com (ICBU) is a Florida corporation, engaged in the manufacturing, extraction and distribution in mining, hydroponics, Hemp and CBD Health products industries and asset accumulations of revenue producing companies. The company is positioned to be a holding company for acquisitions in the medical, mining and hydroponics industries. Acquisitions in those areas are R-Quest Hydroponics from Anything Technologies Media (OTC: EXMT). The company and the principals of the management team have extensive backgrounds in finance, manufacturing, marketing and distribution. ICBU's goal is to create and increase shareholder value by tactically growing our core Hydroponics business while strategically seeking to acquire new business and create other business alliances, which generate increased revenues and earnings.

Safe Harbor Statement:

Certain statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements that are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "scheduled," "estimates" and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and the company does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements.

SOURCE iMD Companies, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.smsactive.com


MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: INFU) ("InfuSystem" or the "Company"), a leading national provider of infusion pumps and related services for the healthcare industry in the United States and Canada, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

First Quarter 2017 Overview:

Net revenues totaled $17.7 million , a decrease of 3.5%, compared to the first quarter 2016 net revenues of $18.3 million ;

, a decrease of 3.5%, compared to the first quarter 2016 net revenues of ; Product sales increased $0.7 million , or 39.4%, to $2.5 million , compared to the first quarter of 2016;

, or 39.4%, to , compared to the first quarter of 2016; Gross profit was $10.6 million , a decrease of $1.9 million , or 15.2%, compared to the first quarter of 2016;

, a decrease of , or 15.2%, compared to the first quarter of 2016; Gross margin was 60.3%, compared to 68.6% for the first quarter of 2016;

General and administrative ("G&A") expenses decreased $0.2 million , or 3.1%, to $6.5 million , compared to the first quarter of 2016;

, or 3.1%, to , compared to the first quarter of 2016; Provision for doubtful accounts ("Bad Debt") increased $0.1 million , to $1.8 million , compared to the first quarter of 2016, including $0.3 million in additional reserves related to delayed collections due to changed billing practices following SE1609 announced last year by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS");

, to , compared to the first quarter of 2016, including in additional reserves related to delayed collections due to changed billing practices following SE1609 announced last year by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS"); Net loss was $1.5 million , or $0.07 per diluted share, compared to the first quarter of 2016 net income of $0.0 million , or $0.00 per diluted share;

, or per diluted share, compared to the first quarter of 2016 net income of , or per diluted share; Net collected revenues (a non-GAAP financial measure) decreased 4.5%, to $15.8 million , compared to the first quarter of 2016;

, compared to the first quarter of 2016; Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP financial measure) decreased 56.5% to $1.4 million , compared the first quarter of 2016; and

, compared the first quarter of 2016; and The reengineering of our billing and collections process led to a record level of pump billings in the first quarter of 2017 despite having 25% less staff in the billing and collections group.

Management Discussion

Eric K. Steen, chief executive officer of InfuSystem, said, "While the first quarter is historically our slowest period, the financial performance in the first quarter of 2017 was a disappointment due to the continued effects of the CMS issued ruling SE1609. The first quarter saw the impact of amortizing our Electronic Connectivity software solutions, including EMR integration, Infu EXPRESS, Infu-Track, Pump Portal and Block Pain Dashboard. In February, we leveraged our Infu EXPRESS system with a reorganization and reduction in force in our billing and collection area. We completed the quarterly close with 25% less staff and expect to see the cost savings from this total reduction in force of approximately $1.0 million, on an annual basis, beginning in the second quarter of 2017. Net revenues decreased 3.5% to $17.7 million, partially due to the continued impact of SE1609, and we reported a net loss of $1.5 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2017, which included additional amortization for completed IT developments."

Mr. Steen continued, "With the Infu EXPRESS rollout completed, we are increasing our focus on cash collections. We are incenting our sales force to assist in contracting and collecting from our clinic customers with our new direct billing model, shifting resources to denial analysis, denial management, and contract compliance for our commercial insurance payors, and outsourcing collection efforts for our aged receivables for all insurance carriers and patients."

Mr. Steen concluded, "We will continue to focus on leveraging the investments made in our information technology ("IT") systems to drive cash collections and operational efficiencies. We are also committed to limiting our capital expenditures, selling expenses, and paying down debt to strengthen our balance sheet."

First Quarter Results

Net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $17.7 million, a decrease of $0.6 million, or 3.5%, compared to $18.3 million in the first quarter of 2016. During the first quarter of 2017, net revenues from rentals decreased $1.4 million, or 8.2%, compared to the same prior year period. Comparisons to prior year must take into account: (i) changed practices and reduced billing rates due to the CMS SE1609 regulatory change; (ii) continuing adjustments relating to implementation of our new IT platform Infu EXPRESS, which was implemented coincident to the SE1609 changes in the middle of last year; and (iii) the one-time effects of the restructuring of our billing and collection function in the first quarter of 2017. Net revenues from product sales for the first quarter of 2017 were $2.5 million, an increase of $0.7 million, or 39.4%, compared to the same period of 2016.

The Company is focused on net collected rental revenues, or net revenues from rentals less provision for doubtful accounts (a non-GAAP financial measure), which was $13.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, a decrease of 9.9%, compared to $14.7 million in the first quarter of 2016.

Bad Debt for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 was $1.8 million, an increase of $0.1 million, or 6.2%, compared to $1.7 million for the first quarter of 2016. Bad Debt was 10.5% of revenues for the first quarter of 2017, compared to 9.5% for the same prior year period. This change is largely due to increased reserves for amounts uncollected following the Company's implementation, on July 1, 2016, of revised billing practices required by SE1609. The Company now directly bills providers and not third-party payors for SE1609 related services. Because this is a dramatic change from prior practices, we have experienced a delay in providers acknowledging and paying under the new model. The Company has adopted the practice of reserving for all accounts receivable aged more than 90 days, but nonetheless expects to eventually collect substantially all the amounts billed under the post-SE1609 policies.

Gross profit for the first quarter of 2017 was $10.6 million, a decrease of 15.2%, compared to $12.6 million for the same prior year period. As a percentage of net revenues, gross profit equaled 60.3% of total net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 68.6% in the prior year's comparable quarter. The decrease in gross profit for the first quarter of 2017 was mainly due to the decrease in net revenues for the period plus an increase of $0.6 million in product and supply costs, $0.3 million in disposables sold, $0.2 million in service costs and $0.2 million in the costs of pumps sold.

For the first of quarter of 2017, G&A expenses were $6.5 million, a decrease of $0.2 million, or 3.1%, compared to $6.7 million for the same prior year period. The decrease in G&A expenses for the first quarter of 2017 versus the same prior year period was mainly attributable to decreases in services expense of $0.3 million, salaries of $0.2 million and $0.1 million each for stock compensation expense and other expenses, offset mainly by an increase in spending on IT of $0.5 million.

Other expenses for the first quarter of 2017 were $0.4 million compared to $0.3 million for the same period in 2016. Selling and marketing expenses for the 2017 first quarter were $2.9 million compared to $2.8 million for the first quarter of 2016. This increase was largely attributable to an increase in sales commissions of $0.4 million, which was partially offset by decreases in advertising & promotions of $0.2 million and travel expenses of $0.1 million.

The net loss in the first quarter of 2017 was $1.5 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, compared to net income of $0.0 million, or income of $0.00 per diluted share, in the same prior year period. Adjusted net loss, excluding non-recurring items (a non-GAAP financial measure), was $1.4 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $0.1 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, for the same prior year period.

For the first quarter of 2017, adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP financial measure) was $1.4 million, a decrease of 56.5%, compared to $3.3 million for the same period in 2016. The Company utilizes adjusted net (loss) income and adjusted EBITDA as a means to measure its operating performance. A reconciliation from GAAP operating measures to adjusted net income and adjusted EBITDA, both non-GAAP measures, can be found in the appendix attached to this press release. Adjustments during the first quarter of 2017 included, among other adjustments, expenses for severance related to the restructuring of our billings/collections function, costs associated with shareholder litigation and costs associated with our financial restatements in 2016.

Financial Condition

Net cash used in operations for the first quarter of 2017, was $1.4 million compared to net cash provided by operations of $0.3 million for the same prior year period. This increase is due to higher amounts of non-cash expenses (such as deferred income taxes) in the current period, as well as an increase in accounts payable and other liabilities. The Company reduced its investment in medical equipment during the quarter to zero in anticipation of increasing utilization on available assets.

As of March 31, 2017, the Company maintained cash and cash equivalents of $0.2 million and had $8.3 million of net availability under its revolving credit facility compared to $3.4 million of cash and cash equivalents and $9.9 million of net availability, respectively, at December 31, 2016.

As of March 31, 2017, the Company did not meet one of its debt covenants on its $32 million Term Loan A with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (the "Lender"). The Company has obtained a waiver of this violation, which will be filed on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Conference Call

The Company will conduct a conference call for investors on Friday, May 12, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss first quarter results. The balance sheet presentation is preliminary and will not be final until the Company's Form 10-Q is filed for the first quarter of 2017. Eric K. Steen, chief executive officer, Jan Skonieczny, chief operating officer, Christopher Downs, interim chief financial officer, and Trent Smith, chief accounting officer will discuss the Company's financial performance and answer questions from the financial community. The conference call may also include discussion of Company developments, forward-looking statements and other material information about business and financial matters. To participate in this call, please dial in toll-free (800) 446-2782 and use the confirmation number 44914783. Additionally, a Web replay will be available on the Company's website for 90 days.

Non-GAAP Measures

This press release contains information prepared in conformity with GAAP as well as non-GAAP financial information. The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release provide useful information to the Company's management, investors, and other interested parties about the Company's operating performance because they allow them to understand and compare the Company's operating results during the current periods to the prior year periods in a more consistent manner. It is management's intent to provide non-GAAP financial information in order to enhance readers' understanding of its consolidated financial information as prepared in accordance with GAAP. This non-GAAP information should be considered by the reader in addition to, but not instead of, the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Each non-GAAP financial measure and the corresponding GAAP financial measures are presented so as to not imply that more emphasis should be placed on the non-GAAP measure. The non-GAAP financial information presented may be determined or calculated differently by other companies. Additional information about non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of those measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included later in this release.

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

The financial results in this press release reflect preliminary results, which are not final until the Company's Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2017 is filed. In addition, certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "plan," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," variations of such words, and other similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words or similar expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to future actions, business plans, objectives and prospects, future operating or financial performance, including the preliminary financial results contained in this press release and the Company's ability to obtain an amendment to its Term Loan A. In connection with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Company is identifying certain factors that could cause actual results to differ, perhaps materially, from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Those factors, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to obtain an amendment to its Term Loan A, the classification of outstanding debt under the Term Loan A, potential changes in overall healthcare reimbursement, including CMS competitive bidding, sequestration, concentration of customers, increased focus on early detection of cancer, competitive treatments, dependency on Medicare Supplier Number, availability of chemotherapy drugs, global financial conditions, changes and enforcement of state and federal laws, natural forces, competition, dependency on suppliers, risks in acquisitions & joint ventures, U.S. Healthcare Reform, relationships with healthcare professionals and organizations, technological changes related to infusion therapy, dependency on websites and intellectual property, the ability of the Company to successfully integrate acquired businesses, dependency on key personnel, dependency on banking relations and covenants, and other risks associated with our common stock, as well as any litigation to which the Company may be involved in from time to time; and other risk factors as discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and in other filings made by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Our annual report on Form 10-K is available on the SEC's EDGAR website at www.sec.gov, and a copy may also be obtained by contacting the Company. All forward-looking statements made in this press release speak only as of the date hereof. We do not intend, and do not undertake any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances after the date of such statements, except as required by law.

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

FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW

INFUSYSTEM HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SELECTED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET STATISTICS









March 31,

December 31, (in thousands)

2017

2016



(Unaudited)



Balance Sheet Data:







Cash and Cash equivalents

$ 194

$ 3,398 Accounts Receivable, net

12,079

11,581 Total Assets

91,893

96,344 Total Debt (including capital leases)

35,206

37,402 Total Stockholders' Equity

$ 49,634

$ 50,689

INFUSYSTEM HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)









Three Months Ended (in thousands, except share and per share data)

March 31



2017

2016 Net revenues:







Rentals

$ 15,137

$ 16,488 Product Sales

2,517

1,806 Net revenues

17,654

18,294









Cost of revenues:







Cost of revenues  Product, service and supply costs

4,536

3,506 Cost of revenues  Pump depreciation and disposals

2,469

2,231









Gross profit

10,649

12,557









Selling, general and administrative expenses:







Provision for doubtful accounts

1,856

1,747 Amortization of intangibles

1,411

912









Selling and marketing

2,886

2,815 General and administrative

6,465

6,669









Total selling, general and administrative

12,618

12,143









Operating (loss) income

(1,969)

414 Other (expense) income:

















Interest expense

(328)

(305) Other (expense) income

(37)

20









Total other expense

(365)

(285)









(Loss) income before income taxes

(2,334)

129 Income tax benefit (expense)

856

(88) Net (loss) income

$ (1,478)

$ 41









Net (loss) income per share:







Basic

$ (0.07)

$ 0.00 Diluted

$ (0.07)

$ 0.00 Weighted average shares outstanding:







Basic

22,680,562

22,548,538 Diluted

22,680,562

23,039,256

INFUSYSTEM HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)





Three Months Ended



March 31 (in thousands)

2017

2016



NET CASH (USED IN) PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES

$ (1,442)

$ 337









INVESTING ACTIVITIES







Purchase of medical equipment and property

(1,015)

(3,274) Proceeds from sale of medical equipment and property

1,525

884 NET CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) INVESTING ACTIVITIES

510

(2,390)









FINANCING ACTIVITIES







Principal payments on revolving credit facility, term loans and capital lease obligations

(6,413)

(15,369) Cash proceeds from revolving credit facility

4,099

17,081 Debt issuance costs

(25)

- Common stock repurchased to satisfy statutory withholding on employee stock based compensation plans

(20)

(33) Cash proceeds from stock plans

87

125 NET CASH (USED IN) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES

(2,272)

1,804









Net change in cash and cash equivalents

(3,204)

(249) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period

3,398

818 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period

$ 194

$ 569

INFUSYSTEM HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES GAAP TO NON-GAAP RECONCILIATION (UNAUDITED)

NET (LOSS) INCOME TO ADJUSTED EBITDA:











Three Months Ended



March 31, (in thousands)

2017

2016









GAAP net (loss) income

$ (1,478)

$ 41 Adjustments:







Interest expense

328

305 Income tax (benefit) expense

(856)

88 Depreciation

1,707

1,643 Amortization

1,411

912









GAAP EBITDA

$ 1,112

$ 2,989









Stock compensation

140

213 Restatement costs

28

- Shareholder legal costs

24

- Management reorganization/transition costs

134

100









Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA

$ 1,438

$ 3,302

INFUSYSTEM HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES GAAP TO NON-GAAP RECONCILIATION (CONTINUED) (UNAUDITED)

NET (LOSS) INCOME TO ADJUSTED NET (LOSS) INCOME:











Three Months Ended



March 31, (in thousands)

2017

2016









GAAP net (loss) income

$ (1,478)

$ 41 Adjustments:







Restatement costs

28

- Shareholder legal costs

24

- Management reorganization/transition costs

134

100 Income tax (benefit) expense

(856)

88









(Loss) income before income taxes - adjusted

$ (2,148)

$ 229









Income tax benefit (expense) relating to adjustments (1)

788

(156)









Non-GAAP adjusted net (loss) income

$ (1,360)

$ 73



















RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET (LOSS) INCOME PER DILUTED COMMON SHARE TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTED NET (LOSS) INCOME PER DILUTED COMMON SHARE

















GAAP net (loss) income per diluted common share:

$ (0.07)

$ 0.00 Adjustments:







Restatement costs

0.00

- Shareholder legal costs

0.00

- Management reorganization/transition costs

0.01

0.00









Non-GAAP net (loss) income per diluted common share:

$ (0.06)

$ 0.00 Weighted average shares outstanding:







Basic

22,680,562

22,548,538 Diluted

22,680,562

23,039,256

(1) Rate used to calculate income tax benefit (expense) for the periods was the Company's effective tax rate before adjustments.

INFUSYSTEM HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES GAAP TO NON-GAAP RECONCILIATION (CONTINUED) (UNAUDITED)

NET COLLECTED REVENUES











Three Months Ended



March 31, (in thousands)

2017

2016









Net Revenues:







Rentals

$ 15,137

$ 16,488 Product sales

2,517

1,806









Total Net Revenues

17,654

18,294









Adjustments:







Less: Provision for Doubtful Accounts

(1,856)

(1,747)









Non-GAAP total - net collected revenues - adjusted

$ 15,798

$ 16,547



















NET COLLECTED RENTAL REVENUES











Three Months Ended



March 31, (in thousands)

2017

2016









Net Revenues:







Rentals

$ 15,137

$ 16,488









Adjustments:







Less: Provision for Doubtful Accounts

(1,856)

(1,747)









Non-GAAP total - net collected rental revenues - adjusted

$ 13,281

$ 14,741

SOURCE InfuSystem Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.infusystem.com


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly 70 percent of American decision-makers and managers rely on search engine results in making business decisions, according to a new national poll by Lumentus, a digital marketing and communications firm. Nearly 75% say they have decided not to conduct business based on negative information found in internet search engines.

"Ensuring companies and organizations manage their online 'profiles' and digital reputation on Google, Bing or Yahoo! is critical," said Laurence Moskowitz, chief executive of Lumentus. "This poll further demonstrates that every business and organization must ensure that its search results are strong, accurate and actively managed."

Nearly 800 U.S. business decision makers earning more than $100,000 were polled by Survey Monkey in early May 2017, affirming the importance of online search results when making business decisions. Some of the key findings include:

Nearly 70% of respondents say they consider online search results as part of their business decision-making processes

More than 80% of respondents report they would avoid a company or individual on the basis of negative search results

Nearly 75% say they have actually rejected doing business with companies as a result of negative search results.

75% of respondents say they will search further if they find negative information about a company they are researching

The poll's margin of error is +/- 4%.

"The Lumentus poll amplifies several recent studies of website traffic data, which show that nearly two-thirds of a company's website visitors originate with a search," said Lumentus Senior Partner Christina Bertinelli, who leads the firm's Digital Reputation Management practice. "Even when visitors know the company's URL, or specific website address, they use their search bar."

"Too often, we find companies that have websites with outdated content and poor search engine optimization (SEO) practices, infrequent press releases, and incorrect third-party business listings," Bertinelli added. "Active management requires developing and executing a digital strategy, ensuring the accuracy of other content and careful monitoring of third-party news and blog coverage."

About Lumentus

Lumentus is a digital marketing and communications firm based in New York that helps its clients manage their brands, protect their reputations and improve their perceptions across target and stakeholder audiences. The firm's principals are leading practitioners in the areas of corporate communications, public relations and public affairs, digital reputation management, social media, crisis communications, advertising and branding.

For more information on the firm's capabilities and case histories, visit www.lumentus.com

SOURCE Lumentus

Related Links

http://www.lumentus.com


SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IoTium, the first secure network infrastructure company for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), today announced that it has closed $8.39 million in Series A financing. This investment is led by March Capital Partners and GE Ventures. The round is also joined by Pankaj Patel, former executive vice president and chief development officer at Cisco; OpenSource Ventures, and Juniper Networks. The company will use the capital to accelerate its successes in building and industrial automation verticals, and expand its footprint in the oil and gas, transportation and smart city industries with its flagship Network as a Service (NaaS) solution which was also announced today.

"The biggest problem impacting the uptake of the IIoT at scale is security and deployment complexity," said Ron Victor, founder and CEO of IoTium. "With the help of our new investment partners, we are enabling the expansion of IIoT by making it possible for any type of organization to securely connect legacy mission critical industrial assets to the cloud with minimal IT intervention and absolutely no changes to enterprise security policy."

IndustryARC research predicts the Industrial IoT (IIOT) market will reach $123.89B by 2021.The ability to extract data from machinery, communicate this information to the cloud and achieve improvements in operations through data analysis is transforming the way organizations do business. Yet legacy on-site systems in industrial environments were not designed to connect to cloud based applications.

"The opportunity for IIoT is now. Companies have lagged on adoption, but will soon lose out if they do not take advantage of the benefits IIoT has to offer," said Sumant Mandal, Managing Director, March Capital Partners. "IoTium's technology virtually negates the most prevalent adoption barriers of security and scalability to make IIoT an easy reality for customers in almost any market."

"It takes a vision for change, coupled with the right expertise, to see an opportunity and deliver the right product at the right time within a market," said Abhishek Shukla, Managing Director of Software Investments, GE Ventures. "Ron's team has the deep expertise and experience in networking and security to propel the IIoT forward, enabling customers to realize the immense potential and financial benefits possible."

"Throughout my career, I've experienced deployment complexities when it comes to scalability and security," said Pankaj Patel, former executive vice president and chief development officer at Cisco. "IoTium offers a sleek, simple way to overcome these complexities and bring the value of the IIoT to market, enabling companies to connect, discover and control all the devices on their network. As part of the IoTium board of directors through this investment, I look forward to expanding the reach of impact of IoTium's solution."

"IoTium is an exciting company emerging from The Fabric's co-creation platform. We are happy to have worked with the team from the inception in creating the vision and help grow it into this terrific company," said Rajan Raghavan, CEO, The Fabric. "Ron Victor is known for his success in building companies and recognizing market opportunities. We're excited to be a part of helping Ron found and grow IoTium. We look forward to IoTium's further success in enabling companies to more easily benefit from the IIoT."

To learn more about IoTium and its technology, visit www.iotium.io.

About IoTium

IoTium is the first secure network infrastructure company for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Headquartered in Silicon Valley and backed by GE Ventures, March Capital, and Juniper Networks, IoTium was founded with the understanding that secure connections matter. The company's patented technology enables a Network as a Service (NaaS) solution to securely connect legacy onsite systems to cloud-based applications, allowing building and industrial automation, oil & gas, manufacturing, transportation and smart city industries to realize the promise of Industry 4.0. For more information, visit: http://www.iotium.io.

About March Capital Partners

March Capital Partners is a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm with one of the largest global funds in Southern California. Founded by industry veterans with over 50 years of investing experience, March Capital is unique in the Southern California market with its active investments in both early and late-stage companies in mobile, enterprise, infrastructure, gaming and other growth industries. The majority of March Capital's investments are with Southern California companies, with targeted positions in innovative global organizations. For more information, see www.marchcp.com.

About GE Ventures

GE Ventures identifies, scales and accelerates ideas that will help make the world work better. Focused on the areas of software, advanced manufacturing, energy and health care, GE Ventures combines equity investing, new business creation, licensing and technology transfer to deliver an innovation platform designed to drive growth for partners and GE. For more information, visit http://www.geventures.com, or follow on Twitter (@GE_Ventures) and LinkedIn.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks challenges the status quo with products, solutions and services that transform the economics of networking. Our team co-innovates with customers and partners to deliver automated, scalable and secure networks with agility, performance and value. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter and Facebook.

About OpenSource Ventures

OpenSource Ventures is a syndicate that invests in both open source, and general software infrastructure deals. For more information on OpenSource Ventures, visit angel.co/open-source-syndicate/syndicate.

About The Fabric

The Fabric deeply collaborates with entrepreneurs to co-create highly innovative and disruptive cloud infrastructure companies. The Fabric team has long entrepreneurial experience, success track-record, as well as deep relevant domain expertise, which enables the creation of break-through cloud infrastructure companies. The Fabric has co-created several successful companies. More details on The Fabric and the co-created companies can be found at www.thefabricnet.com.

IoTium Contacts:

Kim Truong

IoTium

(408) 219-1315

[email protected]

Lisette Rauwendaal

McGrath Power

(408) 200-3773

[email protected]

SOURCE IoTium
DUBLIN, May 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Iran Dairy Products Market By Type, By Organized vs. Unorganized, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2021" report to their offering.

Iran Dairy Products Market to grow at a CAGR of over 22%, during the forecast period, which is attributable to increasing online presence of major market players offering dairy products and increasing westernization of food habits. In 2015, butter & margarine segment dominated Iran dairy products market, followed by drinking milk.

Market for dairy products in Iran witnessed significant growth during 2011-2015, on the back of increasing demand from various regions of the country and shift in consumer preferences from unpackaged dairy products to packaged dairy products. In addition, rapid urbanization, changing lifestyles as well as growing popularity of western dairy products in Iran is projected to drive production and consumption of processed and packaged dairy products, across the country.

Increasing focus of Government of Iran to reduce economic dependence on oil & gas sector, is fueling investments for development of dairy farming and agriculture sectors. Recent upliftment of economic sanctions from Iran by the UN resulted in an open economy, facilitating trade and business with countries in Europe and North America. Consequently, various international dairy brands are expected to enter Iran in coming years and establish multiple milk collection and cooling centers in various provinces of the country, including rural areas.

Rising consumption of yogurt and cheese in the country can be attributed to increasing preference for such products over fresh/pasteurised milk as well as high consumption of doogh', a yogurt based beverage commonly served with Iranian meals. Moreover, Pegah Dairy Company, Kalleh Dairy Company, Mihan Dairy Group, Teen Dairy Products Co., and Pak Dairy Company are few of the leading players operating in Iran dairy products market and these companies offer a wide variety of dairy products through a well-established distribution network.



Iran Dairy Products Market report discusses the following aspects of dairy products market in Iran:



Iran Dairy Products Market Size, Share & Forecast

Segmental Analysis - By Type (Butter & Margarine, Drinking Milk, Cheese, Yogurt, Ice-cream and Others), By Organized vs. Unorganized

Policy and Regulatory Landscape

Changing Market Trends & Emerging Opportunities

Competitive Landscape & Strategic Recommendations

Market Trends & Developments



Increasing Demand for Packaged Dairy Products

Growing Demand for Yogurt and Sour milk

Changing Customer Preferences towards Organic Milk

Open Dairy Trade

Technology Upgradation

Key Topics Covered:



1. Product Overview



2. Research Methodology



3. Analyst View



4. Global Dairy Products Market Outlook



5. Iran Dairy Products Market Outlook



6. Iran Butter & Margarine Market Outlook



7. Iran Drinking Milk Market Outlook



8. Iran Cheese Market Outlook



9. Iran Yogurt Market Outlook



10. Iran Ice Cream Market Outlook



11. Iran Other Dairy Products Market Outlook



12. Supply Chain Analysis



13. Market Dynamics



14. Market Trends & Developments



15. Import & Export Analysis



16. Policy & Regulatory Landscape



17. Iran Economic Profile



18. Competitive Landscape



Bel Rouzaneh Dairy Products Company (PJS).

Choopan Dairy

Damdaran Teen Dairy Products Co.

Domino Dairy & Ice Cream Co

Doosheh Dairy Company

Kalleh Dairy Company.

Mihan Dairy Group.

Pak Dairy Co.

Pegah Dairy Co.

Ramak Dairy Co

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6ndzls/iran_dairy

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


TSX:JAG

TORONTO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG) today announced details of the Company's financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 ("Q1 2017"). Complete Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis are available on SEDAR and on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com. All figures are in US dollars, unless otherwise expressed.

Q1 2017 Financial Highlights

Gold production increased 5% to 22,292 ounces and gold ounces sold increased to 24,035 ounces compared with 21,197 ounces produced and 22,881 ounces sold in Q1 2016, respectively.

A temporary interruption of mining activities in one section of Orebody A at Turmalina was partially offset by an 86% increase in gold production at Pilar.

Revenue was up 9% to $29.2 million , compared with $26.7 million in Q1 2016, and the average realized gold price of $1,215 was 4% higher compared with $1,165 in Q1 2016.

, compared with in Q1 2016, and the average realized gold price of was 4% higher compared with in Q1 2016. The strengthening Brazilian Real over the US dollar had the effect of increasing unitary costs in the reporting currency. During Q1 2017, the Brazilian Real strengthened 19% against the US dollar, compared with Q1 2016. In addition to the currency impact, the following items impacted the costs in Q1 2017:

Cash operating costs ("COC") increased 25% to $924 per ounce of gold sold, compared to $742 per ounce sold during Q1 2016, due to lower production at Turmalina and the increased cost for secondary development at Pilar.

per ounce of gold sold, compared to per ounce sold during Q1 2016, due to lower production at Turmalina and the increased cost for secondary development at Pilar.

All in sustaining costs ("AISC") increased 22% to $1,323 per ounce of gold sold, compared to $1,086 per ounce sold during Q1 2016, mainly due to a 20% increase in sustaining mine development and purchases of new equipment for Pilar.

per ounce of gold sold, compared to per ounce sold during Q1 2016, mainly due to a 20% increase in sustaining mine development and purchases of new equipment for Pilar. Operating cash flow was $1.9 million , compared to $9.5 million in Q1 2016. Lower operating cash flow with continued investments in capital programs resulted in a cash balance of $18.2 million as of March 31, 2017 , compared to a cash balance of $26.3 million at December 31, 2016 .

, compared to in Q1 2016. Lower operating cash flow with continued investments in capital programs resulted in a cash balance of as of , compared to a cash balance of at . During Q1 2017, the Company also continued to invest in its Growth Exploration Program, initiated in November 2016 , with approximately 25% of the drilling and development milestones achieved to date.

, with approximately 25% of the drilling and development milestones achieved to date. The Company is maintaining 2017 production guidance of 100,000  110,000 ounces, which will be reviewed at the end of Q2 2017.

In view of the volatility in the gold price and continued strengthening of the Brazilian Real since September 2015 , the Company has initiated a cost reduction program to offset these external factors. This includes reducing the Roca Grande operations by approximately 40% in overall headcount at that site. Company-wide general and administrative costs have also been reviewed with the aim of reducing headcount in support functions. The Company will also continue its assessment of the maintenance departments to further incorporate preventive procedures, improve equipment availability, and reduce costs.

, the Company has initiated a cost reduction program to offset these external factors. This includes reducing the Roca Grande operations by approximately 40% in overall headcount at that site. Company-wide general and administrative costs have also been reviewed with the aim of reducing headcount in support functions. The Company will also continue its assessment of the maintenance departments to further incorporate preventive procedures, improve equipment availability, and reduce costs. Subsequent to the quarter end, Jaguar entered into a preliminary agreement with Sprott Private Resource Lending (Collector) LP ("Sprott Lending") for an additional tranche of $5 million on terms similar to those of the secured loan facility that Jaguar entered into with Sprott Lending on November 7, 2016 .

Rodney Lamond, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar commented, "A significant highlight of the first quarter of 2017 was the strong performance at Pilar which increased its gold production 86% to 8,485 ounces and its grade by 17% to 3.39 g/t, reflecting the advancement of ore development into the high-grade Orebodies BF and BFII. However, consolidated production of 22,292 ounces was much lower than targeted, mainly due to a change in mining sequence at Turmalina caused by temporary ground control conditions on Level 9. As a result, development activities were refocused onto Level 10. Earlier than planned advancement at Orebody C resulted in a decline in an overall average head grade to 3.79 g/t. The change in mine sequence to Level 10 is expected to positively impact operations in the near term, allowing for an increase in mine feed grades and will enable the recovery of Q1 gold production shortfall. The rehabilitation efforts to recover the remaining ounces on Level 9 of Orebody A will resume in the second half of 2017."

"During the first quarter, we made investments of $6.9 million in capital expenditures towards primary development, exploration drilling, and new mining equipment. The recommissioning of Mill #3 at Turmalina provides operations with an increased milling capacity that is capable of processing 2,000 tonnes per day which will support higher production and lower unit operating costs in the future. Operating costs during the first quarter were higher than anticipated due to lower than expected production from Turmalina and the continued appreciation of the local Brazilian currency which has increased 19% over the US dollar since the first quarter of 2016. The AISC reflects the continued investments in sustaining capital expenditures and will be reviewed in light of Q1 results. At Pilar, AISC included approximately $350 per ounce of sustaining capital investment. This was largely related to the ongoing investment in primary development with additional new mining equipment arriving during the quarter. Higher COC at Pilar was derived by a significant 614 metres of secondary ore development."

Mr. Lamond concluded: "Looking ahead, we are maintaining our 2017 production guidance of 100,000  110,000 ounces, but we will conduct a review of guidance at the end of the second quarter. The Company is taking the necessary steps to manage costs during this time of lower gold prices and continued strengthening of the Brazilian currency. As we continue to experience cost pressures, we will be offsetting the impact with cost savings in other areas through operational productivity and efficiency improvements, reductions in capital, and slowing all non-core spending."

Q1 2017 Operating Highlights

Consolidated gold production of 22,292 ounces, up 5% year-over-year, with 214,000 tonnes of ore processed.

Gold recovery of 90.8% in Q1 2017 compared to 90.2% in Q1 2016 due to continuous improvement projects initiated at both plants.

Strong operating performance at Pilar resulted in an 86% increase in gold production to 8,485 ounces, a 17% improvement in average grade to 3.39 g/t, and higher recovery of 90.8%. Strong gold production reflects the advancing ore development into the higher-grade Orebodies BF and BFII.

Turmalina produced 12,736 ounces of gold, lower than the Q1 2016 and Q4 2016 production levels, due to lower throughput and grade as a result of a temporary interruption of mining activities in one section of Orebody A to conduct ground control rehabilitation work. Previously scheduled high-grade mining blocks from this area were deferred later into the mining schedule.

Turmalina increased Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources by 22% to 540,000 ounces of gold (grade of 4.93 g/t Au), and Proven & Probable Mineral Reserves for Orebody C by 167% to 80,000 ounces of gold (grade of 4.10 g/t Au).

Milling capacity at Turmalina increased with the recommissioning of Mill #3, announced January 5, 2017 .







Operating Summary Q1 2017 Q1 2016

Turmalina Pilar Roca

Grande Total Turmalina Pilar Roca

Grande Total

Tonnes milled (t) 113,000 74,000 27,000 214,000 128,000 56,000 12,000 196,000

Average head grade (g/t) 3.79 3.39 2.12 3.50 4.29 2.89 2.53 3.78

Recovery % 91% 91% 91% 91% 90% 90% 90% 90% Gold ounces

















Produced (oz) 12,736 8,485 1,071 22,292 15,772 4,552 873 21,197

Sold (oz) 13,536 9,422 1,076 24,035 16,635 5,369 877 22,881 Development

















Primary (m) 366 470 74 910 731 312 118 1,161

Exploration (m) 104 13 34 151 - - - -

Secondary (m) 754 614 14 1,382 838 24 184 1,046

Diamond drilling (m) 6,080 5,218 567 11,864 4,691 2,508 4,693 11,892 Costs per ounce sold

















Cash operating costs ($/oz) 738 1,092 1,787 924 590 1,096 1,454 742

All-in sustaining costs ($/oz) 903 1,434 2,330 1,323 780 1,414 1,609 1,086

Cash Balance

As at March 31, 2017, the Company had a cash position of $18.2 million, compared to $26.3 million as at December 31, 2016, primarily due to lower gold production.

Subsequent to the quarter end, Jaguar entered into a preliminary agreement with Sprott Lending for an additional tranche of $5 million on terms principally similar to those of the secured loan facility that Jaguar entered into with Sprott Lending on November 7, 2016 (the "Facility"). The preliminary agreement and the funding of the additional tranche is conditional upon various standard conditions and approvals, including the approval of the TSX. This additional $5 million tranche is expected to close and be funded in June 2017 and is for a term of 36 months with an interest rate of 6.5% per annum, plus the greater of US dollar LIBOR and 1.25% per annum. In consideration for providing the financing commitment, Jaguar expects to issue 375,000 common shares to Sprott Lending on the closing date. The proceeds from this tranche from the Facility will be used for capital equipment.

on terms principally similar to those of the secured loan facility that Jaguar entered into with Sprott Lending on (the "Facility"). The preliminary agreement and the funding of the additional tranche is conditional upon various standard conditions and approvals, including the approval of the TSX. This additional tranche is expected to close and be funded in and is for a term of 36 months with an interest rate of 6.5% per annum, plus the greater of US dollar LIBOR and 1.25% per annum. In consideration for providing the financing commitment, Jaguar expects to issue 375,000 common shares to Sprott Lending on the closing date. The proceeds from this tranche from the Facility will be used for capital equipment. Following Sprott Lending's February, 2017 site visit to Jaguar's mineral properties and operating facilities in Brazil , current due diligence, and in light of the preliminary agreement to fund an additional $5 million tranche from the Facility, Sprott Lending waived the Company's obligation regarding a positive working capital covenant from the period of April 1, 2017 through June 29, 2017 .

Foreign Currency

Jaguar has been impacted by the strengthening in the Brazilian Real exchange rate relative to the US dollar, which has had the effect of increasing cash costs in US dollar terms. The average exchange rate during Q1 2017 was R$3.15 Brazilian Reais per US dollar compared to R$3.90 per US dollar in Q1 2016. The closing exchange rate as at March 31, 2017 was R$3.17 per US dollar compared to R$3.26 per US dollar as at December 31, 2016.

2017 Outlook

The company has made excellent progress since Q1 2016, and expects to achieve the following for 2017:

Turmalina will focus on accelerating Orebody C development to focus on increasing grade and tonnes. Additionally, growth exploration at Turmalina will continue the deep drilling down-dip of the extension of Orebody C.

Pilar will focus on opportunities to adjust timing or reducing development and contractor costs, reviewing current and longer-term needs for development, while looking at lower cost mining methods.

Streamlining cash operating costs at Pilar and Roca Grande, and further reduction of G&A costs.

Commissioning of the paste-fill plant in June to improve back-fill at Turmalina, and thus improve ground control conditions at deeper levels of the mine.

Roca Grande to reduce from four mining shifts to two shifts per day, while maintaining the current production levels.

Review and potentially pause all non-core expenditures and growth exploration to carefully manage our cash position and working capital needs.

The Company maintains the 2017 consolidated guidance in the table below. A review of the guidance will be completed at the end of the second quarter.









2017 Guidance Turmalina Complex Caete Complex Consolidated Low High Low High Low High Gold production (ounces) 60,000 65,000 40,000 45,000 100,000 110,000 Cash operating costs (per ounce sold)1 $600 $650 $ 900 $1,000 $720 $755 All-in sustaining costs (per ounce sold)1 $800 $850 $1,020 $1,180 $900 $1,000 Development













Primary (m) 2,500 2,900 2,200 2,600 4,700 5,500

Secondary (m) 2,200 2,700 3,400 3,850 5,600 6,550 Diamond drilling (m) 16,000 18,000 10,000 13,000 26,000 31,000 Growth exploration investment ($ million)







$7.5 $8.0 1 Cash operating costs and all-in sustaining costs are non-gaap financial performance measures with no standard definition under IFRS.

Refer to the Non-IFRS Measures section below. 2017 cost guidance has been prepared based on a foreign exchange rate

of 3.5 Brazilian Reais vs. the US dollar.

Financial and Operating Highlights





($ thousands, except where indicated) For the three months ended March 31,

2017 2016 Financial Data



Revenue $ 29,192 $ 26,664 Operating costs 21,508 17,579 Depreciation 6,576 7,702 Gross profit 1,108 1,383

Gross profit (excluding depreciation)1 7,684 9,085 Loss on change in fair value of notes payable - 17,579 Net loss (7,877) (15,001)

Per share ("EPS") (0.03) (0.13) EBITDA1 743 (5,860)

Adjusted EBITDA1,2 4,211 6,426

Adjusted EBITDA per share1 0.01 0.06 Cash operating costs (per ounce sold)1 924 742 All-in sustaining costs (per ounce sold)1 1,323 1,086 Average realized gold price (per ounce) 1,215 1,165 Cash generated from operating activities 1,855 9,526 Free cash flow1 (4,177) 3,558 Free cash flow (per ounce sold)1 (174) 156 Sustaining capital expenditures1 6,032 5,013 Non-sustaining capital expenditures1 873 382 Total capital expenditures 6,906 5,395 1 Average realized gold price, sustaining and non-sustaining capital expenditures, cash operating costs and all-in sustaining costs,

free cash flow, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA per share, and gross profit (excluding depreciation) are non-IFRS

financial performance measures with no standard definition under IFRS. Refer to the Non-IFRS Financial Performance Measures

section of the MD&A. 2 Adjusted EBITDA excludes non-cash items such as impairment and write downs. For more details refer to the Non-IFRS

Performance Measures section of the MD&A.







For the three months ended March 31,

2017 2016 Operating Data



Gold produced (ounces) 22,292 21,197 Gold sold (ounces) 24,035 22,881 Primary development (metres) 910 1,161 Secondary development (metres) 1,382 1,046 Definition, infill, and exploration drilling (metres) 11,864 11,892

Qualified Person

Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Geraldo Guimaraes Vieira dos Santos, BSc Geo., MAIG-3946 (CP), Geology Manager, who is an employee of Jaguar Mining Inc., and is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

The Iron Quadrangle

The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of black gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million-ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar holds the second largest gold land position in the Iron Quadrangle with just over 25,000 hectares.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes, and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 191,000 hectares. The Company's principal operating assets are in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Gold Mine Complex (Pilar and Roca Grande mines, and Caete Plant) which combined, produce more than 95,000 ounces of gold annually. The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking information made in this news release are qualified by the cautionary statements below and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified using words such as "are expected", "is forecast", "is targeted", "approximately", "plans", "anticipates" "projects", "anticipates", "continue", "estimate", "believe" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, may be considered to be, or include forward looking information. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding, among other things, expected sales, production statistics, ore grades, tonnes milled, recovery rates, cash operating costs, definition/delineation drilling, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of projects and new deposits, success of exploration, development and mining activities, currency fluctuations, capital requirements, project studies, mine life extensions, restarting suspended or disrupted operations, continuous improvement initiatives, and resolution of pending litigation. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the estimated timeline for the development of its mineral properties; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; political and legal developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations including, without limitation, the impact of any potential power rationing, tailings facility regulation, exploration and mine operating licenses and permits being obtained an renewed and/or there being adverse amendments to mining or other laws in Brazil and any changes to general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others: the risk of Jaguar not meeting the forecast plans regarding its operations and financial performance; uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labor disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, weather delays and increased costs or production delays due to natural disasters, power disruptions, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations; uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general (including the sometimes volatile valuation of securities and an uncertain ability to raise new capital) and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development, mining and production, including environmental hazards, tailings dam failures, industrial accidents and workplace safety problems, unusual or unexpected geological formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, chemical spills, and gold bullion thefts and losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Company's most recent Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as other public disclosure documents that can be accessed under the issuer profile of "Jaguar Mining Inc." on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Company's reasonable expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Non-IFRS Measures

This news release provides certain financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Readers are cautioned to review the above stated footnotes where the Company expanded on its use of non-IFRS measures.

1. Cash operating costs and cash operating cost per ounce are non-IFRS measures. In the gold mining industry, cash operating costs and cash operating costs per ounce are common performance measures but do not have any standardized meaning. Cash operating costs are derived from amounts included in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) and include mine-site operating costs such as mining, processing and administration as well as royalty expenses, but exclude depreciation, depletion, share-based payment expenses, and reclamation costs. Cash operating costs per ounce are based on ounces sold and are calculated by dividing cash operating costs by commercial gold ounces sold. The Company discloses cash operating costs and cash operating costs per ounce as it believes those measures provide valuable assistance to investors and analysts in evaluating the Company's operational performance and ability to generate cash flow. The most directly comparable measure prepared in accordance with IFRS is total production costs. A reconciliation of cash operating costs per ounce to total production costs for the most recent reporting period, the quarter ended March 31, 2017 is set out in the Company's first quarter 2017 MD&A filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.



2. All-in sustaining cost is a non-IFRS measure. This measure is intended to assist readers in evaluating the total costs of producing gold from current operations. While there is no standardized meaning across the industry for this measure, except for non-cash items the Company's definition conforms to the all-in sustaining cost definition as set out by the World Gold Council in its guidance note dated June 27, 2013. The Company defines all-in sustaining cost as the sum of production costs, sustaining capital (capital required to maintain current operations at existing levels), corporate general and administrative expenses, and in-mine exploration expenses. All-in sustaining cost excludes growth capital, reclamation cost accretion related to current operations, interest and other financing costs, and taxes. A reconciliation of all-in sustaining cost to total production costs for the most recent reporting period, the quarter ended March 31, 2017 is set out in the Company's first quarter 2017 MD&A filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE Jaguar Mining Inc.

Related Links

http://www.jaguarmining.com


Life science facility celebrates one year anniversary with a total of 24 new resident companies since May 2016, with focuses across pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer & digital health

TORONTO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, today announced 24 new companies have become residents of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS @ Toronto since its grand opening exactly a year ago. The 40,000-square-foot life sciences incubator now hosts a total of 40+ companies, and provides these entrepreneurs shared lab space and offices, modular lab suites and access to scientific, industry and capital funding experts, all with no-strings attached. The companies represent a range of sectors including pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer health solutions with focus areas such as oncology, vision care, genomics, neuroscience, infectious diseases, immunology and the microbiome.

"Since opening its doors a year ago, JLABS @ Toronto has successfully attracted a multitude of promising companies from our province's life sciences community, led by academic hospitals, world-class research institutes, top scientists and a strong health start-up network," said the Honourable Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science. "They have helped our province continue to build up Ontario's vibrant innovation ecosystem, create good jobs, and strengthen our position in the global knowledge economy while also providing access to incredible resources for our life science entrepreneurs."

Johnson & Johnson Innovation seeks to fuel the best science and technology, no matter where it is located, to solve the greatest unmet medical and healthcare needs of our time. In addition to offering emerging life science companies modular lab units, office space, shared core laboratory equipment, business facilities, third-party services and educational events, JLABS links the entrepreneurs of Toronto with the full breadth of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, including opportunities for funding, access to research and development experts from medical technology, consumer healthcare product and the pharmaceutical teams at Janssen Inc. JLABS @ Toronto provides access to scientific, industry and capital funding experts from across the industry, and operates under the JLABS no-strings attached model, which means resident companies can completely retain their intellectual property and there are no first rights of refusal.

"Our goal is to support early stage innovators with the resources and network needed to grow, and as evident by the 40 companies that reside within JLABS @ Toronto, we are already accomplishing what we set out to do in just one year of operation," said Melinda Richter, head of JLABS, Johnson & Johnson Innovation. "The no-strings attached model has been very important to our success in attracting so many quality companies, as it allows entrepreneurs the freedom to operate and do what is best for their company. We are hopeful that providing JLABS to the life sciences ecosystem in Toronto will support continued economic growth and development in the region."

Since opening last year, JLABS @ Toronto has helped boost the Canadian life sciences ecosystem by hosting more than 5,300 attendees at over 50 events. More than 90 experts from a multitude of industries have spoken at these events in the last year. JLABS @ Toronto resident companies are receiving access to expertise from across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

"Through their world-class incubator, Johnson & Johnson Innovation is providing much needed infrastructure and access to funding sources for early-stage innovators to help drive their ideas forward," said the Honourable Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development & Growth. "Ontario welcomes JLABS @ Toronto's innovative and flexible platform, providing a total of 40 companies with access to incredible business resources while allowing researchers to keep the freedom and flexibility they need to be successful."

JLABS @ Toronto has facilitated over 150 meetings of startups with visiting funding experts from throughout North America. Through a unique collaboration, JLABS @ Toronto companies will be considered for funding and mentoring from Spectrum 28, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

The following are the new companies* accepted into JLABS @ Toronto since May 11th, 2016:

JLABS @ Toronto Resident About the Company Analytics 4 Life Developing machine-learned imaging solutions on our artificial intelligence platform, Agilytics, to non-invasively detect disease using only intrinsic physiologic signals. Advanced Proteome Therapeutics Corporation Simplifying and standardizing the production of antibody-drug conjugates to treat cancer, utilizing proprietary site-selective chemistries as protein modification technologies. Appili Therapeutics A private Canadian pharmaceutical company dedicated to identifying, acquiring and advancing novel therapeutics for infectious disease. Ardra Bio Inc. Makes high-quality natural flavors and fragrances through synthetic biology. Avicanna Inc. A life sciences company focused on innovative and biotechnological advancements in the medical cannabis industry worldwide. Clerio Vision Developing a revolutionary vision correction technology platform with applications in refractive surgery, cataract surgery and contact lenses in order to deliver better clinical outcomes with fewer complications. Densitas Developing a comprehensive advanced imaging analytics platform to generate actionable information targeted at improving mammography quality and associated better clinical outcomes and appropriateness of care. DoseBiome Developing accessible therapeutics for the oral microbiome. Eve Medical Women's Health company and makers of Eve Kit - Canada's first at-home HPV and STI screening service. ExCellThera A clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel stem cell therapies for blood-related diseases and cancers. Integra Medical Improving health through development and commercialization of breakthrough microbiome therapeutics. Mannin Research A biotechnology company innovating first-in-class therapeutics for vascular diseases starting with a novel eye-drop to treat patients with glaucoma. Mediphage Bioceuticals Designing naturally-modelled and safe phage-based therapeutics for the cost-effective and personalized management of cancer and other chronic diseases. MIMOSA Diagnostics Making mHealth applications & devices that empower diabetic patients and enable their clinicians to remotely monitor foot health. NerveVision A FDA 510(k)-cleared Nerve Visualization and Analysis software platform, creating a 3D, volume-rendered, reconstruction and segmentation of nerves from a standard MRI exam, enabling the clinician to visualize anatomy, pathology and nerve inflammation. Pendant Biosciences An advanced materials company developing novel, customizable, surface coatings and drug delivery technologies for applications within the orthopedic market. Qing Bile Therapeutics Inc. A R&D pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of highly effective bile acid therapies for people suffering from liver and GI diseases. Ranomics Developing a database of genetic variants of unknown significance based on functional studies to help clinicians better diagnose hereditary cancers related to specific genes. Self Care Catalysts A cloud-based patient solutions, intelligence and analytics company leveraging the patient clout to derive value from human health behavior data and clinical evidence to inform decisions that will improve care delivery and health outcomes. Tracery A clinical stage ocular imaging and health tech company harnessing structured and unstructured data, OMICS, and large data analytics, for the co-development of new diagnostic tools and individualized therapeutic strategies globally through the cloud, advancing therapies for retinal disease. Treventis Designing innovative, disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer's disease and other protein misfolding disorders. Winterlight Labs Detects and monitors cognitive and mental illness through short snippets of speech using artificial intelligence. ZOETIC Pharmaceuticals Developing antigen-specific immune tolerance induction technology to address unwanted immune responses associated with therapeutic biologics, auto immune diseases, and AAV mediated gene therapy. *some companies have asked not to be listed

Following the leadership of the government of Ontario's investment in JLABS @ Toronto, the Johnson & Johnson Alberta Health Innovation Partnership (JAHIP), a collaboration that includes Alberta Economic Development and Trade, Janssen Inc. and the University Hospital Foundation in Edmonton recently opened the doors to JLABS POD @ Alberta, a secure video conference system at the University of Alberta. This is the first- of- its- kind in Canada and will provide an access point to the Johnson & Johnson Innovation family, offering Alberta health researchers and entrepreneurs access to: the Johnson & Johnson Innovation broader network of therapeutic area experts in pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer and digital health.



"Since its launch just one year ago, JLABS @ Toronto has attracted some of the region's brightest and freshest talent," said Chris Halyk, President, Janssen Inc. "The JLABS model in Ontario and now the JLABS POD in Alberta, enables us to boost the Canadian innovation and life sciences ecosystem and provide meaningful resources to help drive exciting new science forward. Janssen is proud to be part of such a strong collaboration of partners that helped make JLABS @ Toronto and JLABS POD @ Alberta a reality."

JLABS facilities have incubated more than 207 companies to date and are currently home to over 150 companies advancing biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and digital health programs. A total of 35 collaborations have been formed between companies residing at JLABS and the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

JLABS @ Toronto is located at MaRS Discovery District and is a collaboration between Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, the University of Toronto, MaRS, Janssen Inc., MaRS Innovation and the Government of Ontario. It is also supported by the following hospital partners: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Hospital for Sick Children, Sinai Health System, St. Michael's Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and University Health Network.

All JLABS locations are accepting applications from biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and digital health companies. To apply, visit www.jnjinnovation.com/jlabs.

About Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC focuses on accelerating all stages of innovation worldwide and forming collaborations between entrepreneurs and Johnson & Johnson's global healthcare businesses. Johnson & Johnson Innovation provides scientists, entrepreneurs and emerging companies with one-stop access to science and technology experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer companies of Johnson & Johnson. Under the Johnson & Johnson Innovation umbrella of businesses, we connect with innovators through our regional Innovation Centers, JLABS, Johnson & Johnson Innovation  JJDC, Inc. and our Business Development teams to create customized deals and novel collaborations that speed development of innovations to solve unmet needs in patients. For more information please visit: www.jnjinnovation.com.

About Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS

Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS (JLABS) is a global network of open innovation ecosystems, enabling and empowering innovators to create and accelerate the delivery of life-saving, life-enhancing health and wellness solutions to patients around the world. JLABS achieves this by providing the optimal environment for emerging companies to catalyze growth and optimize their research and development by opening them to vital industry connections, delivering entrepreneurial programs and providing a capital-efficient, flexible platform where they can transform the scientific discoveries of today into the breakthrough healthcare solutions of tomorrow. At JLABS we value great ideas and are passionate about removing obstacles to success to help innovators unleash the potential of their early scientific discoveries. JLABS is a no-strings-attached model, which means entrepreneurs are free to develop their science while holding on to their intellectual property. JLABS is open to entrepreneurs across a broad healthcare spectrum including pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and digital health sectors.

JLABS currently has nine locations in innovation hot spots across North America and produces entrepreneurial programs and campaigns to seek out the best science, like the QuickFire Challenges around the globe. The JLABS flagship opened in 2012 in San Diego at Janssen's West Coast Research Center, and since then, has established two locations in San Francisco - one through a collaboration with the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) and a second standalone facility in South San Francisco. JLABS is also located in Boston through a collaboration with LabCentral, in Lowell, Massachusetts through a collaboration with UMass, in Houston through a collaboration with the Texas Medical Center (TMC), in Toronto through a collaboration with the Ontario Government and the University of Toronto and a new JLABS @ NYC (in collaboration with the New York Genome Center (opening in 2018)). For more information about JLABS, please visit www.jlabs.jnjinnovation.com.

SOURCE Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC

Related Links

https://www.jnjinnovation.com


AUSTIN, Texas, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kennametal Inc. and Stanley Black & Decker have been selected from more than 3,000 companies to receive the first Supplier of the Year awards ever presented by MSC Industrial Supply Co. MSC is a premier distributor of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) supplies to industrial customers throughout North America.

Kennametal Inc., headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a global industrial technology leader that serves many industrial segments, including aerospace, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation. Kennametal was honored with MSC's premiere Supplier of the Year Award.

Stanley Black & Decker, based in New Britain, Connecticut, was presented the company's MRO Supplier of the Year Award. Stanley Black & Decker is a diversified global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, electronic security solutions, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems and more.

The awards were presented to Kennametal and Stanley Black & Decker representatives today at MSC's Supplier Summit in Austin, Texas.

"Although all MSC suppliers represent high quality and value, Kennametal and Stanley Black & Decker stood out as the best of the best as they demonstrate the qualities and performance that help us fulfill our brand promise of making our customers' businesses better," said Greg Polli, Senior Vice President-Product Management for MSC. "We greatly appreciate the time, effort and investment they and their team members make on behalf of our mutual customers and MSC associates."

Selection for the MSC Supplier of the Year awards is based on a rigorous set of criteria, including a strategic approach to customer service, technology innovation, new product introductions, breadth and quality of brand portfolios, operational excellence, sales training and engagement, and marketing and sales materials.

About MSC

MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE:MSM) is a leading North American distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services. We help our customers drive greater productivity, profitability and growth with more than 1 million products, inventory management and other supply chain solutions, and deep expertise from over 75 years of working with customers across industries.

Our experienced team of more than 6,000 associates is dedicated to working side by side with our customers to help drive results for their businesses - from keeping operations running efficiently today to continuously rethinking, retooling, and optimizing for a more productive tomorrow.

For more information on MSC, please visit mscdirect.com.

About Kennametal

At the forefront of advanced materials innovation for more than 75 years, Kennametal Inc. is a global industrial technology leader delivering productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions. Customers across aerospace, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation turn to Kennametal to help them manufacture with precision and efficiency. Every day approximately 11,000 employees are helping customers in more than 60 countries stay competitive. Kennametal generated nearly $2.1 billion in revenues in fiscal 2016. Learn more at www.kennametal.com.

About Stanley Black & Decker

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 MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Related Links

http://www.MSCdirect.com


SAN FRANCISCO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KODAKIT, a Kodak company that connects businesses to photography services globally, today announced a partnership with Friends of Thai Daughters (FTD), a Massachusetts-registered nonprofit helping to protect girls and young women in Northern Thailand from child trafficking by providing safe shelter, education and support. KODAKIT will provide monetary and advisory support to FTD as the nonprofit continues to grow its efforts to help more young women across more regions in Thailand. In addition, KODAKIT CEO Eric Yves Mahe has joined FTD's Board of Directors. Mahe has also served on the board of the Mekong Club, an anti-trafficking organization in Hong Kong, since 2010.

Mahe said, "From my time working in Asia over several decades, I saw how prominent an issue child trafficking was and I wanted to be involved in combatting it. I was also inspired by FTD's vision, which isn't just to protect young women from trafficking, but to provide them with educational funding through university to enable them to be self-supporting adults when they graduate. FTD's program has produced amazing outcomes, and we're thrilled to help them extend their reach and impact."

FTD's mission is to provide intensive, comprehensive, long-term support to young Thai girls at risk of falling into human trafficking. Northern Thailand is particularly at risk for human trafficking as traffickers target hill tribe villages, home to undocumented ethnic minorities as well as Burmese and Lao migrant workers. Traffickers assure families that their daughters will be given jobs as waitresses or maids but they're instead sold into brothels. Founded in 2005, FTD protects these girls by providing shelter and education in a stable, supportive environment. Many are attending or have graduated from Thailand's top universities, and graduates have gone on to become nurses, teachers, artists and entrepreneurs.

Jane McBride, FTD's co-founder, said, "Eric's been a strong supporter of FTD's mission and we're grateful to now have the support of KODAKIT as well. We look forward to working with them to develop programs to connect photographers to the issue of child trafficking and we're excited about creating opportunities for our daughters to learn and develop skills in photography. The support of companies that do business in Thailand is vital to our ability to help more young women stay safe and reach their full potential."

To learn more about KODAKIT's partnership with Friends of Thai Daughters, please visit www.kodakitempowers.com. To learn more about FTD, please visit https://www.friendsofthaidaughters.org/.

About KODAKIT

KODAKIT is transforming the photography market with an on-demand service that's changing the way businesses and photographers connect. The platform addresses the needs of large global companies in the travel, food and real-estate markets that rely on high quality digital images for marketing and point-of-sale efforts. As of May 2017, KODAKIT is live across 92 metropolitan areas including New York, San Francisco, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Delhi, among others. For more information, visit KODAKIT. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Contacts

Zachary Allen

Method Communications

[email protected]

801.461.9751

SOURCE Kodak
AURORA, ON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Magna International Inc. (TSX: MG; NYSE: MGA) today announced voting results from its 2017 annual meeting of shareholders. A total of 277,209,607 Common Shares or 72.69% of our issued and outstanding Common Shares, were voted in connection with the meeting. Shareholders voted by a show of hands in favour of each item of business. Based on proxies received prior to the meeting and votes cast in person at the meeting, each director nominee was elected by a substantial majority as follows:

Nominee Votes FOR Scott B. Bonham 99.76% Peter G. Bowie 99.72% Lady Barbara Judge 97.97% Dr. Kurt J. Lauk 99.83% Cynthia A. Niekamp 99.82% William A. Ruh 99.86% Dr. Indira V. Samarasekera 98.77% Donald J. Walker 99.87% Lawrence D. Worrall 98.67% William L. Young 98.71%

Additionally, Magna's advisory "say on pay" vote received 92.19% support based on proxies received prior to the meeting and votes cast in person at the meeting. Full results of the votes are included as Appendix "A" to this press release.

OUR BUSINESS (1)

We are a leading global automotive supplier with 321 manufacturing operations and 102 product development, engineering and sales centres in 29 countries. We have over 159,000 employees focused on delivering superior value to our customers through innovative products and processes, and world class manufacturing. We have complete vehicle engineering and contract manufacturing expertise, as well as product capabilities which include body, chassis, exterior, seating, powertrain, active driver assistance, vision, closure and roof systems and have electronic and software capabilities across many of these areas. Our common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MG) and the New York Stock Exchange (MGA). For further information about Magna, visit our website at www.magna.com.

______________________

(1) Manufacturing operations, product development, engineering and sales centres and employee figures include certain equity-accounted operations.

Appendix "A"

VOTING RESULTS - 2017 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

Resolution Votes For Votes Withheld/Against # % # % Elect Scott B. Bonham as Director 258,195,412 99.76 614,135 0.24 Elect Peter G. Bowie as Director 258,075,876 99.72 733,670 0.28 Elect Lady Barbara Judge as Director 253,553,704 97.97 5,255,843 2.03 Elect Dr. Kurt J. Lauk as Director 258,370,214 99.83 439,332 0.17 Elect Cynthia A. Niekamp as Director 258,350,970 99.82 458,576 0.18 Elect William A. Ruh as Director 258,436,555 99.86 372,993 0.14 Elect Dr. Indira V. Samarasekera as Director 255,613,802 98.77 3,195,744 1.23 Elect Donald J. Walker as Director 258,481,919 99.87 327,565 0.13 Elect Lawrence D. Worrall as Director 255,373,016 98.67 3,436,531 1.33 Elect William L. Young as Director 255,479,889 98.71 3,329,659 1.29 Re-Appointment of Deloitte LLP as Auditors 276,184,420 99.63 1,022,261 0.37 Advisory Resolution on Approach to Executive Compensation 238,602,711 92.19 20,205,970 7.81

SOURCE Magna International Inc.

Related Links

http://www.magna.com


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LendIt, the world's largest lending and fintech conference, returns to Shanghai on July 15-16 for Lang Di Fintech, China's largest fintech conference. For two days, some of the world's most prominent fintech CEOs and investors will focus on critical topics and issues relevant to the future of finance in the region, including: digital banking, financial inclusion, digital wealth management, bank-technology partnerships, insurtech, and blockchain.

Financial technology in the Asia-Pacific region surpassed the U.S. as investments in the area doubled to $11.2bn in 2016 from $5.2bn in 2015, according to a report from Accenture. Global investment in financial technology grew by 10 percent to $23.2bn in 2016, largely driven by growth in China.

"China has emerged as the center of global fintech innovation and adoption, and LendIt sits at the heart of this surging ecosystem. We welcome Asia's foremost leaders of finance as speakers this year," said Bo Brustkern, co-founder and Chairman of Lang Di Fintech. "China is transforming almost every aspect of financial services. Our speakers will explore Asia's fintech revolution and its impact on the world."

A recent addition to Lang Di's agenda is Max Baucus, Former U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. Mr. Baucus is uniquely qualified to address issues regarding world trade, US-China relations, and the opportunities and obstacles facing American foreign policy under the Trump administration. As Ambassador to China (2014 - 2017) and Chair of the Senate Finance Committee (2007 - 2014), Max Baucus has extensive experience in issues of international trade. He was deeply involved in orchestrating congressional approval of permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000 and in facilitating China's entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Mr. Baucus will join other esteemed speakers at Lang Di Fintech 2017, including senior representatives from international banks, leading technology innovators, venture capitalists, regulators, government officials and the media.

Now in its second year, Lang Di 2017 expects over 2,000 delegates, making it the largest annual gathering of fintech leaders in China. Three hundred speakers from five continents will focus on the intersection of technology and financial services in Asia, specifically addressing artificial intelligence, machine learning, identity verification through biometrics, the blockchain's impact on capital markets, the emergence of insurtech, financial inclusion, financial wellness, wealth management for the mass affluent, innovation in real estate technology, applying alternative data to credit underwriting and decisioning, the emergence of digital banking, and fintech cooperation with banks.

LendIt's mission is to connect every major player, platform, investor and service provider in the fintech industry worldwide. Founded in 2013, LendIt has grown to become the definitive fintech conference in the US, Europe and Asia.

For more information, tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.lendit.com/china.

About LendIt

LendIt is a recognized global internet finance industry leader, founded in New York in 2013 by Bo Brustkern, Jason Jones and Peter Renton. Its aim is to gather industry elites to discuss and explore latest trends in the development of international financial technology. LendIt has become the largest fintech industry event in the world as it hosts three annual conferences, LendIt USA, LendIt Europe, and Lang Di Fintech, and dozens of complementary online and in-person industry events. LendIt also owns and operates one of the world's leading industry educational channels, Lend Academy.

Media Contact:

Melissa Barto

JCUTLER media group

[email protected]

SOURCE LendIt

Related Links

http://www.lendit.com


BOSTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Medullan, a digital health firm that designs and builds powerful solutions that achieve high rates of adoption for payers, providers, life sciences, and pharma, announced a collaboration with Harvard Health Publications (HHP), a division of Harvard Medical School. This relationship will provide consumers access to Harvard's consumer health information via the digital tools and mobile applications Medullan envisions, designs, and builds for its clients.

Gregory Curfman, MD, Editor-In-Chief of Harvard Health Publications, said, "Our content reflects the expertise and insights of the Harvard medical faculty in thousands of health conditions. By collaborating with digital health experts like Medullan, we can deliver information to consumers, patients, and caregivers at the optimal place and time to help them make the best possible decisions about their health."

"Healthcare is complicated and every part of the industry requires a certain level of knowledge and understanding," said Medullan founder and CEO Ahmed Albaiti. "Our collaboration with Harvard Health Publications has helped us to acknowledge and address various levels of health literacy and ensure that users of our digital health solutions receive clinically validated expertise from the Harvard medical community. Users of our platform will now have the knowledge and ability to better address their health concerns."

About Medullan

Medullan, Inc. is a leading digital health firm that designs and builds outcomes-driven solutions that have direct and measurable impact in the healthcare industry. Fueled by a passion for health, a desire to positively challenge the healthcare paradigm, and a culture of accountability  Medullan works with payer, life sciences, and pharmaceutical clients to build solutions that create measurable business value and positive impact in the lives of their customers. Medullan was founded in 2005 and is based in Cambridge, MA.

About Harvard Health Publications

Harvard Health Publications draws on the expertise of over 11,000 faculty clinicians and researchers at Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals to deliver current, comprehensive and authoritative health information to consumers through relationships with payers, providers and employers.

PR Contact: Theresa Masnik, SHIFT Communications, [email protected], 617-779-1871

SOURCE Medullan
LONDON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Military Biometrics Market: Overview



Biometric systems are becoming increasingly popular in wearable devices such as smart watches, eye glasses and fitness bands. These devices are equipped biometric identification capabilities such as heart rate sensors and blood pressure monitors. Furthermore, the wearable devices are also used for authentication purposes. Similarly, the biometrics applications are also gaining popularity in defense sector. The ongoing threat for terrorism and the rising concern for illegal migration in countries such as the U.K. and the U.S. are resulting into government focusing on upgrading the military and defense facilities with biometric authentication. These are few factors which are expected to drive the growth in the market during the forecast period.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4895314/



However, there is one major factor lowering the demand for these systems during the forecast period. The installation of biometric authentication systems is complex and needs skilled personnel. In case of a system breach, there is a chance of data loss. Moreover, the whole system installation cannot be reset easily. This is one primary reason hindering the demand for biometric systems in defense sector as it involves the security of highly confidential data which cannot be compromised. Nevertheless, the ongoing technological innovations are expected to reduce the chances of breaching or hacking biometric authentication systems. Furthermore, the ongoing research and development in the field of secure access in expected to drive the demand for biometrics in defense. In June 2016, the CIO of Pentagon, Terry Halvorsen announced a two year plan of replacing the functions of common access cards with biometric systems such as iris scanners and behavioral analytics. The same technology will further be incorporated by the U.S. allies who include Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.



Global Military Biometrics Market: Segmentation



The global military biometrics market can be segmented by types in fingerprint recognition, facial recognition and iris recognition primarily. The fingerprint recognition market is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period owing to the increasing application of these systems in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Middle East. Furthermore, the iris recognition segment has been identified to be the most attractive segment owing to its accuracy in identifying the person with less malfunctionality. Iris recognition has been analyzed to be the most accurate way of identifying a person. Moreover, iris cannot be copied or used from a dead person as it becomes useless immediately. In addition, facial recognition is also becoming popular as it can be used to track a person in any area equipped with facial recognition cameras. Hence the demand for facial biometrics is expected to drive the market for military biometrics significantly. Hence the segment is expected to witness promising growth during the forecast period. Moreover, the growing concern over security from terrorist activities and the global rise in mass migration with illegal identities is expected to drive the global demand for facial and iris biometrics significantly. By geography, the global biometric market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. North America has been analyzed to dominate the military biometrics market. The ongoing threat of illegal migrations from Mexico has resulted into the U.S. government upgrading their authentication systems in border security. Furthermore, Asia Pacific has been anticipated to have the fastest growth during the forecast period. Countries such India and China are gradually investing towards upgrading defense facilities with secured authentication which is expected to drive the market for military biometrics significantly.



Companies Mentioned in the Report



The major vendors in the global Military Biometrics market are 3M Cogent, Inc. (United States), Crossmatch (United States), M2SYS Technology (United States), NEC Corporation (Japan), Safran Identity and Security (France), Aware, Inc. ( United States), BIO-Key International, Inc. (United States), Fulcrum Biometrics LLC (United States) and HID Global Corporation (United States) among others.



The segments covered in the global military biometrics market are as follows:



By Types



Fingerprint Recognition

Facial Recognition

Iris Recognition

Others



By Geography



North America

U.S.

Canada

Mexico

Europe

U.K.

Germany

France

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East and Africa

UAE

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Latin America

Brazil

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4895314/



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


HACKETTSTOWN, N.J., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the last 75 years, M&M'S has become known for making treats like peanuts and pretzels more fun. Today, the iconic brand is introducing its biggest product innovation ever: M&M'S Caramel Chocolate Candies. Long gone are the days of the square-shaped, square-wrapped caramel candies  M&M'S has updated one of the most popular flavors by covering soft caramel in a delicious, candy coated shell.

Caramel has been "square" for far too long and M&M'S is ready to change it up by giving the familiar flavor a modern and fun chocolate makeover. With the launch of its newest flavor  M&M'S Caramel  the brand will not only "unsquare" caramel, but it will also introduce a new caramel sidekick to join the M&M'S spokescandies cast, host an experiential event in the heart of New York City and unveil a national advertising campaign.

"Caramel is such a nostalgic and comforting flavor and its popularity is on the rise with pairings like coffees and other specialty foods. We are delighted to now give our fans a chance to experience it through the fun and colorful world of M&M'S," says Tanya Berman, Brand Director, M&M'S Brand. "It took years to develop the technology and machines required to get the delicious soft caramel ingredient into our signature hard candy shell. And, we think it was worth the wait!"

Meet Caramel

This week, the M&M'S Brand launched a national advertising campaign to support the new product launch and introduced fans to "Caramel"  a walking, talking cube of caramel who's the epitome of square. In a new television commercial titled, "Group Talk," Caramel, voiced by actor and comedian David Cross, is shown interviewing to join the colorful cast of M&M'S spokescandies we already know and love as a sidekick. Despite his old-timey traditionalism and social awkwardness, the M&M'S characters try to get Caramel out of his shell  so to speak  and teach him how to be like the lovable spokescandies. The campaign will also be supported with print, digital and large-scale outdoor advertising executions.

Times Unsquare

Today, M&M'S is bringing a whole new flavor of fun to New York's Times Square by transforming iconic billboards in the famous square into an innovative, augmented reality gaming arcade. Much like the traditional caramel flavor, the M&M'S ARcade will tap into a nostalgic feeling and bring back memories of a classic old-school arcade. It will give fans the opportunity to use their phone to turn static Times Square billboards into a fun and interactive, vintage arcade game experience.

To join the fun, fans simply need to download the free augmented-reality app Blippar, and use it to scan one of the featured billboards in the heart of Times Square and escape into a totally unsquare digital world.

The M&M'S ARcade will come to life in Father Duffy Square between 46th & 47th Streets between Broadway and 7th Avenue, for gameplay and free samples of M&M'S Caramel today from 10 a.m.  6 p.m.

Play M&M'S ARcade Games Anywhere

The fun won't stop with the M&M'S ARcade in Times Square. Fans nationwide can join the fun by simply picking up a package of M&M'S Caramel and scanning it with the Blippar app to unlock the ARcade experience. The Blippar app is available for download on Android and iOS Phones.

M&M'S Caramel Chocolate Candies

M&M'S Caramel Chocolate Candies are now available at retailers nationwide in Sharing Size (2.83 oz.) and Sharing Size Stand Up Pouch (9.6 oz.). Singles (1.41 oz.) will be available later this summer. For more information, visit the M&M'S Brand Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mms or the official M&M'S Twitter handle @mmschocolate.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is a private, family-owned business with more than a century of history, $35 billion in sales, and six diverse business segments producing some of the world's best-loved brands: PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, IAMS, BANFIELD CESAR (Petcare); M&M'S, SNICKERS, DOVE, GALAXY, MARS, MILKY WAY, TWIX (Chocolate); DOUBLEMINT, EXTRA, ORBIT, 5, SKITTLES (Wrigley); UNCLE BEN'S, DOLMIO, MASTERFOODS, SEEDS OF CHANGE (Food); ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS, THE BRIGHT TEA COMPANY, KLIX FLAVIA (Drinks); and COCOAVIA (Symbioscience). Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in 421 facilities across 78 countries, where our more than 80,000 Associates all united by the company's Five Principles of Quality, Efficiency, Responsibility, Mutuality and Freedom strive every day to create relationships with our stakeholders that deliver growth we are proud of.

For more information about Mars, Incorporated, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE Mars Chocolate North America

Related Links

http://www.mars.com


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The following feature package is a roundup of feature stories dealing with Mother's Day and is appropriate for special sections and for general use.

For each story included in this package, you will find the first paragraph of the feature release below, as well as its headline linked to the full text.

This is the latest in a series of topical feature packages PRN will carry as part of its regular Feature News Service. Coming up in 2017 are features on:



Package Name Slug Distribution Date Summer, Outdoors & Vacations Summer May 18 Travel & Leisure Travel May 25 Personal Finance Finance June 1 Father's Day Father's June 8 Summer Outdoors & Entertaining, 4th of July Summer June 15



Mother's Day Feature Package

1. Coletta Collections Creates One Of A Kind Mother's Day Gifts

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Coletta Collections (www.colettacollections.com) is a non-profit social enterprise that specializes in selling jewelry, accessories, tableware items  all made by people with intellectual disabilities. Every purchase provides employment and training opportunities for people who really need them.

2. Photo & Go Launches New Mother's Day Contest; Win an All-Expense Paid Trip to See Pitbull in Concert in Las Vegas

DELRAY BEACH, Fla., April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Armando Christian Perez a.k.a. Pitbull and Photo & Go are kicking off a special Mother's Day Contest beginning today, April 27. Entrants who upload a photo of themselves with their Mom at photoandgo.com/pitbull can enter to win an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas to see Pitbull in concert and meet up with him for dinner. Three entrants will be randomly selected to receive a video call from Pitbull where he will ask entrants to finish the sentence, "Your Mom makes the world a better place because."

3. Natural Grocers Partners with Weleda for Mother's Day Donation Drive

LAKEWOOD, Colo., April 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, shoppers can find an inspirational Mother's Day gift right in the grocery aisle thanks to a first-time partnership between Natural Grocers and Weleda. On May 1, Natural Grocers will offer Weleda's Mighty Essentials beauty bags for purchase at all 136 Natural Grocers stores in 19 states.

4. March for Moms Mother's Day Rally to Raise Awareness for Maternal Mortality and Family Issues

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Maternal mortality rates in the U.S. surpass those of any other industrialized nation with women of color dying at four times the rate of white women. March for Moms is pleased to announce its inaugural maternal health advocacy weekend that will bring together experts to speak about the issues, along with families impacted by the issues who will share their personal stories. The family-friendly rally on Washington D.C., will take place from 1-4 p.m. this Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, at the Jefferson Memorial.

5. Momtrepreneur Turns Challenge Island S.T.E.A.M. Education Program into Red Hot Educational Franchise with Over 60 Locations Worldwide

ATLANTA, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fourteen years ago, second-grade teacher and mother of four Sharon Duke Estroff was at the height of what she calls her Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde phase. By day, she was an award-winning teacher with a classroom full of happy students; but by night, she was a stressed-out mom who could barely muster the energy to help her kids with their homework. Estroff knew it was time for a career change, but as an educator born into a family of educators, she couldn't imagine straying too far from the schoolyard. So she took Challenge Island - a S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) education program she'd created for her elementary students  and began offering it as an afterschool enrichment class in nearby schools. Challenge Island was a hometown hit and before long, Estroff had created a profitable home-based business that she could run around her family's busy schedule.

If you would like a copy of the complete schedule, or if you would care to comment, please email [email protected]. We welcome suggestions. Copies of previous packages are available for the media. Feature packages and feature photos are also available on the PR Newswire Web site, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/feature-news-latest-news.

Photos that accompany releases are available via the PRN Multimedia Desk, 800-317-7677, or via the PR Newswire Photo Archive. Select photos are available via AP PhotoExpress and AP Images.

SOURCE PR Newswire Association LLC

Related Links

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/feature-news-latest-news/


Epic in scale and steeped in rock history, these treasured artworks are ideal for individual, corporate, and institutional collectors. Due to the extensive distribution of the imagery via album, live performances, music videos, and the film (along with the accompanying publicity), the artworks offered are among the most instantly recognizable and significant in pop culture history.

The show will present more than $5 million of the most recognizable artworks over a broad price range related to Pink Floyd's The Wall movie, all by Scarfe. A full digital catalog is available for interested collectors. All those who acquire artwork will be guaranteed access to the opening event.

More than $2 Million Sold in Recent Weeks!

Early word has quickly riveted the public's attention, and more than $2 million of Scarfe's masterworks have already been sold by the gallery. The sale marks the highest-ever single sale of classic, album-related, original art of Rock and Roll.

Please contact the gallery at your earliest opportunity to discuss attending the premiere opening party and to request a digital catalog of the collection: [email protected] or call 415-441-8840.

Artworks included in the exhibition are: The Scream, The Terrifying Mother, The Teacher, along with more than 20 other unforgettable classics. Also for sale is the monumental painting of the Giant Judge and the Marching Hammers, which is currently on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for the Their Mortal Remains exhibition of over 300 items of iconic Pink Floyd artifacts and original artwork, May 13, 2017 - October 1, 2017. The exhibition is reported to be the largest in the museum's history.

The Wall album topped Billboard charts for 15 weeks, and in 1999 was certified 23x Platinum. It remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling over 19 million copies between 1979 and 1990 in the US alone. The film was critically acclaimed when it was released in 1982 and won BAFTAs for Best Original Song and Best Sound. Scarfe developed the film's entire visual environment before the project began and his characters became a mixture of live-action and animated imagery, all of which played an integral role in the surreal narrative.

About San Francisco Art Exchange LLC:

Founded in 1983 by Theron Kabrich and Jim Hartley, San Francisco Art Exchange LLC (SFAE) has represented historic pop culture artworks created by over 200 of the world's most accomplished and significant artists and photographers. Recognized as market pioneers and premier purveyors of original pop iconography, SFAE has held over 100 major curated exhibitions highlighting music, film, cultural movements, historic figures and social issues.

SFAE has concluded landmark sales of the original artwork of iconic album covers by the Beatles (Abbey Road), Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and more), the Rolling Stones (Let it Bleed) and Bob Dylan (Blonde on Blonde), among many others. The gallery has also concluded important sales of rare photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King, Jr., Johnny Cash and Muhammad Ali, just to name a few. In addition, SFAE has represented treasured music and movie-related art and artifacts from private and celebrity archives such as the Playboy Collection and the Brown Derby Collection, among others.

At its downtown San Francisco gallery, SFAE has hosted live events by such music superstars as Brian Wilson and Graham Nash as well as civil rights legend Clarence Jones and Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm. The gallery's most recent projects include a collaboration with famed artist Shepard Fairey and a special portfolio of photographs of President John F. Kennedy to commemorate his centennial.

For more information:

http://www.sfae.com/

http://www.geraldscarfe.com/

SOURCE San Francisco Art Exchange

Related Links

http://www.sfae.com


WASHINGTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is expanding its international reach through partnerships and participation in global events, like the 2017 Global Summit of Women, which will take place May 11-13 in Tokyo, Japan. NAWBO National Board Chair, Teresa Meares, will participate in a breakout session discussing the ways women can learn from business setbacks at the 2017 Global Summit of Women.

"The opportunity to be an entrepreneur is a game changer for so many women in our country and around the world," said Teresa Meares, NAWBO National Board Chair. "Empowering women with the skills and tools they need to start and grow their businesses as well as how to utilize business setbacks for the long-term good of their business has the potential to change communities and countries for the better. I've witnessed this first-hand during my tenure as NAWBO National Board Chair as well as in my own family where my daughter launched her own business within the last year."

In March, Meares and NAWBO CEO Jen Earle participated in the FCEM World Committee Meeting in Monaco. In April, NAWBO National participated in the W20 communique for financial inclusion. Throughout the remainder of 2017, NAWBO will also have a presence at the FCEM World Meeting in Rome and sponsor an Insight Trip to Nicaragua for NAWBO members through a partnership with Opportunity International as well as attend the Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW) Leadership Development Summit and Graduation in July in Irving, Texas.

"NAWBO is proud to partner with so many organizations around the globe who share our mission to create leaders and increase the number of women we see in leadership roles in the government and the business communities," continued Meares. "We are proud to expand our international footprint and will continue to look for opportunities where we can share our experience for the betterment of other women business owners. We know that when women business owners do well, the overall economic climate improves."

About NAWBO

Founded in 1975, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is the unified voice of America's more than 9.1 million women-owned businesses representing the fastest growing segment of the economy. NAWBO is the only dues-based organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries. NAWBO develops programs that help navigate women entrepreneurs through the various stages of their business growth.

SOURCE National Association of Women Business Owners

Related Links

http://www.nawbo.org


SAN DIEGO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Goal Structured Solutions, Inc. ("GS2") announces that students are now empowered to alleviate the unnecessary debt burden on their families with the next iteration of its Ascent Program for Funding Education ("Ascent"). Ascent Independent is a new student loan that considers more than a credit score and current income to give students greater opportunities to pay for school on their own, without a cosigner. To help make paying for school more affordable for students, GS2 also improved pricing and introduced fixed rates for both Ascent Independent and the existing Ascent Tuition student loans.

Today's announcement reflects GS2's ongoing commitment to provide students with more opportunities to fund their education with a loan in their own name. Over 1,800 schools are currently eligible for Ascent Independent and Ascent Tuition. Ascent addresses a real need for students and enhances access to higher education, while preserving the notion that students and their families should not be over-burdened with debt.

"We continue to provide innovative solutions in education finance that change the way people pay for college. Our Ascent Program for Funding Education, with its new Independent product, is our boldest innovation yet. While the rest of the market is making loans to parents, our objective is to put the money in the hands of the people who need it the most, students!" added Ken Ruggiero, Chairman and CEO of GS2. "We've developed our products with students in mind. We believe that higher education is a worthy investment and an opportunity for students to gain financial literacy and security."

For more information, visit www.AscentStudentLoans.com.

Ascent student loans are made by Richland State Bank (RSB), Member FDIC, or Turnstile Capital Management, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goal Structured Solutions, Inc. (GS2).

For media inquiries and partnership opportunities, please call (619) 684-7600 or email [email protected].

About Goal Structured Solutions, Inc.

Goal Structured Solutions, Inc. ("GS2") is an administrator and developer of student loan programs, including student loan programs conducted by unaffiliated parties. GS2 is an award-winning, values guided, employee owned and governed, finance and asset management company providing a comprehensive array of products and services, including: trust administration, portfolio management, loan performance analytics and capital markets advisory services to the education finance marketplace. GS2 currently manages over $26 billion of private and federally-guaranteed student loans for its clients and partners. In addition to providing services, GS2 has deployed over $140 million of capital in acquiring over $3.1 billion of performing and non-performing loan portfolios. GS2 is headquartered in San Diego, CA where they have been awarded "Best Places to Work" by the San Diego Business Journal (2015  2016) and received the "2016 Top Workplaces" honor from The San Diego Union-Tribune. For more information, please visit www.GoalSolutions.com.

SOURCE Goal Structured Solutions, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.goalsolutions.com


MILPITAS, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SEMI today announced that SEMICON West (July 11-13 in San Francisco, Calif.) experience packages are now available for purchase, allowing attendees to choose the programs and events most relevant to their interests. The Thought Leadership Pass is already seeing strong interest from pre-registration. The Thought Leadership Pass focuses on the industry's key business and technical challenges and opportunities and provides access to all Keynotes and Executive Panels, the TechXPOT Theaters, and much more, including the perennial favorites, the SEMI/Gartner Symposium and the Bulls & Bears Industry Outlook on Thursday morning.

The new Get Smart: SEMI/Gartner, Bulls & Bears Industry Outlook is a "must attend" event, co-sponsored by SEMI and Gartner. It features the latest, mid-year snapshot industry outlook, market analysis and forecast for semiconductors, capital equipment, materials and adjacent markets - in addition to market trends, opportunities and issues. The session also features a panel discussion, where leading Wall Street analysts weigh in with financial perspectives on the electronics industry.

Other Thought Leadership Pass highlights include:

A presentation by Maciej Kranz , Cisco VP of Strategic Innovations, and author of the New York Times bestseller, Building the Internet of Things

VP of Strategic Innovations, and author of the bestseller, New SEMI/IEEE sessions focusing on the future of advanced IoT device architectures and emerging applications like home automation, smart cities, industrial and environmental monitoring, and MedTech

sessions focusing on the future of and like home automation, smart cities, industrial and environmental monitoring, and MedTech Two dynamic Smart Automotive sessions covering the latest technologies and performance upgrades that are shaping the future of transportation and meeting the growing need for speed, intelligence, and memory in today's automotives (in partnership with SAE International)

sessions covering the latest technologies and performance upgrades that are shaping the future of transportation and meeting the growing need for speed, intelligence, and memory in today's automotives (in partnership with All TechXPOTs on the show floor, which covers High-Volume Manufacturing, Advanced Packaging, Lithography, MEMS & Sensors, Materials, Smart Manufacturing, Smart Automotive, Smart MedTech, 5G Communications and Next-Gen Cloud

If attendees would like access to everything that SEMICON West has to offer, then an All-in Pass is available for purchase. Or, attendees can purchase an Expo-only Pass that provides access to the Keynotes and Executive Panels, in addition to the Exposition Hall (note: SEMI members also get access to TechXPOTs with this pass). Attendees can also purchase select events and workshops on an a la carte basis, and students can register for a free, student one-day pass.

SEMICON West 2017 Admission Packages Expo-Only Pass* Thought Leadership Pass All-In Pass





 Expo Halls Expo-Only Pass Expo-Only Pass  Keynotes



 Executive Panels Plus: Thought Leadership Pass

 TechXPOTs

*SEMI Members with "Expo-Only"  MicroE Career Development & Plus: Pass also get access to: Recruitment Forum  Summerfest at AT&T Park

 SEMI/Gartner, Bulls & Bears  Speaker & sponsor breakfasts  TechXPOTs  Test Vision & Reception  Smart Pass (VIP registration &  MicroE Career Development &  SAE Smart Automotive reserved seating at Keynotes & Recruitment Forum  IEEE World of IoT: Risks & Exec Panel sessions)

Opportunities in Transformative



Technologies



Plan to attend SEMICON West 2017 (July 11-13 in San Francisco, Calif.). The three-day conference offers an exposition with 600+ exhibitors, educational programs, networking events, and technical training workshops - providing the knowledge and insights needed to stay competitive and plan for the future amidst today's rapidly changing technical and supply chain environment. For more information, visit www.semiconwest.org. Register now for best pricing!

About SEMI



SEMI connects nearly 2,000 member companies and 250,000 professionals worldwide annually to advance the technology and business of electronics manufacturing. SEMI members are responsible for the innovations in materials, design, equipment, software, and services that enable smarter, faster, more powerful, and more affordable electronic products. Since 1970, SEMI has built connections that have helped its members grow, create new markets, and address common industry challenges together. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley (Milpitas, Calif.), Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org and follow SEMI on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE SEMI
Finding ways to spend quality time is sometimes hard to do in the NICU, where babies who are premature or critically ill are often fragile and under constant care. Skin-to-skin care, also called kangaroo care, or holding a diapered baby against a bare chest, is recommended by the March of Dimes and health experts worldwide. The practice is also supported by Saint Luke's staff for its many health benefits to both parent and baby, including positive brain development, weight-gain, heart stabilization and reduction in discomfort, stress and the chance of infection for baby, as well as physical and emotional bonding, increasing breastmilk supply and stress reduction for mom.

The March of Dimes and Saint Luke's worked with mom photographers  some whose children had previously been in the NICU  to document the sweet bonding sessions, gifting the keepsake photos to families.

"Mother's Day  especially a mom's very first with her new baby  can be hard for many families with children in the NICU," says March of Dimes president Stacey D. Stewart. "Our NICU Family Support program works with Saint Luke's Hospital and more than 100 other hospitals around the United States to offer the support families need to have the best possible experience when their baby is in the NICU. From providing the chance to build a loving bond by using the sense of touch with kangaroo care, to commemorating milestones like Mother's Day, the March of Dimes is proud to partner with hospitals like St. Luke's to give every baby and every family a healthy, loving start."

To view and share these intimate Mother's Day photos and video, click here.

All photos should be dual credited to March of Dimes and the photographer whose name is watermarked in each photo. Video is to be credited to Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City.

The March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program at Saint Luke's Hospital supports moms who are on bed rest and at the bedside with premature or critically ill children in the NICU. The program also educates NICU staff about the best ways to support babies, families and each other.

Babies born premature (before 37 weeks of pregnancy), even born just a few weeks too soon, can face serious health challenges and are at risk for lifelong disabilities including breathing problems, vision loss, cerebral palsy, and intellectual delays. In the United States, about 380,000 babies are born too soon each year  that's 1 in 10. The premature birth rate in our country is higher than that in most other high-resource nations.

The March of Dimes is supporting cutting-edge research at a nationwide network of five Prematurity Research Centers, where about 200 of the brightest minds are collaborating to create major breakthroughs in prematurity. By working together, March of Dimes-funded scientists and researchers are finding answers to the unknown causes of premature birth.

Saint Luke's will also host a kangaroo-a-thon May 9-14, 2017 encouraging time spent with mom and baby enjoying skin-to-skin contact and supported by Saint Luke's NICU staff.

Kangaroo care has documented benefits for both parent and baby. Benefits for baby include:

Reduce discomfort and stress

Reduce the chance of infection

Help brain development

Keep baby's body warm

Help stabilize heart rate

Help baby gain weight

Encourage more time in deep sleep

Encourage successful breast feeding

It can also be beneficial for mom:

Help mom bond to baby with physical connection

Increase mom's breastmilk supply

Reduce stress and lift your spirits

Help mom gain confidence in physical touch and care of baby

About Saint Luke's Hospital

Saint Luke's hospitals deliver more than 6,000 babies every year. Saint Luke's offers the most advanced expertise and services to expectant mothers and their babies. Saint Luke's NICUs offer advanced care for premature babies and infants requiring critical care. We utilize a team of experts, including neonatologists, lactation consultants, nutritionists and nurses to care for moms on bed rest, as well as NICU and full-term babies, with care tailored to each baby's unique needs.

About March of Dimes

March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. For more than 75 years, moms and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs. For the latest resources and health information, visit marchofdimes.org and nacersano.org. You can also find us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

SOURCE March of Dimes

Related Links

http://www.marchofdimes.org


MERRILLVILLE, Ind., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) announced today that its finance subsidiary, NiSource Finance Corp., has commenced cash tender offers (the "Tender Offers") for four series of its outstanding debt securities.

The tender offers are being made pursuant to an Offer to Purchase, dated May 11, 2017 (the "Offer to Purchase"), which sets forth a comprehensive description of the terms of the offers. NiSource Finance intends to fund the purchase price of the notes accepted in the offers with a portion of the net proceeds from the sale of long-term debt securities in a public offering announced separately today.

Any and All Tender Offer for 6.125% Notes due 2022

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions described in the Offer to Purchase, NiSource Finance is offering to purchase (the "Any and All Tender Offer") for cash any and all of its outstanding 6.125% Notes due 2022 ("Any and All Notes"). The following table sets forth some of the terms of the Any and All Tender Offer:

Title of Security CUSIP Number Principal

Amount

Outstanding Reference U.S. Treasury Security Bloomberg

Reference

Page (1) Fixed

Spread

(basis

points) Early

Tender

Premium

(2)(3) 6.125% Notes

due 2022 65473QAV5 $500,000,000 1.875% UST due 4/30/2022 PX1 55 $30





(1) The applicable page on Bloomberg from which the Dealer Managers will quote the bid side prices of the applicable Reference U.S. Treasury Security. (2) The Total Consideration (as defined below) is calculated using the applicable fixed spread and is inclusive of the Early Tender Premium. (3) Per $1,000 principal amount for Notes validly tendered and accepted prior to the Early Tender Deadline.

Maximum Tender Offers for 6.40% Notes due 2018, 6.80% Notes due 2019 and 5.45% Notes due 2020

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions described in the Offer to Purchase, NiSource Finance is offering to purchase (the "Maximum Tender Offers" and, together with Any and All Tender Offer, the "Tender Offers") for cash up to $175,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 6.40% Notes due 2018, up to $200,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 6.80% Notes due 2019 and up to $220,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 5.45% Notes due 2020 (collectively, the "Maximum Tender Notes" and, together with Any and All Notes, the "Notes"). The maximum aggregate principal amount of a series of Maximum Tender Notes that will be purchased in the Maximum Tender Offers is referred to as the applicable "Tender Cap."

The following table sets forth some of the terms of the Maximum Tender Offers:

Title of Security CUSIP

Number Principal

Amount

Outstanding Tender Cap Reference

U.S. Treasury

Security Bloomberg

Reference

Page (1) Fixed

Spread

(basis

points) Early

Tender

Premium

(2)(3)















6.40% Notes due 2018 65473QAS2 $476,027,000 $175,000,000 1% UST due 3/15/2018 PX3 30 $30















6.80% Notes due 2019 65473QAT0 $500,000,000 $200,000,000 1.125% UST due 1/15/2019 PX4 50 $30















5.45% Notes due 2020 65473QAR4 $550,000,000 $220,000,000 1.5% UST due 5/15/2020 PX1 70 $30

















(1) The applicable page on Bloomberg from which the Dealer Managers will quote the bid side prices of the applicable Reference U.S. Treasury Security. (2) The Total Consideration (as defined below) is calculated using the applicable fixed spread and is inclusive of the Early Tender Premium. (3) Per $1,000 principal amount for Notes validly tendered and accepted prior to the Early Tender Deadline.

Each of the Tender Offers is scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on June 8, 2017, unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Expiration Time"). Holders of Notes that are validly tendered and not validly withdrawn on or prior to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on May 24, 2017 (the "Early Tender Deadline") will receive as consideration for their Notes an amount which includes the early tender premium. Holders who validly tender their Notes after the Early Tender Deadline, but before the Expiration Time, will receive as consideration for their Notes an amount which does not include the early tender premium. Tenders of Notes may be validly withdrawn at any time up to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on May 24, 2017 (the "Withdrawal Deadline").

The total consideration for each $1,000 principal amount of a series of Notes validly tendered and accepted for payment pursuant to a Tender Offer will be determined in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference to the fixed spread over the yield to maturity of the applicable U.S. Treasury Security specified for such series of Notes on the cover page of the Offer to Purchase.

In addition to the consideration amounts described above, holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase will receive accrued and unpaid interest up to, but not including, the applicable settlement date, which is expected to be May 26, 2017, in the case of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn on or prior to the Early Tender Deadline, or June 9, 2017, in the case of Notes tendered after the Early Tender Deadline.

The Tender Offers are not conditioned upon any minimum amount of Notes being tendered, and the Tender Offers may be amended, extended, terminated or withdrawn in whole or with respect to one or more series of the Notes. NiSource Finance will only accept for purchase Maximum Tender Notes up to the applicable Tender Caps.

NiSource Finance reserves the right to increase, decrease or eliminate the Tender Cap with respect to any series of Maximum Tender Notes. If Holders tender more Maximum Tender Notes in the Maximum Tender Offers than they expect to be accepted for purchase by NiSource Finance based on the applicable Tender Caps for the Maximum Tender Notes being tendered, and NiSource Finance subsequently accepts more than such Holders expected of such Maximum Tender Notes tendered and not validly withdrawn on or before the Withdrawal Deadline, such Holders will not be able to withdraw any of their previously tendered Maximum Tender Notes. Accordingly, Holders should not tender any Maximum Tender Notes that they do not wish to be accepted for purchase.

Subject to the applicable Tender Caps, all Maximum Tender Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn on or before the Early Tender Deadline will be accepted before any Maximum Tender Notes tendered after the Early Tender Deadline are accepted in the Maximum Tender Offers.

The offers are subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, including, among other things, NiSource Finance receiving proceeds from the debt offering announced today sufficient to purchase all Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase by the Company and to pay all fees and expenses in connection with the Tender Offers.

* * *

The complete terms and conditions of the offers are set forth in the Offer to Purchase. Holders of Any and All Notes and Maximum Tender Notes are urged to read these documents carefully before making any decision with respect to the tender offers.

None of NiSource or its affiliates, their respective boards of directors, the Dealer Managers, the tender and information agent or the Trustee with respect to the Notes is making any recommendation as to whether holders should tender any Notes in response to any of the Tender Offers, and neither NiSource nor any such other person has authorized any person to make any such recommendation. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their notes, and, if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. are serving as Dealer Managers for the offers. Questions regarding the offers may be directed to J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at (866) 834-4666 (toll free) or (212) 834-3424 (collect), Barclays Capital Inc. at (800) 438-3242 (toll free) or (212)-528-7581 (collect), Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC at (800) 820-1653 (toll free) or (212) 325-2476 (collect) or MUFG Securities Americas Inc. at (877) 744-4532 (toll free) or (212) 405-7481 (collect). Requests for the Offer to Purchase or the documents incorporated by reference therein may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc., which is acting as Tender and Information Agent for the Tender Offer, at the following telephone numbers: banks and brokers, (212) 269-5550; all others toll free at (866) 342-1635.

This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell securities. No offer, solicitation, purchase or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. The Tender Offers are being made solely pursuant to terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase. This press release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 134 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

About NiSource

NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) is one of the largest fully-regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.5 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across seven states through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. Based in Merrillville, Indiana, as of December 31, 2016, NiSource had approximately 8,000 employees. NI-F

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Investors and prospective investors should understand that many factors govern whether any forward-looking statement contained herein will be or can be realized. Any one of those factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include statements and expectations regarding NiSource's business, performance, growth, investment opportunities, and planned, identified, infrastructure or utility investments. All forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that management believes to be reasonable; however, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, forecasts, estimates, plans, expectations and strategy discussed in this press release include, among other things, NiSource's debt obligations; any changes in NiSource's credit rating; NiSource's ability to execute its growth strategy; changes in general economic, capital and commodity market conditions; pension funding obligations; economic regulation and the impact of regulatory rate reviews; NiSource's ability to obtain expected financial or regulatory outcomes; any damage to NiSource's reputation; compliance with environmental laws and the costs of associated liabilities; fluctuations in demand from residential and commercial customers; economic conditions of certain industries; the success of NIPSCO's electric generation strategy; the price of energy commodities and related transportation costs; the reliability of customers and suppliers to fulfill their payment and contractual obligations; potential impairments of goodwill or definite-lived intangible assets; changes in taxation and accounting principles; potential incidents and other operating risks associated with our business; the impact of an aging infrastructure; the impact of climate change; potential cyber-attacks; construction risks and natural gas costs and supply risks; extreme weather conditions; the attraction and retention of a qualified work force; advances in technology; the ability of NiSource's subsidiaries to generate cash; uncertainties related to the expected benefits of the separation of Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. and other matters set forth in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" section of NiSource's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, as amended, and in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. NiSource expressly disclaims any duty to update, supplement or amend any of its forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE NiSource Inc.

Related Links

http://www.nisource.com


SAN JOSE, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the 2,000 member Registered Nurses Professional Association (RNPA) will rally and march to call for an end to the "revolving door" staffing at Santa Clara County Health and Hospital Systems' facilities, including Valley Medical Center and the soon-to-be-opened multi-million dollar hospital bed building. The County's hospital system has been plagued by the loss of newly hired and trained nurses to nearby hospitals and the inability to recruit experienced nurses to provide quality patient care.

"The taxpayers of this county should not shoulder the costs of training new nurses so that they can go work someplace else," said Debbie Chang, President of RNPA. "We must make Valley Medical Center attractive enough so that new nursing school grads and experienced nurses come and stay here at Valley. Our patients deserve no less."

The rally occurs during National Nurses Week. As RNPA calls on the hospital administration to take the necessary steps to close the revolving door that sees newly trained nurses leave the system, placing an untenable burden on nurses that stay.

What:

March & Rally to close the nurse staffing "revolving door"

When:

TODAY, Thursday, May 11, 2017

11:30 AM

Who:

Santa Clara County Registered Nurses

RNPA President Debbie Chang

Where:

Valley Medical Center

751 S Bascom Ave.

San Jose, CA 94086

(March will proceed North up Bascom Ave. to Moorpark Avenue. Rally will occur at entrance near Bascom Avenue and Renova Drive)

The Registered Nurses Professional Association represents the nearly 2,000 full and part-time nurses at Santa Clara County clinics, jails, and at Valley Medical Center.

SOURCE The Registered Nurses Professional Association
GOLDSBY, Okla., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- It isn't every day you get a chance to sell land that has never been offered to the public. But that's what will happen Wednesday, June 21, when Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company auctions 2,117 acres south of Norman.

The land is part of the well known Johnson Ranch, named for Montford Johnson, who was born in 1843 and raised by his Chickasaw grandmother. The family has held the land he inherited ever since -- for more than 140 years.

Now, it is being offered at auction in 38 tracts, ranging in size from approximately seven to 208 acres, according to Brent Wellings, Southwest manager for the auction company.

"The family is finally ready to sell the land, 1,371 acres of which is just off Interstate 35 at Exit 101, including a ridgeline along Ladd Avenue, with incredible views of the fertile farmland below," said Wellings. "Some bidders will be interested in the beautiful home sites along Ladd Avenue while others will be focused on the farmland tracts," he said. The other 746 acres in Newcastle are likely best suited for future commercial and residential development, with two miles of frontage on Highway 9 and 62.

Some bidders may also be interested in creating a historical attraction on some of the land, according to company President R.D. Schrader. "Given the remarkable history of the property, there's potential for a museum, perhaps themed around the historic farm house, which was built in the late 19th century," said Schrader.

Schrader personnel will be available May 17, June 5 and June 19 to accommodate inspections and provide land tours. Individuals seeking additional information may visit www.schraderauction.com or call 800-451-2709.

The auction will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 21, at Southwind Hills, 468 SW 24th Avenue, Goldsby, Oklahoma, 73093.

Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company, based in Columbia City, Indiana, is a leading auctioneer of land throughout the United States and is a five-time USA Today/National Auctioneers Association Auction of the Year winner.

For more information:

Carl Carter, APR

205-823-3273

SOURCE Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company

Related Links

http://www.schraderauction.com


CHICAGO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Beth Rubin, Travel + Leisure A-List of Top Travel Advisor 2014 and 2015, is pleased to announce the opening of Olive Tree Escapes (https://otescapes.com/), her own bespoke luxury travel company, dedicated to providing high-end travel experiences to Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro.

Beth Rubin, Olive Tree Escapes President

Beth Rubin started her career as custom trip planner in 2000, designing unique Italian itineraries loaded with first-hand tips after her return to the US from a study abroad experience in Cortona, Tuscany. After 17 years of success in the travel industry, Rubin's passion led to the recent opening of her own company in Chicago, called Olive Tree Escapes (OTE). The company counts on a team of award-winning experts with over 30 years of experience in the travel industry, specializing in customized upscale itineraries in the Mediterranean.

Olive Tree Escapes boasts superior expertise, unique service and real support available for travel agents and clients alike:

Travel experts passionate about the destination with first-hand, local knowledge. Team members are either natives of the country, or have lived in the country for an extensive period of time.

Real support and peace of mind available before, during, and after the trip.

Concierge service: On-site support with English-speaking staff fluent in Italian and Croatian

Personal Travel Consultant: Talk to the same expert throughout the whole process.

"Olive Tree Escapes is the realization of a lifelong dream. My team and I are excited to offer the travel industry our unmatched expertise in four destinations. We are welcoming the high season brilliantly, noticing lots of intergenerational travel, as well as a spike in visits to the countryside, be it Tuscany or some of the more off-the-beaten path destinations. An important part of the business is dedicated to B2B and we enjoy working with travel agents to make their clients' dream trips come true. We offer our valued partners top commissions, monthly webinars and FAM trip opportunities to both Italy and Croatia."

To receive news about OTE's upcoming FAM trips and webinars dedicated to travel agents, visit this page.

For further information about Olive Tree Escapes' custom trip planning service , visit otescapes.com; or to schedule an interview with Beth Rubin, send an email to [email protected].

Press Contact:

Beatrice Sartori

Olive Tree Escapes

877-272-2310

[email protected]

About Olive Tree Escapes

Olive Tree Escapes has brought together a team of experts with over 30 years of experience in the travel industry, specialized in designing customized upscale itineraries to Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro.

SOURCE Olive Tree Escapes

Related Links

http://otescapes.com


"Community involvement is an integral part of our culture," said Fabrice Cancre, President, Olympus Scientific Solutions Group. "We are thrilled to bring our employees from all over the country together to volunteer their time to these deserving organizations. The community spirit and camaraderie on our Day of Caring accelerates our ability to achieve our mission of contributing to society by making people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling around the world."

In addition to the donation of its employees' time, Olympus made financial donations to support these community outreach activities, totaling nearly $12,000.

About Olympus

Olympus is a global precision technology leader designing and delivering innovative solutions in its core business areas of Medical and Surgical Products, Scientific Solutions, and Cameras and Audio Recorders. The Olympus Corporation of the Americas' Scientific Solutions Group's core product lineup comprises of clinical, educational, and research microscopes, nondestructive testing equipment, and analytical instruments, all designed with an unwavering commitment to contribute to society by making people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling every day. For more information, visit www.olympusamerica.com.

SOURCE Olympus Corporation of the Americas

Related Links

http://www.olympusamerica.com


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. ("Oppenheimer"), a unit of Oppenheimer Holdings (NYSE: OPY), held its annual Industrial Growth Conference in New York City on May 9 and 10, 2017.

For the twelfth year in a row, this conference brought together leading public companies in the industrial sector. This year's event featured more than 50 companies  including General Electric; Ecolab; FedEx; and Graco  providing investors with strategic insights on market trends and opportunities in the space. Oppenheimer hosted company presentations, group sessions and one-on-one meeting opportunities for the institutional investors in attendance.

Oppenheimer Senior Research Analyst attendees, who offered guidance on many aspects of the industrials sector, included:

Jim Giannakouros , Senior Analyst for Industrial Machinery & Flow Control

Senior Analyst for Industrial Machinery & Flow Control Christopher Glynn , Senior Analyst for Industrial Multi-Industry

Senior Analyst for Industrial Multi-Industry Noah Kaye , Senior Analyst for Sustainable Growth & Resource Optimization

Senior Analyst for Sustainable Growth & Resource Optimization Colin Rusch , Senior Analyst for Sustainable Growth & Resource Optimization

Senior Analyst for Sustainable Growth & Resource Optimization Scott A. Schneeberger , Senior Analyst for Industrial & Business Services

Senior Analyst for Industrial & Business Services Ian Zaffino , Managing Director, Senior Analyst for Special Situations

"Shifting trends at play in the geopolitical landscape make this an interesting time for the industrial sector, which is an important vertical for Oppenheimer," said Erica L. Moffett, Managing Director and Associate Director of Research. "With the new administration and the proposed infrastructure spending yet to be determined, this year's conference is especially important for investors to understand the current landscape for the industrial companies."

Oppenheimer's next conference is the Firm's Emerging Growth Conference, which will be held on May 16 in New York. Other upcoming conferences include the 17th Annual Consumer Conference and the 20th Annual Conference on Technology, Internet and Communications, which will be held on June 20-21 and August 8-9, respectively. These meetings provide additional opportunities for investors to meet a cross section of management teams across a number of different business models.

About Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (Oppenheimer), a principal subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (OPY on the New York Stock Exchange), and its affiliates provide a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage and investment banking services to high-net-worth individuals, families, corporate executives, local governments, businesses and institutions.

SOURCE Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
"Laboratory professionals work behind the scenes and away from the patients they serve, so their important contributions often go unrecognized; this is why the urEssential Award program aims to shine a spotlight on exceptional laboratory professionals," said Chris Kerski, senior vice president and general manager of Laboratory Products at Cardinal Health. "As an advocate for quality and patient safety, Jennifer helps ensure laboratories in the U.S. and abroad achieve the standards necessary to provide exceptional patient care, and we're proud to honor her outstanding achievements."

In addition to national recognition for her contributions to quality programs in the clinical lab and beyond, Cardinal Health will provide a $25,000 educational grant to the institution of higher learning of Dawson's choice. Dawson's grant will go to Texas State University to support students pursuing careers in clinical laboratory science.

"As a passionate advocate of the laboratory and its role in providing quality care and the highest level of patient safety, I'm humbled and honored to be recognized with this prestigious laboratory award," said Dawson. "I hope this spreads awareness of the impactful work being done by medical laboratory professionals and inspires others to pursue a career in this rewarding field."

Dawson is currently the senior director of Quality for Human Longevity, Inc. in San Diego and affiliate faculty at Regis University in Denver. Over the course of her career, she has developed or revamped quality programs for many laboratories, including building multiple labs and lab quality programs and providing consulting services. She previously served as vice president of Quality and Regulatory Affairs for Sonic Healthcare USA (SHUSA), one of the largest lab networks in the U.S. During her tenure, she was one of four executives to build SHUSA's national esoteric reference lab from the ground up. The non-conforming event management programs Dawson has developed and implemented allow laboratories to identify non-conforming events, eliminate root causes, and proactively correct issues before patients are affected. In addition, Dawson is heavily involved in calculating the Cost of Poor Quality, which allows laboratories to demonstrate the financial benefits of quality programs. She frequently publishes articles, presents posters and aims to spread awareness and further knowledge about lab quality.

Showcasing the impact Dawson has already had on the laboratory industry, she's been recognized with several accolades, including:

2015 American Society for Clinical Pathology Top 5 Under Forty award

2015 Advance Lab Professional of the Year

2016 American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Voices Under 40 award

2017 Austin Under 40 award

This marks the fourth year for the Cardinal Health urEssential Award program. Individuals working in the clinical laboratory profession may be nominated by their managers, colleagues, peers and students, or they may self-nominate. The award seeks to recognize clinical laboratory professionals who have improved their current (or former) laboratory, enhanced patient care through their work, and increased the awareness of the importance of the profession.

For more information on the Cardinal Health urEssential Award program, and to learn more about Dawson and the five distinguished professionals selected as 2017 finalists, visit www.cardinalhealth.com/urEssential.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc. is a global, integrated healthcare services and products company, providing customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and physician offices worldwide. The company provides clinically proven medical products and pharmaceuticals and cost-effective solutions that enhance supply chain efficiency from hospital to home. Cardinal Health connects patients, providers, payers, pharmacists and manufacturers for integrated care coordination and better patient management. As a distributor, Cardinal Health helps ensure pharmacists, and the consumers they serve, have access to medications they need while working to help prevent prescription drug diversion; therefore, along with its education partners, Cardinal Health created Generation Rx, a national program to help prevent the misuse of prescription medications. Backed by nearly 100 years of experience, with more than 40,000 employees in nearly 60 countries, Cardinal Health ranks among the top 25 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit cardinalhealth.com, follow @CardinalHealth on Twitter and connect on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/ company/cardinal-health.





SOURCE Cardinal Health

Related Links

http://www.cardinalhealth.com


PURCHASE, N.Y., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) today announced that it has signed an agreement with Partnership for a Healthier America ("PHA") to independently report and verify the company's progress against previously outlined goals designed to transform its product portfolio and offer healthier options.

PepsiCo's goals, which were announced last October and informed by World Health Organization and other authorities' guidelines, include a focus on reducing added sugars, saturated fat and sodium levels. In addition, the company is focused on offering more positive nutrition such as whole grains, fruit and vegetables, dairy, protein and hydration, as well as greater access to nutritious foods and beverages in underserved communities.

The specific goals that PHA will track focus on added sugars, saturated fat and sodium. By 2025, PepsiCo expects that:

At least two-thirds of the company's global beverage portfolio volume sold will have 100 Calories or fewer from added sugars per 12-oz (355 ml) serving.

At least three-quarters of the company's global foods portfolio volume sold will not exceed 1.1 grams of saturated fat per 100 Calories.

At least three-quarters of the company's global foods portfolio volume sold will not exceed 1.3 milligrams of sodium per Calorie.

"PepsiCo's continued focus on delivering Performance with Purpose has fueled our growth and is positioning our company for future success. We continue to place great emphasis on transforming our product portfolio to meet changing consumer and societal needs, and we're proud of the progress we've achieved to date" said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi. "Our agenda for the next ten years includes ambitious goals to further improve the nutritional profile of our products and expand our range of wholesome and nutritious offerings. We are deeply committed to working to achieve these goals, and we welcome Partnership for a Healthier America's role in reporting on our progress."

PHA CEO Lawrence A. Soler added: "PepsiCo's vision to transform their products to meet consumer demand for healthier options is a win for the company and a win for consumers. We look forward to evaluating PepsiCo's progress and sharing it publicly."

PepsiCo's decade-long commitment to Performance with Purpose is rooted in the belief that business success is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world we share. In addition to its focus on portfolio transformation and offering healthier options, as part of this overarching vision, PepsiCo is also focused on protecting our planet, making the food system more sustainable and empowering people around the world. For more information on Performance with Purpose, please visit: http://www.pepsico.com/purpose/performance-with-purpose.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated approximately $63 billion in net revenue in 2016, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose  our fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe that continuously improving the products we sell, operating responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the world is what enables PepsiCo to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

About Partnership for a Healthier America

The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is devoted to working with the private sector to ensure the health of our nation's youth by solving the childhood obesity crisis. In 2010, PHA was created in conjunction withbut independent fromFirst Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! effort. PHA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that is led by some of the nation's most respected health and childhood obesity experts. PHA brings together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity. Most important, PHA ensures that commitments made are commitments kept by working with unbiased third parties to monitor and publicly report on the progress our partners are making. For more information about PHA, please visit www.ahealthieramerica.org and follow PHA on Twitter @PHAnews.

PepsiCo Cautionary Statement

Statements in this release that are "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in any such forward-looking statement. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: changes in demand for PepsiCo's products, as a result of changes in consumer preferences or otherwise; changes in, or failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations; imposition or proposed imposition of new or increased taxes aimed at PepsiCo's products; imposition of labeling or warning requirements on PepsiCo's products; changes in laws related to packaging and disposal of PepsiCo's products; PepsiCo's ability to compete effectively; political conditions, civil unrest or other developments and risks in the markets where PepsiCo's products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold; the ability to protect information systems against, or effectively respond to, a cybersecurity incident or other disruption; damage to PepsiCo's reputation or brand image; and other factors that may adversely affect the price of PepsiCo's publicly traded securities and financial performance.

For additional information on these and other factors that could cause PepsiCo's actual results to materially differ from those set forth herein, please see PepsiCo's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. PepsiCo undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE PepsiCo
"Developing our e-commerce business is one of PepsiCo's strategic priorities," said Mike Spanos, PepsiCo GCR President & CEO. "Through this collaboration, we will fully take advantage of Alibaba's platform and data to carry out more innovative experiments, perfect PepsiCo's products and services, and enhance online consumer experiences. Our joint effort with Alibaba will help us lead the ever-changing consumer trend and better serve Chinese consumers."

Jet Jing, Vice President of Alibaba Group, added: "We are pleased to collaborate with PepsiCo, a leading multinational company. Alibaba Group is committed to enabling brands by helping them leverage our big data capabilities and omnichannel solutions to further drive strategic growth in the China market."

The strategic agreement is built upon the existing success between PepsiCo and Alibaba in their e-commerce partnership. Since establishing a flagship store on Tmall in 2012, PepsiCo has launched a series of innovative online marketing initiatives. Recent examples include PepsiCo's 2016 Super Brand Day, Quaker's co-branded campaign with Tmall during Alibaba's 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, and Kumamon-branded Lay's gift campaign during Chinese New Year. In addition, PepsiCo expanded its reach in rural China by leveraging the distribution channels through Alibaba's Rural Taobao program.

As one of the leading food & beverage companies in the world, PepsiCo is a global leader in developing and marketing brands. Alibaba Group provides a comprehensive suite of solutions on brand building, channel management and product innovation by tapping into the insights generated from consumer data. The collaboration leads the evolving digital transformation of the food and beverage industry in China.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated approximately $63 billion in net revenue in 2016, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose  our fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe that continuously improving the products we sell, operating responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the world is what enables PepsiCo to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

SOURCE PepsiCo

Related Links

http://www.pepsico.com


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pi Capital International LLC ("Pi Capital") is pleased to announce that it acted as exclusive financial advisor to Yesco Co., Ltd. of South Korea in initiating, structuring and advising on a Secured Loan Facility for a leading merchant cash advance company (the "Company) based in New Jersey. The $75 million transaction was completed in several tranches with the latest one closed in April 2017. The Company is utilizing this facility to support the growth of its merchant cash advance business.

"Pi Capital understood the transaction dynamics and helped us navigate multiple challenges and complexities to achieve a successful outcome. We believe we have created a unique partnership with the Company," said CJ Kim, Chief Investment Officer of Yesco.

"This is a good demonstration how outbound Korean capital can be deployed in a unique and attractive investment in the U.S. and we are pleased we were able to bring this opportunity to our Korean client," said Matthew Yoon, Managing Director and Head of Pi Capital's investment banking services in Asia.

About Yesco Co., Ltd.

Yesco is one of the leading gas distribution companies in Korea and supplies city gas to northeastern part of Seoul and Gyunggi province. Yesco is part of LS Group which is one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea.

About Pi Capital International LLC

Pi Capital provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments and financial sponsors enabling its clients to make and execute the strategic decisions needed for success in domestic and global markets. Pi Capital's services include advising on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, and raising private capital. The firm's global network of clients and capital providers spans North America, Asia, Latin America and EMEA. Pi Capital's team consists of experienced international bankers, familiar with cross border complexity and cultural nuances, delivering transaction, sector and product expertise. Pi Capital offers access to alternative investment and non-traditional pools of capital. Today, Pi Capital focuses on the financial institutions, industrials, automotive and energy sectors. All regulated activities are conducted through its affiliate, Marco Polo Securities Inc. (member FINRA/NFA/SIPC).

Further information on Pi Capital is available at www.picapitalllc.com.

About Marco Polo Securities, Inc.

Marco Polo Securities Inc. is a U.S.-registered broker dealer offering global execution, regulatory and distribution capabilities. Marco Polo was the pioneering platform in building cross border electronic trading infrastructure to enable global institutional flows and the firm's regulatory and distribution partnership with local securities firms currently encompass 80 countries. Marco Polo provides a unique distribution and regulatory network for capital raising and wealth management in the global markets. Marco Polo is a member of FINRA, NFA and SIPC.

Further information on Marco Polo is available at www.mpsecurities.com.

CONTACT:

Pi Capital International LLC

Taylor V. James

Chief Administrative Officer

(347) 670-1530

[email protected]

SOURCE Pi Capital International LLC

Related Links

http://www.picapitalllc.com


LONDON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The prepared-meals market is forecasted to reach $99.1 billion globally by 2021, according to a report by GlobalData.

The report highlights the following points:

 A demand for convenience foods boosts sales

 The market has several challenges to overcome

 The market is highly fragmented with no clear market-share leader

Favorable Factors

The demand for convenient and ready-to-eat products has risen as more women enter the workforce and people lead increasingly busy lives. Customers are seeking products that save time and effort.

Changing eating patterns also have boosted sales as fewer people make time to cook food from scratch. Finally, urbanization in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa has lead to more families with disposable incomes.

Market challenges

There is the perception that frozen and chilled categories are unhealthy because they contain few vegetables and have preservatives. To overcome this, manufacturers are launching products with healthier recipes, featuring natural and organic ingredients.Growth strategies include introducing healthier snacks and a wider distribution.

Distribution Networks

The global market is highly fragmented. The top five brands  Stouffers, Heinz, Amy's, Marumiya, and DiGiorno  hold less than 11% of the combined market share. The largest distribution channels are hypermarkets and supermarkets, holding a 68% market share.

Key figures of the Prepared-Ready-Meals Market

 In 2016, the largest market was the U.S. with a 23.3% share of global sales.

 By 2021, China is forecasted to be one of the fastest-growing markets,

 In 2016, Western Europe was the largest regional market with a value share of 39.5%.

To see the report summary on ReportBuyer's blog click here.

Intissar Guettou

[email protected]

T: +1 347 903 1913





About ReportBuyer Today:



ReportBuyer Today highlights the main findings of top quality reports written by leading publishers.These reports focus on several industries including Agribusiness, Life Science, Consumer Goods & Services, IT & Media and Heavy Industries.

For more information, please visit https://www.reportbuyer.com/today/

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


MENLO PARK, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brian Christensen, an executive vice president with global consulting firm Protiviti, has been named to Consulting magazine's 2017 Top 25 Consultants list in the leadership category. The award is given annually to honor industry professionals who are making the greatest impact on clients and their respective firms.

Christensen, who was a founding managing director of Protiviti when it was formed 15 years ago, leads the firm's global Internal Audit and Financial Advisory practice. With more than 30 years of internal audit experience, Christensen helps clients increase the value of their internal audit and finance functions. As a member of Protiviti's executive team, he is also responsible for strategy setting and managing global operations. He remains active in day-to-day client service, too, recently assisting a client in its transformation through the largest merger in its industry. Christensen is in demand as a conference speaker on audit, governance and risk management matters, and as an expert source for the media.

"Brian is an acknowledged leader not only within Protiviti, but in the world of internal audit," said Joseph Tarantino, president and CEO of Protiviti. "His depth and breadth of internal audit and risk management experience and his career-long dedication to the profession are exceptional. We congratulate Brian on this accolade, which is well-deserved recognition for his service to internal audit consulting."

Prior to Protiviti, Christensen was a partner with Arthur Andersen. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin. He has served on several non-profit boards, including Junior Achievement of Arizona, American Red Cross of Southern Arizona, University of Wisconsin Alumni Association and other youth-related organizations.

"Each year the nominations we receive get stronger and stronger, and this year certainly was no exception," said Joe Kornik, Consulting magazine's editor and publisher at ALM. "The 2017 Top 25 Consultants include the very best the consulting profession has to offer. Their stories  and their accomplishments  are making a huge impact on their clients, their firms and the industry as a whole."

Christensen and the other 2017 honorees will be celebrated at an awards dinner on June 15, 2017 in New York City. Christensen is the latest in an impressive group of Protiviti leaders who were named to Consulting magazine's past Top 25 Consultants lists: Scott Redfearn (2016), Kimberly Dickerson (2015), Carol Beaumier (2014), Jim Pajakowski (2013), Jim Armetta (2012), Jim DeLoach (2011) and Cory Gunderson (2009).

About Protiviti

Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Through its network of more than 70 offices in over 20 countries, Protiviti and its independently owned Member Firms provide clients with consulting solutions in finance, technology, operations, data analytics, governance, risk and internal audit.

Protiviti has served more than 60 percent of Fortune 1000 and 35 percent of Fortune Global 500 companies. The firm also works with smaller, growing companies, including those looking to go public, as well as with government agencies. Protiviti is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half (NYSE: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half is a member of the S&P 500 index.

Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services.

Editor's note: Photos available upon request.

SOURCE Protiviti

Related Links

http://www.protiviti.com


SEATTLE, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PRR, Inc., a full-service communications agency, is named in Top 150 Global PR Agencies, Top 75 PR Agencies in the US, Top Ten PR Agencies on the West US and Top Five in the US Public Sector in PRWeek's 2017 Agency Business Report. The company is the only Seattle-based agency to rank so high on the global, west US, and US public sector lists.

"At PRR, I get to spend my days with a super smart and inspiring team," said Denise Walz, PRR, Inc. co-president. "They see opportunities for PRR and our clients at every turn. This year that innovation and inspiration turned into increased revenue, new offices, expanded markets and work that make us strong in our vision. At PRR we strive to work with clients who are making a difference in the communities we serve, and that makes our successes all the better. Being a women owned firm that is ranked so highly, and in such excellent company, is something we owe to the people that make PRR who and what we are," added Walz.

PRR was ranked highly on several lists:

Global view Top 150: #123

US view Top 75: #74

US West Top 10: #10

US Public Sector Top 5: #4

US Public Affairs Top 25: #14

US Healthcare Top 25: #21

US Consumer Top 100: #79

US Technology Top 100: #52

The PRWeek Agency Business Report is an in-depth look at the PR agency landscape. It includes a comprehensive analysis of more than 40 of the world's leading firms, over 10 different rankings tables, a deep dive into the overall state of the sector with opinions from leading CEOs, additional infographics, and much more. This is the most extensive roundup of everything happening in the PR agency sector.

This recognition comes on the heels of many recent awards for PRR:

Ranked 154 in the Holmes report Global Top 250 PR Agencies,

Ranked 24 in Puget Sound Business Journal's Top 50 Woman-owned Businesses,

Won WTS Small Business Employer of the Year,

Won three PRSA Puget Sound Chapter Totem Awards,

Won platinum and gold Hermes Awards, and

Won a bronze Telly Award.

About PRR

Established in Seattle in 1981 to provide clients with creative communications solutions, PRR has steadily gained a reputation for consistent, award-winning work and exceptional customer service. Over the years, we expanded into a broad-based integrated communication practice using research, public relations, public involvement, public affairs, advertising, design and marketing. PRR has offices in Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Los Angeles, CA; Denver, CO; Austin, TX; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, MD; and Norfolk, VA.

PRR is a federally certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB). We hold a variety of Woman-owned Small Business Enterprise (WBE/SBE) certifications across the country, including State of Washington, District of Columbia, California, Georgia, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia.

SOURCE PRR

Related Links

http://www.prrbiz.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In preparation for Pennsylvania's primary election, Secretary of State Pedro A. Cortes reminds Pennsylvanians to visit votesPA.com for comprehensive voting information.

"The goal of votesPA is to provide valuable information voters will need when they go to the polls on May 16," Cortes said. "We encourage all eligible voters to be fully informed about their rights and what they can expect at the polling place."

At votesPA.com, citizens can:

Additionally, votesPA.com includes a link to the Department's voter education toolkit Everyone votesPA. The toolkit includes a Voter Guide (PDF), "The Top 5 Things Every Voter Should Know About Pennsylvania Elections," (PDF) and "Dates to Remember" (PDF). Each publication is available to download and print in English or Spanish.

On May 16, the polls will be open from 7 AM to 8 PM as registered Democratic and Republican voters elect their parties' nominees for:

Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania

Judge of the Commonwealth Court

Judge of the Court of Common Pleas

Judge of the Municipal Court ( Philadelphia )

) County, school board, and local seats such as mayor, city or borough council member, township commissioner or supervisor, magisterial district judges, and precinct election officials.

Because Pennsylvania has a closed primary, only voters registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote for the party nominees. However, every registered voter may vote on any referendum or question on the ballot. This year's primary will include no statewide referenda, but check with county election offices regarding local ballot questions.

In addition, Secretary Cortes reminded registered voters that they have the right to cast a provisional ballot at the polling place if they believe they are registered at the precinct but are not listed in the poll book or supplemental poll book. Provisional ballots will be reviewed by county officials within seven days after the election to determine whether the voter was eligible.

Voters appearing at a polling place for the first time will need to show proper identification, which may be either photo or non-photo ID. There is no identification requirement for voters returning to vote at a polling place the second or subsequent election.

A voter is also entitled to have assistance at the voting booth if he or she is unable to enter the booth or use the balloting system. The voter can choose who will provide the assistance, except for the voter's employer, an agent of the employer, an officer or agent of the voter's union or the Judge of Elections.

For complete information about voting in Pennsylvania, visit votesPA.com or call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772).

MEDIA CONTACT: Wanda Murren, (717) 783-1621

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us


ARMONK, N.Y., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that Signzy Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a financial technology company based in Bangalore, India, is using IBM Watson and IBM Blockchain services to develop a digital trust platform that cuts the identity verification process for financial institutions by as much as 80 percent, thus improving its ability to comply with regulations and help reduce fraud.

Financial institutions are required to follow rigorous verification processes of their customers to mitigate fraud risk. In India, the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms mandated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) require banks to verify each customer's identity and provide approved documentation. Banks are under tremendous pressure to comply with these requirements, but there is a lack of digital tools to accomplish this efficiently. Most banks are forced to use manual processes that are costly and time consuming.

Signzy is using IBM Watson cognitive computing technology to transform this industry-wide challenge with a platform that gives banks a comprehensive view of risk. This technology automates assessments that could previously be performed only by humans, potentially cutting verification time by up to 80 percent, from two weeks to two days. The platform complies with national and international requirements for banks to check for fraud, money laundering, financing of terrorism and other illegal activities.

The digital verification process eliminates much of the manual work that was previously required for routine transactions such as opening an account and approving a loan. As a result, banks can reduce the onerous handling and storage of printed and scanned documents, which contain sensitive personal information. Documents can now be stored electronically in the secure Signzy database, helping reduce risk of identity theft and fraud.

"Cognitive computing has the potential to dramatically simplify digital trust processes throughout the financial services industry," said Ankit Ratan, co-founder and chief executive officer, Signzy Technologies.

To confirm identities and look for anomalous behavior, the system collects both structured and unstructured data, such as customers' financial history, criminal records, court cases, aliases and government filings, in various formats, and filters out irrelevant information such as divorce proceedings. It then analyzes the data in real time to identify connections among individuals and companies.

Banks can upload documents or images into the platform, which can:

interpret text and understand its meaning using the IBM Watson Document Conversation Service;

compare photos to verify that a given person's documentation matches the individual's actual appearance using the AlchemyVision Service;

ingest and analyze video content by applying the Speech to Text Service.

To train the system to identify basic patterns that suggest fraud or other illicit activity, Signzy supplied it with common examples of both normal behavior and red flags. Applying this basic framework to the data, the solution highlights anomalies and generates a forgery score. With its machine learning algorithms, the system continues to learn as it encounters new patterns, expanding its understanding of how fraudulent or criminal behavior manifests in financial services. Because the Signzy solution uses cognitive computing to facilitate the verification process, it mitigates the risk of human error or corruption.

The platform also establishes a common protocol for running background checks, using the IBM Blockchain service to decentralize the records while keeping the data highly secure. This creates a comprehensive yet private digital trail of each customer's identity, background information and online transactions, minimizing the possibility of tampering.

About IBM Cloud:

For more about IBM Cloud, visit www.ibm.com/cloud-computing

Contact information

Hannah Slocum

IBM Media Relations

1 (978) 877-0105

[email protected]

SOURCE IBM

Related Links

http://www.ibm.com


Avison Young releases its Spring 2017 North America and U.K. Industrial Market Report

TORONTO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The industrial property sector continues to be characterized by sound fundamentals, irrespective of geography and geopolitical and economic conditions. Record-low or near-record-low vacancy rates, owing to robust demand, are placing upward pressure on rental rates. Development costs are also on the rise, due to dwindling land supply in some markets. Meanwhile, developers strive to deliver modern product to meet evolving tenant demand  increasingly driven by the retail sector and its goal to feed today's insatiable consumer appetite.

These are some of the key trends noted in Avison Young's Spring 2017 North America and U.K. Industrial Market Report, released today.

The report covers the industrial markets in 55 North American and U.K. metropolitan regions: Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Lethbridge, Montreal, Ottawa, Regina, Toronto, Vancouver, Waterloo Region, Winnipeg, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, OH; Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Greenville, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Long Island, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Jersey, Oakland, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham, Reno, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego County, San Francisco, San Mateo, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, DC; West Palm Beach, Mexico City, Coventry, U.K. and London, U.K.

"The industrial property sector's metrics continue to impress the market as occupiers and investors alike are drawn to the sector's stability," comments Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young. "Though traditional manufacturing operations remain part of the industrial fabric, surging demand for online shopping  while causing disruption in traditional brick-and-mortar retail properties  has provided immense opportunities in industrial plant, distribution and warehouse assets as supply chains become increasingly complex and seek efficiencies. An increasing urban population base also means feeding the unquenchable demand of a fickle and growing consumer market that demands cost-effective, same-day delivery options."

He continues: "There is one recurring statistic in virtually every market and country under our coverage  low vacancy rates. All but two markets posted single-digit vacancy at the conclusion of the first quarter of 2017. Keeping pace with demand, the development community delivered more than 218 million square feet (msf) over the past 12 months and had more than 205 msf under construction at the end of the first quarter. In increasingly land-constrained markets, developers are being forced to think outside the traditional warehouse footprint and are even contemplating multi-storey warehouses."

According to the report, of the 55 industrial markets tracked by Avison Young across North America and the U.K., which comprise almost 14 billion square feet, vacancy declined in 40 markets, remained unchanged in two and increased in only 13 during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2017.

The analysis also revealed lower year-over-year industrial vacancy rates in 30 of 41 U.S. markets and seven of 11 Canadian markets. Logistics-driven demand cut Mexico City's industrial vacancy rate by half to 3.2%, while in the U.K., the Coventry and London markets reported vacancy rates of 5.8% and 2.7%, respectively.

CANADA

Building on trends from 2016, Canada's 2-billion-square-foot industrial market continued to display sound property fundamentals in the opening quarter of 2017 despite bifurcation among markets across the country. While supply-demand imbalances remain in the oil patch, other regions with diverse and growing tenant bases are nearing full occupancy. Canada's industrial vacancy rate finished the first quarter of 2017 at 3.7%  down 30 basis points (bps) from the same quarter in 2016. Similar to one year earlier, 10 of the 11 markets surveyed displayed single-digit vacancy rates with five markets posting rates below the national average.

"Canada's industrial market continues to operate under the weight of a supply shortage, despite regional disparities in performance," says Bill Argeropoulos, Principal and Practice Leader, Research (Canada) for Avison Young. "Clearly, the supply shortfall in existing product and land supply has kept developers busy, but they remain prudent in delivering product to meet the market's changing needs. A competitive bidding environment persists and, although demand levels differ from one market to the next, rental rates are either holding firm or moving higher as tenants seeking alternative premises face diminishing options."

Argeropoulos continues: "Like everywhere else, e-commerce is driving much of the new development, featuring modern, technologically advanced distribution facilities  with higher clear heights, large bays and ample trailer parking space  near urban centres. However, not to be forgotten, older product in urban centres, once deemed obsolete, remains a hot commodity, offering timely and cost-effective solutions to shorten the last mile of the supply chain."

Notable First-Quarter 2017 Canadian Industrial Market Highlights:

Vancouver (1.9%) edged out Toronto (2.2%) for the lowest vacancy in the country. Halifax retained both the highest rate (14.7%) and greatest year-over-year change (+280 bps), while Winnipeg (3.1%) recorded the biggest decline (-140 bps).





(1.9%) edged out (2.2%) for the lowest vacancy in the country. retained both the highest rate (14.7%) and greatest year-over-year change (+280 bps), while (3.1%) recorded the biggest decline (-140 bps). In the North American context, Canadian markets are faring well. Vancouver , Toronto , Regina, Winnipeg and Ottawa claimed five of the 10 lowest vacancy rates, while Regina and Edmonton claimed two of the 10 highest average asking net rental rates. Vancouver just qualified for the top 10 development markets, while there were no Canadian markets in the top 10 absorption ranking.





, , Regina, and claimed five of the 10 lowest vacancy rates, while Regina and claimed two of the 10 highest average asking net rental rates. just qualified for the top 10 development markets, while there were no Canadian markets in the top 10 absorption ranking. Regional disparities persist. Vacancy in Canada's Eastern markets retreated 50 bps year-over-year to 3.3%, while the Western markets sit 140 bps higher at a still-low 4.7%.





Eastern markets retreated 50 bps year-over-year to 3.3%, while the Western markets sit 140 bps higher at a still-low 4.7%. Supply constraints resulted in ongoing positive absorption, though it fell short of the previous year's robust figure. Twelve-month absorption totalled 8.3 million square feet (msf)  a notable decline from 25 msf during the previous 12-month period. Due to a strong performance by Vancouver , the West outpaced the East, which was led by Montreal .





, the West outpaced the East, which was led by . The development community was on par with the previous 12-month tally, delivering slightly more than 16 msf of industrial product. Toronto accounted for 45% of the country's completions  almost twice the level of the next closest market, Vancouver .





accounted for 45% of the country's completions  almost twice the level of the next closest market, . The amount of new construction underway slowed by some 2 msf year-over-year, to 8.2 msf (46% preleased) at the end of the first quarter of 2017. Total industrial area under construction is primarily concentrated in two markets  Vancouver (52%) and Toronto (35%).





(52%) and (35%). The national average net asking rental rate increased marginally from one year earlier to close the first quarter of 2017 at $8.05 per square foot (psf). Year-over-year, rents grew in seven of the 11 markets (with four markets posting rents above the national average).

Argeropoulos adds: "The industrial market is expected to benefit from the world's largest economy, Canada's neighbour and biggest trade partner  the U.S. The caveat: Uncertainty surrounding the new U.S. administration's protectionist trade policies could pose some risk to the industrial market and Canada in general. Barring any unexpected changes, prevailing trends will continue to define the market in the near term."

U.S.

Landlord-favourable conditions persisted in the U.S. during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2017. Overall vacancy averaged 5.3% in the markets tracked by Avison Young, down from 5.9% one year earlier. Leasing fundamentals in nearly every market demonstrated strength and improvement. There is a supply shortage in some markets, resulting in rental rates growing precipitously.

"Certainly, we've seen no slowdown in leasing activity since this time last year, and market indicators continued to improve broadly across the U.S. Even markets, such as Houston, that were cause for concern in 2016 because of volatile energy prices reported occupancy gains, robust deliveries and controlled new construction," states Earl Webb, Avison Young's President, U.S. Operations. "The next cycle for the industrial market could prove to be interesting as data centers, technology and distribution help drive vacancy to new lows and functionally obsolete buildings are converted to other uses. Lack of available supply, the emphasis on the last mile in the supply chain, higher clear heights and land constraints are widespread and common issues."

Notable First-Quarter 2017 U.S. Industrial Market Highlights:

Seventeen of the 41 markets in the 11.5-bsf U.S. industrial market tracked by Avison Young posted below-average vacancy. The lowest rates in the country were recorded in San Mateo (36 msf/1.8%), Orange County (218 msf/2%) and Miami (182 msf/2.8%).





(36 msf/1.8%), (218 msf/2%) and (182 msf/2.8%). U.S. markets posted 232 msf of net absorption during the 12 months ending March 31, 2017  an increase of 12 msf over the previous 12-month period. Six markets gained 10 msf or more of occupancy: Dallas (27 msf), Los Angeles (26 msf), Atlanta (18 msf), Chicago (17 msf), Detroit (14 msf) and New Jersey (10 msf). Not surprisingly, some of the tightest markets registered the least amount of absorption due to lack of supply, such as in Northern California's San Francisco (29,000 sf) and San Mateo (42,000 sf) markets.





 an increase of 12 msf over the previous 12-month period. Six markets gained 10 msf or more of occupancy: (27 msf), (26 msf), (18 msf), (17 msf), (14 msf) and (10 msf). Not surprisingly, some of the tightest markets registered the least amount of absorption due to lack of supply, such as in (29,000 sf) and (42,000 sf) markets. In first-quarter 2017, overall average asking triple-net rent was $6.97 psf, an increase of $0.44 since the same period in 2016. All but two U.S. markets saw rental rate increases. The leader, by far, was San Francisco , which averaged $19 psf, followed by San Mateo ( $14.28 psf) and San Diego ( $12.24 psf).





psf, an increase of since the same period in 2016. All but two U.S. markets saw rental rate increases. The leader, by far, was , which averaged psf, followed by ( psf) and ( psf). While most U.S. markets recorded only modest levels of construction completions, some of the nation's strongest performers had a remarkable volume of new supply come online during the 12 months ending March 31, 2017 . Dallas delivered 25.5 msf  a whopping 9-msf increase compared with the previous 12-month period. In Los Angeles , 24.7 msf came online  virtually the same amount as in the prior 12 months  followed by Atlanta (20.3 msf/+3.8 msf), Chicago (20 msf/+1.2 msf) and Houston (13.6 msf/+3.6 msf).





. delivered 25.5 msf  a whopping 9-msf increase compared with the previous 12-month period. In , 24.7 msf came online  virtually the same amount as in the prior 12 months  followed by (20.3 msf/+3.8 msf), (20 msf/+1.2 msf) and (13.6 msf/+3.6 msf). Looking forward, the aforementioned markets with higher-than-average deliveries in the last 12 months will dominate new development in the next year with Philadelphia , which has 17.4 msf currently under construction, joining the leaders. Altogether, 181 msf was underway in the U.S. as of first-quarter 2017, with a 37% prelease rate, pointing to the demand for modern facilities in distribution corridors.





, which has 17.4 msf currently under construction, joining the leaders. Altogether, 181 msf was underway in the U.S. as of first-quarter 2017, with a 37% prelease rate, pointing to the demand for modern facilities in distribution corridors. South Florida's Port Everglades registered record growth in cargo shipments, due in part to more perishable goods arriving from South America , thus increasing the demand for new development. PortMiami is benefitting from the Panama Canal expansion, as it completed its own improvement and can now handle post-Panamax ships. These events are reflected in strong performances by all of the South Florida markets: Miami (182 msf/2.8%), Fort Lauderdale (95 msf/4.7%) and West Palm Beach (41 msf/4.1%).

Webb concludes: "A trend toward more workplace amenities is still needed in industrial parks to attract and retain employees as overall U.S. unemployment declines. Demand for quality, modern space and the needs of e-commerce companies should continue to fuel the industrial market."

Please turn to the following pages of the report for local market highlights. For comments on individual markets, please contact the Avison Young representatives listed below. Thank you.

pp.4-5 Canada & U.S.:

Bill Argeropoulos, Principal and Practice Leader, Research (Canada), 416.673.4029 or 416.906.3072 (cell) [email protected]

Margaret Donkerbrook, Principal and Practice Leader, U.S. Research, 202.644.8677 [email protected]

Canada

p.13 Calgary

Todd Throndson, Principal and Managing Director, 403.232.4343 [email protected]

p.14 Edmonton

Cory Wosnack, Principal and Managing Director, 780.429.7556 [email protected]

p.15 Halifax

Michael Brown, Managing Director, 902.454.4110 [email protected]

p.16 Lethbridge

Doug Mereska, Managing Director, 403.330.3338 [email protected]

p.17 Montreal

Denis Perreault, Principal and Managing Director, 514.905.0604 [email protected]

p.18 Ottawa

Michael Church, Principal and Managing Director, 613.567.6634 [email protected]

p.19 Regina

Richard Jankowski, Managing Director, 306.559.9009 [email protected]

p.20 Toronto

Martin Dockrill, Principal and Managing Director, 905.283.2333 [email protected]

p.21 Vancouver

Michael Keenan, Principal and Managing Director, 604.647.5081 [email protected]

p.22 Waterloo Region

Ted Davis, Managing Director, 226.366.9040 [email protected]

p.23 Winnipeg :

Wes Schollenberg, Managing Director, 204.947.2886 [email protected]

United States

p.25 Atlanta

Steve Dils, Principal and Managing Director, 404.865.3663 [email protected]

p.26 Austin

Mike Kennedy, Principal and Managing Director, 512.717.3099 [email protected]

p.27 Boston

Michael Smith, Principal and Managing Director, 617.575.2830 [email protected]

p.28 Charleston

Chris Fraser, Managing Director, 843.725.7200 [email protected]

p.29 Charlotte

John Linderman, Principal and Managing Director, 919.420.1559 [email protected]

p.30 Chicago

Danny Nikitas, Principal and Managing Director, 312.940.8794 [email protected]

p.31 Cleveland

Chris Livingston, Principal and Managing Director, 216.406.1131 [email protected]

p.32 Columbus, OH

Scott Pickett, Principal and Managing Director, 614.264.4400 [email protected]

p.33 Dallas

Greg Langston, Principal and Managing Director, 214.269.3115 [email protected]

p.34 Denver

Alec Wynne, Principal and Managing Director, 720.508.8112 [email protected]

p.35 Detroit :

Jim Becker, Principal and Managing Director, 313.510.2825 [email protected]

p.36 Fort Lauderdale

Pike Rowley, Principal and Managing Director, 954.938.1807 [email protected]

p.37 Greenville

Chris Fraser, Managing Director, 843-725-7200 [email protected]

p.38 Hartford

Andrew Filler, Principal and Managing Director, 860.327.8302 [email protected]

p.39 Houston

Rand Stephens, Principal and Managing Director, 713.993.7810 [email protected]

p.40 Indianapolis

Bill Ehret, Principal and Managing Director, 317.210.8808 [email protected]

p.41 Jacksonville

Pike Rowley, Principal and Managing Director, 954.938.1807 [email protected]

p.42 Las Vegas

Tony Amato, Principal, 702.475.7542 [email protected]

p.43 Long Island

Ted Stratigos, Principal and Managing Director, 516.962.5399 [email protected]

p.44 Los Angeles

Chris Cooper, Principal and Managing Director, 213.935.7435 [email protected]

p.45 Miami

Donna Abood, Principal and Managing Director, 305.447.7857 [email protected]

Michael Fay, Principal and Managing Director, 305.447.7842 [email protected]

p.46 Minneapolis

Mark Evenson, Principal and Managing Director, 612.913.5641 [email protected]

p.47 Nashville

Warren Smith, Managing Director, 615.727.7409 [email protected]

p.48 New Jersey

Jeff Heller, Principal and Managing Director, 973.753.1100 [email protected]

p.49 Oakland

Charlie Allen, Principal and Managing Director, 510.333.8477 [email protected]

p.50 Orange County

Keith Kropfl, Principal, 949.430.0680 [email protected]

p.51 Orlando

Greg Morrison, Principal and Managing Director, 407.440.6640 [email protected]

p.52 Philadelphia

David Fahey, Principal and Managing Director, 610.276.1081 [email protected]

p.53 Phoenix

David Genovese, Principal and Managing Director, 480.423.7900 [email protected]

p.54 Pittsburgh

Brad Totten, Principal and Managing Director, 412.944.2132 [email protected]

p.55 Raleigh-Durham

John Linderman, Principal and Managing Director, 919.420.1559 [email protected]

p.56 Reno

John Pinjuv, Managing Director, 775.332.7300 [email protected]

p.57 Sacramento

Thomas Aguer, Principal and Managing Director, 916.563.7827 [email protected]

p.58 San Antonio

Marshall Davidson, Principal and Managing Director, 210.714.8083 [email protected]

p.59 San Diego

Jerry Keeney, Principal, 858.201.7077 [email protected]

p.60 San Francisco

Nick Slonek, Principal and Managing Director, 415.322.5051 [email protected]

p.61 San Mateo

Randy Keller, Principal and Managing Director, 650.425.6425 [email protected]

p.62 St. Louis

Tim Convy, Principal of St. Louis Operations and Managing Director - Brokerage, 314.650.6601 [email protected]

p.63 Tampa

Ken Lane, Principal and Managing Director, 813.444.0623 [email protected]

Clay Witherspoon, Principal and Managing Director, 813.444.0626 [email protected]

p.64 Washington, DC

Josh Peyton, Principal and Managing Director, 202.644.8688 [email protected]

p.65 West Palm Beach

Jonathan Satter, Principal and Managing Director, 561.721.7031 [email protected]

Mexico

p.67 Mexico City

Guillermo Sepulveda, Principal and Managing Director, 52 55 4123 7570 [email protected]

United Kingdom

p.69 Coventry

Robert Rae, Principal and Managing Director, +44 (0)24 7663 6888 [email protected]

p.70 London

Jason Sibthorpe, Principal and Managing Director, +44 (0)20 7046 6514 [email protected]

Avison Young is the world's fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 2,400 real estate professionals in 79 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial, multi-family and hospitality properties.

For further information/comment/photos:

Sherry Quan , Principal, Global Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: 604.647.5098; cell: 604.726.0959 [email protected]





, Principal, Global Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: Bill Argeropoulos , Principal and Practice Leader, Research ( Canada ), Avison Young: 416.673.4029; cell: 416.906.3072 [email protected]





, Principal and Practice Leader, Research ( ), Avison Young: Margaret Donkerbrook , Principal and Practice Leader, U.S. Research, Avison Young: 202.644.8677 [email protected]





, Principal and Practice Leader, U.S. Research, Avison Young: Mark Rose , Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028





Chair and CEO, Avison Young: Earl Webb , President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: 312.957.7610

www.avisonyoung.com

Avison Young was a winner of Canada's Best Managed Companies program in 2011 and requalified in 2017 to maintain its status as a Best Managed Gold Standard company.

Follow Avison Young on Twitter:

For industry news, press releases and market reports: www.twitter.com/avisonyoung

For Avison Young listings and deals: www.twitter.com/AYListingsDeals

Follow Avison Young Bloggers: http://blog.avisonyoung.com

Follow Avison Young on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/avison-young-commercial-real-estate

Follow Avison Young on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/AvisonYoungRE

Follow Avison Young on Instagram: www.instagram.com/avison_young_global

Editors/Reporters:

 Please click on link to view and download Avison Young's Spring 2017 North America and U.K. Industrial Market Report:

https://avisonyoung.uberflip.com/i/822225-ayspring17namericaukindustrialreportmay11-17final

SOURCE Avison Young Commercial Real Estate (BC)

Related Links

www.avisonyoung.com


The event is expected to attract over 700 global executives, entrepreneurs, financial advisors, insurance and banking executives, and VCs. Attendees will learn how disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital currencies, robotics, nanotechnologies, advances in energy, crowdfunding and computing systems are changing the way we do business.

In addition to keynote and panel presentations, the Summit will include customized content tracks for each financial segment, Leadership Skills workshops, and Introduction and Alumni master classes on Exponential Technologies. There will also be a hands-on Innovation Lab featuring the latest disruptive technologies. The Summit is designed to provide insights on how to take action, remove uncertainty and instill confidence in where to make investments to remain competitive and secure.

This year's Summit will focus on:

How exponential technologies form the critical foundation for an abundant future

How financial advising and wealth management are changing as a result

What you need to know about Blockchain and cryptocurrencies

Why behavioral science is increasingly important to successful financial services

How cognitive automation and robotics is impacting banking. Do human financial advisors have a future in an exponential world?

What constitutes the frontline for Fin-Tech startups

What changes are driving crowdfunding to become a mainstream source of financing

"Exponential Finance will help attendees navigate the rapid pace of change taking place in the financial sector due to exponential technologies. We'll share tools that will help participants stay at the forefront and understand where to invest, how to protect their assets, and what it will take to remain competitive and successful in this new economy," said Will Weisman, Executive Director, Summits at SU.

Among the presenters and topics this year:

Toni Lane Casserly , Co-Founder of Bitnation and Cointelegraph on cryptocurrencies, Blockchain

, Co-Founder of Bitnation and Cointelegraph on cryptocurrencies, Blockchain Mary Harman , Managing Director, Enterprise Payments at Bank of America on banking and exponential technology

, Managing Director, Enterprise Payments at Bank of America on banking and exponential technology Matthew Spoke, CEO of nuco on the future of digital infrastructures

Alida Draudt , Futurist & Service Designer of Capital One on the future of money

, Futurist & Service Designer of Capital One on the future of money Daniel Schreiber , CEO of Lemonade on exponential insurance and AI

, CEO of Lemonade on exponential insurance and AI Mike Sigal , CEO of 500 StartUps on the processes for external innovation

, CEO of 500 StartUps on the processes for external innovation Eric Piscini Principal of Financial Services Technology & Global FSI Blockchain Leader of Deloitte on Blockchain in insurance

Brinkley Warren , Co-founder & CMO of Quantiacs on crowdsourcing and hedge funds

, Co-founder & CMO of Quantiacs on crowdsourcing and hedge funds Dr. Peter Diamandis , Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of SU and Founder of XPRIZE on driving global abundance

, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of SU and Founder of XPRIZE on driving global abundance Dr. Ray Kurzweil , Co-Founder & Chancellor of SU and Director of Engineering at Google

, Co-Founder & Chancellor of SU and Director of Engineering at Google Bob Pisani , CNBC "On Air Stocks" and Trader Talk on exponential financial services

Exponential Finance is one of three Exponential Summits each year, the other two are Exponential Manufacturing and Exponential Medicine. SU also hosts an annual Global Summit and a growing number of International Summits. The Summits foster technology innovation and the real-world applications that drive global good. To date, Summits have attracted attendees from 85 countries who network with each other and domain experts in exponential technologies and thinking. During these unique events, attendees gain actionable knowledge and skills along with a network of industry contacts to help them navigate how these disruptive technologies can be incorporated into and benefit their organizations.

Exponential Finance is produced with generous support from Deloitte, Platinum Partner of Singularity University Summits, as well as from CNBC, the Exponential Finance Media Partner and the following Partners of Exponential Finance: RealLeaders, b37.vc, Barron's, sifma, YPO WPO, crowdfunder, and Financial Advisor. Registration, full speaker lineup, and working agenda are available at https://su.org/summits/exponential-finance/

Press inquiries? Ask questions or register here: https://su.org/summits/exponential-finance/

ABOUT SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY (SU)

Singularity University is a global learning and innovation community using exponential technologies to tackle the world's biggest challenges and build an abundant future for all. SU's collaborative platform empowers individuals and organizations across the globe to learn, connect, and innovate breakthrough solutions using accelerating technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital biology. SU was founded in 2008 by renowned innovators Ray Kurzweil and Peter H. Diamandis and is partnered with leading organizations including Google, Deloitte, Genentech, and UNICEF. To learn more, visit SU.org, join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @SingularityU and download our SingularityU Hub mobile app from the App Store.

PRESS CONTACT:

Anna Roubos, [email protected]

774-232-2460

SOURCE Singularity University
TAMPA, Fla., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SiteZeus, the leading SaaS location intelligence platform, has joined forces with a powerful data provider that specializes in leveraging average unit volume data for restaurant developers. This marks the third official data partner in SiteZeus' Olympus Data Exchange. Black Box Intelligence, a TDn2K company, adds an unprecedented dimension of actionable metrics that will help users make the most informed data-based decisions.

The information Black Box Intelligence provides helps brands decide in which markets to prioritize development by benchmarking them relative to peers in any region. This data covers three categories, aggregate industry, table-serve and counter-serve.

"We couldn't be more enthusiastic about this partnership with Black Box Intelligence. It's really a perfect fit for our platform, offering incredibly useful and precise metrics to our food-service clients. Their Market Index is exactly what we look for in data partnerships; vast yet precise, it pushes our insight abilities to the next level." Keenan Baldwin, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of SiteZeus said.

"TDn2K is thrilled to be partnering with SiteZeus and their best-in-class platform. Their location technology system is the ideal application to integrate our Black Box Intelligence Market Index, powered by sales and traffic data from more than 27,000 restaurant units and representing over $67 billion in annual sales revenue" said Bob Rycroft, Managing Director at TDn2K.

The Olympus Data Exchange is one of a kind, a data agnostic pipeline that integrates the world's top data providers for custom, user-driven analysis. Black Box Intelligence is the latest addition to the list, which already this year made releases for INRIX and UberMedia.

Restaurant brands can capitalize on this partnership by utilizing the SiteZeus Synergy platform now enriched with Black Box Intelligence to determine what markets show the most promise for their business.

For more information, visit https://sitezeus.com/data-bundles/black-box-intelligence/.

Attend a demonstration webinar on May 18th, 2017 at 2 pm EDT for a walk through of the platform. Register here: https://sitezeus.com/black-box-intelligence-webinar/#register-webinar.

About SiteZeus

SiteZeus is the leading SaaS cloud-based location intelligence technology platform available, building higher intelligence around location based decisions by pioneering the use of firsthand machine learning and artificial intelligence. Combining your expertise, the power of big data, and a data agnostic database architecture, with a truly unique and interactive user experience, SiteZeus allows individuals and organizations to mitigate risk, discover efficiencies, and interpret actionable insight from technology that analyzes more data points than humanly possible. For more information, visit https://sitezeus.com.

About TDn2K

TDn2K (Transforming Data into Knowledge) is the parent company of People Report, Black Box Intelligence and White Box Social Intelligence. People Report provides service-sector human capital and workforce analytics for its members on a monthly basis. Black Box Intelligence provides weekly financial and market level data for the restaurant industry. White Box Social Intelligence delivers consumer insights and reveals online brand health. TDn2K membership represents 38,000 restaurant units, 2.3 million employees, and $67 billion in sales. They are also the producers of leading restaurant industry events including the Global Best Practices Conference held annually each January in Dallas, Texas.

SOURCE SiteZeus

Related Links

http://www.sitezeus.com


AUSTIN, TX, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc (OTC: SMKG) & SmallCapVoice.com announced today that they have developed a Fintech Accelerator format to showcase ISV Partners, Schedule101.com, Sirved.com, TouckPeak Software & Veritaspay.com. All of the interviews and information will be housed here http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/smallcapvoice-com-interviews-with-smkg-partner-companies/.

Gary Repchuk of VeritasPay called in from the RBTE event in London, UK that they are attending with SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc. (OTC: SMKG). They are there to kick-off for the Genorocity.com platform which will be showcased at the RBTE event. VeritasPay is a Philippine based development company which specializes in Payment Card Industry Certified Mobile Payment/Point of Sale software solutions designed for use with smartphones, tablets, web terminals and PCI DSS Level 1 compliant banks & processing companies. VeritasPay offers the highest number of mPOS solutions in the industry, and can deliver a selection of industry specific and custom payments solutions and services. http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/5-8-17-smallcapvoice-interview-with-veritaspay/

Michael Balzer, president and CEO of Touchpeak Software, Inc., called in to SmallCapVoice.com, Inc. to discuss his company's solutions and software in the alternative payment markets. Touchpeak is working with SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc. and together they are aiming at joining the ranks of the major Fortune 1000 companies to grow the Fintech market segment globally. http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/5-4-17-smallcapvoice-interview-with-touchpeak-software-inc/

Schedule101.com CEO, Martin Kossman, called in to discuss how his Company's user-friendly, functional restaurant workforce management system is an invaluable management tool for any restaurant. Designed by a group of seasoned hospitality professionals with a combined 56 years of experience, the system leverages this knowledge and insight to help make a business more efficient, profitable and enjoyable to work at. http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/5-3-17-smallcapvoice-interview-with-schedule101-com/.

Jonathan Leslie, Co-founder & President of Sirved Mobile Solutions Inc. described the app his Company has created in great detail. Already deployed in Canada the Company has an aggressive roll out plan that will reach all of North America very soon. Sirved is the menu-based search engine that lets you see every menu from every restaurant, filtered by dish or craving. Visit http://www.sirved.com/ download the app and take control of your next food adventure - from undiscovered dives to legendary local hangouts. http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/5-3-17-smallcapvoice-interview-with-sirved-mobile-solutions-inc/.

CEO Massimo Barone stated "We are getting significant traction & visibility with this new format. It is allowing us to create a powerful technology offerings for our ISV partners. These interviews highlight these amazing partners, their new technologies and the showcasetot the markets how they will be disrupters. We want all of our investors to know more about what we are doing and who we are working with. These interviews provide the perfect platform to introduce these hot young companies."

About SmallCapVoice.com

SmallCapVoice.com is a recognized corporate investor relations firm, with clients nationwide, known for its ability to help emerging growth companies build a following among retail and institutional investors. SmallCapVoice.com utilizes its stock newsletter to feature its daily stock picks, audio interviews, as well as its clients' financial news releases. SmallCapVoice.com also offers individual investors all the tools they need to make informed decisions about the stocks they are interested in. Tools like stock charts, stock alerts, and Company Information Sheets can assist with investing in stocks that are traded on the OTC BB and Pink Sheets. To learn more about SmallCapVoice.com and their services, please visit http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/the-small-cap-daily-small-cap-newsletter/.

About SmartCard Marketing Systems, Inc.

SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc. (SMKG:OTC) is a Fintech advisory Co & solutions provider to the payments industry, delivering cloud-based EMV Host Acquiring & Issuing solutions to banks, telecoms and enterprise customers. In addition, the company's in-house lab offers customers proprietary software solutions including Genorocity.com, a coupon and incentive platform for the Retail & Events industry, Check21SAAS.com a Remote Deposit Check solution for X9 clearing and VelocityMWallet.com, a transaction payment ecosystem for alternative payment solutions & processing. For more information, go to www.smartcardmarketingsystems.com.

Forward-Looking Statements & Disclaimers:

The information in this Press Release includes certain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of Federal Securities Laws, as that term is defined in section 27a of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21e of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this document, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Investors are cautioned that such statements are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including the future financial performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances after the date of this release except as required by law.

Sign up for investor updates on our website and on the investor relations page.

SOURCE SmallCapVoice.com, Inc.
MADISON, N.J. and VIENNA, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC today announced it has signed a 25-year franchise agreement with Laguna F&Z Immobilien GmbH. to further expand the Sotheby's International Realty brand in Europe with the opening of Austria Sotheby's International Realty.

Austria Sotheby's International Realty, led by owner Wilhelm Zirngast and Chief Executive Officer Georges Luks, will serve the luxury residential real estate market throughout the country from the flagship office located in Vienna. The firm has future plans for additional offices in the cities of Graz and Kitzbuhel.

"Austria is an attractive market for luxury homebuyers in Central Europe," said Philip White, president and chief executive officer of Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC. "For those who appreciate architecture, the capital city of Vienna is graced with an inspiring baroque style, while the landscape throughout the rest of the country varies from elegant city living, to country estates and vineyards, to mountain ski chalets, offering something for everyone. I am proud to welcome Austria Sotheby's International Realty to our global network."

"We have an exceptional team of sales professionals who are dedicated to delivering the best service to our clients," said Luks. "Our approach is built on respect, proven marketing methods and a client-based approach. We are delighted to affiliate with the Sotheby's International Realty brand in Austria and we endeavor to surpass even the most exacting demands by providing added value and service in a friendly, transparent, informative, proactive and accommodating manner."

The Sotheby's International Realty network currently has more than 20,000 affiliated independent sales associates located in approximately 880 offices in 69 countries and territories worldwide. In 2016, the brand achieved a record global sales volume of $95 billion USD. Austria Sotheby's International Realty listings will be marketed on the sothebysrealty.com global website. In addition to the referral opportunities and widened exposure generated from this source, the firm's brokers and clients will benefit from an association with the Sotheby's auction house and worldwide Sotheby's International Realty marketing programs. Each office is independently owned and operated.

About Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC

Founded in 1976 to provide independent brokerages with a powerful marketing and referral program for luxury listings, the Sotheby's International Realty network was designed to connect the finest independent real estate companies to the most prestigious clientele in the world. Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services. In February 2004, Realogy entered into a long-term strategic alliance with Sotheby's, the operator of the auction house. The agreement provided for the licensing of the Sotheby's International Realty name and the development of a full franchise system. Affiliations in the system are granted only to brokerages and individuals meeting strict qualifications. Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC supports its affiliates with a host of operational, marketing, recruiting, educational and business development resources. Franchise affiliates also benefit from an association with the venerable Sotheby's auction house, established in 1744. For more information, visit www.sothebysrealty.com.

CONTACT

David Russell

Director, International Marketing and Public Relations

Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC

175 Park Avenue

Madison, NJ 07940

+44 208 123 1959

[email protected]

sothebysrealty.com

George Luks

Chief Executive Office

Austria Sotheby's International Realty

Parkring 4 Bel Etage 1010

Vienna, Austria

+43 13431000

[email protected]

SOURCE Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC

Related Links

http://sothebysrealty.com


JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Special Counsel, the nation's leading full-service provider of legal staffing and eDiscovery solutions, has been recognized as a Top Legal and Litigation Support Staffing Agency in Corporate Counsel's Best Of 2017 Awards. Additionally, Parker + Lynch Legal, Special Counsel's attorney search division, also received recognition in The National Law Journal's Best Of 2017 Awards, as a Top Legal Staffing Provider for Attorneys. Both were named in the top three ranking for their respective award programs.

Corporate Counsel and The National Law Journal are part of American Law Media (ALM), with the annual Best Of Awards presented to the top providers of staffing solutions in the legal marketplace, as chosen by readers surveyed. Readers for both publications consist of legal industry professionals and members of the in-house legal community. Special Counsel and Parker + Lynch Legal were recognized under the Recruiting and Staffing category, for both.

"Earning two ALM reader's choice Best Of Awards is a testament to the niche expertise of our teams and their dedication to providing top-notch legal talent and solutions to our clients," said Laurie Chamberlin, president of Special Counsel. "With our recent acquisition of D4, a leading provider of managed data and discovery services, Special Counsel is best positioned to seamlessly meet the labor force needs of dynamic legal teams, today and in the future of work."

For more information on Special Counsel and Parker + Lynch Legal, as well as access to workforce resources, including blog posts, white papers, infographics and more, visit www.specialcounsel.com or www.parkerlynch.com, and follow Special Counsel on Facebook and Twitter.

Corporate Counsel's Best of 2017 was featured in its May 2017 issue. The National Law Journal's Best Of 2017 was featured in its April 2017 issue.

About Special Counsel

Established in 1987, Special Counsel is the nation's largest full-service provider of legal staffing and eDiscovery solutions. Our reputation, size and scale combined with local market knowledge give us the distinct advantage in recruiting and retaining skilled legal talent available on a short- or long-term basis. Together with D4, our expertise extends to offering a comprehensive suite of eDiscovery and managed solutions. For more information, visit www.specialcounsel.com.

About Parker + Lynch Legal

Parker + Lynch Legal is the national leader in attorney search and placement and an extension of Special Counsel, the largest full-service provider of legal staffing and eDiscovery solutions in the US. For 30 years, law firms and corporate legal teams have relied on our legal search experts to deliver quality legal talent, from senior-level attorneys to legal technology specialists. Our knowledge of the industry is unparalleled; we know the positions, skill sets and expected compensation packages in your market better than anyone else. For more information on Parker + Lynch Legal, visit www.parkerlynch.com.

SOURCE Special Counsel

Related Links

http://www.specialcounsel.com


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Startup Institute, the leading career accelerator for the innovation economy in New York City and Boston, today announced the launch of its first part-time program. The 12-week part-time program is in response to demand from students who want to combine study with full-time employment, while receiving the same intensive training in the most in-demand skills in the startup industry, and demand from companies who are eager to accelerate the skills of their employees and introduce the startup mindset to their teams.

The part-time program will cover four tracks which correlate with the most in-demand positions in the innovation economy including: UX & Web Design, Digital Marketing, Sales & Account Management and Web Development, alongside training in the core skills needed to succeed in high-growth environments or be an effective "intrapreneur." The part-time program also allows corporations and startups to enroll current employees in the program to upskill their workforce and stay ahead of the disruption curve.

Startup Institute's programs help people build the technical skills, culture skills, and network that will launch them into the growing tech community and have a successful career in the digital space. Uniquely positioned at the center of tech ecosystems in Boston and New York, it offers personalized career mentorship and connections to the people and companies that will advance careers and help address the skills shortage often faced by high-growth companies.

"This is the first time that we have made our comprehensive startup programs available on a part-time basis, which allows our students to continue working while they immerse themselves in the program and gain the skills required to succeed in the innovation economy," said Rich DiTieri, Program Director at Startup Institute. "We're helping to close the massive talent gap in tech, in part by increasing accessibility. We have already helped to accelerate the careers of over 1,400 alumni and this part-time program makes the Startup Institute more accessible to those thinking of making a career change or looking to upskill, without the lengthy time commitment or extreme cost of an MBA."

The Startup Institute's part-time programs include:

Web Design  UX and UI design, user research, rapid ideation, and front-end development.

Web Development  Key languages, frameworks and deployment techniques.

Digital Marketing  Performance and content marketing, data analytics and customer segmentation.

Sales and Account Management  Pipeline development, customer relationship management and lead generation.

The Startup Institute's part-time program begins on May 20 and is open for enrolment now at startupinstitute.com.

ABOUT STARTUP INSTITUTE:

Startup Institute was created to bridge two worlds: the world of fast-growing companies that are desperate for talent and the world of people who are desperate to find careers they love. With locations in both New York and Boston, Startup Institute is not just another school. It's not an incubator, and it's not a one-off skills class. It is an incredibly ambitious learning experience that challenges it students to expand, both in character and skill set, in a relatively short amount of time. The program is about finding a career path that people can be truly passionate about. The Startup Institute community, comprised of students, alumni, instructors, hiring partners, and staff, is proven to be one of the most valuable career assets and plugs students into a powerful professional network in the innovation sector. Startup Institute's strategic partners include ShopperTrak, Openview, Krossover, Media Math, One Month, Fuze, Redstar, Mass Challenge, and John Hancock.

Media Contact: North 6th Agency, Inc. (For Startup Institute)

212.334.9753 ext. 111, [email protected]

SOURCE Startup Institute

Related Links

http://startupinstitute.com


BOSTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "The State of Nursing in Massachusetts," an annual survey of the Commonwealth's registered nurses released for National Nurses Week, sounds a blaring alarm that the quality and safety of patient care is being significantly compromised due to the corporatization of health care, chronic understaffing of nurses and the practice of assigning too many patients for nurses to care for at one time.

Watch video series 'What Nurses Really Do' at www.massnurses.org/WhatNursesDo

According to the survey, released by the Massachusetts Nurses Association at the State House on May 11, having too many patients at one time to care for is the most significant challenge to RNs providing high-quality patient care, with 77 percent of nurses identifying unsafe patient assignments as a problem.

The survey also shows that patients are sicker than ever before, requiring highly specialized nursing care. To help educate the public about the role of RNs in today's complex health care environment, the MNA also premiered at the State House a video series called "What Nurses Really Do" alongside the survey. The first video and a call to action for more nurse videos can be seen at www.massnurses.org/WhatNursesDo.

"When it comes to the delivery of patient care and the safety of patients, registered nurses are at the front lines of the health care system," said MNA President Donna Kelly-Williams, RN. "What happens to nurses and the nursing profession is directly connected to the ultimate health and well-being of every patient we encounter. In hospitals, nurses deliver 90 percent of the clinical care patients receive, and are the only caregivers legally and ethically accountable for the safety of patients every minute they are in the hospital."

Nurses providing direct care report their patients have increased medical complications and are admitted to the hospital with more serious illness and injury today. Wide majorities of nurses  nearly eight-in-ten  say their patients are sicker now than patients ten years ago. More than half (53%) say their patients are much sicker  a figure that jumps to 63% among nurses working at community hospitals.

Quality of Patient Care

Twice as many nurses say the staffing situation in their facility has gotten worse over the past four years (39%) as say it has gotten better (21%). Staffing issues are particularly problematic at community hospitals (8% gotten better, 41% gotten worse). Just one-in-ten nurses (10%) feels administrators at their hospital are very responsive to input from RNs about patient assignment levels. Three-in-ten (28%) say management rarely or never adjusts nurse staffing levels when RNs face unsafe patient loads.

In each of these categories, RNs reported an increase in patient safety concern over 2015 survey results:

Alarmingly, 29 percent of RNs report patient deaths directly attributable to having too many patients to care for at one time.

63% report injury and harm to patients do to understaffing.

62% report longer hospital stays for patients.

71% report readmission of patients.

73% report medication errors due to unsafe patient assignments.

87% report RNs don't have the time to properly comfort and care for patients and families due to unsafe patient assignments.

83% report RNs don't have the time to educate patients and provide adequate discharge planning.

"Our nurses are telling us that things are not working," said Rep. Denise Garlick, D-Needham. "We need to listen to them. Three years ago, I worked with my colleagues in the House and Senate to pass safe patient limits in our Intensive Care Units, knowing that it was the first step towards limits in all hospital units. Today's survey confirms that we must take that next step. Our nurses are telling us we need safe limits in all units to protect patients."

Hospital Business Practices and Insurance Policies

By wide margins, nurses are more likely to say hospital mergers and acquisitions (21-point margin) and emerging business relationships between hospitals and pharmaceutical companies and/or medical device manufacturers (19-point margin) worsen the quality of patient care. Nurses are even more critical of the impact of insurance reimbursement changes, saying new insurance policies do more to worsen care by a 33-point margin.

What Nurses Really Do

For 15 straight years, nurses have topped Gallup's annual survey of the most honest and trustworthy professions. But many people don't really know what nurses do on a daily basis. "The State of Nursing in Massachusetts" shows that 43 percent of RNs do not believe patients understand their role.

The reality is that nursing today is a complex and demanding profession. Patients are sicker than ever and are admitted to hospitals with serious medical complications. The MNA's video series, "What Nurses Really Do" features Massachusetts nurses speaking directly to the public, telling them about the specialized patient care they provide every day.

The first installment in the series, debuting May 11 at the State House, features RNs from Cape Cod Hospital, Norwood Hospital and Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital. Nurses are encouraged to share their own experiences as nurses and tell the public what they really do at www.massnurses.org/WhatNursesDo.

"The State of Nursing in Massachusetts" was commissioned by the MNA and conducted between April 5 and April 25, 2017 by Anderson Robbins Research, an independent research firm headquartered in Boston. The 2017 survey respondents were all registered nurses working in Massachusetts health care facilities randomly selected from a complete file of the 100,000 nurses registered with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing.

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


GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Steben & Company, Inc., a leading alternative asset manager, announced today that the Steben Managed Futures Strategy Fund (the "Fund") has achieved an Overall and Three-Year period 4-Star Morningstar Rating for its Class I Shares (SKLIX) among 95 funds in the Managed Futures category based on risk-adjusted returns as of April 30, 2017.

The Fund is a multi-advisor mutual fund that seeks positive long-term absolute returns in rising and falling markets as it maintains a low correlation to traditional equity and bond investments. The Fund is comprised of an actively managed allocation to select managed futures trading advisors within a cost efficient structure that does not charge any performance fees.

"We are delighted to celebrate the Fund's three-year track record with a 4-Star Morningstar Rating," said Ken Steben, Founder and President of Steben & Company. "We believe a strong Morningstar Rating further distinguishes our investment approach from our peer category and highlights the Fund's potential to provide diversification while seeking to enhance overall portfolio risk-adjusted returns for investors."

The Fund is currently allocated to what Steben believes to be three premier and complementary managed futures trading advisors including Millburn Ridgefield's Core Markets Trend program, Revolution Capital's Alpha Non-Trend program and PGR Capital's PGR Trend program.

"In our view, optimistic valuations and rising rates could generate greater market volatility in 2017. The Fund's investment strategy is designed to help financial advisors and their clients access an independent source of returns that has historically had a very low correlation to traditional asset classes. Entering the ninth year of an extended bull market, many portfolios are likely overweight equities. At this stage of the cycle, we believe diversification is essential for investors seeking to limit volatility while potentially preserving capital during market stress periods," said John Dolfin, Chief Investment Officer of Steben & Company.

For more information, please visit www.steben.com or contact us at 240.631.7600.

About Steben & Company

Steben & Company is a leading alternative asset manager that specializes in multi-manager products including fund of hedge funds and managed futures strategies. Steben's investment philosophy is defined by high conviction, actively managed exposures with a focus on more liquid, lower beta strategies. Steben's funds are designed to provide investors with the potential benefits of diversification and the opportunity for absolute returns regardless of market direction.

Steben is an alternative investments innovator with more than 25 years of continuous operating experience.

For more information, please contact:

Peter Weinberg, Head of Investor Relations & Marketing

Steben & Company, Inc.

[email protected]

240.631.7620

www.steben.com

DEFINITIONS

Beta: Measures a fund's sensitivity to market movements by comparing a fund's excess return (over a benchmark) to the market's excess return. By definition, the beta of the market is 1.00. For example, a beta that is lower than 1.00 would normally indicate that a fund's excess return is expected to be above the market's excess return in a down year and below in an up year. However, beta is a measure of historical volatility and cannot predict a fund's actual performance.

MORNINGSTAR RATING

2017 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. The Morningstar Rating for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 3659 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60119 months of total returns, and 50% ten-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the ten-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the ten-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

RISK CONSIDERATIONS

Risks include the possible loss of principal. The Steben Managed Futures Strategy Fund is a non-diversified mutual fund that invests up to 25% of its assets in a Cayman Islands subsidiary. Changes in tax laws would likely decrease investment returns. An investment in the Fund is speculative. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. Any investment should be viewed as part of an overall investment program and should only be made by investors willing to undertake the risk involved. Diversification does not eliminate risk. Investing in commodity futures subjects the Fund to greater volatility. Foreign investments involve risks not typically associated with US investments including fluctuations in foreign currency values, adverse social and economic developments, less liquidity, greater volatility, less developed or inefficient trading markets, political instability and differing auditing and legal standards. For other risks including, but not limited to, derivative instruments, fixed income securities, leverage, below investment grade securities, controlled foreign corporation subsidiary and investments in investment pools, please see Important Disclosures & Risks for Steben Managed Futures Strategy Fund.

Before investing, you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other important information about the Fund is contained in the Fund's prospectus, which can be obtained by calling 855.775.5571 or visiting www.steben.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Foreside Fund Services, LLC, Distributor

SOURCE Steben & Company, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.steben.com


IRVINE, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Synoptek LLC, worldwide IT Managed Services Provider and Cloud Solutions firm, has been awarded the 2017 Confirmit ACE (Achievement in Customer Excellence) Award in three categories: Voice of the Customer, Innovation in Customer or Employee Engagement, and Contact Center. This prestigious honor demonstrates Synoptek's long-term and dedicated commitment in truly listening to their customers, developing improvement processes based on customer relationships and partnerships, and continuing to use innovative approaches toward communication and change.

The Confirmit ACE Awards program has been honoring companies since 2005 for outstanding performance and insightful contributions toward the achievement of universal customer excellence. Receiving the Confirmit ACE Award demonstrates Synoptek's ability to stand out when it comes to the Voice of the Customer program goals and the overall commitment to continually enhancing customer experiences and driving positive business and cultural change. Synoptek earned the Confirmit ACE Award in three categories based on their efforts toward demonstrable customer-facing services and solutions and an innovative approach to how companies and clients need to interact for results in the decades to come.

"We are extremely proud to be a recipient of a 2017 Confirmit ACE Award, as this honor reflects our dedication to customer experience and a customer-first culture," said Tim Becker, COO for Synoptek. "Our internal Voice of the Customer Program has been a significant driver in our ability to deliver increased top-down value within our organization. This recognition from Confirmit will encourage continued efforts in customer experience and customer excellence."

Today's announcement of this honorary Confirmit ACE Award further demonstrates Synoptek's continued dedication to a customer-first approach and to the ongoing effort to turn customer challenges into innovation and improvement to pass down, as companies expand into new territories requiring heightened technology.

"Confirmit is pleased to honor Synoptek as a 2017 Confirmit ACE Award winner in three categories for proven innovation and excellence in the Voice of the Customer Program," said Ken streng, President and CEO of Confirmit. "The customer experience is a critical component of the business, and Synoptek continues to show their commitment to listening to their customers to better understand their needs, drive business change, and deliver an exceptional experience."

About the Confirmit ACE Awards

The Achievement in Customer Excellence (ACE) Awards program was established in 2005 to recognize company outstanding achievement in customer excellence. To receive a Confirmit ACE Award is a distinct honor that demonstrates the rigorous application of customer experience processes and outstanding performance as measured by those processes. Confirmit customers are eligible for the ACE Awards for their company, business units, or other segments of a business. To be eligible for a current-year Confirmit ACE Award, organizations must have conducted one or more Voice of the Customer surveys within the previous calendar year. For more information on the ACE awards criteria, visit www.confirmit.com/ace-awards.

About Synoptek

Synoptek offers IT consulting, managed services, cloud services, and on-premise IT management as well as 24/7 end user support for improving business results. With over 525 employees and more than 2,000 active customers in the United States and abroad, Synoptek provides comprehensive information technology management services and support. Synoptek leverages ITIL service management processes, customer-focused IT architecture, and operational excellence to deliver uninterrupted services demanded by today's market. Over the past four years, Synoptek has been consistently recognized for thought leadership and growth as confirmed by industry awards and recognition including a #4 Total-Service-Provider ranking by MSPmentor in the World's Top Managed Services Providers in 2016, CRN's Elite 150 Managed Services Providers for 2017, and recognition on the Talkin' Cloud Top 100 Cloud Service Providers list for the last three years. For more information, visit www.synoptek.com.

About Confirmit

Confirmit is the world's leading SaaS vendor for multi-channel Voice of the Customer, Voice of the Employee, and Market Research solutions. The company has offices in Oslo (headquarters), Chengdu, Grimstad, London, Moscow, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Vancouver, and Yaroslavl. Confirmit's software is also distributed through partner resellers in Madrid, Milan, Salvador, and Tokyo.

Confirmit powers Global 5000 companies and Market Research agencies worldwide with a wide range of software products for feedback / data collection, panel management, data processing, analysis, and reporting. Customers include Aurora, British Airways, British Standards Institution, Copart, Cross-Tab, Dow Chemical, GfK, GlaxoSmithKline, GMO Research, KeepFactor, Morehead Associates, Nielsen, Research Now, RS Components, QRS, Sony Mobile Communications, and Swisscom. For more information, visit www.confirmit.com.

SOURCE Synoptek

Related Links

https://synoptek.com


According to the new research report "Text-to- Speech Market by vertical (Healthcare, Enterprise, Consumer Electronics, Automotive & Transportation, Finance, Education, Retail & Other) and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022" , published by MarketsandMarkets, the global text-to-speech market was valued at USD 1.30 Billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 3.03 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 15.21% between 2017 and 2022. Rising demand for handheld devices and increase in government spending for the education of differently abled persons are the major factors driving the demand for the text-to-speech technology.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 57 market data tables and 69 figures spread through 131 pages and in-depth TOC on "Text-to- Speech Market - Global Forecast to 2022"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/text-to-speech-market-2434298.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

Consumer electronics vertical to hold the largest share of the text-to-speech market

Text-to-speech is widely used in smartphones for navigation and personal assistant apps. Laptops and televisions also use this technology to help blind and partially sighted people access the menu with the help of audible instructions. The consumer electronics vertical is one of the major application areas of the text-to-speech technology. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Disability & Health report published in November 2016, over a billion people-about 15% of the world's population-have some form of disability. Smartphones can help this group of people to live more independently. With text-to-speech, these people can easily communicate, seek assistance from others, and stay connected to the society.

Download PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=2434298

Americas to hold the major share of the text-to-speech market during the forecast period

The Americas, which comprises the US, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil, among others, dominates the text-to-speech market in terms of geography. The US is expected to be the major contributor to the text-to-speech market in the Americas between 2017 and 2022. The increased adoption of machine learning in various end-user industries is driving the growth of the text-to-speech market in the Americas. The increased medical spending and government funding for education further contribute to the growth of this market in the region.

Inquiry Before Buying @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=2434298

The companies covered in the text-to-speech market are Nuance Communication (US), Microsoft Corporation (US), Sensory Inc. (US), LumenVox LLC (US), NeoSpeech (US), Amazon.Com (US), SESTEK (Turkey), iSpeech Inc. (US), TextSpeak (US), NextUp Technologies (US), Acapela Group (France), CereProc (Scotland), ReadSpeaker (Netherlands), Nexmo (US), and rSpeak (Netherlands).

Browse Related Reports

Speech & Voice Recognition Market by Technology (Speech Recognition, Voice Recognition), Application (AI Based, Non AI Based), Vertical (Automotive, Consumer, Finance, Retail, Military, Healthcare & Government) and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022



http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/speech-voice-recognition-market-202401714.html

Subscribe Reports from Semiconductor Domain @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's 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.

Contact:

Mr. Rohan

MarketsandMarkets

701 Pike Street

Suite 2175, Seattle,

WA 98101, United States

Tel: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]





Visit Our [email protected] http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/electronics-and-semiconductors

LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets

SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
PLEASANT HILL, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Textmunication Holdings, Inc. (OTC-PINK: TXHD), a cloud-based mobile SMS marketing platform provider, filed an 8-K on May 10, 2017 detailing an Exchange Agreement with CEO and Chairman, Wais Asefi. The agreement exchanges Mr. Asefi's 1,750,000,000 shares of common stock for 2,000,000 shares of newly created Series C Convertible Preferred Stock. Mr. Asefi now holds 250M shares of restricted common stock. The transaction was filed with the Nevada Secretary of State on May 9, 2017.

The agreement reduces Textmunication's outstanding common stock by 1.75B shares moving the shares into Series C Preferred Stock. Textmunication continues seeking shareholder value initiatives while executing on its core SMS blueprint. The company will continue updating the investment community on sales and operational plans as they become material events.

Text TXHD to shortcode 87365 to sign-up for news alerts and announcements via SMS.

About Textmunication Holdings, Inc.

Textmunication is an online mobile marketing platform service provider that helps health clubs, martial arts studios, salons and healthcare firms communicate with their members by allowing them to build loyalty, engage member retention, and create new business through a non-intrusive, value added medium. Textmunication connects members to the content they desire through any mobile device for health clubs and salon events, as well as promotions. Clients can send the most up-to-date offers, discounts, member alerts, events, PT schedules, or any other personalized campaign. www.textmunication.com

Safe Harbor Provision:

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements in this press release as they reflect Textmunication Holdings' current expectations with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks described in Textmunication Holdings' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and any document referred to in this press release.





Contact:

Wais Asefi,

Textmunication

(800) 677-7003

[email protected]

SOURCE Textmunication Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://textmunication.com


In a wide-ranging interview in the Oval Office, Mr Trump left no doubt that his economic agenda was firmly rooted in his America First economic nationalism. He called for a "massive" renegotiation of NAFTA. But he also showed hints of dealmaking pragmatism, and a willingness to see government deficits soar, as the near-term price of tax cuts. This deficit-fuelled stimulus, which Mr Trump called "priming the pump", "is OK, because it won't increase it for long," the president said. "What you have to do is you have to put something in before you get something out."

In its accompanying analysis The Economist gives Trumponomics a poor review. Describing it as "boardroom capitalism", the cover leader argues that Mr Trump's agenda is best seen as a set of proposals put together by businessmen courtiers for their king rather than a coherent economic doctrine. Its goals are internally inconsistent and it neglects the most important challenges facing America's economy, such as how to retrain hardworking people whose skills are becoming redundant. Even if it produces a short-lived burst of growth, Trumponomics offers no lasting remedy for America's economic ills. It may yet pave the way for something worse.

"Trumponomics: What it is and why it is dangerous" is the cover report of the May 13th edition of The Economist. The full transcript, leader and related stories are available online:

www.economist.com/news/leaders/21721904-impulsiveness-and-shallowness-americas-president-threaten-economy-well-rule

http://www.economist.com/Trumptranscript

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21721937-donald-trumps-economic-strategy-unimaginative-and-incoherent-cooking-up-economic-policy

About The Economist (www.economist.com)

With a growing global circulation and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current affairs publications. The paper covers politics, business, science and technology, and books and arts, concluding each week with the obituary. In addition to the web-only content such as blogs, debates and audio/video programmes available at economist.com, The Economist is available to download for reading on Android, Blackberry PlayBook, iPhone or iPad devices. The Economist Espresso, our daily briefing smartphone app, is also available for download via iTunes App Store or Google Play.

SOURCE The Economist

Related Links

http://www.economist.com


NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On May 12th, beginning at 9:30am at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, over 10,000 people will gather for the annual World Falun Dafa Day Parade. The parade will cross Manhattan via 42nd Street stretching from 2nd to 11th Avenue.

This year's parade celebrates the 25th anniversary of the public introduction of the meditation practice Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong.

Practitioners in over 100 countries celebrate May 13th each year to commemorate the day in 1992 when Falun Dafa was first introduced publicly in China. Millions of people have since benefitted physically, mentally, and spiritually, achieving a sense of peacefulness and serenity in the meditation practice, and from its guiding principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance.

The parade also draws attention to the ongoing brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

"The late Holocaust survivor and human rights activist, Elie Wiesel, once said, 'The opposite of life is not death, it's indifference,'" says Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson, Mr. Erping Zhang. "Nowhere is this more the case than with the persecution of Falun Dafa, which despite widespread evidence of horrific crimes against humanity, remains one of the most underreported human rights crisis happening today."

Details

What: Parade in Manhattan celebrating World Falun Dafa Day

Where: 42nd Street from 2nd to 11th Avenue

When: Friday, May 12th, 2017 beginning at 9:30am

Contacts: Levi Browde, 845-418-4870

Dana Cheng, 646-596-3828

Background

In July of 1999 China's autocratic Communist Party launched an unlawful campaign of arrests, violence, and propaganda against Chinese citizens practicing Falun Dafa (also called "Falun Gong") with the intent of "eradicating" the apolitical practice.[1] [2] [3] A report published by Freedom House in February 2017 says the human rights group found "credible evidence suggesting that beginning in the early 2000s, Falun Gong detainees were killed for their organs on a large scale," and their organs used to fuel a booming organ transplantation business in China. The United Nations, Amnesty International, Chinese human rights lawyers, and foreign media have also documented Falun Gong torture and deaths at the hands of Chinese officials.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Hundreds of thousands of Chinese who practice Falun Gong remain in captivity, rendering them the single largest group of prisoners of conscience in China.

Falun Dafa is an advanced practice of self-cultivation  a way to improve wellness and attain spiritual wisdom. The practice is from the Buddha School and is based on easy-to-learn exercises, meditation, and the universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. It is believed certain Communist Party leaders launched the suppression of Falun Gong fearing the practice's growing popularity (70 to 100 million) and influence as a spiritual movement outside the Party's control.[10] [11]

[1] European Parliament Hearing Testimony: The illegality of China's Falun Gong crackdownand today's rule of law repercussions. By Yiyang Xia, Senior Director of Policy and Research at the Human Rights Law Foundation.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/droi/dv/506_yiyangxia_/506_yiyangxia_en.pdf

[2] Jamestown Foundation: The 610 Office: Policing the Chinese Spirit. https://jamestown.org/program/the-610-office-policing-the-chinese-spirit/

[3] Gao Zhisheng's (one of the most famous human rights lawyers in China) Open Letter to China's National Peoples' Congress. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1416868-gao-zhisheng-open-letter-to-chinas-national-peoples-congress/2/

[4] U.S. State Department 2007 Human Rights Report: China. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100518.htm

[5] Amnesty International: Torture in China: Who, What, Why and How. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/11/torture-in-china-who-what-why-and-how/

[6] Amnesty International: "CHANGING THE SOUP BUT NOT THE MEDICINE?" ABOLISHING RE-EDUCATION THROUGH LABOUR IN CHINA.

https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/12000/asa170422013en.pdf

[7] Gao Zhisheng's Second Open Letter on Falun Gong.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415739-stop-persecuting-believers-of-freedom-and-mend-your-ties-with-the-chinese-people/

[8] New York Times: Behind Cry for Help From China Labor Camp.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/world/asia/man-details-risks-in-exposing-chinas-forced-labor.html

[9] New York Times: China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/world/asia/28china.html

[10] Washington Post: Cracks in China's Crackdown: Falun Gong Campaign Exposes Leadership Woes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-11/12/062r-111299-idx.html

[11] Forbes: China's Fight With Falun Gong. https://www.forbes.com/2006/02/09/falun-gong-china_cz_rm_0209falungong.html

SOURCE Falun Dafa Information Center
The publication provides an overview of undergraduate financial aid  its history, evolution, and controversies  and highlights key issues that are central to the future of higher education and the American economy. Scott-Clayton concludes that financial aid could generate even greater benefits to individuals and society by focusing on college completion in addition to college access, and by recognizing the importance of value in addition to affordability.

In the years since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Higher Education Act of 1965 into law, college-going rates have increased for students at all income levels and the earnings premium for a college degree has reached new heights. Not all of the trends are positive, though: tuition has risen dramatically in real terms, debt levels are higher, and the amount of time it takes students to finish college is longer.

Taken together, these trends suggest that financial aid  which includes $122.7 billion in federal grants and loans  should aim not only to get more students into college, but also to help ensure they complete quality programs. As Scott-Clayton writes, "the stakes have never been higher to ensure the effectiveness of financial aid  not just for the sake of those who provide it but for the sake of students themselves, who make the biggest investment of all."

"America's commitment to financial aid is rooted in providing opportunities for individuals to better themselves and for the betterment of our society," said Academy President Jonathan F. Fanton. "Our students and our country need appropriately high standards for not only starting college but for finishing it and for the quality the educational experience. This new analysis points us toward a fair and effective approach to financial aid."

The Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, with generous support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, is analyzing undergraduate education as part of looking ahead to the educational challenges and opportunities facing Americans. In a final report to be released in fall 2017, the Commission will recommend a strategy to improve and strengthen undergraduate education to advance the development of individuals, a broadly engaged citizenry, national prosperity, and international stature.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences received $2.2 million from Carnegie Corporation of New York to support the Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education. Spencer Foundation President Michael S. McPherson and TIAA President and CEO Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. co-chair the Commission, which includes national leaders in education, business, and government. A complete list of Commission members is available on the Academy's website.

Download Undergraduate Financial Aid in the United States

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (www.amacad.org) is one of the country's oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, convening leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to respond to the challenges facing the nation and the world. Current Academy research focuses on higher education, the humanities, and the arts; science and technology policy; global security and international affairs; and American institutions and the public good. The Academy's work is advanced by its more than 5,000 elected members, who are leaders, from around the nation and the world, in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.

Twitter: @americanacad

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanacad

SOURCE American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Related Links

http://www.amacad.org


LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aluminum has been recognized as a neurotoxic ingredient by leading researchers and scientists across the globe. So why do babies in the U.S. receive up to 4,925 micrograms (mcg) of aluminum within the first 18 months, and an additional 170 to 625 mcg by the age of 6 through routine vaccinations? Aluminum has been used as a vaccine adjuvant (a substance that enhances the body's immune response) since the 1920's but has only been tested one time, on two rabbits. Their remains have since disappeared.

Injecting Aluminum, a new documentary by French journalist Marie-Ange Poyet, investigates the history of aluminum in vaccines and its potentially devastating effects on the human body. Injecting Aluminum was released this week on DVD and on Streaming platforms by Cinema Libre Studio.

SYNOPSIS: In the early 90s, a mysterious muscular disease with symptoms that included severe muscle and joint pain began to surface among patients in France. Doctors in Paris discovered that these patients had developed a new disease called Macrophagic Myofascitis, or MMF, which occurs when the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant from a vaccine remains embedded in the muscle tissue.

What the pharmaceutical companies don't reveal is that the aluminum adjuvant was never rigorously tested before going on the market and there are alternative, much less toxic, adjuvants available.

Featuring interviews with patients, doctors, scientists, and influential politicians, Injecting Aluminum examines aluminum's devastating effects on the human body and calls into question the public health policies around aluminum in vaccines.

Directed by Marie-Ange Poyet, Injecting Aluminum features groundbreaking interviews with leading aluminum specialists such as "Mr. Aluminum", Dr. Christopher Exley, PhD in the Ecotoxicology of Aluminum, Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld, founder of the leading Centre for Autoimmune Diseases at the Sheba Medical Center, Dr. Romain Gherardi, the Director of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, and Dr. Jerome Authier, neurologist and head of the Center of Reference of neuromuscular diseases of the Henri Mondor Hospital in Creteil, France.

Injecting Aluminum has a running time of 90 minutes, and is not rated.

Trailer: goo.gl/VZhVPv

Website: injectingaluminum.com

FB: InjectingAluminum

DIGITAL ASSETS : goo.gl/0xlr0l

For media inquiries:

Jamie Coker-Robertson

310-804-1408

[email protected]

SOURCE Cinema Libre Studio

Related Links

http://cinemalibrestudio.com


OMAHA, Neb., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rob Knight, chief financial officer of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP), will address the following investor conferences in May:

Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Transportation Conference  Boston, Mass.

May 18, 2017 , at 9:20 a.m. ET

, at

View presentation and listen to live Internet webcast at www.up.com/investor



Alternatively, the audio portion can be accessed directly through the following webcast link

Wolfe Research Global Transportation Conference  New York City , N.Y.

May 24, 2017 , at 9:45 a.m. ET

, at

View presentation and listen to live Internet webcast at www.up.com/investor



Alternatively, the audio portion can be accessed directly through the following webcast link

Replays of the audio webcasts will be available shortly after the conclusion of the live events on Union Pacific's Investors website.

ABOUT UNION PACIFIC

Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP). One of America's most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2007-2016, Union Pacific invested approximately $34 billion in its network and operations to support America's transportation infrastructure. The railroad's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Coal, Industrial Products and Intermodal. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner.

www.up.com

www.facebook.com/unionpacific

www.twitter.com/unionpacific

SOURCE Union Pacific

Related Links

http://www.up.com


HOUSTON, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ValencePM property management software announces new rent payment processing platform and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) / United States Department of Housing and Development (HUD) compliant tenant screening integrations. These new software integrations will give ValencePM customers more rent payment benefits and tenant screening compliance when operating their apartment communities.

Valence property management software is for apartment and multifamily housing communities. It's easy-to-use, simple-to-learn, and feature-rich.

ValencePM was founded on a simple principle: work with property owners and operators to develop practical property management software solutions at an affordable price. In 2008, the beta version of the ValencePM software was written and launched to a small group of property owners and operators. While in beta, the Valence software team used the owner and operator feedback to guide the evolution of ValencePM. Today, ValencePM software is a mature property management system covering everything from lease management, to maintenance tracking, to back-office accounting, to online rent payments.

The new rent payment processing integration, powered by PayYourRent.com, gives ValencePM property management and residential customers many added benefits and features. For instance, property management customers will enjoy same-day payment processing and next-day funding. In addition, the residents of these property management companies can build their credit history with TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax with each rent payment.

"The integration between ValencePM and PayYourRent.com is a beneficial partnership for everyone," said Kevin Eberly, the General Manager at PayYourRent.com. "ValencePM is the iPhone of property management software in terms of ease-of-use, user interface design, and functionality; and PayYourRent is one of the industry's fastest rent payment processors, and one of the only rent payment companies that report to the credit bureaus. ValencePM and PayYourRent both have a philosophy of helping property management companies and their residents save time and continuously improve."

The new FCRA / HUD compliant tenant screening integration, powered by ScreeningOne, gives ValencePM property management customers assurance that they are running government-compliant credit, criminal, and eviction background screening of new applicants. Most tenant screening companies get their tenant background screening information from the same database sources; and a lot of times, this information is outdated and not accurate.

FCRA regulations give applicants the right to sue landlords and property management companies for non-compliant background screening practices. And recent guidelines by HUD makes it clear that non-compliance could subject the landlord to an action by HUD for alleged violations of The Fair Housing Act. Moreover, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can file lawsuits against property management companies for not complying with the FCRA screening guidelines. And recently, lawsuits have increased over non-compliant tenant screening.

"The integration between ValencePM and ScreeningOne was a huge priority for us," said Anthony Ragland, the Director of Marketing at ValencePM. "We're a customer-centric company. And we want our property management customers to have the best of the best software products, services, and solutions to operate their businesses efficiently and effectively without worry."

For all media inquiries, please contact: Anthony Ragland at [email protected]

About ValencePM

ValencePM, is a cloud-based property management software for apartment and multi-family housing communities. Since inception, ValencePM has believed in building an affordable apartment management software that is simple-tolearn, easyto-use, and feature-rich; and providing every customer with first-class and responsive customer support. ValencePM core software features include AP/GL back-office accounting, online/mobile rent payment processing, FCRA/HUD compliant tenant screening, guest card tracking, resident lease management, property maintenance management, full reporting suite, and document storage management. ValencePM is one of the most modern property management software applications in the industry, and customers consistently say it's simple-to-learn, easy-to-use, cost-effective, a time-saver, well-supported, and cutting-edge.

Related Images

image1.jpg

image2.jpg

Related Links

ValencePM Website

PayYourRent Website

Related Video

https://vimeo.com/177259793

SOURCE ValencePM
CINCINNATI, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE: VNTV), a leading provider of payments processing services and related technology solutions for merchants and financial institutions, announced today that its executives will attend and present at three upcoming conferences.

On Tuesday, May 23, Charles Drucker, president and chief executive officer, will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET at the J.P. Morgan 45th Annual Global Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, being held at the Westin Copley Place in Boston.

On Thursday, June 1, Matt Taylor, group president, Integrated Payments and Emerging Channels at Vantiv, will speak at 9:30 a.m. ET at the Cowen Future of Payments & Commerce Forum, being held at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York City.

On Tuesday, June 6, Charles Drucker, president and chief executive officer, will present at 9:05 a.m. ET at the Baird 2017 Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference being held at the InterContinental New York Barclay in New York City.

Each presentation will be webcast live and can be accessed by visiting the investor section of Vantiv's website at http://investors.vantiv.com. The webcasts will be archived and available for replay following each event.

For more information about Vantiv, please visit vantiv.com or on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.

ABOUT VANTIV

Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE: VNTV) is a leading payment processor differentiated by an integrated technology platform. Vantiv offers a comprehensive suite of traditional and innovative payment processing and technology solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all sizes, enabling them to address their payment processing needs through a single provider. We build strong relationships with our customers, helping them become more efficient, more secure and more successful. Vantiv is the largest merchant acquirer and the largest PIN debit acquirer based on number of transactions in the U.S. The company's growth strategy includes expanding further into high-growth channels and verticals, including integrated payments, eCommerce, and merchant bank. Visit us at the new www.vantiv.com, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.

 2017 Vantiv, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks, service marks and trade names referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Vantiv and other Vantiv products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Vantiv, LLC in the U.S. and other countries.

CONTACTS

Nathan Rozof, CFA

Investor Relations

866.254.4811

513.900.4811

[email protected]

Andrew Ciafardini

External Affairs & Corporate Communications

513.900.5308

[email protected]

SOURCE Vantiv, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.vantiv.com


Kate Foley explains, " Chloe Sevigny is Vestiaire Collective's vintage muse because she has always been such a huge champion of vintage and has a wonderful, unexpected way of wearing vintage that can only come from deep understanding and love of fashion from past decades. She is the ultimate vintage icon."

Starting May 10th, fashion-savvy VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE customers and vintage lovers everywhere will be one step closer to achieving the style icon's look with exclusive access to "SHOP CHLOE'S PICKS," a curated selection of her personal vintage favorites chosen from VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE'S impressive vintage archive, launching on its mega menu debuting on vestiairecollective.com.

"Vintage now, because it has always been vintage for me," says Sevigny of her partnership with VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE. "When I grew up, most of my clothes were second-hand. My mother would always bring me thrifting. It was all I knew, what I was comfortable with. At a very early age, I became addicted to the thrill of the hunt; scouring through the thrift stores trying to find the perfect Laura Ashley dress or Ralph Lauren blouse."

Ranging from $75 - $4,500 on vestiairecollective.com, Sevigny's specially curated vintage selection of hard-to-find items includes a white shirt dress and electric blue legging shoes by Maison Martin Margiela, coat by Prada, blouse and skirt by Yves Saint Laurent, bag by Hermes, shoes by Church's, accessories by Supreme, one-of-a-kind unsigned vintage pieces and more.

Kate Foley, Contributing Fashion Director of Vestiaire Collective said:

"Vintage is what sets Vestiaire Collective apart from other purveyors of luxury fashion. It's an incredible opportunity to shop from personal vintage collections and vintage dealers' archives all over the world. This is why the Vestiaire Collective community is special - you can find that coveted current season item and the museum-quality vintage piece that inspired it, side by side on the site."

Sebastien Fabre, founder and CEO of Vestiaire Collective said:

"Through the launch of vintage, our new and existing customers will be given access to the world's most-coveted vintage items. With this new category, we prove to continue our remarkable growth, which makes us highly confident in our ability to deliver on our ambition to become the leading global company in luxury and premium pre-owned fashion.

We are truly honored to have the opportunity to partner with Chloe Sevigny who genuinely shares our joy in rare and timeless investments."

Marie Blanchet, Head of Vintage of Vestiaire Collective said:

"Vintage is beyond fashion, the essence of second hand, iconic timeless rare luxury and designer pieces that are more than ever inspiring today's fashion. Launching Vintage as a category means that Vestiaire Collective is affirming that one of a kind pieces produced before 2000 are the gems of second-hand luxury.

Chloe Sevigny is the ultimate icon from the 90s still as relevant today like our vintage catalogue. She was a no brainer, my first choice beyond anyone else."

Link to download editorial images of Chloe Sevigny for Vestiaire Collective:

https://kruppgroup.box.com/s/9d4vcz6xpcfkd64lbu22qindccu7492p

Credit: Vanina Sorrenti

ABOUT VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE

Vestiairecollective.com is the leading global marketplace for premium and luxury pre-owned fashion. The platform is unique due to its carefully curated catalogue of 600,000 desirable items, that once sold are expertly checked for 100% quality and authenticity. Launched in Paris in October 2009, Vestiairecollective.com has over 6 million fashion savvy members across 50 countries worldwide with offices in Paris, London, New York, Milan and Berlin. 30,000 new items are submitted by our community of sellers every week, which enables buyers to hunt amongst over 3,200 coveted and must have fashion pieces a day, ensuring that Vestiaire Collective is the go to site for an exciting unique shopping experience.

For press inquiries please contact

Chattie Dionisio

[email protected]

SOURCE Vestiaire Collective

Related Links

http://www.vestiairecollective.com


BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vituro Health, a comprehensive prostate care provider that empowers men during all stages of life, provides partner physicians with the most advanced High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) training program of any HIFU provider.

The rigorous training program that all partner physicians are required to go through allows Vituro Health to provide superior outcomes for prostate cancer patients. The course offering not only sets physicians on a pathway to success for each patient case, it also sets them apart from others performing HIFU treatments. Vituro Health is able to ensure quality because of the robust training protocols that are regulated by our medical board, at the direction of Dr. Stephen Scionti, the leading HIFU physician in the U.S.

"The Vituro Health HIFU Training Program offers the most comprehensive training and support program in the United States to our affiliated urologists. The advanced MRI based diagnostic and treatment protocols employed by Vituro physicians ensure that our patients receive appropriate sophisticated, personalized HIFU treatment that preserves prostate tissue when possible, resulting in excellent preservation of urinary and sexual function," says Medical Director Dr. Stephen Scionti. "At Vituro Health, we believe that experience and comprehensive physician training are essential for great patient outcomes."

Since launching the first Elite Center for HIFU training one year ago, Vituro Health physicians have successfully treated hundreds of patients from around the world.

Scionti has worked extensively with HIFU and with over 1000 successful procedures is considered one of the world's most experienced HIFU surgeons. He has collaborated with leading medical treatment centers around the world to help perfect HIFU technology. All of Vituro Health's partner physicians receive extensive, hands-on training directly from Scionti.

One partner who has recently been through the training program is Dr. Mark Leo of Urology Specialists of Nevada. Leo will be presenting at the American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting May 13th, 2017, on how to successfully incorporate HIFU for prostate cancer into your practice.

Most recently, Vituro Health began treating patients in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through a partnership with Dr. Jack Barkin of Can-Am HIFU and Dr. Peter Sinaiko of Urology Care Alliance. With this addition, Vituro has seen over a 300 percent increase in treatment sites throughout the United States in the past year. Vituro Health offers monthly training programs for qualified physicians at its Sarasota Elite Center for HIFU training.

About Vituro Health

Vituro Health empowers men with comprehensive prostate care during all stages of their lives. We arm partner physicians with HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound) technology and other patient-centric, concierge services to elevate the standard of care and patient experiences. Vituro Health serves patients nationwide and is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., with partnering physicians in Birmingham, Sarasota, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pa., the Washington metropolitan area, Dallas, Tex., Las Vegas, Nev., and Phoenix, Ariz., who are carefully selected based on their depth of experience, expertise and dedication to achieving the highest levels of patient outcomes. For more information and to learn about our physicians, visit www.viturohealth.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: Emily Ferrell

[email protected]

205.862.0016

SOURCE Vituro Health

Related Links

http://www.viturohealth.com


NAMUR, Belgium, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- VolitionRx Limited (NYSE MKT: VNRX) ("Volition") today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 and provided a business update.

Cameron Reynolds, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volition, said, "I am delighted with the progress we are making on many fronts. As I have always said, our team is extremely important to us and we continue to grow stronger." Mr. Reynolds continued, "We have kept very close controls of costs despite the high level of research and development and marketing activity in a broad range of areas, and yet again we have completed many milestones on a relatively tight budget to ensure we use our shareholders' equity carefully. 2017 is off to a strong start and I am proud of the team's accomplishments in the first quarter. We look forward to achieving additional milestones in the second quarter as we ramp up into a commercial stage company in 2017."

First Quarter 2017 and Recent Company Highlights:

Clinical:

Successfully completed training and two large validation studies of the CE Marked Nu.Q Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Triage Test.

Presented initial data at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in October 2016 and the World Congress of GI Endoscopy (ENDO) in February 2017 .

and the World Congress of GI Endoscopy (ENDO) in .

Presented final data set at the Digestive Disorders Week (DDW) conference in Chicago earlier this week.

earlier this week. Demonstrated that with the total combined data set of just under 8,000 subjects, the Nu.Q CRC Triage Test identified a reduced need for colonoscopies by 24.5% (as compared to the current standard screening test, the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), alone) with a sensitivity for CRC detection of approximately 95% of the cancers.

Expanded into Asia with the first clinical evaluation of the Nu.Q CRC Triage Test underway in Taiwan .

Regulatory:

Initiated the regulatory acceptance process in both Taiwan and Singapore , with the latter, once approved, granting Volition access to nine other South Asian markets.

Operational:

Launched the new research and development facility in the Walloon Region of Belgium increasing Volition's capacity to both run large-scale clinical trials and extend Volition's efforts into other cancers, notably pancreatic, lung, and prostate

increasing Volition's capacity to both run large-scale clinical trials and extend Volition's efforts into other cancers, notably pancreatic, lung, and prostate Formed Volition America, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary, to have a dedicated team in the U.S. whose sole purpose will be FDA clinical trial development and the launching of a range of products in the U.S. over the coming years.

Volition America, Inc. will be led by Volition's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jason Terrell , and is based in Austin, Texas .

, and is based in . Named Dr. Jasmine Kway , Ph.D. as Vice President of Volition Asia.

, Ph.D. as Vice President of Volition Asia. Named David Vanston MBA FCCA as Chief Financial Officer.

Additionally, added several key hires to the R&D and marketing teams as Volition continues to develop and market new products.

First Quarter 2017 and Other Financial Results

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, Volition reported a net loss of $3.35 million, or $0.13 per share. This compares to a net loss of $2.49 million, or $0.13 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2017 totaled $18.5 million, compared to $21.7 million as of December 31, 2016 and $17.0 million as of March 31, 2016.

Volition's Chairman as well as several Board Directors and Officers have recently further extended their shareholdings by exercising warrants for aggregate cash proceeds to Volition of approximately $400,000 in cash, providing additional support to our cash position.

Upcoming Milestones:

Looking ahead to the rest of 2017, Volition is targeting several important clinical and commercial milestones, including, among others:

A step change in both discovery and R&D work, in CRC and other cancers, due to significantly increased capacity in Volition's new Walloon facility.

With regards to the Nu.Q CRC Triage Test,

Results of the Logistics and Pathway design study currently underway in Denmark , which will hopefully answer the questions required for a product launch in Denmark .

, which will hopefully answer the questions required for a product launch in .

Results of the evaluation currently underway in Taiwan .

.

Publication of validated product results in a well-regarded journal.

Additional key patents in several countries, including the U.S., as Volition expands intellectual portfolio to strengthen shareholder value.

Further non-dilutive grant funding connected to the Walloon Region in Belgium .

. Volition America to provide an update on a clear and affordable pathway to FDA approval of a colorectal product.

Conference Call

Volition will host a conference call today, May 11, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time to discuss its financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2017 and to provide an update on recent developments. To participate in the call, please dial 1-877-407-9716 (toll-free) in the U.S., 0-800-756-3429 (toll-free) in the U.K., and 1-201-493-6779 (toll) internationally. A live audio webcast of the conference call will also be available via link from the investor relations page of Volition's corporate website at http://ir.volitionrx.com/. The conference ID is 13661851.

The call will be hosted by Cameron Reynolds, President and Chief Executive Officer, along with David Vanston, Chief Financial Officer and Scott Powell, Executive Vice President.

About Volition

Volition is a multi-national life sciences company developing simple, easy to use blood-based cancer tests to accurately diagnose a range of cancers. The tests are based on the science of Nucleosomics, which is the practice of identifying and measuring nucleosomes in the bloodstream or other bodily fluid  an indication that disease is present.

As cancer screening programs become more and more widespread, our products aim to help to diagnose a range of cancers quickly, simply, accurately and cost effectively. Early diagnosis has the potential to not only prolong the life of patients, but also to improve their quality of life.

Volition's research and development activities are currently centered in Belgium, with additional offices in London, New York, Texas and Singapore, as the company focuses on bringing its diagnostic products to market first in Europe, then in the U.S. and ultimately, worldwide.

For more information about Volition, visit Volition's website (http://www.volitionrx.com) or connect with us via:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/volitionrx

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/volitionrx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VolitionRX/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VolitionRx

The contents found at Volition's website address, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube are not incorporated by reference into this document and should not be considered part of this document. The addresses for Volition's website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube are included in this document as inactive textual references only.

Media/Investor Contacts

Louise Day, Volition

[email protected]

+44 (0)7557 774620

Scott Powell, Volition

[email protected]

+1 (646) 650 1351

Tirth Patel, Edison Advisors

[email protected]

+1 (646) 653-7035

Rachel Carroll, Edison Advisors

[email protected]

+44 (0)20 3077 5711

Safe Harbor Statement

Statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that concern matters that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in the forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "aims," "targets," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "optimizing," "potential," "goal," "suggests," "could," "would," "should," "may," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to the effectiveness of Volition's bodily-fluid-based diagnostic tests as well as Volition's ability to develop and successfully commercialize such test platforms for early detection of cancer. Volition's actual results may differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements due to numerous risks and uncertainties. For instance, if Volition fails to develop and commercialize diagnostic products, it may be unable to execute its plan of operations. Other risks and uncertainties include Volition's failure to obtain necessary regulatory clearances or approvals to distribute and market future products in the clinical IVD market; a failure by the marketplace to accept the products in Volition's development pipeline or any other diagnostic products Volition might develop; Volition will face fierce competition and Volition's intended products may become obsolete due to the highly competitive nature of the diagnostics market and its rapid technological change; and other risks identified in Volition's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other documents that Volition files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about Volition's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and, except as required by law, Volition does not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

Nucleosomics, NuQ, Nu.QTM and HyperGenomics and their respective logos are trademarks and/or service marks of VolitionRx Limited and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this press release are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE VolitionRx Limited
TORONTO and NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wealthsimple, a leading online investing company, has raised a $37M Series B ($50M CAD) investment from the Power Financial Corporation group of companies, bringing their total investment in Wealthsimple to $74M to date. The two-year-old company now has over $750M ($1B CAD) in assets under administration and more than 30,000 clients in the U.S. and Canada.

Wealthsimple brings professional investing to everyone, using an incredibly simple digital platform and low fees. Wealthsimple's Magazine tells human stories about money, from money diaries with interesting people like Anthony Bourdain and Maria Bamford, to advice on moving in with your partner and asking your parents for money. Wealthsimple's mission is to democratize wealth by making the best tools and advice accessible to everyone, regardless of who they are or how much they have to invest.

"Many people don't know where to start when it comes to investing, and Wealthsimple is looking to solve that problem by making investing a really simple experience," said Michael Katchen, CEO and founder of Wealthsimple. "It's been encouraging to see the response from both first-time and experienced investors, and we're looking forward to continuing our growth in the U.S. and Canada."

Wealthsimple has a partnership with the Power Financial group of companies, who have invested $74M in capital to date. The Power Financial group of companies have invested more than $185M in emerging financial companies.

"Wealthsimple is making investing approachable to people at all stages of their financial lives, and in particular younger investors who have traditionally been underserved by the financial industry," said Paul Desmarais III, Chairman of Wealthsimple and Senior Vice-President at Power Financial Corporation. "With our biggest investment in Wealthsimple to date, we're excited to see the company continue to grow and succeed."

Wealthsimple will use the new funds to continue its expansion in the United States and Canada.

For press images, screenshots, and other visual assets, please visit this Dropbox.

For more information about Wealthsimple, visit www.Wealthsimple.com // Wealthsimple's Digital Magazine

Wealthsimple is available for free download on the App Store and Google Play.

About Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple is an online investment manager that combines user-friendly digital tools and personal financial advice to make smart, automated investing available to everyone. With no minimum account size and low fees, Wealthsimple makes investing simple, accessible, affordable and personalized. Available in the U.S. and Canada, Wealthsimple was founded by a team of financial experts and technology entrepreneurs, and is backed by the Power Financial group of companies. Power Financial Corporation (TSX: PWF) is a diversified management and holding company that has interests, directly or indirectly, in companies in the financial services sector in Canada, the United States and Europe. To learn more, visit www.wealthsimple.com.

For more information:

Rachael Factor

[email protected]

647-802-6751

SOURCE Wealthsimple
Content integration through regular API calls save subscribers data entry time with seamless updates and improved accuracy.

PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For many academic institutions, keeping faculty activity and profiles up to date is a time-consuming data entry exercise. With the newly announced partnership between Clarivate Analytics and Digital Measures, Web of Science and InCites content is now integrated into Activity Insight, Digital Measures faculty activity reporting software, enabling faculty profiles to be updated in real time. The integration uses API calls into the Web of Science content to keep faculty activity up-to-date and relevant.

Over a century of expansive coverage of the world's most impactful research has brought the Web of Science cited references to over 1 billion, and still counting. This volume of references can be difficult for academic administrators to manage.

"We've made it a top priority to make data entry easier for our Activity Insight clients," said Matt Bartel, CEO and Founder, Digital Measures. "Enabling faculty to integrate automatically with Web of Science, one of the largest and most respected citation databases, is evidence of our commitment to drive efficiency and save our clients considerable time. Faculty members are doing remarkable work, and this is a critical step in helping them share the stories of their accomplishments."

With this partnership, current Web of Science subscribers have access to this full list of integrated content:

Arts & Humanities Citation Index

Science Citation Index Expanded

Social Sciences Citation Index

Book Citation Index

Emerging Sources Citation Index

Conference Proceedings Citation Index  Science/Social Sciences and Humanities Edition

InCites

"This partnership allows us to continue expanding into the addressable footprint of research workflow tools so existing and future customers can maximize their use of Web of Science content," said Emmanuel Thiveaud, Head of Research Analytics at Clarivate. "We're excited to continue forging valuable partnerships that enable mutual customers to effectively and efficiently meet their faculty management and assessment needs with trusted data and indicators."

To find out more about how to directly import content and analytics from the Web of Science into Activity Insight, please contact either Jim Samuel at Clarivate or Stacy Becker at Digital Measures.

Clarivate Analytics

Clarivate Analytics accelerates the pace of innovation by providing trusted insights and analytics to customers around the world, enabling them to discover, protect and commercialize new ideas faster. Formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters, we own and operate a collection of leading subscription-based businesses focused on scientific and academic research, patent analytics and regulatory standards, pharmaceutical and biotech intelligence, trademark protection, domain brand protection and intellectual property management. Clarivate Analytics is now an independent company with over 4,000 employees, operating in more than 100 countries and owns wellknown brands that include Web of Science, Cortellis, Thomson Innovation, Derwent World Patents Index, CompuMark, MarkMonitor and Techstreet, among others. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Digital Measures

Digital Measures focuses exclusively on web-based data management, reporting and workflow for universities. More than 250,000 faculty members at 60% of the largest universities in the United States and universities in more than 15 countries trust Activity Insight its market-leading faculty activity reporting solution. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company was founded in 1999. Learn more at digitalmeasures.com.

SOURCE Clarivate Analytics

Related Links

http://clarivate.com


CHARLESTON, W.Va. and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, State Auditor John B. McCuskey announced that the state of West Virginia has partnered with OpenGov, the leader in government performance management, to improve government transparency and increase public access to important public information. The OpenGov Smart Government Cloud will allow West Virginians to use a Google-style search bar to track government spending, and also make it easier for public officials to share complex financial and performance data in simple, understandable reports. The new software will enable more transparent governance and informed decision-making as state legislators face historic budget deficits.

"We believe this partnership with OpenGov is just the beginning of an exciting 'Citizen Information Revolution' in West Virginia," said State Auditor John B. McCuskey. "My primary goal for this office has always been maintaining public trust through the building of a successful program for accountability and financial transparency in state government. Citizens statewide have told me repeatedly they want and need to know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent, easily and efficiently. OpenGov is officially now our platform to provide everyone with the most accurate and open financial data, available on electronic devices we all use every day. Transparency in state government is now in place."

The West Virginia State Auditor's Office plans to have the OpenGov Smart Government Cloud up and running this summer so citizens can access useful data and legislators can build consensus around priorities as the state faces a dire financial deficit. Auditor McCuskey said his goal is to make West Virginia the most transparent state in the nation and the new platform will help identify potential savings and put the power back in the the hands of everyday citizens to hold their government officials accountable.

"At OpenGov, our mission is to power more effective and accountable government," said OpenGov CEO and Co-Founder Zac Bookman. "West Virginia's commitment is truly impressive and part of a growing movement across states to modernize technology and embrace cloud solutions. With OpenGov, West Virginians will now be able to see and understand how their tax dollars are being spent, and public officials will be able to easily report and track financial information."

West Virginia joins a growing number of governments nationwide who rely on OpenGov's next generation cloud software. The City of Boston recently launched its updated open data platform, "Analyze Boston" and the cities of Birmingham, Phoenix, and West Chester Ohio have also announced their own open data and transparency efforts powered by OpenGov.

West Virginia's neighboring state of Ohio turned to OpenGov's technology to improve state-wide transparency efforts. In December 2014, the state partnered with OpenGov to bring "checkbook-level" spending detail to all of Ohio's local government entities after being ranked #46 out of 50 states in financial transparency by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group's Follow the Money Report. Thanks to this partnership, Ohio has been ranked #1 by the same report for the past two years.

About OpenGov

OpenGov is the leader in government performance management, with easy-to-use cloud software for better budgeting, improved reporting and operational intelligence, and comprehensive open data. OpenGov solutions give governments the right tools and relevant data for more informed decision-making and better outcomes for the public.

Over 1,400 public agencies in 48 states are part of the growing OpenGov network. Founded in 2012, OpenGov customers include the State Treasurer of Ohio, the city of Minneapolis, MN; Maricopa County, AZ; and Washington, DC. OpenGov is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Thrive Capital and has headquarters in Redwood City, CA.

SOURCE OpenGov

Related Links

https://opengov.com


BENTON HARBOR, Mich., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni dedicated the new headquarters of Whirlpool EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in Pero (Milan) today. Whirlpool Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Marc Bitzer, Whirlpool EMEA President and Whirlpool Corporation Executive Vice-President Esther Berrozpe Galindo, Regione Lombardia President Roberto Maroni, and the Mayor of Pero Maria Rosa Belotti attended the ceremony.

The building chosen for Whirlpool EMEA's headquarters is in the Perseo Expo District and will accommodate more than 600 employees from 28 countries in a modern and collaborative working environment. The new headquarters has the latest technology and was built to meet current sustainability standards, including a rooftop solar power system that is expected to save 16 tons of CO 2 emissions each year.

In line with its corporate social responsibility goals, the company promotes alternative and sustainable transport for its employees through a carpooling app and free shuttle bus services. It has also teamed up with Banco Alimentare, an organization dedicated to redistributing food waste, to reduce unused food at the new headquarters.

"The Prime Minister's visit is a great honor for us at a very important time for Whirlpool EMEA in Italy. In addition to the new headquarters, in the last few years we have invested $500 million into product innovation, state of the art industrial processes and ongoing training for our employees," said Whirlpool EMEA President and Whirlpool Corporation Executive Vice President, Esther Berrozpe Galindo. "And the location of our new headquarters offers our employees a dynamic and multicultural environment."

Whirlpool EMEA also opened The World of Whirlpool, its new flagship showroom in Milan, to showcase the world's most advanced home appliance technology and design. This new 5,400 sq. ft. facility displays products from four of Whirlpool Corporation's leading European brands - KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Hotpoint, and Indesit. It is designed to give guests an opportunity to explore and experiment with products via interactive content, demonstration cooking stations and educational and recreational activities.

Whirlpool Corporation employs more than 6,000 people in eight locations in Italy. The company plans to invest $350 million into research and development in the EMEA region by the end of 2018, with the majority having been allocated to its two advanced research centers in Italy.

Whirlpool will retain its roots in the Varese area. The EMEA region's built-in products center (microwaves, fridges and ovens) in Cassinetta di Biandronno will continue with approximately 2,000 employees working in industrial operations, procurement and two global Research and Design centers: Global Consumer Design and Global Food Institute. The company is working with local government and universities to identify possible new uses for the the site of their former headquarters building in Comerio.

About Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is the number one major appliance manufacturer in the world, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 93,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2016. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Indesit and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com, or find us on Twitter at @WhirlpoolCorp.

SOURCE Whirlpool Corporation

Related Links

http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com


WhyteSpyder has presented three cornhole tournaments over the last three years, each benefitting a different local cause. This year, 100% of the proceeds from the event will benefit Mercy Health Foundation and their efforts to improve the quality of life in Northwest Arkansas.

"This event will help provide much needed resources to enhance healthcare services in Northwest Arkansas, and will also go a long way in building relationships between the community and the hospital," said Clark Ellison, Regional Vice President of South Central Communities for Mercy Health Foundation.

"We're wanting to obviously raise some funds, but more than that we're hoping to really have some fun, and I think that's where this event is really going to be good," added Ellison.

Teams can register online and sponsors can find more information about the event at http://catfishcorndogsandcornhole.com/. The registration deadline for event sponsors is May 26. For more information, contact event coordinator, Casey Crowell, at (479) 287-4006 or [email protected].

About WhyteSpyder:

WhyteSpyder helps Walmart and Sam's Club manufacturers setup, manage, and optimize product data and content on Walmart.com and Samsclub.com. WhyteSpyder keeps with the strategic vision of Walmart and Sam's Club when creating and managing content. We use any distribution technology accepted by retailers that is beneficial for manufacturers and their agencies. Learn more about WhyteSpyder by calling 479-287-4006 or visiting www.whytespyder.com.

About Mercy:

Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2017 by Truven, an IBM Watson Health company, serves millions annually. Mercy includes 43 acute care and specialty (heart, children's, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, more than 700 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 40,000 co-workers and more than 2,000 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has outreach ministries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Press Contact:

Casey Crowell

WhyteSpyder

1023 Milsap Rd

Fayetteville, AR 72703

[email protected]

SOURCE WhyteSpyder

Related Links

http://whytespyder.com


Over 100 American travel agents attended the event. As the only invited Asian destination to the 4-hour tradeshow, Yunnan set up a booth to demonstrate its high-quality tourism resources, and to market its diverse tourism products. During the tradeshow, Mr. Chen Zhenlong, Deputy Director General of Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission, delivered a speech first, expressing his vision towards Sino-US bilateral tourism, "Yunnan hopes to join hands with American travel agents to enhance tourism cooperation and better promote the Sino-US tourism industry." He also invited American travel agents to participate in the 2017 China International Travel Mart (CITM 2017) to be held in Kunming, Yunnan this October. After that, Mrs. Fang Limin, Vice Director of Marketing Division of Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission, made a presentation under the topic of "Colorful Yunnan, China - Travelers' Paradise", and introduced the diverse tourism resources of Yunnan to the guests present.

During the Prize-winning Quiz session, two guests won the prizes offered by Yunnan tourism enterprises including a Shangri-la Tour for two people and a Kunming/Dali/Lijiang Classical Tour for two people. Both winners showed great interest in visiting Yunnan. During the tradeshow, the Yunnan delegation also talked with the travel agents present at the event concerning tourism products marketing, tourist route development and future cooperation.

On May 10th, the Yunnan delegation had a symposium in Washington with Mark Meader, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Industry Affairs and Education of ASTA. During the symposium, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Cooperation and officially established a cooperative relationship on issues of tourism marketing, tourism education and tourism investment, which marked a brand new stage of the cooperation between the two sides.

The Yunnan promotion trip concluded successfully. Yunnan not only had in-depth and face-to-face communication with many oversea travel agents and obtained first-hand information about the U.S. market, but also strengthened the cooperation with American tourism enterprises, and expanded the opportunities for future cooperation and further communication.

SOURCE Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission
HAIFA, Israel, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (IL0065100443, IL0065100856) (the "Company") hereby notifies, in accordance with the provisions of Section 4.03 of an Indenture entered into between ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (the "Company") and Hermetic Trust (1975) Ltd. on July 16, 2014 (the "Indenture"), as follows:

1. The Company's reviewed consolidated financial statements for the period ended on March 31, 2017, the operating and financial review for such quarterly financial statements and a report on certain financial data as of March 31, 2017 (collectively, the "First Quarter Reports") are availbale on both the Company's website (http://www.zim.com/aboutus/pages/reports.aspx) and on the official website of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (http://maya.tase.co.il).

2. The Company will host on May 17, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. Israel time (2:00 p.m. CET), a confrence call for the holders of its Series 1A, 2A, 1B and 2B Notes to discuss the First Quarter Reports. In order to participate, please use the following numbers (at least ten minutes before the scheduled start time):

Israel: 972-3-9180691

USA: 1-886-229-7198

UK: 0-800-917-5108

Germany: 0-800-182-6846

France: 0-800-903-025

Contact:

Omer Refael

[email protected]

+972-3-511-5208



SOURCE Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoned Properties, Inc. (OTCQX: ZDPY), a strategic real estate development firm whose primary mission is to identify, develop, and lease sophisticated, safe, and sustainable properties in emerging industries, including the licensed medical marijuana industry, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Recent Achievements

Amended lease agreement with tenant at the Company's Medical Marijuana Cultivation Facility located in Chino Valley, Ariz. to expand operations to 35,000 square feet of leased space.

to expand operations to 35,000 square feet of leased space. Completed the construction of an expansion for its tenant at the Company's Medical Marijuana Business Park in Tempe Ariz. , enabling a significant increase in rental payments that began February 2017 .

, enabling a significant increase in rental payments that began . Issued $2.02 million in five-year convertible notes paying quarterly interest at a rate of 6.0% per annum and convertible at $5 per share in a private placement transaction.

in five-year convertible notes paying quarterly interest at a rate of 6.0% per annum and convertible at per share in a private placement transaction. Completed sale of non-core, non-marijuana related property located in Tempe, Ariz. for a total cash sale price of $2.125 million and repaid a mortgage payable of $2.1 million .

for a total cash sale price of and repaid a mortgage payable of . Retired $1 million of 7.0% convertible notes due to mature in August 2017 .

First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Revenue increased 33% to $540,000 compared to $406,000 for the first quarter of 2016.

compared to for the first quarter of 2016. Operating expenses decreased 31% to $406,000 from $586,000 for the first quarter of 2016.

from for the first quarter of 2016. Income from operations, which excludes the one-time gain of approximately $832,000 on the sale of a property in Tempe, Arizona , was $134,000 for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a loss from operations of $180,000 for the first quarter last year.

on the sale of a property in , was for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a loss from operations of for the first quarter last year. Net income was $889,000 , or $0.05 per basic and diluted share, inclusive of the $832,000 one-time gain, compared to a net loss of $237,000 , or $0.01 per basic and diluted share, for the first quarter of 2016.

, or per basic and diluted share, inclusive of the one-time gain, compared to a net loss of , or per basic and diluted share, for the first quarter of 2016. As of March 31, 2017 , the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $2.1 million compared to $366,000 as of December 31, 2016 .

, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of compared to as of . Net cash provided by operating activities was $13,000 for the first three months of 2017 compared to net cash used in operating activities of $22,000 for the first three months of 2016.

"We achieved profitability as measured by bottom-line, GAAP net income in the first quarter of 2017 by establishing and following a methodical and disciplined approach to property development," commented Bryan McLaren, Chief Executive Officer of Zoned Properties. "Even excluding the one-time gain from the sale of a non-core property we achieved profitability, demonstrating that the Company's operations have reached an important growth milestone. At the start of 2016, we expressly stated that we were taking actions that would lead to achieving profitability in 2017, and we have accomplished that objective. Since the acquisition of our first property in 2014, we have sought to establish the Company as a community partner that develops commercial projects for the mutual benefit of those who are involved and impacted by our business. This quarter we generated positive cash from operations and achieved profitability as a direct result of that strategy. More importantly, since our lease agreements are structured with increasing rental payments over a long period of time and supported by a mostly fixed operating cost structure, we believe these results are not only achievable in future quarters, but we expect our profitability and cash flow generation to continually increase as we grow our portfolio. We have a solid earnings and cash flow generating engine that we believe will power additional growth and expansion in the future."

"Our team has established a protocol for advisory and consulting services for sophisticated projects that we view as possible future growth opportunities," continued McLaren. "By establishing a consultative relationship focused on real estate development with licensed operators developing their own facilities, we are able to more thoroughly vet the operators and their businesses over a longer period of time, contribute to the strategic growth of their facilities and create a pipeline of potential property acquisitions as our capital funding sources increase. We have been exploring these types of relationships with a number of operators across the country and expect to proceed with several by the end of 2017."

"Our portfolio of properties is comprised of approximately 102,937 total square feet of constructed, rentable space with 42,937 square feet currently leased," added McLaren. "With over 50,000 additional square feet vacant, we have a great opportunity to lease additional space as the industry grows and complete cost-effective expansion leading to increased rental revenues. Over the next three quarters, we are targeting developed expansion that will increase our total leased space to 57,937 square feet. We plan to accomplish this by continuing to expand developed space within our property portfolio as our tenants' businesses grow. Zoned Properties owns over 2.3 million square feet across five properties that are protected by long-term development deals with the local municipalities. We have great opportunity to grow with the marketplace in Arizona."

McLaren concluded, "Through a series of financing transactions over the last several months, we have effectively reduced our financial leverage, lowered our quarterly cost of debt service and established a capital reserve to fund property development and growth for the near future. Given the profit and cash flow generating abilities of our portfolio, our cash reserves and our pipeline of potential new projects, we are highly optimistic about our ability to further expand our business and deliver consistent returns for our shareholders."

Supplemental Information Regarding Current Portfolio of Rental Properties

At March 31, 2017



Tempe, AZ (410) Gilbert, AZ Green Valley, AZ Chino Valley, AZ Kingman, AZ Total Total Rentable Sq. Ft. 60,000 N/A 1,440 40,000 1,497 102,937 Sq. Ft. Rented 15,000 N/A 1,440 25,000 1,497 42,937 Vacant Rentable Sq. Ft. 45,000 N/A 0 15,000 0 60,000 Total # of Tenants 1 0 1 1 1

Annual Base Rent (2017) (a) $349,500 $0 $95,835 $530,000 $121,055 $1,096,390 Annual Base Rent (2018) (a) $609,000 $0 $133,619 $796,250 $168,782 $1,707,651



(a) Annual base rent represents amount of cash payments due from tenants and differs from revenues to be recognized on our consolidated financial statements. 2017 numbers represent base rent due for the remainder of 2017 and exclude first quarter base revenue.

Conference Call:

The Company will hold a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern (U.S.) time on May 11, 2017. To participate in the live conference call, please dial 1-866-682-6100 five to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled conference call time. International callers should dial 1-862-255-5401. Please reference Zoned Properties.

A replay will be available until May 25, 2017. To access the replay, dial 1-877-481-4010 or 1-919-882-2331. When prompted, enter Conference Passcode 10367.

The call will also be available live by webcast over the Internet and accessible at: http://www.investorcalendar.com/IC/CEPage.asp?ID=175902.

About Zoned Properties, Inc. (ZDPY):

Zoned Properties is a strategic real estate development firm whose primary mission is to identify, develop, and lease sophisticated, safe, and sustainable properties in emerging industries, including the licensed medical marijuana industry. The Company acquires commercial properties that face unique zoning challenges and identifies solutions that can potentially have a major impact on the cash flow and property value. Zoned Properties targets commercial properties that can be acquired and re-zoned for specific purposes. Zoned Properties does not grow, harvest, sell or distribute cannabis or any substances regulated under United States law such as the Controlled Substances Act.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "potential," "continue" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors, risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Tables Follow

ZONED PROPERTIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS













As of

As of











March 31,

December 31,











2017

2016











(Unaudited)



ASSETS









Cash





$ 2,131,685

$ 366,024

Rental properties, net (See Note 3)

6,975,143

6,878,584

Rental property held for sale, net (See Note 4)

-

1,140,891

Deferred rent receivable

-

16,462

Deferred rent receivable - related parties

1,186,139

1,006,171

Real estate tax escrow

-

39,487

Note receivable



58,258

-

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

117,074

140,010

Property and equipment, net

41,073

40,212

Security deposits



9,474

8,158

















Total Assets



$ 10,518,846

$ 9,635,999

















LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

























LIABILITIES:











Mortgage payable



$ -

$ 2,100,000

Convertible note payable

500,000

500,000

Convertible note payable - related party

2,520,000

500,000

Accounts payable



5,740

78,311

Accrued expenses



77,205

96,748

Accrued expenses - related parties

121,984

85,541

Deferred revenues



4,500

4,750

Security deposits payable - related parties

70,000

70,000

Security deposits payable

3,364

21,964

















Total Liabilities



3,302,793

3,457,314

















Commitments and Contingencies (See Note 10)

























STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY:









Preferred stock, $.001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized; 2,000,000 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 ($1.00 per share liquidation preference)











2,000

2,000

Common stock: $.001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized; 17,286,034 and 17,210,318 issued and outstanding at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively











17,286

17,210

Additional paid-in capital

20,501,153

20,352,528

Accumulated deficit

(13,304,386)

(14,193,053)

















Total Stockholders' Equity

7,216,053

6,178,685

















Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity

$ 10,518,846

$ 9,635,999





































ZONED PROPERTIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)





















For the Three Months Ended







March 31,







2017

2016













REVENUES:









Rental revenues

$ 50,073

$ 60,880

Rental revenues - related parties

490,194

352,043















Total revenues

540,267

412,923













OPERATING EXPENSES:









Compensation and benefits

218,293

179,824

Professional fees

38,478

276,522

General and administrative expenses

45,374

51,621

Depreciation and amortization

58,680

41,098

Property operating expenses

21,273

15,460

Real estate taxes

24,076

28,178















Total operating expenses

406,174

592,703













INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS

134,093

(179,780)













OTHER INCOME (EXPENSES):







Interest expenses

(41,039)

(48,123) Interest expenses - related parties

(36,444)

(8,750) Gain on sale of property and equipment

831,753

- Interest income

304

-















Total other income (expenses), net

754,574

(56,873)













INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES

888,667

(236,653)













PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES

-

-













NET INCOME (LOSS)

$ 888,667

$ (236,653)













NET INCOME (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE:









Basic

$ 0.05

$ (0.01)

Diluted

$ 0.05

$ (0.01)













WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING:









Basic

17,267,943

17,112,141

Diluted

18,460,567

17,112,141















SOURCE Zoned Properties, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.zonedproperties.com


If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
New Delhi, May 5 : Nine days after it shut 13 polluting industries along Bagad river in Uttar Pradesh, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday fined Rs 10 lakh each on three of the industries.

A NGT bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar found that Gajraula-based ASP Sealing Products Ltd, Dairy India Pvt Ltd and Umang Dairies Ltd were discharging untreated effluents into the river and contaminating ground water.

The industries would remain shut till further orders.

The bench asked the three industries to deposit Rs 10 lakh each and will soon take a decision on the other 10 industries it ordered closed on April 26.

The fine is to be deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board.

The tribunal also slammed the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board for granting permission to such polluting industries.

Earlier, a high-level committee inspected the 13 industries dealing in various products, including chemicals.

A committee report pointed out that the industries used fresh water for dilution, dumped their effluents outside without treating a major part and thus caused huge environmental and groundwater pollution.

The Central Pollution Control Board in a 2013 report said that the Ganga was linked by 138 drains that carry a discharge of 6,087 million litres a day.

Most drains were in West Bengal (54), followed by Uttar Pradesh (45), Bihar (25) and Uttarakhand (14).
Kumarghat (Tripura), May 7 : Calling Tripura backward on all fronts, BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday asked the people to bring his party to power in the 2018 assembly polls as only the Modi model can develop the state and eliminate corruption.

"In the 24-year rule of the Left government, Tripura has remained backward on all fronts. Only (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi model can develop the state and remove corruption if the party comes to power in next year's assembly elections.

"Rate of development in Tripura is a big zero as the Left government did nothing and central funds were siphoned off. CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) cadres ate the funds meant for development," he said at a public meeting in this northern Tripura town.

In his 19-minute speech in Hindi, the BJP chief said a large number of tribals live in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra where "every basic facility like water, electricity, and health services have been provided in each tribal and remote village".

Highlighting the Modi government's efforts for development of Tripura and elaborating various projects that it had sanctioned, he said the first measure of a BJP government would be to implement recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for state government employees.

Amit Shah noted that during the regime of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, the 13th Finance Commission gave Rs 7,283 crore to Tripura for five years while the 14th Finance Commission under the National Democratic Alliance government gave Rs 25,396 crore. "This money would not reach the people, it would go to the CPI-M cadres' pocket," he alleged.

He said around 25 per cent of Tripura's educated population was jobless, crime against women was the highest while corruption was mounting as Chief Minister Manik Sarkar remained inactive.

"Due to the misdeeds of the Left Front government 10,323 government teachers recently lost their jobs following the Supreme Court verdict," he said.

He also alleged that during the Left regime, activities of the illegal chit funds mushroomed in Tripura and CPI-M members benefited from these unlawful deposits. He dared Sarkar to hand over the cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, West Bengal's former state unit chief Rahul Sinha, Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste, party General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav, and state BJP President Biplab Kumar Deb also addressed the meeting.

Shah is on a two-day visit to the state to finalise the party's strategy for next year's assembly polls.
Mohali, May 7 : Gujarat Lions rode on some powerful batting to defeat Kings XI Punjab by six wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Sunday evening.

Chasing a challenging target of 190 runs, Gujarat romped home with two deliveries to spare.

Gujarat now have eight points from 12 matches, while Punjab remain on 10 points from 11 matches.

Dwayne Smith played a starring role for Gujarat, smashing 74 runs off a mere 39 deliveries, hitting eight boundaries and four towering sixes along the way.

Smith and fellow Ishan Kishan gave Gujarat's chase a rocking start, producing a opening partnership of 91 runs in just 9.2 overs before Punjab pacer Thangarasu Natarajan ended it as Kishan hit a full length delivery into the hands of David Miller at deep midwicket.

Smith followed him back to the pavilion a couple of overs later when he was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell.

Skipper Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthick then helped Gujarat get near the target with a 42-run stand which came off 35 balls before the former was caught by Gurkeerat Singh wide of deep midwicket while trying to smash a Sandeep Sharma delivery out of the park.

Aaron Finch was also dismissed later in the same over when he offerred an edge to Punjab wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha while attempting to pull a bouncer.

But Karthick and Ravindra Jadeja ensured that Gujarat achieved in the last over.

Earlier, a century from Hashim Amla and a half-century by Shaun Marsh helped Kings XI Punjab post 189/3.

Amla plundered 104 runs off 60 balls with eight boundaries and five sixes before being trapped lbw by an accurate yorker from Gujarat pacer Basil Thampi on the penultimate ball of the innings.

This was his second hundred in the IPL.

Amla was also involved two crucial partnerships with Marsh and Maxwell.

Marsh made 58 runs with six boundaries studding his 43-ball knock.

Gujarat pacers Thampi, Pradeep Sangwan and Dhawal Kulkarni picked up a wicket each.

Asked to bat first, Punjab were off to a slow start as Gujarat pacers Sangwan and Kulkarni maintained a tight line.

Sangwan struck in the very first over with a chest high-short ball to Gujarat opener Martin Guptill on the off stump line. The Kiwi star tried to hook the ball but only managed to offer a top edge to Thampi at long leg.

However, Amla and Marsh helped the hosts shake off the early jitters and steadied the innings with a 125-run partnership in 89-balls.

Amla batted well, showcasing his impeccable technique to find the gaps at regular intervals.

Kulkarni finally brought the stand to an end, dismissing Marsh with a slower delivery. The Australian was outfoxed by the change of pace and miscued his shot with Aaron Finch doing the honours at long on.

Marsh's departure prompted Amla to go on the offensive and the South African star hit two sixes off consecutive overs.

Known for his classical technical batting, Amla also showcased his ability to improvise.

Thanks to big hitting Amla and excellent support from the other end by Maxwell, the Punjab run rate showed no signs of slowing down.

The duo added 50 runs between them off 25 balls with Amla doing most of the scoring.

The 34-year-old reached his century in style, smashing Thampi for a six over the cover boundary.

However, Thampi made a superb comeback, pitching an accurate yorker right in the block hole to trap Amla leg before.

Maxwell remained unbeaten on 20 runs off 11 deliveries which included two sixes.

Latest updates on IPL 2020
New Delhi, May 8 : The Congress on Monday wrote to Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal to demand the prosecution of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers on the basis of the Shunglu committee report.

"We demand the sanction of prosecution of Kejriwal and his ministers under the Prevention of Corruption Act, based on the Shunglu committee report," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said at a press conference here.

He said the L-G had the power to sanction the prosecution.

Maken said that the L-G and the central government had not taken any action on the report even after more than five months of its submission.

The Shunglu committee submitted its report on November 27, 2016, to the L-G and the central government.

The three-member committee, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General V.K. Shunglu, was set up by the then Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung after the Delhi High Court gave primacy to the L-G in Delhi administrative affairs in August 2016.

The Congress leader said that if Baijal failed to accord sanction for prosecution, "we will then feel they (Centre and Baijal) are helping them".

"We will also go to court if the prosecution sanction is not accorded," he added.
Hyderabad, May 8 : Telangana's Minister for NRI Affairs K.T. Rao on Monday suggested the Centre establish a centralised data bank on migrants in the Gulf region.

Rao made the suggestion at a meeting called by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on issues related to Gulf migrants in New Delhi.

He said all states should have access to the centralised data to identify who all were moving to the countries in the Gulf.

An official statement said the Minister also sought appointment of translators of Telugu language at all embassy offices in the Gulf countries.

Rao also urged the central government to come up with a specific policy for legal assistance to migrants by recruiting Indian-origin lawyers abroad. He also suggested an agreement with all Gulf nations to allow Indian migrant prisoners to complete their respective sentences in Indian jails.

As a few companies are unlawfully taking away passport of Indian migrants, Rao urged Sushma Swaraj to raise this human rights violation issue with authorities concerned.

He also urged the MEA to form a Group of Ministers (GoM) to discuss and emulate the best practices among states regarding issuance of passports, as well as welfare activities for the Gulf migrants.

Sushma Swaraj assured him on the GoM, which will meet once in three months to discuss the migrants' issues.

The meeting was attended by two central ministers and ambassadors from Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.
Kathmandu, May 9 : Nepal has decided to be part of the China-initiated Belt and Road Initiative and is going to sign framework agreement on One Belt One Road this week, its government decided on Monday.

A Cabinet meeting on Monday decided to sign the framework agreement on OBOR ahead of OBOR Conference slated to take place in China next week.

Nepal has decided to sign an agreement on OBOR that will link Nepal to India and Europe, said Information and Communication Minister Surendra Karki after the meeting.

He said a high-level delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara will participate in the OBOR Conference in China, with Mahara accompanied by two other ministers and other senior officials.

Ahead of the conference, Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Yu Hong will sign the framework agreement on OBOR in the presence of Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat here this week.

Then the Nepali delegation led by Mahara will sign an MoU during the OBOR Conference in China.

During his recent China visit, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' had assured the Chinese leadership that Nepal will be the part of belt and road initiative ahead of OBOR Conference.

The pact was only possible after series of negotiations between Nepali and Chinese officials including free trade, currency arrangement, financial institutions, investment and others.

After the framework agreement, Nepal will negotiate with China on various intricacies of OBOR including connectivity, trade regime, investment and others. A signature initiative of President Xi Jinping himself, OBOR aims to enhance connectivity and cooperation among countries, primarily between China and the rest of Asia and Europe through land as well as maritime routes.

Beijing had sent a draft proposal on OBOR to Nepal late last year. After a month-long consultation and with some revision, the Nepali side sent back the draft to Beijing.
Panaji, May 9 : 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.
Lucknow, May 9 : 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.
Kolkata, May 9 : State-run UCO Bank on Tuesday said it is planning to issue 75 crore equity shares during the current financial year in one or more tranches.

The bank's board in its meeting scheduled for 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 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," the 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.
Bengaluru, May 9 : 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.
Kolkata, May 10 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed grief over the killing of Lt Ummer Fayaz in Jammu and Kashmir and said violence was "never a solution".

"Extremely saddened at the murder of Lt Ummer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian. My sympathies with the family. Violence is never a solution," she tweeted.

The body of the 22-year-old Army officer was found on Wednesday morning in Shopian district. He had been shot dead.

The officer was kidnapped by the militants on Tuesday evening from Kulgam in south Kashmir where he was attending a cousin's marriage ceremony.
Mogadishu, May 11 : The EU has unveiled a $53 million funding to boost the education sector in Somalia.

EU Ambassador to Somalia Veronique Lorenzo expressed Europe's solidarity with Somalia, in the wake of the devastating drought that has caused untold suffering and death, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The programme will consolidate some of our achievements and expand equitable and inclusive quality education," Lorenzo was quoted as saying.

"Our hearts and sympathies go to millions of Somalis that have been affected by the drought or are suffering as a consequence of violence and insecurity," she said after signing of the new education package with the Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic promotion, Jamal Mohamed Hassan.

EU's support to Somalia since 2008 surpasses $3.7 billion, in development, humanitarian aid and stabilisation thus making it the biggest development partner, the report said.
Beijing, May 11 : A 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted northwest China on Thursday killing eight persons, the US Geological Survey said.

Frequent aftershocks were felt, locals said. At least 11 others were injured after the quake hit Xinjiang 5.58 a.m., Xinhua new agency reported Search and rescue operations are underway.

The epicentre was in the southeast part of the Pamir Plateau at a depth of about 8.0 km.

The remote and sparsely populated area where the quake occurred is close to the borders of Tajikistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
New Delhi, May 11 : Actress-producer Priyanka Chopra's Sikkimese production "Pahuna" will have its trailer screened at the upcoming edition of the Cannes Film Festival, says the movie's director Paakhi A. Tyrewala.

The prestigious gala is due to begin from May 17, and apart from Bollywood actresses Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, India will be represented on the platform by the team of "Pahuna".

Paakhi didn't disclose much about the trip to the French Riviera, but told IANS over the phone: "Its trailer showcasing is in Cannes this year."

Talking about the "Mary Kom" star and her mother Madhu's involvement in the project, the debutante director said: "When Priyanka got on board, things got very easy. The Sikkim government is almost like a co-producer of the film. The project started from March 2016. Priyanka got on board in December.

"She came to India and met me. Soon, the film's recce began and we started shooting in March. Priyanka as a producer is extremely supportive. She has a vision and sees the world very differently from most of the producers I've seen."

She said for Priyanka, who is supporting the film through her and her mother's banner Purple Pebble Pictures, it's not only about money.

"She is financially very sound, especially her mother. They know their numbers and still have a vision. 'Pahuna' doesn't have a regional market. They saw it as world cinema. So, it feels good to have somebody by my side who exactly understands it."

Priyanka often flies in and out of India due to her commitment to the American TV series "Quantico", apart from Hollywood film "Baywatch", which is ready to hit the screens on June 2.

But apart from acting in international and Bollywood projects, she also manages to take out time to produce regional films. In fact, she also made an appearance in her debut Marathi production venture "Ventilator".

Will she do the same in "Pahuna"? "No," said Paakhi.

Any known faces in the film?

"It has local talent -- Amol Subba and Ishika Gurung," said the director, based in Mumbai.

Since she stays miles away from the northeast state, how did it strike her to make a movie based on it?

"I was in Sikkim 13 years ago. I was an Art of Living teacher. I fell in love with the state. Then the story came to me," she said.

"The whole idea was not the lack of competition, but the fact that we will be the first feature film there. There have been (Sikkimese) films, but they have been more like home videos. There's no film industry as such.

"The idea was to start a film industry in Sikkim. A lot of people don't even know that it is a part of India. They think one needs a passport to go there. I believe stories bring people together."

Didn't language pose a problem for her?

"I don't know the language that well. I had a local boy, Bishwas. He helped me with the dialogues in Nepali and Sikkimese," said the wife of director Abbas Tyrewala, to whom she gives full credit for encouraging her to make the film.

"Whenever I would say 'I can't do it', he would say 'You have the passion. Hold on to it'."

She also got help from the Children's Film Society, India (CFSI).

"Had it been just CFSI, it would have been just a regional film. 'Pahuna', which means a visitor, is an international film. It's a big story in a small area," she said about the movie which will premiere in Sikkim in October.

Is it a children's film?

"It can be viewed by children, but it's not a children's film. It's about children. When you say a children's film, you see it as a simplistic film or just an entertaining film.

"We are dealing with issues like gender bias, idea of currency... Money is money, but there is a currency divide, impact of older people on children, our fear of the unknown."

Last month, Presidential approval was given to a parliamentary panel recommendation that the National Film Development Corporation either dub regional movies in Hindi or carry subtitles. Does she consider it a good move?

"I think it's a smart move to increase the market of regional films. Look at 'Baahubali'. It is doing so well. Ideally, I would like it to be only subtitles, but a lot of people don't want to read while watching a movie.

"I'd say take it (regional film) to every state and dub it accordingly."

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)
Chandigarh, May 11 : At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated moves to end the country's VIP culture, bureaucrats in the Chandigarh Administration, which is directly under the central government, found a new way to favour themselves with high-end numbers for their cars -- causing hundreds of thousands of rupees in losses to the public exchequer.

Under fire from the media, activists and others for the unprecedented move to oblige themselves and other officers, the Chandigarh Administration on Tuesday rolled back the earlier notification allowing officers to reserve or block VIP numbers for themselves.

Through a notification issued in March, the Chandigarh Administration allowed "dignitaries/officers" to take a number of their choice from the registration series.

Transport Secretary K.K. Jindal, who controls the registration and licensing authority (RLA), got the number "CH01-BM-0001" reserved in the new series for the Toyota Crysta MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) in the name of his wife.

The number, which could have fetched hundreds of thousands of rupees for the government through an open auction, was withdrawn from the auction list of the new 'CH01-BM' series announced earlier this month. The numbers offered for auction were from '0002' to '9999'. The registration for auction of the new series will be done from May 11 to 17.

Jindal who, sources say, has now surrendered the number that he had blocked, had to dish out a partly Rs 5,000 for a number that goes for Rs 5 to10 lakh and is quite a craze in Chandigarh.

The VIP or vanity registration numbers for motor vehicles, especially cars, fetch high auction prices from the public. The number, for many, is a status symbol.

The highest amount for the VIP number "0001" was a staggering Rs 26.5 lakh paid by farmer-landlord Amarjit Singh for his high-end Rs 90-lakh Mercedes S-class in August 2012.

In June 2012, businessman Jagjit Singh Chahal bid Rs 17 lakh for CH-01-AN-0001 for his car. In April 2012, controversial former Haryana Director General of Police S.P.S. Rathore paid Rs 10 lakh for registration number CH-01-AM-0001 for the Mercedes he bought for his lawyer wife.

The "0001" number has a reserve price of Rs 50,000 in Chandigarh. Jindal, being an officer in the administration, was exempted even from paying the reserve price and was to pay only the fee of Rs 5,000.

"On an average, the '0001' number goes for anything from Rs 5 to 10 lakh. The lowest bid in recent years was at Rs 70,000 for this number," an RLA official told IANS.

In February, the "0001" number of the "CH-O1-BL" series went for Rs 6.70 lakh.

"The dignitaries/officers in Chandigarh Motor Vehicle Rules shall be eligible for allotment of such registration marks for the vehicle to be registered in their own (or spouse's) name without payment of any additional fee limited to only two registration marks during their service tenure. However, the sale/transfer of ownership of a vehicle bearing such a registration mark to a non-eligible person, within one year of its initial registration, shall be allowed only after payment of the reserve price, stated a press release of the administration dated March 22, quoting the amended notification.

The notification allows officers/dignitaries to reserve VIP numbers twice in their service tenure. IAS and IPS officers come to Chandigarh on a deputation of two to three years.

Activists have written to Chandigarh Administrator V.P. Singh Badnore saying that the move by the officers was against the norm of a level playing field. They have even suggested that the administration keep the reserve price of single digit VIP numbers at Rs 5 lakh, on the pattern of Haryana and Delhi.

(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)
Jammu, May 11 : All schools close to the LoC were shut in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Thursday following the death of a woman in shelling by the Pakistan Army.

"All schools in villages close to the LoC (Line of Control) in Rajouri will remain closed as a precautionary measure," a district official said.

The authorities have also designated some schools away from the LoC, which divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan, as makeshift camps to lodge villagers leaving their homes near the border.

The district administration has alerted emergency services to deal with any eventuality because of the heightened tension at the border.

Earlier, Defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta told IANS that a woman was killed in indiscriminate firing and shelling by the Pakistan Army on Wednesday evening in Naushera sector.

The Pakistanis used small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars. Intermittent firing was still going on, the official said.
Washington, May 11 : The CIA has established a Korea Mission Centre to address "the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by" North Korea and its "unpredictable" leader Kim Jong-un, the US agency revealed in a statement.

The creation of the centre focusing on specific threats, will allow the Central Intelligence Agency to "harness the full resources, capabilities, and authorities" to deal with North Korea, CNN quoted the statement as saying late Wednesday.

The centre will put together CIA analysts and officers side by side in one location to tackle the threat from Pyongyang.

"The new Mission Centre draws on experienced officers from across the Agency and integrates them in one entity to bring their expertise and creativity to bear against the North Korea target," the statement said.

Former CIA senior analyst John Nixon told CNN he expected the centre to issue "sitreps" -- situation reports -- for the intelligence community and President Donald Trump's administration, possibly twice daily, indicating a round-the-clock watch by an office of significant size.

In the statement, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said the creation of the centre focuses the CIA's efforts against the "serious threats" emerging from North Korea, which has ramped up both nuclear and missile tests in an effort to enhance its military capabilities.

There are 10 such existing centres in the CIA, and the new addition will be the most focused in terms of geographical area and remit -- the Korean Peninsula currently falls under the jurisdiction of the Mission Centre for East Asia and Pacific.
Beijing, May 11 : India's claim to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir has created problems for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a top Chinese scholar has said.

In an interview to IANS, Wang Yiwei, Dean, the Centre for European Studies at Renmin University, said: "Pakistani-dominated Kashmir was not India's."

The author of "China Connects the World, What Behind the Belt and Road Initiative" urged India to join the Belt and Road project, whose artery CPEC is opposed by New Delhi.

"India says that whole of Kashmir (including the part controlled by Pakistan) belongs to India. This is a Pakistan-dominated area, not India's," Wang told IANS.

"It's a problem (for CPEC)," Wang added at his office on the campus of the red-bricked Renmin University of China.

The $46 billion CPEC has emerged as the latest sore point between India and China, the fastest-growing economies of the world who have had a history of mutual distrust after a brief war in 1962.

The CPEC is the most important of all the six routes of China's ambitious Belt and Road project, which envisages to connect Asia with Europe.

This particular route, which links China's Kashgar in Xingjiang with Gwadar port in Pakistan's largest province, cuts through Gilgit-Baltistan -- part of Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by India.

Pakistan holds the northern third of Jammu and Kashmir and India the southern two-thirds. New Delhi blames Islamabad for a separatist campaign raging in the Indian part of Kashmir.

India says it will "resolutely" oppose the corridor as it is a matter of "sovereignty".

"In the 1960s, the Chinese government began to build Karakoram highway linking Xingjiang with Karachi. the Indian government was not against it then," Wang said.

This highway also passes through the disputed region between India and Pakistan, which New Delhi has always considered a security threat.

Wang said India was unnecessarily concerned about CPEC, which, he said, was an economic programme.

"This is a project, not a military to contain somebody. You worry about the Indian Ocean. You worry about China's influence in the Indian Ocean.

"India is also worried about the port. They say military ... blah blah blah."

Indian security experts fear after gaining access to Gwadar port, the Chinese will find it easy to sail into the Indian Ocean.

However, China says the project is being implemented only for economic advantages.

"If you visit the port, there are hospitals, airport and industrial park. Pakistan has suffered a lot. Every year, 1,000 people die in Karachi due to power shortage. They don't even have a fan," Wang said.

"India thinks Pakistan is its enemy. You should change the mentality. Pakistan is not your enemy, Pakistan is your brother. You were the same country before."

Asked how the issue of CPEC would be resolved, Wang said: "You should ask Pakistan."

It's because of the CPEC that India has been non-committal about joining the Belt and Project. Also, New Delhi is highly unlikely to attend the Belt and Road conference in Beijing on May 14-15.

"However, we should do something to address India's concern," the scholar said. "We want India to join the Belt and Road forum. Belt and Raod is a guarantee that it's a win-win (project).

"When you can join Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, why not join this?" Wang asked.
New Delhi, May 11 : Hollywood actress Demi Moore might come to India to promote Indian-American film "Love Sonia", says director Tabrez Noorani.

The director added that Moore's role in the David Womark production is small, but she was excited to get on board.

Asked if Moore will visit India to promote the film, Noorani told IANS over phone from Mumbai: "We don't know about it yet. But there is likelihood that she could come (to promote the film in the country)."

"Love Sonia" depicts the brutal realities of human trafficking across the globe. The movie also features Mrunal Thakur, Richa Chadha, Anupam Kher and Frieda Pinto.

Noorani is in Mumbai for the post production work of "Love Sonia". The release date will be locked soon after all the work on the film is wrapped up.

How did Moore find her way into the film? Noorani says she got attracted to the film due to her NGO Thorn that works to abolish sexual slavery and trafficking.

He said: "Demi has her own NGO and fights sex trafficking using technology. So she wanted to get on the project. It is a very small part but was happy to get on board."

In the past, Noorani has been associated as a line producer with projects like "Life of Pi", "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol", "Zero Dark Thirty", "Eat Pray Love" and "Slumdog Millionaire" -- which will air on Sony PIX on May 26.
Rabat, May 11 : King Mohammed VI of Morocco called up French President-elect Emmanuel Macron to congratulate him and to discuss taking bilateral ties forward, the King's Office said.

During the phone call, the King reiterated his warm congratulations to Macron for his election to the highest office, which was marked by broad support to his vision for the future of the French Republic and the well-being of his fellow citizens, the King's Office said in a statement, according to MAP news agency.

The phone call also provided an opportunity to highlight the unique nature of relations between the two countries in all fields, as well as the shared will to consolidate and enrich this exceptional partnership, the source added.
New Delhi, May 11 : Micromax, in partnership with Airtel, on Thursday launched a 2017 edition 'Canvas 2' smartphone that offers one year of free 4G data and calling minutes at no additional cost.

Priced at Rs 11,999, the device is powered by a quad-core 1.3GHz processor paired up with 3GB of RAM and has internal memory of 16GB that can be expanded up to 64GB.

The device is the first smartphone in its price segment with a Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

"Our partnership with Corning has also helped us make 'Canvas 2', the first smartphone to offer Corning Gorilla Glass 5 in its price segment. We expect 'Canvas 2' to yet again set a bench mark and revolutionise the overall smartphone adoption," Rahul Sharma, co-founder of Micromax Informatics, told reporters here.

Micromax expects to consolidate its stronghold in the market as it aims to sell more than one million 'Canvas 2' smartphones in India and in other markets, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The device has 13MP rear camera, a 5MP selfie camera with wide-angle lens, a fingerprint sensor, a 3,050mAh battery and runs on Android Nougat operating system.

"We're thrilled that Micromax is the first Indian device company to incorporate our most advanced Gorilla Glass into its flagship Canvas device to give its mid-segment customers an unrivalled performance," added John Bayne, Vice President and General Manager, Corning Gorilla Glass.

Sporting a 2.5D Cover Glass with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, "Canvas 2" gives up to four times better performance in drop failure height than other glasses.

Customers purchasing the device will enjoy free 1GB 4G data per day and unlimited calling to any network in India for one year.
New Delhi, May 11 : Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday congratulated the government for approaching the International Court of Justice on Kulbhushan Jadhav, even as his party has expressed caution over the move.

"Congratulations to our government for deciding to pursue international action on Kulbhushan Jadhav. It was the best way," said Tharoor on his official Twitter account.

On Wednesday, the Congress said that approaching the ICJ on the issue of Jadhav might expose India to the "risk" of Pakistan raising issues internationally and stressed that issues must be solved bilaterally. The ICJ has asked Pakistan to put on hold the death sentence on Jadhav.

Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said on Wednesday: "Does it ever give Pakistan the right to question, and if that is what they are looking for to internationalise this issue, then India has to be careful about this."

"The best resolution between India and Pakistan can be discussed at bilateral level all the times irrespective of however intransigent and badly behaved Pakistan is," said Kumar.

He also asked if the government has thought through all the ramifications of its move on approaching the ICJ.
Islamabad, May 11 : A man was arrested before he could board a plane to Qatar here on Thursday for killing the leader of a Pakistani Islamist group in 2003.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Sibtain Kazmi on charges of murdering Maulana Azam Tariq, a former chief of the Millat-i-Islamia that is now known as the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.

Kazmi, whose name was on the Exit Control List, was apprehended by FIA officials at Islamabad airport while attempting to flee to Manchester via Doha, the Dawn reported on Thursday.

Tariq was gunned down in Islamabad in October 2003 by three assailants who sprayed bullets at his car with AK-47 assault rifles.

He received 40 bullet wounds. All five people in the car were killed.

Tariq earlier headed Anjuman Sipah-i-Sahaba, which later changed its name to Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and then to Millat-i-Islamia. It is now known as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.
London, May 11 : Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani discussed bilateral relations on the sidelines of an international conference being held in London on Thursday in support of Somalia.

During the meeting, the two discussed means of achieving sustainable development in Somalia along with a number of issues of mutual interest.

The Qatari Foreign Minister reiterated his country's commitment to supporting the Somali people in countering the challenges they face and their efforts towards building a stable state and achieving sustainable development.

The one-day conference in London seeks to accelerate progress on security, development and economy of the troubled east African country by 2020.

The meeting will be co-chaired by the Somalia President, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Forty delegations from countries and international institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the League of Arab States are set to participate.

The gathering will focus on stimulating growth in one of the world's poorest countries and securing a path towards debt relief.

According to reports, the meeting was timely as drought, piracy and militant Islamist group Shabaab were all reappearing on the radar.

The UN said last week that Somalia, hit by drought and on the verge of famine, will count 1.4 million acutely malnourished children by the end of the year -- up 50 per cent from late 2016.
New Delhi, May 11 : Highlighting the need for India-Austria collaboration in clean energy, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said a policy directive on quality of modules will soon be in place, according to a statement here on Thursday.

Goyal was speaking at the India-Austria Business Forum organised by the Ficci in collaboration with the Embassy of India in Vienna and Austrian Economic Chambers (Wirtschaftskammer A-sterreich WKO).

"India needs to put entire solar value chain under quality direction... The government will have a policy directive in place on quality of modules (by end of May)," the minister said, according to the industry lobby statement.

The other policies to follow it would be on solar cells, which would be in the next six-seven months and on wafers and polysilicon in the next two years, it added.

Goyal said the two nations could leverage each other's strengths to benefit both economies. India can offer better pricing for Austrian products while providing low-cost manufacturing base.

He underlined affordability was a paramount imperative to be able to change India's energy mix.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a new dimension to renewable energy.

The latest solar tariff of four cents was a case in point for Modi's vision of scaling up rapidly giving good returns in more ways than one.

Highlighting that within six months of his visit to Finland, there have been multiple exchanges facilitated by Ficci, Goyal said that India could fast track with Austria what it has done with Finland.

A high-level business delegation accompanied the minister, who went to Vienna for the two-day business forum.

Noting that an estimated $160 billion is required to meet India's ambitious clean energy goals between now and 2022, Ficci President Pankaj Patel highlighted the immense potential of green bonds for channelling debt capital funds towards clean energy financing in both the countries.
Rabat, May 11 : A delegation of Moroccan parliamentarians is currently in South Africa to take part in the fourth session of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), being held in Midrand, near Johannesburg, from May 8 to May 19.

Speaking in the wake of the Kingdom's return to the African Union (AU), which took place at the organisation's 28th summit held in Addis Ababa in January, this participation aims to prepare for Morocco's official return to the legislative body of the AU, the report said on Thursday.

"Our participation is aimed at finalising the procedures for Morocco's accession to the Pan-African Parliament," Abdellatif Abdouh, a member of the House of Councillors (Istiqlal party), told MAP.

He said that the participation is part of the framework of the dynamisation of parliamentary diplomacy to accompany the return of the Kingdom within its African institutional family.

The return of Morocco to the PAP will be formalised on the occasion of the fifth session of this Parliament, which will be held next October, Abdouh added.

The members of the Moroccan delegation -- three members of the House of Representatives and two of the House of Councillors -- will hold meetings with several African delegations.

Mohamed Zakrani, deputy of the parliamentary group of the constitutional assembly in the House of Representatives, stressed the importance of Morocco's return to the PAP, noting that this return will defend the interests of Morocco.

Another official said that Morocco's return to the PAP will mark the beginning of a new chapter in Morocco's relations with Africa.

"The presence of Morocco in the PAP will enable the Kingdom to defend its just and legitimate causes within a pan-African legislative institution whose influence is constantly strengthening," the official said.
Bhubaneswar, May 11 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has directed the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia to facilitate the return of 24 workers from India, including 12 from Odisha, who have been allegedly held captive by a company there on salary-related issues.

The action of the External Affairs ministry came after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sought her intervention for the safe return of the Odia labourers.

Sushma Swaraj asked the Indian embassy in Riyadh to inform the Chief Minister about the development in ensuring their repatriation.

"Embassy cognizant of it, vigorously pursuing with the Company and agent towards their repatriation; hope to send them soon," the Indian embassy in Riyadh tweeted.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had tweeted, "Deeply concerned about Odia workers held captive in Saudi Arabia; Request @SushmaSwaraj ji @PMOIndia to intervene for their safe return."

At least 12 labourers from various blocks of Ganjam district had been to Saudi Arabia five months ago through an agent from Andhra Pradesh to work in Al Riyadh Construction Company.

Of the remaining workers, eight are from Andhra Pradesh and four from Tamil Nadu. They were taken to Saudi Arabia to work as plumbers. However, their passports were seized after two months of payment and they were allegedly exploited and given life threats.

Finding no help in the foreign land, the labourers sent WhatsApp videos narrating their ordeal to their family members. They sought the help of the government for their safe return to India.

In the meantime, the Ganjam district administration has launched a probe to gather information on the trapped labourers.

"We have collected information on 12 persons. As per reports, four are from Rangeilunda, three from Beguniapara and one each from Khallikote, Chhatrapur, Patrapur, Chikiti and Hinjilikatu," said Shiv Narayan Sahu, District Labour Officer.
Lucknow, May 11 : Around three dozen official vehicles otherwise allotted for use by officers and doctors of two directorates of Uttar Pradesh Health Department are being misused by unauthorised persons, reveal affidavits filed in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court.

The affidavits were filed by competent authorities in response to a petition moved by Dr R.K. Saini of the Provincial Medical Services Association, who had claimed that official vehicles allotted to various officers/doctors of the two directorates were being used unauthorisedly.

The court had then sought a response from the state health authorities.

Petitioner's counsel Nutan Thakur said on Thursday that Medical, Health and Family Planning Directorate's Executive Engineer D.N. Singh Yadav informed the court through an affidavit that of the 80 official vehicles with the directorate, 32 were in use by unauthorised persons.

These include 11 vehicles attached to different ministers, three to a Principal Secretary, two to a Secretary, two to a Special Secretary to the Chief Minister and one to the District Magistrate of Lucknow.

The affidavit by Director General of Family Welfare Neena Gupta said that of the 30 vehicles at the disposal of her directorate, five were attached with ministers and two with Secretaries, while one was with the Central Bureau of Investigation which is probing a case.
New Delhi, May 11 : India is passing through the biggest technological revolution which will make data analytics critical for delivery of services to the people, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Thursday.

Leakages in government schemes are now vanishing and in due course all benefits provided by the government will go straight to the intended beneficiary's account, he said at an event here.

Addressing an interactive meeting organised by industry body FICCI, Kant enumerated the various initiatives of the government to change the 19th century mindsets and move into the 21st century through vast and transformative decisions.

The government has leveraged technology to link up all states with the Centre through 'PRAGATI' (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation), an integrative and interactive platform for addressing the common man's grievances and monitoring important programmes and projects, the NITI Aayog CEO said.

Under this initiative, the Prime Minister links up with all Chief Secretaries of states and Indian Ambassadors overseas to monitor projects online once every fortnight.

This initiative, he added, was breaking all walls between the states and the Centre.

He said the government has moved away from inputs and processes to focus on outcome targets of various ministries.

Outcomes are now monitored regularly through a dashboard, an IT user interface, created by NITI Aayog.

Any deviations from the assigned outcome targets are brought to the notice of the PMO, which then suggests appropriate remedial steps, Kant said at the interactive meeting on "The Business of Government: Learnings from Global Experiences" organised with the support of NITI Aayog, Bharti Institute of Public Policy of Indian School of Business (ISB) and the IBM Centre for The Business of Government.

The quiet administrative revolution that has been taking place in the country will receive a shot in the arm by the increasing use of digital technology which in turn will give a fillip to growth, Kant said.
Islamabad, May 11 : Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and Narendra Modi of India might meet in Kazakhstan, a top Pakistani official has said, amid reports of back channel contacts.

Sartaj Azia, the Advisor to Sharif, said that a meeting between the two leaders cannot be ruled out on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit next month in Kazakhstan.

But it was too early to speak about such a meting, the Nation newspaper quoted him as saying on Wednesday. "Pakistan could consider the meeting if interest was shown from the other side."

Aziz said the SCO Summit was important as Pakistan would become a permanent member of the organisation.

The report said there was widespread speculation about a possible Sharif-Modi meeting after the Pakistani Prime Minister recently met Indian business tycoon Sajjan Jindal, who "reportedly conveyed a message of the Indian premier to the Pakistani leader".

Aziz said Pakistan was reviewing India's plea against alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence and also the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the case.

The Nation quoted unnamed senior Pakistani Foreign Office officials as saying that diplomatic efforts had been launched to defuse tensions along the borders with its immediate neighbours.

"There have been overt and covert talks with all the countries (Iran, Afghanistan and India)," an official was quoted as saying.

"Nobody can afford confrontation, so we are trying to resolve the misunderstandings through talks," the official said.

He said that while there had been open talks with Iran and Afghanistan, "back-channels were being used in India's case".

The unnamed official added that if Modi and Sharif do meet on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, "it will be positive to concentrate on the talks process".

Relations between India and Pakistan have touched a new low after a Pakistani military court awarded death sentence to Indian "spy" Jadhav and two Indian soldiers were beheaded on the Jammu and Kashmir border.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
Lucknow, May 11 : A day after he was sacked from the BSP, former PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui on Thursday accused party supremo Mayawati and her brother of making illegal demands, including asking Rs 50 crore for the party.

Addressing a press conference, the former BSP General Secretary also alleged that Mayawati had called Muslims "traitors".

Siddiqui, who was expelled along with his son a day ago, said he had "ample proof" that Mayawati, her brother Anand and party General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra made illegal demands to him.

Alleging that Mayawati had asked for Rs 50 crore from him, he said: "I asked from where can I get this amount, to which, she asked me to sell my property."

The expelled leader claimed he tried to explain to her that his property was not worth even a quarter of money she was asking for.

Siddiqui said after the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress cobbled an alliance ahead of the February-March assembly elections, he told Mayawati the Muslims were drifting towards the alliance.

"An upset Mayawati called the Muslim community 'gaddar' (traitors)," the former Minister said.

He also accused the former Chief Minister of insulting him and many senior party office-bearers repeatedly.

Siddiqui said he had dedicated his whole life to the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Dalit leader, but she expelled him from the party on flimsy grounds.

She did not even give me an audience to explain whatever was said against me, he said.

"I am pained that sacrifices made by me and my family for the last so many years have been rewarded with sudden expulsion," Siddiqui said.

The former Minister also denied charges against him and his son, who too has been expelled from the BSP.

He said the BSP fared badly in the 2012 and 2017 assembly elections and the 2009 and 2014 general elections due to Mayawati's wrong policies and actions.

Siddiqui, once a confidant of the BSP chief, was expelled along with his son Afzal on Wednesday for alleged involvement in anti-party activities.

Mishra also accused him of taking money from candidates during the 2017 assembly elections, in which the BSP's tally fell to an all-time low of 19.

Siddiqui, a three-time senior minister in previous BSP governments, was also accused of becoming a partner in many slaughterhouse businesses and holding "benami" properties at many places.

He has denied all charges.
For Karl Setzer, it has been interesting watching the corn and soybean markets fluctuate but still remain in the same basic trading range.

Its been a lot more of the same, says Setzer, a market analyst with Max Yield Cooperative in West Bend, Iowa.

Both corn and soybeans have remained in the same trading ranges for some time, Setzer says. Corn has been hanging around in the $3.50 to $4 range, while soybeans have been in the $9.50 to $9.90 range.

Of course, as planting season advances, it is possible the market will see that as one less risk and the prices could slip. On the flip side of that, it hasnt been an especially easy planting season in some areas, and that could potentially impact markets.

One interesting twist has been the strong demand for soybeans in China. Setzer says China imported about 10.2 million metric tons of beans from the U.S. in April (about 400 million bushels). And soybean exports to China have also been strong.

One possible explanation is that China is substituting soy meal for dried distillers grains. China has reduced the shipments of DDGs while increasing the shipments of soybeans. While that could be due to political considerations Setzer says it likely has more to do with price.

It is also possible that the Chinese are trying to ramp up their own ethanol production. They have corn on hand and some of it is of poor quality and may be more suited to ethanol production than feed use.

For Iowa farmers, sales of either product may be a good thing. Meanwhile, those farmers are busy trying to get the corn and soybean crops into the ground, and the market will continue keeping an eye on progress on that front.
Lucknow, May 11 : The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday told the Allahabad High Court (HC) that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cannot be prosecuted in a riots case involving a 2007 hate speech.

Yogi was then a Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur constitguency.

Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar, who was summoned by the High Court, told it that earlier this month the state's home department had refused to grant permission for the Chief Minister's trial.

The top bureaucrat was summoned by the court to explain why the five people, including Adityanath, were not being prosecuted in a case of riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The court had also asked Bhatnagar to come armed with all relevant documents with regard to the matter.

Explaining the stand of the state government, the Chief Secretary apprised the court that a forensic test of the CD of Yogi Adityanath's alleged hate speech of January 27, 2007, showed it was tampered with.

The case was filed in 2008 by local journalist Pervez Parwaz and social activist Asad Hayat, who is also witness to Yogi's speech.

The probe into the allegations was completed in 2015 but despite a government headed by the Samajwadi Party, no sanction was granted for Yogi's prosecution and the matter remained in limbo.

After the statement by the Chief Secretary, the petitioners said that they will move court again to challenge the government stand.

They also scoffed at the development by saying that it was ridiculous that the man in-charge of the home department, Yogi Adityanath, has given himself a clean chit.
Moscow, May 11 : Five gay rights activists were on Thursday detained in Moscow as they tried to deliver a petition to the office of Russia's prosecutor general.

The activists, four Russians and one Italian national, said more than two million people had signed the petition to investigate alleged torture and detentions of gay people in the Russian region of Chechnya, BBC reported.

They also carried huge empty boxes, symbolising online signatures they had collected in protest against the alleged crackdown, said the report.

The petition was signed "by more than two million people around the world, more than the entire population of the Chechen republic", the Russian LGBT Network said.

It said the activists were demanding "an unbiased investigation of illegal detentions of hundreds of people in Chechnya because of their homosexuality".

Police said the activists were held because their action was unauthorised.

Chechen officials deny that gay people even exist in the republic.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin backed an inquiry into the reported crackdown on gay people in Chechnya, in the North Caucasus.

Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the Russian authorities to help protect gay rights.
New Delhi, May 11 : A day before the all-party meeting called by the Election Commission, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday threw a fresh challenge before the poll panel and said that given a chance it could prove how voting machines used in the assembly polls were pre-programmed to favour a particular party.

AAP lawmaker Saurabh Bharadwaj urged the Election Commission to form a panel of representatives of all political parties and experts from the poll panel to examine Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

"We will demonstrate and prove before the panel how EVMs can be tampered with the help of its ROM (read only memory)," Bharadwaj told the media.

He said the AAP would urge the Election Commission in an all-party meeting on Friday to form the panel.

He said he could find out from an EVM ROM which party a particular voter had polled for and the sequence in which votes were cast.

Bharadwaj explained that the proposed panel may randomly pick five booths where they suspect rigging had taken place.

One voter from each of those booths could be cross-examined by a judicial magistrate in an in-camera proceeding and asked which party did he or she vote for.

"We can find by reading the ROM of that EVM where the voter's vote went and if his or her statement is corroborated by the EVM then no rigging has taken place. If not, then it proves our point (that voting machines were being tampered with)," Bharadwaj said.

The AAP's new challenge came two days after Bharadwaj, an IT engineer, on Tuesday demonstrated in Delhi Assembly by using a lookalike machine how EVMs could be manipulated by tampering with its code and changing its motherboard.

"The EC used to say that an EVM is a stand-alone machine and not connected to any network so it can't be tampered, but we tampered with a replica of EVM in Delhi Assembly on Tuesday by a secret code," he said.

The AAP leader said their doubts about the EVM gained ground when during municipal polls in Maharashtra a candidate claimed that he did not even get his own vote that he had polled for himself.

He also recalled how a demo in Bhind in Madhya Pradesh "proved" votes were going to the BJP irrespective of any EVM button pressed.

"This raised our doubts about EVM tampering," he said, adding it was surprising to know that the BJP was winning almost all elections after the November demonetisation though no one was happy in the country with the move of recalling Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

"If the Election Commission wants, we can find the truth behind EVM tampering. The AAP will do whatever it takes to save democracy. If the truth behind the doubts cast over the credibility of EVMs isn't revealed then the country will slip into dictatorship which is very dangerous for any democratic republic," the AAP leader said.
Ranchi, May 11 : Three Maoist guerrillas including one carrying a Rs 10 lakh reward were arrested from two places in the state on Thursday, police said.

According to police, Ram Sundar Ram was arrested on a tip off from people in Joga village in Palamau district. Ram had joined the cadre in 1988 and more than 20 cases were registered against him in separate police stations.

Two Maoists, Marshal Mandu and Kaila Horo belonging to the People's Liberation Front of India, were arrested from Khuti district. They are accused of killing a priest and torching vehicles.
New Delhi, May 11 : Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said the Centre will be launching a campaign to educationally empower the poor and marginalised sections of the society.

Stressing the Narendra Modi government's commitment towards providing quality education to students belonging to minority communities, Naqvi said the ministry will establishing five "world class" educational institutions across the country.

"Tehrik-e-Taalim (campaign for education) will be launched on the occasion of late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's 86th birth anniversary on October 15," Naqvi told the media here.

Aimed at educationally empowering the most poor and backward sections of the society, the campaign will be launched in 100 districts across the country, which have been identified as lacking in education awareness.

"Besides spreading awareness about education and various government schemes, we will be building schools and educational institutions to develop educational infrastructure in these areas," he said.

The five new institutes will be imparting education in the fields of technology, medical, Ayurveda, Unani etc.

"A high-level committee, constituted to frame the roadmap, including places where these institutes will be established, will soon submit its report. Our target is to start academic sessions in these institutes from 2018," Naqvi said, adding that 40 per cent reservation for girls in these institutions has been proposed.

About 100 Navoday Vidyalaya type schools will also be opened in minority concentrated areas in the coming months, he said.

Speaking about the achievements of the ministry in the last three years of Modi's government, Naqvi said that scholarships worth Rs 4,740 crore were given to 1.82 crore students besides contributing towards infrastructure development including building 33 colleges, 97 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), 16 polytechnic institutes, 1,102 school buildings and 1952 drinking water facilities.

He said that 47,986 pucca (concrete) houses have been built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and provisioning of 17,434 hand pumps/water tanks and wells has been made across the country for Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis -- the six notified minority communities.

Pointing at a nearly 10 per cent hike in the ministry's budget in 2017-18, Naqvi said around 70 per cent of the budget is being spent on schemes and programmes aimed at educational empowerment and skill development of minorities.

He said the Centre's policy of "empowerment without appeasement" has created an "atmosphere of development and trust" among the minorities and has been successful in bringing the poor, backward and weaker sections of the minorities into the mainstream of the development through "3Es" -- education, employment and empowerment.

In the last three years, over 5.2 lakh youths, including about 40 per cent women, have been covered under various job-oriented skill training schemes of the ministry at an expenditure of Rs 578 crore, he said.

Naqvi also said the ministry will be promoting artisans and craftsmen by providing them markets through organising "Hunar Haats" across the country.

"We have decided to establish 'Hunar Hub', to organise such events, in every state. Several states have come forward to provide land for the project. Next 'Hunar Haat' will be organised at Puducherry, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Gauhati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur," the minister said and added that the last two such haats held in Delhi witnessed a cumulative footfall of over 33 lakh.

He also said a "Ustaad Samman Samaroh" will be launched during Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya birth centenary celebrations, to felicitate and honour artisans and craftsmen from minority communities.
Mumbai, May 11 : Around 4,500 petrol and CNG pumps in Maharashtra have decided to observe 'holiday' on Sundays, beginning May 14, and work on single day shifts, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., from Monday - ignoring criticism of the move by the Petroleum Ministry.

The move will hit 225 petrol pumps in Mumbai alone, Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association (FAMPEDA) President Uday Lodh said.

The move is being implemented to support its various demands with the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), including a hike in dealer margins which were not revised since 2011, and other long-pending issues.

"We are currently operating on extremely low margins, selling high-tech unleaded petrol/diesel products in which the evaporation rate is very high, resulting in huge losses, besides several other major issues," Lodh told IANS.

Additionally, there are areas of concern like a certain amount of minimum salary to be paid to the staffers at each petrol pump, which has become unaffordable due to the low operating margins, he added.

The FAMPEDA decision will directly affect the livelihood of around 100,000 staffers at petrol pumps in the state who work mostly in two or three shifts depending on the location.

A weekly holiday plus working in a single shift on other days will help the petrol pumps to drastically reduce their running expenditure, he pointed out.

A beginning was made on Wednesday with petrol pumps refusing to buy fresh stocks from OMCs, with nearly 85 percent response by the dealers.

However, there are apprehensions that a weekly holiday coupled with single-shift operations could lead to long queues at all times of the day at petrol pumps in major cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, etc.

Besides Maharashtra, the other states where petrol pumps are also planning to implement a similar working schedule include Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Haryana which had announced a similar move on April 18.

Though Lodh declined to speculate the daily figure of losses in view of the new work schedules, he said the monthly sale of petroleum products is in the range of 130 kl per month in India.

All over India, there around nearly 55,000 petrol bunks with a majority operational between 6 a.m.-10 p.m., and the rest working round-the-clock.

Additionally, Lodh said the need to pay a certain minimum salary to the staffers at petrol pumps "has become unaffordable due to the low operating margins", he said.

Earlier, some dealers had attributed the move towards saving fuel and Forex for the country, in response to an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Sunday-holiday move could entail savings of around 20 per cent fuel burned in the country, they said.

On April 20, the Petroleum Ministry said it "neither endorses nor approves" of the move by small section of dealers to keep their petrol pumps closed on Sundays. It said the move would lead to inconvenience to general public.

The ministry criticism came after the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD), which claims to have 25,000 members, asked its members to shut shop on Sundays.
Rome, May 11 : The Islamic State terror group said it is still waging war against the Vatican "and other strongholds of Christianity", US terrorism-tracking website SITE Intelligence reported on Thursday.

"The war on the Vatican and other strongholds of Christianity is continuing," IS wrote in caption beneath photos of Pope Francis and his predecessor Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in its online magazine 'Rumiyah' (Rome), SITE said.

An in-depth article on terrorism tactics and the use of trucks in attacks also features in Rumiyah's new issue, which contains a photo of Pope Francis during his visit to the Egyptian capital Cairo in late April, according to SITE.

Italian authorities in April last year said they had foiled an IS plot to attack the Vatican during the Holy Year that ran from December 2015 to November 2016 as well as the Israeli embassy in Rome.

The IS has regularly used the symbolism of Rome and the Roman Empire to underline its aims to conquer Europe and attack the continent's "crusaders" as propaganda in its bid to recruit foreign fighters.

The group has previously made purported threats against the Vatican and as recently as in April this year, an audio tape by its spokesman Abu Hassan urged the IS supporters to stage new attacks worldwide.

An Islamic Caliphate would spread from Baghdad to Damascus, Jerusalem, Amman, Istanbul and Rome after Tehran, Abu Hassan purportedly claimed in the tape.
New Delhi, May 11 : A 48-year-old gunrunner, carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh for his arrest and wanted in four cases in the national capital, has been held from north Delhi, police said on Thursday.

As many as 11 pistols and 14 cartridges were seized from the possession of Richpal, who was into manufacturing and supply of illegal firearms in the Delhi National Capital Region and Maharashtra and even to Maoists in Telangana, police said.

Richpal was arrested from Nirankari Samagam Road in Burari area after a scuffle with police on late Monday night, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Kumar Yadav told IANS.

Police said he was a kingpin of Madhya Pradesh-based gang, and was earlier arrested for supply of firearms, ammunition and hand grenades to Maoists in Telangana. He was wanted in four cases in Delhi, Yadav said.

Richpal, a resident of a village in Madhya Pradesh, told police he was involving in the illegal trade for more than 30 years. He said his father, six brothers and other family members were into manufacture of illegal firearms, Yadav said.

Police earlier arrested some of his gang members in Delhi.
Mumbai/Thiruvananthapuram, May 11 : Amid a public outcry in Kerala over a State Bank of India (SBI) announcement levying charges on ATM cash withdrawals from June 1, the largest public lender on Thursday clarified that the charge of Rs 25 is applicable only for withdrawals from SBI Buddy through ATMs.

"Rs 25 per transaction charge is applicable only for mobile wallet app SBI Buddy using ATM. This is applicable only for State Bank Buddy customers," the bank said here in a statement.

The clarification comes after the SBI in a notification indicated that all ATM withdrawals will be charged a fee of Rs 25, which was later replaced with the corrected notification.

The bank said that the number of free withdrawals from ATMs remained unchanged.

Jan-Dhan account holders with the SBI can avail of four free withdrawals in a month from ATMs.

Normal savings bank accounts holders will continue to get eight free ATM transactions (five from SBI ATMs plus three from other bank ATMs) in metros and 10 free transactions in non-metros (five from SBI ATMs plus five from other bank ATMs).

Earlier in the day, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac told the media that the only reason he could see for this "mad" new rule was that the SBI was faced with mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) to the tune of Rs 1.67 lakh crore.

"This is height of madness and irresponsibility. It would be interesting to find out the list of NPAs of the SBI... One wouldn't be surprised if the majority (of defaulters) are found to be corporates."

"Just take a look at their (SBI) profits, it has dramatically come down. The charges have been levied to bring down their losses. This is something that even private sector banks would not dare think of doing," said Issac.

CPI-M's Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh said, "This is outrageous and the central government is cheating the people. Ever since the demonetisation began, the Centre has been bullying people. This is going to be taken up, both within and out of Parliament very strongly."

The move was also slammed by CPI-M Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh and popular film personality Shobi Thilakan, who called it an "anti-people policy of the Centre".
New Delhi, May 11 : CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said approaching the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav indicated the Narendra Modi governments "diplomatic failure".

"Going to the ICJ indicates government's diplomatic failure to resolve a sensitive issue. A bilateral matter is now being internationalised," Yechury said on Twitter.

"From inviting the Inter-Services Intelligence to Pathankot (in Punjab) to going for a wedding in the Nawaz Sharif family to the ICJ now, Modi's Pakistan policy is marked only by its absence," added Yechury.

"By setting this precedent, let's hope the government is able to handle it better, unlike its record of botching up things so far," he said.

India on Wednesday said the ICJ had been approached to save the life of Jadhav, an Indian national sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges.

The ICJ, which suspended Jadhav's death sentence, is likely to hear India's plea on Monday.

Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Brinda Karat had welcomed Jadhav getting international support.

She said ICJ's intervention "reflected the larger international sentiment against Pakistan's decision".

"Pakistan will be questioned thoroughly if it does not respect the ICJ's decision," she had said following the ICJ stay on Jadhav's execution.
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.
Kolkata, May 11 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her state would never stop its fight against intolerance, notwithstanding the silence maintained by other states.

"The intolerance in the name of religion that is going on in the country can only be battled by Bengal. Bihar may be silent, Maharashtra may be silent, Odisha may be silent but West Bengal will never be silent. We don't care... how much difficult a situation Delhi creates. We only care for the people," Banerjee said at a meeting here on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.

Targeting the BJP, she accused it of inciting riots.

The Trinamool Congress supremo said: "We do not believe in government by the dangabaaj (riotous), for the dangabaaj, of the dangabaaj."

"I am in politics but it does not give me the right to dictate what others will eat or not. They are nothing but pseudo-religious," she added.
Islamabad, May 11 : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had told Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa that his meeting with Indian business tycoon Sajjan Jindal was part of back-channel diplomacy moves with India, a media report said.

According to BBC Urdu, Sharif had taken Gen Bajwa into confidence on his April 28 meeting with Jindal, that fuelled intense speculation in Pakistan.

The report said, citing sources, that the civil leadership informed the military authorities that Sharif's meeting with an Indian business tycoon, who is known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was part of back-channel diplomacy.

The sources said that the Indian businessman had the backing of some important Indian officials for his meeting with the Prime Minister to "defuse the ongoing tension" between the two neighbours.

The military leadership also took its officials into confidence on the meeting, BBC said.

The only detail of the meeting that Sharif shared with his aides was that Jindal was "making efforts to defuse tension between India and Pakistan", the source said.

Sharif and JSW Group Chairperson Sajjan Jindal met in the hill station Murree, about 45 km from Islamabad.

The Foreign Office had termed the meeting "personal" and refused to comment on it.
Colombo, May 11 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took part in a traditional lamp lighting ceremony at a Buddhist temple here as part of the International Vesak Day celebrations.

"In holy sanctum. PM @narendramodi visits Gangaramaya temple @ d famous Beira Lake, lights lamps @ temple on Vesak Day eve," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

As Modi put a switch on, the entire complex of the Gangaramaya temple, one of the most important Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, was lit up by colourful lights, which was followed by fireworks in the sky.

According to Indian state broadcaster Doordarshan, Modi, who was accompanied by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, also offered prayers at the temple.

The Gangaramaya temple was established in the late 19th century by one of the most famous scholar monks, Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumanagala Nayaka Thera.

Its complex comprises the temple, the 'seema malaka' or assembly hall for monks in the picturesque Beira Lake and a vocational training institute.

Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

The visit follows an invitation from Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.

This is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day. The theme of the event is Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace.

The Indian Prime Minister will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic -- a tooth of Lord Buddha.

In Pallekelle, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India's grant assistance.

Modi will also open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital at Dickoya in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.

Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, the visit is expected to give renewed momentum in India-Sri Lanka ties.

Last month, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe visited India.
Beijing, May 11 : China's President Xi Jinping set out his opposition to the deployment of an advanced US missile system, in his first discussion with new South Korean leader Moon Jae-in on Thursday.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile system, aimed at intercepting attacks from North Korea, was made operational in South Korea last week.

But Beijing said the system will spy on its territory and strongly criticised its deployment and the relations between the two countries have deteriorated over the issue, BBC reported.

A South Korean presidential spokesman said the Chinese leader -- who initiated the phone call on Thursday -- "explained the reasons for Beijing's strong and repeated opposition" to the deployment, Yonhap news agency reported.

Moon also raised the issue of apparent economic retaliation against South Korean firms in China, he said.

Moon said he will send a delegation to Beijing to discuss both North Korea and THAAD.

The THAAD deployment was agreed by Moon's predecessor, conservative leader Park Guen-hye. She is currently in prison awaiting trial on corruption charges.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the two sides expressed willingness "to bring (relations) back to a healthy and stable development track".

Both Moon and Xi agreed that denuclearising North Korea was a "common goal".

Moon advocated dialogue with the North as well as sanctions, adopting a more conciliatory stance than his predecessor.
Ankara, May 11 : Turkey on Thursday tested its first home-made long-range missile in its northern region, the country's Defence Minister said.

Speaking to A Haber news channel at an ongoing International Defence Industry Fair in Istanbul, Fikri Isik announced that Turkey's first national missile called Bora was successfully tested in the northern city of Sinop.

The minister noted that the missile, with a range of 280 kilometres, was fired from Sinop towards the Black Sea.

"We have gained a lot of confidence to do even better," he said. "We will continue to work to achieve more."

Bora was developed by Turkish defence company Roketsan by adopting Chinese technology, experts were previously quoted as saying in press reports.

The missile has a payload of 450 kg and an accuracy of 50 metres, according to the manufacturer.
Lucknow, May 11 : Government think-tank NITI Aayog would partner with the Uttar Pradesh government to double the income of farmers and to create more livelihood and investment opportunities in the state, a statement said on Thursday.

It added that a Joint Working Group (JWG) comprising of three representatives each from the NITI Aayog and the state government would be set up.

The JWG will prepare within the next 15 days a road-map and identify action points for the development of the state. Respective departments of the state government will then implement these action points.

The announcement came after a delegation led by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya held day-long deliberations in Lucknow on developmental challenges before Uttar Pradesh.

During the meeting, Panagariya traced India's growth story over the past two decades with focus on Uttar Pradesh.

He linked the relation between growth, job opportunities and fall in poverty levels.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant made a presentation on where Uttar Pradesh stands today and what steps are needed to transform it.

NITI Aayog Member (Agriculture) Ramesh Chand shared issues related to the growth of agriculture and possible solutions for doubling farmer income in the state.

He said that given the different agro-climatic zones in the state, different strategies have to be adopted for maximising the farm yields.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed interest in bringing in the spirit of entrepreneurship and improving the investment climate in the state. The state government resolved to host a global investor summit in Uttar Pradesh soon, the statement said.

The think-tank said that the way forward to transform Uttar Pradesh was through transforming key sectors, including industry, agriculture, infrastructure, health and education.
Lucknow, May 11 : Samajwadi Party (SP) founder and patron Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday called Defence Minister Arun Jaitley "weak and coward" and said it is for this reason that the defence personnel are being killed on the Line of Control and elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Agra to attend a private event, when the former Defence Minister was asked by journalists to comment on the recent attacks on armymen and para-military troopers, he said a nation whose "Defence Minister is weak and coward can never take on enemies.

"I have one question for the union government and the minister concerned: why are you not able to muster courage to show the enemy their place," Yadav said.

He claimed that during his stint as the Defence Minister in the H.D. Deve Gowda government, he had ordered army to cross into Pakistan and teach the enemy a lesson.

Yadav also said that he had then also ordered the army to take on the enemy forces from Arunachal Pradesh to Pathankot.

The Yadav chieftain said that the Defence Minister should show courage and allow the defence forces to take on the enemy and respond in a befitting manner.
Panaji, May 11 : Announcing that he would not leave state politics for a central role again, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday also expressed confidence at winning the Panaji legislative assembly by-poll.

"There is no question of me quitting state politics again. I have been sent to run the state government. And the government is running smoothly," Parrikar told reporters here.

Parrikar said he would look at increasing the margin of victory in the upcoming by-poll, which has been necessitated by his return to state politics from his position as Defence Minister in March this year.

Asked about his thoughts on the upcoming by-poll, Parrikar who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, said that he planned to up the margin of victory significantly.

"Currently the margin (of victory) is eight per cent. I want to increase it to 30 per cent," Parrikar said, adding that he would not leave state politics again.

In November 2014, Parrikar, who was Chief Minister then, was elevated to Defence Minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet. He returned to state politics in March, after the BJP managed to claim numbers to form a coalition government, despite emerging as the second largest party after the Congress.

Panaji BJP MLA Sidarth Kunkolienkar resigned from legislatorship on Wednesday to pave the way for the by-poll.
Jammu, May 11 : A woman was killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Thursday as Pakistan violated the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC), according to an army officer.

All schools close to the LoC have been shut.

The firing started on Wednesday night and continued till Thursday morning. According to the Indian Army, small arms, automatics and mortars of 82 mm and 120 mm were used by the Pakistani side.

"All schools in villages close to the Line of Control in Rajouri will remain closed as a precautionary measure," a district official said.

The authorities have also designated some schools away from the LoC, which divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan, as makeshift camps to shelter villagers leaving their homes near the border.

The district administration has alerted emergency services to deal with any eventuality because of the heightened tension at the border.

Defence Spokesman Lt. Col. Manish Mehta told IANS that a woman was killed in the indiscriminate firing and shelling by the Pakistani army on Wednesday evening in Naushera sector.

According to army sources, in the last three months, eight Pakistani soldiers have been killed in ceasefire violations and 17 injured.

In another incident, on Tuesday night, the Indian Army had foiled an infiltration bid in Rampur of Baramulla district in north Kashmir.

So far this year, there have been around 50 attempts of infiltration from Pakistan's side and 15 have been successful, army sources said. The exact number of terrorists that managed to sneak into the Indian territory is not known.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad over fresh ceasefire violations on the Line of Control, and claimed that it said has left one Pakistani civilian dead and two others injured.
Bengaluru, May 11 : Bengaluru's former civic Corporator V. Nagaraj, wanted in a money-laundering case, was arrested after a hot chase at Arcot village in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district, said police on Thursday.

"On a tipoff, our special team caught and arrested Nagaraj and his two sons -- Shastry and Gandhi -- after chasing a vehicle in which they attempted to escape from Arcot," city's Additional Commissioner of Police Hemant Nimbalkar told reporters here.

Arcot is around 235 km from Bengaluru across the Karnataka border in the neighbouring southern state.

"The accused will be brought to the city on transit remand from Vellore and produced before a local court on Friday for our custody to interrogate them in the money-laundering case," said Nimbalkar.

The three had been on the run evading arrest since April 14 when the police raided their residence at Srirampura in the city's western suburb and seized banned currency notes worth Rs 14.8 crore that were kept to exchange for new notes.

The city police formed four special teams to search Nagaraj after a civil court issued an arrest warrant against him in the case registered under Section 7 of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act 2017.

A local court on May 5 also rejected Nagaraj's anticipatory bail application he filed through his lawyer on April 17, fearing arrest for allegedly exchanging the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with new notes for a hefty commission.

Nagaraj, 54, was an independent Corporator of the Bengaluru City Corporation from the Prakashnagar civic ward in the city's western suburb from 2002 to 2007.

Latest updates on Gandhi Jayanti 2019
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.
Vatican City, May 11 : Corruption is "like a cancer" that daily wrecks the lives of people across Latin America, Pope Francis told bishops on Thursday, calling it "one of the most serious sins that plagues our continent today".

"Corruption devastates lives by submerging them in the most extreme poverty," Francis wrote in a letter to the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) at the start of its episcopal conference in El Salvador.

"It's a corruption which destroys entire populations by subjecting them to precariousness. It's a corruption that, like a cancer, consumes the daily life of our people," Vatican Radio cited the letter as saying.

Francis deplored graft as "one of the most serious sins that plagues our continent today," and urged Latin American bishops to get closer to local people "especially those on the peripheries".

Representatives from 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries, the US and Canada are attending the CELAM conference, entitled "A poor Church for the poor" which runs through Saturday.
Chennai, May 11 : The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday said that South Korea's Kia Motors decided not to locate its plant in the state as its sister company Hyundai Motor has already set up two plants near here.

In a statement issued here, the government said the Kia Motors chose not to set up industry in Tamil Nadu only due to their internal policy of not establishing a new unit in the same state where Hyundai was already functioning.

"Moreover, Hyundai Motors (major shareholder in Kia Motors) has announced additional investment in its existing unit at SIPCOT Irungattukottai Industrial Park to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore," the statement said.

The government's clarification comes after some allegations that the Kia Motors decided to invest in Andhra Pradesh due to bribe demands from ruling politicians.

The Tamil Nadu government quoted the letter written by Han-Woo Park, CEO and President Kia Motors: "...we very regretfully will not be able to consider the state of Tamil Nadu for Kia's potential greenfield project in India due to the business needs and requirements of our company and stakeholders, including, without limitation, geographical diversification, branding differentiation and diversification of supply channels and so forth.

"Under such business needs and requirements of our company and stakeholders, I hope you kindly understand that we have not established our overseas plants in the same states where the plants of Hyundai Motor Company are located (such as in the United States of America, China, Europe)."

According to the state government, French automobile company PSA Peugeot Citroen is currently planning to set up an integrated manufacturing facility in Kancheepuram district and Hosur by establishing three production facilities.

The initial investment envisaged in the three facilities will be about Rs 3,000 crore.

"This investment is further expected to increase to Rs 4,000 crore in the vehicle and powertrain projects. The proposed employment is around 1,500 persons," the statement said.

Other major industrial projects, like Hyundai Motor (Expansion), Yamaha Musical Instruments, Xuzhou Construction Machinery Manufacturing Company, Vedanta Ltd, ITC Ltd (Expansion), CEAT Tyres, Fruedenberg, Germany are proposing to invest around Rs 15,000 crore in Tamil Nadu, creating about 6,500 employment opportunities.
Colombo, May 11 : Even as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to Sri Lanka, Colombo is hoping to sign MoUs with China on power and energy cooperation when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visits Beijing next week, a media report said.

The Sri Lankan Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed the MoUs on cooperation in the fields of urban development, transportation, power and energy and road development, reported Daily Mirror.

Wickremesinghe will leave for China soon after Vesak to attend the 'One Belt, One Road' summit to be conducted in Beijing.

He is expected to meet Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the summit.

The Cabinet also discussed a modified version of the agreement to be signed with China Merchants Ports Holding Company Ltd., to develop the Hambantota Port as a joint venture. President Maithripala Sirisena was entrusted with the responsibility of making the final decision on this agreement, the daily said.

The OBOR summit will be held from May 14- 15.

It is being hosted by Xi Jinping in Beijing and will see 20 leaders and over 100 minister-level officials in attendance. The summit is being supported by most of China's peripheral countries, notably Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

Beijing has invested heavily in Sri Lanka's infrastructure in recent years, especially airports, roads, railways and ports.

Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.
Islamabad, May 11 : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with four Chief Ministers and Federal Ministers will leave for China on Friday to attend the two-day Belt and Road summit, a media report said.

During his stay in China, Sharif will hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Kaqiang, Geo News reported.

"Pakistan is an important partner of China in promoting One Belt One Road Initiative and we believe that Prime Minister Sharif's visit and his attendance at the forum will give a boost to our cooperation in the relevant fields," Geng Shuang - a spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry - said while responding to a question during his regular press briefing on Thursday.

He said the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a premier and pilot project of the One Belt One Road Initiative and progress has already made in this regard.

"The forum will be held from May 14, 15 and we all are looking forward to it," he added.
Bengaluru, May 11 : Terming the four-year rule of the Congress government in Karnataka an "utter failure", opposition BJP on Thursday slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not mitigating the farmers' hardships in the drought-hit state.

"The Congress government in the state, which completes four years on Friday, has failed on all fronts, especially in mitigating the hardships of the drought-hit farmers across the state," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s state President B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters here.

Listing 29 failures of the government in a charge-sheet, BJP's opposition leader in the assembly Jagadish Shettar said the state machinery had also failed to fully implement the various welfare schemes for the benefit of the people.

"Although the government had allocated Rs 41,439 crore for the irrigation projects, it released only Rs 32,326 crore for those over the last four years," charged Shettar.

The charge-sheet also blamed the government for farmers' suicides in the state.

"Karnataka is the second state in the country in terms of suicides by farmers, as 2,573 of them took their lives due to crop failure and inability to repay loans availed from money lenders and banks," lamented Shettar.

Citing a recent survey by the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies, which found Karnataka to be the "most corrupt state" in the country, Yeddyurappa said the Chief Minister had no control on his corrupt ministers and officials.

"Siddaramaiah went on a march from Bengaluru to Ballari in July 2010 when he was the opposition leader, promising transparency in governance if his party was elected to power. He did nothing to prevent or stop it in the last four years," recalled Yeddyurappa, the BJP's first Chief Minister in the state from 2008-11.

Ballari is 310 km in the state's northern region from Bengaluru.

The BJP also criticised the Siddaramaiah government for the "deteriorating law and order" situation in the state.

"In Bengaluru alone, 1,24,655 criminal cases were registered during the last four years. Women are not safe in the city, as evident from 10,589 incidents of sexual harassment, murder, robbery, chain-snatching and dowry harassment against them during the Congress rule," asserted Shettar.
Kolkata, May 11 : A serving air force officer has gone missing from the Command Hospital here, with his whereabouts still unknown to the family as also to the police a week after the disappearance.

Fifty two-year-old Brajesh Kumar Shukla, a Junior Warrant Officer posted at the Jorhat air base, Assam, of the Indian Air Force (IAF), has been missing since 5 pm on May 4, family members said.

Shukla, who had been admitted to the hospital on April 26 for the treatment of eye diabetic retinopathy cataract, underwent an operation on May 2.

"He was last seen on the hospital premises at around 5 pm on May 4, and is missing since then," a family member said. Shukla's mobile phone was found on his bed.

The discharge summary prepared by the hospital on May 5 records "discharged in absentia".

A missing complaint was lodged at the Alipore Police Station the next day.

The missing person squad of the city police has been informed.

"We have kept the Air Force Police in the loop. As of now, we are not suspecting any foul play. However, his sudden disappearance has come as a shock to the family, since when he last spoke to them on May 3, everything seemed fine," a relative said.
MASON CITY | A Mason City man was given a five-year suspended prison sentence this week on a felony methamphetamine charge.

Arone Joseph Goretska, 41, was put on probation for five years after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled susbstance  third or subsequent offense (meth).

A $750 fine was suspended, but he was ordered to pay a $125 surcharge.

Goretska was a passenger in an SUV driven by Bradly Loren Fransen, 39, Mason City, that crashed into a snowbank after Fransen fled sheriff's deputies on Jan. 23 in Mason City.

Meth, a loaded Glock handgun and cash were found in the SUV, according to officials.

Fransen has been indicted on federal charges of dealing meth and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Goretska admitted to handling a small plastic bag of meth during the chase, authorities say.

 Mary Pieper
Madame Methven ...you have to know how to shape the womans body

Madame Methven has released its updated website, created by WebVixxen Design, as an online showcase of their haute couture creations as well as a new pret a porter collection of seductive intimate wear.

Since her 2014 return from Paris where she was trained in the art of fine fashion, Fashion Designer Kaila Methven has passionately pursued the creation, design and execution of tailored and luxurious lingerie designed with the powerful woman in mind. In her newest Latrodectus line, custom-made pieces allude to the art of seduction while defining the dominatrix as a powerful, beautiful and elegant representation of femininity.

As a designer trained in haute couture, you have to know how to shape the womans body. In designing a bespoke piece, I am careful to customize the garment to suit each womans distinct body type and the look they wish to express, explains Kaila. By partnering with WebVixxen, we will be able to have an online presence that is reflective of the unique women we dress.

Madame Methvens commanding online presence will allow powerful women of discerning tastes to add pret a porter or bespoke pieces to her boudoir with ease and discretion. This new relationship ensures that leading women wishing to express their feminine prowess will have access to collections specifically for them.

About Kaila Methven

Kailas interest in haute couture was sparked in the City of Lights, where at the age of 16 she interned at a Paris fashion show at the Trocadero, home to the Palais de Chaillot. Trained in the art of design from the distinguished fashion institute Esmod, she went on to earn a Masters Degree from the International Fashion Academy Paris and completed Advanced Training at Polymodo in Florence, Italy. Kaila launched Madame Methven upon her return to Los Angeles in 2014, with the powerful woman in mind.

http://www.MadameMethven.com

About WebVixxen Design

WebVixxen Design is a fully-integrated boutique design agency based in Venice, California specializing in high-end design and branding. Founded in 2003 by Lana Antonova, the creative force at the forefront of every project, WebVixxen Design prides itself on taking a comprehensive and highly creative approach to every project. For its clients, this approach means increased revenues, brand recognition and ongoing interest from potential new customers.

http://www.WebVixxen.com
National Housing Tides Index Infographic May 2017 Tides Index fell to 71.7 in May from 72.4 in April. The Index still indicates improved conditions from its year-ago value of 70.5.

This week marks the release of the May Housing Tides Report, featuring an update to the Housing Tides Index, an objective and sophisticated approach to quantifying and comparing the health of U.S. housing markets. The Index value suggests that market health remains on solid ground despite the persistent mismatch between housing supply and demand.

Understanding the health of a housing market and its relationship to other top markets requires an aggregated, comprehensive view of the industry. The Housing Tides Index provides a succinct monthly measure of market health across the top 41 U.S. markets. Referencing 18 market indicators ranging from unemployment rates and housing permits to rental vacancy and mortgage foreclosure rates, the Tides Index helps users understand exposure at a deeper level than is currently possible.



The fall in housing supply constituted the biggest movement among Index variables this month, as Redfin reported a decrease to just 2.9 months of supply at the current sales rate. This is tied with December 2016 for the tightest supply of housing on record since Redfin data began in 2010. Note that although the total number of homes listed for sale improved to 707k month-over-month, this increase was outpaced by a sharp increase in the rate of sales, pushing the months-of-supply measure lower. Substantial variation across local markets remains, but 40 of the 41 metropolitan areas tracked by Housing Tides show less than six months of supply, which is widely agreed upon as a healthy, balanced level.

Last month we highlighted the construction unemployment rate which had reached a 22-month high of 9.4% in January. As expected, latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show industry unemployment dropped to 8.8% in February as homebuilders ramped up operations to begin the warm-weather construction season. The improvement in this metric partially offsets the negative effect of the decrease in housing supply on the Index.

Zillow reported a fall in asking rents for two-bedroom units to $1,500 per month in February, and Januarys figure was upwardly revised to $1,545 per month. Census data show rental vacancy remained near 7% in the first quarter, suggesting stability in rental prices in coming months. Availability of rental units and moderating rent costs are beneficial to prospective homebuyers that have been deterred by tight housing supply and rising home prices in recent years.

The median home sales price increased to $273k in March, up 4.5% month-over-month. The median sales price has increased 7.5% since March 2016, though home prices remain lower than the peak of $277k seen in June 2016. Extreme tightness in housing supply should continue this trend in the near future, and we wouldnt be surprised to see home prices surpass last years peak as the summer proceeds.

The Consumer Confidence Index fell to 120.3 from its multi-year high of 124.9 in March, but the current level continues to indicate considerably optimistic consumer outlook in historical context. In a press release The Conference Board explained that Looking ahead, consumers were somewhat less optimistic about the short-term outlook for business conditions, employment, and income prospects. Despite Aprils decline, consumers remain confident that the economy will continue to expand in the months ahead.

Single-family housing permits rose sharply in March, increasing more than 30% month-over-month. The Census Bureau reports 40,100 permits approved across the 41 metro areas we track, which is the highest total since June 2006. Multi-family permit approvals increased in March, but the six-month moving average fell to 23,900 permits per month.

Highlighting the Ten Healthiest U.S. Housing Markets - May, 2017 - Please reference the attached graph to view the Ten Healthiest U.S. Housing Markets.

Click here to view the complete Housing Tides Index of the top 41 U.S. markets.

Media Exclusive! Housing Tides Media Monthly Pulse

Subscribe to our email service exclusively created for media that delivers an updated infographic depicting the latest monthly Housing Tides Index, the complete Index as it appears in the Housing Tides Report, and a brief executive summary. All content can be shared in print and digital publications, with attribution to the Housing Tides Report.

Members of the media can subscribe to the Housing Tides Media Monthly Pulse here.

About Housing Tides

Housing Tides (Tides) is the only monthly report that provides a comprehensive measure and aggregated understanding of the health of the U.S. housing and home building industry. Designed to take the guesswork out of the vast amount of forecasting information published about this sector, Tides is a sophisticated report that delivers city-specific, updated information when market conditions change. It is the only report that uses natural language processing and machine learning to correctly understand and synthesize large volumes of data, making it more comprehensive, balanced, and reliable than any other report of its kind. More information is available at http://www.housingtides.com.

Housing Tides is proudly partnered with IBM Watson.
Attorney Jon Frutkin moderating a discussion with Congressman David Schweikert Im always happy to share insight with Arizonans on the reasoning behind the policies and changes happening in Washington, said Congressman David Schweikert.

There have been big shock waves coming out of DC, but Wednesday night's event in North Scottsdale went deeper to uncover the policy behind the politics. With an audience of approximately 75 local business leaders, Jonathan Frutkin of Radix Law led a moderated discussion with Arizona Congressman David Schweikert about how changes in the administration impact businesses and specifically, the local economy.

Jonathan Frutkins practice focuses on business and corporate law, and he is a respected source in how companies can harness crowdfunding potential. Just recently, Frutkin was listed as one of Arizonas Top 100 Lawyers of 2017.

In just the last few months of this current administration, weve already seen so many developments that impact our clients, their businesses, and the future of Arizona in general, so its important for all of us to stay informed on whats happening in Washington, said Jonathan Frutkin, founder and principal of Radix Law. We appreciate Congressman Schweikert taking the time to talk to our group.

No topic was off-limits as Congressman Schweikert and Frutkin discussed several hot button issues regarding the first 100 days of the Trump presidency, including the Presidents Twitter usage, his tax returns, policy proposals, political appointments and more.

Being on the U.S House Committee on Ways and Means as well as the House Freedom Caucus has given me a unique perspective on the current happenings in Washington, so Im always happy to share insight with Arizonans on the reasoning behind these policies and changes, said Congressman David Schweikert.

David Schweikert is serving his fourth term in the United States Congress. He is only the second Arizona member to hold a seat on the Ways and Means Committee, having previously served on the Financial Services Committee. As a strong advocate for efficiencies in the 21st Century economy, Schweikert collaborates with entrepreneurs and innovators in Arizona and around the world on ways to increase trade and drive economic growth.

Jonathan Frutkin is a frequent media contributor and has appeared in The Economist, Kiplinger Personal Finance and The Washington Post. For more information on Radix Law and practice areas, visit http://www.radixlaw.com.
Henderson Properties, a leading HOA and property management firm serving the greater Charlotte area, is proud to have hosted its 10th annual HOA Legal Seminar. Held Tuesday, May 9, the seminar brought to light a number of legal concerns that affect today's homeowners' associations. The seminar was held at the Marriott SouthPark.

Henderson Properties uses the HOA Legal Seminar to tackle the challenging legal topics that specifically affect community associations and their leadership. The 2017 seminar brought in three attorneys from Sellers, Ayers, Dortch, Lyons to discuss a number of important topics. The seminar was entitled "Collections, Corporate Record Requests, Violations and Other Issues that Drive Board Members Nuts."

"Our goal through hosting this HOA Legal Seminar," said Phil Henderson, President of Henderson Properties, "is to give HOA board members actionable steps they can take to understand and address these complex legal issues. We also wish to provide a forum for them to get answers to the questions they have that may not be addressed by the seminar's particular topic."

After the three attorneys address the questions in the discussion, the floor was opened for a question and answer session, followed by closing remarks.

Past events have been well-attended as HOA board members seek the answers to the questions they have. This year was a full house as well, with pertinent information provided that board members can use to help them enforce community policies and procedures and make decisions using good business judgment.

About Henderson Properties

Henderson Properties offers HOA management, rental property management and home sales services in the greater Charlotte community. The Henderson Properties team is committed to providing timely and accurate information to clients to help them make the most out of their real estate endeavors. Henderson Properties has five different offices, including offices in Indian Trail, Davidson, Fort Mill, and two in Charlotte. Visit http://www.hendersonproperties.com for more information.
Due to an overwhelming request from Texas Event Planners, Correlations Event Training will return to Houston, Texas to teach the Event Design & Event Planning Certificate Program as a live 2-day workshop with Helena Paschal on June 24-25th from 9:30AM-4:00PM. The workshop is designed for aspiring Event Planners seeking support and guidance to start an event business or advance in their career.

Helena Paschal is the instructor for the 2 Day Event Design & Event Planning Certificate Program. She has taught the workshop for more than 15 years to over 8,000 Certified Event Planners throughout the United States and students from 10 countries have traveled to take workshops directly with Helena Paschal.

During the Event Certificate Course, participants will explore how to design professional events, how to create events to make a profit, how to turn small budgets into large streams of income for fundraising, how to create sponsorships, contracts, consultations, negotiations, meeting planning, special event planning, and social media marketing. Helena shares countless strategies and resources she uses as a current Event Planner for participants to apply right away to their events.

The 2 Day workshop will be held on June 24-25, 2017 at the Double Tree in Houston, TX from 9:30AM-4PM. Registration is $500 which includes two days of formal training, workbooks, assessments, and certificates. The workshop is limited to 50 participants on a first come first serve basis. Please visit http://www.correlationsllc.com to reserve your seat today.
i2i Population Health, an early innovator and developer of population health management technology, will host Jeff Myers, president and CEO of Medicaid Health Plans of America at its annual user conference, to be held June 22 and 23 at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville.

The User Conference, Population Health and Harmony 2017, will host more than 250 attendees from nearly all 50 states. The company will share the latest innovations in population health management including industry experts like Myers.

Our User Conference format is driven by our clients and the voice of the market. This years conference will provide unlimited opportunities for attendees to acquire hands-on experience from peers, i2i consultants, and industry leaders, says Justin Neece, President and Chief Operations Officer of i2i.

As a spokesperson and representative for many Medicaid Health Plans in Washington D.C., Myers address will focus on the proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act, the changing landscape of Medicaid and how Community Health Centers may be impacted. Myers will also provide insight into value-based care initiatives from the perspective of Medicaid Health Plans and why payer-provider collaboration is tantamount to success.

In addition to Myers as keynote speaker, the conference will also include sessions on data stewardship, developing custom analytics, and case studies outlining how health centers are leveraging population health technology to improve care quality and delivery to highly complex populations.

For more details on the conference, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/i2i-annual-user-conference-2017-tickets-31763215633.

About Jeff Myers

Jeff Myers is president and CEO of Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA), the leading national trade association for Medicaid managed care organizations. Jeff serves as the primary spokesperson for the Medicaid health plan industry before Congress, the executive branch, state governments and the media. He is responsible for demonstrating the value of Medicaid managed care to these audiences as well as opening new markets for Medicaid health plan business. He also leads advocacy efforts to advance an aggressive policy agenda on behalf of the industry.

A government affairs veteran, Jeff came to MHPA from the American Health Care Association (AHCA), where he was senior vice president of policy and government relations. Prior to AHCA, he represented the pharmaceutical companies Cephalon, Biogen Idec, Pharmacia and Hoffman-LaRoche before the legislative and executive branches. His time on Capitol Hill included serving as U.S. Representative Fred Uptons legislative director and health staff for the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, and working for U.S. Representatives Alex McMillan and Don Sundquist. While at McMillans office, Jeff led the congressmans health staff during consideration of the Health Security Act in 1994. Jeff received his M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke and his bachelors degree from Rhodes College. He lives in McLean, Va., with his wife and three children.

About i2i Population Health

A KLAS Leader in the delivery of actionable population health, i2i Population Healths integrated Population Health Management and Analytics solutions have proudly served healthcare organizations for more than 16 years. The company offers a depth of experience gained from over 2,500 U.S. healthcare delivery sites across 36 states supporting over 20 million lives. With i2i, healthcare providers optimize the clinical, financial and operational success of physician group practices, community health centers, health center controlled networks, hospitals, health plans and integrated delivery networks. i2is flagship product, i2iTracks, is PCMH NCQA pre- validated to ignite real-time, proactive care management. i2i Systems big-data platform, PopIQ, delivers a cloud-based comparative analytics toolset to leverage multiple customers data sets and provide cross- population views into global population health management.

To learn more, visit http://www.i2ipophealth.com.
Insight Education invites you to attend its free seminar: The Art of College Admissions on Sunday, May 28, 2017 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The seminar will be hosted at the Mid County Senior Center, 829 Bay Ave, Capitola, CA 95010.

Founded in 1999 by a dedicated team of Stanford graduates, Insight Education will take this opportunity to address the changing landscape of college admissions for Santa Cruz area students and what to expect in the college application process. This session is excellent for families of 8th-11th grade students seeking to understand what colleges expect from students at the high school level, including academics, activities, and testing. Focusing on the trends specifically for Santa Cruz students, the seminar gives families the opportunity to hear about key learnings from the past admissions season.

UCLA received over 100,000 applications for freshman admission this year, while many colleges across the country saw record increases in applications. This has resulted in record-low admissions rates across public and private schools around the country. The average GPA for Santa Cruz students admitted to UC Santa Cruz is now 3.95 and increasing every year.

Insight Educations counseling team will discuss University of California admissions, private college admissions, and out-of-state public college admissions. Standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT and PSAT, extracurricular activities, and honors and awards will also be discussed. Finally, the seminar will cover college essays, college applications and majors as a part of the admissions process.

Insight Education prides itself on guiding students and families through the complex high school journey and college admissions process by sharing the truth about what each student will face. The company's philosophy is built upon the idea that each child has a unique set of attributes and talents and takes a personalized approach to educational consulting. As a result, Insight builds a comprehensive plan tailored to students and then works with students and their families to reach their educational goals. This approach has garnered the company a unique level of insight not only into their students but also into the admissions process itself.

Sarah de Sousa, a senior counselor at Insight Education, remarked: As a Santa Cruz native and Stanford graduate, I have witnessed and lived the unique challenges and opportunities Santa Cruz students face when applying to college. Our May 28th event is a great opportunity for Santa Cruz students and parents alike to become more informed about current admissions trends and plan for their futures with true and accurate information.

About Insight Education: At Insight we work with middle and high school students to guide and assist them through all stages of the process including academics, standardized testing, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, leadership and volunteer work. We strongly believe that every student possesses a unique set of characteristics, strengths, and passions. We work with families to help cultivate these traits.

Company Website: http://www.insight-education.net

Event RSVP link: http://bit.ly/2q8Rc0j

Contact information

1601 South De Anza Boulevard, Suite 108, Cupertino, CA 95014. Ph: 408.252.5050 39355 California Street, Suite 209 Fremont, CA 94538. Ph: 510.494.1260
Panel-Brite, Inc, a leading supplier of sunlight readable high bright LED displays, announced today the launch of its new brand and website. With its sleek and fluid page layout, this new website design engages customers with easy navigation, meeting the companys main objective. The new site has also been optimized for viewing across all mobile platforms and devices.

We are very excited about the launch of our new website coinciding with the modernization of our brand logo, said Keith Grapes, president of Panel-Brite, Inc. This new site reflects the commitment we have to our customers to provide them with excellence in every area of our business.

A positive history of great customer service along with reliable products has made Panel-Brite, Inc. the go to choice for displays with many of the largest kiosk, QSR, and digital signage manufacturers nationwide.

Their large selection of standard and ultra-wide format displays incorporate industry leading technology and capabilities boasting:



1,000-2,500 Nit Sunlight Viewable Displays

High Operation Temperatures -30 to 85C

Low Power Requirements

4K Resolution

Ultra-Wide Formats

AOT Optical Bonding

Touch Screen Options

Max RGB Color Saturation

We always aim to keep our customers at the forefront of technology when it comes to high bright LED display solutions, said Grapes. Our new website is another example of our striving to be the best.

About Panel-Brite, Inc.:

Panel-Brite, Inc., established in 2004, has grown into a leading supplier of flat panel display solutions. With a specialization in high bright, sunlight readable technology, Panel-Brite, Inc. supplies original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and integrators worldwide with displays and components to meet the needs of their demanding outdoor and high ambient light indoor applications.

For more information on Panel-Brites entire product line visit:

http://www.panel-brite.com

Panel-Brite, Inc.

(724) 744-2928

sales(at)panel-brite(dot)com

http://www.panel-brite.com
Artistic License Awards

Hosted by California Lawyers for the Arts

http://www.calawyersforthearts.org

Sunday, May 21, 5-7:30 pm

William Turner Gallery

Bergamot Station, Suite E-1

2525 Michigan Ave

Santa Monica, CA 90404

williamturnergallery.com

Tickets and sponsorship opportunities available at: https://www.showclix.com/event/cla-artistic-licence-awards-la-5-21-17

(Los Angeles  May 2017) - California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) will present its 10th Annual Artistic License Awards honoring Annette Bening, Congressman Ted Lieu, Self Help Graphics & Art, and E. Randol Schoenberg on May 21 in Santa Monica. Celebrating 30 years of service to the Los Angeles arts community, the Artistic License Awards recognizes individuals and organizations who have had an extraordinary impact on our communities by inspiring participation and increasing support for California arts.

Alma Robinson, Executive Director of CLA, describes award recipients as leaders whose acts of generosity and examples of innovation have inspired so many others to stretch beyond their 'comfort zones' and take on the challenges of our times. Each of our four honorees have stretched to make a significant contribution to the culture of California:

Actress Annette Bening, a former member of the California Arts Council, has provided extraordinary leadership to restore arts education in our public schools.

Congressman Ted Lieu who represents Californias 33rd Congressional District, has been a strong advocate for the arts since he served in the California State Senate, as a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus, he has advocated for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts as a way to bolster the US economy, serve our nations veterans. He has advocated for increased funding for arts education in federal prisons as a cost-efficient way to rehabilitate prisoners. An attorney, Rep. Lieu was formerly with the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olsen.

As a member of the House Judiciary committee, Rep. Lieu is a stalwart advocate for policies that protect and expand copyright protections, creative rights and fair pay for the creative community. Recent legislative action on these fronts include Rep. Lieus co-sponsorship of the AMP Act (royalties for music producers, sound engineers and mixers), The Songwriter Equity Act, the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, as well as efforts to modernize the U.S. Copyright Office.

The lens on Chicano and Latino artists has been magnified since 1973 by Self Help Graphics & Art. Attorney E. Randol Schoenberg, a strong supporter of the arts community, has dedicated his life's work to the successful recovery of artwork stolen by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. Schoenberg was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2015 film Woman in Gold, which depicted the case of Maria Altmann against the government of Austria.

Event tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available on line at https://www.showclix.com/event/cla-artistic-licence-awards-la-5-21-17

California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) has safeguarded artists free speech and expression since 1974. Beginning as Bay Area Lawyers for the Arts, the organization became statewide in 1987, when it joined forces with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts-LA. CLA provides educational programs, legal counselling and alternative dispute resolution and other information services for more than 11,000 persons annually. CLA engages in advocacy efforts on behalf of the arts community through initiatives such as its Arts and Environmental Dialogues and the Arts in Corrections Initiative.

William Turner Gallery is a pillar of the Southern California arts landscape at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA. Representing artists from Los Angeles The Cool School as well as members of the Finish Fetish and Light and Space movements, the gallery is an emissary of contemporary California art from the past half-century.

Media contact:

Kristine Schomaker

661-317-1069

shoeboxpr(at)gmail(dot)com
Everything is under one umbrella with the Unified Classroom, providing us with the opportunity to significantly reduce teacher prep time and instead use that time for instruction.

Ohios Glass City Academy announced expansion of its partnership with PowerSchool to launch the Unified Classroom. A current PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) customer, the school will augment its SIS with the Unified Classroom by adding on a learning management system (LMS) and assessment solution to streamline data, instruction, and learning in one centralized place.

We are trying to make it very easy for teachers to teach students and assess them to identify learning gaps and improve instruction, said Stewart Jesse, Director of Glass City Academy. The Unified Classroom provides us with a platform that will save our teachers a lot of time and get them very well organized.

The LMS component of the Unified Classroom will be new to Glass City Academys school community. School leaders are excited about the value it will bring to teachers, students, and parents. The ability to quickly collect resources and make sure content is aligned to appropriate standards will be seamless for our teachers, said Jesse.

Teachers were previously spending considerable time using a variety of different programs for assessment and then manually entering the grades into PowerSchool. We are implementing one platform that unifies all our solutions, said Jesse. Everything is under one umbrella with the Unified Classroom, providing us with the opportunity to significantly reduce teacher prep time and instead use that time for instruction.

That is the key, added Jesse. We can deliver quality instruction aligned to state standards to every child and assess every student. I am not sure any principal can say no to that.

About Glass City Academy

Glass City Academy is a Public Non-Profit Community Drop-Out Prevention and Recovery High School serving the Greater Toledo Area and Lucas County for students ages 16-21. Students at Glass City Academy achieve their high school diploma and transition into either the workforce, a 4 or 2 year college, or the military. Glass City Academys mission is to provide all students with a chance to graduate, regardless of their current high school standing or situation.

About PowerSchool Group LLC

PowerSchool is the leading K-12 education technology provider of solutions that improve the education experience for 100 million students, teachers, and parents in over 70 countries around the world. We provide the industrys first Unified Classroom experience, empowering teachers with best-in-class, secure, and compliant online solutions, including student information systems, learning management and classroom collaboration, assessment, analytics, behavior, and special education case management. We streamline school office and administration operations with online solutions for student registration, school choice, and finance/HR/ERP. We drive student growth through digital classroom capabilities and engage families through real-time communications across any device. Visit https://www.powerschool.com/ to learn more.
MARION | David Gerard Knipper, 56, of Marion, and formerly of Dyersville, Iowa, passed away Tuesday, May 9, 2017, from complications of angiosarcoma of the liver diagnosed December 2016.

When Dave was diagnosed with cancer he didnt let that cancer rule him. He ruled it.

Daves herd was formed and helped him work through his bucket list, and supported him through his journey.

He worked up until the day he died, letting nothing stop him. Along with this, he continued to cheer on Andrew and the Hawkeyes, and usually was the loudest fan in the stands.

Euchre was his favorite card game, and he never liked to lose.

Dave was very proud of the work he did to ensure the success of the dairy and beef farmers that he helped throughout the years as a salesman for Prairie State/ Select Sires. He was very proud of his four-legged wives.

Dave was someone who always put others first, willing to help out when needed, and was a strong religious man. He did not inherit his fathers handyman skills, and was lovingly called The bolt breaker by his family. He was many times seen as a human jungle gym to all of his nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 12, 2017, at Kramer Funeral Home, 750 12th Ave. S.W. in Dyersville, where a parish vigil service will be held at 2 p.m.

Visitation will continue Saturday morning from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Kramer Funeral Home prior to funeral services.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 13, 2017, at St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville, Iowa, with burial in the church cemetery. The Rev. Dan Knipper (Daves uncle) will officiate. Per Daves request, casual dress is appropriate.

Dave, the son of Larry and Katie (Hosch) Knipper, married Victoria Thiede on Aug. 4, 2001, in Dyersville. Survivors include his wife, son, Andrew Harrison, siblings: John (Deb) Knipper of Clear Lake, IA, Michele (David) Kucharczyk of Onalaska, WI, Jude (Stacy) Knipper of Elk Horn, NE, sisters in-law: Shirley (Mark) Singsank of Dyersville, Audrey Spangenberg of Dallas, TX, and Barbara (David) Michel of Preston, IA, and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father and brother, Peter.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.kramerfuneral.com.

In lieu of flowers or mementos of remembrance, Daves wish is that a memorial fund would be established in his name, and/or for the future education of Andrew.
Affordable East Harlem development will have 655 passive house rental units Our goal is as ambitious as it is necessary: where federal agencies will not take the lead on climate change and greenhouse gas reductions, the market must.

Interest and advocacy of Passive House standards is surging globally. Passive House building standards are continuously cited by governments across Europe and North America as a vitally important for delivering the carbon emissions reductions required by the Paris Climate Agreement and are uniquely equipped to adapt contemporary life to the demands of a warming planet.

Through a combination of innovative design approaches and technologies, Passive House standards have been shown to reduce building heating and cooling energy consumption by up to 90%, all while maintaining a comfortable, healthy and consistent year-round indoor air environment. As the number of Passive House Certified buildings continues to expand rapidly, it has never been more important for professionals and practitioners working on energy efficiency initiatives, high performance buildings and renewables to become familiar with techniques and materials, not to mention one another.

This years conference recognizes the challenges facing energy efficient and environmentally responsible buildings, and calls on practitioners of every kind to come together to maintain our momentum. Our goal is as ambitious as it is necessary: where federal agencies will not take the lead on climate change and greenhouse gas reductions, the market must.

Presentations and panel discussions will provide a comprehensive look at the Passive House building standard through expert testimonials and evaluations. Notable organizations representated at this years conference include The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Passive House Institute (PHI), and many more.

NYPH17: Towards Market Transformation will be held on June 16th, 2017 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011. For a complete schedule of speakers and topics or to register, visit nypassivehouse.org/new-york-passive-house-conference.

Press Contact: Justin Booz, (347) 665-7260
In October 19, 2005, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) re-opened to general aviation (GA) traffic after a complete prohibition on general aviation traffic as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Their main goal was to secure the airspace around the U.S capitol to protect from any potential threats. Although DCA has opened traffic to the general there are still an immense amount of security measures taken. The primary stipulation is that only properly qualified and vetted aircraft operators are permitted to fly to or from DCA. With that Custom Jet Charters, the operating company owned by Exclusive, is proud to be included as one of the few operators to be compliant with all requirements.

Attaining a DASSP certification is both a lengthy and thorough process, as there are many requirements set forth by the TSA and FAA that need to be met. The acronym stands for DCA Access Standard Security Program. At first, TSA inspects the crew, passengers, property (both accessible and checked) as well as the aircraft. Then they check the start and end dates of flight, which must be indicated on the TSA flight authorization. Passenger identification must be checked as well manifests for both the crew and passengers 24 hours prior to the flight. Additionally, background checks for all passengers, a fingerprint based criminal history records check and threat assessment will be conducted by the FBI for all flight crew. Furthermore, an armed security officer (ASO) must be on board for each flight and you must be aware that operations are subject to cancellation at any time. If there are any unscheduled operations to/from DCA require an FAA Slot Reservation. Another very important component is that each flight must depart from a gateway airport, which is a facility certified by the Transportation Security Administration as meeting strict security standards for screening private and non-commercial aircraft.

There are numerous benefits to being authorized to fly into Washingtons National Airport for the passenger as well as for the company. Both can rest assured that they are flying within the most secure safety measures in the country and perhaps the world. This is a huge achievement, "After years of working with DHS, TSA and the Federal Air Marshall service setting up a security program at CJC to comply with all the stringent rules and regulations required for joining the DASSP program, was challenging to say the least. After all the intense vetting and revision to our in- house approved security manual our TSA representative was very pleased to see that we exceed the US Government standard for DASSP security protocol," said Henry Castellanos Vice President Custom Jet Charters. Clients of both Exclusive and Custom Jet Charters should be proud in the strides taken, they are raising the standards yet again as well as becoming more evolved and safe.

Flying into DCA without this certification is illegal thus making it impossible to have Washington as your final destination. Exclusive and Custom Jet Charters strive to advance and grow with the times and having this certification is a testament to all the hard work they put forth daily. Being certified is not something to take lightly, many FBOs obtain approval but not many operators. Exclusive aims to provide their clients with opportunities and experiences sans restrictions, and offering flights directly into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport puts them one step higher than the rest.

About Exclusive

In 2005, Jason Johnson and Adam Klein founded Exclusive Charter Service, Inc. today known simply as Exclusive. Originally designed as an On-Demand boutique membership program, the company has evolved into a full service Part 135 management firm over the past decade. With both a managed and an owned fleet, Exclusive has continued to keep the tradition of our dedicated advisors for that boutique service experience. In addition, we now offer a much larger variety of programs to meet the demands of most flyers. Exclusive is responsible for 1000's of non-scheduled flights annually and has in the past 10 years operated with 0 incidents and 0 accidents. Exclusive leads the On-Demand and membership jet charter market. Where other companies have just started membership programs, we have had a decade to perfect our membership platform.

To learn more visit http://www.Ecsjets.com, or call us at (888) 522-0883
Roll-Kraft, an industry leader in manufacturing roll tooling for tube and pipe and roll forming companies around the world, announces the appointment of two key financial positions that will help to facilitate future growth.

Roll-Kraft is pleased to announce the addition of Frank Mercuri as Chief Financial Officer. Mercuri comes to Roll-Kraft with 20 years of experience in various accounting and finance positions, including Chief Financial Officer and Controller for Ericson Manufacturing, Vocon Design, and Brulant, Inc. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a bachelors degree in accounting from Cleveland State University, and is a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA). He was awarded CFO of the Year by Crains Cleveland Business in 2009. He also serves as Treasurer of the Chesterland, Ohio, chapter of the Lions Clubs International.

Richard Lazar, former Chief Financial Officer, has moved into the position of Director of Finance  Special Projects. Lazar will be deeply involved in the companys future growth initiatives, as well as related commercial and process improvements. He has been with Roll-Kraft for 35 years and has provided steady and consistent guidance over the years. His expertise will be a valuable asset as the company continues to grow.

Roll-Kraft has its headquarters in Mentor, Ohio, and maintains other facilities in Lombard, Illinois (Chicago Roll Company); Houston, Texas (Roll-Kraft Texas); and Ontario, Canada (Roll-Kraft Ltd.). Calls to the companys main line, (888) 953-9400 or (440) 205-3100, are greeted by a live operator who can assist callers in quickly reaching a technician, engineer, or sales staff, who can provide immediate assistance. The companys fax number is (440) 205-3110.

Learn more about Roll-Kraft products and services by visiting roll-kraft.com. For easy and immediate contact with Roll-Kraft that transcends time zones and working hours, the website features an easy-to-use contact form.
Surinder Chandi I wanted to affiliate with RE/MAX because it is the global leader in real estate and the most recognized brand.

RE/MAX Northern Illinois has announced that RE/MAX 1st, its franchised office in Elmhurst, Ill., has been acquired by real estate broker and investor Surinder Chandi of Toronto, Canada. The acquisition was completed on March 28.

After working with both commercial and residential real estate in the Toronto area for two decades, with much of his focus on marketing new condominium residences, Chandi began investing in Chicago-area real estate in 2014 and now divides his time between the two cities. In Illinois, he has purchased, renovated and sold approximately 25 homes in Chicago suburbs from Country Club Hills north to Park Ridge. More recently, he purchased a 9,000-square-foot commercial building at 257 N. West St., Elmhurst, that he is renovating. Chandi plans to move RE/MAX 1st to that location later this year from its current office at 129 W. 1st St.

He explained that there were three main motivations behind his decision to purchase what is Illinois oldest RE/MAX franchise, established in 1977.

First, I wanted to affiliate with RE/MAX because it is the global leader in real estate and the most recognized brand, Chandi explained. In fact, Im also in the process of affiliating my Toronto operations with RE/MAX. Ive been impressed with the way RE/MAX has evolved from its original business model to one that now offers both franchise owners and their affiliated brokers the financial options that allow them to work together in the most productive ways.

Chandi also sees an opportunity to bring ideas from the Toronto market to the Chicago area that he believes will offer brokers at RE//MAX 1st a competitive advantage.

Our goal is to make life easier for brokers by providing outstanding support in those areas of the business that most brokers find burdensome, things such as creating marketing materials and prospecting for new business, he said. That will leave them more time to do what they do best, which is to guide their clients in handling one of their largest financial transactions, the sale or purchase of their home or of an investment property.

The first step in doing that, Chandi explained, will be to bring aboard full-time professionals to handle marketing and advertising at RE/MAX 1st and then to create a new state-of-the-art office that will be a welcoming environment for our brokers and their clients.

Initial plans call for the new office to be 2,500 square feet, but well also retain some expansion space in the building, he said. We have 13 brokers now, but Im confident well add to that substantially once the new space is ready if not sooner.

Chandi is also excited about the potential of the Elmhurst market, which has been among the strongest performers in suburban Chicago over the past decade.

Elmhurst is one of the few Chicago suburbs where the median home sales price was higher in 2016 than in 2008 at the start of the real estate crash. The median price last year was $400,000, 11 percent higher than in 2008, and Elmhurst has enjoyed strong sales over the last three years, with 2,078 home sales completed.

RE/MAX agents consistently rank among the most productive in the industry. In 2015, RE/MAX Northern Illinois agents averaged 18 transaction sides. RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 and is continually growing. The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of more than 2,250 sales associates and 103 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services. Its mobile real estate app, available for download at http://www.illinoisproperty.com, provides comprehensive information about residential and commercial property for sale in the region. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 110,000+ sales associates in 100+ nations.

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EDITORS NOTE: RE/MAX is a registered trademark. Please spell in all caps. Thank you. This release is posted at blog.illinoisproperty.com.
The Golden Heart of Alaska video. There are positive outcomes when the travel industry and economic development organizations work together

Late afternoon on Wednesday, May 10, during a reception for media credentialed for the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting, the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) unveiled its new economic development marketing video produced in partnership with Explore Fairbanks. The four-minute 15-second video highlights the many qualities that define the borough and incorporates images of locals working, playing and giving back in the community.

The music in the video is performed by the local band Young Fangs playing their original song Show Me the Way with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eduard Zilberkant. The instrumental arrangement was created by Scott Hansen, an undergraduate student in music composition at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Fairbanks-based Sound Reinforcement Specialists recorded and mixed the sound. The video was directed and produced by Anchorage-based Brilliant Media Strategies.

Building on a philosophy of collaboration, the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Explore Fairbanks designed this video to be a companion piece to the Explore Fairbanks award-winning video released in October 2014 that has a tourism-oriented focus. Karl Kassel, FNSB Mayor, said, There are positive outcomes when the travel industry and economic development organizations work together. He cited a 2014 study by Oxford Economics which concluded that municipalities that prioritize destination marketing and coordinate these efforts with economic development initiatives have experienced significant site relocations and new investments as a direct result. By working together, Explore Fairbanks and FNSB are trying to capture similar results and promote economic development in the borough.

The video is to be widely circulated in social media as well as online. Any organization or business involved in recruiting employees or businesses to the borough is invited to use this video to showcase the Golden Heart of Alaska as a great place to live, work, play, and give. To view the video go to: https://youtu.be/Ju1Ofz3jrBQ

###

About the Fairbanks North Star Borough

The Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) is Alaskas second most populated borough and residents commonly refer to it as the Golden Heart of Alaska. Due to its central location, the FNSB is the transportation, trade, and service center for the vast Interior and Northern regions of Alaska. The FNSBs location along transpolar air routes makes it logistically attractive for global air transportation and military operations. Find out more at http://www.co.fairbanks.ak.us

About Explore Fairbanks

Explore Fairbanks is a non-profit marketing organization whose mission is to be an economic driver in the Fairbanks region by marketing to potential visitors and optimizing the visitor experience. Explore Fairbanks markets Fairbanks as a year-round .
Through our partnership with Schneider Electric, were able to achieve energy efficiency we never imagined was possible and deliver new levels of comfort and care to our patients.

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, today announced it will implement more than $7 million in infrastructure upgrades at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, part of the Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8). The project will include comprehensive facility improvements and upgrades that will enhance patient care, all delivered with no up-front capital investment through a guaranteed energy savings performance contract (ESPC).

According to a recent VA Scorecard on Sustainability/Efficiency, only 15 percent of VA facilities are considered sustainable, and 23 percent of facilities are not on track to meet their energy intensity reduction goals. The partnership with Schneider Electric will provide new resources to help the VA close these sustainability and efficiency gaps while also addressing the tight budget constraints that many VA facilities face.

Schneider Electric is dedicated to providing innovative ways to improve operations through energy and infrastructure upgrades that support the VAs mission of advancing care for veterans and their families, said Jeff Sherman, Director of Federal Energy & Sustainability Services, Schneider Electric. We are proud to deliver critical upgrades that will dramatically improve the living and operating conditions in the hospital, and also help the VA achieve its energy conservation and sustainability goals with no impact on its operating budget.

Schneider Electric will guarantee more than $1 million in annual energy savings to the VA to fund the improvements over the life of the project. A significant portion of the work focuses on water conservation efforts to alleviate high water bills brought on by recent drought conditions and a remote water island environment, which drive up the price of fresh water. By installing low-flow plumbing fixtures, the VA will be able to significantly reduce water consumption which translates to tangible utility savings. Additional energy conservation measures include lighting, HVAC and advanced metering system upgrades.

Facility upgrades will not only reduce energy consumption, but will directly impact patient comfort by way of improved lighting in patient areas and better efficiency and control of heating and air conditioning equipment. Savings will come from a variety of strategies, including:



Installing energy efficient LED lighting and occupancy sensors to turn off lights during unoccupied times

Replacing existing aged pump and fan motors with premium efficiency motors

Installing power-returned fan equipment with variable frequency drives

Upgrading high-flow plumbing fixtures with lower-flow fixtures

Through our partnership with Schneider Electric, were able to achieve energy efficiency we never imagined was possible and deliver new levels of comfort and care to our patients, said Sixto Ortiz-Diaz, Energy Manager, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. We are thrilled to be able to implement $7 million in needed capital improvements at no cost to our community through guaranteed revenues and savings which will play a key role in ensuring the delivery of the highest quality patient care for years to come.

Schneider Electric will work with local subcontractors for the installation phase of the project, bringing local jobs to the San Juan community. Construction is underway and is scheduled to be complete in early 2018.

The project marks an expansion of a long-term collaboration between Schneider Electric and the VA. In addition to the work being done at the VA Medical Center in San Juan, Schneider Electric has completed similar projects at three VA New England Healthcare System (VISN 1) facilities, which will save $10 million in energy costs over the life of the projects. Schneider Electric has deep experience in serving Caribbean-based facilities, including the U.S. Coast Guard in San Juan, as well as General Services Administration facilities in St. Croix and St. Thomas.

The VISN 8 is the nations largest system of hospitals and clinics serving more than 1.6 million veterans across Florida, South Georgia, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Services are provided through primary care supported by eight Joint Commission-accredited medical centers and more than 55 outpatient clinics. VISN 8 facilities provide a full range of high quality, cost effective medical, psychiatric and extended care services in inpatient, outpatient, nursing home and home care settings.

Over the past 23 years, Schneider Electric has successfully implemented more than 625 ESPC projects across the nation, saving its clients nearly $1.6 billion. This project delivery method helps publicly funded entities make capital improvements over longer payback periods and offers many long-term benefits such as improved facility efficiency, occupant comfort, financial management and environmental protection.

For more information on how Schneider Electric helps federal agencies tackle energy and water efficiency, please visit http://www.enable.schneider-electric.com or contact your local Schneider Electric representative.

About Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric is the global specialist in energy management and automation. With revenues of $26 billion US dollars (25 billion euros) in FY2016, our 144,000+ employees serve customers in over 100 countries, helping them to manage their energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable. From the simplest of switches to complex operational systems, our technology, software and services improve the way our customers manage and automate their operations. Our connected technologies reshape industries, transform cities and enrich lives. At Schneider Electric, we call this Life Is On.

http://www.schneider-electric.us

Hashtags: #SchneiderElectric #VAMedicalCenter #VeteransAffairs #EnergyEfficiency #ESPC #LifeIsOn #InnovationAtEveryLevel
We are honored to receive the Birch Family Corporate Vision Award, said Tim Jones, CEO of Publicis Media Americas. Our organization believes that fostering an inclusive culture where all talent can thrive makes Publicis Media stronger and the work we do

Birch Family Services, a New York City not-for-profit that serves individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities and their families, will celebrate its 42nd Anniversary serving the NYC community at its annual Gala on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at The Prince George Ballroom at 15 East 27th Street. The Gala will recognize individuals and corporations whose vision, leadership and efforts are central to the themeCelebrating Our Achievements and Building Our Future. Matt Sturiale, President and CEO, Birch Family Services believes this event marks a great year for Birch stating, Now more than ever, it is essential for us to reflect on the progress and achievements that have been made with a careful eye towards transforming and building a strong future for the individuals and families we support. The Gala kicks off at 6:30pm with a cocktail reception followed by dinner, a silent auction and an awards presentation.

This years honorees include Roger Ross Williams, Producer and Director of Life, Animated. Mr. Williams has been a voice for underrepresented populations since his first film, Music by Prudence. His current film, Life, Animated a 2017 Academy Award nominee is about Owen Suskind, who people look past and are uncomfortable with because hes autistic and doesnt have the same social norms. On receiving the 2017 Voices of Hope Award, Mr. Williams said, It is an honor to be recognized by an organization like Birch Family Services whose work is so important in this world. Its important to give a voice to outsiders. For me, its about empowering people with disabilities to be the heroes of their own stories.

Publicis Media will receive the Corporate Vision Award. We are honored to receive the Birch Family Corporate Vision Award, said Tim Jones, CEO of Publicis Media Americas. Our organization believes that fostering an inclusive culture where all talent can thrive makes Publicis Media stronger and the work we do for our clients better. Since 2015, Publicis Media has worked with Birch to build a more inclusive workforce, partnering to recruit, hire and retain talented individuals from their New Frontier Employment Program. Publicis is a leader in their efforts to build a more diverse corporate culture that integrates individuals with different abilities.

Tara Rudnicki, President, Tobii Dynavox, will receive the Birch Legacy Award. Ms. Rudnicki has been a champion of the disability community with her commitment to bring innovative and life-changing technologies to thousands of people with disabilities around the globe, helping them live fuller, more independent lives. Empowering individuals with autism, ALS, Rett syndrome and other developmental disabilities is at the heart of everything I am able to be part of within this community, said Tara Rudnicki, President of Tobii Dynavox. I am deeply honored to accept the Birch Legacy Award on behalf of the entire Augmentative and Alternative Communication network. Birch Family Services is an exemplary organization that is directly aligned with our mission to advance positive change, remove barriers and create life-changing opportunities.

Proceeds from the Gala will support Birchs large network of schools, residences, and programs throughout New York City. Since 1975, Birch Family Services has provided innovative and superior programs that reach across the life span to ensure that the individuals we serve can reach their full potential and lead vibrant lives.

Tickets to the gala are $400 and sponsorships range from $1,000 - $50,000. To cover the event, purchase tickets or become a sponsor please call 212.616.1886 or visit http://www.birchfamilyservicesgala.com.

###

About Birch:

At Birch Family Services, we are dedicated to supporting people with autism and other developmental disabilities as they learn, through our education and community programs, to live more independently, obtain competitive employment and become integral members of their communities. This is done with the support of individuals, families, staff and community partners who share our vision of helping children, adolescents and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities achieve their dreams.

Since 1975, Birch Family Services has served over 18,000 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families throughout New York City. We have grown from a single classroom to 30 sites throughout Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx and provide support to 1,800 individuals and families daily across the life span including Pre-School and school-age Special Education; Head Start and Day Care; Small Supervised Residences; Day Habilitation; Young adult programs; and Family Support programs.
The expansion of our leadership team brings a wealth of technology and leadership experience to further develop and deliver industry-leading solutions enabling APCONs customers to monitor, secure and protect their data with confidence.

APCON, a leading provider of intelligent network visibility and security solutions, announced an expansion to the companys leadership team. Mohit Jalori was promoted to regional director of engineering, Philip Chan joined APCON as the companys director of solutions engineering, and Kevin Copestake was hired to lead APCONs sales organization for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The digital transformation means every company is experiencing a shift in network infrastructure, and APCONs role in network security and visibility has never been more vital, said Richard Rauch, president and CEO of APCON. The expansion of our leadership team brings a wealth of technology and leadership experience to further develop and deliver industry-leading solutions enabling APCONs customers to monitor, secure and protect their data with confidence.

Jalori joined APCON in 2014 as the engineering software manager. He was responsible for growing APCONs engineering team and expertise at its regional center in Texas. In his new role as regional director of engineering, he oversees the team responsible for the design and development of software for APCONs network visibility and security solutions. Jalori previously led software development activities at Texas Instruments and Blackberry.

During his 22 years of experience involving software development, IP solutions, and support and test engineering, Chan has managed IT solutions from start to finish. As APCONs director of solutions engineering, Chan leads a North American team responsible for providing APCON customers state-of-the-art network visibility and security solutions. Prior to APCON, he served as director of network solutions for Huawei Technologies and has held a number of leadership positions at Cisco Systems Advanced Services.

Copestake was appointed as the regional sales manager for United Kingdom and Ireland. He oversees APCONs business strategy, sales and pre-sales engineering operations for the region. Previously, Copestake held technical sales roles for SME and FTSE 100 companies across a number of sectors including healthcare, food production, military communications and cloud software.

About APCON

For more than 20 years, APCON has consistently delivered smart, stable and scalable technology solutions that provide an unparalleled level of confidence to service providers and businesses seeking total data center visibility and security. Its customers range from midsize companies to Fortune 1000 enterprises in more than 40 countries. APCON assures superior network monitoring while supporting traffic analysis and streamlined network management and security. For more information, visit http://www.apcon.com or follow us on Twitter @apcon.
Community involvement is an essential part of the fight for greater awareness, prevention, and treatment efforts for substance use and mental health disorders. Crossroads is honoring seven community leaders who have committed themselves to these efforts and are making a difference at its 4th Annual Community Awards breakfast on May 17, 2017. The event celebrates the men and women who have demonstrated a compassionate commitment to creating solutions for those struggling with substance use and mental health disorders.

This years recipients are:

 Chief Michael Sauschuck - Community Legal Leader

 Alane OConnor, DNP - Community Addictions Leader

 Mary Allen Lindemann and Alan Spear - Community Business Leaders

 Michael E. Kelley, MD- Community Medical Leader

 Zoe Odlin-Platz and Liz Garnatz - Community Leaders

Chief Michael Sauschuck has served the City of Portland since 1997, and appointed Chief of Police in January of 2012. Over the past decade several awards for his commitment include the Sergeant Michael J. Wallace Award, the Enrique Camarena Memorial Award from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Heroes with a Heart Award.

Alane OConnor holds her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree and works as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Maine Dartmouth Family Practice. She specializes in addiction medicine and the treatment of opioid-dependent women with buprenorphine.

Mary Allen Lindemann and Alan Spear are the co-owners of Coffee By Design. Together they have brewed 22 years worth of community and coffee; giving back to the community and providing superior coffee to the residents of Portland, Maine are their driving passions.

Michael E. Kelley, MD, is the Medical Director at CCS Psychiatry, part of St. Marys Health System. He specializes in chemical dependency psychiatry and is board certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, and Psychosomatic Medicine.

Zoe Odlin-Platz and Liz Garnatz play an integral role in promoting India Streets, needle exchange program, The Portland Exchange. The program aims to prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C by providing clean needles and connecting individuals with health services and health education.

The 4th Annual Community Awards breakfast will be held on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Clarion Hotel, Portland, Maine. Tickets are $25 and include a delicious breakfast. Interested individuals may purchase tickets online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-community-awards-breakfast-tickets-32893362934 or by calling (207) 773-9931.

More information about Crossroads is available online at http://www.crossroadsme.com.
Kimberley Baker, CFP "Because of the unique challenges that women face when planning for their retirement, they should take measures to draw Social Security in the most productive way possible in order to capture more income over their lifetimes.

Independent financial planning firm, Advance Financial Group and Kimberley Baker, CFP are hosting a Social Security workshop designed to inform women of their available claiming strategies in order to potentially increase their retirement income by thousands of dollars. The workshop will be held on May 16th at 6:30 at the Clemmons Library in Clemmons, NC and on May 17th at 6:30 at the Reynolda Library in Winston Salem, NC.

Often divorcees, widows and single women miss out on Social Security opportunities thus reducing their guaranteed lifetime income. At the same time they find themselves facing unique challenges such as longevity and having been disproportionately affected by divorce.Your retirement planning should include not only Maximizing Social Security but also and income distribution plan that is tax efficient.These topics will be discussed as well.

Seating is limited so RSVP by calling 336-659-9638 or email nbaker(at)isgva(dot)com and visit http://www.AdvanceFinancialGroupFP.com

ABOUT Advance Financial Group:

Advance Financial Group was founded in 1987 and is located Winston Salem, NC. We offer comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services on fee basis. Our primary objective is to help you clarify your unique goals and set priorities so that you can enjoy a comfortable lifestyle today and a dependable income at retirement. We are passionate about getting to know you and value long term relationships.

Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Advance Financial Group and Securities America are unaffiliated.

Advance Financial Group, 3447 Robinhood Rd Winston Salem, NC 27106
XCEl Corp Banner We look forward to attending this event and showcasing our products and services to more than 3000 attendees including top legal professionals", Mr. Goel said

XCEL Solutions Corp of Matawan, New Jersey will introduce its newly expanded range of services at the New Jersey State Bar Associations Annual Meeting and Convention to be held at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey between May 17th and 19th. The services, focused to provide enhanced and better user experience to our customers by utilizing cutting edge technologies, will be unveiled by XCEL's CEO, Jit Goel.

With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, XCEL Corp is looking to revamp and increase its range of Information Technology services to better suit their customers today. While constantly achieving 100% organic growth, XCEL Corps financial stability has allowed its leaders to implement its aggressive expansion strategies.

The new range of services includes Enterprise Mobility, Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, Mobile and Web Application Development, and Cloud Migration in addition to already existing range of services. XCEL Corp is constantly updating its technology platforms with innovative technologies to deliver best quality solutions to our clients said XCEL Corps spokesperson.

The NJSBA event has been chosen for unveiling the services due to the lack of wider penetration of IT in the legal services industry. For an industry which is incredibly professional labor intensive, there are only a few companies that provide customized technology related services for the legal services industry, says Mr. Goel speaking about the decision to unveil new services.

Our services will have special focus towards increasing the use of technology in the legal services industry. In an attempt to socialize and introduce our products and services to the legal professionals, XCEL Corp is excited to offer a Raffle Contest during the event where, the winners stand to win amazing and valuable prizes.

We look forward to attending this event and showcasing our products and services to more than 3000 attendees including top legal professionals", Mr. Goel said. XCEL Solutions Corp is backed by a diverse workforce that brings the best talents from around the world to provide out of the box technology solutions at a competitive pricing rate.

About NJSBA:

The New Jersey State Bar Association is a regulatory professional body for attorneys in the State of New Jersey. The association conducts its annual meeting and convention to achieve a host of various objectives. This years event would be held at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey between May 17th and 19th. The event is expected to draw over 3000 attorneys from all across the state. http://www.njsba.com

About XCEL Corp

XCEL Solutions Corp of Matawan, New Jersey is a Global Leader in IT. The company caters to over 20 different industrial sectors including, but not limited to BFSI, Media, Telecommunications, Technology, Retail, and Energy and Utilities.

XCEL Corp follows Hybrid Service Delivery Model which allows incredible flexibility to manage client requirements of all sizes. Some of the solutions and services offered by XCEL Corp include IT Consulting, Professional Services, Managed IT services, Enterprise Software, Product Engineering, Big Data, and Mobility solutions.

Contact:

Obed Joshua

254 Highway 34

Matawan, NJ 07747 NJ

For reviews, feedback, inquires, comments and more, please contact XCEL Corp at

+1-732-765-9235

E-Mail: pr(at)xcelcorp(dot)com
Were both looking forward to showcasing our collaboration during this years SiriusDecisions Summit.

KickFire, the leader in IP address intelligence and company identification technology, and Terminus, the leading account-based marketing (ABM) platform, today announce their strategic partnership. Terminus enables B2B companies to run personalized ABM campaigns at scale and, when combined with KickFires IP address-to-company identification technology, now Terminus customers can attribute the impact of driving account-specific engagement on their websites.

We needed a technology with the capability to identify visitors on our clients sites to signal to our customers when their ABM campaigns and efforts are working successfully, said Bryan Brown, Chief Product Officer for Terminus. After an extensive vendor comparison, we selected KickFire as our technology partner. With KickFire in place, we can better show the full ABM journey from advertising campaigns to website engagement to revenue.

As B2B account-based marketing continues to surge, the importance of data-driven decisions become even more prominent. Terminus recognized the significance of company identification data to their clients and worked closely with the KickFire team to incorporate powerful insight into the Terminus ABM platform. It was a natural extension between the two technologies to deepen their engagement and fuel advanced marketing strategies and validation.

By combining KickFires expertise in IP address intelligence with Terminus account-based marketing platform, Terminus will not only be able to validate attribution to its advertising efforts, but define additional marketing opportunities by identifying anonymous companies displaying an intent to buy, said Tina Bean, KickFire Co-Founder and Vice President of Strategic Business Development. We consider Terminus to be the leading innovator in ABM and are thrilled to see what this strategic partnership will do for the market. Were both looking forward to showcasing our collaboration during this years SiriusDecisions Summit.

KickFire will present this partnership at the SiriusDecisions 2017 Summit on Tuesday, May 16 at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada, during a customer case study session titled: Discover How Terminus Powers Their Account-Based Marketing Technologys Attribution and Validation Using KickFires IP Address-to-Company Identification. SiriusDecision attendees can also visit KickFire at booth #535 to speak with representatives and learn how IP address intelligence can power their sales and marketing stacks or meet the Terminus team at booth #141.

To learn more about KickFire, visit kickfire.com, call 408-493-0456 or email sales(at)kickfire(dot)com. For more information on the Terminus ABM platform, schedule a meeting with a Terminus ABM consultant.

About Terminus

Founded in 2014, Terminus is the leading account-based marketing (ABM) platform that enables B2B marketers to target accounts, engage decision-makers, and accelerate marketing and sales pipeline velocity at scale. Companies such as Salesforce, Domo, Vidyard, and Rosetta Stone use Terminus as a foundational platform for ABM. Terminus was named #1 Best Place to Work by The Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2016, and #3 Top Workplace by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2017 with the #1 Most Appreciated Employees.

About KickFire

KickFire is the leader in cloud-based B2B sales automation and IP address intelligence. The KickFire solutions are powered by TWIN Caching, an advanced, proprietary IP-to-company identification technology. TWIN Caching systematically caches and analyzes over four billion IP addresses, going beyond traditional IP association to uncover last-mile connectivity ownership. KickFires complete suite of solutions enables companies to tap into their websites invisible pipeline and transform anonymous visitors into actionable sales opportunities. VisiStat, Inc., doing business as KickFire, is a privately held company founded in 2005 and based in San Jose, CA.

###
PracticeLink Magazine takes ASHPE bronze for Best Cover and Best Opening Page/Spread Were extremely proud of the content we provide to help new and established physicians navigate the complexities of the job search, and we are honored to be recognized by ASHPE, for the seventh year in a row, for PracticeLink Magazine." Ken Allman, CEO

For the seventh year in a row, PracticeLink Magazine has been recognized by the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors (ASHPE) for excellence in editorial, graphics and overall publication quality.

In the 2017 awards competition, announced in April, PracticeLink Magazine was awarded:

Best Opening Page/Spread: Photo Category

Bronze

Quality of Life Issue: Physicians & Their Passions

Best Cover: Computer-Generated Category

Bronze

Contracts & Compensation Issue: The Anatomy of a Physician Contract

The American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors (ASHPE) recognizes editorial and graphic excellence in the field of health care publishing through an annual awards contest. The competition provides an opportunity for editors to measure their efforts against the very best the healthcare sector has to offer.

Were extremely proud of the content we provide to help new and established physicians navigate the complexities of the job search, and we are honored to be recognized by ASHPE, for the seventh year in a row, for PracticeLink Magazine, says Ken Allman, founder and CEO of PracticeLink.

About PracticeLink

PracticeLink.com is the nations most trusted physician recruitment resource and is the leading online recruitment solution for more than 5,000 facilities nationwide. In addition to its premier online physician job bank, PracticeLink publishes the award-winning PracticeLink Magazine, named ASHPEs 2014 Publication of the Year, which provides career resource information for 80,000+ residents, fellows and job-seeking physicians each quarter. PracticeLink is headquartered in Hinton, West Virginia, and has offices in Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Louis, Missouri.

About ASHPE

ASHPE, The American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors, is dedicated to enhancing the knowledge and skill of healthcare publication editors, and serves as the authority on trends in the healthcare publication sector.
H2020 Safertec & Commsignia logo Our goal - together with our partners - is to go beyond the current state of the art to design and validate the next generation of secure vehicular subsystems," says Commsignia project lead Andras Varadi.

Modern vehicles are becoming increasingly capable of establishing connectivity that allows the rich-information exchange between vehicles (V2V) and between vehicles and road infrastructure units (V2I)  together referred to as V2X or C2X.

The so-called 'connected-vehicles' paradigm can bring about an enormous potential for safer transportation only if the involved security needs against a variety of 'new' threats are confidently satisfied.

The H2020 SAFERtec project (that will run from Jan 2017 to Dec 2019) seeks to explore in-depth the involved vulnerabilities of connected vehicles, apply innovative techniques for attack modeling, experimentally validate the quantification of security assurance levels and also contribute to relevant standards.

With a total budget of 3.8 million Euros funded by the European Commission, 9 partners of industrial, SME and academic profile coming from 6 different countries are joining their expertise to contribute to the vision of introducing a security assurance framework tailored for future networked vehicular technology.

"Commsignia provides the industrys best complete security stack for V2X communication. We are also the first company to successfully interface and publicly demonstrate a working solution with the US DOT SCMS (US Department of Transport Security Credential Management System). Our stack is a flexible and feature rich solution offering the optimal combination of software and hardware based functions, explains Andras Varadi, Commsignias lead within the project. "Our goal - together with our partners - is to go beyond the current state of the art to design and validate the next generation of secure vehicular subsystems and so improve our product portfolio in the process.

For further information please contact:

Nicolas Richter, nicolas(dot)richter(at)commsignia(dot)com Tel : + 41 79 820 50 79

About Commsignia

Commsignia (http://www.commsignia.com #commsignia) is the markets most dynamic V2X company thanks to its cutting-edge technology and market ready portfolio. Commsignia specializes in Connected Car / V2X Safer on the Road software and hardware products compatible with IEEE 802.11p and Cellular V2X helping to build the next generation autonomous car and smart mobility ecosystem that will make driving safer whilst reducing congestion and lowering emissions. Commsignia supplies best-in-class V2X (Car2X) Communication Software, hybrid V2X /ADAS Applications with robust PKI and SCMS security, a V2X SDK as well as OnBoard (OBU) and Roadside Units (RSU) for connected car and Smart City deployments.
Caroline Ledet in Atlanta, GA Every mom deserves to be honored and celebrated on Mother's Day. These women work so hard to make sure everyone else gets their gifts on time. This year, we wanted to return the favor.

Two companies honored some special women ahead of Mothers Day by surprising them with a sweet treat of their own. On May 10th, Edible Arrangements partnered with UPS to surprise UPS delivery drivers and other employees with Edible Arrangements fruit bouquets at more than a dozen UPS centers across the country, including:

UPS San Ramon Center in San Ramon, CA

UPS Indiana Center in Indiana, PA

UPS Fulton Center in Atlanta, GA

UPS CACH Facility in Hodgkins, IL

The women who received these special gifts go above and beyond as mothers and as UPS drivers. Sue Ballas in Pennsylvania was a single mother who learned how to drive a manual transmission in order to support her family as a UPS driver. Shes now in UPSs Circle of Honor, a program recognizing drivers who have not had an avoidable accident for 25 years or more. Caroline Ledet in Atlanta is a mother of three and maintains an outstanding work ethic, even as she deals with the challenges of raising a young child with special needs. Barbara Hatch in California works around a long commute because she knows the value of a good job in supporting her five children. Sabrina Montgomery in Chicago is dedicated to helping other moms by volunteering at a local battered womens shelter.

Edible Arrangements understands how important moms are. The Founder and CEO, Tariq Farid, credits his mom with the success of his company. Thats why Edible Arrangements and UPS wanted to make this Mothers Day extra special for these four women who make the holidays special for hundreds of others year after year.

Every mom deserves to be honored and celebrated on Mothers Day. These women work so hard to make sure everyone else gets their gifts on time. This year, we wanted to return the favor and thank them for all they do, said Farid.

Mothers Day is one of the busiest days of the year for Edible Arrangements. The company hires thousands of seasonal workers across the country to keep up with the demand of same-day hand delivery from over 1,200 plus store locations, and with the help of its partner, UPS, next-day delivery to more remote areas of the country. Edible Arrangements stands alone as the first company to create fruit bouquets and only uses 100% fresh, never frozen, locally sourced fruit in all their menu items, which brings people back to its stores time and time again.

About Edible Arrangements:

With more than 1,300 franchise locations open or under development worldwide, Edible Arrangements International, LLC is the worlds largest franchisor of shops offering creatively designed, fresh-cut fruit arrangements. Edible Arrangements store locations also carry the companys rapidly expanding Edible To Go line, which features all-natural, fresh fruit smoothies, chocolate Dipped Fruit, Froyo Fruit Blends, fresh fruit salads, parfaits and treats. Since its founding in 1999 in East Haven, Conn., the company has been recognized as an industry leader, ranking first in its category in Entrepreneur Magazines annual Franchise 500, Entrepreneurs Top 40 of Fastest Growing Franchises and Americas Top Global Franchises, as well as being included among the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing, privately-held companies. Edible Arrangements fresh fruit arrangements, chocolate Dipped Fruit, fresh fruit smoothies and more can be enjoyed at franchise locations worldwide. Gifts can be ordered online at edible.com, by phone at 1-877- DO-FRUIT  or through any local Edible Arrangements store.

Learn more at edible.com.
Center for International Private Enterprise The app will be instrumental in extending essential business education and finance opportunities for small business. CIPE's Al Zoghbi said.

In an effort to increase opportunity for entrepreneurs in Egypt, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), with support from the World Bank MSME Facility, has created an Arabic-language mobile app called Tamweely. This new program was launched yesterday at a Meet to Match exhibition in Cairo.

The goal of the app is to connect financiers to small businesses and entrepreneurs in Egypt seeking start-up funding, as well as to provide business education tools and information about the institutional and legal environment for entrepreneurs and startups.

This is going to be a big help to entrepreneurs in Egypt, Randa Al Zoghbi, CIPEs Program Director in Egypt, said at the exhibition. The app will be instrumental in extending essential business education and finance opportunities for small business.

CIPE and the World Bank hope the app will improve access to finance for Egyptian entrepreneurs. The launch event included three core components: financier booths where entrepreneurs could sign up to pitch their businesses and receive feedback; roundtables, led by an established entrepreneur or finance advisor, where participants went through case study exercises; and lastly, the app was available for testing and feedback.

The app is designed to provide a platform to match entrepreneurs seeking finance with banks, non-banking financial institutions, and individual investors seeking partnerships. Tamweely is now available for download in the Apple AppStore and Android PlayStore. It can also be used via the internet here.

Egypts regulatory environment is undergoing changes to unleash small business and entrepreneurship potential. This app hopes to work towards supporting that transition. Startups and small businesses often cannot meet the requirements of lending, either due to strict regulations, lack of business education, inefficient bureaucracy, or insufficient services at the municipal level.

To develop the app, CIPE convened an advisory board and conducted extensive outreach to entrepreneurs, banks, and other financial institutions throughout Egypt to better identify the expectations of the prospective app users.

For more information on Tamweely, visit Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/TamweelyApp/, twitter @TamweelyApp, or their website, http://www.tamweely.org. All are in Arabic.
Banorte Financial Group has Standardized on Boon Edam Turnstiles and Gates for Building Access Control Boon Edam succeeded in breaking the paradigm that architecture does not necessarily align with security, Epigmenio Treto Martinez, Manager of Security and Intelligence Past News Releases RSS

Boon Edam Inc., a global leader in security entrances and architectural revolving doors, today announced that the Mexican financial group, Banorte, has standardized on Boon Edams Swinglane 900 optical turnstiles and Winglock access gates at its new headquarters in Monterrey, the Koi Tower, and a major location in Mexico City. The turnstiles and gates were installed to ensure only authorized access to the interior of its facilities to protect employees, visitors, and customers, and to relieve pressure on security guards and reception staff who must constantly monitor the flow of people into and out of the buildings.

At 918 feet, the Koi Tower (completed in 2017) is now the tallest building in Mexico and the third tallest building in Latin America. It was developed by Internacional de Inversiones (IDEI) and designed by HOK and V&FO. This combined residential and office building is applying for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification for its sustainability characteristics. The building also features three Boon Edam TQA automatic revolving doors at its main entrance.

Epigmenio Treto Martinez, Manager of Security and Intelligence at Banorte, explained, The security turnstiles and gates were installed in two, high-flow, personnel towers, mainly occupied by employees in administrative roles, but also featuring reception areas to receive customer and visitor traffic."

In total, 14 Swinglane lanes and 5 access gates are installed in both of the buildings. At the Koi Tower in Monterrey, there are 6 turnstile lanes and 2 Winglocks at the main entrances and two more arrays of Swinglanes and Winglocks at side entrances. The Mexico City building has 3 turnstile lanes and one Winglock gate. In addition, the turnstiles are integrated into the access control system. "At Banorte, we have the vision to maintain state-of-the-art technology in all aspects: integration, automation, and intelligence within the protection and security systems that make up our platforms," added Martinez.

Boon Edams Swinglane 900 optical turnstile features two, slim profile cabinets, notable for their large plates of clear glass, making them aesthetically desirable for Class A office buildings. There is a minimal amount of stainless steel to hold the electronics and sensors that are used to detect the user passage. The single, swinging barrier is also constructed of solid glass. The Winglock 900 access gate is one post of stainless steel with a single, swinging glass gate to accommodate disabled access and larger deliveries.

"We were looking for high-security engineering aligned with the functional design of our spaces, as well as integration and correlation with other security features in the buildings. In this case, Boon Edam succeeded in breaking the paradigm that architecture does not necessarily align with security, said Martinez.

For Further Information, Please Contact:

Tracie Thomas

Marketing Manager

T 910 814 8239

E tracie.thomas(at)boonedam(dot)com

For Media Queries, Please Contact

Bruce Doneff

Public Relations

T 843 476 3022

E doneff(at)verizon(dot)net

About Royal Boon Edam

With work environments becoming increasingly global and dynamic, the smart, safe entry has become the center of activity in and around many buildings. Royal Boon Edam is a global market leader in reliable entry solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, with 140 years of experience in engineering quality, we have gained extensive expertise in managing the transit of people through office buildings, airports, healthcare facilities, hotels and many other types of buildings. We are focused on providing an optimal, sustainable experience for our clients and their clients. By working together with you, our client, we help determine the exact requirements for the entry point in and around your building. You can find more news about Boon Edam on http://www.boonedam.us/news.

About Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A.B. de C.V.

Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A.B. de C.V., doing business as Banorte and as Ixe, is a Mexican banking and financial services holding company with headquarters in Monterrey and Mexico City. It is one of the four largest commercial banks of Mexico by assets and loans, and the largest retirement fund administrator. Banorte is the primary subsidiary of Grupo Financiero Banorte, and is a Forbes Global 2000 company, with more than 30 billion dollars in assets under management, 27,000 employees, 1,100 branches, and 7,600 ATMs.
Leslie R. Katz, a shareholder at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, was recently recognized by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business for 2017. Katz and her fellow recipients will be honored at a gala awards dinner June 14 at the Hilton Union Square in San Francisco. G. Michelle Ferreira, managing shareholder of the firms San Francisco office, is among the San Francisco Business Times Forever Influential Honor Roll and will also be recognized for her continued influence in Bay Area business.

The Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business list recognizes women across a wide variety of industries who are business leaders, passionate about their careers, and significantly involved in their community.

Katz focuses on government law and policy, including energy, telecommunications, healthcare, emerging technology, land use, construction, infrastructure, development and public-private partnerships. She helps optimize the political, legal, community and business contexts in which her clients operate. Her ability to provide strategic counsel, for startups to Fortune 500 companies and public entities, comes from her diverse experiences in the public and private sectors.

She is a former member of the Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San Francisco, serving as chair and/or vice chair of numerous committees. As a board member, Katz drafted and helped pass significant legislation related to technology, the environment, economic development, labor and human rights, including the Equal Benefits Ordinance. She was also elected to the San Francisco Community College Board of Trustees and has served on the Port Commission of San Francisco.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

(GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. One firm worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the second largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2016, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.
OrthoPediatrics Symposium EPOSNA 2017

OrthoPediatrics Corp. was a Double Diamond sponsor of the 2017 combined EPOSNA meeting, which took place May 3  6 in Barcelona, Spain. This was a joint meeting of the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS) and the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America (POSNA). Over 1300 Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeons from across the United States and Europe participated in the program. OrthoPediatrics has been a leading sponsor of both organizations since the companys inception.

During the meeting, OrthoPediatrics also sponsored a lunch symposium titled Modern Approaches to the Treatment of Complex Hip Disease, featuring an international panel of key opinion leaders. Moderated by Dr. Pablo Castanada and Dr. Rudolf Ganger, panelists discussed diagnoses, pre-operative planning, and surgical techniques for the treatment of complex hip disease in children and adolescents.

OrthoPediatrics CEO, Mark Throdahl said, Our support of EPOS and POSNA, which is out of all proportion to our size, sets the priority for everything else we do. It builds corporate character and keeps us true to the cause of helping children throughout the world.

About OrthoPediatrics Corp.

Founded in 2006, OrthoPediatrics is the only orthopedic company focused exclusively on providing a comprehensive product offering to the pediatric orthopedic market in order to improve the lives of children with orthopedic conditions. OrthoPediatrics currently markets 19 surgical systems that serve three of the largest categories within the pediatric orthopedic market. This offering spans trauma and deformity, complex spine and ACL reconstruction procedures. OrthoPediatrics also has the only global sales organization focused exclusively on pediatric orthopedics and distributes its products to 34 countries outside the United States.
Wharton Prof Adam Grant When employees at a Mexican coupon processing factory saw their work as a means to benefit their families, their boring jobs felt more important

The two enemies of happiness are pain and boredom. Though philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer likely did not have the modern workplace in mind when he wrote those words, boredom is a serious and common problem at work. It can make work feel meaningless, reduce performance and increase stress. Is there anything an employee with a monotonous job can do, other than look for more interesting work?

Find family motivation, suggests a new study in the Academy of Management Journal being published this month. When employees at a Mexican coupon processing factory saw their work as a means to benefit their families, their boring jobs felt more important. Those who were high in family motivation were significantly more productive and energized than their peers.

The study, When Job Performance Is All Relative: How Family Motivation Energizes Effort and Compensates for Intrinsic Motivation, builds on the research of Jochen I. Menges of Germany's WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management and the University of Cambridges Judge Business School, which looks at ways to motivate employees with uninteresting, low-paying jobs, where intrinsic motivation is often absent. In the current study, Menges, joined by Danielle V. Tussing and Adam M. Grant of the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School as well as Andreas Wihler of the University of Bonn, examined the motivation of employees at a factory where managers were worried by the potential negative effects of monotonous work on employees, particularly for those employees who might be struggling to support families.

The researchers found that instead of causing strain, families made several positive contributions to workers performance and well-being, providing a boost in employees energy and increased productivity. Even though family motivation is unlikely to make tedious work itself more interesting, it gives meaning to work such that employees see work as a way of supporting and sustaining those who are most important to them, the researchers noted. Furthermore, Feelings related to home life that likely underlie family motivation, such as concern for ones family, a sense of pride in ones family, and the desire to provide for ones family, can have an energizing function at work, bolstering effort and performance."

The factory where the researchers did their study is one of several thousand "maquiladoras," Mexican firms located near the U.S. border that operate under a tax-free agreement with the U.S. and provide inexpensive labor for jobs involving assembly, processing, or manufacturing. As described in the study, "Employees spend their working day scanning discount coupons that are shipped to Mexico from U.S. retailers for accounting purposes. The scanning is a standardized manual process that involves taking each coupon out of its shipping container, scanning the bar code, and checking that the system counted and categorized the coupon correctly."

The 97 female employees who participated in the study were an average of 31 years old, and had worked at the factory for an average of over six years. To assess employees motivation, researchers asked participants to complete a survey that asked why they were motivated to do their work with a series of statements with which the employees could indicate their agreement on a 7-point scale. Some statements addressed family motivation (e.g., "I care about supporting my family"; "It is important for me to do good for my family"; and "My family benefits from my job"), whereas other addressed intrinsic motivation, (e.g., "I enjoy the work itself" and "I find the work engaging"). Job performance was measured through the company's automated system, which records the number of coupons processed per day by each worker. The researchers believe family motivation captures more than financial need, as they controlled for extrinsic motivation, and workers were paid hourly, regardless of performance. Participants were also asked to record the energy they devoted to their job and the amount of stress they experienced for two weeks.

On average, employees experienced greater family motivation than intrinsic motivation. For employees who reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation, family motivation did not affect performance. However, for those employees with low intrinsic motivation, family motivation significantly boosted performance  employees with high family motivation processed about 10% more coupons compared to employees with low family motivation. In addition, these employees reported feeling significantly more energetic, refreshed, and enthusiastic than those with low family motivation, even while reporting similar levels of stress. The results were unaffected by the size of family or whether participants had partners.

"What makes these findings particularly striking," comments Menges, "is that employees worked harder to benefit people outside of work  their family. Our research shows, therefore, that the family is a source of motivation for work, and not a distraction from work. These findings, though obtained in a factory in one particular country, may generally inform our understanding of the role of family in work life, highlighting how vitally important and beneficial it can be to see a job not just as a self-centered activity offering joy and rewards, but as a social endeavor that helps to take care of those we love the most.

The researchers believe this result has important implications for the way organizations and managers organize the workplace, such as whether they allow employees to display family photos or mementos, how they award performance, as well as how they make recruitment decisions. Furthermore, family motivation might also come in the form of initiatives often overlooked by employers - namely, "family benefits... such as college support, adoption support, childcare, eldercare, employee assistance programs, and mentoring opportunities for employees' children [and additionally] the extent to which an organization is imbued with family values or responds to employee tragedies with compassion."

Though the study highlights the importance of family motivation on job performance, it by no means minimizes the importance of intrinsic motivation. Employees who enjoyed their work and found it engaging experienced more energy and lower stress than employees who lacked intrinsic motivation. However, where engagement was lacking, family motivation made up for it. As the researchers noted, "We found a compensatory interaction suggesting that, when intrinsic motivation is lacking, employees with high family motivation perform just as effectively as their intrinsically motivated peers."

Echoing the poet Maya Angelou when she wrote, "I sustain myself with the love of family," the researchers conclude that "the love of family plays a critical role in sustaining employees' energy and effectiveness at work."

The paper, When Job Performance Is All Relative: How Family Motivation Energizes Effort and Compensates for Intrinsic Motivation, is in the April/May issue of the Academy of Management Journal.

###
The Fort Pierre City Council should not have entered into a secret settlement agreement.

On Monday, in a 5-1 vote, the council agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Perkins' owner Diane London in 2015. Exactly how much the City of Fort Pierre's citizens could be on the hook for is completely unknown. The city council, as part of the settlement, agreed to keep its details secret.

How can a public entity agree to shell out taxpayers' dollars without telling the very people from whom that money was collected how much of their blood, sweat and tears  because we cannot forget that that is what tax dollars represent  are being used to end a lawsuit originally brought because city leaders may or may not have followed the city's own rules regarding the development of the Teton Island district?

The answer is actually pretty simple. South Dakota's laws are, at best, abysmal when it comes to telling people what their own governments are doing. South Dakota continually ranks in the bottom five of the 50 states when it comes to openness in government. To be clear, South Dakota is not an open-government state.

That fact is surprising given the majority of our political leaders' repeated calls for a more limited government and their stated commitment to spending the smallest amount of taxpayer dollars possible. The people of this state, too, by and large, tend to believe in a limited, spend-thrift government.

One would be forgiven for assuming that a commitment to limited-government principles would extend to such things as not spending taxpayer dollars without telling the taxpayers how much is being spent. In South Dakota, at least, it doesn't. There have been many attempts to fix loopholes in state law that allow city governments to conceal information such as how much they have to shell out for legal settlements. All of them have failed.

That brings us back to the situation in Fort Pierre. Rob Anderson, the lawyer to whom Fort Pierre Mayor Gloria Hanson said all questions about the settlement should be directed, told a Capital Journal reporter on Tuesday that he cannot even say whether the city had to pay anything at all or if there's an insurance policy that would help defray costs, if there were any.

Confidential settlements on behalf of government entities aren't unique to South Dakota. Local and state governments all over the country have tried repeatedly to conceal details of legal settlements from their citizens. Sometimes, it's done to protect juvenile victims of wrongdoing, and that's understandable.

But other times, it's done to prevent the embarrassment of public officials or to protect the person who filed the lawsuit and has received taxpayer dollars as a result of the settlement. Neither of those situations are acceptable reasons to keep information, especially financial information, from taxpayers.

Out of court settlements serve a good purpose. They can cut the costs of litigation, saving everyone some money in the process. For private businesses, that's a great thing. But when it comes to government, which by definition deals in public monies, secret settlements should be the exception, not the rule.

The state should have clear laws forbidding secret legal settlements for all levels of government. There should be few exceptions to the prohibition of secrecy and every elected, appointed or hired official should know the consequences for circumventing those rules.

South Dakota has none of that right now. What we do have is vague statutory language surrounding contracts and legal settlements as they apply to governments. The Supreme Court even now is deciding whether some of the state laws permitting secret settlements apply to city governments when they're the ones receiving money from such an agreement.

The Fort Pierre City Council may not have violated a state law by entering into a secret settlement agreement. They may have been acting in good faith when they did so, hoping to save a little taxpayer money by ending a costly lawsuit early. But the councilors owe their constituents more than that.

The council owes the people of Fort Pierre good government, and good government can't be conducted in secret. The council also owes their constituents the chance for a full accounting of what may or may not have gone wrong at the Teton Island development. That can't be done now because some of the details are being kept secret.

While a secret settlement may be legal for governments to enter into right, they are almost never the right thing to do. Every citizen of Fort Pierre should demand that the city council make its portion of this settlement public.

This editorial appeared in the May 3 edition of the Capital Journal of Pierre, South Dakota.
Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, former New York State Court of Appeals Senior Associate Judge, will receive The Fund for Modern Courts Career Public Service Award on May 22. Ciparick is co-chair of the global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLPs National Appellate Practice and is based in the firms New York office.

Ciparick will be honored at the John J. McCloy Memorial Awards ceremony at the Bryant Park Grill on 25 West 40th Street. According to The Fund for Modern Courts, The Career Public Service Award was established in 2007 to honor individuals who, throughout their careers, have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the pursuit of justice, fairness, inclusiveness, and equal opportunity in the judicial system of New York State.

Ciparick advises clients on appellate matters, litigation strategy, and mentors Greenberg Traurigs junior lawyers. She remains active in public service and serves on the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice, the New York Courts Historical Society, and the New York State Indigent Legal Services Board. She was also appointed by the Chief Judge to co-chair the New York Justice Task Force that examines the causes of wrongful convictions, and was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as Chair of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Judiciary. Additionally, she serves on several non-profit boards, including The Fund for Modern Courts, The Office of the Appellate Defender, The City Bar Justice Center, and The Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Ciparick spent 19 years on New York States highest court and 15 years on the trial bench. She was appointed on Dec. 1, 1993, by Governor Mario M. Cuomo, and was re-appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer in November 2007.

Greenberg Traurig has been at the center of some of the most important cases in recent times. Members of the Appellate Practice handle appeals in opposition to U.S. government regulatory agencies in wide-ranging matters, focusing on science, technology and health care issues, and constitutional law. Greenberg Traurig has served as counsel of record or lead counsel in hundreds of cases in both federal and state courts, obtaining precedent-setting decisions in commercial and other contexts. For more information on the firms Appellate Practice, click here.

About Greenberg Traurig

Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. A single entity worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the second largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2016, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.
"Spice wants to help our customers keep their employees happy and engaged by funding donations for them through Encast." - Mike Ryan, CEO, SpiceCSM

SpiceCSM (http://www.spicecsm.com) has reached an agreement with Encast (http://www.encast.gives) to add its Giving as a Service (GaaS) charitable donations platform to the Spice eco-system of fully integrated applications. The service will be made available to all of Spices customers.

The two Austin companies will make it possible for employees of SpiceCSM customers to donate a portion of their SpiceCSM subscription service fee to a charity of their choice. They can also give funds that might be provided by the Spice customer, or add their personal financial contributions.

SpiceCSM founder and CEO Mike Ryan announced the offering in conjunction with another integrated partner event at the NICE/In Contact Interactions Customer Service Convention in Las Vegas.

Every business looks for ways to keep their employees happy and engaged, said Ryan. And every study of the work place shows the best way to do that is to give additional meaning to our jobs. Spice wants to help our customers with this by funding donations for their employees, and empower them to make charitable contributions in their communities.

Ryans company will use Encast MyHERO to deliver a dashboard to users of the SpiceCSM platform. Spice will seed each workers account with money for them to donate to charities that they identify through the platform. Users can add to their donations and use the technology to track volunteer hours. An additional benefit of the agreement allows Spices customers to upgrade at any time to Encasts WorkHERO, which offers payroll deductions, grant-making, and data analytics and reporting.

Mike runs the kind of conscious company we are proud to be associated with, said Leo Ramirez, Jr., CEO and founder of Encast. Spice is about making a difference; not just a profit. Facilitated giving in the workplace always has a positive impact on employees, and Encast extends Spices commitment of business transformation to its customers by increasing employee retention and workplace engagement.

Countless human resources studies have shown that companies that have giving as part of their culture are able to attract and keep top talent, create more loyal customers, and establish a more productive work environment. The WorkHERO system delivers 100 percent of all donations directly to selected charities without charging a processing fee to either the donor or the recipient.

About: SpiceCSM is the leading platform for creating a digital ecosystem that connects disparate systems, people, and processes, and orchestrates interactions to greatly enhance the user experience and better leverage existing infrastructure. Combining a powerful integration platform, robust business rules and work-flow engines, intelligent robotic process automation, and a unified interface with dashboard and analytics.

About: Encast offers a cloud-based application to increase and manage charitable giving by companies, employees, and private individuals. Our Giving as a Service (GaaS) delivers the HERO platform to offer charitable choices, recommendations, tracking, tax records, and money management to engage givers.
2017 Celebrity Vintners present the opening lot, Magnum Force, which sold for a record breaking $55,000 "Our ability to continually increase the funds raised year over year is a testament to both the strength of our organization and the power of our mission of the charities we support," said John Russell, president of DCWAF.

Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation (DCWAF) celebrated the 12th Annual Destin Charity Wine Auction on April 29, raising more than $2.7 million for children in need in Northwest Florida. The record breaking results are a $34,000 increase over the $2.66 million raised last year.

Our ability to continually increase the funds raised year over year is a testament to both the strength of our organization and the power of our mission of the charities we support," said John Russell, president of DCWAF. We are so thankful for the generosity of our board, trustees, sponsors, patron hosts, attendees, and friends in the wine and culinary industry without which our auction would not be possible.

The auction kicked off with the Magnum Force lot (50 autographed magnums from DCWAF vintners past and present), which raised a record winning bid of $55,000. The highest grossing lot was the highly anticipated 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport, earning $85,000. Donated by St. Joe Community Foundation, the lot included a white, 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport with less than 2,300 miles on it and a stay at Watersound Origins complete with a variety of activities. Currently, there is only one other Tesla Roadster Sport available for sale in the United States.

Raising $60,000 was the Alpha Omega and Tolosa Winery experience donated by proprietors Robin and Michelle Baggett of Alpha Omega and Tolosa Winery. This incredible trip includes five nights for two couples kicking off with a private, four-course wine dinner on the Baggetts private yacht from San Francisco to Napa Valley where the winning couples will experience all that Alpha Omega has to offer. Both couples will then travel by private plane to San Louis Obispo to enjoy a taste of Tolosa Winery complete with a long list of wine dinners and activities. A trip to Italys Amalfi coast sold twice at $45,000 each for a total of $90,000 while an immersive trip to Umbria, Italy sold three times at $20,000 for a total of $60,000.

The funds raised are distributed to 15 local non-profit organizations for specific projects and programs that benefit children. Charity partners for 2017 include Children in Crisis, Childrens Volunteer Health Network, Emerald Coast Autism Center, the Emerald Coast Childrens Advocacy Center, Food for Thought, Habitat for Humanity of Walton County, The Arc of the Emerald Coast, Opportunity Inc., Pathways for Change, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, Shelter House of Northwest Florida, AMIKids Emerald Coast, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast, Mental Health Association of Okaloosa and Walton Counties, and Youth Village.

The wonderful work that our 15 benefiting charities do, day in and day out, unselfishly nurturing children in our community is truly amazing. From health care, autism, abuse, mental health, a place to live, a second chance, dental care or simply having something to eat over the weekend. The organizations we support are not just changing the lives of children today, but also giving them the opportunity to be productive members of society in the future, said Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation Chairman, George Brannon Jr.

The 12th Annual Destin Charity Wine Auction was comprised of 55 unique Live Lots, 29 Super Silent offerings, and 132 Silent Lots. The sold out event was attended by over 600 wine enthusiasts, making it the most successful Destin Charity Wine Auction to date.

In addition, during the Wine Auction weekend, 14 Patron Dinners were held in notable restaurants and private homes in the area. These dinners pair celebrity chefs with participating vintners to create a memorable dining experience for every attendee. The Foundation is especially thankful to the Patron Hosts who opened the doors to their homes and restaurants and set the stage for the auction weekend. Auctions at each of these dinners recorded revenues of over $550,000, with $155,000 raised at the dinner hosted by Jack and Candis Wilson featuring Alpha Omega and Tolosa Winery, and Chef Matthew Basford.

As the top charity fundraising event in Northwest Florida, the Destin Charity Wine Auction has been ranked among the nations top ten highest-grossing charity wine auctions in the country by Wine Spectator Magazine for five consecutive years and is currently ranked number three. The money raised at this years auction will be presented to the charity partners during a check presentation event in August.

The dates for next years Destin Charity Wine Auction weekend are April 27  29, 2018. For more information on the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation, visit http://www.DCWAF.org.

Featured Proprietors and Vintners: Honorary Vintners Greg and Stacy Lill of DeLille Cellars, International Honorary Vintners Erik Saccomani and Glenn Salva of Antinori and Antica Napa Valley, Robin and Michelle Baggett of Alpha Omega and Tolosa Winery, Will Phelps of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Tom Gamble and Ashley Brandner of Gamble Family Vineyards, Kristina Dunn Buchanan of Dunn Family Vineyard, Scott Morrison of Jarvis Estate, Susan Doyle of Spring Mountain Vineyard, Mary Rocca of Rocca Family Vineyard, Bart and Barb OBrien of OBrien Estate, Luis Reyneri of Domaine Serene, Gianni Abate and Robert Smith of Foley Family Wines, Fiona and Hal Barnett of Barnett Vineyards, Erik Ackerman and Leah Robinson of Cardinale, Ken Coopersmith of Merry Edwards Winery, Shari Staglin of Staglin Family Vineyards, Franco Massolino of Massolino, Don Hartford of Hartford Family Wines, Elton Slone and Rachel Miller of Robert Craig Winery, Bob and Ann Arns of Tournesol Winery, Kristi Devine of Covert Estate, Mary Joli of Willamette Valley Vineyards, Susan Krausz of Arkenstone, Axel Schug and Dan Zepponi of Carneros Wine Alliance, Ralph Hertelendy of Hertelendy Vineyards, Morgan Lee of Covington Cellars and II Vintners, and Bryan Krutz of Krutz Cellars.

Featured Spirits: Wesley Henderson of Angels Envy, Harlen Wheatley of Buffalo Trace, and Carlton Grooms of Papas Pilar.

Honorary Chefs and Restaurants: Matthew Basford of Canoe, Atlanta, GA; Tim Creehan of Cuvee 30A, Cuvee Catering, & Grill Plus, Destin, FL; Robert Harris of The Table, Cambridge, MA; Cindy Hutson of Ortanique On The Mile, Coral Gables, FL; Jack McGuckin of Bijoux, Miramar Beach, FL; Luis A. Pous of Asia De Cuba Restaurants Worldwide, New York City, NY; Craig Richards of St. Cecilia and The Optimist, Atalanta, GA; Scotty Schwartz of 29 South, Fernandina Beach, FL; Scott Serpas of Serpas True Food, Atlanta, GA; Dan Vargo of Seagars Prime Steaks and Seafood, Miramar Beach FL; Nyesha Arrington, Los Angeles, CA; Greg Zanitsch of The Fig Tree, Charlotte, NC; Jamie McFadden of Cuisiners Catered Cuisine and Events, Orlando, FL; Nikhil Abuvala of Roux 30A, Grayton Beach, FL; and Bob Hurley of Hurleys Restaurant and Bar, Yountsville, CA.

Local Restaurants featured at the Reserve Tasting: Wild Olives (Rosemary Beach), Bijoux, Brotulas Seafood House and Steamer, Flemings Prime Steakhouse, Cuvee Kitchen + Wine Bar, Ruths Chris Steakhouse, Seagars Prime Steaks & Seafood, Royal Palm Grille, Whole Foods Market, The Henderson, and Vue on 30a.

Sponsors:

Platinum: Newman-Dailey Resort Properties Inc. (Official Lodging Sponsor), and Setco Services, L.L.C.

Gold: Chuck Hutton Toyota, Chans Wine World (Founding Sponsor), National Event Rentals, Quantum Workplace, REX-Lumber, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, Rowland Publishing

Silver: Coastal Accounting, Ocoee Foundation Inc, Enco Electronic Systems, Wavefly

Bronze: Jordan Dennis Real Estate, Green Earth Landscaping, Image Printing and Digital Services, Inc., Merrill Lynch- Krueger Fosdyck & Associates, 21st Century Oncology, Scenic Sothebys International Realty, ZT Motors, Acentria Insurance, Bert & Sue Trucksess, Centennial Bank, Community Bank, Dan & Stephanie Buckner, Don & Cathy Hay, GPL Landscaping, Grand Boulevard Town Center, Jack & Candis Wilson, Jeff & Debbie Epding, Jim & Renee Beaman, Jim & Sherre Bunch, My Vacation Haven, RJH & Associates, Sharon & William Stark, Silver Sands Premium Outlets (Paddle Sponsor), Vicki Matthews- Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, Hall & Runnels PA, Johnny on the Spot, Home Pocket, Shaffer Wealth Management Group, Florida Agency Network, Renovation Flooring, Florida Fine Properties, Dermatology Specialists, Bob & Charlotte Mock, and Maurice & Janine Stouse.

About Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation

Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundations mission is to connect wine enthusiasts to raise money to benefit children in need in Northwest Florida. Founded in 2005, DCWAF has donated more than $13 million to Northwest Florida charities by hosting world class wine and culinary events. These funds have impacted the lives of over 75,000 youth, including those afflicted by health issues and abuse. Learn more at DCWAF.org or facebook.com/DCWAF.
Whether someone is a professional or hobby photographer, the learning opportunities from our classes and show-floor presentations will help photographers take their skills to a new level," said Unique Photo President, Alexander Sweetwood.

Photo Expo 2017 returns to Unique Photo in Fairfield for New Jerseys largest photography event from June 2 - 4. Photo enthusiasts from beginners to professionals will have the opportunity to demo and purchase the hottest new cameras and gear, take free photography classes and participate in exciting photo shoots.

Unique Photo, the largest camera store in New Jersey, will transform its 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art superstore into a three-day public photo extravaganza on Friday, June 2, Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4 at its flagship store located at 123 Route 46 in Fairfield.

Free classes from basic level to advanced--and every level in between--will be taught by renowned photographers and industry professionals. Attendees will also have the opportunity to sample and purchase the latest products from leading manufacturers at show-only prices, trade-in old camera gear, get complimentary portfolio reviews and sensor cleanings, and win prizes throughout the three days of the show.

Were offering an exciting array of seminars and lectures this year ranging from how to photograph birds in your own backyard to the Northern Lights, said Unique Photo President, Alexander Sweetwood. Whether someone is a professional or hobby photographer, the learning opportunities from our classes and show-floor presentations will help photographers take their skills to a new level.

Manufacturers scheduled to attend include Nikon, Olympus, Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Sigma, Tamron, Epson, Lexar and Fujifilm.

To learn more or to register for a three-day pass, visit: http://www.uniquephoto.com/expo. Space is limited for all classes so pre-registration is encouraged.

WHAT:

Photo Expo 2017

WHEN:

Friday, June 2 -- 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturday, June 3 -- 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 4 -- 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.

WHERE:

Unique Photo

123 US Highway 46 West

Fairfield, NJ 07004

973-377-2007

THE EVENT:

Photo enthusiasts from beginners to professionals will be able to demo the newest cameras and gear from leading manufacturers, have the opportunity to enjoy exclusive sales, take complimentary classes, and participate in exciting photo shoots.

NO COST

INFORMATION:

http://www.uniquephoto.com/expo

ABOUT UNIQUE PHOTO

Unique Photo is New Jersey's largest camera and video superstore offering the latest in photographic products and imaging technology. Its 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Fairfield, N.J. features a spacious photography retail store, multi-media learning center, professional photo lab, meeting space, gourmet coffee bar and WiFi lounge. Unique Photo recently expanded to Hoboken with a second store providing a full line of services for its customers. Additionally, Unique Photo is the top destination for photography education in New Jersey, hosting more than 1,000 amateur and professional photographers monthly for its classes. Unique University instructors include world famous photographers, industry guest lecturers and Unique Photos professional staff. For more information, visit http://www.uniquephoto.com or call 973-377-2007.
We want our children with autism to be safe and understood in their community, said Grammy-award winning producer/songwriter Terry Lewis. People on the spectrum communicate and handle social situations in a way that not everyone understands."

Parents and celebrities are closing off Autism Awareness Month in a big way by joining forces to create autistic identification jewelry in the form of bracelets and necklaces to protect individuals on the spectrum and raise awareness for the fastest growing developmental disability in the U.S.

There are a number of cases in which individuals with autism have been arrested when law enforcement officials misinterpret interactions with those on the spectrum. Just last month, a 10-year-old Florida boy diagnosed with autism was arrested at school, drawing national attention.

The founders behind the idea are looking to collaborate with jewelry designers to create a line of identification bracelets and necklaces so that law enforcement and the community at large are aware when they are interacting with individuals on the autistic spectrum.

We want our children with autism to be safe and understood in their community, said Grammy-award winning producer/songwriter Terry Lewis. People on the spectrum communicate and handle social situations in a way that not everyone understands. The ID bracelets will act as a conduit for the public to be aware of when they encounter individuals with autism and how to appropriately interact with them.

Current collaborators on the project include Lewis, comedian/actor DL Hughley and financier Charles Alexander, founders of Artists for Autism; and Ahmad & Debra Islam, founders of Gabriels Horn, an autism advocacy foundation.

Alexander and Islams families, who both have teenage boys on the autism spectrum, envisioned the idea in response to social justice issues impacting individuals with autism.

I dont want my son to become a headline of what can go wrong in situations with law enforcement, Debra Islam said. As a mother, I know the ID jewelry will give me peace of mind as well as many other parents who have children on the autism spectrum.

In addition to the Autism identification jewelry line, collaborators are creating a PSA video tailored to educate law enforcement on recognizing the jewelry, when they encounter people on the spectrum and how best to communicate with them.

Through education and advocacy, we can minimize misunderstandings and ensure our children are protected, Alexander said. 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with autism. Lets make sure theyre safe at school, in public and during interactions with law enforcement.

Collaborators plan to launch the project fully Labor Day Weekend 2017 in Los Angeles during the first Artist for Autism Benefit Concert. AFA will feature some of the top names in music coming together for a one of a kind music experience to benefit Autism and support the Autism ID project. Jewelry designers interested in collaboration can contact project founders at info(at)gabrielshornfoundation(dot)org

###
Don't miss a chance to see more than 140 Artist Along the Gateway Arts District

Gateway CDC hosts the 13th Annual Gateway Open Studios Tour on Saturday, May 13, from 12-5pm, in Prince Georges County, from Mount Rainier to Hyattsville, Maryland. Guests are invited to participate in an afternoon of discovering art, meeting artists, and exploring the studios where they work. A full list of participating artists, locations, and schedule of activities may be found at http://www.gatewayopenstudios.org. An After Party follows the self-guided tour, at the 39th Street Gallery at the Gateway Arts Center in Brentwood from 5-8pm. Maps and other materials can be picked up at the Media Arts Lab, at 3311 Rhode Island Ave., in Mount Rainier, MD, or The Brentwood Arts Exchange at Gateway Arts Center, at 3901 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood, Maryland.

Over 140 artists, studios, galleries, and cultural centers participate in this one-day arts festival, which attracts hundreds of people each year to explore creative spaces throughout the Gateway Arts District near and along the Route 1 Corridor, Rhode Island Avenue. Hosted by Gateway Community Development Corporation (CDC) in partnership with local artists, organizations, and municipalities, this event is free, and is the largest of its kind in the DMV Metro area.

Each year, Gateway Open Studios is a great way to showcase the wealth of talent in our community, says Pat Thornton, Executive Director of the Gateway CDC. We are so excited to continue this community tradition into its 13th year! On May 13, attendees are invited to tour the spaces, meet the artists, and enjoy a behind-the scenes experience that showcases the range of artists, businesses, and diversity within our community. There will be live demonstrations, performances, youth-friendly activities, and all are welcome to attend.

Over 20 locations will be open for the tour including 39th Street Gallery and Studios, Adinkra Cultural Arts Studio, Blue Door Studios, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Brewers Arcade, ezStorage Studios, Gateway Media Arts Lab, Joe Hicks Ceramics, Joes Movement Emporium, Mount Rainier Artist Lofts, Orange Door Studios, Otis Street Arts Project, Prince Georges African American Cultural Center, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, ReCreative Spaces, Red Dirt Studio, White Point Studio, and many more. Select businesses will also be offering day-of deals.

Throughout the afternoon, guests can attend interactive demonstrations and workshops including a live mural painting by Rose Jaffe at Red Dirt Studio, metal working at Forged Metal Studios, and acting technique at viaJ Studios in Hyattsville. Featured galleries to view include Colored Folks We Come in Every Shade by Normon Greene at Joes Movement Emporium, a pop-up showcase by Hyattsville Community Arts Council at ezStorage Studios in Brentwood, Chocolate Cities curated by Martina Dodd at Prince Georges African American Museum & Cultural Center, and Studio View, a retrospective of Joanna Campbell Blakes work at 39th Street Gallery.

About the Gateway CDC:

Gateway Community Development Corporation drives economic revitalization along the U.S. Route 1 Corridor through business and neighborhood development initiatives including promotion of the arts as a community building strategy. Gateway CDC works within the communities of Brentwood, North Brentwood and Mount Rainier, MD and in collaboration with multiple partners to ensure the success of the entire Gateway Arts District. Gateway CDC is a 501c3 non-profit organization located in North Brentwood, Prince George's County, Maryland.

The Open Studios Tour promises to be the largest Arts tour in the Washington, DC Metro Area

# # #
Hypertherm's Spark Something Great grant program puts the latest plasma technology into schools so the next generation can train on the equipment they will find once entering the workforce. ...None of our 10 grant recipients had a working plasma so its gratifying to know these students can now cut, gouge, and mark using a system as versatile as the Powermax45 XP.

Hypertherm, a U.S. based manufacturer of plasma, laser, and waterjet cutting systems and software, today announced the recipients of its 2017 Spark Something Great Educational Grant. The winners, selected from a record 119 grant applications, represent ten high schools, vocational schools, and community colleges from throughout North America.

In its third year, the grant program aims to get the latest plasma technology into schools so the next generation of metalworkers can train on the equipment they will find once entering the workforce. Each school will receive a Hypertherm Powermax45 XP plasma system, Hypertherms AWS SENSE approved Plasma Cutting Technology: Theory and Practice curriculum kit, and in-person training from a Hypertherm industrial cutting expert.

We are excited to get our systems into the hands of students who would not have the opportunity to learn plasma without a program like this, said Betsy Van Duyne, who manages Hypertherms educational program. Of particular note this year, none of our 10 grant recipients had a working plasma so its gratifying to know these students can now cut, gouge, and mark using a system as versatile as the Powermax45 XP.

The 2017 Spark Something Great grant recipients are as follows:

1. Judith Nyman Secondary School - Brampton, ON (Canada)

2. Universidad Tecnologica del Centro de Veracruz - Cuitlahuac, Veracruz (Mexico)

3. Escambia County High School - Atmore, AL

4. Magazine High School - Magazine, AR

5. Alamosa High School - Alamosa, CO

6. Zane Trace High School - Chillicothe, OH

7. Central High School - Independence, OR

8. Salt Lake Community College - Salt Lake City, UT

9. Auburn High School - Auburn, WA

10. Magnolia High School - New Martinsville, WV

In addition to its Spark Something Great Grant, Hypertherm supports schools by offering educational discounts to both teachers and students, and by making all ten hours of its plasma curriculum available for free download to teachers. To date, teachers from more than 1,200 schools have acquired the lesson plans helping standardize the teaching of plasma cutting to thousands of students. Hypertherm also offers its ProNest for Education program which places its ProNest CAD/CAM nesting software in schools. Since launching the program last spring, Hypertherm has donated 41 ProNest packages valued at more than $6 million dollars.

Hypertherm designs and manufactures advanced cutting products for use in a variety of industries such as shipbuilding, manufacturing, and automotive repair. Its product line includes plasma, laser and waterjet cutting systems, in addition to CNC motion and height controls, CAM nesting software, robotic software and consumables. Hypertherm systems are trusted for performance and reliability that result in increased productivity and profitability for hundreds of thousands of businesses. The New Hampshire based companys reputation for cutting innovation dates back nearly 50 years to 1968, with Hypertherms invention of water injection plasma cutting. The 100 percent associate owned company, consistently named a best place to work, has more than 1,400 associates along with operations and partner representation worldwide. Learn more at http://www.hypertherm.com.
Hackman Capital Partners, LLC and Calare Properties, Inc. announced today the recent sale of 50 Independence Drive to an affiliate of Framingham-based Atlantic Management Corporation. The 236,505-square-foot, multi-tenant industrial facility is situated in the Devens Commerce Center, a 4,400-acre master-planned business park in Devens, Massachusetts. The building is 100% occupied.

Brian Fiumara and Brad Ruppel of CBRE National Partners represented the seller, a joint venture formed by Hackman Capital Partners, Calare Properties and KBS Real Estate Investment Trust. The venture acquired the property in 2007 as part of an approximately 11.38-million-square-foot industrial portfolio, located primarily throughout the Northeast.

50 Independence Drive offers a prime location along Route 2 and robust, high-capacity amenities for distribution. Were thrilled it was a strategic fit for Atlantic Management, said Michael Hackman, founder and CEO of Hackman Capital Partners.

Founded in 1972, Atlantic Management is a real estate investment company, focusing on the acquisition and redevelopment of industrial, commercial and retail properties in New England. The company currently owns and manages a portfolio totaling more than 6 million square feet.

More About Hackman Capital Partners

Hackman Capital Partners is a privately-held, real-estate investment and operating company that focuses on the acquisition of commercial properties in major U.S. markets and other real estate that can be repositioned for higher and better uses. Founded in 1986, Hackman Capital has conducted more than $3 billion in real estate transactions across 41 stateshaving owned, through affiliated entities, over 400 buildings totaling 35-plus million square feet and 24,000 acres of developable land. The company is based in Los Angeles, California with offices in Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois and Boston, Massachusetts.

For more information, visit hackmancapital.com.

About Calare Properties

Founded in 2003, Calare is a real estate operator focused on acquiring and managing warehouse, manufacturing, research and flex/office assets primarily in the Northeast. The companys experienced team and fully integrated operating platform provide investment, asset management, leasing and property management expertise to drive performance at all stages of the investment process from acquisition through disposition. Calare has led the acquisition of more than 17 million square feet of properties, representing $800 million in real estate transactions through funds, direct deals and a multi-asset portfolio.

For more information, visit calare.com.
Compassion logo (small) We are honored to be recognized as a great place to work. Employees choose Compassion because of the impact were making on the lives of children living in poverty around the world. Past News Releases RSS Compassion International Begins...

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Compassion International, a holistic child development-through-sponsorship organization, today announced that it has been named one of Americas Best Midsize Employers in 2017 by Forbes Magazine. Compassion ranks number 40 on the list, the highest ranked Colorado-based company in the category, and sits among 300 employers nationwide chosen for the award.

Forbes determined its Americas Best Employers list by partnering with Statista, a database and consumer research firm, which anonymously surveyed thousands of employees across multiple industries at companies with 1,000 to 5,000 U.S. workers. The list names the best places to work in America based on employee satisfaction, pay and workplace environment, among other considerations. One of the most important factors in the assessment is how likely the employee is to recommend their employer to friends and family.

We are honored to be recognized as a great place to work, said Tom Beck, Compassions vice president of human resources. Employees choose Compassion because of the impact were making on the lives of children living in poverty around the world. We are proud to build and support a culture for our employees that makes Compassion an enjoyable and unique workplace. Rescuing children from poverty is a more than a job, its a calling, and our employees are here in response to that calling.

From 2012 to 2014, Compassion also received the Gallup Organizations Great Workplace Award, which recognizes the top workplaces in the world for demonstrating an extraordinary ability to create an engaged workplace culture.

Visit Forbes.com to see the entire list of Americas Best Employers for 2017. To learn more about career opportunities at Compassion, visit compassion.com/employment.

About Compassion International

Founded in 1952, Compassion International is a Christian child development organization that works to release children from poverty in Jesus name. Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by working exclusively with the Church to lift children out of spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Compassion partners with more than 6,700 churches in 25 countries to deliver its holistic child development program to over 1.8 million babies, children and young adults. It is the only child sponsorship program to be validated through independent, empirical research. For more, visit compassion.com.
Vector Solutions, the leader in eLearning and performance support solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), industrial, public safety, IT and education fields, today announced Elliot Masie, an expert learning and development analyst, will provide the keynote address during the companys annual client summit to be held from May 16 through 18 at the Don CeSar in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Vector Solutions Client Summit 2017 will explore progressive learning trends and topics that transcend industries and shape the future of eLearning and corporate development.

I am honored Vectors Solutions asked me to speak for the second consecutive year, said Elliott Masie. Online learning continues to mold the future of how we learn and develop  and understanding these trends and best practices needs to remain at the center of corporate training strategy. It is through gatherings such as these that leaders shaping the industry gain insight and perspective to help guide the way and learn what to do better.

Elliott Masie heads The MASIE Center, a group in Saratoga Springs, New York, focused on how organizations can support learning and knowledge within the workforce. Masies focus is on corporate learning, organizational performance and emerging technology. He develops models for accelerating the dispersion of knowledge, learning and collaboration throughout organizations.

For the summit, his keynote address titled Learning Changes! A Dialogue with Elliott Masie on Learners, Learning Formats, Learning Technologies and Learning Expectations Changing will present an overview of current and emerging trends in workplace learning and explore the ways in which learning is changing in 2017 and beyond.

Elliott is a very well respected authority on the topic of learning and development, said Victoria Zambito, SVP of Product, Content and Communication at Vector Solutions. He brings unique expertise we know will benefit our clients. Elliott presents strategies and ways of thinking that reinvent industries, positively impact employees, and ultimately make organizations stronger and serve clients better.

During the three-day event, leaders from across the four Vector Solutions brands, RedVector, TargetSolutions, LearnSmart, and Scenario Learning, will come together to contemplate learning and training development strategies within their organizations and industries. The goal is to better understand best practices that are adaptable across all verticals and strategies to achieve peak performance, as well as discuss new technology and course development.

Masie joins Vector Solutions to heighten awareness of innovative learning techniques. The collaboration will bring important perspectives to training communities across the country. As a result of the summit, industry leaders will be able to improve corporate structured training program in their regions, helping employees and organizations reach full potential.

About Vector Solutions

Vector Solutions sets the standard for excellence in delivering online continuing education, training and performance support solutions to the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, as well as industrial, public safety and IT fields. Through its brands RedVector, TargetSolutions, LearnSmart, and Scenario Learning. Vector Solutions offers individual courses as well as and large-scale corporate training solutions via a state-of-the-art Learning Management System. With an online library exceeding 5,000 courses authored by more than 200 subject matter experts, Vector Solutions serves professionals and firms across the globe. The recipient of numerous community honors and industry awards, Vector Solutions was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, call 1-866-546-1212 or visit http://www.vector-solutions.com/.

###
Cambridge Automotive Group (CAG) has acquired an existing Maaco location in Lancaster, TX. With this transaction, CAG now owns more than 30 Maaco shops across the country.

Maaco Lancaster plans on offering several specials throughout the year on customer auto body repair and paint needs. Maaco Lancaster fixes routine dents and dings, and provides structural repairs, as well, by its expertly trained technicians. Plus, all structural repairs are backed by a lifetime warranty. The Maaco store also provides superb painting services, offering several different packages with varying price points and warranties.

Maaco Lancaster is located at 1440 N. Beckley Ave., Lancaster, Texas 75134. The stores hours are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.- 6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m.  1 p.m. Please visit the shops Website for more information.

# # #

About Cambridge Automotive Group

Cambridge Automotive Group (CAG) was formed in 2015 to pursue a growth strategy in the car care industry. CAG is the largest Maaco franchisee in the world. The company has attracted a best-in-class management team and continues to invest significant capital to grow in the Macco system through remodels and new center development. The group is seeking to open additional Maaco locations with growth targeted in California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

About Maaco

Maaco Auto Painting & Collision Repair -- a part of the Driven Brands, Inc. family of automotive aftermarket franchise brands based in Charlotte, NC -- is America's #1 Bodyshop. Maaco provides automotive paint and cosmetic repair services for nearly 500,000 drivers annually. With more than 500 independently owned and operated franchises across the United States and Canada, Maaco has restored the safety and appearance of more than 20 million vehicles over 45 years. Maaco ranked #106 on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2015 Franchise 500 Rankings, and is currently #1 in the automotive appearance services category. For more information, visit Maaco.com. For more information about franchising opportunities, visit MaacoFranchise.com.
We partner closely with Manhattan Associates in driving innovation in through the digital supply chain and commerce for our clients, helping them to realize the Return on Digital on their investments.

Zensar Technologies, a leading provider of digital solutions, software and infrastructure services, announced today that Keystone Logic, a recently acquired company was a bronze sponsor at the Manhattan Associates Momentum 2017 conference held on May 8-10th, 2017 in Las Vegas, NV. Momentum is Manhattan Associates flagship annual event and featured over 60 educational sessions from thought leaders in the supply chain sector. In addition to being a bronze sponsor, it was the exclusive connectivity partner, providing Wi-Fi for all event attendees. Momentum is the industrys largest gathering of supply chain and omni-channel experts and practitioners.

The company showcased solutions focused on slotting optimization and waveless picking as well as their proprietary testing frameworks, SIERRA and SCRIF, designed to enable rapid supply chain implementations.

Sandeep Kishore, CEO and Managing Director, Zensar Technologies stated, Our participation at the Momentum event gave us a credible industry platform to showcase our solutions to the right audience. We partner closely with Manhattan Associates in driving innovation through the digital supply chain and commerce for our clients, helping them to realize the Return on Digital on their investments.

Ravi Joshi, Founder and CEO at Keystone Logic added, At Momentum, we had the opportunity to showcase our innovative omni-channel solutions and services to customers looking for them. They received insights into how our solutions simplify the critical process of order and warehouse management. We look forward to working closely with Manhattan Associates in taking our industry leading offerings to more customers globally.

Keystone Logic helps global retail and consumer brands with implementation of their Order Management and Warehouse Management. It also helps with their integration with the Digital Commerce and Omni-channel fulfilment strategy. Some of their key solutions include:



About Zensar (http://www.zensar.com)

Zensar is a leading digital solutions and technology services company that specializes in partnering with global organizations across industries on their Digital Transformation journey. A technology partner of choice, backed by a strong track record of innovation; credible investment in Digital solutions; and unwavering commitment to client success, Zensar s comprehensive range of digital and technology services and solutions enables its clients achieve new thresholds of business performance. Zensar, with its experience in delivering excellence and superior client satisfaction through myriad technology solutions, is uniquely positioned to help its clients surpass challenges they face running their existing business most efficiently, helping in their legacy transformation, and planning for business expansion and growth through innovative and digital ways.

Follow Zensar via:

Zensar Blog: http://www.zensar.com/blogs

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Zensar

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zensar-technologies

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Zensar

Catch our refreshed new website at: http://www.zensar.com

About RPG Enterprises (http://www.rpggroup.com)

Mumbai headquartered RPG Enterprises is one of India's largest industrial conglomerates. With over 15 companies in its fold, the group has a strong presence across core business sectors such as Infrastructure, Tyre, IT and Specialty. Established in 1979, RPG Enterprises is one of Indias fastest growing business groups with a turnover in excess of Rs 21,000 crore.

PR Contacts (Global Headquarters - India):

Lavanya Jayaram

Chief Marketing Officer

Zensar Technologies

+91 9922243544

Aradhana Prabhu

Public Relations

Zensar Technologies

+91 9765999749

PR Contact  (US)

Julie Machnik

Director of Marketing, US

Zensar Technologies

Tel: +508 621 4753

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements 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, 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, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorised use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.
We feel it is important to recognize the employer who has the vision to see the significance of investing in its personnel and challenges its staff to seek knowledge through various channels of continuing education.

The Board of Laser Safety (BLS) is proud to announce the first recipient of the BLS Illumination Award, Mount Sinai Health System. The award was presented at the BLS CLSO & CMLSO Appreciation Reception during the 2017 International Laser Safety Conference on March 20 at the Sheraton Atlanta Airport in Atlanta, GA.

Laser Institute of Americas (LIA) International Laser Safety Conference (ILSC), held biennially, gathers hundreds of laser safety professionals from around the world to discuss the latest topics in medical and industrial laser safety.

The BLS Illumination Award has been created to recognize an institution, company or organization that directly employs a certified laser safety officer and provides encouragement and support for employee participation within the laser safety community and/or has made outstanding contributions to the field of laser safety.

Jacob Kamen, who received the award at ILSC 2017 on behalf of his employer, Mount Sinai Health System, said it validates all the effort and energy Mount Sinai has put into its Laser Safety Program over the past 7 years.

The Mount Sinai Health System is very proud to be a recipient of the BLS Illumination Award. This award validates Mount Sinai has been a significant supporter of laser safety education, Kamen said.

Partnering with Laser Institute of America to host New York Citys first-ever LIA MLSO course in 2015, Mount Sinai Health System has advanced its education goal further. Mount Sinai was also the first institution to sponsor the BLS certified medical laser safety officer (CMLSO) examination in New York City. Presently, Mount Sinai boasts three CMLSOs on staff. The Laser Safety Program has recently expanded to 8 hospitals that incorporate the Mount Sinai Health System.

Additionally, Mount Sinai has supplemented their online training by creating multiple laser safety training courses covering a variety of clinical and research areas. These courses have been used by more than 5,000 staff members throughout the entire Mount Sinai Health System.

Mount Sinai hopes that this award will provide encouragement for other hospitals to follow the path and create a safe laser environment for employee and patients, Kamen added.

Barbara Sams, Executive Director of BLS, says, We were honored to be able to present the inaugural BLS Illumination Award to Mount Sinai at ILSC 2017. We feel it is important to recognize the employer who has the vision to see the significance of investing in its personnel and challenges its staff to seek knowledge through various channels of continuing education.

Due to its popularity and success at ILSC 2017, BLS is now calling on all CLSOs and CMLSOs who would like their employer to be considered for the next award. To nominate your company/employer, please review the criteria and download the Nomination and Supporter forms, complete with submission instructions, from the BLS website. Nominations can also be submitted directly to Barbara Sams, Executive Director, at bls(at)lasersafety.org.

The Board of Laser Safety (BLS) is a non-profit organization affiliated with Laser Institute of America (LIA) and dedicated to the improvement in the practice of laser safety by providing opportunities for the education, assessment and recognition of laser safety professionals. To learn more about BLS and their certification opportunities for medical and non-medical laser safety professionals, please visit http://www.lasersafety.org.

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) supports the BLS mission by offering laser safety training for both LSOs and MLSOs. As the professional society for laser applications and safety, LIA is dedicated to serving the industrial, medical, research and government communities worldwide. For more information on the LIA, visit http://www.lia.org or call 1-800-34-LASER today.
PPA offers preferred pricing on Apple products to its professional photographer members. This Apple program is a valued benefit to the photographers who rely on PPA to help run their studios.

Members of Professional Photographers of America (PPA) can continue taking advantage of preferred pricing on the world's most popular and advanced operating systems: Apple products and accessories.

Discounts on business equipment are part of the nonprofits list of benefits offered to its 30,000 members. Apple Association Member Purchase Program perks include:



Preferred pricing on Apple products

Special promotions

Complimentary shipping on all orders

Free engraving on all new iPod and iPad models

Mac customization

Ratings and reviews on accessories and software

Members can purchase or sponsor up to three computer systems, three iPads, three iPhones, three Apple watches and ten iPod devices per calendar year, as well as software and peripherals. Members can begin using the offer by visiting http://www.ppa.com/my-ppa/apple_discount.php or by calling 1-800-854-3680 and requesting the Association Member Program pricing.

The program is a benefit provided by Apple Inc. to members of participating companies and other organizations. The program is intended for personal use. Under this program, Apple sells and ships products to end-user customers only. Apple reserves the right to refuse or cancel any order if they suspect it is being purchased for resale.

PPA is always looking for ways to help improve our members businesses. This Apple program is a valued benefit to the photographers who rely on PPA to help run their studios. Were so pleased to announce were renewing the program and keeping our members happy.

About PPA:

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest international nonprofit association created by professional photographers, for professional photographers. Almost as long-lived as photography itself, PPA's roots date back to 1869. It assists 30,000 members through protection, education and resources for their continued success. See how PPA helps photographers be more at PPA.com/BeMore.
...Ms. King brings great expertise into AlphaStaff's benefits strategy and operations team.

AlphaStaff, a leading HR outsourcing firm, has hired Dorothy Miraglia King, who will join its leadership team as Vice President of Benefits.

In her role, Ms. King will be overseeing the strategic product development for the master benefits program within the organization, which includes managing AlphaStaff's strategic relationships with insurance carriers and other vendor partners. Ms. King will also be working with AlphaStaff's General Counsel to provide compliance and guidance over matters related to the delivery of employee benefit plans. Having over twenty-five years of employee benefits administration and human resource experience, Ms. King brings great expertise into AlphaStaff's benefits strategy and operations team.

"We are very excited to have Dorothy return to AlphaStaff," said AlphaStaff President and CEO, Kyle R. Kelly. "Our master benefits program is continuously growing, especially in Florida and California. Dorothy's leadership and vast knowledge of the industry will greatly benefit the development of these medical solutions. She has already had some very gainful conversations with our VPs of these regions, Harry Glazer (West Coast) and Keith Tirico (East Coast), and the team could not be more enthusiastic about her involvement."

Ms. King is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans (IFEBP) and World at Work. She is a licensed insurance agent in addition to attaining both her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification and SHRM Senior Certified Professional.

About AlphaStaff

Since 1997, AlphaStaff has alleviated administrative burdens for small and medium-sized businesses across the country. As a full-service HR outsourcing company, with the highest industry accreditations, AlphaStaff provides a suite of human resources, employee benefits and employee administration solutions that are designed to simplify business. AlphaStaff currently offers master medical benefit plans in the states of Florida, California, Colorado, and New York. For more information, please visit http://www.alphastaff.com.
CPA David Peterson Either way, Americans need to be aware of how this large change in taxation will affect them, for better or for worse. Past News Releases RSS

One of President Trumps many promises along the campaign trail and afterward in Februarys address to Congress is change to the tax code. With the Affordable Care Act and staffing Washington coming first on the Washingtons list, these tax code changes will likely come later in the year or even next year.

But now is a good time to consider how some proposed tax code modifications that the administration and Congress are considering may impact businesses and individuals, said CPA David Peterson, managing partner of Haynie & Company, who is also a small business specialist. As it stands now, many corporations keep holdings outside the U.S. to boost profits by not paying as much corporate tax here.

The administration wants to bring that money and business back by promising a smaller rate for corporations, large and small, about 15%, down from the current 35%. Holdings held outside the U.S. will also be given a one-time pass to bring that money back to the U.S. without penalty. Reforms would also affect individuals by decreasing the number of tax brackets from the current seven to three or four. Americans who earn less than $25,000 would be exempt from income tax and then the other rates being in the range of 12%, 25% and 33%.

Depending on the income levels set for these brackets, taxpayers may or may not be excited about this change, added Peterson. There is also talk of repealing the death tax altogether. Alas, all this tax reduction may sound great, but most of the money must be made up somewhere to help pay for our government.

One idea is a border adjustment tax that taxes imports to the U.S., an idea that may have a large negative impact on some businesses. This concept faces hard lobbying from giants such as Walmart and Target that rely heavily on inexpensive imports.

More revenue may also be generated by eliminating allowable corporation deductions and loopholes, such as expensing of investments or deductions for interest paid on corporate debt.

Businesses and individuals could also see a tax on health insurance, further increasing the total cost of health care in the U.S. Other changes that may affect individuals more deeply include a reduction in allowable itemized deductions, an increase in the standard deduction and eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Some pundits say that these efforts may not be enough to offset the overall reduction in federal income in the budget, especially given such large proposed increases in military spending, which could mean that Washington may reduce or eliminate other budget line items that may affect the quality of life we as Americans enjoy and value, concluded Peterson. Either way, Americans need to be aware of how this large change in taxation will affect them, for better or for worse. Consulting with a tax accounting professional would be a good idea in order to understand potential ramifications.

About David Peterson, Haynie & Company

David Peterson fills the unique needs of smaller companies with services ranging from tax planning to the creation of accounting systems. The management advisory services he provides are especially useful for fast-growing, start-up or troubled businesses. Haynie & Company services include external auditing, accounting, income tax, consulting, internal auditing and management advisory. For more information, please call (303) 734-4800, or visit http://www.hayniecpas.com.

About the NALA

The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361.
Were very excited to be working with Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. They provide comfort and peace-of-mind to children and families struggling with extremely challenging circumstances. We feel honored to do anything at all we can to help...

Pinnacle 1 Insurance unveils another remarkable charity campaign in their effort to support local families with a community enrichment program serving the greater San Jose metro area. The latest initiative supports Ronald McDonald House at Stanford, which offers a comfortable home-away-from-home for families with locally hospitalized children at little or no cost. Donations are now being accepted at https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1432543.

Ronald McDonald House (RMH) is an internationally renowned nonprofit organization which supports the families of children around the world who are hospitalized with serious injuries and illnesses. At RMH, families may enjoy home-cooked meals, private rooms, laundry facilities and playrooms for the kids. RMH at Stanford has recently become the largest location in the world. They now offer two houses in Palo Alto, allowing them to serve up to 123 families per night with comfortable, welcoming lodging. Providing parents and siblings with housing in safe and comfortable locations close to children receiving treatment means families can support each other during stressful hospital stays. And keeping families together raises everyones spirits, enables parents to communicate more effectively with their childrens medical teams and facilitates healing.

Were very excited to be working with Ronald McDonald House at Stanford, said Robert Varich, owner of Pinnacle 1 Insurance. They provide comfort and peace-of-mind to children and families struggling with extremely challenging circumstances. We feel honored to do anything at all we can to help make that possible.

The agencys dedicated team has created an online social media presence and email awareness campaign to promote the initiative for RMH at Stanford, as well as featuring it in Our Hometown, their community magazine. A vibrant print and digital publication which is delivered monthly to thousands of households in and around San Jose, CA, electronic versions of the current and past issues may be viewed by visiting http://pin1ins.com/magazines/.

Pinnacle 1 Insurance has made it easy for the community to throw support behind the campaign by pledging to donate $10 to RMH at Stanford for every person recommended for a no-obligation quotation. Readers who wish to stand beside deserving families may have the agency make a donation in their name by submitting recommendations of family and friends at http://pin1ins.com/causes/place-call-home-rough-times/.

Pinnacle 1 Insurance has made an ongoing commitment to positively impact the communities they serve by vigorously seeking out and supporting local worthy causes as part of the celebrated Agents of Change movement. Concerned community members may submit ideas for future initiatives by visiting http://pin1ins.com/submit-causes/. To learn about past campaigns and up-coming opportunities to help the community, readers are encouraged to bookmark http://pin1ins.com/community/.

About Pinnacle 1 Insurance

A full-service insurance and financial services provider serving Californias families and businesses from locations in San Jose, Milpitas and Santa Cruz, Pinnacle 1 Insurance understands the importance of building a solid foundation for the future. Robert Varich and his team of caring professionals have one simple mission: to offer the finest insurance and financial products in the industry while providing consistently superior service. Their focus is on helping families protect the things which are most important to them (their families, homes, businesses, cars and more) while developing strategies to achieve long-term financial goals. The dedicated experts at Pinnacle 1 Insurance may be reached by calling 408-257-1234 (San Jose), 408-942-3331 (Milpitas) or 831-459-0500 (Santa Cruz). To learn more about the agency, please visit http://www.pin1ins.com/.
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In 2016, Argentina's book market generated $540 million in revenue, compared with $905.5 million in 2015. The numbers, which highlight the dire state of the country's publishing sector, were compiled by the Argentine consultancy Promage, which released the figures on Thursday at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair.

The 40% plunge can be directly attributed to changes in government policy instituted by Argentine president Mauricio Macri, who was inaugurated in December 2015. Among the moves affecting the industry was one to float the Argentine peso in international foreign currency exchanges, which resulted in devaluing the currency by nearly 50%. A decision to cease almost all government purchases of textbooks, which had accounted for $132 million in sales for the publishing industry in 2015, was also quite damaging.

"[Last year] was particularly difficult," said Javier Lopez Llovet, general director of Penguin Random House for Latin America and Argentina. "People keep buying books, but they are buying less. If, in 2015, they went to the bookstores and bought two, three books, now they buy one. If the economy of Argentina were better, we would do better."

Publishers had hoped a change in government would give a boost to the book business, particularly after Macri appointed a former book publisher, Alejandro Pablo Avelluto, as his minister of culture. But Avelluto told PW shortly after he took office that "publishers should not expect special treatment."

One of the few bright spots under Macri was the end to a bizarre practice concerning imports, one stipulating that for every peso worth of product imported, the importer needed to export an equivalent sum in "Argentine product." After the regulation was changed, imports of books jumped 75%, from $40 million of in 2015 to $70 million in 2016, according to Promage.

As of 2014, Argentina had the third largest Spanish-language book market in the world, according to the International Publishers Association, trailing only Spain and Mexico. When updated statistics are released later this year, the drop in revenue may put Argentina into fourth place, behind Colombia, which has has a larger population and has been politically and economically stable in recent years.

Leonardo Neto is the editor of PublishNews Brazil and contributed reporting from the Buenos Aires International Book Fair.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  A 20-year-old Springfield man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for fatally shooting his 17-year-old brother over cash and a dozen pairs of shoes.

The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports Juan Kincade apologized before Wednesday's sentencing, telling family members "I let you down and I won't let that happen again."

Kincade pleaded guilty in December to first-degree murder in the July 30, 2015, shooting of Juwan Kincade. Authorities put the value of the shoes and cash at more than $500.

Kincade's grandmother, Delores Hill, testified saying her grandson never received proper counseling and medication. Kincade's attorney has said Kincade has an intellectual disability and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

But Sangamon County Judge John Schmidt said he was troubled by Kincade's behavior in jail including be kicked out of a drug rehabilitation program.
SILVIS -- After more than $200,000 in repairs, Porkies Restaurant is ready to re-open Friday.

The popular eatery at 130 1st Ave., Silvis, has been closed since a Feb. 13 fire caused extensive smoke damage, according to co-owners Roger Pulford and Mark Peterson.

A ribbon-cutting hosted by Werner Restoration Services is planned for 3:45 p.m. Thursday followed by a "soft opening" 4-7 p.m., according to Jaclyn Thompson of Werner Restoration Services.

Porkies will resume its regular hours -- 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday -- beginning Friday. The restaurant is closed Sundays, said restaurant manager Mr. Pulford.

Mr. Pulford was in the restaurant when the fire broke out that Feb. 13 morning. The blaze was caused by an overheated motor in an exhaust fan above the restaurant's fryers, he said.

"Though the fire was put out promptly by the Silvis Fire Department, the restaurant suffered severe smoke damage," Mr. Peterson wrote in a news release.

Werner's spent the last three months restoring the restaurant. Renovations and equipment replacement will exceed $200,000, according to Mr. Peterson. The majority of the expense has been covered by insurance, according to the release.

During the restaurant's closure, Mr. Pulford was able to take a rare vacation to Virginia. He said he couldn't remember if he ever had taken a vacation during his 30 years of running Porkies.

"This is my life," he said, referring to the restaurant. "And my head was still here."

Mr. Pulford said he can't wait to see his regular, faithful customers again and, hopefully, see new faces arrive.

Regular customers will notice new LED lighting throughout the business. A.D. Heusing and Pepsi helped provide a new menu board and Crawford Company technicians have installed beautiful stainless steel sinks.

Three new fryers also have been installed, Mr. Pulford said. Shaw Electric completely rewired the building and installed new security cameras inside and outside.

Mr. Pulford thanked "everyone who has been involved in the restoration process, but especially the Silvis Fire and Police Departments whose quick response saved our building."
The initial 18km 29-station of the Purple line will run west from Savidor, the citys main railway station, to Ben Yehuda Street, Allenby Street, Sheba Medical Centre and Bar Ilan University. In a second phase the line will be extended to 28km with 44 stations.

The 39km north-south Green Line will connect Hertzliya with central Tel Aviv, Holon, and Rishon-Le-Zion.

The projects will be managed by Israeli companies with the support of international consultants.

For planning services, NTA intends to select seven designers, one for each construction section of the Green Line (five sections) and the Purple Line (two sections.

The three-year contracts include an option for a three-year extension.

The deadline for submission of proposals is July 17.

For detailed data on rail projects around the globe, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
Union Pacific this week launched a two-year celebration commemorating the completion of the transcontinental railroad nearly 150 years ago.

The railroads track crews worked west from Omaha while Central Pacific built its line east from Sacramento, meeting at Promontory Summit, Utah, where a golden spike was driven to mark the occasion on May 10, 1869.

The driving of the final rail spike defined Union Pacific as the economic engine that connected people, moved goods and transformed Americas progress, said Scott Moore, Union Pacific senior vice presidentCorporate Relations. We look forward to honoring the communities and railroad development that played critical roles in our countrys growth and way of life.

Union Pacific representatives this week presented Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg with a commemorative golden spike in nearly the exact location where 1860s California Gov. Leland Stanford broke ground for CP in Sacramento. (Stanford served as president of both the CP and Southern Pacific.)The presentation was broadcast on Facebook Live, kicking off Union Pacifics two-year celebration of the Great Race to Promontory.

The company introduced up.com/goldenspike, an interactive website featuring rare photographs and animated maps illustrating the journey through 46 communities in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California profoundly impacted by the railroad. UP also launched a series of activities and celebrations that bring each communitys along the line to life.

The railroad has created a Community Traveling Exhibit documenting each communitys connection to the transcontinental railroads construction with photographs and descriptions. Education materials will be available to schools and other organizations hosting the exhibit.

An encased commemorative golden spike has been created for community partners along the transcontinental route. A plaque inside the box reads, Towns developed, and the bond between UP and the early settlements grew. As we celebrate the 150th Golden Spike anniversary, UP is proud of these long-standing community relationships.

Race to Promontory: The Transcontinental Railroad and the American West, a landmark art exhibition in partnership with the Joslyn Art Museum highlights Union Pacifics collection of original photographs documenting the transcontinental railroads construction. UP has the worlds largest collection, some of which have rarely been seen by the general public. Exhibitions are planned for California, Utah and Omaha, Nebraska.

Union Pacific, which currently operates two preserved steam locomotives and is renovating another, is running a steam-powered heritage train over the transcontinental railroad for community celebrations prior to the actual 150th anniversary on May 10, 2019. The carrier plans to host community activities and events along the line as part of its two-year celebration.

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.
Brightline, Floridas privately-funded passenger rail operator, planned to take delivery today of two new trainsets.

The third and fourth trainsets to join the roster  BrightGreen and BrightOrange, in company parlance  departed the Siemens manufacturing facility in Sacramento May 5 for the 3,052-mile journey to the railroads Workshop b in West Palm Beach, Fla.

It is the first time two Brightline trains are being delivered together. Brightline said the trains are 100% Buy America- compliant, utilizing components from more than 40 U.S. suppliers in 20 states.

Our Florida team looks forward to welcoming BrightGreen and BrightOrange to their new home as we continue with preparations to launch our service this summer, said Brightline Chief Executive Dave Howard.

Trainsets BrightBlue and BrightPink were previously delivered to Brightlines Florida operations facility. The fifth and last trainset, BrightRed, is under construction at Siemens and is expected to be delivered in mid-June.

The trains feature automatic level boarding platforms, aisles that exceed ADA compliance standards, seats with multiple outlets for devices, and complimentary wi-fi powered by multiple antennas on every car.

Brightline, which has not yet released ticket prices, plans to begin introductory express service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale in late July, with initial service to Miami added in late August. Full service is planned for launch in September.

Brightlines planned West Palm Beach-to-Orlando segment has yet to break ground.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mason Resources Corp. (TSX:MNR  "Mason Resources" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will today file its National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled "2017 Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Ann Mason Project, Nevada, U.S.A." (the "2017 PEA") for its flagship Ann Mason Project in Nevada. This follows the May 9, 2017 closing of the previously announced spin-out of the Ann Mason and Lordsburg assets from Entree Resources Ltd. (formerly Entree Gold Inc.  "Entree") to Mason Resources. Today the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") issued a bulletin in respect of the commencement of trading of the Mason Resources shares, under the symbol "MNR". The Mason Resources shares are expected to commence trading on May 12, 2017. The Company has approximately 77.8 million shares issued and outstanding, along with a solid cash balance of US$8.75 million.



The Ann Mason Project ("Ann Mason" or the "Project") is the 4th largest undeveloped copper porphyry resource in Canada and the United States. The Project is located in the Yerington district of Nevada, which is rated among the top global mining jurisdictions. Previous work by Entree included a 40-hole infill drilling program during 2014/2015 resulting in 95% of the mineralization constrained within the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") life-of-mine pit ("Phase 5 Pit") being categorized as Measured plus Indicated, while only 5% remains as Inferred mineralization. The 2017 PEA also includes results of a detailed metallurgical program completed in 2016, which supports a 92% average copper recovery and a 30% concentrate grade with no significant penalty elements. The metallurgical program has been done to sufficient detail to support a future Pre-Feasibility Study.

Significantly, the Project does not require a permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In April 2016, the Project received an approved Waters of the U.S./Wetlands ("WOUS/Wetlands") jurisdictional determination from the Regulatory Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("USACE"). According to USACE, the water drainages on the Ann Mason Project are considered "isolated waters with no apparent interstate or foreign commerce connection" and as a result, no permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act is required for Ann Mason.

Stephen Scott, President & CEO of Mason Resources noted, "We are very excited about launching Mason Resources as a stand-alone company with two quality projects in great mining districts at a time when economically attractive advanced copper projects not already controlled by major companies have become extremely scarce. Having a significant treasury at launch affords Mason Resources the optionality of advancing its projects itself or bringing in a strategic partner."

2017 PEA

Highlights: (all currency quoted is USD unless otherwise indicated)

Base Case* pre-tax net present value (" NPV ") (7.5% discount rate) of $1,158 million, internal rate of return (" IRR ") of 15.8%.





") (7.5% discount rate) of $1,158 million, internal rate of return (" ") of 15.8%. Base Case* post-tax NPV (7.5% discount rate) of $770 million, IRR of 13.7%.





Development capital costs of approximately $1.35 billion, including $103 million contingency.





Pre-production development of three years.





Mine production for 21 years, followed by four years of reclamation (Life-of-Mine or " LOM ").





"). Average LOM cash costs (net of by-product sales) pre-tax of $1.49/lb copper (cash cost including tax is $1.74/lb copper) (see Non-GAAP Financial Measures below Table 1).





Average LOM all-in sustaining costs (" AISC ") (net of by-product sales) pre-tax of $1.57/lb copper (AISC including tax is $1.81/lb copper) (see Non-GAAP Financial Measures below Table 1).





") (net of by-product sales) pre-tax of $1.57/lb copper (AISC including tax is $1.81/lb copper) (see Non-GAAP Financial Measures below Table 1). Net average pre-tax undiscounted cash flow over Years 1 to 21 of approximately $298 million per year (and post-tax of $238 million per year).





LOM payable production of approximately:



 5.1 billion pounds of copper,



 46 million pounds of molybdenum,



 0.4 million ounces of gold, and



 8.8 million ounces of silver.





 5.1 billion pounds of copper,  46 million pounds of molybdenum,  0.4 million ounces of gold, and  8.8 million ounces of silver. Average annual payable production of approximately:



 241 million pounds of copper,



 2.2 million pounds of molybdenum,



 20,000 ounces of gold, and



 421,000 ounces of silver.





 241 million pounds of copper,  2.2 million pounds of molybdenum,  20,000 ounces of gold, and  421,000 ounces of silver. Strip ratio of approximately 2:1 waste to mineralized material (including pre-strip).





LOM average copper recovery of 92%.





Copper concentrate grading 30% with no significant penalty elements identified.





Leasing applied to a portion of the mining fleet allows some of the upfront capital to be spread throughout the mine life as an operating cost, thereby reducing the initial equipment capital requirements and improving Project cash flow.

*Base Case uses $3.00/lb copper, $11/lb molybdenum, $1,200/oz. gold, $20/oz. silver.

The 2017 PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the 2017 PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The Base Case discounted cash flows in the 2017 PEA are provided both pre-tax and post-tax, and are prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") of the Canadian Securities Administrators. The 2017 PEA was completed by AGP Mining Consultants Inc. ("AGP"), an independent Canadian-based engineering firm and the mineral resource estimate was prepared by Amec Foster Wheeler Americas Limited ("Amec Foster Wheeler"). Unless otherwise noted, a reference to "$" in this news release is to United States currency. Due to rounding, some of the totals in the tables in this news release may not sum exactly.

Table 1 summarizes the key outputs of the 2017 PEA.

Table 1. Key Outputs of the 2017 PEA.

LOM Production* (120,000 tpd mill throughput) 877 Mt LOM Strip Ratio 2:1 Development Capital Costs (Pre-production + Year 1) $1.35 B Average Cash Costs (net of by-product sales)** $1.49/lb Cu All-in Sustaining Costs (net of by-product sales)** $1.57/lb Cu Average Net Annual Undiscounted Cash Flow** $298 M LOM Average Copper Recovery 92 % LOM Average Copper Concentrate Grade 30 % Average Annual Payable Copper 241 M lbs LOM Payable Copper 5.1 B lbs

* 835 Mt at 0.30% copper, 0.005% molybdenum, 0.03 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and 0.59 g/t silver are Measured and Indicated material, and 42 Mt at 0.27% copper, 0.005% molybdenum, 0.03 g/t gold and 0.58 g/t silver are Inferred material.

** "Cash Costs" and all-in sustaining cost (or "AISC") per unit of production are Non-GAAP Financial Measures. These financial measures are not measures recognized under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. The calculations of these measures may differ from those used by other issuers. The Company discloses these measures in order to provide assistance in understanding the results of the operations within the 2017 PEA and to provide additional information to investors.

Table 2 summarizes 2017 PEA base case financial model outputs (post-tax) and the metal price sensitivity.

Table 2. Sensitivity of Ann Mason 2017 PEA Financial Outputs (Post-Tax).

Low Case Base Case High Case Copper $/lb 2.75 3.00 3.25 Molybdenum $/lb 9.00 11.00 13.00 Silver $/oz 15 20 25 Gold $/oz 1,100 1,200 1,300 Post Tax NPV (5%) $ Million 815 1,379 1,928 Post Tax NPV (7.5%) $ Million 339 770 1,189 Post Tax NPV (10%) $ Million 30 366 694 IRR % 10.3 13.7 16.8 Payback Period Years 8.7 6.9 5.7 Net Average Annual Free Cash Flow (Post Tax) $ Million 189 238 287

Note: The Base Case metal prices are based on a review of current analyst consensus reports and recent SEDAR filings for similar reports.

MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE

The Ann Mason mineral resource estimate is based on all scientific and technical information as of March 3, 2017 and therefore has an effective date of March 3, 2017. The mineral resource model and the mineral resource estimate have not changed since September 9, 2015, the effective date of the previous mineral resource estimate completed by Entree. There has been no additional drilling or other scientific or technical information collected since September 9, 2015 to present. The assumptions used in 2015 to assess reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction including metal prices, mining, processing and general and administration cost metallurgical recoveries and pit slopes remain the same and are still considered reasonable.

The resource estimate was prepared by Peter Oshust, P.Geo, Principal Geologist of Amec Foster Wheeler. Mr. Oshust is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 and is independent of the Company.

The resource estimate is classified as approximately 20% Measured, 49% Indicated (69% Measured plus Indicated) and 31% Inferred resources. The "near-surface" portion of this mineral resource forms the basis of the 2017 PEA and is constrained by the Phase 5 Pit. Mineral resources within the Phase 5 pit are now classified 44% as Measured and 51% as Indicated (95% as Measured plus Indicated) with only 5% remaining as Inferred.

Highlights:

Mineral Resource Estimate (0.2% Copper Cut-off):



 Measured Resources - 412 million tonnes averaging 0.33% copper, containing approximately 3.04 billion pounds of copper



 Indicated Resources - 988 million tonnes averaging 0.31% copper, containing approximately 6.85 billion pounds of copper



 Measured plus Indicated Resources - 1,400 million tonnes averaging 0.32% copper, containing approximately 9.89 billion pounds of copper



 Inferred Resources - 623 million tonnes averaging 0.29% copper, containing approximately 3.99 billion pounds of copper





- 412 million tonnes averaging 0.33% copper, containing approximately 3.04 billion pounds of copper - 988 million tonnes averaging 0.31% copper, containing approximately 6.85 billion pounds of copper - 1,400 million tonnes averaging 0.32% copper, containing approximately 9.89 billion pounds of copper - 623 million tonnes averaging 0.29% copper, containing approximately 3.99 billion pounds of copper The 2014/2015 in-fill drilling program was primarily restricted to the Phase 5 pit and was focussed on converting Inferred resources to Measured and Indicated categories. As a result, mineralization still remains open in several directions.





By-product molybdenum, gold and silver were also estimated and are reported in Table 3 below.

Table 3 shows the Ann Mason mineral resources at a range of copper cut-offs. The 0.2% copper cut-off base case is highlighted.

Table 3. Ann Mason Deposit Mineral Resources  March 3, 2017.

Measured Mineral Resources Grade Contained Metal Cut-off

(Cu %) Tonnage

(Mt) Cu

(%) Mo

(%) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Cu

(Mlb) Mo

(Mlb) Au

(Moz) Ag

(Moz) 0.10 508 0.30 0.006 0.03 0.57 3,367.5 67.2 0.41 9.37 0.15 470 0.32 0.006 0.03 0.60 3,263.7 64.2 0.40 9.08 0.20 412 0.33 0.006 0.03 0.64 3,037.6 58.1 0.37 8.46 0.25 329 0.36 0.007 0.03 0.69 2,621.8 47.8 0.32 7.32 0.30 237 0.40 0.007 0.03 0.76 2,065.6 35.5 0.25 5.76 0.35 153 0.44 0.007 0.04 0.82 1,465.9 23.6 0.18 4.05 Indicated Mineral Resources Grade Contained Metal Cut-off

(Cu %) Tonnage

(Mt) Cu

(%) Mo

(%) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Cu

(Mlb) Mo

(Mlb) Au

(Moz) Ag

(Moz) 0.10 1,347 0.27 0.006 0.03 0.58 8,051.0 172.2 1.15 25.01 0.15 1,182 0.29 0.006 0.03 0.62 7,608.2 156.3 1.08 23.40 0.20 988 0.31 0.006 0.03 0.66 6,853.3 128.5 0.97 21.00 0.25 730 0.35 0.006 0.03 0.72 5,572.2 95.0 0.77 16.83 0.30 485 0.38 0.006 0.04 0.78 4,089.8 64.1 0.55 12.13 0.35 290 0.42 0.006 0.04 0.84 2,696.1 39.6 0.36 7.84 Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources Grade Contained Metal Cut-off

(Cu%) Tonnage

(Mt) Cu

(%) Mo

(%) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Cu

(Mlb) Mo

(Mlb) Au

(Moz) Ag

(Moz) 0.10 1,855 0.28 0.006 0.03 0.58 11,418.5 239.4 1.56 34.38 0.15 1,652 0.30 0.006 0.03 0.61 10,871.9 220.6 1.48 32.47 0.20 1,400 0.32 0.006 0.03 0.65 9,890.9 186.6 1.33 29.46 0.25 1,059 0.35 0.006 0.03 0.71 8,194.0 142.8 1.09 24.15 0.30 722 0.39 0.006 0.03 0.77 6,155.4 99.6 0.80 17.90 0.35 442 0.43 0.006 0.04 0.84 4,162.0 63.2 0.53 11.89 Inferred Mineral Resources Grade Contained Metal Cut-off

(Cu%) Tonnage

(Mt) Cu

(%) Mo

(%) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Cu

(Mlb) Mo

(Mlb) Au

(Moz) Ag

(Moz) 0.10 966 0.24 0.007 0.02 0.54 5,071.7 138.5 0.75 16.85 0.15 781 0.27 0.007 0.03 0.59 4,601.8 118.9 0.66 14.93 0.20 623 0.29 0.007 0.03 0.66 3,987.2 96.2 0.58 13.16 0.25 400 0.33 0.007 0.03 0.71 2,874.1 60.8 0.40 9.14 0.30 217 0.37 0.007 0.03 0.75 1,775.4 33.0 0.23 5.25 0.35 117 0.41 0.007 0.03 0.78 1,065.4 18.1 0.13 2.95

Notes:

Mineral resources are reported within a constraining pit shell developed using Whittle software. Assumptions include commodity prices of $3.74/lb for copper, $13.23/lb for molybdenum, $1,495/oz for gold, and $23.58/oz for silver; process recoveries of 92% for copper, 50% for molybdenum, 50% for gold, and 55% for silver; mining cost of $1.09/tonne + $0.02/bench below 1605 metres, $5.82/tonne for processing, and $0.30/tonne for G&A.

Assumptions include 100% mining recovery.

An external dilution factor was not considered during this resource estimation.

Internal dilution within a 20 metre x 20 metre x 15 metre SMU (selective mining unit) was considered.

The 0.4% net smelter returns royalty held by Sandstorm Gold Ltd. was not considered during the preparation of the conceptual pit.

Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Mineral Resource Estimation - Technical Discussion

The Ann Mason drill hole database was reviewed by Greg Kulla, P.Geo., Principal Geologist of Amec Foster Wheeler. Mr. Kulla is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 and is independent of the Company. The Ann Mason drill hole database is comprised of 198 diamond drill holes totalling 106,167 metres of drilling. Of these totals:

Entree drilled 78 holes representing 53% of the metres drilled, including 40 holes as part of the 2014/2015 in-fill drilling program.





Historical operator, Anaconda Copper Mining Company, drilled 104 holes representing 40% of the metres drilled.





Historical operators, PacMag Metals Limited and Mount Isa Mines Limited, drilled a total of 16 holes representing 7% of the metres drilled.





The resource database also includes re-assaying of 6,142 samples from 44 historical Anaconda core holes, to allow molybdenum, gold, and silver values to be estimated.

Entree applied a leading-practice QA/QC program consisting of blanks, standards and duplicates and check samples for all samples from their drill programs. Entree also implemented a re-assay program of the legacy drill samples following the same QA/QC procedure. No significant grade biases or transcription errors were identified. Entree collected 5,016 wax-coat water immersion specific gravity ("SG") measurements from Anaconda and Entree holes. Checks made at an independent laboratory showed no significant biases in the SG measurements.

Deposit geology, structure, alteration and sulphide zoning have been reinterpreted and modelled based on the integration of all of the historic data with current drilling results.

The resource estimate was prepared in accordance with the May 2014 CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. Geological interpretation completed by Company geologists was used as the basis for a three dimensional model created by Amec Foster Wheeler using Leapfrog geological modeling software. Three lithological units were modelled as well as three significant faults. Analysis of assay data within the lithological models demonstrated no significant lithological control over the grade distribution. A 0.15% grade shell was used as the primary control for the interpolation of copper.

A block model was constructed in Vulcan software with block dimensions of 20 metres  20 metres x 15 metres high. Copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum grades were interpolated into the blocks by ordinary kriging in three passes. Blocks were classified based on a combination of factors including the number of holes used for each block and the distance to the nearest composites. Validation of the estimated block model revealed no significant global or local grade biases.

Outlier analysis was completed on the copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver composites. Capping thresholds with the 0.15% grade shell are as follows: copper, 0.6%; molybdenum, 0.09%; gold, 0.27 g/t; silver, 4.6 g/t. Outlier restrictions were also applied to copper values outside of the 0.15% grade shell.

To assess reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, Amec Foster Wheeler assumed that the Ann Mason deposit would be mined utilizing open pit mining methods and conventional flotation recovery methods.

The Whittle pit optimiser software was utilized to prepare a conceptual pit design, constrained within property boundaries, with inputs on mining, processing, G&A, transportation and smelting and refining. Preparation of the pit was based on economic and technical assumptions listed below. Amec Foster Wheeler is of the opinion they remain reasonable for supporting the 2017 Ann Mason mineral resource estimate:

Metal prices of: $3.74/lb copper, $13.23/lb molybdenum, $1,495/oz gold and $23.58/oz silver.





Metallurgical recovery assumptions of 92% for copper, 50% for molybdenum, 50% for gold and 55% for silver.





Operating costs of $1.09/tonne for mining (plus $0.02/bench below 1605 metres)*; $5.82/tonne for processing; and $0.30/tonne for G&A.





Smelting, refining and transportation costs per tonne concentrate of $80.00, $0.08 and $88.00, respectively.





Pit slopes of 52 degrees in the overlying volcanics and 44 degrees in the porphyry units.





Mineral resources were tabulated within the pit at a cut-off grade of 0.20% copper. This is above an operating breakeven cut-off grade (approximately 0.11% copper) that covers mining, process and G&A costs.

*The $1.09/tonne mining cost with $0.02/bench increment is approximately equivalent to $1.20/tonne over the assumed life of mine.

MINING OPERATION

A large open pit mine is envisioned for Ann Mason, involving the development of five pit phases over a three year period of pre-production, plus a 21 year production life, feeding the mill at a rate of 120,000 tpd. Mining will use conventional rotary drilling, blasting, and loading with large cable shovels and 363-tonne trucks. The total mill throughput in the 2017 PEA is estimated to be 877 million tonnes ("Mt"), of which 835 Mt at 0.30% copper, 0.005% molybdenum, 0.03 g/t gold and 0.59 g/t silver are Measured and Indicated material, and 42 Mt at 0.27% copper, 0.005% molybdenum, 0.03 g/t gold and 0.58 g/t silver are Inferred material. A net value per tonne cut-off was applied to the Lerchs-Grossman ("LG") shells, which form the basis of the mine plan. The net value per tonne cut-off incorporates grade and recovery data for the four payable metals (copper, molybdenum, gold and silver) and approximates a 0.145% copper-only cut-off. The high ratio of Measured plus Indicated to Inferred material in the mine plan emphasizes the high confidence of the resource base used for the 2017 PEA and limits the amount of additional drilling required prior to proceeding to a Pre-Feasibility level.

The LOM waste to mineralization strip ratio is approximately 2:1 (including pre-strip). Pit slopes are variable depending on the geotechnical parameters of the rock types and range from 50 degrees in the overlying volcanic rocks (pre-strip), to 37 degrees in rocks that host the porphyry mineralization.

PROCESSING AND METALLURGY

In 2015 Entree retained SGS Minerals Services in Lakefield, Ontario to advance the metallurgy of the Ann Mason deposit to a level suitable for a future Pre-Feasibility Study. AGP oversaw and interpreted the results of the work on behalf of Entree. More than 1,700 kilograms of core and reject samples (502 sample locations) were shipped to SGS to produce composites representing geometallurgical domains and mine production periods, as well as to evaluate variability within the deposit. The program scope includes a comprehensive grindability study, including JK drop-weight and SMC testing, which provide input parameters for process modeling of the SAG/ball mill circuit. Large diameter (PQ) core was provided specifically for grindability testing. Downstream flowsheet optimization consists of locked cycle flotation testing, a liquid/solid separation study for tailings and concentrate, and final product characterisation.

A summary of results from the locked cycle tests on the domain composites is presented in Table 4. The first two tests, LCT-1 and LCT-2, were run at a primary grind target of 170 micrometres. This target was lowered in LCT-3 and LCT-4 to optimize the copper recovery. In addition, a rougher scavenger flotation stage was added to further reduce losses to the rougher tailings stream. The results show that a relatively coarse grind size (P80 155 micrometres) can be used in the flowsheet with only a minor impact on average copper recovery and helping to keep process operating costs low.

Table 4. Locked Cycle Test Results from the 2015 SGS Metallurgical Program.

Test # LCT-1 LCT-2 LCT-3 LCT-4 LCT-5 Conditions Feed Composite Cpy Py Cpy Bn Py Target 1 Grind P 80 , m 170 170 155 155 155 Target 2 Grind P 80 , m 25 25 25 25 25 Rougher Scavenger n n y y y Final Concentrate Cu Grade, % 28.0 26.9 27.4 31.5 25.0 Cu Recovery, % 90.9 84.2 92.2 91.3 85.0 Mo Grade, % 0.28 0.20 0.27 0.58 0.21 Mo Recovery, % 58.1 39.2 63.0 75.0 46.2 Au Grade, g/t 1.47 0.95 1.28 3.03 0.61 Au Recovery, % 41.3 44.0 49.7 66.4 36.6 Ag Grade, g/t 36.5 22.9 31.6 65.0 18.4 Ag Recovery, % 69.6 32.5 50.6 64.2 27.8

(Feed Composites: Cpy=Chalcopyrite; Py=Pyrite-Chalcopyrite, Bn=Bornite-Chalcopyrite)

In addition, grindability work has confirmed that the feed material is of moderate hardness, with average Bond Rod Work Index and Bond Ball Work Index values of 15.6 kWh/t and 15.5 kWh/t, respectively.

A bulk flotation test was carried out on a 1.5 tonne composite sample to generate sufficient copper concentrate for copper-molybdenum separation testwork. The objective of the work was to build upon the initial development testwork in 2012, which was limited by feed sample size. The program consisted of pilot-scale continuous primary grinding and rougher flotation, followed by batch regrinding and cleaning in a 10 kg flotation cell, and then separation tests in a 2 kg flotation cell.

Several Cu-Mo separation tests were run and the best results were achieved in test Mo-6, where a 28% Mo grade was realized at a 78% stage recovery after three open-circuit cleaning stages.

Overall, the operation of the pilot roughers and batch copper cleaner stages was not sufficiently optimized and resulted in a lower molybdenum grade and recovery to the final concentrate, as well as a limited mass of sample to work with for the separation testwork. Despite adjustments to reagent additions, grind size, and cleaning stages, the batch tests on the bulk concentrate were unsuccessful at improving upon the results of the 2012 program.

Future testwork should focus on large-scale batch tests, upwards of 100 kg test charges, to ensure both sufficient metal units to complete the test and manageable sample size for accurate sampling and testing purposes.

Metallurgical Projection

Locked cycle flotation testing has demonstrated that a simple flotation flow sheet with moderate grinds, three stages of cleaning, and low reagent additions is able to generate a saleable copper concentrate, with no significant penalty elements identified.

The proposed flowsheet for the processing plant consists of a conventional SAG/Ball milling circuit to generate a flotation feed product P80 of approximately 155 micrometres. The flotation circuit would produce separate copper and molybdenum concentrate products for dewatering and shipment to third party smelters. LOM average mill feed would consist primarily of material from the chalcopyrite (46%) and bornite (41%) domains, with a lesser amount from the pyrite zone (13%). Table 5 presents a summary of the metallurgical projection for the Ann Mason deposit. Grades and recoveries are based on the results of the locked-cycle flotation tests from the 2011 Metcon and 2015 SGS testwork programs.

Table 5. Projected Grades and Recoveries for the Copper and Molybdenum Concentrates.

Grade Recovery (%) Product Cu

% Mo

% Au

g/t Ag

g/t Cu Mo Au Ag Copper Concentrate 30.0 0.1 1.65 36.0 92.0 17.1 57.0 55.0 Molybdenum Concentrate 2.5 50.0 0.6 15.0 0.1 50.0 0.2 0.2

It should be noted that the grade and recovery to the molybdenum concentrate are, at this point, only estimates. The Cu-Mo separation testwork in the 2012 program successfully demonstrated that a separate molybdenum concentrate was achievable, but the target grade of 50% molybdenum was not reached during three stages of cleaning. Additional stages were not possible due to the small mass of the 3rd cleaner concentrate. The follow up work in 2015 again demonstrated potential, but encountered technical limitations with the lab procedure that prevented higher concentrate grades being achieved. As a result, the projection includes only an estimate of molybdenum recovery to concentrate of 50%. The next phase of testwork is expected to provide additional characterisation of the relationship between grade and recovery for the molybdenum product.

CAPITAL COSTS

The pre-production capital cost estimate includes the open pit mine capital expenditures, capitalized pre-production stripping, a 120,000 tonnes per day processing plant, infrastructure (including a tailings facility, power improvements, water and roads), environmental costs, owner's and indirect costs and contingency. The open pit mine equipment is assumed leased; therefore, only the down-payment portion is considered in the mine capital costs. The lease cost occurring within the pre-production period is also capitalized.

Sustaining capital cost includes the down payment portion of LOM mine equipment replacement, tailings expansions, infrastructure upgrades and reclamation costs.

Initial capital and sustaining capital costs for the 2017 PEA, summarized below in Table 6, were estimated using current (Q2 2015) data and pricing. The pricing was verified for this update and is considered current for Q1 2017. No material change was noted based on that review.

Table 6. Summary of Ann Mason 2017 PEA capital cost estimates.

Capital Cost ($ Millions) Category Pre-Production and

Year 1 Capital Sustaining Capital

(Years 2-21) Total Capital Open Pit 450.6 88.7 539.3 Processing 452.2 4.5 456.7 Infrastructure 180.7 24.5 205.1 Environmental 2.1 68.5 70.6 Owner's and Indirect Costs 162.7 1.6 164.3 Contingency 102.8 3.2 106.0 Total 1,351.0 191.0 1,542.0

Note: Total reported values in table are rounded.

OPERATING COSTS

Total Years 1-21 operating costs for the Project are estimated to be $9.92/tonne of mill feed on a pre-tax basis (post-tax $11.34/tonne). Mining costs were estimated as $1.50/tonne mined, inclusive of equipment lease payments. LOM copper pre-tax cash costs are $1.72/lb on a copper only basis (post-tax $1.96/lb), or $1.49/lb net of by-product (molybdenum, gold and silver) credits (post-tax $1.74/lb). LOM AISC are $1.79/lb on a copper only basis (post-tax $2.04/lb), or $1.57/lb net of by-product (molybdenum, gold and silver) credits (post-tax $1.81/lb). Table 7 below shows a breakdown of the operating cost categories for Years 1-21 on an average cost per tonne of mill feed basis.

All prices in the 2017 PEA are quoted in 2Q 2015 United States dollars unless otherwise noted. For this update, the input costs were verified and found to be very similar. Therefore, no changes to cost inputs were required.

Table 7. Summary of Ann Mason 2017 PEA operating cost estimates.

Operating Costs (Year 1 - 21) Category $/tonne

Mined $/tonne

Mill Feed $/tonne

Cu Concentrate Mining (mill feed and waste) 1.50 4.13 455 Processing --- 4.59 506 G&A --- 0.26 29 Subtotal On-Site Costs --- 8.98 990 Transportation, Port Costs, Shipping --- 0.87 96 Royalties --- 0.07 7 Total Pre-Tax Operating Cost --- 9.92 1,093 Taxes --- 1.42 157 Total Post-Tax Operating Cost --- 11.34 1,250

ENVIRONMENTAL AND PERMITTING

Over the past several years, Entree continually focussed on advancing environmental studies and permitting for Ann Mason. Baseline environmental studies, including Biology (vegetation and wildlife), Cultural Resources, and WOUS/Wetlands Delineation, have been completed on approximately 4,063 hectares (10,040 acres) of the Project area.

On April 1, 2016, the Company received an approved WOUS/Wetlands jurisdictional determination from the USACE. According to USACE, the water drainages on the Ann Mason Project are considered "isolated waters with no apparent interstate or foreign commerce connection" and as a result, no permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act is required for Ann Mason. This is a very significant positive step for Mason Resources in the path towards eventually permitting the Ann Mason Project for development.

No significant obstacles to the development of Ann Mason were identified in any of the baseline environmental studies completed to date.

Other permits required for the development of Ann Mason include an approved Mining Plan of Operations from the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"), Water Pollution Control and Reclamation Permits from the Nevada Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation, an Air Quality Permit from the Nevada Bureau of Air Pollution Control and Conditional Use/Special Use Permits from Lyon and Douglas Counties.

Results of the baseline environmental studies will form part of an Environmental Impact Study ("EIS") of the Project, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). Once Mason Resources completes a Pre-Feasibility Study of the Ann Mason Project and submits its Mining Plan of Operations to the BLM for approval, an EIS will be required as part of the approval process. The BLM will be the lead agency under NEPA rules, and will only issue a final EIS after considering comments from the public and other agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

BLUE HILL DEPOSIT MINERAL RESOURCES

The Blue Hill oxide target is approximately 1.5 kilometres northwest of the Ann Mason deposit and hosts copper oxide mineralization that extends from near-surface to a maximum depth of 185 metres (average approximately 125 metres), over an area of 800 by 500 metres and remains open to the northwest and southeast.

The Blue Hill mineral resource estimate remains the same as the estimate published in the 2012 and 2015 PEAs. Mineral resources at Blue Hill were estimated under the supervision of Pierre Desautels, P.Geo. of AGP. The estimate is based on copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver drill hole sample grades collected from 6 core and 24 RC drill holes completed by Entree, and also from 20 historical core and RC drill holes completed by Anaconda and PacMag. A total of 10 holes drilled in 2013 and 2015 were subsequently added to the database. Four of those holes were located in close proximity to the Blue Hill mineral resource but were considered not material to the overall Ann Mason Project; therefore, the Blue Hill mineral resource estimate was not updated and remains the same as in the 2012 PEA. No new drilling or sampling has been completed at Blue Hill since the 2015 PEA.

The Blue Hill mineral resource estimate is based on all scientific and technical information as of March 3, 2017 and therefore has an effective date of March 3, 2017. The mineral resource model and the mineral resource estimate have not changed since July 31, 2012, the effective date of the previous mineral resource estimate. The assumptions used in 2012 to assess reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction including metal prices, mining, processing and G&A cost metallurgical recoveries and pit slopes remain the same and are still considered reasonable.

The key parameters of the estimate are as follows:

Domains were modelled in 3D to separate oxide, mixed, and primary mineralization from surrounding waste rock. The domains were modelled to a nominal 0.075% copper cut-off.





High-grade outliers in the drill hole assay database were capped to 0.75% for copper, 0.03 g/t for gold, and 2 g/t for silver prior to compositing. No capping was applied to molybdenum.





Drill hole assays were composited to 5 metre lengths interrupted by the overall mineralization boundary.





Block grades for copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver were estimated from the drill hole composites using inverse distance weighted to the second power (ID2) into 40 metre x 40 metre x 15 metre blocks coded by domain. Molybdenum, gold, and silver were estimated for sulphide blocks only.





Dry bulk density was estimated globally for each domain from drill core samples collected throughout the deposit. The oxide and mixed zones were assigned a density of 2.57 t/m3 and the sulphide zone was assigned 2.62 t/m3.





All blocks were classified as Inferred mineral resources in accordance with CIM definitions.

Mineral resources were reported within a LG pit shell, generated by AGP, above a copper cut-off of 0.10% for the oxide and mixed zones and 0.15% for the sulphide zone. AGP believes these cut-offs are still valid for resource reporting.

The general parameters of the LG pit are as follows:

average gross metal values of:



- $3.32/lb copper for oxide and mixed material

- $3.16/lb copper, $12.12/lb molybdenum, $1,057/oz gold, and $13.58/oz silver for sulphide material





metallurgical recoveries of:



- 81.7% leachable oxide copper

- 75% for mixed material

- 92% copper, 50% molybdenum, 50% gold and 55% silver for sulphide material





mining costs:



- oxide and mixed feed material - $1.30/t

- sulphide feed material - $1.13/t

- all waste costs - $1.13/t





process and general management and administration (G&A) costs of:



- $5.06/t for oxide and mixed material

- $6.22/t for sulphide material





pit slopes of 40 degrees in both the overlying volcanic and in the mineralized granodiorite.

Table 8. Blue Hill Inferred Mineral Resources (effective date March 3, 2017)

Zone Cu Cut-off

(%) Tonnes

(Mt) Grade

Cu (%) Contained Cu

(Mlb) Mo

(%) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Oxide Zone 0.10 47.44 0.17 179.37 - - - Mixed Zone 0.10 24.69 0.18 98.12 - - - Oxide + Mixed Zones 0.10 72.13 0.17 277.49 - - - Sulphide Zone 0.15 49.86 0.23 253.46 0.005 0.01 0.3

Notes:

Mineral resources are classified in accordance with the 2014 CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves.

Mineral Resources do not include external dilution, nor was the tabulation of contained metal adjusted to reflect metallurgical recoveries.

Tonnages are rounded to the nearest 10,000 tonnes, and grades are rounded to two decimal places.

Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content.

Material quantities and grades are expressed in metric units, and contained metal in imperial units.

Drilling of the underlying sulphide target remains sparse, but has identified a target more than one kilometre in width which remains open in most directions with potential for expansion. Blue Hill has not been incorporated into the 2017 PEA, however, through additional drilling there is potential for the Blue Hill oxide copper project to be incorporated into the overall mine plan. In addition, several high priority targets for additional oxide copper mineralization occur peripheral to Blue Hill.

TECHNICAL REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS AND BUDGET

The Ann Mason Project development options are sufficiently understood and the Project shows positive economics to support a decision to proceed to a Pre-Feasibility Study. As an initial part of the preparation for a Pre-Feasibility Study, a two-stage drill program is recommended in the 2017 PEA to bring the mineral resources within the current Phase 5 Pit to a minimum Indicated mineral resource category and to complete a program of wide-spaced, drilling within the pit, but outside of the current 0.15% copper grade shell.

A second program of exploration drilling is also recommended to test several key target areas within the Project boundaries, initially focused on near-surface oxide copper mineralized targets in the vicinity of Blue Hill and Ann Mason, as well as several high priority, deeper sulphide mineralized targets at the Blackjack IP target and to the west of Ann Mason. The overall budget to complete the recommended work is summarized as follows:

Stage 1 and 2 in-pit drilling $2.32 million





Regional exploration drilling $2.07 million

Blue Hill and the peripheral oxide targets are very strong priorities for Mason Resources that would see a portion of the regional exploration drilling. On the near-surface Blue Hill oxide target, copper oxide mineralization extends from surface to a maximum depth of 185 metres (average approximately 125 metres), over an area of 800 by 500 metres and remains open to the northwest and southeast. Drilling of the underlying sulphide target remains sparse, but has identified a target more than one kilometre in width which remains open in most directions with potential for expansion. Blue Hill has not been incorporated into the 2017 PEA, however, through additional drilling there is potential for the Blue Hill oxide copper deposit to be incorporated into the overall mine plan.

AGP also recommends in the 2017 PEA that Mason Resources develop a thorough Pre-Feasibility scope and detailed budget. AGP estimates that in addition to the budget for the two stages of in-pit drilling and regional exploration noted above, a Pre-Feasibility Study for Ann Mason would be approximately $9 to $11 million to complete. The Pre-Feasibility Study would cover areas such as:

resource estimate update





geotechnical studies





condemnation drilling





tailings management facility design and site geotechnical





environmental management studies and data collection





concentrate marketing and sales studies





capital and operating cost estimation





financial evaluation





project management and administration

2017 PEA PREPARATION AND QUALIFIED PERSONS

The 2017 PEA was completed independently by AGP Mining Consultants Inc., Toronto and Amec Foster Wheeler Americas Limited, Vancouver. The information in this news release that relates to the mining and metallurgy portions of the 2017 PEA was approved by: Jay Melnyk, P.Eng. and Lyn Jones, P.Eng., both from AGP. The information in this news release that relates to the geology and mineral resource estimation portions of the PEA was approved by: Greg Kulla, P.Geo and Peter Oshust P.Geo, both from Amec Foster Wheeler.

Robert Cinits, P.Geo., Chief Operating Officer with Mason Resources, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, approved all other technical information in this news release.

The 2017 PEA, titled 2017 Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Ann Mason Project, Nevada, U.S.A. with an effective date of March 3, 2017 is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Companys website at www.masonresources.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This document refers to "Cash Costs" and all-in sustaining cost (or "AISC") per unit of production, which are not measures recognized under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. The calculations of these measures may differ from those used by other issuers. The Company discloses these measures in order to provide assistance in understanding the results of the operations within the 2017 PEA and to provide additional information to investors.

ABOUT MASON RESOURCES CORP.

Mason Resources Corp. is a well-funded Canadian copper exploration and development company focused in the U.S.A. The Companys key asset is its 100% owned Ann Mason Project  an extensive, prospective land package located in the Yerington District of Nevada. The Ann Mason Project hosts two copper-molybdenum porphyry deposits, Ann Mason and Blue Hill, as well as numerous earlier-stage or untested priority targets. The Ann Mason deposit is currently at a PEA level and is among the largest undeveloped copper porphyry resources in Canada/U.S.A. The excellent infrastructure, year-round access, strong community support and clear permitting process are all factors that contribute to making Yerington, Nevada one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. Mason also holds a 100% interest in the Lordsburg property, an exciting earlier-stage copper-gold porphyry project, located within an historic mining district in New Mexico.

Masons strong financial position and high-quality asset portfolio provide it with a solid foundation and flexibility for growth, by advancing development of Ann Mason towards Pre-Feasibility, introducing one or more strategic development partners, exploring high priority targets or considering strategic acquisitions.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws.

Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to requirements for additional capital; uses of funds; the value and potential value of assets; the future prices of copper, gold, molybdenum and silver; the estimation of mineral resources; the realization of mineral resource estimates; anticipated future production, capital and operating costs, cash flows and mine life; potential size of a mineralized zone; potential expansion of mineralization; the potential discovery of new mineralized zones; potential metallurgical recoveries and grades; the potential impact of future exploration results on Ann Mason mine design and economics; completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study on the Project; potential development of the Ann Mason Project; potential to incorporate the Blue Hill deposit into the mine plan; potential types of mining operations; permitting timelines; government regulation of exploration and mining operations; plans for future exploration and/or development programs and budgets; anticipated business activities; corporate strategies; and future financial performance.

While the Company has based these forward-looking statements on its expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee of the Companys future performance and are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies, local and global economic conditions and the environment in which Mason Resources will operate in the future, including the price of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum. Uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements and information include, amongst others, the market valuing Entree and Mason Resources in a manner not anticipated by the companies; unanticipated costs, expenses or liabilities; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; the size, grade and continuity of deposits not being interpreted correctly from exploration results; the results of preliminary test work not being indicative of the results of future test work; fluctuations in commodity prices and demand; changing foreign exchange rates; actions by government authorities; the availability of funding on reasonable terms; the impact of changes in interpretation to or changes in enforcement of, laws, regulations and government practices, including laws, regulations and government practices with respect to mining, foreign investment, royalties and taxation; the terms and timing of obtaining necessary environmental and other government approvals, consents and permits; the availability and cost of necessary items such as power, water, skilled labour, transportation and appropriate smelting and refining arrangements; and misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements. In addition, there are also known and unknown risk factors which may cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to international operations, including legal and political risk; risks associated with changes in the attitudes of governments to foreign investment; discrepancies between actual and anticipated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; global financial conditions; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; inability to upgrade Inferred mineral resources to Indicated or Measured mineral resources; inability to convert mineral resources to mineral reserves; conclusions of economic evaluations; future prices of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining government approvals, permits or licences or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; environmental risks; title disputes; limitations on insurance coverage; as well as those factors discussed in the Companys continuous disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws.




Social network group admin pleads guilty to pushing teens to suicide

ST. PETERSBURG, May 11 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) - Philipp Budeykin, aka Philipp Fox, an administrator of a closed group on social network Vkontakte, has pleaded guilty to inciting teenagers to commit suicide, the Unified press-service of St. Petersburg courts told RAPSI on Thursday.

On Thursday, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg extended Budeykins detention until August 28. The defendant was not opposed to extension of his detention, according to the press-service.

The hearing was held behind closed doors because materials of investigation include information about minor children.

Earlier, a psychiatric examination has found Budeykin mentally fit.

A criminal case was opened in May 2016 after several Russian media outlets reported about so-called Groups of Death, numerous groups where young people were encouraged to kill themselves.

Investigators claim that from December 2013 to May 2016 eight Groups of Death were registered on Vkontakte network. Fifteen teenagers from various regions of Russia were members of these groups and committed suicide. Searches were conducted in ten regions of Russia.

Budeykin was arrested on November 15, 2016. About ten people testified in the case against him.

The investigation is currently ongoing in Russias Krasnodar Territory, Republics of Komi and Bashkortostan and Moscow, Volgograd, Voronezh, Tula, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk and Omsk regions. Investigators also claim that admins of Groups of Death have been found in Ukraine.
Prosecutors to verify protection of endangered wild life in Russia

MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  Russias Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has ordered the agencys territorial offices to verify the implementation of the instructions to bolster protection of endangered wild life President Vladimir Putin gave to state bodies, the Prosecutor Generals Office informs on its website on Thursday.

Following this order, the prosecutors of the constituents of the Russian Federation and special prosecutors of equal status have been directed to verify the enforcement of the legislation on protection and exploitation of wild life, the press-release says.

The prosecutors are to inspect the legality of activities carried out by organizations engaged in hunting, breeding, management, and demonstration of wild animals and birds. First of all, the inspections will be conducted with respect to zoos, oceanariums and dolphinariums, as well as fishing, educational, scientific, and cultural and educational establishments. A special attention is to be paid to the efficiency of activities carried out by the Federal Agency for Fishery (Rosrybolovstvo) and the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Monitoring Service (Rosselkhoznadzor).

The statement says that certain prosecutors have already started to inspect the compliance with the legislative requirements by customs service and border guards entitled to fight illegal export of animals on the endangered species list and other wild life.
A note about this three-part series:

Policymakers, tech plutocrats, and a cacophony of pundits serially talk about revolutions in energy and technology. Revolution is a powerful word but is so overused in these domains that its lost meaning. But real revolutions, by definition radical and pervasive changes, do matter. They create pivots in history. Using the proper meaning of the word, this series explores the realities of the only three energy revolutions that have happened in modern history.

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series we saw that technology was the primary cause of the only revolution in energy supply and the only revolution in energy demand in modern times. In both cases, the animating technologies came out of left field. So in this last part of the series, we turn to the third question: Has there been a revolution in energy policy?

Since government programs were not responsible for either the supply or demand revolutions, we look instead to spending as the metric for a radical and pervasive change. In that regard, the only policy revolution since WWII was the passage of the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPAC). Not only was the EPAC Act a radical policy formulationforged in the aftermath of the 1973-74 oil embargo that shocked the nation, tripling oil prices overnightbut it also established the framework followed by essentially all energy policies since.

The EPAC Act mission came down to this: avoid, conserve or replace hydrocarbons. It is, of course, beyond obvious that the driving force in energy policy today has morphed from strategic security to concerns about global warming, specifically whether we should use hydrocarbons at all. But that is a distinction without a difference. The policy locus remains the pursuit of alternatives to hydrocarbons.

The passage of the EPAC Act spawned 40 years of policies resulting in well over a half a trillion dollars of cumulative government spending on energy programs to avoid hydrocarbons.1 This is a policy revolution. The money could have funded a half dozen more Apollo programs or several missions to Mars.

After all that, consider the state of affairs: Today, the nation still gets over 80% of all energy from hydrocarbons. And the vast majority of the rest comes from old nukes and hydro dams. Given that the mission of all the policies and subsidies has been to drive down costs of alternatives, it is notable that wind and solar remain astonishingly expensive compared to hydrocarbons. Stripped of hyperbole, the naked engineering costs are revealing.

At todays capital costs, $1 million worth of a modern wind turbine will produce, over 30 years of operation, about 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) of energy. And $1 million worth of todays rooftop solar panels will produce, again over the same 30 years, less than 50,000 BOE. Compare this to what $1 million worth of a shale rig produces over 30 years of operation: at least 400,000 barrels of actual petroleum, or 400,000 BOE of natural gas.

Energy Produced Per $1 Million Of Hardware 30-Year Output: Barrels of Oil Equivalent (BOE)

Data sources: NREL, AWEA, RBN Energy

Yet, despite big subsidies to stimulate rapid growth in solar and wind, neither has yet moved the meter. Last year solar panels supplied 0.3% of Americas energy; wind turbines supplied 2%. But given decades of media adulation and policy promotion, its not surprising that surveys show most people think those sources make a 10-fold greater contribution.

Biofuel, an early but now largely abandoned darling of alternative energy darling has not moved the meter either. The Bush administration gave us todays massive biofuels subsidies, an idea pioneered by the Clinton administration. Set aside the fact that burning corn-ethanol actually increases emissions of climate-implicated gases, and consider that biofuel mania alone has cost consumers at least $80 billion, as my Manhattan Institute colleague Robert Bryce has documented.

For all that moneyand despite the fact that 40% of Americas corn harvest is now turned into fuelethanol today displaces less than 4% of U.S. transportation fuel. Do the math. Even using 100% of the nations crop would have de minimis relevance. This is a far cry from those heady days of alternative energy enthusiasm a decade ago when Silicon Valley legend Vinod Khosla gushed: "I have no doubt that 100% of our gasoline use can be displaced [by biofuels] in the next 25 years  I expect to see a major disruption in the oil business."

None of this has deterred post-hydrocarbon enthusiasts from urging further expansion of government alternative energy programs. All thats needed, the argument goes, is a final push, an energy version of the Manhattan Project or the Apollo Program.

But powering an entire economy is not like putting a few men on the moon. Its like putting everybody on earth on the moonpermanently. One might imagine spending a fortune to subsidize millions of moonshots, but that money wouldnt lead to new physics that could obviate the staggering cost of escaping earths gravity. There is no new physics in energy eitherat least not since 1939 (first fission reaction), and 1954 (the first photovoltaic cell).

The cost trends of the past four decades clearly show that the radical cost improvements in solar and wind are over. From 1980 to 2005 or so, wind and solar tech saw gains in underlying efficiencies that rapidly drove costs down some 10-fold. But the data show those gains have been far slower in the past decade. And every expert forecast sees even smaller incremental gains for the foreseeable future.

Reductions In Solar & Wind Costs: Historic & Forecast: Normalized to 1980 = 100

Data sources: IEA 2016 Wind Task Force , DOE SunShot Photovoltaic Pricing Trends

Solar and wind technologies are now on the curve of diminishing returns. (Biofuels long ago crossed that Rubicon. And, for the record, batteries are on the same diminishing cost curve too.) The fact is, going forward, every incremental policy dollar will yield less progress than in the past.

This is an entirely normal phenomenon. Throughout history, engineers achieve big gains in the early years of a technologys development, whether wind turbines, aircraft engines, steam ships, photovoltaic cells or computer processors. With time, the engineering starts to approach physics limits. Bragging rights for gains in efficiency (or speed or any other equivalent metric) shrink from double-digit percentages to fractional changes. These days aircraft turbine manufacturers eagerly tout single-digit percentage gains in fuel efficiency because those machines are now near the thermodynamic limits of how much heat can be converted to thrust.

The physics of the universe we inhabit means we can never capture 100% of the potential energy contained in any source, whether photons arriving from the sun, or the kinetic energy of moving air. The boundary for a wind turbine, called the Betz Limit, permits capturing almost 60% of airs kinetic energy. Modern turbines already exceed 40%. That leaves some gains to be made, but nothing revolutionary. And there arent any game-changing economies of scale left for the underlying components eitherconcrete, steel, fiberglasswhich are already in mass production.

Similarly, engineers rapidly drove photovoltaic cells down the declining cost curve in the early days. Now cells are bumping up against limits. The Shockley-Queisser Limit defines how much of the energy in photons photovoltaic cells can convert into electricity: 33%. The most recent announcement of a 26.3% efficient silicon cell is perilously close to that boundary. As with wind, there are precious few cost reductions available in the associated materials (silicon, wires, glass) already being mass-produced. To be sure, scientists are finding new non-silicon optionse.g., the exotic-sounding perovskitesthat offer yet further incremental cost reductions. But all options have similar physics boundaries. Even the most exotic and expensive laboratory cells cant beat a roughly 50% boundary. There are no 10-fold gains left.

Meanwhile, the technologies that unlocked shale oil and gas are still in early days with 10-fold gains still available before seeing physics limits. Several years ago the Energy Information Administration initiated monthly tracking of the rapid progress of drilling productivity (energy output per rig) in what amounts to the nations newest energy industry. (For more on that, see Part 1 in this series.)

Shale productivity has been improving by an average of at least 20% a year over the past half-dozen years. In other words, output per rig is doubling every three years. Last year rig productivity jumped from 26% to 41% across the various shale plays. Contrast this with the latest announced solar cell productivity gain that advanced the old record by 3%.

As a recent Federal Reserve study showed that the conundrum that the small drop in the amount of shale energy produced last yearless than 10% despite over 60% fewer rigs in operationcan only be explained by big gains in technology. Of course there are physics limits for shale too.

Though its a far less studied subject compared to solar and wind, the underlying geophysics points to a roughly 500% gap between what todays rigs can extract compared to what nature ultimately permits. Engineers are on track to close that gap as Shale 2.0 emerges with the application of digital tools and software. Eventually shale tech will reach the diminishing returns curve. But that day is likely at least a decade away. That means the spread between conventional and alternative costs is widening, not shrinking.

These physics and engineering realities are precisely what led Google engineers to abandon a major project to develop renewable tech cheaper than coal. Writing about what they learned, those engineers observed: Incremental improvements to existing [alternative energy] technologies arent enough; we need something truly disruptive ... We dont have the answers. Those technologies havent been invented yet. Bill Gates, who has devoted much of his post-Microsoft life to thinking about and investing in energy tech has, in numerous interviews, said much the same. To find energy revolutions we will need to make new discoveries in the underlying physical sciences. That can only emerge from basic research, not from subsidizing more of yesterdays technologies.

Put another way: The Internet didnt emerge by subsidizing the dial-up phone; nor was the transistor inspired by subsidizing vacuum tubes, nor the automobile inspired by railroad subsidies. Theres a long list of such analogies.

But just as there are immutable laws of physics, so too are there immutable laws in politics. Subsidies along with their economic inverse, taxes, are universal across all forms of government throughout history as a means to influence businesses, technologies, or behaviors. America subsidizes trains, farms, exports, housing, fishing, shipping, roads, etc. and etc.

However, sensing that the scale of recent energy subsidies may have exhausted political tolerances, some policymakers on both sides of the aisle have turned to the idea of a carbon tax. Even some noted economists have embraced the idea. And, as noted above, the motivationworries about climate changealters nothing about the underlying physics and economics of what is possible with energy.

Stripped to the two core conceits of the carbon tax we find the same goals that were framed in the decades-old EPAC Act: reduce societys use of traditional fuels, and give money to innovators to come up with magical alternatives. What exactly is it that the carbon tax supporters have not learned from history?

Whether the handouts come from taxes or subsidies, the physics of todays technologies remains unchanged. As for suppressing hydrocarbon demand, we have good data on how big a tax must be to make a difference. When petroleum was north of $100 a barrel, global demand softened a modest few percent. No sane politician is proposing a tax that would double todays price. And a politically tolerable carbon tax that moves prices up only slightly wont change demand a scintilla.

Policymakers are left with an inconvenient set of facts. The worlds nearly 8 billion people and $80 trillion economy depend on hydrocarbons to supply 85% of global energy; oil itself fuels 98% of transportation. Only radically new science has any prospect for meaningfully changing those realities. Fortunately for taxpayers, policymakers could pay for a lot of research in the coming decades for a tiny fraction of the massive subsidies already squandered on hardware.

1 Doubt that number? Google search the Department of Energys budgets, and the myriad of analyses of serial federal and state energy subsidies, grants, and programs.
But the result was that Germany lacks a sober, analytical approach when discussing foreign policy concepts such as power, military force and national interest. Germans instead lurch into an emotional, excited and moralistic mode to condemn notions they view as politically contaminated. The upshot is that the nation that gave us the world's most important strategist, Carl von Clausewitz, no longer does strategy.
NEW ORLEANS, May 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 10, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX), if they purchased the Companys securities between February 16, 2017 and April 24, 2017, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.



What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Barrick Gold 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 10, 2017.

About the Lawsuit

Barrick Gold and certain of its executives 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 are not limited to, that: (i) the internal safety framework at the Veladero mine was not adequate for preventing gold-bearing chemical spills; (ii) as a result, local authorities would restrict the addition of cyanide to the Veladero mines facility and require corrective work; (iii) these complications would have a detrimental effect on the production capacity of the Veladero mine; (iv) as such, the Companys Veladero mine production guidance and total gold production guidance were overstated; and (v) as a result of the foregoing, Barrick Golds 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.
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Five acres of beautiful secluded land. Located 1 miles from Mount Union Recreational Center at the top of a mound. Scenic mountain view. Rich in recreational opportunities including hiking and camping. This just may be the piece of Arizona you have been searching for. This is a discounted price, we get great deals and pass the savings on to you. Note: Taxes on this property are owed for 2016 totaling $336.21 We're starting the bid at just $6000, a fraction of the Yavapai County assessed full val...

Price: $ 6,000 Seller State of Residence: California State/Province: Arizona Zip/Postal Code: 86301 Type: Recreational, Acreage City: Prescott Location: 921**, San Diego, California

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For many, long range shooting can be a mythical beast. We've spent the last couple days down in Texas at an NRA Outdoors Range with Vista Outdoors shooting all sorts of rifles, from the general-purpose 5.56 AR to the Savage Stealth bolt action chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. Zapping targets at range with a 6.5 Creedmoor is not unexpected, but how about stretching the legs of a 5.56? We gave it a whirl.

The Setup

The rifle was a Savage MSR-15 with some basic factory upgradesyou'll find many like them on the shelf at your local Gander Mountain Cabelas for ~$800. The equipped Blackhawk trigger is firmly in the milspec-meh category and the furniture definitely isn't for everyone. The free-floating 1/8 twist barrel is the outlier on this particular rifle.

Similarly, the optic used was something you'd pick up at a local sporting goods store. The Bushnell Engage 4-1624 is certainly budget minded with a street price of ~$350. We're not talking about a variable that you show off to the envy of all around you. Further annoying to the author since he's under 60, it features MOA turrets.

Of course, pushing it to 1,000 we don't want to use cheap Russian ammunition or surplus. Federal Premium Gold Medal loads were used, topped off with 69gr Sierra MatchKing BTHP (Boat Tailed Hollow Point) projectiles. While we had access to Kestrels and other ballistic calculators, we used the free Federal Ammunition smart phone ballistics app. Hey, if we're going cheap, nothing beats free.

The Shoot

First things first: The MSR-15 was zeroed at 100 yards and then we tried out the accuracy of the ballistic app by pinging steel at 300 yards. Everything was on point. There was a problem when the app spit out the data for 1,000 yards though48.3 minutes of elevation was beyond our adjustment range. Even adding in the stadia lines in the reticle we were coming up short. Holdover became the rule of the day.

Having a good spotter is essential at these ranges, double-so when running something that can be easily swayed by wind like a 5.56 at low velocities. And if you do manage to hit the steel, the impact is so slight and the formerly-satisfying ping so quiet that you need someone with a lot of magnification for confirmation.

Have a look to see how we did:



[Photos courtesy of Jacki Billings]
This article originally appeared in RECOIL Issue 31

WHEN PRONE ISN'T POSSIBLE

Prone shooting is the shooting worlds missionary position. Its the default choice when you want to get the job done and get it done as predictably as possible. Similar to your partner saying, Babe, lets change it up, youve also got to alter the normal routine when shooting. While spicing up the bedroom is driven by lust, shooting positions are dictated by the environment and situation. And just like passionate pillow pounding, things can get weird and uncomfortable real fast when problem solving with alternative shooting positions.

Shooting in the prone offers the most stability because the shooters body has the maximum amount of contact with a solid shooting surface. The more contact you have with mother earth, the less you and the rifle will move. Prone shooting strategies work on a flat practice range. But shooting anywhere other than the square range means boning up on options for building shooting positions with supportive devices.

STABLE, ADAPTABLE, REPEATABLE

Supportive devices assist in creating positions that are stable, adaptable, and repeatable. Even if theyre stable, realize some positions just wont feel comfortable, and it may take time to find which supportive devices work best for your given scenario.

Before going any further, weve got to discuss wobble. Its not the smooth, beat-driven wobble thats mesmerizing at the club; its the movement of the reticle you witness while looking through the scope. Anytime you touch a gun, a variable is introduced that causes movement.

Wobble area is the amount of unintended, natural movement of the weapon while aiming at the target. To the shooter, this movement looks like the crosshairs dancing all over the target. If the wobble area includes areas outside the target, youre heading for a missed shot; your position should be adjusted until the wobble area is as small as possible, covering the center of your target.

Stable: The goal of every good position is to reduce the wobble area and increase your hit probability. The stability factor can be simplified by asking, Can I hit the target from this position?

Adaptable: How quickly can you get into the position, and how long does it need to be maintained? The position has to be adaptable to your environment. If youre taking one quick shot, the speed of employment must be hasty, and not highly durable. But, if youre in the same spot for hours on-end, neither you nor the position can begin to break down. Using a more stable or sturdy shooting support can create a more durable position. The most durable positions are the ones where the full weight of the rifle is supported by the position so that your muscles dont get fatigued or cause involuntary movement to the gun.

Repeatable: This is the practice makes perfect characteristic of creating a good position. When youre able to recreate and reuse a position, in a stable and adaptable way, your shooting proficiency will improve. Even if you encounter a new obstacle, practiced alternative positions will assist in problem solving.

NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL

Natural, or found supports are anything from a downed tree to a stack of cinder blocks. Artificial supports are commercially manufactured devices that use friction, support, and leverage to reduce the effort needed to build and maintain a supported firing position. Shooting bags, bipods, tripods, shooting sticks, and shooting straps all have a place in a precision shooters bag of tools.

Shooting bags are as simple as a homemade sand sock or as complex as a Velcro strap-laden beast with sewn-in attachment points that aid positional improvisation. Bags can be used in countless ways; rear support under the stock, pistol grip or handguard, providing a cushion between hard surfaces and the rifle. Bags are versatile, can be directly strapped onto a rifle or handheld and then positioned.

If a snipers going to be working in a dynamic environment, its best to use stability bags to build a hasty position. Id have never thought Id carry one of the bags used in Precision Rifle Series Competitions in combat until I started using them, says Shawn Wiseman, a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant, former special operations sniper, and the director of the Precision Rifle Series.

They allow me to build a much more stable shooting position that reduces my area of wobble to the size of a quarter at 100 yards. They also make getting into position much faster because youre not fighting to steady the rifle as you would if you were resting your rifle on a hard surface.

At PRS competitions, competitors use multiple medium- to large-sized fat bags. Once the bag is in place, your support hand controls the bag. You can adjust the vertical position of the rifle by squeezing the bag.

If its a long-term sniper overwatch mission, says Wiseman, tripods are by far the best equipment to use. Tripods are the most predictable, versatile, and stable shooting supports. A tripod can be used as support for the front or rear of the rifle, or both at the same time. Manufacturers produce quick detach plates that attach to handguards or pic rails. For rifles without direct-mount capability, a vise-like device can be used on the tripod instead. The vise-like mounts secure any section of the rifle stock or chassis directly to the tripod. The better tripods on the market allow for positional adjustments of the tripod head with your support hand so you can quickly adjust or aim the rifle without breaking your firing grip.

To give merit to tripods stability, long-range competition directors incorporate them in their stage design. At the 2016 PRS Finale, competitors engaged a 16-inch square target nine times from three different tripods of varying heights in under 90 seconds, all while dealing with gusting winds. To put that into perspective, thats 10 seconds to get into position, acquire each target, and shoot. The competitors who were acquainted with tripods prevailed.

The downside of a tripod is the time it takes to set one up. And, good tripods are by no means cheap; you get what you pay for when it comes to stability and durability.

Shooting sticks are widely used by hunters, many of which are cobbled together from found items; got some paracord and some long sticks? Youve got homemade shooting sticks. The easiest home build is tying three identical sticks together with paracord about 6 inches from the tops, then splaying the sticks out until you get the desired height. Use your imagination, or Google, and youll come up with plenty of other homemade options.

Commercial models have more features, such extendable legs that quickly deploy with the press of a button. Like tripods, you can use shooting sticks to support the front of the rifle or the buttstock. They generally arent as steady since they arent usually affixed to the rifle. If youre trying to create a durable position, shooting sticks arent the best answer. Theyre great for a shot that needs to be taken quickly and with minimal setup.

Shooting straps are any type of strap, string, or band used to create a shooting support. A small set of synthetic straps fit in your pocket while larger, ratchet straps perform double-duty securing items in bed of your truck until you need them for a shot. The thickness and tensile strength of the strap will determine how supportive a position it can provide. A flimsy strap will stretch and bounce, so you wont be able to load it as much as a monster tow strap ratcheted between century oak trees. But, a light strap, used carefully will still provide more stability than an offhand shot.

Direct-mount bipods are the most frequently used supportive device. Theyre standard issue for military snipers, if that tells you anything about their importance. Bipods have advanced over the years to include legs and bases that not only extend, but also rotate, swivel, and cant. More angles mean more options for setting up on odd-shaped and off-angle surfaces. Bipod legs can range from 4.75 to 27 inches; longer legs allow shooting from more upright positions, such as sitting and kneeling. Keep in mind, mechanical options add to the complexity and cost of a bipod, and if they arent well designed, they will cost you in setup speed and stability.

TYPES OF PRESSURE

Applying pressure to the rifle improves stability and decreases the size of the wobble area. Understanding the types of pressure needed for stability will help you choose the appropriate shooting device for a given scenario.

Forward Pressure is pushing some or all of your body weight into the rifle. Sturdy supportive devices allow forward pressure to be applied. A frequently used term is loading the bipod, which means applying forward pressure to the bipod through the rifle. Forward pressure decreases wobble area and dampens the recoil, helping a shooter call their shot and get back on target quickly.

Neutral Pressure means the rifle sits in a neutral position without forward or rearward tension. The downside is that wobble and recoil are both tougher to control. Neutral pressure means the rifles recoil is unmitigated, and its going to take a bit to get back behind the scope, making it tough to call your shot. There is little benefit to neutral pressure; selecting a position where this can be avoided is best.

Rearward Pressure means pulling back on the rifle as the supportive device resists your pull. Positions that allow for rearward pressure are stout; think barricades, building or vehicle windows, heavy rocks, and large tree limbs. The benefits of rearward pressure are similar to those of forward pressure. As a bonus, theres likely less felt recoil with rearward pressure since the supportive device is acting against the recoil.

WHOS USING THEM

According to Brian Sain, a Texas Peace Officer and a bigwig at both AmericanSnipers.org, and the American Sniper Association (ASA), shooters from different backgrounds can pick up tips and learn about new gear from related shooting disciplines.

One subtle point often overlooked, said Sain, is that most law enforcement sniper weapons, tactics, and equipment trickle down from USSOCOM and from civilian competition. The missions of the former and the courses of fire of the latter, both require precision weaponry and double tough gear and that  eventually finds its way into law enforcement.

In competitive shooting, accuracy and speed are key. Competitors shoot in scenarios requiring them to build shooting positions and engage targets while timed. Match directors purposely put competitors in situations where they have to work around obstacles, virtually requiring the use of supportive devices. The combination of a decent bipod and a big, puffy shooting provide competitive shooters a great combination of speed, adaptability, and stability. This combination is beginning to find its way into the ranks of precision law enforcement and military shooters.

Military snipers not only deliver precision fire, but also collect information. These multitasking combatants require highly adaptable shooting positions. Ryan Castle is a former U.S. Army sniper, lead instructor at Core Shooting Solutions, and competitive shooter. He says, Laying down to engage your target is extremely rare. With areas of operation such as mountainous terrain and urban environments, the need to establish firing positions other than prone  and to do so rapidly  is critical.

The ASA compiles hard data on sniper engagements and releases it as the ASA Sniper Utilization Report. The report puts data behind Castles anecdotal evidence. It impacts training standards and provides the firearms industry with data, helping it design and improve products that reflect real-world application.

Many shots documented within the ASA Sniper Utilization Reports were taken from positions other than prone, said Sain. Tall grass, shrubbery, vehicles, [buildings], and fences are just some of the obstacles that must be negotiated.

END GAME

Unless youre sitting in decked-out hunting stand or working from the plush interior of a Bearcat, supportive devices are a just about a necessity for any real-world precision work. The ability to make a shot comes from a variety of skills, but having an effective shooting position is the base that supports all your other efforts. You can get away with a lot more long-range ergonomic sins if you at least have a stable shooting platform.

Whether youre a hunter, competitor, or professional long-range shooter, being able to quickly determine and build the best shooting position is elementary. Successful shooters build stable positions with whatever they have on-hand or whatevers around them. Whether youre well equipped or running light-and-fast, learning to combine found, homemade, and commercially available shooting supports will up your game.
Oslo, 11 May 2017 - The Annual General Meeting of DNO ASA will be held on 1 June 2017 at 10:00 am CEST at Oslo Concert Hall, Lille Sal at Munkedamsveien 14, 0250 Oslo, Norway.

The notice of the Annual General Meeting is attached.

Please see the company website (www.dno.no) for additional documents and information.

--

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
The company aims to be part of all smart city programmes in the country directly or indirectly and has come up with a host of India-specific products. Karan Choudhury reports.

IMAGE: Hitachi Insight Group, which is working on smart city projects in countries like Japan, Australia, Sweden, and the Philippines, has for some time been in touch with state governments to get clarity on the solutions and is working on them. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images .

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 and is hoping to bag projects in the 100-plus proposed smart cities.

The company is in talks with multiple state governments and has bagged a number of projects in different cities directly or is working with some local partners on different solutions.

"We are open to all opportunities that we can find in India," said Justin Bean, director of Smart City Solutions Marketing, Hitachi Insight Group.

The company aims to be part of all smart city programmes in the country directly or indirectly and has come up with a host of India-specific products.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to roll out 109 smart cities and upgrade existing cities under the Smart Cities Mission.

Presently, 16 public-private partnership smart city projects worth 1,327.67 crore are being implemented and 36 public private partnership (PPP) projects worth 3,925.71 crore are at various stages of tendering.

According to Hitachi, India is a large and important market for the company in the smart city space and they are making a lot of progress in bringing the resources which would help it provide practical and workable solutions.

"We are working with state and local governments and also working with partners in India. The state governments want to ensure that the solutions are real. Many companies have great PowerPoint presentations, but when it comes down to it, the solutions might not work on ground. We are delivering a lot of technology. The government is in the implementation phase where they are trying to figure out who the right companies are," Bean added.

Hitachi is already working in Dahej city in Gujarat where the company is creating low carbon, environment-friendly infrastructure. It has already bagged a few power and water management projects.

The $90 billion worth company has been in India for the last 15 years and has over 600 customers.

Hitachi Insight Group, part of Hitachi Data Systems, which is working on smart city projects in countries ranging from Japan, Australia, Sweden, and the Philippines, has for sometime been in touch with state governments to get clarity on the solutions and is working on them accordingly.

Other players who are eyeing smart city projects include Finnish communications and information technology company Nokia, which is going all out to showcase its Internet of Things (IoT)-based products.

The company plans to come out with a host of solutions for smart cities such as smart metering, active waste management, smart parking and various other sensor technology-enabled products.

Many other companies have been working round the clock to be ready for smart city projects.

After acquiring a controlling stake in Italian design firm Pininfarina, Tech Mahindra plans to branch out into designing smart cities as well as providing different design solutions in various sectors.
When selecting a liquid fund, stick to schemes with an AUM of above Rs 1,000 crore, says Sanjay Kumar Singh.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Sebi, took two key decisions on mutual funds: It allowed instant access facility in liquid funds, and also permitted investments in mutual funds through e-wallets.

While instant redemption could lead to investors shifting more money from savings accounts into liquid funds, it may be a while before payments through e-wallets take off.

From t+1 redemption in liquid funds earlier, you will now be able to get your money almost instantly.

"Investors can get the amount credited in their bank accounts within 30 minutes, and often immediately. They should consider liquid funds instead of savings accounts for keeping their idle cash," says Sundeep Sikka, executive director and chief executive officer, Reliance Mutual Fund.

Sebi has specified that instant redemption should be offered only in liquid schemes. A few asset management companies, AMCs, were offering it in ultra-short term schemes.

"Some fund houses will have to make that change," says Sikka.

Several fund houses were also offering instant redemption in money market schemes up to the lower of Rs 200,000 or 90 per cent of invested amount.

Sebi has allowed instant redemption up to the lower of Rs 50,000 or 90 per cent of folio value. Fund houses will have to lower their redemption limit now.

Returns from liquid funds are in the range of 6.25 to 6.50 per cent annualised, while savings accounts of most banks pay 4 per cent interest (a few pay 5 to 6 per cent).

As for taxation, short-term capital gains from liquid funds and interest from savings accounts are both taxed at the marginal income tax rate.

However, one advantage that savings accounts enjoy is that under Section 80TTA, investors can avail of a deduction of up to Rs 10,000 on interest income.

When selecting a liquid fund, stick to schemes with an AUM (assets under management) of above Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion).

Expense ratio is another key criterion.

"Select funds that have the lowest possible expense ratios but are still in the top 10 per cent of the returns generated over six-month, one-year, and three-year horizons," says Kunal Bajaj, founder and chief executive officer, Clearfunds.com, a Sebi-registered investment advisor.

Avoid investing in a fund that generates top-quartile returns despite having a high expense ratio.

"The fund may be taking on higher credit risk," he says.

Also, buy a direct scheme in this category.

Sebi has also allowed investors to invest up to Rs 50,000 per mutual fund per financial year through e-wallets.

"Even people with savings of Rs 10,000 to rs 20,000 will be able to put that money in a liquid fund, where it will earn them a higher return," says Sunil Kulkarni, joint managing director, Oxigen Services, a mobile wallet provider.

However, it may be some time before payments through e-wallets become a reality due to execution-related challenges.

One condition is that the money that gets invested in mutual funds shouldn't have a credit card as the source of payment.

"Wallet companies will have to build this identification feature for source of wallet recharge to avoid credit card money coming into mutual funds," says Santosh Navlani, senior vice-president, DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund.

The regulator has stipulated that investments made through e-wallets can only be redeemed into a bank account. This could prevent fund houses from accessing a new market.

"Had redemption been allowed into the e-wallet itself, mutual funds could have targeted individuals who use a mobile wallet but don't have a bank account. People who already use both an e-wallet and a bank account are anyway accustomed to making online payments and are unlikely to adopt payment through e-wallets, given the Rs 50,000 limit," says Navlani.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VR Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:VRR) (FSE:5VR) the ("Company", or VR), is pleased to announce that an induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey is underway at its wholly owned Bonita Property located in northwestern Nevada, USA.

Bonita IP - Satellite Image:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bb2003be-ebf5-4a65-8cf2-d24bb8c05269

VR has identified 8 integrated and specific targets for buried porphyry copper stocks within a large, mappable porphyry hydrothermal system evident over the entire property at Bonita. Induced polarization surveys are used in porphyry copper exploration to test for sulfide-bearing rocks which produce chargeability anomalies. Eight test lines have been designed for the IP survey to evaluate the specific, circular - to elliptical-shaped targets at Bonita for chargeability, as shown on a satellite image of the Bonita property available on www.vrr.ca.

The IP work at Bonita is being done by Zonge International, based out of Reno. Three of eight lines were completed in December, 2016; this program will complete the remaining 5 lines. The field crew mobilized on Monday, May 8, and the survey commenced on Bonita yesterday, Wednesday, May 10. The work is expected to take approximately two weeks to complete. The company will evaluate extending, and/or in-filling the IP survey when the set of eight test lines are complete.

Other exploration activities are ongoing at Bonita, as described in the previous news release on April 24, 2017 (www.vrr.ca). Work includes:



Collection of 207 soil samples from 5 lines, to augment 514 samples collected from 13 lines previously. Geochemical data are expected this month;

Detailed geological mapping of four key target areas at Bonita;

Ongoing consultation with the BLM regarding the drill permit at Bonita;

Ongoing discussions with various drilling companies for a drill contract at Bonita;

The Company is also making a number of field examinations to evaluate potential copper-gold opportunities elsewhere in Nevada during this field program at Bonita.

The Company continues to develop plans for a first pass drill program to test at least two of the eight integrated targets at Bonita. The Company looks forward to providing further updates as exploration continues as drill planning progresses.

About The Bonita Property

The Bonita property is located in Humboldt County in northwestern Nevada, USA, approximately 200 km northeast of Reno, and 75 km northwest of the town of Winnemucca.

The Bonita property is large, consisting of one contiguous 6,735 acre block of 326 claims covering an area of approximately 5 x 7 kms (see satellite-based image at www.vrr.ca). The property was acquired by staking in 2014, and is owned 100% by VR, free and clear of any interests or royalties. There are no government-required exploration expenditures. VR has conducted successive exploration programs at Bonita over the past 2  years.

There is very good road access both to, and within, the Bonita property. A national railroad and state power line are approximately 20 kms to the south. Bonita is located in desert-like basin and range physiography, affording nearly year-round working conditions. Vegetation is sparse, and there are no towns or settlements near the property.

Technical information for this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101, and reviewed on behalf of the Company by Dr. Michael Gunning P.Geo., a non-independent Qualified Person.

About VR Resources

VR Resources Ltd. (VR) is a new listing in the junior exploration space (TSX.V: VRR; Frankfurt: 5VR). The diverse experience and proven track record of its Board in early-stage exploration and discovery is the foundation of VR. The Company is focused on discovering and delineating large deposits in the western United States. VR is the continuance of 4 years of active exploration in Nevada by a Vancouver-based private exploration company. VR is well financed for a two year exploration strategy already in-place, including first-pass drilling of its core asset, the Bonita Property. VR owns its exploration assets outright, and will evaluate new opportunities on an ongoing basis, whether by staking or acquisition.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Michael Gunning

________________________

Michael Gunning, PhD, PGeo

President & CEO

For general information please use the following:

Website: www.vrr.ca Renmark Financial Communications Inc. Email: info@vrr.ca Barry Mire, Account Manager for VR: Phone: 604-262-1104 E-mail: bmire@renmarkfinancial.com Tel.: (416) 644-2020 or (514) 939-3989 Website: www.renmarkfinancial.com

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. Forward looking statements in this release include but are not limited to references to a two-year exploration strategy; first-pass drilling of its core asset and the acquisition of new assets. Although the Company believes that the use of such statements is reasonable, 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. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Companys public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release




'India has both the wherewithal and the will to fight the enemy, but is living in a make believe world of its own since it is yet to accept that it is indeed at war,' says military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

An intense debate has begun amongst defence analysts after a recent Supreme Court judgment that directed the lodging of first information reports for 1,500 odd deaths of militants in Manipur over a decade.

The court clearly sees the guerrilla war in Manipur as a 'law and order' issue and is keen to impose rules of law on rules of warfare.

The many critics of AFSPA (the Armed Forces Special Powers Act) argue similarly and are against the immunity granted to the armed forces engaged in this conflict.

One wonders what the response will be if the security forces also begin to lodge FIRs after every ambush or terror attack in which soldiers are killed?

By this logic, after the Uri killing of soldiers, instead of the surgical strikes, the Indian Army should have engaged a good lawyer and lodged a case against 'unknown' persons! It sounds ridiculous, but not too far from the future!

The crucial failing is the national need to accept that the country is actually at war!

The honourable justices came close by calling it a 'war-like situation.' Ordinary mortals like me fail to understand the difference between war and a war-like situation. Many have termed the present situation as a 'hybrid war.'

Military historians, a rare breed in India, are wont to see historical parallels every time a new term or type of warfare emerges.

So for a military historian like me, the present situation is quite similar to the Cold War era.

Military professionals, generalists and journalists are sceptical about it and scoff at it. Yet military history -- if understood not merely as a narration of events but seen as a process and analysed logically -- can teach us much about the present and help deal with the future.

After all, 2,000 years after the battle of Cannae that took place in 216 BC (Hannibal the Carthagian general, carried out a perfect double envelopment of the Romans) it remains every tactician's dream!

Let us not forget, today's battles are tomorrow's history!

The first thing to understand is that since 1987 or thereabouts, India has been at war! Unfortunately, many do not see it as such.

The judiciary views it from a Constitutional angle with wanting FIRs after every battle, yes, battle!

The NGOs and human rightswallahs are concerned with only one type of victims and their rights -- soldiers or policemen and their rights do not show up on their radars!

The common citizen is bewildered and cannot make sense of it all.

Some analysts have described this phenomenon as 'asymmetric warfare,' while others at various times have described it as insurgency, guerilla war, proxy war and even terrorism.

Every time a new warfare phenomenon appears, there is an example in the past that comes to mind. Warfare using guerrilla tactics behind enemy lines was very much part and parcel of even World War II.

Described as partisan warfare or the Resistance, these actions were complementary to the main action on the front.

The nearly 45 year-long Cold War between the USSR and the US comes closest to the current form of hybrid war. Both sides used proxy wars, subversion and sabotage to achieve one's aim.

Yet terror attacks like 9/11 in the US or the Beslan massacre (in which over 300 school children were killed by Chechen rebels) did not take place. The mainland of both contestants remained inviolable.

Even the proxy wars that the two adversaries fought were in third countries with no direct confrontation between the soldiers of the two sides. Both were mindful of the dangers of escalation and the existing balance of terror.

ISIS is waging a similar hybrid war in the territory it occupies in Syria and Iraq.

The crucial difference between the conventional or more familiar guerrilla war and hybrid wars is the emphasis on the use of terror, subversion and sabotage as the main form of engagement.

By its very nature, this is a 'low intensity war' and the target country often fails to see the strategic ramifications.

In a sense, hybrid war is a total war, in that it covers all spectrums from conventional fighting to subversion and propaganda.

Even more importantly, while the hybrid war is low intensity conflict at the tactical level, at the strategic level the aim is total victory.

This long term view of the threat posed by ISIS has prompted much of the global action against it.

India has both the wherewithal and the will to fight the enemy, but is living in a make believe world of its own since it is yet to accept that it is indeed at war.

'Gazwa e Hind or conquest of India is the avowed aim of the jihadis. The Pakistan army that has a State's resources aims for a break-up of India.

Since we have not understood that we are at war, our nation's considerable economic resources, its intellectual prowess, all its institutions, are not being mobilised to fight.

This is by far the greatest danger that hybrid war poses. We should be mindful of what Clausewitz said over 200 years ago: 'Woe to the nation who with shackled military takes on a foe who knows no law other than its own power like the mighty forces of nature.'

The first and the most urgent necessity is to accept the fact that we are at war! Once this is clear, everything else will fall in its place.

DON'T MISS the features in the RELATED LINKS BELOW...

IMAGE: 4,000 Indian Army soldiers fanned out in Kashmir's Shopian district on May 4 in search of terrorists hiding there. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com
The Art of Living case will go down as a test for environment activism in the country, notes M Rajaque Rahman.

IMAGE: Artists rehearse on the eve of the World Culture Festival in New Delhi, March 2016. Photograph: PTI Photo

Amidst the cynicism that nothing happens unless some noise is made, civil activism is finding a valuable place in our social fabric. But what's disturbing is the trend of it being hijacked by raucous, destructive groups with strong public relations skills.

This seems to be happening in the case involving spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living and the National Green Tribunal in which the organisation has been blamed for damaging the Yamuna floodplains during its World Culture Festival held last year.

Under the guise of environmental activism, some activists have been running a campaign of calumny despite evidence that proves there is no case. Thriving on a nexus between professional litigators, lawyers and biased experts, they have made it a mission to silence the facts and figures.

They are running their mischievous campaign on the basis of a couple of reports by an NGT-appointed expert committee whose impartiality is being questioned on many counts.

Interestingly, the reports actually reaffirm the Art of Living's 'no-damage' claim as they carry little or no scientific evidence to establish the alleged damage.

On the contrary, the Art of Living has put out credible scientific evidence.

Take the main allegation of drastically tampering with water bodies and wetlands. Satellite images of the site taken between 2000 and 2016 clearly establish that the site had no water body or wetland. A Survey of India map of Delhi dated 1986 also confirms the site had no wetland.

An elaborate national wetland atlas published in 2011 by ISRO's Space Applications Centre doesn't identify even a single wetland of the smallest possible size at the event site.

In addition, Spot Images on Google show the site as levelled and ploughed agricultural land where vegetables are found to be grown since 2005.

Interestingly, there is also a Delhi high court injunction allowing some farmers to continue farming at the site where the Art of Living festival was to be hosted.

Then came the bogus claim of compacting the floodplains, which is scientifically not possible.

Independent scientific assessments clearly establish the soil type of the event site to be sandy.

According to principles of soil mechanics, over 90% of compaction of sand takes place in less than two minutes of its deposition.

This implies that whatever compaction the committee is talking about is something that had already taken place.

Add to it the stance that the 'floodplain lost all its natural vegetation.'

How can an event that covered only 25 hectares destroy a 9,300-hectare floodplain?

On top of it, three members of the current committee -- Professor Brij Gopal, Professor C R Babu and Professor A K Gosain -- had in 2013 concluded that flowing water and land ecosystems of the Yamuna are extinct and the floodplain biodiversity has been lost.

This means that the Art of Living is being accused of 'completely' destroying something which was already extinct in 2013 itself.

Even for Sri Sri, this would be a hard miracle to pull off.

Thus, the committee has abdicated its credibility by coming up with recommendations that lack scientific scrutiny.

After just a visual inspection that lasted less than an hour, it came up with a figure of Rs 120 crore as compensation cost for the likely damages.

Dealing a big blow to its credibility, a letter written by its chairman surfaced stating that the figure 'was a mere suggestion' that 'inadvertently got recommended' and was not based on any scientific assessment.

Another member and NEERI expert Nitin K Labhsetwar has also disowned the recommendations, saying 'some of these (claims of damage and cost) are still debatable and I may not fully agree.'

Taking their arguments to heights of ridiculousness, the committee is claiming that the perceived damage is 'invisible.'

If it is invisible, how does the committee visualise and quantify the damage and even calculate the cost of restoring something which is invisible!

Another recommendation of the committee that ought to make the blood boil for any conscious and responsible citizen is the offer to empanel its members as experts in the 10-year restoration project they have envisaged, for which Rs 13 crores has been earmarked as salaries. A clear case of match-fixing?

The Art of Living case will go down as a test for environment activism in the country. The nation expects the NGT will gather enough courage to call the bluff of the committee and go by the merits of the case.

M Rajaque Rahman, a former journalist, currently writes on subjects of social importance.
'It is not the vigilantes who worship the cow, but the people who rear them.'

'These cow vigilantes would not even have touched a cow in their lives.'

'They are rowdy elements, paid mercenaries...'

A few days ago, 25 IAS officers from the 1968 batch wrote a scathing letter to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for not taking any action against the lynching of Pehlu Khan.

The letter had some effect. Twenty-three days after 55-year-old dairy farmer Pehlu Khan died after being attacked by cow vigilantes in Alwar, Rajasthan, Raje -- who previously ignored commenting on the lynching, tweeting her condolences on the terrorism in Sweden instead! -- finally stirred and said such incidents would not be tolerated in her state.

Signatories of the letter included Magsaysay Awardee Aruna Roy and former Tamil Nadu governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Mahatma and C Rajagopalachari's grandson.

Bureaucrat turned activist M G Devasahayam was also a signatory of the letter. He tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier why the Batch of 68 took up the issue.

Were you and other former IAS officers so disturbed by Pehlu Khan's lynching that you sent a very strong letter condemning the incident to the Rajasthan chief minister?

We belong to the 1968 batch of the Indian Administrative Service. There are around 100 of us.

In the academy, we had an excellent friendship network. We joined the IAS almost 50 years ago and all of us are around 70 years old now.

Recently, we formed a group. Some 75 of us continuously interact on various issues that are happening in the country.

We were discussing among ourselves the kind of intolerance that is occurring now.

It was worrying that not only the lower strata of society, but educated and intelligent people are also getting polarised ever since this dispensation came to power.

The Rajasthan incident became a flashpoint when the state government did not take any action at all even three weeks after this cruel incident.

All that happened was filing an FIR against the victim, the man who was lynched and killed.

The trigger came from Aruna Roy who has been working extensively in Rajasthan. She initiated the process of writing a letter to the chief minister.

We felt we could not remain silent and had to do something. 25 of us signed the letter and decided to make it an issue before such incidents spread all over the country.

I am happy to say that the letter had a very good impact because it was given wide publicity by the local and national media.

There was a ruckus in the Rajasthan assembly and the chief minister had to make a statement.

The allegation was that they were cattle smugglers. So what? What right do these ruffians have to lynch a human being?

The so-called cow vigilantes are extremely powerful and active in the northern part of India now and killing human beings mercilessly.

Where will this kind of anarchy lead to?

Actually, the RSS and the BJP are enjoying what is happening in the country because they are getting more popularity and more votes.

Does that mean the average Indian supports this kind of action?

It means polarisation is taking place in a big way.

Somehow, they are projecting all Muslims as demons. Even highly educated people including those in our circle, former IAS and IPS officers, are falling into this trap.

Not only the lower strata, the middle and upper strata also believe the propaganda unleashed by the RSS and the BJP.

Is this not what is happening all over the world? Anger on the Right is gaining ground because of Islamic fundamentalism.

Islamic fundamentalism is there only in a limited extent. There is a historical background behind Islamic terrorism.

Islam is not a barbarian religion; it is the interpreters who make it look like that.

The reason for all this is the Gulf countries getting money without doing any hard work.

They found oil beneath them and the American companies came, dug it out and gave them money!

If you look at the Muslim countries, they did not enjoy any amount of democracy at any point of time; barring a very few, it was dictatorship, monarchy or autocracy.

It is not like that in India, but these people take advantage of the world scenario and put the majority under a siege mentality.

Take the case of UP. The ratio is 80:20 with Hindus constituting 80%. Still, they were given the idea that they were under threat from this 20%.

They are using Kashmiri Muslims to polarise the whole of India, projecting them as barbarians. Kashmiris are demonised.

Let us go back to 2002. The perpetrators of 2002 are now in power.

In another 2, 3 years, they will capture the whole country.

They have created a kind of siege mentality in the minds of Hindus.

How can the minority be a threat to the majority?

Do you feel cows have become more important than human beings?

This is all bakwas! See, it is not the vigilantes who worship the cow, but the people who rear them.

These cow vigilantes would not even have touched a cow in their lives.

They are rowdy elements and have been paid to do this work; paid mercenaries.

A true cow lover will not lynch a man.

Let me tell you about the two agenda they have.

One is, Hindutva, against the religious minorities. The other is Hinditva, against the linguistic minorities.

Look at the way they are imposing Hindi blatantly.

With Hindutva and Hinditva, they can be in power forever as you are polarising the country through these two agendas.

Do you feel bureaucrats and the police have become pawns in the hands of the political class?

You are absolutely right. That is the main reason we got upset and wrote the stinging letter.

There is a serious erosion of calibre and integrity among the cadre of IAS, IPS, etc over the years.

They are not lean like us. We only had enough salary to subsist, but today, they get fat salaries with lots of power.

So, the fire has gone out of them.

Recently, a young sub collector stood up against the land mafia in Munnar. What he got in return was abuse from the politician. He was called mentally unstable.

Don't you think senior bureaucrats and former IAS officers should have supported him for his courage?

Yes, there are exceptions. The momentum has started and we will definitely take up his case and support him.

What is happening today is there is a nexus between the police and the politician, and the IAS officers are increasingly finding it difficult.

Earlier, the collector was the district magistrate and the sub collector, the sub division magistrate and they had police powers.

Over time, the police powers have been taken away from them. The kind of control we had over the police, is not there today.

Will it be a lonely fight for such upright, young officers who show courage and stand up against the corrupt system?

Yes. It is a lonely battle because the senior fellows are fat and cowards.

Even among the retired officers, those who get fat government and private pensions are not interested in the affairs of the country.

More than 90% of them have no moral courage to take a stand; they are not even bothered.

The attitude is as long as I and my family are taken care of, it's fine.

People like us, Aruna and all, we have nothing to lose. That is why we take bold stands.

IMAGE: Members of a cow vigilante group unload cows at a rescue shelter from a truck that they had chased down in Rajasthan. Photograph: Allison Joyce/Getty Images

MORE FEATURES in the RELATED LINKS BELOW...
Former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey has said in a farewell letter to his colleagues in the agency that US President Donald Trump has the right to fire him for any reason, or for no reason at all, a day after he was unceremoniously removed from his post.

He said he does not plan to dwell on the decision to fire him or the way it was executed.

It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply, Comey said in his farewell e-mail, which was first reported by CNN.

Comey was in the third year of his 10 year term, when he was dismissed by Trump in a surprise move. The White House on Wednesday said Comey had lost the confidence of Trump, who was looking to fire him from day one.

I have long believed that a president can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all, Comey wrote.

Comey also said that: In times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence.

The former FBI director, known for his personal integrity, said it is very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing.

My hope is that you will continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.

READ THE FULL LETTER HERE
Pakistan on Thursday accused India of violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control and said a man was killed and three others were injured in the alleged firing.

Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria tweeted that India violated the ceasefire agreement in Tandar, Sabzkot, Khuiratta, Baron, Bagsar and Khanjar areas early on Thursday.

Indias Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad J P Singh was also summoned over the alleged firing incident.

The Director General (SA & SAARC), Mohammad Faisal, summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, J P Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violation by the Indian occupation forces on the night of 10th and 11th May, a statement by the Foreign Office said.

It said the deliberate targeting of civilians is contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws.

The director general urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire understanding; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC, it said.

An official at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad said Singh conveyed to Faisal that the cross-border firing was initiated by Pakistani troops to give cover to terrorists and Indian troops responded only in self-defence.

We have noticed increased movement of terrorists along the LoC, the official quoted Singh as saying.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Kotli, a town in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Chaudhry Zulqarnain Sarfraz, said that shelling allegedly by the Indian Border Security Force killed one and injured two others in Sabzkot, Dawn reported.

A mortar shell pierced through the concrete roof of one house in Sabzkot village at about 2 am, killing one and injuring two others while they were asleep, Sarfraz said.

Sabzkot village is located closest to the Charhoi sector in Kotli district.

The deceased was identified as Rizwan, 18, and the injured were his 14-year-old sibling Kamran and 80-year old grandmother Wilayat Begum.

They were rushed to district headquarters hospital in the neighbouring Mirpur district, the SSP said.

He said another person -- Raja Aziz, 75 -- was injured in the Tayin village of Khuiratta sector, also in Kotli district.

The SSP said there had been intense shelling through the night, but the intensity receded in the morning.

Four persons from the same family were injured last week in Nakyal sector of Kotli district after a shell hit their house in the Dharoti Mohra village.

India and Pakistan often trade fire along the LoC, resulting in deaths and injuries on either side of the border. The intensity has increased in recent months as tensions have run high between the two sides on a number of issues, most recently over the death sentence given to an Indian national on spying charges by Pakistani military court.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Colombo on Thursday on a two-day visit which is mainly aimed at reinforcing the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka at a time when China is seeking to make inroads in the island nation.

All Photographs: PIB India/PTI Photo

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being blessed by the priest at Seema Malaka Temple in Colombo on Thursday.



The prime minister visited one of Sri Lanka's oldest Buddhist Seema Malaka temple and took part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.

Modi, accompanied by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, prayed and offered flowers at the altar of the temple, which is a part of the more-than-120-year-old Gangaramaya Temple.

The temples chief monk received the two leaders.

IMAGE: Modi prays at the Seema Malaka Temple.



Modi entered the holy sanctum of the temple and lit lamps -- a traditional practice -- on the eve of the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists.

Modi and Wickramsinghe together pressed a switch to begin the lamp-lighting ceremony, which was characterised by brilliant multi-coloured lights and fireworks display.

The Gangaramaya Temple is situated in the bustling inner-city Colombo, nearby the scenic Beira Lake. The temple complex is a popular tourist attraction, a place of worship and a learning and vocational training centre.

IMAGE: The PM's visit is mainly to re-emphasise the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka, particularly in the context of Buddhism.



The temples architecture demonstrates an eclectic mix of Sri Lankan, Thai, Indian, and Chinese architecture and the temple is involved in welfare work. The temple is uniquely attractive and tolerant to congregation members of many different religions.

Earlier, Modi was received at the Colombo International Airport by Wickremesinghe and several senior ministers, including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

Modi, on his second visit to Sri Lanka in two years, is in Colombo primarily to participate on Friday in the International Vesak Day celebrations.

IMAGE: Modi and Wickramsinghe together pressed a switch to begin the lamp-lighting ceremony, which was characterised by brilliant multi-coloured lights and fireworks display.



He will inaugurate a hospital built with Indias assistance of Rs 150 crore.

He will also address the Indian-origin Tamils against the backdrop of India's insistence that Sri Lanka should undertake devolution of power to the ethnic community as part of the reconciliation process.

As Sri Lanka proudly celebrates #InternationalVesakDay, I warmly welcome Indian Premier @narendramodi who will grace the occasion, tweeted President Maithripala Srisena.

Modi was accorded a guard of honour by the Sri Lankan Air Force at the airport.

The visit and the agenda is mainly to re-emphasise the traditional connect between India and Sri Lanka, particularly in the context of Buddhism, which is a shared heritage.

This assumes significance since China is aggressively trying to make inroads in Sri Lanka.

China has already developed the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka and its submarines have been making port calls here, much to the discomfort of India.

IMAGE: Modi being greeted by children as Wickremesinghe looks on at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

Prior to his departure from New Delhi, Modi said, My visit brings to the fore one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka -- the shared heritage of Buddhism.

In a Facebook post, he said, This will be my second bilateral visit there (to Sri Lanka) in two years, a sign of our strong relationship.

During the visit, he said, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on 12th May, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians.

He said it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with Sirisena and Wickremesinghe.

The prime minister recalled that during his last visit in 2015, he had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries.

IMAGE: Modi was received at the Colombo International Airport by Wickremesinghe and several senior ministers, including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.



This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, he said.

I will also visit the up country region of Sri Lanka where I will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital that has been built with Indian assistance, and have an interaction with the Indian-origin Tamil community, Modi said.

Wickremesinghe was in New Delhi only a week ago when he held substantive talks with Modi.
Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra on Thursday alleged the Aam Aadmi Party was spreading falsehoods that the man who tried to assault him at his protest belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Partys youth wing.

Mishra, on the third day of his indefinite fast, penned another letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that the attacker, Ankit Bhardwaj, was attached with the mohalla clinics project under Health Minister Satyendra Jain.

In the letter, Mishra claimed that the way AAP leaders and volunteers were quick to brand Bhardwaj as a BJP worker aroused suspicion that the entire episode was scripted like the past attacks on you (Kejriwal).

The way Facebook photos were shared and statements were made, it reminded me that the same used to happen whenever there were attacks on you in the past. Is it an old trick? he asked.

On Wednesday, ruckus ensued at Mishras protest site after Bhardwaj stormed in and attempted to assault him. Police officials and his aides caught hold of Bhardwaj.

Within minutes, the AAPs social media volunteers started sharing snapshots of a Facebook profile which they claimed established that the attacker was a BJP youth wing worker and Mishra had staged it to gain sympathy.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing, also denied having any link with him.

Even before the police could take him away, (AAP leader) Sanjay Singh made a statement declaring him to be a BJP worker. It was almost as if the party was waiting for something like this to happen, Mishra wrote.

After his removal as a minister and suspension from the party, Mishra launched a fast demanding that the AAP divulge details of foreign tours undertaken by five leaders of the party which, in turn, has accused him of following a script penned by the BJP.

On Sunday, he kicked up a storm when he said hed seen Kejriwal accept Rs 2 crore in cash from Jain. He has submitted three complaints to the Central Bureau of Investigation on these alleged instances of graft.

If I would have done something wrong, I would have observed everything from the hiding, like you. People around you -- guards, drivers -- are revealing the truth. Government officials are sending information to me, Mishra claimed.
Clashes broke out on Thursday between student protesters and security forces in Anantnag, Baramulla, Sopore and Srinagar districts of Kashmir, police said.

The students were protesting against the alleged highhandedness of security forces against students of Degree College Pulwama on April 15 and the subsequent protests thereafter across Kashmir.

They also demanded the release of the students arrested by the police during these protests over the past one month.

Rediff.com's Umar Ganie spoke to some of the protesting students in Srinagar.

All Photographs: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com

Sadiya Bashir, a student of second year in Womens College M A Road told during a protest in Srinagar, "There is anger in the student community after the forces thrashed the students of Pulwama Degree College. Students protests are a reaction. How can we study when our brothers are being killed, beaten up?

"The students are protesting on their own. I was told by my parents not to participate in protest but how can I sit in my classroom when my brothers and sisters are protesting?"

Azra Shafi Wani, student of Class 11 in Kothi Bagh Higher Secondary School, said, "We are fighting for the right to self-determination. The government is muzzling the voices of people. We feel street protests are the only choice to raise our voices against the human rights violations in Kashmir.

"The claim that students are being paid or incited is far from reality. The excessive force used on civilians forced me to protest for which no one is paying a single penny to students."

Bilal Nabi, who studies in Class 12 at Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School, said, I have been participating in street protests for the last many years. I got injured twice by the teargas shells. My parents tried to stop me several times.

"The protests are turning violent only after we are not allowed to protest peacefully. We want to stop the bloodshed. Had the government of India resolved the Kashmir issue, Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz would not have been killed.

Ashik Ahmad, a student of MP Higher Secondary School, said, Security forces entered our colleges for the first time. We are not carrying any weapons and we are unarmed still we are being beaten up. The forces dont even spare the children.

Omar Amin of Sri Pratap College Srinagar said, Every community is suffering. No one is safe here. The student unrest began when the army marched into Pulwama Degree College. No student activities are being allowed in Kashmir. The present students protest is spontaneous. No one is paying us money. The government says stone-pelters are being paid but who will be ready to die for the money.

Lt Ummer Fayaz joined the army by his own wish and no one is stopping anyone whether somebody wants to become a militant or joint the army or the police. At the end (whether a policeman, an army officer or a militant) its a Kashmiri only who gets killed in this conflict, Amin said.

With inputs from PTI.
25 jawans of the CRPF's 74th battalion were killed by the Maoists in Burkapal on April 24.

12 CRPF troops were killed on March 11 in Bheji.

Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore and Uttam Ghosh travelled 650 km -- across Sukma (Dornapal, Burkapal, Chintagufa) and Bijapur (Cherpal, Reddy, Gangaloor, Bhopalpatnam) in Chhattisgarh -- to find out more about the ground situation 11 days after the Burkapal ambush.

Photographs and graphics: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

IMAGE: Jawans of the CRPF's 74th battalion enter a forested patch on an area domination exercise on the afternoon of May 5. On April 24, 25 jawans of the same battalion were gunned down by the Maoists in the jungle opposite Burkapal village

IMAGE: Water bottles used by the jawans who were killed on April 24 were strewn across the thicket where the gun battle between the CRPF and Maoists took place.

The site is about 100 to 200 metres into the forest, away from the road.

The CRPF troops were on the way back to their camp after a road opening exercise along the Dornapal-Chintagufa-Burkapal-Chintalnar-Jagargonda axis.

The blood at the ambush spot is red no more.

Though dried and maroon now, it still bears testimony to the horror that unveiled in the middle of a thickly forested area where left wing extremists -- the 'Maoists'/'Naxals' -- ambushed and killed 25 CRPF jawans post noon on April 24.

The bullets that must have whizzed past that day during the encounter between the two sides are missing. Some met their mark; some must have went astray.

Those that missed their mark made their mark instead on the trees that abound the forest. Standing in the midst of blood-stained earth and rocks, staring at the bullet-riddled trees makes the air around you eerie.

VIDEO: The ambush took inside the forest opposite Burkapal village. As we walked for about two minutes into the thicket, we saw blood-stained rocks and bullet-riddled trees.

The insects buzz continuously and the sound of dry leaves under your feet add to the eerieness.

Video: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com

The continuous buzz of the insects add to the eeriness. And then there's the rustle of dry leaves under your feet.

Your eyes wander around in search of Maoists; there are none. Only fear swirls around you.

IMAGE: Tell-tale signs of the ambush that took place on the afternoon of April 24. There were bullet marks on many trees where the CRPF jawans were stationed inside the forest.

Just 50 metres inside Dornapal from where you take a right turn on your way from Sukma towards Burkapal, you come across a temporary check post built by the local police.

A few kilometres on the Dornapal-Chintagufa-Burkapal-Chintalnar-Jagargonda road, a 58 kilometre stretch in the 'liberated zone', the metalled road gives way to gravel, crushed stones and dust.

IMAGE: The killer road: The Dornapal-Chintagufa-Burkapal-Chintalnar-Jagargonda stretch, considered a Maoist fortress, has witnessed many deadly ambushes between the CRPF and the Maoists.

There is dense forest on both sides of the road.

Roughly, after every 5 to 7 kilometres, you come across a CRPF camp, from where the jawans launch their area domination and road opening parties (ROPs) to establish the writ of the State and drive the Maoists away from threatening labourers building the roads.

The CRPF conducts such exercises every single day to dominate the area and offer protection to the workers on this stretch so that roads can be built and the government, and its welfare schemes, can touch the lives of Adivasis who live deep in the forests.

VIDEO: The CRPF jawans who entered this stretch on the way back to their camp in Burkapal did not realise they were walking into an ambush laid by the Maoists.

The encounter ended in about 45 minutes, resulting in the deaths of 25 jawans.

Video: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com

At around 12.30 pm on April 24, while returning from one such ROP along the stretch, the 74th battalion entered the forest opposite Burkapal hamlet, an Adivasi dwelling with 40, 50 houses, just a kilometre away from their camp.

The Chintagufa camp is located south on the opposite side, about six kilometres away.

Just about 100 to 200 metres into the forest, the Maoists were waiting with automatic weapons for their targets; that is where the CRPF lost 25 of their men.

IMAGE: Just a kilometre up the road is the CRPF's Burkapal camp. On the right is Burkapal village.

The CRPF suspects the villagers helped the Maoists during the ambush. The ambush spot is to the left of this photograph.

"Had these jawans gone all the way to the camp they would have been saved," says Dr Girish Kant Pandey, former head of the department of defence studies, Government Science College, Raipur.

"Naxals usually lay a 'wait' and 'bait' ambush and their strategy always has been to attack security forces while returning from their ROPs or area domination exercise. They know that the forces are out in the field and they will, without fail, come back along the same route," he adds.

According to Dr Pandey, the Naxals knew the 74th Battalion would be taking the same route and so laid a 'wait' ambush at the spot.

The Naxals, he says, must have studied the CRPF troops' daily route and knew where the jawans would halt on their way back to the camp.

Anil Kamboj, former inspector general, Border Security Force and counter-terrorism expert, says the jawans must not have followed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) taught to them while returning from such exercises.

"I think the jawans did not follow the SOPs taught to them during training. They must have sat together in a group for lunch instead of spreading out in smaller numbers. Usually, when jawans eat out in enemy territory they do so in small groups with a number of jawans doing sentry duty around them," he says, explaining the high number of casualties.

"They were caught completely off guard," adds Kamboj, who has served in India's major insurgency-hit areas.

Apart from a probable lapse in following SOPs, Kamboj blames poor intelligence gathering, lack of coordination between the state government and central paramilitary forces and poor training and infrastructure as the reasons for such high casualties.

IMAGE: Dried blood is still visible on the rocks inside the jungle. One can see the road construction work happening from the ambush site.

Though the CRPF trains its jawans for ambushes inside a jungle like this, the Maoists know these jungles better than their adversaries.

CRPF personnel who spoke on the condition they would not be identified for this report strongly refuted such claims.

"Our troops know they are operating inside a Maoist 'liberated zone'. Such baseless allegations arise after every such attack," says a CRPF officer we met between Dornapal and Chintalnar.

"The Maoists were far greater in number. There were around 500 of them waiting in the woods," he says, explaining the high number of casualties.

"Our jawans fought bravely and intensely," says another CRPF officer. "Otherwise, the ambush would not have lasted for more than 45 minutes," he adds.

Maoist attacks don't usually last for more than 15 minutes, he say, as the left wing extremists shoot and scoot.

"The fact that this one continued far too long is proof that our jawans took them head on, even if they were caught off guard by such huge numbers, and thwarted their bigger plans," he says.

According to a CRPF jawan, the Maoists involved in such hit and run ambushes don't number more than 60 to 100.

"We killed more than 30 Maoists in the Burkapal ambush," says the first officer.

"It's just that the Naxals never leave behind their dead so we cannot prove what I am saying. But reports from the jawans who counter-attacked the Naxals indicate we imposed heavy casualties on them."

IMAGE: The CRPF's task is to open roads like these for workers engaged in road-building activity.

As part of the road opening exercise, the jawans fan out in equal numbers inside the jungle on both sides of the roads so that those building the road feel safe.

Up ahead this road is CRPF's Chintagufa camp. The Burkapal camp is located down the road.

The CRPF, Dr Pandey says, should have known that the Maoists keep a close watch on their movements, and always wait for a chance, when CRPF troops moves out of their camps to conduct their duties.

"The Naxals keep a close watch on every move the CRPF makes in their area. They carefully study the party they want to attack for days together before engaging them in an ambush," Dr Pandey says.

"They keep a track of where the party stops, rests, the distance they keep between themselves while patrolling," he adds. "Maoists minutely study such movements and they know for sure that they will not be taken by surprise if they launch a planned attack."

The Maoists, he explains, never move out in single file but divide themselves in different groups during an ambush.

There are groups who 'spot', 'scout', 'recce', 'search', 'assault'. Each such group has members between 2 to 50 depending on the work they are assigned.

Explaining the large number of CRPF casualties, Dr Pandey says, "The CRPF don't follow properly what they learn during training."

CRPF troops, he say, take the same route 50 times while patrolling and so know the route quite well. "They cannot claim they were in some unknown area."

Echoing Kamboj, Dr Pandey says had the CRPF assigned sentries to watch over the troops while they ate lunch or were resting, the sentries would have alerted the others about the Maoists' presence.

"During training they are taught not to move around in big groups, but that seems to have not been followed when the ambush happened," Dr Pandey adds.

"If one group comes under attack by the enemy, then the group after them should be at a distance so as not to come under enemy fire. And this distance is decided by keeping in mind the kind of fire power that the enemy possesses. But they don't follow these rules," says Kamboj.

Kamboj, who now teaches at the New Delhi Institute of Management, says whenever a CRPF party is attacked the first thing they must do is try to break the ambush and move away from the line of attack.

"But when caught unawares, instead of breaking the ambush the jawans get into defensive mode and begin firing on the enemy. When you get into this mode you either kill the enemy or get yourself killed."

IMAGE: Had it not been for the jawans' bravery and presence of mind, CRPF officers say the around 400 to 500 Maoists would have inflicted larger casualties.

Adequate back up, Dr Pandey says, should have quickly reached the ambushed jawans when the two CRPF camps, one at Burkapal, and the other at Chintagufa, were just 1 and 6 kilometres away respectively.

When asked if adequate reinforcements were sent to the jawans of the 74th battalion trapped in the Maoist ambush, CRPF personnel offered different explanations.

One of them said that reinforcements came from Chintalnar (9 km north of Burkapal) and Chintagufa quickly (in about 15 minutes), but could not explain why the Maoists could kill 25 CRPF jawans or why the latter could not inflict a heavy casualty on the Maoists.

Another CRPF personnel adds that the ambushed CRPF party lost their communication sets in the panic that followed the firing and so could not ask for reinforcements.

Yet another CRPF trooper added that communicating their positions to other camps while asking for reinforcements could have given the Maoists the upper hand as some communication sets were already taken away by the Maoists during this attack.

"The Naxals, being in possession of the wireless sets, would have known how many and from which direction the reinforcements were coming and we would then have been sitting ducks," he said.

Speaking to these differing CRPF voices on why the reinforcements, if they were sent at all, could not save the lives of their brother jawans or led to more casualties on the Maoists' side, gives one an idea of the chaotic situation that unfolded during the 45 minute ambush (Different media reports soon after the attack on April 24 said the Burkapal ambush lasted for two to three hours. If that were the case, there was no reason why adequate help could not have reached the troops who lost their lives).

Contesting the CRPF's claims that asking for reinforcements would have put the troops in jeopardy, Dr Pandey explains, "Reinforcements during such times are asked for in coded language learnt by security forces during their training. There is no way the Naxals can understand what the ambushed party is asking for when done in a coded language."

"Those dishing out such excuses are trying to save their skin."

Reinforcements from camps located at closer distances could have arrived at the ambush site in 5 to 10 minutes, Dr Pandey says.

Alka Vashisht (name changed on request), who has studied the Maoists, backs Dr Pandey's argument.

"Reinforcements on motorcycles could reach the spot by firing continuously at the location where they suspect the enemy to be. Such firing would itself have made the Naxals run away with their tails between their legs," she says.

Citing from information about past skirmishes, Dr Pandey says, "During such times the reinforcement that is closest to the area of attack is of the greatest help, but they don't usually venture out."

CRPF reinforcements are taught not to hasten their movement towards the ambush area for fear of getting trapped, says Vashisht.

"They are told that moving quickly could land them in a plot hatched by the Naxals. They have been scared so much that even during such critical situations the reinforcement party thinks twice," adds Dr Pandey.

The Maoists, he explains, typically lay 'wait' and 'bait' ambushes. They either 'wait' patiently for their targets and attack them at the spot of their choosing and advantage.

Or they 'bait' their targets into making mistakes -- just what the reinforcement party fears during such ambushes -- and then catch them unawares.

During training, CRPF troops are taught to lay an ambush as well as how to break an ambush.

"They are trained to break an ambush by selecting the enemy target and get out of an ambush even while inflicting heavy casualties," says Vashisht. "Had that been done so many jawans would not have lost their lives."

This is what the CRPF troops did when faced with the Maoists on the scorching afternoon of April 24, say CRPF officers.

"It is because our jawans' intense training and bravery that despite the Naxals outnumbering our men -- they were 500 against our 90," says one CRPF personnel, "that they could not achieve their objective of killing many more."

"Considering their presence in such heavy numbers, one can assume they had much bigger plans which our jawans thwarted."
Helsinki, Finland, 2017-05-11 10:59 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euroloan has doubled the size of its structured financing facility with funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG), from EUR 60 million to EUR 120 million. The credit line comes with the news that Euroloan increased net revenue by 90% in 2016 and is now focused on scaling its business significantly across Europe.

The previous deal with Fortress was the largest in the companys history and now were doubling it says Tommi Lindfors, Chairman of the Euroloan Group. Further, this is the biggest funding deal ever made by an unlisted company in Finland. This is a real testament to our internal capabilities, track record of sustainable growth and the value of our long term partnership with Fortress.

This deal enables the Group to focus on our core strengths, leveraging our state-of-the art digital lending systems to generate higher volumes and acquiring new customers as we accelerate and expand our business across Europe.

Euroloans digital consumer finance services include pay by invoice, credit and payment solutions for point of sale terminals, credit cards, e-commerce platform support and real-time online and mobile lending.

Euroloan Group Plc is a rapidly growing digital financial services group providing consumer loans, online and in-store pay-by-invoice capability, revolving credit lines and credit cards. The group operates in Finland, Poland and Sweden and has plans for significant growth across Europe.
Dutch English

Capelle aan den IJssel, the Netherlands - 11 May 2017 - All items on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held today were approved or adopted by the shareholders as proposed.



The shareholders adopted the annual accounts for 2016. The dividend for the 2016 financial year was declared at 0.15 euro per ordinary share with a nominal value of 0.75 euro. The dividend will be paid out fully in cash, subject to deduction of 15% dividend tax. The AND share will be quoted ex-dividend on 15 May 2017. Payment of the dividend will take place from 18 May 2017.



The remaining items on the agenda were likewise approved or adopted by the shareholders as proposed.



This is an English translation of the Dutch press release. In the event of any disparity between the Dutch original and this translation, the Dutch text will prevail.





Note for editor, not for publication.

For further information, please contact Hugo van der Linde on 0031-10-8851200 or go to www.and.com
China: Human rights lawyer released on bail amid relentless crackdown

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 10 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, China: Human rights lawyer released on bail amid relentless crackdown, 10 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59144cc54.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 release of Xie Yang on bail does not represent a break in China's relentless crackdown against human rights lawyers, Amnesty International said today.

Xie Yang was tried in Changsha City Intermediate People's Court in southern China on 8 May for "inciting subversion of state power" and "disrupting court order" and apparently released on bail even though a verdict has not been announced.

"This unusual sequence of events does nothing to alleviate the concerns about torture in this case," said Patrick Poon, China Researcher at Amnesty International. "While it is a relief that Xie Yang is no longer in detention, it doesn't diminish the fact that he should never have been arrested in the first place."

"While on bail, Xie Yang is likely to experience constant surveillance and severe restrictions to his freedom of movement as we have witnessed in other such cases," said Patrick Poon. "Such tactics appear to be the authorities' modus operandi against those defending human rights."

The court announced the trial would be broadcast on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, only approximately 20 minutes before it began.

At the trial Xie Yang said that he was not tortured, contradicting what he told his lawyers in January when he recounted prolonged torture he had suffered during his detention, including lengthy interrogations, beatings, and deprivation of water and sleep.

Xie Yang is one of almost 250 lawyers and activists targeted in an unprecedented crackdown by the Chinese government which started in July 2015.

Tortured

After accounts of Xie Yang's torture were made public by his lawyers in January 2017, the authorities have rejected any further requests from his lawyers to meet with their client. Another detained human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong, was seen "confessing" on mainland media in March 2017 to fabricating the evidence of Xie Yang's torture.

Xie Yang's family had also been threatened in an attempt to coerce him to "confess" and provide incriminating statements against other human rights defenders.

Xie Yang was represented at the trial by court-appointed lawyers after those hired by his family were removed from the case by the authorities.

The authorities have repeatedly warned Chen Jiangang, one of Xie Yang's original defence lawyers, to stop discussing the case with international media and initiated an investigation into Chen's own eligibility to practice law.

Chen Jiangang and his family and activist Zhang Baocheng and Zhang's wife, Liu Juefan,were taken away by police in Yunnan when they were travelling there on 3 May. After they were released, Chen had to drive back to Beijing from Yunnan, escorted by public security officers while Chen's wife and their two young children were allowed to take a flight back to Beijing.

"The charges against Xie Yang are baseless. The authorities know it and that is why they have resorted to torture and other forms of coercion against him and his family" said Patrick Poon.

Relentless crackdown

The detention of lawyer Wang Yu and her family on 9 July 2015 marked the beginning of an unprecedented government crackdown on human rights lawyers and other activists. Over the following weeks, almost 250 lawyers and activists were questioned or detained state security agents, and many of their offices and homes were raided.

Apart from Xie Yang, another five have been convicted of "subverting state power". In August 2016, activists Zhai Yanmin and Gou Hongguo, aka Ge Ping, were given suspended prison sentences. Activist Hu Shigen and lawyer Zhou Shifeng were sentenced to seven and a half years and seven years' imprisonment respectively. Lawyer Li Heping was tried in Tianjin on 25 April and then sentenced to three years imprisonment, suspended for four years, on 28 April. His whereabouts remained unknown after the verdict until he returned home on 9 May, although images show he has lost weight and his hair has turned noticeably grey.

Three others remain in detention and are awaiting trial dates or verdicts. The trial date of human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang still has not been set. Activists Yin Xu'an and Wang Fang are still waiting for their verdicts after appearing in court in September last year and in February this year respectively.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Central African Republic: New campaign urges justice for crimes committed during the armed conflict

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 10 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Central African Republic: New campaign urges justice for crimes committed during the armed conflict, 10 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59144e1d4.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.

 Members of armed groups who committed rapes and killings remain at large

 CAR public demands accountability for crimes

 Amnesty International and CAR civil society call for justice and reparation for victims in #CARJustice campaign

Amnesty International and civil society organisations in Central African Republic (CAR) are today launching a national campaign urging authorities in CAR to tackle a deeply entrenched culture of impunity which has prevented thousands of victims of human rights abuses and crimes under international law from receiving any form of justice.

The campaign Justice Now! Towards lasting peace in CAR calls on authorities to commit to a tougher stance against impunity by holding those responsible for serious crimes to account and for CAR's technical and financial partners to support the government's efforts, including by funding the country's new Special Criminal Court.

"Civil society organisations are joining together to ensure authorities in CAR do not neglect the vast scale of human suffering and distress that thousands and thousands of victims have faced during this conflict. The perpetrators of heinous crimes, including rape and killings, have roamed free for too long. They must be held to account if the authorities are to move from words to action," said Olivia Tchamba, Amnesty International's Central Africa Campaigner.

"Despite positive steps such as the nomination of the Special Prosecutor for the Special Criminal Court and of international and national judges, and the organization of two criminal trial sessions in Bangui, too many barriers to achieving justice for the victims of the conflict remain in place."

The campaign will be run from today until November 2018, in collaboration with local civil society, including the Reseau des ONG de Promotion et Defense des Droits de l'Homme en Republique Centrafricaine (RONGDH) and the Coordination des Organisations Musulmanes de Centrafrique (COMUC).

Together they will join forces to undertake advocacy with the CAR authorities, organize conferences to highlight the need for justice, engage with the newly formed Special Criminal Court and be trained in monitoring, documenting and reporting human rights violations.

Since renewed violence broke out in CAR in 2013, Amnesty International has documented crimes under international law committed across the country by all parties to the conflict, mostly the anti-Balaka and ex-Seleka armed groups.

More than 5,000 people have died in the intensified violence since then, which has caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. As of March 2017, over 460,000 people have fled and become refugees in neighbouring countries such as Chad, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and some 426,000 have been internally displaced.

Accountability for crimes committed during the armed conflict, including rapes and killings, has been a consistent demand of the country's population. In May 2015, participants to the Bangui Forum reiterated this by rejecting claims for immunity and amnesties for those allegedly responsible for crimes under international law.

Clarisse, a 57-year-old widow who was raped alongside her 19-year-old daughter Naomi, explained the tragic sequence of events that changed their lives on the night of 23 December 2013 when 11 armed anti-Balaka attacked her house in the capital Bangui:

"They threatened and insulted us. A few minutes later, some of the anti-Balaka threw me on the ground and two of them started to rip my clothes off and rape me. I collapsed. When I woke up, I was told that they [anti-Balaka forces] had raped my daughter Naomi as well."

A few weeks later, Naomi was diagnosed as HIV-positive and became pregnant as a result of the rape. She gave birth to a baby girl who is also HIV-positive.

Clarisse told Amnesty International:

"I want the perpetrators to be prosecuted for what they have done to my daughter and me. I want to be compensated for all that I have lost."

Elisee was among 14 men shot dead by armed ex-Seleka fighters in the courtyard of a hospital in Bangui on 5 December 2013. His sister Delphine filed a complaint at the High Court of Bangui but to date there has been no follow-up by the prosecutor or judicial authorities.

She told Amnesty International: "One day they will call me and justice will do its job."

Amnesty International and its local partners call on authorities in CAR to:

 Ensure that prompt, rigorous, independent and impartial investigations are carried out into serious allegations of crimes under international law and other human rights abuses.

 Ensure that the perpetrators are investigated and prosecuted by the national judicial system, the Special Criminal Court or the International Criminal Court in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.

 Increase the budget of the Ministry of Justice and allocate appropriate resources to ensure its effective functioning and good management.

 In collaboration with CAR's technical and financial partners, strengthen the capacity of, and provide material support to the police and gendarmes to conduct investigations, including by collecting material evidence.

 Continue and intensify the progress made in the recruitment of national and international judges as well as other Special Criminal Court staff.

The organisations also call on CAR's international donors to ensure sustainable funding to guarantee the proper functioning of the Special Criminal Court as well as to honour commitments made during the International Donors' Conference of November 2016 in Brussels. These commitments include providing US$105 million earmarked from the national recovery and peacebuilding plan, to strengthen the judicial system.

Background

#CARJustice is Amnesty International's campaign to achieve truth and justice for victims of the violence since the 2012/2013 armed conflict. This should be made possible through: strengthening the national justice system, including by guaranteeing the effective functioning of national jurisdictions in order to break the cycle of impunity, and ensuring support to the Special Criminal Court and the International Criminal Court to enable victims to obtain justice.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Atalya Ben Abba refuses to serve in the Israeli military, gets sentenced to a further 30 days in military detention

Publisher Amnesty International Author Atalya Ben Abba Publication Date 11 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Atalya Ben Abba refuses to serve in the Israeli military, gets sentenced to a further 30 days in military detention, 11 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59144e984.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

On 6 February this year I refused to join the Israeli army in defiance of Israel's policy of conscription. That day, as expected, I was sent to military prison.

My objection to serving in the army is grounded in reasons of conscience; I believe that in order to bring security to all people in Israel and Palestine, government policy must change and the occupation must end.

When I was a child I would often wander the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem with my mother. I enjoyed absorbing the sounds of a different language and the taste of different sweets and dishes. Then, when I was about six years old the janitor at my school was killed in a terrorist attack. When my mother and I returned to the Old City several days later I tried to hide behind her. She realised that I was frightened and told me "there's nothing to be afraid of - these people are like me and you and there's no reason to feel threatened by them". It was in that moment that I understood that we are all human beings and that everyone here - Jewish and Arab - lives in fear of this war.

In recent months I have participated in grass roots activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) alongside Palestinians. For the first time I understand the depth of cooperation between settlers and the Israeli government and have seen first-hand that government policy in rural areas of the OPT is designed to turn Palestinian life into a nightmare and force Palestinians from their land.

A Palestinian activist spoke to me about his experience with Israelis; as a kid, all he saw were foreign soldiers speaking a language he didn't understand, entering his village and demolishing houses. He was afraid of them and was angry. Only years later did he meet Israelis who showed him a different side to our society. Listening to him made it clear to me that we live in an endless cycle - violence begets violence and is not the answer. Cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians will pave the way to peace and allow us all to live in safety without fear and hatred.

My social responsibility as a member of society is important to me and my refusal to serve in the army does not stem from a desire to shirk this responsibility. Instead, it comes from an aspiration to change our present reality. By refusing military service I am in fact seeking to fulfil my responsibility to society. The Israeli army is the government's instrument for creating and maintaining oppression, disenfranchisement, and deprivation of basic rights. In order to change the situation I cannot cooperate with the army.

Falling into hatred is easy. It's easy to think in terms of "us" and "them", "good" and "bad". My partners in struggle and I may not end the occupation, but our actions are the beginning. In order to really change things we need to take the first steps - and that's why I have refused to serve in the army, because in our current reality the only way to defend democracy is to refuse to serve.

I have now begun my third prison sentence. Returning to the military prison has been difficult because every small privilege granted can be taken away at any moment. This time I am also alone, without other conscientious objectors, and it is becoming increasingly challenging to remain positive. Despite this, I believe that my struggle is important and is larger than me and my fears.

---

Amnesty International has been working on the issue of conscientious objectors in Israel since 1972. The right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of conscience or profound personal conviction, without suffering any legal, physical, or administrative penalty is protected under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Israel has ratified. Amnesty International considers Atalya Ben Abba and others detained for refusing to perform military service for reasons of conscience or profound personal conviction to be prisoners of conscience and we call on the Israeli authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally.

At least five conscientious objectors to military service were imprisoned in 2016. On 23 March 2017 conscientious objector Tamar Ze'evi, 19, was released after spending 115 days in military prison and on 5 April 2017 Tamar Alon, 18, also a conscientious objector, was released following 130 days in military custody.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
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.
Azerbaijan must protect the right to life and effectively investigate deaths in custody

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 11 May 2017 Reference EUR 55/6225/2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Azerbaijan must protect the right to life and effectively investigate deaths in custody, 11 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591451fd4.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.

Amnesty International is calling the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure prompt, independent and effective investigation into all deaths in custody and make their results available to the public.

On 4 May 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Azerbaijani

government had violated the right to life of Mahir Mustafayev, in that it both failed to protect his life and failed to conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances of his death in custody. Mahir Mustafayev had died from severe burns as a result of a fire in his cell in December 2006. The case concerned allegations that the fire was set by prison guards to cover up his death by torture, which Court ruled was not proven beyond reasonable doubt. Mahir Mustafayev had been taken to hospital no less than eight hours after the fire had broken out. The Court found that the government's failure to protect Mahir Mustafayev's life, as well as its failure secure all evidence and to timely and adequately inform family members of their son's death and of the investigation's findings amounted to violations of the right to life.(1)

The judgment comes a week after Azerbaijani activist and blogger Mehman Qalandarov was found hanged in his prison cell in Kurdakhani on 28 April 2017. Mehman Galandarov was arrested on 7 February 2017, shortly after he had posted a status on his Facebook page in support of two prisoners of conscience, imprisoned for spraying the monument of the President's father,-Heydar Aliyev. He was charged with drug possession and the same day Nasimi District Court remanded him in pre-trail detention for three months.

According to an official statement by the authorities, Mehman Qalandarov hanged himself around midday, using a piece of cloth while his cellmate was asleep. A local human rights defender who has formerly served more than a year in the same detention center however has told Amnesty International that "it is impossible to hang oneself in those cells."

Human rights defenders have also alleged that Mehman Qalandarov was subjected to torture to make him "confess" to trumped up charges of drugs possession and that the authorities buried his body secretly to hide the evidence. Penitentiary service officials initially denied reports that Mehman Qalandarov had committed suicide and only announced his death to the public a day after his death, on 29 April. His burial was arranged in secret, with journalists and civil society representatives unable to see the body of the deceased.(2)

On 30 April, following a forensic medical examination, the Prosecutor's Office launched a criminal investigation focusing on alleged incitement to suicide. According to the forensic examination report no signs of injury were found on the body, except the strangulation concluding that Galandarov wasn't subjected to unlawful acts. However questions remain regarding the circumstances surrounding his death as well as of authority's secretive handling of the case.

The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Mustafayev v. Azerbaijan comes as a timely remainder of Azerbaijani authorities' duty to protect the lives, health and wellbeing of individuals in custody and to "account for any injuries suffered in custody, an obligation which is particularly stringent when an individual dies."(3) The Azerbaijani authorities should address the concerns of the Court in the case of Mustafayev v. Azerbaijan by ordering a fresh, independent, impartial and effective investigation and ensuring that the investigation into the case of Mehman Qalandarov meets the same international standards.

Background

Persons criticizing the government, however peacefully, are routinely arrested in Azerbaijan. Amnesty International has documented numerous cases where trumped up charges of drug possession have been pressed in retaliation for critical Facebook posts and other forms of expression. The circumstances of their arrests often followed remarkably similar patterns. The targeted individuals were typically detained and interrogated without access to a lawyer and forced to sign "confessions", often with the use of torture and other ill-treatment. Allegations torture and ill-treatment are almost never effectively investigated reinforcing the cycle of human rights violations and impunity.

(1) - See Mustafayev v. Azerbaijan (application no. 47095/09), Judgment of 4 May 2016, available at: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{"documentcollectionid2":["GRANDCHAMBER","CHAMBER"],"itemid":["001-173365"]}

(2) - Amnesty International's communication with Azeri human rights defenders, see as well The Statement by the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS). IRFS outraged by blogger's death in detention. 1 May 2017. Available at: https://www.irfs.org/news-feed/irfs-outraged-by-bloggers-death-in-detention/

(3) - See Mustafayev v. Azerbaijan Judgment, para. 54.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Three journalists sentenced to five years, two others acquitted

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 11 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Three journalists sentenced to five years, two others acquitted, 11 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591453f44.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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its call for the release of all journalists who are unjustly detained in Egypt after a court sentenced three journalists to five years in prison on 8 May and acquitted two others.

The court was retrying the so-called "Rabaa operations room" case, in which there were almost 50 defendants.

The journalists who received the five-year jail terms are Samhi Mostafa and Abdullah Fakharany of the opposition website Rassd and Amgad TV presenter Mohamed Adly.

They were sentenced to life imprisonment (the equivalent to 25 years) at the original trial in April 2015, as were the three journalists who have now been acquitted. There has been no official explanation as to why some have been acquitted and others sentenced this time.

"We condemn the presence of journalists in this political mass trial and we call on the justice system to quash the conviction of the three who were sentenced and to release all journalists who are unjustly detained in Egypt," said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF's Middle East desk.

The acquitted journalists included Hani Salah Al-Deen, the former news editor of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated TV channel Misr 25 (which the authorities closed in July 2013), and Mossab Al Barbary, the head of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood TV channel Ahrar 25.

They were all charged with disseminating false news, inciting violence and chaos, and being part of an "operations room" aimed at orchestrating attacks against the government during demonstrations in Cairo's Rabaa Adawiya Square in August 2013 in support of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.

Those convicted are allowed to appeal.

The defendants included other journalists and media professionals but RSF was not able to establish that they were arrested in connection with their media work.

Ranked 161st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index, Egypt is one of the world's biggest prisons for journalists.
Turkey: RSF calls for French photographer's release

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 10 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Turkey: RSF calls for French photographer's release, 10 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591454d64.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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) regards French photojournalist Mathias Depardon's detention since 8 May in southeastern Turkey as "completely unjustified" and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.





Aged 37 and based in Turkey for the past few years, Depardon was arrested in Hasankeyf, in Batman province, while doing a report on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for National Geographic magazine.





After being held for just over 30 hours in a Hasankeyf police station, he was taken to a detention centre operated by the National Department for Migration, an interior ministry offshoot, in the city of Gaziantep.





The Hasankeyf police said he was arrested on suspicion of "propaganda for a terrorist organization," an apparent allusion to photos of members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) published in the past in French media outlets. The police are thought to have stumbled across them while looking at his social media accounts after he had been taken into police custody.





"Mathias Depardon's detention constitutes further evidence of the suspicion with which foreign journalists are increasingly treated in Turkey," said Erol Onderoglu, RSF's representative in Turkey. "The absurd charges brought against him seem designed solely to justify his arbitrary arrest after the event. We call for nothing less than his complete release, without prosecution or expulsion."





Onderoglu managed to reach Depardon by phone yesterday afternoon, before his transfer to Gaziantep. "It was tense initially but it has been better since my lawyer got involved," he said, adding that he had not been mistreated.





His lawyer, Emine Seker, told RSF today that she will file an appeal as soon as the National Department for Migration issues a decision. "There is nothing we can do without a decision," she said. "They may decide to expel him or to keep him in administrative detention in Gaziantep." She is meanwhile trying to recover the two cameras and memory cards with photos that were taken from him.





Dozens of foreign journalist have been expelled from Turkey since fighting between the Turkish army and the PKK resumed in southeastern Turkey in July 2015.





Olivier Bertrand, a French journalist with the Les Jours website, was deported in November 2016 after being arrested while reporting in Gaziantep province. Italian journalist Gabriele Del Grande was arrested in April 2017 in Antakya, near the Syrian border, and was deported after being held for two weeks.





Turkey is ranked 155th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Investigative radio reporter arrested in Madagascar

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 11 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Investigative radio reporter arrested in Madagascar, 11 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591455934.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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns combative radio journalist Fernand Cello's arrest on seven outrageous charges, requests his immediate release and calls on the Madagascan authorities to stop persecuting him.

Fernand Cello, whose real name is Avimana Fernand was arrested on the evening of 6 May as he left a private clinic in the capital, Antananarivo, where he had been receiving treatment during the previous few days. The individuals who carried out the arrest identified themselves as gendarmes.

An investigative reporter for Radio Jupiter, a radio station based in the southern city Ilakaka, Cello is well-known for having exposed the existence of an illegal sapphire mine in Ilakaka and had only recently emerged from four months in hiding.

The charges brought against him include "defamation", "spreading false news", "inciting hatred" and "endangering state security". It is not known to what specific alleged actions by Cello they refer.

An additional charge of "stealing chequebooks" has been filed against him by Maherlla, a privately-owned power company based in Ilakaka that was accused by Cello in August 2016 of cheating its clients..

"We condemn the use of such methods by the Madagascan authorities, who would rather harass an investigative journalist than confront the conflicts of interest and corruption that are eating away at the nation, RSF said. The long list of accusations brought against Fernand Cello shows that their aim to put a stop to his investigative reporting altogether because he has been hitting the target. We call for his release and the withdrawal of all the charges."

Cello went into hiding in December 2016 after getting death threats and after the army raided Radio Jupiter and confiscated its transmitter.. Shortly before the raid, Cello had - in broadcasts and in posts on social networks - accused Gondwana, a mining company owned by government allies, of operating an illegal sapphire mine.

Radio Jupiter was previously silenced in August 2016 when the local power company Maherlla turned off its power suppler after Cello accused it on the air of colluding with Ilakaka's mayor to cheat consumers.

On 21 April, the ministry of mining finally ordered Gondwana to suspend operations for contravening the mining code. It was this decision that persuaded Cello to come out of hiding.

Madagascar is ranked 57th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Closure of broadcaster would severely weaken media pluralism in Bosnia

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 10 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Closure of broadcaster would severely weaken media pluralism in Bosnia, 10 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591456734.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.

Bosnia-Herzegovina's national broadcaster BHRT is in serious financial trouble and its closure could be imminent, which would make it the only country in Europe without a public television network.

On 26 April, BHRT's director Belmin Karamehmedovic announced that journalists working for the station would not be paid on schedule this month. More seriously, its employees, some 100 people, could lose their jobs.

BHRT has been struggling financially for several years and its economic model means that it can no longer continue broadcasting. The station receives its income from a tax paid by everyone who owns a television set. The scheme, set up almost a year ago, has been a failure.

The already indebted organization reached a critical point when its income fell by half in April and it owed the country's power utility 1.3 million Bosnian convertible marks, equivalent to 665,000 euros, in unpaid bills.

Apart from the financial consequences for the staff, the closure of BHRT would deprive the country of its only national public service news organization and would damage media pluralism in a country where many news outlets are split along ethnic and political lines, while BHRT remains essentially neutral.

"RSF calls on the Bosnian authorities to find a financial solution to save BHRT," said Virginie Dangles, editor-in-chief of Reporters Without Borders. "Its closure would damage the media in Bosnia-Herzegovina and would deprive its citizens of a vital public source of information."

A group of members of the European Parliament signed a joint letter to the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina on 4 May expressing concern about the future of BHRT and urging it to take steps to ensure the broadcaster's survival.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked 65th of 180 countries in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by RSF.
FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY

A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE

Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser: OZ Management LP and

Och-Ziff Management Europe Ltd (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):

The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:

Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Standard Life plc (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:

For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 10 May 2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?

If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" NO

If YES, specify which:

2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:



12 2/9p ordinary (ISIN: GB00BVFD7Q58)



Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: (2) Cash-settled derivatives:



29,185,149 1.474 (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:



TOTAL: 29,185,149 1.474

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security Purchase/sale



Number of securities Price per unit





(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. CFD Nature of dealing

e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit 12 2/9p ordinary CFD



Increasing a long position 108,477 GBP 3.86

(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type

e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit





(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security Nature of dealing

e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable)





4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:

Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"









(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:

(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or

(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:

If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"









(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO





Date of disclosure: 11 May 2017 Contact name: Janine Frederick Telephone number: 020 7758 4420

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
Deputy governor threatens to "kill" journalist's wife and children

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 9 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Deputy governor threatens to "kill" journalist's wife and children, 9 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591457124.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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Journalist in Danger (JED) condemn the repeated threats against journalists in Kasai-Central province, in the south-central part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the latest instances, both provincial deputy governor Justin Milonga and Jean Shesh, the administrator of the province's Mweka region, went so far as to threaten the families of journalists in an attempt to silence their reporting. RSF and JED deplore such flagrant attacks on freedom of information, which are unworthy of a democratic government, and call on the authorities to stop persecuting the media.

JED's press release follows:

8 May 2017

"Your wife and children will have to die for you to finally understand," Kasai-Central province deputy governor Justin Milonga told Edouard Diyi, the head of Radio Television Kasai Horizons (KHRT), a radio and TV station based in Kananga, the provincial capital.

In the opinion of Journalist in Danger (JED), this threat was too explicit and too serious not to be taken seriously, especially in a province where violence is common and journalists put their lives on the line every day.

According to the information obtained and corroborated by JED, Diyi was covering a protest outside the governor's office on 5 May when he was verbally attacked by Milonga, who clearly did not appreciate his presence.

Milonga told him: "So you're here, Edouard. I've told you many times but you don't change. All of the provincial security council's members are fed up with you. I'll have you arrested. I will personally follow your case closely to see that happens. You know me well. I will get rid of your radio station. We battle day and night to deal with the security situation and you just fuel the tension. I think your wife and children will have to die for you to finally understand."

In Mweka, a city in the same province 250 km northwest of Kananga, Radio Television Mweka reporter Jerome Mwana Nsthieyi fears for his life after criticizing certain Brahmanist preachers and accusing them of straying from the sect's philosophy.

A group of armed men stormed into Nsthieyi's home at around 7 am on 6 May, when he was not there, searched the house from top to bottom and then left with his wife. They forcibly took her to the home of Mweka's administrator, where she was ordered to tell them where he was. She was finally released at around 6 pm.

JED is extremely concerned about the repeated threats against journalists in recent months in Kasai-Central province, where they are constantly targeted by both the provincial authorities and the Kamuina Nsapu militia.

JED calls on the provincial authorities to put a stop to this persecution.
Mexican journalist seeking asylum still in detention at US border

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 5 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Mexican journalist seeking asylum still in detention at US border, 5 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591458ee4.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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns yesterday's decision by the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to refuse parole for Martin Mendez Pineda, a journalist who has been detained for three months at the US border after legally seeking asylum from his home state of Guerrero, Mexico.

Mendez fled Guerrero after receiving death threats following an article he published exposing police misconduct. He hoped to find safety and refuge in the United States. Mendez has been in detention since February 5th, 2017.

Yesterday RSF received an update from Mendez's attorney, Carlos Spector, that ICE has for a second time denied his request to be released under parole on the grounds that Mendez "does not have substantial ties to the community." On the contrary, Mendez has received an exceptional outpouring of support from the El Paso community, including from a local priest who has put his residence at Martin's disposal should he be freed, as well as multiple community, journalism and press freedom organizations who have expressed grave concern over Martin's detention, and have rallied behind his release.

A harrowing letter from Mendez details the horrors of the detention center he is being held in. The following is an excerpt:

"I have seen discrimination, abuse and humiliation from the very first day I set foot in this place. They transferred me to a detention center called West Texas Detention Facility located in the city of Sierra Blanca, Texas. In this place, I experienced the worst days of my life. It is known by the detainees as "el gallinero" (the henhouse) since the barracks resemble a stable for livestock or chickens, designed for approximately 60 people but currently housing more than 100 individuals, who are exposed to all kinds of diseases and who don't have access to adequate medical attention. "The henhouse" of Sierra Blanca is small, with metal bunks, worn-out rubber mattresses, wooden floors, bathrooms with the walls covered in green and yellow mold, weeds everywhere and snakes and rats that come in the night. The guards look at the detainees with disgust on their faces and everything you say to them is ignored. There is very little food and all they tell you is that it is enough to survive. It is martyrdom to land in this place. Honestly, it is hell."

RSF calls on ICE to immediately free Mendez, who has been held without charge for almost 90 days.

Mexico ranks 147th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. The United States ranks 43rd. Mexico is now the deadliest country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere.
Gambian government gives strong commitment to media freedom

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 5 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Gambian government gives strong commitment to media freedom, 5 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/591459c84.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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes the new Gambian government's pledge to amend the country's media laws and shed light on the deaths of journalists during the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship, and says it is ready to assist these efforts to establish the truth and render justice.

By reiterating the new government's commitment to media freedom, the minister of information and communication, Demba Ali Jawo, has made it clear that a new page is in the process of being turned in Gambia.

The minister's comments were delivered at a ceremony at the law faculty in Banjul on 3 May to mark World Press Freedom Day, an event that had not been officially celebrated in Gambia for the past 20 years.

"Reconciliation certainly is a priority of the government, but I can assure you it will not happen at the expense of justice for our colleagues who were victims during the former regime; which include the late Deyda Hydara, Chief Manneh and Omar Barrow, and all journalists who were subjected to torture in the hand of agents of the former regime," Jawo said.

Jawo said he also intended to amend Gambia's media laws in order to bring them into compliance with international standards. Draconian media laws were adopted in the final years of the Jammeh dictatorship.

"We enthusiastically welcome information minister Jawo's statements," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk. "We are ready to support initiatives aimed as establishing the truth and justice for the journalists who disappeared during the Jammeh era. They include our correspondent, Deyda Hydara, who was murdered in 2004. And we urge the minister to quickly embark on the legislative reforms that will finally give Gambia's journalists a free and ethical environment."

Jawo also talked of creating new media outlets including privately-owned TV channels. This would be unprecedented in this small country, where the state currently has a monopoly of TV broadcasting.

On media regulation, Jawo said he favoured a system of self-regulation and undertook to consult with such parties as the Gambian Press Union, which is very active in such areas as journalistic training, ethics and freedom.

Since President Adama Barrow and his government took office in January, they have made several statements supporting the principle of media freedom. RSF wrote to President Barrow in March to express its support for these initiatives.

Under President Jammeh, journalists lived in terror and had to censor themselves to avoid disappearing or being murdered. Many fled the country. Others were subjected to drawn-out legal proceedings. Social networks could not be accessed without using a VPN and the broadcast media were limited to a few radio stations and state TV, which just sang Jammeh's praises.

Gambia has risen two places in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index and is now ranked 143rd out of 180 countries.
Malaysia: Social Media Users Must Not Be Co-Opted to Censor Online Dissent

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as Article 19, Malaysia: Social Media Users Must Not Be Co-Opted to Censor Online Dissent, 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59145be24.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

ARTICLE 19 is concerned that a new "advisory for group admins" released by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) attempts to co-opt social media users to censor third-party content which the government considers "inappropriate". The MCMC advisory is a clear reminder to Internet users that they are expected to enforce Malaysia's tough restrictions on freedom of expression online through private censorship.

The advisory, released on World Press Freedom Day (3 May 2017), targets "administrators" of group pages hosted on communication platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Wechat, Viber, and Telegram, or on similar services, advising them to take a proactive role in monitoring and removing content posted by others to their pages.

The advisory uses ambiguous language to instruct "group admins" that they should not, inter alia, "be an absent administrator", "encourage, incite or abet inappropriate posts", "allow conversations to wonder off topic", or "breach community standards" (set by social media companies). It also encourages that they "check posts regularly" and "consider removing or blocking those who persist in making inappropriate posts." While not a legally enforceable regulation in itself, a warning on MCMC's Facebook page accompanying the advisory stated that Internet users should "be wise in using social media for their own protection." This implies that failure to comply with the advisory may make group admins liable for the posts of others, even though this type of liability for third-party content is not currently provided for in Malaysian law.

The MCMC advisory has been issued against a backdrop of individuals being regularly arrested, investigated and charged for online expression critical or questioning of the government, in particular under the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998, the Sedition Act 1948, and provisions of the Penal Code, which do not comply with international human rights law.

ARTICLE 19 therefore considers that the MCMC advisory is seeking to deliver an implicit threat to social media users, that even if they are not the author of offending content, they can still be prosecuted by association. This is likely to have the effect of co-opting private internet users into the role of enforcing draconian content restrictions in the online sphere, with victims of this censorship not having any recourse to challenge or seek redress for such removals. This is a concerning direction of travel, in particular if attempts are made to give legal force to the vague "advice" of MCMC.

International freedom of expression standards clearly provide that no individual should be held liable for content which they are not the author of, unless they refuse to obey a court order to remove that content. Such an order must be adopted in accordance with a validly enacted law, with due process guarantees by an independent, impartial and authoritative oversight body (assuming they have the technical capacity to comply with the order).

The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression has warned that private actors should not be pressured by legal or extra-legal means to take steps that unnecessarily or disproportionately interfere with freedom of expression, including by removing content.

The MCMC advisory is clearly intended to pressure social media users, against international freedom of expression standards, and against the spirit of the freedom of expression guarantees in Article 10(a) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

ARTICLE 19 urges the MCMC to retract the advisory without delay and make clear to social media users that they cannot be held responsible for content created by third parties. We also call on the Malaysian government to engage in comprehensive reforms to legislation that violates the right to freedom of expression, including online, in particular the CMA, the Sedition Act, and the Penal Code.

For more information:

Please contact Nalini Elumalai, Article 19 Malaysia Program Officer: 01136535927.

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
Thailand: Release six detained under repressive lese majeste laws

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as Article 19, Thailand: Release six detained under repressive lese majeste laws, 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59145c814.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

ARTICLE 19 condemns the detentions of human rights lawyer Prawet Praphanukul, activist Danai Tibsuya, and four unidentified others arrested and charged under the repressive lese majeste provisions of the Thailand Criminal Code, which prohibit any insults or defamation of the Thai Royal Family, and for other offences under the Criminal Code and Computer Crimes Act. The six were arrested for a series of Facebook posts and are currently being held on remand. ARTICLE 19 calls for their immediate release and for all charges to be dropped, as well as for the military government to end its crackdown on free speech, including by immediately repealing provisions criminalising lese majeste, and comprehensively reforming the Criminal Code and Computer Crimes Act.

Several of the six currently in detention are reported to have been arrested for sharing a post by Thai historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul about the replacement of a plaque in Bangkok marking the 1932 revolution with one celebrating the monarchy. In April, the Thai authorities announced that following his account and liking or sharing his posts on Facebook could amount to a violation of the Computer Crimes Act.

Praphanukul, a human rights lawyer who has previously defended other activists facing lese majeste charges, was arrested and charged under Sections 112 and 116 of the Criminal Code and Section 14(3) of the Computer Crimes Act on 29 April 2017. He was arbitrarily detained and held incommunicado by the military for five days following his arrest, before being transferred to civilian detention.

Praphanukul faces 10 counts of lese majeste under Article 112, which carries a maximum 15 year sentence, three counts of instigation to violate the Constitution under Article 116, which carries a maximum seven year sentence, and one charge of computer forgery and fraud under Section 14(3) of the Computer Crimes Act, which carries a maximum five year sentence. Under Thailands Criminal Code, he faces a maximum of 50 years in prison if convicted on the multiple charges.

Since the 2014 military coup there has been an alarming increase in arrests and prosecutions under the lese majeste provision of the Criminal Code, which makes it an offence for whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent. The provision, regularly used to target dissent and criticism by the increasingly repressive military government, is clearly against international human rights law. ARTICLE 19 has long advocated for the repeal of all criminal defamation laws, and contended that under no circumstances should special legal protection be granted for heads of state or other public officials, whatever their rank or status.

In addition to the lese majeste provisions, ARTICLE 19 has called for comprehensive reform to the recently amended Computer Crimes Act, including to several provisions that allow authorities nearly unfettered power to restrict freedom of expression online. Section 14(3) criminalises as computer forgery and fraud putting into a computer system any computer data which is an offense about the security of the Kingdom or is an offense about terrorism. The provision is impermissibly broad and therefore against international human rights law, enabling its abuse to restrict any form of dissent unrelated to any legitimate national security interest. It is among several provisions in the Computer Crimes Act that ARTICLE 19 has advocated should be repealed in its entirety.

The UN Human Rights Committee, in its Concluding Observations on Thailands compliance with the ICCPR on 25 April 2017, expressed concern at the use of the Criminal Code and Computer Crimes Act to restrict freedom of expression, and urged the government to end the use of these laws as tools to suppress the expression of critical and dissenting opinions.

The Thai military government maintains a derogation from Article 19 of the ICCPR, in place since May 2014, for the prohibition of broadcasting or publishing certain content, particularly those inciting conflict and alienation in the society, false or provoking messages. However, the UN Human Rights Committee has expressed concerns regarding the derogations compliance with the requirements of Article 4 of the ICCPR and its General Comment No. 29 (2011). ARTICLE 19 considers the derogation invalid, as it is far too broad and far-reaching to be considered strictly required by any urgent or legitimate national security need. It must be withdrawn, and the full protections of the ICCPR reinstated, without delay.

The recent arrests and charges against persons for exercising their right to freedom of expression starkly contradict Thailands commitments during its UN Universal Periodic Review in May 2016 to protect the right to freedom of expression, including by bringing its national legislation into compliance with international human rights law.

Freedom of expression plays a vital role in safeguarding democracy and keeping the public informed of important political debates. The threat to freedom of expression from repressive laws in Thailand is extremely concerning, particularly in view of the recent constitutional referendum and next years postponed elections.

ARTICLE 19 urges the Thai authorities to immediately release the six detainees and drop all charges against them, as well as to end military detention of civilians, particularly for expression-related charges. We call for urgent steps to be taken to bring the Criminal Code and Computer Crimes Act into compliance with international human rights law, including through the repeal of lese majeste and other frequently abused provisions, in order to fully protect freedom of expression, online and offline.

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
Number of post-coup lese-majeste arrests surges to over 100

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Number of post-coup lese-majeste arrests surges to over 100, 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59145d334.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 number of individuals arrested on lese-majeste charges since the May 2014 military coup has passed the 100 mark, FIDH and its member organizations Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) and Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) said today.

Article 112 of Thailand's Criminal Code (lese-majeste) imposes jail terms for those who defame, insult, or threaten the King, the Queen, the Heir to the throne, or the Regent. Persons found guilty of violating Article 112 face prison terms of three to 15 years for each count.

The number of people who have been arrested under Article 112 of the Criminal Code has reached 105, following the arrest of six individuals on 29 April 2017. Forty-nine of them have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 30 years. To date, at least 64 individuals are either imprisoned or detained awaiting trial on lese-majeste charges. At the time of the 22 May 2014 coup, there were six individuals behind bars under Article 112. Eighty-one of the 105 cases involved deprivation of liberty for the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The remaining cases are related to individuals who were arrested for claiming ties to the royal family for personal gain.

On 28 March 2017, following the review of the country's second periodic report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Geneva, Switzerland, the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR), expressed concern over the "extreme sentencing practices" for those found guilty of lese-majeste. The CCPR recommended Thailand review Article 112 to bring it into line with Article 19 of the ICCPR and reiterated that the imprisonment of persons for exercising their freedom of expression violates this provision. The CCPR also demanded the authorities release those who have been deprived of their liberty for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Cambodian and international CSOs condemn removal of banners calling for the release of human rights defenders #FreeThe5KH #FreeTepVanny

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 9 May 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Cambodian and international CSOs condemn removal of banners calling for the release of human rights defenders #FreeThe5KH #FreeTepVanny, 9 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59145d8c4.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.

We, the undersigned Cambodian and international civil society organizations, condemn the removal by district and commune police authorities of banners calling for the release of six human rights defenders. Banners were removed from the offices of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association ("ADHOC"), the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights ("LICADHO") and Mother Nature in Koh Kong's Smach Meanchey commune on 02 May 2017,[1] as well as from three residences in Koh Kong province's Srae Ambel district on 03 May 2017.[2]

The display of banners by the individuals and organizations concerned is a legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression. This right, which also protects political speech and speech critical of government, may only be restricted in certain limited circumstances - none of which apply in this case.[3]The forced removal of banners amounts to an unjustified and thus unlawful restriction of this internationally and constitutionally protected human right.

"It is clear that tolerance for dissent and peaceful protest in Cambodia is now virtually non-existent," said Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, Executive Director of Mother Nature. "Absurd claims that the banners 'threaten peace and security' cannot disguise what is nothing more than a heavy-handed attempt by the increasingly paranoid authorities to intimidate civil society groups."

These actions in both cases occurred on private property and seriously undermine the rule of law in Cambodia. Article 40 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia stipulates that "the protection of the rights to the inviolability of residence [] shall be guaranteed. Search of residences, properties [] shall be done in accordance with the legal stipulations." The police lacked any search warrant and the authorities have acknowledged their lack of any legal basis.[4]

This outrageous attack on free speech illustrates the increased shrinking of democratic space for civil society in Cambodia, at a time of approaching commune and national elections, impacting in particular the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and freedom of association, which are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and domestic and international law.

"With the commune elections less than a month away, the authorities have once again shown that they will not accept any activities or opinions that do not suit their political interests," said Naly Pilorge, LICADHO's Deputy Director of Advocacy. "The six human rights defenders have already lost their liberty. Now even those calling for their release face repression."

These incidents occurred only a few days after the one-year mark of the detention of five of the human rights defenders - Lim Mony, Yi Soksan, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda and National Election Committee Deputy Secretary General Ny Chakrya - on 28 April 2017; detention that has been found to be 'arbitrary' by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.[5] On 27 April 2017, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to extend the five's pre-trial detention for up to another six months. The extension of their detention was criticized once again by local, regional and international civil society organizations as well as the Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia[6] and the United States Department of State,[7] and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.[8] The day prior to the Investigating Judge's decision to extend their detention for a further six-month period, it was announced that the five were also collectively selected as one of three finalists for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.[9]

55 Cambodian and international civil society organizations[10] have peacefully joined together to campaign for the release of the five human rights defenders and land rights activist and human rights defender Tep Vanny, including through banners that count the number of days the six human rights defenders have spent in detention. The campaign has been widely supported by the international community and the public, with individuals in Cambodia and internationally sending photos and supportive messages to show solidarity with the detainees.

We, the undersigned Cambodian and international civil society organizations, call on the Ministry of Interior and other relevant local, provincial and national authorities to justify the removal of the six banners and, if there are no valid legal grounds for their removal, to immediately return them to the individuals and organizations concerned. We also call on the Royal Government of Cambodia to immediately cease all intimidation, threats and use of the criminal justice system against those who are peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Most urgently, we reiterate our call for the Cambodian authorities to release the five human rights defenders and Tep Vanny immediately and unconditionally, withdraw all charges and halt any other criminal proceedings against them.

- -

[1] Kim Sarom and Kong Meta 'Police remove 'Adhoc 5' banners, claiming message was anti-government' The Phnom Penh Post (3 May 2017) http://bit.ly/2p8NaQH.

[2] Kong Meta, "More 'Adhoc 5' banners taken down by officials" The Phnom Penh Post (05 May 2017) http://bit.ly/2pOCV7G

[3] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19(3).

[4] Ben Sokhean, 'Police Admit No Legal Basis for Removal of Adhoc 5 Banners' The Cambodia Daily (04 May 2017) http://bit.ly/2pLJhDh.

[5] Joint Press Release, "CAMBODIA: In landmark decision, UN body declares the detention of five human rights defenders arbitrary #FreeThe5KH" (18 December 2016) http://bit.ly/2qQKzNs

[6] Delegation of the EU to Cambodia, "Local EU Statement on the continued detention of five human rights defenders" (4 May 2017) http://bit.ly/2pSdstQ

[7] U.S. Department of State, Press Statement, "Extension of Pre-Trial Detention for Members of ADHOC in Cambodia" (5 May 2017) http://bit.ly/2pfiGwv

[8] OHCHR, "Press briefing note on Arkansas executions and Cambodia" (28 April 2017) http://bit.ly/2payTGa

[9] Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders http://www.martinennalsaward.org/

[10] For details see https://freethe5kh.net/implementing-partners/
English Lithuanian

Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017-05-11 15:07 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On 11 April 2017, the General Shareholders Meeting of INVL Baltic Real Estate (identification code 152105644, address Gyneju str. 14, Vilnius, LT-01109) decided to allocate EUR 0.012 dividend per share.



Dividends will be paid to the shareholders who at the end of the tenth business day following the day of the General Shareholders Meeting that adopted a decision on dividend payment, i.e. on 26 April 2017 were shareholders of INVL Baltic Real Estate, AB.



From 11 May 2017 the dividends will be allocated in the following order:



- to the shareholders, whos INVL Baltic Real Estate shares are accounted by a financial brokerage company or credit institutions, which provide securities accounting services, the amount of dividend, after deduction of Personal or Corporate withholding income tax applicable by the laws of Lithuania, will be transferred to the shareholders account held with a respective financial brokerage company or credit institution;

- to the shareholders, whos INVL Baltic Real Estate shares on behalf of the Company are accounted by the authorised custodian Siauliu bankas, AB, the dividend amount, after deduction of Personal or Corporate withholding income tax applicable by the laws of Lithuania, will be transferred to the shareholders account with Lithuanian commercial bank as indicated by the shareholders (requests with account indications should be submitted to any branch of Siauliu bankas, AB. The list of the branches of Siauliu bankas, AB can be found here).

Procedure for dividends taxation for the year 2016:

- dividends paid to natural personsresidents of the Republic of Lithuania and natural personsresidents of foreign countries are subject to withholding Personal income tax of 15 per cent;

- dividends paid to legal entities of the Republic of Lithuania and legal entitiesresidents of foreign countries are subject to withholding Corporate income tax of 15 per cent, unless otherwise provided for by the laws.



For additional information on payout of the dividends please contact Siauliu bankas AB tel. 1813.
(UPM Raflatac, Mills River, NC, USA, May 11, 2017 at 17:00 EET) - At this year's Label Summit Latin America in Santiago, Chile, UPM Raflatac will be demonstrating how its latest product innovations are a perfect fit to help companies distinguish their brands. From new thin film innovations for home and personal care applications, food containers, craft beverage and wine and spirits; to exciting developments for paper labeling, UPM Raflatac truly offers something for everyone. And with our strong commitment to sustainability, we are second to none. Find your inspiration; we have the solution.

Label Summit Latin America attendees are invited to stop by booth G12 to meet with UPM Raflatac's label experts to learn the latest information on labeling technologies and innovations and to test samples of label materials to find exactly what's right for you and your brand.

In addition to a full portfolio of wine and spirits labeling solutions, featured products at the booth include the new RR20 adhesive, providing reliable resealability for food package labels; RH04FG, a hotmelt adhesive that meets the FDA's requirements for direct contact with fruit and vegetable skin; new 60# Raflacoat Premium, which delivers high-gloss performance for maximum shelf appeal at a semi-gloss price point; and newly launched Raflex MDO films, which combine the best properties of PP and PE for conformables.

Don't miss our Wine Workshop!

On Wednesday, May 17 at 4:15 p.m., UPM Raflatac's Andreu Gombau, Director of Sales for South America, and Edmund Ayres, Country Manager for Chile, Bolivia and Peru will partner with Colorama's General Manager, Juan Felipe Correa, to present on the latest in the wine industry, including export market expectations, global wine market growth, packaging trends and innovations and much more. Be sure to stick around after for a fun conclusion to the conference with a wine tasting, featuring a selection of incredible red and white wines from Vina San Pedro.

For more information about UPM Raflatac at Label Summit Latin America, please visit http://go.upmraflatac.com/LSLA_RE.

High-res photos can be downloaded at  http://pet.upm.com/l/ZcgVrRzTQBQx

For further information, please contact:

Andreu Gombau, Director, Sales, South America, UPM Raflatac, tel. +1- 828-654-6873, andreu.gombau@upmraflatac.com

About UPM Raflatac

UPM Raflatac is one of the world's leading producers of self-adhesive label materials. We supply high-quality paper and film label stock for consumer product and industrial labeling through a global network of factories, distribution terminals and sales offices. We employ around 3,000 people and made sales of USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) in 2016. UPM Raflatac is part of UPM - The Biofore Company. Find out more at www.upmraflatac.com.

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From 2-7 to sectional champs, Monrovia has one question: 'Why not us?'

Three weeks ago, Monrovia's football team sat at 2-7. Now, after claiming a sectional championship, the Bulldogs are asking themselves, 'Why not us?'
PRESS RELEASE, 11 May 2017

Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the shareholders in Velcora Holding AB (publ)

The shareholders of Velcora Holding AB (publ), reg. no. 556987-4463 , (hereinafter the "Company") are hereby invited to the Annual General Meeting to be held on 12 June 2017, at 5.00 PM in the Company's premises at Skyttbrinksvagen 20, 147 39 TUMBA Sweden.

Shareholders who wish to attend the Annual General Meeting must be recorded in the share register on the date of the Annual General Meeting and notify the Company of their intention to attend by no later than June 7, 2017. Notice of attendance is made in writing to Velcora Holding AB (publ), Box 120, 147 22 TUMBA Sweden or by e-mail info@roplan.com. The notice of attendance shall include name, personal or corporate ID number, address and phone number.

A shareholder's rights at the meeting may be exercised by a proxy empowered by a power of attorney. The power of attorney shall be in writing, dated and signed and must not be older than one year. The original power of attorney must be presented at the meeting. Those representing a legal person must also present a certificate of registration or the similar showing the authorized signatories.

Notice

The full notice, the financial statements and auditor's report is available at the Company's website www.velcora.com.

For further information, please contact:

Peter Schmid, CEO, +46 70 878 43 05

Jonatan Forsberg, CFO, +46 70 878 43 33

The information was submitted for publication at 16:00 CET on 11 May, 2017.



Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8207c6a8-5daa-4b21-89df-636c24c2bd0b
UPDATED at 10:10 A.M. EST on 2017-05-22



A Cambodia election watchdog on Thursday slammed an order banning campaign marches from major avenues in the capital Phnom Penh as a violation of the right to expression in the lead up to the countrys June commune elections.



In a May 5 notice to the National Election Commission (NEC), the nations top electoral body, the government of Phnom Penh announced that all political parties are prohibited from marching on most major streets in the city as part of a bid to ensure public security and avoid traffic congestion.



The banwhich covers main avenues such as Norodom Boulevard, Russian Federation Boulevard, Preah Monivong Boulevard, and Preah Sihanouk Boulevardalso extends to parks and markets, as well as other crowded spaces, the notice said.



According to regular electoral rules, political parties are permitted to campaign for 14 days ahead of the June 4 ballot, beginning May 20, but may hold campaign marches for only two days.



Sam Sokuntheamy, the head of Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Nicfec), on Thursday urged the local government to reverse the ban, which he said limits free speech and reduces opportunities for political parties already facing strict limits on marching.



The government should be providing more chances for political parties to march on the streets as part of their campaigns, as they currently only have two days to do so, he told RFAs Khmer Service.



In the week since the ban was announced, members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and local civil society groups have flooded the NEC with requests to override the ban, but the electoral body has yet to issue a statement addressing the concerns.



On Thursday, head of legal and election affairs for the CNRP Meng Sopheary told RFA that the party recently sent another letter to the NEC, which the commission accepted, saying the request would be discussed next week.



We want to inform the people who live along the citys main avenues of our partys political platform, she said.



At the time the ban was announced, NEC spokesperson Hang Puthea said the commission supported the ban and called on all political parties to adhere to it. He refused to comment on the ban Thursday.



NEC secretary general Tep Nitha has told RFA that the ban was announced in response to members of the public and vendors complaining that some political parties campaign at the markets, schools, and hospitals without adhering to the requirements of City Hall.



Opposition forum



The ban on marches came as a CNRP candidate in Kampong Thom provinces Baray district accused local authorities of threatening area residents who had hoped to attend a public forum hosted by the opposition party.



Mao Chheng Eam, CNRP candidate for Srolao commune, recently told RFA that only 70 people showed up for the May 7 forum out of an expected 200 attendees, and residents said local authoritiesincluding village chiefs and deputy chiefshad prevented them from participating.



They threatened supporters and also local [opposition] party leaders, he said, adding that authorities had also closely followed his own activities.



Opposition supporters have similarly been prevented from gathering at local pagodas and other public spaces, Mao Chheng Eam said.



CPP member Pol Chhin, the chief of Srolao commune, denied that CNRP supporters had been banned from taking part in opposition activities, adding that local authorities had given the party full permission to proceed with the May 7 forum.



I will investigate these accusations and punish anyone who is found to have done so, he told RFA.



Senior investigator for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) Kon Savang told RFA that all political parties have the right to engage with their supporters without fear of bans or discrimination.



While commune chief Pol Chhin understands this right, he said, some of the village chiefs and deputy chiefs under him may have acted independently to intimidate opposition supporters.



You have allowed one party [the CPP] to do whatever they want, but banned another party [the CNRP] from doing so, Kon Savang said, calling on authorities to explain their actions.



Nearly 8 million voters have registered to elect the leaders of 1,646 communes and wards across the country on June 4 from among 12 political parties, including the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) and the CNRP.



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.



Reported by Zakariya Tin and Sokheng Saut for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sarada Taing. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.



Correction: A previous version of the article erroneously stated that political parties are permitted to campaign for 12 days ahead of the June 4 ballot.
Villagers angered by a chemical leak stage a protest at Hebei Xingfei Chemical Co. factory near Xingtai city in the northern Chinese province of Hebei, May 3, 2017.

Authorities in the northern Chinese province of Hebei sent in more than 1,000 riot police who used pepper spray and batons against demonstrators on Thursday, in a bid to end days of angry protests by local people over a leak at a chemical plant that released toxic gases into the air.

Police in full riot gear moved in to disperse protests sparked by an Apr. 29 leak from the Hebei Xingfei Chemical Co. factory in Dongwang township, near Hebei's Xingtai city, which the government had promised to investigate.

Local residents had been blockading the factory for 10 days, preventing any vehicles from getting in or out, and demanding that production be halted pending an inquiry.

Video of the crackdown sent by Dongwang residents showed police warning the crowd: "All those gathered here, please note that your behavior has violated national law. You now have three minutes to leave. If you do not, police will use force to disperse you."

Police then pushed forwards with shields and batons, and began attacking people in the crowd, pushing them to the edge of the street amid boos and shouts of "The police are attacking us! Don't hit us!

Don't hit us!" from protesters.

"They're using force to clear the area!" shouted one woman, weeping as she fled the melee.

Eyewitnesses said the crackdown lasted some two hours, with police repeatedly using force against unarmed protesters.

"The police were using pepper spray and beating people with batons, and detaining them," a local resident surnamed Feng told RFA. "This went on for a couple of hours, as they tried to drive the protesters away, or drag them away into detention."

"Nobody has counted how many people were detained, but there are definitely some local residents who haven't been released yet," he said. "The police also seized all of our donations, and after that, a few trucks came in and out of the chemical factory, carrying goods.

"The road we were blocking is the main road running through the chemical industrial park, so all of the chemical plants shut down after that," Feng said. "I think that the Sanchuan Chemical Co. factory has already started back in production as of today."

"They will be starting up again immediately, now that the police have cleared the blockade," he said. "All of the roads are now clear."

They dont do anything

Another protester who gave only the nickname Xiao Ming said local people had taken the action out of fear about the impact of such leaks on their long-term health.

"People have been gathering outside the chemical factory for some time, preventing the factories from operating," Xiao Ming said. "The county government and the [Xingtai] city government all know about this, but they don't do anything."

"Now the government has used force to clear the area, and chased everyone away. I don't know what they'll do to address the issue," he said.

Calls to the Dongwang township government offices rang unanswered during office hours on Thursday.

The Xingtai municipal police department said via its official social media account: "Some villagers were using pollution as an excuse to gather in the chemical industrial park for several days, surrounding local enterprises and leading to the plants being forced to store large amounts of toxic, explosive goods."

"This caused serious disruption to public safety, and severe disturbance of public order," the police tweet said.

But local residents have told RFA that the authorities are more concerned with profit than with the well-being of local people, and have allowed dozens of chemical plants to start operating in the area.

They have repeatedly complained that pollution from the nearby plants smelled "awful" and had also affected local people's mental health.

An official circular issued by the Ningjin county government, which administers Dongwang township, said that a fire in a pipeline carrying the industrial disinfectant trichloroisocyanuric acid, "resulted in the emission of irritating gas that was blown to a few villages downwind, and causing vomiting, coughing and other difficulties."

Issued shortly after the leak, the circular said county government was extremely concerned about the incident and would carry out "educational work" with local people.

The government had also instructed county-level and municipal environmental protection bureaus to investigate nearby factories.

Activists say China has an exemplary set of environmental protection laws, but that environmental officials lack the power to impose it on powerful vested interests at the local level.

Reported by Ding Wenqi for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Hong Kong's government has rejected an application for the city's traditional pro-democracy rally marking the anniversary of the 1997 handover to China, ahead of a widely expected visit to the city by Chinese President Xi Jinping.



Officials said they had decided to allow a pro-Beijing group to use Victoria Park, the usual starting point of mass marches organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, instead.



The Hong Kong Celebrations Association was given priority over the Civil Human Rights Front because it is a charity, they told government broadcaster RTHK.



Amid concerns that the government is seeking to limit displays of public dissent ahead of this year's 20th anniversary of the handover, march organizer Au Nok-hin called the ruling "ridiculous."



"It seems that the pro-establishment camp can have its celebrations, but ordinary people aren't allowed to have a demonstration," Au said. "It is very clear that this all fits in with their plan to clear the decks ahead of a visit by Xi Jinping for the 20th anniversary."



"They don't want the people of Hong Kong to come out onto the streets to show opposition to the government."



He said the move makes a mockery of the promises of a "high degree of autonomy" and the maintenance of Hong Kong's traditional freedoms made by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in a 1984 treaty on the handover.



"One country, two systems has been so successful that you can't even get a permit to start a demonstration," Au said. "They are trying to shut us down."



The group said it would now apply for access to a different area of the park, one of the few green spaces in highly urban downtown Hong Kong, for the starting point.



Lawmaker Jimmy Ng denied there was any wrongdoing on the part of the government.



"If the organization had submitted an application well in advance, on paper, and the government approved it ... then there isn't a problem, procedurally speaking," he said. "I am satisfied that [the government] acted appropriately."



Retired Pro-Beijing politician Tam Yiu-chung, a key figure in the Hong Kong Celebrations Association, said the group is "broadly representative" of Hong Kong society.



"The government is promoting the 20th anniversary celebrations, and we will be putting on some activities on that day as well," Tam told reporters.



"I think this is worth supporting. If other people have other events, they can hold them somewhere else," he said.



Ongoing purge



Police in the city last month arrested nine pro-democracy activists in what rights groups and pan-democratic politicians said was an ongoing purge of dissenting voices in the former British colony.



The activists, who include the chairman of a social democratic party and two members of a new political party formed by student leaders of the 2014 democracy movement, were arrested on charges of "unlawful assembly" and other public order offenses in relation to a Nov. 6 anti-Beijing demonstration.



The arrests came a day after police arrested two pro-independence former lawmakers-elect, Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Leung, for "unlawful assembly" after the courts disqualified them from office for changing the wording of their oaths of allegiance on Oct. 12.



Activists said the move is part of a political "clean-up" operation ahead of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China on July 1.



The erosion of Hong Kong's traditional freedoms of speech, publication, and judicial independence in recent years and a stalled timetable for full democracy have coincided with growing talk of independence, particularly among the younger generation of activists.



Some 40 percent of young people support the idea, compared with around 70 percent who oppose it across all age groups, according to recent opinion polls.



Reported by Lam Kwok-lap for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Myanmar police block a street in a neighborhood in Mingala Taungnyunt township in the commercial capital Yangon during a confrontation between Buddhists and Muslims, May 10, 2017.

Myanmar police arrested and charged two monks and five Buddhist nationalists on Thursday for their involvement in a confrontation in a Yangon neighborhood where they claimed that ethnic Rohingya Muslims were hiding illegally.

Two men were injured in the scuffle during which local police fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd that had gathered at the scene in Mingala Taungnyunt township in the east-central part of the city, witnesses told RFAs Myanmar Service on Wednesday.

Police Col. Khin Maung Oo filed the charges against the seven men, and a township judge issued arrest warrants for them for incitement to commit violence under section 505(c) of the countrys Penal Code.

They face prison sentences of up to two years and a fine.

Among those charged was Tin Htut Zaw, a Mingala Taungnyunt township resident who had joined the monks as police searched an apartment in a building in the township where the monks believed illegal Rohingya were hiding.

The monks came into the township with about 20 policemen and asked us to go there together with them, he said. Police officers and township administrators told us to come along with them, Tin Htut Zaw said.

They said if we went there with them, it would show that the police went in because people informed them to go to these houses to conduct searches, and we could be witnesses, he said. But they also said they could not take many people with them. Finally, the police agreed to take six people, including me.

Monks from the Patriotic Myanmar Monks Union, also known at Ma Ba Tha, had received information that some Rohingya were hiding in a building in the township, and they alerted police and immigration officials, a monk named Thuseitta from the Patriotic Young Monks Union told RFA on Wednesday.

Myanmars Buddhist majority views the Rohingya, a stateless group of 1.1 million who live mainly in the countrys western Rakhine state, as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and government policy has denied them citizenship and access to other basic rights for decades.

After a search of the premises, police determined that the occupants were there legally and took no further action against them.

But upon leaving the building, the monks got in a scuffle with locals, while a group of outsiders joined in.

Some witnesses said that Muslims who live in the area had attacked the monks and police with wooden sticks and knives, while others indicated that a group of nationalist outsiders who brandished weapons were responsible for the melee.



Monks hold press conference

The confrontation and ensuing arrests prompted nationalist monks to hold a press conference earlier on Thursday at a Yangon hotel to defend their actions and call on officials to investigate the incident.

We are not from Ma Ba Tha, as people are saying, said Thuseitta from the Patriotic Young Monks Union.

He said that comments about the incident that former member of parliament Phyu Phyu Thin and regional lawmaker Hla Htay made to the media on Wednesday were unfairly biased.

Phyu Phyu Thin told RFA on Wednesday that the monks and police had overstepped their boundaries by getting involved in the matter, and that police should have obtained a warrant to search apartments in the building.

She also said that such harassment was nothing new and that Ma Ba Tha monks and others who broke the law by getting involved in the confrontation should be sued and charged.

Hla Htay, a regional lawmaker from the neighborhood in Mingala Taungnyunt township where the melee took place, told RFA on Wednesday that the monks got into an argument with locals and created tension in the area.

We havent had any problems like this before, Hla Htay said. We [Muslims and Buddhists] have been living together in this area peacefully for a long time with no problem, and I want that to be the same in the future.

Thuseitta also criticized comments about the incident by Mya Aye, the only Muslim leader of the pro-democracy 88 Generation Students Groupnow known as the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society Groupwho sympathized with the Muslims.

Because he is a Muslim, he will say something to protect Muslims, Thusietta said. We cant say he is wrong, because he is a Muslim who is protecting Muslims interest.

We also have the right to protect our nationality and nation, he said.

Tensions between Buddhist nationalists and Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar have been on the rise since last October when people said to be Rohingya militants carried out deadly attacks on border police posts in the northern part of Rakhine state, prompting a crackdown by security forces.

The United Nations estimated that 1,000 people were killed and about 90,000 Rohingya were displaced, most of whom fled to neighboring Bangladesh where they are living in refugee camps.

The U.N. has said that atrocities reported by the escapees could amount to crimes against humanity.

In late April, a group of Buddhist ultranationalists pressured local officials to close two schools in Yangons Thaketa township, arguing that Muslims were using them to hold prayers in violation of an agreement signed by school leaders in October 2015.

Reported by Nay Rein Kyaw, Kyaw Zaw Win, Aung Theinkha and Kyaw Min Htun for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A young monk who set himself on fire five years ago in Sichuan in a protest challenging Chinese rule in Tibetan areas was released from prison on Wednesday after serving his full term, according to a Tibetan source in exile.



Lobsang Gyatso, 24, set himself ablaze on Feb. 13, 2012 in the Ngaba county seat in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, but survived his burns and was beaten and taken into custody by Chinese security forces.



[Gyatso] was released on May 10 and arrived back at his home in Ngaba at around midnight, a Tibetan living in Switzerland told RFAs Tibetan Service, citing sources in Ngaba.



He was subjected to extreme torture and harassment during the five years and three months he was held in custody, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



No word was immediately available regarding Gyatsos present state of health.



Gyatso, a monk belonging to Ngabas Kirti monastery, had shouted slogans calling for Tibetan freedom during his self-immolation protest, sources told RFA in earlier reports.



[But] armed security officers and special forces quickly arrived and extinguished the flames, beating him as he burned, one source said.



Two other young Tibetans and a monk were also assaulted by police, sources said, adding that one of the two young men was able to escape with the help of a crowd that had gathered.



The other, who was taken away, was seen to be bleeding badly from injuries to his head and arm, sources said.



On March 28, Lobsang Konchok, another monk belonging to Ngabas Kirti monastery, was released after serving a five-year term and was immediately taken by police to a nomadic area far from his family home, a local source told RFAs Tibetan Service.



Konchok had also survived his self-immolation protest, but lost a leg during treatment for his burns and was subjected to torture and other kinds of harassment during his time in prison, the source said.



Kirti monastery and Ngabas main town have been the scene of repeated self-immolations and other protests in recent years by monks, former monks, nuns, and other Tibetans opposed to Chinese rule.



Reported by Sangye Dorjee for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.




A human rights defender held in detention for online activism is in poor health and has been refused visits from her family, according to her lawyer, who met with her Thursday for the first time since she was arrested nearly four months ago.



Tran Thi Nga, 40, was arrested on Jan. 21 in Phu Ly, the capital city of northern Vietnams Ha Nam province, and charged under Article 88 for using the internet to spread propaganda videos and writings against the state.



The labor and land rights activist also known as Thuy Nga faces up to 20 years in prison.



On Thursday, Ngas lawyer Ha Huy Son met with her at the Ha Nam Police Detention Center and told RFAs Vietnamese Service that she is suffering complications from an injury she sustained in May 2014 when a group of men armed with pipes assaulted her for her campaign work.



Her health is not so goodshe suffers from knee pain due to the brutal attack some years ago, he said.



In a video of the 2014 attack, assailants beat Nga while she rides on the back of a bicycle with her children, chase her into a nearby car dealership, and return three times to inflict harm. The assault sent her to the hospital with an arm and leg in bandages and splints, and left her body covered in swollen bruises.



Meanwhile, Son acknowledged that the charge against Nga under Article 88for what is considered a national security offenseallows for her incommunicado detention throughout the investigation of her case.

In accordance with the law, she is only entitled to meet her defending lawyer, he said.



There are no stipulations for family visits.



Son told RFA that he was unable to copy Ngas case documents during Thursdays visit because a representative of the prosecution was not present, but said he would try to do so when he next meets with her.



If she is formally prosecuted, [her case] would take at least two months, he added.



Nga is well known for defending the rights of Vietnamese migrant workers and victims of government land grabs.



The seizure of land for developmentoften without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents is a major cause of protests in Vietnam and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Cambodia.



In February, more than two dozen Vietnamese civil society organizations and nearly 850 individuals signed a petition demanding Nags immediate release.



According to the petition, Nga was harassed, attacked, and monitored before her arrest, and was innocent when she carried out her peaceful activities advocating for human rights and democracy.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, FL., May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla.  The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce honored H. Thomas Temple, M.D., as a Health Care Hero at its 20th annual Health Care Heroes Award ceremony, which was held May 9, 2017 at Jungle Island in Miami. Dr. Temple, who is senior vice president of translational research and economic development for Nova Southeastern University (NSU), was the recipient of the Bio-Medical Award for his lifetime of work in this field.

Dr. Temple is multidimensionalan inventor, a surgeon, a university administrator and a family man, said NSU President Dr. George Hanbury, who nominated Dr. Temple for the award. Through all of these roles, his goal is simpleto make a lasting impact on humanity.

According to the Chamber, the Health Care Heroes Awards program recognizes individuals, institutions, professionals, students, volunteers and programs, who through their individual or collective actions have made an extraordinary impact in the South Florida health care community.

Health Care Heroes acts of heroism represent a display of dedication to excellence in their area of expertise beyond the scope of their jobs. Through their commitment to their profession and community, they serve as an inspiration to others in an effort to improve the quality of health care and discover new ways to assist those in need.

A world-class orthopedic surgeon whose career spans three decades, Dr. Temple specializes in treating both children and adults with bone and soft tissue cancers. His work in orthopedic oncology has focused on sparing limbs for patients with bone tumors and finding alternative ways to treat them without using toxic chemotherapy.

He has played a key role in multiple biomedical inventions that have made a difference in the lives of people throughout the world, helping them regain the use of their limbs and joints. His key products include the MIAMI (marrow-isolated adult multi-lineage inducible) cell, a type of stem cell derived from adult bone marrow; Viagraft, used to regenerate bone; BioCartilage, marketed internationally for cartilage repair; ViaDisc, a intervertebral disc cell matrix that restores diseased discs, and a host of other regenerative orthopaedic products. He currently holds 12 patents, all of which have been developed into commercial products to treat patients.

As NSUs senior vice president of translational research and economic development, he is responsible for building the connections, resources and entrepreneurial energy for the commercialization of the universitys research activities to foster research that makes a direct impact on people and the environment. He also serves as executive associate dean for research for NSUs College of Allopathic Medicine (M.D. College). He has already achieved much success, most notably through the creation of the NSU Cell Therapy Institute, an international collaboration with prominent medical research scientists from NSUs M.D. College and Swedens world-renowned Karolinska Institutet (KI), which is focused on conducting pioneering cell-based biomedical research.

His current research efforts are centered around creating and expanding tissue and cell libraries that can be used to develop targeted strategies to treat patients with malignant tumors of the skeletal system.

# # #

About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): Located in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional degree levels. A private, not-for-profit institution, NSU has campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, while maintaining a presence online globally. For more than 50 years, NSU has been awarding degrees in a wide range of fields, while fostering groundbreaking research and an impactful commitment to community. Classified as a research university with high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is 1 of only 50 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegies Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private, not-for-profit institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education's criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. Please visit www.nova.edu for more information about NSU and realizingpotential.nova.edu for more information on the largest fundraising campaign in NSU history.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b1400093-9184-4f61-89d9-e2144cf188fa
WASHINGTON  By Monday, high school students nationwide will decide where to go to college and, for many, with that decision will come debt.

In the classes we teach, my husband and I try to encourage parents, if they can, to start saving for their childrens college education as early as possible.

Recently, I wrote about our daughter Olivias upcoming graduation. Because we started saving early enough, she will graduate without any loans. And we didnt have to borrow.

Our lack of education debt drew lots of questions.

Lorraine, a reader from Sarasota, Fla., wanted to know: How was (Olivia) able to achieve this accomplishment? Did she work part time or full time while attending college? Did she save money earned from babysitting or other jobs while she was in high school? Did she live at home? ... Where did the money come from to pay her tuition and books?

Ill tell you.

By the time my husband and I had our first child, we were in our early 30s. We owned a home, and the mortgage took up less than 30 percent of our net monthly income. If you keep your housing payment  typically a familys largest expense  at a manageable level, you can usually free up money to save.

We had been saving for retirement since our early 20s and have kept doing so, even while saving for college.

When we started saving for our childrens education, we were making good but not super-fat salaries. We bought used cars that we kept long enough that we didnt have car payments for a decade or more. If you dont have auto payments, thats money that can be put into a college savings plan.

Before deciding how to save, we calculated how much we needed to invest on a monthly basis. Its like retirement planning. You have to know your endgame  how much you need  so that you know how to start.

We tried a few calculators but settled on Vanguards College savings planner (https://vanguard.wealthmsi.com/csp.php). Along with a little we had already saved, it estimated that we needed to invest about $210 a month to have enough for Olivia to go to a state school.

We decided to save using a tax-deferred 529 plan. We opened her account when she was 6. My husband and I chose the age-based investment option, which means that the younger the child, the more aggressive the investment strategy. As Olivia got older, the money was automatically moved to more conservative positions.

We elected to invest in the 529 plan offered by the state of Maryland, where we live. It has low fees. And because we are residents, we get a $2,500 state tax deduction every year for each of our three childrens accounts.

Due to our contributions over the years, the low fees and the earnings growth, Olivia ended up with savings worth about $66,000. My husband and I made a few lump-sum payments whenever we got extra money. We started even earlier for our other two children, so we havent had to make any extra contributions. Depending on their school choice, they too will have enough to graduate debt-free.

Olivia took Advanced Placement courses in high school and scored high enough on the exams to earn college credit. She started at the University of Maryland College Park with a semesters worth of credits, which reduced costs. She received $21,500 in merit-based scholarships, which covered about a fourth of the total cost of her attendance.

Olivia did have to buy her own textbooks. To afford them, she began working during the summer following her junior year in high school. She is a super saver. She put away about 80 percent of her earnings to pay for her books and personal expenses.

We did not allow Olivia to work during her freshman year of college, to ease her transition. But by her sophomore year, she got a part-time job at an on-campus day care center. She has had paid internships throughout college.

I should add that we had told our daughter back when she was in middle school that she could apply to any college she wanted with just one caveat: There would be no loans.

We managed her expectations throughout the college-selection process. She would have lived at home or started at our local community college if our savings came up short.

Maryland wasnt her first school choice. But she ended up loving it and all the more because, when she walks across the stage next month to get her diploma, she wont have the weight of debt on her shoulders. And neither will we.
Dominions shareholders approved a company name change today but rejected proposals related to lobbying disclosures, nominating a board member with environmental expertise, preparing a report on methane emissions and publishing a risk assessment of the companys investment in fossil-fuel power generation, among other actions at the yearly shareholder meeting.

Effective Wednesday, the companys official name changed from Dominion Resources to Dominion Energy. The logo will go from what Thomas F. Farrell II, the companys chairman, president and CEO, called the E.T. phoning home sparking fingertip and hand to a newer, simpler blue-and-white D.

In short, we produce energy  electricity  and we transport energy  electricity and natural gas, said Farrell, whose nearly $13.3 million in salary, stock awards and other compensation for 2016 was also endorsed by shareholders in a nonbinding, advisory vote. Dominions operating earnings were $2.3 billion in 2016.

The name change will also filter down to the companys other business units. For example, Dominion Virginia Power, the state-regulated utility that has about 2.3 million customers in Virginia, will be called Dominion Energy Virginia.

Company officials and shareholders sipped coffee and chatted before the meeting at the Greater Richmond Convention Center behind large black pipe and drape sets that blocked the glass windows at street level as well as those on either side of the elevated walkway over East Marshall Street that attendees had to transverse from the parking garage to get into the gathering.

What are they trying to prevent their shareholders from seeing? said Vanessa Bolin, an environmental activist from Oklahoma who is living in Richmond and spent time in North Dakota protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Bolin was one of a handful of protesters, a common fixture at Dominion shareholder meetings over the past several years, standing outside the convention center Wednesday morning. They were joined by dozens more for a rally at Nina F. Abady Festival Park after the meeting ended.

In addition to the unsuccessful proposals, more than a dozen shareholders questioned Farrell on big-ticket projects. They ranged from the companys potential pricey development of a third nuclear reactor at its Lake Anna power station and its approximately $4 billion natural gas liquefaction and export facility at Cove Point in Maryland to its controversial 600-mile, $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which will bring shale gas from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina. The pipeline is awaiting federal approval.

Irene Leech, an associate professor at Virginia Tech, said she never dreamed her Dominion stock holdings would come into conflict with her Angus beef operation on 1,000 acres of Buckingham County land that has been in her family for generations and is proposed to be bisected by the pipeline.

It looks like were being sacrificed, she said, adding that she worried about laying down for the night within the blast zone in the event of a catastrophe.

Farrell said the federal permitting process for the pipeline, which he said is urgently needed to expand natural gas capacity in North Carolina and Virginia, is the most thorough, exhaustive environmental review ever done for a project of this scope.

In a news release issued Wednesday morning to blunt environmental criticism, Dominion said it has cut emissions and boosted investment in solar energy generation.
DALLAS, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Locum Tenens (DLT), a leading staffing firm for healthcare professionals nationwide and business unit of The Delta Companies, has announced its advocacy and support for the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC). The Federation of State Medical Boards created the IMLC to provide a direct way for qualifying physicians to practice in multiple states, thereby expediting the existing process for obtaining licensure outside of their state of principal licensure. Healthcare facilities, patients, and entire communities will also benefit from the increased access to more providers and medical specialties.



Many of the providers working with DLT qualify for IMLCs streamlined multistate medical license process. In most cases, this will provide DLT the ability to activate a license as quick as two weeks with a single application. Under the IMLC, DLT can connect providers with more opportunities, and offer more scheduling flexibility and greater travel selection. For more information on these changes or to determine if you qualify click here.

A lot of the providers who work with DLT will benefit from the progressive stance the IMLC offers, said Anne Schilling, a Principal Recruiter for Delta Locum Tenens. With the rise of telemedicine, and the growing demand for locum tenens providers and advanced practitioner healthcare professionals, IMLC is a reflection of the times. DLT is excited about the opportunities this compact offers to our healthcare professionals and clients.

The IMLC is an agreement between 19 states, and to date, the states accepting lMLC licensure are Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Those states with membership in progress are Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Utah. In addition, legislation has been introduced for the following states as well, Georgia, Michigan, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Washington State, and Washington, D.C.

ABOUT DELTA LOCUM TENENS

Over 14 years of experience, Delta Locum Tenens identifies qualified physicians and practitioners on behalf of healthcare facilities to provide short- and long-term locums coverage. If youre interested in learning more about the IMLC and whether you qualify click here.

For More Information, Contact:

Eric Sasser

VP of Advertising, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX 75234

(800) 521-5060 x4600

PR@thedeltacompanies.com

http://www.thedeltacompanies.com
Virginia State Police are seeking help with the investigation of a shooting of a vehicle Tuesday night on Interstate 95 in Chesterfield County.

About 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, state police were called to I-95 near the Chippenham Parkway exit, where the victims vehicle had stopped. The vehicle, a 2016 Toyota, was traveling south on the interstate when a newer-model, gray- or charcoal-colored vehicle, possibly a Buick or Chevrolet, pulled along the passengers side and fired at the Toyota.

The Toyota was struck two times, police concluded. The driver, an adult male, was not injured.

Anyone who may have witnessed the shooting or has any information about it is urged to call state police at (804) 553-3445 or #77 on a cellphone. You can also send an email to questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
The special agent in charge of the FBIs Richmond division is under consideration as the bureaus interim director after the firing of James Comey.

Adam S. Lee was selected by Comey to lead the Richmond office in January 2014, not long after Comey took office in September 2013. The Richmond location, one of 56 division offices across the country, was the first Comey visited just a few days after his appointment as director.

Prior to Lees appointment to Richmond, he was the chief of the FBIs Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and oversaw the FBIs global Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and antitrust investigative programs.

Lee could not be reached for comment Thursday. He has been in Washington on temporary duty, said a spokeswoman.

According to the Justice Department, Lee was one of four to have been interviewed Wednesday to serve as the interim director in addition to Andrew McCabe, now the acting director.

The department said no timetable had been set. A permanent director must be confirmed by the Senate.

Others are said to be the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; the assistant director of the FBIs Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch; and the special agent in charge of the Chicago office.

The Richmond division has six field offices  in Bristol, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, Roanoke and Winchester  and covers 82 of Virginias 95 counties, virtually all of the state except for those areas covered by the Norfolk and Washington offices.

According to the FBI, Lee is a lawyer licensed in California and prior to joining the bureau in 1996 he served as a fellow in the California Senate. He is married to Melinda Lee, and they have a son and twin daughters.

From 1996 until 2005, he primarily investigated public corruption and white-collar crime in the FBIs San Diego division and served for seven years on the divisions SWAT team. He joined the FBI cyber divisions executive staff in 2005.

From 2009 through 2012, he was the assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Offices operational HUMINT Program, where he led operations affecting national security.

Comey is a 1982 graduate of the College of William & Mary. He worked for the McGuireWoods law firm in Richmond and taught at the University of Richmond School of Law. From 1996 to 2001, he was the lead federal prosecutor in the Richmond division of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello has sold his financial holdings in a construction company interested in building President Donald Trumps wall along the Mexican border and that has worked with Dominion Energy, a Perriello punching bag, on energy projects in Virginia.

Perriellos investment in Fluor Corp., revealed last month on the former congressmans mandatory conflict-of-interest disclosure, cut against his campaign message of populist reform, standing up to Trump and fighting corporate power.

At the time, Perriellos campaign said he wasnt aware of the investment. The campaign confirmed the stock was sold on April 18 but declined to comment on the reasons behind the decision.

Perriellos financial disclosure showed he had equities valued somewhere between $5,000 and $50,000 in the Texas-based engineering and construction firm. The company, a major federal contractor, had expressed early interest in the still-uncertain wall project, though its not clear how strongly it is pursuing the work.

Fluor also helped Dominion build the $1 billion Brunswick County Power Station, a massive power plant that could ultimately be fueled by natural gas from the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a project Perriello has adamantly opposed as a candidate. Fluor is building Dominions natural gas-fired Greensville County Power Station, a $1.3 billion project also connected to the pending pipeline.

Fluor did not respond to a request for comment.

In the Democratic primary for governor, Perriello has highlighted his opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline projects as a key difference between his upstart candidacy and that of Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam. Taking a more establishment-friendly line on the pipelines, Northam has said they should be guided by sound science that protects the environment while arguing a governor has no authority over the federally approved projects.

Perriello also has vowed to forgo political donations from Dominion and other state-regulated utilities, making his holdings in a company doing business with Dominion even more problematic.

More than 50 Democratic candidates running for the Virginia House of Delegates have made a similar pledge this year to refuse Dominion money. The pledge was circulated by Activate Virginia, a progressive group that has also pressured Perriello and Northam to dump some of their financial investments.

In a letter sent to the campaigns early this week in collaboration with anti-pipeline group Preserve Floyd, Activate Virginia urged Perriello to divest from Fluor and asked Northam to part with stock he holds in Dominion, also valued somewhere between $5,000 and $50,000.

Although we understand that choosing to divest could present political and financial difficulties for the gubernatorial candidates, we again hope they decide to take this historic step, the group, led by Yorktown-based activist Josh Stanfield, wrote in the letter.

The Northam campaign declined to comment.

A Charlottesville native, Perriello represented the central 5th Congressional District for one term before losing the seat in 2010. Before running for governor, he was serving as a U.S. State Department envoy to Africa.

Northam, a pediatric neurologist from the Eastern Shore, served in the Virginia Senate for six years before he was elected lieutenant governor in 2013.
TORONTO, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Down Syndrome Association of Toronto (DSAT), a registered Canadian charity, will host Torontos 5th Annual Buddy Walk on Saturday, May 13th, 2017 in an effort to raise awareness for Torontos Down syndrome community. This much anticipated annual event is a 3 km walk alongside Ashbridges Bay boardwalk located at Coxwell Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard East, followed by a celebration with food prizes and a fun social gathering with special host Jennifer Valentyne of Q107. The event kicks off at 10:00 AM EST, with the walk commencing at 11:00 AM EST.



Proud sponsors supporting this years event include:

Platinum Sponsors  BMO Financial Group and CIBC

Community Media Sponsor  Metroland Media

Gold Sponsor  Boardwalk Place

To register, please visit www.dsat.ca. All attendees are encouraged to register online and sign the waiver.

About the Buddy Walk

Developed by the National Down Syndrome Association (NDSS) in 1995, the Buddy Walk promotes awareness and inclusion for people with Down syndrome. It also aims to raise funds for education, research, advocacy and community based programs. The Buddy Walk is the worlds most widely recognized public awareness program for the Down syndrome community.

About DSAT

DSAT is a non-profit registered charitable organization established in 1987, consisting of passionate volunteer parents, siblings, friends and citizens who are devoted to improving the potential of people with Down syndrome. DSAT is a proud leader for raising awareness, equality and opportunity for people with Down syndrome.

DSAT receives no government funding and relies on private donations to provide valuable programming for our community. Funds raised support numerous programs, social events and educational seminars for people with Down syndrome and their families.
Tree damage west of Sutherland proved that a second tornado hit Dinwiddie County last Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Based on reports from the local emergency manager and the Virginia Department of Forestry, that tornado began north of U.S. 460 at 7:09 a.m. May 5.

It occurred just minutes after a tornado damaged buildings west of McKenney.

The second Dinwiddie tornado tracked through a wooded area for 2.3 miles without hitting any structures. The damage path ended near Namozine Road just short of Lake Chesdin.

The tornado was estimated to have 75 to 90 mph winds, which made it an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

This was Virginias ninth confirmed tornado from May 5. The others were:

4:04 a.m.: EF-0 near Smith Mountain Lake in Bedford County

5:45 a.m.: EF-1 that tracked for 11 miles across Mecklenburg County

6:13 a.m.: EF-0 that briefly hit a rural portion of Lunenburg County

6:42 a.m.: EF-0 in the Moseley community of Powhatan County

6:50 a.m.: EF-1 that began in Brunswick County and damaged structures west of McKenney in Dinwiddie

7:17 a.m.: EF-1 in Orange County

8:19 a.m.: EF-1 that hit Naval Support Facility Dahlgren in King George County

7:55 p.m.: EF-0 that tracked across Southampton and Surry County

Based on this preliminary count, that was the most tornadoes to hit Virginia in one event since an outbreak of 19 tornadoes on April 27-28, 2011.

Unlike the 2011 outbreak, there were no tornado-related injuries or fatalities reported last week.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Hamilton, Bermuda, May 11, 2017

For the interest it may have, below is a press release from Nordic American Offshore Ltd. that was announced today.

-------------------------------------

Nordic American Offshore Ltd. (NYSE:NAO) - the Executive Chairman and his family increase its holding in NAO.

Hamilton, Bermuda, May 11, 2017

A company owned by the NAO Executive Chairman, Herbjorn Hansson and his son, Alexander, today bought 500,000 shares in NAO at an average price of $1.12 per share. Over the last three days, the Hansson family has acquired 1.5 million shares in aggregate at an average price of $1.13 per share. Following today's transaction the Hansson family holds shares equivalent to 6.2% of NAO. Relevant filing will be undertaken.



Contacts:

Herbjrn Hansson, Executive Chairman

Nordic American Offshore Ltd.

Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or + 47 90 14 62 91

Web-site: www.nao.bm
Jefferson Yarns is wrapping up some of its final orders this week, as the Pulaski textile manufacturer plans to close Friday after nearly 80 years in Virginia.

The shutdown is a long time coming, company president Marc Bishop says. Hes still trying to sell the business, and has identified two potential buyers who could reopen the plant sometime in the future.

Bishop is hopeful about those prospects, but shutdown preparations will continue in the meantime.

It marks the end of an era for Pulaski, which once boasted a thriving textile industry with several downtown hosiery mills and garment manufacturers such as the Renfro sock factory.

Now, after decades of offshoring and increased foreign competition, Jefferson Yarns is the last clothing industry manufacturer left standing.

Theyve really done an extraordinary job keeping it going as long as they have, Pulaski Economic Development Director John White said. Im very sad to see it close and I really congratulate them for being as competitive as long as they have been in an almost impossible market to compete in.

The company, which has specialized in processing raw yarn so it can be used in garment factories, was called Jefferson Mills when it first moved its headquarters to Pulaski in 1938.

The business boomed, once employing more than 1,000 workers with three facilities in Pulaski, Bishop said.

But it began to struggle in the late 90s, as more and more of the companys closing industry customers moved overseas. Employment fell to 500 by the turn of the century.

Jefferson Yarns filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and emerged a year later with a plan to reorganize and carve out a niche around specialty products that you couldnt find anywhere else. That worked for a time, but it wasnt a permanent solution.

Bishop said the company recently took drastic measures to cut costs, and he felt like he was just a few more months away from turning the corner.

But thats when one of the business owners approached him last week with the news that investors wouldnt be financing operations any longer.

By then, there were just 31 employees left.

Basically, I was given three weeks to turn around a ship that had been going down for several years, Bishop said. When it was all said and done, it was real close to being viable with what we were doing.

Bishop said his top concern right now is for the future of his employees, whom he called dedicated and the cream of the crop.

Asked how Jefferson Yarns held on for so many years, he said it was the workers who made it happen.

The people we had, we were able to do things in the industry that other people could not do, Bishop said. Weve had so many people who got in 50 years of service. There are several down there right now who have 40 years of service. Thats unheard of in this day and time.
A Virginia State Police trooper asked a survey crew working Monday for Mountain Valley Pipeline to leave properties whose owners had not granted permission for the crews to study their land in Roanoke County for a possible pipeline route.

The surveyors agreed to comply but, according to witnesses, lingered for a time after the trooper left.

On Thursday, Mountain Valley Pipeline responded by filing a motion in Roanoke County Circuit Court for an injunction against three members of one family  a family who has denied access for surveying on their property off Poor Mountain Road  that could bar the family from attempting to halt surveying.

The states controversial survey law allows a natural gas company to survey private property without an owners consent as long as the company follows the laws requirements for notifying landowners, via certified mail, about their plans and the anticipated dates of entry of survey crews.

Conflicts between survey crews and landowners have occasionally turned heated in recent years, leading some observers to worry that a confrontation could turn tragic.

Many local law enforcement agencies have struggled with how to respond when property owners have sought help repelling survey crews because the law seems to protect surveyors from prosecution for criminal trespass.

Corinne Geller, a state police spokeswoman, said the department responded Monday even though surveying disputes are a civil matter.

Were there just to make sure there isnt a criminal act occurring or to ensure that a criminal act doesnt occur, Geller said.

She said the department will neither facilitate nor deny access to property.

In the instances that we have responded to so far, state police personnel have only conveyed the wishes of the property owner to the surveyors, Geller said. Per state code, state police has no authority to ask or demand surveyors to leave a property.

Fortunately, we have not had that situation arise, she said. They have been cooperative.

The Roanoke County Police Departments policy for responding to surveying disputes evolved, becoming more hands-off in October, a change that upset some property owners on Bent Mountain who are fighting the pipeline.

The county policy holds: If it appears proper notice was given, the property owner and MVP personnel will be advised that the police department will neither hinder nor facilitate entry to the property by MVP personnel.

On Monday, a survey crew had ventured onto two properties in the Bent Mountain area. One is owned by the family of Coles Terry, Grace Terry and Frank Terry, the other by the family of Karen Scott, whose daughter initially encountered the surveyors.

Scott, who was at work, said she called state police. She said the familys attorney had informed the pipeline company in writing that it did not have permission to survey their property.

She said the proposed pipeline route cuts through our best farmland and our best land for building.

The Terrys also had denied permission for surveying.

The $3.5 billion Mountain Valley project would travel from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It would transport natural gas at high pressure.

As an interstate pipeline, the Mountain Valley venture needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to proceed. If FERC greenlights the project, Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC will have access to eminent domain to acquire easements across private properties  a sore point for some observers who allege the pipeline will enrich investors in a private company yet yield little public benefit.

Mountain Valley has said the natural gas transported by the 42-inch diameter pipeline will serve markets in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Roanoke Gas, whose parent company is an investor in the project, has said it intends to install two taps on the pipeline to augment its supplies.

Roanoke lawyers Justin Lugar and Tom Bondurant represent landowners in the path of the pipeline. Bondurant, a former federal prosecutor, lives with his family on Bent Mountain, where his wife, Roberta Bondurant, has helped organize opposition to the pipeline even though their property is not on the proposed route.

Lugar and Tom Bondurant communicated in early May with Wade Massie, a lawyer working for Mountain Valley, and with the Salem division of the Virginia State Police, alerting them that their clients had not granted permission for surveying.

Lugars May 2 letter to Massie cited the states surveying law and noted it authorized entry on private property without an owners consent for work necessary to satisfy any regulatory requirements. Lugar argued that FERC regulations do not require that route surveying occur in advance of an interstate pipelines certification by the commission.

In addition, Lugar alleged that intrusion upon his clients land to perform surveying activities represents a taking under the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions. He said survey crews leave the properties with data  about wetlands, geology, cultural and historic artifacts and much more  but do not compensate landowners for facts and figures that Lugar contends have tangible value in the information age.

A 2013 amendment to the Virginia Constitution specified that no private property shall be damaged or taken for public use without just compensation.

Lugar argued that any taking of his clients property by Mountain Valley, absent a certificate from FERC granting the power of eminent domain, amounts to theft.

Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley Pipeline, responded in an email to the takings argument.

During surveying activities, the vast majority of the evaluation and analysis is conducted on each individual property at the time of survey, she said. Cox said artifacts that might be removed for evaluation will be returned once the evaluation is complete.

Lawyers for landowners along the route of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the separate but similar Atlantic Coast Pipeline have attempted to get judges to rule that the states survey law violates the Virginia Constitution.

To date, those efforts have not borne fruit. Two related appeals to the Virginia Supreme Court were heard last month, but the court has not yet issued opinions.

Meanwhile, Cox said more than 97 percent of centerline surveying is complete along the pipelines 303-mile route.

She said Mountain Valley always prefers obtaining landowner permission for survey activities.

For a very small subset of parcels and locations along the proposed route where MVP continues to face objection, MVP is moving forward with surveying activities as permitted by the Virginia statute, Cox said.

FERCs draft environmental impact statement, released in September, addressed properties where surveying has been denied  noting that the studies could be completed after FERC approved the project.

Roberta Bondurant said Thursday that she and others had welcomed the apparent willingness of state police to respond as companies based out of state prepared to force on landowners a project she and others say will do lasting damage to the environment, property values and the bone-deep attachment of longtime property owners to their land.
Late Tuesday night, I heard a sharp rap on the front door. As I opened it, a dark figure in a trench coat and fedora retreated into the shadows. A manila envelope lay on the front stoop. It bore handwritten block letters that read, MAY 8 WHITE HOUSE INTERCEPT: TRUMP DELIBERATES FIRING FBI DIRECTOR.

Obviously, it came from Wikitaps, the imaginary outfit that gathers electronic surveillance on everyone, including the White House. Oh boy, I thought. This ones going to be a humdinger.

The fictional transcript featured President Donald Trump, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. And believe it or not, it touched upon Roanokes congressman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, and one of Goodlattes predecessors, the late Caldwell Butler.

Here we go.

(Ivanka and Jared stick their heads in the Oval Offices door).

IVANKA: You wanted to see us, Daddy?

TRUMP: Ivanka! Jared! Come on in. I want you to help me think through something.

IVANKA: Whats that, Daddy?

TRUMP: Im going to fire FBI Director James Comey.

IVANKA: Ooooh, its just like old times on The Apprentice. This will get some ratings!

JARED: But why, sir?

TRUMP: Do I have to spell it out for you? Comeys the one leading the probe of Russian involvement in the election and my campaign. Ive been dropping hints for weeks that the FBI should back off, but Comey wont. Monday they delivered grand-jury subpoenas. And he asked the Justice Department for more resources for the investigation. Hes got to go!

JARED: But sir, Congress will have a fit if you fire the FBI director. Your chances of impeachment will rise considerably.

TRUMP: Im not worried about that. Under the constitution, impeachment has to start in the House of Representatives. And Rep. Bob Goodlattes got my back on this.

IVANKA: Goodlatte?

TRUMP: The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Hes in charge of whether articles of impeachment will ever see the light of day. With Bob on my side, they wont.

JARED: Are you sure?

TRUMP: Yeah. Bobs no stick-in-the mud, like the late Caldwell Butler was.

IVANKA: Whos that?

JARED: He served as 6th District congressman 1972 to 1983. He was the first Republican who stabbed Nixon in the back during Watergate. The Republicans were stonewalling Nixons impeachment. But on July 25, 1974, Butler broke ranks against Tricky Dick, and the opposition crumbled.

TRUMP: I have it on good authority that Bobll issue a statement approving my decision to fire Comey.

JARED: How do you know that?

TRUMP: Because we wrote it for him. It says, It is clearly the Presidents prerogative to remove the FBI Director, as was recommended by the top two officials at the Department of Justice. Theres more, but thats the guts. Its a total endorsement.

JARED: But how will you justify Comeys firing? You cant say its about the Russia investigation.

TRUMP (smiling broadly): Nah. Were going to argue he was unfair to Hillary Clinton with the private email server investigation. Lots of Democrats have already said the same thing  ha, ha!

JARED (snorts): But the timings awful. Nobody will believe that.

TRUMP: Hey, I dont care what they believe. Leading Democrats called for Comey to be fired, too!

IVANKA: I still dont understand why Bob Goodlatte would let the White House write his statement.

TRUMP: We made a deal, thats why. If Bob supports me on firing Comey, then Ill support his bid to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics.

JARED: But sir, that caused an uproar on the first day of the Congress session. It humiliated Goodlatte. The same thing will happen again.

TRUMP: Wrong. Once I announce Comeys replacement at the FBI, everyone will forget about congressional ethics.

IVANKA: Whom do you have in mind, Daddy?

TRUMP: Two well-known guys. The first is Joe Arpaio.

JARED: The former Maricopa County sheriff?

TRUMP: Right! Hes the local lawman from Arizona who investigated Obamas phony Hawaiian birth certificate. Hes arrested more immigrants than any other sheriff in the country. And in jail, he made them wear pink pajamas, just to humiliate them. My supporters will love that pick.

IVANKA: Whos the other?

TRUMP: Gen. Michael Flynn.

JARED (gasps): Flynn? Are you kidding, sir? You fired him from the national security advisers post!

TRUMP: I know. Ive been feeling bad about that ever since. Flynn deserves a second chance.

IVANKA: But Daddy, you cant make Flynn the FBI director. Hes the guy the FBIs investigating!

TRUMP: Honey, thats what makes him the perfect person to lead the agency. Flynn knows the facts better than anyone else. He knows theres nothing there with this Russian garbage. Hell kill this silly investigation, pronto.

IVANKA: I kind of feel like Ive passed through a mirror, and now Im having tea with a large, talking rabbit thats sitting atop a strange-looking spotted mushroom.

TRUMP: Welcome to the alternate universe, Ivanka. Its an amazing place. Thats what got me elected!

JARED: Caldwell Butler might be rolling in his grave.

TRUMP: Who cares? Hes dead.
LYNCHBURG  While Liberty University opens its arms to President Donald Trump, one group of Lynchburg-area residents is planning a non-welcoming demonstration.

Trump, a Republican supported by Libertys President Jerry Falwell Jr., will speak at the schools commencement Saturday, and the Seven Hills Progressive Society plans to demonstrate its distaste across the busy Wards Road.

At the same time, the Lynchburg Democratic Committee plans a day of action focused on community service.

Honestly, we have deep ideological differences with Donald Trump and with Liberty University to be honest, said Nick Castanes, Seven Hills de facto chairman and a Montessori school teacher.  We want to make sure there is a voice of dissent to at least send a message through the media.

The group expects to set up along Wards Road near its intersection with Harvard Street. The Lynchburg Police Department said final details will not be publicly available until Thursday.

On the Trumps Non-Welcoming Committee Facebook event page, Castanes said demonstrators will be allowed to park at Central Virginia Community Colleges lower parking lot.

The parking area generally is open when LU holds graduations and other larger events, according to CVCC Police Chief Russell Dove.

The campus will not be offering space for people to organize or protest on campus, he said.

If they park there as an individual, theyre an individual parking there, Dove said.
OTTAWA, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With rave reviews and a 9.5 out of 10 rating from over 800 attendees in its inaugural year, the 2nd Annual SAAS NORTH Conference returns to Ottawa on November 29-30, 2017. SAAS NORTH is Canadas SaaS conference, bringing the entire ecosystem together under one roof.



If you are a founder, investor or interested in SaaS, SAAS NORTH is the conference for you, said Tobi Lutke, CEO and founder of Shopify.

Nationally and globally, SaaS (software as a service) is leading the way for growth in tech. According to Gartner, SaaS is estimated to exceed $46 billion this year. SAAS NORTH is where Canadian companies connect with global investors to scale up!

I am inspired by the passion, energy, and expertise of the SaaS community in Canada, said Kerri Connolly, Director Partner Development, Microsoft. It all comes together at SAAS NORTH with great content and networking.

SAAS NORTH 2017 will bring over 1200 attendees, 400 companies, and 70 speakers together with actionable content and impactful networking.

New this year: Roundtables, AMAs (Ask Me Anything), updated Investor Zone, the Pitch Stage and a Trade show that is expected to double in size.

I was impressed by the quality of the event and the pedigree of the attendees, said Bruce Croxon, Former Dragon, now with Road 13 Capital. I am very much looking forward to round 2.

Co-founded by L-SPARK Corporation and Cube Business Media Inc., SAAS NORTH is Canadas go-to hub for SaaS founders, service providers, investors and their teams.

Watch the highlight video and get inspired by the energy and excitement in this jam packed two-day event.

Stay tuned for Speaker and Program announcements. Now accepting new sponsor, exhibitor, and speaker applications.

This year, Shopify is a lead sponsor and I look forward to seeing what's in store for 2017, says Lutke.

Global SaaS leaders are set to participate in SAAS NORTH 2017, more brands are signing on daily: Shopify, Microsoft, Zapier, Hubspot, Price Intelligently, Influitive, 500 Startups, MaRS, Omers, Unbounce, Buffer, PageCloud, Klipfolio, and many more.

Get your SAAS NORTH Super Early bird tickets at www.saasnorth.com for $795 while quantities last.

About SAAS NORTH

SAAS NORTH is Canada's SaaS Conference designed to connect the top SaaS professionals to learn, network and grow. Fueled by tactical, actionable content and impactful networking, SAAS NORTH is generating Canadas playbook for scaling a SaaS company. www.saasnorth.com

About L-SPARK

The only Canadian Incubator and Accelerator that focuses exclusively on Enterprise SaaS and cloud start-ups. With established relationships with the investment community at large, the goal is to support a deal flow of fundable Enterprise SaaS startup companies in Canada. www.l-spark.com

About Cube Business Media

A boutique conference and exposition company, founded to generate connections, build content & create communities. Founded by Mark Stephenson and David Tyldesley, Cube specializes in building annual events from the ground up. www.cubebusinessmedia.com
Beauty and the Beast (PG)

What we gave it: HHH

Metacritic score: 65

Box-office records have been broken by director Bill Condons live-action adaptation of the classic 1991 Disney cartoon, with Emma Watson as the singing beauty and Dan Stevens as the lovelorn beast. Two hours, nine minutes.

Parents advisory: Fine for kids and teenagers, but the violence may be too scary for the youngest.

 Miami Herald

Born in China (G)

What we gave it: HHHH

Metacritic score: 58

John Krasinski narrates this nature documentary that looks at a panda and her growing cubs. One hour, 16 minutes.

Parents advisory:

Fun, adorable and educational for all ages. Perfect for kids to try documentary/non-fiction movies.

 The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Boss Baby (PG)

What we gave it: HHH

Metacritic score: 50

A most unusual Boss Baby (Alec Baldwin) arrives at Tims home in a taxi, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. The instant sibling rivalry between Tim and his new brother must soon be put aside when Tim discovers that Boss Baby is actually a spy on a secret mission, and only he can help thwart a dastardly plot that involves an epic battle between puppies and babies. One hour, 37 minutes.

Parents advisory: Fine for kids of all ages.

 The Roanoke Times

The Case for Christ (PG)

What we gave it: N/A

Metacritic score: 51

A journalist nonbeliever sets out to disprove his wifes faith through research and investigation. With Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway, Robert Forster. One hour, 52 minutes.

 Los Angeles Times

The Circle(PG-13)

What we gave it: HH 

Metacritic score: 43

The head of a giant tech company (Tom Hanks) asks an ambitious young employee (Emma Watson) to participate in an experiment testing the boundaries of personal privacy. Based on the novel by Dave Eggers, who cowrote the screenplay. One hour, 50 minutes.

Parents advisory:

Fine for young teens and older kids, if theyre interested, but the genre and issues at hand will appeal more to older adiences.

 The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Fate of the Furious (PG-13)

What we gave it: HH 

Metacritic score: 56

Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren join the Fast and the Furious franchise. Theron plays the latest villain to threaten the worlds most popular crew of car enthusiasts  Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and Jordana Brewster. Also starring Kurt Russell, Jason Statham and Scott Eastwood. Two hours, 16 minutes.

 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Get Out (R)

What we gave it: HHHH 

Metacritic score: 83

Comedian Jordan Peele (Keanu) takes a break from the funny stuff writing and directing this horror movie about a young African-American man (Daniel Kaluuya) who visits the family of his white girlfriend (Allison Williams). One hour, 43 minutes.

Parents advisory: Not too exceptionally violent  fine for teens.

 Miami Herald

Gifted (PG-13)

What we gave it: HHH 

Metacritic score: 60

The life of a single man raising his niece, a math prodigy, is complicated by his meddling mothers plans for her granddaughter. With Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate. One hour, 41 minutes.

 Los Angeles Times

Going in Style (PG-13)

What we gave it: HHH

Metacritic score: 50

Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin star as seniors who resort to crime to get even with the corporation that burned them in this update of the 1979 comedy. One hour, 36 minutes.

 Los Angeles Times

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (PG-13)

What we gave it: HHH

Metacritic score: 67

Filmmaker James Gunn delivers mixtape No. 2 as the team explores the mystery of Peter Quills heritage and fights galactic baddies. With Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell. Two hours, 16 minutes.

 Los Angeles Times

Kong: Skull Island (PG-13)

What we gave it: HHH 

Metacritic score: 63

Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and John Goodman are the latest band of explorers who wander onto a remote island ruled by a giant ape. The story this time takes place in the Vietnam-era 1970s. Two hours.

Parents advisory: This is fine for teens and should be OK for older kids, but its very violent  mostly CGI stuff with Kong.

 Miami Herald

Logan (R)

What we gave it: HHHH

Metacritic score: 77

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as the clawed mutant Wolverine for the seventh and final time  and this time, the camera doesnt look away from the bloody violence. Two hours, 17 minutes.

Parents advisory: Keep the kids at home for this one; its just too dark and too violent. OK for older teens.

 Miami Herald

The Lost City of Z (PG-13)

What we gave it: HHHH

Metacritic score: 78

Charlie Hunnam stars in this fact-based jungle epic from writer-director James Gray about early 20th century British explorer Percy Fawcett and his search for evidence of lost civilizations in South America. With Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson. Two hours, 21 minutes.

 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Power Rangers (PG-13)

What we gave it: HHH

Metacritic score: 44

Five ordinary teens must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove  and the world  is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Two hours, four minutes.

Parents advisory: Fine for teens and older kids, too violent for the youngest kids.

 The Roanoke Times

The Smurfs: The Lost Village (PG)

What we gave it: HH

Metacritic score: 40

This all-animated installment finds the little blue creatures searching the Forbidden Forest for a lost village. Voices by Demi Lovato, Rainn Wilson, Joe Manganiello, Jack McBrayer, Danny Pudi, Mandy Patinkin. One hour, 21 minutes.

Parents advisory: Fine and fun for kids of all ages.

 Los Angeles Times

Their Finest (R)

What we gave it: HHHH

Metacritic score: 76

During World War II, a female screenwriter is engaged by the British ministry to give their films a womans touch. With Gemma Arterton, Bill Nighy, Sam Claflin, Jack Huston, Jack Lacy, Richard E. Grant. One hour, 57 minutes.

 Los Angeles Times

Unforgettable (R)

What we gave it: HHHH

Metacritic score: 45

A woman (Rosario Dawson) finds her pending marriage to a divorced man disrupted by his disturbed ex (Katherine Heigl). With Cheryl Ladd. One hour, 40 minutes.

 The Philadelphia Inquirer

 Star ratings are given by wire reviewers who are credited at the end of each movie summary. Metacritic.com provides a weighted average, from 1 to 100, of all the scores assigned by critics from various national publications. Parents advisories come from Tribune News Service.
Business News Haiti Listed As One Of The Riskiest Countries In The World To Do Business | RobinsPost News & Noticias

"This is well way below recommended levels, leaving Haiti at high risks of further outbreaks," Etienne said. PAHO considers Haiti one of four countries ... 2022 World China to make 'substantial ... Read More The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World ... country, but we don't need boots [on the ground]," one protestor told AFP. Violent protests break out in Haiti ... Read More The demonstrations came on the day the country commemorated the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a slave who became the leader of the world ... not interfere in Haitis business. ... Read More 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the CIA World Factbooks one-year population growth estimates for 2022. The countries on this list recorded at least a 2% one-year population growth. All data is from the ... Read More Though many English-speaking countries spend October awaiting the thrills and chills of Halloween, the month is also marked by a host of other traditions across the world  from daylong holidays ... Read More UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The United States and Mexico said Monday they are preparing a U.N. resolution that would authorize an international mission to help improve security in Haiti, whose ... Read More
Press Release Soitec Soitec Names Global Industry Veteran Stephen Lin To New Position Of Vice President Of Strategic Business Development In China | RobinsPost News & Noticias

DAYTON, Ohio (AP)  A company that publishes three newspapers in Ohio has named a media industry veteran as its new ... such as the Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post ... Read More Mr. Beltz brings a wealth of general management and sales experience to his new position. Prior to joining Vuzix, he served as Vice President ... the business," said Bill Beltz, VP Global Sales. Read More Global Finances editorial board selected the winners for the Private Bank Awards with input from executives and industry insiders ... When it comes to private banking, business owners and top ... Read More DAYTON, Ohio  A company that publishes three newspapers in Ohio has named a media industry veteran as its new publisher. Suzanne Klopfenstein will formally assume her new role with Cox First ... Read More A company that publishes three newspapers in Ohio has named a media industry veteran as its new publisher DAYTON, Ohio -- A company that publishes three newspapers in Ohio has named a media ... Read More
Politics News Colombia Law Gives Former Farc Rebels Role In Politics | RobinsPost News & Noticias

from September 6-11 Colombia's FARC rebels will officially transform into a political party on September 1, a major step in reintegrating the former guerillas into civilian life as part of a ... Read More But now, as one of the only former FARC ... represent a higher political cost for Petro's government than sitting down with Mordisco, since Marquez signed the FARC peace agreement before later ... Read More The political transitions of South Africa and Colombia expose some lessons ... the development of activities to allow former rebels to participate in politics based on democratic rules. Read More If we want to revert these figures, we need to do something different, Osuna said, adding that a 2016 peace deal with rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) includes ... Read More Colombias prosecution continues ... are related to the alleged ties between the former presidents family and the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC and ended Uribes political career in 2019. Read More Colombias prosecution indicted a former army captain and four former soldiers over their alleged drug trafficking activities with paramilitary organization AGC. According to the prosecution, the five ... Read More Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News DFW ... off against former Dallas Cowboy Herschel ... Read More Former President Donald Trump is appealing ... Related Articles National Politics | J6 committee gives Trump more time to turn over documents Judge says hell appoint monitor for Trumps ... Read More Byrne, himself a former Essex County prosecutor ... beneficial to the state and takes the politics, and certainly the politics of electioneering, out of law enforcement as much as possible ... Read More Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News DFW ... comply with state law, the Texas ... Read More Between the two sexes, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert called women the lesser vessel during a conversation with a conservative comedian Friday. We are created equal, were not the same ... Read More About the time Tuesday night's fatal shootings were unfolding, KTBS 3 News was talking with Sen ... Also in ArkLaTex Politics, a visit with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a few days ... Read More
Flint, Michigan, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonia Syngal 93, Global President and CEO for Old Navy, will deliver the Kettering University Commencement Address on June 17.

Syngal leads Old Navy business across all geographies and channels with a team of 56,000 employees. A design-driven, innovative leader, Syngal has delivered growth and unlocked revenue potential across multiple functions and industries. She achieves lasting value by delivering transformation in product, process and people.

In her 13 years with Gap Inc. Sonia has held leadership roles across Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta and Intermix, including leading the companys global supply chain and product-to-market model, and before that as Managing Director of Europe.

Prior to Gap Inc., Syngal had a successful career in Fortune 500 product companies, including 10 years at Sun Microsystems and six years at Ford Motor Co.

Syngal holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University and a masters degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University. She serves on the Gap Foundation Board of Trustees.

Kettering Universitys Commencement Ceremony is Saturday, June 17, at 11 a.m. in the Connie and Jim John Recreation Center.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/215f43a2-c283-4e70-8725-604ed2eeaeb4
Politics News Sa Politics Not Just Cash Makes Players Leave Habana | RobinsPost News & Noticias

2 Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins3 One purpose of my book is to spell out some of the ways in which money is not just ... political currency in the book in a metaphorical sensenot to refer to ... Read More Absolutely fucking not, one of Trumps advisers on legal ... Several of Trumps attorneys and political counselors have directly told the ex-president this month that any testimony ... Read More It's not like ... those cars may make nothing but left turns, but the fans certainly aren't going to. Bottom line: People watch the "Housewives" as trashy escapism. And political crap bleeding ... Read More I think we were better off four years ago than today. Your dollar does not go far. The last two years have been a trainwreck. So, if you like what is going on, vote for the radical policy and see ... Read More Personnel will remain on leave pending the outcome." Fields' sister, Darius Faulk, is one of the cash recipients ... that she also does not have experience in the political world and works ... 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 Seventy-one percent of all voters said democracy was at risk, but just 7 percent said that was ... Catch up on more political news. Election Guides and Explainers What is decided in the 2022 ... Read More Tulsi Gabbard, the former 2020 presidential candidate and current Fox News talking head ... weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ... Read More PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - With just three weeks to go before the mid-term elections, the negative attack ads are ramping up, but they're not necessarily ... "Don't rely on a political ad to make up ... Read More But its not just ... who make up about 18 percent of Gen X, also hold distinct views, which might be explained by the fact that many of them didnt experience peak political socialization ... Read More This party is a little different from the other BravoCon pre-parties, though. This one is all about politics. There are a lot of parallels between Real Housewives and politics  they ... Read More
Politics News Mudzidzi Wimbo Predicts Mugabe S Successor Will Be An Outsider Army To Intervene In Politics | RobinsPost News & Noticias

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 Exit polls are often looked to as an indicator of an election's results, especially on election night. The Fox News Power Rankings are projections for political races nationwide. They provide ... Read More Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has predicted an extremely ... Biden on Friday gave a window into how hes preparing for a looming political showdown over the debt ceiling, stating ... Read More The names of each candidate's proposer and seconder will be published, the other 98 names will not. The latest Sky News tally shows Mr Sunak has 146 backers, while Ms Mordaunt has 25. If only one ... Read More Related Articles National Politics | J6 committee gives Trump more time to turn over documents Judge says hell appoint monitor for Trumps company While the Clinton campaign did pay ... Read More Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party run for shelter after police fired tear gas shells to disperse them during a protest to condemn the election commission's decision ... Read More November 1, 2022  With one week out before the 2022 midterms, WSKG Government and Politics Reporter Vaughn Golden discusses the recent U.S. Senate debate and some of the last campaign finance ... Read More This week in Kentucky politics.. Abortion rights supporters continue to outraise opponents in the fight over Kentuckys anti-abortion constitutional amendment. A conservative super PAC is ... Read More So, whats up with Gen Xs politics? Probably just the same kinds of things that are up with everyone elses. Correction, Oct. 28, 2022: This story originally misstated that Reagan was ... Read More New Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni arrives for the handover ceremony at Chigi Palace Premier's office, in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. Giorgia Meloni, 45, whose political party with neo-fascist ... Read More Baton Rouge, La -- He may be gearing up to run for Governor, but Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is not neglecting his day job. Landry, Louisiana and the State of Missouri, have joined ... Read More The Army's new doctrine has dropped ... director of the services Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, told Defense News in a recent interview. When you think about the importance of INDOPACOM ... Read More
Potus News Trump To Meet Turkey S Erdogan Next Tuesday | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has laid out his vision for Turkey in the next century, promising a new constitution that would guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens. In ... Read More Russian President Vladimir Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday that he wanted "real guarantees" from Kyiv before it potentially rejoined the grain deal. Putin told Erdogan in a ... Read More
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Potus News Sean Hannity Dismisses Trump Russia Link As Just A Bizarre Conspiracy Theory | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Fox News host Sean Hannity slammed Democratic leadership over ... Some are using credit cards just to make ends meet for the bare necessities. Now, the number one killer of young Americans in ... Read More Editors' Blog / Analysis & Opinion News Live ... TPM President Trump has a few people to thank for the partial no-end-in-sight government shutdown: Himself and, say, Sean Hannity. Read More In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. Read More SEAN HANNITY: We are only 26 days away until these ... Gas prices up 20% since the time Trump was president, it's doubled. Even with Biden trying to artificially reduce the price by draining ... Read More Fox News host Sean Hannity is in strong command of audiences ... a point in his tenure last year when former President Donald Trump had given 57. Tapper was taking his first crack at a nighttime ... Read More Fox News host Sean Hannity scolded Senate Minority Leader ... become a proxy war between McConnell and former President Donald Trump. "This really bothers me. Because the Republicans in Alaska ... Read More Fox News host Sean Hannity and colleague Mark Levin ... apparently wasnt great enough for former President Donald Trump, whom Hannity adores. He tried to overturn the 2020 election, which ... Read More Fox News host Sean ... another, just like they did with the dirty Steele dossier." Hannity was referring to a disputed opposition research report about former President Donald Trump which ... Read More On Monday evening, at the nine oclock hour, Fox News Sean Hannity aired an explosive story ... who died of brain cancer 2015, Trump interrupted him to call Hunter a deadbeat. Read More Ron Johnson (R-WI), the Fox News host sought to ... In recent weeks, Hannity has ramped up his attacks on all three Democrats, with less than a month to go until the November midterms. Sean, youre ... Read More
Science News Muddy The Waters Ken Ham Greg Gianforte And The Creationist Assault On Science In Montana | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Greg Gianforte won the congressional race in Montana yesterday despite earning an assault charge ... and institutions of science to promote unscientific views. Ken Hams Ark Encounter theme ... Read More Copyright  2022 Salon.com, LLC. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. SALON  is registered in the U.S ... Read More Drone video shows destruction in Sanibel Island, now cut off from Florida's mainland Sanibel Island, a small community near Fort Myers, Florida, is connected to the mainland by a causeway, parts ... Read More The above data displays contributions the candidate raised during campaigns for state government offices, including gubernatorial and state legislative offices, state supreme and intermediate ... Read More Greg Gianforte and public employee unions ... employees and will keep them doing important work for Montana, said the news release. The governor and union leaders praised the agreement in ... Read More Montanans medical expenses should be more transparent upfront, Gov. Greg Gianforte said during a Friday stop in Billings, promising to make the issue a priority in the 2023 Legislature. Read More Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. At ... Read More
Science News Photos Davinci Alive Exhibit At The Science Museum Of Virginia | RobinsPost News & Noticias

(WRIC)  Immerse yourself in an evening of Halloween fun and science demonstrations in the Science Museum of Virginias latest ... opens Crystals exhibit with over 70 specimens ... Read More (WRIC)  The Virginia Fiesta! event celebrated Hispanic culture in Richmond last weekend. Combining art with science at the Science Museum of Virginia ... Oct. 15. (Photo: 8News) A celebration ... Read More ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - The Science Museum of Western Virginia had planned to celebrate 50 years in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We decided were going to delay it and were going to ... Read More Options for guests to explore throughout the evening include Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity, a touring exhibit that ... all the things the Science Museum of Virginia strives to ... Read More We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can ... Read More Ever since the Denver Museum of Nature & Science reopened following a brief ... in late January for its next stop in Richmond, Virginia, the exhibit not only has garnered a significant number ... Read More New Field Museum exhibit looks at how we experience death New Field Museum exhibit looks at how we experience death 01:05 CHICAGO (CBS) --Many of the exhibits at the Field Museum of Natural ... Read More Da Vinci is currently in the middle of construction to develop a three-story, 67,292-square-foot facility at Eighth and Hamilton streets. Read More A museum in Manchester has ... Credit: ITV News It opens on 21 October and is the Manchester Science Festival's headline exhibition. Organisers have spent four years curating the exhibition ... Read More Rachel Smith from The Allen County ESC gives a hands-on science lesson Monday at Unity Elementary School. The lessons have been designed to inspire young minds, generate a love for science and ... Read More Traveling exhibition showcases stunning biodiversity from ocean's surface to its greatest depthsDENVER, Nov. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Denver ... Read More Trick-or-treaters got to experience cool science tricks and Halloween treats at the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Sunday.Kids explored museum exhibits while stopping at trick-or-treat ... Read More
Technology News Rbc S New Collaboration With Oneeleven Provides Canada S Top Technology Startups With Resources To Manage And Grow Their Businesses | RobinsPost News & Noticias

KITCHENER, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Communitech has added 26 Canadian tech firms to its roster of top-performing ... As Canadas tech supercharger, Communitech helps founders start, grow ... Read More TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2022 /CNW/ - RBC is proud to recognize four exceptional ... Fraud and Security Risk -- have been honoured among Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive ... Read More MONTREAL, Oct. 17, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - CAE CAE CAE's innovative flight simulation technology has been featured on a new stamp recently launched by Canada ... perform at their best in the moments ... Read More REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo Oct 12 (Reuters) - Canada's ... and their continued support for oil and gas companies, even if partially aimed at helping them transition to alternatives. RBC ... Read More Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a news conference ... (SMR), a new nuclear technology touted as a key part of the country's plans to reduce emissions, Natural Resources Minister ... Read More She's also one of six applicants who filed a complaint to Canada's Competition ... of the investigation into RBC may just be that banks are more careful in their wording. (Submitted by Dror ... Read More Facebook Threatens to Block News Content Over Canada's Revenue-Sharing Bill By Ismail Shakil OTTAWA (Reuters) - Facebook warned on Friday that it may block sharing of news content on its platform ... Read More Canadas innovation and technology industries ... In addition to regular payroll expenses, businesses will face additional expenses related to their employees time and effort. Read More Similarly, as it relates to transparency for what the NEF is used for, Members do not receive adequate information regarding these funds and their ... Hockey Canadas news release read. Read More Once live, we expect this new ... Canadas leading financial technology companies, is empowering its more than 2 million members with simple digital solutions to help them get in control of ... Read More Canada's Competition Bureau has launched an investigation into Royal Bank of Canada over allegations that the country's largest lender had misled customers on its commitments regarding climate action. Read More
Travel News Travel To Denmark Romania And The Obituary Section Of The New York Times | RobinsPost News & Noticias

whether published in the opinion section or mourned in the obituary section, drew the same ire from the New York Times staffers as did the publishing of a Republican senator calling for rioters to ... Read More Essentially, its one of the cheapest times to travel for the whole year. To illustrate that point, he recently priced round-trip tickets from New York City to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at $567 ... Read More The New York Times just hates that the news keeps proving Rep. Lee Zeldin right to focus on the states crime crisis  so it bashes him for highlighting it. The paper rips him for quickly ... Read More The "Outnumbered" panelists called out The New York Times for "not ... calling out The Times for rejecting the people for politicians. Fox News contributor Brian Brenberg slammed The Times for ... Read More Judge Jeanine Pirro discusses former New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet ripping his ex-employer over the Sen. Tom Cotton op-ed fiasco that cost him his job.on "The Five" Wednesday ... Read More New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said on Thursday ... Leader Mitch McConnell a piece of s. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Read More Ansonia was recently spotlighted in a New York Times profile, as the national publication featured details on its real estate prices, historical background, its 20-time state champion high school ... Read More Caesars Entertainment and SL Green confirmed in a New York Times story that they are partnering ... If youre not a subscriber, you should be. Get news on hotel deals, development, stocks ... Read More The result is a new three-part Times audio ... C.D.C. New York City has nearly eliminated the virus. Gothamist explores what it would take for the city to eradicate it. Stat News explore whether ... Read More But heres some good news ... of the new renewable energy generation. Still, Vine said the renewable energy growth would need to continue to accelerate by as much as three or four times the ... Read More The New York Times editorial board endorsed Democratic ... Get the latest race updates, exclusive interviews, and more Fox News politics content. Read More Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Oct. 1, which were reported on a confidential basis by vendors offering a wide range of general interest titles. Every week, thousands of diverse selling ... Read More
Mumbai, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mumbai: 3i Infotech Ltd. BSE: 3IINFOTECH, 3i Infotech is a Global Information Technology company committed to Empowering Business Transformation. A comprehensive set of Banking, Financial Services and Insurance IP based software applications, coupled with a wide range of IT Services, including Application Development, Infrastructure Management, Consulting and BPO, uniquely positions the company to address the dynamic requirements of Banking, Insurance, Capital Markets, Asset & Wealth Management (BFSI), Government, Telecom and Healthcare. Our ERP vertical in addition to the above industry verticals, also offers comprehensive solutions to Manufacturing, Retail, Trading & Distribution, Enterprise, Contracting, NGOs, & Logistics. The company announced a net profit of $15.03 Mn in FY 2017, after reporting losses for 5 consecutive years.

Comprehensive restructuring of existing debt ratio, tightened operational cash flows, prudent management of working capital, backed with aggressive cost reduction were the measures instrumental in achieving the Companys turnaround. The company undertook ongoing measures to build confidence amongst its customers through proactive communication.



Since admittance to CDR, the Companys business model continued to remain strong and maintained a strong operative margin in line with the IT Industry. 3i Infotech remained passionately focused on business efficiency and sustainable long term growth, spearheading a bouquet of innovative solutions that dovetail with its domain led core competence. The company re-organized itself into four business units  Banking Products, Insurance & Financial Services Products, ERP Products & IT Services across BFS, IHC, Government and Enterprise, to drive profound customer connect. The Companys business model of a good spread between developed and emerging markets, as well as a range between IT products and IT services continued to remain intact. The restructuring gave the organization the nimbleness and flexibility to quickly grasp opportunities and implement decisions with sacrosanct TATs. Strong measures to improve delivery yielded positive results. The company actively services over 1000+ customers across 50 countries. A significant number of these customers have been with the company for more than a decade.



While the Company continues to enhance its brand in the Domestic and International markets, ongoing cost reduction and delivery synergy steps have helped sustain favorable benefits on the performance of the Company. These measures combined with the comprehensive restructuring of its debt resulted in the Company declaring net profit after reporting losses for 5 consecutive years.

USD Mn. FY2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY2016 FY2017 Revenue From Operations 241.44 216.97 220.17 172.31 149.89 Net Profit/ (Net Loss) (92.97) (59.32) (159.93) (84.74) 15.03

Speaking on the success, Padmanabhan Iyer, Managing Director & Global CEO, 3i Infotech said, The Company is thankful to all its stakeholders, including its customers, lenders, investors, employees and partners, who have stood by the Company through its turnaround journey. The Companys focus on its domain specific core competence strengthened its relationships with stakeholders, and expedited stabilization and growth of business operations. It also reinforced the acceptance in the market of the Companys comprehensive IT solutions



3i Infotech has initiated steps to ensure that its offerings come up the curve quickly to cater to both its traditional markets as well as the new markets it plans to penetrate. Product upgrades are being done, with the latest technology stack embedded within a modular approach, offered on the cloud environments. Equally important, Services which is a big part of our business, ride on digital transformation offerings as a key focus area for Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Enterprise and Government, including Consulting, recommending appropriate solutions and partnering with the customers in building, testing & maintaining them. The combination of our Products & Services portfolio offers a one stop shop for all our active customers globally.



Digital landscape is changing the way business is conducted and is now a hard reality. It has become a growth engine for companies to survive and thrive in both B2B & B2C. Emergence of new business models are facilitating customer acquisitions and servicing through automation. Strategic long term customer engagements combined with a consistent partner led approach have significantly rejuvenated companys relationships & thereby driving larger wallet share from active customer accounts.



To ensure it is one step ahead of the curve, the company undertook ongoing measures to build confidence amongst its customers through proactive communication. Strong consistent measures to improve delivery as well as significant cost reduction by optimizing resources and synergizing operations yielded positive results. More importantly, the Company continued focused investment on R&D for its products and services. With these measures, the company successfully mined existing customers and acquired new customer logos. There is a renewed focus on Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Manufacturing, Retail & Distribution and Government with specialized offerings covering Islamic requirements, process streamlining, integration of distribution channels and regulatory requirements. The Company has also taken steps to rationalize as well as strengthen its talent pool in a focused manner to give an added thrust to its business growth.



In the current, constantly changing technology landscape, the Company is leveraging on its new mantra  Consistently invest in nurturing our global workforce to drive an intense culture of innovation & thereby rendering effective domain led business solutions catering our targeted industry verticals



Revitalizing as a future-ready IT enterprise of 2020, the Company is concentrating on 



People: Nurturing and cherishing the talent, the company is heavily investing in true Digital experts while incorporating numerous employee enrichment initiatives across geographies. Learning interventions, reward programs, certification programs etc. are also being introduced.

Business Verticals: The Companys current focused verticals are Banking & Financial Services, Insurance & Healthcare, Government and Enterprise. By 2020 the company plans to mature in these verticals and augmenting the customer wallet share, by offering truly differentiated offerings to the customers.

New Products & Solutions: Digital transformation is the theme for the companys end-to-end solution stack & consulting frameworks. While evolving and serving as a true transformation partner to the customers, the company is focusing on customer experience and customer value management, Cloud migration, Analytics, IoT technologies, SMAC, Telematics, RPA, AI, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity and Blockchain to facilitate expansion of market reach of its customers. 3i Infotech is also geared culturally & operationally to collaborate with fintechs and leverage their solutions to fill gaps and offer composite next generation solutions to its customers and prospects.

Growth Markets: 3i Infotechs immediate focus is India, Africa, APAC, Middle East and US. The company plans to scale-up its footprint across all active regions and focus on UK & Europe, later in the financial year.

3i Infotechs core strength lies in strategic engagement with customers as a true business partner offering comprehensive IT solutions predominantly IPR based products & value added services bundled with deep domain expertise catering to constantly evolving industry landscape. A razor sharp focus on the operating markets, deep domain understanding and business driven technological solutions are ingrained in the fabric of 3i Infotech.



Enrichment of the complete solutions suite across Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, ERP and IT Services, for our customers across target markets, will position 3i Infotech as a constant trendsetter to cater to next-generation enterprises technological needs.

Core values of 3i Infotech:
Travel News Alaska Rep Censured For Implying Some Women Get Abortions For Free Travel | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The resolution passed by a 49-8 vote, according to local news reports. The Alaska Republican Party also censured Murkowski ... According to FactCheck.org, some of the ads aired in the race have ... Read More Still, while some corporate clients have been slower to return to travel, Alaskanot unlike United Airlines, which said similarly during its third-quarter call Wednesdaybelieves it is benefitting ... Read More Alaska Airlines has exercised an option for the purchase of 52 Boeing 737 Max aircraft between 2024 and 2027. The planes will augment the 43 Max jets that Alaska plans to receive by the end of ... Read More Brooke Schoenman is an American woman living ... it's easier to get inside your small space. "Another thing is just finding items that are the right size for your trip. Travel-sized toiletry ... Read More The abortion bans have prompted some women to travel elsewhere for the medical ... health care providers and women seeking abortions. State Rep. Linda Ichiyama, a womens legislative caucus ... Read More And Wilson said she'd do it all over again with the hopes of inspiring other women to join BWWK+ or similar groups to help them get ... Travel + Leisure magazine may receive compensation for some ... Read More But Spain is the first country to fully subsidize train travel for all. Free train tickets are available to anyone in Spain until the end of 2023, but there are a few caveats. First, the free ... Read More Les 3 Vallees Travel will become a comprehensive holiday booking portal as follows: A one-stop-shop to simplify the customer journey. At launch, accommodation can be booked, as well as ski ... Read More The Alaska Native Culture Guide debuted on Oct. 10  Indigenous Peoples Day  at the travel associations annual convention in Sitka. The guide includes information on cultural groups and ... Read More Additionally, some policies have optional ... That's why it's important to compare travel insurance companies and plans before landing on one. Get free quotes now. (Note: If you're concerned ... Read More Editor's Note  Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations ... (CNN)  This week in travel: some of the destinations in Asia with the most ... Read More Travel insurance is typically just a small fraction of your total trip cost (an estimated 5-10% of your total costs on average). Simply follow these steps to get a free quote and purchase a plan ... Read More
Us News Former Us Attorney Joins Race For Us Senate Seat In Alabama | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Republican Katie Britt has become the first woman elected to the U.S Senate from Alabama as she captured the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby. Britt faced Democratic ... Read More While the overall midterm election results may not be known for hours or even days in some spots, candidates from both parties are already celebrating historic victories. Read More As midterm vote-counting wraps up across the country, ABC News projects that several states will elect their first female, minority, LGTBQ and Gen Z candidates. Read More Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat, beat Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, flipping a Senate seat. J.D. Vance won for Republicans in Ohio. But control of the House and Senate still hangs in the balance. Read More Republicans will hold Alaska Senate seat in a race that will go to ranked choice voting. Read More The 2022 midterm election is underway and CNN has results for key Senate, House and state races. Follow our voting day updates, watch our livestream, and find our latest election coverage here. Read More Flipped 1 seat 29 seats not up for election Jonathan Weisman A hard-fought victory by Pennsylvanias lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, over the celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz flipped a Senate seat from ... Read More Donald Trumps former interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, is facing challenges on three fronts in his bid for a Montana U.S. House seat  from a Democrat, a Libertarian and Zinke's ... Read More Republicans will hold Alaska Senate seat in a race that will go to ranked choice voting. AP NEWS ... Read More
Us News Makkawi Us 16500 Million Cost Of Sudan Railways Strategic Plan Implemention | RobinsPost News & Noticias

US President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve ... The draw completes the plan announced in March to release a total of ... Read More US border authorities encountered more than 2 million migrants, some of whom repeatedly tried to cross the border, in fiscal year 2022, according to newly released US Customs and Border Protection ... Read More An estimated 1.3 million adults in the US with diabetes ration insulin due to high costs, increasing their risk of diabetes-related complications like organ damage, blindness and even death. Read More South Sudans government says at least 2 million people have been affected ... 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events ... Read More The third-largest maintenance workers union opposed the deal, saying concerns over paid time off remained unaddressed The USs third-largest ... the biggest raises rail workers have seen ... Read More The US government on Friday reported that ... included the recognition of $430bn in costs from the Biden administrations plan to forgive student debt of up to $20,000 for former college ... Read More a decline by 33.42% than the plan. Menelik said that in the two months of the current fiscal year, 112.36 million kilowatt hours of electricity was exported to Sudan for an amount of US$5.61 ... Read More President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that hes releasing 15 million barrels of oil from the nations emergency reserves. This will complete the 6-month draw down of 180 million barrels that ... Read More YouTube Premium family plan members, prepare for a hit to your wallet starting next month. YouTube Premium family will see a price increase of US$5, bringing the total cost to US$22.99. Read More U.S. News & World Report  known for its healthcare rankings, including those that compare hospitals and physicians  has formulated a way to measure hospitals' health equity. And it may ... Read More Biden administration officials framed the release as merely completing Bidens plan to release 180 million barrels from the strategic ... cost of a gallon of gas in the US has drifted ... Read More
Us News Us Sponsored Regime Change In Venezuela Is Now Official Us National Security Advisor Mcmaster Calls For A Quick Peaceful Solution | RobinsPost News & Noticias

(Tribune News Service)  At his inauguration speech as head of the Venezuelan navy, now-retired ... regime. Armando.info and the Miami Herald went through more than 128,000 records of public office ... Read More U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says any change in the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela could only come in response to constructive steps by the Maduro regime to restore democracy. Read More Venezuelas socialist government has been fighting to extricate from the U.S. justice system an insider businessman it claims was on an ultra-secret mission to Iran when he ... Read More In the end, Saab  Venezuela considers him a diplomat and US prosecutors a corrupt regime enabler  was never seriously considered, according to the US official, who insisted on anonymity to ... Read More (Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration has no plans to change its sanctions policy toward Venezuela ... the National Security Council said after a report that the US would scale down restrictions ... Read More There are no plans to change our sanctions policy without constructive steps from the Maduro regime, said Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council. Eased sanctions ... Read More WASHINGTON : The United States has no plans to change ... White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Wednesday. "Our sanctions policy on Venezuela remains unchanged. Read More We live in an information society and things are changing, even as we are speaking, now actually, a senior European official told ... s Phil Gordon, national security adviser to Vice ... Read More The FCC is due to vote to bans all Huawei and ZTE products in the US in concern over the threat the Chinese telecoms giants pose to national security. Axios obtained a draft of an order by FCC ... Read More The United States has no plans to change its Venezuela sanctions policy "without constructive steps" from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to restore democracy, White House National Security ... Read More (Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration has no plans to change its sanctions policy toward Venezuela without positive actions from President Nicolas Maduros government, the National Security Council ... Read More
Us News Us Ambassador To Qatar Tweets Frustration After Trump Fires Comey | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A World Cup official in Qatar drew criticism after stating that homosexuality is "damage in the mind' and said visitors to his country will have to "accept" the rules. Read More A longstanding whistleblower allegation that Qatar offered cash to voters during its winning bid to host the World Cup was denied again by officials in a Netflix documentary. Read More An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a damage in the mind in an interview with German public broadc ... Read More
Us News Us Envoy Dissatisfied With Political Events In Washington | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Millions across the country vote while Florida state department tells DoJ that federal election monitors wont be permitted  follow all the latest news ... Read More Follow along for real-time, on-the-ground updates on the 2022 U.S. midterm elections from. Live updates  all times Eastern  are produced by AP ... Read More Republican Claudia Tenney wins reelection to U.S. House in New York's 24th Congressional District. Read More WFO SEATTLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, November 4, 2022 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM PDT FRIDAY... * WHAT...South winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to ... Read More
Us News Us Japan France Uk Practice Amphibious Landings On Guam | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The amphibious landing practice, held near Pohang on South ... The United States, Japan and South Korea warned on Wednesday that an "unparalleled" scale of response would be warranted if North ... Read More This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Joint military drills involving the United States, Japan and the UK have ... Read More South Korea's military has conducted an amphibious landing drill involving Marines ... Last Wednesday, the South Korean military conducted drills with US forces, including a river-crossing exercise. Read More The warning was issued on Wednesday amid concerns by the US and its regional ... Cho Hyun-dong told a news conference in Tokyo. Cho made his comments alongside Japans vice foreign minister ... Read More Many of these windowless shelters housed little more than rats and sewage before the practice was terminated ... most important offices overseeing the USs nuclear preparedness efforts ... Read More Travelers to Japan, from and through Japan are getting some big news today: Anyone can now travel to Japan, without a visa. And that's effective today. It's been slow going  or no going  to ... Read More Russian-speaking hackers claim responsibility that targeted about 14 public-facing websites, including LaGuardia and OHare airports Websites for more than a dozen US airports were temporarily ... Read More France's economy minister urged the United States ... "We expect more from the US administration to get LNG at a cheaper price with a long-term approach," Le Maire said. His comments came a ... Read More The amphibious landing practice ... South Korea and the US say the exercises are defensive, and necessary for deterring the North. The US, Japan and South Korea warned today that an ... Read More The amphibious landing practice, held near Pohang on South Korea ... and necessary for deterring the North. The US, Japan and South Korea warned on Wednesday that an unparalleled scale ... Read More
Us News New Zealand Ratifies Pacific Trade Deal After Us Withdrawal | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The New Zealand trade deal follows advanced free trade agreements already struck with Australia and Japan and helps pave the way for UK to join Trans-Pacific ... that bind us run deep. Read More Last month, the US struck a partnership deal with the Pacific island ... Timor Leste and New Zealand have highlighted the need for stronger security ties. These come after China proposed a ... Read More Building on a decade of experience producing at farms in both Alaska (pictured) and Baja, BLU3 will participate in seaweed industry development in Aotearoa New Zealand through its partnership with ... Read More After seven years of negotiations, Brazil's Federal Revenue Service signed a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) with the US Customs. Through the deal ... with the Customs-Trade Partnership ... Read More Britain's trade deal with New Zealand may jeopardise the UKs food security, MPs warn today. The pact could see cheaper lamb, beef and dairy products on supermarket shelves. But the ... Read More Britains trade deal with New Zealand risks opening up its beef, dairy and sheep-meat producers to cheaper imports with few compensating benefits, a Commons report says. The cross-party ... Read More A trade deal would ... include a new port in Ashdod and a line for the Tel Aviv light rail system. A Chinese company lost its 2020 bid to construct a desalination plant after former US Secretary ... Read More The third-largest maintenance workers union opposed the deal, saying concerns over paid time off remained unaddressed The USs third-largest ... working conditions after the major railroads ... Read More AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  With Formulas One popularity and viewership booming in the United States, ESPN and the global motorsports series announced a new broadcast deal Saturday through 2025. Read More The thousands of companies waiting for a new US-EU data-transfer agreement ... will also likely want to scrutinize the deal before it becomes ratified, Armstrong said. Meanwhile, Max Schrems ... Read More ESPN and F1 Announce New US Broadcast Deal Through 2025 By JIM VERTUNO ... any rights fees in 2018 when NBC Sports Group dropped F1 after five seasons, leaving the series without a U.S. home. Read More
Us News Aww Us Ambassador Tired Of Explaining America To The Enlightened In Qatar | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Former US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson Sunday stated in an exclusive to CNN that WNBA star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan could be released from Russian detention following ... Read More Bhutto-Zardari said he didn't think the decision to summon the U.S. ambassador would negatively affect relations with the United States, and said officials could address any specific concerns ... Read More the United State Embassy in Qatar dives into the football spirit with a fun video to build excitement around the game. The video begins with US Ambassador to Doha Timmy T Davis sharing his ... Read More Pakistani officials said Saturday they had summoned the US ambassador to the country following ... Speaking to reporters Saturday at a news conference in Karachi, Pakistans largest city ... Read More Pakistan summoned the US ambassador to the country as it fumed over President Bidens remarks that it is one of the most dangerous nations in the world. Biden made the dig while discussing ... Read More They are destroying America. Their policies are unpopular and ... The left can't beat us. They know it. And it's time to make them pay at the ballot box. Join us in this fight. Read More Doha: The US Embassys Public Affairs Section implements small grants to strengthen ties between the United States and Qatar through cultural exchange programmes that highlight shared values and ... Read More According to a February 2022 report by Child Care Aware of America ... who are sick and tired of living under a tyrannical theocracy deserve the support of the United States and its allies. Read More According to the latest public opinion polls show there is increased public support in the United States for continuing to provide arms and other aid Ukraine and its defense, Kristjan Prikk, Estonia's ... Read More Pakistans foreign minister summoned the US ambassador on Saturday to give him ... according to Geo News. Pakistan is adamant about ensuring its integrity and safety. Security questions ... Read More Saudi Arabias ambassador to the United States affirmed to CNN that, although Riyadhs relationship with Washington is at a point of disagreement in light of OPEC+s decision to slash ... Read More
Us News China Fails To Win Tougher Ruling Against Us In Wto Dumping Case | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A signature element of the China trade policy from United States ... the WTO, if need be  to address Chinese trade practices. With assurances that such action would be the exception rather than the ... Read More The United States must no longer tolerate ... and underprepared to fight and win a war against China. The Pentagon needs more money and bolder leadership. The Defense Department, President Joe ... Read More By Jessica Chen Weiss Dr. Weiss is a professor of China and Asia-Pacific studies at Cornell University. Competition and conflict between the United States ... taken place against the backdrop ... Read More The US has taken firm action to cripple Chinas supercomputer and artificial intelligence industry. It has banned the supply of software, machines and semiconductor chips that power the ... Read More China already senses such threats brewing, and with good reason. The dollar's strength against the yuan reflects ... touted Road and Belt Initiative has failed, sometimes spectacularly, in many ... Read More Adding to the financial pressure that has slowed economic growth in China, authorities imposed a lockdown on the country's manufacturing hub of Guangzhou. Read More The US Justice Department on Monday charged two men it said were Chinese intelligence agents with trying to obstruct a criminal investigation into a China-based global telecommunications company ... Read More He and Wang, understood to be based in China, could not be reached. At the news conference ... living in the US in an effort to force their return, as part of a global campaign against the country ... Read More The first case ... United States to further the PRCs intelligence mission," Garland said. This allegedly included attempts to get technology and equipment from the U.S. and send it to China ... Read More The United States unsealed criminal charges on Thursday against ... back to China. The eight-count indictment, unsealed in a US District Court in Brooklyn, New York, is the latest case by the ... Read More The Russians are very unpredictable. Their back is up against the wall." The United States and its Western allies have been bracing for potentially large-scale, destructive cyberattacks on key ... Read More
CLEVELAND, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercury Biomed, a company developing a novel approach to managing core body temperature, announces it has won a non-dilutive Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) for $225,000. The award (R41GM119871) will enable Mercury to accelerate commercialization of its first device, a disruptive solution for warming patients in the peri-operative environment.



Managing core body temperature safely and effectively in surgical procedures remains a big challenge, and Mercurys air-free patient warming solution is designed for physicians and hospitals transitioning to value-based care and alternative payment models, explains Brian Patrick, Mercury Co-Founder. Fifty three million patients undergo general anesthesia procedures each year and run the risk of life-threatening complications due to rapid reduction of core body temperature in the Operating Room. Warming patients during surgery has become standard of care, but Mercurys approach is vastly different and considerably smarter than existing alternatives. Mercurys WarmSmart system, in contrast to alternative methods, works in-concert with the bodys intrinsic thermoregulatory function to noninvasively warm the body core. WarmSmart is physiologically more efficient, less intrusive to the surgical field, easy-to-use, and eliminates the risk of surgical site infection associated with current forced-air warming devices. The global market for patient temperature management solutions is $2.5 billion per year.

"Mercury is deeply appreciative of the assistance provided by the NIH and NIGMS through this STTR program," said Brad Pulver, CEO of Mercury Biomed. "Our mission is to provide the smartest, safest, and most clinically effective solution to help hospitals and surgeons who, in a growing number of cases, are required to accept financial responsibility for patient outcomes. This award expedites our time to market and allows us to continue our rapid progress and initial success toward this goal.

WarmSmart was developed from research conducted at The University of Texas at Austin. Professor Ken Diller, Inventor, Principal Investigator, and Mercurys Chief Science Officer commented, An award from this highly competitive STTR program is a testimony to the importance of improving safety and surgery outcomes, and our disruptive discovery for the field of human temperature management. The support of the NIH is validating to our efforts and will be instrumental in translating our technology from my bio heat transfer lab to commercial application."

Based on the results achieved in Phase I and the scientific and technical merit and commercial potential of Mercurys project, an additional potential $1.5M in non-dilutive funds may be awarded in Phase II. During Phase II, Mercury would begin its second pivotal clinical trial with its partner, the Cleveland Clinic, where Drs. Daniel Sessler and Andrea Kurz, along with Dr. Wilton Levine (Mass General) will oversee Mercurys clinical efforts. The grant is Mercurys second major non-dilutive funding victory, as it was previously funded by the Ohio Third Frontier program, placing Mercury in rare company as a winner of both awards.

About Mercury Biomed:

Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Mercury Biomed, LLC is commercializing its proprietary Smart Temperature Management System technology, a breakthrough non-invasive and holistic approach to cooling and warming patients when and where it matters most. Founded in 2015, the company is led by top scientific experts and entrepreneurs in the field of therapeutic temperature management. Mercury Biomeds WarmSmart product is currently in clinical trials and is targeted for a 2018 launch, pending FDA 510(k) clearance. www.mercurybiomed.com

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH) STTR & SBIR Programs:

The NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs are designed to award federal research grants to small businesses conducting biomedical research. The goal of these Programs is to spur technological innovation leading to commercialization of novel innovative medical technologies to improve public health. Both Programs share this common goal, but differ somewhat in eligibility and research execution criteria. The NIH STTR and SBIR Programs are highly competitive, as reflected in the following award data statistics for Phase I STTR awards for fiscal years 2007-2016 available at https://sbir.nih.gov/statistics/award-data. For more information about the NIH STTR and SBIR Programs, please go to https://sbir.nih.gov/.

FOR MORE INFO, CONTACT:

Brad Pulver, CEO

216.777.1492

brad@mercurybiomed.com
World News How Brexit Could Alter London The World S Banker | RobinsPost News & Noticias

British news is ... with Londons financial boom leading the way. Britain, which got rich as the worlds factory in the 19th century, had become the worlds banker by the 21st. When the ... Read More British news is ... with Londons financial boom leading the way. Britain, which got rich as the worlds factory in the 19th century, had become the worlds banker by the 21st. When the ... Read More How's Brexit Going?' British Politics Mocked at ... for International Monetary Fund meetings said the upheaval in London could prove a salutary lesson for high-debt Italy, which has just elected ... Read More More info Brexit Britain ... country in world. People are seeing the UK as an attractive country to do a deal with and a reliable partner. "It's more questions about what could happen with the ... Read More Orange and pink fireworks colored the skies over south London on Monday ... She added that his premiership could play out in quite worrying ways, citing a viral video in which a Conservative ... Read More a professor of politics at the London School of Economics. Nobody could say, You were a Remainer and could undermine Brexit, Mr. Travers said. In the years after the vote, as Britain ... Read More By Mark Landler LONDON ... a country with the worlds sixth-largest economy. Ms. Trusss calamitous tenure, critics said, is the most extreme example of post-Brexit politics that have ... Read More More info A husband and wife who moved from London to Mallorca a year ago have highlighted their struggle to become relicensed as motorists after being caught out by post-Brexit arrangements ... Read More But that could change next month, when an estimated 1.2 million soccer fans descend on the tiny Gulf Arab nation for the World Cup. Authorities may face calls for labor rights, LGBTQ equality and ... Read More Francesco Grosoli has spent more than two decades building wealth-management businesses in one of the worlds hot spots for the super-rich, and he isnt finished yet. The head of Mediobanca ... Read More I am super excited to be partnering with Jo Malone London on World Mental Health Day to spread a little bit of love and positivity, because I truly believe the world could use more kindnes ... Read More
World News World Bank Approves 32 80 Million Project To Improve Livelihoods In Zambia | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The World Bank is providing ... protect their livelihoods and human capital assets through emergency cash transfers. Emergency resources have been provided for the Yemen Desert Locust Response Project ... Read More The money is to help Zambia, which is "over-indebted", return to sustainable fiscal and debt levels and promote private sector-led economic ... Read More In indictments announced last month, federal prosecutors said Partners in Nutrition claimed that its clients distributed more than 80 million meals in 2021 and received $179 million in federal ... Read More $80 million LIE pothole repaving project complete 00:27 MELVILLE, N.Y. -- An $80 million project to repave potholes on the Long Island Expressway is now complete, Gov. Hochul announced Thursday. Read More The W.K. Kellogg Foundation will contribute a combined total of US$80 million over the next eight years to five initiatives to fight against racial inequities around the world, the foundation ... Read More CAIRO (Reuters) -The World Bank has agreed to provide Egypt with $400 million to develop ... opinions are those of U.S. News and have not been previously reviewed, approved or endorsed by any ... Read More The Barbados project Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) 3R-CReWS, involves total funding to the tune of US$50 Million with Barbados providing US$10 Million in co-financing. The multi-faceted ... Read More Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC set to ... The former president had over 80 million followers on Twitter, but he has only around 4 million on Truth Social. Read More LONDON (Reuters) - Embracing decentralised power grids may be the way forward in building out renewable energy capacity to reach global climate goals, the... PARIS (Reuters) -Strikes are ... Read More Cairo, Oct. 4 (BNA): The World Bank has agreed to provide Egypt with $400 million to develop the logistics and transportation sectors and support the shift towards lower carbon emissions, the group ... Read More CAIRO (Reuters) -The World Bank ... million to develop the logistics and transportation sectors and support the shift towards lower carbon emissions, the group said in a statement on Monday. The ... Read More
World News World Leaders Arrive For Somalia Conference In London | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Al-Shabab has recently ramped up attacks in Somalia (file photo)Image caption: Al-Shabab has recently ramped up attacks in Somalia (file photo) Somalias religious affairs ministry has banned ... Read More On the Sky News Daily podcast Niall ... who shares her eyewitness account of Somalia's struggle. Plus, Dr Nisar Majid, research associate in Somalia at London School of Economics, explains how ... Read More The news comes after a suicide attack by Al-Shabaab killed two people including a soldier in central Somalia on Wednesday. A vehicle laden with weapons ploughed into a military checkpoint in the ... Read More It was the deadliest attack in Somalia since a truck bombing at the same spot in October 2017 killed more than 500 people. Read More They have left their homes to escape Somalias terrible drought and to try and find some food and water. Thousands more people have arrived since I was last here in July and more arrive every day. Read More LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - One child is being admitted for medical treatment for malnutrition every minute in Somalia as severe ... 4:07 PM UTC Sudan's military leaders have submitted notes ... Read More The airstrike comes about three weeks after the U.S. military launched an airstrike in Somalia that took out ... active al-Qaeda network in the world." "U.S. Africa Command, alongside its partners ... Read More U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry had an encounter with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the COP27 conference in Egypt Tuesday. This was very much an unplanned interaction, ... Read More 8 Killed in Somalia as Militants Attack Port City Hotel By OMAR FARUK, Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP)  Eight people were killed after militants stormed a hotel in Somalia's port city ... Read More SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP)  ___ KEY DEVELOPMENTS: ... Read More Somalias president says at least 100 people were killed in Saturdays two car bombings at a busy junction in the capital and the toll could rise ... Read More
World News Facebook Restores Atheist Republic The World S Biggest Page For Atheists | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Mars Wrigley is the biggest candy company in the world, according to both Mars and Candy Industry, an industry publication that covers the global confectionery industry. It's owned by the Mars ... Read More Hes a grower  and hes tired of showing it. A New York native with the worlds largest penis has spilled the tea on some of the struggles he has faced having a titanic tallywacker ... Read More Richard said: "I joined Joe's team and for the next 25 years, all I did was travel around the world cheating casinos professionally." After 12 years with Joe's team, Richard sent up on his own and ... Read More The cruise industry is still in recovery mode, but that's not stopping Royal Caribbean from looking to make a very big splash. The cruise operator is selling tickets for what will be the largest ... Read More Dinosaurs lived all over Pangea, the original massive landform of the world ... biggest dino to roam the Earth? Beloved cinema sites:Where was 'Jurassic Park' filmed? Getting to know the film's ... Read More The continent holds more than 40 countries, including China and India which are worlds two most populous countries. Following Asia, Africa holds the title for the second largest continent in ... Read More He led production on CNET's ... TV news producer, earning a local Emmy award and multiple Emmy nominations. Scientists in Northern California are putting finishing touches on the world's largest ... Read More How about the size of the entire United States? The worlds largest machine is actually the U.S. power grid and how it became one giant machine is an amazing story. Read More Meet Crimson Storage, the worlds largest single-phase battery, which is now live in the California desert. Crimson Storage is also the second-largest energy storage project currently in ... Read More Tuberculosis has taken the place of COVID-19 as the worlds biggest infectious killer, a top expert has revealed. More accurately, it has retaken its place, according to Mel Spigelman, president of ... Read More A lab in the US is close to completing the construction of the worlds largest digital camera, featuring a five-foot (1.65m) wide lens and a 3,200-megapixel camera. The Legacy Survey of Space ... Read More Tether, the world's largest stablecoin, has slashed back its commercial paper holdings to zero, replacing them with U.S. Treasury bills instead, according to a blog post. The popular U.S.-dollar ... Read More
World News Haiti Listed As One Of The Riskiest Countries In The World To Do Business | RobinsPost News & Noticias

leaving Haiti at high risks of further outbreaks," Etienne said. PAHO considers Haiti one of four countries in the Americas at "very high risk" of polio transmission, along with neighboring ... Read More Haiti Calls for Help at the UN as World Mulls Assistance By EDITH M ... and alleviate the humanitarian crisis. It reflects one option in a letter from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ... Read More The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food ... crisis in Haiti. The U.K.'s deputy ambassador, James Kariuki, told CBS News that "the security situation ... Read More It was not immediately evident which countries ... Pierre, Haitis former elections minister. We have been through so many, and nothing has been solved  If we dont do it as Haitians ... Read More The demonstrations came on the day the country commemorated the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a slave who became the leader of the world ... one or several U.N. member states to help Haiti ... Read More UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The United States and Mexico said Monday they are preparing a U.N. resolution that would authorize an international mission to help improve security in Haiti, whose ... Read More
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Change of name from Galenica Ltd. to Vifor Pharma Ltd.

Vifor Pharma Board of Directors confirmed

Approval of a one-share, one-vote policy

1:10 share split becomes effective on 22 May 2017

Shareholders also approve all other agenda items

At the 89th Annual General Meeting of Galenica Ltd. in Berne, shareholders approved all proposals put forth by the Board of Directors. These included, in particular, the company's name change from Galenica Ltd. to Vifor Pharma Ltd.; a one-share, one-vote policy; a dividend pay-out of CHF 20 per share; a 1:10 share split; and the appointment of new and standing members of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. 569 shareholders representing 44% of the share capital attended the meeting.

Financial statements 2016, Remuneration Report 2016 and total remuneration approved

Shareholders approved the Annual Report, the 2016 Annual Financial Statements of Galenica Ltd. and the 2016 Consolidated Financial Statements of the Galenica Group and discharged the members of the Board of Directors and the Corporate Executive Committee for the financial year. They also voted in favour of the proposed dividend of CHF 20.00 (previous year: CHF 18.00), which will be paid to shareholders from 18 May 2017 onward. Shareholders also approved the Remuneration Report with a clear majority in a consultative vote.

Company name change to Vifor Pharma Ltd.

Shareholders approved the proposal to change the company's name from Galenica Ltd. to Vifor Pharma Ltd. Accordingly, this Annual General Meeting was also the company's last under the name of Galenica Ltd.

"Today's Annual General Meeting marks a new beginning in the extraordinary story of our company. Our past shows that we have what it takes to be extremely effective and to continuously add value for our stakeholders. It is with this sense of purpose and vision that we separated into Vifor Pharma Group and Galenica Sante so that each will be able to fully leverage their promising growth potential," said Etienne Jornod in his presentation to shareholders.

Two other items were proposed as follows and accepted relating to the future of the company under its new name, Vifor Pharma Ltd.:

A 1:10 share split to increase the tradability of shares.

The introduction of a one-share, one-vote policy.



Board of Directors confirmed

In addition, shareholders confirmed all standing members of the Board of Directors and approved the proposal to elect Gianni Zampieri, the current CEO of Vifor Pharma, to the Board of Directors. Etienne Jornod, to date Executive Chairman of the Galenica Board of Directors, was confirmed as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vifor Pharma. The Vifor Pharma Board of Directors therefore comprises the following eight members as at 11 May 2017:

Etienne Jornod, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors

Daniela Bosshardt-Hengartner, member

Prof. Dr. Michel Burnier, member

Dr. Romeo Cerutti, member

Marc de Garidel, member

Dr. Sylvie Gregoire, member

Fritz Hirsbrunner, member

Dr. Gianni Zampieri, member

Executive Committee complete with new CEO of Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma

As already communicated, the Vifor Pharma Group Executive Committee comprises the following seven members, who assumed their roles with effect from 11 May 2017:





Stefan Schulze, President of the Executive Committee and Chief Operating Officer

David Bevan, CEO Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma

Colin Bond, Chief Financial Officer

Dario Eklund, Chief Commercial Officer

Scott Garland, President Relypsa

Michael Puri, Head Human Resources

Chris Springer, Head Business Development

David Bevan has been appointed as the new CEO of Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (VFMCRP) and successor to Stefan Schulze effective 12 June 2017. Mr Bevan has extensive industry experience including 14 years at Pfizer and in Commercial Operations at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe, where he focused primarily on the central nervous system (CNS) and nephrology. His many years of experience in global sales, marketing and commercial operations will be a great asset in positioning VFMCRP as the partner of choice for innovative nephrology products worldwide.

Important dates:

Vifor Pharma half-year report: Tuesday, 8 August 2017

Investor Day Vifor Pharma: Wednesday, 27 September 2017

For further information, please contact:

Media Relations

Beatrix Benz

Head of Global Communications & Public Affairs

Tel.: +41 58 851 80 16

E-mail: media@viforpharma.com



Investor Relations

Julien Vignot

Head of Investor Relations

Tel.: +41 58 851 66 90

E-mail: investors@viforpharma.com

Vifor Pharma Group, formerly Galenica Group, is a global specialty pharmaceuticals company. It aims to become the global leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies. The company is the partner of choice for specialty pharmaceuticals and innovative patient-focused solutions. Vifor Pharma Group strives to help patients around the world with severe and chronic diseases lead better, healthier lives. The company develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products for precision patient care. Vifor Pharma Group holds a leading position in all its core business activities and consists of the following companies: Vifor Pharma; Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma, a joint company with Fresenius Medical Care; Relypsa; and OM Pharma. Vifor Pharma Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange, VIFN).For more information, visit www.viforpharma.com.
French English

Essilor shareholders approve the combination

between Essilor and Luxottica

All resolutions widely approved

Another important step taken towards the combination between Essilor and Luxottica

Essilor's dividend set at 1.50 per share, up 35%

(Charenton-le-Pont, France, 11 May 2017 - 6:30 pm) - Essilor International's Special Meeting and Combined General Meeting were held today at the Maison de la Mutualite in Paris, chaired by Hubert Sagnieres, the Group's Chairman and CEO, and in the presence of Leonardo Del Vecchio, Executive Chairman of Luxottica.

Strong support for the combination between Essilor and Luxottica

Essilor's shareholders approved all the resolutions proposed to the two meetings, including those concerning the planned combination between Essilor and Luxottica. They therefore approved:

The appointment of members of the future EssilorLuxottica Board of Directors*.

Eight members appointed by Delfin:

Leonardo Del Vecchio - Chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica;

Three directors representing Delfin - Romolo Bardin, Giovanni Giallombardo and Francesco Milleri;

Four additional directors - Rafaella Mazzoli, Gianni Mion, Lucia Morselli and Cristina Scocchia.

Eight members appointed by Essilor:

Hubert Sagnieres, Vice Chairman and Deputy CEO of EssilorLuxottica;

Juliette Favre, representing the employee shareholders of the Valoptec Association;

Four directors of the current Essilor Board of Directors: Henrietta Fore, Bernard Hours, Annette Messemer and Olivier Pecoux;

Two employee representative directors, to be appointed by the Central Works Council by the end of 2017.

The contribution by Delfin (holding company owning approximately 62% of Luxottica shares) of all its Luxottica shares to Essilor;

The contribution of almost all Essilor's activities and equity interests into a wholly-owned subsidiary ;

The issue of new shares in the context of the mandatory public exchange offer, to be launched by EssilorLuxottica* for the remaining Luxottica shares;

The cancellation of double voting rights;

The modified bylaws of Essilor and the future bylaws of EssilorLuxottica*, including, in particular, the new corporate name "EssilorLuxottica", the update of the corporate purpose, the cancellation of double voting rights and a new voting cap provision.



Hubert Sagnieres, Chairman and CEO of Essilor, commented:

"I am delighted with the outstanding support of Essilor shareholders for the planned combination between Essilor and Luxottica, which has just taken a decisive step forward. With a presence across all segments of the optics industry, the new group will provide concrete and innovative solutions to the challenge of improving the world's eyesight."

The passing of these resolutions marks a new and important step forward in the planned combination between Essilor and Luxottica, to create a leading global player in the optics sector, combining the two groups' recognised and complementary skills.

The Essilor shareholders' vote in favour of the combination follows unanimous favorable opinions of Essilor's Central Works Council and European Works Council and clear support for the project from the employee shareholders in the Valoptec Association.

The combination is therefore proceeding according to the planned timetable. Final completion of the contribution by Delfin of its Luxottica shares to Essilor is expected to occur by the end of 2017.

Essilor International: new Board of Directors

Resolutions regarding the governance of Essilor International were also approved by a very strong majority: Laurent Vacherot becomes a director; the appointment of Jeanette Wong has been ratified; and the mandates of Juliette Favre, Philippe Alfroid, Yi He and Hubert Sagnieres have been renewed.

The Board of Directors together around Hubert Sagnieres, all of whose members attended this general meeting, will continue to manage the activities of Essilor International and to support its development during the preparation for the combination with Luxottica and after the new combined group has been created.

The proportion of women within the Board has now reached 42.9%; its independence rate is 63.6%*; and it includes six nationalities (German, US, Canadian, Chinese, French and Singaporean).

About Essilor

The world's leading ophthalmic optics company, Essilor designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. Its mission is to improve lives by improving sight. To support this mission, Essilor allocates more than 200 million to research and innovation every year, in a commitment to continuously bring new, more effective products to market. Its flagship brands are Varilux, Crizal, Transitions, EyezenTM, Xperio, Foster Grant, BolonTM and Costa. It also develops and markets equipment, instruments and services for eyecare professionals.

Essilor reported consolidated revenue of more than 7.1 billion in 2016 and employs approximately 64,000 people worldwide. It markets its products in more than 100 countries and has 33 plants, 490 prescription laboratories and edging facilities, as well as 5 research and development centers around the world (as of December 31, 2016). For more information, please visit www.essilor.com.

The Essilor share trades on the Euronext Paris market and is included in the Euro Stoxx 50 and CAC 40 indices.

Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP.

CONTACTS
An artist's impression of what the campus would look like

PLANS for a 12 million university campus at Doncaster Gate have been passed by the boroughs planning board.

Rotherham College is expected to open the centre for up to 1,000 students on the former hospital site in September 2018.

The three-storey building will include class and seminar rooms, a library and cafe.

A council spokesman said: The principle of re-development of the site for an educational and community use is acceptable in this location.

The design is considered to be of a high-quality building that has a contemporary appearance that will uplift the area in this prominent location.

Only eight car parking spaces will be provided at the site as most journeys are expected to be on foot to and from the colleges town centre campus.

The spokesman added: Due to the sites sustainable location and the use of a travel plan and existing college facilities, the minimal on site car parking is satisfactory.

College deputy principal Phil Sayles said: We worked carefully with our architects, consulted on the proposals and paid careful attention to planning advice and guidelines in the design of the university-level centre.
Special Constable Bobby Dev

A SCHEME to help improve the lives of young people and their communities has gained royal backing.

South Yorkshire Polices Inspiring Youth Programme has been given the Duke of Yorks Community Initiative Award.

The team running the initiative was presented with the honour during a ceremony at the University of Huddersfield by the Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Andrew Coombe.

The Inspiring Youth Programme is one of only 42 schemes across Yorkshire to receive the award.

Following the presentation in Huddersfield, the team behind the programme and a student who has undertaken each level of the award were invited to St James Palace in London on Tuesday to meet Prince Andrew.

Special Police Constable Bobby Dev, project co-ordinator and one of the founding members, said: This is yet another milestone in the Inspiring Youth Programme that has grown over the years and now operates in schools across Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley.

It also works with independent groups bringing communities together and preparing young people to look to the future, exploiting all the opportunities offered to them.

The programme, which was set up 12 years ago by volunteers from within the force, was developed with the purpose of providing teenagers with the opportunity to become involved in and work on different projects to improve their personal performance in school, at home and in the community.

2016 has been the most successful year to date and has seen students visiting the Houses of Parliament in London and those interested in pursuing a career in Law visited the Crown Court in Sheffield where senior judges have volunteered a mentoring programme for them.

Anyone who would like to find out more about the Inspiring Youth Programme can visit http://www.southyorks.pnn.police.uk/Inspiringyouth.
Israels polished diamond exports bounced back in the first quarter as orders from Switzerland and the US grew during the period, reports Rapaport.

Exports of polished has risen 16% to $1.7 bn in the Jan-to-Mar period, according to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour. Switzerland was the largest export market for the Israeli trade, with shipments rising significantly to $535.1 mn during the quarter that included the annual Baselworld show. Exports to the US increased 3.5% to $513.9 mn.

Polished imports fell 13% to $699.3 mn during the period, leaving net polished exports 51% higher at $997.1 mn. Rough imports increased 4% to $785.2 mn, while rough exports advanced 12% to $768.2 mn. Net rough imports slid 76% to $17 mn.

Israels net diamond account for the quarter  calculated as total polished and rough exports minus total imports  grew 65% to $980 mn.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished




Zimbabwe has paid $5.4 million to Russian led miner DTZ-OZGEO to take over its diamond claims in Chimanimani.

DTZ-OZGEO was said to have not opposed the countrys move to streamline operations in Marange and Chimanimani last year unlike the Chinese and Mbada who went to the court to oppose the move.

Daily News reports that the government through the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) was poised for greater things following the Russian settlement and the withdrawal of litigations by OFECC, which owns Anjin and Jinan.

Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa told Rough & Polished last February that Harare had started negotiations with DTZ-OZGEO over the takeover.

I must say that the relationship between Russia and Zimbabwe is a very long-standing relationship and I did say to them that I was very impressed by the fact that as we took national decisions the Russians did not oppose us, he said at the time.

They said we will accept but please do take into account that you are the ones who invited us and so we are again finalising an agreement with the Russians were will take over their equipment and will pay them slowly over a period of time.

Meanwhile, Daily News reports that ZCDC had received an $8 million capital injection from the central bank, which was expected to boost production beyond the current 200 000 carats per month.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Angola's state diamond company, Empresa Nacional de Diamantes (ENDIAMA) and Russian diamond giant Alrosa are assessing the possibility of studies for additional investments in the exploration of kimberlites in the southern African country.

Angop reports that this was revealed by ENDIAMA chairperson Carlos Sambula and Alrosa president Sergey Ivanov following their meeting Tuesday with the country's vice president, Manuel Vicente in Luanda.

Ivanov was quoted as saying that business with Luanda was flourishing with net profits of $137 million last year, coupled with better quality of diamonds extracted.

I believe that in 2017 there will be an improvement in the revenues in terms of foreign currency resulting from the sale of diamonds, based on a more favorable economic situation, he said.

Ivanov said new investments could be made from 2018, depending on the economic feasibility studies in other projects, such as Luaxe.

Meanwhile, Sambula said that the investment prospects with Alrosa were good.

He could, however, not reveal the projected investment in dollar terms saying this would be determined based on the results of the ongoing technical and economic studies.

Meanwhile, the Endiama boss said work on Luaxe, considered the largest compared to Catoca, was running according to schedule and can be opened late 2018 or early 2019.

Catoca currently produces about 80 percent of the countrys total diamond output.

Alrosa and Endiama each control a 32.8 percent stake in Catoca, while LL International Holding B.V. owned by China-Sonagol controlled an 18.0 percent stake.

Brazils Odebrecht Mining Services owns 16.4 percent of the company.

Alrosa and Endiama also co-own the Luaxe kimberlite project.

Endiama said last February that it was currently negotiating with Alrosa for the financing of the Luaxe and would not seek additional investors.

Former Alrosa president Andrey Zharkov said last September that capital investments in Luaxe project during its mine life was estimated at $1 billion.

Luaxe, which was discovered in 2015, was projected to record an annual output of between 8 million carats and 10 million carats.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




The population of the village has dwindled in recent decades as young people leave to find work in the closest big city of Savona or beyond. And it is not all about. Under a low rent scheme, which should be in place within the next two months, a small property will cost just 50 a month while a more spacious one will be no more than 120. Anyone is welcome to come and live here. Were a small community but very welcoming. Were high up in a mountain area but also not far from the sea  its a healthy lifestyle, the air is very clean, said a local councilor. Many people responded to this offer, on Facebook. Some of them asked a job instead the financial welcome gift.

Bormida has an area of 22.4 square kilometers (8.6 sq mi), at about 20 kilometers (12 mi) west of Savona. There is no direct link to any speed runway. The nearest railway station is at Altare on the TurinSavona line.

In January the culture ministry named 2017 the year of the village as part of an attempt to promote tourism in places at risk of becoming deserted.
Following the approval of the Reverse Stock Split by the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders of ArcelorMittal held on 10 May 2017 ArcelorMittal announces the Effective Date.

Luxembourg, 11 May 2017 - Following the approval of the Reverse Stock Split (as defined below) by the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders of ArcelorMittal held on 10 May 2017, ArcelorMittal will proceed to consolidate each three existing shares in the Company without nominal value into one share without nominal value (the "Reverse Stock Split"). The Reverse Stock Split will become effective on 22 May 2017.

ENDS

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 19 countries. Guided by a philosophy to produce safe, sustainable steel, we are the leading supplier of quality steel in the major global steel markets including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with world-class research and development and outstanding distribution networks.

Through our core values of sustainability, quality and leadership, we operate responsibly with respect to the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, contractors and the communities in which we operate.

For us, steel is the fabric of life, as it is at the heart of the modern world from railways to cars and washing machines. We are actively researching and producing steel-based technologies and solutions that make many of the products and components people use in their everyday lives more energy efficient.

We are one of the world's five largest producers of iron ore and metallurgical coal. With a geographically diversified portfolio of iron ore and coal assets, we are strategically positioned to serve our network of steel plants and the external global market. While our steel operations are important customers, our supply to the external market is increasing as we grow.

In 2016, ArcelorMittal had revenues of $56.8 billion and crude steel production of 90.8 million tonnes, while own iron ore production reached 55.2 million tonnes.

ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York (MT), Amsterdam (MT), Paris (MT), Luxembourg (MT) and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia (MTS).



For more information about ArcelorMittal please visit: http://corporate.arcelormittal.com/
Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) were jointly recognized with the first Railroad Achievement Award by the Association of American Railroads in partnership with GoRail.

AAR and GoRail say the senators were recognized for their consistent, bipartisan leadership on issues affecting U.S. railroads and the nations rail network.

The senators were honored with the award in advance of a panel discussion hosted by AAR and InsideSources analyzing the railroad industrys contributions to the U.S. economy.

A strong American freight rail industry plays an essential role in powering the nations economy, and leaders in Congress make this possible by supporting policies that allow railroads to invest for the future, said AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger. As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Senators Thune and Nelson play an instrumental role in shaping public policy that affects railroads tooth to tail, including major freight operators, shortlines, Amtrak and the sizeable supply sector. Nowhere was this more evident than in 2015 when this bipartisan duo helped steer passage of the Fixing Americas Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.

In prepared remarks introducing the senators, AARs Hamberger stressed the importance of the FAST Act, the first long-term surface transportation bill in a decade, which included critical safety enhancements, as well as Amtrak reauthorization. While noting there is still work to be done, Hamberger also applauded a FAST Act measure made possible by the bipartisan teamwork of Sens. Thune and Nelson that streamlines the environmental permitting process for rail infrastructure projects based on previously enacted reforms for highway and transit projects. The reforms are designed to increase capacity, improve safety, hire new employees and provide efficient service to rail customers  all areas Hamberger singled out as issues of profound understanding among the senatorial honorees. Hamberger also commended the senators for their leadership in reauthorizing the Surface Transportation Board.

AAR explains that the Railroad Achievement Award will be given periodically in the future to other members of Congress who AAR and GoRail believe have shown leadership on policies that help ensure the vitality of railroads in the United States.

AAR and GoRAil note that award winners, such as the senators honored above, have particularly shown an understanding of the distinct role railroads play in the American economy and the need for safe and efficient operations made possible through sustained investment.

Communities all across America reap the benefits delivered by an innovative freight rail industry that invests more than 40 cents of every revenue dollar back into the nations rail network, said GoRail President Russell McGurk. Making this possible are sound public policies and elected leaders like Senators Thune and Nelson with the foresight to enact and protect those policies.
Experts in both structural health monitoring and railroad infrastructure management took part in a first-ever technical session, "Structural Health and Performance Monitoring of Railroad Infrastructure," at the 2017 Structures Congress.

The event was organized by the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) and the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and took place April 6-8 in Denver, Colo.

Speakers covered the most recent advances in sensing and remote measurements for rail infrastructure and current and future needs for the industry. This unique combination of theory and application attracted a group of more than 50 structural engineers on a Saturday morning. The success in attendance and the interaction between speakers and attendants stresses the interest in the combination of the topics of sensing and railroad infrastructure. Speakers and participants of this session would like to continue offering this technical session for the structures congress in Fort Worth, Texas, in April 2018.

During the 2016 Structures Congress in Phoenix, Ariz., experts in performance of structures discussed and identified the need for a special technical session that focuses on performance of railroad infrastructure. For the 2017 Congress, two technical committees of SEI identified and sponsored the session: Methods of Monitoring Structural Performance and Structural Identification of Constructed Systems. Fernando Moreu, Ph.D., PE and assistant professor at the department of civil engineering at The University of New Mexico organized and chaired the special session.

Dr. Moreu opened the session presenting the paper entitled Real-time Displacements of Railroad Bridges Under Train Crossing Events Using Non-contact Reference-free Vibrometers. Yongchao Yang, Ph.D., presented his research conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory entitled Full-field Structural Dynamics by Video Motion Manipulations. Dr. Yang was honored the previous day at the congress as the 2017 ASCE winner of The Raymond C. Reese Research Prize, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the application of structural engineering research. The third presenter was Mustafa Gul, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Alberta, presenting Estimation of Track Modulus Using Rolling Deflection Measurements. Henry (Hyungchul) Yoon, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan Technological University presented Measuring Displacement of Railroad Bridges using UAVs.

The closing talk for the day was A Railroad Perspective on Bridge Measurement and Monitoring Systems, which it was given by Duane Otter, Ph.D., PE, principal engineer of corporate research at Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads. Dr. Otter acknowledged the different advances shared in the session and at the congress and described the interest of new technologies and applications from the perspective of the railroad owner. The speakers and attendants of this session exchanged questions and comments during the session. After acknowledging the experts for their participation and presentations, attendants and speakers exchanged their contact information to continue the technical discussions on railroad infrastructure performance after the congress. The group quickly moved to the main ballroom where the structures congress closing lunch event was being held.

The next Structure Congress will be held April 19-21, 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Editors Pick

Facebook parent Meta Platforms decided to lay off more than 11,000 employees, representing about 13 percent of its global workforce, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. The reductions are across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs segments. In a message to Meta employees, Zuckerberg said the company intends to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending...

The Wendy's reported on Wednesday that profit for the third quarter increased 23 percent from last year, driven by higher operating profit and double-digit revenue growth. Adjusted earnings per share topped analysts' estimates by a penny, while quarterly revenues missed their estimates. The company also maintained its adjusted earnings guidance for the full-year 2022.

Tesla Inc. founder and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has sold at least $3.95 billion worth of his stake in the electric vehicle maker after completing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc., U.S. regulatory filings showed. In pre-market activity on Nasdaq, Tesla shares were gaining around 1.5 percent to trade at $194.22.
ExxonMobil Chemical Company announced that its Singapore affiliate has reached an agreement with Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd to acquire its plant located on Jurong Island in Singapore.

The plant, one of the largest in the world with an annual production capacity of 1.4 million tonnes, presents operational and logistical synergies for ExxonMobil's integrated refining and petrochemical complex nearby. The company expects to complete the transaction in the second half of 2017.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Italian lender UniCredit SpA (UCG,UNCFF.PK) reported Thursday that its first-quarter net profit climbed 40 percent from last year to 907 million euros, with improvement in all divisions.

Gross operating profit was up by 14.6 percent, and net operating profit was up by 36.1 percent.

Revenues came to 4.8 billion, an increase of 3.4 percent year-on-year. The company generated resilient recurring revenues underpinned by solid NII and strong fees generation. Trading profit benefited from large client driven transactions.

NII stabilized at 2.6 billion euros, while fees increased by 4.5 percent.

Operating costs dropped 3 percent, thanks to Transform 2019 Actions.

Jean Pierre Mustier, Chief Executive Officer, said, "UniCredit had an encouraging first quarter with all core lines contributing positively to the Group.....We also confirm our 2017 NII objective of 10.2 billion and an end of year fully loaded CET1 ratio above 12 per cent. We are already seeing early but tangible results of our Transform 2019 plan.."

UniCredit shares were trading at 16.68 euros, up 3.67 percent.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
China Automotive Systems Inc. (CAAS) reported that its net income attributable to parent company's common shareholders for the first quarter of 2017 was $5.714 million compared to $5.709 million in the prior year. Earnings per share were $0.18 in the first quarter of 2017 and 2016.

Quarterly net sales were $119.3 million, compared to $116.9 million in the same quarter of 2016, reflecting a 2.1% year-over-year growth. The increase of net sales was mainly due to the increased sales volume.

The company reiterated its revenue guidance for the full year 2017 of US$485 million.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has established a special unit to address the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea.

CIA said the unit, named "Korea Mission Center," will harness the full resources, capabilities, and authorities of the Agency to keep an eye on the nuclear activities of the reclusive Communist country.

The new Mission Center draws on experienced officers from across the Agency and integrates them in one entity to bring their expertise and creativity to bear against the North Korea target.

A veteran CIA operations officer has been selected as the new Assistant Director for Korea and presides over the Mission Center. The Mission Center will work closely with the Intelligence Community and the entire U.S. national security community.

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump spoke to his newly-elected South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and invited him to visit Washington.

The United States is mulling new diplomatic, security and economic sanctions targeting North Korea, which claims to be developing a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with an atomic warhead.

A bipartisan legislation introduced in the House of Representatives in March warns: "Soon, many believe the Kim Jong Un regime will be able to target all 50 states and our Asian allies with a nuclear warhead."

Pyongyang claims it is in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, fitted with a nuclear warhead, that could reach the US mainland. Experts say the reclusive Communist nation may be able to reach such capability in this decade.

Recently, North Korea fired four rockets in what it termed as a rehearsal for an attack on US bases in Japan.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
NEWARK, Calif., May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- William Lyon Homes Bayshores master-planned community is the talk of Newark after a highly successful Model Grand Opening celebration that brought out more than 800 potential homebuyers. Guests were captivated as they toured 19 different models at five new neighborhoods, experiencing the impressive array of attached and detached home designs, as well as the spectacular setting adjacent to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. To date, Bayshores has sold 229 homes with 50 homeowners now moved in, and interest is rising every day. Since the model grand opening event, Bayshores has seen a dramatic surge in traffic, which has inspired a fast-paced increase in sales. Due to this high demand, several neighborhoods are temporarily sold out, making it crucial that buyers pre-qualify today through William Lyon Mortgage in anticipation of the next phase. For more information on Bayshores, visit the sales gallery and tour the models or for immediate details, go to www.LyonBayshores.com.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b132f47f-094f-4866-8ff6-4877c39bbdff

The turnout for Bayshores Model Grand Opening was phenomenal and were overjoyed by the enthusiasm and excitement were seeing from homebuyers, said Kathy Floyd, Director of Sales for William Lyon Homes. People recognize how unique this community is with its extraordinary selection of home designs, great amenities to enjoy, and an unbeatable location near the Dumbarton Bridge and I-880. If you havent seen Bayshores yet, visit soon and find the ideal home for your lifestyle.



Bayshores at Newark features five exquisite neighborhood offerings, including The Cove condominiums, The Strand townhome-style homes, The Banks three-story detached homes and the luxurious single-family detached designs at both The Tides and The Isles. Floorplans span from approximately 1,306 to 2,802 square feet with two to five bedrooms and up to four and one-half baths with prices from the low $700,000s to the low $1 millions.

The master-plans premier recreation includes a 2,300-square foot clubhouse, a community park with tot lot, access to scenic walking and biking trails, and a future dog park. The stunning 30,000-acre Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge is also within close proximity.

An enviable, commuter-friendly location puts the regions major employment and business destinations within reach, including San Francisco, Fremont, Silicon Valley and Tri-Valley. The nearby Dumbarton Bridge connects to Menlo Park, Palo Alto and the peninsula, while I-880 guides commuters to Oakland and San Jose.

To visit Bayshores from highway 84/Dumbarton Bridge, exit onto Thornton Ave/Paseo Padre Pkwy. Turn left onto Thornton Ave. Turn Right onto Willow Street. Turn right on Bayshores Ave. to Spring Tide Road. Follow signs to parking. The sales gallery is open Monday: 1pm to 5 pm and Tuesday through Sunday: 10 am to 5 pm.

Call 628-222-7690 or visit www.LyonBayshores.com.

It matters who your builder is and William Lyon Homes is a company built upon a legacy of pride and integrity. A team of visionaries who are passionate about homebuilding and committed to providing a high quality homebuying and homeownership experience, William Lyon Homes has earned a solid track record for outstanding construction and customer service since 1956. The company expands its well-respected brand beyond California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado into other market areas across the Western region with the acquisition of Polygon Northwest Homes, its division in Washington and Oregon. William Lyon Homes' shares are publicly traded on NYSE under the symbol WLH. For updated information and to learn more, visit www.lyonhomes.com.



The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House next Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced on Wednesday.

Spicer said Trump and Erdogan will discuss how to further strengthen the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Turkey and deepen cooperation to confront terrorism in all its forms.

The announcement of the meeting with Erdogan came a day after Trump authorized the Pentagon to arm Kurdish militias in Syria.

The decision angered Erdogan, as Turkey considers the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the U.S.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Erdogan said believes the U.S. made a mistake he hopes will be reversed immediately

"We want to believe that our allies would prefer to be side by side with us rather than with the terror groups," Erdogan said.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
President Donald Trump's approval rating saw a small improvement after the missile strike in Syria last month but has pulled back near a record low in a new Quinnipiac University national poll.

The poll found that 36 percent of voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 58 percent disapprove.

Trump's approval rose to 40 percent in a poll conducted shortly after the attack on Syria but is now back near the record low of 35 percent seen in a poll released in early April.

Quinnipiac noted Trump is losing support among independents voters as well as white voters with no college degree and white men, which are important parts of his base.

"There is no way to spin or sugarcoat these sagging numbers," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

The poll also found that 58 percent of voters say Trump's first 100 days in office have been "mainly a failure," while 38 percent say they have been "mainly a success."

The Quinnipiac survey of 1,078 voters was conducted May 4th through 9th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
English French

Dividend for the fiscal year ended at 2016, November 30th -

Option of the dividend in shares

Neuilly-sur-Seine, May 11th, 2017

At the Annual General Meeting held today, Kaufman & Broad's shareholders approved the proposed 1.85 per share dividend for the financial year ended 30 November 2016 and decided to offer shareholders an option to receive the dividend payment in shares.

The issue price of the new shares to be issued in consideration for the dividend has been set at 30.13 per share. This issue price represents in accordance with the provisions of Article L. 232-19 of the French Commercial Code 90% of the average prices quoted of the Kaufman & Broad share on the regulated market of Euronext Paris during the 20 trading days preceding the date of the Annual General Meeting, less the amount of the dividend, and rounded upward to the nearest euro cent.

The dividend ex-date is set on May 16, 2017. The shareholders may opt for the dividend payment in cash or in new shares from May 16, 2017 to May 26, 2017 included, by sending their request to their financial intermediaries. For the shareholders who have not exercised their dividend payment option by May 26, 2017, the dividend shall exclusively be paid in cash.

For the shareholders who have not opted for a dividend payment in shares, the dividend shall be paid in cash on June 2, 2017. For the shareholders who have opted to receive the dividend in shares, settlement and delivery of the shares will be as from June 2, 2017.

If the amount of dividends for which the option is exercised does not correspond to a whole number of shares, shareholders may choose to either receive the rounded-up whole number of shares by paying the difference in cash on the day they exercise the option or receive the rounded-down whole number of shares and the balance in cash.

The shares issued as dividend payment will carry dividend rights as from June 2, 2017. An application to list these new shares on Euronext Paris will be made. The new shares will rank pari passu with existing shares and will be fully fungible with existing shares already listed.

The maximum total number of new shares which may be issued for the purpose of the dividend payment in shares is 1,197,140 shares (excluding additional shares issued for rounding purposes), representing approximately 5.75% of the share capital and 5.10% of the voting rights of Kaufman & Broad based on the total number of shares and voting rights as of April 30, 2017

Following this transaction, and in order to keep the number of shares on a fully diluted basis unchanged, Kaufman & Broad will cancel as many treasury shares as it will have been created in connection with the payment of the dividend in shares.

Calendar:

15 May 2017 Record date for the payment of the dividend



16 May 2017 Ex-date for the payment of the dividend and opening of the option period for the payment of the dividend in shares.



26 May 2017 Closing of the option period for the payment of the dividend in shares



31 May 2017 Announcement of the option's result



2 June 2017 Dividend payment in cash, settlement of the dividend in shares.

This press release is available from the website www.kaufmanbroad.fr

Next regular publication date : July 11 th , 2017: S1-2017 results



Contacts

Chief Financial Officer

Bruno Coche







+33 1.41.43.44 73

Infos-invest@ketb.com Press Relations Camille Petit

Burson-Marsteller

+33 1.56 03 12 80

contact.presse@ketb.com

About Kaufman & Broad - For nearly 50 years, Kaufman & Broad has been designing, developing, building and selling single-family homes in communities, apartments, and offices on behalf of third parties. Its size and profitability, combined with its strong brand name, have made Kaufman & Broad one of France's leading developer-homebuilders.

Disclaimer

This press release constitutes the information document required pursuant to Article 212-4 4 and 212-5 5 of the French Financial Market Authority (AMF) General Regulation and Article 18 and Annex III of the AMF Instruction n 2016-04 of 21 October 2016.

This press release does not constitute an offer to purchase securities. This press release and any other document relating to the payment of dividend in shares may only be distributed or disseminated outside of France in conformity with applicable local laws and regulations and shall not constitute an offer for securities in any jurisdiction where such an offer would infringe applicable laws and regulations.

The option to receive the dividend for the financial year ended 30 November 2016 payment in shares, as described herein, is not available to shareholders residing in any country where such option would require registration or approval by local securities regulators. Shareholders residing outside of France must inform themselves about, and comply with, any restrictions which may apply under their local laws.

For tax purposes in relation to the dividend payment in shares, the shareholders are invited to review their personal situation with their own tax advisor.

In making the election to receive the dividend payment in shares, shareholders should take into consideration the risks associated with an investment in shares, including those described in chapter 1.2 of the registration document filed with the AMF under number 17 -086 dated March 31, 2017.
English Icelandic

First quarter 2017 compared with first quarter 2016: Hoskuldur H. Olafsson, CEO : - Operating income ISK 12.5 billion (ISK 12.0 billion) - Net earnings ISK 3.4 billion (ISK 2.9 billion) - Earnings per share ISK 1.60 (ISK 1.24) - Net interest margin (NIM) 2.8% (3.1%) - Return on equity 6.3% (5.7%) - Cost-to-income ratio 64.4% (60.2%) - Tier 1 ratio 27.3% (26.2%) "Operations are stable and the Bank is financially robust, as indicated by a capital ratio of 28%. The Banks investments last year had a positive impact on operations. This includes increased commission income after Arion Bank became the sole provider of financial services at Keflavik International Airport in May 2016. Income from insurance activities also grew and now represent a larger share of the Banks revenue stream following the acquisition of the insurance company Vordur last year."

Arion Bank reported net earnings of ISK 3.4 billion for the first three months of 2017, compared with ISK 2.9 billion for the same period of 2016. Return on equity was 6.3%, compared with 5.7% for the first three months of 2016.

Total assets amounted to ISK 1,119.7 billion at the end of March, compared with ISK 1,036.0 billion at the end of 2016. Shareholders equity totaled ISK 214.6 billion at the end of March 2017, compared with ISK 211.2 billion at the end of 2016. The Bank enjoys a strong financial position and the focus has been on maintaining good liquidity as the capital controls are lifted, a process which is now largely at an end.

The Banks capital ratio at the end of March was 28.0%, compared with 27.1% at the end of 2016. Tier 1 Capital increased during the period to 27.3%, compared with 26.5% at the end of 2016.

Highlights of the income statement and key income related performance indicators:

In ISK million Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Diff Diff% Net interest income 7,160 7,273 (113) (2%) Net commission income 3,330 3,218 112 3% Other income 2,023 1,468 555 38% Operating income 12,513 11,959 554 5% Operating expenses (8,056) (7,198) (858) 12% Bank levy (797) (742) (55) 7% Net impairment 880 (503) 1,383 (275%) Net earnings before taxes 4,540 3,516 1,024 29% Income tax (1,334) (737) (597) 81% Net gain from disc. operations 147 104 43 41% Net earnings 3,353 2,883 470 16%  KPI's: Return on equity (ROE) 6.3% 5.7% Earnings per share (ISK) 1.68 1.24 Net interest margin (int. bearing assets) 2.8% 3.1% Cost-to-income ratio 64.4% 60.2%

Highlights of the balance sheet and key performance indicators:

In ISK million 31.03.2017 31.12.2016 Diff Diff% Loans 966,940 880,172 86,768 10% Other assets 152,708 155,852 (3,143) (2%) Liabilities 904,868 824,640 80,228 10% Equity 214,607 211,212 3,395 2% Loans to Deposits ratio 151.4% 172.9% RWA / Total assets 66.4% 72.7% Tier 1 ratio 27.3% 26.5%

Hoskuldur H. Olafsson, CEO of Arion Bank:

"Arion Banks financial results for the first quarter of 2017 are in line with expectations. Operations are stable and the Bank is financially robust, as indicated by a capital ratio of 28%. The Banks investments last year had a positive impact on operations. This includes increased commission income after Arion Bank became the sole provider of financial services at Keflavik International Airport in May 2016. Income from insurance activities also grew and now represent a larger share of the Banks revenue stream following the acquisition of the insurance company Vordur last year. The impact of this acquisition will become clearer as the companies further collaborate on selling insurance products. It is positive that salaries expenses at the Bank have only risen slightly between years despite these added operations.

In March a milestone was reached when new investors became shareholders in the Bank. This represented a new stage in the ongoing process of selling the Bank. It is likely that the Bank will eventually be listed on a stock market, after which ownership will be in the hands of Icelandic and international investors. No decision on listing the Bank has been taken yet but it is positive that we have got the ball rolling, as it was always clear that the ownership structure in place since 2010 was only a temporary arrangement.

In January Nyherji, one of Iceland's leading IT companies, took over the administration of the Banks IT systems. We see this as a great opportunity to strike up a partnership with a market leader in its field, and more than 20 Arion Bank employees subsequently transferred to Nyherji. We retain a team of around 80 IT professionals working in software development and technology management. We will continue to seek collaboration with others where we can share resources and improve efficiency all around.

Last year we introduced several new digital solutions which were well received by our customers. This included a credit assessment for mortgages which can be completed online in just a matter of minutes. At the beginning of the year we introduced a new digital mortgage application process which is far shorter and more straightforward than previous application processes. Our customers can now apply for a mortgage online, without visiting a branch if they so choose. In May four new digital solutions will be launched. These solutions are designed to respond to changing demand for our services. We aim to continue to make our services available online and on mobile phone so that customers can do their banking whenever it suits them.

Diversifying our funding has been one of our key focuses in recent years. In January the Bank tapped its bond issue from December 2016 for a further 200 million, bringing the total issue to 500 million. As before, part of the issue was used to pay down existing loans. It is pleasing to see that the Bank has had a positive response on the international credit markets. Bonds issued by Arion Bank have performed well on the secondary market, demonstrating the market's confidence in the Bank and its future prospects. In Iceland, the Bank continues to successfully issue commercial paper and covered bonds and this is an important component of the Banks funding."

Conference call in English

Arion Bank will be hosting a conference call in English on Friday 12 May at 1:00 pm GMT, where Stefan Petursson, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss the highlights of the Banks financial results. People interested in participating can contact ir@arionbanki.is to obtain dial-in information.

For further information please contact Haraldur Gudni Eidsson of Arion Bank's Communications division at haraldur.eidsson@arionbanki.is, or tel. +354 444 7108.
By SA Commercial Prop News

Artist rendering CTX Business Park phase 2. The Park is specially designed for freight forwarders and related businesses, with excellent signage opportunities and perfect security



The park is a relatively new build with a modern layout; it is well positioned just 50 metres away from Cape Town International Airport Cargo Terminal granting direct access onto major highways.

Prospective tenants looking for prime industrial space close to Cape Town International Airport will be pleased to hear that Phase 2 of CTX Business Park, one of Cape Towns prime industrial business parks, located just 50 metres from Cape Town International Airport Cargo Terminal, has now completed phase 2 of its development and is available for letting.

Grant Elliott, Regional Manager Cape Town for developers Redefine Properties, says the parks location provides tenants with a distinct distribution edge. Elliott says in line with the newer industrial parks, CTX is set in beautifully landscaped surroundings with wide internal roads to accommodate larger trucks and containers. The light industrial units which range between 325m - 550m have all been designed with double volume space allowing ample natural light. They also have drive-in roller shutter access to facilitate loading and off loading.

Security is always a prime concern and the entire park is protected with 24 hour state of the art security. Ambasam Pharmaceuticals and Menzies Aviation have already snapped up space in the second phase leaving a total of 4107m available for letting.

We believe the parks close proximity to the airport, access to both the N2 and N7 coupled with its high visibility from both Borcherds Quarry and Freight Agents Road make it an ideal location for any distributor. We have already seen high profile retailers like Pick n Pay and Massmart establishing their distribution centres in the nearby location, concludes Elliott.
The whereabouts of Calcutta High Court judge C.S. Karnan, sentenced to jail for six months by the Supreme Court, remained a mystery on Wednesday, even as a West Bengal police team reached in Chennai.

Some sources in Chennai said he had left the State Guest House for the famed Shiva temple in Srikalahasti town in Andhra Pradesh.



But an official at the temple, about 120 km from Chennai, told media that there was no trace of the judge.



"He did not arrive yesterday or today. We have no idea if he will reach the temple tomorrow," the official said.



Another temple official had earlier said that the judge was likely to reach the Andhra town on Wednesday evening and offer prayers on Thursday morning.



Justice Karnan checked into the Chennai Guest House on Tuesday after leaving his home in Kolkata. But he has not officially vacated the guest house room and his bill remains to be settled.

Officials said two other advocates who came with the judge have been asked to vacate their rooms in the Chennai guest house.



The apex court has ordered the Director General of West Bengal Police to set up a team to implement its arrest order "forthwith".



Justice Karnan was found guilty of contempt for hurling corruption charges against Supreme Court judges including the Chief Justice.
Helsinki, Finland, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Helsinki, Finland May 1, 2017 -- Forest2Market has published the first installment of its Baltic Rim Wood Price Index, a transaction-based wood raw material price benchmark for the forest products, forestry and bioenergy industries in Scandinavia (Sweden and Finland), the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Northwest Russia.

The results for 1Q2017 show that, among other trends, there are significant differences in delivered wood costs (roadside wood costs plus transportation costs to mill) for both pulp producers and sawmills in Sweden.

Pulp producers: the highest-cost mill paid 26 per cent more for conifer pulpwood than the lowest-cost mill. Annualized, the cost savings potential for the highest-cost mill exceeds 250 million SEK (26 million EUR). If a mill consuming 2.5 million cubic meters (m 3 ) of pulpwood annually could reduce its costs to the market average of 43 SEK/m (4.5 EUR/m), the savings would exceed 100 million SEK (10.4 million EUR).

) of pulpwood annually could reduce its costs to the market average of 43 SEK/m (4.5 EUR/m), the savings would exceed 100 million SEK (10.4 million EUR). Sawmills consuming pine sawlogs: the highest-cost mill paid 20 per cent more for conifer sawlogs than the lowest-cost mill. Annualized, the cost savings potential for the highest-cost mill exceeds 65 million SEK (6.8 million EUR). If a mill consuming 500,000 m 3 of logs annually could reduce its costs to the market average of 67 SEK/m (7 EUR/m), the savings would exceed 33 million SEK (3.4 million EUR).

of logs annually could reduce its costs to the market average of 67 SEK/m (7 EUR/m), the savings would exceed 33 million SEK (3.4 million EUR). Sawmills consuming spruce sawlogs: the highest-cost mill paid 34 per cent more for conifer sawlogs than the lowest-cost mill. Annualized, the cost savings potential for the highest-cost mill exceeds 125 million SEK (13 million EUR). If a mill consuming 500,000 m3 of logs annually could reduce its costs to the market average of 151 SEK/m (15.7 EUR/ m), the savings would exceed 75 million SEK (7.8 million EUR).

With this newest addition to its product line, Forest2Market now provides market price reports, performance benchmarks and custom analytics to major wood markets across North America, Brazil, Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Russia.

With the Baltic Rim Wood Price Index, timber buyers and sellers will be able to clearly and confidently compare their performance to market, accurately assess market prices and build strong partner relationships, as well as define, measure and adjust strategic decisions based on actual and actionable data. While high-cost mills can use the Index to lower their costs, low-cost mills can use the data to demonstrate to stakeholders that they are extracting as much value as possible from the supply chain.

This level of market transparency comes at a critical time for the regions industry. Now that the United States has instituted tariffs on softwood lumber coming from Canada, said Pete Stewart, President and founder of Forest2Market, Swedens sawmills will have an opportunity to export more softwood lumber to the US. But theyll only have that opportunity if they are cost-competitive. Using the Index to manage costs provides a strategic advantage in this environment.

Antti Kamarainen, Director of Fores2Markets Scandinavian business, sees a similar utility for the Index in Finland: Currently, container freight in Finland is painfully high. The Index will allow sawmills to reduce their costs at the front of the value chain as they are buying wood. This will mitigate the overall effect of high freight costs on profitability. With the new demand that will come on line in Finland in 3Q2017, this will be especially important.

Russian mills also have a reason to manage their costs. Over the last few years, domestic wood raw material costs have increased annually over 10 per cent in local currency, said Vasylysa Hanninen, Director of Forest2Markets Baltic States and Russia business. The weak ruble has masked the effect of rapidly increasing wood costs, making mills seem more competitive and profitable on the global market than they really are. Over the last year, however, the ruble has been strengthening. As the exchange rate stabilizes, the mask will be removed and profitability will drop. With the Index, mills can pay less for wood raw materials, securing their competitive advantage in the international market.

About Forest2Market

With solid data, industry experience and third-party independence, Forest2Market provides participants in the wood, sawnwood, paper, bioenergy and biochemicals supply chains with business solutions that support fact-based decision making and planning. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, with offices in Kennewick, Washington, USA; Curitiba, Brazil; and Helsinki, Finland, Forest2Market is the global wood and fiber supply chain expert. www.forest2market.com

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3e64ac9e-69cb-40d2-87e8-32888167332d
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Sri Lanka on Thursday and Friday on a visit which a senior official has said will boost bilateral relations.

Modi will be the Chief Guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.



The visit follows the invitation of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. It will be Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.



In a pre-departure media briefing here, Sanjay Panda, Joint Secretary (Indian Ocean Region) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said that this is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day celebrations.



"The theme of the event is Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace," Panda said.



He said that various religious and political leaders from various countries, especially those with Buddhist traditions, have been invited for this celebration.



"The Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka for the Vesak Day celebration assumes significance because this is a reflection of our shared Buddhist heritage which is spanning over centuries," he said.



As part of the celebration, Modi will participate in a lamp lighting ceremony at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo, one of the most important temples in Sri Lanka.



Modi will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic -- a tooth of Lord Buddha.

In Pallekelle, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India's grant assistance.



Modi will also open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.



"This project is part of our development cooperation project since 2005 in which over $2.6 billion has been committed out of which $450 million have been grants," Panda said.



He also said that as part of the Vesak Day celebration, acclaimed Indian sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik will make the world's longest Buddha statue at a special Vesak zone near the Sri Lankan parliament.



"India is also participating at an International Buddhist Film Festival which is being organised on the sidelines," Panda said.



He said that thousands of handcrafted candles made from paraffin wax and produced at the world's oldest refinery at Digboi in Assam have been gifted to Sri Lankan Buddhist temples and this has come in for much appreciation from people there.



Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, Panda said the visit was expected to give renewed momentum in India-Sri Lanka ties.



Last month, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited India.
All schools close to the LoC were shut in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Thursday following the death of a woman in shelling by the Pakistan Army.

"All schools in villages close to the LoC (Line of Control) in Rajouri will remain closed as a precautionary measure," a district official said.



The authorities have also designated some schools away from the LoC, which divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan, as makeshift camps to lodge villagers leaving their homes near the border.



The district administration has alerted emergency services to deal with any eventuality because of the heightened tension at the border.

Earlier, Defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta told IANS that a woman was killed in indiscriminate firing and shelling by the Pakistan Army on Wednesday evening in Naushera sector.



The Pakistanis used small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars. Intermittent firing was still going on, the official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his visit to Sri Lanka is a sign of "strong relationship" between the two countries.

"I will be in Sri Lanka for a two-day visit starting today. This will be my second bilateral visit there in two years, a sign of our strong relationship," Modi said in a Facebook post.



He will be inaugurating a hospital in Sri Lanka built with Indian assistance.



"During my visit, I will join the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo on May 12, where I will interact with leading Buddhist spiritual leaders, scholars and theologians," the Prime Minister said.



He also said that it was an honour for him to join these celebrations with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.



The Prime Minister emphasised that his visit brings to the fore the "shared heritage of Buddhism" calling it "one of the most abiding links between India and Sri Lanka".



Recalling his last trip to the island country in 2015, Modi said: "I had the opportunity to visit Anuradhapura, a UNESCO world heritage site and a leading centre of Buddhism for centuries."



"This time, I will be privileged to pay respect at the revered Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," he added.



The Prime Minister said that his trip will commence in Colombo with a visit to the Seema Malaka at the Gangaramayya temple where he will take part in the traditional lamp-lighting ceremony.



He will inaugurate the Dickoya Hospital, built with Indian help in an umscale area.



He will interact with the Indian-origin Tamil community there.
Government think-tank NITI Aayog on Wednesday shared some key development strategies to transform Uttar Pradesh with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

A 17-member delegation led by National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya and CEO Amitabh Kant met the Chief Minister and other top government officials with specific strategies across sectors.



The think-tank said that the way forward to transform Uttar Pradesh was through transforming key sectors, including industry, agriculture, infrastructure, health and education.



"Upon constructive discussions, it has been decided that a Joint Working Group (JWG) will be set up with three members from NITI Aayog and three members from the state government.



"The JWG will prepare a road map and identify action points for the development of Uttar Pradesh within the next 15 days. Respective departments of the state government will then implement these action points," a NITI Aayog statement said.



During the meeting, Yogi Adityanath sought the cooperation of NITI Aayog and the Central Government and also asked for extension of the Bundelkhand package and special assistance in areas of the state where drinking water has been affected by arsenic and fluoride contamination.



NITI CEO Amitabh Kant made a presentation on where Uttar Pradesh stands today and what steps are needed to transform it.



"Pleasure making a presentation to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and his team... Cooperative federalism at its best!" Kant tweeted.



"Earlier, chief ministers used to come to the Planning Commission seeking funds and approvals. Now NITI Aayog goes to states to support and facilitate their growth," he said in the next tweet.



During the meeting, NITI Aayog Adviser Alok Kumar shared his views on maternal and child health and emphasised that "for India to move forward, Uttar Pradesh must improve".



Rural Development Secretary Amarjeet Sinha made a presentation on how to ensure poverty alleviation and rural housing in the state.



Another NITI Aayog Adviser-HRD Maninder Kaur Dwivedi talked about improving learning outcomes by enrolling and retaining children in schools.
NEW YORK, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Labaton Sucharow LLP (Labaton Sucharow) announces that on May 10, 2017, it filed a securities class action lawsuit on behalf of its client City of Warwick Municipal Employees Pension Fund (Warwick) against Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (Rackspace or the Company) (NYSE:RAX), and certain of its senior executives (collectively, Defendants). The action, which is captioned City of Warwick Municipal Employees Pension Fund v. Rackspace Hosting, Inc., No. 17-cv-03501 (S.D.N.Y.), asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, on behalf of all investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Rackspace common stock between November 11, 2014 and August 10, 2015, inclusive (the Class Period).



The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Defendants violated provisions of the Exchange Act by issuing false and misleading statements regarding the impending loss of its contract with Vodafone Group Plc (Vodafone) and the attendant impact on the Companys profitability and growth prospects. Rackspace is a cloud computing company that provides data hosting and other related services to business customers around the world. In August 2010, Rackspace announced that its Vodafone Contract had been renewed for an additional five years.

During the Class Period, Rackspace repeatedly touted the profitability and growth of its international business. However, Defendants Class Period statements pertaining to the Companys profitability and growth prospects were materially false and misleading because Defendants failed to disclose that: (1) Vodafone had initiated extensive data migration away from Rackspace servers, signaling Vodafones intent to replace Rackspace with alternative providers on the contracts April 1, 2015 expiration date; (2) the failure to secure a renewal of the Vodafone Contract would have a significant near-term financial impact on the Companys 2015 recurring revenues; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company and its growth prospects.

Beginning in May 2015, a series of disclosures exposed the non-renewal of the Vodafone Contract and its concomitant impact on the Companys financial performance and business prospects. In reaction to these revelations, Rackspace stock lost hundreds of millions of dollars in market capitalization, with the Companys stock price falling from a Class Period high of nearly $56 per share on April 27, 2015, to close at $29.24 per share on August 11, 2015.

If you purchased or acquired the publicly traded common stock of Rackspace during the Class Period, you are a member of the Class and may be able to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff. Lead Plaintiff motion papers must be filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York no later than July 10, 2017. The Lead Plaintiff is a court-appointed representative for absent members of the Class. You do not need to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff to share in any Class recovery in this action. If you are a Class member and there is a recovery for the Class, you can share in that recovery as an absent Class member. You may retain counsel of your choice to represent you in this action.

If you would like to consider serving as Lead Plaintiff or have any questions about this lawsuit, you may contact Francis P. McConville, Esq. of Labaton Sucharow, at (800) 321-0476, or via email at fmcconville@labaton.com. You can view a copy of the complaint online at http://www.labaton.com/en/cases/City-of-Warwick-Municipal-Employees-Pension-Fund-v-Rackspace-Hosting-Inc.cfm.

Warwick is represented by Labaton Sucharow, which represents many of the largest pension funds in the United States and internationally with combined assets under management of more than $2 trillion. Labaton Sucharows litigation reputation is built on its half-century of securities litigation experience, more than 60 full-time attorneys, and in-house team of investigators, financial analysts, and forensic accountants. Labaton Sucharow has been recognized for its excellence by the courts and peers, and it is consistently ranked in leading industry publications. Offices are located in New York, NY and Wilmington, DE. More information about Labaton Sucharow is available at www.labaton.com.
Here are the unofficial results for Saline County in the 2022 election
A two-day training for trainers course (T.O.T.) on Career Counselling for senior staff of the Yazaki Samoa ended on Monday.

The training was technically supported by the International Labour Organisation (I.L.O.) and the Samoa National Youth Council (S.N.Y.C.).

It was delivered in a very easy, interactive form, focussing on knowledge and skills on the role of career counsellors, writing job application letters and curriculum vitae (CV) and acquiring skills for job interviews.

The I.L.O. National Coordinator, M. Tomasi Peni believes that the training will provide skills and knowledge to all participants.

Trainees were also provided with a Pacific Guide called My Guide to Employment and it is envisaged that they will use the knowledge, skills and materials to career counsel other workers in Yazaki, said Mr Tomasi Peni, the I.L.O. National Coordinator in Samoa.

Ms. Kaisarina Salesa, Programme Coordinator for S.N.Y.C. said upon learning of the preliminary findings that about 60% of the total Yazaki EDS Samoa Ltd workforce are youths, it was imperative that S.N.Y.C. engage in the process of assisting these young people in the transitioning period before leaving the Yazaki employment for good.

It is a concern that one of the major employers in the private sector is closing down leaving behind a number of unemployed youths.

This impacts greatly on the economy of Samoa and the rising number of youth unemployment. S.N.Y.C. is therefore providing support that will benefit the workers and youths.

The S.N.Y.C. presented the concept and benefits of the e-Youth hub at the training to sensitise the trainees to share this information with other staff.

Other partners such as Samoa Business Enterprise Centre (S.B.E.C.) and the Employment Division of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour (M.C.I.L.) also presented on the services available for Yazaki workers to access.

Mr. Uelese Tupuola, the President of the Yazaki Staff Association, who attended the training said that the skills he and his colleagues acquired provided them and their 650 plus workers with some hope.

The recent launch of the e-Youth hub by the S.N.Y.C., where young workers from Yazaki can register to access employment services, will be rolled out. A pilot registration was also conducted during the training.

This will also provide more information on the professional and geographical characteristics of the Yazaki young workers so specific programmes can be developed or pre-existing services linked to them.

The other on-line employment registration presented during the training was the recent Labour Market Information System that are available with M.C.I.L.

Yazaki E.D.S is a member of the Samoa Manufactures & Exporters (S.A.M.E.) Association and member of the Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (S.C.C.I.). The Yazaki Staff Association is a member of the Samoa National Tripartite Forum (S.N.T.F.).

The General Manager of Yazaki EDS Samoa Ltd, Funefeai Oliva Vaai, thanked the partners for this important training which he thinks will help the workers try to access employment services and increase their skills to secure jobs.
In commemoration of Mothers Day this year, the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development hosted its first ever Market Exhibition in front of the government building yesterday morning.

The Market Exhibition was a lead up to this years annual Ie Samoa and Siapo exhibition (Faalelegapepe mo Ie Samoa ma le Siapo) that will be held in front of the government this morning.

However, the main aim of the Market Exhibition yesterday was to showcase small business ventures operated by individuals or families, susceptible to economic barriers which in turn, infringe upon their social wellbeing.

Todays programme, despite the rain, is actually trying to provide a market space for our women youth and also people with disabilities, said the Assistant C.E.O. of the Economic Empowerment Division of the Ministry of Women and Social Development, Nanai Sovala Agaiava.

Very rarely do they have the opportunity to find markets because they are usually out in the rural areas, so today we are providing market space (for them), and we are expecting everyone to come in.

As you can see, they are selling different products, mostly art and crafts, their weaving hats, tapa and a number of elei...not only that but we are providing the opportunity to our service providers.

The Ministry seeks to alleviate the impacts of poverty and unemployment, it maintains focus on strengthening those most vulnerable to such impacts i.e.: our families and communities but more specifically; women, young people and persons with disabilities

Our service providers also share their services and raise awareness on what they are doing, as you can see we have the National Health Services here, the Ministry of Agriculture, S.B.E.C. and a number of other stakeholders and partners.

For todays programme, the annual event of Ie Samoa and Siapo exhibition (Faalelegapepe mo Ie Samoa ma le Siapo) is to promote womens crucial role as producers of such important arts and crafts of Samoa and to commemorate Mothers Day.

Theres a huge increase from the previous years, the increase is not actually in the numbers of women but the number of ie, that is, # 1 and 2, which is quite good for us. Nanai said.

The event will also celebrate womens nafa tausi (traditional role) as cultural revivers and capable income earners to support the well-being of families and communities around Upolu and Savaii.

The general public is invited to attend today, come and join us.

The fuataga will be held in front of the government building this morning.
Revenue Increases 5.7% Over First Quarter 2016



Gross Profit Increases 7.7% Over First Quarter 2016

EBITDA Increases to $248 Thousand, a $79 Thousand Increase Over First Quarter 2016

FITCHBURG, Mass., May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Micron Solutions Inc. (NYSE MKT:MICR) (the Company), which is, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Micron Products, Inc., a diversified contract manufacturing organization that produces highly-engineered, innovative medical device components requiring precision machining and injection molding, announced results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

We are pleased to report increased revenue, gross profit, gross margin and EBITDA in the first quarter of 2017, as compared to both the trailing and prior year quarters, commented Salvatore Emma Jr., President and CEO.

In the first quarter, the Company successfully completed several validation projects for our customers related to new product introductions. We are working with several medical device customers to provide more value through vertical integration across their supply chain and allowing us to provide more services. Services such as clean-room packaging, heat treating, and other outsourced processes have been added to our repertoire.

Thermoplastic injection molding sales increased largely due to growth in the automotive, military and law enforcement industries. Sensor sales decreased due in part to lower shipments and price concessions, but order volume for the year looks stable.

We are also pleased to announce that our bank has notified the Company that the renewal of its credit facility has been approved with substantially the same terms of the existing agreement, added Mr. Emma.

First Quarter 2017 Review

$ In thousands Q1 2017 Q1 2016 $ Change % Change Net sales $ 5,265 $ 4,983 $ 282 5.7 % Gross profit $ 738 $ 685 $ 53 7.7 % Gross margin 14.0 % 13.7 % Net loss $ (214 ) $ (384 ) $ 170 Diluted loss per share $ (0.08 ) $ (0.14 ) $ 0.06

The increase in net sales in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the same prior year period was from thermoplastic injection molded products as well as sales of tooling, net of deferred revenue. The increase was partly offset by lower sales of sensors and orthopedic implant components and instruments.

The increase in gross profit was primarily from thermoplastic injection molding, net tooling and sensors, partially offset by lower gross profit from orthopedic implant components and instruments.

EBITDA(1) (income from continuing operations adjusted for income taxes, other income and expense, interest, depreciation and amortization, and share-based compensation expense) for the first quarter of 2017 was $248 thousand compared with $169 thousand for the same period in 2016. (1)See attached table for additional important disclosures regarding the Companys use of EBITDA, as well as a reconciliation of net income (loss) from continuing operations to EBITDA.

Liquidity

At March 31, 2017, the Company had cash on hand of $265 thousand and working capital of $1.1 million as compared to $380 thousand and $1.5 million at December 31, 2016. In the first quarter 2017, accounts receivable increased $965 thousand due to higher sales in the last two weeks of March, and inventory increased $293 thousand due in part to higher work-in-process inventory. To support working capital needs, the Company borrowed $825 thousand from its revolver in the first quarter 2017. Additionally, capital expenditures of $494 thousand were largely funded by $314 thousand from the equipment line of credit.

The Company believes that the cash flows from its operations, together with its existing working capital, increased booked orders, new customers, the renewal of the revolver and other resources, will be sufficient to fund operations at current levels and repay debt obligations over the next twelve months. In May 2017, the Companys bank approved the renewal of the Companys revolver with a one year term maturing in June 2018. The Company expects to receive a commitment letter from the bank in May 2017 and expects to close on the renewal in June 2017.

Outlook:

In the first quarter of 2017, we continued to execute on our strategic growth initiatives while also facing several challenges presented by our validation requirements. These projects strained our capacity in the first quarter, which negatively impacted our financial results. We have made several improvements in quality systems, capacity and our ability to meet customer requirements. We believe we have laid a solid foundation for further improvement and are focused on returning to profitability, concluded Mr. Emma.

About Micron Solutions, Inc.

Micron Solutions, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Micron Products, Inc., is a diversified contract manufacturing organization that produces highly-engineered, innovative medical device components requiring precision machining and injection molding. The Company also manufactures components, devices and equipment for military, law enforcement, industrial and automotive applications. In addition, the Company is a market leader in the production and sale of silver/silver chloride coated and conductive resin sensors used as consumable component parts in the manufacture of integrated disposable electrophysiological sensors. The Companys strategy for growth is to build a best-in-class contract manufacturer with a specialized focus on plastic injection molding and highly-engineered medical devices and components requiring precision machining.

The Company routinely posts news and other important information on its websites:

http://www.micronsolutionsinc.com and http://www.micronproducts.com

Safe Harbor Statement

Forward-looking statements made herein are based on current expectations of Micron Solutions, Inc. (our or the Company) that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and should not be considered as guarantees of future performance. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include our ability to obtain and retain order volumes from customers who represent significant proportions of net sales; our ability to maintain our pricing model, offset higher costs with price increases and/or decrease our cost of sales; variability of customer delivery requirements; the level of and ability to generate sales of higher margin products and services; our ability to renew our credit facility and manage our level of debt and provisions in the debt agreements which could make the Company sensitive to the effects of economic downturns and limit our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry; failure to comply with financial and other covenants in our credit facility; reliance on revenues from exports and impact on financial results due to economic uncertainty or downturns in foreign markets; volatility in commodity and energy prices and our ability to offset higher costs with price increases; continued availability of supplies or materials used in manufacturing at competitive prices; variations in the mix of products sold; continued availability of supplies or materials used in manufacturing at competitive prices; and the amount and timing of investments in capital equipment, sales and marketing, engineering and information technology resources. More information about factors that potentially could affect the Company's financial results is included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MICRON SOLUTIONS, INC. EBITDA RECONCILIATION (1) ($ in thousands) Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 2016 Net loss $ (214 ) $ (384 ) Other (income) expense (24 ) (1 ) Interest expense 64 60 Depreciation and amortization 396 361 Impairment of intangibles  118 Share-based compensation 26 15 EBITDA $ 248 $ 169 EBITDA margin % 4.7 % 3.4 %

(1) Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to reporting net income, a U.S. generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP) measure, this news release contains information about EBITDA (income from continuing operations adjusted for income taxes, other income and expense, interest, depreciation and amortization, and share-based compensation expense), which is a non-GAAP measure. The Company believes EBITDA allows investors to view its performance in a manner similar to the methods used by management and provides additional insight into its operating results. EBITDA is not calculated through the application of GAAP. Accordingly, it should not be considered as a substitute for the GAAP measure of net income and, therefore, should not be used in isolation of, but in conjunction with, the GAAP measure. The use of any non-GAAP measure may produce results that vary from the GAAP measure and may not be comparable to a similarly defined non-GAAP measure used by other companies.
Lets face it.

Whether or not Prime Minister Tuilaepa would admit it, the truth is that theres a big problem facing him.

And that problem is called prostitution.

Now already 400 women are reported to be already involved in it, the indications are that the number is growing, and yes, there is no doubt it will continue to grow.

Now the pertinent question is: What was it that caused this problem.

Answer: Poverty and hardship caused by unemployment which in turn, had been caused by the governments failure to provide the crucial employment that was  and still is - dearly needed.

Which follows that as long as unemployment remains, Prime Minister Tuilaepas problem will continue to grow, and as its doing so along the way, it may very well overwhelm us all one of these days.

The hard truth though is that even an idiot knows what this little problem is capable of. The question then is: Is Prime Minister Tuilaepa playing games with our minds, or is he just a plain nut?

We dont know, and we truly dont want, to think so.

Still, the question is: Hadnt he been the prime minister of Samoa non-stop for the last twenty-six years or so?

Still, the idea that there are 400 women working as prostitutes in Samoa today is so disturbing, you just cant help wondering what kind of man would allow his country to wallow in the mud this way?

And yet, it seems as if as far as Samoas prime minister is concerned, there is really nothing wrong with women  young and old  taking up the so-called oldest profession right here in God-fearing Samoa, in this day and age.

None.

As a matter of fact, it seems as if all he cared about then was the idea that only the oldest profession known to man, would not fail to incite the sort of public debate that he so dearly needed, at just that point in time.

And as it turned out that was precisely what happened.

During Tuilaepas weekly media conference, he was asked by the Samoa Observer reporter, for a comment on the growing number of sex workers in the country.

Tuilaepa hesitated.

A little later, when he was asked for a comment on claims that poverty and hardship were responsible for the growing number of sex workers in Samoa, he laughed.

A little later, he said: If that is true then you shouldnt find that in America, the wealthiest country in the world, and yet there are a lot of women like that in America.

He added: Thats where its wrong. You cant control this type of behavior.

He paused again, and a little later still, he was laughing, as he was saying: I know the newspaper is trying hard.

It doesnt matter how far off the issue is. They always try to pull it towards my doorstep. They blame me as the reason for everything.

He paused again and then continued: Thats why I hardly read their rubbish. I try to free my mind day after day, to avoid being dragged into issues.

Hes got a point there.

Still, what he needs to keep firmly in his mind is that as long as he is Samoas Prime Minster, he can neither try to evade nor run away, from those issues.

After all, he  along with his team of hand-picked Lauia  are the ones who created those issues in the first place, which follows that they are also the ones who should solve them and then send them away, to wherever they rightly belong.

About a week later, the chance to ask the Minister of Health, Tuitama Dr Leao Talalelei Tuitama, for a comment on Tuilaepas claims regarding Samoas 400 sex workers, showed up.

It did when Dr Leaos own media conference came around.

Incidentally, those 400 sex workers had been identified by what had become known as the Multi-country Mapping and Behavioural study of 2016.

That study, according to the Ministry of Health, in their sixth annual report to UNAIDS, had verified that at the time, there were an estimated 400 female sex workers in Samoa.

The report said: Most women are doing sex work for economic reasons, and the payment varies considerably from $50 to $200 tala.

Indeed, it went on to say: These women have a wide range of clients, including local and foreign men, 58.3% had children, and the majority had no other employment.

Later still at Tuitama Dr Leaos own media conference, the Samoa Observer reporter approached him, and asked for an interview.

It was granted.

Asked if he agreed that the report in question was rubbish, as it had been so condemned by Prime Minister Tuilaepa, Dr Leao, replied: You dont want me to say that the Prime Minister was wrong.

You know, he is the leader of our country; if he says its rubbish, then it must be rubbish.

Well then, if that is so, then why are our government, and indeed the Health Department, wasting their time and ours with these reports, if theyd already known they were rubbish?

We have no idea.

Still, all we know is that as the principal author of the report in question - Professor, Global Health School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia - has written:

As the lead author of the report on HIV and STI risk and vulnerability among key populations in Samoa, I would respectfully like to respond to the Honourable Minister of Health, Tuitama Dr Leao Talalelei Tuitama and the Honourable Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, by asking them to please read this report.

It is available online at:

http://www.pacific.undp.org/content/pacific/en/home/library/DG/pacific-multicountry-mapping-behavioural-study-key-findings.html
The Samoa Faafafine Association (S.F.A.) is in the final stages of launching its first ever Media Guide.

Yesterday was the final consultation at The Edge Marina View in Matautu where media representaives from every outlet met with the Samoa Faafafine Association(S.F.A.) .

Speaking to the Samoa Observer, Sooalo Tootooalii Roger Stanley said, The guide is our initiative that we feel we need to actually share with all the media industry, so that when they report on issues or cases on faafafine, they need to make sure they comply.

Our number one worry is the terminology. In the guide we have different terminologies and their definitions.

The guide covers LGBTQI terms and their definitions as well as guidelines for the best media practices.

In this guide, we encourage inclusivity. When you report , respect everyone. We have all these different sorts of people around. As I said, Samoa is already small as it is and we need everyone to be included.

We want to ensure that the media and J.A.W.S. reps have a clear understanding of the issues and our preferences in the pronouns. So when they report in the future, it reflects well and no one is being hurt or has had their human rights breached, Sooale added.

We do notice.

Weve had a few people calling up and checking in to see if their articles are okay, especially the pronouns and their names. Its a work in progress, it only gets better when we move forward.

S.F.A. has set out an ambitious agenda which includes launching the final copy of the media report as well as meeting with the Council of Churches later in the year.

We met them couple of years ago. This meeting is long overdue. Im sure youre aware of all those issues.

This is a meeting with them so we can share. Its just a dialogue with leaders of churches to see where they stand and where we stand.

Its a matter of working together and living in harmony in Samoa and making sure we continue to live in this paradise without a breach of basic human rights, any issues or problems.

Samoa is paradise, weve been living here, faafafine ourselves, way before Christianity . Samoa is already small as it is, and its a matter of living in harmony and trying to embrace everyone.

Everyone lives in harmony and moves forward, Sooale concluded.
Despite heavy rain and clouds yesterday morning, the teachers and students of Maluafou College were not deterred.

Having prepared their costumes and practiced for a grueling three weeks, nothing was going to stop them celebrating and putting on a great performance for their annual Culture Day.

Held at the school compound, the students were divided into four school houses  Savaii, Upolu, Manono and Apolima.

They also covered four categories, Samoan food, Samoan Speeches, Myths and Legends and Samoan Songs

The students taking part said that the Day was important for the young generation of the school to get to know their culture and traditions and what our ancestors had done.

Parents and families as well as friends were among the audience witnessing the celebration.

Here are some of the photos from yesterdays celebration:
HAGATNA, Guam (AP)  The U.S., the U.K. and Japan are joining a French-led amphibious exercise at remote U.S. islands in the Pacific over the next week.

Participants say they are showing support for the free passage of vessels in international waters, an issue that has come to the fore amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea.

The drills around Guam and Tinian may also get the attention of nearby North Korea. Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea spiked last month after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile and the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

The drills will practice amphibious landings, delivering forces by helicopter and urban patrols.

Two ships from France are participating, both of which are in the middle of a four-month deployment to the Indian and Pacific oceans. Joining are U.K. helicopters and 70 U.K. troops deployed with the French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral. Parts of the exercise will feature British helicopters taking U.S. Marines ashore from a French ship.

"The message we want to send is that we're always ready to train and we're always ready for the next crisis and humanitarian disaster wherever that may be," said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col Kemper Jones, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. About 100 Marines from Jones' unit will be part of the drills slated for this weekend and next week.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has aggressively tried to fortify its foothold in recent years by transforming seven mostly submerged reefs into island outposts, some with runways and radars and  more recently  weapons systems. This has prompted criticism from other nations, who also claim the atolls, and from the United States, which insists on freedom of navigation in international waters.

Critics fear China's actions could restrict movement in a key waterway for world trade and rich fishing grounds.

China says its island construction is mainly for civilian purposes, particularly to increase safety for ships. It has said it won't interfere with freedom of navigation or overflight, although questions remain on whether that includes military ships and aircraft.

Mira Rapp-Hooper of the Center for New American Security, a Washington think tank, said the exercises will send a strong message in support of a "rules-based order in Asia" at a time when China's actions have raised questions about this.

"A reminder in this exercise is that lots of other countries besides the United States have an interest in that international order," said Rapp-Hooper, who is a senior fellow with the center's Asia-Pacific Security Program.

Meanwhile, this week the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote President Donald Trump to express concern that the U.S. hasn't conducted freedom of navigation operations since October.

The letter from Republican Sen. Bob Corker, Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin and five other senators supported a recent assessment by the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific that China is militarizing the South China Sea and is continuing a "methodical strategy" to control it.

The letter, dated Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, urged the administration to "routinely exercise" freedom of navigation and overflight. The senators described the South China Sea as critical to U.S. national security interests and to peace in the Asia-Pacific.

The Guam exercises come amid modestly growing European interest in the South China Sea, said David Santoro, a senior fellow for nuclear policy at Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu think tank.

"What I'm hearing from the French and to some degree the British, is an increased interest in what's going on in Asia and how they can help," Santoro said. As for North Korea, Santoro said Pyongyang would likely be watching but he didn't think the exercises were intended to send any signal to the country.

Japan, which is sending 50 soldiers and 160 sailors and landing craft, has been investing in amphibious training so it can defend its own islands. Tokyo is particularly concerned China might attempt to take over rocky, uninhabited outcrops in the East China Sea that it controls but Beijing claims. Japan calls the islands Senkaku while China calls them Diaoyu. Japan has also expressed an interest in vessels being able to freely transit the South China Sea.

Guam and Tinian are about 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) south of Tokyo. They're about the same distance to the east from Manila, Philippines.
Volunteers are needed Saturday to help unload food donations as part of the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The local food drive is a team effort between North County postal carriers who will pick up food donations from the homes of area residents and Brother Bennos Auxiliary.

This is the largest annual food drive that the auxiliary coordinates to support the nonprofit Brother Benno Center at 3260 Production Ave. in Oceanside.

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The center provides hot meals and sack lunches six days a week to low-income families and seniors as well as homeless folks. The center also gives food boxes to needy families and offers services to help them out of poverty.

Since Brother Bennos opened in 1983, the nonprofit has served more than 4 million meals and given out more than 314,700 food boxes.

The nonprofit, which has helped thousands of people turn their lives around through its programs, runs a 26-week, 12-step recovery program and operates seven recovery homes. The nonprofit is rated as a top four-star Charity by Charity Navigator,

Volunteers will be unloading the food donations collected by postal carriers at the U.S. Post Office in La Costa.

For more information, email auxiliary@brotherbenno.org

Visit brotherbenno.org
The annual dredging of the Oceanside harbor entrance channel has again hit rough waters.

Bad weather and equipment problems have set the work days or even weeks behind schedule, though officials say they hope to catch up. The dredging began in mid-April and is to be completed by the end of May before the Memorial Day weekend.

Last year the project started late and stretched on for months, in part because of rough seas and a new contractor with too-small equipment. City officials publicly fumed about equipment on the beach during tourist season.

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This year, a veteran contractor returned: Manson Construction Co. of Seattle, which has larger equipment and years of experience dredging the harbor. Still, new challenges emerged.

(Work) shut down for several days because of sea conditions, said Greg Fuderer, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency in charge of the project. The other thing is that during rough seas a piece of equipment  popped off.

That equipment, called a swing block, fell off the dredging barge and went to the bottom of the harbor sometime last week. Manson searched with divers and hired a vessel with an on-board magnetometer to locate the missing piece, but days later it hadnt been found.

Officials said they would order another swing block and work should resume by the end of this week.

The deadline for completing the dredging is Memorial Day weekend, the official start of the summer tourist season. This years contract calls for 280,000 cubic yards of sand to be dredged, but as of Tuesday only about 52,600 cubic yards had been moved.

It will not go past Memorial Day, we are very firm on that, Fuderer said.

Oceanside relies on the annual dredging to keep the harbor mouth open for navigation and to pump sand onto the citys beaches.

Its important to our city because of tourism, Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood said Wednesday. People dont like to come down here and find theres rocks on the beach.

Wood said hes confident Manson will finish on time and remove all the sand thats needed for nearby beaches.

They are a very competent company, and they have always done a good job, Wood said. They are a big improvement over last year.

Last years contractor, CJW Construction of Santa Ana, started in June and finished in October, after big waves and equipment problems forced numerous delays. The same type of ocean swells are causing trouble again this year.

Even if you have a vessel the size of the Titanic, you cant take that, said a worker at the harbor, who asked not to be named. We pay the price.

Another difficulty this year, some workers said, is that last years dredging left a lot of sand just outside the harbor entrance. As a result, the mouth of the harbor is more shallow than ever, which creates bigger waves and rougher seas in the area where dredging is needed.

The goal of dredging is to keep the harbor entrance about 25 feet deep for safe navigation. Last summer parts of the entrance were as shallow as 8 feet.

The Corps of Engineers pays about $5 million annually for the harbor dredging contract.

Last year CJW had a one-year contract with an option to renew for two more years. The contract wasnt renewed.

Manson also has a one-year contract with options to renew. Intending to secure those renwals, the company has buried its sand-transportation pipe on the beach from the harbor to the San Luis Rey River, so it will not be an obstacle to beachgoers.

This week the above-ground pipe ended at about Windward Way. When dredging resumes, sand will be spread south to the pier, and past the pier if theres enough sand.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
Torrey Pines High School has held yellow-ribbon assemblies and shared tips for suicide prevention. It has staged an annual Falconfest to help students address stress and depression. Peer mentors welcome incoming freshmen and transfer students, and scout lunch tables in search of kids eating alone.

Somehow, 15-year-old Jacob Peterson slipped through those safety nets. Early Sunday morning, the bright, shy freshman was fatally shot after summoning police to campus and confronting them with what turned out to be a BB gun. Police later found a suicide note in his pocket, but did not disclose its contents

Despite their efforts at inclusion, students and staff at the Carmel Valley campus were left wondering what else they could have done to help the boy that many had met, but few really knew.

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You look back and think you wished you could have stopped it, and there was more you could have done, said senior Breana Flaherty, a member of Torrey Pines PALs (Peer Assistant Listeners) class.But you cant control everything.

For years public schools avoided addressing suicide, afraid that talking about it might prompt a depressed student to act, said Stan Collins, a suicide prevention specialist and media representative for the San Diego Suicide Prevention Council.

That changed in 2001, when a national report outlined strategies that reduce the risk. Early on, the council worked with Torrey Pines High to put those into practice through outreach and education, Collins said.

Torrey Pines has been very proactive for a number of years, and more forward thinking than many schools, he said.

PALs are among the schools first lines of defense against the anxiety and isolation that can accompany the transition to high school. They educate fellow students about social and emotional issues including bullying, school violence, substance abuse, mental health and suicide. The class sponsors campus events, conducts campus tours for new students and makes contact with those who may be lonely or struggling.

The class helps plan the Falconfest event, which features a series of exercises to forge communication between teens who might not otherwise meet. During one segment, students step across a line if they know someone who committed suicide, experienced mental illness or struggled with drug or alcohol addiction. As more students step forward, they realize they have shared experiences with unexpected classmates, said Principal Rob Coppo.

I think the primary thing we ask our students to do is to really listen to each other, Coppo said, noting that teens own voices can get drowned out by digital communications. Our students face a media world we couldnt imagine. Theyve got a tornado of social media coming at them on a daily basis. And they have instant access to unlimited information.

For yellow ribbon week PALs students decorated the school with 800 informational posters and hundreds of yards of yellow ribbon, to publicize the warning signs for suicide. Students were told to watch for changes in mood or behavior among friends and classmates, to take talk of suicide seriously and to let teachers or counselors know if they think someone is at risk.

With Peterson, however, there werent obvious warning signs, said classmates, who described him as quiet, good-natured and exceptionally smart.

He was such a sweet boy, said Ashley Stayer, 15, a sophomore in the PALs class who led Peterson on a tour of campus last year. All he wanted to do was help people. He never really showed any sign of depression.

Nick Meraz, a junior in the class, wondered if students just didnt look close enough. He said he heard this week that Peterson may have become more reserved than usual, and may have been eating lunch alone in a quiet spot on campus.

For PALs, I feel like we should have been out there, talking to people one on one, said Meraz, 16. I feel that if we were out there that could have possibly prevented this.

The PALs classroom is open for lunch on alternating days, so students seeking company during the break can stop by. The teacher, Don Collins, has a log of e-mails from teacher or counselors referring students who need that extra attention, because they are new to the school, shy, or just having a hard time.

PALs students also scan the lunch area for students who are eating alone, and sit down to talk with them, or invite them to the classroom.

After the weekend, students said they realized the difference such a simple gesture could make.

We are all realizing as a class that we need to be doing more, because as much as we were doing, it wasnt enough, said senior Gabby Pacula, 17, this years PALs president. Were realizing the importance of checking up on freshmen.

On Wednesday, the students received awards for 60-second public service announcements they produced on the topics of suicide prevention and mental health, through the contest Directing Change.

Collins admitted he felt a quirk of discomfort about celebrating the awards in light of last weekends tragedy. Students said the focus on suicide prevention reinforced their determination to be there for classmates.

Others on campus appeared to feel the same way. A memorial at the front of the school included notes, poems and even some plaintive apologies from students who wished they had seen his distress.

Im sorry I never reached out to you or asked how your day was going when I saw how sad you looked, one student wrote.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
Its not easy to kill your lover, especially when they fight back.

But thats whats expected of Geoff Gonzalez, who dances the role of the jealous Don Jose in this weekends City Ballet production of Carmen.

When he rehearses with his wife, Ariana, who plays the part of the temptress Carmen, it takes him a while to get into the right frame of mind.

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We finally got to the brutality of the murder scene, and it was tough, Gonzalez says. The only way I can do it right is to build up the momentum towards that emotionally. Its not our relationship in real life at all, and thats what is challenging. Ariana is an amazing theatrical dancer, and the way she plays the character is a total transformation to watch and tricky to digest.

This ballet, Gonzalez says, is all about subtleties. Its got big music and big dancing, but you cant tell the story the way you would in an opera or a play.

City Ballet directors Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich (Arianas parents) first presented this version of Carmen when Elizabeth choreographed the work in 1988. She set aside strict classical technique and focused on, well, passion.

Set in 1820s Spain and danced to live orchestration of George Bizets score, this Carmen offers a movement vocabulary thats a grittier, more contemporary version of the groundbreaking 1949 ballet by Roland Petit, who also starred as Don Jose with his wife, ballerina Zizi Jeanmaire.

City Ballet has an advantage in that its in-house married couple brings talent, sex appeal and strong partnering skills to principal roles that require chemistry and acting ability.

Ariana Gonzalez, who last performed as Carmen in 2011, now approaches her role differently.

Ive grown as a dancer and a woman, she says. So instead of playing Carmen like a hussy, Im playing it like Im in charge of my sexuality and I dont care who will give me a hard time about it. I love this role because its quite different than a lot of the other female heroines that Ive played. Carmen was quite revolutionary for her time  a strong female character. I dont get to play characters like that, so its pretty fun. You have to put your whole heart out there and dance with abandon.

Geoff Gonzalez also has choreographed a new premiere for the concert titled The Four Seasons, and both ballets are full company works.

The Four Seasons is based on Antonio Vivaldis 1721 score, melodically illustrating spring, summer, fall and winter. And like Carmen, it has been updated.

When neoclassical composer Max Richter, who is also known for his thrilling cinematic scores, re-imagined the work with Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi  The Four Seasons, Gonzalez was inspired to create movement that would match the musics drama and orchestral momentum.

I just wanted to express my undying love to this work, Gonzalez says. It changed me.

The ballet has contemporary phrasing, but at the same time, it has the classical pas de deux and transitions. Winter will be my favorite because there is so much you can do with cold in terms of lighting. I want to make a blizzard happen.

Ariana, a lyrical, leggy and adagio-type of dancer, is the summer girl in The Four Seasons, a part that plays to her flexibility and sense of dramatics.

This is a family business, mind you, and relationships support the work.

The company also is granted permission by the George Balanchine Trust to present Balanchines works, such as the dynamic Balanchine & Beyond, performed this past March.

Everyone at City Ballet works hard, Gonzalez says. And with the Balanchine show, we are all feeling physically elite right now.

City Ballet of San Diego presents Carmen and The Four Seasons

When: 8 p.m. Friday, May 12, and Saturday, May 13; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 14

Where: Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, downtown San Diego

Tickets: $32-$105

Phone: (858) 272-8663

Online: cityballet.org

Manna is a freelance writer.

Twitter: @outdoorlivingsd

michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com
Theres more than one track an aspiring theater director can take. Theres the academic track. Theres the work-your-way-up-from acting track.

And then theres the actual, literal track  the one on which you engage in playing roller derby. In Japan.

Hooking up with roller derby overseas wasnt exactly a directorial training strategy for Melissa Coleman-Reed, who was a busy San Diego actor until she departed three years ago for Seattle and then Japan, where her husband was stationed with the military.

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But skating with the Yokosuka Sushi Rollers did serve as a certain kind of stage prep for the Virginia native, whos about to make her directing debut with the play Having Our Say at New Village Arts in Carlsbad.

I feel as though derby is like theater in so many ways, she says. It attracts people who maybe dont live in a certain square, practical box. Or maybe they do and theyre just looking for an outlet to express themselves. It was a natural fit for me.

Plus, all that bumping and tough talk must help ready a new director to keep wayward actors in line, right?

Yeah, exactly, she says with a laugh. Little hip-check here and there.

Probably not necessary, though, with the pair of pros Coleman-Reed is working with at NVA: the accomplished San Diego actors Sylvia MLafi Thompson and Milena Phillips.

Those two  both seen onstage most recently in Cygnet Theatres powerful duet of August Wilson plays last fall  play the real-life sisters Bessie and Sadie Delany in Having Our Say, which premiered on Broadway in 1995.

Having Our Say

When: Previews begin Friday. Opens May 20. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through June 11.

Where: New Village Arts Theatre, 2787 State St., Carlsbad.

Tickets: $36 (discounts available)

Phone: (760) 433-3245

Online: newvillagearts.org

The piece by Emily Mann is based on the best-selling book by Amy Hill Hearth and the Delanys, who were both centenarians when it was published in 1993. (Bessie died at 104 in 1995, and Sadie at 109 in 1999.)

Having Our Say explores the sisters fascinating lives as pioneering African-American professional women and civil-rights leaders in their own right.

Daughters of a former slave who became the nations first elected black Episcopal bishop, the Delanys lived through the Jim Crow era, two world wars and several lives worth of turmoil and discrimination, all described in their own words over the course of the play.

They experienced all this amazing change and shift, says Coleman-Reed. But from childhood, they were taught, Help somebody. Thats what you have to do.

Somehow I feel were getting away from that. Its so easy now to collapse into yourself, especially having these crazy cell phones in your hand. Youre so connected to that (technology) that sometimes you dont connect with other people.

The Delanys, she adds, lived a simple creed:

Live with respect and dignity for everybody. Its such a huge thing, and we take it for granted.

DID YOU KNOW?

The local premiere of Having Our Say was at La Jolla Playhouse in 1997.

Twitter: @jimhebert

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com
TORONTO, May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mandalay Resources Corporation ("Mandalay" or the "Company") (TSX:MND) is pleased to announce the results of its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held today in Toronto, Ontario. All of the resolutions presented at the meeting were approved by the shareholders, with the votes cast by proxy representing 74.27% of the total shares outstanding as of the proxy cut-off date, May 9, 2017.



Election of Directors

The number of directors was fixed at six members and each of the six nominees listed in the Companys management information circular dated April 11, 2017 (the Circular) were re-elected to the Companys Board of Directors. Abraham Jonker remains the lead independent director and Bradford Mills continues as the Chair. The vote was conducted by a show of hands. Detailed results of the votes cast by proxy are set out below.

Motion Votes Cast by Proxy For % For Votes Cast by

Proxy Withheld % Withheld Number of Directors 335,006,431 99.97 93,232 0.03 Abraham Jonker 314,102,561 99.68 1,000,716 0.32 Amy Freedman 314,446,995 99.79 656,282 0.21 Bradford A. Mills 311,821,079 98.96 3,282,198 1.04 Mark Sander 314,767,313 99.89 335,964 0.11 Peter R. Jones 314,655,405 99.86 447,872 0.14 Robert Doyle 314,531,812 99.82 571,465 0.18

Appointment of Auditors

Ernst & Young LLP was appointed as the auditor of the Company to hold office until the close of the next Annual Meeting of the Shareholders, or until their successor is otherwise appointed and the directors were authorized to fix the auditors remuneration. The vote was conducted by a show of hands. Detailed results of the votes cast by proxy are set out below.

Motions Votes Cast by Proxy For % For Votes Cast by

Proxy Withheld % Withheld Appointment of Auditors 334,554,097 99.84 545,566 0.16

Restricted Share Unit Plan

The resolution to ratify the Companys restricted share unit plan and to approve all unallocated options, rights and entitlements thereunder was passed. The vote was conducted by a show of hands. Detailed results of the votes cast by proxy are set out below.

Motions Votes Cast by Proxy For % For Votes Cast

Against % Withheld Restricted Share Unit Plan 282,789,839 89.75 32,313,438 10.25

Restricted Share Unit Issuance

The resolution to ratify the issuance of 573,339 restricted share units issued by the Company since May 12, 2016 was passed. The vote was conducted by a show of hands. Detailed results of the votes cast by proxy are set out below.

Motions Votes Cast by Proxy For % For Votes Cast

Against % Withheld Restricted Share Unit Issuance 282,879,672 89.77 32,223,605 10.23

Stock Option Plan

The resolution to ratify the Companys amended stock option plan and to approve all unallocated options, rights and entitlements thereunder was passed. The vote was conducted by a show of hands. Detailed results of the votes cast by proxy are set out below.

Motions Votes Cast by Proxy For % For Votes Cast

Against % Withheld Restricted Share Unit Plan 282,752,261 89.73 32,351,016 10.27

ESTMA REPORT

The Company has filed its Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act Report for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act Report can be accessed on the Companys website at www.mandalayresources.com.

About Mandalay Resources Corporation



Mandalay Resources is a Canadian-based natural resource company with producing assets in Australia, Chile and Sweden, and a development project in Chile. The Company is focused on executing a roll-up strategy, creating critical mass by aggregating advanced or in-production gold, copper, silver and antimony projects in Australia, the Americas, and Europe to generate near-term cash flow and shareholder value.
The citizen planning group for the Measure H sales tax drew up final recommendations Wednesday for how Los Angeles County should spend $355 million annually over the next three years to fight homelessness.

The 50-member panel  composed of homeless advocates, service providers, local government and county officials, and business and nonprofit leaders  largely endorsed the requests made by officials of the county agencies and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority on where most of the money should go.

At the top of the list is $216 million to provide short-term rental subsidies and services to homeless people who have the capacity to become self-sufficient. The panel also recommended spending $208.6 million to open more shelters and expand interim housing for the chronically homeless waiting for permanent homes, and $146.5 million for services for those in permanent supportive housing.

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Measure H, approved by county voters in March, raised the sales tax by a quarter-cent for 10 years. The planning group was appointed to review proposals for the first three years.

The recommended budgets for years two and three are tentative, allowing flexibility as experience is gained with the 21 strategies considered by the panel. Many of the strategies have never been tried on such a large scale.

The recommendations are scheduled to be considered June 13 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which will make the final decisions.

In most cases, the proposed spending starts slowly in the first year, beginning in July when the sales tax increase goes into effect.

The panels recommendations climb from $259 million in the first year to $374 million in year two and $432 million in year three, when it is anticipated that the ongoing spending levels will be reached.

Over the three years, that would even out to almost exactly the anticipated revenue, but would establish ongoing expenses that could put programs in the red. Phil Ansell, director of the county Homeless Initiative, conceded that cuts might have to be made in the future if sales tax revenues dont increase.

The planning group, chaired by Ansell, was able to resolve most questions about the funding recommendations during the four-hour meeting at the downtown Cathedral Plaza Ballroom.

The only item that split the panel was a proposal to provide $1 million a year to the Sheriffs Department for homeless outreach. Several members strongly supported it while others said the department should find the money in its own budget for outreach. Arguments from both sides will be transmitted to the Board of Supervisors.

A meeting April 13 had brought the group close to anarchy as some members brought up fundamental questions about the conflict between long-term and short-term solutions and the panel wrestled with requests from county agencies that far exceeded the available funds.

Requests in the first round soared to $613 million by the third year, leaving panelists with the duty of cutting drastically rather than deliberating adjustments between strategies. The group then voted to instruct county officials to bring their requests into line with the available funds.

At later meetings Ansell sought to build a consensus around each funding strategy considered by the panel. As a result, the panel largely accepted the revised funding requests.

Dissent emerged over the $124 million allotted to services and rental subsidies for permanent supportive housing. In the straw vote, 38 members wanted that amount increased. The final recommendation raised it to $146.5 million.

Andy Bales, chief executive of the Union Rescue Mission, said he was satisfied with the result even though he had earlier raised a strong protest, saying half the money should go directly to providers working with homeless people.

Im a realist, Bales said. I know there is only so much we can do at this time.

doug.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATDoug

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Call it Game of Thrones meets Red Mars. Two of the nations top science fiction writers dished out down-to-earth advice to fans at UC San Diego.

George R. R. Martin  author of A Song of Ice and Fire, his book series adapted on HBO as Game of Thrones  recently shared the stage with novelist Kim Stanley Robinson.

Unlike the elaborate, detail-rich Game of Thrones, which globe trots to filming locations, there have been several failed attempts to adapt Robinsons Red Mars trilogy for television viewing  each more deadly than the last, opines the author.

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For years, Red Mars bounced around Hollywood. It landed with Spike TV a couple of years ago. Then early last year, Spike TV abruptly halted work on its 10-episode series when the projects executive producer quit. The series is still on hiatus.

For Martin and Robinson, the May 2 seminar here was a homecoming of sorts. Both have taught at the UC San Diego-based Clarion Workshop.

Few outside the literary community may know that this annual six-week workshop for writers, billed as the worlds oldest science fiction and fantasy writing program, occurs in San Diego.

Although the Clarion Workshop began elsewhere in 1968, it moved into UCSDs Clarke Center for Human Imagination in 2007. That relocation was, in large part, due to the influence of Robinson, a UCSD graduate.

The author since has been hailed in The New Yorker as one of the greatest living science-fiction writers.

A class act: County Supervisor Bill Horn and his wife, Kathy, met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mad Dog Mattis last week, but it wasnt over our countrys defense.

Mattis joined Horn and his classmates from the Marines Basic School for officers (class 5-67) May 6 at their 50th reunion gathering outside Washington, D.C.

The supervisor was surprised to see the Marine general, who simply showed up at the event. Mattis obviously had done some research because he commented specifically on Horns service in Vietnam, where Horn earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, among other commendations.

We were the Boys of 67, and I was lucky enough to attend our reunion this past weekend, Horn posted online. Many of his classs 516 grads were thrust into some of the fiercest fighting in Vietnam, where 39 died.

This week, Horn is celebrating a much more upbeat occasion  his 50th wedding anniversary.

Canadian historian Wendy Kramer, left, has done research on explorer Juan Cabrillo that has upended previously held understandings about his origins. In mid-2016 she visited San Diego with retiring USD history professor Iris Engstrand. (Peggy Peattie / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Historic occasion: Past California State Librarian Kevin Starr once praised a book on San Diego and its author, Iris Engstrand, saying: No one has written a better one-volume history of this important American city.

So, it is no surprise that the San Diego History Center is honoring the retiring University of San Diego professor who has taught for nearly nearly five decades.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer is leading a May 11 tribute that begins at the Balboa Park center then moves to The Prado restaurant where former Union-Tribune editorial page editor Bob Kittle will interview the author of 20 books, including San Diego: Californias Cornerstone.

Her reputation has traveled far. She also was honored by King Juan Carlos of Spain for capturing Spains history in the Americas.

San Diegan Mary Murphy, a judge on the Fox TV series, So You Think You Can Dance. (Jeff Christensen / Associated Press)

Stepping up: Mary Murphy, the perpetually smiling TV dance contest judge with the hot tamale train catchphrase, is embracing a far more serious topic here on Friday  Alzheimers disease.

Her mother died at the young age of 59 after a 10-year battle against the memory-robbing illness, which has attacked others in her family. Murphy will speak at a female-focused luncheon hosted by Alzheimers San Diego at Estancia La Jolla Hotel.

Two-thirds of San Diegos 65,000 Alzheimers patients are women, and 60 percent of caregivers are female, says Mary Ball, CEO of the local organization. She adds that women in their 60s are twice as likely to develop Alzheimers than breast cancer.

Murphy, a longtime judge on Fox TVs So You Think You Can Dance, cites research that indicates frequent dancing can help reduce the risk of dementia. So she periodically holds free ballroom dance sessions for Alzheimers sufferers.

The goal of her class isnt to memorize the dance steps but to remember how to laugh. They have a lot of fun, says Ball.

Skateboarder Tony Hawk attended the 2017 Success Makers Summit on April 17, 2017 in New York City. He hosted an American Express Success Makers event at his Vista headquarters on May 2. (Mike Coppola / Getty Images)

Hawk Headquarters: Tony Hawk long ago transformed his passion for skateboarding into a business empire. Now he has teamed up with American Express to share his entrepreneurial expertise with its local Platinum business card holders.

In addition to Hawks Birdhouse Skateboard operation and his 900 Film company, his Vista headquarters is home to his digital Ride Channel for skateboarders, his Demolition Radio program on SiriusXM and his philanthropic foundation.

On his May 9 tour, Hawk even gave American Express business owner invitees a free demo on his skateboard ramps.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
Stuart Harvey, a retired Caltrans hand, fondly remembers his boss for 22 years, Jake Dekema, the father of San Diegos highway system who died recently at the perfect age of 101, the very number of Californias heritage highway, our mother road..

Jake truly was revered by his staff, Harvey writes, not only for his leadership  but for how he defended the image of the Division of Highways (and later Caltrans) as new laws and public sentiment made planning and constructing highways more difficult.

Harvey attached a 1971 address Dekema delivered in Los Angeles to a gathering of American road builders.

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When it became public, Harvey recalled, everybody in the District 11 Office had a copy on his desk or in his back pocket and Jake was seen as a hero.

As a longtime fan of Dekemas erudition, wit and vision, allow me to honor the great man by selecting 10 points from The Ecology of Transportation, a lively counter to the highway-hostile environmentalists coming into prominence 46 years ago..

1. Transportation  or as Lord Bacon put it to Queen Elizabeth I, the easy conveyance of men and goods from place to place  is the essence of civilization. The Romans understood this, building 53,000 miles of roads.

The purpose of transportation is not merely to achieve the most economical and efficient vehicles conceivable, Dekema said. The purpose of transportation is civilization itself. From the dawn of civilization those cities and states having the best transportation systems have achieved the highest standard of living, have advanced their culture ahead of their time and have been able to maintain themselves militarily against envious and aggressive neighbors.

2. Visionary progress in transportation, however, presumes protest from the short-sighted. The graceful boulevards of Paris, the foundations of the City of Light, were vilified in the 19th century for uprooting people, removing valuable property from the tax rolls, splitting communities, separating families and dividing the city in divided islands.

3. Highways create picture windows, not walls, if designed to complement the cityscape. In New York, parkways and expressways have made the two greatest visual assets, its skyline and its water, accessible to public view.  The same transformation is taking place in San Diego.

4. Roads have always taken up space (maps of downtown San Diego, long before the invention of the car, devoted 42 percent of the land to roads) but, thanks to the automobile, the land for roads is offset by the retrieval of some 90 million acres of pastureland supporting the horses and mules required to move people and goods in the early part of the 20th century. That pasture land was twice the right of way of all public roads in the country circa 1970.

5. Speaking of rights of way, less than half the total is paved and the rest is typically landscaped. Look down from the high-rise office buildings in Los Angeles and San Diego. The wide green belts of open space that you see are the freeways.

6. Anyone who bemoans the effect of smog on agriculture is out in left field. Let us all realize that if it werent for modern transportation, there wouldnt be any modern agriculture with its vast productivity in which one farm worker feeds 30 to 40 people compared to more backward areas where a one-to-one ration is more common.

7. Our concern with the environment is nothing new. In 1300 English noblemen petitioned King Edward I to do something about the pollution of air in London and in 1306 he issued an edict prohibiting pollution of air. As we are well aware today, improvement of the environment comes about through economic growth, not through edict. And what drives economic growth? Transportation.

In the same vein, urban congestion is as old as the Coliseum. Fed up with gridlock in Rome, Julius Caesar banished wheeled carts from downtown. The chariot drivers were both male and female and were licensed just as we are today. One day Roman authorities became so fed up with women chariot drivers that they revoked all female drivers licenses. History does not record, but I wonder if this marked the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire. (Warned you he was a funny guy.)

8. Urban renewal is always a burning question. In 1635, Charles I bemoaned the high cost of living in London because of extreme congestion. He begged for relief. He did not live to see the day, but in 1666, the Great Fire of London solved the problem. Today, our fire departments are too efficient to permit this instant form of of urban renewal and many of our urban problems are caused by slow deterioration that can be reversed only be economic growth and profits that will spin off such fringe benefits as parks, museums, literature and education.

9. An automobile-based transportation system is safer than you might think. In 1909, about 26 million horses traveled some 13 billion miles and 3,850 people were killed in accidents. This gives a mileage death rate of over 30 per 100 million vehicle miles, more than 10 times as high as the rate on Californias freeways and further improvements are on the way. (Dekema would have loved driverless cars, I suspect.)

10. Cars offer people privacy and personal identity, the opposite of dehumanizing mass transit. The best transportation system gives the greatest freedom in choosing where to live, expands the area where they can sell their labor and gives them a greater choice in selecting shops, educational, religious, cultural and recreational facilities. In other words, people yearn for auto (as in self) mobiles.

Dekema was, however, a booster of jitneys, free-lance cars or buses that would be largely unregulated, free to go where people wanted to go.

In terms of vision, Jake was nothing if not Uber.

logan.jenkins@sduniontribune.com
The San Diego County Board of Education announced Wednesday night that it has hired Paul Gothold, superintendent of Lynwood Unified School District in Los Angeles, as the new county superintendent.

Gothold, described by the County Office of Education as a 25-year educator who has championed educational equality, will earn a base salary of $290,000, be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses up to $10,000 annually and will receive a one-time relocation fee of up to $15,000.

He replaces Edward Velasquez, who has served as interim county superintendent since last August.

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Velasquez was hired last summer after then-Superintendent Randy Ward had been placed on administrative leave and eventually resigned two months later in September.

Ward was hired as the county superintendent in 2006 and earned an annual salary of $331,736. Before his resignation, he had been dogged by claims he illegally approved raises for himself and other top administrators.

Gothold did not speak at Wednesdays meeting, but in a prepared statement he said he was honored and thankful to be hired.

It has been my lifes mission to ensure every child has the opportunity and the skills necessary to excel so they may achieve their college, career, and life goals, he said.

Board President Rick Shea said a nationwide search narrowed the field to six highly qualified candidates, and the selection process involved many interviews, background checks and input from employees and other stakeholders.

We then did a site visit to Lynwood to verify what we were seeing, Shea said. We did talk to parents, teachers and students, and everyone reconfirmed what we had already known, and that led us to this evening.

Shea said that under Gotholds leadership, graduation rates at Lynwoods two high schools are at 93 percent, a 23 percent increase. The district also was one of three in the nation  and the only one in California  to be named a 2017 College Board Advanced Placement District of the Year, he said.

Stephanie Cruz, the San Diego County Office of Education teacher of the year, also praised Gothold at Wednesdays meeting.

I can say with absolute confidence that I fully support Paul Gothold, she said.

Cruz and Shea also praised the work of Velasquez as interim superintendent during the past several months.

Gothold has been superintendent of the 15,000-student Lynwood Unified School District since 2013.

He began his career with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, working with adjudicated youth in the countys Division of Alternative Education as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal.

He later worked in the countys Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program, mentoring new teachers, writing curricula and training educators in instructional strategies and ways to integrate technology with content standards.

Gothold then worked as director of secondary education at Montebello Unified School District, where he focused on increasing academic performance, improving attendance and integrating interventions into the districts core curriculum.

While at Montebello Unified, he also worked for more than two years to create the Applied Technology Center, a non-traditional high school that touted five career education academies integrated with core academics.

Gothold came to Lynwood Unified as the chief academic officer before being named superintendent.

More than 94 percent of Lynwood Unified students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and the population is 96 percent students of color.

At Lynwood Unified, Gothold created a comprehensive professional development plan for teachers and administrators, and he initiated the Achieving Greatness Strategic Plan that focused on systemic changes aimed at improving student outcomes.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Ongoing tests of water at San Diego Unified School District has found another campus with elevated levels of lead in drinking fountains.

District officials are notifying families of students at Birney Elementary School in University Heights that levels of lead were detected at three out of five campus water fountains, with one high enough to require action.

Bottled water is being distributed at the school until the problem is fixed, and officials plan to hold a meeting with parents at the campus next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., said district spokesman Andrew Sharp.

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Lead in drinking water is known to be especially harmful to children and can be particularly damaging to the development of the brain and nervous system. According to the World Health Organization, there is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe.

Birney is the third school in the district found to have lead in water at a higher level than considered acceptable by the state. In March, tests at Emerson-Bandini Elementary and the San Diego Co-Operative Charter School 2, which share a campus, found water with more than twice the acceptable level of lead.

Following the discovery in March, City of San Diego crews began testing all district properties, including its 187 campuses.

The problem is not isolated to San Diego Unified. Tests have found elevated levels of water at schools in San Ysidro and San Marcos, and a state program requires water providers to conduct tests whenever requested by a school district.

Birney is the first San Diego school found to have an elevated level of lead since district-wide testing began April 4.

The district is posting results of the tests online at

https://www.sandiegounified.org/drinking-water-sampling-results.

The state sets the acceptable level of lead with a formula based on micrograms per liter, which translates to a maximum of 15 parts per billion.

Tests at Birney School found a fountain in the cafeteria had a lead level of 19 per billion, requiring the district take corrective action.

Another fountain at the 200 building had a level of 13.9 and another at the 300 building had a level of 9.48, both slightly below the states maximum level.

Tests at about 90 other schools did not find lead levels above the acceptable level.

A San Diego Public Utilities Department chemist working on the tests has said lead in water fountains likely comes from the fountains themselves, which may have old soldering.

In comparison, the highly reported water problem at Flint, Michigan is much more severe because the lead comes from corroded pipes leading to homes and other places.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
New federal guidelines will likely cause the number of confirmed Zika infections to spike significantly this year, though big jumps are less likely in San Diego Countys temperate climate than they are in places with muggier weather  where mosquitoes are significantly more common.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new guidelines that urge doctors to screen for the virus, which can cause major birth defects, in women who want to get pregnant and to continue testing them every trimester once they have a due date. Previously, the agency had advised such testing once women were pregnant, but not if they were symptom-free and simply considering conception.

The CDC has never recommended Zika testing for men and women who are not pregnant unless they recently traveled to a country where the virus was being actively transmitted by mosquitoes or had sex with someone who visited a Zika hotspot.

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But in recent months, U.S. border states such as Texas and Arizona have gone beyond those recommendations and started testing anyone with a rash and several other common Zika symptoms. San Diego County joined this group in November.

Taken together, this expansion of Zika screening criteria can be expected to result in more confirmed cases starting this summer, said Dr. Patrick Ramsey, a director at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Because were expanding testing to more people than we would have tested last year, the numbers are going to climb dramatically, Ramsey said during a news briefing about Zika at the annual meeting of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which ended Tuesday in San Diego.

Some public-health experts have said focusing on travel- and pregnancy-related cases leaves room for the virus to spread more quickly, especially since a promised $1.1 billion in emergency funding from Congress, which could fund additional outreach, was delayed in 2016 and is just now starting to arrive.

Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of the countys epidemiology and immunization services branch, agrees that enhanced testing procedures could cause the national number of confirmed Zika cases to spike. But he added that San Diego County is low on the list of places where significant numbers of new cases will be detected. This is because the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the viruss main carrier, is much less prevalent here than it is in places like southern Texas and Florida.

Here, the Aedes aegypti is an invasive species that we have only started to see recently. In other places it is a native inhabitant, and they have a much higher density of these mosquitoes than we do due to much more humid and warm weather, McDonald said.

So far, San Diego County has confirmed 89 local cases of Zika virus with eight involving pregnant women. One baby so far has been found to have microcephaly, the devastating developmental disease linked to the virus which can cause a range of symptoms from hearing loss to severe brain damage.

McDonald said that events in Mexico prompted San Diego County to get more aggressive with its Zika testing. When the Mexican states Sonora and Baja California reported confirmed cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes, he said, it made sense to expand testing beyond those who have traveled outside the country. More recently, two cases have popped up in Baja California, including one in Ensenada in February.

Though the latest report for the Mexican government does not make it clear whether mosquitoes are actively transmitting Zika in Ensenada, McDonald said travelers should be aware of the situation.

The actual number of cases is likely to be much greater than two. If people are going to Baja California they need to be aware that there has been activity as close as 80 miles south of the border, McDonald said.

Zika was a frequent topic at the obstetricians and gynecologists meeting at the San Diego Convention Center early this week.

Several experts studying how the virus affects pregnant women worried about Zika fatigue among the public who heard non-stop warnings about the epidemic throughout most of 2016 as cases spread through many very popular travel destinations.

Dr. Diana Ramos, medical director for reproductive health for the Los Angeles Public Health Department, said that, while doctors and other health providers are good about asking their patients to if they have recently traveled to mosquito territory, but there seems to be a bit of a blind spot where spouses are concerned. Medical evidence shows that Zika can be passed from person to person through sexual contact of all varieties.

I think we forget to ask is your partner traveling, and did your partner travel? Ramos said.

Another worry, added Dr. Patrick Ramsey, the doctor from San Antonio, is women who may try to get ahead of the risk. There is some evidence that becoming infected with Zika confers lasting immunity after the bodys immune system produces antibodies that linger in the blood and can fight off subsequent Zika infection.

Some people have asked, should I just go to Mexico now, get Zika, and come back and maybe Im immune to it? Ramsey said.

Zika, however, can, in rare cases, trigger Gullian-Barre syndrome a neurological condition which can cause progressive paralysis by damaging nerve cells.

In general, Ramsey added, there are still plenty unknowns about Zika.

Weve learned a lot about Zika over the last two years, but we have a lot to learn yet, Ramsey said.

Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life

paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1850

Twitter: @paulsisson
A University City man with prior drug convictions was arrested Wednesday on allegations of selling numerous guns  many of which he made himself in his garage or at a shared manufacturing workspace  to undercover agents during a yearlong undercover sting, according to court files unsealed in San Diego federal court.

Paul Joseph Holdy, 39, is also charged with selling an ounce of black tar heroin to an undercover agent. While that is the sole drug charge, agents allege Holdy also bragged during undercover transactions about shipping drugs to Alaska, having access to multiple pounds of methamphetamine and the possibility of making and selling GHB, a date-rape drug, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Holdy pleaded not guilty Thursday and is expected to be held without bond until his detention can be further argued next week. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sutton argued that Holdy is a danger to the public and a flight risk.

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During the probe, undercover agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives purchased 19 guns, including short-barrel machine guns, assault rifles and handguns, according to court documents.

Many of the guns did not bear serial numbers and some were made to be fully automatic, according to the complaint.

One of the first transactions occurred in a Jack in the Box parking lot in Clairemont on June 23, 2016, between an undercover FBI agent and Holdy, according to the complaint. A silencer was sold for $750, and an ounce of heroin for $1,000, the court records state.

Subsequent transactions involved only guns, typically in parked cars at various locations. A few times, Holdy asked the buyer to come to his house on Angell Place, where he lives with his parents, the complaint states.

On Wednesday, authorities searched the home and Holdys BMW and motorcycle. By the end of the day, they seized 100 grams of meth, three guns, ammunition and two gallons of a substance that authorities believe is a date-rape drug, prosecutors said.

Authorities also found gun-making equipment at the home, Sutton said. Agents who had gone to the home in an undercover capacity had spotted such equipment there. Holdy also said he mills some of the gun parts at MakerPlace on Morena Boulevard  a do-it-yourself manufacturing space  and agents at least once observed him making a stop there, the affidavit says.

San Diego Superior Court records reveal Holdy has a long history of drug abuse. In 2009 he pleaded guilty in two cases: possession of anabolic steroids for sale and possession of methamphetamine.

In the first case, Holdy was found to be in possession of a large quantity of Anavar, or oxandrolone, a steroid he was taking to gain weight that hed lost due to his meth use, according to a motion filed by his then-defense attorney, Kerry Armstrong. The drug was for personal use, Armstrong said.

About five months later, Holdy was contacted by U.S. Postal Service agents regarding a stolen and altered check that had been deposited into Holdys account. The investigation determined Holdy had actually been a victim in that case, but authorities found meth in Holdys backpack during the investigation, court records state.

While Holdy had been a drug addict for several years, his meth use got worse after he split with his wife and was unable to have visitation rights with their daughter, Armstrong said.

Holdys father, a physician, wrote in a letter to the judge that the drug use had been hidden.

Court records show the son has completed rehabilitation programs but violated probation in one of the drug cases and was sent to jail in 2010.

Holdy has worked in many computer-related jobs, according to letters from his family. In 2009 he was seeking a start-up business that was not detailed further, Armstrong said.

Holdy is prohibited from possessing guns or ammunition due to his felony conviction. He also does not have a federal firearms license that would allow him to deal in guns, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the arrest was the result, in part, of ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The task force seeks to identify, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of organizations that engage in money laundering and weapon and drug trafficking.

Correction

In a previous version of this story, officials described Holdy as living in La Jolla. The home is actually in University City.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez

UPDATES:

4:37 p.m. May 11: This story was updated with information from court appearances and court filings.

This story was originally published at 10:50 p.m. May 10.
Its almost inevitable that news stories about murders leave much untold. Homicide investigators certainly dont tell all, and family, friends and witnesses often dont really know why the killers and victims acted as they did.

Autopsy reports can fill in some of those gaps, with details not released during the homicide investigation.

County Medical Examiners reports released this week provide chilling details on how Richard Contreras slipped into his ex-girlfriends Vista house and fatally shot her, her brother, and himself. Their bodies were found on March 13.

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Authorities say Kimberly Williams brother, Travis Whitt, and another man got into a fight with Contreras at her Phil Mar Lane home about 10:45 p.m on March 12. Contreras drove off and within minutes was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence. He was taken to the sheriffs substation in Vista, where he explained he was a victim in the fight. He was released about 1 a.m.

Some time in the next five hours, he went back to the house.

Whitt was sleeping next to his girlfriend when she awoke at an unknown hour to a dark figure standing in the door of their bedroom, the autopsy report said. The figure approached the bed and fired several gunshots. The girlfriend heard Whitts body fall to the floor. She froze in place until the shooter left the room.

Then she bolted for a closet and hid  she doesnt know for how long. But about 5:30 a.m., Williams best friend came into the house and discovered the three bodies. She first tripped over Contreras, lying on the living room floor. Then she went room to room, finding Williams, then Whitt, dead and covered in blood.

The friend ran out of the house, and Whitts girlfriend heard her yelling for help. She decided it was safe to leave the closet, jumped out the window and joined Williams friend in the front yard. They called 911.

Williams had texted her friend the night before, saying she should come before work to say goodbye because Williams was leaving for Mexico the next day.

The autopsies show methamphetamine and amphetamine in Williams system. Whitt tested positive for marijuana and a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 to 0.05 percent. The report also notes that deputies found a white crystal substance in the house, along with over-the-counter medicines and empty beer bottles.

Friends and family say Williams was leaving the country to escape Contreras, whom she feared would harm her. Some questioned why deputies wouldnt keep Contreras in custody while they had him.

Sheriffs homicide Lt. Kenn Nelson said deputies didnt know Williams felt threatened by Contreras. She and her brother said nothing about it when they reported the fight, and were generally tight-lipped, Nelson said.

Nelson said investigators found no evidence that Williams had ever reported domestic violence, and didnt mention in the text message to the friend that she was fleeing Contreras.

Deputies really did everything they could with the information they had, Nelson said. It wouldnt be reasonable to infer he was going back to kill people.
A nearly 10-year legal battle that started with illicit palm tree sales at MiraCosta College has come to a close, as the college and three former trustees have settled their differences with former President Victoria Munoz Richart.

Insurance carriers covering the former trustees will pay $5 million to Richart, who claimed that they maligned her when they criticized her investigation into the palm tree matter.

In addition, the college agreed to pay Richart $775,000 for similar claims she made against the institution, and she agreed to repay the district $775,000 that she received as a settlement when she stepped down from her post in 2007. Because those amounts cancel each other out, money will not actually change hands, under the terms of that settlement.

A San Diego Superior Court judge accepted the settlements on March 27, according to court records.

Richarts lawsuit against the three former MiraCosta trustees said their allegations of an overzealous investigation were baseless. She said trustees retaliated against her for upholding her responsibility to investigate and report misconduct in the horticulture department.

The trustees did not admit wrongdoing or fault in the settlements, nor did the college or Richart.

For almost a decade, the college has been involved in a number of lawsuits related to this matter, according to a statement MiraCosta President and college district Superintendent Sunita Cooke released to college faculty. This settlement brings closure to all litigation and is the final step in allowing us to move on from this difficult part of college history.

Bob Ottilie, Richarts attorney, said the settlement allowed the college to avoid paying the substantially higher figure his client was likely to win at trial.

They didnt settle this because Dr. Richart didnt have a case, said Ottilie. She had a hell of a case.

That said, Richart decided that the settlement agreement was a satisfactory resolution.

Dr. Richart wants to put this behind her, and she loves MiraCosta, which is why she agreed to this generous settlement, Ottilie said.

A webpage that the college set up to address questions about the settlement said that its insurance carriers were responsible for paying the $5 million settlement. The colleges insurance premiums wont go up, according to the webpage, because MiraCosta is insured as part of a group of institutions, so risk is spread out.

Ron Cozad, an attorney who sued the district in previous litigation over Richarts original settlement deal, said the latest outcome is unfortunate.

I view this as five million bucks that should have never been paid, because theres no reason to; they never did anything wrong, Cozad said. It sends the message to public officials that you cant speak on behalf of your constituents because you could be sued. And they were really thrown under the bus.

The college said it has tightened-up district personnel policies and procedures to avoid any similar situations, according to the website.

Dave Broad, vice president of the MiraCosta board of trustees, said the district adopted formal cash-handling procedures in 2006, the year the palm-sales scandal came to light. Before 2006, the college didnt have any formal, written cash-handling procedures.

The district also revised its administrative procedures in 2010, 2012, and this year, Broad said. The current policy mandates regular closed-session meetings between the board and the president to assess annual performance goals and discuss the presidents job performance.

The past decade has been extremely difficult, and the college has learned a great deal from this process that will allow it to become an even stronger educational resource for students, MiraCosta officials said in a public statement.

In the case that sparked the trouble, there were allegations of improper personal enrichment involving thousands of palm trees. A criminal investigation resulted in charges against one district employee. Former Horticulture Department head Alleen Texeira pleaded guilty to a felony grand-theft charge involving one $305 theft.

The district hired its own investigator, Robert Price, paying him $195,000. Some faculty members said the investigation was overblown in relation to the resulting criminal case.
The worlds smallest, most-endangered porpoise finds itself tangled in gillnets and black-market Chinese medicine, but the Mexican Navy and the U.S. Navys trained dolphins are trying to come to its rescue.

Without intervention, the vaquita, a small porpoise living in the Gulf of California in northeastern Mexico, may become the next whale or dolphin species to go extinct by 2022. There are only 30 of these animals left on the planet.

As a marine mammal scientist and ocean advocate, Ive watched anxiously as the vaquita population fell from more than 600 in the 1990s to 160 in 2014 to fewer than three dozen today.

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Its difficult to place the blame solely on illegal fishermen, who can make a years salary in one night fishing for the totoaba (also endangered), a large croaker whose swim bladder can be worth more than cocaine on traditional medicine black-markets.

Gillnets that totoaba fishermen use from small boats under the cover of darkness often entangle the vaquita, drowning them when they cant reach the surface to breathe. In the last decade, many strategies have been employed to reduce vaquita mortality, including paying fishermen to turn in their gillnets, supporting shrimp trawling that doesnt catch vaquita or totoaba, and endless public outreach.

However, the allure of big money in an impoverished area is too much for the vaquita to compete with. The illegal nets get put back in the water faster than they are removed.

Two years ago, in a bold and expensive move by the Mexican government, the Mexican Navy was sent in to enforce a gillnet ban in the vaquitas entire habitat range. While many argue the enforcement has been less than promised, the presence of warships, drones and small craft has been hard to miss.

The Mexican governments strong commitment to the vaquita was praised around the world. At the December 2015 conference for the Society of Marine Mammology, in a room of more than 2,000 scientists and advocates, the Mexican minister of the environment received the Conservation Merit Prize to a standing ovation.

Nevertheless, since the ban went into effect, scientists estimate the vaquita population has been halved. In just the first few months of 2016, 1.5 miles of gillnets were removed and three more dead vaquita were found.

This fall, under the recommendation of the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita, a worldwide team of researchers and zoological professionals will attempt to collect a number of the remaining vaquita in order to launch a captive breeding program in a temporary sanctuary. But the tea-colored water makes locating and corralling the vaquita using solely boats an exercise in futility.

This is where the U.S. Navys dolphins come in. The Navys trained dolphins will use their bio-sonar to locate the vaquita and assist in their collection. The dolphins and their trainers have practiced the technique on similarly sized harbor porpoises under the Golden Gate Bridge.

After the collection, the next step will be successfully breeding the vaquita, with the ultimate goal of releasing them into a net-free habitat. Using the expertise that zoos and aquariums have gained through successfully breeding and rearing harbor porpoises, there is reason to believe the vaquita breeding program can be successful.

Now more than ever, the vaquita needs funding and support for this falls ambitious collection attempt. Many funds have already been spent on the gillnet buybacks and enforcement, but the consortium pursuing the emergency plan is looking for funding to support the collection and captive breeding program.

Preventing the extinction of the vaquita is crucial for a host of practical reasons, including creating sustainable ecotourism opportunities and the broader need to preserve biodiversity.

Its also essential for moral reasons: The vaquita is the only marine mammal species that isnt found anywhere outside of Mexican waters. Preventing its extinction would be a rallying cry to protect a number of less charismatic, though just as endangered species around us.

If you would like to support this bold international effort to save the vaquita, help the National Marine Mammal Foundations efforts at nmmf.org/vaquitacpr, and tell your representatives you want the U.S., China and Mexico to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade, including totoaba swim bladders.

Allen is a Ph.D. student in marine science and conservation at Duke University, focusing on measuring the impacts of human activities on marine mammals.
The immense fallout from President Trumps Tuesday firing of FBI Director James Comey has no modern precedent beyond the notorious Saturday Night Massacre  President Nixons Oct. 20, 1973, decision to oust Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refused to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Nixon was in a lot more hot water when firing his investigator than Trump is now, at least based on whats known. But the parallel is plain.

Legal experts are correct when they say that Comey is the first FBI director fired in such suspicious circumstances. Thats because the only other fired FBI chief, William Sessions, was ousted in 1993 by President Clinton over his unethical use of government resources for personal benefit. But extreme tensions between the FBI and the president are nothing new.

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The only president ever forced from office arguably lost his job because of FBI machinations, even if he brought it on himself. Deep Throat  the highly placed government source who famously gave reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post the crucial information that led to President Nixons resignation in 1974  was Deputy FBI Director Mark Felt.

Enemies: A History of the FBI, a 2012 book by former National Book Award-winner Tim Weiner, makes clear that Felt wasnt the only FBI agent outraged by the Nixon White Houses attempt to squelch the FBIs probe of the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington  and that the Post wasnt the only newspaper to get FBI leaks.

Felt made sure that the facts were revealed [from the FBIs investigation] by sharing information with four trusted fellow FBI men. Bob Kunkel and Charles Bates stood with Felt at the top of the FBIs chain of command in the Watergate investigation. Kunkel was in charge of the Washington eld ofce and he briefed Felt daily. Bates kept the running chronology that served as the FBIs institutional memory of the case. Dick Long and Charles Nuzum, respectively chief and lead agent in the FBIs white-collar crime section, were masters of Watergates paper trail. Bates and Long told a few trusted fellow agents about what they had done, and why. The word started to spread.

They would meet at the end of the day and discuss what happened, what they knew, in the investigation, said the FBIs Paul Daly, an agent in the intelligence division. They would make a decision, a conscious decision, to leak to the newspapers. They did that because of the White House obstructing the investigation. And they leaked it because it furnished the impetus to continue.

So street-level FBI agents turned secrets into information, and senior FBI leaders brought that information to reporters, to prosecutors, to federal grand juries, and into the public realm. That was the beginning of the end of Richard Nixons presidency. Without the FBI, the reporters would have been lost.<extra_leading>

Sorry, Woodward and Bernstein, but this makes Nixons forced ouster feel more like a FBI-led conspiracy than a triumph of journalistic enterprise.

Soon after Nixons 1972 re-election, his later-imprisoned chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, figured out Felt was leaking and told his boss. In Enemies, Weiner wrote that this meant ...

The president and the FBI were now engaged in an undeclared war.

Yet this striking history feels almost like conventional bureaucratic infighting compared with what happened when J. Edgar Hoover was the first FBI director, serving in that role from 1935 until his death in 1972. Hoover spend decades building up files of dirt about powerful people, including his bosses. Yes, Kenneth D. Ackerman, one of Hoovers biographers, flatly denies claims that he blackmailed presidents to keep them from firing him. But he also notes that ...

... it was Hoover who, through wiretaps of Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, discovered President Kennedys affair with mob-connected socialite Judith Campbell Exner.

Hoover told the president of his knowledge directly in 1962, Ronald Kessler reported in his 2011 book, The Secrets of the FBI.

Its easy to believe this had something to do with John F. Kennedy and little brother/Attorney General Robert Kennedy not firing Hoover, which otherwise seemed an obvious move given Hoovers deep hostility to the civil rights movement that JFK championed and his skepticism about RFKs crusades targeting organized crime. The Kennedys knew that Hoover delighted in sharing illegally gathered information to break up marriages, disrupt meetings, ostracize persons from their professions and provoke target groups into rivalries that might result in deaths, in the words of the Church Committees 1975 report on FBI spying and lawbreaking under its first director. The idea that Hoover  if fired  might show restraint in protecting the presidents reputation seems outlandish.

There was bad blood of a different kind between Bill Clinton and Louis Freeh, the federal judge Clinton appointed to replace Sessions as FBI director in 1993. Freeh resented what he saw as the White Houses attempt to use the FBI as cover for the 1993 firing of the White House travel office for alleged corruption and suspected the Chinese government was trying to funnel money into Clintons 1996 re-election campaign. A 2001 piece on Freeh in The New Yorker after his retirement revealed that his suspicions of Clinton ran so deep that he declined the White Houses request to have the FBI brief Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on its fund-raising probe before she went to China. Freeh sided with aide Robert Bryant, who said Albright would pass on the FBIs findings to the president, and asked, Why should we brief him? Hes a crook. Hes no better than a bank robber. Would we tell a bank robber about our investigation?

But what utterly soured Freeh on Clinton was his belief that his administration undermined and impeded the FBIs investigation into the 1996 terrorist attack  using a tanker truck turned into a bomb  on Khobar Towers, a high-rise that was housing quarters to 2,000 U.S. military personnel working at King Abdul Aziz Airbase in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen Americans were killed and 500 wounded.

Hard evidence quickly led the FBI to conclude that terrorists associated with Iran were to blame, but the investigation petered out because  in Freehs view  Clinton didnt pressure the Saudis to cooperate. After he left office, Freeh told The New Yorker that he believed Clinton and the Saudi government preferred that definitive proof not emerge because of the likelihood it could lead to war and would damage U.S. hopes of building a relationship with Mohammad Khatami, Irans new president and a seeming moderate. But Freeh, who was obsessed with the Khobar case even after leaving office, offered a vastly more inflammatory theory in his 2005 book and a related 60 Minutes interview: that at a key meeting between Clinton and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Clinton sought a contribution for his future presidential library instead of pressing Abdullah for more cooperation on Khobar. Clinton denied asking for any such contribution  at least when he was president.

The Clinton camp ardently denies Freehs thesis of why the Khobar probe stalled. But it isnt in dispute that the then-president declined to honor the then-FBI directors specific requests to make specific demands on the Saudis so the truth would emerge about a heinous terror attack on Americans.

And no on one denies that the president and the FBI chief hated each other. Freeh and Clinton didnt talk once for a four-year stretch. And Clinton, according to aide John Podesta, always referred to the FBI chief as f---ing Freeh.

The Saudis, meanwhile, finally arrested the main suspect in the Khobar attack in 2015.

The specifics of Donald Trumps treatment of James Comey may have few precedents. But mutual fear and loathing between the White House and the FBI is nothing new.

Reed is the deputy editor of the editorial and opinion section. Twitter: @chrisreed99. Email: chris.reed@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Media attacks on Trump eventually will bury them

Regarding Michael Gersons Language of hatred (May 2): Gerson continues his ongoing diatribe against President Trump. He, along with the rest of the mainstream media, apparently believes that only about 12 people actually voted for him and that most of the country really does not want him as president.

They must have forgotten that 63 million people voted for Trump. These people do not appreciate the continual insults and efforts to delegitimize the person they voted for. But, hey, dont put the shovel down yet  keep digging. Eventually you will all fall into the hole and be covered over.

Glenda de Vaney

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Chula Vista

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.

Americans have a long history of changing bad laws

On May 2, I noticed two letters in the U-T letters to the editor section. Both letters seemed to suggest that some of our legislators in California are flaunting federal immigration laws, stating that they are picking and choosing which laws to enforce, and adding that this may lead to anarchy or civil war.

Federal immigration laws are not the first American laws to be challenged. For nearly 100 years, slavery was legal in the United States. This did not end until the Emancipation Proclamation was passed in 1863. Women didnt win the right to vote until Aug. 18, 1920. These laws did not change overnight: It took decades of protest to overturn these laws.

The right to challenge the law in our courts is the foundation of our democracy.

Vivian Marlene Dunbar

San Ysidro

Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
On April 28, you ran a story about San Diego police officer shortage and how it is getting worse: vacancies up to 207, applications down 36 percent, more than 600 eligible to retire soon, disbanded special units and a June academy with nineteen vacancies.

Then you report on the San Diego Community Review Board on Police Practices. I looked it up and found bios for 12 members, none of whom has any police experience. I think young people who might want to become police officers look at things like that and conclude I am not putting my life, my reputation and my familys well-being on the line to be judged by a group of citizens who have no idea what a police officer faces.

The board has endless time to consider the situations while the officers have to make split-second decisions. Murders are up 78 percent in Baltimore and arrests are down 43 percent after an incompetent district attorney lost all court cases against officers in the Freddie Gray case. But she had a devastating effect on the officers and their families.

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David R. Gillespie

Bonita

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.

Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
Months before President Donald Trump fired James Comey, Democrats had called for the dismissal of the FBI director in reaction to his handling of an investigation into Hillary Clintons emails that some believe negatively impacted her presidential campaign.

Trump and the White House insisted on Wednesday that Comeys firing was not politically motivated and, instead, was an effort to restore public trust and confidence in the FBI. Yet the timing and the motive of Comeys dismissal puzzled Democrats and Republicans alike.

Related: Trump fired FBI Director Comey and these Republicans are troubled by it

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A moment of political reflection came this week when Democrats expressed concern over the effect Comeys firing could have on an investigation into Russias interference in the election that he oversaw.

It didnt escape notice that Democrats had wanted Comey gone months ago.

One thing is certain: Odd to watch senior Democrats in Congress who called for Comey to resign now crying foul when he's fired.  Michael S. Smith II (@MichaelSSmithII) May 10, 2017

Here is a brief timeline of Democrats expressing frustration over Comeys decision to publicly announce the re-opening of the investigation into Clintons emails 11 days before the election. Some questioned his judgment, others called for him to step down, and still others said his credibility was damaged.

Editorial: Time for President Trump to really put America first

Oct. 30, 2016: Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, accused the FBI director of breaking the Hatch Act, a federal law, by publicly disclosing new information about the Clinton investigation 11 days ahead of the presidential election.

I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election, Reid wrote in the letter. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.

Oct. 31, 2016: The next day, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, echoed concerns similar to Reids and called for Comey to resign his FBI post. Cohen reiterated that call in a Nov. 3 opinion column published in The Hill.

In light of the recent comments by #FBI Director #Comey re: #HillaryClinton emails, I call on him to resign. Read my full statement here: pic.twitter.com/41XhdanQSA  Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) October 31, 2016

Nov. 2, 2016: Days later, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, told Bloomberg News that he had lost confidence in Comey for his handling of Clintons email investigation.

I do not have confidence in him any longer, Schumer said at the time. To restore my faith, I am going to have to sit down and talk to him and get an explanation for why he did this.

Related: Team Trump defends firing of FBI Director James Comey

That same day, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, shared similar feelings with CNN and suggested Comey may lose his job.

Maybe hes not in the right job, Pelosi said. I think that we have to just get through this election and just see what the casualties are along the way.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on FBI Director James Comey: "Maybe he's not in the right job" https://t.co/vax7WihB8Y pic.twitter.com/2CHrMqwO5d  CNN (@CNN) November 2, 2016

Jan. 13, 2017: Two months after Clinton lost to Trump, Democrats blasted Comey after a briefing on the agencys investigation into Russias interference in the election.

One of them was Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Georgia, who at the time said, My confidence in the FBI directors ability to lead this agency has been shaken.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, put it more bluntly: The FBI director has no credibility.

WATCH: "The FBI Director has no credibility" -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters makes her point in less than five seconds. pic.twitter.com/r0oghhaRqX  Yashar Ali  (@yashar) January 14, 2017

Jan. 24, 2017: The fading confidence in Comey continued toward the end of January when Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-North Carolina, said I think that James Comey needs to fade away into oblivion.

He embarrassed this nation, he possibly influenced the outcome of a presidential election, and he should not hold any position of trust, whatsoever, in our government.

And thats just a list of Democratic lawmakers who spoke up about Comey. Others made similar calls for the FBI director to step down last year.

On Oct. 30, 2016, the New York Daily News editorial board called on Comey to resign:

FBI Director James Comeys democracy-bending decision to inform America, 11 days before its presidential election, that the bureau is digging into a trove of additional emails demands the highest condemnation. And he must resign.

On Oct. 31, 2016, ThinkProgress justice editor Ian Millhiser wrote a post making the case for firing James Comey:

We also know that Comey violated longstanding Justice Department protocol when he decided to disclose the very few facts that he actually did disclose in his letter to the Republican chairs. And we know that he wrote the letter over the explicit objections of Attorney General Loretta Lynch.Taken together, these actions constitute a fireable offense.

On Nov. 7, 2016, Newsweek columnist Kurt Eichenwald didnt just call for the FBI directors firing  he said Comey was unfit for public service:

James Comey should not simply be fired as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He must be barred forever from any form of public service.

On Tuesday, The White House on Tuesday cited a three-page letter from deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein detailing a number of public statements Comey made about the investigation of Hillary Clintons emails including a decision by the FBI director to usurp the Attorney Generals authority to publicly reject any charges for Clinton.

In his letter to Comey, Trump emphasized that his decision to fire him was so that the FBI restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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If Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had any doubts about her unpopularity at historically black colleges and universities, they may be erased after a commencement speech she delivered at Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday.

Graduating students at the Florida university expressed their disapproval by booing and turning their backs as DeVos spoke, making images and videos of those intense moments go viral on social media.

DeVos, who was confirmed as President Donald Trump s pick to run the Department of Education on Feb. 7, has repeatedly come under fire for her advocacy of school vouchers and choice and for controversial remarks she made in February in which she omitted the history of racial segregation in schools that led to the founding of historically black colleges and universities in America.

In February, DeVos described HBCUs as real pioneers when it comes to school choice.

The booing and the heckling on Wednesday underscored some of the criticism she and Trump face at black colleges and universities, including Bethune-Cookman University where black groups and the NAACP objected to her invitation to speak.

Betsy DeVos, and the entire Trump Administration, have acted against the needs of Black and Brown people, working class people of all races, HBCUs and our entire public education system, read a letter addressed to the universitys president, chairman and members of its board.

As a fellow community leader, who is responsible for presiding over the legacy of such an historic and treasured institution, we deem your decision reckless, irresponsible and in direct conflict with the legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.

In a separate letter, the states NAACP chapter called for the universitys president and its chairman to resign in response to alleged threats to withhold degrees from students who protested DeVos.

University president Edison Jackson ignored those protests and, on Wednesday, defended his decision to invite DeVos and described it as an opportunity to engage and educate the secretary of education.

On Wednesday, DeVos was given an honorary doctorate from Bethune-Cookman but her speech was interrupted by booing on a number of occasions.

As DeVos began to speak at the ceremony, students stood up from their seats and turned their backs on the education secretary. The heckling and booing got so bad that, at one point, Jackson attempted to dissuade further disruption by issuing a blanket threat.

If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you, he told the crowd. Choose  choose which way you want to go.

Moments later, DeVos told the crowd that she would be visiting the grave of the schools founder, Mary McLeod Bethune, later that day. More booing can be heard coming from the crowd.

On Twitter, images and videos of defiant graduating students inspired others to echo similar disapproval of DeVos with tweets carrying the hashtag #BacksToBetsy.

But despite overwhelming disapproval, others disagreed with the tone and approach, saying that DeVos deserves to be respected regardless of how much people disagree with her.

DeVos has spent the last few weeks touring schools across America and as recently as Sunday she expressed support for historically black colleges and universities.

In a statement, DeVos said that she strongly supports HBCUs and that she will continue to be an advocate for them and for programs that make her higher education more accessible to all students.

If Wednesday was a test for the head of the Department of Education among historically black colleges and universities, it proved DeVos has much work ahead of her.

Was the booing and the protests against DeVos warranted at the graduation ceremony? Did it go too far and show too much disrespect? Is there more DeVos can do to win the support of HBCUs?

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

Read The Conversation on Flipboard.
Poway recently welcomed its newest urban chic  but tasty  establishment offering a one-stop shop for all things sweet and savory.

Pastel Bakery, at 12205 Scripps Poway Parkway, is now open and owned by a Scripps Ranch family dedicated to an old-school bakery vibe with quality goods straight from the source.

A grand opening celebration is scheduled from noon to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 20. The event will include discounts on all goods, live music, family-friendly activities and cupcake eating contests. Fifteen percent of all sales benefit Ride Above Disability Therapeutic Riding Center.

Open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday, Pastel Bakery offers an array of cakes, cookies, coffee, acai bowls and sandwiches  most importantly, the Cuban sandwich. The bakerys treats range from the berries and milk made with Carlsbad strawberries and Bavarian cream to Californias staple, Tres Leches, to the elegant tiramisu. All baked goods are made with eggs purchased from farmers at various local farmers markets.

Quality products, heavenly tastes and a sense of community were the most important features to me when I envisioned owning a bakery, said owner Joann Leo. Like most moms, I put my career on hold to raise my children, but I never stopped baking. Now, my kids have grown and Im ready to pursue my first love.

Leo embraced her passion for food for as long as she can remember. Her experience includes apprenticing under a Cordon Bleu pastry chef, working with celebrity chefs and utilizing her spare time to catch up on all the latest trends in the industry.

I love how cooking connects people and transcends barriers of almost any kind, said Leo. There is something magical about making a meal for someone to show that you care. I cant wait to show the San Diego community that we care.

The bakery also offers catering and corporate bulk orders for clients and colleagues in all of San Diego, delivery included.

For more information on Pastel Bakery, log onto pastelbakerysd.com.
I am a retired Registered Nurse, dialysis patient safety advocate and the daughter of a dialysis patient who died while receiving dialysis treatment. Thats why Im supporting California Senate Bill 349, the Dialysis Patient Safety Act, which will protect patients who require dialysis to sustain their life.

My father suffered from end stage renal failure and in order to keep him alive, he needed three weekly treatments of dialysis. I sat with my father, every week, during his four-hour dialysis treatments for the span of five years. I became well versed in the treatment procedure so I could help my father identify potential or actual mistakes made by the caregivers in an often busy, under supervised and understaffed clinic.

During one treatment in 2010, my fathers blood pressure plummeted  a common, though sometimes lethal side effect of dialysis treatment. His blood pressure was so low that he was barely responding. I alerted staff but instead of administering intravenous fluids to increase his blood pressure, he was only offered sips of water. That day he left the clinic on a stretcher and died three days later.

Unlike beauty parlors, barbershops and food trucks, which undergo yearly inspections by state agencies, dialysis clinics are only inspected every six years in California. The inspection report from my fathers clinic in 2010, showed incidents of non-compliance with physician orders, poor infection control and failure to adhere to federal minimum standards and the facilitys own policies and procedures. This is why SB 349 is needed to protect patients. The Dialysis Patient Safety Act calls for the following:

Annual inspections - SB 349 calls for dialysis clinics to be inspected once a year. The federal government has a rating system, however, inspections show the real care that patients receive. With a six-year gap between inspections, clinics can drag their feet with compliance measures and enjoy little accountability from government agencies. Recently, I reviewed several clinic inspections in the San Diego area that were conducted from November 2016 through February 2017. I found issues with poor infection control practices, failure to adhere to federal requirements and the facilitys own policies and procedures.

Staffing Ratios - There are seven states that have staffing ratios for healthcare workers in dialysis clinics. Why not California? Increased staff will help ensure safe delivery of care. SB 349 proposes one nurse for every eight patients, one to three for technicians (who administer most of the care) and one to seventy for social workers. Currently, a dialysis nurse now can have as many as 15 patients at beginning and end of day. Technicians have reported over six patients and social workers often serve 100-to-110 patients. These numbers are unacceptable and dangerous. Not enough staff can result in complications, including death and hospitalization. Currently, there are no staffing ratios in California for dialysis workers.

Transition time between treatments - Those receiving life-sustaining dialysis treatments must have enough time before and after their treatment to ensure they are stable. Currently, observation of patients after treatments is imperative as blood pressures can drop very low and bleeding can occur from the area where large needles have been removed. Further, proper infection control takes. Multiple nephrology associations recommend staff be given 45 minutes to properly disinfect equipment, remove any blood on dialysis chairs and have the dialysis machine prepared specifically for the next patient. Many clinics only schedule a paltry 15 minutes between patients, which rush the stabilizing and disinfection process.

My fathers treatment and untimely death spurred me into activism for dialysis patients and in support SB 349. I testified at the Senate Health Committee in favor of the bill. For-profit dialysis industry administrators spoke in opposition, citing costs as a major concern. One senator, Connie Levya (D- San Bernardino) framed the choice over the bill as a struggle between patients versus profits. If you have a relative, friend or know anyone on dialysis, or, you, yourself are a patient, I urge you to support SB 349.

Mikles lives in Rancho Bernardo. Contact her at 619-204-7465 or roberta.mikles@gamil.com.

Email: editor@pomeradonews.com
A man who was reportedly driving recklessly was shot and killed by deputies after a pursuit through the Barona Reservation Wednesday afternoon, a sheriffs spokesman said.

Barona Tribal Enforcement authorities asked deputies to help with the driver about 1:30 p.m., sheriffs spokesman Ryan Keim said. While on the way, deputies were told the man had tried to hit a Tribal Enforcement officer with his white pickup.

Deputies ultimately located the driver and tried to pull him over. Instead, a pursuit ensued.

A short time later, the driver stopped near Wildcat Canyon Road and Ketuull Uunyaa Way and got out of the car. He was very uncooperative, and deputies shot him with multiple bean bag rounds, Keim said.

Spike strips were also placed near the suspects vehicle around this time.

The man ended up getting back into his pickup and tried to drive away. Thats when two deputies fatally shot him. It was unclear what prompted deputies to open fire, Keim said.

After the shooting, the man crashed into a deputys patrol car and a second vehicle. Two people in the second vehicle were injured and taken to a hospital. The extent of their injuries was unknown.

The man who was shot died before he could be taken to a hospital. He was not identified.

No deputies were injured, and the names of the pair who shot the suspect were not released.

The deputies were not wearing body-worn cameras. The Sheriffs Department has tested several models in the past, but has not permanently equipped deputies with the technology.

After the shooting, the area was flooded with patrol vehicles and dozens of investigators. The area is rural, with a few homes spaced out.

Residents were asked to avoid the area if possible.

Lyndsay Winkley writes for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Why are so many of us concerned and even angry over the American Health Care Act bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives?

Our concern flows from two main issues:

1. The bill was rushed through the House with little input from key constituents or a final review and analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to assess its financial and humanitarian impact.

2. A provision enables insurance companies to define and charge high rates for pre-existing conditions, making insurance unaffordable for many.

Issue 1: As information about the bills content becomes known, were hearing from many healthcare constituents about its potential impact. For example, governors from both parties are worried about the results of cuts in Medicaid.

The new bill was hardly vetted by members of both parties in Congress, although every single Republican, including our representative Duncan Hunter, voted yes. One congressman even admitted he had not read it before voting.

Certainly the Affordable Care Act was analyzed by the CBO, because House speaker Ryan insisted in 2009 that it go through that process.

Issue 2: Perhaps the most impactful and worrisome change that will affect a significant portion of Americans relates to how pre-existing conditions, such as, cancer, arthritis, and heart disease, are covered.

Under the previously approved and vetted Affordable Care Act, health insurers are prohibited from BOTH denying coverage and increasing rates of those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Under the recently House-approved American Health Care Act bill, through a new process to be exercised by individual states, insurance companies can increase rates for those with pre-existing conditions. This means that those with pre-existing conditions can get insurance but at much higher, less affordable rates.

Although dollars have been allocated to help with this issue, the amount hardly seems adequate to provide affordable healthcare coverage to those on a potential long list of pre-existing conditions. It has been estimated that one in four Americans have pre-existing conditions. Insurers can define what is pre-existing. A search for a list from pre-Affordable Care Act days historically included, Alzheimers/dementia, cancer, cerebral palsey, congestive heart failure, Crohns disease, COPD, lupus, multiple sclerosis, pregnancy, Parkinsons disease, and many more.

The bill still needs the approval of the Senate, which offers an opportunity for objective analysis and input. We ask our Congress and President to please work together to deliver a law that at a minimum will fix the problems of the issue of high costs for so many of us with pre-existing conditions.

I have lived in Ramona for more than 10 years and love living here. I became a widow here. I have made many friends. My intention with this commentary is to help us understand why this bill could hurt many of us and find common ground for us to work together to influence the creation of an improved plan.

Joyce T. Strand is a Ramona resident.
Deputies generosity aids teens, families

My daughter, McKenna, is hosting a Mental Health Fair in the high school quad of Mountain Valley Academy on May 18 to encourage open discussion of mental health issues and create awareness of local resources that can enhance mental health.

The theme for the event is The Joy is Within You, which refers to the neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins) in our bodies that contribute to feelings of happiness and well-being. Local businesses and agencies will be in attendance to inform seventh- through 12th-grade students and their parents of many simple and creative ways they can increase and release these healthy chemicals in their bodies. There will be several free gifts for the first 150 students to attend and many free prizes for those who visit each booth at the event.

Crime Prevention Specialist Barbara Wallace with the San Diego County Sheriffs Department Ramona station will be there speaking with teens about how to prevent and deal with bullying and cyberbullying. In addition, four of our local SDSO senior volunteers will assist at our registration and prize tables.

The reason Im writing is because this event was being funded by our family and was becoming quite expensive. McKenna wrote a proposal to the San Diego County Deputy Sheriffs Association, and they approved a $1,000 donation for the event. McKenna will be giving them sponsorship credit at the event with their logo on the event banner. However, I thought it would be nice if more of our community knew that the Deputy Sheriffs Association has been quite generous to the teens in our community and their families.

This is an opportunity to foster good will between our community and the deputies who put their lives on the line for us daily.

Cyndi Rodi

Ramona

How is intersection project affecting you?

Last Wednesday I was stuck in traffic due to the construction at 67 & Dye. Upon my return home, I contacted our local legislators and eventually learned that the project engineer is Lou Melendez at Caltrans. He told me that I am the only person who has complained about the project. Those of you who have also had issues with the project should contact him at 619-688-3328 or lou_melendez@dot.ca.gov. He is looking forward to hearing how the project is affecting the Ramona residents.

By the way, the meeting with him went well. Karen Brainard was there and took notes and also questioned him on a couple of issues. Thanks for helping out with this situation.

Doug Ranger Doug Oliver

Ramona

Trump fails to meet basic presidential standards

As parents and teachers, we lead our youth and blaze a trail that they expect we will handle with responsibility, wisdom, and dependability. That is also something we should and need to expect from the president of the United States, especially as we face foreign powers who attempt to uproot our democracy, commit terrorism, and threaten to annihilate the West Coast with a nuclear attack.

When we have a president who lies most of the time, calls an FBI investigation a witch hunt, falsely accuses a former president of a felony, and cons the people who elected him, its time to worry.

Hillary Clintons interview with Christiane Amanpour left viewers awestruck as they compare her to the current president. Its not that Clintons intelligence and informed responses to the critical issues facing our world were necessarily earthshakingly fantastic, although they were very good, its the fact that we have a president who can barely manage to put a few sentences together that havent been written for him by a professional writer, and whose content has little to no substance.

You dont have to be a Hillary fan to have the contrast smack you silly. Its like a Twilight Zone episode that doesnt end.

How did we get to a place of electing someone as the leader of the free world who bragged about not preparing for the debates and lost all three? How do we explain this election to our kids?

Why do we push our children to speak properly, be informed, and prepare for class? Trump may have appealed to his base, but his nonsensible utterances and tweets have brought our standards of excellence to the gutter and the world is watching.

Susan Conrad

Ramona

Not a war to defend slavery

The original and unofficial Confederate flag represented Southern culture, heritage, and that the South fought a legitimate war for states rights and independence. It was not a war to defend slavery.

The ascendant Yankee view of history falsely vilified the South and led people to misinterpret the battle flag. The flag probably would have been relegated to Civil War museums had it not been used by the resurgent Ku Klux Klan and Southern Dixiecrats during the 1948 presidential election. The fact the flags heritage is now seen as grounded in hate, a heritage whose self-avowed reason for existence was the exploitation and debasement of a sizable segment of its population is truly a misinterpretation of epic proportion.

If you are truly open minded, stop judging people by how they look or what they drive.

Mike Wagner

Ramona

Confederate flag offensive and treasonous

The Confederate flag is not only offensive but is treasonous as well.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, now President Trumps U.S. Secretary to the UN, called the flag a deeply offensive symbol of a brutal, oppressive past. This flag honors the Confederate Army in the Civil War. It was actually treason. The U.S. Constitution says, Treason against the United States consists only in levying war. That is exactly what the Confederates did. They were U.S. citizens who took up arms against their own government. They strived to destroy the nation through bloodshed.

Todays Confederate yahoos can be spotted displaying their offensive flags proudly on poles on their front lawns or in the beds of old pickup trucks cruising up and down main streets all across America. These Confederate sympathizers see no conflict in both loving their nation and yet glorifying the very people who tried to destroy all of it. The flag, particularly to black people, is a symbol of slavery, lynching, and segregation driven by the white supremacy movement.

The Neo-Confederate organizations include many groups that honor the Confederate battle flag, lauding it as preserving Southern culture. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama describes these ultra conservative reactionaries as advocating the elimination of all immigration. They promote traditional gender roles, and strongly oppose homosexuality. In many cases, these Neo-Confederates are fiercely secessionists.

Mass murderer Dylan Roof enjoyed videoing himself in front of Confederate flags and lots of guns. Inspired by his warped racists views, Roof strolled into a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., during a Bible study and gunned down nine innocent people in a matter of seconds.

The Confederate flag is offensive to the black community. Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, said, People dont know the pain this flag represents to African Americans. It is a symbol of slavery. The Confederate flag and Nazi swastika both conjure up images of evil.

Peter Quercia

Ramona

Temporary win a loss for some

Trumpcares temporary win and party celebration will be a loss for people with pre-existing conditions, which may include rape medical/therapy treatment/domestic violence (or raising costs for those victims), cerebral palsy, cancer  the list is long.

Trumpcare was not reviewed by the CBO. which Speaker Ryan insisted should be done for President Obamas ACA.

Laurel Granquist

Julian

Ramona Concert group thanks its supporters

The Ramona Concert Association Board of Directors would like to thank our many benefactors, patrons and sponsors for their generous support of our concerts in Ramona. The two last shows of the 32nd concert season with the very popular San Diego Concert Band and the Ramona High School Bands were a big success.

Our sincere thanks to our wonderful supporters:

Perpetual Benefactor Jeanne Ghilbert.

Gold Benefactor Charles and Carol Oswalt; Silver Benefactors Guy and Kim Buchanan, Eileen Carter, Ramona Disposal Service, Ron and Marlene Robershaw, Graham White, and Douglas and Judy Wilsman.

Benefactors Michael Barker, William Lawler, and Al Slocum, CIC Wateridge Insurance Services.

Patrons Don and Arline Bartick, D.A. and Joan Brouillette, Sandy Burney, Harry and Sondra Butler, Bert Byrne, Louis and Candace Carvalho, City Barber Shop Wayne Channon, Stephen Courtney and Virginia Pollack, Craig and Mary Culver, Dunkin Donuts, Ralph and Millie Gurzi, Larry and La Belle Haeger, Robert and Charlotte Hunsberger, Wayne Jones, W.T. Kirkman Lanterns, Inc., Jerry and Pollyanna Meloche, Ransom Bros. Lumber and Supply Co., San Vicente Valley Club, Ron and Sonia Scanlon, Richard and Laurel Schweig, and Michael and Gail Voorhes.

Sponsor BIG 5  Sporting Goods.

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A 14-year-old boy with a loaded .44-caliber revolver in his backpack was arrested at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista Wednesday, and his father later turned himself in and was also taken into custody, police said.

The father, Zachariah Joseph Dow, 36, was booked into San Diego central jail about 10:40 p.m. on counts including being a felon in possession of a firearm, child endangerment and criminal storage of a firearm, according to the jail website.

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Police said the boy brought the gun, which had been in his fathers possession, to school to shoot a student who had bullied him. No one was injured. No other students were believed to be involved, Chula Vista police Lt. Fritz Reber said.

An assistant principal at the school on Claire Avenue called police at 11:04 a.m. to report that a student on campus might have a loaded handgun, Reber said.

School resource officers got to the campus quickly. They were told that the teenager had been showing the pistol to other students and saying he might use it to shoot someone at the school. Several students reported the boy to school staffers.

He had an issue with a student he had been bullied by, police Capt. Lon Turner said.

Officers went to the boys classroom and took him into custody at 11:25 a.m. Reber said officers found the loaded revolver in the boys backpack.

The teen was arrested on suspicion of possessing a loaded firearm on school grounds.

Detectives served a warrant at Dows residence and found a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol unsecured under a bed, Reber said.
A Costa Rican company objected Wednesday in federal court to a settlement of foreign bribery charges between the U.S. government and French telecommunications firm Alcatel-Lucent SA.

The Costa Rican communications and electric services firm Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad - known by its Spanish acronym ICE - contends that it was a victim of the rampant bribery committed by Alcatel and deserves to be paid as much as $400 million in restitution. ICE attorney Burton Wiand said the plea deals Alcatel negotiated with U.S. officials could shut it out of that money.

These are mandatory rights, and we are entitled to those, Wiand said at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke. If you accept this plea, then I think our rights are gone.

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But the Justice Department disagreed. Charles Duross, deputy chief of the departments fraud section, said ICE was complicit in this corruption because top ICE executives and members of its board of directors solicited tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from Alcatel and other companies seeking Costa Rican contracts.

They are at the very least partially responsible for what was going on here, Duross said. The entire process was corrupted.

Cooke set a June 1 date for Alcatel and three of its subsidiaries to finalize pleas in the criminal case, which was brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. ICE will be able to argue at that hearing it should be considered a corruption victim and is due restitution from Alcatel, but Cooke expressed some skepticism about whether it will succeed.

You would not be at the top of the hit parade, the judge said.

The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission have been increasingly using the anti-corruption law to target major corporations for shady overseas dealings, including recent cases against health care giant Johnson & Johnson, Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler AG and former Halliburton Co. subsidiary KBR. All reached settlements in court and paid fines.

Alcatel in December announced three subsidiaries would plead guilty to violating the corruption law and the French parent would enter into a deferred prosecution agreement requiring it to pay $92 million in fines but enabling it to avoid a criminal conviction. In addition, Alcatel must pay $45.3 million in a related SEC civil enforcement action.

Alcatel, which bought U.S.-based Lucent Technologies at the end of 2006, admitted paying bribes in exchange for business in Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia and Taiwan between 2001 and 2006. Court records indicate Alcatel paid about $18 million to Costa Rican consultants who, in turn, paid bribes to various executives and government officials.

We intend to enter pleas of guilty under the agreements, said Alcatel attorney Martin J. Weinstein.

The Alcatel case was brought after the arrest in Miami of Christian Sapsizian, a former Alcatel executive who admitted paying bribes to ICE officials and began cooperating with U.S. prosecutors. Sapsizian is currently serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence.

----

Curt Anderson can be found on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/Miamicurt
The appointment of a special prosecutor isnt all that common, but some presidents have dealt with more of them than others.

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With lingering questions about Russian influence in the last U.S. presidential election, some legislators and citizens have called for a special prosecutor. Just how common is the use of a special prosecutor, and when have they been appointed in the past?

The federal government has been using special prosecutors since 1875. In 1978, after Watergate, Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act, which established formal rules for appointing a special prosecutor. Starting in 1983, these investigators were referred to as an independent counsel. The Ethics in Government Act expired in 1999, and the only person who can currently appoint a special prosecutor is the attorney general. Regulations are in place that limit the authority of the attorney general over a special prosecutor, but without a law in place, the enforceability of these regulations in unproven. Congress cant independently appoint a special prosecutor without first passing a new law allowing them to do so. Before becoming law, the bill must, of course, be signed by the president.

Heres a table of the men and women who have served as special prosecutor or independent counsel, the issue that each investigated, and the outcome. Special prosecutors have been appointed 29 times. President Clinton leads with 12 separate inquiries; President Reagan is a distant second with six.

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History of Special Prosecutors and Independent Counsels

Year President Special Prosecutor / Independent Counsel Issue Outcome 1875 Ulysses Grant John Henderson Politicians, whiskey producers, and government employees stealing alcohol tax revenues There were 110 convictions, $3 million in recovered taxes, and an abiding air of corruption attached to the Grant administration. 1881 James Garfield William Cook Post Office officials taking bribes to award highly lucrative postal delivery routes The Star Route scheme was shut down, but there were few convictions. 1903 Theodore Roosevelt Judge Holmes Conrad, Charles Bonaparte Bribery in the Department of the Post Office Three hundred post office officials and private contractors were convicted. 1905 Theodore Roosevelt Francis Heney A railroads use of fraud to obtain resources on federal land Over a thousand indictments were issued, but Heney narrowed prosecution to 35 people, including a senator and two congressmen, who all eventually escaped punishment. 1921 Calvin Coolidge Atlee Pomerene, Owen Roberts The sale to corporations of oil held in reserve for the U.S. Navy, most notably at Teapot Dome, WY Teapot Dome led to the first conviction and imprisonment of a former Cabinet officer. 1952 Harry Truman Newbold Morris Corruption within the IRS Attorney General Howard McGrath fired Morris. Truman fired McGrath. Over 160 IRS employees were fired. 1973 Richard Nixon Archibald Cox The burglary of the democratic headquarters at the Watergate office complex, and its subsequent cover-up Nixon, unwilling to cooperate with Cox, ordered AG Elliot Richardson, then Deputy AG William Ruckelshaus, to fire Cox. They resigned instead. Solicitor General Robert Bork stepped in to dismiss Cox. The next year, the House Judiciary Committee filed the first impeachment charge. Nixon resigned two weeks later. 1978 Jimmy Carter Arthur Hill Christy Accusations that Carters chief of staff had used cocaine No one was indicted. 1980 Jimmy Carter Gerald Gallinghouse Accusations that Carters campaign manager had used drugs No one was indicted. 1981 Ronald Reagan Leon Silverman Organized crime connections of Labor Secretary Ray Donovan No one was indicted. 1984 Ronald Reagan Jacob Stein Accusations of AG Edwin Meeses preferential treatment of a defense contractor No one was indicted, but Meese resigned when Steins report was submitted. 1986 Ronald Reagan Alexia Morrison Obstruction of justice by Theodore Olsen, legal counsel to the president No one was indicted. 1986 Ronald Reagan Lawrence Walsh Charges that administration officials had secretly sold arms to Iran despite an arms embargo against that country At least 12 individuals were indicted, including the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Advisor, and many were convicted, but all were pardoned, granted immunity, or given probation. 1987 Ronald Reagan James McKay Charges that former White House aide Lyn Nofziger engaged in improper lobbying after leaving office No one was indicted. 1987 Ronald Reagan James Harper Charges of income tax evasion by Assistant AG Lawrence Wallace No one was indicted. 1990 George Bush Arlin Adams Charges that Samuel Pierce, HUD Secretary, had sold his influence while serving in Reagans cabinet Several of Pierces aides were convicted on felony charges of favoritism, but Pierce was never charged. 1992 Bill Clinton Joseph diGenova Possible illegal search of the passport files of President Clinton by officials of the former Bush administration No one was indicted. 1993 Bill Clinton Kenneth Starr Accusations that Bill and Hillary Clinton had fired employees of the White House Travel Office to give the jobs to their friends Neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton were indicted. 1994 Bill Clinton Kenneth Starr Charges of improper behavior by Clinton in the sale of property from the Whitewater Development Corporation Neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton were indicted, but some of their former business partners were, and 15 of them were convicted. 1994 Bill Clinton Donald Smaltz Charges that Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy had accepted improper gifts Espy was indicted, but later acquitted, of all 30 criminal charges. 1994 Bill Clinton Kenneth Starr, Robert Ray Death of White House Counsel Vincent W. Foster No one was indicted. 1995 Bill Clinton David Barrett Charges that Henry Cisneros, Clintons HUD Secretary, had lied to the FBI during background checks Cisneros was indicted on 18 counts of conspiracy and obstructing justice, but later pardoned by Clinton. 1995 Bill Clinton Daniel Pearson Charges that Commerce Secretary Ron Brown had sold seats on U.S. federal planes on an international trade mission No one was indicted. 1996 Bill Clinton Curt Von Kann Accusations that Eli Segal, former Clinton chief of staff, had violated conflict of interest rules while fundraising No one was indicted. 1996 Bill Clinton Kenneth Starr Charges of improper review of confidential FBI files of members of previous administrations No one was indicted. 1998 Bill Clinton Carol Elder Bruce Charges that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt improperly intervened in an American Indian tribes application to open a casino No one was indicted. 1998 Bill Clinton Ralph Lancaster Charges of influence-peddling and solicitation of illegal campaign contributions by Labor Secretary Alexis Herman No one was indicted. 1998 Bill Clinton Kenneth Starr Charges that Clinton perjured himself when questioned about sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky Clinton was impeached but later acquitted by the Senate. 2005 George W. Bush Patrick Fitzgerald Suspicions that members of the State Department had leaked the identity of a covert CIA officer for political ends No one was indicted for the leak, but I. Lewis Scooter Libby was convicted on four felony counts of making false statement, perjury, and obstruction of justice.

Featured image: Shutterstock
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/11/2017 -- China clay is also known by the alternate name Kaolin or white clay. China clay is basically an aluminum silicate formed by chemical weathering. China clay is used as a filler material in industries such as plastics and rubber. It helps to improve the physical and physiochemical as well as electrical properties of the materials. The major application of china clay is in the ceramics and paper industries. In the paper industry, china clay is used as a filler to reduce both cost and improve printing capabilities. The use of ceramics in the hydraulic fracturing is expected to drive the growth of global china clay market. The use of china clay for specialty applications such as biotechnology is expected to rise over the forecast period.



Global China Clay Market Dynamics



One of the major factors driving the growth of the global china clay market is the use of ceramic in the hydraulic fracturing method for the production of shale gas in the U.S. Thus the market demand for china clay is expected to grow significantly over the next decade especially in the U.S.



China clay improves the physical and chemical resistance of various materials such as plastics, rubber and wire cables. For example, in the case of wires and cables, china clay has offered various benefits such as reduced electricity consumption, improved cable lifespan and hence less replacement and maintenance cost. In the paper industry, it has reduced cost and improved printing capabilities.



China clay is widely being used in many industries such as paper, ceramics, plastics rubber, paints and coatings. Hence, growth of the manufacturing sector in developing countries is expected to create healthy growth opportunities for the global china clay market.



Request For Report Sample: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3502



Global China Clay Market Restraints



The major factor restraining the growth of the global china clay market is the increasing digitalization, which has reduced the consumption of china clay coated paper products. The falling paper and pulp industries in the western regions is estimated to restrain the growth of global china clay market



Global China Clay Market Trends



The use of china clay is becoming popular for niche application areas such as in the manufacture of plastic films and in the audio and video tapes. China clay is also gaining importance in the field of biotechnology.



Another major trend observed in the global china clay market are the mergers and acquisitions by the major players in the market.



Global China Clay Market Segmentation



The global china clay market can be segmented on the basis of application, product type and region.



On the basis of application, the global china clay market can be segmented as:



Paper



Wire and cables



Plastics, rubber and fiberglass



Construction



Paints, coatings and adhesives



Agriculture



Others



On the basis of type, the global china clay market can be segmented into:



Calcined kaolin/china clay



Silicate kaolin/china clay



Hard Kaolin



Soft kaolin



Global China Clay Market Regional Outlook



Asia Pacific continues to dominate the china clay market with China being the major player. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a significant CAGR over the forecast period. North America, predominantly the U.S., is also a major consumer of China clay. The North America china clay market is mainly driven by the use in hydraulic fracturing and is projected to remain lucrative over the next ten years. Western Europe is another major consumer of china clay and is foreseen to grow over the forecast period. Latin America, mainly Brazil, and Middle East and Africa also hold significant shares in the global china clay market. Japan is expected to grow at a moderate CAGR over the forecast period.



Request For TOC:



Global China Clay Market Participants



Some of the market participants identified across the value chain of the global china clay market are, BASF SE, Quarzwerke Group, Thiele Kaolin Company, SCR-Sibelco NV, Imerys, Richard and Baker Harrison Limited (RBH), among others.
Pune, Mahrashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/11/2017 -- Global Workwear market 2017 Research Report offers a complete and in-depth analysis of the growth rate of the Workwear industry.



In the first section, Workwear Market report presents the overview of Workwear industry which includes definitions, classifications, applications and Workwear industry chain structure. Global Workwear Market further includes Workwear development history, competitive analysis of Workwear industry.



Top leading Manufacturers Analysis of Workwear:-



Wokdiwei

Williamson Dickie

Van Puijenbroek Textiel

UniFirst

Sioen

Provogue

Johnsons Apparelmaster

Hultafors Group

G&K Services

Fristads Kansas Group

Engelbert Strauss

Dura-Wear

Dise Garment

Cintas

China Garments

Carhartt

Aramark

Aoruina

Alsico

Adolphe Lafont

Aditya Birla

VF Corporation



Do Inquiry Before Purchasing Report Here: https://market.biz/report/2017-top-5-workwear-market-lpi/44086/#inquiry



Workwear Market Segments According to Regions:



South America (Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina)

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Middle East and Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Saudi Arabia)

Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Russia etc.

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Korea)



Product Segment Analysis of Workwear Market:



Anti-static Workwear

Anti-acid Workwear

Anti-flaming Workwear

Other



Analysis of Application Segment of Workwear Market:



1.Manufacturing Industry

2.Service Industry

3.Mining Industry

4.Agriculture?Forestry Industry

5.Others



In addition to this, Workwear Market report provides the information on development plans and strategies followed by various Workwear industries, manufacturing techniques and price structures. The Workwear Industry report also covers import/export details, supply chain relationship, utilization ratio along with cost, Workwear Market revenues according to regions (USA, Europe, Japan, China, India, South East Asia), and other regions can be added in a convenient manner.



In next section, the Workwear report covers leading industry players in Workwear market discussing company profiles, product details, product blueprint, price, market share and contact details. Global Workwear Market report also covers Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers scrutiny.



Request Sample Copy of Report Here (To get Quick Access): https://market.biz/report/2017-top-5-workwear-market-lpi/44086/#requestforsample



Lastly, the Workwear report offers complete in-depth analysis of the parent market, key strategies followed by leading players, emerging segments, former, current and forecast market analysis in terms of volume and value along with entire research conclusions.



The Report serves as a valuable guide for the industry players and other individuals who are interested in studying the Workwear market.
Richmond, VA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/11/2017 -- 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



Richmond Virginia General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Declares New Geneology Support Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.g3-development.co/



Women of Early Plymouth: Governor William Bradford reported that the Pilgrims were worried that the "weak bodies of women" would not be able to withstand the rigors of a trans-Atlantic voyage and the construction of a colony. Prior to the Mayflower, very few English women had made the voyage across the ocean.



Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke colony arrived in Virginia in 1587, and amongst those 120 colonists there were 17 women: a baby girl, Virginia Dare, was born after arrival. When re-supply ships came from England, they could not relocate the people. The colony had mysteriously disappeared, and was never seen again. The Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607, but relatively few women had yet made the voyage and taken up residence there.



The Pilgrim husband, as head of the household, had an important and difficult decision to make. Building a colony would be hard on a woman's "weaker body." It might be safer and healthier to leave her behind, and have her come later once the houses were built, and the general safety and successfulness of the colony were better established. But that could be several years. Could he live several years without his wife? How strong was his wife anyway, could she really handle it? Was it right to put your wife's life in danger in this manner?



As the Mayflower left England for America, there were 18 adult women on-board. Three of them, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White, and Mary Allerton, were actually in their last trimester of a pregnancy. All the adult women on the Mayflower were married; there were no single women--although there were a few teenage girls nearing marriageable age.



While no women would die during the Mayflower's voyage, life after arrival proved extremely difficult. In fact, 78% of the women would die the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. Dorothy Bradford was the first woman to die, and the only woman who died in the month of December. While many of the men, including her husband, were out exploring on Cape Cod, she accidentally fell off the Mayflower into the bitter cold waters of Provincetown Harbor. Most of the women's death dates were not recorded, but we do know that Rose Standish died on January 29, Mary Allerton died on February 25, and Elizabeth Winslow died on March 24. Most of the women died in February and March.



The extremely high mortality rate among women is probably explainable by the fact the men were out in the fresh air, felling trees, building structures and drinking fresh New England water; while the women were confined to the damp, filthy and crowded quarters offered by the Mayflower, where disease would have spread much more quickly. The two-month voyage was long enough; the women, however, remained living on the ship for an additional four months while the men built storehouses and living quarters on shore. Many of the sick were no doubt cared for on-board the ship by the women, increasing their exposure to colds and pneumonias. William Mullins died on February 21, apparently on-board the Mayflower since his will was witnessed by the ship's captain and ship's surgeon. His wife Alice and son Joseph had not yet died, but it wasn't too long before they did, orphaning their teenage daughter Priscilla in the New World.



Only five women survived the first winter. One of the five survivors, Mrs. Katherine Carver, died in May of a "broken heart," her husband John having died of sunstroke a month earlier. Weak bodies or not, by the time of the famous "Thanksgiving," there were only four women left to care for the Colony's fifty surviving men and children. The four women were Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna (White) Winslow.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/women



The End of the Mayflower: "Mayflower's End," by Mike Haywood. The Mayflower returned to England from Plymouth Colony, arriving back on 9 May 1621. Christopher Jones took the ship out on a trading voyage to Rochelle, France, in October 1621, returning with a cargo of Bay salt. Christopher Jones, master and quarter-owner of the Mayflower, died and was buried at Rotherhithe, co. Surrey, England, on 5 March 1621/2. No further record of the Mayflower is found until May 1624, when it was appraised for the purposes of probate and was described as being in ruins. The ship was almost certainly sold off as scrap.



The claim, first originating from J. Rendel Harris' book The Finding of the Mayflower (1920), that the Mayflower ended up as a barn in Jordans, England, is now widely discredited as being a figment of an overzealous imagination on the tercentenary anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage, combined with a tainted oral history. None of the evidence has withstood subsequent investigation. Regardless of the lack of evidence for its authenticity, it has been featured in National Geographic on several occasions and is a tourist destination. It is important to realize that in 1624, when the ship was scrapped, it was not at all famous, and nobody would have thought twice about letting it rot away.



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



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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
Sacramento, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/11/2017 -- 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



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.



Sacramento California General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Declares New Geneology Asset Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.g3-development.co/



Women of Early Plymouth: Governor William Bradford reported that the Pilgrims were worried that the "weak bodies of women" would not be able to withstand the rigors of a trans-Atlantic voyage and the construction of a colony. Prior to the Mayflower, very few English women had made the voyage across the ocean.



Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke colony arrived in Virginia in 1587, and amongst those 120 colonists there were 17 women: a baby girl, Virginia Dare, was born after arrival. When re-supply ships came from England, they could not relocate the people. The colony had mysteriously disappeared, and was never seen again. The Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607, but relatively few women had yet made the voyage and taken up residence there.



The Pilgrim husband, as head of the household, had an important and difficult decision to make. Building a colony would be hard on a woman's "weaker body." It might be safer and healthier to leave her behind, and have her come later once the houses were built, and the general safety and successfulness of the colony were better established. But that could be several years. Could he live several years without his wife? How strong was his wife anyway, could she really handle it? Was it right to put your wife's life in danger in this manner?



As the Mayflower left England for America, there were 18 adult women on-board. Three of them, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White, and Mary Allerton, were actually in their last trimester of a pregnancy. All the adult women on the Mayflower were married; there were no single women--although there were a few teenage girls nearing marriageable age.



While no women would die during the Mayflower's voyage, life after arrival proved extremely difficult. In fact, 78% of the women would die the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. Dorothy Bradford was the first woman to die, and the only woman who died in the month of December. While many of the men, including her husband, were out exploring on Cape Cod, she accidentally fell off the Mayflower into the bitter cold waters of Provincetown Harbor. Most of the women's death dates were not recorded, but we do know that Rose Standish died on January 29, Mary Allerton died on February 25, and Elizabeth Winslow died on March 24. Most of the women died in February and March.



The extremely high mortality rate among women is probably explainable by the fact the men were out in the fresh air, felling trees, building structures and drinking fresh New England water; while the women were confined to the damp, filthy and crowded quarters offered by the Mayflower, where disease would have spread much more quickly. The two-month voyage was long enough; the women, however, remained living on the ship for an additional four months while the men built storehouses and living quarters on shore. Many of the sick were no doubt cared for on-board the ship by the women, increasing their exposure to colds and pneumonias. William Mullins died on February 21, apparently on-board the Mayflower since his will was witnessed by the ship's captain and ship's surgeon. His wife Alice and son Joseph had not yet died, but it wasn't too long before they did, orphaning their teenage daughter Priscilla in the New World.



Only five women survived the first winter. One of the five survivors, Mrs. Katherine Carver, died in May of a "broken heart," her husband John having died of sunstroke a month earlier. Weak bodies or not, by the time of the famous "Thanksgiving," there were only four women left to care for the Colony's fifty surviving men and children. The four women were Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna (White) Winslow.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/women



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
Taking advantage of a rare orbital alignment between Jupiters moons Io and Europa, a research team led by scientists at the University of California at Berkeley has obtained a detailed map of Ios Loki Patera.

On March 8, 2015, Europa passed in front of Io, gradually blocking out light from the volcanic moon.

Because Europas surface is coated in water ice, it reflects very little sunlight at infrared wavelengths, allowing astronomers to accurately isolate the heat emanating from volcanoes on Ios surface.

The infrared data showed that the surface temperature of Ios massive molten lake steadily increased from one end to the other, suggesting that the lava had overturned in two waves that each swept from west to east at about 3,300 feet (1 km) per day.

Overturning lava is a popular explanation for the periodic brightening and dimming of the hot spot, known as Loki Patera.

The most active volcanic site on Io, Loki Patera is about 127 miles (200 km) across.

Astronomers first noticed Ios changing brightness in the 1970s, but only when NASAs Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft flew by in 1979 did it become clear that this was because of volcanic eruptions on the surface.

Despite highly detailed images from NASAs Galileo mission in the late 1990s and early 2000s, researchers continue to debate whether the brightenings at Loki Patera  which occur every 400 to 600 days  are due to overturning lava in a massive lave lake, or periodic eruptions that spread lava flows over a large area.

If Loki Patera is a sea of lava, it encompasses an area more than a million times that of a typical lava lake on Earth. In this scenario, portions of cool crust sink, exposing the incandescent magma underneath and causing a brightening in the infrared, said lead author Katherine de Kleer, a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley.

This is the first useful map of the entire patera. It shows not one but two resurfacing waves sweeping around the patera. This is much more complex than what was previously thought, said co-author Dr. Ashley Davies, of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

This is a step forward in trying to understand volcanism on Io, which we have been observing for more than 15 years, and in particular the volcanic activity at Loki Patera, added Imke de Pater, a professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley.

To capture images of Io, the team used by the twin 27.6-feet (8.4 m) mirrors of the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO).

Two years earlier, the LBTO had provided the first ground-based images of two separate hot spots within Loki Patera, thanks to the unique resolution offered by the interferometric use of LBT. This time, however, the exquisite resolution was achieved thanks to the observation of Loki Patera at the time of an occultation by Europa, said co-author Dr. Christian Veillet, LBTO director.

Europa took about 10 seconds to completely cover Loki Patera.

There was so much infrared light available that we could slice the observations into one-eighth-second intervals during which the edge of Europa advanced only a few miles across Ios surface, said co-author Dr. Michael Skrutskie, of the University of Virginia.

Loki was covered from one direction but revealed from another, just the arrangement needed to make a real map of the distribution of warm surface within the patera.

These observations gave the astronomers a 2D thermal map of Loki Patera with a resolution better than 6.25 miles (10 km), 10 times better than normally possible with the LBT Interferometer at this wavelength (4.5 microns).

The temperature map revealed a smooth temperature variation across the surface of the lake, from about 270 Kelvin at the western end, where the overturning appeared to have started, to 330 Kelvin at the southeastern end, where the overturned lava was freshest and hottest.

Using information on the temperature and cooling rate of magma derived from studies of volcanoes on Earth, de Kleer was able to calculate how recently new magma had been exposed at the surface.

The results  between 180 and 230 days before the observations at the western end and 75 days before at the eastern  agree with earlier data on the speed and timing of the overturn.

Interestingly, the overturning started at different times on two sides of a cool island in the center of the lake that has been there ever since Voyager photographed it in 1979.

The velocity of overturn is also different on the two sides of the island, which may have something to do with the composition of the magma or the amount of dissolved gas in bubbles in the magma, de Kleer said.

There must be differences in the magma supply to the two halves of the patera, and whatever is triggering the start of overturn manages to trigger both halves at nearly the same time but not exactly. These results give us a glimpse into the complex plumbing system under Loki Patera.

Lava lakes like Loki Patera overturn because the cooling surface crust slowly thickens until it becomes denser than the underlying magma and sinks, pulling nearby crust with it in a wave that propagates across the surface.

As the crust breaks apart, magma may spurt up as fire fountains, akin to what has been seen in lava lakes on Earth, but on a smaller scale, Prof. de Pater said.

The researchers are eager to observe other Io occultations to verify their findings, but theyll have to wait until the next alignment in 2021.

The results were published in the May 11, 2017 issue of the journal Nature.

_____

K. de Kleer et al. 2017. Multi-phase volcanic resurfacing at Loki Patera on Io. Nature 545: 199-202; doi: 10.1038/nature22339

This article is based on text provided by the University of California at Berkeley.
Wholesaler Tropic Fish Hawaii a subsidiary of CMU and partners reported the voluntary recall of a volume of frozen ahi cubed tuna products on May 2. These products were sold on the island of Oahu between April 27 and May 1 and were contaminated with the Hepatitis A infection.

The voluntary recall from Tropic Fish Hawaii impacts about 2,300 pounds of the infected products. Out of this, about 1,440 pounds were recovered or discarded. The frozen ahi cubed tuna product being referred to was imported from Indonesia before the results of the various safety tests conducted on them were taken. As indicated by Tropic Fish Hawaii, this was against the ordinary procedures it takes after.

"Our typical technique is to get the test results before distribution, but sadly that did not happen with this specific shipment. We have revised our procedure to guarantee this won't happen once more," Shawn Tanoue, the company's chairperson commented after the Hepatitis A infection was confirmed, FSN cited.

In 2016, the same Hepatitis A infection was found in the scallops the wholesaler sells. This tainted almost 300 people with the virus. The local media of Oahu revealed that from that point forward, the company treads carefully and tests every one of its products before distributing them to the market for use.

The contaminated ahi cubed tuna product, used broadly to prepare the Hawaiian delicacy poke, was sold in many stores over the island. A part of the famous retailers that supplied and sold the product between April 27 and May 1 include the Times Supermarkets chain, Shima's Market, Aloha Sushi Nimitz, G.P. Hawaiian Food Catering, and a lot more. Restaurants and food outlets may also have bought the infected ahi cubed tuna.

When the test results were received, the wholesaler approach Hawaii's department of health to report the conceivable infection of Hepatitis A. The health department tried 200 of the frozen ahi cubed tuna product cases and found that they were possibly infected. The health authorities also complimented Tropic Fish Hawaii for its quick action and recall of the product.

"But it mostly takes two weeks for those contaminated to report indications of hepatitis A, vaccination or immune globulin can even now supply some protection against the disease for the individuals who may have been exposed in the last week," Dr. Sarah Park of the health division expressed.

The health department informs that those who experience fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, weakness or fatigue, or diarrhea ought to stay home and consult their doctor right away. Because these are the common causes of the virus.
The ecologists have found significant differences from their latest study from the earlier study of Sierra Nevada reforestation. The latest study uses a new approach to the historical analysis of the forest, and it shows that Sierra Nevara forest was more dense trees than previously studied.

Ecologists at the UC Berkeley finds a substantial flaw in the previous study of Sierra Nevada reforestation. In its official release, UC Berkeley stated the previous study, which was used to challenge the plan of the U.S. Forest Service to restore the Sierra Nevara forest to its dense tree population.

In their study, ecologists use a different method from the previous study conducted in the early twentieth centuries to analyze tree density in the Sierra Nevada forest. The study has been published in the Ecological Applications Journal of the Ecological Society of America.

The scientists compare the five methods of tree density estimation in the forest. The first three methods are the distance-based plotless density estimators methodologies, while the other two are the area estimations. The methods have been used to analyze tree density in Sierra Nevada forest in California, US, and Baja California Norte in Mexico. The combination of these methods will give a more accurate result in tree density in the Sierra Nevada forest in a true density.

Based on their study, ecologists find that the tree density in the Sierra Nevada forest is higher than previously calculated. The study's lead author is the Ph.D. student of forest ecology at UC Berkeley, Carrie Levine. Co-authored the study are two Berkeley professors, John Battles Scott Stephens and one research scientist at the Berkeley, Brandon Collins.

We have a mapped plot where every tree is measured, so we know the true density, Levine said, explaining the true density of Sierra Nevada forest. "This allows us to manage for forests that are resilient to the changes were expecting in the future."

The result of this study is a very important data for restoration of Sierra Nevada forest. As the region of Sierra Nevada and its forest gives a high benefit to California.


Environmental campaigners have recently accused Denmark of facilitating the traditional hunting of the pilot whales. The activists have urged the EU to act against this Scandinavian country.

Reports say Denmark is supporting the killing of the pilot whales in the Faroe Islands. According to Geert Vons, the director of the popular activist group the Sea Shepherd Netherlands, hunting dolphins and whales in Europe is a forbidden act. That means EU does not allow the killing of these large mammals. Environmental campaigners from all over the world have already raised their voices against this act.

The environmental campaigners have requested Brussels to start the "infringement proceedings" against this Scandinavian state. The activists utter that sufficient evidence has already surfaced that show Danish officials from the customs, navy and the police are facilitating this forbidden act. Even these officials have been actively participating in the killing of the pilot whales, Phys.org reported. Geert Vons accuses that by supporting the hunting, Denmark ultimately fails to fulfill its EU obligations.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing autonomous territory with a population of 50,000 inhabitants. It is located in the North Atlantic. The interesting fact is this autonomous territory decided not to become a member of the EU. Tough Denmark chose to join the European Union in 1973.

Inhabitants of the Faroe Islands are heavily dependent on fishing that mainly includes mackerel and herring. In a word, fish farming covers a major portion of the goods exports. Now the said hunting of the pilot whales is held as a part of the tradition every year from June to November. But, currently, this act is considered as forbidden by the EU.

Every year during the said time period from June to November, the pilot whales are driven by a flotilla of the islanders into a bay. These marine mammals are then captured and killed by hand. Many locals defend this crude act and claim it as their cultural right and also eat the blubber and meat of the whale. Constant hunting has severely affected this cetacean population and so the EU has requested every member state to stay away from this crude act.

Mail Online reported about this painful hunting. It is the same picture every year when dozens of pilot whales can't avert their fate from the knife blows. It is now a common practice in the Faroe Islands to force these marine mammals to bathe in the blood of their own companions. Currently, the Environmental campaigners and the EU are trying hard to stop this butchery.

When this hunting is performed, then inhabitants of the Faroe Islands gather to cherish the bloodthirsty spectacle. The tragic part is these innocent pilot whales become the victims of the brutal human behavior every year. The recent move by the activists to urge the EU is a part to stop this brutal slaughtering.

Popular activist group the Sea shepherd has been trying for a long time to stop this traditional hunting of the pilot whales. Now Brussels can apply the infringement proceedings" and demand legal explanations from the national governments on a specific issue. The de facto capital of the EU can also approach to the European Court of Justice for legal action. The court can utilize its power to impose strong financial penalties if the member states don't follow or fail to comply with the rules.
As several studies suggest that using talcum powder could increase the chances of cancer, a woman was reported to have claimed $110.5 million from the Johnson & Johnson Company. The woman named Lois Slemp blamed the company for her ovarian cancer after her long term usage of the companys baby powder.

According to Allure, Slemp claimed that the talcum powder contained talc. Talc was described to be a mineral powder made from magnesium, silicon, hydrogen, and oxygen. However, if the mineral isnt purified enough, it was stated to possibly contain asbestos, a known carcinogen.

With that said, the 62-year-old woman from Virginia was noted to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer since 2012. Slemp concluded that her use of the Johnson & Johnson product for more than 40 years caused her illness. She was unable to attend the trial due to her cancer which had already spread to her liver.

Nonetheless, St. Louis jury favored Slemp and awarded her with the right to claim $110.5 million from the renowned pharmaceutical company. "We are preparing for additional trials this year and will continue to defend the safety of Johnson's Baby Powder," Carol Goodrich, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson said in a statement on The Sun. The company is then set to settle an estimated 2,000 similar cases after Slemps lawsuit.

Aside from that, the Johnson & Johnson product also suffered another lawsuit from a woman from Modesto, California. The case goes the same for the woman named Deborah Giannecchini for she also claimed that the product had caused her ovarian cancer. Giannecchini then received more than 58 million from the health product provider company.

It was then identified that the case of Johnson & Johnson is record breaking compared to their other subsidiaries. Other companies that suffered a lawsuit and pay their plaintiffs were identified to be Aveeno with $72 million, Clean & Clear with $70.1 million and Neutrogena with the most minimum paid case of $55 million.
True love's formula, per classic Disney princess custom: First, a storybook romance. Next, a lavish castle wedding. Then, a lifetime of "happily ever after."

According to the Walt Disney Co., mere mortals can achieve this fairy tale. That is, with their help, and for the right price.

Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings, the company's wedding branch, may not be able to set you up with Prince Charming or promise wedded bliss, but they can help you design a wedding day fit for a queen - make that a Disney princess - complete with Cinderella's horse-drawn carriage and a castle backdrop, natch.

Since September 1991, Disney has put on more than 30,000 weddings around the world, including at Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, Disney's Aulani resort in Hawaii, on multiple Disney cruise lines, and in Disney resorts and parks abroad.

In 2013, Disney held 1,500 weddings on its properties. Last year, that number swelled to more than 4,000, with about 11 ceremonies a day globally. That trend is likely to continue, as Disney rolls out live-action updates of its classic films over the next several years, such as the recent "Beauty and the Beast" update starring Emma Watson.

It doesn't hurt that millennials are lapping up the princess fantasy.

"They're all about customization and engaging their wedding guests," says Korri McFann Spolar, director of marketing for Fairy Tale Weddings. "I think this generation really is fit for a destination wedding, you know, multiple days of celebrating, multiple days of gathering with family and friends."

It also helps that the park photos make for one-of-a-kind keepsakes - and easily shareable social-media content (#AndTheySelfiedHappilyEverAfter).

For Nathan Mulder, 30, and Brian Falco, 30, it was always Disney World or bust. Months before a proposal even took place, they had decided to spend what would be "the best day of their lives" at "the happiest place on Earth."

The theme park was a natural fit for the Disneyphiles, who met in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2006 and wed in August 2016. Fans of Disney movies since childhood, Mulder and Falco visited the park frequently over their decade-long courtship and were at one point annual ticket-holders.

For their ceremony at Disney's Beach and Yacht Club Resort in Orlando, the couple envisioned something elegant and traditional, minus the gimmicks and characters - save for a few hundred "hidden Mickeys" scattered throughout the venue.

"I think that a huge misconception about Disney weddings is that . . . they are childish, or maybe even cheesy, with characters plastered everywhere," Mulder says. "We really wanted to have a wedding that was at Disney, not so much a Disney wedding."

For the reception, they splurged on some subtle hints of "Disney magic" for their 225 guests, including an appearance by Mickey and Minnie ($1,700) and a customized projection cake, which lit up with scenes from their favorite Disney films (about $3,000).

The final price tag? More than $100,000. "The entire week [and] weekend was a dream come true," Mulder says.

But not every wedding at Disney is as magical. Yasmin Uddin, a 22-year-old YouTube gamer based in Leeds, England, had a much different experience with the House of Mouse for her wedding last month. After toying with the idea of eloping in Vegas, the bride-to-be and her finance, Kyle Sinnett, 26, settled on a small ceremony for 24 guests at Disney's Wedding Pavilion in Orlando for about $25,000.

First, Uddin and Sinnett's fairy godmother - what Disney calls their wedding coordinators - was sparingly communicative. When Uddin requested a venue visit in January, she was told that the coordinator wouldn't be able to host her.

"I don't think she really took me seriously," Uddin says. "I think she just thought I was some spoiled kid who was getting it all paid for."

Despite the hiccups, things appeared to be on course the morning of the wedding, when the bride rose at 4:50 a.m. to start her bridal prep. But as the 10 a.m. ceremony grew closer, things were missing, namely a bouquet and the officiant. After waiting 30 minutes, Uddin learned that the officiant had been told that the start time was noon.

"All the guests sat there waiting, not knowing what was going on," she says. "Kyle was left there thinking, 'Did she run away? Did she leave me at the altar?' "

About an hour later, the ceremony finally began, but at the reception, the venue manager and DJ started to shut down the party an hour early, as they hadn't been informed of the timing goof. Luckily, thanks to a little bibbidi-bobbidi-boo - i.e., many calls to Disney representatives - it worked out.

"You expect, for that amount of money, you are going to have an amazing day," says Uddin, "but it was just a massive mess."

Even Cinderella's carriage was a letdown. "You feel like you are sitting in a greenhouse, like you are literally being boiled alive," she says.

After multiple complaints, the couple was told that their flower costs would be refunded and that the wedding service director would have "a stern word" with the coordinator. Uddin and Sinnett also were given a free portrait session in the park for their first anniversary. No airfare or lodging included.

Uddin's advice to Disney brides-to-be? "If you want your wedding to be perfect, just do it yourself."

---

Interested in getting hitched at a Disney property? Here's more about what you and your intended can expect.

The parks offer a range of prices. A small-scale ceremony, with up to four guests, is $2,500 to $4,500; a ceremony-only occasion for up to 18 guests is $5,000 to $9,000; and customized ceremonies for more than 18 guests start at $12,500. Options include intimate elopements in secret pockets of the parks and extravagant, 300-person, after-hours celebrations in front of the Cinderella Castle ($180,000 minimum). You may need a fairy godmother, or three, for that one.

Early-morning and weekday ceremonies are typical. In-park ceremonies are limited because of operating hours, and can start as early as 7:30 a.m. and as late as 11 p.m.

Want to customize your wedding? Disneyphiles can wave their magic wands and handpick an array of extras, including a white dove flyover ($250), a private fireworks display and dessert party ($2,500), and, yes, a spin in Cinderella's coach ($2,950).

Want Captain Jack Sparrow to dab on the dance floor? That'll be $5,000 to $6,500. Had some last-minute cancellations? Disney will hire a pair of "uninvited guests" - actors posing as Disney-obsessed tourists - to "crash" your party and entertain for three hours ($1,800). Obsessed with the Little Mermaid? Throw an "Under the Sea"-themed fete in an underground aquarium, surrounded by more than 6,000 sea creatures in Epcot's Living Seas Salon ($1,500 to $4,500).

There are nonnegotiables. Disney characters are not allowed to officiate (sorry, Mickey) or attend the ceremony (although they can come to the reception). "It's definitely an adult event, and they make it an adult event," says Anne Chertoff, a WeddingWire trend expert. "They don't want it to be like you're just playing dress-up."

That being said, you can hire a major-domo or an English butler to deliver your wedding bands in Cinderella's glass slipper or on a silver platter (about $800).

Also, all food and beverages must be provided by the park, so if you have your heart set on In-N-Out Burger, you're out of luck. And brides can't wear their gowns during theme-park hours unless they're willing to pay a pretty penny ($75,000 minimum).
FLORENCE, S.C.  West Florence High School ninth-grade health students this year have been learning by example how important proper hygiene is to staying healthy and in school -- thanks to a grant from a Florence industry.

The Ruiz 4 Kids Mini Grants for Teachers awarded Jordan Darlin from West Florence High School $457 to help fund her project "Seeing is Believing."

An average of 15 percent of our student population is absent daily due to illness. This kit will help students realize proactive health practices associated with less illness and longer life expectancy. Ultimately, we want to decrease absences due to illness for at least two years, said Darlin.

A missed school day results in missed information, added assignments, possibly missed tests and trying to catch up by students. Schools make every attempt to provide the tools needed to help stop the spreading of colds and flu. But unless they can see it, teenagers tend to believe things they can only see. By using a black light kit, the teens will see the numerous germs they carry when not properly washing and learn how disease is spread.

Attending school regularly is important. A couple of missed days has a bigger impact then students understand. By providing them a visual of how many germs one person carries and how easy it is to pass along illness we are helping to educate the students at West Florence High School on how to prevent the spreading of disease, said Ruiz 4 Kids Florence Ambassador, Tommy Pruitt.
Edward LunnYoungA hero was lost to the Florence community, the greater Pee Dee area, the state of South Carolina, and our nation when Edward Lunn Young died on May 9, 2017 at the age of 96. Surrounded by his loving family, he passed away in the home where he was born in 1920.Ed grew up on his family's farm in the Ebenezer community and attended Florence High School. He enrolled in the Corps of Cadets at Clemson University, where he majored in dairying and played Reveille on the bugle each morning and Taps each night. He graduated in 1941 and, like many young men of his generation, went off to war. Ed joined the Army Air Corps and flew P-38 fighter missions in the South Pacific. After completion of his required missions, Ed requested to remain in the theater, flying a total of 195 combat missions. For his valor, Major Young was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with nine Oak Leaf Clusters.After the war, Ed returned to Ebenezer and the home where he grew up, following in his father's footsteps raising dairy cattle, and growing cotton, corn, soybeans, and tobacco. Although farming was a life calling for Ed, it was not his only calling. He became involved in state politics, serving in the South Carolina Legislature from 1957-1960. His service at the state level was followed by a term as his district's first Republican to the US Congress in 1973. Mr. Young's devotion to service was hardly limited to politics. Among his many activities, he served frequently throughout his life as a Member or Chairman of the Board of Deacons of Ebenezer Baptist Church, President of Coble Dairy, President of the Florence County Farm Bureau, President of South Carolina Association of Young Farmers, Member of the South Carolina State Development Board and Chairman of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce, among many others.Ed was selected Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year by South Carolina Association of Young Farmers and awarded Outstanding Man of the Year in Agriculture by Progressive Farmer magazine; he also received the Distinguished Service Award from Clemson University and the Distinguished Agricultural Award, presented by the South Carolina Cooperative Council.Ed is perhaps best known in the Pee Dee area for his tenure as the host of the Southeast Almanac television show in the 1960s. He is also well known in the community for participating weekly for over 50 years on the live Sunday morning radio program, Radio Sunday School. Another weekly occurrence was his attendance at The Rotary Club of Florence, where he led the singing and eventually became a life member. In 1996, he was honored with the Rotarian President's Award for Distinguished Service.In the business world, Ed was instrumental in several real estate developments including Oakdale Country Club, Forest Lake, as well as hotels in Florence and Surfside Beach. He combined his love of real estate projects and love of community by donating land for the Florence Civic Center and Veterans Military Park in Florence.More than any of these interests, Ed's strongest and highest devotion was to Ebenezer Baptist Church. He and his wife, "Hatsy," taught Sunday School for over 50 years, and both were devoted members of the church choir. While Ed Young has been a hero to his community and nation, he was more than any of these, a hero to his loving family. Ed is survived by his wife and "bride" of 71 years Harriet ("Hatsy") Yeargin Young, and his four daughters and sons-in-law: Dr. Claudia Venable & Dr. Greg Brigman of Atlanta, GA, Dr. John & Harriet Charles of Myrtle Beach, SC, Dr. Farrell & Virginia Gean of Simi Valley, CA, and Rev. Jay & Rebecca Madden of Atlanta, GA. Ed leaves behind seven adoring grandchildren: Julia Charles, Lillian Charles, Luke Venable, Austin Charles, Sarah Venable, Neale Madden, and William Madden. Ed's family attributes his success and long life to a grapefruit every morning, a nap every afternoon, and his never-failing optimistic spirit. He never met a stranger and everywhere he went, he would ask each person his or her name. His charm, handshake and the twinkle in his eye made everyone he met feel special. He is predeceased by his three brothers: William (Bill) Young, James (Jay) Young, and John Young and his grandson, Henry Brockington (Brock) Madden.The family extends their deepest gratitude to Dr. Steven Ross, not only for his excellent medical care, but also for his personal devotion and his wisdom over the past several years. Gratitude is also extended to the team that provided continuous care at his home and to McLeod Hospice for their superb caring attendance and reassurance during these final months. The family extends heartfelt love and admiration to Ed's dearest friend and coworker, Mr. Nathan Faison, for his lifelong friendship and support. They also thank the many along the way who have prayed and extended sweet thoughtfulness to the family.In lieu of food and flowers, contributions may be sent to the Ebenezer Baptist Church Building Fund, 524 S. Ebenezer Rd., Florence, SC 29501.The funeral service will be held at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 524 S. Ebenezer Rd. in Florence on May 12, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., with burial following in the church cemetery with full military honors. The Youngs will receive visitors after the funeral at their home until 5:30 p.m.Waters-Powell Funeral Home is entrusted with arrangements.
The container carrier said that despite freight rates increasing by 4.4% year-on-year during the first quarter, they did not fully compensate for the 80% spike in bunker price.

Freight rates mainly increased on East-West trades and especially from Asia to Europe while North-South trades were below last year.

Maersk Line noted that fundamentals have improved in the first quarter and demand outgrew nominal supply for the second consecutive quarter.

Global container demand grew nearly 4% in 2016, and strengthened towards the end of the year, Maersk Line stated.

The momentum continued into Q1 2017, with global container demand of around 5% year-on-year, reflecting improvements in the global economic environment, it said.

The first quarter revenue for Maersk Line was recorded at $5.49bn compared to $4.97bn in the previous corresponding period.
"Chokehold." "Strangled." "Catastrophic mistake." Local stakeholders don't mince words when describing the one-way loop at Woodward Avenue's northern terminus and the effect it's had on downtown Pontiac.

Respectively, those three colorful descriptions come from prominent Pontiac developer Kyle Westberg, Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman, and Birmingham-based urban planner Robert Gibbs.

The evolution of Westberg's Lafayette Market business more or less summarizes the common argument against the Woodward loop, which encircles downtown Pontiac. When Westberg opened the shop downtown in 2012, it included a cafe and a full-service grocery store. The cafe is still doing well today, but the grocery store has been pared back to just a beer and wine department.





Westberg says that's at least partly because Pontiac residents simply don't want to deal with the hassle of circumnavigating downtown on the Woodward Loop or attempting to cross it on foot, to get to his store. They're more likely to head out to big-box stores on the city's fringes than to shop in their own downtown.

"(The Loop) turned a nice, loveable downtown into a racetrack to get cars around," Westberg says. "It's been bad urban design from day one."

A long time coming

Plans to reconfigure the Loop to a more welcoming two-way design are gaining traction. The Michigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) Oakland County transportation service center (TSC) is currently awaiting state approval to begin design work on a two-way layout for the road. Preliminary plans re-envision the current western side of the loop as the main through route for the area, with the eastern side renamed Parke Street and serving as a local route to downtown. Bike lanes, more pedestrian crossings, and median refuge islands are proposed to make the redesigned roadway more navigable for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike.

But these developments are the result of over a decade of discussion  and over a half-century of the current configuration's existence. The one-way loop was originally implemented in 1964 in what Oakland County planning manager Bret Rasegan describes as a "well-intended" effort to prepare for increased traffic volumes that never materialized.

"They thought it was good for broader regional traffic flow as well as good for the businesses, but ... unfortunately, in hindsight, we feel that it harmed the downtown by creating that barrier and cutting the neighborhoods off from downtown," Rasegan says.

A two-way reconfiguration of the Loop was first formally documented in a 2001 plan drawn up by the Pontiac Downtown Development Authority, and the concept was subsequently adopted into the city's master plan. However, it was done largely without the awareness or involvement of MDOT, which has jurisdiction over Woodward as a state highway.

The project regained steam in 2010, when the county was awarded a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to study and develop alternatives for the Loop, including conversion of Woodward to two-way traffic, a road diet and renaming to Parke Street of the eastern branch of the Loop to create a local route, and numerous traffic calming measures and pedestrian and bike infrastructure. The resulting 2014 study was further refined and linked to a larger revisualization of downtown Pontiac in a 2016 design charrette and report led by the national nonprofit Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU).



The preferred alternative for the Pontiac Loop. Map courtesy of Oakland County Planning.

A market study in the CNU report found that reconfiguration of the Woodward loop, along with other significant changes to downtown Pontiac, could activate over 200,000 square feet of new retail development and reclaim up to $55 million in sales annually. Gibbs' firm, Gibbs Planning Group, led that market study.

"It's a pretty conservative analysis," Gibbs says. "We're still assuming 80 or 90 percent of the spending potential's going to go outside of Pontiac."

As these studies came out, Rasegan and other county staff repeatedly brought the Woodward issue up in quarterly meetings with MDOT.



Bret Rasegan. Photo by Doug Coombe.

"It just kept being reintroduced to (MDOT director Kirk) Steudle and those guys at the state," Rasegan says. "It finally, I think, took hold that it had merit for them to get involved with and be more proactive."

MDOT recently completed a preliminary study on the Loop, largely adhering to the plan laid out in the 2014 study with some minor tweaks, including adding another northbound lane to the eastern "Parke Street" side of the Loop to accommodate revised traffic projections. Oakland TSC manager Sandy Montes says the plan "improves the sense of space and the livability," in downtown Pontiac.

"We don't want to degrade the operations to the point where we're fixing one problem for pedestrians and then creating a huge problem for motorists," she says. "You have to find that balance, and we think we've struck a pretty good balance now."

The role of the Phoenix Center

The Woodward Loop isn't the only roadway with an access problem in downtown Pontiac. The CNU's 2016 study also called out the Phoenix Center, the large and mostly unused parking garage and public plaza at downtown's southern end, as "a large obstacle preventing cars and people moving through the center." The Phoenix Center sits smack in the middle of Saginaw Street, which bisects the Woodward loop, blocking another potential main artery for the city.

Opinions differ as to the preferred alternative for the center. The CNU study recommended refurbishing the center and eventually demolishing portions of it to reconnect Saginaw. The city attempted to condemn and demolish the structure in 2012. But any action on the site is complex because while the city owns the center itself, the adjacent Ottawa Towers and Lot 9 parking lot are privately owned. Rasegan and Montes say plans for the Woodward loop have not addressed the Phoenix Center by necessity.

"Our plan works whether it's there or whether it's not there," Montes says.

The center's fate has shifted multiple times even just this year. Australian software company BoonEx announced plans to buy the Phoenix Center and Ottawa Towers in January but terminated that deal in February while stating that it was still pursuing a deal to purchase the center alone. Waterman describes the current plan for the center succinctly: "In progress."

"That is not the linchpin for the Woodward Loop," she says.

Redefining the template

At this point, the biggest impediment to further progress on reconfiguring the Woodward Loop is money. Montes estimates the cost of the project at $15 million to $20 million. Rasegan says that's "not cheap, but as far as state road projects go it's not insurmountable either." Compare that to, say, MDOT's ongoing $1.3 billion reconstruction and widening of I-75 in Oakland County.

Sandy Montes. Photo by Doug Coombe.

Woodward is a different kind of project for MDOT. The state usually does road work to relieve congestion, fix safety issues, or address physical deterioration of a roadway. The Woodward loop checks none of those boxes.

"It goes against the triggers that would typically fund a road construction project," Rasegan says.

Because the impetus for the Loop project is economic development and quality of life, Montes says MDOT doesn't have a "template" for the reconstruction. But she expresses optimism that a blend of state funding, grants, and private funding will move the project forward eventually.

"I would hope we can find the funding quickly, but it's hard to say," she says. "This is a unique project, and it's going to take some creativity."

Montes anticipates that her bosses in Lansing will hand down a ruling on preliminary plans for the loop reconfiguration within a couple of months. She says state approval for the $1 million to $1.5 million required to move into the design phase would be a "giant step" towards realizing the plan, although she estimates it would still take a couple of years to muster construction funding.



Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman. Photo by Doug Coombe.

But Pontiac has seen numerous unlikely, transformative developments since the dark period of its emergency management, and so the time seems ripe to move the project forward, according to Waterman, who says this project is just the next natural step for the resurgent city.
"Oh my gosh, I don't belong here." That was the first thought to go through Ann Leen's mind when she started the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) year-long Robert C. Larson Center for Leadership program in 2015.

At the time, Leen was the director of community development for Wayne County, working primarily with single-family and small multifamily projects. She found herself among a cohort of professionals from the real estate and land use industry, many of whom worked on much larger projects in the for-profit or nonprofit sectors.

The greatest common factor among the cohort members was the challenge they had accepted, as each Center for Leadership cohort does annually: devoting eight full work days to the program's professional enrichment sessions, and working with their cohort to use their newfound skills in a detailed analysis of a given real-life local development challenge.



Ann Leen. Photo by Doug Coombe. Leen says her early concerns were quickly proven wrong. She and her cohort members established an easy interchange of perspectives from their different worlds and built relationships that Leen still relies on today.

"Together, we had a lot to offer one another," she says. "It changes the way you think about working with other people, how you think about your own projects, and how you need other people."

Collaboration for better results

That's exactly what the Center for Leadership's namesake would have wanted. Shortly before his death, prominent local real estate executive Robert Larson hashed out the basic idea for a national leadership initiative at a 2010 meeting of the nonprofit ULI. An endowment created by Larson made possible ULI's national Larson Leadership Institute, which has launched the Center for Leadership program and other initiatives at the national and local level.

"He really, truly believed that when you have achieved a level of success and a level of access, it becomes an obligation to give back," says Larson's son Eric Larson, a Detroit development powerhouse in his own right and chair of the leadership institute's advisory board. "Most of his life was focused on being able to provide opportunities and thoughtful leadership in evolving the individuals in our industry."



Eric Larson. Photo by Doug Coombe.

Eric Larson says his dad was dedicated to the idea that the best way to achieve those goals was through collaborative leadership. And that's the fundament of the Center for Leadership program, which is now available in Seattle, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. ULI Michigan adopted the program in 2012.

ULI Michigan director Shannon Sclafani says each Center for Leadership cohort consists of 20 to 30 mid-career professionals considered "rising stars" within their organizations. Over the course of the year-long program, participants observe development sites across the state as they study topics including regionalism, private-public partnerships, the roles capital markets and the philanthropic community play in the development and building healthy places. Many of the topics may be familiar to some cohort members, but none are familiar to all.

"By the end of the program ... they understand the entire process and everything that goes on in making decisions for real estate development," Sclafani says.

Spurring change

In the process, Center for Leadership participants also have the opportunity to make a very real impact on Metro Detroit communities. Each Center for Leadership cohort conducts a technical assistance program (TAP) project examining a specific, often vexing development question in the metro area.

John Petz, director of real estate and public affairs for Domino's Farms Corporation, chaired ULI Michigans Technical Assistance Program for its first several years and helped get the program off the ground.

"We looked to partner with communities that were prepared to try and move forward, and maybe they just hadn't come up with the right answer yet, or maybe they haven't thought outside the box enough," says Petz. "We were not looking to impose an idea or a development solution. We've trying to help a community realize that."



John Petz. Photo by Doug Coombe.And it truly has been a community effort, according to Petz. Each project begins with a stakeholder meeting. Including the client, other constituents such as specific businesses that might be impacted, institutional players, and residents.

Projects have tackled topics that run the gamut of Metro Detroit's development challenges. So far, TAPs have looked at the possibility of "daylighting" the Clinton River by bringing it back above ground in downtown Pontiac, considered options for cultivating a walkable city center at the busy intersection of 15 Mile and Gratiot in Clinton Township, studied how diversification of housing stock in Detroit's Grandmont-Rosedale neighborhood can accelerate revitalization, and proposed a walkable redevelopment in downtown Dearborn.



The current cohort's TAP is focused on developing revitalization strategies for the East English Village, Morningside, and Cornerstone Village neighborhoods on Detroit's far east side.

Participants are divided into teams for each TAP, focusing on development, design, engineering, finance, and planning for each project. The team members' previous career experiences don't necessarily match the focus of the team they're assigned to. But again, that's part of the point.

Attorney and developer J. Patrick Howe, who was in the first Michigan Center for Leadership cohort and has since served as the program's co-chair, says this approach allows a diverse group of professionals to tackle TAPs with "a very, very fine-toothed comb."

In some cases, TAPs have helped to catalyze major development projects. The 2015 cohort's TAP focused on West Dearborn's Wagner Hotel block, which had stagnated and developed multiple vacancies after pre-recession development efforts stalled out. Ford Motor Co. has since announced a $60 million redevelopment plan for the site, calling for a mixed-use development that will employ 600 Ford workers and create new commercial space.

Dearborn community and economic development director Barry Murray says the Center for Leadership's TAP report likely "spurred" Ford's interest in the site, creating a visible public blueprint for revitalization. What's more, he says it's not something city staff could have pulled off on their own  nor would the resulting findings have held the same weight if they did.



Barry Murray. Photo by Doug Coombe.

"I think you come away with a lot more refined product and something that looks professional that you can start to show developers and other parties of interest," Murray says. "It makes such a huge difference to have that kind of document in hand as opposed to just talking about it."

But the Center for Leadership doesn't just rubber-stamp every development it considers. In the case of the Clinton River TAP in Pontiac, cohort members determined the project simply wasn't feasible from an economic, environmental, or engineering standpoint. Larson says the Center for Leadership's status as a "relatively agnostic and neutral party" allows it to consider problems "holistically and, quite frankly, realistically."



Patrick Howe. Photo by Doug Coombe.
Press Release

May 11, 2017 Sen. Bam urges admin to move faster for National Broadband Plan With the National Broadband Plan (NBP) expected to take three years to finish, Sen. Bam Aquino urged the government to focus also on getting more competition by encouraging more players to join the market to improve the country's Internet speed. "Hindi yata kayang maghintay ng tatlong taon ng mga kababayan natin kaya dapat na itong madaliin ng pamahalaan upang mapakinabangan na ng publiko," said Sen. Bam, chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology. During the hearing of the Committee on Science and Technology, DICT Undersecretary Denis Villorente revealed that the NBP will be put up starting 2018 and it is expected to be fully operational in 2020. "We need to work on parallel efforts to achieve faster, cheaper and more reliable internet services in our country. Let's work on the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, but let's also encourage more players and internet providers," Sen. Bam pointed out. Meanwhile, the DICT assured that it can effectively implement the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act, even without an NBP in place. Sen. Bam pushed for the passage of Senate Bill No. 1277 or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act as principal sponsor and co-author. It was approved by the Senate on third and final reading via 18-0 vote. "Can the Free Internet Access Act be fulfilled even without a National Broadband Plan? Kaya ba ng iba't ibang grupo na matupad ang hangarin ng batas na ito?" Sen. Bam asked Villorente, who replied in the affirmative. The senator explained that the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act has a provision where its purposes should be fulfilled within two years after its passage into law. The NBP, for its part, will be put up starting 2018 and will be fully operational come 2020. "The failure or success of this law should not be contingent on the National Broadband Plan," Sen. Bam pointed out, assuring the DICT that funding will be not be a problem once the measure is enacted into law. Sen. Bam hopes that the NBP, once finished, can be a cheaper option in the implementation of the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act. Meanwhile, the DICT expressed support behind the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act. The agency also committed to work with both Houses of Congress during the bicameral conference committee to craft the final version of the measure. The House recently passed its own version on third and final reading last week. After both Houses ratify the version from the bicameral conference committee, it will be transmitted to Malacanang for President Duterte's signature.
Press Release

May 11, 2017 Cayetano proposes to change mandatory retirement age for uniformed personnel Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is proposing to adjust the compulsory retirement age for the country's uniformed men and women from fifty-six (56) to sixty (60) years old. Cayetano recently filed a measure seeking to adjust the compulsory retirement age for officers and enlisted men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), uniformed officers and non-officers of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and members/officers of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). "We need more competent and dedicated uniformed personnel to assist our government pursue its programs to ensure peaceful, orderly, and safe communities," Cayetano said as he filed Senate Bill No. 1436 last May 4. Cayetano pointed out that the tasks performed by the personnel of the PNP, BJMP, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the BFP require long years of training and experience. He said he is confident that at age 56, these personnel can still fulfill the physical, mental, and psychological demands and rigors of their position. Under existing laws, civilian government employees are compulsorily retired at the age of sixty-five (65), while the retirement age for uniformed personnel is pegged at fifty-six (56). Currently, uniformed personnel who have accumulated thirty years of satisfactory service or who have reached the age of 56 are compulsorily retired. "Recognizing their indispensable role as protectors of the State and its citizens, the government has heavily invested in the training and development of the officers and members of these agencies," the senator stressed. "We need to maximize their years of experience and wealth of knowledge, harness their leadership skills and professional competence until the age of 60," he added. Cayetano hopes that extending the years of service would also increase the number of qualified personnel in these respective offices. He noted that the long-term goal is to keep hardworking and dedicated uniformed personnel longer in service and to remove corrupt officials and scalawags who are destroying the image of the institutions that they serve. "The senior officials are in the best position to help our administration to lead the reforms in their respective agencies," Cayetano noted. "Additional years in service would also allow these officers to have more opportunities for career advancement," he added.
Press Release

May 11, 2017 De Lima: Senate should invite Tacorda to shed light on abuses in war on drugs Senator Leila M. de Lima has asked the Senate to look into claims by former police officer PO1 Vincent Tacorda that some of his senior officers at the Philippine National Police (PNP) have abused the government's all-out war on drugs. In filing Proposed Senate Resolution 358, De Lima said the appropriate committee in the Senate should look into the revelation of Tacorda who was forced to resign after he can no longer tolerate the alleged police excesses in the war on drugs. "There is a need for the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police to determine the culpability of the police officers involved in the reported irregularities," she said. "Given the appalling numbers of extrajudicial killings and summary executions under this administration, it is imperative to check if there are abuses and excesses in the exercise of authority of law enforcement units, and to ensure that due process and rule of law are always upheld," she added. Tacorda earlier accused former Catanduanes Police Chief Supt. Jesus Martinez and former Viga Officer-in-Charge Senior Inspector Nathaniel Jacob of ordering him to kill suspected drug pusher Samuel Rojas in Viga, Catanduanes. Aside from being given the direct order to kill Rojas, Tacorda also confessed that there were instances when he was ordered to plant evidence to support the arrest of certain individuals. He also alleged that when a certain Manuel "Galog" Huit Jr. was arrested, the seized shabu worth more than PhP1 million was replaced with "tawas" upon turn-over of evidence to police authorities. "Such irregularities, if proven correct, violate the very core of good governance in the Constitution, as Article II, Section 27 provides that the state shall maintain honesty, and integrity in the public service," De Lima pointed out. The Senator from Bicol believed that Tacorda's public confession is one of the missing links that would prove the killings in the government's all-out war on drugs are state-sponsored with President Duterte as the mastermind of all killings. "Tacorda has said he is ready to reveal everything he knows about how the drug war was being abused," she said, citing an Inquirer report last April 30. At least 8,000 have been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took over as President in June 30, 2016. More than half of these deaths remain under investigation. The Duterte administration, however, continued to refuse to acknowledge the state-sponsored nature of these killings, even downplaying the deaths as mere "homicide" cases.
Press Release

May 11, 2017 Koko pushes for new, streamlined agency exclusively for OFWs May 11, 2017 Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III called for the immediate passage of a bill establishing a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (DOFW), saying that the creation of a government department catering exclusively to the interests of millions of Filipinos working overseas at the highest government level "is long overdue." Senate Bill No. 1445, or the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (DOFW) Act, aims to streamline various government programs and initiatives for OFWs that are currently spread among various government agencies. "The reasons for the creation of a DOFW are both urgent and practical. We have 2.4 million Filipinos working overseas who can't get immediate and efficient assistance from a centralized government agency that exclusively caters to their needs and their welfare", said the legislator from Mindanao. "We've been sending Filipino workers abroad since the seventies but till today, we don't have a single, unified department for them. The time to address this governmental vacuum is now," stressed Pimentel. Pimentel noted that cash remittances made by OFWs set record highs in 2016, reaching 26.9 billion US dollars, which is 5% higher compared to 2015's 25.61 billion. "I share the sentiment of finance and economic experts who say that the Philippine economy will not survive without the steady influx of OFW remittances. Our OFWs are truly our modern-day heroes." Pimentel said that given this, it is only appropriate that one centralized agency cater to the needs of Filipinos working beyond our shores. "When OFWs are in distress and seek government help, we tell them to go to the DFA, POEA, OWWA, DOLE, and other agencies which require a high level of coordination that is difficult to achieve with separate agencies," pointed out Pimentel. According to the Senate chief, "our bureaucracy doesn't have integrated strategies for assisting our OFWs and their families. What happens is we repeatedly bounce them off these agencies like ping pong balls. Hindi dapat ganyan ang trato natin sa mga bagong bayani ng bayan." The DOFW Act would transfer the functions of several agencies to the newly-created agency, which would also absorb their respective personnel. The agencies include the Office of the Legal Assistant for Migrant Workers Affairs of the DFA; all Philippine Overseas Labor Offices under DOLE; the National Reintegration Center for OFWS under DOLE; the International Labor Affairs Bureau under DOLE; the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA); and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). The measure would also establish a five billion-peso Special Assistance to Nationals Fund (SATNAF) for OFWs in distress to be administered and maintained by the new agency. Pimentel emphasized that despite the proposed creation of the DOFW, the government would continue with its long-term objective of developing domestic employment and creating local job opportunities so that Filipinos would not be forced to work abroad and leave their families. Latest figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that overseas contract workers, or OFWs with working contracts, comprise 96% or 2.2 million of the total overseas workforce while the remaining 4% or approximately 92,000 are employed without contracts. Laborers and unskilled workers make up the largest group of OFWs at 32.8% while clerks comprise 5.3%. Professionals meanwhile account for an 11.4% share. The proportion of female OFWs was higher than males at 51.1% compared to 48.9%.
Battalion Chief Jeff Kleven stood onshore peering through the predawn darkness. He couldnt see if anyone was inside a car partially submerged in the middle of Alameda Creeks storm-swollen waters.

Instead of sending a rescue team into the debris-filled current, Kleven deployed the Fremont Fire Departments newest life-saving tool  a drone equipped with a night-sight camera.

Kleven flew the drone about 40 yards, close enough to look inside the window and see there was no one in there, he said. We came to find out the driver was able to get out, swim to shore and hike up the road. A passing car picked him up and took him to a store.

That late-January rescue mission off Niles Canyon Road exemplifies a nationwide trend: Public safety agencies are increasingly using drones to detect hot spots in fires, catalog crime scenes and capture armed suspects. A report last month by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York cataloged 347 state and local police, sheriff, fire and emergency units that have acquired drones in the past eight years, nearly half of them last year alone. Many are the same types of drones that consumers fly.

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Some are concerned about the implications of drone use. The Bay Area, a hotbed of innovation, often rushes to deploy such new technologies. But its residents are also on guard against digital incursions into their rights.

Locally, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, the Alameda County Sheriffs Office and the Fremont Fire Department are already flying regular missions. The Moraga-Orinda Fire District is close to launching its drone program.

Last week, San Francisco approved a new policy that will eventually allow the Fire Department and four other city agencies to use drones  two years after a citywide moratorium was enacted.

Privacy concerns have helped ground drone plans in San Jose and Berkeley.

It needs to be regulated so it doesnt become a way to spy on the general public and innocent civilians who are not doing anything wrong, said Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington.

Some critics also worry the drones could crash into buildings or airplanes. But fire and law enforcement agencies say the technology can save time, money and lives.

This technology is not just awesome, its a game changer, said Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman, whose department is hosting a June 2 drone symposium for fire departments from throughout California.

Mason Trinca/Special to The Chronicle

Alameda County has 10 drones that have flown during several high-profile incidents, such as Decembers deadly Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland. Tom Madigan, the Sheriffs Office commander and drone units chief, said the drone involved in that fire carried a thermal-imaging camera to search for hot spots  areas where the fire is most active or embers could reignite  and victims.

In January, Fremont and Menlo Park drones helped search for a woman whose car crashed into Alameda Creek on Jan. 21 and a man whose kayak capsized in the bay.

The drones did not immediately locate either victim, but they saved time by quickly covering big swaths of search area. And three weeks later, the drones did help locate and identify the kayakers body, after someone fishing off a pier reported what looked like a body floating in the bay.

The Fremont Fire Department has four drones, which can stream live images to an iPad mounted to the drones remote control and to a monitor inside Klevens battalion chiefs vehicle. Theyve been used on about 15 missions since the department launched its program Jan. 1, including searching for a missing Alzheimers patient, directing fire crews to the source of a smoky car-parts lot fire and surveying the extent of a hazardous gas plume outside a store.

This tool, as far as technology is concerned, is probably going to be the biggest advancement the fire service has seen for a long while, Kleven said.

The drones helped police involved in an April 9 shootout with a man on Decoto Road. When the man fled into a dark corner behind a shopping center, a California Highway Patrol helicopter couldnt get close enough to determine what he was doing or if he still had a gun.

Kleven flew the drone in for a closer look, which revealed the man lying with a gun by his side. An autopsy later revealed that he had shot himself.

Mason Trinca/Special to The Chronicle

DJI, a Chinese company, makes the most popular consumer drones, also called unmanned aerial vehicles, with models ranging from $500 to about $2,000. That compares with one $8,000 commercial-grade drone that San Jose police bought in 2013.

You can accomplish most of what you need with hobbyist-grade unmanned aerial vehicles, Madigan said. The technology is moving so fast that theres no need anymore to spend a significant amount of money.

DJI, which has a software development office in Palo Alto, recently unveiled a new model built to withstand colder temperatures and stronger winds, based on feedback weve received from rescue services around the world, said Adam Lisberg, the companys North America spokesman.

Schapelhouman of Menlo Park envisions a future generation of drones that will let fire services launch them automatically. That would, for example, allow an autonomous drone to fly itself over a burning building or a freeway crash as soon as the first alarm comes in, he said.

The public is more open to firefighters, rather than police, using drones, Schapelhouman noted. In 2014, his department began working on a drone policy and held public hearings before launching its fleet. The San Jose Police Department acknowledges that it should have proposed a similar public policy before buying its drone in 2013.

The San Jose City Council authorized the purchase, made with federal funds, without any debate, said Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. It was an intern of ours months later who saw this in the (council) minutes. Then the public heard about it, and there was very, very significant concern.

That forced the city to ground the drone until it could draft a policy and meet with neighborhood organizations. Not consulting the public first was a blind spot, said San Jose police Capt. Jason Dwyer. One major concern police heard, he said, was about mission creep: Youre telling us thats the mission today, but tomorrow, how will we know youre not going to use it for surveillance purposes? It seems innocent enough until someone sees it fly over their backyard.

The department has agreed to categorically not use it for surveillance, and to not record or store images, he said. The drone is to be used only any time theres a danger to human life, he said.

Though the policy is now in place, the drone remains grounded because staffing cutbacks prevented the department from getting an officer trained and certified by the FAA to fly a drone.

In Berkeley, a two-year moratorium banning police use of drones, but allowing the Fire Department to employ them in the event of a disaster, recently ended without the City Councils adopting an official drone use policy.

Councilman Worthington supported the moratorium but ultimately is open to police using drones. Last months violent clash between supporters and opponents of President Trump would have been a perfect time for a drone to help identify who was being the bad actors, he said.

Still, government bureaucracies around the world, including in our own wonderful country, have spied on us too much, he said. A healthy suspicion of government overreach in surveillance is a prudent public policy.

Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny

Bay Area eyes

in the skies

Alameda County: Sheriffs Office, 10 drones

Menlo Park: Fire Protection District, four drones

Fremont: Fire Department, four drones
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San Francisco is entering a new era in its often-contentious relationship with Airbnb and HomeAway. Under judicial pressure, the two vacation-rental companies this month agreed to help the city register hosts who rent homes and rooms to tourists. While the city has required vacation hosts to register since February 2015, only about 2,100 out of more than 8,000 have done so. Now with the cooperation of the two largest companies operating here, registration will become universal by Jan. 4.

Sara Eisenberg, deputy city attorney; Kevin Guy, director of the San Francisco Office of Short-Term Rentals; Peter Kwan, co-chairman of the Home Sharers Democratic Club of San Francisco; and Mattie Zazueta, a spokeswoman for Airbnb, answered some questions about the new agreement.

Q: How does universal registration help the city preserve housing?

A: San Francisco wants to ensure that short-term-rental hosts meet requirements such as being permanent residents, capping whole-unit rentals at 90 days a year, and not renting out affordable-housing units. By knowing all hosts identities through a registration system, the city can avoid violations such as landlords turning multiple apartments into tourist hotels.

Q: How will hosts register?

A: Hosts must first obtain a business registration license from the treasurers office, which can be done online. Then they will have a choice of where to register: In person at the Office of Short-Term Rentals (as per the existing system), in-person at outreach events held by that office, online via a forthcoming city application system, or through Airbnb or HomeAway. Other home-rental companies may also offer online registration. Registering via the company or city websites involves filling out an application online and electronically submitting photo ID; two documents proving residency, such as DMV vehicle registration, homeowners tax exemption, utility bills or voter registration card. Hosts must pay a $250 registration fee, which covers two years.

Q: Is registration automatic?

A: No. The city will verify information and can reject applicants who dont qualify.

Q: Is there an appeals process?

A: Yes. Anyone whose application has been rejected may submit a written appeal within 30 days, including relevant documents.

Q: When will Airbnb and HomeAway offer online registration systems?

A: Sept. 6 at the latest. (Hosts who already have registered can enter their registration numbers on their listing pages anytime.)

Q: Since there are thousands of unregistered hosts, will there be a bottleneck?

A: The companies will roll out registration to groups of hosts in batches over four months starting Sept. 6.

Q: Whats the deadline for all existing hosts to submit registration information?

A: Hosts are already supposed to have done so and can face city penalties for renting to tourists without being registered. During the four-month rollout that starts Sept. 6, groups of hosts will be given different deadlines by which they must register.

Q: What personal host information will appear on the Airbnb/HomeAway sites?

A: Only the hosts registration number is required. Companies will continue to display existing details, such as neighborhood, property description, host profiles and reviews.

Q: How can I check if a specific property is registered to offer short-term rentals?

A: You can look this up at http://propertymap.sfplanning.org by entering an address and clicking the tab for Planning Apps and then the link for Short Term Rentals. If you live in a residential neighborhood, youll receive a notice of any property within 300 feet of you thats applied to be a short-term rental.

Q: Where can I read the settlement?

A: https://www.scribd.com/document/352293793/Settlement-Agreement-With-Airbnb

Q: Will there be a public list of all short-term rental addresses?

A: No.

Q: Since registrations are for two years, how will renewals work?

A: Hosts will receive a one-page renewal form before their two years is up. They can renew and pay the fee by mail, or online via the city, HomeAway or Airbnb websites.

Q: I dont live in San Francisco but I have an apartment there that I rent for periods of 30 days or more, so it is not covered by the short-term rental law. Can I still list it on Airbnb and HomeAway?

A: Yes. Rentals for 30 days or more do not need to be registered.

Q: I dont want to register. Cant I just list my vacation rental on Craigslist, FlipKey or other sites?

A: The city will pursue hosts who try to evade the system. They may face fines of about $500 for each day their rental is in violation. The city will also pursue websites that help arrange bookings of unregistered properties, which may face fines of up to $1,000 a day per unregistered booking, as well as criminal penalties.

Q: What will happen to my listing and my guest bookings if I dont have a registration number by Jan. 4?

A: Airbnb and HomeAway will remove unregistered properties from their websites. Bookings for within six days of deactivation will be honored; other reservations will be canceled.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
I dont ride Muni much these days  I mostly get around by car, taxi and foot. But I got an email from a reader urging me to ride the 9-San Bruno bus line. Ken Maley, a longtime media consultant, is a frequent passenger on the line, which snakes its way from Visitacion Valley to the Ferry Building, gliding along Bayshore Boulevard, Potrero, Division Street and Market Street before finally reaching its downtown destination. Along the way, Maley told me, the 9 picks up the most heart-rending underclass of life in our city.

Maley, who lives in North Beach, is a self-described total public transportation person  I havent owned a car in years. But an ugly incident he witnessed recently on the 9 deeply shook him. At a bus stop near San Francisco General Hospital, a man with a walker got on the bus, which was jammed with riders, and demanded a seat from a young man, who was also physically challenged, unable to control his spastic motions or speak clearly.

Did you call me a n? the man with the walker hotly responded to what was a stream of unintelligible words coming from the seated man. And with that, a third man sitting in a wheelchair reached over with a cane and struck the young seated man in the head. Blood sprayed everywhere, the bus driver pulled sharply to the curb, an ambulance from the nearby hospital quickly appeared, and the police shortly after. The assailant was arrested, and the bus continued on its way. But a nasty feeling lingered in the air.

He called him n. He got what he deserved, Maley heard passengers mutter.

But the truth is you couldnt understand a word the kid said, Maley told me. He had a medical condition, maybe cerebral palsy. The No. 9 brings together some of the citys toughest and most hard-luck people  patients, drug addicts, scavengers, gang members, the tragically wounded.

I had heard similar stories from my own sons. Now in their 20s, they used to frequently ride the 9 and other lines. But not so much anymore. Too much street tension and menace, they said, particularly if youre a young man. Their friend Jimmie Fails, an aspiring actor and waiter who grew up in a city housing project and now lives with our family, said he too tries to avoid Muni these days. I hop an Uber when I can  Im getting bourgeois, he said.

The young men in my house laughed when I told them I was riding the 9 that day. But I lucked out. My bus ride turned out to be a calm and pleasant journey. The passengers were generally quiet, most of them plugged into their music jacks. And the bus driver was polite and professional as he navigated the traffic-clogged route. In fact, it was the most serene commute Ive experienced in San Francisco in a long time. At one point, a mother in a headscarf got on board with her young daughter, who was wearing a princess tiara. The girl smiled at me as she sat down and handed me a tiny flower from her bouquet.

The only excitement occurred when a tall transgender person with flowing auburn hair and glamour-girl sunglasses jumped aboard at a San Francisco General bus stop, accompanied by a couple of friends. Bitch, you wanna get off this bus and fight? screamed one of them at the auburn-haired beauty. Here we go, I thought. But then all three erupted into mad swirls of laughter. Bye, tranny! cackled the merry belligerent, who exited at the next stop. Auburn was silent for the rest of the ride, idly stroking a tiny pooch.

If there was any tension, it came from the weirdness on the San Francisco streets. On Division Street, the bus driver swerved to avoid a car that stopped suddenly in front. Let me guess, said a woman to the bus driver. Its an Uber. I dont know how you deal with it all day long.

When the driver pulled to a stop at the end of his run, near the Ferry Building, I had a chance to pursue the nagging Uber question with him. With an estimated 45,000 ride-hailing vehicles jamming the byways of San Francisco, at times piloted by amateur drivers with limited street sense, Muni operators are being driven mad.

They just dont care, Jay Campos, the 9 driver, told me. The Uber and Lyft guys stop in the middle of streets, in bus zones, no-parking zones, you name it. They make U-turns out of nowhere. They cut you off. They dont pay any attention to traffic signs. My bus was parked the other day while it was being serviced and some (ride-share) driver crashed into it.

We bring our complaints to the (Transport Workers) union. We tell them were fed up. But they tell us they cant do anything about it. Uber has too much money and power.

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.

Campos said he doesnt know why more people dont ride the Muni buses and trains. I drove for Uber and Lyft, but I didnt like the way they treated me. At Muni, we have a union, we get protection and benefits.

In his 2 years with Muni, Campos said, he had witnessed only one alarming incident on board his buses  a stabbing during a late-night run. I flagged down the cops and they caught the guy.

The Muni is the citys arterial system, and we need it to run smoothly. I was pleasantly surprised by my own afternoon on a clean, new and well-operated bus. But the public transit system faces major challenges, not least of which are the clogged arteries created by Uber and Lyft, as well as public safety. Ill have more on this in my column next week.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Talbot appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Email: dtalbot@sfchronicle.com
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A 36-year-old UCSF psychiatrist and his boyfriend were arrested and charged with possession of hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, officials said Thursday.

Billy Lockhart, a resident at UCSFs Department of Psychiatry and graduate of Yale Universitys School of Medicine, was arrested Tuesday at his home near the hospital on the 100 block of Buena Vista Terrace, police said.

The San Francisco Police Departments Internet Crimes Against Children Unit started looking at Lockhart in March after investigators determined he was uploading and trading child pornography on the Internet, officials said.

Lockhart was using the UCSF Wi-Fi to upload child pornography, police said.

On Tuesday, police said they served a search warrant at Lockharts home, where they found several of his electronic devices containing hundreds of videos and pictures of child porn.

Benjamin Martin, 33, who lives with Lockhart, also had hundreds of files containing child porn on his devices, officials said.

Lockhart and Martin are in a relationship, according to their Facebook pages, on which theyve posted dozens of pictures together.

The men were arrested at the home they shared. Each suspect was charged Thursday with possession of more than 600 files of child pornography. Lockhart was additionally charged with distribution of child pornography.

Lockhart is a medical doctor who graduated from Yale Universitys School of Medicine, according to his UCSF profile page.

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.

UCSF officials acknowledged the arrest on Thursday, saying in a statement that the school takes theses allegations extremely seriously.

The university placed Lockhart on investigatory leave, and suspended all of his clinical activity and access to its systems.

The UCSF Police Department is fully cooperating with the San Francisco Police Department in this investigation, school officials said.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
A proposal by the Helena Parking Commission to increase parking rates found no opposition from the city commission, although Mayor Jim Smith expressed a concern.

Smith said he was hesitant about endorsing an increase if the city was not pursuing other opportunities to fund downtown parking.

The parking commissions authority is generally confined to the downtown area.

He noted that curbside meters on streets surrounding the Capitol district would be one way to help fund downtown parking. City Manager Ron Alles said that expanding the parking commissions district was part of the parking commissions plan.

Alles also said he would be working with the state Department of Administration and the governors office on charging for parking in the area where the Capitol is located.

The next step in the process to increase parking fees would be a vote by the city commission.

The parking commission recently agreed to recommend an increase in the hourly cost to use parking lots from the current 50 cents to $1.

The 75-cent per hour charge to use parking garages would also be increased to $1.

Those who park curbside would see the 50-cent hourly meter cost rise to $1. The only exception to this increase would be for meters in the 300, 400 and 500 block of Cruse Avenue, where the current 25-cent-per-hour fee would be increased to 50 cents.

A memorandum from Have Hewitt, the parking commissions director, to Alles explained the Cruse Avenue rates by saying this was to continue to provide discounted parking for those who work downtown.

Hourly parking rates in Helena have not been adjusted since January 2006, according to the parking commission.

Based on 2016 numbers for downtown parking, the recommended increase would generate an additional $60,000, Hewitt said previously.

The parking commission has struggled with its budget in past years. This year it is dealing with the loss of parking revenue from downtown employees who worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana and those who worked at New West Health Services, Hewitt noted in March.

This fiscal years budget, which began July 1 and ends June 30, 2018, calls for revenue to be $86,169 less than expenditures, which Hewitt attributed to the loss of Blue Cross and New West employee parking revenue.
President Trumps brazen decision to fire James Comey, the FBI director who was leading an investigation into Trumps campaign ties to Russia, has roiled Washington.

Trump has now fired three people who were leading investigations into his associates connections to Russia. (The others were Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general, and Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney in New York.)

It is absolutely essential that a full, independent investigation into the Trump campaigns ties to Russia be completed. This isnt a partisan matter, its a national security one. At this point, whats at stake is our nations fabric and the health of our democracy.

It seems unlikely that this investigation will come out of Congress.

The Republican-dominated congressional panels devoted to the task of investigating Trumps Russia ties have shown a lack of interest in the job. One example: the Senate intelligence committee has devoted just nine staffers to its probe, while dozens investigated the 2014 Benghazi attacks.

Meanwhile, leading Republicans in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, continue to reject calls for an independent prosecutor or commission.

So many leading Democrats in Congress, including both California senators, are calling for a special prosecutor to resume the Trump-Russia investigation.

Its a fine suggestion that could remove partisanship from a critical national task. But getting one wont be easy.

Congress would likely need to pass a new law just to have a special prosecutor in the first place.

Post-Watergate, Congress passed an act which defined the procedures under which an attorney general would be required to appoint an independent prosecutor. In the 1990s, after the nation had been worn out by Kenneth Starrs relentless pursuit of former President Bill Clinton, the act was allowed to lapse. It hasnt been renewed.

Unless Congress passes a new law, only the attorney general can currently appoint an independent investigator.

But the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, had to recuse himself on Russia matters once it was discovered that, during his Senate confirmation hearings, he had failed to disclose his meetings with the Russian ambassador.

So the task would fall to Sessions deputy, Rod Rosenstein  the man who prepared the memo to justify Comeys firing.

Its quite a mess  another reason why the country needs an independent investigation. Congress must write a new law right now. The nation cant wait.
TheatreWorks Artistic Director Robert Kelley will retire at the end of the theaters 2019-20 season, its 50th, ending one of American theaters longest terms of service for a founder of a major company.

I thought 50 (years) was a goal for a long time, Kelley, 70, said of the decision, which will be announced Thursday. Three years notice gives the company ample time to find a successor, after which Kelley hopes to stay involved with the company as a director, while also pursuing some playwriting projects and continuing to teach at Stanford, where hes an alumnus.

I dont have a big world outside of the theater. I suspect thats going to be the way I am permanently, Kelley said. Hes aware that you dont want to get in the way of new leadership. You want to be supportive without seeming to control in any way at all. Still, his guiding question, even in retirement, will remain, What can I do to make this company the greatest possible?

The news follows recent announcements by Carey Perloff and Tony Taccone that they will step down from American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Taken together, the three leaders will have had nearly a century at their posts at the time of their departures. Their successors will have the opportunity to not just take their own companies in new directions but to redefine Bay Area theater as a whole, to build on its growing local, national and international reputation as a hub for theater in general and for new work in particular.

Kelley built TheatreWorks from a single scrappy youth theater production, Popcorn, to a community theater, then to a semiprofessional company, then to a major regional theater with an $8 million budget, 40 full-time staff members and 8,000 subscribers. Producing eight shows per year, five at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, three at Palo Altos Lucie Stern Theatre, its the third-largest theater in the Bay Area, after ACT and Berkeley Rep.

The sheer length of Kelleys tenure is an accomplishment in and of itself.

How many marriages last that long? said Robert Hurwitt, former theater critic of The San Francisco Chronicle. How many theater companies last that long, let alone artistic directors at a theater company?

Across those five decades, Kelley has directed more than 170 TheatreWorks shows; tirelessly supported new plays and musicals, many of which have gone on to acclaimed runs elsewhere; championed diversity in casting at least since the 1980s, years before race-conscious casting became trendy; and eschewed cynicism and snark for stories that celebrate and elevate.

Whats remarkable about TheatreWorks development of new plays is that it wasnt always (Kelleys) voice behind it, said Jonathan Moscone, chief of civic engagement at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and former artistic director at California Shakespeare Theater. Usually the question of democratizing authorship happens in the years following the founder. Hes evolved with the theater, and the theaters evolved with him. Thats amazing and should be honored  and studied.

To look solely at the theaters 66 world premieres doesnt fully capture TheatreWorks contribution to the dramatic canon. Hurwitt said he has been long impressed with (the companys) ability to pick shows that had failed in New York, such as the musicals Side Show or Pacific Overtures, and show that they could work ... and (Kelleys) been doing that without the kinds of budgets you would have on Broadway, he says.

Joe DiPietro, who with David Bryan workshopped the Tony-winning Memphis at TheatreWorks inaugural New Works Festival in 2002, says Kelley doesnt just invest in projects; he invests in artists.

It was never about one show or how commercial something was, he says over the phone from New York. It was always a long-term commitment.

TheatreWorks director of new works, Giovanna Sardelli, said the annual New Works Festival does not make money. Rather, it is something that you do because of an investment, because you care about supporting artists, you care about their voices, the stories theyre telling, the urgency and necessity that exist in new works.

Jeanine Tesori, who recently won a Tony for Fun Home, among many other accolades, said Kelleys production of her first musical, Galileo, in 1990, was instrumental in her development as an artist.

The support of Kelley early on in my career made it just that: a career, she wrote in an email. Until then, I was really a music director and arranger who was composing on the side. Kelley's willingness to take a chance on an unknown writer changed the way I saw myself. A writer who conducted, as opposed to the other way around.

Those artistic discoveries might be among the most exciting moments in Kelleys career, but on their own they dont account for his longevity. For that, look to his slog through less-sexy challenges. He cites establishing the idea that a professional theater could exist in a suburban area, in an era when few major theaters succeeded outside of cities; not having a single, dedicated TheatreWorks performance space, which basically means every show is a tour; and trying to find housing for out-of-town artists in a ridiculous real estate market.

Still, when he imagines the issues that might confront his successor in three years, he sees not challenges but opportunities. Among them are representing a community that has become one of the most international communities in the world; investing heavily in arts education, which is key to creating young audiences; and building on a tradition by which regional theaters develop the shows that go to New York, instead of the other way around.

This is where the theater of the future is going to come from, he said.

Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak
San Francisco prosecutors dismissed the remaining criminal charges against a man who was shot and seriously wounded during a video-recorded confrontation with city police officers at his Ocean View home, the public defenders office said Wednesday.

Sean Moore, 43, who  according to family members  suffers from mental illness, was jailed following the Jan. 6 shooting on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer, making criminal threats and resisting arrest.

At a preliminary hearing, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman dismissed two charges but upheld the other 10. Then, Judge Jeffrey Ross ruled that prosecutors did not have sufficient evidence to proceed to jury trial on eight of the charges, agreeing with Moores attorney that Officers Kenneth Cha and Colin Patino overstepped their authority by staying on Moores property after Moore refused to be questioned.

On Wednesday, prosecutors dropped the two remaining charges, a felony count of battering an officer and a misdemeanor count of violating a restraining order that had been filed by a neighbor. Prosecutors also filed an appeal of Ross ruling, with the intent of refiling charges against Moore if it is granted.

We have two contradictory rulings from two different judges, said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorneys office. As a result, we are seeking clarity from the Court of Appeal to take the appropriate next steps.

Cha and Patino had been trying to speak to Moore through a locked gate about a suspected restraining-order violation at about 4:15 a.m. Moore responded by yelling profanities at the officers and telling them to leave. The ensuing shooting was the first to be captured on the departments new body-worn cameras, but the footage yielded dueling narratives about what happened and should have happened.

Authorities said the footage showed Moore reacting violently, prompting the officers to deploy pepper spray and use a baton to strike him. When he reacted to the use of the less-lethal weapons by kicking Patino in the face and punching him, Cha fired his gun twice, police said.

The public defenders office said the footage showed the officers escalating a situation that could have been resolved peacefully, with Moore acting in self-defense against officers who were not acting lawfully.

Moore originally was held on $2 million bail, with the amount later lowered to $105,000, but following Ross ruling, he was released last week. According to his family, he was shot in the groin and abdomen, had multiple surgeries and is still recovering.

Last week, Officer Cha shot and killed a 26-year-old man who was attacking and stabbing a worker at a Subway sandwich shop on busy Market Street. On Wednesday, officials released video footage of that shooting.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
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Two men and a woman were arrested in connection with the March slaying of a 21-year-old Fairfield resident in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, officials said Wednesday.

The three suspects  27-year-old Juan Lopez-Palacios of Hayward; 26-year-old Mareta Dean of San Francisco; and 39-year-old Vidal Sandoval of Oakland  were all arrested Tuesday on suspicion of being involved in the fatal shooting of Oswaldo Fuentes, police said.
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Joel Perkins thought he was doing the safe thing when he decided to transport his grandmothers ashes by car from northern Washington to San Diego rather than risk sending them by mail.

On Tuesday night, it became clear that he was wrong, when someone broke into his car in the Mission District and stole his bike and a box containing his grandmothers ashes  the second such crime in about a month in San Francisco.

Perkins, 23, and his family needed to move the remains and couldnt fly with them, because they no longer had a certificate of death or cremation.

My grandpa said, I dont really feel comfortable mailing my deceased wife across the nation. So the only avenue left was for me to drive them down, and I was pretty happy to do it, Perkins said.

The theft occurred almost exactly a month since ashes of another familys relative were stolen from a rental car parked near Fishermans Wharf.

Perkins said that until recently, the remains of his grandmother, Sophie Perkins, had rested under a plaque beneath towering trees on a remote and verdant piece of land in Spokane, Wash.

Perkins grandfather, who is raising two grandchildren, needed to sell the land, making it necessary to move the ashes.

Thats how Perkins found himself at the memorial for his grandmother two weeks ago. When he arrived, he was startled to learn it was her birthday.

I was so young when she died  the more minute details of her life were lost to me, he said.

In Perkins clearest memory of his grandmother, theyre drinking tea and eating strawberries in her kitchen in San Diego. He buried a teapot under the tree where the memorial had been.

On the drive south with his grandmothers remains, Perkins stopped in San Francisco to visit a friend at Mission and 14th streets, leaving his bike in the car.

When he left his friends building and discovered the break-in, it was obvious his bike had been stolen. It was only after he began vacuuming glass off the floor that he noticed the ashes, too, were missing.

For Perkins, the theft brought back the feeling of his grandmother being taken away from him when she died of cancer 20 years ago.

He filed a police report and spent days combing the streets around the site of the theft, buying cigarettes to offer people on the street to start conversations and following a trail of tips through the citys seedier underbelly, looking for traces of his bicycle in the hope that it might lead to the ashes.

I went to all these different dead-end alleys, some of them kind of scary places, talking to all kinds of people, giving away cigarettes to see if I can start a conversation, feeling driven to go out there on this false maniacal hope that I might find her, he said.

He has tried to comfort himself with the thought that maybe this is his grandmothers way of making a break for freedom. He still holds out hope that the remains will be found.

I almost start crying thinking about (what it would be like) if somebody turned them in, he said. That would just be a miracle.

Filipa Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
A roundup of upcoming events:

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 female 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: info@owlsf.org.
BUTTE  A vocal, diverse crowd of about 150 folks, ranging from infants to 80-year-olds, protested the appearance of Donald Trump Jr. and Greg Gianforte, who spoke at Pioneer Equipment under a secured white tent at the back of the industrial building.

For the most part, protesters stayed within the boundaries  at first on the public sidewalk to the south across the street near the corner of Centennial and South Montana Street.

When Trump and Gianfortes motorcade showed up a few minutes before 11 a.m., police allowed protesters to move onto Centennial a bit closer to yell Boo as the visitors silver vehicle drove past the Butte-Silver Bow dump trucks blocking Pioneer Equipments driveway.

Isnt that a bit overkill? asked Charlie OLeary of Butte about the county dump trucks obstructing protesters from entering the business property and speaking area.

Were here to let everybody know its really aggravating that we have to pay for transportation and security for them, said Dagmar Riddle, a retired Whitehall resident who emigrated from Germany as a toddler. Leaning on a cane with one hand, she held up a protest sign with the other.

Added protester Heatherlynn Meeks: Im so tired of having to protest this stuff. How much is this costing us?

OLeary echoed Rob Quists main platform  preserving Montanas public lands, in Quists campaign against Gianforte to fill the U.S. house seat Ryan Zinke left when Trump appointed Zinke Interior Secretary.

I worry about our public lands and (President) Trump and Zinke taking shots at our national monuments, said OLeary. They should allow plenty of public review.

Protesters voiced their opinions about the importance of affordable healthcare coverage, the protection of Montanas public lands and wildlife, womens rights, human rights and the separation of church and state, among other hot-button issues.

Marya Llovet, a Belgrade mother of two dressed in a Handmaids Tale costume, said she was protesting for the right of her 1-year-old baby daughter, born with Down syndrome, to have health care coverage.

Im pretty worried about her health care right now, said Llovet, adorned in red and white, symbolizing the suppressed women, the breeders, in the current The Handmaids Tale Netflix series, a reboot of Margaret Atwood's 1985 classic dystopian novel.

If Republicans had their way, my daughter would be kicked off her insurance, said Llovet. I believe that pro-life also means after the birth, as well. I could have had an abortion, but I didnt do it. I feel that the (politicians) need to have my back. Being disabled does not make you any less deserving of our countrys support.

Protesters picked up steam and numbers as dump trucks hauling gravel honked and passed by on their way west before looping back. Some vehicles were in support of the visitors, but most drivers expressed their support for protesters on the typically quiet street.

A coalition of local Democrats, the Butte Area Rising Coalition and individual protesters watched Trump supporters walk across Centennial and straggle into the Pioneer Equipment parking lot, then to the north and east sides of the venue.

I think that America is on a terrible path to becoming a conservative Christian theocracy and thats unconstitutional, said Llovet. If you read the Bible, we need to take care of our elderly and the veterans. If they make cuts to Social Security, it wont take care of them.

Concordia College senior Andie Palagi, fresh off her junior year, protested with friend Chloe McClain, a recent beauty academy graduate.

Im here to protest for our womens rights  my body, my choice, said McCLain, 20.

Im really concerned about the integrity of the government, but thats more on the federal level, said Palagi, 21. She was impressed with the crowd.

Ive never seen young people so involved in politics, Palagi added. Even if I dont agree with them  especially at my college. Seeing young people involved in politics is inspiring and important.

Both young women then joined in a chant: Gianforte, go away  sexist, racist, anti-gay.

After Gianforte and Trump began their speeches safely tucked under the tent, the protest crowd moved east, crossed Centennial to the north past the Rosenthal Building, then stopped on the sidewalk where the event was visible.

In the back of the Rosenthal Building stood a lone supporter outside the event area to the east: Leah Anderson, a pharmacy tech at Community HealthCare Pharmacy. She leaned on the property fence, taking photos and video.

I think its good that theyre trying to bring more jobs, said Anderson about the visitors. Its exciting  this is history in the making.

Traffic increased on Montana, with some drivers honking support and others looking to simply get out of the area.

As the motorcade left the area, protests grew angrier and protesters lingered on the cross-streets.

June Lague, 72, and Michael Savoie, 75, of Butte said they protested for their descendants futures.

We want our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have the same freedoms we have, said Lague. I want to show people that they have a voice and to get out and give their opinion.

Samantha Fish, 30, and her mother, Jamie Porter, 56, traveled from Bozeman to partake in the protest.

Were showing solidarity just with people who are frustrated not only with the Trump administration, but also with the atmosphere and hostility brought on by this election, said Fish, tending to baby Sophia and poodle Mosby in a double stroller.

Were trying to do whats best for the country instead of the party, added Porter. They protested Trump Jr.s visit to Copper Springs Ranch Arena in Bozeman on April 22.

As protesters bounced from corner to sidewalk, a palpable sense of commonality hung in the air.

Im proud of Butte, said Donavon Hawk of the Butte-Silver Bow Democratic Central committee. Im proud of my community and Im proud to say we had no paid protesters.
Larry Pages dream of using technology to fix cities may come to Canada first.

Sidewalk Labs, the urban innovation unit of Pages Alphabet Inc., has applied to develop a 12-acre strip in downtown Toronto, responding to a recent city agency request for proposals, according to two people familiar with the plans. Details 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 fueled success at many tech companies. Before applying in Toronto, Sidewalk Labs discussed creating a district in Denver and Detroit with Alphabet executives, according to the people. They asked not to be identified discussing private plans.

In a speech last week at a New York City urban technology conference, Sidewalk Labs CEO 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.

Canadian officials set up Waterfront Toronto, a public corporation designed to revitalize a 2,000-acre downtown plot, in 2001. This year the agency requested proposals for part of that area: a 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 spokesman 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.

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 is expanding those to London this year. Groups involved in urban redevelopment projects, like Torontos Quayside, typically try to recoup investments with real estate gains later.

Mark Bergen is a Bloomberg writer. Email: mbergen10@bloomberg.net
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 Moravej, 33, the CEO of a software startup named Botler AI.

With immigration taking center stage in U.S. politics and elsewhere, Botler AI began putting more resources into building a chatbot tailored to one of Canadas immigration programs. On Wednesday, Yoshua Bengio, a research pioneer in artificial intelligence and director of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, joined the fledgling company as a strategy adviser.

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 U.S. 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 Trumps election, applications to Canada for student and temporary visas surged.

If we look back 10 years from now, Id be surprised if the Trump effect didnt show up in the data, said Joshua Gans, a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Immigration is a linchpin in Canadas economic policy. One-fifth of the countrys population of 36 million is foreign-born. Canada has dozens of provincial and federal programs, but a priority is placed on highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs, often with points assigned for specialized expertise, education and language proficiency.

Trends in actual immigration will take time to show up conclusively, but the early evidence of a Trump effect is most apparent in a field like artificial intelligence, where Canada has been at the forefront of innovation and is seeking to build a large AI industry.

Not only are Canadian AI startups like Botler AI now building on interest in immigration and on homegrown talent, but major American technology companies, including Google, Microsoft and IBM, have also been adding to their AI research teams in Canada.

Uber said Monday that it is opening a branch of its advanced technologies group in Toronto, the companys first outside the United States. The lab, which will develop self-driving car technology, will be led by Raquel Urtasun, an expert in computer vision at the University of Toronto.

Canada has well-funded programs intended not only to lure AI experts to the country, but also to persuade AI researchers, educated at Canadian universities, to remain in Canada rather than depart for Silicon Valley, as so many have done before.

The nations policymakers also want to persuade expatriate engineers and entrepreneurs to return to Canada  and the political climate in the United States has influenced some to do so.

Ross Intelligence, an AI startup founded in Toronto, moved to the Bay Area two years ago for the business and funding opportunities.

But last month, Ross, whose software can read through thousands of legal documents and rank relevant cases for lawyers, opened an office in Toronto. Five members of its team, including senior engineers and two co-founders, are moving to Canada from San Francisco. The group includes two Canadians, a Brazilian, a Belgian and an American.

The Toronto outpost, said Jimoh Ovbiagele, a co-founder and chief technology officer of Ross, allows us to really recruit from the global talent pool.

Ovbiagele, one of the Canadians who is relocating to Toronto, said Ross had received dozens of inquiries from international students concerned about the immigration risk of working in America. Ross, he said, recently hired engineers who were international students and graduates of Princeton, Cooper Union and the University of Toronto.

Another technologist making the move to Canada from Silicon Valley is Maxime Chevalier-Boisvert, 31, who returned to Montreal a few weeks ago after working for Apple for 13 months. There were other considerations, she said, but the election of Trump did play a role in convincing her that she would prefer to live in Canada.

So when an opportunity to work at Bengios AI institute in Montreal became available recently, Chevalier-Boisvert did not hesitate. Her new salary is about a third of her income at Apple.

Then again, Chevalier-Boisvert observed, her rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Montreal is less than a third of the monthly rent she paid for a one-bedroom apartment in Sunnyvale.

Back at Botler AI, a lot of work remains  including landing funding and figuring out a business plan. But the addition of Bengio is a sign that the startup needs to be taken seriously.

Bengio, in an interview, said he was joining the startup partly because Botler AIs technology fit neatly with research under way at his AI institute. Whats more, he added, the companys work around immigration could help a lot of people.

Steve Lohr is a New York Times writer.
California regulators on Thursday authorized Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to increase the amount of revenue it collects from its customers by $1.51 billion spread over the next three years.

While substantial, its a steep drop from the $2.26 billion that PG&E originally requested.

The utility, Californias largest, reached an agreement last year with consumer groups to accept the lower amount. The California Public Utilities Commission, which sets utility rates, unanimously approved the revenue plan Thursday.

These cases are about the most important work we do, said Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen. He noted this winters outcry over spiking PG&E bills, the result of cold weather and higher natural gas rates.

Its very tough to strike the right balance between what revenue the utilities need to provide safe and reliable service, and insulating ratepayers from unmanageable bills, Rechtschaffen said.

The commission typically sets rates in three-year plans, called general rate cases, which first determine how much revenue the utilities should receive to cover operations and recoup the costs of their infrastructure. Then the commission decides how much of the revenue should come from different classes of customers, including homeowners, farms and large businesses.

For the rate case approved Thursday, which runs through 2019, that second phase is still to come. But PG&E estimated that for the rest of 2017, the decision would increase the typical residential customers monthly bills by 1 percent. The average residential PG&E customer spends $165.10 per month on gas and electricity combined, according to the company.

Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves said the five-member panel will pay particular attention to setting appropriate baselines for energy use in different parts of the state at different times of year. Much of the criticism over high bills this winter focused on whether current baselines, which help set a floor for rates, are realistic.

What is equitable for the valley? she asked. Whats equitable for other regions? Whats equitable for winter or for summer?

Thursdays decision will boost by $88 million the amount of revenue PG&E can collect from customers this year to cover the costs of its operations and infrastructure, which had previously been set at $7.92 billion. The companys authorized revenue will rise an additional $444 million in 2018 and $361 million in 2019.

The money will enable PG&E to continue upgrading its infrastructure, an issue thrust back into the spotlight last month when a fire at a PG&E substation in San Francisco knocked out power to 88,000 customers. The increased revenue will also help improve PG&Es ability to respond to emergencies and integrate renewable power sources into the electricity grid.

PG&E spokesman Donald Cutler noted that the utility had hammered out the revenue plan in negotiations with 14 groups, including consumer advocacy organizations, agricultural irrigation districts and Marin Countys public power project, Marin Clean Energy.

All of those groups reached an agreement on PG&Es revenue plan in August. The commission tweaked it Thursday, adding a requirement to audit PG&Es program for placing power lines underground.

The agreement will help us continue to provide safe and reliable energy to our customers in a way that supports Californias ambitious clean energy goals while keeping customer bills as low as possible, Cutler said in an email.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
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San Francisco and Uber continue to butt heads over the issue of business licenses for drivers.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Thursday went to court to compel Uber to provide the names and addresses of all its local drivers so the city can notify them of their obligation to get a business license, something San Francisco requires of all enterprises big and small.

Although Uber has turned over that information in the past, the company now says that it wants to withhold it to protect driver privacy. Uber does not dispute the citys right to require business licenses, and it wholeheartedly concurs with drivers being characterized as independent contractors, since that is central to its business model.

The law requires any business in San Francisco to register with the Treasurer and Tax Collectors Office, whether theyre PG&E or a hairdresser, Herrera said in a statement. Uber and its drivers are no different. San Franciscans have a right to know who is behind the wheel when theyre being driven somewhere.

For a year, Uber and rival Lyft have given the city information on 57,000 drivers after receiving audit requests from City Treasurer Jose Cisneros. About 20,000 drivers have paid $91 apiece for the annual licenses. Those who work fewer than seven days a year in San Francisco are exempt.

But Uber no longer wants to play ball. In December, it refused to provide any more driver information, according to the city. In January, city officials served Uber with a subpoena for new driver data. The ride-hailing company went to court this month seeking to quash that.

Weve asked the city to allow us to get the consent of drivers before providing the information, but the city has refused, said Wayne Ting, Ubers San Francisco general manager, in a statement.

More for you City Sues To Force Uber To Disclose Driver Info For Business...

But city officials see it differently. Uber is trying to dodge a tax law under the cloak of driver privacy, Cisneros said. If Uber wanted to protect their drivers, they could make them employees and pay them living wages. Uber certainly doesnt deserve a special carve-out from our laws and our taxes.

Uber and Lyft both object to the fact that names and addresses of registered businesses are posted online, saying that opens the door to harassment, unwanted marketing and other concerns. Drivers can shield their names by using a business name, and their addresses by using a post office box, but those are time-consuming extra steps.

Many drivers say they resent the additional cost and red tape of the licenses and worry about their personal information being made public. Its a breach of privacy and a potential huge annoyance for our mailboxes, wrote San Francisco driver Christian Perea in a post on the RideShare Guy blog.

Since drivers often traverse several cities while working, many are concerned about having to get multiple business licenses. In the Bay Area, San Jose is the only city besides San Francisco to require the licenses, but other cities could enact similar programs.

Lyft provides driver information to the city under subpoena, but does so reluctantly. We continue to be extremely concerned with the privacy issues drivers could face under the current process, and are strongly urging the treasurers office to reconsider publicly posting personal driver data, said spokeswoman Chelsea Harrison.

Uber and Lyft both support a pending state bill, SB182, that would allow ride-hail drivers to obtain a single business license to operate in all cities and counties in California. Uber has started an online petition, signed by more than 12,000 people so far, in favor of the bill, which both companies describe as a way to streamline the process.

SB182 protects drivers from unpredictable fees and costs that can dramatically impact their ability to earn income, Harrison said. Under the current process, a driver ... picking up a passenger in Orange County might need 10 different licenses, and pay 10 different fees, just to take a passenger to LAX.

San Francisco has some other bones to pick with Uber and Lyft. It wants to know how many drivers are actually on the streets, adding to wear and tear on the pavement and racking up infractions such as double parking. The companies share such information with the California Public Utilities Commission, which has acceded to their request to shield it as trade secrets.

These companies have refused to work with San Francisco in our efforts to better understand the scope of their operations and to explore options to reduce additional traffic and other impacts on city streets, said Ed Reiskin, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agencys director of transportation, in a statement. While some people might approve of their services, no one likes to sit in even more traffic.

San Francisco is engaged in a similar legal battle with Expedias HomeAway. Herrera issued a subpoena in June compelling the vacation-rental company to provide information on its hundreds of local hosts. Besides getting business licenses (which will now happen thanks to the citys recent settlement with both Airbnb and HomeAway), San Francisco wants to make sure those hosts pay the citys 14 percent hotel tax.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid

Ride-hail drivers

and business licenses

Since last year, the San Francisco Treasurers Office has been informing Uber and Lyft drivers of their obligation to get a $91-per-year business license. Some 130,000 San Francisco businesses have the licenses; fees are higher for larger enterprises.

57,000 Uber and Lyft drivers were sent letters

20,000 registered

12,000 said theyre already registered, no longer driving or consider themselves employees

25,000 unaccounted for
Uber suffered a setback to its global expansion plans Thursday when a senior adviser to Europes highest court recommended that the San Francisco ride-hailing company comply with the regions tough transportation rules, potentially hobbling growth of its service across the Continent.

The nonbinding opinion comes as Uber faces growing pressure worldwide after a string of missteps by its executives angered regulators and raised questions about the leadership of CEO Travis Kalanick.

The European case centers on whether Uber should be considered a transportation company or a digital service that merely connects independent drivers and potential passengers. By designating Uber a transportation company, Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, said Thursday that it should comply with European countries safety rules, as well as with other legislation that applies to the traditional taxi associations that are Ubers main rivals.

Uber cannot be regarded as a mere intermediary between drivers and passengers, Szpunar wrote in an opinion that will be reviewed by the European Court of Justice, which is expected to make a final ruling by late summer.

It is undoubtedly transport which is the main supply and which gives the service meaning in economic terms, Szpunar added. The service amounts to the organization and management of a comprehensive system for on-demand urban transport.

The opinion represents a bloody nose but not a full knockout for Uber in its fight in Europe, a region still crucial to the company even though it has expanded rapidly in emerging markets including India. Uber has grown across the Continent, despite some restrictions or outright bans on some of its services, including on UberPop, its low-cost offering.

The European Court of Justice typically follows the recommendations of its senior advisers, but it may still rule in the companys favor.

Uber has doggedly defended its right to operate freely, telling Europes highest court in November that it helps the regions digital economy grow and that it should not be regulated like traditional taxis.

In many cities, Uber already operates services that comply with rules that apply to taxis. But some of its other services, particularly those that do not require drivers to acquire a government-backed taxi license, have been banned in certain countries, notably in France, where opposition to Uber has often turned violent.

Being considered a transportation company would not change the way we are regulated in most EU countries, Marloes van der Laan, an Uber spokeswoman, said in a statement Thursday. It will, however, undermine the much-needed reform of outdated laws which prevent millions of Europeans from accessing a reliable ride.

The case stems from a complaint brought in 2014 by a taxi group in Barcelona, Spain, that said Uber was unfair competition because it did not have to comply with the same rules while operating in the city.

Uber is a company whose main activity is transportation, said Montse Balague, a lawyer for the Spanish taxi association that filed the original complaint, in an interview Thursday. Justice is done. We agree 100 percent with the advocate generals opinion.

In a separate case referred to the court by a French judge, Uber again defended its position as a digital service last month after a French law clamped down on illegal taxis. Two Uber executives fell afoul of that law last year, and were fined. A ruling in that case also is expected this year.

The European rulings come as Uber has faced accusations of wrongdoing, including an inquiry by the U.S. Department of Justice into whether the company broke the law by creating essentially a fake version of its app to evade law enforcement. The company denies the accusations.

Uber has also been accused of sexism in the workplace, and there have been calls for Kalanick to step down after his tirade against an Uber driver was caught on video. Such issues have raised concerns about the companys valuation of nearly $70 billion.

Mark Scott is a New York Times writer.
A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the fraud convictions and seven-year prison sentence of Luke Brugnara, a San Francisco real estate investor who ordered artworks for $11 million, then refused to pay for them, and escaped from custody for six days while awaiting trial.

Brugnara, 53, is a once-wealthy investor who has served prison time for filing false tax returns and poaching steelhead trout from his private dam in Gilroy. In this case, prosecutors said, he ordered five crates of art from a dealer for $11 million in 2014, saying he was planning to build a museum for them. But when they arrived, prosecutors said, he claimed he had been promised them as gifts.

All of the works have been recovered except for an Edgar Degas bronze sculpture, Little Dancer, which Brugnara had ordered for $3 million. Brugnara argued at his trial that the artworks were worthless fakes, but prosecutors assessed their overall value at $1.99 million.

While awaiting trial in February 2015, Brugnara was allowed out of custody for a meeting with his lawyer and dashed out of the court building after the meeting. He was arrested in Los Gatos six days later.

Allowed to represent himself at his trial, Brugnara called a prosecution witness a liar and questioned her mental competence, told the prosecutor she dressed like a Nazi, and shouted at U.S. District Judge William Alsup. After jurors convicted Brugnara of fraud and related charges, Alsup imposed a sentence that included more than 15 months for contempt of court.

In his appeal, a lawyer for Brugnara argued that he should not have been allowed to represent himself at trial because of mental instability reflected in his erratic behavior. A defense psychologist testified at his sentencing hearing that Brugnara had strong intellectual ability but most likely also suffered from delusions and narcissistic personality disorder.

But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said defendants have a constitutional right to act as their own lawyers as long as they are mentally competent to do so, and there was no evidence that Brugnara was incompetent.

Brugnaras disruptive conduct ... may well have been the product of strategic calculation rather than any mental defect, Judge J. Clifford Wallace said in the 3-0 ruling. He also said there was abundant evidence that Brugnara, even if he believed the artworks were worthless, obtained them by fraud.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
The University of California regents, who are generally reluctant to limit the lucrative enrollment of out-of-state undergraduate students, expect to do so next week for the first time.

The proposal by UC President Janet Napolitano would cap nonresident enrollment at 18 percent at each campus  a slightly more conservative plan than the 20 percent envisioned in March. State lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown, alarmed that the number of nonresident undergraduates more than doubled in five years, from 16,929 to 34,673, have pressured UC to limit that enrollment.

In exchange for UCs limits on nonresidents, state lawmakers will give UC $18.5 million more in state funds so that UC can enroll an additional 2,500 California residents next fall. That deal was part of a larger push from lawmakers to get UC to boost enrollment of Californians; the university added 7,400 new resident undergraduates last fall and expects to add another 5,000 within two years if state funding comes through.

But for UC, out-of-state tuition is a guaranteed cash cow.

Nonresident undergraduates pay nearly triple the yearly tuition and fees paid by state residents: $38,108 versus $13,400. (Both will rise in the fall by about 4 and 3 percent, respectively.)

Nonresident tuition and fees  $550 million this year  subsidizes tuition for low-income undergraduates from California and funds the hiring of additional faculty, among other expenditures.

Brown, lawmakers from both parties and countless voters see the university as a jewel that belongs to Californians. They have criticized UCs decision to give a growing number of slots to nonresidents, even though UC says no qualified Californian is ever turned away, although not always at the campus of their choice.

Now, on Thursday in San Francisco, the regents will consider Napolitanos proposal to limit enrollment of nonresident undergraduates to 18 percent at each campus. Under this plan, UC would enroll roughly 300 fewer nonresident students next year overall than under the earlier 20 percent cap.

Four campuses exceed the 18 percent cap, and the proposal would allow them to keep out-of-state enrollment at current levels but go no higher. They are UC Berkeley (24 percent), UC San Diego (23 percent), UCLA (23 percent) and UC Irvine (19 percent).

The remaining five undergraduate campuses enroll fewer nonresidents than the 18 percent limit: UC Davis (15 percent), UC Santa Barbara (12 percent), UC Santa Cruz (8 percent), UC Riverside (3 percent) and UC Merced (0.4 percent).

The proposal says that nonresident students will provide $434 million over the next five years to each campus but UC Riverside and UC Merced.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
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MIAMI  The first CIA captive subjected to what the U.S. government called enhanced interrogation techniques after the Sept. 11 attacks is choosing to testify about conditions inside the Guantanamo Bay detention center even if it could create legal problems for him later.

The lawyer for the Palestinian known as Zayne Abu Zubaydah says in a letter released Thursday that his client wants to testify at the U.S. base in Cuba next week despite the legal risk because he believes he is innocent, wants a chance to address the public and doesnt think he would ever be charged anyway.

Abu Zubaydah will take the stand, unafraid of the truth that will emerge, confident that the world will come to know that he has committed no crimes, lawyer Mark Denbeaux wrote in the letter.

The letter was sent earlier this month by Denbeaux to James Harrington, a civilian lawyer appointed to represent Ramzi Binalshibh, one of five Guantanamo prisoners facing trial by military commission for their alleged roles planning and providing logistical support for the terror attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Binalshibh has accused guards inside Camp 7, the highest-security section of Guantanamo, of causing noises and vibrations intended to disrupt his sleep and making it difficult for him to participate in his legal case, which remains bogged down in pretrial proceedings. His lawyers have called Zubaydah as a witness to support the claims, which were supported by testimony from a third prisoner, from Somalia, at a June 2016 hearing but have been rejected by the military.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Zubaydah is a potential target for prosecution and is rightfully concerned that his words might incriminate him of acting to do harm to the United States.

The prosecution says Zubaydah had closely held information of the inner workings of the Sept. 11 plot. That included clues that helped authorities identify the self-professed mastermind, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who faces trial at Guantanamo with Binalshibh.

Zubaydah, 46, was captured in Pakistan in March 2002 and taken to a clandestine CIA detention facility. At the time, authorities suspected he was one of the highest-ranking members of al Qaeda, though they have more recently described him in official documents only as a facilitator for the terrorist organization.

He has been held at Guantanamo since September 2006 and has not been seen except for an appearance last year before a board considering whether he should be eligible for release.

Ben Fox is an Associated Press writer.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I.  The new Veterans Affairs chief shares the goal set by former President Barack Obamas administration of ending homelessness among veterans, but says itll take longer than his predecessor predicted.

Reducing the number of homeless veterans nationwide from roughly 40,000 to 10,000 or 15,000 is an achievable goal for President Trumps administration, VA Secretary David Shulkin said during a visit to Rhode Island on Friday.

This is a continuous problem of people finding themselves in economically difficult situations and then being out on the street or going from shelter to shelter, Shulkin said.

Homelessness among veterans has been effectively ended in Virginia, Connecticut and Delaware and in more than 40 communities. The outgoing head of the VA, Robert McDonald, said in January that we should be there nationwide within a couple of years.

Shulkin, who formerly was VA undersecretary of health under Obama, said on Friday, Were still looking at a multiyear process.

While advocates are encouraged to hear Shulkins commitment, some wish he was more ambitious.

My personal take is, the VA secretary is being cautiously optimistic about what can be achieved and not wanting to kind of set the administration up for a missed goal, said Lisa Vukov, who works to prevent and end homelessness in the Omaha, Neb., metropolitan area. Im a firm believer in setting your goals big because you achieve more that way.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said veteran homelessness can be ended during the Trump administration.

Theres no reason we cant achieve it if enough resources are dedicated to the fight, said Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Shulkin said some veterans offered housing by the VA prefer other alternatives and high real estate prices and a shortage of available housing in some parts of the country make it hard to house veterans there. He sees the biggest challenge in Los Angeles.

Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti said homelessness in Los Angeles is a long-term crisis, but the city has housed more than 8,000 veterans since 2014 and hes fighting to ensure all veterans have a safe place to call home. Los Angeles voters approved a bond in November to raise $1.2 billion for up to 10,000 permanent units.

Navy veteran Chris N. Cardenas said there are some veterans who refuse help or have trouble accessing benefits because of mental illness or substance abuse issues, but 40,000 homeless veterans is far too many.

Jennifer McDermott is an Associated Press writer.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska  Arctic nations have renewed calls for the world to address climate warming, but U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the United States will not rush to make a decision on its policies.

Tillerson spoke Thursday in Fairbanks, Alaska, at a meeting of the Arctic Council, an advisory group made up of the eight Arctic nations and indigenous groups.

The council adopted a nine-page Fairbanks Declaration 2017, which noted that the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of the global average. The document noted the importance of reducing soot and methane emissions and said climate change is the most serious threat to Arctic biodiversity.

Tillerson signed the document. But in opening remarks, he cautioned that the United States is reviewing several important policies, including how the Trump administration will approach the issue of climate change.

We are appreciative that each of you has an important point of view, and you should know that we are taking the time to understand your concerns, Tillerson told other representatives on the council. Were not going to rush to make a decision. Were going to work to make the right decision for the United States.

President Trump has said little about Arctic policy, but he has taken steps to put U.S. Arctic Ocean waters back in play for petroleum drilling.

The Arctic Councils goals are sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic. The council does not make policy or allocate resources, and its decisions must be unanimous. The United States, an Arctic country because of the state of Alaska, is joined on the council by Canada, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallstrom said she walked away from a private conversation with Tillerson hopeful of the U.S. intent in the region.

He said, well, you know, we ought to first establish our climate policy and then decide on the Paris Agreement and how it relates, Wallstrom said. And I think that sounds reasonable to do so.

The United States chaired the council for the last two years. The U.S. highlighted three areas during its two-year chairmanship  improved living conditions and economies for those living in the Arctic, stewardship of the Arctic Ocean and climate change.

David Balton, a deputy assistant secretary of state, said other accomplishments included an agreement for scientific cooperation among Arctic nations, an assessment of improvements needed for better telecommunications, and implementation of a database of ships passing through the Arctic.

Mark Thiessen is an Associated Press writer.
WASHINGTON  President Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression, building upon his unsubstantiated claims that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.

The White House said the presidents Advisory Commission on Election Integrity would examine allegations of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration in states and across the nation. Vice President Mike Pence will chair the panel and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be vice chair of the commission, which will report back to Trump by 2018.
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AC Transit board members voted Wednesday to strike a one-year deal with Oaklands school district, averting a looming shutdown for bus service to three schools located in the Oakland hills.

The board approved a funding extension to protect the service through the 2017-18 school year, said Robert Lyles, a spokesman for the transit agency.

Though Lyles declined to specify the terms of the extension, he said the school district contributed money, as well as made changes to school schedules for efficiency.

Transit Board President Elsa Ortiz said this is a great day for Oakland students, but said its critical that a more permanent solution be worked out.

In a statement, school board President James Harris said this is wonderful news, adding that the City of Oakland aided in reaching a resolution thats good for both sides.

Stalled negotiations between AC Transit and the debt-laden Oakland Unified School District had placed the hundreds of students and parents who depend on the buses in a precarious position.

The board of the East Bay public transit agency voted to continue serving the supplementary routes to Skyline High, Montera Middle and Community Day schools, nearly five months after the school district abruptly decided to stop paying its $2.25 million annual fee for service to the three schools.

Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo said at the board meeting that while a permanent fix was still needed, the one-year extension was necessary.

Growing up in East Oakland and having three daughters and a son, I recognize the need to restore service, Gallo said.

Officials at the district had been paying the transportation agency for nearly 20 years before realizing AC Transit ran buses to schools in other nearby cities for free (AC Transit says those districts cost much less to run than Oakland does).

Lyles said the agency shells out $10 million a year for such supplemental bus rides among 13 school districts across the East Bay, adding that the three Oakland schools cost $3 million.

Since January, AC Transit had continued to run its dozens of buses, to the three schools in the less densely populated Oakland hills, where other transportation options are minimal.

Parent Naomi Levy, whose son is a sixth-grader at Montera and who has worked with other parents to try to find funding solutions, said just before the vote that her immediate concern is making sure that the lines dont get canceled for next year, adding that my next action is to try to find a longer-term solution.

For much of the nearly two decades that the school district has been paying for the service, the annual fee was budgeted from state coffers designated for transportation. But in 2013, that money transitioned to general educational funding  and thats when school officials acknowledge they should have cut the contract.

Joel Ramos, regional planning director for Oakland transportation nonprofit TransForm, said after the vote that the resolution was wonderful.

Granted, well all need to work on finding a permanent solution, but at least kids can still get to school, Ramos said.

The district had come under renewed pressure to cut costs in light of a $10 million budget shortage.

Administrators say their finances have been plagued by rocketing pension payments and are likely to be undercut further by anticipated reductions in federal funding.

Though the district announced a drastic hiring and spending freeze in January, it allowed individual schools an unplanned loophole: permitting them to set aside the funds to pay for upcoming bills.

In April, interim Superintendent Devin Dillon, who took the job after former Superintendent Antwan Wilson left for Washington, D.C., told The Chronicle the district hadnt saved anything  not a dollar.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley
DECATUR  The Rev. Mark Gearig's first mission trip was to Haiti, where electricity comes and goes and summers are tropical.

I remember having nights where the electricity went out and the fan stopped and you wake up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat, Gearig said. It's just realizing the things you take for granted.

Fans and electricity are not as critical as basic food and shelter, he said, which is why that experience made him realize that the things he took for granted, and the comforts of American life, are in such stark contrast to the poverty he saw all around him.

It's those sights that motivate many churches and their members to volunteer their time, talent and treasure to programs that help make another corner of the world a little better. Two such programs are the Central American Lutheran Mission Society (CALMS) and Fivefold International.

Gearig is an associate pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, which is sending a team to Guatemala Sept. 23 to 30. The church has sent mission teams to that country through CALMS for six years.

It began when Laura Mueller, former worship minister at the church, went on a leadership mission trip with CALMS and came back fired up to start mission trips with St. Paul's members. Dr. Steve Hughey, is the executive director of CALMS, and his wife, Grace, are friends of hers.

It was not very hard (to convince then-senior pastor Wray Offermann and then-associate pastor Rob Mrosko), said Mueller, who is an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University now. I had to go to them and ask permission for the leadership trip, and I had been wanting to do this before that.

The first trips were to Juarez, Mexico, and Offermann went along on one of those to help build a house for a poor family, she said. But Juarez is a dangerous area, and volunteers were nervous about going there, so the church became interested in Guatemala. CALMS serves the entire Central America area.

It's usually one of the first things that's an emotional hurdle to get over, Mueller said. When you first go, it's the poverty that you've seen in pictures, you see face to face, and it gives a whole different perspective, not only on what you have, but how they're able to have peace and contentment and happy lives existing, and existing happily, with much less than what we have.

The houses the teams build in Gualan, Guatemala, are small by American standards. As one teenage boy said to Mueller, they're about the size of his bedroom at home, yet those houses are home to several family members. St. Paul's additionally buys and constructs efficient wood-burning indoor stoves for cooking, so families aren't using open fires indoors. In the last couple of years, has also provided bunk beds to increase living space and keep the Guatemalan families from having to sleep on the hard floor.

The September trip will be Gloria Greene's sixth such mission.

It's just being able to preach the word of God to people who may not have ever heard it, and to be blessed in the little things, from the kids at (vacation Bible school) or making crafts, by seeing the people when their houses are being built, she said. To just see their expressions when we're working, and they see this new home, which to us would be nothing special. It just blesses me to see that.

"We have so much and they have so little, but they are so appreciative of everything they have, and we're so spoiled with everything we have.

The program works something like Habitat for Humanity, said Lori Newhouse, director of mission advancement for CALMS. Gualan is the country's biggest city, and a neighborhood named Los Limones has been set aside for poor families in substandard housing.

The government sets aside plots of land for those families, who apply to the program, and the local group decides which family is next to receive a home. The land and the home are given to them for a fraction of the actual cost, and the family makes payments.

Professional contractors are hired by CALMS to do the majority of the work, while the American mission teams assist with the final push to finish. Most homes are made of concrete blocks, while some are composition, half concrete block and half wood.

Mission trips are usually a week long, and those who go have to use their vacation time and their own money to do it, though churches usually help with fundraising.

Sometimes it's a sacrifice people are hesitant to make, Mueller said.

Ryan Clark of Macon isn't hesitant to make that sacrifice. He's not part of the St. Paul's group but is planning to go on a mission trip with Fivefold International to Guatemala in July. It will be his first such trip.

I've wanted to go on one for a long time, Clark said. This just came up, and I knew the people that were going and their mission, and I thought it was as good a time as any.

Clark is employed full time in the heating/air-conditioning business but does carpentry and woodworking on the side. He'll be using his vacation time for the mission trip and is raising money through a GoFundMe account and through help from his church, Elwin United Methodist.

One of the things the church is helping with is a quilt raffle. The quilt was made by member Jeanette Pickrel.

I make quilts all the time, Pickrel said. I have a few people who help me and we give them to shut-ins or people who are terminally ill and we give a couple for fundraising things at the church.

Pickrel was glad to help Clark with his fundraising because she believes what he's doing is important, she said, and since she's not able to go on such a mission trip herself, she decided contributing a quilt to raffle was the best way she could help.

St. Paul's Pastor Gearig said that as eye-opening as it is to see the differences in lifestyle and the poverty the missionaries are there to help alleviate, what strikes him is the joy and the hope of the people.

The faith of some of these people, and the opportunity to hear them share their faith is a big blessing, Gearig said. "It's really cool to see a different culture and see how they worship, and I love being part of those worship services: the body of Christ joined together as one, and being able to pray together in spite of our differences.
DECATUR  When it comes to feeding Decaturs hungry, who better to turn to than those who are deterred by neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail?

The 25th annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is this Saturday. To participate, simply place canned or nonperishable food near your mailbox, and one of the roughly 100 participating postal workers will pick it up on his or her regular route, said Chris Barteck, vice-president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 317.

The food will be taken to three locations, where residents are also welcome to drop off food. They are Nelson Park and Fairview Park (signs will lead the way to the exact spot), and unions hall at 2955 N. Woodford St.

The food collected benefits eight different Decatur-area pantries, Barteck said. Despite the longstanding tradition, the amount of food collected has fallen off in recent years.

I couldnt tell you why, he said. I know people are struggling  the economy, jobs. Maybe some people might have forgotten about it.

Lloyd Holman, a representative of Decatur Trades & Labor, wants to make sure they remember. Holman is among the volunteers from labor and other organizations who help out with the event, taking donations picked up by the letter carriers to the collection points.

Its essential that we give as much as we can to help them out, Holman said. Four or five years ago, wed do a collection and it would fill the pantries for around three months.

The last two years, they fill the pantries for about one month.

Holman said shopping carts have also been placed in public libraries in Decatur, Forsyth, Mount Zion and Warrensburg to collect food.
Amazing! Unbelievable! These were the thoughts that resonated as the principal told the parents that some students come to school to fight because they know that it will be dispersed quickly, and the student delivering the first blow is likely to be declared the winner. The statement was made at a meeting with parents in the aftermath of a soft lock down at the high school.

Is it going too far to think of school as a safe haven for fighting? Administrators and teachers work with students for at least 175 days a year. When they make assertions about student attitudes and behaviors, we should have confidence in their knowledge, even if it sounds out of bounds with our own beliefs. For sure, it is most important for schools to become safe havens for every student.

In keeping matters in perspective, there is nothing new about fights breaking out in the community or schools. However, what cannot be tolerated is to let fights define the school system. Over the years, the perception of lack of discipline has damaged the image of the Decatur schools. Discipline issues oftentimes overshadow all the greatness about the schools that are functioning properly.

When parents are looking for housing, schools are an integral part of the decision. Without hesitation, the time has come to seriously change the culture of discipline in the schools.

First, Senate Bill 100 should be executed to its fullest extent. This piece of legislation continues to allow measures to be taken to control discipline, but in an attempt to modify behaviors, it also mandates districts to provide interventions before actually suspending or expelling students. No interventions are necessary if the student is considered as an eminent danger.

Second, with the implementation of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) during 2017-2018, school districts have the backup for instituting innovative and corrective measures to address the individual needs of all students. Legislation is in place to help students/schools succeed, but the nitty gritty methods must be planned and implemented by school districts.

Third, the blame game must stop. Working together collectively (parents, teachers, administrators, and community) will yield better results.

Fourth, turn negatives into positives. For example, if students view their fighting location as a safe haven in the high school, then at the beginning of school year, day one, set the tone and expectations without threats.

We are in the generational cycle of show me to make me believe you! A school assembly with all students is necessary, followed by a room-to-room reinforcement. Students must clearly understand the message and the expectations, regardless of their race/ethnicity, gender, income level, grade, or past experiences.

It is advisable to seek input from students and parents when developing any plan. Every student should be an ambassador for the school. Sport teams tend to be the pride of schools. Academics and well-disciplined schools must be included as top priorities in developing proud schools. Much success to the school district in disallowing the fighters to define who and what the schools mean to the community!

(Just for the record, according to the Illinois State Board of Education - 2015 End of Year Student Discipline Report, Decatur Public Schools had a sum total of zero (0) incidents in the categories of violence with physical injury and violence without physical injury.)
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.
SPRINGFIELD  The Democratic-controlled Illinois Senate voted Wednesday to expand public financing for abortions and ensure legal access to the procedure across the state, although the measure likely awaits a veto by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Senators voted along party lines, 33-22, in favor of the plan, which would permit abortion coverage by state employee health insurance and Medicaid funds. It would also strike statutory language expressing the state's intent to criminalize the procedure if the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized it is ever overturned.

"It's not our place here in this chamber to decide when it's appropriate for a woman to decide whether or not she should get an abortion," said Democratic Sen. Heather Steans of Chicago, the bill's Senate sponsor.

The measure, which previously cleared the House, now heads to Rauner.

In responding to a questionnaire as a gubernatorial candidate in 2014, Rauner said he disliked existing law restricting taxpayer-funded abortion coverage and that he'd support a legislative effort to reverse the law.

But last month, Rauner explained he no longer supports expanding abortion coverage because it's too controversial, adding that Illinois needs to focus on other issues such as job creation. His spokeswoman, Eleni Demertzis, declined to comment further Wednesday.

The plan's proponents argue denying low-income women full access to abortion services limits their right to the same reproductive care options available to privately insured individuals.

But Republicans countered on the floor that asking taxpayers to fund the procedure goes too far, particularly amid the state's budget impasse.

Sens. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, and Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, both voted against the legislation and issued statements Wednesday explaining their opposition.

"The state is broke, and they want to use taxpayer money to fund abortions  a highly controversial position in the first place, Rose said. This even allows taxes to be used for partial birth abortions and even into the ninth month. No."

Righter said he adamantly opposed the measure, calling it an attack on taxpayers and unborn children.

The states budget cant afford any expansion of Medicaid, let alone something a majority of people dont want to cover, Righter said. You cant have liberty and the pursuit of happiness without the first right: the right to life. This legislation walks us backward from that very principle.

Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, voted for the legislation. A spokeswoman for Manar didnt return messages seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

"Abortion in itself is repulsive," said Republican Sen. Neil Anderson of Rock Island. "But to use taxpayer dollars is an absolute travesty."

Sen. Toi Hutchinson, an Olympia Fields Democrat, pointed to legislation she said supports the well-being of children and mothers along with a robust economy that her Republican colleagues have opposed, such as paid sick leave and subsidized child care.

"The single best thing we can do for our economy is to have over 52 percent of its members able to fully participate in the economic stream," she said.

Democrats also contended the bill's second prong, which would remove language in current law they say threatens to re-criminalize abortion if Roe v. Wade were overturned, is necessary because Trump has said he will appoint Supreme Court justices who oppose the federal ruling. But Republicans countered the two provisions should stand on their own  if at all  and questioned whether that language could have any effect without further legislative action.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Springfield diocese described the legislation as appalling and said he applauded the courage of the 22 state senators who voted against it.

Make no mistake about the intent. This legislation was orchestrated to pass as quickly as possible to silence dissent on the issue of protecting the unborn by masking it behind the facade of womens health care, Paprocki said in a statement. It is also designed to place political pressure on the legislators who dare to stand up to lavishly-funded special interests, primarily Planned Parenthood of Illinois.

Paprocki said the passage of the legislation was designed to intimidate Rauner with the threat of jeopardizing his political future if he vetoes the bill.

We ask that people of good will and the love of God join me in praying for Gov. Rauner to follow through and to protect the unborn children of this state, Paprocki said.

The bill is HB40.
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Centuries before hotels and condos lined Kaanapali Beach, Hawaiian royals fought over its northern stretch, home to fishponds, taro patches and sacred sites such as Puu Kekaa (Black Rock), while legends arose about its guardian spirit owls. The new Westin Nanea Ocean Villas, which laid claim to 16 of the areas last remaining undeveloped acres, luckily boasts a guiding spirit in cultural adviser Makalapua Kanuha. She worked with architects, interior and landscape designers to weave Hawaiian motifs such as fish-trap baskets, cordage and taro throughout the property, and created its Puuhonua O Nanea Cultural Center to teach the stories, language and traditions of this wahi pana, or special place.

The setting: Along the northern part of Mauis 3-mile, golden Kaanapali Beach, renowned for its dazzling sunsets and views of Lanai and Molokai. To the south is a 10-acre open space bordering the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, where guests at Nanea (Hawaiian for relaxation) have charging privileges at Spa Helani and dining outlets. Honua Kai Resort, home to popular Dukes Beach House, lies just north.
BEIJING  In a mountain valley in Kashmir, plans are under way for Chinese engineers guarded by Pakistani forces to expand the lofty Karakoram Highway in a project that is stirring diplomatic friction with India.

The work is part of a sprawling Chinese initiative to build a new Silk Road of ports, railways and roads to expand trade in a vast arc of countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. The Asian Development Bank says the region, home to 60 percent of the worlds people, needs more than $26 trillion of such investment by 2030 to keep economies growing.
SEOUL  Moon Jae-in, the newly elected leader of South Korea, moved swiftly to mend ties with China on Thursday, announcing plans to dispatch a delegation to Beijing to resolve a festering dispute over the deployment of a U.S. missile-defense system in his country.

Easing tensions over the antimissile system was a crucial topic when China President Xi Jinping called Moon on Thursday to congratulate him on his election as president two days before.
You won't see this on the Plaza anymore. (Liliana Dillngham)

Get off the unicycle. Dont throw that ball. Hacky sack over there, please.





The list of prohibited activities on Santa Fes Plaza just grew longer. And more definitive. Smoking is no longer allowed at any time.





After two committee hearings on a proposed smoking ban during bandstand events on the Plaza, an amendment offered by Councilor Peter Ives during Wednesdays City Council meeting made the ban universal.





Councilors voted 7-1 to enact the measure. It goes into effect five days after a notice of adoption is published by the city, which means the ban will likely become law before Memorial Day.





Under the new provisions, smoking a cigarette, cigar, pipe or any other similar device that produces smoke and/or odor is prohibited. Theoretically, that includes vaping and e-cigarettes, unless they produce an odorless cloud. Councilors spent time debating whether the ban could be broadly interpreted to include the relatively new devices, ultimately deciding that it did apply and that language was specific enough to allow a police officer to write a ticket for vaping as well as smoking.





Lighting up or puffing away will earn a warning for a first offense, then a $50 fine and finally a $100 whack on the third violation. The ban stops at the edge of the Plaza, which is defined in city law as the inside curb on each street that bounds the downtown square. Traffic is currently blocked from those areas on the north and east sides of the Plaza.





The proposal didnt draw a crowd to meetings that often see a large turnout for controversial issues. Several speakers supported the proposal. No one voiced opposition to the council.





Judy Towers celebrated her four-year anniversary as a head and neck cancer survivor last month. I find it extremely unpleasant when someone sits down next to me and blows smoke in my face, she testified during the meeting.





Its terrible, she tells SFR outside. You get your chair set up and youre all ready and then some bum walks up next to you and starts smoking.





Sandra Adondakis of the American Cancer Societys Cancer Action Network told councilors, Were really excited about this and were hopeful that at some point we can make it full-time.





"Some point" came about 10 minutes later as Ives proposed his amendment. It was clear no one on the City Council who supported the bandstand events prohibition had an issue with broadening the ban.





District 4 Councilor Mike Harris cast the lone vote against the proposal, arguing that the city was legislating a minor issue.





Im bothered by this. I think its unnecessary. I think people can and should work this out, Harris told his fellow councilors. I was going to propose we put signs up that say thank you for not smoking and let people sort it out.





Councilor Renee Villarreal said a recent Plaza clean-up event showed smoking on the Plaza was more than a health issue during crowded activities. The biggest trash item we picked up were cigarette butts, she said.

While more broad than anticipated, the prohibition isnt as draconian as it might seem.





The Orange County Register reported this week that Laguna Beachs governing body voted to ban outdoor smoking, vaping and e-cigarettes across the Southern California city. Penalties for violating that ban range up to $500 for three violations in a year.





The American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation says that more than 1,400 cities across the country ban smoking in parks. But just two cities in New Mexico do: Albuquerque and Mesilla.





Neighboring states like Colorado, Texas, Utah and Arizona all have more cities with smoking bans for their parks, though Arizona claims just a handful of such municipalities.





Santa Fe has actually considered a parks ban before. City Councilor Ron Trujillo introduced a measure in 2014 that would have banned smoking at large in city parksand the Plazathough it would have provided designated smoking areas.





We just didnt have the votes, Trujillo tells SFR. He voted for the ban on Wednesday.





Maybe if it does work [on the Plaza] we can look at other places, he says. This is a start.

Councilor Carmichael Dominguez, who represents the citys Southside, said he plans to introduce a measure for a similar ban during bandstand events at the Southwest Area Node Parkor SWAN Parkin his district.

Santa Fe Reporter
Gov backs food tax

This is not a full-throated endorsement, mind you, but Gov. Susana Martinez told reporters she'd actually consider reinstating the food tax if it's part of a wide-reaching tax reform package. Martinez says the goal is to make taxes lower overall, but make them apply to more taxpayers. Powerful senators have already balked at the governor's call to handle major tax reform in the upcoming special session, but everything is a poker chip and it's hard to tell what's in play until everyone's at the table.



Butt out on the Plaza

The City Council went into Wednesday's meeting to consider a ban on smoking on the Plaza during bandstand events. Councilors came out of it with a full-time ban on smoking and, likely, vaping on the Plaza. A last-minute amendment removed the "bandstand events" part of the ban, which means a lot of friendly warnings are in store for Plaza puffers.



Methane rule keeps sucking

Natural gas, that is! Ahem. The US Senate failed to repeal a rule finalized in November of last year that forces oil and gas producers to recapture fugitive gas. (That's what they call it; picture it with huge beard and a burning desire to expose the truth about Provasic.) It's a loss for oil and gas producers, who claim that despite being able to sell the gas they recapture, the technology is still too expensive. New Mexico's San Juan Basin is home to the nation's largest methane hotspot.



State botches Medicaid case for 82-year-old

But hey, at least the Human Services Department blamed it on a computer glitch. That'll help Viola Weir pay her nursing home bills. The state couldn't be bothered to explain itself to NM Political Report, but advocates say the agency is working with about one-fifth of its positions unfilled. Eventually, the problem did get fixed, but only after five months and not without serious stress to the 82-year-old and her family.

Gov's pension sweep illegal?

That's what the Public Employees Retirement Association thinks. The PERA is the state agency in charge of managing the fund for legislative retirement benefits. The governor has been adamant that lawmakers share the pain of budget tightening by dipping into their retirement pool for $12.5 million. The PERA, though, tells NMPolitics.net that's unconstitutional.

Jell-o Shots

Listening to Energy Secretaryand TexanRick Perry talk about the nation's nuclear labs can be pretty entertaining. So, too, can hearing Perry talk about climate change: to use a highly untechnical term, we'll continue to throw some Jell-o at the wall in a lot of different places, and adopt a lot of different ways, because from time to time you find some answers to some things you had no idea you were going to find solutions to ... Perry

when asked if he'd support climate change research at Los Alamos National Lab. He toured LANL yesterday.

WIPP gets bonuses from feds

Carlsbad's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant wasn't open during the federal budget year that ended last October. Nuclear Waste Partnership, the company that runs WIPP for the Department of Energy, was still repairing damage from a 2014 accident that closed the nuclear storage facility. Still, the company earned more than

for its performance during the year, which took into account work necessary to reopen the deep storage plant. It's 72 percent of what was available in bonuses.

Legislature wants Supreme Court to act fast

New Mexico lawmakers have asked the Supreme Court to set aside the governor's plea to wait until after the May 24 special session to decide whether her line-item vetoes of the Legislature's funding and all money for public higher education were unconstitutional. In a filing yesterday,

it's important to know by the time they meet if her vetoes stand or if the state budget actually still contains the money. Oral arguments in the case are set for Monday.

Thanks for reading! The Word wonders if Rick Perry truly understands the fluid dynamics of jello. Or is that a colloidal suspension? Save us, science ... if you can.

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Santa Fe Reporter
- Xero shares climbed 6 percent as the cloud-based accounting software firm moves closer to its first ever profit as customer numbers continue to swell and its 2017 full-year net loss narrowed as revenue grew.

The Wellington-based company said operating revenue was $295.4 million in the 12 months ended March 31, up 43 percent on the year earlier, or up 51 percent in constant currency terms. Its net loss was $69.1 million, 16 percent narrower than the $82.5 million reported in the prior period. The shares rose $1.30 to $23.15.

Xero's loss on an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation basis narrowed to $28.6 million from $59.9 million. In the second half of the year, its ebitda, excluding share-based payments, turned positive at $1.6 million versus a loss of $17.4 million in the period a year earlier.

The company said it now has 1,035,000 subscribers, after adding 318,000 over the past year.

Chief executive Rod Drury declined to say when he expects Xero to post a profit: "I am very careful not to put dates on that sort of stuff."

Given the company was ebitda-positive in the second half of the year, excluding share-based payments, and the operating cash flow also moved into positive territory "you can see where we are making progress on all those things," he said. "It's a story of balance," he said, underscoring that the company's customer base has pushed significantly higher. "I don't think there's been a business operating at this size and scale out of New Zealand."

Market expectations, however, are for Xero to achieve a profit in the 2019 financial year.

"In the last two years we have added half a million customers," Drury told BusinessDesk. Five years ago Xero had around 50,000 customers and "we knew we had to make that massive investment in infrastructure because we knew we had to on-board that many customers," he said. "We have been really focused on making sure we can do what we need to do with the resources we have. That's driving great margin and getting us toward break even," he added.

Drury said he doesn't expect that expansion to slow down, with more potential in New Zealand, Australia, the US and the UK in particular "where we are the undisputed market leader."

The company didn't give any specific earnings guidance other than to say operating metrics are expected to improve in the 2018 financial year. It also noted that cash usage in 2018 (based on foreign exchange rates at April 1, 2017) is forecast to reduce from the 2017 financial year. In the current financial year operating cash outflow reduced to $4.4 million from $34.8 million in the prior year.

Looking ahead, Drury said innovation will continue to drive the company as it develops work around machine learning and artificial intelligence: "There are lots of ways we can expand the market now we have done the hard work of creating the core global accounting engine."

Given the speed of change, Xero is updating its software three or four times a day in different projects. "This continuous transition and this new way of working at speed is our competitive advantage," he said.

Drury also noted that the company's investor profile is starting to change as large funds who look for stability but also exposure to the cloud trend are joining the share registry. "This de-risks our business. These signals of getting close to breakeven, with the cash we have, are all good signs they like," he said.

(BusinessDesk)

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On May 10, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a report about minority and regional languages in Armenia. The report will be published online later today.

The press division of the Council of Europe published the following release on the occasion.

Lack of resources, passive attitude of national authorities, key obstacles for the protection of minority languages in Armenia

Armenia and its inhabitants have a respectful attitude to cultures and languages; its legislation and regulations comply with the countrys obligations in promoting the use of regional and minority languages in public life. However, more needs to be done to raise awareness of the countrys minority languages and cultures, to address the problem of the lack of funds, and to change the attitude of the authorities to protecting the languages.

These are the key findings of the new report published today that looks at how Armenia implements its undertakings under the European Charter for Regional and Minority languages. The report covers the period up to the end of May 2016, and places special attention on the measures taken to promote the five languages that Armenia recognized as minority ones and protects under the Charter: Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish, Russian and Yezidi.

On the positive side, a number of measures were introduced to promote these languages; and progress has been noted in the publication of school textbooks. The situation of Russian does not give rise to any concerns: this is the only minority language in which bilingual education is provided at various educational levels.

In contrast, the situation of Greek does not comply with the obligations Armenia took upon itself. There is a danger that Pontic Greek will disappear as a minority language in Armenia. Resolute action by the public authorities is essential to support the Greek language.

There are certain shortcomings in the promotion of Assyrian, Kurdish and Yezidi languages. These three minority languages have only a marginal presence in the public and private media, despite favorable legal provisions. There is a lack of well-trained teachers. The shortcomings are primarily due to the lack of funds which particularly affects teaching and the media.

Support given to minority languages in Armenia, the report says, is often limited to folklore festivals or the provision of premises for various events initiated by the minorities themselves. The Council of Europe experts note a tendency on the part of the Armenian authorities to assign responsibility for implementation of the Charter to the local authorities and the national minority communities, and use this as justification for the lack of proactive measures. The passive attitude of the authorities gives the impression that the protection of the minority languages is the responsibility of the minorities themselves. However, the Charter places obligations on the authorities, and not the minorities, to promote and protect minority languages, the experts stress.

Armenia has joined the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in May 2002.
NEW DELHI: Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders on Tuesday termed India's rise a "very welcome development" as in the new emerging world order, it will protect and promote democratic values.

"India's take-off is a very welcome development. It is welcome from a political point of view because we share many values," Koenders said while addressing an event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry, here.

"They range from human rights to the rule of law, and from free elections to peace and security. Such principles are deeply embedded in your society - supported by Indians rich and poor, and regardless of religious conviction.

"As the global order is being reshaped, we look to the world's largest democracy to protect and promote those values with us," he added.

About present-day geopolitics, he said, "Within Asia, we see a new strategic constellation arising, with three poles, if you will: one around India, one around China, and one around what I call Maritime Asia.

"Between them we see economic competition and cooperation, strategic competition and cooperation, and political competition and cooperation, with a variety of ideological models."

About the reforms required in the global institutions to reflect the new geopolitical realities, he said: "To remain relevant, bodies such as the (UN) Security Council need to be fundamentally reformed..If a reformed Security Council were to include additional permanent seats, then my country sees India as a prime candidate."

"At a time when the global rulebook is being rewritten, the free world needs India's penmanship," he added.

On the India-EU economic relations post Brexit, he said, "I know Brexit is on everyone's minds nowadays, but did you know that 80 per cent of India-EU trade is with countries on the European mainland? That's all the more reason to keep striving for a trade agreement between India and the European Union."

He added: "One thing is certain: Brexit will happen, and no country will gain from it in the end. We want to make the divorce as smooth as possible, especially when it comes to trade. But it will hurt, like any divorce."

"The Netherlands is an excellent gateway to that European market, as many Indian companies have already found out. Schiphol airport and the Rotterdam seaport provide easy access to the European continent," he said.

On the bilateral cooperation in the renewable energy sector, he said,"let's join up, because the Netherlands offers world-class technology for solar power. Our chemicals company Royal DSM produces special coatings that make solar panels more efficient."

"And if India wants to set up its own industry for solar power, the Dutch Solar Alliance can help. It builds complete manufacturing plants for solar panels, from start to finish, ready to operate," he added.

Netherlands is India's 5th largest investment partner with an investment of $20.5 billion.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For a Blaze Pizza, add toppings to an 11-inch pie disc and expect it ready for consumption within 180 seconds, all with the backing of celebrities such as LeBron James and Maria Shriver. And, Staten Island will be getting such a package delivered starting at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 11.

The New Dorp address of 2590 Hylan Boulevard will be home to New York City's first Blaze Pizza. It is a fast food, thin-crust pizza concept that also includes wine and draft beer in the restaurant. The space has been curated by architect Ana Henton who specializes in sleek restaurant designs and, in Staten Island's case, that will include over-sized wall images.

The menu is described in Blaze's terms via press release as "chef-driven" and "a modern day 'pizza joint'" with a "commitment to 'intelligent choices for our pizzas, people and planet.'" The Pasadena, CA-based company promises green-minded patrons customized orders along with eco-friendly, compostable packaging and energy efficient LED lighting throughout the restaurant.

This will be the sixth of such a franchise for New York State.

HOW YOU CAN GET A FREE PIZZA

Friday, May 12, is the grand opening with free pizza from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Those who follow Blaze Pizza on social media -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or SnapChat -- will receive an 11-inch pie replete with choices on toppings.

Aside from what is dubbed as "artisanal pizzas," mainstays of Blaze include blood orange-lemonade, salads and s'more pies.

Toppings could be Applewood-smoked bacon, pesto sauce, goat cheese, salami and vegan cheese. As for corporate-designed styles, there is the "Simple Pie" with mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and "red sauce." A "MeatLover" comes with pepperoni, crumbled meatballs, red onion, mozz and "red sauce" while "BBQ Chicken" may entice with gorgonzola cheese, banana peppers, red onion, mozzarella and drizzles of BBQ sauce. There is a gluten-free crust option as well.

The national brand aims to be rooted in its respective communities and thereby has a fundraising arm "that returns 20 percent of an event's proceeds back to local organizations" including schools and clubs.

Blaze's hours are Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Begun in 2012 in Irvine, Calif. the company boasts of "a cult-like following as it expands across the country" now with 192 outlets.

The company got a boost in profile when LeBron James professed his love for the flagship operation. According to a company spokeswoman, "He left a $15 million deal with McDonald's because he believed in the product."

Backers also include Maria Shriver, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Boston Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner and movie producer John Davi. Blaze was founded by Elise and Rick Wetzel, co-founders of Wetzel's Pretzels.
CITY HALL -- Three more Staten Island public schools will partner with community-based organizations this fall as part of an expansion of the city's "community schools" initiative.

I.S. 49 in Stapleton, P.S. 46 in South Beach and PS 57 in Clifton will join P.S. 78 in Stapleton and Port Richmond High School, which were selected to be "community schools" in 2014.

They are part of an expansion of the initiative to 69 more schools citywide announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday in Brooklyn. By September, there will be 215 total community schools across the five boroughs.

The neighborhood partnership program helps connect students and their families with expanded social services and additional learning opportunities.

Community schools provide a variety of resources, but focus on expanded learning time, health and wellness services, enhanced family and community engagement and efforts to improve attendance, according to the mayor's office.

"The beauty of community schools is they reach the whole child and the whole family," de Blasio said.

Added services include academic counseling, teacher collaboration activities, family social services, academic support and tutoring, career and college readiness programs, mental health services and home visits.

The schools are structured around a partnership with a community-based organization, with a dedicated "Community School Director" who helps coordinate services.

P.S. 46 and P.S. 57 will be paired with the YMCA of Greater New York, while I.S. 49 will work with the Jewish Community Center.

P.S. 78 was paired with the non-profit Partnership with Children, based in lower Manhattan. Port Richmond High School works with the St. George-based New York Center for Interpersonal Development.

Officials said the expansion is funded with an annual $25.5 million federal grant the city was awarded through the state for up to five years. The cost is about $350,000 per school.

"This Community School expansion is a game changer," Chancellor Carmen Farina said. "For many of our students, their schools are their home."

Officials said the city submitted proposals for three community schools in each of the school districts, including Staten Island's District 31.

"We worked with the superintendents to look at both needs and capacities to try and find where there might be gaps in expanded learning programs, social, emotional supports and also who had the capacity to implement the community school strategy," said Christopher Caruso, the head of community schools at the Department of Education.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- President Donald Trump's approval rating has reached "near-record lows", according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Results of the poll have been trending on social media since its release.

In the poll of registered voters, the president's approval rating fell to 36 percent, from the 40 percent recorded in the same poll released in mid-April.

According to the poll, the president's approval ratings slipped among some of the voters who carried him to victory in the 2016 election, including white voters without college degrees, white men and independent voters.

A total 52 percent of American voters polled said they disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy. His grades on handling other issues are:

48 percent said they disapprove of the way he is handling U.S. policy toward North Korea.

59 percent said they disapprove of the way he is handling foreign policy.

48 percent said they disapprove of the way he is handling terrorism.

62 percent said they disapprove of the way he is handling immigration.

According to the poll results, American voters' opinions of several of Trump's personal qualities, including honesty, leadership, intelligence and empathy, are down.

"There is no way to spin or sugarcoat these sagging numbers," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"The erosion of white men, white voters without college degrees and independent voters, the declaration by voters that President Donald Trump's first 100 days were mainly a failure and deepening concerns about Trump's honesty, intelligence and level headedness are red flags that the administration simply can't brush away," Malloy added.

Other poll results centered on Trump's treatment of the media and media coverage of the president.

The poll found that 58 percent of the voters do not approve of the job the news media has done covering Trump's White House. But a majority, 65 percent, also disapproved of the way Trump treats the press.

Quinnipiac's poll was conducted from May 4 to 9 and surveyed 1,078 voters. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

(Click on the Comment button above if you wish to discuss this issue.)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 43-year-old Manhattan man was arrested for allegedly shooting a 21-year-old man in Elm Park, according to police.

The suspect is the step-father of the victim, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

David Anderson, 43, of the 2100 block of Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, was arrested shortly before 1 a.m. at the 121st Precinct in Graniteville.

The 21-year-old man was shot once in the stomach in front of 217 Granite Ave. on Wednesday morning.

The victim was taken to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton with non-life-threatening injuries at 11:13 a.m., according to an FDNY spokesman.

Anderson has been charged by police with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

--

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Maydm is hosting a holiday workshop on Saturday to foster collaboration between children and parents on tech-centric activities  specifically, designing LED light-up holiday cards and computer games.
Apartment owners in Canberra will face an average rate rise of $150 from July 1 on top of an across-the-board the 7 per cent increase, a move Chief Minister Andrew Barr says makes the territory's taxation system "fairer".

The changes, which passed in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday, will bring the rates of apartment owners closer to rates of house owners.

Andrew Barr says makes the territory's taxation system "fairer". Credit:Karleen Minney

Under the new method of calculating rates, Mr Barr said rating factors will be applied to the higher value base on the whole value of land.

Currently rating factors are applied to the lower value base of the individual value of the unit.
Watching Chuck is like striking up a conversation with a stranger on the barstool next to you, and discovering that your new drinking buddy is a far more interesting fellow than he first appeared.
Mr Formby said Mr Parton's comments were "stupid", with no chocolate addiction costing $200,000 in 18 months. Professor Brown said she hadn't been personally offended but didn't understand why Mr Parton was so strongly supportive of irresponsible clubs.

Mr Parton later approached problem gambler Laurie Brown and her partner John Formby, who watched from the public gallery, telling them he hoped he hadn't caused offence.

Poker machines: The ACT government has tabled its planned 50 per cent tax cut for gambling taxes, with the benefits going to only seven clubs in Canberra. Credit:Quentin Jones

He was speaking during a debate on limiting cash from eftpos machines in clubs, in which the Liberals gambling spokesman Mark Parton strongly defended clubs and said more Canberrans were addicted to chocolate than to gambling.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has blasted Clubs ACT as a "wreckage" and a "joke" and says he will deal with the new Tradies-led industry group instead.

Canberra Liberal's gaming and racing spokesman Mark Parton said he turned his life around and now only gambles moderately. Credit:Jamila Toderas

Mr Barr, clearly still angry at the campaign that Clubs ACT ran against him at the last election, said the group had gambled and lost badly. It had damaged its social capital to run poker machines, and the government would not deal with it, he said.

The new group Mr Barr will talk to is set up by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's Tradies clubs and might also include the Labor Party's own Labor clubs, but the membership has not been disclosed yet. It was set up after a vitriolic split in Clubs ACT over its decision to spend $240,000 fighting Labor's decision to allow poker machines in the casino and bankrolling anti-Labor election candidates.

The Greens also revealed tense relations with Clubs ACT. Shane Rattenbury he had been invited to meet chief executive Gwyn Rees and lobbyist Richard Farmer in Clubs ACT's offices in June last year, but they had walked out on the meeting after only six or seven minutes when the Greens explained their support for poker machines in the casino and $1 bets. Mr Rees says there was no walk out, but confirmed he had closed the meeting given the Greens push for $1 bets in clubs.

Labor agreed on Thursday to investigate a $250 limit on eftpos withdrawals in clubs. Putting his motion to parliament, Mr Rattenbury said limiting withdrawals should be the start of bigger reforms. The Greens would keep pushing for $1 bets, which would limit losses to about $120 an hour instead of the $1500 an hour gamblers can lose now.
A bumper grains crop on the east coast, combined with optimism of another good year ahead saw shares in grains handler GrainCorp pushed to three-year highs on Thursday as it reported its highest profit in years and doubled its dividend.

The shares closed up 8.3 per cent at $9.88, just off the day's high of $9.94, which was the highest level traded at since early 2014, when the Federal government blocked a foreign buyer from taking control of the company.

GrainCorp shares have surged after its rise in interim earnings Credit:Rob Homer

Graincorp's net profit hit $90 million in the six months ended March, well ahead of the year-earlier profit of $20.4 million. Revenue rose to $2.5 billion, up from $2.1 billion. Earnings per share jumped to 39.3, up from 8.9, paving the way for the company to double its interim dividend to 15 a share.

"A very good start in most areas" is how the chief executive Mark Palmquist described the new year's crop.
Australia's largest building union and several high-ranking officials have been collectively fined more than $270,000 for illegally blockading a children's hospital construction project in Perth.

The union leaders found to have breached industrial laws include Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union national secretary Dave Noonan.

CFMEU national construction secretary Dave Noonan: "This may be the law, but the law is unjust." Credit:Michael Clayton-Jones

The Turnbull government seized on the ruling, saying the construction union's most senior official had joined "a very large barrell of bad apples  CFMEU members who think they can break Australian workplace laws with impunity".

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said the union's decision to target a children's hospital demonstrated that "no construction project is immune from the CFMEU's illegal activity".
All of these consular cases, which involved the government providing support and aid to the detained Australians and their families, had distinctive features that ultimately resulted in the foreign minister and DFAT investing considerable diplomatic and political capital. The cases included procedural and legal irregularities, violations of fundamental human rights, extrajudicial detention, freedom of the press, and imposition of the death penalty. In the cases of Chan and Sukumaran, not only did the Australian government make representations at the highest political level to try to save their lives, it was prepared to take Indonesia to the International Court of Justice. It was only because Indonesia refused Australia's request to refer the dispute to the court that their case did not go to The Hague.

While the Sainsbury case is at the very early stages, the media is already asking Bishop how the Australian government will respond. So far, the case is unexceptional other than for the media attention it has generated. Consular aid has been provided, which has included checking on Sainsbury's welfare and ensuring she has legal representation. All of this is consistent with DFAT's consular services charter, which makes clear what the Australian government can and cannot do for Australians detained overseas and awaiting trial.

DFAT's Smartraveller website warns Australians travelling to Colombia: "You are subject to the local laws of Colombia, including ones that appear harsh by Australian standards. If you're arrested or jailed, the Australian government will do what it can to help you under our consular services charter. But we can't get you out of trouble or out of jail." Australians are advised to exercise a high degree of caution due to the threat of criminal activity.

Suggestions that Sainsbury may be able to enter a plea bargain and find her way back to Australia need to be treated with caution. Australia does not have a prisoner-exchange treaty with Colombia that could facilitate such a process. There is nothing about her case so far which would require the Australian government to do anything more than it has.
An Indian restaurant in Kirribilli is advertising its autumn menu, advises Pastor de Lasala, Seaforth. "First item is Turnbull Tikka. Malcolm must be dining in the area. Whilst the Peach Melba named after a much revered Australian has withstood the test of time, this momentarily elevated Indian chicken entree is sure to have its swan song by the end of this season."

More pun fun (C8). "A good pun is its own reword," says Les Greene of Dubbo. There's more. "Sir, I dips me lid to 'Alice-J' and doing so have this to say: To you in charge at Column 8, award her now her doctorate." Ron Elphick, Buff Point. Also: "Big applause to J-Alice for all the puns today. Loved them and wonder how long she's been collecting them." Regards Sheila Elliott, Huskisson.

But ... "Why are you punishing us with all these puns?" Sorry, John Grinter, Katoomba.

"That expensive handbag (C8, Mother's Day) sounds a lot better than this. On television last night a power tool company advert for Mother's Day suggested among a few other tools, a nice electric saw." Lee Meatchem, Killarney Vale.

"Coral Button may not get that expensive handbag, but she could get one of the Mother's Day featured products from an automotive parts retailer, a very useful 12 volt drill." Bob Senkewitz, North Rocks.
The New York Times reported, "Senior White House and Justice Department officials had been working on building a case against Mr Comey since at least last week, according to administration officials. Mr Sessions had been charged with coming up with reasons to fire him, officials said."

If this is true  that US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions was charged by President Trump (no one else would have the authority) to figure out reasons to fire FBI director James Comey  then the question hanging over the presidency is: What was the real reason? If the reason was not that Trump, after all that talk about "locking up" Hillary Clinton and praise last October for Comey's letter reintroducing the Clinton email investigation into the campaign, suddenly realised Comey had behaved improperly under Justice Department rules, then the rationale is a lie. The letters from Sessions and Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein are therefore part of a pretext for firing the FBI director engaged in an investigation of the president and his campaign's conduct.

Former ambassador and White House ethics lawyer Norman Eisen explains, "The reasons given by the president and White House for the firing are clearly pretextual." Eisen points out that the reasons stated in the letters for firing Comey "are contrary to the president's and Attorney General Sessions own prior statements, and... the firing was contemporaneous with the revelation of the existence of a grand jury and of subpoenas". He adds, "Clearly, the president is attempting to hamper an investigation that affects him, and those who were and are around him  and brazenly lie about it."

In other words, if Sessions and Rosenstein cooked up a false reason to get rid of Comey because the president was displeased with Comey's investigation, this is nothing less than a baldfaced attempt to interfere with a legitimate investigation of the executive branch. The president has the right to fire the FBI director, so this likely would not rise to the level of a criminal offence, according to several legal experts, including former Justice Department officials, with whom I spoke. However, in the constitutional sense, a scheme to mislead the American people and prevent discovery of his possible misconduct violates his oath of office. If he is engaged in such conduct, he is no longer acting to enforce and execute the laws of the United States.
Before I retrained as a registered nurse, I had an ambiguous job title that required a 30-second explanation at best, enough to kill most conversations. Once I started working as a nurse, I anticipated a new-found simplicity to these conversations. Now, when I tell people what I do, they smile, offer encouragement or tell me about their personal encounters with nurses. However, I'm rarely welcomed with the interest that follows when many of my friends explain their profession. And occasionally, I receive responses tinged with boredom, or even almost visible disgust.

This surprises me because, in my opinion, nursing is the most fascinating job in the world. I'll spout endless facts and anecdotes at the slightest provocation  about my specific specialty, recent innovations in treatment, the rapid deterioration of a patient our team managed recently, the hilarious incident involving a mishap with a catheter, and the diverse range of fascinating people who come through my ward, each fighting their own unique battle.

The author, Belinda Clough, works as a registered nurse in hospitals. Credit:Joshua Castle

Nurses have the privilege of carrying people through what is usually one of the worst times of their life. We have the essential job of ensuring their safety during that time, detecting and acting upon any deterioration, assisting them in returning to activities of daily living, and providing emotional support to them and their families and carers. We have the strength to deal with extreme trauma, abuse and death.

Yet the apathy I experience in some conversations persists towards the nursing profession as a whole, and I don't doubt it is responsible for the difficulty nurses face in having their voices heard  in their work environments, and as a lobby group. It is the reason we continue to face long, union-led battles, such as the fights for improved nurse-to-patient ratios, remote area nurse safety, and an increase in wages. How else could such a huge workforce, with one of the strongest unions, have such a quiet voice?
Born in Malta in 1932, Edgar John Azzopardi grew up in the thick of conflict. In World War II he survived German bombardment of his homeland, a tiny but strategically vital colony of the British Empire. When the war ended Azzopardi sought a new life on the other side of the globe.

He reached Sydney in 1949, a restless young man searching for his place in a new world. He travelled widely. In South Australia he worked as a grocer in Whyalla. Restless travel and  if he was lucky  other jobs followed, including a stint on the the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme. Later, when he married and settled in Sydney to begin raising a family, his life became more complicated.

Eddie Azzopardi at NSW Parliament House nearing the end of a 24-year fight against police corruption, 1993. Credit:Robert Pearce

By the 1970s Azzopardi was often close to the centre of NSW politics, whose leading figures were burdened with a lingering sense of unfinished business. Traces persisted from colonial days, that wild and disorderly time that eventually resolved the tussle between what historians have called "powerful jailers" and "despised convicts". That conflict had its origins in the unequal position of many of the earliest colonists  that is, whether you came to Australia free or not.

By the time Azzopardi came to Australia the disorder that made his new home  especially in the states with a history built on transportation of convicts from England  was all but gone.
Colvin grew up in England but travelled extensively with his parents in the dying days of the empire. His family had a distinguished record serving the British Empire in India. His father, John Colvin, was a Royal Navy officer, intelligence officer and banker. His mother, Anne Manifold, was a great-niece of former Australian prime minister Stanley Bruce. They divorced when Colvin was 11. She later married Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot, a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy, and became Lady Synnot. The link to derring-do and empire never quite left him, even when Colvin turned his hand to a summing up. In his memoir, Light and Shadow: Memoirs of a Spy's Son, published last October, he traced his career but his father's shadow cast a long lasting spell. He lamented that despite his father's colourful career  during World War II he was infiltrated into Vietnam on board a midget submarine to run a resistance network against the Japanese  "I could never get him to record an interview, even one embargoed until after his death".

But before becoming a household presence on radio, Colvin put in years as a foreign correspondent with the ABC. He landed back home in London in January 1980 to cover the Bristol race riot at St Pauls before heading to Tehran to cover the Iranian hostage crisis, student riots and subsequent government crackdown. He also forgot to take his passport the first time he tried to cross an international border. That decade, as part of the old world unravelled, Colvin covered the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the break-up of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the ongoing famines in Africa. Between 1988 and 1992, Colvin worked on Four Corners, reporting on the Kanak rebellion in New Caledonia, the Cambodian peace process and famine in Ethiopia.

In between stints overseas, Colvin returned to Australia in 1983 to become a reporter for the radio current affairs programs AM and PM. He was instrumental in the birth of The World Today radio program in 1984, immediately stepping into the presenter's chair. Thirteen years later, after being sidelined by a rare blood disease  granulomatosis with polyangiitis  while reporting the massacre of Tutsis in Rwanda, he started the radio program that many think he made his own  PM. The assignment nearly killed him but complications set in over the years behind the microphone and he had a double hip replacement before suffering kidney failure. In February, playwright Tommy Murphy's Mark Colvin's Kidney premiered at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney.

Colvin was not keen on the title. "The idea of having a play with my name on it is quite excruciating for me," he said in an interview in the Herald in March. "I find it very difficult looking at the poster on the wall out there." The correct title, Colvin thought, should have been Mary-Ellen Field's Kidney. She, after all, is the organ donor. "I'm just a very fortunate recipient." Mary-Ellen Field donated her kidney to Colvin after three years of dialysis before the transplant. Colvin contacted Field by Twitter requesting an interview after she had become involved in the News Ltd hacking of celebrity phones. Field had been a business adviser to supermodel Elle Macpherson and was blamed for leaking details of her phone conversations to the (now defunct) News of the World.

A pen friendship followed and when he told her that he was down to about 10 per cent kidney function and they were running out of blood, they discovered their blood types were the same, the rare A negative. "It is a story of redemption," Colvin said of their relationship, as depicted in the play. "My physical redemption to some extent but really it's about Mary-Ellen, someone who had her life nearly completely destroyed by journalism  so-called journalism, I should say  but somewhere finds the ability to be altruistic enough to give a kidney to a journalist. It's quite incredible." (Colvin and Field had considered naming the donated kidney "Rupert"  to honour News Ltd's Rupert Murdoch.) Journalist Elissa Blake recalled watching Colvin attend a rehearsal at Belvoir this year. "He was like a rock star," she said. "The actors wanted to take selfies with him. He had just come from his mother's property outside Canberra, he was caring for her when she was ill. He had been ill himself. He cancelled the Perth Writer's Festival in February. But nothing was going to stop him getting up to the Belvoir rehearsal room, even if he had to take the disabled chair lift elevator up the stairs. He wouldn't have the actors walk down the stairs to meet him."

In recent years, Colvin also had treatment for melanomas, and just before Easter, he was admitted to hospital after being diagnosed with lung cancer. During all this time, he remained relentless and dedicated to his craft  as a practitioner of old-school journalism and an enthusiastic adopter of its newer forms. As @Colvinius he was a prolific and early influential member of the Twittersphere, regularly providing his huge band of followers with astute insights and a Colvin-curated selection of the day's best journalism. Colvin is survived by his wife Michele McKenzie and their two sons, Nicolas and William. He married twice. In his book, Colvin reflected on his life, describing it as "mostly a dream run". "So, like the legendary lost dog on the poster  three legs, blind in one eye, missing right ear, tail broken, recently castrated, answers to the name of Lucky  I feel that despite near-death experiences and chronic illness, I have had what AB Facey famously called A Fortunate Life," he wrote.
A Democratic state lawmaker wants to expand a little-used state grant program for needy military veterans to include emergency mental health care.

Democratic state Senator Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, filed a bill Friday that would allow the state Department of Veterans Affairs to direct not allocated money from its needy veterans fund towards vouchers for emergency mental health services.

"This has been a crisis for a while," Erpenbach said of veteran access to emergency mental health. "You have an average wait time across the U.S. for 26 days."
In its 2017 budget, the federal government repeatedly stated its preference for a scalpel rather than a chainsaw or sledgehammer approach to demand management in the housing market.

The number of housing measures in the budget are more wide-ranging than in budgets of recent times. Policy levers on both the supply and demand side have been incorporated within a raft of housing measures. The government claims this is a comprehensive package that can make a difference.

However, do the demand measures go far enough to make much-needed inroads into the housing affordability crisis now facing an entire generation of would-be first home buyers? Or is the so-called scalpel too blunt to make a meaningful difference for them?

The budgets key housing measure for helping young people gain a foothold on the home-ownership ladder is to allow first home buyers to use up to $30,000 of voluntary superannuation contributions for a deposit on their first home.
A very noisy section of the commentariat believes that the biggest threat to free speech in Australia is anti-discrimination law, particularly the "offend and insult" provision, section 18C. They are wrong. A far bigger threat is defamation law.

Yes, it's a threat to the media, and to investigative journalism particularly. But it's also a threat to ordinary people simply posting their views on social media. And it's high time we pressured politicians to either scrap and rewrite this archaic law or, at least, to extensively amend it.

The National Uniform Defamation Law has not been updated since 2005. Credit:Vince Caligiuri

The National Uniform Defamation Law has not been updated since 2005 when, after years of wrangling, all states and territories agreed to amend their own laws to be consistent with each other. That was a big step forward. It put a cap on most payouts and enshrined various defences, including honest opinion and a "reasonableness" defence for stories of public importance.

The legislation has not been revisited by politicians since then, but the judges have been active. Their decisions have shot the act full of holes. Matt Collins, QC, the man who literally wrote the textbook, describes the law now as "Frankenstein's monster".
The spotlight remains on minor parties and independents. Not long after Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives gobbled up Family First to form a new amalgamated minor party, former Labor leader Mark Latham announced he had joined the Liberal Democrats.

Bernardi and Latham like to play up the number of Australians who have deserted the 2 major parties. So do other disaffected critics still operating within the major parties, like Tony Abbott.

Tony Abbott wrongly assumes a large number of Australians have suddenly turned away from the major parties. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

They generally build their case on an analysis of the rising non-major party vote in the last couple of federal elections  and they have a point. It has been increasing for the last 40 years since the Australian Democrats first came on the scene.

But they also sometimes inflate their case in a misleading way. In one of Abbott's recent forays, he grouped together three disparate groups of voters in an argument that more than a third of voters have deserted the major parties. The three groups were minor party and independent voters, informal voters and non-voters.
Jason Challis. Credit:ADF "The Australian public rightfully expects Defence to mitigate the risk of injury through the rigorous implementation of its policy and processes. The serious nature of the recent incidents require a deliberate and thorough review," she said. "The army will progressively return to training over the next few days once the review is complete, and Brigade Commanders and army leadership are satisfied that the necessary procedures and protections are in place. "I will continue to oversee the progress of the reviews, in recognition of the importance of mitigating risk for Australian Defence Force personnel on training." The grieving family of the Pte Challis said he was "the best son, step-son, brother and mate you could ever ask for".

"Our beautiful boy has gone. His cheekiness and loving ways will stay with us forever," the family said. "His personality pleased and brought so many people together. Everyone he met loved him and fell in love with him. "Rest in peace, our darling Jason, we love you forever. Until we meet again." Pte Challis attended Grovedale College between 2004 and 2007, and principal Janet Matthews said there had been an outpouring of grief from the school on Thursday.

"He was a lovely young man, always friendly, outgoing, lively and a cheeky grin that you can see from his photos," she said. Pte Challis' sister still attends the school. "There's been a lot of support for her today," Ms Matthews said. "And the teachers that were here 10 years ago have been very distressed to hear the news of a boy that we all knew so well, and that's indicative of the man he was," she said. Photos of Pte Challis were shared by friends and family on Facebook, with heartfelt tributes for the young soldier, who was believed to have been aged in his 20s.

One friend, James Hinkley, wrote on Facebook: "So yesterday was the day i lost one of my best mates you where the best bloke i knew and also an awsome drinking buddy i will never forget all the fun we had REST EASY BRO GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN." Tributes for Jason Challis. Credit:Facebook Pte Challis' cousin, Ryan Jorgensen, wrote: "Some people in life are hard to come by; one who would do anything for anyone. "Always happy and never would say a bad word about anyone. Losing a best friend and a cousin is such a hard thing to deal with. I hope you're having a good chat to Nana up there mate." Tributes for Jason Challis. Credit:Facebook

Army chief, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, sent a letter to all commanders on Thursday expressing his "deep concern" about the deaths. "Like you, I am deeply concerned that we have lost two young Australians in training incidents this past week," he wrote. "My thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends. I know that our soldiers will continue to support each other as they confront the loss of their mates. "While it is essential that our army trains for the rigours of operational service ... our training must build and develop our people and capability. The injury or death of soldiers in training is fundamentally at odds with this purpose and the responsibility we hold to those we lead." He said brigades would progressively return to duty, as Forces Commander, Major General Fergus McLachlan, AM, was satisfied that appropriate safety measures were place.
Early in his career as treasurer Mike Baird struck a winning formula for how to sell an unpopular reform to the electorate.

Baird's deceptively simple approach was this: don't just explain the reform; emphasise the benefits.

He used the tactic to full effect while pursuing the asset privatisations that became a hallmark of his time as treasurer and then premier.

Announcing the sale of the Port of Newcastle, Baird tied it to construction of a new light rail line in that city.
One of four Muslim women targeted in four successive and unprovoked Islamophobic attacks on Wednesday said she was randomly punched in the face as she walked through the city wearing her headphones.

Maria Claudia Gimenez Wilson, a 39-year-old journalism student from Paraguay, is charged with assaulting the four women, aged 18-23, as they walked along busy roads near UTS in Ultimo on Wednesday afternoon.

Maria Claudia Gimenez Wilson allegedly punched the women in the face in an unprovoked outburst.

All four women were wearing head scarves, or hijab, and were allegedly punched in the face.

Officers are treating the assaults as "bias-motivated crimes" after Ms Wilson allegedly told police she was motivated by a hatred of Muslims.
An experienced obstetrician has surrendered his right to practice medicine after his failure to diagnose a serious medical condition in a pregnant woman resulted in the death of a newborn baby and lifelong disabilities to a surviving twin.

But a tribunal has found systemic issues within the health system contributed to the tragic event as the experienced obstetrician felt he was unable to step down from on-call duties despite suffering the effects of cancer treatment.

Dr Philip Paris-Browne failed to diagnose pre-eclampsia in a pregnant woman at Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital in Nowra, in the Illawarra, in the days before the twins were born via caesarean section on January 2, 2015.

The baby boy was stillborn while the second baby, a girl, survived and was flown to neonatal intensive care at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She has permanent hearing loss in her right ear and speech difficulties.

The mother, known for legal reasons as Patient A, was flown to the same hospital and placed in intensive care.
Found abandoned on the side of the road and raised in a orphanage in southern India, Mosaic Defredes went on to complete his MBA and act as a close business advisor to a Saudi Arabian prince.

But the fairytale came to an abrupt end when Defredes was discovered to be the mastermind of a multimillion-dollar criminal syndicate manufacturing, importing and selling pirated DVDs in Australia.

Allison Daniel faced a sentencing hearing at the District Court on Thursday. Credit:Peter Rae

Defredes, who was a leader at the Christian City Church in Blacktown, and his offsider Allison Daniel, were running a sophisticated enterprise with more than 1.3 million discs found stashed in a storage unit, warehouse and home in western Sydney in April 2013.

It is believed to have been the largest seizure of copyright infringing DVDs in Australia with the total resale value estimated at $21 million.
A female teacher at a prestigious Sydney private school had been warned about her behaviour towards students before she started a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old boy.

The woman, 33, had sex with the year 12 schoolboy multiple times while she was a teacher and he a student at the elite Sydney Grammar School in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst.

Sydney Grammar School. Credit:Michele Mossop

The relationship continued over three months last year, with the pair meeting to have sex in a store room and classroom at the school and at the woman's home.

After the boy attempted to end the relationship, the woman sent him lengthy messages describing herself as a "monster", saying she was "too happy or too stupid to see the signs" and asking "am I going to go to gaol?"
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.
One fed-up local printed out paper signs, typed all in capitals, taping them to a fence alongside the creek.

The stench appeared to be coming from Johnstons Creek, which runs under Parramatta Road down to Rozelle Bay and into Sydney Harbour.

Sydney Water has now apologised for "any odours which have occurred due to containment of the sewage and stormwater flow". Credit:Janie Barrett

About two weeks ago, a rotten odour started wafting through some parts of Annandale, leaving residents scratching their heads, and pinching their noses.

A damaged sewerage pipe is causing a right stink in Sydney's inner west.

"WHAT'S THE SMELL? IT'S RAW SEWAGE GOING INTO SYDNEY HARBOUR!!!" the signs read, urging people to call Sydney Water to complain.

Sydney Water has now apologised for "any odours which have occurred due to containment of the sewage and stormwater flow".

A Sydney Water spokesperson said the organisation had been working to repair a damaged wastewater pipe under Parramatta Road, which was causing a wastewater leak into Johnstons Creek.

"Crews have carried out initial repairs to the wastewater pipe, however there is still some leakage, and urgent rehabilitation work is required to complete the repairs," the spokesperson said.

"Due to the difficult location of the pipe underneath the road, we will need to work at night as required by the Roads and Maritime Services. This work is scheduled to commence as soon as possible.
Years before bikini inspectors patrolled Gold Coast beaches "measuring bikinis while women wore them, walking around", Queensland was so prudish that male swimmers had to cover their chests before they hit the water.

Freedom Then, Freedom Now, an exhibition at the State Library of Queensland, reveals what men were expected to wear while swimming and more, exploring the freedoms Queenslanders have gained and lost over the years.

Freedom Then, Freedom Now explores what personal freedoms have been won in Queensland since the 50s.

The exhibition also shows publications that were deemed too rude for Queenslanders including The Little Red Schoolbook, a book about sex education that was banned by the government in 1972.

Gavin Bannerman, executive manager of Queensland Memory at SLQ, said some people would be "genuinely shocked" by how recently some of the state's freedoms were won.
A Greens campaign encouraging people to leak sensitive information about the Queen's Wharf project has been referred to the crime watchdog.

The Greens launched "Casino Leaks" last month, asking people to anonymously share information about the CBD development.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters is encouraging people to leak information about the Queen's Wharf project.

"If you've got information about Labor and the LNP's secret plans, you can confidentially leak it to me and I'll protect your identity with parliamentary privilege," Greens Senator Larissa Waters said in April.

Last week, Greens volunteers were spotted handing out flyers to public servants outside the government building, 1 William Street, encouraging people to email or post them information about the project.
Andrew had never before suffered from depression. He hadn't been sleeping well since late February; but he was never a great sleeper. He was very busy with work; but had always been busy.

Apologies also for the length of this email but it's important to me to let you know the circumstances of Andrew's death. Some of you may not yet know that Andrew took his own life, in his office, on Thursday morning.

Dr Andrew Bryant and his wife Susan with their daughter, Charlotte. "His four children and I are not ashamed of how he died," Mrs Bryant wrote. Credit:Facebook

I apologise for the group email but I wanted to thank those of you who have been so kind with your messages and thoughts over the last three days.

Just before Easter he became anxious - about his private practice, about being behind in his office administration, about his practice finances, about some of his patients, about his competence. He seemed very dispirited and non-communicative. I did what I could to help where I could, but I was confused - he'd always been busy and the practice, as far as I could tell, was running just as it had for the last 20 years.

He was flat all Easter and, the week after that, he was on call for the public hospitals. It was on the worst on call week he had ever had - he was called every night and some nights more than 3 or 4 times and during the day he had to see his own patients and do his endoscopy lists. He missed our son Nick's birthday dinner and every other dinner at home that week.

Dr Bryant's wife said his now-grown children were not ashamed of how he died.

By the end of the week (last Friday) he was exhausted, still couldn't sleep properly and just 'flat'. I was very concerned about him, tried to talk to him about my concerns but he was very unresponsive. I urged him to go and see someone about his sleeping but he was noncommittal. He continued to see patients, do lists, go to work, get home late.

On Tuesday evening he was upset and teary because a patient had died. Andrew was always upset when any of his patients died, but his level of distress in this case was unusual.
A Singaporean tourist accused of attempting to murder a 20-year-old woman has been remanded in custody.

Guan Wen Brian Tan was charged with one count of attempted murder on Wednesday after allegedly attacking the woman with a hammer at a home in Brisbane's east on Monday.

Credit:Georgia Matts

Mr Tan, 31, was not required to attend a scheduled appearance in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday but was remanded in custody, with a committal hearing set for June 5.

He did not seek bail.
Plans for a commuter ferry on the Yarra have hit an early snag, with Rowing Victoria warning it could cause crashes, capsize smaller boats and even make the the river too dangerous for Olympic training.

Rowing Victoria has raised alarm about the proposal from Port Phillip Ferries and developer Caydon Property Group to run a commuter ferry from Chapel Street to Docklands via the Yarra.

Chief executive Nick Gall said the river was already congested with as many as 4000 rowers a day leaving the boathouses near the Princes Bridge during the proposed ferry's morning peak, between 5.30 and 8.30.

"There are a massive, massive number of people heading down the river at that time of day," Mr Gall said.
More than 70 Victorian state schools are to be shortchanged by at least $1 million over the next two years under the Turnbull government's school funding plan, according to a Victorian Education Department analysis.

And two of the state's most disadvantaged schools  including one located in the troubled Parkville youth justice centre  will be more than $2.1 million worse off.

As debate about school funding heats up, the Andrews government has released an analysis which shows that 1535 Victorian schools will receive less funding in 2018 and 2019 under the Turnbull government's plans compared to the original Gonski deal.

The Department analysis shows that 76 Victorian state schools are set to be $1 million or worse under the proposal. These include Hoppers Crossing Secondary, Wellington Secondary, Tarneit P-9 College and McKinnon Secondary College.
A baby has been hit by a reversing plumber's van on a driveway in Perth's eastern suburbs on Thursday afternoon.

The 10-month-old boy was rushed to St John of God Hospital around 1pm and has since been transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital.

A 37-year-old man remains in a critical condition after the stabbing. Credit:Georgia Matts

WAtoday understands he has head injuries after the van drove over him.

Major Crash are at the Midland house investigating.
Rome: An Italian prosecutor is investigating some members of humanitarian organisations rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea on suspicion they may have cooperated with people smugglers.

Ambrogio Cartosio, chief prosecutor of the western Sicilian city of Trapani, told a parliamentary committee in Rome on Wednesday that the organisations themselves were not a target of the inquiry.

Migrants arrive back at Abosetta base in Tripoli, Libya, after being intercepted on their way to Europe aboard a wooden boat. Credit:AP

Suspicions arose because some rescue crew seemed to know in advance where to find the flimsy boats crowded with migrants after smugglers sent them off from north African ports, he said.

Migrant arrivals to Italy by sea are up almost 40 per cent this year over the same period in 2016, and more than a half-million people have come in the past three years. Some Italian politicians have begun saying the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) run a "taxi" service bringing migrants to Italy.
Washington: The script should be familiar by now. President Donald Trump takes action that stuns the country, eliciting indignation and disbelief from Democrats and leading them to conclude that the vitality of American democracy is under assault.

Yet among those who are sympathetic to the president -- a minority, to be sure, but somewhere around 40 per cent of the country, according to recent polls -- the outrage is that Trump is again being held to an unfair standard set by the very people and institutions that tried to stop his election in the first place: Democrats, resentful Republicans and, perhaps most of all, the news media.

That has certainly been the divide as the country absorbed the news that Trump had fired James B. Comey as FBI director. The move was widely hailed by conservatives online, on talk radio, on Fox News and among the president's allies in Washington: the universe in which views of Trump quickly harden in the right's collective consciousness.

More clearly than other recent Trump-induced uproars, the reaction to the Comey firing illustrated how many conservatives now justify their defense of the president as part of a fight against a rising tide of overreaction and manufactured hysteria by the left. Trump, who has long understood the political power of demonising his opponents as crazed and irrational, has helped stoke those resentments.
Washington: US President Donald Trump said he was going to fire FBI director James Comey "regardless" of a recommendation from the Department of Justice, contradicting the White House's earlier explanation for the dismissal.

In a new sit-down interview with NBC News, the president labelled the former FBI director a "showboat" and a "grandstander" and said he had decided to fire him before this week.

"I was going to fire him regardless of recommendation," Mr Trump told journalist Lester Holt.

A statement from Press Secretary Sean Spicer released on Tuesday stated the president decided to fire Mr Comey "based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions."
Volker Wieker, chief of staff of the German military, left, and Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, right, speak to the media during a special meeting of a German federal Parliament commission. Credit:Getty Starting in July, all applicants seeking to join the military will have to undergo a security check aimed at weeding out potential extremists. But that raises questions about how to handle those currently serving, at a time when the military is struggling to attract recruits. Last week, the inspector general ordered a search of all military installations for displays of souvenirs or images glorifying the Nazi-era military, the Wehrmacht. The German federal defence ministry is seen on May 4, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. Credit:Getty Michael Wolffsohn, a professor of modern history at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich, says the decision to scrap the draft had driven the military from the centre of society. "As soon as society in general retreats from the armed forces, it opens the way and the place for fringe groups on one hand, and highly motivated idealists on the other," Wolffsohn said.

"We have to ask ourselves if we can afford to leave the way open for extremists, not only right-wingers, but also Islamic and maybe even left-wing extremists." After World War II, the reconstituted German Army was formed in 1955 in the former West Germany as a conscription force, with the aim of ensuring peace by defending the national borders. Since its founding, the military has instituted measures to distance itself from, and stigmatise, its Nazi-era antecedent. Since 1982, a 30-point decree has stipulated which traditions and norms guide the forces, and which do not. Yet many barracks were built in the 1930s. A few, like the Rommel Barracks in the western city of Lippe, still bear the names of Hitler's generals. The shadow of that past informs much of what the armed forces can and cannot do. The constitution limits them from taking part in any conflict, with the exception of missions led by allies. Only in 1994 did the constitutional court issue a ruling allowing the military to take part in armed missions led by either NATO or the United Nations.

The investigation stemming from the terrorism case came as military officials released a report detailing episodes of some soldiers' extremist sympathies. One soldier attached a Nazi-era war flag to the hood of his car and drove past a refugee shelter, while drawing his hand across his throat. Another posted a photo of two soldiers in SS uniforms to a chat group. A handful of others were reported to have shouted "Sieg heil" and "Heil Hitler." The episodes are among several dozen displays of far-right extremism, xenophobia or anti-Semitism that military officials investigated last year at the request of the Left party, which has long insisted that far-right sympathies in the military were part of a wider societal problem. The soldier who drove past the shelter was discharged before he had completed his service, but a soldier who gave a Nazi salute was only reprimanded, leading to criticism that the armed forces were not taking the threat of extremism seriously enough. Last week, the defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, rankled many soldiers when she said, "The German military has an attitude problem, and it appears there are weaknesses in the leadership we must address systematically."

But she has also come under fire for failing to address the very problems that she was pointing out. Members of the parliamentary opposition have questioned her connection to the troops she oversees and demanded an apology. Von der Leyen has since retreated from her statement, saying the majority of soldiers do an "outstanding job," and Chancellor Angela Merkel declared her "full support" for the minister. The suspect in the terrorism case was arrested on April 27 after posing, improbably, as a Syrian refugee. He has been identified only as Franco A., in keeping with German privacy laws. The day before his arrest, von der Leyen fired the military's head of training after reports about hazing rituals and charges of sexual harassment from female recruits at several bases. Last week, von der Leyen summoned 100 generals to Berlin for talks that resulted in a call to examine disciplinary measures and the hiring of an outside investigator.

On Wednesday, she testified about the affair before the defence committee in Parliament, vowing a thorough review and changes to disciplinary structures and how problems should be reported. An initial investigation by the defence Ministry found that Franco A.'s extreme-right sentiments had been known for years. As early as 2014, a master's thesis he submitted at a French military academy where he studied drew the attention of his superiors for its nationalist, racist language. Yet even after a review the German authorities, who noted the "drastically extremist language" in his thesis, no disciplinary action was taken. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors said they had arrested a second soldier, identified as Maximilian T., whom they suspect of plotting the attack with Franco A. They also said that the plot was aimed at prominent politicians, including former President Joachim Gauck, whom the suspects had derided as engaging in "failed" policies toward refugees. Loading
A photographer for a Russian state-owned news agency was allowed into the Oval Office on Wednesday during President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian diplomats, a level of access that was criticised by former US intelligence officials as a potential security breach.

The officials cited the danger that a listening device or other surveillance equipment could have been brought into the Oval Office while hidden in cameras or other electronics.

Former US intelligence officials raised questions after photos of Trump's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were posted online by the TASS news agency.

Among those commenting on the issue was former deputy CIA Director David Cohen. Responding to a question posed online about whether it was a sound decision to allow the photographer into the Oval Office, Cohen replied on Twitter: "No it was not." He declined to elaborate when reached by phone.
CUL DE SAC:--- Thirteen students pursuing their Associate's Degree in Natural Sciences under the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) at St. Maarten Academy successfully completed an extraordinary educational field trip to Guyana.

The team, led by Biology instructor, Ms. Patricia Mendonca and assisted by Head of the Mathematics Department, Mr. Alberick Arrendell, received first-hand experience in dealing with plants and animals, as well as other aspects covered in their modules, such as genetic engineering, artificial insemination, budding and grafting, fermentation, x-ray florescent spectroscopy, and thermodynamics - all of which will assist in preparations for their final examinations which commenced on Monday (May 8, 2017).

Arrendell, who also instructs in CAPE Physics, said the trip to the South American continent helped the young scholars to see certain concepts that were taught in the classroom.

"When they went to the brass company [Brass Aluminum & Cast Iron Foundry-ed.], they were able to see the transformation of various metallic substances from raw material to end product. They recognized the need to pay attention to the quality of materials in order to get the desired products. They were able to see regular people doing advanced physics," Arrendell said.

In their exchanges with students and teachers of one of the Caribbean's top high schools, Queen's College (QC), the group saw the ingenuity of the Guyanese scholars and educators who were able to do much with little.

"That QC visit showed that even though the students have limited resources they were able to produce quality results," Ms. Mendonca, herself a Guyanese, commented.

During that visit, the group had an opportunity to meet with the CAPE students who are doing the same subjects and were able to visit classes and interact with their teachers. They were able to share ideas and experiences. The students were engaged in a lesson done by the Biology teacher at the school. Their QC counterparts were able to give the Academy team a guided tour of the school. They made friends and promised to stay in touch.

At the Bosai bauxite mine in Linden, module 2 of their Chemistry and Physics syllabi came to life when the students were able to observe x-ray florescent spectroscopy, which is a technique used in the chemical analysis of metals, glass, ceramics and other building materials. They received samples of the different grades of bauxite.

"One of the technicians explained how and why they studied particular properties of the samples of bauxite. They put the samples into an x-ray machine and that machine uses the physics of x-ray diffraction, which was studied in the classroom. They were able to see the theory connected to practical work and the practical work connected to economics," gushed Arrendell.

Other places of interest visited were the distilling company, Banks DIH where the students were able to observe all operations. Fermentation in the winery and beer plant was their main focus. At the Government Livestock and the National Agricultural Research Institute, the group was given hands-on experiences in genetic engineering in animals and plants. Students had the opportunity to do some budding and grafting with plants that were available for that procedure at the time. On a visit to the Essequibo Coast, they toured Imam Bacchus Rice industry, a poultry farm, and a chowmein (noodles) factory.

During their time in Guyana, and together with Mrs. Anita Marshall, a teacher from MAC Comprehensive Secondary Education who accompanied the group, visits were made to the Minister of Business, Mr. Dominic Gaskin; the Director of Tourism, Mr. Donald Sinclair; their various Heads of Department; the Guyana Zoo; Giftland Mall, the largest shopping mall in the country; and the First Lady of Guyana, Mrs. Sandra Granger.

At the President's residence, Mrs. Granger gave the visiting team a guided tour of State House and they all exchanged tokens. Ms. Mendonca presented Mrs. Granger with a gift from the Tourist Bureau of St. Maarten.

"In general, the students learned a lot and they mentioned that they were motivated to become better persons in society. The things that they took for granted would not be taken lightly but will make them become more innovative and creative in their classrooms. The experiences gained will be for a lifetime," said Ms. Mendonca.
International Knowledge Exchange Program provides more than 20 interns to local businesses!

Great Bay:--- From May 17  24, 2017, seven (7) local entrepreneurs will work with international students and faculty of Fort Hays State University (FHSU) in Kansas, as part of the International Knowledge Exchange Program (IKEP). Due to the success of last years program, FHSU has returned to St. Maarten a second year, which has never been done in the history of this program as this program provides support to different countries throughout the region.

This year more than twenty (20) interns and three faculty will be supporting locally based entrepreneurs for a week. These interns have a variety of skill sets including accounting, finance, tourism& hospitality management, agriculture business, marketing, and management. The interns are divided to groups of three and each group is assigned to an entrepreneur to assist with a business need. One of the key changes in this years program is that entrepreneurs benefit from two (2) groups which can help them address two (2) different needs in their business.

Started by the Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods (COESL) in 2013, IKEP helps to develop students into global citizens while supporting sustainability of the entrepreneurs throughout the region. Headed by Dr. Marcia Brandon, a premier expert on entrepreneurship development and sustainability in the Caribbean, COESL has a variety of programs throughout the region to stimulate entrepreneurship and transform communities in a dynamic way. The IKEP is in partnership with the leading entrepreneurial university of the Midwest, Fort Hays State University (FHSU), where FHSU students and faculty travel to an island in the Caribbean and use their knowledge and skill set to meet a business need of a local entrepreneur.

INFOBIZZ is a preferred local of IKEP program and lead coordinator for this program on St. Maarten. With the aim to develop successful entrepreneurs, INFOBIZZ has hosted a variety of events and programs to help empower entrepreneurs locally, reaching over 1000 entrepreneurs since its launch in 2013.

The University of St. Martin has partnered with INFOBIZZ, to better assist the international interns and provide a program of quality for the entrepreneurs. USM students are able to provide the interns with an intercultural experience and facilitate with obtaining information and doing research. The interns will work with the entrepreneur, adding value to the business while experiencing firsthand the challenges that many entrepreneurs face.

Registered entrepreneurs will meet the interns and faculty on May 17 at the opening of this program at the University of St. Martin. Registration is required to ensure that the entrepreneurs are matched with the groups that can add most value and is done via a simple email registration. Registration for entrepreneurs is $40, which covers administrative costs. There is no registration free for members of The PWR Network.

Upon completion of the program, the entrepreneurs will receive a Certificate of Completion for this program from Fort Hays State University. For more information on INFOBIZZ and support programs for entrepreneurs, please call +1-721-523-1842 or email coordinators at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
PHILIPSBURG:--- The 10th UNESCO Youth Forum will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France from 25 to 26 October 2017. Since 1999, the UNESCO Youth Forum has provided an innovative, ongoing opportunity for youth to work in dialogue with UNESCO, to shape and direct the Organizations approach and to present their concerns and ideas to the Member States.

The forum brings together expert youth from all regions of the world to discuss pertinent issues related to UNESCO fields of competence. During the youth forum, a series of recommended actions and priorities will be drafted to guide UNESCOs youth actions for the next biennium. These will be presented at the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference.

Over the past years, young people from St. Maarten have benefited immensely from participating in past youth forums. Some of the young people who have participated in previous UNESCO Youth Forums over the years include Ralph Cantave, Majorie Cortico Ramirez, Anisa Dijkhoffz, Melanie Choisy, Kenneth Serrant, and Ruthaidith Rudolfina.

Persons interested in participating in the 10th UNESCO Youth Forum will need to follow the below application requirements. Application forms will be obtained via:

 Unesco Facebook Page: Unesco Sint Maarten

. Unesco website: www.unesco.sx

 Sint Maarten Government webpage

 The form will be sent to all school boards for dissemination to the high schools

 Facebook Page: St. Maarten Youth Affairs

Application Requirements:

 Applicant must be between 18 to 24 years of age

 Applicant must be a national of St. Maarten

o In possession of a Dutch passport or residence permit for at least 5 years

o Passport need to be valid for at least a year at the time of travel commencement date

 Applicant must submit his/her application form by June 9, 2017, at the

Youth Department or UNESCO Office, or email the application form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 Applicant must submit a copy of their valid passport and/or residence permit

 Applicant must submit curriculum vitae

 A letter of motivation

 Two (2) Reference letters: one from a recognized youth-related or youth-focused NGO and the other from their school or employer.

 Official note from the NGO stating its vision, mission, scope and activities

 Documentation showing experience in project management

 Applicant should possess proficient communication, writing, and debating skills

 Applicant should be available to share knowledge acquired from the youth forum, which can be used towards the policy development within the Department of Youth Affairs

Please note: You will have to participate in a mandatory interview and debate.

For further information, contact Ms. Marcellia Henry (Cel# 5203051) or Ms. Faye Arnell (Tel # 5422056).

CLICK HERE FOR APPLICATION FORM
... A New Ad Campaign and Additions To The Board. Sidewalk Sale announced for May Saturday 20th

If you are a Santa Monica local resident or business owner you will have noticed a definite change on Montana Avenue. After sunset the entire avenue is brightly lit up as a result of the newly restored lights by Beautify Earth which have been added to compliment the beauty of this prestigious shopping destination.

Other changes have been happening on Montana Avenue also with the Montana Avenue Merchants Association making some adjustments and some very welcomed additions.

Ryan Ole Hass Lights on Montana Avenue's Sidewalk Sale

The new Chair of the board is Engel & Volkers realtor Ryan Ole Hass who has established himself as a terrific voice and advocate for Montana Ave, he is joined by new board members Christina Jimenez (Williams-Sonoma), Rachel Reyes (Sweaty Betty); and Ele Keats of Ele Keats Jewelry. Also a welcomed addition to the team is social media expert Tim Chan who recently produced a photo shoot with supermodel Rachel McCord and Bradley Khon, plus the reinstating of peakPRgroup.

These changes have the full support of City Manager Rick Cole who recently stopped by the latest MAMA meeting and shared his personal story on how Montana Ave had affected his decision to take his position in the city.

The upcoming sidewalk sale has been announced for Saturday may 20th which will welcome thousands of shoppers to snap up great deals of up to 75% off.

To learn more on what is happening on Montana Ave, please go to http://www.montanaave.com
FBI Director James B. Comey, announces the addition of Luis Macedo to the bureau's ten most wanted list during a news conference Thursday, May 19, 2016, in Chicago. Joining Comey are from left, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Chicago, Michael J. Anderson, and Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson. President Donald Trump fired Comey May 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Major Market Highlights in Global PC System Industry with Developments Trends and Future Growth Analysis

Albany, New York, May 11, 2017: Market Research Hub (MRH) has recently released a new research report into its enormous online research database, which is titled as Global PC System Industry: Developments Trends & Highlights. The report profiles the current status of the worldwide PC system market and pinpoints the markets future growth prospects. Moreover, this report provides a brief introduction to the development of the global and Taiwan PC system industry and examines future development trends of notebook PCs, desktop PCs, and tablets with detailed examination on shipment volume and market share. Also, it includes the key market highlights that would have significant impacts on the PC industry as a whole.

Request Free Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1066993

With a total population of less than 24 million, Taiwan is known for its expanded manufacturing sector extending from high-tech industries such as IT and Electronics. The progress of Taiwans PC industry has its root in the electronics industry. Personal Computer has gained huge momentum since many years. It is used in offices, organizations, educational institutions, and government offices as well as in houses and much more. In businesses PC are used for accounting, running spreadsheets, database management and many purposes. At home, PCs are used for playing games, surfing the internet, doing studies, graphic designing and other educational purposes. The various types of PC available in the market are fuelling the overall market growth, which includes Desktops, Notebook, Netbooks, Tablet PC and Computer Peripherals. The global market has been shifting toward notebook PCs, developing countries, low-end products, and distribution through retail outlets.

As per the key findings of the report, the overall PC industry has been in the situation of consistent decline for the past several years. The PC market has flagged since 2012 as consumers increasingly access social media through mobile devices and businesses slow their computer replacement rate to reduce costs, analysts say. But, in recent years, the global market demand for notebook PCs is forecast to be stable in 2017, owing to the commercial replacement demand and new rollouts. As the demand for consumer PCs is returning to the normal level, the market decline is slowing down with a projected market volume of approximately 153 million units in 2017, which is a great news for the market leaders.

Browse Full Report With TOC: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-pc-system-industry-developments-trends-highlights-report.html

The research study further highlights some of the key players operating in the market are Acer, ASUS, Apple, Siemens, HP, IBM Watson, Lenovo, Airbnb and others. Among these, HP showed the strongest growth among top six vendors in past few years.
Precise Analysis of Mobile Communications Industry Development Outlook and Future Forecast Trends

Albany, New York, May 11, 2017: With the increasing popularity of mobile devices, the demand for mobile communication technology continues to rapidly grow all around the world. There are 5.6 billion mobile customers which are equivalent to around 80% of the world population and due to this, every year the smartphone industry displays different shipment value and sales. At the uppermost level, global smartphone shipments are still strong, but shipments are displaying signs of a plateau. Market Research Hub (MRH) has recently broadcasted a new report to its vast collection, which is titled as Mobile Communications Industry Developments & Future Trends. As the title suggests, the report provides valued information on the mobile communications industry including significant industry data at a global and regional level; deep insights into the activities of the operators and identification of trends and opportunities.

Request Free Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1066992

Today, smartphones are the most demanded electronic devices due to a change in the lifestyle of people, where having a smartphone is not just a necessity but a norm. The facilities provided by a smartphone from calling to internet access with high broadband connectivity is the major factor for its demand. Mobile broadband access using the 3G and now the 4G/LTE networks has continued to expand as users continue to add tablets, modems and phones to use alternative communication methods and cloud-based service. Also, 5G trials and initial market deployment will be a key focus in 2017.

This comprehensive report provides insights into market performance and studies the global smartphone market in terms of market value & volume in the coming few years. The analysis has been done on the basis of the year 2016 smartphone industry performance, recent developments by leading mobile operators and their deployment strategies. As per the findings, the smartphone industry has experienced a large amount of smartphone shipment sales in the year 2016 and while sales volume was high, vendors are trying to find ways to stand out in a crowded marketplace. After a phase of double-digit growth, mature markets such as North America and Western European countries is now either stagnant or declining in the global smartphone shipments.

Moreover, the study findings further reveal that the global smartphone industry is still anticipated to grow over 5% year-on-year in 2017. Future growth in the market will be driven by falling prices of smartphones, cheaper mobile/voice data services and attractive price bargains for consumers due to increasing competition, the proliferation of mobile network technologies including 3G, 4G (LTE and WiMAX) and 5G. This report examines major smartphone vendors deployment strategies and gives buyers plenty of information to examine through for global and regional trends, as well as showing which brands are coming out on top and which are struggling to perform in todays ultra-competitive market.

Browse Full Report With TOC: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/mobile-communications-industry-developments-future-trends-report.html

Furthermore, major vendors development highlights, including Samsung, Sony, OPPO, LG, Huawei, ZTE, Nokia, Blackberry and Meizu are mentioned. The outlook for the 5G industry, the development roadmap of leading telecom operators such as Verizon, AT&T, and China Mobile are well discussed in the study.
Exabeam and Crowdstrike Partner to Improve Cyber Security

SAN MATEO, CA  (Marketwired)  05/11/17  Exabeam, the market leader in User and Entity Behavior Analytics, today announced a new partnership with Crowdstrike, the market leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection, to deliver disruptive security solutions.

As organizations move their IT operations to the cloud, the endpoint takes on greater importance for data security. Control points that once operated in the corporate data center, such as email or file system security, are no longer available as platforms for security controls in a cloud-first environment. Crowdstrike Falcon secures the endpoint by unifying next-generation AV, endpoint detection and response, and managed hunting service. Exabeam connects endpoint data from Crowdstrike with user activity data from other systems, both on the corporate network and in the cloud. For example, the combination of Exabeam and Crowdstrike can provide comprehensive intelligence across the endpoint, databases, file servers, physical security, and cloud services such as Salesforce, Github, and Office 365.

User Behavior Analytics connects security signals from anywhere in the corporate or cloud environment to create a coherent view of activity and risk, said Ted Plumis, Exabeam VP of Alliances. The combination of Crowdstrikes deep endpoint visibility and Exabeams broad analytics gives customers the best security intelligence available today.

Securing the endpoint against modern threats is top of mind for enterprise CISOs today, said Josh Karp, Director of Global Technology Alliances at CrowdStrike. Our next-generation endpoint protection platform does just that, and integrating our endpoint information with data from servers, badge readers, cloud services, etc. via Exabeam allows joint customers to bridge the gap between endpoint activity and user behavior in order to identify and prevent high-priority attacks.

Security professionals wishing to deploy next-generation security analytics and protection solutions can contact Exabeam and Crowdstrike at or . The firms will be presenting the solutions with INNO4 at a dinner event on May 18 in Boston, MA; register at .

Exabeam provides security intelligence and management solutions to help organizations of any size protect their most valuable information. The Exabeam Security Intelligence Platform uniquely combines unlimited data collection at a predictable price, machine learning for advanced analytics, and automated incident response into an integrated set of products. The result is the first modern security intelligence solution that delivers where legacy SIEM vendors have failed. Built by seasoned security and enterprise IT veterans from Imperva, ArcSight, and Sumo Logic, Exabeam is headquartered in San Mateo, California. Exabeam is privately funded by Norwest Venture Partners, Aspect Ventures, Icon Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and investor Shlomo Kramer.



CrowdStrike is the leader in cloud-delivered, next-generation endpoint protection. CrowdStrike has revolutionized endpoint protection by being the first and only company to unify next-generation AV, endpoint detection and response (EDR), and a 24/7 managed hunting service  all delivered via a single lightweight agent. The CrowdStrike Falcon platform, certified to replace legacy antivirus, has reinvented how endpoint security is delivered with its industry-leading, cloud-native architecture. CrowdStrike Falcon protects customers against all cyber attacks, using sophisticated signatureless artificial intelligence/machine learning and Indicator-of-Attack (IOA) based threat prevention to stop known and unknown threats in real time. Core to its innovative approach is the CrowdStrike Threat Graph which analyzes and correlates over 40 billion events per day from millions of sensors deployed across 176 countries, uniquely providing crowdsourced protection for the entire customer community. We Stop Breaches. Learn more:

Contact information:

Caitlin Gribbons
Puppet Continues Global Momentum, Fueled by Surging Demand for DevOps and Digital Transformation

PORTLAND, OR  (Marketwired)  05/11/17  , the standard for automating the delivery and operation of the software that powers everything around us, today announced continued global growth and new investments, fueled by surging demand for and digital transformation. More than 37,000 companies around the world, including more than 75 of the Fortune 100, rely on Puppet to continually deploy and manage mission critical software across their distributed applications and global infrastructures. In the past 12 months, Puppet added more than 250 new enterprise customers, highlighting the increasing demand of DevOps in the enterprise. Additional investments in its customers successes include expanding Puppets global footprint with new international offices, new partner offerings, new leadership and new products to its automation portfolio.

As we refocus our IT operations into the cloud, DevOps technologies and methodologies are a key part of our transformation, said Bill Wilcox, IS engineer at a large, international retailer. Puppet is a trusted partner whose technology and services are helping us develop our cloud strategy as well as expand and identify new opportunities to futureproof our business.

Puppets momentum underscores the continued demand that we are experiencing from customers and organizations that need to improve agility, efficiency and reliability to support them through their DevOps and digital transformation journeys, said Sanjay Mirchandani, president and CEO, Puppet. Our success is a testament to the hard work of our talented team, customers, partners and community, which have all contributed to our growth globally. We look forward to continuing to provide products that will significantly help our customers accelerate modern software deployment while making it easier for them to manage their infrastructures. We have our sights set high on an even stronger 2017.

Puppet experienced its best-ever year in 2016, increasing broad adoption of Puppet Enterprise and expanding its global footprint with momentum across EMEA and Australia. Today, the company announced three new regional office openings to support its global expansion, including a new office in Singapore, a larger, world-class facility in Sydney and new R&D center in Seattle. The new office in Singapore will serve as Puppets regional headquarters for its APJ operations. This new regional headquarters will be home to software development, technical services and go-to-market functions.

Puppet also announced the localization of its flagship offering, , for Japan as the company prepares for additional expansion throughout the region. Building on its success in Australia, Puppet is expanding its presence in Sydneys CBD, moving into a new office that provides additional space needed to accommodate employee growth and an increased focus on community engagement, with room to host regional community and customer events. Finally, Puppet is opening a new office in Seattle to tap into the rich local talent pool and expand its world-class engineering team.

New offerings with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco, Nutanix, VMware and critical security providers to make it easier for joint customers to buy, run and support Puppet Enterprise.

Many businesses rely on Puppet Enterprise to provision, operate and provide enhanced protection for their cloud environments, said Barry Russell, general manager, AWS Marketplace and Catalog Services, Amazon Web Services, Inc. Puppet Enterprise helps customers quickly and easily deliver their software, and now they also have an incredibly simple way to purchase and employ it through AWS Marketplace.

As enterprises continue to recognize the value of cloud-based environments, they are turning to AWS and other cloud providers for efficiency, savings and scalability. To support cloud efforts, AWS and Puppet deepened their collaboration, making Puppet Enterprise available on an hourly, pay-as-you-go basis through AWS Marketplace. The new offering simplifies installation, provides secure configuration and delivers immediate ROI.

As software defined networking continues to evolve as a key tenet of the modern data center, Cisco customers want the power of Puppet Enterprise as a unified way of defining, deploying and operating all the software they run. Joint customers can now buy and get support for Puppet Enterprise directly from Cisco and any Cisco VAR.

Puppet has added a number of important partners as part of its inaugural class to the Technology Alliance Partner Program (TAPP). By collaborating with F5, Splunk, Cumulus Networks, CloudPassage, Conjur, CyberArk, Onyx Point, Intelliment and Sensu, Puppet and its partners collectively deliver a better architecture around security and DevOps.

Puppet Enterprise has enabled us to efficiently migrate workloads to AWS and scale out our infrastructure, which has helped us triple our deployment frequency, eliminate downtime, and made it faster and easier to deploy changes with fewer errors, said Brian Engler, CIO, ServiceChannel. Puppets new pay-as-you-go marketplace offering gives us even more flexibility to experiment with new ideas that will help us stay ahead of the competition.

As part of the companys strategic plans to make the shortest path to better software a reality for enterprises, Puppet also today announced its first-ever standalone offerings, separate from Puppet Enterprise. Additionally, the company announced updates to its flagship product, Puppet Enterprise 2017.2. For more details visit:

Learn more about .

Subscribe to the Puppet .

Follow Puppet on Twitter .

Try Puppet Enterprise for .

Puppet is driving the movement to a world of unconstrained software change. Its revolutionary platform is the industry standard for automating the delivery and operation of the software that powers everything around us. More than 37,000 companies  including more than 75 percent of the Fortune 100  use Puppets open source and commercial solutions to adopt DevOps practices, achieve situational awareness and drive software change with confidence. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Puppet is a privately held company with more than 500 employees around the world. Learn more at .
UpGuard Appoints Bill Cordero as Vice President, Worldwide Channel Sales on Heels of APAC Expansion

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA  (Marketwired)  05/11/17  , the company behind the worlds first cyber resilience platform, today announced that Bill Cordero, previously Head of Worldwide Channels at Rubrik, has joined the team in Mountain View as VP, Worldwide Channel Sales. It is the companys first global appointment and comes on the heels of several other key hires in the last few months, including Gerry Sillars (VP, APAC), Dan Bradbury (VP, Product, APAC), Cliff Moon (VP, Engineering), and Chris Vickery (Cyber Risk Analyst).

UpGuards proprietary cyber resilience platform provides organizations visibility into their cyber risk postures by monitoring the complete and ongoing state of complex IT infrastructures. Since launching in 2012, UpGuard has grown exponentially year over year and just recently announced an expansion to the Asia Pacific region, where they have inked distribution deals with ACA Pacific for and NextGen as well as brought on Insentra as an exclusive service delivery partner for ANZ. Corderos appointment comes at a time when the company is poised to scale globally.

Prior to joining UpGuard, Cordero held senior roles at Rubrik  where he took the company from $0 to a nearly $100 million run rate  Tegile Systems, Netscreen (acquired by Juniper) and Data Domain (acquired by EMC). Throughout his 18 year career working with start-ups, he has helped to navigate four IPOs and three acquisitions.

Bills expertise in building and executing effective global channel strategies is unmatched, said Mike Baukes, co-Founder and co-CEO of UpGuard. Were excited to continue expanding our footprint in key regions where organizations are recognizing the need for dynamic solutions to continually evolving cyber risk, and Bill is the right guy to help us to do that.

Im excited to join UpGuard at a time when the company is primed to take its next steps into international markets, Cordero said. UpGuard has firmly established itself as the leader in the space. Now is the time to scale, and pursuing the right partners will be instrumental as we move forward.

Businesses depend on trust, but breaches and outages erode that trust. UpGuard is the worlds 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

Rachel Shepheard

upguard[at]launchsquad[dot]com

415-625-8555
Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Awards Recognise Innovations in Dynamic Spectrum Access

Cape Town, South Africa, 11 May 2017: Six individuals and organisations have been recognised in the first ever Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) Awards Ceremony. Taking place during a gala dinner at the DSAs Annual Global Summit in Cape Town, South Africa (May 9-11), the achievements of Agencia Nacional del Espectro (ANE), Mawingu Networks, Brightwave, Microsoft and the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, were recognised and celebrated for their efforts in furthering innovation, increasing inclusion, and pursuing new opportunities in dynamic spectrum access.

Dr. Martha Liliana Suarez Penaloza, Director of the Colombian national spectrum regulator, ANE, was presented with the Award for Innovation in Dynamic Spectrum Access Policies. The award recognizes ANEs achievement in becoming the first spectrum regulator in Latin America to propose TV White Space regulations.

Commenting after collecting her award, Dr. Suarez commented: We are honoured to receive such a recognition of our work. The award of Innovation in Dynamic Spectrum Access Policies is the result of all the efforts and projects that ANE has undertaken in its commitment to explore alternative ways to use spectrum to connect people in Colombia who are not connected yet. We expect to continue our work by promoting innovation, efficient spectrum use and the closing of the digital divide in our country.

The Award for Increasing Digital Inclusion was given to DSA members Mawingu Networks and Brightwave. The award for Mawingu Networks, a fixed, wireless, Internet access provider enabling access to affordable Internet in rural areas around Kenya with poor infrastructure, was collected on behalf of the company by Director Tim Hobbs. Mawingu was recognized for its utilization of Adaptrum and 6Harmonics TV White Spaces and solar-powered base stations to deliver broadband access and create new opportunities for commerce, education, healthcare and delivery of government services. Mawingu is also part of Microsofts 4Afrika initiative. Hobbs commented: Our business aims to extend Internet connectivity to people who find it out of reach due to cost. Therefore, we are changing the lives of our customers by enabling them to reap the benefits of being connected!

Charles Mwaura, CEO of Brightwave, a renowned technological firm whose objective is to provide Internet connectivity in underserved areas in South Africa, collected the accolade on the companys behalf. Brightwave was recognized for its tremendous work in Soweto, South Africa, where it is currently deploying networks supported by the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) in the Eastern Cape.

We are extremely pleased with this rare recognition of our efforts by such a prestigious group of global organizations, who are market leaders in the campaign to extend broadband to the next three billion market, Mwaura commented during his acceptance speech. At Brightwave, our mission and vision is to be the engine of fundamental change leading to broadband access being ubiquitous across South Africa and the rest of the continent of Africa.

The Award for Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation was presented to Ranveer Chandra, Principal Researcher at Microsoft for his work helping small farms increase their production and move from sustenance to production using the cloud and dynamic spectrum access.

This award is an amazing honour and recognition for Microsofts work in enabling data-driven agriculture, said Chandra, after accepting the award. It helps showcase how dynamic spectrum access policies, for example around TV White Spaces, are critical for democratizing access to farm data, and consequently enabling new algorithms on this data for improving the lives of farmers.

On behalf of The Centre for Wireless White Space Communications (CWSC) at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, Dr David Crawford, Head of the Centre, was presented with the Award for a Student-Led Initiative or Research on New Opportunities for Dynamic Spectrum Access. The award was presented to the CWSC for its successful leadership on multiple key dynamic spectrum projects across a range of technical areas, including the development of renewable energy powered dynamic spectrum base-stations, contributions to the TV White Space regulations released by UK regulator Ofcom in December 2015, and the use of dynamic spectrum to bring connectivity to rural and digitally-excluded people, communities and businesses.

Paul Garnett, Senior Director for Affordable Access Initiatives at Microsoft, was also honoured with the award for Outstanding Leadership and Contribution for his continued efforts as Chairman of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Board since 2013. Kalpak Gude, President of Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, said: Paul Garnett has led the formation of the DSA from its inception to now, four years later, and continues to be a key leader within the organisation as the Chairman and key resource for everything related to the DSA.

The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Global Summit is co-hosted with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and is taking place in Cape Town, South Africa this week (May 9-11, 2017).
Regulators Gather at the DSA Global Summit 2017 to Discuss Opportunities Dynamic Spectrum Access Creates

Posted by Publisher Networking

Cape Town, South Africa, 11 May 2017: Regulators representing four different countries from North America, South America and Asia took part in the Regulator Leadership Summit today during day two of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) Global Summit 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. One key message became clear  enabling greater use of unlicensed or lightly licensed spectrum enables innovation and growth, as well as creating new solutions for long standing problems such as narrowing the digital divide.

The panel, including representatives from Agencia Nacional del Espectro (ANE), Colombia; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), USA; Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes (ANATEL), Brazil and the Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA), Korea, addressed the issue of how dynamic spectrum sharing can help to solve the connectivity gap that keeps four billion people from participating fully in the digital economy.

Optimization of the use of a scarce resource like spectrum requires the implementation of a new spectrum management framework, said Dr. Agostinho Linhares, Manager of Spectrum, Orbit and Broadcasting Division, ANATEL. Spectrum sharing is a way forward to improve technical and economic efficiency, and dynamic spectrum access can bring benefits to users, the economy and society, once it permits to serve more users in the same spectrum range, protecting incumbent services.

Dynamic spectrum sharing also raises new issues for regulators regarding spectrum rights and interference. Different approaches to protecting incumbent services while driving for more efficient use of spectrum were discussed, as well as the regulatory differences with unlicensed and lightly licensed spectrum in a dynamic environment from the traditional unlicensed model.

The regulator session built on the momentum from the first full day of the Summit, which saw 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) take centre stage in discussions amongst panellists and remained recurring themes throughout the day.

This included a panel titled Wi-Fi for the 5G World, which looked at how new demands for greater Wi-Fi capacity has resulted in the need for more innovative spectrum access approaches aimed at improving spectrum efficiency and access, most notably through spectrum sharing. Panellists explored what the future of Wi-Fi will look like and what those capabilities will include. Commenting during the panel session, Haiyun Tang, CEO of Adaptrum Inc. commented: Adaptrum embraces a broader definition of 5G which encompasses a vision of universal access.

New spectrum requirements were at the heart of the discussion during a panel on Enabling IoT through Dynamic Access Technologies. With the addition of billions of new devices and data sources the IoT will bring, the panel discussed which bands of spectrum will be required and how dynamic access to spectrum can play a key role in building the network of the future. Use cases from Africa were also presented, including in areas such as healthcare.

For further information about the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance and the Global Summit 2017, please visit www.dynamicspectrumalliance.org/ or follow @dynamicspectrum and #DSA17GS on Twitter. Alternatively join the Alliance on Facebook or LinkedIn.
CORRECTION  Solodev

ORLANDO, FL  (Marketwired)  05/11/17  In the news release issued earlier today by Solodev, we are advised by the company that Consulting Partner should read Technology Partner throughout the release. Complete corrected text follows.

Web Experience Platform Provider, Solodev, Named an Advanced Technology Partner in Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network

ORLANDO, FL  May 11, 2017  Web experience platform, , announces today its status of Advanced Tier as an . The achievement aids in Orlando-based Solodevs mission to help businesses of all sizes fully embrace the AWS Cloud. Through its Advanced Tier Partner status, Solodev also expands its visibility to high profile clientele and business around the world, while attracting new talent to Central Floridas technology hub.

The Advanced Tier designation with AWS fills a growing need in the business community for proven assistance in designing, architecting, building, migrating and managing workloads and applications on the AWS Cloud. Meeting this milestone enables Solodev to further expand its services through additional funding and marketing opportunities, such as visibility on the AWS company profile partner solutions finder. The Advanced Tier Partner status also allows Solodev to reach a wider audience through involvement in AWS events, webinars, case studies and industry competencies.

In 2016, the Solodev team completed the process of re-architecting our web experience platform, as well as our own company website, to be optimized for AWS. While this process was time-consuming and presented many challenges, we persisted because we understood the critical value of offering our customers the most secure, scalable and reliable hosting infrastructure available, said Shawn Moore, CTO at Solodev. Following the completion of that project, Solodev began its journey with the APN to further equip our customers with the expertise and tools needed to fully embrace the AWS Cloud. Were proud to reach the Advanced Tier milestone and look forward to our next achievement on this exciting journey.

To achieve Advanced Tier Partner status within the APN, Solodev was required to meet stringent criteria including: AWS Technical Validation; minimum direct, influenced and Marketplace monthly AWS billings of $50,000 or APN Competency (three-month average); six approved customer references on Amazon Web Services; and AWS training and partner practice plans. Solodev employees were also required to successfully earn AWS Certification, an industry-recognized credential that demonstrates proven skills and knowledge in building AWS solutions.

Solodev believes in the power of AWS and is therefore committed to continued investment in strengthening our expertise and engagement with the leading cloud computing services provider, adds Moore. As an Advanced Tier Partner, Solodev receives many benefits that increase our visibility to prospective customers, thereby elevating Central Floridas recognition as a hub for technology and innovation. This is a huge opportunity for Solodev to share our experience and guide companies of all sizes through a successful and rewarding migration to the AWS Cloud.

For more information about Solodev, visit .

Melissa Landy

Uproar PR for Solodev

(321) 236-0102 x233
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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.
Controversy over a required reading book at Sauk Prairie High School drew a large enough crowd to require extra seating at the May 9 School Board Meeting.

Most of the people came to share their opinion about a controversial book in the ninth grade curriculum at Sauk Prairie High School, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

The book was listed as one of the most banned or challenged books of 2014 as cited by the L.A. Times. It chronicles the life of the character Junior, a 14-year old budding cartoonist who lives on a Spokane, Washington Indian reservation. It is controversial for having what some deem anti-family sentiments, cultural insensitivity, drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, and offensive language, sex education, being unsuitable for the age group, depicting violence and bullying.

Despite this, many people  including students, parents and even a local pastor  spoke on behalf of keeping the book in the high schools curriculum.

Dennis Virta, a local pastor, said hes thankful for teachers who forced his kids to read some books that they didnt want to read.

I was forced to read a book some people are offended by, he said. I call it an equal opportunity offender. It offends Muslims, Christians, Jews, Atheists, in that book there are seven suicides, genital mutilation, hundreds of murders, incest, rape, and one ultimate injustice. And if we are going to ban a book, this would probably be the most offensive book  and I read it every day  the Holy Bible.

Sauk City resident Grace Breunig, a freshman at Sauk Prairie High School, said she was astonished to learn the book was even being considered to be banned.

This book showed ways to express yourself through art, reading and sports, which is stuff we can all relate to, she said. Today kids express themselves a lot through social media. But this book showed there are lots of other ways to do so.

Mary Dickey said she found the book to be wonderful.

To me it was about a boy who faces incredible challenges  he faces life with courage and imagination, she said. He survives and overcomes. I was very impressed with it.

She said if parents think it is problematic for their children there was the opportunity to opt out of it.

I dont think other peoples children should be kept from reading it, she said.

Kassie Baron, a former Sauk Prairie High School student, said the point of literature is to teach students empathy and how to empathize with people whose situations are not their own.

I think even if you do oppose this book thats fantastic, your child should be learning those critical thinking skills in order to be able to articulate their opposition to a topic, she said.

While the majority of people at the meeting spoke in support of the book, there were those who still felt it was inappropriate for youth.

With the excellent literature available to complement their excellent lesson plans, why would our five-star teachers want to use a three-star book? said Kay Ringelstetter. Especially a book known to be banned in many communities. This makes no sense to me.

The book I feel could be a great learning experience for anyone  the notes that went home to parents simply stating the book had mature content and adult language  How can we tolerate being uninformed? said Nick Ringelstetter. The only way to solve this conflict in the future is to have a policy where teachers are honest with parents and give them a good option.

One parent said her son is in seventh grade and will not be attending Sauk Prairie High School next year.

This year I got a letter saying he was reading banned books, Robin Ballweg said. Its a joke. Now I get to hear snide remarks about drugs and jerking off and things like that. And this is the same boy who is an altar boy at church. This is not something I want him to think is OK or normal.

Jeff Virchow said its important for people in smaller towns to learn about the world around them so they know what issues are facing others.

I think the book is really helpful in raising some of those issues in terms of whats happening in our society; what it means to be a person who lives in poverty, what it means to be a person of color, a person who doesnt have the same opportunities and possibilities as those of us who come out of a white, privileged culture have, he said.

Virchow said he doesnt support banning the book, but does support ways the district could have better communicated the books contents.

A formal complaint was issued to the district by a parent during the second semester. As per district policy, a committee was then formed to review the complaint. The committee included members of the district staff as well as several parents in the district.

The committee voted 8-5 in favor of keeping the book in the districts curriculum. Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Cliff Thompson is now charged with the task of making a recommendation to the school board about whether or not to ban the book or keep it as part of the high schools curriculum. Thompson said he will have that recommendation at the boards next regularly scheduled meeting, May 22.
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II ventured further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut ever has when he tested the Manned Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU, a nitrogen jet propelled backpack, during a 1984 space shuttle mission.

Becoming an astronaut doesn't just happen overnight. It takes many years of education and experience to meet the basic qualifications. Many people aren't accepted on the first try, either, requiring them to learn more to be better prepared for the next try. Even then, only a small percentage of applicants become astronaut candidates, making it a hard job to get.

"The fact that I applied to become an astronaut 15 times has not been lost on my friends, followers, or fans," wrote retired astronaut Clay Anderson in his biography, The Ordinary Spaceman, as quoted in Popular Mechanics.

"Jokes and snide remarks have hinged upon the ugly truth that on 14 of those 15 attempts I was a complete and abysmal failure. As a matter of fact, there's a NASA public service announcement highlighting how it took me 15 tries. I like to cling to the reality that I can always say 'better late than never,' but at this point it's all academic."

This article focuses on the selection process for NASA, which applies to American citizens. While many of the qualifications can be generalized to astronaut programs in other countries, it's important to note that each space agency has its own selection process.Non-U.S. citizens in the following geographical areas should consult one of these agencies for more information on becoming an astronaut:

The Right Stuff

The first step to being an astronaut is getting relevant experience in school. There are two main classes of astronaut applicants: military applicants and civilian applicants. Military application procedures vary depending on the branch of the U.S. armed forces you are working for, since you apply through your respective branch. Civilians apply to NASA directly.

No matter the background, NASA wants its astronauts to have at least a bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. (The agency maintains a list of exceptions to these degrees, such as geography or aviation management.) Many astronauts have a master's degree or even a Ph.D. in their field. Some astronauts, such as Story Musgrave (now retired), have degrees even beyond that.

While education implies you'll need some money to make astronaut selection possible, a Forbes article points out that several astronauts received assistance from the military or government programs to pick up qualifications.

"Kids that could never have afforded the education needed were assisted by government programs, whether that be military, federal, or state," said NASA employee Robert Frost, responding to a question on Quora. "With that help and working very, very hard, they got educated and got good jobs where they were able to show their capabilities in a way that impressed the astronaut selection committee. Sometimes determination needs a helping hand."

It takes more than school to gain a foothold as an astronaut selection candidate, however. NASA wants at least three years of "related, progressively responsible, professional experience" or (in a nod to military candidates) at least 1,000 hours of "pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft." Advanced degrees are considered equivalent to this experience, however, with a master's equaling one year of experience and a doctorate three years of experience.

A notable exception to these requirements are teachers, who still must have a technical bachelor's degree but can qualify through the act of teaching  even for elementary school children.

NASA astronaut candidates must also pass a demanding physical. Among the requirements:

20/20 vision (either naturally or with corrective lenses)

blood pressure not more than 140/90 in a sitting position

a height of between 62 and 75 inches

In general, you must be in extremely good shape to be an astronaut as it's expensive to make an emergency return to Earth in case of medical emergency in orbit.

There also are interviews during the selection process to figure out if a candidate is physically and psychologically able to work as an astronaut. Flexibility, group work skills and a love of learning are some of the personality traits NASA looks for.

Astronaut candidacy and path to flight

Once selected, NASA does not consider you to be a full astronaut yet. There are two years of basic training ahead in which you are considered an "astronaut candidate." The candidates receive basic classroom learning about the International Space Station and spaceflight generally. They also become qualified scuba divers, do military water survival training, undergo swimming tests, are exposed to high and low atmospheric pressures, do flights in the "vomit comet" and get media and Russian language training, among other things. [6 Everyday Things that Turn Strange in Weightlessness]

After graduating, many astronauts are not assigned to a flight for years. They will back up other astronauts in orbit through serving as a "CapCom" in Mission Control, doing simulated spacewalks in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and picking up more skills they will need for their time in orbit. They spend time not only at NASA, but also international partners with training facilities (such as Canada, to learn how to operate the station's robotic arm.) All astronauts also must maintain flight proficiency on T-38 aircraft, flying a certain number of hours per month.

Once an astronaut is selected for a flight, the mission training takes another couple of years. They start by reading textbooks and receive classroom training, then do simulation after simulation to learn the stuff for real. Their training takes place all over the world, both individually and with their crewmates.

"Several full-scale mockups and trainers are also used to train astronauts. These mockups and trainers are used for onboard systems orientation and habitability training. Astronauts practice meal preparation, equipment stowage, trash management, use of cameras, and experiment operations," NASA stated.

A typical spaceflight these days for a NASA astronaut lasts six months on the International Space Station, but some astronauts are now being assigned to year-long flights to learn more about the human body. Science will take up most of an astronaut's time in orbit.
Deaf participants in NASA's and the U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine's joint weightlessness research program sit in a zero-g aircraft that flew out of Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. The program ran from 1958 to 1968.

A new museum exhibit honors 11 men who made significant contributions to spaceflight in NASA's early days.

In the late 1950s, NASA recruited 11 deaf men from Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University) to study the long-term effects of weightlessness on the human body before the agency ultimately sent astronauts to space.

The group of men, also known as the "Gallaudet 11," suffered from inner-ear problems. As a result, they did not experience the adverse effects of motion sickness, making them the perfect candidates for early spaceflight experiments, according to a statement from NASA.

Now, Gallaudet University, which focuses on education opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, is honoring the 11 men for their contributions to the NASA spaceflight program with a new museum exhibit, called Deaf Difference + Space Survival. The exhibit spotlights the "relatively unknown contributions to the study of motion sickness" made by the Gallaudet 11, NASA officials said in the statement. [Fun in Zero-G: Weightless Photos from Earth and Space]

John Zakutney, a participant in joint weightlessness research from NASA and the U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine, is lowered down into a centrifuge pod. (Image credit: NASA/U.S. Navy/Personal collection of David Myers)

"Throughout a decade of various experiments, researchers measured the volunteers' non-reaction to motion sickness on both a physiological and psychological level, relying on the 11 men to report in detail their sensations and changes in perception," NASA officials said in the statement.

From 1958 to 1968, the men participated in various weightlessness, balance and motion-sickness experiments that helped NASA scientists better understand how the human body responds to foreign gravitational environments. For one of the experiments, four men spent 12 straight days inside a slow-rotation room to test the effects of gravitational changes on the human body. Other experiments included zero-gravity flights in the "Vomit Comet" (an airplane that simulates the feeling of weightlessness that astronauts experience in space) and ferry rides on choppy seas off the coast of Nova Scotia, according to the statement.

"These experiments help to improve understanding of how the body's sensory systems work when the usual gravitational cues from the inner ear aren't available, as is the case of these young men and in spaceflight," NASA officials said in the statement.

The Gallaudet 11 included Harold Domich, Robert Greenmun, Barron Gulak, Raymond Harper, Jerald Jordan, Harry Larson, David Myers, Donald Peterson, Raymond Piper, Alvin Steele and John Zakutney.

The Deaf Difference + Space Survival exhibit is currently on display at Gallaudet University's Jordan Student Academic Center.

Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us @Spacedotcom Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Some got off easy, while others have been waiting a long time  the three space travelers gearing up for a September launch to the International Space Station went through very different training experiences before coming together as a team.

In fact, only first-time NASA flier Mark Vande Hei had the traditional training period for this mission. He's a retired U.S. Army colonel and worked in Mission Control at Johnson Space Center before (and after) undergoing training in the astronaut class of 2009. He had the ordinary 18-24-month training process for the Sept. 13 launch.

Fellow NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who's flown one short-duration and one long-duration flight before this, will have only six months of training; he's already been through three of them. [Life in Space: An Astronaut's Video Guide to Orbital Living]

Acaba's ride to the space station comes from a contract NASA signed in March with Boeing, which had acquired seats on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft through a deal with the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.

"I got pretty lucky with a six-month training program," Abaca said during a news briefing yesterday (May 10). He added that NASA and its international partners got together to choose the most important things to include in his training in the limited time available.

Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, on the other hand, was originally scheduled to fly in March, but was moved later after Russia decided to switch from three to two cosmonauts on the station. Misurkin, who is on his second long-duration spaceflight, is slated to command the Soyuz capsule bringing the trio up in September.

"I knew that for Mark and for Joe, now, it's been a pretty tough schedule, and they are very, very busy," Misurkin said during the briefing. "But for me, it's like  you have a distance, you know where is your final line, you start to run, run, run, and [then they say] you know what? We've decided to add some more." Misurkin said he's looking forward to finally getting to fly, and to working with Acaba and Vande Hei.

For now, the three are training together for the Sept. 13 launch, when they will join Expedition 53 on the station. They will remain in space until Feb. 23, during Expedition 54.

"During that time, the primary objective for us is doing lots of science, both to help further NASA's exploration goals and to serve the needs of the country now, to help people on the ground as a national laboratory," Vande Hei said. "We're going to have several visiting vehicles  there's a possibility of an EVA [spacewalk], but really, because we're going to be up there so long, we're just ready for whatever the planners give us."

Indeed, flexibility is crucial for long-duration flights  as well as for training processes that range from a couple years to a couple months, as the space fliers said.

"It's always good to go back," Acaba said. "What's really interesting about the long-duration flights is you don't know what's going to happen every day. Every day's a challenge, [and] you don't know what's going to break, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the next increment brings up."

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer has measured cosmic rays streaming toward Earth since 2011, searching for evidence of distant dark matter.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  After six years in space, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a sensitive particle detector aboard the International Space Station, is being prepared for a cooling system retrofit to keep the instrument operational until the station's retirement in 2024 or beyond.

Station commander Peggy Whitson and newly arrived rookie flight-engineer Jack Fischer, both with NASA, will kick off preliminary work on the $2 billion, 8.5-ton (77 metric tons) science instrument on a spacewalk tomorrow (May 12).

During their spacewalk, which is scheduled to last 6.5 hours, the astronauts plan to install a cable so engineers can test a data circuit in the AMS. The instrument was installed outside the station during the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour, in May 2011. [Photos: AMS Hunts Exotic Particles in Space]

AMS is designed to study cosmic rays for signs of dark matter being annihilated in space.

Unlike regular matter, which emits or interacts with electromagnetic radiation, dark matter has never been observed directly. The existence of dark matter is inferred through its gravitational effects on visible matter.

Current theories suggest dark matter may account for 85 percent of all the matter in the universe.

So far, AMS has tracked more than 100 billion cosmic ray hits in its detectors, AMS lead scientist Samuel Ting, a Nobel laureate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an interview with Space.com.

"We have measured an excess of positrons [the antimatter counterpart to an electron], and this excess can come from dark matter. But at this moment, we still need more data to make sure it is from dark matter and not from some strange astrophysics sources," Ting said. "That will require us to run a few more years."

AMS has also been measuring energy spectrums of helium, lithium, boron, carbon and other elements that fly toward Earth as cosmic rays.

"None of the energy distributions agree with theoretical predictions  by a huge amount," Ting said. "Not a single one agrees. That's how little we know."

To keep AMS operational through the lifetime of the station, NASA plans to replace the device's cooling pumps next year, Ting said.

Two of AMS' four cooling pumps have failed, Ting said, though the particle detector needs just one pump to operate.

"In talking with NASA, we decided that since we will be there for the lifetime of the station, it would be prudent to replace with new pumps," Ting said. "This will be done sometime next year."

The pumps are part of a liquid carbon-dioxide cooling system that dissipates heat from the AMS as the station orbits in and out of sunlight.

The cable being installed during Friday's spacewalk will test a system that reads out engineering data from the device.

"We want to check if the readout system is still there. It's more or less an assurance check [to] make sure the communications will be there," Ting said.

Friday's spacewalk, which is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), will be the 200th devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction of the outpost began in 1998.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The Gander Mountain at Interstate 39-90-94 and Highway 51 near DeForest will remain open and its gun ranges and gun shop will be unchanged, according the company's new owner.

However, the future of the company's Baraboo store remains uncertain.

The outdoor retailer filed for bankruptcy in March but was purchased by Camping World Holdings at a bankruptcy auction with a liquidator purchasing all of the inventory in the 160 stores. Marcus Lemonis, the company's chairman and CEO, told the Wall Street Journal that he may keep as many as 70 stores open and has said on Twitter that those stores would include the store in the town of Burke just north of Madison and those in Eau Claire, Onalaska, Franklin, Kenosha, Waukesha and Rothschild.

There has been no word on stores in Germantown and Baraboo.

It is not a finalized list, so there will likely be more news to come, Jess Myers, a spokeswoman for Gander Mountain, told the Baraboo News Republic.

The $6.5 million, 91,000-square-foot store in the town of Burke opened in 2008 and includes indoor live and virtual reality gun ranges. The store is also about three times larger than the Gander Mountain stores that closed that year near East Towne and West Towne malls. The East Towne store had opened in 1992 and the West Towne store in 2000. The new location, outside of the city limits of Madison, was selected to avoid city regulations on the sale of handguns.

In a response to a question from the State Journal about the future of the live and virtual gun ranges and whether they would remain or be downsized, Lemonis responded on Monday that they would "remain."

The store opened at about the same time as a neighboring 24,000-square-foot Camping World store that sells just about anything needed for a motor home like appliances, lawn furniture, gadgets, games, kitchen items and sewer hoses.

Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, Gander Mountain started in Kenosha County in 1960 as a catalog retailer. The firm went through bankruptcy in the 1980s and in 1996, and filed again in March, seeking protection from creditors while it reorganized its financial affairs.

The company has seen increased competition from Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's and online retailers. In 2015, Cabela's opened a 90,000-square-foot store at the Shoppes at Prairie Lakes in Sun Prairie.
A Space Launch System (SLS) fuel tank needed for structural tests in advance of the debut flight of NASA's heavy-lift booster was damaged on May 3, the space agency said today (May 11).

The accident at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans is under investigation, said agency spokeswoman Kim Henry.

NASA has not yet determined if the damage will affect the schedule of the maiden SLS flight, whose November 2018 launch date was already in doubt, the agency said. [Photos: NASA's Space Launch System for Deep-Space Flights]

"Initial assessments indicate damage to the rear (aft) dome of a liquid-oxygen tank, which is part of the rocket's 212-foot [65 meters] core stage," NASA said in a statement. "Assessments are underway to determine the extent of the damage."

Henry declined to describe the physical damage or provide details of the accident, which occurred as the 27.6-foot-diameter (8.4 m) dome was being prepared to be welded to the rest of the tank.

"It's the last piece you need when you're welding the liquid oxygen tank," Henry said.

The tank was due to be shipped to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for testing to ensure it can withstand the stresses of launch. NASA has already completed a liquid-hydrogen tank for qualification testing, Henry said.

NASA last month confirmed findings from a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that the debut test flight of the SLS, a heavy-lift booster intended to pave the way for eventual human missions to Mars, would be delayed until at least early 2019.

"We agree with the GAO that maintaining a November 2018 launch-readiness date is not in the best interest of the program, and we are in the process of establishing a new target in 2019," William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., wrote in a letter responding to the GAO report.

NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) reached a similar conclusion in an audit completed last month.

"NASA's first exploration missions  EM-1 and EM-2  face multiple technical challenges that will likely delay their launch," the OIG report said, referring to the first two SLS flights.

Before the May 3 accident, the key issues threatening the first SLS launch were delays in developing the Orion capsule's service module by the European Space Agency and tornado damage to buildings at Michoud, where the rocket's core stage is being built.

The Trump administration has asked NASA to consider adding a crew to what is currently planned as an uncrewed SLS-Orion test flight around the moon. The results of NASA's study have not yet been released.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
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The fifth and final defendant in a counterfeit money bill passing scheme in southern Wisconsin has been sentenced to three years probation.

Parish Barbary-Wheatherby, 21, of Madison, was also ordered to pay $4,600 in restitution to businesses scammed in the scheme when he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison on Wednesday.

Barbary-Wheathery and the other four convicted in the scheme used fake $100 bills at multiple restaurants and merchants from Baraboo to Janesville in January and February of 2016, making small-dollar purchases to get real money in change.

Others sentenced in the scheme included Dominique Gaunichaux, 19, eight months in prison; Cornelius Stewart, 22, two years in prison; Danesha Phillips, 23, 42 days in prison with credit for time served; and Marlo Phillips, 19, one year time served.
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STAMFORD  U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy will hold a town hall meeting at the University of Connecticuts Stamford campus this weekend.

The Connecticut Democrat plans to provide an update on his work and answer questions from the audience.
Contributed photo / Stratford Police Dept. / Contributed photo

STRATFORDProsecutors say a Florida man tried to rob a pharmacy and a bank within 15 minutes of each other.

The incidents allegedly took place Feb. 17 between 12:45 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
STAMFORD - The state is working on its latest plan for replacing the dilapidated train station garage, but details - again - are scanty.

The Department of Transportation invited city and business officials and commuter advocates to tour the garage site Tuesday to introduce initial thoughts on ideas for a new garage, said Michael Pollard, chief of staff to Mayor David Martin.

It sounds vague. It is.

So was the purpose of the meeting, at which city officials were told little more than what they already knew - that a new garage with roughly 1,000 spaces will be built at South State Street and Washington Boulevard, now the site of a small surface lot, with a walk bridge to the train platforms.

They didnt show us anything; there were no renderings, said Robin Stein, special assistant to the mayor advising on the garage and other projects. Every time we tried to get details, they said its very preliminary. But its state land, so they can do what they want.

It was the same for the DOTs previous plan, which was to build a huge office, housing, retail and hotel complex on the site of the old garage - directly across from train platforms  and move commuter parking farther away.

The project fell apart in October after the DOT could not finalize a deal with its private partner, Stamford Manhattan Development Ventures.

Commuters hated the first plan. They said it would use public land to generate revenue for the developer and the DOT, short-shifting citizens whose livelihoods depend on access to the train station.

The situation got worse when the DOT refused to share details, saying their private business partners plans were proprietary.

Some fear the new project is headed down the same track.

Development is still in the cards for Station Place.

No plan

The DOT plans to build the new South State Street garage, then tear down the old Station Place garage and use that land for commercial use - details to be determined, said longtime commuter advocate Jim Cameron, who attended the meeting.

They said they dont know yet what kind of development it will be, Cameron said. They said they will figure that out as construction of the new garage gets underway.

That will not be good news for commuters, who vehemently opposed the previous project.

What commuters want is a garage where it is now, right across the street from the train station, Cameron said. They wont be happy if there is crazy traffic congestion with the new garage, since it will be built right near the ramps to I-95.

Stein said questions abound.

We asked, Shouldnt you be planning the whole project, including the development? Its a small, congested space. We didnt get answers.

There were questions about the demolition of the 1987 garage, since it is connected to a large addition that was built in 2004 and needs to remain.

The old garage and the addition are so intertwined that you drive from one into the other and you dont even realize it, Cameron said. We asked how they can keep one open while they are demolishing the other, and whether we will lose spaces in the addition. They said they dont know.

We asked if they will be able to keep Station Place open when all this is going on. They said they dont know.

PR firm hired

DOT spokesman Judd Everhart provided a few details by email.

The garage is still in design so the number of stories is not yet known, Everhart said. It is scheduled for completion in 2021. The old garage, so deteriorated that two of four floors are closed, will remain in use until then because it is being continuously maintained.

Tuesdays meeting was an information-gathering session with stakeholders, Everhart wrote. We will be scheduling public meetings early in the design process in order to collect input, ideas and questions related to this project.

He said the DOT hired a public-relations firm, Arch Street Communications of White Plains, N.Y., to develop a public-engagement program.

That may be a good idea, said James Gildea, chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council.

The first go-around was a public-relations nightmare, so maybe (the DOT) is trying to be more commuter-friendly this time, Gildea said.

But the effort needs work, said Gildea, who did not attend the 12:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday because he didnt receive notice until Friday.

I couldnt get there in the middle of a working day on such late notice, Gildea said. As advocates for commuters, the council hopes that, moving forward, there will be forums for our input at times that are conducive for us to participate.

Commuters had similar complaints about public hearings on the previous project.

Joe McGee, vice president of public policy for The Business Council of Fairfield County, said he was disappointed by the meeting.

The DOT was trying to give the impression that they want our input, but what really has to happen is that the state has to form a serious working group with the city, McGee said. Even though the state owns the land, it is being built in Stamford. To come up with a proper project for the train station, the DOT must include Stamford people in the planning.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296; stamfordadvocate.com/angelacarella
A Minneapolis man was charged in federal court Wednesday for a string of Madison robberies in early April, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Rodney Keys, 45, was charged with four counts of robbing a business and one count of bank robbery for allegedly robbing five locations throughout the city from April 5 through April 11, according to the attorney's office. Keys had physical contact with employees during three of the robberies, the attorney's office said.

Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said the robberies include Subway, 1814 W. Beltline, on April 5; Open Pantry, 1412 Pflaum Road, and Banzo Shuk restaurant, 1151 Williamson St., on April 6; Subway, 4416 Pflaum Road, on April 10; and Associated Bank, 4407 Cottage Grove Road, on April 11.

According to the attorney's office, Keys faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison on each count if convicted.

Keys was arrested in St. Paul after fleeing from a stolen vehicle, DeSpain said.
B rexit has not put off global fashion brands seeking a foothold in London, the boss of parka maker Canada Goose told the Standard today as he confirmed plans to open a Regent Street store.

"London and the UK in general is a very important market for us," Dani Reiss, grandson of the brand's founder and chief executive, said.

"I don't think Brexit has affected London's reputation. It's one of the most important cities for brands to be present in, in this global world."

The Canadian company, whose products include the 1000 Beechwood fur-trimmed shell parka, will open its first European shop in London in November. It will feature Canadian marble and house exclusive collaborations.

Canada Goose already has branches in New York and Canada, and will soon add another in Chicago. Reiss said there are currently no plans for further stores and will grow its online and wholesale business instead.

The expansion follows the firm's stock market listing in March. Shares have surged 38% since their debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Reiss said described his first two months as a public company as "a lot of fun", but conceded "we have a lot of work to do to continue to grow".
F rom the baristas to the builders, to the City suits who all make London tick, the overseas workers making our capital their home must despair at election time.

Living in a city that drives our economy with the help of more than three million foreign residents  and 600,000 EU-born workers  I know I do.

This weeks immigration debate has predictably descended into a race to the bottom. Theresa May is sticking to the Conservatives seven-year-old pledge of cutting UK net migration into the tens of thousands. Ukips floundering leader Paul Nuttall has gone one better and promised a one in, one out policy, as if he were some doorman at a Stoke nightclub.

Its all the more baffling since Mrs May has shown signs during this campaign of flexibility elsewhere. Chancellor Philip Hammond  if he stays in the job  should get a freer hand for the Brexit era after the vote, amid hints that the brake on putting up major taxes could be lifted, as well as the expensive triple lock on raising pensions. But when it comes to immigration, the old tens of thousands line just cant be abandoned for fear of stirring up a wasps nest on the Right and jeopardising the blue-collar voters abandoning Labour and Ukip.

Although you cant escape the strong and stable Tory election mantra, the irony is that if the policy was ever actually achieved the state of the public finances would be anything but. But the number of politicians willing to argue the positive economic case for migration and put to bed common public misconceptions is alarmingly thin on the ground. Where the UKs fiscal position is concerned, they would have a very strong case.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscal watchdog and forecaster headed by Robert Chote, sketched out some different scenarios for the UKs public finances under high, low and zero net migration scenarios last year before the referendum. Because migrants are overwhelmingly here to work, theyre a positive for the national coffers. The numbers it crunched have obviously been superseded by the referendum result, but the principles remain the same.

It found that under a high scenario  where net migration is at 265,000 by 2021, the UKs potential output and GDP were 0.8% higher, roughly 15 billion. The low scenario, where migration falls to 105,000 (and still just missing the Tories pledge) has potential output and GDP down by the same amount, as well as a 1.3% fall in house prices. Under the zero net migration scenario the population is 1.5% lower, GDP nearly 2% lower and house prices 3% down to boot.

THE long-term picture is little better. In the watchdogs January fiscal sustainability report the low migration scenario of 105,000 a year and an ageing population sends debt as a share of the economy up more than 30% higher than the OBRs central projection by 2066-67. The watchdog already predicts a deficit of around 156 billion by then, or 8% of GDP. Low migration scenarios just make the damage worse.

As the OBR put it: If a government succeeded in reducing net inward migration from what would otherwise occur then that would be likely to create additional fiscal pressures, but it could always choose to offset those pressures through additional spending cuts or tax increases.

So there you have it. Unless theyre willing to acknowledge that tens of thousands is a politically convenient but unachievable fantasy, we should be asking politicians what theyre planning to cut, or where theyll hit us in the pocket to meet it. The chances are that more migrants will stay at home anyway, as the eurozone recovers and the Brexit brakes squeeze our economy. But it still takes a peculiar form of mania to go out and argue for a policy that will probably take a recession to achieve.
T his newspaper unreservedly withdraws the complaint it made about the Labour Party earlier this week. We said that the problem with Jeremy Corbyns leadership was that it offered neither a bid for the centre-ground nor a radical socialist alternative; instead we were being presented with a series of lame gimmicks, such as extra bank holidays. The leak of the draft of Labours manifesto shows we were wrong. The Corbyn leadership is preparing to put forward the most Left-wing programme for government that the country has seen in over 30 years.

There are proposals to recapture the commanding heights of the private sector with the nationalisation of the energy network, the railways and the postal system. There is a plan to tax the better off until the pips squeak with higher income tax, and punitive rises in corporate tax on businesses. The trade unions are returned to the centre-stage with new collective bargaining powers. There is an unapologetic increase in public debt and deficits, to pay in part for a larger welfare state. Prices and incomes policies are to be reintroduced, the prisons are to be emptied and pacifism becomes the guiding principle of British foreign policy.

This paper welcomes this draft manifesto. But not because we believe any of it will work, or deliver a more prosperous, fairer or safer world  indeed, if adopted it would be likely to produce a rise in poverty, inequality and insecurity. Rather, we welcome the draft manifesto because it means that this election will be a proper test of whether the British people are interested in electing a radical Left-wing government. There was a risk that the ineptitude of the Corbyn leadership  exemplified by the daily display of woeful interviews by shadow cabinet ministers  would become the excuse for any failure to win at the polls; and the far-Left would have been able to claim that they never got a chance to put their radical alternative before the people. That might have provided a platform for the likes of John McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey or Clive Lewis to mount a leadership bid.

Now that excuse will be removed. Labour is offering radical socialism. We shall see whether the British public buys it. If not, then the more moderate voices in the Labour movement can claim that the experiment of taking their party to the Left has failed  and that they should instead occupy the emerging hole at the centre of British politics with a programme of economic efficiency to pay for social justice akin to that put before the French people by Emmanuel Macron.

That depends on whether there are courageous Labour moderates ready to mount the challenge. It assumes too that there is something left of the Labour Party to lead after the reckoning of June 8. For the problem with radical experiments is, they sometimes kill the patient.

Wanted: a perfect hall

The search is on for an architect to design Londons new concert hall and help win support for the project, which the City of London Corporation is already backing. Crucially, Sir Simon Rattle, who is to lead the London Symphony Orchestra, will be one of the judges. The LSO will eventually move into the finished building on the site at London Wall now occupied by the Museum of London.

One of the crucial aspects of the hall is that it should be acoustically perfect as well as beautiful, so Sir Simons contribution will be especially important. London deserves a concert hall that stands comparison with the best in the world, such as Hamburgs. It is an important project: an acknowledgement of the importance of classical music in our cultural life, besides promising to be a big attraction to visitors. It would enrich us all, in more ways than one.
D ear Mrs May

I am taking the liberty of writing to you with advice on your EU negotiating strategy stemming from my own experiences. In so doing I am running a serious risk of seeming presumptuous. Britain is, of course, not Greece. However, Brussels is Brussels, whether its functionaries are dealing with London or Athens.

Reading about the leaks that followed the famous dinner you hosted at 10 Downing Street and, soon after, hearing Michel Barnier, the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, outline his negotiating brief brought back awful memories and confirmed that they have already begun deploying the same sinister tactics against you that they used against me and the government I served in.

For the benefit of full disclosure, let me state for the record that before the referendum I campaigned across Britain against Brexit on the grounds that while the EUs policies and tactics must be resisted energetically, leaving it was not the solution: staying in the EU to oppose what this EU is doing was far preferable. Indeed, while representing Greece at Ecofin (the council of Europes finance ministers), I had entertained hopes of forging an alliance with the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (now editor of this paper) with whom, despite our ideological differences, I shared considerable common ground vis-a-vis the EU and its discontents, including the view that Brexit/Grexit were inimical to the interests of our peoples. On the other hand, my criticisms of Brussels, and in particular its functionaries contempt for democracy, have been closer to those of my friend Norman Lamont and other Eurosceptics among your colleagues.

While the clock is ticking away, and your country is caught up in pre-election fever, there are two potential mistakes I wish to warn against: First, the belief that a strong mandate on June 8 will enhance your ability to negotiate. Second, that meaningful negotiations are possible within the less than two years left after the triggering of Article 50.

Your mandate will, I believe, enrage Brussels in proportion to its magnitude and steel their preordained determination to frustrate the negotiations in order to procure a mutually disadvantageous outcome. Why would they pursue mutual disadvantage? Because faced with a choice between an agreement that is to the advantage of the peoples of Europe and one that bolsters their own power within the EU institutions at the expense of Europes social economies, the Brussels establishment, and the powerful politicians behind them, will choose the latter every time.

General Election polls and projections: May 11

In 2015 the proposals I was tabling, of a moderate Greek public debt restructure, lower tax rates and deep reforms, would have allowed the EU to reclaim more of European taxpayers loans to Greece. Except that getting back their taxpayers money was lower on their list of priorities than signalling to the Spaniards, the Irish, the Italians etc. that if they dared to elect a government promising to challenge the EUs authority, they would be crushed.

Thankfully, Britain is too rich to crush. Alas, Britain is not too big to be pushed into a disadvantageous form of Brexit as a deterrent to other Europeans voting against the edicts of the Brussels apparatchiks. The political utility to the Brussels establishment of leading the UK-EU negotiations to impasse is greater than any disutility they might experience from watching European people and businesses lose out.

If I am right, negotiations will be an exercise in futility and frustration. Barniers two-phase negotiation announcement amounts to a rejection of the principle of  negotiation. He is, effectively, saying to you: First you give me everything I am asking for unconditionally (Phase 1) and only then will I hear what you want (Phase 2). This is nothing short of a declaration of hostilities and, moreover, of his lack of a mandate to negotiate with you in good faith.

Moreover, if you try to bypass Brussels, in order to communicate directly with, say, Angela Merkel, you will be given the EU runaround (i.e. Merkel refers you to Juncker, who refers you to Barnier who suggests you go back to Merkel, and so on ad infinitum). Meanwhile, the leaks about your ministers lack of preparedness will be flooding out of the meeting rooms as part of a propaganda war of attrition.

Is there a way to escape this trap? Since negotiations in good faith are impossible, any such escape must involve adopting a stance that annuls them. What stance? There are two possibilities.

General Election 2017: What you need to know

One strategy is to request an off-the-shelf Norway-like (European Economic Area) agreement for an interim period equal in duration no less than the full term of your next Parliament, whose members the people of Britain will have mandated to debate and to decide the future UK-EU arrangements in relative peace and quiet. This is the small c conservative, gradualist approach that, on the one hand, renders Barnier and his team of negotiators redundant while on the other, creates certainty for business and citizens and allows Merkel to breathe a sigh of relief at the thought that the political hot potato will land in her successors lap.

A second strategy, consistent with the (ill-conceived, in my opinion) haste to end free movement and the continued role of Europes courts in the UK, would be to legislate unilaterally and withdraw from all negotiations, leaving it to Brussels to come to you with a realistic offer regarding free trade etc. Part of this unilateral legislation could involve granting British citizenship to all EU residents unconditionally, followed by a statement that delivers you the moral high ground: We did what is right by EU citizens in the UK. Let us now see how our European neighbours behave to our citizens residing in their countries.

JFK once said: Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. In a Europe indisposed to genuine negotiations, never fear to walk away from their phoney negotiations.

With best wishes,

Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakiss new book, Adults in the Room: My Battle Against Europes Deep Establishment, is published by The Bodley Head.
E very marriage has its own rhythms, habits and argot. As a mere spectator, you never quite know whats happening inside. Which is why many of us want to peek in at the window  especially if it belongs to an A-list double act. The fame is squared there; so too is the fascination.

Sometimes celebs open the curtains themselves. In his first interview since the end of his relationship with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt has said in GQ that the split was self-inflicted. The actor also admitted he had a drink problem: I cant remember a day since I got out of college when I wasnt boozing or had a spliff.

Pitt has rightly been praised for this admission. Even now, we hardly talk about the devastation alcohol abuse can wreak. We talk even less, though, about the impact addiction has on partners and children  how it can make staying in a relationship intolerable. You married the boy, not the bottle. When Jolie filed for divorce, her lawyer said it was for the health of her family.

And yet shes getting flak over this. In one newspaper, it was suggested self-absorbed Angelina might lead anyone to the cocktail cabinet, even though Pitts drinking predated their relationship by about 23 years. Meanwhile, another writer claimed that Jolie chose Pitt as a boring... sperm donor and that his problem wasnt that he drank too much  it was that he didnt drink enough. It echoes what Chelsea Handler said last year, that Pitt self-medicated... maybe because he married a f***ing lunatic. If you have a partner whos an addict, you will hear in counselling that you didnt drive them to drink. They make their own decisions.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt - In pictures 1 /36 Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt - In pictures Writer-director-producer-actress Angelina Jolie Pitt and actor-producer Brad Pitt attend Audi at the opening night gala premiere of 'By the Sea' during AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on 05 November 2015 in Hollywood, California Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt give a press conference on 07 June 2006 at a Swakopmund hotel, Namibia to announce they are proud parents of daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt AFP/Getty Images Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as John and Jane Smith in the movie Mr & Mrs. Smith in 2005 20th Century Fox Brad Pitt,eats pizza, as actress Angelina Jolie looks on in the audience during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 02 March 2014 Invision/AP Brad Pitt and children Pax Jolie-Pitt (L), Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (C) and Maddox Jolie-Pitt arrive for the U.S. premiere of Universal Pictures "Unbroken," on 15 December2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Brad Pitt and Family arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport on 05 July 2015 Rex rad Pitt and 2015 Entertainment Innovator Angelina Jolie Pitt attend the WSJ. Magazine 2015 Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art on 04 November 2015 in New York City Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at 'By the Sea' film screening, New York, America -on 03 November 2015 Rex Angelina Jolie hugs Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt (L) and Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt (R) after winning award for Favorite Villain in 'Maleficent' during Nickelodeon's 28th Annual Kids' Choice Awards held at The Forum on 28 March 2015 in Inglewood, California Kevin Winter/Getty Images Brad Pitt and actress Angelina Jolie attend the Oscars held at Hollywood & Highland Center on 02 March 2014 in Hollywood Michael Buckner/Getty Images Benedict Cumberbatch, Angelina Jolie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, actor/producer Brad Pitt, director Steve McQueen, actors Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender celebrate as "12 Years A Slave" is awarded Best Picture during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on 02 March 2014 in Hollywood Kevin Winter/Getty Images Angelina Jolie (L) and Brad Pitt attend the World Premiere of Disney's "Maleficent" at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood Kevin Winter/Getty Images Angelina Jolie (L) and Brad Pitt attend the EE British Academy Film Awards 2014 at The Royal Opera House on 16 February 2014 Dave Benett Angelina Jolie arrives at the world premiere of Unbroken at the State Theatre on 17 November 2014 in Sydney, Australia Brendon Thorne/Getty Images Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie attending the premiere of Maleficent at Kensington Palace on 08 May 2014 Justin Tallis/PA ngelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arriving for the world premiere of World War Z, at the Empire Leicester Square, London on 02 June 2013 Dominic Lipinski/PA Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt attend 'WORLD WAR Z' Germany Premiere at Sony Centre on 04 June 2013 in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup/Getty Images Angelina Jolie arrives at the 84th Annual Academy Awards held at the Hollywood & Highland Center on 26 February 2012 Getty Images Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt attend the Cinema for Peace Gala ceremony at the Konzerthaus Am Gendarmenmarkt during day five of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2012 in Berlin, Germany. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on 15 January 2012 in Beverly Hills Jason Merritt/Getty Images Angelina Jolie (L) and Brad Pitt attend the premiere of DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda 2" at Mann's Chinese Theatre on 22 May 2011 in Hollywood David Livingston/Getty Images Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt attend "The Tree Of Life" premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on 16 May 2011 in Cannes, France Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Hollywood movie stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ride on a motorcycle on a busy street in downtown Ho Chi Minh on 23 November 2006. Jolie and Pitt are expected to adopt a three-year-old Vietnamese boy AFP/Getty Images Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as John and Jane Smith in the movie Mr & Mrs. Smith in 2005 20th Century Fox Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as John and Jane Smith in the movie Mr & Mrs. Smith in 2005 20th Century Fox Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with children Zahara, Knox, Maddox, Shiloh, Pax and Vivienne at at Haneda International airport in Tokyo, Japan on 08 November 2011 Masatoshi Okauchi/Rex Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (C) with children (L-R) Pax Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, Knox Jolie-Pitt, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt and Maddox Jolie-Pitt attend the World Premiere of Disney's "Maleficent", starring Angelina Jolie, at the El Capitan Theatre on May 28, 2014 in Hollywood Charley Gallay/Getty Images

This is just part of the onslaught Jolie has faced since the marriage ended, much of which stinks of sexism. Expecting celebrity mags and websites to be a hotbed of feminist analysis  The Female Eunuch but with bikini pics and circles of shame!  is a fools game. But they are outdoing themselves with the Jolie-Pitt divorce. She has been called the most hated person in Hollywood and a bad mother. On a magazine cover, she was accused of plotting to destroy Pitt. And to ensure every misogynistic trope was ticked off the list, Jolie was even branded a witch. Celebrity Insider, quoting sources close to the Hollywood actors (Im guessing that means someone who once watched Mr and Mrs Smith), said Pitt is scared that Ange the occultist was casting voodoo spells to ruin his life.

Why is Jolie getting this? Sure, Im not thrilled I spent 4 to see Lara Croft in the cinema but I dont think that means she deserves this venom. She has changed the narrative for Hollywood women, morphing from bombshell to benevolent. She works for the UN. She adopts orphans. Usually, Im quite cynical about celebrity humanitarian efforts but Ive spoken to Jolie about her work to combat rape in war zones, and its obvious that is her life mission. Shes no dilettante, trifling with saving the world.

This is just the latest chapter in anti-Jolie sexism. When Brangelina was born, the magazines that wanted us to live vicariously through the worlds most beautiful couple sniffed a cash cow whose carcass theyre now picking at. Back then, they were bigger than Tom and Nicole or, yes, Brad and Jennifer Aniston. They had the glamour, the whiff of scandal and later the Brady Bunch brood of children. But the narrative went that Jolie had stolen Pitt from Aniston, as though he was a possession, with no autonomy.

This gave us a fictitious war between women: vamp versus Americas sweetheart, the Gothic brunette v the sunny blonde. Aniston and Jolie were both cast as characters neither of them auditioned to play, the kind of dull roles actresses complain is all Hollywood offers.

Well never know the whole story, either of the start of the relationship or its end. But its telling that the first instinct many have is to blame a woman  even being Hollywood royalty doesnt spare you from that.

PPE is going well beyond the political set

There's a degree subject that has taken flak over the past seven years. It has been blamed for the financial crisis, political group think, Ed Ballss Dad-dancing on Strictly (probably). It is Oxfords PPE (philosophy, politics and economics), so pervasive in public life as to be almost a finishing school for the governing classes, like a budget version of Platos rule by philosopher kings.

Peak PPE occurred in 2010 when the Prime Minister (David Cameron), the foreign secretary (William Hague), four of their Cabinet colleagues and another two of the MPs who attended its meetings were all holders of the degree, as well as three of the four Labour leadership candidates (Balls and both Milibands). At this point, when people asked what I studied at university, I started answering that I was part of the PPE problem.

Well, no more! Because we are witnessing its redemption. Not only has Malala Yousafzai  education activist, youngest Nobel Prize laureate, Facetimer with Justin Bieber  applied to study it but Riz Ahmed  Bodhi Rook from Rogue One  also read PPE.

The career politicians degree is branching out.
W hen three books with post-truth in the title arrive at the same time, all offering to help us wade through a rising tide of b*******, you have to at least consider the possibility that something fundamental has changed. But what exactly? That the media, especially social media, is full of fake news? That a new breed of politician, above all Presidents Trump and Putin, lie more brazenly than their predecessors? Does this amount to an unprecedented assault on the idea of truth in the public realm, as all three books more or less confidently claim?

Many journalists and intellectuals have always seen it as their job to warn the public about what Vance Packard, in his late Fifties book about the advertising industry, called The Hidden Persuaders. And Im glad that they do. People say a lot of crazy and mendacious things, especially where political or commercial power and strongly held beliefs are at stake, and thanks to the internet and social media they reach further than they used to.

But exaggerated claims in politics are hardly new even from mainstream figures: Winston Churchill in June 1945 predicted that nice Mr Attlee would have to resort to Gestapo methods. And does it really matter if youngsters in eastern Europe earn a little cash by getting millions of hits on a plausible-looking hoax story about the Pope endorsing Donald Trump?

Thankfully Evan Daviss book, the most entertaining of the three, doesnt even try to justify its subtitle: Why We Have Reached Peak B******* and What We Can Do About It. It is more of a Malcolm Gladwell-style social psychology/behavioural economics primer with lots of smart-sounding phrases, like the habituation effect, describing the extent of evasiveness, selectivity and self-deception in everyday life.

Davis points out that b******* has different styles and names at different times. Years ago people were writing books about spin, the managerial style of political communication that reached its zenith with New Labour. He ends with the comforting thought that bullshit can captivate and entrance us for a time, but good sense normally prevails in the end.

And hats off to Davis for breaking with the hallowed consensus about George Orwells essay Politics and the English Language  about the debasement of language  by pointing out that sometimes fudge and evasion are necessary; we would not have the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland without them.

He also reveals a frightening fact about the modern world: there are seven times more psychology students than physics students at British universities.

Matthew DAnconas book is altogether more strident. He is courageously on the side of rational, truth-loving liberals and against irrational, fibbing nativists. But he comes across as a writer who feels he has been elbowed out of the way by noisy plebeians with internet connections.

Although all three books exaggerate the depth of the change represented by the post-truth era, DAncona is right that the internet and social media (and a very unusual US President) have changed the style and tone of debate. The digital giants offer free content in return for our personal data, which most people regard as a reasonable exchange. But Facebook and others cannot continue to maintain that they are neutral technology platforms merely passing on messages, like the post office. When so many people get their information about the world from these outlets they will, eventually, have to accept the status and responsibilities of a quasi-publisher.

He also reflects usefully on the roots of post-truth in the postmodernism that has been so influential in the humanities in recent decades. Drawing on Marx and Nietzsche, French postmodernists said there was no such thing as truth and objectivity, only power and interests. Oddly, it is a Republican president who has best embodied this theory. He has also taken the Lefts identity politics and applied it to left-behind whites.

But hampered by their lack of sympathy for the trends they are describing, all three authors miss the bigger picture here. Politics in most rich democracies has become more technocratic and the political class more narrowly drawn in recent decades, while at the same time the means of political communication has been decisively opened up. The old elite filters have been bypassed and the masses, warts and all, are having their say.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

At the same time, in response to the great openness of western societies, a more emotional socio-cultural politics  bound up with security and identity issues  has emerged to challenge traditional socio-economic politics with its more quantifiable focus on money.

James Ball, in the most forensic and best researched of the three books, captures this point when he quotes Clay Shirky saying weve brought fact-checkers to a culture war. But his argument that we need a BBC-style public service platform for the digital era seems to rather miss the point. Thankfully, we already have one. Its called the BBC.

Post-Truth: Why We Have Reached Peak B******* and What We Can Do About It by Evan Davies

20, Amazon, Pre-order now

Post-Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back by Matthew DAncona

5.49, Amazon, Buy it now

Post-Truth: How B******* Conquered The World by James Ball

6.99, Amazon, Buy it now

David Goodhart is the author of The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics (published by Hurst)
H aruki Murakami, 68, is Japans best-known literary export. In 30-odd books he has confronted themes of adultery, friendship and sex; his spare, unadorned prose is always a delight to read. Fans of Murakamis novels  Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle  will find much to enjoy in his new short-story collection. Calculatedly provocative (Other peoples masturbation habits were beyond me. There were things about my own that I couldnt fathom), the stories offer sweet-sour meditations on human solitude and a yearning to connect.

Each of them features a man bereft of womens company. Samsa in Love, a homage to Franz Kafka, appears to be an allegory of sexual abandonment. In the authors topsy-turvy imagination, a man wakes up to find that he has metamorphosed into Kafkas beetle man, Gregor Samsa. The story, which features a hunchbacked locksmith woman in an ill-fitting brassiere, is what it is: a dark metaphysical fancy with a paranoid-seeming logic.

The title story, intended to echo Ernest Hemingways 1927 story collection, Men Without Women, mingles a disconcerting comedy with a surrealist intent to unsettle. A man finds he is unable to date women without their dying shortly afterwards. (A Midas in reverse, befouling all he touches, he is clearly one to avoid.)

Drive My Car, one of two stories influenced by a cute Beatles song, is no less disconcerting. A middle-aged actor has lost his wife to uterine cancer. Bereft, he hires a woman chauffeur, Misaki, who becomes his counsellor and confidante. With Misaki at the wheel, the widower is impelled to confide prurient details to her about his wifes past affairs and sexual high jinks. Now, he concludes ruefully, she is just a pile of charred bone and ash.

Another lugubrious performance, Yesterday, considers a mans inexplicable tendency to speak a dialect from a region of Japan that is not his own. Why does somebody who was born and raised in Tokyo go to the trouble of learning Kansai and speak it all the time? Good question.

Rather less perplexing is Kino, where a bar-owner is threatened by a couple of gangsters before a mystery man comes to his rescue. Somewhat implausibly, the bar-owner afterwards reflects on his nights of tumultuous sex on tatami mats with a long-dead girlfriend.

The stories, typically for Murakami, are disconcertingly erotic (There were scars on her breasts, and beside her vagina). In Scheherazade, first published in The New Yorker in 2014, a fat housewife is seen to break compulsively into houses. Murakami, a master of the slow burn, is in no hurry to tell us why (though sneaking into other peoples properties is, the woman concedes, highly addictive).

Known in Japan for his love of music, Murakami brocades each of the seven stories with allusions to Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and other jazzmen. The translations, with their distinct American flavour (Jeez, arent you a downer?), are occasionally strange to English ears, but no matter; Murakami, always inventive, is one of the finest popular writers at work today.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review
L abours leaked manifesto promises to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland should Jeremy Corbyn beat the odds and step into Downing Street on June 9 as Prime Minister.

Technically abortion is already legal but only in vaguely defined exceptional circumstances.

In 2015 Northern Ireland allowed only 16 women access to an abortion, whereas 833 had to travel to England or Wales where they were forced to pay up to 2,000 for treatment as they are not covered by the NHS.

Exceptional circumstances do not include victims of rape or incest, cases where the foetus is severely disabled, or even where the health of the mother is at risk. As long as the mother is likely to survive the pregnancy, it is highly unlikely an abortion will be granted.

Women who cannot afford the 2,000 (plus travel expenses) and are not granted a termination face two choices. They can continue with a pregnancy they do not want which may be causing them serious physical or mental harm, or break the law. The penalties are strict.

The 150 year old legislation that governs the practice includes a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and charges are not uncommon. Last year, a woman was handed a suspended sentence after taking abortion medication when she was nineteen.

Another woman impacted by the law is Mary, who was 20 weeks pregnant when she was told her baby would die as soon as it was born. She tells of her horror when she realised she needed to raise 2,000 in a couple of weeks in order to beat the 24 week time limit, after which abortions are no longer legal in England and Wales.

She said: We were thrilled when I became pregnant. Everything was fine until I had a scan at 20 weeks. They told me they had detected serious abnormalities, and that my baby would die as soon as it was born. We were absolutely devastated.

I knew I couldnt continue with the pregnancy. My doctor was very sympathetic but I was absolutely appalled when he told me the law would not permit him to offer me an abortion, and that I would have to go to England, and pay for a private abortion.

I was horrified when I realised I would have to raise 2,000 in a couple of weeks in order to beat the 24 week time limit. Why does the law punish women like me?

The law is in clear violation of the UKs human rights commitments said Laura Russell, Policy and PA Manager for Family Planning Association, a group that campaigns for a modernising of UK abortion laws. Russell cites last weeks Universal Periodic Review, where the UK had to defend its human rights record before other Member States of the UN.

A number of countries, such as Canada, Sweden and Myanmar, which is routinely criticised for human rights abuses, came together at the review to call for reform to abortion law in Northern Ireland. The pressure group Center for Reproductive Rights counts Zambia, India and North Korea as countries that allow their citizens more access to abortion than Northern Ireland.

Russell is therefore grateful of Labours leaked pledge. Even if Corbyn is not swept to power, Russell asserts it will still be incredibly useful for it to be getting attention. A lot of people in the UK, I think, still do not know the situation.

Names have been changed.

The Labour Party did not wish to comment.
A Richland Center man was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday for allegedly sending a message to the Alabama National Guard threatening to blow your (expletive) brains out.

Travis Martin, 32, faces up to a maximum five years in federal prison if convicted, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The indictment said Martin left a voicemail message for a member of the Alabama National Guard on Nov. 10 in Montgomery, Alabama.

The message threatened members of the Army National Guard, indicating Were going to blow your (expletive) brains out,  the Attorneys Office said.

The FBI, Richland Center Police and Richland County Sheriffs Office investigated the case.

Other indictments handed down by the grand jury include:

Jose Escobar-Laos, 30, of Honduras, was indicted on allegations of illegally re-entering the U.S. after being deported. He was found in Dane County on April 20. If convicted, he faces a maximum two years in federal prison.

Raymond Brown, 33, of Rockford, was indicted for transporting a minor across state lines for sex. The indictment alleges he took a minor from Wisconsin to Illinois on March 12. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.

Bradley Aasen, 47, of Menomonie, was charged with three counts of stealing packages from the mail and one count of opening mail. He allegedly stole packages of prescription drugs sent from the VA hospital in Minneapolis to an individual in Wisconsin in 2016, and also allegedly opened a package in February. Aasen worked for the U.S. Postal Service.

If convicted, he faces a maximum five years in prison on each count.
I n 20 years time, Steve Bartlett predicts that we are going to have microchips embedded in our brains. Most people will have one, suggests the 24-year- old CEO. Something that is able to access information, analyse things, that links them to social media, that they can call from. Thatll be the norm. If I explained to you 60 years ago what social media is going to be now We live in a different world. The people who win are the people who embrace it.

He has a good vantage point to make these grand pronouncements from. Bartlett is the wunderkind co-founder of Social Chain, a digital marketing agency with offices in Manchester, New York and Berlin, that employs a workforce of 120, whose average age is 21, and which is estimated to have turned over around 6 million last year. His company claims it can make anything trend within 26 minutes.

Bartlett founded Social Chain in 2014 with a cheque for 300,000 and an initial staff of six, after dropping out of Manchester University. My mum said she wasnt going to speak to me, he says.

It is an impressive story but does not capture the wizardry of exactly what Bartlett and his team of agile Gen Z-ers does. Social Chain owns just over 400 of the biggest social media communities across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For example, @StudentProblems, which has 185,000 followers on Twitter and 4.8 million on Facebook, and shares silly truisms about student life (sample: Procrastination level: looking at photos from nights out you didnt attend).

These tweets are catnip for those who compile low-rent listicles but it also means the videos, tweets and pictures have viral reach. Brands are gasping for this approach and the audience it brings, and will pay generously for Social Chains services. The company has worked with organisations including Apple, the BBC, Disney, Asos and Spotify. Some of its staff are as young as 16, and it has a network of ambassadors at college and university, some of whom will graduate to jobs in the company.

It sounds magical, though to Bartlett its straightforward. He gestures towards our drinks. If you wanted me to start a page on gin, I could get it to 50,000 followers by the end of this interview. I cant quantify this but he did so, notably, for Disney  25 minutes before a presentation he was asked to make the company trend on Twitter in the UK. The hashtag, #DisneyScenesIWillNeverGetOver, trended for nine hours.

The best apps for Londoners 1 /16 The best apps for Londoners Zip car Join, reserve, unlock and drive  it really is that simple. The capitals preferred car clubs app gives 24/7 access to cars and vans in your neighbourhood and lets you extend or cancel reservations on the go. Free Uncover Sick of being stuck on waiting lists? You need Uncover, which redistributes cancelled reservations at some of the capitals top restaurants, including The River Cafe and Nobu. Not for planning freaks, though  tables typically become free at 40 minutes notice. Free Uber So popular its become a verb, this private driver service has revolutionised travel in the capital. Its speedy and affordable, making it a welcome alternative to the night bus. Free Santander Cycles Launched this summer, the official app for Boris fifth child can be used to search for nearby docking stations and check bike availability. Theres also a journey planner featuring easy, moderate and fast routes to satisfy all cycling tribes. Free Plume Air Report This new app has been downloaded by 3,000 Londoners. Sensors gathering air pollution data submit updates every hour, resulting in a scale that ranges from fresh to extremely polluted. Free Nightcapp Heres an app that will have booze hounds raising their glasses. NightCapp is a map that pinpoints more than 1,500 London watering holes that stay open past 11.30pm. It also shows users when a bar is about to close by highlighting it in orange. Better get moving. Free Money Dashboard An award-winning budget planner, this helps you keep track of personal spending across multiple accounts, pay off credit cards and even makes suggestions on how to manage your finances better. Free Her Promising to introduce women to a lesbian that hasnt slept with any of your friends, this revamped dating app includes queer-themed news and blogs, upcoming event notices and an improved algorithm-matching system. Free FoodMood This new startup, which reckons its Tinder for food, pledges to narrow down your choice of lunchbreak destinations. Hit yum or yuk on photos of dishes in your area. Juvenile, but strangely addictive. Free Daily Yoga This offers more than 50 yoga sessions, as well as a database of 500 yoga poses. Suitable for all levels, programmes include yoga aimed at specific areas of the body and weight loss. Namaste to that. Free Coffee Meets Bagel Billed as the anti-Tinder, this new kid on the block delivers just a single match to users once a day. Coffee Meets Bagel uses Facebook profile information to recommend suitors based on friends of friends. Neither coffee nor bagels are included. Free. Bristlr Do you have a beard? Perhaps youd like to stroke one on a regular basis? This can be arranged. Unlike other dating apps, Bristlr is unashamedly all about hooking up the hairy with the hairless. Theres even a beard-rating option for aficionados. Free

Bartlett is animated by the brands creative work: the livestreams and crazy tools that take advantage of the platforms. Social Chain was recently commissioned by Apple to devise a way to reach students. It built a tool that invited students to sign up their social media accounts to Apple Music in return for three months of the subscription service, and which also granted Social Chain access to their accounts to post about Apple (three times).

Social Chain innovates at hyper-speed, so how do staff keep up? Bartlett explains that the team uses a company-wide internal messaging app called Workplace. Every day when something changes in the world that might affect us, someone posts it in. Weve embraced the fact that everything is shifting and we cant be complacent, or precious, or romantic about how we made our money last year because well die if we do.

Whats it like working with established media organisations such as the BBC, whose staff are not digital natives? Theyre blown away by the magic of it all, he laughs.

Bartlett admires Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk. Hes driven solely by vision and purposeful ambition  not money or status. He says Twitter is dead (now we make five per cent of our money from Twitter  a year-and-a-half ago we made 90 per cent) and the future is Facebook and Instagram, partly because of video and partly because Facebook is the ultimate puppet master.

The next frontier for Social Chain is personal branding. Its young audiences are suspicious of traditional advertising: they are more likely to trust people. Hence the growth of influencers  an only slightly odious buzzword invoking those people who become ambassadors for brands off the back of huge social media reaches.

Bartlett knows plenty about this. He has 73.7k followers on Instagram and more than 218,000 followers on Facebook. His YouTube channel has more than 14,000 subscribers. Those are impressive metrics  at this point it is important to note that he was an hour late for our interview, during which time his PR struggled to locate him. He was effusively apologetic  his dog had fallen ill  but personal brands exist IRL as well as offline, and if Id felt like it I could have kicked up more of a fuss.

Anyway, Bartlett is followed around all day by a cameraman, Doddz, and uploads a vlog every day. One he shared for Valentines Day about the effect of social media on relationships has had more than 23 million views. He is clearly one of the brands biggest assets. Sixty to 70 per cent of the money thats gone into Social Chains bank account has come from me speaking on stage.

He is also conscious of Social Chains mythology. His Ted Talk  752,000 views and counting  is entitled, How a Manchester uni drop-out and some kids built a multi-million-pound global company in 18 months, by knowing nothing!! The story is quite compelling, he acknowledges.

Duly, Social Chain has hundreds of applications a week. So whats the most important quality for anyone aspiring to work there? Be nice. Thats the single most important one.

Follow Phoebe Luckhurst on Twitter: @phoebeluckhurst
A Russian blogger has been found guilty of inciting religious hatred after a YouTube video of himself playing Pokemon Go in a church went viral.

Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, filmed himself on the mobile phone game last year at an Orthodox church built in the memory of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

He was arrested and charged with insulting religious believers and inciting hatred and has been in custody since October.

Mr Sokolovsky pleaded not guilty but was convicted by a court in the city of Yekaterinburg and given a three-year suspended sentence on Thursday.

He was also found guilty of illegal trafficking of special technical equipment after a pen with built-in video camera was discovered during a search of his home.
A gang squirted acid into a van and attacked two people with a hammer during a robbery in broad daylight in south east London.

Three people were in a van in Pagnell Street, Deptford, on Wednesday afternoon when the gang of robbers pulled their car in front of their victims, forcing them to stop.

A number of robbers then left the car and squirted a noxious liquid into the van, before attacking two of their victims with a hammer, police said.

A bag was stolen during the attack just before 2.05pm on Wednesday.

The three victims  two men aged 60 and 56, and a woman aged 47 - were rushed to hospital with minor injuries.

A resident living in Pagnell Street said police officers had told her the attack was targeted.

Khalid Salama, who lives in the street, told the Standard: I heard a woman screaming. I wanted to go outside and see what was happening  the police were all over the place and doing their investigation.

I personally feel safe here. Weve been here about three years and we havent faced any risks but its not the perfect area and were probably going to move."

Another resident said: I heard a noise sounding like something dropping and I came out the door and police where everywhere. They told me there was nothing to worry about.

"There were two fellows with a van stuck there. Someone had actually hit it and it was stuck in the road.

A woman living in nearby flats said: I heard a lady screaming. I was in the bathroom and stepped outside and I saw a lady on the passenger side.

"As I stepped out of my door a male got into the left passenger side, it was an old Land Rover. I thought at first maybe she was being kidnapped.

No arrests have been made.

Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, can contact police at Lewisham via 101, or by tweeting @MetCC or contact Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.
A dog owner has been banned from walking his pet lurcher in Richmond Park after it ran amok and caused a mass stampede of deer.

Cameron Harris, 33, had taken the mutt out to stretch its legs when it slipped out of the lead and bolted towards a herd of more than 200 Red and Fallow deer grazing in the Royal Park.

As the deer fled in fear, stampeding through the parkland, the dog jumped up and bit two of them on the backs before dashing back to his owner, Wimbledon Magistrates court heard.

The incident is a repeat of six years ago when a video clip of Fenton the dog chasing after deer in the same park went viral. Fenton's owner, former barrister Max Findlay, was caught on camera haplessly pursuing his Labrador, shouting Jesus Christ, Fenton! as the dog hurtled towards a herd of deer.

The video was a worldwide viral hit but when Mr Findlay was eventually identified he, unlike Mr Harris, was spared criminal charges.

However Royal Parks officials have been cracking down on out of control dogs following a spike in the number of deer attacks.

Mr Harris wrote a grovelling apology for his dogs behaviour as the court gave him a slap on the wrist for the March 23 incident on Wednesday.

The defendants dog was seen by officers chasing 200-300 Fallow deer, prosecutor Paul Poulter said.

The deer were stampeding from the direction the dog was coming from.

Passing police officers saw the black lurcher attack two of the deer before sprinting back to Harris, who admitted he owned the mutt and told them: I dont understand why the collar didnt work.

The court heard Harris had already been slapped with a 12 month ban from walking his dog in the park because of the incident.

He sent a very apologetic letter to deputy district judge Parkash Singh Aujla, accepting responsibility for his dogs behaviour and expressing a high degree of remorse.

The judge sentenced Harris, from Shepherds Bush, to a six-month conditional discharge after he pleaded guilty to causing or permitting a dog to chase, worry, or injure another animal.

The court heard the ban on walking his dog in Richmond Park remains in place following the conviction.

Judge Aujla also ordered Harris to pay 85 court costs and a mandatory 30 victim surcharge, before adding: It is not going to go to the deer.

Royal Parks officials, who manage Richmond Park, issued a warning in January that dog owners face prosecution after a dramatic rise in deer attacks.

Dogs are one of the [key] causes of deer casualties in Richmond and Bushy Parks - by biting deer, or giving chase and forcing deer [into] the path of cars, said a spokesman.

If you cannot control your dog, ensure it is on a leash and keep your distance from deer [or] you could face prosecution.

The official said 29 deer have been killed in the last ten years, including five in the last year.
A mother and daughter covered their faces with burkas as they appeared in court accused of being part of the UKs first ever all-female terror plot.

Rizlaine Boular, 21, and her mother Mina Dich, 43, are accused of plotting with nursery volunteer Khawla Barghouthi, 20, to carry out a terrorist attack on British soil.

Boular was shot by anti-terror police during a raid on Barghouthis home in Harlesden Road, north London, on April 27, when police swooped on the women.

It is said Boular was the leader of the alleged terror plot, assisted by the other two women. They are all three accused of conspiracy to murder.

Boular and her mother appeared in the dock at Westminster magistrates court this morning wearing burkas covering their whole faces.

Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot asked them to lift their veils to reveal their eyes when they were identified in the dock. Barghouthi is wearing a niqab with her face showing.

She remanded all three women in custody until the next hearing at the Old Bailey on May 19.

Barghouthi, of Harlesden Road, and Boular and Dich, from St Georges Wharf, are all accused of conspiracy to murder and engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts.
A leading musician today said she felt complete again after her 317-year-old violin, which was snatched from a train, was returned to her by police.

Carol Slaters Matteo Goffriller 1700, which she had played at Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall, was taken from the luggage rack of a Gatwick Express service.

Ms Slater, from Belsize Park, and her husband were getting off the train shortly after 7am on March 24 to catch a flight to Menorca when they realised the 180,000 violin was gone.

They raised the alarm and police launched a search for the rare instrument, one of only 20 remaining examples of the Italian instrument-makers work.

Her violin was taken from the 6.30am Gatwick Express at Victoria in March (NIGEL HOWARD) / NIGEL HOWARD 

British Transport Police released CCTV of a woman they believed to be carrying the violin from the train.

Their investigation led to an address in north-west London where it was recovered. The instrument, which Ms Slater describes as her most precious possession, was returned to her on Friday. It was slightly damaged but will be fixed in time for her to perform alongside her husband, violist Ian Jewel, at the Belsize Music Festival on May 27.

The mother-of-two said: Im just so delighted. Losing it felt like a bereavement. I felt I would never see it again.

I thought, with all the publicity, once the person knew what they had, they would panic and throw it in the sea or hide it under their bed.

British Transport Police said a 51-year-old woman from London had been reported for theft.

Ms Slater, a Guildhall School of Music graduate, was given the instrument by her father while she was a student in the masterclass of violinist Max Rostal at the University of Berne in Switzerland.

Theft: The violin is a Matteo Goffriller 1700 / British Transport Police

Ms Slater thanked the amazing police for their help and the Evening Standard for publicising the appeal.

It is wonderful to have my fiddle back, she said. Its my musical voice. I feel complete again.
A Palestinian man has been charged with the murder of a British student on a Jerusalem tram on Good Friday.

Hannah Bladon, a 20-year-old student from the University of Birmingham, was stabbed multiple times as she was travelling to Old City, in Israel.

The train was packed at the time of the attack as Christians marked Good Friday and Jews celebrated Passover.

Jamil Tamimi, 57, faces a charge of intentional murder over the attack.

Ms Bladon had been on an exchange programme with the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Her family said she had been taking part in an archaeological dig that morning and described her as a "talented musician" and "enthusiastic rugby player".

Paramedics treated Ms Bladon at the scene and rushed her to hospital, but she later died.

A pregnant woman and a 50-year-old man were also injured when the tram came to a sudden stop in the aftermath of the attack.

Israeli Police Superintendent Micky Rosenfeld said the attack was carried out by an "Arab terrorist" from Rasel Amud, in east Jerusalem.
A priest travelling with a group of clergymen was punched in the face during a "nasty" attack at a west London Tube station.

Police rushed to South Ealing station at 9.30am on Thursday after a number of people reported seeing three or four young people punch a man.

The man is believed to be a priest due to his clothing, police said.

Investigating officer PC Kevin Buck said: Weve had a number of reports of a nasty assault taking place this morning and so have launched an investigation to find out what happened.

Were appealing for anyone who may have seen the incident taking place, or to the victim himself.

"Please come forward, as this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and it is important we locate the offenders.

Anyone with information is asked to contact BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016, quoting 96 of May 11.
A man was rushed to hospital after being stabbed in the shoulder in a "screwdriver attack" on a busy road in north London.

Emergency services raced to Stamford Hill late on Wednesday night following reports of a stabbing.

A photo posted on social media by Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch group in the area, showed at least three police cars and a police van at the scene.

Witnesses claimed the man had been stabbed in the back with the screwdriver.

The incident comes just a day after a man wielding a meat cleaver and a large knife was arrested in nearby Rossington Street.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: We are investigating a GBH. We were called at 10.21pm to Stamford Hill.

A 43-year-old man had been stabbed in the shoulder. He was taken to a north London hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

A 42-year-old man was arrested and taken to an east London police station.

Enquiries are ongoing.
A third person has been charged with the murder of a young man who was stabbed to death in south London

Abdullah Hammia, 24, died after being stabbed in the heart during an attack near Wandsworth Common on Tuesday, April 25.

Detectives charged Tre Henry, 21, of Cheshire Close, New Cross, on Monday.

He is the second man to be charged with his murder and the third person to be charged in the investigation.

Emergency services: An ambulance at the scene of the stabbing / NIGEL HOWARD

Previously, Kearn Johnson, 21, was charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon and Elliot D'Aguiar, 25, with perverting the course of justice.

A 21-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice on Thursday and is currently being held in custody at a south London police station.

Mr Hammias mother told the Standard her son was going straight after time in prison.

She told the Standard the keen boxer was trying to turn his life around when he was killed.

An Australian nanny battled in vain to save his life as he lay on the ground.

In total, seven people have been arrested in connection with the stabbing.

A 30-year-old man, a 29-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man were also arrested on suspicion of murder but have since been released without charge.

A trial is set to start on Monday, October 23, at the Old Bailey.
W aiting times for A&E and hospital operations have increased drastically in the last five years, an analysis by a health charity has shown.

Independent charity The Health Foundation found patients waiting for cancer and routine treatment as well as in A&E are facing a longer wait than in 2011-2012.

The organisation studied official statistics from the NHS, the BBC reported.

Last year the health service missed all three targets for the first time ever and in December, as the winter crisis bit, every NHS trust in London missed its A&E waiting target.

A spokesman for the Conservatives told the BBC: Under Theresa May's leadership, the NHS has more doctors, more nurses and record funding.

The Health Foundations analysis found over 2.5 million people waited four hours or more in A&E in 2016-17, up from 725,000 five years ago.

An extra 200,000 people waited more than 18 weeks for an operation in the past year compared to 2011-2012.

"Maintaining, let alone improving, the quality of care provided is going to be very difficult in the current financial climate, researcher Tim Gardner told the BBC.

"Funding for the NHS in England will need to increase if these hard won gains to the quality of patient care are to be upheld and built upon in the future.

"Waiting time targets for A&E, cancer and consultant-led treatment are a useful barometer of pressure on the NHS."


A north London man was left shocked after discovering an exotic spider hidden in his bunch of bananas.

The man, who lives in Brent, called the RSPCA on Tuesday after he started eating a banana and saw the 5cm creature scuttle away from the bunch.

It is not known what species the spider belongs to but it is thought the creature travelled more than 5,000 miles from Colombia, where the bananas were grown, to London.

RSPCA officer Jill Sanders collected the arachnid and took it to Heathrow Animal Reception Centre.

She said: The spider was a bright yellow/orange in colour but it must have camouflaged perfectly with the bananas where hed made himself at home.

The Columbian creature is now in Heathrow. / RSPCA

Its not surprising that the poor man had quite the shock when he went to bite into his banana and spotted the arachnid.

I understand the fruit hed bought had been imported from Colombia so I would imagine this little critter had stowed away in the box and travelled more than 5,000 miles to London.

We are unsure of the species but have asked an expert to identify it.

Susie Pritchard, deputy manager at Heathrow Animal Reception Centre, said: We havent identified the spider as yet but it is typical of the spiders we sometimes get brought in when found in banana packaging.

We have put it in a secure container in our vivarium room along with a number of other random stowaways that get brought to us.

We will keep it until we find a suitable spider enthusiast who might like it, or it will live out its days here with us.

The RSPCA receives a number of calls every year after members of the public return home from holiday or buy fruit from the shops to find a stowaway spider, lizard or scorpion on board.

Anyone who comes across an exotic creature should get in touch with the charitys 24-hour hotline on 0300 1234 999. The charity urges them not to handle them as they could be dangerous.
K ate Hoey insists everyone in Vauxhall always knew she loathed the European Union. The Labour candidate - who has held the seat since 1989 - has a constituency with an estimated 78 per cent remain vote, yet punched the air when the bill to trigger Article 50 passed: No one would have expected me to turn around and say I now think its wonderful, lets campaign to stay.

So why is Brexit not mentioned on her first leaflet for constituents (of whom I am one)? Which leaflet? I pull the pamphlet out of my bag. Thats just my introductory one. What do you expect  everything in one leaflet at the beginning? No, just a line on the dominant issue of the election.

Except, Hoey says, that isnt Brexit. When I suggest that its a huge issue in London, she responds with whom? She claims its the Lib Dems who want the election to be a one-issue campaign, in a nasty bid to oust her.

Hers should be a safe seat (majority: 12,708). But due to Brexit, she is defensive. Which may explain her odd manipulation of maths: A lot of people didnt vote, so at least a third in Lambeth would be leave. The other two Lambeth MPs both supported remain so I think leavers in Lambeth are entitled to representation.

She even arrives with a print-out of the 2015 Vauxhall general election result: I think people forget the Lib Dems came fourth. If theyre no threat, why does the back page of her leaflet attack only them? Because we had had nothing but Lib Dem stuff.

Vauxhall 2015 MP: Kate Hoey Party: Labour Majority: 12,700

This week, Hoey had a row with Lib Dem rival George Turner after she photo-shopped him out of an image posted on Twitter. She says she did it because it was an apolitical event and Turner was wearing his yellow rosette. I thought, why should I tweet him standing with his rosette? She did, however, leave in his legs: I liked them, so they stayed, says the 70-year-old.

This airbrushing has been dubbed Stalinist, a criticism Hoey deflects: The Lib Dems made a montage of Nigel Farages face and mine into a poster. Thats perhaps more Trotskyite than Stalinist. The Lib Dems should stop concentrating on trivia. Isnt it trivial to photoshop them out? Why should I have him in my tweet?

The legs of Kate Hoey's rival candidate George Turner could be seen in the photo but not his head or upper body / @KateHoeyMP

In her leaflet, Hoey also accuses the Lib Dems of bringing in political professionals to attack her. So whos Kevin Craig, I ask. Hes my agent and a local councillor. Sure, but he also founded lobbying firm PLMR - how is he not a political professional? She swallows: Maybe the wording might have been done differently. We were trying to say that the Lib Dems are targeting this seat for a particular reason  and demonising me.

Brexit is a political issue, though, not a personal one. If theyd made a leaflet saying Labour is all over the place on Brexit  Corbyn says this, Hoey says that - she tails off- But [the Lib Dem campaign] is about that picture of me and Nigel Farage. Its trying to say Nigel Farage, hes a racist; Kate Hoeys a racist.

I suspect Hoey likes to be called a maverick. Whatever you fire at her, she lobs back. Ive never been scolded so much by an interviewee (Have you got anything positive to say about me?). She says she cant be labelled politically - on some issues, Im left-wing, on some, right. She supports fox-hunting, has defended grammar schools and recently praised Theresa May. Why doesnt she defect? Why would I? Jeremy [Corbyn] is beginning to reflect on the original ideas why I joined the Labour party in the 70s.

Shes pleased that in the manifesto which leaked last night, Labour has pledged to take railways under public ownership: Id have thought thatll be popular in London, among commuters. Similarly with Royal Mail. But I think there are some very radical policies in the manifesto that mean at least people know there is a difference between the parties, after years of saying they are just trying to look for that middle ground.

Her Brexit stance has dented her popularity in her own party. I tell her there are Labour members campaigning against her: Ive not seen any. Other candidates have told me Vauxhall Labour members prefer to go to neighbouring constituencies like Westminster North. Youre on the wrong angle here. Weve always allowed our people to work in marginal seats. This is a seat were going to win.

Shes had enough of me asking about Brexit, she proclaims. I turned down nice interviews with the Daily Express and the Daily Mail. And therein lies the problem for many Londoners. Hoey was Farages Brexiteer boating buddy: Just because you have a picture taken with someone doesnt mean you agree with them. She went on a 5000 trip to Washington funded by UKIP donor Aaron Banks: Hes not a fascist, not a communist. There are a lot of other MPs whove taken money from more [questionable sources]. And UKIP isnt fielding a candidate in Vauxhall, apparently so Hoey can mop up the pro-Brexit vote: Im not responsible for UKIP.

A Labour councillor in Oval ward, Claire Holland, put forward a motion heavily criticising Hoey post-referendum (though it wasnt carried). That happens in all political parties, Hoey says nonchalantly. Im not denying there werent activists who were upset. Who do you take it out on? Your MP who campaigned to leave.

What about the rise in hate crimes post-Brexit? I think there was some [increase]  but very, very little in London. In fact, figures showed that in the fortnight before and the 15 weeks afterwards, every week was up on the previous year. Why did that happen? There are always going to be individuals who react in different ways. I know people would like to blame it on the leave campaign stirring up hatred  thats not my recognition of how the mainstream leave campaign campaigned. Not even the breaking point refugees poster? I condemned that.

There was a perception, I say, that she didnt condemn the nasty side of the Leave campaign enough. Some [remainers] felt bitter and blamed me. I should feel amazingly important that I was responsible for the country leaving. Well, she had once said that Labour Leave showed it was ok for Labour supporters to back Brexit. Of course. We had thousands of Labour party supporters who were pleased there were Labour MPs supporting leave. You go talk to people in Doncaster, Middlesborough, Bolton. But youre in the Commons to represent Vauxhall, I reply. But Vauxhall hadnt voted then  and they had never told me they were pro-remain.

Montage: A Lib Dem poster showing Hoey and Nigel Farage

Does she have regrets about the Brexit campaign? That we werent more open about how long the process would take. But no, I dont regret anything.

So is she worried Brexit will clog up government? I dont see why it should. Thats why Jeremy is talking about issues that arent affected by Brexit  us giving a 10 minimum wage.

Such commitments could be hit if the economy suffers, surely. It hasnt [suffered]. We havent left yet! Yes, but we were told that day one everything would collapse. We should have more confidence in London. We will be able to be even better when we leave.

Kate Hoey with Ukip's Nigel Farage before the EU referendum / Jeff Spicer/Getty Image

What if people lose their jobs? Why would they? I point to recent reports of banks moving staff overseas. Very few. And people have lost their jobs because of the EU.

One of Hoeys old allies in euroscepticism was Corbyn. She dismisses this as a problem on the doorstep. Were not going to have a second referendum, so why worry now about Jeremys position? Its true that Jeremy was with me over the years on any anti-EU motion that came up, but he became leader and had to keep the party together. Does she stand by an earlier statement that leave was the result he wanted? I dont know. Hes pragmatic.

Last year, Hoey refused to back the no-confidence vote in Corbyn. Almost as soon as he started, a faction within the party decided they wanted him out. They did everything they could to denigrate him. However, she had said she wasnt sure Corbyn should lead Labour into a general election: I assumed there wasnt going to be one until 2020. She dodges the question of whether he should go if Labour loses. I dont think any candidate should be talking about what will happen to their leader after an election.

Does the leaked manifesto suggest the party isnt pulling together? There are always people with their own agenda, clearly. I was surprised that it got leaked. It would have been nice to have kept it, to have the big launch.

Hoey says that the key issue for most people now is the position of EU citizens. And yet, although she tabled an early day motion on this, she also voted against an amendment to Article 50 that would have guaranteed their right to remain here. Hasnt she left them in limbo? We could have had that settled if the other EU countries had been prepared to discuss it  they said were not going to look at that until youve invoked Article 50. No one  not even a single Tory MP  thinks every EU citizen should not be able to stay.

And yet, I say, a quarter of those whove applied for permanent residency have had their requests rejected. Why not just vote for it? An eye roll of exasperation. If Jeremy is elected, he will do it. You could have offered them reassurance. But it would have been defeated. Yes, but theyd have known their MP was on their side: EU citizens in my constituency, when they see that I support it, are relaxed about it.

Hoey also argues that Britain should take more child refugees. How does that chime with the anti-immigrant element of the Brexit vote? Youve got it so wrong, she bristles. Those who voted to leave the EU voted to get back control of the country. It doesnt mean they wanted less immigration. It means we decide as a country who we want to come in. When pushed, she eventually concedes some leave campaigners were anti-immigration.

As we wrap up, I ask why I - a remainer - should vote for her. She looks puzzled. I remind her Im a constituent. Oh, of course! Oh dear. Hoey sits back in her chair and folds her arms. But then she makes her pitch, claiming she would be better at stopping any erosion of EU-protected workers rights than a pro-remain MP: I wanted to leave, so Im going to make it work outside the EU. She smiles: So, do you want to deliver some leaflets?

Additional reporting by Samuel Fishwick


 It's an unmitigated disaster, Liberal Democrat George Turner says of Brexit. People might not agree with some of the EUs decisions but it seems to me that to tear down the whole structure is very foolish indeed.

Its precisely this position that Turner hopes will help him in the daunting task of overturning a 12,700 Labour majority in Vauxhall, one of the partys London strongholds.

As challenging as that sounds, he will doubtless be aided by the areas paradoxical political make-up. Though incumbent MP Kate Hoey campaigned enthusiastically alongside Nigel Farage and other Leave advocates before the EU referendum, 78 per cent of her constituents rejected Brexit, marking Lambeth out as Londons most pro-European borough.

Already in the fledgling campaign the fight has turned ugly thanks to a bizarre incident which saw Turner airbrushed from a photograph shared by Hoey on Twitter of an air pollution protest. Turner reacted furiously, likening the incident to Stalinism and accusing Hoey of indulging in the tactics of the US alt-Right.

The legs of Kate Hoey's rival candidate George Turner could be seen in the photo - but not his head or upper body / @KateHoeyMP

In another sign that the contest could turn dirty, Turners supporters circulated a poster depicting Hoeys face split with Nigel Farages  a wholly unsubtle reference to her stance on Brexit. Turner, who was born in Croatia, brought up in London, and spent a spell living in the US, hopes the message behind the image will resonate with disillusioned voters.

He is one of several Lib-Dem hopefuls in the capital planning to capitalise on Brexit  though he acknowledges that overturning Hoeys majority is a tall order. Therell always be a hardcore tribe of people who will vote Labour whatever the situation, he says. I dont expect Kate Hoey to lose her deposit in this election, even though she certainly doesnt agree with many of the values of her own party.

Vauxhall 2015 MP: Kate Hoey Party: Labour Majority: 12,700

Speaking of the constituencys voters  and their pro-European voting habits  the 34-year-old says: Their MP has failed them so much on this one issue. Its not so much that Kate voted to leave, its the way she aggressively rejects any sort of compromise with the Remain constituency and sticks with the attitude that these people are traitors. People in Lambeth find that deeply offensive.

But what would his priorities be if he were to pull off what would rank as one of the biggest upsets of the general election?

He singles out air quality as one of the areas most pressing issues  but cant quite bring himself to talk about it in terms which dont involve the EU. We have some of the most polluted roads in the country in Lambeth. Had the UK not been subject to European environmental legislation nothing would be done whatsoever. Once we leave these institutions which act as a kind of enforcement mechanism, who is going to be there to protect people from air pollution?

Brexit backers: Kate Hoey and Nigel Farage / Jeff Spicer/Getty Image

Turner, who rents a one-and-a-half bedroom flat with his wife Maddy and their three-month-old daughter Xenia, also highlights housing as a priority if he wins on June 8.

Housing is the big issue. What weve got in Vauxhall is a lot of inappropriate housing  luxury high-rise tower blocks. The need is for lower cost, family accommodation for people who work in central London.

But despite speaking passionately about such issues, its hard to escape the conclusion that Turner sees the fact that he is not Hoey as his most saleable attribute. Indeed, he even boasts of having Labour activists quit their party to campaign for him after being galvanised by his pro-EU stance.

I venture to suggest that his fight against Hoey may well prove to be a dirty one. All were going to do is hold her to account for her actions, he says. She may find she doesnt like that, but it was her choice to make those decisions.

Whether his focus on Brexit during the campaign will be enough for him to pull off the upset of the election remains to be seen. Hoeys name recognition in the area  unlike Turners  is strong, and she has a reputation among voters as someone who is a responsive and hard-working constituency MP.

If Turner manages to unseat her it would send a serious message about the type of Brexit Londoners want  and Labours capacity to offer it to them.
S ir Ian McKellen has urged voters to back Labours candidate for Ilford North Wes Streeting in the General Election.

The Lord of the Rings actor became the latest star to wade into the General Election when he posted an online video message in support of Mr Streeting who is campaigning to be re-elected in the north London constituency.

Mr Streeting won the seat from the Conservatives in 2015 with a wafer-thin majority of 589 votes.

Sir Ian described Mr Streeting as "one of the great young politicians" as he urged viewers to hit the ballot box on June 8.

Sir Ian McKellen recorded a video message backing Labour's candidate for Ilford North Wes Streeting

His intervention comes after former Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh introduced Jeremy Corbyn at his campaign launch, comedian Eddie Izzard hit the Labour campaign trail and Silk star Maxine Peake appeared in the party's first election broadcast.

Ilford North hopeful: Labours Wes Streeting ( GLENN COPUS) / GLENN COPUS

Sir Ian, who lives in east London rather than in the Ilford North constituency, said: "I don't normally get involved in politics but I have voted, I think, in every election that I have been able to.

"It's a lovely feeling you know, when you go and put your little cross against the name that you believe in.

Ilford North 2015 MP: Wes Streeting Majority: 589 over the Conservatives

"And if you don't do it of course, you can't really complain if things go wrong after the election."

He went on: "And if you take my advice, consider Wes Streeting, Member of Parliament for Ilford North, and we need him back in Parliament because he's one of the great young politicians, everything before him but his principles firmly in place.

"Like me, like you, he believes in equality and young people, and he's got a passion for education and opportunities for young people too.

"So if that's the sort of thing that you like, I'd say vote for Wes Streeting, Ilford North, Thursday, June 8."

Mr Streeting said he was "thrilled" to have the famous actor's backing, which he hoped could tip the scales in a very close race.

He said: "I've worked with Ian McKellen before tackling homophobic and prejudice-led bullying in schools and we have kept in touch over the years.

"When the General Election was called, I knew it would be a close race in Ilford North, so I got in touch to ask him to create a video message in the hope it would reach young voters who are less likely to turn out.

"I didn't expect him to say yes, as he says in the clip, he doesn't normally get involved with politics, even though he is a big campaigner on a range of issues we both care about such as homelessness and inequality, he doesn't normally get involved in party politics.

"I was really thrilled he was willing to help with the campaign."
J ohn McDonnell has said the leaked draft of the Labour partys manifesto is a fantastic, exciting document.

The Shadow Chancellor was quizzed on what he thought of the leak by Sky News on Thursday morning.

Mr McDonnell said: Its a modernising, exciting, new, modern manifesto but weve got the Clause Five meeting today and that will decide the final draft.

Asked if he believed it was the second longest suicide note in history as it was described by some of the morning papers, he replied: I think its a fantastic, exciting document."

Details of the draft manifesto, obtained by the Telegraph and the Mirror, were published on Wednesday evening.

The 43-page document sets out plans to take the energy industry, railways, buses and the Royal Mail back under public control.

It commits Labour to scrapping tuition fees, boosting workers' rights and reversing a series of benefits cuts - including the so-called bedroom tax.

Labour is expected to finalise its manifesto at the Clause V meeting on Thursday, but the extraordinary leak of the policy document saw details released a week ahead of its planned publication.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn cancelled a planned appearance at the launch of the partys first General Election campaign poster after the leak.

A party spokesman said he would not be attending so he could prepare for the Clause V meeting.

The Conservatives said promises made in the leaked Labour manifesto would set the UK on the road to ruin.

The SNP said the content reveals the party to be in "utter chaos" on Trident, while Plaid Cymru said it shows Labour to be "weak and divided".

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Labours plans to hike taxes for people earning the biggest salaries could drive businesses out of Britain and said pledges would require a "massive borrowing spree".

He told Good Morning Britain: "Lots of promises, a fairly shambolic launch. They probably didn't plan it that way, but lots of promises in there to spend lots more money on lots of different things.

"What they have not made clear is how that is going to be financed, how much more borrowing there's going to be and what the implications are for the economy if you go on a massive borrowing spree like the last Labour government did.

"That's how we got into the mess that we inherited back in 2010 and that's what's not made clear in Labour's manifesto today. They would borrow more and that in the end is the road to ruin."
J eremy Corbyn has promised a Labour government would transform the lives of Brits after a draft of the partys election manifesto was leaked.

The document was unanimously approved by Labours national executive committee and will ensure nobody is ignored, nobody is forgotten, nobody is left behind", Mr Corbyn said.

Experts dubbed the manifesto the most expensive suicide note in history after its entire contents leaked to two newspapers.

It includes plans to nationalise key industries including the railways, the Royal Mail and some energy giants.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn predicted the policies would prove very popular. He said the manifesto was an offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society and ensure that we have a government in Britain on June 8 that will work for the many, not the few, and give everyone in our society a decent opportunity and a decent chance, so nobody is ignored, nobody is forgotten and nobody is left behind."

The manifesto also pledges to:

Renationalise railways as each private franchise expires, with fares frozen and guards put back on driver-only trains.

Establish publicly-owned bus companies.

Return Royal Mail to public ownership following the coalition government's "historic mistake" of selling it off.

Take energy "back into public ownership" by setting up a rival to the existing Big Six private firms.

To pay for the policy pledges, Labour has already announced plans to hike corporation tax to 26% by 2022, bringing in an extra 20 billion for the Exchequer, and indicated people earning more than 80,000 will face tax rises.

Labour Party manifesto

The manifesto indicates a further levy on firms "with high numbers of staff on very high pay".

In an effort to bridge party divides over Trident, it commits Labour to the nuclear deterrent, but in a nod to Mr Corbyn's opposition to the weapons it says "any prime minister should be extremely cautious about ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction which would result in the indiscriminate killing of millions of innocent civilians".

Despite Mr Corbyn's declaration that the Brexit question was "settled" by last year's referendum, the document states withdrawing from the EU without a deal would be the "worst possible" outcome and would be rejected as a "viable" option.

The document also declines to set a numerical target for net migration.

Mr Corbyn vowed the final manifesto would include "costings of all the pledges and promises that we make".

He said the draft was the result of "the most informed, interesting, sensible discussion and debate" within the party and had been amended at Thursday's meeting, attended by senior figures from Labour and trade unions.

It is due for its formal publication next week.

The Labour leader pulled out of a planned campaign event as the party fought to contain the damage from the extraordinary leak.

Disarray surrounding the security breach was heightened when a BBC cameraman was injured by a car carrying Mr Corbyn to the meeting.

Tories branded the manifesto a recipe for taxes and borrowing which would put the UK on the "road to ruin".

Prime Minister Theresa May May told Channel 4 News the "shambolic" way the document emerged "shows the sort of chaos that we would see from a Labour government".

She added: "If you take their manifesto overall, actually, what they are suggesting is taking us back to the past.

"What I'm interested in is dealing with the challenges that we face today but making a better future for this country."

Leaving the meeting, Unite union boss Len McCluskey said the manifesto was "brilliant" and claimed there was "complete unanimity" among those present about its contents.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell insisted it was "a modernising, exciting new modern manifesto".

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "It doesn't matter whether it was leaked or not leaked, the Labour manifesto ceased to be relevant in any way, shape or form the moment Jeremy Corbyn and his party held hands with Ukip and Theresa May and voted for the triggering of Article 50."
B ritain should commit to taking 50,000 more Syrian refugees, the Lib Dems are expected to say in their manifesto.

The party is also set to pledge to reopen the Dubs programme for resettling lone child refugees who are stranded in Europe.

The Government scrapped the policy, which was designed to benefit up to 3,000 children, in February after just 350 children were allowed into the UK.

The UKs current programme is committed to offering refuge to 20,000 Syrians by 2020.

The Lib Dems estimate that resettling an additional 50,000 refugees would require a 4.3bn investment, the Guardian reported.

Campaign trail: Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron addresses supporters / AFP/Getty Images

The partys leader Tim Farron told the newspaper: We believe the British people are better than the Conservative party are making us out to be.

Its also a challenge to the British people to make it clear to their government that this is the kind of Britain they want, a decent country, which doesnt forget those in need, while the Conservative government choose a path that makes Britain meaner, narrower and less thoughtful about our neighbours.

He urged Labour to match his pledge and present "a clear alternative" to the Government's stance on refugees.
L abours grip over London appears to be slipping as the Tories are boosted by the collapse of Ukip.

Jeremy Corbyn has seen his partys lead over the Theresa Mays Conservatives slip from nine points to five since the 2015 General Election, new polling by YouGov shows.

And the Liberal Democrats clear anti-Brexit message could see them pick up seats in Remain-supporting seats such as Twickenham and Kingston & Surbiton.

Analysis by the Evening Standard suggests five London seats will change hands on June 8  while another four are on a knife-edge.

Here is your guide to the most important swing seats in London  and what might happen there.

Swing seats :

Twickenham (Expected to swing from Conservative to Lib Dem):

Comeback trail: Lib Dem Sir Vince Cable / Rex Features

The west London seat was won by Remain-backing Tory Dr Tania Mathias in 2015, with a majority of 2,000. It was previously held by Lib Dem former Cabinet minister Sir Vince Cable since 1997. The 74-year-old is now set to stand again, and hopes his partys clear anti-EU message will resonate with voters.

Brentford & Isleworth (Expected to swing from Labour to Conservative)

The seat swung from the Conservatives to Labour in 2015 as Ruth Cadbury won with a tiny 550 majority. Jeremy Corbyns party now fears the constituency could turn blue again as Mary Macleod  who held the seat from 2010-2015  seeks to overturn Cadburys slender lead.

Ealing Central & Acton: (Expected to swing from Labour to Conservative)

Under threat: Rupa Huq MP / Alex Lentati

Another seat the Tories hope to win back from Labour after losing it in 2015. Rupa Huq triumphed at the last election with a majority of less than 300  making her vulnerable to a challenge from Tory candidate Joy Morrissey. Huq has been backed by Lib Dems including Sir Vince Cable and Sarah Olney as they hope to keep the Tories out of the west London seat.

Enfield North (Expected to swing from Labour to Conservative)

Conservative Nick de Bois hopes to regain the seat from Labours Joan Ryan in what will be the pairs fifth head-to-head clash in Enfield North. Ryan currently has a majority of just over 1,000  but if the swing from Tory to Labour expected nationally goes ahead here, de Bois looks well-placed to regain the seat he held from 2010-2015.

Ilford North: (Expected to swing from Labour to Conservative)

Corbyn criticl: Labours Wes Streeting / GLENN COPUS

Jeremy Corbyn critic Wes Streeting was regarded as one of the success stories of the 2015 election by many Labour moderates as he overturned a 5,000 majority held by Conservative Lee Scott. But with a lead of only about 600 votes, Blairite Streeting appears vulnerable to a fresh challenge from Scott and faces a tough task to keep his seat.

Too close to call:

Hampstead and Kilburn (Currently Labour)

Slim majority: Labour's Tulip Siddiq / Daniel Hambury

Glenda Jacksons old seat was held by Labour in 2015 as Tulip Siddiq edged out the Conservatives with a 1,138 majority. But she faces a fight to hold on against Tory rival Claire-Louise Leyland as Theresa Mays party looks to gain back a foothold in London.

Harrow West: (Currently Labour)

Labours Gareth Thomas has triumphed in the last five elections since Tony Blairs landslide in 1997 but now faces a challenge from the resurgent Conservatives. Thomass majority is about 2,000.

Westminster North (Currently Labour)

Labours Karen Buck triumphed in 2015 with a majority of about 2,000 and hopes to see off a challenge by Conservative councillor Lindsey Hall.

Kingston and Surbiton (Currently Conservative)

Former Lib Dem minister Ed Davey lost his seat in 2015  but has confirmed he plans to take on Remain-backing Tory James Berry to try to win the seat back from him.

Possible surprises:

Richmond Park (currently Lib Dem)

Zac Goldsmith will stand again in the Richmond Park constituency / Alex Lentati

Lib Dem Sarah Olney faces another run-in with Zac Goldsmith after she stunned him in last years by-election. Back on a Conservative ticket, Goldsmith hopes to overturn Olneys majority of just under 2,000. But he backed Brexit in an area which voted to stay in the EU.

Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Currently Labour)

Senior Lib Dem Sir Simon Hughes is running against Labour Jeremy Corbyn critic Neil Coyle.

Eltham (Currently Labour)

Labours Clive Efford held the seat since Blairs landslide in 1997 and has a 2,693 majority  but now faces a challenge from Tory rival Matt Hartley. Losing the seat would count as a huge blow for Labour.

Dagenham and Rainham (currently Labour)

Senior Labour MP Jon Cruddas could be within the reach of Tory Julie Marson if Theresa Mays party has a successful polling day. Cruddas has a majority of 4,980.
T he Prime Minister was ushered down a driveway after being snubbed by a voter who said he was "too scared" to answer the door.

Theresa May has been meeting voters in Southampton as she canvasses with local Conservative candidate Paul Holmes.

Followed by a large press pack, the PM has met voters as the Tories try to increase their majority in June's election.

But one shy voter found the entourage too daunting to confront.

Backing off: Theresa May after the voter didn't answer / Twitter/@eldavemachine

David Bryan posted a video on Twitter showing the view from a security camera set up on his doorstep.

It appeared to show Mrs May and Mr Holmes leaving a leaflet and backing away from the house down his driveway.

In the footage shared online, Mr Bryan then dashes to the window of his home, where the PM can be seen walking past his house followed by the press pack.

"That time @theresa_may came to my front door but I was too scared to answer," he posted.
The state Department of Natural Resources is making emergency bottled water available when private wells in rural parts of the state are contaminated by livestock manure, responding to concerns raised by environmental groups and others in the wake of a jump in problems in recent years.

Environmental groups that have clashed with the DNR over its response to contaminated wells, especially in northeastern Wisconsin where there are a lot of large cattle operations, praised the department Tuesday for taking action to start the program. The department quietly updated its website in April with details about how to obtain the clean water.

This relief has been a long time coming and were glad the DNR finally stepped up to address this public health threat, said Sarah Geers, attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates, a public interest law firm. Our primary concern has always been getting emergency supplies of clean drinking water to residents suffering with manure-contaminated wells.

Her group, Clean Wisconsin, and others have been pressuring the DNR to make clean water temporarily available when wells are contaminated.

DNR spokesman Jim Dick said in a statement that the department did a thorough and comprehensive review of what we could do and that several programs worked together to come up with the new initiative.

The department wanted to get the program running before the spring manure spreading season begins and to help private well owners in Kewaunee County whose water is contaminated, Dick said.

The department has been providing information to Kewaunee County through its conservation office for distribution and other stakeholders, he said.

One-third of the wells in Kewaunee County tested positive for salmonella or rotavirus last year.

The Algoma School District in Kewaunee County has been offering free, filtered water to about 70 families since January 2016 and since September the Peninsula Pride Farms group has been providing free water to residents in the county with tainted wells.

Under the program, if the DNR determines a well has been contaminated by manure, the affected people could receive a temporary supply of state-funded bottled water. Details on who qualifies and how to access the program are on DNRs website.
S ocial media was sent into a frenzy this afternoon as people were stunned by the likeness of a top aide to Jeremy Corbyn to hollywood star Tom Cruise.

Mr Corbyn and the man were seen sitting together in the back of a car which moments earlier ran over the foot of a BBC cameraman.

The Labour leader was mobbed by journalists this morning following the sensational leak of the partys manifesto, with Mr Corbyns car hitting BBC cameraman Giles Wooltorton.

Mr Wooltorton needed medical attention and was pictured being stretchered into an ambulance, but many Twitter users seemed more concerned with the man sitting beside Mr Corbyn.

People were quick to point out his remarkable resemblance to Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise.

Despite the similarities, it is believed that the man is in fact Momentum activist James Schneider.

Alan Kennedy tweeted: "That awkward moment when you get run over by Corbyn's car and Tom Cruise steals the story."

Cameraman 'run over by Jeremy Corbyn's car'

Gabriel Bisset-Smith posted: "Why is everyone focusing on Corbyn running over the BBC guy's foot but not the fact that he was with Tom Cruise when he did it?!?"

A draft document of the 43-page manifesto was leaked to the Telegraph and the Mirror on Wednesday, with Mr Corbyn pulling out of the planned launch of Labour's first General Election poster.

He was due to unveil the poster on Londons South Bank on Thursday morning.

Mr Gwynne, Labour's national campaigns co-ordinator, denied today that the document was the party's manifesto during an appearance on ITVs Good Morning Britain.
T heresa May has spoken of her sadness at not being able to have children with her husband Philip.

In a live radio interview, Mrs May also said her faith helped her cope after the loss of both of her parents within the space of a few months.

During an appearance on LBC Radio, she revealed she owned about 100 recipe books and would cook Donald Trump a slow roast shoulder of lamb if he were to go to her house for dinner.

Offering a rare glimpse into her personal life, the Prime Minister said of not being able to have children: It's been very sad. It just turned out not to have been possible for us.

She added: Of course we're not the only couple who found ourselves in that situation and when you do I suppose you just get on with life.

Opening up: Theresa May during the interview / LBC

Mrs May was 25 when her father, the Rev Hugh Brasier, was killed in a car crash and her mother Zaidee died a few months later.

Speaking of the loss of her parents, she said: "It did have quite an impact on me.

"I was very fortunate in that I had been married not that long beforehand and Philip has been a fantastic support for me. He really was my rock at that time.

"I was an only child, so I didn't have brothers and sisters I could share it with.

"Suddenly, there I was without the two people who had brought me up and who had meant so much to me throughout my life. So it did have an impact."

Asked if it impacted on her faith, she said: "I think my faith helped in being a support there for me."

Mrs May was also grilled by callers on issues including the NHS, Brexit negotiations and immigration.

She declined several times to confirm that taxes would not rise at any point during the next Parliament if the Conservatives win power in June's General Election.

But she insisted: "We have no plans to increase the level of taxes. We are a party that believes in trying to ensure we have low taxes. Our instinct is to reduce taxes for working families."
A London academy has unveiled a new state-of-the-art multimedia digital centre to give pupils a chance to hone their creative skills.

Stationers Crown Woods Academy celebrated the new addition with an opening ceremony showcasing the students work.

The south London school joined forces with The Stationers Livery Company to convert classrooms into a digital media hub rivalling the capitals newsrooms and digital media companies.

Greenwich Mayor Olu Babatola and Amali de Alwis, chief executive of Code First: Girls, opened the 500,000 project, which took two years to complete.

Ms de Alwis met students working on their projects and urged them to take advantage of the facilities.

Speaking at the ceremony, Kevin Dewey, Chair of Governors and former Master of the Stationers Livery Company said: The money we have raised to pay for this wonderful facility today has come from ordinary men and women from our livery company.

We want to deliver here an outstanding academy, we want to deliver an outstanding place of learning and we want to deliver a happy place of learning. I think were well on the way of doing that.

Would-be journalists and film directors will benefit from the industry-approved software to produce high quality media content, BBC news reports, newspapers and magazines.

Paige Murray, 13, said: We did a project where we created a school report and we interviewed teachers and pupils about the new school curriculum. Year 10 pupils helped us edit, use cameras and the green screen. I want to be a TV presenter so having these computers will benefit me a lot in achieving this.

17-year-old media student Michael Hopkins said: Id like to go into film directing. The new facilities here is helping us a lot more than what we used before. I have been able to use Photoshop to create and plan the layout of my magazine and create a storyboard for my films."

David Millar, executive principal, said: The Stationers Digital Media Centre will enable them to learn skills to become business leaders of the future, giving them the edge in the highly competitive jobs market.


T he Duchess of Cambridge's tour was billed a Brexit charm offensive and today it already paid off - as a Luxembourg minister praised British "pragmatism".

Francine Closener, Luxembourg's economy, international security and defence secretary supremo, described the "common value" as the basis for "excellent business relations".

Her words gave a strong hint that Luxembourg - where the EU Parliament has an outpost - may be set to put differences aside and work with the UK for a post Brexit solution.

In front of the Duchess, Mrs Closener said: "The 'Luxembourg way of doing things' is characterised by pragmatism, an ability to adapt, as well as a tremendous talent to build its partnerships with respect.

Kate in Luxembourg. (Dominic Lipinski/PA ) / Dominic Lipinski/PA

"There's a capacity to listen to others, understand their needs and find a solution.

"Luxembourg shares the British pragmatism and the commitment to constant improvement.

"These common values serve as a longstanding basis for the strong political ties and the excellent business relations between the UK and the Grand Duchy.

"Those values are at the core of the ties built by many previous Governments, and we shall continue to respect those values as our relationship evolves."

The Duchess of Cambridge visit to Luxembourg - In pictures 1 /18 The Duchess of Cambridge visit to Luxembourg - In pictures The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at Luxembourg's Musze d'Art Moderne Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duchess of Cambridge with Crown Princess Stephanie Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duchess received flowers as a welcome gift Dominic Lipinski/PA The pair waved at well-wishers Dominic Lipinski/PA Kate was greeted by adoring bystanders Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duchess of Cambridge donned a powder blue dress and nude high heels Dominic Lipinski/PA Kate smiled as she made her way into the museum EPA The Duchess of Cambridge waves to onlookers Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP Kate looked radiant as she arrived on the solo trip Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP The Duchess of Cambridge greeted museum officials Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP The Duchess of Cambridge during a tour of a cycling themed festival in Place de Clairefontaine Victoria Jones/PA The Duchess of Cambridge receives a bouquet from local children Victoria Jones/PA The Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a tour of a cycling exhibition Victoria Jones/PA The Duchess received gifts from well-wishers Dominic Lipinski/PA

Kate later took in the spectacular sights of Luxembourg's capital today, gazing out over a sheer 100ft drop from "Europe's most beautiful balcony".

She walked along the Corniche, a pedestrian promenade that follows the course of Luxembourg City's 17th century ramparts above the lower part of the city in a river canyon below.

The Duchess of Cambridge went there after touring Luxembourg's City Museum and at the end of her walk told a group of British and Japanese tourists that she has enjoyed her visit to the capital.

"It's been fantastic," she said. "Very interesting. I'd like to come back with my husband."

The Duchess spent 20 minutes taking in the scenery after a half-hour tour of the museum, which tells Luxembourg's 1,000-year-old history.

Duchess of Cambridge on visit to Luxembourg

She was shown a new exhibition that focuses on the dramatic changes that the 1867 Treaty of London brought to the city.

By guaranteeing Luxembourg's neutrality and independence, it led to the dismantling of the old fortifications and created a new city with boulevards.

Accompanied by Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie, the heir to the Luxembourg throne and his wife, Kate walked the few dozen yards from the Grand Ducal Palace to the museum with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and his husband Gauthier Destenay.

Mr Bettel, 44, is only the third openly gay prime minister in the world.

He and Mr Destenay, an architect from Belgium, were in a civil partnership since 2010 and were married in May 2015, five months after same-sex marriages were legalised in Luxembourg.

The group posed for a picture outside the museum. Inside, the official party was welcomed by the city's Mayor Lydie Polfer and toured the exhibits including a 3D map of the city in 1867.

The three royals and the prime minister posed for an official picture with representatives from countries that signed the Treaty of London.

They included Belgium's transport minister Francois Bellot, Hungary's culture minister Istvan Ijgyarto, and the ambassadors of Austria, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.
P eople with HIV now have a near-normal life expectancy thanks to improvements in treatments, a new research suggests.

The life expectancy of a 20-year-old who started antiretroviral therapy in 2010 is 10 years longer than when it was first used in 1996, the study published in The Lancet HIV said.

The paper said a European 20-year-old with HIV could now expect to live to nearly 70 years old.

Doctors and charities called the increase in life expectancy for people with the virus in Europe and the US a tremendous medical achievement.

However, they added that there are still too many people unaware they have the virus.

The study authors, from the University of Bristol, said they hoped their findings would decrease stigmatisation of people living with HIV and help them to obtain insurance or employment.

They put the success of the new treatments down to the newer drugs having fewer side effects and being better at preventing the virus from replicating in the body.

It is also harder for the virus to build up a resistance to the most recent drugs.

Antiretroviral therapy, described as "one of the greatest public health success stories of the past 40 years", involves a combination of three or more drugs which block the normal progress of HIV.
N urses have raised concerns about the closure of one of Britains two surviving pager services.

Pagers - not mainly replaced by mobile phones - are still used by medical professional, but Vodafone announced on Wednesday that it will shut down its small unit of about 1,000 customers.

Anna Crossley, the Royal College of Nursing's lead for emergency care, told the Evening Standard that nurses use radio pagers - in conjunction with other devices - because mobile and wifi signal is often poor in hospitals.

Before any replacement is introduced, providers would need to ensure that infrastructure such as wireless networks can give the coverage and capacity required to support many devices in a complex system, she added.

Any new devices must be fast and easy for healthcare staff to use  and must be trialled with all those clinicians who use them daily before procurement, she said.

The revelation that Vodafone will scrap its pager network came following a row with the competition regulator over the planned sale of the unit to Capitas PageOne, the UKs only other remaining provider.

The Competition and Markets Authority had been poised to launch a major investigation over concerns that the merger would lead to lower competition that could see prices soar and coverage worsen.

A spokesman for Vodafone called the regulator's decision not to give the go ahead to the merger surprising and added that it would do its best to minimise impact for customers.
A Russian billionaire has been ordered to pay his estranged housewife 453 million in what may be the biggest settlement made by a divorce court judge in the UK.

The 61-year-old business tycoon was told to give his ex-wife, 41, a 41.5 per cent share of his 1 billion fortune by Justice Haddon-Cave.

He announced his decision on Thursday in a written ruling after analysing the case at a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The judge ruled the couple, who moved to Surrey after meeting and marrying in Moscow, cannot be identified.

The man, a former oil and gas trader, built up his fortune in the Russian energy business.

The woman comes from eastern Europe, but had been a British citizen since 2000.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said the woman had been a housewife and mother to the couple's now grown-up sons.

The man had argued he had made a "special contribution" to the generation of wealth.

The judge concluded the man and woman had made "equal contributions to the welfare of the family".

A specialist lawyer said it was "impossible" to say whether the award was the "biggest" because disputes were often aired and finalised behind closed doors.

"Whether or not this is indeed the biggest ever ... is impossible to say," said Rosie Schumm, who is based at law firm Forsters.

"This is partly because an increasing number of high net worth couples are electing for private divorce and arbitration where the proceedings and the details of the final settlement are kept entirely confidential."

In late 2014, Jamie Cooper-Hohn, wife of financier Sir Chris Hohn, was awarded more than 330m by a judge following a divorce court hearing.

Three years earlier, Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky featured in a multi-million pound divorce case.

It was reported his former wife Galina Besharova had agreed to accept between 165m and 220m as part of a settlement.

The man had bought the woman jewellery worth more than 300,000, given her unrestricted use of two credit cards and use of a yacht, plane and helicopter.

He also had property, an art collection worth more than 90m and a 350,000 Aston Martin.

The judge said the art collection and car would be transferred to the woman as part of the payout package.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said there had been a disagreement over when the couple had separated.
T homas Cook has cancelled flights and holidays to Sharm el-Sheikh over terrorism fears, it has been announced.

The travel company made the decision to scrap the Egyptian destination after Foreign Office advice regarding the ongoing threat of terrorism.

The government body has advised against all but essential travel by air to the coastal resort.

Around 300 passengers who had already booked their holidays to Sharm are thought to have been affected.

The travel advice has been in place since 2015, when a Russian passenger plane crashed in North Sinai, killing 224 passengers.

Russian authorities believed the plane was brought down by an explosive on board.

Thomas Cook had hoped this advice would change, however it remains in place.

A spokeswoman said: We have removed Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt from our winter 2017/18 and summer 2018 holiday and flight programmes.

"The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to advise against travel to Sharm el-Sheikh airport, and we have no plans to reintroduce a programme to Sharm until after that advice changes.

The five flights per week which we had scheduled this winter have now been cancelled. We are contacting those customers who have booked with us to offer a refund or a destination change free of charge."

From November, Thomas Cook will begin two flights a week to Red Sea resort Marsa Alam, while the operator also intends to add more flights to the resort of Hurghada - 100 kilometres from Sharm.
E mmanuel Macron has blamed homophobia and misogyny for the wave of public comments focusing on the fact his wife is 24 years his senior.

In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper, the French president-elect said this week: If I was 20 years older than my wife, nobody would think for a single second that we couldnt be legitimately together.

There was a big problem with how society is presented and how the place of women is seen, he said.

The 39-year-old also dismissed speculation of a relationship between himself and Mathieu Gallet, chief executive of Radio France, saying the suggestion revealed rampant homophobia within society.

Brigitte Trogneux, wife of new French President Emmanuel Macron / Getty Images

He added that those claiming he had been in a relationship with Gallet were treating homosexuality as if it were a hidden disease.

Striking out at the obsession with his romantic life, Macron ascribed it to traditional, homogenous views.

Macron met his wife Brigitte Trogneux as a 15-year-old student in Amiens, northern France, where she  a married teacher  ran a drama club he attended.

Their affair caused a stir in the town, but the pair defied expectations by settling into a long relationship, and married in 2007.

Macron has described Trogneux as his confidante and soulmate, and said he would be a better president with her at his side.
B akara market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalias violence-ravaged capital, was still in ruins when world leaders last gathered in London to determine a plan for a state then in the midst of a famine and rife with pirates that cost global trade $7 billion that year alone.

A stronghold of al-Shabab, the Islamic jihadi group that then controlled a quarter of the country, the market had seen soldiers from the African Union fighting through it, street by street, with gun battles often raging across passageways just six feet apart.

Today, as presidents and heads of state return to London to discuss a country which since independence in 1960 has seen famine, civil war and fragmentation, Bakara is the countrys largest market once again.

Its stalls overflow with food and clothing and, despite a recent fire that hit part of it, business is brisk.

It is a transformation that shows how the situation has changed during the intervening five years. Following the conference, a legitimate government was established in 2012 and a map of federal states began to take shape.

African Union peacekeeping forces stabilised large parts of the country and pushed al-Shabab out of key cities; the number of extremists travelling to Somalia to fight began to fall.

Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta also deepened a huge military operation to wrest a stretch of the south of the country from jihadi control.

Theresa May welcomes Kenyan President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta at No10 / EPA

In the biggest deployment of his presidency, some 3,600 Kenyan troops have often fought bitter skirmishes against the hit-and-run tactics of the Islamist militias. Dozens of Kenyan soldiers were killed in an ambush near the Somalia border in January.

It is a deployment backed by most Kenyans sickened by terrorist attacks, such as that in 2013 on the Westgate mall in Nairobi that saw 67 killed and 175 injured.

We will remain there because if we fight them there, we shall remain peaceful, Mr Kenyatta said recently as he affirmed his countrys commitment. Somalias problem is also our problem. Kenyas leadership on Somalia means it has clear objectives for the two-day summit at Lancaster House.

Mogadishu's Bakara market / AFP

Co-chaired by Theresa May, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Somalias newly-elected President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, the conference aims to re-focus attention on the troubled east African state.

We hope that this conference will build on the momentum, Dr Monica Jump, Kenyas foreign affairs secretary, told the Standard.

It can be a good launching pad for the world to help with the development and construction of that country.

Also attending are US defence secretary James Mattis, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and foreign ministers from Holland and Germany, along with regional presidents from Uganda and Ethiopia, and representatives from the IMF and World Bank. Despite the progress, many problems remain.

There is concern over a fresh humanitarian crisis caused by a particularly severe recent drought, which could threaten millions with starvation, as well as the need for more military stability and further economic and development goals.

The presence of foreign armies in the country, not just from Kenya but also Ethiopia and the African Union forces, merely masks the fact that Somalia does not have its own army. The new federal state has been criticised as risking hastening its transformation into autonomous  and hostile  rival enclaves.

In Somalia, there was concern that the conference could be a case of talk with no concrete action and that the present progress could be lost. We need tangible, visible and quantifiable achievements for the Somali people, said Abdi Barud, one of the countrys social entrepreneurs.

Londons large Somali population is to be a key focus of todays session. President Farmaajo has announced a new National Diaspora Agency to liaise with emigrant Somali communities. Estimated to total 500,000, British Somalis comprise one of the largest diaspora populations in the world.

Although tainted by allegations of corruption, the presidential elections in February have raised cautious optimism about Somalias future.

Mr Farmaajo, a former prime minister, was a popular candidate and introduced anti-corruption methods during his earlier time in office.
The Legislatures budget committee called Thursday for more legislative oversight of the Wisconsin veterans trust fund after an audit showed $55 million was transferred to the fund from the veterans home at King while $20 million worth of maintenance needs were delayed.

The Joint Finance Committee unanimously supported the move, which would require the department to notify the committee of a fund transfer and allow members to object within 14 days, prompting a vote by the full committee.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, committee co-chairwoman, said she supported the additional oversight because its important to our vets to make sure that the transfers are valid and are transparent.

Gov. Scott Walker vetoed a similar provision in the 2013-15 budget. Committee co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said there are no assurances from Walker that he wont veto the provision again.

Im on the Governor Walker team, but I dont know we should ever make our decisions based on whether hes going to veto something or not, Nygren said.

Walker spokesman Tom Evenson declined to comment on Walkers veto plans.

The trust fund supports programs that support veterans in the state.

It relies on annual transfers of funding from the state veterans homes because of declining revenue, which comes from a combination of federal funds, loan repayments and sales of goods and services. As recently as 2014, the state contributed general tax dollars to the fund.

Over the next two years the state is projecting $13 million will be needed in transfers each year from the state-run veterans nursing homes to keep the trust fund solvent. The King veterans home generates about $11 million in surplus funds each year and has a $35 million surplus, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Democrats called for transferring $26 million from general fund taxes instead, but the proposal was rejected.

Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said the state shouldnt be raiding funds from the state veterans homes when the audit and news reports have shown there have been reduced services, strains on employees and water quality problems at the King veterans home. Patient care quality problems have resulted in some of the facilities losing their five-star ratings over the past year.

We should make sure were utilizing some of the money that is there for veterans in the home before we start transferring $26 million to support the veterans trust fund, Hintz said.

Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, said the transfer from the veterans home fund wasnt a raid.

What (veterans) like getting more than praise themselves is helping other veterans, said Kooyenga, a veteran of the Iraq War.

A Legislative Audit Bureau review of the King homes finances released on Friday showed between 2003 and 2016, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs took $55 million from King, which generates more revenue than it spends, and spent that money elsewhere while $20 million of needed upgrades and projects at King went uncompleted.

The budget committee also eliminated Walkers proposal to create a new liaison position for the Department of Veterans Affairs to county veteran service offices.

Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, said the position would limit the ability of the Wisconsin County Veterans Service Officer Association to communicate with different departments and was unnecessary.
D onald Trumps ex-national security chief has been ordered to hand over documents relating to Russia in a dramatic escalation of a bombshell probe into Moscows alleged meddling in last years presidential election.

The Senate Intelligence Committee said Michael Flynn had failed to co-operate with its investigation as it issued its first subpeona in the investigation.

Mr Flynn was forced to resign in February after failing to disclose the content of his talks with Russian diplomats.

The development came as fallout from Mr Trumps sacking of the head of the FBI continued. James Comey told staff in a farewell letter that he had longed believed that a president could fire an FBI director for no reason at all.

Mr Comey told his staff I will miss you and the mission deeply and said that working at the FBI was one of the great joys of my life.

Recriminations over her shock dismissal continued with House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz asking the Department of Justice Inspector General to look into the decision.

The sacking sparked a political earthquake in Washington and Democrats are demanding a special prosecutor be appointed to oversee the FBIs ongoing investigation into allegations the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin over last years election.

They have accused Mr Trump of acting like a tyrant and have compared him to Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

Mr Comey was fired on Monday whilst speaking at an FBI office in Los Angeles - he saw the news on a TV and initially thought it was a joke.

In his farewell letter, Mr Comey added that the FBI was a rock of competence, honesty, and independence and described them as group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing.

He urged FBI staff to continue protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.

The White House insists Mr Comeys handling of an investigation into defeated Democratic Hillary Clintons emails were the reason for him being fired.

But many Democrats dismiss this and say it was really about Russia.

CNN reported that Mr Trump was growing increasingly agitated about the Russia investigation and was frustrated by Mr Comeys appearance before Congress last Wednesday.

Mr Trump had reportedly wanted a preview of what he would say but Mr Comey refused, an act Mr Trump saw as insubordination.

White House deputy press spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr Trumps trust in Mr Comey had eroded over several months and that he had been considering firing him since the election.

Senator Richard Burr, the Republican Senate Intelligence committee chairman, and Senator Mark Warner, the committees Democratic vice-chairman, said they were issuing the subpoena to get documents from Mr Flynn.

He was forced out as Mr Trumps national security advisor weeks after taking office for lying about his dealings with Russia.

The committee first requested emails and phone records from Mr Flynn on April 28 but the committee said his lawyer has not cooperated with their requests.
J amie Bell takes on terrorists in a new big screen dramatization of the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege.

The British actor leads the cast in the first full-length trailer for Toa Frasers forthcoming film about the tense stand-off between the British security forces and armed militants.

Bell plays Rusty Firmin, the leader of one of the SAS assault teams that actually entered the Embassy in London as the world watched.

Australian actress Abbie Cornish plays renowned news reporter Kate Adie, who covered the events as they unfolded for the BBC from outside the building.

Mark Strong takes on the role of hostage negotiator Max Vernon, who was tasked with communicating with the terrorists inside the building.

The action-packed new trailer shows the dramatic few days that saw six armed gunman storm the Embassy in Princes Gate and take 26 people hostage inside.

Fraser, who directed Dean Spanley and No.2, shot his latest offering on location in Knightsbridge from a screenplay written by Glen Standring.

Standring conducted interviews with people who played key roles in the siege, which took place nearly four decades ago.

6 Days will be released in cinemas nationwide on August 4.
C hris Pratt has offered President Donald Trump a helping hand in finding a replacement for FBI director James Comey.

Comey, who was leading the investigation into whether there were any links between Mr Trump's campaign team and Russia, was fired by the President on Tuesday  and Pratt has already found a man for the job.

The Jurassic World actor joked that his FBI agent alter-ego, Burt Tyrannosaurus Macklin from Parks and Recreations would be the perfect man to take over the reins.

Pratt offered up Macklins services by tweeting a gif of the crime-fighter jumping in front of Mount Rushmore and bursting through a door alongside the caption: Just lemme know.

Macklin is the alter-ego of Pratts character Andy Dwyer who would often transform into Macklin, most notably when someone threw a pie at Leslie Knope during a campaign rally.

Fans threw their backing behind Macklin, with some saying his appointment would be epic, while others suggested Dwyer's other alter-ego Johnny Karate would fit the job description.

Pratt is currently filming the sequel to Jurassic World in London.

The actor took a break from filming earlier this week to visit Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital with his co-star Bryce Dallas Howard.

Pratt said he was moved by the unbreakable spirit of children and that it was a tremendous pleasure to spend time with patients

He also made sure to treat the staff by posing for a giant group photo.
D wayne the Rock Johnson could soon be swapping Hollywood for politics as he reveals he is considering running for US President.

The 45-year-old actor said making a bid for the White House in 2020 is a real possibility.

Johnson, who will star in the upcoming Baywatch film, said that he started to consider the prospect of a presidential run after reading a Washington Post article that suggested him as a possible successor to Donald Trump.

A year ago it started coming up more and more, he told GQ. There was a real sense of earnestness, which made me go home and think, Let me really rethink my answer and make sure I am giving an answer that is truthful and also respectful.

Bid: Dwayne Johnson is eyeing up the White House (Danny Moloshok/Reuters) / Reuters

I didn't want to be flippantWe'll have three days off for a weekend! No taxes!

Asked if he really would give run for office he replied: I think that it's a real possibility.

Johnson said he would take responsibility for everybody if he became US President and claimed he would include those who disagree with his views.

I feel that if I were president, poise would be important, he said. Leadership would be important. Taking responsibility for everybody.

[If I didn't agree with someone] on something, I wouldn't shut them out. I would actually include them. The first thing we'd do is we'd come and sit down and we'd talk about it.

Last year both Mr Trump and Hillary Clinton reached out to Johnson for his endorsement, but he refused on the grounds that he preferred to see Americans make up their own minds.

Explaining his decision he said: I feel like I'm in a position now where my word carries a lot of weight and influence, which of course is why they want the endorsement.

But I also have a tremendous amount of respect for the process and felt like if I did share my political views publicly, a few things would happenand these are all conversations I have with myself, in the gym at four o'clock in the morningI felt like it would either (a) make people unhappy with the thought of whatever my political view was. And, also, it might sway an opinion, which I didn't want to do.

Johnson wouldnt be the first star to move into politics. Mr Trump fronted the Celebrity Apprentice before moving into the White House while actor Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California.
G uy Ritchie has defended David Beckhams performance in his latest film, calling him a fabulous actor.

Beckham, who plays Trigger in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, was described as cringeworthy by fans when a clip of his character was released earlier this week.

But Ritchie dismissed the critics and heaped praise on his fantastic friend.

Speaking at the premiere, he told Sky News: He was fantastic, I love old Becksy.

Three Musketeers: Guy Ritchie with Charlie Hunnam and David Beckham / Dave Benett

He is a fabulous actor and a real pleasure to be with.

He was less forthcoming when asked if he thought Beckham could enjoy a successful career on the silver screen, saying: I don't know yet, one step at a time.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 1 /21 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Family support David Beckham was joined by his eldest son Brooklyn Dave Benett Co-stars Charlie Hunnam and David Beckham attend the European Premiere of "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" in London Dave Benett Got the blues Poppy Delevingne looked striking in a bright blue dress Ian West/PA Sign away David Beckham took time to entertain his fans Ian West/PA Red carpet ready Poppy Delevingne attended her first premiere as an actress Dave Benett Three Musketeers Charlie Hunnam, Guy Ritchie and David Beckham Dave Benett Striking Ella Hunt added a touch of glamour to the proceedings Dave Benett Date night Guy Ritchie was joined by his wife Jacqui Ainsley Dave Benett On trend Katie McGrath, who plays Elsa, wore a black gown which appeared to be inspired by the dresses from King Arthur's time period Shake on it Charlie Hunnam and David Beckham are reunited on the red carpet Dave Benett In support Peter Ferdinando, who plays the Earl of Mercia, was joined by Alexandra Weaver Looking all white Hermione Corfield worked a monochrome look Summer vibes Dougie Poynter kept his shades on as he worked the cameras Dave Benett Goosefat Bill Aidan Gillen spoke about bulking up for his role Dave Benett Leading man Charlie Hunnam cut a dapper figure as he attended his first Leicester Square premiere Dave Benett Splash of colour Meg Matthews worked the red carpet

Beckham received less than complimentary feedback on his acting abilities with many deeming his performance the worst acting I've ever seen, while others joked that the stone acted better.

Piers Morgan also mocked his Oscar-worthy role and likened him to one of the Mitchell brothers from EastEnders.

Piers Morgan mocks David Beckhams acting ability on Good Morning Britain

Others defended the sportsman with one tweeting: I'm not a huge David Beckham fan but #ffs give him a break. I'll reserve judgement until I've seen the whole film...

Beckham assured fans that he has no plans to take up acting full time.

I havent taken a step into acting, he told Edith Bowman at the London premiere. Its me doing something I love with a friend. Its not a new career or something I want to go into.

Ive always liked a challenge, and usually its to do with sport, but with this I didnt know if I was going to be OK.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is slated for UK cinema release on May 19.
B eloved British actor Geoffrey Bayldon, known for his roles on childrens television, has died at the age of 93.

The Leeds-born star played the title role in childrens series Catweazle from 1970-1972 and went on to play the Crowman in Worzel Gummidge.

BBCs Lizo Mzimba confirmed the news of his death on Thursday afternoon, writing on Twitter: Sad news. Actor Geoffrey Bayldon, best known for playing Catweazle and Worzel Gummidges Crowman has passed away aged 93 his agency has says [sic].

As well as his TV roles, Bayldon played the Governor in the film version of Porridge and starred as Q in the original Casino Royale.

Iconic role: Geoffrey Bayldon as Catweazle

He famously turned down the lead role in Doctor Who twice as he was worried that the character was too old for him.

Catweazle title sequence

He did go on to appear in the long-running show astrologer Organon and even voiced the Doctor in a number of radio plays.

Bayldond went on to appear in more recent shows including New Tricks, Waking the Dead and My Family.

Talking about his iconic role as Catweazle in a 2010 interview, Bayldond said: It was a new idea, at the time of boring kitchen-sink drama.

Everything was serious, working-class, and the idea of magic didn't even occur, let alone humour. With the two together I thought the world would be mine!"
T he BBC has announced that a brand new family will be joining EastEnders this summer.

Headed up by single mum Karen, played by Lorraine Stanley, the five Taylors are set to shake things up in Albert Square.

The clan consists of Karens children Keanu, played by Benidorms Danny Walters, Bernadette, played by Clair Norris and younger brothers Riley and Chatham who are portrayed by real-life siblings Alfie and Tom Jacobs.

As well as pets Bronson the dog and Rooney the bearded dragon, the family are bringing a dark secret to Walford which promises to provoke plenty of drama.

The Mitchell family in EastEnders 1 /40 The Mitchell family in EastEnders My Boys Ross Kemp (Grant Mitchell) Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell) Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell) BBC The Ghost of Pat Batcher Peggy Mitchell (left) (played by Barbara Windsor) and Pat Evans (Pam St. Clement), as beloved EastEnders' character Peggy said goodbye to Albert Square for the final time, taking her own life in a heartbreaking scene BBC Grant and Phil Grant Mitchell (left) (Ross Kemp) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Peggy Mitchell's sons, as the beloved EastEnders' character said goodbye to Albert Square for the final time, taking her own life in a heartbreaking scene BBC Frank and Peggy Peggy Mitchell played by Barbara Windsor receives a lift from husband to be Frank Butcher played by Mike Reid (2nd left), during a photocall outside the Queen Victoria pub at London's Elstree studios, Tuesday March 30, 1999, where their on-screen wedding reception was filmed. The bride and groom were joined by fellow actors (left to right) Pam St Clement, Ross Kemp, Steve McFadden, Shaun Williamson, and Tony Caunter. BBC Ice Cream Van Pat and Peggy have a laugh in an Ice Cream Van BBC Sam Mitchell returns Actress Danniella Westbrook in Albert Square on the set of EastEnders BBC Queen Vic Fire Peggy calls his bluff but Phil strikes a match and throws it to the floor BBC Phil Mitchell shooting EastEnders hardman Phil Mitchell lying face down after being shot in the chest BBC Archie and Peggy Archie Mitchell and Peggy Mitchell BBC Grant's bad move Grant Mitchell sets fire to the Queen Vic for the insurance money, but didn't realise Sharon (LETITIA DEAN) and Roly the poodle were inside BBC Family photo Michael Higgs pictured as Andy Hunter, with Kim Medcalf as Sam Mitchell and Barbara Windsor as Peggy BBC Mitchell brothers arrival The Mitchell brothers Grant and Phil arrive in the square BBC Eviction emotions The Mitchell family evicted from The Queen Vic BBC Londoners Barbara Windsor as Peggy Mitchell and Steve McFadden as Phil Mitchell BBC Wedding cake Grant Mitchell and Sharon Watts in 1991 BBC Pub life Sharon Watts and Peggy Mitchell with Alfie Moon and Chrissie Watts BBC Kiss and tell Kathy Mitchell and Grant Mitchell BBC Slap Peggy slaps Chrissie Watts who tumbles into an open grave BBC Mother-son talk Peggy tells Phil to drink after he gets angry that she didn't tell him about the debt BBC Scarlet woman Peggy tries to have a go at Pat for wearing red to Frank's funeral BBC Walford drama Pauline Fowler slaps Peggy over Martin Fowler's fruit and veg stall BBC Family bonds Peggy walks with sons Grant and Phil to prove the Mitchell's are as strong as ever BBC New star A young Jack Ryder as Jamie Mitchell BBC Landlady Peggy poses outside her pub BBC Bad boy Grant Mitchell on the set of Albert Square Daily Mail Lady of the square Peggy Mitchell next to the Albert Square street sign BBC Raise a glass Peggy Mitchell at the Queen Vic BBC Trio Grant and Peggy Mitchell with Tiffany BBC Throwback A young Grant Mitchell outside the Queen Vic BBC Icon Peggy Mitchell will wave goodbye to Albert Square BBC

Sean OConner, EastEnders executive producer teased an explosive summer, describing the family as noisy, brash and not to be messed with.

Im hugely excited at the arrival of Karen and her family in Albert Square. Theyre noisy, brash and not to be messed with. Karen is a twenty-a-day lioness, bringing up her kids with no support, no money and a very loud mouth, he said of the newcomers.

EastEnders car crash ending causes criticism

Adding, "But though they may lack cash, the Taylors have love and warmth in spades. This summer is going to be explosive as the Taylors settle in Walford. The Square will never be quite the same again"

Actor Danny Walters who will star as the familys eldest child said he already felt part of the team:

Having only been filming EastEnders for a few weeks, I feel so privileged to already feel a part of the team. Everyone has been so friendly and kind and gone above and beyond to make us feel welcome and supported.

"There has been a huge buzz surrounding the new family and I am so excited to see what the future holds for the Taylors.

The Taylors will be on screens this summer.
Kromrey Middle School in Middleton is a Green Ribbon school, the latest in a stream of green ribbons for the Middleton-Cross Plains School District.

The school is one of two public schools, one school district and one university in Wisconsin to be honored with the ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education. 63 institutions were honored nationwide with the ribbon.

The awards, given out since 2012, are to institutions of learning that are implementing practices to improve health, reduce environmental impact and energy costs and engage students in hands-on learning.

Kromrey Middle School and Houlton Elementary School in the Hudson School District are two of 45 public schools nationally that have been awarded the Green Ribbon this year.

The Washburn School District is one of nine districts nationally to win the award, and UW-Stevens Point is one of nine colleges in the U.S. to win the award.

This is the fifth time in the six years of the Green Ribbon School program that a Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District school has been honored.

Middleton High School won in the inaugural year in 2012, Park Elementary School in Cross Plains won in 2014, the district as a whole won in 2015 and West Middleton Elementary School won in 2016.

This year's winners will be recognized in Washington D.C. on July 19.
The team managing the 250th Anniversary of Horse Racing in Canada (#cdnhorseracing250) has been busy working with racetracks, agricultural societies, industry associations and farms putting together activities and celebrations of this monumental milestone in Canadas horse racing history.

The excitement is building as plans are finalized to host commemorative miles across the country throughout 2017. The first one on the calendar will take place as part of the Mothers Day Open House at Mac Lilley Farms, located at 28322 Chalmers Line, Dutton, Ontario this Sunday, May 14. At 3:00 p.m., Il Sogno Dream and Alex Lilley will take to the track for a mile in recognition of Mac Lilley Farms 50 years of operation. The fastest trotter in North America in 2015 is currently doing double duty, as he is spending time in the Mac Lilley Farm breeding shed as well as beginning preparations for his 2017 race season.

The farm is open to guests from 1:00  4:00 p.m. and will provide an opportunity to get up close and personal with Standardbred mares and foals, take a ride behind a racehorse, learn about the history of both Mac Lilley Farms and Canadian horse racing as well as many other activities.

The 250th anniversary of horse racing team will be on hand to answer questions, and provide 250th anniversary of horse racing colouring sheets and other giveaways for the kids. There will also be CHRHF and 250th anniversary merchandise available for purchase.

In the coming weeks, look for 250th anniversary displays and merchandise available at the following track events:

May 14  Mac Lilley Farms Mothers Day Open House, Dutton, ON

May 20  Mohawk Racetrack Fireworks Night, Campbellville, ON

May 21  Flamboro Downs  Confederation Cup, Flamboro, ON

May 28  Grand River Raceway  Open House, Elora, ON

Thank you to industry partners Standardbred Canada, Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, HBPA, COSA, OHHA, ASHA, and Harness Racing BC for their financial contributions to this years celebration.

New events and activities are being added to the calendar frequently. To stay up to date on all the latest 250th Anniversary of Horse Racing in Canada activities, or find out how you can get involved, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or visit the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame website. #cdnhorseracing250

(Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame)
GERING  Nathan Flowers, a 17-year veteran of the Gering Volunteer Fire Department, has been selected as the new fire chief and fire marshal. He succeeds Jay Templar, who retired after 50 years of service to the department.

Flowers began his career in 2000 as a volunteer firefighter at the age of 21. His father was also in the department at the time. Templar appointed him to his last title, assistant chief, about five years ago.

I liked the initial thrill of responding to emergencies and that sparked my interest in my early career, he said. As I moved up into different roles, the more exciting those roles became as I took on more responsibility.

Over the years, his fellow firefighters have become like a family to him. But the real satisfaction comes from keeping the community safe.

Flowers has been able to put his skills and knowledge to good use beyond the walls of the Gering Volunteer Fire Department.

In 2011 I was asked to be a part-time instructor for the State Fire Marshals Office, he said. Ive taught the Firefighter 1 class, rope rescue classes and basic firefighting skills from Crawford and Kimball, all the way to Grand Island. Ive met some amazing people who taught me so much.

Two years ago, he began teaching emergency medical technician classes at Western Nebraska Community College.

I cant express all the thanks I have for Chief Templar, Flowers said. He was such a good mentor to me and put me in those positions where I could grow.

Another area the department plans to keep expanding is the fire training center, which has been used by fire departments from around the Panhandle to train personnel in firefighting, rope rescues and search and rescue drills.

The center is a work in progress that started several years ago and its dynamic as we keep adding things, Flowers said. We use it every chance we get. Its a huge benefit to our area.

Recently, Gerings firefighters have been preparing for the upcoming summer season, a time when grassland fires can be a real problem. Members received training in proper chainsaw use and the proper procedure for removing trees when necessary. They also performed their annual refresher test.

Flowers officially takes over as Chief on May 25.

The transition shouldnt be noticed, as everything will stay the same, he said. Our people work really hard and know what to do.

Flowers added that Templar had provided exceptional training for the firefighters over the years, and he plans to continue providing every opportunity for the fire department to be the best they can.

A 1997 Gering graduate, Flowers attended WNCC while also working in the photo department at the former McCosh Drug in Gering. By the next year, he was working at Spectrum Photography in Gering.

It was Mrs. Schmidt, my journalism instructor who inspired me toward photography, he said. I was working with fellow photographer Tom Nuesca at McCosh, so when he could no longer work, he asked if I could take over. The ball just rolled from there.
SCOTTSBLUFF  As Lisa Betz-Marquez, yoga instructor at Prairie Arts Yoga Studio, asks her students if they would like some music to go with their exercises, a baby goat walks over to her iPad, tapping it with its nose. The music plays and the Goat Yoga class begins.

About a dozen newborn goats frolicked around and climbed on yoga students at Victory Hill Farm Monday as Betz-Marquez provided instructions for a variety of yoga poses.

Victory Hill Farm and Prairie Arts Yoga Studio teamed up to begin a new spring tradition by offering Friendly Goat Yoga classes after Sarah Pinet, co-owner of Victory Hill Farm learned about it online.

People had been sending me links to events that have been happening across the country, Pinet said. I thought, Why not? Ive got goats. I have a pasture. I just need to find a yoga person.

Pinet is friends on Facebook with Betz-Marquez and knew she talked about yoga. A few conversations later and the basics of the event were organized.

Betz-Marquez, who will receive her yoga certification on June 4, is looking forward to this new way to practice yoga.

Yoga is a practice that incorporates relaxation, while building strength, flexibility and balance, and whenever you can tune in to nature, its going to bring relaxation, Betz-Marquez said.

The classes, which take place at Victory Hill Farm, allow participants to enjoy yoga in the fresh air, while baby goats act as guides to discover nature while adding a bit of fun to the yoga experience.

Its a more playful kind of yoga, Betz-Marquez said. It wont be as intense as a regular class.

The 90-minute beginners class has 20 minutes reserved to play with the goats. While practicing yoga, the baby goats will be roaming Victory Hills grassy field and will occasionally come around to see what yoga students are up to. Goats will nuzzle, snuggle and sometimes walk on the backs of students.

The farm also has several friendly cats who may sit on the sidelines, watching participants.

Its a good metaphor for mindfulness because we have this kind of lifestyle that is busy and distracting, Betz-Marquez said. This is a good distraction from the everyday, to sit with goats and enjoy their innocence and sweetness.

Betz-Marquez expects students will have fun with the class.

I dont think anyone wont have a good time, she said.

There will only be two classes, limited in size to 30 participants each, on Thursday, May 18 at 6:15 p.m., and Saturday, June 10, at 10 a.m. The original class, which was to be held on May 14 has been canceled.

Due to feedback that the day was not a good day for many, the date was changed so more people could come out and have fun with the goats, Betz-Marquez said.

Tickets are $17 per person and are available online or by visiting the Facebook pages for Victory Hill Farm and Prairie Arts Yoga Studio and Gallery and following the link to the tickets.

Participants should bring a yoga mat. Only ticket holders, who bring a mat and participate in the yoga class, can interact with the animals. Participants must be at least 10 years old and must be accompanied by an adult if 16 years or younger.

For more information, call Lisa Betz-Marquez at 308-672-1114 or message Sarah Ramsey Pinet on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sarah.r.pinet.
SCOTTSBLUFF  Potters Wheel Ministries reopened its community food pantry on May 2, getting back to serving a community where many people find themselves in need of food resources.

Board Chairman Craig Collins said hunger is real in our community.

At Potters Wheel Ministries, were ready to demonstrate Gods mercy and love for all people, especially those who are hungry and struggling to provide food for their families, Collins said.

Once the food pantry is in full operation, it will assist about 300 individual people each month, free of charge. A voucher for the service is available every 30 days, which can be obtained through more than 20 partnering agencies and churches.

Tony Bergmann, the executive director of Potters Wheel Ministries, has been with the ministry since 2009.

Ive worked with the rescue mission in San Diego, so I have a background with the people we serve and I can relate to them, he said. I have the same scars to show as they do and every one of them tells a story.

Founded in 1989, Potters Wheel Ministries will celebrate its 28th anniversary this year.

We arent an agency, but a nondenominational ministry, Bergmann said. We dont accept government funds of any kind. Our reason for being here is to glorify God and help people through Him, so were only stewards of the ministry.

Potters Wheel works with about 18 different agencies as well as numerous churches in the valley to help each of them better serve community needs.

I know that churches get calls every day from people in need of food, Bergmann said. Wed like to partner with even more of them because providing food is a real need.

He also emphasized that for all the volunteers, the work isnt about them. Its about reaching out to people who have real needs, regardless of the circumstances.

The food pantry had been closed since last August when the fire marshal told board members that because the facility at 118 East Overland in Scottsbluff was a warehouse, it could only be used for storage and handling goods. That meant no public access to the distribution center.

The solution came with a plan to remodel some of the building to meet stricter fire codes. The main floor of the building was converted into a mercantile, which allowed for public access.

The food pantry is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Bergmann said their approach is to let people shop for the groceries their family needs.

Our function is to make enough money to keep the doors open so we can give food away, Bergmann said. We also accept donations of household items that we distribute to families in need. Well take anything that will bless someone else. Everything goes to the best use possible.

Because Potters Wheel Ministries has a limited staff, they had to look to the community for financial and volunteer assistance to reopen the food pantry. As Bergmann said, it took an army of volunteers.

One of the primary volunteer groups comes from the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center. Bergmann said if their work crews stopped showing up, the ministry would have to close its doors.

Our connection with Potters Wheel Ministries is part of our jail ministry and weve been involved since they opened, said Detention Center Program Director Vonnie Cotant. We volunteer some of our crew hours to help them. As long as they need us, well be there.

For more information on Potters Wheel Ministries, call 308-633-2888.
Seventeen members of Mitchell Elementary School's EntrepreneurShip Investigation (ESI) After School Club will receive certificates from Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) for completing the semester long club.

The ESI Club walks students through the process of creating a micro-business, marketing materials, and products. At the end of the semester, students host an "Expo," a marketplace open to the public in which the products and/or services they've created are sold.

According to Ellen Ramig, ESI instructor, "We've more than doubled the size of the Club compared with the past three years, so it looks like there is great interest among the students in learning about what it takes to be an entrepreneur." Ramig says it's a privilege to work with these 5th and 6th grade students to share the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur.

"Our goal is to share the basic knowledge of what it takes to own a business so in the future, these students may open a business or will have a better understanding of what their boss must do to have a successful business."

Students receive a workbook and an opportunity to take the Gallup StrengthsFinder survey. Judy Amoo, executive director of the John N. Harms Center on the WNCC Scottsbluff Campus, joined Ramig this year to help teach the Club.

According to Amoo, "The semester has been very engaging," she said. "Assisting these talented young entrepreneurs evolve their concepts into reality has been a privilege. The kids have worked hard and are ready to share their unique products."

The Expo, held in conjunction with the presentation of the students' certificates, begins at 10:30 a.m. on May 11 at Mitchell Elementary School. Youth will be staffing their booths and selling their products. The Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce will present the Chamber's "First Dollar" to each of the students, all of whom have earned this symbol of support and recognition. The public is encouraged to attend.

In addition, Kelly Sturek, founder of Lincoln, Neb. based Bugeater Foods, serves as the keynote speaker and will address the student body of Mitchell Elementary School.

For more information, please contact Judy Amoo at amooj@wncc.edu or 308-635-6702.
I spent most of a day last week with Charlie Campbell, a lawyer from York who travels the state defending cities and counties from lawsuits.

I spent most of an afternoon and an evening this week with some guys who want to make a straight creek crooked.

And I spent part of Wednesday afternoon listening to the states new tourism director.

Believe it or not, all of that relates to fishing.

Awhile back, my friends Cher and Allan Maybee of Barn Anew bed-and-breakfast told me they sometimes get guests who enjoy fly fishing. We talked about it and I came up with a map of some of the places on Nine Mile Creek where public access is permitted. I didnt do much fly fishing at the time, but I told them Id be willing to take somebody out there if he or she wasnt comfortable going alone.

Charlie was one of the first guests who gave me a call. I couldnt fish on the day he wanted to go, so he followed me out there and I walked in a ways and tried to give him an idea of where he might catch some. Hes a nice guy, and I felt as if I owed him one. When he called last week, I arranged to take him up north to fish at Fort Robinson and the Soldier Creek Wilderness. We caught a few fish, put seven miles on our sneakers and had a great time.

The Grabel Ponds are one spot at Fort Rob where you can catch rainbow trout. The water is clear and the fish rise to dry flies. Its a beautiful place to warm up before tackling the wilderness. Soldier Creek flows out of the wild land into the state park, filling Carter P. Johnson Lake. We didnt fish the lake, but we hiked up the creek, which contains brook and cutthroat trout, and fished the Wood Reserve Ponds, which contain tiger trout, a hybrid of brookies and browns. Its a mile or more from the trail head to the ponds, which once served as an officers retreat during Fort Robs military era.

The creek project involved some guys from Trout Unlimited and Nebraska Game and Parks. They had put together a proposal to use funds from the Nebraska Environmental Trust, which funnels lottery receipts toward projects that improve Nebraskas ecology and recreational opportunities, to enhance trout habitat on Dry Spotted Tail Creek near Mitchell. The creek is anything but dry. In fact, it has a strong, year-round flow that long ago was funnelled between two adjoining farms as a matter of convenience.

These days its on property managed by Platte River Basin Environments, which owns a mile or more of North Platte River front. The land, open to fishing and limited hunting, includes seasonal ponds for waterfowl. The plan calls for a new channel for the creek that would meander a bit to create additional length and direct water at the proper velocity and temperature to provide places for trout to thrive. Many of the TU guys remember a time when Nine Mile and a few other local creeks grew monster trout, five to 10 pounds. Theyve formed a western chapter to try to bring back those fish and create better places than drive-up urban ponds for anglers to fish for trout. The Spotted Tail project would be a first for Nebraska Game and Parks, which is working with a firm that specializes in trout stream enhancement, and would serve as a model for future projects. It was turned down in the recent round of Environmental Trust funding, but the new TU chapter hopes to raise local matching funds and provide volunteer opportunities, such as planting streamside trees, that would bring down the cost and make the project more attractive in a future funding cycle. It would also make the Spotted Tail site more attractive to recreationists.

There are lots of places where a person could catch trout in the Panhandle, but many of them are on private property. I dont always feel comfortable kncking on doors to ask permission. Last year, I created a magazine guide to Spotted Tail and similar public sites, walking into each tract at least once, shooting a lot of photos, adding a map to the magazine and giving folks an idea of what theyd find. I figured a guide would help folks find their way on self-guided adventures. Ive learned since that for some, a map isnt enough. They dont feel comfortable venturing off the beaten track all alone.

Coincidentally, that topic came up during a tourism town hall meeting Wednesday with the new director of the Nebraska Tourism Commission, John Ricks. Because Nebraska has such a low percentage of public land, the commission is exploring the idea of creating more guided experiences for visitors, using folks who are familiar with communities and have access to otherwise inaccessible places. In a state with little public land, local knowlege is invaluable. For years, our local tourism officials have long promoted the idea of being a local ambassador, sharing information with visitors about what they can see and do. On Friday, theyre offering special training on that topic for workers who serve the tourism industry.

In my experience, it does help to go the extra mile  or seven miles  to make sure visitors have a good time. As Charlie told me at the end of our fishing trip, This is a beautiful area, and I love coming back.
This page is archived. Data published after 5 April 2022 can be found on the renewed website. Go to the new statistics page

Published: 11 May 2017

Current expenditure on the regular education system remained nearly unchanged in 2015

According to Statistics Finland, current expenditure on education increased by 0.4 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year. Current expenditure on education totalled EUR 12.2 billion in 2015. Costs of comprehensive school education made up the biggest share of current expenditure on education. EUR 4.6 billion were used on comprehensive school education in 2015. The shares were next biggest in university education and research, on which EUR 2.3 billion were spent and in vocational education, on which EUR 1.8 were used.

Current expenditure on regular education system by type of expenditure 2015

Type of expenditure EUR million % Pre-primary education 1) 358 2,9 Comprehensive school education 4 620 37,7 Upper secondary general education 736 6,0 Vocational education 1 810 14,8 Apprenticeship training 151 1,2 University of applied sciences education 906 7,4 University education and research 2) 2 323 19,0 Other education 479 3,9 Financial aid for students 860 7,0 Total 12 244 100,0

1) Pre-primary education for 6-year-old children (pre-school education) in daycare centres and comprehensive schools.2) Includes universities' external financing for research.

Current expenditure on education relative to GDP was 5.8 per cent in 2015. The share has been falling starting from 2010.

Current expenditure on education and current expenditure per student have decreased in real terms since 2010. Between 2000 and 2015, total current expenditure on education and current expenditure per student were in real terms highest in 2010. Current expenditure was converted to correspond to the price level of 2015 by means of the industry-specific price index of national accounts describing public education expenditure. Real change means that the effect of risen prices has been taken into account.

Real development of current expenditure on education 2000  2015

There are differences in the expenditure development of various sectors of education. Expenditure on pre-primary education has grown in real terms compared to 2010. Expenditure on comprehensive school education was almost on level with 2010 in 2015. Expenditure on vocational education and apprenticeship training and on university of applied sciences education has fallen most in real terms over the 2010s.

Source: Education. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Mika Tuononen 029 551 3504, Vesa Hamalainen 029 551 2594, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Publication in pdf-format (206.0 kB)

Updated 11.5.2017

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Educational finances [e-publication].

ISSN=1799-0963. 2015. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 9.11.2022].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/kotal/2015/kotal_2015_2017-05-11_tie_001_en.html
A bench along the greenway in Statesville has a small plaque on it in honor of the late Rick Davis. It says Placed in memory of Rick Davis an
American think tank Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) of Washington, D.C. has organized on Wednesday a conference to mark the anniversary of one year since the inauguration of the Aegis Ashore missile defence system at the Deveselu Military Base in Romania, as well as on the topic of Romania's contribution to ballistic missile defence in Europe and the perspectives of developing the NATO capabilities to defend against ballistic missiles, the Romanian Embassy in the US capital informs, acording agerpres.

Romanian Ambassador in Washington, George Cristian Maior, had the main speech of the event that saw, also, as guests Frank Rose, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance from 2014 to 2017, Major General Harold "Punch" Moulton, former Director of Operations, U.S. European Command, as well as other specialists in the domain.The Romanian diplomat evidenced our country's contribution, together with the USA's, in the realm of defence against ballistic missiles and the strategic value of the Aegis Ashore system for the North-Atlantic Alliance: "Aegis Ashore is defining to the exceptional quality of the Strategic Partnership between the USA and Romania, now at its 20th anniversary".At the same time, Ambassador Maior has showed that Aegis Ashore has brought a significant contribution to extending the coverage and protection range against potential ballistic missile attacks coming from outside the Euro-Atlantic space, the transfer of this facility to NATO constituting an important element for declaring the initial operational capacity of the NATO BMD at the Allied Summit in Warsaw of July 2016. George Maior declared that the "investment in anti-missile defence is one of long-term for the high threat of ballistic technology", including through the point of view of the interests of the state and non-state to hold and develop such technologies.Furthermore, he emphasized the purely defensive character of the anti-missile facility in Deveselu and the NATO BMD capability. pointing out that they are not targeted against Russia, they do not infringe the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and does not undermine the capacity for strategic discouragement of Russia.Ambassador Maior showed that the "NATO anti-missile defence represents a model of common Allied contribution on the basis of the key principles of solidarity and indivisibility of Allied security. Aegis Ashore Romania contributes to collective defence within NATO, for an efficient and credible discouragement and for the consolidation of the transatlantic relationship".Frank Rose, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance from 2014 to 2017, emphasized that Romania is the most trustworthy ally of the United States and thanked our country for the leadership assumed within NATO, emphasizing, beside the important contribution for the NATO anti-missile defence capability, Romania's robust commitment in Afghanistan.Major General (r) Harold "Punch" Moulton, former Director of Operations, U.S. European Command, remarked that the Aegis Ashore operationalized in Romania constitutes the foundation for future ballistic missile defence, according to a release of the Romanian Embassy in Washington.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker told the beginning of a dialogue with Romanian citizens on the future of the European Union on Thursday in Bucharest that there is almost a love story between him and Romania. "I am very glad to be in Romania. Last time I came here was in 2003, and I will be leaving quite soon. I would like to stay longer, and I guess I will be coming back soon because I am tired of talking about Romania without having seen much of it. There is an almost love story between me and Romania. In 1997, when Romania was accepted as a candidate member, I was the chairman of the European Council. When Romania acceded, I was holding the Luxembourgian presidency of the council; I am proud that I could do what I did for Romania and Europe. In one word, I love this country," Juncker told the event hosted by the National Museum of Arts.

Given that 92 percent of the attendees responded to a questionnaire handed out in the debate that the lives of Romanians turned for the better after Romania's accession to the European Union, Juncker said: "I love this country."

"I know many Romanians in Brussels and Luxembourg as well and even Romanians in Romania. And I know that Romania has encountered despair and deceptions along its European journey, as adjustments were not easy, particularly for the neediest of Romanians. I have always admired your courage to think, tell and make things," he said. Juncker went on to say that Romania is a country of freedom, a country that paid with blood for the freedom it gained. At the end of the dialogue with Romanian citizens, as a new questionnaire revealed that 43 percent of the participants believe Romania's voice is insufficiently heard in the EU, Juncker pointed out that Romania is no second class country.

"In the national debates in Romania I often hear that. But that's not true. Let me give you an example: since April, two vice presidents and the president of the European Commission as well as European commissioners have come to Romania, which we have not done in any other member state. So get this idea that Romania is not an equal to the other member states out of your mind. This state's dignity is the same as the others'. I listen to Romania because I love it," Juncker concluded.

Agerpres...
WHEATON, Ill.  German grocery chain Aldi Inc. is trying to beat the worlds biggest retailer at its own game: low prices.

Already with 1,600 U.S. stores, Aldis internal studies show its prices are 21 percent lower than its lowest-priced rivals, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to Chief Executive Jason Hart. He plans to maintain that gap going forward.

His strategy, previously unreported, centers on adding more private-label goods, which are a retailers in-house brands, to win over price-sensitive customers, and a massive expansion to further disrupt a U.S. grocery sector that has seen 18 companies go bankrupt since 2014.

Harts plan calls for spending $1.6 billion to expand and remodel 1,300 U.S. stores, and open 400 new stores mainly in Florida, Texas and on both coasts by end of 2018. He also pledged Aldi will be willing to change prices more frequently to respond to rivals if needed.

We are re-merchandising, remodeling, enhancing our product range and are focused on gaining volume so more customers start their shopping at Aldi and we are able to complete their shopping lists more so than we have in the past, said Hart, who added that Aldis U.S. sales have doubled in five years.

Though it accounts for only about 1.5 percent of the U.S. grocery market, Aldi is growing at 15 percent a year, whereas Wal-Mart currently controls about 22 percent of the market and its U.S. sales are estimated to grow about 2 percent this year, according to analysts.

Aldis growth potential has competitors taking notice. Reuters reported in February that Wal-Mart is running price tests in 11 states, pushing vendors to undercut Aldi and other rivals by 15 percent, and is expected to spend about $6 billion to regain its title as the low-price leader.

Price wars are roiling the entire retail sector  from department stores to discount chains  but it is nowhere as intense as in the grocery sector. Beyond Wal-Marts move to match Aldi on price, German discount chain Lidl plans to open up to a 100 U.S. stores in a year, and Amazon.com Inc. is aggressively testing out various brick-and-mortar grocery formats along with growing Amazon Fresh, its grocery delivery service.

We have not seen anything like this in the grocery sector in the United States before, said Scott Mushkin, managing director of Wolfe Research and a leading pricing analyst.

Such heated competition risks a dangerous race to the bottom that could result in more retailers shutting their doors.

Given Aldis expansion, Lidls entry, Wal-Marts response and Amazons growing ambitions in this space, it is fair to expect a significant acceleration in the bankruptcy and liquidation cycle in this sector over the next few years, said Burt Flickinger, managing director at retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group.

Goal: Everyday

low pricing

Aldi, has a simple strategy to win more customers: everyday low pricing, according to Hart.

We dont confuse our customers with yo-yo discounts, sales, coupons and loyalty cards that require membership fees, he said.

Four analysts and consultants contacted by Reuters confirmed Aldi now offers the lowest prices in private label consumer products in the states where it operates, although they did say Wal-Mart is gaining ground in the states they are conducting price tests.

Depending on the product, Aldis prices are cheaper than most rivals private label items and even most branded items, analysts said. Hart said the 21 percent difference in price is calculated by monitoring competition on a basket of groceries.

Aldi counts on its no-frills shopping experience to help keep costs low, and limits much of its inventory to items that sell in huge volume. But its focus on offering far more private label items than branded products is central to allowing Aldi to adjust pricing whenever it chooses, Hart said.

Aldi and Wal-Mart do not break out the figures, but analysts including Mushkin and Flickinger say Aldi carries about 1,200 stock keeping units (SKUs) or type of products, 90 percent of which are private label. Wal-Mart stocks about 30,000-40,000 SKUs of products similar to ones Aldi sells, and only 30 percent of that are private labels.

That different product mix can potentially make it more difficult for Wal-Mart to adjust prices because it often first needs buy-in from suppliers, and many times faces push back from packaged goods makers such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever and even smaller brands. Such vendors fear steep discounting can erode the value of their brands, analysts said.

A Wal-Mart spokesman declined comment, saying the company would not comment on a competitors strategy. P&G and Unilever did not respond to Reuters requests seeking comment.

But the explosive growth in private label products is on the radar of Wal-Mart Chief Executive Doug McMillon. Last month he told analysts that private label goods will play an even more important role as the widespread availability of branded products online will compress those products margins over time.

Aldi is disrupting the sector the way Wal-Mart did when they started, said Strategic Resource Groups Flickinger.
Foresight Energy, the St. Louis-based coal company active in the Illinois Basin, on Thursday reported a first-quarter jump in sales as more of its coal moved into export markets.

Total revenues rose nearly 39 percent to $230.4 million, the company said. The increase was attributed to a 1.5 million ton increase in coal sales volumes driven by export shipments.

Net loss attributed to limited partner units was $111.2 million, or 85 cents per unit, in the period ended March 31. That compared unfavorably to a net loss of $41.7 million, or 32 cents, in the year-earlier period.

Foresight said it issued $1.25 billion of new debt as part of a successful refinancing.

Concurrent with the refinancing transaction, Murray Energy exercised its option to acquire an additional 46 percent of the general partner of Foresight, increasing its voting interest to 80 percent.

As a result of its increased voting interest, Murray exercised its option to apply "pushdown accounting" to Foresight's financial statements.

The first quarter was successful for Foresight as we realized significant year-over-year improvements in sales volumes, coal sales and production costs, as our operations continued to perform exceptionally well, Robert D. Moore, chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. We were able to take advantage of improved capital markets during the first quarter and successfully complete the refinancing of our indebtedness."

To read the full release, go to foresight.com
When Ellie Schwetye was a freshman at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, she and her roommate, who came from Karachi, Pakistan, broke the ice by talking books. The roommate said that her favorite book was Pride and Prejudice, the comic, ever-popular novel of romantic manners by English author Jane Austen.

Schwetye, at the time a recent graduate of Clayton High School, guiltily admitted that shed never read it.

Her horrified roommate shoved a copy of the book into my hands, recalls Schwetye, now managing director of the Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble here. That weekend, all I did was read.

Like countless other readers since Pride and Prejudice debuted in 1813, Schwetye was hooked from the first page.

So was Rachel Tibbetts. But shes not the first Austen fan in her family. Tibbetts, who is SATEs artistic director, discovered that her 93-year-old grandmother, Kathryn Tibbetts of Pauls Valley, Okla., is a longtime Pride and Prejudice fan herself.

Kathryn Tibbetts, however, never considered Austen heroine Elizabeth Bennet her favorite character. Shes always preferred Elizabeths headstrong sister Lydia.

The vivid characters in the densely populated book allow every reader to find someone to relate to, Schwetye says. She and Tibbetts tried to keep that in mind as they adapted Pride and Prejudice into First Impressions, opening next week at SATE. Tibbetts directs.

Adaptations have been written before. Thanks to Austens keen depiction of enduring human foibles and to fans who cannot get enough of her story, Pride and Prejudice never goes out of fashion. Its many, many treatments include movies (in 1940 with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, in 2005 with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen), TV versions (the 1995 BBC miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) and various stage versions, among them two musicals. Mystery writer P.D. James followed the couple with Death Comes to Pemberley, writer Helen Fielding turned Pride and Prejudice into Bridget Joness Diary and St. Louis novelist Curtis Sittenfeld transferred the Bennets and company to modern Cincinnati in Eligible.

And thats not counting all the romantic Regency fiction that doesnt even acknowledge its debt to witty, high-minded Elizabeth Bennet, a wonderful young woman whos a little too quick to judge others, and wealthy, aloof, possibly even higher-minded Mr. Darcy. Picture the two of them on horses, and there you have it: romantic fiction distilled to its precious essence.

There probably wont be horses at SATE, which performs at a small theater called the Chapel. But it will give voice to others who are customarily absent: readers.

We interviewed more than 80 people about their first memory of Pride and Prejudice, says Schwetye, who stars as Elizabeth opposite SATE veteran John Wolbers. At various moments during First Impressions, the play is interrupted to share these reader reactions.

We heard all kinds of swooning over Mr. Darcy, of course  and honestly, you can look at Pride and Prejudice just as a love story, Schwetye says. But you can also think of Jane Austen as a humorist, looking at women in a society with few choices.

Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters dont have many of them. With no son to inherit the fathers estate, Mrs. Bennet fervently hopes at least one of her daughters will marry well  as, of course, Elizabeth eventually does. But although money is a marital consideration, it is not the only one.

When Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth at last become engaged, Mr. Bennet has to be persuaded that Elizabeth has not accepted her suitor only for his fortune. He wants to be sure that, despite Elizabeths pre-judgment (or prejudice) and despite Mr. Darcys pride, they truly love each other.

By that point in the story, Mr. Bennet is the only one who harbors any doubt. And the readers have known all along.
The Canadian pop-rock band Barenaked Ladies and the soulful New York City a cappella act the Persuasions may seem to be an unlikely pairing. But the two come together in fine form on a new joint album.

The bands are complementing Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies and the Persuasions, released in April, with some shared concert dates, including Monday at the Peabody Opera House. (The full Barenaked Ladies tour doesnt include the Persuasions on every date.)

Coming on tour to the USA in this political environment, being a group of people from different backgrounds and colors making harmonious music together, Im happy and proud of that, says Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn. We anticipate we will create great feelings in the rooms.

It was the late Lou Reed who brought the two acts together. They met at Reeds 2013 memorial service at the Apollo.

Hearn, who had been Reeds touring band leader from 2007 until his death, says hed always admired the Persuasions work. I reached out to them after that and asked if theyd like to collaborate.

The group, which had served as Reeds opening act, was interested. Hearn says he asked the Persuasions to perform with the Barenaked Ladies in New York Citys Central Park in 2016.

They were so lovely, Hearn says. They sang songs backstage, and we all hung out. It was a magical day. We said, Lets find an opportunity to do more together.

Hearns fondness for the Persuasions, which formed in Brooklyn in 1962, goes way back.

I grew up singing in a choir, since I was a young boy all through school. Ive always loved harmonies and loved human voices together that have wonderful balance and texture. The Beach Boys come to mind. The Beatles come to mind. And the Persuasions really come to mind.

In the mid-2000s, someone gifted Hearns a copy of the Persuasions Frankly a Cappella (2000), and it knocked my socks off. I had heard of them, but this was the first time I really saw how special they were, that theyd really done something great. It was amazing. I knew in choosing songs for us to do together I didnt have to feel intimidated or restrictive to certain types of songs.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies and the Persuasions consists mostly of collaborations on Barenaked Ladies songs, along with a version of the Persuasions Good Times.

We have a lot of songs with harmony parts, Hearn says. When they join in on those harmony parts, its harmony on steroids. And they brought a real soulfulness and genuine gospel feel to it. Were just a bunch of white guys from Toronto. Its incredible to hear and feel their sounds.

In addition to Hearn, Barenaked Ladies includes Ed Robertson (guitar), Jim Creeggan (bass) and Tyler Stewart (drums). The Persuasions are Cliff Dawson, Jimmy Hayes, Dave Revels, Raymond Sanders, Jayotis Washington and Samuel White.

Next up for Barenaked Ladies is Fakes Nudes, its 16th studio album, set for release in fall.

I think its a little more adventurous musically than the last few records, Hearn says.

The title is an obvious riff on fake news, but theres another meaning: All of our career we hear people say they came to our shows to see barenaked ladies, and its a bunch of guys with clothes on.
ST. LOUIS  A Jennings man was charged Wednesday night with murdering a woman near her home last year in the city's Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

Gerald Suarez, 23, of the 5400 block of Wilborn Drive in Jennings, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Police said in court records that a witness identified Suarez as having fatally shot Janay Noldon, 26, just after 9:30 p.m. on May 15, 2016. Police had been called for a shooting outside a home in the 3000 block of Dakota Street. Noldon was found in the street with gunshot wounds to her back and shoulder. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.

At the time, police said they believed Noldon was shot from one of two vehicles that drove off after a fight at the Dakota Street address.

Noldon lived in the 4400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Bail for Suarez was set at $500,000 cash. A bond commissioner's report filed with the charges says Suarez is single, a high school graduate and has no known criminal convictions.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story gave incorrect information on Suarez's employment based on an incorrect court record. This version has been corrected.
KIRKWOOD  Hamid Socoro was sitting near the middle of a school bus carrying 13 students to a Parkway elementary school Thursday morning when it swerved on Interstate 44, crashed through a guard rail and careened down an embankment into a clump of trees.

The 9-year-old boy slid to the back of the bus as it veered, and bounced out the back emergency door as the bus crashed through the guard rail. A driver who witnessed the crash stopped, scooped up Hamid and put him in his vehicle while he called authorities.

I dont know who he is, but we really appreciate what he did, Hamids uncle, Osman Socoro, said. He did a good job. Id like to meet him.

Meanwhile, residents of the Kirkwood neighborhood near where the bus crashed rushed to help other children on the bus.

You hear all these screams  said Leslie Johnson, who was walking along a Meacham Park street to get to work when the bus crashed. Johnson injured his shoulder helping to get a child away from the wreckage. You hear kids  and I have three  you cant do nothing but react to that.

Somehow, there were bumps and scrapes and cuts, but no life-threatening injuries, authorities said. The children, who attend Hanna Woods Elementary School in Manchester, were taken to St. Louis Childrens Hospital and released within hours. Hamid was last. The driver of the bus was trapped but pulled out by firefighters. The driver had moderate injuries.

This could have been bad, said Sgt. Al Nothum of the Missouri Highway Patrol.

The crash was before 8 a.m. on westbound I-44, east of Lindbergh Boulevard. Nothum said the driver of a red car, reportedly driving erratically, spun out and hit the median after trying to pass a truck in the westbound lanes. The driver of the car, a man in his 20s, admitted to police that he was speeding on his way to work. The pavement was wet from a morning rain.

He spun out and came over toward the bus, Nothum said. The bus swerved to the right to get away from him.

The bus veered off the highway, over the guardrail and down an embankment into trees.

It came to rest, upright, after striking a tree behind a motorcycle clubhouse. The bus at that point was about 15 feet below the surface of the highway. It had traveled at least 50 feet down the embankment, Nothum said.

Matt Scheffing, 14, was traveling with his father in the eastbound lanes of I-44 when he saw the crash.

The two front tires of the bus were airborne, he said. And then it bounced off the median and went over the guardrail and into the woods.

The students, ages 5 to 12, were transfers from St. Louis. Other drivers stopped on the road to help many of them.

Weve got to help these kids

Theresa Rhone was in her driveway getting ready to take her 17-year-old daughter to school when they heard the crash just above them on the interstate.

I heard a big crash and I saw the bus coming down through the trees really fast, she said. I heard a whole lot of screaming. I started yelling, Oh, my God, weve got to help these kids.

Her son, Michael Nelson, hadnt even put on his shirt for the day when heard the crash and came outside. He and Johnson climbed a fence to get to the bus.

My first instinct was to run and jump over and make sure the kids were safe, said Nelson, 20. When I got into the bus, there was one little kid who was kind of shook up, scared to get off the bus. So I grabbed him and talked to him to get him off the bus.

The boy was on a seat about five rows back in the bus and was grunting when Nelson first got on the bus. The boy had a cut to his ear. He said he wanted to go to sleep, and asked for his mom.

Nelson said there was smoke and he was afraid there would be a fire. He kept the boy awake and persuaded him to get off the bus.

While Nelson concentrated on getting the last little boy off the bus, Johnson focused on trying to keep the bus driver calm.

He said the lower half of her body was pinned underneath the steering wheel and they could not get her out. They feared they might worsen her injuries if they did. So they turned the bus engine off, and Johnson tried to calm her.

I just had to talk to her and make sure she stopped panicking, because she was making the kids panic, Johnson said.

Teresa Dodd, a family friend of the Nelsons who helped after the crash, said she heard the bus driver screaming in pain, and yelling, Did all my kids get off the bus?

I cant believe it wasnt worse than it was, Dodd said.

The trapped bus driver suffered cuts and abrasions, but her injuries would be considered moderate, Nothum said. She was taken to Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur for a routine CT scan. Her medical condition wasnt available.

Nothum said the bus driver deserves credit for keeping the bus upright through it all.

She has worked for North America Central School Bus for several years off and on, said Jim Love, director of safety and risk management for the bus company. She most recently returned to the company in February.

From what we know right now, shes going to be fine, Love said. Shes always been a good driver and a good employee.

She was prepared, Love said. The company sends drivers through training that teaches them how to try to keep the bus upright by weaving through cones as well as to look as far ahead as they can to anticipate when something could happen. The company also forbids drivers from using cellphones.

The more able they are to pay attention, the better their chances are of having a better outcome, and this was very fortunate for everyone, he said.

Love said the company is working on ways to collect donations because many people have called asking how to help.

Nothum said the driver of the red car stayed at the scene and cooperated with police.

He was distraught and felt terrible he created that chain of events, Nothum said.
CARBONDALE  The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees on Wednesday decided against appointing a new chancellor to lead its Carbondale campus.

Board Chairman Randal Thomas said there were differences among board members on who would be best candidate for the post. He said board members want to personally interview the candidates before a decision is made.

The candidates for the post are interim SIU Carbondale Chancellor Brad Colwell; Oakland University in Michigan President George Hynd, and University of Alabama President Carl Pinkert.

One candidate, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Arts and Sciences dean J.S. Elwell, withdrew his name from consideration.

Thomas said board members intend to interview two other unnamed candidates who did not make the final four cut.

Thomas said the board is looking for a visionary who will reshape what SIU Carbondale will become  the new Delyte Morris. Morris was SIUs president for 22 years beginning in 1948.

The new chancellor will replace Paul Sarvela who died in November 2014. An interim chancellor has served since then.

The board, meeting at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, did authorize a plan to allow the Carbondale campus to borrow up to $35 million in unrestricted funds from the Edwardsville campus.

The board put in place terms for the borrowing arrangement, including the development a financial sustainability plan to address the fiscal crisis facing the Carbondale campus.
Ambassador to the United States (US) Aizaz Chaudhry on Thursday has asserted that Pakistan has made immense sacrifices in the war against terrorism.

The ambassador met US journalists and told them that the negative impressions about Pakistan are a tale of the past however; the world should now analyse the country with a new point of view.

Aizaz Chaudhry notified that Pakistan has achieved tremendous progress on economic and security fronts.

He explained that Pakistani forces eliminated terrorists from Pak-Afghan border areas under Operation Zarb-i-Azb. The ambassador stressed that peace in Afghanistan is essential for long lasting serenity in the region.

Aizaz Chaudhry told the journalists that investors from various countries including US are approaching Pakistan.
An Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad has sentenced Muhammad Sikander, the main accused in the 2013 Islamabad standoff, to 16 years in prison and handed him a hefty on Thursday.

Sikander, who held his family members hostage in Islamabad's Blue Area, was fined Rs110,000 by the court.

Failure to pay the amount will result in an additional six months added to his prison sentence.

On August 15, 2013, the armed man opened fire in the heavily policed heart of Islamabad after slipping past the capital's many checkpoints. He was later shot and seriously wounded by police during a dramatic standoff.

The armed man, who was with his wife and children in a car as he issued demands for the imposition of Islamic law, was said by doctors to be fighting for his life after the five-hour incident.

The incident started when Sikandar started firing into the air in the central Jinnah Avenue neighbourhood  less than a kilometre from the presidency and parliament buildings  after being stopped for a traffic violation, police said, according to a report published by AFP.

An AFP photographer at the scene said the man was holding a submachine gun and a Kalashnikov.

The stand-off came to a head when politician Zamarud Khan, a leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), who was acting as a negotiator, jumped on Sikandar and tried to disarm him.

Sikandar broke free and fired at Khan, who was not injured. The woman and children were standing nearby.

Police and paramilitary forces shot Sikandar, who fell to the ground and was carried away by police and paramilitary officers.

Television footage showed the young boy trying to rush over to his father after he was shot, but Khan held him back.

The drama was broadcast live by at least three private television channels, with TV anchors questioning how police and other law enforcement agencies failed to check an armed man who drove into an area so close to the presidency and parliament house.
The Senate on Thursday deliberated on the Mashal Khan lynching case as the Senators urged the parliament to play its due role against misuse of the blasphemy law, reported Radio Pakistan.

Khan, a 23-year-old student of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, was killed by a vigilante mob for allegedly "publishing blasphemous content online", according to the initial police report.

Senator Farhatullah Babar of PPP in his inaugural remarks said that the mob violence was increasingly becoming a routine in the society. He said the parliament should play its role to prevent misuse of blasphemy law. "Some elements are suppressing the expression of freedom in the name of religion which is regrettable," he added.

Senator Nihal Hashmi of PML-N said that blasphemy law prevents people from taking law in hands as the state is there to check any blasphemous act. He urged Ulema to give the true message of Islam. "Similarly, the liberal elements should also try better understanding of religion instead of criticising it," he added.

Muhammad Azam Khan Swati said politicians, lawmakers, Ulema, lawyers and every segment of society will have to play their due role to change the extremist mindset and to present a soft image of Pakistan and Islam.

Sherry Rehman of PPP said, "Growing intolerance is becoming a serious issue of our society." She said serious efforts should be made to check mob violence.

Rubina Khalid said that war against terrorism cannot be won without having a counter-narrative to check extremism in the country. She urged the Senate chairman to constitute a committee to evolve a counter-narrative.

Maulana Atta-ur-Rehman of JUI-F said, "No one should be allowed to take law into hands." He said that his party expresses complete sympathy with Mashal Khan.

He continued that the implementation of the law in letter and spirit is the way forward to prevent such incidents. He said it will be inappropriate to talk about changing the blasphemy law on the basis of these incidents.

Aitzaz Ahsan of PPP also expressed his views and said that strict action should be taken against those responsible for the lynching of Mashal Khan. He said all the people, after identifying in the lynching video available, should not be given any clemency and everyone should be tried according to the law.

He said Mashal Khan lynching case should be tried in a military court for misuse of religion. He also urged the Senate chairman to form a committee to have detailed discussion with leading Ulema, lawyers, media persons and other important figures on the issue of extremist mindset so that a unanimous view could be sought to address the issue.

Shahi Syed of ANP said some people are doing politics on the issue of Mashal Khan which is regrettable. He said, "Action should be taken against the culprits, irrespective of their political affiliation."

Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo of National Party said it will become difficult to live in a society if growing religious intolerance is not stopped. He requested all the political parties and Ulema to join hands against intolerance.

Mohammad Usman Khan Kakar proposed that Mashal Khan's father should be given an award for demonstrating decency and courage even on the death of his son, whereas the department of Abdul Wali Khan University should be named after Mashal Khan.
Turkey on Wednesday reacted furiously to a US plan to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Ankara considers terrorists, but the force battling jihadists said the move would hasten the extremists defeat.

The issue risks further stoking tensions between Ankara and Washington less than a week before President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads to Washington to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in their first face-to-face encounter as heads of state.

The Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) is seen by Washington as the best ally against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and the prime attacking force in any assault on their stronghold of Raqa.

But Ankara regards the group as a terror group and the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which since 1984 has waged an insurgency inside Turkey leaving tens of thousands dead.

The dispute poisoned ties between Turkey and the United States under the administration of former president Barack Obama but commentators had hoped for a smoother ride under Trump.

"The supply of arms to the YPG is unacceptable," Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television.

"Such a policy will benefit nobody," he said. "We expect that this mistake is to be rectified."

Ensure clear victory

In a surprise announcement, the Pentagon said Trump had authorised the arming of Kurdish fighters within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) "to ensure a clear victory over Daesh in Raqa."

The SDF, a US-backed group dominated by YPG but which also contains Arab elements, hailed the move and said that receiving US arms and military equipment would "hasten the defeat" of the jihadists.

"The US decision to arm the YPG... is important and will hasten the defeat of terrorism," an SDF spokesman told AFP.

The Kurdish-Arab SDF has been the main faction fighting Daesh on the ground in Syria, but Turkey dismisses it as a front for the YPG.

It remains to be seen what shadow the issue will cast over the talks between Trump and Erdogan, which have been touted as chance to forge a new partnership between the two NATO allies.

A high-level Turkish delegation including Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Turkeys spy chief Hakan Fidan has been in the US laying the groundwork for the meeting.

Canikli said Turkey would take the diplomatic initiative to convince Washington "to do what friendship requires."

"The argument that a ground operation in the fight against Daesh would be successful only with YPG has nothing to do with reality," he said.

Both Washington and Brussels classifies the PKK as a terror group but has never regarded the YPG as such.
First, a video of a Pakistani hairdresser lighting hair on fire as a method to straighten it went viral in January. Then a Palestinian barber in Gaza copied the treatment. Now the trend has now made its way to Egypt.

In the back streets of Mohandessin, Mohammed Hanafi lights his customers hair on fire after popular demand as a result of viral videos from Pakistan and Gaza.

Im usually on social media, especially on YouTube, looking at the latest trends in hairstyling when I came across the Pakistani salon using fire to cut and style mens hair. I then saw that it reached Gaza. So I thought why not use the same technique here at my shop, Hanafi told Al Arabiya.

He adds that after a painstaking search for the method, he learned that the secret lies in the thermal insulation between fire and hair, which controls the cut.
Straight from city council

A personal view,

by Councillor Steve Morris

After years of only being able to look at, but not touch Taurangas waterfront, we celebrated the official opening of the new tidal stairs and pontoon last Saturday. Around 4000 people enjoyed the autumn sunshine, food stalls and the first annual Tauranga Bomb Competition. The level of enthusiasm for the finished project has been beyond expectations.

Tauranga has an historic connection with its waterfront which is no less important to the connection we enjoy to the beach on the other side of the bridge. Strand in German means beach yet over the decades we turned our back on the waterfront; filling it with a carpark and in 2007 the final severing blow - demolishing Coronation Pier. It was supposed to be replaced but ten years later its obvious somethings missing at the bottom of Wharf St!

Last year, I moved that council reduce the budget for Masonic Park upgrades by $2.5m to give us the funding to rebuild Coronation Pier. Now we need to finish the job this term; giving Tauranga back its roots as a coastal town. Keep an eye out for this proposal next year.

This week we listened to public submissions on our 2017/18 budget. I want to thank the 250 people who took the time to write in. Its taken a few days but Ive read each one of your submissions and thank you to those who came in to speak to us. Well be debating changes resulting from your submissions in June.

Photo taken in 1899 of Coronation Pier with a crowd of Tauranga residents coming out to greet Governor Lord Ranfurly. Photo: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.





Photo taken last week near the same spot of the crowd at the tidal stairs. Photo: TCC.
Ongoing political issues behind a traditional supplier of phosphate rock for New Zealand fertiliser manufacturers are being exposed by the seizure of a fertiliser ship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

The Cherry Blossom is stuck at anchor 4km off Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and not allowed to continue on its journey to New Zealand.

The liberation movement of Western Sahara, Frente Polisario has intercepted and detained the shipment carrying $NZ7.5m worth of what Polisario calls conflict minerals bound for Ballance Agri-Nutrients works at Awarua, Southland.

The mineral comes from Laayoune, in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara which has been under dispute since 1975 when war broke out between Morocco and the Polisario movement fighting for the Sahrawi people.

A lawyer for Polisario in Cape Town, Andre Bowley, says a court hearing over the cargo will be held on May 18.

Ballance CEO Mark Wynne says they will have a lawyer at the hearing, along with the ships owners, charterers etc. But meanwhile, they have alternative supplies in train and southland farmers will not go short in spring.

The seizure is part of the regions ongoing turbulent politics, says Mark.

The UN has been on the ground there for decades trying to resolve the conflict and get an enduring outcome between disagreeing parties.

Western Sahara which in the past was partially annexed by Morocco, has recently rejoined the African Union, supported by Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa.

South African regards Western Sahara as a country, the UN doesnt regard Western Sahara as a country.

While Ballance Agri-Nutrients is caught up in the geo-politics, its not ignoring or turning a blind eye to the situation.

Mark was in Western Sahara last year looking at the social aspects of the situation; jobs, education, and came away assured Ballance Agri-Nutrients is ethically as well as legally clear in continuing to source phosphate rock from the region.

Morocco has about 75 per cent of the worlds rock phosphate, and Ballance has been a customer for 20 years, and it will continue to source out of that region, says Mark.

Most Moroccan phosphate is exported from further north, with only a small percentage exported from Laayoune

The bulk carrier Cherry Blossom was originally scheduled to arrive in Bluff, New Zealand, on May 30. The vessel is owned by the Greek company AM Nomikos Transworld Maritime.

Its current location can be tracked on the website Marinetraffic.

The Cherry Blossom called at Port Elizabeth for re-fuelling. It was during that operation that Western Sahara initiated legal proceedings against the vessel. A court order resulted in the detention of the cargo aboard the ship.

The Saharawi people have long protested what they say is the illegal mining and export of phosphate rock from that part of Western Sahara under armed occupation by Morocco since 1975.

The trade has continued despite the commitment of the United Nations in 1991 to oversee a self-determination referendum for the people of Western Sahara, a territory dealt with by the UN as Africas last colonial issue.

"The export of these non-renewable resources from a place under armed occupation is a violation of well-settled principles of international law. It is a war crime, says Saharawi representative for Australasia, Kamal Fadel.

"The resources need to stay in the ground until the Saharawi people are allowed the basic commitment of the international community to choose their future," says Fadel.

The seizure of the cargo under court order comes only months after Saharawi authorities successfully concluded a case against the European Union for extending a free trade agreement with Morocco into Western Sahara.

In the case, for which the Court of Justice of the European Union issued its final judgment on December 21 2016, the Court noted that Morocco did not have governing competency or any territorial claim to Western Sahara.

The territory, the Court concluded, is to be treated as a separate entity from Morocco and the consent of its people (the Saharawi people and not more recent settlers) required for development and export of resources.
A Tauranga-based property finance and investment trust will be donning the party hats, popping the bubbly, and celebrating two big milestones this week.

Not only is First Mortgage Trust celebrating being in business for 21 years now, its also crossed into substantial financial territory, with more than $500 million of investor funds under its management.

CEO Tony Kinzett says its a figure that makes the trust one of the Bay of Plentys true powerhouses.

Our financial growth and our extended operational history have depended on our resolute conservative approach.

Year after year, First Mortgage Trust has gone from strength to strength, both in terms of serving our investors and in meeting the needs and aspirations of borrowers.

Tony says the trusts strong governance, unwavering operational care and prudent risk management underpins both arms of our business.

On the one hand, we aim to be a reliable and high performing investor opportunity. On the other hand, within our relatively conservative policies, we are active and willing lenders.

Our continuing growth and additional strength should allow us to fulfil both of these objectives ever more diligently.

And this approach is certainly working, adds Tony who says the trusts responsible management, financial scale and extensive property sector diversification has provided investors, with favourable returns when compared to trading banks, and valuable risk management.

At the same time, with such considerable funding available, the Trust is a natural port of call for property borrowers.

Theyre good reasons to look ahead with confidence for another 21 years.

First Mortgage Trust is New Zealands largest non-bank first mortgage lender on commercial, industrial, residential and rural property, and operates throughout the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Auckland regions, and beyond.
Following widespread publicity, the daughter of retirees who begged her to pay back $368,000 in unpaid loans says she may yet appeal the decision.

Marian and Trevor Warin won a legal case against their daughter over decades of loans she failed to pay back.

The couple earned a $3 million fortune developing orchards, and Marian claims they have been living off pensions since their 80s because of their daughters debt to them.

Their daughter Colleen Warin, in a letter emailed from her lawyer, notes there is still time to appeal the judgment  and that she has never denied the money would need to be repaid.

"Colleen is dismayed with the media publicity about this matter for what is a family dispute, for loans that the judgment records she has never denied would need to be repaid," the letter says.

"The only dispute is over when they were repayable. Colleen is disappointed with the judges decision, and the time for Colleen to appeal the judgment has yet to expire at this time.

Colleen would like it known that the loans arise primarily out of the circumstances following the breakup of her marriage, and that she is supporting a child."

Marian, who proclaimed "we are not a bank" in Facebook postings about the case, is pleading for Colleen to hand over her Taupo unit to repay the loans, and has claimed she owned a Mercedes car.

Via her lawyer, Colleen claims she has never owned a Mercedes.

High Court at Wellington associate Judge Warwick Smith found there was no evidence supporting Colleens contention that there was any agreement that she repay her parents as and when Colleen could afford to repay.

The judgment shows the lending began in 1996 when the couple transferred their Te Puke property to their daughter with an acknowledgement she owed them $100,000, and an apparently oral agreement that she would build a home for life for them on the property.

In 2011, the land was subdivided and the house the Warins were living in was sold, so they moved to another part of the land and that was sold too.

The couple, by then in their 80s, then moved to another Te Puke property meant to be their retirement income. They made further loans to Colleen between 2010 and 2014.

The judgement says the couple sent their daughter a letter on May 3, 2012, outlining they were prepared to consider a repayment plan over time with payment of interest in the meantime, given Colleens apparently difficult circumstances.

But it does not suggest any agreement of the kind Colleen contended had taken place.

"Colleen appears to have simply ignored the letter," the judgment says.

The judge notes Colleens marriage ended in 2012, and at the time the letter was sent her husband appeared to be the full-time carer for their son.

The judge found her parents were well within their rights to demand repayment of the money.

Colleen owns a home in Waiheke Island and a lake-front Taupo resort unit.

Trevor, 90, is at their Te Puke property suffering from dementia, while Marian is currently recovering from pneumonia in Australia with her son Nigel, who says his parents retirement was stolen.

Marian told her story on Wednesday as a warning to other Kiwis to use written agreements when it came to lending to family members.

"Terrible, its all terrible," she says. "The whole thing has been a bit of a shock."

- Stuff
There is a heavy rain warning in place for parts of the Bay of Plenty and Bay of Plenty Civil Defence is monitoring the situation.

MetService is forecasting heavy rain from late today until Friday evening, especially over the eastern ranges of the Bay of Plenty.

Heavy rain can cause rivers and streams to rise rapidly, as well as surface flooding and slips, so it is important that people are prepared and keep updated.

Emergency Management Bay of Plenty director Clinton Naude says people need to take responsibility for their preparedness and make a plan.

Think about what you and your family would you do if you couldnt get home, were stuck at home or had to leave home in a hurry? Would you be ready?

What if there was no power, no water or no communication? If there is heavy rain coming, have you cleared your gutters or thought about your pets? A little bit of planning goes a long way, he says.

Local residents are advised to stay updated by listening to the local radio, or checking social media platforms (the BOP Civil Defence website and Facebook page).

People can also sign up to receive text alerts by visiting the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence website, Clinton says.

To subscribe visit http://bopcivildefence.govt.nz/emergency-status/subscribe/ and follow the instructions.

For further information check out www.facebook.com/BOPCivilDefence or visit www.bopcivildefence.govt.nz.
The government has announced it will be delivering emergency housing for 10,000 vulnerable New Zealanders.

While Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller is welcoming the announcement, he is making it clear that he will be pushing for a decent chunk of that emergency housing to be found in the Bay of Plenty.

As a Government we understand that demand for housing is increasing in New Zealand, and here in the Bay, as winter approaches the demand for a warm and safe housing will only continue to rise.

That is why we are working to secure appropriate housing for those who need it.

The government has secured 870 transitional places providing housing for 3480 households a year for around 10,000 Kiwis in need of warm and safe housing, with a further 728 places a year set to be available by winter.

In 2016, the government set aside $354 million to secure 2051 transitional houses around New Zealand to assist 8600 families every year.

This is the first time transitional housing has received ongoing, direct funding from the government, adds Todd.

Yes, our target of 2051 houses is ambitious, but this government is ambitious for New Zealand and we are 100 per cent committed to delivering real results for Kiwi families in need of a hand getting back on their feet.
Communications Minister Simon Bridges is welcoming the launch of the Tauranga City and Western Bay District councils Digital Enablement Project.

The purpose of the project is to both support growth in the Bay of Plenty, and allow everyone in the region to access, participate and benefit from digital technologies together.

Simon says the Digital Enablement Project, which was officially launched at the Tauranga Art Gallery on Wednesday night, will help leverage the governments investment in bringing faster broadband to the region.

This is exactly the kind of thing that our focus on improving connectivity is intended to facilitate  communities connecting-up, using digital tools and services, and reaping the benefits from access to fast broadband.

ICT service and software exports doubled between 2008 and 2014, making ICT our third largest export. And a report released last year by NZTech showed in 2015 our tech sector contributed over $16 billion to GDP, exported over $6 billion in goods and services and employed 98,900 people.

The Tauranga MP says supporting growth of the New Zealand tech sector is one of the key outcome areas identified in the governments Building a Digital Nation report.

But its much wider than the tech sector, its also about supporting businesses across all sectors of the economy, by encouraging them to see the possibilities technology offers them and their business, adds Simon.

For example, finding new markets, developing new products and services, improving customer experiences and increasing business efficiency.

Id like to congratulate the Tauranga and Western Bay Councils for reaching this milestone and Im looking forward to seeing local businesses, schools and people getting involved in the Digital Enablement Project.

This openness to new ways of thinking, and to exploring new technologies, are essential if we want to become a leading digital nation, says Simon.

As part of the second phase of the Ultra-Fast Broadband programme, the government allocated $17.2 million for the Bay of Plenty, which will see fast broadband extended to 10 more towns by the end of 2024.

Once the full UFB programme is complete, almost 243,000 people  or 80 per cent of the Bay of Plentys population  will be able to access UFB. Read more here.
Domianting headlines this month, the world watched in awe as Sailing Yacht A arrived in Monaco, only to cross paths with Blohm + Voss' stunning Motor Yacht A, the 119-metre (390'5"ft) in what has been considered an iconic spectacle of innovation in one frame.

As the journey of S/Y A seems to continue, well documented and with the world watching, her most recent revelation put her back in the spotlight. With her three sails recently showcased, she was caught by Photographer Carl Groll and the world once more gazed on in amazement.

With an exterior style by Philippe Starck, an arguably outlandish design concept that divided opinion and inspired public debate, this iconic vision of excellence could be spotted from afar simply by its striking silhouette and colossal size, but its sails this time were the talking point.

Until further revelations develop such as her advanced features of underwater observation pod, hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system and state-of-the-art navigation systems, Nobiskrug's S/Y A remains an unrivalled spectacle that has taken the yachting world by storm.
Running from the 11th to 14th May, the Versilia Yachting Rendez-Vous is a celebration of Italian yachting with some of the region's finest builders, designers, tender brands, refit agents and manufacturers.

The Exhibition

Brands and experts in design and construction from across Italy are preparing to bring their finest showcases of style and expertise such as Amico & Co, Azimut, Benetti, CCN, Baglietto, CRN and the Ferretti Group, Overmarine, Fraser Yachts, Marina Porto Antico, Riva, Sanlorenzo, and Perini Navi.

This pedigree of Italian yachting is sure to bring a dedicated buzz to the regions yachting fraternity and culminate in a stronger community. Spread over 50,000 square metres and separated into three areas (Superyacht Marina, Superyacht Equipment and Component and Tender & Toys), each section will bring together the impressive exhibitor list to showcase their launches to other brands in the region.

The event, created by Nautica Italiana, is organised by Fiera Milano in collaboration with Distretto Tecnologico per la Nautica e la Portualita Toscana, with the support of the Municipality of Viareggio and the Tuscan Regional Authorities; all sharing the mission of furthering awareness of Tuscan yachting and lifestyle.

"Viareggio has many resources, but the sea is the most important one. On one hand, it involves tourism and hospitality, on the other, the port and boat building sectors. Everything else is linked with these two important elements: from trade, to high-end craftsmanship. Because the inhabitants of Viareggio have a secret weapon: their creativity", said Giorgio Del Ghingaro, Mayor of Viareggio.

The Yachts

With Atlante at the largest end of the spectrum, the Versilia Yachting Rendez-Vous will also be welcoming the likes of Perini Navi's incredible Exuma, Aquarius, Dahlak, Principessa Vai Via; Benetti's impressive Fast 125', Classic Supreme 132' and the Crystal 140'; CCN's 102 Flying Sport and Sanlorenzo's latest 2017 SD 112.

With a showcase of Italian style, construction and interior flair, the exhibitors across the docks will undoubtedly be going some way to achieving the first mission of advancing Tuscany's yachting market.

Superyachts.com will be on the docks to deliver insights into Italian custom creation, so make sure you keep an eye on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds over the next few days.
Most of us will be familiar with the grand twist towards the middle of Jane Eyre  if you arent, I wouldnt consider this a spoiler, because its a shocking book, and not worth wasting 400 pages of your time on. Handsome, dashing, mysterious Mr. Rochester was married before he met Jane! And worse, his wife is still alive and terrorising Jane with howling, ghostly noises from her attic prison! And this is where were all supposed to gasp  not because he committed the apparently entirely forgivable crime of locking a woman in an attic against her will, but because poor Jane cant marry him now. This trope is named after Bertha Rochester herself, the original madwoman in the attic. Whatever she may or may not be suffering from, she is more often than not set up as a foil for Jane herself  the wild, animalistic, West Indian woman, versus the white, genteel, English Jane. Her distress is utterly refuted in the face of Janes distress at having to encounter her, and this kind of victim-blaming when it comes to mental illness only alienates the persons struggle from the reader. Trying to make herself heard in the face of such extreme abuse makes her appear to be hysterical and violent, rather than brave, and I think we need to ask ourselves why that is.

Whether youve already read Jane Eyre or if youre suddenly curious about it, I would highly recommend reading Jean Rhyss Wide Sargasso Sea alongside it. Rhys cuts to the heart of the colonial entitlement that seems to have seeped into our consciousness without necessarily being questioned, and dissects the trope of the ridiculous, hysterical woman whose perspective is rendered null and void by her classification as mad. This madness, whether it is the rightful outrage of a non-white woman or a bona fide mental health issue (and honestly, who wouldnt be suffering after ten years forced confinement in their own house?) is therefore not seen as worthy of representation, or, at the very least, help. Jane and Rochester are made victims before Bertha is, and that, sadly, is a position many people suffering from mental health issues nowadays still find themselves in.

In a similar vein, the hysterical woman trope is not only applied to Bertha (as if any hysteria on her part wasnt entirely warranted), but also in todays media. A woman cannot speak up in public, or even run for President without being accused of being shrill and irrational, often even having this supposed hysteria attached to mental illness. Genuine mental health issues are trivialised by making them the same kind of social taboo as an indignant womans voice.

And there are so many more appalling tropes that mistreat victims of mental health problems even now, including the demonisation and parodying of neuroses such as OCD and anxiety disorder, and the glamorisation of serious psychoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Symptoms of the latter are often given to two-dimensional villain characters, whose sole motivation behind their deeds is often simply insanity  insanity which remains perpetually untreated, as well as somehow the fault of the character.

There are no two ways about it. We need to get better. It does not suffice to simply keep away from these tropes  we need to remove the stigma behind talking about mental illness. Above all, we must listen, and not invalidate the experiences of those who live with mental illness every day. By perpetuating the culture of glamourising, fetishising, and demonising mental health issues in our media and literature, we not only keep the madwoman locked in the attic  we throw away the key.
Whos afraid of the Linux terminal? Not you, if youve gotten your feet wet and learned the basics of navigating your system. But how will these newly acquired skills help improve your computing life?

To give you a sense of the terminals everyday usefulness, here are some examples of tasks the terminal is well-disposed to handle, drawn from my own experience.

Face Your Daemons

To start with, system administration is much more straightforward on the terminal. While you probably dont directly interact with them very much, the operating system manages silent background services, or daemons, in order to keep your computers many programs running seamlessly.

The daemons running in the background are managed by systemd, a core Linux program that directs your systems services once it takes over at the end of the boot process. Although there is a graphical user interface (or GUI) for systemd, the command line tools provide the granular control you want.

Starting and stopping services with the systemctl command is way easier than clicking through menus, scrolling through countless services, and confirming your action. With a single systemctl command, you can stop, start and restart services, view their configurations, or list them by their operating state.

So why would you ever have to mess with systemd? There are many possible cases, but the one youre most likely to encounter as a desktop user is managing networking (i.e., Internet) services.

Stay Connected

As mature as Linuxs networking services are, theyre not perfect, and sometimes they lose track of the signal and need to be restarted to pick it back up. For instance, sometimes NetworkManager will drop my connection (especially when the signal is weak) and not reconnect. The service likely needs to restart, but theres no menu item in NetworkManagers GUI to restart it, so instead I pop open a terminal and use systemctl to restart the service.

$ systemctl restart NetworkManager

The service then reloads all its configuration files and makes a fresh connection.

Make It Work

Troubleshooting system interfaces or hardware is best handled from the terminal as well. With it, you can access the kernel log using the dmesg command and sift through the output for error messages.

$ dmesg

For example, lets say you plugged in an old USB flash drive and it wasnt showing up in your file browser. You dont know whether your operating system just isnt registering it or whether the USB is broken.

Checking the kernel log will provide all the information you need to figure out exactly what went wrong. After running the $ dmesg command, scroll to the bottom. If you see your kernel acknowledge your flash drive, then your operating system or file browser is the culprit  but if theres no entry, your flash drives hardware is likely to blame.

End the Freeze

The terminal is the only reliable way to deal with processes, especially frozen ones. Every program running on your computer  whether initiated by the user or run automatically by the system itself (as root)  is represented as a process, and each process can be modified individually.

While many modern Linux desktops have a graphical dialog box that appears when processes dont respond, they dont always function properly, leaving the command line as your only recourse.

The safest approach is to look up the process with ps and scan the output for the rogue program.

$ ps -aux

The -aux here is just a set of useful options for ps  when using multiple single-letter options for a command, you can use one - and put them next to each other.

Once you run this command, locate the target process and look in the PID column for the Process ID number. With it, you can kill the process with the aptly named kill command by giving the PID as an argument.

$ kill PID

This should work, but if the process is really stubborn, you can pull out the big guns, the -9 option, sending the strictest termination signal.

$ kill -9 PID

I have had to resort to process killing (though, thankfully, rarely with -9) more than once when Google Chrome has crashed while trying to display an unwieldy flash video. However, once I execute the kill, the process terminates cleanly, and I can open Chrome with a fresh start.

Check Your DNS

Addressing networking problems is often more effective via the terminal, too. Opening a browser and trying to reach a website is a good enough test sometimes, but it is not very scientific or thorough.

Using ping to check with a publicly facing server is the most accurate way to test your connection. Just supply ping, the -c option with 4 for its argument, and a server that acknowledges ping requests (in this case, google.com).

$ ping -c 4 google.com

The above command will send four ICMP packets, a kind of diagnostic message, to Google, and all will be acknowledged as received if your connection is up. If that doesnt work, try using Googles IP address, 8.8.8.8, instead.

$ ping -c 4 8.8.8.8

This sends four packets to Googles public DNS server. If this works when the preceding command failed, its likely your DNS is not working properly.

In a nutshell, DNS is the Internets address book, as your computer can access websites only by IP address, and doesnt know which one corresponds to which URL until it consults a DNS server (or resolves it in some other way).

A few months ago, the Internet seemingly went out on the U.S. East Coast, but in reality malicious actors had taken a major ISPs DNS servers out of commission. In a situation like this, the two-step diagnostic outlined above would allow you to confirm DNS as the weak link, rather than a failure of your system, whereas trying out the browser would not.

Choose Your Format

Finally, using the imagemagick suite of tools, the terminal is by far the simplest, most versatile image format converter I have ever used. With a single command, you can merge multiple files and change their format simultaneously.

For example, one command I recently used combined separate JPG screenshots into a single PDF, which was as simple as invoking convert and giving the original files and the new filename (with the PDF extension) as arguments.

$ convert image1.jpg image2.jpg combined.pdf

I once had to submit income statements for a job that paid me exclusively through PayPal, so I took screenshots of each months transaction log and ran convert to combine them into a single PDF, creating neat documentation.

This is only a small sampling of the many tasks that the terminal is well-suited for, but I hope that it gives you an idea of the incredible power it affords you. If any of these use cases interest you, go ahead and investigate possibilities for yourself. Youll be amazed not just by what youll find, but how little you wont!
Apple reportedly has begun testing a premium iPhone with a revamped display and body, which could be one of three new models the company is expected to launch this fall. The other two likely will be upgrades to the two existing iPhones.

The new design will incorporate curved glass and stainless steel. It will increase the surface area of the display without increasing the size of the phone, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The three-phone rumor has been a consistent rumor over time, observed Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Thats why I believe it to be what Apple is planning, he told TechNewsWorld.

Introducing a trio of iPhones instead of the typical two makes sense, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Thats especially true when you consider that this is the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, and the continuing criticism heaped on Apple for lack of innovation, he told TechNewsWorld.

The new top-of-the-line model could cost more than $1,000, according to some Apple watchers.

Bezel-less Display

Giving a smartphone a bigger screen without increasing the overall device size has some design advantages, as Apples competitors have discovered.

The taller, longer form factor that LG and Samsung have adopted creates an edge-to-edge display on the left and right side of the device, noted Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.

Theres a strong case for it from a design perspective, he told TechNewsWorld. It allows you to get a larger diagonal screen while making the phone easier to hold.

With Samsung going to a bezel-less display in its latest model, its likely Apple has something along those lines in the works, suggested Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies.

It would make sense for Apple to streamline the design and give users more working space with a bezel-less screen, he told TechNewsWorld.

OLED Display

The premium iPhone will have an OLED display, Bloomberg also reported. OLED displays are brighter, more flexible, and consume less power than conventional LED screens.

Apple would like to use OLED across the lineup, but has had trouble sourcing enough OLED screens to do so, noted Tirias Krewell, but OLED is the right choice for the premium model.

Use of stainless steel, although challenging, also would be a good choice for a premium model.

Stainless steel is a material that Apple has continued to develop expertise in with its watch, so stainless may be justified in a premium edition of the phone, Reticles Rubin said.

Stainless steel is more rigid than aluminum, which is used on the current iPhones, and harder to mill  so it could be challenging to Apples suppliers, Krewell noted.

Steel also weighs more than aluminum, so it must be used more sparingly to keep the phone light, he pointed out.

Significant Camera Changes

Significant camera changes are in the works for the premium iPhone, Bloomberg also reported.

For example, Apple is experimenting with placing the dual cameras in the phone horizontally instead of vertically, as they are in the iPhone 7 Plus. The design change could result in better photos.

Apple also may add dual cameras to the front of the phone as well as to the back.

One thing Apple hasnt been able to get rid of yet, though, is the bump created by the rear-facing camera.

Its likely that Apple is going to push the camera envelope with the new iPhones, said Andreas Scherer, managing partner at Salto Partners.

The market expects improved dual lenses and potentially augmented reality-based features as well as depth of field enhancement, he told TechNewsWorld.

There is a plethora of photo-editing software in the App Store that allows the editing of pictures on a near professional level, Scherer added. As a result, Apple will continue to take market share from camera manufacturers of point-and-click cameras and entry-level DLSRs.

Virtual Home Button

Another persistent rumor  repeated in Bloombergs report  is the replacement of the home button at the bottom of the iPhone with a virtual button on the screen.

Its a design necessity if youre going to create a phone with a high display to surface ratio, maintained Reticles Rubin.

A soft home button requires careful application of fingerprint sensors in or under the OLED screen, said Tirias Krewell. Thats very cutting-edge technology and a hard manufacturing challenge, but Apple likes to push the envelope for a cleaner look.

Can Apple hit a home run with its new 10th anniversary premium iPhone?

Its becoming much more difficult to differentiate in the smartphone market, observed David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research.

While Samsung has beaten Apple to the punch with many new features, it seems Apple will be adding most of them to its new lineup, too  as well as e-SIM, support for Apple Pencil, and an enhanced version of Siri, he told TechNewsWorld.

Apples inability to hit a home run with past iPhone products has allowed Samsung and others to catch-up, noted Pund-ITs King.

Its not clear to me whether the companys focus on nominal iPhone upgrades and improvements is a system issue, or suggests that were reaching the limits of smartphone capabilities, he continued. The upcoming iPhones should help answer that question.
Microsoft is officially jumping into the smart speaker market with the Cortana-powered Invoke by Harman Kardon. Set for release in the fall of 2017, the device will initially be capable of making and receiving calls via Skype, voice-controlled music playback and completing various tasks using Microsoft's personal digital assistant. But the company will also be taking a page from Amazon's Echo to expand its functionality through the use of 'skills' that developers can tap into to integrate their services.

Today Microsoft launched the Cortana Skills Kit in a public preview. The SDK will allow developers to create third-party 'skills' by creating a bot and publishing it to the new Cortana channel of the Bot Framework, meaning those who have already been busy with Microsoft's Bot Framework can reuse the same code. The Cortana Skills Kit will work across all devices where Cortana is available, which includes Windows 10 devices, Android, iOS and Cortana powered speakers --- it's US only for now, however.

Early partners include Expedia, Capital One, Domino's iHeartRadio, TuneIn, OpenTable, weather notification service Dark Sky, and others. Microsoft has posted a complete list here. These are still in early preview stage, and many more are expected to arrive in the coming months.

In addition to Harman Kardon, HP is also creating a Cortana-powered speaker, while Intel will be creating a reference platform for other hardware vendors to create their own Cortana-powered devices.
Artificial Intelligence and vehicle technology helped Nvidia achieve better-than-expected financial results last quarter. Now, the chipmaker is pushing harder into these fields, announcing a partnership with Toyota Motor Corp that will see the Japanese car manufacturer use Nvidia's AI systems in its upcoming self-driving cars.

Speaking at the company's GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said Toyota would be producing autonomous vehicles using Nvidia's Drive PX artificial intelligence platform, which is powered by its Xavier SoC, "in the next few years." Like most auto firms with self-driving programs, 2020 or 2021 seems to be the target production date Toyota is aiming for.

Nvidia's automotive processor revenue, which makes up its Tegra processor business, brought in a record $140 million during the last quarter. While the company is best known for its gaming GPUs, it's becoming a major player in the self-driving car industry, and already has partnerships with Audi, Tesla, Volvo, Mercedes, and others.

"Transportation is the atomic Internet, the physical Internet," said Huang. "Every aspect of mobility and transportation and delivery will be augmented by AI."

The companies didn't go into specifics about the terms of the partnership, such as which Toyota vehicles will use the systems, but Nvidia will no doubt be pleased that it has joined forces with one the world's largest car manufacturers.

The Drive PX 2 systems fuse information taken from cameras, lidar, radar, and ultrasonic sensors. Its algorithms use the data to understand and respond to environment around the car.

"We're talking about not just development now but the introduction of vehicles into the market," said Danny Shapiro, Nvidia's senior director of automotive. "Now we have the biggest (automaker) in Japan using our Drive PX platform."
Apple has officially bought sleep-tracking company Beddit, signaling Apple's desire to evolve its Health-focused efforts beyond tracking steps and fitness levels into analyzing sleep behavior and patterns.

Apple Acquires Beddit

Beddit, for the uninitiated, makes sleep tracking hardware and software. On Monday, May 8, it updated its policy to inform users that their data will now be "collected, used, and disclosed" in compliance with Apple's own Privacy Policy, now that the Cupertino, California-based tech company has purchased the Finland-based company.

"You can use Apple HealthKit to connect the Health app to the Beddit mobile app. Connecting the Health and Beddit apps is optional, and you control what data flows between the apps," the updated privacy policy adds.

How much Apple bought Beddit for remains undisclosed and Apple is, as usual, laconic about the exact terms of the acquisition. But it appears Beddit's apps for Apple Watch have been taken down. What Apple intends to do with Beddit is unclear, but the best guess at present is that the purchase is bound for the company's biomedical engineering unit.

Founded in 2007, Beddit launched its products in Apple Stores late 2015. Carrying third-party products in its own brick-and-mortar stores is a way for Apple to know which ones click, and to whom. Beddit 3 is the sleep-tracking company's latest product, a slim sensor strip that's laid on a bed to analyze its owner's heart rate, respiration, sleep time and efficiency, movement, snoring, and much more. The device, still up for sale on Apple's online store, costs around $150.

What Is Apple Going To Use Beddit For?

Apple-branded mattresses are not going to happen anytime soon, so let's get that out of the way. Rather with its recent purchase, Apple is further cementing its seriousness in the health-tracking business. For a number of years, Apple has been working on sleep-tracking for its smartwatches, notes Bloomberg. With its sleep-tracking knowhow, Beddit could expedite that process and, in turn, help Apple herald its smartwatch line as full-fledged health tracking devices, a notion Tim Cook seemingly supports already.

Apple could announce more health-tracking features soon, add to that its much taller ambitions of turning the HealthKit platform into a full-on diagnosis tool. Partnered with Apple's Night Shift feature on the latest versions of iOS, which adds a red filter to help people get better sleep, Beddit can help Apple take sleep features to the next level, possibly by providing iPhone owners with sleeping activity, data, the whole nine yards.

Beddit says its customers can use HealthKit to connect the app to Apple's own Health app. The purchase button on its site now reroutes customers to Apple's online store, and its product is no longer listed on Amazon. What's more, Beddit was previously working on an app for Android, but that detail is no longer on its site.

Thoughts on Beddit? Do you think Apple should expand its biomedical engineering efforts to include tracking users' sleep activity? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A recent study on mice revealed cannabis may improve memory later in life because of its protective effect on the brain. The research showed that the key active ingredient found in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), could be used to reverse the decline in cognitive function, which typically comes with old age.

This latest health benefit associated with medical marijuana adds to a long list of curative properties, which have been amply described in numerous studies.

Unsurprisingly, cannabis seems to be beneficial even to our pets, from those plagued by cancer or arthritis to those suffering from seizures, according to an article published last year on the PETA website. The article details how medical marijuana has proved effective in pain management for our beloved animal companions.

Legalizing Marijuana For Medical Use

Even though smoking cannabis for recreational purposes remains controversial and has been known to affect health  it was recently linked to stroke and heart failure, and is also behind a mysterious illness called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome  the drug's medicinal properties are undeniable.

Researchers have weighed the pros and cons of medical marijuana use and believe the drug should be legalized for medicinal purposes in the United States  not only to ensure its accessibility to the patients that need it, but also to simplify the process through which studies are conducted.

So far, marijuana has been legalized for medical use in 29 American states, but only 6 percent of cannabis studies focus on the drug's benefits.

This is because marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug, alongside heroin and LSD, making it difficult to study its medical properties.

Federal backing, either through funding clinical trials or granting money for drug development and patient care, would allow more research to be conducted, expanding the knowledge of how marijuana affects the human body.

"We've conducted the studies, but I think an ordinary researcher without the support of the state would be hard pressed to do it. It's just a difficult and cumbersome process," said Igor Grant, director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California in San Diego.

Cannabis Medicinal Properties

Researchers believe they can explore further medicinal applications for at least two active chemicals in marijuana: THC, which studies showed has multiple properties, including an analgesic effect; and cannabidiol (CBD), which seems to impact the brain without inducing the drug's famous high.

Up to now, studies have documented a variety of health benefits associated with these two substances, pertaining to multiple areas of medicine.

The beneficial properties of medical marijuana range from healing broken bones to helping soldiers who are struggling with PTSD and preventing seizures caused by a severe form of epilepsy.

Marijuana has even been officially confirmed to help relieve pain. Its analgesic properties were also described in an essay published by the Washington Post at the beginning of the year. In the article, a mother shares her experience unveiling how cannabis helped her autistic son ease his pain and violent rage.

Also in January, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington released the most comprehensive report on this subject  a 400-page analysis of more than 10,000 scientific studies that offers conclusive evidence for a number of the drug's health uses.

5 Health Benefits Of Marijuana

Prevents and treats glaucoma

Researchers have been studying the link between glaucoma and marijuana ever since the 1970s. Studies revealed that smoking marijuana can have the effect of lowering eye pressure, according to the National Eye Institute.

This counteracts the manifestation of the disease, which typically increases pressure in the eyeball, damaging the optic nerve and causing loss of vision. The drug could be used to slow the progression of glaucoma and prevent blindness.

Slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Cannabis can help cure Alzheimer's disease and has also been used to help dementia patients. In the case of Alzheimer's disease, a study published the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics in 2006 showed that THC slows the formation of toxic amyloid plaques that kill brain cells and cause the disease, by effectively blocking the enzyme that produces them.

Reduces Parkinson's disease tremors and pain

Smoking cannabis seems to decrease tremors and pain while also improving sleep for patients with Parkinson's disease, according to researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel. Their study, published in 2013, attests that cannabis combats the effects of reduced dopamine in the brain.

The result: lessened tremors and pain, better sleep quality, and improved fine motor skills. In addition, marijuana has been found to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease, thanks to its antioxidant qualities.

Protects the brain after a stroke

Research conducted at the University of Nottingham in the UK suggests cannabinoids can "shrink" the damaged area of the brain after a stroke. The study, published three years ago, suggests cannabis can be used as a neuroprotective treatment for stroke victims.

In a separate study, the plant was shown to protect the brain after other types of traumatic events, such as concussions.

Helps patients undergoing chemo

One of the most well-known medical uses of marijuana is for people going through chemotherapy. THC helps curb chemo's side effects, easing pain, decreasing nausea, and helping patients regain their appetite.

The American Cancer Society says the drug is beneficial not only to chemo patients, but also to people suffering from a chronic illness or disease. This is because it can lower pain, reduce inflammation, and calm anxiety. Furthermore, the institution documents cannabinoids can inhibit tumor growth.

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Chaos ensued Monday night, May 8, at Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida, as Spirit Airlines canceled multiple flights, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded in Broward County.

Irritation escaladed to the point where it gave rise to altercations between angry passengers and staff members. The latter had no choice but to call the police, which intervened to calm the violent brawl and eventually made three arrests.

Riot Charges For The Arrested Passengers

A few tense customers quickly turned into a crowd of about 500 "enraged, fearful, or visually upset" people, according to an arrest report, which mentions the incident "resembled the start of a riot."

Punches were thrown, screams wailed through the terminal  currently under construction  while the airline's ticket counters were taken by storm by a swarm of distraught travelers, who waited up to three hours to find out the reason their flight was canceled.

Dozens of passengers were left with no option but to sleep on the cold floor of terminal 4, reports NBC.

The three people who were arrested  two men and one woman  face charges of riot incite or encouraging a riot, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and trespassing after warning, according to Broward Sheriff's Office.

Why The Spirit Airlines Flights Were Canceled

The cause of the cancellations has something to do with an ongoing labor dispute between Spirit Airlines and the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA). The airline's pilots are trying to renegotiate their contracts, which they argue don't measure up to the industry's standards.

On the day of the incident, the airline filed a federal lawsuit against the ALPA, asserting its pilots are engaging in a "pervasive illegal work slowdown" that caused hundreds of flight cancellations and disrupted travel for more than 20,000 passengers in the past week.

In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of the South District of Florida, Spirit Airlines claims the company was forced to cancel roughly 300 flights since the beginning of the month, with 81 flights being grounded solely on Sunday.

An additional 28 flights were canceled by Tuesday morning, May 9, because of the conflict between the pilots and their airline.

The court pronounced its verdict on Tuesday afternoon, ruling in favor of the airline and issuing a temporary restraining order, which compelled the union pilots to resume their work duties.

"We sincerely apologize to our customers for the disruption and inconveniences they have suffered. We believe this is the result of intimidation tactics by a limited number of our pilots affecting the behavior of the larger group. We are also shocked and saddened by the events that took place yesterday at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and at other airports across our network," said Paul Berry, spokesperson for the airline.

"We are hopeful that we can put this moment behind us and get back to serving our customers," Berry added.

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The measles outbreak in Minnesota continues to rear its ugly head and the health department is shelling out plenty of money to combat the disease.

On Wednesday, May 10, the state's Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger shared that the state was grappling with the biggest measles outbreak in the last three decades.

This measles outbreak was stretching the funds of the Minnesota Department of Health and it needed $5 million to combat infectious diseases. Ehlinger requested the state legislature for this contingency fund to help counter measles, syphilis, and Zika in Minnesota.

Minnesota Measles Outbreak: A Costly Affair

In the past four weeks, 51 cases of measles have been confirmed in Minnesota. These cases are primarily in the Hennepin County and impact kids of the Minnesota-Somali community.

A measles outbreak is costly because each patient needs a thorough follow-up. Measles is also extremely infectious and the virus can linger in the environment for nearly two hours even if the infected individual is not in the vicinity.

Roughly 90 percent individuals are at a risk of getting measles if they are unvaccinated and get exposed to the virus. This basically means that local and state health officials have a gargantuan task ahead of them to trace possibly infected people when they come across one confirmed measles case.

The Minnesota Health Department shared that nearly 47 people infected with measles were unvaccinated. One individual had a single dose out of the recommended two doses. Only two individuals had taken both the recommended doses.

The Minnesota Health Department's infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann revealed that it had to deploy 70 staff who were "working on this response." Moreover, Hennepin County and the state had conducted checks on roughly 8,000 potential measles exposure cases.

She also revealed that the expenditure in the first three weeks of the outbreak was $207,000.

"Not only are there health costs for treating children. There are economic costs for their families, and there are costs to the public health system," Ehresmann told NBC News.

Why Does The Minnesota Health Department Need $5 Million?

Ehlinger shared that the state currently does not have sufficient funds to counter the measles outbreak effectively. While it is the duty of the Minnesota Health Department to respond to the threats swiftly, it cannot continuously divert resources and funds from other important health services and channel its focus on "disease outbreaks and threats."

The Health Commissioner revealed that the local and state "response costs" for syphilis, measles, and tuberculosis in H1 2017 was already touching $3 million

"I respectfully request that the legislature create a public health response contingency fund of $5 million to ensure sufficient resources are available for immediate, life-saving actions to protect Minnesotans from infectious disease outbreaks and other unanticipated public health threats," Ehlinger noted.

He also shared that he had the support of Governor Dayton for the proposal for the emergency fund's allocation. The Minnesota Health Commissioner added that the two would be pushing for "its inclusion in any final legislative budget agreement."

Ehlinger revealed that the department's funds were also stretched as it had to screen travelers and pregnant women for Zika virus. Moreover, the resources of the local and state health departments are stretched.

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Verizon had a bidding war with AT&T over Straight Path Communications and it just sealed the deal, acquiring the company for more than $3 billion.

More specifically, Verizon outbid AT&T and agreed to pay $184 per share in an all-stock transaction, amounting to $3.1 billion in total. The bidding war started when AT&T offered $95.63 per share, but Verizon raised and AT&T folded.

Verizon Outbid AT&T

"[T]he Straight Path board of directors determined, in good faith, after consultation with its financial advisors and outside legal advisors, that the transaction with Verizon constituted a Superior Proposal under the AT&T Merger Agreement," explains Straight Path. "AT&T informed Straight Path that after much deliberation, it has determined not to make any new bids or proposals to Straight Path or to propose any amendments to the AT&T Merger Agreement."

The all-stock transaction should qualify as a tax-free reorganization, says Straight Path. The company adds that Verizon will pay AT&T a $38 million termination fee on behalf of Straight Path. The transaction received approval from both Verizon's and Straight Path's boards of directors.

Verizon 5G Network

This could give Verizon a significant edge in the 5G race, as it could go a long way toward building 5G networks. Upon bidding for Straight Path, AT&T mentioned that it plans to use it to achieve its 5G goals. Verizon is expected to take advantage of Straight Path for similar purposes.

Straight Path has a vast pool of 28 GHz and 39 GHz mmWave spectrum for mobile communications, which Verizon could use to get a head start in the 5G competition. While 4G networks have generally proved fast and reliable, 5G is expected to take things to the next level with even faster downloads. At the same time, 5G should also bolster products such as self-driving cars, which rely on an internet connection.

Moreover, 5G networks should also be able to support more applications including augmented reality and virtual reality, smart cities, and more.

Straight Path Spectrum

Straight Path's trove of spectrum licenses have long appealed to telecoms and should play a major part in setting up 5G networks. As a reminder, Straight Path started looking for a buyer back in January of this year, after the FCC slapped it with a $100 million fine for "spectrum squatting," which means failing to deliver the wireless services that its spectrum licenses required.

The licenses cover 40 markets across the United States and the FCC had already approved those frequencies to fuel the next-generation wireless service.

The 5G race is gradually heating up as the big players start making their moves, but don't expect a real 5G deployment anytime soon. AT&T said that it would launch a "5G Evolution Network" this year, but it's basically fake 5G to keep the ball rolling until true 5G is ready to hit the scene. T-Mobile, meanwhile, recently announced plans to launch a true nationwide 5G network by 2020, mocking AT&T's fake 5G network.

Verizon has made its own efforts toward 5G deployment and with Straight Path now under its belt, it might just win the race.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The rise and continuing growth of online shopping has not just changed the way consumers buy products it has revolutionized the way retailers do business. Every company can sell an unlimited range of products directly on their website, whether they are offering essential baby gear or niche film memorabilia. Distance and borders no longer pose any barrier between you and your customers. No matter what you are trying to sell, you will be able to reach across the globe and find a target market for it somewhere.

The rise of online shopping

Online shopping has become a juggernaut that is simply too big to ignore. Last year, a major milestone was reached, with a survey by analytics firm comScore revealing that American consumers now buy more products online than they do in physical stores. The 2016 survey showed 51 percent of purchases are now made online, a significant increase on the 48 percent of purchases in 2015 and 47 percent in 2014.

Another survey, by Forrester Research, showed that around 190 million Americans shop online each year. Thats more than half of the entire population and the figure continues to grow. According to IBIS World research, online revenues are set to increase by around 8.6 percent annually for at least the next five years.

Why consumers love online shopping

Two main factors lie at the heart of the ongoing success of online shopping: convenience and selection range.

Everybody has experienced the difficulties of shopping at local stores, from the scramble for a parking space and the wobbly trolleys all the way through to the frustrating scavenger hunt to complete your shopping list, and the long lines at the register. Its clearly a far more pleasant experience to sit at home in your dressing gown and click a few buttons on your computer or phone, then wait for the products to be delivered.

Perhaps even better is that you are pretty much guaranteed to find exactly what you are looking for when shopping online. You no longer have to trust the prescience of the local store manager to stock the shelves with the item you need, nor do you have to accept the price tag they place on it. It has never been easier to discover what you need and compare prices until you are satisfied you have the best deal.

Why online shopping is such a great business model

Online shopping offers many benefits to retailers, beginning with the fact that you can reach consumers anywhere on the planet. You no longer have to construct your stores in major population centers, then hope consumers will find you, nor do you have to target the broadest possible market to make a profit.

Another major benefit to online shopping is that there are few overhead costs, particularly for small businesses that are just starting out. The rent for a store, the wages for staff and even the electricity bill to keep the lights on all day create a massive drain on the profits of a physical store. Online retailers do not have to worry about any of these and many of the most successful online businesses began with a single person working from their own home.

Adding to the success of the online shopping business model is the ease with which it can now be set up. It doesnt require any technical skill or online business experience. Even if you do not feel confident doing it yourself, there are many companies and agents that can help you get started.

You also dont have to choose one realm or the other  at least not yet. There are many well-established businesses still thriving in the real world with their physical stores, but the most successful among them have sensed which way the wind is blowing and have taken steps to provide online shopping services.

Online shopping is the way of the future

We are still very much in the early days of online shopping. The exponential rate of growth in the industry shows no sign of slowing down and we will eventually reach a point where most of Americas shopping is conducted online. There are still vast opportunities to find a space for your business in this ever-expanding market. Meanwhile, international online shopping has even more room for growth. For instance, Internet penetration throughout Africa is currently at less than 30 percent and this is only going to surge forward.

Online shopping has opened a world of products for consumers and an even broader range of business opportunities for retailers.

Online Shopping
Authorities from Santa Cruz, La Paz, Tarija, and Trinidad left the technical meetings arguing that the Arce administration did not accept the census be carried out in 2023. | Read More
Autodesk has announced that it is joining forces with Microsoft Azure to offer a scalable cloud rendering solution with the Microsoft Azure Batch Rendering Platform.

The new rendering solution allows Autodesk users to submit their jobs for on-demand rendering directly through Maya, 3ds Max, and Arnold, with pay-per-use billing and custom scalability.

We know that the scalability and ease of use offered by cloud rendering is important to our customers across industries, and were always looking for ways to help facilitate a smooth transition, said Chris Bradshaw, senior vice president, Autodesk. Teaming with Microsoft Azure gives Autodesk users even more choice when it comes to leveraging the right cloud-based rendering platforms for their specific facility and project needs.

Corey Sanders, director of Compute, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Corp. said, With Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, and Arnold integrated in Microsoft Azure Batch, designers, artists, and engineers can now focus on their creative projects rather than worrying about setting up, running, and managing infrastructure. Everyone now has the power of a render farm with the push of a button.

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Pact has launched its Indie Diversity Scheme in Scotland.

Six Scottish indies  STV Productions, Tern TV, IWC, Lion, Raise The Roof and Mentorn Media  are welcoming talented diverse young people to work in their companies for six months.

They will provide them with a mentoring, training and networking plan to allow them to continue their career in production at the end of the six month period. The Scottish scheme follows the success of the UK-wide scheme launched by Pact in 2013 which set out to increase access to television production to those from underrepresented groups.

The programme was developed with indies working collectively to improve, nurture and develop new diverse talent.

Of the 44 people who have taken part in the scheme, 38 have continued with their careers in television production.

John McVay, Chief Executive of Pact, said: The Indie Diversity Scheme in Scotland highlights our commitment to supporting the creation of sustainable and diverse talent bases in the Nations and Regions.

The Pact scheme is fully funded by the companies involved and as well as offering a bespoke combination of training, mentoring and pastoral care, Pact tracks its alumni and offers pastoral help beyond the six month training period.

Alan Clements, Head of Content at STV Productions, said: We are proud to be part of Pacts new training scheme in Scotland. We are working with other Scottish indies to fund the initiative to provide a supported route into the industry for diverse new entrants.

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Image: twitter.com/tech_mahindra

New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS): Software service firm Tech Mahindra has laid off nearly 1,000 employees in the current month, media reports said.

Tech Mahindra, India's fifth largest IT and software services firm, has laid off about 1,000 employees this month as part of their annual performance appraisal process, sources told NDTV Profit.

In an emailed statement to NDTV Profit, Tech Mahindra said "We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different."


Mumbai, May 11 (IBNS): Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship from the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC on Wednesday.

The award was conferred on Kochhar for demonstrating a "commitment to the common good - beyond the bottom line."

On the occasion, Kochhar said, I would like to accept this honour on behalf of India, its women and the ICICI Group. The Group has been serving India for six decades since independence. Over the years, we have gone beyond our businesses to take up philanthropic projects in diverse areas from education to healthcare to skilling. Today, we have provided skill training, free of cost, in technical trades, sales and office skills, to over 136,000 people, who are gainfully employed.



Kochhar added, As I see the list of past recipients of this honour, I feel inspired to be counted as one among them. It is a distinguished and varied list, reflecting not only the wide range of achievements of these individuals, but also the Woodrow Wilson Centres commitment to recognise and honour excellence across every area of human endeavour.

The Wilson Center (www.wilsoncenter.org), chartered by Congress as the official memorial to President Woodrow Wilson, is the nations key non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues through independent research and open dialogue to inform actionable ideas for the policy community.

Another recipient this year is Senator Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the Senate. He was conferred the 2017 Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service.

Thomas Nides, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Wilson Center, said The Woodrow Wilson Awards are a special opportunity to recognize individuals who are thoughtful leaders, engaged citizens and vocal advocates in their communities. Chanda Kochhar is known for her leading roles in strengthening ICICI Banks retail franchise, improving technological innovation in India, and helping expand opportunities for women.
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The Internet has become a part of life for a huge section of Indian population. However, its use is largely confined to urban or semi-urban areas. The aInternet Saathia programme is different. It teaches rural women to use and benefit from the Internet, writes New York based Michael Gallant

The phrase Internet Saathi translates into Internet friend. The programme has been designed keeping the specific needs of rural women in mind initiated by Google in India which aims at transcending its image as an easy- to- search Internet tool.



We strongly believe that easy and quick access to information can transform lives, says Sapna Chadha, head of marketing for Google India. The groundbreaking initiative Internet Saathi in partnership with Tata Trusts, is working to make that belief a reality, specifically for the countrys rural, less technologically educated women.



We modelled the entire initiative around Indias traditional information and communication distribution system, says Chadha, where the Internet Saathis are akin to the village postman, who is the single-point contact between the village and the outside world, in terms of information as well as communication.



Trained by Google, these saathis are roving educators and activists who travel to villages, armed with smartphones and tablets, and spend a minimum of two days per week, over a period of six months, teaching local residents about the Internet. They work hard to make sure their students become adept at using the Internet independently to gain knowledge that can benefit them in various aspects of their lives.



Once an Internet Saathi has completed the training in a cluster of three villages, she moves to an adjoining cluster of villages where she trains women to get online, says Chadha. Google India works with local groups and organisations to continue the educational momentum in rural areas, even after the saathis have moved on.



The Internet Saathis are seen as change agents, tenacious teachers who take great pride in their work. The efforts seem to have paid off. Chadha shares the story of Chetna, who lives in the Alwar district of Rajasthan and joined the programme in 2015. Chetna not only learned about mustard farming techniques to run her farm, but her own experience also inspired her to train over 500 girls and women in a span of four months, says Chadha. Several women still reach out to her for a range of issues, including quick remedies for day-to-day health conditions and information on MGNREGA and other government schemes. MGNREGA( Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) guarantees 100 days of wage-employment in a year to a rural household.



Bujiis is another success story. She is an Internet Saathi in Somavaram, Andhra Pradesh, who trained her neighbour to advance her business of stitching and tailoring in various creative ways. She is now able to use the extra money she makes to send her daughter to the best school in the area, says Chadha, adding there are thousands of such success stories.



The Internet Saathi programme was launched in July, 2015 to address a troubling trend observed by Google India team members. As Internet penetration started gaining momentum in India, we realised that the usage of the Internet amongst women in India was lower than that in most countries in the world, says Chadha. Only one-third of Indias online users are women. The situation is much worse in rural India, she continues, where only one in 10 Internet users is a woman.



In response, Google India first launched an initiative called Helping Women Get Online in November, 2013, which sought to encourage daily Internet usage among women. But, it soon became clear to Google staff that specially crafted strategies were needed to reach those living in rural areas. We took all the learnings [from Helping Women Get Online] and launched the Internet Saathi programme, says Chadha. Spread across approximately 40,000 villages now, the programme aspires to reach over 300,000 villages, or half of the countrys villages, in the next few years.



While trained Google educators have already worked with more than one million Indian women, there is still much to be done. There are still a lot of women in rural and urban areas who do not know how to operate smartphones or are not aware about the benefits of the Internet, says Chadha. So, the best and easiest way to contribute is to help those women who are around you. These can be your domestic help or an elderly woman of the house who doesnt know about the benefits of the Internet.

(Courtesy SPAN)
Lawmakers in the Louisiana House want to make it easier for voters to recall elected officials.

The House voted 69-28 Wednesday for a proposal from Rep. Paul Hollis, a Covington Republican, to change rules for recall elections. House Bill 272 heads to the Senate for consideration.

Under current law, a recall petition must be signed by one-third of registered voters within 180 days to hold an election on whether to recall an elected official. In districts with fewer than 1,000 registered voters, the petition requires signatures from 40 percent of them.

Hollis' bill would lower the signature threshold in larger districts, to 25 percent in districts with 25,000 to fewer than 100,000 registered voters and to 20 percent in districts with 100,000 or more registered voters.
Kolkata, May 11 (NITN): Motheras Day is round the corner again, and what better way to celebrate it than taking the most wonderful woman in your life to Monkey Bar's Motheras Day Party in the City of Joy.

Treat your mother to good food, a wide range of cocktails and great music by the guitarist and percussionist duo, Sugata and Biman, of the SnB Project, on Sunday, May 14, 12 noon onward.

To get you into the mood, the eatery will be rolling out one-on-ones on their signature Monkey Bar cocktail, Mamas Girl (Absolut, fresh pomegranate, ginger cordial, chilli and mint), so put on your Sunday best and step out in-style with your mama.

From 4-7 pm you can also enjoy the bottomless sundrowner alcohol deal of Rs 999/- on classic cocktails like Mangaa, Copper Monkey, Pack-a-punch, classic Mojitos and draught beers.

Nothing starts a party like some brilliant cocktails and delicious food.

So go-ahead and choose from Monkey Bar's selection of delectable small plates like Tikki of Joy, Devilled Fish, Mushroom Galouti, Saag Kebab, Baked Brie and Butterfly Chicken among other options.

Customers will also be able to choose from their signature cocktails, Toast to Calcutta, Mangaa, Copper Monkey or up their game with the Tipsy Sherbet, Hipster Smash among others.

A special Polaroid camera booth will also be set up by the management to capture your unforgettable moments.

Even though you might be Daddys little girl, give your mama a special day to rejoice and let her know Mama I love you

Quick Facts

Wallet Factor: Meal for two without alcohol, excluding taxes: Rs. 1200++/ Meal for two with alcohol, excluding taxes: Rs. 1800++

Were Open from: Monday to Thursday 12 noon to 12 midnight; Friday & Saturday 12 noon to 1am; Sunday 12 noon to 12 midnight



(Customers below the age of 21 are permitted only till 6:00pm).

Monkey Bar address: #901 A, Fort Knox, 6 Camac Street, Kolkata




New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday greeted Indian scientists on the occasion of National Technology Day.

"Greetings to everyone, especially our industrious scientists and those passionate about technology, on National Technology Day," his tweet read.

The Prime Minister also paid homage to scientists involved in the 1998 Pokhran tests.

"We remain grateful to our scientists & the then political leadership for the courage shown in Pokhran in 1998," he said.

Stating that the 'transformative potential of technology is immense', PM Modi urged citizens to integrate it the society.

"Let us further integrate technology in our society. The transformative potential of technology is immense," Modi said.

image: narendramodi.in
About 100 Canberrans with heart problems have been urged to talk to their doctor after a national recall of a dissolvable heart stent linked to a higher risk of heart attacks and blood clots.

Heart stents are catheter tube implants inserted into arteries to open blocked arteries and keep them open, mostly used for people with heart conditions.

About 100 people who had a dissolvable heart stent implanted at Canberra Hospital have been told to talk to their GP. Credit:Nic Walker

Two weeks ago, the Therapeutic Goods Administration recalled the Absorb Bioresolvable Scaffold System, a relatively new type of stent that fully dissolves into the body over time.

But the TGA recalled it after data was released from recent analyses "that showed an elevated rate of major adverse cardiac events, specifically heart attack and blood clot, when compared to patients treated with an another alternate stent".
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended his government's plans to drug-test welfare applicants, describing it as a "policy based on love".

Welfare and mental health advocates have slammed the drug-test trial, announced in the budget, arguing it will not help people with addiction and stigmatise those who apply for welfare.

But speaking at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Mr Turnbull said the policy was about reaching out and helping those with drug and alcohol problems.

"If you love somebody who is addicted to drugs, if you love somebody whose life is being destroyed by drugs, don't you want to get them off drugs?" he said on Friday.
Given the 2014-2016 " honeymoon period " between China and South Korea, which resulted from a campaign to bring the two nations closer together, China's inability to pressure South Korea into reconsidering THAAD has been viewed by Beijing as a betrayal. It is too early to say how far President Moon will go in reviewing THAAD, and whether the hopes of Beijing will be realised. But suffice to say, a lot will ride on Moon's approach.

Additionally, President Moon has promised he will "review" the installation of the Terminal High Altitude Aerial Defence ( THAAD ) system that has been a source of enormous tension in China. Although South Korea and the US argue the system is designed to defend against North Korean missiles, the Chinese argue they fear it could be used against China ( although most non-Chinese analysts argue this is not the case .)

Firstly, it will be a great relief that there is someone in the role. Despite acting president Hwang having done a reasonable job, and given Beijing's legendary distaste for uncertainty, policymakers in China will be glad to know who they will be dealing with.

Another reason President Moon's victory will be mostly welcomed by China is his commitment to engaging with North Korea is more aligned with Beijing's own policies towards the peninsula than Moon's predecessor, Park Geun-hye. Ms Park and conservative president Lee Myung-bak before her, took a tough line on North Korea. In 2016, Seoul shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex, one of the few symbols of co-operation between north and south, in response to North Korea's escalating missile program.

President Moon has argued that the hawkish approach adopted by his predecessors has done nothing to prevent North Korea expanding its nuclear program, and he has called instead for engagement and talks. Similarly, and diametrically opposed to the US approach, China has long held that taking a hardline stance on North Korea would only force the regime into a defensive corner. It has suggested that treating North Korea as a legitimate international player would better serve the goal of denuclearisation. As an example, China has invited North Korea to participate in the upcoming Belt and Road Initiative Summit to be held in Beijing next week  which has some US commentators slapping their foreheads in frustration.

Above all, China's priority for North Korea is stability. China does share a goal of denuclearisation with the US, but this is as far as the two countries' interests overlap. Beijing does not currently have a good relationship with Pyongyang - the days of "as close as lips and teeth" are over, but the dislike of Kim Jong Un does not equate to a desire for regime change. For political reasons, China does not want instability in North Korea (specifically for fear of refugees spilling over into the mainland). For strategic reasons, China does not want anything pro-US on its north-eastern border: even a bad relationship with a pariah nuclear power is better than that.

China has proffered a couple of policy options for how concerned countries can deal with North Korea, namely, the "double suspension" and the parallel track dialogue approaches. Recently there have been unusual levels of debate in China about whether its approach towards North Korea has been effective, but there is little evidence of a change in policy towards anything more hawkish. With South Korea now looking as if it will be working alongside China to carefully engage with North Korea as a means to manage (if not resolve) its increasing belligerence, a more substantial policy shift by China will be even less likely.

This may all add up to the US being left out in the cold, given its tough rhetoric on North Korea recently. On the other hand, perhaps it will all mesh rather nicely with President Donald Trump's offer to meet with Kim Jong Un. China will certainly see the election of President Moon as an opportunity for international approaches to North Korea to be reset in a more friendly way, with the hope that doing so could ameliorate some of Kim Jong Un's existential angst and cool his ambitions for North Korea's nuclear program.
Puducherry, May 11 (IBNS) : In a macabre incident in Tamil Nadu, a teenage boy was hacked to pieces, allegedly by a gang and his severed head was thrown into a police station on Wednesday night, NDTV reported.

CCTV footage showed that two bikers stopped at the entrance, flung the head and drove off .

Two suspects have been arrested in this connection.

According to the NDTV report, the teenager is believed to have been killed by a gang involved in chain-snatching and bike stealing.

It is suspected that he was killed because he had informed the police about the members.

The report quoted police as saying that the boy was killed near a lake in neighbouring Puducherry. The body has been found in the lake, which is around three km from the police station.
Supposedly hemmed in by a "Labor-lite" budget featuring some of his best ideas, Bill Shorten was meant to be a leader under pressure.

That was the plan running under Malcolm Turnbull's newly centrist, low-friction budget, which claims to bolster education, raid bank profits, reinforce Medicare, secure the NDIS, and build economy-enhancing infrastructure.

Yet right on cue, the opposition leader was handed a gift on Thursday just hours before outlining his official response.

It came in the form of an updated 10-year cost of Malcolm Turnbull's proposed company tax cut at $65.4 billion - up from the original $48.2 billion.
A NSW pub has removed signs which appeared to parody anti-sexual harassment signs sometimes found in women's bathrooms that encourage women to let staff know if they feel unsafe on a date after management received complaints.

The Crown & Anchor Hotel in Newcastle told Fairfax Media it has removed signs from its men's bathrooms which encouraged men to order a "Blue Crown Cocktail" if their date would not "stop talking about herself" so they could be escorted away from the venue.

The signs appeared to be direct parodies of recent women's safety initiatives in pubs, which see signs placed in the women's bathrooms to let women know they can tell bar staff, sometimes through ordering a secret drink, if they are feeling uncomfortable or threatened on a date, and be helped out of the situation.

"Blokes... Are you: a) On a Tinder date and she looks nothing like her photo or her description? b) On a blind date and it's going horribly wrong? c) On a first date and she won't stop talking about herself? Never fear, The Crown & Anchor are here to help," the signs read.
The secretary of the NSW Department of Education, Mark Scott, has warned principals not to trust the Turnbull government's new school funding calculator and NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes has questioned whether the newly released funding figures "represent reality or not".

Mr Stokes is calling for the release of the data underpinning the calculator, which provides an estimate of how much Commonwealth funding each school across Australia will receive in 2018 under the federal government's new education policy.

"You should not rely on these figures for future planning or budgeting purposes," Mr Scott wrote in an email sent to all public school principals on Thursday.

"The calculation of apparent increases to your school also does not take into account increases in teacher salaries or any other cost growth over the next decade."
The man who attacked two foreign backpackers at South Australia's Salt Creek last year and indecently assaulted another backpacker in 2014 can now be revealed as 61-year-old Roman Heinze.

The South Australian Supreme Court lifted extensive suppression orders on Thursday in the cases involving the former chef.

Heinze was found guilty in March over the 2016 Salt Creek crimes and recently pleaded guilty to the earlier offence.

In the Salt Creek case, he attacked two young backpackers on a remote beach where they had been camping while on a drive to Melbourne.
Today this Legislative Assembly acknowledges the harm that has been inflicted by past convictions for homosexual activity between consenting adults in Queensland.

We acknowledge those whose lives were affected, not only those burdened with criminal convictions, but also their partners, their mothers and fathers, their brothers and sisters, their children and all their family and friends.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk: "We recognise the hurt and shame that have been felt by friends and family members and to them we are sorry." Credit:Robert Shakespeare

This House is the repository of legislative power in this State. It is the symbol of our democracy.

As Members of this House, we have a duty, an obligation, to make laws for the betterment of our society, and for the benefit of our citizens.
Melbourne's much-vaunted status as the world's most liveable city is at serious risk of becoming just a distant memory, a local think-tank has warned.

The Committee for Melbourne, a lobby group formed when Melbourne was on its way to recession in the 1980s, has floated its ideas for how the city can continue to thrive  and avoid becoming an economic and cultural backwater.

"Melbourne is looking quite good on the surface  but there are these big disruptive forces that we haven't yet fully understood," said Committee for Melbourne chief executive Martine Letts.

"We are a little complacent about it."
The 'meth capital of WA' is likely to become one of the locations for the Turnbull government's new drug testing for job seekers, according to the Australian Greens.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison announced on Tuesday night the government would next year randomly drug test 5000 Australians applying for welfare payments as part of a host of welfare reforms.

Those who fail the drug test for methylamphetamine, marijuana and ecstasy will have their payments quarantined and instead be put on cashless welfare cards.

The trial will run in three locations from January 2018 and Social Services Minister Christian Porter said it would "ensure taxpayer money was not being used to fund drug addictions for dangerous substances such as ice and that people in these situations are given every assistance to improve their lives".
Patna, May 11 (TheBiharPost/IBNS): Armed criminals shot dead an undertrial prisoner in the premises of a Bihar court on Thursday after he was brought there in connection with a case.

The incident that triggered panic among the people took place in the Betia court premises in West Champaran district.

The victim identified as Babloo Dube had been brought to the court for his production in a case when the criminals fired shots, killing him on the spot, media reports said.

According to reports, the the criminals pumped five bullets in to his body before fleeing the scene. Police have started an investigation.

http://thebiharpost.com
Police have laid further charges against the Perth man who shoved a pie in Qantas boss Alan Joyce's face on Tuesday to protest the airline's support of gay marriage.

Tony Overheu, 67, will face court next month charged with common assault, trespass, damage and giving false details to police.

It comes a day after Mr Joyce - who is openly gay - told reporters the incident had reinvigorated him to step up his advocacy work fighting for marriage equality.

"We live in a democracy. We're allowed to talk, we're allowed to be vocal, we're allowed to say what we believe," he said.
Los Angeles: US President Donald Trump has raved about his relationship with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, although he still thinks the refugee deal is "ridiculous".

Mr Trump, in an interview with Time magazine, named world leaders he had forged bonds with and Mr Turnbull was high on his list.

"But no I have a very good relationship with all of them, including Australia," Mr Trump said.

The president pointed to last week's New York meeting with Mr Turnbull and coinciding event to honour the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea.
New Delhi/Kolkata, May 11 (IBNS): Weeks after registering a money laundering case in the Narada sting, involving Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday summoned Narada News's CEO Mathew Samuel in connection with the case, officials said.

According to reports, the Central economic intelligence agency has asked Mathew Samuel to attend ED office at CGO Complex in Kolkata's Salt Lake area at 12 pm. on May 18 for recording his statement in the case.

However, a source said that Mathew has received the summon at around 11 am. on Thursday.

"Probably, Samuel won't be able to visit ED office in Kolkata on May 18 as he is currently undergoing treatment in Kochi and he would inform probe agency's officials about the matter soon," the source claimed.

Earlier on Apr 28, the Enforcement Directorate registered a PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002) case in the Narada sting operation that involves several top notch leaders of the West Bengal's ruling party.

Meanwhile, after getting directions from the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the matter and after completing its preliminary enquiry into Narada sting case, the Central probe agency has already lodged an FIR in New Delhi, mentioning the names of 12 top TMC leaders and a senior IPS official, according to reports.

Since Mar 14 last year, news portal- Narada News- released several sting operation footage, where TMC's leaders, ministers, MPs and MLAs were exposed while allegedly taking bribes.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Young Bengals grow up to provide special season in Blythewood The feeling amongst the team is sky high right now, Seidel said. We knew we were young last year and had a lot coming back this year. You dont know...

Falcons fall to Lucy Beckham Find these pictures and many more here! One of the most prolific eras in A.C. Flora Falcons girls tennis has come to an end. With a 4-3 loss on...
Lucknow, May 11 (IBNS) : The Uttar Pradesh Government on Thursday refused to give permission to prosecute Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in connection with the 2007 communal riots in Gorakhpur, reports said.

Advocate general Raghvendra Singh informed the Allahabad high court that the principal secretary (home) had declined to grant sanction for prosecution of the accused.

The Chief Minister, who was an MP from Gorakhpur when the riots took place, is one of the accused.

The Advocate General said the decision has been taken on the basis of the opinion of the forensic report of a CD allegedly having hate speech by few of the accused.

A division bench of justices Ramesh Sinha and Umesh Chandra Srivastava had directed UP Chief Secretary to appear in person and file a personal affidavit, besides producing all documents relating to the riots, and the sanction given by state Ggovernment to prosecute the accused.

In 2008, an FIR was lodged by Parvez Parwaz at Cantonment police station in Gorakhpur in which he accused local MP Yogi Adityanath, the then city mayor Anju Chaudhri, the then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal and one more person of inciting communal violence.



The petitioners counsel sought time to file an amendment application seeking the courts permission to change the petition to challenge the refusal of sanction for prosecution of the accused.

The bench comprising justice Ramesh Sinha and justice UC Srivastava granted 10 days time to the petitioners counsel to file an amendment application in the case.
New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS) : An eight-member bipartisan US Congress delegation led by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

The Prime Minister welcomed the delegation to India. He appreciated the strong bipartisan support of the US Congress in deepening the partnership between India and the United States.

The Prime Minister exchanged views with the delegation members on the bilateral partnership and other issues of mutual interest. He called for further enhancing exchanges with the US Congress.




James Comeys replacement at the FBI may be even more controversial than Comey himself. He takes the reins at the FBI during one of its most tumultuous moments in recent memoryand his temporary leadership there may not be enough to calm a bureau thats reeling.

Andrew McCabe, who was the FBIs deputy director until President Donald Trump fired Comey, became interim director of the bureau after his old boss was fired. But while agents at FBI headquarters in D.C. and in its field offices around the country are grieving and angry, McCabe could struggle to stabilize things. Thats because of a controversy that erupted last summer when reports revealed his wife took almost $500,000 from the political organization of Terry McAuliffe, the Virginia governor and longtime Clinton ally, for her state senate campaign.

The news drew calls for McCabe to publicly recuse himself from anything involving the bureaus investigation into Clintons email scandal. But he didnt do that, and conservatives havent forgotten.

He should be removed as acting director and then either fired or demoted, Mark Corallo, spokesperson for John Ashcroft when he was Attorney General, told The Daily Beast. When he did not recuse himself from the investigation despite knowing his wife received major campaign contributions from Terry McAuliffe, he broke the ethics rules and tainted the investigation. Time for him to go.

FBI insiders pointed out to The Daily Beast that McCabe is one of few bureau directors to actually start his career as an agent there. While most recent directors come from outside the bureauComey was Deputy Attorney General at the Justice Department, and Robert Mueller was a U.S. AttorneyMcCabe has built his career at the FBI for more than 20 years, starting in New York. That experience may give him special appeal to the bureaus rank and file.

Hes described by some people who know him as seasoned and levelheaded, and also politically savvydemonstrating special acumen for climbing the bureaus ranks. A former senior intelligence official described McCabe as cunning, and said he was very attuned to the political dynamics in the bureau. The official said he expects McCabe to keep his head down during this turmoil.

Perhaps he shouldve kept a lower profile in recent months. McCabe and White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus discussed the investigation into Russias election interferencea likely violation of Justice Department which forbid such contact during an ongoing probe.

Some who have worked with McCabe at the bureau for years had the opposite to say about the current acting director. One FBI source described him as an empty suit and non-entity. Three other FBI sources had similar views.

Andy McCabe is in way over his head, said a recently retired senior FBI official whos spoken in support of McCabe in the past.

Theres speculation that McCabe may not last as interim director until the Senate confirms his ultimate replacement, and hes already in the crosshairs of the political right. A well-wired federal law enforcement source told The Daily Beast shortly after Comeys firing that rumors immediately started swirling that McCabe could be next. Hes scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a public hearing on Thursday morning.

A Death in the Family

For the time being, FBI agents are facing confusion, grief, and anger.

Everyone feels like there has been a death in the family, said one counterterrorism agent.

Were basically sitting shiva, said another agent, referring to the Jewish mourning period just after a funeral.

At least a dozen agents posted photos on their private Facebook pages of themselves with Comey (or just of Comey). Some made those their temporary profile picturea gesture agents usually reserve for when a colleague dies in the line of duty.

Another agent was pessimistic that things will get better.

The real impact will be the distrust of the agency under the leadership of the new director, the agent said. No matter who gets the job, there will be a cloud of suspicion because the President is unpopular with much of the population. That bad faith will make it harder to do my job.

Trump-FBI War?

A senior-level FBI source was more candid. If Trump has declared war on the bureaus leadership, the source said, then the president should expect nothing less in return.

Theres no sign things will get easier anytime soon. Sources said they expect any Comey replacement will struggle to get through Senate confirmation, especially given the number of Republicans who have criticized the way Trump fired Comey.

McCabes first public appearance as the FBI head will come on Thursday at 10 a.m., when he testifies at the Senate intelligence committees Worldwide Threats Hearing along with top officials from the intelligence community.

Its unclear if McCabe will be able to say anything to comfort FBI agents. One veteran agent in the FBIs criminal division responded to a message from The Daily Beast this way: Who cares, nothing matters, no one knows anything, everything sucks.
Seth Meyers is outraged about President Donald Trumps actions on a near-nightly basis. Wednesday night, he was the most outraged.

Today, the political world has been reeling from President Trumps shocking decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, a surreal and chaotic development that has felt like something out of a dictatorship, Meyers said at the top of a nearly 15-minute closer look into the bombshell story.

About 110 days into this new presidency, Meyers said Trump has degraded so many political norms and flouted so many conventions that, to some degree, weve become desensitized to his behavior. Yet somehow, he added, Americans believed there was one thing he would not do, and that was fire the man that was investigating him and his campaigns connections to Russia. But for Trump, Meyers said, even that line was not too sacred to cross.

While Trump may have the legal authority to do what he has done, Meyers said it was timing that was so troubling. To prove how earth-shattering this news was, the host pointed to CNNs Jeff Zeleny, who was gasping for air as he delivered the details to Wolf Blitzer Tuesday night after sprinting from the White House press room.

This is how crazy things are in the Trump administration, Meyers said. Reporters literally dont have the aerobic strength to report the news anymore. Soon, CNN is going to have to replace Wolf Blitzer with Usain Bolt.

And on reports that Comey initially thought the news was a prank when he saw it flash on TV screens during a speech to FBI agents, Meyers said, Thats right, the guy who has probably seen the Russian hooker tape thought his firing was too weird to believe.

So Trump, who was famous for firing people on TV, is now firing people via TV, Meyers continued. On The Apprentice, he added, at least Trump had the decency to fire people to their face. But Trump didnt have the guts to fire Comey face to face, or even over the phone, instead sending his one of his goons to hand-deliver the dismissal letter to the FBI. Thats even worse than breaking up with a girl on text, Meyers said. Thats like breaking up with a girl on the chat feature on Words with Friends.

As absurd as the unfolding drama over Comeys firing was, nothing could top the truly laughable justification Trumps White House offered for firing Comey, Meyers said of a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that used the FBI directors handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as the reasoning for terminating him.

Of course the idea that Trump is now upset about how Comey handled the email investigation is a preposterous lie, Meyers said, especially since candidate Trump said Comey did the right thing during the election. He did the right thing, so I had to fire him. Hes got guts, he had to go, Meyers said, imitating Trump.

Even if the Russia investigation does move forward for now, Meyers added later, theres a real fear that the Trump administration will just appoint a lackey who does Trumps bidding, and tries to slow or even shut down the investigation. Early rumors point to either Chris Christie or Rudy Giuliani. At least reporters wont have to exercise to keep up with them, the host joked.

Finally, to Republicans in Congress, Meyers asked, Will they stand up and defend democratic institutions under threat from Trump? Or will they continue to choose party over country?
When Stephen Colbert stepped out on stage to deliver his Late Show monologue Tuesday night, news had just broken that FBI Director James Comey had been fired by President Donald Trump . By Wednesday evening, the host was ready to tackle the story that has rocked the nation.

Colbert described Comeys firing as historically unprecedented, with one possible exception, before playing a montage of pundits comparing Trumps actions to President Richard Nixons Saturday night massacre at the height of the Watergate scandal.

Yes, listen closely children, and you can hear the echoes of Watergate: I am not a crook, -ook, -ook, -ook, -ook, Colbert said.

Hey, you know who else was shocked? Colbert asked. Donald Trump. Because both sides of the aisle have been mad at Comey over the years, White House officials believed Comeys firing would be a win-win.

Why would Trump think this is win-win? he asked. Even his election was lose-win. When he didnt get the laugh he wanted, Colbert added, Because he didnt get the majority vote.

Now, the president knows eventually all of his critics will come around, Colbert continued, quoting a Trump tweet that predicted both sides would be thanking him for firing Comey soon enough. Alright, how should we thank him? We should get him something special. How about a special prosecutor?
Damien Hirst has been dogged by accusations of plagiarism and appropriation for most of his decades-long career, most notably for his For the Love of God diamond-encrusted skull.

Weeks after Hirsts work went on sale for $80 million in 2007, the artist John Le Kay claimed Hirst got the idea from a skull Le Kay covered in crystals back in 1993. But Hirst was accused of a different kind of theft at the Venice Biennale this week, one that often carries charges of racial insensitivity and imperialism: cultural appropriation.

Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor, whose work is also on display at the Bienniale, has claimed Hirsts Golden Heads (Female) sculpture too-closely resembles a famous 14th century Nigerian artwork without adequately explaining the originals significance.

Ehikhamenor called out Hirst on Instagram for visually appropriating the iconic 14th century brass Ife Headbelieved to depict a king of the Yoruba people in the ancient Ife region of West Africa (todays Nigeria)and negating its historical context.

For the thousands of viewers seeing this for the first time, they wont think Ife, they wont think Nigeria, Ehikhamenor wrote in the caption of his Instagram post.

He also argued that the text accompanying Hirsts sculpture, which references Ife within Hirsts fictional tale about his own sculptures origins, is insufficient and will be glossed over by Bienniale visitors: Their young ones will grow up to know this work as Damien Hirsts. 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 Hirsts Golden Head. We need more biographers for our forgotten.

In a subsequent interview with the Huffington Post, Ehikhamenor maintained that Hirsts work had imperialist overtones: by appropriating Ife imagery, Hirsts sculpture echoed the literal theft of original Nigerian artworks by British colonists. It borders on the line of broad daylight robbery, Ehikhamenor said. One must also be mindful of the past relationship Nigeria has with Britain in regards to carting away some of our best works during the Benin punitive expedition of 1897.

Hirst is the second contemporary artist to be accused of cultural appropriation at a prominent exhibition in the past few months. Charges of racial exploitation and cultural theft were recently leveled at Dana Schutz for her painting of Emmett Till, an African-American teenager who was lynched to death in the 1955, currently on view at the Whitney Biennial in New York City.

People protested the painting in person when the exhibition opened in late March, and dozens of artists signed a petition calling for its removal and destruction.

Debates around cultural appropriation are part of a renewed cultural conversation about racism and colonialism in Western cultures. In 2015, M.I.A., the British-Sri Lankan rapper, had to fight to have a music video released becauseshe claimed in a series of tweetsit was filmed in Africa and was considered cultural appropriation.

The artist Azealia Banks responded with her own tweet that M.I.A. shouldnt be accused of cultural theft because all brown and black people share the same global plight.

But insisting that cultures cannot borrow from one another enforces a new kind of racial or cultural purity. Its one thing to be mindful and considerate; its another to insist that, regardless of their intentions, white artists who incorporate history or stories from other cultures or races in their work are reinforcing racism and imperialism.

Indeed, its hard to believe that Hirst hasnt been accused of cultural appropriation until now. In all the controversy and charges of idea theft surrounding his For the Love of God skull, there was no mention of the works most obvious influence: Mexican culture, specifically the skull imagery celebrated throughout the country during its Day of the Dead holiday.

Had Hirst created the work a few years later, he would have no doubt been accused of cultural appropriation for thatand his Golden Heads (Female) sculpture would have made him a repeat offender when it comes to exploiting other cultures for personal gain.
A racist rant could send Hoboken, New Jerseys Vape Van skidding to a halt.

The Ninth Cloud Vape Van sells smoking accessories  and according to its Instagram , hoverboards  from a van spray-painted with what appears to be a vaping white woman in a Native American headdress. The van usually stations itself on Washington Street in Hoboken, where it sells flavored vape juices to passersby like an ice cream truck for smokers. But viral video of a Vape Van employee shouting racist epithets at an immigrant couple on Saturday could send the whole company up in smoke.

The video, recorded on Washington Street on Saturday, shows a Vape Van employee shouting at an immigrant couple during an altercation.

Go back to your fucking country, you fucking immy, the employee yells at the couple in the video. He repeats the slur multiple times. Trump, n*gga, he shouts.

A friend of the victims son uploaded the video to Facebook, where it had garnered 200,000 views by Thursday.

Now two Hoboken city council members want to strip the Vape Vans vendor license over the incident.

As proud sons of immigrants, we write to express our complete disgust with the hate incident involving the owner of the Vape Van vendor truck in Hoboken, New Jersey," Councilmen Ravi Bhalla and Ruben Ramos wrote in a joint statement. "This conduct has no place in Hoboken. This individuals actions do not reflect the views of businesses or residents in Hoboken. Hoboken is a city of immigrants, and we take great pride in this tradition."

The pair are supporting a resolution to revoke the vans license, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer told NJ.com .

Shortly after the video was uploaded to Facebook, Ninth Cloud Vape Van issued an apology across social media.

The verbal exchange soon escalated against our favor. We regret to admit insulting racial slurs were made by a member of our team, the company posted on Facebook and Instagram Sunday afternoon, even admitting that the confrontation had lasted longer than the video showed. The exchange from start to finish went on for about 10 minutes, the recording shows the last few minutes.

The company originally pledged to take full responsibility for the incident.

We sincerely apologize to all and anyone who is a part of the family, and to all who may have found our actions offensive. This public statement is in no way a justification for any of our actions. We are taking full responsibility for this situation and will act in any way possible to assure anything like this does not happen again.

But several hours later, the company apparently recanted on its pledge for full responsibility. On Sunday night, the Vape Van Facebook page began lacing into Alan Slaughter, the Facebook user who uploaded video of the incident.

This is the truth behind this Guy 'Alan slaughter' posting videos in reference to 9thcloudvape, the page posted. The person, whose spelling was significantly worse than the language in the Vape Vans formal apology, also posted alleged screenshots of what they implied was a damning conversation with Slaughter:

I am an immigrant, I would request you to please take down your post, a person claiming to be a Vape Van employee texted Slaughter.

What would I get out of that request? Slaughter replied. People deserve to see this, theres no incentive here for me to take it down.

The Vape Van employee went on to offer cash and favors, which Slaughter evidently did not accept, as the video remained online. But Ninth Cloud Vape Van posted partial screenshots of the exchange and suggested that Slaughter had only posted the video to extract a favor from the company.

This is what this all comes down to Business and Politics asking favors, the Vape Van Facebook post accused. The video is just 50% of the story, And 2 people arguing on the street doesnt mean it had anything to do with the Business or representation of it, I am sure aftr these picture's people are smart enough to Understand.

The Vape Vans attempt to shift blame appeared unsuccessful. As of Wednesday, 375 people had signed a petition to rescind the vans vendor license, and Hobokens mayor had twice condemned the Vape Van on Twitter.

The hate speech by the Vape Van owner is reprehensible and does not represent Hobokens diverse and inclusive community, Zimmer tweeted.

The Vape Vans website appears to have been deleted.
The FBI and the Senate Intelligence Committee swear their investigations into Russian election interference will continueeven though President Donald Trump just sacked James Comey, the man central to both probes.

The FBIs investigation into Trump-Russia ties is now under increased scrutiny after the president fired the director of the bureau actively investigating his presidential campaign.

Trumps move also affects the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the same topic, because now-fired FBI Director James Comey was reportedly regularly liaising with the committees probe and providing it with FBI materials for review.

Both sought to steady the ship after a tumultuous week .

Regardless of what happens by the Justice Department or by the FBI, the investigation thats done by the Senate Intelligence Committee will continue on its current course, as aggressively as were able to, Sen. Richard Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters.

Burr added that the FBI under Comey had been very cooperative, and stressed the importance of the continuation of this cooperation.

The heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed that they met privately Thursday with the deputy attorney general to discuss ways in which the FBI and the committee could ensure their probes were not conflicting with one another.

Weve had unprecedented access to information [with the FBI], unprecedented access to interviews that to date we have not been denied. Sometimes weve had some very crucial negotiations to get to folks that we felt we needed to talk to.  The level of cooperation existed, Burr told The Daily Beast. And thats why meeting with the deputy [attorney general] today was important. Because that keeps our pathway open.

Earlier this week, the chairman told The Daily Beast that his committee had already completed a substantial portion of interviews with the FBI that were necessary for its probe.

A majority of interviews with people within the FBI, we've already done, Burr said on Wednesday. I'm very confident we can get to the bottom of it, but we've got to be given the time and the access to interview the right people, to look at any additional documents we might need.

Meanwhile, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe sought to reassure lawmakers and the general public that the FBI investigation into possible Trump-Russia ties during the 2016 presidential election would go on unhindered.

The work of the men and women of the FBI continues despite any changes in circumstance, any decisions. So there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date, McCabe said, while being grilled during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday. Simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people, and upholding the Constitution.

McCabe shot down reports that emerged Wednesday suggesting that Comeys firing came after he asked for more resources for the Russia investigation.

Im not aware of that request, McCabe told lawmakers. We dont typically request resources for an individual case.  I strongly believe that the Russia investigation is adequately resourced.

Trump abruptly fired Comey on Tuesday, allegedly upon the recommendation from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who criticized Comey for his handling of the probe into Hillary Clintons private email server.

But the president himself undercut his own administrations reasoning for the dismissal, telling NBCs Lester Holt that he was going to fire Comey regardless of [the] recommendation.

McCabe was added to the hearing as a witness at the last minute; Comey was initially scheduled to testify and was expected to give an update on the Russia probe. Instead, McCabe, who served as deputy FBI director under Comey, assured lawmakers that the investigation is going on as planned, and pushed back against several claims made in the aftermath of Comeys dismissal.

He said there have been no efforts to scale back the bureaus probe, adding that all of the agents involved in the investigation are still in their positions. McCabe said he would alert the committee if he sensed any politically-motivated efforts to stonewall.

After House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes recused himself from heading his panels Russia probe amid an ethics investigation into his handling of classified information, there was hope that the Senate Intelligence Committee could carry out its Russia investigation faithfully.

That was eroded when it was revealed last month that the committee had not begun substantially investigating possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. The Daily Beast first reported that the committee lacked necessary staffing and investigative experience to carry out their probe.

In Thursdays hearing, the nations top national security officials all contradicted the president in their testimony when they said they agree with the intelligence communitys January assessment about the role Russia played in meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has labeled the Russia talk as fake news propagated by Democrats and the press.

McCabe also pushed back against numerous White House claims, including the suggestion that Comey had lost the confidence of rank-and-file FBI agents.

Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI, and still does to this day, McCabe said when questioned by a senator. We have a diversity of opinions about many things. But I can confidently tell you that the majority, the vast majority, of FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.

He also pushed back on Trumps claim that Comey informed the president that he was not the subject of the investigation.

Would it be unusual and not standard practice for there to have been a notification from the FBI director to President Trump or anyone else involved in this investigation informing him or her that that individual is not a target? Sen. Susan Collins asked.

Im not aware of that being a standard practice, McCabe said, declining to comment on the specific claim about Trumps conversations with Comey. In a later response to Sen. Ron Wyden, McCabe pledged that he would not update the president on matters relating to the investigation.

In another contradiction with the White Houses narrative, McCabe said the Russia investigation is highly significant, declining to state exactly how many agents are assigned to the probe. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders in contrast called it probably one of the smallest things that theyve got going on their plate.
Somewhat unbelievably, Dynasty fans find ourselves contemplating no fights in the Carrington mansion lily pond.

No take your blonde tramp dumping of fur coats from the top of the Carrington mansion stairs.

No shoulder-pads. No Dex Dexter in a bubble bath. No running ColbyCo from behind a desk with tusks for legs.

The prospect of Dynasty without the magnificent Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan is like toast without butter: dry, worthy, and pointless. The prospect of Alexis not being played by Joan Collins might seem like sacrilege. Who elseas the excellent Shit Alexis Says illustratescould deliver lines like, At six o clock, I like to slip off my shoes and slip into something more comfortable. Like a drink.

And yet, at this early stage that is what the Dynasty reboot, being cooked up by the CW, is promising.

The new show must have the caustic whiplash of Alexis, a proud corporate pirate and female double for Donald Trump.

There is no mention yet, however, of Dynastys chief villainindeed one of TVs all-time great charactersin what is known about the reboot of the classic 1980s primetime soap scheduled for transmission in the autumn.

The portents are not good: the Dallas reboot was a mess, the Melrose Place reboot left us coldas did the 90210 one. Dynasty cannot be allowed to wither the same way.

At this early show and tell with the media, the executive producerswhich promisingly does include Richard and Esther Shapiro, creators of the original showare majoring on the new shows multicultural credentials.

The show appears to be playing out its early yearsset now, presumablyrather than introducing a new Dynasty generation for 2017.

Linda Evans much-persecuted and saintly Krystle will become the Latina Cristal (played by Peruvian-Australian actress Nathalie Kelley) and principled hunk Jeff Colby, once played by John James, will be played by Nigerian-born actor Sam Adegoke.

Maybe Alexisthe character and castingwill be an appropriately soapy surprise for nearer show-time; and if it isnt Joan Collins (who might look odd at her real age next to a much younger cast playing her peers), maybe Alexis, too, could be played by an actress of color.

Diahann Carroll, who played Dominique Deveraux in the 1980s show, called her character the first black bitch on television; what if Alexis, televisions most famous bitch, was reimagined as black in the new multicultural Dynasty?

We know that Alan Dale (Jim from Neighbours; Ugly Betty) will play Joseph Anders, the Carrington family butler, whoin the originalsuffered his own tragic end, after years of sniffily observing the correct positioning of fish knives.

Elizabeth Gillies will play Fallon, most famous in the original show for getting beamed up by a UFO, but who started out the series as a petulant spoilt little rich kid, the daughter of Blake Carrington.

Here, fans must jettison memories of craggy, white-haired John Forsythe as the Carrington paterfamilias and instead embrace the new Blake, as played by Grant Show, the studly Jake from Melrose Place (both the original Dynasty and MP were Aaron Spelling productions). Rob Riley will play Michael, the shifty chauffeur who in the early years bedded Fallon and did Blakes dirty work.

The outline of the new showat least initiallyappears to focus on the trajectory of the original season one, which aired in 1981 and will focus on Cristal and Fallon, as the former prepares to marry into the Carrington family, much to the displeasure of the latter.

And if the new Dynasty follows the same path as the old Dynasty, that means no Alexis at all for a while; Joan Collins famously appeared in the first episode of the second season, lifting the veil of her hat at the trial of ex-husband Blake, accused of murdering son Stevens onetime partner, Ted Dinard, in a fit of anti-gay rage.

The original Dynasty, its fans will remember, really only got going in season two with Alexis arrival. Season one, which I rewatched recently, is a fascinating, almost Marxist examination of wealth and its corruption. The early show is less the bitch-fest that it morphed into with Alexis arrival, and more a quiet and somewhat plodding exploration of class conflict and familial dysfunction. Stevens homosexualitythen radical on primetime TVincludes discussions about homophobia and prejudice. (As the show went on, his sexuality changed with the scriptwriters whim.)

When Alexis arrived in season two, Joan Collins perfect incarnationa superbitch on permanent mischief patrolgave the show a deranged turbo engine. To do down Krystle she shot a rifle from behind a tree, causing Krystles horse to bolt, and Krystle to miscarry. The first of their fights, in Alexis studio, won by Krystle, ended with the latter goading her rival to a rematch. And so they didmost famously in a lily-pond, and then in the series finale at a fashion studio, ending with Krystle spinning Alexis to collapse in a pink feather boa.

The animus and confrontations of the women became the heart of the showas were Nolan Millers clothes which eventually became so popular they were aped in collections sold in department stores. Krystle wore soft whites and blues, but he dressed Alexis in as many dramatic sheaths, hats, and leopard print as he could. Lying in a hospital bed, having narrowly escaped death, Alexis was resplendent in minxy nightgown and turban. The new Dynasty must love fashion.

Krystle and Alexis endless enmity set the template for other feuding women on film and TVreductive in many ways for sure, but extremely fun to watch. Dynasty never felt anti-feminist: the women were the heart of the show, and whatever else Alexis was, watching her rule over her company week in week out was as powerful an example of female power as Margaret Thatcher running the U.K. Neither woman was a declared feminist, but they set powerful symbolic examples.

The biggest challenge for the new Dynasty is how it will hold close or subvert the wealth and tropes around wealth the original show never questioned. Today we are in different times, and any unalloyed celebration of 1980s greed and consumption would just look plain weird.

The other question is: will the new Dynasty be as crazy as the old one?

The introduction of Alexis unmoored the shows sane and sensible origins in favor of bitch-fights, putdowns, endless scheming to break up marriages, and the buying and selling and raiding of companies. There were returns from the dead, plastic surgery-changed faces, dramatic reversals in fortune, sudden recoveries from paralysis, cabins being set on fire, hidden Nazi loot, brain-washing, the use of poison paint by evil Adam, to drive poor Jeff mad, and of course Krystles double Rita, who took over her lifeand whose vanquishing required Linda Evans to fight herself.

And there was the Moldavian wedding massacre cliffhanger of 1985, when the whole cast was mowed down by radical revolutionaries who wanted to supplant that imagined countrys monarch.

The following season premiere revealed that the casualty count wasnt as excessive as the hail of bullets and bloodstained faces suggested. Ali MacGraws Lady Ashley didnt make it, but she shouldnt have been in the show anyway. And Stevens next gay lover died. (Good news: his final partner, in 1989, was allowed to live.)

That level of narrative excess and madness took years to get right, but hopefully the new shows producers and writers will play itas the original Dynasty didfor real, rather than laughs. The original Dynasty was absurd, but it didnt dwell in its absurdity. It took it for granted and expected you too as well.

Every party ended with a fight. Every scene with Blake and Krystle was a snooze. Every Alexis putdown was magical. Every episode ended with a cliffhanger, a musical crescendo, with multiple cliffhangers ending a seasonand then months of tantalizing waiting till the new season to answer it all.

Dynasty announced every episode of this mayhem with Bill Contis glorious theme, and opening credits featuring the actors encased in tuxes, furs and glittery gowns.

My final plea to the new shows producers is: do not, as every reboot has done so far, screw up the theme and opening credits. Make them faster and cooler for 2017, and you will defile them. And please sort your Alexis problem out. None of us wants to endure the indignity of burnt champagne.
A quarter century ago, Keith Schiller was a New York City transit cop patrolling the Number 3 subway line between Harlem and toughest Brooklyn from 8 pm to 4 am.

Just to get to his post, Schiller first had to take a cross-town bus from his command. He would then ride the full length of the line, take a meal break and then ride back the other way. His every tour in purgatory affirmed his lack of a hook, as influential connections were known among his fellow cave cops.

Schiller now has the biggest hook in the free world. And, as director of Oval Office operations and the Presidents main bro, he traveled the six blocks from the White House to FBI headquarters late Tuesday afternoon. Schiller then hand-delivered a Manila envelope containing a letter from Trump terminating James Comey as the director of the FBI.

The message was essentially what a former fellow cave cop who worked with Schiller remembers as the standard line to an uncooperative passenger back in their days on the Number 3 line.

Listen, pal, the best thing for you to do is to get off this train.

One difference was that the passenger would not have been in the midst of an investigation involving the very guy who was ordering him off the train.

So began this weeks chain of events, which are not in fact likely to lead to another Watergate, but were from the very start so improbable as to warrant a laughif only there were anything even remotely funny about it.

Were not in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a senior law enforcement official said on Wednesday. Were in the middle of a very bad joke.

And the more you learn, the more absurd it becomes. Ask around how Schiller got to where he is and you hear the story of a day in 1998 when he chanced to see Trumps second wife, Marla Maples.

By then, Schiller had rolled over from the transit police to the city police and started working narcotics uptown. He happened to be at the Manhattan District Attorneys office on a drug case when he saw Maples there, as a complainant against her publicist Chuck Jones, whose fetish for shoes had prompted him to steal as many as 200 pairs from her. She was accompanied by a bodyguard.

As has been reported elsewhere, Schiller decided that there was no reason why he himself could not also be a bodyguard. An assistant district attorney in the Maples case agreed to call Trumps director of security, who in turn agreed to give Schiller a try.

Trump and Schiller hit it off. The onetime cave cop has a steadiness shared by many of his kind from the era when radios worked only sporadically underground. Every one of them had experienced a moment of facing somebody considerably bigger and meaner on a moving train with help not coming soon. Every one of them had thereupon learned in the most urgent terms what is at their core. And that would surely appeal to a man who seems to have no core at all.

Schiller retired from the NYPD to work full time for The Donald. Schiller became head of security in 2014his predecessor, Matthew Calamari, having been promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Trump Organization.

So there was steady Keith Schiller, constantly at Trumps side during a campaign not even his boss thought was winnable. Trump seemed as surprised as anybody when election night ended in victory.

And with that result, somebody else joined Marla Maples in propelling the former cave cop to glory. That person is Vladimir Putin.

American intelligence officials have concluded that Russian hackers gathered a trove of embarrassing material on both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The officials believe that Putin cast the first and perhaps decisive vote in the 2016 presidential election by figuring that Trump would be worse for America and therefore better for Russia.

Trump took Schiller to the White House with him. And, by various reports, Schiller was often the only one keeping his boss company up in the private residence while Trumps third wife, Melania, and their son, Barron, continued to live in New York.

Bro-town!

Schiller did briefly head off to escort Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to Iraq. But Schiller was soon back at the White House, ever at his bosss side while the world chattered about whether Kushner or Steven Bannon or Reince Priebus held the most sway.

But it was and is and always will be all about Trump and his whim of the moment. The White House tried to say that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had taken it upon himself to prepare the memo that led to Comey being fired. Trump set everybody straight.

Theyre creating a deceptive narrative and hes running around telling the truth, the senior law enforcement official said. They cant even get their lies straight.

More often than not, Trump does not so much act as react to something he had seen on television and in this instance, it seems to have included the coverage of Comeys testimony before Congress.

Trump no doubt resented Comeys remark about feeling mildly nauseous at the thought he may have influenced the election. That was tantamount to saying that Trump had not won a great victory.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton had declared that she accepted full responsibility for her defeat, as should anybody who actually lost to Donald Trump. She then immediately set about blaming Comey. Those are just the kind of contradictions that Trump loves to Tweet.

And that combined with Trumps resentment regarding Comeys continued investigation into the Russian meddling. The result was the letter that Trump had Schiller deliver to FBI headquarters, bouncing Comey just like he was an unruly subway passenger.

The onetime cave cop had played a small but particular role in what Putin surely counts as a true victory.

[Putin] didnt engineer the firing of Comey, but he engineered the entrance of Trump, the senior law enforcement official said. Hes sitting back saying, Im liking my plan very much.

In the aftermath of Comeys firing, a website frequented by retired FBI agents was eerily deserted. Traditionalist retirees who had been vocal about Comeys failure to make a case against Hillary Clinton were silent. The absence of comment suggests they understood that the application of brute political force to remove a director of the FBI weakened what made the FBI the FBI, what had shielded the bureau from outside influence.

If the FBI had it, they took it where the truth took them, the senior law enforcement official said.

The official noted that the FBI director is appointed to a 10-year term for a reason; it puts him outside the tenure of even a two-term president. The official spoke of the agents who are now working the Russian influence investigation.

Do you think those agents now feel they have the insulation of the institution and the protection of the director? the official asked.

Imagine how those agents felt upon seeing video of Trump happily meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, along with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, whose meetings with Jeff Sessions triggered the Attorney Generals recusal.

Who knows, perhaps there really was no active collusion on Trumps part. Trump has on other occasions wildly praised Putin and declared his love for WikiLeaks, which even someone as reckless as himself might not do if he were actively conspiring with Russians.

Or maybe the meeting with the Russian diplomats was a way for Trump to watch it later on TV with his best bro Schiller and announce, See! Im innocent!

If nothing else, Trump and Schiller appear devoutly loyal to each other.

However it goes, you can be sure that Schiller will be right there with Trump, who remains the greatest hook in the free world.

As they still say on the Number 3 train, watch the closing doors.
Kolkata, May 11 (IBNS): Days after being allegedly beaten up by local Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists, a leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and its youth wing- Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI)- died in a Kolkata hospital on Wednesday midnight, reports said on Thursday.

According to reports, Gautam Mitra, an ex-president of DYFI's undivided Medinipur district unit and former member of CPI-M's West Medinipur district committee, was allegedly beaten brutally by a local TMC leader and his companions on Tuesday morning near his residence at Khairullah Chawk area under Kotwali Police Station.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital and later shifted to SSKM hospital in Kolkata as his health condition deteriorated.

The middle-aged CPI-M leader reportedly passed away at SSKM at around 12:45 am. on Thursday.

His family members told IBNS that they will lodge an FIR at Kotwali Police Station against the accused TMC activists, after reaching their home.

Leaders of CPI-M and DYFI condemned the incident, while local TMC leaders denied their involvement in the matter.

A local police official told IBNS that they are enquiring the matter.

"We are looking into the incident and whenever Gautam Mitra's family members will lodge complaint, we will begin probe into the matter officially," the official said.



(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
The phrase we are a nation of laws, not men gets quite a workout in weeks like this one. It is said as a reminder, as an insistenceand as a hope that its still true. It means that our laws and institutions are greater and more important than the individuals who people them at any given moment, and it expresses the principle that best explains how weve managed to survive as the worlds longest-lived republic.

A constitutional crisis started Tuesday night when President Trump fired James Comey. Arguably it started before, but it certainly started Tuesday evening. Comey was the third of three people who were investigating aspects of the Trump administration or campaign and the ties to, dependency on, or favors perhaps owed to Russia. All three have now been fired (Sally Yates and Preet Bharara are the other two).

This is not going away. Trump can scream as long as he wants at all the TVs he wants. This is a scandal, and an obviously legitimate one. But unfortunately, our laws and institutions are only as good as the men and women sworn to uphold them. How this crisis is investigated, considered, and resolved will depend not on our laws and institutions, but on the men and women who enforce and defend them.

The fate of the republic, then, may hang on five menor possibly four men and a woman. That sounds ominous and overwrought, that fate of the republic. Maybe so. But to dismiss this as normal politics is to be insouciantly and naively under-wrought. Nothing is normal about this president or many of the aides he has around him. The only people in the world hes truly praised are dictators. If he could, hed become another Putinmaybe not having people killed, but certainly criminalizing opposition to him in some fundamental way.

Trump has to be stopped, and he has to be stopped by other men and women. Here are the five in whose hands this rests. This will not, by the way, read as a reassuring list, except for No. 5. And it is not intended to.

1. The new director of the FBI. Who will it be? The general thinking is that if Trump is going to bother to make a move as scandalous as he just did, he did it in order to appoint someone who will simply shut down any investigationdevote no resources and personnel to it. Rudy Giuliani? Chris Christie? David Clarke, that Milwaukee chief of police whos a total Trump loyalist and to the right of Attila the Hun?

On the other hand, Trump could decide, as he surveys the negative fallout from his move, which is apparently a shock to him (telling: he simply doesnt see the basis of the principled objection to a president firing an FBI director whos investigating him!), that he ought to appoint someone more establishment. A law-enforcement professional. Someone with Washington Republican cred.

If were fortunate enough to get such a person, he or she will have to do his or her job and prove that the great vaunted Federal Bureau of Investigation is not the handmaiden of any president. That we are, in other words, a nation of laws, not men.

2. Rod Rosenstein. He and he alone has the power to appoint a special prosecutor. Thats usually the attorney generals call, but Jefferson Beauregard Sessions has recused himself on this matter. So its up to his deputy, and thats Rosenstein.

Democrats spent Wednesday, I was told, trying to figure out what points of leverage they may have on Rosenstein. There are really only two: popular opinion, and his conscience. Recent polling tells us that about two-thirds of the public prefers a special prosecutor to this being left to Congress. So thats clear.

As to Rosensteins conscience I am told hes always had a good reputation; liked, for example, by many Democrats whove known him for a long time, like Barbara Mikulski. But the writing of this letter was a rancidly conscience-less act. It has shocked people whove known him for a long time, like Lawfares Benjamin Wittes.

Is Rosenstein Elliot Richardson, or is he Robert Bork? Hes well aware of how each has gone down in history. Richardson is an American hero; Bork, a mere ideological one.

3. Mitch McConnell. You thought I was going to say Richard Burr, the North Carolina Republican senator who chairs the Intelligence Committee. And yes, hes 3a, I guess. But from everything we know about the Senate GOP caucus, we have reason to believe that final calls on what gets revealed and what doesnt will fall to the majority leader.

Will McConnell be willing to let the investigation go wherever the trail of evidence leads? Will he decide ultimately that a conservative Supreme Court and his cherished goal of the end of any campaign finance restrictions must take a back seat to executive branch abuse of power, if it comes to that? Will he act in such a case as forthrightly as did GOP senators Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott, who went to Richard Nixon on Aug. 7, 1974, and told him the jig was up? McConnell is said to revere the traditions of the Senate and as a young man worked for one of the most admirable senators of the 20th century, a moderate Kentucky Republican named John Sherman Cooper.

But that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The more recent track record is not encouraging.

4. Bob Goodlatte. The Virginia House Republican chairs the Judiciary Committeethat is, the committee where impeachment proceedings originate. If the evidence demands it, would Goodlatte call for such proceedings?

He is arch-conservative. And if youre interested, go look up the GOP membership of the committee. Its like Alex Jones named them: Steven King, Louie Gohmert, Trey Gowdy, Blake Farenthold, Jason Chaffetz (although I guess somehow hes become a cuck now). As for Goodlatte himself, back in January, he lent some committee staff to the Trump administration to help draft Trumps executive order on refugees and immigration.

Think hell rise to the occasion, if the occasion demands it?

5. Marty Baron. He doesnt belong in this rogue-ish gallery, but I invoke the belaureled (and deservedly so) editor of The Washington Post as kind of a stand-in for the Fourth Estate more generally. Baron and the Posts other honchos decided to put Democracy Dies in Darkness right there at the top of the website, under the papers name. Having done that, they need to earn having done it. And The New York Times and CNN and everyone else has to rise to this moment.

Though the times are mad, history is, in one sense, being unusually kind to us. Rarely are choices this clear. Rarely is the divide between the right path and the wrong path so obvious, and rarely are the rationalizations of power so obvious and decadent. Laws or men? In two or three years, well know.
Back in January, we sat down with Jill Soloway, the Emmy-winning creator of Transparent, in Park City, where she was set to premiere her new Amazon series I Love Dick at the Sundance Film Festival. Snow was falling outside the window, the energy was high, and peoples voices were incredibly hoarse.

It almost seems like the perfect time to be launching this show, because the show is all about feminist anger, she says, eyes still wide with electric excitement.

Soloway had flown directly from Washington, D.C., where the previous day she took part in the Womens March, for the impeccably timed premiere of her new show. I dont have to, like, turn off my revolutionary brain and turn on my TV brain, she says. This is wild.

By title alone, I Love Dick carries a certain political, even baiting, charge. The half-hour comedy series, which launches on Amazon Friday, is a heady, raucous one, based on what had been considered a deeply unadaptable book by experimental filmmaker and writer Chris Kraus.

Kraus I Love Dick has been described as sprawling, cerebral, and uncomfortably intimate and is a lightning rod in the academic gender studies space.

The book chronicles Kraus move with her husband to Marfa, Texas, and an intense infatuation they both develop with a culture critic named Dick. As they collude to seduce him, Kraus, despite Dicks attempts to stifle her, discovers her artistic voice.

For me, Im always on the lookout for the mechanics of a good story, says Soloway, reacting to what had been branded the insurmountable feat of adapting Kraus complicated work. A love triangle in which a heterosexual couple falls in love with a man? That to me is a juicy story.

But Soloway, who created Transparent based on her own experience as the child of a transgender woman, saw a personal entry point into I Love Dick as well. For a hook, theres the love triangle. But the story is also about a woman finding her voice in an environment of men who wont validate it.

As with so much content coming out now that was developed before the election, there is a sudden, more visceral resonance in the themes I Love Dick explores, particularly as the feminist anger Soloway is talking about is veritably exploding into the streets in marches as we speak.

I Love Dick, then, is a series that confronts us with the power of that feminist anger, the female gaze, and just how woke Kevin Bacon is. (Also, for what its worth, just how great Kevin Bacons butt still looks.)

Yes, Bacon stars as the titular Dick, certainly underlining the entendre of the shows name.

Hes just a magnet of a human, gushes Kathryn Hahn, who plays Chris in the series. You cant help but stare at his face. Or, at least in the final scene of the shows pilot, his perfect, 58-year-old butt. His fantastic buttocks, clarifies Soloway.

Bacon didnt as much choose to star in the series as much as he was compelled to by his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick. I said to Kyra, Jill Soloway wants to talk to me about her next show. Its called I Love Dick. She just goes: Youre doing that.

At the time, Bacon only had the script for the shows pilot which, on top of elevating Dicks swagger and desirable mystique, also has him systematicallyand in some interpretations, misogynisticallydismantling Chris film work and artistic perspective. (Chris explains her film is about women and societys crushing expectations. Dicks response: Sounds boring.)

One thing I wanted to clarify was that if he was just going to be an asshole for the show, its not what I want to do necessarily, Bacon says. Of course, [Soloway is] smart enough to know that that sort of undercuts Kathryns character if the guy has nothing appealing ultimately about him.

I Love Dick marks Hahns third collaboration with Soloway, after playing Rabbi Raquel in Transparent and starring as a stay-at-a-home mom who meets a stripper and makes her a live-in nanny in 2013s Afternoon Delight.

(There's no articulating the joy of being in a room with Kathryn Hahn, who broke out into song twice while we spokea Christmas carol and then a spot-on rendition of Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time"and soundtracked our entire conversation with an infectious, bemused giggle.)

Part of Chris discovering her voice means embracing and exploring her sexual desire, which saddles Hahn with provocative and explicit scene work and dialogue. (In other words, there are some intense sex scenes.)

The recovering Catholic in me is like, Oh god! Ive got two children! Hahn says, erupting into an endearing snorty laugh.

In many ways, then, playing Chris meant something of a life-imitating-art awakening as well.

Chris, boy is she scary to me, as Kathryn, Hahn says. I feel like she is a little bit like an id. I feel like theres a Chris Krauss in so many of us thats loud and unapologetic and messy and jealous and petty and hilarious and smart andand here she elongates the s as she says itsssexual and hungry.

Shes a woman that just sort of flings herself forward through life, she continues. Just constant forward motion. And thats a really uncomfortable state to be in. She doesnt just demand to be seen, she is going to be the seer. That is radical.

Internalizing thatand, more, employing thatis something thats resonated all the more acutely given that the backdrop of our conversation is the street where thousands of women and men marched in the middle of a Utah blizzard the previous day in support of womens rights.

She brings up what Michael Moore said at the D.C. march about now not being a time for shy people, and she sighs.

I was raised to be polite, she says. I did all the proper gender and performance classes at Northwestern. I did all the steps to be the proper feminist. The polite feminist. We cant afford that now. Its not a time to be polite. It doesnt mean being a horrible person. It means having a voice. Your voice has to matter. Whoever is bigger and louder has the bullhorn, so we all have to try to drown it out.

When you talk with Jill Soloway and her collaborators about her work, particularly I Love Dick, there is a lot of talk about gender politics, identity politics, with terms like intersectionality and the female gaze.

Particularly in I Love Dick, which is set in a world of artists and academiatenets of culture that may be deemed insufferable in some circlesthere is value in making that talk still accessible and consumable.

Ive always wanted to use academia as a backdrop or a frosting to just kind of decorate, Soloway says. We do try to find a place where we can scale that back and use it for comedy and whimsy and absurdity, but never use it as story. The story is always going to be a love triangle.

Thats not to say that I Love Dick, with its prickliness and its engagingly caustic humor, isnt an education.

Baconwhom Hahn labels a delicious, game, woke humanis still processing what hes learned about the female gaze, for example.

This is one of the things that just occurred to me, he says. When you think of objects from the male perspective, theyre not usually very complex. Shes hot. Shes not. Shes kind of a whore. Shes the wife. The mom. You know what I mean? Often times there is not really that much complexity.

He goes on to relate that to playing Dick in the series. With women I think, they might like what a guy looks like, but their appreciation for them goes to a bunch more things: Humor, or power, or charm, or gentleness, or strength. There are all these other kinds of things other than you look good in a bathing suit. As a result of that, thats where I think Dick actually becomes more complex.

He stops for a second and starts grinning, that slow-crawl, devastating Kevin Bacon smile creeping across his face as he thinks and readies his punchline. Plus, I would say purely in a just kind of tongue-in-cheek way, at my age to be an object is not the worst thing, he says.

Hes embraced the introduction of the female gazewatch I Love Dick this weekend, and you certainly will, too.
As Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke, the graduating class of Bethune-Cookman University turned their backs and booed her every word. At one point, university President Edison O. Jackson interrupted DeVos commencement address and implored those in attendance to quietly return to their seats, even threatening to mail home their diplomas (that is, end the ceremony) if they did not silence their voices. The booing continued, despite the threat from Jackson, and DeVos eventually finished her remarks.

The day before her speech members of the B-CU community delivered a petition that had been signed by over 50,000 people requesting DeVos removal as commencement speaker.

Conservatives will decry this spectacle as another example of liberal intolerance in academia, but DeVos was no martyr on Wednesday. She was an out-of-touch billionaire who picked the wrong forum for the Trump administrations misguided and calamitously flawed outreach to African Americans. (Presidential aide Omarosa Manigault was also in attendance, and received a cold, boo-filled reception when her name was announced.) Accordingly, DeVosalong with President Jacksonreceived the disdain that their clueless hubris deserved.

To honor someone, who not only needs to be educated rather than honored, is not just hypocritical, but it sends the wrong message. What youre doing is honoring the status of the person as opposed to the actions of the person, said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, to The Daily Beast. That is why I think the students and the alums were so upset.

DeVos commencement address, and her reception of an honorary degree from this historic HBCU, did not represent an exchange of ideas or a bridging of cultural divides. Instead it was a perverse honoring of someone whose actions do not warrant these accolades.

DeVos, in a relatively short period of time, has cultivated a fraught relationship with HBCUs. During Black History Month, she absurdly described HBCUs as pioneers of school choice instead of the by-product of a yearning for education from African Americans within a segregated American system intent on depriving them of educational opportunities. DeVos commitment to vouchers and school choice has also infuriated much of the African-American community.

Segregationists have long proclaimed the necessity of school choice so that they could avoid educating minorities, and had the right to send their children to segregated schools.

HBCUs are there to fight the very discrimination that is at the core of the so-called school choice movement, continued Weingarten.

In 1904, when she was 29 years old, Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of Bethune-Cookman University, created, with only $1.50, the Daytona Literacy and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls. At first it had only five students. For the rest of her life, she remained committed to fostering and expanding educational opportunities for African Americans in the Jim Crow South. That one school, with those five girls, eventually became B-CU. Within HBCUs there is much pride to the historical commitment African Americans have always shown to educating their community. DeVos, and the Trump administrations, dangerous and troubling ignorance to this history has made them incredibly hard to honor despite the status and influence they hold.

And for those of you who want to pile on the students, consider that it was just last week that President Donald Trump continued to parrot the segregationist, school choice rhetoric by questioning the constitutionality of funding HBCUs. The students of Bethune-Cookman University need to know if DeVos agrees with the president. They need to know if their university just awarded an honorary degree to someone who questions the constitutionality of their institution. Many HBCUs do not have endowments spanning into the hundreds of millions, so the threat of the removal of public funding could put the institutions very existence into jeopardy.

DeVos speech provided zero clarity. Throughout her remarks, she praised the achievements of Ms. Bethune, but despite having a more influential position, DeVos could not compare her commitment to education to that of B-CUs founder. She frequently celebrated the universitys motto: Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve, yet as she did so those in attendance questioned the purpose of her speech. Overall, her remarks sounded distant and were uninspiring.

The circumstances surrounding her selection were controversial, and students played no role in her selection, which is uncommon at B-CU. Many students found out that she would be the commencement speaker via news reports prior to the university officially notifying the graduating class. This chaotic process has resulted in many students believing that her speech was intended to serve ulterior political motives that do not have the students or institutions best interests at heart.

Yes, there is nothing overtly wrong with working with the administration of any president. But covertly working with this presidential administrationthat clearly does not know black history and questions the constitutionality of black higher educationand against the wishes of students and alumni does not send the right message. Omarosas attendance, and the praise bestowed upon her by President Jackson, only reenforced their skepticism and frustrations.

You dont send your graduating class out into the world like this, said Tyler Durrant, a 2017 graduating senior at Bethune-Cookman University, to The Daily Beast. Commencement is a monologue and not a dialogue, and that is one of the most important things were trying to bring to light here. After she speaks, we wont speak.

The outrage directed at DeVos was not a manifestation of our partisan divide. This was not liberals vs. conservatives, or even black vs. white. The fury over her commencement address and bestowing upon her an honorary degree stemmed from the universitys decision to refuse to create a platform where students, faculty, and alumni could have a respectful back and forth with DeVos, share ideas and experiences, and hopefully find some common ground.

Instead, commencementa day intended to honor members of the B-CU communitybecame a platform for honoring someone who has insulted the African-American community and HBCUs. To many within the B-CU community, honoring DeVos was a slap in the face and antithetical to the ideals of the university.

Im upset about Secretary DeVos speaking because since shes been the secretary of education she has insulted HBCUs. She has not shown that she understands the roles and contributions that HBCUs play in American society, said Dominik Whitehead, a 2010 alumni of Bethune-Cookman University, to The Daily Beast. The statements that she has said dont sit well with alumni, students, and supporters of HBCUs.

The black community, HBCUs, and Bethune-Cookman University seek a respectful dialogue where all sides are provided an opportunity express their views. They do not want to be educated by people who clearly do not understand their history. This is what DeVos speech represented, and accordingly, the B-CU community ensured that their voice was heard.
New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS) : Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan, who was sentenced to six months' imprisonment by the Supreme Court on contempt ground, moved the apex court against his conviction, The Hindu reported.

Karnan was found guilty of contempt for naming 20 judges of being corrupt earlier this year.

Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar said that the top court will consider Justice Karnans prayer seeking recall of the verdict against him.

The CJI asked Karnans counsel to show papers authorising him to represent the judge and says that he will consider them.

After a Supreme Court bench sentenced justice Karnan to six months' imprisonment,the first of its kind in the history of Indian judiciary, he went missing and the police of three states-West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh- made futile attempts to locate him.

On being asked about his whereabouts, Justice Karnan's lawyer Mathews J Nedumpara told the CJI that he is in Chennai.
New Delhi, May 11 (IBNS): Leena Nair took over the charge of Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in New Delhi on Thursday, an official release stated.

She is an IAS officer of 1982 batch of Tamil Nadu cadre. Before this appointment, she was serving as Secretary in Ministry of Women and Child Development.
When to Visit Horseshoe Bend

If you're heading to Horseshoe Bend in the near future, I recommend visiting anytime from January to May. It's not as busy and the weather is a bit more pleasant. But if you are wanting to squeeze in Lake Powell as well then the warmer months work great too!

As for the time of day to visit Horseshoe Bend, I visited in the evening to catch the sunset. The sun will set right behind your beautiful view and will make for some incredible pictures and allow you to capture some of the desert color. However, part of the river will be in the shade at that time due to the large cliffsides on either side, so if you prefer no shadows in your photos then I recommend visiting mid-morning or even mid-day.

If you do decide to visit in the evening, I recommend getting there about an hour or more before sunset. This will give you time to park, hike down (about 3/4 of a mile) and pick your spot to set up your gear.

Regardless of the time of year or day, it can get pretty busy with tourists and photographers hoping to catch the same beautiful views. So find your spot and stake your claim, my friends haha.

I hope you visit soon and enjoy!
The College Station City Council will consider amending the city's Unified Development Ordinance tonight to close a so-called "loophole" that inadvertently allows new lots as small as 5,000 square feet in older residential neighborhoods.

Residents of the College Hills area have pointed to what city staff have called "unfortunate language" in the ordinance that allowed for a developer to apply for the resubdivision of two lots on Gilchrist Avenue into 10 smaller lots for high-density housing. The replat was withdrawn by the property owner, but concerns about the language and its unintended consequences remain.

"It brought to light why we needed to go back and figure out how to prevent this from happening again and to put our language back the way it was," said Molly Hitchock, the city's assistant director of Planning and Development Services.

After a public hearing, the council will consider a proposed amendment to correct the language, which was inserted in 2012 in the "Platting and Replatting within Older Residential Subdivisions" section of the code, which dates back to 2002 to address infill issues. While original language required newly created lots within older residential subdivisions to be at least 8,500 square feet in area and the average lot-width of the rest of the block, the 2012 amendment added language that allowed lots as small as 5,000 square feet in certain circumstances.

Hitchock said the original intent of the language in the UDO section in question -- which dates back to the early 2000s when the city began seeing development pressure in older neighborhoods, particularly in the Eastgate and Southside areas -- was to prevent large lots from being subdivided into smaller lots for homes inconsistent with the character of existing neighborhoods. It's been amended a number of times over the years, she said, but the problematic 2012 amendment added language that exempted properties that were platted or replatted after 1970 -- when the city adopted subdivision regulations -- from the requirements.

The consequence is that the amendment opened the door to a scenario where the owner or developer of a large lot platted before 1970 that meets the current 8,500-square-foot and average lot-width requirements could in theory "turn around the next day" and apply for a replat for smaller lots, Hitchcock said.

Planning and Development Director Lance Simms told the Planning and Zoning Commission during a May 4 presentation that that was "never the intent," and the amendment the city council will consider would restore protection to College Station's older residential neighborhoods. The council will consider two versions -- one will clarify the original intent of the ordinance, and the second would do the same and also provide city staff with discretion when calculating the average lot width by considering lots across the street from a property, which may be more indicative of neighborhood character than lots behind a property on the same block.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1101 Texas Ave.
U.S. Rep. Bill Flores released a brief statement Wednesday evening, saying he was confident President Donald Trump would find an "outstanding leader" to replace now-former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump on Tuesday.

U.S. legislators across Texas weighed in on Comey's firing throughout the day Wednesday, but the state's House Republicans have largely been silent on the matter.

"I trust that President Trump will find an outstanding leader to restore confidence and effectively lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The ongoing House and Senate intelligence investigations regarding Russia will continue and I look forward to the findings of my House and Senate colleagues," Flores said in his statement.

Will Hurd -- A&M student body president at the time of the Bonfire collapse in 1999, now a U.S. representative from the state's 23rd district, and a rising star in the Republican Party -- issued a statement saying that the "timing of James Comey's firing is troubling, especially since the Justice Department Inspector General was conducting an independent investigation into Comey's handling of the Clinton email case."

"Due to the ongoing criminal investigation into Russian interference in our elections, I'm concerned that Comey's firing is going to create new concerns around the public trust in the Department of Justice. This just highlights the need for the House of Representatives' investigation of Russian interference in our elections to continue to move forward in a thorough and bipartisan way. I also have complete confidence in the men and women of the FBI to continue ongoing investigations," said Hurd, who also urged Trump to nominate a new director "who is eminently respected, and can quickly be confirmed by the Senate, in order to continue to confront the grave challenges facing our nation."

Right after morning votes on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn repeatedly told reporters that Trump was "within his authority" to fire Comey.

Cornyn insisted that the termination would not change the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential and Congressional elections.

"I've heard what I think is a phony narrative that he did this somehow to squelch the investigation into Russia, which I don't believe there's any evidence of," he said. "But if you assume that, this strikes me as a lousy way to do it. All it does is heighten the attention given to the issue."

Cruz also backed Trump's firing of Comey in a written statement.

"The Director of the FBI needs to be above reproach, with an unquestioned reputation for fairness and impartiality," Cruz said. "Unfortunately, Mr. Comey had lost the confidence of both Republicans and Democrats, and, frankly, the American people."

"The next Director needs to be someone of the utmost integrity who can successfully restore the public's confidence and lead the men and women of the FBI who selflessly serve and defend our great nation."

Responses on the firing from Democratic and Republican congressional representatives and senators have run the gamut, from support to concern over Trump's controversial move. According to a tracker on The New York Times website, as of late Wednesday, 174 Republicans and 21 Democrats had not yet offered a statement; 73 Republicans and no Democrats had expressed neutral or supportive statements; 34 Republicans and 15 Democrats issued statements expressing concern or questions; five Republicans and 81 Democrats or Independents called for an independent investigation; and no Republicans and 125 Democrats or independents called for a special prosecutor or use similar wording.

The Texas Tribune contributed to this story
A Bryan man's condition has stabilized but is still critical after a shooting late Tuesday.

According to Bryan police, around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, officers were called to the 700 block of West 16th Street on the report of a shooting. There, a 24-year-old woman had been shot in the leg and a 27-year-old man had been shot in the abdomen. Police say the couple had answered after two men knocked on the door, and were shot soon after.

The men are described as two black men in hooded sweatshirts who fled the area on foot. No arrests have been made in connection to the shooting.

A woman who lives near the victims said the couple had moved into the home less than three months ago. She did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal.

The neighbor said she is now scared to live in the neighborhood, pointing out that 30-year-old Broderick Turner was killed in November 2015 just three doors down from Tuesday night's shooting. According to an article in The Eagle at the time, Turner was shot while sitting in his car.

"I don't even want to be here anymore," the woman said. "Since this is the second shooting we've had, I want to look at finding something else and selling this house. I don't feel safe anymore."

Police say they believe Tuesday's shooting was an isolated incident and the public is not in danger.

Anyone with information on Tuesday night's shooting is asked to contact the Bryan Police Department at 929-209-5300 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 979-775-TIPS.
A record 10,074 Aggie degrees will be delivered this month during graduations in College Station, Fort Worth, Galveston, Kingsville and Dallas.

The ceremonies will feature the highest number of bachelor's degrees (7,273), master's degrees (1,903), professional degrees (558) and doctoral degrees (339) for any one semester in the history of Texas A&M and the state of Texas, officials said.

Students earning doctoral degrees in veterinary medicine graduated Wednesday in College Station, but the largest ceremonies are yet to come.

Ceremonies for the Mays Business School, College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will be at three separate events today at Reed Arena.

The following day at the same location, the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, as well as the College of Architecture, College of Geosciences, School of Public Health and College of Nursing will graduate.

The largest ceremony will be at Kyle Field when the College of Engineering honors its graduates Saturday.

At Rudder on the same day, the College of Medicine students will receive their degrees.
Texas A&M University officials have described as alarming several comments made by a tenured philosophy professor in a nearly 5-year-old YouTube interview in which he discusses racial violence over time.

Amy Smith, A&M's chief marketing and communications officer, told The Eagle on Wednesday evening that administrators found the statements made by Tommy Curry "alarming on many levels and we find it certainly in direct contrast with Aggie core values in its content."

In an email response, Curry declined to comment and referred questions about the interview to his supervisor -- Theodore George, who is head of the Department of Philosophy. George referred The Eagle to Smith.

In the 5-minute recording -- in which Curry is interviewed by online talk show host Rob Redding -- he touches on the movie Django Unchained in which he says it prompted a backlash from white conservatives who were offended and accused the lead actor -- Jamie Foxx -- of being racist. The actor jokingly said during his monologue on a 2012 episode of Saturday Night Live that his new movie was "great" because his character was able to kill "all the white people in the movie."

Early in his online interview, Curry says he wanted to talk about the context of such a statement.

"...When we have this conversation about violence or killing white people, it has to be looked at in the kind of this historical turn. And the fact that we've had no one address, like how relevant and how solidified this kind of tradition is for black people -- saying look, in order to be equal, in order to be liberated, some white people may have to die."

Smith said university officials were not aware of the recording until it surfaced on social media this week and prompted some to call for Curry's firing. The video, which consists of the recording and a few still photographs, was uploaded through Redding's account and is titled "Dr. Tommy Curry on killing whites." Curry's talk does not suggest taking such action.

Everyone has a right through the First Amendment to speak their mind, Smith said, adding, "but so do we." She said administrators considered Curry's statements "deeply offensive" and took his words as they were stated in the interview.

"You would have to ask him about intent, but we can only go on what we heard in that podcast," Smith said. "It was rhetoric that was filled with hate and we don't stand for hate. That's not the Aggie way."

In a letter posted on the Texas A&M website late Wednesday, President Michael K. Young did not mention Curry by name, but referenced his interview, saying it had "disturbing comments about race and violence that stand in stark contrast to Aggie core values -- most notably those of respect, excellence, leadership and integrity."

"We stand against the advocacy of violence, hate, and killing," Young wrote. "We firmly commit to the success, not the destruction, of each other."

A&M's reaction to the comments come six months after denouncing speeches made by white nationalist Richard Spencer, who was invited by a former student to speak on campus. The university published a statement shortly after his event was announced, saying A&M does "not endorse his rhetoric in any way." The university went on to host a counter-event across the street, focusing on unity. It drew thousands, while thousands protested outside and inside the building in which Spencer spoke.

Like with Spencer, Smith acknowledged Curry's First Amendment right to express his personal views but noted that Texas A&M has a policy against faculty or staff expressing inflammatory views while in a university-affiliated context.

The recording mentions A&M once -- at the beginning when the host is introducing the A&M professor. Curry does not reference the university.

Curry has taught at Texas A&M for eight years, joining the department of philosophy staff in fall 2009. This semester, Curry -- who is black -- taught a class in radical black philosophies, as well as a graduate course on social and political philosophy. He's considered an expert in critical race theory and Africana philosophy.

Pamela Matthews, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and George -- the department chief -- will be meeting with Curry to discuss his right to offer personal views on his own time and also doing so in a way that is not affiliated with his role at Texas A&M, Smith said.

Smith said she does not want the statement from the university to "harm" Curry, rather, Smith said she wants there to be "peace all around."

"We just want to articulate that for which we stand," Smith said. "That is for core values and not for what was said in that interview years ago that apply to a member of our own faculty."

He has written about and made presentations for years on racism, white privilege, black radicality, hip hop and the Klu Klux Klan, as well as stereotypes, among others.

Curry graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1999. He earned degrees in philosophy and political science in 2004 from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he graduated with university and department honors. There, he also minored in Black American Studies. That next year, he again graduated with honors for a master's degree in philosophy from DePaul University in Chicago. He secured his doctorate degree in philosophy from Southern Illinois in 2009.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents officially appointed the Texas A&M University System's third representative to the The University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Co. board of directors -- a move Chancellor John Sharp said has been a long time coming.

UT System Chancellor William H. McRaven stepped down from his seat on the board to allow for the A&M System to receive its third seat on the nine-member board. UT retains six seats on the board.

Sharp said the shift more accurately represents the proportion of the A&M System's share in the Permanent University Fund, which is managed by the nonprofit investment management corporation.

"This is a new found era of cooperation with UT," Sharp said. "We share in a third of the [Permanent University Fund] and for too long -- forever -- it's been named after UT. We've been happy to have one member, then two and now finally three, which is what we should have. We're just securing our rightful place."

The A&M System Board of Regents selected former vice president of investments for the Texas A&M Foundation Janet Handley as their choice to fill McRaven's seat on the board during a special meeting Monday morning. They also appointed chairman of Transatomic Power and distinguished alumnus of Texas A&M Ray Rothrock to serve on the board during a regular meeting of the board last month. They are joined by A&M regent Phil Adams.

Sharp praised the new appointees as a "huge asset" and said he expects them to "make darn sure that board functions at its highest peak."

He added that the recent addition of Texas A&M to UTIMCO's name is a major boost for the university's recognition and recruiting efforts in itself. For years, Sharp said he has spoken with potential faculty being recruited by the university who assumed UTIMCO solely served UT based on its name and frequently asked if A&M had a similar resource.

"When somebody is fixing to pack their stuff up and move to another university, they'd like to make sure they have enough money to support them when they get there," Sharp said. "We share in a multi-billion dollar fund and nobody else in the rest of the country knows it because our name was not on it until now."
Image: twitter.com/me_locket

Kolkata, May 11(IBNS): A suo-motu FIR was lodged by the West Bengal Police on Thursday against the state president of Bharatiya Janata Party, Dilip Ghosh and leader Locket Chatterjee for holding bike rally without permission in North Dinachpur a day back, media reports.

Apart from the bike rally, FIR was also lodged against the two BJP leaders for not wearing helmets, while riding bike.

Ghosh and Chatterjee held a bike rally in North Dinachpur area for the upcoming municipality election, though the election commission did not permit such activities.

Chatterjee, in a press conference on Thursday, said that they would wear the helmet only if the Muslim preacher removes the red beacon which was also against the recent law.

A Muslim preacher was seen to use the red beacon few days back and stated that he would not remove it.

In the last month, the central government made a law banning the use of red beacon and only the emergency services were exempted who can use blue beacons.
What do you do if you are running out of oil, and your neighbour's President, who has plenty of oil, seems to hate you?

The answer is that you develop a renewable-powered economy as fast as you can.

That Mexico's proved oil reserves have declined by more than a third since 2013 is very bad news for the Mexican economy. The country will run dry in less than nine years if there are no new discoveries.

Better news is that going renewable fast, including in transport where most oil is used, is eminently feasible in the current world. A great global transition from fossil fuels to clean energy is under way, much faster than most people think.

As a consequence, those choosing to stay addicted to fossil fuels, even if they have a lot of them, are heading for trouble. This is because they are entering a time where much oil, gas and coal will end up un-needed, whether they like it or not.

An economy going renewable fast like the one I advocate for Mexico can show a fossil-mired economy - like the one President Trump hopes for - where the future lies. Mexico can match Trump's ignorance with inspiration.

An example: Mexico could build its own wall, made of solar panels. Such a wall, 6 metres high along the full length of the border, would generate well over 2 gigawatts of electricity. It would be a glittering money-maker, making a mockery of Trump's uneconomic coal mines and the fading debt factories that are his shale gas and shale oil regions.

Renewables outpacing fossil fuels across the world

Trump fears Mexican migrants, though they contribute so much to his economy. If he and his tribe stay in power and get their carbonaceous way, Mexico would be welcoming skilled American migrants, attracted to its clean-energy industries as America's shrivel.

A Mexico going renewable fast would be far from alone. Middle East oil producers are intent on the same. Dubai wants all roofs solar by 2030. Abu Dhabi intends to be exporting no more oil within fifty years.
Labour currently holds 29 of the 60 Assembly seats, so passing the recommendations of the report is highly likely unless campaigners can lobby successfully for amendments to the FLW report, inclusion of the Sandford Principle chief among them, before its final publication.

They fear that otherwise the land faces exploitation: of major free flowing rivers for example. Over the last five years feed-in tariffs (renewable energy production subsidies) have driven a surge of new 'run-of-river' hydropower developments in Snowdonia.

The vast majority involve building new concrete weirs across otherwise pristine rivers, then diverting 50%-100% of the water down a plastic pipeline. At the bottom of the run the water goes through a turbine and back into the river. This leaves long sections of river depleted of the natural flow  commonly a kilometre or more.

In general the schemes fail the Silkin Principle as they are trivial in terms of generating useful quantities of energy. Two hundred and fifty run-of-river hydro projects have been permitted by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) over the last five years with a combined capacity at 15MW  equivalent to just two of the latest generation offshore wind turbines such as the 8MW units at the Burbo Bank wind farm extension.

When NRW inspected hydro schemes in Snowdonia in 2015 it found that more than 15% were deliberately abstracting more water than they were permitted, taking too much at critical times over the summer.

According to the Snowdonia Society, schemes near Llanberis broke multiple conditions of their planning permission, trashing the river corridor with machinery, felling mature trees without permission and causing a major pollution incident as large quantities of silt were washed out into fragile designated SSSI ecosystems.

The energy company RWE is at the forefront of more recent applications and the appointment of Jeremy Smith, Welsh Development Manager at RWE, to the Future Landscapes Wales working group has proved both controversial and troubling.

The recent applications are within designated sites either SSSIs or SACs (Special Areas of Conservation) which campaign groups are finding increasingly unacceptable.

Dan Yates of Save Our Rivers told the Ecologist: "This is something we feel extremely strongly about. This has all happened quite quickly, we assumed that the report would be published in full and there would be a period in which Assembly Members and the public would be able to read and discuss its contents. It all stinks of something being rushed through under the radar."

John Harold, Director Snowdonia Society, agreed that the situation was parlous, but was upbeat: "We hope the FLW report will now be redrafted to re-confirm conservation as the primary purpose of National Parks. Based on the response from Assembly Members so far we are confident that sense will prevail.

"We're sure Assembly Members will embrace National Parks as the crown jewels of Wales. Vast numbers of people  both locals and visitors  rely on access to high-quality landscapes for their physical and mental wellbeing and many make their living from outdoor activities in National Parks and AONBs."

This is the Snowdonia Society's clear focus in their 50th year of working to protect and enhance Snowdonia. It is one of the leading groups calling for the conservation purpose of National Parks in Wales to be ring-fenced so that rather than being just a name badge, useful for marketing purposes, National Parks actually offer practical protection for the special qualities for which they were originally designated.

UK National Parks have Category V classification according to the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Protected Landscapes system. That category translates as a commitment to conservation purposes.

*The main groups fighting to save the National Parks' integrity are the AFNP Cymru (Alliance for National Parks Wales) consisting of Brecon Beacons National Park Society, the Friends of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the Snowdonia Society, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, BMC Wales and the National Association for AONBs in Wales. Several other groups are involved.

This Author

Jan Goodey is a regular contributor to the Ecologist
Image: Google Maps

Guwahati, May 11 (IBNS): A local court in Guwahati on Thursday sent three persons to five-day police remand, who were arrested in connection with the jewellery shop loot incident in the Assamas capital city on Tuesday evening.

The crime branch of Guwahati city police had arrested Prem Singh (security guard), Nilkamal Singh and Basanta Singh for alleged involvement in the robbery incident at the MP Jewellers.



The local court sent them to five-day police custody after they appeared before the court.



Meanwhile, Assam police will have to track the robbers who looted several kilograms gold ornaments from the jewellery shop.



Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay said that, police will arrest the gang of four soon.



Investigation is going on from all angles. We have collected all CCTV footages and hope the gang of four to be arrested soon, the Assam DGP said.



Four armed men walked into the jewellery shop and looted valuable jewellery items worth of several crore rupees on May 9 evening.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Des Moines County Supervisors to grant conservation funding request

The increase will allow Des Moines County Conservation to restore the full-time naturalist position needed to run summer camps.
Guwahati, May 11 (IBNS): Assam has become the 11th state of the country to adopt the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill after the state assembly on Thursday unanimously passed the Assam Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, 2017.

Both ruling and opposition legislators of the Assam Assembly unanimously passed the bill on the last day of the three-day long special session.

After placing the bill before the assembly, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that, Assam likes consumer states will benefit under the GST.

"After adopting the GST, we will gain. The Goods and Services Tax is a tax reformation measures. For which Assam stood to benefit," Sarma said.

The Assam finance minister said that, already 160 countries across the world have adopted the GST and India become 161th country by adopting it.

"The next GST council meeting will be held in Srinagar on May 18-19 and we will place our agenda in the meeting. The GST regime will ensure enforcement. Industry will continue to get the benefits," Sarma said.

The Assam finance minister said that, the industrial policy will remain same.

On the other hand, former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi of opposition Congress said that, we support the bill and like to be assured that consumers interest to be protected.

The GST is likely to be introduced in the country from July 1 next.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Alexander Soule / Hearst Connecticut Media

Federal prosecutors charged a New York City man with an elaborate scheme that resulted in him siphoning off nearly $600,000 from TD Bank accounts in Connecticut and the Northeast.

The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania charged Brooklyn resident Bright Ogodo, 42, with bank fraud and identity theft, describing a scheme in which Ogodo recruited runners to pose as TD Bank customers.
As our flight from Paris was descending towards the Barcelona airport, from the night sky we could see on the waterfront of the glittering city a distinctive tinted glass fronted skyscraper standing tall and gleaming.

Since Barcelona is not a city of many skyscrapers, this niftily etched sail shaped tower (much like Dubais Burj Al Arab) on the waterfront was unmistakable.



We knew for sure even while airborne that it is hotel W Barcelona and in less than two hours we will be ensconced in one of the chic, cozy guest rooms of the stunning property from the Starwoods Hotels and Resorts, now owned by Marriott International.



When you check in at W Barcelona, where every guest room overlooks the Mediterranean, your amazement begins right from the reception managed by extremely warm hearted members of the staff.



W Barcelona, the sensuous creation of famous postmodern Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, who also contributed to the Barcelona airport design, is a blend of nature and dreamy interiors located along the famous Barceloneta boardwalk. It truly is a whimsical wonder.



It is sensuous in its appeal, its inviting corridors washed in a hue of red with stark orange carpeted floors seducing you to a different Epicurean world. There is something luscious and sinful about W Barcelona.



From the Olympic marina or the promenade along the sea or the port the hotel looks like a crowning glory of the Mediterranean waterfront, armored in a facade of silvered glass which sparkles all day with the kiss of sunrays.



ROOMS:



While there are different types of guest rooms and suites, the new furnishings  which creates an aquatic environment - added a dash of jazz to the interiors. The rooms now are inspired by the Barcelonas culinary scene  chic small tables and chairs and pendant lighting creating a vibrant whole. The Barcelona city grid comes to life on the wall with a new, innovative lighting feature that transforms the mood from day to night.



And add to this some signature accent pillows that are inspired by Barcelonas history with a modern spin. So on their pillow covers you can find the images of iconic characters including Gaudi, Dali and St. Elaulia.



All guestrooms feature a range of new in-room services, including Nespresso coffee machines, 49-inch flat-screen televisions and Bose Bluetooth sound systems.



The room carpets are like seabed and the seating areas are inspired by the culture of Spanish tapas. Sea and oceans inspire the new furnishings no doubt. In the room you feel the Mediterranean blue sea is knocking at the end to end glass window panes that overlook the waterfront.



So whether you are in one of the Fabulous Rooms or in the Cool Corner Suites, you are bound to feel closer to the sea.



FITNESS AND SPA



As you work out in the well equipped fitness centre of the hotel, your eyes are treated to a panoramic view of Barcelona's waterfront. The fitness centre  FIT- has a 300-square-meter state-of-the-art facility with Technogym . It is open 24 hours .



And the hotels spa only complements the workout facility. Bliss Spa, located next to FIT, offers unique treatments and facilities.



EATS:



Here we are talking about WAVE, the restaurant where we had our breakfast. Well it serves up an eclectic mix of flavours from Spanish and Mediterranean tapas to an extensive menu of fish, poultry and meat.



So choose from their offering of Iberian ham, salads, hummus and lobster rolls.



And the usual breakfast fare of pastries, fruits, yoghurts, cereals, cheeses and charcuterie are there to give you enough energy for the day.



W LOUNGE



Mixology, music, and design create the unexpected in the W Lounge on the ground floor which is a perfect place to begin or end the day. Carnovsky graphics transport guests through layers of color, and a transition from day to night when things really heat up.



Hit the W Llounge any time of the day 9am -2am and feel the spirit of Barcelona. The sea urchin patterns and dark, moody coral colours evoke a nautical party feel in the VIP space. Resident DJs spin deep house music tracks on a set that looks like a jet ski on the shimmering water while each cocktail mixes a storybook of surprises.



ECLIPSE



Eclipse, the 26th floor hot spot , was buzzing with amplified beats when we reached the hotel in the evening. The bar and club in W Barcelona is one of the must visit night spots in the city now. While the view from Eclipse blows your socks off, its creative Sushi Fusion cuisine set the tone any party night.



SUN DECK



Not to be missed is the infinity pool of Sun Deck offering an endless view of the beach and the sea. You step there from the gym or the spa and enjoy the breeze of Mediterranean.



At W Barcelona you can celebrate the day and night with same excitement- be it enjoying the view from Sun Deck or grooving to the beast on the 26th floor hot spot Eclipse with 360 viewing experience.



End the day here with signature dishes and give your taste buds a different culinary experience.
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NORWALK  Local entrepreneurs and organizations pitched their plan for a business incubator in South Norwalk to CTNext during a hearing at the Maritime Aquarium on Thursday.

Barry Schwimmer and Peter Propp, president and steering committee chairman, respectively, of SoNo Central  as the proposed innovation center has been named  led the presentation.

A company will apply to be part of the program, Propp said. You get 12 months of free real estate support. Theyll have access to entrepreneur grants. Within that structure, we will have meet-ups, workshops and events not only for those entrepreneurs but for the broad community.

Key elements of the plan include a central gathering place, skills-based training, high-impact content and events, capital and other resources, and the engagement of early stage businesses with high-growth potential.

Norwalk learned last month that it was one of seven finalists in a competition to split $30 million in implementation grant funding offered through the Innovation Places initiative of CTNext, an offshoot of Connecticut Innovations.

This is an opportunity for our board members  to really hear in person about your plan, said Glendowlyn Thames, CTNext interim executive director. We received materials  but its one thing to read and its another thing to really hear the pitch.

Several dozen entrepreneurs and representatives of local community organizations attended the public hearing, which was followed by a walking tour of SoNo.

The application for $2.5 million in implementation grant funding to create SoNo Central is a joint venture of the city, Norwalk Community College, Northeast Community Investment Corp., the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, the Fairfield County Makers Guild, Stepping Stones Museum, Maritime Aquarium, Wall Street Theater and Norwalk Public Library.

NCC President David Levinson said the college brings 45 degree and 26 certificate programs as well as extensive contacts with local organizations to the initiative.

Youre bringing in in this project not only the college but very important communities, Levinson said. Youre bringing in a lot of partners whove invested in Norwalk Community College and were very excited and hope that you select Norwalk.

SoNo Central, if funded, would focus on four areas: food, technology, digital media and marketing, and engineering and 3-D printing.

Schwimmer cited kelp, which grows in Long Island Sound and has been prepared by students enrolled in NCCs College of Hospital and Culinary Arts, as an emblematic of local entpreneurship opportunities.

Take assets that are here, that are leverageable, Schwimmer said. We kind of see ourselves as a catalyst to further help develop assets that are here and that we can work with immediately.

After the presentation, CTNext board members asked Schwimmer and Propp to provide a timeline, performance measures and projected investment returns for SoNo Central, according to the Redevelopment Agency.

Mayor Harry W. Rilling said Norwalk is proud to have been chosen a finalist for an implementation grant. He described the city as the destination of Fairfield County, based upon ongoing redevelopment in the citys urban core.
New York, May 11(Just Earth News): United Nations Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres has strongly condemned an attack against a convoy of the UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) that left four dead, one missing and 10 others evacuated.

Attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime, Guterres said through his spokesperson yesterday on the attack perpetrated by suspected anti-Balaka elements against a convoy of the UN Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) on 8 May.

He called on the CAR authorities to investigate the attack  executed on the Rafai-Bangassou axis, in the country's south east  in order to swiftly bring those responsible to justice.

Guterres offered his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and the Governments of the concerned troop contributing countries, and wished a swift recovery to the wounded.

The Secretary-General also reiterated his support to the actions of MINUSCA to protect civilians and stabilise the Central African Republic, and called on all parties to heed President Faustin Archange Touadera's call to cease violence and work together towards the stability of the country.

Later in the day, the members of the UN Security Council also condemned the attack and also expressed their deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, and their deepest sympathy to the families of the peacekeepers injured and the peacekeeper missing, as well as to Cambodia, Morocco, and to MINUSCA. They wished the injured a speedy recovery.

In a press statement, the Council urged the Central African Republic authorities to continue the search for the missing peacekeeper from MINUSCA. Strongly condemning all attacks and provocations against MINUSCA by armed groups, the Council also reiterated that such attacks may constitute war crimes.

Clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian, plunged the country of 4.5 million people into civil conflict in 2013.

Also on Wednesday, President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson arrived in CAR to show solidarity with our United Nations people on the ground, particularly our peacekeepers.

Accompanied by the President of the National Assembly, Karim Meckassoua, the Prime Minister, Simplice Sarandji and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of MINUSCA, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Thomson went to MINUSCA's military hospital to visit the bedside of the UN peacekeepers that were wounded during the attack on their convoy.

According to the Mission, Thomson, on behalf of the Organization, took the opportunity to salute the dedication of peacekeepers engaged in all theatres of operation in the name of peace.

He went on to not that he is in CAR to spread the word on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but I'm also here I think you will hear from me those strong messages on sustainable development and on the solidarity that we have with what the UN mission is here.

The United Nations is here to help with the recovery of Central Africa, and I'm here to underline that role that the United Nations has here, he added.

Source: www.justearthnews.com

Photo: MINUSCA
True science is a great thing, for it honors Gods gifts to us, not the least of which is the intellect. Bill Nye and the Marchers for Science, however, are not really promoting science, but a utopian political ideology

In a public spectacle reminiscent of an episode of The Twilight Zone, on this past Earth Day there was a massive March for Science in Washington D.C. featuring Bill Nye the Science Guy. As reported in the Washington Post, the moment he emerged onstage in a black jacket and red bow tie, the crowd noise hit near-deafening decibels. A sea of iPhones appeared, everyone stretching and jostling for the best possible photo angle. They cupped their hands to their mouths, screaming his name.* This scene brings to mind an image of a futuristic rendition of Lord of the Flies. Indeed, Mr. Nye has become a demagogue for the rising generation of techies devoted to the worship of science. It would be comical if they werent serious. It might still be comical if material reductionism didnt already have a domineering stranglehold on our universities and public discourse.

Ideological enslavement to material reductionism is the unifying principle of the multitude who came out in droves at the March for Science (held in Washington and some 600 other cities across the world ). They came out because they have been taught well by an educational system steeped in scientific reductionism. After we had been duped into believing that something like education ought to be data driven instead of principle-driven, how long could it have been before this terrible ideology was equally misapplied to our sensational media outlets, our courts, our politics, and most devastating of all, our public morals?

Education is the soul and formal cause of a nation; as our education goes, so goes our nation. As the material sciences gained hegemony in the Western academy, wisdom gave way to knowledge, and knowledge then gave way to information, as character gave way to rationalism, and rationalism then gave way to sentimentalism.

Those who marched arent marching for science: They are marching for a political ideology grounded in material reductionism. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world came out to march for this fainthearted cause. Why? Bill Nye explains: We are marching today to remind people everywhere, our lawmakers especially, of the significance of science for our health and prosperity. The emptiness of this declaration is lost on this newly-amassed army of ideologues.

This crowd is the offspring of the generation C.S. Lewis characterized as intellectually and morally castrated geldings. Their slogans are about health and prosperity, but both of these concepts are emptied of their real worth if they are reduced solely to their material constituent parts. Medical technology has been miraculously aided by the material sciences, but real health includes intellectual and moral health. We are the richest country in historyor at least we werebut true prosperity follows moral and intellectual integrity by the acquisition of virtue and the expulsion of vice, not by the accumulation of terabytes of data interpreted by experts.

A look at the March for Science goals is instructive. Their stated aim is to contact our elected official, support science institutions in our communities, and hold our leaders in society and science accountable to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and fairness. And we work to bring science and the benefits of scientific research to those who need it most.

Following this stated intention is a list of equally vague and unintelligible, if not outright inapplicable, desires. At the top of their list is sustaining and strengthening scientific integrity. Clearly, it is lost on them that integrity in science is found in a place most odious to the modern scientist: the philosophical integrity that undergirds empirical science itself. Philosophical first principles ground good science in truth, not the other way around. However, it might be quite amusing to ask the science people themselves what they mean by this abstruse statement.

Next, these aspiring societal architects suggest that we use the best available science to make policy and regulatory decisions. This is what we have been doing in the public schools, and the results have been devastating. In 1983, the Department of Education published the report A Nation at Risk, and in it they stated that Americas sworn enemy could do no more to destroy us than to foist upon us our current system of public education. I imagine that our sworn enemies would be very grateful if we focused exclusively on the material sciences to make policy, for the more we rely solely on science the sooner we will buckle under the increasing weight of our own hubris and error.

Flourishing and prosperous nations use philosophical principles of truth flowing from the philosophical anthropology to make policy and regulatory decisions. If our policy is not grounded in virtue, which it cannot be if science is our guide, then it will fail as quickly as it was dreamt up. There is no doubt that scientific data could play a supporting role in informing the nuances of principled decisions, but to use empirical evidence as the primary means of forming policy is dehumanizing at the least.

We also discover the science marchers stated desire to facilitate open communication and collaboration between scientists and the broader public. One of the attributes of ideological scientism is the desire to jargonize the field in order to heighten the value of the expert. Classrooms, airwaves, and public discourse are already over-saturated with jargonized scientific communications and collaborations with the experts in the white coats. It is nearly impermissible to speak of the philosophical anthropology or the natural law without derision. To facilitate even more communication and collaboration really means to indoctrinate in jargon, and this ushers us headlong into the dystopia of the Brave New World, a soft rendition of which we are already enduring.

Next, they encourage scientists to take an active role in public life and policy. Like any political underclass seen through the darkened lenses of the material dialectic, these people pretend they are oppressed, but by whom? The cis-heteropatriarchal Founding Fathers? Hardly a remnant of the moral capital amassed by our forbearers remains. The real oppressor is the material, reductionist, independent-minded herd dictating public policy for generations now. Clearly, the March for Science crowd is overreacting to what they perceive as offenses against their scientific agenda by a rogue presidentwhich is highly ironic, given that President Trump is certainly no religious fundamentalist.

The Marchers for Science claim that they want to create an environment that fosters a vibrant and diverse international scientific community. Man long ago pronounced himself the measure of all things, and this is the first principle of materialism. Now he fancies himself the Creator and wills to create this vibrant and diverse international scientific community. This is a dreadful aspiration, but an increasingly prominent endeavor since Bacon exhorted us to conquer nature by applied science. Nature is the thing with which man ought to cooperate not conquer.

We ought to yearn to cultivate a vibrant cultural community, not centered on empirical science, but on the norms and values discovered by the objective truth, which flows out of the natural law and has been recorded and bequeathed to us by tradition. Only respect for an authentic education has the potential to lead our communities to flourish in the arts and the sciences. The vibrant scientific community for which they are calling, and despite its calls for diversity, excludes the liberal and fine arts. These would-be Creators have decreed that there is no survival value to the arts, and therefore that this is not the kind of diversity they desire in their international community. And yet, without the liberal and fine arts, there is less value to survival.

Lastly, these marching purveyors of utopia clamor to build a capacity for science education that draws on the best-available knowledge and instructs students in scientific practices. Here they completely saw off the branch on which they are sitting. The tree of education is rooted in the liberal arts known as the trivium: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trunk of the tree is made up of the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. The matrix of all learning, the earth and sky of an education, is theology. The soil out of which all learning grows is philosophy. Although the sciences are important, they are merely the branches sustained and nourished by the liberal arts whose nutrients are communicated by the soil of the intellect. The roots and trunk are essential to an authentic education, and the branches are specializations not intended for general audiences, but those special folks suited for such pursuits.

Never before have so many clamored for the authoritarian dystopia of material reductionism. The trends suggest that more and more will join in a March for Science the further we get from the sources of real truth. The Marchers for Science, with the delusional fervor of a cult, claim that united as one movement, and with the support of our leaders, we can take a step forward into a future where science can do its job; protecting and serving the health of our communities, the safety of our families, the education of our children, the foundation of our economy, the freedom of our imaginations and the future we all want to live in and preserve for coming generations.

This statement is monstrously dehumanizing, for it is not science that protects the health of communities, but human doctors. Science doesnt keep families safe; men do. Science doesnt educate children; teachers do, not with scientific techniques but with philosophical principles of truth conveyed by the liberal arts. Science is not the foundation of our economy, but sound principles of the household law grounded in natural law. Science doesnt free an imagination; it imprisons it if science becomes a tyrant that cuts man off from the immaterial realm of the intellect and soul. Science truly has a job to do, but that job is servant, not master.

The March for Science is not really about science, but a utopian political ideology. It is, in essence, a March for Pseudo-Science, which is to say, science untethered from its proper guiding principles. Science has its etymological roots in the word which means to know. True science is a great thing, for it honors Gods gifts to us, not the least of which is the intellect. As John Henry Newman said, philosophy is the science of sciences. It ought to be the lens through which we see and order all the other sciences. We must recover the right order of things and return the empirical sciences to their proper place, subordinated to philosophy and the moral law, before its too late. The ideology propagated by the March for Science does not lead to health or prosperity, but further sickens and impoverishes our great nation.

Books on the topic of this essay may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore. The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politicswe approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.

*Gibson, Caitlin The March for Science Was a Moment Made for Bill Nye. The Washington Post (April 23, 2017)
Dear Annie: I feel like a cliche. About a year and a half ago, after six years of dating, Jon and I broke up -- or more accurately, Jon broke up with me.

It blindsided me, especially because I had just relocated with him to another state about a month earlier. He said he was having personal issues and just wanted to be alone. He was drinking a lot and seemed really depressed at the time. I tried encouraging him to seek professional help, but he refused. I continued calling him periodically at first to check in and see whether he was doing OK. But I wanted to respect his wishes, and he didnt seem interested in getting back together, so I slowly began the process of healing and moving on.

About six months later, I started hearing from him again. He sent me gifts in the mail, references to inside jokes wed shared over the years. He began calling a lot. I kept meaning to call him back, but for some reason, I didnt. Things were just different. I had started developing feelings for someone else. Eventually, Jon seemed to get this and began moving on, too. But I never could have guessed how quickly hed move on.

He started seeing a woman hed met on a dating site, and within three months, they were engaged. Their wedding is next month. And as much as Im happy -- Im in a new relationship myself -- I still sometimes dwell on how things ended with my ex. And I dont get how he never proposed to me after six years but it took him only three months to pop the question to a woman who was practically a stranger. I know its silly, but I even have thoughts like, Was I so horrible that anyone who came after me seemed like immediate marriage material? And I feel this sense of unfinished business because I never did tell him how much he hurt me. I dont think he knows, because he invited me to the wedding. (I respectfully declined.) Do you think that calling him or writing him a letter just to have one final conversation would give me some sense of closure?

 Conflicted

Dear Conflicted: Perhaps the cheapest form of therapy is putting thoughts down on paper. So write Jon a letter, but dont send it. Instead, use it as a space to work out your feelings and figure out whats really stopping you from moving on. Closure is a gift we can only give to ourselves.

Dear Annie: As a retired pastor with over 40 years of ministry, may I suggest another response to Trying to Save Our Church, who wrote in about two people causing problems in her church? If her church is part of a larger denomination, she could suggest help from a denominational leader, such as a bishop or superintendent. Having dealt with troublemakers such as the ones she described, I have found that such people or couples can and do cause significant damage to the harmony of a congregation.

 Reverend Barron

Dear Reverend: I was surprised by how many readers wrote in and mentioned that theyd dealt with similar problems at their churches. Im printing your helpful, practical tip here because apparently, there are a lot of troublemakers out there! Thank you, Reverend.

Annie Lane, a graduate of New York Law School and New York University, writes this column for Creators Syndicate. Email questions to dearannie@creators.com.
Every student, staff and faculty member was busy on Grand Island Central Catholics Service Day.

Central Catholic has a Service Day each year when students visit organizations in the community to clean up and volunteer.

Dee Hanssen, a campus ministry and religion teacher, organized the day. She said she started putting the day together and calling places a few months ago.

Places where the students volunteered on Wednesday were St. Marys Cathedral, Rowe Sanctuary, Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center, the Crisis Center, Grand Island Public Library, GICC track shed and press box, Presbyterian Preschool, Burlington Station, Central Nebraska Humane Society, Grand Island Literacy Council, Third City Community Clinic, a private homeowners residence, Hope Harbor, Stuhr Museum, Grand Island Veterans Home, the prop and costume closet and music file at GICC, St. Leos Catholic Church, Stolley Park, the Grand Theatre, Pier Park, Ryder Park and once again at GICC cleaning gum off of chairs.

Hanssen said she remembers her own children participating in Service Day when they attended GICC. One of her goals for the day was to give the students a variety of service opportunities.

I didnt want it to just be (manual labor) work, Hanssen said of Service Day.

She said she wanted to give students an opportunity to help with manual labor but also to get out into the community and visit with the people theyre helping. Its not just about the work. Its also about the people, Hanssen said.

The day kicked off with a unity service. Then students were put into groups that went to the different places to help. A morning session and an afternoon session allowed students to visit a couple of different places.

At Stuhr Museum, Hanssen said, students helped pick up trash.

Students helped in the food pantry, at the preschool and with landscaping at St. Marys Cathedral.

Sophomores Miles Rerucha, Spencer Adair and Francisco Ortiz helped lay sod at St. Marys. In the morning session, Rerucha said, they helped clean the track shed at school and put hurdles away.

Rerucha said he enjoyed Service Day because its about giving back to the community.

Ortiz said he actually enjoyed laying sod because hes done it before at his grandpas house.

He said some people may think he and his fellow GICC students are rich and stuck up, but thats not true. He said he and his fellow students are willing and excited to participate in Service Day and give back to the community.

He said the day also provides some work experience, too.

Hanssen said she mixed up some of the students as far as grade. She said some students came back from the Literacy Council excited about their experiences, which was neat to hear about.

At the end of the day, Hanssen said, students came together for a closing program.

On Thursday, theyll get to watch a slideshow of all the things they helped with.

Its just a good day for them to give back to the community, Hanssen said.
Members of Grand Islands hospitality industry took a tour of major tourism locations on Wednesday to familiarize themselves with what the community has to offer so they can better assist visitors.

The familiarization tour was sponsored by the Grand Island Convention and Visitors Bureau during National Tourism Week, May 6 through 13.

Tourism has become a major industry for Grand Island over the last decade. According to the Nebraska Department of Revenue, of the $1.06 billion in taxable sales in Grand Island last year, $138 million came from accommodations and food service. That made those areas the second-largest category for taxable sales, behind retail trade at $558 million.

People visiting Grand Island make up a big share of taxable sales in both categories.

Tricia Beem, assistant director of the Grand Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the idea behind the tour was to give people in the service industry an increased awareness about attractions, dining and shopping in and around our community.

Wednesdays tour included sites in downtown Grand Island, Fonner Park, Stuhr Museum, the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center, Murdock Mormon Trail site, Heartland Public Shooting Park and the Husker Harvest Days site.

Those facilities contributed to more than 500,000 people visiting Grand Island during the year.

We are basically taking them around the community and pointing out the things that a visitor would like to do, what their experience might be like, so they can better serve their guests and, overall, serve the community, Beem said.

Beem said those on the tour on Wednesday are on the frontline of the communitys tourism industry.

We want to show those individuals what they could be talking to their guests about, she said. If Im visiting Grand Island and Im at the front desk asking what there is to do on Saturday with my family, we want that person to be able to answer that question.

Matthew Ripp, general manager at Best Western Plus Grand Island Inn and Suites on South Locust Street, said the information he gathered during the tour will help him assist his customers.

We get tons of questions, Ripp said. Pretty much every day.

This isnt the first time the Convention and Visitors Bureau has sponsored the familiarization tour, Beem said.

An employee that can help a guest makes that attraction or that hotel or that restaurant all the better, she said. That allows the guests in our community a much better experience because they are led to events and attractions or things happening that make for a better visit to Grand Island.

When employees are better informed about what Grand Island has to offer, it helps expand tourisms economic impact, Beem said. Instead of reading about those attraction in a brochure, guests can converse one on one with a hospitality employee.

It is better for that individual employee to know their community better, she said.

Also on the tour was Paul Chaudhuri, who works at the Comfort Inn on West State Street. He said the tour was fantastic.

I really love it, Chaudhuri said. It will help me better inform our guests.

Many times, an attraction that brings people to the community may not be familiar to someone who works and lives in that community, Beem said.

If we can give them a personal experience so they can say what a place looks like or how large it is or how cool it is, that enthusiasm and knowledge is going to pour over on our visitors, she said.

Beem said an employee whos helpful about things to do and see in the community creates a good impression that could lead that visitor to stay at that motel or eat at the restaurant again on their next visit or leave a positive comment about an establishment on a website such as Trip Advisor or Yelp.

Their customer service ratings go through the sky, she said.

Also on the tour was Carter Hiegel of the Fairfield Inn and Suites on Allen Drive.

This has been a lot of very useful information and very helpful in order to better help our guests, Hiegel said. I have been on some of the stops on the tour before, but it is very nice to see the new things we are getting in town, like the Prairie Pride Brewing Co.

Hiegel said he gets a lot of questions from guests about what there is to do and see in Grand Island.

It is kind of nice to have that personal, hands-on experience to say that I have been to this place and I can tell you that it is a great place to go, he said. It shows exactly the pride of Nebraska to the tons of tourist and international business travelers. There is plenty to do here, but you just have to know the right places to go and what to tell people to do.
The ink is barely dry on an agreement to keep the federal government open, and the talk of Washington is already about another shutdown at the end of the fiscal year in September.

With unpredictable federal governance taking its toll on county governments, it should be noted a shutdown wont stop county hospitals from opening. Emergency rooms will treat the sick and injured. Sheriffs will be on patrol. Jails will receive anyone they bring in. School activities will take place, and parks will host weekend warriors of all stripes.

Courthouses and other county facilities will open and register people to vote, grant marriage licenses, lend books, recycle trash and pave roads.

Because whatever happens on Capitol Hill, counties will remain open for business, delivering services  many of them mandated by state and federal laws  to residents, businesses and communities. Counties, responsible for so many programs and critical services citizens rely upon, cannot afford to shut down.

Counties support 1,000 hospitals, 1,900 local health departments and 750 behavioral health centers. Counties operate nine out of every 10 local jails. Counties also own and maintain 45 percent  the biggest share  of Americas road miles, 40 percent of all public bridges and almost one third of the nations public transportation systems and airports.

Counties deliver services under considerable financial constraints. Forty-five states impose limitations on counties ability to tax and generate revenue, yet counties find ways to make ends meet, often through partnerships.

Our nation faces major challenges  poverty, unemployment, health care, infrastructure, the opioid crisis  and local governments need a reliable federal partner to address them.

What we dont need is government by continuing resolutions and bills that lurch from crisis to crisis.

Despite counties best efforts, the unique federal, state and local partnership all but guarantees a federal government shutdown or short-term fixes will cause significant disruption at the local level. Some services will be scaled back or stopped altogether, employees and contractors could be laid off, and projects residents have requested will be delayed.

Many counties are already facing drastic cuts because Congress has failed to reauthorize and fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes and Secure Rural Schools programs, which compensate counties for nontaxable federal land within their boundaries.

With a shutdown, national parks and other federal cultural resources will close, depriving counties of tourist activity and the revenue that comes with it. Community Development Block Grant funding would cease except in cases that would threaten public safety. The same is also true for affordable housing grants. Funding for needy families would also stop, usually backfilled, but not always, by county appropriations and local taxpayers.

Beyond the direct impacts of the budget uncertainty are bigger-picture discontinuities that disrupt local governments efficiency. Its very difficult to plan an infrastructure program, for example, if the federal government funds operations in wildly varying increments of months and even days but never for a full fiscal year and never under regular order in which lawmakers weigh bills in committee and hear from concerned parties about spending priorities.

Continuing resolutions just cement the status quo when the only thing constant about this nation is change.

The role of government is to create the conditions for safe, healthy, vibrant and economically competitive communities. If we want to spur the economy, we need a more predictable policy environment from our federal partners for counties, businesses and the public to make informed decisions and move our country forward.

Federal government shutdowns and continual governing by continuing resolution erode the publics faith in all levels of government and hinder our ability to deliver results at the local level.
I want to thank God for the ability and privilege of serving the greatest nation in the world. Then I want to thank the vets club, airport, The Grand Island Independent, JBS and McCain Foods. A special thanks to Don Shuda and his staff, the three doctors who went on the Hall County Hero Flight, the bus drivers and all the wait staff at the many places in D.C. Then there are the countless volunteers and donors from all over, including Gary Quandt.

This experience totally restored my faith in the young people of America. We met countless eighth-graders at the monuments and memorials who shook our hands and thanked us. There was a young African-American boy who we met at the Air Force Memorial who asked if he could have his picture taken with us. After that he told us he wanted to enter the military and asked if we could give him any life advice. Then there were three eighth-grade girls from San Diego, who donated $40 of their own money to buy bottled water for our three buses.

One of my favorite things we did, because Im an animal lover and it was less emotional than most of our trip, was to visit the stables where we got to meet and pet the magnificent horses who pull the funeral carts at all the many funerals at Arlington Cemetery. I also want to mention the opportunity to visit with many old friends on the tour and the many new friends I met.

All of these things happened and not once did I see anywhere on the trip any racism or political divides we are forced to see on the daily news.

Lastly was our homecoming to Grand Island, I can barely even write about it. The flags, water cannons, band, Patriot Riders, mayor, the key to the city and all of the handshakes and thank yous. The most heartwarming for me were the hugs and welcome homes from the many ladies of my special family at the Grand Island Public Schools Nutrition Center where I work part time.

I just want everyone to realize the real heroes are the thousands under the headstones at Arlington and whose names are etched on the walls of the many monuments we saw. God bless America.
Beijing, May 11 (IBNS): A 5.5 earthquake hit Taxkorgan County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday, killing at least 8 people,media reports said.

The quake jolteed the nation 5:58 a.m.

"The epicenter, with a depth of about 8.0 km, was monitored at 37.58 degrees north latitude and 75.25 degrees east longitude in the southeast part of the Pamir Plateau," Xinhua reported.

Rescue operation is currently underway.

The injured people were rushed to hospital for treatment.
The past school year for three Edwardsville High School students will be an unforgettable, life-changing one.

Julia Tsertsvadze from Georgia, Nicole Anainga from Kenya and Mirela Minkova from Bulgaria have spent the last nine months living in Edwardsville residents homes and attending EHS.

The students are a part of two State Department programs, FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) and YES (Youth Exchange in Service), which provide scholarships for students seeking two semesters of study in an American high school.

James Kerr, PhD, a retired Triad teacher and local coordinator for American Councils for International Education, has been placing international students in metro east and St. Louis area homes for over a dozen years.

He explained that the goal of the FLEX program is to promote mutual understanding between citizens of the U.S. and countries across Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia while giving students from these regions the opportunity to learn about the U.S. and its institutions. The students, in turn, teach Americans about their countries. FLEX was the first state department program for high school students, Kerr noted. It was started in 1992. It was (originally) for countries of the former Soviet Union. YES is designed for students from countries with significant or influential Islamic populations.

Thousands of international high school students apply for these coveted scholarships each year. To win a scholarship the student must score well on an aptitude exam, score well on an English proficiency exam and must do well in three rounds of oral interviews.

Tsertsvadze, Anainga and Minkova were selected for this years programs and arrived in Edwardsville in August. Now with just a few weeks left before they head home, the trio reflected on their experiences with their host families, time spent at EHS and what they had learned about the U.S. that was different from their perceptions of our country before they visited. I thought of the U.S. being a perfect country where everyone is accepted...but that is not true. I didnt expect that, Tsertsvadze noted.

I was surprised by how individualistic Americans are. I had heard that before but when you actually experience it, its different, Minkova noted. The culture is not collective. Its more individual. Thats not necessarily bad. It's just harder to become closer to people.

I used to think it was a perfect country, Anainga added. But different countries have different problems and this country has problems  many problems  not as I expected, but I still love it.

When asked what would be some favorite memories from their time in the U.S., Tsertsvadze quickly responded with, I can not answer that. The whole year is the favorite memory.

Yes, I think its just been amazing because for me, America had always been my dream come true, Anainga added. So its kind of hard to think that its all coming to an end. It was really fun being here. I feel like its my second country. I just love it. I feel like its my second home.

This was something that was unimaginable a year ago, and it just happened. It was like a dream come true, Minkova said. The entire year was so valuable. Ive learned more than Ive learned in my entire 17 years of life. Im not even kidding.

All three young women talked about positive experiences at EHS. While Tsertsvadze felt her Georgia teachers were somewhat similar to her EHS teachers, Minkova felt the teaching approach at EHS was very different from her country. Teachers pay attention to each student as an individual, and they encourage you a lot. They are a great support. They always try to put themselves in your shoes and support you, she explained. The classroom is more student-centered than teacher-centered. Its more interactive and more interesting for the students.

The students felt they had grown tremendously from their experience here. I think I got more patient, Tsertsvadze noted.

Kerr pointed out that he had particularly noticed Anaingas confidence grow especially the second semester.

Ive become more confident as well and more open minded, Minkova noted. Im much more tolerant and acceptable of differences, different opinions, different views.

Minkova also noted how impressed she was with the way American schools work with students with special needs. Its impressive how they are just like us. At school they are involved in all school activities, Minkova said. They are part of us. They are not different. They are capable and have tolerance. They are just special, and I really like how they are included.

Minkova also expressed that one of her favorite activities at EHS was being involved with Key Club, an organization that dedicates its time to working with EHSs FLS (Functional Life Skills) students. We have many events. We had fall bash, a Halloween party. They (FLS) have a vocational program at school - Tiger Den. Its a coffee shop and we sell coffee and cookies and tea. I volunteer there every single morning. I help the special needs students to work there.

Its great how they are involved, Anainga concurred. It is amazing.

That is something I really like, and Id love to take back to Bulgaria and implement what Ive learned here, Minkova added. I would like to improve the special needs programs. My mom in Bulgaria works with special needs children. Shes a nurse. And my dad is a social worker. Its just something that Im really passionate about.

Minkova explained that in Bulgaria special needs students are separated more into special institutions. Where here they are included, and I really like that, she said. Thats why we are here to learn and to apply what we learn here in our countries. Its all about (the) sharing of learning and knowledge.

These young women couldnt have had their experiences without the generosity of Edwardsville host families. Both Tsertsvadze and Anainga have lived with host mother Robin Crane of Edwardsville while Minkova has lived with Edwardsville residents Dave and Rachel Stack and their daughter Dara.

Although Kerr has filled his quota for Edwardsville High School next year, he is still seeking host families for other high schools in Madison County. Host families provide a place to sleep and study, provide three meals per day - including either a packed lunch for school or lunch money, provide a comfortable living environment, use English as the primary language in the home, and provide transportation to and from school and school activities when a school bus is not available.

The exchange student, while in the U.S., must maintain a B average in classes in the host high school - and those classes must include U.S. History or American Government and English, must complete a minimum of 30 hours of volunteer service, and must join a leadership club or activity

The student comes with full health coverage, receives a monthly stipend for spending money and has several hundred dollars available for school-related expenses.

If interested in becoming a host family, contact Kerr at 618-667-9858 or via email at jekerr@charter.net To read more about the American Councils for International Education and to read a winning essay that Minkova wrote about her exchange student experience, visit http://inbound.americancouncils.org/our-stories/2017-my-american-experience-winning-essay.
Canberra, May 11 (IBNS): Australian Senator Larissa Waters wrote herself into the history books when she became the first MP to breastfeed her child in the nation's Parliament, reports said.

Waters, who represents the left-wing Greens party, breastfed her two-month-old daughter Alia Joy during a vote on Tuesday.

After the news hit the market, a bemused Waters told BBC, "It's frankly ridiculous, really, that feeding one's baby is international news. Women have been breastfeeding for as long as time immemorial."

However, the young MP said that she wanted to set an example for other young women in the Parliament.

"I had hoped to not only be able to feed my baby but to send a message to young women that they belong in the parliament," she said.

Waters may have been the unprecedented case in Australia, but breastfeeding inside the Parliament had occurred earlier too in different countries.

Other examples include, Spanish MP Carolina Bescansa and Italian MP Licia Ronzulli, who did it in 2010.

image: Screengrab from YouTube
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 19:50 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a075561 1 Lifestyle Italy,village,#Italy,Bormida Free

In order to keep itself from becoming deserted, a village in the north of Italy is offering to pay 2,000 (US$2,183) to anyone willing to move there.

As young people leave the mountain village of Bormida for larger, nearby cities like Savona, the village of 394 is making attempts to keep the community from disappearing.

Thanks to a low-rent incentive program, those who move to Bormida can rent a property for as little as 50 per month, while larger houses can be rented for 120.

Read also: Italian woman saves money for 2 years to marry Indonesian villager

Mayor Daniele Galliano told local media, We couldn't rent them at market value, so we chose a symbolic number and the requests abounded: the important thing was to repopulate the village.

Galliano announced that on top of the low rent, there will also be a 2,000 incentive for those who move into the village. The mayor continued, saying he decided to "take action to combat the dropping population of the tiny village.

While the village has lost nearly 60 people, this program has helped Bormidas population grow from 390 to 394 people since its start in 2014. (sul/kes)
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Linkedin Edouard Guihaire (Agence France-Presse) London  Thu, May 11, 2017 07:15 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a05d729 2 Art & Culture pink-floyd,Museum,Britain,London,#museum,musician,#Britain Free

From guitars to sketches for iconic album artwork, an immersive Pink Floyd retrospective at London's Victoria and Albert Museum traces the half-century career of the famous British band.

Featuring around 350 objects including instruments, musical scores and album covers, the show is the "biggest exhibition ever" about the group, curator Victoria Broackes told AFP.

The "Pink Floyd, Their Mortal Remains" retrospective, running from May 13 to October 1, has been timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the band's album: "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn".

It was 1967 and the world was awakening to the progressive rock created by the foursome: Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason and Syd Barrett, who was replaced in 1968 by David Gilmour.

The band's early days form the first part of the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, taking in the scene of the British capital in the sixties.

Read also: Borobudur art exhibition features works by Balinese artists

On the wall of a room illuminated by psychedelic colours and patterns, visitors can see a poster advertising a Pink Floyd gig at the UFO club, a short-lived underground music venue.

"We were living the hippy life, experimenting with LSD, we were smoking cannabis, reading Kerouac," said Aubrey "Po" Powell, the band's creative director who helped visualise the exhibition.

"They were playing whatever, call it an amateurish way, but in a very English way, a very eccentric way... they were the darlings of the London underground scene," Powell told AFP, recalling Pink Floyd playing at the UFO club.

"I never envisioned for one minute that 50 years later, we'd be having an exhibition here."

The early years were also marked by the erratic behaviour of Barrett, with his sensitive personality, fragile health and drug-taking, which combined did not respond well to Pink Floyd's growing popularity.

Included in the exhibition is a 1967 letter from the BBC, demanding the band explain his "unexplained" disappearance while recording a programme.

Read also: Banksy chips away at EU flag in first Brexit mural

- A musical experience -

Thought up as an "immersive" and "multi-sensorial" experience, the exhibition allows visitors to don headphones with music and audio which changes as they walk through different rooms.

Passing through a room dedicated to the 1975 album "Wish you were here", the headphones switch between interviews by Waters and Gilmour explaining how they came up with the song of the same name.

The track is one of the group's most celebrated and was written as a tribute to their former bandmate Barrett.

"(It's a) very simple sort of country song. Still, because of its resonance and the emotional weight it carries, it's one of our best songs," said Gilmour.

A centrepiece of the exhibition is a huge installation dedicated to Pink Floyd's 1979 album "The Wall", over which hangs the terrifying schoolmaster who terrorised children in the band's celebrated rock opera.

The exhibition concludes in a vast room dedicated to the band's last concerts as a full line-up, in 2005, with 25 speakers giving visitors the feeling they are at the heart of the show.

The Pink Floyd exhibition follows the Victoria and Albert Museum's hugely successful 2013 show dedicated to David Bowie, which embarked on a global tour and has been see by 1.8 million people.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 14:30 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a06c489 1 Lifestyle mothers-day,Hotel,activities,#MothersDay,celebration,#hotel Free

Celebrating Mothers Day can be one of the ways to show your love and affection for your mother. Some hotels provide special offers that will allow you to treat her like a queen for a day:

Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta

Nestled on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta marks the day with a treat at Altos Sunday Brunch. On May 14, there will be a complimentary pick up by a Jaguar, Land Rover or Range Rover car, followed by a buffet with Jakartas skyline as the scenery. It is advised to come early in order to get complimentary makeup by Bobbi Brown makeup artists. The offer starts at 11:30 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m. with the starting price of Rp 925,000 (US$69) per adult.

The hotel also offers treatment at The Spa for mothers with Secrets De Beaute packages and mothers-to-be with Prenatal Massages. The price for the treatment starts at Rp 2,150,000 and Rp 800,000 (for 60 minutes), respectively.

Contact: +6221 2277 1888

The Westin

From May 11 to 14, The Westin Jakarta offers Pay One for Two Spa treatments at their Heavenly Spa with the view of the Jakarta skyline. Moreover, every mother will receive a gift following the treatment. Those who want to get pampered can consider making an advanced reservation by contacting +6221 2788 7788 or by visiting the Heavenly Spa page for further details.

Read also: Colorful kampung becomes new tourist attraction in Semarang

Meanwhile, The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali, will also celebrate Mothers Day on May 14 with activities for mothers and the family. The resorts Heavenly Spa offers a 90-minute spa treatment Heavenly Escape that is available at Rp 1,750,000. It will also host Mothers Day Brunch that includes several activities, including welcome cocktails, exclusive World Best Mom bracelets from SAKA jewelry, lucky draw sessions and making pop-up card sessions for children. The brunch is priced starting at Rp 460,000. Further information can be obtained from the resorts website or by contacting +62361 771906.

Hotel Mulia Senayan

Hotel Mulia Senayan encourages children to express their love for their mothers by holding a Cook for Mom activity at the hotels Orient8 on May 13. Mentored by the restaurants chef, children will be dressed like a professional chefs and prepare three-course meals for their families. The activity includes a photo opportunity and certificate.

Meanwhile, on May 14, mothers may want to enjoy a brunch at Orient8 and il Mare or lunch at The Cafe, Table8 and Edogin, while their children can take part in the Tart for Mom Decorating activity. (kes)

Contact: +6221 574 7777
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 10:02 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a06172c 4 Science & Tech Snapchat,#Snapchat,social-media,social-network Free

In an attempt to compete with rival Instagram Stories, Snapchat has rolled out a handful of new features, both creative and cosmetic.

Now available on iOS and Android are snapchats with no time limit, a magic eraser, an emoji marker and a new screen format.

While Snaps are known for their brief time limit -- anywhere from one to 10 seconds -- pictures can now be set to limitless by tapping the infinity icon. The recipient will be able to view the picture for as long as they want, but once they exit out, the picture will self-destruct, as usual.

The same can be done for videos by tapping the looping icon after recording a snap. Just like the limitless photos, the video will repeat until the recipient decides to close it.

Read also: Making money the millenial way

https://twitter.com/Snapchat/status/861979956628267008

New creative updates include the ability to draw with emojis, and the magic eraser, which can remove objects from the foreground and replace them with the background.

To make room for the new features, icons will be moving from the top to the right-hand side of the screen.

Said Snapchat in a blog post (https://www.snap.com/en-US/news/), These changes allow us to continue evolving the Snapchat service and provide a foundation for introducing even more creative tools for making fun snaps. (sul/kes)
TheJakartaPost

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Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 20:25 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0766b9 1 National hrwg,ahok,#ahok,#AhokTrial,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy Free

The Jakarta-based Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) has slammed a recent court ruling that sentenced non-active Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama to two years behind bars in a blasphemy case, saying it could become a bad precedent as it was based on irrelevant laws.

The rights group said in a statement on Thursday that the North Jakarta District Courts move to use a blasphemy law in ruling the case against Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, was proof that the law could be used to pressure and discriminate minority groups.

The group added that Criminal Codes (KUHP) Article 156 (a), which was used to sentence Ahok, had been widely considered as problematic.

[This blasphemy article] is problematic because it has been frequently used to criminalize a group or individuals seen as different by others, the HRWG said.

(Read also: Stop all intervention in Ahoks case, Judicial Commission says)

The group also called on the government and the House of Representatives to revise Article 156 (a) of the Criminal Code as well as the 1965 Blasphemy Law, which has also been used by Indonesian courts as a legal basis in ruling a number of blasphemy prosecutions.

The Constitutional Court previously rejected a judicial review request against Article 156 (a) and the 1965 Blasphemy Law, although it acknowledged these two regulations were problematic.

In Tuesdays hearing, the North Jakarta District Court stated that based on evidence and testimonies heard throughout the trial, all criminal elements of Ahoks blasphemy charges were fulfilled. (ebf)
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 18:30 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a072b19 1 National HTI,house-of-representatives,Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,Pancasila,#Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,Constitution Free

Worried about the governments move to ban it, hard-line Islamic organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) leaders met lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Wednesday to seek protection.

We want to seek support and protection from the House on this matter. We dont want the government to move forward with its plan because they have no legal basis to ban us, HTI spokesman Ismail Yusanto said.

The HTI is a legal organization, we have a decree. So, we have a constitutional right to hold events. Our activities are focused on dakwah [religious proselytizing] about Islamic teachings, he added.

(Read also: Govt moves to ban HTI)

The government announced Monday that it was banning the group that achieved legal status in 2014, saying it promoted an ideology that was against the Pancasila and could threaten national unity. The group is known for its aim to establish an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia.

House deputy speaker Fadli Zon of the Gerindra Party said the governments ban of HTI was a misstep as it did not follow procedures. Under the 2013 Mass Organizations Law, the government must send warning letters before banning a group.

Fadli also claimed that the HTI had made positive contributions to Indonesia, for example in the deliberation of draft revision of the 2001 Oil and Gas Law.

In its internal regulation, HTI has mentioned they adhere to Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. I believe the government has taken the wrong step, he said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 15:19 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a06dd86 2 Business jewelry,Hartadinata,IPO Free

Jewelry manufacturer PT Hartadinata Abadi aims at cashing in Rp 450 billion (US$33.7 million) in fresh funds from its initial public offering (IPO) to support expansions.

The IPO, scheduled for next month, will put Hartadinata as the country's first private jewelry maker enlisted with the Indonesia Stocks Exchange (IDX). The company, through the IPO, plans to sell 1.5 billion new shares - representing 30 percent of its enlarged capital  at between Rp 280 and Rp 356 apiece.

The prospect of the jewelry industry is huge in Indonesia [] We are sure that after Hartadinata Abadi conducts an IPO, the firm can expand faster, president director Sandra Sunanto told a press briefing on Wednesday.

(Read also: Jewelry maker targets eastern Indonesia)

Hartadinata will use 50 percent of the proceeds from the IPO as capital expenditure with following detail: 42 percent to purchase raw materials, 6 percent to buy tooling chain machines and 2 percent for the establishment of an e-commerce platform. Meanwhile, the remaining 50 percent will be used to repay its outstanding loans.

The company has appointed PT Mandiri Sekuritas, PT MNC Sekuritas and RHB Sekuritas as underwriters.

The book building period started on May 10 and will finish on May 24. The offering period, moreover, will run from June 12 to 14 this year. The shares will be traded for the first time on the Indonesia Stock Exchange on June 20. (hwa)

Topics : jewelry Hartadinata IPO
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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 08:09 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a05e02a 1 National ahok,rally,#ahok,#AhokTrial Free

The police arrested six people for attempting to disrupt a peaceful rally held by Yogyakartans in support of non-active Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who has been sent to prison for blasphemy.

Hundreds of people held a candlelight vigil at Yogyakarta's main square on Wednesday to demand the release of Ahok when a group of men reportedly tried to disrupt the rally and create unrest.

The police fired warning shots in the air and then arrested six of the troublemakers, Sr. Comr. Tommy Wibisono told reporters in Yogyakarta, adding that the 30-minute rally ended peacefully.

(Read also: Ahok supporters, detractors voice demands during rally)

On Tuesday, the North Jakarta District Court declared the outgoing Jakarta governor guilty of blasphemy for suggesting that people had abused a Quranic verse to block his re-election bid and sentenced him to two years in prison. (dan)
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Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 11, 2017 19:28 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0748d6 1 National ahok,#ahok,#AhokTrial,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy,Judicial-Commission Free

The Judicial Commission (KY) has called on law enforcement institutions to take tough measures against any parties attempting to intervene in the ongoing legal process of Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas blasphemy case.

The commission made the statement on Thursday in response to a rally conducted by Ahoks supporters in front of the Jakarta High Court on the previous day.

During the rally, they demanded that the court postpone the detention of the non-active governor, who was declared guilty of committing blasphemy by the North Jakarta District Court in a hearing on Tuesday. Ahok was detained shortly after the court sentenced him to two years in prison.

(Read also: Ahok calls on supporters to leave Brimob headquarters)

KY spokesperson Farid Wajdi said any attempt to pressure judges and the court demeaned the honor and dignity of Indonesias judiciary.

Please use existing mechanisms, which are stipulated in the prevailing regulations. If anybody wants to demand a detention delay, please file a request to the higher court. If anybody finds any indications that judges committed ethical violations, report them to us, Farid said in the statement obtained by The Jakarta Post.

During Tuesdays hearing, the judge panel led by Dwiarso Budi Santiarto stated that based on the evidence and testimonies heard throughout the trial, all the requirements of an act of blasphemy as stipulated in Article 156a of the Criminal Code had been fulfilled.

Critics lamented the ruling, accusing the judges of accommodating pressure from several groups that have relentlessly demanded that judges punish Ahok with the harshest sentence possible. (ebf)
Karachi, May 11 (IBNS): In a shooting incident in Pakistan's Karachi city on Wednesday, at least five people were injured, media reports said on Thursday.

Police rounded up eight suspects during different raids in the city.

The incident happened in the city when unknown persons opened fire inside a house in Jamshed Road area.

Sources informed Geo News that firing occurred during robbery inthe house. Unknown robbers, after looting valuables, lined-up family members and opened fire on them.

The injured people were rushed to hospital for treatment.

Image: Wikimedia Commons
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Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua  Thu, May 11, 2017 21:29 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a07799c 1 National Papua,West-Papua,Jokowi,jokowidodo,#Papua,Lukas-Enembe Free

Massive infrastructure developments in Papua during President Joko Jokowi" Widodos administration should be appreciated by those in the province, but more needs to be done to develop the region, said religious leader Rev. Sofyan Yoman on Thursday.

I appreciate President Jokowis several visits to the land of the Melanesian people. Honestly and openly, I want to convey to you, Pak Jokowi, that your frequent visits to West Papua and massive developments of road and bridge infrastructure show that the central government pays attention to the Melanesian people in the region. However, these two approaches have not yet tackled the core of problems in West Papua and are not the best and most effective solutions to the problems, Yoman said on Thursday.

Among core problems he referred to included systematic and structural violations of human rights in Papua, which he said had been ongoing for 50 years.

Papua Governor Lukas Enembe and Papua Legislative Council Speaker Yunus Wonda expressed gratitude toward Jokowi for the attention his administration gave to Indonesia's easternmost region.

Yunus pointed out that in Jokowis three years of leadership, he visited Papua six times and brought rapid progress in infrastructure.

Enembe said he would support the President running for a second term. We support Bapak for a second term to continue the development here, the governor said. (dis/ebf)
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra  Thu, May 11, 2017 21:50 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a077b3d 1 National Vesak,Buddhist,Buddhism,vihara,Medan,North-Sumatra,#Vesak-Day,Vesak-Day Free

Thousands of Buddhists celebrated Waisak, or Gautama Buddha's Day of Enlightenment, in Medan, North Sumatra, on Thursday, hoping this years celebration would bring blessings, peace and happiness to all those living in Indonesia.

The celebrations ran safely and peacefully under the security of police personnel. Buddhist followers packed Buddhist temples, or vihara, including Borobudur Vihara on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Medan to pray and participate in various activities.

Borobudur Vihara spokesperson Adi Yanto said a string of activities to celebrate Waisak were conducted over a three-day stretch starting from Tuesday. During the activities, the organizing committee provided vegan food to all those participating in the celebration at the vihara, he went on.

The Waisak Day celebration peaked today [Thursday]. All activities ran smoothly and safely, Adi told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the event on Thursday.

Waisak emphasizes three important events in Buddhas life: his birth, enlightenment and perfect liberation.

Understanding diversity within unity," Adi said, was picked as the theme of this years Waisak celebration, given the sociopolitical issues Indonesian people were currently facing.

North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Rycko Amelza Dahniel also highlighted the need to maintain harmony in his remarks in front of Buddhist followers celebrating Waisak at Sinar Budhi Vihara in Medan.

There will be peace and security in the country, especially in North Sumatra, if all people can guard and protect the diversity, Rycko said. (mos/ebf)
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java  Thu, May 11, 2017 18:00 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a070e00 1 National Habib-Rizieq-Shihab,Rizieq-Shihab,Pancasila,defamation,libel,libel-case,West-Java-Police,Sukmawati-Soekarnoputri Free

Investigators at the West Java Police have handed over the investigation report for defamation suspect Rizieq Shihab to the West Java Prosecutors Office, expecting that the case can be brought to the court soon, a senior police official has said.

We are waiting for the office to declare the case dossier P21 [complete]. It is hoped that the dossier can be completed as quickly as possible, West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan said on Wednesday.

He was speaking after a call for readiness ceremony held by GP Ansor, the youth wing of Indonesias largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), in Bandung.

Rizieqs case dossier was handed over to the prosecutors on Monday. Prosecutors also have held a press conference to explain the case against the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader, who is accused of violating two Criminal Code articles: Article 154 on insulting state symbols and Article 310 on libel.

Rizieq was reported to the police in October last year by Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, who handed over footage of his speech at Gasibu Square in Bandung as evidence. Sukmawati said Rizieqs speech had insulted state symbols and tainted the good name of Indonesias first president Sukarno, who is also her father.

In Sukarnos version of the Pancasila, [belief in] god is on the buttocks. Meanwhile, in the Jakarta Charters Pancasila, [belief in] god is on the head. Which one is better? Soekarnos Pancasila or the one stipulated on the Jakarta Charter? Rizieq asserted in that speech.

During his investigation, Rizieq claimed his speech was based on his thesis entitled The Influence of Pancasila in the Implementation of Sharia in Indonesia. He made it for his Masters degree at the Malaya University, Kuala Lumpur, in 2012. (dis/ebf)
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Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Palembang, South Sumatra  Thu, May 11, 2017 20:30 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0773bc 1 National #Bonn-Challenge,Bonn-Challenge,restoration,peatland,peatland-restoration,South-Sumatera,conservation Free

The Bonn-Challenge High Level Roundtable Meeting in Palembang, South Sumatra, concluded on Thursday with participants agreeing to help the province restore peatland areas that were damaged by catastrophic fires in 1997 and 2006.

The meeting kicked off on Tuesday, but the formal closed-door discussion started the next day. Delegates from 29 countries, central government representatives and local administration officials from Sumatra participated in the talks.

Speaking after the closed-door session on Wednesday evening, South Sumatra Governor Alex Nurdin said the participants had agreed to assist the province in restoring 11 damaged areas, nine of which were peatland areas.

The form of assistance is land restoration. We are not going to receive money, but it is in the form of programs [to restore the damaged land], Alex said when asked how much money the provincial administration would receive under the program.

Details of the restoration work would be discussed soon by technical teams, the governor added.

At least 739,000 hectares of peatland have been damaged by fires in the province. Alex said on Tuesday that it had taken five years for the province to restore the areas, at a cost of around Rp 15 million (US$1,122) for every hectare of land each year.

The governor said the province did not have enough funds to do that alone. Therefore, he expected the restoration to involve various stakeholders, including private companies and local residents.

The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of the world's deforested and degraded land by 2020 and 350 million ha by 2030. The donors behind the global initiative include Germany, Norway and the US. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse)  Thu, May 11, 2017 10:03 2008 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0619b2 2 News Venice,travel,#travel,food,#food,fastfood,fast-food Free

Authorities in Venice have passed a law preventing the opening of new fast food outlets in a bid to preserve the identity of the Floating City.

Venetian authorities no longer want to see tourists strolling into Saint Marks Square or around its legendary canals with a sandwich or a snack in hand. The citys authorities want to put a brake on the expansion of outlets selling burgers, kebabs and other fast-food items intended for eating on the hoof.

Paola Mar, the citys tourism chief, considers that such establishments are not compatible with the preservation and development of Venices cultural heritage. The law also seeks to limit the growth of outlets selling take-out pizza by the slice.

Read also: Venices jeweler to the stars is also its best-kept secret

Venice is used to seeing students gather in the Campo Santa Margherita square to devour their slice of pizza. Other successful street food outlets have also modernized the Venice food scene, like in the San Polo district, where Acqua E Mais serves the famous Italian polenta topped with local fritto misto (mixed fried seafood) in a cone to go.

It is currently prohibited to eat take-out food in Saint Marks Square, nor is it not possible to sit on the steps of the squares basilica. Tourists wanting a bite to eat must instead ask for a table in one of the historic cafes in the emblematic Venetian location.

This isnt the first time that Italy has gone to war with fast food. Verona, an hours train ride from Venice, prohibited the opening of new kebab shops in 2016. McDonalds also caused anger in Rome when it opened a restaurant a stones throw away from the Vatican early that same year.

A cardinal even wrote to Pope Francis asking him to intervene. At the end of 2016, the Mayor of Florence refused the opening of an American fast food joint on the Piazza Del Duomo, one of the Tuscan capitals main squares.
Image: twitter.com/potus

Washington, May 11 (IBNS): US President Donald J. Trump has invited newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit his nation.

"President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea to congratulate him and the Korean people on his great election victory and their peaceful, democratic transition of power," the White House said in a statement.

"President Trump and President Moon agreed to continue to strengthen the United States-Republic of Korea alliance and to deepen the enduring friendship between our two countries," read the statement.

Trump said he looks forward to working with Moon and invited him to visit Washington at an early date.

"President Moon accepted the invitation," read the statement.
Washington is, of course, consumed by the growing scandal around Team Trumps ties to Russia and the investigation of Russian interference in the American presidential election. This week the New York Times reminds us that a son of the Lower East Side was a Soviet spy and that theres still a street in this neighborhood named in his honor.

It has been known since 1999 that Congressman Samuel Dickstein supplied information to the Soviets for three years beginning in 1937 and was paid for his efforts. Samuel Dickstein Plaza is a one block stretch between East Broadway and Grand Street named for him. Back in 2010, Susan LaRosa of Henry Street Settlement began looking into renaming the street for Lillian Wald, founder of the social service organization. She started a petition in 2013.

Heres an update:

(LaRosa) had collected about 300 signatures when she was told that she needed to obtain them from people living adjacent to the Dickstein Plaza signs. It was a certain high percentage of the residents of those buildings I needed, and it became very time-consuming, Ms. LaRosa said. She suspended her one-woman quest to focus on her duties at Henry Street. Were very leanly staffed, she said. I didnt have the luxury of extra people or extra time to put into this. She still doesnt. But as the weather warms, Ms. LaRosa is considering picking up her clipboard again and trying to collect the signatures she was told were needed to get the matter brought before the City Council.

LaRosa wrote an opinion piece on the subject for The Lo-Down in 2013.
Controversy is brewing over an appearance at Henry Street Settlement next week by Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour. Shes one of the speakers at the Lillian Wald Symposium, which this year is titled, Immigrant New York: The New Majority. The CUNY School of Public Health has also faced criticism for inviting Sarsour to serve as commencement speaker this year.

Theres an open letter today in The Jewish Press from Rabbi Zvi Romm of the Bialystoker Synagogue to David Garza, executive director of Henry Street Settlement. The Lo-Down asked Henry Street for a response. This afternoon were publishing both statements in full. First, Rabbi Romm:

Dear Mr. Garza, I hope you are well. Im writing you with regard to the upcoming Lilian Wald Symposium on Immigrant New York: The New Majority, to be held at the Abrons Art Center on May 16th. The Henry Street Settlement is proudly promoting Linda Sarsour as a panelist at the symposium. We, the members of the Bialystoker Synagogue, are happy to be next-door neighbors of the Henry Street Settlement. But we are profoundly disturbed by the fact that our neighbors have given Ms. Sarsour this platform. Ms. Sarsour has been an outspoken supporter of the BDS movement, seeking to damage the State of Israel economically. She has declared that one cannot be a Zionist and a feminist, as Palestinian women are oppressed  ignoring the many, many abuses of womens rights which are rampant in the Arab world surrounding Israel. She has tweeted that a young Palestinian boy going to throw stones at Israeli soldiers is the definition of courage. She has stated that there is nothing creepier than Zionism. We, who love and support the State of Israel, are appalled by these positions and statements. By giving Linda Sarsour such a prominent platform, we feel that the Henry Street Settlement is indirectly expressing its tolerance of these anti-Israel positions. We feel that it is incredibly important that the Henry Street Settlement clearly and unambiguously state that it does not endorse Ms. Sarsours positions on Israel and Zionism. As Israel marks its sixty-ninth anniversary, we would greatly appreciate a statement from Henry Street Settlement celebrating the State of Israel, the only full democracy in the Middle East. Rabbi Zvi Romm.

And Henry Street Settlements response:

Since its founding, Henry Street has been an institution characterized by its openness to all voices and a place where ideas, some considered controversial, are exchanged. We fervently believe that if we only speak to ourselves, without listening to other viewpoints, learning will not occur and progress will not be made. In fact, the opportunity to learn from diverse perspectives is one of the intentions of the Lillian Wald Symposium. The decision to include Linda Sarsour as one of the panelists at our upcoming Symposium, Immigrant New York, the New Majority: Policy, Politics and Programs is being challenged by some individuals and groups. They are calling for us to rescind our invitation to Ms. Sarsour. That would be anathema to our history as a champion of freedom of speech. An invitation to participate in a program or forum at Henry Street is not an organizational endorsement of the views held by any of our guests. Our panelists  Shanna Castillo, Director, Resident Economic Empowerment & Sustainability, NYCHA; Zeinab Eyega, Executive Director of Sauti Yetu Center for African Women & Families; Wayne Ho, President and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council; Philip Kasinitz, Ph.D., Presidential Professor of Sociology at CUNY; Baseera Khan, a 2017 Abrons Artist in Residence;; Bitta Mostofi, Assistant Commissioner, NYC Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs; and Linda Sarsour, Racial Justice/Civil Rights Activist  were selected based on their experience with respect to one or more facets of immigration or immigrant communities. The Symposiums topic  Immigrant New York  will not include discussion of Israel, Zionism, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, and will be focused on the subject of immigration in New York City. The Lillian Wald Symposium, our second annual, is intended to create a forum for meaningful discussion on a topic that is relevant to our constituents and stakeholders. We will also be providing immigration services resource material directly to the community at the event.

You can learn more about the Lillian Wald Symposium here.
Young girls are being put off politics by sexist media coverage, according to new research.

Girlguiding Scotland is calling for action to end sexist coverage of female politicians following concerns young girls are feeling excluded from the political conversation.

Girlguiding study A recentfound 41% of girls aged nine to 16 think there has been a rise in media sexism in the last six months, while over 39% of girls said seeing an increase in media sexism has knocked their confidence.

Legs-it female politicians appearances The infamousheadline and the focus placed onare cited as examples of the prolific sexism politicans such as Theresa May are experiencing under the medias glare.

The call to tackle this has received backing from female politicians and campaigners including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Labour Inequalities Spokesperson Monica Lennon and Talat Yaqoob, Chair of the Women 50:50 Campaign.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: It is unacceptable that women and girls continue to face sexist attitudes that are putting them off playing a full role in our society and it is incumbent on all of us to work to change that."

With the General Election around the corner, Girlguiding Scotland is asking the media to focus on female politicians policies and manifestos, and not what shoes or makeup they are wearing. The charity says ending sexist coverage is important in engaging young girls with current political events and issues.

Girlguiding Scotlands members have also backed the call for change.

Hannah Brisbane, 20, a member of Girlguiding Scotlands Senior Section, from Glasgow, said:

Now should be a really exciting time for girls to get involved in politics and make their voices heard but sexist coverage for female leaders and politicians is leaving us feeling side-lined from the conversation.

As a politics student the kind of everyday sexism towards female leaders definitely gives me second thoughts about pursuing a career in politics if my looks are going to be considered the most important thing about me.

Women make up just 29% of MPs at Westminster and 35% of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
In 1973, US President Richard Nixon ordered the firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. He was overseeing the investigation regarding the Watergate scandal - in which Nixon was a culprit, something Cox was trying to verify.

The order was first given to Attorney General Elliot Richardson, who refused and resigned. Next in line was the Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus - but he also preferred resigning then to partake in what seemed to be an inappropriate and an undemocratic firing, and the event is now referred to as the Saturday Night Massacre.

On Tuesday, without warning, Trump fired F.B.I. director James Comey. The latter learned about it while giving a speech to his staff when a television in the background announced the breaking news. Comey laughed, thinking it was a joke. He was in the midst of overseeing an investigation on whether Trumps Presidential campaign was complicit to the government of Russias interference in the elections.

Whereas it took the resignation of two deputies general in Nixons case (Acting Attorney General Robert Bork finally carried out the order), Trumps dismissal of Comey was carried out, according to the White House, on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

F.B.I. directors are appointed for ten-year terms, which assures their position goes beyond biased political and personal opinions. Comey still had six years to go, and Trump is now free to choose who will run the Bureau, and that person will in turn have the authority to close down the investigation Comey was overseeing.

In his letter to Comey , Trump wrote, [I] 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." It is true that Comey was responsible for several mishaps over the past year. Mostly, he is accused of damaging the F.B.I reputation, in part by his mishandling of the Clinton emails investigation.

In his memorandum in which he recommends the firing, Rosenstein criticizes two actions of Comey in its regard. First, he writes that Comey should not have given a press conference in July to announce the Bureau would not recommend Clinton for any criminal charges, which is usually the Attorney Generals decision to make. He also criticized Comeys decision to send a letter just days before the presidential elections, in which he revealed newly discovered Clinton emails. In fact, this action was largely condemned, as it potentially influenced voters right before Election Day and broke the F.B.I.s tradition to not get involved in elections.

However, these actions were carried out months ago, and the timing of Comeys firing seems suspicious. In fact, Trump had previously praised Comey. Regarding the letter about the new Clinton emails, he said: It took guts for Director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had. However, Comey also dismissed Trumps tweets that Obama had wiretapped his phones, claiming "I have no information that supports those tweets, and we have looked carefully inside the F.B.I.", which may have put a strain on their relations.

Numerous members of Congress - both Democrats and Republicans - are calling for the Russian investigation to be taken over by an independent special prosecutor, for it not to be clouded by any biased institute or person. If we parallel the firing to Coxs, and if we take into account Trumps presidency so far (his anti-constitutional travel ban, hiring some of his family members to the White House), its easy to wonder if Comeys firing may have been undemocratic, and if Trump did it because the Russian investigation was closing in on him.

If this is the case, it is important not to let this pass and to see it for what it is - an abuse of power and a violation of American democracy. If Nixons firing of Cox is remembered as a massacre, then Comeys firing - if proven to have been done for a personal agenda - should be remembered in a similar light.
Psychologists at the University of East London and the University of Westminster have revealed that a very simple tactic can actually be very beneficial to students during exam season.

Oh, and its something necessary for survival that is already part of everyones daily routine: all you have to do is drink water.

Drinking just 300mL of water, just over half a small bottles worth, can boost attention by almost 25%.

Researchers conducted a series of attention and memory tests on young adults, whose mean age was 21, before consuming any water, after drinking 25mL of water, and then after drinking 300mL.

In 2012, the same universities carried out a similar study and discovered that university foundation students who brought a water bottle into the exam room  25% of the class  scored an average of 5% higher than students who did not bring a water bottle.

This study builds on existing knowledge around drinking water and cognition and further demonstrates how water can make a positive difference to how we function generally, at work and at exam time, Dr. Caroline Edmonds of the University of East London, co-author of the research, said in the report.

The researchers also tested children aged seven to nine by giving them 25mL of water to consume and then observing attention differences. The scientists concluded that the children demonstrated a 31% improvement in attention after consuming the small quantity of water.

Contrarily, the young adults showed only a 12% improvement in attention after drinking just 25mL of water.

Children are at a greater risk of dehydration than adults as they have higher water requirements in relation to their body weight, Dr. Emma Derbyshire, a nutritionist and an advisor to the Natural Hydration Council, said in the report. Reminding children to sip water throughout the day is important and with no calories, its a healthy choice. It is also interesting to see that such a small amount of water can see such a significant improvement on childrens attention span.

Drink up!
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As many as 60.5 lakh taxpayers have been enrolled under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the first phase out of a total of 84 lakh taxpayers who will come under the new indirect tax net, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said.

"As on April 30, when Phase-1 of enrolment was closed, 60.5 lakh taxpayers out of 84 lakh had enrolled," Adhia said here on Wednesday after holding detailed review of the IT-preparedness for GST system at the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) office.

The enrolment window will be re-opened for 15 days from June 1 to give another opportunity to taxpayers to enrol, he said.

Expressing satisfaction with the preparation for the roll-out of GST from July 1, Adhia said that out of 62,937 tax officials, nearly 24,668 have been given hands-on training on the application software on live system while the remaining officials will be trained by June 15 this year.

GSTN, which is creating the information technology (IT) backbone for the new indirect tax regime, is also conducting a pilot on GST system software from May 2-16, where 3,200 taxpayers drawn from each state, union territory and Centre will be participating.

"This pilot will also give an opportunity to test all the modules by a large set of users in real life environment so that all possible scenarios get tested. All stakeholders involved in the GST system from taxpayer to bank to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to accounting authorities are participating in this exercise, which is like a rehearsal for the real rollout," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The feedback from the pilot will be used to further improve the GST Software, it said.


The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday told the Allahabad High Court that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath can't be tried in the 2007 Gorakhpur riots case.

The CM and three others are facing charges of inciting communal violence through hate speeches.

UP Advocate General Raghvendra Singh informed the court that the principal secretary (home) had declined to grant sanction for prosecution of Adityanath in the case.

He said the principal secretary (home) had taken the decision on 3 May 2017, in line with the opinion of law department on the basis of forensic report of a CD allegedly carrying hate speech made by a few accused.

Appearing for the state government, the advocate general argued that the case was politically motivated and was registered by the petitioner 10 months after the incident.

The Allahabad high court had on 5 May asked Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to appear before the court on 11 May and produce records of the 2007 Gorakhpur riots case in which CM Adityanath was a party.

After hearing a writ petition, a division bench, comprising justices Ramesh Sinha and UC Srivastava asked UP chief secretary to bring the investigation report of the case and documents relating to the grant of prosecution sanction under Section 153A of IPC.

The court directed the chief secretary to file personal affidavit in the matter too.

As per law, the sanction to prosecute under Section 153A of Indian Penal Code (inciting communal violence) is granted by the state government.

In 2008, an FIR was lodged by Parvez Parwaz and Asad Hayat at Cantonment police station in Gorakhpur in which they accused Adityanath, then city mayor Anju Chaudhri, then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal and one more person of inciting communal violence.

Petitioners had requested the court to order investigation by an independent agency into the case against Adityanath and three others.

The court has fixed July 7 as the next date of hearing.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Election Commission will meet representatives of the main political parties on Friday to deliberate on the controversy surrounding the fairness of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The Aam Aadmi Partys live demonstration in the Delhi assembly two days ago on how an EVM can be tampered with to favour a particular party made national headlines. It was a prototype that the AAP legislator, Saurabh Bhardwaj, tampered with inside the House. The election panels response was that the machine was not the one being used by them.

And Election Commissions own demonstration to show that everything was fine with the voting machines had gone terribly wrong at Bhind in Madhya Pradesh on April 1. On that fateful day, a voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machine attached to an EVM there had shown the vote going the wrong way.

That incident gave Kejriwals AAP substantial ground to up the ante against the election commission.

At the Fridays all-party meet, the Election Commission is expected to invite suggestions for a hackathon (machine-tampering challenge), expected to be held by the month-end. Delhi Cm Arvind Kejriwal has already announced Bhardwajs name as partys representative at the hackathon.
A public outcry erupted in Kerala after the State Bank of India (SBI) announced that charges would be levied on all cash withdrawals from its ATMs from June onward.

The bank's new order states that every time a SBI customer withdraws cash from an ATM a charge of Rs 25 would be levied and charges would also be levied for exchange of old and sullied notes above Rs 5,000.

"This is outrageous and the central government is cheating the people. Ever since the demonetisation began, the Centre has been bullying people. This is going to be taken up in and out of parliament very strongly," said CPI-M Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh.

Popular film personality Shobi Thilakan called it an "anti-people policy of the Centre".

"The SBI has turned out to be worse than the local money lenders and is out to fleece the common man. There has to be a public outcry against this new policy," said Thilakan.

Customers spotted in front of an SBI ATM here also expressed anger.

"The Centre has cheated people and it has to be seen from the perspective that they did this very tactfully because Kerala's own bank (State Bank of Travancore) has been merged with the SBI. The people who banked with SBT have now become SBI customers and now they are at the receiving end," said a retired teacher, after withdrawing money from the ATM.

Another angry SBI customer from Kottayam said barring the lone Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator in the 141 member Kerala assembly, all others strongly opposed the merger and passed a resolution to this effect.

"This was bound to happen and these are measures to pick the pockets poor people. We wish to know what the state BJP leaders have to say on this. There should be mass protest in Kerala against the SBI," said the angry SBI account holder.

Of the 880 SBT branches in Kerala, more than 400 were closed and at present there are over 800 SBI branches in the state.
And when thou art weary Ill find thee a bed, of mosses and flowers to pillow thy head. These words by the English Romantic poet, John Keats (1795-1821), articulate that even the humble moss can comfort the weary. There is much to be imbibed from this plant and indeed, moss has its own place in history, from the time of World War I.

Moss are small flowerless plants that grow in dense green clumps, often in shaded or damp locations. Individually they are composed of simple leaves and generally are only one cell thick, attached to a slender stem. Their ability to conduct water or nutrients is limited. Interestingly, mosses do not have seeds and after fertilization, they develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks and single capsules, containing spores. They grow to about two to 10 cm tall and the tallest species in the world, Dawsonia, grows to a height of 50 cm.

There are common names with the word moss, such as reindeer moss or Iceland moss, but these species are not related to moss, despite the word moss in the name. In botanical terms, mosses are classified on their own, as the division Bryophyta and comprise about 12,000 species. Most mosses depend on the wind to disperse their spores. There is a species, Ulota phyllantha, in which green vegetative structures, called gemmae, are produced on leaves and branches, which can snap off to form new moss, without the need to go through the cycle of fertilisation and is thus a means of asexual reproduction. Moss, a plant that lives in an unobtrusive way, all of a sudden, became a pioneer in the field of medical history  it gave hope to thousands of soldiers, during World War I, and signified that a miracle had arrived to save them from their festering injuries.

When World War I began, wounds of injured soldiers deteriorated and towards 1914, W Watson Cheyne of The Royal College of Surgeons, England, viewed with horror, the prevalence of sepsis. His dispatches, by the end of 1915, contained warnings that thousands of wounded soldiers were desperately in need of additional bandages, which were running out. Medical experts had one option within these distressing circumstances and that was to come up with creative solutions. They dabbed wounds with chlorine solutions, bandages were mixed with carbolic acid, formaldehyde, also known by its systematic name methanal, and even mercury chloride, a chemical compound of mercury and chlorine, were used. Doctors used whatever their brains commanded them to try, rather than watch a human being die, because there was insufficient material to keep wounds covered and protected against infection. The severity of the situation was exacerbated by the dwindling supplies of cotton, due to the demand of its use for clothes and explosives. Humanity enunciated its preference for wealth, not its concern for soldiers who succumbed to infection of wounds, and whose names lasted only as long as their wives and children lived, as articulated by Michel de Montaigne, on the plight of soldiers throughout history.

What were the Allied Powers of World War I to do? Issac Bayley Balfour, both a surgeon and botanist, virtually stumbled upon an idea, when walking through the woods. His understanding of moss gave him a brilliant idea  pack moss into wounds. Moss thrived in cold and damp places of the British Isles. Humans know about moss in horticulture and its use in bio-fuel. But mankind has also used moss, for nearly 1,000 years, apparently to heal wounds. Moss was used during the Napoleonic wars and Irish sources write of the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, at Clontarf near Dublin, when moss was successfully used for wounded soldiers.

It was these studies in history related to moss, that inspired Charles Walker Cathcart to identify two species of moss that was efficient for staunching bleeding: S paillosum and S palustre, both of which thrived in the British Isles. After a narrative on the subject was published in The Scotsman, it was realised that moss was already being used by the enemy, Germany. A hilarious and classic case of one country learning from another, notwithstanding they were enemies!

Robin Kimmerer, professor of ecology, writes in his book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, 90 per cent cells in a Sphagnum plant are dead. This is natures way of ensuring that the cells being dead are empty so they can be filled with liquid. Humanity has taken advantage of this quality for moss to soak in blood, pus and body fluids. Kimmerer asserts that the plant is also endowed with antiseptic properties. The incredible history of moss continued during World War I, when the Canadian Red Cross Society, Ontario, provided over a million dressings and pads for wounded soldiers. They collected moss from British Colombia and Nova Scotia. By 1918, Britain dispatched one million such dressings every month to countries as far away as Egypt and Mesopotamia. Countries conducted local moss drives, at a time when patriotism revolved around just one word  moss.
Nursing as a profession demands a delicate balance between the head (intelligence) and the heart (emotions). All nurses, irrespective of their role, do this balancing act in their day-to-day work to offer a positive healthcare experience to patients and help create a healthier and happier world.

Healthcare administration, education and research, home health care, palliative care, school health services, forensics, triaging and emergency care are some of the wide-ranging areas where their expertise is required. Many have also moved into specialised care, while some are even working as application specialists in medical device companies.

Yet, the question of how effectively we as a nation are utilising the nursing workforce and skill sets at our disposal is a pertinent one. The International Nurses Day  celebrated on12 May each year on the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale is an opportunity to deliberate upon the many aspects of this noble profession that mandate our attention.

Societal attitudes towards nurses need an overhaul too. Despite being an integral part of the healthcare system, nurses feel unappreciated and sidelined. Ask any nurse and she will say there are three things lacking in her day-to-day life  timely meals, downtime and, most importantly, gratitude from those she serves. It is not unusual for them to work back-to-back shifts without a break. They are always on call, and the call of duty always comes first. Due to the acute shortage of nursing staff in India, most of them remain overwhelmed with work. As more hospitals seek accreditation, they are putting systems and processes in place to make their operations more organised and efficient. Though a welcome move, this puts the time consuming burden of documentation on nurses, in addition to their other duties, thought one must agree that systems have improved owing to the quality movement.

The looming need for specialised nurses is an area that requires urgent consideration. Most people fail to reflect on the intellectual challenges faced by them today. The knowledge gap between a doctor and nurse is already huge and widening rapidly.

The medical profession has branched into specialisation and super-specialisation, but nursing is still a general science with limited opportunities for professional or intellectual growth. The new trend of allied healthcare professionals has led to the nursing profession being put on the backburner, even as India grapples with a shortfall of nurses.

Compassion is a key component of nursing. People in the profession of helping others often get affected by the emotions of those whom they serve, leading to what is called compassion fatigue. This is a common phenomenon among nurses and has gained a lot of attention in the West. If not identified early on, it can lead to burn-out and de-personalisation  a key cause of insensitive behaviour towards patients exhibited by some nurses. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges in healthcare is to preserve the attitude of selfless service of professionals.

The sensitive work of nurses needs to be nurtured with positive reinforcements and tokens of appreciation. This is something that cannot be completely remunerated with monetary benefits alone. They are as much vulnerable to incidents of patient rage and violence as doctors.

Across the country, they bear the brunt of disgruntled patients on one side and hospital administrators on the other, as they are considered soft targets. The root cause of this lies in our patriarchal mindset.

They have been devoting a significant amount of effort to preserve the positive attitude of nurses towards their responsibilities and alter the outlook of society towards this profession. But for them to be successful, collaborative team work by all stakeholders is imperative, driven by a deep desire to preserve the art and science of helping others heal.

The writer is nursing director, amrita institute of medical sciences, kochi
In a bizzarre incident, a Chhattisgarh mother-daughter duo lodged a complaint with the police alleging that toilets in their home had gone missing, leaving the cops bewildered.

Bela Bai Patel, 70 and her daughter Chanda, 45 living in Amarpur village in Bilaspur, filed the complaint last week alleging that the two toilets, proposed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, had been constructed only on paper.

The duo submitted their application to the village panchayat in 2015 for the construction of two toilets in their house. But the work did not start even after a year of the approval, officials said.

When Bela and Chanda approached the janpad panchayat office last month to enquire about the status of the work, they were surprised to find that the toilets had already been made, at least that's what the documents said.

A local activist, Surendra Patel, sought information on the status of the toilets in Amarpur through an RTI query and as per the reply, the construction of toilets had been completed.

Toilets were only built on paper and not on the ground, said the activist.

Now the two women, both widows belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, living in two different parts of the house, want their toilets to be traced and action against those involved in the "theft".

(With inputs from agencies)
Days after a WhatsApp group admin was arrested in Karnataka for sharing a derogatory post on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a first information report (FIR) was lodged against Google for an alleged offensive search result involving Modi.

The FIR was lodged on Wednesday in Uttar Pradeshs Shahjahanpur under the IT Act on a complaint by lawyer Nand Kishore.

In his complaint, Kishore said that while surfing national news on Google, he had come across a list that mentioned Modi in a derogatory manner.

He said it caused hurt to him and others.

In 2015, Google had apologised after Modis images started appearing in image search results for query on Top 10 criminals in India.

(With inputs from agencies)


The best legal minds from India and Pakistan are expected to fight it out at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) when it conducts an oral public hearing on 15 May on the petition moved by New Delhi to seek justice for former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been awarded death sentence by a Pakistani military court.

is learnt that New Delhi is seeking to prepare a 'water-tight case' against the Pakistani authorities over the manner in which they arrested him from near the countrys border with Iran and declared him a RAW agent.

India would also point out how Pakistan had violated the international conventions on consular matters by not giving consular access to the Indian prisoner.

It would be argued that Pakistan was bent upon hanging an Indian national on frivolous charges without a fair trial, which would be regarded as a "premeditated murder".

The civilian government of Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan, though virtually kept out of the loop over the Jadhav issue, is also said to closely coordinating with the Army over the position Islamabad would take at the ICJ. Prime Minister Sharif, who is scheduled to leave for China on Friday to attend the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Summit, had a threadbare discussion with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Wednesday over the situation arising from the ICJ granting stay on the execution of the Indian prisoner.

According to the press release put out by the ICJ, India would make its oral observations at the court before lunch on Monday while Pakistan would argue its case in the post-lunch session. The hearing will be open to the media as well as the general public on a first-come first-served basis. Senior Lawyer Harish Salve is expected to lead the charge from the Indian side. He will be assisted by a team of lawyers.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday sought to divert attention from the Jadhav issue by charging India with violating the ceasefire on the border, killing a man and injuring three others. The Pakistan Foreign Office summoned Indias Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh and told him that the "deliberate targeting" of civilians was contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws.

However, Singh told the Pakistani officials that the "cross-border firing was initiated by Pakistani troops to give cover to terrorists" and "Indian troops responded only in self-defence".
Buoyed by the popularity of online petitions for sundry causes these days, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi is the latest lawmaker to have launched a petition.

Seeking out-of-the-box suggestions for the yet-to-be-announced National Policy for Women, the draft of which has been ready for a year, the minister on Thursday started a petition on change.org, one of the most popular online platforms for submitting petitions, mostly being used for social causes.

In her petition, Maneka stated, I am writing to see if you have a new idea for women's safety and empowerment. We, at the Ministry of Women & Child Development, have formulated the National Policy for Women. It has been a two-year process with several stakeholder consultations. This transformative policy will address the needs of women in the New India and also guide the functioning of the government in decades to come. We have a draft ready and before we conclude it, I am seeking some out-of-the-box ideas and suggestions from you that could be incorporated into the policy.

I have been happy to take action on Change.org petitions. We have taken steps to ease the passport rules for children of single parents and control the alarming rates of caesarean section births. I would now like to hear your suggestions for this policy by the 15 May 2017, she added.

A link is provided for submitting suggestions that take one to Google forms where one can post any number of suggestions, along with a valid email address for reference.

The draft policy, once finalised, will replace the National Policy for Empowerment of Women-2001, and will guide the government's action on women's issues for the next 15-20 years. The draft policy was released in May last year for public suggestions and then sent to the Cabinet. It underlines key priority areas such as health, food security, nutrition, education, economy, governance and decision making.

Besides sending suggestions on the petition, one can also send them on the ministry's official Twitter account as well as Facebook page with #NationalPolicy4Women.

Recently, Sushmita Dev, an MP from Silchar, too had started a petition on Change.org, requesting Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley to abolish tax on sanitary napkins and Maneka Gandhi had not just signed the petition but also encouraged others to do the same.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena here ahead of the "International Vesak Day" celebrations where the Indian leader will be the chief guest.

"Delighted to meet President @MaithripalaS in Colombo," Modi tweeted soon after the meeting.

On his part, Sirisena said in a tweet: "It is wonderful to meet this great human being @narendramodi in Colombo again. Thank you for gracing #InternationalVesakDay."

Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day, which is celebrated to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

He will attend the opening ceremony of the Vesak Day celebrations here on Friday.

The visit follows an invitation from Sirisena. It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.

This is the first time that Sri Lanka will be hosting the International Vesak Day. The theme of the event is "Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace".

Soon after his arrival, Modi took part in a traditional lamp lighting ceremony at a Buddhist temple here as part of the International Vesak Day celebrations.

"In holy sanctum. PM @narendramodi visits Gangaramaya temple @ d famous Beira Lake, lights lamps @ temple on Vesak Day eve," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

As Modi pressed a switch, the entire complex of the Gangaramaya temple, one of the most important Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, was lit up with colourful lights, which was followed by fireworks in the sky.

According to India's state broadcaster Doordarshan, Modi, who was accompanied by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, also offered prayers at the temple.

The Gangaramaya temple was established in the late 19th century by one of the most famous scholar monks, Venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumanagala Nayaka Thera.

Its complex comprises the temple, the "seema malaka" or assembly hall for monks in the picturesque Beira Lake and a vocational training institute.

Modi will open an India-funded 150-bed multi-speciality hospital at Dickoya in the central hill district which is home to Tamil tea plantation workers of Indian origin.

The Indian Prime Minister will also pray at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy in central Sri Lanka. The golden-roofed Kandy temple houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic  a tooth of Lord Buddha.

In Pallekele, Modi will unveil a plaque commemorating the foundation laying of the Faculty of Kandyan Dance at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Academy that will be constructed with India's grant assistance.

Although no bilateral talks are scheduled, the visit is expected to give fresh boost to India-Sri Lanka ties.

Last month, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had visited India.
Pakistan on Thursday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad over fresh ceasefire violations on the Line of Control, that it said has left one Pakistani civilian dead and two others injured.

The Foreign Office said in a statement that Director General Mohammad Faisal (South Asia and Saarc Desk), summoned Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and condemned the "unprovoked" ceasefire violation by Indian forces on the intervening night of May 10 and 11 in Tandar, Subzkot, Khuiratta, Baroh, Bagsar, Khanjar sectors.

The Indian envoy was conveyed that "deliberate" targeting of civilians was condemnable and contrary to international human rights and laws.

The Indian side was urged to respect the 2003 Ceasefire and probe the incident and maintain peace on the LoC.

The summoning comes as India has decided to put all bilateral engagements with Pakistan on hold after alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on spying charges.

Tensions escalated after two Indian soldiers were killed and their bodies mutilated in unprovoked firing by Pakistan on May 1 on the LoC.

Last week, India summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and demanded action against Pakistani soldiers and commanders responsible for the beheading of the two security force personnel.
Amid heated debates and developments on the Islamic tradition of triple talaq, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will on Thursday commence hearing on a plea that the triple talaq, nikah halala, and polygamy violated Muslim women's rights to equality and dignity and are not protected by the right to profess, practice and propagate religion under the Constitution's Article 25(1).

The Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S Abdul Nazeer will hear the matter for seven days from May 11-19.

The many developments in the matter so far:

9 May 2017: The Allahabad High Court (HC) said, "In name of personal law, basic human rights of women cannot be violated. A Muslim husband cannot give divorce in such a manner which would put a question mark on equal rights." The decision comes in the wake of the HC's ruling in December where it cited the practice as unconstitutional.

9 May 2017: Twenty-five leaders from Jamiat Ulma-i-Hind calls on PM Modi and expresses hope after his decision to tackle triple talaq. "His attitude on all issues was reasonable and satisfactory. We are leaving with lot of hopes," Maulana M Madani had said.

4 May 2017: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) submits a one page pro forma to the law Commission opposing changes in triple talaq and stating satisfaction with the Islamic law.

1 May 2017: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy rejects triple talaq citing that the practice is not present in the Quran and any Shariat can be modified.

30 April 2017: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu supports the abolition of triple talaq, saying that the custom hampered the right of equality and right of women to live with dignity.

29 April 2017: Pime Minister appeals to the Muslim community to revolve issue of triple talaq and urges them not to politicise the matter, rather save Muslim women in the crucial matter.

24 April 2017: All India Muslim Women's Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) president Shaishta Amber urges for implementing proper laws to combat the social evil.

21 April 2017: The Delhi HC dismisses Public Interest Litigation (PIL), which sought to look into the plight of Hindu women facing triple talaq after formerly being married to Muslim men. The HC states that the matter is being looked into in SC.

17 April 2017: AIMPLB issues a code of conduct laying ground rules, which can be the only basis of triple talaq. Breach of the code will call for social boycott. The AIMPLB maintains that the practice was in accordance to the Shariat laws.

30 March 2017: SC decides to set up five-person constitution bench to hear validity of the Muslim tradition of triple talaq that permits Muslim men to orally divorce their wives. The cases are to be heard starting May 11 to 19 and will determine the validity of the custom.

(With inputs from agencies)
As the hearing on triple talaq began, Supreme Court on Thursday said it would examine whether triple talaq is fundamental to religion.

"We will also examine whether triple talaq is part of enforceable fundamental right," the top court bench said.

Hearing a series of petitions, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J Khehar said that the issue of practice of polygamy among Muslims may not be part of its deliberations.

"Will not get into the issue of polygamy as its not related to triple talaq and nikah halala and if triple talaq is found to be not valid, the latter will be deemed unconstitutional," the apex court bench said.

The Supreme Court commenced its hearing on triple talaq from Thursday on a raft of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy practices among Muslims.

The hearing carries significance as the apex court has decided to hear the case during the summer vacation.

The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, took up the matter on its own as a petition titled 'Muslim Womens quest for equality'.

The constitutional and legal validity of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among Muslims will be challenged as seven petitions will be heard. Five separate writ petitions have been filed by Muslim women challenging the practice of triple talaq, terming it unconstitutional.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi will assist the bench, which will also examine to what extent the court can interfere in the Muslim personal laws if they are found to be in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution.

(With inputs from agencies)
After returning from South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi let it be known that he intended to stay permanently in India. He attended the 1916 Congress session in Lucknow. Although he was well known in India because of his activities in South Africa, he did not play any significant role in the session. Nevertheless, a very important development took place. A poor peasant from Bihar came to the session in search of someone to take up the cause of the peasantry in Champaran. The peasants were exploited for years by the British plantation owners. At that juncture, Gandhi knew little about Champaran. After listening to their pathetic situation, he took up their cause. He went to Champaran, recruited some bright young lawyers, drew up a plan for Satyagraha and organised the Satyagrahis.

Champaran was, according to EMS Namboodiripad, the first mass struggle which Gandhi led in India. Almost immediately, he achieved considerable success. The grievances of the peasants were redressed and the bulk of the extortion money that was collected from them was returned. But Gandhi did not stop at this. He went further and initiated the first village improvement programme that included sanitation, cleanliness and health care. These constructive and long-term programmes were not very successful. But the importance of Champaran was not confined to the alleviation of the miseries of the poor peasants or the successes and failures of long-term programmes. Its importance was in the emergence of Gandhi as the new force in Indian politics. His unprecedented success and his use of a new technique made him an instant national hero.

The importance of Champaran can be assessed in four spheres. First, the Indian intelligentsia was well informed about Gandhis success in South Africa which was greeted with public acclaim. However, South Africa was far from India and since his return in 1915, the Mahatma had maintained a low profile. Not much notice was taken of his ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati river and his somewhat unconventional ideas. But Champaran demonstrated what Gandhi could do.

Second, the achievement at Champaran was Gandhis personal triumph. He did it alone, demonstrating self-reliance and thus achieved remarkable results. Third, his method of organising the movement earned wide publicity and was a striking departure from the earlier praxis of the Congress. It had been a practical achievement, remarked Moon, brought about in quite a novel manner. The systematic onthe-spot surveys, the transparent readiness to face imprisonment it was all so different from the endless talk and high-standing resolutions of the stock Indian politicians. Fourth, to many, the action-oriented Gandhi offered an alternative to terror tactics of the revolutionary nationalists and an ineffective Congress. Apart from these significant achievements, the importance of the agrarian movement in Champaran and the subsequent Kheda Satyagraha movement of 1918 was that Gandhi dealt with specific economic problems of the poor and successfully tested the Satyagraha techniques for the first time in India.

In Ahmedabad, the dispute was over wages. The mill owners offered an increase of 20 per cent and the workers, led by the sister of the mill owner and subsequently by Gandhi, wanted a 35 per cent hike. Gandhi agreed to lead the workers on the clear understanding that they would adhere to the following stipulations: (1) not to resort to violence at any given time; (2) not to molest blacklegs at any time; (3) not to depend on alms at any time and (4) to remain firm for the entire period of the strike and during this period, earn their bread by honest labour. Maintenance of peace and self-respect were the other two principles that Gandhi emphasised.

It was not an easy struggle. The strict stipulations that prohibited any form of charity and the stupendous task of providing alternative jobs to thousands of people had demoralised the workers after two weeks. To restore their morale, Gandhi resorted to a fast for the first time in the name of Satyagraha. Immediately after this dramatic act, an agreement was reached through arbitration and to the satisfaction of the workers. Arbitration was an important instrument for eliminating ill-feelings among the parties after the strike. The agitation, according to BR Nanda, was a turning point in the labour-employer relations in Ahmedabad.

Like his efforts in Champaran, Gandhi was not only interested in a short-term settlement but also initiated several long-term constructive programmes. Because of the strike, one of the Gandhian trade unions, the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association was formed, and it exists even today. The Association was set up to implement the Gandhian concept of the relationship of employer and employee. It was meant to be much more than a mere trade union, with its library, hospital, school, recreation centres, banks, and newspapers, patterned after the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Germany. The Ahmedabad model differed from the one adopted in Champaran in two ways: (1) it was conducted well within the Indian community while in Champaran it was against the British plantation owners; and (2) it was conducted in one of the most industrialised areas of the country, while Champaran was an obscure rural area.

Gandhis successful leadership in Champaran and Ahmedabad was of enormous importance, opening a new phase in Indian politics. Within a few months, he convincingly demonstrated his ability to lead both the rural and the urban masses. By coincidence, rather than by design, the Mahatma entered the Indian political scene when people were looking for change. He was the leader who could bring about large-scale social change, an urgent imperative. Gandhis actions in Champaran and Ahmedabad led to the beginning of new politics in India. It assumed greater importance in the early 1920s with the beginning of the non-cooperation movement, the first nationwide struggle for independence. Gandhi provided not only the leadership but the means for effectively organising the freedom movement and for establishing a new order based on Sarvodaya, the welfare of all. The Gandhian era began with the struggles in Champaran and Ahmedabad , notably the effective use of the techniques of non-violent Satyagraha.

The writer is former Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi
It was more likely an example of typical journalistic overdoing of the reading between the lines, and less any sort of official projection. Still, it was disturbing that media reports should highlight as unique the composition of the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India examining the triple talaq issue as comprising representatives of five faiths: Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Parsi and Christian. And that was hailed as a shining example of Indian secularism. The disgust was further enhanced when one report found it prudent to clarify that judges drew conclusions on the basis of merit only, and the sole yardstick was the Constitution. The unstated reasoning being that in normal course personal religious beliefs and practices did influence the judicial processes. Whether intentional or inadvertent is immaterial, great dishonour and disservice had been done to their Lordships, they have been dragged to a new low, particularly since the government has been insisting (not that everyone accepts it) that the core issue is gender equality, not any underhand tinkering with Muslim personal law. Whether the court chooses to take cognizance of such reports and dispels possible misconceptions is left for their Lordships to take a call on: ideally such matters could be ignored, but silence could also be perceived as endorsement.

The unhealthy development is actually a realistic reflection on how society has been divided so that everyones bona fides are now suspect, and members of minority communities are constantly required to re-prove their national credentials. It is no longer deemed embarrassing to perceive polls prospects on caste and communal lines, and strategies are drawn up to exploit those divisions. The same holds true in matters of selection and appointments, and people ~ judges included ~ now claim to be victimised when they belong to lessfavoured castes. On the national security front there is a convenient yet sinister overlapping of Muslim and Pakistani, even folk in the North-east lament they are not accepted as truly Indian. Woe betide anyone in an Indian stadium who applauds the performance of a Pakistani sportsman ~ maybe it is advisable to ensure that sporting contacts remain suspended, or restricted to neutral venues. Cultural exchanges are now curtailed, artistes hardly welcomed across the Radcliffe Line: why, even a tour of India by schoolchildren from Pakistan had to be scrapped. The apprehensions of the Dalit communities are a sordid chapter in itself, another unbecoming reflection of grim realities. All this is what the President has been trying to rectify by his repeated condemnation of an intolerant society. And now the malaise has spread to the extent of judges of the highest court of the land also being identified on skewed lines. The colonials were condemned for divide and rule practices: is present Indian thinking any less demeaning?
A seasoned businessman once told me: Never forget that Thailand is a kingdom. These days, his words seem to ring louder, as the reach of monarchy and its supporters widens over the country.

Thailand, technically a constitutional monarchy, marks its third year under military rule on May 22. Even before that, it has already crossed another milestone: More than 100 people have been arrested for insulting or defaming the royal family under this period of military rule. As of Monday, at least 64 people are in jail, either after conviction or awaiting trial for this offence, says the International Federation for Human Rights.

One of them is human rights lawyer Prawet Prapanukul, who was detained by soldiers and police in an early morning raid and then accused of 10 counts of lese majeste for his Facebook postings.

Aseans second-largest economy after Indonesia is going through a major transition. It is trying to grow high-technology industries to fob off competition from emerging manufacturing hubs. It is putting the finishing touches to a legal framework crafted to keep future governments in line, before the elections expected some time next year. And millions of Thais will bid farewell to revered late monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej, in an elaborate cremation ceremony on 26 October, one year after his death.

But the coup-installed military government has also steadily erected new defences in social media to keep out criticism of the monarchy. Amendments to its computer-related crime law will come into force later this month, requiring social media and Internet service providers to, upon government request, delete or block content deemed to have distorted data or caused the public to panic  among other broadly worded offences.

While unable to directly remove content on Facebook, the Thai authorities are now prosecuting people for sharing offensive postings. Last month, it warned that contacting or following someone on Facebook  which allows a user to be updated about someone elses postings  could be a crime. This threat applied specifically to those in touch with three exiled critics of the junta and monarchy  historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul, political scientist Pavin Chachavalpongpun and former Thailand-based journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall.

Journalists in the kingdom often have to check themselves to avoid falling foul of the lese majeste law, which carries a jail term of up to 15 years on each count. Even then, their space to manoeuvre is shrinking.

A panel discussion about a missing historical artefact hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand last week was shut down by the government, for posing a threat to national security.

The case itself is a mystery, involving a mostly neglected brass plaque the size of a cars hubcap in a historic section of Bangkok. Planted flush with the tarmac on a plaza by a throne hall and Parliament building, it marked the spot where the leader of a group that staged the 1932 revolution declared the end of absolute monarchy.

Some time early last month, the plaque disappeared, and was replaced by another celebrating the monarchy. Under mounting public query, state agencies denied being the owners of the 81-year-old plaque. Police said they could investigate only if its owner lodged a complaint. They even accused a politician of breaking the law over his Facebook comments on the issue.

The controversy unwittingly stirred discussion about the 1932 revolution, bringing into sharp relief the assertive new reign of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The 64-year-old monarch, after all, has asked for revisions to Thailands 20th Constitution, which was enacted last month. Several senior palace staff have been removed.

And in a new law that was recently passed by the interim Parliament behind closed doors, five agencies dealing with palace administration and security were put under the Kings direct control. These agencies will continue to be funded by the state, but need not return any revenue they generate to the treasury.

In comparison, the power of the then Siamese monarch was whittled down so much immediately after the 1932 revolution that the royal veto of laws could be overridden by a simple majority in the legislature. The King then was reduced to a figurehead vis-a-vis the new ruling elite.

The pendulum is now swinging the other way, aided by generals increasingly prepared to rein in critics of the monarchy.

The Straits Times/ANN.
The actual use of one of the most destructive non-nuclear bombs in Afghanistan, reports of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, the disturbing recent discussion on the threat of use of extremely destructive weapons in places such as the Korean peninsula have again focused attention on the extent to which the race for destructive weapons is threatening humanity and all other forms of life on earth.

When a hugely destructive bomb known as the mother of all bombs (MOAB) was dropped in Afghanistan on 13 April, it was described as the first combat use of the biggest nonnuclear explosive. This bomb officially known as GBU 43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast weighs 10,000 kg and its blast yield is equivalent to 11 tons of TNT.

While the destructive capacity of this bomb was being discussed came news that Russia has a non-nuclear weapon of even higher destructive capacity. This weapon is officially called the Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power but is more generally known as the Father of all Bombs. Although lighter in weight than the MOAB, its blast yield is about four times greater or the equivalent of 44 tons of TNT.

Massively destructive as it is, this is no match for nuclear weapons  the nuclear bomb which destroyed Hiroshima had a blast yield equivalent to about 15,000 tons of TNT. In Hiroshima, the temperature at the hypocenter of the explosion reached twice what it takes to melt iron. The face of a girl sitting one kilometer away from this hypocenter was burnt beyond recognition.

Nearly 100,000 people were killed within a few minutes of being hit by nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In subsequent years many more people died even more painful deaths due to longer-term impacts. This included deaths caused by internal bleeding, leukemia and various other forms of cancer. In addition there were a large number of children born with mental retardation, physical deformities and other serious health problems.

In view of all this, it is truly frightening to think that weapons many times more destructive than the ones used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are likely to be unleashed in even a limited nuclear war in future. While fullblown nuclear weapons have not been used after 1945, depleted uranium weapons have been used, most frequently by the USA, in counties such as Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly also Bosnia.

Due to the longer-term impacts of depleted uranium weapons on innocent civilian populations, there has been a large increase in cases of leukemia and childhood cancers in several parts of Iraq in particular. Another impact has been the birth of many malformed babies.

A secret report prepared by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (later published in the Independent) described the alarming possibilities of radioactive dust getting into the food chain and water following the use of depleted uranium weapons. This report warned that 40 tons of radioactive debris left from depleted uranium weapons could cause around half a million deaths.

Even American soldiers who used depleted uranium weapons or later moved around in areas where these had been used suffered from several long-term and serious health impacts. Those workers or soldiers who are asked to clean up contaminated sites have been exposed to serious health hazards. A former US army officer told an American magazine that when he and his soldiers were assigned to clean up one such area they stated getting sick within 72 hours  respiratory problems, rashes, bleeding, open sores started almost immediately.

Indeed there is a possibility that apart from ruining the health of people directly exposed to these depleted uranium weapons, these could have very harmful impacts on entirely unsuspecting people even in other countries. This can happen if some of the war-time debris and junk including some dust are auctioned and so get transported to other countries.

Some reports have appeared from time to time in Indias media about explosions taking places in places where scrap and junk material including imported scrap and junk are stored. This raised the possibility that auctioned war debris from Iraq which contained remains of explosives had reached India among other places. This is the less sinister part of such contaminated war debris. A much bigger hazard exists in the form of hidden contamination by depleted uranium. Hence the import of war debris should be strictly banned.

Given all these dangers of nuclear or depleted uranium weapons, all those who value human life and other forms of life have been getting nervous and restless whenever the threat of such weapons appears as happened recently when the Korean crisis accentuated. Apart from praying for better sense to prevail, people can also play an active role by joining up with wider peace efforts and movements working for peace and disarmament at various levels and in various ways to bring some sanity in our increasingly troubled world.

The writer is a freelance journalist who has been involved with various social movements and initiatives
Tributes poured in from across the world to Mark Colvin, 65, the presenter of Australian ABC Radios flagship current affairs show PM, who died at a hospital in Sydney on Thursday.

Colvin had worked for the ABC for more than four decades, including as a reporter, foreign correspondent and as the presenter of current affairs programme PM. He presented the PM for more than 20 years.

One of Australias most-respected journalists, Colvins feature on the Ethiopian famine was a runner-up for an International Emmy award. The extraordinary story of his kidney transplant was turned into a play and was performed at Sydneys Belvoir St theatre earlier this year.

Michelle Guthrie, the managing director of the ABC, said: We will miss him enormously, and extend our thoughts to his family and friends.

Twitter was flooded with condolences from the media professionals, many of whom described him as the giant of our profession.

Noted business adviser Mary-Ellen Field, who donated the kidney to Colvin, tweeted: Our kidney Chris has gone with him so he's not alone. He told me not to cry because he needed me to be strong but I can't stop crying.

The Australian prime minister and other leaders also condoled his death.
A warming climate could affect the stability of alpine grasslands in the Tibetan Plateau, threatening the ability of farmers and herders to maintain the animals that are key to their existence, warned a team of researchers from the US and China.

Though temperature changes could destabilise the fragile ecosystem of the area, variations in rainfall appear to have no similar effect, according to the study published in the journal Nature Communications.

The study involved two varying factors likely to change with a warming climate  temperature and rainfall  in test plots over a five-year period.

"We were concerned about the variability of the total community plant cover over time," said Lin Jiang, Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology in the US.

"Significant warming could reduce the stability of the grasslands, which would increase the variability of plant biomass production that could be a significant issue for people living in the region. We believe the effects of climate change could be particularly dramatic in this area," Jiang said.

The Tibetan Plateau is an area of about 2.5 million square kilometres in which summertime high temperatures seldom rise above 25 degrees Celsius and night time temperatures could drop below freezing even in the summer.

Because of the altitude, temperature extremes and high winds, more than two-thirds of the Plateau is grassland which is used for grazing yak, sheep and other animals.

About 9.8 million people live in the area, which is also the source for several of Asia's major river systems.

"Our results suggest that under a warmer climate, the ecosystem would provide less forage production in drought years, and more biomass production in wet years  which is undesirable," said Jin-Sheng He, Professor at Peking University in Beijing, China.

The researchers found that the stability of the grasslands was affected not by the richness of plant species, but by the effects on dominant species and the asynchrony of the species.

"We found that climate warming lowers stability through increasing species synchrony in which the biomass of a few dominant species increased while that of most rare species declined," said He.

"That indicates the alpine grasslands that have well adapted to cold environments owing to their long-term evolutionary history may be jeopardised in the future," He said.
Fifty pilgrims in Sri Lanka were taken to hospital on Thursday after being attacked by a swarm of wasps as they celebrated Buddhism's holiest day.

Police said a monk was among those hospitalised after the cloud of insects descended on a temple at Mundal, 110 kilometres north of the capital Colombo.

The attack came as pilgrims celebrated the festival of Vesak honouring the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha.

Earlier this week two wasp nests were removed from a Sri Lankan tea plantation as part of preparations for a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

There was a risk helicopters landing nearby could stir up the nests and provoke an angry response.

Modi arrives in Sri Lanka on Thursday to join Vesak celebrations before touring the tea country on Friday. (AFP)
The top focus of this episode of Newstrack is on the battle for Himachal Pradesh. With just three days left for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, both the BJP and Congress are pulling out all stops to win the hill state.
Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has become the first woman governor of New York. She has defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin. Heres a look at the political journey of the 57th governor of New York.
By Press Trust of India: Melbourne, May 11 (PTI) In bias-motivated crimes, four Muslim women in Australia were allegedly punched in the face by a 39-year-old journalism student from Paraguay.

One of four Muslim women targeted in four successive and unprovoked Islamophobic attacks yesterday said she was randomly punched in the face as she walked through the city wearing her headphones.

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Maria Claudia Gimenez Wilson, a 39-year-old journalism student from Paraguay, is charged with assaulting the four women, aged 18-23, as they walked along busy roads near University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Ultimo, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

All four women were wearing hijab, and were allegedly punched in the face.

Officers are treating the assaults as "bias-motivated crimes" after Wilson allegedly told police she was motivated by a hatred of Muslims, the report said.

One of the alleged victims, Hanan Merheb, posted on Facebook that she was walking past UTS listening to music and "in a pretty good mood" when she was punched out of nowhere.

"[I was] staring absent-mindedly ahead of me when some lady ... came up to me and punched me in the face," she said.

"She didnt speak to me, didnt run away, she just punched me and walked off, as casually as if she had just come to say hello."

Wilson, who moved to Australia to study, was ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment in Prince of Wales Hospital today after her Legal Aid solicitor, Vanya Hampel, told Central Local Court that her client was seeking to be dealt with under mental health legislation.

A medical report said that Wilson had schizoaffective disorder and "appears to be suffering persecutory beliefs".

"The only thing I did was to take a bull cut [sic] to a Muslim lady," Wilson said. "I dont see any problem with that."

Mariam Veiszadeh, founder of Islamophobia Register Australia, said Australian Muslim women in hijab often bear the brunt of Islamophobia.

"We are very concerned with the escalation of both the frequency of incidents of Islamophobia and the level of violence," she said.

New South Wales Police spokesman for bias-motivated crime, Superintendent Daniel Sullivan, said police will "fully investigate" any race-related crimes

"We encourage anyone who suspects they have been a victim of a bias motivated crime to report it to police. If we dont know about it, we cant investigate it," he said.

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The attack comes amid assaults targeting hijab-clad women in different parts of the world from the US to the UK. PTI AMS AKJ AMS

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